Monthly Archives: March 2015

NASA Asteroid Hunter Spacecraft Images Now Available to Public

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Millions of images of celestial objects, including asteroids, are now available to the public online from NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft. “NEOWISE is a vital asset in NASA’s program to find objects that truly represent an impact hazard to Earth,” Lindley Johnson, program executive for the Near-Earth Object Observation Program at NASA…

Ted Cruz for President?

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Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – Rafael Edward Cruz is running for president. Boy howdy. By all accounts Ted Cruz is bright and formidable. He’s a powerful speaker. His academic accomplishments are impressive. His career trajectory just prior to politics is downright imposing. There’s a certain charisma in a Bob Dole meets Pee Wee…

Charter School Movement About Tax Breaks, Not Helping Kids

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Education Matters – By Larry Lee – It is said that “confession is good for the soul.” With this being the case, the legislators who wrote the Alabama Accountability Act in 2013 are now sleeping better. When this bill was written the people of Alabama were told over and over that the purpose was to…

The Palestinian-Israeli Two-State Solution was Dead Anyway

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By Nicholas Sheppard – Newly re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to walk back his declaration, made late in the contentious political campaign, that no Palestinian state would be established on his watch. His new assertion appeared to do nothing to assuage an irate Obama Administration, and his initial remarks, designed to encourage…

New NASA Mission Launched to Study Environmental Changes on Ocean Health

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NASA is beginning work on a new satellite mission that will extend critical climate measurements of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere and advance studies of the impact of environmental changes on ocean health, fisheries and the carbon cycle. Tentatively scheduled to launch in 2022, the Pre-Aerosol Clouds and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission will study Earth’s aquatic…

The Conundrum of Corporation and Nation

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By Robert Reich – The U.S. economy is picking up steam but most Americans aren’t feeling it. By contrast, most European economies are still in bad shape, but most Europeans are doing relatively well. What’s behind this? Two big facts. First, American corporations exert far more political influence in the United States than their counterparts…

After Selma: From White Sheets to Spreadsheets

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By Greg Palast – I hate to spoil a happy ending. The movie “Selma,” like this week’s commemorations of Martin Luther King Jr.’s march from Selma, Ala., 50 years ago, celebrates America’s giant leap from apartheid. Half a century ago Alabama state troopers and a mob of racist thugs beat African-Americans and others as they…

After Selma, What’s Next for Black America?

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By Donald Watkins – This weekend marks the 50th Anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march. I did not attend the celebratory events this weekend. I am still deeply troubled by the fact that today’s civil rights movement has morphed into an endless cycle of commemorative events and celebratory parties consisting mostly of photo opportunities. This would…

Citizen Four: Ed Snowden is No Traitor

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Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – LOS ANGELES, Calif. — What’s mind blowing about the whole Snowden thing is not what huge deal it was, it’s what a huge deal it is. To my dismay I have become cynical, so it occurred to me at the time that it really sucked but I wasn’t…

Will the 2016 Democratic Nominee Take on Moneyed Interests?

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By Robert Reich – It’s seed time for the 2016 presidential elections, when candidates try to figure out what they stand for and will run on. One thing seems reasonably clear. The Democratic nominee for President, whoever she may be, will campaign on reviving the American middle class. As will the Republican nominee — although…

A Chance to Support Art in Mobile and Agent Orange Victims in Vietnam

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MOBILE, Ala. — Here’s a chance to support art, music and the victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam. There will be a special live music fundraiser at Gallery 450 on Dauphin Street Friday the 13th that promises to steel the show for the monthly Art Walk for March. What sparked this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Alabama…

Installing Solar Panels on Your Camper Van or RV

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By Bob Wells – While solar power has been around for a long time now, for most of us it was so expensive we couldn’t really afford it. And if we could afford it we found it too confusing to figure out what we needed and how and where to get it. Most of us…