You have to wonder how long this will stay up.

Or, how up-to-date it is.

http://projects.propublica.org/nsa-grid/?utm_source=et&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter

The big one - Prism:

 The Prism program collects data from the servers of U.S. technology companies.

Shameless corporate plug ... but not in the way they would expect.

It's a couple of years old, but still.

I get the impression these companies don't really want you to know just how many products and brands they really own that you buy.

http://www.businessinsider.com/these-10-corporations-control-almost-everything-you-buy-2012-4

$10,000 to the Person Who Disproves Climate Change?

http://ecowatch.com/2014/06/27/physicist-pay-disprove-climate-change/?utm_source=EcoWatch+List&utm_campaign=7846102c7e-Top_News_6_28_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-7846102c7e-85363977

Reading the comments from a right-wing nature would be hilarious and sad were it not for the reality that reacting as such doesn't really improve the situation, nor stop global warming.

Quote of the day - 06-25-2014.

Jim Goodman

 
"After nearly 20 years of GM crops, genetic modifications for herbicide resistance and pest resistance are still the only two commercially viable traits of any significance. There are no yield genes that will revolutionize farming, and weeds and insects are quickly developing resistance to the GM technologies.

When Monsanto and other corporations involved in seed research and development brought GM seed to the market, what was their reason? Obviously they saw an opportunity for profit; that is what corporations do.

While everyone is supposed to accept the altruistic justification for GM, that it will “feed the world," I doubt they ever planned to give any GM technology away in developing countries or even sell the new technologies at cost. Their rigorous control of GM through patents and legions of lawyers waiting to sue for any possibility of patent infringement attest to the fact that this is a profitable science and they intend to play it to the bitter end."

The 50 Companies That Rule the 50 States - courtesy Occupy.com and Broadview Networks.

http://www.broadviewnet.com/blog/2014/06/largest-companies-by-revenue-billions-in-each-state-map/

http://www.occupy.com/article/50-companies-rule-50-states

Fast-food companies.

What I've learned over the years -

Fast-food companies have -

1) perfected the art of convincing people to buy shit;

2) locked in a monopoly on the customer base that will keep them rolling in money for a long time.

2014: Hottest May on record.

Says who? Says the US Government -

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2014/5

The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for May 2014 was record highest for this month, at 0.74°C (1.33°F) above the 20^th century average of 14.8°C (58.6°F). 

Views of group dynamics - The 'rock star' vs. the 'rock band'.

To me what I see in IT is valuing the ‘rock star’. That is, the person who comes in, takes charge, says what’s what and ‘appears’ to all as if they are the savior or hero, snapping up a victory from the jaws of defeat.

This is an ‘American Idol’ view of things. To begin with, in that program, a singer is often times singing off a pre-recorded musical track – everything is already there. So in that context, the singer is the star (because that’s what the show is all about). And often times it’s the same thing with the ‘rock star’ mentality that permeates through IT leadership -because it’s about the individual on the stage and getting the adulation of the audience.

The problem is that’s false often times in IT and in the reality of performing live music as a group.

In a rock band (and by this I mean a group of musicians who perform live rock music), different people do different things or play different roles at different times for very valid reasons. In a rock band, you have a drummer, a bassist, one or more guitarists, one or more keyboardists, the lead vocalists, the backing vocalists, percussionists, and so on. But they all need to work together to make it sound right to the audience and themselves, let alone good and memorable. Does it therefore make sense for all of these different people to be thinking and doing the same thing at the same time all the time? Yes there are situations where it makes sense for say two guitar players to be playing a part the same way, or for two vocalists to be singing the same part. But more often than not each of these folks has different roles because they do different things – but they have a common cause – to perform great music together. So it’s when you combine all of these things together for a common purpose and make it happen as a group – that’s when real value and success is unleashed – in the case of a great band – great music that not only sounds good on stage, but to the respective paying audience.  And each person on stage has a role to play – it’s not just about the singer or a guitar solo. If but one person doesn’t do their part or has problems – it affects the entire process because you succeed as a group. This is where as a group, one comes together to help address those things so all can succeed, because it’s not going to work if everyone moves ahead leaving one behind. On stage that doesn’t work. This is very much the case when performing live music – it doesn’t matter if the singer hits every note and does so on time – if the beat is off, or the chord is wrong – that’s what will be remembered.

It’s the same in IT – each prospective member of a given discipline in software and IT has a key role to play. No one person is more or less important than the other. Who gathers the business requirements, who designs the solution, who shapes the solution architecture, who develops the code, who tests the code, solution, business processes, who supports the solution and infrastructure, who uses the solution – each of these seemingly disparate entities only work when working (in this case) solve an enterprise business problem. It doesn’t matter who does what in the late hours – every hour should be valued and respected. But they all need to work together to make the solution correct both internally and externally to customers, let alone with high quality. But more often than not each of these folks has different roles because they do different things – but they have a common cause – to solve a business problem. 

Good management and leadership across a business area, management, and executives should know this.

New York's attempt to get a GMO-labeling law?

Go New York!

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/06/17-5

Published on Tuesday, June 17, 2014 by Common Dreams

New Yorkers Wage Urgent Battle for GMO Label Law

Industry groups spending millions to kill a bill likely to create a "domino effect" in the northeast

 

Good.

Let's hope Hawaii takes a hint before it's too late.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/24399-the-kauai-cocktail

Highly toxic pesticides are being applied to GMO test fields on Kauai at a much higher rate than on most US farms, an analysis of new data reveals.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/24441-the-contamination-of-natural-kauai

The power of a roving iceberg.

"Fifty years ago, icebergs couldn't move around much because most years, the sea surface was frozen for much of the year. But recently, Barnes said, most years, the sea is frozen for less than 50 days a year. That leaves the icebergs free to drift and blow in the wind until they crash boulders on the sea floor, pounding and scraping away everything that lived on them.

"It's catastrophic, really," Barnes said. "They kill 99 per cent of things they come in contact with."

Because most of an iceberg is underwater and some icebergs are massive, they can cause destruction as deep as 600 metres below the surface, Barnes added. That means the area of the sea floor that icebergs are stripping of its biodiversity could be vast."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/icebergs-freed-by-climate-change-decimate-antarctic-sea-life-1.2678222

Wow, talk about fucked up.

Can we all say - global warming is here and and real and accelerating such that both the rate and the intensity of these elements makes it difficult for all species on the planet to adapt? What does this then say about future generations of said species and their ability to then survive?

Casey Kasem RIP (1932-2014)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Kasem

Thank you Casey for all the happy memories on the radio and in television.

The classlessness just keeps on coming.

I mean - don't you love breathing someone else's carcinogens?

Thank you wilted banana! You too!

Apparently a colleague from work got this 'compliments' from the hotel they're staying in.

Not that the quality of the piece of fruit is any reflection or commentary on the quality of the hotel - no!

Never mind trying to find meaning ...

Your life unfolds regardless of whether you're paying attention.

“System Change, Not Climate Change.”

http://www.theragblog.com/jack-a-smith-a-left-solution-to-climate-change/

I don't know for sure. On the other hand ...

The best opportunity we have to end increasing climate change — before high temperatures, air pollution, flooded coastlines, droughts, fierce storms, scarcity of potable water and famine reach disastrous heights — is system change. This is already obvious to much of the left — and will become clear to those in the struggle as the crisis increases — but the government and business are content to take minimal steps, concentrating more on adaptation than mitigation.

US Healthcare System='price-gouging'

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/06/bad-science/

It's sad that corporations are able buy the US Supreme Court rulings they want. Or of course when it doesn't suit them just ignore them like in Myriad's case.

Software to 'detect sarcasm' ... ?

https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DHS/USSS/PDDC20229/HSSS01-14-Q-0182/listing.html (h/t Buzzflash!)

Good luck testing that.

Quote of the day - 06-05-2014.

Paul Constant -

" Ideals become easy prey when convenience is at stake."

Indeed - a message to all those people out there of all political stripes who continue to do business with Amoron.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/its-time-to-turn-your-back-on-amazon/Content?oid=19708679

Reset the Net.

http://qb.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Pc5/XUAa2E9ZF1TBtJXES7xmbmFxv5X2

It's hard to believe it's been a year since Snowden made his revelations about US government spying through the net.

Frankenfood and pesticides claiming the Monarch Butterfly.

"The study, published today in the Journal of Animal Ecology, shows this decline in milkweed is the main cause of the monarch's recent population decline, not deforestation in Mexico. If this milkweed loss continues, the study predicts, monarch populations will fall at least another 14 per cent and there is a five per cent chance they will be driven nearly to extinction over the next century .

Study co-author Ryan Norris, a biology professor at the University of Guelph, said that "likely the biggest cause of loss of milkweed is the adoption of genetically modified crops."

Farmers have been increasingly planting corn and soybeans resistant to herbicides, and then applying those herbicides liberally on their fields. That kills off plants between the rows of crops that aren't resistant, such as milkweed."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/monarch-butterfly-decline-linked-to-spread-of-gm-crops-1.2665131

Hey TheNation.com ....

I like Katrina vanden Heuvel.  We need more people like her in this world, and she's been an influential and thought-provoking writer and critic on the Political Left for some time.

And I have no doubt she's got something useful to say about the NRA, given the recent tragic and horrific shootings that occurred.


But I don't wish to purchase her latest book from Amoron because I don't wish to give my money to a corporation with right-wing ties and questionable business practices. 

I also don't wish patronize the screed owned by the same person who owns Amoron.

So please find a way to publish her writing elsewhere. Or better still, don't waste my time having me go to article previews on your own homepage that point that screed. As a long-time reader of your site, I find that extremely offensive, and an insult to anyone who opposes the increasing dominance of corporations in people's lives.

If you continue this practice, please expect me to look elsewhere for commentary from the Left.

Found this online somewhere

Will update the reference later.

Gotta love that phrase.

Somehow it's so American.

The key word in the article title is 'should'.

http://www.salon.com/2014/05/29/nra_finally_meets_its_match_why_richard_martinez_should_have_them_shaking/?source=newsletter

But they won't and they don't - why?

Corporations (and by extension, lobbyists for said industries dominated by said corporations) don't think. They only care about speaking to their customer base to keep them coming back and plunking down money for their products.

Corporations aren't sentient, sapient beings; they aren't alive and don't think. Also corporations are not capable of caring either.

They don't care if the products have only one real purpose - to kill. They don't care how many lives it destroys.

They only are about getting as much money as possible, because that's how they survive and thrive.