Secularism and the cultures of nineteenth-century scientific naturalism, by Michael Rectenwald, The British Journal for the History of Science. 31 Aug. 2012. In this essay, I argue for the importance of Secularism -- founded in 1850-1 by the radical artisan intellectual George Holyoake -- to the powerful discourse and movement of scientific naturalism to emerge by the mid-nineteenth century in Great Britain within the Darwinian circle. I argue that Holyoake's Secularism served as both a cultural framework and a philosophical precursor for scientific naturalism, anticipating Thomas H. Huxley's agnosticism by nearly two decades. This essay is thus a special installment in nineteenth-century working-class intellectual and scientific history. Special thanks to Lori R. Price for her editorial assistance.
Revealed: US flew spy drone missions from Australia 03 Sep 2012 The United States flew highly classified Global Hawk spy drone missions from the Royal Australian Air Force base at Edinburgh in South Australia from late 2001 until at least 2006. The operations were detected by a group of Adelaide aviation historians who had a member monitoring aircraft radio frequencies 20 hours a day. The spy drone is the jewel in the crown of America's global electronic intelligence-gathering network. Global Hawk operations are cloaked in secrecy, and the US Air Force likes to keep it that way. But perhaps the Pentagon severely underestimated the vigilance of Adelaide aviation historians the West Beach Aviation Group (WBAG). <g>
200 Marines Join 'Anti-drug' Effort in Guatemala 30 Aug 2012 A team of 200 U.S. Marines began patrolling Guatemala's western coast this week in an unprecedented operation to beat drug traffickers in destabilize the Central America region, a U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday. The Marines are deployed as part of Operation Martillo, a broader effort started last Jan. 15 to stop drug trafficking along the Central American coast. "This is the first Marine deployment that directly supports countering transnational crime in this area, and it's certainly the largest footprint we've had in that area in quite some time," said Marine Staff Sgt. Earnest Barnes at the U.S. Southern Command in Miami. [Yes, as a result of the last US 'footprint' (stomping) in Guatemala to overthrow a democratically elected leader and to give US corpora-terrorists free reign, 200,000 people died.]
Afghan soldier kills 2 US-led troopers in Laghman 03 Sep 2012 An Afghan soldier has killed two US-led troopers in an attack in Laghman Province in eastern Afghanistan. A member of the Afghan National Army on Monday turned his weapon on the US-led soldiers in Laghman province in the latest instance of what is commonly referred to as 'green-on-blue' or 'insider' attacks.
US-led soldier killed in southern Afghanistan 03 Sep 2012 An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in the restive southern Afghanistan has killed one US-led trooper with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). "An International Security Assistance Force service member died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan today," ISAF announced in a statement on Monday.
Pentagon: Bin Laden book contains classified info 04 Sep 2012 A former Navy SEAL who fired bullets into the body of Osama bin Laden and later wrote a book about the historic raid has violated prohibitions against revealing classified information, the Pentagon declared Tuesday. "Let's cut through it: Sensitive and classified information is contained in the book," Pentagon press secretary George Little said. Meanwhile, the admiral who heads Naval Special Warfare Command said the book may provide enemies with dangerous insight into secretive U.S. operations.
Camp Lejeune water contamination victim speaks out 02 Sep 2012 Spina bifida. Asperger's syndrome. Tourette's. Bipolar disorder. Organic brain dysfunction. These are just a few of the diseases William McMurray Jr. suffers from, ailments he says his doctors couldn't explain for the first 20 years of his life until they learned of water contamination aboard Camp Lejeune. His is but one story in what many call the greatest case of contamination in U.S. history. A million Marines, sailors and their families drank, bathed, brushed their teeth, cooked, swam and washed their cars, clothes, dishes and pets in bad water at Lejeune for decades.
Homeland Security's domain seizures worries Congress 03 Sep 2012 The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is seizing domains and taking down URLs in the name of 'copyright infringement,' but its tactics are worrying certain members of Congress. In a letter sent last week to Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary Janet Napolitano, three members of the House Judiciary Committee aired their unease. "We are concerned about your Departments' seizure of domain names under Operation In Our Sites, launched in November 2010," the letter said. "Our concern centers on your Department's methods, and the process given, when seizing the domain names of websites whose actions and content are presumed to be lawful, protected speech."
Court ruling that NSA spying violated 4th Amendment remains secret --EFF sues US to uncover details of court decision on phone and e-mail spying 30 Aug 2012 Last month, a letter to Congress noted that "on at least one occasion" a secretive US court ruled that National Security Agency surveillance carried out under a 2008 act of Congress violated the Fourth Amendment's restriction against unreasonable searches and seizures. But the actual ruling remains secret. Decisions handed down by the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) are classified "because of the sensitive intelligence matters they concern," the letter from the Office of the National Intelligence Director to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) states. ...The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for details on the FISC ruling or rulings. Also, today the EFF filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice in US District Court in Washington, D.C., saying its July 26 FOIA request has not been processed within the 20-day deadline.
Press outlets protest Manning trial secrecy 04 Sep 2012 More than 30 news outlets and media organizations lodged an official protest Tuesday against secrecy in the court martial of Private Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence analyst accusing of leaking hundreds of thousands of military reports and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks. The amicus brief filed with the military's highest court, the Court of Appeals of the Armed Forces, supports a request from the Center for Constitutional Rights to allow public access to motions, briefs, written rulings and the docket in Manning's court martial.
Julian Assange's backers lose £200,000 bail money 04 Sep 2012 Julian Assange's high profile backers are understood to have lost the £200,000 they posted for his bail as he remains holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy. The Wikileaks founder breached the conditions by seeking political asylum before he was due to be extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault charges. A raft of high-profile figures including socialite Jemima Khan, journalist John Pilger, film director Ken Loach and publisher Felix Dennis have all confirmed they raised the cash as security to help free him which a judge ordered be forfeited at an earlier hearing.
New Democratic Voice Challenges Republican Vision 05 Sep 2012 Mayor Julián Castro of San Antonio made his national debut on Tuesday evening at the Democratic convention, presenting himself as a generational testament to American opportunity that would not have been possible without hard work and a helping hand. "The American dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon, but a relay," Mr. Castro said. "Our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation, but each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor." Mr. Castro, 37, was the first Latino to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, and the applause in the arena was reminiscent of the party's convention eight years ago in Boston when an Illinois state senator named Barack Obama brought delegates to their feet.
Deval Patrick: 'It Is Time For Democrats to Grow A Backbone' 04 Sep 2012 In making the case for the re-election of President Barack Obama Tuesday night at the Democratic Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick called on Democrats to "grow a backbone." "We are Americans," Patrick said to roaring applause, "We shape our own future: My message is this - it is time for Democrats to grow a backbone and stand up for what we believe. Quit waiting for pundits or polls or Super PACs to tell us who the next President or senator or congressman will be. We are Americans. We shape our own future."
Deval Patrick: Mitt in Mass. was 'more interested in having the job than doing it' 04 Sep 2012 Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick will touch on his predecessor Mitt Romney's record in the state, per prepared remarks: "In Massachusetts, we know Mitt Romney. By the time he left office, Massachusetts was 47th in the nation in job creation - during better economic times - and real wages in our state were declining. He cut education deeper than anywhere else in America. Roads and bridges were crumbling. Business taxes were up and business confidence was down. Mitt Romney talks a lot about all the things he's fixed. I can tell you that Massachusetts wasn't one of them. He's a fine fellow and a great salesman, but as governor he was more interested in having the job than doing it."
Michelle Obama pays tribute to her husband in convention speech 04 Sep 2012 Michelle Obama delivered an affectionate tribute to her husband Tuesday night as a man of courage and unshakable conviction, putting a warm gloss on an opening convention program filled with harsh attacks on Republican Mitt Romney. Reprising many of the themes and anecdotes she used in her speech to the Democratic convention four years ago, Obama delivered an implicit contrast to Romney's wealth and comfortable upbringing by describing the hardship that she and her husband faced growing up.
The Democratic convention opens 04 Sep 2012 On issue after issue, Obama continued the policies of George W. Bush. He embraced the Wall Street bailout, insuring that countless trillions of Treasury dollars were made available to save the banks, while millions of homeowners were plunged into foreclosure and eviction without any government rescue. His stimulus package consisted largely of tax cuts, designed to win Republican support, and the White House refused to launch a public works program or take any other direct action to create jobs for the millions of unemployed workers. Obama pushed through the bailout and reorganization of the auto industry at the expense of the workers, slashing pay for new hires by 50 percent and cutting pensions and health care benefits for retirees. After winning the Democratic nomination as the supposedly most antiwar candidate, Obama embraced the Bush administration warmongers, retaining Bush's defense secretary Robert Gates, barring any prosecution of Bush officials for the lies that accompanied the war in Iraq or the use of torture, and keeping open Guantanamo Bay and other US torture centers. Obama tripled the number of troops in Afghanistan, waged war in Libya, and ordered drone missile strikes that have incinerated men, women and children in half a dozen countries. He is the first US president to assert the right to assassinate any American citizen, anywhere on the globe, based solely on his executive authority, without either legal or judicial sanction.
Democrats 'talking up' Simpson-Bowles aka the Cat Food Commission By Lori Price, http://www.legitgov.org/ 04 Sep 2012 President Obama's surrogates and other key Democrats are pimping bipartisanship again (which worked so well the first time, doncha' know) and pushing Simpson-Bowles aka 'Cat Food Commission...' while Obusha readies himself to speak at Bank of America Stadium in a 'right-to-work' state! Gag me with a chainsaw!
Secret Service U-Haul truck stolen in Detroit ahead of VP Joe Biden's visit to city 03 Sep 2012 The U.S. Secret Service and local police are investigating after a U-Haul truck loaded with high-tech security equipment that belongs to the Secret Service was stolen just ahead of Vice President Biden's visit to Detroit, reports CBS Detroit. The truck was found Monday around 11:30 a.m. in an apartment building parking lot near Henry Ford Hospital, reported WWJ Newsradio's Rob Mason, who talked to Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan Donovan said some, but not all of the equipment it contained, has been recovered.
ICE chief of staff resigns amid misconduct claims 01 Sep 2012 A senior Obama administration political appointee and longtime aide to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano resigned Saturday amid allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior lodged by at least three Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees. Suzanne Barr, chief of staff to ICE Director John Morton, said in her resignation letter that the allegations against her are "unfounded." But she said she was stepping down anyway to end distractions within the agency.
Feds close criminal investigation on Ariz. sheriff 01 Sep 2012 Federal authorities say they're closing their abuse-of-power investigation into Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona without filing charges against him. Authorities were investigating America's self-proclaimed toughest sheriff for his part in failed public corruption cases against officials who were odds with him. Arpaio brought cases against a judge and two county officials in 2009.
Libor probe claims Barclays executive and a trader 04 Sep 2012 The fallout from an investigation into the attempted manipulation of global benchmark interest rates has again rocked Barclays Plc, as the bank recently ousted a top executive and a trader in New York for their roles in the scandal, according to regulatory filings obtained on Tuesday. Barclays formally notified the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority on August 29 that the executive, Ritankar "Ronti" Pal, was "discharged" on July 30 because the bank had a "loss of confidence" in him as a manager for failing "to properly supervise individuals on his team", one of the filings stated.
Snow the polar bear dies at Tucson zoo 04 Sep 2012 A polar bear who captured the hearts of Coloradoans and people everywhere has died. The Tucson zoo announced Monday that 17-year-old Snow passed away in her sleep. Snow was moved to the Tucson's Reid Park Zoo [from Denver Zoo] earlier this year because of allergies.
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