NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly ‘wanted to instil fear’ in black and Latino menThe commissioner of the New York City police department views the controversial practice of stop, question and frisk as a means to instil fear in young African American and Latino men, a New York state senator testified in a federal court on Monday.
Can meditation make you a more compassionate person?Scientists have mostly focused on the benefits of meditation for the brain and the body, but a recent study by Northeastern University’s David DeSteno, published in Psychological Science, takes a look at what impacts meditation has on interpersonal harmony and compassion.
Living With Less. A Lot Less.I LIVE in a 420-square-foot studio. I sleep in a bed that folds down from the wall. I have six dress shirts. I have 10 shallow bowls that I use for salads and main dishes. When people come over for dinner, I pull out my extendable dining room table.
Hot Money BluesWhatever the final outcome in the Cyprus crisis – we know it’s going to be ugly; we just don’t know exactly what form the ugliness will take – one thing seems certain: for the time being, and probably for years to come, the island nation will have to maintain fairly draconian controls on the movement of capital in and out of the country.
Top Pentagon thinker bemoans “civilian subjugation to the military.”Blistering charges of misplaced power and a morally bankrupt culture in the nation’s “military-industrial complex” are rarely leveled by one of the defense establishment’s own. But that is exactly what an instructor of the military’s rising stars lobbed on Tuesday when he very purposely engaged in friendly fire at a defense budget conference co-hosted by the Cambridge-based Project on Defense Alternatives.
Spike in law enforcement assassinations raises fearsThe Easter weekend assassination of a Texas prosecutor highlights a growing concern about targeted attacks on law enforcement authorities. It’s a fear one Texas police officer shared with Yahoo News. He and his family spent the past holiday season essentially in hiding after learning his name was inked on a white supremacist gang’s hit list.
Women’s Press ” Blog Archive ” Losing my religion for equality…by Jimmy CarterAnd to think that the population of the U.S. have continued to revile this incredible man, long after the military establishment torpedoed him, and left Americans to be helped by the Canadian Ambassador, instead of doing their job! What a humanitarian, what an intellect!
Fusion center director: We don’t spy on Americans, just anti-government Americans – RT USALaw enforcement intelligence-processing fusion centers have long come under attack for spying on Americans. The Arkansas director wanted to clarify the truth: centers only spies on some Americans – those who appear to be a threat to the government.
‘Challenging the dollar’: Bitcoin total value tops $1 billion – RT NewsAlready bigger than many sovereign currencies, Bitcoin has broken the $1 billion in value mark this week. In the wake of continuing economic crises and liquidity shortages, this new virtual currency is poised to challenge the euro and US dollar.
BofA, H&R Block, Citi Sued for $309 Million by Trust Over MortgagesA unit of Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch was sued by a trust seeking more than $309 million in damages for alleged breaches of representations and warranties related to the sale of more than 5,000 mortgages.
“And that’s how George Bush won the war in Iraq. The invasion was not about “blood for oil”, but something far more sinister: blood for no oil. War to keep supply tight and send prices skyward.”
Prosecutor who was falsely arrested can’t sue Bank of AmericaBanks are people too! A federal judge in San Francisco threw out a lawsuit by Sharon Henry, a prosecutor in the Bay Area who was falsely arrested thanks to an incompetent bank manager, on the grounds that it infringed on a bank’s free speech.
Computer law used against Swartz could become even harsher – RT USAThe most controversial computer law in the United States could finally be updated – and it’s the exact opposite of what activists like Aaron Swartz have been fighting for.
Kansas couple: Indoor gardening prompted pot raidLEAWOOD, Kan. (AP) – Two former CIA employees whose Kansas home was fruitlessly searched for marijuana during a two-state drug sweep claim they were illegally targeted, possibly because they had bought indoor growing supplies to raise vegetables.
The Neuroscience of MindfulnessWe generally think of mindfulness as an idea that has been around for thousands of years, originally emerging out of Buddhist traditions. Many Buddhist researchers are doing great studies showing that mindfulness has an impact on many aspects of human experience. I have a bit of a problem with that.
Washington Post Kills Account of Its Failures in Iraq Reporting and Runs a Defense Instead – Media ChannelVeteran journalist Greg Mitchell is claiming an assigned piece he wrote for the Washington Post that outlined the failure of the media (including the Washington Post) in reporting on the lead-up to the Iraq War was killed by editors, who then ran a piece by Paul Farhi that defends their coverage instead.
Mindfulness improves reading ability, working memory, and task-focusIf you think your inability to concentrate is a hopeless condition, think again — and breathe, and focus. According to a study by researchers at the UC Santa Barbara, as little as two weeks of mindfulness training can significantly improve one’s reading comprehension, working memory capacity, and ability to focus.
Wikileaks Was Just a Preview: We’re Headed for an Even Bigger Showdown Over Secrets | Matt Taibbi | Rolling StoneI went yesterday to a screening of We Steal Secrets, Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney’s brilliant new documentary about Wikileaks. The movie is beautiful and profound, an incredible story that’s about many things all at once, including the incredible Shakespearean narrative that is the life of Julian Assange, a free-information radical who has become an uncompromising guarder of secrets.
Direct Democracy – Origin of the speciesONE HUNDRED YEARS ago Hiram Johnson, one of the most consequential governors in California’s history, called a special election. Johnson was a leader of a movement called Progressivism that reacted to America’s industrialisation by demanding women’s suffrage, direct election of United States senators (originally chosen by state legislatures) and other expansions of democracy.
‘Monsanto Protection Act’ slips silently through US Congress – RT USAThe US House of Representatives quietly passed a last-minute addition to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill for 2013 last week – including a provision protecting genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks.