Article: Republican Rivalry Simmers as Paths and Styles Diverge

Republican Rivalry Simmers as Paths and Styles Diverge
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/us/politics/republican-rivalry-simmers-as-paths-and-styles-diverge.html

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Article: For Some Miners, Black Lung Proof Comes Only in Death

For Some Miners, Black Lung Proof Comes Only in Death
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/miners-black-lung-proof-death/story?id=20714445

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Article: Cory Booker Wins New Jersey's Special Senate Election

Cory Booker Wins New Jersey's Special Senate Election
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/10/cory-booker-wins-new-jerseys-special-senate-election/70631/

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What to do

We all want to be entrepreneurs on some level. Even the simest person can be successful. The problem I often face is that I have too many ideas and I'm not sure where to begin and how to go about making it work.

Rape culture and Amanda Lindhout - Dawg's Blawg (Blog)

http://drdawgsblawg.ca/2013/09/rape-culture-and-amanda-lindhout.shtml

Syria On My Mind

I'm not sure how I feel about Obama's decision to strike Syria.  On the one hand it is a tragedy that chemical weapons were used in the Syrian civil war, but on the other hand what is the point of getting America involved in this conflict?  If the Saudis, Iran, the UAE and the other powerful rich countries in the region are not willing to flex their muscles in Syria, and if the United Ntions is not willing to strike Assad, then America should stay out of it.

In Syria there is no clear line defining who is a bad guy and who isn't. We can claim that Assad is the only bad guy,but the problem is that there is no true leader on the other side ready to steady the ship and keep Syria from a decade in the wilderness.  Attacking Syria is only going to flame the fire of hate against America in the region.  On top of that what will happen is that a lot of civilians will be killed.  This will create an entirely new generation of young people who hate America and want to see it destroyed.  Syrians are not going to hate America for not getting involved.  What is happening in Syria is not America's business.  It is time for the US to stop behaving like an empire and start taking care of business at home.

Obama is in a tough spot because no one with a heart can look at what is happening and just sit back, but he must refrain from getting the US involved, and truly earn his Nobel Peace Prize by allowing the rest of the world to take care of it.  And if the rest of the world decides to ignore it, it will not be America's burden to bear.

North Korean Singer's Death by Firing Squad

Kim Jong-un's ex-lover 'executed by firing squad'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/10272953/Kim-Jong-uns-ex-lover-executed-by-firing-squad.html

Nidal Hasan gets death penalty!

'A coward, a traitor, and a murderer': Fort Hood gunman sentenced to death
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/28/20232450-a-coward-a-traitor-and-a-murderer-fort-hood-gunman-sentenced-to-death?lite

Article: Anatomy of a Publisher

Anatomy of a Publisher
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2013/08/12/130812crbo_books_gottlieb?currentPage=all&src=longreads

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Article: Airport wars are underway in the Middle East

Airport wars are underway in the Middle East
http://qz.com/113741/airport-wars-are-underway-in-the-middle-east/

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Mourning Detroit

I’ve never been to Detroit. I don’t know much about the city or anyone who lives there to be honest. All that I have learned about the city of Detroit has been from TV series or newspaper stories about corruption, degeneration, and overall the death of a once great American city. I can’t help but mourn the slow death that Detroit has experienced. I’m a big fan of the urban jungle and I always want every city to thrive. That Detroit has been allowed to die off says a lot about how the state of Michigan feels about the city of Detroit and its people, but it also says a lot about the citizens of Detroit. This city’s demise brings up questions about autonomy. Can cities really thrive on their own without the involvement of the state government? Are there enough good people around to make sure that funds that are made available to a city are used properly? Are there enough trustworthy and hopeful people to make business people want to invest in the city and its population?

If you’re lucky enough to live in a place like New York City, you’d agree that cities can and should be autonomous. NYC after all is a great hub for business and attracts some of the best minds in the world to its blocks and skyscrapers. But there are other cities that don’t fare well. The problems of Detroit can be placed squarely on the shoulders of a decayed auto industry, but that would be an incredible sleight of hand that does little to unearth the true problems of a city like Detroit. Take a city like Pittsburgh for instance. It was once a great steel town, and then all the businesses moved away. Yet Pittsburgh has survived and rebranded itself, so much that it is viewed across the United States as one of the best cities to live in. One thing that Pittsburgh has that Detroit lacks is an educated population. There are few residents of Detroit who have a college education. In this fast paced world we live in, a college education is vital. Businesses need an educated workforce to be successful. And perhaps that is one way to explain the decline of Detroit. But there certainly has to be other reasons. Detroit has been in decline for such a long time. And because of this property value has plummeted. So why haven’t businesses in need of space moved some of their operations to the city of Detroit? Why haven’t the likes of Apple, Google and countless other tech companies in need of massive campuses sought to buy space in Detroit? Here we come back to the case of education. Surely these companies worry about having a work force. But Ann Arbor is not too far from Detroit, and it has a massive college educated network.

The truth of the matter is that to get to the root of Detroit’s problems would require an inquiry of considerable depth. At the moment the city appears to be nothing more than a poisonous pill. Yet it is also a sign of hope. Detroit can rise once more, as phoenix does. This is the perfect moment in this city’s history for innovation. This is the perfect opportunity for businesses, schools, and non-profit organizations to come in and rebuild the city of Detroit. This is the perfect time to make this city into what it had always threatened to be. The question that remains, is who amongst the American elite has the courage and the vision to affect change and bring about prosperity to a city long yearning for a savior?

A Lack of Focus

Sometimes you can see something coming a long way away.  Sometimes it is so evidently clear what is going to happen, yet we’re surprised by it when it hits us, when it finally comes and is either more than we expected or different from what we expected.  It is evidently clear that in the United States to expect change is to be naive.  To expect the system to work in your favor is an illusion only the imbecile should be allowed to fall under.  Yet one has to worry about the extreme lack of focus that the general public seems to have.

Yes George Zimmerman was always going to be found not guilty.  This is not because the man was innocent, or even because of some racist plot by the court.  Mr. Zimmerman was going to be found not guilty because the prosecution did not prepare itself well for that case.  He was going to be found not guilty because the prosecution overreached in its attempt to control the media tempest that came with the case.  Mr. Zimmerman was going to be found not guilty because his lawyers put a dead teenager on trial and the prosecution never stopped them from doing so, and the judge never told them to do otherwise.  Mr. Zimmerman was going to be found not guilty because Florida is a backwards state where a woman can shoot a round into the air and get 20 years for trying to defend herself against an abusive spouse.

Yet I reserve all judgment on Mr. Zimmerman.  This is because being found not guilty is not his fault.  Yes he made some poor choices that night –young Mr. Martin would still be alive if Zimmerman had stayed in his car –but the one at blame in this whole situation is the culture in which Mr. Zimmerman is immersed.  The people who are guilty in Mr. Martin’s death are the Florida residents who sat idly as their government passed a law which amounted to nothing more than a license to kill.  The stand your ground law is one which will eventually turn Florida into the Wild Wild West.  Don’t get me wrong, I strongly believe every citizen has the right not to be fucked with.  If someone comes into your house uninvited and is a threat to you, I think you should have the right to shoot him.  If someone approaches you in the street and threatens you or tries to still from you, I believe you have the right to defend yourself.  What I don’t believe in is the regular citizen’s right to carry a gun as he goes out looking for troublemakers.  If the trouble does not come to a man or a woman, he or she has no right to go looking for it.  Mr. Zimmerman went looking for trouble, because the Florida law gave him the impression that it was his duty as a private citizen to do so.

Beyond all the discussions about race and what did or did not happen that night, I think it is vital that we take a close look at the kinds of laws we pass, because arming an already stressed and underemployed population is just asking for trouble.

Article: How to Beat Stress | Men's Health

How to Beat Stress | Men's Health
http://www.menshealth.com/health/chase-away-stress

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Article: Is the south more racist than the north?

Is the south more racist than the north?
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/25/symbolic_racism_may_be_taking_over_the_south_partner/

This pretty much kills the IRS scandal

This pretty much kills the IRS scandal
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/24/this_pretty_much_kills_the_irs_scandal/

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Five Reasons to Stay out of Syria‏

It is becoming increasingly clear that the US is going to find itself involved in the conflict in Syria. We're back once again at the same stage about a decade ago when George Bush convinced us all that we had to go to Iraq. And here we are again. The president of the United States is being pressured by war happy senators that the United States must once again serve as the World's policeman and make things right, even though the international community is not so eager to get involved. But for all the reasons that one can suggest we users viable metrics for why the US should get involved, we can also suggest reasons why we should not get involved.

1. Agency

If there is anything that we know about revolutions it is that they often cannot exist without some spilt blood. The people of Syria have decided they want nothing more to do with their government. And that government has decided it intends to continue ruling these people. This is bound to cause a fight. And this fight must be fought. Just as America fought against the British and the North fought the South, the Syrians must fight this out. The people of Syria, if they get out of this conflict alive, will appreciate what they have achieved much more if they did it on their own. It will be an achievement they will talk about for generations, because they will know that at the end of the day the will of the people, even in an oppressive environment, overrules the beliefs of a few powerful people. The Syrians have made the choice to fight, and while the government might have better weapons and trained soldiers, you just have to look at Fidel Castro to see what a focused dedicated leader can achieve with a revolution.

2. Domestic Issues

One of the biggest problems America has right now is that it doesn't seem to be able to prioritize. The American educational system is one of the worst in the world compared to other first world countries. And with all the problems America has with unemployment and children constantly falling behind, and towns dying due to a lack of investment, how can it focus any of its resources towards fighting someone else's war? You cannot pretend you're in a good position to help or even advise someone else when your house is not in order. It I'd nice to feel like you're the big man on campus and the one everyone and their mother turn to, but you have to fix home first. Imagine what America would be like if more resources went towards education rather than war. Imagine what America would be like if instead of giving billions of dollars to other countries where people want to harm Americans, we funneled that money into our system and paid our teachers a good living wage. What if we used that money to provide help for parents with young children who cannot afford the astronomical child care prices? There is a lot that has to be done at home, and it does not make sense that we constantly use taxpayer money to help other people but cannot afford to help our own people.

3. What Happens After Assad?

No one is suggesting that Assad is a good man. No one disputes the fact that what he has put his country through is horrible, but I must question whether the people who are so eager to get rid of him have thought hard about what will happen after him. Sure you can get Assad out of the picture, but what do you replace him with? What is next? Is Assad simply going to be replaced by an over zealous religious nut job? Are the Syrian people going to be better off without Assad? Freedom is a wonderful thing, but what kind. Of freedom are the Syrian people going to have? Getting rid of Assad is not going t make the sectarian violence go away. And America will never be in the position of understanding the complexities of the Sunni versus Shiite debate. Before we even entertain the idea of getting ourselves dragged into something we do not understand or fully grasp, we should be careful to look at the potential aftermath. The Syrian people cannot hate America for not getting involved. After all, it is not the United States's job to fight other people's wars for them, even if they're viewed as underdogs.

4. Increased Strain

If there is one lesson we should have learned from all that we have been through, it should be that American involvement in conflicts throughout the world does nothing but create more strain on its relationships with people around the world. People do not like the Idea of being dictated to, which often happens when mighty militaries get involved in the lives of everyday citizens. You add to the issue America's imperialist behavior throughout history and you get a picture of a country too powerful for its own good walking around with its chest pumped out trying to tell other people how they should live their lives and what sort of democracy they should implement. What America needs is to heal its relationships with the world, not add to the problem. The Syrian conflict is tragic, but it is not a burden the United States has to take on its shoulders.

5. Another Decade of Influence

One clear reason why the US should stay clear is the fact that the international community is not keen on getting involved. He United Nations was created so that the world community can decide how best to deal with crises like the one in Syria. The UN cannot fulfill the terms of its charter if the United States is always present as the alternative. The burden of the Syrian conflict rests squarely on the shoulders of the United Nations, and the international body must be allowed to do its work. I'm a firm believer in the UN, especially given the fact that the Middle East is not a place where America has too many allies. If we do not avoid getting involved in Syria, we're faced with another decade of influencing global politics with the risk of abandoning the hopes of the taxpaying American citizen who has lost faith in his government and who is waiting for the time when politicians will decide they still want to work for the people they are supposed to represent.

The Fight for Black Men - Newsweek

http://nswk.ly/11nch3t

The Fight for Black Men

There are more African-Americans on probation, parole, or in prison today than were slaves in 1850. It is not a crisis of crime. It is a crisis of people being left behind.

Article: 5 Arab Spring Opportunities For Israel

5 Arab Spring Opportunities For Israel
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/20/5-arab-spring-opportunities-for-israel.html

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Spooks and the Spooked: Snowden and the Fear of Big Brother

Let’s try and run away from the news of the last few weeks if we can. The matter of fact is that we can’t escape it. Espionage is the story du jour. So much has been told lately about Snowden and the secrets he spilled. Some people view him as a hero and others view him as a traitor. It all depends on the angle you’re playing. Snowden to me, is a glory hound. We can all discuss whether it is okay for the government to collect our phone records, but the truth of the matter is that the general public does not need to know everything, unless it is something that is risking their lives. The collection of phone numbers, is not exactly illegal.

First off, the people who are getting so upset about the news that Verizon is giving up their phone records need to sit down and shut up for a second. When the Patriot Act was passed, very few people raised their voices against it. People sat by as congress gave the government the power to pretty much do anything and everything it wants to do in the name of catching terrorists. And now that the government is actually making use of the power it was given everyone wants to cry about it? Let’s be grown ups about it. Whether we like it or not, we gave these people the power to tap our phones and do everything they can to catch those who would harm us. If the American people were so against this sort of practice, they should have fought a little harder to stop things like the Patriot Act.

Second, if you don’t have anything to hide, you don’t really need to be too worried about the government collecting phone numbers, or reading e-mails. The innocent don’t need to bark at the top of their lungs, because they know they’re protected by the law. Those who are doing evil deeds are always and will always be looking over their shoulders wondering what is going to happen next. If the government was not using every tool at its disposal and something catastrophic happened, the people will rise, asking why more wasn’t done to get ahead of the terrorists, or why links weren’t drawn to stop further damage. So how can we complain when the government is doing what we gave it the power to do?

Third, the reality we face now days is that we have no idea where the next terrorist is coming from. If you look at the events in London recently, we can conclude that Africans are increasingly becoming radicalized. Your next door neighbor who appears to be as American as they come, just might be the next guy who wants to blow up an American landmark. We have to be able to fight against invisible forces. Unlike in the past, now days the terrorists do not need to announce themselves. They can operate in sleeper cells and attack when they find the right opportunity. How do you fight against an enemy you cannot see? You have to go through extremes to make sure you get all the information available out there and get the enemy before they have the chance to act upon their plans.

As much as I love being able to claim freedom, the fact is that 9/11 has scarred the United States. Those in power have a responsibility to their constituents to make sure that people who want to harm Americans are stopped and brought to justice. This is one of the reason why Mr. Snowden should have thought carefully about what he did.

Because of Mr. Snowden, more and more terrorists will pay attention to what they do on the phone. They will now be forced to devise new ways to operate completely in the dark. Plus Mr. Snowden’s actions jeopardize the U.S. in terms of its relation to its allies. Now France, Germany, and the United Kingdom will be forced to tone down their cooperation with the U.S. in terms of intelligence information. Mr. Snowden is a glory hound and nothing more. If his aim was simply to provide the information out there, he could have done it and remained silent. Instead he has sought to become the next Julian Assange, by making himself the news story, rather than the information he shared with the world. He could have quietly gone about his life and let the media blitz over the issue of NSA spying work itself out. Instead, more and more people have come out to defend the government and denounce him.

Big Brother is nothing to fear. At the end of the day people still have the power to vote for their officials. And if the American people were so set on denying the government the power to spy on them, they can petition the Supreme Court or sue to have the Patriot Act overturned. Until people are willing to go the distance, they have absolutely no reason to complain.

Article: 4-year-old boy accidentally kills dad in Arizona

4-year-old boy accidentally kills dad in Arizona
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4-year-old-boy-accidentally-kills-dad-arizona