From a NY Times story on the matter:
According to an internal memorandum circulating inside the government on Thursday, the “intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year.” President Obama said in April that the United States had physiological evidence that the nerve gas sarin had been used in Syria, but lacked proof of who used it and under what circumstances. He now believes that the proof is definitive, according to American officials.
This represents a quote-unquote “red line” situation for the U.S. (as in, Syria’s crossed a line), which means that we could see military action as a result.
WMD MUCH
(Source: brooklynmutt, via rubenfeld)
Mysischev 3MD
It was built in 1960 by the design bureau named after V. M. Myasischev. This modification of 3M had a better equipment, VD-7B engines, longer and more pointed nose part with a boom of a fuel receiving device at its end, wider wings. The aircraft was first demostrated in the airport of Domodedovo, Moscow in July, 1967. NATO code – Bison-C.
(via English Russia)
Offers step-by-step guide to avoid eating lab creations
thnx, Chuck
Fuck you GMO’s
“We need to find a way forward to make sure we can stop terrorists while protecting the privacy and liberty of innocent Americans. We have to find a way to give the President the power he needs to protect us, while making sure he does not abuse that power. It is possible to do that. We have done it before. We could do it again.” - Sen. Barack Obama 2006
This needs reblogs
MSNBC-Breaking NEWS: that wasn’t obama that was an imposter! Evil right-wing conspiracy! They’re racist, ya know?
(via grinch625)
Philadelphia adopting ‘doomsday’ school-slashing plan despite $400 million prison project
June 6, 2013Days after Philadelphia officials pushed the city one step closer to a so-called “doomsday” education plan that would see two dozen schools close, construction began on a $400-million prison said to be the second-most expensive state project ever.
Pennsylvania’s School Reform Commission voted on June 1 to approve a $2.4 billion budget, ignoring hours of pleas from students, parents, educators and community members who warned the budget would cripple city schools.
The plan would close 23 public schools, roughly 10 per cent of the city’s total. Commissioners rejected a proposal that would have only closed four of the 27 schools that were on the block for closure.
Without the means to cover a $304 million debt, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, students can expect to go back to school in September without new books, paper, counselors, clubs, librarians, assistant principals or secretaries. All athletics, art and music programs would be eliminated and as many as 3,000 people could lose their jobs.
Only one of five state commissioners voted against the proposal, warning that Republican Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s administration had not looked hard enough elsewhere for proper funds.
That $304 million windfall is unlikely to be filled because the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania House of Representatives recently passed a tax break for corporations that will cost Pennsylvania residents an estimated $600 million to $800 million annually.
Newly unemployed teachers might consider submitting their resumes to the Department of Corrections, though, with the news that the supposedly cash-strapped government is digging deep to spend $400 million for the construction of State Correctional Institutions Phoenix I and II.
The penitentiary, which is technically two facilities, will supplement at least two existing jails, the Western Penitentiary at Pittsburgh and Fayette County Jail. Pittsburgh’s Western Penitentiary was built in 2003 with the original intention of replacing Fayette County Jail, but the prison has struggled with lawsuits claiming widespread physical and sexual abuse of prisoners.
Scheduled to be completed in 2015, the new prison’s cell blocks and classroom will be capable of housing almost 5,000 inmates. Officials said there will be buildings for female inmates, the mentally ill and a death row population.
Journalist Rhania Khalek noted that the racial disparities in the education system and prison complex, where 60 per cent of all people are of color, have created a literal “school-to-prison-pipeline.”
“In Philadelphia, black students comprise 81 per cent of those who will be impacted by the closings despite accounting for just 58 per cent of the overall student population,” she wrote. “In stark contrast, just 4 per cent of those affected are white kids who make up 14 per cent of Philly students. And though they make up 81 per cent of Philadelphia students, 93 per cent of kids affected by the closings are low-income.”
Source
Photo: Decarcerate PA marching through Harrisburg on the way to protest school closures at the Capitol.This is disgusting. It’s a sad state of our country’s social contract and systemic inequalities when corporate tax breaks and prisons are more important than providing an adequate education.
(via fuckyourpropaganda)
Defining Government
Posted: June 4th, 2013 by Militant Libertarian
Law my friends
(via princessmonsanto)
‘I thought I’d die’: Turkish police brutality shocks & enrages protesters (by RussiaToday)
Police state
(via megal0dan)
