Clipmarks | Humanity Clips

Homeless Man Dies Sfter Being Set Ablaze

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:08:15 GMT

clipped by: spirithiker
clipper's remarks: What the hell has happened to our humanity?

This is disgusting.

LOS ANGELES - A homeless man died after being doused with gasoline and set on fire on a street where he had lived for many years and was a familiar face to residents of Koreatown, police and local merchants said Friday.

Police were called to Third Street west of downtown Thursday evening and found the man, who was pronounced dead at a hospital.

A man in his 20s was seen throwing gasoline on the man, chasing him, throwing more on him and running from the scene, said Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz. Scorch marks stained a wall Friday where the man was burned.

"To murder somebody who's probably suffering from mental illness issues and not bothering anyone — just a poor wretch on the street — you've got to be a soulless nitwit to do something like this," he said.

Megadiverse Countries

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:46:50 GMT

clipped by: musex64
clipper's remarks: I actually came across this wiki article by chance. It is a term I never heard of and find quite interesting.
The list of 17 countries is unique in that it includes "highly developed" nations such as The United States and China and many nations with less "developed" economies.

I put the terms in quotes because the only meaningful way of comparing nation states would be based on the humanity of their institutions and in that regard the US...well lets just leave it there.

In any case, I would love to be at a meeting of these 17 nations.

The environmental crisis facing the entire planet demands creative solutions and challenging efforts at cooperation. Perhaps humanity will rise to the occasion.

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

The megadiverse countries are a group of countries that harbor the majority of the earth's species and are therefore considered extremely biodiverse. The World Conservation Monitoring Centre, an agency of the United Nations Environment Programme, has identified 17 megadiverse countries,^[1] most located in the tropics.

In 2002, a separate organization, Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries, was formed consisting of countries rich in biological diversity and associated traditional knowledge.^[2] This organization does not include all the megadiverse countries as identified by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Megadiverse countries

In alphabetical order, the 17 countries^[1] identified as megadiverse by the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre are:

Tags: environment, reference, politics, geography

Toddler Planet and Imaginary Wealth

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:26:48 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: The industrialized world is still incredibly rich without it. If we were all (particularly the people at the top) willing to accept a little less, and stop trying to stick somebody else with the entire loss, we'd all be fine.

But apparently this type of behavior—something I've dubbed "not being a three year-old toddler"—is beyond the capability of humanity. We'd prefer to suffer enormously instead.

Clip Source: www.tinyrevolution.com

Toddler Planet

I first learned about the Great Depression when I was ten or so. And I remember thinking: I don't get it. I was mystified by the way this could have happened—everyone suddenly becoming much poorer for ten years—when nothing whatsoever had changed in physical reality.

I understand the process of the Great Depression now. But it's certainly an education to watch a gigantic financial panic in real time. I look outside, and the sun is shining. The world still has all the same people and buildings and cars and factories—i.e., it's not like we've just suffered from a virulent plague or half the planet's been destroyed by bombs. And yet we really may all become much poorer for the next ten years.

It's completely insane. And it could be avoided if we would all just calm down and look at reality, which is not that scary. So we don't have $8 trillion of imaginary wealth we thought we did. Who cares?

Jews Protect Palestinians in Harvest of Hate

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:15:19 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: It is always good to find examples of Godliness and humanity beneath the global hurricane of violent hatred, vicious condemnation, shrill hysteria and poisonous anger.

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

In the shade of the trees where they have been picking olives all morning, in this wadi, south-east of Nablus, a Palestinian farmer, Jamal Otman Koarik, and two of his daughters share a lunch of home-baked bread, zatar, oil, courgettes and salad with three visitors. It's a bucolic scene that could have happened any time in the past century. But what makes it notable in 2008 is that the guests who have been helping Mr Koarik pick the olives are Israeli Jews: a rabbi, an anthropologist and a youth worker, Hellela Siew.

Asked why he and his volunteers make this often risky mission each year, the US-born rabbi says "if we really believe" the Biblical text that all human beings are made in God's image, "we have got to put our money where our mouth is and be here in an active way to defend human rights". And he also cites the "dialogue of the olive groves" in which Israelis and Palestinians who "have to live and die here together" have "no choice but to communicate"

Tags: palestine-israel

Brain Implant ends 9 Year Void

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:57:08 GMT

clipped by: tmarch
clipper's remarks: Another instance of an injury victim benefiting from the use of brain implants to help communication.

Clip Source: www.esquire.com

October 2, 2008, 6:58 AM

The Unspeakable Odyssey of the Motionless Boy

How much of our humanity are we prepared to cede to machines? This is a dilemma of the future, but it's not much of a concern for Erik Ramsey. Erik can't move. He can't blink his eyes. And he hasn't said a word since 1999. But now, thanks to an electrode that was surgically implanted in his brain and linked to a computer, his nine-year silence is about to end.

WHO BENEFITS?

TODAY: ALS, Brain Stem Stroke, Other Locked-In Patients

TOMORROW: Spinal Cord Injured, Cyborgs, Enhancement of

Normal Humans

However, very soon after the accident, a speech therapist discovered that there remained one peephole in the otherwise impenetrable wall that kept Erik sequestered in his cell of flesh and bones. Because he could still look up and down, he could still say yes and no. "Up for heaven, down for hell," the therapist told him.

Tags: tech's appeal

Cleese on Hannity

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:26:20 GMT

clipped by: oscarrob
clipper's remarks: I have always loved John Cleese. Smart and funny as hell. LOL

Clip Source: tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com

John Cleese Writes a Poem For Sean Hannity

It's a beautiful poem from the comedy icon of Monty Python fame that perfectly captures the essence of Sean Hannity.

Ode to Sean Hannity

by John Cleese

Aping urbanity
Oozing with vanity
Plump as a manatee
Faking humanity
Journalistic calamity
Intellectual inanity
Fox Noise insanity
You’re a profanity
Hannity

Tags: politics, humor, journalism, hannity, cleese

France & Venezuela in talks for nuclear deal

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:14:17 GMT

clipped by: darkduskx

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro and France's Bernard Kouchner speak in Paris on Thursday.

PARIS, France (AP) -- The French and Venezuelan foreign ministers say they are looking at possibly collaborating on civilian nuclear energy projects in Venezuela.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also says France would like to use Venezuela as a go-between with Iran in discussions about its disputed nuclear program. However, Kouchner says the Iranians have proved unreceptive to the approach.

Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro told reporters in Paris Thursday his country is interested in going nuclear, adding that humanity's future depends on it.

Kouchner said France "is ready to work with our Venezuelan friends" on the matter.

Venezuela is a major petroleum exporter, while France is home to nuclear giant Areva and is a leading exporters of nuclear technology.

Royal Dutch Shell to go to Trail for Complicity in Torture and Murder of Nigerian Protesters

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:32:35 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks:

Nigeria has been chief among Shell’s assets for many years. Critics charge that with the aim of production at any cost, regardless of the damage to the surrounding people and land, Shell disrupted thousands of lives and wreaked havoc on the environment. In the early 1990’s, the people of Nigeria began to protest. Shell made payments and provided arms to security forces that they knew to be abusive to local communities. The military government violently repressed the demonstrations and arrested and bribed witnesses. Nine leaders of the demonstrations were murdered, including the aforementioned well-known activist and writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Clip Source: www.earthrights.org

Judge Kimba Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York set a trial date of February 9, 2009 for a human rights and racketeering case against the Royal Dutch Shell company (Shell) and the head of its Nigerian operation, Brian Anderson

The cases charge the corporation and this key official for their complicity in the November 10, 1995 hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other leaders in the nonviolent opposition to Shell’s pattern of human rights abuses and environmental destruction

Ken Saro Wiwa

defendants are charged with complicity in human rights abuses against the Ogoni people in Nigeria, including summary execution, crimes against humanity, torture, inhumane treatment, arbitrary arrest, wrongful death, assault and battery, and infliction of emotional distress

The case against Royal Dutch/Shell also alleges that the corporation violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Egalitarian revolution in the Pleistocene?

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:28:59 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks:

In humans, a secondary transition from egalitarian societies to hierarchical states took place as the first civilizations were emerging. How can it be understood in terms of the model discussed? One can speculate that technological and cultural advances made the coalition size much less important in controlling the outcome of a conflict than the individuals' ability to directly control and use resources (e.g. weapons, information, food) that strongly influence the outcomes of conflicts.

Clip Source: www.eurekalert.org

Although anthropologists and evolutionary biologists are still debating this question, a new study, published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE, supports the view that the first egalitarian societies may have appeared tens of thousands of years before the French Revolution, Marx, and Lenin. These societies emerged rapidly through intense power struggle and their origin had dramatic implications for humanity. In many mammals living in groups, including hyenas, meerkats, and dolphins, group members form coalitions and alliances that allow them to increase their dominance status and their access to mates and other resources. Alliances are especially common in great apes, some of whom have very intense social life, where they are constantly engaged in a political maneuvering as vividly described in Frans de Waal's "Chimpanzee politics".

Tags: anthropology, humans, egalitarian, community, sociology, prehistory, science

Eschatology

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:40:41 GMT

clipped by: eskeip
clipper's remarks: In reference to: "Day of Atonement"

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Eschatology (from the Greek ἔσχατος, Eschatos meaning "last" and -logy meaning "the study of") is a part of theology and philosophy concerned with the final events in the history of the world, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world. While in mysticism the phrase refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality and reunion with the Divine, in many traditional religions it is taught as an actual future event prophesied in sacred texts or folklore. More broadly, eschatology may encompass related concepts such as the Messiah or Messianic Age, the end time, and the end of days.

Tags: eschatology

Mass UFO Sighting Predicted - Oct 14, 2008

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:17:04 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks:

I believe they feel they have no choice but to show themselves as we verge on self-annihilation, genocide and toxic poisoning. The truth of our inter-galactic lineage will become common knowledge. If I am to believe the vision, the truth of our intergalactic lineage will cause humanity to take one wild ride.

They're coming! I'd love a wild ride. Heh heh...

Clip Song

Clip Source: www.ufodigest.com

Blossom Goodchild’s Predicted Mass UFO Sighting: Will it Force Disclosure to Occur?

rumors of an upcoming mass televised UFO sighting over American skies are taking the Internet by storm.

Blossom Goodchild, an Aussie actress and author, has the international Ufology community on its ear with channeled information concerning the eminent appearance of a massive extraterrestrial spacecraft for October 14th, 2008.

Calling themselves ‘The Federation of Light’, these Beings from another world have stated to Goodchild that they intend not only to make themselves known, but also to remain more or less in place for a full 72 hour period, thereby providing the media with ample opportunity to once and for all capture on film evidence that will silence the skeptics and debunkers forever. The predicted rendezvous point? Alabama.

Whoa.

she isn't the only one making the prediction.

By the year 2008, the fact that we are not alone in the universe will be made undeniably clear to everyone on the planet.

Yesterday Russia, today the world

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:45:31 GMT

clipped by: Seosamh Dalzell

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Yet, although it is a book which is not comprehensible outside the context of 19th century Russia, its power to shock consists in the preternatural accuracy of its political prophecy, and its psychological analysis of terrorism. The central evil genius, Pyotr Stepanovich Verkhovensky, is among other things a prophecy of Lenin. Nearly half a century before Lenin arrived, with such catastrophic results for humanity, at the Finland Station in St Petersburg, Verkhovensky sees the political usefulness not just of the political activists but of the "useful idiots" in a society which has lost hold of Christianity.

"The schoolboys who kill a peasant for the thrill of it are ours… The prosecutor in the courtroom who trembles in fear that he is not sufficiently liberal, is ours, ours. Administrators, men of letters, oh, there are many of our people, a tremendous number, and they themselves don't know it."

Tags: dostoevsky, terrorism, the devils, the possessed

Josef Koudelka, Prague, 1968

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:18:25 GMT

clipped by: stuckjes

Clip Source: www.kottke.org

It was taken by Josef Koudelka in Prague in 1968, just before the Soviet Union invaded and put a stop to The Prague Spring. To demonstrate the emptiness of the streets at noon, Koudelka stuck his wristwatch into the scene before shooting it. A simple, brilliant gesture that adds not only a temporal dimension to the photo but also a sense of solitary humanity in contrast to the empty streets.

1

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:47:48 GMT

clipped by: mmaher11

Clip Source: www.doctorhugo.org

"Seven Blunders of the World"

1. Wealth without work

2.

Pleasure without conscience

3. Knowledge without character

4. Commerce without morality

5. Science without humanity

6. Worship without sacrifice

7. Politics without principle

—Mahatma Gandhi

Arab League to meet over Sudan ICC issue

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:11:17 GMT

clipped by: tommy2balmy
clipper's remarks: Sudan’s appointment of a special prosecutor was seen as concession that would provide leverage to the Arab League and African Union (AU) when requesting a resolution from the UN Security Council (UNSC) deferring Al-Bashir’s indictment under Article 16 of the ICC Statute.

Sabdarat said today that the prosecutions have made some progress with some suspects in detention and being investigated.

He also lashed out at Ocampo saying that he crossed his limits as a prosecutor by discussing his case on “satellite TV’s”.

The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I headed held a closed meeting with Ocampo this week regarding his application for the first time. It is expected that they may take up to three months to issue a decision.

Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute, but the UNSC triggered the provisions under the Statute that enables it to refer situations in non-State parties to the world court if it deems that it is a threat to international peace and security.

Clip Source: sudantribune.com

October 5, 2008 (KHARTOUM) – Arab justice ministers will meet in Cairo a week from today to discuss the indictment of Sudanese President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa attends a ministerial meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo July 19, 2008 (Reuters)

Sudan official news agency (SUNA) quoted justice minister Abdel-Basit Sabdarat as saying that the Arab League proposal to resolve the crisis is proceeding as planned. He also welcomed the meeting by Arab justice ministers.

The ICC’s prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges: three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder. It was only last week that judges have started reviewing the case in a process that could possibly drag on to next year.

Sudanese presidential adviser Mustafa Ismail

insisted that the Sudanese judiciary is capable of looking into the Darfur war crimes

Tags: sudan, darfur, arab league, icc, hague, moreno-ocampo, al-bashir