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Wednesday July 02, 2014
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Bill Moyers Essay: What We Can Learn From Lawrence of Arabia
Bill Moyers | author | 06/27/14

As fears grow of a widening war across the Middle East, fed by reports that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) envisions a region-wide, all controlling theocracy, we found ourselves talking about another war. The Great War – or World War I, as it would come to be called — was triggered one hundred years ago this month when an assassin shot and killed Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Through a series of tangled alliances and a cascade of misunderstandings and blunders, that single act of violence brought on a bloody catastrophe. More than 37 million people were killed or wounded.

In America, if we reflect on World War I at all, we think mostly about the battlefields and trenches of Europe and tend to forget another front in that war — against the Ottoman Empire of the Turks that dominated the Middle East. A British Army officer named T.E. Lawrence became a hero in the Arab world when he led nomadic Bedouin tribes in battle against Turkish rule. ... Read more

Now Wall Street Is Calling for Climate Sanity. Don't Expect the Right to Listen.
MotherJones | Chris Mooney | 06/30/14

Hank Paulson and Robert Rubin are teaming up to make the business community's case for addressing climate change. But will it matter?

... We'll get to that, but first, witness the latest attempt, which is aimed at swaying the business community. This weekend on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, two former treasury secretaries, Henry Paulson (a Republican) and Robert Rubin (a Democrat), went on the air to discuss climate change and, in particular, the new "Risky Business" report with which they're closely affiliated. The report, emerging from a partnership that also includes Michael Bloomberg and the environmentalist billionaire Tom Steyer, makes the case that climate change will have dire economic costs. On the air, Paulson said point blank that climate inaction entails "radical risk taking." Rubin added that the risk is "catastrophic." ... Read more

*Risky Business report
PBS | Risky Business Project quantifies climate change costs (06/25/14) [9:28]
Risky Business Report Press Conference (06/24/14) [40:34]
Risky Business report press conference webcast. Michael Bloomberg, Henry Paulson, Tom Steyer, Robert Rubin, Henry Cisneros, Greg Page Donna Shalala, and Al Sommer on their involvement with the report which quantifies the economic impacts of climate change in the US.
Risky Business website
Protect the Environment While They Still Can
Truthloader | Kiribati: The country killed by climate change (06/18/14) [5:11]
Kiribati is a tiny nation of 100,000 people living on dozens of islands over a huge area of the South Pacific. And it is set to become the first state completely destroyed by climate change. The government estimates the country will vanish beneath the waves by 2050 due to rising sea levels and coastal erosion, and has an official policy of evacuating the native population. At the same time, it is doing everything it can to protect the pristine ocean environments within its territorial waters, so that even once the country is gone the nature will survive. It's a pretty sad story.
Tiny House Builder

Living large in 150 square feet: Why the tiny house movement is taking off
Salon | Lindsay Abrams | 06/28/14

Come across one of the many photos of the “tiny houses” circulating on blogs and Pinterest, and your first reaction will probably be how cute they are — itty, bitty, bite-size domiciles straight out of a fairy tale. Your second reaction, depending on who you are, is either: How do people fit in there? Or simply, why? Or, for a select group of individuals: How do I get one of my own?

Ryan Mitchell became enamored with the idea of tiny houses back in 2008, he tells Salon. He’s been an enthusiastic member of the movement since then, blogging about the homes at TheTinyLife.com and publishing a book, out July 14, that functions both as a treatise of the tiny house lifestyle and how-to guide for “building and living well in less than 400 square feet.” On the eve of — at long last — moving into a 150-square home he’s built himself, Mitchell spoke with Salon about the economic and environmental benefits of tiny living. ... Read more

Tiny House on the Bay
(click picture, then scroll to bottom of article)
DemocracyNow Daily News
Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Wednesday, July 02 [11:13]
TRNN News
TRNN | Michael Hudson: EU Association Agreement with Ukraine Is a Gift to Kleptocrats (07/01/14) [10:58]
TRNN | Aleksandr Buzgalin discusses: Rebellion in Eastern Ukraine: Separatism or Self-Determination? (07/01/14) [9:28]
Bill Moyers
*Bill Moyers | Jim Hightower: Grass Roots Grow Against Greed. (07/02/14) [24:24]
James Allen "Jim" Hightower (born January 11, 1943) is an American syndicated columnist, progressive political activist, and author who served from 1983 to 1991 as the elected commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture.
*Bill Moyers Essay | What We Can Learn From Lawrence of Arabia (06/27/14) [3:48]
Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence Of Arabia (preview [4:45] + rental for $2.99 [3:47:05]) PBS | Lawrence of Arabia The Battle For The Arab World, Part 1 (06/17/14) [54:47], Part 2 [54:49]
Born to unmarried parents in the strict Victorian era, Lawrence is embarrassed by his illegitimacy. He spends most of his childhood alone, driving for physical and academic achievement. At Oxford, his passion for medieval history results in an expedition to study the great crusader castles of Syria, where he gains invaluable knowledge of the Arabs. While employed as an archaeologist, he is recruited by British intelligence to monitor Turkish activities. He also befriends an Arab who will deeply influence his views towards Arabs and their cause. After World War I begins, Lawrence becomes an intelligence officer in the British Army. His mission is to gather information about an Arab Revolt planned against Turkish rulers. In return for a promise guaranteeing their independence, the Arabs join the war on the British side. But a secret agreement between the British and French will shatter this dream. Torn by conflicting loyalties, Lawrence continues to assist the Arabs, becoming more deeply entrenched in their fight. Against all odds, he leads the Arabs in a daring attack on the Turkish port of Aqaba. It is a stunning success and a turning point for Lawrence, the Arabs, and the British.
Blood and Oil: The Middle East in World War I (2013) [1:53:13]
The Making of the Modern Middle East: Lawrence of Arabia and King Faisal I (04/04/14) [1:28:26]
How much blame for the current troubles in the Middle East lies with the decisions made by the West in 1919 -- when the Ottoman Empire was carved up arbitrarily into the modern states we know today? Is it true that Arab society has tended to define itself less by what it aspires to become than what it is opposed to: colonialism, Zionism, and Western imperialism? That era seems to be coming to an end with the recent Arab Spring movements. As ethnic and religious loyalties intensify, will new lines be drawn? And will they lead to greater harmony in the region or exacerbated conflict?

T. E. Lawrence is one of Britain's most romantic historical figures. In 1914 he was an archaeologist excavating ruins in the sands of Syria. By 1917 he was battling both the Turks and his own government to bring about the vision he had for the Arab people. A new biography of him, Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East, by the American author Scott Anderson, has sold over 150,000 copies in the US and won the New York Times Notable Book award.

Faisal was a battle-hardened military leader who with the help of Lawrence organised the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. He went on to become king of both Iraq and the first independent state of Syria. Faisal I of Iraq is the latest book by Ali Allawi, Iraq's first post-war civilian Minister of Defence who has been acclaimed for his knowledge and insight into Islamic society.
The History Of The Ottoman Empire (12/19/13) [1:30:20]
The Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Turkish), also historically referred to as the Turkish Empire or Turkey, was an empire founded by Oghuz Turks under Osman Bey in northwestern Anatolia in 1299. With the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed II in 1453, the Ottoman state was transformed into an empire.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, in particular at the height of its power under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire was one of the most powerful states in the world, a multinational, multilingual empire controlling much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, the Caucasus, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa. At the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries.

With Constantinople as its capital and control of vast lands around the Mediterranean basin, the Ottoman Empire was at the centre of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for over six centuries. The empire was dissolved in the aftermath of World War I, leading to the emergence of the new state of Turkey in the Ottoman Anatolian heartland, as well as the creation of modern Balkan and Middle Eastern states.
Other Videos and Documentaries I Ran Across
Note: I don't endorse any of the videos in this section.
As I construct My News Pages I constantly run across a lot of NEW videos, and since I find YouTube frustrating trying to re-find videos, I save the links in this section so I can find them again.
Lawrence of Arabia - Conversation with Stephen Spielberg (08/27/08) [8:49]
A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1992) [1:43:52]
In 1919, the great English military man T. E. Lawrence tries to help the king of the Syrian in the Conference of Peace in Paris. The film shows the hero of the movie Lawrence of Arabia (1962) in a phase of reflection and politics, defending the Arabs against the pretensions of England and France.
BBC | The Legacy of Lawrence of Arabia, Part 1 (2014) [58:53], Part 2 [58:51]
Lawrence of Arabia - Teaser - In Search for Lawrence (2008) [5:00]

07.02.2014. 11:32



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Lindsey Graham Mashups
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said the quiet part aloud on why he’s still so close to former President Donald Trump: because we can use him for our goals. "President Trump has gotten people who wouldn't give me or Romney or anybody else the time of day. They believe he is on their side," the senator told the America First Agenda Summit crowd on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

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Environment & Climate Change
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The term "climate change" is often used to refer specifically to anthropogenic climate change (also known as global warming). Anthropogenic climate change is caused by human activity, as opposed to changes in climate that may have resulted as part of Earth's natural processes.

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AI - Artificial Intelligence | Machine Learning | Deep Learning
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AIArtificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence demonstrated by machines, as opposed to the natural intelligence displayed by animals including humans. AI research has been defined as the field of study of intelligent agents, which refers to any system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of achieving its goals.

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Quantum mechanics | AI - Artificial Intelligence
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Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles.  It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, quantum field theory, quantum technology, and quantum information science.
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Economy, Wall Street and Banksters

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Intelligence Agencies/Deep State?

Intelligence Agencies/Deep State?

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Daniel Ellsberg | Pentagon Papers
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Nukes
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Nuclear weapons have come a long way and come in all types of different sizes. Some are relatively small while others are enormous, so big they boggle the mind at what they can be capable of, i.e. the Soviet 'Tsar Bomba' is/was 3,000 times greater than the Hiroshima bomb.

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Rana Foroohar and Fall of American Business
Rana Foroohar

Ms. Foroohar says financialization delivers stagnant wages, inequality and economic crisis; the Financial Times columnist and author of "Makers and Takers" says the financial sector represents only 7 percent of the U.S. economy, but takes around 25 percent of all corporate profit while creating only 4 percent of all jobs.

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The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone & Petere Kuznick

The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone & Petere Kuznick | 2014 | 10 Episodes

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Kuznick Interviews

Kuznick Interviews

Historian Peter Kuznick says Eisenhower called for decreased militarization, then Dulles reversed the policy; the Soviets tried to end the cold war after the death of Stalin; crazy schemes involving nuclear weapons and the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba put the world of the eve of destruction - with host Paul Jay

The Untold History of the United States by Kuznick, Peter.mobi | Book | 6.99 MB

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China Valley of Tunnels

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A report written by a Georgetown University team led by Phillip Karber conducted a three-year study to map out China’s complex tunnel system, which stretches 5,000 km (3,000 miles). The report determined that the stated Chinese nuclear arsenal is understated and as many as 3,000 nuclear warheads may be stored in the underground tunnel network.

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911
911

On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists attacked the Unites States. They hijacked four airplanes in mid-flight. The terrorists flew two of the planes into two skyscrapers at the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact caused the buildings to catch fire and collapse. Another plane destroyed part of the Pentagon (the U.S. military headquarters) in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Officials believe that the terrorists on that plane intended to destroy either the White House or the U.S. Capitol. Passengers on the plane fought the terrorists and prevented them from reaching their goal. In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks.

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The Vietnam War

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Trump's Mashups
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Trump's Sexcapades
Trump's Sexcapades.

Jessica Leeds (1980s)
Kristin Anderson (1990s)
E. Jean Carroll (1995 or 1996)
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Karena Virginia (1998)
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Jennifer Murphy (2005)
Rachel Crooks (2005)
Natasha Stoynoff (2005)
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Trump's Speeches | Rallys |Interviews
Trump's Speeches | Rallys

Donald Trump talks a lot, but what is he actually saying? Watch Trump at some of his rallys and see what you think.

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