we know how politics works in the United States. Whoever—whatever political party gets into government is going to merge with the bureaucracy pretty damn fast. It will be in a position where it has some levers in its hand. And so, as a result, corporate lobbyists will move in to help control those levers. So it doesn’t make much difference in the end. What does make a difference is political accountability, a general deterrence set to stop political organizations behaving in a corrupt manner. Continue reading →

Bernie Sanders and Jane Sanders are mere actors serving as pressure valves which release from time to time all excess heat emanating from failed policies, scandals, and the worsening economic conditions, so that a catastrophic systems’ collapse can be prevented. They are sheepdogs for Hillary Clinton, preventing progressives from supporting a third party progressive candidate and to herd them back into the corral of the Democratic Party. Continue reading →

"Well, reducing the election to personalities is kind of infantile at this point. The fact is, we live in a system that Sheldon Wolin calls inverted totalitarianism. It’s a system where corporate power has seized all of the levers of control. There is no way to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs or ExxonMobil or Raytheon." Continue reading →

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter James Grimaldi of The Wall Street Journal, who has covered the Clinton Foundation for years, looks at the relationship between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department during Hillary Clinton’s time as secretary of state, and what it would be if she became president. Newly released State Department emails include exchanges between top members of the Clinton Foundation and Clinton’s top State Department advisers, including Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills. The FBI reportedly wanted to investigate the Clinton Foundation earlier this year, but U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch pushed back. Continue reading →

When longtime independent Senator Bernie Sanders lost his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, he concluded his campaign by endorsing Hillary Clinton instead of a third-party candidate. "This huge, wonderful effort that he launched is now aborted," says our guest, four-time former presidential candidate Ralph Nader. "Sanders hasn’t returned a call from me in 18 years. He is a lone ranger. He doesn’t like to be pushed into more progressive action than he is willing to adhere to. As a result, millions of his voters now are in disarray. They don’t know where to go." Nader has a new book titled "Breaking Through Power: It’s Easier Than We Think." Continue reading →

Questions surrounding Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation continue to grow. On Sunday, Democratic National Committee interim chairperson Donna Brazile defended Clinton’s meetings as secretary of state with Clinton Foundation donors, saying, "When Republicans meet with their donors, with their supporters, their activists, they call it a meeting. When Democrats do that, they call it a conflict." Donna Brazile’s comments come in response to an Associated Press investigation revealing that while Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state, more than half of the private citizens she met with during the reporting period had donated to the Clinton Foundation. The AP investigation comes after a three-year battle to gain access to State Department calendars. The analysis shows that at least 85 of 154 people Hillary Clinton had scheduled phone or in-person meetings with were foundation donors. We speak to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept. His most recent piece is headlined "Why Did the Saudi Regime and Other Gulf Tyrannies Donate Millions to the Clinton Foundation?" Continue reading →

Julian Assange says Donald Trump would not be permitted to win. All of the establishment--Wall Street, Corporate America, the elites, the media, career politicians, et al--is united behind Hillary Clinton. Continue reading →

"Trump didn’t hijack the populism, the Democratic Party made a gift of it to him. And he simply accepted it. … that elite … made a decision that in the midst of a global insurrection against political corruption and economic oligarchy that Hillary Clinton’s 'pay to play' politics in global finance capitalism would somehow play better than Bernie Sanders Democratic Socialism. … they ignored every poll they had, all the data they had, and even all the anecdotes they could possibly have accumulated in order to reach the conclusion that Hillary was a stronger candidate than Bernie. … And I remain certain that if anyone other than Clinton - and certainly if you accept for just one moment that when all the polls said the right things by such wide margins for so long they might be right - Bernie Sanders could have won this had he been the nominee, like Roosevelt took out Landon." Continue reading →

Grow a spine. Bernie Sanders, when are you going to risk losing your friendship with the Democrats to help your country? When are you going to risk doing that? You had a stupid secret agreement not to attack Hillary Clinton, and you stayed by it, and then when the country needed you to do something with your movement, you told them to go work for the Machine. And now you're telling them to back Chuck Schumer. Continue reading →

This is the natural progression, this is the natural endgame of the Bill Clinton Democratic Party when he decided to change the Democratic Party from a party of workers and blue-collar people to a party of Silicon Valley and Wall Street. And Democrats have to acknowledge that. And if they don't, they ain't going nowhere. Continue reading →

Bernie Sanders' voting record is not progressive. It has been reported on Facebook that Bernie has voted 98% of the time in agreement with Senate Democrats and 93% of the time in agreement with Hillary Clinton. And here is Bernie Sanders' illustrious "progressive" voting record...LOL. Show this to all his crazed cult followers who claim he is a progressive and has done so much for us...LOL. Continue reading →

Claudia Stauber provides a perfect metaphor of how she felt listening to Bernie Sanders today in Vermont, telling us how much he still fights for us against the 1% and the oligarchs. Continue reading →

Connecticut General Assembly Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz speaking at the 2014 CEUI Convention. Joe Aresimowicz, in speaking to a governmental employee union group in 2014, assured governmental union employees that he would be looking out for them: "You guys have one of your own that sits in the caucus room of the General Assembly. You cannot replicate that." "I will never allow an anti-collective bargaining bill to be called to the House floor. I'm the majority leader. I can make that guarantee." "Please, stand together, stand as brothers and sisters, and be a family. And make sure we are looking out for our own." Continue reading →

I remember reading somewhere that if the earth was shrunk to the size of a pool ball, or a pool ball expanded to the size of the earth, the earth would be the smoother of the two.

NITA STRAUSS в недавней беседе с Heavy New York рассказала о том, как продвигается работа над новым диском, выход которого намечен на этот год:

«Я бы не сказала, что новая пластинка будет принципиально отличаться от прошлого релиза. Это будет всё такой же инструментальный альбом, только я в неё вложила много разных граней своей личности, которых и так было не мало на "Controlled Chaos", но здесь они ярче и в плане агрессивной стороны, и в плане светлой и весёлой сторон, и более мирной и спокойной... Я буквально на прошлой неделе закончила работу над балладой, и я очень горжусь тем, какой она получилась. Так что тут определённо будет большой спектр самых разных эмоций. И самым большим вызовом для меня будет приглашение одного или даже двух вокалистов для нескольких тем. Так что это и будет самым большим отличием от первой работы». #Nita_Strauss #NitaStrauss

Вокалистка NIGHTWISH Floor Jansen недавно в интервью A&P Reacts поговорила о том, насколько пандемия коронавируса повлияла на туровые планы коллектива:

«Полагаю, все, кроме ученых, да даже и учёные в действительности ещё не знают, что будет дальше. Мы никогда не сталкивались с пандемией такого масштаба. Мы знаем, что в ближайшем будущем вакцина не появится. И пока её нет, очень трудно прогнозировать возвращение массовых мероприятий — таких, как музыкальные фестивали и крупные концерты. Наши европейские шоу собирают от семи до семнадцати тысяч зрителей. Сейчас коронавирус ежедневно уносит столько жизней, что восстановление концертной индустрии займет месяцы.

Очень хочется желать, чтобы осенью-зимой всё пришло в норму и обычная жизнь вернулась. Не хочу показаться пессимисткой, но вряд ли это возможно. И поскольку мы толком не знаем, что будет дальше, разработка "Плана Б" существенно осложняется, потому что всё сдвигается на более позднее время. Прямо сейчас мы должны были выступать в Китае. Немного погодя нам предстояло сесть в самолет, вылетающий в Мексику для тура по странам Латинской Америки, затем на очереди была бы Россия. Таким образом, гастроли как минимум в трёх частях света уже отложены. Такая же судьба, по-видимому, ожидает и североамериканский тур.

Но, опять же, самое важное — и я хочу это особо подчеркнуть — это наше здоровье. Если нам даровано хорошее здоровье, то жаловаться не на что. Происходящее по-настоящему подтверждает главные ценности в жизни, в данный момент это сохранение здоровья. Если вы здоровы — это просто отлично. Нечего жаловаться на карантин. Это, быть может, неудобно, зато даёт нам время на те дела, для которых ранее времени никогда не находилось. Лучше пересидеть и даже насладиться изоляцией изо всех сил, просто занимаясь обычными вещами, вроде изучения нового языка и очередного просмотра любимого фильма. Это подлинная роскошь в сравнении с переживанием болезни и связанных с нею кошмаров.

Вот поэтому я лучше отсижусь до следующего лета и буду уверена, что всё благополучно закончилось, что мы можем приступить к нормальной жизни в добром здравии и в безопасной обстановке, вместо того чтобы спешить. И если это означает, что нам следует подождать с концертами и шоу, пока мы не получим вакцину, — так тому и быть. Самое разумное, что мы можем сейчас сказать, — это что в настоящий момент не может быть иного "плана Б", кроме того, что мы просто хотим выступать.

Словами не передать расстройство от нахождения взаперти и невозможности играть, но моя личная точка зрения подразумевает, что нужно сосредоточиться на том, что вы реально можете делать. В моём случае — проводить время с мужем и ребёнком, гораздо больше времени, чем у меня обычно получается. И для других домашних занятий появилось время — можно сфокусироваться на чём-то особенном. Пока не поступит новая информация, мы должны всего лишь сидеть и надеяться, что не заболеем ни мы сами, ни наши любимые». #Nightwish #AcousticRock #Acoustic_Rock #PowerMetal #Power_Metal #SymphonicMetal #Symphonic_Metal #Instrumental #_Instrumental

Century Media Records совместно с EMP организовали онлайн-фестиваль, получивший название The Century Media Isolation Festival, который пройдет на официальном YouTube-канале Century Media четырнадцатого мая, стартует в 8 PM, CET / 2 PM, EST / 11 AM, PST и продлится 24 часа.

В фестивале примут участие:

- Angelus Apatrida (Spain, Thrash Metal)
- Baest (Denmark, Death Metal)
- Bonded (Germany, Thrash Metal)
- Borknagar (Norway, Avantgarde Black Metal)
- Dead Lord (Sweden, Hard Rock)
- Deserted Fear (Germany, Death Metal)
- Hideous Divinity (Italy, Death Metal)
- Insomnium (Finland, Melodic Death Metal)
- Lucifer (Sweden, Heavy Rock)
- Omnium Gatherum (Finland, Melodic Death Metal)
- Svart Crown (France, Death/Black Metal)
- The Offering (USA, Progressive Metal)
- Voivod (Canada, Progressive Sci-Fi Metal) #V/A #Rock #_Rock #FolkRock #Folk_Rock #PopRock #Pop_Rock #DeathRock #Death_Rock #HardRock #Hard_Rock #PostRock #Post_Rock #SymphonicRock #Symphonic_Rock #ArtRock #Art_Rock #Adult OrientedRock #Adult Oriented_Rock #Folk #_Folk #GothicFolk #Gothic_Folk #DarkFolk #Dark_Folk #Metal #_Metal #FolkMetal #Folk_Metal #InstrumentalMetal #Instrumental_Metal #GothicMetal #Gothic_Metal #AlternativeMetal #Alternative_Metal #BlackMetal #Black_Metal #DeathMetal #Death_Metal #DoomMetal #Doom_Metal #HeavyMetal #Heavy_Metal #NuMetal #Nu_Metal #PostMetal #Post_Metal #PowerMetal #Power_Metal #ThrashMetal #Thrash_Metal #VikingMetal #Viking_Metal #GrindCore #Grind_Core #IndustrialElectro #Industrial_Electro #Gothic #_Gothic #EthnoGothic #Ethno_Gothic #ElectroGothic #Electro_Gothic #InstrumentalClassic #Instrumental_Classic #NoiseIndustrial #Noise_Industrial #ElectroIndustrial #Electro_Industrial #DarkAmbient #Dark_Ambient #Hard 'n' Heavy #_Hard 'n' Heavy

NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans will air the first new episodes of 2017 tonight. You can find sneak peeks, tweets and photos...

Criminal Minds has the first new episode of 2017 on the schedule tonight. Here’s a sneak peek from “Profiling 202”, featuring David...

NCIS: Los Angeles will air the first new episode of 2017 tonight. “Kulinda” is scheduled to start at 8:00pm ET/PT. (If anything...

Criminal Minds has a new episode on the schedule tonight. Here’s the first sneak peek from “Seek and Destroy”, featuring Emily Prentiss...

IBM Research today opened its second research location on the African continent and announced several new project collaborations in the areas of data driven healthcare, digital urban ecosystems and astronomy.

An updated Disaster Resilience Scorecard to help cities and local government agencies improve their preparedness and reduce risks from disasters was launched today at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. Developed for the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction by AECOM, IBM with support from USAID and the European Commission, the Scorecard gives better access to information, knowledge resources, and tools to effectively reduce risks from the impacts of natural hazards and climate change.

The Joker 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular #1 will feature an all-star creative team including James Tynion IV, Dan Mora, Tom Taylor, and many more

The post PREVIEW: The origin of Punchline is revealed in the JOKER 80TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL appeared first on The Beat.

Taking place tomorrow 1:00PM PT/4:00PM ET

The post WB announces a watch party for JL DARK: APOKOLIPS WAR, the endgame of the DC Animated Movie Universe appeared first on The Beat.

DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL #1 is due out June 16, and we've got early unlettered pages.

The post Scott Snyder and Sgt. Rock team-up for industry pep talk in DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL #1 appeared first on The Beat.

IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge program (@CitiesChallenge) will be sending teams of company experts to 16 municipalities around the world through 2016 to help cities with critical issues ranging from jobs creation, transportation, and public safety, to healthcare, revenue, social services, and public works.

eLearning, to me, seems like an exciting new field that has barely been tapped and which has a wide open future. However, no matter how exciting and universal it seems, it is really a subset of training, instruction, education, etc. So, before I really embark on this adventure in eLearning, maybe I should think about […]

I'm relatively new to the world of Instructional Design and the development of eLearning material, but I've had a LOT of experience as a trainee. Much of that experience has been pretty painful (this should be no surprise to anyone). If you, as an Instructional Designer or course developer, want to keep me engaged in […]

Each year, weather-related power outages cost the U.S. economy as much as $33 billion a year. Additionally, one severe weather event has the potential to impact the daily lives and routines of millions of people. As 2017 marks the fifth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, The Weather Company, an IBM Business (NYSE: IBM) and Zpryme are releasing the results of a survey that found that U.S. utility companies still feel underprepared for weather-related outages and that their reactive approach to outage prediction leads to lost time and resources.

IBM today announced a significant new release of its PowerAI deep learning software distribution on Power Systems that attacks the major challenges facing data scientists and developers by simplifying the development experience with tools and data preparation while also dramatically reducing the time required for AI system training from weeks to hours.

IBM and Nutanix today announced a multi-year initiative to bring new workloads to hyperconverged deployments.

IBM and Sesame Workshop today announced that Georgia’s Gwinnett County Public Schools, one of the nation’s top urban school districts, has completed an initial pilot of the industry’s first cognitive vocabulary learning app, built on the IBM and Sesame intelligent play and learning platform. The new platform, powered by IBM Cloud, enables an ecosystem of software developers, researchers, educational toy companies, and educators to tap IBM Watson cognitive capabilities and Sesame Workshop’s early childhood expertise to build engaging experiences to help advance children’s education and learning. The cognitive vocabulary app is one of the first of many cognitive apps, games, and educational toys that will be built over time on this new platform, as a result of the two companies’ collaboration announced last year.

IBM today announced the first clients to tap into its IBM Q™ early-access commercial quantum computing systems to explore practical applications important to business and science. They include: JPMorgan Chase, Daimler AG, Samsung, JSR Corporation, Barclays, Hitachi Metals, Honda, Nagase, Keio University, Oak Ridge National Lab, Oxford University and University of Melbourne.

The Weather Company, an IBM Business, and PRISA Noticias, one of the world’s leading Spanish-language media groups and owner of EL PAÍS newspaper, announced today a collaboration to combine the most accurate forecasts with one of the Spanish-speaking world’s largest media groups. The Weather Company will provide in-depth weather data and forecasts, as well as tailored content across PRISA properties. In turn, PRISA Noticias will provide locally relevant articles, photos and video content within the Spanish versions of The Weather Channel app and website (weather.com). The collaboration will also enable local marketers to access advanced data-driven advertising solutions from IBM Watson Advertising (formerly The Weather Company’s ad sales business) across both companies’ properties.

Walmart, JD.com, IBM, and Tsinghua University National Engineering Laboratory for E-Commerce Technologies announced today they will work together in a Blockchain Food Safety Alliance that will kick off with a collaboration designed to enhance food tracking, traceability and safety in China, to achieve greater transparency across the food supply chain.

IBM Security today announced it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. as a Leader for the sixth consecutive year in the Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Mobility Management Suites1 for its ability to execute and completeness of vision.

IBM and West Virginia University’s Center for Disability Inclusion (CDI) today announced they are developing a first generation mobile workplace accommodation case management app to help U.S. businesses create inclusive workplaces for employees with disabilities.

IBM today announced the opening of IBM Studio Groningen, where IBM design, digital and industry experts will work with clients to help them engage with their customers using big data, mobile, cloud and social innovations.

MAP Health Management and IBM Watson Health today announced a partnership that aims to address the pervasive problem of relapse among Americans suffering from Substance Use Disorder, a chronic disease. MAP will integrate Watson cognitive technologies into the MAP Recovery Network Platform to enhance the platform’s existing capabilities around patient risk models. In doing so, it is anticipated that behavioral health and substance abuse treatment providers that use the MAP platform will be better able to predict and prevent incidence of relapse nationwide.

IBM announced today that Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) has integrated IBM Watson Analytics to help create new services and programs based on data-driven insights to improve students’ academic achievement and development.

The perfect post-slumber-party party activity

One morning at the tidepools and chance upon the largest creature on earth.

A few people don't want to own one of these intriguing red cement balls. I'm not one of those people.

[Image: The mushroom tunnel of Mittagong, photo by Nicola Twilley, via BLDGBLOG.] “Japanese researchers are closing in on understanding why electrical storms have a positive influence on the growth of some fungi,” Physics World reported last month, with some interesting implications for agriculture. These electrical storms do not have to be nearby, and they do … Continue reading "Fungal Lightning"

IBM is bringing its expertise in sports venue infrastructure design and implementation to the practice field for newly formed Major League Soccer Club, Atlanta United, providing a year-round, state-of-the art technological experience for the players and staff.

IBM Security today released a global study examining consumer perspectives around digital identity and authentication, which found that people now prioritize security over convenience when logging into applications and devices. Generational differences also emerged showing that younger adults are putting less care into traditional password hygiene, yet are more likely to use biometrics, multifactor authentication and password managers to improve their personal security.

Mayo Clinic and IBM Watson Health today unveiled results from early use of the Watson for Clinical Trial Matching, an IBM cognitive computing system. Use of this system in the Mayo Clinic oncology practice has been associated with more patients enrolled in Mayo’s breast cancer clinical trials.

While marketing and sales professionals increasingly find themselves drowning in data, a new IBM study finds that nearly two thirds—64 percent--of surveyed CMOs and sales leaders believe their industries will be ready to adopt cognitive technologies in the next three years. However despite this stated readiness, the study finds that only 24 percent of those surveyed believe they have strategy in place to implement these technologies today.