Thank you Cindy! So beautiful! I always suspect anyone who classifies birds as less conscious, evolved or “ascended” than humans as a bit slow or unobservant. When we develop the ability to fly without petroleum products and technology we might be partway to catching up; -)

(Scarlet Macaw) “Sweet Love.” These birds have this figured out. (Please click to enlarge)

Many birds raise offspring jointly and mate for life.

(Yellow Crowned Amazon Parrot) Some of the birds at the Bloedel Conservatory in Vancouver BC are endangered in the wild.

Birds don’t wage wars and they don’t wipe out multiple species and habitats.

(Red Shouldered Macaw) Sometimes I wonder who is more highly evolved?

(Eclectus Parrot) “Imagine all the people living life in peace.”
Cheers to you from our peaceable feathered friends. We can learn a lot from them~
Lyrics Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach & John Lennon.

Erin Currier: Art Is a Necessary Element of Every Revolution

Dahr Jamail, Truthout: In this interview, American artist Erin Currier discusses her work, how it celebrates the underprivileged people of countries to which she travels and her thoughts on revolution and the power of art.

Read the Interview and View the Artwork

A National Disgrace: Violence Against Native Women

Tanya H. Lee, Truthout: Violence against Native American and Alaska Native women is a national disgrace. The federal government has made some efforts to reduce that violence, but there is a long way to go before indigenous women are afforded their full civil rights.

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The Spread of Electronic Monitoring: No Quick Fix for Mass Incarceration

James Kilgore, Truthout: Electronic monitoring costs less than incarceration, but in the rush for a quick fix, we are overlooking key questions of human rights, private corrections company profiteering and potential threats to democracy posed by “techno-corrections.”

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The Language of Expulsion

Saskia Sassen, Truthout: Whether the long-term unemployed in the global North or the long-term displaced in the global South, people are being expelled from economy, society and nation in increasing numbers.

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Soft Edges, Hard Core: A Media Tilt to Israel in Gaza

L. Michael Hager, Truthout: A July 25 editorial by The New York Times shows how a reasonable and ostensibly balanced text can mask deeply biased pro-Israel sentiments.

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Does NASA’s Data Show Doomsday for New York City?

The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program: If we don’t do something quick to stop global warming, some of the biggest cities in the United States could go the way of Atlantis in just a matter of decades.

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ALEC Agenda: Gutting Medicaid, Privatizing Schools and Exports

Rebekah Wilce, PRWatch: This year’s ALEC meeting will consider bills to make it virtually impossible to enroll in Medicaid, expand charter schools to further bankrupt traditional public schools, expand exports of “natural gas” from fracking, and undermine the EPA’s Clean Air and Clean Water Act regulations.

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How Did the FBI Miss More Than 1 Million Rapes?

Soraya Chemaly, The Nation: Systematic undercounting of sexual assaults in the United States disguises a hidden rape crisis. Research found that between 1995 and 2012, police departments across the country drastically underreported sexual assaults.

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Australia Threatens to Jail Citizens Who Embarrass Repressive Governments

Carey Shenkman, Truthout: There is nothing like a free press in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, so it is unlikely anyone from those countries will report on a multimillion-dollar corruption case involving their leaders and senior officials. But why is Australia joining in on the repression?

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Panthers in the Hole: “Angola Three” Book Illustrates US Prison Crisis

Staff, Angola 3 News: Amnesty International France and La Boîte à Bulleshave published a 128-page French language graphic novel about the Angola 3 and renewed calls to release Albert Woodfox, the last of the political prisoners to remain in solitary confinement.

Read the Interview

Worth More: One Man or an Entire City?

Bob Lord, OtherWords: What does it say about our society when one hedge fund manager makes a bigger income than the whole population of Springfield, Ohio or Burbank, California?

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On the News With Thom Hartmann: Congressional Failure to Raise Wages Has Cost Americans $6 Billion, and More

In today‘s On the News segment: The stock market keeps hitting record highs, but big businesses aren’t putting those profits back into our economy; federal contractors won’t be able to discriminate against LGBT employees under the guise of religious freedom; American workers would have earned another $6 billion over the last five years if wages kept up with inflation; and more.

Watch the Video and Read the Transcript

USAF Chief of Staff Welsh and the Crisis of Gutless Leadership

Mikey Weinstein, AlterNet: The Military Religious Freedom Foundation president took Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh to task for ignoring violations of constitutional religious freedom rights and failing to take responsibility for sexual assaults, cheating and other ethical lapses in the senior Air Force officer corps.

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BuzzFlash

Waves Sweep Across Section of Arctic Ocean for First Time Due to Global Warming

Mark Karlin, BuzzFlash at Truthout: As the corporation-backed and religious fundamentalist climate change deniers continue to receive widespread mainstream media credibility, signs of global warming continue to sweep across the earth.

Read the BuzzFlash Commentary

Report: The World Could Run Out of Water by 2040 if Immediate Action Is Not Taken

Read the Article at Al Jazeera America

UN Informed Israel 17 Times About Civilians in Gaza School Shelter Before Attack Which Killed at Least 15 Palestinians

Read the Article at BBC

GAO Report: Drinking Water at Risk From Underground Fracking Waste Injection

Read the Article at BuzzFlash

Federal Review Exposes Two Decades of FBI Forensic Errors

Read the Article at The Washington Post

The World’s First Malaria Vaccine Could Be Approved for Use in 2015

Read the Article at BBC

Is the FBI Creating Terrorists to Pad Counterterrorism Conviction Rates?