The World in Transformation

By Mitchell Rabin - On a horizontal level, there is a mounting volume of chaos occurring in virtually every country in the world. There is economic, social and political turmoil, which one feels, is swelling. History shows us that this kind of chaos-to-order occurs cyclically and it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Having lived through several cycles already, and of course having missed the World War time periods, I may not be the most qualified to say, but I do sense that we are going through something right now that really is world- transforming nation-to-nation, culture-to-culture. The Arab Spring, the uprisings in England, France, Greece, Wisconsin, the growing economic disparities in the so-called 'richest' nation on the planet, the vast deterioration of ethics, it's awesome to contemplate what is happening in this world.

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Systems Collapse When The Irrational Is Considered Rational

Oh thank you, Wikipedia, for this definition: “Irrationality is cognition, thinking, talking or acting without inclusion of rationality. It is more specifically described as an action or opinion given through inadequate reasoning, emotional distress, or cognitive deficiency. The term is used, usually pejoratively, to describe thinking and actions that are, or appear to be, less useful or more illogical than other more rational alternatives.” And what about this one? Market Psychology? This term is defined in the Investopedia this way: “The overall sentiment or feeling that the market is experiencing at any particular time. Greed, fear, expectations and circumstances are all factors that contribute to the group's overall investing mentality of sentiment.” Q: What do we have when we put the two together? A: The current madness and market mayhem,’

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The Incredible Friendship of a Tortoise and a Hippo

Much of life can never be explained but only witnessed.

NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said

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Osama and the Hijacking of New York's Grief

By Alison Rose Levy

""The shock, grief and loss were overwhelming."How should we understand this latest and most troubling insight into the reality of our media ecology? In the aftermath of the resolution of the Great Birther bash-up, even as President Obama tried to lay the issue at rest by producing the document that showed, proved, verified, documented, and validated his birth in one of the great states of our disunion, it was said that its release would only fuel more debate, and convince no one. In other words, in the end, this long debated fact didn’t matter. Facts no longer seem to matter on other issues, too, as articulated in the now infamous memo issued by retiring Senator Jon Kyle whose office, when confronted with evidence that he misspoke on the matter of how much money Planned Parenthood spent on abortions—he claimed 90%, the truth was but 3%, issued an advisory that said, “The statement was not meant to be factual.” In other words, in the end, this long debated fact didn’t matter.

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WHY FACTS NO LONGER MATTER IN THE MEDIA DISCOURSE

By Danny Schechter

""No matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as the truth."How should we understand this latest and most troubling insight into the reality of our media ecology? In the aftermath of the resolution of the Great Birther bash-up, even as President Obama tried to lay the issue at rest by producing the document that showed, proved, verified, documented, and validated his birth in one of the great states of our disunion, it was said that its release would only fuel more debate, and convince no one. In other words, in the end, this long debated fact didn’t matter. Facts no longer seem to matter on other issues, too, as articulated in the now infamous memo issued by retiring Senator Jon Kyle whose office, when confronted with evidence that he misspoke on the matter of how much money Planned Parenthood spent on abortions—he claimed 90%, the truth was but 3%, issued an advisory that said, “The statement was not meant to be factual.”

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