The World’s 10 Best Airports In 2014 By Mark Johanson

Perhaps it’s the rooftop pool, four-story slide, pop-in movie theater or free foot massages. Maybe it’s the nature trails, butterfly garden and complimentary tours of central Singapore. Whatever the reason, it will likely come as little surprise to frequent visitors that ever-entertaining Changi Airport once again topped Skytrax World Airport Awards as the best airport in 2014...........Changi is a familiar hub for those who travel through Asia, welcoming more than 52 million passengers last year. That's nearly 10 times the population of the city it serves. Changi's perennial rival, Incheon International, near Seoul, came in a close second on the 2014 Skytrax list, followed by Munich Airport, Hong Kong International and Amsterdam Schiphol.
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Looks like I will be flying into number 2 at Incheon once again come April :-)

Oligarchs, Fascists and the People's Protest in Ukraine

Oligarchs, Fascists and the People's Protest in Ukraine

More at The Real News

Derek Monroe says the Ukrainian far-right, with the backing of local oligarchs, the US and the EU, hijacked popular protests against corruption.

TRANSCRIPT:

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Fighting the Militarized State by Chris Hedges| Common Dreams

Fighting the Militarized State | Common Dreams

Asia Times Online :: The Kerry-Lavrov chess match by Pepe Escobar

Asia Times Online :: The Kerry-Lavrov chess match

Why Did BRICS Back Russia on Crimea?

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The US Navy and the Pivot: Less Means Less

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Fracking Capitalism

Derek Wall reviews an ‘essential resource for everyone engaged in fighting the fracking menace’
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Zoom in on amazing detail in NASA moon map

FLY ME TO THE MOON  An interactive atlas of the lunar north pole allows users to explore the Moon’s terrain across a wide range of detail, even zooming in to see two meters of moon surface per pixel.
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Ukraine’s Inconvenient Neo-Nazis

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This One Simple Graphic Explains The Difference Between Climate Science And Climate Politics

If you follow the news on climate change, you hear it over and over again: 97 percent of climate scientistsagree that global warming is real and caused by human activity.

On Tuesday, geochemist James Lawrence Powell took that rhetoric even further, releasing a study finding that out of all 10,855 climate studies published in peer-review journals during 2013, only two of them explicitly rejected anthropogenic global warming. Put another way, that’s roughly .02 percent of published research that denies outright the existence of man-made climate change.

If those numbers sound staggering, it’s probably because of how little they affect the intense, non-scientific debate that often surrounds climate change in the political realm. Politicians tasked with making crucial decisions on national energy policy and air pollution have a propensity for ignoring the science. Approximately 56 percent, or at least 130 members, of the current Republican caucus in the House of Representatives deny the basic tenets of climate science. Sixty-six percent, or at least 30 members, of the Senate Republican caucus also deny the reality of climate change.

Compare that with how actual scientists view the subject, and you get this:

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Which States Depend The Most On The US Federal Government? (State by state stats) By Kathleen Caulderwood

New data shows federal funding as a percentage of total state revenue. WalletHub/IBTimes

MAP STATS HERE

Apple is patent troll By Kim Yoo-chul

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The Pan-Asian Anchor: Americans Must Adjust to a World Dominated by Chin...

The Pan-Asian Anchor: Americans Must Adjust to a World Dominated by Chin...

Heading Toward a Greece-like Depression? Ukraine’s IMF Deal by JACK RASMUS

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Reading Race in Piketty's Capital: Colonization, Slavery and Plunder by DARWIN BOND-GRAHAM

Colonization, Slavery and Plunder » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

His Administration Never Intended to Prosecute Bankers: Obama’s Big Lie by ERIC ZUESSE

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SIEMENS TO BUILD 32 NEXT GENERATION DIESEL-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES IN CALIFORNIA

By Roy L Hales

Siemens obtained a $225 million contract, to build 32 “Charger” diesel-electric locomotives, in its Sacramento CA rail manufacturing facility.

Five states are ordering locomotives. The Illinois Department of Transportation’s order is connected to an overhaul of their  Chicago to St Louis route. California, Washington, Michigan and Missouri have joined the deal, which includes options for an additional 75 locomotives for regional use and another 150 locomotives for mainline transportation. The locomotives are scheduled to be delivered between fall of 2016 and mid-2017.

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The Pan-Asian Anchor: China Decries US 'Hypocrisy' on Cyber-Espionage

The Pan-Asian Anchor: China Decries US 'Hypocrisy' on Cyber-Espionage: 

Asia Times Online :: Why the EU can't 'isolate' Russia by Pepe Escobar

Asia Times Online :: Why the EU can't 'isolate' Russia

Tomgram: Nick Turse, America's Non-Stop Ops in Africa: U.S. Military Averaging More Than a Mission a Day in Africa

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The Pan-Asian Anchor: Climate Change and the Asia Pivot

The Pan-Asian Anchor: Climate Change and the Asia Pivot

: Climate Change and the Asia Pivot It’s time to turn the perception of climate change as a threat into an effective response. (Photo: Wikipe...

Slavery, Cotton and Imperialism by W.T. WHITNEY, Jr.

Slavery, Cotton and Imperialism » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Saudi Arabia’s Pilgrimage to Pakistan

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Asia Times Online :: Asia will not 'isolate' Russia by Pepe Escobar

Asia Times Online :: Asia will not 'isolate' Russia

By Pepe Escobar 


Any (bureaucratic) doubts the New Cold War is on have been dispelled by the Group of Seven issuing a pompous, self-described Hague Declaration. Abandon all hope those who expected The Hague to become the seat of a tribunal judging the war crimes of the Cheney regime. 

The G-7 also cancelled its upcoming summer summit in Sochi as a means of "punishing" Moscow over Crimea. As if this carried any practical value. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded with class; if you don't want us, we have better things to do. [1] Everyone knows the G-7 is an innocuous, self-important talk shop. 

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Overwhelming Evidence that Half of America is In or Near Poverty

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Israel’s War Against ‘BDS’ Movement

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United States, Russia And China: Which Countries Have The Most Powerful Armies In The World? [MAPS]

United States, Russia And China: Which Countries Have The Most Powerful Armies In The World? [MAPS]

Once Again, Australia is Stealing Its Indigenous Children by John Pilger

Once Again, Australia is Stealing Its Indigenous Children » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

Does New Look at Documents Reveal Nixon's Hand in My Lai Cover-Up? | Common Dreams

Does New Look at Documents Reveal Nixon's Hand in My Lai Cover-Up? | Common Dreams

Most Extreme Weather 'Virtually Impossible' Without Man-Made Warming | Common Dreams

Most Extreme Weather 'Virtually Impossible' Without Man-Made Warming | Common Dream

BDS: Non-Violent Resistance to Israeli Occupation | Common Dreams

BDS: Non-Violent Resistance to Israeli Occupation | Common Dreams

China’s yuan may become 3rd world reserve currency along with US dollar and euro

BEIJING, March 23. /ITAR-TASS/. China’s yuan (renminbi) may become a third reserve currency in the world in the future, Managing Director and Chief Economist of investment company Sberbank CIB Yevgeny Gavrilenkov said at the 15th governmental Chinese economic development forum in the Chinese capital on Sunday.

“This forecast can be made on figures of domestic economic growth. Probably the country will keep high GDP growth rate and the GDP volume will increase to around 14-16 trillion U.S. dollars for a brief period of time, the indicators comparable to the European Union and the United States. Meanwhile, Chinese securities are more attractable for the countries that have a surplus in economy, particularly the Middle East states, and China will obviously follow the path of securing the country’s assets,” the expert noted.

The forum which opened in the Chinese capital on March 22 discusses a broad range of issues of economic reforms and China’s stronger role as the second largest world economy. First Deputy Prime Minister of the Chinese State Council Zhang Gaoli, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde and top managers of major world corporations participate in the forum as honorary guests.

FROM HERE

The Orientalism Express

The Orientalism Express

by Charles Fraser / March 23rd, 2014

Subalterns huddle in streets
Like cattle on neocon ranches
Sharing survival information
Homeless, hungry, and afraid
Self medicating
With alcohol and drugs
How else could one survive
And withstand nightmares
Of the past and ones coming?
Social policies by stealth
Designed to eradicate them
From this good Earth…
For where else could they go?
Highland clearances, genocides,
Holocausts, ethnic cleansing,
I fear the Nazis are back!
Gramsic’s warnings fell upon deaf years
Fascism is back in fashion.
New global royalty rewrote the rules.
Social murder committed around the world.
Subalterns where the yellow letter “P”
In plain sight, above their hearts,
It’s easier to round citizens up
And take them somewhere safe…
Ice Caps melting, global warming,
Things are not as they seem.
No need to panic!
Continue watching corporate media
We edit and produce the “truth”
Anything else is false.
Churches encourage sheep to pray for
Bureaucrats, politicians and technocrats
Subalterns, the Yellow Canaries
Trillions spent on bail-outs, star wars,
And invasions for oil in tar sands.
Public surveillance increased
Once protected civil liberties taken
In order to protect us (from ourselves)
Foucault’s warnings fell by the wayside
Like yesterdays political manifestos and poems.
The volcano’s of neocolonialism/elitism
Demand human sacrifices.
Fires of hate and discrimination
Await the next good citizen
The one with the yellow “P”
Above the heart
Indicating that in fact
They have one,
Unlike those who crafted
This new world order
To rid the world of the poor
Read between the lions, and
Listen for messages of liberation
Between sounds of jingling jewels
Many species have/are disappearing
From Earth, barely a word said,
Is it that much of a stretch,
Concerning the notion I’ve raised?
Neoliberals polish global jewellery
With corporate constitutions and
Trade deals designed to benefit the rich
At the expense of the poor.
Some day at a higher court
An angel will ask a corporate CEO
About the global atrocities committed
In the name of profit and greed.
The CEO will reply: I was just following orders
From the global royalty.  I never thought it
Would get that bad. The angel will reply:
It got that bad when the first citizen
Died on your good streets
Paved with headstones of “others”.

FROM HERE

What Stand for Socialists on Events in Crimea and Ukraine?

What Stand for Socialists on Events in Crimea and Ukraine?

This Statistic Should Shut Down Any Talk of Cutting Social Security

This Statistic Should Shut Down Any Talk of Cutting Social Security

When this story broke earlier this week, it did not get nearly the attention it deserved, so it bears repeating now: 36 percent of workers, according to one poll, have less than $1,000 saved for their retirement.

That comes from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, which does an annual retirement confidence survey. That has jumped up from 28 percent who reported having less than $1,000 stashed away for retirement last year.

That is one of the statistics that should shut down any conversation about pushing back the retirement age for Social Security or reducing the cost-of-living adjustment for benefits. The idea, often put forward on the right, that people will be able to compensate for benefit cuts with their own savings is not panning out in the real world – and won't as long as we're in a slow-growth economy with high 

UN Raporteur Accuses Israel of "Ethnic Cleansing" | Common Dreams

UN Raporteur Accuses Israel of "Ethnic Cleansing" | Common Dreams

by César Chelala

“The realities on the ground are worsening from the point of view of both international law and from the point of view of the Palestinian people,” Richard Falk, an 82-year-old American who is an emeritus law professor at Princeton University, told reporters.

Richard Falk, United Nations rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories accused Israel last week of “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians. Speaking at a press conference, he said that Israeli policies bore “unacceptable characteristics of colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing.”

“Every increment of enlarging the settlements or every incident of house demolition is a way of worsening the situation confronting the Palestinian people and reducing what prospects they might have as the outcome of supposed peace negotiations,” he added. Falk is an American who is Jewish, is an international law expert and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University in the US.

Current Iran "Crisis" Began With Overthrow of Democratically Elected Government in 1953

Current Iran "Crisis" Began With Overthrow of Democratically Elected Government in 1953

Tanks in the streets of Tehran, 1953. (Photo: Wikipedia)

In Manufactured Crisis, investigative journalist Gareth Porter details the manipulation and fabrications that have accompanied the current Iranian nuclear situation. The main difference between this and the Iraq war conspiracy, the author says, was that the neoconservatives who were carrying it out never got the war on Iran they wanted.

Obtain this book, Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare, from Truthout with a minimum contribution. Just click here. You will be enhancing your knowledge, supporting progressive authors and backing the vital journalism of Truthout.

Have we narrowly averted a war with Iran, and were the Neocons again behind the bellicose threats against Tehran?  Investigative journalist Gareth Porter offers his perspective, as detailed inManufactured Crisis in this interview with Truthout.

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Here is The Mossadegh Project link it goes into full detail.

" If I sit silently,

I have sinned."

Petrodollar Alert: Putin Prepares To Announce "Holy Grail" Gas Deal With China

GO HERE

It's World Water Day: 5 shocking facts about water scarcity that will make you cry a river

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And They're Back... BP Wins Two Dozen New Leases to Drill in Gulf | Common Dreams

And They're Back... BP Wins Two Dozen New Leases to Drill in Gulf | Common Dreams

Bahrain: The silent revolution

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What Comes After Capitalism? video included

SEE IT HERE

The Pan-Asian Anchor: Western economic isolation of Russia may open way ...

The Pan-Asian Anchor: Western economic isolation of Russia may open way ...

: The present crisis provides Russia and India a great opportunity to increase bilateral trade. Source: Sergey Krasnouhov / RIA Novosti A ...

Fifty years ago, Cassius Clay ‘shook up the world’ by winning the heavyweight title – and embracing the Nation of Islam

MORE HERE

Gar Alperovitz and Michael Albert: A Conversation on Economic Visions

Gar Alperovitz and Michael Albert: A Conversation on Economic Visions

Neoliberalism as Social Necrophilia: The Case of Greece

Neoliberalism as Social Necrophilia: The Case of Greece

.

Russian sanctions as war and farce By Pepe Escobar

By Pepe Escobar 

If we come to a minefield, our infantry attacks exactly as if it was not there - Marshal Georgy Zhukov 

Let's start with the serious stuff. As Russia's Federation Council ratifies a treaty with Crimea, concluding the formal annexation, Ukraine signs the political chapters of an association agreement with the European Union (EU). The signing of the full EU agreement will only happen later in 2014. 

These are the facts on the ground. Now let's turn to comedy hour - also known as the sanctions war
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America's Role in the Creation of the State of Israel: The Origins of the Israel Lobby in the US

The Origins of the Israel Lobby in the US » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the 

Names

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Speech Before the Russian Parliament On Crimea and Sevastopol by VLADIMIR PUTIN

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