World Giving Index,

First Annual

--mothernaturenetwork.com--

Sept.22.2010

According to the first edition of the World Giving Index (WGI) released this month. Compiled by the Charities Aid Foundation and based primarily on information gathered through Gallup polling, the list is being called the largest study ever carried out into charitable behavior across the globe.

The ratings are based on data collected from Gallup's WorldView World Poll, a project continually being carried out in 153 countries that represents 95 percent of the world's population. Respondents surveyed in each country number anywhere from 500 to 2,000 individuals depending on population size and access to polling infrastructure, and those polled are a representative sample of individuals living in urban centers.

Bush vs Obama Tax Cuts, Rich get Richer courtesy Washington Post

Motorcyclist wins taping case against state police
SEPTEMBER 27, 2010
--baltimore sun--

A Harford County Circuit Court judge ruled this afternoon that a motorcyclist who was arrested for videotaping his traffic stop by a Maryland State Trooper was within his rights to record the confrontation.

Judge Emory A Pitt Jr. tossed all the charges filed against Anthony Graber, leaving only speeding and other traffic violations, and most likely sparing him a trial that had been scheduled for Oct. 12. The judge ruled that Maryland's wire tap law allows recording of both voice and sound in areas where privacy cannot be expected. He ruled that a police officer on a traffic stop has no expectation of privacy.

"Those of us who are public officials and are entrusted with the power of the state are ultimately accountable to the public," the judge wrote. "When we exercise that power in public fora, we should not expect our actions to be shielded from public observation."

FBI agents cheated on exam using answer sheets
27 September 2010 Last updated at 12:40 ET
bbc.co.uk

The FBI is being pressed to investigate further
FBI agents cheated on an internal exam by conferring, using crib sheets, and finding answers on computers, a Department of Justice probe has found.

Staff were required to take a test on their knowledge of new unified guidelines on domestic investigations.

Suspicions were raised when many passed the 90-minute exam in just 20 minutes.

The authors of the report said "a significant number of FBI employees engaged in some form of improper conduct or cheating".

After the controversial guidelines were introduced, staff were required to take 16.5 hours of classroom tuition and then take a 51-question computerised exam that was expected to take most people between 90 minutes and two hours.

They were allowed access to the guidelines while taking the test, which was mostly sat between May 2009 and January 2010.

The Office of the Inspector General was called in to investigate after 200 workers passed the test in under 20 minutes.

After interviewing staff in a number of field offices, investigators found people taking the exam had conferred, and that direct cheating had been employed.

In one field office, staff had exploited a lack of computer security to call up the answers to the test.

In another office, of 11 workers interviewed, three supervisors and four agents said they had used answer sheets for the exam. Some tried to justify the usage on the basis that these were "notes".

They also found that tutors were "training to the test", indicating which part of lessons would be on the exam by stamping their feet loudly during the relevant sections.

The Office of the Inspector General is recommending that those who directly cheated be disciplined and that there be a wider investigation than the small sample they spoke to.

This is what should be done by one who is skilled in goodness
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright, straightforward and gentle in speech,
Humble and not conceited, contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skilful,
not proud and demanding in nature.

Let them not do the slightest thing that the wise would later reprove.
They should wish:

In gladness and in safety
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be,
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another, or despise any being in any state,
Let none through anger or ill-will wish harm upon another.

Even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings,
Radiating kindness over the entire world,
Spreading upwards to the skies, and downwards to the depths,
Outwards and unbounded, freed from hatred and ill-will.

Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down,
Free from drowsiness, one should sustain this recollection.

- Metta Sutta, from Pali Canon

when there is nothing left to burn, you must set yourself on fire - stars (from the song your ex-lover is dead)

"Vi veri universum vivus vici - translates-By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe"

Arcade Fire, We Used To Wait

IHMN

A man who had spent many years trying to puzzle out meanings went to see a Sufi and told him about his search.

The Sufi said, 'Go away and ponder this –IHMN
The man went away. When he came back, the Sufi was dead.

'Now I shall never know the truth!' moaned the puzzler.

At that the moment the Sufi's chief disciple appeared. '

If,' he said, 'you are worrying about the secret meaning of IHMN, I will tell you. It is the initials of the Persian phrase 'In Huruf Maani Nadarad' – which means, 'These letters have no meaning.''

viruscomix.com

Robert Nesta, Thank You Lord

Gorillaz, O Green World

Belle and Sebastian, Sleep the Clock Around

Israeli army admits three killed Gazans were civilians
bbc.co.uk
14 September 2010


A report published by an Israeli human rights group found that Israeli soldiers who kill Palestinians were rarely punished. The B'Tselem report released on Tuesday said that the military investigated only 22 of 148 cases submitted by the group. No criminal charges were brought in any of the cases, which involved the killing of 288 Palestinian civilians between 2006 and 2009, it said. "This policy permits soldiers and officers to act in violation of the law, encourages a trigger-happy attitude and shows a flagrant disregard for human life," the report said. One Thai farm worker in Israel has been killed by rocket fire from Gaza in the past 18 months, while scores of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed over the same period. (cont...)