Friday frolics... and an elephant.

baby elephant in tub

‘Frack Gag’ Bans Children From Talking About Fracking, Forever

The Hallowich case shows how drilling companies can use victims’ silence to rewrite their story. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that before their settlement, the Hallowichs complained that drilling caused “burning eyes, sore throats, headaches and earaches, and contaminated their water supply.” But after the family was gagged, gas exploration company Range Resources’ spokesman Matt Pitzarella insisted “they never produced evidence of any health impacts,” and that the family wanted to move because “they had an unusual amount of activity around them.” Public records will show, once again, that fracking did not cause health problems.

When fracking and oil production creates a sink hole, who loses?  BP blames oil spill victims.

The NSA comes clean... or something.

Iran's new leader speaks of moderation and respect.

Marine life moving towards the poles.

Privatization has failed in these places.

Farmers suspicious of new Monsanto crops... I wonder why?

Speaking up against racism.

NASA finds the source of the Magellanic Stream

The Conservative March Toward a Society of Sociopaths

Celebrating sexual choice.

You don't say!

A Brief History Lesson for Justice Antonin ‘Racial Entitlement’ Scalia

Baby elephant hugs.

Writing the Unwritten Handbook: Antifascism and Neighborhood Resistance in Athens

State Department’ Keystone XL Report Actually Written By TransCanada Contractor

Poor Jeb Bush.

Here Are Some Rich New Yorkers Whining About Feeling Poor (The comments are enlightening.)

Howard Fineman: We Are Living in the World Dick Cheney Made

The rich poor divide.

To help you win climate change arguments.

A veteran's remorse: what have we done to Iraq?

The elephant and the dog

Maybe the Republicans can learn something...


Watch CBS Videos Online

Gee, the Republicans in India act the same way as they do here...

Guwahati, India (AHN) -Nearly 100 wild elephants rampaged on a river island in India's northeast Assam province on Saturday, demolishing homes, feasting on sugarcane and panicking residents, officials said.

"The herd is wandering just about anywhere in Majuli. A forest guard was injured and about 50 houses have been pulled down, forcing residents to take shelter in a makeshift relief camp that we have set up," LS Changsan, Jorhat district magistrate told the media.

Majuli, some 350 kilometers east of Assam state's capital, Guwahati, is an 850 sq kilometer island on the Brahmaputra, inhabited by an estimated 160,000 people, mostly indigenous tribal people.

Villagers were in a panic, trying hard to ward off the jumbo creatures using firecrackers and kerosene torches. A team of forest officials was sent to the island to tackle the problem, according to reports.

The magistrate also said forestry workers and officials were trying to assist the villagers in pushing the elephants away from the settlements. "The job is proving difficult."

India has Asia's largest elephant population, with 10,000 to 15,000 of the animals, but their numbers are declining due to habitat loss and poaching.

Assam state alone accounts for nearly 5,000 wild elephants. More than 600 people have been killed in attacks by wild elephants in Assam during the past 16 years. Loss of habitat is cited as the prime reason for elephants straying out of the jungles into human settlements.

This has happened several times before.

They were tired of being blamed for the Republican party?

New Delhi - Two elephants in India's eastern Assam state were shot dead by the police after they went on a rampage killing eight villagers and wounding nine, news reports said Thursday. The pair of domesticated elephants turned violent and mowed through five villages in southern Assam before entering neighbouring Mizoram state Tuesday, IANS news agency reported.

"Eight people including five women were killed and nine more injured. The beasts also damaged several houses in a 40-kilometre radius," a wildlife department official said.

Finally, a team of policemen in Mizoran shot down the elephants on Wednesday.

Elephants rampaging in other parts of the world besides Capitol Hill

Do you think this would work on the Republicans?:

In the last five years, over 330 people have been trampled to death by the large animals. The worst affected districts are Ranchi, Dumka, Pakur, Godda and Jamshedpur. The shrinking forest cover and encroachment of the elephant corridor are seen as the main cause of the confrontation between human beings and elephants. To keep the tuskers away, the villagers have to arm themselves with sticks, sharp-edged weapons, light fires and beat drums during at night.

I like the sticks and fires part, reminds me of pitchforks and torches .....