Max Eternity - Late arriving for the historic climate talks taking place in Copenhagen in recent weeks, after protests and walkouts, President Obama has declared victory.  Notwithstanding, others fiercely disagree, particularly those speaking independent of governments.  "This deal will definitely result in massive devastation in Africa and small island states.

Max Eternity - In Copenhagen for international climate talks, lifelong Indian political and environmental activist, Sunita Narain, says what so many have been thinking all along.  Visit Democracy Now! for video and transcript.

The Daily Beast - Democrats are steaming over the White House’s capitulation to liberal nemesis Joe Lieberman’s demands to remove a public option and Medicare buy-in from the Senate’s heath-care bill. Progressive figures including Howard Dean and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas have gone so far as to suggest scrapping the bill entirely and starting over, sparking rebukes from White House officials like David Axelrod, who called such a move “insane” in a Morning Joe interview on MSNBC on Thursday.

Max Eternity - Fed up with Joe, the "Senatorial Prostitute" Leiberman, progressive filmmaker Michael Moore says "Boycott Connicticut."  Read more.

Bruce Cameron @ Consortium News - As Washington’s long debate on the Afghan war unfolded, one group had an unhealthy advantage though – based on its record – it should have had no influence at all. These are the neoconservatives, and they have captured The Washington Post’s editorial pages along with other outlets of elite opinion.

Seth Michaels @ AFL-CIO blog - The health care bill being considered by the U.S. Senate is inadequate and too tilted toward the insurance industry, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said today. In recent days, as the Senate has debated health care reform, small numbers of senators have held health care hostage by threatening to block a vote. The new proposal by the Senate puts the interests of insurance companies—and senators who would rather look out for the insurance companies—ahead of real reform.

"I believe this is the moment when we must stand as one and say enough," Service Employees International Union President Andy Stern wrote in a

This was REALNEO, from December 16, 2008 - December 15, 2009.

Activity was significant, expanding, engaged, diverse, and global. REALNEO is a very healthy virtual community. But, who were those 277,070 absolute unique visitors attracted to our over 10,141 pages of original content on REALNEO?

Max Eternity - The Bau-Bike by Danish designer, Michael Ubbesen Jakobsen, pays homage to the German Bauhaus school--as it celebrates this year its 90th anniversary. 

DetNews.com - Despite an official unemployment rate of 27 percent, the real jobs problem in Detroit may be affecting half of the working-age population, thousands of whom either can't find a job or are working fewer hours than they want.

Using a broader definition of unemployment, as much as 45 percent of the labor force has been affected by the downturn.

Rachel Weiner @ The Huffington Post - Congressional Democrats are starting to voice their anger at President Obama over the way health care legislation has been compromised, blaming him for not fighting harder.

Talking Points Memo - Private contractors will make up at least half of the total military workforce in Afghanistan going forward, according to Defense Department officials cited in a new congressional study.

As President Obama's escalation of the war in Afghanistan unfolds, the number of contractors will likely jump by between 16,000 and 56,000, adding up to a total of 120,000-160,000, according to an updated study from the Congressional Research Service.