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Dialogue for
Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007
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Just like '68
Young activists furious with Clinton, Dodd| |
Excerpt: Many youth activists are furious with the campaigns of Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) for suggesting that college students who did not grow up in Iowa should not caucus there in January -- and they are delivering that message both publicly and privately. ...
“I’m very worried about the caucus-day implications of this,” Acker said, concerned that discouraging students from caucusing will make an existing problem worse. “Students are disenfranchised at higher rates to begin with.” |
This could easily work against the democrats just like it did in '68, disenfranchising both the young voters, who will most likely back Obama or Edwards and the more established democratic constituency who are more likely to support Clinton or Dodd. Thus splitting the party and giving the presidency to what ever republican wacko that gets nominated.
The Democrats need to be united and garner support from both young and old or it will be Chicago all over again.
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Is this what it takes to finally get college kids to give a damn?
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Helen & Harry
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Airport indignities
by Kathy Fisher
| Dec. 15, 2007 |
They couldn't pay me to get on an airplane.
Man drinks liter of vodka at airport line
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They could pay me -- but pay me a lot and pay me in advance, please, 'cuz I'll be turned back at security when I refuse to take off my shoes or let some schmuck grope me.
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Helen & Harry
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All sarcasm aside
by The Canadian
| Dec. 15, 2007 |
Re "Apocalypse Now" predicted by crank geezer
I got out of all US Dollar financial instruments 1.5 years ago except for 1 week in November... When I bought US dollars when the Canadian Dollar = $1.10 US, then in 7 days I sold my US Dollars to Canadian when the exchange rate dropped to $1.03. Nice spread, but not exactly arbitrage.
I also filtered US holdings out of mutual funds… still, one would be foolish to think that the vagaries of the US dollar will not influence world economics.
Seems other countries are also following suit...
You know, it was always Al Qaeda's primary mission to destroy the US economy. In a round about way…MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!
All sarcasm aside, this is not good.
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I'm investing in ramen. Lots of carbs, long shelf life, easy to cook, very low cost ...
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Helen & Harry
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Down the tubes
by JR Mooneyham
| Dec. 15, 2007 |
Maybe the biggest reason America is going down the tubes is...
...the majority is retreating from ever harsher real world conditions into fantasy and virtual reality. That's how Bush-Cheney et al are getting away with the kitchen sink. What few people are paying attention to their crimes, are largely B-C supporters.
63 percent of US population now plays video games, says report
...and suicide/suicide-related injury rates among those who attempt instead to face reality are now the highest since the government began tracking them -- and slightly higher than even the spike brought on by the Reagan Administration (1982).
And it's believed the actual numbers are still higher.
"...the highest it's been since the CDC started tracking such rates..."
CDC: Suicides among middle-aged spikes
Huff & puff
Schedule set for Iranian atomic plant| |
Excerpt: Russia and Iran have settled all differences over the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power station and agreed on a timetable for its completion, the Russian contractor building the station said Thursday.
"We have resolved all the problems with the Iranians," said Sergei Shmatko, president of state-controlled Atomstroiexport, which is building the Bushehr plant on the Persian Gulf. |
Full steam ahead vs Bush huff & puff.
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Wig
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Dialogue for
Friday, Dec. 14, 2007
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Debate results: Obama wins
by Mr. Chuckles
| Dec. 14, 2007 |
I watched as much of yesterday's Iowa debate as I could stomach.
Obama won it. Period. He looked presidential, he sounded presidential, and when asked about how the US should treat overseas human rights abusers, he spoke out about US practices such as Guantanamo -- none of the other candidates said anything other than that they would bring down the hammer on foreign countries for human rights abuses. (I am reminded of the way Congress hammered Yahoo for complying with Chinese law in turning over user information, but is itself missing in action on the subject of illegal data handovers on all Americans' data by AT&T and Verizon.)
Obama won. No one else really came in a close second, in my opinion.
Hillary's voice really grates and annoys, which is compounded by her status as a "pander-bear". I don't like her. I am convinced that Americans would grow weary of listening to her if she were elected.
Governor Richardson is a solid guy. I don't know all of his positions but he seems rational and smart, with solid Command Presence.
John Edwards was plagued by eye twitches early in the debate, and his call to battle against the Evil Corporations did not resonate in the context of the discussion. For some reason, Edwards didn't get his act together for the debate, as if he were playing hurt. We ought to cut him some slack given the hard times with his wife's health. That is hard!
Biden and Dodd are unworthy of mention. I don't know why they're even bothering to show up anymore. They're both old school crafty schemers, who, in the dawn of the 21st Century look really old, especially Dodd, who is as old as dirt. To be fair, they seem like they would be good companions, say on a geriatric ocean cruise :-)
Overall, I would be happy with either Obama, Edwards or Richardson. I'll vote in the primary for Edwards because I committed my vote long ago, but I recommend that everyone else nominate Obama. Hillary is electable only because the GOP candidates are so damn freaky and weird. If elected she will serve at most one year, and possibly suffer impeachment during her first year :-) Obama can win and lead wisely, and so can Edwards and Richardson!
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Mr. Chuckles
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The El Salvador option
The tragic irony is that Congress is investigating destruction of torture videotapes but is not upset about the torture itself. Democrats were briefed on the use of torture in 2002, then said and did nothing (Jane Harman did write a secret memo :-)
And as it turns out, not only is the U.S. using the El Salvador Option in Iraq -- funding, training and arming "death squads" -- official Rules of Engagement allow for summary execution by U.S. soldiers of suspects in Iraq and elsewhere in the world:
New mobile execution units will make killing Iraqis easier| |
Excerpt: U.S. forces in Iraq soon will be equipped with high-tech equipment that will let them process an Iraqi’s biometric data in minutes and help American soldiers decide whether they should execute the person or not, according to its inventor. |
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Zebra
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"Apocalypse Now" predicted by crank geezer
by Hazel Burke
| Dec. 14, 2007 |
(preface: i don't like this rant in the light of day, but WTF -- a bit of truth in it...)
This  is an interesting article. I've seen a couple of columns by Harry Schultz and indeed, he comes across as a crank -- but his goofy typing and abbreviations probably account for 95% of his apparent eccentricity (and if you've spent any time with honest-to-dog geezers you know that they can be adamant about things which don't seem relevant anymore... yada yada...)
Anyway, I read into this column that the Federal Reserve will literally spend trillions to prop up the financial system. We see their interest in applying ever bigger Band-Aids every week (the Super SIV, rate cuts, trash collateral at the discount window, rate cuts, etc.!)
On top of that I notice that paralytic Democrats are effectively lobotomized because they do not vote as a bloc, and hence, are unwilling to do what /ought/ to be done. For example, the energy bill... the Repugs are adamant that tax breaks to the oil industry not be rescinded, amounting to some $13 billion over 10 years. But Exxon earns that much all by itself, and oil is headed back to $100 this week!
What I have seen the industry doing is increasing dividends and share-buybacks, so in effect, the oil industry tax breaks are not increasing production, they are increasing shareholder profits. The "right" thing to do is slightly uncertain, but would probably involve directing any "surplus government funds" (haha) into solar power tax breaks for businesses and homeowners (the problem with that is that investments now lock solar buyers into 1st or 2nd generation technology and soon we'll see price drops of 50% or more -- but perhaps tax breaks would speed up the conversion, which will of course require decades!!!)
The other thing about Congress in general is that their /effective/ IQ as a group is sub-normal. They don't seem to have a grasp on things of import to America, not enough to focus and act intelligently. So, by the time that, perhaps, President Hillary is in office and the Dems have more liberty to enact legislation, the country will probably be in a recession and ... once again ... spending cuts will be considered inadvisable, off the table. Moreover, the Iraq/Afghanistan situation has bogged down into occupation, so not much hope for spending cuts there if President Hillary is in charge.
In sum then, we have out-of-control money printing by the Federal Reserve and mental defectives in Congress with all four trotters in the swill trough! (Oink!)
And at the same time, the trade deficit is not falling while import and export prices are increasing, so the idea of stagflation is looking very reasonable! You know what that means! More outsourcing. (I just read about a grocery chain, SuperValu (SVU) which is busy terminating a bunch of their IT/computer people and sending the jobs to India...even now, with the dollar index down to 75.) The falling dollar isn't creating lots of U.S. jobs. It just isn't. Maybe that will happen during the 2010's...
So, Harry Schulz's worst fears -- a derivatives meltdown and system reset -- might come to pass. Or his second worst set of fears might become reality: a cratered dollar and trashed economy. Clearly, he likes gold and recommends a massive allocation, but can you really take that advice from a guy in his 80's? I mean, if he is wrong, what does he
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Veteran editor declares
'A financial tsunami is upon us'
Excerpt: Occasionally, I get reader emails claiming that The International Harry Schultz Letter's Harry Schultz is dead. He himself insists in an email to me that he is still alive. But he must be well over 80 now, although he's always been mysterious about his age. I notice that that he's now listed as "editor emeritus," although the letter is still written in his characteristically quirky first-person voice.
Alive or not, Schultz must feel like he's been resurrected. Systemic financial fears, dollar doubts, gold gains, seeping stagflation - a word Schultz claims he coined - all eerily replicate the 1970s, which he began as a derided crank and ended victorious over the financial establishment. (After which, significantly, he was notably quick to say the storm had passed).
Shultz's latest letter, just in, is absolutely apocalyptic: "A financial tsunami is upon us," he says, caused by lax credit and complications introduced by Wall Street's derivatives craze.
Among other interesting ideas raised by Schultz in his intense, somewhat terrifying introduction: recession, possibly depression; bank failures; exchange controls; housing prices down by 50%; credit card company failures; money market fund dangers; tripling of U.S. jobless numbers; federal bail-outs for Fannie Mae.
His advice, translated out of his shorthand style: "If you have not already done so, take immediate measures to safeguard your assets against the global derivative crisis ... Most urgent is close out time deposits, buy non-U.S. government bonds."
In other words, Schultz is saying the U.S. banking system is threatened. How's that for a Christmas greeting?
Schultz says "the second biggest danger is owning U.S. dollars in any form, (it) has crashed and going much lower ... use dollar rallies to exit dollars or sell short ... This is not a time to seek profits, but to protect what U have ... Portfolio diversification is essential in troubled times."
Schultz's favored currencies: "In order of preference: Swiss Franc, Australian dollar, Euro, Canadian dollar."
Schultz is a trader and his specific market advice is nuanced. He writes: "Direction of global stock markets uncertain. Balance stock holdings between long and shorts to counterbalance draw-down risks, and/or hedge exposure via puts, futures, or bear funds ... Exposure to gold shares and bullion should be a minimum of 35-45% of your total portfolio, with at least 10% in physical gold bullion and coins, and/or very rare coins ... "
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lose -- he probably could never spend all of his loot no matter what happens.
We'll see.
A little ditty
Pavel C. remembers| |
remember another case where New Yorkers wouldn't even make a phone call while a woman was being raped.
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As you might expect, I have a little ditty for this:
"Oh look outside the window, there's a woman bein' grabbed,
They've dragged her to the bushes, and now she's bein' stabbed,
Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain,
But Monopoly is so much fun, I'd hate to blow the game,
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody,
Outside of a small circle of friends.
Ridin' down the highway, yes my back is gettin' stiff,
Thirteen cars are piled up, they're hangin' on a cliff,
Now maybe we should pull them back with our towing chain,
But we gotta move, and we might get sued, and it looks like it's gonna rain,
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody,
Outside of a small circle of friends.
Sweating in the ghetto, with the colored and the poor,
The rats have joined the babies, who are sleepin' on the floor,
Now wouldn't it be a riot if they really blew their tops,
But they've got too much already and besides we've got the cops,
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody,
Outside of a small circle of friends.
Oh there's a dirty paper using sex to make her sale,
The Supreme Court was so upset they sent him off to jail,
Maybe we should help the pain and take away his fine,
But we're busy reading Playboy and the Sunday New York Times,
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody,
Outside of a small circle of friends.
Smokin' marijuana is more fun than drinkin' beer,
But a friend of ours was captured and they gave him thirty years,
Maybe we should raise our voices, ask somebody why,
But demonstrations are a drag, besides we're much too high,
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody,
Outside of a small circle of friends.
Oh look outside the window, there's a woman bein' grabbed,
They've dragged her to the bushes, and now she's bein' stabbed,
Maybe we should call the cops and try to stop the pain,
But Monopoly is so much fun, I'd hate to blow the game,
And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody,
Outside of a small circle of friends."
Outside of a small circle of friends - Phil Ochs
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Hillary's prayer: Hillary Clinton's religion and politics| |
Excerpt: Through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active
participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are
part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the Fellowship. Her
collaborations with right-wingers such as Senator Sam Brownback
(R-Kan.) and former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) grow in part from
that connection. "A lot of evangelicals would see that as just cynical
exploitation," says the Reverend Rob Schenck, a former leader of the
militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue who now ministers to
decision makers in Washington. "I don't....there is a real good that
is infected in people when they are around Jesus talk, and open
Bibles, and prayer." |
Ya... just what we need, another "Jesus Freak" in the WH...NOT.
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Excerpt: She was a Goldwater Girl who, under the tutelage of her high school history teacher Paul Carlson (whom Jones describes as "to the right of the John Birchers"), attended biweekly anticommunist meetings and later served as president of Wellesley's Young Republicans chapter. |
Yep...a true Democrat... through and through.
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Excerpt: The Fellowship's long-term goal is "a leadership led by God -- leaders of all levels of society who direct projects as they are led by the spirit." According to the Fellowship's archives, the spirit has in the past led its members in Congress to increase U.S. support for the Duvalier regime in Haiti and the Park dictatorship in South Korea. The Fellowship's God-led men have also included General Suharto of Indonesia; Honduran general and death squad organizer Gustavo Alvarez Martinez; a Deutsche Bank official disgraced by financial ties to Hitler; and dictator Siad Barre of Somalia, plus a list of other generals and dictators. Clinton, says Schenck, has become a regular visitor to Coe's Arlington, Virginia, headquarters, a former convent where Coe provides members of Congress with sex-segregated housing and spiritual guidance. |
Real sweethearts every one. One of the biggest problems I have with religion is that it views the world in simplistic terms and categorizes it as either "good or evil" based on each members definition of same. Then it uses this as a way to justify the actions and behaviors of each believer while refusing to take any personal responsibility for said actions regardless of who gets hurt. After all, they all are convinced they have a "Get out of Jail Free" card.
* * *
Pelosi: Republicans 'like' Iraq war| |
Excerpt: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lashed out at Republicans on Thursday, saying they want the Iraq war to drag on and are ignoring the public's priorities.
"They like this war. They want this war to continue," Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters. She expressed frustration over Republicans' ability to force majority Democrats to yield ground on taxes, spending, energy, war spending and other matters.
"We thought that they shared the view of so many people in our country that we needed a new direction in Iraq," Pelosi said at her weekly news conference in the Capitol. "But the Republicans have made it very clear that this is not just George Bush's war. This is the war of the Republicans in Congress." |
She still does not get it. For Bush and his Republican lackeys, it's personal. Especially Bush... so that he can show "Daddy" up and for the repugs in congress, so that they can show the Democrats up. The repugs want a to win so they can act all smug about it. But it won't happen. They especially do not want to lose, that would stick in their craw like a 10 week old, dry nasty graham cracker.
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Chris M.
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Attention fellow NewJersians: It's not an emergency
by Kathy Fisher
| Dec. 14, 2007 |
In a few minutes Reality check, When Leon gets home and I have to run out to the store. You want see lots of crazy people? My nice quiet wed eve (when I usually get my shit for the next two weeks) fell on the day before four inches of snow falls ... Imagine that, SNOW in the Winter time! Unheard of in the THE NORTHEAST. DUH!
They changed the weather forecast. IT HAS BEEN CHANGED TO A SNOW EVENT FOR TOMORROW FOLLOWED BY ICE SLEET RAIN ALL THE GOOD STUFF Believe me this will be quick and painless over and out! But the Lunatics will act like the world is ending. And they must go out and get MASS QUANTITIES OF BREAD AND MILK.
THEN ANOTHER STORM IS SET FOR SATURDAY NIGHT. THE WEATHERMAN IS SHOWING ALL THE PICTURES OF THE ICE STORM AND ALL THOSE PEOPLE WITHOUT POWER, SCARING THE SHIT OUT OF EVERYONE HERE IN THE TRISTATE AREA. IT'S A SHAKEDOWN TO GET PEOPLE OUT AND INTO THE STORES TO BUY EVERYTHING EDIBLE OFF THE SHELVES... YUM YUM MARSHMALLOW SANDWICHES!! SO PREPARED ... THEY CAN EAT THEM IN THEIR SUVS BECAUSE NONE OF THE FOOLS EVEN THOUGHT TO BUY A GENERATOR OR A BATTERY POWER RADIO FOR THAT MATTER>LIVE FOR THE MOMENT THAT'S ALL THEY DO.
THE BREAD AND MILK CROWD IS SOMETHING TO BEHOLD!! WHAT DO THEY DO WITH ALL THAT BREAD AND MILK??
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Dialogue for
Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007
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I call "Horsesh*t!"
A news.google.com story (see "subway beating") has made it to TV on CNN.
Subway beating victim will press charges| |
Excerpt: Rafael Cruz, whose beating on an A train at the hands -- and feet -- of a group of teenage girls was captured on video, will press charges with the police. |
Train-gang 'vid victim' seeks busts| |
Excerpt: The victim of the infamous videotaped subway beating by a group of teens has finally gone to the cops.
Rafael Cruz, 27, of Brooklyn, filed a complaint Monday with the NYPD's Transit Bureau alleging assault in the third degree. He said he was taunted and pummeled by four or five young women on an A train near his East New York home on Oct. 19. |
According to CNN, 84% of viewers polled said that they would intervene in a situation like that to help the victim, and 16% said no. (Note that at least one person videotaped the whole thing for YouTube and did not help the victim.)
I call, "Horseshit!" I doubt if 1% would intervene when 5 people are attacking 1 person on a train! You might think you would, at least you think that while you are sitting at home watching TV and having cocktails, but when The Moment Of Truth arrives, things will be scary. If you are one of the 84% of "armchair heroes" I wonder -- when was the last time you got into a fistfight? And when was the last time you got your ass kicked?
I remember another case where New Yorkers wouldn't even make a phone call while a woman was being raped.
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Such questions are no fun to ponder. I can see myself yelling loud (I've always had a big mouth) but I'm not sure how quickly I'd intervene in a violent situation, unless I was armed (and riding public transit, I'm never armed). |
Pox aplenty
The whole point of this "Evangelical" BS, as well as the Islamic radicals, is simply and purely male dominance. The poor male egos feel threatened by the current trend in society. Family my ass. And what's worse are the insecure and lazy females who like it.
A pox on all their houses.
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New health care ad: If Dick Cheney didn't have
government care, "he'd probably be dead now"
Which is probably the best argument I have heard so far for NOT having Government health care.
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Chris M.
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Part of a prisoner's punishment
by Been There
| Dec. 13, 2007 |
Poor medical care at Nevada prison cited| |
Excerpt: When Nevada death row inmate Charles Randolph asked for a specific medicine to address his heart condition earlier this year, Max Carter, the prison's physician assistant, sent a curt reply: The medication was the wrong kind and potentially lethal, but he would be happy to prescribe it "so that your chances of expiring sooner are increased."
When another prisoner, John O. Snow, asked for pills in July to ease the pain from his deteriorating joints, Carter's denial came with another stinging missive, stating that he was "gonna let you suffer." |
What's news here is the gross stupidity of prison officials willing to document their cruel mistreatment of patients when the patients are in prison. But don't pretend this is a problem specific to one prison in Nevada. Anyone who has first-hand knowledge of American prisons knows that medical care is the lowest of numerous low priorities. A lot of prison officials -- and prison doctors -- view withholding medical care as simply part of a prisoner's punishment, even if (or especially if) it threatens inmates' lives.
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Been There
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Bulgaria's burden
Brown pushing talks with Taliban| |
Excerpt: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is set to drop a bombshell on the White House, announcing a policy shift on Afghanistan that includes negotiating with the Taliban, according to a report in the The Independent. |
Hasn't anyone told Brown that Bush only talks to God on policy matters????
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Education becomes the new casualty in Baquba
Could this be part of the good news taking place in Iraq that Republicans keep telling us the media ignores?
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Glow-in-the-dark cat could help cut disease| |
Excerpt: Scientists have genetically modified three kittens so they appear fluorescent under ultra-violet light in a procedure which could help develop treatments for human genetic diseases. |
Sounds more like animal cruelty to me than scientific experimentation.
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Bulgaria to keep peacekeepers in Iraq until 2009| |
Excerpt: Bulgaria currently has 155 troops, including 120 peacekeepers and 35 supporting military personnel, guarding the Ashraf camp for Iranian refugees, 70 kilometers north of Baghdad. |
Must be a terrible burden for the Bulgarians.
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Wig
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Big bang coming
by Marvin A.
| Dec. 13, 2007 |
I look past the statements made about Iran having or not having or wishing or not wishing to have nuclear weapons. Instead I look at it as inevitable that someone else in the middle east besides Israel will have them -- come hell or high water. If you look anywhere you see them cropping up. India wanted parity with China, so they got them. Pakistan wanted parity with India, so they got them North Korea wanted parity with the U.S., so they got them.
It's a fucked up system, but so are people. And sooner or later someone is going to use them again. Remember we were the first, but we will not be the last. So have a good time and drink all the beer you want, because all his other crap that's going on ain't nothing like the big bang that's acoming.
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Couldn't agree more. The problem is that nuclear weapons exist, and until that problem is solved there will always be madmen who shouldn't have them but do. Bush and Cheney are two...
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Helen & Harry
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Young, white, pretty and female
by Marshall S.
| Dec. 13, 2007 |
Gang-rape cover-up by U.S., Halliburton/KBR
I wonder if we'd be hearing about it if she wasn't young, white,
pretty and female. Nevertheless, it's a sign that we've gone about
as low as we can get.
DoJ is questioned about '05 Iraq rape case
Oh my gosh, they're not sweeping it under the rug, yet.
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Ex-FBI agent pleads guilty to abduction| |
Excerpt: A former FBI supervisor who once headed the bureau's Toledo, Ohio,
office pleaded guilty Tuesday to abducting a girlfriend, holding her
captive and forcing a gun into her mouth in a jealous rage. |
It sounds like what he did to her was how he was trained to treat the public.
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Arctic melt worries experts| |
Excerpt: This week, after reviewing his own new data, NASA climate scientist Jay Zwally said: "At this rate, the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at the end of summer by 2012, much faster than previous predictions." |
"Mission Accomplished", eh, President Bush?
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Marshall S.
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Dialogue for
Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007
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Middle East madness
by The Canadian
| Dec. 12, 2007 |
I simply have no historical precedent from which to make sense of what is happening in the Middle East these days. I have some suspicions that there may be some kind of plan, but I am going to watch and listen for a time.
My initial thoughts are that a small coup just took place within the US Administration against the neocon cabal. Not sure, however, if the result will be peace or not. Neocons have their backs to the ideological wall and the world senses their demise on the wind.
Israel is alone and the Arabs have been given an amazing opportunity to assert their hegemony unfettered by threats from a militarily, politically and economically weakened US.
I'll be in touch...
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My eyes have gone crossed from the day to day craziness, and I believe less and less in the news...
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Helen & Harry
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Excuse the language
Iraqi Ex-Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz suffers heart attack in US prison
Was he undergoing Waterboarding treatment? Perhaps it's not torture -- it may be medical treatment?
* * *
Americans United protests South Carolina ministry's foot-washing at public schools| |
Excerpt: Americans United for Separation of Church and State has urged public school officials in South Carolina to discontinue a church-run program that subjects disadvantaged students to ritual foot-washing as part of a shoe giveaway. |
Damn it. Excuse the language. But I thought there wasn't anything else that could disgust me as a result of the Bush nonsense.
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Wig
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Tell the dying to go away
No matter what problems I have with Canadian healthcare I will say this:
We would not make a man choose which finger he could afford to save.
We would not shove a woman in a taxi and drop her off frightened and disoriented in a bad
part of town.
We would not refuse a doctor's referral to any kind of specialist.
We would not attempt to block medical testing or imaging.
We would not try to convince someone with a tumor that they do not, in fact, have a
tumor.
We would not deny a life-saving bone marrow transplant.
We would not tell a woman to take her dying baby to a different hospital. ... MORE ...
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Chris D.
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Legalized gambling
by Crem Della Crem
| Dec. 12, 2007 |
Re Faux controversy: Private firefighters
Well, insurance is just a form of legalized gambling. You're not against gambling, are you? OTOH, if auto insurance were outlawed people would drive helluva lot more safely!
My complaint about insurance is when the state requires it as a condition of existence. For example, auto insurance, and in Massachusetts health care insurance is mandatory.
And maybe if people didn't have house insurance they wouldn't build these freaking castles on flood/quake prone property then trip so much about the whole thing. Let's all live in domes -- inflatable frame domes filled with plastcrete :-)
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Well, I have nothing against gambling, but I want to roll the dice myself, and I want to know that the dice aren't loaded.
My complaint with insurance companies is that there's a conflict of interest big enough to drive a house through. You pay your premiums, but when you actually need a payout from your insurance policy, the insurance "provider" decides whether your claim will be paid or denied. And of course, every claim paid hurts the company's bottom line, so their primary motivation is to deny claims. A perfect example is the class action suit that just got green-lit in California, where the insurance giants routinely scrutinize your application for insurance coverage -- not when you buy the coverage, but when you file a claim -- and if there's a t you forgot to cross, your coverage is cancelled and your claim rejected.
The insurance company owns the casino, employs the dealer, runs the board, loads the dice and rolls 'em, and that's not a game I want to play...
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Helen & Harry
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They own you
by JR Mooneyham
| Dec. 12, 2007 |
Bush demands Iran explain nuke program
This is astonishing! Bush demands to know why Iran has a long ago discarded
secret weapons program in its past!?!
Although no one seems to care any more (even the Russians stopped demanding
WE explain OUR OWN secret weapons programs many years ago), America itself
likely has far more secret projects going on at any given moment than anyone
else on Earth. Heck: completely ignore every secret program BUT those
relating to nuclear matters, and you'll probably STILL get a number bigger
than anyone else's!
Just one example of nefarious and largely secret stuff America is doing
includes the astonishingly huge effort relating to spying on American
citizens, that a single Washington Post reporter dug up(!)
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Excerpt: "The following is a list of some 500 software tools, databases, data mining
and processing efforts contracted for, under development or in use at the
NSA and other intelligence agencies today..." |
EXCERPT FROM Telephone records are just the tip of NSA's iceberg
The above is but a SINGLE ITEM from HUNDREDS listed in...
They own you -- and all your property too
Where will the waste go?
by Daniel L.
| Dec. 12, 2007 |
This is an interesting story as this is one of the few sites in the US which receives this waste. After having worked in the industry, I can tell you that this is a serious problem. The SC Dept. of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) was bought and paid for. For them to be concerned about this means the situation is really screwed. This comes on the heels of a tritium release earlier this year. (LINK and LINK) There are still no real answers to what in this case. Chem-Nuclear (the owner/operator) is spreading around even more cash, as Barnwell represents a VERY profitable enterprise.
Loss of radioactive dump sparks security concerns
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Daniel L.
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Hunches and far-fetched predictions
by Kathy Fisher
| Dec. 12, 2007 |
You are aware that China made a deal with Iran for natural gas and China will set up new oil feilds so they get ENORMOUS amounts of oil from Iran too.
Also I heard that there is 11 months of unsold new homes in the US. That's a lot of catching up to do. This is not going to see any light until mid 2009.
Another stupid thing are these futures, they are based on hunches and far-fetched predictions that stocks will be worth much more in the next four to six years. That same wishful thinking got so many people in trouble with equity loans. They are shit out of luck because for the next ten years MAYBE LONGER their homes are going to DEpreciate.
Gasoline rationing may be coming to Britain if the Brits can't keep them from raising gas prices. They will take to the streets in protest this week.
Bilderbergs & Co.
Re The same reversible coat
Ralph, I also think that a global coordinating effort is about the only way to get rid of these criminals. But, as you said, how do we gather so many? What I think would work is to cut all services to these Bilderbergs & Co, from electric power to food from the grocery stores... All the rich, and the powerful wouldn't have access to anything. We would also boycott any products made by the oppressors... If we stop bowing and serving these guys, what are they going to do without their goons and their military to help them? They only have the power that we, the people have been, are giving them... I believe that if most people on this planet would get off the couch and find out what is really going on, they would be on our side, and fast.... All countries would have to be involved in this global walk-out and boycott... Aaaahhh.... I guess I'm just a dreamer... But... I think this would work.
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Marie A.
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Faux controversy: Private firefighters
by Crem Della Crem
| Dec. 11, 2007 |
Trade group founded in 2000 now represents 10,000 private firefighters
At first glance this is shocking! It sounds like something a Bush would do. But really, is it so different from private security guards? Do not banks hire Brinks to transport their money instead of the Keystone Kops?
Who would complain if a billionaire chose to go to a private doctor instead of an HMO?
ANYWAY... here is the key thing: the mega insurance company AIG is highlighted in the story. Perhaps it is cheaper to hire firefighters than to pay out a billion dollars to rebuild homes every time a brushfire roars through SoCal. If you believe that there should be insurance available for homeowners, should you not allow them to do this for their paying customers?
In fact, the recent SoCal fires were worse because so much equipment and wealth of the US and National Guard have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan. That is a problem. But the Democrats were elected in 2006 to stop the war and the consequent wasteful spending. Instead they choose to give in to Bush and spend another few hundred billion.
Blaming AIG for the spinelessness of the Democrats doesn't make sense, as much as we all have reason to hate insurance companies. It makes sense to have common social services, but without leadership to restrain government spending there will come a day when the government credit cards is maxed out, and then who will be there to fight fires? Probably just AIG.
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If the common services of government are properly funded and managed -- as opposed to the Buh-Cheney administration -- there's correspondingly less need for private firefighters. And depending on what's insured and for how much it's insured, it might make sense for insurance companies to provide their own services.
Of course, that's assuming that insurance is a business that should be allowed to exist, instead of being part of the common services of government itself. And as of a couple of months ago, I'm not making that assumption any more.
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Does America aspire to become Nigeria?
by JR Mooneyham
| Dec. 11, 2007 |
The zeal with which Republicans and their wholly owned media are striving to turn America into some sort of fascist theocracy is inching us ever closer to conditions today seen in Nigeria...
Children are targets of Nigerian witch hunt
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Update: Symantec screw-up is 'worse than any virus'
I ran into similar issues myself a while back.
Computer Associates acts like a virus/spyware hacker themselves, pisses me off, convincing me to quit the company
Ignorance is not bliss
by Kathy Fisher
| Dec. 11, 2007 |
I am 52 years old and I have come to realize that I've been lied to all
my life.
All the heroes I was told about when I was a little girl all turned out
to be liars, phonies and down right bastards The history books were
full of lies and fairy tales. Every one I was suppose to hate turned out
to good, decent, righteous human beings, or puppets put in place by
American presidents. That's 52 years of brainwashing and 24/7 propaganda.
How can we handle the truth when they never tell us the truth?
No, ignorance is not bliss. It's very dangerous.
Because of these lies Americans are taught to hate, fight in senseless
wars, die in the streets from lack of good healthcare and a decent place
to live...
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I kept passing it up because I knew it would upset me and piss me off..
I'm watched the movie Sicko and I'm right, if I'm not crying one
minute, I'm feeling bummed out knowing/being reminded how the fuckers are
killing us and ripping us off.
Every one in America should see this movie.
75% of the gas tax in the UK goes to heath care... Who's pockets does our
gas tax go into..?
The privileged and the disadvantaged
I don't want to hear it any more... bottom line?
If you can get money to kill people then dam it you can find money to
help people. In 1948 after the war Britain they went to National Healthcare...
People can only be free if they are truly educated..
My God we're fucking prisoners...
I'm watching every second of the film Sicko, all the bonus clips and extras on this DVD. They are every bit as important as the film.
If I could I'd go to Norway and leave this dangerous place. I would go in a heartbeat if they'd have us! Hell I'm ready to leave for CUBA. I'm that miserable. I'm so sick of the lies and my fellow Americans refusal to wake up and fight back!!
That rat fuck Bill Clinton Is finally admitting that 75% of the people who filled for bankruptcy did so because of medical bills. Oh big deal he now acknowledges this BUT he never stated that 85% of those bankruptcies happened during his twelve years as President and they continue to stay high with Bush as president. Nothing's changed, it's just got worse with no end in sight.
I love the interview with Tony Benn of the Labour party of 51 plus years. ''Treat other people as you would want to be treated yourself'' He spoke at Trafagar Square in defense of Nelson Mandela and was considered a terrorist in 1964. The next time he saw Mandela his was up for the Nobel Peace Prize!
Tony: ''It used to be that you changed the system to fit the needs of the people now people are being changed to fit the system and that's a huge transformation, an attempt to reverse the power of the vote''. ''Democracy is a very radical idea.''
Indeed Tony it is! But even the Labour party has changed for the worse.
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I'm sure it's very good -- Michael Moore's stuff always is. But I've stopped watching the documentaries that delve into the same turf we cover at Unknown News. So we didn’t see An Inconvenient Truth or Shut Up and Sing, and we won't be watching Sicko. I'm barely coping with reality these days, and i just can't make myself pay to be hammered over the head with the bad news I'm already familiar with...
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Blasting away
Rudy Giuliani plays defense on 'Press'| |
Excerpt: Rudy Giuliani, on the hot seat Sunday for the most exhaustive grilling of his presidential campaign, doggedly insisted that death threats against then-girlfriend Judith Nathan prompted the NYPD to launch her taxpayer-funded chauffeur services.
"These were all based upon threat assessments made by the New York City Police Department ... of what was necessary to protect her life, my life, other people's lives," Giuliani told NBC's Tim Russert.
"Every single thing done here was done based upon the assessment of someone else that this was necessary." |
Actually I think Rudy would be better suited to run for president of France, with a mistress and everything.
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Huckabee 1998: U.S. gave up on religion| |
Excerpt: "The reason we have so much government is because we have so much broken humanity," he said. "And the reason we have so much broken humanity is because sin reigns in the hearts and lives of human beings instead of the Savior." |
Forgetting the fact the these self righteous JAs have in fewer morals and ethics than most, the real cause of behind this situation is the "me first and the hell with anyone else" attitude created by our consumerist, greed based society championed by these self same people.
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2 dead in Colo. shootings 65 MILES Apart| |
Excerpt: A gunman killed two people at a training center dormitory for young Christian missionaries early Sunday after being told he couldn't spend the night, and hours later four people were shot outside a church in Colorado Springs.
It was not immediately known whether the shootings, about 65 miles apart, were related. No arrests had been made in either attack by afternoon. |
Doesn't it strike you as odd that nearly all of these incidents occur in white upper middle class areas and by some white upper middle class person ?? You rarely hear of some poor sluck blasting away people in a poor area or even an upper middle class area. Or some upper middle class boozo blasting away in some poor area.
Just an observation. There must be an awfully lot of angry upper middle class people out there...with guns.
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I guess I see what you're saying, but it all leaves me pretty much speechless. I wish such events happened rarely enough that anything about them could strike me as odd, but alas, no, it's all just routine to me. America is basically insane on a societal level, and really, the only thing that startles me about these almost weekly massacres is that they're not happening daily.
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Helen & Harry
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No such thing as a free lunch
by Daniel L.
| Dec. 11, 2007 |
File under the "Stop Me Before I Kill Again" Dept. At first I thought
it was a joke, but it isn't...
Workers take hot meals from students with unpaid lunch bills
Now if Ireland can do it... Ahhh never mind...
Gormley lights the way with ban on bulbs
Hope all is well with you guys!
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Cool about Ireland banning old-fashioned light bulbs, but I must admit, I guess I don't see the real outrage in that first article, expecting kids to pay for their lunch. Wasn't going to say anything about it, but you're the third person to send that news item, so I must be missing something. Maybe I'm just getting hard-hearted in my old age, but really, what's the lunchroom supposed to do when parents refuse to pay the posted price?
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Update: More fleshed out version of the SC school lunch story... It was all over a $1K budget shortfall?!? Huh?!?
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A thousand bucks? That's real money to me...
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Yes a grand is a lot to me personally, but to a school district? My point is/was that could have been handled a ***LOT*** better.
Actually, they took away the food after it had been served, so the food would have to be pitched. Berkeley county is very poor, and the lunch probably represents the best meal of the day to some of these students. The fact that it was over a $1K budget shortfall is rather petty. Further the threshold of $6 seems even more petty. The sad part is that this could have been handled better. How much do you want to bet that there will be a lawsuit filed? Maybe putting it another way, what harm would have been done to cut off the lunches the day after?
BTW, it just makes this state just that much more a laughing stock...
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Hadn't occurred to me that they'd probably have to dump the food once it had been served, so yeah, that was stupid. But still. Call me a cold-hearted bastard, but if there's a price tag you're supposed to pay the price. Tomorrow those kids get peanut butter sammiches, and unless there's a free lunch program, that's as it should be.
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Helen & Harry
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The same reversible coat
Re To serve THEM
Unfortunately, Ronald, that ain’t gonna happen. They are too well entrenched in the governing process. It doesn’t make any difference whether we elect a republican or a democrat, they both wear the same reversible coat and are the opposite sides of the same coin. They all take their orders from the same people and we, the general public, are not those people.
Another Enron
by NobodySpecial
| Dec. 11, 2007 |
Re The Bush-Paulson plan
If any company should go bankrupt it's Countrywide.
They carry my house mortgage and know my financial situation. Just because my payments are current and I've got a lot of equity in my house, they continue to pitch a mortgage that's several times more expensive than I could ever afford. They know that but they keep pitching.
Were I to take them up on their offer, the payments would cost me my house within a few years. They don't care because they get paid on the front end and it seems the government will underwrite their willingness to float loans that have no chance of being repaid.
Countrywide is another Enron.
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NobodySpecial
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Dialogue for
Monday, Dec. 10, 2007
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