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Catching up
Cops arrest, strip-search, and force surgery upon black bus rider
I'm pretty sure forced surgery falls under the domain of torture. Unlawful confinement, torture, and to top it all off they stuck the poor man with the hospital bill for the surgery he didn't want and the doctors should frankly be prosecuted for performing it against his will. Performing life saving surgery on an unwilling patient or a child whose parents forbid it on religious grounds can get a doctor's medical license revoked. Anally raping a guy with a camera should carry a penalty far worse.
*** *** ***
Marines ignore Taliban cash crop of opium
I had a suggestion about that way back in 2006. I think I also posted a copy of the letter on Unknown News. Funny story, I actually got one reply for it from Peter G. MacKay, Canada's foreign minister. The best way to strike a real blow to terrorism is to hit the drug and illegal arms trades, but as it's been pointed out the US appears to have a vested interest in keeping the War on Drugs as broad, unending, and ineffectual as the War of Terror on Freedom.
*** *** ***
Details of airport Tasering stripped from RCMP report
I saw a video of that, and I'm disappointed in the VPD. First off, they never actually identified themselves as police. That's the first thing they're supposed to do, we take for granted that when you see guys in vests with guns they're the cops. Some places that describes airport security or even street gangs. The VPD uniform and Kevlar vests don't have the word police stamped anywhere and they didn't have shields on display. The only thing identifying them as police until they pull their badges, which they didn't, is a small insignia on the shoulder that you'd only recognize if you were already familiar with it.
Secondly, they all came at him at once and surrounded him. When dealing with a distressed and potentially dangerous individual the last thing you want to do is make him panic. That can change things from a temper tantrum to an actual violent incident in a hurry.
Third, Dziekanski didn't seem to know who they were or what they wanted. It seemed like he had assumed they were telling him to grab his shit and come with them. As soon as he stepped away to grab his luggage, they cut him off and cornered him like an animal. Surrounded by several strange, angry, armed men demanding something of you in a language you can't understand you're bound to start freaking out. In the end under that pile of officers it sounded like he was screaming for someone to call the police.
The RCMP used to be a respectable police force. Now they're giving the OJ-era LAPD reason to feel good about themselves. Next thing you know they're going to be the ones with the anal probes. There were a lot of things about Canada that I could be proud of. Now they seem to be slipping away before my very eyes.
*** *** ***
Last but not least: Burma Disaster VS Katrina
Damn! That's just cold-blooded. You've got the government purposely delaying relief, the religious right saying it's divine punishment, American citizens turning their backs on their countrymen chasing them away from safety at gunpoint, and assholes in the media even accusing the Katrina victims of sitting around waiting for the government to save them when they can save themselves. The Bush administration wrote the book on making a natural disaster worse for personal gain and it seems to have become a best-seller amongst unscrupulous dictatorships.
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Chris D.
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Poodlemania
Is John McCain Bush's poodle?| |
Excerpt: If Tony Blair was called Bush's poodle, John McCain now aspires to that mantle by giving total support when George Bush does what no other president has ever done, attack a domestic opponent while abroad.
McCain cannot have it both ways, giving a speech claiming he will work with Democrats, then within minutes parroting Bush's low-road attack. McCain apparently forgot his own position about talking to Hamas, which Obama does not support, putting Obama to the right of McCain on Hamas, while Bush and McCain slander Obama with the latest cheap shot.
Want an indefinite commitment in Iraq? Bush and McCain are your men. Oppose stronger assistance to veterans? Bush and McCain are your team. Want tax cuts to the wealthy while not giving strong support to vets? The Bush-McCain pair is for you. |
Oh now I wouldn't call him a poodle. He's more like the old broken down mutt with a bad case of mange that pees and barfs on the carpet. Then wonders why you keep it outside all the time.
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Chris M.
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Taken out of context
Re Racism runs deeper than sexism
I knew that I would have my words taken out of context and screwed. I knew it the minute I clicked "send."
What I find tedious is the shades of grey everyone wants to give discrimination. Now you are making blankets statements about people of Appalachia. <<sadly shakes head>> West Virginia was against slavery and split its own borders to prove it. I know some reporters called up the KKK and asked if there were any members dumb enough to give an interview, but the same media is lying to you about everything else, why do you believe them this time?
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It's unfair to say Appalachia is more racist than non-Appalachia America?
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In French
Did George Bush actually say, "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for 'entrepreneur'"? I was able to find two sources confirming this quote mentioned at econ161.berkeley.edu ... (citing washingtonpost.com) and bbc.co.uk .... Scroll down the Washington Post for its confirmation. Good enough for me that he actually did say it.
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The BBC link doesn’t work, and I'm still not convinced. More likely Tony Blair was just repeating a pretty good joke.
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Verizon
by JR Mooneyham
| May 17, 2008 |
Look at two links I found side by side:
Florida seeks to fine Verizon for bad service
Verizon wins $678.5 million Homeland Security contract
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Quite amusing, thanks. I remember a similar juxtaposition a few years back, with Homeland Security inking a huge contract to buy Microsoft brand software, amidst a flurry of different news items spotlighting Microsoft's infamous Swiss Cheese security shortcomings.
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Helen & Harry
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Hillary-hater
Re Racism runs deeper than sexism
I guess I am a Hillary-hater. It's kind of like being a Bush-hater -- you're not much of an American if you can't work up a good head of hate for politicians who push policies that are catastrophic for America. I'd be willing to let Hillary slip into the oblivion she deserves, but if we're going to be talking about her at Unknown News I will pipe in:
I don’t think it's any coincidence that Hillary makes her widely-replayed message about "hard-working white Americans" -- code language that's clearly an appeal to white racists -- just a few days before the primaries in the racist strongholds of West Virginia and Kentucky. It's not the most despicable, disgusting thing Hillary Clinton has done by a long shot, but it might be the most despicable thing she's done this week.
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Chris S.
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Nada
by Angry Annie
| May 17, 2008 |
Ex-official: State Dep't corruption is killing American soldiers| |
Excerpt: Retired judge Arthur Brennan alleged that poor performance by the department had led to the loss of billions of dollars, and warned some of the money could be funding outlaws, or insurgents, including the Mehdi Army.
Brennan, who served in 2007 as Director of the Office of Accountability and Transparency, at the US embassy in Baghdad, testified before a Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing, which no Republicans attended.
"In a sense, the Department of State has contributed to the killing and maiming of US soldiers, the deaths of thousands of Iraqi civilians; the bolstering of illegal militias, insurgents and Al-Qaeda."
"Billions of US and Iraqi dollars have been lost, stolen and wasted, it is likely that some of that money is financing outlaws and insurgents such as the Medhi Army." |
Don't miss the little snippet that no Republicans even attended this hearing. And that's exactly how much Republicans care about government corruption and the imperiled lives of US soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines -- nada.
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Angry Annie
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KGB USA
Cops arrest, strip-search, and force surgery upon black bus rider
Reminds me of the KGB... Diplomatic immunity, random terrorist acts against the population ... in the span of one generation this country seems to have gone from hating communists to imitating them.
Is it weird in here, or is it just me? Steven Wright
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MonkeyMan
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Hezbollah -- important but NOT the rulers
So what are Hezbollah’s political goals? Are they something really radical? Do they want to change the whole system or the National Pact? There are some in the country who HAVE proposed scrapping the ratios and quotas of seats in the parliament that the National Pact creates and going for “majority rule” as in other countries (which would probably destroy Lebanon and benefit Hezbollah), but Hezbollah’s proposals have everything to do with standing behind the current system -- even though it keeps them UNDER-REPRESENTED. ... Click for more ...
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Marie K.
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A phony cover
Re Heroin economicsIf the illegal drug business stopped completely, I think the world economy would collapse.
The world economy wouldn't collapse. However, the U.S. empire would weaken. Why? Because the CIA gets a significant amount of its money from the drug trade... and because certain U.S. puppet regimes rely on heroin and cocaine trade (e.g. the rightwing paramilitaries and much of the rightwing government in Colombia; and the Northern Alliance warlords in Afghanistan)... and because U.S. imperialism relies on a phony "war on drugs" as a phony cover for their support for oppressive and exploitative capitalist regimes in Latin America (especially in Colombia, but also Peru), and as cover for the U.S.A.'s own oppressive actions against the people's movements in Latin America.
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Simon W.
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Doomed
Re 2009 and beyond
We're doomed. Got it.
McCain's back pockets
by Angry Annie
| May 16, 2008 |
McCain campaign threatens to cut off Newsweek’s access
after magazine publishes article McCain doesn't like
The article must have been pretty mild, as I never heard any ripples about it until this. Newsweek, of course, will buckle under and promise to resume kissing McCain's back pockets. And Democrats like Hillary Clinton will continue chatting amiably with certified propaganda outlets like Fox News.
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Angry Annie
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Such a great First Lady
by Stephanie S.
| May 16, 2008 |
Re Value life here and now
Many of us have given our support to Hillary Clinton for years, and defended her when Republicans smeared her. She was a terrific First Lady, the walking definition of class under enormous pressure, and I'll always love her for that. I was honored, ecstatic to vote for her when she ran for Senate, and after she won office I was delighted that she was my Senator, for a while.
I was intrigued when she announced her campaign for the Presidency, and I could have voted for her. She's said strange things on the campaign trail that sound like she's boosting McCain -- McCain and Hillary have reached some Presidential "threshold" but Obama hasn't? Still, even a few months ago I could have voted for her.
Two huge, insurmountable problems: She later changed her mind, but at first she supported torture, and I wanted to forgive her but to me that's a really baseline moral question -- if you support torture I'm going to tend to believe you're an asshole and I'm not sure I want your finger on the button. And she voted to attack Iraq when any fair observer could see it was a quagmire to be, and I wanted to forgive her that but even now she can't bring herself to simply say she was wrong about Iraq. We've had eight years of a President who can't admit mistakes no matter how huge or how obvious, and I don't want eight more years of that. And she's already given the green light to attacking Iran.
Bottom line, I really don't know who this Senator Clinton is. She looks a lot like the First Lady I liked so much, but she's a politician now so I have to judge her on her politics and her politics are lethally wrong.
I'll treasure my memory of First Lady Hillary Clinton and I'll wait in line when they make a movie of that part of her life. You can even make her election to the Senate a happy ending and I'll buy the popcorn. I'm so very relieved, though, that she won't be President, and I wouldn't have voted for her.
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Stephanie S.
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Odds are against you
by JR Mooneyham
| May 16, 2008 |
I saw the last several minutes of this on my TV, and -- although Olbermann as
always is too wordy even for a geek like me -- I still liked it very much!
Countdown Special Comment to President Bush: "Shut the hell up."
*** *** ***
Start out poor -- and you've got even higher odds against you than you thought.
Having less power impairs the mind and ability to get ahead, study shows| |
Excerpt: "...being put in a low-power role may impair a person's basic cognitive functioning and thus, their ability to get ahead."
"Smith and colleagues believe their results have "direct implications for management and organizations." In high-risk industries such as health care, a single employee error can have fatal consequences. Empowering these employees could reduce the likelihood of such errors. Additionally, their work illustrates how hierarchies perpetuate themselves. By randomly assigning individuals to high and low-power conditions, they demonstrate that simply lacking power can automatically lead to performance that reinforces one's low standing, sending the powerless towards a destiny of dispossession." |
Racism runs deeper than sexism
Re Value life here and now
A lot of people have mothers, and even misogynists recognize that women are capable of great accomplishment, they're just against letting women have the chance. But racism runs deeper than sexism. If you're raised in stark racist territory like Appalachia you're likely to have few inter-racial contacts, especially in childhood, that aren't reinforced as negative before during and after ...
I don't think I'm a Hillary-hater but seriously, giving her every benefit of every doubt, Hillary Clinton is no Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks or Medgar Evers. Mentioninging MLK and Rosa Parks and Medgar Evers and others "who stood up on trembling legs to fight oppression" and implying that Hillary Clinton stands among such people? What an insult to the memory of people who took real risks to their lives and freedom to advance a cause they believed in.
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Hillary Clinton will be remembered for being the first First Lady with a career, the first First Lady elected to public office, and the first woman to mount a credible campaign for the Presidency. Not exactly King, Parks, or Evers in my book, but historic, and historians will certainly remember her more vividly than most First Ladies and most of her contemporaries in the Senate.
Me, I'm not a historian. I live in the present, and in the present Hillary Clinton is a tedious topic, unless someone has something new and interesting to say about her (and I can't imagine what that might be).
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Dialogue as appeasement
This is interesting. Bush comes out and says that "negotiating with terrorist groups is a "foolish delusion" akin to the appeasement that failed to stop Nazi Germany from invading its European neighbors." LINK
Obviously referring to Obama's stance on negotiating with Iran.
And at the same time his esteemed Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates LINK says quite the opposite -- "The United States should construct a combination of incentives and pressure to engage Iran, and may have missed earlier opportunities to begin a useful dialogue with Tehran".
Apparently it's only appeasement of "terrorist" groups when democratic candidates suggest it.
*** *** ***
Hillary, McCain and the stupid vote| |
Excerpt: Certainly one cohort of voters that is keeping the leaky Clinton
dirigible airborne is women, particularly older women, for whom
her candidacy is a feminist milestone. That is understandable.
But the other cohort, which Clinton has referred to as “working,
hard working, white Americans,” and as “whites…who had not
completed college,” is hardly something she or any candidate
should be bragging about. |
And as I have said before this is exactly what is tearing this
country apart. Racism and sexism is not something you have or don't.
It's something you acquire. The same for ignorance. South Pacific
had a song that stated this quite nicely. In fact the show almost
did not get produced because of it but Rogers and Hammerstein
stuck to their guns...| |
No...it's not something you're born with
It's something you learn
You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!Lt. Cable |
*** *** ***
I just had to grab this
from Counterpunch:| |
Excerpt: You just have to look at the current on-line recruiting material
of the US Army today to see that the US armed forces still fill most
of the enlisted ranks with people who are simply glad the military
gave them a job or an education -- an indication of just how difficult
it still is to get either in civilian life if one is not deemed white
and/ or rich. It ought to be a disgrace when a man or woman has to
become a trained killer in order to enjoy a monthly salary and a
college education. A presidential candidate who cannot or will not
make the connection between the suffering in Iraq (or elsewhere) and
the portion of the population, who only have the military as an
employment option, is irresponsible. If he cannot say that because
his campaign strategy prohibits it, then he should have the courage
to leave those who do not run for president to say what needs to be
said. |
Because it reminded me of a (you guessed it) Star Trek episode.| |
"I will not return to a land of murdering oppressors!" Lokai
"I told you where you were going.
I allowed your fellow countryman here simply as a courtesy." Kirk
"And you see how this killer repays you, as he repays all
his benefactors." Bele
"Benefactors? He's a liar!
He raided our homes, tore us from our families,
herded us together like cattle and then sold us as slaves!" Lokai
"They were savages, Captain.
We took them into our hearts, our homes. We educated them." Bele
"Yes! Just education enough to serve the master race." Lokai
"You were the product of our love! And you repaid us with
murder." Bele
"Why should a slave show mercy to the enslaver?" Lokai
"Slaves?
That was changed thousands of years ago. You were freed." Bele
"Freed? Were we free to be men?
Free to be husbands and fathers?
Free to live our lives in equality and dignity?" Lokai
"Yes, if you knew how to use your freedom.
You were free enough to burn all the things that had been
built!" Bele
"I tried to break the chains of 100 million people.
My only crime is that I failed, to that I do plead guilty." Lokai
"There is an order in things. He asks for utopia in a day.
It can't be done." Bele
"Not in a day. And not in ten times 10,000 years by your
thinking. To you, we are a breed who will never be ready.
Genocide for my people is the plan for your utopia." Lokai
"You're insane, you filthy little plotter of ruin!
You vicious subverter of every decent thought!
Oh, you're coming back to pay for your crimes!" Bele
"I know you and all those with whom you're plotting
to take power permanently.
When I return to Cheron, you will understand what power is.
I will have armies of followers." Lokai |
Sound familiar?? And it has not changed much since this episode
aired in 1967. Forty one years ago ... sigh
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Chris M.
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Desperate grabbing for money
by Marshall S.
| May 16, 2008 |
Chile's Bachelet welcomes Palestinian refugees fleeing violence in Iraq| |
Excerpt: President Michelle Bachelet says Chile wants to become a "second fatherland" for 117 Palestinian refugees who fled violence in Iraq.
Bachelet says she knows what it's like to "rebuild a life from zero" after spending several years in exile during Chile's 1973-1990 dictatorship.
She spoke Thursday during an event to welcome the refugees at the government palace in Santiago.
The Palestinians arrived in Chile recently and are settling in the capital and two nearby cities with help from the government. |
I'm glad somebody cares enough about these people to do something.
*** *** ***
Biden calls Bush comments 'bullshit'| |
Excerpt: The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joe Biden, D-Delaware, called President Bush’s comments accusing Sen. Barack Obama and other Democrats of wanting to appease terrorists "bulls-t” and said if the president disagrees so strongly with the idea of talking to Iran then he needs to fire his secretaries of State and Defense, both of whom Biden said have pushed to sit down with the Iranians.
“He’s the guy who’s weakened us. He’s the guy that’s increased the number of terrorists in the world. His policies have produced this vulnerability the United States has. His intelligence community pointed that out not me." |
Is this Biden, or Rev. Wright? Or the simple truth?
*** *** ***
Senate votes to roll back media ownership rule| |
Excerpt: The Senate Thursday night voted to nullify a Federal Communications Commission rule that allows media companies to own a newspaper and a television station in the same market. |
The Dems are finding their balls, a little late.
*** *** ***
E-mail from VA worker says to avoid PTSD diagnosis, shaft veterans| |
Excerpt: An internal e-mail written by a Veterans Affairs Department employee suggested avoiding a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder for veterans and instead considering a diagnosis that might result in a lower disability payment. |
Is compassion completely gone from government?
*** *** ***
Department of Homeland Security wants to spy on Americans, Dems charge| |
Excerpt: The Department of Homeland Security wants to set up a new program to illegally spy on Americans, sharing detailed surveillance capabilities of military intelligence satellites with local law enforcement. |
The article should read that the gov is going to tell us what they have been doing all along. Like for decades.
*** *** ***
Rough economy cuts into pay for US CEOs| |
Excerpt: CEO compensation at the biggest US corporations dropped sharply last year, reflecting in part the rough business conditions at top-tier banks and other large financial firms, a study has found. |
Poor babies! They'll have to live with just $14 million. Per year. Plus retirement benefits and CEO perks. And they get that for driving the US economy into the ground. Hell, I coulda done that for a lot less, say free coffee.
*** *** ***
Anger after apparent US missile strike in Pakistan| |
Excerpt: Angry residents of a Pakistani village on the Afghan border stopped government officials on Thursday from approaching the ruins of a house struck by missiles suspected to have been fired by a U.S. drone.
Eighteen people including foreign militants were killed when two missiles hit a house in the village of Damadola in the Bajaur tribal region, where Islamist militants have been known to operate, on Wednesday evening, a security official said. |
Have we declared war on Pakistan?
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US seeks reports on Americans' foreign bank accounts| |
Excerpt: In its hunt for wealthy Americans who have stashed money overseas to evade taxes, the U.S. government has turned to an obscure law enacted nearly four decades ago.
Under the law, originally aimed at rooting out laundering of drug money, citizens or residents of the United States must tell the Internal Revenue Service each year if they have any foreign bank or financial accounts holding a total of $10,000 or more. Income from the assets is taxed at ordinary rates of up 35 percent. |
Sounds like the desperate grabbing for money of its citizens by a country about to go under.
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Contractors, insurance firms in Iraq and Afghanistan gouging taxpayers, panel says| |
Excerpt: A poorly run Pentagon program for providing civilian employees in Iraq and Afghanistan with workman's compensation has allowed defense contractors and insurance companies to gouge American taxpayers, a House oversight committee said Thursday.
Insurance companies alone have pocketed $600 million in excessive profits over the past five years, says a staff report from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, but the Defense Department refuses to adjust its approach for managing the program. |
How much of that $600 million was kicked back to Bush in the form of "campaign contributions"?
*** *** ***
Bush's golf claims 'a slap in face' to vets| |
Excerpt: Mr Friedman, who is vice chairman of the US veterans' organization VoteVets, told the Press Association: "Thousands of Americans have given up a lot more than golf for this war.
"For President Bush to imply that he somehow stands in solidarity with families of American soldiers by giving up golf is disgraceful. It's an insult to all Americans and a slap in the face to our troops' families."
Mr Friedman went on: "It just shows he's a guy who doesn't understand the idea of sacrifice for your country and military service. Giving up golf is not a sacrifice.
"It shows how disconnected he is from everyday Americans, especially those who are serving in Iraq and their families. It shows he can in no way relate to them."
He added: "I just wonder what past commanders-in-chief would think of this, looking down upon this guy."
On the day the US death toll in Iraq reached the grim milestone of 4000, Mr Bush was pictured hugging a 6ft bunny at the White House as part of the annual Easter Egg roll - an Easter Monday tradition at the White House since 1878. |
The modern version of "Let them eat cake".
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Marshall S.
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War after war
Iran [is] America's next war ... and after that one who is next? Not that the others are over...
As far as I can see War is the Republican Party's answer to limiting abortions. We just
do them later in term, say 19 to 40 years later.
OMG! That means Hagee and the other TV spouters (They aren't preachers, I heard real
preachers!) along with the Republican candidates are pro-choice! Quick tell the Southern
Baptists -- they will have to vote against the Republican Party!
Seriously who next? Venezuela? Funny how they aren't threatening Cuba, you kind of
think that would be a given, no?
Zen hugs (and I still want a chocolate bar...)
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Jos
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Falwell Doctrine
by Spaceghoti
| May 15, 2008 |
Re Violates church/state separation
By favoring churches as a general rule? The idea was that tax laws can be tweaked to favor certain parties, and we're seeing that happen today. By exempting all religions from taxation, the intent was to prevent specific churches from being taxed out of existence while leaving others alone.
Mind you, I think the notion of religion is antiquated. But if you're going to have religion in your society -- and I can't see a way to remove it without getting deeply tyrannical -- it's best to foster an environment that allows all religions to compete without favoring any of them.
May the best philosophy win.
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Re Holy big bucks
Yup. They follow the Falwell Doctrine, which essentially re-writes the Separation clause so that the State can't interfere with the Church, but the Church is free to use its tax-exemption status to interfere with the State. The fact that few non-Christian organizations are getting federal funds from the Bush Administration demonstrates exactly what the Separation Clause is supposed to prevent.
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Spaceghoti
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Flawed intelligence
by JR Mooneyham
| May 15, 2008 |
Bush says electing Democratic President could lead to new attack on US| |
Excerpt: President Bush said Tuesday he was disappointed in "flawed intelligence" before the Iraq war and was concerned that if a Democrat wins the presidency in November and withdrew troops prematurely it could "eventually lead to another attack on the United States." |
But we got 9-11 after electing a Republican President.
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What a thoroughly despicable thing for a President to say, and how utterly ordinary for this despicable President. During the time George Bush's father was President, I considered him the most despicable human being to hold that office in my lifetime -- pure evil, without a drip of conscience or ordinary human decency in him. But compared to his son, George Herbert Walker Bush is Jimmy frickin' Stewart.
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Helen & Harry
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Prayer for mercy
by Wolf De La Wolf
| May 15, 2008 |
Re President gives up golf to honor soldiers
May God help this stupid fool!
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Wolf De La Wolf
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Treating Rove with Conyers gloves
by Angry Annie
| May 15, 2008 |
Rove refuses to testify under oath about Siegelman imprisonment| |
Excerpt: A House Judiciary Committee deadline passed Monday with former White House adviser Karl Rove standing by his refusal to testify about allegations that he pushed the Justice Department to prosecute former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.
In his latest offer to settle the matter, Rove sent the panel a letter offering to respond to questions in writing, according to his attorney. But he reiterated that he would not testify publicly and under oath. |
Maybe, if John Conyers is replaced by a real Democrat as Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, the questions of whether or not Rove will testify with or without an oath won't be up for negotiation, and instead Rove will be subpoenaed and compelled to testify, period.
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Angry Annie
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Assh*le cops, literally
by Lucy Lindblad
| May 15, 2008 |
Cops arrest, strip-search, and force surgery upon black bus rider
Read this one all the way thru -- afterwards the hospital billed the guy for nearly 7 grand. Diagnosis: hemorrhoids, not drugs in his ass.
Bad cops! No donuts for you!
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Pretty dang good reporting. In addition to the (of course) shocking and (of course) illegal police acts, and the blithe cops' attitude that (of course) there's nothing wrong with what they did no matter what they do, I was pleasantly surprised by the reporter's willingness t o type such un-ambiguous terms as "falsely arrested" (without the lying but expected "allegedly") and a kicker quote at the end.
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Helen & Harry
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Value life here and now
Re As soon as you are ready, stop obsessing about politics and all the rest of the hoopla
A few months ago I read an article about the aftermath of the two atomic bombs dropped on the island Japan. There was a discussion about the shift in military strategy from military targets to civilian, and the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Shortly afterward there was an accord, the Japanese people would never posses nor pursue nuclear arms.
This touched deep into my human-ness, that they would not visit upon their neighbor that which they suffered. Before those attacks, there were labs on the island doing just that, trying to develop atomic weapons. But after surviving the horror, there was a change in consciousness.
When I was reading your comments about hitting bottom I was reminded of the article and how I felt reading about a shift in thinking in the Japanese culture. I pray that America will not have a bottom so drastic. And too, I was sad to discover that Japan is reconsidering its decision and may pursue nuclear arms after all. Short memory, I guess.
The biggest problem I have with Pro-lifers is that I think their stance is incomplete. Pro-life should include: no capital punishment, complete healthcare for all, no war, dignity and food and clean water for every single soul on this planet, etc.
If Pro-life were actually about valuing life and not about controlling a woman's body, then I would reconsider my philosophy. If the US wants to stop terrorism, let's start by ending our own. Let's declare war on child abuse, elderly abuse, and violence against women.
We can apply the "Think Globally, Act Locally" to terrorism. We have a better chance of stopping terrorism within our borders. Value all life by protecting it from birth until a natural death. Stop Sickcare and start healthcare. Perform random acts of kindness. Vote to strengthen victims' rights. Why is it to difficult and costly for an American to adopt an American child? The cost is so prohibitive that couples adopt from overseas. Let's start a discussion about how we make it easy and affordable to adopt kids here at home. Value life HERE and NOW. Let's stop focusing on closing the borders to keep terrorists out and focus on keeping jobs in. Buy American (if you can find any products still made here). Stop tazing drug addicts and start sending them to treatment. Bring our soldiers home. We can't protect our families by killing someone else's.
*** *** ***
Re Obama is black
So, the Appalachia region is racist, but ok with a female for president? Seems simplistic to me. And it is unfair to label an area the most racist without stats to back it up. And poll surveys may show that the voters in that area are more racist, or that they are most honest about it. One thing I know about my homestate (WV) is that they DO NOT like being told what to do and have no qualms about speaking their mind. I would bet a week's pay that they are just more likely to be honest about being racist, God love 'em. That area is one of the poorest too. Poor folks want and need healthcare. This region would be one that would benefit most from universal healthcare. Could that be a reason to vote for Hillary.....hmmm?
I am very excited by this election in that it has spurned discussion about the difficult issues we have in this country: race and gender, class gaps and poverty, maturity versus idealism, and the price of war. I am excited that Barack is very probably our next president and I am proud that Hillary has made it this far. I thank God for all of those who stood up on trembling legs to fight oppression (MLK, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Gloria Steinem, Emmeline Pankhurst, Anthony, Sanger and Fuller). Hate Hillary if you want, but thank God for her and the leap forward she has made. You might hate her, but your daughters and granddaughters will love her. Remember Rosa Parks was arrested. We remember her fondly, with love and admiration, but plenty of whites hated her and what she eventually stood (or rather sat) for. Hillary kicked the door in for future candidates. So has Obama. Let's celebrate progress for blacks AND women.
Fruity Pebbles & Jack Daniels
Re President gives up golf to honor soldiersAnd pardon my cynicism, but Bush as President hasn't told the truth about anything more significant than his dog's name, and I don't believe he's even telling the truth about giving up golf.
You know he doesn't do much besides have his cartoons read to him over his breakfast of fruity pebbles. Then it's Jack Daniels for lunch and dinner. What a life :)
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US Air Force aims for 'full control' of 'any and all' computers
Sigh...
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Sigh indeed. Who hasn't grown weary of the endless parade of official American un-Americanism...?
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Helen & Harry
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Hands off
Re Rewriting on the run
A local power company decided to convert from a mainframe system to one based on large Unix boxes (Oracle) a number of years ago. They had been at it for about 3 years when asked how much longer it would take. Their reply was that they should have the conversion done in another five years. (I was told this by a systems programmer friend of mine.)
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Analysis: West Virginia win won't help Clinton much| |
Excerpt: Hillary Rodham Clinton's shellacking of Barack Obama in the West Virginia primary Tuesday may burnish her image as a champion of the economically disadvantaged and bolster her determination to campaign through the final contests. But it does little to alter the unforgiving political landscape she faces.
The former first lady's lopsided victory in West Virginia had long been expected, given the demographic makeup of the state: It is 95 percent white, has no urban core and counts among its residents some of the poorest and least educated of any state. It also had just 28 delegates at stake. |
This only proves one thing. The more ignorant the people, the more they support her. And a great deal of these folks have worked very hard to maintain their ignorance and are damn prod of it.
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Re Just as bad if not worse
No. The government and business should both keep their hands off of it and let the doctors run it or at least have the final say.
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Doctors in America have exponentially less say in medical care than they did when I was a child. Virtually all aspects of anything related to medicine is determined by bottom-line driven bureaucrats or regulation-minded federal bureaucrats.
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Helen & Harry
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Heavenly view
by Kathy Fisher
| May 15, 2008 |
Vatican says it's OK to believe in space aliens
Hail Mary full of grace. Thank you for allowing me to believe in aliens from outer space.
Obama is black
by Angry Annie
| May 14, 2008 |
Clinton beats Obama handily in West Virginia
It's a Clinton landslide in West Virginia, and she's expected to win huge in Kentucky next week, because a black man can't win in white Appalachia, the nation's most racist area.
Some people in the Clinton campaign, like Senator Clinton herself, argue that this proves she's a stronger candidate. I'd say this proves nothing, except the obvious, that America is still a very racist nation.
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America is a racist nation, but the good news is that the racism is fading -- it's faded so far that a black man is going to win the Democrats' nomination for President. If Appalachia and racists elsewhere don't like it they can lump it. Clinton has hinted at it and I don't doubt that others will make the suggestion even more plainly, but arguing that racism is a reason to deny a black man something he's earned is repulsively racist on its face.
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Holy big bucks
Re The idea wasThe idea was that the State would not attempt to dictate terms to the Church by taxing and "favoring" certain churches or religions.
Which the Bush administration was all too happy to change in return for the holy big bucks.
Violates church/state separation
Re The idea was
The way I see it is that this tax exemption violates the church/state separation.
Beyond me
Re The idea was
Churches also provide services to the community that the government doesn't have to pay for. Examples include meeting places for Scouts, AA, and other groups, assisting the needy with soup kitchens, and other outreach programs. Churches also organize assistance for events like Hurricane Katrina.
That's not to say that all churches do it, but that's the ideal situation. But as you indicate, churches have to stay out of the political business. How Hagee, Robertson, and Falwell (and Wright to a small extent) get away with this is beyond me.
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Enry
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Heroin economics
by Marshall S.
| May 14, 2008 |
Illegal drugs are a $500 billion per year business. That's a big chunk of change, in fact more than most corporations gross per year. I don't believe those in charge are weird but colorful, isolated nutcases, like one sees in movies. I think they're very well connected businessmen. ... If the illegal drug business stopped completely, I think the world economy would collapse. ... Click for more ...
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Marshall S.
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Rewriting on the run
by Hazel Burke
| May 14, 2008 |
This is stunning! Meredith Whitney is probably about as popular on Wall Street now as an Iraqi guerrilla would be at the Baskin Robbins in the Green Zone...
Citigroup is beyond repair, says financial analyst| |
Excerpt: Banking analyst Meredith Whitney blasted Citigroup's turnaround plan yesterday, saying the financial giant is so deep in a black hole that even renown physicist Stephen Hawking could not help the ailing company.
"We wish [Citi's] management team all the best in their ambitious endeavors, but we fear [it] is past the point of fixing," quipped the Oppenheimer analyst known for her forecast that the company would slash its dividend. ...
Instead, Pandit outlined plans to further integrate the conglomerate by doing away with overlapping technology systems, among other changes.
Whitney gave Pandit's presentation two thumbs down, saying it was "glaringly light on actual mechanics," and "almost identical to one given by former CEO Chuck Prince about a year and a half ago."
Prince, who was dethroned for his role in Citi's mortgage-related losses, stepped down days after Whitney issued her infamous prediction about Citi's dividend and placed an "underperform" rating on Citi's already battered stock.
Whitney agreed Citi's "antiquated and disparate" technology systems need work, but expressed skepticism about Pandit's plans to pull it off in tough financial times. |
Mainframe computer systems are written to be just a bit more reliable than modern internet code, haha. This means that the programs are highly inflexible and change resistant. They're intended to be that way because one doesn't want to have computer programs which print multi-million dollar checks malf'ing in random, arbitrary and unpredictable ways. You don't Alt-Ctrl-Del in those environments, that just is not an option, so things are done differently.
Successfully rewriting core systems at mega-corporations is similar to doing an engine rebuild during rush hour in the commute lane without spilling a drop of oil -- and about as likely to happen... And major code upgrades are similar in complexity to NASA moon launches.
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This is a SUPER article, with very interesting predictions!!!
The global slump of 2008-09 has begun as poison spreads| |
Excerpt: The avalanche of bankruptcies has begun. Six US companies of substance have defaulted on bonds over the past fortnight, against 17 for the whole of last year.
As a "non-believer" in the instant rebound story, I am not easily shocked by gloomy reports. But the latest note by Standard & Poor's -- The Bust After The Boom -- gave me a fright.
The sick list is varied, though most for now are victims of the housing crash: Linens 'n Things, ($650m), Kimball Hill ($703m), Home Interiors ($310m), French Lick Resorts ($142m), Recycled Paper Greetings ($187m), and Tropicana Entertainment ($2.49bn).
As the Fed's latest loan survey makes clear, lenders have dropped the guillotine. With the usual delay, the poison is spreading from banks to the real world. ...
Some 174 US companies are trading at "distress levels". Spreads on their bonds have rocketed above 1,000 basis points. This does not cover the carnage among smaller firms outside the rating universe.
The California city of Vallejo (117,000 inhabitants) has just made history by opting for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, the result of tax erosion from a 26pc fall in local house prices. Half Moon Bay may be next. ...
Thankfully, the Fed's monetary blitz has averted a depression. Emergency lending under the "unusual and exigent circumstances" clause of the Fed Act -- the nuclear Article 13 (3), unused since the 1930s -- has put a floor under the banking system. ...
One dreads to think what would have happened if Fed liquidationists (Plosser, Hoenig, Fisher) had prevailed, as they did in 1930 -- and still do in Euroland, where Germany's Axel Weber holds sway, and nobody of sense dares lead a mutiny. ...
OPEC is playing with fire by refusing to pump more oil to offset rebel attacks in Nigeria. The cartel's output drop of 350,000 barrels a day in April is a hostile act at this point.
But there again, why should Middle Eastern states help America as long as the White House keeps filling the US petroleum reserve to prepare for war with Iran? Bush is playing with fire, too. ...
Britain, Europe, Japan, and China will go down before America comes back up. This is turning into a synchronized bust, after all. The Global Slump of 2008-09 is under way. |
Little tidbit for you all
Re This isn't about God
"Separation of church and state" is NOT in the constitution. It is, however, in the Communist manifesto.
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Sadly, tragically for America, there are many people so ignorant they believe this.
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Do a text search, loudmouth, and see who's 'ignorant'.
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If you do a text search of the Constitution, you won't find the words "separation of church and state". You also won't find "the right to own a gun" or "cops need a warrant to search your house" or "the right to publish what you wish". And yet all these concepts are in the Constitution, because it was written not to be text searched, but to establish a nation's principles.
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Helen & Harry
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Look up
by RexManningDay
| May 14, 2008 |
Re This isn't about GodI've always been a little unclear about what societal purpose is served when any church or religion is declared above and beyond paying tax.
You can't answer that question with your scientific theories. Just accept that God did it.
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RexManningDay
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President gives up golf to honor soldiers |
