"News that's not known, or not known enough."
Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion.
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"News that's not known, or not known enough." Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion. |
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Ensoulling by Mahdi Abdul Finkelstein Thursday, July 10, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Today I had a "spiritual" experience in the dentist's chair. She was reaming my mouth out, harshly, and I had my eyes closed pondering my mortality and feeling some real fear. Then I remembered my friend Pambert, who died last year after a multi-year battle against breast cancer. I had spent those years helping her out with various little things, like driving to radiation therapy and we also liked to go out for donuts or books at Borders. We also were "battle hardened coders", working together to help out a hapless insurance company on Y2K. We were comrades and friends for a decade, in short. Anyway, I was feeling fear and then I felt Pambert's "spirit" or "soul" come to mine and the fear went away. I had the impression that she would be with me anytime I was afraid, and that she was watching me. It actually felt like she took up residence in my heart. Anyway... There are other things to be afraid of, but perhaps we'll just deal with 'em as they happen. Slightly off topic, I guess: I think that by next year the U.S. will be running a TRILLION dollar fiscal (official "budget" + off budget legislated spending) deficit. The US is now nationalizing real estate debts and continues to run trade deficits of $700 BILLION a year. The situation is dire, and what's coming out of D.C. and the Fed...and CNBC etc., is total hogwash — propaganda — to keep people from panicking. The U.S. is broke. The empire is over. It will crumble, dying with a whimper, not a bang. Things will just gradually get worse over the next 10 years. It is really a very serious situation. Bad. Bad. Bad. Here are a couple of articles to look at, if you don't accept my opinion as credible: Shock, denial, frustration, anger? Consider the situation for commodities (and in particular oil and metals), food supplies, and the environment Mahdi Abdul Finkelstein  Obama's audacious overconfidence by JR Mooneyham Thursday, July 10, 2008 PERMANENT LINK I really hated writing this about our Democratic candidate. But if he doesn't change course he's unlikely to win anyway. Or make a real difference, even if he does win. What an ASS! Obama's audacious overconfidence and outrageous ego JR Mooneyham (www.jrmooneyham.com/) Couldn't agree more. What a wanker. I'm somewhat intrigued to see what his fundraising numbers look like in the next reporting period. I'm expecting a hell of a drop. I'm certainly not giving him a dime, and we had hoped to make at least a few somewhat painful campaign contributions ... Helen & Harry Unfortunately, adopting Republican policies opens the door to the same big money which always supports Republicans. And in this election year when the electorate is just about fed up with Republicans despite the massive mainstream media support for the GOP, what better candidate for the top evil honchos to push, than a stealth Republican? I.e., Obama? That way the rich evil bastards like Murdoch can roll out another guaranteed four years of insanity in US politics (if America can withstand that much more)... I guess we all should have smelled something rotten when Obama stated that he had no interest in bringing back the fairness doctrine to mass media... (the statute which had to be killed years back to allow monsters like Rush Limbaugh on the air). So at the moment it appears we have two Republican candidates running for President. One is just plain crazy, and the other may be an old fashioned wrong-headed Republican, compared to Bush's extremist radical neocons. And we can't even be sure which is which! If I could, I'd get off this damn train before the wreck... JR Mooneyham (www.jrmooneyham.com/) Yup, as seems to happen every four years, you get your choice between two Republicans. And the train wreck analogy is apt. The bridge is out and engineer Bush has the train running at full speed to our doom. Obama, I think, would slow the insanity just enough that me and my husband might be able to live our normal lifespans and die before the train plunges over the cliff. But beyond our own personal escape, I don't see much reason for optimism. There's too much momentum. Takes a looooong distance to stop a speeding locomotive, and even if the brakes were put on now it's too late to stop the coming catastrophe. Helen & Harry
Nuclear bombs are being used right now by Herb Ruhs, MD Thursday, July 10, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Hiroshima cured me Sherri writes, "Doc Herb is a nice guy but a simple way that I think about it is what goes up must come down. Daydreams about nuclear bombs in any form for any reason just isn't my thing. I understand your point of view and I know I'm being stubborn but the idea of playing around with things over which we have no short or long term full understanding doesn't float my boat." A couple of points of clarification. First, I am not a "nice guy." While I enjoy being able to be nice, being reflexively nice is what I call "niceism," a political point of view that encourages the abuse of the dignity of the weak by promoting submission as the only response to abuse. When it is appropriate to not be nice, I am not. Another way to look at this is to consider what the Golden Rule, the basic operating principle of morality, implies about appropriate responses. If someone is obnoxious they either are ignorant of the Golden Rule or they are declaring that they wish to be treated obnoxiously. Mostly I just try to ignore obnoxiousness because I prefer to not be reactive. But obnoxious people can be very deceptive in their approach and sometimes it is necessary to call them on their bullshit lest naive observers draw the wrong conclusion that we concur and support them. Niceism turns humans into doormats. Secondly, Sherri writes, " the idea of playing around with things over which we have no short or long term full understanding doesn't float my boat." This makes no sense in the context of this dialog. Informed people have a very vivid understanding of both the long term and short term implications of a world that is marching relentlessly toward all out nuclear war. People uninformed about the danger of an outbreak of atmospheric nuclear war would be well served by visiting the web site of Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and consult their doomsday clock which now stands at five minutes to midnight. Sherri's contempt for "experts" and WikiPedia notwithstanding, I can think of no better option for those who poorly understand the issues related to nuclear war fighting than to consult such sources to educate themselves. I urge people to contemplate the fact that several nations, predominantly the US, are using nuclear materials right now in the form of so called "depleted uranium" (a particularly obnoxious euphemism that disguises the fact that these are radioactive and highly deadly nuclear weapons, the effects of which will be with us forever). A bomb that incorporates uranium is a nuclear bomb and therefore nuclear bombs are being used right now. It is a short step for people promoting the use of these nuclear weapons to advance to the use fission and fusion weapons. The forces in play that are driving us toward nuclear war are immense and relentless. Choosing to do nothing and remain ignorant is the most potent way to wish death on others. Disarmament is the ultimate answer. How to effect disarmament is the issue. Stubborn ignorance about this complex matter is a form of crime against humanity. Herb Ruhs, MD No nukes and no change by SirJ Thursday, July 10, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Visualize high-altitude nuclear explosions I would like to add a couple of calculations to Herb's high-altitude nuclear explosions which "will not directly harm people, or life of any kind." Herb mentions that nuclear power plants might suffer core meltdowns as the electronics which control the cooling are fried by the high-altitude nuclear explosions. There were 439 nuclear power plants operating worldwide in 2008 per euronuclear.org. The explosion which happened at Chernobyl released radiation equivalent to 400 atomic bombs according to nationalgeographic.com (curiously, Wikipedia's article, which references the National Geographic as its source, says the fallout was only 30 to 40 atomic bombs). The high-altitude nuclear explosion scenario would release radiation equivalent to anywhere from 13,000 to over 175,000 atomic bombs. Chernobyl today has an exclusion zone of 30 miles in radius. Multiply this area of 2,800 square miles by the 439 nuclear power plants, and you will render uninhabitable an area of over 1,200,000 square miles, which is about 1/3 the size of the United States. Good job, Herb! Linda Burnett , 23, a resident of San Diego , was visiting her in-laws and while there went to a nearby supermarket to pick up some groceries. Several people noticed her sitting in her car with the windows rolled up and with her eyes closed, with both hands behind the back of her head. One customer who had been at the store for a while became concerned and walked over to the car. He noticed that Linda's eyes were now open, and she looked very strange. He asked her if she was okay, and Linda replied that she had been shot in the back of the head, and had been holding her brains in for over an hour. The man called the paramedics, who broke into the car because the doors were locked and Linda refused to remove her hands from her head. When they finally got in, they found that Linda had a wad of bread dough on the back of her head. A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded from the heat, making a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot, and the wad of dough hit her in the back of her head. When she reached back to find out what it was, she felt the dough and thought it was her brains. She initially passed out, but quickly recovered. Linda is a blonde, a Democrat and an Obama supporter, but that could be irrelevant. —sent to me by an Obama supporter The Honorable Congressclowns don't worry about opinion polls. They worry about reelection. As this chart shows, they have nothing to worry about at all. With a reelection rate hovering around 90% for the 40 years shown on the chart, it would be foolish of them to change anything at all about the piss poor work they do. They are a pack of timid followers, not leaders and do not need to risk sticking their necks out to lead. I will never again vote for an incumbent, but the rest of America will. The past success of the United States has been in spite of not because of Congress. The future decline of the United States will be with Congress' aid and blessing. SirJ Yeah, everybody hates Congress but somehow everybody just loves their Congressclown. My usual outlook is pessimistic, and today things seem especially fatalistic. Sigh and double-sigh. And it'll always be that way, so long as giant corporations control the media and blockade facts from the newspapers and newscasts. And there's no chance of changing that. Helen & Harry
Writing to Waxman by Sherri B. Thursday, July 10, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Iran Gen.: Our finger is always on the trigger
This sounds a bit nuts to me. Oh really? Sherri B. replies I do believe I'll write him an email telling him to stop smiling for the cameras, get off his hindquarters, and do something of some importance or he can get voted out just like anyone else. Idiot. Southern California readers: Please use this form to see if you're in Henry Waxman's district and if you'd like to vent please do: http://www.house.gov/waxman/contact.htm Sherri B. Oh, I love that — thanks and please do. He doesn't listen to me, but I'm a thousand miles away. Helen & Harry
Dashed hopes by Wendy V. Thursday, July 10, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Evil is still evil Unfortunately, you're probably right — my enthusiasm is waning and I RARELY feel enthusiastic about any candidate. I felt he was different than the rest — the change (for lack of a better word) that we need right now instead of the status quo. He may still be to some degree (just to get away from what we've had to our detriment for 8 years), but he does seem to be changing horses in mid-stream. Too bad — I had hopes — for the first time in a long time. Wendy V. Obama was my third choice (or fifth choice if you count Democrats who were only rumored to be candidates). He's really a Clinton-style middle-of-the-road compromiser all the way, but he's dang near impossible not to like because he's got terrific packaging as somehow being "change" or different. His sell-out on telecom immunity leaves him pretty obviously unwrapped, though, so all the shiny packaging is gone. What you see is what you get, and all I see is "not Bush" and "not McCain" but really, not nearly as "not" as I wish he was. Helen & Harry Yeah, I know what you mean. I was hoping for a change — I was feeling that way before he used that catch phrase. But, I think most people feel the need for change — some kind of undoing of the current leadership and a symbolic 180 degree turnabout. Too much of a change could weaken what strength we have left, but if the people get behind a changing of the guard where they at least have good reason to hope things will be different, I think we'll be OK. If that's Obama — great. I do like his energy and his ability to not fall into the name-calling that so many do. I do like that a lot. But, I like Ron Paul, too. I don't like Nader — I don't see him as even reasonably viable, but more of a vote stealer to throw the balance off. More than that is the new Libertarian candidate, who WAS a Republican, who may well draw the McCain hating Republicans away — it remains to be see how influential he'll be in affecting Republican voters. It at least will be the most interesting and genuinely competitive election in a while. People are getting out and people are becoming emotionally charged about voting. It's long overdue. Wendy V. Nader is a sad case. He saved a lot of lives pushing for sane safety requirements for cars, quite probably saved the life of anyone you know who survived a 25mph wreck, but he's evolved into a nutball and I'm just tired of him. Helen & Harry
"Mr. Putin, put up another wall" by Diesel1507 Thursday, July 10, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Russia warns over US-Czech shield Is Georgie going to undo what all the brave soldiers spent so long to achieve and R.R. brought to fruition not so long ago? Is he sitting in his chair in the White House right now yelling, "Mr. Putin, put up another wall"? Add plagiarism to the Bush regime's long list of corruption. Diesel1507 Zeitgeist, the movie by Chris S. Thursday, July 10, 2008 PERMANENT LINK I just read a bit on your website and found it very interesting. I'm glad to see there are those trying their best to get some of the more important news to the masses, I commend you all and thank you. I'm sure you have but in case not I wanted to tell you about a movie called Zeitgeist. Your "junk you don't want" did mention the Rockefellers and another family tied to global banking but this movie is more than that. It takes much of what your website deals with and presents it in movie form for free online. It details many things, too many to get into here but I'd recommend someone there checking it out. It was released in 07 and is powerful to say the least. The website is meticulous with it's reference sources and the movie is right there for viewing. Check it out and perhaps help them (and me) get the word out. The website is www.zeitgeistthemovie.com. It's worth the 2 hours it takes to watch it all. Thanks for the work your doing and I'll check back again soon! Chris S. Picture me puzzled. You sound sincere, and you get extra credit for actually clicking around our website and finding our rather grumpy crap we don't want page. So I think you're for real, and not some automated spammer. Helen & Harry Bah, I'm sorry. That's what I get for not double checking the site addy myself before hitting send. The site is (tested this one) http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/. I'm impressed by your quick response and the wording in your response in general. Thanks for that and enjoy the movie. Chris S. Yay and hooray and thank you, and I promise I'll give it a gander later today. Helen & Harry PS. The wife says I should add that "give it a gander" is old-man-speak for "I'll watch it". |
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