"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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Two words, eh by HappySysiphus Friday, August 1, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Your divine right by The Canadian Two words to explain why Americans aren't groundswelling, let alone fighting: MEDIA CONSOLIDATION. HappySysiphus Fuckin' a, and it's infuriating. All the surveys say most Americans get most of their news from television, which means most Americans mostly know nothing about what's going on. Helen & Harry
 Exxon's profits by Siegfried Lemelson Friday, August 1, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Exxon's quarterly profits are tiny compared to how much our Senators squander -- they blow through $11.7 billion every 1.4 days. Congress SPENDS $3,000-BILLION a year, and considers themselves stewards of the peoples' money. Just laugh when you hear a "liberal" squawking about Exxon. Let's focus on Congress first. And yet, $11.7 billion is a tiny sum for the U.S. Congress. They routinely allocate hundreds of billions of dollars, generally without even reading the laws they are voting on (the "laws" are hundreds or thousands of pages in length, detailing the many recipients of the pork.) $11.7 is microscopic compared to how much the U.S. government spends! The proposed budget for 2009 weighs in a over $3 trillion! And to put that number in perspective, assuming that there are 300 million Americans, including infants, widows and orphans, the U.S. government proposes to spend $10,000 per person in 2009 -- and that doesn't include their "supplemental" or "off budget" spending, such as the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, or the perennial disasters like Katrina (to say nothing of the recent $165 billion "tax rebate" economic stimulus checks.) There is no way for each American to pay $10,000 in Federal taxes, and fewer than half of the Americans even have jobs -- because don't forget state and local taxes (income, property, sales and user-fees.) This is why the U.S. is broke: the U.S. Congress is addicted to spending just as crack whores are addicted to smoking the rock... Siegfried Lemelson Sole man by "Rose" in Tennessee Friday, August 1, 2008 PERMANENT LINK When I saw your headline "How would the media respond if Obama wore $520 Italian leather loafers, like McCain does?", it made me think of this picture. Not exactly the soles of an "elitist". "Rose" in Tennessee Wow, thanks ... Helen & Harry
Ron Paul's principles by JR Mooneyham Friday, August 1, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Libertarian-leaning Paul casts only vote against ban on lead in toys, ban passes House 424 to 1 Yes, as you've pointed out before, Ron Paul is a nut-case on some issues. And yet he may be one of the most lovable Republicans in office at the moment, on certain other issues! Wow! JR Mooneyham (www.jrmooneyham.com/) It's nice to have Ron Paul around, I suppose. Certainly, occasionally he's on the right side for the right reasons. On this vote, of course, he's just bonkers, and I'm glad there's only one of him. Criminy... it's kind of breathtaking, ain't it? He doesn't want to ban lead in toys, on principle. That's one hell of a principle. Helen & Harry
Existence acknowledged by Bob D. Friday, August 1, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Canada's military is in Iraq by Herb Ruhs, MD I have to hand this one to you. You are right. We 'do' have troops there. In the case of the 30, after talking to some friends, and the denials from the government about there existence, I must say I believe this to be JTF2, our Special Forces. I should have been more specific when I said 'no troops' and actually 'meant' no 'regular' combat troops. JTF2 is all over the world, and in demand by other countries for their services, so I have no doubt they are in Iraq as well. But they need to operate with plausible deniability, so it's no wonder that the gov't would deny them being there. At least we acknowledge that they exist, unlike their counterpart, Delta Force. Cheers! Bob D. Nonaligned response by Sherri B. Friday, August 1, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Um, Houston? We have a problem. More than 100 nonaligned nations back Iran's right to a nuclear program
100 nations? I'm not really caring at this point how big or small they are. I just know that they're not happy. It's making me a tad bit nervous. Sherri B. It's intriguing that in a 553-word article, the closest A.P. comes to actually telling readers the identity of these more than 100 nations is mentioning that "the Nonaligned Movement is made up of such diverse members as communist Cuba, Jamaica and India..." Of course, A.P. really has been swirling down the toilet lately. Helen & Harry A few of those countries would be excellent launching places. Especially Panama. Sherri B. I don't think any of these countries would be brave or stupid enough to do anything more dynamic than sign a letter. Helen & Harry Thank goodness for that. Sherri B. Never get the chance by SirJ Friday, August 1, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Decay of etiquette by SirJ The only head who will roll already has. It's the bear's. Quoting the BBC, "Efforts to tranquilize the animal failed because the bear 'stayed in forested areas' " according to nappin' Naplin the forestry supervisor. Can you imagine that -- the bear stayed in forested areas so they couldn't catch it. What did they want? For the critter to hike right over to the their office window? DNR defends killing bear with jar stuck on its head
The more they explain, the lamer the excuses get. Yes, I'm a U.S citizen. Why am I "not fighting for this right", to quote you? It's because I spend too much time at the receptionist waiting for her to finish talking on the phone to some <censored>. I never get the chance. SirJ Not really 'American' by The Canadian Friday, August 1, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Canada's military is in Iraq by Herb Ruhs, MD We do have senior staff officers in Iraq. It is a mere handful. They are in Iraq because they were already seconded as Exchange Officers with specific US Units as per our NORAD/NATO mutual defense Obligations. When the US Units to which they were seconded were deployed, of course our Exchange Officers went with them. The same is true of US Officers seconded to Canadian Units currently deployed in Afganistan. Please don't confuse this serendipitous circumstance as anything more sinister. Our previous Prime Minister made it very clear that we were not deploying in Iraq and we have not. We deployed to Afganistan which was sanctioned by the UN and is a multilateral effort. SirJ: I was just having a bit of fun with you with some tongue in cheek sarcasm as you were with me. I am not so naive as to think that under the circumstances one person can be an entire revolution. I am, however, still wondering why Americans, in general, are not really being "American". Where is the passion behind the protest movements which were so prominant within your society in decades past? Has the demographic change to aging "boomers" changed the protest generation in so far as they are more interested in their personal motives than in their Society? Peace :-) The Canadian Awake by Herb Ruhs, MD Friday, August 1, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Re Snap out of it people, Can't resist a bone shaking rant. Way to go Kathy. Even a little bit of awareness for someone just coming out of the trance is a dangerous drug. Can make you feel very crazy. The politics of domination and exploitation have had the run of the world for so long now, four to six thousand years depending, that it can seem like they are the only real political alternatives. The only culturally significant venue for truth during this tenure of torture and murder (the few of us mumbling to each other in darkened corners hardly counts as significant) has been art and literature and even that venue is 99% crap served up to the thugs for their self-aggrandizing pleasure. But the pressure of truth will inevitably crack the rock solid facade of lies in novel and surreptitious ways, like the occasional dandelion sprouting from the pavement. This concept of virtually everyone living in a state of mental torpor induced by ruling class propaganda has been raised repeatedly over the millennia. Even, and maybe especially, Hollywood is subject to these stealth eruptions of hidden but deeply moving truth. I am especially fond of a genre of films flagshipped by THE MATRIX and including such gems as THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR and DARK CITY (1998) that explores the idea that what we casually accept as the reality around us is actually merely a construct, a total fiction fashioned to enslave the mind. Choosing the red pill opens a chasm of psychic pain that encourages regret. But once the taste of reality in all its nasty, confusing, and often awe inspiring nuances has touched the tongue the urge to continue with the meal is often irresistible. That is why the thugs are so paranoid about free thinking and stamp it out ruthlessly at every chance. What if the slaves find out there is an alternative to enslavement? Most famous Buddhist story: Some Brahmans (yuppy assholes) confront the Buddha and demand to know if he claims to be God. Buddha replies not. Then they demand to know if he claims to speak for God. Again no. Then they demand to know what he DOES claim to be. Answer; Awake. Eat lies. Make art. What are the real implications of peak oil in a culture where Herb Ruhs, MD Ashes, ashes, we all fall down by Chris M. Friday, August 1, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Sucking up to the bankers: A bipartisan lovefest
And what would you expect in a country where money is worth more then people and plants and animals. Where kindness and compassion and justice stand very far behind profit and selfishness is considered a virtue. It's an attitude problem that won't change until even the soccer moms in their mini-vans and golf cart dads find themselves out on the street and begging for food like all the other homeless we have now. The powers that be know this, which is why they will go to any lengths to keep propping the system up. But it can be propped up only for so long. Then it will come crashing down. Chris M. "Feelthy peechtures" by Marshall S. Friday, August 1, 2008 PERMANENT LINK Houston doctors say they may have found a way to destroy HIV Oh good, then we can go out and have unprotected sex again, and die of something else. searched and translated without warrants
They want to see your "feelthy peechtures".
Hmmm. When you don't have any sex life of your own, it's hard to hear about someone else's. It's just as annoying to hear strangers' cell phone conversations on a bus or in the library or a grocery store, but Congresscritters know nothing of such places. More importantly, though, I've never daydreamed about having cell phone use legally banned in public places -- it takes a Congressperson, I think, to envision a 'solution' that's so obviously unconstitutional. H&HH |
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