it's a scam!

**

The Humpers - Plastique Valentine

http://hypem.com/#/track/1038542/The+Humpers+-+Plastique+Valentine

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

you have a lovely daughter who we don't get to see much. that husband of your's is ok too,Bet he never forgets your birthday or valentine's day either. thanks for sharing him.

:)

It has become painfully obvious that the politicians in Washington are nothing but shameless shills for the four powerful banks left standing. Even Democrats like Charles Schumer and Christopher Dodd have taken millions in campaign contributions from Bank of America, et. al.

The Republicans have become the party of Rasputin and the Democrats have become the party of Curly, of the Three Stooges.

If you need any confirmation of this, look at the charts and graphics in the most recent issue of "Mother Jones" magazine.

So, therefore, I would suggest that we go against the advice of George Washington, and go against the two main parties. I myself am joining the Green party and hope to run on their ticket one day for something. Mr. Crall says I couldn't get elected dog catcher and he's probably right. Consider joining whatever third party you want -- Ralph Nader's party, Pat Buchanan's party, whatever, Ross Perot. This is what is needed. I'm tired of the Democrats weeping and sobbing about the Republicans when they have a filibuster-proof majority.

Thomas G. Nicholson, attorney

Bucyrus

http://www.bucyrustelegraphforum.com/article/20100213/OPINION02/2130311/...

Submitted by gloryoski on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 6:23pm.

It was only my own "asshole" that was tripping me up ...

___________________

A veritable riddle of the sphincxter.

..well for a while

Submitted by Crank Bait on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 8:22pm.

Sigh. Once again you have rushed to voice an opinion based on a derth of knowledge.

___________________

Never thought I'd see the day when Crank give way to spellin' phonetical-like.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8503897.stm

Once threatened with extinction, Azerbaijan's most ancient form of music is enjoying a renaissance. Mugham - a unique genre blending throaty song with a special trio of instruments - is being revived by the government through a series of festivals and school activities, as the BBC's Tom Esslemont discovers.

Looked at what I could on that boat.

For a technophobe like me...

WOW!

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

"Ye shall know the truth, 'n the truth shall make ye mad."

Dick Cheney On ABC's "This Week": What He Should Be Asked

Musing on the GOP's recent efforts to provide unhinged fearmongering in the War on Terror, Spencer Ackerman took a look at the players in the game and wryly asked: "who really are the next GOP foreign-policy and national security voices? We're seeing the scrubs suiting up." This was a pretty apt observation, given that the leading voices for the past few months have been nobodies like Kit Bond, Pete Hoekstra, and Susan Collins.

But this weekend, on ABC's This Week, former Vice President Dick Cheney returns, yanked from retirement like a creaky, neo-con Bret Favre, hoping to dazzle the media with his grizzle before throwing a few wobbly balls downfield.

The big question: will ABC News be the organization to rightly put Cheney's pants on the ground? If things run true to form -- by which I mean, if they resemble the fawning, gaga-eyed approval of Politico -- it's likely to be an uncritical affair. But if it were me in the interviewer's seat, here are the defensive fronts I'd show Cheney, in the form of twelve questions that are just too good to ever be asked.

1. Back in December, when you were asked by Politico if you thought "the Bush administration bears any responsibility for the disintegration of Afghanistan because of the attention and resources that were diverted to Iraq," your answer was, "I basically don't." Because no journalism was happening at the time, you were permitted to not elaborate. But I'm going to ask you to attempt to elaborate.

Here's why. In October of 2009, the National Security Network said:

In one of the most bizarre attacks on President Obama yet, Cheney, as well as House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), accused the President of "dithering" on Afghanistan. These attacks are coming from a Vice President whose own Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff admitted that Afghanistan got short shrift - "In Afghanistan, we do what we can. In Iraq, we do what we must," while the Government Accountability Office concluded that the Bush administration had "no strategy" to deal with the al-Qaeda and Taliban safe-haven along the Afghan border. The idea that Cheney, under whose leadership Afghanistan spiraled downward on almost every security, economic, and development indicator, would criticize Obama for cleaning up his mess, demonstrates his continued disdain for the facts and a willful revisionism of the Bush administration's involvement in Afghanistan.

They pointed out that your own Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said, "Well, I will tell you, I think that the strategy that the President put forward in late March is the first real strategy we have had for Afghanistan since the early 1980s. And that strategy was more about the Soviet Union than it was about Afghanistan... every - we were - we were too stretched to do more. And I think we did not have the kind of comprehensive strategy that we have now."

NIE's in 2006 and 2007 both identified the Afghanistan-Pakistan region as "the greatest threat to the Homeland and U.S. interests abroad."
Story continues below

2. Also, dithering? Really?

Washington Post, August 17, 2009:

In April 2008, two months before he assumed command in Kabul, McKiernan traveled to Afghanistan for a get-acquainted visit. Within days, he concluded that there were not enough troops to contend with the intensifying Taliban insurge ncy.

At the time, the United States had about 33,000 military personnel in the country, about a third of them assigned to combat operations. The rest were in supporting roles. About 30,000 were from the other 42 nations in the NATO-led force, but many had been deployed with onerous rules that prevented their involvement in counterinsurgency activities.

Even more worrisome was a lack of other resources needed to win a war: helicopters, transport aircraft, surveillance drones, interpreters, intelligence analysts. Troops in Afghanistan had a fraction of what they required.

"There was a saying when I got there: If you're in Iraq and you need something, you ask for it," McKiernan said in his first interview since being fired. "If you're in Afghanistan and you need it, you figure out how to do without it."

By late last summer, he decided to tell George W. Bush's White House what he knew it did not want to hear: He needed 30,000 more troops. He wanted to send some to the country's east to bolster other U.S. forces, and some to the south to assist overwhelmed British and Canadian units in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

The Bush administration opted not to act on McKiernan's request and instead set out to persuade NATO allies to contribute more troops. more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/13/dick-cheney-on-abcs-this_n_4611...

toniD's Ya Think?

Nora I get alot of news from this
Submitted by taozen on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 8:44pm.
Submitted by nora on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 8:30pm.

foodnavigator.com and it's related publications give very inside information

http://www.decisionnewsmedia.com

http://www.nutraingredients.com

Access all Products Categories
Antioxidants Carotenoids
Cosmeceuticals
Dairy-based ingredients
Dosage Forms
Fibres and carbohydrates
Minerals

...

==================

I added them!

Submitted by dr on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 9:14pm.
Never thought I'd see the day when Crank give way to spellin' phonetical-like.
---------
I was suffering from a derth of vowels.

Submitted by toniD on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 9:41pm.

Dick Cheney On ABC's "This Week": What He Should Be Asked

Musing on the GOP's recent efforts to provide unhinged fearmongering in the War on Terror, Spencer Ackerman took a look at the players in the game and wryly asked: "who really are the next GOP foreign-policy and national security voices? We're seeing the scrubs suiting up." This was a pretty apt observation, given that the leading voices for the past few months have been nobodies like Kit Bond, Pete Hoekstra, and Susan Collins.

______________________

Doh-n't forget Parah Salin'.

She helpfully allowed as how we oughtta go to war w/Iran so's to save Obama's preznency.

Elizabeth Warren Warns About Commercial Real Estate Crisis, 'Downward Spiral' For Small Businesses, Local Banks

Even as the economy shows signs of recovery, a government watchdog is warning that another financial crisis is coming round the bend -- and that the Treasury Department and financial regulators are not prepared to deal with it.

"There is a commercial real estate crisis on the horizon, and there are no easy solutions to the risks commercial real estate may pose to the financial system and the public," says a report issued Thursday by the Congressional Oversight Panel, the bailout watchdog led by Harvard Law professor and middle-class advocate Elizabeth Warren.

"The Panel is concerned that until Treasury and bank supervisors take coordinated action to address forthrightly and transparently the state of the commercial real estate markets -- and the potential impact that a breakdown in those markets could have on local communities, small businesses, and individuals -- the financial crisis will not end."

Over the next five years, about $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate loans will reach the end of their terms and require new financing. Nearly half are "underwater," meaning the borrower owes more than the property is worth. Commercial property values have fallen more than 40 percent nationally since their 2007 peak. Vacancy rates are up and rents are down, further driving down the value of these properties.

When the reckoning comes, it could threaten everyone from banks and pension funds to renters and small businesses -- and small banks could be particularly vulnerable.

Warren warned against government inaction.

"When commercial properties fail, the result is a downward spiral of economic contraction; job losses; deteriorating store fronts, office buildings and apartments; and the failure of the banks serving those communities," she said. "These are the same small banks that provide loans to the small businesses that create jobs and boost productivity. If hundreds more community banks go under the effect could be to dump sand in the gears of our economic recovery.
Story continues below

"We need to start now before the system is on the brink of collapse to work out a plan."

The report's exhaustive description of the coming crisis isn't new. What's new is its conclusion, based on the panel's review and conversations with Treasury officials, that the U.S. government is unprepared.

It "strongly urges Treasury to put a plan in place now to deal with the coming crisis," Warren told reporters Wednesday during a conference call.

The report spells out why:

In a recent speech, Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta...spoke about the "potential of a self-reinforcing negative feedback loop" involving bank lending, small business employment, and commercial real estate values. Lockhart noted that small businesses tend to rely heavily on smaller financial banks as a source of credit. He further noted that smaller financial institutions tend to have a larger-than-average concentration in commercial real estate lending. Lastly, he noted that banks with the highest levels of exposure to commercial real estate loans account for almost 40 percent of all small business loans.

What this means is that a small bank that does not make many loans -- perhaps because it is hoarding capital to offset future losses in the value of its commercial real estate portfolio -- can feed a vicious cycle that does additional damage to the bank itself. The lack of lending may mean that small businesses that rely on the bank as a source of credit will be forced to shut their doors. This drives up vacancy rates on commercial real estate in the local region, which puts more downward pressure on real estate prices. And those falling prices can lead to additional write-downs in the bank's commercial real estate portfolio. more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/11/commercial-real-estate-wa_n_458...

toniD's Ya Think?

Chinese Bank Lending Restricted For Second Time In A Month

NEW YORK — Industrial stocks stumbled Friday after China said it would take more steps to keep its economy from growing too fast.

The Dow Jones industrial averaged closed down 45 points but had fallen as much as 160 points. Shares of three Dow stocks with extensive business overseas – Alcoa, Boeing and General Electric – all fell more than 1 percent.

Regulators in China are trying to keep the nation's rapid economic growth from getting out of hand. But investors worry that a slowdown in China could disrupt a U.S. recovery by hurting exports and profits of companies that do business there.

Just the whiff of a slowdown in China was enough to batter shares of industrial companies and materials producers. That's because a slower-growing Chinese economy would mean weaker demand for industrial goods like metals and jet engines. Commodities prices also fell, which hurt companies that rely on oil, copper and other basic materials to make money.

Richard C. Kang, chief investment officer and director of research at Emerging Global Advisors in Ridgewood, N.J., said big U.S. companies now look to developing markets like China for a growing part of their sales so the strength of foreign economies is crucial.

"Every investor always thought 'China builds, Wal-Mart sells. End of story,'" Kang said. "If you look at the U.S. and who they export to, China is very quickly going up that list."

Stocks ended mixed but the Dow and other major indexes posted gains for the week, their first after four losing weeks.

The surprise announcement out of China came a day after a tame inflation report there raised hopes that the country wouldn't have to do more to put the brakes on its supercharged economy. The market pulled off of its lows as traders saw merit in China's policy of keeping its growth under control.

China's move to curtail lending was only the latest development to rattle traders. The stock market has fallen from 15-month highs in the past four weeks as investors recoil from policy fights in Washington and from economic problems popping up in Europe, such as Greece's debt crisis. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 6.5 percent from its recent peak Jan. 19.
Story continues below

A similar action to curb bank lending nearly a month ago in China spooked the market and helped start a slide that has brought major indexes down for four straight weeks.

Concerns about debt problems in Greece as well as Portugal, Ireland and Spain hurt stocks during the week. On Thursday, European Union leaders pledged to provide Greece with support. There has been worry that debt problems there could spread and destabilize Europe's common currency, the euro. more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/12/chinese-bank-lending-rest_n_459...

toniD's Ya Think?

"LiberalOasis Radio Show p'cast up:
what DC Ds & groots libs need to grasp abt
bipartisanship. Plus..."

about 8 hours ago from web
_ _ _ _
brr

Rhymes With Earth For A Good Reason

Submitted by Crank Bait on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 9:56pm.

I was suffering from a derth of vowels.

_______________________

Mother Dearth (Vanna White) ain't never been so asham't.

That Oracle boat is an engineering marvel. I think it's a huge step forward that will revolutionize green ocean travel.

Happy Valentines day

(304):
What. The. Fuck. No, you will not spank me.

(1-304):
That wasn't intended for you, my bad. - textsfromlastnight

I think I mentioned at the time I last worked the traveling WOF.
She gave the whole crew personalized signed head shot (hers).~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

The Case For Higher Inflation

Olivier Blanchard, normally at MIT but currently the chief economist at the IMF, has released an interesting and important paper on how the crisis has changed, or should have changed, how we think about macroeconomic policy. The most surprising conclusion, presumably, is the idea that central banks have been setting their inflation targets too low:

Higher average inflation, and thus higher nominal interest rates to start with, would have made it possible to cut interest rates more, thereby probably reducing the drop in output and the deterioration of fiscal positions.

To be a bit more precise, I’m not that surprised that Olivier should think that; I am, however, somewhat surprised that the IMF is letting him say that under its auspices. In any case, I very much agree.

I would add, however, that there’s another case for a higher inflation rate — an argument made most forcefully by Akerlof, Dickens, and Perry (pdf). It goes like this: even in the long run, it’s really, really hard to cut nominal wages. Yet when you have very low inflation, getting relative wages right would require that a significant number of workers take wage cuts. So having a somewhat higher inflation rate would lead to lower unemployment, not just temporarily, but on a sustained basis.

Or to put it a bit differently, the long-run Phillips curve isn’t vertical at very low inflation rates.

I think this is especially important in the European context. As I’ve been writing in a number of posts, the period 2000-2008 saw a huge divergence in price levels between the capital-inflow nations of the European periphery and the European core. Here are deflators, 2000=100:

Almost surely, that divergence now has to be reduced. Yet with a low overall inflation rate for the eurozone, that means large-scale deflation in the overvalued economies if convergence is to happen any time in, say, the next 5-10 years. (Actually, in Eurospeak I think this is cohesion rather than convergence, but never mind).

The task would be a lot easier if the eurozone had 4 percent inflation instead of 2.

So yes, let’s have modestly higher inflation. Alas, Ben Bernanke — at least when speaking publicly — doesn’t agree. And I can only imagine what Trichet would say.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/the-case-for-higher-inflatio...

toniD's Ya Think?

vanna was very nice

Submitted by jbenet on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 10:16pm.

I think I mentioned at the time I last worked the traveling WOF.
She gave the whole crew personalized signed head shot (hers).

__________________

This prolly just sounds naughtier'n it is.

(side-note: Met a sea-cuke diver this past summer who not only sunk a seiner -- slack-tanked disaster -- but hepped produce a low-budget movie what starred Anthony Michael Hall, who give out a pub-shot of him flexin' w/his bicep-guns a-blazin'. I guess he'd beefed up some from his kid days so's to not be callt a pencil-necked geek nomores and wanted show off his tidal rips.)

When one person is denied, the painful results weigh us all down physically, mentally, spiritually. (All are weighed down with the exception of the estimated 25 percent who are antisocial sociopaths of the Criminal Class. They are probably responsible for the lousy situation in the first place and don't care who they make suffer -- nothing much phases them. We gotta go straight to the heart of the problem and get these corrupters out of government and influence peddling, get them out of controlling the airwaves and media, and get them out of creating the false Culture they convince us to consume.)

The necessities and utilities of life -- and the individual, as well as social, well-being -- must be made readily available and affordable. Profit must be secondary to meeting the basic needs of every inhabitant on Earth.

air
water
food
clothing
shelter
all clean, wholesome, and unadulterated

healthcare
from cradle to grave

education
community
employment for a living wage

Can these necessities be met by profit-motivated elitist entities (and sociopaths)?

We need FDR's Second Bill of Rights, but also, we need laws/regulations that filter out the antisocial profiteers who use anything, even school textbooks and unemployment, to hold power over all of us.

NOW

http://derbydolls.com/webcast/

:)

Both of LA Derby Dolls.

...

It's so obvious the US doesn't approve of smart, educated humans

Submitted by Alice on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 10:42pm.

________________

Hey, no need to get personal.

Floridians protest offshore oil drilling

Source: Reuters

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) - Thousands of Floridians demonstrated against moves to allow offshore oil drilling on Saturday along the east and west coasts of the state in a protest dubbed "Hands Across the Sand."

Organizer David Rauschkolb said about 80 demonstrations took place at beaches from Pensacola on the northwest coast of Florida to Key West in the south and Jacksonville in the north.

"This issue is one Floridians care about, protecting our waterways and coastlines from the devastating effects of oil exploration," Rauschkolb said in a telephone interview. He owns a beachfront restaurant in Seaside, Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico.

Legislation to allow oil drilling off the Florida coast passed the Florida House of Representatives last year but was blocked by Republican Governor Charlie Crist and the state Senate. (That's why the GOP want Christ out.)

Oil-drilling opponents fear the legislation may come up again in this year's legislative session. Supporters of offshore drilling say it is needed to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61C2LT20100213?feedType=RSS&feedNa...

toniD's Ya Think?

Yea when Iwrite those kind of comments I get the inkling Im gonna be a strajght man but Ijust go with the tech words...

: )

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

Hiyas dr... :)

Submitted by nora on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 10:37pm.

_____________

Sounds good. Sign me up.

But first, lemme axe you a question:

How does we go about dispossessing every pendejo on the planet of the entrenched prerogatives of power?

Wall St. Helped to Mask Debts Shaking Europe

Source: NYT

Wall Street tactics akin to the ones that fostered subprime mortgages in America have worsened the financial crisis shaking Greece and undermining the euro by enabling European governments to hide their mounting debts.

As worries over Greece rattle world markets, records and interviews show that with Wall Street’s help, the nation engaged in a decade-long effort to skirt European debt limits. One deal created by Goldman Sachs helped obscure billions in debt from the budget overseers in Brussels.

Even as the crisis was nearing the flashpoint, banks were searching for ways to help Greece forestall the day of reckoning. In early November — three months before Athens became the epicenter of global financial anxiety — a team from Goldman Sachs arrived in the ancient city with a very modern proposition for a government struggling to pay its bills, according to two people who were briefed on the meeting.

It had worked before. In 2001, just after Greece was admitted to Europe’s monetary union, Goldman helped the government quietly borrow billions, people familiar with the transaction said. That deal, hidden from public view because it was treated as a currency trade rather than a loan, helped Athens to meet Europe’s deficit rules while continuing to spend beyond its means.

(And with their conservative gov't at the time, this was hidden easily from the people.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/business/global/14debt.html

toniD's Ya Think?

he or she is playing with the light up cat ball

There's a new friendly racoon in my house now

Submitted by Alice on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 11:03pm.

he or she is playing with the light up cat ball

______________________

Not Gideon's Bible?

dr...the chat room there was talking about Alaska derby...I was thinking about you just before you got on the blog..trip city, maaan.

This went to court it was so controversial.

Isn't Ellison known for being a cutthroat, buying up companies ruthlessly, firing employees? To me it looks like he's having a goodtime bullying this sporting event.

Didn't he sue the City of San Jose because he wanted to violate safety/noise ordinances about his own jet flights -- and he wanted to be able to have his flights do come and go HIS way. (I think he had a private landing strip on his own property or something and wanted to access it outside the laws in place or something.)

Ellison is such a FAT CAT, literally meaningless FAT when it comes to sailing. It seems he was so superfluous to the team they got him off the boat! He got off! He's not even a skilled sportsman -- he's not the captain of this boat.

Seems to me like he's a moneybag bully arm-twister (who uses lawyers) and does not alter this kind behavior when he participates in this kind of sporting event. Just my read.

Where will the "good show", "good race" handshake at the end of the yacht race go? Can he singlehandedly turn the American Cup into a "win at all costs, ends justifies the means" race?

I wouldn't be surprised if this race becomes a P.R./marketing event of some kind that will benefit somebody and their bottom line.

Just my opinion. Just alot about this makes it seem like an inappropriate situation.

He stopped at the checking into the room part...

way it should be...eh, nor?

Fine. Great boat design. Is it fair, is it good sportsmanship?

Submitted by nora on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 11:12pm.

____________

I regret to inform you that life ain't fair.

(It's a hard-won little secret that may help lower yer blood pressure.)

Submitted by Alice on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 11:14pm.

He stopped at the checking into the room part...

__________

I is presently in Orlando staying atta friend's place. He's had a 'possum walk across the living room floor whilst him 'n his wife wuz watchin' telebitchin'.

How you come to haz you a raccoon in the room?

Submitted by dr on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 10:57pm.
...How does we go about dispossessing every pendejo on the planet of the entrenched prerogatives of power?
------------------
Bait: "Don't you see? It's all so simple. You inveigh and stomp your feet."

dr: "Directed toward whom?"

Bait: "You know; corporatists, oligarchs, plutocrats, polyglots, omnivores, Episcopalians. Like that."

dr: "Polyglots?"

Bait: "And wogs."

Submitted by Crank Bait on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 11:23pm.

Bait: "Don't you see? It's all so simple. You inveigh and stomp your feet."

dr: "Directed toward whom?"

Bait: "You know; corporatists, oligarchs, plutocrats, polyglots, omnivores, Episcopalians. Like that."

dr: "Polyglots?"

Bait: "And wogs."
_____________

Holy shit. For that we'll need an army. Quick, Crank, take this down:

I want rustlers, cutthroats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperadoes, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, half-wits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con-men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswagglers, horse-thieves, bull-dykes, train-robbers, bank-robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers

... and Methodists.

design in another life ok?

there was a pic in the local paper yesterday of animal control euthanizing a "suspected" rabid red fox...

But no it's not going in a circle or foaming..

I don't know..I have been wishing for a new raccoon friend since Bandit stopped coming to the door for crackers....must be my lucky day..

Submitted by Alice on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 11:38pm.
Don't be jealous that I invented the in the water hull boat design in another life ok?
---------------
It doesn't share the unsinkable advantage of the out-of-water hull boat design.

?

http://pscelebrities.com/mrr/DSCN5299.JPG

Submitted by Alice on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 11:43pm.

there was a pic in the local paper yesterday of animal control euthanizing a "suspected" rabid red fox...

But no it's not going in a circle or foaming..

________________

Just got back from Panama. Headed east inna rental car (a story in itself) 'n stoppt somewheres a ways offa the Transistimica and introduced myself (y mi amigo what acompañarme'd) to a local who agreed to take us to a (le dijo) caiman-fillt lake (tho' we never seen any) para pescar. Upon return, we wuz standing around bullshitting and there were a yappy little mongrel flitting about. I paid it no 'ttention, like a fool, when BAM! the little bastard latched onto the side a my knee w/o provocation. Broke the skin, course, and we wuz just startin' our trek, so I chance't it were just ill-tempered.

Also managed to sink a treble-hook into my skin -- again, for the fourth time overall -- what needed to be pushed thru the skin somewheres else so's to break off the barb. And somehow managed to slice my foot onna shell.

(Stuff heals slower in the tropics, I is noticed, but, in lieu of/lacking ideal dressings, I can unreservedly recommend toothpaste for keepin' undesirable shit outta cuts, tears 'n abrasions once you disinfect.)

Submitted by dr on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 12:08am.
Just got back from Panama...managed to sink a treble-hook into my skin...what needed to be pushed thru the skin somewheres else so's to break off the barb.
----------
Cincinnati? Oshkosh?

The Suspense Is Killing Me

Submitted by Crank Bait on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 12:16am.

______________

This comment is the bilious off-spring of a doctor's son abandoned to the tender mercies of Catholic rule-of-thumb grammar Nazis.

..

I am on your side -

"Til we get there.

bend over and just let life cram itself right up your strada chocolata....don't object, just be quiet, and hope they will be kind enough to grease you up first...

...but don't ever complain, because there's nothing you can do to change it...your cries of injustice only serve to remind the rest of us of how jaded and hopelessly ineffectual we have all become...

...so don't rage...just be like us and give up, because your dissent is useless...and will never accomplish anything...ever...

...the best you can hope for is to someday learn to enjoy it...

...like a good fiisherman.

How come the word 'fair' gets under some skins? Has it been demonized somehow? Does it not pass the cynics' sniff test or something? Do bullies give the word 'fair' a bad name on purpose because it gets in the way of their advantage?

Many people want to see 'fairness' extended to all without discrimination in the form of equality of civil rights.

Many people are concerned about our healthcare and its unfairness.

Many are concerned about the unfairness of folks losing their homes because of nasty mortgage/Bankster practices that are unfair.

Many are concerned about the obvious unfairness of granting bail outs and amnesty to the banksters, while homeowners get neither.

Jobs are shipped overseas and workers everywhere are exploited unfairly by conniving corporations, and some are very concerned about it.

Yet, at the same time, we are supposed to overlook unfairness because of some cynical cliche stating 'life is not fair'? (Where did this cliche come from anyway? Does it come from a Law of the Jungle viewpoint that disregards much of the cooperation that is necessary for survival?) I, for one, refuse give a cliche the power to undo my own ability to visualize an ideal.

I think recognizing unfairness and trying to master it rather than be mastered by it leads to Justice and what we hope is Progress, and that process can constitute Civilized Behavior.

An 'even playing field' is an ideal worth striving for. Not recognizing the need for fairness or striving for it or defending the ideal of fairness means an end of it even as an abstraction.

I don't care how much warm-fuzzy and hero 'image-making' sales-pitch P.R. some competition freak egozillionaire gets out of a yacht race, I can't buy it. (Sure praise the designer, make him the hero then, but the moneybags who wanted to buy a 'win'? Nah.) Win fair and square; anything less is turning a traditional pasttime into high-tech cheating.

A fair race would've been some billionaires getting together and starting their OWN high tech catamaran cup race instead of horning in on an existing competition. A NEW race for a new kind of racing vessel -- that would be a class act -- and fair. But that kind of fairness from big money bullies? The behavior of those who want to buy a race is right in line with the behavior description of the Vulgar, Vainglorious, Filthy Rich Exhibitionists of the "GILDED AGE" of the 1800s! Can we expect Corporatist exploiters to seek to do ANYTHING fair, even their own recreation? Maybe not. However, it seems those who value fairness have to keep agitating about it whenever it goes missing -- in sporting events or healthcare, etc.

Comicpalooza - vote for your favorite - comics, web comics, web series.
http://www.comicpalooza.com/vote.html

Please select your nominations in the following categories. You can return to cast your nominations once per day.

Nominations will be tallied and voting will be begin on February 12th, 2010!
==
I'm voting for Crank bait. I wonder if there is a straight man category?
==
And Dr. Nice to have you back and
Peter Dragon

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

...

Heya ellwort...Loved treebu's show the other day...was that yesterday? she is fun and bright...

One second apart.

Did you make that up? I'm fucking stealing that for my gay friends...

nice.

figured I pop in to see who was up...

busy night...I thought I saw Leah lurking out there too...

strada chocolata...nope, not mine...a James Woods line in John Carpenter's Vampires....

I think I'll go read some more of "Wall Street: America's Dream Palace" by Steve Fraser.

I'm still on the section about THE GILDED AGE. Reading about the way the rich acted a 100+ years ago really helps one to see the pattern is being repeated. The Kennedy clan tried to bring some noblesse oblige attitude into the American wealthy class, but I'm afraid it never much caught on.

Happy blogging! G'nite!

I miss Leah...but you know how it can be here...nothing like being invisible...

The American system is nicely balanced so that foul deeds judged too perilous for Republicans to undertake can be handed off to Democrats, like throwing poor women off the welfare rolls. They put on a better act, tears streaming down their faces as they protest that they must kill in order to be kind. So, when Obama gave an interview to the Washington Post shortly before he took over the White House, saying that it was high time to take an unsparing look at entitlements, the warning shot rang clear loud. Couple it with talk about bipartisanship, and it sounded as though we were headed straight back to Clinton’s “Special Issues” group, with Larry Summers settling back into his old chair.

But of course general economic meltdown required the rescue of the bankers, the stimulus and other urgent matters. Now, amid the specious talk of a recovery, we’re back into deficit bashing and the wolves are circling the campfire where the seniors are warming their hands.

On February 7 last, the New York Times sounded the tocsin, with a vast editorial calling for entitlement reform. The Sulzbergers, their own retirement cushions nicely plumped up by Carlos Slim, the Mexican billionaire keeping the NYT afloat, are keen on it. How marvelously efficient is the hidden hand! (That’s the hand in the till.) The NYT calls for deregulation of ailing third world economies and sale of public assets. Mexico auctions off its telecommunication systems, which are duly seized up by Slim, who buys a slice of NYT B stock with a small part of his loot and makes sure the Sulzbergers will have a blanket and a crust amid the twilight years.
ALEXANDER COCKBURN

Man!
AT&T - really predator Southern (i.e. Tex-ass) Bell - botched my last comment, which, most important, presented this addition:

- 'Til we win this fight.

- A from treebu's blog (http://lumpinprollie.blogspot.com/)

Man!
AT&T - really predator Southern (i.e. Tex-ass) Bell - botched my last comment, which, most important, presented this addition:

- 'Til we win this fight.

- A from treebu's blog (http://lumpinprollie.blogspot.com/)

Man!
AT&T - really predator Southern (i.e. Tex-ass) Bell - botched my last comment, which, most important, presented this addition:

- 'Til we win this fight.

- A from treebu's blog (http://lumpinprollie.blogspot.com/)

Submitted by nora on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 1:25am.

My take is that the americas cup has always been an elitist event about big money. I'm too sleepy at the moment to do the research an pin it down but google it and read the wiki.

As far as "fairness" goes, you're both right. I value your ideal, that's how I try and live, keep my head down, treat people fairly, look out for the little guys that are around me even though I may not be being looked out for by the larger guy I'm the little guy too.

I do not want fairness to be legislated in a larger grander sense [I'm picturing the Kurt Vonnegut version where the dancers have sand bags tied to their legs so they wont make the less than capable dancers feel bad.]

you say;
"A fair race would've been some billionaires getting together and starting their OWN high tech catamaran cup race instead of horning in on an existing competition."
and that is exactly what the America's cup has been in the past and is today. Now that I look at what I just quoted, you seem to be not liking the change to allow catamaran or trimarans. But as I said, it's a rich persons race, always has been.

That's a problem with some auto racing, [fernando may have some opinions on this.] The cars are all essentially the same and it stops the fantastic innovation the creative minds are capable of.

That's why I'm liking these new boats, Innovation.
==
"Feed The Birds" by Julie Andrews...

[from guess what show]

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

Manet - Monet - The Bookends - the beginning and end of Impressionism

Van Gogh - The Bridge

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

bridging as a derby strategy...

-i do feel like there are still some holes in the thinking of the pack.
as the opposing jammer advances i think some of the blockers should be moving forward to make a final wall or assist the pivot by bridging...
not just figure. they are done til the jammer skates around again. its not over til its over. -

...

sweet dreamage 2 u.

although I disagree with you on nascar...there is something to be said about using creative engineering to squeeze maximum efficiency within the restrictions of a certain design, and to my knowledge there are no restrictions on money...so they can still bring unlimited resources to bear...

off to the pretzel factory...

later peeps....

are making me

Thirsty...

Rest well, cent..and all... xoox

still here

maybe my favorite word. Listen and repeat:
STILL
still
still
still
STILL

as nora pointed out there is something about the word "fair" and being fair minded I am open to many approaches.

We don't currently have a "build your best car and see who wins" race. We don't have a music video tv station that just plays music videos. Fiber optic advances are being held back to be fair to all the fiber optic cables of older technology that are already in the ground [and that we aren't hooked up to yet.] WiFi advances aren't coming to market quick enough. On and on.

What about "Fair's fair." What about the Arizona State Fair? [couldn't help myself.]

Banks, health insurance, wall street, Bernie Maddoff, Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, Monsanto GenEng-ing seeds and getting a restrictive patent on them. All my father's and grandfather's successful money making patents that they got crap for. Do we need a FAIR CZAR? [I'm imagining him out there refereeing the demolition derby at the state fair grounds]

The problem with legislating FAIR-ness is that it seems like a good idea today, when used for good, but the same laws can be taken over and used for evil.

must sleep - nice to see you cent Leah ellort dr. alice mb mmr, ono when you show up right after I leave probably, sandy, treebu and everybody else. Peter Dragon so just share a thought now and again, pbtrue and annette...,...,...

"(Looking For) The Heart Of Sa" by Tom Waits''''

Happy Valentine
[yes -still- when all about you is chaos find that heart center - Love - the essence - if we want it]

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

Hola Sederville!

Yeah sure Valentine's Day is a big corporate scam. And XMAS isn't? Ya know what's absolutely mind-blowing as far as scams are concerned, HOW IS IT that war criminals like HENRY KISSINGER, OLLIE NORTH, GWB AND CHENEY can still be allowed to walk around The Earth?

It's this DOUBLE STANDARD that the U.S. (and the complacent compromised media) have toward what the U.S. Gov't DOES and what it SAYS it's doing. Just this week IRAN says it's got capability to enrich uranium to 20%. Wow. The U.S. has been dropping depleted uranium bombs and munitions in Iraq (and Afghanistan and now drone attacks in Pakistan) for YEARS, yet the international "community" is silent. Why is it IRAN has signed onto the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while ISRAEL, INDIA & PAKISTAN ALL HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS and have NOT SIGNED ON to the NNPT? Obama recently signed off on putting the boondoggle "missile shield" (see George Monbiot The US missile defence system is the magic pudding that will never run out) in Romania (since the Czech Republic turned them down) while the Obama budget demands increases in spending to "upgrade" our own 2000+ missile "aging" Cold War Nuke Arsenal, when about only 15 of them can DESTROY THE ENTIRE PLANET. What is WRONG with this picture? Listen to Ben at TrueMajority for an explanation: See Ben's new demonstration on how crazy our nuclear stockpile has become. It's just Ben, 10,000 bb's, and some startling facts about nuclear proliferation.

Ben's a tough act to follow but we update at
Brick TeeVee Valentine's Day!
http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5656

Happy Valentine Sederistas!

toniD's Ya Think?

Racing's live coverage from the 33rd Match..

(*Postponed..But,could be starting soon..)

http://bmworacleracing.com/en/news/livestream/?track.refer=/en/index.htm...

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

They had to counteract Harold Ford I guess and there is no Ya Think? today, closed due to illness.

Hack, cough, sneeze

I hope this is your finest year.

Maybe we can do a mid week Ya Think? pending what will happen this week. With the winter storm in DC all we are getting for news is opinion and distortions.

toniD's Ya Think?

I'm a liberal but I'm not nuts. The world's not fair. Life is a struggle. Nothing is free. Get over it. Yes, it's fair for people who CAN advance the technology to do it. THAT'S WHAT RACING IS.

People in really shitty circumstances are often fairly so situated. Fair is just another word for I think I deserve more.

I was taught that I deserve nothing from nobody and expecting it is an immature fantasy.

We all want "fairness" we all want to be "loved". I believe only what we do as an individual to help another feel fairly treated is appreciated. I've not seen one thing done as a group or society to bring about fairness get appreciated yet. If you have seen it, you live on a better planet than I do.

"LET ME CHOOSE MY WORDS CAREFULLY HERE..."
WATCH: JOE BIDEN TEARS INTO DICK CHENEY

In a much-anticipated Sunday showdown between Vice President Joe Biden and his predecessor Dick Cheney, Biden has drawn first blood.

Asked to respond to a range of harsh attacks on the Obama administration leveled by Cheney, Biden first gathered himself. "Let me choose my words carefully here," he told David Gregory in a pre-taped interview for Sunday's "Meet the Press."

Then Biden let loose with several minutes of his most pointed criticism of Cheney since the 2008 presidential campaign, when Biden claimed that Cheney had "done more harm than any other single elected official in memory in terms of shredding the Constitution."

Speaking to Gregory, Biden charged at least four times that Cheney was "rewrit[ing] history" with his recent attacks, and declared that President Obama has amassed a success rate in countering terrorism that "exceeds anything that occurred in the last Administration."

Cheney will appear on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday.

Watch video or read the full transcript below. at link

DAVID GREGORY: Let me ask you about some of the criticism that's been leveled at this Administration by former Vice President Dick Cheney. He has argued that this Administration has failed to treat the fight against terrorists as war. He cites the decision related to Khalid Sheik Muhammad to offer him a civilian trail as one example. Giving the Christmas Day Bomber the privileges of the American criminal justice system is another example. The decision to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison. What do you say?

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Let me choose my words carefully here. Dick Cheney's a fine fellow. He's entitled to his own opinion. He's not entitled to rewrite history. He's not entitled to his own facts. The Christmas Day Bomber was treated the exact way that he suggested that the Shoe Bomber was treated. Absolutely the same way. Under the Bush Administration there were three trials in military courts. Two of those people are now walking the streets. They are free.
Story continues below

There were 300 trials of so-called terrorists and those who engage in terror against the United States of America who are in federal prison and have not seen the light of day. Prosecuted under the last Administration. Dick Cheney's a fine fellow, but he is not entitled to rewrite history without it being challenged. I don't know where he has been. Where was he the last four years of the last Administration?

DAVID GREGORY: What about the general proposition that the President according to former Vice President Cheney doesn't consider America to be at war and is essentially soft on terrorism? What do you say about that?

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I don't think the Vice-- the Former Vice President Dick Cheney listens. The President of the United States said in the State of the Union, "We're at war with Al Qaeda." He stated this-- and by the way, we're pursuing that war with a vigor like it's never been seen before. We've eliminated 12 of their top 20 people. We have taken out 100 of their associates. We are making, we've sent them underground. They are in fact not able to do anything remotely like they were in the past. They are on the run. I don't know where Dick Cheney has been. Look, it's one thing, again, to-- to criticize. It's another thing to sort of rewrite history. What is he talking about?

DAVID GREGORY: You have often said, when I've asked you and others, that you never impugn a man's motives. But why do you think Dick Cheney is speaking out and being so critical of the President and the Administration so publicly?

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I don't know. I-- I-- I'm not gonna guess about his motive. All I know is he's factually, substantively wrong. On the major criticisms he is asserting. Why he's insisting on that. He either is misinformed or he is misinforming. But the facts are that his assertions are not accurate.

DAVID GREGORY: You would not be this outspoken or critical when you're out of office. Is that fair to say?

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Well, I-- I-- I would hope I-- look, it's one thing to be outspoken. It's another thing to be outspoken in a way that misrepresents the facts. And I-- I guess-- again, I-- it's almost like Dick is trying to rewrite history. I can understand where the-- why that would be-- you know, an impulse. And maybe he isn't-- literally, I'm not being facetious. Maybe he's not fully informed of what's going on. I mean, the progress we have made. There has never been as much emphasis and resources brought against Al Qaeda. The success rate exceeds anything that occurred in the last Administration. And they did their best. I'm not-- I'm not impugning their effort. It's simply not true that the President of the United States is not prosecuting the war against Al Qaeda with a vigor that's never been seen before. It's real. It's deep. It's successful.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/14/joe-biden-dick-cheney-meet-pres...

toniD's Ya Think?

ABC this morning is must see TV.

Woke up early to take care of all my chores to watch.

THEY'RE NOT ABOVE LYING.... Time will tell what, if anything, the 111th Congress will manage to actually accomplish in 2010 -- or rather, what Republicans will allow Congress to vote on -- but high on the list of priorities is reforming the way Wall Street does business.

Conservatives and the financial industry, not surprisingly, are fighting to prevent new safeguards and accountability for those who brought the global economy to the brink of collapse. As part of their lobbying efforts, they've come up with a message that turns reality on its head.

The right-wing group "Committee for Truth In Politics" seems to have taken the advice of the postmodernist Frank Luntz, and cast new regulations on Wall Street, which Wall Street is furiously attempting to kill, as a giant favor to Wall Street. [...]

There's just some diabolical genius involved in casting opponents of Wall Street as its courtiers and vice versa.

This may sound like a comical exaggeration. It's not. Those who hope to rein in Wall Street's recklessness and prevent another crash are being characterized by Wall Street's allies as ... Wall Street's allies. The plan to clean up the industry is being presented as a doing a big favor for the industry.

Up is down, black is white, left is right.

Kevin Drum added the other day:

And that, boys and girls, is how the game is played. Just portray a bill meant to rein in banks as a bill meant to bail out banks and see if the noise machine plays along. If it doesn't, try something else. Maybe suggest that instead of protecting consumers, it will remove consumer protections. Or that instead of regulating derivatives, it will set them free. Simple. Why bother making up complicated lies when simple ones will do just fine?

Of course, with a 59-vote majority in the Senate, Democrats shouldn't necessarily care. But even after Wall Street nearly destroyed the global economy, Senate Republicans will likely to try to block a vote on reform. If the Orwellian "Committee for Truth In Politics" can convince people that Wall Street's critics are actually Wall Street's allies -- in other words, if they can successfully pull off the con -- it will only serve to embolden the GOP.
—Steve Benen

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_02/022400.php

toniD's Ya Think?

Elton John - Your Song

http://hypem.com/#/track/1038806/Elton+John-Your+Song

**

Paul McCartney - Maybe I'm Amazed

http://hypem.com/#/track/1038831/Paul+McCartney+-+Maybe+I+m+Amazed

**

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

CONFUSION-BASED RAGE.... National Review published a couple of items recently about President Obama having cut taxes for 95% of working families. This is, in reality, what happened, but the conservative magazine was incredulous. "If the taxes of 95 percent of Americans actully [sic] had been cut, surely somebody other than Obama would have noticed," one NR writer put it.

It was a curious argument. It doesn't matter what President Obama did -- in this case, approval of a tax cut -- it matters what people perceive, even if the perceptions are patently false.

And perhaps no group of people is fueled more intensely by misperceptions of reality than the Tea Party crowd.

Of people who support the grassroots, "Tea Party" movement, only 2 percent think taxes have been decreased, 46 percent say taxes are the same, and a whopping 44 percent say they believe taxes have gone up.

Now, we know that this 44% is wrong. We also know that in nearly every instance, the 46% are wrong, too. Indeed, my challenge to them would be to go look at their most recent paystub, and then dig up their paystub from, say, December 2008, before Obama took office. The math isn't that hard -- did their tax rate go up, down, or stay the same? Opinions and perceptions are nice, but arithmetic can be stubborn.

But as this relates to politics, John Cole noted that these folks "don't even know what they are mad about." Indeed, it's easy to forget this, but the first Tea Party crowds started protesting in March 2009 -- exactly one month after President Obama signed one of the largest tax-cut packages in American history into law. The protestors wanted to make clear that they are "taxed enough already," choosing to pretend that they hadn't just received a tax cut from the president they hate so intensely.

John added, "It really is quite amazing what you can do with a group of people who are completely uninterested in the truth, unwilling to believe anything that comes from someone other than Rush or Glenn Beck or an 'acceptable' source of information, and who have a vested interest in believing what they want to believe, reality be damned."

This is important to the extent that there are still some who believe the political mainstream should do more to listen to the Tea Party crowd and take its hysterical cries seriously. But how can credible people take nonsense seriously and hope to come up with a meaningful result?

The truth may sound rude, but in general, Tea Party activists have no idea what they're talking about. Their sincerity notwithstanding, this is a confused group of misled people.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_02/022399.php

The tax savings is in Federal Income Tax. For me, instead of paying 15% income tax, I'm paying 10%. So everyone who works and pays Federal Income Tax has payed less last year and it continues this year with a modest increase. The Park District sent us a Table that shows the Tax savings.

toniD's Ya Think?

by maggiesboy on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 8:53am.
----------------
Get well soon.
Take a much deserved break.
I wish I had half your energy.

Lookin' forward to see Rachael Maddow & Joe Biden
this morning.
_ _ _
brr

Cheney is on the TV here. Looks like he's been polishing his helmet. His breathing hasn't improved.

The biggest problem I have with the silly old fart is when he says he "made the judgement that terrorism is an act of war". That one statement basically makes the Bill of Rights and our fundamental Constitution as we know it inoperable. Bringing down our Constitution basically says that Cheney is willing to surrender to the criminal Terrorists. What a fucking coward.

I'd rather live with terrorists than live without a Constitution and Bill of Rights.

UPDATE: He is now ready to accept ending Don't Ask Don't Tell. Apparently Admiral Mullens was able to touch his heart in ways his daughter Mary couldn't.

i missed the BIG Shoe (ed sullivan)

I'm sorry maggiesboy.... I know you weren't
feeling good - hope it was a good one.

"Still"
new
Submitted by ellwort on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 2:41am.
maybe my favorite word. Listen and repeat:
STILL
still
still
still
STILL
===============
Yeah, beats _defenestration_ any day, in my book (which is entirely figurative).

Unfortunately "you gotta have the right tools/for every job."

Eh...they may both be too far towards their polar opposite ends. (Nice vid elwort ["I'm On Your Side"]).

No time to even try to contribute to the critical mass of pitchforky brilliance that happened here overnight, so I'll just rip off someone else's again and bask.

:)

Leah, dude, don't be such a stranger...seriously.

-------
I dreamed about this bull-dyke (speak of the devil...) I knew in college. I dreamed she was "now" just as efficacious but a lot kinder.

life is unfair, nora...so just shut up and take it...
Submitted by cent on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 1:24am.
bend over and just let life cram itself right up your strada chocolata....don't object, just be quiet, and hope they will be kind enough to grease you up first...
----------
cent,

Either you do not understand or (more likely) prefer to pretend that you do not understand this: nora will bitch about the math in quantum physics. She doesn't know squat about it, but she will readily form an opinion about the conspiracy, the morality, the social inequalities or the "corporatist" domination of the mathematics of theoretical physics.

You, cent, will defend her idiocy simply because she bitches continuously. Anyone who posts from a cynical and anti-establishment angle is A-O-K with cent. You like to think of nora's fulminations as railing against the machine or speaking truth to power.

What you ignore, either willfully or otherwise, is that merely sitting atop a bandwagon does not instantly bestow musical credibility. There ARE cynics who are chock-a-block full of shit, who repeat jingoisms and jargon, and who rely on people like you, cent, to keep them in business.

I am arguing that morons like nora taint the legitimate cynics with the pallor of hyperventilating and hysterical hallucinations. She is my enemy. She gives credence to the other side's argument; anti-establishment cynics are crazy. If you want to know why 'Conspiracy Theorist' has a derogatory connotation, you need look no further than people like nora. And you, cent, defend her, so you are also working in direct opposition to the causes of legitimate dissenting voices.

You play the same pretending game defending the NRA as you do with defending nora. The NRA is the quintessential lobbying organization. It embodies everything that is wrong with monied (and corporatist!) influence in governance. Its topic is as unrelated to current policy necessities and real human suffering as the anti-abortion movement is.

Yet you defend the NRA as the devil you know and, while you believe that other lobbying powerhouses should be crushed, you fervently argue that THIS one is the only thing standing between unarmed, defenseless citizens and a jackbooted junta.

So yeah, cent, I got your number and I got nora's number. Every time nora ventures into a subject area in which I am knowledgeable, she reveals that she is forming an opinion bereft of foundational information. You might have noticed that I don't challenge her when she is spouting her opinions in areas of which I am ignorant?

That's because (wait for it) I don't have enough knowledge in those areas to puke out an opinion or regurgitate a tirade about oligarchs and corporatism.

That never stops nora. Everything she knows about sailing and the America's Cup has been read in a couple of thousand words in the past 48 hours. She wouldn't know a ketch from a moonraker in a silhouetted multiple choice quiz.

And you, cent, speak of morality and defending the weak (from my bullying) while you carry a fucking NRA card in your wallet. Welcome to the gun lobby. Do you get a birthday card from Smith and Wesson, or are you shilling for the corporation for free?

You are a chump for defending nora and you are a chump for carrying that NRA card. If you had a scintilla of objective awareness, you would know that nora makes the rest of us look like lunatics and your pro-gun cause would have true anti-establishment legitimacy if you rejected the NRA and stood on the issue with your own, two, moral feet.

You can pull out your "Bait is a bully" feint again but be advised of this: nora is my enemy. She poisons the well that we all share. I will not back down on this, cent. You can hold your breath until you turn blue and call me nasty names. Do whatever you need to do.

This is MY moral cause and I will not hesitate to shove it up your card-carrying NRA ass if you continue to butt heads with me.

nora is NOT a moron.

Bait IS a bully. (Nothing moral about his cause. He has himself confused with people who gave a shit.)

cent is more than capable of defending himself against this latest blizzard of bullshit (see subject line, above).

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have chocolate chip cookies to try to make.

From my email. This I would have attended had I known soon enough to change my work sked.

There's a rally near you coming up to send a message to Congress: We voted for change. Listen to us, not the insurance companies. Pass health care reform that works for us, now.

Can you join us? Here are the details:

Where: Aetna Chicago Headquarters - Chicago, IL

When: Tuesday, February 16 - 4:00 PM

Details, map, and RSVP: http://healthcareforamericanow.org/page/event/detail/febrallies/4jvq5

We need to stand together and make sure Congress hears us! No more excuses. We voted them into office for a reason - to bring change, and that starts with guaranteeing everyone quality, affordable health care.

We've got to stand up and make sure they don't turn back now, not when we're so close.

Can you join us at this rally near you? It's crucial we get this message out that Congress must get reform done, and get it done right.

Hope to see you there!

To your health,

Levana Layendecker
Health Care for America Now

toniD's Ya Think?

Three weeks after the earthquake, the Haitian press has just had its first serious run-in with the US military. Homère Cardichon, a photographer working for the daily Le Nouvelliste, had his camera confiscated by US marines yesterday while covering a demonstration by disgruntled residents outside the US embassy in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Tabarre.

http://www.opednews.com/populum/link.php?id=106859

You won't get through to him. He can't stand outside of his own shoes. And while I applaud every effort you make to keep people like nora and cent and others from embarassing other liberals like myself, I see it a futile cause.

It's that kind of childlike beat your chest or the floor "fairness" and what they (nora, cent) call "right" that are the laughing stock of the rest of America. I'm fine sitting here laughing along with them but I feel sorry for Sam having that kind of goofiness on his blog.

Excuse me gloryoski but I agree with Crank's assesment of nora although I really do like her and cent very much. I wish them all the luck in the world and good health. But when you prove yourself to be that flaky, I am not picking you for my team. You have to be a lot more reliable for that to happen. And you can like it or nott, that's how the world works.

While you might see this as cold, remember that you have also flaked out big time on me too. Unfairly, I might add, making up things about balloons for christ's sake. All the while believing everything cent said and wrote. And you were the one bullying me, all the while with your head in a dark place.

Credibility matters.

I just had to do one of the saddest things. The snow storm almost completely took down one of my oaks and many of the major limbs on another. It was really tough to finish the aputation. I'm hoping to save the one tree with the worst damage but it looks like I'm going to have to top it to save it.

A dreaded task for any gardner.

I just heard about this new (new to me) Animal Shelter.
Have you heard of it & do you know where in CA. it is?

http://www.deltarescue.org/

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

Located in the high desert area of Los Angeles, this 94-acre mountain top ranch is surrounded by rolling hills and is beautifully landscaped. It is truly a haven for the animals lucky enough to have crossed paths with its founder.

( Action,CA.. )

*It's on the home page..

http://www.deltarescue.org/

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

It's not me I'm asking now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FodfkqfJrhQ

(Does not seem to want to embed.)

Submitted by gloryoski on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 11:26am.
nora is NOT a moron. Bait IS a bully...
----------
The double standard is clear. People who make an effort to be accurate and fact-based cannot make a mistake without gloryoski or dr or cent or me or a number of other people jumping on the error. Even our subjective opinions need a well-constructed argument to defend them against attack.

The other people, the folks who spew falsehoods and indefensible crap at every turn, get a pass.

I understand the double standard because I participate in it. I'll poke fun at dr's English error but leave smcgee's alone. Sometimes I don't argue health details with taozen, even when my gut feeling says he's wrong, because I know that he has made an effort to build a foundation for his opinion. cent can get away with proclaiming his NRA membership because he can construct an argument to support it.

The double standard says that your credibility determines how much or how little you can err and get away with it.

I KNOW (I am not guessing) that nora makes no effort to be credible. toniD is careful to be accurate. Sam Seder is careful to be accurate. 60th Street is careful to be accurate.

All of the effort expended to know a subject before forming and publishing an opinion is laudable. This is precisely why people on this blog admire Sam Seder.

If you, gloryoski, believe that credibility is laudable, then the opposite is also true.

nora spews jingoistic bullshit. The next time that you think to yourself, "Sarah Palin is the best thing that ever happened to the Left," remember what I have said about nora. She has no credibility and she diminishes your credibility and my credibility and Sam's credibility because she is identified as a Progressive Liberal no different than the rest of us.

If I had my way, nora would join the Right. Then you, gloryoski, and everyone else would give themselves license to expose her simplistic crap for what it is.

I just found out about it - what a wonderful place for the
homeless critters to be in.

Now I know where "this machine kills fascists'"
comes from. Never knew that it was on Guthrie's
guitar...

Black Day (April 14) is a South Korean informal tradition for single people (a.k.a. Unit Solo/Solo Regiment, lee: 솔로부대) to get together and eat jajangmyeon (noodles with black bean sauce), sometimes a white sauce is mixed for those who did not celebrate White Day.

The idea is that those who did not give or receive gifts on Valentine's Day (February 14) or White Day (March 14) can get together and eat jajangmyeon (자장면), white Korean noodles with black bean sauce (hence the name), to celebrate their singledom.

:(

"All of the effort expended to know a subject before forming and publishing an opinion is laudable. This is precisely why people on this blog admire Sam Seder."

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
And the machine is bleeding to death

New poll finds more Americans in favor of eliminating the filibuster.

One of the greatest obstacles to passing progressive legislation in Congress has been the use of the filibuster in the Senate. With upwards of “40 cloture votes since the start of the 111th Congress in January, this Senate is on pace to record the second-largest number of filibuster roll calls,” transforming what was intended to be a seldom-used procedural tactic into an all-out tool for obstructionism. Now, a new CBS/New York Times poll finds that more Americans support ending the filibuster and requiring legislation to pass by a simple majority:

As you may know, the Senate operates under procedures that effectively require 60 votes, out of 100, for most legislation to pass, allowing a minority of as few as 41 senators to block a majority. Do you think this procedure should remain in place, or do you think it should be changed so that legislation is passed with a simple majority?

Should remain 44
Should be changed 50
[Don't Know] 6

Changing the filibuster would not be without precedent. In 1975, the filibuster threshold was lowered from 67 to 60. Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) have introduced legislation that would “change Senate procedure to create a four-step process that would eventually allow a majority of 51 votes, rather than 60, for cloture — ending debate and moving to a final vote on passage of a bill.” Yet Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has “dismissed the effort” as unlikely to succeed.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/13/majority-americans-filibuster-end/

OpenLeft’s Chris Bowers has an ongoing whip count for the effort to pass Harkin’s reforms here.

http://www.openleft.com/diary/17361/potential-2011-senate-majority-leade...

toniD's Ya Think?

Cheney says he fought
Bush officials on policies

Former Vice President Dick Cheney says he disagreed with the Bush administration's release of prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center and with the decision to subject terrorists to criminal courts.

LINK

toniD's Ya Think?

Alaska avalanche
kills oil executive
The president of ConocoPhillips Alaska was killed and another person was feared dead after the two were swept away while snowmobiling on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, state police said.

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/alaska-avalanche-kills-oil-executi...

toniD's Ya Think?

Why would they ever change the rules to allow just the threat of an actual fillibuster as enough to stall a bill?

I do not understand. Surely these guys should have seen the inevitability of abuse.

It appears as if Harry Reid can require an actual real fillibuster rather than just a procedural fillibuster.

well, that is just sad IMO
*******

In the United States Senate, the Senate rules permit a senator, or a series of senators, to speak for as long as they wish and on any topic they choose, unless 3/5 of the Senate (60 out of 100 Senators "duly chosen and sworn")[15] brings debate to a close by invoking cloture. According to the Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Ballin (1892), changes to Senate rules could however be achieved by a simple majority:[16]
The constitution empowers each house to determine its rules of proceedings. [...] The power to make rules is not one which once exercised is exhausted. It is a continuous power, always subject to be exercised by the house, and, within the limitations suggested, absolute and beyond the challenge of any other body or tribunal.
The constitution provides that 'a majority of each [house] shall constitute a quorum to do business.' In other words, when a majority are present the house is in a position to do business. Its capacity to transact business is then established, created by the mere presence of a majority, and does not depend upon the disposition or assent or action of any single [144 U.S. 1, 6] member or fraction of the majority present. All that the constitution requires is the presence of a majority, and when that majority are present the power of the house arises.

Nevertheless, the current Senate rules state that 67 votes are required for future rule changes.[17] Despite this written requirement, the possibility exists that the filibuster could be changed by majority vote, using the so-called nuclear option, also called the "constitutional option" for political reasons and because of its roots in constitutional majoritarianism; that is, the Ballin decision.
[edit]
Procedural filibuster

In current practice, Senate Rule 22 permits filibusters in which actual continuous floor speeches are not required, although the Senate Majority Leader may require an actual traditional filibuster if he or she so chooses.[18]

************

When reasonable people wonder why mega-rich men are behind the two boats in the America's Cup, they ask questions.

Nutbags spew opinions.

If you don't know a subject and you are curious about an aspect of it, you say, "I don't know anything about the America's Cup. Why is Larry Ellison associated with the BMW Oracle boat?"

What you do NOT say is, "Ellison is such a FAT CAT, literally meaningless FAT when it comes to sailing. It seems he was so superfluous to the team they got him off the boat! He got off! He's not even a skilled sportsman -- he's not the captain of this boat."

Reasonable people question themselves before they write something as foolish as the above (which is a verbatim quote). Reasonable people would have an internal conversation that would go something like this:

"Hey, they dumped Ellison off of the boat before the race!"

"Oh, yeah. Of course they did. Only the professionals stay on the boat during the race. Even Enzo Ferrari quit driving his own race cars."

Reasonable people would ask themselves, "How was the boat designed, built and floated?" Reasonable people would assume that someone had to be the thrust behind it.

And yet nora concluded that Ellison is superfluous; an unneeded fat cat who is nothing more than a hanger-on.

Her thought process is stunningly short of a full deck. Reasonable people do not rush to judgement even if their caution is for no other reason than to avoid embarrassment when a half-baked and barely-considered idea proves idiotic.

Rachel Maddow Stuns Rep. Aaron Schock By Calling Out His Spending Hypocrisy (VIDEO)

A heated exchange took place during NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday when MSNBC host Rachel Maddow accused Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) of hypocrisy for railing against a spending bill in public while touting its benefits in his home district.

Appearing alongside each other during a panel session, Maddow pivoted from a discussion on job creation to note that Schock had appeared at an event on Friday touting a grant program that he had voted against.

"You, in your district, I just read that you were at a community college touting a $350,000 green technology education program, talking about how great that was going to be for your district," she said. "You voted against the bill that created that grant. That's happening a lot with Republicans sort of taking credit for things that Democratic bills do and then Republicans simultaneously touting their votes against them and trashing them. That, I think, is a problem that needs to be resolved within your caucus. Because you seem like a very nice person but that is a very hypocritical stance to take."

A somewhat taken-aback Schock insisted that Republicans were "not consulted on the stimulus bill" and shouldn't be blamed for the lack of a bipartisan vote for its passage. This didn't really get to Maddow's point. So after some back-and-forth among the other panelists, Schock jumped back in.

"I think the argument that liberals are making is absolutely ridiculous," he said. "With all due respect, Rachel, does that mean you are going to give back your Bush tax cuts that you continue to rail against. The fact of the matter is our country operates and is governed by a majority. And I, along with almost all my Republican colleagues and a good number of Democrats, have voted against the stimulus, the omnibus and all this runaway spending. But we lost those battles in the House... At the end of the day my constituents and their children and grandchildren will be on the hook for the deficit being created by this majority and they deserve to their fair share of federal spending."

New York Times columnist David Brooks -- appearing alongside Maddow and Schock -- chimed in to suggest that the argument over who should take credit for the stimulus' successes exemplified what was wrong with Washington. But that debate seems likely to only grow in prominence leading up to the 2010 elections. This past week, the Washington Times reported that a host of Republican lawmakers were doing exactly the same thing that Schock was -- only with a bit more insincerity.

"More than a dozen Republican lawmakers, while denouncing the stimulus to the media and their constituents, privately sent letters to just one of the federal government's many agencies seeking stimulus money for home-state pork projects," the paper reported.
Story continues below

Regarding Schock's appearance at the green technology education program ribbon-cutting ceremony, the bill providing funds for that program was an omnibus-spending bill that Congress took up last spring. Maddow's point, nevertheless, remained the same.

"If you vote against the omnibus bill," she said at the end of the exchange, "if you complain about the omnibus bill, if you tout your vote against the omnibus bill, it is hypocrisy to then go to your district and go to a ribbon cutting ceremony for something that is funded by the omnibus bill that you voted against."

Watch the exchange at 2:20: at link

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/14/rachel-maddow-stuns-rep-a_n_461...

toniD's Ya Think?

I must have hit a sore spot because you are so way off balance here. (what is it with you and sunday mornings?) That emotional rant is so full of gaping holes it is embarrassing....you might want to reread and edit that temper tantrum before to many who respect you get a chance to read it.

I have been up all night working and am too friggin tired to deal with this right now., but I will say this...

You continuously claim I am suggesting you should not disagree with certain people on this blog...for the last time, get this through that thick okie skull, I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHO YOU DISAGREE WITH CRANK...only that you don't get viciously abusive when you do...and it has nothing to do with white horses and Liberal altruism, it is because it triggers MY shit...the only thing I have ever asked you to do was keep it relatively civil...if that is something you can not, or refuse to, do, then we will have a problem. Otherwise, I DON'T CARE...get it?

If you have a problem with points I disagree with you on, fine...bring it on, you know I am game...but please stop crying about me poking fun at you when you make a weak point...you do the same thing to others all day, everyday...

***

Fernando...Liberal? Puh-lease... I am begining to doubt you even know the meaning of the word...show me "Liberal" anywhere in this post... http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5654#comment-395228

I have heard so much disgusting right wing crap come out of that head of yours over the last couple years, from defending killing children in war to defending slavery to defending racial profiling...it is amazing to me people let you get away with as much as they do...you affect me much the same way nora affects crank and the only thing that keeps me from continually eviscerating you for it is me trying to practice what I preach and keep things civil...I may have my own issues with certain liberal arguments, but you offend it's heart and soul...so please, just stfu before I rip you another new asshole...

I am tired...and fed up with this bullshit...I am going to bed.

How are we all this fine morning?

٩(-̃ -̃)۶ ٩(•̃•̃)۶ ٩(×̯×)۶ ٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶ (͡๏̯͡๏)

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
And the machine is bleeding to death

Pagans!

Better take your gun to be on the safe side. It's a dangerous and scary world I guess. Whaaaa why isn't the world fair and right like you are cent? You prince of self grandizing liberalism.

I don't see anywhere in the definition of the word that I should live life as if it's fair or war doesn't exist or children don't work. I worked as a child cent. People who grow up in a barrio work damn hard to climb out even in unfair circumstances and get by fine. Gun owners for protection are hardly the example of courage to me.

At least, according to a spraypainted sign I saw on a fence in Arkansas.

٩(-̃ -̃)۶ ٩(•̃•̃)۶ ٩(×̯×)۶ ٩(͡๏̯͡๏)۶ (͡๏̯͡๏)

-"(Looking For) The Heart Of Sa" by Tom Waits
Happy Valentine

[yes -still- when all about you is chaos find that heart center - Love - the essence - if we want it]-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8503897.stm

No Nukes

A generation of Americans has grown up without a single nuclear power plant being brought on line since before the near meltdown of the Three Mile Island structure in 1979. They have not been exposed to the enormous costs, risks and national security dangers associated with their operations and the large amount of radioactive wastes still without a safe, permanent storage place for tens of thousands of years.

All Americans better get informed soon, for a resurgent atomic power lobby wants the taxpayers to pick up the tab for relaunching this industry. Unless you get Congress to stop this insanely dirty and complex way to boil water to generate steam for electricity, you’ll be paying for the industry’s research, the industry’s loan guarantees and the estimated trillion dollars (inflation-adjusted) cost of just one meltdown, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, plus vast immediate and long-range casualties.

The Russian roulette-playing nuclear industry claims a class nine meltdown will never happen. That none of the thousands of rail cars, trucks and barges with radioactive wastes will ever have a catastrophic accident. That terrorists will forgo striking a nuclear plant or hijacking deadly materials, and go for far less consequential disasters.

The worst nuclear reactor accident occurred in 1986 at Chernobyl in what is now Ukraine. Although of a different design than most U.S. reactors, the resultant breach of containment released a radioactive cloud that spread around the globe but concentrated most intensively in Belarus, Ukraine and European Russia and secondarily over 40% of Europe.

For different reasons, both governmental and commercial interests were intent on downplaying both the immediate radioactively-caused deaths and diseases and the longer term devastations from this silent, invisible form of violence. They also were not eager to fund follow up monitoring and research.

Now comes the English translation of the most comprehensive, scientific report to date titled Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment whose senior author is biologist Alexey V. Yablokov, a member of the prestigious Russian Academy of Sciences.

Purchasable from the New York Academy of Sciences (visit nyas.org/annals), this densely referenced analysis covers the acute radiation inflicted on both the first-responders (called “liquidators”) and on residents nearby, who suffer chronic radioactive sicknesses. “Today,” asserts the report, “more than 6 million people live on land with dangerous levels of contamination—land that will continue to be contaminated for decades to centuries.”

Back to the U.S., where, deplorably, President Obama has called for more so-called “safe, clean nuclear power plants.” He just sent a budget request for another $54 billion in taxpayer loan guarantees on top of a previous $18 billion passed under Bush. You see, Wall Street financiers will not loan electric companies money to build new nuclear plants which cost $12 billion and up, unless Uncle Sam guarantees one hundred percent of the loan.

Strange, if these nuclear power plants are so efficient, so safe, why can’t they be built with unguaranteed private risk capital? The answer to this question came from testimony by Amory B. Lovins, chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, in March 2008 before the [House of Representatives of the U.S.] Select Committee on Energy Independence (rmi.org). His thesis: “expanding nuclear power would reduce and retard climate protection and energy security…but can’t survive free-market capitalism.”

Making his case with brilliant concision, Lovins, a consultant to business and the Defense Department, demonstrated with numbers and other data that nuclear power “is being dramatically outcompeted in the global marketplace by no and low-carbon power resources that deliver far more climate solution per dollar, far faster.”

Lovins doesn’t even include the accident or sabotage risks. He testified that “because it’s [nuclear power] uneconomic and unnecessary, we needn’t inquire into its other attributes.” Renewable energy (eg. wind power), cogeneration and energy efficiencies (megawatts) are now far superior to maintain.

I challenge anybody in the nuclear industry or academia to debate Lovins at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., with a neutral moderator, or before a Congressional Committee.

However, the swarm of nuclear power lobbyists is gaining headway in Congress, spreading their money everywhere and falsely exploiting the concern with global warming fed by fossil fuels.

The powerful nuclear power critics in Congress want the House energy bill to focus on climate change. To diminish the opposition, they entered into a bargain that gave nuclear reactors status with loan guarantees and other subsidies in the same legislation which has passed the House and, as is usual, languishing in the Senate.

Long-time, staunch opponents of atomic power who are leaders in countering climate change, such as Cong. Ed Markey (D-MA), have quieted themselves for the time being, while the Republicans (loving the taxpayer subsidies) and some Democrats are hollering for the nukes. All this undermines the valiant efforts of the Union of Concerned Scientists, NIRS, Friends of the Earth, and other established citizen groups who favor a far safer, more efficient, faster and more secure energy future for our country and the world.

Just recently, a well-designed and documented pamphlet from Beyond Nuclear summarize the case against nuclear power as “Expensive, Dangerous and Dirty.” The clear, precise detail and documentation makes for expeditious education of your friends, neighbors and co-workers.

You can download it free and reprint it for wider distribution from www.BeyondNuclear.org. It is very well worth the 10 to 15 minutes it takes to absorb the truth about this troubled technology—replete with delays and large cost-overruns--that has been on government welfare since the 1950s.

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/work-connect/activist-pay-rent-planet.h...

for all the work you do, and happy birthday and v-day to nikki.

*tap tap tap*

Where's the music, bub?

I'm running low on new tunes...

Submitted by cent on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 2:19pm.
...Fernando...Liberal? Puh-lease...I have heard so much disgusting right wing crap come out of that head of yours...
-----------
...that it makes cent want to pop a cap in your ass with his substitute penis.

Ha! Eat shit and die, cent, you city-bred, redneck motherfucker!

Have fun snuggling with "Off with their heads!" nora, your Queen of Hearts. Don't tell her about that NRA card in your pocket, though. She might find your Liberalism a few rounds short of a full magazine.

Never heard of it, smcgee43..it's way down south and east....

*

I would really appreciate it if that Palin woman with the askew brain would not be associated with Alice, the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and all things AIW....It's not fair to Lewis Carroll...and it's pissing me off.

What did I just say....!?

AIW is sacred space....to be revered on its own...find another piece of literature to fuck around with!

It's too slow for that sort of thing.

I think...

...

Well, it's not great, but it'll give us a V-Day tune.

She Hates Me, Puddle of Mudd

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
And the machine is bleeding to death

but liberal and progressive and democrat cannot be cozied up to imo..because none of those labels connote war is not the way to solve issues...sorry.

.

but you know that... :)

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
And the machine is bleeding to death

creativity

...

"And I see how much and how well 'People Have the Power' has been used -- by Vote for Change, by Howard Zinn, by Ralph Nader. All kinds of people have quoted from it. It's been sung by Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen and Michael Stipe. I watched Keith Richards playing it at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. This is really a tribute to Fred, because the concept of the song was his. One lesson I learned in my years with him is that within our humanistic collective no human being is unimportant. I had been living a sort of detached bohemian lifestyle, and Fred brought me back into the life of the citizen."

...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/14/AR201002...

America's Cup heading back to America, thanks to BMW Oracle's victory

...Ahead by a scant 28 seconds at the first turning mark of a 39-mile Cup course, BMW Oracle took off like a cheetah and left Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli's catamaran wallowing in the suds. An hour later, with a 5 1/2 -minute victory in hand, Coutts finally hopped aboard for high fives all around.

Bertarelli should have seen it coming. The Swiss sailor hired Coutts from Team New Zealand 10 years ago after two straight Kiwi Cup wins, to run his fledgling Alinghi. Coutts promptly snatched the Cup from his ex-mates, winning the finals for Alinghi 5-0 in 2003. When Bertarelli and Coutts had a falling out, the Kiwi wizard moved to a bigger billionaire. Ellison, the San Francisco-based founder of Oracle software, is the fourth-richest man in the world, with assets around $27 billion...

I agree with you. But we don't live in an ideal world. It has never been that way and it's not going to be that way. Worse, unlimited resources don't exist and there are too many bunnies and stray cats.

I don't live in lala land. I live with the available choices and do the best I can under any circumstance.

If we are here to dream, then I have no problem believing that wars will be outlawed. But I don't think thats an option. We have to live in the real world so I will support anything that limits war, and guns, and enforces some rules of engagement. As a liberal that actually lives on this planet, I want Bush Co put in jail for illegal war crimes but I'm not railing against the Afgan or Pakistan offensives because that's a ticking time bomb. 9/11 actually happened although our incompitent leaders were fooled into letting it happen.

I do not agree with that....

Discovery Channel, The Bloodhound Gang

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
And the machine is bleeding to death

since there are many examples of abuse of authority.

Not questioning authority seems passive and lazy.

Making Snap judgements based only on gut feelings could create an unscientific and intellectually retarded path to the truth.

The blending of wisdom and insight with compassion and empathy approaches the Dalai lama's style I imagine.

by far...

All presidents have killed civilians in other countries..there's no law that makes that ok is there? Would it be ok for others to do that to the US citizens?

actually unlimited resources do exist. IN SPACE. But you know how awful that NASA organization is supposed to be.

but you are wrong. I wish you were right more than anything.

We could just as easily tune out and then our own lives would be less bleh or something...

It's like go big or stay home...constant nattering about what is wrong while keeping us hyper aware is nothing without a LARGE contra-action.

Lift Your Head Up High (And Blow Your Brains Out), The Bloodhound Gang

Life's short and too hard, like a bodybuilding elf.

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
And the machine is bleeding to death

http://www.opednews.com/articles/WHO-ARE-THE-PROGRESSIVES-by-Mary-Pitt-1...

...it looks wrong.

:)

anything...no way this world is as it is because of one man being elected...it's so deeper than that...which then gets into the realm that Crank hates...that it's so fucked up and insidious that it's a giant conspiracy...

All I know is that I want to know what it is to live a life without money as a stressor...I would like to see a world where we wake up and do what we want to....sit in the sun, pet our cats, go swimming in a lake...etc etc etc...

I don't like the world where I have to go to work every day of my life until I die...THAT is a way of life we just are born into and fucking bullshit...volunteering to work for the betterment of all is something...

f we all just stopped wtf would the 'powers that be' have to manipulate?

The beach gives a feeling, an earthy feeling.
I believe in the faith that grows,
And the four right chords can make me cry.
When I'm with you I feel like I could die,
And that would be all right.
All right.

Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
And the machine is bleeding to death

I saw that and I saw another one yesterday describing : "You might be a democrat if" piece...a lot of things didn't describe every one of you here from what I know...Which is why I vote for the person who puts out ideas I agree with..the main one being that this person KNOWS that war is a futile money making machine...Never saw a dem or a rep run on that idea...Oh I mean never saw Mainstream acceptable candidate run on that...and it's crucial in my beliefs...You can't let your government kill civilians in your name..put yourself in the shoes of just ONE of the families who have endured such and it's obvious..

what was it like living in KOS world...?

-it's not going to be that way-
Submitted by Alice on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 3:36pm.
I do not agree with that....
----------
One would think that, after you had seen photographs of Buddhist monks in a brawl with one another, you would begin to realize the truth about human beings.

(One would be wrong.)

Where are the Populists?

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Where-are-the-Populists-by-Michael-Coll...

whoops

*******

Alice, I don't like the dems either. except a few, like Kucinich, and McKinney etc etc.

I would say I vote more to keep republicans out than to keep dems in.

also, the dems have a progressive caucus

approve of and vote for can turn people fucking crazy...

Not since she was shunned for being normal...

with no regard for what they were trying to impart to him by supporting him,,,,

It's been a lousy few years. After the primaries, I left for a while. I am only just coming back regularly now.

Burn, The Cure

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
And the machine is bleeding to death

You see right here, people like cent and nora whom I have called out as not helpful. AND WE ARE ON THE SAME SIDE!

I'm glad they are here and would rather hurt myself rather than see anything bad happen to each of them.

But that's not to say one day cent (for example only) won't show up and pop that cap on my head for calling him out. We are animals, not angels.

...

I see Ralph's name come up there sometimes...and I notice the people who bring him up aren't banned....

Possum Kingdom, The Toadies

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
And the machine is bleeding to death

...

P keeps guns here...But I'm still not sure I could use it if I felt threatened...

You know, beyond all this surface stuff...In my heart I really think all the drama being created at every moment of my awareness is for my own growth...so as much as I rail against things, I also know that all is as it should be, in a MUCH larger sense than it appears to us...

It helps that I would've voted Bush, otherwise.

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
And the machine is bleeding to death

S T F U!

love y'all!

:)

Snark!

I get all *something*...

Now I have to go shower and get ready for a derby meeting...

Have a very happy and hearty v-day blog...

We're trapped in the belly of this horrible machine
And the machine is bleeding to death

!

good luck.

Submitted by Alice on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 3:53pm.
...it's so deeper than that...which then gets into the realm that Crank hates...that it's so fucked up and insidious that it's a giant conspiracy...
-------------
I don't have any problem with identifying conspiratorial groups of people and the effects they can create. People consolidate money and power and use it to their advantage.

I have a problem with the same individuals applying a new conspiracy theory to anything whatsoever on every day of their lives.

If you truly believe, after much study, that important secrets concerning J.F.K's assassination continue to be concealed, that's okay with me.

If you also happen to believe that the moon landing is fake, that 9/11 is an inside job, that a 100 mpg carburetor was kept off the market by the oil industry, that fluoride is a CIA plot, and that bank CEO's wanted the economy to recess, then you are a fruit bat who lives in a conspiracy fantasy land.

It's pretty easy to recognize the difference between a studied interest in a particular concealed truth and a fascination with all things conspiratorial.

People who claim that the latter has equal standing with the former are lying to themselves.

but not as a consipracy Crank.

Corruption and incompetence aided the terrorists and that is the awful truth. Did you read John Farmer's book? Did you read Sibel Edmond's testimony? The mostly Republican congress and Bush Co. were very helpful.

The "half time" pause as the pavement was repaired is about over in Daytona.

Submitted by jbenet on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 1:09am.

http://bmworacleracing.com/en/yacht/index.html
the "boat" tab - Notes on the wing

pdf image of the boat w/ specs.
http://bmworacleracing.com/de/yacht/pdf/The_USA.pdf
-----------
Thanks. I overlooked (failed to see) the tiny pdf symbol on the wing page until you grabbed me by the neck and rubbed my nose in it.

It still ain't exactly what you would call technical information...but I learned that they used hydraulics and a motor (that'll REALLY piss off the monohull fans) to operate wing functions.

Now that the Cup races are over, maybe we'll learn all of the details. And the next Cup boats? Hoo-boy. I can't even guess how that will shake out.

Submitted by Bob26003 on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 3:45pm.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/WHO-ARE-THE-PROGRESSIVES-by-Mary-Pitt-1....

9/11 was an inside job
Submitted by Fernando on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 5:01pm.
but not as a consipracy Crank.
---------
The point still stands. You can believe any conspiracy theory you want but if you believe all of them, you are a fruit bat.

Yeah and maybe you would realize that the world you agree and
Submitted by Alice on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 4:07pm.

approve of and vote for can turn people fucking crazy...

**********

To that my response is as follows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvgHMEM_WJ0&feature=related

lol

Nato rockets kill 12 Afghan civilians

Off-target rockets in Nad Ali deal blow to hopes of minimising civilian casualties in largest western-led operation of war

Two Nato rockets aimed at Taliban insurgents in Helmand missed their target today, killing 12 civilians sheltering in their home and dealing a sharp blow to hopes that civilian casualties would be avoided in the largest western-led operation of the nine-year Afghan war.

The incident occurred in Nad Ali, an insurgent-infested area where British troops are operating. A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said the rockets, which were fired by a sophisticated missile system, were a "US responsibility".

News of the deaths overshadowed cautiously optimistic reports from US commanders in nearby Marjah, a major hub of insurgents and drug smugglers, where marines and Afghan soldiers pushed deep into a labyrinth of mud-walled compounds surrounded by landmines and booby traps.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/14/nato-rockets-kill-afghan-civ...

Sam was here, but he left.

"but if you believe all of them, you are a fruit bat."

the discerning mind considers all possibilities.

human nature powered by greed can whup up more actual conspiricies per minute than an alky burning feulie dragster can generate decibels.

Oldest US death row inmate dead at 94 in Arizona

The oldest death row inmate in the United States, who spent most of his life behind bars, has died of natural causes at age 94.

Viva Leroy Nash died late Friday at the state's prison complex in Florence, said an Arizona Department of Corrections spokesman.

Nash was still on death row, but spokesman Barrett Marson said Sunday he did not know if Nash died in his cell or in a medical facility at the prison.

Nash had been imprisoned almost continuously since he was 15 and was deaf, mostly blind, crippled, mentally ill and had dementia, said his attorney, Thomas Phalen. State prosecutors were appealing a federal ruling that Nash might not be competent to the U.S. Supreme Court at the time of his death, Phalen said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8945387

From CreationWiki:
Fruit Bats
The evolutionary model falls short in providing a consistent model of interpretation. What can be seen within a creation science model is that animals were likely vegetarians before the flood, many creation scientists take that stance. Yet evolutionists state this is impossible,...The fruit bat becomes a way to show consistency with the biblical stance of vegetarian animals before the flood regardless of the type of teeth the animals now have....
http://creationwiki.org/Evolutionists

These fuckers are building up an entire unreal reality.

Two Greenpeace activists who were arrested after attempting to expose embezzlement in Japan's whaling fleet will go on trial tomorrow in a case campaigners hope will spark a domestic backlash against the heavily-subsidised industry.

Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki were detained in June 2008, two months after intercepting a consignment of whale meat they claimed had been stolen by a member of the crew on the Nisshin Maru, the Japanese Antarctic whaling fleet's mother ship...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/14/sato-suzuki-trial-japan-whal...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- A decision by U.S. regulators to delay action on regulating a dangerous chemical shows undue influence by lobbyists, critics charge.

Eight days after lobbyists for the chemical industry met with administration officials, the Environmental Protection Agency declined to place Bisphenol A on a new list of chemicals requiring stronger labeling and reporting requirements, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Sunday.

Other agencies have moved to restrict the use of BPA, linked to health problems including cancer, but the EPA says it won't develop tougher regulations concerning it for at least two years, the newspaper reported.

Environmental activists said the government should listen to scientists, not lobbyists, in such deliberations.

"There has been a multimillion-dollar PR and lobbying campaign by the chemical industry to allow continued use of this chemical, but we expect the administration to keep its eyes focused on the science," Sarah Janssen, a doctor and scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said.

BPA is used in thousands of household items, including the linings of most food and beverage cans. Scientists say BPA can leach into food and liquids when heated.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/02/14/EPA-delays-action-on-suspect-c...
-------
http://www.ewg.org/reports/bpatimeline
Please read this link before you make any snap judgements based on "gut" feelings.
-------------
http://www.waronscience.com/reviews.php
Chris mooney has it right
----------------

“THE REPUBLICAN WAR ON SCIENCE is a wake-up call to all Americans who value intellectual honesty and civility in our national affairs. Mooney’s exposure of the cynical collusion of special business interests aith the anti-intellectualism of the religious right is a must-read for all who care about this nation’s future.” —Russell E. Train, EPA administrator under Presidents Nixon and Ford

Clashes erupt at Germany protests
Thousands of protesters have gathered in the eastern German city of Dresden for competing demonstrations marking 65 years since Allied forces bombed the city toward the end of the second world war.

Clashes broke out on Saturday in the centre of the city where about 5,000 neo-Nazi protesters faced off with an estimated 10,000 leftist demonstrators.

'Bombing Holocaust'

The February 13 anniversary of the bombing of Dresden has become a focus for neo-Nazi groups in the past few years. Some far-right politicians have also sparked controversy by describing the raids as a "bombing Holocaust"...
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/02/2010213152936941481.htm...

//These fuckers are building up an entire unreal reality//
you've proved nothing by your ad hominem attack...
and any proof you offer will have a heathen bias and, ipso facto, can safely be considered sinful

look, i'm not bagging anyone, not judging anyone, not condemning anyone to hell
(that's a precept of christianity & post-modernism)

all i'm saying is that no one is perfect, ok
the only perfect half-human was jesus-ono
as in jesus ono you're dumb

"hey, i maybe dumb - but can you skate on water"
jesus ono you're dumb...that's frozen water
"well, that's your real-world interpretation! anyway, i can also skate on liquid water"
you're on skis being towed behind a speed boat...
jesus ono you're dumb

"oi, have you ever tried skiing in sandals? it's not easy... even for a half-god"
no, i can't ski in sandals... you...
you must... your wisdom is inifinite *gulp* you must be the messiah
"thank you, heathen"

we are not worthy

(hey, if nobody is using the chair can i sit next to the left hand)

U.S. missionaries' legal adviser linked to child porn

McClatchy Newspapers
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The man providing legal advice to American church workers charged with trying to take children out of Haiti did jail time in the United States years before emerging as the key suspect in a child prostitution ring in El Salvador, according records and interviews.

The mother and stepfather of Jorge Anibal Torres Puello told The Miami Herald in an extensive interview today the fugitive wanted by Salvadoran police was their son, who has been advising the church volunteers in the unfolding legal drama.
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100213/NEWS02/702139865

nb: you'll have to go here
http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5636#comment-393430
to understand the following...

there were multiple factors
the man was in poor health and had a bad heart
he was also under some stress after having carelessly broken his favourite plate
oh, and there was a considerable amount of cyanide found in his body
enough to kill 10 elephants & a pig

senior detective bait: "it's an open & shut case - the man died of natural causes"
lowly detective ono: "um, sir, you may want to reconsider - i think that the cyanide is the key factor"

senior detective bait: "cyanide is a natural compound, you lowly vindictive turd!! so my original conclusion stands and you will write that in the final report - now go get me a donut"

(nice one, sherlock)

i'll think about it
i have alot on my plate right now
and i don't to want rush into making any hasty judgements

p.s. ciao

me to.

Hey air-ono - good to read ya.
hope your well darling -

Thats how I read it.
---------

Collusion is an agreement, usually secretive, which occurs between two or more persons to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading, or defrauding ...

on your Daytona 500 win! - NASCAR

I also want to add that I support your sponsor's efforts to bring the Delta Wing car to Indy.

Its a variation we are working on for one the flatulantly gifted people on our crew

Eya sj, ono

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

...

Any thoughts would be appreciated

;)

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

Cantor To Obama And Dems: Um, You’re In Power, Remember?

One funny thing about GOP obstructionism is that it does more than just block the Dem agenda in the short term. It also works politically for Republicans in the long run: The public isn’t tuned into procedural details and only sees that government is dysfunctional — which risks reflecting badly on the majority party.

A statement from Eric Cantor’s office demonstrates this with amusing clarity.

At today’s press briefing, Robert Gibbs blamed the “process” for the failure to deliver. “The process of Washington has overwhelmed a series of ideas that the American people want to see work for them,” he said.

To which Cantor’s office replied thusly:

Quick question for the Administration: Who controls the process?

CHEAT SHEET: Government 101 in 10 seconds or less:

The White House: President Barack Obama (Democrat)

The U.S. House of Representatives: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat)

The U.S. Senate: Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat)

Republicans will keep filibustering to prevent things they oppose from getting done, and keep pointing out — rightly — that Dems are the ones in power. Yes, people keep telling pollsters that the GOP is less interested in compromise than Obama is. But so what? In the end, the public may well blame governmental paralysis on the party that’s running the place.

That leaves Dems with three choices. They can scale way back and find common ground with the GOP. Or they can press forward and continue highlighting GOP obstructionism, in hopes that the public will eventually tune in to the procedural shenanigans and blame everything on Republicans. That’s unlikely, however.

Or Dems can try to change the underlying dynamic — as hard as this might appear — by challenging, and perhaps changing, the procedural realities that make this dynamic possible.

If I were a Democratic leader, I’d probably start seriously considering the third option, because the current dynamic isn’t working all that well for them.

*************************************

Update: To be clear, reconciliation is one way to challenge that underlying dynamic, as is (of course) reforming the filibuster.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/senate-republicans/cantor-to-obama-and...

toniD's Ya Think?

still worth watching after all these years

Submitted by jbenet on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 7:49pm.
superflatulantalisticexpectiiehalotisis

--------------
http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/newsletters/2005/food_combing.html

google food combining/sheldon for more info

--------------
http://www.nationalenzyme.com/biocore/

Submitted by toniD on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 7:50pm.

Or Dems can try to change the underlying dynamic — as hard as this might appear — by challenging, and perhaps changing, the procedural realities that make this dynamic possible.

...

"Shot my gun into the night, I'm going to Disneyland...."~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

Joe the Plumber goes off on McCain, says he 'screwed up my life'
By Eric Zimmermann - 02/14/10 11:12 AM ET

Joe the Plumber is no longer a fan of either Sarah Palin or John McCain, it seems.

Joe, also known as Sam Wurzelbacher, told an audience in Pennsylvania this week that McCain "is no public servant."

"McCain was trying to use me," Wurzelbacher said, according to public radio correspondent Scott Detrow. "I happened to be the face of middle Americans. It was a ploy.”

"I don’t owe him s—," Wurzelbacher continued. "He really screwed my life up, is how I look at it.”

In fact, Wurzelbacher's dislike for McCain is so strong that he no longer supports Sarah Palin simply because Palin will campaign for McCain's re-election.

As for Obama: "I think his ideology is un-American, but he’s one of the more honest politicians. At least he told us what he wanted to do."

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/81035-joe-the-plumber-t...

Check out the comments.

toniD's Ya Think?

Lightbulb goes on.

,,,wish me luck on 'dollar sunday

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

OK so the State sent me something saying I qualify for the senior citizens tax credit, and for me that is 291 dollars. But the form I am supposed to send in with my income taxes is all messed up. It has a tear and a coffee stain on it :/

I will call around tommorow about a new one.

Also does anyone know if you have to file for the homestead exemption every year?

backatcha!

super farts are mind blowing eh?

yogurt does a good number on a mild case.

- get yogurt

STFU !

love ya ol snort, say hey to OG if yer still on speaking terms.

it looks as if I had to apply every year for the homestead exemption. That means my property tax next year will be 800 instead of 500. Shit. dammit. that is depressing. and now I have to call the county assessor tommorrow and tell her I messed up my form, then I have to go to the library to get them to help me fill out my income taxes so I can get the credit. If they can even give me a new form or take this taped coffee stained one. this is utter madness.

Persons who are 65 years of age or older, or who are permanently and totally disabled, are entitled to an exemption from property taxes on the first $20,000.00 of assessed value on their owner‐occupied residence. (If your owner occupied property is assessed at $60,000.00 and you qualify for Homestead Exemption you are assessed at $40,000.00 ($60,000.00 ‐ $20,000.00 = $40,000.00.) Persons requesting the Homestead Exemption must apply to the Ohio County Assessor’s office between July 1 and December 1.

So sorry I offended him. I didn't realize Crank owned a yacht -- either in reality or vicariously in his less than progressive dreams.

You might want to research that. I bet that's a technicality that won't hold water.

Do you mean like call the State instead of the County?

that the State law may trump the county rule?

chum

~`ordinary's justum not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

US Military Censors Haitian Press << Why, I ask.
Submitted by smcgee43 on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 11:44am.
Three weeks after the earthquake, the Haitian press has just had its first serious run-in with the US military. Homère Cardichon, a photographer working for the daily Le Nouvelliste, had his camera confiscated by US marines yesterday while covering a demonstration by disgruntled residents outside the US embassy in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Tabarre.

http://www.opednews.com/populum/link.php?id=106859

»
==================

Marshal law? Or Occupiers Rule?

Whatever it is, censoring the Press is unacceptable.

I'd check with the county first. I bet that's not really the case when it's all said and done.

Have you called them or verified with another office there? Don't take a single point post on that bs.

I haven't verified anything yet. All I can do is call around tommorow. I'll find out whats up.

I started drinking emergentC after Seder mentioned them and yep, they help.

Submitted by nora on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 8:56pm.
So sorry I offended him. I didn't realize Crank owned a yacht -- either in reality or vicariously in his less than progressive dreams.
------------
What a coincidence; I didn't realize you owned a brain.

And so, as it turns out, I don't own a yacht and you don't own a brain.

All is as before. I remain devoted to accuracy while you manufacture opinions out of whole cloth.

Would you care to retract the foolishness you stated about Ellison disembarking prior to the race, or do you prefer to stand on your steaming pile of fact-free and feckless shit?

http://www.drpressman.com/products-page/all-products-browse-complete-pro...

If you liked your emergenC I think you should know about this full spectrum
powdered vitamin . It is getting rave reviews and is available from DrPressman on sale sometimes. It really is a head of the curve
(and I know how you like baseball)

---------------
http://www.drpressman.com/products-page/anti-aging/ribose/

This ribose is also very good. and safe for diabetics

thanks for asking and reminding me that I still feel like shit. ;-)

I haven't read anything on the efficacy of dosing VitC for flu. If you can get anti-virals in the first 48 hrs you might stand a chance but this insidious bug creeps in so slow by the time you have to admit you're really sick it's too late. Then it keeps getting worse every day.

I'm half ready to hand a gun to Dick Cheney and call him a mutherfucker to his face.

This too shall pass, just not soon enough for me.

I know you meant well, thanks for asking Fernando. My mood is pretty sour today so I'll go back to my whimpering place.

I'm so sorry. So many here have gotten sick, both young and old. And it's a nasty bug that can take a week.

You should have some EmergentC immune defense. It really helps me.

but it's several times more expensive too.

I haven't really been sick at all in over 2 years.

I don't need vitamin supplements, I have Two Dog Red Wine .

Doesn't do a damn thing for the flu except when taken in small doses to soothe my fevered brain.

I'm so weak right now a Democratic Senator could kick my ass.

I still feel like shit
Submitted by maggiesboy on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 10:04pm.
-----------
If CeeCee had to pay money up front to have her stool samples processed, they would be fees for CeeCee's feces.

I was looking forward to the sunday morning show because I was interested to see how Obama's new policy would be treated by the round table .

Hope you feel better soon this bug is very dehydrating and I know how you feel.

When Pundits are Candidates
The New York Times looks at the television of punditry of Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin and notes it could be a list of 2012 presidential contenders.

"Television and politics have always been intertwined, but never to this degree, TV executives and journalism professionals say. It would seem that the so-called revolving door for political operatives has been extended to the politicians themselves, at a time when cable news is more politically charged than ever."

"To viewers, it seems to be an endless televised political campaign, with former, and possibly future, politicians biding their time giving sound-bite versions of stump speeches."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/business/media/15candidate.html?src=tw...

toniD's Ya Think?

was perpetrated by the. ............

Losing my touch, show almost over for the week,
monday's our off day
hu-ray.

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

I'm calling a priest. I'll never forget you buddy!

Can I have your bottle of wine?

I think the main issue is and always has been class warfare
Submitted by Bob26003 on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 4:10pm.
Where are the Populists?

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Where-are-the-Populists-by-Michael-Coll...

whoops

*******

Alice, I don't like the dems either. except a few, like Kucinich, and McKinney etc etc.

I would say I vote more to keep republicans out than to keep dems in.

also, the dems have a progressive caucus

============================

This is a job for (ta-da) INSTANT RUN-OFF VOTING!

Could we still work through this to a more representative government IF we could vote for who we REALLY want first, and that wishy-washy Dem as a second choice? (That is, if we first get rid of the Diebold et al PRIVATIZED elections.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_Run-Off_voting

I'm seriously considering voting for Medina. I'm not kidding. The Democrats will lose the ultimate election for Texas Governor. It's Perfect Hair, Swamp Whore, or Medina in Texas. Those are my only viable choices above single digit probability.

And that's my current circumstances.

I'm not voting for Perry, He wants to start a civil war.
I'm not voting for Hutchingson, She's a Gingrich protege.
Medina might be nutty, and wrong but at least it will be interesting.

Motherfucker? No Crank. I am not your daddy...beg elsewhere...check the local biker bar...

NRA, is that all you got? WEAK... We all have our failings to Liberalism, at least mine don't venture outside my sock drawer...

...why don't you and your little butt buddy take a Drone flight to one of your "just wars" and incinerate another 15 children for every one combatant you kill...

...I hear tell that business pays really well...

including Joe Scarborough, I'm sorry that I even suggested that the Harvard-educated woman who shot those people might have been fired because she did extensive stem cell research.

Apparently she is just... well, how would the DSM IV categorize this?.... totally butt-fucking insane.

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

are those decorations? What are you planning to do with them?

I don't want to know if they are for private moments.

Submitted by Crank Bait on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 9:51pm.
...Would you care to retract the foolishness you stated about Ellison disembarking prior to the race, or do you prefer to stand on your steaming pile of fact-free and feckless shit?
----------------------
Apparently you have declined my offer. I'm not surprised. You never engage another poster over a point of contention. It would be too much like being a member of this community. Defending a position is anathema. You dissertate and run.

In the absence of your courage, I will explain how readily your abject ignorance exposed itself to me and any other reader who knows an iota about the America's Cup.

First, you attacked Ellison. If you knew the recent history of the Cup, you would know that Ellison was playing the role of Knight in Shining Armor.

Second, you did not attack Bertarelli. If you knew the recent history of the Cup, you would know that Bertarelli had the role of Evil Billionaire for several years running and that he tried to skew the rules to favor Alenghi. That's why there was a court battle.

Third, nothing in racing says that the owner drives the race vehicle. In fact, it is an oddity when s/he does. Often in sailing competitions, the hubris and money of the owner is the only reason he's on board. The smart owners hire a skipper and remain on shore.

Fourth, if you knew the recent history of the Cup, you would know that Russell Coutts has been playing the role of Mad Scientist. He has been the brains behind the Cup winner for the last fifteen years regardless of which country won. In other words, he has always worked for the winning team.

So, nora, you pretty much missed all of the salient details and focused on something that was incorrect at best and dead wrong overall. Ellison was the Good Guy in the white hat who outfoxed Bertarelli with a faster boat. Bertarelli was the Bad Guy in the black hat who kept winning the cup by spending his money on new technology. Coutts was the Mad Scientist who didn't care if he worked for Goldfinger, Mother Teresa or Darth Vader.

Next time, try to have a clue about the subject before you race headlong into disastrously inaccurate statements.

Better yet, don't form an opinion about anything you know nothing about.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=168729

(snip)

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert, who led Israel’s efforts to prevent a nuclear Iran during his three-year premiership, expressed certainty on Sunday that the Islamic Republic’s nuclearization can be prevented without resorting to a military confrontation.

Speaking to a gathering of the Israel Friends of Tel Aviv University at the campus’s Green Building, Olmert said the Iranian threat should not be underestimated and was a genuine reason for concern, but that Israel should not initiate a military strike on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites.

He appeared to confirm Israel’s involvement in alleged covert operations that have reportedly hindered Teheran’s nuclear program.

“There are a huge range of options between a full military attack and accepting a nuclear Iran,” Olmert said. “There are other means that – together with other things happening, and they are happening – can create a result that would not allow the Iranians to reach what they are trying to reach.”
Olmert acknowledged to an Israel audience for the first time that he had been ready to divide Jerusalem and allow its holy basin (the area surrounding the Old City) to come under the stewardship of five countries, and to accept Palestinian refugees into Israel. He said he regretted not saying earlier that Israel had to be divided on the basis of the pre-1967 armistice lines.

Olmert said he did not know why Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas did not accept the deal he negotiated with him. But he said world leaders and Arab leaders did and that he believed most of the people of Israel would have as well. Olmert expressed hope that the Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would adopt his plan.

“I hope the current government tells the world that there is a plan that was presented to the Palestinians by an Israeli government, which most of the world and the Arab world said they would sign on to immediately,” Olmert said. “I believe this government wants to come to a situation where they can make peace. They might not want to do it like me, but I don’t doubt that they have that desire.”

Olmert made a point of not attacking Netanyahu, saying he did not think it was right to harm governments before they were given a chance. Yet he did say he disagreed with Netanyahu’s decision to stop using Ankara as a mediator with Damascus.

“There is no reason why we can’t negotiate at the same time with Syria and the Palestinians,” Olmert said. “I reached the conclusion that it was right to negotiate with Syria and that the Turks were the correct mediators, and I still think that they are the right mediators. The Turks were helpful, fair and exact.”

Olmert revealed that the indirect talks had gotten to the point where a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem was scheduled, but it had to be canceled because Operation Cast Lead began. He said it was possible to reach peace with both the Syrians and the Palestinians.

“Peace is not a pipe dream,” Olmert said. “It is possible, necessary and urgent

you would think someone so vehemently anti=firearm would have the brains to move out of the firearms capitol of the world....

You know, for someone who is so damned "bootstrappy" in his rhetoric, you sure have benefited alot from Liberals who fought like hell for "fairness"...if it weren't for people pushing to try to make institutionalized racism illegal, you would be picking fruit...in Mexico...

life is unfair, nora...so just shut up and take it...

Submitted by cent on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 1:24am.

bend over and just let life cram itself right up your strada chocolata....don't object, just be quiet, and hope they will be kind enough to grease you up first...

...but don't ever complain, because there's nothing you can do to change it...your cries of injustice only serve to remind the rest of us of how jaded and hopelessly ineffectual we have all become...

...so don't rage...just be like us and give up, because your dissent is useless...and will never accomplish anything...ever...

...the best you can hope for is to someday learn to enjoy it...

...like a good fiisherman.

______________

The differnce betwixt "Life is unfair so I'ma gonna hold my breath till I turn blue" versus "Life is unfair and here's what I can actually do about it" is, I think, cent, a purty vast chasm.

I get, cent, that yer reactionary chauvinism (a reg'lar National Rifle Association Knight in Shinin' Armor, you) compels you to woodenly stumble into any discussion like a trained bear to the (unneeded) defense of the "poor, weak defenseless wimminz". Yer tiresome shtick gets old, but I get it. You can't hep yerself. Prince Valiant, you. It's condescending as hell to women, imo (counterintuitive!), but fair enough.

What'd be nice, I think, is if you bothered to ascertain what's at issue before you started yer patented passive-aggressive hyperventilating. Or one better, if you actually refrained from being the kind of dishonest rhetorician who extrapolates from another person's comments the most uncharitable straw-man position you can devise just so that you can swoop in and save the day.

I got no quibbles w/anyone's ideals, cent, not nora's, Alice's, yours, mine. God bless 'em (or not, just as you please) if a body can hold onto 'em. It ain't easy. I think we all know.

And I also think you know, b/c yer not stupid, just dishonest, that I am not arguing for nora to cease dissenting. I b'lieve I axed, rather pointedly of her -- after agreeing w/alla her propositions, incidentally -- what we might do that could effect that change short of what I read as the chaff of superficial grandstanding.

I heard crickets. What did you hear?

maybe you are right. I am a great gardner. Who knows.

No cent. I'm not afraid of you.

I am afraid of stupid however. I would just hate it if you had an accident. Wish you would look at the statistics about gun ownership. I don't see how it's a good thing.

If you think you are going to defend your house against our government, I think Waco answered that one.

Sometimes I wonder...
if the people here put as much emotion and energy into a job would they be happier or benefit society more?

NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
They would be uninteresting and commonplace.
LET THE PSYCHO ROLL! Let the PSYCHOOOO ROLLLLLLLLL!

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

Urgent from New England Journal of Medicine: use reconciliation to pass HCR
by nyceve
Digg this! Share this on Twitter - Urgent from New England Journal of Medicine: use reconciliation to pass HCRTweet this submit to reddit Share This
Sun Feb 14, 2010 at 07:58:59 AM PST

Please read this fine essay from Dr. Henry Aaron just published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

President Barack Obama has announced a bipartisan meeting on moving the reform process forward. It is an opportunity for all sides to present ideas for improving the bills that already have been passed by both houses of Congress. If modifications are identified that will command the support of simple majorities in both houses, they should be adopted through reconciliation. Then the House should pass the Senate bill.

This is from a policy analyst and scholar, may I use the word, desperate for reform not to fail--a sentiment I know all of us share.

Dr. Aaron argues here, as well, that reconciliation represents the only path forward.

This is why I hope you will pledge to help the 1,00,000 Calls to Congress campaign.

* nyceve's diary :: ::
*

All I'm asking is that those of you who argue that the House simply pass the Senate bill, recognize that it's not that simple. And to not continually shoot the messenger for making this point.

So who is Dr. Henry Aaron speaking such heresy? A hugely respected health policy analyst at Brookings.

In the video clips which follow, Dr. Aaron explains why we must get a foot in the door on HCR. This is why I will continue to fight for healthcare reform until I have no breath left in my body.

This is from an October 28, 2009 panel discussion sponsored by the New England Journal of Medicine (BM - Before Massachusetts) - Part 1:

Here's a transcript of the important discussion which follows for people like slinkerwink and others, who may be hearing impaired.

"I think the more correct observation would be that if he [Obama] succeeds, he will be the first in a long line of Presidents who will be introducing legislation on health reform, probably for as long as anybody in this room is alive. The reason for that is that the industry is huge. If we got it right the first time, it would be nothing short of miraculous. We will make mistakes whatever we do. And I think by far and away the most important issue is not so much what we do, but that we do something, that we move off dead center on the issue of health reform."

More with videos....

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/2/14/836721/-Urgent-from-New-Engl...

toniD's Ya Think?

^

afraid of stupid? explains why you are always so nervous...

I am retiring for the night, conserve your energy and do the same.
Save you self first then you can save the others.

more than half the homicides involving guns were suicides?

Another 2% involved children accidentally killing themselves.

and I just got up...I can go all night.

CeeCee's f****

us budget....

...and those who profit from wars of convenience are parasites?

Submitted by cent on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 10:45pm.
...why don't you and your little butt buddy take a Drone flight to one of your "just wars" and incinerate another 15 children for every one combatant you kill...
------------------
Atta boy, Shit-For-Brains. Make an ass of yourself once again.

I have never, ever written an opinion on this blog regarding drone attacks in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

I wrote one post discussing the recruitment of radio-controlled airplane enthusiasts for drone development which occurred in the 1980's. I wrote another post predicting that drone technology would eventually be used by non-American military players.

You don't know my thumbs-up or thumbs-down opinion of current American drone warfare because I have never given it to you.

At best, you know that I have opposed the war in Afghanistan from the beginning because I regard the 9/11 attacks as crimes, not acts of war. The bellicose U.S. response was counterproductive to locating the murderers.

Finally, I have discussed the concept of "just war" in the abstract at least once. Mostly I questioned others about their comments on just war.

How's that foot taste, you fucking moron? Maybe you and nora can spoon together and make shit up out of nothingness.

There are many opinions that I do not express because they are not fully formed and I am unwilling to defend them. It is easy to remember what I don't write about, because I don't write about stuff that I don't understand well enough to write about.

It's a foreign concept to some people.

smart enough to know when someone is fuckin with you...

your point to nora was weak, and the one crank laid out, that you seemed none too happy to glom on was even weaker...so I called you out...I thought it was pretty funny...Crank got pissed...too bad.

crankr - isn't that a jeaopardy category

Submitted by dan on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 11:22pm.

_________________

"I'll take 'Things Only I Know' for $1,000, Alex."

and I know people who provoke wars of convenience are parasites.

If you have answers on how to fix that, I really want to hear them. If you have a unicorn farm, I don't want to hear about it though.

Now about those 2% of the gun fatalities involving children. Maybe that's not important to you.

fernando, whom you have defended on this point, supports drones and airstrikes out the ying yang...

You want to hold people accountable for supporting others, fine, you just inherited Fernando's nightmare too...are you sure you want that load?

how many children did you kill today crank? Feel "justified" yet?

what about you?

have you played a part in killing innocent children today?

...isn't that a jeopardy category
Submitted by dan on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 11:22pm.
CeeCee's f****
---------------
"What is a yellow-speckled, brown, crenulated, finless harbor trout?"

I work for a defense contractor. He thinks that makes me evil even though I went to work for a chip producer who assigned me to a project. That's his basis for saying I justify war. He can't point to where I ever justified war but he's free to say it.

So if you work for a telephone company, you are spying on him. If you work for a medical or insurance company, you are preying on his death, and if you work for a marketing firm, you are turning people into sheep.

Good sportsmanship should always be in style. But I don't think amoral corporatists have a penchant for applying it to corporate-style winning in their sports interests.

This from today's Sunday paper--

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/13/SPBQ1C1E4G.D...

[excerpt]

...

Ellison has a reputation for arrogance, ruthlessness and extravagance. His method of courting the Cup didn't go over well with some of the stuffier fans. But an abrasive personality at the helm of the Warriors would be a vast improvement over the current model, which barely evinces a pulse.

To be clear, there has been no indication that Ellison has moved any closer to buying the team from Chris Cohan. But at the All-Star break, it's customary to look at a team and ponder its future. With the Warriors, that endeavor would be intolerable without an elevated level of irrationality, if not outright hallucinations.

...

If the America's Cup is any indication, Ellison would spend as much like a Steinbrenner as the NBA salary cap would allow. The endless court battles over the race drove off sponsors, which put his opponent, Ernesto Bertarelli, at a substantial disadvantage. Both men are billionaires, but Bertarelli has a net worth less than half of Ellison's. In a Bloomberg News report, he called Ellison's tactics "corporate raiding."

The most prominent of the lawsuits helped determine the site of the races. Ellison's crew didn't want to race off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, citing terrorism risks and an element of the America's Cup charter stipulating a Southern Hemisphere location at this time of year. The team got a New York judge to agree.

As an NBA owner, could he sue to assure that the Warriors played only on the West Coast? In this hallucination, why not? Ellison might not be the ideal team owner. The best of them tend to keep a lower profile than he does. But after all that courtroom drama, he'd be the perfect neighbor for Al Davis.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/13/SPBQ1C1E4G.D...

[end excerpt]

Gunman opens fire at Calif. church, wounds 2 teens

Source: AP

RICHMOND, Calif. – A man wearing a hooded sweatshirt walked into a San Francisco Bay area church and opened fire during a Sunday service, wounding two teenagers, police said.

Two other men — also wearing hooded sweatshirts — were with the gunman when the shooting took place at about 12:30 p.m. in front of about 100 people at New Gethsemane Church in Christ in Richmond, police Sgt. Bisa French said.

A 14-year-old boy was hit in the shoulder and a 19-year-old man was struck in the leg, she said. Both victims, whose name haven't been released, were hospitalized and were expected to survive. There were no other injuries.

The three men fled and no suspects have been arrested, French said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100215/ap_on_re_us/us_church_service_shooti...

toniD's Ya Think?

out of all of you BRAINIACS, jbenet was THE ONLY one who a) understood noras argument and b) laid out a decent counterargument...

is it possible you are all that slow, or do you just like kicking people because you can?

of hunger cent? How many die of lack of insurance? How many children die because of abortion.

You hide behind children. They aren't a fit shield for a real man. You should try having a child before you think you understand a man's regard for them.

But for your information, no product I've ever produced has ever been on a theatre. You don't have any clue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Valentine's_Day_massacre
7th annual Valentine's Day Infidelity Awareness Campaign
http://www.despair.com/bittersweets.html

Party on.
________________________________

Cute Cuddly Commie Pussycats:

http://rolcats.com/page/2
http://kotomatrix.ru/
http://obeythekitty.blogspot.com/2009/07/stunning-tribute-to-chairman-me...

More Homeless Americans Living in Cars and Campers

By KEVIN O'LEARY / LOS ANGELES Kevin O'leary / Los Angeles – Sat Feb 13, 11:00 am ET

Tim Barker never thought he'd have to live in his truck. Four months ago, the plumber was in a one-bedroom apartment in California's San Fernando Valley, with a pool and a Jacuzzi. Then, on his birthday in October, he and 199 other plumbers were laid off by their union, Local 761 in Burbank. Now Barker's son sleeps on the sofa of his cousin's one-bedroom Hollywood apartment, and Barker sleeps on the roof of the apartment building - or in his 2003 Ford Ranger pickup. "I'm 47, and I've never lived in my car," says Barker, a husky 220-lb. single father with sandy hair and a rapid-fire voice. In January, as torrential rains pelted the streets of Southern California, father and son were sleeping in the truck in San Pedro, next to the Los Angeles Harbor. "We were able to spend four nights in the Vagabond Motel, but for two nights we slept in the car," says Barker. "It was raining, cold, and the cat was jumping on us. We both got sick."

For people who cannot afford rent, a car is the last rung of dignity and sanity above the despair of the streets. A home on wheels is a classic American affair, from the wagon train to the RV. Now, for some formerly upwardly mobile Americans, the economic storm has turned the backseat or the rear of the van into the bedroom. "We found six people sleeping in their cars on an overnight police ride-along in December," says John Edmund, chief of staff to Long Beach councilman Dee Andrews. "One was a widow living in a four-door sedan. She and her husband had been Air Force veterans. She did not know about the agencies that could help her. I had tears in my eyes afterwards."

"Cars are the new homeless shelters," says Joel John Roberts, CEO of PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) Partners, the largest provider of services for the homeless in Los Angeles County, which had nearly 50,000 people homeless in 2009. Of these, experts estimate that up to 10% live in vehicles - even though doing so is illegal in most of the county. A similar situation is true for many other regions across the nation, especially in the Sun Belt. A woman lives in her BMW in Marina Del Rey, a swank L.A. address on the coast. PATH outreach workers Jorge Guzman and Tomasz Babiszkiewicz say she was an executive recruiter until the Great Recession. "She was self-employed for 36 years," says Guzman. "Now she sits in the car with a blanket and reads. She has not told her daughter."
more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100213/us_time/08599196345400

toniD's Ya Think?

or bombing their worlds into rubble, killing their families causing the starvation you speak of...

who's hiding Fernando...my life is an open book...pretty much...you tell me who is afraid of the light.

I really wish this were more productive though. You waste a lot of peoples time with your all important ego.

dr. you are pretty smart too...
Submitted by cent on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 11:28pm.

smart enough to know when someone is fuckin with you...

your point to nora was weak, and the one crank laid out, that you seemed none too happy to glom on was even weaker...so I called you out...I thought it was pretty funny...Crank got pissed...too bad.

_______________

Oh. I get it. You were just "fuckin' w/[me]". Just "joking". Right?

Just for the record:

No. I didn't "get" that you were "fuckin w/[me]".

Look, cent. The "Heyyyyy, can't ya take a joke? Heyyyyy, can't ya tell I'm fuckin' w/ya" dodge is exceedingly lame. And annoying. I would be inclined to say beneath you, but I'm not so sure. It's more (un)worthy of Rush Limbaugh than anyone who actually cares to argue honestly.

And just b/c you sez my point was weak don't make it so. That, too, is weak. Much of what you say is argument as assertion, which, too, is weak.

And no, I didn't "glom" onto Crank's point; Crank can, and does, speak for himself. Believe it or not, he and I have disagreed vehemently before w/o (I b'lieve) descending to erecting straw-man arguments on the other's behalf just so's we can demolish them and then grandstand for the admiration of all. That, too, is weak.

And you say Crank got pissed? I wonder why? Could it be b/c you are arguing disingenuously or could it be b/c you can't say shit w/o choking onna mouthful.

I find it endlessly fascinating (and rather telling) that you've appointed yerself blog sheriff.

Do you get a badge to go w/yer pea-shooter?

*poof* ;)

cent. I wish you well. If I have time I'll entertain you then.

...which is even a bigger laugh since it was him I was calling out...

Do you ever read what people write, or do you just get a head of steam up and then knee jerk all over the place?

You remember when you called nora out on her insinuating a corporate conspiracy to take over the government...you laid into her like she was totally out of her mind. like it could never happen...how long did it take before the fever wore off and you realized it already had? How stupid did you feel then?

you do shit like that a lot crank...

there is advice I give to my more careless clients "Read before you click" because sooner or later it gets you into trouble...

good nite.

were you really trying lecture me on hand guns? ...and you say I'M the one wasting time?

next time bring more guys....

Their 'logic' is "the end justifies the means" logic. If a good boat unlike any other boat came out of this and WON, then it's fine, and if you don't agree, then just shut up already. Is that it?

IF that's the world they like to live in, then maybe we should let the Olympics' rules permit men to compete as women again with a little help from a few female hormones or something; that's SURE to result in some big wins and new record breaking performances. Just a thought.

Despite their disgust with fairness, I do want to continue to envision a world where good sportsmanship is every bit as important, if not MORE important than, winning.

Because these cultural choices effect alot of things, one attitude creeps over and infects other areas -- like maybe how our country's Power Elite choose repeatedly to cross the threshold (each Pentagon budget funding) into Militarist Imperialism, where it becomes more important to be dominant than to be decent.

jbenet figured it out...

crank was too busy enjoying himself being a ass....

dr just got sucked into cranks stupidity wake...

Nobody has mentioned that Rupert Murdoch is quite the sailor.

For a mere $310,000 per week, luxury sailing enthusiasts can take to the open seas in the same fashion as the media mogul. His 183-foot sailboat Rosehearty is available for weekly rentals and can accommodate up to nine of your nearest and dearest friends who will be waited on by a nine-person staff.

I think this is the novel I read some years ago about the
1998 Sydney Hobart race disaster.

The Proving Ground
by G. Bruce Knecht

All the players are there, re p.10ff for instance.

In the 1998 race, Ellison's yacht the Sayonara included two guests, one of which was Rupert Murdoch's eldest son and heir apparent Lachlan.

It's a great read about a perfect storm in the Tasmanian sea.
================================================

"Dear Prudence" by Beatles,(The)....-
-
"Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" by Disney....-
-
src http://www.funshinefloridavilla.co.uk/
"Dizz Knee Land" by Dada....-
-

============================
hey Cat Chew on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 11:44pm.
cheers!

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

I was expecting to see the place plastered with hearts puppies, sugar, spice, everything nice

where's the love? :)

"this machine kills fascists"

what is it with these big media types....?

I am sure there is a good conspiracy in there someplace.... :)

" .... you don't own a brain.

All is as before. I remain devoted to accuracy while you manufacture opinions out of whole cloth. "

Crankbait in a fit of 'a personal attack sure beats trying to find common ground'

(love ya Nora! would you be my valentine?)

nice try boys....

Submitted by cent on Mon, 02/15/2010 - 12:11am.

next time bring more guys....

__________________

Your argument by assertion? Tiresome.

Your straw-man erector set? Tiresome.

Your passive-aggressive pissiness? Tiresome.

But do you ever stop being a reactionary emotional spaz to consider how ridiculous and embarrassing your cheap B-movie machismo is?

(It's worth a moment's reflection.)

and you didn't hesitate to jump into someone elses argument to support him, and yuck it up when he started in with the ad hominem bullshit...you rarely do, so peddle your incredulity to someone else....

simply saying "life is unfair" to someone asking for fairness or justice is worse than weak or "lame", and it is "beneath" YOU dr...

...and I know myself very very well dr...

once again you're barking up the wrong tree...if you really want to help your friend, you will direct some of that pop psychology crapola his way...instead of constantly fronting for him...

Submitted by nora on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 11:40pm.
Good sportsmanship should always be in style. But I don't think amoral corporatists have a penchant for applying it to corporate-style winning in their sports interests.
-------------
You are really going to do this?

You are going to read one article and pronounce judgement? You are extrapolating everything from almost nothing, not to mention your reliance on one author whom you know nothing about. Maybe she's part of a conspiracy to smear the opposition?

The article isn't even about the America's Cup. You have flitted, flaky-style, from one grand subject to an entirely different subject. Did you think you had absorbed all of the America's Cup information you needed?

Coutts was the mastermind behind the rules challenges and the legal wranglings, not Ellison. Ellison doesn't have the America's Cup chops to do what Coutts was able to do. Whatever the author attributed to Ellison should have been attributed to Coutts.

They were all tactical maneuvers by a skilled tactician in a tactical sport. Coutts, I am reminding you once again because it obviously is not sinking in, worked for Bertarelli and Allenghi before he worked for Ellison and BMW Oracle. His entire existence is devoted to doing everything possible to win the America's Cup. If Coutts had remained on Bertarelli's team instead of moving over to Ellison's team, Bertarelli's team would probably have won the Cup again, possibly with a boat very similar to the BMW Oracle.

Have you ever heard the word 'tactician' as it applies in competitive sailing? I would bet not.

Frankly, I don't care one way or the other about Bertarelli or Ellison or Coutts. What I care about is that you are spreading horse shit all over the blog.

You don't know what you are talking about, you don't know anything about America's Cup racing, and you don't care that you don't know what you are talking about. I hate unsubstantiated opinion and you surround yourself with it. You wallow in it.

You are a misinformation fusion reactor. You are the Sarah Palin of this blog.

Here's an idea. Give us your overview of techniques for removal of cavernous hemangiomas. You should be able to provide a fully-formed brain surgery opinion in five minutes or so. I mean, hey, you don't know squat about sailing either, but that didn't stop you from leaping right in with both lead feet. (Hint: Use the word "corporatist" in the first sentence to give it your special imprimatur.)
-----------------------------------------
I think I may get where Fernando and Crank are coming from...
Submitted by nora on Mon, 02/15/2010 - 12:12am.
Their 'logic' is "the end justifies the means" logic. If a good boat unlike any other boat came out of this and WON, then it's fine, and if you don't agree, then just shut up already. Is that it?
--------
No, that's not it nora.

It is all about your unsubstantiated blathering. I don't care who won the America's Cup. What I care about is a mindless mouth nattering foolishness because it likes to hear itself blather. If you had a knowledgeable opinion of the America's Cup it would be welcome, but you don't. You haven't read five thousand words on the subject in your entire life.

The article you cite does not mention the name Coutts even once. I'm going to explain this one more time. Coutts has won every cup race for fifteen years. Ellison hired Coutts to call the shots even before the boat was designed. Anything that Ellison's team did, it did because Coutts made the decision. Ellison is not the America's Cup genious. Coutts is.

Until you shot your mouth off, I did not offer a personal opinion of the America's Cup because what I know about it is miniscule. I know one-thousand times more than you do yet I believe myself unqualified to say more than I read from the experts which I can do with a link. How in the fuck can you know less than I know yet form a cogent opinion? You can't.

Look into that brain surgery thingy. I'm sure you can find something to soapbox about. What could be so difficult about brain surgery, right?

I spent the day absorbed in reading about autism after watching Temple Grandin on HBO.

I was actually reading about it a bit before that movie came on about midday, coincidentally, but I got obsessively fascinated by it afterward and couldn't stop until just now.

While reading, I found that I have a lot of the traits found in people with Asperger's Syndrome.

That basically glued me to reading about it and taking tests all day. The Internet has seen fit to diagnose me with it although I am not so sure about that just yet. So, here I am with a lot on my mind, reflecting.

After all that reading, and to lighten things up a little bit here, an interesting irony occurred to me.

Autistics often interpret things very literally. ie. "black eye" is visualized as an actual black eyeball, vs the normal picturing of discolored tissue around the eye.

I've done this all of my life.

I am perfectly aware of word and phrase meanings, but I reflexively visualize things literally and often have to suppress my urge to laugh loudly at what I'm picturing.

Naturally, some literal visualizations are painfully obvious and most people can't help but picture something funny.

This, (of course) brings me to Asperger's, which, is a high-functioning "milder" form of autism.

It is named after Hans Asperger, a mid-nineteenth century German pediatrician credited with first recognizing it.

Of course, I am not alone in visualizing ass burgers and giggling like a teenager at the mention of the word every fucking time. And before today, I used to feel bad about it. Now, not so much.

But, having learned what I've just learned, I can't help but ruminate on what a curse is must be to be diagnosed with a serious social disorder that there is a very high probability you won't be able to ever say with a straight face, much less look someone straight in the eye and say it?

You're forced immediately into an awkward social situation at the mere mention of your Asperger's to anyone else. AND, you can't just say "I'm autistic" because it's too general and one should distinguish themselves from more severe cases.

So, how is one forced by the medical profession to "distinguish" themselves from the word autism?

By calling it Asperger's??

This is hardly distinguished, and hardly fair to those with Asperger's.

There's a conspiracy in there somewhere! :)

(probably hiding behind the burgers)

"this machine kills fascists"

hahaha...now that is funny......

not accurate, but definitely funny...

no crank, but you do support "just wars" and your butt buddy
Submitted by cent on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 11:33pm.
fernando, whom you have defended on this point, supports drones and airstrikes out the ying yang...
-----------
I have discussed the concept of just war with many people over many years, so I know exactly what my position is and has been for a very long time.

Obviously you are either incapable of understanding or too wrapped up in your own inner voice to hear.

My position on just war is this: If the concept of one person exercising self defense using deadly force is valid, then the concept of more than one person exercising self defense using deadly force is valid.

Obviously, determining what is a self-defense circumstance is an entirely different debate.

When I discuss matters as complex as "just war," I can argue for or against pieces of it without acquiescing to the entire package. Recently I defended points within a larger argument. I don't remember that they were Fernando's points because I am not nearly as hung up on "butt boys" as you are. I don't even care if they were Fernando's points I was defending because ownership of the points would not have entered into my thinking.

I realize that you, cent, can easily become confused when we drag you into the deep end. In the future, ask me what my position on just war is. Do not post it as a header as if you know what the fuck you are talking about.

You clearly do not have the slightest grasp on my opinions and will quickly extrapolate, a la nora, to fill the giant gaps in your head.

Also worth reflection...
Submitted by 60th Street on Mon, 02/15/2010 - 1:47am.

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

Hey, can'tcha tell I'm just fuckin w/ya?
Submitted by dr on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 11:55pm.

...

And you say Crank got pissed? I wonder why? Could it be b/c you are arguing disingenuously or could it be b/c you can't say shit w/o choking onna mouthful.

I find it endlessly fascinating (and rather telling) that you've appointed yerself blog sheriff.

Do you get a badge to go w/yer pea-shooter?

=====================

This just strikes me as an odd direction to take, this "blog sherriff" stuff, since it mostly seems Crank walks down the thread like Sheriff Dillon and whenever dr appears it's like Chester coming along to back him up or something. Just the impression I get sometimes.

project motivations for my actions as you do just as regularly, if not more so....and is just as irritating.

and I DO remember you on several occasions specifically defending fernando's advocation of entering pakistan, citing his "insider knowledge" as justification...

the sauce comes with the goose crank...and you slam others for defending people on points you disagree with...so, turnabout is fairplay...

I also remember you slamming nora for being "incapable" of grasping the concept of a "just war" during one of your other anti-nora rants, though it is a vague memory...

you seem to have backed off your earlier tone...perhaps I should have checked in to see if you were still in a "mother fucker" mood before I began my evening session...but, C'est la guerre

Stoppit!
Somebody's gonna get hurt!

Also - - booring

ZZZ

America does make heroes -- it just doesn't give them much media exposure.

http://www.truthout.org/preserving-golden-rule-a-piece-anti-nuclear-hist...

[excerpt]

...

SANE quickly became the largest peace organization in the United States, smaller groups, committed to civil disobedience, sprang up as well. One of them, Non-Violent Action Against Nuclear Weapons, drew the participation of Albert Bigelow, a lieutenant commander in the US Navy during World War II. With the bombing of Hiroshima, Bigelow had concluded that "morally, war is impossible," and a month before he became eligible for his pension, he resigned from the US Navy Reserve. Joining the Society of Friends, he plunged into the growing campaign of resistance to nuclear weapons.
In January 1958, Bigelow and three other pacifists wrote to President Dwight Eisenhower of their plan to sail the Golden Rule into the US nuclear testing zone in the Pacific. "For years we have spoken and written of the suicidal military preparations of the Great Powers," they declared, "but our voices have been lost in the massive effort of those responsible for preparing this country for war. We mean to speak now with the weight of our whole lives." They hoped their act would say to others: "Speak Now."

...

An American anthropologist, Earle Reynolds, his wife Barbara, and their two children attended the final trial in Honolulu, and concluded not only that the US government was lying about the dangers of radioactive fallout, but lacked the constitutional authority to explode nuclear weapons in the Pacific. As a result, determined to complete the voyage of the Golden Rule, they set sail for Eniwetok aboard their own ship, the Phoenix. On July 1, Reynolds went on the radio to announce that they had entered the US nuclear testing zone. Soon thereafter he was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to a two-year prison term.
These events, which received considerable publicity, triggered a surge of activism. Picket lines sprang up around federal buildings and AEC offices all across the United States. In San Francisco, 432 residents - proclaiming that they were guilty of "conspiring" with crew members - petitioned the US attorney to take legal action against them. Reynolds, out on bail before a higher court ruled in his favor (and, implicitly, in favor of the crew of the Golden Rule), gave a large number of talks on radio and television, as well as to college, high school and church audiences, on the dangers of nuclear testing.
Not surprisingly, US government officials were horrified. Appearing on CBS television, AEC Chair Lewis Strauss implied - as he often did when discussing critics of nuclear weapons - that the whole thing was part of a Communist conspiracy. "At the bottom of the disturbance there is a kernel of very intelligent, deliberate propaganda," he insisted.
Subsequent events went badly from Strauss's standpoint. Within a short time, he was ousted from office and the Eisenhower administration - barraged by public protests against nuclear testing - felt obliged to halt it and begin negotiations on a test ban treaty. In 1963, these negotiations culminated in the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty, which ended atmospheric nuclear tests by the great powers. SANE and other peace groups were delighted with this first nuclear arms control treaty, as was Bigelow, who only two years before had challenged authority once more, this time as a Freedom Rider.
As for the aging Golden Rule, it has now drifted into obscurity, and is currently housed in a small shipyard in Eureka, California, whose owner, Leroy Zerlang, would like to save it from destruction. If the Smithsonian or another museum decided to preserve the ship, it would provide a fine symbol to future generations of the courageous men who sailed it, of government efforts to halt their activities, and of a nation that ultimately turned against nuclear weapons and nuclear war.

[end excerpt]

The PATTERN has become CLEAR--

http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/02/breaking-the-silence-women-soldiers-sp...

[excerpt]

...

On January 29, Israel’s ynetnews.com reported that “Female soldiers break their silence,” revealing accounts of “systematic humiliation of Palestinians, reckless and cruel violence, theft, killing of innocent people and cover-up.”

On July 15, 2009, Reuters reported that participating IDF soldiers in the recent Gaza conflict said “they were urged by commanders to shoot first and worry later about sorting out civilians from combatants. Accordingly, they (said, they) went into Gaza with guns blazing,” with comments like the following typical of others:

– “If you’re not sure, kill;”

– “Better hit an innocent than hesitate to target an enemy;”

– “In urban warfare, anyone is your enemy; no innocents;” and

– “They kept repeating to us that this is war and in war opening fire is not restricted….There was a clear feeling, and this was repeated whenever others spoke to us, that no humanitarian consideration played any role in the army at present.”

In his book titled The ‘Good Soldier’ on Trial: A Sociological Study of Misconduct by the US Military Pertaining to Operation Iron Triangle, Iraq, Professor Stjepan Mestrovic documented disturbing evidence of illegal US rules of engagement (ROE); namely, that commanders order troops to commit war crimes, citing an Army brigade colonel saying kill every military-aged Iraqi on sight, even civilians posing no threat.

Yet when the truth comes out, low-ranking soldiers are blamed, prosecuted, and punished to absolve superiors up the chain of command to the top. Mestrovic correctly observed “that a crime becomes a ‘war crime’ when it involves the government, which is to say, when a crime is the result of unlawful social policies and plans.”

According to noted sociologist Emile Durkheim, “The immorality of war depends entirely on the leaders who willed it — the soldier and even those government officials who had no part in the decision remain innocent.”

It’s true in America, Israel, and all sides in times of war.

[end excerpt]

maybe next time we should just choose up sides and have a pie fight....

it would be over with more quickly...is easier to clean up, and is ultimately more constructive....

I am done...tomorrow is another day.

Michael Parenti article at Common Dreams--

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/13-0

[excerpt]

"What is going on here?" I asked myself at the time. How is it that so many people feel free to talk about empire when they mean a United States empire? The ideological orthodoxy had always been that, unlike other countries, the USA did not indulge in colonization and conquest.

The answer, I realized, is that the word has been divested of its full meaning. "Empire" seems nowadays to mean simply dominion and control. Empire---for most of these late-coming critics--- is concerned almost exclusively with power and prestige. What is usually missing from the public discourse is the process of empire and its politico-economic content. In other words, while we hear a lot about empire, we hear very little about imperialism.

Now that is strange, for imperialism is what empires are all about. Imperialism is what empires do. And by imperialism I do not mean the process of extending power and dominion without regard to material and financial interests. Indeed "imperialism" has been used by some authors in the same empty way that they use the word "empire," to simply denote dominion and control with little attention given to political economic realities.

But I define imperialism as follows: the process whereby the dominant investor interests in one country bring to bear their economic and military power upon another nation or region in order to expropriate its land, labor, natural resources, capital, and markets-in such a manner as to enrich the investor interests. In a word, empires do not just pursue "power for power's sake." There are real and enormous material interests at stake, fortunes to be made many times over.

So for centuries the ruling interests of Western Europe and later on North America and Japan went forth with their financiers---and when necessary their armies---to lay claim to most of planet Earth, including the labor of indigenous peoples, their markets, their incomes (through colonial taxation or debt control or other means), and the abundant treasures of their lands: their gold, silver, diamonds, copper, rum, molasses, hemp, flax, ebony, timber, sugar, tobacco, ivory, iron, tin, nickel, coal, cotton, corn, and more recently: uranium, manganese, titanium, bauxite, oil, and--say it again--oil. (Hardly a complete listing.)

Empires are enormously profitable for the dominant economic interests of the imperial nation but enormously costly to the people of the colonized country. In addition to suffering the pillage of their lands and natural resources, the people of these targeted countries are frequently killed in large numbers by the intruders.

This is another thing that empires do which too often goes unmentioned in the historical and political literature of countries like the United States, Britain, and France. Empires impoverish whole populations and kill lots and lots of innocent people. As I write this, President Obama and the national security state for which he works are waging two and a half wars (Iraq, Afghanistan, and northern Pakistan), and leveling military threats against Yemen, Iran, and, on a slow day, North Korea. Instead of sending medical and rescue aid to Haiti, Our Bomber sent in the Marines, the same Marines who engaged in years of mass murder in Haiti decades ago and supported more recent massacres by proxy forces.

The purpose of all this killing is to prevent alternative, independent, self-defining nations from emerging. So the empire uses its state power to gather private wealth for its investor class. And it uses its public wealth to shore up its state power and prevent other nations from self-developing.

...

[end excerpt]

In case you missed this from The Progressive--

http://www.progressive.org/wx021210.html

[excerpt]

...

Obama’s own economic advisers say that unemployment is going to average 10 percent this year and 9.2 percent next year.

And yet all that Harry Reid now is proposing to spend on a new jobs bill is $15 billion over the next decade, which is peanuts. And most of those peanuts are going directly to businesses, which is the least efficient way to stimulate the economy.

There is no money to extend unemployment benefits.

There is no money to extend health care coverage to the unemployed.

There is no money to support state governments, which are having to make vicious cuts to balance their own budgets.

There is no money to create a federal jobs program.

It’s as though Reid and Obama don’t care that there are almost 15 million unemployed Americans right now and that this number is unlikely to get much lower any time soon.

It’s as though they don’t understand the magnitude of the crisis that poor people are facing.

“Low-income Americans are facing a higher unemployment rate today than at the height of the Depression,” reports DemocracyNow. “The Center for Labor Market Studies at Boston’s Northeastern University divided U.S. households into ten groups based on annual income. The lowest tenth, with an annual household income of $12,499 or less, had a fourth-quarter unemployment rate last year of 30.8 percent. The next lowest-income group had an unemployment rate of 19.1 percent.”

[end excerpt]

"Argue Your Limitation And It Is Yours."
Hope I have time to read...fully.

aggressive way of action since it is down to the ""bare-bone mentality" - shoot, there is not even a bare bone and we all are starving".

To me it is even more simple than that - the action of an active compared to a non-active sign, and all therein = ENTROPY.

(what was posted above)

RE : It’s as though Reid and Obama don’t care that there are almost 15 million unemployed Americans right now and that this number is unlikely to get much lower any time soon.

It’s as though they don’t understand the magnitude of the crisis that poor people are facing.

Empire>Imperialism
Submitted by nora on Mon, 02/15/2010 - 3:43am.
Michael Parenti article at Common Dreams--

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/13-0

[excerpt]

Submitted by dr on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 11:12pm.

I got no quibbles w/anyone's ideals, cent, not nora's, Alice's, yours, mine. God bless 'em (or not, just as you please) if a body can hold onto 'em. It ain't easy. I think we all know.

--------------
It is not about having or not having a pool.

Not nearly all I got to say--and in fact I know stating it so baldly is somewhat simplistic (but not wrong).

I am saving my place on page one while I try to figure out the most efficient way to deal with all this horrendous insulting bullshit that you three have been hurling at cent all night.

Who was not engaged in something "boring" ellwort. Who was engaged in something that they have made necessary.

And anyone else who doesn't think so, what the FUCK are you doing here? "Ideals?" I don't think not profiting from killing children even qualifies as an "ideal."
========

Submitted by Fernando on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 11:52pm.

But for your information, no product I've ever produced has ever been on a theatre.
----

Oh. Good for you. Is that coincidence really enough to make you feel your hands are clean?

And what if one of your "products" HAD "been on a theatre?" Would you give up the job then? Would you demand to be reassigned and let the chips, as it were, fall where they might? Would that be before or after the first time one of your "products" was so employed/deployed? Or would it take more than one time?

;)
...this is a very involved situation (many layered).

;)