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re: #1 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

You mean, Charles is not awake right now?

re: #2 BatGuano

You mean, Charles is not awake right now?

Just a guess...

Overnight open thread?

Dang! It is 7:05 here!

Damn. This is the hour that I post my most seditious stuff. What if he's actually awake? I must think on this.

re: #1 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Good morning, FBV!

re: #5 BatGuano

Good morning! Or is it still night for you?

re: #6 songbird

Whaddup birdie!?

re: #7 songbird

Good morning, It is two hours before sunrise on the west coast, so I'm kind of in-between.

Yeah, it's a cute puppy but, I don't see doing a piece about it at the top of the hour, Fox.

re: #8 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

re: #9 BatGuano

Feeling better! Had a headache and general malaise yesterday, and the day was gone. At least I made homemade spaghetti sauce and a green bean salad so my beloved could have a meal while I went to bed early.

Today should be a lot more productive.

Iran: Distributors of vote's 'true results' arrested

Government arrests two people suspected of publishing document allegedly sent by Iran's interior minister to Ayatollah Khamenei, detailing elections' true results and proving Mousavi is the real winner

Wife and I were just looking at pictures of our son (his facebook page)... one was little-bittie cutie-pie boy in a cowboy hat, big ringlet curls, sweet little grin... Now, beard, tattoos, one picture is titled... "Here is a picture of me intimidating you."

"Where is the little boy at play..."

heh

re: #12 Sharmuta

Iran: Distributors of vote's 'true results' arrested

Government arrests two people suspected of publishing document allegedly sent by Iran's interior minister to Ayatollah Khamenei, detailing elections' true results and proving Mousavi is the real winner

Why am I NOT surprised?

re: #12 Sharmuta

Whoops!

ElBaradei: Iran wants nuclear weapon technology

Thank you, Captain Obvious!

re: #12 Sharmuta

Digital world makes obfuscation pretty dang difficult.

re: #13 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

I love a Fiddler on the Roof reference.

re: #16 Sharmuta

ElBaradei: Iran wants nuclear weapon technology

Thank you, Captain Obvious!

Heh--I don't know why but the expression "Captain Obvious" always cracks me up.

re: #18 BatGuano

That's the same kid who burst out into tears one night when I was singing him to sleep and sang "Vincent" by Don McLean. And not because my singing sucked...

re: #13 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Wife and I were just looking at pictures of our son (his facebook page)... one was little-bittie cutie-pie boy in a cowboy hat, big ringlet curls, sweet little grin... Now, beard, tattoos, one picture is titled... "Here is a picture of me intimidating you."

"Where is the little boy at play..."

heh

They grow up too quickly! I have three adult children and one teenager. The oldest (24)is doing well working at Microsoft. Secondborn son (22) is in college still. He is not totally sure what he wants to do, but at least he has a job (20) at the local Gospel Rescue Mission (night bouncer!) Oldest daughter just moved to Fredricksburg with BF's family...I hope things will be ok. Youngest girl is going to be a junior in High School, and, because we don't know where we will live yet, we don't know where she will go to school. How I wish our home would sell so we could buy a home and settle down!

Tweets confound Iranian attempts to quell protests

re: #19 iceweasel

Heh--I don't know why but the expression "Captain Obvious" always cracks me up.

Makes me think of a guy running around in tights and a cape and making an idiot of himself saying obvious things.

re: #19 iceweasel

Heh--I don't know why but the expression "Captain Obvious" always cracks me up.

"Thanks John" always works for me. (Referencing sportscaster John "He wears that head-band to keep the sweat out of his eyes" Madden).

re: #22 Sharmuta

Tweets confound Iranian attempts to quell protests

Tech industry analyst Rob Enderle said Twitter might be more resistant to attempts to block access because users can update via a cell phone’s text-messaging service, or “short message service.”

“Twitter is a unique property because it works easily with SMS,” Enderle said. “That gives it a resiliency that isn’t shared by other online-only sites,” such as Facebook.

To block Twitter use, he said, Iran would have to shut down text messaging on a one-to- one basis, a tedious and time-intensive process, or shut down text messaging throughout the country.

“The Iranian government may eventually block it, but for now they’re apparently not set up to do that,” he said.

re: #23 thedopefishlives

re: #24 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Ha-- both those crack me up.

I had a fondness in my childhood for the expression "No shit, Sherlock!" uttered in tones of withering contempt, but now I try to be a lay-dee. (sort of. Sometimes.)

re: #20 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Possibly, these lyrics?

And when no hope was left in sight on that starry
starry night.
You took your life
as lovers often do;
But I could have told you
Vincent
this world was never
meant for one
as beautiful as you.

I almost shed a manly tear 35 years ago.

My Name Is Iran

At the immense opposition demonstration earlier this week, I asked a young woman her name. She said, “My name is Iran.”

A nation has stirred. Provoked, it has risen. “Silence equals protest,” says one banner. The vast crowds move in a hush of indignation, anger distilled to a wordless essence.

re: #27 BatGuano

I didn't sing those lyrics...(what kind of father do you think I am planting thoughts of justified suicide in my four year old child's mind?)

Nope, just the melancholy tune and the word-smithing images...

Love the song. But y'all know me... Barry Manilow rocks!

Good morning, Lizards.

Durn, this is the closest to the beginning of an overnight open thread I've ever been.

Thinking of something to say... oh, yeah.

The Obama administration yesterday afternoon told auto-parts suppliers (who had requested an extra $10B to keep them afloat until the auto companies started ordering parts again) "sorry, no can do". The official reason being that there's only $5B in the kitty, and most of it's already spoken for. That's the official reason.

My estimate of the situation is that this is another facet of The One's grand delusion plan to convert the Big Three to TARP-funded payoff channelers for the UAW. There's an old saying in military strategy, "Amateurs study strategy and tactics; professionals study logistics." The parts suppliers are the "logistics train" of the car makers. Now, if you believe (as I do) that Obama is on a "holy crusade" against automobiles (as part of his radical "progressive/green" dogma), it would be entirely logical to do anything possible to disrupt that logistic train. No parts, no cars; Q.E.D.

If he was serious about "saving" the auto makers, he'd have seen to the health of the parts makers first. The fact that it has been done belatedly, half-heartedly, and with considerable resentment (on his part) tells me that either (a) he is following his dogma, or (b) he's stupider than I think he is. And even if the answer is (b), at least some of his advisors (notably Geithner) should have been smart enough to grasp the concept, and explain it to him. Unless, of course, they knew he just wasn't interested in doing it that way.

Occam's Razor states that the simplest solution that fits the facts is probably correct. The simplest solution here is that The One, having never worked in anything but academia and politics, simply does not understand industry. But I wonder.

(PS- what's with the huge numbers on posts, and the "close" button at the top of the Preview screen? Has LGF evolved once more while I was asleep?)

cheers

eon

re: #28 Sharmuta

Chills.

"The day of enlightenment" frightens "Dearest Leader" and the Noks Leaders in ways that we can not fathom.

re: #25 Sharmuta

It's going to be interesting to see what methods repressive governments will have to come up with now in order to conceal what they're up to. Twitter and youtube and the internet and cell phones and digital images are all ways for the revolution to be digitised.

I know this is a morbid thought, especially for the cool night thread, but has anyone thought about how the bloody history of the 20th century would be different had the information revolution happened sooner? It hit me last night...one of the contributing factors to the Holocaust was the slowness with which the news leaked out and other countries' inability to understand or know what was happening, or the scope of it. Now people all over the world would be receiving texts and images of any police action or round-up or worse---within seconds.

ahhh, the breath of a new thread :>)

re: #29 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Quite right. made the mistake of singing "Clementine" to my then 6 year old daughter, when I got to the part, "you are gone and lost forever..."s he started crying. I learned my lesson.

re: #26 iceweasel iceweasel- you're female?
Not that there's anythign wrong with that.
//

Whoa. Thread change. Morning again.

The other day I found a gnat in my coffee maker's reservoire. Well, it wasn't a gnat. It was a fruit fly. It seems I brought home some fruit fly larvae from the grocery store and they hatched or whatever.

So, last night I put a piece of banana on a cookie sheet and put it into the oven an left the door open all night. About 20 minutes ago, I shut the oven door and cranked the heat to 400. Got a buncha' baked fruit flies.

re: #21 songbird

My son worked at the local "Rescue Mission" for three years. Never started drinking, doesn't do drugs.

I think it's a great place for a teenager to spend some time employed or volunteering.

And not just ladling out soup in the line. Out where there hands can touch the unwashed.

That'll make them conservatives.

re: #32 iceweasel

It's going to be interesting to see what methods repressive governments will have to come up with now in order to conceal what they're up to. Twitter and youtube and the internet and cell phones and digital images are all ways for the revolution to be digitised.

I know this is a morbid thought, especially for the cool night thread, but has anyone thought about how the bloody history of the 20th century would be different had the information revolution happened sooner? It hit me last night...one of the contributing factors to the Holocaust was the slowness with which the news leaked out and other countries' inability to understand or know what was happening, or the scope of it. Now people all over the world would be receiving texts and images of any police action or round-up or worse---within seconds.

Think what would've happened if the world had known about Tiananmen Square live, rather than waking up to the belated images of the tanks rolling.

re: #25 Sharmuta

I thought the government shut down texting this weekend.

re: #34 BatGuano

My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean...

"My Bonnie looked into the gas tank
The height of its contents to see
She lit a small match to assist her
Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me..."

I sang that one too...

re: #35 Jim in Virginia

iceweasel- you're female?
Not that there's anythign wrong with that.
//

You betcha!

re: #40 MandyManners

Oh, don't think they didn't try!

re: #28 Sharmuta

From the link

The regime has gambled on radicalism. That proved a winning card when a radical White House made an easy enemy. But the world has changed with President Obama, just as Iran’s Twittering society has changed.

GAH! But it's okay. What is happening over there is more important than complaining about some Obama spin.

And good morning!

re: #32 iceweasel yeppers, you won't get it from the netweek news.

Iranian polise defended ppl from basijis for the first time yesterday

[Link: twitter.com...]

re: #40 MandyManners

I thought the government shut down texting this weekend.

They tried. Text messaging isn't as simple to switch off as just throwing some lever in a darkened basement in downtown Tehran. I'm not sure as to the cellular phone network layout in Iran, but even with a central data routing office, it'd be difficult to manage.

re: #39 thedopefishlives

Think what would've happened if the world had known about Tiananmen Square live, rather than waking up to the belated images of the tanks rolling.

Exactly; just one of many such instances where it would have made a difference. Rwanda! all sorts of things.

Television brought the Vietnam war into our living rooms and TV was responsible in large part for the anti-war movement here then; now it's not just TV. We are indeed a global society now.

re: #44 Bloodnok

Good morning!

re: #41 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Now your bringing up memories of me singing, " I'm looking over my dead dog Rover," to all of my daughters.

re: #37 MandyManners

The other day I found a gnat in my coffee maker's reservoire. Well, it wasn't a gnat. It was a fruit fly. It seems I brought home some fruit fly larvae from the grocery store and they hatched or whatever.

So, last night I put a piece of banana on a cookie sheet and put it into the oven an left the door open all night. About 20 minutes ago, I shut the oven door and cranked the heat to 400. Got a buncha' baked fruit flies.

You are a freaking genius! It is as simple as that.

Now sprinkle some cinnamon on them and enjoy.

re: #37 MandyManners bet they'd taste good, crunchy critters.

re: #32 iceweasel

It's going to be interesting to see what methods repressive governments will have to come up with now in order to conceal what they're up to. Twitter and youtube and the internet and cell phones and digital images are all ways for the revolution to be digitised.

I know this is a morbid thought, especially for the cool night thread, but has anyone thought about how the bloody history of the 20th century would be different had the information revolution happened sooner? It hit me last night...one of the contributing factors to the Holocaust was the slowness with which the news leaked out and other countries' inability to understand or know what was happening, or the scope of it. Now people all over the world would be receiving texts and images of any police action or round-up or worse---within seconds.

My guess is that repressive regimes' will get smarter about how to control data transmission. I expect that they will go heavily into INSEC (INformation SECurity) technology and procedures similar to those used by developed countries' governments (like ours). The difference being that they will not only be using such capabilities to secure their own datanets, communications, etc., but to disrupt the "dissidents'" capabilities, as well.

For instance, Twitter, YouTube, etc., can be locally disrupted by the simple expedient of shutting off power to the local microwave repeaters, plus neutralizing satellite uplinks. The latter is more difficult, but can be accomplished by frequency jamming (most such civilian systems are not freq-agile). Denial of Service Attacks have been successfully launched by Islamist "hackers" working on their own; imagine the effect if governments made such capabilities part of their SOP on a fully-funded/enabled basis. And so on, and so forth.

Communications warfare is as old as smacking a messenger upside the head and stealing the skytale. Regimes' that want to stay in power at any cost will not be slow in applying the modern-day equivalent.

cheers

eon

Iran protests: live

Page will automatically update

re: #47 thedopefishlives

They tried. Text messaging isn't as simple to switch off as just throwing some lever in a darkened basement in downtown Tehran. I'm not sure as to the cellular phone network layout in Iran, but even with a central data routing office, it'd be difficult to manage.

They weren't able to shut down international cell phones, so international texting could still happen.

Also, a lot of people have web-based SMS accounts now to allow them to send or receive texts within the country or internationally; and you can't disrupt those without shutting down the internet.

OOOooo! More Iranian fauxtography?

Image: Keyhan-ehtics.jpg

re: iceweasel

We are all Iranians.

re: #50 BatGuano

One leg is missing
The other is gone
Third leg is scattered
All over the lawn
You see there's no need explaining
The one remaining
Is hanging from the front screen dooor

I'm looking over
My dead dog Rover...

re: #51 Bloodnok

You are a freaking genius! It is as simple as that.

Now sprinkle some cinnamon on them and enjoy.

re: #52 apachegunner

bet they'd taste good, crunchy critters.

Baked banana coated with fruit flies!

Nummm.

Huge crowd

[Link: twitpic.com...]

re: #54 Sharmuta

Iran protests: live

Page will automatically update

Favorited. First thing I read on that page is a comment questioning if fauxtography was used in the pro Ahmadinejad rally. The Clone Tool Strikes Back.

re: #59 MandyManners

Baked banana coated with fruit flies!

Nummm.

Full bodied flavour :)

re: #60 Sharmuta

Huge crowd

[Link: twitpic.com...]

The sheer size of the crowd is difficult to imagine, especially for a sheltered country boy who's never been to anything bigger than a Twins baseball game in his life.

re: #58 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

My dog's not eating,
he no longer barks,
He hit the propeller
and turned into sparks.

When I first heard of Twitter, I thought it was just some tech-geek fad that would fade. Well, I was wrong.

re: #62 Mithrax

Full bodied flavour :)

yep, they'd be FLYING off the shelf huh? :>)

re: #38 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

My son worked at the local "Rescue Mission" for three years. Never started drinking, doesn't do drugs.

I think it's a great place for a teenager to spend some time employed or volunteering.

And not just ladling out soup in the line. Out where there hands can touch the unwashed.

That'll make them conservatives.

Yeah. My son said it made him thankful for his life and what he has. His job is to be with the guys at night, and enforce the rules about alcohol. Sometimes he has to kick a guy out because that person won't follow the rules. Well, when you are faced with a 6'2" bear of a young man, you don't resist much.

My son has turned out to be a very nice man, and I hope he figures out what he wants to major in soon. He's decided to minor in creative writing, of all things! I think he would make a great teacher or counselor.

re: #66 apachegunner

yep, they'd be FLYING off the shelf huh? :>)

LOL

All we need now is PETA to do a protest, and we'd get free advertising.

We'll make millions!

re: #53 eon

Totally agree with what you've written; we should also expect to see a new kind of PsyOps involving CyberOps: fake youtubes, fake texts, etc put out by the regime. Controlling information is controlling power.

However, with the shrinking world, it's going to be obvious to the world outside the repressive regime that something is going on. How many people right here on LGF have friends or contacts in Iran and have been able to provide us with info?

So I'm hopeful that, even though repressive regimes will doubtless develop new methods as they always have, the new technology means it's going to be much harder for them to get away with it in the global community for long--even if they can control the message within the country.

re: #62 Mithrax

Full bodied flavour :)

Part of me wants to feel bad about the whole-sale slaughter but, that feeling slips away quickly.

re: #70 MandyManners

Part of me wants to feel bad about the whole-sale slaughter but, that feeling slips away quickly.

There are plenty more of the little critters, so fear not. You'll have a never ending supply.

re: #66 apachegunner

yep, they'd be FLYING off the shelf huh? :>)

The ad-world buzz about this new product.

re: #71 Mithrax

There are plenty more of the little critters, so fear not. You'll have a never ending supply.

She'll run out of bananas before she runs out of those damned flies.

re: #71 Mithrax

There are plenty more of the little critters, so fear not. You'll have a never ending supply.

I'm thinking of washing down all new fruit in a bleach solution when I bring it home from the store.

re: #65 MandyManners

When I first heard of Twitter, I thought it was just some tech-geek fad that would fade. Well, I was wrong.

I did too; I saw no use for it at all. I thought it was a way for compulsives to alert the world to boring things: "I just ate." "I just went to the grocery store". Etc. It looked to me like an extension of narcissistic blogging, where people who couldn't even be interesting in a blog post imagined that they could be interesting in under 140 characters.

It's interesting to see how it's turned out. Very cool. I don't think even the founders foresaw this application!

The Iranian soccer team is wearing green armbands

re: #67 songbird

Yeah. My son said it made him thankful for his life and what he has. His job is to be with the guys at night, and enforce the rules about alcohol. Sometimes he has to kick a guy out because that person won't follow the rules. Well, when you are faced with a 6'2" bear of a young man, you don't resist much.

My son has turned out to be a very nice man, and I hope he figures out what he wants to major in soon. He's decided to minor in creative writing, of all things! I think he would make a great teacher or counselor.

If he's got a good head on his shoulders, and a solid foundation in what he knows and thinks, he'd probably survive the certification for counseling. Lots of social engineering goes on in those programs.

re: #74 MandyManners

I'm thinking of washing down all new fruit in a bleach solution when I bring it home from the store.

Buy wax fruit and really piss 'em off. They'll break their widdle jaws.

re: #74 MandyManners

I'm thinking of washing down all new fruit in a bleach solution when I bring it home from the store.

They do make some kind of anti-bacterial disinfectant stuff specifically for washing fruits and veggies; it's safer than using bleach. I can look for a link if you want.

re: #73 Bloodnok

She'll run out of bananas before she runs out of those damned flies.

Mousavi is a fundamentalist toore: #58 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

One leg is missing
The other is gone
Third leg is scattered
All over the lawn
You see there's no need explaining
The one remaining
Is hanging from the front screen dooor

I'm looking over
My dead dog Rover...

I'm looking over
My dead dog Rover
Lyin' on the bathroom floor,
One leg is broken
The other is lame
The third got run over by a choo choo train
There's no use explaining the one remaining
Got slammed in the basement door
So I'm lookin' over
My dead dog Rover
He's lyin' on the bathroom floor
Roll over Rover
He's lyin'...
On...
The bath...
Room...
Flooor.

re: #59 MandyManners

Baked banana coated with fruit flies!

Nummm.

A little extra protein won't hurt you!

re: #72 MandyManners

The ad-world buzz about this new product.

lol

re: iceweasel

Very rarely do people who deploy a new tech tool imagine fully what it's capable of or what it will be used for.

re: #84 thedopefishlives

Very rarely do people who deploy a new tech tool imagine fully what it's capable of or what it will be used for.

Who'da thunk that the internet would be for porn :P

re: #85 Mithrax

Who'da thunk that the internet would be for porn :P

You say that jokingly, but really, you're spot-on there. The Internet was developed as a research collaboration tool. We've just adapted it to a different kind of, er, research.

re: #75 iceweasel

Reminds me of a story about Thomas Edison, although it might be apocryphal. He had just presented his invention,the phonograph, to a group of potential investors. After the demonstration, one of them demanded," What good it it"!
He replied, "What good is a baby"?

Have a good morning. I need to make up for my wasted day yesterday!

Bye and regards to all Lizardim!

re: #88 songbird

Bye, songbird.

re: #85 Mithrax

Me.

re: #87 BatGuano

I never heard that! good story.

re: #88 songbird

Bye songbird, have a good day.

re: #86 thedopefishlives

Everyone knows algore invented it to publish love story.

re: #75 iceweasel

I did too; I saw no use for it at all. I thought it was a way for compulsives to alert the world to boring things: "I just ate." "I just went to the grocery store". Etc. It looked to me like an extension of narcissistic blogging, where people who couldn't even be interesting in a blog post imagined that they could be interesting in under 140 characters.

It's interesting to see how it's turned out. Very cool. I don't think even the founders foresaw this application!

It's amazing what humans can use to fight against tyranny.

re: #92 rightside

Everyone knows algore invented it to publish love story.

Hush you. I'm quoting revisionist history here. :P

re: #78 Bloodnok

Buy wax fruit and really piss 'em off. They'll break their widdle jaws.

Pissed-off fruit flies!

Good day/night everyone.

I'm sure everyone knows the Ave Q "The Internet Is For Porn" video...I never saw it til recently. It cracks me up.

re: #79 iceweasel

They do make some kind of anti-bacterial disinfectant stuff specifically for washing fruits and veggies; it's safer than using bleach. I can look for a link if you want.

Thanks but, I'm gonna' stick with a bleach solution and rinse it off thoroughly. Right now I'm keeping my fruit in the refigerator until I eradicate the little shits.

I'm thinking this one is a troll:

BREAK UP IRAN FOR US TO RULE IT! LOVE FROM CIA/MOSSAD/MKO/BBC/FOX NEWS/CNN/AIPAC

[Link: twitter.com...]

re: #75 iceweasel

Rapid transmission of information. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Still wonderful

/tweiku. :)

re: #99 Sharmuta

I'm thinking this one is a troll:

[Link: twitter.com...]

Why the hell do people feel the need to do that. Seriously.

Hello, lizards! I'm coming out of lurking for my rare appearance. Who is good to follow on Twitter regarding the Iran Election? (Twitter virgin here - just got the account today to help follow the goings-on over in Iran) I've got Winston80, but who else? I know quite a few have been recommended/reposted over the past few days, but Winston80 is the only twitter nic that stuck in my mind (and, besides, he's one of us). Besides, there are a lot of posts to sort through to find out. Who else is on the "short list" that I can count on for reliable info?

re: #82 songbird

A little extra protein won't hurt you!

I'll have to crank up the oven-cleaning program this morning. I hope the temperature turns them into dust.

re: #103 MandyManners

I'll have to crank up the oven-cleaning program this morning. I hope the temperature turns them into dust.

Mix with salt and spices. Fruit-fly seasoning.

re: #101 thedopefishlives

Why the hell do people feel the need to do that. Seriously.

Sad, empty lives?

re: #91 iceweasel

Cough.

[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com...]

Bill Clinton promised the most ethical administration in history.
That didn't work out to well.
Now comes Obama promising transparency & he will not divulge the White House guest list.
Looks like a pattern.

re: #69 iceweasel

Totally agree with what you've written; we should also expect to see a new kind of PsyOps involving CyberOps: fake youtubes, fake texts, etc put out by the regime. Controlling information is controlling power.

However, with the shrinking world, it's going to be obvious to the world outside the repressive regime that something is going on. How many people right here on LGF have friends or contacts in Iran and have been able to provide us with info?

So I'm hopeful that, even though repressive regimes will doubtless develop new methods as they always have, the new technology means it's going to be much harder for them to get away with it in the global community for long--even if they can control the message within the country.

Perfectly true. However (putting on my analyst hat here) you also have to look at the situation from the regimes' POV, which often goes something like this;

1. By controlling information within the country, we control the country. (It worked for the USSR, PRC, Nazi Germany, etc.)

2. Our foreign enemies are spineless weaklings who are easily cowed. Who cares what they think?

The bottom line being that if such a regime' can turn its own fiefdom into an information "black hole", denying the outside world intel on its actions and its captives any knowledge of foreign support, outrage, etc., that regime' wins the "infowar" at the local level. And short of the "final option" (as seen in Iraq, 2003), there isn't much the "foreign devils" can do about it.

If you think of the model of Hungary in 1956 and (the former) Czechoslovakia in 1968, you get the general idea. Modern information technology has made it more difficult- but the information-disruption technology has evolved, too.

And repressive regimes' have smart people, too, as do psychotic/psychopathic ones (like Iran's). "Crazy" and "stupid" are not synonymous. One of the missing entries on the Evil Overlord List is;

Never assume an Evil Overlord is stupid. As a general rule, stupid people rarely survive long enough to become Evil Overlords.

/It's missing because I thought of it, and for some reason the people making the List didn't. Go figure.

cheers

eon

re: #102 SasyMomaCat

Hello, lizards! I'm coming out of lurking for my rare appearance. Who is good to follow on Twitter regarding the Iran Election? (Twitter virgin here - just got the account today to help follow the goings-on over in Iran) I've got Winston80, but who else? I know quite a few have been recommended/reposted over the past few days, but Winston80 is the only twitter nic that stuck in my mind (and, besides, he's one of us). Besides, there are a lot of posts to sort through to find out. Who else is on the "short list" that I can count on for reliable info?

I have no idea but, I dinged you up. (Love the avatar.)

Horrible! Police attack protesters (video is sideways)

re: #85 Mithrax

Who'da thunk that the internet would be for porn :P

Just grab you d*ck
and click click click
For porn porn porn!

-Avenue Q

re: #104 thedopefishlives

Mix with salt and spices. Fruit-fly seasoning.

A spoonful of sugar?

re: #109 MandyManners

thanks, Mandy -

re: #107 opnion

Bill Clinton promised the most ethical administration in history.
That didn't work out to well.
Now comes Obama promising transparency & he will not divulge the White House guest list.
Looks like a pattern.

What's that all about? Has Bill Ayers visited? Will some intrepid reporter slap a FOIA on FCBBHO?

re: #106 Jimmah

Cough.

[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com...]

hey cutie. How are you today? :)

PM condemns Romanian hate attacks

[Link: news.bbc.co.uk...]

More than 100 Romanian people forced to flee their homes in south Belfast have been moved to a leisure centre.

The group of about 20 families spent Tuesday night in a church hall after a spate of racist attacks on their homes.

unconfirmed - we are hearing that Majlis Khobregan is calling emergency meeting - if confirmed - critical event!

[Link: twitter.com...]

re: #102 SasyMomaCat

persiankiwi, StopAhmadi, and lotfan are the ones I follow. I think oxfordgirl is another good one.

re: #113 SasyMomaCat

thanks, Mandy -

You're welcome.

I found a blog through twitter with a video of a student being killed. I'm not sure I should link to it this early in the morning. What do you guys think?

re: #114 MandyManners

What's that all about? Has Bill Ayers visited? Will some intrepid reporter slap a FOIA on FCBBHO?

I posted a spinoff link to an article on this yesterday--and yeah, a suit has already been filed by some independent watchdog group.

the WH refused to release the list to msnbc and this other group.

Bush had the same policy, and I thought it was wrong then and it's wrong now. So much for 'transparency'.

re: #117 Sharmuta

unconfirmed - we are hearing that Majlis Khobregan is calling emergency meeting - if confirmed - critical event!

[Link: twitter.com...]

And this is why I love LGF spy. I can follow along while working side-by-side.

re: #120 Sharmuta

I found a blog through twitter with a video of a student being killed. I'm not sure I should link to it this early in the morning. What do you guys think?

Link it with a big warning.

re: #115 iceweasel

I'm fine thanks, and you? (This is just a quick visit, gotta dash soon.)

re: #116 Jimmah

This a "gypsy" thing? Don't really know.

re: #114 MandyManners

What's that all about? Has Bill Ayers visited? Will some intrepid reporter slap a FOIA on FCBBHO?

Wouldn't it be something if you had guys named Ayers & Wright on the visitors list?
Very possible that one or more of his Palistinian friends from his days in Hyde Park showed up. That could be embarassing.

re: #124 Jimmah

Good! Always good to see you. :)

WARNING- this link contains graphic videos:

[Link: iranelection.posterous.com...]

However- there are also videos of more protests outside of Tehran. Includes video of students burning photos of dinnerjacket.

re: #121 iceweasel

I posted a spinoff link to an article on this yesterday--and yeah, a suit has already been filed by some independent watchdog group.

the WH refused to release the list to msnbc and this other group.

Bush had the same policy, and I thought it was wrong then and it's wrong now. So much for 'transparency'.

Pres. Bush had this policy? Do you have a link?

Greetings. ... present

re: #120 Sharmuta

I found a blog through twitter with a video of a student being killed. I'm not sure I should link to it this early in the morning. What do you guys think?

Do it.

re: #126 opnion

Wouldn't it be something if you had guys named Ayers & Wright on the visitors list?
Very possible that one or more of his Palistinian friends from his days in Hyde Park showed up. That could be embarassing.

Or, George Soros.

re: #129 MandyManners

Pres. Bush had this policy? Do you have a link?

Yep-- here's the article i posted yesterday:

The Obama administration is fighting to block access to names of visitors to the White House, taking up the Bush administration argument that a president doesn't have to reveal who comes calling to influence policy decisions.

Despite President Barack Obama's pledge to introduce a new era of transparency to Washington, and despite two rulings by a federal judge that the records are public, the Secret Service has denied msnbc.com's request for the names of all White House visitors from Jan. 20 to the present. It also denied a narrower request by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sought logs of visits by executives of coal companies.

Updated: CREW says it filed suit Tuesday against the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service. Here's a copy of CREW's complaint.
(snip)

"We are deeply disappointed," said CREW attorney Anne L. Weismann, "that the Obama administration is following the same anti-transparency policy as the Bush administration when it comes to White House visitor records. Refusing to let the public know who visits the White House is not the action of a pro-transparency, pro-accountability administration."

Article now says that the WH is claiming the policy is under review. Hmmm--we'll see.

re: #132 MandyManners

Or, George Soros.

Just to discuss Community Organizing techniques & maybe a little currency manipulation.

re: #114 MandyManners

What's that all about? Has Bill Ayers visited? Will some intrepid reporter slap a FOIA on FCBBHO?

Just carrying some of the Bush policy. Bush refused to divulge the guest list when asked about some religous leaders at the White House. A federal judge ruled priviledge didn't apply and the Bush administration appealed. So now 0 is just continuing one of those horrible failed policies from the last 8 years./

re: #132 MandyManners

Of course all those have been there. That's just a safe assumption. You will never find my name on the list. That's also a safe assumption.

I think the WH list should always be open and should be public info, no matter who is in office. We have a right to know who the POTUS and his admin are taking advice or counsel from, or who they may be influenced by.

re: #133 iceweasel

So, who met with Cheney?

re: #102 SasyMomaCat
isn't there a winston06 or 08?

re: #137 iceweasel

I think the WH list should always be open and should be public info, no matter who is in office. We have a right to know who the POTUS and his admin are taking advice or counsel from, or who they may be influenced by.

Bush and Obama are the only 2 to keep it secret. So much for the people's house.

re: #138 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

So, who met with Cheney?

Cheney doesn't take advice. He gives it.

French President Sarkozy condemns the Iranian Regime, while Obama gives props to kahmenie(sp) for ordering a "partial" recount.
Who has it right?

re: #125 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

This a "gypsy" thing? Don't really know.

No these are Romanian immigrants. Looks like the usual xenophobia/racism but on a larger scale than we usually see. This is what 'community spirit' has meant in NI for many decades, I suppose.

re: #138 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

So, who met with Cheney?

Exactly. We don't know. There were some concerns about who Cheney met with in re: energy policy and he refused to reveal who he met with, IIRC, -- but this was in 2000 or early 2001 and I was paying a lot less attention then.

re: #141 UncleRancher

Cheney doesn't take advice. He gives it.

Whereas Biden just gives out information, classified or not.

re: #127 iceweasel

Cheers! BBL.

re: #145 soxfan4life

Whereas Biden just gives out information, classified or not.

True or not, also.

Just posted a couple of spinoffs to TehranBureau analyses.

Damned pertinant background data.

re: #144 iceweasel

Exactly. We don't know. There were some concerns about who Cheney met with in re: energy policy and he refused to reveal who he met with, IIRC, -- but this was in 2000 or early 2001 and I was paying a lot less attention then.

Cheney wasn't in the White House until 1/20/2001.

re: #140 soxfan4life

Bush and Obama are the only 2 to keep it secret. So much for the people's house.

That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure. Pretty f-d up.

Bush and Cheney oversaw an unprecedented expansion of the powers of the executive branch; for the most part Obama has been VERY happy to keep things that way. Meet the new Boss, same as the old Boss -- if only in that regard.

re: #118 BlueCanuck

Thanks much!

re: #149 soxfan4life

Cheney wasn't in the White House until 1/20/2001.

Cut me some slack, I'm not quite awake yet. :) 2001 and pre sept 11, (i THINK) -- i should have said.

That disappoints me about Pres. Bush.

However, Pres. Bush's policy does not give FCBBHO a pass.

re: #150 iceweasel

That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure. Pretty f-d up.

Bush and Cheney oversaw an unprecedented expansion of the powers of the executive branch; for the most part Obama has been VERY happy to keep things that way. Meet the new Boss, same as the old Boss -- if only in that regard.

If you notice, most of his change is not slated to take effect until after he is out of office. Guess the percs that come with unquestioned authority are just too sweet.

re: #153 MandyManners

That disappoints me about Pres. Bush.

However, Pres. Bush's policy does not give FCBBHO a pass.

Totally agree with you, on both points.

Wrong when Bush did, still wrong when Obama does it. Maybe even worse when Obama does it, since he explicitly ran on promises of transparency.

re: #154 soxfan4life

If you notice, most of his change is not slated to take effect until after he is out of office. Guess the percs that come with unquestioned authority are just too sweet.

Yes, and what is it with these 10-year plans? Give me a plan for which the present administration will be responsible for completion and success. Enough with these 10-year plans.

re: #139 apachegunner

He's winston80 on twitter, but, yes - got him.

In a related question, anyone know what's going on with twitter? I can't find any of the recommended people, nor can I find our office's resident twitter expert - and he can't find me, either. Has twitter been compromised?

re: #153 MandyManners

I could understand some secrecy right after 9/11 but after the initial planning for shock and awe was over it should have been opened back up. A little tidbit I heard on the news this AM is Dept. of Homeland Security is in charge of the Secret Service not the Dept. of the Treasury. Maybe that has something to do with the secrecy of the WH guest list.

re: #155 iceweasel

Totally agree with you, on both points.

Wrong when Bush did, still wrong when Obama does it. Maybe even worse when Obama does it, since he explicitly ran on promises of transparency.

When someone repeatedly promises something like that, I look for the sleight of hand.

re: #154 soxfan4life

If you notice, most of his change is not slated to take effect until after he is out of office. Guess the percs that come with unquestioned authority are just too sweet.

I hadn't noticed that but I can't say I'm surprised. There's a reason why they say "power corrupts".

A lot of people had a great deal of hope that Obama was going to roll back the executive branch power grab; as for me, I was too damn cynical to believe that and I assumed he'd want to keep it for himself. Everyone always thinks, when they're the ones with the power, that they're the exception and they know how to wield it only for good.

Your morning update from Iran twitters:

All foreign news reporters in Iran R locked down in their hotels, not allowed 2 go out #gr88 #iranelection

News: Members of parliament raised issue of university raids 2 minister of the interior 2day #gr88 #iranelection

News: Ali Larijani parliament chairman, said that minister of the interior B held responsible 4 uni raids #gr88

News: 52 members of parliament brought up issue regarding y Basij & police fought ppl #gr88 #iranelection

News: Ambassadors of UK, Czech Republic & France in Iran called in 2 Dept of Foreign Affairs #gr88 #iranelection

Confirmed: Hospital workers in Tehran: Basij collect all bodies from ERs and make them disappear, can't we even bury our dead? #iranelection

News: 150 students at Mazanderan University arrested last night #gr88 #iranelection

NEWS: Tehran protest 2DAY 5pm at 7 Tir Sq. Silent protest, wear green #gr88 #Iranelection

Ahmadinejad's 'massive' photoshopped rally [Link: bit.ly...] Keyhan gov newspaper! #iranelection

News: Nobody has seen Hashemi Rafsanjani - where is he, hiding?! #gr88 #iranelection

RT Mousavi camp: # of votes were more than # of eligible voters in 70 areas with AN having more than 80% in all #iranelection

Dead students bodies who were killed by Gov. were buried secretly. #iranelection [Link: bit.ly...]

unconfirmed - we are hearing that Majlis Khobregan is calling emergency meeting - if confirmed - critical event! #Iranelection

Some of our BRAVE soccer players are wearing green wrist bands on live Iranian TV against Korea #iranelection i dont blame the others

And the following are from one "tweeter" whose accuracy I am not sure about:

#Iranelection last night is not crowded like before but it's full of Basiji,that ride motorcycle with Guns
#Iranelection they stop anycar and take a look inside and warn them that drive slowly and turn their light off
#Iranelection any car that didn't stop they shoot us!I saw with my eyes more than 10shoot exactly to the target!
#Iranelection today i walking in street and see something wonderful!about 50 cars waitng in queue for install new windows!
#Iranelection please some one get their(basiji's) guns they just happy to shoot us with no reason:(

re: #158 soxfan4life

I could understand some secrecy right after 9/11 but after the initial planning for shock and awe was over it should have been opened back up. A little tidbit I heard on the news this AM is Dept. of Homeland Security is in charge of the Secret Service not the Dept. of the Treasury. Maybe that has something to do with the secrecy of the WH guest list.

When was the SS taken out of Treasury?

re: #159 MandyManners

When someone repeatedly promises something like that, I look for the sleight of hand.

The Obama secrecy just adds to the speculation of who has access to the White House.
Obama has had some very poor associations & you have to wonder if they continue.

re: #160 iceweasel

I hadn't noticed that but I can't say I'm surprised. There's a reason why they say "power corrupts".

A lot of people had a great deal of hope that Obama was going to roll back the executive branch power grab; as for me, I was too damn cynical to believe that and I assumed he'd want to keep it for himself. Everyone always thinks, when they're the ones with the power, that they're the exception and they know how to wield it only for good.

Gonna be kind of hard to run on hope and change in 2012, especially if his record of change continues to be more of the same.

re: #159 MandyManners

When someone repeatedly promises something like that, I look for the sleight of hand.

Meh, I dunno...just because someone makes a promise repeatedly doesn't automatically mean they won't keep it.

On the other hand, it usually is the hypocrites that feel the biggest need to proclaim how virtuous they are.

I guess I'm cynical about all politicians in more or less equal measure.

re: #162 MandyManners

Back in 03

re: #162 MandyManners

When was the SS taken out of Treasury?

According to wiki it was March 1, 2003. I don't know what role the SS has in investigating counterfeiters anymore.

re: #164 soxfan4life

I can already predict the new platform. I was gonna change, but since I inherited such a huge mess from Booosh, I had to slowly dismantle his policies. If done too quickly, the system would have collapsed.

Now that things are much better, I can enact hopenchange.

re: #164 soxfan4life

Gonna be kind of hard to run on hope and change in 2012, especially if his record of change continues to be more of the same.

And he's going to have to drop the 'I inherited" whining.
He inherited nothing. He did not go to the reading of the will from Uncle George & discover that he inherited two wars & a bad economy.
He asked for this job saying that he had solutions & would be ready from day one.

re: #167 soxfan4life

According to wiki it was March 1, 2003. I don't know what role the SS has in investigating counterfeiters anymore.

I don't think that the SS is investigating the Fed.

re: #164 soxfan4life

Gonna be kind of hard to run on hope and change in 2012, especially if his record of change continues to be more of the same.

Depends. Honestly? The single biggest factor that will influence 2012 will be the economy. If it's even worse then than it is now, Obama will get the boot.

Second biggest issue would be a terrorist attack. If we had another 9-11 close to the election, I could see Obama getting the boot.

In lieu of either of those, -- assuming his popularity stays as high as it is -- I think he'll be reelected. Don't forget that a lot of people who hated Bush for certain policies and decisions are suddenly perfectly happy with Obama making those same decisions/continuing those policies. They're not going to vote against him for failing to roll back the executive power grab.

re: #69 iceweasel

Totally agree with what you've written; we should also expect to see a new kind of PsyOps involving CyberOps: fake youtubes, fake texts, etc put out by the regime. Controlling information is controlling power.

However, with the shrinking world, it's going to be obvious to the world outside the repressive regime that something is going on. How many people right here on LGF have friends or contacts in Iran and have been able to provide us with info?

So I'm hopeful that, even though repressive regimes will doubtless develop new methods as they always have, the new technology means it's going to be much harder for them to get away with it in the global community for long--even if they can control the message within the country.

Although the sudden absence of an ongoing information stream from a given country would certainly raise eyebrows, a regime aiming for suppression isn't going to care. They want, first and foremost, to shut down that communication, period.

And the technology to squelch things like cell phone traffic already exists. There are all sorts of "blocker" technologies that render cell phone traffic inoperable over a large or small area. This sort of thing is explicitly illegal in the US, thanks to FCC regulations, but it is widely used in Europe to keep cell phones from receiving calls (or making them) in places like theatres and exclusive restaurants where the ring tones and conversations are deemed distracting. Expanding this over a larger area is trivial for a government, and you can bet that given the huge upsurge in cell phone reporting both currently in Iran and also in other places like Iraq and China that there are lots of people actively researching better, faster and more comprehensive solutions to this "problem".

Mimicing the ongoing communication stream produced by anonymous sites is another, more complex endeavor that would keep those outside the country striving for suppression from noticing that anything was amiss, at least for a while.

Look for other nations to begin following China's lead in massive, comprehensive control over all communication lines into and out of the country.

re: #161 reine.de.tout

Your twitterbook is cooking!
You have your lizard cookbook crowd all atwitter.

Whatever ... {reine} ... we love you for this work you're doing!

re: #168 rightside

It was alot worse than I was lead to believe.

re: #167 soxfan4life

According to wiki it was March 1, 2003. I don't know what role the SS has in investigating counterfeiters anymore.

That's really weird. I thought counterfeiting had always been one of their main targets.

re: #174 soxfan4life

Exactly. I was going to add that.

re: #163 opnion

The Obama secrecy just adds to the speculation of who has access to the White House.
Obama has had some very poor associations & you have to wonder if they continue.

I'm not worried about the visitors to Pres. Bush's White House because he wasn't a potential demagogue.

re: #165 iceweasel

Meh, I dunno...just because someone makes a promise repeatedly doesn't automatically mean they won't keep it.

On the other hand, it usually is the hypocrites that feel the biggest need to proclaim how virtuous they are.

I guess I'm cynical about all politicians in more or less equal measure.

That's exactly what I think.

re: #166 rightside

Back in 03

I did not know that.

re: #172 SixDegrees

Although the sudden absence of an ongoing information stream from a given country would certainly raise eyebrows, a regime aiming for suppression isn't going to care. They want, first and foremost, to shut down that communication, period.
(snip)

Look for other nations to begin following China's lead in massive, comprehensive control over all communication lines into and out of the country.

In re: paragraph one -- of course they won't care, but with the increasing shrinking of the world, there will be relatives and friends of those affected who are outside the country, and so alarms to the international community will be raised sooner.

(agree with everything else you said after that)

In re: last paragraph: Yes, that's exactly what I think will happen.

I've got to go grease the tracks on the loader so I can clean the barnyard before noon. Feed coming in.

Cheers

re: #171 iceweasel

Depends. Honestly? The single biggest factor that will influence 2012 will be the economy. If it's even worse then than it is now, Obama will get the boot.

Second biggest issue would be a terrorist attack. If we had another 9-11 close to the election, I could see Obama getting the boot.

In lieu of either of those, -- assuming his popularity stays as high as it is -- I think he'll be reelected. Don't forget that a lot of people who hated Bush for certain policies and decisions are suddenly perfectly happy with Obama making those same decisions/continuing those policies. They're not going to vote against him for failing to roll back the executive power grab.

What if he fails to implement the health care reform he is after or we still have troops in Iraq? Alot of his supporters have been critical of his failing to honor promises of troop withdrawal from Iraq. I am for what is in the best interest of troop safety, so a longer stay to ensure the safe withdrawal is what I like. But I'm not what you would consider an 0bama supporter.

re: #175 iceweasel

Hey ice, what do you think about this as an avatar?

re: #175 iceweasel

That's really weird. I thought counterfeiting had always been one of their main targets.

I thought so too.

re: #167 soxfan4life

According to wiki it was March 1, 2003. I don't know what role the SS has in investigating counterfeiters anymore.

Wasn't that it's original mandate?

re: #175 iceweasel

That's really weird. I thought counterfeiting had always been one of their main targets.

It was their original job.

re: #183 rightside

Hey ice, what do you think about this as an avatar?

Oh my god, I love it. I want to use it but apparently "iceweasel" is what Linux users call firefox or their version of firefox or something -- that looks like it might be their logo?

I'm bookmarking it, I might use it anyway. Thanks! :)

re: #144 iceweasel

Exactly. We don't know. There were some concerns about who Cheney met with in re: energy policy and he refused to reveal who he met with, IIRC, -- but this was in 2000 or early 2001 and I was paying a lot less attention then.

I know that various environmental groups (Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, etc.) demanded to be in attendance. But when asked what they wanted to discuss, they gave the administration a series of ultimatums (ban nuclear power, ban coal, ban oil, ban cars, Wind and Sun only, etc.), that boiled down to "Return to the Old Stone Age right now- or else."

Cheney basically told them, "If that's the best you have to 'offer', you're not helping."

Yes, the Bush administration got the "or else"- eight years of pogrom from the "deep greens" telling the world of the vast BusHitler/Halliburton/Big Oil Conspiracy. Which the MSM was all too eager to believe.

The "deep greens" did, in fact, get to vent- in front of the Senate. Their craziness even scared some Democratic Senators, notably Joseph Lieberman. When they brought in Hollywood celebrities (notably Julia Roberts) to beat the drum for their 'agenda', some senators (including one of mine, George Voinovich) walked out in disgust.

What a difference eight years makes. Nowadays, the neo-Luddites are increasingly looking like the new social lions of Washington.

On a related topic, yesterday Ohio governor Ted Strickland announced that the former Piketon Uranium Enrichment Plant (which produced U-235 for, among other customers, the U.S. military) would be converted to a nuclear power plant which, when completed, will power most of the State of Ohio, replacing a large amount of the 80% of Ohio electricity now generated by coal-fired plants. Said construction/conversion to take ten years and employ over 10,000 workers in the process. Pending a go-ahead from Washington, of course.

Not. Going. To. Happen.

I don't care if Strickland is a (semi-) liberal Democrat. The environmentalists will never permit a nuclear plant to be built or operated here, or anywhere. The actual construction would take two to three years; the other seven will be the time spent in court fighting injunctions, etc., from the Luddites, who have used these tactics to kill nuclear power in this country since the 1970s. (In 1985, they even forced a half-completed nuclear plant, Davis-Besse, to be completed as a "clean coal" plant- in the name of "saving Holy Mother Gaia", and with the aid of a compliant governor and some sustained arm-twisting by the UMW.)

Add in the reflexive hostility of The One's administration to nuclear anything (other than Islamic bombs), and you can see that Strickland is whistling past a cemetery.

/But don't tell him- he'll cry.

cheers

eon

Iran military targets Web as protests go on

As protesters planned to demonstrate for a fifth day against last week's disputed presidential election, Iran's Revolutionary Guard corps said Wednesday it will pursue legal action against Web sites that it said were inciting people to riot.

The Guard, an elite military unit that enforces the government's Islamic codes and morality, also blamed U.S. and Canadian companies, including American intelligence agencies, for financially and technically supporting the Web sites.

"We will very soon inform the public the details of these destructive Internet networks and we warn the people who want to use cyberspace to incite riot, threaten people and create rumors that legal action will be taken against them and the penalty they will pay is very heavy," the Guard said in a statement carried by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

re: #173 pre-Boomer Marine brat

Your twitterbook is cooking!
You have your lizard cookbook crowd all atwitter.

Whatever ... {reine} ... we love you for this work you're doing!

:-)

re: #177 MandyManners

I'm not worried about the visitors to Pres. Bush's White House because he wasn't a potential demagogue.

I share your view. Bush didn't lurk on any ideological fringe.
Obama consorted with Marxists, racists, unrepentent terrorists & some jihad supporters just for good measure.
It is not unreasonable to speculate.

Luv' ya', Hank!

re: #189 Killgore Trout

Iran military targets Web as protests go on

Legal action? Really? What next, a strongly worded letter?

/

re: #191 opnion

I share your view. Bush didn't lurk on any ideological fringe.
Obama consorted with Marxists, racists, unrepentent terrorists & some jihad supporters just for good measure.
It is not unreasonable to speculate.

It would be interesting to find out who was on AF-1 for that flyover NYC.

re: #191 opnion

I share your view. Bush didn't lurk on any ideological fringe.
Obama consorted with Marxists, racists, unrepentent terrorists & some jihad supporters just for good measure.
It is not unreasonable to speculate.

And, to think the worst.

Here's a link to what the twitterers say is a photoshopped picture of DinnerJacket's rally.

I see Fox is now reporting that Obama has explained that he fired Inspector General Walpin because IG Walpin showed signs of "confusion and disorientation."

Is there the scent of a rat in all of this?

I don't want power in the best of times granted to government that I would not want them to have in the worst of times.

re: #182 soxfan4life

What if he fails to implement the health care reform he is after or we still have troops in Iraq? Alot of his supporters have been critical of his failing to honor promises of troop withdrawal from Iraq. I am for what is in the best interest of troop safety, so a longer stay to ensure the safe withdrawal is what I like. But I'm not what you would consider an 0bama supporter.

This will sound like an evasion, but I think the only answer I can give right now is "It depends." I don't think he'll automatically be hated if we still have troops in Iraq -- but he will be if suddenly more troops are dying.

Health care--again, it depends. If a lot more people are out of work and don't have any health care, then he'll get slammed. On the other hand, if he's successfully able to spin it as "the evil republicans blocked or thwarted my super-good plan"? --then he might get away with it. So much depends on the economy and the mood of the electorate and how popular he remains.

(also on the troop issue: if they come home they're coming home to no jobs right now.)

re: #194 soxfan4life

It would be interesting to find out who was on AF-1 for that flyover NYC.

Isn't the Air Force required to keep the flight manifest of each flight?

re: #194 soxfan4life

It would be interesting to find out who was on AF-1 for that flyover NYC.

re: #195 Mandy Manners

And, to think the worst.

Yes & yes

re: #188 eon

Add in the reflexive hostility of The One's administration to nuclear anything

Why do you say that?

From UK Guardian's running info on Iran
(Sharmuta has posted the link in this thread's spinoffs)
---

11.20am:
A key Iranian figure, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has remained invisible since the election, has called an emergency meeting of the Assembly of Experts, according to the US-based Iran expert Reza Aslan.

"If true, this is a bombshell," says Nico Pitney on his excellent live blog of the crisis on the Huffington Post.

re: #200 MandyManners

Isn't the Air Force required to keep the flight manifest of each flight?

How hard would it be for the CIC to classify that document?

re: #196 reine.de.tout

Here's a link to what the twitterers say is a photoshopped picture of DinnerJacket's rally.

Heh. The Iranians love a good photoshop.

re: #204 soxfan4life

How hard would it be for the CIC to classify that document?

How hard would it be to slap a FOIA suit on him?

re: #205 Killgore Trout

Heh. The Iranians love a good photoshop.

Wile E. they are about that stuff!

re: #195 MandyManners

And, to think the worst.

It's pretty sad that our elected leaders do that to us.

Now in Russia, they got it mapped out so that everyone pulls for everyone else— that’s the theory, anyway.

mmm hollywood glossing up yummy communism.

re: #205 Killgore Trout

Heh. The Iranians love a good photoshop.

Looks to me like somebody had to have studied that photo very closely. All the duplicate scenes are way in the back

re: #203 pre-Boomer Marine brat

I think they're going to make Khamenei the scapegoat. They're going to try to replace him and claim the problem has been fixed.

Good morning.

Look for the market to have a rocky opening as Obama get ready to announce more regulations of the financial industry and the market awaits CPI data.

I just listened to an interview in the radio with some Democratic Congress-critter. It was the same old, same old...blame republicans, blame republicans, blame republicans.

And here I thought the Messiah ushered in an era of post-partisanship.

re: #206 MandyManners

How hard would it be to slap a FOIA suit on him?

National Security could stop that. Otherwise our wondrful MSM would be going after documents like troop numbers and location.

re: #196 reine.de.tout

Here's a link to what the twitterers say is a photoshopped picture of DinnerJacket's rally.

What about this one?

re: #203 pre-Boomer Marine brat

Assembly of Experts? Sounds like a Monty Python skit making fun of a British bureau.

Is it just me or has the world become more scary since 1/20?

re: #197 Gray Skies

I see Fox is now reporting that Obama has explained that he fired Inspector General Walpin because IG Walpin showed signs of "confusion and disorientation."

Is there the scent of a rat in all of this?

I'd look at this politico article if I were you:

“Mr. Walpin was removed after a review was unanimously requested by the bi-partisan Board of the Corporation,” Obama ethics counsel Norm Eisen wrote in a letter to senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Me.), with a copy directed to McCaskill. “The Board’s action was precipitated by a May 20, 2009 Board meeting at which Mr. Walpin was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the Board to question his capacity to serve.”

“We further learned that Mr. Walpin had been absent from the Corporation’s headquarters, insisting upon working from his home in New York over the objections of the Corporation’s Board; that he had exhibited a lack of candor in providing material information to decision makers; and that he had engaged in other troubling and inappropriate conduct,” Eisen wrote.

Eisen’s letter also noted that a complaint was pending against Walpin, brought by the acting U.S. Attorney in Sacramento, who accused Walpin of failing to disclose evidence in an investigation.

“Mr. Walpin had become unduly disruptive to agency operations, impairing his effectiveness and, for the reasons stated above, losing the confidence of the Board and the agency. It was for these reasons that Mr. Walpin was removed,” Eisen wrote.

[Link: www.politico.com...]

Looks like Obama didn't initiate the review that led to his removal; and if the stories about the board meeting and the IG's insistence on conducting business from home are true...well, let's just say that I don't think any of us could keep our job under those circumstances. It sounds like there might be some big problem.
IF it's true.

re: #193 thedopefishlives

Legal action? Really? What next, a strongly worded letter?

/

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Legal Action;

1. Find "dissident"

2. Arrest "dissident"

3. Have "speedy trial" ("You are a tool of the Great Satan- guilty!")

4. Administer Excedrin Headache No. 7.62 to back of head; alternatively, hang from crane or behead in town square ("to encourage the others", as Marat would say)

5. Wash hands, rinse, and repeat (hygiene is so important when you are dealing with blood)

///?

/So much for "due process".

cheers

eon

re: #212 3 wood

Sure the 0bama era post-partisanship do everything my way and we'll be just fine.

re: #210 reine.de.tout

It's probably a scan of a large picture in a printed news paper so it might be more obvious when you see it in print. We'll have to wait for a better scan to tell what's going on.

re: #207 pre-Boomer Marine brat

Wile E. they are about that stuff!

Like this?

The Mouse That Roared

Amusing, yes. Were it not for the attention, I suspect that extremely violent crackdowns would have already happened.

We have to remember that this is the group of religious fellows who marched unarmed children through minefields during the Iraq/Iran war.

I haven't known many Persians. One that I knew was a man in Pine Bluff, who fled when the Shah fell. This fellow opened a chain of pizza restaurants and prospered. When his cancer became surely fatal, he went back to Iran.

"Those bastards can't hurt me now. I'm going home and preach liberty."

I never heard from him again. I'd like to think that he's marching even now, but I know that he's dead.

re: eon

You know that and I know that, but the way it's worded makes it sound ... tame. I guess they have to at least TRY to keep a good front for the rest of the world.

re: #208 soxfan4life

It's pretty sad that our elected leaders do that to us.

It's also sad that we let them.

re: #211 Killgore Trout

I think they're going to make Khamenei the scapegoat. They're going to try to replace him and claim the problem has been fixed.

Could be. Rafsanjani probably certainly hasn't been enjoying tea and crumpets on his veranda all this time.

/certainly = "oh HELL no!"

re: #214 MandyManners

What about this one?

Back when he was hip and cool with the huffpo.kos crowd. (not long ago)

re: #213 soxfan4life

National Security could stop that. Otherwise our wondrful MSM would be going after documents like troop numbers and location.

What national security was involved in that flight over New York City?

re: #221 razorbacker

You've gotta love LGF!

Thanks backer!

Thei nflation we are seeing in interest rates is not yet translating to consumer prices.

Consumer prices inch 0.1% higher in May
Annual inflation falls 1.3%, the fastest pace in 59 years

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. consumer prices increased a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in May as higher gasoline prices were largely offset by falling food prices, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

It was the first increase in the consumer price index in three months.

The core CPI - which excludes often-volatile food and energy prices -- also rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in May.

The CPI has fallen 1.3% in the past year, the sharpest decline in prices since April 1950. The Federal Reserve has warned that deflation remains a major risk to the economy, with the global recession putting downward pressure on prices. Slack in the economy - a high unemployment rate and many idle factories - should keep inflation in check, they say.

Energy costs are most of the reason for the CPI results:

The entire decline in prices over the past year was due to the 27.3% drop in energy prices. Crude oil and gasoline prices have turned higher recently, however.

When looking at macroeconomic events, one has to always bear in mind the reality of time lags in reporting, in policy implementation, in decision making, in the physical aspect of the time it takes to conduct a transaction.

re: #216 iceweasel

Thanks for the link. I hadn't seen this. I am usually a pretty open-minded individual, but I have to admit that I have a hard time believing anything that comes out of this administration these days.

re: #216 iceweasel

The fired IG was on with Judge N. (on Fox), and his "case" is also now becoming a crusade for Michele Bachmann.

Because of this, even if the IG has a valid claim of improper dismissal, I don't want to go anywhere near the story.

re: #214 MandyManners

What about this one?

rofl!
I love it!

re: #215 badger1970

Assembly of Experts? Sounds like a Monty Python skit making fun of a British bureau.

Is it just me or has the world become more scary since 1/20?

Heh. Their names DO have a certain flavor in the English -- like the Expediency Council. WTF does THAT mean in a Theocracy?

Among other powers, the Assembly of Experts is the only body which can exert any sort of control over the Supreme Leader. Not absoutely certain if it can "impeach" one, but if anyone can, the AofE is the body which could.

re: #225 FrogMarch

I'll be glad to get rid of all those links. This is my favorite and I probably will keep it.

The Kid did a report on Iran for his geography class, and he printed it out for the poster. The teachers all had fits of laughter. We also did a 3-D, topographical relief map of Iran, to scale.

By the way, 10 year treasury rates are at 3.65%. for comparison purposes, in march they were 2.60%

re: #226 MandyManners

What national security was involved in that flight over New York City?

Could have been a training exercise for some kind of contingency for the 0bama's date night later on.

re: #220 MandyManners

Like this?

No. There was a photoshop contest after that clumsy missile launch. One of them had Wile E. beneath a horde of incoming missiles. Hilarious.

re: #212 3 wood

Good morning.

Look for the market to have a rocky opening as Obama get ready to announce more regulations of the financial industry and the market awaits CPI data.

I just listened to an interview in the radio with some Democratic Congress-critter. It was the same old, same old...blame republicans, blame republicans, blame republicans.

And here I thought the Messiah ushered in an era of post-partisanship.

Well, I think I have post-partisanship depression. Does that count?

re: #228 3 wood

I'm scratching my head over those numbers.

The drop in ribeye prices from $9.99/lb to $5.99/lb has been answered by increases in every canned/frozen/fresh vegetable and fruit that we buy.

Ham prices are now half what sausage costs (I ain't bitchin'. I like ham.)

Gas prices are up more than a $1/gallon.

Electricity rises every month.

I guess we don't know how to shop.

Ah, new hours. Gotta love them. Only down side is I can't surf twitter and post updates. A little too busy for that.

re: #233 MandyManners

I'll be glad to get rid of all those links. This is my favorite and I probably will keep it.

The Kid did a report on Iran for his geography class, and he printed it out for the poster. The teachers all had fits of laughter. We also did a 3-D, topographical relief map of Iran, to scale.

I'm glad to hear his teachers laughed. that's a good thing. / Is that a Happy Meal?!
3-d topo map - impressive.

Good morning lizards!

re: #238 razorbacker

I'm scratching my head over those numbers.

The drop in ribeye prices from $9.99/lb to $5.99/lb has been answered by increases in every canned/frozen/fresh vegetable and fruit that we buy.

Ham prices are now half what sausage costs (I ain't bitchin'. I like ham.)

Gas prices are up more than a $1/gallon.

Electricity rises every month.

I guess we don't know how to shop.

My FIL is a pork producer in the midwest and according to him they are losing about $25 a head on hogs. Prices have remained the same while fuel prices have risen drastically and crop farmers are receiving record high prices thus increasing feed costs.

Go work out the bod...

re: #234 3 wood

By the way, 10 year treasury rates are at 3.65%. for comparison purposes, in march they were 2.60%

Knowing how much cash has been printed lately, would you tie up your money for ten years at 3.65%?

I won't.

re: #229 Gray Skies

Thanks for the link. I hadn't seen this. I am usually a pretty open-minded individual, but I have to admit that I have a hard time believing anything that comes out of this administration these days.

No problem; I get it. I happened to see this story before the fox news one; IF what it says is true the IG firing looks a lot less suspicious.

re: #244 razorbacker

Knowing how much cash has been printed lately, would you tie up your money for ten years at 3.65%?

I won't.

Would you bet on the solvency of this nation in 10 years, especially if the commie gets reelected in 2012.

re: #235 soxfan4life

Could have been a training exercise for some kind of contingency for the 0bama's date night later on.

I thought they didn't take AF-1 on their date.

Live streaming video out of Iran here.

re: #240 FrogMarch

I'm glad to hear his teachers laughed. that's a good thing. / Is that a Happy Meal?!
3-d topo map - impressive.

Thank you. It involved MATH. *shudder*

re: #234 3 wood

By the way, 10 year treasury rates are at 3.65%. for comparison purposes, in march they were 2.60%

What is 30 year treasury rates?
and PLEAZ, be so kind to re: [Link: littlegreenfootballs.com...]

Have we talked about Obama using deadly force on a fly during an interview with John Harwood?

bbl

I guess all the squabblers are still in bed. Nice informative thread this morning.

re: #230 freetoken