Overnight Open Thread
Open • Views: 34,327
Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain, or freed a human soul.
— Mark Twain
175 comments
2 |
FemNaziBitch Wed, Feb 16, 2011 10:35:00pm |
I love the smell of a fresh thread in the morning.
Which it is in my part of the world.
| 3 |
William Barnett-Lewis Wed, Feb 16, 2011 10:43:33pm |
Really a good time for me to haul my ass off to bed. Been a good discussion tonight, I hope that tomorrow is interesting as well when I trek up to Cairo on the square… ;)
| 5 |
freetoken Wed, Feb 16, 2011 10:55:55pm |
Watching the House live:
[Link: houselive.gov…]
A Dem offered up an amendment to eliminate funding for a building for the US Institute of Peace, which was an earmark by former Sen. Stevens.
The Dem got some good debate from other Dems who are against his amendment.
But now the GOP rep who supports this amendment is speaking… and he seems upset at the fact that proposed building has a “meditation space” with flowing water, etc.
Now, this building might itself be nothing but an earmark and totally unnecessary. Yet to single out a “meditation space” as a point of disagreement smacks like a bit of religious bigotry under the hood.
| 6 |
laZardo Wed, Feb 16, 2011 11:06:42pm |
All Mark Twain quotes should be read in a haughty yet gentrified Southern accent for best effect.
And now I go back to watching Top Gear. :3
| 7 |
freetoken Wed, Feb 16, 2011 11:31:27pm |
Some Republican from NV just rose to speak on his amendment to cut millions of dollars from the already reduced foreign aid budget.
He uses the phrase “America First”.
He’s focusing mostly on environmentally directed aid for clean development, international funding institutions etc.
This is the classic politics of “us vs. them”, and that somehow helping other countries isn’t connected to our own benefit in dealing with other nations.
| 8 |
freetoken Wed, Feb 16, 2011 11:44:31pm |
Rep. Franks (R-AZ) just took the floor for an amendment about Egypt, going on about the MB, sharia, etc. It’s out of order of course, since the subject matter is HR1 - the continuing funding bill.
Franks is going on about Obama, the MB, Hamas, etc…
Wignut on the Floor!
| 9 |
freetoken Thu, Feb 17, 2011 12:45:55am |
Your Congress finally adjourned. When they finally get to voting on these amendments and then HR1 it will be interesting to see how the TPers fair. I expect they won’t get all the amendments for which they hoped.
| 10 |
freetoken Thu, Feb 17, 2011 1:10:10am |
Cleaning my mind from American politics:
| 11 |
WINDUPBIRD DISEASE [S.K.U.M.M.] Thu, Feb 17, 2011 1:45:54am |
| 12 |
iceweasel Thu, Feb 17, 2011 1:52:00am |
re: #8 freetoken
Wignut on the Floor!
This ought to be yelled during Congressional hearings whenever possible.
“Would the Wingnut from South Carolina yield to the Speaker, please?”
| 13 |
EdDantes Thu, Feb 17, 2011 2:06:09am |
re: #12 iceweasel
America has the greatest legislative body on earth yet it is still French farce.
| 15 |
laZardo Thu, Feb 17, 2011 4:07:44am |
re: #12 iceweasel
This ought to be yelled during Congressional hearings whenever possible.
“Would the Wingnut from South Carolina yield to the Speaker, please?”
I read that as “Won’t the Wingnut from South Carolina please stand up, please stand up?”
/caffeine’ll do that to ya
| 16 |
Winny Spencer Thu, Feb 17, 2011 4:17:05am |
Watching Morning Joe.
Man, I am so sick of people like Joe Scarborough harking on about the need to cut spending in order to reduce the deficit, while simultaneously supporting the extension of tax breaks for billionaires.
It’s all a sham, perpetrated in order to, in the parlance of Sharron Angle, “phase out” social security, Medicare and Medicaid .
| 17 |
Sol Berdinowitz Thu, Feb 17, 2011 4:33:53am |
Trickle Down has been a matter of faith since the Reagan Revolution, there are no empirical arguments that are going to convince people that it is not immoral to deprive millionaires and billionaires of their share of the profits.
| 18 |
Obdicut Thu, Feb 17, 2011 4:38:42am |
re: #17 ralphieboy
The funny thing is I thought we were mostly done with that when the elder Bush rightly referred to it as voodoo economics and distanced itself from it. I thought people understood the basic fallacies of trickle-down, that they would understand them even more as the world got more global.
If nothing else, I thought Halliburton’s move to Dubai would have waken people up, but it seems to have encouraged a lot of people to simply start running in a race to the bottom, wanting to turn the US into Somalia in order to attract business.
| 19 |
freetoken Thu, Feb 17, 2011 4:59:49am |
re: #18 Obdicut
re: #17 ralphieboy
Voodoo economics is one of the pillars now of the American Religious Right.
Along with AGW-is-a-hoax (a hoax now shown to be a Nazi creation, according to AmericanThinker), these sort of beliefs become so embedded into the doctrines that removing them through logical argumentation is probably futile.
| 21 |
freetoken Thu, Feb 17, 2011 5:07:43am |
Speaking of AGW, there is another GOP politician, a MN state rep, who is taking the God-will-not-let-us-destroy-ourselves approach. It’s been all over the net, but I was going to write up a length expose of him, but it would take many hours to compose a Page and I just don’t have the time now.
Here is the originating story:
Picking science that fits politics: Rep. Mike Beard on climate change
The derivative stories such on HuffPo don’t do the real story justice, IMO. But I do encourage everybody to read the above link as the story is written fairly well.
What that story doesn’t say is that Mike Beard is a publisher of a leading Christian newspaper, that his degree is not only not in science (as the article notes) but is in fact from a Bible college and the degree is in Bible Missions, that Beard help derail the MN effort for rail (and he cheered on the new Governor in WI in dumping rail there too - the rail was supposed to connect WI with the twin cities area), and so on.
Now, there is nothing (inherently) wrong with getting education in “Bible Missions”, but it really doesn’t prepare one for dealing with scientific issues.
| 22 |
laZardo Thu, Feb 17, 2011 5:14:50am |
re: #21 freetoken
Religion and science do not mix with good results. Like Iran’s nuclear program, for instance.
Yeah, I still have Idioma’s last comment greenhearted on the list. Disrespect for the dead aside, she had a point.
| 23 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 5:38:43am |
Well, I sure didn’t see Bahrain being swept up in a Regime change - and I’m sure this won’t be the last. Damn, I bet the Diplomatic wires are buzzing around the world.
With our 5th Fleet based there, this is very dicey concerning our forward basing ability within the Persian Gulf.
some of the BBC Live Feed:
“#1218: More on the deaths in Bahrain: The BBC’s Ian Pannell in Manama says that there is clear evidence that the Bahraini police used live rounds against protesters when clearing the demonstration this morning, in addition to tear gas and rubber bullets. Two bodies in the morgue were pockmarked by lead shot.”
“#1248: Bahrain’s largest Shia opposition bloc - Al-Wefaq - is “heading towards pulling out” from parliament, MP Ali al-Aswad has told AFP news agency. He said party leader Ali Salman “will announce something in this regard”.”
| 24 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 5:43:30am |
Canada hit by cyberattack from China computers: report
[Link: news.yahoo.com…]
“OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian government was hit by an unprecedented cyber attack from Chinese-based computers last month that penetrated two key economic ministries, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported on Wednesday.
The CBC cited sources as saying the hackers broke into computer systems at the Finance Department and Treasury Board. Once the attack was detected, Internet access in both ministries was cut off.
The Finance Department is preparing the federal budget, which will be delivered next month.
The CBC said the hackers had apparently managed to take control of computers in the offices of senior government executives as part of a scheme to steal the passwords that unlock entire government data systems.
………….
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu denied there was a China link to the hacking.
“What you mentioned is purely fictitious and has an ulterior motive,” he told a regular news briefing in Beijing when asked about the accusations.
“China attaches great importance to computer security and consistently opposes and cracks down on hacking activities according to relative laws and regulations,” Ma added. “Hacking is an international problem and China is affected also.”
Canada’s spy service complains regularly about what it says is industrial espionage by China and other states.”
| 25 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 5:52:29am |
It’s good to be small …
Gene Mutation Key To Ecuador Group’s Health
Longo began studying these people after an endocrinologist named Jaime Guevara-Aguirre observed that they didn’t seem to get diseases associated with aging, including diabetes and cancer.
Longo, Guevara-Aguirre and other scientists were able to confirm that observation when they studied more than two decades of medical records on 99 people with Laron syndrome.
“None of them ever developed diabetes,” Long says. “And only one got cancer.”
| 27 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 5:54:36am |
re: #25 ggt
It’s good to be small …
Little People are so cute - everyone should have one!!
/hate emails flood the inbox
| 28 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 5:56:10am |
re: #27 Ericus58
Little People are so cute - everyone should have one!!
/hate emails flood the inbox
That’s terrible!
| 29 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:01:12am |
Zinc May Help Fight Cold Symptoms After All
Studies have been all over the map on the benefits of zinc as a cold-fighter. Back in 1999, a Cochrane review found little evidence that zinc helps reduce the misery of the common cold. This new review evaluated almost twice as many randomized, placebo-controlled studies as the 1999 effort – 15 compared to 8.It found that over-the-counter products with zinc did reduce the severity and duration of people’s cold symptoms overall, particularly if they started taking zinc within 24 hours of feeling symptoms. Two of the studies also found a reduction in the number of colds that people had
“There was reduced use of antibiotics in those who used zinc,” says Kay Dickersin, a professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who directs the U.S. Cochrane Center. That’s good, Dickersin says, because antibiotics are generally overused, and are useless against the viruses that cause colds.
&
Because the studies used many different dosages and forms of zinc, the Cochrane reviewers said they weren’t able to recommend a dose. But earlier studies have found that more is usually better. Alas, more zinc can cause unpleasant side effects, including nausea and bad taste, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and dry mouth.
I love science, but reports like this really add to the anti-science crowd’s arsenal.
They might have well as have said, “Well, we really don’t know, but based on the current evidence, we have a feeling zinc might work somehow.”
| 30 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:10:17am |
Impatience Leads To Rage On Sidewalks, Too
So ask yourself, honestly, if you regularly engage in this sampling of bad pedestrian behaviors, adapted from Dr. Leon James’ full list:1. Have denigrating thoughts about other pedestrians.
2. Act in a hostile manner (staring, presenting a mean face, moving faster or closer than expected).
3. Fail to yield to another pedestrian when it’s the polite thing to do.
4. Walk by a slower moving pedestrian and cut back too soon.
5. Mutter at other pedestrians.
| 31 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:12:30am |
| 32 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:14:16am |
| 33 |
Bubblehead II Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:14:32am |
Morning all. Just a quick drive by.
Lara Logan photo altered on CNN’s ‘Anderson Cooper 360’
I fully expect the Harpy to go into full rant mode about this and spin some wild conspiracy theory that it is a blatant attempt by CNN and A.C. to hide the identities of the evil muslim men who raped Ms. Logan.
| 34 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:20:19am |
re: #33 Bubblehead II
Morning all. Just a quick drive by.
Lara Logan photo altered on CNN’s ‘Anderson Cooper 360’
I fully expect the Harpy to go into full rant mode about this and spin some wild conspiracy theory that it is a blatant attempt by CNN and A.C. to hide the identities of the evil muslim men who raped Ms. Logan.
Well, I don’t think it was a good move.
Once again, focusing the attention on the female victim takes the focus off the crime and the criminals.
| 35 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:21:14am |
re: #33 Bubblehead II
Morning all. Just a quick drive by.
Lara Logan photo altered on CNN’s ‘Anderson Cooper 360’
I fully expect the Harpy to go into full rant mode about this and spin some wild conspiracy theory that it is a blatant attempt by CNN and A.C. to hide the identities of the evil muslim men who raped Ms. Logan.
Truthfully, there is no reason for CNN to blur the faces of those in the photo.
As the article rightly points out, the photo had been distributed widely previous to their airing of it and being in a public area there is no constraint.
Sure - some will howl at the moon about this. But, CNN frankly acted in a head-scratching way.
| 36 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:21:35am |
Have I ever commented on how much I hate mornings?
I REALLY HATE mornings.
| 37 |
darthstar Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:23:36am |
Mornin’ everyone. I do own one of these SUVs - they’re quite useful
| 38 |
Bubblehead II Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:24:06am |
| 39 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:25:11am |
re: #38 Bubblehead II
re: #35 Ericus58
Agreed, It was a bone headed move and someone at CNN and AC 360 has some serious explaining to do about why they did it.
Perhaps they are following the idea that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. These men haven’t been tried in a court of law so they are technically the “alledged” criminals.
| 40 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:25:51am |
re: #36 ggt
Have I ever commented on how much I hate mornings?
I REALLY HATE mornings.
“Good Morning, to You!!”
| 41 |
Jadespring Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:26:05am |
re: #35 Ericus58
Truthfully, there is no reason for CNN to blur the faces of those in the photo.
As the article rightly points out, the photo had been distributed widely previous to their airing of it and being in a public area there is no constraint.Sure - some will howl at the moon about this. But, CNN frankly acted in a head-scratching way.
No they actually followed some basic journalistic ethics. The stuff you learn at the foundational level. The stuff that journalism is letting fall by the wayside in search of infotainment and the bucks.
Just because other outlets didn’t do it doesn’t mean that other outlets shouldn’t.
| 42 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:26:10am |
re: #37 darthstar
Mornin’ everyone. I do own one of these SUVs - they’re quite useful
Honestly, that vehicle doesn’t look like it would survive a collision with a deer.
:0
| 43 |
NJDhockeyfan Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:26:57am |
Good morning!
Is Iran trying to start something?
Iran Says It’s Sending Two Warships to Suez Canal, Press TV Says
Iran is sending two warships to use the Suez Canal, Iranian state-run Press TV said, citing an unidentified naval official whom it described as confirming reports of the ships’ itinerary. He said Iranian officials were in contact with Egyptian officials to arrange passage for the vessels, and that Egyptian authorities believe there was nothing wrong with the journey.
| 45 |
Jadespring Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:27:46am |
| 46 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:28:22am |
re: #43 NJDhockeyfan
Good morning!
Is Iran trying to start something?
Iran Says It’s Sending Two Warships to Suez Canal, Press TV Says
I posted that yesterday and didn’t get any response. It is the first time since 1979 that Iran has done so.
Sounds ominous to me.
| 47 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:29:01am |
| 48 |
Jadespring Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:29:06am |
re: #46 ggt
I posted that yesterday and didn’t get any response. It is the first time since 1979 that Iran has done so.
Sounds ominous to me.
It’s just muscle flexing.
| 49 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:30:07am |
| 50 |
Bubblehead II Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:30:54am |
re: #39 ggt
Maybe, but like I said. It’s going to stir up the wingnuts.
Now I really have to go and get ready for w*rk.
L8R
| 51 |
laZardo Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:31:50am |
re: #49 ggt
Or some sort of external aggression to take the people’s minds off reform-minded internal strife.
Which sounds…historically familiar.
| 52 |
lawhawk Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:33:24am |
re: #46 ggt
Egypt says that no Iranian warships have gone through the Suez.
“No Iranian war vessels have passed through the Suez Canal today and not yesterday,” the authority’s head of traffic, Ahmed El Manakhly, told Bloomberg Television in an interview. “We didn’t have any requests for any Iranian vessels to pass through the canal.”Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Iran was planning late yesterday to send two gunboats through the canal to Syria, which would involve sailing through the eastern Mediterranean, off Israel’s coast.
Concern that anti-government unrest in Egypt would disrupt canal traffic sent oil prices to a two-year high on Feb. 2. The 120-mile (190-kilometer) Suez Canal carries about 2.5 percent of world oil output, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and is a key route for ships carrying Asian consumer goods to Europe.
| 53 |
NJDhockeyfan Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:33:58am |
re: #46 ggt
I posted that yesterday and didn’t get any response. It is the first time since 1979 that Iran has done so.
Sounds ominous to me.
Nobody here had comment about this? This looks like a big story to me. It look like the Israelis are watching this very closely.
Wouldn’t it be a shame is those two ships accidentally sunk?
| 54 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:34:01am |
| 55 |
iossarian Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:34:22am |
re: #21 freetoken
I really want to meet one of these “God-won’t-let-global-warming-happen” people, and ask them what percentage of people God would allow to die as a result of global warming (or indeed any other natural or human-induced catastrophe).
After all, we have such data points as the Black Death and WWI/II.
Would God allow the population of the US to be reduced by ~200 million people, for example, with the remainder living off what water is left in the Great Lakes?
As I say, I want to meet one of these people, but I never do.
| 56 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:34:29am |
re: #53 NJDhockeyfan
Nobody here had comment about this? This looks like a big story to me. It look like the Israelis are watching this very closely.
Wouldn’t it be a shame is those two ships accidentally sunk?
nah, that wouldn’t be good.
| 57 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:35:44am |
re: #41 Jadespring
No they actually followed some basic journalistic ethics. The stuff you learn at the foundational level. The stuff that journalism is letting fall by the wayside in search of infotainment and the bucks.
Just because other outlets didn’t do it doesn’t mean that other outlets shouldn’t.
I’m not a legal scholar, but unless CNN had described the photo and scene as containing the men who minutes later took her away and assaulted her - there is no reason to blur their images. They had not been identified as possible suspects, not accused as such. They were just men who were in the square, at a public gathering.
CNN up to this point has been the only agency to blur the images of a photo previously released and distributed by another source.
Not trying to pick a fight, but not seeing how CNN is upholding a standard where no one else is. The photo was provided by CBS, and I’m sure they had talked to Lara about it prior to it’s release.
So, CNN is protecting…. who?
| 58 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:35:51am |
re: #55 iossarian
I really want to meet one of these “God-won’t-let-global-warming-happen” people, and ask them what percentage of people God would allow to die as a result of global warming (or indeed any other natural or human-induced catastrophe).
After all, we have such data points as the Black Death and WWI/II.
Would God allow the population of the US to be reduced by ~200 million people, for example, with the remainder living off what water is left in the Great Lakes?
As I say, I want to meet one of these people, but I never do.
I think they may be referring to the biblical promise never again to destroy the world thru flood. If Global Warming (in there minds) is going to cause great havoc, it will have to be by some means other than water.
| 59 |
NJDhockeyfan Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:36:26am |
| 60 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:37:14am |
re: #46 ggt
I posted that yesterday and didn’t get any response. It is the first time since 1979 that Iran has done so.
Sounds ominous to me.
I think the latest news is that they will NOT be making their trip thru the Canal.
It was an eyebrow raiser event though.
| 61 |
jamesfirecat Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:37:26am |
| 62 |
Jadespring Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:37:42am |
re: #47 ggt
so explain it …
It’s 100 level stuff. If the photo was indeed taken just before the attack then the implication through pictures is that the other people in the photo could be the perpetrators. However a photo like this proves nothing and people who didn’t have anything to do with can be implicated just by being in the photo. Let the witch hunts and vilgilantism ensue. That doesn’t mean that no one a photo like this wasn’t involved but that’s for authorities to investigate not in a trial by photo.
| 63 |
lawhawk Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:37:53am |
Even with that as a backdrop, critics (read: right wing) will still contend that the Administration was caught flat footed. They would just have to ignore that events moved quicker than anyone could have predicted and that even regimes that were seen as stable - Egypt - were overthrown in just 3 weeks time.
The administration kept the project secret, officials said, because it worried that if word leaked out, Arab allies would pressure the White House, something that happened in the days after protests convulsed Cairo.Indeed, except for Egypt, the officials refused to discuss countries in detail. The report singles out four for close scrutiny, which an official said ran the gamut: one that is trying to move toward change, another that has resisted any change and two with deep strategic ties to the United States as well as religious tensions. Those characteristics would suggest Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen.
By issuing a directive, Mr. Obama was also pulling the topic of political change out of regular meetings on diplomatic, commercial or military relations with Arab states. In those meetings, one official said, the strategic interests loom so large that it is almost impossible to discuss reform efforts.
The study has helped shape other messages, like a speech Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave in Qatar in January, in which she criticized Arab leaders for resisting change.
| 64 |
iossarian Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:38:03am |
re: #58 ggt
I think they may be referring to the biblical promise never again to destroy the world thru flood. If Global Warming (in there minds) is going to cause great havoc, it will have to be by some means other than water.
Yeah, I understand their theological point (bullshit though it may be). I just want to ask them what percentage of population elimination would “count” as such destruction.
E.g., if you killed everyone in the US apart from the population of Pierre SD, would that count?
| 65 |
Jadespring Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:38:34am |
| 66 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:39:28am |
re: #64 iossarian
Yeah, I understand their theological point (bullshit though it may be). I just want to ask them what percentage of population elimination would “count” as such destruction.
E.g., if you killed everyone in the US apart from the population of Pierre SD, would that count?
No, it would have to be all the large cities and the West Coast. That’s were all the evil gheys and jews are.
/
| 67 |
NJDhockeyfan Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:39:39am |
re: #60 Ericus58
I think the latest news is that they will NOT be making their trip thru the Canal.
It was an eyebrow raiser event though.
Still is.
Israel Navy maintains high alert as Iran drops plan of warships transit via Suez
The Israel Navy remained on high alert Thursday as two Iranian warships were set to cross the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Syria.
Egyptian officials at the canal board announced Thursday that the Iranian vessels did not enter the canal with the daily northbound ship convoy, which included a French warship, or have registered to do so on Friday.
It was initially unclear whether the Egyptians banned the vessels from transiting the waterway or if the Iranians backtracked with their plan. An unnamed canal official later said that the vessels withdrew their application but provided no reason.
| 68 |
lawhawk Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:40:27am |
re: #53 NJDhockeyfan
Not.Gonna.Happen.
Israel has no reason to sink those ships - and they’re in Egyptian territorial waters - that would be just asking for all kinds of trouble that Israel doesn’t need.
If those Iranian boats opened fire on Israel, then those boats are as good as sunk (and expect those Israeli subs that prowl the waters in the Indian Ocean and possibly the Persian Gulf will be making their presence known by the sound of cruise missiles hitting at Iranian naval facilities.
| 69 |
FemNaziBitch Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:40:36am |
re: #67 NJDhockeyfan
Still is.
Israel Navy maintains high alert as Iran drops plan of warships transit via Suez
Israel tolerates no bullies?
| 70 |
Romantic Heretic Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:40:39am |
re: #13 EdDantes
America has the greatest legislative body on earth yet it is still French farce.
It’s a poor workman who blames his tools. /sorta
| 71 |
Feline Fearless Leader Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:41:22am |
re: #43 NJDhockeyfan
Good morning!
Is Iran trying to start something?
Iran Says It’s Sending Two Warships to Suez Canal, Press TV Says
That plan has already been scrapped.
| 72 |
Vicious Babushka Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:43:10am |
| 73 |
Sionainn Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:43:21am |
re: #62 Jadespring
It’s 100 level stuff. If the photo was indeed taken just before the attack then the implication through pictures is that the other people in the photo could be the perpetrators. However a photo like this proves nothing and people who didn’t have anything to do with can be implicated just by being in the photo. Let the witch hunts and vilgilantism ensue. That doesn’t mean that no one a photo like this wasn’t involved but that’s for authorities to investigate not in a trial by photo.
That was my first thought when I saw the photo blurred.
| 74 |
darthstar Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:44:34am |
re: #52 lawhawk
Egypt says that no Iranian warships have gone through the Suez.
Just to be safe, the canal should be bombed.
///
| 75 |
Political Atheist Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:45:42am |
When did Iran lose it’s right to transit international waters? I’m no fan of the Iranians but I am big fan of the rule of law.
| 76 |
Sol Berdinowitz Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:45:43am |
re: #64 iossarian
This is just the equivalent of covering one’s ears and humming loudly to avoid hearing someting one is not prepared to hear: sticking one’s head in a Bible and reciting passages out loud.
| 78 |
NJDhockeyfan Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:48:31am |
re: #71 oaktree
That plan has already been scrapped.
It’s back on again.
Iran says two warships to pass through Suez canal
(Reuters) - Iranian state TV said on Thursday two Iranian warships are due to pass through the strategic Suez Canal — an event that would mark the first such passage by the Islamic republic’s navy since Iran’s 1979 revolution.
A similar plan was announced on Wednesday but then canceled.
However, English-language Press TV subsequently quoted an official as saying the deployment was back on.
“Two Iranian warships are to cross the Suez Canal. The vessels are on their way to the Suez Canal,” he said.
Egyptian authorities saw “nothing wrong” with the passage of the two warships through the canal, Press TV said.
| 79 |
darthstar Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:48:52am |
re: #75 Rightwingconspirator
When did Iran lose it’s right to transit international waters? I’m no fan of the Iranians but I am big fan of the rule of law.
It’s Iran…they could send a freighter of food to Somalia and someone would accuse them of an act of aggression.
| 80 |
iossarian Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:49:01am |
re: #76 ralphieboy
This is just the equivalent of covering one’s ears and humming loudly to avoid hearing someting one is not prepared to hear: sticking one’s head in a Bible and reciting passages out loud.
Right. But it just grates with me that these people live in little bubbles of nonsense, where no-one calls them out on the bullshit.
Why does no reporter ever burst out laughing, and then say: “30% of the population of Europe died during the Black Death - what was God playing at there?”
| 81 |
BishopX Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:49:35am |
re: #75 Rightwingconspirator
Is the Suez international waters?
My guess is that the gunboats are more about showing a measure of support for the new Hezbollah government in Lebanon than anything else.
On that note, Good morning lizards.
| 82 |
iossarian Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:50:38am |
re: #79 darthstar
It’s Iran…they could send a freighter of food to Somalia and someone would accuse them of an act of aggression.
Reminds me of an Alex Ferguson (manager of Manchester United) quote, ahead of a Champions League game in Italy, prompted by a question as to whether he was satisfied with the (apparently favorable) choice of referee:
“When Italians offer me pasta, I look under the sauce.”
| 83 |
RogueOne Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:50:48am |
re: #16 Winny Spencer
Watching Morning Joe.
Man, I am so sick of people like Joe Scarborough harking on about the need to cut spending in order to reduce the deficit, while simultaneously supporting the extension of tax breaks for billionaires.
It’s all a sham, perpetrated in order to, in the parlance of Sharron Angle, “phase out” social security, Medicare and Medicaid .
I was going to let this slide but since it keeps getting updinged I thought I’d better point out you must have misheard part of the conversation. Scarborough was against the tax cut extensions (something I happen to disagree with) and has been for at least the last couple of years.
Here’s one such conversation:
which leads to this TP piece:
Scarborough Fumes Over Tax Deal: GOP Not ‘Interested In Cutting The Deficit,’ Obama Blew ‘An Easy Battle’
[Link: thinkprogress.org…]
| 84 |
McSpiff Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:51:04am |
re: #81 BishopX
Is the Suez international waters?
My guess is that the gunboats are more about showing a measure of support for the new Hezbollah government in Lebanon than anything else.
On that note, Good morning lizards.
Any vessel, with the exception of those from states that are in a state of war with Egypt, upon proper payment can transit the Suez Canal.
| 85 |
Political Atheist Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:53:56am |
re: #81 BishopX
It’s an internationally recognized transit to international waters. So much so the west would go to war instantly to keep it open. Is the rule of law for all or just our pals? 2 naval ships? Not much of a threat at all.
| 86 |
Vicious Babushka Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:54:10am |
re: #80 iossarian
Right. But it just grates with me that these people live in little bubbles of nonsense, where no-one calls them out on the bullshit.
Why does no reporter ever burst out laughing, and then say: “30% of the population of Europe died during the Black Death - what was God playing at there?”
Because then they would get the answer: “Oh that was the Jews, poisoning the wells.”
| 87 |
BishopX Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:54:32am |
re: #84 McSpiff
Any vessel, with the exception of those from states that are in a state of war with Egypt, upon proper payment can transit the Suez Canal.
So closing the canal to a vessel is tantamount to an act of war? I’m trying to parse what all the fuss about a hypothetical Islamist Egypt closing the canal to US warships is about.
| 88 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:54:53am |
re: #75 Rightwingconspirator
When did Iran lose it’s right to transit international waters? I’m no fan of the Iranians but I am big fan of the rule of law.
Good Point.
The issue that raises an eyebrow for me was the announced amount of time that these ships were to remain deployed to the Med. And what exactly would be contained on the Supply ship?
| 89 |
Jadespring Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:56:23am |
re: #88 Ericus58
Good Point.
The issue that raises an eyebrow for me was the announced amount of time that these ships were to remain deployed to the Med. And what exactly would be contained on the Supply ship?
How long are they saying they’re staying?
| 90 |
iossarian Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:57:04am |
re: #86 Alouette
Because then they would get the answer: “Oh that was the Jews, poisoning the wells.”
Are you kidding? Wingers love the Jews!
It’s all part of our Judeo-Christian heritage!
///
| 91 |
darthstar Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:57:19am |
re: #86 Alouette
Because then they would get the answer: “Oh that was the Jews, poisoning the wells.”
Nope…they’re not even mentioned.
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. It is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, an argument supported by recent forensic research, although this view has been challenged by a number of scholars. Thought to have started in China, it travelled along the Silk Road and had reached the Crimea by 1346. From there, probably carried by Oriental rat fleas residing on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships, it spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe.
The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% – 60% of Europe’s population,[1] reducing the world’s population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in 1400. This has been seen as having created a series of religious, social and economic upheavals which had profound effects on the course of European history. It took 150 years for Europe’s population to recover. The plague returned at various times, killing more people, until it left Europe in the 19th century.
| 92 |
McSpiff Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:57:22am |
From the Constantinople Convention of the Suez Canal, signed by GREAT BRITAIN, GERMANY, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, SPAIN, FRANCE, ITALY, THE NETHERLANDS, RUSSIA AND TURKEY on Friday, 2 March, 1888 and still in force following Egyptian independence,
ARTICLE I
The Suez Maritime Canal shall always be free and open, in time of war as in time of peace, to every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag.
Consequently, the High Contracting Parties agree not in any way to interfere with the free use of the Canal, in time of war as in time of peace.
The Canal shall never be subjected to the exercise of the right of blockade.
| 93 |
Sol Berdinowitz Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:57:42am |
re: #80 iossarian
Right. But it just grates with me that these people live in little bubbles of nonsense, where no-one calls them out on the bullshit.
Call out all you want, but you are a voice crying in the wilderness. These folks are beyond reason.
| 94 |
McSpiff Thu, Feb 17, 2011 6:59:22am |
re: #87 BishopX
So closing the canal to a vessel is tantamount to an act of war? I’m trying to parse what all the fuss about a hypothetical Islamist Egypt closing the canal to US warships is about.
Its a violation of treaty, which normally wouldn’t be an act of war. However the canal is vital to basically every seafaring nation. It would be opened, ‘legally’ or not.
| 95 |
Sol Berdinowitz Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:00:19am |
I seem to remember that Great Britain sent troops to the Suez in 1956 to ward off the threat of Egypt closing the canal
| 96 |
lawhawk Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:01:08am |
re: #87 BishopX
Under that hypothetical, the Canal closure would mean that the US fleet in the Med would have to transit around the entirety of Africa to reach the Indian Ocean/Persian Gulf (and vice versa). It would vastly add to the time to deploy assets to the region should a crisis erupt - whether it’s a military one or a humanitarian one (think of the US relief efforts after the 2005 tsunami in Indonesia).
Disrupting the flow of traffic through the canal would have a major effect on commodities prices - oil would rise, as would other goods and services that ordinarily flow through the Canal.
Thing is, the Egyptian government raises significant funds from transit fees - so closure to that kind of traffic isn’t all that likely.
| 97 |
Vicious Babushka Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:01:09am |
re: #91 darthstar
Nope…they’re not even mentioned.
In 1348 there appeared in Europe a devastating plague which is reported to have killed off ultimately twenty-five million people. By the fall of that year the rumor was current that these deaths were due to an international conspiracy of Jewry to poison Christendom. It was reported that the leaders in the Jewish metropolis of Toledo had initiated the plot and that one of the chief conspirators was a Rabbi Peyret who had his headquarters in Chambéry, Savoy, whence he dispatched his poisoners to France, Switzerland, and Italy.
By authority of Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy, a number of the Jews who lived on the shores of Lake Geneva, having been arrested and put to the torture, naturally confessed anything their inquisitors suggested. These Jews, under torture, incriminated others. Records of their confessions were sent from one town to another in Switzerland and down the Rhine River into Germany, and as a result, thousands of Jews, in at least two hundred towns and hamlets, were butchered and burnt. The sheer loss of numbers, the disappearance of their wealth, and the growing hatred of the Christians brought German Jewry to a catastrophic downfall. It now began to decline and did not again play an important part in German life till the seventeenth century.
| 98 |
McSpiff Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:01:47am |
re: #95 ralphieboy
I seem to remember that Great Britain sent troops to the Suez in 1956 to ward off the threat of Egypt closing the canal
Not jut Britain, France and Israel as well. Also lead to the creation of UN peacekeeping. See Suez Crisis.
| 99 |
lawhawk Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:02:22am |
re: #95 ralphieboy
It was the nationalization of the canal that got the Brits worried - and they conspired with the French and Israelis to reassert their control and dominion over the Canal.
They failed.
| 100 |
McSpiff Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:03:08am |
re: #98 McSpiff
Not jut Britain, France and Israel as well. Also lead to the creation of UN peacekeeping. See Suez Crisis.
PIMF: Not just Britain; France and Israel were involved as well.
| 101 |
NJDhockeyfan Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:03:29am |
The government has discovered a way to collect more money, charge the Canucks!
Obama proposes fee for Canadian visitors to the U.S.
Canadians visiting the U.S. may soon have to pay for it.U.S. President Barack Obama is proposing a $5.50 “passenger inspection fee” for Canadians. The proposal is contained in the 2012 draft budget he submitted to Congress on Monday.
Until now, visitors from Canada — as well as from Mexico and selected Caribbean countries — have enjoyed a waiver from the fee. But Obama’s budget blueprint notes that charging the fee to Canadians would add millions to U.S. government coffers and would help offset the costs of increasingly intensive air-passenger inspections.
The charge would apply only to those arriving by air or ship, not private vehicles. That’s likely to please the growing number of Canadian vacationers who drive across the border before flying to their holiday destinations.
According to Statistics Canada, some 16 million Canadians flew into the U.S. in 2009. The $5.50 head tax would add almost US$90 million to U.S. government coffers.
| 102 |
laZardo Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:03:49am |
re: #96 lawhawk
On the bright side, they won’t need to pass through Somali pirate territory as often.
/fractional
| 103 |
McSpiff Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:04:30am |
re: #99 lawhawk
It was the nationalization of the canal that got the Brits worried - and they conspired with the French and Israelis to reassert their control and dominion over the Canal.
They failed.
Marked the end of the UK and France as super powers IMO.
| 104 |
darthstar Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:05:01am |
re: #97 Alouette
Wow, that’s the first I’ve ever heard of it. And here I always thought it was carried by fleas on rats…which, forensically speaking, has been proven I do believe. Six hundred year old rumors are still rumors and should be ignored as such.
| 105 |
darthstar Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:05:29am |
re: #102 laZardo
On the bright side, they won’t need to pass through Somali pirate territory as often.
/fractional
Is that you, Donald Trump?
| 106 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:06:15am |
re: #89 Jadespring
How long are they saying they’re staying?
The original deployment date was for most of the year, if I remember correctly.
This was to be more than a “show the flag” passage and visit.
| 107 |
McSpiff Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:06:34am |
re: #101 NJDhockeyfan
Interesting to note that Cuba charges a visa processing fee of $30 for the same reason of increasing government revenue. Need more hard currency Comrade American?
| 108 |
RogueOne Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:07:51am |
re: #107 McSpiff
Interesting to note that Cuba charges a visa processing fee of $30 for the same reason of increasing government revenue. Need more hard currency Comrade American?
At that rate our minimal fee of $5 to get hassled, searched, and detained is a bargain. Capitalism wins again.
| 109 |
lawhawk Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:07:53am |
re: #103 McSpiff
To a great degree yes - and for the French, the 1950s saw the beginning of the end of their colonial rule in Algeria and their disastrous end in Vietnam. The Suez crisis punctuated their failings - and helped bring about the end of the Fourth Republic.
| 110 |
Vicious Babushka Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:08:12am |
re: #104 darthstar
Wow, that’s the first I’ve ever heard of it. And here I always thought it was carried by fleas on rats…which, forensically speaking, has been proven I do believe. Six hundred year old rumors are still rumors and should be ignored as such.
It was caused by rat fleas, but the Jews were blamed by the ignorant peasants (and by the nobility who wanted to cancel the debts they owed to the Jews). The Jews also appeared less affected by the plague because of their hygiene habits, of course they died too although in fewer numbers.
| 111 |
darthstar Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:08:23am |
re: #107 McSpiff
Interesting to note that Cuba charges a visa processing fee of $30 for the same reason of increasing government revenue. Need more hard currency Comrade American?
Thailand, the Philippines…lots of countries charge foreign visitors an exit tax.
| 112 |
Sol Berdinowitz Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:09:17am |
re: #97 Alouette
It was a ticking time bomb! They had to be tortured by the Mediveval Inquisitor Jacobus Bauerus!!!
///
| 113 |
Jadespring Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:09:23am |
re: #101 NJDhockeyfan
The government has discovered a way to collect more money, charge the Canucks!
You guys are just sore that our dollar is worth more now. :)
| 114 |
McSpiff Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:09:26am |
re: #111 darthstar
Thailand, the Philippines…lots of countries charge foreign visitors an exit tax.
True, but Canada never gets compared to those countries for having a similar healthcare system ;-)
| 115 |
Sol Berdinowitz Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:11:52am |
re: #111 darthstar
Thailand, the Philippines…lots of countries charge foreign visitors an exit tax.
I am reminded of the planet mentioned in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” that was so overrun by tourists that any difference in weight betwwen what you eat and what you excrete is removed surgically before departure.
Which is why it is very important to always get a recept when you go to the bathroom…
| 116 |
laZardo Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:15:54am |
re: #111 darthstar
Thailand, the Philippines…lots of countries charge foreign visitors an exit tax.
And at the same time they impose domestic FDI restrictions more often than not requiring locals to hold the majority share in any entrepreneurial equity.
I should know. q;
| 117 |
Sol Berdinowitz Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:17:19am |
re: #116 laZardo
And at the same time they impose domestic FDI restrictions more often than not requiring locals to hold the majority share in any entrepreneurial equity.
I should know. q;
We should invade them, kill their business leaders and convert them to Free-Market Capitalism!
/
| 118 |
RogueOne Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:17:28am |
re: #116 laZardo
See what happens when you make the Marines leave?
| 119 |
Sol Berdinowitz Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:21:43am |
We took it from Spain fair and square. Mistake to give it up.
| 120 |
laZardo Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:21:54am |
re: #118 RogueOne
See what happens when you make the Marines leave?
You’d be surprised that some of “the natives” share your sentiment.
| 121 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:22:03am |
re: #113 Jadespring
You guys are just sore that our dollar is worth more now. :)
I love traveling through Canada.
My son’s youth hockey teams made numerous trips; Kelowna to Port Moody and many other places. And Myself, I’ve driven as far as Calgary and Edmonton from Seattle.
I luv’s me da Canadians.
| 122 |
laZardo Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:23:54am |
re: #117 ralphieboy
We should invade them, kill their business leaders and convert them to Free-Market Capitalism!
/
The guy that writes these articles is an ardent advocate of that, as it happens.
| 123 |
RogueOne Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:25:20am |
re: #120 laZardo
You’d be surprised that some of “the natives” share your sentiment.
A billion dollars a year is hard to pass up.
| 124 |
laZardo Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:30:17am |
re: #123 RogueOne
A billion dollars a year is hard to pass up.
IT’S JUST MONEY DANGLED FOR US TO PLAY ALONG WITH THEIR IMPERAILSIT GAMES!
/no backspaces were typed in the making of that sentence
//also, that’s about as much FDI money we’re getting now.
| 125 |
Sol Berdinowitz Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:30:33am |
re: #123 RogueOne
A billion dollars a year is hard to pass up.
Egypt got two billion dollars a year. Wonder how that’s going to look after the new budget is passed…
| 127 |
RogueOne Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:38:23am |
re: #124 laZardo
I could be mistaken but I don’t think there aren’t any US installations left there. If so, I’m surprised the loss isn’t more than $1b/yr unless the author was just considering the naval base.
| 129 |
laZardo Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:50:02am |
re: #127 RogueOne
There isn’t, but the failure of successive governments to actually find a way to really build up on the property (leading to FedEx moving from Cubi Point to China) since then is a severe waste of potential.
| 130 |
garhighway Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:55:49am |
re: #12 iceweasel
This ought to be yelled during Congressional hearings whenever possible.
“Would the Wingnut from South Carolina yield to the Speaker, please?”
At some point the terminology should become more widely accepted:
“On the floor of the House, Rep. Joe Barton (W-TX) said today…”
That would be a good thing.
| 131 |
Killgore Trout Thu, Feb 17, 2011 7:58:37am |
| 132 |
Obdicut Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:08:47am |
Here’s a nice little game that helps you figure out how well you’d deal with homelessness.
[Link: playspent.org…]
| 133 |
Killgore Trout Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:12:11am |
“I actually like it, in the sense that—you got kids?” asked Rock. “Kids always act up the most before they go to sleep. And when I see the Tea Party and all this stuff, it actually feels like racism’s almost over. Because this is the last—this is the act up before the sleep. They’re going crazy. They’re insane. You want to get rid of them—and the next thing you know, they’re f—-ing knocked out. And that’s what’s going on in the country right now.”
| 134 |
Obdicut Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:14:21am |
re: #132 Obdicut
Well, it’s more to help you figure out how well you’d deal with being incredibly low-income. I just managed to get homeless quickly the first time I played it.
| 135 |
HappyWarrior Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:14:36am |
| 136 |
Jadespring Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:15:21am |
Hey this is cool. Just got off the phone with Dad. The comments up thread about the Suez crisis in 56. I was curious about some details about when he was in Egypt as a boy. His Dad was stationed there with the British forces and I knew it was around the time of the coup and thought they fled because of it. Ended up that what I remember him telling me wasn’t quite correct. He really wasn’t sure the exact dates either. He was 9 years old so had a different view of the whole thing. He said the fleeing story came from when they had to pack up overnight and leave Ismailia to go the base is Abu Suer(sp?). After that they couldn’t leave the base at all because it it was too dangerous and that people were attacking the base. He heard gunfire a lot.
So I looked up the history of the 1952 Revolution and we put the pieces together. This put everything together…..
During the winter of 1951–1952 nationalist police officers backed by the United States and the Soviet Union began protecting and promoting fedayeen terrorist attacks on British authorities in Cairo, Alexandria, and the Suez Canal. After repelling a particularly devastating attack on British shipping and facilities near Ismailia which resulted in the murder of several British soldiers, officers, and seamen, British troops tracked the fedayeen into the city. On January 25, 1952, British troops discovered the fedayeen had retreated into the local police barracks. When the police refused to surrender the fedayeen, the British officer attempted to negotiate the surrender of the police and the fedayeen. When their negotiator was killed in the parley by the fedayeen, the British force attacked the Egyptian police barracks in Ismailia. Fifty Egyptian police officers were killed and one hundred were wounded. Egypt erupted in fury.
Dad’s reaction was ‘Wow. Now this makes a whole lot more sense. I was there. I remember that battle.” He recalls lots of gunfire and my Grandpa getting a whole bunch of molitov cocktails and putting them by the door of their apartment. He also recalls going out on the balcony and seeing police officers and British soldiers running through the streets. As well as my Grandpa with his gun, tracking some police that were chasing British soldiers. Said he remembers them disappearing out of view, the sound of a lot of gunfire and then the soldiers running back into view without their pursuers.
Of course his 9 year old viewpoint was that this was really annoying because he was stuck inside for several days and couldn’t go out to play. :)
| 137 |
garhighway Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:16:03am |
re: #132 Obdicut
Here’s a nice little game that helps you figure out how well you’d deal with homelessness.
[Link: playspent.org…]
What a depressing game. I made it to the end of the month, but I had to do some stuff I really hated to make it.
| 139 |
Romantic Heretic Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:19:56am |
re: #94 McSpiff
Its a violation of treaty, which normally wouldn’t be an act of war. However the canal is vital to basically every seafaring nation. It would be opened, ‘legally’ or not.
Also I doubt that Egypt can forgo a steady cash flow.
| 140 |
Obdicut Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:20:57am |
re: #137 garhighway
Yeah, it really underscores that when your poor, options are taken away from you.
Back when I was dirt poor, I knew the exact price of everything. It’s an enormous relief these days to not have to sweat whether the loaf of bread I’m buying is four dollars or five dollars. I mean, I still track costs, but I don’t have to do the feverish addition at every moment, just to make sure I won’t be facing an unpayable bill.
| 141 |
jeff In Ohio Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:22:02am |
re: #132 Obdicut
Here’s a nice little game that helps you figure out how well you’d deal with homelessness.
[Link: playspent.org…]
I’m up $500+ at the end of the month.
| 142 |
Interesting Times Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:22:27am |
re: #140 Obdicut
You really should make a page out of that game. It’s eye-opening to say the least.
| 143 |
Romantic Heretic Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:22:43am |
re: #103 McSpiff
Marked the end of the UK and France as super powers IMO.
They were already finished. This just made it obvious to them.
Although the French needed Dien Bien Phu and Algeria to really drive the lesson home.
| 144 |
garhighway Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:23:08am |
re: #140 Obdicut
Yeah, it really underscores that when your poor, options are taken away from you.
Back when I was dirt poor, I knew the exact price of everything. It’s an enormous relief these days to not have to sweat whether the loaf of bread I’m buying is four dollars or five dollars. I mean, I still track costs, but I don’t have to do the feverish addition at every moment, just to make sure I won’t be facing an unpayable bill.
Same here. I may not have been the cheapest guy on earth, but I was in the Top 10. But I never had it quite as a bad as those in your game.
| 145 |
Obdicut Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:23:09am |
re: #141 jeff In Ohio
Rent is due, though.
My second play through, I have my gas turned off and no health insurance. And rent’s due, with $220.
| 146 |
Killgore Trout Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:25:03am |
| 147 |
laZardo Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:25:49am |
re: #146 Killgore Trout
Montana Legislator Introduces Bill To Declare Global Warming ‘Natural’ And ‘Beneficial’
Don’t they have anything else to do up in South Dakota Montana?
| 148 |
garhighway Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:25:53am |
re: #146 Killgore Trout
Montana Legislator Introduces Bill To Declare Global Warming ‘Natural’ And ‘Beneficial’
Will the stupid ever stop?!
| 149 |
Decatur Deb Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:26:42am |
re: #146 Killgore Trout
Montana Legislator Introduces Bill To Declare Global Warming ‘Natural’ And ‘Beneficial’
It’ll never pass. Half the wingnuts want an amendment rounding “pi” to 4. The others want it made 3.
| 150 |
HappyWarrior Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:27:38am |
re: #146 Killgore Trout
Montana Legislator Introduces Bill To Declare Global Warming ‘Natural’ And ‘Beneficial’
Yeah I saw that. There’s stupid and Stupid, this is Stupid.
| 151 |
Obdicut Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:28:29am |
re: #142 publicityStunted
You really should make a page out of that game. It’s eye-opening to say the least.
Done.
| 153 |
Romantic Heretic Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:33:41am |
re: #130 garhighway
At some point the terminology should become more widely accepted:
“On the floor of the House, Rep. Joe Barton (W-TX) said today…”
That would be a good thing.
I’m remembering a book by Dean Ing, Soft Targets.
In it a group of private citizens started a media war against terrorism. Among other things they stopped calling them terrorists and called them ‘Charlies’ instead, because apparently ‘Charlie’ had been found to be a name associated with losers.
An example of their propaganda:
Comrade Charlie: Glorious Leader? I propose we kidnap everyone who calls us fools.
Comrade Leader: Nyet. Where would we put six billion people?
It worked. By reducing terrorists to Charlies the terrorists lost a lot of support. Unfortunately it got the private citizens targeted by the few terrorists left.
Off topic, but this is the way my brain works.
| 154 |
Romantic Heretic Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:34:56am |
re: #132 Obdicut
Here’s a nice little game that helps you figure out how well you’d deal with homelessness.
[Link: playspent.org…]
I’ve been homeless. It’s not a lot of fun.
Surprisingly the worst of it was a shelter I had to stay in for several weeks.
| 155 |
William Barnett-Lewis Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:35:33am |
re: #132 Obdicut
Here’s a nice little game that helps you figure out how well you’d deal with homelessness.
[Link: playspent.org…]
Interesting look at reality. We’re not quite to that level but we aren’t doing too much better and will probably be in foreclosure by summer time. Eh, the rent will be much cheaper than mortgage & escrow at least …
(no //. )
| 156 |
Romantic Heretic Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:35:41am |
| 157 |
Jadespring Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:36:09am |
re: #140 Obdicut
Yeah, it really underscores that when your poor, options are taken away from you.
Back when I was dirt poor, I knew the exact price of everything. It’s an enormous relief these days to not have to sweat whether the loaf of bread I’m buying is four dollars or five dollars. I mean, I still track costs, but I don’t have to do the feverish addition at every moment, just to make sure I won’t be facing an unpayable bill.
Oh boy can I relate. Been there done that. The upside is that I developed ‘frugal’ skills that still serve me well. The downside is that I still at times experience money related stress and guilt which is out of proportion with reality. I’m not well off now and have to budget but I’m not threatened with the poorhouse. I still find shopping stressful and avoid it as much as possible which I suppose is good for the pocket book. The stress comes from this latent sort of a guilt about whether I really need this or that thing. Sounds silly I suppose but even buying a nice piece of really (and more expensive) good cheese can bring up those feelings.
| 158 |
Cannadian Club Akbar Thu, Feb 17, 2011 8:56:27am |
re: #155 wlewisiii
Interesting look at reality. We’re not quite to that level but we aren’t doing too much better and will probably be in foreclosure by summer time. Eh, the rent will be much cheaper than mortgage & escrow at least …
(no //. )
I haven’t paid my mortgage in 3 years, haven’t paid the water bill in 7 months, haven’t paid the power bill in 6 months. Still have a home, still have power, still have water.
| 159 |
William Barnett-Lewis Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:07:38am |
re: #158 Cannadian Club Akbar
I haven’t paid my mortgage in 3 years, haven’t paid the water bill in 7 months, haven’t paid the power bill in 6 months. Still have a home, still have power, still have water.
Not sure where you live, but Wisconsin moves faster than that. If I stop paying the mortgage today, we will be foreclosed by June 1 (not can, not may, will be) - only bankruptcy proceedings are able to slow them down - and evicted by Dec 1. All our current planning is based on that time line here. After May 1, if the power is in arrears, they can cut us off of gas & electric though we’ll make a payment plan and avoid that. At least the city won’t cut off the water.
Oh and we make too much to get food stamps…
| 160 |
Cannadian Club Akbar Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:11:12am |
re: #159 wlewisiii
I hit the Legal Aide office the last day I needed to file with the courts. Then after I a few months, had a meeting with the bank. They didn’t show. My lawyer said it should be rescheduled in a week or so. I think we have more foreclosures here in Florida so the wheels turn slower. Best of luck to you, though.
| 161 |
Kronocide Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:11:50am |
re: #133 Killgore Trout
“I actually like it, in the sense that—you got kids?” asked Rock. “Kids always act up the most before they go to sleep. And when I see the Tea Party and all this stuff, it actually feels like racism’s almost over. Because this is the last—this is the act up before the sleep. They’re going crazy. They’re insane. You want to get rid of them—and the next thing you know, they’re f—-ing knocked out. And that’s what’s going on in the country right now.”
I’ve held a sentiment like this for about a year. I hope he (and I) are correct.
| 162 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:15:00am |
My wife’s unemployment benefits expired last week. There’s no openings in her field, even at the assistant level.
I’m trying to cram in more hours.
But all in all, we are fine. Fortunately, we both have been good savers, stayed within our budget and not have any serious financial or health emergencies pop up.
I wish my fellow Lizards well in their difficulties.
….. that reminds me, I need to stop and purchase a few “high-risk” investments on the way home today ;)
| 164 |
schnapp Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:32:05am |
Just found out obama supports west ham united. respect
| 165 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:39:19am |
“#1734: Extremely dramatic stuff coming from Libya on Twitter, but international media organisations operate under restrictions in the country, and much of the material is difficult to verify. As soon as we can find other sources, we’ll let you know.”
“#1725: Human rights activits Sarah Abdallah tweets: “#Baida has been totally surrounded by the #Gaddafi regime’s police and snipers are firing at unarmed protesters from rooftops. #Libya””
[Link: www.bbc.co.uk…]
| 166 |
SanFranciscoZionist Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:40:04am |
re: #72 Alouette
Israel is the neighborhood bully.
Damn skippy. And planning to stay that way for the duration.
| 168 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:50:43am |
Tea party out to defeat 3 longtime GOP senators
[Link: news.yahoo.com…]
“WASHINGTON – What does a longtime Republican senator with a national reputation for working well with Democrats do in the face of a potentially career-ending tea party challenge? If you’re Richard Lugar of Indiana, you tell them to “get real.”
If you’re Olympia Snowe of Maine, you fight off the “Snowe Removal” effort by making key alliances with tea party activists and highlighting your record of fiscal conservatism.
And if you’re Orrin Hatch of Utah, you woo them.
Lugar, Snowe and Hatch are all on notice that their approach to governance may no longer be welcome.”
……..
Damn, these ‘tards are just bent on running out the Moderates.
A Pox upon the Tea Party.
| 169 |
lawhawk Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:51:51am |
re: #165 Ericus58
Kristof writes of some interesting developments in Bahrain.
Three ambulance drivers or paramedics told me that they had been pulled out of their ambulances and beaten by the police. One, Jameel, whose head was bandaged and his arm was in a cast, told me that police had clubbed him and that a senior officer had then told him: “If I see you again, I’ll kill you.”A fourth ambulance driver, Osama, was unhurt but said that a military officer – whom he said was a Saudi, based on his accent in Arabic – held a gun to his head and warned him to drive away or be shot. (By many accounts, Saudi tanks and other military forces participated in the attack, but I can’t verify that).
The hospital staff told me that ambulance service has now been frozen, with no ambulances going out on calls except with approval of the Interior Ministry.
Some of the victims, though not all, said that the riot police shouted anti-Shiite curses when they attacked the protesters, who were overwhelmingly Shiite. Sectarianism is particularly delicate in Bahrain because the Sunni royal family, the Khalifas, presides over a country that is predominately Shiite, and Shiites often complain of discrimination by the government.
Bringing in the Saudis to do his dirty work would explain why things got so violent so quickly. There was no connection between the army and the protesters as was the case in Egypt. The Bahraini king may have not thought that his own army was up to the task because of divided loyalties, so he brought in enforcers to get the job done.
And whoever those troops were were brutal - murdering protesters all over the place.
| 170 |
Obdicut Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:52:01am |
| 171 |
butterick Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:55:13am |
re: #161 BigPapa
“I actually like it, in the sense that—you got kids?” asked Rock. “Kids always act up the most before they go to sleep. And when I see the Tea Party and all this stuff, it actually feels like racism’s almost over. Because this is the last—this is the act up before the sleep. They’re going crazy. They’re insane. You want to get rid of them—and the next thing you know, they’re f—-ing knocked out. And that’s what’s going on in the country right now.”I’ve held a sentiment like this for about a year. I hope he (and I) are correct.
That sounds like what the guy over at Balloon Juice calls “peak wingnut theory” - that they’ll get so deranged they’ll burn out. IIRC he thought it was wrong (to expect they’d burn out) from the beginning, and that seems to be the case.
I thought that it would burn out “real soon now” when birtherism started, then when Glenn Beck got impossibly crazy - but the birthers are now the majority of the GOP and Glenn Beck has warped space and time to become even more impossibly crazy.
As they say over at Metafilter, “Surely this…” but no, it seems, not even [this], for any value of [this]. Bircher nonsense is now mainstream, the media is balkanized and there seems to be no way to reach the unreachable.
I’d say that US politics was building to some kind of awful crescendo - but if only that were the case!
| 172 |
Feline Fearless Leader Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:56:01am |
re: #168 Ericus58
Tea party out to defeat 3 longtime GOP senators
[Link: news.yahoo.com…]
“WASHINGTON – What does a longtime Republican senator with a national reputation for working well with Democrats do in the face of a potentially career-ending tea party challenge? If you’re Richard Lugar of Indiana, you tell them to “get real.”
If you’re Olympia Snowe of Maine, you fight off the “Snowe Removal” effort by making key alliances with tea party activists and highlighting your record of fiscal conservatism.
And if you’re Orrin Hatch of Utah, you woo them.
Lugar, Snowe and Hatch are all on notice that their approach to governance may no longer be welcome.”
…Damn, these ‘tards are just bent on running out the Moderates.
A Pox upon the Tea Party.
GOP turning into a party of fire-eaters. Not quite the same major issue(s), but the approach appears to be the same.
[Link: en.wikipedia.org…]
| 173 |
Ericus58 Thu, Feb 17, 2011 9:58:29am |
re: #169 lawhawk
Kristof writes of some interesting developments in Bahrain.
Bringing in the Saudis to do his dirty work would explain why things got so violent so quickly. There was no connection between the army and the protesters as was the case in Egypt. The Bahraini king may have not thought that his own army was up to the task because of divided loyalties, so he brought in enforcers to get the job done.
And whoever those troops were were brutal - murdering protesters all over the place.
Damn…
If the Saudi’s participated in the internal affairs of Bahrain - even if invited - this would prove to be a huge escalation.
One that our Military based there and I’m sure our State Department would find extremely bad…
wow - what a powder keg…
| 174 |
Sol Berdinowitz Thu, Feb 17, 2011 11:33:45am |
re: #140 Obdicut
. I mean, I still track costs, but I don’t have to do the feverish addition at every moment, just to make sure I won’t be facing an unpayable bill.
Which is how 40 million Americans currently see medical care…
| 175 |
Winny Spencer Thu, Feb 17, 2011 2:34:05pm |
re: #83 RogueOne
I was going to let this slide but since it keeps getting updinged I thought I’d better point out you must have misheard part of the conversation. Scarborough was against the tax cut extensions (something I happen to disagree with) and has been for at least the last couple of years.
Here’s one such conversation:
[Link: www.msnbc.msn.com…]which leads to this TP piece:
Scarborough Fumes Over Tax Deal: GOP Not ‘Interested In Cutting The Deficit,’ Obama Blew ‘An Easy Battle’
[Link: thinkprogress.org…]
Jeez, then I screwed up again. I just can’t seem to get anything right lately, but I will refrain from writing anything else for a while.
This article has been archived.
Comments are closed.
Comments are closed.
Create a PageThis is the LGF Pages posting bookmarklet. To use it, drag this button to your browser's bookmark bar, and title it 'LGF Pages' (or whatever you like). Then browse to a site you want to post, select some text on the page to use for a quote, click the bookmarklet, and the Pages posting window will appear with the title, text, and any embedded video or audio files already filled in, ready to go.
Or... you can just click this button to open the Pages posting window right away.
Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT LGF User's Guide RSS Feeds
Or... you can just click this button to open the Pages posting window right away.
Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT LGF User's Guide RSS Feeds
- Featured PagesClick to refresh
The Cause of the Rain Here? dryad, in Greek mythology, a nymph or nature spirit who lives in trees and takes the form of a beautiful young woman. Dryads were originally the spirits of oak trees (drys: “oak”), but the name was later applied to ...
William Lewis
6 days ago
Views: 221 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 6
Uncommon US Flags #3: Storm Warning Flags Indianola, Texas after the Civil War became the principal port for the state, due to its location on Matagorda Bay. The town steadily grew as commerce, tourism, and agriculture expanded. In 1875, a powerful Category 3 hurricane struck Indianola, ...
Anymouse 🌹🏡😷
2 weeks ago
Views: 281 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 4
A Friday at the Tail End of SpringJust out and about for a bit. First a walk downtown where the two rivers meet, then a short drive just outside of town. William Lewis
2 weeks ago
Views: 318 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 4
This Civil War Submarine Vanished for 136 Years [VIDEO] A Civil War submarine powered by hand cranks and lit by candlelight. What could possibly go wrong? Meet the HL Hunley. Support the production of these videos through our Patreon: patreon.com Thank you to Nick DeLong from Clemson University ...
teleskiguy
2 weeks ago
Views: 1,148 • Comments: 2 • Rating: 6
Billions in US Taxpayer Dollars Now Go to Religious Schools via Vouchers Billions in taxpayer dollars are being used to pay tuition at religious schools throughout the country, as state voucher programs expand dramatically and the line separating public education and religion fades. School vouchers can be used at almost any ...
Cheechako
4 weeks ago
Views: 430 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 2
Adobe Caught Selling AI Generated Images Imitating Ansel Adams’ Work Adobe scolded for selling ‘Ansel Adams-style’ images generated by AI Adobe found itself in hot water this weekend after the Ansel Adams estate publicly scolded the company for selling generative AI imitations of the late photographer’s work. On Friday, ... William Lewis
3 weeks ago
Views: 1,991 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 5
The Good Liars at The Libertarian Convention [VIDEO] The Good Liars visit the Libertarian Convention in Washington DC. They interview presidential candidates, talk to someone who thinks people should be allowed to own nuclear weapons, and Starchild. SUPPORT US: herohero.co SEE THE GOOD LIARS LIVE!NASHVILLE, TN JUNE ... teleskiguy
4 weeks ago
Views: 652 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 2
Adam Conover - How Google RUINED the Internet [VIDEO] Google sucks now. Here's why. Get 20% off DeleteMe US consumer plans when you go to joindeleteme.com and use promo code ADAM at checkout. DeleteMe International Plans: international.joindeleteme.com You may have noticed that Google isn't what it used to ... teleskiguy
4 weeks ago
Views: 421 • Comments: 1 • Rating: 0
What Result Will There Be From the Trump Trial?I did my best to boil this down. What say you?
Rightwingconspirator
4 weeks ago
Views: 723 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 2
- Recent PagesClick to refresh
The Good Liars at Miami Trump Rally [VIDEO] Jason and Davram talk with Trump supporters about art, Mike Lindell, who is really president and more! SUPPORT US: herohero.co SEE THE GOOD LIARS LIVE!LOS ANGELES, CA squadup.com SUBSCRIBE TO OUR AUDIO PODCAST:Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.comSpotify: open.spotify.comJoin this channel to ... teleskiguy
2 weeks ago
Views: 680 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 0
