In Miami, Spanish is becoming the primary language
Melissa Green's mother spoke Spanish, but she never learned - her father forbid it. Today, that's a frequent problem in this city where the English-speaking population is outnumbered.
The 49-year-old flower shop owner and Miami native said her inability to speak "espanol" makes it difficult to conduct business, seek help at stores and even ask directions. She finds it "frustrating."
"It makes it hard for some people to find a job because they don't speak Spanish, and I don't think that it is right," said Green, who sometimes calls a Spanish-speaking friend to translate for customers who don't speak English.
"Sometimes I think they should learn it," she said.
"The Anglo population is leaving," said Juan Clark, a sociology professor at Miami Dade College. "One of the reactions is to emigrate toward the north. They resent the fact that (an American) has to learn Spanish in order to have advantages to work. If one doesn't speak Spanish, it's a disadvantage."
Thursday, May 29, 2008
La Scala Loves Theater
La Scala to stage Gore's 'Inconvenient Truth'
And Inconvenient Truth is nothing, but theater. Bad science. bad theater.
And Inconvenient Truth is nothing, but theater. Bad science. bad theater.
Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less
via Tony Phyrillas
Click HERE to force Congress to stop aLgorasming at our expense and lower the cost of gas and our dependence on foreign interests.
Let's start a petion for new refineries as well. Maybe build a wind farm in the halls of Congress. That alone should be good for continuous mega watts. It's a start.
Click HERE to force Congress to stop aLgorasming at our expense and lower the cost of gas and our dependence on foreign interests.
Let's start a petion for new refineries as well. Maybe build a wind farm in the halls of Congress. That alone should be good for continuous mega watts. It's a start.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
The Media's Iraq: Cognitive Dissonance & Groupthink
UPDATE: Gateway Pundit has more on the subject pointing out that success in Iraq has caused the media to drop coverage by 92%. Of course let if they can get a really good picture of an American soldier doing something bad or getting horridly dismembered, well, then we're talking huge coverage.
If Iraq Bleeds It Leads. Since It Ain't, The Surge Must Be Working
Over the Memorial Day weekend we went to the graves of my parents. Both of my wife's parents are alive (and kicking up a storm) and she is kind enough to want to share in my desire to honor and attempt to continue to involve my parents in our life.
Each veteran's grave displayed a flag. Most monuments for veterans entombed there have some denotation of their service. For my family in this cemetery this meant their service in the War of 1812, Mexican American War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Other ancestral veterans are buried in their ancestral homes in Massachusetts, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia while some are buried in lost graves in foreign lands.
My father's monument simply has a MD after his name. As a veteran of two wars and as a civilian he was first and foremost a surgeon and a healer, a physician. As usual, we took a flag to display on his grave, but there was already one in place. I am awed and humbled that the different veteran's groups took the time to make sure that each veteran would be so honored.
The cemetery was a sea of flags. And families. And flowers, new plantings of trees and bushes and groups of people cleaning, looking and interacting with each other. Some were silent, some sharing, some smiling and many celebrating. Celebrating life and lives. Celebrating freedom, celebrating their loved ones and what their loved ones loved.
As Americans they understood. There was no moral relativism. As a good parent unequivocally loves their child, a good citizen loves their country so. If there are warts, fix them, but still love. If they are sometimes wrong, teach them, but still love. I was taught that a good man can be beaten down, but he can't be kept down. It seems so as well for America.
Vietnam veterans were offered no parades. Most Americans do not know it, but neither were Korean veterans given the respect they deserved by a war weary nation. A brother-in-law was spit on in San Diego in 1970, my sister was knocked to the ground and after my brother-in-law protected her, he was arrested. It was in California and he had been discharged only hours before. In court there were protesters and street theater as the judge called him a militaristic bully and found him guilty.
"Historians" say events such as this never happened. It does not equate to their narrative. Most of these "historians" are wannabe reporters reporting history as they see it just as many reporters are wannabe "historians" wanting to write their own history.
As I sat with my wife observing history and the present played out in this cemetery I thought to our current situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places in the War on Terror and wondered where our national voice had gone off track. Whoa, so many thoughts, so many trails of worry, so I focused on why all of these people in this cemetery didn't seem defeated and tired as they remembered family and honored veterans. I knew why I didn't, but not them, so I asked them.
There were many answers that seemed to boil down to a disdain or weariness with the nay-sayers in position of power and in the press. Some still yell at their televisions during the news while others have given up all together reading, hearing or watching the news. I asked then how do they know that things have changed or did they know that things have changed. They knew. Some use the Internet, some hear from friends and many learn from family members and members of family friends. A high school classmate wearing a Recon cap asked that I forgive him, "but the press are all alike. They are shit who spit on the dead to assuage their own shame."
Assuage their own shame, a phrase that sat me back. I have learned of fifth columnists, traitors and useful dupes, but "assuaging their own shame" implied that the press knows. If the press knows, then why? Why would they not report that which they know to be true. My wife offered the Stockholm theory which works to a point, but being a hostage to an academic system and then an editorial hierarchy implies that the editors know. Chicken/egg and all that, but still where does one go to get instruction on what to write or, more importantly, what not to write. It is not just the media, so what or where does this anti-military and anti-American victory come from?
Cognitive dissonance is a psychological state that describes the uncomfortable feeling when a person begins to understand that something the person believes to be true is, in fact, not true. Similar to ambivalence, the term cognitive dissonance describes conflicting thoughts or beliefs (cognitions) that occur at the same time, or when engaged in behaviors that conflict with one's beliefs. In academic literature, the term refers to attempts to reduce the discomfort of conflicting thoughts, by performing actions that are opposite to one's beliefs.
This leads some people who feel dissonance to seek information that will reduce dissonance and avoid information that will increase dissonance. People who are involuntarily exposed to information that increases dissonance are likely to discount that information, either by ignoring it, misinterpreting it, or denying it.
Symptoms of group think
In order to make groupthink testable, Irving Janis devised eight symptoms that are indicative of groupthink (1977).
1. Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.
2. Rationalising warnings that might challenge the group's assumptions.
3. Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.
4. Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, disfigured, impotent, or stupid.
5. Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of "disloyalty".
6. Self censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
7. Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.
8. Mindguards — self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.
Leaving that cemetery I remembered that in remembering the past, one finds the path to the future. The truth shall set you free, but apparently it isn't helping our free press with the truth.
If Iraq Bleeds It Leads. Since It Ain't, The Surge Must Be Working
Over the Memorial Day weekend we went to the graves of my parents. Both of my wife's parents are alive (and kicking up a storm) and she is kind enough to want to share in my desire to honor and attempt to continue to involve my parents in our life.
Each veteran's grave displayed a flag. Most monuments for veterans entombed there have some denotation of their service. For my family in this cemetery this meant their service in the War of 1812, Mexican American War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Other ancestral veterans are buried in their ancestral homes in Massachusetts, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia while some are buried in lost graves in foreign lands.
My father's monument simply has a MD after his name. As a veteran of two wars and as a civilian he was first and foremost a surgeon and a healer, a physician. As usual, we took a flag to display on his grave, but there was already one in place. I am awed and humbled that the different veteran's groups took the time to make sure that each veteran would be so honored.
The cemetery was a sea of flags. And families. And flowers, new plantings of trees and bushes and groups of people cleaning, looking and interacting with each other. Some were silent, some sharing, some smiling and many celebrating. Celebrating life and lives. Celebrating freedom, celebrating their loved ones and what their loved ones loved.
As Americans they understood. There was no moral relativism. As a good parent unequivocally loves their child, a good citizen loves their country so. If there are warts, fix them, but still love. If they are sometimes wrong, teach them, but still love. I was taught that a good man can be beaten down, but he can't be kept down. It seems so as well for America.
Vietnam veterans were offered no parades. Most Americans do not know it, but neither were Korean veterans given the respect they deserved by a war weary nation. A brother-in-law was spit on in San Diego in 1970, my sister was knocked to the ground and after my brother-in-law protected her, he was arrested. It was in California and he had been discharged only hours before. In court there were protesters and street theater as the judge called him a militaristic bully and found him guilty.
"Historians" say events such as this never happened. It does not equate to their narrative. Most of these "historians" are wannabe reporters reporting history as they see it just as many reporters are wannabe "historians" wanting to write their own history.
As I sat with my wife observing history and the present played out in this cemetery I thought to our current situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places in the War on Terror and wondered where our national voice had gone off track. Whoa, so many thoughts, so many trails of worry, so I focused on why all of these people in this cemetery didn't seem defeated and tired as they remembered family and honored veterans. I knew why I didn't, but not them, so I asked them.
There were many answers that seemed to boil down to a disdain or weariness with the nay-sayers in position of power and in the press. Some still yell at their televisions during the news while others have given up all together reading, hearing or watching the news. I asked then how do they know that things have changed or did they know that things have changed. They knew. Some use the Internet, some hear from friends and many learn from family members and members of family friends. A high school classmate wearing a Recon cap asked that I forgive him, "but the press are all alike. They are shit who spit on the dead to assuage their own shame."
Assuage their own shame, a phrase that sat me back. I have learned of fifth columnists, traitors and useful dupes, but "assuaging their own shame" implied that the press knows. If the press knows, then why? Why would they not report that which they know to be true. My wife offered the Stockholm theory which works to a point, but being a hostage to an academic system and then an editorial hierarchy implies that the editors know. Chicken/egg and all that, but still where does one go to get instruction on what to write or, more importantly, what not to write. It is not just the media, so what or where does this anti-military and anti-American victory come from?
Cognitive dissonance is a psychological state that describes the uncomfortable feeling when a person begins to understand that something the person believes to be true is, in fact, not true. Similar to ambivalence, the term cognitive dissonance describes conflicting thoughts or beliefs (cognitions) that occur at the same time, or when engaged in behaviors that conflict with one's beliefs. In academic literature, the term refers to attempts to reduce the discomfort of conflicting thoughts, by performing actions that are opposite to one's beliefs.
This leads some people who feel dissonance to seek information that will reduce dissonance and avoid information that will increase dissonance. People who are involuntarily exposed to information that increases dissonance are likely to discount that information, either by ignoring it, misinterpreting it, or denying it.
Symptoms of group think
In order to make groupthink testable, Irving Janis devised eight symptoms that are indicative of groupthink (1977).
1. Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.
2. Rationalising warnings that might challenge the group's assumptions.
3. Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.
4. Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, disfigured, impotent, or stupid.
5. Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of "disloyalty".
6. Self censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
7. Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.
8. Mindguards — self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.
Leaving that cemetery I remembered that in remembering the past, one finds the path to the future. The truth shall set you free, but apparently it isn't helping our free press with the truth.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Obama Doesn't Remember Hate, Corruption & Billionaires, But He Remembers Childhood In Indonesia
Speaking today in Florida to the Cuban American National Foundation concerning his desire to ease relations with communist Cuba, Obama remembers his childhood and how men came in the night to take people away. Normally his memory isn’t quite that good.
Website says Obama attended anti-white Wright sermon; campaign ...
Mar 16, 2008 ... My friends, remember it's Mr. Obama spiritual advisor who gave the ... You denial that you never knew of Wright's sermons doesn't pass the ...
The Swamp: Obama doesn't recall '04 Rezko party
If Barack Obama becomes President, there is something seriously ...
Mar 16, 2008 ... Obama spokesman Bill Burton told The Times that Obama doesn’t remember ever meeting Auchi. [and Dick Cheney doesn’t remember sitting down ...
Is Barack NObama clearly lying to our face on his records? - Yahoo ...
Mr Obama doesn't remember his voting records.He has been lying since the beginning that he has been Mr.Consistent.He is much clean at heart , God knows. ...
But, as a six to ten year old, Obama remembers that a knock on the door in the night in Indonesia by uniformed men caused fear.
I grew up for a time in Indonesia. It was a society struggling to achieve meaningful democracy. Power could be undisguised and indiscriminate. Too often, power wore a uniform, and was unaccountable to the people. Some still had good reason to fear a knock on the door.
Of course, Obama also doesn’t remember how we got to this point in our relationship with Cuba. Real facts seem to always get a tad hazy for Obama.
UPDATE:
Gateway Pundit has a few other things Obama forgets, like his close relationship with terrorists.
Website says Obama attended anti-white Wright sermon; campaign ...
Mar 16, 2008 ... My friends, remember it's Mr. Obama spiritual advisor who gave the ... You denial that you never knew of Wright's sermons doesn't pass the ...
The Swamp: Obama doesn't recall '04 Rezko party
If Barack Obama becomes President, there is something seriously ...
Mar 16, 2008 ... Obama spokesman Bill Burton told The Times that Obama doesn’t remember ever meeting Auchi. [and Dick Cheney doesn’t remember sitting down ...
Is Barack NObama clearly lying to our face on his records? - Yahoo ...
Mr Obama doesn't remember his voting records.He has been lying since the beginning that he has been Mr.Consistent.He is much clean at heart , God knows. ...
But, as a six to ten year old, Obama remembers that a knock on the door in the night in Indonesia by uniformed men caused fear.
I grew up for a time in Indonesia. It was a society struggling to achieve meaningful democracy. Power could be undisguised and indiscriminate. Too often, power wore a uniform, and was unaccountable to the people. Some still had good reason to fear a knock on the door.
Of course, Obama also doesn’t remember how we got to this point in our relationship with Cuba. Real facts seem to always get a tad hazy for Obama.
UPDATE:
Gateway Pundit has a few other things Obama forgets, like his close relationship with terrorists.
Rove Will Steal Obama's Election Win
This Ain't Hell has up a piece so troofer as to appear to be satire.
Andrea Mitchell uses the media's truth that the 2000 and 2004 elections were stolen by Rovian forces embedded in governments large and small that targeted key parts of the electorate spanning the North American continent. Just as there is "proof" that the hole in the side of the Pentagon was not large enough to have been made by an airliner, the valiant forces of truth and liberalism has "proof" that these Rovian forces, so well trained as to operate on auto pilot, will deny the Obammessiah the election in 2008. The godhead will have her will undone by false God fearing right wing messianic posers.
Read it here:
The Election Will Be Stolen, Again!
What will the electorate be denied by such a false and manipulated election that will deny the citizenry the hope of an Obama ascendancy?
Just how has that “Sweeping Change” in 2006 worked out so far?
1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon
3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%
Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen:
1) Consumer confidence plummet
2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase)
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses)
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars
America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!
Epiphany! Bush lied and the truth died for our sins to allow the Obamessiah to shepherd truth to his people for sweeping change through his disciples Reid and Pelosi.
Personally, I am so thankful that Hillary is continuing her windmill tour AND that Ron Paul is burrowing his way into the nomination to tear the masks off all the false prophets leaving him alone to bask in the divine light of the anointed.
Witness the Divine Comedy.
UPDATE: IT HAS BEGUN! The evil empire that resides in the bowels of our government stands at the prescipice of truth and looks down into its undoing!
House panel subpoenas Rove
Andrea Mitchell uses the media's truth that the 2000 and 2004 elections were stolen by Rovian forces embedded in governments large and small that targeted key parts of the electorate spanning the North American continent. Just as there is "proof" that the hole in the side of the Pentagon was not large enough to have been made by an airliner, the valiant forces of truth and liberalism has "proof" that these Rovian forces, so well trained as to operate on auto pilot, will deny the Obammessiah the election in 2008. The godhead will have her will undone by false God fearing right wing messianic posers.
Read it here:
The Election Will Be Stolen, Again!
What will the electorate be denied by such a false and manipulated election that will deny the citizenry the hope of an Obama ascendancy?
Just how has that “Sweeping Change” in 2006 worked out so far?
1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon
3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%
Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen:
1) Consumer confidence plummet
2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase)
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses)
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars
America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!
Epiphany! Bush lied and the truth died for our sins to allow the Obamessiah to shepherd truth to his people for sweeping change through his disciples Reid and Pelosi.
Personally, I am so thankful that Hillary is continuing her windmill tour AND that Ron Paul is burrowing his way into the nomination to tear the masks off all the false prophets leaving him alone to bask in the divine light of the anointed.
Witness the Divine Comedy.
UPDATE: IT HAS BEGUN! The evil empire that resides in the bowels of our government stands at the prescipice of truth and looks down into its undoing!
House panel subpoenas Rove
Reason 666 Not To Vote For Obama
Next Stop, Supreme Court?
It's likely that the next president will face at least one Supreme Court vacancy. Obama should promise Hillary Clinton, now, that if he wins in November, the vacancy will be hers, making her first on a list of one.
Obama and Clinton have wound up agreeing on nearly every major issue during the campaign; at the end of the day, they share many orthodoxies. Unless the Supreme Court were to get mired in minuscule details of what constitutes universal health care, Obama could assume that he'd be pleased with most Clinton votes, certainly on major issues such as abortion.
It's likely that the next president will face at least one Supreme Court vacancy. Obama should promise Hillary Clinton, now, that if he wins in November, the vacancy will be hers, making her first on a list of one.
Obama and Clinton have wound up agreeing on nearly every major issue during the campaign; at the end of the day, they share many orthodoxies. Unless the Supreme Court were to get mired in minuscule details of what constitutes universal health care, Obama could assume that he'd be pleased with most Clinton votes, certainly on major issues such as abortion.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Congress Screw Public And Blames Oil Execs
Let's see. Did the oil companies prevent themselves from drilling on and around the North American continent? When did the oil companies decide to make it unprofitable and impossible to build new refineries? I can't remember when the oil companies created the regulatory nightmare that they work under, but maybe Leahy and Kohl can slip me a note on this. I hope they add a paragraph in their note that explains when the oil companies elected a bunch of pandering liberal numbnuts to Congress so they could have their business regulated and taxed almost out of existence. Maybe include a P.S. on boutique gas mixtures for hypocritical left coast progressives deluding themselves into believing their doing something for Mother Earth.
Congress grill oil execs over perceived injustices to the working class
Political leaders in Washington gave big oil executives an earful Wednesday. Oil industry executives can expect another rough reception when they go before a House panel this morning.
They want to know what's caused the recent spike in oil and gas prices.
"You speak of this current upcycle. What a nice nice term, and I suppose we can tell our constituents when they find they cannot afford to go to work because of the price of gas, 'don't worry, you are in a current upcycle,'" Sen. Patrick Leahy said.
"Your industry has no problem in doubling your profits, tripling your profits. Even when prices at the pump go crazy, you have no problem in keeping up with your increasing profit," Sen. Herb Kohl said. "It doesn't seem fair, guys. It just doesn't seem fair."
No, it doesn't seem fair. Congress hamstrings business in general and the energy industry specifically and places the blame on them while screwing us. I believe that it is tradition, even when crude and oil are involved, that there should be some kissing first. Oh, and a desire to participate.
I'll be waiting by my mailbox for that note Pat and Herb. Might as well, I can't afford to drive anywhere because you people wouldn't know the working class from the politburo nor which one works and which one does not.
UPDATE: This ain't hell has some good stuff on this
Congress grill oil execs over perceived injustices to the working class
Political leaders in Washington gave big oil executives an earful Wednesday. Oil industry executives can expect another rough reception when they go before a House panel this morning.
They want to know what's caused the recent spike in oil and gas prices.
"You speak of this current upcycle. What a nice nice term, and I suppose we can tell our constituents when they find they cannot afford to go to work because of the price of gas, 'don't worry, you are in a current upcycle,'" Sen. Patrick Leahy said.
"Your industry has no problem in doubling your profits, tripling your profits. Even when prices at the pump go crazy, you have no problem in keeping up with your increasing profit," Sen. Herb Kohl said. "It doesn't seem fair, guys. It just doesn't seem fair."
No, it doesn't seem fair. Congress hamstrings business in general and the energy industry specifically and places the blame on them while screwing us. I believe that it is tradition, even when crude and oil are involved, that there should be some kissing first. Oh, and a desire to participate.
I'll be waiting by my mailbox for that note Pat and Herb. Might as well, I can't afford to drive anywhere because you people wouldn't know the working class from the politburo nor which one works and which one does not.
UPDATE: This ain't hell has some good stuff on this
Monday, May 19, 2008
"Lay Off My Hitman Wife"
Obama Warns GOP "Lay Off My Wife"
Sen. Barack Obama ripped into a Republican ad today that targets comments made by his wife, Michelle, and called the GOP tactic "low class" and "detestable."
The Illinois senator told "Good Morning America" that he expects hardball tactics from the Republicans if he becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.
"But I also think these folks should lay off my wife," he told "GMA" as his wife chuckled beside him.
So, Obama puts his wife out there to speak, as a strong independent woman, for the campaign to impress women and she says some really stupid thing which makes the Obama angry that people are taking what she say seriously so he says to lay off his wife because she, as an independent woman, is his wife and not part of the real campaign.
That should make women comfortable. At least it made Michelle chuckle. We'll always have that.
Sen. Barack Obama ripped into a Republican ad today that targets comments made by his wife, Michelle, and called the GOP tactic "low class" and "detestable."
The Illinois senator told "Good Morning America" that he expects hardball tactics from the Republicans if he becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.
"But I also think these folks should lay off my wife," he told "GMA" as his wife chuckled beside him.
So, Obama puts his wife out there to speak, as a strong independent woman, for the campaign to impress women and she says some really stupid thing which makes the Obama angry that people are taking what she say seriously so he says to lay off his wife because she, as an independent woman, is his wife and not part of the real campaign.
That should make women comfortable. At least it made Michelle chuckle. We'll always have that.
Dear World, May I Drive My Jeep Today?
Pitching his message to Oregon's environmentally-conscious voters, Obama called on the United States to "lead by example" on global warming, and develop new technologies at home which could be exported to developing countries.
"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK," Obama said.
"That's not leadership. That's not going to happen," he added.
Obama wants to lead by following those he perceives as our betters throughout the world.
That's change I can't live with.
"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK," Obama said.
"That's not leadership. That's not going to happen," he added.
Obama wants to lead by following those he perceives as our betters throughout the world.
That's change I can't live with.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The Messiah Mounts The Mound To Massage The Masses
Record Obama Crowd, the Size of a City 
Sen. Barack Obama has seen his share of large crowds over the last 15 months, but his campaign said they have not approached the numbers gathered along the waterfront here right now.
The campaign, citing figures from Duane Bray, battalion chief of Portland Fire & Rescue, estimated that 75,000 people are watching him speak.
How many young girls had orgasms at concerts over "I want to hold your hand"? Though somewhat shallow, at least the Beatles had a long term sellable product and allure. Granted, it was with a crowd that could be fully entertained in an empty closet, but still...
Sen. Barack Obama has seen his share of large crowds over the last 15 months, but his campaign said they have not approached the numbers gathered along the waterfront here right now.
The campaign, citing figures from Duane Bray, battalion chief of Portland Fire & Rescue, estimated that 75,000 people are watching him speak.
How many young girls had orgasms at concerts over "I want to hold your hand"? Though somewhat shallow, at least the Beatles had a long term sellable product and allure. Granted, it was with a crowd that could be fully entertained in an empty closet, but still...
Seattle Times Defends Hitler To Defend Obama Then Changes Editorial To Try And Defend Itself
via LGF
Bush, and His Use of "Appeasement"
Democrats are rebuking President Bush for saying in his speech to the Knesset, here, that to “negotiate with terrorists and radicals” is “appeasement.” The Democrats took it as a slap at Barack Obama. What bothers me is the continual reference to Hitler and his National Socialists, particularly the British and French accommodation at the Munich Conference of 1938.
What Hitler was demanding was not unreasonable. He wanted the German-speaking areas of Europe under German authority. He had just annexed Austria, which was German-speaking, without bloodshed. There were two more small pieces of Germanic territory: the free city of Danzig and the Sudetenland, a border area of what is now the Czech Republic.
We live in an era when you do not change national borders for these sorts of reasons. But in 1938 it was different. Germany’s eastern and western borders had been redrawn 19 years before—and not to its benefit. In the democracies there was some sense of guilt with how Germany had been treated after World War I. Certainly there was a memory of the “Great War.” In 2008, we have entirely forgotten World War I, and how utterly unlike any conception of “The Good War” it was. When the British let Hitler have a slice of Czechoslovakia, they were following their historical wisdom: avoid war. War produces results far more horrible than you expected. War is a bad investment. It is not glorious. Don’t give anyone an excuse to start one.
BUT the Seattle Times editor realized he was defending Nazism to defend Obama so he changed what he said to include not just one of the worst butchers of all time, but really a German national claim of inclusion of all German speaking people as a basis for taking land that was not their's. Kind of like La Raza thinks the Southwestern portion of America plus Claifornia should revert to Mexico.
Bush, and His Use of "Appeasement"
Posted by Bruce Ramsey
Democrats are rebuking President Bush for saying in his speech to the Knesset, here, that to “negotiate with terrorists and radicals” is “appeasement.” The Democrats took it as a slap at Barack Obama. What bothers me is the continual reference to Hitler and his National Socialists, particularly the British and French accommodation at the Munich Conference of 1938.
The narrative we're given about Munich is entirely in hindsight. We know what kind of man Hitler was, and that he started World War II in Europe. But in 1938 people knew a lot less. What Hitler was demanding at Munich was not unreasonable as a national claim (though he was making it in a last-minute, unreasonable way.) Germany's claim was that the areas of Europe that spoke German and thought of themselves as German be under German authority. In September 1938 the principal remaining area was the Sudetenland.
So the British and French let him have it. Their thought was: "Now you have your Greater Germany." They didn't want a war. They were not superpowers like the United States is now. They remembered the 1914-1918 war and how they almost lost it.
In a few months, in early 1939, Hitler ordered the invasion of what is now the Czech Republic—that is, territory that was not German. Then it was obvious that a deal with him was worthless--and the British and French did not appease Hitler any more. Thus the lesson of Munich: don't appease Hitlers.
But who else is a Hitler? If you paste that label on somebody it means they are cast out. You can't talk to them any more. And it has gotten pasted on quite a few national leaders over the years: Milosevic, Hussein, Ahmadinejad, et. al. In particular, to apply that label to the elected leaders of the Palestinians is to say that you aren't going to listen to their claims to a homeland. I think they do have a claim. So do the Israelis. In order to get anywhere, each side has to listen to the other. To continually bring up Hitler, the Nazis, the Munich Conference and “appeasement,” is to try to prolong the stalemate.
It is scary that Obama knows less about history than Bruce Ramsey which makes both of them unqualified to be president.
Bush, and His Use of "Appeasement"
Democrats are rebuking President Bush for saying in his speech to the Knesset, here, that to “negotiate with terrorists and radicals” is “appeasement.” The Democrats took it as a slap at Barack Obama. What bothers me is the continual reference to Hitler and his National Socialists, particularly the British and French accommodation at the Munich Conference of 1938.
What Hitler was demanding was not unreasonable. He wanted the German-speaking areas of Europe under German authority. He had just annexed Austria, which was German-speaking, without bloodshed. There were two more small pieces of Germanic territory: the free city of Danzig and the Sudetenland, a border area of what is now the Czech Republic.
We live in an era when you do not change national borders for these sorts of reasons. But in 1938 it was different. Germany’s eastern and western borders had been redrawn 19 years before—and not to its benefit. In the democracies there was some sense of guilt with how Germany had been treated after World War I. Certainly there was a memory of the “Great War.” In 2008, we have entirely forgotten World War I, and how utterly unlike any conception of “The Good War” it was. When the British let Hitler have a slice of Czechoslovakia, they were following their historical wisdom: avoid war. War produces results far more horrible than you expected. War is a bad investment. It is not glorious. Don’t give anyone an excuse to start one.
BUT the Seattle Times editor realized he was defending Nazism to defend Obama so he changed what he said to include not just one of the worst butchers of all time, but really a German national claim of inclusion of all German speaking people as a basis for taking land that was not their's. Kind of like La Raza thinks the Southwestern portion of America plus Claifornia should revert to Mexico.
Bush, and His Use of "Appeasement"
Posted by Bruce Ramsey
Democrats are rebuking President Bush for saying in his speech to the Knesset, here, that to “negotiate with terrorists and radicals” is “appeasement.” The Democrats took it as a slap at Barack Obama. What bothers me is the continual reference to Hitler and his National Socialists, particularly the British and French accommodation at the Munich Conference of 1938.
The narrative we're given about Munich is entirely in hindsight. We know what kind of man Hitler was, and that he started World War II in Europe. But in 1938 people knew a lot less. What Hitler was demanding at Munich was not unreasonable as a national claim (though he was making it in a last-minute, unreasonable way.) Germany's claim was that the areas of Europe that spoke German and thought of themselves as German be under German authority. In September 1938 the principal remaining area was the Sudetenland.
So the British and French let him have it. Their thought was: "Now you have your Greater Germany." They didn't want a war. They were not superpowers like the United States is now. They remembered the 1914-1918 war and how they almost lost it.
In a few months, in early 1939, Hitler ordered the invasion of what is now the Czech Republic—that is, territory that was not German. Then it was obvious that a deal with him was worthless--and the British and French did not appease Hitler any more. Thus the lesson of Munich: don't appease Hitlers.
But who else is a Hitler? If you paste that label on somebody it means they are cast out. You can't talk to them any more. And it has gotten pasted on quite a few national leaders over the years: Milosevic, Hussein, Ahmadinejad, et. al. In particular, to apply that label to the elected leaders of the Palestinians is to say that you aren't going to listen to their claims to a homeland. I think they do have a claim. So do the Israelis. In order to get anywhere, each side has to listen to the other. To continually bring up Hitler, the Nazis, the Munich Conference and “appeasement,” is to try to prolong the stalemate.
It is scary that Obama knows less about history than Bruce Ramsey which makes both of them unqualified to be president.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Who's To Blame For High Gas Prices?
Saudi oil output hike would not solve US problems: Bush
US President George W. Bush said on Saturday that a hike in oil output by Saudi Arabia would not solve American energy problems.
"It's not enough, it's something but it doesn't solve our problem," Bush told reporters in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Bush said he was "pleased" with a Saudi decision taken on May 10 to increase its oil production by 300,000 barrels per day in response to customers, but said that he was "also realistic" about what the Americans should do.
"Our problem in America gets solved when we aggressively go for domestic exploration. Our problem in America gets solved if we expand our refining capacity, promote nuclear energy and continue our strategy for the advancing of alternative energies as well as conservation," he said. "One interesting thing about American politics these days is those who are screaming the loudest for increased production from Saudi Arabia are the very same people who are fighting the fiercest against domestic exploration, against the development of nuclear power and against expanding refining capacity."
Even if Saudi Arabia, Iraq, China and Russia starting pumping like mad our gas prices would remain high and going higher. It's called price competition worldwide. It is also called stupid liberal policies that have griped our country like a virus for over 30 years of energy legislation.
Our fuel problems are a direct result of modern American liberalism as seen through the eyes of an out-of-touch Congress, radical environmentalists squealing "wolf", the main stream media and a populous whose biggest mistake was believing all this crap. That belief was and is costing jobs, homes and money and will take 6 - 10 years to repair.
If, as it is being reported, the Democrats make major gains in the upcoming elections, the 6 - 10 year guesstimate is out the window which means America will be financially subservient to other countries for decades to come.
Be careful what you wish for.
US President George W. Bush said on Saturday that a hike in oil output by Saudi Arabia would not solve American energy problems.
"It's not enough, it's something but it doesn't solve our problem," Bush told reporters in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Bush said he was "pleased" with a Saudi decision taken on May 10 to increase its oil production by 300,000 barrels per day in response to customers, but said that he was "also realistic" about what the Americans should do.
"Our problem in America gets solved when we aggressively go for domestic exploration. Our problem in America gets solved if we expand our refining capacity, promote nuclear energy and continue our strategy for the advancing of alternative energies as well as conservation," he said. "One interesting thing about American politics these days is those who are screaming the loudest for increased production from Saudi Arabia are the very same people who are fighting the fiercest against domestic exploration, against the development of nuclear power and against expanding refining capacity."
Even if Saudi Arabia, Iraq, China and Russia starting pumping like mad our gas prices would remain high and going higher. It's called price competition worldwide. It is also called stupid liberal policies that have griped our country like a virus for over 30 years of energy legislation.
Our fuel problems are a direct result of modern American liberalism as seen through the eyes of an out-of-touch Congress, radical environmentalists squealing "wolf", the main stream media and a populous whose biggest mistake was believing all this crap. That belief was and is costing jobs, homes and money and will take 6 - 10 years to repair.
If, as it is being reported, the Democrats make major gains in the upcoming elections, the 6 - 10 year guesstimate is out the window which means America will be financially subservient to other countries for decades to come.
Be careful what you wish for.
Mickey Mouse Policing The Toons
U.N. racism investigator to visit U.S. from Monday
The United Nations said Doudou Diene would meet federal and local officials, as well as lawmakers and judicial authorities during the May 19-June 6 visit.
"The special rapporteur will...gather first-hand information on issues related to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance," a U.N. statement said on Friday.
His three-week visit, at U.S. government invitation, will cover eight cities -- Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Omaha, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Race has become a central issue in the U.S. election cycle because Sen. Barack Obama, the frontrunner in the battle for the Democratic nomination battle, stands to become the country's first African American president.
SENEGAL: Heavy handed response to food protesters
Protesters clash with riot police in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, during a march over the high cost of living in Nov 2007DAKAR, 31 March 2008 (IRIN) - A crackdown by police against Senegalese citizens who gathered in the capital Dakar on 30 March to protest the high cost of living was “brutal”, say human rights groups.
"The interior ministry or at least the police force believe that maintaining order means stepping up repression," Leonard Vincent, Africa director of the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders, told IRIN. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse a demonstration organised by the national consumers' union to protest recent hikes in the prices of rice, oil and soap.
Authorities in Dakar said the demonstration had not been authorised. At least 24 people were arrested and many are still being detained, according to the Agence France Press. The Dakar-based African human rights coalition RADDHO (Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme) said in a statement on 30 March that it firmly condemns "unspeakable" acts by security forces which "violate" people's rights.
It likened alleged beatings with electric prods to "torture" and called for an investigation into "all acts of violence and poor treatment suffered by demonstrators".
Darfur force tainted by war crimes allegations
· Claims that deputy ordered Hutu killings· West reluctant to join peacekeeping mission
The deployment of an international peacekeeping force in Darfur was thrown into confusion yesterday by war crimes allegations against its proposed deputy commander.
The United Democratic Force-Inkingi, A Rwandan opposition group, accused Major General Karenzi Karake of responsibility for carrying out political assassinations and ordering reprisal killings against Hutus in Rwanda and Zaire in the years after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when he was the country's chief of military intelligence.
I guess that is really unfair to the Toons.
The United Nations said Doudou Diene would meet federal and local officials, as well as lawmakers and judicial authorities during the May 19-June 6 visit.
"The special rapporteur will...gather first-hand information on issues related to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance," a U.N. statement said on Friday.
His three-week visit, at U.S. government invitation, will cover eight cities -- Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Omaha, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Race has become a central issue in the U.S. election cycle because Sen. Barack Obama, the frontrunner in the battle for the Democratic nomination battle, stands to become the country's first African American president.
SENEGAL: Heavy handed response to food protesters
Protesters clash with riot police in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, during a march over the high cost of living in Nov 2007DAKAR, 31 March 2008 (IRIN) - A crackdown by police against Senegalese citizens who gathered in the capital Dakar on 30 March to protest the high cost of living was “brutal”, say human rights groups.
"The interior ministry or at least the police force believe that maintaining order means stepping up repression," Leonard Vincent, Africa director of the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders, told IRIN. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse a demonstration organised by the national consumers' union to protest recent hikes in the prices of rice, oil and soap.
Authorities in Dakar said the demonstration had not been authorised. At least 24 people were arrested and many are still being detained, according to the Agence France Press. The Dakar-based African human rights coalition RADDHO (Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme) said in a statement on 30 March that it firmly condemns "unspeakable" acts by security forces which "violate" people's rights.
It likened alleged beatings with electric prods to "torture" and called for an investigation into "all acts of violence and poor treatment suffered by demonstrators".
Darfur force tainted by war crimes allegations
· Claims that deputy ordered Hutu killings· West reluctant to join peacekeeping mission
The deployment of an international peacekeeping force in Darfur was thrown into confusion yesterday by war crimes allegations against its proposed deputy commander.
The United Democratic Force-Inkingi, A Rwandan opposition group, accused Major General Karenzi Karake of responsibility for carrying out political assassinations and ordering reprisal killings against Hutus in Rwanda and Zaire in the years after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when he was the country's chief of military intelligence.
I guess that is really unfair to the Toons.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Lori Drew Murderer
Lori Drew charged over MySpace suicide
She set out to get revenge for her daughter. Then went on to ridicule her victim and then suggest she kill her self and then cajole her, as a liar posing as a teen, to have greater impact to push her over the edge. She lied. She bullied. She was/is a bad person.
She is a murderer.
If she came after my daughter I'd hunt her like a bad habit.
She is not a protector. She is a person who should be convicted of murder.
She set out to get revenge for her daughter. Then went on to ridicule her victim and then suggest she kill her self and then cajole her, as a liar posing as a teen, to have greater impact to push her over the edge. She lied. She bullied. She was/is a bad person.
She is a murderer.
If she came after my daughter I'd hunt her like a bad habit.
She is not a protector. She is a person who should be convicted of murder.
Democrat Election Recession Gets Bad News
NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal May 16, 2008
Home construction turned up unexpectedly in April and showed surprising vigor, making the biggest increase in two years, while building permits also rose, a sign of optimism for the sickly housing sector. Housing starts increased 8.2% to a seasonally adjusted 1.032 million annual rate, driven higher by a surge in apartment building construction, the Commerce Department said. Starts plunged by a revised 13.8% in March to 954,000. Economists expected April starts to drop by 1.4% to a 934,000-unit annual rate.
For more information, see: http://wsj.com?mod=djemalertNEWS
After the housing investment (over) run caused prices to readjust housing starts and sales have been doing well here, but why let good news affect the bad news being pushed.
from The Wall Street Journal May 16, 2008
Home construction turned up unexpectedly in April and showed surprising vigor, making the biggest increase in two years, while building permits also rose, a sign of optimism for the sickly housing sector. Housing starts increased 8.2% to a seasonally adjusted 1.032 million annual rate, driven higher by a surge in apartment building construction, the Commerce Department said. Starts plunged by a revised 13.8% in March to 954,000. Economists expected April starts to drop by 1.4% to a 934,000-unit annual rate.
For more information, see: http://wsj.com?mod=djemalertNEWS
After the housing investment (over) run caused prices to readjust housing starts and sales have been doing well here, but why let good news affect the bad news being pushed.
Gas Going Over $4.00
And this is what our beloved Democrat controlled Congress does.
Senate panel retains oil-shale moratorium
While China and the rest of the world drills right off our shores, Brazil's state-controlled oil company;
Petrobras Hires 80% of Deepwater Rigs, Inflates Rents.
Since Congress has been able to contain global warming inside the capitol building in DC, to protect us, maybe they should release some or allow more drilling to ward off all the cold we've been experiencing lately.
What a bunch of schmucks only dumber.
UPDATE: They are dumber.
12-06-01 US appears to have built its last refinery
No new refineries have been built in the US in the past 25 years. And petroleum industry experts say anyone would have to be crazy to launch such an effort -- even though present refineries are running at nearly 100 % of capacity and local gasoline shortages are beginning to crop up.
Why does the industry appear to have built its last refinery? Three reasons: Refineries are not particularly profitable, environmentalists fight planning and construction every step of the way and government red-tape makes the task all but impossible. The last refinery built in the US was in Garyville, Louisiana, and it started up in 1976. Energy proposed building a refinery near Portsmouth, Virginia, in the late 1970s, environmental groups and local residents fought the plan -- and it took almost nine years of battles in court and before federal and state regulators before the company cancelled the project in 1984.
Industry officials estimate the cost of building a new refinery at between $ 2 bn and $ 4 bn -- at a time the industry must devote close to $ 20 bn over the next decade to reducing the sulphur content in gasoline and other fuels -- and approval could mean having to collect up to 800 different permits. As if those hurdles weren't enough, the industry's long-term rate of return on capital is just 5 % -- less than could be realized by simply buying US Treasury bonds. "I'm sure that at some point in the last 20 years someone has considered building a new refinery," says James Halloran, an energy analyst with National City Corp. "But they quickly came to their senses," he adds.
Maybe we'll see the Obamanationaliztion of our oil companies as "conservatives" don't work hard to win or sit on their hands until November.
Who're the schmucks now?
UPDATE II: Webutante has some excellent thoughts.
How We Got to $4/Gal Gasoline and Rising: Reason #3, Supply
See # 1 and #2 as well.
Senate panel retains oil-shale moratorium
While China and the rest of the world drills right off our shores, Brazil's state-controlled oil company;
Petrobras Hires 80% of Deepwater Rigs, Inflates Rents.
Since Congress has been able to contain global warming inside the capitol building in DC, to protect us, maybe they should release some or allow more drilling to ward off all the cold we've been experiencing lately.
What a bunch of schmucks only dumber.
UPDATE: They are dumber.
12-06-01 US appears to have built its last refinery
No new refineries have been built in the US in the past 25 years. And petroleum industry experts say anyone would have to be crazy to launch such an effort -- even though present refineries are running at nearly 100 % of capacity and local gasoline shortages are beginning to crop up.
Why does the industry appear to have built its last refinery? Three reasons: Refineries are not particularly profitable, environmentalists fight planning and construction every step of the way and government red-tape makes the task all but impossible. The last refinery built in the US was in Garyville, Louisiana, and it started up in 1976. Energy proposed building a refinery near Portsmouth, Virginia, in the late 1970s, environmental groups and local residents fought the plan -- and it took almost nine years of battles in court and before federal and state regulators before the company cancelled the project in 1984.
Industry officials estimate the cost of building a new refinery at between $ 2 bn and $ 4 bn -- at a time the industry must devote close to $ 20 bn over the next decade to reducing the sulphur content in gasoline and other fuels -- and approval could mean having to collect up to 800 different permits. As if those hurdles weren't enough, the industry's long-term rate of return on capital is just 5 % -- less than could be realized by simply buying US Treasury bonds. "I'm sure that at some point in the last 20 years someone has considered building a new refinery," says James Halloran, an energy analyst with National City Corp. "But they quickly came to their senses," he adds.
Maybe we'll see the Obamanationaliztion of our oil companies as "conservatives" don't work hard to win or sit on their hands until November.
Who're the schmucks now?
UPDATE II: Webutante has some excellent thoughts.
How We Got to $4/Gal Gasoline and Rising: Reason #3, Supply
See # 1 and #2 as well.
Speaking Of Talkin'
58% (Dixie). Barely into the Dixie category.
From the Harvard Computer Society Dialect Survey.
From An Ol' Broads Rambling
From the Harvard Computer Society Dialect Survey.
From An Ol' Broads Rambling
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