COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Germany decides to march to beat of a different drummer.



March 29, 2009
Brown snubbed over tax
Germans wreck ‘global new deal’



Jonathan Oliver and Bojan Pancevski Times on Line

GORDON BROWN’S carefully laid plans for a G20 deal on worldwide tax cuts have been scuppered by an eve-of-summit ambush by European leaders.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, last night led the assault on the prime minister’s “global new deal” for a $2 trillion-plus fiscal stimulus to end the recession.

“I will not let anyone tell me that we must spend more money,” she said.

The Spanish finance minister, Pedro Solbes, also dismissed new cash being pledged at Thursday’s London summit.


“In these conditions I and the rest of my colleagues from the eurozone believe there is no room for new fiscal stimulus plans,” he said.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has insisted that “radical reform” of capitalism is more important than tax cutting.

The attacks on Brown’s ambitions for the G20 to inject more money into the world economy come at the end of a week where the prime minister has travelled to three continents to build support for his proposals.

The likely deadlock at this week’s meeting will kill any remaining hope that Alistair Darling’s April 22 budget will offer significant tax cuts.

The assault by European Union leaders also represents a defeat for President Barack Obama, who is desperate for other big economies to copy his $800 billion stimulus plan.

“There will be a very long communiqué, but there won’t be much in it,” said a Washington economist.

Adding to the disarray, a draft of the agreement Brown hopes to secure was leaked to a German news magazine, prompting suggestions of “dirty tricks” by Berlin.

The draft stated that Britain wanted a “$2 trillion” global fiscal stimulus. However, the figure appeared only in brackets, indicating agreement on the package had yet to be reached.

The stimulus would boost world growth by 2% and employment by 19m, the draft said. The rest of the document was mainly general pledges.

“We believe that an open world economy, based on the principles of the market, effective regulation and strong global institutions, can ensure sustainable globalisation with rising well-being for all,” it said.

A No 10 source expressed “disappointment” at the leak and insisted the $2 trillion figure was not new money but an expression of the total tax and spending packages already pledged by G20 members.

Privately, government officials admit that no further fiscal stimulus will be announced this week, although there will be a $250 billion package for the International Monetary Fund to help rescue struggling poor nations.

Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, said he sympathised with the concerns of demonstrators planning to disrupt the London summit. “There is understandable frustration and some anger. The global economic systems has stalled and what we have got to do is get it started.”

George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, yesterday warned Brown against further tax cuts in the budget. “When it comes to your plans for a second fiscal stimulus, I say this Gordon Brown: enough is enough,” he said in a speech. “We will not let you play roulette with the public finances yet again.”

UK officials have not given up on the idea there could be agreement on a fresh boost for the world economy later in the year. “It is likely that there will be another heads of government meeting probably in Asia in the autumn,” said an official.

“This will be the forum where the next round of stimulus will be discussed.”

Brown still hopes to establish the IMF as an informal referee for international tax cuts. The plan is that the Washington-based body could advise on the timing of any future cuts.

Merkel’s criticism drew an angry response from Labour MPs. Denis MacShane, the former Europe minister, said: “Who does Mrs Merkel think is going to buy Mercedes and BMWs if she . . . says putting demand into the economy is a bad thing?” Another Labour MP said: “One has to ask who had something to gain from the leak of the communiqué. This feels like a dirty trick.”

There are growing fears that protests at the summit venue, the ExCeL centre in London’s Docklands could be marred by violence. Scotland Yard will be deploying specialist officers trained to use 50,000-volt Taser stun guns.


97 comments:

  1. I fear Amrbrose Evans-Pritchard may be correct when he notes:

    "Germany's finance minister, Peer Steinbruck, is still digging in his heels against "crass Keynesianism". No matter that his economy will shrink 6-7 per cent this year. Germans must sweat it out: some more than others.

    Unemployment may reach five million in 2010. No doubt spending is a poor instrument, and we are all sick of bail-outs. But Mr Steinbruck might brush up on history. It was the deflation of 1930-1932 – not the hyperinflation of 1923 – that killed Weimar democracy. (Communists and Nazis won half the Reichstag seats in July 1932).

    The neo-Marxist Linke Party is already angling for 30 per cent in June's Thuringia poll.

    You may agree with Mr Steinbruck. Fine. Capitol Hill does not. The most protectionist Congress since Bretton Woods is not going to acquiesce as precious US stimulus leaks abroad to the benefit of "free-riders". Patience will snap. "Buy American" is already US law.

    The risk is that this G20 becomes the defining moment when a disgusted American political class – sorely provoked – turns its back on the open trading system. The US alone has the strategic depth to clear its own path, and might find eager partners in a "pro-growth bloc" – much as Britain led a reflation bloc behind Imperial Preference in the early 1930s.

    As the world's top exporters, Germany and China should take great care to restrain their body language this week.

    Well done, Mr Brown, for trying to hold the world together. But if the summit degenerates into a shouting match between mercantilist creditors and prostrate debtors, it may serve only to frighten markets and tip us into the next – more violent – downward leg of this slump."

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  2. As I have been saying, the Americas and Asia will grow tighter in a bi-lateral trading arrangement.

    That century old trail will continue to be the path we travel.
    The Chinese will come along, as they little other practical alternative even as they attempt to grow their internal markets.

    Europe, Africa and the Arabs, to a lesser extent, left to their own devices.

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  3. Agree with or disagree with Obama's strategy, increasing spending is where he has committed the US. Let's see if he has the stones to stand up to the Europeans. What is the point to a massive US deficit spending program if it goes mostly for imported oil and Chinese goods?

    Obama must demand participation by China and the EU on their stimulating their own domestic economies. If Obama gets rolled on this, he will roll on anything.

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  4. I think he'll get Charlie Chicon to go along, but the Europeons are a different kettle of fish.

    The Germans do not want to bail, not a single bucket.

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  5. I much prefer your focus on the Americas. An Americas first policy does not need anyone else, but would bring in others that wish to join. An Americas first policy would work to the benefit of the entire hemisphere.

    As if we needed another example for caution in dealing with the Chinese:

    ..."A mystery electronic spy network apparently based in China has infiltrated hundreds of computers around the world and stolen files and documents, Canadian researchers have revealed.

    The network, dubbed GhostNet, appears to target embassies, media groups, NGOs, international organisations, government foreign ministries and the offices of the Dalai Lama, leader of the Tibetan exile movement. The researchers, based at Toronto University's Munk Centre for International Studies, said their discovery had profound implications.

    "This report serves as a wake-up call... these are major disruptive capabilities that the professional information security community, as well as policymakers, need to come to terms with rapidly," said researchers Ron Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski.

    After 10 months of study, the researchers concluded that GhostNet had invaded 1,295 computers in 103 countries, but it appeared to be most focused on countries in south Asia and south-east Asia, as well as the Dalai Lama's offices in India, Brussels, London and New York. The network continues to infiltrate dozens of new computers each week"

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  6. I have nothing against Europe. We do not need them as much as we once did. We need to detach ourselves from the Middle East. That will not be easy, but it should be our first priority. Step number one is to encourage the retirement of Chavez and normalize relations with Cuba.

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  7. Siena New York 20th Congressional District Poll:

    Murphy Takes 4-Point Lead Over Tedisco in Final Week
    Tedisco Campaign Seen as More Negative; Murphy’s More Positive
    But By 10-Point Margin, Voters Think Tedisco Will Win the Special Election

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  8. 2164th: "This report serves as a wake-up call..."

    Damn right it does. But the US government loves Micro$loth. Linux users laugh at viruses and trojans, and Windows is the biggest trojan of all.

    ReplyDelete
  9. 2164th: We need to detach ourselves from the Middle East.

    The BHO Administration will go a long way toward detaching us from the Israeli part of the Middle East. The rest might take a Palin Presidency.

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  10. The siege of Kabul, 1842
    The Disasters In Affghanistan. - Times Archive
    Thousands of the enemy thronged the whole area of the cantonments, rending the air with their exulting cries and committing every kind of atrocity

    The Affairs Of India. - Times Archive
    Report after report has arrived that the siege of Cabul continues to be pressed with unabated vigour

    India, Affghanistan, And China. - Times Archive
    Lady Sale, who occasionally botanized, was always guarded by two Affghans

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  11. George Soros is also warning that unless the G20 is successful, the world will go into depression.

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  12. The problem with the Marxist's spending is that it goes on forever into the future.
    The resulting debt and transfer of wealth from future generations is of Bannana Republic Proportions.

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  13. George Soros want the USA to go to Hell.
    ...been doing a pretty good job of steering us there.

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  14. And the "Stimulus" largely remains in Banks here and overseas.
    Remember 'Rat's link about the "slows."

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  15. And the "Stimulus" largely remains in Banks here and overseas.
    ==

    Bingo.

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  16. If the paradigm behind the girders of the economy changes, then those girders become little more than butter.

    China India Russia Europe Latin America and some ME countries are already making plans to extricate themselves from the US dollar and all the chicanery associated with it. Oil will not be a commodity the US will be able to afford to buy. Probably, oil wont be a commodity anyone will be able to afford to buy. There's only one way forward, and that's to invest in green renewable energy and in the electric infrastructure that utilizes it.

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  17. Methuselah, the oil miners can ask a $1000 a barrel if they want to, but every trade needs a buyer willing to meet those terms. If oil becomes a boutique item like diamonds, the economy of small scale won't support Hugo Chavez and Ahmedinejad's lifestyle anyway no matter what the asking price is.

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  18. Behind the facade, Obama's energy and transport policy is unserious, and given all the propaganda even scandalous. Many here don't like to hear the truth, and prefer the hocus-pocus lies and deceptions of the past. Last night in the past thread, I tried to make this point to Rufus. I said I will elaborate on this, and I will.

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  19. Tes,

    You have heard of barter, have you not? Most, if not all oil contracts, will follow this principle. In fact, I think most oil contracts already do.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Couple of US Gals in Haiti promoting composting toilets in Kristof Video on Frontpage of NY Times.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Obama’s False Choice
    What began as an economic crisis is now principally a political usurpation.

    A “chaotic and unforgiving capitalism” is exactly what we need right now.

    By Mark Steyn

    Writing in the Chicago Tribune last week, President Obama fell back on one of his favorite rhetorical tics: “But I also know,” he wrote, “that we need not choose between a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism and an oppressive government-run economy. That is a false choice that will not serve our people or any people.”

    Really? For the moment, it’s a “false choice” mainly in the sense that he’s not offering it: “a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism” is not on the menu, which leaves “an oppressive government-run economy” as pretty much the only game in town. How oppressive is yet to be determined: To be sure, the official position remains that only “the richest five percent” will have taxes increased. But you’ll be surprised at the percentage of Americans who wind up in the richest five percent. This year federal government spending will rise to 28.5 per cent of GDP, the highest level ever, with the exception of the peak of the Second World War. The 44th president is proposing to add more to the national debt than the first 43 presidents combined, doubling it in the next six years, and tripling it within the decade. But to talk about it in percentages of this and trillions of that misses the point. It’s not about bookkeeping, it’s about government annexation of the economy, and thus of life: government supervision, government regulation, government control. No matter how small your small business is — plumbing, hairdressing, maple sugaring — the state will be burdening you with more permits, more paperwork, more bureaucracy.

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  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  23. 1/ Is a $1.4 trillion/year military expenditure sustainable?

    Hell, no; that's why it's only about $0.56 Trillion.

    2/ Does the US gov present honest accounting in its economic figures?

    Of course, those numbers are done by career civil servants, hundreds of them. They're as accurate as they can make them. Would YOU fudge the numbers if you were a GS 13, and 3 years from retirement?


    3/ Is ethanol a viable replacement for oil?


    Yes, I run it in my Impala. I have more "Power," and I'm not sending that money to a bunch of America-Hating Terrorists that want to kill Me, and my family.
    ==



    1/

    During FY 2008, the U.S. government spent nearly $800 billion on defense and homeland security, approximately 30% of tax collections.[12]

    * Department of Defense: $741 billion
    * Homeland Security: $54 billion

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States

    This actually is a very conservative figure because it does not include the shadow military spending budget, nor does it include interest incurred on past military related expenditures. Still, even the $0.56 trillion, is 10x what Russia China or India spend on defense and is wildly out of whack.



    2/

    The numbers are bogus. Anyone with half a brain can see that. You had house prices triple in the past 5 years. Same for oil prices. Same for other commodities. Yet, you want to tell me inflation was negligible. That's pure BS, and nothing but an accounting scam.

    Same goes for your GDP figures. The only thing that grew is debt spending, productive manufacturing was sent overseas.


    3/

    Ethanol is a scam. All you have to do is do a little research, and you'll very quickly come to realize this. You, Rufus, know this better than most, yet you persist with the lies.

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  24. Scam, or not, I'll probably spend less per mile to drive my car this year than you will, and I won't send a single, solitary cent to the Middle East to do it.

    There will be no Marines guarding the Midwest Corn fields, and no nuclear subs, or aircraft carriers in the Mississippi.

    And, to date, not a single American kid has been killed "protecting the ethanol."

    No wonder "Pootie poot," and the Mullahs don't like it.

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  25. Seems the Iranians are in North Korea helping with the missile launch. We've said we won't get involved. The Japanese have a couple of ships in the area with missiles. Wonder if those Japanese missiles are home grown or came from us.

    Bho's video to the Iranians seems to have had no effect.

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  26. WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he thinks North Korea probably will launch a missile soon -- and there's not much the U.S. can do about it.


    A Japanese newspaper is reporting Sunday that the North is preparing to launch a short- or medium-range missile, possibly right after it carries out its plan to fire a long-range rocket in early April.


    In Gates' words -- "I would say we're not prepared to do anything about it."


    Hillary's smart diplomcy. That puts the fear of God into them.

    Better send them more fuel oil and wheat.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Critics' Picks: 'The Bicycle Thief'


    http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/arts/movies-critics-picks/1194811622317/index.html#1194838849348

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  28. WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's intelligence chief confirmed Thursday that some Guantanamo inmates may be released on US soil and receive assistance to return to society.


    "If we are to release them in the United States, we need some sort of assistance for them to start a new life," said National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair at his first press conference.


    "You can't just put them on the street," he added. "All that is work in progress."


    Back In The USA

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  29. Conservatives aren't allowed to have their tax revolt in Florida because the government won't issue a permit.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Screw the city government. Peacefully assemble anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Kensington Rune Stone

    Sun 03.29 >>
    Ian Punnett welcomes geologist and researcher Scott Wolter, who'll discuss the historic Kensington Rune Stone and how its discovery changes everything we know about early America. C2C tonite

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  32. War, bobal, is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.

    --
    Obama: "VENI, VIDEO, VOTE" (I came, I read the TelePrompTer, I got elected President)

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  33. Poet powers its 105 Million gal/year Chancellors ethanol refinery with Landfill gas, and wood waste.

    A little corn, a little methane from the local landfill, and a little forestry waste, and we feed Rufus' milk cow with DDGS, Power his car with ethanol, and have some captured CO2 to inject back into the local oil well to get a few extra gallons of home-grown crude out of the ground.

    Repeat this a few times and we don't have to spend $160 Billion/Yr in the Middle East, or send $1 Billion/DAY to the oil Tyrants in Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Venezuela.

    What a "Scam."

    ReplyDelete
  34. And, Not a Single American Kid Dies.

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  35. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  36. The roles reverse,
    but circus theater continues:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Xk30-Kybs


    So, how long do you plan to be played?

    ReplyDelete
  37. The Quiet Coup

    http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200905/imf-advice

    http://snipurl.com/esvys

    ReplyDelete
  38. Fuck Jud Gregg. Where was he when Wall Street was running us into the ditch?

    Where was he when Republicans like Mitt Romney were telling us that millions of people couldn't get health care because they Couldn't Qualify for Health Insurance?

    Where was he when Fannie, and Freddie were destroying the Real Estate Market in the United States?

    Why does he think we're so stupid as to actually believe that our deficit in 2010 will be a "Trillion" Dollars.

    Counting his Lottery Winnings?

    His team drove us into the ditch. No one wants to listen to him whine about the new driver's attempts to get us out. Not now.

    ReplyDelete
  39. WASHINGTON -- As he carries out a retooled strategy in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama says he will consult with Pakistan's leaders before pursuing terrorist hideouts in that country.

    Obama said U.S. ally Pakistan needs to be more accountable, but ruled out deploying U.S. troops there. "Our plan does not change the recognition of Pakistan as a sovereign government," the president told CBS' "Face the Nation" in an interview broadcast Sunday.

    The president also bemoaned the tenuous security situation in Afghanistan, saying, "Unless we get a handle on it now, we're gonna be in trouble." He made clear that his new strategy for the long war is "not going to be an open-ended commitment of infinite resources" from the United States.


    In other words, don't expect much.

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  40. Look for Oil to be "Discovered" in Afghanistan. Probably within the next two years.

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  41. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  42. Fuck Jud Gregg. Where was he when Wall Street was running us into the ditch?
    ==

    He was being financed by the Republican Party of-course. The only way to break this lock is to insist on a break from party affiliation/money, and insist that any candidate running for office sign a sworn statement specifying the list of programs he/she will vote to cut when in office.

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  43. Housing Market Coming Back
    ==

    Good. I hope they'll still be able to afford these houses when interest rates start climbing.

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  44. I gotta make an Arby's run. Any of you want a Roast Chicken Club Sandwich too? I'm taking orders. I'm in the "Over 55 Club", get 25% off.

    It's called age deflation.

    ReplyDelete
  45. If they'd keep lowering the price with each year that goes by, I'd have something to look forward to.

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  46. Try the Shuarma, Bob. I hear it's fantastic.

    ReplyDelete
  47. "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."

    – Plato

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  48. Shuarma? That doesn't ring a bell.

    Arby's Menu

    They used to have a salad bar but closed it down, too much trouble and possible liability from salmonella.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Was just reading some Plato last night. Beware people that live chained in caves, facing one way. They may well kill you if you try to talk them out of their ordinary perceptions.

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  50. We used to call it the salmonella bar, there at Arby's.

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  51. Was just reading some Plato last night. Beware people that live chained in caves, facing one way. They may well kill you if you try to talk them out of their ordinary perceptions.
    ==

    Touche.

    ReplyDelete
  52. In November 2008 our choice was between a old man who might not survive the next four years or the whole country not surviving the next four years.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Max Keiser Radio:
    The Truth About Markets

    http://maxkeiser.com/2009/03/28/max-keiser-radio-the-truth-about-markets-28-march-2009/
    ==

    I wish more people would educate themselves to this.

    ReplyDelete
  54. late as usual but what did germany expect from obama when they were backing him so stongly during election time? me thinks obama has met their expectations so far and may actually exceed their hopes and dreams.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Hey, Doug, to you on the exposed periphery, from a friend in the safe interior, you can sleep well this week---

    "I think if we had an aberrant missile, one that was headed for Hawaii or something like that, we might consider it, but I do not think we have any plans to do anything like that at this point," said Robert Gates----


    speaking of shooting down a Nork missile launch.

    They'll consider it, Doug.

    They might even do it.

    But, I don't know what the odds are.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Obama's Mythical Defense Cuts

    The real question is not why Obama wants to spend so little on defense but why he wants to spend so much. Since 2001, our military outlays have soared by 40 percent, after adjusting for inflation. And that's not counting the costs of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    We not only spend more than anyone else, we spend more than everyone else. Globalsecurity.org reports that in 2004, the United States lavished $623 billion on the military. All the other governments on Earth together managed only $500 billion. Even this gap understates our dominance, because most of the other top spenders are U.S. allies.
    ...
    The Washington Post had a story the other day about China's military expansion, which has enlarged its budget to more than $100 billion in 2008. This trend worries the Pentagon. "Given the apparent absence of direct threats from other nations," says the Post, "the purposes to which China's current and future military power will be applied remain uncertain."

    But our spending that year was more than $600 billion. And China, come to think of it, is not the only country spending a lot on the military despite the absence of direct threats from other nations.

    Benjamin Friedman of the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington notes something generally overlooked in Washington: "In a literal sense, the United States does not have a defense budget." Our military outlays go for all sorts of purposes -- "the purported extension of freedom, the maintenance of hegemony, and the ability to threaten any other nation with conquest." But defending the nation's basic security? That's a small share of our military outlays.

    If we focused on what is vital for our safety and independence, we could spend a lot less money. But if there is no limit to what we have to do to police and remake the world, there is also no limit to what we can spend.


    schapman@tribune.com

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  57. Single-Celled Blobs Make Tracks On Ocean Floor

    They've been making those tracks for untold millions of years, and really haven't gotten anywhere yet. Sisyphus blobicus oceanicus.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Orgasm and childbirth

    Imagine a drug-free, pain-free labour that comes with multiple orgasms - it really is possible

    ReplyDelete
  59. DR: Imagine a drug-free, pain-free labour that comes with multiple orgasms - it really is possible

    This is going to produce the Mother of All Baby Booms

    ReplyDelete
  60. Orgasmic Birth Movement.

    heh

    Can't think of a good one liner, that's not 'inappropriate'.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Welcome to America, the World's Scariest Emerging Market.

    Good thing we've got those responsible, "moderate" "pragmatists" in charge.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Regarding the physiological effects of cannabis, here's a timely article:
    I was a skunk addict, ...

    ReplyDelete
  63. skunk --

    cross breed of Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica. Sativa is the more traditionally smoked outdoor-grown variety which occurs naturally in places like Colombia, Mexico, Thailand and Africa; Indica is a shorter, bushier variety found in Afghanistan. Unlike pure Sativa, the high it gives is slightly heavy, lassitudinous and mongy.

    damn, this skunk is some evil shit, where can I get some?


    Urban Dictiionary

    Smoothes ya right out, it does.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Who would you rather trust - the BBC or a blogger?

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/mar/29/bbc-bloggers-journalism

    http://snipurl.com/etmrc

    ReplyDelete
  65. If you want to get back to basics, you can pick up "The Last Superstition: A Refutation Of The New Atheism" by Edward Feser

    Goes through Plato and on to Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas and the natural law outlook that used to be the foundation stone of the Western way. Slays Daniel Dennent, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins et.al. along the way.

    Good read.

    ReplyDelete
  66. You should post a book review, bob.

    ReplyDelete
  67. The pace of knowledge and innovation:

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

    http://bit.ly/5chJo

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  68. 25. Subotai Bahadur:


    Since January 20, 2009 the United States has been signalling to all of the world as loudly as it can that the United States has no intention of defending itself or any country that believes that it is an ally of the United States.

    If this launch does end up posing some sort of threat to Japan and/or South Korea; they and every country that has depended on us as a military ally will have to rethink their security situation. Japan is believed to be able to assemble a credible nuclear deterrent with a few turns of a wrench.

    South Korea has long had the means to begin building its own nukes. In 1976 it cancelled its nuclear weapons program and signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty solely to preserve its defense relationship with the US. If that relationship no longer can be relied on, the only rational response is to restart the program.

    Similarly, there have been recurrent rumors that Taiwan has the ability to produce [or has produced] nuclear weapons. Its program was officially shut down in 1993 at the demand of William Jefferson Clinton. Still, looking at the development of indigenous Taiwanese missiles; the CEP’s and ranges of several models make no sense with conventional warheads. However, for counter-value targeting with nuclear weapons they make perfect sense. It is noted that Taiwan was deeply involved in defense coordination and weapons production with both Israel and pre-Mandala South Africa. Both partners developed nuclear weapons [South Africa destroyed theirs] and Taiwanese physicists [who helped us develop weapons during the Cold War]were deeply involved.

    If the US defense guarantee has no factual value, a sense of self-preservation means that smaller nations are going to either look for the modern equivalent of Sam Colt’s equalizer, or to make whatever accomodation they can with the United States’ enemies.

    The world has become a far more dangerous place in the last 68 days. And it is only the beginning.

    Nothing lasts forever but the Earth and Sky.

    Subotai Bahadur


    Mar 29, 2009 - 5:45 pm

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  69. Not quite done with it, Whit, but will keep it in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  70. China Pledges Huge Solar Subsidies -- Seeking Alpha

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/128372-china-pledges-huge-solar-subsidies?source=feed

    http://snipurl.com/ettps
    ==

    China knows!

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  71. The Chinese government on Thursday announced what some industry analysts called the most aggressive and generous solar power subsidy in the world, giving Chinese solar companies a big market boost amid a generally gloomy outlook for short-term growth.

    China's solar subsidy plan would offer 20 yuan (about $2.94) per watt for solar photovoltaic installations greater than 50 kilowatts. That would essentially cover half the cost of entire installations at today's low solar panel prices, according to an RBC Capital Markets analyst note.

    Shares of Chinese solar companies soared on Thursday's news, though some were giving up part of their gains in Friday morning trading.

    American depository shares of Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP) gained $3.44, or 43.8 percent, to close at $11.29 on Thursday but were down 43 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $10.86 in Friday morning trading.

    Trina Solar (NSDQ: TSL) likewise saw a Thursday gain of $3.54, or 40.8 percent, to close at $12.19, but were down 11 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $12.08 in Friday morning trading.

    JA Solar Holdings Co. (NDSQ: JASO) closed ahead by $1.11, or 41.7 percent, at $3.77 on Thursday, and had added 18 cents, or 4.8 percent, to rise to $3.95 in Friday morning trading.
    ==

    This is what the US gov should have done, instead of wasting trillions on banksters mafia scams.

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  72. Why would you name a suicide drone 'Herod'?

    I'd think there would be some other name in the history, myth, and culture than 'Herod' for a suicide drone.

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  73. Some male or female Israelite martyr, perhaps.

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  74. End credits cue for the bleak, dystopian vision of a post-Obama America, "Blade Runner"

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  75. Bobal, did you ever wonder why the Kamikaze pilots wore helmets? That's been nagging me for a while.

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  76. Bobal, did you ever wonder why the Kamikaze pilots wore helmets? That's been nagging me for a while.

    heh, never thought of that.

    Did they have parachutes?

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  77. Alarming, indeed. Laughter and applause. The true word according to mo. Wonder how he treats his wives?

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  78. Sam, these people will not stop. There's only way to deal with them, and that is to treat them for what they are.

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  79. Sam, that's such a good (bad) video I'm gonna take a liberty and post it over at BC, with a h/t to you. We all need a reminder once in a while.

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  80. Me, me, I know the answer, call on me.

    They were praying to crash on takeoff.

    where do I collect my prize?

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  81. A beer for Rufus, well earned.

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  82. Now on twitter:

    http://twitter.com/mika2k1

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  83. “It was interesting to hear their stories,” said 12th-grader Gary Ange.

    He said he looks up to the veterans because of their service to the country.

    “They had the courage to go out there and risk their lives and defend us against Nazis and other threats,” Ange said.


    WWII Vets

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  84. I just take the credit, Sam. You did the work.

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  85. Tp try to get a nuclear plant built it seems you have to try and nurse the opinions along---


    AEHI sends out informational DVDs to Elmore County residents

    Some residents may have misconceptions about nuclear power and DVD is intended to bring them up to date on modern nuclear plants

    March 29, 2008

    For more information, contact:

    Jennie Ransom, vice-president for administration, 208-939-9311

    More than 11,000 DVDs will be mailed to Elmore County residents this week, part of a company informational campaign to better inform the public about a proposed nuclear power plant there.

    “People still have misconceptions about nuclear power – they don’t know the U.S. nuclear industry has zero radiation fatalities or injuries in 52 years of production, they think nuclear plants emit radiation, they think only a few kinds of people can hold jobs there,” said Jennie Ransom, vice-president of Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. “We are proposing something very significant in their county so we should do as much as we can to inform people.”

    The DVDs are a combination of publicly available information about how nuclear plants operate, as well as interviews with company officials and local residents. Anyone who would like a copy of the DVD should contact the company at 939-9311 or info@aehipower.com.

    The company will also be accepting resumes and letters of interest from people on Wednesday, April 22 in front of Mountain Home Junior High School beginning at 5 p.m. People who go to the table will be encouraged to attend the Elmore County Commission meeting in the adjacent school auditorium and show their support for the proposal to construct a large advanced nuclear reactor in Elmore County.

    Some consultants will need to be hired immediately if the commission grants the company’s rezone request and other jobs will be needed in the coming years, including technical positions, maintenance, administration, security and management. The plant will create about 5,000 jobs during construction and 500 during operation and Ransom also said the company will hire from Idaho and Elmore County as much as possible.

    “More than 75 percent of the jobs at the plant will not need extensive training, as long as people qualify and pass the needed background checks, and we will provide training for many jobs,” Ransom said. “Elmore County people are hard-working and, with the large number of military people in the county, there are many with the good security clearances that are required to work at a nuclear plant.”

    However, even with no new plants under construction, the nuclear industry is already putting people to work. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, “nuclear energy is one of the few bright spots in the US economy - expanding rather than contracting.”According to the report, private investment in new nuclear power plants has created an estimated 14,000-15,000 jobs.” The number of new jobs “will expand dramatically after 2011 when the first wave of these new nuclear projects starts construction.”

    Ransom pointed out that 83 percent of Americans living in close proximity to nuclear power plants favor nuclear energy, and 76 percent are willing to see a new reactor built near them, according to a survey of more than 1,100 adults across the United States. The first-of-its-kind survey, which only questioned residents within 10 miles of an operating nuclear power plant, also found that 85 percent give the nearest nuclear power plant a "high" safety rating, and that 88 percent are confident that the company operating the power plant can do so safely.

    U.S. nuclear plants continued to post a low industrial accident rate in 2008 with only 0.13 industrial accidents per 200,000 worker-hours. Statistics from other industries through 2007, as compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, show that it is safer to work at a nuclear power plant than in the manufacturing sector and even the real estate and financial sectors.

    AEHI’s 2007 economic study found the plant would grow employment in Elmore and Owyhee counties by 25 percent and generate 4,230 jobs statewide during construction, including a total annual payroll impact of $839 million – nearly 2 percent of the payroll in Idaho. It would also generate 1,004 annual jobs statewide during operation (estimated 60 years or more) with an annual statewide payroll impact of $57 million. It would also pay average annual wages of $80,000 to plant employees (267 percent of Idaho average) and pay would be $33,536 (112 percent of Idaho average) in industries indirectly affected (2006 dollars). Total annual labor income impacts in Owyhee and Elmore counties during operation would be $52.3 million.

    The Idaho Energy Complex (www.idahoenergycomplex.com) will be a large advanced nuclear reactor with low cooling water requirements located about 65 miles southeast of Boise, in Elmore County. Company officials plan to submit a Combined Operating License Application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2010. The approval process is expected to take three years and cost $80 million. Construction could begin as soon as late 2012 and finish with power generation beginning in late 2016. For more information, see www.alternatenergyholdings.com and www.cleanidahoenergy.wordpress.com.

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  86. But G.M. collapsed last fall when new-vehicle sales in the United States plummeted to their lowest level in 25 years. G.M. lost more than $30 billion in 2008, and has been subsisting on government loans since the beginning of the year.

    On Capitol Hill, leading Democrats say they support giving the companies more aid. But some Republicans, including the House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, sounded skeptical.

    “Mr. Boehner believes that the nation’s automakers must restructure significantly and put in place a real viability plan before the federal government ever considers giving them another dime,” said the leader’s spokeswoman, Antonia Ferrier. “To date, we haven’t seen one.”


    Ailing Carmakers

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