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 28, 2010

Sunday Morning, March 28, 2010

26 comments:

  1. Payrolls probably grew in March

    I don't think this one will end up being a "jobless" recovery. Growth is picking up in the Non-OECD Countries, and our "export" business should be pretty good.

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  2. You just ain't no good, Doug.

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  3. The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of this old disease.

    The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim. It's pronounced "Gonna re-elect 'im."



    The disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior involving putting your cranium up your rectum.

    Many victims contracted it in 2008 ..... but now most people after having been infected for the past 1-2 years are starting to realize how destructive this sickness is.



    It's sad because it is so easily cured with a new procedure just coming on the market called Vo-tem-out!
    You take the first dose/step in 2010 and the second dosage in 2012 and simply don't engage in such behavior again, otherwise it could become permanent and eventually wipe out all life as we know it.



    Several states are already on top of this like Virginia and New Jersey, and apparently now Massachusetts with many more seeing the writing on the wall.



    Please pass this important message on to all those bright folk you really care about.

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  4. "The disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior involving putting your cranium up your rectum."
    ---

    Rufus tried Cold Turkey,
    that didn't work.

    Maybe we should buy him a live one?

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  5. We now understand how it happens:

    People BEG for servitude.

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  6. "It's really not that bad!"

    (GOOD, in fact.)

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  7. (AP) It will probably come as a surprise to most Americans, but the winter just finished was the fifth warmest on record, worldwide.

    Oh, sure, nearly two-thirds of the country can dispute that from personal experience of a colder-than-normal season.

    But while much of the United States was colder than usual, December-February - climatological winter - continued the long string of unusual warmth on a global basis.

    And parts of the United States did join in, with warmer-than-normal readings for the season in New England and the Pacific Northwest. Indeed, Maine had its third warmest winter on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports.

    NOAA's National Climatic Data Center reports that worldwide the average temperature for winter was 54.9 degrees Fahrenheit (12.7 Celsius).

    That's 1.08 degrees F (0.60 C) above average for the three-month period.

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  8. I don't know about the rest of the world, but it's has been a cold winter here in North America. The coldest in many years. And yet, those damn spring weeds are springing, the pollen is falling, and chores are calling. Spring is here; early spring, cool spring, overcast spring, but spring nevertheless. I don't feel like fighting weeds and I'm thankful to have made it through another winter.

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  9. Just your typical El Nino, negative PDO, neg AO winter.

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  10. I met a man recently whose ancestor was the first Spanish man to settle in Ft Meyers. Senor Gonzalez left Spain on his sailing ship and found his way through the Caribbean to Florida where he sailed into the Caloosahatchee River and set up residence and rounded up wild cattle, pigs and produce to sell and trade throughout the Caribbean islands.

    I'm ready for that kind of adventure.

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  11. Earth goes dark for an hour

    "Hundreds of people held out glowing sticks to form a head-down arrow and the English letters "CO2," voicing their call to reduce carbon-dioxide."


    Save the World. Turn Off a Light

    Dang, I missed the party.

    .

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  12. Dutch disarm 12 pirates off coast of Somalia

    "The Dutch navy says it has disarmed 12 more pirates off the coast of Somalia after luring them into a foolhardy attack on a warship."

    Pirates Captured

    Pirates in skiffs attack warship.

    Makes one wonder how bright these guys are.


    .

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  13. Or, just what they ARE smoking?

    And, "is it available in the States?"

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  14. As for "earth hour:"

    When the lights goes out at "Chez Rufus" at 8:30 PM you know the Entergy check done bounced.

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  15. :)

    Still, I'm always looking for an opportunity to save the world.

    And,

    Still waiting for that call back from Bono.

    .

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  16. whit said...

    "I don't know about the rest of the world, but it's has been a cold winter here in North America"


    weelllll, here in Toronto we had virtually no snow all winter, like 1 days worth and I've already managed to get 3 rounds of golf in (we've broken all kinds of war weather records for march) when in a normal year I don't get out until mid-april at the earliest. On top of that I got a round in Nov. 30th. The only reason I didn't play in Dec. was I couldn't find a golf course open because they had already told their staff to go home.

    It is by far the easiest winter I've ever experienced in my 40 years in Canada.

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  17. You neglected to mention your blood runs thin as the Antifreeze solution in your car.
    ...twice as toxic, tho.

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  18. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama made the first trip of his presidency to Afghanistan on Sunday, where he said the military campaign had made progress but President Hamid Karzai still had to tackle corruption.

    Barack Obama

    Air Force One landed in darkness at Bagram airfield north of the Afghan capital, and Obama was whisked by helicopter to Karzai's palace in Kabul, where he was greeted by the Afghan president and a band playing the U.S. national anthem.
    ---

    Karzai leaves him conflicted:
    He's our "ally,"
    but as corrupt as Chavez.

    To Damn Him,
    or Praise Him,
    That is the question.

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  19. 127. Marzouq the Redneck Muslim:

    It was a long read which I could not stop. Great comments.

    A wise man once told me this truth……….. “The hole is mightier than the pole”.

    Salaaaaaaam eleikum Y’all!!

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  20. I have a problem comprehending these two news items:
    1. The pictures of Obama as CiC wearing bomber jacket addressing troops:
    KABUL (AP) - President Barack Obama has told American forces during his surprise visit to Afghanistan that U.S. lives would be at risk if the Taliban retake control of the country.

    Obama says difficult days lie ahead in the 8-year-old war and he says there will be setbacks. But he says the U.S. doesn't quit and will prevail.

    The president spoke to about 2,500 U.S. forces at Bagram Air Field after talks earlier Sunday in Kabul with Afghan leaders.

    Obama told President Hamid Karzai and his Cabinet that they need to make more progress in fighting corruption and improving their government.


    A Chicago politician lecturing anyone on corruption?

    And B.

    Chinese Automaker Geely to Buy Volvo
    By KEITH BRADSHER 2:05 PM ET

    Ford reached an agreement to sell its Volvo subsidiary to a Chinese conglomerate for $1.8 billion, in the clearest confirmation yet of China’s global ambitions in the auto industry.

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  21. So, whit, what do the Chinese get, for $1.8 bn USD?

    A name plague?

    Factories in Scandinavia?

    Some kind of an independent dealer network? (I doubt that one)

    Debt, Labor Contracts?

    Could be a lot of money for a car manufacturer, in this whirled market.

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  22. I suspect that the Execs at Ford have uncorked the champagne.

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