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."

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Saturday Night At The Bar

The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches. ~e.e. cummings

so

So I'm gonna soak up the sun

I'm gonna tell everyone

To lighten up

I'm gonna tell 'em that

I've got no one to blame

For every time I feel lame

I'm looking up

I'm gonna soak up the sun

24 comments:

  1. It is with mixed emotions that I announce my resignation from the EB effective when I collect my multimillion pound winnings from the British Lottery. I have just replied to the email and will let you all know "when my ship comes in." In the meantime, drinks are on me all night!

    sincerely and forever, your humble (and soon to be rich) bartender,

    whit

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  2. I'd like to submit my wish list a little early.

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  3. Son't forget your old dear partner!!

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  4. They'll probably tax me out of house and home to pay that $1.5 Trillion deficit. By the time Uncle Sam gets done with me, I'll probably have to sell my stake in the EB to pay the taxes on that lottery money.

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  5. Good, I was worried that the photo you posted above the video is your wish list.

    Picture frames, boots, a bag - no problem.

    White Horses. Really?

    An old Cadillac convertible.

    You could get expensive!

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  6. "You could get expensive!"

    Could?


    Bwahahahahahahaha


    But I do find the best deals.

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  7. Attention:

    You have reached the very last page of the Internet.

    We hope you have enjoyed your browsing.

    Now turn off your computer and go outside.

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  8. Egypt used to produce about a million bbl of oil/day, and consume about 300,000 bbl/day. They exported the rest, and that paid for their food imports.

    They import IIRC about 60% of their food (they're the world's largest importer of wheat.)

    Their oil production is down to about 600,000 bbl/day, and their consumption is Up to about 600,000 bbl/day. There went the "Exports."

    There went the money to pay for the food "imports."

    The government is running a huge deficit, and was, recently, threatening to cut food, and gasoline subsidies.

    Inflation is 12.8%.

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  9. Anyone who lives any place where Islam is dominant.

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  10. The inevitable, whit. is that the Iranian influence will increase in Iraq.
    The other inevitable, the tribal system will remain in place, as the cornerstone of that society.

    The deconstruction of which, the tribal society, was the primary US goal, in 2003 & 2004.

    That we failed at achieving that goal, inevitable.

    All the "Surge" did, was to buy off the Sunni tribal leaders, in direct repudiation of prior US policy. It was an admission of defeat, in an effort to lower the level of violence, in Iraq.

    That violence is now escalating, as was the inevitable consequence of US attempts to manage Iraqi society with payoffs to the tribal leaders.

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  11. The reported violence in Iraq, in just the last 24 hours.
    The inevitable result of the failed US effort, there.

    Gunmen assassinate local official in Iraq
    Xinhua -

    BAQUBA, Iraq, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Gunmen fatally shot an official of a town in the Iraqi eastern province of Diyala on Saturday while Iraqi security forces ...

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    Death toll reaches 51 day after Iraq funeral blast
    KGAN - ‎Jan 28, 2011‎
    BAGHDAD (AP) -- Security forces in Iraq are cracking down on traffic in Baghdad's neighborhoods, a day after a bombing at a Shiite funeral killed at least ...

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    Iraq refugee returns fell in 2010: UNHCR
    AFP - Jacques Clement - ‎Jan 28, 2011‎
    BAGHDAD — Fewer Iraqis displaced inside and outside the country returned to their homes in 2010 than in the previous year, largely as a result of Iraq's ...

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    'Iraqi refugees reluctant to return home' Press TV

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    Iraq water shortages raising ethnic tensions
    AFP - Marwan Ibrahim -

    KIRKUK, Iraq — A worsening water shortage in Iraq is raising tensions in the multi-ethnic Kirkuk province, where Arab farmers accuse the Kurdistan region ...

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    Gunmen ambush government-backed Sunni militiamen in carjacking, killing 2
    The Canadian Press - ‎

    BAGHDAD — Iraqi police and hospital officials say two government-backed Sunni militiamen have been killed in a carjacking in northern Iraq. Police Brig. ...

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    Iraq's air force still lacks firepower
    UPI.com - ‎Jan 28, 2011‎
    28 (UPI) -- Iraq is reportedly on the verge of signing a $13 billion deal with the Pentagon for advanced weapons systems, including Lockheed Martin F-16 ...


    Another Islamic Republic supplied with F-16s. Our allies.

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  12. Egypt has 1,000 M1A1 tanks.

    No idea how many F16's.

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  13. Egypt is a nation of 80 Million that can raise enough food to feed 40 Million. With nothing much to export.

    Being an Egyptian don't suck nearly as bad as it's going to.

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  14. The winner of the next Egyptian election will have no choice but to demand an Immediate Recount.

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  15. Okay, puzzle me this: Who did build those damned pyramids?

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  16. Okay, puzzle me this: Who did build those damned pyramids?

    Freemasons.

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  17. "Climate change is a complete hoax" says John Coleman father of the TV weather channel.

    Gore's mentor even changes his mind!

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  18. Fueling the future; British scientists refine synthetic petrol
    Phil Boehmke
    It wasn’t all that long ago that hydrogen was being touted as the fuel of the future, but even the most hard-core hydrogen backers seemingly lost interest as storage and delivery problems began to look insurmountable. With oil prices surging and uncertainty amid large scale political turmoil in the Middle East, any hope of economic recovery could be squashed by spiraling fuel prices. The various green energy boondoggles have not proven practical despite massive government spending and promotional schemes.

    Meanwhile, scientists in Great Britain have continued their research on hydrogen-based fuel and now the UK Daily Mail reports that a new breakthrough has given new life to the project.

    British scientists are refining the recipe for a hydrogen-based fuel that will run in existing cars and engines at the fraction of the cost of conventional petrol.

    With hydrogen at its heart rather than carbon, it will not produce any harmful emissions when burnt, making it better for the environment, as well as easier on the wallet.

    The first road tests are due next year and, if all goes well, the cut-price ‘petrol’ could be on sale in three to five years.

    Professor Stephen Bennington, the project’s lead scientist, said: ‘In some senses, hydrogen is the perfect fuel. It has three times more energy than petrol per unit of weight, and when it burns, it produces nothing but water.

    ‘Our new hydrogen storage materials offer real potential for running cars, planes and other vehicles that currently use hydrocarbons.’

    The problems with costly and unsafe hydrogen fuel storage methods have dogged researchers for years, but a breakthrough new process developed jointly at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxford University and University College London has overcome these barriers. The new process densely packs hydrogen into miniscule beads which can easily to pumped and stored like other liquids.

    Stephen Volker, of Cellar Energy, which is developing the technology, told Gizmag: ‘We have developed micro-beads that can be used in an existing gasoline or petrol vehicle to replace oil-based fuels.

    ‘Early indications are that the micro-beads can be used in existing vehicles without engine modification.’

    The estimated cost for a gallon of the as yet unnamed new fuel will be roughly $1.50 per gallon before taxes and initial mileage estimates look to be comparable with conventional fuel. If the new hydrogen fuel is successful it would provide much needed relief at the pumps and pave the way for the ‘holy grail’ of energy independence.

    Of course once hydrogen fuel usage becomes widespread with businesses and consumers are reaping the benefits from the fuel savings, the government will doubtless find new ways to tax and regulate the new fuel and the companies to produce, transport and dispense the new life blood of our economy.

    American Thinker

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  19. OMG I won too!

    Congratulations! You have just won £850,000.00 in the satellite online email lottery in which e-mail addresses are picked randomly To claim your prize, please contact: FIDUCIARY AGENT(Overseas Claims Unit): Mr Robert Hache, EMAIL : robertolivia34@yahoo.com.hk Tell+447024010089 Warm Regards,Mr. Lorraine Dodds

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  20. That's odd the only thing I get in my mail is advertisements for viagra.

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