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, April 17, 2011

California Senate approves bill to require public education of LGBT history


SACRAMENTO — California moved another step closer to requiring the teaching of LGBT history in public schools, after legislation was approved in the full state Senate this week.

The Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful Education Act, sponsored by openly gay Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), would require classroom text books and other instructional materials used in public schools to include the historical contributions of LGBT people.

The bill would also add sexual orientation and gender identity to California’s anti-discrimination protections.

The bill passed by a vote of 23-14, along party lines with Democrats in favor.

“Most textbooks don’t include any information about LGBT historical figures or the LGBT civil rights movement, which has great significance to both California and U.S. history,” Leno said in a release.

If passed, the bill — SB 48 — could have impact beyond California’s borders. Altering textbooks books to meet only one state’s order may not make sense to publishers, so the LGBT-inclusive versions could spread to other states as well.

The bill now heads to the Democratic-controlled state Assembly, where approval seems likely.

Gov. Jerry Brown (D) has not yet taken a position on the proposal.

---

Actually, he has:
He's chosen to be a bottom.

---

It was just two years ago when SaveCalifornia.com launched the RescueYourChild.com effort to encourage parents to withdraw their children from public schools because of such indoctrination.

That followed work by the legislature and then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to establish Senate Bill 777 and Assembly Bill 394 as law. Those institutionalized the promotion of homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism and other alternative lifestyle choices by banning any "adverse" references in schools.

At the time, officials said SB 777 "functionally requires public school instructional materials and school-sponsored activities to positively portray cross-dressing, sex-change operations, homosexual 'marriages,' and all aspects of homosexuality and bisexuality, including so-called 'gay history.'"

The second bill, AB 394, "requires public schools to distribute controversial material to teachers, students, and parents which promotes transsexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality, all under the guise of 'anti-harassment' training."

Those laws ban in any school texts, events, class or activities any discriminatory bias against those who have chosen alternative sexual lifestyles, according to Meredith Turney, legislative liaison for Capitol Resource Institute.

But there are no similar protections for students with traditional or conservative lifestyles and beliefs. Offenders will face the wrath of the state Department of Education, up to and including lawsuits.

California also has mandated that public schools honor Harvey Milk – a homosexual activist and reported sexual predator, as well as an advocate for Jim Jones, leader of the massacred hundreds in Jonestown, Guyana.

---

Kobe apologizes, Fined $100,000;
GLAAD, Lakers unite against gay slurs


In light of Kobe Bryant’s anti-gay slur during a game early this week that caused uproar; the Lakers announced Friday it would work with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) in addressing homophobic remarks, particularly at Staples Center home games.

Bryant took responsibility Friday for his choice of words during Tuesday’s contest against San Antonio.

An apparently frustrated Bryant uttered an expletive-filled homophobic slur toward a referee after getting slapped with a technical foul during a nationally televised game.

It translated to a league-imposed $100,000 fine on the Laker star guard.

In an effort to address homophobic remarks, in particular at Staples Center home games, the Lakers announced their plan to work with GLAAD Friday, the same day Bryant made another apology.

"What happened in Tuesday night's game is not representative of what the Lakers stand for," Lakers spokesman John Black said in a statement GLAAD released as reported by ESPN.com. "We want to reaffirm our commitment to all our fans and our appreciation for the support we receive from all segments of society."

"We also understand the importance of positive messages in helping us convey this," Black added. "We appreciate the input we've received from GLAAD the past two days and will look forward to working with them on ways to help educate ourselves and our fans, and to help keep language like this out of our game."

GLAAD, for its part, echoed the sentiments of the embattled Lakers superstar who said he hopes something positive comes out from the experience.

"In light of this slur, there is a real opportunity to build support for our community and educate fans of Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the NBA about the use of such words," said GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios in a statement as reported by the LA Times.

"The Los Angeles Lakers have taken a positive step and we look forward to working with them to create messages from players and coaches that combat bullying. We also suggested and will continue to advocate for zero tolerance policies for anti-gay slurs at home games, similar to what the New York Yankees adopted last year," Barrios added.

Meanwhile, the NBA has also indicated it will work with GLAAD in addressing anti-gay slur. It said it has committed to meeting with the organization to come with ways to reach out to its audience to discourage homophobia.

112 comments:

  1. How could our math and physics scores possibly be falling?

    It is simply time to end government schools. Horror the thought that we should trust people in townships to privately provide for their own schooling.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is the result of fringe politics.

    ReplyDelete
  3. China's central bank has raised the amount of money that lenders must hold in reserve for the fourth time this year, as it battles rising inflation.

    By insisting banks hold more cash, the central bank hopes to restrict lending, which in turn will reduce spending.

    The latest move, raising the required reserve ratio from 20% to a record 20.5%, is expected to lock up about 350bn yuan ($54bn; £33bn) that banks would otherwise be able to lend.

    Inflation in China hit 5.4% in March.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Is Gresham’s Law kicking in on a global scale? The less bad money pushing out worse money? Fleeing the dollar into commodities? The Chinese dread what happens when workers start demanding decent livable wage and benefits. A time will arrive when they cannot export their way out of that problem.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The time will arrive when interest rates rise here, our debt payments become completely unmanageable, bond ratings tank, and the shit really hits the fan.

    ReplyDelete
  6. California is the largest buyer of textbooks in the country, so publishers will print LGBT history friendly texts and sell them across the land if they can get away with it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Doug, I admit she needs a speech coach. But she ain't no tranny. First tranny I ever saw was on Hotel Street in Honolulu. This naive Idaho boy just scratched his head and wondered, what the hell?
    dwr

    ReplyDelete
  8. Whatever happened to Lewis and Clark?????

    dwr

    ReplyDelete
  9. http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=109252


    Hotel Street, Honolulu

    dwr

    ReplyDelete
  10. And no, I didn't partake of the 'action'.

    Just passed through and scratched my head.

    dwr

    ReplyDelete
  11. LET ME TELL YOU THAT WHAT I GET IN SOCIAL SECURITY IS SOMETHING THAT I HAVE EARNED BY PAYING INTO THIS GOVERNMENT RUN SLUSH FUND; AND SLUSH FUND IT IS, THERE ARE MILLIONS OF ROTTEN SCUM BAG ILLEGAL IMPORTS THAT NEVER PAID ONE DIME INTO THAT SLUSH FUND BUT THOSE SPONGING BASTARDS HAVE THEIR HANDS IN THAT SLUSH FUND AND THOSE SENATORS AND CONGRESS PEOPLE NEVER PAID INTO THAT SLUSH FUND EITHER, BUT IS SO KIND AND GENTLE TO THOSE ILLEGAL IMPORTS WITH THEIR HANDS OUT AND OF COURSE THOSE ILLEGAL IMPORTS HAVE VOTES THAT IS NOW BOUGHT AND PAID FOR BY THOSE EAGER TO PLEASE POLITICIANS.

    FOR TWO YEARS NOW SOCIAL SECURITY "BENEFITS" HAVE BEEN FROZEN BECAUSE THOSE SAME POLITICIANS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK FOR THE BENEFIT OF AMERICANS AND NOT THOSE MILLIONS OF CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMPORTS ARE "RUNNING" OUT OF MONEY, BUT ONLY BECAUSE THEY HAVE ABUSED THE SYSTEM LIKE THAT ROTTEN JOHNSON WHO SAW A GREAT PILE OF MONEY AND SLAPPED HIS GREEDY DEMOCRAT HANDS ON THAT MONEY AND NOW IT IS AND HAS BEEN A PART OF THE GENERAL FUND WHERE IT WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE BECAUSE THAT MONEY WAS A FORCED PAYMENT BY A COMMUNIST "DEMOCRAT" CALLED F.D.R. INTO THAT SLUSH FUND DISTRIBUTED BY A GOVERNMENT THAT IS TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL.

    THIS GOVERNMENT IS RUN BY A BUNCH OF FOOLS WITHOUT ANY REGARDS FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS WHO BUILT UP THIS COUNTRY SO ASS HOLES LIKE THOSE POLITICIANS CAN RIDE THAT GOVERNMENT "GRAVY TRAIN" TO THE END OF THE LINE WITH BENIFITS THAT MOST AMERICANS CAN ONLY DREAM ABOUT.

    THIS LITTLE BIT OF ANGER WAS TYPED UP BY A VETERAN, AN AMERICAN CITIZEN BY BIRTH
    AND NOW PISSED OFF BECAUSE OF THOSE ELECTED JERKS HAVE THE NERVE TO GIVE THEMSELVES GREAT COST OF LIVING RAISES WHILE WE ON THE BOTTOM THAT WORKED TO BUILD THAT FORCED PLATFORM FOR THOSE GREAT LEADERS CAN REST IN PEACE AND PLAY MONOPOLY WITH OUR MONEY THAT THEY NEVER EARNED.

    MAY GOD GIVE EACH OF THEM THEIR WELL EARNED PLACE AT THE END.

    BLESSINGS

    DALE





    dale's pissed today
    dwr

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nevada is criss crossed with fault lines --

    Home»News Home»Swarm of Quakes have Experts Concerned

    Swarm of Quakes have Experts Concerned
    Page Last Updated: Friday April 15, 2011 10:09am PDT
    Nevada Seismologists are keeping a close eye on an area southwest of Hawthorne, Nevada where hundreds of earthquakes have been detected since Sunday.
    " It's a little bit concerning in a sense.. The largest earthquakes in these sequences are pretty large in size." Graham Kent is Director of Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada Reno. He says there have been hundreds of earthquakes southwest of Hawthorne over the past few days. The largest-- recorded at a 4.4 in size.

    "These are the biggest in a sequence we've seen at least in the last couple of years." Kent says unlike the 2008 quakes in Somersett that damaged so many homes, these earthquakes are fortunately not underneath a community.

    Size is not the only reason Kent says they are watching the swarm of quakes closely. The location of these quakes is on top of a fault that has until now remained unknown or has not been active. Kent then made an eerie comparison, "Whats really interesting about most of these earthquakes we've experienced. Short of the Chilean and Japanese; Haiti, Baha, even Christchurch.. Were on unknown faults.

    But Kent says just because those devastating quakes happened on un-named faults does not mean that the series of quakes near Hawthorne will lead to a big quake there. Reno, Carson City and the Las Vegas valley all lie on top of fault lines. And right now, there is no way to predict where the next big quake will occur.

    "That's yet another reason why you don't want to look at the map and go phew, I'm safe. We're in earthquake country and so we have to be prepared.


    Story by: Brooke Boone
    bboone@mynews4.com


    dwr

    ReplyDelete
  13. .

    The system is broken (or not depending on whether you are giving or recieving).

    About 12 years ago I was on a team setting up JV's in China. Naturally, we had a number of Chinese on the team. One of them, a yound guy, really intelligent, spoke English, Japanese, as well as Chinese fluently, had degrees earned in China, Japan, and the US, was acting as the marketing manager on the team. The guy was make some decent money.

    Anyway, his wife gets pregnant so they decide to bring her parents over for six months or so to help her with the newborn. Within one month of arriving, they were sucking from the government tit, medicare health coverage, foodstamps, welfare, etc.

    My brother just started working for a company run by an Indian fellow. The guy only arrived in the country a few years ago but he knows every clause in the law, every grant, every subsidy, every incentive and advantage that the government provides to minority business men or women.

    Our government can be the most welcoming in the world.

    Of course, it's easier when it's someone else's money you're giving away.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  14. Social Security is a Federal welfare program that is paid for by a regressive income tax upon the those currently working and reporting their income to the IRS.

    Participation is not voluntary, if one receives payroll type income.

    Social Security is definitely a Federal benefit that is not means tested. It is not a benefit that the recipients of the Federal largess have already "paid for".

    To believe such a thing, makes the believer a victim of Federal propaganda, unknowledgeable of the law.

    To write such gibberish in caps, indicative of the writers ignorance and feelings of self-importance.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well of course, asshole, I didn't write it, Dale did, but I don't blame him for his feelings. Dale's a great guy, actually. He served his country and did not commit any crimes in the process.

    I understand his feelings.

    So, how much do you get in Fed/Socialist funds each month?

    You and your son, who is in the Fed/Socialist Army.

    I have gotten a lot of money from the farm programs, but I have paid much much more back in taxes, fed taxes, and I don't want to even tell you about State real estate taxes. You'd gasp, and I don't want that to happen.

    dwr

    ReplyDelete
  16. income tax upon the those currently working---

    Dale worked for years, and paid in, he just would like a little more money back

    How much you gettin', asshole?
    From Uncle
    Fed?

    DWR

    ReplyDelete
  17. Let's talk taxes.

    I remember the first time I realized
    Rat was a first class asshole.

    That was when he said he'd talk on his neighbor down the street, his "friend", who had a problem with IRS, if IRS would give him - the Rat - a break for doing so.

    Didn't work out, last I heard.

    You remember that?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Now?

    More than I them.

    My boy and I, we both left direct employment by the Federals.

    Since the Federals control more than 65% of the land in the State of Arizona and contribute well more than 40% of the economic activity, it would self destructive not to include them in the income stream.

    I am not self destructive.

    There are many principles of government and policies proposals that I advocate for that are not in my own best interests under the status que. They are principles and policies that I think would benefit the country.

    I admit that I participate in our society, as it is, not as I think it should be.

    My position rarely carries the day, in our Constitutional System, the System I took a sacred oath to defend.

    From which you deferred.

    That your friend Dale is steeped in ignorance and self-important, par for the course.

    That he paid his taxes while he worked to benefit the beneficiaries of Social Security, a good thing, but no guarantee that similar Federal welfare would be due him.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the chief sponsor of the effort to defund administration-appointed advisers known as "czars," reacted angrily Saturday to a signing statement from Obama saying he plans to keep them. In a statement emailed to The Hill, Scalise accused Obama of acting like a "dictator."

    ReplyDelete
  20. Correct boob, the fellow that I had known since High School never filed
    personal income taxes. He refused to participate in the legally prescribed social dynamic.

    The IRS was not interested in even knowing his name. They would rather pursue those that participate, voluntarily.

    It was another telling moment.

    ReplyDelete
  21. My position rarely carries the day, in our Constitutional System, the System I took a sacred oath to defend.

    hahahahahahahahha

    A sacred oath.

    You wouldn't know a sacred system if it slapped you in the face.

    You don't know shit, and my computer is running out of time.

    You are the dumbest shit I've ever had the displeasure of knowing.

    dwr

    ReplyDelete
  22. I guess if California wants to teach the kiddies about "gays, and lesbians" that's their business. I hardly think the world will come to an end - over That at least.

    ReplyDelete
  23. That you do not hold the Founders and their work product, the Constitution, to have been inspired by the Creator, well boob, there's another telling moment.

    You are a man out of time, in more ways than one.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Dale doesn't sound "ignorant" to me. He sounds like "Rufus" to me.

    The great flaw written into Soc Sec, of course, was that the money could never be put into anything other than "Special Bonds of the U.S. Government," thus locking in an extremely low rate of return, forever, and forcing the U.S. government to run "deficits" in its general revenue fund.

    If I hadn't been forced into putting so much into Soc Sec I could have put More into my other investments.

    ReplyDelete
  25. The Real Wisconsin PatriotSun Apr 17, 11:01:00 AM EDT

    Let's teach dutch history first. Or Polish. What about the history of golf?

    And people wonder why Government, schools, teachers,politicians are held in such low esteem.

    This is about as dumb as it comes.

    How about we use our money wisely and teach real American history instead the the pap thrown at our kids. Teach real political science and economics that would be useful when going out into the real work world and in real everyday lives. I don't see any need to interject more sexually oriented material into kids heads. Remember free love, resulting in gazillion more unwed mothers, sperm donor dads, ballooning STDS and introduction of STDS I never heard of until the late 1970s. Don't say LGBT history is not about sex, the issue will be raised. And, did anyone ask qualifying LGBTS how they would feel about being outed or labeled pubilcally and forever? What about their right toi privacy.

    ReplyDelete
  26. One interesting point, that creates another telling moment.

    Almost everyone here agrees that the Federals have a legitimate task in preserving what boob calls our "National Heritage" of Federal lands. Even as they disagree with the priorities of current management policies currently implemented.

    But, almost to a poster, they also argue that the Federals have no legitimate task in preserving the "National Health" of the country.

    Even while they fund a substantial portion of the Health Care System, through the Medicare programs.

    ReplyDelete
  27. The public schools are part of the socialist agenda. That is, in part, why they are called "Public".

    Further exemplified by the fact that most public schools are paid for by local taxes. Generally revenue from property taxes fund the property schools. At least here, in Arizona.
    The State government has the revenue stream generated by the State Trust Lands that is dedicated to support lower performing Districts.
    Federal Court ordered subsidies if I recall correctly. Though the revenue stream was established in the original State Constitution.

    But the public schools are government schools, and our government workers, well, they tend to be Socialist in their thinking, voting and organization.

    Regardless of the partisan orientation.

    ReplyDelete
  28. The national health of the country starts with jobs and protection of savings. Opening the federal lands to private ownership is a red herring. The question is should all land in the US be open for development, mostly by big corporations? By a Chinese Military owned corporation?

    ReplyDelete
  29. Interesting thread...

    There is only one poster that defames and slurs another's name over and over again.

    Is that not what we would call an ad hominem attack?

    "An ad hominem (Latin: "to the man"), short for argumentum ad hominem, is an attempt to link the validity of a premise to a characteristic or belief of the person advocating the premise.

    Cyber bullies are notorious for such behavior.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Also the Rules for Radicals (socialist/maoists/communists/community organizer types) Sal Alinsky's advocated such behavior...

    several rules apply

    5. "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage."

    "'The organizer's first job is to create the issues or problems,' and 'organizations must be based on many issues.' The organizer 'must first rub raw the resentments of the people of the community; fan the latent hostilities of many of the people to the point of overt expression. He must search out controversy and issues, rather than avoid them, for unless there is controversy people are not concerned enough to act. . . . An organizer must stir up dissatisfaction and discontent.'"


    Hmmm now who is name calling on this thread?

    ReplyDelete
  31. desert rat said...
    Correct boob,

    desert rat said...
    well boob,

    desert rat said...
    what boob calls


    I sense a pattern...

    ReplyDelete
  32. Called conversation, debate, argument, Story.

    I'm off to enjoy part of my Federal subsidy, out on the Verde River.

    Thanks guys!

    ReplyDelete
  33. As for the tread issue at hand?

    Laughable....

    Just what will California USE for money to BUY new books with?

    And it would not surprise me to see the usage of heavy, obsolete, printed text books to be on the short side of life.

    I have kids in Middle School, sure they have text books. But they now have interactive pseudo-chaulk boards they can write on and surf the net and use for lessons.

    Every kid uses a computer most everyday, assignments are required to be power point or pdf's

    I see CA LOSING it's historic "text book" strength as the electronic/social media/internet world grows.

    As for content? I think it will have 3 tiers... Basic standards and content on a Federal level, State's will have input and finally the Local level will have it's agenda. Just like it does now, except for the budgets for text books may go the way of Borders very soon.

    Not that that in it's self is good, with the rise in extremes one can only wonder what crap they will be teaching nationwide.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I remember when I called on a small, rural school system in the hill country (Dutch/German) up North, and West of Cape Girardeau, Mo (I normally worked with Large School Systems, since that was where the most money was.)

    When I found the Supt. he was stocking the soda machines. It was a little, nondescript school attended by children of small farmers, basically. He was a nice guy, and we chatted a bit.

    97%, I think it was, of his students Graduated College.

    He said he didn't have to bust too many of the boys' asses, because a note home to the parents, and they got their asses "Worn out" at home.

    All the boys worked on the farm, but they had a hell of a basketball team (they only graduated about 80, or 90 students IIRC. Their teachers were paid below the state average, but were highly repected in the community. They tended to stay until they retired.

    The Point? I don't know; you figure it out.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Ah the name calling, ridicule continues...


    desert rat said...
    Called conversation, debate, argument, Story.


    Yep, a polite evil doer is still an evil doer....

    so said President Bush....

    And he was right...

    ReplyDelete
  36. WiO:There is only one poster that defames and slurs another's name over and over again.

    Yeah, he says one of the female regulars on the Elephant Bar (from way back in 2006) is a cross-dresser, a man, and a neo-Nazi. Who could it be?

    ReplyDelete
  37. Every kid uses a computer most everyday, assignments are required to be power point or pdf's

    Para Ingles marque numero dos.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Sun Sue said...
    WiO:There is only one poster that defames and slurs another's name over and over again.

    Yeah, he says one of the female regulars on the Elephant Bar (from way back in 2006) is a cross-dresser, a man, and a neo-Nazi. Who could it be?



    I called Ms T a crossdresser, and that would imply she is a he...

    As for the Ms T/ Selah/Teresita/SunSue? )and who knows what new other names can be attributed to her??)

    As for the actual israel hating person that I was referring?

    I still stand by my words...

    those that seek to destroy Israel and Judaism?

    They Are "nazis"...

    ReplyDelete
  39. Sun Sue said...
    WiO:There is only one poster that defames and slurs another's name over and over again


    And since i ONLY called you a cross dressing transvestite once or twice?

    My point still stands...

    Notice my statement "slurs another's NAME over and over"

    It's interesting how you can take one statement and complete point it at another point, completely UNRELATED!

    So read my words, not the words YOU WISH I HAD SIAD....

    WiO:There is only one poster that defames and slurs another's name over and over again

    But that is PROOF TEXTING... SOmething you do all the time...

    Take OUT OF CONTEXT someone else's WORDS...

    I actually word IN CONTEXT:

    "Interesting thread...

    There is only one poster that defames and slurs another's name over and over again.

    Is that not what we would call an ad hominem attack?"


    My POINT was about THIS TREAD.

    But if you choose, you can cut and paste it anyway you wish, regardless of meaning...

    Calling you a "transvestite" is not slurring your name...

    I do poke fun at the numerous names you call yourself...

    In fact I remember you got into a fit, when someone called your by your previous "week's" handle. Storming out of here, demanding your name of the week be removed....

    ReplyDelete
  40. I guess if I adulterated your names and called you

    Ms T = Mr Testosterone

    Selah = Selfish Bitch

    Teresita - Margarita

    Sun Sue = Warrior wannabe

    Your point would be more on topic as a response to the post on the tread.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Somehow the person that DOES do the actual name slurring is Rat.

    He called Bob, boob...

    He called Me, "story" short for his obsession with "story of "o"...

    Yep quite that rules for radicals behavior...

    ReplyDelete
  42. Pfizer, Merck & Co. and Bristol Myers Squibb Co. are eliminating jobs, cutting costs and shedding business units to prepare for patent expirations. In 2011, drugmakers face generic rivals to products with $34 billion in yearly sales, a figure 34 percent higher than last year. Sales at risk from patent losses will swell to $147 billion by 2015, Bloomberg data shows.

    They've been raising prices, getting while the "gettting's good" on these drugs, now we're going to get the equivalent of at $30 Billion tax decrease.

    Bloomberg Article

    ReplyDelete
  43. About a $130 Billion break by 2015.

    ReplyDelete
  44. One thing that works extremely well in the United States is the patent law.

    Companies are encouraged to take a chance, and innovate by the possibility of "makiing a bazillion," and in the long run we benefit from effective, low-cost products.

    ReplyDelete
  45. There's a C-130 circling an airbase in Colorado unable to get its landing gear down.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Well of course, asshole

    How much you gettin', asshole?
    From Uncle
    Fed?


    I remember the first time I realized
    Rat was a first class asshole.

    You are the dumbest shit I've ever had the displeasure of knowing.



    I also sense a pattern….

    ReplyDelete
  47. Sign on a telephone pole:

    "Lost scissors behind oven. Arms are too big to reach back there. If you have a small child be here tuesday at 4 pm. Then we can go to my apartment and see if his arms reach. Bring fireproof gloves and a light snack. Chris."

    ReplyDelete
  48. A Federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a man who was barred from the New London police force because he scored too high on an intelligence test. Judge Dorsey ruled that Mr. Jordan was not denied equal protection because the city of New London applied the same standard to everyone: anyone who scored too high was rejected.

    ReplyDelete
  49. The story of my life.
    ...that and too handsome, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  50. "Companies are encouraged to take a chance, and innovate by the possibility of "makiing a bazillion," and in the long run we benefit from effective, low-cost products."

    ---

    Yeah, like Drugs and Medical Devices before the Feds got too heavy handed with them.

    Now the Euros have a lot of what was once almost all ours.

    Socialized Medicine will finish off the industry in this country.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Puhleeeze, Lord, make me shut up. :)

    ReplyDelete
  52. Responding to T's post, of course, and your reply to same.

    ReplyDelete
  53. That little old tax didn't come out to 1% of their business, Doug.

    All the corps are keeping, and investing their money overseas because our tax code forces them to.

    ReplyDelete
  54. A CEO of an International drug company that pays any taxes, and, thus, does any investing in the U.S. should be Fired, Immediately (and, probably would be.)

    ReplyDelete
  55. "If I hadn't been forced into putting so much into Soc Sec I could have put More into my other investments."

    ---

    Before the Feds got involved in Health Care, people could put more into private insurance for health services that cost less.
    AND
    They had freedom of choice.

    ReplyDelete
  56. "All the corps are keeping, and investing their money overseas because our tax code forces them to.."

    That and FDA over regulation, which is what I was talking about.

    ReplyDelete
  57. 'Rat gets Federal Funding for his Red Herring Fish Farm.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Rat said...

    "well boob, there's another telling moment.

    You are a man out of time, in more ways than one.
    "

    ---

    Do you always have to preach about not smoking?

    ReplyDelete
  59. Doug, I was in the Health Insurance Business in the early seventies, and health insurance was still pretty cheap (Medicare, and Medicaid was passed in 1965.)


    It looked to me like it was the proliferation of Group Insurance Plans that had the greatest effect on costs. I can't give a link to an "academic" study; that's just my impression. Jes sayin' . . ..

    ReplyDelete
  60. .

    ... Red Herring Fish Farm.

    Pretty good one Dougo.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  61. An ex. I've been taking Simvastatin (generic statin drug) for several years.

    During that time everyone with health insurance was getting prescribed Lipitor, or Crestor (10 times, I guess, more expensive than Simvastatin.)

    The difference in the statistics on Simvastatin, and Crestor are, actually, ridiculously small.

    Just one example that's repeated hundreds of millions of times every year.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Another biggie: Nexium vs. Omeprazole

    ReplyDelete
  63. To improve the good cholesterol - Niacin vs. Niaspan

    ReplyDelete
  64. Over the last year, the United States refused to approve any major Israeli weapons requests. At the same time, Obama has approved more than $10 billion worth of arms sales to Arab League states, including Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

    ReplyDelete
  65. I just thought of something that made me smile: Someday Viagra comes off patent.

    We'll balance the budget. :)

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  66. What types of weapons were they "turning down," T?

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  67. Authorities in France have blocked trains from Italy in an attempt to stop north African migrants from entering the country.

    Obama's Justice Department seeks to sue France.

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  68. Maybe they're jerking a know in their tails for embarrassing "Slo Joe" when he was over there?

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  69. Come to think of it, with another major statin drug going generic my Simvastatin should get cheaper still. Cool.

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  70. As for "Hospital" Costs: there's just a myriad of factors at play - not the least of which is "that they're just so damned good."

    Those Doctors just do things, routinely, today, that were unheard of 25 years ago. Not, "cheaply," but routinely.

    And, of course, government policies add a lot of cost. They are required to do whatever's necessary in an "Emergent" situation. That can get God-awful expensive if the patient doesn't have insurance.

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  71. From the 2010 Medicare Trustees Report:


    Each year the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds report on the current and projected financial status of the two programs. This message summarizes our 2010 Annual Reports.

    The outlook for Medicare has improved substantially because of program changes made in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (the "Affordable Care Act" or ACA). Despite lower near-term revenues resulting from the economic recession, the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund is now expected to remain solvent until 2029, 12 years longer than was projected last year, and the 75-year HI financial shortfall has been reduced to 0.66 percent of taxable payroll from 3.88 percent in last year’s report. Nearly all of this improvement in HI finances is due to the ACA. The ACA is also expected to substantially reduce costs for the Medicare Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) program; projected program costs as a share of GDP over the next 75 years are down 23 percent relative to the costs projected for the 2009 report.


    Trustees Report

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  72. You just gotta be careful who you listen to.

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  73. No, I don't think that ol' boy, Dale, is "ignorant," at all.

    At least, if he is, he ain't alone. :)

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  74. I noticed the general tone of the contributors here. There is FEAR and HATRED running in the words I read. We are full of fear to help others and so we think that by hating them we can rid ourselves of the problem. I think that we must understand the CIRCUMSTANCES in which these people are coming to Italy and France. It is the time of WAR. Where is the humanitarian aspects? I did not manage to find it. People do not own the world! We cannot stop people from coming to us for help! We have to make a collective effort and share what we think we own.

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  75. Of course you have the RIGHT to comment. That doesn't mean though you're very knowledgeable on the subject and very clearly you are not. Your thinking that people flee places like libya, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia just to find an easy life is evidence of this.

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  76. You go help'em, Salad. We've had enough of them.

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  77. Wio -"I called Ms T a crossdresser, and that would imply she is a he...

    As for the Ms T/ Selah/Teresita/SunSue? )and who knows what new other names can be attributed to her??)

    As for the actual israel hating person that I was referring?

    I still stand by my words...

    those that seek to destroy Israel and Judaism?

    They Are "nazis"…"
    _______________

    Poor Wio, you make a gratuitous shot, get it back, and like a craven little snit you mewl for the board monitor to end your persecution.

    Sorry, if you wish to be a Zionist ball-licker, that is your business...but if people don't like Israel as the 51st state or the New York financial meltdown, that's their read on things.

    It is getting a little long and old to say that only Jews get an immunity pass from criticism for some suffering and tribulations that happened before most people were born.
    And if in a position of dominance in industries that leads to bad neocon adventures, collapse of default derivatives, or Journolist conspiring to manipulate news to achieve progressive Jewish causes - same scrutiny has to attend Jews as any other ethnicity. Just like Muslims, Al Sharptons people, or southern white fundies or government union bosses.

    To me, screams of "anti-Semitism!!" about any dissing of Jewish lobbies or problems in industries they dominate - are like Muslims screaming "bigotry and Islamophobia!" about being called out on the latest mob of Muslim head-choppers. Or any problems pointed out about fundies or inner city blacks is - bigoted, racist. And saying government unions have problems does not make one an "enslaver of the workers".

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  78. There is a message here that the West would do well to heed – not just in Africa, but in all our dealings with large emerging markets. We have no God-given right to be in charge.

    We should stop acting as if we do. This is not a moral imperative, but a statement of the bald economic facts.

    The longer we ignore these realities, the tougher it will ultimately be for us to cope in the new world order now so rapidly emerging.


    G20 Redundant

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  79. The latest Gallup Daily tracking three-day average shows 41% of Americans approving of the job Barack Obama is doing as president. That ties his low as president, which he registered three times previously -- twice in August 2010 and once in October 2010.

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  80. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said that not covering the face is a "shortcoming" and suggested that any Muslims who advocate being uncovered could be guilty of rejecting Islam.

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  81. Salaad: Of course you have the RIGHT to comment. That doesn't mean though you're very knowledgeable on the subject and very clearly you are not. Your thinking that people flee places like libya, Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia just to find an easy life is evidence of this.

    I made the comment because I focus on hypocrisy. The French have called any American who wants to enforce our own immigration laws l'homme de Néanderthal and I love to roll in a bit of schaedenfreude.

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  82. Can you do the "Scissors" in a stack of schaedenfreude?

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  83. New recruit Lumpy Tang, 22, said she never imagined kung fu would be part of the job.

    ...

    Wing chun instructor Katherine Cheung said the martial art was ideal for airline crews.

    "Wing chun can be used in small, confined spaces so it's suited for an airplane," Cheung said. "It's easy to learn but difficult to master."


    Cabin Crew

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  84. .

    You just gotta be careful who you listen to.

    You also have to know what goes into the numbers.

    The Medicare Trustees like the CBO base their projections on current legislation and the numbers they derive from that. That is their job. There is nothing else they can do.

    Therefore, you have to know what goes into their numbers and make your own estimates as to the worth of the projections. Both SS and Medicare/Medicaid are pay-as-you go programs that are dependant upon the political will of Congress. Therefore, you will have to estimate the cost savings provisions in the current legislation and whether you expect them to be really happen as projected.

    While I have been against the ACA primarily on constitutional grounds surrounding the individual mandate (although the new health advisory board that comes into play in 2014 makes me nervous), at least it attempts to try to control medical costs.

    The Republican plans to defund what they consider the most aggregious parts of the ACA would in fact pull out all the cost savings measures while ignoring the issues that raise costs. They defund but offer no alternatives.

    That being said, the savings attributble to the ACA are also questionable. For instance, it ignores the 'doc fix' which has been put off to at least 2012. It was goinng to cost the service providers $25 billion. Now in 2012, it will amount to $30 billion. Disregarding the non-monetary effects of this fix, does congress have the political will to actually demand the cuts?

    Likewise with the big cost savings features of the ACA legislation. Is there the political will to actually eliminate the Program Advantage excess payments? We have already seen where exceptions have been granted. Also, the premium on high-cost insurance plans has been delayed to 2018 in order to appease the unions. Will the Congress in 2018 have the guts to actually institute those penaltites.

    Remains to be seen.

    .

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  85. I'm way too lazy right now to go check this out, but if I had to bet I'd say that where we're really getting creamed right now is Medicaid payments to the States, Extended Unemployment Benefits, and Food Stamps.

    Add to that two overseas military adventures, a horrible corporate tax situation, and crappy revenues in general from 8.6, or whatever it is, unemployment, and you start getting into serious deficit real fast.

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  86. Well, here ya go, Q.


    Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said Sunday the global oil market was oversupplied and that the world’s top oil exporter had already reduced production due to weak demand.

    Consumers have urged OPEC to quickly add supply to quell the rally that has taken oil (CL-FT109.08-0.58-0.53%) to its highest level in two and a half years amid unrest in North Africa and the Middle East.

    “The market is overbalanced ... Our production in February was 9.125 million barrels per day, in March it was 8.292 million barrels per day. In April we don’t know yet, probably a little higher than March. The reason I gave you these numbers is to show you that the market is oversupplied,” he told reporters.


    Is it Live, or is it Memorex?


    Is the market oversupplied?

    Is it the nasty "speculators?"

    Are the Saudi fields getting tired?

    Are they just hosing us?

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  87. The Internal Revenue Service tracks the tax returns with the 400 highest adjusted gross incomes each year. The average income on those returns in 2007, the latest year for IRS data, was nearly $345 million. Their average federal income tax rate was 17 percent, down from 26 percent in 1992.

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  88. Weekly numbers published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) are an exception. But even they are subject to reporting and estimating errors as well as some confusion between exports and domestic consumption.

    ...

    EIA' s data provides information on a small, unrepresentative section of the global market and should not be used to extrapolate worldwide trends. As a growing share of global consumption shifts to China and other emerging markets, a timely and accurate picture of demand is becoming even harder to obtain.

    ...

    Demand destruction would be expected to involve a change of no more than 1-3 percentage points in consumption. Given lags in data collection, limitations of survey methods and the virtual absence of data on demand in many developing countries , hunting for demand destruction on this scale is like looking for a needle in a haystack.


    Demand Destruction

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  89. Charlie Chi Com might not be buying it.

    Tapis is up $0.83, Oman Crude up a Buck as we speak.

    Spot Prices Asia

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  90. Sam, let me clarify something for you on EIA. They have a weekly dataset that's just Inventories/supply/demand/prices, etc in the U.S.

    However, they have a monthly report that lags a couple of months that addresses world production, inventories, consumption, et al. It is probably the most accurate report out there - at least as far as production/consumption, inventories go.

    They don't try to second-guess things like "spare capacity." If the Sauds declare sebenty bazillion bpd "spare capacity" they put it up. Other than that they track the sauds, and other producers pretty well. Venezuela being the one very large exception.

    This is getting deeper inside baseball than most care to go, but the reason they can track the sauds pretty close is the sauds don't self-report on production. Thus EIA can put up what they ascertain as being the truth without contradicting the Sovereign government.

    Venezuela, on the other hand, does self-report, and lies like a dog. Everyone knows it, but the Chavistas don't care. As a result the EIA dutifully reports a number that is 1 million barrels/day too high, and everyone winks and nods.

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  91. Thanks, Rufus.

    Who reports on Saudi production?

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  92. It's weird. OPEC puts out an official report, and only at the bottom, in small print does it say, in effect, "data from 3rd party sources.

    You can, literally, be beheaded in Saudi Arabia for giving out oil data.

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  93. I don't pay much attention to anything but "spot prices," anymore, Sam.

    I figure those guys that actually buy, and sell Hundreds of Millions of dollars worth of the real thing every day know just about all there is to know.

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  94. I figure it's like that story about the coyote, and the rabbit.

    The Coyote (the speculator) is running for his dinner;

    The Rabbit (the oil buyer) is running for his Life.

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  95. I'm gonna be grouchy tomorrow.

    Tax Day.

    Seems like I've been a "rabbit" my entire life. :0

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  96. Watched that whole Ted vid, Rufus. Fantastic. Thanks.

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  97. "Spokane drivers are paying at the pump for excessive oil speculation, while federal regulators have failed to act," Senator Cantwell said. "I pushed to make sure last year's historic financial reform bill included a way to crack down on excessive speculation, but federal regulators have yet to meet their new responsibilities and Wall Street and big oil lobbyists are jamming up the implementation process.

    ...

    She continues: "The high gas prices that are hurting American families and businesses today represent the first major test of FTC's ability to protect consumers in this market. We urge you to use the authority of the Petroleum Market Manipulation Rule aggressively in order to protect consumers from unnecessarily high and volatile gas and diesel prices."

    ...

    In 2005, Cantwell first introduced legislation that would create a federal ban on oil market manipulation to prevent Enron-style manipulation schemes from happening to the oil industry. Cantwell's legislation banning manipulation in the oil and petroleum markets became law in the 2007 Energy Bill.


    Price Crackdown

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  98. Why are all gay men skinny?

    Is it a vanity thing?

    Have you ever known of a fat gay man?

    Besides Elton John?

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  99. .

    Well, here ya go, Q.

    I'm missing your point Ruf.

    You argued that the EIA numbers were very accurate, yet their number as I recall was 9.1 mbpd for March.

    You are evidently offering up the Saudi numbers at 8.3 mbpd as proof of something. Yet if we take it as their average for March and the fact that they said they had reduced production due to lower demand then at some point the production level had to be higher which matches up with the news stories.

    .

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  100. To the Blog..

    Cedarford is quite the anti-semite...

    This is not for questioning some israeli practice he finds disturbing...

    No the reason is long and well worn...

    thousands of comments that single out Israel for one standard, while having no standards for anyone else.

    Ms T, Rat and Cedarford are all cut from the same jew hating, israel hating, zionist hating cloth...

    Thousands of posts have proven they are not some un-biased observer...

    No, the truth? they have a bias that they carry on an hourly basis that seeks the destruction of Israel, Judaism and the Jewish people...

    I stand by my words...

    Creeps, every last one of them

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  101. Rufus,I've been a fan of Hans Rosling for a few years now.
    That is one of the things that has has changed my mind from being a doomer to an optimist.

    tennie davis

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  102. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  103. I could not give a hoot what God someone believes in.

    The massive support that the US gives to Israel is counter productive to US interests.

    To state that is not hate, but is a reality of our domestic politics.

    As I do not hate anyone.

    I was taught the Alinsky techniques well before 1971, when he published his book.
    Using Alinsky before Saul was considered cool.

    A proof I do not hate Jews.

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  104. Though it was not a Jew I learned the techniques from, well, maybe that public school teacher was a Jew.

    Who'd know, but someone that cared about stupid shit, like what some other fella's religion was.

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  105. Alinsky sure works though, certainly gets the Story of "o" all riled up.

    And amigos...

    That's entertainment!

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  106. This seems to be spot on:

    Inability To Spot Deception, Irony, Lies, Or Sarcasm Might Be Initial Sign Of Dementia

    Medical News Today -

    Elderly individuals who lose the ability to tell when somebody is being untruthful, insincere or sarcastic may be showing an early sign of a neurodegenerative disease, such as dementia, researchers from the University of San Francisco explained at the ...

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  107. WoW on that Ted Data. Good post rufus.

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  108. Q, I said, "here you go" because it was in line with what You had been saying. It supported Your argument, not mine.


    I mean, personally, I don't believe a word of it (but, hell, what do I know? I'm an old retired fart living in Ms.)

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