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."

Monday, October 03, 2011

Where are the American Politicians Who Can Speak Like This?

41 comments:

  1. One sign being carried around by an Occupy Wall Street protester reads, "A government is an entity which holds the monopolistic right to initiate force", which is ironic when his fellow protesters complain about being physically assaulted by the NYPD.

    They also call for a second Obama term. Obama, who's cabinet is filled with Wall Street operatives.

    Roseanne Barr condemns the "violent" Tea Partiers, but then wants to kill people who make more than her maximum wage.

    Cain is called a racist, and a token black, in the same breath.

    Harry Reid is heard to mutter "Budgets? Budgets? We don' need no steenking budgets!"

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  2. On Saturday night at a campaign stop in Manchester, N.H., Perry said he would send U.S. troops into Mexico to stop the drug wars there, according to The Dallas Morning News.

    "It may require our military, in Mexico, working in concert with them, to kill these drug cartels and to keep them off our border and to destroy their networks. It is very important for us to work with them to keep that country from failing,"
    Perry said, according to the newspaper.

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  3. ‘Occupy Boston’ protesters march through downtown Boston

    About 100 people are marching through downtown Boston this morning as part of the Occupy Boston protest.

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  4. .

    Artificial leaf converts water into fuel


    Drawing inspiration from leaves and photosynthesis, two separate research teams have successfully demonstrated improved techniques to convert carbon dioxide and water into usable fuels.

    A pair of papers, published today in the journal Science, describe two different approaches to generating fuel: one involving an artificial leaf that can split water molecules to create hydrogen fuel, the other aimed at recycling carbon dioxide...


    Artifical Leaf

    .

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. As Q so correctly pointed out, in the last post on the previous thread, the Congress could take control of the value of money, as is their Constitutional responsibility, if they chose to.

    We agree on that.

    Whether Congress's abdication of their responsibility is a cause or an effect of governmental dysfunction, the core of the challenge.

    Their abdication of their Constitutional responsibility and authority, that is a major cause of governmental dysfunction, not an effect of it.

    Section 8, the 9th & 10th Amendments of the Constitution, ignored by Federals that wish to expand their powers into areas that not only are non-enumerated, but restricted to them by their Constitutional mandate.

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  7. Is Chris Christie to fat to be President?

    The debate on this is going to be televised.

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  8. This fellow, not a banker.



    FLORENCE, Ariz. – Embattled Arizona TV pitchman Don Lapre was found dead in his jail cell Sunday morning, myFOXphoenix.com reported, citing law enforcement sources.

    Lapre was being held in federal jail without bond, awaiting trial on charges of defrauding at least 220,000 people out of nearly $52 million. Prosecutors accused him of selling worthless vitamins that could not live up to advertising claims.

    Spokesman Matt Hershey says Donald Lapre was found dead in his cell at a Florence facility Sunday morning. His trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday.

    Hershey says the death remains under investigation.

    Lapre was arrested June 23 in Tempe by the U.S. Marshals Service after failing to appear a day earlier for his arraignment. He had been camping out inside a gym locker room.

    A grand jury indicted the 47-year-old on 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and promotional money laundering in connection to his company "The Greatest Vitamin in the World."


    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/03/arizona-tv-pitchman-found-dead-in-cell-days-before-52m-fraud-trial/?test=latestnews#ixzz1ZjG5Wghj

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  9. ... if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thinks a Republican in the White House will come riding to his rescue, I doubt that any of the Republican candidates will be able to win any more friends or influence people for this Israeli government than Obama currently can – and I am, of course, understating matters.

    There’s a Hebrew saying, “Tafasta meruba, lo tafasta” which can be translated to mean:
    “If you get too greedy, you end up with nothing.”
    This, I think, is what happened to the Netanyahu government and its American allies. They not only wanted to temper Obama’s pressure on Israel, they insisted that he follow Netanyahu’s lead.

    And by doing so, the Israeli government, backed by its blind supporters in the U.S., may end up with nothing – in the form of an America that can no longer defend it diplomatically.


    Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2011/Oct-03/150308-israel-has-hit-brick-wall-and-its-called-isolation.ashx#ixzz1ZjIrlLfL
    (The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

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  10. Larry Derfner is an American-Israeli journalist and columnist who has written for many newspapers including U.S. News & World Report, The Jerusalem Post, and The Sunday Times of London.

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  11. Congrats to the blog...

    ONLY 9 posts before Israel or Jews or Zionism brought up by the Bar Jew hating, Israel hating and Zionist hating retard!

    Congrats, another thread shot to shit by the self confessed murderer of unarmed civilians in Central America..

    (I personally think he is just a blow hard and never did anything in the US military except sweep floors)

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  12. Like Mark Twain’s famous quip about reports of his death being “greatly exaggerated”, assertions of a weakening in Jewish affection for Israel are grossly overstated. In fact, they’re patently false.



    Interesting how the Rat's and Ms T's constant harping on Israel as a dying nation seem to fall on deaf ears.

    Israel is today, stronger than it has ever been in 2000 years...

    israel is growing, both in the economy and in it's population....

    Israel continues to advance in the sciences (as many other nations regress)

    Israel is the HOPE for millions around the globe of all faiths, in fact hundreds of MOSLEMS and Christians leave their historic homes and many DIE escaping the hell of those homes for a chance to live in Israel.

    Egypt has shot and killed scores trying to GET INTO ISRAEL for freedom.

    Go Israel....

    So to those that have an hourly if not semi-hourly obsession to bash and kick at Israel?

    Your efforts are meaningless...

    And as such, maybe you are meaningless. And that is the big rug...

    You lack any real accomplishments...

    SO continue your inane attacks... Just makes you look like the ignorant bullies that you are...

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  13. New Israeli invention:

    Skuku is a new gadget, which was invented by the Israeli company EIM telecom. The company announced that it will present the new invention at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The new gadget will threaten most of the cell phone companies all over the world.
    What is Skuku?
    Skuku is USB device that is connected to the SIM card of cell phones. When the device is connected to the computer, it opens a program that simulates the cell phone and includes access to the contact list. In addition, after you connect the device, you can talk with it like a cell phone, using a microphone and earphones, with the local calling rate all over the world. Moreover, you can accept incoming phone calls from your original number to your computer, and send or accept text messages.
    Who can use it and where?
    The product is especially suitable for business people who want a cheap communication method with Israel. However, you can connect the Skuku to every computer that has internet connection. The costumer is saving money as a result of paying only the local rate of the calls, and with no cost for the incoming calls even in different countries.

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  14. ANother stunner...

    The Telepathic Computer

    Maybe it sounds like science fiction, but students from the Ben Gurion University in Be’er Sheva invented a computer that works by the power of telepathy.
    Three students from the university started working on the project about a year ago and now the computer works well.
    There are two ways to activate this computer: The first one is by facial expressions. You define a face expression that will do a certain activity, and when you do this facial expression the activity that you defined to this expression will be done.
    Another way to activate the computer is by thoughts. You define a certain thought to do some action in the computer, and then when you think that thought the computer does the action you defined.
    This development can help people with physical disabilities that can’t use the computer normally.

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  15. Is Chris Christie to fat to be President?

    Ol' President Taft was three hundred pounds.

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  16. Interesting how the Rat's and Ms T's constant harping on Israel as a dying nation seem to fall on deaf ears.

    I got a great idea. As far as I'm concerned, the Zionist entity no longer exists. It's been wiped off the map. When I see a post mentioning it, I will proceed directly to the next one. And the corollary: I will not mention it.

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  17. President Taft never saw a television, Ms T.

    Much less was seen upon one.

    Much has changed, since 1909.

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  18. One of forty-four, even you have to admit, Ms T, is not a winning average.

    Just sayin' ...

    It's a viable question, in today's media driven whirled.

    Is obesity an indicator of a lack of self-discipline?

    An indicator of hedonism, of one finding pleasure in over indulgence?

    A glandular challenge?

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  19. If you did not respond, Story, then the line would move on.

    But your hearing is acute.

    And that, amigo, well...

    That's entertainment.

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  20. There have been a few threads, here at the Elephant Bar, that addressed obesity in the United States.

    Those that were, never portrayed in a favorable light.

    Just pointing out a cultural reality.

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  21. As long as he keeps his shirt on, and stays out of the "surf," it's not big on my radar. :)

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  22. His biggest :) problem is, he's actually not all that "Conservative."

    Horrible on 2nd Amendment, and Illegal Immigration, I believe. Big :) believer in Anthropologic Global Warming. etc.

    The statement was made by someone in his camp that he wouldn't get in unless Palin declares. Palin wants to wait him out. I think she believes that, with her 98% Name ID, she can wait longer than he can.

    He has some Big :) money behind him, but she has the nerves of a cat burglar. The only interesting aspect to anotherwise dreadfully boring season.

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  23. Popular entertainers the were "hefty" Jackie Gleason, Orson Welles and Gabriel Iglesias who is not fat but
    - Hot and Fluffy

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  24. What does "occupy Wall Street" want. Not clear yet. Still kind of evolving except for the fact that they don't like what they see out there right now.

    We are the 99%

    We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we're working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent.

    Occupywallstreet.com



    Comments:

    Lost our home in 2008; now we live in the poorest part of a poor city across the country.

    1 life threatening disease.
    1 naturalized citizen with a part-time minimum wage job.
    2 high school students who struggled with developmental and learning disabilities.
    1 first generation college grad with 20k in debt, 2 part time minimum wage jobs, and depression/anxiety that has the power to take over my life without medication.

    Some weeks we can’t afford groceries. We certainly can’t afford the gas to travel anywhere but work and back.

    WE ARE THE 99%


    I am a 27 year old with a bachelor degree. I ran out of my student loans while trying to find a job. I am “living” with my mother again to get back on my feet. So far, the best I can do is a part time retail job paying $8 an hour.

    I am hearing impaired with cochlear implant. My cochlear implant warranty expired. I do not have the money to renew it. How can I work at my new minimum wage job when my implant is broken? I need it to HEAR.

    I am the 99%.

    (and I owe so much money)


    I ‘m a hard-working, college educated Generation X Father of two. I am lucky to have a full-time job but when you correct for inflation my pay is less than my parents in the 1970’s. Now younger people in Generation Y can’t find work that will pay them enough to survive. Multi-national corporations have prospered in the past 40 years. They have unfair advantage in our society, no allegiance to the United States, no social responsibility, and no limit to their greed. I fear for the future economic well being of my kids and my country. I am the 99 percent. occupywallst.org



    i am a 19 year old student with 18 credit hours and 2 part time jobs. i am over 4000 dollars in debt but my paychecks are just enough to get me to school and back. next year my plan was to attend a 4 year college and get my bfa, but now i am afraid that without a co-signer i will have no shot at a loan and even if i can get a loan i am afraid that i will leave college with no future and a crippling debt. as a family we are losing our home. my mother lost her job and hasnt been able to find one. we are all living paycheck to paycheck. the stress is taking physical tolls on all of us but i still consider myself one of the lucky ones

    we are angry, we are stressed, we are so fucking tired

    we are the 99%



    2nd October 2011




    I’m 15 y/o and gay. My parents moved us to California for a better life, I was bullied and in the HOSPITAL for being GAY.

    We are in Cali now but my mom and dad work 60+ hours a week.

    My family is gone

    My family is the 99%



    I’d never been unemployed, until the company I worked for tanked a month ago. Up until then, I was living paycheck to paycheck, sharing a small apartment with my elderly, unemployed mother, making just enough to pay rent, grocery bills and medical insurance.

    Now we have no jobs, no savings, no health care and no furniture in our apartment; we sold almost everything we had to pay for food and rent. We both have extensive medical problems and are wondering how we’re going to pay for the medications we need to keep functioning.

    I don’t want sympathy, or handouts. I want a job, affordable rent and the restoration of the “American Dream.”

    I AM THE 99%!!!

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  25. .

    I have the feeling Christie is not ready for prime time yet.

    .

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  26. desert rat said...
    If you did not respond, Story, then the line would move on.



    So you, in direct opposition to the Blogs owner, will throw firebombs about Israel, zionism and jews, and then point fingers at those of us that show how YOU are the disrupting factor on the blog...

    And you call that "entertainment"...

    I just chuckle myself that this Blog rewards your behavior, just proves that this place cannot and will not have any serious discussions.

    Rat, congrats, you bring the grading average down...

    way down....

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  27. Teresita said...
    Interesting how the Rat's and Ms T's constant harping on Israel as a dying nation seem to fall on deaf ears.

    I got a great idea. As far as I'm concerned, the Zionist entity no longer exists. It's been wiped off the map. When I see a post mentioning it, I will proceed directly to the next one. And the corollary: I will not mention it.




    The zionist entity? Now that is FUNNY...

    I hope, if you are actually cancer stricken (which I doubt) that all those "zionist entity's" cancer fighting inventions are used to save your sorry "zionist entity's hating" ass...

    May you live long and be forever bitter at all the time Israeli/Jewish Doctors and Scientists that gave you a prolonged life...

    As for your "word" in the context of a promise? That is hardly worth the keypad you typed it on... After all just HOW MANY times have you stormed out of here in the past threatening that you will never be back????

    at least 4 I can remember....

    so dont make promises you cannot keep..

    But if you learn to keep your claptrap shut about israel/zionism/judaism or even the "zionist entity" that would be a marked improvement.

    Stick to what you supposedly know...

    Lesbians and the art of cheap travel....

    Happy visiting all your Islamic nation buds... Try Iran, they love your type...

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  28. Mosque Set on Fire in Northern Israel
    By ISABEL KERSHNER 9:44 AM ET

    A mosque in an Arab village in the Galilee was set on fire early Monday in what police said was an arson attack, and its walls were defaced with Hebrew graffiti.

    http://www.nytimes.com/?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1317269981-ab2CaIjYt20xPz1aGy8VlQ

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  29. Ash said:


    desert rat said...




    Jerusalem (CNN) -- A mosque in northern Israel was set on fire and graffiti scrawled on its walls, the imam told CNN Monday. The vandalism took place overnight in the village of Tuba-Zangariyye.

    Reuters reports the attackers were Jewish "extremists", which is just another euphemism for terrorists.



    Mon Oct 03, 05:49:00 AM EDT






    Hey Ash...

    Your Friend Rat already posted it yesterday...


    But the Good News (according to the those that hate Israel)? The Arabs that did it are getting the attention they sought...

    After all, who KNOWS who did it...

    Many so called "arson" crimes and graffiti vandalism are actually done by Arabs seeking to continue their "victimhood".

    Notice how there is no proof?

    Just a claim...

    Jenin Jenin all over again!!!!

    Ash, I shall include you in the Rodent/Ms T/Rufus anti-zionist entity listing of retards....

    Congrats...

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  30. WiO: Stick to what you supposedly know...Lesbians and the art of cheap travel....

    Another $98.5 million down the drain… Nevada Geothermal Power about to go bust after hefty Obama loan, but Bush made him do it.

    9.1 percent unemployment, $5 trillion in new debt, a sluggish GDP, high gas and food prices, credit downgrade, 46 million on food stamps, all Bush's fault.

    Rick Perry proposes sending U.S. troops to Mexico to literally fight the drug war.

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  31. Those "firebombing" terrorists used homemade bombs and they were just a nuisance, After all no one harmed in any way, Almost a non-event, Hardly worth mentioning, just as the daily rocket attacks from Palestine rarely harm anyone

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  32. hmmm, I found the article on the front page of the NY Times - I guess they should be included in your "anti-zionist entity listing of retards"


    anon - so you will lump the defacing of Synagogue in the no-problem group?

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  33. If I understand it correctly, the taxpayers' money is pretty safe in this geothermal deal. But, even if it isn't, it's probably "worth it."

    Geothermal, obviously, has tremendous potential; however, it is a lot trickier business than was, at first, supposed. I don't think we should get too upset if the gov. blows a couple of million on some geothermal projects. We might just learn some things that will be worth hundreds of billions, if not trillions.

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  34. This is terrorism....


    Israeli police said Sunday that 25-year-old Asher Palmer and his infant son Yonatan were killed in a terrorist attack after Palestinians threw rocks at their car, causing it to overturn on a highway.

    It happened Friday near the Israeli settlement Kiryat Arba. Authorities originally said the wreck was due to driver error, not stone throwing, prompting accusations of a police cover up so as not to “fan the flames” of a potential Palestinian protest.

    Police re-labeled it a terror attack after further investigation and an autopsy on Asher Palmer’s body revealed injuries consistent with a rock hurling, including fractures to his skull.



    The "activists" that hurled a football size rock into the windshield was murder....

    This was not "collateral" damage.

    This was not an accident...

    This was murder...

    The Arab way...

    People call the price-tag arson as "fire-bombing" terrorists...

    Naw, that's called arson...

    Murdering an infant and his father on purpose?

    The Rat's way...

    The Jihadists way...

    No daylight between them...

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  35. Ash said...
    hmmm, I found the article on the front page of the NY Times - I guess they should be included in your "anti-zionist entity listing of retards"




    Seriously?

    The NYT's is anti-zionist...

    It has a well documented history of being such...

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  36. Just when all the "experts" are starting to realize we might be heading into a double-dip, I'm starting to think we might just, barely, skate on by.

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  37. Give you head a shake WiO - it is painfully obvious how you equate any portrayal of Israel in a negative light as anti-Semitic.

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  38. Ash said...
    Give you head a shake WiO - it is painfully obvious how you equate any portrayal of Israel in a negative light as anti-Semitic.


    No, but a pattern of thousands of articles spanning decades does...

    ReplyDelete