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."

Friday, November 25, 2011

MF Global - Tip of the Iceburg?

Hat Tip: Rufus


120 comments:

  1. It gets interesting at 3 minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The slow taking of the average person’s savings continues on a glogal basis via quantitative easing and printing currency. Why is John Corzine not locked up? Had he robbed a bank of $1500 he would be.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is not certain if John S. Corzine will ever do the perp walk - or even be compelled to answer questions - for his role in the disappearance of over a billion dollars in the MF Global swindle.

    The House Financial Services Committee, however, has started a laborious investigation process, no matter how timidly. It has asked Corzine to testify about the collapse of MF Global and the whereabouts of hundreds of millions of dollars in customer money that mysteriously went missing.


    "Uh, pardon me M. Corzine, but me and the fellas up on the hill, we were wondering if, it wasn't too much trouble, that maybe you could take some time and, uh, you know, swing by and confirm that mistakes were made. But only if you really want to!"

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's no big deal. Like dad used to say,

    "There's a little larceny in everybody."

    It's just the cost of doing business.

    Wal-Mart, that's where the danger lies this time of year. You can get crushed to death at Wal-Mart.....


    b

    ReplyDelete
  5. Miss T, you need fish oil and water. You're just shitting gypsum and gravel this morning. Like you're really old, or something.

    b

    ReplyDelete
  6. Is that what the Rice Krispies told you to say this morning Anonymous Bob? Because otherwise I can't figure out where that came from.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Too big to jail, deuce.

    b

    ReplyDelete
  8. Striking back at your comment of yesterday.

    Came from the heart, not the Krispies.

    b

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous Bob said... It's no big deal. Like dad used to say, "There's a little larceny in everybody."

    The only difference between MF Global and the MF'n Obama Administration is scale. Obama loses trillions to Corzine's billions.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Look at the dipshit Occupy Wallstreeter on Drudge with his evil corporate Starbucks Latte, his evil corporate North Face jacket, and his evil corporate Tommy Hilfiger backpack.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I can't lay any of this at Obama's feet.

    This is part of the Long Bankers Cycle.

    Every 70 years, or so, they get drunk, and blow all the money; and then they get as much back as possible out of the collective hides of the poor, and semi-poor.

    ReplyDelete
  12. We thought we had the regulators in place to somewhat control these thieving bastards; but it wasn't to be. They just did what we should have known they would do.

    They bought the regulators (and, it goes without saying, the politicians.)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Mr T continue not to credit the people that actual have thoughts and make actual posts....

    she/he/it states:


    Teresita said...
    It is not certain if John S. Corzine will ever do the perp walk - or even be compelled to answer questions - for his role in the disappearance of over a billion dollars in the MF Global swindle.


    Not a byline.... Not a hyper link....

    Just theft....

    Try going here to read the author's own words...


    Corzine May Skate in MF Global Swindle


    By Kurt Nimmo
    It is not certain if John S. Corzine will ever do the perp walk - or even be compelled to answer questions - for his role in the disappearance of over a billion dollars in the MF Global swindle.

    The House Financial Services Committee, however, has started a laborious investigation process, no matter how timidly. It has asked Corzine to testify about the collapse of MF Global and the whereabouts of hundreds of millions of dollars in customer money that mysteriously went missing.

    It should be noted that Corzine will not be compelled to answer questions or even respond to the request by the House Financial Services Committee. If push comes to shove, the committee has the power to subpoena Corzine and his underling, Bradley Abelow, the firm's chief operating officer. It has yet to say one way or the other if it intends to do this.

    The FBI and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are now involved finding out what happened. An investigation may take months - long enough for the scandal to fall out of view so it can be swept conveniently under the rug.

    http://tickergrail.blogspot.com/2011/11/corzine-may-skate-in-mf-global-swindle.html

    Mr T, you are one sloppy piece of work....

    ReplyDelete
  14. It's not funny, but it is instructive.

    The use of pepper spray is now an accepted part of life, in California.

    As they say at FOX News, it's only a food product.

    From California:
    Black Friday shopper uses pepper spray at Wal-Mart - abc7.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. WiO: Not a byline.... Not a hyper link....

    Just theft....


    Following the convention established by good ol' Sam, I put my cut'n'pastes in italics if I do not wish to link to them.

    WiO, keep it up, this line of attack is even more boring than your crusade about me being a lesbian in the Reagan era Navy.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Teresita said...
    WiO: Not a byline.... Not a hyper link....

    Just theft....

    Following the convention established by good ol' Sam, I put my cut'n'pastes in italics if I do not wish to link to them.

    WiO, keep it up, this line of attack is even more boring than your crusade about me being a lesbian in the Reagan era Navy.



    interesting....

    you steal and have no regrets

    you lied to the government during your service and you have no regrets...

    did you actually ever have breast cancer or is that as well another lie?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Some illegal aliens are more welcome than others, in Alabama.

    This s funny stuff, it really is.


    On Nov. 16, a European businessman paying a visit to his company’s manufacturing plant near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was pulled over for driving a rental car without a tag.

    The police officer asked the man for his license, but the only paperwork he had with him was a German I.D. card. Anywhere else in the nation, the cop might have issued the man a citation.
    Not in Alabama, where a strict new law requires police to look into the immigration status of people detained for routine traffic violations. Because the man couldn’t prove he had the right to be in the U.S., he was arrested and hauled off to the police station.

    The businessman turned out to be an executive with Mercedes-Benz, one of Alabama’s prized manufacturers, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its Nov. 28 issue. The Mercedes plant employs 3,400 people, and the company’s much-heralded decision in 1993 to build cars in the state encouraged Hyundai, Honda, and Toyota to follow.

    Mercedes has downplayed the incident, calling it “unfortunate” and refusing further comment. Yet word of the arrest spread quickly through the state, amplifying a growing sentiment among many politicians, business owners and citizens that the immigration law, intended to drive off undocumented workers and free up jobs for the unemployed, is too strict and damages Alabama’s reputation as a place to do business.


    “I was really embarrassed and overwhelmed,”
    says state Senator Gerald Dial.
    “Mercedes has done more to change the image of Alabama than just about anything else. We don’t want to upset those people.”


    The unintended consequence of bad law, it's funny stuff, when viewed from afar.

    ReplyDelete
  18. That italic thing, Ms T, a hold over from the days of the Belmont Club.

    If it is italicized, it is a cut and paste.

    If the reader wishes to know the originating source, well, they can cut and paste, too.

    This is not a college course.

    Not for profit or personal gain, so, by law, it is not theft.

    PR man for Allah, he just wants to whine and cut the cheese.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Teresita said...
    WiO: Not a byline.... Not a hyper link....

    Just theft....

    Following the convention established by good ol' Sam, I put my cut'n'pastes in italics if I do not wish to link to them.


    Good ole Sam aint a vaulted "Bartender" you are...

    Sam aint nobody according to the roster of who's who at this here blog...

    You set the tone.

    You lie, you do not give credit to other people's work

    Try this...

    "I am sorry for not being responsible in my postings..."

    But no, shoot the messenger....

    Sorry if you dont like me... I dont LIKE you...

    But your name is on the BLOG not mine...

    So have some standards if that is possible... (which i doubt since I am convinced you are not capable)

    ReplyDelete
  20. The self confessed murderer states: Not for profit or personal gain, so, by law, it is not theft.




    lol

    So stealing from the bank and giving it away is not theft?

    Come on DR you are getting desperate....

    Or stupid...

    Or both....

    Now DR plays the internet cop/lawyer

    ReplyDelete
  21. The 1970s Chevron commercials had it right. Bury Barney, bore byproduct by barrels.

    OTTAWA — A heavy equipment operator unearthed what appears to be a nearly complete plesiosaur while digging in Canada’s oil sands, Syncrude announced Thursday.

    ReplyDelete
  22. The bartenders DR and Ms T have an excuse for everything they do that violate standards and norms....

    pity....

    But they set the tone...

    Welcome to the Elephant Blog....

    ReplyDelete
  23. WiO: Good ole Sam aint a vaulted "Bartender" you are...

    Resigning as a bartender. I tried that once to shut you up. Dinnit work. I won't ask Deuce to do it again, because it would be a waste of his time.

    ReplyDelete
  24. The written, amigo, when published on the inter-net is not cash, nor scrip.

    There are laws that regulate it.

    Ms T, nor I, nor the EB are in violation of those laws.

    Theft, on the internet, is a matter of financial or personal gain, not solely use of the material.

    That is how the law is interpreted and enforced, when it is.

    ReplyDelete
  25. DR states about the internet:

    Not for profit or personal gain, so, by law, it is not theft.


    So someone setting up a music sharing server not for profit or personal gain is not theft?


    Dumbass....

    ReplyDelete
  26. Teresita said...
    WiO: Good ole Sam aint a vaulted "Bartender" you are...

    Resigning as a bartender. I tried that once to shut you up. Dinnit work. I won't ask Deuce to do it again, because it would be a waste of his time.



    yep blame me..

    you have stormed out of here so many times under so many names no one can keep track....

    you are pathetic

    ReplyDelete
  27. I do know quite a bit about publishing and copyright infringement.

    Probably more about that, than you know about candy.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I wonder if the greenie weenies in Canuckistan will try to put plesiosaurs on the endangered species list to stop the exploitation of oil sands carbon.

    ReplyDelete
  29. desert rat said...
    The written, amigo, when published on the inter-net is not cash, nor scrip.

    There are laws that regulate it.

    Ms T, nor I, nor the EB are in violation of those laws.

    Theft, on the internet, is a matter of financial or personal gain, not solely use of the material.

    That is how the law is interpreted and enforced, when it is.






    wiggle wiggle wiggle squirm squirm squirm

    Pasting other people's writings and not giving credit is unethical and in some matters ILLEGAL

    Sometimes it's called "copyright"

    But DR you know that... You just can say "I was wrong" OR I know I broke the law..

    No you wiggle wiggle wiggle and squirm squirm squirm...

    Just like a 5 year old caught with his hand in the cookie jar....

    pathetic...

    ReplyDelete
  30. desert rat said...
    I do know quite a bit about publishing and copyright infringement.

    Probably more about that, than you know about candy.




    Ah the Cliff Claven of the EB speakith...

    Knows everything about everything...

    Amazing...

    We are all privileged to read your written words...

    /off sarc.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I just quoted two paragraphs from Kurt Nimmo's article, under Fair Use. What is "Obstetrician" quoted the whole fucking thing and now anybody can read it without paying M. Nimmo. "We had to destroy the village in order to save it."

    ReplyDelete
  32. What arrogance Ms T and DR have...

    They could have nipped the thread in the bud by a simple apology...

    But no, the narcissistic disorder that controls them would never allow that...

    Sick sick people

    ReplyDelete
  33. No, PR man or Allah, they are downloading the entire work.

    And the owner of the distribution rights files a complaint.
    That is an integral part of the process.

    But since one does not download the EB, title never transfers.

    The information posted in a blog, it does not become the property of the reader, but remains with Google.

    If there is a theft, it is Google that is the miscreant.
    And, funny enough, the down loader, or in your construction, the reader.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Ms T states: now anybody can read it without paying M. Nimmo.



    Notice how she changes the issue?

    No one said she had to PAY anyone...

    I pointed out her failure to ATTRIBUTE his words.

    Ms T does this all the time.

    Change the facts to fit her argument.

    It's like herding cats....

    wiggle wiggle wiggle squirm squirm squirm

    lie distort misdirect...

    Ms T you should have been born an arab....

    ReplyDelete
  35. What is "Occupation" said...

    What arrogance Ms T and DR have...

    They could have nipped the thread in the bud by a simple apology...


    Kill the thread? That's not how you do verbal judo. The longer the thread goes, the more cool we look by comparison to your shrill legalisms. You sure you don't have DNA from Jefferson Davis?

    ReplyDelete
  36. desert rat said...
    No, PR man or Allah, they are downloading the entire work.

    And the owner of the distribution rights files a complaint.
    That is an integral part of the process.

    But since one does not download the EB, title never transfers.

    The information posted in a blog, it does not become the property of the reader, but remains with Google.

    If there is a theft, it is Google that is the miscreant.
    And, funny enough, the down loader, or in your construction, the reader.





    wiggle wiggle wiggle, squirm squirm squirm


    can not simple attribute someone's thoughts and words with his name...

    you suck

    ReplyDelete
  37. Ms T:

    That's not how you do verbal judo. the more cool we look by comparison to your shrill legalisms



    Trust me you dont look cool, you look shallow and pathetic.

    perfect example of narcissistic personality

    not capable of simple error

    yep....

    pathetic.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Ms T: Kill the thread? That's not how you do verbal judo. The longer the thread goes, the more cool we look by comparison to your shrill legalisms. You sure you don't have DNA from Jefferson Davis?



    amazing... I guess you havent read your fellow bartender's shrill legalisms

    lol

    As for your attempt at a personal attack about Jefferson Davis?

    try learning about the man, he was cut from a much better cloth than you

    http://www.civilwarhome.com/jdavisbio.htm

    wiggle wiggle wiggle, squirm squirm squirm

    ReplyDelete
  39. If there is an apology due, it is PR man for Allah that shoould be making it, to Ms T, for accusing her of theft.

    When such a charge is blatantly false, a libel, actually.

    ReplyDelete
  40. "Come senators, congressmen
    Please heed the call
    Don't stand in the doorway
    Don't block up the hall
    For he that gets hurt
    Will be he who has stalled
    There's a battle outside
    And it is ragin'.
    It'll soon shake your windows
    And rattle your walls
    For the times they are a-changin."

    ReplyDelete
  41. The whirled is ruled by legalize, like it or not.

    To many law schools and not enough medical schools, seems clear in retrospect.

    ReplyDelete
  42. The Dow is up and yet we have this:

    Italian 2-, 5- and 10-year government bond yields soared above the 7% level ahead of a closely-watched auction of six-month Treasury bills. The 10-year yield IT:10YR_ITA +8.14% was seen at 7.31%, up 35 basis points, according to FactSet Research

    Are European investors fleeing to US equities?

    ReplyDelete
  43. Don't you think Mr Zimmerman will take offense, unpublished?

    PR man for Allah may chastise you.

    Even accuse you of larceny.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Security is king, Deuce.

    The United States remains the most economically secure place in the whirled.

    No inflation and at the threshold of recovery.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Deuce asks:

    "Are European investors fleeing to US equities?”

    It is perplexing as the Euro is virtually a reserve currency, as is the USD. The latter exists quite happily in spite of trillions being printed. It is as if no damage has been done by all the QE, yet the European economy is comparable in size to the US economy. Furthermore, Euro's current exchange rates represent an appreciation by 14% and 23% with respect to USD and GBP respectively since 1999. So we might see worldwide financial and economic armageddon, but when the dust settles, the euro would still exist and people would still use it for daily life.

    Death of the Euro, Is the pessimism on the Euro a bit overdone? Don't be so sure.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Do I have to wait for the third date for sex or would you prefer turkey leftovers?

    ReplyDelete
  47. What is "obfuscation"
    What is "objection"
    What is "obligation"
    What is "oblivion"
    What is "obsession"
    What is "obstruction"
    What is "olfaction"
    What is "opinion"
    What is "ossification"
    What is "overcaution"
    What is "overcorrection"
    What is "overexaggeration"
    What is "overexertion"
    What is "overexpansion"
    What is "overinflation"
    What is "overmedication"
    What is "overprotection"
    What is "overreaction"
    What is "oversimplification"

    ReplyDelete
  48. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  49. The virtual whirled loses to sticks and bricks, when security is the watch word.

    Of the three investment options, in our Tri-lateral whirled ...

    Asia is growing, but property rights in China are iffy, and the RMB float is not that large. Japan is stagnant and Korea just not enough to absorb the whirled's liquidity.

    Europe, is losing global market share to the Chinese. Their economies in relative decline because of it. Their opportunities for growth, limited.
    Thus the capital flight.

    The US still retains it's historic 25% of global GDP.
    It prints the whirled reserve scrip.
    There is no inflation.
    The QE's not substantial enough to liquify the M1.
    Property rights are secure.

    ReplyDelete
  50. In other words: The U.S. is still the best house in a "not too sporty" neighborhood. :)

    ReplyDelete
  51. The way I look at is, our problems are large, but, ultimately, solvable. China, and, most especially, europe have some problems that, seemingly, are almost terminal.

    ReplyDelete
  52. What is "overstimulation" said: As for your attempt at a personal attack about Jefferson Davis?

    try learning about the man, he was cut from a much better cloth than you


    Yes, I know. Lesbonains are all about flannel, but Jeff....Jeff...

    JEFF IN PETTICOATS
    Words by Henry Tucker
    Music by George Cooper

    Jeff Davis was a hero bold,
    You've heard of him, I know,
    He tried to make himself a king
    Where southern breezes blow;
    But "Uncle Sam," he laid the youth
    Across his mighty knee,
    And spanked him well, and that's the end
    Of brave old Jeffy D.

    CHORUS:
    Oh! Jeffy D.! You "flow'r of chivalree,"
    Oh royal Jeffy D.!
    Your empire's but a tin-clad skirt,
    Oh, charming Jeffy D.

    This Davis, he was always full
    Of bluster and of brag,
    He swore, on all our Northern walls,
    He'd plant his Rebel rag;
    But when to battle he did go,
    He said, "I'm not so green,
    To dodge the bullets, I will wear
    My tin-clad crinoline."

    CHORUS

    Now when he saw the game was up,
    He started for the woods,
    His bandbox hung upon his arm
    Quite full of fancy goods;
    Said Jeff, "They'll never take me now,
    I'm sure I'll not be seen.
    They'd never think to look for me
    Beneath my crinoline."

    CHORUS

    Jeff took with him, the people say,
    A mine of golden coin,
    Which he, from banks and other places,
    Managed to purloin;
    But while he ran, like every thief,
    He had to drop the spoons.
    And maybe that's the reason why
    He dropped his pantaloons.

    CHORUS

    Our Union boys were on his track
    For many nights and days,
    His palpatating heart it beat,
    Enough to burst his stays;
    Oh! what a dash he must have cut
    With form so tall and lean;
    Just fancy now the "What is it?"
    Dressed up in crinoline!

    CHORUS

    The ditch that Jeff was hunting for,
    He found was very near;
    He tried to "shift" his base again,
    His neck felt rather queer;
    Just on the out-"skirts" of a wood
    His dainty shape was seen,
    His boots stuck out, and now they'll hang
    Old Jeff in crinoline.

    CHORUS

    ReplyDelete
  53. The claims that "Socialism" brought Europe down, hard to take seriously when it's the Chinese that took their share.

    There is no greater example of State being in control of the economic decision making as exhibited by the government in China, today.

    ReplyDelete
  54. ;-) We can agree on that and disagree agreeably on history. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  55. And, also worth noting: Germany, the "Powerhouse" Economy of Europe is just a "Socialist" as any of the rest.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Wal-Mart fight!!!

    Here

    I'm becoming a little concerned about Quirk, he said he was a Wal-Mart kind of guy. I know he said he wasn't going shopping this Black Friday, but, he hasn't checked in........


    b

    ReplyDelete
  57. Don't use UK servers and you'll be fine, boobie.

    ReplyDelete
  58. You must have assumed I was thinking of you, crapper.

    In that, you were quite right.


    b

    ReplyDelete
  59. Me, boobie, I've never committed a cyber crime, nor bullied anyone.

    Google polices our postings , here, I conform to their rules of conduct.

    ReplyDelete
  60. desert rat said...
    Me, boobie, I've never committed a cyber crime, nor bullied anyone.



    Now that's down right FUNNY....

    ReplyDelete
  61. What is "obfuscation"
    What is "objection"
    What is "obligation"
    What is "oblivion"
    What is "obsession"
    What is "obstruction"
    What is "olfaction"
    What is "opinion"
    What is "ossification"
    What is "overcaution"
    What is "overcorrection"
    What is "overexaggeration"
    What is "overexertion"
    What is "overexpansion"
    What is "overinflation"
    What is "overmedication"
    What is "overprotection"
    What is "overreaction"
    What is "oversimplification"



    Wow, put some effort in that didn't ya?

    excellent....

    good work...

    ReplyDelete
  62. Some headlines from Drudge --

    Woman pepper sprays other Black Friday shoppers 'to gain an upper hand'...

    'Competitive shopping' turns into chaos...

    VIDEO: Mayhem over $2 waffle maker...

    Two women injured in brawl...

    Woman shot, robbed in SC after midnight shopping trip to WALMART...

    NC police use pepper spray to break up melee...

    VIDEO...

    Grandfather smashed to ground as he tried to protect grandson from crowd...

    Police taser WALMART customer...

    GUNFIRE ERUPTS AT MALL...



    b

    ReplyDelete
  63. .

    If the reader wishes to know the originating source, well, they can cut and paste, too.


    Given some of the sources you have used rat, I can see where you would take this stand.

    :)


    Fact is, in exemplum, Sam is a prolific poster and a great guy but I ignore most of his posts (other than the jokes and the videos of course) because he provides neither links nor attribution. Without either, there is no way of judging the biases of the author.

    I think Ms. T has the better of the argument by providing a link to the entire work in question since it provides much more context than just the author's name.

    Likewise, clicking on a link is much easier than cut-and-past and dig through Google entries.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  64. .

    I'm becoming a little concerned about Quirk, he said he was a Wal-Mart kind of guy.


    And I am becoming a little concerned about you and becoming more convinced that Ms. T may be right in her evaluation of you.

    Our conversation came late last night, not that long ago, and I said I was a Sam's Club guy, nothing about Walmart.

    Try to hold it together big boy.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  65. .

    This one's for Doug and his contention that there is an actual difference between the GOP and the Dems in Congress.

    Read an article in the Free Press this morning about the low self esteem Congress has after the latest fiasco with the "Supercommittee".

    For instance, Lindsay Graham has taken to calling himself a lawyer.

    At any rate, 11% of Americans approve of communism while only 9% approve of the current Congress.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  66. I should have remembered that. Sam's Club is for the upper crust.

    No fighting in the aisles for you.

    Takes a load off my mind.

    b

    ReplyDelete
  67. I have no idea about what is happening in Europe. It is weird. Italian debt went over 8%. US equities went up before they quit and retreated 5% for the week. Perhaps something spectacular is planned and happening, but I have no idea what that could be.

    ReplyDelete
  68. You can count on one thing. The Obama Administration will never learn.


    The White House has called for the Egyptian military to surrender all power immediately to a new civilian government that is due to be elected within the next few days.

    In a marked increase of pressure on the ruling generals after days of hesitancy, Washington appears to have withdrawn its support for the army to retain a significant political role after next week's parliamentary elections.

    ReplyDelete
  69. The White House said it is confident that the political crisis will be resolved. "Egypt has overcome challenges before and will do so again. The United States will continue to stand with the Egyptian people as they build a democracy worthy of Egypt's great history," it said.

    ReplyDelete
  70. It will be a democracy worthy of Egypt's history, however great that might not be.

    Place is better off having the military run it, at least they have the sense not to want to start a war.

    But the MBrothers time may have come.

    b

    ReplyDelete
  71. I think proper attribution is important. If you quote something, cut and paste, you should reference where it came from. It is standard writing practice.

    ReplyDelete
  72. What is "Obfuscation" said: can not simple attribute someone's thoughts and words with his name...

    Let's talk about Ezra when he slapped together the Torah in Babylon, and how he lifted his stuff straight from the 11th tablet of the Gilgamesh epic without so much as a hat tip.

    * Ea commanded Utnapishtim to demolish his house and build a boat, regardless of the cost, to keep living beings alive.

    * Five days later, Utnapishtim laid out the exterior walls of the boat of 120 cubits.

    * The sides of the superstructure had equal lengths of 120 cubits. He also made a drawing of the interior structure.

    * Three times 3,600 units of raw bitumen were melted in a kiln and three times 3,600 units of oil were used in addition to two times 3,600 units of oil that were stored in the boat.

    * He loaded "all the living beings that I had."

    * His relatives and craftsmen, and "all the beasts and animals of the field" boarded the boat.

    * All day long the south wind blew rapidly and the water overwhelmed the people like an attack.

    * The flood and wind lasted six days and seven nights, flattening the land.
    * On the seventh day, the storm was pounding [intermittently?] like a woman in labor.

    * The boat lodged firmly on mount Nimush which held the boat for several days, allowing no swaying.

    * On the seventh day he released a dove which flew away, but came back to him. He released a swallow, but it also came back to him.

    * He released a raven which was able to eat and scratch, and did not circle back to the boat.

    * He then sent his livestock out in various directions.

    * He sacrificed a sheep and offered incense at a mountainous ziggurat where he placed 14 sacrificial vessels and poured reeds, cedar, and myrtle into the fire.

    * The gods smelled the sweet odor of the sacrificial animal and gathered like flies over the sacrifice.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Teresita said...
    What is "Obfuscation" said: can not simple attribute someone's thoughts and words with his name...

    Let's talk about Ezra when he slapped together the Torah in Babylon, and how he lifted his stuff straight from the 11th tablet of the Gilgamesh epic without so much as a hat tip.


    Let not... Let stay on topic.

    I bet ya can't...

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  74. "Why everybody except Iran can have nuclear weapons

    gerald caplan

    It is deeply regrettable that Iran may one day join the not-so-exclusive club of nations that possess nuclear weapons. It is a potential danger the world doesn’t need. If you’ll forgive an outburst of preposterous idealism, it would be kind of neat to have a world with no nuclear arms whatsoever.

    But for the life of me I don't see how the world convinces Iran it’s not entitled to such weapons when Pakistan, North Korea, Russia, India, China, the United States, France, Britain and Israel all have them.

    Iranians look at the map and the questions become even more pointed. Nearly half the nuclear countries are in their ‘hood or within easy shooting distance. This includes Russia, Pakistan, India and Israel. The region is astonishingly dangerous for everyone, but not least for Iran. Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird, repeatedly describes Iran as the greatest threat to security in the world. This is political bombast masquerading as statesmanship. "

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/gerald-caplan/why-everybody-except-iran-can-have-nuclear-weapons/article2249596/

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  75. Miss T may be shitting dust again, dust and stones, as many don't consider Ezra to have been an historical figure. Just a little detail.

    And everyone knows there have been borrowings.

    Milk of Magnesia, fish oil, and warm water for the Lady.


    b

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  76. Miss T's beloved 'new' testament is to a large extent a mirror of the 'old'.

    b

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  77. There's one little detail the Euros seem to be overlooking.

    In the United States of America the Rich people in the Rich states send money to the Feds, and the Feds, in turn, send a lot of that money back to the Poor in the Poor States.

    W/O that, Mississippi would be Greece, as would a lot of other "net takers."

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  78. Also, the U.S. has, over time, built up a tax collection scheme, centered around the IRS, that pretty much guarantees that the "Rich" in the Poor States pay their fair share.

    As much as we bemoan the IRS, the United States couldn't function at the high level that it does without it.

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  79. Europe will, sooner than later, have to decide if it will be a group of Sovereign Countries, with their own sovereign currencies, or if it will be a "United States of Europe" (ie, One Country with one currency.)

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  80. As it is, it looks like they've tried to breed a pig with a jackass, and the results are looking predictable.

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  81. WE HAVE A DIFFERENT MENTALITY THAN THEN AMERICANS AND THE JEWS

    Ain't that the truth. And Obama's position is......get the military out of power as quickly as possible, the military, the main force for peace in the country.


    b

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  82. It's hard to see how they can really become one country with all those different languages. Not to mention different cultures.


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  83. Only 40 years old, alas, and so much human potential......


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  84. “Eurozone leaders were tonight looking again to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help countries in distress as bond yields in Italy and Spain hit new highs and the credit-ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded Belgium.”

    The IMF has $400 billion to loan, and it all comes with austerity strings. That might take care of Greece and Portugal, but Belgium is just beyond reach and Italy is right out. Paul Krugman’s advice is, of course, to hell with austerity, double down with Keynesian government spending. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Meanwhile, in California, Jerry Brown is moving forward on building his $100 billion rail line between the bok choy farms of Bakersfield and the snow pea farms of Modesto, California, which is already served by I-5 and Highway 99.

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  85. The muzzie bros have played it smart. Hunkered down all this time, bidding time, now when they see they might get what they want all the vile wicked shit comes out - "Kill all the Jews" they shout.

    It's always the same. The following is from Religio Medici by Sir Thomas Browne, a delightful eccentric English writer of 360 or so years ago, about 1650CE, which I am rereading to my pleasure.

    "The Alcoran of the Turks (I speak without prejudice) is an ill-tempered piece, containing in it vain and ridiculous errors in philosophy, impossibilities, fictions, and vanities beyond laughter; maintained by evident and open sophisms, the policy of ignorance, deposition of universities, and the banishment of learning: this hath gotten foot by arms and violence: that without a blow hath disseminated itself through the whole earth.

    Reminds one a little of Churchill's opinion of the 'Turks' so many centuries later.

    If you think some cell phones and big screen tvs are going to moderate these folks I do think you are wrong.


    b

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  86. Gorbachev: Putin's 'Authoritarian' Party is rigging elections.

    Soviet elections weren't rigged, you see. 99% of voters really did want Yuri Andropov.

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  87. Well, if the people don't like them, they'll just have to kick them out and find someone else. It's their business, not ours.

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  88. Two things I don't want to do: invest in European Bonds, or get involved in Middleeastern politics.

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  89. Sleep is a death, O make me try,
    By sleeping, what it is to die:
    And as gently lay my head
    On my grave, as now my bed.


    On Dreams

    Sir Thomas Browne


    Sir Thomas

    Just take a nap, Rufus, you'll feel better about things......:)

    b

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  90. I feel great about "things," already, Bob. I feel great about the Middle East doing whatever it is the Middle East is going to do, and I feel great about whatever happens to the Europeans.

    Ain't none of it my business.

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  91. I feel great that we're finally bringing our troops home from the Iraqi debacle, and I feel great that Afghanistan is next.

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  92. That's great Rufus I'm happy for ya.

    b

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  93. I feel great about the chance for enhanced trade with the Asian/Pacific Nations, and I feel great that the administration is finally starting to push back a little bit against the mercantilist Chinese.

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  94. And, make no mistake about it; a break-up of the Eurozone would be Great for the United States.

    Germany's trade advantage would, largely, dissipate; and we'd pick up a lot of new customers in the rest of Europe (and, even a few in Germany.)

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  95. Anonymous Bob: Miss T may be shitting dust again, dust and stones, as many don't consider Ezra to have been an historical figure. Just a little detail.

    Don't pepper spray me, bro.

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  96. Let's see how sporty Germany looks lugging around a $2.00 Deutscehmark.

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  97. Aka the Douche Mark.

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  98. I'd never really pepper spray you Miss T.


    I'm eating the last of the Coffee Ice Cream. It is really good.


    b

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  99. Netanyahu to Obama: Stop Iran—Or I Will

    The message from Israel's new prime minister is stark: if the Obama administration doesn't prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, Israel may be forced to attack.

    An Atlantic exclusive,
    FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2011


    By JEFFREY GOLDBERG
    This story has been updated on Jeffrey Goldberg’s blog in response to some controversy that it generated.

    In an interview conducted shortly before he was sworn in today as prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu laid down a challenge for Barack Obama. The American president, he said, must stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons—and quickly—or an imperiled Israel may be forced to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities itself.

    “The Obama presidency has two great missions: fixing the economy, and preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu told me. He said the Iranian nuclear challenge represents a “hinge of history” and added that “Western civilization” will have failed if Iran is allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

    In unusually blunt language, Netanyahu said of the Iranian leadership, “You don’t want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs. When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start worrying, and that is what is happening in Iran.”



    What a mess.

    Can you imagine the ramifications of $150 oil at this time? I was thinking about the lies and liars that dragged us into a war with Iraq because of the existential threat of Saddam. One trillion dollars later and we are scurrying to get our troops out before the next preordained existential fright fight begins,

    The only Republican opposed to a US involvement with a preemptive strike against Iran is Ron Paul. It is anyone’s guess what Obama believes in. I am not voting for anyone that is pledged to subordinate American interests to anything that will guarantee that the majority of Americans become poorer.

    The Gingrich ploy to get the Hispanic vote will garnish him about 25% of that voting bloc with 75% opposed. Romney has pledged to break in his first trip on Air Force One to Israel. The Jewish vote will go against any Republican by at least 70%. In Romney’s case because he is a Mormon, he will get less. What candidate is there that puts American domestic interests first and tells Netanyahu to take care of his own business if he thinks he can handle it?

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  100. Obama, I suppose.


    Or, Ron Paul. But, he's certifiable.

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  101. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Michael Mullen, recently warned that an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would undermine stability in the Middle East and endanger the lives of Americans in the Persian Gulf.

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  102. Bibi needs to gas up those jets, and get cracking.

    'cause, Obama ain't comin'.

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  103. Netanyahu is a twisted, cynical, manipulating liar.

    Netanyahu offered Iran’s behavior during its eight-year war with Iraq as proof of Tehran’s penchant for irrational behavior. Iran “wasted over a million lives without batting an eyelash … It didn’t sear a terrible wound into the Iranian consciousness. It wasn’t Britain after World War I, lapsing into pacifism because of the great tragedy of a loss of a generation. You see nothing of the kind.”

    Netanyahu knows damn well that is not the case. He also knows that most in the US Congress are too stupid and intellectually lazy to check the actual facts that it was Saddam who attacked Iran.

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  104. I know; maybe Bibi needs to stir a little More shit. Maybe he could build a few more apartments over there in the Palestinian areas.

    That's always a good way to build alliances.

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  105. Although, if it were me, I think I'd be concentrating on building up my missile defenses.

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  106. Any honest student of history would ask themselves, "if Iran had a nuclear weapon would Saddam have attacked and killed one million Iranians?” Surely the Iranians have asked themselves the same question.

    The only way that Netanyahu has an even chance of destroying Iranian nuclear capabilities on a temporary basis is if he drags the US Air Force into the action. He knows that if his adventure goes wrong, he can count on his US network of Israeli firsters to put unbearable pressure on Congress and Obama to bail him out. The sad fact is that he is right. He can do it and would do it.

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  107. The fact is, if the Iranians could shut down the Straits of Hormuz (and, I'm not sure they couldn't) it would, almost certainly lead to a World-Wide Depression.

    I think the only way we could prevent them from shutting down the Straits would be a full-fledged invasion, and land war (followed by Eternal Occupation) in a Muslim country of 75 Million.

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  108. And, it Would only be temporary. The Iranian Nuke program has surely metastasized, by now, to the extent that it can't be stopped.

    For a country of that size, and wealth, building a nuke is just too easy.

    Hell, "Pakistan" was able to do it, with us watching (we thought) their every move.

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  109. Deuce: He knows that if his adventure goes wrong, he can count on his US network of Israeli firsters to put unbearable pressure on Congress and Obama to bail him out. The sad fact is that he is right. He can do it and would do it.

    Israeli firsters?

    Go fuck yourself.

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  110. “You don’t want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs. When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start worrying, and that is what is happening in Iran.”

    Netanyahu

    Makes perfect sense to me. But, deuce is probably right, it's gone so far now it would be hard to stop.

    Should have listened to me years ago and attacked then, the USA, Israel, maybe even Saudi.

    If human beings weren't so damned 'open' and able to believe every last idiocy to come down the road.....

    What to do? Retreat further into the safes of Idaho.....Yellowpine.

    b

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  111. We'll get dragged in if the oil lanes are closed.

    b

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  112. Those Mullahs are some of the richest men in the world. Their oil sales, alone, come out to over $9 Billion/mo.

    There is no way in hell on earth that they are going to start a nuclear holocaust.

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  113. But, yep, we'd have to go in and open the oil lanes. And, with modern, portable anti-ship technology, that is a whole hell of a lot easier said than done.

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  114. With That cheery little news item, I am going to bed.

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  115. Let Sir Thomas Browne and Morpheus tuck you in, may your slippers fit tight, your night cap snug as you retreat to your dormatorio, lighted candle in hand.



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  116. .

    Where the various tax/spending cut proposals would have (or will) get us.

    Hard to judge what assumptions went into the numbers. (For instance, at the time of the negotiations, I thought the Obama/Boehner plan was supposed to come up to a total of $4 trillion in debt reduction.)

    Supercommittee Nightmare

    .

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