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."
The only accountability will be at the polls.
ReplyDeletenonsense
DeleteNot when you have hundreds of thousands of illegals voting without showing ID.
Not when you have targeted amnesty for illegals as well.
The ONLY accountability?
Go GALT
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DeleteMany people find Rand appealing when they meet her in their youth. Most ignore her when they grow up.
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Quirk, interesting point, I find that in my youth I found the democrat party interesting as well as other "liberal" ideas. Now that I am older, more thoughtful and slightly less tolerant of those that seek the contents of my wallet as well as my individual rights?
DeleteI personally find Atlas Shrugged an important book on American and institutional socialism.
By the way, please define what a "many" is....
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DeleteMany?
That was just a personal observation. Most of the people I have discussed her books with read them in college. I realize there has been a recent revival of interest in her work and I assume this might be from people like Tea Partiers and Libertarians.
Another thing I learned only a few weeks ago is that like Saudi Arabia which provides the Koran free to most countries for teaching the Wahhabi view of Islam, the ARI provides hundreds of thousands of copies of Rand's books free to high schoolers each year in an effort to promote her views.
Now, most of the people I know that comment on Rand's books and philosophy (admittedly, hardly any these days) while agreeing that she pretty much lived most of her life based on the 'enlightened' self-interest promoted by objectivism, in the end, she crashed and burned, hypocritely accepting those same goodies she decried most of her life.
As for Atlas Shrugged, I think it was her last novel and she used it to clearly define her philosophy of objectivism. People still buy the book. But then people still buy A brave New World, Lord of the Flies, and Animal Farm. Like most dystopic novels Atlas contains some grains of truth; however, it is still science fiction.
As a predicter, based on current developments, I prefer Orwell's 1984 to Rand's Atlas Shrugged.
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wow, sounds like a book report from:
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)
Rand Paul was pretty good in there but nobody asked the old hag who ordered the stand down, did they?
ReplyDeleteBob, no one directly questioned the "live feed" with the question:
ReplyDeleteWhy was no support forthcoming after HOURS on constant communication with Wilson?
Nor was the question asked of Ms Clinton: At any time was there any question asked of the staff DURING the 12 hour conflict about what was going on and at that time was there any mention of any video BY the staff in Libya?
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DeleteNor was the question asked, "How far up the line did the information go within State? If you weren't aware of it, why not? Was it faulty communication links? An inadequate system? Disinterest on your part? Or merely an attempt at plausible deniability?"
Did anyone within State inform the White House, the President, the NSC? If not, why not? If so, when?
The same questions could be directed to the others involved, POTUS, the WH staff, the NSC, CIA, DOD, and DNI.
Who made the decision not to bring in additional forces to aid in the rescue effort? When did they make the decision? What was the rationale for that decision?
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but since Hillary was there launching her 2016 run for potus I doubt anyone was going to squeeze her
Deleteriiiight, those republicans on her side!
DeleteWith all due respect Me thinks Hillary was running for 2016 today
ReplyDeleteThe absurdity continues:
ReplyDeleteWomen in all branches of the military soon will have unprecedented opportunities to serve on the front lines of the nation’s wars.
Leon Panetta, in one of his last acts as President Obama’s defense secretary, is preparing to announce the policy change, which would open hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war, the Pentagon confirmed Wednesday.
The groundbreaking move recommended by the Joint Chiefs of Staff overturns a 1994 rule banning women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units. Panetta’s decision gives the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believe any positions must remain closed to women.
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DeleteWho gives a shit? Let them fight if they want.
I remember one young lady that took a hammer to the hood of my car over some slight misunderstasnding. It was pretty intense.
My only concern is that they tend to get a little emotional over some things, and with a gun in their hands, well...with no place to run, no place to hide...
Just saying.
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So long as they send the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered 1st, who cares...
DeleteWhat did you expect her to do, Quirk?
DeleteI'd take a hammer to your car too if you refused to give me a properly and legally due refund.
The women voted for the son of a bitch. Let them fight for him.
DeleteSo long as they send the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered 1st, who cares...
DeleteShock troops.
Dat's smart.
Buck
Apple Inc.'s shares fell about 10% in after-hours trading as the consumer electronics company reported quarterly earnings that were flat for the first time in years.
ReplyDeleteThe company's fiscal first quarter marks the first full period to include sales of the iPhone 5, which launched in September. The company, which doesn't break out sales by models, sold a record 47.8 million iPhone smartphones in the latest period, up 29% from a year earlier.
The French military has distanced itself from a photograph taken during its operations in Mali, after the image of a soldier with his face obscured by a menacing skull bandana went viral.
ReplyDelete...
Algeria today claimed that it did not sustain heavy losses in the operation to end the Saharan gas plant siege, and that only eight soldiers suffered minor wounds during a four-day siege of a gas plant by al-Qaida-linked militants who took dozens of foreigners hostage.
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Algerian authorities are typically reluctant to announce military losses.
Joe Biden summoned more than 200 Democratic insiders to the vice presidential residence Sunday night to chat about the 2012 triumph — but many walked away convinced his rising 2016 ambitions were the real intent of the long, intimate night.
ReplyDelete“I took a look at who was there,” said longtime New Hampshire state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, “and said to myself, ‘There’s no question he’s thinking about the future.’ ”
France has been moving into the northern region of Mali to wrestle control of the area from militants affiliated with al-Qaida. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves LeDrian said over the weekend that the goal is the "total reconquest of Mali," and that the French military would not "leave any pockets of resistance."
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Military and video games have long mixed – the members of SEAL Team 6 were punished for their role in developing the video game "Medal of Honor." The U.S. Army created “America’s Army,” a series of video games to help with recruitment.
But this image has a more chilling effect, somehow, perhaps because it signifies the conundrum of war: the liberating army as a symbol of freedom, but also of looming death.
Adding another chapter to the book of “How to Villify American Gun Owners”, a new bill on the table of the Missouri State Senate would require parents to notify their child’s school if they own a firearm.
ReplyDelete...
The summary of the bill, SB124 reads:
SB 124 – This act creates the offense of failing to stop illegal firearm possession. A person commits the offense if he or she is the parent or guardian of a child under the age of 18, he or she knows the child possesses a firearm in violation of the law, and he or she fails to stop the possession or report it to law enforcement.
The offense is a Class A misdemeanor unless death or injury results from the firearm possession in which case it is a Class D felony.
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DeleteThe post doesn't make sense. If you read this sentence,
Adding another chapter to the book of “How to Villify American Gun Owners”, a new bill on the table of the Missouri State Senate would require parents to notify their child’s school if they own a firearm.
You get the impression that the law requires the parent to report the fact that the 'parent' owns a firearm. However, what the law actually says is the parent is guilty of a misdemeanor if they know their child possesses an illegal gun and they don't either report it or take the gun away from the child themselves.
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Tony Blair has lambasted David Cameron's plan to hold an in-out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU, warning metaphorically that the prime minister could end up blowing out his brains by threatening to leave.
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"To do that at this moment is a worry to any of us who have been through the European mill because right now these other European countries are in a very, very difficult state themselves."
Isn't it going to be great in 2016?
ReplyDeleteThe Hag versus Smokin' Joe. And who knows what other dumpster divers.
Though both are better than Barky.
DeletePOLITICO: BIDEN 'INTOXICATED' BY 2016 RUN...
DeleteLook out!
The preliminary HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, a gauge of nationwide manufacturing activity, rose to 51.9 in January, compared with a final reading of 51.5 in December, HSBC Holdings PLC said Thursday.
ReplyDeleteA Woman was out golfing one day when she hit the ball into the woods.
ReplyDeleteShe went into the woods to look for it and found a frog in a trap.
The frog said to her, "If you release me from this trap, I will grant you three wishes."
The woman freed the frog, and the frog said, "Thank you, but I failed to mention that there was a condition to your wishes.
Whatever you wish for, your husband will get times ten!"
The woman said, "That's okay."
For her first wish, she wanted to be the most beautiful woman in the world.
The frog warned her, "You do realize that this wish will also make your husband the most handsome man in the world, an Adonis whom women will flock to".
The woman replied, "That's okay, because I will be the most beautiful woman and he will have eyes only for me."
So, KAZAM-she's the most beautiful woman in the world!
For her second wish, she wanted to be the richest woman in the world.
The frog said, "That will make your husband the richest man in the world. And he will be ten times richer than you."
The woman said, "That's okay, because what's mine is his and what's his is mine."
So, KAZAM-she's the richest woman in the world!
The frog then inquired about her third wish, and she answered, "I'd like a mild heart attack."
Moral of the story: Women are clever. Don't mess with them.
Attention female readers : This is the end of the joke for you. Stop here and continue feeling good.
Male readers: Please scroll down.
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The man had a heart attack ten times milder than his wife .
Moral of the story: Women are not really smart, they just think they are.
On this day in 1973, President Nixon announced an agreement had been reached, putting an end to the Vietnam War.
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteMore than half of Afghanistan’s population is under twenty-five, which shouldn’t be surprising since the average life span there is forty-nine. But the United States Agency for International Development looked at this group and decided it needed help because, it said, these young people are “disenfranchised, unskilled, uneducated, neglected—and most susceptible to joining the insurgency.” So the agency chartered a three-year, $50 million program intended to train members of this generation to become productive members of Afghan society. Two years into it, the agency’s inspector general had a look at the work thus far and found “little evidence that the project has made progress toward” its goals.
The full report offered a darker picture than this euphemistic summary, documenting a near-total failure. It also showed that USAID had handed the project over to a contractor and then paid little attention. Unfortunately, the same can be said for almost every foreign-aid project undertaken in Afghanistan since the war began eleven years ago.
In a recent quarterly report, the US special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction said that, when security for aid workers is figured in, the total amount of nonmilitary funds Washington has appropriated since 2002 “is approximately $100 billion”—more than the US has ever spent to rebuild a country. That estimate came out in July. Since then, Congress has appropriated another $16.5 billion for “reconstruction.” And all of that has not bought the United States or the Afghans a single sustainable institution or program.
US Aid
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Toot Tone
ReplyDeleteAn improvement? Or, devolution? On the device described by James Joyce in Finnegan's Wake, which was a mere noise suppressor. Needed, the odor free app.
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ReplyDeleteIn the previous link, the level of incompetence by US Aid and the military is just too long to list but here are a couple examples:
•For $130,000, Afghan contractors built a large shower/bathroom facility “without holes in the walls or floors for plumbing and drains.” What’s more, the walls were constructed of “crumbling cinder blocks.” The report blamed insufficient oversight. That was most certainly true. But in addition, UNICEF statistics show that seventy percent of Afghans have no access to a toilet and may in fact never have seen one. How could they know what’s involved in installing them?
•Defense Department personnel told the GAO about “a dining facility in Afghanistan that was built without a kitchen,” once again because of absent oversight.
•“In another instance, an entire compound of five buildings was built in the wrong location.” It was supposed to be located within the military base’s security walls, but the contractors inexplicably built the compound just outside—for $2.4 million. No one noticed until the project was completed. “The buildings could not be used.”
We borrow 40% more than we take in on taxes and this is what we waste it on. There is no accountability, why should there be, it's not these clowns' money.
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Just buy them all a hundred thousand dollar home and be done with it.
Delete(To those lacking historical memory, this is an old criticism of aid in Vietnam)
Google this, sots -
ReplyDeleteobama hagel voting machines
Quirk circles slowly, begins to rise to the fly.....
Delete.
ReplyDeleteObama: A Party of One
Obama has chosen to go big in his second term without any more elections to worry about, betting on a liberal counteroffensive to push back the conservative gains of the Reagan era. His political advisers believe they’re on track with the future of America with their strategy. But the president is relying on the most fickle voters to help deliver his grand vision. Soon enough, we’ll find out whether they were more drawn to Obama the person, or Obama’s grand ideas.
As has been pointed out, Obama's inaguaral address was a bold and partisan expression of progressive ideals and he emphasized he had no intention of letting minor things like the constitution, the GOP, or even his own party stand in his way.
It's his way or the highway. That's why all the talk about who he's picking for his cabinet is pretty much meaningless. He is not actually choosing a cabinet that will provide divergent views, the pros and cons on a particular issue. He is choosing a staff, a cabal of yes men. The 'One' will define the mission and the staff will have to figure out what is needed to get it done.
The Dem leadership was quiet in 2012 because Obama was the only thing they had going for them. Will they do the same in 2014?
http://www.nationaljournal.com/columns/against-the-grain/obama-a-party-of-one-20130123
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