COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Saturday, November 09, 2013

Prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego have charged the two Navy commanders with passing classified information about ship and submarine movements to Leonard Glenn Francis, a Malaysian national and the chief executive of Glenn Defense Marine.



Two admirals face probe in Navy bribery scheme
November 8
Two U.S. admirals — including the director of naval intelligence — are under investigation as part of a major bribery scandal involving a foreign defense contractor, Navy officials announced Friday night.
Vice Adm. Ted “Twig” Branch, the service’s top intelligence officer, and Rear Adm. Bruce F. Loveless, the Navy’s director of intelligence operations, were placed on leave Friday, and their access to classified material was suspended, the Navy said in a statement.
Both admirals are being investigated for their ties to a Singapore-based defense contractor, Glenn Defense Marine Asia, whose chief executive was arrested in September on charges that he bribed other Navy officers into giving him classified or privileged information in exchange for prostitutes and cash.
Two Navy commanders and a senior Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent have already been arrested, and a captain was relieved of his ship’s command last month in connection with the case.
But the announcement that two admirals in charge of protecting the Navy’s secrets have been swept up in the investigation makes the crisis the worst to tar the Navy since the 1991 Tailhook scandal, when a convention of naval aviators sexually assaulted scores of women.
Navy officials said they were bracing for even more bad news to emerge from a corruption case that has expanded swiftly since it became public in September. “We do believe that other naval officers will likely be implicated in this scandal,” Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, the Navy’s chief spokesman, said in a telephone interview.
The Navy did not disclose why Loveless and Branch had drawn the scrutiny of investigators but said their alleged misconduct occurred prior to their current assignments and before they became admirals.
“There is no indication, nor do the allegations suggest, that in either case there was any breach of classified information,” Kirby said in a statement.
But a Navy official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case said the NCIS recently uncovered evidence of “personal misconduct” against Branch and Loveless as the investigation into Glenn Defense Marine widened.
Neither Branch nor Loveless has been charged with a crime or service violation, and both men retain their rank while the investigation proceeds, the Navy said. The decision to suspend their access to classified information was made by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.
The suspension of two senior intelligence officials raises serious questions about whether national security may have been compromised because of improper contact between Navy officers and Glenn Defense Marine.
Prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego have charged the two Navy commanders with passing classified information about ship and submarine movements to Leonard Glenn Francis, a Malaysian national and the chief executive of Glenn Defense Marine.
Navy contracting officials raised suspicions about Francis — who is known as “Fat Leonard” in Navy circles because of his imposing girth — as far back as 2005. But prosecutors allege he was able to dodge scrutiny by bribing Navy officers and the NCIS agent for inside information about law enforcement probes and contract audits.
To recruit the moles, Francis plied the officers with female escorts, cash, paid travel and other perks, including tickets to a Lady Gaga concert in Thailand and a performance of “The Lion King” in Japan, according to court records.
Glenn Defense Marine has serviced and supplied Navy ships and submarines at ports around the Pacific for a quarter-century, providing fuel, tugboats, sewage disposal, wharfside security and other assistance.
Francis and his company were familiar faces to Navy brass, including the commanders of most vessels in the Pacific. The company was rewarded in 2011 with new contracts valued up to $200 million.
Prosecutors, however, allege that the firm routinely overbilled for everything from tugboats to fuel to sewage disposal, defrauding the Navy of more than $10 million.
Francis sought inside information on ship deployments and pressed at least one commander to steer aircraft carriers and other vessels to ports where his firm could easily overcharge the Navy for services, court documents allege.
Earlier Friday, Francis and one of the Navy commanders charged in the case, Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz, appeared in federal court in San Diego for a procedural hearing. Misiewicz had been a rising star in the Navy; he escaped Cambodia’s “killing fields” as a child, then made a triumphant return to the country decades later as the skipper of a U.S. destroyer.
Prosecutors told the court that they would be seeking an order to prohibit defense attorneys from circulating or sharing evidence. They noted that the NCIS agent, John B. Beliveau II, is charged with giving sensitive law enforcement files to Francis to help him duck charges.
Francis is being held without bond because prosecutors have argued that, as a Malaysian citizen, he poses a flight risk. He was arrested in San Diego in September after investigators lured him to the United States in a sting operation. His attorney and a spokeswoman for Glenn Defense Marine have declined to comment on the allegations against him.
Another Glenn Defense Marine executive, Alex Wisidagama of Singapore, was arrested at the same time in San Diego and also faces bribery charges.
The second Navy commander, Jose Luis Sanchez, was arrested Wednesday in Tampa on charges that he gave classified information to Glenn Defense Marine in exchange for prostitutes and more than $100,000 in cash. Sanchez is a former senior logistics officer for the Navy’s 7th Fleet in Japan.
Charging documents show that Francis enjoyed a cozy and familiar relationship with the two commanders and the NCIS agent, referring to them as “bro” or “brudda” in e-mails and sending them photos of call girls he was planning to set them up with.
In return, the Navy officers playfully called Francis “Lion King” or “Big Bro.” Court records describe him as standing 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 350 pounds.
Pentagon officials have identified Capt. Daniel Dusek, former commander of the USS Bonhomme Richard, as another target of the investigation. He has not been charged, but the Navy relieved him of command Oct. 2, citing the investigation.
The U.S. military has never been immune from contracting scandals, but it is extremely rare for senior uniformed commanders to face fraud or corruption charges.
It is unclear how well Branch or Loveless may have known Francis. But both admirals have spent parts of their careers deployed to Asia.
Branch, an aviator, previously was an executive assistant to the commander of the Pacific Fleet. He was promoted to vice admiral in July when he took over as director of naval intelligence.
Loveless assumed his current job at the Pentagon in February. He also commanded the U.S. Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Operations Center, based at Pearl Harbor, from 2009 to 2012.
Agents from the NCIS, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Defense Contract Audit Agency are working together on the probe. The criminal investigation is being overseen by the U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego and Justice Department officials in Washington.



© The Washington Post Company

227 comments:

  1. “Our institutions are too big; they represent not the best but the worst characteristics of human beings.
    By submitting to huge hierarchies of power, we gain freedom from personal responsibility for what we do and are forced to do - the seduction of it - but we lose the dignity of being real men and women.

    Power corrupts; attracts the worst and corrupts the best. ...
    Refuse to participate in evil; insist on taking part in what is healthy, generous, and responsible.
    Stand up, speak out, and when necessary fight back.
    Get down off the fence and lend a hand, grab a-hold, be a citizen - not a subject.”

    Postcards from Ed: Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast

    ReplyDelete
  2. Power corrupts, but absolute power is kind of neat.

    ReplyDelete
  3. There was one, amongst us, that would limit the freedom and liberty of all of US, because of the actions of a few bad men, aided by police.

    Undercover cop and 10 others indicted in biker mob attack

    NYPD Det. Wojciech Braszczok, who faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted on the top count, is one of 11 bikers formally charged in a 14-count indictment over the alleged attack on Range Rover driver Alexian Lien in a videotaped Sept. 29 encounter that went viral and kick-started a massive manhunt for those involved.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/undercover-11-indicted-biker-mob-attack-article-1.1511056

    For the Farmer Fudd, promoting a collective punishment upon the entire society is so much more pleasing than assessing personal responsibility.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...sick...sick...sick...stalking "Farmer Fudd" 24/7

      Delete
    2. Fudd Busters InternationalSat Nov 09, 10:41:00 AM EST

      Carpet bombing, allen.

      The Fudd advocates for carpet bombing.
      So we carpet bomb, the Farmer Fudd.

      Every tactic that is prescribed, we imperilment, metaphorically, upon the Fudd.
      Just to be illustrative of the proposals made by the Fudd

      Resolve never rests.

      Delete
    3. He's sick alright and illogical.

      I'm a fascist because I think it rational to put some kind of limit on the number of bikers that can congregate together on a highway blocking traffic and interrupting the lives and travel of others. The highways are public passageways. They are not to be used for partying and raising hell and endangering other people by 300 bikers on drugs and alcohol without licenses and helmet masks.

      After this limit is exceeded the bikers are considered to be in a gang and dispersed for the freedom of travel of all.

      This proposed traffic safety and freedom of travel rule shall be called "Fudd's Rule" and introduced in the state or national legislature, debated, and voted upon and passed or voted down.

      That is how "fascism" works.

      I do not buy Whackadoodle's argument that these nasty folks nearly all with long rap sheets were gathered together peacefully protesting wrongs and petitioning the government for redress of grievances. I think they were a gang raising hell on the highways and endangering others.

      desert rat is both sick and crazy.

      Delete
    4. Let them congregate on rat's 350 acres of bottom land. They have a perfect right to do that. He can host them there.

      Delete
    5. Fudd Busters InternationalSat Nov 09, 11:06:00 AM EST

      No, not going to happen.
      We were discussing public assemblies, not private parties.
      Public assemblies were the police have infiltrated the assemblage.

      Where the police were part of the violence against the non-participating public.
      Where members of the police instigated the violence.

      The Farmer Fudd calls for limiting the freedoms of citizens in Texas, because of the malfeasance of New York police.

      Farmer Fudd, he misses the point, entirely.



      Typical of a Fudd.

      Delete
    6. Martin Luther King Jr.Sat Nov 09, 11:07:00 AM EST

      “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

      Delete
    7. .

      The rat is a child.

      Though beyond the age of consent he fails to adhere to the biblical counsel to 'put away the things of the child'.

      He's in his own special kind of 'Time Warp'

      .

      .

      Delete
    8. Psychologists-R-Quirks.com

      Psychology For Dummies

      if you notice any of the following warning signs:

      Suicide notes

      Direct threats

      Giving personal belongings away

      Talking about or preoccupied with death

      Hopelessness

      Social isolation

      Abrupt changes in appearance, risk-taking behavior, activities, or weight

      Severe depression

      Extreme apathy (acting like he or she doesn’t care)

      Feeling helpless or beyond help

      call 1-800-352-3301




      http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/psychology-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

      Delete
    9. If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.

      Delete
    10. .

      Like what, rat?

      Your repetitiveness?

      Your obsession?

      Your megalomania?

      The fact that you got your itty bitty feelings hurt and can't let it go? That you now alternate between pettiness and frustration?

      That the other kids don't appreciate your tiresome games?

      Well, boo hoo hoo.

      That's life. We all have to grow up sometime.

      .

      Delete
    11. “A freedom fighter learns the hard way that it is the oppressor who defines the nature of the struggle ,and the oppressed is often left no recourse but to use methods that mirror those of the oppressor. At a point, one can only fight fire with fire”

      Delete
    12. William Tecumseh ShermanSat Nov 09, 12:45:00 PM EST

      You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable, and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop the war, which can only be done by admitting that it began in error and is perpetuated in pride.

      Delete
    13. .

      Thunderstorms?

      How apt.

      The child unwittingly lost the game when he gave up half his demands and received nothing in return. Now, he perpetuates the negotiations but lacks anyone to negotiate with. He stamps his foot in frustration and wails into the wind.

      .

      Delete
    14. Yes, the wind riffled across the prairie.

      600,000 died, as a result.

      Delete
    15. Merely a literary event, a contest between two opposed readings of Hemingway.

      Delete

    16. Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.

      Delete
    17. .

      Oh, what dust clouds I shall make! What carts I shall fling into the ditch!

      Mr. Toad

      .

      Delete
  4. In Georgia, the Legislature cut off their nose, to spite their face.

    SAVANNAH, Ga. » The uninsured pour into Memorial Health hospital here: the waitress with cancer in her voice box who for two years assumed she just had a sore throat. The unemployed diabetic with a wound stretching the length of her shin. The construction worker who could no longer breathe on his own after weeks of untreated asthma attacks and had to be put on a respirator.

    Many of these patients were expected to gain health coverage under the Affordable Care Act through a major expansion of Medicaid, the medical insurance program for the poor. But after the Supreme Court in 2012 gave states the right to opt out, Georgia, like about half the states, almost all of them Republican-led, refused to broaden the program.

    Now, in a perverse twist, many of the poor people who rely on safety-net hospitals like Memorial will be doubly unlucky. A government subsidy, little known outside health policy circles but critical to the hospitals' survival, is being sharply reduced under the new health law.

    The subsidy, which for years has helped defray the cost of uncompensated and undercompensated care, was cut substantially on the assumption that the hospitals would replace much of the lost income with payments for patients newly covered by Medicaid or private insurance. But now the hospitals in states like Georgia will get neither the new Medicaid patients nor most of the old subsidies, which many say are crucial to the mission of care for the poor.

    "We were so thrilled when the law passed, but it has backfired," said Lindsay Caulfield, senior vice president for planning and marketing at Grady Health in Atlanta, the largest safety-net hospital in Georgia. It is now facing the loss of nearly half of its roughly $100 million in annual subsidies known as disproportionate share hospital payments.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How does one explain the denial of Healthcare to the poor, when the Federal Government is picking up the tab?

      The taxpayers of Ga (and Ms) are paying for Medicaid for New Yorkers, while their legislators deny their own citizens the benefit.

      Inexplicable.

      Delete
    2. Wayne Gerard TrotmanSat Nov 09, 10:54:00 AM EST

      “The sad truth about bigotry is that most bigots either don't realize that they are bigots, or they convince themselves that their bigotry is perfectly justified.”

      Delete
    3. That Is true. However, I'll guarantee you if the average citizen of Ga, or Mississippi, realized how this deal Really works they would have a shit-fit.

      Delete
    4. It is now facing the loss of nearly half of its roughly $100 million in annual subsidies known as disproportionate share hospital payments.


      I wonder how the average citizen of GA or MI would react to this:

      As talks flounder, US to give $75 million more in aid to Palestinians

      Kerry meets Netanyahu, Abbas as news breaks that peace talks collapsed Wednesday. PM says Palestinians are making 'artificial crises' in talks, Kerry adds 'vital' aid to Palestinian economy
      Elior Levy
      Published: 11.06.13, 14:32 / Israel News


      Amid rumors of the collapse of peace talks, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced the US would give an additional $75 million in aid to create Palestinian jobs and help the PA improve roads, schools and other infrastructure. US officials said the aid is designed to boost Palestinian public support for faltering peace talks.


      Not ever asked for.... an additional 75 million for the non-demcoratic abbas who was elected for a 2 year term, 8 years ago...

      But money is not real right?

      Delete
    5. The obama administration could pay for health care for every poor person in the nation, just cut aid to our enemies. JUST charging the opec nations for what it costs to keep the oil trade routes open would put a huge dent in our debt.

      Of course drilling for oil in America, using domestic coal, natural gas and yet, even ethanol as a strategy would create millions of jobs, wealth, tax revenue and provide the cash to be less dependent those that would see us dead and keep the cash inside out borders...

      Delete
    6. .

      The money is real and for the first time I can remember even the reason given is true.

      Only a fool wouldn't recognize that the money is a bribe. It is designed to keep the illusion of peace going for a few more months. It was the same reason the US and EU continued giving billions to Arafat so that he could stash them in banks in Israel and Switzerland. It's the same reason they have given money to Israel and Egypt for decades, to buy peace.

      Call it what you want, bribes, baksheesh, or foreign aid in the national interest.

      .

      Delete
    7. Oh I KNOW it's a bribe, that's not what I asked responding to rufus's query about what would the poor citizens of GA and MS think...



      Delete
    8. They think whatever the RNC and Faux Noise tells them to think.

      Delete
  5. Fudd Busters InternationalSat Nov 09, 10:02:00 AM EST

    It was just yesterday that Farmer Fudd announced that any attempt to assess personal responsibility was, in a single word ...

    Futile

    Seems he is expert in ....
    Futility

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. futility, noun: pointlessness or uselessness

      ...sorta like the futile comments posted by you day in, day out...projection...

      Delete
    2. “Responsibility is a unique concept...
      You may share it with others, but your portion is not diminished.
      You may delegate it, but it is still with you...

      If responsibility is rightfully yours, no evasion, or ignorance or passing the blame can shift the burden to someone else."


      Delete
    3. Futility, you mean like carpet bombing Afghanistan to combat an insurrection?

      Delete
    4. Fudd Busters InternationalSat Nov 09, 10:02:00 AM EST
      It was just yesterday that Farmer Fudd announced that any attempt to assess personal responsibility was, in a single word ...

      Futile

      Seems he is expert in ....
      Futility


      And that is of course the exact opposite of what I said. What I was saying was that karma's gonna get ya, and you too desert rat. The universe has a memory. Even if one has self induced amnesia like you the universe has a memory and deeds have consequences, always, for oneself and others. It is futile to try to avoid this fact of life.

      Delete
    5. who, what, where is this ...
      desert rat?

      Why do obsess so, about that character?

      Delete
    6. Desert Rat ....

      “It's all you think about, all you talk about,
      and all you want us to talk about.
      What in the world would we call something like that?
      Oh, yeah!
      An obsession!”

      Delete
    7. .

      Desert rat.

      Rat is much simpler than writing out any of your other personas. Even dick has an extra consonant.

      And rat, in addition to being a name, one you have chosen for yourself and carried for many years, carries with it so many other connotations that are applicable. The name is appropriate.

      That you don't want us to call you rat. Well, boo fucking hoo.

      :)

      Play your silly, childish games all you like, rat, but some of us choose not to join you.

      .

      Delete
    8. No one asked you to join, Quirk.

      You choose to accept a Responsibility to Protect.

      Your character plays its part, regardless.
      You can stay engaged, or withdraw.

      Makes no difference to the game, or the pursuit of the Goal.

      Delete
    9. “All warfare is based on deception.”

      Delete
    10. .

      In my own way, I too, am a caped crusader.

      My special talent?

      Pointing out the childishness, hypocrisy, and/or illogic of your numerous posts.

      Were I to choose another screen name, it would likely be The Editor.

      .

      Delete
    11. Narcissistic personality disorder

      Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder in which one is excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity. This condition affects one percent of the population. First formulated in 1968, it was historically called megalomania, and is severe egocentrism.

      People diagnosed with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder are characterized by unwarranted feelings of self-importance. They have a sense of entitlement and demonstrate grandiosity in their beliefs and behavior. They have a strong need for admiration, but lack feelings of empathy. These qualities are usually defenses against a deep feeling of inferiority and of being unloved.

      Symptoms of this disorder, as defined by the DSM-IV-TR include:

      Expects to be recognized as superior and special, without superior accomplishments

      Expects constant attention, admiration and positive reinforcement from others

      Envies others and believes others envy him/her

      Is preoccupied with thoughts and fantasies of great success, enormous attractiveness, power, intelligence

      Lacks the ability to empathize with the feelings or desires of others

      Is arrogant in attitudes and behavior

      Has expectations of special treatment that are unrealistic.

      Per the Mayo Clinic, narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by dramatic, emotional behavior, which is in the same category as antisocial and borderline personality disorders

      Delete
    12. .

      As to your comment on me indulging in 'Responsibility to Protect', it seems once again merely an attempt to depersonalize our little shindy.

      You will recall I was calling you out on posts long before your little dustup with Anonymous-Bob.

      Naw, mine is not a 'responsibility to protect' but rather a 'responsibility to correct'.

      .

      Delete

    13. “Information sharing produces shared awareness among the participants, and collaborative production relies on shared creation, but collective action creates shared responsibility, by tying the user's identity to the identity of the group.”

      Delete
    14. Fudd Busters InternationalSat Nov 09, 12:56:00 PM EST

      It seems we can now add Narcissist to Farmer Fudd's profile.

      Good call!

      Delete
    15. .

      Per the Mayo Clinic, narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by dramatic, emotional behavior, which is in the same category as antisocial and borderline personality disorders

      I applaud you efforts, rat. But self-diagnosis can be a dangerous thing. Rather than quoting the Mayo Clinic, you might be better served visiting it.

      .

      Delete
    16. The benches empty, the players storm onto the field, fists flying!

      "We're not going play your games any more!"

      As the fans pour out of the bleachers, tying to separate the Little Leaguers

      Delete
    17. Fudd Busters InternationalSat Nov 09, 01:07:00 PM EST

      That was just another part of Farmer Fudd's ever expanding profile, Anonymous,

      We had Doc Jung make it up for us, then one of the generic Buster's posted it for us..

      Delete
    18. “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”

      Delete
    19. “The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Whenever you parry, hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy's cutting sword, you must cut the enemy in the same movement. It is essential to attain this. If you think only of hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able actually to cut him.”

      Delete
    20. All posters are Anonymous, the sign-ons merely a cloak they wear, to hide their anonymity.

      Delete
    21. .

      “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”

      Truly a lesson for the rat.

      The war was lost when you gave up half your demands and received nothing in return. Now, you attempt to achieve anything you can from the negotiations but find there is no offer on the table, there is no one there, the war was over long ago. This is no doubt frustrating for you but there is little you can do but pound your fists in rage. Or pound sand.

      .

      Delete
    22. .

      Ash, I promised you a response yesterday but again I need to run out, this time to buy some birthday presents.

      Hate to break this off with the rat but I'll have to take it up later.

      .

      Delete
    23. Hegemenic HeadquartersSat Nov 09, 01:32:00 PM EST

      The war is not lost, it is fully engaged.

      You must believe that the US gained Peace with Honor in Vietnam.
      That the Mission was Accomplished in Iraq.

      No, the "demands" are amorphous. They are ever changing.
      Flexible.

      But are beside the point, they will not be met.
      Never was there an expectation of them being met.

      The demands are merely part of the deception.

      Something for the Fudds to grasp, to ponder, to intellectualize..
      While Farmer Fudd remains silenced.

      What is the Goal of the Hegemony of Character?

      Delete
    24. $1.6 trillion dollars for the war in Iraq, mostly Raytheon and Northrup Grumman accounts receivable. Mission Accomplished all right.

      Delete
    25. "It does not matter whether the war is actually happening, and, since no decisive victory is possible, it does not matter whether the war is going badly.

      All that is needed is that a state of war should exist."

      Delete
    26. The foil, Quirk, by any other name would still be a Fudd.

      You still are unable to see beneath the surface.
      The wind riffled waves have your attention, while it is the underlying currents that move the boat.

      Delete
    27. .

      No, the "demands" are amorphous. They are ever changing.
      Flexible.

      But are beside the point, they will not be met.
      Never was there an expectation of them being met.


      The dirge of a loser.

      :)

      .

      Delete
    28. Not much for you to reply to quirk. You asked why Israel might want Arafat dead and the article offered up some reasons. Whether they are good reasons in your view is neither here nor there.

      Delete
    29. He is still playing the two dimensional game on a three dimensional board.
      Stuck in yesterday's mind set.

      Delete
    30. “Information sharing produces shared awareness among the participants, and collaborative production relies on shared creation, but collective action creates shared responsibility, by tying the user's identity to the identity of the group.”

      Good Grief! this is a blog, not the committee to translate the King James Version of the Bible.

      Delete
  6. Power corrupts, but Plastic corrupts absolutely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :):):):)

      Always liked that movie, and that line too.

      Delete
    2. That Anne Bancroft was one sexy drunken old bitch, was she not!!

      Delete
    3. Mokokoma MokhonoanaSat Nov 09, 11:26:00 AM EST

      “To a misogynist: To err is woman.”

      Delete
    4. You can choose, as a man, to help create a fairer world for women – and for men, too.
      You can choose to challenge misogyny and sexual violence wherever you see them.
      You can choose to take risks and spend energy supporting women, promoting women, treating the women in your life as true equals.
      You can choose to stand up and say no and, every day, more men and boys are making that choice.
      The question is – will you be one of them?

      Delete
    5. To err is woman.

      To oink porcine.

      Delete
  7. Only an obtuse fool could pass through a long life without catching a glimmer of the truth behind the idea of karma, both in this life and some other, and that it is futile to try to avoid this truth.

    Vandals Up At 2:00 pm Vandal Fans!! Stay tuned in forrunning updates through out the day!!

    Final score guess:

    Old Dominion 38
    Idaho 17

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. George S. Patton Jr.Sat Nov 09, 11:23:00 AM EST

      “Anyone in any walk of life who is content with mediocrity is untrue to himself and to American tradition.”

      Delete
    2. ...and needs to be bitch-slapped back to Sicily.

      Delete
  8. Replies
    1. Gosh, they really miss those ethanol transfer payments now.

      Delete
    2. "They" never got them, Teresita.

      Delete
  9. “The war, therefore if we judge it by the standards of previous wars, is merely an imposture.

    It is like the battles between certain ruminant animals whose horns are incapable of hurting one another.

    But though it is unreal it is not meaningless. It eats up the surplus of consumable goods, and it helps to preserve the special mental atmosphere that the hierarchical society needs.

    War, it will be seen, is now a purely internal affair.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact.

      The very word "war," therefore, has become misleading.

      It would probably be accurate to say that by becoming continuous war has ceased to exist.

      The peculiar pressure that is exerted on human beings between the Neolithic Age and the early twentieth century has disappeared and has been replaced by something quite different.

      Delete
    2. A peace that was truly permanent would be the same as a permanent war.

      This--although the vast majority of Party members understand it only in a shallower sense--is the inner meaning of the Party slogan:

      "WAR IS PEACE.”

      Delete
    3. Your endless desultory ramblings lead to no discernible hypothesis, topic, notion.

      When caught cheating (manufacturing false quotations e.g.), you jocularly remind it's only a game.
      And that is your sin: you waste the sole commodity of value in life, time.

      Delete
    4. No, allen, the quotes are not manufactured, they are from Goodreads, for the most part.
      There are other sources, none of which are collegiate.
      So why even bother.

      The Standard you use, is different than what the Hegemonic Headquarters detail chooses to use for propaganda purposes.

      Google any quote, you'll find it on the world wide web, near the top of the search results.


      This is the west, sir.
      When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.


      As for time, it is not wasted, at all.

      As Mr Churchill said ...
      "It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.

      Continual self-education following Mr Churchill's advise.
      No time wasted.




      Delete
  10. Just had a most wonderful long morning nap. See the boy rat is still at it. Sad to see this blog go down at his hands. Must be over 50% of the comments today are his idiocy.

    Now the wife wants to drive into town but should be back to watch the Vandals on local TV.

    Will report the running score periodically as a service for Vandal Fans world wide.

    out

    ReplyDelete

  11. Never mind "the birds & the bees" -- there's a newer version:

    How was I born





    Daddy , how was I
    Born?

    A little boy
    Goes to his father and asks 'Daddy, how was I born?'

    The father Answers,
    'Well, son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway!

    Your Mom and I first got together in a chat room on Yahoo.

    Then I Set up a date via e-mail with your Mom
    and we met at a cyber-cafe..


    We Sneaked into a secluded room, and googled each other.


    There your mother Agreed to a download from my hard drive.

    As soon as I was ready to upload,

    We discovered that neither one of us had used a firewall,


    and since it was too Late to hit the delete button,


    nine months later a little Pop-Up appeared that

    Said:


    Scroll

    Down...You'll love this .....




    Picture of bouncing baby boy here.


    'You got
    Male!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thieves steal and gang-rape pet dog whose owner had tied it up outside supermarket as she did her shopping

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2492971/Thieves-gang-rape-pet-dog-owner-tied-outside-Berlin-supermarket.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. Synonyms for de trop:

    superfluous

    excess

    excessive

    extra

    not wanted

    supernumerary

    surplus

    too much

    unwelcome

    Synonyms for rat:

    superfluous

    excess

    excessive

    extra

    not wanted

    supernumerary

    surplus

    too much

    unwelcome

    ReplyDelete
  14. The Death of Writing

    >>>>Imagery is the primary medium of our time, a potentially powerful host for good change and authentic understanding. But in its shadow, we have gotten lazy in our appropriation of the correct words to assuage or understand or to seek the common humanity that is in all of us. Today, throwing barbs and brickbats into the Great Din of the Internet has become as second nature as breathing, and one can do it so ubiquitously that words have become devoid of any meaningful consequence. The Great Din requires no forethought, no real calculation of purpose or result, no contemplative brake, no need to seek angles or views beyond those that reaffirm or reassure what we think right now. The best photographers still work patiently and incessantly for the right angles, the right lighting, the right moments to tell the story most truthfully and honestly. Would that more writers do likewise.<<<<

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/11/09/the_death_of_writing_and_its_impact_on_our_politics__120606.html

    This certainly seems true to me, but one doesn't need to go back to the 19th Century to realize it. Reading Martha Gellhorn for instance on the arabs of Palestine convinces me that our women writers were mostly better just a generation ago. Nowadays far too many people buy into whatever the newest intellectual fad is at some 'leading' University or other and simply follow along.

    "Today, throwing barbs and brickbats into the Great Din of the Internet has become as second nature as breathing, and one can do it so ubiquitously that words have become devoid of any meaningful consequence. The Great Din requires no forethought...."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. From: Anonymous Remailer

      To: Pope Alexander VII

      Date: December 24 2043

      "You're just a Catholic Dickhead, you know that? Come to my town (wouldn't you like to know you shit) sometime and I'll show you a GOOD TIME. Let your bodiguards know I'm about seven feet tall and dresed like the Demans in NUKEY NOOKY which I bet youve plaid too you asswipe hippocrit!!!!! Have a nice day!!!!!"

      EMAIL Archive (ref Security Inv, Re: Thread: Encyclical 2043, Vatican Library Cultural Tracking STAFF/INDA 332; reverse track through Finland

      > ANONYM REMAIL Code REROUTE SWITZERLAND/ZIMBABWE ACCT HDFinster
      > Harrison D. Finster ADDRESS 245 W. Blessoe Street Apt 3-H Greensboro, NC, USA.


      PROFILE

      > 27 years of age at time of message,
      > CONCLUSION: FLAME PROFILE No action necessary, ref Vatican Internal Investigator comments: "Young, shit for brains."

      Delete
  15. Kick off is moments away, Vandal Fans!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your choice is to root for a bunch of Vandals or a bunch of Monarchs. You will be revealing something of the state of your 'class consciousness' in this act.

      Delete
    2. My Goodness! Idaho takes the kickoff to the 25 then short pass to Baker on the first down 75 yards for a touch down, the very call the radio announcer was urging them to do!!

      Vandals 7
      Monarchs 0

      Delete
    3. The radio announcer is now calling himself "the Houdini of the Press Box".

      Delete
    4. Monarchs punt, Idaho runs punt back all the way to the 31!!!!

      Alternative Universe Day?

      Delete
    5. Lordy! Quarterback keeper from the 19!

      Idaho 14
      Monarchs 0

      Delete
    6. Idaho 14
      Monarchs 7

      Knife through butter. Old D has an extremely good passer, averaging over 300 yards per game in the air.

      Delete
    7. Idaho steps up, throws interception. Monarchs on six yard line.......pass broken up in end zone......4th down and 6 to score......

      Idaho 14
      Monarchs 10

      Delete
    8. Idaho, stopped cold does have a good kicker -- put the Monarchs on the 2 yard line......two plays later Monarchs on their 42....next play 60 yard touchdown pass.....reality reasserts itself.....same old universe.

      Monarchs 17
      Idaho 14

      Delete

    9. Bill Dolworth: Well, I'll tell you. I was born with a powerful passion to create. I can't write, can't paint, can't make up a song...

      Hans Ehrengard: So you explode things.

      Bill Dolworth: Well that's how the world was born. Biggest damn explosion you ever saw.

      The Professionals

      Delete
    10. Good Grief! After couple good runs, Idaho on the 12 yard line,,,,,,quarterback keeper again.....Touchdown Idaho!!!

      Idaho 21
      Monarchs 17

      Still first quarter.

      Delete
    11. After respectable drive, Idaho grinds to stop, kicks field goal -

      Idaho 24
      Monarchs 17

      Delete
    12. rat enters Press Box, takes big shit, stinking place up.....

      Delete
    13. Good solid drive by Old D...

      Idaho 24
      Monarchs 24

      Been good game so far....

      Delete
    14. Idaho punter drops ball, Old D has ball on Idaho 35.......Old D sacked......3rd & 13.....1st & 10 at 23.....2nd & 5.....3rd and Touch down Monarchs.....

      Old D 31
      Idaho 24

      3 minutes left in 1st half

      Delete
    15. O MY CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

      Short pass then 60 yards for Idaho TD.

      Wow..

      Idaho 31
      Old D 31

      Wow just wow wow wow

      Become a Vandal Booster Today....Go to Vandal Boosters.com

      Delete
    16. Old D on Idaho 9 yard line after long pass...gain of 1....incomplete? challenge ... incomplete....3rd and goal.....incomplete!.....field goal.....no good!!!!!!


      Still tied.

      Delete
    17. End of First Half

      Tied at 31.

      Delete
    18. Final

      Old Dominion 59
      Idaho 38

      I saved you the agony of the collapse.

      Delete
  16. GUIDELINES FOR IMPROVESATIONAL BLOGGERS

    These are some basic rules of thumb of improvisational blogging.

    * = The key ideas. Things the master improvisers do without thinking.

    ACCEPT INFORMATION: YES AND *
    When you get a piece of information from another contributor, first, accept it as a fact they are committed to.
    Second, add a little bit more information to it. 

    If somebody tells you that the government should set a legal limit as to the number of motorcycles could be in a convoy, caravan, or gaggle.
    Add to it, that the rules advocated for are specific to motorcycles, not to gaggles, caravans, or convoys of RVs, Tractor Trailers, Off Road Vehicles or Farm Equipment.

    All of which could present greater safety issues to passenger sedans in scenarios similar to those described by Farmer Fudd, as he described fearful encounters he'd had in his life with motorcycles traveling in group larger than five, on the open road.

    Believe they mean it.

    If they describe the deaths of OVER 600,000 Americans as a wind riffle over the interpretation of a literary construct.
    Well, hold them to it.
    Especially if they try to defend, time and again.
    It was a hideously callous remark, regarding a tragic period in the history of the United States.
    The deaths of OVER 600,000 Americans was not a trifle, a riffling wind rustling the pages of a history book.

    Take those statements to be accurate of their viewpoint.
    Then vilify under continual critical commentary until tender.

    Keep doing this long enough, and you'll have a scene full of fascinating facts, objects and relationships. 
    Fail to do this and everyone will hate you, even your parents.

    ADD HISTORY *
    The swiftest way to add reality and depth to a scene is to have the characters call up specifics from their common history. A simple exchange such as:

    --“Are you trying to justify an invasion and subjugation of Syria, to "Save" Wahhabi Muslims from the clutches of Christians and Pagans with a Christian twist ?

    --“Like the battles between Slavers and Abolitionists, in Texas, it took long time to free Texas from the yoke of the Slavers.

    Though just a few words, provides a great deal of information.
    The audience and contributors now can infer that the characters are disgruntled aging malcontents, they are troublemakers, they are educated, they are spread around the country, they drink to excess, they have police records, they have interacted for years, and much more.

    With oneor two sentences, the amount of information the improvisers can now draw on has grown greatly.

    Some improv coaches suggest staying in the present tense as often as possible.
    I disagree. I think, however, that you should avoid talking too much about the future.

    Things in the future might happen, they might shape your characters.
    Things in the past did happen, they did shape your characters.

    ASK YOURSELF “IF THIS IS TRUE, THEN WHAT ELSE IS TRUE?”*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Half them mother fuckers deserved it the other half did the human race some real good.

      Delete
    2. Wind don't riffle, water riffles.

      Delete
    3. You've never seen the wind riffle the prairie grass, the wind riffling across the sand?

      If not, you must be a city slicker.

      Delete
  17. Rat is a "cyber fart"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. cyber dropping

      a fool that likes to try to attract attention to himself

      no one pays him any attention anymore

      Delete
    2. Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true.

      Delete
    3. If they didn't fake foreplay we wouldn't need to fake orgasm.

      Delete
  18. His Guru Saul Alinsky doesn't seem to be guruing very well....everyone want rat to leave, go bowling or something.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fascist, misogynist, narcissist, racist just some of the labels that are attached to the Farmer Fudd.
      Study the profile, immerse yourself in the story …

      Knowing that ….

      The Farmer Fudd disrespects women, look up thread, where he speaks of Anne Bancroft ...
      an Academy Award winning actress in very disparaging terms.

      It may have been an anti-Semitic reference,
      Anne Bancroft being married to Mel Brooks, a prominent American comedic actor and movie producer of Jewish lineage.

      Though assessed solely by it's context and content it was misogynist .

      Delete
    2. Why do you think the producers picked Ms. Bancroft (Mrs. Brooks)? for The Graduate?

      Delete
    3. The ability o project a character, not because she, herself ...

      That Anne Bancroft was one sexy drunken old bitch, ...

      Mr Robinson may have been a sexy drunken bitch, but Anne Bancroft certainly was not.

      To describe her in such a manner, hateful, spiteful, and disrespectful of all women.

      Delete
    4. You quibble about things no one cares about. Bobby Fudd can't finagle something as simple as a Google account, so naturally when he says Anne Bancroft was a sexy, drunken old bitch, we understand him to mean the character played by her. And we understand the phrase "Famous Potatoes" on the plate of his John Deere tractor to mean the large spuds grown in Idaho, not Mr. Potato Head.

      Delete
    5. Bancroft v. Robinson

      Mrs. Robinson was developed by Ms. Bancroft to be a sexy, drunken bitch - every college boy's MILF. The trailer for the movie followed that theme. Simon and Garfunkel did not pay homage to one of the Little Sisters of Charity.

      You missed the point. Most audiences got it, including Anon. Can you come up with some new material, say, Anon hates public breast feeding.

      Delete
    6. .

      The man who accuses others of being unable to read between the lines, upset because they can't see him and the other bottom feeders below the waves, once again proves he cannot see beyond the first heifer on the left.

      .

      Delete
  19. What can we learn from the Depression?
    http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/11/economic-history-0

    ...food for thought...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The four stage of life:

      1) Believe in Santa
      2) Don't believe in Santa
      3) Be Santa
      4) Look like Santa.

      Depressing.

      Delete
  20. With improvisational blogging people can find true expressive freedom since they don't ever know how the situation is going to turn out.

    When one continues to operate with an open mind they will have a real sense of spontaneity rather than pre-planning a response.

    You perform a character of your own making, and with that character and the others working with you, you create a new and spontaneous piece.


    That is, of course, if the contributors are literary artists or just plain Fudds.

    In either case the avante garde nature of the blogging as an emerging literary art form may leave some cold.
    They should adapt, or buy a jacket, fleece lined.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I doubt if anyone other than you is aware of blogging as artistic genre, either improvisational or collaborative. It seems unfair of you not to let others in on the joke. Failing to do so, you might understand why others would consider you a supercilious tyrant of mediocre talent.

      Delete
    2. “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people.
      It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.
      It is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft.

      I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough,…
      hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die.

      The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.”

      Delete
    3. Your doubts, allen, do not concern me in the least.

      Nether do your opinions, except as foils.

      You are the antagonist, not the audience.
      Not the protagonist, at least not in my storyline.

      We can see whose storyline dominates, controls the ebb and flow.

      But mark my words, the "Game" has changed.

      If Bibi is going to "Pay to Play" we may as well up the ante.

      Delete
  21. “Improvisational blogging produces shared awareness among the participants, and collaborative production relies on shared creation, but collective action creates shared responsibility, by tying the user's identity to the identity of the group.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blogging as performance art.

      Delete
    2. “An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have ...
      but that he - for some reason - thinks it would be a good idea to give them.”

      Delete
    3. There are Original Writings ...
      and Quotes ...

      Words of fiction and fact.
      Sourced when required for authentication, not so much when it is just the wind, riffling the pages of history.

      Each upon each contributor's palette, to be mixed and pasted on the "Blog".



      Anything that would rile allen, has to be worth pursuing.

      Delete
    4. There are already plots and sub-plots through-out the threads.

      Anonymous characters mixed amongst characters that do not post a single word.
      Yet becomes the dominant topic of the day.

      The two characters, the main protagonist and antagonist of the current story, ...
      The two characters that did not post a single word between 'em, yet remain the most discussed.


      Why is that, if no one cares?

      If the plot line is ineffective, so be it.
      If it hampers debate but well presents the case I wish to make, so be it.
      If the audience does not buy in, the blog, " .The Libertarian" the canvas Deuce provides,...
      Will not have lost dime.

      Not a single advertiser will despair the attempt to educate, elucidate and illuminate through Improvisational Blogging

      All that we will have spent, some "Recreational Hours", reading, writing and ruminating.
      Not a minuted wasted.

      Delete
    5. Riling Allen isn't much of a life's work. First you don't and secondly you don't know how. "Smarter than allen" isn't saying much more than you are threatened by allen in some way.

      You are an intelligent man, quick on your feet. Instead of adding to conversations, your sense of inferiority drives you to make adversaries where none are to be found. It may come as a surprise, but there are several issues upon which you and I agree. For obvious reasons, those will not be shared with you because you would belittle them in a sophomoric frontal assault to prove superiority. Your life revolves around this blog unproductively because like Ishmael (the archer) you are ever every man's foe.

      Delete
    6. desert rat wrote, "Anonymous characters mixed amongst characters that do not post a single word.
      Yet becomes the dominant topic of the day."

      You are mistaken: each of your characters is transparently you. No one is fooled by Alice B. Toklas or Benjamin Disraeli. There would be no complaint in your paraphrasing them, but your intentional misrepresentation of original thinkers is fraudulently pathetic. You can do better..

      Delete
    7. Improvisational Blogging

      For a fellow who seems to have such a high opinion of himself...
      Sometimes you seem somewhat behind the curve.

      Allen, of course MY characters all play to type.

      I am certainly not the sole contributor to the story … That is why ...
      It is called … Improvisational Blogging

      It takes a Team.
      An entire cast of characters, each written separately, by various contributors.
      Improvisational blogging.
      Each contributor, they only have the one, perhaps two stereotypes they represent.
      Each has a palette of editorial options that provide their choice of colors to the canvas.

      It is for others provide the Antagonist character's content.
      That would be You, "O", Anonymous.
      Not me, not with my limited literary abilities.

      Ms T seems to be catching the drift of the idea.
      Doug knew it from the beginning, both went into the Fudd functionality, quickly.

      Anonymous, he lost his sense of self.
      Who would have guessed he would have absorbed Farmer Fudd so, shall we say … Seamlessly

      Makes the storyline all the more vibrant though.

      But that's the secret, allen. Each contributor needs write and edit from just a single perspective.
      Maybe I could "Stretch" to a second viewpoint, in pinch. But doubt if I will even try.

      With the entire cast of Contributors, Ms T. Quirk, Doug, Rufus, the Antagonist Trio, Deuce, our Hegelian lurker and Jenny. Why there are more than enough Characters to use as foils for the Characters of Hegemony.

      Limited writing ability, allen, does not limit the attempt to produce a new form of literary expression, through the use of modern, digital mediums.

      Improvisational Blogging - don't be a Luddite.

      Delete
  22. Casino time.

    Fell asleep during the 2nd half.

    I see rat is still possessed by something.

    Blabbing on as usual.

    What a loser, worse than Idaho, and that is bad.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Iran Nuclear Talks Have Failed, Says EU Foreign Policy Chief
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/06/iran-nuclear-talks-have-failed-eu_n_3028274.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So do we send WiO a bottle of champagne?

      Delete
    2. It ain't over 'til it's over.

      And it ain't over, yet.

      The Iranians are still spinning, their oil is till transiting Iraq.
      The status que is not a loss for the Iranians, not if Bibi and his cohort are to be believed.

      The threat, if it exists, now just multiplies ...

      The Iranians no won't even break stride, if their goal is a nuclear device, they could have it in a month.
      I'd hold off on that champagne, but it's your call.

      Who wins if the Iranians feel trapped and nuke up, as Sun Tzu said, you have to leave them an "out".
      Or the results ...

      Delete
    3. “Ground on which we can only be saved from destruction by fighting without delay, is desperate ground.”

      Delete
    4. On desperate ground, I would proclaim to my soldiers the hopelessness of saving their lives. For it is the soldier's disposition to offer an obstinate resistance when surrounded, to fight hard when he cannot help himself, and to obey promptly when he has fallen into danger.

      Delete
    5. Teresita RedingerSat Nov 09, 09:16:00 PM EST
      So do we send WiO a bottle of champagne?

      Actually you are the winner but you are too stupid to understand...

      Delete
  24. I think it is possible even likely rat's second wife finally left him. Gone that month and a half of heaven here, she had given him an ultimatum. "I can't do this anymore" he said. Now he is here 24/7/12 making a fool of himself. She probably finally made her escape.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Inquiring minds don't want to think about it.

      Delete
    2. “It's all you think about, all you talk about,
      and all you want us to talk about.
      What in the world would we call something like that?
      Oh, yeah!

      An obsession!”

      Delete
    3. .

      Obsession?

      Sounds like some gay guy doing a parfum commercial.

      All you need is some wolfhounds walking around and white sheer curtains in the background.

      (Maybe a sad clown with a balloon that pops.)

      .

      Delete
    4. That's gettin' better, Q.

      The clown, that's a touch that both satisfies and terrifies.

      VIDEO: Dramatic footage surfaces of party where clown assassinates Mexican drug lord
      Horrific video emerges of Baja California party where infamous narcotics kingpin Rafael Arellano Felix was gunned down by assassin wearing a clown costume.

      By Deborah Hastings / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

      http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/video-surfaces-mexican-clown-assassin-article-1.1510734

      Delete
    5. I would not call the video "Horrific", but the Headline Writer was trying to puff the piece.
      Garner some "Hits"

      The clown is visible for less than a second.

      Delete
    6. Not long after, everyone’s attention seems to skew toward the garishly dressed intruder, and as we lose visibility, a single gunshot can be heard. The band continues to play for a moment, but another burst of rapid gunfire creates mass panic. Screams and the crash of plates and silverware ring out. Warning: It’s a disturbing clip, despite the absence of graphic imagery.

      http://www.dailydot.com/crime/cartel-clown-hitman-la-pancha-video/

      Delete
    7. The Clown as an Anonymous Assassin.

      Any bets this was the same clown that poisoned Arabfat?

      Delete
  25. Wikipedia has a good section on Gold, and the Great Depression. This is a paragraph from the article:

    Higher interest rates intensified the deflationary pressure on the dollar and reduced investment in U.S. banks. Commercial banks converted Federal Reserve Notes to gold in 1931, reducing its gold reserves and forcing a corresponding reduction in the amount of currency in circulation. This speculative attack created a panic in the U.S. banking system. Fearing imminent devaluation many depositors withdrew funds from U.S. banks.[29] As bank runs grew, a reverse multiplier effect caused a contraction in the money supply.[30] Additionally the New York Fed had loaned over $150 million in gold (over 240 tons) to European Central Banks. This transfer contracted the US money supply. The foreign loans became questionable once England, Germany, Austria and other European countries went off the gold standard in 1931 and weakened confidence in the dollar.[31]

    The forced contraction of the money supply resulted in deflation. Even as nominal interest rates dropped, inflation-adjusted real interest rates remained high, rewarding those who held onto money instead of spending it, further slowing the economy.[32] Recovery in the United States was slower than in Britain, in part due to Congressional reluctance to abandon the gold standard and float the U.S. currency as Britain had done.[33]

    In the early 1930s, the Federal Reserve defended the dollar by raising interest rates,
    trying to increase the demand for dollars. This helped attract international investors who bought foreign assets with gold.


    It was a total clusterfuck, start to finish. The world had outrun the clunky, cumbersome gold standard, but the leaders hadn't accepted that truth (and, wouldn't, really, for many more years.)

    The old-timers said it best: "There just wasn't any money."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. First rule, I guess - No matter how mad you are at the dirty sonofabitches, don't ever let the banks fail (this does Not mean that when it's all over you can't throw the bastards in jail and lose the key.)

      Delete
    2. Banks, in the US, there are many. Many of them fail. No biggie with deposit insurance kicking in (it is a regular occurrence and a non-event) It is those big suckers, the "too big to fail" banks that are a breed apart.

      Delete
    3. Yeah, the BIG banks. They have to stay up, as much as it chaps your ass, sometimes.

      Delete
    4. Which brings up the question - should they be run by the State?

      Delete
    5. I meant, "your" in the generic, collective sense - as in "all of our asses." :)

      Delete
    6. My link above has an excellent section on gold and the gold standard. It also seamlessly transitions into UK and US use of bank notes to the same end. The Great Depression was the culmination of a number of negative factors aligning in a relatively short period of time. Interestingly, the stock market then behaved much as it does now, soaking up vast quantities of excess liquidity.

      Delete
    7. http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/11/economic-history-0

      Delete
    8. As something of a sobering parallel, the housing market tanked in 1926 (or very close) with the cost of housing having reached an all time high.

      Delete
    9. The Currency should be managed by the state, Ash, and not private bankers.

      As President Jackson said, back before his lungs withered away to dust ....

      “If congress has the right under the Constitution to issue paper money,...
      it was given them to use themselves, not to be delegated to individuals or corporations.”




      Delete
    10. .

      It is those big suckers, the "too big to fail" banks that are a breed apart.


      Saw a blurp the other day on the 10 largest banks in the world. Only one of them was US, Chase I seem to recall.

      .

      Delete
  26. Just saw headline suggesting up to 10kk dead in Philippines from the typhoon. That's not good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The number grows hourly. How sad.

      Delete
    2. Real people, in terrible straits.

      Delete
    3. Faux Noise has 10,000, Red Cross has 1200.

      Delete
    4. It is a terrible day for the victims, each individually and as families, regardless of the number of victims there are in the final tally

      Delete
  27. So Bobby Fudd, not only can I sign on to this blog with Opera under Windows 98, now I can do it with Firefox, using a hack called KernelEx that lets me run newer browsers on older operating systems. You got some catching up to do .

    ReplyDelete
  28. 75th Anniversary Kristallnacht

    The IDF is the Jewish people’s answer to the incinerators, gas chambers, the pits and the killings. The IDF is the revival of the Jewish people.”
    http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/Gantz-We-will-never-again-be-helpless-against-our-enemies-331078

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. End the OccupationSat Nov 09, 11:07:00 PM EST

      Home Demolitions: By the Numbers

      Since 1967, Israel has destroyed approximately 27,000 Palestinian structures in the occupied territories (the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip), including more than 24,000 homes, according to ICAHD.
      Since the renewal of negotiations in August 2013, Israel has destroyed approximately 25 Palestinian homes, in addition to dozens of other structures, leaving approximately 200 people homeless.

      According to the UN, between January and September 2013, 862 Palestinians were displaced by Israeli demolitions, compared to 886 (including 468 children) in all of 2012.

      In 2012, a total of 600 Palestinian structures were demolished by Israel in the occupied territories, including at least 189 homes, according to ICAHD. This figure doesn’t include “self-demolitions” whereby Palestinians destroy their own homes rather than have Israel do it and charge them an additional fine.


      One Bedouin village, Al-Araqib, in the Negev desert in the south of Israel, has been destroyed more than 50 times by Israel since July 2010.

      Between 2005 and 2012, Israel demolished approximately 1500 Palestinian homes due to owners lacking hard-to-obtain construction permits.

      Between 1993 and 2000, when the Oslo Accords were being negotiated between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, Israel destroyed almost 1700 Palestinian homes in the occupied territories.

      Immediately following Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza in 1967, approximately 6000 Palestinian homes were demolished, including four entire villages in the Latrun area, along with dozens of homes in the Mughrabi Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, which were destroyed to make way for a plaza for the Western Wall. In 1971, between 2000 and 6000 Palestinian homes were destroyed in Gaza in an effort to pacify the newly occupied territory.

      During Israel’s creation (1948-49), Zionist and then Israeli forces expelled approximately 750,000 Palestinian Arabs from their ancestral lands in order to create a Jewish majority state of Israel. In the process, more than 400 Palestinian population centers were systematically destroyed, including thousands of homes, businesses, and houses of worship.

      Delete
    2. As this is written, millions of Syrians are living in camps in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. Where is your outrage?

      As this is written, millions of Iraqis are living in camps in Turkey, Jordan, and Iran. Where is your outrage?

      As this is written, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese have sought safety outside Lebanon. Where is your outrage?

      As this is written hundreds of thousands of Kurds have been displaced by Iraqi, Turkish, and Syrian aggression. Where is your outrage?

      I guess these millions are merely play things in your little virtual world of blogging.

      The is no "occupied" territory. There is disputed territory . It will remain disputed until the Arabs make peace, something they cannot/will not do because that would require the repudiation of "Death to Israel".

      Delete
    3. One Bedouin village, Al-Araqib, in the Negev desert in the south of Israel, has been destroyed more than 50 times by Israel since July 2010.


      Wow 50 times in 2.5 years... Those tents are sure hard to set up...

      LOL

      I think this is the 58th time this shit has been posted on this thread, it gets funnier each time...

      50 times? a village destroyed????/

      LOL

      Too fucking funny...

      Delete
    4. "One Bedouin village, Al-Araqib, in the Negev desert in the south of Israel, has been destroyed more than 50 times by Israel since July 2010."

      I'll be damned it is in there!!! hahaha Since I don't read rodent any more I would have missed but for you!

      BwabwabwabwabwahahahahahahhaLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

      That is certainly "too fucking funny".

      O MY.

      Coming from The Rodent Source.......

      hehehe

      Delete
    5. That works out to more once a month don't it?

      Delete
    6. The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, ...
      ... not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those who do not.

      It is only because the control of the means of production is divided among many people acting independently ...
      ... that nobody has complete power over us, that we as individuals can decide what to do with ourselves.

      If all the means of production were vested in a single hand, ...
      ... whether it be nominally that of “society” as a whole or that of a dictator, ...
      ... whoever exercises this control has complete power ....

      Delete
    7. William BlackstoneSat Nov 09, 11:34:00 PM EST


      “So great moreover is the regard of the law for private property,
      that it will not authorize the least violation of it; no, not even for the general good of the whole community. “


      Delete

    8. Private property was the original source of freedom. 
      It still is its main bulwark. 

      Delete
    9. Thieves respect property. 
      They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it. 

      Delete
  29. At last, someone else caught Mr. Kerry's incitement to violence against Israel. Were I in charge, the buffoon would be persona non grata.
    How dare this pseudo-Irish,self-made war hero and gigolo poodle, dictate to Israel.

    "Yet this week Secretary of State John Kerry encouraged the Arabs to commit violence on Israel by asking, "I mean, does Israel want a third intifada?'"
    http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/torossian-world-trade-intifada-israel/2013/11/08/id/535729?promo_code=EE9E-1&utm_source=jpost&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. “Injustice in the end produces independence.”

      Delete
    2. "Phases and stages circles and cycles and scenes that we've all seen before."
      Willie Nelson

      So, you see, fellas ...

      Time is really “cyclical” not "currency".

      "Cause Shotgun Willie sits around in his underwear.

      Well, you can't make a record if you ain't got nothin' to say
      You can't make a record if you ain't got nothin' to say
      You can't play music if you don't know nothin' to play

      A shotgun Willie sits around in his underwear
      Bitin' on a bullet, pullin' out all of his hair
      Shotgun Willie has got all of his family there

      Well, John T Floores was workin' with the Klu Klux Klan
      The six foot five John T. was a hell of a man
      Made a lot of money sellin' sheets on the family plan

      Delete
    3. The French did not get the message. See Commune of Paris. Also, do not overlook the Reign of Terror and the Emperor Napoleon.

      Delete
    4. Does not invalidate the message, or the messenger.

      In Europeon colonies all across Africa, Asia and the Middle East we have seen oppression lead to independence which led to oppression.

      Which leads to conflict, and often independence, again.

      If not political then temporally.
      "Time Stands Still...
      ... When They're Dead"

      Delete
  30. Teresita RedingerSat Nov 09, 10:44:00 PM EST
    So Bobby Fudd, not only can I sign on to this blog with Opera under Windows 98, now I can do it with Firefox, using a hack called KernelEx that lets me run newer browsers on older operating systems. You got some catching up to do .

    Obviously I should have hired you Miss T to run my computer affairs my daughter being always out at the stables. Thought we were making some progress the last couple days but the communication line has gone silent.

    I pay her $75 an hour too.

    I am beginning to think she may be making the problem worse than it is to run up the bill.

    This is an old technique she learned from reading Quirk's postings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My last to her yesterday was a simple one word inquiry -

      "Blogger?"

      No response yet.

      Delete

    2. You can't blame anyone else, ... , no one but yourself.
      You have to make your own choices and live every agonizing day with the consequences of those choices.”
      World War Z

      Delete
    3. I've made my choice. I don't care if my frigging blogger works or not. It's too much trouble.

      Besides, as someone said, everyone that posts is anonymous even if you use a name.

      I don't see Rodent Whacky Doodle posting his name and address here.

      OOOOOO he's a mysterious man of the world is he not? Literate, brave, honest, self controlled, not given to slander,clean spoken, totally sane in even moments of extreme stress, non threatening,concerned about all his children, everyone's ideal of an American.

      Delete
    4. Besides someone has been following me around for years posting in my name so what's the use.

      And, I get humor out of seeing our professional asshole split a gut over something I did not post.

      This has happened about 6 timers or more.

      Heh

      Delete
    5. Who is Farmer Fudd, but whomever the readers chooses it to be.
      But you are not the sole source of Farmer Fudd material, Robert.
      Never have been.

      Unless you have made him your own. It is certainly not my doing.

      Should I explain the symbiotic relationship, between Anonymous and Farmer Fudd, again?
      That you believe that you are synonymous with Farmer Fudd, that is in your mind, not written word.

      There are many Farmer Fudd attributions that are fictions, but there is no Farmer Fudd, in "Real Life".

      He is, Robert, just a character I developed, that you write copy for...

      And well, too, I might add.

      Delete
  31. That moment of respite, the 200th comment is going up soon, folks. Get your slanders in now Doodle while there is still time.

    After 200 it's lights out for most of the readers/posters here.

    If you are going to do a ripping f word chain best get it in right now.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Fudd BusterMon Nov 04, 09:25:00 PM EST
    He's got you interested.

    Whether it sucks or not.

    That's the great thing about blogs.
    They don't mean nothin'

    Especially when it is going some where a Fudd cannot follow.
    It is easy to fuck up a Fudd.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fudd Hunters InternationalMon Nov 04, 09:31:00 PM EST
      You mean the Senate will pass an piece of legislation that would appeal it, have enough votes to over ride a veto?

      The Republicans are going to smack their thumbs, trying to drive that nail.

      Watch and see, Fascist Farmer Fudd, you racist piece of excrement.

      Delete
    2. Fudd BusterMon Nov 04, 04:54:00 PM EST
      Wrong, again.

      No Libertarian would ever vote for a piece of slimy scum like Ken Cuccinelli.

      If Ken Cuccinelli loses the election it is because Ken Cuccinelli is a shitty candidate.

      It will be Ken Cuccinelli that could not convince folks to vote for him, it is his responsibility, not those he failed to convince, if he loses.

      Only a fuck faced Fudd would attempt to blame others for the failures of his chosen candidates

      Delete
    3. Fudd BusterMon Nov 04, 03:39:00 AM EST
      What is Anonymous crying about, now?
      Does he not like thinking that he is associated with the fascist Farmer Fudd?

      The character fits you, it is why you embraced it.
      Called it your own, called yourself the "Authentic Fudd" when all you were, Anonymous, was a thief.
      Trying to appropriate a piece of desert rat's intellectual property, the Farmer Fudd.

      But no, we do not speak of Anonymous, because that would be rude.
      So we use a fictional character, one desert rat invented to be a caricature, to belittle the ideas advocated by fascists in America.

      If that shoe fits you, guess you will wear it.
      Your Choice.

      One can always admit to previous mistakes made,
      Take personal responsibility for your errors.

      Do what you want to do, but be polite when you do it.
      You fascist misogynist.

      Delete
    4. Fudd BusterMon Nov 04, 03:16:00 AM EST
      You mean Dictatorship and Oppression provide better return on investment than Freedom and Liberty.

      The Greeks, those lazy bastards conquered the world, under Alexander. We call in Hellenic Civilization, now

      The Romans, Italians all, conquered all of Europe, up to the Rhine.
      Caesar crossed and marched through the woods, unopposed.
      Conquered Gaul, which became France.
      Conquered the Israeli and eventually the Romans razed Jerusalem.
      Conquered Egypt and England.
      Destroyed Carthage

      The Spanish, those lazy good for nothings, traveled the world, conquered most of the Americas.

      You thesis is weak, one a racist would postulate.
      One that is not supportable by facts.

      About what one would expect from a feckless fascist Fudd.

      Delete
    5. Bwabwabwahahahaha......g'nite

      Delete
    6. Fudd Busters InternationalSun Nov 10, 12:02:00 AM EST

      Julius Caesar, yep, a Fudd.in his day.

      Look at all the new Fudd Busters, rallying to the team.

      It's so gratifying to see.

      Delete
    7. “With cold eyes and indifferent mind the spectators regard the work.
      Connoissers admire the "skill" (as one admires a tightrope walker),…
      enjoy the "quality of painting" (as one enjoys a pasty).

      But hungry souls go hungry away.
      The vulgar herd stroll through the rooms and pronounce the pictures "nice" or "splendid."
      Those who could speak have said nothing, those who could hear have heard nothing.”

      Delete