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."

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

The NSA is not a force for protection, it is a governmental agency out of control and a menace to freedom

IN CASE YOU NEED REMINDING ABOUT THE DAMAGE DONE BY THE NEOCONS:



End the N.S.A. Dragnet, Now
By RON WYDEN, MARK UDALL and MARTIN HEINRICH
Published: November 25, 2013 NY TIMES

WASHINGTON — THE framers of the Constitution declared that government officials had no power to seize the records of individual Americans without evidence of wrongdoing, and they embedded this principle in the Fourth Amendment. The bulk collection of Americans’ telephone records — so-called metadata — by the National Security Agency is, in our view, a clear case of a general warrant that violates the spirit of the framers’ intentions. This intrusive program was authorized under a secret legal process by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, so for years American citizens did not have the knowledge needed to challenge the infringement of their privacy rights.

Our first priority is to keep Americans safe from the threat of terrorism. If government agencies identify a suspected terrorist, they should absolutely go to the relevant phone companies to get that person’s phone records. But this can be done without collecting the records of millions of law-abiding Americans. We recall Benjamin Franklin’s famous admonition that those who would give up essential liberty in the pursuit of temporary safety will lose both and deserve neither.
The usefulness of the bulk collection program has been greatly exaggerated. We have yet to see any proof that it provides real, unique value in protecting national security. In spite of our repeated requests, the N.S.A. has not provided evidence of any instance when the agency used this program to review phone records that could not have been obtained using a regular court order or emergency authorization.
Despite this, the surveillance reform bill recently ratified by the Senate Intelligence Committee would explicitly permit the government to engage in dragnet collection as long as there were rules about when officials could look at these phone records. It would also give intelligence agencies wide latitude to conduct warrantless searches for Americans’ phone calls and emails.
This is not the true reform that poll after poll has shown the American people want. It is preserving business as usual. When the Bill of Rights was adopted, it established that Americans’ papers and effects should be seized only when there was specific evidence of suspicious activity. It did not permit government agencies to issue general warrants as long as records seized were reviewed with the permission of senior officials.
Congress has a crucial opportunity to reassert constitutionally guaranteed liberties by reforming the N.S.A.’s overbroad collection of Americans’ personal data. But the Intelligence Committee bill squanders this chance. It would enable some of the most constitutionally questionable surveillance activities now exposed to the public eye. The Senate should be reining in these programs, not giving them a stamp of approval.
As members of the Intelligence Committee, we strongly disagree with this approach. We had already proposed our own, bipartisan surveillance reform legislation, the Intelligence Oversight and Surveillance Reform Act, which we have sponsored with a number of other senators. Our bill would prohibit the government from conducting warrantless “backdoor searches” of Americans’ communications — including emails, text messages and Internet use — under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. It would also create a “constitutional advocate” to present an opposing view when the F.I.S.C. is considering major questions of law or constitutional interpretation.
Rather than adopt our legislation, the Intelligence Committee chose to codify excessively broad domestic surveillance authorities. So we offered amendments: One would end the bulk collection of Americans’ records, but still allow intelligence agencies to obtain information they legitimately needed for national security purposes by getting the approval of a judge, which could even be done after the fact in emergency situations. Another of our amendments sought to prevent the N.S.A. from collecting Americans’ cellphone location information in bulk — a capability that potentially turns the cellphone of every man, woman and child in America into a tracking device.
Each of these proposals represents real and meaningful reform, which we believe would have fulfilled the purpose of protecting our security and liberty. Each was rejected by the committee, in some cases by a single vote.
But we will continue to engage with our colleagues and seek to advance the reforms that the American people want and deserve. As part of this effort, we will push to hold a comprehensive reform debate on the Senate floor.
There is no question that our nation’s intelligence professionals are dedicated, patriotic men and women who make real sacrifices to help keep our country safe and free. We believe that they should be able to do their jobs secure in the knowledge that their agencies have the confidence of the American people.
But this trust has been undermined by the N.S.A.’s domestic surveillance programs, as well as by senior officials’ misleading statements about surveillance. Only by ending the dragnet collection of ordinary Americans’ private information can this trust be rebuilt.
Congress needs to preserve the agencies’ ability to collect information that is actually necessary to guard against threats to our security. But it also needs to preserve the right of citizens to be free from unwarranted interference in their lives, which the framers understood was vital to American liberties.


Ron Wyden of Oregon, Mark Udall of Colorado and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, all Democrats, are United States senators.

300 comments:

  1. We should all embrace the new America. Making friends with the good people of the Moslem Brotherhood, Iran, China and Russia. Setting straight those ungrateful so called allies like Israel, England and Poland.

    So what if the NSA spies on the American people, most deserve it anyway, after all they disagree with the Obama administration. That alone should warrant a prison sentence.

    It's time for Americans and America to wake up and smell the coffee. It has fundamentally changed and it you are not with those changes you are an enemy of state.

    Support the Progressive agenda: Transgendered rights, Jihadists, Climate Change, Redistribution of Wealth, American Sins against the World and of course stopping the support of evil rouge regimes like Israel.

    Embrace the New and leaning forward USSA!

    All hail our dear leader, Obama.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obama is not a new leader, he's been there, in that position, for half decade, now.
      There are no gulags, no concentration cmps.

      The Patriot Act should be repealed, but instead, the Congress focuses on Health Care, not domestic spying.

      Why is it that there are so few in the Government that want to have the police powers of the government curtailed?

      Over forty attempts to repeal the ACA, none ot repeal the Patriot Act, priorities of the politicos are clearly defined.

      Delete
    2. How do you KNOW that there are not any "camps"?

      Delete
    3. No one has gone 'missing, other than Jose Padilla

      We all know where he went, so he is not really 'missing', is he..



      Delete
    4. The US does have a 'concentration camp, at Gitmo.

      It remain open for business. but the population of prisoners is not large.
      There are only a few US citizens incarcerated, there.

      The Afghan government has requested that their citizens, at Gitmo, be repatriated ASAP.

      It is time to close the American Gulag .... Close Gitmo Now!

      Delete
  2. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry secretly agreed to elevate Iran to the status of seventh world power, as a strong inducement for signing the interim nuclear accord in Geneva Sunday, Nov. 24, for living up to its obligations in the coming six months and for then signing a comprehensive agreement.
    While Iran has always demanded respect and equal standing as a regional power, never in their wildest dreams had the ayatollahs expected to be granted big power standing, with an authoritative role recognized by the six big powers for addressing issues in a broad region spanning the Persian Gulf, the Middle East and Western Asia, including Afghanistan.

    President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif presented this awesome achievement Monday to their hard-line critics at home, who accused them of giving away too much in terms of Iran’s nuclear program for the sake of a deal with the West.
    We come home from Geneva with recognition as a world power, they replied.
    The small print of Iran’s new rating is not yet in place, but Western sources familiar with the new US-Iranian understandings say they would not be surprised to find President Rouhani sitting in future summits on the same side of the table as the six powers who faced Iran in the Geneva negotiations. Zarif would also attend future foreign ministers’ meetings as an world-class equal.
    Jerusalem and Riyadh are aghast at this development. Our Jerusalem sources report that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has kept it back from his cabinet colleagues, has been holding back-to-back confidential consultations with the heads of Israel’s security and intelligence services and the high IDF command to decide how to handle Obama’s sudden replacement of Israel with Iran as America’s No. 1 ally in the region.


    Excellent, Iran is now America's friend and ally.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A position that Iran held for decades, and now is returning to it's rightful place in the American Hegemony.

      Mr Obama finally getting the US back in a position of real power in the Middle East.
      A position it vacated, during the Carter era, creating a power vacuum, which was extended and expanded by GW Bush.

      Delete

    2. There being no doubt that Iran is the most strategically located country in the region, its vast oil reserves and large, educated population make it an ideal candidate for the US to ally with.

      It's position as a balance to the radical Wahhabi Muslims makes it of paramount interest to the US to reestablish friendly relations with the regime there.

      Delete
    3. .

      Where is the link to the post above?

      American Thinker or JihadWatch?

      .

      Delete
    4. Anonymous found that gem @

      Jerusalem, Riyadh stunned: Obama makes Iran 7th world power on regional issues, including Palestinians

      DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

      http://www.debka.com/article/23476/

      Delete
    5. Google the first line of just about anything, the source pops right up.

      Delete
    6. .

      Close enough, the Jihadwatch of Israel.

      .

      Delete
    7. .

      Just as you failed to provide your sources, so did they.

      .

      Delete
    8. Who is you?

      That is the question ....

      Betting it was the Candyman, it surely wasn't the 'Rat'

      He don't read that drivel.
      He is a Google News aficionado.

      The BBC, Reuters, USA Today, Voice of America, Christian Science Monitor & LA Times, those are the 'mainstays'

      Delete
  3. “Iranians see this as a major achievement,” Mohammad Morandi, an analyst at Tehran University, said in a telephone interview. “The United States and its allies have been forced to accept the realities on the ground.”

    http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-irans-leaders-nuclear-deal-20131124,0,4099996.story#ixzz2ll0kKBN5

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True enough, decades of self delusion on the part of the US have been ended, by the Obama administration

      Delete
  4. In a new piece at Foreign Policy, Matthew M. Aid and William Burr report on a recently declassified NSA history that discloses the targets of NSA surveillance during the late 1960s and early 1970s, including sitting Senators and Martin Luther King, Jr. In these documents, the NSA reveals new details about the “Minaret program” in response to a request by George Washington’s National Security Archive.

    The Minaret program, which lasted from 1967 to 1973, was a surveillance program aimed at intercepting the telegrams and phone calls of critics of the war in Vietnam. As the NSA history documents,

    With FBI as the prime source of names, NSA began expanding the watch list to include domestic terrorist and foreign radical suspects. The watch list eventually contained over 1,600 names and included such personages as columnist Art Buchwald, journalist Tom Wicker, civil rights leaders Martin Luther King and Whitney Young, the boxer Muhammed Ali, and even politicians such as Frank Church and Howard Baker.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. That Nixon, he really was a dirty rat!

      bobbo

      Delete
  5. The newly declassified NSA material does not divulge how many phone calls or telegrams the agency intercepted from these seven men (King, Young, Ali, Wicker, Buchwald, Church, and Baker), but the number must have been significant over the six years that Minaret operated. The NSA now admits that at the height of the Minaret program in late 1969, almost 150,000 telephone calls, telexes, and cables were being intercepted and analyzed at the NSA every month. The NSA history also doesn’t reveal what information about these targets the NSA extracted from these intercepts and sent on to the White House. According to declassified NSA documents, between 1967 and 1973 the agency issued approximately 1,900 intelligence reports pertaining to terrorism, executive protection, and foreign influence and/or support for U.S. groups deemed to be subversive, especially those groups described as “anti-war.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Anonymous, for pointing ou that this assualt upon US liberty and freedom, by the government did not start with Mr Obama's administration, but has been a facet of the Federal government for almost fifty years.

      The Legion is advancing - the Collective is gaining strength - We are Anonymous

      Resistance is Futile

      Delete
  6. A supplier sells the sweater to a retailer for roughly $14.50. The suggested retail price is $50, which gives the retailer a roughly 70% markup. A few sweaters sell at that price, but more sell at the first markdown of $44.99, and the bulk sell at the final discount price of $21.99. That produces an average unit retail price of $28 and gives the store about a 45% gross margin on the product.

    So yeah, knock yourself out on Friday. Enjoy the lines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your math is terrible, Ms T.

      $14.50 to $50, just the start. that is a 344% mark up, a $35.50 gross profit.
      The profit being 244% of product costs, at full retail

      Delete
    2. At a $29 sales price, the mark up is 100%, 'key stoned' is the phraseology for that.

      Delete
  7. "Norman Gurley, 30, is facing drug-related charges in Lorain County, Ohio, despite the fact that state troopers did not actually find any drugs in his possession. Ohio passed a law in 2012 making it a felony to alter a vehicle to add a secret compartment with the 'intent' of using it to conceal drugs for trafficking."


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe Norman wanted to keep his condoms in there.

      Sounds unconstitutional to me.

      Quirk would agree.

      Dicks = trouble

      Delete
  8. It's Whackopath doing the anon and the bob.

    I haven't made a comment till this -

    The NeoCons? Who the hell has been running the show the last five years?

    Think I will have my sign up problem fixed later today.

    till then

    out

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous has no name - that is the essence of anonymity.

      - We are Legion - We are Anonymous - We are the Collective -

      Delete
    2. Lester Crown, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and Barack Obama, their "Face Man".

      That is who has been 'running' the show.
      The ones that have a public face, anyway.

      Delete
    3. R. Buckminster FullerTue Nov 26, 11:04:00 AM EST


      Great nations are simply the operating fronts of behind-the-scenes,
      vastly ambitious individuals who had become so effectively powerful because of their ability to remain invisible while operating behind the national scenery.

      R. Buckminster Fuller

      Delete

    4. The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes.

      Delete
    5. Theodore RooseveltTue Nov 26, 11:18:00 AM EST


      Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.

      Delete
    6. - They are Anonymous - They are Legion -

      Resistance is Futile

      Delete
    7. Bob,

      That "neo-con" thing brought a smile. This looks like a case of "Ready"..."Fire"..."Fire"..."Aim". :-)

      Delete
    8. Mahdi Darius NazemroayaTue Nov 26, 11:54:00 AM EST

      The Anglo-American Military Roadmap in the Middle East and Central Asia

      U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s speech on the “New Middle East” had set the stage. The Israeli attacks on Lebanon –which had been fully endorsed by Washington and London– have further compromised and validated the existence of the geo-strategic objectives of the United States, Britain, and Israel.
      ..
      Moreover, the Anglo-American military roadmap appears to be vying an entry into Central Asia via the Middle East.
      The Middle East, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are stepping stones for extending U.S. influence into the former Soviet Union and the ex-Soviet Republics of Central Asia. The Middle East is to some extent the southern tier of Central Asia. Central Asia in turn is also termed as “Russia’s Southern Tier” or the Russian “Near Abroad.”

      Many Russian and Central Asian scholars, military planners, strategists, security advisors, economists, and politicians consider Central Asia (“Russia’s Southern Tier”) to be the vulnerable and “soft under-belly” of the Russian Federation.

      According to Professor Mark Levine the
      “neo-liberal globalizers and neo-conservatives, and ultimately the Bush Administration, would latch on to creative destruction as a way of describing the process by which they hoped to create their new world orders,”

      and that “creative destruction [in] the United States was, in the words of neo-conservative philosopher and Bush adviser Michael Ledeen ‘an awesome revolutionary force’ for (…) creative destruction…”

      Delete
    9. Mahdi Darius NazemroayaTue Nov 26, 11:56:00 AM EST

      It should be noted that in his book, The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geo-strategic Imperatives, Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former U.S. National Security Advisor,
      alluded to the modern Middle East as a control lever of an area he, Brzezinski, calls the Eurasian Balkans.

      The Eurasian Balkans consists of the Caucasus (Georgia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Armenia) and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan) and to some extent both Iran and Turkey.

      Iran and Turkey both form the northernmost tiers of the Middle East (excluding the Caucasus) that edge into Europe and the former Soviet Union.

      http://www.globalresearch.ca/plans-for-redrawing-the-middle-east-the-project-for-a-new-middle-east/3882

      Delete
  9. Your math is terrible, Ms T.

    $14.50 to $50, just the start. that is a 344% mark up, a $35.50 gross profit.
    The profit being 244% of product costs, at full retail

    AnonymousTue Nov 26, 09:28:00 AM EST
    At a $29 sales price, the mark up is 100%, 'key stoned' is the phraseology for that.


    Traditionally, when I put something in italics, it's a copy-and-paste from another site. I didn't have time to check the math, and it's not important. The point is, people will drop everything and salivate when something is on "sale" like on Black Friday, and it's all a bunch of hooey.

    ReplyDelete
  10. "Billions have been invested on promoting human rights in Afghanistan over more than 12 years of war and donors fear that hard won progress, particularly for women, may be eroding"

    Progress, they say...Hmm...Right

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/25/us-afghanistan-rights-idUSBRE9AO0EB20131125
    Adulterers may be stoned under new Afghan law, official says.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 12 years, blood & treasure wasted.

      Should have left after Tora Bora was a wrap.

      Instead, the US occupied the country, and followed the same trail as have all the others through history.
      Failing to modify the behavior of the Afghans.

      Hopefully Karzai will stand his ground, and NATO can just leave Afghanistan to the Afghans.

      Delete
  11. ""We now find that California's state budget situation is even more promising than we projected one year ago," the report says.

    The surplus could reach $9.6 billion in 2018, legislative analysts say, possibly helping to prevent "a cliff effect" when some higher tax rates expire.

    Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) issued a statement saying the extra money would enable the state to "expand worthy programs for people and our economy" in addition to paying off debt and other obligations.

    His counterpart in the Assembly, Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles), said he would continue pushing for a rainy-day fund, something the state has lacked.

    "Our job now is to maintain the fiscal prudence that put us in this favorable position," while also helping more California families, Pérez said in a statement.

    Chris Hoene of the California Budget Project, which advocates for low-income families, said that building a nest egg is important. But he emphasized the need to help residents re-enter the workforce by restoring funds to programs such as state-paid child care.

    "There's a lot of California that's still hurting out there," he said. "It's still raining for some folks."

    Although Brown, a Democrat, agreed to some spending increases during budget negotiations last summer, he has been wary of most calls for higher spending. His finance director, Michael Cohen, said in a statement Wednesday that "discipline remains the right course of action."

    Republicans also said they wanted to keep a lid on spending.

    "California could easily slip back into budget deficits" if the surpluses were drained to fund new programs, Senate Republican leader Robert Huff of Diamond Bar said in a statement.
    "


    http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-state-budget-20131121,0,4883962.story#ixzz2llfGUWKd

    Always Going Broke - Never Quite Getting There

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      He said, she said.

      California legislators say California is doing great.

      24/7 Wall Street says they are the No. 1 worst run state in America.

      http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/11/28/best-run-worst-run-states/

      .

      Delete
    2. See how well America is doing, then.

      If the worse run state is doing great ....

      Why should you, in Michigan, be so pessimistic?

      Delete
    3. .

      The logic of Anonymous.

      The self-serving political dicks in California, a state 24/7 Wall Street calls the No. 1 worst run state in the country, proudly proclaim that they are doing a terrific job running the state, and the rat believes them.

      :)

      You never cease to amaze.

      .

      Delete
  12. Whackopath is off his feed bag.

    He has only put up 22 of the 31 posts on this thread so far.

    67%

    He must do better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am he as you are he as you are me
      And we are all together

      We are Anonymous - We are Legion - We are the Collective

      Delete
  13. First, I was against the whole batch of fascistic laws passed following 9/11. My predictions at the time have proven true. That said, what did "neo-cons" have to do with this?

    I will remind you that Saudis rammed planes into buildings. That was the cause of the hysteria leading to our loss of basic rights.

    I will also remind that most of the offending legislation was passed by large/huge bipartisan majorities in both houses, with an appreciative president ready to sign them.

    Thank goodness the only thing Jewish about this usurpation is that Bill Krystal is a Jewish publisher and commentator. That could become a big deal, but only in the bigoted confines of this blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Iran had nothing to do with it, glad we agree

      We are Anonymous - We are the Collective

      Delete
  14. Such a deal -

    American Held Hostage In Iran For 444 Days Calls Deal 'Foolishness'...

    Obama defends policy amid Israel anger...

    Krauthammer: Worst since Munich...

    Saudi Arabia warns it will strike out on its own...

    Rift with USA...

    'Loophole' may allow off-site reactor work...

    News Agencies Kept Iran Talks Secret...

    Iran, NKorea worked on new missile booster as Geneva talks underway................drudge

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. We cannot banish dangers, but we can banish fears.
      We must not demean life by standing in awe of death.

      Delete
    2. Bob,

      The important thing is that Netanyahu was set adrift. Don't you know that America is,thereby, made safer.

      If I were a betting person, I would give big odds that this will be another North Korea. How soon we forget, especially when we feel vengeful satisfaction.

      Israel will take care of itself by other means. It is a big neighborhood, with the circumstances offering opportunities for useful alliances and operations.

      Delete
    3. The really important thing, allen, is that we keep the US money following to Bibi.

      Everything else, just smoke and mirrors, grand deceptions and acting for the cameras.

      Delete
    4. .

      Given the fact that if Iran really wants the bomb, it will get the bomb, one way or another, the US is wise in pursuing this course even if the chances of success might be small.

      .

      Delete
    5. I have no doubt that the US will do as it did with North Korea. Yes, Iran will get the bomb.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous Tue Nov 26, 12:30:00 PM EST
      The really important thing, allen, is that we keep the US money following to Bibi.

      You were trying to say something, but I don't know what. Does "Bibi" have a pet named "money"?

      Delete
  15. Re: American Thinker or JihadWatch?

    What? There is now an approved reading list: Index Librorum Prohibitorum? Even Das Kapital has nuggets of truth.

    “Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”
    ___Bacon (neo-con)

    :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, keep posting the drivel, it will be debunked.

      You are serving your purpose, thanks


      bob - the Authentic Fudd

      Delete
    2. .

      Like another here has admitted recently, I like to know who the sources are.

      I admit that I was taken in by the post. I wasn't aware the rat began scurrying around that early. I assumed Anonymous-Bob posted it. Given that the only 4 sites Bob gets his info from are American Thinker, JihadWatch, Drudge and live feeds of the Vandals games, I took a guess.

      As it turned out, I was pretty close. It was from DebkaFile the JihadWatch of Israel, same propaganda, same wild speculation, same unnamed sources.

      .

      Delete
    3. Hegemenic HeadquartersTue Nov 26, 01:58:00 PM EST

      As noted above ...

      The 'Rat' don't much read that crap, doesn't post it, 'cept for the really outlandish,

      The Collective opinion, is that is was the Candyman.

      The Hegemony is in agreement with that assessment, if for no other reason than the Candyman likes that Israeli source.

      Delete
    4. The Anonymous Collective is growing ...

      Providing fine fodder for Improvisational Blogging

      Now we have Farmer Fudd and the Candyman both contributing to the Anonymous Collective's content.

      The Dimwitted Duo, on time, on target.




      Delete
    5. Yes, Quirk, "another" "ADMITTED" wanting sources.

      "admitted"? Hmm...What an odd use of the word.

      Those who are going to give an opinion need not source it. It's theirs and a right. Far be it from me to dispute that right.

      However, when people misquote, misrepresent, and delve into character assassination, say, the USS Liberty, I would like to see some proof. That seems fair.

      On the matter of sourced opinions, it is still Israel 13 and conspiracy theorists 0.

      :-) Thanks for the opening.

      Delete
  16. Insight: A new wave of U.S. mortgage trouble threatens
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/26/us-usa-mortgages-homeequity-insight-idUSBRE9AP05J20131126

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Building Permits in U.S. Jump to Five-Year High
      Bloomberg - ‎

      Building permits climbed in October to the highest level in more than five years, signaling the U.S. residential real-estate market will strengthen in 2014.

      http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-26/building-permits-in-u-s-jump-to-five-year-high.html

      Delete
    2. How many permits were issued? How does that compare to 2007?

      "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."
      ___Disraeli (the Jew, and Victoria's favorite)

      Delete
  17. Southerland would specifically push states to end SNAP benefits for poor families in areas of high unemployment. The premise behind his reform proposals is that the food stamp program is "growing into oblivion." But a new study from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that in fact, enrollment in the food program, which hit a record during the recession, has already started to plateau and is projected to decline about five percent next year even if Congress does absolutely nothing.

    Part of that decline is the result of a seven-percent, across-the-board cut that went into effect November 1 with the expiration of about $5 billion in funding increases from the 2009 stimulus bill. But even without that cut, caseloads have been stabilizing since 2011 and remained flat this year. Now, the Congressional Budget Office projects that, barring any major fiscal disasters, the food stamp budget is on track to return to 1995 levels in about five years, falling about two to five percent a year as the economy recovers. All this even if Congress doesn't do anything to "reform" a program that kept nearly five million people (2.2 million of them children) out of poverty last year and is responsible for broad economic and public health gains.

    If Southerland gets his way, though, instead of letting a recovering economy pare down food stamp spending, Congress will throw 1.7 million of the nation's poorest people out of the program—people whose annual income is less than $2,500 a year—and incentivize the states to drop even more so they can use the savings on other things, like tax cuts for the wealthy. It's times like these . . . . .

    Declining Food Stamps

    ReplyDelete
  18. http://twitchy.com/2013/11/26/they-dont-even-pull-this-sht-for-the-queen-kelly-osbourne-has-had-it-with-obama/
    ‘They don’t even pull this sh*t for the Queen!’ Kelly Osbourne has had it with Obama

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poor little rich kid ....

      Our hearts should bleed for that spoiled bitch?

      Delete
  19. Any Federal program that more than doubles the recipients it serves, over a four year period, needs auditing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Just like the Federal Reserve?

      Delete
  20. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/364731/front-man-kevin-d-williamson
    The Front Man
    President Obama is the nominal leader for permanent bureaucracy.

    " Elections will be held, politicians will come and go, but if you expand the power of the bureaucracy, you expand the power of the Left, of the managers and minions who share Barack Obama’s view of the world. Barack Obama isn’t the leader of the free world; he’s the front man for the permanent bureaucracy, the smiley-face mask hiding the pitiless yawning maw of total politics."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Theodore RooseveltTue Nov 26, 01:18:00 PM EST


      Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government
      owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.

      Delete
    2. The 'Good' thing ...

      Under Obama the number of people employed by the Federal government has decreased.

      So while the power of the Federal bureaucracy may have grown, there are less bureaucrats to wield it.

      Delete
    3. .

      Under Obama the number of people employed by the Federal government has decreased.

      Technically correct, but a more informative reading would be,

      Recently, the number of people employed by the Federal government has decreased.

      In the past five years, while states across the country were forced to cut government workers, bureaucrats, teachers, firemen etc. due to a poor economy and cuts in federal revenue sharing, Obama failed to bring about the same cuts at the federal level. It is only recently that federal jobs have been cut through the mandate of sequester, the same sequester cuts Obama has been fighting.

      With regard to the SNAP cuts and cuts in other welfare benefits, I am really torn. For the vast majority of the people receiving these benefits, it wasn't them who caused the situation we are in right now. They are not responsible for the lack of jobs. However, on the other hand, the welfare programs have been growing for four years or more. They are contributing to (or at least disguising) the problem of 'long-term unemployment', and I wonder if many of those who have been out of work for years will ever work again except by pushing burgers.

      It's a bad situation either way you look at it. We need good jobs. Worse, we needed the jobs years ago.

      .

      Delete
    4. Actually, the Chart at my link shows food stamps peaking in 2010.

      Delete
    5. .

      Actually, 2011, but why quibble? It went over 0.5 % of GPD and remains above that point.

      .

      Delete

  21. Central African Republic 'descending into chaos' - UN

    The Central African Republic (CAR) is descending into "complete chaos",
    the UN deputy secretary general has warned, calling for urgent action.

    Jan Eliasson urged the Security Council to strengthen the African Union-led force in the country, and to turn it into a UN peacekeeping operation.

    The CAR has been in turmoil since rebels seized power in March, with warnings of a possible genocide.

    France has said it would contribute about 1,000 troops to the force.

    Senior UN and French officials have warned that a cycle of violence between the Muslim minority, now in power, and the Christian majority could become a genocide.

    It is not known how many people have been killed in the conflict this year because it is too dangerous to access the rural areas where most killings occur, a UN spokeswoman told the BBC.

    However, she said that in the Bossangoa area alone, one of the worst-hit areas about 300km (185 miles) north of the capital, Bangui, several hundred people had been killed in the first two weeks of September.

    Some 460,000 people - 10% of the population of 4.6 million - have fled their homes, while more than a million need food aid, according to the United Nations.

    Tens of thousands have sought refuge at the Catholic mission in Bossangoa.

    The priest in charge, Frederic Tonfio, told the BBC: "The tension here is palpable. People are absolutely terrified."
    'Regional threat'

    Mr Eliasson said there had been an surge in sexual violence, torture, summary executions and sectarian violence.

    "The CAR is becoming a breeding ground for extremists and armed groups in a region that is already suffering from conflict and instability," he said.

    "If this situation is left to fester, it may develop into a religious and ethnic conflict with long-standing consequences, even a civil war that could spread into neighbouring countries."

    Some of CAR's neighbours such as South Sudan, the Sudanese region of Darfur, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo are trying to emerge from years of conflict and remain extremely unstable.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25095471

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Guide to Central African Republic

      Crisis has affected entire population of 4.6 million people
      10% have fled their homes
      25% need food aid
      Unknown number killed - several hundred in one area in two weeks
      Too dangerous to go to rural areas where most killings occur
      3,500 child soldiers
      Most schools and hospitals outside capital looted and not functional
      Currently 2,500 African peacekeepers and 400 French troops - to be increased to 3,600 and 1,200

      Source: UN

      Delete
    2. The Central African Republic (CAR) has been unstable since its independence from France in 1960 and is one of the least-developed countries in the world.

      It has endured several coups and a notorious period under a self-declared emperor, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who headed a brutal regime.

      The Bokassa era ended in 1979, when he was overthrown in a coup led by David Dacko and backed by French commandos based in the country.

      After just two years in office Mr Dacko was toppled by Andre Kolingba, who eventually allowed multi-party presidential elections and was duly rejected in the first round.

      Mr Kolingba's successor, Ange-Felix Patasse, had to contend with serious unrest which culminated in riots and looting in 1997 by unpaid soldiers.

      When in that year the French pulled out, there were fears of a power vacuum, so Paris financed a group of French-speaking African countries to create a peacekeeping force. That force was then transformed into the UN Mission to the Central African Republic, or Minurca.

      In 1999 Mr Patasse beat nine other candidates to become president again, but there were allegations of electoral fraud. He was overthrown in a coup in 2003 and went into exile in Togo.

      Illegal weapons proliferate across the CAR, the legacy of years of unrest. The unrest has displaced tens of thousands of Central Africans; many of them have crossed the border into Chad.

      Some progress towards stabilising the country was made between 2008 and 2012, before the new Seleka rebel alliance marched south and captured the capital in March 2013, ousting President Francois Bozize.

      The CAR possesses considerable agricultural, water and mineral resources. But corruption is rife and undermines the timber and diamond industries.

      The country is endowed with virgin rainforests and has some of the highest densities of lowland gorillas and forest elephants in Africa

      Central African Republic
      At a glance

      Politics: Country described as a failed state in permanent crisis, facing mutinies and rebellions.
      Latest rebel alliance ousted president in March 2013, plunging country into chaos

      Economy: Decades of instability have undermined the economy.
      Diamonds are an important source of income - and rivalry

      International: Suffers spill-over of violence from neighbours; assisted by French military; hosts African peacekeepers.
      UN to deploy peacekeeping force

      Country profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13150040

      Delete
    3. Rat, this thread is not about, and no one much cares about, the Central African Republic.

      You are passing gas to no purpose whatsoever.

      Delete
    4. Nothing new in that of course.

      Delete
    5. Here it is that the Muslims and Christians are doing battle, and you don't care ...

      Oh well ...
      Be happy in your ignorance.

      Who is 'Rat'?

      He is not part of the Anonymous Collective
      Is he with the Hegemony of Character?

      Delete
    6. Or is he 'Independent' ... a 'Singularity' ... ????

      Delete

    7. Perhaps this 'Rat', he is a figment of your imagination, no?

      Delete

    8. Stories happen in the mind of a reader, not among symbols printed on a page.

      Delete
  22. Everyone knows rat that you like Obama would side with the muzzies but what has that to do with -

    The NSA is not a force for protection, it is a governmental agency out of control and a menace to freedom

    - the subject of the thread?

    Don't answer it will just be more gas.

    Everyone knows you like the sound of your own gas passing, which is why no one pays attention, which you desire so deeply, to you any longer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. “It was so much easier to blame it on Them.
      It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us.
      If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault.

      If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us.
      I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them.
      No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us.

      It's Them that do the bad things.”

      Delete

    2. “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”

      Delete

    3. Perhaps this 'Rat', he is a figment of your imagination, no?

      Delete

    4. For an avatar that hardly ever posts, the 'Rat' has an exceptionally large following.
      Everyone discusses him, even when he is not there.

      Why?

      How has this character captured your attention, your very souls, especially when he is not on the thread?

      His aura is most strong, the "Force", it is with that Jedi knight

      Beware of his aroma, it is as powerful as the aura!


      Delete
    5. .

      Why?

      I told you why before you dumb shit.

      The fact that you can't seem to remember? Perhaps, neuron dysfunctionality due to toad licking induced synaptic cleft short-circuit.

      I can recommend a good electrician.

      .

      .

      Delete

    6. Once I rose above the noise and confusion
      Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion
      I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high
      Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
      Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
      I hear the voices when I'm dreamin', I can hear them say

      Carry on my wayward son,
      For there'll be peace when you are done
      Lay your weary head to rest
      Don't you cry no more

      Masquerading as a man with a reason
      My charade is the event of the season
      And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know
      On a stormy sea of moving emotion
      Tossed about I'm like a ship on the ocean
      I set a course for winds of fortune, but I hear the voices say

      Carry on, you will always remember
      Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
      Now your life's no longer empty
      Surely heaven waits for you



      Delete
    7. .

      Once I rose above the noise and confusion
      Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion
      I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high...



      I heard licking toads will do that to you.

      .

      Delete
    8. Cessna, Quirk, it's a Cessna.

      Skymaster - Cessna Model 337.
      Forty years old, only $100,000.

      Higher and Higher
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1odvp-_bhk

      Delete
    9. .

      I thought gliders soar and the Cessna flies.

      .

      Delete
    10. Interpretations of a literary construct.

      Delete
  23. Ted Cruz sez: Likewise, the mullahs in Tehran can now laugh all the way to the bank while they spend the time and money they have gained in Geneva pursuing nuclear capability. And all Americans have bought for $7 billion is the prospect of additional negotiations that might result in progress at some point down the road.

    Palin level stupidity. If the GOP sends him up against Hillary, I won't vote.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Vote for the Libertarian Candidate, it's like being Anonymous.

      They are Legion in the Forest of the Mind.
      The place Farmer Fudd is afraid to go

      Delete
  24. In addition, The NSA is a value wrecking machine. They have done tremendous destruction to US IT companies in foreign markets. Who is their right mind would trust IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, HP, Apple or a US based cloud company? I wouldn’t. The US government has surpassed the Chinese in being untrustworthy.

    The US Conga Line doesn’t miss a beat when it comes to marching nose to ass when it comes to destroying wealth, dragging the US into war and destroying civil liberties. We should not be too hasty in closing down Guantanamo Bay. It may come in handy.

    ReplyDelete
  25. You mean this isn't a conga line? Damn I brought my castanets.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Speaking of nose to ass, AIPAC is choreographing the Conga Line’s next dancing steps:

    Below is a summary of the major news stories developing Tuesday, November 26, 2013, concerning the United States, Israel and the Middle East.

    .
    Leading senators drafting new sanctions in case Iran reneges: Leading Democratic and Republican senators are writing legislation to increase sanctions on the Iranian regime in the event that it reneges on its commitments agreed upon in Geneva last week. The new bill would reportedly require the administration to certify every 30 days that Iran is abiding by the six-month agreement and is uninvolved with acts of terrorism against the United States. If these measures are not met, the new legislation would reinstate economic restrictions on Iran and bar foreign companies in violation of the sanctions from doing business with the United States, according to reports. Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) hope to have the bill ready for consideration when the Senate returns from its two-week recess on Dec. 9.

    CLICK HERE to read AIPAC’s position on the interim deal and next steps to prevent a nuclear-capable Iran.

    Israeli security advisor to meet with U.S. officials in Washington: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will send his top security aide to Washington to discuss next steps for a comprehensive deal to end Iran’s nuclear program. “I spoke last night with President Obama. We agreed that in the coming days an Israeli team led by the national security adviser, Yossi Cohen, will go out to discuss with the United States the permanent accord with Iran,” Netanyahu said. “This accord must bring about one outcome: the dismantling of Iran’s military nuclear capability.”

    U.S., Israel hold largest joint-military exercise ever: Joint aerial exercises between the United States and Israel began on Sunday at the Ovda air base, in the largest military drill ever conducted by the Israeli military. “The [Israeli Air Force] has become attractive to foreign armies because of its massive operational experience,” a military official said. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro added the importance of U.S.-Israel military cooperation: “We live in a tough world and dangerous world. Israel lives in a dangerous neighborhood…It needs the best trained forces … and it needs allies.”
    .

    http://www.aipac.org/news-hub?id=%7BFADA6619-280F-4EA4-A5C0-B3A6F2277C36%7D#

    ReplyDelete
  27. WASHINGTON—A pair of American B-52 bombers flew over a disputed island chain in the East China Sea without informing Beijing, U.S. officials said Tuesday, in a direct challenge to China and its establishment of an expanded air-defense zone. The planes flew out of Guam and entered the new Chinese Air Defense Identification Zone at about 7 p.m. Washington time Monday, according to a U.S. official.

    Shades of the Gipper, Libya, 1986, Top Gun, etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very imprudent to antagonize your landlord.

      Delete
  28. The Middle East warmly welcomes Iran Deal, sees it as Step toward Denuclearizing Israel

    Posted on 11/26/2013 by Juan Cole

    Israel and Saudi Arabia have loomed large in reporting about the regional reaction to the UN Security Council plus Germany’s preliminary deal with Iran as they negotiate an end to the international boycott of Iran in return for practical steps permanently forestalling an Iranian nuclear weapon. Israel is a small country of 7.5 million with a GDP around the same as Portugal’s, and it isn’t actually all that important in the Middle East, which contains 600 million people if you include North Africa– and with which the US does $400 billion a year in trade.

    But despite the fear-mongering and hysteria of Israeli politicians [see below], the general reaction in the region has been much more positive than the Likud government would have us believe. Moreover, far from there being an Israel-Arab consensus against the agreement, much of the Arab world welcomed the Iran deal and saw it as a first step toward getting nuclear weapons out of the Middle East altogether. That is, they are hoping that once Iran’s nuclear enrichment program is restructured as permanently peaceful, the United Nations Security Council will turn up pressure on Israel to give up its nuclear weapons.

    ReplyDelete

  29. Turkey, a NATO ally of the US that has some disputes with Iran (notably over Syria) nevertheless warmly greeted the announcement. Turkey has a population of 76 million, as does Iran, i.e., both are just a little less populous than Germany.

    Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Twitter on Sunday:

    “I welcome today’s agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. I have been advocating a solution through diplomacy and we hosted many diplomatic efforts in Turkey to this end . . . This is a major step forward. I hope it’ll be sealed with a final agreement soon. I congratulate all parties for their constructive engagement.”

    -------

    The genius of Bibi, attacking a Turkish civilian ship. What a wanker!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He said he was .....

      . . . . Sorry . . . .

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    3. Fudd Busters InternationalTue Nov 26, 03:24:00 PM EST

      No, Candyman, that is not going to happen.

      Your hope for change will be dashed upon the rocks of reality.

      Just the way it is, in the USA.

      Delete
    4. There are 300 million small arms spread amongst the people of the United States.

      More than two guns for every adult.

      As GW Bush said ...

      "Bring it on!"

      Delete
    5. Fudd why do you call me "candyman"?

      odd....

      Delete
    6. Rat/fudd, do I call you horse molester?

      After all that's what you do in real life right?

      Molest animals for fun and profit in AZ?

      I wonder if the Colonel or Ole Joe KNOWS you are a pot head and are stoned when training those police?

      Hmmm... I wonder if the AZ FBI has shared that intel about you.

      Delete
    7. It's a lot easier to report you now to the AZ FBI if I have to, after all, we all do KNOW who you are don't we...

      you saw it on that FBI report you bragged about seeing....

      Delete
  30. The fruit of the Neocon’s glory days chimes in:

    Iraq, with a population of over 30 million and a GDP of $212 bn., also enthusiastically greeted the news. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said,
    “Reaching an agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the six nations over Iran’s nuclear program is a major step in the security and stability of the region… We hope that the process of confidence-building and dialogue will continue in the interest of both sides to prevent nuclear proliferation and to recognize the right of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.”
    Iran and Iraq were probably at one point in a nuclear arms race with one another (and with Israel, which started it), so it is remarkable that Baghdad defends Iran’s right to enrich uranium for peaceful energy purposes. Al-Maliki has poor relations with the Sunni Gulf oil monarchies and so is isolated. He depends on Iran for trade and electricity and for support in his war of attrition with Sunni extremists who keep blowing up his capital.

    Iraq hasn’t paid any attention to the international sanctions on Iran because it needs Iran too much, and indeed it may have been extending aid to Iran to help it in its economic difficulties. The Maliki government has been caught between its American ally and its Iranian one, and been subject to pressure from each side. Kurdish Member of Parliament Mahmoud Osman made this point, saying that if relations between Washington and Tehran improved, it would reduce pressures on Iraq. Osman said that Iraq would benefit economically, because it would not have to extend aid to Iran to help it get through the harsh sanctions. This is the first time I’ve seen the allegation that Iraq is helping Iran with aid (it used to be the other way around). I would be very surprised if Iraq is not helping Iran smuggle petroleum out in contravention of American sanctions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that a lot of the Iraqi 'increase' in 2013 oil production was actually Iranian oil that was transiting Iraq,
      becoming Iraqi oil in the process.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    3. Fudd Busters InternationalTue Nov 26, 03:22:00 PM EST

      Misogynous outrage at the truth!

      Go Candyman Go!

      Get you some of that sweetness!

      Delete
    4. Ms T, what "Civilian" ship do you refer?

      Are you now saying the Hamas affiliated terror ship was a "civilian" ship?

      That ship was as legal as ANY America drone target.....

      :)

      You must know that working in the USA armed services. I guess you are JUST as personally guilty of murdering civilians with those drone strikes as the IDF is as guilty fighting armed terrorists on a terror ship.

      Delete
    5. Fudd Busters InternationalTue Nov 26, 03:22:00 PM EST
      Misogynous outrage at the truth!


      Dear Mr Rat, aka Ed aka Fudd aka the dozens of other names you use.

      Some of us use our web labels...

      Now Ms T? She had several... Xenia, Ms t, teresita to name 3...

      Now the question is...

      who said: Teresita RedingerTue Nov 26, 02:54:00 PM EST
      The genius of Bibi, attacking a Turkish civilian ship. What a wanker!

      Was it me?

      Was it Ms T.

      Ms T told us all that if we saw "Teresita Redinger" it was ME....

      Delete
    6. The Candyman is a character, a caricature.

      If you see yourself in the caricature, well ...

      If the shoe fits, then it fits.

      But no one signs-on with that avatar, that nom de guerre, so it will become one of our Improvisational Blogging tools

      Delete
    7. .

      Some of us use our web labels...

      And some don't, Anonymous-Wio. You are part of the rat pack of idiots around here who adopt the Anonymous label all the time. The reasons? Who knows with a bunch of screwed up dicks like you guys? However, if it is actually to remain anonymous it merely demonstrates the level of your intelligence since you are invariably outed by someone here, usually one of the other Anonymous dicks.

      .

      Delete
    8. If i post without the log on i usually say "woo"

      not saying I NEVER posted with anon..

      but that's rat and bob for the most part and maybe you? who knows?

      Delete
  31. The Lebanese and the Jordanians


    Lebanon’s Foreign Minister, Adnan Mansour, welcomed the agreement as “positive.” In particular, he tied it to Iran’s agreement never to produce a bomb, and saw it as a step toward the de-nuclearization of the Middle East. That is, Lebanon is hoping that after the Iran nuclear problem is dealt with, the world community will next turn to the Israeli nuclear problem, which Mansour says threatens his country.

    Egypt, a country of 84 million with a GDP of $254 bn, took much the same tack as Lebanon. A spokesman for interim Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy “welcomed” the agreement and also saw it as a move toward the de-nuclearization of the Middle East.

    The spokesman for the Jordanian government, Muhammad al-Mumini , said that the agreement was “a step in the right direction.” He went on to express his hope that the international community would go on to take equal interest in resolving the other security problems in the region. (He meant the Syrian civil war, which is putting an enormous burden on Jordan, and the problem of Palestinian statelessness, which concerns the 60% of Jordan’s population that consists of families ethnically cleansed by the Israelis from their original homes). Jordan’s King Abdullah II had long warned that a war with Iran would be a catastrophe for the whole Middle East, but a few years ago in the Bush era he was not always on the same page with his American and Saudi allies.

    ReplyDelete
  32. The genius of Bibi, attacking a Turkish civilian ship. What a wanker!

    I wonder if the IDF decorated the attack team with ribbons, like they did the ones who hit the USS Liberty

    ReplyDelete
  33. It looks as if Bibi is down to his allies the Sauds and their bastard offspring, al Qaeda.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. al Qaeda is the offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood Deuce, I know to you all moslems look alike

      Delete
    2. .

      And the MB was the darling of Saudi Arabia, until they picked the wrong side to support in the Iran-Iraq war and pissed SA off.

      And al-Queda was nurtured in the same Wahabbi radicalism that guides SA today, a fundamentalism that wants to return to the Islam of the 7th century.

      .

      Delete
    3. Actually no quirk, the MB is an Egyptian creation...

      the saudis and the wahabbis are their own whackadoodles.

      Delete
  34. They issued them the IDF Liberty Medal with two oak clusters.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I hope someday you are traveling overseas and can be treated to Turkish Islamic customs. You deserve it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fudd Busters InternationalTue Nov 26, 03:19:00 PM EST

      The "Candyman" Speaks, after swallowing his parve chocolate.

      Who in their right mind would travel to that region of the world?

      It is a cesspool of sectarian rivalry and violence.
      Apartheid regimes, dictatorships and great peril.

      Better to see the USA, in a Chevrolet.

      Delete
    2. No I didn't speak.

      But you Rat? Speak to much and say nothing, often

      Delete
    3. Rat are you telling us you will be stalking us from behind the wheel of a Chevy?

      Beware Rat the TSA is on the highways now too and are looking for you, as you are a wanted "man", and I do use that term "man" loosely.

      Delete
    4. Rat has a history of making death threats. That's why I did in fact report him the AZ FBI. They do know (as do I) who he actually is in real life.

      Maybe if he shows up in Idaho or Ohio the FBI might arrest him again.

      Delete

    5. You are the 'Candyman', you accept that designation?
      Embrace it?

      Call it your own?

      Good to know!

      Delete
    6. Hegemenic HeadquartersTue Nov 26, 04:12:00 PM EST


      We'll accept that, when you sign-on using it.

      Delete
    7. Hegemenic HeadquartersTue Nov 26, 04:17:00 PM EST

      Until then ...

      We will assign that nom de guerre to whichever Anonymous posting that seems to fit the profile.
      Connecting the dots, as it were.

      Improvisational Blogging, provides for that type character/caricature development.

      Some one is playing, we're goin' for it!

      Delete
    8. AnonymousTue Nov 26, 03:16:00 PM EST
      I hope someday you are traveling overseas and can be treated to Turkish Islamic customs. You deserve it.

      ReplyDelete

      Been there, it was easier getting in and out than an EU member getting in and out of JFK.

      Delete

  36. Tuesday, November 26, 2013

    The NSA is not a force for protection, it is a governmental agency out of control and a menace to freedom

    And yet? Zbigniew Brzezinski is loved here... A NSA guy all the way...

    Ms T's mentions the USS Liberty, another NSA caper gone wrong..

    Hmmmm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete

    2. A tad over the top, aye.

      Roger that.

      Delete
    3. Zbigniew Brzezinski's daughter is a Genius, and She's HOT!

      ...Zbigniew Brzezinski's a Genius, and he's OLD!

      Zbigniew Brzezinski is hard to spell, but I did, three times in a row.

      I am a genius.

      Delete
    4. Is rat making threats or publishing personal information again?

      Delete
    5. .

      Here, the U.S.S. Liberty was an NSA plot to some. To others, the Israeli black flag terrorist bombings against two of its 'allies' was a bedtime story, better than warm milk for putting one to sleep.

      Still, others here take them a little more seriously.

      .

      Delete
  37. The gaming has begun. Is the White House being truthful or is it Iran? Hmm...smelling North Korea

    "Iran rejects US’s ‘one-sided’ version of nuclear dealTehran spokeswoman calls White House fact sheet ‘not true’"
    http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-rejects-uss-one-sided-version-of-nuclear-deal/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. “What has been released by the website of the White House as a fact sheet is a one-sided interpretation of the agreed text in Geneva and some of the explanations and words in the sheet contradict the text of the Joint Plan of Action, and this fact sheet has unfortunately been translated and released in the name of the Geneva agreement by certain media, which is not true,”
      said a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Tehran,

      Delete
    2. A dispute over the translation?

      That is merely a disagreement over a literary construct.
      Not even a riffling wind.

      bobbo

      Delete
    3. What is Uranium Oxide?

      Ans: Stored Highly Enriched Uranium quickly convertible back to Highly Enriched Uranium.

      Delete
    4. What country has a 200 year supply of Natural Gas?

      Ans:

      Iran

      Delete
    5. So What?

      That's why they need Nuclear Power NOW, that's what!

      Delete

    6. And that is why Dick Cheney APPROVED the sale of 24 General Electric nuclear reactors, to and for Iran, as SecDef.

      Delete

    7. The Iranians will be selling that natural gas, to the Chinese and Indians.
      The Shah had a plan, the Iranians are going to ...
      ...... Stay the Course!

      Delete
    8. .

      Is the White House being truthful or is it Iran?

      You offer us a logical fallacy, the false dilemma. Isn't it much more likely that they both are lying?

      Most everyone has been caught in lies before, Obama, Crapper, Netanyahu, the Iranians, the Israelis. Hell, lying is so common amongst these dicks, I would have thought it would have put you to sleep already.

      .

      Delete
  38. Replies
    1. I'd never even THOT about a female Tea-Bagger until THAT STUPID B.... showed up.
      Obama 2016!

      He CARES!

      Hope and Change!

      ...just ask Rufus

      Delete
    2. There will come a point, Doug, when the INSURANCE Companies will pull the plug.
      Now they do it without much oversight, under the ACA, there will be a process.

      If you wish I can find multiple stories of INSURANCE Companies ending or not instigating funding for the terminally ill.

      All that is happening, standardization of the process.

      Delete
    3. allenTue Nov 26, 04:20:00 PM EST
      The gaming has begun. Is the White House being truthful or is it Iran? Hmm...smelling North Korea.

      "[IRAN REJECTS US's 'ONE-SIDED' VERSION]' of nuclear deal Tehran spokeswoman calls White House fact sheet' [NOT TRUE]'"
      http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-rejects-uss-one-sided-version-of-nuclear-deal/



      Delete
    4. Look how long it took Halperin to walk That back:

      Oops. I din't mean it!

      Delete
    5. “What has been released by the website of the White House as a fact sheet is a one-sided interpretation of the agreed text in Geneva and some of the explanations and words in the sheet contradict the text of the Joint Plan of Action, and this fact sheet has unfortunately been translated and released in the name of the Geneva agreement by certain media, which is not true,”
      said a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Tehran,

      Delete
    6. A dispute over the translation?

      That is merely a disagreement over a literary construct.
      Not even a riffling wind.

      bobbo

      Delete

    7. If the Iranians were SERIOUS

      They would not have had a WOMAN make the statement.

      Delete
  39. Mountains of a black, powdery refinery byproduct called petroleum coke are piling up from Chicago to Corpus Christi, Texas, prompting local officials to fight what residents say is a dusty scourge that coats houses, cars and even pets.

    Chicago's City Council on Monday debated a proposed ordinance that would ban pet-coke storage within city limits, after officials say clouds of it blew from a storage site on the city's South Side into a nearby neighborhood.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Re: "[IRAN REJECTS US's 'ONE-SIDED' VERSION]' of nuclear deal Tehran spokeswoman calls White House fact sheet' [NOT TRUE]'"
    http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-rejects-uss-one-sided-version-of-nuclear-deal/

    The White House has its spin doctors working the implications. The White House is ALWAYS truthful. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We can tell, because his mouth is almost ALWAYS open.

      He's so smart.

      That's why we love him.

      Delete
    2. “What has been released by the website of the White House as a fact sheet is a one-sided interpretation of the agreed text in Geneva and some of the explanations and words in the sheet contradict the text of the Joint Plan of Action, and this fact sheet has unfortunately been translated and released in the name of the Geneva agreement by certain media, which is not true,”
      said a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Tehran,

      Delete

    3. If the Iranians were SERIOUS

      They would not have had a WOMAN make the statement.

      Delete
  41. Why the post-antibiotic world is the real-life version of the zombie apocalypse The perverse economics of the antibiotics industry means the human race could be in trouble
    http://theweek.com/article/index/253397/why-the-post-antibiotic-world-is-the-real-life-version-of-the-zombie-apocalypse

    ReplyDelete
  42. Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham told the Iranian press on Tuesday.

    Afkham and officials said that the White House has “modified” key details of the deal and released their own version of the agreement.

    Iran’s right to enrich uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon, is fully recognized under the draft released by Tehran.

    http://freebeacon.com/iran-white-house-lying-about-details-of-nuke-deal/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. “What has been released by the website of the White House as a fact sheet is a one-sided interpretation of the agreed text in Geneva and some of the explanations and words in the sheet contradict the text of the Joint Plan of Action, and this fact sheet has unfortunately been translated and released in the name of the Geneva agreement by certain media, which is not true,”
      said a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Tehran,

      Delete

    2. A dispute over a translation of the agreement does not immediately constitute proof of a lie, by either side.

      Why don't you get us a copy of the agreement, then the White House fact sheet, and we'll all decide for ourselves.

      Delete
    3. That way we will not have to trust the Iranian version, but will be able to verify it.

      Trust but Verify, that is the way forward.

      We'll need further verification, allen.

      Delete

    4. Get the French version of the agreement.
      We'll have that translated, then compare that ranslation to the English version.

      Then we can compare the translated French version to the White House fact sheet.

      Delete
  43. Millions of Americans getting healthcare for the first time

    Kentucky

    ReplyDelete
  44. "Iran’s right to enrich uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon, is fully recognized under the draft released by Tehran."

    I thought the United Nations concluded that we really did NOT want them to do that.

    Oh, Bother!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Five veto wielding members of the Security Council, Doug, seems they have ...
      ... changed their collective mind.

      Resolutions by the Security Council do not carry much substance to them.
      Ask the Israeli, they ignore Security Council Resolutions with impunity.


      We are Anonymous - We are the Collective

      Delete
  45. 90% of the anon posts today are not me. And, I am trying to get an identity. Just be patient. Working with my daughter is trying.

    I notice this -

    What is "Occupation"Tue Nov 26, 04:11:00 PM EST
    Rat has a history of making death threats. That's why I did in fact report him the AZ FBI. They do know (as do I) who he actually is in real life.

    Maybe if he shows up in Idaho or Ohio the FBI might arrest him again.

    I am going to write an email to you, WiO, through you blog.

    He does indeed have a quite long history of making death threats.

    Deuce has taken some of them down.

    I see the blog administrator has been working today. That is good. Excellent in fact. A little slapping down will help a lot. Hope he keeps it up.

    bob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. I was the walrus, but now I am Farmer Fudd
      ...and so my friends, you'll just have to carry on.

      The dream is over.

      Delete
  46. “R.T., Uncle Lenny . . .” said Hudson, a skinny 35-year-old who worked as an assistant director at the senior center and had just been released from the hospital after a blood-sugar spike.

    He’d never had insurance before and said his hospital bills were up to $23,000 at this point.

    “Good night,” Lively said, tapping in his information.

    Kids: five. Salary: about $14,000 before taxes.

    “You’re going to qualify for a medical card,” she told Hudson.

    “Well, thank God,” Hudson said, laughing. “I believe I’m going to be a Democrat.”

    Lively printed out his papers.

    “RONALD’s Health Care Coverage Options,” one of them read.

    “Oh, man,” Hudson said.

    Donna Robinson had already enrolled, and now she arrived for her 2 p.m. with her son Gary Gross, 36, a skinny man with spiky copper hair, worn-out jeans and a thin tank top.

    “Now,” Lively began. “Any income?”

    “Naw,” Gross said.

    “You smoke?”

    “Yeah,” Gross said, adding that he did quit drinking. “It’s hard to quit, I tell you. I got cirrhosis already. I’m only a two on the scale of four, not too bad.”

    “That’s already bad,” his mother said.

    “Okay,” Lively said after a while. “You’re covered for a medical card.”

    She went through his options.

    “Now, I have problems with my teeth,” Gross said. “I need to get all of them pulled.”

    “It does cover that,” Lively said.

    “Oh, that’s great!” Gross said, sitting up straighter.

    “Now it doesn’t cover dentures,” Lively said as she typed.

    “I think that should be covered,” his mother said. “Try to eat an apple without teeth.”

    “I love meat,” Gross said.

    Lively gave him the papers confirming his enrollment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Them be some "Americans" that be in need of some top-dollar healthcare.

      Can we spell MEDICAID?

      YES WE CAN!

      HOPE AND CHANGE!

      Delete
    2. Medicare, Medicaid, VA, Gov't Subsidized Group Ins - Healthcare is Healthcare, Doug. Especially if it's YOUR kid that's sick.

      Delete
    3. If the Feds Mandated that we all get all our teeth pulled, think how many dollars could be saved on dental care!

      ...and oral sex w/your uncle would be a dream.

      For your uncle Gary Gross, 36, a skinny man with spiky copper hair, worn-out jeans and a thin tank top.

      Delete
    4. If my kid was Gary Gross, I'd kill myself.

      No more "Healthcare" costs for me.

      Delete
    5. All these years, Doug, you have benefitted from Gov't Subsidized (paid with before-tax dollars) Group Health Ins.

      Now, you would demean those poor people, and deny them life-saving medical care.

      What the fuck is wrong with you?

      Delete
    6. Maybe those free dollars could be better spent on getting some really dumb fucks educated.

      Chuck Yeager joined the Air Force.

      Worked for him.

      Delete
    7. We educated our son at our expense, while we paid taxes for the Teachers Unions to indoctrinate other people's kids.

      Delete
    8. Why not have World Wide Socialized Medicine and pay for Medicaid for Starving Biafrans?

      Delete
    9. Really dumb fucks can't be educated.

      Plato and all the other knew that.

      Look at Whackopath as an example.

      Anyone really think he is educable?

      He needs an intervention.

      He NEEDS help.

      Delete
    10. Changed the subject, didn't you?

      Delete
    11. You paid property taxes, which the government allocated as deemed necessary.

      There was not, a special school assessment, at least not in most places.

      Your argument is as fallacious as claiming having paid FICA taxes for 40 years life gives anyone the "Right" to Social Security or Medicare benefits. It just is not true.

      Delete
    12. I don't want no middleman wasting my tax dollars:

      I sent Cigarette money DIRECT to Gary Gross!

      Delete

    13. What happened with that fantasy sign-on, Farmer Fudd?

      Garnered another FAIL.

      Delete
    14. rat goes to the VA for his health care.

      And he is not going to be turning his Social Security check when it comes in the mail.

      On the other hand he didn't pay a dime in child support for his kid in Salvador.

      What a Man!

      Delete
    15. While those people were laboring in now-defunct coal mines, and working small farms, and paying taxes so you could live high on the government tit, Doug.

      You were going to Government-Subsidized Schools, living in homes with gov't subsidized mortgages, covering yourself with government subsidized healthcare.

      And, they were paying for those subsidies with their taxes. Now, you equate them to "Biafrans."

      Delete
    16. should read:

      returning his Social Security check

      And he is not going to be giving back his 350 acres of prime bottom land to the injuns either, that he or his ancestors stole.

      Delete
  47. DougTue Nov 26, 06:05:00 PM EST
    Why not have World Wide Socialized Medicine and pay for Medicaid for Starving Biafrans?

    Believe me, if O makes UN Secretary General, he will suggest it.

    And I would be paying for it.

    And most of you, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. We paid for your new hip, why not pay for preventive medicine for poor folk, too?

      Delete
    2. You did not. My private insurance paid for my hip, and the cost was about 150K not 250K.

      I have no problem with a program for truly poor people, the 15% or so that might truly need it.

      But that is not at all what ObamaCare is all about.

      Delete
  48. Born: February 13, 1923 (age 90), Myra, West Virginia, WV

    Boy! 90 years old!

    That Hillbilly musta had really good free healthcare!

    ReplyDelete
  49. On this day in 1789, President George Washington set aside a day of thanksgiving in order to honor the adoption of the U.S. constitution.

    ReplyDelete
  50. It just seems obvious to me that Rat loves to impersonate others all the time.

    I wonder how many "anon"s that are here are him, trying to stir the pot, create his blogging adventure?

    ReplyDelete