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, September 13, 2014

Sometimes you see only what you want to see - Sometimes you escape and are free to get closer to the truth - “Pilot-wave Theory" by Louis de Broglie




Things that appear as chaos may very well be deterministic. Just because we don’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t.



Math Suggests Alternative to Quantum Orthodoxy
Fri, 09/12/2014 - 2:00pm
MIT, Larry Hardesty

Laboratory Equipment

The central mystery of quantum mechanics is that small chunks of matter sometimes seem to behave like particles, sometimes like waves. For most of the past century, the prevailing explanation of this conundrum has been what’s called the “Copenhagen interpretation” — which holds that, in some sense, a single particle really is a wave — smeared out across the universe — that collapses into a determinate location only when observed.
But some founders of quantum physics — notably Louis de Broglie — championed an alternative interpretation, known as “pilot-wave theory,” which posits that quantum particles are borne along on some type of wave. According to pilot-wave theory, the particles have definite trajectories, but because of the pilot wave’s influence, they still exhibit wavelike statistics.
John Bush, a professor of applied mathematics at MIT, believes that pilot-wave theory deserves a second look. That’s because Yves Couder, Emmanuel Fort and colleagues at the Univ. of Paris Diderot have recently discovered a macroscopic pilot-wave system whose statistical behavior, in certain circumstances, recalls that of quantum systems.
Couder and Fort’s system consists of a bath of fluid vibrating at a rate just below the threshold at which waves would start to form on its surface. A droplet of the same fluid is released above the bath; where it strikes the surface, it causes waves to radiate outward. The droplet then begins moving across the bath, propelled by the very waves it creates.
“This system is undoubtedly quantitatively different from quantum mechanics,” Bush says. “It’s also qualitatively different: there are some features of quantum mechanics that we can’t capture, some features of this system that we know aren’t present in quantum mechanics. But are they philosophically distinct?”
Tracking trajectories
Bush believes that the Copenhagen interpretation sidesteps the technical challenge of calculating particles’ trajectories by denying that they exist. “The key question is whether a real quantum dynamics, of the general form suggested by de Broglie and the walking drops, might underlie quantum statistics,” he says. “While undoubtedly complex, it would replace the philosophical vagaries of quantum mechanics with a concrete dynamical theory.”
Last year, Bush and one of his students — Jan Molacek, now at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization — did for their system what the quantum pioneers couldn’t do for theirs: they derived an equation relating the dynamics of the pilot waves to the particles’ trajectories.
In their work, Bush and Molacek had two advantages over the quantum pioneers, Bush says. First, in the fluidic system, both the bouncing droplet and its guiding wave are plainly visible. If the droplet passes through a slit in a barrier — as it does in the re-creation of a canonical quantum experiment — the researchers can accurately determine its location. The only way to perform a measurement on an atomic-scale particle is to strike it with another particle, which changes its velocity.
The second advantage is the relatively recent development of chaos theory. Pioneered by MIT’s Edward Lorenz in the 1960s, chaos theory holds that many macroscopic physical systems are so sensitive to initial conditions that, even though they can be described by a deterministic theory, they evolve in unpredictable ways. A weather-system model, for instance, might yield entirely different results if the wind speed at a particular location at a particular time is 10.01 mph or 10.02 mph.
The fluidic pilot-wave system is also chaotic. It’s impossible to measure a bouncing droplet’s position accurately enough to predict its trajectory very far into the future. But in a recent series of papers, Bush, MIT professor of applied mathematics Ruben Rosales, and graduate students Anand Oza and Dan Harris applied their pilot-wave theory to show how chaotic pilot-wave dynamics leads to the quantum-like statistics observed in their experiments.
What’s real?
In a review article appearing in the Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, Bush explores the connection between Couder’s fluidic system and the quantum pilot-wave theories proposed by de Broglie and others.
The Copenhagen interpretation is essentially the assertion that in the quantum realm, there is no description deeper than the statistical one. When a measurement is made on a quantum particle, and the wave form collapses, the determinate state that the particle assumes is totally random. According to the Copenhagen interpretation, the statistics don’t just describe the reality; they are the reality.
But despite the ascendancy of the Copenhagen interpretation, the intuition that physical objects, no matter how small, can be in only one location at a time has been difficult for physicists to shake. Albert Einstein, who famously doubted that God plays dice with the universe, worked for a time on what he called a “ghost wave” theory of quantum mechanics, thought to be an elaboration of de Broglie’s theory. In his 1976 Nobel Prize lecture, Murray Gell-Mann declared that Niels Bohr, the chief exponent of the Copenhagen interpretation, “brainwashed an entire generation of physicists into believing that the problem had been solved.” John Bell, the Irish physicist whose famous theorem is often mistakenly taken to repudiate all “hidden-variable” accounts of quantum mechanics, was, in fact, himself a proponent of pilot-wave theory. “It is a great mystery to me that it was so soundly ignored,” he said.
Then there’s David Griffiths, a physicist whose “Introduction to Quantum Mechanics” is standard in the field. In that book’s afterword, Griffiths says that the Copenhagen interpretation “has stood the test of time and emerged unscathed from every experimental challenge.” Nonetheless, he concludes, “It is entirely possible that future generations will look back, from the vantage point of a more sophisticated theory, and wonder how we could have been so gullible.”

“The work of Yves Couder and the related work of John Bush… provides the possibility of understanding previously incomprehensible quantum phenomena, involving 'wave-particle duality,' in purely classical terms,” says Keith Moffatt, a professor emeritus of mathematical physics at Cambridge Univ. “I think the work is brilliant, one of the most exciting developments in fluid mechanics of the current century.”

133 comments:

  1. Without getting too philosophical a logical flaw between two or more acceptable truths is intolerable if it is important for you to get to the truth. I suppose multiple truths can exist but if one truth is weakened by another, the shaky accepted version needs to be looked at and likely needs to be discarded, at least until the examination of the new truth discovers another flaw. That is progress.

    Progress is feared and we live in a world where people take refuge in a comfort zone of what has been given to them by culture, association or teaching, as gospel and if the truth about it looks a little shakey,well take faith, the wisdom of the providers of that dodgy “truth” would not lie to you, honestly they wouldn’t.

    There is one ultimate known gift to those that have the intelligence to see it and that gift is life itself. It is a thing of wonder when we learn something new that gives us the scary pleasure of throwing out what is broken.

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  2. "As far as I am concerned I wish to be out on the high seas. I wish to take my chances with wind, and wave, and star. And I had rather go down in the glory and grandeur of the storm, than rot in any orthodox harbor.”


    Robert Ingersoll

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  3. Robert Ingersoll, America’s Most Famous Forgotten Atheist

    By Kimberly Winston
    Religion News Service
    Huffington Post

    (RNS) Meet Robert Ingersoll, the most famous American atheist you’ve probably never heard of.

    A self-educated attorney and atheist, Ingersoll was a Victorian-era rock star who could pack theaters from Texas to New York with people who came from hundreds of miles around to hear “The Great Agnostic” lecture against religion.

    He was courted by politicians, his likeness was carved in stone, and when he died in 1899, newspapers around the country carried his obituary. A Civil War veteran, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

    Today, Ingersoll is largely unknown outside atheist circles. But he’s enjoying a bit of a revival, with a critically-acclaimed new biography, a walking tour of Ingersoll sites, a growing number of visitors to his birthplace and an oratory contest in his name.

    Ingersoll enthusiasts say the recognition is overdue because the issues he championed remain hot topics — freedom of speech, civil rights, women’s reproductive freedom and, especially, the role of religion in government.

    And he did it with flair. Ingersoll had the intellect of the late atheist Christopher Hitchens and the crowd appeal of Daily Show host Jon Stewart — or their 19th-century embodiments.

    “Ingersoll was the perfect humanist,” said Steve Lowe, founder of the Robert Ingersoll Oratory Contest, which will be held in Washington on June 30. “He was very engaging as a speaker because he used humor and he was outrageous in that he would speak against religion with such fervor.”

    {...}

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    1. {...}


      “All of that was very titillating, and people would go to hear him whether they agreed with him or not. He did not respect religion, but he respected people who were religious.”

      It’s the respect that Ingersoll held for those he disagreed with that has some atheists, humanists, skeptics and other nonbelievers saying that Ingersoll is especially ready for resurrection.

      “Ingersoll didn’t agree with liberal religionists any more than he did with fundamentalists, but he believed in alliances on the issues that liberal religious people agreed with him on,” said Susan Jacoby, author of “The Great Agnostic,” an Ingersoll biography published in January that, in part, takes contemporary atheism to task for allowing him to be forgotten.

      “I don’t think we have many prominent figures in the atheist movement today who are ready to form public alliances on issues they support, like gay rights and issues affecting women, and I believe we need a lot more of them.”

      Ingersoll was born in 1833 in upstate New York, the son of a circuit-riding Methodist minister. Like Abraham Lincoln, he was largely self-taught. Yet unlike Lincoln, who also had unconventional ideas about organized religion, Ingersoll was public about his lack of faith, something historians like Jacoby believe curtailed his high political ambitions.

      Ingersoll also didn’t found an organization to continue his agenda after his death, which may also explain his faded prominence.

      But Tom Flynn, director of the Robert Green Ingersoll Birthplace Museum in Dresden, N.Y., says that trend may be reversing. He has seen a rise in visitors to the museum’s website in recent months, and hopes to host an Ingersoll conference next year.

      “When you read his stuff today he is amazingly eloquent and he does a fabulous job of capturing what it means to live with reason and compassion without a fear of hellfire,” Flynn said. “And as we have this growing number of young people moving away from organized religion, I think Ingersoll is a voice that when they discover him he feels surprisingly modern.”

      That’s what happened to Lowe, the contest organizer. When he left his Methodist faith for humanism, he read today’s standard pantheon of “New Atheist” authors – Richard Dawkins, Hitchens and Sam Harris. But when he discovered the collected speeches of Ingersoll, something grabbed him.

      “His words are still beautiful to hear, and of course he was a leader in criticizing organized religion and he advocated for Darwin, evolution and science,” Lowe said. “The freethought community is always looking for a model to put up as an admired free thinker, and we think Ingersoll deserves more attention not just for historical purposes, but also because he is still applicable to issues we are still navigating.”

      Lowe became so enthusiastic about Ingersoll he revived a defunct walking tour of Ingersoll sites in Washington that includes the U.S. Capitol, where Ingersoll argued before the Supreme Court (then meeting in the Old Senate Chamber), and Lafayette Square, where Ingersoll lived.

      Two years ago, he founded the oratory contest, held in Washington’s Dupont Circle neighborhood. This year, the contest hit its maximum of 15 contestants within a month of being announced and now has a waiting list.

      Jamila Bey, a Washington-based journalist and commentator, took second place in the oratory contest two years ago with a recitation of Ingersoll’s “What I Want For Christmas” speech, delivered in Boston in 1897. She said Ingersoll has as much to say to the freethought community today as he did 100 years ago.

      “I think he would say to us, ‘Keep talking,’” she said. “I think he would remind us that we can never become complacent. I think he would say it is about more than freethought, it’s about genuinely claiming our place at the table of American ideas.”

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  4. The glory of science is, that it is freeing the soul, breaking the mental manacles, getting the brain out of bondage, giving courage to thought, filling the world with mercy, justice, and joy.

    To the great killers and bullshit artists:

    In all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. They have worshiped their destroyers; they have canonized the most gigantic liars, and buried the great thieves in marble and gold. Under the loftiest monuments sleeps the dust of murder.

    To the jackasses that bray on and on with the words of the orthodoxy poured into to their oversized ears and underdeveloped brains:

    The man who does not do his own thinking is a slave, and is a traitor to himself and to his fellow-men.

    To those that believe they are superior because they can beat the living shit out of others at a time and place of their choosing and those beaten others cannot escape the killing:

    I am the inferior of any man whose rights I trample under foot.

    To those that think they have the magic words at their disposal and permission from on high to dispose of those lives and lands that our inconvenient for their pleasure:

    I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous, if they aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds of men.

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  5. They knew that to put God in the constitution was to put man out. They knew that the recognition of a Deity would be seized upon by fanatics and zealots as a pretext for destroying the liberty of thought. They knew the terrible history of the church too well to place in her keeping or in the keeping of her God the sacred rights of man. They intended that all should have the right to worship or not to worship that our laws should make no distinction on account of creed. They intended to found and frame a government for man and for man alone. They wished to preserve the individuality of all to prevent the few from governing the many and the many from persecuting and destroying the few.


    And I will end with this that applies to so many:

    Our ignorance is God; what we know is science. To hate man and love god seems to be the sum of all creeds.

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  6. I’ll add one of my own:

    It is always the holy g-d fearing, highly pedigreed motherfuckers that take the greatest pleasure and are the most self-satisfied with their killing and destruction.

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  7. REDIPUGLIA Italy (Reuters) - Pope Francis said on Saturday the spate of conflicts around the globe today were effectively a "piecemeal" Third World War, condemning the arms trade and "plotters of terrorism" sowing death and destruction.

    "Humanity needs to weep and this is the time to weep," Francis said in the homily of a Mass during a visit to Italy's largest war memorial, a large, Fascist-era monument where more than 100,000 soldiers who died in World War One are buried.

    The pope began his brief visit to northern Italy by first praying in a nearby, separate cemetery for some 15,000 soldiers from five nations of the Austro-Hungarian empire which were on the losing side of the Great War that broke out 100 years ago.

    "War is madness," he said in his homily before the massive, sloping granite memorial, made of 22 steps on the side of hill with three crosses at the top.

    "Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction," he said.

    In the past few months, Francis has made repeated appeals for an end to conflicts in Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, Gaza and parts of Africa.

    "War is irrational; its only plan is to bring destruction: it seeks to grow by destroying," he said. "Greed, intolerance, the lust for power. These motives underlie the decision to go to war and they are too often justified by an ideology ...," he said.

    Last month the pope, who has often condemned the concept of war in God's name, said it would be legitimate for the international community to use force to stop "unjust aggression" by Islamic State militants who have killed or displaced thousands of people in Iraq and Syria, many of them Christians.

    In his homily, read at a sombre service to thousands of people braving the rain and which included the hauntingly funereal sound of a solitary bugle, Francis condemned "plotters of terrorism" but did not elaborate.

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    1. .

      This pope gets it, from the futility and waste of war, to the venality and ideological justifications used for war, to the vested interests that profit from the wars, to the current age of the 'little war', to the morality of the just war.

      No one argues with the morality of US efforts to try to stop the aggression and slaughter of IS. What some do argue against is the inability, proven by recent history, of the US to wage that 'just war' effectively and successfully, to counter the slaughter without, in the end, leaving a bigger mess than we started with.

      The question becomes, is our lack of success the result of the nature of the threat itself or is it due to the nature of our leadership and the conflicting foreign policy goals we set for the nation.

      .

      .

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    2. I think it is reasonable to argue the "morality of US efforts" - which God died to make the USA boss?

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    3. .

      I amend, No one argues with the morality of US efforts to try to stop the aggression and slaughter of IS, except Ash.

      .

      .

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    4. Unfortunately I am short of time but let me try quickly to show you where I think your thought is, ummm, simplistic. Wrong.

      Maybe "no one argues" in your narrow world about the purity of American action but outside of the US many think the US does not represent the pinnacle of moral clarity and action.

      I presume, based on your learning from the internet, that you have formed the opinion the IS is evil therefore any action against evil is moral because, well, Quirk has ascertained that IS is evil. Even if we grant that IS is evil does that then justify any action against it. The rest of your post suggests that, no, that is not the case.

      Let's say person A, your neighbor, according to your research on the internet, summarily executed a person. Heck, they even bragged about it by publishing a video portraying that killing. Now you, Quirk, see that person walking down the street and you kill them (taking out a few kids playing in the street just to juice up the story) are we all to no question your moral purity?

      In addition, what right does the US have to determine how other people organize their society? War is nasty business and never is one side morally pure. I can understand arguments based on national interest but a righteous argument that IS is evil therefor the US is justified in waging war - no it is reasonable to question such an assertion.

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    5. .

      Ash, once again you read too much into a simple statement I posited. Your thinking is fuzzy and your examples are flawed. I will be glad to argue this with you when you are not short of time. As it happens, I too am short of time at the moment as I have to cut the lawn before it rains.

      .

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  8. This headline from The Guardian is laughable

    US Secretary of State John Kerry says on Friday he is comfortable that the US would form a broad-based coalition to fight Islamic State (Isis) militants. Speaking in Ankara, Turkey, he adds that it would not be appropriate for Iran to be involved in the efforts. On Thursday, Kerry won backing from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and six Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and Qatar

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    1. .

      On Thursday, Kerry won backing from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and six Gulf states including Saudi Arabia and Qatar

      Heck, we have 'backing' up the kazoo, a real cheering section. A little money and lots of boots on the ground would be more helpful. That, and a cut back in aid to the other side.

      .

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  9. Quiz:

    Name the paragons of virtue on that list that helped create and armed ISIS.

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  10. Quiz:

    Name the country(s) on that list or off that that has resisted ISIS from the beginning.

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  11. Thank you, Deuce. It was a lovely little package that you left under our tree this morning. :)

    We (and, our politicians, and preachers) may be shits, but you gotta love the Scientists.

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  12. One reason ISIL has become as strong as it has is that Assad has concentrated on fighting the "moderate" rebels, figuring from the outset that the Western Powers would eventually come after the Nutjobs.

    Whatever Assad is, he's not a stupid man.

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    1. .

      Assad is definitely clever as well as ruthless. And he has audacity borne of desperation.

      He helped fill the ranks of IS by releasing thousands of the worst of the militants from his jails. Many suspect the majority of them migrated to the more radical groups like IS. The action aided Assad in a number of ways.

      He is a man with a plan. He has a strategy: Survive.

      The US must know that Assad will never accede to simply step aside and allow others to take power in Syria. To do so would be to sign his own death sentence.

      .

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  13. I would agree and add. Saddam and Assad, the old man, knew that, “a pre moi le deluge”. Saddam tried to explain that to the US and there were those that knew the Middle East well enough to believe him. The Neocons conned the Neverbeentherecons to see the entire Middle east from the eyes of the Israeli Firsters. If it is bad for Israel, it is bad for the US became their battle cry and The Conga Line fell into step.

    Saddam jumped the shark when he decided to pony-up 25 large to the families of the martyrs, who blew themselves up killing Jews in Israel. That was his Water Loo.

    Assad the Elder got one whiff of Islamic fervor and he literally went ballistic at the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama in 1981 killing 25,000 or so mostly for show. That lesson lasted most of a generation. His son was very less dramatic and was relatively tepid with the Islamists when it was his turn on deck and he probably made things worse by his initial response.

    The Israelis under Netanyahu, convinced the US, once again, that another Arab tyrant, Assad jr., needed to be retired and Kerry, despite his anti-Bibi cred, is still at the same old game.

    We are now trying to resurrect the Iraqi army, the same army that we resurrected after the Gemini of Genius, Bremer & Bush (both now hack oil painters)! previously fired, all 400,00 of them. Along with that ,we are now trying to reconstitute the Syrian opposition, which we know nothing about, most of whom are gone and dead, and the few remaining wide open to ISIS intimidation and infiltration.

    The one country that would know the difference is Iran, but they are inappropriate and beyond the pale for Gentleman John Kerry, but the ass stabbers in Ankra and the Legion of the Loathsome in Saudiland are just perfect.

    This will be another fine showing of US get er done.

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  14. "rom the eyes of the Israeli Firsters"

    There are none so blind as to those that cannot see...

    Your obsession with Israel blinds you to the reality of what is happening.

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    1. Let me rephrase that, "Your obsessive HATRED with Israel blinds you to the reality of what is happening.

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    2. IDF intel veterans refuse to operate in 'occupied Palestine' - open letter


      "We, veterans of Unit 8200, reserve soldiers both past and present, declare that we refuse to take part in actions against Palestinians and refuse to continue serving as tools in deepening the military control over the Occupied Territories," they said in the letter, addressed also to the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate and the IDF Chief of Staff.

      “It is commonly thought that the service in military intelligence is free of moral dilemmas and solely contributes to the reduction of violence and harm to innocent people. However, our military service has taught us that intelligence is an integral part of Israel's military occupation over the territories."

      They also mentioned how, unlike with Israeli citizens, there is virtually no protection of Palestinians from surveillance, nor any limits to it.

      The information gathered, they said, “harms innocent people. It is used for political persecution and to create divisions within Palestinian society by recruiting collaborators and driving parts of Palestinian society against itself.”

      They explained that it is a decision based on conscience and a realization that continuing to carry out their duties effectively robs millions of their human rights. The letter was also driven by a sense of “urgency and responsibility,” one captain in the reserves, Daniel, told the Haaretz newspaper.

      “In the end, I served there for seven years. I believed in what we did there — and for all those reasons, I must take responsibility for what I see as the perpetuation of the cycle of violence.


      So many Israeli hate Israel, too. When judged by the "O"rdure Standard.


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    3. “The intelligence gathering about Palestinians is not clean. When you rule a population that does not have political rights, laws like we have, [then] the nature of this regime of ruling over people, especially when you do it for many years, [is that] it forces you to take control or infiltrate every aspect of their life,” Nadav said.

      Another added that the perception of Israeli intelligence is full of moral misconceptions and that
      “what the IDF does in the occupied territories is rule another people.
      One of the things you need to do is defend yourself from them, but you also need to oppress the population.”

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    4. ISRAEL PREFERS al-QAEDA


      Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post that Israel so wanted Assad out and his Iranian backers weakened, that Israel would accept al-Qaeda operatives taking power in Syria.

      “We always wanted Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran.”

      Even if the other “bad guys” were affiliated with al-Qaeda.
      “We understand that they are pretty bad guys,” Oren said in the interview.


      http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328


      Israel - Founded by Terrorists and Sustained by Terrorism and now ... Allied with Islamic Terrorists

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    5. America has an alliance with the Saudis

      your point?

      Oh you don't have a point, you have a disease.

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  15. Israel is what Israel is. It is no bargain for the US, no help, never anything positive from Israel for US benefit in the 50 years that I have had experience with it. My first experience was sending them brand spanking new Phantom F4s to help them defend themselves and within weeks we got our thank you note, their temerity to attack a US ship, kill my fellow servicemen and lie about it. Since that time it is all about them, all the time. They are a source of instability and have been a net negative for US interests, feeding at the US trough, costing us untold tens of billions and have morphed into an unapologetic religious compound that has just finished destroying one of their imposed compounds killing and wounding thousands destroying 10,000 homes. I should love them?

    What’s in it for me or the US? What is there to love? I would be pleased to see them elevate themselves to where they become un-noticed. Fat chance.

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    1. That is the reality. I was in Russia and asked government officials about Israel actively seeking Russian Jews to emigrate there under the guise of them being in danger sating in Russia. They laughed, one, a Russian Jew, showed me his
      ID and said all Russians use an ethnic or geographic designation on their ID cards, that it meant nothing. Their was no discrimination.

      History proved him correct as many of the future oligarchs were and are Russian Jews, It was an Israeli scam to take property from the Palestinians and get subsidies from the US. Shortly, upon my return, George Bush senior signed a bill guaranteeing $10 billion in Israeli bonds so that they could build more housing for Russian Jews.

      It is the Israel formula. What is there to love?

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    2. Deuce: "never anything positive from Israel for US benefit in the 50 years that I have had experience with it"

      It's hard to see with your obsessive hatred blinding you.

      Every statement you make your bias of hatred shows thru.

      There is no convincing you of anything. You now are an apologist for Hamas and Iran, good luck with that.

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    3. "O"rdure has NEVER attempted to 'convince' anyone, of anything ...

      His battle cry has ALWAYS been that Deuce is a NAZI.

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    4. Deuce: I was in Russia and asked government officials about Israel actively seeking Russian Jews to emigrate there under the guise of them being in danger sating in Russia. They laughed, one, a Russian Jew, showed me his
      ID and said all Russians use an ethnic or geographic designation on their ID cards, that it meant nothing. Their was no discrimination.


      You were used as a fool.

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    5. Deuce: It was an Israeli scam to take property from the Palestinians and get subsidies from the US.

      dripping with hatred.

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    6. "I don't understand your optimism," Ben-Gurion declared.
      "Why should the Arabs make peace?
      If I were an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel.

      That is natural: we have taken their country.
      "
      Sure, God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them?
      Our God is not theirs. We come from Israel, it's true, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them?

      There has been antisemitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault?

      They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country.
      Why should they accept that?
      They may perhaps forget in one or two generations' time, but for the moment there is no chance.
      So, it's simple: we have to stay strong and maintain a powerful army.
      Our whole policy is there. Otherwise the Arabs will wipe us out.



      We come from Israel, it's true, but two thousand years ago . . .
      Which Mr Ben-Gurion may well have believed, but it was not, is not, true.

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  16. Deuce: History proved him correct as many of the future oligarchs were and are Russian Jews,


    So your problem is with Jews and Israel.

    How telling.

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  17. It was the only serious mistake Truman ever made.

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    1. Rufus IISat Sep 13, 10:33:00 AM EDT
      It was the only serious mistake Truman ever made.

      Self determination for the Jewish people is the same right as all others on the planet. Your POV states that Jews should not have the same rights as every other group on the planet.

      This means of course you are a shit of a human being, but like Hamas? ISIS? Iran?

      We know who your friends are.

      allah akbar.

      I hope your grandkids marry jihadists.

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  18. Deuce: It was an Israeli scam to take property from the Palestinians and get subsidies from the US. Shortly, upon my return, George Bush senior signed a bill guaranteeing $10 billion in Israeli bonds so that they could build more housing for Russian Jews.



    Loan guarantees.

    Cost the USA ZERO.

    No default on any loan.

    Guarantees are not grants — not one penny of U.S. government funds are transferred to Israel. The U.S. simply cosigns loans for Israel that give bankers confidence to lend Israel money at more favorable terms: lower interest rates and longer repayment periods — as much as 30 years instead of only five to seven. These loan guarantees have no effect on domestic programs or guarantees.

    How dare America help Israel and not cost a DOLLAR...

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    1. The Israeli have not defaulted, but they have no paid the money back, either.
      Rolling over a debt, in perpetuity, that's another name for looting.

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    2. If the US were to call the debt, the Israeli would lose another major, 'off the books'. US subsidy.
      Which would bankrupt them.

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    3. Jack HawkinsSat Sep 13, 10:42:00 AM EDT
      If the US were to call the debt, the Israeli would lose another major, 'off the books'. US subsidy.
      Which would bankrupt them.

      LOL You just don't understand business horse shit scooper...

      A loan guarantee co signer? Cant "call the debt"

      and as for bankruptcy?

      291.4 billion USD (2013)

      That was Israel GDP, I dare say 10 billion in loan guarantees would not bankrupt them.

      However if America were to cut AID to Israel? It would mean that:

      A. Americans would lose jobs selling and making overpriced equipment to the Israelis (that could be purchased at a fraction of the cost)

      B. Israel would have to go it without support of America and seek others to fill that void. Since America sells more military equipment to the enemies of Israel, maybe Israel needs to reevaluate the acceptance with aid with strings attached and be more like the arabs who take aid and weapons and do as they please.

      C. Bibi told the USA to cut all Economic Aid to Israel years ago and it was. Military Aid was increased with Bush Jr to regain that control over Israel that it had lost when economic aid went to zero.

      Also that aid package, that bush pushed thru, cemented America's reliance on Israeli innovation and Israel's reliance on America logistics.

      Now that Obama has severed that logistics ties and has shown his support for Iranian hegemony in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon and Iran's path to having nukes?

      Israel will have to face the reality that America, under Obama, has capitulated to the Shiites world view.

      Allah Akbar...

      Delete
  19. To those that hate Israel?

    Go for it.

    Do me a favor, when you go to that Urgent Care please inform the staff that you will not use any Israeli medical devices or innovations.

    Be true to your hatred...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Please embrace your hatred, put down that smart phone and that intel computer...

      Be true to your hatred.

      Delete
    2. When I need “Urgent Care” , The last thing on my mind is pedigree or where good equipment is manufactured. The Nazi’s used such illogic. You are defeating your own with such nonsense that is obviously on your mind.

      Delete
    3. When you personally NEED something, you will seek out even israelis or jews to save your ass..

      but if you had your way?

      israel would be destroyed and Jews put in death camps.

      Then you'd live in a new world without those innovations and inventions and you'd never have a clue.

      allah akbar.. that is what your new family screams when murdering some young jew that could have made the invention that saved your future offspring's lives.

      Delete
    4. When I need “Urgent Care” , The last thing on my mind is pedigree or where good equipment is manufactured. The Nazi’s used such illogic.


      So you use Nazi logic for your own gain?

      Delete
  20. No, your problem is comprehension and being able to construct, in your own words, a worthy rebuttal. Obviously, if Jews were so anathema,the oligarchs, who happened to be Jews and made their billions in Russia, would not exist.

    My “problem” with Israel is a problem with some Israeli politicians and US politicians that serve Israeli interests over US interests. Many in that group are Conservative Christians. Don’t delude yourself with the notion that I think that someone’s religion places them either positively or negatively in my contempt. I find all religions an impediment to freedom and I find all people who believe that their freedom is worthy of subjugating others or killing them because of their idiotic concept of a god given right, contemptible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So what do you say to your girl friends family about Islam?

      Delete
    2. A religious woman would not be interested in me and I would return the favor.

      Delete
    3. LOL

      Face it, you are an infidel.

      LOL

      Allah akbar.

      Delete
  21. APARTHEID AND OCCUPATION
    More than 5 million Palestinians are denied equal rights by the state of Israel under a system of apartheid, a deliberate policy of racial or ethnic segregation.

    Under Israeli military occupation, millions of Palestinians live in conditions which closely resemble the apartheid system that existed in South Africa:
    • No right of free speech, assembly or movement
    • Arrest and imprisonment without charge or trial
    • Torture
    • House searches without warrant
    • Assassination, extra-judicial murder
    • No right to vote for the Israeli government (even though it controls their lives)
    Israel controls all Palestinian borders, all imports and exports, and all movement between towns and cities. 
    THE GAZA STRIP, still surrounded, besieged and controlled by Israel, has been sealed off and effectively turned into the world’s largest open-air prison.

    WHAT IS ISRAELI APARTHEID?
            Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter was the first prominent figure in this country to apply the term apartheid to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories—East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank. Israel’s apartheid system, however, also affects Palestinian Arabs who make up 20 percent of the population within Israel itself. Apartheid is a central feature of the Zionist state that proclaims it is exclusively for Jews.


    http://www.seamac.org/EqualRights.htm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. make it 330 million...

      How dare Israel not give every Arab on the planet equal rights?

      Delete
    2. It is not Israel’s right or duty to give one person their freedom. It is not their’s to give.

      Delete
    3. Deuce ☂Sat Sep 13, 10:55:00 AM EDT
      It is not Israel’s right or duty to give one person their freedom. It is not their’s to give.


      Nor is it's the Palestinian's or arab's right to deny the Jew's their rights to freedom either.

      Like it or not millions of Jews have craved out their own nation, they sit on 1/900 of the arab conquered middle east.

      They have the same rights as all others.

      Delete
    4. There is no undoing what has been done in the past. There is a need to come to an agreement based on mutual interest and a respectable mutual acceptable disadvantage.

      Delete
    5. So Israel IS

      The Newly self named Palestinians live.

      I'd suggest that Hamas and Fatah figure out that there is: There is no undoing what has been done in the past.

      That means Hamas and Fatah should stop trying to genocide Israel and Jews.

      Delete
    6. Deuce: There is no undoing what has been done in the past.

      Correct, I suggest you apply that to yourself and the USS Liberty and accept the apologies by the Israeli government.

      Delete
    7. .

      You are a fool if you can't see the difference between apologizing for a 'mistaken time-elongated kinetic action over several hours' and making excuses for a wanton act of war.

      .

      Delete
    8. It was foolish for America to spy on Israel during a hot war.

      Why was an America spy ship 9 miles off the coast of Gaza?

      America, a country that I love, has done illegal and foolish things, that doesn't mean I don't love her.

      As for act of war?

      I sorry Quirk, 1966/7 Israel?

      Act of war?

      LOL

      Now that takes balls to claim.

      I know the holocaust means nothing to you, but to the Israelis? The Jews? A scant 21 years after the national memory of the murder of 6.500.000 jewish civilians?? The watching of LBJ run like a coward towards it's promises in the Strait of Titran?

      Watching Nasser (and Iraq, Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and others) (there were no "palestinian arabs" at that time) promise to genocide every man, woman and child within the borders of Israel?

      After watching the locust like Arabs nations, all Hitler supporting as swipes) ethnically cleanse the jews from their historic lands from 1948 thru and including 1967 and post....

      One spy ship 9 miles off the coast of Gaza, transmitting intel to whomever is hardly a concern as an ACT OF WAR...

      Those responsible?

      lay in Washington DC... Not Jerusalem

      Delete
    9. The watching of LBJ run like a coward towards it's promises in the Strait of Titran?

      typed wrong

      The watching of LBJ run like a coward aways it's promises in the Strait of Titran?

      Delete
    10. .

      Those responsible?

      lay in Washington DC... Not Jerusalem



      You have yourself said here a number of times that the attack on the Liberty was intentional. It was an attack on an ally in international waters. If not an act of war, what the hell do you call it?

      You use the holocaust as excuse for Israel attacking an ally 21 years after the event occurred, that ally being the U.S., and then you claim you are not an Israeli Firster.

      Then on top of that, you demand that America accept the apology for some fabricated story Israel offers up and which you yourself admit isn't true.

      Now, that is what I call hutzpah, Jack.

      .

      Delete
    11. No AT that time, the USA was not acting like an ally of Israel, it was acting it its' own self interest.

      An ALLY of Israel would not be spying on Israel and sending the data to the arabs

      I don't use the holocaust as an excuse, but rather an explanation that Israel and Jews don't really need to be genocided and apologize if we get our blood on your boots...

      Don't like the apology? Too fucking bad, it's official USA policy to accept it, after all America was screwing over the jews and Israel and got with it's hands in the cookie jar...

      The fault of the USS Liberty lies with Washington DC and it's foolish spying on Israel , 9 miles off the coast of Gaza during a hot war..

      Delete
    12. What lying bullshit. First the claim of an accident with an apology, which everyone knew was bullshit, Now the holocaust made them do it. I saw with my own eyes, weeks before the Liberty incident, US warplanes having the US insignia painted out so the F4 Phantoms could be sent to Israel. They were sent. I don’t need to look it up. I was there on the flight line at RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk, England.

      After that happened, I and every other non-Israeli firster on Bentwaters, would have sent another flight of them and gifted our famous ally with what the ass end of an F4 could do.

      Delete
  22. My "right of self-determination" does not extend to taking Your property, and/or life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So what you are saying is that the arabs that have stolen most of the middle east have the right to conquer everyone else's land but no one has the right to fight back?

      Delete
    2. So Rufus, you deny the majority of 800,000 Jews that lived in the lands of modern Israel before 1938 their right to statehood?

      Do Jews have the right to purchase and settle land?

      Or is that now your view that only Jews and Indians are not allowed to have claims?

      Delete
  23. ... and doing so using the outrageous nonsense or cynical lie (take your pick) that god and his bush burning justifies and wills it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The arabs justify their theft of middle eastern lands by that same dude moses...

      how can you approval the creation of 21 arab nations that in fact are nothing historic but a construct of the 20th century colonially powers?

      Delete
  24. ...good article...

    Determinism and Free Will will probably remain an unresolveable. For example under a pure deterministic model, given enough information it could have been predicted a year ago that this morning I would be having black tea with a banana nut muffin for breakfast, while simultaneously corresponding with this blog on my particular computer ad infinitum. Determinism posits that any event is the only event possible given a potentially infinite number of preceding determinative events. Since Determinism cannot be reconciled with an origin of the universe since that origin would be the result of another event. Determinism and predestination are closely related, albeit, from the scientific point of view, on coincidentally (which is self-evidently contrary to Determinism).

    What has Determinism to do with this?
    http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Report-Palestinian-Authority-preventing-ICC-from-investigating-Israel-Hamas-for-war-crimes-375166
    Al Jazeera is reporting that the ICC “did not receive a positive confirmation” from the Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister, Riad Malki, to go ahead with a war crimes investigation.

    ReplyDelete
  25. What is "Occupation"Sat Sep 13, 10:38:00 AM EDT
    Rufus IISat Sep 13, 10:33:00 AM EDT
    It was the only serious mistake Truman ever made.


    Truman made no mistake. He never thought he had anything to lose. A rabble of Jews was not expected to survive more than a few days under the onslaught of Arab armies - in some instances trained, equipped, and commanded by European officers. No, like most everyone else involved with the UN creation of Israel, Truman expected the holy land to be the final graveyard of Europe's Jews - problem solved - let's pump oil.

    Israel, however, survived. Until after the 1967 War, the U.S. and Israel had little formal contact and no "special relationship". Since it was obvious that the Arabs were incapable of running mall kiosks, much less effective militaries, the US decided to buy Israel. Jewish politicians have been pretty darned cooperative.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Replies
    1. Smart move (I wish I had a life.) Next up will be Bob, with his "culture of Jews, and White People vs. Blacks and A rabs, with a sprinkling of wisdom from his Hindu Hologram.

      I can't wait.

      Delete
    2. Not to worry Rufus, jews accept peaceful folks from both the arab and black cultures/races,

      Israel is a mosaic of colors and faces..

      You should visit, accept the truth would explode your head...

      You can't handle the truth.

      Delete
    3. After putting up with you all these years, the last place in the world, the very last place, that I would want to visit would be Israel.

      Delete
    4. I've read, and heard, a lot of negative things about Jews. I never paid them much attention until I was exposed to the Jewish Trust on the Elephant Bar. But, sad to say, you have reinforced every negative thing that I've ever read, or heard.

      If I were around a lot of people, such as yourself, I would, surely, take my own life. I would, quite frankly, prefer 100 times over to live in the roughest area of downtown Detroit.

      Delete
    5. Good 'ol Rufus, proving every day in every way what an old boar he is !!

      The one that never finds the acorn.

      Howdy Rufus !

      I am looking forward to the Vandal game today........it's a beautiful day here for a drubbing.

      CHEERS !

      Delete
    6. George S. Patton Jr.Sat Sep 13, 03:13:00 PM EDT


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

      Delete
  27. In my short life we have gone through:

    The Steady State Theory - A
    The Steady State Theory - B
    The Big Bang Theory - A (oscillating)
    The Big BangTheory - B (expanding forever)
    The Big Bang Didn't Happen - this is new, maybe we are back to something like the Steady State in this man's view (I posted this article)

    We have just recently discovered dark matter - which, I read, makes up by far the most of things, and dark energy, which I don't have a clue about.

    I have therefore a hunch that we have much yet to learn, and may be on the wrong track entirely.

    I am entirely for science and cosmology, but, finally it's not all that important: it (much of it) overlooks the things that really count.

    The first five or more posts by our Host were, basically, non sense.

    Idaho game at 2 pm Pacific Time, Vandal Fans.

    ReplyDelete
  28. POPE: WWIII UNDERWAY.................drudge


    I am beginning to admire this Pope.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was posted above ----- Deuce ☂Sat Sep 13, 07:59:00 AM EDT

      Delete
  29. Video: Rory McIlroy’s tee shot lands in some dude’s pocket

    http://hotair.com/archives/2014/09/12/video-rory-mcilroys-tee-shot-lands-in-some-dudes-pocket/

    Thankfully, the rules of golf say in a case like this the ball may be removed from the man's pants pocket and dropped to a new location....

    ReplyDelete
  30. Didn't you just know this was coming ?




    Cars that drive themselves starting to chat with each other..................drudge

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Soon they will be slipping out of the garage late at night and meeting up in some park or other......

      Delete
  31. (Newser) – In one of the more demented breakup stories in a while, a man in Redding, Calif., is accused of killing, cooking, and serving his ex-girlfriend's dog to her and then telling her about it after the fact, reports the Sacramento Bee. Ryan Eddy Watenpaugh denies cooking the dog but admits leaving its paws on the woman's porch in a small bag. The 34-year-old faces charges including domestic violence, stalking, and animal cruelty. The woman told police that they dated for several months, and that he beat her and held her against her will at various times.

    She says she fled her own apartment last month during an argument, and returned to find her Pomeranian missing, reports KXTV. When the couple reconciled briefly early this month, Watenpaugh cooked her a meal with meat. The woman says she got a text from him later asking how her dog tasted, and she saw him drop off the paws on her porch this week. Watenpaugh, who admits sending the taunting text, is jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail.

    ReplyDelete
  32. First, Utah, then Wyoming, now, the teabag governor of Montana says he's open to expanding Medicaid.

    Soon, there will be just one little speck of stupidity left in the Northern - Western states.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Lake Odessa, Michigan continues to have the cheapest go-juice in the nation.

    $2.27 / gal.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Exodus 33:18-34:9 King James Version (KJV)

    18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

    19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

    20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

    21 And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

    22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:

    23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.


    Some here will struggle with this, but the meaning is clear.

    There is always something more.

    "The dove flies through the darkness, and the darkness always recedes, and that darkness is the Being of God"

    ReplyDelete
  35. Walt Whitman's good friend Traubel suddenly realized that Walt was never angry, never irritated.

    And he recalled Walt saying why should one be irritated with another, each must see by their own light, and if his light be dim......yet what other light can he see by?

    ReplyDelete
  36. Hour and half till game time, Vandal Fans across our great nation and around the world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. George S. Patton Jr.Sat Sep 13, 04:01:00 PM EDT


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

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

      Delete
  38. If you read enough news and watch enough cable television about the threat of the Islamic State, the radical Sunni Muslim militia group better known simply as ISIS, you will inevitably encounter a parade of retired generals demanding an increased US military presence in the region. They will say that our government should deploy, as retired General Anthony Zinni demanded, up to 10,000 American boots on the ground to battle ISIS. Or as in retired General Jack Keane’s case, they will make more vague demands, such as for “offensive” air strikes and the deployment of more military advisers to the region.

    But what you won’t learn from media coverage of ISIS is that many of these former Pentagon officials have skin in the game as paid directors and advisers to some of the largest military contractors in the world. Ramping up America’s military presence in Iraq and directly entering the war in Syria, along with greater military spending more broadly, is a debatable solution to a complex political and sectarian conflict. But those goals do unquestionably benefit one player in this saga: America’s defense industry.

    Keane is a great example of this phenomenon. His think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which he oversees along with neoconservative partisans Liz Cheney and William Kristol, has provided the data on ISIS used for multiple stories by The New York Times, the BBC and other leading outlets.

    Keane has appeared on Fox News at least nine times over the last two months to promote the idea that the best way to stop ISIS is through military action—in particular, through air strikes deep into ISIS-held territory. In one of the only congressional hearings about ISIS over the summer, Keane was there to testify and call for more American military engagement. On Wednesday evening, Keane declared President Obama’s speech on defeating ISIS insufficient, arguing that a bolder strategy is necessary. “I truly believe we need to put special operation forces in there,” he told host Megyn Kelly.

    Left unsaid during his media appearances (and left unmentioned on his congressional witness disclosure form) are Keane’s other gigs: as special adviser to Academi, the contractor formerly known as Blackwater; as a board member to tank and aircraft manufacturer General Dynamics; a “venture partner” to SCP Partners, an investment firm that partners with defense contractors, including XVionics, an “operations management decision support system” company used in Air Force drone training; and as president of his own consulting firm, GSI LLC.

    To portray Keane as simply a think tank leader and a former military official, as the media have done, obscures a fairly lucrative career in the contracting world. For the General Dynamics role alone, Keane has been paid a six-figure salary in cash and stock options since he joined the firm in 2004; last year, General Dynamics paid him $258,006.

    Keane . . .

    ReplyDelete
  39. A 'Big Tip' for Quirk, and others here who may still want to get off welfare........

    This could be the trade of the decade

    Sara Eisen | @saraeisen
    Friday, 12 Sep 2014 | 11:49 AM ET

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/101995991

    ReplyDelete
  40. September 12, 2014

    Alibaba On Track as Biggest U.S. IPO Ever: 3 Must-See Charts

    Fortune

    http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2014/09/12/alibaba_on_track_as_biggest_us_ipo_ever_3_must-see_charts_157903.html

    ReplyDelete
  41. >>She is building stamina through tough new workouts with a mysterious personal trainer known only as 'Q', and practicing yoga. She is talking about how to address income inequality without alienating corporate America. And she is reviewing who’s who in the Democratic Party in Iowa, a crucial early voting state in the presidential cycle.

    Her bumper sticker campaign is already in full production mode.

    Hillary Rodham Clinton has said publicly that she will decide early next year whether she will undertake a second campaign for the presidency. But inside the Clinton operation, the groundwork is already quietly being laid for a candidacy.

    On Sunday, Mrs. Clinton will appear at the 37th annual Iowa steak fry hosted by Senator Tom Harkin; it will be her most overtly political appearance since resigning as secretary of state in February of last year.....<<


    Clinton Silent on 2016 Bid as Campaign-Style Actions Begin to Speak Volumes


    By AMY CHOZICK

    SEPT. 12, 2014


    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/us/clinton-silent-on-2016-bid-as-campaign-style-actions-begin-to-speak-volumes.html

    ReplyDelete
  42. "One minute to air," he says both in the head set and pointing to an anchorman named Ryan who has wandered in and asks me how to pronounce my name. It is obvious he has no clue who I am. Ryan and I sit on high chairs and Scott talks to—I assume—the unseen control room, which is allegedly in another building but for all we know it's in another town, possibly even in another country. We never hear them (in the old days, the studio was equipped with an intercom and some booming voice would come on, bellowing orders). At about thirty seconds before air, two of the cameras on the line start to move out and turn, gliding towards us. I can't say they "came to life" because there was no sound, no beeping or clanking noises, they both come to us silently with precision and a fluid, other-worldly effortlessness. They stopped about five feet apart and the cameras turned into position, focussing silently, as Scott counted us down to the interview.

    Five minutes later I am packing up my stuff to leave. Scott is off to stage another setup, all by his lonesome.

    I couldn't help but think of all the people these machines have replaced. Those self-regulating cameras don't take smoke breaks, they don't leave for lunch and they don't demand overtime or pensions. And they are breathtakingly efficient.

    As I left I said the to three on camera people, "You're next." They didn't even laugh, because, well, it isn't all that funny.

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
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      Delete
  44. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
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  45. “After a few days, I mused, I would have no trouble. Whoever heard of a revolution of fat men?”
    ― Louis L'Amour, To the Far Blue Mountains


    Adult obesity rates increased in Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, New Jersey, Tennessee and Wyoming.

    Rates of obesity now exceed 35 percent for the first time in two states, are at or above 30 percent in 20 states and are not below 21 percent in any. Mississippi and West Virginia tied for having the highest adult obesity rate in the United States at 35.1 percent, while Colorado had the lowest at 21.3 percent.

    Findings reveal that significant geographic, income, racial, and ethnic disparities persist, with obesity rates highest in the South and among blacks, Latinos and lower-income, less-educated Americans. The report also found that more than one in 10 children become obese as early as ages 2 to 5.

    “Obesity in America is at a critical juncture. Obesity rates are unacceptably high, and the disparities in rates are profoundly troubling,” said Jeffrey Levi, PhD, executive director of TFAH.
    “We need to intensify prevention efforts starting in early childhood, and do a better job of implementing effective policies and programs in all communities – so every American has the greatest opportunity to have a healthy weight and live a healthy life.”

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

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  46. Ah, a propitious beginning.

    Idaho, stymied on its first drive, punts.

    Western Michigan, on there first play, throws a short pass, and the receiver breaks three or fours tackles and goes 61 yards for a TD.

    WM - 7

    Idaho 0

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. their first play - the excitement is overwhelming and disconcerting......

      Delete
  47. Touchdown Idaho !

    Quarterback keeper by Linehan.

    Idaho 7
    Western Michigan 7

    We do have a good quarterback in this young Linehan kid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Long, steady drive, scored from the 8 yard line.

      Delete
  48. Nice steady tropical rain. Everyone psyched about Guatemala vs Costa Rica. Local Casino has flooded the zone Red White and Blue Babes in satin hot pants.

    ReplyDelete
  49. US air strikes against militants in Syria would be a "gross violation" of international law.

    Russia has warned that US air strikes against militants in Syria would be a "gross violation" of international law.

    A Russian foreign ministry spokesman said any such action, without the backing of the UN, would be "an act of aggression".

    It comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry meets Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia to try to build a coalition against Islamic State (IS) militants.

    President Obama has threatened action against IS in Syria as well as Iraq.

    ReplyDelete


  50. An unexpected decision by the European Union allowing Kiev to delay the implementation of a key trade agreement was part of a deal struck between Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko over the ceasefire in Ukraine’s civil war, according to senior diplomatic sources.

    The Russian president, it is claimed, obtained the concession in return for using the Kremlin’s influence to try and ensure that separatist fighters in the east stick to a truce which has, for the time being, reduced the ferocious violence which has claimed more than 3,000 lives.

    It was the failure of President Viktor Yanukovych to sign the agreement with the EU, under pressure from Moscow, which led to the Maidan protests leading to his downfall last year. This time around, however, Ukraine will be able to keep its current tariffs until early 2016.

    Russia has threatened to block imports from Ukraine if Mr Poroshenko’s government lowered trade barriers with the EU. The Kremlin maintains that such a move by Kiev would lead to Western produce flooding into its markets through its western borders without check.

    The EU had, in the past, repeatedly stated that a third party, Russia, cannot play a part in its negotiations with Kiev because this would infringe on Ukrainian sovereignty. But Juan Manuel Baroso, the president of the European Commission, announced the deal, and Moscow’s role in framing it, on Friday evening.

    Speaking at the annual international Yalta Conference, which is being held in the capital Kiev, after Crimea was annexed by Russia, Mr Baroso said: “ I am happy that today, with a trilateral meeting we had in Brussels between the European Commission, the Russian government and the and Ukrainian government, there was broad support for this. Let's see if this can now be the basis for a compromise."

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-crisis-eu-agrees-a-crucial-kiev-trade-delay-to-aid-ceasefire-9731584.html

    ReplyDelete
  51. Western Michigan 45

    Idaho 26

    3rd Quarter about to begin, Vandal Fans.

    I have saved you some misery

    WM offense: 8 possessions, scored on 7

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 3rd Quarter about to END.

      4th Quarter about tot BEGIN.

      Delete
  52. Just......what in the hell?........what in the hell is this??......Idaho is in the huddle.......and there is some old fart in a Western Michigan uniform........he runs out and picks up the ball while Idaho is in the huddle.........shit, he's headed towards the end zone......40, 50, 40,30, 20, 10, 5....touchdown !......Never seen anything like this......the crowd is cheering.......HE'S SPIKED THE BALL !!!!! ........ he has his arms up in the TD SIGN........Oh O......the police are moving in.......he is running away.......running back downfield.......the cops all have whistles......batons......I tell ya folks, this old guy can run the 100.......cops still following but not gaining.......here he comes, I'm getting a good look........he's disappeared into the concourse that leads to the locker rooms......cops have disappeared to.......crowd going WILD, W I L D I tell ya......old fool of some sort, an obvious NITWIT......in a Western Michigan suit with the number, I think, it looked like.....number Zero......wait wait......someone is saying it was the letter Q......

    ReplyDelete
  53. The agony is over folks.....

    Final

    Western Michigan 45 (not counting the TD scored by the old duffer for WM)
    Idaho 33

    WM won only one game last year, is not in a power conference, making some here think Idaho had a chance, but, we are not in their tax bracket, so to speak. We played decent offense but our defense stayed home.

    Next week:

    Ohio University at Athens, Ohio

    We will get CREAMED

    It will be our 18th straight on the road loss, extending our all time school record.

    Tune in next Saturday Vandal Fans around our great nation and all across the globe.

    GOVANDALS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Keep this up and I might just have to order a Vandals jersey.

      .

      Delete
    2. I'd be honored to get you one. I know just the one too. The Joe Vandals jersey.

      All I need to know is your size.

      Could get one for your wife too.

      You two would look swell in them. All your friends would be amazed and say "Where in hell did you get that magnificent jersey, Quirk-O ?"

      Delete
    3. #3 has the logo I want for you, but it is just a T-Shirt.

      http://www.fanatics.com/COLLEGE_Idaho_Vandals_T-Shirts

      Only $24.95, a steal for a collectors item.

      You need a full jersey.

      I will stop in to the store one of these days when down that way.

      Delete
    4. .

      Got any with a wolf on it?

      .

      Delete
  54. ABC Online-
    Israel's intelligence corps has been rocked by a major internal protest over the treatment of Palestinians

    Self-loathing Jews?

    ReplyDelete
  55. September 13, 2014

    German Green Energy Policies Making Electricity a Luxury Good

    By Thomas Lifson

    The German weekly magazine Der Spiegel is not exactly known as a conservative outfit. But Germany’s green energy policies have proven so disastrous that the magazine is writing that electricity is becoming a luxury good, owing to the vast expense and inefficiency of the wind, solar, and other green follies embraced by the government there:

    Germany's Energy Poverty: How Electricity Became a Luxury Good




    Germany's agressive and reckless expansion of wind and solar power has come with a hefty pricetag for consumers, and the costs often fall disproportionately on the poor. Government advisors are calling for a completely new start.

    An example of the recklessness can be found in the country’s flagship wind farm. Via Breitbart:


    Germany’s flagship Bard 1 offshore wind farm has been described as “a faulty total system” as technical problems continue to plague the project, casting major doubts on the feasibility of large scale offshore projects.

    The wind farm was officially turned on in August last year but was shut down again almost immediately due to technical difficulties that have still not been resolved – and now lawyers are getting involved.

    The wind farm comprises 80 5MW turbines situated 100 km off the north German coastline. The difficulty facing engineers is how to get the electricity generated back to shore. So far, every attempt to turn on the turbines has resulted in overloaded and “gently smouldering” offshore converter stations.

    Built at a cost of hundreds of millions and costing between €1 and €2 million a day to service, the project is estimated to have cost €340 million in lost power generation over the last year alone. And if the problems with the technology are deemed not to be the fault of the operator, German taxpayers will be on the hook for the running and repair costs, thanks to the German Energy Act 2012.

    Let Germany stand as an exmaple of what not to do. Global warming is a hoax, and the measures taken to solve this nonexistent problem are impoverishing people. Pull the plug now.

    http://americanthinker.com/blog/2014/09/german_green_energy_policies_making_electricity_a_luxury_good.html

    They should have gone nuclear energy.....


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      I have to agree, Obumble. Every country needs to use whatever energy is available to them. The decision to phase out of nuclear by 2022 was short sighted.

      It's projected that world energy demand will double by 2050. Since the turn of the century, coal has been the fastest growing energy source. Right now Germany is increasing their coal use to make up for nuclear plants that are closing down, something at odds with one of the main reasons for shutting the reactors, to aid the environment.

      .

      Delete
  56. http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/More-Hollywood-heavyweights-join-pro-Israel-ad-campaign-375269
    More Hollywood heavyweights join pro-Israel ad campaign

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ABC Online-
      Israel's intelligence corps has been rocked by a major internal protest over the treatment of Palestinians

      More Israelis quitting the Israeli First campaign.
      The closer people are to the Zionist dysfunction, the more they recognize it for what it is.
      The more likely they are to speak out against it.

      Delete
    2. While only a propagandist for the dysfunctional would be promoting the support of the 'Hollywierd Heavyweights'

      Delete
  57. The Central African Republic is suffering the scourge of Islamism these days. Same old same old. Islamists killing Christians.

    But the Christians in CAR seem to be not so hesitant to respond as elsewhere. In fact they are now giving as well as they get and the whole thing is rapidly devolving into total brutality on all sides.

    The Moslems started the affair as per usual.

    Over ninety percent of the conflicts in the world, large and small, involve the Moslems vs somebody else.

    It all depends on whom the local neighbors happen to be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The list is nearly endless.....Chinese, Russians, Filipinos, Hindus, Americans, Israelis, you name it, if there are Moslems near, there is probably some fight going on.

      Delete