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."

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Gore Will Win Nobel Peace Prize


I agree that Gore is the money bet. The awards committee is all about policy and politics and it is no secret that Jimmy Carter was awarded the prize to humiliate Bush. Everything is carbon these days and that should trump all else. Gore will take his ample carbon foot prints to accept the prize and then proceed to ruin the Clintons. That should be fun. What think you?


Odds Favor Al Gore for Nobel Peace Prize
LiveScience Staff

LiveScience.com
Tue Oct 9, 1:30 PM ET
Al Gore is a 5:2 favorite to win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, while President George Bush is the definitive long shot at 100:1.

The right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair also come in at 100:1 at BetUS.com, where anyone can place a bet on just about anything.

The pop star Bono is holding his own at 25:1 as of press time. Oprah Winfrey is a more distant 50:1. Martti Ahtisaari, past president of Finland, is among the favorites at 5:1.

Gore is likely favored by the public because of his controversial climate-change film, "An Inconvenient Truth."

“If Al Gore won an Academy Award and the Nobel Peace Prize for 'An Inconvenient Truth,' it would probably be considered the most successful documentary in history,” said BetUS.com spokesperson Reed Richards. “All the candidates have done such great work, just to be nominated is a reward in itself.”

Past winners include Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa. Last year the prize went to Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi banker and economist.

The Nobel Peace Prize, for which nominees are revealed decades later, will be announced Friday. The Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, composed of five members appointed by the country's Parliament. The foundations for this and the other Nobel prizes were set up by inventor and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.


60 comments:

  1. Amigos! Let's all join the Draft Gore team.--Temporarily.

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  2. I can't quit laughing.

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  3. He'd be harder to beat than Hillary

    He'd have won the last time, 2000, but for the butterfly ballot in Dade County FL, that was confusing to the old folk, and Mr Nader's 97,000 votes throughout FL.

    People that voted their conscience and got GWBush, instead of Al Gore.

    Wonder if all those 97,000 were pleased with the results of their "protest".
    If there were 600 that had second thoughts, that'y have made a world of difference.

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  4. Due to that narrow margin and the events that have transpired since then has made me appreciate the power of the executive.

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  5. ALGORE for third party!!

    Eat Roo Like An Abo Save Australia.

    Greenpeace has become a joke.

    Al could turn the electricity down in his mansions and give that servant a raise.

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  6. Ash: Due to that narrow margin and the events that have transpired since then has made me appreciate the power of the executive.

    Indeed. Under President Gore, we would have gone in to Afghanistan but not Iraq, since Iraq was the personal pet project of Cheney and the neocons. There wouldn't be a "War on Terror" with color threat codes and warrantless wire-taps and torture memos and Abu Grahib, just a series of low-level police enforcement actions in concert with Interpol and the intelligence services of our allies. And Pooty wouldn't be ramping up the Cold War.

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. I've been puzzled by the lack of 'meaty' issues laterly here at the bar. It is appears to have become a republican cheerleader section. Here are just two contentious stories in today's news:

    Israel to expropriate Palestinian land for highway

    "JERUSALEM -- One day after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called on his people to prepare to make painful concessions ahead of a U.S.-hosted peace process, an Israeli newspaper revealed that his government has ordered the expropriation of Palestinian land to build a highway.

    Israeli and Palestinian analysts believe the move is meant to give the Jewish state control over a large chunk of Palestinian territory from Jerusalem east to the Jordan Valley.

    The Israeli army issued the order to expropriate 1,100 dunams of land from four Arab villages, the Israeli broadsheet Haaretz reported yesterday. (A dunam is 1,000 square metres.)"




    The above story may help some understand why many in the world feel the Israelis are not acting in good faith with respect to the Palestinian issue.

    And Bush is pretty well admitting what was done was illegal and he is working to cover their asses:




    Bush Presses Congress on New Eavesdropping Law

    "WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 — President Bush prodded Congress on the issue of eavesdropping today, warning that he will not sign a new law unless it confers immunity on the telecommunications utilities that helped the National Security Agency eavesdrop without warrants."

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  9. Yeah, and your point is?

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  10. my point is there are more interesting things to talk about then Al Gore maybe being in the running for a Nobel Peace Prize but go ahead - lament all that is Al Gore *snore*

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  11. In exchange for electricity from Israel, Israel receives rockets from Gaza.

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  12. "Good Faith"

    What would that entail?

    The Israeli abandoned Gaza, in "good faith", it has made matters worse, in many respects.

    If the sectarian violence ends and the two States blossum, that road will be appreciated, by eveyone, not just the Israeli.

    Chances are, though, that it'll take more than "good faith" to accomplish that. I personally do not hold much hope that the 20th Century's Crusade will be, long term, any more successful than the ones from 1096 to 1272.

    May hold the city for a hundred years, maybe two, but demographics will, eventually, triumph over technology.

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  13. If anyone wants out of Iraq they might want to vote for someone other than Hillary

    Dick Morris reports.

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  14. But, bob, assuming she gets the Demo nod, she is perfectly placed for the General Election.

    The residual force, the US presence in Iraq, post 2009 is what it is all about. US Presence, power projection, not combat

    But for Ms Clinton to maintain that position, the "war" would have to be "over".

    It is obvious that the Clintons will tack to the center, even center right, if need be, to win.

    Because for them, it is all about winning, not being right.
    Neither Party wants the "War" to end, especially on a negative note. Do not listen to the rhetoric, watch the funding votes.

    The "war" in Iraq is political, not military, in Iraq and in DC.

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  15. Look for Bill to announce, on Oprah, that the US, in his opinion, has won the Iraq War, right around, maybe prior to, General P's March 08 report.

    Defintely before the 4th of July Victory Parades.

    Especially if Rudy and the boys keep beating the jingo drums.

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  16. BOBALHARB:

    In exchange for electricity from Israel, Israel receives rockets from Gaza.

    And as long as the Israelis continue to send them juice under fire, they get no sympathy from me.

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  17. Negotiations

    I don't know what to make of all this.

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  18. :) Here Teresitsa is how to use the juice. Ash, are you living in the dark?

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  19. Ash, don't you like a little variety in your life? I thought some good news stories about Democrats would be a nice change. I am quite crushed that we disappointed you. I am sure if Israel appropriated some Arab land they deserved it. If they didn't, I still don't care.

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  20. hehehe Bobal, if they cuts me 'lectricity I just spark me a dooobie and gel in the warm red glow of contentment and bliss :-o

    *cough* * *cough*

    DR, yes "good faith" may not be the best term to use and, yes, the Jews in Israel have a demographic problem especially if they wish to maintain a Jewish state.

    If you try to look at things from a Palestinian POV you can understand their anger and frustration. DR, given your tendency to fight war unequivocally I would guess you would be well placed to understand their anger toward the Israelis and their continued, if feeble, attempts to wage war on them?

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  21. By the way Ash that is 271 acres. Earth shaking.

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  22. Bob mows grass bigger than that on his afternoons off.

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  23. ah, 2164th, I figured your shoulders were broad and criticism would flow off of them like water off of a duck. I was hesitant to bring up the bland topics, but hey, might as well stir up the post instead of falling asleep at my keyboard.

    Fred Thompson, now there is something exciting... what was it he said?

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  24. Duece, government expropriating your property would piss you off. A foreign government and what would you do, warrior that you are?

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  25. Well I am glad you did Ash. I hate the thought of you having keyboard face.

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  26. ps. 2164th, did you ever take a look at a map of the land the Israelis wanted to keep in the Clinton plan vs. what they were willing to trade for it? Any guess as to which land held the majority of the aquifers? Dribs and drabs, a town here, a hilltop there, the slow but steady encroachment has been occurring since the beginning. Notice the different borders over the years as well. Settlements - facts on the ground in Sharon's view. He was correct in that.

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  27. Ash, to the victor belongs the spoils. It is not a bad system if it makes your potential enemies think twice about attacking you. You would agree with that, no?

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  28. Unless you are advocating genocide or ethnic cleansing there is no victory in sight for the Israelis. The spoils need be shared, somehow.

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  29. ASH: Unless you are advocating genocide or ethnic cleansing there is no victory in sight for the Israelis. The spoils need be shared, somehow.

    Throughout all of human history, wars have been fought over land. The victors (such as the whites in America) had unquestioned ownership, and the vanquished (such as the Cherokee) went into exile, slavery, and death. This was the accepted order of things all the way from the dawn of the human species up to 1948 and the Arab invasion of Israel. THEN all of a sudden the law of the jungle was suspended, and the vanquished needed to share the spoils of the war with the vanquished, and the victors needed to build aquifers for them, otherwise people would call them genocidal. The victors of the 1948 War accept this new state of affairs, which is applied uniquely to them, which is why I play the world's smallest violin for the Israelis.

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  30. I have some sumpathy for the Palis, ash.

    I have sympathy for the Zulu, too.

    Most evertone that the British whipped on, I have sympathy for.

    Except maybe the Argentines.

    But Crusader States, replenishing it's population with foreign immigrants, has never played well in that region of the world.

    If we are to draw on the the 1400 year history of the "West's" battle with Islam, then Israel can easily be viewed as another crusade to the Holy Land.

    Instead of Christian Knights, or children, this time Europe sent their Jews.
    So far, they've done alright.

    Almost makes one yearn for the Ottomans, they understood "stability".

    If I were King of the Jews, I'd push them folk in Gaza into the
    Sinai. Then burn the buildings down.

    Might leave the beachside resorts.

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  31. Interesting thoughts there T. What would you have them (Israelis) do differently considering they have to constantly work to stay out of the world's doghouse?

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  32. Immigrant workplace watch halted

    A federal judge blocks a government plan to crack down on firms who may be employing illegal immigrants.

    "Altering the status quo would subject employers to greater compliance costs and employees to an increased risk of termination," Breyer wrote in his 22-page ruling.
    uh, YEAH!
    That's the idea, A-Hole!

    Federal Judge should be Hung, Forthwith.

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  33. WHIT: Interesting thoughts there T. What would you have them (Israelis) do differently considering they have to constantly work to stay out of the world's doghouse?

    The situation is like a playground bully (the Arabs) telling a skinny geek (Israel) to crawl into the world's doghouse. The geek obediently complies while the rest of the kids (the World) looks on because it's so interesting to see a gun-toter humiliated. And when the geek sits there in the doghouse being laughed at by all the rest of the kids, he wonders why he doesn't have the courage to pull the Uzi out of his backpack and come out of the doghouse blazing. Maybe because the teacher (America) would disapprove.

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  34. "THEN all of a sudden the law of the jungle was suspended, and the vanquished needed to share the spoils of the war with the vanquished, and the victors needed to build aquifers for them..."

    Come again?

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  35. Yeah, I missed that one too, thot maybe I was still asleep, or something.

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  36. I thought knew what she meant

    It is a Bar, after all, ya know

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  37. Trish, et al. Come again?

    It was a reply to ash, who said Israel must share the spoils of winning the Arab-Israeli wars (you know, the ones where the Arabs tried to drive the Jews into the sea in 1948-49, 1967, 1973, 2000, 2006 but were driven off with a lot of IDF blood and sweat and tears) with those self-same Arabs.

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  38. Netanyahu, by the way, is very proud of all the "aquifers" constructed by Israel in the territories.

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  39. What's with putting nooses hither and yon?

    Is it a new day arising?

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  40. Ash, let me put this in terms that even a doofus, leftie Canadian will understand.

    Nobody give a Fuck if the the Joos kill every fucking palestinian on the planet. And, fuck their sheep when they're through.

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  41. "Nobody give a Fuck if the the Joos kill every fucking palestinian on the planet."

    We do, doofus.

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  42. But you already knew that, friend.

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  43. Setting aside the rest of the stupidity, "An Inconvenient Truth" has nothing to do with peace.

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  44. "Indeed. Under President Gore, we would have gone in to Afghanistan but not Iraq, since Iraq was the personal pet project of Cheney and the neocons. There wouldn't be a "War on Terror" with color threat codes and warrantless wire-taps and torture memos and Abu Grahib, just a series of low-level police enforcement actions in concert with Interpol and the intelligence services of our allies. And Pooty wouldn't be ramping up the Cold War.

    Wed Oct 10, 02:26:00 PM EDT"


    I've always wanted to know somebody who had an actual, working crystal ball.

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  45. Ash, I'm sorry I called you a Doofus. I didn't really mean it. I just think all liberals are doofus. You're, actually a pretty good sport.

    Oh, and I've never met a Canadian I didn't like, either.

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  46. They call it projection, cutler.

    Works everytime.

    Like if JFK hadn't been shot, he'd have navigated US out of the 'nam without 50,000 KIA.

    Or how differently Reconstruction would have gone, if Lincoln had lived.

    The Gore 43 Presidency, it could have been what ever you'd wanted it to be.

    Undisputable, no?

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  47. 50 years ago, Atlas Shrugged was published.

    24 years ago, an even bigger milestone (or disaster if you wish).

    Cutler was born.

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  48. Happy Birthday, Cutler;

    Now, go out and "get laid" or something. You're too young to be sitting around "Blogging" with a bunch of "old farts." :)

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  49. I'd add that when the Jews started coming back early 1900's they weren't coming back to much. They paid fancy prices to the Turkish absentee landlords, who thought they were getting a great deal. Parts of the area, hard to believe, but I've read it in separate places, was swampy, down around places by the River Jordan, or Jordan Creek, and the lakes. When the Jews got things going a bit there were jobs, and some Bedouin moved in for the jobs rather than heat with camel dung. Long story, but they really brought the place back from nothing. After WWII they finally got their independence, then attacked every time the arabs had the will or the way. Just from a farming point of view, leaving all else aside, one would side with the Jews. Even now, a google of the area looks a little like Doug's picture of south and north korea.

    Rufus is right Cutler, now while youth still lasts!

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  50. THIS might go a long way towards explaining my attitude toward Liberals.

    JUST ONE MORE!

    my head just exploded.

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  51. When I was a kid, I really did have a crystal ball, but as crystal balls go, it was no great shucks, and I could never get it to work.

    Crystal Gail is playing the Clearwater River Casino in December.

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  52. Rufus, go back and watch Sam's post 'Zombies' starring Bob Hope, from the earlier thread. You'll feel better.

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  53. Yeah, I laugh just thinking about it. Bob Hope might have been the funniest man in the history of the world.

    I really feel fine, though. I've just heard all I want to hear about the Palestinians. There was never a more worthless group of people that wasted valuable oxygen.

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  54. Please remove me from the board of directors.

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  55. Gore will Join Arafat on the Pedestal of Peace.

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