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 28, 2009

Stop voting fraud. End state deficits. Stop the voting and sell the seats.

US campaign funding laws are absurd. Ozzie Myers, a Philadelphia Congressman once said that in politics, "Money talks and bullshit walks." Even though Ozzie did some time, he was right. John Corzine will hit the $140 million mark in funding his own campaigns. Mike Bloomberg, in his three bids for mayor, will have easily burned through more than $250 million.

How is it possible for any opponent to compete when they are limited by what they can accept from any one donor. If a benefactor with millions wishes to buy a candidate, what is the difference? The marginal additional corruption will hardly be noticed. In fact, lets go one better and allow the parties to pool unlimited resources and have the states auction off all political seats to the highest bidder.

Wall Street could syndicate deals and sell them to the Chinese. The Israeli lobby would have to pony up big time to keep up with the Saudis. Think of all the corporations that would get into the act. No more chump-change fifty thousand dollar donations buying a congressman. Let them pay full freight and have the market do its magic.

At least we will know who are masters and rulers really are.

_____________

Corzine spends more than 2 foes combined

By Cynthia Burton
Inquirer Staff Writer

Gov. Corzine has spent about $23 million - most of it his own money - in his fight for reelection, more than the combined total of his two main competitors, according to campaign finance documents released yesterday.

After spending $60 million on his U.S. Senate race in 2000 and $40 million on his first governor's race in 2005, the former chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs & Co. is poised to spend as much as $30 million in this race.

And beyond the candidates' funds, money is pouring in from around the country to fund advertising in the only race that features an incumbent governor. Virginia is the only other state with a governor's race, and Gov. Tim Kaine is prevented by term limits from running.

In New Jersey, polls show Corzine in a dead heat with Republican Christopher J. Christie, who has raised $11.7 million and spent $8.8 million. Independent Chris Daggett has raised $1.3 million and spent $1.2 million.

Daggett and Christie are participating in the state finance program, which limits their spending. They are unable to match the power of Corzine's wallet to buy campaign advertising in a state split between two of the nation's most expensive media markets.

Of the millions Corzine has spent, all but about $1 million has come from his personal fortune.
More here

128 comments:

  1. Always vote for the man with the least money?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Doug wrote:

    "I like to think we're in a better position than a year ago because the Pakis are finally seriously taking it to the MoFos on their side of the border.
    That's gotta be good for us."

    I think it is good that the Pakistanis are stepping up the fight but the downside to it from my perspective is that it provides the carrot for our own escalation - 'gee we can't let the pakis do it themselves now, we can't leave them in the lurch, send more troops!'

    ReplyDelete
  3. UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – US drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan could be breaking international laws against summary executions, the UN's top investigator of such crimes said.
    "The problem with the United States is that it is making an increased use of drones/Predators (which are) particularly prominently used now in relation to Pakistan and Afghanistan," UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions Philip Alston told a press conference.
    "My concern is that drones/Predators are being operated in a framework which may well violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law," he said.

    ReplyDelete
  4. WiO: UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – US drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan could be breaking international laws against summary executions, the UN's top investigator of such crimes said.

    But those three thousand Americans who were executed on 9-11? What about them? That wasn't a "summary" execution, they were all little Eichmanns complicit by their economic assistance of the US War Machine led by War Criminal Bush.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Obama orders B-2 Practice Run on United Nations Building.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great Second Amendment Lawn Sign
    Nice Lawn, too.
    Looks like it might be Rufus's place.
    ...or ours.
    (Joke)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was watching an assembly line operate, completely devoid of humans, this morning.

    It doesn't make sense to have humans doing assembly line work if it's cheaper to do it with machines, robots, and software; however, people Have to be kept "busy." Whatever will we do?

    Even better question: Whatever will the Chinese do?

    I don't mean to be "pessimistic," T, but "Big" changes are coming. "Big Changes" are a pain in the ass. The "Unknown, Unknowns" are probably enormous.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wonderful sign. America is "alive and well." :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Chinese seem to be doing many tasks cheaper then we could with robots.

    ReplyDelete
  10. They are NOW. But, how long can that last? The second thing they have working against them is Transportation Costs.

    Transportation costs are manageable, now, and probably will be in 20 years; but what about 5 years?

    ReplyDelete
  11. "The Chinese seem to be doing many tasks cheaper then we could with robots."
    ---
    And Mao and Mother Teresa are Ash's heros.
    Slave Labor Rules!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yeah, I've been amazed that they can make so much and still keep it so cheap even with the shipping costs. I would imagine, over time, their labor costs will increase (natural as labor organizes and a society progresses) and they will continue to automate as the technologies spread. In any case I think they will remain a dominant force well into the future with their huge population and their smarts. They will have economic trouble arising from their aging demographic as we all will but them more so - 1 child policies don't help in this regard though too many people is also a problem.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey, WIO:
    Did you used to be
    "Pork Rinds for Allah?"
    ...if so, Annoy Mouse gave you a compliment @ BC.

    ReplyDelete
  14. the "yeah" was to rufus's point and not Doug usual puerile statements.

    ReplyDelete
  15. (just correcting grammar,
    understand purile was just your projection)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Well, gee, thanks for the apostrophe! I'm not sure how you can interpret your Mother Theresa Chairman Mao comment as anything other than puerile.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I've been troubled all morning by Teresita's, quite accurate, I'm sure, comment last thread that my comments have an undertone of pessimistm.

    I'm troubled, because I've always been considered a bit of an optimist. I'm thinking I might need to get out of the house a little more. Nobody likes a "gloomy gus."

    ReplyDelete
  18. Doug said...
    Hey, WIO:
    Did you used to be
    "Pork Rinds for Allah?"
    ...if so, Annoy Mouse gave you a compliment @ BC.


    yep that is me...

    ReplyDelete
  19. China is a clusterf*ck waiting to happen..

    CAN'T WAIT for the Three Gorges Dam to collapse...

    Not to mention the riots that will CONTINUE in China for food....

    Yep they can afford to lose 300 million or so and it still wont change a thing via their population...

    ReplyDelete
  20. Rufus, don't be troubled, I didn't mean it as an attack. Maybe I can be more accurate than calling you pessimistic. It is a common human trait to fall into a mindset where a set of things "A" remains static while an irritant "B" changes. In peak oil, it would be the idea that oil prices would just go up and up while demand remained constant. In reality, as we saw last year, when oil hit $147 a barrel, it tipped the world over into a very deep recession, where demand and prices fell back down. In terms of the military, it would be like thinking the US would just continue producing battleships while Japan kept hitting them with fleet carriers like at Pearl Harbor. By the end of WWII we had produced FIFTY carriers. For every military move China makes the US will make a countermove. Dynamic vs. Static. It's the difference between algebra and calculus.

    ReplyDelete
  21. i just posted over at Belmont.. here is a snip...

    I still think the Jihadists need to be humbled and humiliated to be defeated, killing them doesnt solve the issue.. PROVING to the that ALLAH has stopped supporting them is the only way to get change from the jihadists…

    Destroying 1 of the 5 pillars of Islam is the ONLY way…

    Kill the Kaaba should be the rallying cry from all points on the globe….

    The Black Stone (called الحجر الأسود al-Hajar-ul-Aswad in Arabic) needs to be nuked….

    Yep……

    Change… it’s coming to a Black Stone near you soon…

    ReplyDelete
  22. I didn't view it as an attack, T. I considered it an observation. And, as I said, it was quite likely "accurate."

    I think the most interesting "dynamic" for me is, what is the price level of oil that will "keep us in" recession?

    It "irritates" me that I can't even come up with a good "guess."

    Of course, there's also the possibility that I'm all wet on the oil thing from jump street.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Alternative technologies need, probably, $3.00 gasoline to attract robust funding. If $2.60 gasoline pushes us back into the pit we're going to delay doing some things we need to do.

    What could happen, then, is that we slowly "wither away," never knowing, or accepting, what's really killing us. All the time listening to the fully-invested babbling heads blather on about a 10% move in currency causing a 100% move in the price of a commodity.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Then, there's Aghanistan.

    ReplyDelete
  25. The talking heads never mention that while the Euro was gaining 10% against the Dollar it was >Losing 100% against Oil.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I don't understand that last comment rufus...

    ReplyDelete
  27. Yeah, that was written poorly. What I meant was, while the price of oil was going up about 120% against the dollar it, also, increased 100% against the Euro.

    ReplyDelete
  28. In other words, oil has had huge increases against All currencies, gold included.

    ReplyDelete
  29. rufus said...
    In other words, oil has had huge increases against All currencies, gold included.


    IN the long run? If we can EVER break our dependence to the despots that control much of the world's energy supply we can, in the long run, bankrupt them.

    But we are not really doing much to really get off it still...

    sad....

    ReplyDelete
  30. But since the "Despots" are US proxies, fully invested in the US, the cycle continues.

    ReplyDelete
  31. It would seem national oil costs (assuming it is purchased on the spot market) would parallel the currencies exchange rate to US dollars to buy oil in US dollars. Are you referring to the consumers price of gas? Non-spot oil purchases?

    ReplyDelete
  32. We're up to about 9% of our gasoline being replaced by corn ethanol, and the cellulosic boys are about to get their act together, but Gas Prices really have to get somewhere north of $3.00, and stay there, before the excitement starts to bring in the Big money.

    That "Volt" serial-hybrid/plug-in technology will cause Large changes, but $2.60 gasoline isn't, probably, going to get large numbers of people to want to pay an extra Ten Grand.

    In short, the technology is about ready; we're just waitning for the "Price Signal," now.

    BUT, if $2.60 gasoline puts us back into recession the price signal might be a while coming.

    It's complicated.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I think it is good that the Pakistanis are stepping up the fight but the downside to it from my perspective is that it provides the carrot for our own escalation - 'gee we can't let the pakis do it themselves now, we can't leave them in the lurch, send more troops!'

    Wed Oct 28, 10:10:00 AM EDT

    You're talking apples and oranges, Ash.

    Depending on the specific goal chosen in AFGHANISTAN - A SEPARATE COUNTRY - we will need more troops.

    But the fuss and bother at the current time is not about troop levels. It is about the goal, the objective, we are going to be pursuing.

    The Pakistanis are capable of doing even more in their own back yard, but doing even more would require giving them stuff that, due to the greater geopolitical picture, we are not inclined to give them any time soon.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Ash, look at "oil" as a "currency." It's gained, Big Time, against ALL other currencies.

    The Euro is up 10% against the Dollar. Oil is up 100% against the Euro, and 120% against the Dollar (I'm using approx. figures, here.)

    The fact is, if your "paycheck" is in Euros (or, Loonies) you're having a little better time of it than if your paycheck is in US$, but not a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  35. If those numbers look a "little" squirrely, keep in mind that the Euros price in "Brent" Crude, and we price in WTI (West Texas Intermediate.)

    ReplyDelete
  36. A good way to look at this is go back to 1999. You have to use the "Predecessor" Deutschmark instead of the Euro, but, in that time period the European Currency is up about 20% vs the Dollar, but Oil is up about 800% against the Euro, and 900 to 1,000% against the dollar.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I see what you are getting at Rufus - you are looking at relative changes vs. simply price as denominated in respective currencies.

    Trish,

    It really isn't apples and oranges in that the Taliban reside in both countries and the border is porous. Yes, our goals will certainly determine troop levels and Stan seems to have been vilified a bit for stating his surge position when the question was 'how to win'. The question seems to be shifting to the value of winning. Still, Pakistan engaging the Taliban, with our support, ups the ante when considering drawing down troops in Afghanistan.

    ReplyDelete
  38. The talking heads on tv are there to hype the stock market.

    The very last thing in the world they want to do is "scare" you (or, more importantly, probably, Themselves) by admitting the world might have a hell of a problem coming over the horizon.

    I think 99% of them, actually, strongly Believe high oil prices are being caused by "weakening" of the Dollar.

    They're getting their information from people that have a Large Vested Interest in people believing that the price of oil will come back down at some point.

    ReplyDelete
  39. rufus,

    Extrapolate that 100-200% difference in oil over a decade or two.

    I also beg to differ with you on the value of the EU vs USD. In 2002 near parity was the rule. Just last year, the dollar had declined by nearly 50% vs the EU.

    On either front, I would be happy to trade with you all day, everyday.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Allen, if I remember correctly, the Euro was introduced at $1.19 to the Euro. I believe that was 2001. I'm not going to go back and see exactly what the Deutschmark, and Frank were paying for Brent Crude, and bring it forward. Needless to say, Oil has gone up somewhere in the 800% range if you're in Germany buying Brent Crude.

    Whether it's 800%, or 825% hardly seems important to the case at hand.

    The point is, "It's NOT the strength/weakness of the Dollar driving Oil. Oil is being driven by Increasing "Worldwide" Demand, and "Peaking" Supplies.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Oil has gone up somewhere in the 800% range if you're in Germany buying Brent Crude.

    SINCE 1999.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Or, maybe it was 1998. Whatever.

    ReplyDelete
  43. It really isn't apples and oranges in that the Taliban reside in both countries and the border is porous. Yes, our goals will certainly determine troop levels and Stan seems to have been vilified a bit for stating his surge position when the question was 'how to win'. The question seems to be shifting to the value of winning. Still, Pakistan engaging the Taliban, with our support, ups the ante when considering drawing down troops in Afghanistan.

    Wed Oct 28, 02:36:00 PM EDT

    Were we to draw down, or simply haul our asses out altogether, the Pakistanis could, maintaining sufficient incentive, still prosecute the battle against the militant Islamists on their side. But they would be doing it largely without the aid of an intelligence network built up on both sides of the fence by us that DOES depend on a significant US presence. For that matter, WE would be forfeiting that network and its concrete value to us at home and globally. Because the Ministry of Darkness can't do it alone.

    But I repeat: As was the case in Iraq when the surge was being hotly debated, the central issue was the final objective to which military, diplomatic, and economic assets would be applied. Would it be doable and would it be worth the time, effort, and national treasure? Those were the questions that had to be answered. They are the questions that have to be answered now. Troop numbers are rather a diversion from the issue of what in the hell you're going to do with any troops you have. To what, and how, will they be applied? And for how long?

    Yes, the border is porous. And there is that "little" problem of the Afghan Taliban in Pakistan. But Pakistan's not rolling into Afghanistan to take care of Afghanistan's woes which, regardless of the "AfPak" shorthand, to a great extent still belong to Afghanistan as a separate, sovereign entity and are not shared with her neighbor.

    ReplyDelete
  44. I hope I've clouded the issue sufficiently.

    ReplyDelete
  45. And at the moment we're just waiting, along with Afghans, to see WHO exactly is going to be leading their corrupt government (a given).

    Everything hangs on that outcome.

    Depending on who we/the Afghans end up with, wisdom and common sense may counsel packing it in and letting Afghanistan take the short road to...whatever.

    I'm thinking big narcoterror amusement park.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Corn yields have more than doubled since I was a kid on the farm. But Soybean, and wheat yields are about the same.

    The difference is the Genetically Modified Corn Seeds. The Europeans violently opposed our developing GM seeds.

    When it came to corn we told them to stuff it. We like Corn-fed Beef, and that requires a lot of corn.

    We backed off on GM Beans, and Wheat. Export is a bigger part of the market, there, I suppose.

    That's about to come to an end. I wouldn't be surprised to see Soybean, and Wheat yields follow corn in the next 20 years.

    ONE FARMER with 500 Acres, and a John Deere tractor can raise 80,000 bu of corn. That's 4,480,000 pounds of corn. That ONE American farmer can supply 12,000 people with a pound of corn every day.

    That's with 500 Acres. A hundred years, ago, we were rowcropping 400 Million Acres. That's 800,000 farms of 500 acres. That's one pound of corn/day for 9.6 Billion People.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Do I sound more "optimistic," now, T?

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  48. Trish, we're going to "stay in" Afghanistan. That's a Given. He can't just say, "Aw, hell, we're coming home now."

    I think some of us are praying for a thought out "Goal." A "Clearly Articulated" assessment of "What is Achievable."

    I want Obama to say, "This is what we can do." "We can't make it look like, even, Iraq, much less Switzerland." "We can work with the Government, but we CAN'T build them a Country, with a school, and hospital in every village." "We CAN'T turn every goat path into an autobahn.

    And, "If our troops are attacked from a village, without warning from the villagers, we're attacking the village. It might be a good time to visit Grandma, or Mecca, or something."

    Most of us just fear a "blind, stupid, ill-thought out, open-ended, Johnsonesqe adventure in idiocy."

    ReplyDelete
  49. Trish, we're going to "stay in" Afghanistan. That's a Given. He can't just say, "Aw, hell, we're coming home now."

    - rufus

    We wouldn't be leaving in a day. It would be staged just like post-surge Iraq. But a little speedier.

    But we certainly CAN go home and, again depending on whether we can or cannot do business with those holding the reins, may have to. Committing soldiers and civilians to an outright fraud of a war is beyond criminal.

    You could set the operators loose, but to maintain the Big Green Machine in those circumstances....No.

    ReplyDelete
  50. I DO stick by my prediction of Stan Lite.

    And I Do think he's a very, very capable guy.

    ReplyDelete
  51. IOW, I predict just enough "give" politically for a scaled-down surge.

    ReplyDelete
  52. to go back to the beginning of this circle - I think the Paki step up in fighting increases the likely-hood of some sort of surge as opposed to withdrawal. I appreciate trish taking the time to express her views!

    ReplyDelete
  53. I think he's very, very capable, along with Eikenberry. 'Cause shit isn't gonna happen that guy either.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Speaking of Cuba, "One after another, global representatives stood to speak in opposition to the embargo, calling it a cruel anachronism that ran counter to international law and which had only succeeded in hurting ordinary Cubans, particularly women and children."

    Meanwhile today, in Pakistan, a heroic Islamic bomber killed about 100 civilians (mostly women and children). The UN had no comment.
    link

    ReplyDelete
  55. Well. What the UN thinks notwithstanding, I'm all for - ALL FOR - ending our embargo.

    Fat lot of good it's done anyone.

    ReplyDelete
  56. And toward that end I'd be workin' those Cuban expats in Florida like nobody's business.

    Mostly for the finer weather. ; )

    ReplyDelete
  57. Re: "What the UN thinks"

    ..."thinks"...Hmmm...

    ..."genocide"...Hmmm...

    ...the "WALL"...Hmmm...

    ..."bomber"...Hmmm

    ...self-defense in Gaza...Hmmm

    ..."war crimes"...Hmmm

    ReplyDelete
  58. You know what I mean, allen.








    The UN motto: Poorly But Proudly Serving The World's Purposes Since 1945.

    ReplyDelete
  59. (With more graft than a Banana Republic parliament; but a whole lot less fun.)

    ReplyDelete
  60. Boeing asked the Machinists' Union for a ten year no-strike agreement, Union said no way, Boeing said the new 787 line will be in South Carolina. If the Union strikes again, Boeing will probably move the FIRST line there. Frakkin unions haven't learned from the carcass of GM.

    ReplyDelete
  61. The Pakis want our drone technology...
    They're playing both sides. They support the Taliban and fight them at the same time.

    What the TaliQaeda will try to do is turn the Paki street against the military although how they're going to do by bombing civilians is beyond me.
    ---------------------------------
    Re: the unions. They figure they're back on the ascendancy and their people are in charge in DC. They already own a large chunk of GM and could be salivating for Boeing.

    ReplyDelete
  62. "The Pakis want our drone technology..."

    And they're never going to get it.

    And that drone technology is worthless without the sourcing that drives it. Which is more valuable yet.

    ReplyDelete
  63. TaliQaeda is just going to make the Pakistanis pay for their support of the war against them, to the extent that they do.

    Which definitely figured into Pakistan's weighing of their options.

    Sticking one's arm down the garbage disposal does not simply entail losing soldiers.

    ReplyDelete
  64. As was noted earlier, the "real" issue is becoming not the tactics or strategy but the cost v. benefit. This has to include the guess work of considering the cost of staying v. the cost of leaving.

    ReplyDelete
  65. And what has happened to the Northern Alliance?

    ReplyDelete
  66. Good question.

    Bin Laden definitely knew what he was aiming for on 9/9.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Little did we know what was going to happen two days later. Ignorance is bliss.

    ReplyDelete
  68. The whole Northern Alliance thing was greatly exaggerated. Not without reason; however, it was.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Massoud was the one man who could have, would have, lent far more substance to it.

    ReplyDelete
  70. I always did suspect Palau. Now we know.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Carbon dating and recent archaeological discoveries have brought new attention to the archipelago. Cemeteries uncovered on the islands have shown Palau has the oldest burial ceremony known to Oceania. Prior to this there was dispute as to whether Palau was established around 2500 BC or 1000 BC. New studies seem to dispute both of these theories. Moreover, Palau's ancient trading partner, Java, has also come under close scrutiny since Homo floresiensis was found. Like Flores, remains of small-bodied humans have been found in Palau.[4]

    For thousands of years, Palauans have had a well established matrilineal society, believed to have descended from Javanese precedents. Traditionally land, money, and titles passed through the female line. Clan lands continue to be passed through titled women and first daughters[5] but there is also a modern patrilineal sentiment introduced by imperial Japan. The Japanese government attempted to confiscate and redistribute tribal land into personal ownership during World War II, and there has been little attempt to restore the old order. Legal entanglements continue amongst the various clans


    Palau was under some kind of UN mandate, the wiki article says, administered by the USA, mandate ended back in 1994.

    They must like us.

    ReplyDelete
  72. Traditionally land, money, and titles passed through the female line.



    Women, always scheming to control things. First the land, then the money, then the titles, then our very souls

    ReplyDelete
  73. If you support the Phils, the terrorists win.

    Just sayin'.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Bobal: Women, always scheming to control things. First the land, then the money, then the titles, then our very souls

    Sure Bobal, just look at the Muslim world, or the Mormon world, or the Roman Catholic Church, or the three branches of the US government.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Opinion polls show that a majority of Indonesians oppose the restrictions on dress and behavior that are being pushed by a small fringe of hard-liners in the secular democracy.

    Aceh, a semiautonomous region, made news last month when its provincial parliament passed a Shariah law making adultery punishable by stoning to death. It also imposed prison sentences and public lashings against homosexuals and pedophiles.

    Rights groups say the law violates international treaties and the Indonesian constitution.


    Indonesian Women

    ReplyDelete
  76. And if I support the Yankees...the pussies win?

    ReplyDelete
  77. All that is nothing in comparison with the crimes of Palau, Miss T.





    I personally don't give a dang who wins the series. Between Philadelphia and New York I have no choice to make.

    I heard though, that on W.C. Fields' gravestone it says, "Well, taken all in all, I'd rather be here than in Philadelphia"

    But I'm not sure if it's true, or not.

    ReplyDelete
  78. Bob, I could care less about any sports team. I'm not into sports and never was. As long as it doesn't interfere with my shows they can do what ever they want.

    I was just playing along. I mean, Phila is the city of brotherly love, right?

    ReplyDelete
  79. Some American counternarcotics officials have said they believe that Mr. Karzai has expanded his influence over the drug trade, thanks in part to American efforts to single out other drug lords.

    In debriefing notes from Drug Enforcement Administration interviews in 2006 of Afghan informants obtained by The New York Times, one key informant said that Ahmed Wali Karzai had benefited from the American operation that lured Hajji Bashir Noorzai, a major Afghan drug lord during the time that the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, to New York in 2005. Mr. Noorzai was convicted on drug and conspiracy charges in New York in 2008, and was sentenced to life in prison this year.

    Habibullah Jan, a local military commander and later a member of Parliament from Kandahar, told the D.E.A. in 2006 that Mr. Karzai had teamed with Haji Juma Khan to take over a portion of the Noorzaidrug business after Mr. Noorzai’s arrest.


    Paid by CIA

    ReplyDelete
  80. It is the latest effort to promote strict moral values in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation

    One thing the world needs is better journalists.

    Why put the word 'moral' in there?

    No connection between a lack of morality and tight pants that I can fathom.

    Whole article ought to be rewrtten. All the usual phraseology chucked out.

    Even the phrase 'their vision of' inserted would be an improvement.

    ReplyDelete
  81. I quess, MLD. I've never been there, but heard the murder rate was quite high.

    ReplyDelete
  82. I used to love the Boston Celtics. Now all the teams look the same to me, like the cars. This year, a year of the very unusual, I'm following the Idaho Vandals, in fact going to the game on Saturday. A winning year around here is a rarity. Can't pass up the opportunity.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Men used to wear hats all the time, until JFK went hatless and started that trend. For women in 2009, it's the Oburka. Thanks Barry!

    ReplyDelete
  84. MLD: Bob, I could care less about any sports team. I'm not into sports and never was.

    You are a woman after my own heart. Who cares about guys moving a ball back and forth for hours, and winning by two points, 119-117.

    ReplyDelete
  85. I've started wearing a hat, bought in Glacier National Park. Lady said, that looks beautiful on you, it's so you. jeez, I had to agree, so, she got about three times what the hat is really worth, at the tourist trap. Anyway, I've take up wearing it trying to get something out of the deal.

    Dad always wore a hat of some type.

    Men used to tip their hats to the ladies too, back in the day. Saw dad do that many a time.

    ReplyDelete
  86. I've seen hat tips around here every now and then.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Maybe Bob but it's not the highest.

    ReplyDelete
  88. Also Wednesday, the Micheletti government said it is filing a complaint with the International Court of Justice in the Hague to demand Brazil stop sheltering Zelaya at its embassy in Tegucigalpa. It accuses Brazil of violating its diplomatic status and could seek unspecified compensation for alleged damages to the Honduran state, according to a statement from Carlos Lopez, the interim foreign minister.

    Brazil supports Zelaya's demand to be reinstated and has not pressured him or his supporters to leave. The South American country accuses the coup-installed government of harassing its embassy's occupants by blasting them with music and has demanded the tactics stop.

    Micheletti's government pledges not to storm the diplomatic mission but says Zelaya faces arrest if he leaves.


    Honduras Deal

    ReplyDelete
  89. Actually I think murder rates have gone down. With all the coverage now it seem we live in chaos but crime has trended down a bit, I think.

    Back at the time of that school shooting, Colombine, I recall some articles about school violence back earlier, 20's and 30's in the USA. There were a couple back then worse, and more shootings, knifings etc per national school day, or whatever.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Walking into the bar, O’Reilly said to Charlie the bartender,
    ‘Pour me a stiff one – I just had another fight with my guest, a lady captain. And this was one was on the air.’

    ‘Oh yeah?’ said Charlie, ‘And how did this one end?’

    ‘When it was over,’ Bill replied, ‘She came to me on her hands and knees.’

    ‘Really!’ said Charles, ‘What did she say?’

    She said, ‘Come out from under the desk, you ….chicken.’



    From Captain Pamela Barnett to Bill O’Reilly – October 28, 2009

    I challenge you Mr. O’Reilly to interview me..

    I am Captain Pamela Barnett U.S. Army Retired of Barnett v. Barack Obama.

    I am sick and tired of you defaming our lawsuit and our attorney against the Resident in the White House Obama. 48 plaintiffs mostly military retired have brought this lawsuit to force the production of Obama’s vital records to determine if he is in fact a NATURAL BORN CITIZEN which is one of the requirements to be a legal POTUS and NOT an illegal USURPER. There is also a huge amount of information regarding fraud that Obama committed before being illegally sworn in as POTUS.

    IF YOU CARE ABOUT THE TRUTH AT ALL.. YOU WILL CALL ME…

    FROM WHAT I CAN SEE OF YOUR SHOW, THE TRUTH DOES NOT SEEM TO MATTER TO YOU OR THE REST OF THE SHILLS AT FOX. I KNOW THAT YOU ARE ONLY A COMMENTATOR, BUT AT LEAST GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT BEFORE HURTING OUR CASE AND PROPAGATING LIES TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

    Sincerely,

    CPT Pamela Barnett, U.S.Army Retired

    ReplyDelete
  91. Yup, I'm still following the legal proceedings against the usurper, and I have to tell you, the odds is slim.

    Donofrio however may be able to pry some info out of the State of Hawaii, who are stonewalling. He has temporarily suspended his blog, has some clients, and is in consultations.

    The State of Hawaii seems to have admitted that the birth certificate was amended, whatever that means.

    In another story,Michelle Obama, it seems, earlier on, admitted that hubby's mom Ann wasn't married when Barry was born.

    Not that it matters much. Looks like just another stich in a quilt of lies though woven in a book.



    Story Here

    ReplyDelete
  92. Bob, I woulda bagged Glacier this last trip too, but the Going To The Sun Highway was closed for repairs.

    ReplyDelete
  93. I know Trish, I know, I feel the same way. The Big Usurper should be in jail, but what can we without law degrees do? Really do to help?

    Only watch, hope, and pray.

    ReplyDelete
  94. When we went through, stopped at the lodge at the top, we got harassed by beggers.



    Damned mountain goats, right in the parking lot :)

    ReplyDelete
  95. Obama to go with "McChrystal light" 20k instead of 40k

    Thats how the Japs lost Guadalcanal, piecemeal reinforcement

    ReplyDelete
  96. Bobal I did tour Glacier when I was 11, we walked on planks to see "Lost Lake" and I went to that same lodge, I was impressed because I thought it was my first trip over the great divide, but now I know that the pass on I-90 between Montana and Idaho was the first one. But Glacier Park is pretty amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  97. Yup, pretty amazing all right. Where did you hear about the 20K?

    ReplyDelete
  98. I have no argument with Thomas Frank's criticism of the right-wing nuts who continue to question President Barack Obama's birth certificate and make wild allegations about how the Democrats' policies will destroy the nation.

    ...

    Some on the left have even alleged that the Reagan campaign made a deal with the Iranian government in 1980 to delay the release of the American embassy hostages in order to hurt President Jimmy Carter's re-election chances. The allegation was soon discredited.

    In the last decade, angry left-wing activists have accused George W. Bush of "stealing" the 2000 election. This accusation persisted even though the Miami Herald, USA Today and other newspapers looked into the issue and found that Mr. Bush would have won Florida by a wider margin if a thorough statewide recount had been conducted.


    Letters

    ReplyDelete
  99. Well, it's not really the birth certificate, it's the parentage. You gotta have two citizen parents. But who cares anymore, 'cept Donofrio, Trish and me.

    ReplyDelete
  100. Not firm yet, Bobal, the 20k. I spend all my time on Twitter, it's like the Conservative Universe Next Door, but you said you don't Tweet.

    ReplyDelete
  101. If Obama can't handle FOX NEWS, how the hell can he deal with Russia,China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Pakastan & Afghanistan?

    ReplyDelete
  102. In doing so, Obama and his aides revealed in one stroke the most telling weaknesses of his administration:

    # Obama is a whiner. At almost every chance he gets, the president whines about the previous administration and how it is responsible for every problem he faces.

    ...

    # Obama is fixated on spin rather than substance. Why else would he and his aides become so agitated about what a network is reporting?

    ...

    # Obama is ineffective. The spectacle of refusing to let Fox participate in a pool filming, then backing down when the other networks objected, shows that Obama is over his head.


    Obama's Failings

    ReplyDelete
  103. Bob. You may get your Italian tuna in olive oil yet.

    ReplyDelete
  104. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  105. A different assessment in which we should...

    Consider the bitter irony: The only halfway decent thing to be wrung out of the horror of 9/11 will have been the genuine fraud of Iraq - halfway decent because in the end George W. Bush was able to deliver on it.

    And I don't know how we redeem ourselves should that be the case.

    If we pull back to population centers in Afghanistan, with no surge at all, that's it. We're done.

    Pakistan will go on. And Stanley McChrystal knows his Pakistan. But the thing that should have mattered all along and never did, will be at an end.

    And this administration, which would not or could not rally political wherewithal beyond its strictly partisan health care concern, will be in disgrace. And we, the world's biggest losers.

    THAT'S depressing.

    ReplyDelete
  106. Gibbs said, "The administration is confident that there are the appropriate resources to conduct an election." President Hamid Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah will face off in the runoff Nov. 7 after an earlier round of voting was marred by fraud.

    Gibbs said that President Barack Obama sent his condolences to the victims of the attack, in which at least 12 people were killed, including six U.N. staffers.

    Obama is deciding whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan as part of a revamped war strategy. Gibbs said yes when asked during his briefing with reporters whether the president's decision is still "several weeks" away.


    Nov. 7 Runoff

    ReplyDelete
  107. Of course, Karzai might win the run-off, and give Obama the excuse to call the whole thang off. I think that might be what he's hoping for.

    ReplyDelete
  108. Crossed my mind too Rufus. Won't be any decision announced until after the elections.

    "Karzai is not a partner worthy of us" or something like that.

    ReplyDelete
  109. There's an Election down in California, in Pelosi's back yard, that's a biggie too.

    ReplyDelete
  110. Meanwhile, in a truly critical election this coming Tuesday, my friend from high school John (beer truck by day, Corvette by night) Weber is taking on our version of Nancy Pelosi, a twit named Nacy Chaney, for Mayor of Moscow.

    I ask you all to pray for John's success.

    (John has a master's degree in business from the U of I but chose to drive a beer truck, not wanting to leave hometown, showing you how attractive this place truly is)

    Hell, that's nothing really, my old bartender, now deceased, had a PhD from WSU.

    ReplyDelete
  111. "Karzai is not a partner worthy of us" or something like that.

    Thu Oct 29, 12:52:00 AM EDT

    Karzai really is NOT a partner worthy of us. Then again virtually nothing of that whole enterprise has been. Which is terribly sad. Sadder still if you're an Afghani.

    But to abandon, even for want of a government that is something other than wholly atrocious, what most of the rest of the world instinctively understands as a legitimate endeavor born of a stunningly heinous crime - and for which allies have sacrificed much - cannot in any way be a good thing. Because it's understandable does not make it so.


    I loathed the Iraq war and yet was and am damn glad that we salvaged the thing. It really did matter.

    This matters, too, if in a different way. And I don't know if the President grasps that.

    ReplyDelete
  112. Hopefully no one will notice that I've blatantly contradicted myself within the space of a few hours.

    ReplyDelete
  113. Nope, he isn't. Massoud probably was, I don't know.

    Obama is stuck with his campaign rhetoric. Afghan is the important place, so said the One.

    I'm thinking he's thinking about his poll numbers. If I get in there.....he's thinking.

    "Karzai is not worthy of us"

    ReplyDelete