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."

Thursday, December 17, 2009

China sticks it to Gasputin





Up until last spring, Gazprom had pursued a policy of importing all available gas from Central Asia at almost any price based on the wishful assessments of trends in European and U.S. demand and in the valuation of its main product. The collapse of oil prices in late 2008 took Gazprom completely by surprise. Then it was hit by two more surprises: a sharp drop in demand on the European market in the first quarter of 2009 and an even deeper contraction of the U.S. market, which has become saturated with domestic shale gas.

After Gazprom agreed in July 2008 to import gas from Central Asia based on high European prices, every cubic meter of gas that it imported from the region was a net loss on the company’s books. As the international economic crisis gained steam and global demand for energy resources dropped dramatically, Gazprom could no longer afford to buy gas at these high prices.

China has come to the rescue of Turkmenistan.

Most news reports and comments on Monday’s festive opening of the gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China portrayed the event as a strategic setback for Russia. There has been no official reaction, but the Kremlin has demonstrated total indifference to the break on its monopoly on importing gas from Central Asia.

China, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were quickly able to reach an agreement on the construction of the 1,833-kilometer pipeline that is expected to carry 40 billion cubic meters of gas a year by 2010. This is in stark contrast to the pipeline project along the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea that then-President Vladimir Putin initiated in May 2007 — an initiative that has gone nowhere.

112 comments:

  1. The Birchers are back, trish, as if they ever really left.

    But now, front and center in the Center-Right coalition.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JEW vs JEW HATER

    (I didn't want anyone to wander too far off the res...)

    Please continue the Holy War. I'll hang up and listen.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have been reading the threads, diligently, but see no Jew Haters, here.

    There are those that disrespect the Zionists in the Levant, but no Jew haters.

    Please do not conflate the two things, they are totally separate issues.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Not at all.
    It is the governance of the Levant that is in question, not the religion of the governors.

    To equate the two, carrying a false flag for the strawman.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hell, why would I hate Joos? I'm an old, retired, Ms Redneck. I'm not affected by Jews in any way that I know of.

    But, I get tired of hearing about (and, paying for) the on-going family squabble in the Mid-East. It's like having to be privy to a particularly irritating probate involving two totally unlikable yuppie litigants in a rich uncle's will. It just goes on forever, and it gets harder, and harder to pick a favorite.

    I'd vote for finding the long-lost descendents of the old Canaanites, and giving the whole kit and kaboodle to them.

    Of course, this makes me a "brownshirt," and a "bigot." I didn't know that brownshirt, and bigot were synonyms for "Bored to Fucking Tears," but, there you are.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My point exactly Rufus. Look at the previous thread. It went on non stop for 12 hours.

    Rat, whatever, you always insist on having the final word, and I will not deny you that here at Christmas. Have at it. Yawn, Yawn, Sigh, Sigh...

    ReplyDelete
  7. I feel like an adult that's trying to have a conversation with other adults, and the five year olds keep running up, and screaming "Jimmy hit me." "Johnny said a nasty word to me." "Susy stole my toy."

    In "Redneck-land" we tell'em, "Well, hit him back," "Tell him to quit," and "Go take it back." "Now, go on; go play."

    In this case you want to say, "Well, bomb the shit out of them, then." "Well, quit picking at the scab with those damned settlements, then," and "Why did you build the damned fence if you weren't going to stay on your side?" Now, get out of here, and let us talk.

    ReplyDelete
  8. They're back! :)

    I knew they would be, and without so much as an apology to Ms. T for highjacking her thread from the get go.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Okay, I'll make everybody a Deal. Everybody puts up ONE Last Post on the Joos. (Except me. I've had my say.)

    One LAST Post for this thread. Then we move on. Deal? Rat? WIO? Allen? Bob? Everyone? Deal?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Amusing analogy Rufus.

    In the last stream, Allen asks why no one comments about Rat’s many posts on Israel. The obvious answer, which Allen doesn’t understand or ignores, is that other than Allen and WiO and Rat, no one really gives a damn.

    It’s not like there is anything new there we haven’t heard before (many times). It’s a repetition of the same old talking points. "We have been victims forever but never aqain" on the one side and simplistic legalistic justifications on the other. Unfortunately, lately even that has devolved into mere name calling by both sides.

    When it comes to Israel, Allen and Rat are two sides of the same coin, polar opposites, mirror-images.

    The Hannity and Olberman of the EB.



    .

    ReplyDelete
  11. Rufus: Okay, I'll make everybody a Deal. Everybody puts up ONE Last Post on the Joos. (Except me. I've had my say.)

    "SO Jew WANNA play ROUGH? Say HayLO to my leetle Friend!" -- SCAR-FACE.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Biden unveils federal broadband stimulus projects

    By ERRIN HAINES (AP) – 36 minutes ago

    DAWSONVILLE, Ga. — Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday announced the first $182 million in federal stimulus money for 18 projects to expand high-speed Internet networks in rural areas and other underserved communities.

    Biden spoke at Impulse Manufacturing, a technologically advanced metalworks plant in north Georgia whose business has been held back by the lack of a broadband network in its part of the state.

    The projects are the first part of a $7.2 billion plan to bring high-speed Internet connections to rural areas, poor neighborhoods and Native American communities.

    Besides Georgia, other projects in the first set will be in Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Arizona and Alaska.

    Joined by Gov. Sonny Perdue, Biden told a crowd of workers, business leaders and lawmakers that creating the networks could help smaller businesses compete globally.

    "We're forming the tools that will fashion the work of the 21st century," Biden said. "We are laying the foundation for the economy of tomorrow."

    The administration plans to award a total of $2 billion in grants and loans on a rolling basis over the next 75 days as it starts doling out the first round of stimulus funding for broadband, which Biden said could be used to help struggling rural areas like Dawsonville with distance learning, telemedicine and real-time pricing for farmers

    ReplyDelete
  13. Palin signs 700 books in Sandpoint

    By GWEN ALBERS
    Managing Editor
    Bonners Ferry Herald.

    Dick Jewell made a quick request to 2008 vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who returned to her birthplace on Dec. 10 to promote her book, “Going Rogue: An American Life.”
    “I told her to run for president because we have a lot of cleaning up to do,” said Jewell. “She said she would do her best.”

    The Newport, Wash., man was among 700 who streamed through the Sandpoint Business and Event Center, where Palin made her final stop on a three-week, 36-city tour to promote her book.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Blink Comparator shows the temp. adjustments GISS made from 1999 to 2008.

    Notice how 1960 is the fulcrum. The attempt, of course, to eventually end up with a straight, rising line.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I doubt anyone will top that T.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. The "Tea Partiers" were rated higher in the most recent NBC Poll than the Dems, or Pubs.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Which may be why "some folk" think they are a threat to our Republic, rufus.

    Along with the "Fearmonger in Chief", Glenn "FOX News" Beck.

    But hey, who's payin' attention to details.

    ReplyDelete
  18. What Will be the EPA's First Moves on Climate Change Regulations?

    "...already, the EPA is getting swarmed with petitions from environmental groups (and states) to start regulating mobile sources besides cars and trucks—such as airplanes, marine engines, or farm equipment. Some experts think the agency could start proposing regulations for some of these sectors as early as the end of 2010."


    .

    ReplyDelete
  19. Out here, Quirk, the Federals have closed much of the National Forests to vehicle traffic. Decommissioning old numbered Forest Roads, attempting to block any wheeled used of many areas.

    This is usually done in the name of soil and flora conservation, if any reason is given at all.

    It has also given rise to difficulties obtaining building permits on the islands of private land that dot the Federal holdings. There is no longer a "legal" right of way, for access.

    Incremental change.

    ReplyDelete
  20. While I would say the position held by the United States, in regards the Levant, articulated by George Herbert Walker Bush at the United Nations, it is not simplistic, but realistic.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Looks like we're getting snow this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wonderful sunny days, here.
    Low 70s.

    Couldn't be much nicer, in December, really.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I haven't been listening to Dr. Bill lately, but I recall him saying we're burning off and pumping back into the ground enough natural gas around the Alaska oil fields to fire the entire USA. If I recall correctly.

    ReplyDelete
  24. While I would say the position held by the United States, in regards the Levant, articulated by George Herbert Walker Bush at the United Nations, it is not simplistic, but realistic.

    ReplyDelete
  25. It looks like it's going a little more south. I hope it's not much my 4 wheel drive seems to be malfunctioning...making some kind of whining noise, somewhat like the guys at the EB.

    ReplyDelete
  26. "While I would say the position held by the United States, in regards the Levant, articulated by George Herbert Walker Bush at the United Nations, it is not simplistic, but realistic."

    I'd like to debate that with you Rat but in trying to observe the Rufus Rules I will have to delay it to a future stream.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  27. "You could always video chat."

    Like Doug, I don't twit, tweet, or facebook. Just stuck in a 90's time warp I guess.



    And by the way, what's this Ms. D,

    "...making some kind of whining noise, somewhat like the guys at the EB."

    Sarcasm?

    The new, edgy MLD?

    Very good.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  28. That's a Good Idea, Q. Maybe we could "codify" it.

    Every thread, everyone get's a Comment on the "Jewish Question," and a rebuttal.

    Then, we move on.

    It is (dare I say it?) kinda "Quirky."

    ReplyDelete
  29. Gasputin deserves the fate of Rasputin--

    The group led him down to the cellar, where they served him cakes and red wine laced with a massive amount of cyanide. According to legend, Rasputin was unaffected, although Vasily Maklakov had supplied enough poison to kill five men. Conversely, Maria's account asserts that, if her father did eat or drink poison, it was not in the cakes or wine, because after the attack by Guseva he suffered from hyperacidity and avoided anything with sugar. In fact, she expresses doubt that he was poisoned at all.

    Determined to finish the job, Yusupov became anxious about the possibility that Rasputin might live until the morning, leaving the conspirators no time to conceal his body. Yusupov ran upstairs to consult the others and then came back down to shoot Rasputin through the back with a revolver. Rasputin fell, and the company left the palace for a while. Yusupov, who had left without a coat, decided to return to get one, and, while at the palace, he went to check up on the body. Suddenly, Rasputin opened his eyes and lunged at Prince Yusupov. When he grabbed Prince Yusupov he ominously whispered in Yusupov's ear "you bad boy" and attempted to strangle him. At that moment, however, the other conspirators arrived and fired at him. After being hit three times in the back, Rasputin fell once more. As they neared his body, the party found that, remarkably, he was still alive, struggling to get up. They clubbed him into submission and castrated him. After binding his body and wrapping him in a carpet, they threw him into the icy Neva River. He broke out of his bonds and the carpet wrapping him, but drowned in the river.

    Three days later, the body of Rasputin, poisoned, shot four times, badly beaten, and drowned, was recovered from the Neva River. An autopsy established that the cause of death was drowning. His arms were found in an upright position, as if he had tried to claw his way out from under the ice. It was found that he had indeed been poisoned, and that the poison alone should have been enough to kill him. There is a report that after his body was recovered, water was found in the lungs, supporting the idea that he was still alive before submersion into the partially frozen river.[17]


    The Mystery of Rasputin's Penis

    ReplyDelete
  30. "Incremental change."

    The federal government now has jurisdiction over all "navigible waterways." Some in Congress are trying to pass legislation that would expand that jurisdiction by eliminating the qualifier "navigible".

    Some would qualify that as a massive taking.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  31. "Three days later, the body of Rasputin, poisoned, shot four times, badly beaten, and drowned, was recovered from the Neva River. An autopsy established that the cause of death was drowning..."

    Same thing happened to me once.

    Hell of a thing.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  32. A) FYI...video chat is nowhere near the same as twit, tweet. face book or dial up.

    B)I have no idea how you get Ms D from melody. And melody came from T, when she added the letters between MLD. I prefer to have a name, so I kept it. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

    C) Sarcasm? You have no idea.

    I was in BJ's today doing some food shopping and there was some promotion giving out free paring knives. I try to avoid these things at all cost but noooo...not today. So the man says, "Come on over and get your free paring knife."

    Now, I'm all about free and I replied, "No thank you, with the mental state I'm in right now, I am forbidden to carry any sharp paraphernalia."

    Talk about speechless.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Still got your cock?

    What a bunch of bumbling conspirators. No wonder they lost to the commies.

    Just blow his brains out, outdoors of course, and bury him deep in the forest.

    ReplyDelete
  34. A move is afoot to get you out of your car. The Secretaries of Transportation, HUD and the EPA have come to an agreement that "mobility" within urban areas will be discouraged.

    Urban Planners Romanticize Immobility

    More fees and taxes.

    ReplyDelete
  35. rat on Jews verses Israel :Please do not conflate the two things, they are totally separate issues.




    walks like a duck, smells like a duck, tastes like a duck. looks like a duck... its a duck...

    and after all it's the JEWS who are the BEST judge about who and how they are hated, not the liars...

    ReplyDelete
  36. I saw a good bumper sticker here the other day--

    "I'm not at work today. The voices said, stay home and clean your guns."

    ReplyDelete
  37. All this shit is coming to an end in 2010.

    People aren't going to put up with this insanity much longer.

    That's my New Year's prediction for 2010.

    ReplyDelete
  38. News from our southern neighbor

    MEXICO CITY – Mexican troops acting on information from U.S. officials took out drug kingpin Arturo Beltran Leyva in an assault that provided a rare victory for President Felipe Calderon but left a power vacuum that could lead to more violence.

    In a carefully executed attack, heavily armed Mexican marines quietly evacuated an upscale apartment complex in Cuernavaca Wednesday before some 200 troops stormed the building and demanded the surrender of Beltran Leyva, one of the world's most brutal drug lords.

    Gunmen fired on the marines who then launched an attack that lasted nearly two hours.


    Bottom line is they killed him.

    ReplyDelete
  39. With just two days remaining, the inability to overcome disagreements about the shape of a deal to combat global warming led to hours of inaction today , while outside the negotiations police clashed with protesters who broke through a security cordon but failed in an attempt to storm the conference centre.

    Personally, I'd kind of like to see the protesters succeed in storming the conference center.

    Would be a sight for the ages.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I agree, bob. That would be very interesting. Anarchists going after the idiots.

    ReplyDelete
  41. "Still got your cock?"

    Actually, call it kismet, fate, luck, karma, I don't know; but the same day a black linebacker from the University of Michigan died in an auto accident.

    The operation took about 3 hours.

    Hell of a thing.

    Thanks for asking Bob.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  42. "A) FYI...video chat is nowhere near the same as twit, tweet. face book or dial up."

    I told you I was stuck in a time warp on this stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  43. All you need is a web cam. Bob will teach you.

    ReplyDelete
  44. "All you need is a web cam. Bob will teach you."

    Sounds dangerous.

    I better check with Doug first.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  45. I'm listening to a recording of Dylan Thomas reading his poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" on Michael Savage.

    Rrrage, rrrage, against the dying of the light....

    First time I heard what he sounds like.

    ReplyDelete
  46. I heard a report on how climate change (coastal erosion) is affecting the Maldives.

    Included in the report was that nowhere is the elevation higher than seven feet above sea level.

    Excuse me, but living on such a low island out in the middle of that ocean doesn't sound like such a good idea anyway.

    Climate changes, sea level rises, people move. Man adapts.

    ReplyDelete
  47. I don't know how, but I'm willing to learn, if Melody will teach me.


    Dylan Thomas definitely has a better voice than Harry Reid.

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

    ReplyDelete
  49. The BBC report said that by the end of the century, the Maldives would be under water.

    Okay, that means they've got fifty years to make other arrangements and they don't need my money to do it.

    But, apparently some jerks have convinced them that it is my fault and I owe them. Other jerks are in Copenhagen trying to see to that my children pay the bill.

    ReplyDelete
  50. All the world's problems, Whit, are caused by the people and processes that pulled humanity up from a life span of 30 years and out of a medieval hut. That is what you don't understand!

    ReplyDelete
  51. You might notice from this chart from Univ. of Colorado that sea levels haven't risen since about Dec. of 2005.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Of course, if you go back a ways and capture the changeover between measuring systems you'll see an approximate 3 mm per year rise.

    3 mm is the thickness of two pennies.

    Two pennies.

    ReplyDelete
  53. My biggest fear is drowning. Just let me know when I need to move.

    ReplyDelete
  54. "Just let me know when I need to move."

    That's what my first wife used to say.

    ReplyDelete
  55. "Take me back to the Sixties"

    Yea, I know. I have to update that silhouette. It's a couple of years old now.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Excuse me, but living on such a low island out in the middle of that ocean doesn't sound like such a good idea anyway.

    From Wikipedia:

    Islam in Maldives was introduced in 1153 and has remained dominant since, being the smallest predominantly Muslim nation in the world. In 1968 reigning Islamic Sultanate was replaced by a quasi-Islamic presidential Republic; in 2008, submission to the Islamic faith became a legal requirement for citizens.

    In short, fuck 'em, let their rich brothers in the Gulf fulfill the almsgiving pillar of Islam and send sandbags to the Maldives to ameliorate the effect all their oil and natural gas is having.

    ReplyDelete
  57. "Take me back to the sixties"

    Where does that link take you?

    ReplyDelete
  58. There won't be a "public option" but that's okay, Donks can't even figure out if Obama wanted one or not:

    DEAN: The President of the United States campaigned for it.

    LANDRIEU: No he did not campaign for public option, he did not campaign on Medicare for all, he most certainly did not.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Maldives-- in 2008, submission to the Islamic faith became a legal requirement for citizens.

    Let the seas rise. Let 'em use snorkels.

    ReplyDelete
  60. "In short, fuck 'em, let their rich brothers in the Gulf fulfill the almsgiving pillar of Islam and send sandbags to the Maldives to ameliorate the effect all their oil and natural gas is having."

    Or,

    Maybe Dubai could construct em another one of those fantasy islands that looks like a palm tree.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  61. Commies in Copenhagen--

    Hugo Chavez said in his presentation at COP15 that there was a "silent and terrible ghost in the room" called capitalism, the reactive applause of those attending was beyond enthusiastic. After 20 minutes of his 5 minute time allotment had passed, he closed his Karl Marx quote punctuated speech saying "…socialism, the other ghost that is probably wandering around this room, that’s the way to save the planet, capitalism is the road to hell....." At which point the audience awarded him with a standing ovation.


    Has Mugabe given his speech yet?

    Pelosi is said to be flying to Copenhagen.

    ReplyDelete
  62. ha..........ha........ha......ha....ha...ha..ha.ha,ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,HA,HA,HA!!!!!!!!!

    Chutzpah :D)

    ReplyDelete
  63. Prince Charlie Gives Us Seven Years video

    "We've got to be a part of nature, not live apart from nature."

    Back to the grass huts and teepees!

    ReplyDelete
  64. Sorry 'bout that.

    Take me back to the sixties

    I've seen better but what the hey.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Well, there's always water world. If Kevin Costner can do it they can, too.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Homogenizing: Hey, if We Only Have Weather Stations in Urban Heat Islands and None in the Cooler, Higher, Rural Areas, You Know What We'll Do? We'll Just Use Our City Data to "Extrapolate" Into the Colder Rural Areas
    This is what's going on with the Russia temperature data, too.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Turns out -- how could this be? I don't blame the warmmongers for it but how did this happen? -- the world has been losing, not gaining, temperature stations for the past 50 years, and most of the lost stations came from higher-latitude and higher-altitude, no-heat-island rural areas, in other words, the best, most pristine gauges of actual temperature, unchanged by the hot sprawl of Man.

    And most of the ones that didn't get eliminated were in... cities. Or built up towns and suburbs. And mostly at lower altitudes, too (by sea level -- where most of the human population clusters).

    And so what happens when the bulk of your old weather stations get discontinued?

    Well, if you're a genius climate researcher, you just fill in these unmeasured expanses with homogenized (I think) type data from the city stations still in use.

    Voila! You had no idea of what the temperature was in rural Russia so you guessed it was probably pretty close to the temperature in Moscow, and you filled it thus!

    And look! Look at all this global warming and tremble.

    ReplyDelete
  68. You Know What's Going On Here? A dialogue.

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: You know, there is some tentative evidence to suggest a link between carbon fraction and temperature.

    POLITICIAN: Really? I'd sure like to be able to talk about that. You know I'm concerned about the environment!

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: Here's my data.

    POLITICIAN: I see a lot of fudge words and caveats in this "Summary for Policy-Makers."

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: Well, you know, the fact is: There are huge areas of uncertainty. For one thing, we really don't have a very strong understanding of how the sun and clouds interact to shape climate.

    POLITICIAN: I can't go to the public with all this hedging.

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: Okay, I changed that, I have now taken out the caveats about cloud formation and the sun. We have now, um, determined that they are not factors. How's it look?

    POLITICIAN: You still have this caveat about "not having continuous temperature records for 80% of the earth's surface, making positive correlation very difficult to establish."

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: Well, that's true, see, the world's been losing weather stations, and so there always were HUGE gaps in our data, and now they're even bigger...

    POLITICIAN: I can't do anything with this. And damn, I was so close to getting you a big grant.

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: Hang on, I can fix that. Okay, here you go -- I just took the city temperatures and extrapolated them out into the hinterlands.

    POLITICIAN: Is that, like, a valid assumption?

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: Do you care?

    POLITICIAN: Humor me.

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: Well... kinda-sorta.

    POLITICIAN: And in scientific terms, "kinda-sorta" translates as...

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: No.

    POLITICIAN: No?

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: No. Is it important?

    POLITICIAN: Not really. Just seemed like the sort of thing I should pretend to be interested about. Okay, but what about this Medieval Warm Period? In the IPCC first report on this in 1990, you guys said it was warmer from 1000-1350 than it is now, and obviously that's not driven by human industry or agriculture. The world had no machines and only like one tenth of the current population.

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: If that.

    POLITICIAN: If that. So you see my problem.

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: Okay, hang on.

    POLITICIAN: What's this?

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: Hockey stick.

    POLITICIAN: Hockey stick?

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: Hockey stick.

    POLITICIAN: Can you prove any of this?

    CLIMATE SCIENTIST: Again: How much do you care?

    POLITICIAN: 'Nuff said. Okay, I think we've got some grant money coming your way!

    Look, the problem here is that the data are simply unavailable to prove this one way or the other. The data do not exist.

    But the warmongers have decided that that that's not fair, they're not going to let a little missing data stand in their way, because Mother Earth has told them she's in pain. And they are going to bend, fold, and mutilate whatever spotty records they do have until they can claim to have something approaching a temperature record of the whole earth extending back 1000 years.

    ReplyDelete
  69. ...in 2008, submission to the Islamic faith became a legal requirement for citizens.

    Let me see, 2008? Was that last year? Yes, I believe it was.

    I think that is a crime against humanity...

    ReplyDelete
  70. BTW - Rufus, I looked at that chart you linked to and for the life of me, it looked as though the rise in sea level had doubled since 2005.

    The line kept going up and to the right. Did I miss something?

    I've noticed that some people love graphs, others not so much so.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Don't laugh, Melody, I believe old Jacques speculated at times we ought to evolve back into the sea.



    Towards the end of his life, he became pessimistic and even misanthropic: An ideal planet, he confided to Yves Paccalet, would be one in which humanity is limited to 100,000 people who are both educated and respectful of nature.


    Jacques Cousteau


    At the end of his life he got into a legal dispute with his son about the money.

    ReplyDelete
  72. Whit, look at the 60 day smoothing, line.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Whit, that was awesome. I always said, I belonged in that era. The only thing I have going for the sixties is that I was born in it. so, not much memory there.

    Thanks for linking that again. When I clicked on the first link it sent me to my profile, which was odd.

    ReplyDelete
  74. In the sixties, I was the younger brother who still lived at home and could only participate in a peripheral and vicarious way. But, I remember all that stuff, sorta. :)

    ReplyDelete
  75. I would never laugh at you, Bob. But I think I'm gonna a snow mobile this weekend not a boat.

    I actually can't watch that movie. It scares me.

    ReplyDelete
  76. The elk hunting was still good in the sixties.

    ReplyDelete
  77. So was the "bird" hunting. ;)

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  78. Ruf, I was talking with my engineer today about Climategate. He hadn't heard of that Russian stuff. Laughed his ass off.

    He was disappointed though, I only got two Sarah signed books, and couldn't give him one.

    ReplyDelete
  79. I got sick to death of the damned Beatles.

    My girlfriend's father, at the time, was a music prof, he couldn't stand 'em either.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Happy Chanukah to everyone.

    I have two calendars one says it started Friday at sundown and the other said Saturday. I checked they are the same year. I think it was Sat.

    Anyway, I hope everyone had a nice holiday.

    Peace out.

    ReplyDelete
  81. I was never a beatles fan, either. I'm still not.

    ReplyDelete
  82. heh, it brings back memories. I remember my mom and dad, and some of their friends, taking Latin dance lessons around that time. They knew how to have some fun.

    ReplyDelete
  83. In fact, slash that Thu Dec 17, 10:36:00 PM EST and make it Thu Dec 17, 10:39:00 PM EST, to Melody.

    ReplyDelete
  84. If you're interested in the Shroud of Turin--

    Shroud of Turin
    Official documenting photographer for the Shroud of Turin Research Project, Barrie Schwortz (related site: shroud.com) will discuss the Shroud, what it is, its meaning, authenticity, and the DNA testing of the relic. Jerome Corsi will join the conversation during the first hour.


    C2C tonight

    ReplyDelete
  85. llorando. Acappella! Bravisimo!

    ReplyDelete
  86. River Deep Mountain High From "Love Is", 1968

    Now, that's the sixties, baby!

    ReplyDelete
  87. From Judy Garland to noise devo, though it's kinda catchy noise.

    ReplyDelete
  88. I'm out of here.

    Peace out.

    ...until tomorrow night.

    ReplyDelete
  89. And in Time Magazine--

    Man, too, may be somewhat responsible for the cooling trend. The University of Wisconsin's Reid A. Bryson and other climatologists suggest that dust and other particles released into the atmosphere as a result of farming and fuel burning may be blocking more and more sunlight from reaching and heating the surface of the earth.

    Time Magazine, June 24, 1974

    Cover Shows Shivering Americans Huddled

    ReplyDelete
  90. :) heh My aunt had a lot of Franklin Mint stuff.


    from Words For The Wind, Love Poems

    THE SENTENTIOUS MAN

    1
    Spirit and nature beat in one breast-bone--
    I saw a Virgin writhing in the dirt--
    The serpent's heart sustains the loveless stone:
    My indirection found direction out.

    Pride in fine lineaments precedes a fall;
    True lechers love the flesh, and that is all.


    2
    We did not fly the flesh. Who does, when young?
    A fire leaps on itself: I know that flame.
    Some rages save us. Did I rage too long?
    The spirit knows the flesh it must consume.

    The dream's an instant that calls up her face.
    She changed me ice to fire, and fire to ice.


    3
    Small waves repeat the mind's slow sensual play.
    I stay alive, both in and out of time,
    By listening to the spirit's smallest cry;
    In the long night, I rest within her name--

    As if a lion knelt to kiss a rose,
    Astonished into passionate repose.


    4
    Though all's in motion, who is passing by?
    The after-image never stays the same.
    There was a thicket where I went to die,
    And there I thrashed, my thighs and face aflame.

    But my least motion changed into a song,
    And all dimensions quivered to one thing.


    5
    An exaltation takes us outside life:
    I can delight in my own hardihood;
    I taste my sister when I kiss my wife;
    I drink good liquor when my luck is good.

    A drunkard drinks, and belches in his drink;
    Such ardor tames eternity, I think.


    6
    Is pain a promise? I was schooled in pain,
    And found out all I could of all desire;
    I weep for what I'm like when I'm alone
    In the deep center of the voice and fire.

    I know the motion of the deepest stone.
    Each one's himself, yet each one's everyone.


    7
    I'm tired of brooding on my neighbor's soul;
    My friends become more Christian year by year.
    Small waters run toward a miry hole--
    That's not a thing I'm saying with a sneer--

    For water moves until it's purified,
    And the weak bridegroom strengthens in his bride.

    ReplyDelete
  91. THE SURLY ONE

    1
    When true love broke my heart in half,
    I took the whiskey from the shelf,
    And told my neighbors when to laugh.
    I keep a dog, and bark myself.

    2
    Ghost cries out to ghost--
    But who's afraid of that?
    I fear those shadows most
    That start from my own feet.

    ReplyDelete
  92. THE SENSUALISTS

    "There is no place to turn," she said,
    "You have me pinned so close;
    My hair's all tangled on your head,
    My back is just one bruise;
    I feel we're breathing with the dead;
    O angel, let me loose!"

    And she was right, for there beside
    The gin and cigarettes,
    A woman stood, pure as a bride,
    Affrighted from her wits,
    And breathing hard, as that man rode
    Between those lovely tits.

    "My shoulder's bitten from your teeth;
    What's that peculiar smell?
    No matter which one is beneath,
    Each is an animal,"--
    The ghostly figure sucked its breath,
    And shuddered toward the wall;
    Wrapped in the tattered robe of death,
    It tiptoed down the hall.

    "The bed itself begins to quake,
    I hate this sensual pen;
    My neck, if not my heart, will break
    If we do this again,"--
    Then each fell back, limp as a sack,
    Into the world of men.

    ReplyDelete