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."

Monday, September 05, 2011

The Sliming of Amercian Conservatism by US Left Wing Media

…But You Will Never Hear a Peep About Black Churches!




The slandering of the American conservative movement has begun







The slandering of the conservative movement has begun. For the past month, American newspapers have been awash with stories about the religion of various Republican presidential candidates. Michele Bachmann was portrayed in the New Yorker as a fanatical wingnut. Like Rick Perry, she has been labelled a follower of Dominionism – the belief that God gave Christians authority over all the Earth. Writing for the Daily Beast, Michelle Golberg compared Dominionism to fundamentalist Islam and warned that the GOP was engaged in an “all-out assault” on the separation of church and state. This Sunday, the liberal economist Paul Krugman’s grand thesis that the Republicans are now the “anti-science” party was republished in The Observer. By questioning evolution and global warming, Krugman says, the GOP has lost its right to rule.

Krugman’s article is a good example of what’s wrong with this hogwash reporting. It is true that Rick Perry called evolution “just a theory”, but who cares? He’s running to be President of the United States, not an eighth grade biology teacher. He will have no influence over what textbooks schools buy or what is taught in classrooms. His views on evolution are as relevant to the presidential race as the price of petrol in Timbuktu. The fact that they are shared by millions of Americans has done nothing to dent the country’s advances in science and technology. Nor are they any more irrational than the belief that Jesus walked on water or turned water into wine. Gospel stories are not only believed by many religious liberals, they are frequently quoted by Democratic presidential candidates. By the way, evolution is a theory. It is a theory constructed from individual scraps of evidence – a way of amalgamating observations into a grand design. Ergo: whenever the US deficit goes up, Paul Krugman calls for more spending – therefore we might theorise that he’s a drooling idiot. Remember: that’s just a theory, not a fact.

The assault on Dominionism is equally pernicious. In an expose piece in the New York Times, Bill Keller tells us that “I care a lot if a candidate is going to be a Trojan horse for a sect that believes it has divine instructions on how we should be governed.” He trots out the usual innuendos about evangelical Christians (they love slavery and hate evolution, and every church picnic climaxes in the ritual beheading of a transvestite). But he sneakily adds, “Neither Bachmann nor Perry has, as far as I know, pledged allegiance to the Dominionists.” Exactly. But doesn’t it make life more interesting to infer that they have?

Let’s imagine for a moment that Bachmann and Perry are Dominionists. Compare that wild and crazy faith with those held by two Democrats. Hank Johnson is the congressman from DeKalb County in Georgia and he’s a Buddhist. Specifically, he’s a follower of Daishonin Buddhism. Adherents gather regularly in large groups to sit cross-legged and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo at a portable shrine. The idea is that if they say these divine words while visualising their deepest desires, they’ll get what they’ve always wanted. Like evolution, it’s just a theory – but it’s much, much more cool.

Harry Reid, leader of the Senate Democrats, is a Mormon. Many readers probably won’t know that because the mainstream media oddly doesn’t talk about it. It’s okay to call Mitt Romney a polytheist with twelve wives, but Reid is untouchable because he’s a Democrat. And yet it’s reasonable to theorise that the leader of the Senate wears the magic underwear associated with Mormonism. Is his belief that Jesus walked on American soil, anti-science? Geographers and historians would probably object.

Democratic presidential candidates regularly visit black churches, Nancy Pelosi has invoked her Catholicism so many times you might think she was a nun, and Barack Obama was married by a pastor who actively hates America. Yet Krugman suggests that only the GOP uses and abuses religion every election. More sickening is the innuendo that there is a uniquely violent subtext to conservative faith, as if every Right-winger wants to shoot an abortionist. There is no comparison between fundamentalist Islam and Dominionism: one kills and the other doesn’t. The conflation of the two is ugly and deceitful.

132 comments:

  1. I liked Bill Clinton's brand of Religion (the kind most people practice.)

    Sometimes, when things were getting dicey, he would borrow this huge Bible (that must have weighed more than a large watermelon,) and get himself photographed coming down the steps of some Big, Fancy Church, somewhere or other; then he'd go back to the office, and ring for "Monica."

    He knew how to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think that's probably pretty much Perry's brand, but, not being overly bright, he gets carried away sometimes, and actually gets himself photographed "prayin'," and such.

    Bachmann is plain goofy. She probably is of the "Dominionist" variety.

    Palin is more of a "Frontier Populist" type Christian.

    They "All" worship at the alter of fossil fuels, though.

    And, that's as bad as worshipping at the alter of "green" energy, and globull warming.

    We, sincerely, need someone with a brain.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mitt Romney's probably the smartest; but, thou shalt Not enter the Pearly White House wearing Magic underwear.

    Not "running as a republican," anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What's Obama's brand of religion?

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Make Whitey Pay" branch of the Marxist/Socialist Church?

    ReplyDelete
  6. You sir, obviously need someone with a brain. BP was/ is a large contributor to the Obama administration.

    Where are those green jobs? With the unicorns?

    ReplyDelete
  7. BP/Exxon/Shell, et al are Large Contributors to ALL campaigns.

    And, actually, the Renewable Energy Industry IS about the only industry that's creating jobs.

    We have a Trade Surplus with China, and with the rest of the world, in Photovoltaics.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Look at, arguably, the most successful state in the Union - Iowa.

    Better than average GDP/Capita, and 6% unemployment.

    Gets 20% of its electricity from Wind.

    A large food exporter, and within a gnat's lash of being a "net energy exporter." And, not an oil well, or coal mine in sight.

    ReplyDelete
  9. there is conservative and there is religious conservative

    Deuce doesn't mind kissing the asses of the religious conservatives even though, just like Bush, they ain't conservative at all.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Lattitude of Des Moines, Iowa is 41 degrees.

    The same as rome, Italy.

    The people of Iowa already see that "Wind" works. In a recent survey, over 80% of Iowans wanted More Wind energy.

    Now, Sarah Palin gives her "Major" Speech in Iowa, dumping on Solar. I question that strategy.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What's obama's religion?

    ReplyDelete
  12. What's obama's religion?

    ReplyDelete
  13. .

    Hey, is this the anonymous from Podunk or from Bumfuck, Egypt?

    .

    ReplyDelete
  14. When the wind blows in Iowa, it's an Iowan that makes money - not some coal mine-owner in Wyoming.

    (and, yes, they manufacture Wind Turbines in Iowa.)

    When someone puts ethanol in their fuel tank in Iowa, it's Iowans that get the money (not some Saudi Sheik, or Russian Oligarch.)

    Now, they've gone through the second long, hot, dry summer in a row, and Sarahbaby makes "bashing solar" a focal point of her policy speech?

    This was dumb. This tells me that Sarah is ill-informed. This tells me that Sarah doesn't know that the price of Solar is plummeting, and that Solar will fit in very well with Iowa's Wind Power.

    I don't think this fact will be lost on all Iowans.

    ReplyDelete
  15. .

    Or maybe it's the beach boy from Maui.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  16. I liked Bill Clinton's brand of Religion (the kind most people practice.)

    The last time the debt actually shrank was 1998-2000, under Bubba. So I believe he has been rehabilitated by history.

    Mitt Romney's probably the smartest; but, thou shalt Not enter the Pearly White House wearing Magic underwear.

    They said the same thing about Cat'licks, before JFK. Reagan talked the talk, but he believed that born again crap about as much as I believe Keanu Reeves is a hottie. The last real born again president we had was Carter and look what that got us.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Did Sarah spend a trillion dollars and state that unemployment would not exceed 8%?

    Obama lied, the economy died.

    Iowans probably remember that as well.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Is Obama smart? By what metric?

    ReplyDelete
  19. The President is a Christian, self-proclaimed.

    What difference does it possibly make?

    The jobs are in Mexico, at the GM and Ford Motor Company plants.

    They are in India, at the call enters of New Delhi.

    They are in China, at the Intel and Apple Computer manufacturing plants, there.

    Remember Ross Perot and that "Giant Sucking Sound"

    ReplyDelete
  20. GW Bush killed the economy, Obama has kept it on life support.

    Let's not become revisionists, anon.

    ReplyDelete
  21. In fairness, though, He DID have a lot of help. :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. So Obama believes the bible. The desert rat says he's a Christian. The debt and deficit are much worse under Obama. Unemployment higher as well.

    Don't you have a Maxine waters or van jones rally to attend desert rat?

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

    ReplyDelete
  24. Desrt rat is to this bar as Eugene Robinson is to
    Clueless, but a loyal defender of incompetency.
    Please, tell everyone how wonderful Obama is.

    ReplyDelete
  25. No, no rallies, just you to attend to.

    Light work, at worst.

    Obama is a Christian, just like Anders Breivik and Warren Jeffs.

    One fella, he's not only a Christian, he's a prophet of Christ or God, or some such.

    Self-proclaimed,

    ReplyDelete
  26. Mr Obama's pastor, back in Chi-town, a Christian that Ms Oprah was fond of.

    The reason Obama's kids were in the pews, to be next to Oprah, not to listen to the preachers.

    Sit with the "O", you'll be good to go.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Went all the way to the White House.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Poor anon, without identity.

    Soulless.

    ReplyDelete
  29. It must be disappointing for you desert rat. So enthusiastic about incompetency, but you don't seem to be the brightest light I the sky. At least not based on your writings and thoughts expressed. Please, tell us how great things are during the Obama presidency.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I'll say this about Bush: He actually Did see "peak oil" coming, and tried to get us on the path toward biofuels.

    He was also a supporter of Wind, and Solar.

    He just didn't see the Banking Crisis. Neither did most of the rest of us. Some did; and they warned us. But, we thought the Banks knew how to "bank." Shame on us.

    ReplyDelete
  31. .

    It's understandable that someone who can't afford a screen name would be a little bitter.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  32. Where are your facts desert rat? What do you have to convince everyone of what a great presidency Obama is presiding over. Go fetch.

    ReplyDelete
  33. ALL those republican candidates for pres. are a bunch of doctrinaire religious conservatives. Obama, like all politicians in the US, don the mantle of religion because they have too. Those republicans though, are fucking bible thumpers for real - proponents or just a different kind of Sharia law.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Things pretty much suck, with a GOP controlled Congress.

    As they did with a GW Bush Presidency.

    More jobs lost under GW than Obama.

    Obama, ineffectual.

    Not a re-education camp in sight.
    Deportations of illegal aliens are up.

    Interest rates, at historic lows.

    Osama is dead.

    ReplyDelete
  35. "God said..." "the bible is the WORD of God" fuckin' religious bullshit. Not a friggin conservative in sight.

    ReplyDelete
  36. The US controls 25% of global GDP
    It has 3% of the population.

    Kickin' ass and taking names.

    The EU central banks are in turmoil, where does the money flee to?

    US Treasuries, of course.

    Our problems, our greatest challenges, they're all in the margins.

    There is no where in the whirled that surpasses the United States.

    Never forget that, anon.
    It is the bedrock of reality.

    Presidents, they come and go.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Personally, I'm slowly moving out of the "conservative" camp, into the "Moderate" camp. Call it the "middle of the road" camp.

    ReplyDelete
  38. The GOP took the House of Representatives and things did change, but it was not as anon hoped.

    No, it got worse.
    The US was down graded by S&P, due to the GOP.

    While the capital flight of the whirled flows to those very Treasuries, even as we speak.

    The is no where else where wealth is a secure, as it is in the United States.

    No where.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Unemployment. Energy prices. Housing. Inflation. Debt. Deficits.

    The food stamp presidency. Isn't Obama a "bible thumper" too? Or does he just play one on TV?

    ReplyDelete
  40. And, Tha's a Fact, Jack. :)


    It is easy to forget that sometimes.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Referring to the 11:26 post, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Rat, the US is tilting ever further to the radical religious right with preachers pulling the puppets strings on a populist level while the money pulls the strings at the political level. US treasuries safe?? Sure are until the EU cracks and then it'll be the US's turn - as if things aren't bad enough already and the FED is weighing in buying US bonds left right and center. US number one riiiight.

    ReplyDelete
  43. No where else in the whirled with a waiting list of folks that want to emigrate to.

    Where millions of people have risked life and limb to reach, but the United States.

    No where else in the whirled where so much of the capital in flight lands.

    No where else where so many people are voting with their feet and their wealth to reach.

    Bedrock reality, anon.

    No matter the politics of the day.

    The Federal Socialists win, regardless of which side they claim to represent.

    ReplyDelete
  44. If not the US, anon, who is number one?

    Name who is the top spot.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Excuse desert rat, he forgot that obama held the senate and house until 2010.

    Where are those jobs desert rat? Obama lied, the economy died.

    Unemployment rate is currently worse than when Obama took office. How's employment with the black community rat? Did you attend your CBC job fair? Sorry about that wasted trillion.


    Everyone must be convinced by desert rat, everything is great.

    ReplyDelete
  46. From '09 through '10 the economy was recovering.

    Employment, though anemic, had broken the trend line established in '08 and was headed up.

    It was not until the GOP took the House that the recovery cratered.

    They focusing upon the debt due, in 2020, rather than how their actions would impact the economy, today.

    The confidence that was slowly recovering amongst the public was stabbed in the back, by the House of Representatives.

    Which is why their popularity is at historic lows.

    ReplyDelete
  47. It must be disappointing rat.

    Don't think you've convinced many how wonderful Obama is.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Teabagger Logic: "I hate the government, why isn't the government creating jobs?!"

    ReplyDelete
  49. There are a few glimmers of hope. Very faint, but visible.

    People are starting to talk a little bit about Corporate Taxes. It really is important that we get them down to a competitive level. Around ten or fifteen percent would suit me.

    Inflation is causing China to have to allow the Yuan to appreciate a little faster than they'd like. Also, wages are rising in China. These things will help our Global Competitiveness.

    Ford is playing around with a Focus over in Sweden that should, from what little I've read about it, get Very good gas mileage on E85 (the key is a non-O2 ethanol sensor, and a block heater.)

    When Greece, et al, are finally kicked out of the EU Germany will have to deal with a much stronger currency to export with (again, making our exports more competitive.)

    These are small things that won't make much difference, Tomorrow, but will add up over the long run.

    ReplyDelete
  50. The Housing/Banking Bust won't go on Forever. It'll seem like, but it won't. Give it a couple more years.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Palin did do one important thing in her Iowa speech, I think. By coming out for a "Zero" Corporate Tax Rate she will force the other candidates to start talking more about Corporate Taxes.

    The average person's eyes start to glaze over when you bring up "Corporate Taxes," but it is a, genuinely, urgent concern.

    And, say what you want about Sarah Palin, if she brings it up, people will talk about it.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Palin's on TV, now. Goddamn I wish she'd get a voice coach, and learn how to use the microphone. She yells like she's at a hog-callin' contest. Screeches, is more like it.

    When she calms down, and moves closer to the mike her voice is fine. She needs a "Singing" Coach.

    ReplyDelete
  53. The rat plaintively asked "If not the US, anon, who is number one?"

    dude there is a whole wide big world out there and not a single country need step up to be "number 1" Capital doesn't give a shit who's number one just where can they make a return, or, at least in today's world, not lose. Switzerland, Brazil, China, Australia, Canada, Gold all just a place to park that hot liquid booty.

    As the US has lost confidence in itself so too will the rest of the world. Hold on to your hats because the decline and fall can be a wild ride with some damn hard bumps as you careen to the bottom.

    ReplyDelete
  54. When that voice rises I get a headache.

    ReplyDelete
  55. All that sand in Arizona makes for a comfortable place to lay ones head. Too bad there isn't much water to go with that comfortable lie.

    ReplyDelete
  56. I guess the hitjobs on Republicans, Mormons, Conservatives, Christians, Tea Partiers will have to continue for a while from the NYT until the Palin polls are brought forth.The insinuations of bigotry exist prinarily in the NYT editorial offices. Manhattan liberals don't need any encouragement there, but it is all throughout the media. At a publishing house in Manhattan, which I am familiar with, the staff is about 75% gay. HBO writers are similar

    Their favorite fantasy was that the evangelicals were massing up on the west banks of the Hudson for the final genocidal attack. They loved movies and plays on this theme, which they attended (and produced) as often as possible. How they yearned for martyrdom!

    I'm sure there's 1% of the GOP who who would "never!" vote for a Mormon, or a Catholic, or an Italian or a Jew, and so on... Same with the Dems. Conflating that with Party wide bigotry is just a sleazy NYT "concern-troll" move. Look around. Who mocks and belittles people for their Religion? The institutional Left, not the Right. If there's a grand unifying theme, it's on their side.

    ReplyDelete
  57. I like Black Preachers. They make no bones about the fact that Religion, and Preachin', are all about Political Power, and Financial Power.

    Tha's what we're here for, folks; to "Praise the Lord," and "Get Ours." :)

    That's the kind of "Believin'" even I can believe in. :)

    ReplyDelete
  58. Been lurking over here for a few weeks and decided to venture a comment. Unless we're debating about the best way to proceed to actually fix some things, the back and forth between progressive and conservatives is really for naught. All that's really being discussed is how we "feel" and not what can be "done". In other words, it's a staged debate that really is diversionary mainly because there's nothing that can come out of it that can represent concrete actions plans.

    FB

    ReplyDelete
  59. As someone pointed out, upthread, anon, the same money finances both sides. There's a limit to the "solutions." :)

    ReplyDelete
  60. As far as I can tell, only one church has ever lost its tax exempt status. The tax code churches have a special status and do not need to apply for tax exempt status. A churches tax exempt status cannot be pulled from the church on a permanent basis.

    Here is the case on one that lost:
    BRANCH MINISTRIES v. ROSSOTTI CASE
    Four days before the 1992 presidential election, the Church at Pierce Creek (“Church”) in Binghamton, N.Y., placed a full-page advertisement in USA Today and The Washington Times. The ad began with the heading: “Christians Beware: Do not put the economy ahead of the Ten Commandments.” The ad cited biblical passages, and stated that Gov. Bill Clinton supported abortion on demand, homosexuality and the distribution of condoms to teenagers in public schools. The ad concluded with the question: “How then can we vote for Bill Clinton?” At the bottom of the ad, in fine print, the following notice appeared: “This advertisement was co-sponsored by The Church at Pierce Creek, Daniel J. Little, Senior Pastor, and by churches and concerned Christians nationwide. Tax-deductible donations for this advertisement gladly accepted. Make donations to: The Church at Pierce Creek.”

    Following the special church audit procedures, the IRS revoked the Church’s section 501(c)(3) tax exemption on the grounds that it violated the political campaign intervention prohibition. The Church challenged the IRS in court, claiming that revocation of its tax-exempt status violated section 501(c)(3), both the Free Speech and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Church also claimed that it had been singled out for prosecution on account of its political views. The district court dismissed the case, concluding that the IRS had authority under the Internal Revenue Code to revoke the Church’s tax-exempt status, and that revocation of the Church’s tax-exempt status did not violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act or the Free Speech or Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment.


    FB

    ReplyDelete
  61. Eoropean markets are getting trounced:


    The DAX [.GDAXI 5246.18 -292.15 (-5.28%) ] led the losers, falling by more than 5 percent, while stocks in London and Paris also fell sharply.

    ReplyDelete
  62. If I had to Greatly Oversimplify, I'd say that the Libs are responsible for the Mortgage/Banking meltdown, and the Pubs, disproportionately, own the Energy Crisis.

    But, that is Such an oversimplification as to be virtually meaningless.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Oil/Gasoline Prices plunging, also.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Always before, it's been greatly diminished gasoline/oil prices that have helped pull us out of Recession.

    Sooner or later, we'll have a recession that Doesn't spawn gas prices low enough to be a stimulus out. Will this be the one? Stay tuned.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Worldwide Wind Capacity up about 23% YOY in first half of '11. China continues to kick ass.

    Total Worldwide Capacity - 215,000 Megawatts


    India is "coming on."

    ReplyDelete
  66. Those "Wild and Crazy Commies" in Germany are in 3rd place. But, you know how flighty, and impractical those German engineers are. :)

    ReplyDelete
  67. Those things generate, on average, about 30% of Capacity; so, on any given day you're getting about 65,000 X 24 or about 1,560,000 MW Hours of electricity from Wind, worldwide.

    Or, One Thousand, Five Hundred and Sixty Gigawatt Hours per day.

    ReplyDelete
  68. I'm thinking of forming a church for tax purposes. All I need is four or five other guys or gals here in Ideeehooo and I'm "good to go."

    risky

    ReplyDelete
  69. I'm thinking of calling it THE FIRST EQUESTRIAN CHURCH OF THE BAREBACK RIDERS DAUGHTER PRESIDING MOUNTED DONATIONS IN ALFALFA ONLY

    This would, or should, satisfy that shit ass Allen, who predicts the demise of his hated Christianity.

    Ain't gonna happen, Ally poo..

    risky

    Why? Cause the mind works in myth, ever turning, ever residing...

    ReplyDelete
  70. I'm thinking of forming a church for tax purposes. All I need is four or five other guys or gals here in Ideeehooo and I'm "good to go."

    Brown skinned lesbians don't do so hot in Panhandle Idaho churches.

    ReplyDelete
  71. About 569 Billion kw hrs/yr.

    Approx. the entire electrical consumption of Canada, or France, or Germany.

    ReplyDelete
  72. C'mon Miss T, you and me, let's start one up!

    The world needs us!!!!

    risky

    ReplyDelete
  73. Don' be silly, T. Brown-skinned lesbos is hot, everwhere.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Here in Ideehooo tooo, big donations plate draw.....tithings.......


    risky

    ReplyDelete
  75. Teresita said...
    Teabagger Logic: "I hate the government, why isn't the government creating jobs?!"


    Spoken like a true gay person....


    Teaparty people do not drip their balls into other men's mouths...

    As for Tea Party Logic?

    "I hate an over regulating government, why is the government spending money it doesnt have on redistrubition and nonsense....?!"

    ReplyDelete
  76. the Pubs, disproportionately, own the Energy Crisis.

    I'd lay that one to the feet of the inherent dynamics of capitalism, which always seeks to maximize short-term profits. That has been done by mining energy. Now we must switch over to farming energy.

    ReplyDelete
  77. Great article. The puppet masters will decide who they want for president. Their media will vilify the other guy (or gal). It will all come together just as they want it. Their agents in their pre selected positions. Their agenda will continue to advance, manipulating markets as they see fit, buying low, selling high, and reaping.

    The rest of us roll with the punches.

    ReplyDelete
  78. Ms T: Brown skinned lesbians don't do so hot in Panhandle Idaho churches.


    Back to your story that you are really a woman are you?

    ReplyDelete
  79. Saving the world about 625,000 Tons of Coal/Day, if I'm figuring it correctly.

    ReplyDelete
  80. I'd lay that one to the feet of the inherent dynamics of capitalism, which always seeks to maximize short-term profits.


    I gotta pretty much agree with you on this one, T. It IS the nature of the system.

    James Schlesinger said, "Democracy has Two modes: Complacency, and Panic."

    ReplyDelete
  81. And, people really, and truly, hate doomsayers. Even if the doomsayers turn out to be right.

    All politicians instinctively know this.

    ReplyDelete
  82. And, people really, and truly, hate doomsayers. Even if the doomsayers turn out to be right.

    All politicians instinctively know this.

    ReplyDelete
  83. We won't even discuss the incongruency of Gold hitting $1,900/oz amidst all this.

    ReplyDelete
  84. Back to your story that you are really a woman are you?

    That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Me at Chinook Pass 9-2-11. (With wig on, of course, the chemo did a number on my hair).

    ReplyDelete
  85. Here's the thing, when the IEA publishes something like This:

    Solar generators may produce the majority of the world’s power within 50 years, slashing the emissions of greenhouse gases that harm the environment, according to a projection by the International Energy Agency.

    Photovoltaic and solar-thermal plants may meet most of the world’s demand for electricity by 2060 -- and half of all energy needs -- with wind, hydropower and biomass plants supplying much of the remaining generation, Cedric Philibert, senior analyst in the renewable energy division at the Paris-based agency, said in an Aug. 26 phone interview.

    “Photovoltaic and concentrated solar power together can become the major source of electricity,” Philibert said. “You’ll have a lot more electricity than today but most of it will be produced by solar-electric technologies.”


    IEA Article

    Who, exactly, is Palin going after with her anti-Solar rant? The "I don't read" vote? The "I Cain't read" vote. The "I Can read, but I work in the fossil-fuel industry" vote?

    Ignorance, and/or pandering to the "ignorant vote" is unbecoming to a politician. I'm a little disappointed.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Israel ought to be the 51 first state, I got no problem.



    risky

    ReplyDelete
  87. Teresita said...
    Back to your story that you are really a woman are you?

    That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Me at Chinook Pass 9-2-11. (With wig on, of course, the chemo did a number on my hair).




    this
    is a man...






    and
    this is a woman.






    at least according to the new pc correct definitions...



    So if the above is true, why can't I be a male lesbian?

    ReplyDelete
  88. Teresita said...
    For a variety of reasons, neither Israel nor the US has exercised its lawful right of anticipatory self-defense against Iran.

    US self-defense? How does that make any sense, unless Israel is the 51st state?



    Same reason America has defense treaties with South Korea and Taiwan.

    Israel is not, nor does it want to be America's 51st state.

    Guam, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia all have dibs on that honor 1st. (Northern Mariana Islands, United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa too)

    ReplyDelete
  89. .

    So if the above is true, why can't I be a male lesbian?



    You'll get no argument from me WiO. I always thought you were kind of a pussy anyway.

    :)

    .

    ReplyDelete
  90. You'll get no argument from me WiO. I always thought you were kind of a pussy anyway.

    Yeah, a pussy shoots another driver when he gets flipped off on the highway, or nukes Mecca when 19 guys with box cutters get in a lucky sucker punch. Pussies are scary because they need to use disproportionate force.

    ReplyDelete
  91. .

    Pussies are scary because they need to use disproportionate force.


    Nonsense.

    They just talk about using disproportionate force.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  92. Wouldn't you think that someone running for President of the United States should have some inkling of things like this:

    The solar-equipment industry has begun its biggest consolidation in two years with $3.3 billion of mergers and acquisitions announced so far this year. The benchmark Bloomberg Industries Large Solar Energy index fell 2.2 percent today to 29.05 as of 1:48 p.m. London time, the lowest since March of 2009, according to Bloomberg data.

    Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar says it can make modules for $0.75 per watt and aims to reduce the cost of production to as little as $0.52 a watt by 2014. First Solar doesn’t reveal its average selling price.

    Abound Solar’s average module efficiency will rise to 11.1 percent by the end of 2012 from 10 percent, he said. Better panel efficiency means sunlight can be converted into more electricity, a key factor in reducing the cost of solar power to a level that’s competitive with other energy sources.

    Cheap Glass

    The company sources cadmium-telluride from three suppliers, including 5NPlus Inc., Hawkins said. Those raw materials could double in price without making any “fundamental difference” in the cost of its modules, he said.


    The Darwin Effect


    $0.52 Watt?

    Holy, Moly.

    ReplyDelete
  93. Pussies are scary because they need to use disproportionate force.

    Nonsense.

    They just talk about using disproportionate force.


    And WiO, if the ballerina shoes fit, wear them.

    ReplyDelete
  94. Teresita said...
    Pussies are scary because they need to use disproportionate force.

    Nonsense.

    They just talk about using disproportionate force.

    And WiO, if the ballerina shoes fit, wear them.



    No clue what that means...

    But if you mean that I wish to use disproportionate force on a terrorist that is a shoe I wish to wear.

    If some day I am faced with a legal choice to use disproportionate force against a rapist, terrorist or life threatening criminal? I will...

    And I wear sneakers....

    But as a real lesbian, I do like pussies....

    I am a PROUD male lesbian......

    and your sliming of American Conservatism with your "tea bagging" and calling those of us that do support bombing terror bases back to the stone age as "pussies" really is a statement of your own fears and inadequacy..

    How's that flannel you wear so much working out for ya?

    ReplyDelete
  95. Teresita said...
    You'll get no argument from me WiO. I always thought you were kind of a pussy anyway.

    Yeah, a pussy shoots another driver when he gets flipped off on the highway, or nukes Mecca when 19 guys with box cutters get in a lucky sucker punch. Pussies are scary because they need to use disproportionate force.


    Fuck you you lying sack of shit...

    Nuking a ROCK aint nuking a city... but you like to lie... What a bitch you are....

    sorry I take back the bitch remark...

    You are just a distorting motherfucker...

    ReplyDelete
  96. Ms T?

    You are not good enough to be called a
    pussy"

    You just lie, distort and twist people's words, even when you have been corrected at least a dozen times.

    That is you I guess

    a simple LIAR.

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

    ReplyDelete
  98. Ms T.

    Our resident lesbian and advocate of women's equality states:

    19 guys with box cutters get in a lucky sucker punch. Pussies are scary because they need to use disproportionate force.





    Defending Islam several days before the 10th ani of 911...

    What a piece of Class you are...

    Those 3000 people MURDERED dont count for nothing to you....

    I advocate the destruction of the black rock of mecca...

    You lie and say I advocate the genocide of a city.

    America nuked 2 cities and you say nothing of that....

    You are a pussy....

    ReplyDelete
  99. Ms T:

    A pussy is someone who murders innocents or defends them...

    A pussy is one who lies about what people say clearly...

    and you sir are a pussy....

    ReplyDelete
  100. The "sir" was not a gender specific term...

    ReplyDelete
  101. In case anyone was wondering, I'm not really anti-Israel, I just like getting WiO to shit his pants on this blog.

    ReplyDelete
  102. Teresita said...
    In case anyone was wondering, I'm not really anti-Israel, I just like getting WiO to shit his pants on this blog.


    Bullshit....

    1. you dont cause me to "shit my pants"

    2. your comments demeaning jews, israel and zionism has been been established.

    As for you personally?

    I think you are a shit.

    I like lesbians, asians and women.

    You?

    You are an anti-semite.

    deep down in your soul you hate judaism, Israel, Zionism, Men and the west and it shows.....

    ReplyDelete
  103. deep down in your soul you hate judaism, Israel, Zionism, Men and the west and it shows.....

    I don't hate anyone or anything.

    I don't believe in special rights for Zionists.

    Jews are the "elder brethren" of Christians, entrusted with the oracles of God.

    Israel is a secular state which is not the fulfillment of any messianic prophesy.

    Men are an important component of humanity.

    The West is best.

    ReplyDelete
  104. Men are an important component of humanity.

    Thanks for saying that T, I haven't heard it around the house much of late. Out at the stables is another matter, there I get respect.

    risky

    ReplyDelete
  105. But two Pakistani security officials in Quetta, in Baluchistan province, told AFP the three men were arrested early last week in a late-night operation in Satellite town, an upmarket city suburb, along with two Pakistanis.

    According to Pakistan's army, al Mauritani was instructed by bin Laden to focus on economic targets in the United States, Europe and Australia, AFP said.

    "He was planning to target United States economic interests including gas/oil pipelines, power generating dams and strike ships/oil tankers through explosive-laden speed boats in international waters," the army said.

    ReplyDelete
  106. Teresita said...
    deep down in your soul you hate judaism, Israel, Zionism, Men and the west and it shows.....

    I don't hate anyone or anything.

    I don't believe in special rights for Zionists.

    Jews are the "elder brethren" of Christians, entrusted with the oracles of God.

    Israel is a secular state which is not the fulfillment of any messianic prophesy.

    Men are an important component of humanity.

    The West is best.





    man it's getting full of bullshit in here....

    hundreds of your posts say what you feel and believe..

    now you are above all of that...

    you are so full of it...

    really....

    as for some thoughts about your thoughts?


    Ms t:



    I don't hate anyone or anything.


    Really? No one or anything? If someone stuck your pretty little gal pal on a pitchfork or threw her and your family into an oven you would not hate those that did that or the "ism" that promoted it?

    Hating evil is a good thing sweetie... get a spine and a soul...

    Ms T: I don't believe in special rights for Zionists.

    I believe you, I also believe you dont believe in any rights for Israel let alone "special" rights. Not that Zionists ask for "special rights".. After Jews hold on to 1/900th of the middle east and that sadly is populated by 20% arabs (who have full civil rights)


    Ms T: Jews are the "elder brethren" of Christians, entrusted with the oracles of God.

    Which you savage on a weekly basis....

    Ms T: Israel is a secular state which is not the fulfillment of any messianic prophesy.

    No "zionist" ever said it was, otherwise we would not have SPENT a billion dollars in the early part of the century buying land from the arab land holders...

    If it were "fulfillment of any messianic prophesy" we could have just diven OUT the arabs of israel into the arab world... As it stands now? there are MORE arabs LIVING in Israel today then were in the entire disputed lands 60 years (west bank, gaza and israel)


    Ms T: Men are an important component of humanity.


    Gee I feel so honored as a "an important component of humanity"... Whether you see it or not, we are 1/2 the picture sweetie.......

    Ms T: The West is best.

    Sure is, even men hating, jew hating twits like you get to have freedom of speech, no matter how absurd or repulsive your POV's are...

    The west is the best....

    Your historic lands suck.......

    ReplyDelete
  107. .

    As Rick Perry becomes the candidate to beat in the Republican presidential field, his public policy ideas are being examined, including his call for substantially reducing the costs of higher education. He asked Texas's top colleges to come up with a program that costs no more than $10,000 for four years of tuition, fees and textbooks...

    Perry Calls for $10,ooo B.A. A Great Idea or Just Politics?

    .

    ReplyDelete
  108. Bob, repeat after me --

    "I am an important component of humanity."

    "I am an important component of humanity."

    risky

    ReplyDelete
  109. Perry Calls for $10,ooo B.A. A Great Idea or Just Politics?

    College is a fancy way of rationing jobs. Nobody uses or even remembers calculus except research specialists maybe. Certainly not Rufus, who thinks demand remains static as oil production peaks.

    If everyone gets a B.A, then employers will start requiring six-year degrees, and we're right back where we are.

    ReplyDelete
  110. Rufus is an important component of humanity too.

    risky

    ReplyDelete
  111. "The work you've done that helped build the greatest middle class that the world has ever known," Obama said.

    He said unions were responsible for gaining paid leave, pensions and health insurance for workers, calling those achievements "the cornerstones of middle class security."

    "That's because of your work," the president said.

    ReplyDelete
  112. .

    If everyone gets a B.A, then employers will start requiring six-year degrees, and we're right back where we are...



    There is obviously a limit to how far you can take that argument and in which fields.

    In the recent past, it was the way of the world. If you were in HR at some company looking to fill a job and you had two applicants that were equal in all respects except that one had a BS and the other had a Masters, who were you likely to hire.

    I would say the guy with the Masters. Why? Why should the HR guy take a chance on being second guessed regarding qualifications if the applicant doesn't pan out?

    However, in today's market, given the jobs available, the applicant has as much a chance of being overqualified as underqualified.

    But if people are trained in IT and computers, science, and math, then it removes the excuses we are hearing about not having enough qualified candidates for the open jobs.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  113. Look at Quirk as a prime example, yet even he is an important component of humanity, way far out on the orbit as his case may be.

    risky

    ReplyDelete
  114. .

    Members of debt panel have ties to lobbyists

    Like many federal contractors, General Electric has a lot riding on the work of a new congressional “supercommittee,” which will help decide whether to impose massive cuts in defense and health-care spending.

    But the Connecticut-based conglomerate also has a potential advantage: A number of its lobbyists used to work for members of the committee, and they are now focused on swaying their former employers to limit the impact of any reductions.

    GE is hardly alone: Nearly 100 registered lobbyists used to work for members of the supercommittee, now representing defense companies, health-care conglomerates, Wall Street banks and others with a vested interest in the panel’s outcome, according to a Washington Post analysis of disclosure data. Three Democrats and three Republicans on the panel also employ former industry lobbyists on their staffs.

    The preponderance of lobbyists adds to the political controversy surrounding the supercommittee, which will begin its work in earnest this week as Congress returns to Washington. The panel has already come under fire from watchdog groups for planning its activities in secret and allowing members to continue fundraising while they negotiate a budget deal...


    One Hand Washes the Other

    .

    ReplyDelete
  115. It's a lot more complicated than that, T. You have to break it up into demographics, and geography. Producers, and non-producers.

    Demand for petroleum is falling in the U.S. But, Demand is rising in China, and the ME, itself. And, it's going to be damned nigh impossible to keep demand from rising in those areas. Even in the face of substantial price increases.

    My present calculations involve how low prices have to go to keep the economy moving in the medium-term, and whether those prices can be achieved through foreseeable means. Notice I said, "medium term."

    There's a reason I specified "medium term." Whatever the price is, we can't get there in the short-term, and it's a lead pipe cinch we'll get there in the "long term." So, it's the medium-term that's in play.

    ReplyDelete
  116. Who the devil ever cinched with a lead pipe, even in the medium term??

    Bob's daughter cinches with leather, real soft like.

    risky

    ReplyDelete
  117. US motorists and investors, hoping a glut of crude in the Midwest and big discounts for US oil futures compared with Brent will translate into cheaper motoring and relief for hard-pressed consumers, are in for a disappointment.

    Prices paid by US motorists are set by Brent, not US light sweet crude futures, commonly known as West Texas Intermediate, WTI.

    And from an economic perspective, it is Brent prices (still up $19, 20% since the start of the year) rather than US crude futures (down $3, 3.5%) that matter for spending patterns and the health of the economy.


    Brent, not WTI

    Of course, in Australia it's Tapis Crude.

    ReplyDelete
  118. "Well, I wouldn't want to discourage a good primary contest on their side, but I don't want to be in a position where I'm endorsing Hillary Clinton," he said.

    "That might be the kiss of death for her. The fact is, I will be supporting the Republican nominee, and I think we've got some good candidates that are going to mount effective campaigns against the Obama administration.

    "I don't have any reason to believe that Hillary Clinton is interested in running, but maybe she is," Cheney added.

    ReplyDelete
  119. Asian stocks and U.S. futures fell, Treasury 10-year yields sank to a record, and the euro slid for a fifth day against the franc on speculation Europe’s debt crisis is worsening. Asian credit risk rose to a two-year high.

    ...

    “There are some very, very cheap markets in Asia right now but obviously we’re in free-fall so you’ve got to pick your entry,” Todd Martin, an Asia equity strategist at Societe General SA, said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Hong Kong. “The euro-basis risk among banks is getting wider, so we’re getting into crisis territory.”

    ...

    Futures expiring in September indicate the S&P 500 may extend a two-day, 3.7 percent sell-off. Data today may show U.S. services industries grew at the slowest pace in more than a year, two days before President Barack Obama addresses the nation on his plan to reignite the economy and boost hiring.

    ReplyDelete
  120. In Oz:

    Elsewhere, an unofficial measure of inflation experienced its first fall in almost two years.

    At 5.00pm (AEST) the Australian dollar was buying 105.7 US cents, 74.8 euro cents, 81.1 Japanese yen and 65.4 British pence.

    Spot gold was worth $US1,884 an ounce, West Texas crude was lower at $US86.45 a barrel and Tapis was also lower at $US121.9 a barrel.

    ReplyDelete
  121. Our big number, tomorrow, is the "Services ISM." A lot of people praying that it doesn't come in below 50.

    ReplyDelete
  122. GOP presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann yesterday said she was just using a "metaphor" when she quipped that a back-to-back earthquake and hurricane was God's warning for Washington.

    ReplyDelete
  123. anon bob,

    This would, or should, satisfy that shit ass Allen, who predicts the demise of his hated Christianity.


    Last evening I had dinner with dear friends - Christian. Their religion is safe with me. You on the other hand, are projecting and sublimating again.

    ReplyDelete
  124. I hope you are right Allen and you can go horseback riding with my daughter who you said I fucked, you slime ball.

    You asshole

    risky

    ReplyDelete
  125. You said I fucked my own daughter....then you talk bout having dinner with Christians.


    FUCK YOU YOU PIECE OF JEWISH SHIT

    ReplyDelete
  126. "Anonymous said...
    Israel ought to be the 51 first state, I got no problem.



    risky"


    Why would Israel want to be a lowly state when it has such inordinate power at the federal level?

    ReplyDelete
  127. I am so angry I forgot to sign off with

    risky

    ReplyDelete
  128. I'm far past Israel. I hate Allen's guts.

    risky

    What a turd, what a great representative of the Jews.

    Allen the IMMACULATE

    Just one unread whinny shithole from Atlanta.

    ReplyDelete