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."

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Israeli first strike would be likely to have dire consequences across the region and for United States forces there.

Spiking oil prices could cripple economic recovery

Published On Mon Mar 19 2012
Gasoline prices jumped above $5 a gallon at this Exxon station in Washington, D.C., on March 13. Each of the three global recessions prior to 2008 was caused by a geopolitical shock in the Middle East that led to a sharp spike in oil prices.
Gasoline prices jumped above $5 a gallon at this Exxon station in Washington, D.C., on March 13. Each of the three global recessions prior to 2008 was caused by a geopolitical shock in the Middle East that led to a sharp spike in oil prices.
MARK WILSON/GETTY IMAGES
Nouriel Roubini The Star
Today’s fragile global economy faces many risks: the risk of another flare-up of the eurozone crisis; the risk of a worse-than-expected slowdown in China; and the risk that economic recovery in the United States will fizzle. But no risk is more serious than that posed by a further spike in oil prices.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude, which was well below $100 in 2011, recently peaked at $125 (U.S.). Gasoline prices in the U.S. are approaching $4 a gallon, a damaging threshold for consumer confidence, and will increase further during the high-demand summer season.
The reason is fear. Not only are oil supplies plentiful, but demand in the U.S. and Europe has been lower, owing to decreasing car use in the last few years and weak or negative GDP growth in the U.S. and the eurozone. Simply put, increasing worry about a military conflict between Israel and Iran has created a “fear premium.”
The last three global recessions (prior to 2008) were each caused by a geopolitical shock in the Middle East that led to a sharp spike in oil prices. The 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and the Arab states led to global stagflation (recession and inflation) in 1974-1975. The Iranian revolution in 1979 led to global stagflation in 1980-1982. And Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in the summer of 1990 led to the global recession of 1990-1991.
Even the recent global recession, though triggered by a financial crisis, was exacerbated by spiking oil prices in 2008. With the barrel price reaching $145 in July of that year, oil-importing advanced economies and emerging markets alike faced a recessionary tipping point.
The risk that Israel’s threat to attack Iran’s nuclear installations will, in fact, lead to an outright military conflict may still be low, but it is growing. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s recent visit to the U.S. demonstrated that Israel’s fuse is much shorter than the Americans’. The current war of words is escalating, as is the covert war that Israel and the U.S. are allegedly engaging in with Iran (including killings of nuclear scientists and use of cyberwarfare to damage nuclear facilities).
Iran, with its back to the wall as sanctions bite harder, could react by increasing tensions in the Gulf. Eventually, it could easily sink a few ships to block the Strait of Hormuz, or unleash its proxies in the region, which include pro-Iranian Shiite forces in Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
Recent attacks on Israeli embassies around the world appear to signal Iran’s reaction to the covert war being waged against it, and to the tightened sanctions, which are aggravating the effects of the regime’s economic mismanagement. Likewise, the recent escalation in cross-border fighting between Israel and Gaza-based Palestinian militants could be a sign of things to come.
The next few weeks could bring a reduction in tensions, as the U.S., France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, and Russia go through another round of attempts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons or the capacity to produce them. But if this attempt fails, as is likely, one cannot rule out that, by summer, Israel and the U.S. agree that, sooner rather than later, force will have be used to stop Iran.
Indeed, while Israel and the U.S. still disagree on some points — Israel wants to strike this year, while the Obama administration is opposed to military action before facing the voters in November — the two sides are converging on aims and plans. Most importantly, the U.S. is now clearly rejecting containment (accepting a nuclear Iran and using a deterrence strategy). So, if sanctions and negotiations don’t credibly work, the U.S. (a country that doesn’t “bluff,” according to Obama) will have to act militarily against Iran. The U.S. is now providing bunker-buster bombs and refuelling planes to Israel, while the two militaries are increasing joint military exercises in case an attack becomes necessary and unavoidable.
If the drums of war grow louder this summer, oil prices could rise in a way that will most likely cause a U.S. and global growth slowdown, and even an outright recession if a military conflict erupts and sends oil prices soaring.
Moreover, broader geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are not fading, and might intensify. Aside from deep uncertainty regarding the course of events in Egypt and Libya, now Syria is on the verge of civil war, and radical forces may get the upper hand in Yemen, undermining security in Saudi Arabia. There is still concern about political tensions rising in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern province, and potentially even in Kuwait and Jordan, all areas with substantial Shiite populations or other restless groups.
Now that the U.S. has left Iraq, rising tensions between Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions do not bode well for the country’s ability to boost oil production soon. There is also the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, tension between Israel and Turkey, and hot spots — particularly Afghanistan and Pakistan — in the wider neighbourhood.
Oil is already well above $100/barrel, despite weak economic growth in advanced countries and many emerging markets. The fear premium might push prices significantly higher, even if no military conflict ultimately takes place, and could trigger a global recession if one does.
Nouriel Roubini is chairman of Roubini Global Economics, professor of economics at the Stern School of Business, New York University, and co-author of the book Crisis Economics.Isra

128 comments:

  1. From this morning’s NY Times:

    WASHINGTON — A classified war simulation held this month to assess the repercussions of an Israeli attack on Iran forecasts that the strike would lead to a wider regional war, which could draw in the United States and leave hundreds of Americans dead, according to American officials.


    The officials said the so-called war game was not designed as a rehearsal for American military action — and they emphasized that the exercise’s results were not the only possible outcome of a real-world conflict.

    But the game has raised fears among top American planners that it may be impossible to preclude American involvement in any escalating confrontation with Iran, the officials said. In the debate among policy makers over the consequences of any Israeli attack, that reaction may give stronger voice to those in the White House, Pentagon and intelligence community who have warned that a strike could prove perilous for the United States.

    The results of the war game were particularly troubling to Gen. James N. Mattis, who commands all American forces in the Middle East, Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia, according to officials who either participated in the Central Command exercise or who were briefed on the results and spoke on condition of anonymity because of its classified nature. When the exercise had concluded earlier this month, according to the officials, General Mattis told aides that an Israeli first strike would be likely to have dire consequences across the region and for United States forces there.

    The two-week war game, called Internal Look, played out a narrative in which the United States found it was pulled into the conflict after Iranian missiles struck a Navy warship in the Persian Gulf, killing about 200 Americans, according to officials with knowledge of the exercise. The United States then retaliated by carrying out its own strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

    The initial Israeli attack was assessed to have set back the Iranian nuclear program by roughly a year, and the subsequent American strikes did not slow the Iranian nuclear program by more than an additional two years. However, other Pentagon planners have said that America’s arsenal of long-range bombers, refueling aircraft and precision missiles could do far more damage to the Iranian nuclear program — if President Obama were to decide on a full-scale retaliation.

    The exercise was designed specifically to test internal military communications and coordination among battle staffs in the Pentagon, Tampa, Fla., where the headquarters of the Central Command is located, and in the Persian Gulf in the aftermath of an Israeli strike. But the exercise was written to assess a pressing, potential, real-world situation.

    In the end, the war game reinforced to military officials the unpredictable and uncontrollable nature of a strike by Israel, and a counterstrike by Iran, the officials said.

    ReplyDelete
  2. under the chain of events in the war game, Iran believed that Israel and the United States were partners in any strike against Iranian nuclear sites and therefore considered American military forces in the Persian Gulf as complicit in the attack. Iranian jets chased Israeli warplanes after the attack, and Iranians launched missiles at an American warship in the Persian Gulf, viewed as an act of war that allowed an American retaliation.

    Now, what could possibly give the Iranians the idea that the US was colluding with Israel to attack it?

    ReplyDelete
  3. AIPAC and their lapdogs in Congress?

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  4. I knew when I first read this article on Drudge or where ever that it would soon appear here.

    They should put me on the war gaming panel as I've said the same thing for months, we will be drawn in. What a wonder of a geo/politician you have lurking here. Why spend all the money on a war college when you have me?

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  5. What could possibly give anyone the idea that the Iranians mean any ill to anyone?

    O, yeah, I forgot...

    "Death to Israel"

    "Death to America"

    "Death to England"

    "Death to France"

    (I think I have the usual chanting order correct here)

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  6. Let’s give credit where credit is due. The coming unnecessary economic punishment for the average US family, caused by the present belligerency against Iran, is a result of an absurd political system that permits an agency of a foreign power to meddle in US politics to the detriment of the US citizens that will pay the bills.

    The corrosive influence of AIPAC has silenced scrutiny by the US media. Once the American people realize the price they have to pay for the perfidy of our bought and paid-for politicians, there will be a total reevaluation of an absurd relationship that drags the US into war after war in the ME.

    Obama, if he has sense of political survival should make it clear to Netanyahu the potential consequences to an Israeli strike against Iran and the consequences to future US israeli relations. We simply can no longer afford to have a minor foreign power control the destiny of the United States of America.

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  7. With gas prices skyrocketing to new levels, and real Americans driving to Mexico to gas up with lower priced gas there, can real illegal Mexican/American unlicensed drivers be far behind?

    There are some real upsides to the Obama/Rufus High European Gas Price Policy here, often unsung.

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  8. If we totally crash the economy per Obama/Rufus and get gas up to $10-$12/gallon, we can depopulate large swathes of Arizona, and Las Vegas, too.

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  9. Leave them alone. Quit fucking with their economy, their banking system, their industrial output, murdering their scientists. When the Russians decided to build a military and potential nuclear fortress off the coast of Florida, we objected. Why would we not expect Iran to respond in kind to the economic war we are waging on them?

    We would not tolerate Mexican lobbying groups trying to involve the US in Mexican belligerency with other American countries. Why do we have to pay for the paranoid antics of a politician that is head of a minority party in a country 1/5th the size of Mexico City?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Parley P Pratt, deceasedTue Mar 20, 01:49:00 AM EDT

    I sense a cat fight coming on between Anonymous Ann and Melody over proper posting procedures.

    ReplyDelete
  11. We indignantly object to Russians selling AK-47s to Venezuela but Iran is supposed to ignore that we are giving 30,000 lb. bombs to Israel?

    Have you travelled so little that you have yet to learn that there are universal human behaviors?

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  12. I think what the Russians were really doing was bluffing and trying to get those Thors(?) aimed at them out of Turkey.

    They succeeded too, and, as an added bonus, got us to promise not to fuck with Castro, ever.

    Kennedy was a shit, and a terrible President.

    Had a great PR team though.

    JFK was upfront. Would often fuck his female aides first day on the job.

    But, I'm off topic.

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  13. You object to a foreign power in Washington DC introducing 100 wolves into the backwoods of Idaho. You consider that an intolerable intrusion into Idaho’s affairs. Where is your sense of proportionality?

    ReplyDelete
  14. JFK was a crass politician from a criminal family. What do you expect from such people?

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  15. Duh, and Israel is supposed to ignore that Iran is making nukes to wipe them off the face of the earth?

    I am not well traveled, except here in the west, but I agree with you, there are, alas, some universal human behaviors.

    That is why I predict we will be drawn in, no was college education needed for that.

    And, if one is wrong, everyone forgets about it anyway.

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  16. I consider Israel to be an outpost of civilization and a forward defense in a truly sick and wild region, the majority people there having a book that mandates the subjection of people like myself. And yourself.

    Without Israel, they will keep on coming. Only they will have nukes.

    If I weren't so old it would give me nightmares.

    ReplyDelete
  17. We should not have introduced the wolves into Idaho.

    Look where that has gotten us.

    I now have wolves on my farm.

    Likewise, we should do everything to keep islam away from America.

    Helping keep the State of Israel in being is something we can do to help keep the wolves of islam away from America.

    Seems like a valid argument, to me.

    Therefore we should do it.

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  18. Kruschev said that he would “bury us”. For 40 years we managed to not go to war with the Soviet Union. We have managed it with Red China.

    india and Pakistan have learned to live with a belligerent neighbor with nuclear weapons.

    China and India have managed it.

    Israel is armed to the teeth. It is a garrison state with nuclear weapons. Israel will have to learn to live with losing its monopoly on nuclear weapons. It has no choice. Only the truly delusional would believe otherwise.

    israel can start a war that it cannot finish. They need to be reminded of that stark fact or they will learn the hard way. Either way, they will learn it.

    My concerns are with what happens to the economy and welfare of the USA. My tribe is here. I do not care where my ancestors were from. Some American politicians ought not to forget as well. Obama will learn that he will be defeated in the US if he starts a war with Iran.

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  19. Helping keep the State of Israel in being is something we can do to help keep the wolves of islam away from America.

    :-) Good night Bob.

    ReplyDelete
  20. You brought up the wolves, I had to try to make something of it.

    :)

    Obama will learn that he will be defeated in the US if he starts a war with Iran.

    Have no fear, he is not starting a war with Iran.

    I believe he is hoping all gets pushed off past his over-riding concern, re-election.

    I think he is toast.

    Though my wishes always seem to be the same as my predictions.

    I am at least that self-aware.

    ReplyDelete
  21. The folly, however, is in assuming that Netanyahu has chosen this worldview that "swings between poles of disaster and salvation."



    Prime Minister Netanyahu is not a fear-monger, as his critics are wont to claim. He has a very justifiable reason to remind the world, "History will not give the Jewish people another chance."


    Not a word about wolves.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Even Einstein Couldn't Figure It Out

    Someone said Einstein was a great physicist, but a terrible theologian, and as a politician....well....his heart was in the right place.

    ReplyDelete
  23. There are some anecdotes coming in of people getting Better mileage on E15 than E10.

    Not entirely unexpected (I figured it would be about the same) since, for a very minor loss of btu's, you're picking up an extra 1.5 Octane Rating.

    And, it will sell at most places for about a nickel a gallon less.

    No wonder the oil companies, and their sock-puppets like Sensenbrenner, R-Wi, have been fighting it so hard.

    ReplyDelete
  24. What very few people realize is that when the oil companies went to E10 they cut back the aromatics (Benzene, Xylene, and Toulense) that give gasoline its Octane Rating.

    Since Ethanol is 114.5 Octane, they were able to cut the base gasoline, with which the ethanol would be blended, back to 84 Octane from 87.

    As a result, drivers suffered the loss of btu content w/o the added benefit of a higher Octane Rating.

    However, since most gasoline will still be E10 they can't change the basic formulation this time around. As a result, E15 will be close to 89 Octane.

    The thieving bastards in Saudi Arabia, and in the Exxon corner offices have to absolutely Hate this turn of events.

    ReplyDelete
  25. same shit different day...

    the reason oil prices are high?

    quantitative easing..

    the fed printing trillions of dollars...

    it's simple and yet?

    some here are too stupid to understand basic math

    ReplyDelete
  26. Deuce said...
    Let’s give credit where credit is due. The coming unnecessary economic punishment for the average US family, caused by the present belligerency against Iran, is a result of an absurd political system that permits an agency of a foreign power to meddle in US politics to the detriment of the US citizens that will pay the bills.



    nitwit


    you really dont have a clue about what you speak

    really

    try doing some actual research

    fucking nitwit

    ReplyDelete
  27. deuce

    you have your head up your ass about israel so far you cannot see any rational thought.

    it's bibi this and aipac that...

    I have been to 15 years worth of aipac,

    I have lobbied congress for 5 years.

    you have NO CLUE what aipac stands for, lobbies for and wants.

    what you have it delusion.

    You know NOTHING about Israel that you do not read from Israel bashing sites

    It is obvious that you have never been there, know NOTHING of the reality nor do you have a grasp on the issue of Iran and how it AINT israel's fight.

    Even you pathetic title shows what a dip shit you have become.

    :"Israeli first strike would be likely to have dire:

    There cannot be an Israeli 1st strike...

    Iran has been striking for 30 years.

    Iran struck last week from Gaza...

    Iran stuck from southern lebanon in 2006

    Iran struck in the USA, in Europe, in Washington DC, in Texas, in Argentina...

    do yourself a favor?

    stop looking like a fool....

    Now remember it's an AMerican policy not to allow Iran to get a nuclear bomb.

    If you have an issue with American foreign policy? Have at it. Leave Israel out of it.

    If you think that Iran has the right to get a bomb?

    talk about that and how that will effect the world....

    pull that stick out of your ass already.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Worried about high oil prices?

    DRILL

    Explore.

    Promote ethamol

    Make it clear to the world that America is going to lead the world in coal, wind, oil, natural gas et al

    Make it a priority to convert the truck and bus fleets in America to natural gas.

    EXPAND the sor. not release oil, but announce another 90 days of oil to be set aside in the Strategic Oil Reserve.

    STOP printing money.

    BTW, if you compare the price of gas today verses the precious metal costs (gold, silver etc) gas is selling for less than it did a decade ago.

    the reason gas prices are high?

    qe1, qe2, qe3 and more.

    the fed has printed 7-14 trillion dollars for liquidity in the last 3.5 years.

    this has led to the rise in food and fuel

    ReplyDelete
  29. If it was quantitative easing your salary would be going up at the same rate as gas prices.

    Inasmuch as inflation is up about 20% since 2001, and the price of oil is up about 400%, that argument doesn't hold water.

    ReplyDelete
  30. The smartest thing Iran could do right now would be to start "shutting in" oil fields.

    If they took that 2 1/2 Million bbl/day of Exports offline for a couple of months it would wake the world up to what they messing around with.

    About the time gasoline started bouncing around $7.00 or $8.00 a gallon the American people might start catching on, and asking questions.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Inasmuch as inflation is up about 20% since 2001, and the price of oil is up about 400%, that argument doesn't hold water.


    gold was at 300 an ounce in 2001 and it's at 1600 now.

    quantitative easing...

    learn it, embrace it and understand it..

    ReplyDelete
  32. and all that without Israel striking iran.

    hmmmmm


    reminds me of the screams about the oil supply and the american death toll if we invaded iraq

    40,000 body bags...

    lakes of fire...

    oh the humanity..

    ReplyDelete
  33. If the United States had a presidential paranoid on the scale of a Bibi Netanyahu during the Cold War, running around muttering “existential threat”, fear mongering, using the narrative of past historical injustices and atrocities as his justifications for war, we would have been wasted as a country and would not have a functional society.

    Instead we had steady mature political leadership, with flaws, but the maturity and intellectual capacity to see more than three moves ahead.

    William Fulbright recognized AIPAC for what it is and wanted it registered as a foreign agent. It was then and is worse now, a fifth column with contrarian interests to ordinary Americans. AIPAC appeals to and exploits the naive religious views of Christian conservatives although in private, most card carrying A-packers despise them and when out of earshot mock their piety. Useful idiots to them.

    We have the obscene perversion of a Netanyahu able to drag a great nation into a war. The American people paid an unimaginable price to triumph in the Cold War.

    You champ, who probably never served a day of military service, drag your own team into war. Leave mine out of it.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I also understand the difference between "rain," and a republican "economist" peeing down my back.

    ReplyDelete
  35. .

    If it was quantitative easing your salary would be going up at the same rate as gas prices.



    :)


    .

    ReplyDelete
  36. .

    reminds me of the screams about the oil supply and the american death toll if we invaded iraq

    40,000 body bags...

    lakes of fire...

    oh the humanity..




    The comment shows you are out of touch with reality WiO. Anyone who brings up Iraq and uses it as an argument because it wasn't 'as bad' as some predicted is clearly losing it.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  37. quirk

    The comment shows you are out of touch with reality WiO. Anyone who brings up Iraq and uses it as an argument because it wasn't 'as bad' as some predicted is clearly losing it.


    bullshit.

    People bring up the fact that we are/were in 2 wars all the time.

    I am bringing up the fact that the predictions of how BAD iraq was to be was nonsense.

    Just as deuce and others are wetting their pants now about the ramifications of an Israeli attack on iran. (or an American attack on iran)

    As for losing it?

    Deuce's obsession with Israel is losing it.

    try applying your standard of losing it to others not just me.

    ReplyDelete
  38. .


    I now have wolves on my farm.



    :)


    If I didn't know you were bullshitting us, I'd suggest you get out your spear.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  39. .

    I am bringing up the fact that the predictions of how BAD iraq was to be was nonsense.


    Predictions of "how BAD"?

    How about the other predictions?

    Cost: $50 billion tops. Some as low as $5 billion. Oh, and by the way, we really wouldn't be paying anything since we would be paid back with Iraqi oil money.

    Time: Six months tops, if you could believe Cheney. "Shock and Awe". How could Iraq stand up to the US.

    Justification: Oh yeah...nevermind.

    Did you forget the true costs of the Iraq war? Need I spell them out for you again?

    The fact is I haven't a clue what the results of a war with Iran would be, but I do have a pretty good idea of the possibilities and most of them are bad.

    On the other side, you haven't a clue either. None. ZIP. Nada.

    It's a crapshoot. You're willing to roll the dice. I'm not.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  40. Quirk:
    The fact is I haven't a clue what the results of a war with Iran would be, but I do have a pretty good idea of the possibilities and most of them are bad.

    On the other side, you haven't a clue either. None. ZIP. Nada.

    It's a crapshoot. You're willing to roll the dice. I'm not.



    I got a clue what a nuclear armed Iran would mean.

    I'd say regional nuclear war, 500 a barrel for oil, destroyed cities with millions dead.

    ReplyDelete
  41. quirk:
    Predictions of "how BAD"?

    How about the other predictions?

    Cost: $50 billion tops. Some as low as $5 billion. Oh, and by the way, we really wouldn't be paying anything since we would be paid back with Iraqi oil money.



    You are talking cash, I was talking predictions of American lives.

    I guess to some that is the same, not I

    ReplyDelete
  42. .

    You are talking cash, I was talking predictions of American lives.

    I guess to some that is the same, not I



    Please, enough of your pompous musings. American lives? What about the 5,000 we lost? What about the 50,000 injured? What about the percentage whose lives will never be the same again? What about the lives we stand to lose in a war with Iran?

    And costs? You haven't a clue as to how many Americans lives would have been saved or improved if we had spent $1 trillion in this country rather than shipping pallets full of Benjamins over to Iraq.

    And what about Iraqi lives? You've said they don't give a shit about the Muslims but take a look at the numbers. Was taking out Sadaam worth the 150,000 to 800,0000 (depending on whose estimates you take) dead or the 2 - 4 million who became refugees. And over what? Because Sadaam wouldn't "come clean" on those WMD that he had. Because he blustered and threatened that he would destroy the US in the "Mother of all wars". Gee that blustering stuff sounds kind of familiar.

    Sorry, you talk about American lives, but it appears to me, it is really Israeli lives you are mainly concerned about.

    Just my opinion.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  43. .

    So Mel, are you back or just dropping in posts from some swank hotel's business center?

    How was/is the trip?

    Did you get a chance to meet up with the rat?

    Also, how was your daughter's trip to NZ?

    Fill us in.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  44. I sense a cat fight coming on

    Nope. Ugly shit. Not mixing it up with some self-appointed Queen Bee who posts three times a year and suddenly becomes Cool Girl Hall Monitor Mistress of the One-Liner. Put-Down Artistry 101. Like "Womyn's Studies" hated @BC. I'm guessing you offer Certificates of Achievement. You should start your own on-line school and charge a fee. It's fine as part of the mix but not as the main course. And piling on is unseemly. One expects a certain measure of independence from the opinionated profile.

    (FTR, religion did invade BC, probably contingent with current events. The wave seems to have dissipated, to a degree, but the repetitive drum beat of raw hatred was claustrophobic. Out of balance and way over the top. I do suspect that some of these sites are traps for the ideologically deranged, as I said before. It's a thinner line than you might think. I considered tabulating some of the more egregious phrases/statements to make the point, but I just don't feel like it. And That's it.)

    ReplyDelete
  45. Sumpin Big this way be a'comin'.

    Saudi Arabia has chartered 11 Very large Crude Carriers to carry oil to the U.S. This is a really, big, out of the way, number.

    Part of it might be that the Oil Refinery at Port Arthur that they partnered in is getting ready to start refining 250,000 bbl/day of that really nasty stuff that comprises their "spare capacity."

    In other news, the second Caribbean refinery, this one in Aruba, is shutting down. The first was the big refinery on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

    ReplyDelete
  46. See? My last statement is gone already.

    egregious is a good word. Q tried to use it once but muffed up the spelling.

    ReplyDelete
  47. The bottom line seems to be that if you're limited to "light sweet" you're a endangered species.

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  48. .

    Bob, why is your name posting in black?

    You had it shown in blue just a short while ago.

    That's probably where your problem started. What did you do this time?

    .

    ReplyDelete
  49. .

    You're the kind of specialist I'd want on my team if I was a spook Ruf, noting odd facters in a particular field, forcing questions. (Note: I am not being my usual sarcastic self.)

    I don't think the US will get involved in anything with Iran prior to the election unless forced by events, but if it wasn't an election year, the type of stuff you bring up would at least force me to ask questions.

    .

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  50. .

    I've got the curse on me, Quirk.


    It's called "The Curse of Fenrir'.


    Remember about a year and a half ago when we were arguing about the wolves and I put that curse on you?

    If not, I'd have to go back and check. There might have been something about your memory and the internet involved.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  51. .

    I remember the part about Fenrir and his whelps devastating your estate and Garm and his wargs (vargs in Swedish) urinating on your windrows but I'm not sure about the internet thing.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  52. This from Westexas at TOD:

    I noticed something interesting. The following passage, from a prior version of the FT article, is not in the current version:


    Riyadh also appears to be storing crude oil in overseas locations in anticipation of a surge in
    demand for Saudi oil later this year, according to the International Energy Agency. The
    kingdom used the same storage tactic last year to deal with the supply shortage created by the
    civil war in Libya, officials said. The kingdom held stocks in Rotterdam in the Netherlands,
    Sidi Kerir in Egypt and Okinawa in Japan.


    In any case, I wonder if the Saudis are shifting stored crude oil from facilities in Saudi Arabia to overseas locations, in anticipation of a possible attack on Iran. And if so, how much of the reported surge in production consists of inventory transfers?

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  53. I consider Israel to be an outpost of civilization

    Women to the back of the bus. Haredi get to stay home and study Koran, er, Torah, while they send the seculars out on guard duty at Treblinka, er Gaza.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Wasp said...
    I consider Israel to be an outpost of civilization

    Women to the back of the bus. Haredi get to stay home and study Koran, er, Torah, while they send the seculars out on guard duty at Treblinka, er Gaza.



    So says the avowed anti-semite.

    Wow a couple of days without your vile... Only to see you spring back into hitler like action.

    To anyone that reads "wasp's" posts that does not know he/she/it's history?

    A self confessed liar, pretended to be a catholic lesbian for years, now claims it was all a ruse, and also claimed to be a cancer survivor.

    A know hater of jews, israel and zionism, wasp goes by numerous handles... Ms T, Wasp, Teresita, Zena.

    To all of us that know her (as well as anyone can know a serial liar) she/he/it has proven to be a piece of garbage.

    ReplyDelete
  55. Right now there is a so-called $15 "Iran premium” on a barrel of oil. it should be called a “Neocon premium”. There are 42 gal of gasoline per barrel. 1500/42 = $.357 per gal. The US uses about 350 million gallons a day.

    The daily Neocon tax for the US is $125M or $46B per year.

    The US consumer is paying $45B a year because our strategic ally is led by a paranoid political opportunist. Now what has our strategic ally done for us lately? Perhaps they helped their american friends financially with our foreclosure problem. I’ll have to check and do a post on it.

    I am sure they have been cutting checks to help US military casualties fighting the good fight in Iraq and afghanistan. I’ll have to check and do a post on it.

    Surely they have cut some checks for the widows and families of US military casualties fighting the good fight in Iraq and afghanistan. I’ll have to check and do a post on it.

    I am sure their generosity will continue when we stumble into Iran.

    ReplyDelete
  56. The US consumer is paying $45B a year because our strategic ally is led by a paranoid political opportunist. Now what has our strategic ally done for us lately? Perhaps they helped their american friends financially with our foreclosure problem. I’ll have to check and do a post on it.

    I am sure they have been cutting checks to help US military casualties fighting the good fight in Iraq and afghanistan. I’ll have to check and do a post on it.

    Surely they have cut some checks for the widows and families of US military casualties fighting the good fight in Iraq and afghanistan. I’ll have to check and do a post on it.



    You are just flipping out more and more each and everyday.

    Your logic reminds me of what I hear from white aryan nation sites.

    Really deuce, seek professional help.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Deuce you are becoming a "blame israel firster"

    ReplyDelete
  58. - Wilbur Ross, the billionaire private-equity investor known for turning around struggling companies, said Monday he is concerned about the impact of rising gasoline prices on the U.S. economy.

    “What I am worried about is the following: gas prices have been high and the effect on the consumer has been hidden,” due to the mild winter, Ross told MarketWatch in an interview Monday at the New York Stock Exchange, on the sidelines of an event promoting investment in Ireland.

    “If we hit $5 at the gas pump over the summer, that would have a profound effect on the consumer,” he said. Summer is the peak U.S. driving season.

    Ross, who is chairman and CEO of WL Ross & Co. and is known for investing in the U.S. steel and textile industries, said that after rising gasoline prices, the second biggest risk to the U.S. economy is “whatever happens with Iran.”

    ReplyDelete
  59. I am giving credit to where credit is due. The Israelis need to control the irresponsible madman they have elected to office.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Any fool can cause a riot in a crowd. Netanyahu is culturally Russian. Netanyahu has all the paranoia rampant among Russians, no doubt from his Russian father. Hopefully he disappears before does irreparable damage to the US and Israel.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Deuce said...
    I am giving credit to where credit is due. The Israelis need to control the irresponsible madman they have elected to office.



    You are delusional

    ReplyDelete
  62. Deuce said...
    Any fool can cause a riot in a crowd. Netanyahu is culturally Russian. Netanyahu has all the paranoia rampant among Russians, no doubt from his Russian father. Hopefully he disappears before does irreparable damage to the US and Israel.



    You are losing it....

    ReplyDelete
  63. When I first heard Bibi talk, he called himself Benjamin Netay. I distinctively despise politicians that change their names. I’ll let you do some research on the unsavory political leaders that revert to that practice. Culturally Stalin comes to mind.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Deuce said...
    When I first heard Bibi talk, he called himself Benjamin Netay. I distinctively despise politicians that change their names. I’ll let you do some research on the unsavory political leaders that revert to that practice. Culturally Stalin comes to mind.


    Start with Obama

    Spiro Theodore Anagnostopoulos Spiro Agnew

    Napoleon Bonaparte
    Napoleann Buonaparte

    Willy Brandt
    Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm


    Chiang Kai-shek
    Chaing Chung-cheng


    Ho Chi Minh
    Nguyen Sinh Cung

    Bill Clinton
    William Jefferson Blythe

    Amor de Cosmos
    William Alexander Smith

    Yasser Arafat, Abu Abbas as well

    Gerald Ford
    Leslie Lynch King Jr

    Che Guevara
    Ernesto Guevara de la Serna

    Ulysses S Grant
    Hiram Ulysses Grant

    Tenzin Gyatso (The Dalai Lama)
    Lhama Thondup

    Gary Hart
    Gary Hartpence

    Vladimir Ilich Lenin
    Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov

    Nelson Mandela
    Rolihlahla Mandela

    Isoroku Yamamoto
    Isoroku Sadayoshi


    there you go champ... now go take your meds...

    ReplyDelete
  65. :)

    That's good WiO.

    I'd forgotten Gary Hart(pence) except the Monkey Business business, and wasn't aware of some of the others.

    One of my names in Swedish translates out as the shining one but I gave it up, people always saluting me.....I'm not a politician....

    ReplyDelete
  66. First day of Spring as Obama daughter sucking down our taxpayer money with 25 Secret Service agents and 12 friends in Mexico.

    How many 13 year olds do you know who spring break in Mexico? God is not pleased. The USGS says a magnitude 7.9 earthquake has struck near Acapulco.

    ReplyDelete
  67. John McCain's daughter Meghan announces, "I'm strictly dickly."

    Energy Secretary Chu Gives Himself 'Better than A-Minus' on Keeping Gas Prices Down.

    References to Malia Obama's Mexican Spring Vacation Abounded This Morning. Now They're Gone White House Requested Media References to Malia Obama's Vacation Be Removed. (Says media should not report on or photograph Obama children when they're not with their parents.)

    U.S. Navy to double number of mine-hunting ships in Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf. Also equipping destroyers and cruisers with Gatling guns to defend against Iranian small-boat attacks.

    ReplyDelete
  68. A widely held assumption about a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities is that it would spur Iranian citizens -- many of whom appear to despise their rulers -- to rally around the regime. But Netanyahu, I’m told, believes a successful raid could unclothe the emperor, emboldening Iran’s citizens to overthrow the regime (as they tried to do, unsuccessfully, in 2009).

    You might call this the Museveni Paradigm. It’s one of several arguments I’ve heard in the past week, as I’ve shuttled between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, that have convinced me that Israeli national-security officials are considering a pre- emptive strike in the near future.

    ReplyDelete
  69. New Van Gogh Still Life Found

    Recall Theo van Gogh, young relative of Vincent, was killed by a moslem for making a movie about the mistreatment of women under islam.

    ReplyDelete
  70. wasp states:

    How many 13 year olds do you know who spring break in Mexico? God is not pleased. The USGS says a magnitude 7.9 earthquake has struck near Acapulco.


    Like you KNOW what pleases G-d?

    lol

    now that is funny...

    the serial liar, jew hating troll now speaks for G-d

    ReplyDelete
  71. From the Wasp's article above, an interesting statement --

    One reason I’m now more convinced is that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are working hard to convince other members of the Israeli cabinet that a strike might soon be necessary.

    Netanyahu doesn't make the decision himself. There seems to be a vote of 6, maybe 8, people involved. I have read this before.

    Deuce will have to widen the scope of his disgust.

    ReplyDelete
  72. Deuce will have to widen the scope of his disgust.


    touche

    ReplyDelete
  73. .

    Mike Daisy Explains Why He Lied About "This American Life"

    Candice Davenport, a 27-year-old D.C. resident, said after the monologue that she’d felt a “little bit betrayed” by Daisey when the retraction hit the Internet. But after listening to his case, “It all made more sense,” she said. “He had me thinking about what’s more important — the facts or the truth.”


    This is the problem in listening to activists on any subject they feel passionate about. It is evident with Mike Daisy, you see it everyday with political commentators, it was the reason for Climategate.

    The driving reason? They know the "truth"; therefore, it should be obvious to everyone else. If they see it, everyone should. When everyone else doesn't get it, they get angry. They get frustrated. They lie.

    It's unfortunate that people like Candice Davenport feel that this might possibly be ok.

    .

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

    ReplyDelete
  75. Robert DeNiro at an official Obama fundraiser:

    "Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?" De Niro asked to cheers from the crowd. "Too soon, right?"

    Walt Disney will incur a $200m writedown on John Carter, the action film based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel which has failed at the box office despite a $300m production budget and an extensive global marketing campaign.

    The film about an American civil war hero who journeys to Mars is shaping up to be one of Hollywood’s costliest flops.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Ann,

    I've enjoyed reading your posts but I do find it painful sorting yours out from the other anonymous even when you manage to tag it at the end. One of the problems is that it is at the end and as one scrolls through the detritus you've got to back up to get a sense of what you've said. This is especially problematic when one is trying to catch up by speed reading through the back log. Not all of us are retired and painstakingly reading every word good and bad.

    Yeppers Bob, I have been slashing about in the rough chasing golf balls by morning and working hard by afternoon and fretting that I haven't devoted any time to getting the sailboat ready for the upcoming racing season. Mind you the racing schedule doesn't start for a month as we are usually watching snow melt about now. Up here in Toronto it is a gift from God to be able to play golf in March and one shouldn't diss the man when he offers up May in March. Global warming? Naw, its just nice weather, right?

    ReplyDelete
  77. Nouriel Roubini is not known for his sunny disposition.

    Most likely, strikes on Iranian nuclear sites will not lead to war. After all, as we've been told here numerous times, the Iranian Mullahs do not want to commit suicide.

    ReplyDelete
  78. Demand for iron ore from top consumer China will flatten out as the world's second-largest economy cools, an executive at mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd. cautioned Tuesday, raising concerns about Australia's trade outlook.

    ...

    Growth in China's demand for iron ore will drop "to single digits, if it is not already there," Ian Ashby, president BHP's iron ore division, told...

    ReplyDelete
  79. But it wouldn’t be possible to impose enough rationing to keep up with the federal government’s insatiable appetite for spending. Only genuine reforms — rooted in competition and choice, and coupled with other spending cuts like Ryan has proposed — can balance future budgets.

    ...

    As Ryan rightly puts it, “The contrast…couldn’t be clearer.” Obama’s budget “gives more power to unelected bureaucrats, takes more from hard-working taxpayers to fuel the expansion of government, and commits our nation to a future of debt and decline.”

    In marked contrast, Ryan concludes, “Our budget…draws inspiration from the Founders’ belief that all people are born with an unalienable right to the pursuit of happiness. Protecting this right means trusting citizens, not nameless government officials, to decide what is in their best interests and make the right choice about our nation’s future.”

    ReplyDelete
  80. .

    Ash, good to see you survived another winter.


    By the way, if this is global warming, I will take it.

    The new buzz phrase is "Adapt. Adapt. Adapt."


    Also, a new scientific method has been developed to prove the truth of Global Warming, yea or nea.

    The Beck-Hannity-Rush Index

    .

    ReplyDelete
  81. All of the dead were dual Israeli-French citizens.

    Police bearing automatic weapons stood in front of Jewish schools in Paris.

    "It's impossible not to imagine the worst, because it can happen to any child in France at some point," said Mendy Sarfati, a father dropping his three children off at a Jewish school in Paris. "We want to put this drama behind us and for the French Republic to draw lessons from it."

    ReplyDelete
  82. Even more to the point, one out of eight soldiers killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2007 were protecting fuel convoys, a telling statistic that has continued in Afghanistan as well.

    So you would think that any effort to diversify the military's fuel sources away from petroleum, and help end our dependence on often-hostile foreign oil suppliers, would be cheered by politicians of all stripes. And you would be wrong.

    At a Navy budget hearing in the House late last month, several GOP Congressmen took the opportunity to attack Navy Secretary Ray Mabus for his commitment to the development and deployment of biofuels. Along with the Air Force, the Navy has been a leading biofuels proponent, with an ambitious goal of all ships and aircraft being 50 percent biopowered by 2020. In November, a decommissioned Navy destroyer out of San Diego completed a successful test journey powered by a 50/50 blend of algae biofuel and conventional marine fuel -- 20,000 gallons worth.

    Leading the charge against such initiatives was Virginia Republican Rep. Randy Forbes, who, according to press accounts, pounded his fist on the table and stormed at Mabus, "You're not the Secretary of Energy, you're Secretary of the Navy." GOP colleagues such as Mike Conaway of Texas piled on as well, questioning the wisdom of paying higher prices for biofuels. The Navy is obviously planning (and innovating) for the future, creating a viable market for suppliers like Solazyme and Dynamic Fuels, which will bring prices down. "I think we would be irresponsible if we did not reduce our dependence on foreign oil and if we did not reduce the price shocks that come with the global oil market," said Mabus. The Navy is doing what it takes when you have a multi-year plan to reduce fossil-fuel consumption and save lives -- long-term goals that go beyond the next election.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Aren't those same soldiers gonna have to protect the biofuel convoys in '20?

    ReplyDelete
  84. Australia and China's fortunes are tied. Exports to China were 64.8 billion Australian dollars (US$68.5 billion) in the year to June 30, equal to 26% of the total...

    ReplyDelete
  85. Sam, 50% of the diesel fuel used in Afghanistan is for powering generators to produce electricity. The Army, and Marines are pushing for Solar tents, etc, mostly.

    As for biofuels, one of the advantages of them is they can be made out of local products. An example would be "poppy seed oil to biodiesel." It turnes out that the old "poppy seed" yields about twice as much biodiesel/acre as soybeans.

    In an area like Afghanistan where we are paying as much as $400.00/gal for imported fuel that poppyseed diesel looks pretty good.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Doesn't matter to the republicans of course. The only time they ever take the Exxon dick out of their mouths is to put the Halliburton dick in.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Ordinarily, judges decide cases by applying the text of laws and the precedents laid down in previous cases. But the Supreme Court is no ordinary court, and the cases that it chooses to decide are not ordinary ones.

    ...

    But even among those hard cases, there is a subset that stands out. In late 2005, Barack Obama, then a freshman senator, placed those extraordinary cases at the center of his opposition to John Roberts’s nomination for chief justice:

    What matters on the Supreme Court is those 5 percent of cases that are truly difficult. .  .  . [T]he constitutional text will not be directly on point.

    ReplyDelete
  88. On this day in 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe's book about slavery - "Uncle Tom's Cabin" - was published.

    ReplyDelete
  89. Deuce.

    Your constant drumbeat to appeasement when it come to Iran is amazing, given it's perpetual murder of Americans for 30 years..

    in contrast your constant evil speech towards the Prime Minister of the state of Israel shows your bias. Your never refer to the enemies of Israel as irrational or criminal. You save those for Bibi.

    I suggest humbly you will find a great place to live in Iran, you can hold signs up in protests that read "death to israel" every day!

    That ought to make you feel good.

    ReplyDelete
  90. Growth in China's demand for iron ore will drop "to single digits, if it is not already there," Ian Ashby, president BHP's iron ore division, told...

    So much for all those Chinese automobile power plants Rufus was counting on for his peaker scenario.

    ReplyDelete
  91. Uh, T, growth "slowing to 8 or 9%" isn't ezzackly 'going backwards.'

    ReplyDelete
  92. If the global warming keeps up does it mean Ash will shoot golf all year long?

    What about the ocean sailing, then?

    Night sailing?

    Glad you are back Ash. You gave me a real 'scare'.

    That GPS device works on land or sea I take it.

    ReplyDelete
  93. If Ann's sign off procedure slows Ash's speed reading down only a little it is a good thing.

    As sometimes I have noticed people questioning his comprehension.

    A little slower read might help.

    If the global warming keeps up does it mean Ash will shoot golf all year long?

    What about the ocean sailing, then?

    Night sailing?

    Glad you are back Ash. You gave me a real 'scare'.

    That GPS device works on land or sea I take it.

    ReplyDelete
  94. Ok, so where's Tebow getting traded to?

    ReplyDelete
  95. (she has him by his ball)

    ReplyDelete
  96. Obama had a sweet graft kickback of million$ on plans to dump ammoniated pink sludge into the nation's schools. At least the free cheese we got from Reagan was palatable.

    ReplyDelete
  97. I have never been able to understand why Ash doesn't ride dressage.

    ReplyDelete
  98. 'Hawks lookin' for a QB by chance?

    ReplyDelete
  99. 10 Dead, 49 Wounded In Chicago Over The Weekend In The "Rites of Spring"

    I'll pass on my usual NRA type comment and just say "I wouldn't want to be the only dude without a gun."

    ReplyDelete
  100. AIPAC and their lapdogs in Congress?

    On December 17, 1862, General Ulysses Grant wrote to the Assistant Adjutant General of the US Army:


    "I have long since believed that in spite of all the vigilance that can be infused into post commanders, the specie regulations of the Treasury Department have been violated, and that mostly by the Jews and other unprincipled traders. So well satisfied have I been of this that I instructed the commanding officer at Columbus to refuse all permits to Jews to come South, and I have frequently had them expelled from the department. But they come in with their carpet-sacks in spite of all that can be done to prevent it. The Jews seem to be a privileged class that can travel anywhere. They will land at any woodyard on the river and make their way through the country. If not permitted to buy cotton themselves, they will act as agents for someone else, who will be at a military post with a Treasury permit to receive cotton and pay for it in Treasury notes which the Jew will buy at an agreed rate, paying gold."

    ReplyDelete
  101. .

    And what was the point of that T?


    .

    ReplyDelete
  102. It's self evident.

    T just took a crap.

    ReplyDelete
  103. Perhaps, T was just pointing out that there has, historically, been a fair amount of anti-semitism in the U.S., and that we have made a lot of progress along that line, as well as in our treatment of race.

    ReplyDelete
  104. Without attacking Mr Sarkozy directly, the Socialist front-runner, François Hollande, called on all candidates to "control" their language. "There are words that influence, which strike home, which liberate feelings," he said.

    ...

    There were moving signs yesterday, however, that the Toulouse killings, might heal, as well as divide. One large bouquet in the heaps of flowers outside the Ozar Hatorah school was labelled: "Parents Musulmans avec vous" (Muslim parents with you).

    At one point, a Muslim man appeared and placed a prayer mat in the street and knelt, head down, in the direction of the school.

    ReplyDelete
  105. Wasp spreads antisemitic quotes:

    On December 17, 1862, General Ulysses Grant wrote to the Assistant Adjutant General of the US Army:

    leads to things like this

    why don't It's like wasp ever get it?

    ReplyDelete
  106. One of the founding members of Hong Kong’s democracy movement has expressed fears for the city’s future if former cabinet member Leung Chun-ying is chosen as the city’s top leader this Sunday, as analysts increasingly expect.

    n an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Martin Lee, the founding chairman of the Democratic Party, called Mr. Leung an underground “Communist Party cadre”, an allegation that recent statements by his opponent, former financial secretary Henry Tang, have helped fan.

    ...

    “Hong Kong people have spoken out that they don’t like this type of election. They want universal suffrage.”

    ReplyDelete
  107. Rufus: Perhaps, T was just pointing out that there has, historically, been a fair amount of anti-semitism in the U.S., and that we have made a lot of progress along that line, as well as in our treatment of race.

    Deuce is trying to figure out how a shitty little country and their neo-con cheerleaders can drag a superpower into a war that no one wants to fight.

    General Grant couldn't figure out how some the Jews were allowed to buy cotton from the South when there was an embargo going on, and he tried his damndest to keep his own outfit from aiding and abetting them.

    ReplyDelete
  108. It's the Golden Rule, Rufus.

    He who has the gold makes the rules.

    ReplyDelete
  109. March 20, 2012
    Potential Matchup Between Black Man and Mormon Poses Dilemma for Bigots
    Nowhere to Turn, Disgruntled Haters Say

    NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – With a fall presidential contest between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney seeming increasingly likely, America’s bigots are finding themselves in a quandary over which candidate to support, prominent bigots confirmed today.

    Across the U.S., voters who describe themselves as bigots are complaining that a first-ever matchup between a Black man and a Mormon, while historic, is forcing them to ask a difficult question: which group do they hate more?

    “I’ve always seen myself as pretty versatile, bigotry-wise,” said Herb Torlinson, a hardware salesman from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. “But I guess this is going to be an election that really puts my different hates to the test.”

    At the Clapboard Corner Café in Youngstown, Ohio, a group of bigots who gather for breakfast once a week to discuss their dislike of various racial and religious groups echoed Mr. Torlinson’s sentiments.

    “I actually cried when Rick Perry dropped out of the race,” said David Colehurn, a disgruntled hater who works at a nearby Pep Boys. “He may be brain-damaged and all, but at least he’s White and Christian.”

    Mr. Colehurn said that his bigotry towards both Black people and Mormons was making him entertain thoughts of voting for a third-party candidate, but that he was “turned off” by the possibility of a bid from Texas congressman Ron Paul: “I hate old people.”

    In other political news, former Sen. Rick Santorum revealed that he made his first sweater vest himself when he tore off the sleeves of his straitjacket.


    Andy Borowitz

    ReplyDelete
  110. I do not have an interest in living in Iran or Israel. I am an American by choice. I have no allegiance to any country except the USA. I do not have the right to vote in two different countries. I served in the US military. You on the other hand can serve in Israel or the US. You have done neither.

    I do not want my country involved in another Middle Eastern war. You do. If Israel wants to go to war she should do so. Netanyahu knows that he cannot win a war against Iran and that is why he comes to the US to cajole or intimidate US politicians to get US military killed and injured for the State of Israel. There has been nothing like this in US history. Your praise for Netanyahu says as much about you as my criticism of him says about me. I’ll take that trade.

    From the Financial Times on your guy, the Russian’s son.


    When Benjamin Netanyahu warns of the danger posed by the Iranian nuclear programme, he knows that almost all Israelis share his deep concern. Yet the prime minister is now facing mounting criticism at home over a small but deeply significant aspect of his international campaign: his frequent references to the Holocaust.
    Some warn that Mr Netanyahu’s rhetoric, which draws a parallel between Iran and Nazi Germany, cheapens the memory of a singular historical event: the murder of millions of Jews in Nazi concentration camps during the second world war. Others argue that the historical comparison is inappropriate, because it portrays contemporary Israel as a helpless victim, and Iran as a crushingly powerful country that is bent on genocide.
    More

    A third line of criticism is political. Critics say that Mr Netanyahu’s language is heightening tensions at a time when leaders outside Israel are still looking for a diplomatic solution to the stand-off with Tehran. Their concern is that any comparison with the Nazi genocide creates a moral imperative that may ultimately make an Israeli attack on Iran inevitable.
    The latest debate over Mr Netanyahu’s rhetoric was prompted by the prime minister’s speech to Aipac, the US-Israeli lobby group, in Washington this month. At one point in the speech Mr Netanyahu held up a letter written by the World Jewish Congress in 1944, urging the US to bomb the concentration camp in Auschwitz. The request, he added, was turned down.
    “Never again will we not be masters of the fate of our very survival. Never again,” Mr Netanyahu said. “That is why Israel must always have the ability to defend itself, by itself, against any threat.”

    ReplyDelete
  111. “That is why Israel must always have the ability to defend itself, by itself, against any threat.”

    That is Israel’s right and its responsibility, not an obligation of the people of the USA.

    ReplyDelete
  112. .

    bob said...

    March 20, 2012
    Potential Matchup Between Black Man and Mormon Poses Dilemma for Bigots
    Nowhere to Turn, Disgruntled Haters Say



    Bob,

    Your bigotry is obvious, you prick. Your biased against bigots.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  113. .

    Deuce is trying to figure out how a shitty little country and their neo-con cheerleaders can drag a superpower into a war that no one wants to fight.

    General Grant couldn't figure out how some the Jews were allowed to buy cotton from the South...




    Kind of weak, W.

    ...regulations of the Treasury Department have been violated, and that mostly by the Jews and other unprincipled traders...

    "...And other unprincipled traders?"

    Yet, it was only the Jews that Grant ordered out of the South. And linking this to AIPAC is quite a stretch, IMHO of course.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  114. I served in the US military. You on the other hand can serve in Israel or the US. You have done neither.

    Quirk knows more about the formal types of argumentation than I, so I will ask him what this sort of shit argument is formally called.

    It is used repeatedly by Deuce, and by Rufus, who called me a coward and draft dodger.

    This is very Rufus who stated he got dead drunk and rolled off the bar stool and rolled into the recruiting station.

    Like a fool he served his time in an utmost fiasco and now claims enlightenment because of this experience on all things military, and also the ability to judge other people's characters as good or ill.

    Deuce isn't quite there yet, but getting close.

    It wasn't the people in the military and with military experience that first began to question Vietnam, but civilians, students, and history professors.

    ReplyDelete
  115. Here, I know what I'll do, I'll play Deuce's Game and insinuate that he joined the peaceful safe life of the air game to avoid the dangerous and potentially lethal ground game.

    Was done all the time in those days

    And allows him to criticize everyone who has not been in the military, insinuating they have no right to an opinion on such subjects.

    While I, manfully, took my chance with the national draft lottery, not running for the four year air force safe haven.

    How does that make you feel Deuce?

    Pisses you off no end, does it not?


    Would me too, and does.
    xxxxxx

    I served in the US military. You on the other hand can serve in Israel or the US. You have done neither.

    Quirk knows more about the formal types of argumentation than I, so I will ask him what this sort of shit argument is formally called.

    It is used repeatedly by Deuce, and by Rufus, who called me a coward and draft dodger.

    This is very Rufus who stated he got dead drunk and rolled off the bar stool and rolled into the recruiting station.

    Like a fool he served his time in an utmost fiasco and now claims enlightenment because of this experience on all things military, and also the ability to judge other people's characters as good or ill.

    Deuce isn't quite there yet, but getting close.

    It wasn't the people in the military and with military experience that first began to question Vietnam, but civilians, students, and history professors.

    ReplyDelete
  116. .

    Quirk knows more about the formal types of argumentation than I, so I will ask him what this sort of shit argument is formally called.


    Well I guess it kind of borders on the 'red herring' since it introduces emotional content that has nothing to do with the issues being dealt with in the argument.

    However, I guess if pinned down, I would opt for the common 'ad hominem' fallacy. Instead of responding to an argument, you respond to the person behind the argument. The info provided is emotionally volatile and diverts attention from the subject of the argument.

    It's a common diversion. I'm sure I use it sometimes myself; however, it is considered a logical fallacy.

    But heck, Bob, you should know this. You use it everyday when you call Rufus a socialist over Healthcare or a communist for talking about voting for Obama.

    WiO uses it everytime he calls someone who disagrees with him on Iran an appeaser.

    It apparently is the lingua franca of blogdom.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  117. .

    This country, like most of the world, has been marked by bias and prejudice since day one.

    First, a bunch of Protestants came over here to avoid religious persecution in their home country. The first thing they did was institute a policy of persecution for anyone who didn't share their beliefs. They persecuted the indigenous population that was here before them and they persecuted those who immigrated after them.

    Every new group coming to this country has been persecuted for something whether because of their race (blacks, Spanish, Chinese...), nationality (Italian, Irish, German,...), religion (Catholics, Jews,...), etc. There was even The Native American Party or "Know-Nothings" formed in the 1840's whose party platform was nativist, anti-immigrant, and virulently anti-Catholic. It fragmented and broke apart by 1860, ironically over slavery. In the election of 1856, their candidates got 23% of the popular vote.

    Despite the half-hearted (and in some cases cynical) efforts of the government to eliminate prejudice and bias, it will never completely disappear. Accusing someone of being biased, bigoted, or prejudiced is hardly an argument since everyone is biased to some degree. It proves nothing about the subject at hand. It's merely an easy way out for someone who lacks the ability to convince on the merits of his arguments.

    Providing arguments to show where the other person is wrong and you are right is the only logical approach to argumentation. Yet, what we hear constantly are the cries of racist, bigot, anti-Semite, anti-Mormon, anti-women's rights, socialist, etc., none of which says anything about the subject of the initial argument.

    Most immigrant groups in the US have historically been eventually integrated into the American culture for the most part. The most successful, IMO, are those who do it without resorting to a hyphen.

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  118. Bob said"Quirk knows more about the formal types of argumentation than I, so I will ask him what this sort of shit argument is formally called.

    It is used repeatedly by Deuce, and by Rufus, who called me a coward and draft dodger.

    This is very Rufus who stated he got dead drunk and rolled off the bar stool and rolled into the recruiting station.

    Like a fool he served his time in an utmost fiasco and now claims enlightenment because of this experience on all things military, and also the ability to judge other people's characters as good or ill.

    Deuce isn't quite there yet, but getting close.

    It wasn't the people in the military and with military experience that first began to question Vietnam, but civilians, students, and history professors.
    "

    Really, how would you know?

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  119. Bunch of Europeans and Russians living in the heart of Arabia 50 years after colonialism? It was destined to end badly and it will.

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  120. The sad truth is most American don't even who Bibi is. The radical right wing of the Republican party from the deeeep south I know you love Israel for a twisted sick "religious" believe. I know the Jews people do not share your twisted believe but they are willing to use your influence to their end. That said Israel is our ally we should support in defending its self but that should not include military adventure the two B's are advocating against Iran. If the elected officials of Israel think they should take preemptive action against Iran go for it but do not get the American people evolved. We have been fighting the past ten years with no end in sight.

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