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."

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Act For The Relief Of Sick And Disabled Seamen - July 1798


WHAT ELSE HAPPENED IN 1798?
Hat tip: Rufus
Wth July,1798.
CHAP. [94.] An act for the relief of sick and disabled seamen. (1)

§ 1. Be it enacted, Sfc. That from and after the first day of September next, the master or owner of every ship or vessel of the United States, arriving from a foreign port into any port of the United States, shall, before such ship or vessel shall be admitted to an entry, render to the collector a true account of the number of seamen that shall have been employed on board such vessel since she was last entered at any port in the United States, and shall pay, to the said collector, at the rate of twenty cents per month for every seaman so employed ; which sum he is hereby authorized to retain out of the wages of such seamen.
§ 2. That from and after the first day of September next, no collector shall grant to any ship or vessel whose enrollment or license for carrying on the coasting trade has expired, a new enrollment or license, before the master of such ship or vessel shall first render a true account to the collector, of the number of seamen, and the time they have severally been employed on board such ship or vessel, during the continuance of the license which has so expired, and pay to such collector twenty cents per month for every month such seamen have been severally employed as aforesaid ; which sum the said master is hereby authorized to retain out of the wages of such seamen. And if any such master shall render a false account of the number of men, and the length of time they have severally been employed, as is herein required, he shall forfeit and pay one hundred dollars.
§ 3. That it shall be the duty of the several collectors to make a quarterly return of the sums
collected by them, respectively, by virtue of this act, to the secretary of the treasury ; and the president of the United States is hereby authorized, out of the same, to provide for the temporary relief and maintenance of sick, or disabled seamen, in the hospitals or other proper institutions now established in the several ports of the United States, or in ports where no such institutions exist, then in such other manner as he shall direct: Provided, that the moneys collected in any one district, shall be expended within the same.
§4. That if any surplus shall remain of the moneys to be collected by virtue of this act, after defraying the expense of such temporary relief and support, that the same, together with such private donations as may be made for that purpose, (which the president is hereby authorized to receive,) shall be invested in the stock of the United States, under the direction of the president; and when, in his opinion, a sufficient fund shall be accumulated, he is hereby authorized to purchase or receive cessions or donations of ground or buildings, in the name of the United States, and to cause buildings, when necessary, to be erected as hospitals for the accommodation of sick and disabled seamen.
§ 5. That the president of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to nominate and appoint, in such ports of the United States as he may think proper, one or more persons, to be called directors of the marine hospital of the United States, whose duty it shall be to direct the expenditure of the fund assigned for their respective ports, according to the third section of this act; to provide for the accommodation of sick and disabled seamen, under such general instructions as shall be given by the president of the United States for that purpose, and also, subject to the like general instructions, to direct and govern such hospitals, as the president may direct to be built in the respective ports : and that the said directors shall hold their offices during the pleasure of the president, who is authorized to fill up all vacancies that may be occasioned by  the death or removal of any of the persons so to be appointed. And the said directors shall render an account of the moneys received and expended by them, once in every quarter of a year, to the secretary of the treasury, or such other person as the president shall direct; but no other allowance or compensation shall be made to the said directors, except the payment of such expenses as they may incur in the actual discharge of the duties required by this act. [Approved, July16, 1798.]


 -----------------------------------------

Rick Ungar, Contributor Forbes
I write from the left on politics and policy.

1/17/2011 @ 9:08PM |
Congress Passes Socialized Medicine and Mandates Health Insurance -In 1798

The ink was barely dry on the PPACA when the first of many lawsuits to block the mandated health insurance provisions of the law was filed in a Florida District Court.
The pleadings, in part, read -
The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage.
It turns out, the Founding Fathers would beg to disagree.
In July of 1798, Congress passed – and President John Adams signed - “An Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen.” The law authorized the creation of a government operated marine hospital service and mandated that privately employed sailors be required to purchase health care insurance.
Keep in mind that the 5th Congress did not really need to struggle over the intentions of the drafters of the Constitutions in creating this Act as many of its members were the drafters of the Constitution.
And when the Bill came to the desk of President John Adams for signature, I think it’s safe to assume that the man in that chair had a pretty good grasp on what the framers had in mind.
Here’s how it happened.
During the early years of our union, the nation’s leaders realized that foreign trade would be essential to the young country’s ability to create a viable economy. To make it work, they relied on the nation’s private merchant ships – and the sailors that made them go – to be the instruments of this trade.
The problem was that a merchant mariner’s job was a difficult and dangerous undertaking in those days. Sailors were constantly hurting themselves, picking up weird tropical diseases, etc.
The troublesome reductions in manpower caused by back strains, twisted ankles and strange diseases often left a ship’s captain without enough sailors to get underway – a problem both bad for business and a strain on the nation’s economy.

But those were the days when members of Congress still used their collective heads to solve problems – not create them.
Realizing that a healthy maritime workforce was essential to the ability of our private merchant ships to engage in foreign trade, Congress and the President resolved to do something about it.
I encourage you to read the law as, in those days, legislation was short, to the point and fairly easy to understand.
The law did a number of fascinating things.
First, it created the Marine Hospital Service, a series of hospitals built and operated by the federal government to treat injured and ailing privately employed sailors. This government provided healthcare service was to be paid for by a mandatory tax on the maritime sailors (a little more than 1% of a sailor’s wages), the same to be withheld from a sailor’s pay and turned over to the government by the ship’s owner. The payment of this tax for health care was not optional. If a sailor wanted to work, he had to pay up.
This is pretty much how it works today in the European nations that conduct socialized medical programs for its citizens – although 1% of wages doesn’t quite cut it any longer.
The law was not only the first time the United States created a socialized medical program (The Marine Hospital Service) but was also the first to mandate that privately employed citizens be legally required to make payments to pay for health care services. Upon passage of the law, ships were no longer permitted to sail in and out of our ports if the health care tax had not been collected by the ship owners and paid over to the government – thus the creation of the first payroll tax in our nation’s history.
When a sick or injured sailor needed medical assistance, the government would confirm that his payments had been collected and turned over by his employer and would then give the sailor a voucher entitling him to admission to the hospital where he would be treated for whatever ailed him.
While a few of the healthcare facilities accepting the government voucher were privately operated, the majority of the treatment was given out at the federal maritime hospitals that were built and operated by the government in the nation’s largest ports.
As the nation grew and expanded, the system was also expanded to cover sailors working the private vessels sailing the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.
The program eventually became the Public Health Service, a government operated health service that exists to this day under the supervision of the Surgeon General.

So much for the claim that “The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty….”
As for Congress’ understanding of the limits of the Constitution at the time the Act was passed, it is worth noting that Thomas Jefferson was the President of the Senate during the 5th Congress while Jonathan Dayton, the youngest man to sign the United States Constitution, was the Speaker of the House.
While I’m sure a number of readers are scratching their heads in the effort to find the distinction between the circumstances of 1798 and today, I think you’ll find it difficult.
Yes, the law at that time required only merchant sailors to purchase health care coverage. Thus, one could argue that nobody was forcing anyone to become a merchant sailor and, therefore, they were not required to purchase health care coverage unless they chose to pursue a career at sea.
However, this is no different than what we are looking at today.
Each of us has the option to turn down employment that would require us to purchase private health insurance under the health care reform law.
Would that be practical? Of course not – just as it would have been impractical for a man seeking employment as a merchant sailor in 1798 to turn down a job on a ship because he would be required by law to purchase health care coverage.
What’s more, a constitutional challenge to the legality of mandated health care cannot exist based on the number of people who are required to purchase the coverage – it must necessarily be based on whether any American can be so required.
Clearly,  the nation’s founders serving in the 5th Congress, and there were many of them, believed that mandated health insurance coverage was permitted within the limits established by our Constitution.
The moral to the story is that the political right-wing has to stop pretending they have the blessings of the Founding Fathers as their excuse to oppose whatever this president has to offer.
History makes it abundantly clear that they do not.

UPDATE: January 21- Given the conversation and controversy this piece has engendered, Greg Sargent over at The Washington Post put the piece to the test. You might be interested in what Greg discovered in his article, “Newsflash: Founders favored government run health care.
Contact Rick at thepolicypage@gmail.com


MORE ON THE ILLUMINATI






222 comments:

  1. ”Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” - The more it changes, the more it's the same

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The government (ie. men) does whatever suits it (them) at the time. That's why Jeff Davis instituted a draft and suspended habeas corpus.

      Delete
  2. It does sound both familiar and current.

    ReplyDelete
  3. (Reuters) - Gunfire erupted on Sunday at an upmarket shopping mall in Kenya's capital Nairobi, where at least 59 people were killed and several more held hostage by gunmen from a Somali Islamist group that has declared allegiance to al Qaeda.

    The shooting, lasting about 30 seconds, came after a period of tense quiet in the standoff, a Reuters witness said, speaking from close to the shopping centre that has several Israeli-owned outlets and which is frequented by Westerners and Kenyans.

    Foreigners, including a Canadian diplomat, were killed in Saturday's attack at Westgate mall, claimed by the Islamist group al Shabaab.

    Shortly after the shots were fired, troops in camouflage ran crouching below a restaurant terrace along the front of the building that had been buzzing with customers when assailants charged in. One witness said they first told Muslims to leave.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm shocked. Bush said Islam was a religion of peace.

      Delete
    2. Religion does not kill people, people kill people.

      Just like with guns, in the US.

      You know ...

      Guns don't kill people, people kill people.



      Scenes that we've all seen before, won't you ell us some more.

      Delete
    3. Rat defends Islam...

      Nothing new here.

      Delete
    4. I'm right there with GW Bush, BH Obama, Pope John PaulII

      Judging individuals, not painting 1.3 billion people with the same brush.

      You judge all Muslims guilty, while Islam judges all Jews in a similar manner.
      Both sides are fucked up in the head.

      You, quot, you're judged to be a fool, on an individual level

      Delete
    5. I don't judge anyone en bloc.
      Not Catholics, Jews or Muslims.
      Not Buddhists, even after the Navy Yard shooting.

      I do not blame all Mormons for the Mountain Meadows Massacre
      Nor all Japanese for the 7DEC1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
      Nor all Jews for the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty or the murder of Furkan Dogan

      Delete
  4. Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A blast at a Protestant church in northwest Pakistan killed at least 61 people and wounded more than 120, authorities said Sunday.

    The attack took place at the All Saints Church of Pakistan, in the violence-plagued city of Peshawar, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the country’s capital, Islamabad.

    Witnesses told CNN affiliate Geo News that at least one suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded bazaar near the church entrance as crowds of worshipers were leaving a Sunday morning service.

    Some of the victims were children, the witnesses said.

    The outside of the church was peppered with debris, and crowds of men and rescue officials covered in blood.
    Christians make up less than 3% of the population in the South Asian nation of 193 million.

    No group immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack. But Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, of which Peshawar is the capital, is rife with Islamic extremists and has been the site of clashes between Pakistani security forces and militants.

    ReplyDelete
  5. An incredibly high percentage of President Obama’s Twitter followers are fake, while the opposite is true for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

    According to the Twitter analytics application, Status People, 55 percent of President Obama’s 36,802,378 Twitter followers — or approximately 20,240,107 followers — are fake.

    A ‘fake follower,’ according to Status People, is a spam account following the user. During the presidential election season, candidates’ Twitter accounts came under public scrutiny for possibly purchasing followers to try to bolster their social media credibility.

    Twenty-four percent of Obama’s Twitter followers are inactive, and only 21 percent — or approximately 7,728,499 followers — are real.

    Obama’s Twitter account has been active since March 2007, according to the Twitter analytics application Foller.me.

    In comparison, 17 percent of Rouhani‘s 45,680 followers are considered fake. 30 percent are inactive, and 53 percent — or approximately 24,201 followers — are real.



    Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/09/20/55-percent-of-obamas-twitter-followers-are-fake/#ixzz2fcIbvY3M

    ReplyDelete
  6. At least 60 people have been killed at a funeral in the mainly Shia Muslim Sadr City district of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. A tent where mourners were gathered was hit by two explosions, one of them a suicide car bomb.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Muslim on Muslim, with no US boots on the ground. I'll make some Jiffy Pop.

      Delete
    2. When I said that Deuce said I supported genocide.

      I guess when you say it?

      Not the same thing

      Delete
  7. I recall that Q wondered who would volunteer to send Piece Keepers to Syria to facilitate the destruction of the chemical weapons.

    I mentioned the Russians ...

    MOSCOW -- Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Russia is ready to send military observers to Syria to ensure security for efforts to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons.

    I was right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Putin has to defend his lucky break that made Russia a player on the world stage again.

      Delete
    2. A lucky break in the game of chess is when an opponent makes a mistake.

      Delete
    3. Obama's mistake was bringing checkers to a chess game. Same board, I know, but sheeze.

      Delete
  8. .

    I think Q's query included the qualifier 'acceptable' to both sides. For instance, I didn't think observers from Russia, Israel, or FUKUS would be acceptable to all parties as being independent enough for the role. We shall see.

    The same questions apply to who will provide the security. Syria? The UN? Both sides have to buy in.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      By security I mean security for the people who will have to go in and inventory, move, and destroy the Chems.

      .

      Delete
    2. Russia'll do it, now that they have a toehold back in great power status. Ain't gonna let the door close again.

      Delete
    3. To augment the Russians, we can expect the Pakistan to supply manpower for the operation. The Pakistani have a long history of supplying the troops for such missions.

      Since 1960, Pakistan has been actively involved in most of the UN Peacekeeping missions and today stands at the 2nd after Bangladesh with 10,175 troops and observers serving in current missions. Some of the major contributions were in Somalia, Sierra Leone, Bosnia, Congo and Liberia.

      The Pakistani, they would be acceptable to US and the Saudi controlled terrorists.
      The Pakistani being the US bet ally in the War on Terror, while at the same time they are the guardians of the Saudi's nuclear weapon arsenal.

      A tag team of Russia/Pakistan will be acceptable to all sides.

      Delete
    4. In Asscrackistan the Taliban are killing regular army at the rate of 100 a week, won't be long until they are behind the wheel of the oxcart again, which suits me to a T, as long as there's no US boots on the ground there.

      Delete
    5. .

      Russia and Pakistan?

      Volunteering is a prerequisite but is insufficient in itself. I seem to recall that within the last week Obama kind of turned the whole mess over to the UN.

      The first job is getting enough qualified chemical weapons experts to do the deed. That by necessity may require personnel from the UN, US, Russia, and China since they have most of the experts in the world.

      Then there is the question of who will provide the security. The two I've heard suggested are Syria itself (a responsibility I wouldn't want to take on if I were Assad) or the UN. If it's the UN, it will likely be a mixed peacekeeping force. Who is in it will depend on who is willing and who is acceptable.

      While Russia or other current 'players' in the ongoing conflict may be willing to take part, I find it hard to believe they would be 'acceptable' to both sides in the conflict. The final deciders will likely be the rebels. They have turned down offers to negotiate. As far as I know, they have not accepted Assad's offer of a cease fire. And if they continue to battle, the role of the peacekeepers will quickly become

      1. To withdraw as they usually do when fighting begins (i.e. the Golan Heights), or

      2. Get involved to the point where their actions amount to taking sides in the ongoing civil war.


      I still don't see it working. Hopefully, I am wrong.

      .

      Delete
    6. First, Q, the Peace Keepers do not have to be acceptable to the terrorists.
      They have no weapons of mass destruction, other than those supplied by the Saudi/Israeli Axis.
      The rebels are not party to the discussions.

      The Pakistani, a noted above, have a long history of Peace Keeping for the UN.
      They would be acceptable to the UN. A Pakistani General as recently as 26AUG13 ...

      United Nations: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today appointed a Pakistani army general as the Military Adviser for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.

      Lieutenant General Maqsood Ahmed, who replaces Senegal's Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye whose tour of duty ended on July 8, recently completed his duties as a Corps Commander in the Pakistan Army, an appointment that he had held since February 2013.

      Lieutenant General Ahmed has held a number of senior appointments, including serving as an Infantry Commander.

      His military appointments comprised a combination of command and staff appointments and include a United Nations peacekeeping tour of duty in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2005-2006, a UN statement said.


      So, yes ...

      Russia and Pakistan.

      Delete
    7. The Congo ...

      UN tests combat brigade in Democratic Republic of Congo
      by Courtney Brooks

      September 6, 2013
      First-ever offensive force aiming to quash rebels in the volatile Central African country has made military gains

      While the world's attention has been fixed on Syria over the past few weeks, the landscape of diplomacy quietly but radically evolved amid the dense green hills of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

      A flock of attack helicopters descended there on Aug. 28, in a town north of Goma, in the eastern region of the beleaguered Central African nation. The aircraft were filled with armed United Nations peacekeepers, along with Congolese military forces. The first-ever U.N. peacekeeping force with an offensive combat mandate – tasked with "neutralizing" and disarming rebel forces in one of the world's most intractable conflicts – was in action.

      Within two days, the peacekeepers and army had forced rebel militias threatening Goma to withdraw from the front lines. On Thursday, a rebel group known as M23 agreed to resume peace talks with the Congolese government.

      Despite the military and diplomatic gains, what impact the force will have on the ground in the eastern DRC remains to be seen – the country has suffered both internal and regional strife for decades. But the impact on peacekeeping is likely to be profound.

      The Aug. 28 offensive has been brewing since March, when the U.N Security Council authorized what it calls an "intervention brigade" in the DRC. The 3,000-person unit is part of the more than 19,000 troops in DRC attempting to fulfill the U.N.'s "stabilization mission," but it has a significantly different purpose.

      According to Al Jazeera correspondent Malcolm Webb, the intervention brigade is better equipped than either the local rebel groups or the Congolese military, with tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery and night vision goggles. The brigade is comprised of three infantry battalions, one artillery unit and one special forces and reconnaissance company, and is authorized to shoot first – unlike any peacekeeping mission before it.

      Delete
    8. Though whose troops the Intervention brigade really are is hard to discern.

      A soldier from Tanzania was killed in combat and the brigade will not be up to its full strength until troops from Malawi arrive.

      Intervention Brigade ... is commanded by a Tanzanian general.

      Still, for Syria, the Pakistani would be the best bet to supply some troops.
      The US and Saudi trust them.

      Russians, because Assad trusts them.

      Delete
    9. .

      I am not arguing against your suggestion that it might be Russia and Pakistan, rat. However, I am just offering up skepticism that Russia would be part of it because of the prominent part they have played on the Assad side up to this point. Also, the UN has already rejected Russian peacekeepers when Russia offered to replace the Austrian peacekeepers that pulled out of the Golan Heights. However, I am not saying I'm right, just skeptical.

      However, I find your comment, "...the Peace Keepers do not have to be acceptable to the terrorists..." somewhat naïve. Historically, UN peacekeepers go into a country to do just that, be peacekeepers. As was pointed out in the article you posted, the UN mission in the Congo was the first one ever to have a combat mandate. The reason for the exception is likely that the conflict in the Congo has been going on for 12 or 13 years and over 5 million people have died, half of them children.

      In most cases, when peacekeepers are sent in they merely create a barrier between the sides to enforce a ceasefire. If things heat up, they are usually pulled out. We saw it a month or two ago when Austria pulled its troops out of the Golan Heights when things got hot.

      So far, the rebels have refused to take part in peace talks in Geneva. As far as I know, they haven't accepted Assad's offer of a cease fire.

      Would the UN give its peacekeepers a mandate for offensive combat operations in Syria? Highly unlikely since I'm sure it would have to go through the Security Council.

      .

      Delete
    10. If the US and Saudi backed terrorist refuse to talk, hard for Assad to force them to the table.

      As you say, well see what shakes out.
      But there is at least one capable country with military force that has volunteered to put boots on the ground

      Delete
  9. .

    Roberts and SCOTUS ruled the universal mandate under Obamacare was constitutional under the government's taxing powers.

    An Act for The Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen merely sounds like union dues to me.

    :)

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sick seamen? Get 'em a garbage bag to hitch their belt.

      Delete
  10. Meanwhile -

    >>>>While the State Department continues to meander and vacillate in its negotiations regarding human rights abuses, communist henchmen have ratcheted up the repression in Vietnam. As a distraction, the Vietnamese communists are playing the need-to-contain-China card, while seeking lethal weapons from the U.S., supported by both of Vietnam's major advocates -- Senator John McCain and Secretary of State John Kerry.<<<<

    :)


    Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/09/vietnams_talkfight_strategy_in_play_on_human_rights_negotiations.html#ixzz2fd8LpGCW

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vietnam is a police state where one in six working people are employed either full- or part-time in the massive state security network.

      "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose." (The more things change, the more they remain the same.)

      Hat Tip: Deuce

      :)

      Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/09/vietnams_talkfight_strategy_in_play_on_human_rights_negotiations.html#ixzz2fd9PF7V1

      Delete
    2. Paying one guy to watch six. That represents a tax on the economy. Making able-bodied people stand in line during work days for government subsidized rice or wheat or gas or food stamps is another tax.

      Delete
  11. Voice of America


    Lawyers for Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto have asked the International Criminal Court to adjourn his trial so he can return home to deal with the deadly militant attack on a Nairobi shopping mall.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Another pol being brought back to reality by the polls

    PARIS (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande saw his approval ratings fall to their lowest level so far in a monthly poll that showed less than a quarter of voters were satisfied with his actions.

    In a survey by pollster IFOP published in weekly paper Le Journal du Dimanche, Hollande’s approval ratings dropped 5 points from last month to 23 percent.

    This was below his previous low of 25 percent in the same poll in April and close to the lowest ever score for a French president, the 22 percent recorded in 1991 by Francois Mitterand, France’s previous Socialist president, the paper said.

    The poll underlines the task facing Hollande in reviving his popularity at a time when wrangling over tax levels has clouded efforts to revitalize a sluggish economy and his support for military strikes against Syria has drawn mixed reactions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The entire Western World is tired of the horse shit in the Middle East.

      Delete
  13. An article at Forbes states the obvious ...

    Republicans Should Trade The Debt Ceiling For A Better Budget Baseline

    A budget baseline was first created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. This law was replaced with the Deficit Control Act of 1985 which Congress last amended in 1997. Under the original Deficit Control Act the baseline budget was set at the previous year’s spending with no adjustment for inflation unless Congress legislated something different (such as they might with a multiyear transportation bill). Later the Act was amended to add an inflation adjustment to the baseline. Finally, in 1997 an additional 3% annual increase in addition to the inflation adjustment was built into the baseline. That means that under the current law the baseline budget increases at 6-7 percent per year automatically.

    This automatic increase of 6-7 percent lets Democrats complain that Republicans want to cut spending if they propose a budget with anything less than a 6-7 percent increase in spending. As long as spending proposals are measured against a rapidly growing baseline, it will be an uphill struggle to contain federal spending.

    The current baseline budget essentially is designed to enable politicians to deceive the public by labeling smaller spending increases than those contained in the baseline budget as “cuts.” Therefore, having a baseline budget that is as large as possible is crucial to politicians who want government spending to grow continually.
    ...
    The federal deficit will be lower this year for two reasons. First, there was a one-time surge in tax revenue as high income earners accelerated income at the end of 2012 to avoid the higher tax rates that were going into effect in 2013. Second, the sequester and other efforts by the Republicans have managed to hold spending more or less fixed for the last three federal budget years. In fact, spending might actual decline in the fiscal year that ends on September 30.
    ...
    In order to make further deficit progress, Republicans in Congress should offer a simple proposal. They should agree to a continuing resolution on spending that holds spending levels as they are now, with the sequester cuts remaining in place. They should agree to raise the debt ceiling by enough to last for two or three years. In exchange, they should ask Democrats for one simple thing: an amendment to the Deficit Control Act so that the baseline budget returns to its original incarnation. This new budget baseline would only show spending increases when Congress specifically legislates them, most commonly when they do a multiyear transportation or farm bill.


    http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2013/09/22/republicans-should-trade-the-debt-ceiling-for-a-better-budget-baseline/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No inflation adjustments, no automatic spending increases. If Congress wants to spend more money, let them legislate it and force them to openly acknowledge it as an increase in spending. No more playing with words. Re-establishing a baseline budget without automatic increases will return budget debate language to actual truth instead of political doublespeak.

      How much money could be saved with this one simple change? The difference between a budget baseline with no increases at all and one with an automatic 7% annual increase in spending adds up to approximately $14 trillion over ten years. That is enough extra spending to almost double the national debt in the next decade.

      Thus, a change in the baseline budget law is likely to save far more money than any spending cuts the Republicans extract in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, particularly given that President Obama says he will not negotiate over the debt ceiling. Rather than walking into the fight that President Obama wants (and will likely win), Republicans instead can make a deal with the Democrats to pass a clean continuing resolution on spending in a package with the change to the Deficit Control Act to redefine the baseline budget. With that achieved, Congress can pass a straightforward increase in the debt ceiling.


      Delete
    2. I doubt that Farmer Fudd and his Party of Stupid even understand the budget process, but rest assured that President Obama does.

      Instead of trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act for the 42nd time, the Republican leadership should try the approach described above.
      Then again the Republicans do not even take credit for the sequester, with which the US was able to hold the line on spending.

      The GOP did well with the sequester, but the GOP credits Obama for the success in holding the line on spending.

      The Party of Stupid, the name certainly fits both the current leadership of he GOP and those that continue to support them.

      Delete
    3. .

      I assume the fact that a 'cut is not a cut' in OZ has been obvious to most people for some time; however, I was not aware that it was actually written into law and certainly not at a 6-7% annual increase.

      If the GOP were able to achieve the bargain suggested it would be a great thing but we all know it will never happen. There are too many constituents (DEM as well as GOP) who depend on that steady increase, the MIC, the farmers, etc.

      .

      Delete
    4. 6 to 7% annual Federal budget increases, written into the law in 1997.

      1997 that would have been the 105th Congress.

      Newt and the Republicans held the House
      The Senate, Trent Lot and the Republicans were in control.

      That is the reality of the GOP and the budget process.

      Delete
    5. .

      Still back to the politics, rat.

      Reality? You ignore reality.

      What do you think Harry Reid would do if somehow the suggested fix made its way out of the House and over to the Senate. We are talking OZ here for heavens sake.

      .

      Delete
    6. I am speaking of historical fact, Q.

      The 6 to 7% annual increases in the Federal budget were written into law by the Republicans who controlled both the House and the Senate, in 1997.

      That is historical reality.

      Trent Lott and Newt Gingrich at the controls.

      That is historical reality.

      What would Harry Reid do, today?
      Piss & Moan I would surmise.

      Why doesn't John Boehner find out?

      Oh, that's right, he voted for the 6 to 7% annual increases, back in 1997.

      n June of 1997, the House passed the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. This legislation included an increase in the debt ceiling to $5.95 trillion and a line item veto for the President which was later ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The measure initially passed the House in roll call 241, and it's final passage was in roll call 345 346-85. John Boehner voted in favor of this legislation

      http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/House/Ohio/John_Boehner/Views/Debt,_Deficit,_Spending,_and_the_Size_of_Government/

      Delete
    7. Boehner would rather hold the 43rd vote on the repeal of the Affordable Health Act than to attempt any real change to the budget process.

      Delete
    8. (CBS News) A House bill that would keep the government afloat through Dec. 15 but would also deny funding for President Obama's health care law doesn't stand a chance in the upper chamber, senators from both parties agreed Sunday on "Face the Nation.

      Delete
  14. Israel’s Masada myth: doubts cast over ancient symbol of heroism and sacrifice
    Story of Jewish rebels taking their own lives while under siege in desert fortress was either exaggerated or untrue, say experts


    Harriet Sherwood
    theguardian.com, Sunday 22 September 2013 08.04 EDT

    Masada, near the Dead Sea, was excavated 50 years ago.

    Herod the Great's fortified complex at Masada was a winter retreat but also an insurance against a feared rebellion of his Jewish subjects or an attack from Rome. Luxurious palaces, barracks, well-stocked storerooms, bathhouses, water cisterns sat on a plateau 400m above the Dead Sea and desert floor. Herod's personal quarters in the Northern Palace contained lavish mosaics and frescoes.

    But by the time the Jews revolted against the Romans, Herod had been dead for seven decades. After the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the surviving rebels fled to Masada, under the command of Eleazer Ben Yair. Around 960 men, women and children holed up in the desert fortress as 8,000 Roman legionnaires laid siege from below.

    Using Jewish slave labour, the Romans built a gigantic ramp with which they could reach the fortress and capture the rebels. On 15 April in the year 73CE, Ben Yair gathered his people and told them the time had come to "prefer death before slavery". Using a lottery system, the men killed their wives and children, then each other, until the last survivor killed himself, according to historian Flavius Josephus's account.

    The Romans advanced but found only "an awful solitude, and flames within and silence, they were at a loss to conjecture what had happened Here encountering the mass of slain, instead of exulting as over enemies, they admired the nobility of their resolve". Josephus recorded that two women and three children survived to tell the tale.

    After the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948, Masada took on a new significance, symbolising heroism and sacrifice. "It is a place of ancient doom which time has turned into a symbol of the pride of a new nation," wrote Ronald Harker in the Observer book on Masada, published in 1966.

    Newly enlisted soldiers were taken to the desert fortress to swear their oath of allegiance, including the shout: "Masada will not fall again!"

    But some have cast doubt on the “myth of Masada", saying it was either exaggerated or the suicide story was simply wrong.

    {…}

    ReplyDelete

  15. {…}
    Guy Stiebel, professor of archaeology at Jerusalem's Hebrew University and Masada expert, said the evolution of myth is common in young nations or societies. "In Israel it's very typical to speak in terms of black and white, but looking at Masada I see a spectrum of grey.

    The left regard Masada as a symbol of the destructive potential of nationalism. The right regard the people of Masada as heroes of our nation. For me, both are wrong.

    "If you put me in a corner and ask do you think they committed suicide, I will say yes. But this was not a symbolic act, it was a typical thing to do back then. Their state of mind was utterly different to ours.

    "The myth evolved. All the ingredients were there. At the end of the day, it's an excellent story and setting, you can't ask for more."

    Yadin Roman, the editor of Eretz magazine, who is compiling a commemorative book on the Masada excavation, said some archaeologists had posited alternative theories, involving escape, although in the absence of evidence many were now returning to the suicide theory.

    "Masada became an Israeli myth," he said. For a nation still reeling from the revelations of the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann, "brave Jewish warriors standing up to the might of the Roman army was a much-needed antidote. But some people challenged the merits of the story – you stand alone on a hill to fight your enemies and then commit suicide? This is the 'Masada complex'? This is the model for Israel?"

    David Stacey, a veteran of the excavation 50 years ago, dismissed the story of mass suicide. "It was completely made up, there was no evidence for it," he said. "Did Yadin pursue this story because he was an ardent nationalist, or because he needed to raise money for his excavation? Yadin was a smart enough operator to know that to succeed, you've got to sell a story. He succeeded."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course it was the origin of the myth of the Badass Israeli trope, seen today on such television shows as NCIS. You know, the action girl who has a tactical IDF bra and can do pushups with no hands.

      Delete
    2. Brave talk, bluster and then communal suicide.
      That is the Israeli way!


      Delete
    3. .

      Story of Jewish rebels taking their own lives while under siege in desert fortress was either exaggerated or untrue, say experts

      You mean, say some 'experts'. And by the way, how does one 'exaggerate' a mass suicide?

      Few 'experts' say they didn't commit suicide. That the suicide was eventually used for propaganda, an open to question. If it were would it be surprising? Not at all.

      Every nation has its myths, usually based on some actual incident in the past. How it's interpreted depends on a persons viewpoint or motives. Let's not get too hypocritical here.

      .

      Delete
    4. They didn't want their women and children given over to tender Roman mercies.

      What would YOU do?

      If they were such cowards they would not have rebelled in the first place.

      I have hardly ever read such crap.

      Delete
    5. Another thread bashing Israel and or Jews.

      thanks.

      Just shows how low you have become.

      Delete
    6. The good news whether Rat, Rufus or Deuce like it?

      Israel is doing fine.

      It actually has a leader that is PROUD of it's nation unlike America.

      America has lost it's footing. Hopefully it will regain it. But as it stumbles now? It's a joke of the world. Lead by a cut rate poser in chief.

      Delete
    7. Kill the women that could not fight, kill the children to young to fight and then kill as many Romans as we possibly could as we fought to the death.

      That's what I would have done.

      Never would I have surrender our lives for nothing.

      Delete
    8. No surrender, no retreat, fight until you cannot fight any more.
      Fight to the last man, woman and child.
      Fight to the last drop of blood, to the last breath.

      Never, ever, give up the fight!




      Delete
    9. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country — Victory or Death.

      William Barrett Travis.

      Delete
    10. Rat has learned a new skill...

      Creating fake logins and using "anon"..

      Still has nothing to say...

      Just now says it with a 1/2 dozen personas

      Delete
  16. John McCain and the Syrian crisis puts Putin plan in vogue

    September 22 2013 at 10:22am
    By Kuseni Dlamini

    President Vladimir Putin has cunningly managed to give diplomacy a chance in the Syrian crisis that threatened to plunge the world into anarchy, says Kuseni Dlamini.


    Johannesburg - Global public opinion is in flux with the drums of war having reduced their noise and pace as President Vladimir Putin of Russia has emerged as a shrewd statesman and global diplomat of note, as he has cunningly managed to give diplomacy a chance in the Syrian crisis that threatened to plunge the world into anarchy.

    Putin has done a great job. That’s commendable. In the process, he has succeeded in repositioning himself and his country centre stage in the global affairs of our time.

    Russia has always longed for its lost superpower status accorded to it during the Cold War era, largely based on the significant sphere of influence it had due to its dominance over numerous satellite states which were part of the then-communist bloc.

    In Putin, most Russians see a strongman who can restore their lost position of glory and supremacy in global affairs. Putin has always branded himself as the trusted ex-KGB strongman who is keen to make Russia count. A quintessential nationalist par excellence.

    His road to Damascus intervention has seen him emerge as an honest global power broker of note, almost at par with Washington. He has effectively used the Damascus crisis to reassert Moscow’s clout and esteem in global affairs and to push Washington on the defensive.

    He is a master strategist and tactician who can turn a crisis situation into an opportunity for strategic repositioning and rebranding of self and country alike. This has been as good for his public persona as it has been for Russians’ sense of self-esteem and national pride.

    It’s a win-win situation. Russians are as proud as the Americans, but don’t have much leverage in global affairs, as Russia is not as economically and politically vibrant as the US.
    {…}

    ReplyDelete

  17. {…}

    It is, at best, a shadow of its former self, whereas the US is the world’s most powerful economic, political, military and hegemonic superpower of our time. Russia’s intervention in Syria has to be partly viewed within this historic and contemporary context which partly shapes its psyche and approach to international relations.

    It would, however, be unfair not to credit President Barack Obama’s open-mindedness as reflected in his willingness to consider and give Putin’s intervention a chance. Some would argue that he had no choice as he was isolated, especially when the British parliament delivered a humiliating anti-war vote in a special session called by Prime Minister David Cameron.

    The “Putin Plan” is in vogue. It entails full disclosure within seven days by the Assad regime of all their chemical weapons and surrendering them to the international community.

    In addition, Damascus has to sign up to the international convention against the possession and use of chemical weapons.

    This is the only hope for some peace in our time. It’s imperative.

    It would be the right step in the right direction. If Damascus fails to give full disclosure to the satisfaction of the international community, Washington is ready to strike.

    The option to launch a strike, with UN support, must be kept alive to encourage the right behaviour to unlock a lasting political and diplomatic solution. In a way, Obama has also demonstrated shrewd statesmanship by giving the Assad regime a long rope to hang itself by.

    It will have no place to hide if it fails to comply. No excuses. It now has two options: fully disclose and disarm yourself of chemical weapons, or get pounded by Washington, with the support of the international community, including your allies such as Russia, China and others.

    This is a demonstration of statesmanship at work. The world needs that. It has been in short supply. Diplomacy matters. It works. It needs to be given a chance. It is significant that a member of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) coalition has emerged as a countervailing force to bring Washington to its senses.

    {…}

    ReplyDelete

  18. {…}

    The majority of Americans are happy. At least 60 percent of Americans are said, according to opinion polls, to be opposed to an attack on Damascus. I agree with them. We need peace.

    What does Washington’s decision to halt its assault on Damascus tell us about the balance of forces in global politics and economics? First, it tells us that while Washington, by and large, remains the main dominant global superpower, its power is waning.

    While I fully support Obama’s decision not to go to war with Syria, as I recently argued in this newspaper when the rumours of war started gaining momentum, it is very significant and I dare say historic, that Washington has backed off in favour of a diplomatic solution brokered by Moscow.

    Last year, Obama explicitly proclaimed that a “red line would have been crossed” (and would trigger an attack on Syria) if the Assad regime unleashed chemical weapons on its people. The fact that Washington is not having its way is a good development in international relations, and should be welcomed. It is a sign of the rebalancing of global power relations under way as the “rise of the rest” (like the Brics and other increasingly assertive emerging markets) gains momentum.

    President Jacob Zuma and his Brics counterparts met in Moscow recently at the Group of 20 summit and exchanged views on Syria and other issues. The successful intervention by Putin is as much a victory for Moscow as it is for the Brics coalition.

    Pretoria needs to be actively and visibly engaged with the diplomatic track to peacefully resolving the Syrian crisis and giving peace a chance in our time in the Middle East and the world.

    * Kuseni Dlamini is a Member of the National Council of the SA Institute of International Affairs.


    Sunday Independent

    ReplyDelete
  19. "we need peace"

    So let's do nothing to stop a mass murdering dictator from murdering a hundred thousand people because we need peace.

    And when somewhere else in this world someone decides to gas a school, destroy a city with it's population still there we should do nothing cause "we need peace"

    And when our ships are hijacked our planes are blown up and our malls are attacked we should hold a prayer vigil and do nothing cause we need peace.

    Pussies... Cowards.... Appeasers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Jews have opened fire, and they are unready to begin a war.

      Delete
    2. There is not one single place built in this country of Israel that did not have a former Arab population.

      Delete
    3. Jewish villages were built in the place of Arab villages. You do not even know the names of these Arab villages, and I do not blame you because geography books no longer exist.

      Delete
    4. What insane asylum did you escape from?

      Delete
    5. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/moshe_dayan.html

      Delete
    6. Once again, rat posts and says nothing,,,

      Nothing worth commenting on..

      seeking attention is all Rat lives for.

      Delete
    7. You don't appreciate my comments?

      You must be a small minded fool.

      Delete
    8. From your other posts on this thread there is evidence that you really are an anti-Semite.

      What is an "&quot", anyway?

      Delete
  20. September 22, 2013
    Israel's Bright Future
    By Guy Millière

    The Israeli government sees that friendship between the American people and Israel remains deep and intense, despite campaigns of anti-Israeli propaganda and political fluctuations. The most recent polls show that, unlike Europeans, who are mired in moral relativism and infected with renewed anti-Semitism, a clear majority of Americans (64 percent in March, a record high) have a good opinion of Israel (the corresponding figures at the same moment were 17 percent in France and the United Kingdom, 10 percent in Germany).

    In 2009, George Gilder published a book called The Israel Test. He said that those who love achievement have esteem and admiration for Israel, and only the love of achievement is fruitful. The people of Israel love achievement and see that Israel is on the side of fruitfulness. The American people also remain fundamentally committed to achievement and are firmly on the side of Israel.

    Guy Millière is a senior fellow of the Gatestone Institute and a a professor at the University of Paris. He has published 27 books on France, Europe, the United States, and the Middle East.


    Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/09/israels_bright_future.html#ixzz2fdcWbsd1

    Some people hate to admit it, but Israel is a great country.

    I wish them well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our American friends offer us money, arms, and advice. We take the money, we take the arms, and we decline the advice.

      Delete
    2. Give peace a chance.

      Delete
    3. You should call it a state and capitalize that "i"

      Guess you really are an anti-Semite at heart

      Delete
  21. This place certainly has begun to attract some anti-semitic crazies.

    Sad to see.

    The dialogue declines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Practically the only way to dry the swamp of radical Islam is through economic development and an improved standard of living.

      Delete
    2. The world is no longer against us.

      Delete
    3. Israel is no longer a people that dwells alone, and has to join the global journey toward peace, reconciliation and international cooperation.

      Delete
    4. Well it's really Deuce's fault, he allows it, he posts it and because of his standards or lack there of, it attracts other losers with the same Jew hatred/Israel hatred agenda.

      Delete
    5. Israeli Prime Ministers and their leading General are only considered anti-Semitic by fools, knaves and the unread.

      Yitzak Rabin and Mosa Dayan are considered by What is " to be anti-semitic, haters of Jews and Israel.

      The comedian never sleeps.

      Delete
    6. You see, Rat so desperate for attention must argue with himself...

      It's a shame we can see the rat droppings he drops and refuse to response to him about the subjects he demands.

      Delete
  22. Israel and Arizona have approximately the same populations.

    If I have my figures correct (nearly) - please check - the GDP of Arizona recently is 261,300,000.

    Likewise, the GDP of Israel recently is 242.9 billion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Except Israel is surrounded by actual hostiles.

      It spends more as a % on national defense than any other nation on the planet.

      Delete
    2. That is their choice to make.
      That's what they get for movin' to the ghetto.

      If they'd move to Vegas or up here to Idaho they could pursue other hobbies.
      Buy a dog, get a horse.
      Farm in peace.

      Their choice.

      Delete
  23. Are you trying to suggest, Sir, that in comparison to Israel, Arizona is just a shitty little country?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, Anonymous, I am suggesting that Israel is a city-state, the geographic size of the metro-Phoenix area.

      Delete
    2. Never would I suggest that Arizona could or should be an sovereign, independent nation.

      That would be absurd. It would immediately be in conflict, demographically if not militarily, with Mexico.

      The Mexican government attempting to reclaim what was once theirs.

      Delete
    3. Rightfully so, as the lands were taken from Mexico through military force and extortion.

      Delete
    4. Just as the lands now the state of Israel were, from the Arabs.

      Delete
    5. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    6. It is great to see that we are all coming to agree on the status of Israel, that it is comparable to the city of Phoenix.
      Both in geographic terms and in per capita GDP.
      That the idea of Phoenix or even the great state of Arizona being an independent nation is as nonsensical and ill advised as the state of Israel is, today.

      Delete
    7. Once again, Rat proves he's on crack.

      Delete
  24. Israeli anti-terrorism team reported to be in Kenya to help plan counter attack against the bad guys.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Israeli advisers are helping Kenya formulate a strategy to end a siege at a Nairobi shopping mall where Islamist militants have killed at least 59 people and are holding hostages, an Israeli security source said on Sunday.
      "There are Israeli advisers helping with the negotiating strategy, but no Israelis involved in any imminent storming operation," said the source, who declined to be identified.
      The source said only a "handful" of Israelis, "purely in an advisory role," were on scene at the upscale Westgate shopping center, which has several Israeli-owned outlets and is frequented by expatriates and Kenyans.
      An Israeli source in Nairobi said all Israelis who were in the mall at the time of the attack had made it out safely, with the last three rescued overnight.
      There were conflicting reports from other security sources in Nairobi about the part Israel was playing.
      One Kenyan security source, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters that the Israeli military was involved in the operation, while a private security official also said they were helping comb the mall.
      But the Kenyan Interior Minister insisted it was a national operation, despite offers of foreign support.


      Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/09/death_toll_at_nairobi_mall_climbs_to_59.html#ixzz2fdu72o1t
      Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

      Delete
  25. Missed a couple of zeros, there, sport. The GDP of Arizona would be $261 BILLION.

    innumerate asshole.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And, of course, the Phoenix Metropolitan Area accounts for 75% of Arizona's GDP. So, comparing Israel to Phoenix really isn't such a stretch.

      Delete
    2. Ah well, in the scheme of things, what's a couple of zeros?

      Delete
    3. Of course, Israel, and Arizona, both, pale in comparison to a real city; Mexico City has a GDP of $411 Billion.

      Delete
    4. Then, there's New Yawk City, which has a GDP about 5 times that of the country of Israel, at $1.28 TRILLION!!!

      Delete
    5. Then, there's that goofy state out west that has a GDP somewhere in the $2.15 TRILLION range. Just to inject a little perspective.

      Delete
    6. Except that Israel doesn't have a USA to be a part of and is surrounded by hostile nations hell bent on it's genocide.

      Delete
    7. Their choice, not our fault.
      Move on up to Idaho.

      Delete
    8. Madagascar is always an option

      Delete
  26. By the beginning of WWII (1939), how many hectares of land in Israel had been purchased by Jews?

    ReplyDelete
  27. By the beginning of WWII (1939), how many hectares of land in Israel had been purchased by Jews?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't know, but a lot.

      Delete
    2. There was no Israel in 1939 so the answer, allen, is ZERO percent.

      Delete
    3. That would come as quite a shock to the writers of the Jerusalem Talmud, for example.

      Delete
    4. That shocking revelation, it is the basis of the conflict.

      Delete
    5. The basis of the conflict is the koran.

      Has been all over the world for centuries on end.

      Delete
    6. That is not true, anonymous.
      The Greeks were battling the Persians well before Abraham was born.
      The conflict is geographic, cultural, economic and political.
      Religion is used an excuse used to sway those that are of feeble mind.

      I see that you have bought in.

      Delete
    7. Please give dates of battles between Greeks and Persians.

      Delete
    8. Traditional dating: ca. 1194–1184 BC

      Delete
    9. Though there had been skirmishes prior to that.

      The cities were walled and fortified due to the threat of major conflict by 1194 BC

      Delete
  28. You know what his meaning was, so what?

    How many hectares of land in the land that was to become Israel was purchased by Jews by 1939?

    There, happy now?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, because to track by race, ethnicity or creed is quite un-American.
      It violates our secular creed.

      Socialists and Communists use race, ethnicity and creed as points of division for political purposes.
      As the current crop of Israeli and US leaders so aptly illustrate.

      As freemen that cherish liberty we must reject the very concept.

      Delete
    2. Not to mention, Southerners, and potato farmers.

      Delete
    3. WEll, let's see here, what does the koran track by, race, ethnicity or creed. Or, all three?

      I like trackiing by creed.

      I like to track those who wish to kill me, and replace the Constitution with the sharia.

      Track them for sure.

      They are causing by far most of the conflicts in the world, like about 90%.

      Go live with them.

      Delete
    4. WEll, let's see here, what does the koran track by, race, ethnicity or creed. Or, all three?

      I like trackiing by creed.

      I like to track those who wish to kill me, and replace the Constitution with the sharia.

      Track them for sure.

      They are causing by far most of the conflicts in the world, like about 90%.

      Go live with them.

      Delete
    5. Why would anyone go live with people that do not want the immigrant there?
      That would not be a smart thing to do.

      We should be smarter than that, smarter than those that do think race, ethnicity and religion are more important than individual liberty and the content of a person's character.
      When the Europeans that moved to Arabia, pursuing another European religious crusade to the Holy Land, they have willingly entered into the perpetual conflict they now must endure.
      Not very bright.



      The US government proving its intellectual inadequacies by supporting them

      Delete
    6. To change the behavior of the Muslims we should follow the wisdom of Yitzhak Rabin.

      Practically the only way to dry the swamp of radical Islam is through economic development and an improved standard of living.

      You do know of Yitzhak Rabin, do you not?

      It is evident by their actions that the current leaders of Israel have forgotten him.

      Delete
  29. Anon wrote, "The Greeks were battling the Persians well before Abraham was born."

    The Greek city states have their origin in about 800 BCE.
    The Persians as a people had their origin in about 650 BCE.
    Abraham is given, by convention, a birth date of about 1800 BCE.

    Hmm...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 800 BC, you off your rocker.
      The first major battle, when the Greek City States went and invaded Asia Minor ...
      ... 1194 BC.

      Though not their first engagement.
      As for Abraham, got a copy of his birth certificate?

      If not, the truth of the matter, there were no Muslims in 1194 BC
      The wars raged, without them.

      Delete
    2. And there was not a Jew in sight.

      Delete
    3. What a lot of non sense this place is becoming.

      3/4 of the posts today....ah, well, I think I'll go talk with the cat, she makes better sense.

      Delete
    4. Born in 1800 BC and Abraham lived to be 175 year old.

      Ain't myth great.

      Delete
    5. Yes, it is.

      Subtly hidden from morons like you, the ages of the Patriarchs add up to a fraction of the old Sumerian number, and the implication is the idea of an absolutely impersonal fate.

      This conflicts with the other more popular view which sees man as making choices and establishing a relationship with that which is.

      Joseph Campbell was astonished when he discovered this and said he simply could not comprehend with what transcendent genius those Jewish writers had so skillfully melded two seemingly contradictory views of the nature of things into a seamless whole.

      You, Sir, are an unread moron.

      Delete
    6. Yes, it is.

      Subtly hidden from morons like you, the ages of the Patriarchs add up to a fraction of the old Sumerian number, and the implication is the idea of an absolutely impersonal fate.

      This conflicts with the other more popular view which sees man as making choices and establishing a relationship with that which is.

      Joseph Campbell was astonished when he discovered this and said he simply could not comprehend with what transcendent genius those Jewish writers had so skillfully melded two seemingly contradictory views of the nature of things into a seamless whole.

      You, Sir, are an unread moron.

      Delete
    7. Yes, it is.

      Subtly hidden from morons like you, the ages of the Patriarchs add up to a fraction of the old Sumerian number, and the implication is the idea of an absolutely impersonal fate.

      This conflicts with the other more popular view which sees man as making choices and establishing a relationship with that which is.

      Joseph Campbell was astonished when he discovered this and said he simply could not comprehend with what transcendent genius those Jewish writers had so skillfully melded two seemingly contradictory views of the nature of things into a seamless whole.

      You, Sir, are an unread moron.

      Delete
    8. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    9. Triple droppings from that farmer feller
      He is sure spreading the manure.

      Delete
    10. My computer always does that with profound comments.

      Delete
  30. .

    My, my, my. It's the battle of the dueling (drooling?) anonymi. Not only confusing as hell but also boring as hell. Good thing there is footall, baseball, and b'day parties today.

    .

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

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anon wrote, "800 BC, you off your rocker.
    The first major battle, when the Greek City States went and invaded Asia Minor ...
    ... 1194 BC."

    The Trojan War is the subject of lengthy, interesting fairy tales.

    Asia Minor is not Persia; it is part of modern day Turkey. The label, "Asia Minor", was given the region by the Romans.

    Even if your chronology, history, and geography were not entirely incorrect, Abraham would still predate both the Greeks and Persians.

    ReplyDelete
  33. 1334 BCE
    Trojan War, according to Duris of Samos.

    c. 1250 BCE
    Trojan War, according to Herodotus.

    1184 BCE
    Trojan War, according to Eratosthenes.

    c. 800 BCE - c. 700 BCE
    Homer of Greece writes his Iliad and Odyssey.

    547 BCE
    Anatolia conquered by the Persians.

    448 BCE
    Ionian cities become independent from Persia.

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

    ReplyDelete
  35. Shortly after night fell with the siege well into its second day, teams backed by Israeli agents moved in to end the bloodbath at the upmarket Westgate complex.

    Those badass Israelis again, nipping a Masada in the bud.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Born in 1800 BC and Abraham lived to be 175 year old.

    Except that Abraham is a Semitic word that means "exalted father". His name was changed from Abram which just means "father". What father names his son "father"? Terah must have been a real dummy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. please spare us your "biblical" commentary.

      Delete
    2. Why, afraid of the truth?

      Delete
    3. The point is that the guy's name wasn't Abram, or Abraham, it could have been Adolph for all we know. He got a title "Exalted Father" later, much later, sort of like Nessie's title "Monster".

      And for my next trick, the odds that Jesus was born on December 25 are one in 365.

      Delete
    4. Wrong-o, smart ass.

      You forgot leap years.

      Delete
    5. Wrong-o, smart ass.

      You forgot leap years.

      Delete
    6. If I could sign on I'd delete the double dropping of inanity.

      Delete
    7. If I could sign on I'd delete the double dropping of inanity.

      Delete
  37. Washington is finally talking seriously about how to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance juggernauts that the government was forced to rescue five years ago. Just don't expect quick action.

    ...

    But the real debate boils down to this: Should all Americans continue to have relatively easy access to the pre-payable, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage?

    ReplyDelete
  38. .


    Sumerians Look on in Confusion as God Creates Earth

    http://www.theonion.com/articles/sumerians-look-on-in-confusion-as-god-creates-worl,2879/


    .

    ReplyDelete
  39. At least 59 people were killed and 175 injured in Saturday's attack on a Nairobi shopping centre, the Kenyan interior minister has said.

    ...

    It is not known how many civilians remain trapped there - either as hostages or hiding from the militants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "3 brits, 2 Frenchmen and 2 Canadians walk into a mall in Kenya..."

      ::rimshot::

      Delete
  40. Much has been written and spoken about the deep divide between “red” and “blue” America, but the real chasm increasingly is between Washington and the rest of the country. This disconnect may increase as both conservatives and liberals outside the Beltway look with growing disdain upon their “leaders” inside the imperial capital.

    ...

    This cynicism, felt on both sides of the political chasm, is what doomed the president's Syria adventure and left him to the tender mercies of Vladimir Putin. Americans in general, suggests the National Interest's Robert Merry, have concluded that “the country's elites – of both political parties and across the political spectrum – have been wrong on just about everything they have done since the end of the Cold War.”

    ...

    Besides shared concerns over Syria, the NSA and IRS, grass-roots conservatives and liberals increasingly reject the conventional wisdom of their Washington betters. What increasingly matters here is not political “spin,” but the breadth of anti-Washington sentiment.

    ReplyDelete

  41. susette wrote:
    I really can’t understand what is going on with so many gun murders. I hope the media does not become complacent to the commonness of these occurances. Sometimes, the story gets old and media seems to forget that there are actual victims out there. Gun violence in this country is carried out by people who hold up the constitution and then burn down a population of innocent people “Because they can.”

    Lemmy wrote:
    I agree with suzette – and why aren’t the fatalities from auto crashes also reported in the media? Each and every day we lose 110 people to car crashes.

    Imagine if 110 people died every day from gun violence? But since it’s from cars, we don’t report it because no one cares.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Actually, gun death estimates range from 29,000 to 37,000 for the U.S.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That would be right in the 80 to 100 per day range.
      Single shootings not much reported in the media, because no one cares.

      Delete
    2. You know, though, 37,000 per year ...

      Three years, that'd be over 100,000 and ...

      It is not even considered a Civil War.

      Maybe the US needs some UN Peace Keepers on the streets, or better yet armed citizen militias on patrol.

      No Pakistani though, we'll need fresh troops from Malawi if our own citizens do not want to step up to their civic responsibilities.

      Delete
    3. desert ratSun Sep 22, 11:50:00 PM EDT
      That would be right in the 80 to 100 per day range.
      Single shootings not much reported in the media, because no one cares.


      Same with abortion.

      Delete
    4. Not at all the same, anoni., when the abortions or the shootings are are state sponsored.

      Makes a world of difference.

      When an individual shoots another, that is not news
      When a nation shoots individuals, that is news.

      When an individual woman has an abortion, that is not news.
      When a state finances the abortion of over 250,000 Jews, that is news.

      Delete
    5. Especially if the stated reason for the existence of that state is to protect Jewish lives.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous fell into another trap set by the rat.

      Delete
    7. Rat is obsessed with all things Israel or Jewish.

      A pattern repeated thousands of times.

      Delete
    8. I am interested in hypocrisy, which is the basis of all things Israeli

      Delete
    9. Most easily illustrated by the secular government of Israel financing the slaughter of Jews.

      Delete
    10. Only in Israel, the supposed "Homeland" of Judaism, do they murder Jews to save them.

      Delete
    11. 250,000 Jews murdered by the secular state of Israel, as reported by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, in the 21st century.
      All in an effort to make Israel "safe" for Jews.

      That is hypocrisy to the nth degree.

      And the marketing of that hypocrisy, to obtain inordinate amounts of US funding, interests me.

      Delete
    12. How Mitt Romney, a sometimes staunch anti-abortionist, goes to Israel and praises their "Health Care" system which funds the murder of 20,000 Jews annually a hypocrisy that interests me.

      Mitt's hypocrisy and Israel's both come into play in that episode of the abortion story.

      Delete
    13. .

      I am interested in hypocrisy, which is the basis of all things Israeli

      And the rat knows hypocrisy. He sees it every day when he looks in the mirror.


      That is hypocrisy to the nth degree.

      If so, one assumes the rat's hypocrisy is to the nth + 1 degree.


      Not only is the Israeli abortion meme when offered by the rat hypocritical it is also tedious and frankly rather witless.

      In the past, in a moment of frankness, he has admitted he really doesn't give a shit about those aborted n Israel.

      Likewise, the Israeli abortion rate is lower than most countries, half of that of the US, China, Europe, and even further below countries like Russia and Cuba. It is even lower than that of Arizona. One can only assume that the rat continues this silly meme because he lacks the wit to come up with any new attacks on Israel.

      As for his insistence that the fact that Israel allows for legal abortions or even pays for them makes it unique, the boy needs to get out more. Most Western European countries have double the legal abortion rates as Israel and they have no problem paying for them. Even in the US, to say the government doesn't pay for abortions is absurd. It does so through the grants it gives to organizations like Planned Parenthood as well as other subsidies and assistance. And come January, with the full implementation of Obamacare, there won't even be any attempt to hide that the government is paying for abortions.

      As for the constant appeal to the Chief Rabbi, more stupidity. The Rabbi talks about issues of faith and morals. Israel is a secular society. And as rat has admitted at least once he cares little about faith and morals in Israel.

      .


      Delete
  43. Chris Wallace said on “Fox News Sunday” that it’s been one of the “strangest weeks” he’s ever had in Washington after top Republicans bombarded the host with opposition research about Sen. Ted Cruz in advance of his appearance on the show Sunday morning, Mediaite.com first reported.

    “This has been one of the strangest weeks I’ve ever had in Washington,” Mr. Wallace said. “As soon as we listed Ted Cruz as our featured guest this week, I got unsolicited research and questions, not from Democrats but from top Republicans, to hammer Cruz.”


    Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/22/chris-wallace-republicans-sending-me-opposition-re/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&google_editors_picks=true#ixzz2fgTBkuV3
    Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

    ReplyDelete
  44. The new iPhone 5′s fingerprint ID security feature lasted all of what amounts to not even five minutes in the tech world — Chaos Computer Club is already reporting that they were able to hack the new phone:

    The biometrics hacking team of the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) has successfully bypassed the biometric security of Apple’s TouchID using easy everyday means. A fingerprint of the phone user, photographed from a glass surface, was enough to create a fake finger that could unlock an iPhone 5s secured with TouchID.

    ...

    While it starts with some trendy new technology to get everyone really jazzed about biometrics, the iPhone is only the beginning. Pretty soon these kinds of security measures will be everywhere in a Big Brother dream come true.


    5S TouchID

    ReplyDelete
  45. Changing the subject -

    When the Stars Vanish
    By Peter Wehner

    A recent interview in Relevant magazine caught my attention. In it, the journalist Peter Hitchens made this observation:

    This is a period of great material wealth and the worships of economic growth and the century of the self, in which religious belief is going to be in trouble. The best metaphor for the state of mind in which we find ourselves is this is the first generation of the human race which doesn’t generally see the stars at night. It has blotted them out with street maps and car headlights and everything else. You simply can’t see the stars in most places where human beings are concentrated, and, in the same way, the triumph of consumerism and growth and the temporary joys of pleasure as a substitute for happiness blotted out the metaphorical stars of religious faith. It’s very hard to expect people who can’t see the stars to examine the significance of the stars or see their beauty.

    This is an insightful and eloquently stated point. In acknowledging that, I need to insert a couple of qualifications, the first of which is that I believe wealth is better than poverty for all the obvious reasons – from mitigating human suffering to creating the conditions to foster human flourishing. (Among many other good things, wealth allows people to participate in uplifting cultural experiences, provides assistance to the needs of their children, supports worthy charities and funds college educations.) And my own situation qualifies me as wealthy, at least relative to most of the rest of the world and to those who have lived throughout history. Let’s just say no one will confuse my lifestyle with that of St. Francis of Assisi. (There is no record of him owning the 13th century equivalent of a plasma TV, at least after his pilgrimage to Rome in his early 20s.)

    Still, one can appreciate the truth of what Hitchens is getting at. It’s no secret that often the danger posed to Christians over the millennia is less persecution than worldliness; that it is wealth and power that often undermine spiritual discipline and draw our affections away from the Lord; and that riches can be distractions, averting our gaze from what matters most.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The reason for this may be because every human heart is divided against itself, easily distracted, prone to waywardness. Living in the most opulent and consumeristic society in human history can magnify those tendencies; it can place in shadows and mist the understanding that this is not our true home, that we are citizens of another kingdom. That has been, at least for me, an ongoing challenge in my Christian pilgrimage. How do we die to self while living in a culture that so relentlessly celebrates the imperial self?

      In his autobiography Pilgrim’s Way, John Buchan warned about his nightmare world. “It would be a feverish, bustling world,” he wrote, “self-satisfied and yet malcontent, and under the mask of a riotous life there would be death at the heart.” He goes on:

      Men would go everywhere and live nowhere; know everything and understand nothing. In the perpetual hurry of life there would be no chance of quiet for the soul. In the tumult of a jazz existence what hope would there be for the still small voices of the prophets and philosophers and poets? A world which claimed to be a triumph of the human personality would in truth have killed that personality. In such a bagman’s paradise, where life would be rationalised and padded with every material comfort, there would be little satisfaction for the immortal part of man. It would be a new Vanity Fair… Not for the first time in history have the idols that humanity has shaped for its own ends become its master.
      That is, I think, what Peter Hitchens was getting at with his metaphor about the stars being blotted out, with us unable to examine either their significance or their beauty.

      Now it needs to be said that every society has struggled with its own set of problems, many of them far worse than this one. But societies also struggle to identify their problems, to understand the challenges they present not just to national greatness but to the human spirit, to our capacity to perceive reality rather than getting caught up in alluring images and evanescent pursuits.

      Perhaps the most worrisome thing of all is not that we can’t see the stars, but that so many people don’t even seem to miss them.

      Delete


    2. What you describe above, caused by the farmer.

      "Guns, Germs, and Steel"
      The Fates of Human Societies
      by Jared Diamond

      A NYTimes bestseller ...

      The scope and the explanatory power of this book are astounding - The New Yorker

      Delete
    3. Report to Deuce

      Subject: Niece/father


      "Passage, O soul, to India!
      Eclaircise the myths Asiatic—the primitive fables"

      from Passage to India

      http://www.bartleby.com/142/183.html

      O Walt, I love you so, but please eclaircise they language here. :)

      Deuce, her father, who retreats often to Himalayas to meditate, wishes to meet me. She says, "When you meet him...."

      He hasn't much money. But calls his daughter 'my heart'.

      Like the guy already.

      She says he wishes to thank me.

      I guess I have no choice.

      She is still in Hamburg, three months to go.

      Coming to USA for PhD.

      Never tell a woman "I will go anywhere with you."

      You may find yourself in a village north of Mumbai.

      :)

      She is doing OK.

      Tired.

      Delete
    4. "Fascinating .... Lays the foundation for understanding human history" - Bill Gates

      Delete
    5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    6. Tired, but not profound.

      Delete
    7. Tired, but not profound.

      Delete
  46. Quirk one time, when he, Hamdoon and I were drinking in a Spanish bar in New Mexico, told his consort, Felicia, "I will go anywhere with you."

    Next we knew he was in the Tierra del Fuego.

    He was having his recurring problem with those four hour erections again, and was about to go to the doctor, but instead boarded a plane with Felicia heading, pants bulging.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Quirk one time, when he, Hamdoon and I were drinking in a Spanish bar in New Mexico, told his consort, Felicia, "I will go anywhere with you."

    Next we knew he was in the Tierra del Fuego.

    He was having his recurring problem with those four hour erections again, and was about to go to the doctor, but instead boarded a plane with Felicia heading, pants bulging.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tired and not profound.

      Delete
    2. Tired and not profound.

      Delete
    3. Fuck off yourself, ass hole

      Delete
  48. You are tired and not profound, what else is new?

    ReplyDelete
  49. You are tired and not profound, what else is new?

    ReplyDelete
  50. "War is deceit," said Muhammad. But to take him at his word would be "Islamophobic."

    "VIDEO: Iranian president brags about deceiving the West," by Reza Kahlili for the Daily Caller, September 22:

    Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has gone on a charm offensive lately with multiple interviews with American media promising collaboration, but a recent video shows he takes pride in deceiving the West.
    “Gone is the age of blood feuds,” Rouhani stated in an op-ed in the Washington Post. “World leaders are expected to lead in turning threats into opportunities,” he wrote in the Post Friday.

    In interviews with ABC and NBC, Rouhani said that Iran will never develop nuclear weapons and that he has the authority to make a deal with the West. “In its nuclear program, this government enters with full power and has complete authority,” Rouhani said. “Under no circumstances would we seek any weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, nor will we ever.”

    Rouhani, who is one of the most trusted figures of the Islamic regime’s supreme leader, has served the Islamic Republic at the highest levels since the 1979 revolution. He has been the deputy speaker of Parliament, the head of the Executive Committee of the High Council for War Support during the Iran-Iraq War, the deputy to the second-in-command of Iran’s joint chiefs of staff, a member of the Expediency Council, a member of the Assembly of Experts (the body that chooses the supreme leader), a former nuclear negotiator, and, most importantly, the representative of the supreme leader to the Supreme National Security Council since 1989.

    Despite the recent charm offensive in the American media, a recently revealed video of an interview prior to the June Iranian election shows him bragging how he, in his role as Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, deceived the West during negotiations on Iran’s illicit nuclear program even as Iran expanded its nuclear power. At the same time, Rouhani managed to relieve pressure by the West, especially in convincing the Europeans to avert possible military aggression by the Bush administration.

    “The day that we invited the three European ministers [to the talks], only 10 centrifuges were spinning at [the Iranian nuclear facility of] Natanz,” Rouhani boasted on the tape. “We could not produce one gram of U4 or U6 [uranium hexafluoride]. … We did not have the heavy-water production. We could not produce yellow cake. Our total production of centrifuges inside the country was 150.”

    But then Rowhani admitted in the video the purpose of prolonging negotiations: “We wanted to complete all of these — we needed time.”

    He said the three European ministers promised to block U.S. efforts to transfer the Iran nuclear dossier to the United Nations, using veto power if necessary. He called Iran’s claim that it stopped its nuclear program in 2003 a statement for the uneducated and admitted that the program not only continued, but was significantly expanded under his tenure.

    While President George W. Bush was increasing pressure on Iran in 2007, a report by American intelligence agencies concluded that Iran halted its nuclear program in 2003 and that the program had remained frozen since.

    In the interview, Rouhani said that after he took over the country’s nuclear project, the country’s 150 centrifuges grew to over 1,700 by the time he left the project.

    Then Rouhani made his boldest statement: “We did not stop; we completed the program.”

    He said that Iran’s nuclear activity was under the supervision of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and that he, as Khamenei’s representative, was to ensure this deceit....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.jihadwatch.org/

      has good video

      Delete
    2. http://www.jihadwatch.org/

      is shit video


      Delete
    3. Our dimwitted anoni confuses Iran's nuclear program with a nuclear weapons program.

      Of course they have a nuclear program, they are building self sufficient nuclear electrical generating system, with 22 reactors.
      that program proceeds apace. The Iranians well within the NPT, they have every right to build those reactor and spin those centrifuges.

      Delete
    4. What a silly rat.

      Delete
    5. More rat droppings...

      Maybe we should rename the bar "Rat's droppings"

      Delete
  51. Deuce, she says this morning they will offer her a real paying job at the Institute after three more months. She is just doing this now for her resume. She is considering.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Another innocent man, attacked by bigots and haters, without cause.
    The bigots do not even know how to identify the target of their hared, attacking innocent people instead.

    Islamophobic to nice a word for these numbskulls

    In what police are investigating as a hate crime, a Columbia University professor was badly beaten on a New York City street Saturday by a mob that apparently believed he was a Muslim.

    Police say Prabjot Singh, a 31-year-old Sikh, was attacked just blocks from his home by a group of more than 20 young men on bikes who called him a terrorist and shouted "Get Osama!" Singh, who was saved when passersby intervened, was left with injuries including a fractured jaw, reports the Columbia Spectator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Judging people en bloc instead of as individuals leads to criminality and injustice.
      Illustrated by attacks in both Kenya and NYCity in the past three days

      Delete
    2. A Columbia University professor ...

      That would be cause enough for the radical right to attack him.

      Delete