COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Is REVOLUTION possible against the overwelming force of government?



KIEV — The Globe and Mail
Published  
 

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and his entire cabinet resigned Tuesday as the country’s parliament met in an extraordinary assembly to consider proposals to end months of violent protests across the country.

Mr. Azarov’s resignation is unlikely to satisfy the demands of the protesters or opposition leaders who have taken to the streets for months demanding that President Viktor Yanukovych step down.

Reports emerged Tuesday that the resignation may even lead to Russia reconsidering its $15-billion bailout offer to Ukraine.

But President Vladimir Putin said Russia would honour its obligations even if the opposition formed the next government. The loan was to “support the people of Ukraine, not the government. It’s the people, the common people that suffer,” Mr. Putin told a news conference after talks with European Union leaders in Brussels.

However, he said Russia would be monitoring Ukraine’s economic health closely as the loan needed to be repaid.

Last week, Mr. Yanukovych offered to replace Mr. Azarov with the main opposition leader, Arseniy Yatsenyuk. However, Mr. Yatsenyuk turned down the proposal.

“In an effort to provide for additional opportunities for a social political compromise, to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, I’ve decided to offer my resignation as Prime Minister,” Mr. Azarov said in a statement Tuesday. “The conflict in the state threatens the social and economic development of Ukraine and threatens the entire Ukrainian society and every individual citizen.”

Mr. Yanukovych accepted the resignation of Mr. Azarov and named former central banker Serhiy Arbuzov as interim prime minister. The president will now try to form a new government

During Tuesday’s parliamentary session members voted to repeal most of the anti-protest measures adopted earlier this month to crack down on the protests. They also voted to consider an amnesty for protesters who have been arrested. Both proposals were supported by the Party of Regions, the party of Mr. Yanukovych which holds a majority in parliament.

Mr. Yanukovych agreed last week to scale back the laws and he has said he would consider an amnesty for those who have been arrested, providing protesters cleared the streets of the many barricades they have erected.

On Tuesday, Parliament suspended for the day without considering the amnestry proposal. The debate is supposed to resume Wednesday.

Most of the streets around the parliament were blocked off by hundreds of police wearing riot gear. Police also put up a series of concrete blocks to restrict access along a main thoroughfare.

Throughout the morning thousands of supporters of Mr. Yanukovych streamed into a park in front of the parliament, many arriving by bus from various regions. By 10 a.m. the park was filled with people waving the Party of Region’s blue and yellow flag and wearing bright red stickers saying “Stop Maidan”, a reference to the protesters. A television screen had been set up on a giant stage to broadcast the parliamentary debate and party officials gave periodic speeches denouncing the protesters for “prostituting Ukraine for the Europeans” and suggesting that the anti-Yanukovych movement was a “CIA plot to take over the country”.

“I support the legitimate policies of the president who I voted for,” said Illena Obelets, who manages a government housing project in Kiev and came to show her support for Mr. Yanukovych. She accused the protesters of having fascist elements, saying they have broken laws and illegally forced out 10 regional governors who had been appointed by the President. “I think every person has the right to voice their own opinion but that right has passed the barriers of normalcy. Some of [the protesters] are very radical protesters. … I think that in Canada this would not be possible.”

Another pro-Yanukovych supporter, Zhana Harnesh, said the protesters should be put in a cage and thrown in jail. “The authorities we have are within the law and they were chosen by the electorate. No one has the right to change that,” she said.

But not everyone shared that view. Walking down a street near the parliament, Yuri Ivanovych pointed to a line of police and sneered; “These are the people who beat us up.”

The “maidan is for the people,” he added. “It defends human rights.”

Inside parliament, the debate was tense, with one opposition member showing up wearing a bulletproof vest. “This is my moral protest against what’s happening,” author Maria Matios, a member of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform told reporters. “I never would have thought that we’d be living in the cross hairs of a Kalashnikov.”

206 comments:

  1. But President Vladimir Putin said Russia would honour its obligations even if the opposition formed the next government.

    Unless the next government leans toward Europe instead of Russia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Since the time of the Czars, Russia has used the Ukraine and its other satellite countries as buffer zones for defensive purposes. Russia doesn't care is the Ukraine is democratic just so that it is not aligned with the West. Having US missiles in the Ukraine would be the equivalent of having Russian missiles in Cuba.

      Russia will likely win this one. First, since Yalta the West has shown it has little interest in getting involved in Eastern Europe. Under current US foreign policy, the chances of the US getting involved in the Ukraine are, IMO, nil. Look at what happened with Georgia. Likewise, the EU might have invited the Ukraine to join the EU but with all the problems the EU currently has they are not really chomping at the bit to have the Ukraine accept.

      Second, the Ukraine itself is divided with the northern half favoring Russia and the other half kind of favoring the EU.

      Third, third both the EU and the Ukraine itself are currently dependent upon Russia for their energy needs and in the latter's case for economic assistance.

      .

      Delete
  2. Against the "overwhelming force of government" - obviously, no, by definition.

    q is just an incurable romantic....whose idea of setting himself apart - when he has been drinking - from the 'sheeple' is cry "Revolution, Revolution !!" and to throw some bulllets around 'inner city community style' - killing only innocents, but doing lots of great taunting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Here's where the hard work comes in, but who wants any of that? -

    January 29, 2014
    Libertarianism and the Public Good
    By Glenn Fairman




    By virtue of its very definition, libertarianism has what they refer to in political philosophy as a neutral or attenuated vision of the public Good; or more fully, an understanding that the Right stands prior to the Good. To this mindset, expansive libertarian freedom is the sine qua non of the good and healthy society. The problem arises, however, with the practical implementation of such an abstracted political system. Indeed, any system that is so overwhelmingly predisposed towards individual human liberty is also one that is largely silent on the common moral-historical threads that comprise an integrated civic culture, the coherency of ethical restraints, and the salutary notion of a transcendent human teleology guiding the public square. If we hold that the action of immersing ourselves in freedom is the highest duty of the actualized self -- even higher than honoring the warp and weft of a civilization's accumulated wisdom, how then can we determine what are the wise web of moral/ political policies that answer the basic prudential questions we as humans must deliberate upon in our positive and negative freedoms? Truly, the libertarian premises of the minimal state are largely silent on the intricate sinews that bind community, for freedom in and of itself cannot point us to the character of the good life -- nor answer the primordial questions as to how then shall men live, or even if there is such a thing as a Good Life to be had.

    Morally speaking, it is highly doubtful whether Man can abide the libertarian's ethical ambiguity and communitarian "thinness" while still retaining that connected moral vision necessary for a people's long-term survival. In contrast, it is best to consider the regime alternatives. Constitutional Conservatives posit a government that is mechanically constrained by its own rules of engagement. Moreover, it leaves ample room for private institutions and religious entities to exercise their largely voluntary prerogatives that rein in those obtuse qualities of human nature -- all while cultivating a society's shared moral-historical character. By the same token, the Progressive's moral/political edifice places its fate in the hands of a leviathan state to equalize nature's inequalities, and in turn it works singlemindedly to construct its rendition of the homogenous secular city. And while both of these antithetical incarnations of the political life assign varying weights to liberty and order in the continuum of regimes, or look to the past or to the future for their own pristine El Dorado, each has its integrated endgame in mind as they put their shoulders firmly to the plow. With the libertarian model's desiccated view of the communal good, certain incongruities arise.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Libertarianism's relative social neutrality leads us ultimately in the direction of atomism and anarchy, since it generally avoids the axiom that men are either good or fallen by nature. Instead, many libertarians (but not all) hold to the view that men are tabula rasa -- mere material that is bound only by the plasticity of their potentialities. Such an understanding stands in stark contrast to what Aristotle views as humanity's gregarious political nature -- an essence that comes into its full flowering within the self-sufficient community of proper balance, since we are in our soulish characters intended to be neither beasts nor gods. We must be careful that when we speak of liberty or freedom, we use it in the classical understanding of politics and the integrated good life. In moral terms, imagine the Libertarian City scoured clean of every ethical commandment other than "Do what thou wilt," with the only caveat being a minimalist civic morality. No City can survive upon such abstract foundations, unless men are themselves angelic in temperament. Aristotle said that we are zoon politikon -- political animals who are constantly judging, weighing, valuing. If we add to this mixture the Christian metaphysic: that we are fallen beings who are temporally severed from our necessary purposes, then discrete liberty itself is too thin a cord to bind us in unison, and too weak a master to ultimately keep us from each other's throats.

      The libertarian schizophrenia between economic and social issues, as if they were mutually exclusive in their false compartmentalization, is baffling. As such, are men mindfully unaware that the venom of social liberalism on issues such as abortion, street drug legalization, casual divorce and fatherlessness, gay normalization and marriage, and the filial horrors that arise from the bowels of the deconstructed family produce the very pathologies that have plagued America and have transformed her from a republic of relative virtue to a centralized morally neutral socialist democracy in its most pejorative sense? Indeed, the cancerous seeds that are planted by libertarianism's sympathetic amalgamation with social liberalism have concealed within their ends the ability to hamstring any economic system by degrading the moral appetites of its citizenry -- and this moral cancer is manifest in those who vote.

      The conservation of liberty requires the rational and clear-eyed ability to choose that which serves its interests best. That being so, the characters of morally rudderless men bound to the slavishness caused by drug addicted indolence, along with the full catalogue of ethically dissipated lifestyles that are unfit for free beings in healthy society, would soon topple and destroy the limited aims of the libertarian regime. As men succumbed to demagogues who appealed to the degraded appetites that humanity is heir to, the minimalist state would soon mimic the trajectory of our own self- intoxicated Progressive regime: a politics that has even now scorned the self-sustaining virtues of the Judeo-Christian worldview. Therein, a minimalist regime, infected with the liberal contagion of immorality and the loss of self sufficiency, could not long remain free in its qualified sense and would gradually succumb to the venal helplessness that leads to the peoples crying out for the paternalism of the welfare state or The Man on the White Horse. As in all things political, the moral character of the one and the many is the key, and how interesting it is that the Progressive and Libertarian regimes wind up at the same checkmate.



      Delete

    2. In believing that it is primarily the art of free economic exchange that stands foremost to a civilization's moral good, libertarians unwittingly succumb to the Marxian analysis by letting a materialist caricature of man creep in through the back door. But in the classical sense, Politics is about far more than wealth and its attainment, since the Virtuous City requires prudent wisdom to balance a sustainable admixture of growth, harmony, and moral education's all important cultivation of intellectual, civic, and ethical virtue. We would do well to remind ourselves that moral virtue cannot be severed from the political, despite what we are told by the bastard philosophes of Post-Modernity.


      In an epoch where a society's apprehension of even the most banal wisdom can no longer be taken for granted, the enduring truths must be continually hammered upon and restated in terms that even the dullest of intellects can comprehend. Liberty cannot be a sufficient good that stands of its own. It must be tethered to a purpose greater than its own deification and cannot be abstracted from an ethical "Polaris" that leads men towards some idyllic happiness. Unpurposed liberty is an idol that when fully matured, spirals off into chaos. Yet the word "liberty" rolls off our tongues and enchants our imaginations with a million different fantasies. This is why libertarianism resounds so enticingly to the young and idealistic -- but like liberalism, fails so miserably in practice.

      As we should have expected, the fruits of modernity's political extremes -- radical individualism and collectivism -- both stand as way stations on the unmarked boulevard to tyranny. In truth, both misunderstand the iron laws of human nature and both fail to perceive that there is something far greater that animates the consummation of human happiness. Ultimately, true liberty cannot be seized hold of for long in the transitory politics of men, since once one becomes ensnared in the furtive embrace of freedom gone awry, he soon finds that there is no true liberty to be had.

      Glenn Fairman writes from Highland, Ca. He can be reached at arete5000@dslextreme.com or www.stubbornthings.org.



      Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2014/01/libertarianism_and_the_public_good.html?utm_source=1-29-14&utm_campaign=AT+Newsletter+1-29-14&utm_medium=email#ixzz2rnOw5Qxj
      Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

      Delete
    3. Someone has been reading his William James.

      Delete
    4. .

      Glenn Fairman is a pompous ass, perfect for the American Thinker.

      .

      Delete
  4. q on the gun range, in training for the "Revolution" -


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDnEkFSMRik

    ReplyDelete
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    1. q's the lanky dude in the pink headgear.......the 'trainee'......

      Delete
  5. 2 inches of dusting snow shuts all of Atlanta down.......

    What would a little bitty Iranian nuke smuggled to terrorists do for Atlanta, or anywhere else?

    ReplyDelete
  6. QuirkWed Jan 29, 06:05:00 PM EST
    .

    With regard to Lenin, there is a bit of a difference between helicopters and assault rifles and cavalry lances and Mosin-Nagant rifles.

    The Romanovs were dead the moment their troops refused to fire on Russian civilians.

    Time will tell, but I have doubts about whether American troops would fire on American civilians.

    If a coup d’état is ever planned, I predict it will happen in the South. This is not about settling scores from the Civil War. Simply, the air, armor, artillery, airborne troops, and infantry are primarily based in the South.

    The major problem a revolution would face is logistical. Troops have to have a million and one things. A civilian force could inflict considerable damage for a day or two. After that they would face the stark reality that faced the aboriginal fighters of 19th C. America and Africa: they would have to withdraw and either head home or forage.

    Watch the "old" stuff!


    ReplyDelete
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    1. .

      During the past century, the US has had wars against alcohol and drugs. Neither outcome was a glowing success in the realm of political science. There is now a movement to ban guns. The difference between this potential civil war is that guns shoot back at the minions of the elites. At some point, a shot will be heard around the world and all hell will break loose. You can bet your sweet bippy that dramatic change will follow.


      To me the first part of you comment makes a lot of sense. The second part not so much.

      If there were an effort to ban guns the reaction would come on the political front, any regime change would come from the ballot box.

      However, any suggestion about the use of guns is to my mind doomed from the outset.

      First, is the matter of logistics. The man has them. The people don't. Mass demonstrations might be effective politically but bring a gun to the party and you are in trouble. As we saw in Boston, the authorities, local, state, federal can bring massive amounts of weaponry to bear almost immediately.

      The second issue involves intelligence. It's easy to look at a country like Egypt and make the half-hearted argument that with social media and I-phones you could organize some sort of movement. But in fact as Edward Snowden has explained to us the government has the resources to identify and shut-down any nascent movement along the lines suggested almost immediately.

      Third, and most importantly, is the will or lack thereof. IMO you wouldn't have it. You would have to convince a good part of the population to pick up guns either to defend them from being taken or to revolt. I don't see it happening. Despite how much we bitch about things here, we have it too good. This is not some second-tier country where you have nothing to lose.

      .



      .

      Delete
    2. "Despite how much we bitch about things here, we have it too good. This is not some second-tier country where you have nothing to lose."

      Correct-O.

      It's odd though. A country can get so far down they don't have the energy for a revolution. Cuba was about right. Poor, but not totally destitute. A weak government. And a deceptive uprising howling about nationalism and liberty concealing the Marxist craparoo.

      Cuba is a prison cell for most Cubans, the only way out an inner tube, a tragedy.

      Delete
    3. "...pick up guns either to defend them from being taken or to revolt. I don't see it happening.

      I don't think Obama is going to stop in his reach to take away the 2nd Amendment.
      I think he's got his eyes on being the "king" he always imagined he was by way of the UN.
      Reaching the top spot in the UN is his next goal.
      Or, I may be wrong...
      Time will tell.

      Delete
    4. Opinion
      Attorney General Eric Holder can't explain constitutional basis for Obama's executive orders

      By Joel Gehrke | JANUARY 29, 2014 AT 1:56 PM



      Topics: Beltway Confidential Barack Obama Obamacare Eric Holder Employer Mandate Mike Lee Attorney General



      Photo -

      Attorney General Eric Holder couldn't explain the constitutional basis for executive orders such as President Obama's delay of the employer mandate because he hasn't read the legal analysis -- or at least, hasn't seen it in a long time.

      "I'll be honest with you, I have not seen -- I don't remember looking at or having seen the analysis in some time, so I'm not sure where along the spectrum that would come," Holder replied when Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, asked him to explain the nature of Obama's constitutional power to delay the mandate.

      Lee had based his question on a standard legal test, first described by Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, who said the president's authority to issue executive orders is strongest when he does so with the backing of Congress (category one), more dubious when he issues an order pertaining to a topic on which Congress has not passed a law (category two), and weakest when the executive order is "incompatible with a congressional command" (category three), to use Lee's paraphrase.



      Sign Up for the Politics Today newsletter

      Delete
    5. Holder assured Lee that Obama's team accounts for Jackson's three-part analysis, but said he couldn't use that test to explain in any detail what kind of authority the president wielded when he delayed the employer mandate.

      "I've not had a chance to look at, you know, for some time, exactly what the analysis was there, so I'm not sure that I would be able to put it in what category," Holder told Lee. He believes that Obama "is probably at the height of his constitutional power" in issuing an executive order to raise the minimum wage for workers who do business with the federal government, though, and concluded that the same is true for the employer mandate delay.

      "I would think that given that we're talking about a statute passed by Congress that delegates or devolves to the executive branch certain authorities, I would think that you're probably in category one there as well," Holder said of the delayed employer mandate, which the text of Obamacare says should have taken effect Jan. 1, 2014. "But, again, I have not looked at the analysis in some time."

      When Holder suggested that Obama had made less use of unilateral executive authority than past presidents, Lee disagreed.

      "When you look at the quality, not just the quantity but the quality, the nature of the executive orders that he has issued, he has usurped an extraordinary amount of authority within the executive branch," Lee countered. "This is not precedented, and I point to the delay — the unilateral delay, lawless delay, in my opinion — of the employer mandate as an example of this. And so, at a minimum, I think he owes us an explanation as to what his legal analysis was."

      A little while before Lee questioned Holder, Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., introduced a bill that would require the executive branch to explain to Congress the reasoning behind every decision not to enforce a law.

      “President Obama has not only failed to uphold several of our nation’s laws, he has vowed to continue to do so in order to enact his unpopular agenda,” DeSantis said in a the press release. “The president assured the public that his administration would be the most transparent in history, and while the president has fallen woefully short on this promise, my bill will be a step in the right direction. The American people deserve to know exactly which laws the Obama administration is refusing to enforce and why.”

      The bill is called the Faithful Execution of the Law Act, an allusion to Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, which obligates the president to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

      Delete
    6. Here's the link:

      http://washingtonexaminer.com/attorney-general-eric-holder-cant-explain-constitutional-basis-for-obamas-executive-orders/article/2543100

      *******************************

      Time always tells, but often too late.

      Delete
    7. My prediction is Obama will be a thorn in our side for a long time to come.

      He'll want to fundamentally change the world.

      Delete
    8. My prediction is Obama's days of being a thorn in Michelle are limited to the rest of his Presidency.

      He may become King of the World, but she isn't going to be Queen.

      She's pissed.

      Delete
  7. Such an understanding stands in stark contrast to what Aristotle views as humanity's gregarious political nature -- an essence that comes into its full flowering within the self-sufficient community of proper balance, since we are in our soulish characters intended to be neither beasts nor gods.

    Aristotle placed women above slaves, but below men. We weren't equal partners, to him. Nuff said.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aristotle's solid on many things however. I chose external beam radiation over seed implants based on Aristotle. Avoid pain, he said, in the absence of a compelling reason to do otherwise. Why endure "unbearable pain" ( doc's words) for a few days when pissing when one can skip it by laying on one's back for 1/2 an hour 5 days a week for six weeks?

      Made sense to me, anyway.

      Granted he's a little lacking on the women's right stuff. But he does allow you free women the right to have slaves, even male slaves. Always remember that, Miss T.

      ;)



      Delete
    2. The real problem with Aristotle, Miss T., is that he wanted to know about The One, analytically, intellectually, from the outside, but not experience IT from the inside, mystically, illuminatively, transformatively, and become part of IT.

      Delete
  8. Obama's home on the campaign trail, in campaign mode once again, campaigning for whatever it was he promised last night. A buck raise for government contractors? I wonder if that equals the gas money for Air Force One.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Air Force One is going to need a real cleansing of evil jinn by Ghostbusters after Obie gives it back, tank empty.

      Delete
  9. EXCLUSIVE: Obama's high school pot dealer who he thanked for the 'good times' was beaten to death with a hammer by his gay lover
    Raymond Boyer was known as 'Gay Ray' to Obama and his marijuana smoking 'Choom Gang' of privately-educated kids at Hawaiian high school
    Ray was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in 1986, seven years after he supplied the future president and his friends with drugs
    Lover Andrew Devere, a male prostitute, gave police a variety of reasons for the murder
    ******He said surfer Boyer put him down constantly and broke wind in his face******** (this is truly uncouth)
    Court documents uncovered for the first time by MailOnline
    Choom is island slang for pot smoking and group went on excursions to countryside to get high and party, sometimes in Ray’s surf van
    Devere is now living on the mainland after serving his life sentence
    Obama last week said marijuana was no more dangerous than alcohol

    Devere's new wife Elizabeth told MailOnline doing drugs is fine if you are rich and 'have the tools to deal with it' but not if you are poor with problems


    Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2547667/EXCLUSIVE-Obamas-high-school-pot-dealer-future-president-thanked-good-times-yearbook-beaten-death-gay-lover-fights-flatulence-drugs.html#ixzz2rqY32FeJ

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. aaaahhh, so cute -

      http://hotair.com/archives/2014/01/29/dawww-budweiser-releases-super-bowl-ad-with-all-the-cutes/

      This should move even the most solidly seated crass cursing Southerner beer cooler ward without delay......

      Delete
  11. .

    Happy meals?

    An employee of a McDonald's restaurant in Pittsburgh was charged Wednesday with selling heroin in Happy Meals to customers using the coded request "I'd like to order a toy.''

    Allegheny County authorities made the arrest after an informant told them that an employee was selling the drug at a McDonald's in the East Liberty section of the city.

    Customers looking for heroin were instructed to go through the drive-thru and say, "I'd like to order a toy,'' said Mike Manko, spokesman for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. The customer would then drive to the window, hand over the money and get a Happy Meal box containing heroin in exchange, Manko said.


    http://www.nbcnews.com/id/54217152#.UunGqqOYbX5

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well no wonder Ronald McDonald always seems so joyously strung out.

      Have you ever seen that guy look normal?

      Delete
    2. .

      Normal?

      The guy's a flippin clown.

      .

      Delete
    3. Well, maybe, but I've seen him hundreds of miles apart on the same day.

      The guy certainly knows how to flip around towns, no matter what you call him.

      I'd like to see you move like that.

      He's always ahead of us even on our hardest driving days.

      Delete
  12. Obama's figures in the SOTU speech were bunk b.s........adjusting for women with kids, and women who want to spend more time with kids, etc, and work part time.........women 18 to thirty actually make MORE than men......and we all know that for a l o n g time women have owned MORE of the wealth of the country than the men.......

    He's just out there fishing for votes from low information voters, as usual......

    All this was just explained in no uncertain detail by the women on Fox News......who outnumber the men there.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. War on Women in USA?

      My ass.

      Try Arabia.......try India......

      Grow Up

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

    ReplyDelete
  14. Exorcism Alert: Fox News

    The Priest interviewed, who seemed a nice enough, intelligent, and honest fellow, and was working the case, says the mother was also possessed. Put a Cross to her forehead and she shook and had spasms like q in orgasm.

    He claims the talk of the boy walking up the wall backwards and on the ceiling too seems well enough attested though he didn't witness it himself. The cops closely involved seem convinced.

    Pressed as to why he was put on the case so quickly, when the ordinary procedure generally requires a lot of paperwork and decisions by committees, and such, his answer seemed a little evasive in a way but he said his superiors put him on the job as in something of an emergency situation.

    Intending to follow this story out and will report here.

    Am interested in Miss T's opinion concerning this event, and related matters.

    The New Testament warrant for exorcism is plainly there for all readers of that document.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. News about Exorcism In Indiana - News

      bing.com/news






      Haunting in Indiana leads to family’s exorcism, child’s levitation: Reports

      New York Daily News · 2 days ago

      Once there he flipped and landed perfectly on his feet. Washington's DCS report is corroborated by Willie Lee ... Charles Reed, the landlord of the allegedly…
      .

      Indiana police believed woman’s tale of supernatural haunting that ended in exorcism

      Raw Story · 1 day ago


      Demonic possession & exorcism in Indiana?

      Patheos (blog) · 19 hours ago



      See also: More stories · Top stories
      .


      Videos of Exorcism in Indiana - news

      bing.com/videos







      NEW

      Indiana exorcism

      YAHOO! NEWS





      NEW

      Haunting In Indiana Includes …

      YouTube





      NEW

      Haunting In Indiana Includes …

      YouTube





      NEW

      Latoya Ammons' Demon Possess…

      YouTube



      .

      Haunting in Indiana leads to family’s exorcism, child ...




      Haunting in Indiana leads to family’s exorcism, child’s levitation: Reports
      www.nydailynews.com/news/national/haunting-indiana-home-leads...

      Jan 27, 2014 · Haunting in Indiana leads to family’s exorcism, child’s levitation: Reports Chilling reports taken from the residents of a Gary, Ind., …
      ..

      Indiana police believed woman’s tale of supernatural ...




      Indiana police believed woman’s tale of supernatural haunting that ended in exorcism
      www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/28/indiana-police-believed-womans-tale...

      Jan 28, 2014 · One Indiana police captain ... and a hospital chaplain called a priest to ask him to perform an exorcism on ... The website Doubtful News …
      ..

      Ammons family tormented by 'demons' turns to exorcism ...




      Ammons family tormented by 'demons' turns to exorcism
      News.com.au · 2 days ago

      Jan 28, 2014 · News.com.au. National. ... Indiana. Screengrab via Indy ... Meanwhile, Ms Ammons reached out to Reverend Michael Maginot to perform an exorcism.

      Delete
    2. O'Reilly's Interview with Priest here -

      http://news.yahoo.com/video/indiana-exorcism-013605108.html

      Delete
    3. Story in detail here -

      http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/28/indiana-police-believed-womans-tale-of-supernatural-haunting-that-ended-in-exorcism/

      One must admit the woman looks a little possessed.

      The psychiatrists involved ordered her to get a job.

      :) heh :):):)

      Secularism !!

      Delete
  15. The real problem with Aristotle, Miss T., is that he wanted to know about The One, analytically, intellectually, from the outside, but not experience IT from the inside, mystically, illuminatively, transformatively, and become part of IT.

    Once there was a gentile who came before Shammai, and said to him: "Convert me on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot." Shammai pushed him aside with the measuring stick he was holding. The same fellow came before Hillel, and Hillel converted him, saying: "That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary, go and learn it."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ms T: I am not interested in Judaism. I am only interested when israel puts in hand in my pocket.

      Once there was a gentile chick from the Philippines, who never had a loss for negative words about the Jews, hebrew Scriptures, the ancient or modern state of Israel who had to quote, out of context Torah at least once a week.

      Torah is not for you.

      learn this and nothing more..

      "That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary"

      do not add words, change words or mis-direct.

      :"That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary"

      Delete
    2. And no, we do not want to convert you.

      Delete
    3. Not really a close call. It's not like Dinuguan is kosher or anything.

      Delete
    4. .

      It was a good story, T.

      Face it, if you didn't like bagels, cream cheese, and lox, WiO would call you anti-Semitic. If you did like it, he would complain you didn't prepare it right.

      .

      Delete
    5. Dear Quirk,

      Fuck you.

      Seriously.

      FUCK YOU.

      Notice I am not at this moment calling you an anti-semite, but rather a fucker....

      But by your own measure, those that advocate the genocide of Israel and the Jews (you) are not anti-Semitic, just anti-zionist.

      You are in no position to judge.

      Delete
    6. QuirkThu Jan 30, 09:14:00 AM EST
      It was a good story, T.


      It was inaccurate. As usual.

      Delete
    7. .

      Go play with yourself you pompous little prick. T's was a simple little story and a good one.

      ...out of context Torah at least once a week.

      It was inaccurate. As usual.


      Do you explain the context? No. Do you explain how it was inaccurate? No. Do you correct or inform? No. You simply bitch.

      You assume the role of arbiter of all things Jewish on this blog, cultural, traditional, historical, moral, religious, political.
      You should become a rabbi and go argue all these points with the thousands of others rabbis out there. I’m sure they will appreciate your input.

      Haartz is continually commenting on all the arguments between various Jewish traditions. Yesterday, they even pointed out arguments within traditions with Orthodox Jews arguing with the even more conservative Orthodox Rabbinate. If I understand it correctly, Reform Judaism looks at the Torah as a revered cultural and philosophical work but also that each individual is free to determine what to believe.

      IMO, probably half the Jews in the world differ with you on much of what you believe and, more than likely, fewer still give a shit about what you think.

      T, I repeat, it was a good story.

      .

      Delete
    8. .

      But by your own measure, those that advocate the genocide of Israel and the Jews (you) are not anti-Semitic, just anti-zionist.

      Once again, you prove yourself the fool.

      You spout about context but you wouldn't know context if it bit you in the ass.

      .

      Delete
    9. quirk its your own words that say "i am not a zionist" "you can shove zionism up your ass"

      This is classic anti-Semitism, that denies Jews the right for self determination.

      You can claim it's anti-zionism not anti-Semitism til the cows come home but your position is clear.

      Thanks again for being clear.

      Delete
    10. As for being a fool? It is you that said "Face it, if you didn't like bagels, cream cheese, and lox, WiO would call you anti-Semitic. If you did like it, he would complain you didn't prepare it right. "

      Now that trivializes the issue and makes you look very SMALL as a person.

      Your anti-zionistic positions are VERYT CLEAR. I say your "anti-zionism" is the modern day anti-semitism. You counter that I'd claim not liking bagels and lox criteria for anti-semitism.

      Fuck you.

      Delete
    11. QuirkThu Jan 30, 12:02:00 PM EST
      Go play with yourself you pompous little prick. T's was a simple little story and a good one.


      Wow, "pompous little prick" learning new insults?

      I'll stick with the old ones, you are a judgmental, nasty old fart.

      Delete
    12. Quirk: you explain the context? No. Do you explain how it was inaccurate? No. Do you correct or inform? No. You simply bitch.


      There is no NEED for me to provide correct for Ms T's constant misstatement and lies, i'd be busy 4 times a week correcting her distortions.

      But she is the one that says she has no interesting in Judaism REPEATEDLY and yet seems to comment about it on a daily basis…..

      Delete
    13. Quirk: You assume the role of arbiter of all things Jewish on this blog, cultural, traditional, historical, moral, religious, political.


      Well on this Blog I am hand and feet better deciding what is proper Jewish/Israeli than a person that calls jews YIDS and KIKES….

      And you certainly have no credentials as to what is a GOOD jewish parable.

      Delete
    14. Quirk: Haartz is continually commenting on all the arguments between various Jewish traditions. Yesterday, they even pointed out arguments within traditions with Orthodox Jews arguing with the even more conservative Orthodox Rabbinate. If I understand it correctly, Reform Judaism looks at the Torah as a revered cultural and philosophical work but also that each individual is free to determine what to believe.


      Torah is not the property of people that hate Jews/Torah/Israel/Judaism to deliver opinions. by definition their opinions are irrelevant.

      Delete
    15. Quirk: IMO, probably half the Jews in the world differ with you on much of what you believe and, more than likely, fewer still give a shit about what you think.

      I agree that at least 1/2 of the world's jewish population could give a shit about my opinions. So what does that mean?

      Your opinion of what is a good Jewish Parable means far less….

      Delete
    16. Quirk: T, I repeat, it was a good story.


      A meaningless opinion from one anti-zionist to another that also calls Jews KIKE and YIDS…

      Nice company you keep Mr "shove your zionism up your ass" Quirk….

      Your words prove your hatred. Thanks for being crystal clear AGAIN…

      Pompous little prick….

      Delete
    17. .

      quirk its your own words that say "i am not a zionist" "you can shove zionism up your ass"

      This is classic anti-Semitism, that denies Jews the right for self determination.


      Pure nonsense. You talk about context, yet, you constantly take every conversation out of context. I posted the definition of self-determination. I explained it to you in words of three syllables or less. I pointed out the many Jews who are opposed to Zionism. I offered to post articles from Jews that were opposed to Zionism including writer Peter Beinart who is a Zionist himself but disagrees with the Zionism currently being practiced in Israel.

      And your response, 'naw they aren't Zionist they are just self-hating Jews'.

      You are a nitwit. Luckily there are plenty of rational Jews around that share my views.

      .


      Delete
    18. .

      As for being a fool? It is you that said "Face it, if you didn't like bagels, cream cheese, and lox, WiO would call you anti-Semitic. If you did like it, he would complain you didn't prepare it right. "

      Now that trivializes the issue and makes you look very SMALL as a person.


      You jump all over T for making a simple remark and you worry about me trivializing the issue. You are hilarious.

      .

      Delete
    19. .

      Wow, "pompous little prick" learning new insults?

      Yeh, I try to mix them up a little bit; but remember it was you that brought the conversation down to your level with

      What is "Occupation"Thu Jan 30, 10:55:00 AM EST

      Dear Quirk,

      Fuck you.

      Seriously.

      FUCK YOU.


      Gee, capital letters. That must mean you really, really, really mean it.

      You might want to try stamping your foot a little too. I hear it relieves the pressure.

      :)

      .


      Delete
    20. .

      There is no NEED for me to provide correct for Ms T's constant misstatement and lies, i'd be busy 4 times a week correcting her distortions.

      Right. So, you would rather stand a round jumping up down shouting 'Liar, Liar, pants on fire like some five year old.

      .

      Delete
    21. .

      Well on this Blog I am hand and feet better deciding what is proper Jewish/Israeli than a person that calls jews YIDS and KIKES….

      Really.

      You say it but how is anyone to know. You offer neither argumentation nor commentary. The only thing you offer is bile and venom. Above, you said my comment about bagels 'trivializes' the issue. In fact, it captures your performance here on a daily basis.

      You have yet to provide a single comment in dispute of the story T put up. What was wrong with the story? It was a damn parable yet you make it sound like she reprinted a chapter from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

      Good lord, get some perspective.

      .

      Delete
    22. .

      Well on this Blog I am hand and feet better deciding what is proper Jewish/Israeli than a person that calls jews YIDS and KIKES….

      And you certainly have no credentials as to what is a GOOD jewish parable.


      My. My. Isn't that a little condescending?

      And how would we really know anyway? For the most part, you offer neither argumentation nor commentary merely insults.

      At least Bob, when he puts up his philosophical tracts, is willing to defend his positions. Your argumentation consists of calling people anti-Semite or self-hating Jew. That tells me you either don't know shit or that you lack the balls to defend your position.

      .

      Delete
    23. .

      Torah is not the property of people that hate Jews/Torah/Israel/Judaism to deliver opinions. by definition their opinions are irrelevant.

      :)

      And it is WiO who has been elected 'decider in chief'.

      Hilarious.

      Can't explain the Torah to the uninitiated. Secret esoteric knowledge, can't share it with you goys or we would have to kill you. Well, that is one way to avoid any arguments about your views. You sound more like a Rosicrucian than a Jew. However, at least the Rosicrucians are willing to part with their knowledge, albeit for a price.

      .

      Delete
    24. .

      I agree that at least 1/2 of the world's jewish population could give a shit about my opinions. So what does that mean?

      What it means is when you spout off ex cathedra about all things Jewish, I take it with a massive grain of salt.

      [However, were you to put up your brisket recipe, I might take you a little more seriously.]

      .

      Delete
    25. I hope your brisket is dry, chewy and lack any resemblance to meat.

      Delete
  16. (CNN) -- China's brand new moon rover is already saying farewell.
    The diminutive lunar explorer, known as Jade Rabbit, or "Yutu" in Chinese, was about halfway through a three-month mission to study the moon's crust when it suffered a potentially crippling breakdown, said state media.
    The report, authored by China's state-run Xinhua news, was written in the voice of the rover itself.

    "Although I should've gone to bed this morning, my masters discovered something abnormal with my mechanical control system," said the Xinhua report, in the voice of the Jade Rabbit. "My masters are staying up all night working for a solution. I heard their eyes are looking more like my red rabbit eyes."

    "Nevertheless, I'm aware that I might not survive this lunar night," it added.
    During a lunar night, which lasts about 14 Earth days, the moon's surface temperature can plunge to minus-180 Celsius. To make it through the cold, the lunar rover must "hibernate" to preserve its delicate electronics.

    If a mechanical problem keeps it from hibernating properly, then the Rabbit could freeze to death.
    Named after a mythical rabbit who lives on the moon, Yutu was a source of national pride when it launched into space last December along with the lunar lander Chang'e-3, named after the moon goddess who kept Yutu by her side.

    The successful lunar landing made China the third country in the world to perform a "soft landing" on the moon's surface.
    Earlier, Yutu and Chang'e survived their first lunar night together, from Christmas until the second week of January.
    The Chang'e-3 lander successfully entered a second hibernation on Friday and is expected to function normally for another year.
    "[Chang'e] doesn't know about my problems yet," said the voice of Yutu in the Xinhua report. "If I can't be fixed, everyone please comfort her."

    On social media, thousands of Chinese internet users sent their well-wishes to the little robot.
    "You have done a great job, Yutu. You have endured extreme hot and cold temperatures and shown us what we have never seen," wrote one microblogger, as quoted by Xinhua.

    Another wrote: "This is too heavy a burden. If the rabbit can not stand again, maybe we should let it have a rest."
    Despite the setbacks, even the little Rabbit seemed aware of the odds it had overcome.
    "Before departure, I studied the history of mankind's lunar probes. About half of the past 130 explorations ended in success; the rest ended in failure," noted the Jade Rabbit in its report.

    "This is space exploration; the danger comes with its beauty. I am but a tiny dot in the vast picture of mankind's adventure in space.
    "The sun has fallen, and the temperature is dropping so quickly... to tell you all a secret, I don't feel that sad. I was just in my own adventure story - and like every hero, I encountered a small problem," said the Rabbit.

    "Goodnight, Earth," it said.

    "Goodnight, humanity."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Damn you all to a capitalist hell, you pieces of shit", cried Rabbit, with the last watt of his strength. "Why did you abide by that stupid international trade agreement and use those shitty American parts? Fuck you all."

      Delete
    2. (You see, Rabbit had been preprogrammed by those shifty eyed Chinese, so that in case of failure, he was to rage thus against the dying of the light, and to blame the whole fiasco on the imperialist running dog white ghost Yanks.)

      Delete
    3. .

      I blame it on the grey wolves.

      .

      Delete
    4. Yup, when in doubt, blame the wolves.

      Delete
    5. Re: Wolves

      The trappers have just been called in from the back country out this way, having succeeded in killing the quota of the darling killing machines, the grey wolves, introduced from Canada, a move opposed by PETA, among others.

      This call in occurred just before the Know Nothing City Slicker Love The Killing Wolves Society was about to go to court once again, once again, to stop the trapping of the darling cuddly elk killing machines, a new species here.

      Hah !!

      Unsure how the new court hearing would have come out, but the KNCSLTKWS was slow on the judicial trigger this time around.

      Perhaps the KNCSLTKWS should just shut the fuck up and stay in Michigan and shovel snow this time of year?

      Delete
  17. "AIDS"

    Adios Infected Dicksuckers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Monday, November 16, 2009

      The
      Boston Comedy Blog- RIP Kevin Knox



      Veteran Boston comedian Kevin Knox passed away early this morning after a long battle with cancer. For those who knew Knox, or "Knoxie," as many called him, it's hard to believe there is something strong enough to beat him. If you saw him onstage, you know he never stopped moving. And his Gatling Gun delivery wasn't just a stage affectation. It was how he spoke, how he thought. And if you were a regular around Boston clubs for the past couple of decades, it was a voice you heard often, hosting showcases at Nick's Comedy Stop, The Comedy Connection, and, most recently, at Dick Doherty's Beantown Comedy Vault.

      It was a common refrain to hear a fellow Boston comic say that cancer picked the wrong guy. "It just never occurred to me that he wouldn't keep fighting on and on and on," said Doherty this afternoon.

      There was little Knox didn't try, starting with traditional medicine and continuing with a more organic approach. But, as too often happens in these cases, collective bravado and individual best efforts lost out to the inevitable. It's obvious from the dozens of recent benefits for Knox, including a standing Monday night benefit at the Vault, how much Knox meant to local comedians. It is a hackneyed phrase perhaps, but true. He will be missed.

      A few pieces on Knoxie:

      FunnyGrownHere.com

      Men's Health

      Boston Herald

      Boston Globe: New Doherty Showcase

      Boston Globe

      Delete
  18. The “Vanishing” First-Time Home Buyer; What It Means for the Housing Market

    Can Mr. Obama fix this with a stroke of his magical, mystery pen?

    First-time home buyers—the fuel of the U.S. housing market—accounted for just 27% of all purchases in December... That’s a huge drop over the 30-year average of 40%...

    First-time home buyers, who tend to purchase lower-priced homes, are being pushed out of the U.S. housing market recovery by all-cash sales. All-cash sales accounted for a whopping 42.1% of all U.S. residential sales in December...

    It’s not unfathomable to consider that soon, more than half of all existing-home sales in the U.S. will be in the hands of “flippers” (those who buy homes to renovate them and sell them for a profit)...

    It’s already a reality in Florida, where all-cash sales accounted for 62.5% of existing-residential home sales. Wisconsin was close behind at 59.8%, followed by Alabama (55.7%), South Carolina (51.3%), and Georgia (51.3%)...


    Note: Often the metrics referenced in the article have been revised downward from earlier rosier scenarios. That is why all government numbers should be taken with a barrow full of Kosher salt. That includes the ACA.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Did an Angry Birds Leak Risk Spies’ Lives?

    On Wednesday, Greenwald told The Daily Beast, “National security officials in general have repeatedly falsely accused people of endangering national security to scare the public, and James Clapper in particular has been caught lying to the Senate to protect himself. These claims are without evidence and no rational [person] would treat them as fact.”

    ReplyDelete
  20. What is "Occupation"Thu Jan 30, 10:56:00 AM EST
    QuirkThu Jan 30, 09:14:00 AM EST
    It was a good story, T.


    It was inaccurate. As usual.


    Since when is a parable accurate?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You lack of understanding shows thru once again.

      You have no accuracy when it comes to Jews, Judaism, Zionism or Israel.

      Delete
    2. But that will not stop you from changing, distorting and lying about anything jewish, zionism, israel or jews.

      That's cause you are an anti-zionist, and of course not an anti-semite, that calls jews "yids"

      Delete
    3. .

      I responded to you above, WiO.

      .

      Delete
  21. Book of Job: its origin, growth and interpretation
    By Morris Jastrow



    ...proving that life, including canon, is full of flaws and only Linda Ronstadt knows the cause...

    Linda Ronstadt - Long Long Time

    ReplyDelete
  22. That's cause you are an anti-zionist, and of course not an anti-semite, that calls jews "yids"

    I promised Allen I wouldn't use those words anymore, but when it comes to you, I really don't care what some k--- calls me

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Calm down you two. No one wants to see either of you Deuce banned.

      Delete
    2. Teresita RedingerThu Jan 30, 11:30:00 AM EST
      That's cause you are an anti-zionist, and of course not an anti-semite, that calls jews "yids"

      I promised Allen I wouldn't use those words anymore, but when it comes to you, I really don't care what some k--- calls me


      So now I am a KIKE?

      Wow…

      But you are not an anti-semite. Just an anti-zionist that HAS used the term YIDS and KIKE.

      Hmm.

      I do not slam you for your race or gender. I do not condemn millions if not billions due to your brown skin or ovaries. I simply say you are an ass and an anti-semite.

      The very fact you revert to calling me a KIKE proves my argument that you are in fact an anti-semite.

      :)

      Thanks for the clarity.

      Delete
    3. Best defend yourself - politely, please - Miss T............he seems to have you hanging by your sweet tits there......

      ;)

      Delete
    4. IF ms T was not an anti-Semite she would have called me an ass, a prick, a pompous fool… But she reverts to ethnic slurs at 1st shot.

      Hmmm…

      Delete
    5. Get a grip, WIO, she was just trying to call you the C word without getting banished.

      She hates women.

      Delete
  23. •U.S.: Iran Can Build and Deliver Nuclear Weapons - Josh Gerstein

    Iran's ability to make missiles loaded with nuclear warheads now rests primarily on the "political will" of its leaders, rather than any technical constraints, according to the annual U.S. intelligence assessment presented by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.

    "Tehran has made technical progress in a number of areas - including uranium enrichment, nuclear reactors, and ballistic missiles - from which it could draw if it decided to build missile-deliverable nuclear weapons. These technical advancements strengthen our assessment that Iran has the scientific, technical, and industrial capacity to eventually produce nuclear weapons. This makes the central issue its political will to do so." (Politico)

    from Daily Alert

    Well there ya go.......

    ReplyDelete
  24. MSNBC tweets: "Maybe the rightwing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww: the adorable new #Cheerios ad w/ biracial family."



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's a Super Bowl Budweiser ad out there somewhere featuring a big swamp toad that belches and goes Buuud....wei....hick hick.....zer.......then repeat -

      Bud drinkers down South flock to the cooler.....

      Delete
    2. Network that mocked biracial family accuses conservatives of freak-out over Cheerios ad, or something


      posted at 12:01 pm on January 30, 2014 by Ed Morrissey






      If it wasn’t for the oh-so-recent context that renders this acidly ironic, MSNBC’s latest foray into idiocy would hardly be worth mentioning. Coming just a few weeks after its own hosts mocked Mitt Romney’s family and Republicans over a family picture that showed Romney proudly holding his adopted African-American granddaughter — which eventually produced a tearful apology from Melissa Harris-Perry — the network’s official Twitter feed offered up this bon mot about a cereal ad that has nothing to do with politics at all (via Gateway Pundit and Twitchy):

      msnbc-biracial

      As Jim Hoft points out, even their own reporting on the supposed conservative backlash to the ad didn’t actually cite any evidence of such:


      The phrase “sparked a conservative backlash” contained a link to an MSNBC article from last year that mentioned the controversy over the ad, but the article did not report a political bent to the racist comments made about the ad. That article in turn links back toanother MSNBC article about the ad controversy that also does not ascribe political motives to the racist attacks.

      In other words, Gabriela Resto-Montero and MSNBC made up the alleged ‘conservative’,’ right wing’ racist attack on the Cheerios ad.

      Delete
    3. Twitchy has followed the eruption of outrage over the demagoguery on Twitter, and noted that while MSNBC deleted the tweet, they were a little slow on the draw with an apology. MSNBC claimed, eventually, that the tweet “does not reflect the position of msnbc”:





      Really? Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple says that’s exactly who they are, and the string of apologies following these incidents look increasingly like enabling devices rather than actual remorse:


      The tweet in question isn’t clever, helpful or fair. It’s a divisive piece of taunting nastiness driven by a worldview that MSNBC personalities have surfaced with great regularity in recent memory, always followed by excellent apologies. After then-MSNBC host Martin Bashir suggested that Sarah Palin be subjected to an excrement-related punishment visited upon slaves, he said, “My words were wholly unacceptable,” among other very contrite things. After short-lived MSNBC host Alec Baldwin allegedly shouted down a paparazzo with homophobic language, he said, “I did not intend to hurt or offend anyone with my choice of words, but clearly I have — and for that I am deeply sorry.” After host Melissa Harris-Perry presided over a segment that mocked Mitt Romney’s family over a photo featuring his adopted African-American grandson, the host said, among other things, “So without reservation or qualification, I apologize to the Romney family. Adults who enter into public life implicitly consent to having less privacy. But their families, and especially their children, should not be treated callously or thoughtlessly.”

      And now this Cheerios thing. The string of offenses raises doubts about Wolffe’s claim that the tweet from last night doesn’t reflect “who we are at msnbc.” Rather, the tweet appears to a careful observer to define precisely what MSNBC is becoming: A place that offends and apologizes with equal vigor.

      Delete
    4. The Erik Wemple Blog supports media organizations that muster strong apologies. Too often, mistakes are followed by stonewalling and a failure to repent. Apologies can be an important measure of accountability. Yet this string of meae culpae suggests that the apology may be morphing into an enabling device for the network’s tendentious and divisive attitudes. Sometimes a bad tweet represents the errant and unrepresentative thoughts of some employee managing the social-media accounts. And sometimes it represents institutional morays and prejudices.

      Here’s the ad, which General Mills must be delighted is receiving so much attention. It will be the first Super Bowl ad to feature a biracial family, which is … no big deal in 2014 to anyone except MSNBC, apparently. It’s cute, and it sells Cheerios. And like everything else in the world, it’s yet another silly item for Comcast’s television unit to exploit and demagogue:



      Reason’s Matt Welch notes that this lazy and idiotic demagoguery is hardly limited to MSNBC, even if they are its leading purveyors:


      For an example, check out this passage in New Yorker Editor David Remnick’s extraordinarily long and often insightful recent profile of the president.

      In the electoral realm, ironically, the country may be more racially divided than it has been in a generation. Obama lost among white voters in 2012 by a margin greater than any victor in American history. The popular opposition to the Administration comes largely from older whites who feel threatened, underemployed, overlooked, and disdained in a globalized economy and in an increasingly diverse country. Obama’s drop in the polls in 2013 was especially grave among white voters.

      Italics mine, to underscore what one of the nation’s most decorated journalists felt zero need to substantiate in a 16,000-word article. Do older white voters really feel more “threatened” and “disdained” by a “globalized economy” and “increasingly diverse country” than other age and ethnic/pigmentation cohorts? I’m sure there’s plenty of interesting poll data out there, but Remnick (a 55-year-old white guy, FWIW) doesn’t need to cite any: He knows it’s true, his readers know it’s true, and the only real question is how much you can respectably pin opposition to this twice-elected black president on racism.

      This isn’t just bad journalism, it’s bad tolerance. Attributing a single set of personality traits to scores of millions of people whose only commonality is age and race is the opposite of judging people not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. It’s also a cheap way to wave off the substance of anti-Obama criticism—why bother figuring out why a majority of Americans haveconsistently disliked the flawed Affordable Care Act when you can just roll your eyes and assert that the real reason is white anxiety and worse? There is nothing tolerant about assuming that those who have different ideas than you about the size and scope of government are motivated largely by base ethnic tribalism.

      Most people, I think, have come to the conclusion that a citation of racism works in a similar way to Godwin’s Law. It’s the final, and losing, stage of any argument these days, at least those which involve progressives in any way.

      Update: Is MSNBC executive editor Richard Wolffe “the most clueless person on the Internet”? John Sexton makes a pretty good argument for it.

      Delete
    5. Attention: Miss T

      Here's the link:

      http://hotair.com/archives/2014/01/30/network-that-mocked-biracial-family-accuses-conservatives-of-freak-out-over-cheerios-ad-or-something/

      Delete
  25. Prince Reibus needs to be fired from his job at Republican Headquarters, John Boehner needs to be replaced as Speaker of the House.

    Wendy Davis is a laughable joke, and is going to get her precious ass handed to her in the Texas election.

    Random opinions.....

    ReplyDelete
  26. 50 Reasons We're Living Through the Greatest Period in World History

    http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/01/29/50-reasons-were-living-through-the-greatest-period.aspx

    1. U.S. life expectancy at birth was 39 years in 1800, 49 years in 1900, 68 years in 1950, and 79 years today. The average newborn today can expect to live an entire generation longer than his great-grandparents could.

    2. A flu pandemic in 1918 infected 500 million people and killed as many as 100 million. In his book The Great Influenza, John Barry describes the illness as if "someone were hammering a wedge into your skull just behind the eyes, and body aches so intense they felt like bones breaking." Today, you can go to Safeway and get a flu shot. It costs 15 bucks. You might feel a little poke.

    3. In 1950, 23 people per 100,000 Americans died each year in traffic accidents, according to the Census Bureau. That fell to 11 per 100,000 by 2009. If the traffic mortality rate had not declined, 37,800 more Americans would have died last year than actually did. In the time it will take you to read this article, one American is alive who would have died in a car accident 60 years ago.

    4. In 1949, Popular Mechanics magazine made the bold prediction that someday a computer could weigh less than 1 ton. I wrote this sentence on an iPad that weighs 0.73 pounds.

    5. The average American now retires at age 62. One hundred years ago, the average American died at age 51. Enjoy your golden years -- your ancestors didn't get any of them.

    6. In his 1770s book The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith wrote: "It is not uncommon in the highlands of Scotland for a mother who has borne 20 children not to have 2 alive." Infant mortality in America has dropped from 58 per 1,000 births in 1933 to less than six per 1,000 births in 2010, according to the World Health Organization. There are about 11,000 births in America each day, so this improvement means more than 200,000 infants now survive each year who wouldn't have 80 years ago. That's like adding a city the size of Boise, Idaho, every year.

    7. America averaged 20,919 murders per year in the 1990s, and 16,211 per year in the 2000s, according to the FBI. If the murder rate had not fallen, 47,000 more Americans would have been killed in the last decade than actually were. That's more than the population of Biloxi, Miss.

    8. Despite a surge in airline travel, there were half as many fatal plane accidents in 2012 than there were in 1960, according to the Aviation Safety Network.

    9. No one has died from a new nuclear weapon attack since 1945. If you went back to 1950 and asked the world's smartest political scientists, they would have told you the odds of seeing that happen would be close to 0%. You don't have to be very imaginative to think that the most important news story of the past 70 years is what didn't happen. Congratulations, world.

    10. People worry that the U.S. economy will end up stagnant like Japan's. Next time you hear that, remember that unemployment in Japan hasn't been above 5.6% in the past 25 years, its government corruption ranking has consistently improved, incomes per capita adjusted for purchasing power have grown at a decent rate, and life expectancy has risen by nearly five years. I can think of worse scenarios.

    ReplyDelete
  27. 11. Two percent of American homes had electricity in 1900. J.P Morgan (the man) was one of the first to install electricity in his home, and it required a private power plant on his property. Even by 1950, close to 30% of American homes didn't have electricity. It wasn't until the 1970s that virtually all homes were powered. Adjusted for wage growth, electricity cost more than 10 times as much in 1900 as it does today, according to professor Julian Simon.

    12. According to the Federal Reserve, the number of lifetime years spent in leisure -- retirement plus time off during your working years -- rose from 11 years in 1870 to 35 years by 1990. Given the rise in life expectancy, it's probably close to 40 years today. Which is amazing: The average American spends nearly half his life in leisure. If you had told this to the average American 100 years ago, that person would have considered you wealthy beyond imagination.

    13. We are having a national discussion about whether a $7.25-per-hour minimum wage is too low. But even adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage was less than $4 per hour as recently as the late 1940s. The top 1% have captured most of the wage growth over the past three decades, but nearly everyone has grown richer -- much richer -- during the past seven decades.

    14. In 1952, 38,000 people contracted polio in America alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In 2012, there were fewer than 300 reported cases of polio in the entire world.

    15. From 1920 to 1949, an average of 433,000 people died each year globally from "extreme weather events." That figure has plunged to 27,500 per year, according to Indur Goklany of the International Policy Network, largely thanks to "increases in societies' collective adaptive capacities."

    16. Worldwide deaths from battle have plunged from 300 per 100,000 people during World War II, to the low teens during the 1970s, to less than 10 in the 1980s, to fewer than one in the 21st century, according to Harvard professor Steven Pinker. "War really is going out of style," he says.

    17. Median household income adjusted for inflation was around $25,000 per year during the 1950s. It's nearly double that amount today. We have false nostalgia about the prosperity of the 1950s because our definition of what counts as "middle class" has been inflated -- see the 34% rise in the size of the median American home in just the past 25 years. If you dig into how the average "prosperous" American family lived in the 1950s, I think you'll find a standard of living we'd call "poverty" today.

    18. Reported rape per 100,000 Americans dropped from 42.3 in 1991 to 27.5 in 2010, according to the FBI. Robbery has dropped from 272 per 100,000 in 1991 to 119 in 2010. There were nearly 4 million fewer property crimes in 2010 than there were in 1991, which is amazing when you consider the U.S. population grew by 60 million during that period.

    19. According to the Census Bureau, only one in 10 American homes had air conditioning in 1960. That rose to 49% in 1973, and 89% today -- the 11% that don't are mostly in cold climates. Simple improvements like this have changed our lives in immeasurable ways.

    20. Almost no homes had a refrigerator in 1900, according to Frederick Lewis Allan's The Big Change, let alone a car. Today they sell cars with refrigerators in them.

    ReplyDelete
  28. 21. Adjusted for overall inflation, the cost of an average round-trip airline ticket fell 50% from 1978 to 2011, according to Airlines for America.

    22. According to the Census Bureau, the average new home now has more bathrooms than occupants.

    23. According to the Census Bureau, in 1900 there was one housing unit for every five Americans. Today, there's one for every three. In 1910 the average home had 1.13 occupants per room. By 1997 it was down to 0.42 occupants per room.

    24. According to professor Julian Simon, the average American house or apartment is twice as large as the average house or apartment in Japan, and three times larger than the average home or apartment in Russia.

    25. Relative to hourly wages, the cost of an average new car has fallen fourfold since 1915, according to professor Julian Simon.

    26. Google Maps is free. If you think about this for a few moments, it's really astounding. It's probably the single most useful piece of software ever invented, and it's free for anyone to use.

    27. High school graduation rates are at a 40-year high, according to Education Week.

    28. The death rate from strokes has declined by 75% since the 1960s, according to the National Institutes of Health. Death from heart attacks has plunged, too: If the heart attack survival had had not declined since the 1960s, the number of Americans dying each year from heart disease would be more than 1 million higher than it currently is.

    29. In 1900, African Americans had an illiteracy rate of nearly 45%, according to the Census Bureau. Today, it's statistically close to zero.

    30. People talk about how expensive college is today, but a century ago fewer than one in 20 Americans ever stepped foot in a university. College wasn't an option at any price for some minorities because of segregation just six decades ago.

    ReplyDelete
  29. 31. The average American work week has declined from 66 hours in 1850, to 51 hours in 1909, to 34.8 today, according to the Federal Reserve. Enjoy your weekend.

    32. Incomes have grown so much faster than food prices that the average American household now spends less than half as much of its income on food as it did in the 1950s. Relative to wages, the price of food has declined more than 90% since the 19th century, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    33. As of March 2013, there were 8.99 million millionaire households in the U.S., according to the Spectrum Group. Put them together and they would make the largest city in the country, and the 18th largest city in the world, just behind Tokyo. We talk a lot about wealth concentration in the United States, but it's not just the very top that has done well.

    34. More than 40% of adults smoked in 1965, according to the Centers for Disease Control. By 2011, 19% did.

    35. In 1900, 44% of all American jobs were in farming. Today, around 2% are. We've become so efficient at the basic need of feeding ourselves that nearly half the population can now work on other stuff.

    36. One of the reasons Social Security and Medicare are underfunded is that the average American is living longer than ever before. I think this is literally the best problem to have.

    37. In 1940, less than 5% of the adult population held a bachelor's degree or higher. By 2012, more than 30% did, according to the Census Bureau.

    38. U.S. oil production in September was the highest it's been since 1989, and growth shows no sign of slowing. We produced 57% more oil in America in September 2013 than we did in September 2007. The International Energy Agency projects that America will be the world's largest oil producer as soon as 2015.

    39. The average American car got 13 miles per gallon in 1975, and more than 26 miles per gallon in 2013, according to the Energy Protection Agency. This has an effect identical to cutting the cost of gasoline in half.

    40. Annual inflation in the United States hasn't been above 10% since 1981 and has been below 5% in 77% of years over the past seven decades. When you consider all the hatred directed toward the Federal Reserve, this is astounding.

    ReplyDelete
  30. 41. The percentage of Americans age 65 and older who live in poverty has dropped from nearly 30% in 1966 to less than 10% by 2010. For the elderly, the war on poverty has pretty much been won.

    42. Adjusted for inflation, the average monthly Social Security benefit for retirees has increased from $378 in 1940 to $1,277 by 2010. What used to be a safety net is now a proper pension.

    43. If you think Americans aren't prepared for retirement today, you should have seen what it was like a century ago. In 1900, 65% of men over age 65 were still in the labor force. By 2010, that figure was down to 22%. The entire concept of retirement is unique to the past few decades. Half a century ago, most Americans worked until they died.

    44. From 1920 to 1980, an average of 395 people per 100,000 died from famine worldwide each decade. During the 2000s, that fell to three per 100,000, according to The Economist.

    45. The cost of solar panels has declined by 75% since 2008, according to the Department of Energy. Last I checked, the sun is offering its services for free.

    46. As recently as 1950, nearly 40% of American homes didn't have a telephone. Today, there are 500 million Internet-connected devices in America, or enough for 5.7 per household.

    47. According to AT&T archives and the Dallas Fed, a three-minute phone call from New York to San Francisco cost $341 in 1915, and $12.66 in 1960, adjusted for inflation. Today, Republic Wireless offers unlimited talk, text, and data for $5 a month.

    48. In 1990, the American auto industry produced 7.15 vehicles per auto employee. In 2010 it produced 11.2 vehicles per employee. Manufacturing efficiency has improved dramatically.

    49. You need an annual income of $34,000 a year to be in the richest 1% of the world, according to World Bank economist Branko Milanovic's 2010 book The Haves and the Have-Nots. To be in the top half of the globe you need to earn just $1,225 a year. For the top 20%, it's $5,000 per year. Enter the top 10% with $12,000 a year. To be included in the top 0.1% requires an annual income of $70,000. America's poorest are some of the world's richest.

    50. Only 4% of humans get to live in America. Odds are you're one of them. We've got it made. Be thankful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Miss T.

      We need these reminders.

      One of our main problems in USA is obesity.

      To hear R2 tell it, the end is near and the whole country belongs to 1/2 of 1%, mostly women.

      Delete
    2. 35. In 1900, 44% of all American jobs were in farming. Today, around 2% are. We've become so efficient at the basic need of feeding ourselves that nearly half the population can now work on other stuff.

      There's actually some lurking dangers in this, if some real bad shit happens, but we are being optimistic today.

      Delete
    3. Great info, T!

      I would take exception to those couple points dealing with literacy.

      Delete
  31. Egypt's El-Sisi Boldly Calls For Islamic Reformation


    Islam, said El-Sisi needs a modern understanding and should not rely on a discourse that has not changed for 800 years.


    By Ryan Mauro

    Wed, January 22, 2014
    .
    Egyptian women express their support for General El-Sisi after voting for the new non-Islamist constitution. (Photo: © Reuters)
    Egyptian women express their support for General El-Sisi after voting for the new non-Islamist constitution. (Photo: © Reuters)




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    Overturning Islamists, Tunisians Reject Sharia Law




    General El-Sisi, the commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces and current head of state, is essentially calling for a reformation in Islam. His bold declaration comes as the Egyptian people approved a constitution in a vote that the Muslim Brotherhood boycotted.

    The speech, which went unnoticed in the Western media, took place at the Armed Forces’ Department of Moral Affairs. In the speech, El-Sisi said:

    “Religious discourse is the greatest battle and challenge facing the Egyptian people, pointing to the need for a new vision and a modern, comprehensive understanding of the religion of Islam—rather than relying on a discourse that has not changed for 800 years.”

    Notice what El-Sisi did not say. He did not say Zionism or Western oppression is the greatest threat to Egypt, nor did he point to a specific group like Al-Qaeda or the Muslim Brotherhood. He accurately framed the struggle as an ideological one within Islam.

    When he refers to the “discourse that has not changed for 800 years,” he’s referring to when the most qualified Islamic scholars of that time ruled that all questions about interpretation had been settled. The “gates” of ijtihad, the independent interpretation of Islam, ended by the year 1258. He wants the “gates” reopened, allowing for the critical examination that an Islamic reformation needs.




    .

    Calls for reform and ijtihad can be heard beneath the visible surface of the Muslim world. In my own experience, I’ve heard many average Muslims endorse reformation but their views are not reflected in the national leadership.

    Some of these reformist Muslims want to reopen the “gates” of ijtihad, while others say they never considered them closed to begin with. For example, Tunisian professor Dr. Muhamd El-Haddad, argues, “Daily life has evolved radically since the last millennium, but there has been no accompanying development in mainstream Muslim legal theory.”

    Professor Ziauddin Sadar of London wrote in 2002 that that Islamic doctrine is “frozen in time” and there are three doctrinal pillars that need reform: “The elevation of the Shari’ah to the level of the Divine, with the consequent removal of agency from the believers, and the equation of Islam with the State.”

    Those that argue that the “gates” were never closed include Malcolm Jardine, who wrote a thoroughly-researched essay on the topic. In 2006, the U.S.-based Nawawi Foundation published a study by Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah






    with the premise that Islam “never had a doorkeeper to close it in the first place.”

    General El-Sisi and the overall backlash against the Islamists may spark what the world needs most: An Islamic reformation. It is not enough to topple Islamists. Their ideological underpinning must be debated and defeated. The determinations of scholars from 800 years can no longer be treated as eternal truth, but for what they really are—opinions influenced by the times in which they were made.







    Ryan Mauro is the ClarionProject.org’s National Security Analyst, a fellow with the Clarion Project and is frequently interviewed on top-tier TV stations as an expert on counterterrorism and Islamic extremism.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elsewhere in the speech, Sisi “called on all who follow the true Islam to improve the image of this religion in front of the world, after Islam has been for decades convicted of violence and destruction around the world, due to the crimes falsely committed in the name of Islam.”

      This is another important declaration. He attributes Islamic extremism to this lack of discourse. He doesn’t blame it on a Jewish conspiracy to defame Islam or describe it as an overreaction to non-Muslim aggression.

      He is also pre-empting the Islamists’ inevitable attack that he is an apostate by stating that Muslims are advancing Islam by having this discourse and turning away from violence. He takes away the argument from extremists that they are the model of a devout Muslim.

      The next question is whether El-Sisi has the standing in Muslim opinion to be listened to. For now, the answer is yes. The Egyptian military that he leads has a 70% favorability rating, while the Muslim Brotherhood’s rating is at 34%. He is almost certain to run for president and, at this stage, is likely to win.

      When the military toppled President Morsi and El-Sisi announced the suspension of the Islamist-written constitution, he was joined by the Grand Sheikh






      of Al-Azhar University, an institution that is basically the equivalent of the Vatican for Sunni Islam. To date, Al-Azhar has not broken with El-Sisi or condemned his remarks.

      Other influential Egyptians may endorse El-Sisi’s view. In January 2011, former Egyptian Islamist Tawfik Hamid reported that 25 Islamic scholars, including teachers from Al-Azhar, said that ijtihad needed to be resumed. The 10 points they listed for renewed examination included the separation of mosque and state, women’s rights, relations with non-Muslims and jihad



      Delete
    2. May the Force be with General El-Sisi; he is going to need it. The Saudis cannot be all that pleased with him at the moment.

      Delete
    3. .

      When you are the one being killed on a daily basis, attitudes change.

      The limited allure of extremism.

      http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2014/01/27/the-limited-allure-of-extremism/

      .

      Delete
  32. Large testicles mean greater infidelity, research finds

    Hmm...Excuse me for a moment; I have to readjust.




    There, that's much better.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Pending homes plunge, surprising economists

    Throughout the housing crisis, the only consistent factor has been the surprise of economists. NAR's Chief Economist, Dr. Lawrence Yun, has not been correct or even in the ballpark once.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remember when owning your home was central to the American Dream?

      Now it's 3 "free" meals for your kids from Nursery School through College.
      ...and "Affordable Healthcare" Subsides for some of course.

      The President responsible for the largest increase in income disparity in history now constantly lectures "the haves" and "the rich" on income disparity and "giving their fare share"!

      Delete
    2. When he told Joe the Plumber he liked to Spread the Wealth Around, he meant among his rich and powerful buddies.

      ...and Black unemployment grows to all-time highs.

      Delete
    3. Democrats hate the working "rich" while making it easier for the Already Rich and Powerful to get richer.

      Delete
    4. ...and Democrats and Mainstream Republicans want to solve high unemployment by importing millions more immigrants.

      The Democrats for the votes, The Pubs 'cause The Chamber of Commerce tells them to, or they won't fund their re-elections.

      Delete
  34. .

    Q

    .

    From the previous thread:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVWHgMMF0cM

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .


      Pinky Gear Q


      .

      From the previous thread:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDnEkFSMRik

      Delete
    2. .

      Was up? Sup... Sup... You looking at me? Sup...

      Gotta practice.

      .

      Delete
  35. What is "Occupation"Thu Jan 30, 03:23:00 PM EST
    Teresita RedingerThu Jan 30, 11:30:00 AM EST
    That's cause you are an anti-zionist, and of course not an anti-semite, that calls jews "yids"

    I promised Allen I wouldn't use those words anymore, but when it comes to you, I really don't care what some k--- calls me

    So now I am a KIKE?


    Actually, I meant to say knob, but if the kipa fits, wear it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's so lame you aren't even taxiing down the runway.

      Delete
    2. You're looking at the wrong runway moron!

      To your left she's prancing down the runway wearing only heels and a kipa!

      Delete
    3. Actually, I meant to say knob, but if the kipa fits, wear it.



      Actually you meant to say KIKE, just like you called Jews YIDS.

      Be honest at least. You are a Jew hating, Israel bashing, Judaism trashing troll.

      You know it, I know it, we all KNOW it.

      I will not comment about your comments about anything under the sun, except when you lie distort and misrepresent Jews, Israel, Judaism and Israel.

      Delete
  36. Replies
    1. REPORT: Boston Tops List for Doctor Wait Times with 72 Days.......


      If it's anything serious just call the morgue.

      Delete
    2. "Doctor, my left ball is larger than Allen's"

      "Take Two Aspirin, Readjust, and See Me in 72 Days."

      Delete
    3. .

      Doctor, my left ball is larger than Allen's"

      What is this a group physical?

      Turn to the guy on your left, grab his balls and cough?

      .

      Delete
    4. .

      Group physicals = Obamacare cost savings.

      .

      Delete
  37. Black Teenage Unemployment in Chicago: 92 Percent

    Decades of Dem Control and Community Organizing was not able to undo the damage Bush would cause.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Artificial Intelligence



    Evelyn Gordon | @EvelynCGordon
    01.30.2014 - 10:35 AM










    I have one question for National Intelligence Director James Clapper and his predecessors. As we all know, the infamous 2007 National Intelligence Estimate asserted with “high confidence” that Iran had halted its work on nuclear weapons development, and no subsequent NIE ever reversed that judgment. Yet fast forward seven years, and the latest annual intelligence assessment asserts that “Tehran has made technical progress in a number of areas … from which it could draw if it decided to build missile-deliverable nuclear weapons,” and consequently, it now “has the scientific, technical, and industrial capacity to eventually produce nuclear weapons” should it so choose. So here’s my question: If Iran stopped its weapons development effort seven years ago, how did it happen that since then, it has made precisely the kind of technical progress that now enables it to build a nuclear warhead whenever it chooses?

    There are two plausible answers to this question. One, the work never really stopped, or resumed at some point in the last few years, and U.S. intelligence agencies simply missed it. That’s certainly possible; intelligence agencies aren’t omniscient, and it’s unrealistic to think they will never make mistakes. A more troubling possibility is that since intelligence rarely reaches the level of absolute certainty, the available information was misinterpreted due to political bias–a desire to avoid military action against Iran, and hence to avoid interpreting Iran’s behavior in a way that might necessitate such action.

    But the answer offered by the Obama administration strains credulity: that Iran really did stop its weapons program and never resumed it, but somehow, mysteriously, nevertheless made major technical progress over the last seven years of precisely the kind that now enables it to build a nuclear warhead anytime it pleases. Even a two-year-old wouldn’t buy that.

    The real problem, however, isn’t what this says about the past, but what it says about the future. After all, for years, opponents of attacking Iran’s nuclear program have argued that Tehran hasn’t yet decided to make a nuclear weapon, and if it ever does, the U.S. will know in enough time to stop it before it succeeds. Therefore, there’s no reason for either America or Israel to take military action now. Yet how can either Americans or Israelis have confidence that U.S. intelligence will detect a nuclear breakout in time if, for the past seven years, it has either missed all the signs that Iran was continuing to make “technical progress” toward weaponization, or deliberately ignored them out of a desire to avert military action–a desire that, judging by both words and deeds, remains the administration’s top priority?

    The answer, of course, is that they can’t. And the lesson for Israel is clear: It cannot rely on U.S. promises to stop Iran from getting nukes, because these promises are based on the faulty assumption that U.S. intelligence will uncover a “smoking gun”–the kind of irrefutable proof that can’t be argued away–in enough time to take action. Hence the day is coming closer when Israel will have to make a fatal decision: attack Iran itself, or learn to live with a nuclear Iran.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2014/01/30/artificial-intelligence/

      Delete
    2. http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/bombing-iran-tough-tasks-israeli-intelligence-9789

      Delete
    3. .

      National Intelligence Director, James Clapper.

      The ultimate oxymoron.

      .

      Delete
    4. Farmer BobThu Jan 30, 06:10:00 PM EST
      Hence the day is coming closer when Israel will have to make a fatal decision: attack Iran itself, or learn to live with a nuclear Iran.

      Considering all the reports over the past seven years pointing to Iran's ongoing efforts, a decision was taken to allow Iran to proceed. Corrupting Iran's computer systems was one of a number of efforts to slow down the program. Now, if Iran were not moving apace, what was the need for the disruptive attacks?

      Israel will not attack Iran. Iran will/has gone nuclear.

      Delete
  39. Even Boston, which has eye-popping wait times, has gotten better. The city’s average wait time dropped from 70 days in 2009 to 46 days in 2013. That nearly brings it back to its level of 45 days in 2004 before Massachusetts adopted its version of health care reform.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "its level of 45 days in 2004 before Massachusetts adopted its version of health care reform."

      Delete
    2. Not Fact Checking Fox News makes you stupid.

      The Rest of the Story

      Delete
    3. RUFUS II's HUFFINGTON POST:

      "Even Boston, which has eye-popping wait times, has gotten better. The city’s average wait time dropped from 70 days in 2009 to 46 days in 2013. That nearly brings it back to its level of 45 days in 2004 before Massachusetts adopted its version of health care reform.

      The bad news is that fewer doctors are accepting Medicaid: An average of 45.7 percent of physicians surveyed take Medicaid coverage, down from 55.4 percent in 2009. Acceptance rates varied widely, however, ranging from 73 percent in Boston to 23 percent in Dallas. An average of 76 percent of physicians surveyed accept Medicare.


      The rates of Medicaid acceptance are likely to prove problematic as more and more Americans sign up for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many physicians you have,” says Singleton. “If no one will take your insurance, you’re going to end in the same place, and that’s probably the ER.” And with more patients covered both by Medicaid and private insurance, he says, wait times are likely to get worse."

      Delete
    4. Wow, only 46 days, when the national average is 20, and Boston Area Incomes Dwarf the nation's.

      ...and Huffpo correctly (!) reports the ACA/Medicaid Scandal that I've droned on about for months.

      Delete
  40. My wait time is next day.

    I have my Doc's cellphone, e-mail, and Interactive Web page.

    It disgusts and offends me to pay this bi-racial nightmare of a Doctor, but I do, to the tune of $1,600 a year.

    So far he's made $800 off me and I've yet to see or call him.

    Not a bad deal for him.

    Or me.

    At least he refills my meds, and I've paid zero for insurance.

    (until the Feds punish me for "being uninsured.")

    Should up that one to the death penalty.

    If you like your hangman, you can keep your hangman.

    ReplyDelete
  41. So Rufus contends that all the people cancelled by ACA can sign up for ACA.

    The majority who have go on Medicaid.

    "The bad news is that fewer doctors are accepting Medicaid: An average of 45.7 percent of physicians surveyed take Medicaid coverage, down from 55.4 percent in 2009"

    Yay! Free Healthcare for all!

    If you like your Doc, and etc...

    Just Kidding

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "The majority who have GONE on Medicaid."

      Delete
    2. Take a nap, Doug. You're making even less sense than usual.

      Delete
  42. WiO
    Actually you meant to say KIKE, just like you called Jews YIDS.

    Be honest at least. You are a Jew hating, Israel bashing, Judaism trashing troll.

    You know it, I know it, we all KNOW it.

    I will not comment about your comments about anything under the sun, except when you lie distort and misrepresent Jews, Israel, Judaism and Israel.


    Since you seem to be slow in figuring it out, I'll spell it out for you:

    "Whatsoever hateful thing someone calls you, call them something hateful in retaliation, this is the whole of the Teri, all else is commentary."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some dirt buster called Peckerwood tried that out once, retaliating in kind, and was chewed out by everyone for being a dick.

      Delete
  43. Wellpoint (WLP) Inc., one of the nation’s largest insurers, said enrollment in health plans it operates under the new health law is ahead of expectations.

    Wellpoint, which operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans across the country, said it expects to add more than one million new customers this year from across its private health plan business as well as insurance it offers to Americans covered by government programs like the expanded Medicaid insurance for the poor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Though it’s early in analyzing the data from new applications of for coverage, Wellpoint executives said “80 percent were not previously insured by Wellpoint,” executives said on the call this morning.

      It’s unclear whether they are newly insured or came from another plan, but executives said they were pleased the company was benefiting from new customers.

      Delete
    2. Of the half million new members Wellpoint said that have applied for coverage so far, more than 80 percent came through public exchanges and two-thirds of those were “subsidy eligible.” Under the law, those eligible can get subsidies of up to $5,000 to buy coverage on government run marketplaces known as exchanges.

      Delete
    3. DEVASTATING Retort to my cite of your excellent Huffpo piece, Rufus.

      Your love affair with Socialism has finished off that Ethanol-Addled "Mind"

      Delete
    4. "Take a nap."

      ...I'm mortally wounded.

      Goodbye, Cruel World!

      Delete
    5. "Subsidy Elegible"

      FREE MONEY FOR THE TAKING!

      Fuck you, grandkids, we be takin what we're entitled to.

      The Greediest Generation.

      Delete
    6. Meanwhile, North Carolina cuts off endless "Unemployment Payments"

      AND UNEMPLOYMENT GOES DOWN!

      Miracle of Miracles!

      Delete
    7. Hmmh, makes me suspect it might be part of the United States, after all (since, unemployment in the U.S., as a whole, has been steadily dropping for several years, now.

      Delete
    8. More than a million more "signed up"

      Millions more canceled across the land.

      We ain't seen nuthin, yet.

      THEY PUT IT OFF.

      With the stroke of a pen from Dear Leader.

      Delete
    9. Yes, R2, unemployment has been dropping like a rock ever since Obama took office.

      A main reason for this is the millions of people who are no longer counted as they have given up even looking for work.

      Delete
    10. R2 = Debbi Wassermann Schultz/Wendy Davis horror mind.

      Delete
  44. More and more renters are cost-burdened.
    "In 1960, about one in four renters paid more than 30 percent of income for housing. Today, one in two are cost burdened," according to the study, America's Rental Housing.

    "Cost-burdened" means you're paying more than 30 percent of income for housing and "severely cost-burdened" means you're paying more than half.

    "By 2011, 28 percent of renters paid more than half their incomes for housing, bringing the number with severe cost burdens up by 2.5 million in just four years, to 11.3 million," according to the Harvard study, which was conducted with partial funding from the MacArthur Foundation.

    Obama done Transformed Amerika.

    ...for the children of Minorities.

    Mexicans First, Blacks to the Back

    ...and "first" ain't nothin to write back home to Mexico about.

    ReplyDelete
  45. http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/north-carolina/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All houses in Las Vegas with mortgages are under water.

      Not all houses in Las Vegas have mortgages.

      Not all houses in Las Vegas are underwater.

      Only about 90% of them are under water.

      Info from OGF who used to work real estate.

      Delete
  46. Replies
    1. For the Republicans in the room,

      that's Thirteen mother-freakin' Million, Seven Hundred and Seventy Thousand.

      Delete
    2. All a bunch of mother-freakers, all righty.

      Somehow, many don't think them "numbers" is all the "numbers" there is, and don't tell the whole "numbers" story.

      But we've been through it all before.....

      Delete
    3. See:

      DougThu Jan 30, 08:57:00 PM EST

      for instance.

      Delete
    4. R2 is running a numbers racket.

      Delete
  47. Even the noble Mafia has joined into most of the world's slide into cultural madness -


    Italy shocked at Mafia’s fatal hit of 3-year-old boy

    By Cheryl K. Chumley



    The Washington Times

    Thursday, January 30, 2014

    A little boy was shot in the head and killed by an apparent Mafia hit in southern Italy that police believe came as a result of a dispute over money.

    The boy, Nicola “Coco” Campolongo, age 3, was shot along with his grandfather, Giuseppe Iannicelli, and his grandfather’s companion, age 27, CNN reported. Their bodies were recently found inside a burned-out Fiat that was parked in the Calabria region of Italy.

    “In all my years investigating organized crime murders, none has been as horrific as this one,” said lead prosecutor Franco Giacomantonio, to CNN. “it is unimaginable that a child can be made to pay for the crimes of his parents.”

    Even Pope Francis was taken off guard by the hit, and he asked church faithful attending his Sunday ceremonies to say a prayer for the boy in what he called an “unprecedented” killing. The pope also called for the killers to repent, CNN reported.

    The boy’s mother, Antonia Iannicelli, didn’t go to his funeral. She’s in jail, serving out a four-year sentence for drug possession and sales. Police believe that the ‘Ndrangheta crime organization is targeting her family and they’ve moved her other two children, ages 4 and 5, to a more secure location, CNN reported


    Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/30/italy-shocked-mafia-fatal-hit-3-year-old-boy/#ixzz2rwH81tuE
    Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

    ReplyDelete
  48. I wonder what "President Romney" thinks about all these Republican "Obamacare Truther Numbers?"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prolly don't pay no attention, spending all day counting the tax cheating income he's getting from all his overseas accounts, just like the democrats.

      Delete
  49. Governor Moonbeam says dial back on the showers, there's a water shortage in California and the fish come first. That horrible smell you smell is all the new communes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He longs for the days when whoevershewas who he was dating didn't shave her pits.

      ...even tho he did.

      Delete
    2. Until she put on 200 lbs. she looked pretty good.

      Smell, that's another matter.

      Delete
    3. Marriage now is a political expediency.

      In case the country goes completely mad and he can run for POTUS.

      again

      Delete
    4. At least we're not infected.

      ...yet.

      Delete
    5. Maybe "Overgrowth" would be more polite and PC.

      Except for when things get really smelly.

      Delete
    6. Selfish bastard that I've always been.

      I most always was the first of six to bathe in our communal tub.

      Don't remember if I "Paid My Fair Share" by building the fire under that cast-iron beauty.

      ...I think I did:

      Splitting dry Maple for kindling was a spiritual experience.

      Delete
    7. Almost made up for all the fuckin Live Oak.

      Never cold when you're heating w/Oak, indoors or out.

      (When you're Splittin)

      Delete
  50. Rufus IIThu Jan 30, 09:32:00 PM EST
    "For the Republicans in the room,

    that's Thirteen mother-freakin' Million, Seven Hundred and Seventy Thousand."

    ---

    For any of you mother-freakin' morons that can do math:

    14,000,000/330,000,000 = 0.042424

    ie,
    14 Million Divided by 330 Million = .042424

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Privileged 4 Percenters.

      Let's make sure they give their fair share.

      52 percent of their income sounds about right.

      That's what it is for "The Rich" (workers) in CaliFuckinFornia.

      Rufus's Dreamland

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

    ReplyDelete
  52. The Faces Tell the Tale.
    (Not to mention The NUMBERS.)

    Watch: Employees in Pennsylvania Company Learn of Increased Health Costs Due to Obamacare

    January 30, 2014 10:43 AM

    A local news station brings viewers inside one Pennsylvania company as the employees there learn about their new health care plans under Obamacare:


    "Look at the numbers," says the reporter of two employees. "Jeff and Dave used to have a $1,250 deductible.

    Since Obamacare went into effect, it's now jumped 60 percent to $2,000. That's nothing compared to Brian, Kristi, and Judy who have kids. they are going to pay twice that, four grand."

    The reporter adds that co-pays are being increased, too.

    "I don't know how President Obama thinks he's helping us because we can't afford this, we can't afford to pay these co-pays, to pay these deductibles on what we're making," says one of the workers.

    Another worker adds, "They call it the affordable health plan.

    There's nothing affordable about it. I can't afford it."

    ReplyDelete

  53. Black Student Union Asks University to Stop Including Racial Descriptions in
    Crime Alerts...


    "Milktoast individual of unknown race and sexual orientation robs, rapes, and beats white coed on campus"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Another individual matching Mr. or Ms. Milktoast knocked out and killed a 72 year old white male professor on campus."

      Delete
    2. “The repeated black, black, black suspect,” Taylor said. “And what that does it really discomforts the mental and physical comfort for students on campus because they feel like suspicions begin to increase.”

      The letter then gave 12 recommendations to UMPD Chief Gregory Hestness on how to improve their response.

      The recommendations include requiring officers to attend diversity training, and attach a link on crime alerts to the U’s no-tolerance policy on racial profiling."

      ---

      Why not just require white students and campus police to just line up every day, drop their pants and skirts, bend over and take it in the ass.

      The better to comfort the sensitive.

      Delete
  54. FREE THE BIEBS !!

    He's innocent of the drag racing charges.

    Lambo GPS system shows nothing anywhere near even 60 MPH.

    His blood alcohol was really really low.

    Yes, he had a little Xanax and a little pot but both are legal in many circumstance.

    FREE THE BIEBS NOW !!

    Whole thing is a Police State SETUP against an innocent Canadian kid, whole happens to be a worthless rich punk. But,

    FREE THE BIEBS NOW !!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This Lambo drunk/drug/drag racing case may end with Justin suing the Police.

      Delete
    2. The Walker Fun Fry soured me on celebrities and race cars on the streets, this just cements the deal.

      Usta love Porches, now they're just gross, over powered, overpriced pieces of shit as far as my taste in cars goes.

      Buicks and Fords now get far better mileage.

      Delete
  55. Other Mass Murderers likely imported by "well intentioned" Michiganders:

    Historical examples[edit]

    Most of the species within Hawaii cannot truly be classified as native species since Hawaii is a group of islands; therefore, all, or most, of the species had to migrate there or be brought over to the islands by humans.

    However, there are a majority of species which were introduced for specific reasons yet they have disrupted Hawaiian biodiversity. The Mongoose was introduced to Hawaii in the mid-19th century in an attempt to control the large rat population in the sugar cane fields. However, since then, the mongoose population has grown to large numbers without controlling the nocturnal rat population and has greatly diminished the population of ground nesting birds.[1]

    Another example of an invasive species introduced in the 19th century is the Fire Tree, which is a small shrub that was brought from the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands as an ornamental plant or for firewood.

    However, now it poses a serious threat to native plants on young volcanic sites, lowland forests, and shrublands, where it forms dense monocultural stands[2] Another plant, the Strawberry Guava was introduced in the early 19th century as an edible fruit.

    However, it now poses a major threat to Hawaii’s rare endemic flora and fauna by forming shade-casting thickets with dense mats of surface feeder roots.[2]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That greatly understates the destruction:

      The Majority of bird species in Hawaii have been WIPED OUT of existence.

      Delete
    2. Drive around rural areas in the daytime, Mongooses scurry across the road in front of you.

      Drive around rural areas at night, Rats scurry across the road in front of you.

      Delete
    3. Michigan Snake lovers never rest: They'll travel to the opposite side of the Earth in order to import Brown Skinned tree snakes from Guam into Paradise:

      Target: Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hawaiian Department of Agriculture, Hawaiian State Legislature
      Goal: Stop the brown tree snake from destroying Hawaii’s ecosystem and economy

      The non-native brown tree snake poses a serious danger to Hawaii’s delicate ecosystem and human life. As an invasive species, brown tree snakes come to the islands via unmonitored cargo hulls, ballast water, and lucrative black-market reptile operations. These snakes and other reptiles are already illegal in Hawaii due to the havoc they can wreck on Hawaii’s fragile ecosystem and rich culture. With no native snake species in Hawaii, exotic birds flourished and diversified, insinuating themselves into the natural beauty and indigenous cultures of the island. There are also no predators to keep the brown tree snake in check, which lays clutches of eggs as young as 3 years old. Several reptile species can produce genetically diverse offspring without the benefit of a mate.

      In Hawaii’s delicate insular environment, the brown tree snake invasion will degrade ecosystem services, including reduced watershed capacity, increased erosion, and rising runoff. The loss of native flora and fauna will strike an ill-afforded blow in species diversity and human livelihoods. Over 80% of Hawaiian endangered plants are threatened by invasive species, and its interdependent ecosystem will not survive the colonization’s negative impact. Christy Martin, coordinator for the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, characterized the 1950s brown tree snake invasion of Guam an “environmental catastrophe… [when it] very quickly ate most birds in urban areas and the forest… and as a result there are a lot more insects, which affects agriculture.” Now, the sight and sound of native birds are all but extinguished on that snake-infested island. The brown tree snake is already responsible for 9 of 13 forest bird species and 3 lizard species, and many other species have been reduced beyond the threatened or endangered population levels. On an island which can ill-afford any assault to its self-sufficiency, these snakes caused nearly 200 power outages in recent years – with rates climbing steadily as snakes climb more power lines, electrical boxes and substations, and transformers. The brown tree snake is also venomous to humans and the resultant environmental degradation of its establishment could cost Hawaii an estimated $2.14 billion in tourism loss, power outages, and medical treatment.

      Delete
    4. Fuckin' assholes from Michigan, all a bunch of damn do gooder destroyers, look at Detroit, look as far away as Hawaii, ask the elk in Idaho......frauds, star gazers, Vodka drinkers, all of 'em.

      Delete