tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post4529204626896083553..comments2024-03-28T06:32:24.557-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: The U.S. overthrew 41 governments in Latin America between 1898 and 1994 - The road to Baghdad, in other words, ran through Panama City. It was George H.W. Bush’s invasion of that small, poor country 25 years ago that inaugurated the age of preemptive unilateralism, using “democracy” and “freedom” as both justifications for war and a branding opportunity.Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-43812215926504916172014-12-23T10:29:19.416-05:002014-12-23T10:29:19.416-05:00It amuses me the dolts who allow their identity to...It amuses me the dolts who allow their identity to be influenced by the temporary political leaders that make decisions based on their own careers, sexual peccadilloes, opinion polls, the next election, political supporters and paymasters and equate that with patriotism as they define it. The dopes that buy into that are certainly not among those that bled for the idiotic, the stupid and outright cynical decisions. <br /><br />Suspend your brains boys, raise the flag higher.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-87095465148764396282014-12-23T10:25:29.585-05:002014-12-23T10:25:29.585-05:00To invest twenty years into a business, and then j...To invest twenty years into a business, and then just walk a way ....<br /><br />That must be depressing, aye.<br />To have <b>"Your Community"</b> turn its back on you ...<br /><br />Bummer.<br /><br />{;-)Jack Hawkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342056653466462640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-48855555912578178382014-12-23T10:18:50.193-05:002014-12-23T10:18:50.193-05:00"I think what ISIS and the oil price demonstr...<i>"I think what ISIS and the oil price demonstrated is that the KRG is not ready for independence. It doesn't have an economy, it has a distribution system.<b> That's symptomatic of a failed state, not of a rising state,"</b></i><br /> said Bilal Wahab, an energy expert and lecturer at the American University in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-33557256955462376662014-12-23T10:16:24.488-05:002014-12-23T10:16:24.488-05:00The 40 percent drop in oil prices since June appea...The 40 percent drop in oil prices since June appears, however, to have thrown a wrench into the economic plans of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Almost all (96 percent) of its revenues came from oil and gas in 2013, and as the KRG's financial calculus has gone awry, many politicians sound less bullish in their talk of immediate independence.<br /><br />"Their confidence had soared over the previous year. The numbers were starting to look pretty good, and it was enough to look forward to 2015, when there'd be some excess oil-exporting capacity. But then the price of oil fell, and just kept falling," said Patrick Osgood, Kurdistan bureau chief for the industry publication Iraq Oil Report. <br /><br />Changes in the KRG's rhetoric, he said,<i><b> "could almost be plotted against an oil price graph."</b></i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-23250052462269491712014-12-23T10:14:15.308-05:002014-12-23T10:14:15.308-05:00http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/201...http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2014/12/141223-energy-news-iraq-kurdistan-oil/?google_editors_picks=true<br /><br /><b>Plunging Oil Prices Hurt Iraqi Kurds' Bid for Independence</b><br />As oil prices fall, so do Kurdish hopes for an independent state in northern Iraq.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-87523836051780569322014-12-23T10:12:42.541-05:002014-12-23T10:12:42.541-05:00Dow Tops 18000 for First Time on Upbeat GDP Report...Dow Tops 18000 for First Time on Upbeat GDP ReportAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-75513611035239116092014-12-23T10:06:35.803-05:002014-12-23T10:06:35.803-05:00Sure you hate the US, "O"rdure, you thin...Sure you hate the US, "O"rdure, you think<br />Or so you have written, with folks like you, it is all about the money ...<br /><br /><i>What is "Occupation"Fri Oct 03, 10:16:00 AM EDT<br />I have been turned down repeatedly for a REFI.<br />The system is screwed.</i><br /><br />The 'System' functions quite well, just as it was designed to.<br />We just have to tweek it, around the edges.<br /><br />For those of US that have not failed at a twenty year effort, things are good.<br />Jack Hawkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342056653466462640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-5361630332633633202014-12-23T09:30:35.932-05:002014-12-23T09:30:35.932-05:00It is all credited to Obama, the US runs the world...It is all credited to Obama, the US runs the world.<br /><br />But Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson, he only credits the US with the evils, with the failures, never with the triumphs.<br /><br />Quite comical that after all the years, Robert "Draft Dodger" Peterson cannot abandon his anti-US positions. He is still, mentally, at UoW, avoiding the drafted, dodging his responsibility to society..Jack Hawkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342056653466462640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-368198234846846802014-12-23T09:26:58.987-05:002014-12-23T09:26:58.987-05:00The Panamanians had a functioning 'democracy&#...The Panamanians had a functioning 'democracy' before the US invaded and arrested their President for conspiring with the US to smuggle drugs into the US.<br /><br />The Mossad was 'running' Panama.<br />The actual fella doing the 'running' had a name, it was Michael Harari, Jack Hawkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342056653466462640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-59547446539528190582014-12-23T03:16:15.189-05:002014-12-23T03:16:15.189-05:00Fox is back !
Later......
:)Fox is back !<br /><br />Later......<br /><br />:)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-75407633441302972152014-12-23T02:55:34.924-05:002014-12-23T02:55:34.924-05:00And you know things are bad for Hillary when even ...And you know things are bad for Hillary when even Quirk is threatening to vote Republican -<br /><br />December 22, 2014<br />Earth crumbling beneath the feet of Hillary's presidential campaign<br />By Thomas Lifson<br /><br />As Hillary Clinton continues to collect honoraria well into six figures for speeches and “conversations with…” public appearances, her presidential prospects are evaporating. The “inevitable” nominee is experiencing something like a bad acid trip flashback, as memories resurface of a fresh faced, first term senator once again attracting the support -- or carefully calibrated neutrality -- of people the Clinton Dynasty expected fealty from. Beneath the haughty exterior, the former secretary of state may be suspecting subconsciously that people don’t like her very much.<br /><br />Two new slights to the former first lady’s entitlement to the Oval Office have recently appeared.<br /><br />Jonathan Allen of Bloomberg writes:<br /><br /> One of the leading candidates to manage Hillary Clinton’s expected campaign for U.S. president in 2016 has withdrawn from the running.<br /><br /> “I’ve been a part of some great campaigns and worked for terrific people, but want to explore other ways I can be of service,” Guy Cecil said in an e-mailed statement.<br /><br /> Cecil, the political director of Clinton’s losing 2008 presidential race, was the executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the past two election cycles. Democrats gained two seats in the 2012 election but lost control of the Senate in last month’s midterms.<br /><br />Translation: I ain’t getting on this sinking ship.<br /><br />Then there is this, from the brightest bulb in the dimming Kennedy family chandelier. Joe Battenfeld of the Boston Herald writes:<br /><br /> Hillary Clinton could suffer a serious case of Kennedy deja vu if she makes another presidential run.<br /><br /> This time it’s U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III who may help derail Clinton’s White House path by endorsing her potential 2016 opponent, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, much the same way the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy backed Barack Obama in 2008.<br /><br /> “Whatever (Warren) wants to do she’s going to excel at,” the 34-year-old Kennedy said in interview with Herald editors and reporters. “She has been adamant that she’s not running for president and I take her at her word for that. If things change, we’ll see.”<br /><br /> The fact that Kennedy doesn’t dismiss a Warren run is significant and comes after his Massachusetts colleague, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, revealed to Boston Herald Radio that he told Warren he’d back her if she ran for president.<br /><br /> Kennedy could be an ace in the hole for Warren, the freshman Democrat who has energized liberals around the country with her attacks on greedy banks, Wall Street and Washington’s cozy relationship with lobbyists. (snip)<br /><br /> Kennedy refused to tell the Herald who he’d side with in a Clinton-Warren matchup, but he offered profuse praise for the Massachusetts senator, saying she’s “given voice” to middle-class families and that’s why her message has “been resonating so much.”<br /><br />With the Kennedys signaling alignment with Warren, and the Obamas’ subterranean war with the Clintons quietly burning away, Hillary’s roster of allies is thinning out. Allies like Cecil declaring themselves out of the game of support are a tell. Forward-looking Democrats already see Hillary in the rear view mirror. Elizabeth Warren declares she isn’t running, but coyly declines to state she will not run.<br /><br />Stay tuned. Even a candidate as pathologically power-hungry as Hillary may conclude that the struggle is likely to be futile. Or maybe not. Either way will be amusing.<br /><br />Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/12/earth_crumbling_beneath_the_feet_of_hillarys_presidential_campaign.html#ixzz3MhnnwrOG<br />Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-36217742733162142222014-12-23T02:50:28.498-05:002014-12-23T02:50:28.498-05:00It's not our 'sanctions', which don...It's not our 'sanctions', which don't amount to much, that are driving the Russian economy down.<br /><br />It's Saudi production, the slowdown of the Chinese economy, fracking, etc. that are lowering the cost of oil and driving the Russian economy down.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-6772557916560539592014-12-23T02:46:00.506-05:002014-12-23T02:46:00.506-05:00Inflation is getting worse. Prices went up 8.3% in...Inflation is getting worse. Prices went up 8.3% in October to 9.1% in November. Food prices are spiking and Russians are crowding grocery stores, buying thousands of dollars in food, hedging their bets against prices going even higher.<br /><br />With all of this catastrophic news, you would think Putin's approval ratings would be in the tank. In fact, 81% of the country supports him. The people blame the west and the sanctions imposed for Russia's takeover of Crimea for the rotten economy.<br /><br />Why shouldn't they? Despite the fact that currency speculators and the dive in oil prices are far more responsible for Russia's economic predicament, when the president of the United States brags that sanctions have brought Putin to his knees - and Putin himself deflects blame for his mismanagement by citing sanctions - the Russian people are only to glad to ignore reality and accept the myth.<br /><br />Some analysts are saying oil could fall to $40 bbl. That would be a cataclysm that could bring the Russian economy to its knees. In this worse case scenario, Putin wouldn't be the first leader to look abroad for an adventure to distract the people from their misery. Wars have begun over less, so the Russian meltdown bears watching.<br /><br />Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/12/this_is_what_an_economy_looks_like_in_free_fall.html#ixzz3MhlJuOSY<br />Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-78864577234156464582014-12-23T02:45:34.834-05:002014-12-23T02:45:34.834-05:00December 22, 2014
This is what an economy looks li...December 22, 2014<br />This is what an economy looks like in Free Fall<br />By Rick Moran<br /><br />The Russian economy is in free fall as the ruble has lost half it's value during the dizzying slide in oil prices. Last Tuesday, the ruble tumbled 10% - a follow up to Monday's 10% slide.This precipitated panic buying in the stores as Russian consumers, fearing their rubles will only become less valuable in the near term, crowded retail stores to buy up everything in sight.<br /><br />Politico:<br /><br /> Although this past week’s currency crisis marked the worst fall for the ruble since Russia defaulted on its debt in 1998, no one was waiting in bread lines or starting a run on the bank. Instead, anyone with any cash at all went on a buying spree. Long lines snaked through Ikea branches around Moscow into the early hours of Wednesday morning as people picked up furniture, bedding and other household goods at what had suddenly become bargain-basement prices. Crowds of eager buyers emptied shelves of computer monitors and snapped up flat-screen televisions at consumer electronics chains.<br /><br /> People were purchasing refrigerators, washing machines, cameras—anything that was less likely to lose its value as fast as the plummeting ruble. Cars in some dealerships were being sold at 30 percent to 50 percent above the recommended retail price, yet “people run and bring their last money,” one social network user wrote.<br /> <br /><br /> “Yesterday the line for the cash register was to the other end of the hall,” Ravil Daizrakhmanov, an employee of the consumer electronics store M.video, said Wednesday. “They were buying very expensive tech products.”<br /><br /> The ruble has lost over half its value this year as falling oil prices and Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis hit Russia’s energy-dependent economy. But a drop of 10 percent on Monday and another 10 percent on what has come to be known as “Black Tuesday” further shook consumers, undermined investor confidence and revealed divisions among the country’s elite on how to react. Nonetheless, Russians’ approval for President Vladimir Putin has remained sky-high.<br /><br /> Buying continued on Wednesday as major electronics chains had yet to raise their prices. “I apologize; I argued with them, but they sold every last one,” an M.video employee informed a man who was trying to purchase a washing machine. “F—k your apologies,” the man yelled back as he stormed off to complain to a manager.<br /><br /> Others were just out for a good deal. Even after the ruble came down to 67 to the dollar, an iPhone 5S at electronics retailers now cost $100 less than in the United States. Apple.ru even halted online sales on Tuesday “due to extreme fluctuations in the value of the ruble.”<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-57651854861600020892014-12-23T01:54:28.146-05:002014-12-23T01:54:28.146-05:00Deuce ☂Tue Dec 23, 12:52:00 AM EST
No, you move to...Deuce ☂Tue Dec 23, 12:52:00 AM EST<br />No, you move to Israel, your first love. There are more ex-military that feel the same way that I do who are sick of flag waving sideliners that love to see others do their dirty work. That includes almost every neocon and 90% of the right-wing talking heads.<br /><br />Real Americans are sick of having to pay the price for their dirty work and stupidity and perverted loyalties. They are the real enemies.<br /><br /><br />Interesting come back..<br /><br />Always the "dual loyalty" canard.<br /><br />No, Deuce, I am 100% American and I am 100% for the success of the Jewish Nation State called Israel.<br /><br />It's not an either or issue.<br /><br />But once again you deflect this issue. You hate America and all she has done..<br /><br />i do not.<br /><br />What is "Occupation"https://www.blogger.com/profile/02054075097495500689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-60092711771674148032014-12-23T01:48:52.490-05:002014-12-23T01:48:52.490-05:00OPEC LEADER VOWS TO MAINTAIN OIL OUTPUT EVEN IF PR...OPEC LEADER VOWS TO MAINTAIN OIL OUTPUT EVEN IF PRICE HITS $20.......Drudge<br /><br />I'm dreaming of a two buck/gal Christmas.....<br /><br />$2.26 here the other day.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-72585933492434033962014-12-23T01:41:39.410-05:002014-12-23T01:41:39.410-05:00The Gulag Archipelago
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
http...The Gulag Archipelago<br />Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gulag_ArchipelagoAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-82950451379460830762014-12-23T01:38:41.948-05:002014-12-23T01:38:41.948-05:00And the Gulag. Let's not forget the Gulag.
We...And the Gulag. Let's not forget the Gulag.<br /><br />We have never had anything remotely similar to that in the USA.<br /><br />Ask Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.<br /><br />Didn't he finally make his way to the USA?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-3860675351728629112014-12-23T01:35:53.211-05:002014-12-23T01:35:53.211-05:00Lots.
The Russians had no business being in Centr...Lots.<br /><br />The Russians had no business being in Central Europe.<br /><br />The Russians had no business fooling around in Africa, nor Cuba.<br /><br />You might point to Vietnam, but the Russians had a big hand there, too.<br /><br />Stalin killed millions, but that was before the 'Cold War'.<br /><br />But, you're in a Blame America First frame of mind these days.<br /><br />Russia......my engineer went there. He said it was the shits, from his engineering point of view. And he was in Moscow, the capital, the showcase.<br /><br />In the Soviet days, they had to line up for food, and the stores were mostly empty.<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-54147657126945168662014-12-23T01:27:23.159-05:002014-12-23T01:27:23.159-05:00coup, sorrycoup, sorryAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-79944143020667676382014-12-23T01:25:49.342-05:002014-12-23T01:25:49.342-05:00Nevertheless, Panama seems to me like something of...Nevertheless, Panama seems to me like something of a functioning democracy today. The politicians seem to be voted into and out of office. This is a beginning.<br /><br />We haven't had a coupe in the USA yet, I hope we never do. Lots of shady elections and election practices......Illinois, etc.<br /><br />Lyndon Johnson 1st Senate race was a wonderful example of a really shady election.<br /><br />Noriega had a wonderfully criminal looking face, did he not ?<br /><br />https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=A0LEViWnCZlURb0AVVAPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTBsa3ZzMnBvBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkAw--?p=manuel+noriega&back=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3DManuel%2BNoriega%2B-%2Bpictures%26ei%3DUTF-8%26hsimp%3Dyhs-001%26hspart%3Dmozilla&w=320&h=240&imgurl=thinkpress.files.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fnoriega.jpg&size=10KB&name=noriega.jpg&rcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpulsemedia.org%2Ftag%2Fmanuel-noriega%2F&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpulsemedia.org%2Ftag%2Fmanuel-noriega%2F&type=&no=2&tt=119&oid=8243cc48ff096cc3baac0708ff0088fb&tit=Manuel+Noriega%2C+nicknamed+%26quot%3BPineapple+Face%26quot%3B&sigr=119cisdvg&sigi=11ib9mh49&sign=10bjav7fa&sigt=103d1h5lg&sigb=135chlusm&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001<br /><br /><br />https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=Manuel+Noriega+-+pictures&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001<br /><br /><br />Today, President O'bozo is reaching out to the criminally lead, totalitarian, Slave Labor Prison Island of Cuba, where the only means of escape is the inner tube.<br /><br />Make it to the Evil USA on your inner tube, you got it made.<br /><br />Why spare O'bozo your wrath?<br /><br />Why do so many wish to come to the USA?<br /><br />Why would so many wish to come to such an evil country?<br /><br /><br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-6108596859735522112014-12-23T01:17:44.774-05:002014-12-23T01:17:44.774-05:00Those of you who grew up and lived through the “Co...<i>Those of you who grew up and lived through the “Cold War” era and carried around a deep-seated fear of Communist Russia and the devastation that they could and were raining down upon the world, may have a bit of a difficult time believing what I’m about to explain. I certainly have. </i><br /><br />How many millions were killed or injured during the Cold War? Who was doing the killing and injuring? Why and what was accomplished? Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-8708157633632503472014-12-23T01:12:03.936-05:002014-12-23T01:12:03.936-05:00Greg Grandin’s article is worthy of an intelligent...Greg Grandin’s article is worthy of an intelligent discussion.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-53715190402264353362014-12-23T01:09:30.956-05:002014-12-23T01:09:30.956-05:00You don’t know the first thing about Panama and pr...You don’t know the first thing about Panama and precious little about the history of Latin America or the likes of William Walker or much about that entire period of US History.Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-73388758731969338842014-12-23T01:03:41.902-05:002014-12-23T01:03:41.902-05:00Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq, Syria, Viet Nam, Cambod...Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq, Syria, Viet Nam, Cambodia, for what?Deuce ☂https://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.com