Oh fuck me running, get the fuck outta here.
Ladies and Gentleman may I present
Warren Zevon - Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner
Blackwater's New Frontier: Their Own Private Africa
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Somali extremists recruiting here?
Somali Americans Recruited by Extremists
U.S. Cites Case of Minnesotan Killed in Suicide Blast in Africa
By Spencer S. Hsu and Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, March 11, 2009; A01
Since November, the FBI has raced to uncover any ties to foreign extremist networks in the unexpected departures of numerous Somali American teenagers and young men, who family members believe are in Somalia. The investigation is active in Boston; San Diego; Seattle; Columbus, Ohio; and Portland, Maine, a U.S. law enforcement official said, and community members say federal grand juries have issued subpoenas in Minneapolis and elsewhere.
I told you there was a place in San Diego they call "little Mogadishu." I hope the investigation doesn't find any Islamist whackjobs there.
Somali-Americans recruited as "cannon fodder" -US
Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:16pm EDT
How FBI helped India probe Mumbai terror attacks
Washington, Feb 24
U.S. Cites Case of Minnesotan Killed in Suicide Blast in Africa
By Spencer S. Hsu and Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, March 11, 2009; A01
Since November, the FBI has raced to uncover any ties to foreign extremist networks in the unexpected departures of numerous Somali American teenagers and young men, who family members believe are in Somalia. The investigation is active in Boston; San Diego; Seattle; Columbus, Ohio; and Portland, Maine, a U.S. law enforcement official said, and community members say federal grand juries have issued subpoenas in Minneapolis and elsewhere.
I told you there was a place in San Diego they call "little Mogadishu." I hope the investigation doesn't find any Islamist whackjobs there.
Somali-Americans recruited as "cannon fodder" -US
Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:16pm EDT
How FBI helped India probe Mumbai terror attacks
Washington, Feb 24
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Commanding Heights By Daniel Yergin, Joseph Stanislaw
Written in 1998. I'm having a tough time just getting through the Introduction since it's looking like a 'let's worship at the altar of the free markets and kick government regulations AND government to the curb' kind of book to me. That shit did not, never has, never will work.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
"Glass houses? Meet stones" She's so quotable.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Managing Expectations and Understanding the Economic Crisis
Lincoln Mitchell
Assistant Professor in the Practice of International Politics, Columbia University
Posted March 11, 2009 10:14 AM (EST)
...Rarely, however, has the expectation game been as complicated as it is for President Obama. Presidents are, still, to a substantial extent, judged by the performance of the economy during their term in office; and Obama is unlikely to be an exception. It would seem, therefore, that Obama has every reason to reduce hopes for an economic recovery in the immediate future because this would make it possible for voters to reward any economic recovery by supporting the Democrats in congress in 2010 and Obama himself during his 2012 reelection bid...
What did I say? Yeesh, good fucking luck keeping Molly McMooseturd out of office with the overinflated expectations of the underinformed and intentionally terrified American people. Especially the fucktards who watch Fox newz.
The realization that we are We Are Breeding Ourselves to Extinction may sink in as we are forced to share what we have considered ours because we have been a wealthy country, by hook or crook in this century.
Assistant Professor in the Practice of International Politics, Columbia University
Posted March 11, 2009 10:14 AM (EST)
...Rarely, however, has the expectation game been as complicated as it is for President Obama. Presidents are, still, to a substantial extent, judged by the performance of the economy during their term in office; and Obama is unlikely to be an exception. It would seem, therefore, that Obama has every reason to reduce hopes for an economic recovery in the immediate future because this would make it possible for voters to reward any economic recovery by supporting the Democrats in congress in 2010 and Obama himself during his 2012 reelection bid...
What did I say? Yeesh, good fucking luck keeping Molly McMooseturd out of office with the overinflated expectations of the underinformed and intentionally terrified American people. Especially the fucktards who watch Fox newz.
The realization that we are We Are Breeding Ourselves to Extinction may sink in as we are forced to share what we have considered ours because we have been a wealthy country, by hook or crook in this century.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 09, 2009
lyme disease and brain
Preacher Slay Witnesses Unfazed At First
Congregants Believed Shooting Was Theatrics; Pastor Killed, Two Others Wounded In Attack
MARYVILLE, Ill., March 9, 2009
During a service at the First Baptist Church of Maryville in Ill., a 27 year-old man shot and killed the church?s pastor as well as stabbed two congregants and himself. Dean Reynolds has the latest...
the man's mother said the disease left lesions on his brain and that doctors had diagnosed him as mentally ill before discovering the disease...
...In the August 2008 article, the mother said her son was taking several medications and had difficulty speaking after contracting the tick-borne illness....
The Complexities of Lyme Disease A Microbiology Tutorial by Thomas M. Grier M.Sc.
...What happens when the infection gets to the brain? In the case of Lyme disease, every animal model to date shows that the Lyme spirochete can go from the site of the bite to the brain in just a few days. (41,60, abstract 644) While we know these bacteria can break down individual cell membranes and capillaries, its entrance into the brain is too pronounced for such a localized effect. When the Lyme bacteria enters the human body, we react by producing several immune regulatory substances known as cytokines and lymphokines. Several of these act in concert to break down the blood brain barrier. (E.g. Il-6, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Il-1, Transforming Growth Factor-beta etc.) In addition to affecting the blood brain barrier, these cytokines can make us feel ill, and give us fevers. (54,60,) (JID 1996:173, Jan)...
... When the human brain becomes inflamed, cells called macrophages respond by releasing a neuro-toxin called quinolinic acid. This toxin is also elevated in Parkinson's Disease, MS, ALS, and is responsible for the dementia that occurs in AIDS patients. What quinolinic acid does is stimulate neurons to repeatedly depolarize. This eventually causes the neurons to demyelinate and die. People with elevated quinolinic acid have short-term memory problems. (27,29-37,40-42,74,75, 82-84,87-90)
This means: If we think of all of our brain cells like telephone lines, we can visualize the problem. If all of the lines coming in are busy, we can't learn anything. If all of the lines going out are busy, we can't recall any memories. Our thinking process becomes impaired.
White House says Bush was treated for Lyme disease a year ago
updated 12:12 p.m. EDT, Thu August 9, 2007
Congregants Believed Shooting Was Theatrics; Pastor Killed, Two Others Wounded In Attack
MARYVILLE, Ill., March 9, 2009
During a service at the First Baptist Church of Maryville in Ill., a 27 year-old man shot and killed the church?s pastor as well as stabbed two congregants and himself. Dean Reynolds has the latest...
the man's mother said the disease left lesions on his brain and that doctors had diagnosed him as mentally ill before discovering the disease...
...In the August 2008 article, the mother said her son was taking several medications and had difficulty speaking after contracting the tick-borne illness....
The Complexities of Lyme Disease A Microbiology Tutorial by Thomas M. Grier M.Sc.
...What happens when the infection gets to the brain? In the case of Lyme disease, every animal model to date shows that the Lyme spirochete can go from the site of the bite to the brain in just a few days. (41,60, abstract 644) While we know these bacteria can break down individual cell membranes and capillaries, its entrance into the brain is too pronounced for such a localized effect. When the Lyme bacteria enters the human body, we react by producing several immune regulatory substances known as cytokines and lymphokines. Several of these act in concert to break down the blood brain barrier. (E.g. Il-6, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Il-1, Transforming Growth Factor-beta etc.) In addition to affecting the blood brain barrier, these cytokines can make us feel ill, and give us fevers. (54,60,) (JID 1996:173, Jan)...
... When the human brain becomes inflamed, cells called macrophages respond by releasing a neuro-toxin called quinolinic acid. This toxin is also elevated in Parkinson's Disease, MS, ALS, and is responsible for the dementia that occurs in AIDS patients. What quinolinic acid does is stimulate neurons to repeatedly depolarize. This eventually causes the neurons to demyelinate and die. People with elevated quinolinic acid have short-term memory problems. (27,29-37,40-42,74,75, 82-84,87-90)
This means: If we think of all of our brain cells like telephone lines, we can visualize the problem. If all of the lines coming in are busy, we can't learn anything. If all of the lines going out are busy, we can't recall any memories. Our thinking process becomes impaired.
White House says Bush was treated for Lyme disease a year ago
updated 12:12 p.m. EDT, Thu August 9, 2007
Friday, March 06, 2009
Laugh
The more I read about the financial mess the more I'm reminded of Aron Kader's cousin in this piece of his comedy routine.
Calif. high court weighs gay marriage ban
By LISA LEFF and PAUL ELIAS Associated Press Writers
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The mood was somber among gay rights supporters after a bruising, three-hour hearing before the justices of California's highest court, who expressed considerable skepticism at the idea of overturning the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.
So the same court that ruled against mob rule is going to support it now?
The Mormon cult must feel really good right now. Those inbred fuckers better not be banging on my door any time soon. And the Jehovah's witnesses? Bring it on bitches. I can't guarantee that I will be as polite as I have been.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The mood was somber among gay rights supporters after a bruising, three-hour hearing before the justices of California's highest court, who expressed considerable skepticism at the idea of overturning the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.
So the same court that ruled against mob rule is going to support it now?
The Mormon cult must feel really good right now. Those inbred fuckers better not be banging on my door any time soon. And the Jehovah's witnesses? Bring it on bitches. I can't guarantee that I will be as polite as I have been.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Taliban force a China switch
March 6 Asia Times
Because of its deep strategic and economic relationship with Pakistan, the inviolability of Chinese interests has been largely accepted by all the major political players inside Pakistan and its sphere of influence in western Afghanistan...
...After September 11, 2001, China aggressively played the Islamic terrorism card in stigmatizing the Uyghur self-determination movement and conflating it with the activities of the violently militant East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM)...
...The Taliban, who had no qualms about claiming responsibility for the brutal concurrent massacre of five Medicien Sans Frontiers staff, quickly disclaimed responsibility and made their pro-Chinese feelings known with alacrity:
The Taliban militia has denied responsibility for the killings ... "We deny the accusation of killing the Chinese workers in Kunduz province of Afghanistan," Abdul Latif Hakimi, who claims to represent the ousted militia, told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location. Hakimi said the deaths "should not have happened...
The defiantly anti-foreign Hekmatyar, who counts Russia, the United States and Iran as his enemies, also denied responsibility in an interview with Sikh Spectrum:
Question: Are you behind the recent killing of the Chinese?..
Hekmatyar: It is not true. I cannot accept the responsibility if some miscreants have masterminded it at the US's behest. I believe it is the handiwork of the Americans. They have used some greedy mujahideen for this inhuman act to defame the true mujahideen. I suspect that the Americans have also masterminded the killing of Chinese in Gwador, Balochistan. The US agenda is to malign jihad and jihadis.
Hekmatyar? Oh Yeah, this guy:
During the anti-Soviet jihad, Hekmatyar was strongly favored by the ISI and received the lion's share of aid Pakistan funneled to the mujahideen - perhaps US$600 million worth.
...When the flow of secret dollars became a flood and the demand for arms and ammunition became so great that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) could not satisfy it from the usual clandestine sources, China became Hekmatyar's primary supplier of everything from bullets to AK-47s to mules...
...despite his status as a declared terrorist with a $25 million price on his head, Hekmatyar has been wooed by the President Hamid Karzai government in Kabul, the Saudis, the Pakistanis, the ISI, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Kingdom, the US and, perhaps now, through its JI link, by China...
What, Adnan Kashoggi couldn't get American weapons in there?
Yeesh, Fuckin American Fuckin foreign policy.
Because of its deep strategic and economic relationship with Pakistan, the inviolability of Chinese interests has been largely accepted by all the major political players inside Pakistan and its sphere of influence in western Afghanistan...
...After September 11, 2001, China aggressively played the Islamic terrorism card in stigmatizing the Uyghur self-determination movement and conflating it with the activities of the violently militant East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM)...
...The Taliban, who had no qualms about claiming responsibility for the brutal concurrent massacre of five Medicien Sans Frontiers staff, quickly disclaimed responsibility and made their pro-Chinese feelings known with alacrity:
The Taliban militia has denied responsibility for the killings ... "We deny the accusation of killing the Chinese workers in Kunduz province of Afghanistan," Abdul Latif Hakimi, who claims to represent the ousted militia, told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location. Hakimi said the deaths "should not have happened...
The defiantly anti-foreign Hekmatyar, who counts Russia, the United States and Iran as his enemies, also denied responsibility in an interview with Sikh Spectrum:
Question: Are you behind the recent killing of the Chinese?..
Hekmatyar: It is not true. I cannot accept the responsibility if some miscreants have masterminded it at the US's behest. I believe it is the handiwork of the Americans. They have used some greedy mujahideen for this inhuman act to defame the true mujahideen. I suspect that the Americans have also masterminded the killing of Chinese in Gwador, Balochistan. The US agenda is to malign jihad and jihadis.
Hekmatyar? Oh Yeah, this guy:
During the anti-Soviet jihad, Hekmatyar was strongly favored by the ISI and received the lion's share of aid Pakistan funneled to the mujahideen - perhaps US$600 million worth.
...When the flow of secret dollars became a flood and the demand for arms and ammunition became so great that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) could not satisfy it from the usual clandestine sources, China became Hekmatyar's primary supplier of everything from bullets to AK-47s to mules...
...despite his status as a declared terrorist with a $25 million price on his head, Hekmatyar has been wooed by the President Hamid Karzai government in Kabul, the Saudis, the Pakistanis, the ISI, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Kingdom, the US and, perhaps now, through its JI link, by China...
What, Adnan Kashoggi couldn't get American weapons in there?
Yeesh, Fuckin American Fuckin foreign policy.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
John Yoo's Legal Groundwork for Subverting the Republic
Naomi Wolf
Posted March 3, 2009 05:23 PM (EST)
John Yoo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
...John Choon Yoo (born 1967 in Seoul[1][2]) is an American visiting professor of Law at the Chapman University School of Law in Orange County, CA...
Yeesh, that in iteself is scary to me. The OC has a lot of right-wing nutjobs.
Posted March 3, 2009 05:23 PM (EST)
John Yoo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
...John Choon Yoo (born 1967 in Seoul[1][2]) is an American visiting professor of Law at the Chapman University School of Law in Orange County, CA...
Yeesh, that in iteself is scary to me. The OC has a lot of right-wing nutjobs.
Reading now
Click on book for wikipedia entry on the author.Robert Fisk on Ratzi.
...here we go again – was this not the same ex-Cardinal Ratzinger (anti-divorce, anti-gay and anti-aircraft, as I always remind myself) who delivered a lecture at Regensburg in 2006 in which he quoted from a Byzantine text which characterised the Prophet Mohamed as evil and inhuman?...
I'm not sure I want to read this book now, but I'm sorely lacking in historical information, so I may slog through it anyway.
Gah, why does my library branch stock so much right wing shit? Nobody checks out the Ann Coulter books, and her piles of books are higher than any of the liberal's piles of books in the local bookstores. What gives?
I guess those people are around, some bitch at Starbucks gave me shit about the "Not My President" t-shirt I was wearing around election time. Even though I was startled because the country was already looking for a change from Bush's destructive policies, I just smiled and told her to have a nice day.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Monday, March 02, 2009
Realistic people know what Obama is up against.
And how hard these fuckers are going to fight any of the changes our country needs to make.
1. Get the money out of politics.
(damn bankers)
2. Get the money out of the newz.
3. Get the military-industrial-congressional-complex monkey off of our backs. (see above also)
Then we might work towards a democracy (or back towards a democratic republic) instead of living in a Corporatocracy.
Brit Hume, pouty mouthpiece for the rich.
Why do poor people watch Fox News?
Oh, yeah only poor people with the IQ of acorn squash watch Fox News.
Santelli's rant backed by Koch (pronounced coke) money.
Update 11:32 AM 3/6/2009 Mmmmmm, jury's out on this one
1. Get the money out of politics.
(damn bankers)
2. Get the money out of the newz.
3. Get the military-industrial-congressional-complex monkey off of our backs. (see above also)
Then we might work towards a democracy (or back towards a democratic republic) instead of living in a Corporatocracy.
Brit Hume, pouty mouthpiece for the rich.
Why do poor people watch Fox News?
Oh, yeah only poor people with the IQ of acorn squash watch Fox News.
Santelli's rant backed by Koch (pronounced coke) money.
Update 11:32 AM 3/6/2009 Mmmmmm, jury's out on this one
Umm, just go read Danny's post today
click on title link
FBI saw mortgage fraud early
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY
P-I REPORTER
..."We knew that the mortgage-brokerage industry was corrupt," the first of the retired FBI officials told the Seattle P-I. "Where we would have gotten a sense of what was really going on was the point where the mortgage was sold knowing that it was a piece of dung and it would be turned into a security. But the agents with the expertise had been diverted to counterterrorism."...
SEC alerted about Allen Stanford in 2003: report
Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:35am EST
The more I hear about the SEC, the less surprised I am that Gary Aguirre was canned.
I still believe that he and his brother got scooted out of the way because they were trying to do the right thing for the people, and it pissed off the powerful and corrupt.
12,000 students, and it doesn't make any of the mainstream media?
Of course not, CNN is powered by big coal.
FBI saw mortgage fraud early
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY
P-I REPORTER
..."We knew that the mortgage-brokerage industry was corrupt," the first of the retired FBI officials told the Seattle P-I. "Where we would have gotten a sense of what was really going on was the point where the mortgage was sold knowing that it was a piece of dung and it would be turned into a security. But the agents with the expertise had been diverted to counterterrorism."...
SEC alerted about Allen Stanford in 2003: report
Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:35am EST
The more I hear about the SEC, the less surprised I am that Gary Aguirre was canned.
I still believe that he and his brother got scooted out of the way because they were trying to do the right thing for the people, and it pissed off the powerful and corrupt.
12,000 students, and it doesn't make any of the mainstream media?
Of course not, CNN is powered by big coal.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Sunday morning musing
I woke up three times this morning with a headache. I didn't drink any alcohol and I'm drinking water like crazy. What is this? I rarely suffer headaches or aches and pains of any kind, really.
Anyway, the third time I woke up I was thinking of this article:
Friday, February 27, 2009
Denmark: Higher risk for infant mortality among Pakistanis, Somalis, Turks
...Pakistani, Somali and Turkish immigrant women in Denmark have a higher risk for stillborn children than Danish women, according to a new study by the University of Southern Denmark...
When I read this, I thought of the usual suspects, lousy prenatal care, lousy diet, poverty, ignorance, but this I did not expect:
...In Denmark, 40% of Pakistani couples are relatives....
So my head aches and my stomach is roiling. That is disgusting.
This is completely unrelated, and I don't know what search term brought it up, because I was looking for more than one source in English of the previously linked article. I didn't find it, but I'm completely fascinated by the following essay because I don't get the whole Jew hatred thing. People are people.
Editor’s note:
The following essay was originally published in the Hebrew journal Alpayim in 2005 and provoked an intense public debate. Its author, the renowned Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua, undertook a demanding task: to decipher the most disturbing riddle of Jewish history, to analyze and describe the quintessence of antisemitism in its various historical and cultural incarnations. Yehoshua’s thesis disputes the general intellectual consensus on antisemitism, which denies that there is any single or unique root to the phenomenon. He asserts that it is the unique structure of Jewish identity which has given birth to the venomous reaction of antisemitism—and he offers a way out of this impasse. Yehoshua’s position has outraged many but also given them much to think about. AZURE is proud to present an English translation of this essay, which embodies Zionist thought in its most daring form.
Azure no. 32, Spring 5768 / 2008
An Attempt to Identify the Root Cause of Antisemitism
By A. B. Yehoshua
A prominent Israeli author gets to the bottom of the world`s oldest hatred.
Anyway, the third time I woke up I was thinking of this article:
Friday, February 27, 2009
Denmark: Higher risk for infant mortality among Pakistanis, Somalis, Turks
...Pakistani, Somali and Turkish immigrant women in Denmark have a higher risk for stillborn children than Danish women, according to a new study by the University of Southern Denmark...
When I read this, I thought of the usual suspects, lousy prenatal care, lousy diet, poverty, ignorance, but this I did not expect:
...In Denmark, 40% of Pakistani couples are relatives....
So my head aches and my stomach is roiling. That is disgusting.
This is completely unrelated, and I don't know what search term brought it up, because I was looking for more than one source in English of the previously linked article. I didn't find it, but I'm completely fascinated by the following essay because I don't get the whole Jew hatred thing. People are people.
Editor’s note:
The following essay was originally published in the Hebrew journal Alpayim in 2005 and provoked an intense public debate. Its author, the renowned Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua, undertook a demanding task: to decipher the most disturbing riddle of Jewish history, to analyze and describe the quintessence of antisemitism in its various historical and cultural incarnations. Yehoshua’s thesis disputes the general intellectual consensus on antisemitism, which denies that there is any single or unique root to the phenomenon. He asserts that it is the unique structure of Jewish identity which has given birth to the venomous reaction of antisemitism—and he offers a way out of this impasse. Yehoshua’s position has outraged many but also given them much to think about. AZURE is proud to present an English translation of this essay, which embodies Zionist thought in its most daring form.
Azure no. 32, Spring 5768 / 2008
An Attempt to Identify the Root Cause of Antisemitism
By A. B. Yehoshua
A prominent Israeli author gets to the bottom of the world`s oldest hatred.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Hillary jumps right into the hornet's nest on first overseas trip
Clinton Embarks on First Middle East Diplomatic Trip
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 28, 2009; 12:40 PM
Jewish Leaders Blast Clinton Over Israel Criticism
Feb 27, 2009 9:34 am US/Eastern
Zuckerman, Lawmakers, Local Jews Say Secretary Of State Not The Hillary Clinton They Used To Know
Hillary Pressuring Israel To Speed Up Aid To Gaza
Hamas rejects U.S. demand to recognize Israel
chinaview2009-02-28 20:19:34
Palestinian groups set out plan for reconciliation
The Jordan Times
Sunday, March 1st, 2009, 11:33 pm ET
...Clinton is to visit Israel and the West Bank following the Gaza aid meeting in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm El Sheikh.
Talks on captive soldier
A senior Israeli negotiator held talks in Cairo on Thursday on efforts to free a soldier captured by Palestinian fighters in Gaza more than two years ago, an Israeli official said...
...The Islamist movement Hamas has demanded the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, many of them implicated in attacks against Israelis, in exchange for Shalit....
...Air strikes
Israeli air strikes hit smuggling tunnels between Hamas-run Gaza and Egypt on Thursday after fighters in the enclave fired two rockets into the Jewish state, the army and witnesses said.
The afternoon strikes did not result in any casualties, witnesses said.
They came after two rockets fired from Gaza struck inside Israel without causing casualties, the army said.
The incidents marked the latest violence to rock tenuous ceasefires that Israel and Hamas announced on January 18, ending a 22-day war in the coastal strip that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
Anti-Semitism In Araby
To achieve Arab-Israeli peace will mean dealing with a civil society on one side that is by no means civil.
Josef Joffe
NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Mar 9 2009
Bernard Lewis' What Went Wrong?
Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response is what I' m reading right now.
Juan Cole wrote an essay on it, criticising it and then went on to write Engaging the Muslim World , which I have not read. Click on the book for another review.
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 28, 2009; 12:40 PM
Jewish Leaders Blast Clinton Over Israel Criticism
Feb 27, 2009 9:34 am US/Eastern
Zuckerman, Lawmakers, Local Jews Say Secretary Of State Not The Hillary Clinton They Used To Know
Hillary Pressuring Israel To Speed Up Aid To Gaza
Hamas rejects U.S. demand to recognize Israel
chinaview2009-02-28 20:19:34
Palestinian groups set out plan for reconciliation
The Jordan Times
Sunday, March 1st, 2009, 11:33 pm ET
...Clinton is to visit Israel and the West Bank following the Gaza aid meeting in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm El Sheikh.
Talks on captive soldier
A senior Israeli negotiator held talks in Cairo on Thursday on efforts to free a soldier captured by Palestinian fighters in Gaza more than two years ago, an Israeli official said...
...The Islamist movement Hamas has demanded the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, many of them implicated in attacks against Israelis, in exchange for Shalit....
...Air strikes
Israeli air strikes hit smuggling tunnels between Hamas-run Gaza and Egypt on Thursday after fighters in the enclave fired two rockets into the Jewish state, the army and witnesses said.
The afternoon strikes did not result in any casualties, witnesses said.
They came after two rockets fired from Gaza struck inside Israel without causing casualties, the army said.
The incidents marked the latest violence to rock tenuous ceasefires that Israel and Hamas announced on January 18, ending a 22-day war in the coastal strip that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.
Anti-Semitism In Araby
To achieve Arab-Israeli peace will mean dealing with a civil society on one side that is by no means civil.
Josef Joffe
NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Mar 9 2009
Bernard Lewis' What Went Wrong?
Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response is what I' m reading right now.
Juan Cole wrote an essay on it, criticising it and then went on to write Engaging the Muslim World , which I have not read. Click on the book for another review.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
San Diego politics
By the time I was 25 years old I was truly frightened of politics in San Diego.
With good reason.
Do you think Dukie was an anomaly here?
If you do then you don't know the county I was born and raised in.
First there's the CIA.
CIA Official Challenging Competence of Foggo's Mistress Got Fired -- and Other Misadventures
By Don Bauder Posted February 24, 2009, 8:51 p.m.
RSS Send to a Friend E-mail the Editor
...He was the executive director of the C.I.A. from 2004 to 2006 -- one of the top positions at the agency. He steered contracts to his government contractor chum Brent Wilkes, with whom he had gone to high school (Hilltop), and college (SDSU). Wilkes treated Foggo to lavish meals and vacations. Foggo's favoritism cost the C.I.A. $2 million, according to the memorandum...
Feds: Misconduct by CIA's Foggo spanned decades
1 day ago
Report: Goss Knew Of Foggo's Shady Past
By Zachary Roth - February 25, 2009, 5:23PM
The Drugs
Dark Alliance San Diego
Welcome to the Drug War ... pick a card, any card
Posted by Bill Conroy - June 24, 2007 at 7:00 pm
The Republicans who consistently want something for nothing.
A Proposal: A New Tax for a Concession
The Scams
Scam Diego
The things they don't want the tourists to know
San Onofre's Problems Continue
With good reason.
Do you think Dukie was an anomaly here?
If you do then you don't know the county I was born and raised in.
First there's the CIA.
CIA Official Challenging Competence of Foggo's Mistress Got Fired -- and Other Misadventures
By Don Bauder Posted February 24, 2009, 8:51 p.m.
RSS Send to a Friend E-mail the Editor
...He was the executive director of the C.I.A. from 2004 to 2006 -- one of the top positions at the agency. He steered contracts to his government contractor chum Brent Wilkes, with whom he had gone to high school (Hilltop), and college (SDSU). Wilkes treated Foggo to lavish meals and vacations. Foggo's favoritism cost the C.I.A. $2 million, according to the memorandum...
Feds: Misconduct by CIA's Foggo spanned decades
1 day ago
Report: Goss Knew Of Foggo's Shady Past
By Zachary Roth - February 25, 2009, 5:23PM
The Drugs
Dark Alliance San Diego
Welcome to the Drug War ... pick a card, any card
Posted by Bill Conroy - June 24, 2007 at 7:00 pm
The Republicans who consistently want something for nothing.
A Proposal: A New Tax for a Concession
The Scams
Scam Diego
The things they don't want the tourists to know
San Onofre's Problems Continue
Tomgram makes sense again
Tomgram: Chip Ward, The Department of Homegrown Security
After the Green Economy, Green Security
How to Build Resilient Communities in a Chaotic World
By Chip Ward
posted February 26, 2009 10:56 am
...Today, "homeland security" and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), that unwieldy amalgam of 13 agencies created by the Bush administration in 2002, continue to express the potent, all-encompassing fears and assumptions of our last president's Global War on Terror. Foreign enemies may indeed be plotting to attack us, but, believe it or not (and increasing numbers of people, watching their homes, money, and jobs melt away are coming to believe it), that's probably neither the worst, nor the most dangerous thing in store for us....
...If you're thinking about what the greening of homeland security might actually mean, look no further than our food supply...
...There are enough vacant lots, backyards, and rooftops to host many thousands of gardens, either created by voluntary groups or by small-scale entrepreneurs. Urban farming could even go big. Columbia University professor Dickson Despommier recently unveiled his vision of a "vertical farm," a 30-story tower right in the middle of an urban landscape, that could grow enough food to feed 50,000 people in the surrounding neighborhood...
...Ideally, the greening of homeland security would mean more than pamphlets on planting, but would provide actual seed money -- and not just for seeds either, but for building greenhouses, distributing tools, and starting farmers' markets where growers and consumers can connect. How about raiding the Department of Homeland Security's gluttonous budget for "homegrown" grants to communities that want to get started? ...
...In the U.S., "post-carbon" working groups are beginning to sprout across the country...
Right, they are sprouting amongst the people because they are going around the Now 4 Climate Change Lobbyists for Every Member of Congress (from Energy company interests)
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 02.26.09
Another topic, a hot one-- Bobby Jindal. Bringin' home the Bacon.
Jindal scored big in the pork contest. He, sometimes in concert with other lawmakers, ended up bringing home $97,913,200 in bacon. That put him at the number 14 spot in Taxpayers for Common Sense's annual tally of the most successful appropriators in the House.
After the Green Economy, Green Security
How to Build Resilient Communities in a Chaotic World
By Chip Ward
posted February 26, 2009 10:56 am
...Today, "homeland security" and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), that unwieldy amalgam of 13 agencies created by the Bush administration in 2002, continue to express the potent, all-encompassing fears and assumptions of our last president's Global War on Terror. Foreign enemies may indeed be plotting to attack us, but, believe it or not (and increasing numbers of people, watching their homes, money, and jobs melt away are coming to believe it), that's probably neither the worst, nor the most dangerous thing in store for us....
...If you're thinking about what the greening of homeland security might actually mean, look no further than our food supply...
...There are enough vacant lots, backyards, and rooftops to host many thousands of gardens, either created by voluntary groups or by small-scale entrepreneurs. Urban farming could even go big. Columbia University professor Dickson Despommier recently unveiled his vision of a "vertical farm," a 30-story tower right in the middle of an urban landscape, that could grow enough food to feed 50,000 people in the surrounding neighborhood...
...Ideally, the greening of homeland security would mean more than pamphlets on planting, but would provide actual seed money -- and not just for seeds either, but for building greenhouses, distributing tools, and starting farmers' markets where growers and consumers can connect. How about raiding the Department of Homeland Security's gluttonous budget for "homegrown" grants to communities that want to get started? ...
...In the U.S., "post-carbon" working groups are beginning to sprout across the country...
Right, they are sprouting amongst the people because they are going around the Now 4 Climate Change Lobbyists for Every Member of Congress (from Energy company interests)
by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 02.26.09
Another topic, a hot one-- Bobby Jindal. Bringin' home the Bacon.
Jindal scored big in the pork contest. He, sometimes in concert with other lawmakers, ended up bringing home $97,913,200 in bacon. That put him at the number 14 spot in Taxpayers for Common Sense's annual tally of the most successful appropriators in the House.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
This is why I don't use illegal drugs.
Too many people are dying . Yeah, I know it's a long article. Tough shit. Read it anyway and don't excuse yourself if you just smoke a little dope. Unless you grow it yourself, chances are it came through Mexico, or was grown in one of our National Forests that are under the control of Mexican gangs.
Do yourself a favor and don't leave a comment about a California State Assemblyman who introduced a bill to legalize pot. It took how long to get to the point where they could vote on a Budget? Oh, yeah, it took 106 days.
The GOP is not the only problem here.
Medical marijuana is already legal in California.
Fuck
The
DEA
And their big fatty Federal Budget
Actually the DEA budget is nothing compared to the $$$ these monsters make selling drugs. Come on, 1.4 billion to fight a 14 billion dollar trade?
Do yourself a favor and don't leave a comment about a California State Assemblyman who introduced a bill to legalize pot. It took how long to get to the point where they could vote on a Budget? Oh, yeah, it took 106 days.
The GOP is not the only problem here.
Medical marijuana is already legal in California.
Fuck
The
DEA
And their big fatty Federal Budget
Actually the DEA budget is nothing compared to the $$$ these monsters make selling drugs. Come on, 1.4 billion to fight a 14 billion dollar trade?
Update 8:36 PM 2/28/2009 Norm Stamper says that the War on Drugs is costing aroung 70 billion dollars a year. Jeeeemeny Christmas, what a waste. I'll bet my 14 billion dollar number is only the Mexican trade, or something.
Update 7:31 PM 3/1/2009 40 billion dollar, 230 US city trade And I don't care if gun manufacturers are making money. Fuck the NRA.
Survey says, ding! ding! ding!
The drug lords that decapitate and murder thousands will win because Americans are stupid shmucks who won't stop using their product. Hope your little bag of pot is worth six thousand lives to ya.
The question is which gang will sell them? 
Three of my favorites write about Obama's congressional address
Obama’s Big Speech: Was It Optimistic/Realistic Enough?
first,from the News Dissector, who tells us to go read what Greg Palast wrote before Obama spoke. Ok, no problem.
Greg Palast Exclusively for BuzzFlash: Damn that Lincoln. Abe's to blame for Jindal
02/24/2009 - 4:28pm. Guest Contribution
Getting Warmer
Posted on Feb 25, 2009
By Robert Scheer
I doofed up last night and didn't watch the address till this morning. Frankly, I find myself hitting the rewind button sometimes because I get distracted by thoughts like "Wow, it is nice to be proud of my president, he's intelligent, thoughtful, and oh wow, wouldja look at that, his beautiful wife just got a standing ovation...shit! what was he saying?"
Update3:44 PM 2/25/2009 Whooooo, boy, Maddow's response to the Republican response to Obama's speech cracks me up--
Update 11:20 AM 3/17/2009 Bush faces footwear protest in Canada
1 hour ago
OTTAWA (AFP) — Canadians amassed shoes to throw in protest against George W. Bush on Tuesday when he gives his first post-presidential speech in western Canada's oil patch.
first,from the News Dissector, who tells us to go read what Greg Palast wrote before Obama spoke. Ok, no problem.
Greg Palast Exclusively for BuzzFlash: Damn that Lincoln. Abe's to blame for Jindal
02/24/2009 - 4:28pm. Guest Contribution
Getting Warmer
Posted on Feb 25, 2009
By Robert Scheer
I doofed up last night and didn't watch the address till this morning. Frankly, I find myself hitting the rewind button sometimes because I get distracted by thoughts like "Wow, it is nice to be proud of my president, he's intelligent, thoughtful, and oh wow, wouldja look at that, his beautiful wife just got a standing ovation...shit! what was he saying?"
Update3:44 PM 2/25/2009 Whooooo, boy, Maddow's response to the Republican response to Obama's speech cracks me up--
Ok now that you've smiled slyly, go get yourself a belly laugh at Tome of the Unknown Writer's response to Jindal.
Oh my God, you lucky Canucks, you get to kick off W's speaking tour career.
Bwaaa haaa haaa haaa haa
The first speech will be March 17 in Calgary, Alberta. The Canadian event, to be held in a convention center before a largely business audience, is being promoted as “A conversation with George W. Bush,” and is scheduled to last from noon to 2 p.m. It is closed to the press.
Bwaaa haaa haaa haaa haa
The first speech will be March 17 in Calgary, Alberta. The Canadian event, to be held in a convention center before a largely business audience, is being promoted as “A conversation with George W. Bush,” and is scheduled to last from noon to 2 p.m. It is closed to the press.
Update 11:20 AM 3/17/2009 Bush faces footwear protest in Canada
1 hour ago
OTTAWA (AFP) — Canadians amassed shoes to throw in protest against George W. Bush on Tuesday when he gives his first post-presidential speech in western Canada's oil patch.
Are US bases in Iraq keeping Israel from attacking Iran?
A Choice Between Peace and Peril
By Chris Hedges
Feb 23, 2009
I've never thought that there might be a good reason for those bases in Iraq, but this article made me wonder. Click on the title link and read it or the rest of this post won't make any sense.
Okay, we good? Well alright, let's continue.
I know that the Iranian people and the American people do not want to go to war with each other, and certainly not by being led into it by paranoid Israeli warhawks.
Note that I did not say that Israel doesn't have a right to be paranoid. Most of their neighbors hate them. That's a whole nother blog post and I'm not going there now.
I don't claim to understand the history and the byzantine politics of the Middle East , however, this book by Trita Parsi was somewhat helpful.
Over all the history, the religions, the politics, the peoples , whew, I could read non-stop for years and still not have a clue.
Just the history and peoples of Iran and how she interacts with her neighbors is complicated.
Like the writer of the "Choice Between Peace and Peril" article, I'm cautiously optimistic that Obama will make the right choice. Hopefully he hasn't been in Washington long enough to have his common sense clouded by the ridiculous arrogance in a bubble that resides there.
By Chris Hedges
Feb 23, 2009
I've never thought that there might be a good reason for those bases in Iraq, but this article made me wonder. Click on the title link and read it or the rest of this post won't make any sense.
Okay, we good? Well alright, let's continue.
I know that the Iranian people and the American people do not want to go to war with each other, and certainly not by being led into it by paranoid Israeli warhawks.
Note that I did not say that Israel doesn't have a right to be paranoid. Most of their neighbors hate them. That's a whole nother blog post and I'm not going there now.
I don't claim to understand the history and the byzantine politics of the Middle East , however, this book by Trita Parsi was somewhat helpful.
Over all the history, the religions, the politics, the peoples , whew, I could read non-stop for years and still not have a clue.
Just the history and peoples of Iran and how she interacts with her neighbors is complicated.
Like the writer of the "Choice Between Peace and Peril" article, I'm cautiously optimistic that Obama will make the right choice. Hopefully he hasn't been in Washington long enough to have his common sense clouded by the ridiculous arrogance in a bubble that resides there.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Money
American Right Ditches States, Embraces Corporations
hat tip GNN
Polls: Americans Want Republicans To Drop Ideology And Work On Obama’s Priorities
The News Dissector takes on CNBC
And uh, how's that war we're paying big bucks for going?
MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) — Four US soldiers were wounded and a local interpreter killed in a shooting at an Iraqi police station in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, the US military said...
...The latest incident was the third of its kind in Mosul, one of the country's most restive cities, involving American soldiers and Iraqi security forces in just over a year....
Monday, February 23, 2009
McDonald's Restaurants
As if working there as a teenager (10% discount for employees, whoo hooo) wasn't bad enough, Super Size Me (2004) almost made me quit eating there forever.
This is the final nail in the coffin. This happened to a McDonald's employee and good Samaritan.
News Report - regarding Workers Comp lawsuit (denied)
Hat tip to AmericaBlog
More from Daily Kos
This is the final nail in the coffin. This happened to a McDonald's employee and good Samaritan.
News Report - regarding Workers Comp lawsuit (denied)
Hat tip to AmericaBlog
More from Daily Kos
Waiter Rant
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was funny, sweet, enlightening, and interesting. I've been reading the author's blog for about three years. I'm sure I'm not the only female reader who developed a little crush on "The Waiter." I understand his curiosity about what makes people tick. My friends laugh when I imagine aloud what conversations may have been going on around us, or perhaps in a another car. It's a customer service thing, you learn to appreciate the 80% of people who are really nice people, and you mercilessly make fun of the rest or you're dead in the water. Without a sense of humor, dealing with the public is impossible.
I've never waited tables, but I grew up in a suburb full of pretentious assholes so I know what he's talking about. You're surprised that I never waited tables? Uh, no, I didn't think so.
I did work foodservice for years. I used to get in trouble for working too slow. I wasn't working slow, I was making sure that the area that I worked in was CLEAN, which takes time. When the person that had my job before me didn't give a shit that made the first few days on a new job really hard for me and I'm sure it seemed like I was really slow. It takes time to get years of greasy stuff off of cutting boards, and out of refrigerators, sinks, and out of porcelain drainage areas. Many times my hands peeled from using bleach and grease cutting agents.
I never put out food that I wouldn't eat, I quit places that expected me to do that.
There were times when I wondered if the managers needed a new eyeglass prescription, or if they had no sense of smell? There was one place that was so bad that I didn't even start working, I just bailed, gagging on my way out the door. In this county you have to have a foodhandlers card and the health department is supposed to check the place.
Pfffft.
I'm sure it's gotten worse since Bush and his deregulation happy shitheads took over.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Oscars
The Oscars are on tonight. This year I haven't seen anything that is nominated.
The only movies that looked remotely interesting to me were Revolutionary Road, and Milk.
Slumdog Millionaire I will check out once it comes out on DVD, to see what all the buzz is about, but I fully intend on watching it with the remote handy, because Asian music grates on my last nerve, this still cracks me up three years later.
Seth Grogan
Who's fucking dope dealer is he? To say that his work is underappreciated by me is too kind. He gives me the heebee jeebees, and so does Ben Stiller.
Update 9:41 PM 2/22/2009 Ok. They're over. Slumdog Millionaire swept them. It looks a little more interesting to me than it did before, knowing the whole thing isn't some Bollywood romance dance film.
The only movies that looked remotely interesting to me were Revolutionary Road, and Milk.
Slumdog Millionaire I will check out once it comes out on DVD, to see what all the buzz is about, but I fully intend on watching it with the remote handy, because Asian music grates on my last nerve, this still cracks me up three years later.
Seth Grogan
Who's fucking dope dealer is he? To say that his work is underappreciated by me is too kind. He gives me the heebee jeebees, and so does Ben Stiller.
Update 9:41 PM 2/22/2009 Ok. They're over. Slumdog Millionaire swept them. It looks a little more interesting to me than it did before, knowing the whole thing isn't some Bollywood romance dance film.
American East
Hmm. How do I describe this film?
It's about Arab Americans trying not to end up in Gitmo after 9/11, and live out the American Dream. It's more brave than most of the absolute crap that comes out of Hollywood. Still, I'm so jaded that the lovey-dovey stuff is a hard sell for me, but then again my friend is still schooling me on life in Los Angeles. I lived there as a kid, but I was a kid. San Diego has it's quirks but believe me, they are different than LA. I recognized Sarah Shahi from other stuff I've seen her in, but never read the bio on IMDB about her before. I remember cringing at her Mexican accent, but the fact that one of her parents is Spanish just blew me away. Really? I can tell the difference between a Spanish and Mexican accent and frankly hers is neither, and it's Gawd-awful. Not surprisingly she's related to some Shah in Iran. Ahhhhhh, Grasshopper, the accent suffer from snobbery. I'm betting Egyptians aren't buying the accent in this movie either, but she is a decent actress and quite beautiful.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
PBS NOW covers sexual harrassment of teens on part-time jobs
Week of 2.20.09
Is Your Daughter Safe at Work?
A shocking statistic—teenagers are in more danger from sexual predators at their part time jobs than through the Internet. According to one estimate, 200,000 teenagers are assaulted at the workplace each year. It's a vastly underreported phenomenon, but some brave young women are stepping up publicly to tell their stories.
Am I surprised that part of this story was filmed in San Diego?
Dude, this is a military town. I was born and raised here, nothing surprises me. Probably 90% of the cops here have military experience It's why some kids join the military, so they can get MP (military police) experience and then go back to their hometown and got to the police academy there. Does this particular case involve any ex-military personnell? I don't know. I'm just saying I know what I know and I've seen what I've seen and it ain't "all good."
Is Your Daughter Safe at Work?
A shocking statistic—teenagers are in more danger from sexual predators at their part time jobs than through the Internet. According to one estimate, 200,000 teenagers are assaulted at the workplace each year. It's a vastly underreported phenomenon, but some brave young women are stepping up publicly to tell their stories.
Am I surprised that part of this story was filmed in San Diego?
Dude, this is a military town. I was born and raised here, nothing surprises me. Probably 90% of the cops here have military experience It's why some kids join the military, so they can get MP (military police) experience and then go back to their hometown and got to the police academy there. Does this particular case involve any ex-military personnell? I don't know. I'm just saying I know what I know and I've seen what I've seen and it ain't "all good."
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