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    marye
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    When our previous topic hit the 1,000-response mark, sleazy behavior by politicians was eliciting a certain amount of non-astonishment.

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  • gratefaldean
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    Would hate to have been on that jury
    24 counts, who can even keep that many charges straight? I've only got 10 fingers and 10 toes, so you've exceeded my counting capicity, let alone my making- a -separate -judgment- on- each- charge capacity. Especially when dealing with racketeering charges against a politician (racketeering, that has something to do with mob guys, right?), and most especially when you don't have video tape of money changing hands. Give me an armed robbery or murder trial any day over this kind of crime.
  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    America isn't the only place...
    ...where appearance trumps substance. I have to wonder if, after Blago tried to trade the vacant senate seat for an ambassadorship, Rahm Emmanuel had a word with Eric Holder who then leaned on the FBI to pull the trigger on the less than subtle Rod-O. I'm sure they thought he would resign quietly. Alas, NOT! The funny thing is Blago is letting his lawyer portray him as "not the sharpest knife in the drawer" in order to save his ass -- the "What, me worry?" Alfred E. Neuman defense. ~ Don't lend your hand to raise no flag... ~
  • TigerLilly
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    Blago jury
    "A typical case of blind justice" and perhaps the jury never got to see the 27 8X10 color glossy phots, with circles and arrows, and a paragraph on the back of each one.********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
  • cosmicbadger
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    Maybe
    How do you explain Blago to a ninth grade civic class?..... 'Listen kids...in America nice teeth and nice hair can tilt the scales of justice in your favour. So whatever else you do, keep flossing and use a good conditioner'
  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    Blago debacle ends in mistrial
    After deliberating for about two weeks the jury came back with one guilty verdict out of 24 counts.The judge declared a mistrial and the government said it was ready to retry the case. I have no idea what to think. This will make the "Democracy's worst moments" reel without a doubt. How do you explain Blago to a ninth grade civic class?
  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    6 million now effected by Paki Indus River flood
    Less than one million have been helped with any kind of aid. The aid is there, there is just no way to get it to people other than air-drop. New villages are flooded every day as the floodwater continues to crest downstream.
  • JackstrawfromC…
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    As George Carlin always said
    None of us have rights. But that being said, let them build their mosque, but why on ground zero (or even next to)? Why even stir that pot? To me It's like a murderer who breaks into a house, kills the family and then gets to live in their house. It just doesn't seem right to me. "The dire wolf collects his due while the boys sing round the fire"
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    well said TPH1, it was definitely difficult to sum up
    Bottom line this is America and they have a right to build the center. If it fosters understanding then God bless it! If its an "in your face" from Islamic extremists let's not give them the propaganda benefit of stopping it!
  • tphokie1
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    well said, johnman
    These are the types who try to create God in their own image!
  • johnman
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    There are schools of thought
    that insist that the only reason the center is being built is that Muslims are "claiming their territory" after winning it by conquest. So called "Christians" did the same in the middle east during the crusades. I truly believe that people that would kill in the name of their respective "religions" are really not very religious.......just deluded fools that neither know or understand the true teachings of Jesus OR Mohammad.
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When our previous topic hit the 1,000-response mark, sleazy behavior by politicians was eliciting a certain amount of non-astonishment.
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A kind wit and keen insight. He will be missed. Have a great weekend everybody!
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There was a mass panick outbreak in a tunnel leading into this year's Love Parade in Duisburg. Police and security were unable to deal with the stampede, once it started, and 15 died. The number of injured is still unclear. How tragic that a fest of peace and love ended like that. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/7908522/15-dea… ********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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Will it never end? 19 are now dead from the panic in the tunnel at the techno-event called Love-Parade. Over one million (Jeeez, this is making me rethink my field trip to the Polo Grounds) came to this event and the infrastructure couldn't take it. People were bottle-necked in a tunnel (no air in stifling heat) from the train station to the venue and some started climbing up escape routes and fell back into the crowd, causing the panic. Reports have it the cops were warned but did nothing. It was apparent that something was wrong in the venue but the performers were told that the show had to go on for fear of even more panic. My biggest show had to be Rich Stadium in '86'. 90,000 people. After that one I said no more. That many people increases your chances greatly of running into some kind of unpleasant scene, sooner or later. They are already warning people to expect long delays trying to get out of GG Park after SF Parks benefit.
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the idea of feeding that many people, many under the influence of something or other, through one tiny tunnel is moronic in itself. And yes, folks WERE trying to warn the police about a problem about to happen, but were ignored and ridiculed-there were a couple of interviews last night with some of the guys who had spoken up. This was a major exersize in poor planning, as it was known approximately how many people would most likely show up. Of course with an event of that size, things can happen, BUT with such idiotic logistics organization, this tragedy was completely unnecessary. Gonzo-another cause of the panic was the police herding people back IN to the tunnel, due to overcrowding-causing a push back from the opposite direction.Another completely idiotic decision! It seems like the only decision that was made yesterday that made any sense at all was to let the show go on on the venu grounds, so that the people who were inside already would not increase the level of panic. Many of them didn't know what happened before they tried to leave the fest last night. ********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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...into cha-ching land. Tony Hayward be fired today with a $15,000,000 golden parachute. I guess he is getting his life back , unlike some others... I predicted this.... ~ I can't get no satisfaction ~
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that I also predicted that psychopathic corporations bent on profit will be the death of us all. Free market proponents should be put in Sea Shepherd re-education camps in Antarctica and be prodded with a pitchfork by Paul Watson until they recant.
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...on Afghanistan. Lots of heinous stuff about Afghan civilian casualties and State-sponsored help to terrorists from Pakistan and Iran. I'm left wondering how coalition forces will declare victory and leave next year. It is now very clear that the decision to attack was ill-fated and that collateral damage (civilian casualties) are causing a nationalistic backlash. This is the beginning of the end, my friend, in Afghanistan. It's over, if not next year then the year after.
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The Supremes, as I've chronicled here, are now labeled the most conservative court in recent history. The decisions handed down are truly frightening. Ignore them at your own risk, the risk of living as an individual in a free society. 1) Corporations have the same rights as people 2) Miranda warning compromised There are others. The roots of fascism are coded into law.
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www.notsoperfectworld.oyla.de The above link is a website that my 12 year old graphic-designer-in-training spent her weekend creating (voluntarily, I might add) Granted the site is rudimentary (it is her first) Granted the range of topics is very broad (animal rights, nature conservancy, "problems in Africa" Granted the majority of the site is still in German (English pages start with "Welcome" in the page list on the left, but she isn't finished translating them yet) Granted the 1st page of the site should give the language choice of English or German (she is still trying to figure out how to do that) But the point is that there are young people who are aware and ready to do something humanitarian. They are not all corrupted by MTV and Fox News, and we can take comfort in that. ********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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Hope this new generation provides some inspiration for the previous two. Bravo to your young one Lilly! ~ Teach your children well ~
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Don't know if your familiar with the Playing for Change songs and project...but it seems fitting to current events. ♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥ Twirly Banner
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I love that video. Thanks for posting it Canyon!
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it shows up as filler and such on PBS a lot, which is where I first saw it. Gets me every time!
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PATHALAIYA/ KATHMANDU: Police on Monday interrogated Ram Bahadur Bomjan, famously known as Buddha Boy, in connection with the thrashing of local villagers by him for trying to disrupt his penance on Thursday. A squad of police, led by inspectors Rudrakanta Jha and Bhesh Raj Rijal from Bara District Police Office visited Bamjan in Halkhoriya forest, Bara, following complaints registered against him by a group of 17 vilagers. Talking to the police, Bomjan admitted to having thrashed the villagers. "Yes, I took a minor action against them because they tried to disturb me while I was meditating," he said. Refuting the victims' claimthat they mistakenly stepped into Bomjan's meditating site while searching wild vegetables, Bomjan said, “They came to this area just to disrupt my meditation." Bomjan also admitted that he had taken the villagers into his control for 24 hours. “I had to do so personally because I did not have anyone around to punish them," he said. Though Bamjan claimed he only used hands while thrashing, the villagers have said he had thrashed them with a handle of an axe continuously for three hours.
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Comrade Duch, notorious prison commander where more than 10,000 died brutal deaths, was sentenced to 19 years in prison. More than one million Cambodians died in that civil war. The Khmer Rouge was a revolution run amok in the 70s with a fascist sect of Cambodians carrying out an uber Maoist 'Cultural Revolution'. People died in some pretty horrible ways. The Grateful Dead a benefit for Cambodian refugees in 1979. Duch is elderly, has been in prison and is likely to die in prison. Still, the victims felt the sentence was too lenient. The Cambodian people have not come to terms with their own recent holocaust.
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A visit to the memoral and museum at the Toul Sleng former torture camp, where Duch was commander, is one of the most moving and harrowing experiences I have ever had. Not subjecting Duch to death is a brave rejection of the culture of judicial murder and the cycle of revenge. I hope he dies in jail. Having lived and worked in Cambodia for a few years, it was all too clear to me that the shadow of the KR still hangs over everyone, but that people are working to put it behind them. Many people I know there do not know how old they are, do not know their birthday or true name and have no living relatives. I won't go into what they suffered as children. At the same time it is amazing to see how they have survived this and are working with good humour to build up their country. I have also spent a lot of time working with former KR soldiers, almost all recruited and indoctrinated as children.They are haunted and tortured by what they did. Most have been assimilated into civil society and are trying too to live positive lives. The determination among so many to seek forgiveness and reconciliation is a humbling lesson to us all. If you want to find out about the role the US played in creating Cambodia's nightmare read 'Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon and the Destruction of Cambodia' by William Shawcross.
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...of your working in Cambodia, Badger... In what capacity? I didn't mean to imply that Cambodians were at fault for not putting this behind them. It has not been long and it is a huge task. I thought it was a given that people knew that the US sewed the seeds of this but never overestimate I guess. I too have had contacts with the Cambodian community, albeit in the US. They are a beautiful, humble people and they are haunted by their past and, as you say, working to put it behind them. Kissinger and Nixon's bumbling in Cambodia that led to this is just mind-blowing. Talk about bad karma!
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...is laughing at environmentalists and putting big, fat buy recommendations on BP. Even if you're not involved in investments it is revealing to read the business pages. It can be like seeing through very different eyes. They are the enemy of every living thing on this planet and it would not be too much to say that the pursuit of money to the exclusion of all else is a dark, demonic force. Of course the profit motive is also the reason people work hard and we have technical innovation. Still, small is better consume less kill your computer and go take a walk in the woods
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A friend showed me this article today, which I found to be very interesting. This friend and I were then discussing how a sentence expressed in one langauge can be completely missunderstood by another person, if said other person did not grow up speaking the language of the conversation. I will give one exampe. There is a classic German joke about a man and woman on holidays in New York. They check into their hotel room, but a few minutes later are at the reception desk. The man says "there is a train in our room, can I have another ceiling please." This is funny because what he wanted to say was "there is a draft in my room, could I have another blanket please." In German the word "Zug" can mean either draft OR train; and the word "Decke" can mean either blanket or ceiling, depending on the context of the sentence in which these words are used. So to take this different languages/possibly different "trains" of thought a wee bit further, it seems logical to me that learning at least a little bit of someone else's language could possibly do small wonders in avoiding some missunderstandings between people from different parts of the world. ALSO this makes me pretty damn sure that the Americans who have told me vehemently "I have no need to learn another language" are basically pooh-poohing a potential level of deeper understanding without even realizing it. ********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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Greenpeace shut down 47 BP gas stations yesterday. They padlocked gates, cut electricity and hung very professionally done banners over the official BP signs.
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So, they're sending Tony Howard to Russia? Apparently it's not much of an exile as the TNK-BP partnership brings in a third of BP's production.
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The RichPoliticians Corporate executives Public officials I've got one to add to the list: People who work in the healthcare industry. I'm not talking about the grunts. There are people with ridiculous salaries and benefits and the excess is nothing more than a bribe from the industry to keep the whole stinky, bloated corpse animated. We need socialized health care in this country. Health is already rationed in some places. People are dying every day because their insurance won't cover the procedure. Would it be that way with a European style system? Probably, but at least the lines would be clear and consistent.
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and the sh%t is getting deeper! Turns out the city of Duisburg was advised from several directions not to hold this Festival. I city council committee veto'd the Parade due to lack of space, and guess what?? They were replaced by folks who said yes. Duisburg as a city is broke, so this Love Parade tragedy happened due to greed-at the expense of logic and reason! ********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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Catalonia has banned bullfighting altogether-making that brutality no longer legal. Vaya Espana! I know the rest of you don't like Catalonia-but would be great if you'd follow their example in at least that! ********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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...have the blood on their hands, I guess. We have a similar problem, well, analagous anyway with Motorcycle Week in the nearby area of Laconia, NH. Thousands and thousands of bikers cram into a small lake area and run amok for about 2 weeks every year. The people who live there want the event out of their area but the businesses want it and you can't be elected if you are against. That is, you can't get bankrolled and sanctioned by the establishment. Not exactly the same as Duisberg. People do die every year though...
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a big thanks from me. And no doubt many other early readers of Ferdinand the Bull.
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But I was wondering, if the bull wins and the matador gets gored, instead of the bull being stabbed, do they let the bull live? Seems completely fair to me, from the bull's point of view.
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...let the bull live, don't they? Maybe Lilly knows.
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Unfortunatley not-the bulls are killed in the arena. It's a brutal vile sport!!! Only in Portugal are they slightly more civil, and it is forbidden to kill them.********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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NPR's environmental show that airs on Sunday evenings (in my locale) had somebody on last night from one of the more venerable, established environmental groups. He was a very well-spoken, older gentleman. The words coming out of his mouth were very radical though: Corporations are the enemy of all mankind. They are actively sabotaging climate treaties through propaganda and bribes through their lobbyists. There is no time left.
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I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to have Billary for parents!
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...is usually measured in blood and treasure: Iraq: (since war began 3/19/03 to 8/3/10 -- almost 7 years and 5 months) Dead: 4413 Wounded: estimated to be over 100,000 Cost: 737 Billion (real time spending clock costofwar.com) Afghanistan: (since war began 9/11/01 to 8/3/10 -- 8 years, 11 months) Dead:1216 Wounded: ?? Cost: 287.5 Billion (costofwar.com) These are the costs to the US alone. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The war was basically one family's (Bush) obsession with Saddam Hussein. Afghanistan has never been militarily conquered in it's history. The most any invader has been able to do is temporarily occupy. This war has been the Pentagon's obsession with Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban. To date Bin Laden has not been captured and the Taliban has not been defeated. Evidence grows that Iran and rogue elements of the Pakistani government are bankrolling and training proxy fighting groups as well as the Taliban in that country.
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I have not made a painful, side-by-side comparison of the dissent to war in America 1965-1973 and 2001-2010. This subject is worthy of research in great detail. Several points do readily come to mind, though... The precursors to war were vastly different: The Gulf of Tonkin resolution vs. 9/11. The current wars are seen as readily justified as the US homeland was attacked. In contrast to Vietnam, where the anti-war movement made serious errors in how returning veterans were treated, the current wars are popularly justified as "We have to Support the Troops". The line between support of military veterans and support of conflict has been intentionally obscured. The military is now an all-voluntary (if economic conscription is not counted) force as opposed to the Vietnam conflict in which service was demanded at the threat of prison or exile. The way the war is covered by the press: The press was still an independent force subject to military censorship in Vietnam. Now, the war coverage is completely controlled through tight access and self-censorship due to conservative tendencies of major news organizations. These same news organizations serve to reinforce the legitimacy of war through slanted reporting. FOX news must be mentioned here. FOX got it's start as a conservative, jingoistic propaganda operation of the military-industrial complex scant months before 9/11, which gave it it's major push as a national network with a viewer base. There have not been major demonstrations against the war since the lead-up to conflict in Iraq in the spring of 2003. The anti-war movement fell apart in the face of the Bush onslaught. The movement has yet to regain it's feet and may never do so due to powerful forces of primal fear continually reinforced by heavy media exposure to terrorist incidents in the US and abroad.
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If you think the only way you can get your point across is through the barrel of a gun then you must not have very much of a point. Conversation is always more interesting than recitation, so speak your mind and not someone else's.
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let's elaborate on that a wee bit Gonzo-shall we? Since you mentioned it and all.Pakistan is at this very moment under a deluge of water. Monsoon season/major flooding. Millions homeless, thousands dead. Overall dissillusionment with the governnemt-while the Pakistanis were suffering yesterday, their president was safe and sound in Paris (I think it was) The main region of Pakistan that is affected is close to the border to Afghanistan. Hmmm prime opportunity for the Taliban to show up as a humanitarian organization. Dispensing food, first aid, and recruiting new members. ********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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...is God's way of teaching Americans geography. Ambrose Bierce (American Satirist 1842-1914. Author of the wonderful Devil's Dictonary: www.thedevilsdictionary.com/)
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Was the biggest lie in modern American history, maybe in all of American history. Why is it that the lowly citizens get themselves in big trouble both legally and morally for lying but our "great and fearless" leaders do it every single day and their lies cost people their lives?? "Only the dead will see the end of the war" -Plato "The dire wolf collects his due while the boys sing round the fire"
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But Americans believed that lie for quite a while! Propaganda and hype were high. For example some collegues and I were aggressed on the streets of NYC for daring to speaking French (because Chirac said "hell no we won't go to Iraq" and anti-French sentiment was rampant). I seems that it took until folks started to die, for the brainwashing hype to lose effect. Sat over here and watched the War in Iraq unfold right there on CNN-like Wag the Dog, and yeah well had a rough time with my homeland back then! ********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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True Americans did fall for the lie. When the towers hit the ground and everyone was freaking out it was really easy to believe the hype "terrorists have WOMD, they live in Iraq and they are coming to kill us", in the midst of the frenzy and fear we had to believe it. But it became clear rather quickly when the focus was on Hussein and not Bin Laden that our doofus president had a different agenda. "The dire wolf collects his due while the boys sing round the fire"
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...There is an anti-war movement out there. I didn't mean to diminish the efforts of many, many patriotic Americans who do what they can to oppose this madness. And I am told that opposition to America's jihad is quite intense in parts of Europe. I was only trying to point out 2 things: There is a cost to war The face of protest is quite different these days I like what the leader of Wikki Leaks had to say (Simon, I think) "It's a damn war" Indeed a damn war. A low intensity conflict in which there are no major battles, simply groups of armed warriors sneaking up on one another. On the NATO side, if the conflict is extended at all, air power is called in that usually results in a lot of casualties with collateral damage. When we realize that this is not helping our cause among the natives, we strive (per McChrystal's suggestion), to change the rules of engagement so that we are able to make real progress, only to have push-back from our own forces, whom we come to find out don't give a damn about civilians or the Taliban, only wanting to leave the theater of operations in one piece. I don't fault them for that one bit, however it does point out big-time the slippery slope we are falling down. In the meantime, these mountains of desolate waste are host to wandering bands of reconnoitering commandos able to call down reaper and predator drone-fired missiles on whatever targets of opportunity they stumble upon. Americans need to see that we could have pursued this as a police action instead of a military conflict. We had the sympathy of the world and could have made these radical extremists the bad guys, even to their own people. Instead, a decision at the highest levels was made to pursue a war. This war is being fought because our "Way Of Life" is under attack. This is really the heart of the matter... In an increasingly globalized economy of post-peak oil the US cannot afford to allow the Muslim oil countries the natural economic advantage that would be theirs as oil becomes more scarce, thus entitling to ever-greater reserves of hard currency. Therefore we need to step in and try to divide the Muslims. In reality, this war is about economics and the ever-shrinking pie we all split. Other countries tend to resent it when you are 3% of the world's population and you are consuming 60% of the world's resources. I could march on with this rant but I'll stop here as I do believe what I've just stated is the heart of it. ~ I'm going off to war To fight on some foreign shore ~
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TL, many folks here did not believe the Bush lies, there were massive protests throughout the country. As well as the world. Please never forget the mass movement which many of us were involved in. If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. William Blake
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Indeed!********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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Judge Vaughn Walker, who I have always considered a sensible man and a credit to the bench, overturned California's Prop 8 with nasty words on the side: "Proposition 8 'fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. … Because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.'" God bless Judge Walker and get him appointed to the Supremes.
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is a bumpersticker seen on old, beat-up pick-up trucks around these parts. It seems that the rather sexually insecure have to make their intemtion in the sexual area perfectly clear because Vermont was first in the nation to allow civil unions and of the last couple of years gay marriage. It hasn't spoiled the place. How is it in the land of LA and SF that there is this conservative backlash? Is it hispanic machismo/Catholicism? It can't be the Oakies, there aren't enough pure bread of'em left. What gives Mary? Who is behind Prop 8 in Cali?