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Nuclear power! Carcinogenic cell phones! The Stanley Cup! and the usual parade of kids dancing and shaking their bones, politicians throwing stones, etc. Discuss.
Rupert, Rupert, Rupert: BAD Rupert!
Rupert Murdock, worldwide media mogul and owner of FOX in the dock in Parliament almost gets pied in the face except for the vicious right hook from his 40 year year junior wife.
This decrepit piece of shit had the temerity to allow wiretapping of cell phones and turns out to be Australia's answer to J Edgar Hoover (except for the gay part). He had everybody in his pocket and everybody was afraid of him.
What a bunch of tools: Fox, Wall St. Journal and others in America all owned by the great and might OZ.
The only interesting debate is if there is any such thing as a fair and biased media. My vote is, and always has been, NO! The editor has an opinion which is why I do not opine the decline of the powers of great newspapers of this country..
Happy Trails Furthur Troopers!
Leave no foot-prints and enjoy! Beat the heat...
I know you meant fair and UNbiased, Gonz
I agree....Editors are allowed their own opinions, as are we all, but it's their job to ensure unbiased reporting of the news, not to twist facts to suit what they want people to believe, and certainly they shouldn't be using tactics that rival the world's best intelligence agencies.
exactly Johnman
and "editorials" are theoretically the only part of newspapers where expressing opinions should be taking place**********************************
I am not young enough to know everything.
Oscar Wilde
the pie incident
I liked how his wife tried to spike pie guy's head like it was a volleyball. give 'er a cookie
the pie incident
I liked how his wife tried to spike pie guy's head like it was a volleyball. give 'er a cookie
trophy wife
displays unexpected versatility...
well
I did hear she used to be a good volleyball player.
Good vibes to Oslo
And hopes that no one was hurt, and that cleaning up the bomb chaos goes well. Also that they figure out very fast who did it.**********************************
I am not young enough to know everything.
Oscar Wilde
haha
The pastry violence must stop... I'd hate to see a day where pastries are banned in any country...
Oslo
yeah TL, really bad. In NORWAY. Sheesh!!
Galaxies of healing rays
to Oslo and anyone who is suffering from losing a loved one or two.
Shock & Awe in Oslo
One man kills over 80 people. Oslo streets are shredded worst since WWII by one native Norwegian who then takes a machine gun to kids on an island camp-out?
I agree with Linder, prayers, healing vibes to that nation.
without love day to day insanity's king...
...no matter what you think. Wouldn't want to carry that weight, peace and healing to all.
hoot, chunky, but two.
eight and a half minutes...
last shuttle landing:
stomach pit and the congregation cheers. silver dust high; liquid heat and billowing disperse. four-bolt intensity and last call for the platform guys.
rapid drop a thousand times and counting; ten feet exclusion for a quarantine Mind. external cocoon against eleventh-hour stall; walrus check and a ribbon on the key.
last check for four Always!
weight dropped from the throttle passed. Smiles.
hands+provisions passed; eight days until the curtain falls.
Learn your Maths! Learn your Science!
Revolutionise the tragedy.
Titus-reduced, thirty-three years; waxed and ready to seek.
adrenaline for others but business for me.
four around a table; three years old - indifference; five years old - laugh; relationship - relief.
I Fly On Gliding Splinters.
It's come to a Final Stop.
Welcome Deep Space.....................................................................................
Brrng-brrng, brrng-brrng. "Phone call for Mr. Bigot."
The News never ceases to amaze me.
Another excuse, thanks to that terrible tragedy in Norway, to blow hot air about "multiculturalism" and it's apparent failings.
David Cameron and Angela Merkel say it's failed; it just doesn't work. Lazy journalistic reports of the rise of the right-wing in Netherlands, Denmark, Finland; Close The Borders! Immigrants Out!
Did that Norwegian fool have links to the English Defense League in the UK? Does anyone care? Does it really matter?
Funny that, Mr. Cameron; i look outside my window and then creep fearfully around the corner and.....oh, we're getting along just fine, thank you very much. What a relief!
London, especially, has a great history of different cultures getting along like the proverbial house on fire (not due to petrol bomb thrown by the way).
Polish, Jewish, Afro-Carribean, Indian, Turkish, Chinese, Tamil, English all enjoying each other's company and sharing ideas, food, art; exchanging laughs and handshakes, better someone who is black, yellow, brown or any other colour moving in next door than a fellow Englishman. Far less trouble.
True, plenty of difficulties have arisen; the odd riot here and there, some racism, certain individuals and families made to feel very unwelcome. Some may have never gotten over it and that breaks my heart.
But on the whole, we get along. Until that is the newspapers, new stations and other idiots decide to stir shit up, rubbing their grubby little hands with glee.
Yes, Mr. Cameron, multiculturalism DOES work. It works just fine until people like you bring up minor differences and apply them with broader and broader brushstrokes to the country at large. Keeps you from working for your pay, doesn't it? Heaven forbid you actually have to DO something. Get on the pulpit, toss out casual remarks then stand back and retire to the comfort of sycophants and watch it burn.
You do not speak for me or the country as a whole. You speak for yourself. In fact, you'll speak for anyone, anytime, anywhere; tell 'em what they want to hear and by the way, who has the largest cheque book? Fantastic, let's talk...
There is a minority of people taking things to the extremes and there always will be. Will the recent killings in Norway trigger copycat behaviour? No, i doubt it. It may do if you keep fucking going on about it though.
Is anyone else surprised at the distinct lack of reportage about the guy being a Freemason? A full scale investigation into the various Masonic Lodges, not just in Norway, but across Europe and the U.S. would seem to be in order.
Huh, huh, yeah, right, ha ha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looks like everyone has to blame SOMEONE, right?
Bigots come in all shapes, sizes, temperatures, colors, boxes, cans, shoes, buses, fishsticks, and candles....might as well look into Freemasonry....I'm kinda curious about the Oddfellows, and the Pythian Knights...oh.....and a box of cookies..
eat. canal. amsterdam. evolve!
i hope those cookies are electric....
That Norwegian guy...
...must have got lost. In the rest of the world there is heinous crime, but it usually happens with some sane (insane) reason, like Milosevic and and his whacky Serbs. Or tribal violence like the the Hutus and Tutsis. Random, senseless violence is the specialty of the US.culture and itt's citizens.
Who needs to enumerate these incidents? I just hope we are not exporting our violent psychological trash to other peaceful countries or our insane campaign against a whole culture, except for the ones we like as of present.
I wanted to mention the French and their banning the burka, but alas, in time they'll understand respect or shall be taught the meaning of it by people like the Norwegian guy.
Will he claim the Anti Peace Prize?
I think it's interesting
that the guy sees himself as a Crusader ridding Europe of the Muslim Menace.
Having specialized in that particular period in grad school and found a different aspect of it most relevant to what was even then going on in the Haight and such, I didn't expect this particular thing to be front and center again, as it were. Amplified by Twitter.
Crusades and the Haight??????
..do tell us more Marye!!!
By the way the crusades were not only against Muslims. My area of SW France still bears the scars of the Albigensian Crusades in which up to a million 'heretic' Cathars were murdered in 20 years of terror by so called Crusaders seeking a short cut to heaven at the behest of Pope Innocent (yup innocent!) III.
"The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history". Friedrich Hegel
oh I know.
well, the part I was studying was less about the Crusades though obviously the resulting cross-cultural influences had a lot to do with it, than the period known as the 12th Century Renaissance, which, not to be too literal about the timeline, encompassed various things including a lot of Arthurian stuff in French and German, the Carmina Burana, Chartres Cathedral, and paradigm shifts on a number of fronts.
During my PhD orals (I am one of millions of people who never wrote their dissertation and never regretted it for a second because God knows I am not an academic...), the biology professor who had been put on my committee to keep everybody honest (this being the comp lit department) asked whether I thought Eleanor of Aquitaine was like fluorocarbons in the ozone layer. This being 1972, my immediate answer was along the general lines of "Buh?", but he explained that, this being 1972, they were noticing that as people in the Southern Hemisphere took to using aerosols, for the first time the ozone layer in the Southern Hemisphere were showing traces of the stuff, which had previously only appeared in the north. Was similar cultural transmission going on here?
Well, duh, yeah, it was a funny way to look at it, but I love questions like that, and we had a fine old time. And yeah, between being at the court of her Albigensian, poetry-writing daddy and her history of romantic involvement with powerful dudes and her distinct mind of her own and her largeish sphere of influence, one could have fun with this notion.
Innocent III was a bad man. Although there were not exactly any countries being ruled by angels in that era either.
But one of those periods where a lot of cultural stuff changed really fast after not changing much for centuries.
the medium is the message
Great story Marye. So did those 12th century renaiisance folks make good use of ergot to inspire themselves?
Chartres Cathedral is one of the most uplifting inspiring spaces I have ever been in. Albi Cathedral is one of the most oppressive places, a temple to power and subjugation.
the chemistry
wasn't part of my branch of study, though as a migraine sufferer I would have taken a lively interest.
Yup, I do love that Chartres Cathedral. For the colors alone.
and as for the Albigensians
and the Manicheans, and dualists in general, hoo boy, that is a whole other thing.
The need to go around stamping out people who disagree with you (or rather, people who are disadvantageous to you for some reason, trumping up some disagreement as a pretext, more likely) has been around for quite a while though. Let's go get those nasty dualists (and their very nice land) was kind of the flavor of the month.
spiritual dilemma
if you were a medieval knight interested in the spiritual rewards promised to you for going on a crusade (not to mention the possible material rewards) would you if given the choice
a) go to palestine and likely die of disease, in a shipwreck or in battle with a formidable enemy
b) go to the south of France, drink wine and kill bewildered peasants
Not really current affairs, but it is telling that the language of the crusade (and its counterpart the jihad) is still so very much with us today. The justification of senseless violence by claiming a higher calling is .a recurring tragedy.
really
and the willingness of people to fall for it is really depressing.
ABB live on XM Sirius
I'd love to visit France and the rest of Europe, someday, but tonight the Allman Bros Band is live on XM Sirius, Deep Tracks, to raise awareness for Hepatitis C. Phil Lesh will be a guest. Greg Allman had a liver transplant 13 months ago.
While I agree that there is MORE than enough
random, senseless violence here in the U.S., I wouldn't call it OUR specialty...not while there are sports fanatics killing each other over soccer games in other parts of the world. Of course, we have idiot gangbangers killing each other on the streets, too....but maybe I should just be quiet....sorry,,
Johnman
you should most certainly NOT be quiet!!!! You always have interesting, kind, and or humorous things to say!!!!!!!
That was a fascinating discussion marye & badger, especially after having seen that part of the world for myself. Have photos of the cathedral in Albi somewhere, and it is something else alright.
**********************************
I am not young enough to know everything.
Oscar Wilde
close your eyes and shake your head...
...the moment George W. Bush used the words "crusade" against terrorism. Followed by....
...God Bless America.
awesome.
Talking of Chartres Cathedral; i don't think you'll be able to watch BBC iPlayer in the US, but i think you can in Europe. Maybe on BBC America soon?
Anyway, great programme last night called "The Code"; an investigation by mathematician Marcus du Sautoy, revealing how significant numbers appear throughout the natural world. It's in three parts.
kick a ball. drink. have a fight. go home.
And no, the US most certainly does not have a monopoly on senseless violence; America is somewhat of an easy target unfortunately, because of the sometimes, staggering stupidity of a minority of it's citizens.But indeed, johnman, it's alive and kicking all over the globe. The UK has more than it's fair share of hateful behaviour. Unfathomable idiocy. Africa, Asia and Europe too.
It's just ingrained in the culture sometimes. Old grudges passed down through the generations. Understandable in a certain light. Recently watched Bruce Parry's Tribe series where he stayed with four different tribal, neighbouring groups in Southern Ethiopia's Omo Valley; the Suri, the Nyangatom, the Hamar and the Dassanech.
All individually open and friendly; all trying their best to survive, all protecting their families, all displaying incredible community.
But they HATE each other; killings of adults and children alike. Appalling barbarity; boasting of slaughter.
When told of where he was going next, they all worried that he would be killed instantly. All described each other as barbaric; monsters and demons.
And yet each tribe was wonderful in their own way; the West and it's much-trumpeted "civilised" societies could learn a huge amount from them on many levels.
The beauty of fear and paranoia i suppose; each frightened that if the next Tribe sees them they'll kill and mutilate on sight. All in case they do it to them first which is highly likely.
They have so much in common and benefit each other in the most wondrous ways but the roots go too deep.
Same with Israel and Palestine. Same with the IRA. Same with the Catholics and Protestants. Same with the Christians and the Muslims. Same with the Crips and the Bloods. Same with the Jets and the Sharks. Same with the US Government and the rest of world it seems. Abuse leads to getting burned in sometimes spectacular fashion.
Keep the head down and proceed quietly or speak up and go around in the circle?
I don't know.
Let's hope this Norwegian mess isn't exploited. It will be of course but the fingers are itching to cross.
The worrying thing is that a white guy plotting just about ANYTHING has a better chance of staying under the radar. Especially when there's Freemason fools behind it. Obama is a Freemason too isn't he? The word "coconut" springs to mind here. Let's hope not, eh?
Butch Trucks' new blog has some great posts about politics and a recent ramble on ol' Barack if anyone is interested. I like his style.
Reminds of the funny FB musing; he has a name somewhere between Iraq and a bomber. They might as well have called him Muslim O'GunBomb in the Republican's eyes.
"He has to get in with the majority of Americans. When he did his first public speech, they put all that bulletproof glass in front of him. I think that shows you how racist America still is; just because he's black doesn't mean he's going to kill anybody...".
And why should you be quiet when mentioning gangbangers, johman?!!! Just what IS your real name, you ol' Witness Protection Poster Boy! ha ha!! Can just picture you chilling in the crib with the homies, pants around the balls, dusting off some rhymes! johnizzy-to-the-manizzy, G!
You're fooling no one with the beard the tattoos the beer and the Dead fixation. Straight up Gangster ha ha ha!!!!!
Gangbangers wasn't my reason...
sometimes I can't articulate the point I'm trying to make so I come off as a dyed in the wool, shoot 'em up nutcase, and it's easier to jus' back-off and try to collect my thoughts. Usually I'm unsuccessful, however. There are many intelligent, thoughtful people that post here and sometimes I'm just plain humbled by the input, most of which I can't even come CLOSE to, but I try.
....We are all just human, I guess...small communities, big communities, it's all the same. Sometimes it's family units, or tribes, or just like-minded people. And we're all violent by nature, unfortunately. Often there is no choice, often there is nothing BUT choice.
I try to believe that the ideals the US was founded on really mean something, at least in thought, if not in practice, but I have yet to see an administration that lives up to those ideals. As far as I can see you can't trust ANY of the bastiges, so I have to live as I see fit, and hope I do the right thing. If I'm lucky..I can drag a few folks with me.
Johnman For President! or at least in charge of the cookie jar..
You're absolutely right, and don't you DARE apologise for any of your posts or thoughts!!! Have you seen some of mine?!!!!! The ramblings of an idiot mostly ha ha!!!
You say what you mean and you say it WELL johnman and don't you forget it!!
We all feel exactly the same way; i look at others or i watch speeches and the like and feel hopelessly inadequate. No such thing as grammar or vocabulary. It's the INTENT and what's in the heart that matters. I'd say you heart is bigger than most's. And i bless you for it.
And i strongly believe that your approach is the right one; you have to do as you see fit, listen to others and take things on board if you get the chance, but ultimately it's up to you. Ya do the best ya can. I reckon a few more could follow your path, man.
And yes, the original ideals the US were founded on are pretty honourable; well, apart from the wholesale ransacking and destruction of it's original inhabitants of course (I do have to say though, that many left-wing, oleaginous liberals LOVE to lambast the US for the pillaging, rape and oppression of the Native Americans/Red Indians/call them what you will; In England we're particularly greasy. Oh, we pat ourselves on the back and revel in our smugness pointing out what you did, but it's what WE did!!! English, Danish, Irish, all sorts CAME to America!! WE shoved it to the Native Americans OURSELVES. Whites in America=OUR forefathers!!!).
Digression over.
And i agree, we have yet to see an administration that upholds those ideals. There's plenty evidence that Abraham Lincoln wasn't the civil rights activist and champion he's made out to be; John F. Kennedy and his family were not particularly pleasant. JFK made out to be the young, snappy, hip President while suffering from multiple health problems and popping pills-a-go-go; Reagan, the narcoleptic pinhead? The Bush's? we'll skip over those retards. Clinton? no, thank you, you or your bitter wife.
Obama?
Mmm, jury is still out.
Not sure how much weight he (or ANY President or Politician for that matter) holds in the US or around the world.
They say he got around 200,000 people in Berlin when he made a speech.
But let's not forget that the last time 200,000 people gathered in Berlin, it was to listen to the most evil man in the world.
David Hasselhoff.
multi talented
I just started reading a biography of Genghis Khan. The author.....
......John Man!
Sorry Johnman, I disagree
I have sat through so many news stories about senseless single person inspired massacres in the US. I know our history through our beginning, oppression of Indians, "Wild West" atmosphere, prejudice against immigrants and blacks in the civil war//industrial era and what people faced who organized unions in this country through the McCarthy witchcraft trials. There was lots and lots and lots of senseless rogue (a word that hardly applies anymore) violence.
Never doubt your right to disagree.
So there's a link
Between Ghengis Khan and cookies (and beer, and the Dead)? Johnman never ceases to amaze...
Enough about the $*&^%&*# Budget!!!
A fight worth fightingBut nobody cares enough,
yet....
Who wants to engage these DC world-class jagg-offs anyway? Not me.
history schmistory
I think johnman IS agreeing with you lamagonzo, no? Forgive me, but i don't see what you're sayin'.
It's the "liberals" ya gotta watch too, don't forget. We're all complicit in one way or another.
And this budget/debt nonsense is a farce. There is a way around everything. Always seek the alternative and pass it on.
budget/debt nonsense
I guess like 200 and something members of congress have signed some stupid pledge never to raise taxes, what a bunch of losers. I hope that when they're kicked out on their asses in the next election and go into private business they will all sign pledges never to raise the prices of their products on their customers, the corporations are laughing all the way to therir banks.
curse you shackles!
I think everyone has to rise above.It's all out of our control really; anyone honest will be spun out of all meaning. We need to remove ourselves from all the hot air and endless guff.
Best way to combat all this is to live more simply. Concentrate on what really matters. None of us need spend money on pointless accoutrements. We can all live the lives we want to live if we're sensible about it.
Recent anger from some parts regarding US companies shipping their manufacture and investment to overseas workforces are well founded. When such a large portion of US citizens are unemployed, i agree; it would be nice to think that the government would look after it's "own" first. However, if we turn our backs on the shit they make and aim "higher", a large part of the problem is solved.
Like pressuring China over it's Human Rights issues (let's forget the US's own abuses for a moment); their economy growing rapidly (well, so we're told) at our expense. If we didn't buy the cheap shit they produce, their export growth wouldn't look so mighty.
It's all our responsibilities, lest we forget. A reduction in our outgoings means more money for truly better quality of life.
Unfortunately, a lot of people (usually the most sincere, honest and filled with genuine inner beauty), don't always have this knowledge at their disposal.
And this is where we come in if possible.
Strip back the fallacy of materialism; sneakers, pants and cosmetics don't mean jack. Pass it on like you would a joint to the kynd Head just because you can.
Takes a lot of de-programming; it's an uphill struggle with at times, not a whole lot to show for it.
But face it folks; government is looking after it's own. Sure, they'll blindside us a little; paper over the cracks and bring out the the ol' rose tint for our eager spectacles. But we know deep down which direction we should be heading. And it's going to involve sacrifices. If we choose to see it those terms of course.
Dead weight is dead weight. You wouldn't carry excess baggage on a serious expedition; it would kill ya.
Q: How do you know the CIA wasn't involved in the Kennedy assassination?
A: Well, he's dead isn't he?
Thanks Lemmy.
Well....the corporations are runnin' the show, anyway
or so it would appear. I think the only REAL difference between the "now", and the way the world appeared in the original "Rollerball" (starring James Caan) is that we haven't progressed (regressed?) to using sports teams to settle matters...or have we? I agree, Gonz...but as jonapi pointed out, Jolly Olde England did their share of subjugation, or maybe that's not ENTIRELY what he was sayin'....and look at what Spain did, all in the name of the Church (yet another example of twisting the teachings of Christ). But, as I said....I believe in the IDEALS, and what they are/were supposed to represent, I jus' dunno how we are 'sposed ta implement them wiffa buncha dang politicians and tycoons in the way. I didn't vote for our current administration, and I'm still willing to give the President the benefit of the doubt, but he DID let the Patriot Act stand, and I'm still worried that he will try to disarm the common folk.....the jury is still out, right?
David Hasselhof....Gengis Khan..
oh, my...heeheeee!!
"i've been lookin' for freeeedom..."
It's out alright!And he ain't showin' respect for the marijuana either, so that's another thumbs down from ol' jonapi.
The right to bear arms or the right to arm bears?! i'd love to see some furry double barrel action! You keep leaving the trash out at night, why shouldn't they protect their dinner?!!!
Yeah, Olde England are the KINGS! "I'll take that country, this one, another one from here, one from over there....".
Prince Philip for Prime Minister. Best quote was during the recent Royal Wedding when the News interviewed a German woman who "wished we had a Royal Family like that".
You do! The Windsors!!!
And you can implement alright! Ya just keep ya head down and go about ya business. You recognise those ideals, then go for it; you do what ya can and that's all one can ask.
The Knights Templar
Are the original bankers of the Pope. They settled in Switzerland but through forward intelligence through Nordic peoples mapped and laid claim to the "New" World. As it wasn't practical (in that time) to start their own country they chose to openly set up their brand through free masons, as America was settled.
Has anyone else heard that 25% of the interest paid on the US National Debt goes to the Windsors and Swiss banks?
I thought this was loopy at the time I heard it, but as debt piles up with obvious solutions it strikes me that the real winners are the ones collecting the interest on 14.1 trillion.
Talking about using sports teams to settle things
I read how the Spanish Bankia group may put Christiano Ronaldo up for collateral , to guarantee their solvency to the European Central Bank. For those who do not know-Ronaldo is a Portugese soccer player for Real Madrid (dislike but another discussion altogether). Anyhow, I find this to be completely absurd!
Here is the link:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/football-legend-cristiano-ronaldo-be-used…
**********************************
I am not young enough to know everything.
Oscar Wilde
cryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Good old Ranaldo!One of the funniest things i saw was a member of the crowd shining a laser over his face and in his eyes before a free kick; he then proceeded to fluff the shot and damned near welled up with baby tears!!! Most amusing.
Amazing talent though. Never a fan but ya just can't argue with his skill.
Am rabidly anti-Ronaldo
:) he makes me wanna spit! But am very emotional in general about my soccer likes and dislikes. It's more fun that way!**********************************
I am not young enough to know everything.
Oscar Wilde
Petrol £6.02 per gallon
Petrol £6.02 per gallon (never mind the sodding litres) or $9.27 in colonial coinageGas increased by 21% (as in heating not petrol, never understood the colonials idea that petrol is gas , but I digress)
Electricity increased by 16%
Food prices rising more than 5%
BP make $8 million dollars in a quarter
Centrica make £1.53 BILLION (they sell us the gas, no not the stuff for cars!!)
BSKYB profits £1 BILLION for making crap television!!!
Interest on my hard earned cash 0.48%..............................and we're all in this together, yeah sure!
The public are being screwed and not in a nice way, from every angle and the fat cats get fatter and fatter and no one seems to be able to do anything about it.
Footballers getting £200,000 a week, shit it's supposed to be entertainment, I can't afford to renew my season ticket for the first time in many years and these guys wages are going up! Something wrong somewhere.
But we're all in it together.
Health Boards making waiting lists longer in the hoe that you will die or go private before you need your operation, when the only people who can afford to go private are the very ones running the health service.
But we're all in this together.
50,000+ jobs lost in the Defence Department but we are still trying to police the whole world, "that's it lads save the Empire and give it large to the darkies!!"
Police forces being cut, coastguard stations closing, RAF bases closing, shops closing by the hundreds.
But we're all in this together.
Well sod it I'm off to bed and I'm never getting up again.................................well not until next week when the new Road Trips arrives, then life will be back to normal.
OUCH!!
Wife just slapped me on the head and said I was a very naughty boy and don't annoy these people again