Letters to the Editor
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Sorry, Aych...
I didn't mean to imply anything negative, my apologies if I did.
I've known for long enough that I have no idea where I learned it, it certainly seems to tie a lot of loose ends together for me.
You didn't. Imply anything negative, that is.
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"China's" one child policy
Interesting Flick if you are into conspiracy theories at all, like me.
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1070329053600562261
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Ondolette, on this we agree
"It's just another manifestation of our religion-based foreign policy. Darfur matters because Sudan matters because Equitorial Sudanese are being converted to Christianity by American evangelists. Congo doesn't matter, same as Rwanda."
I agree wholeheartedly. I also think that if the US had not both bankrolled Israel and provided it cover in the UNSC for the past four decades, the Israeli Palestinian conflict would be a forgotten memory, one way or the other. The world spends more money on Palestinians per capita than any other place on earth, but there is much light and little heat. But then again, the Egyptian and Syrian governments would have fallen long ago as well.
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Thanks for that link, LWM
I love this one... it seems appropriate, while looking at both the smaller and the bigger pictures.
"If evolution was worth its salt, it should've evolved something better than 'survival of the fittest.' I think a better idea would be 'survival of the wittiest.' At least, that way, creatures that didn't survive could've died laughing." - the character Trudy in "The Search..."
I've seen that show twice at least, but I don't remember that one. Of course, I doubt that it was ever exactly the same twice.
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In wonder why, indeed...
NBC?!
Thanks for the link, Chris!
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@WT
Above all, they seem clear about the principle -- very succinctly expressed here a few threads back -- that power used is power diminished.
You've been hanging out with the Zuni shamans?
Power told is power lost.
Zuni proverb
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Anonymust
It is almost never mentioned in the press, and then never by "serious" journalists. And it's likely to be covered in depth only in places like Harper's or The Nation.
I think I first read it somewhere on the web, quite possibly here. You are correct that this is not covered in the MSM.
The timing of the second invasion of Iraq and the drumbeat against Iran would suggest that this was at least part of their true rationale. And, knowing what we know about Cheney, the fact that these countries had the unmitigated gall to even try to kick the dollar to the curb might very well have been more significant than the possible financial fallout. After all, he was going to make his money either way.
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The long march
Pulling the entire house of cards down around ourselves might end up being the choice of too many in DC. -- Aycharaych
Yes, that's precisely the danger, although I think it's more likely to come in the form of a miscalculation, a la The Guns of August, than in anything deliberate. This isn't a new problem -- we both lived through 1962, did we not? -- although it's newly contoured for the changes in our political maps since the time when Curtis LeMay or Douglas MacArthur begged us to go toe-to-toe with the Russkis in nukuler combat.
Does Dick Cheney have a death wish? Yes, probably. Does it matter? That depends. Many factors are involved, some obvious, and some hidden. Our job, it seems to me, is to make what's still hidden more visible; as I said earlier, to put more than one picture in people's heads, and to take advantage where we can of the hitch which it introduces into our collective gitalong.
Our discussions here aren't a bad start, it seems to me. Even Charlie Rose will get 'round to it eventually, once he realizes he's been outflanked by a buncha amateurs.
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omooex
The world spends more money on Palestinians per capita than any other place on earth
That's interesting, do you have some sort of documentation?
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@RMP
Who could sponsor such a PR campaign?
The "Winter Soldier" hearings we just heard and saw in Washington, (and I think it was the IWVAW what done it, too) didn't meet your standards? I thought they were pretty dramatic, and they went as far as naming names. Gosh, I wish I could remember what name was attached to the quote "If those m--f--ing Hajis would learn how to drive, this m--f--ing shit wouldn't happen. And you know, RMP, he was the highest ranking Officer at the meeting about the checkpoint shooting (which killed a family of four) I'm sure you would recognise his name.
Anyway, The "Winter Soldier" hearings seem to fill your reqirements, but if you have principles which preclude this type of activity, I withdraw my suggestion. I mean, a lot of people never forgave John Kerry, either.
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Good ol' Infowars. In other OT news from the Surveillance/Police State...
http://www.infowars.com/?p=995
Will the Militarized Police State Shock You Into Submission?
This is perhaps one of the most kooky and creepy Security State tactics that I have come across: the EMD safety bracelet, which is being billed as the "last line of defence." A company called Lamperd Firearm Training Systems (scroll down) is trying to commercialize this item as an "airline security product." The company’s video that hawks this device talks about the current facial recognition system called biometrics, where cameras capture photos of people and compare those images to the images of "terrorists" in its "terrorist" database. No matter how sophisticated this technology, it can all too often allow a terrorist on board a plane, and, this technology can also have the effect of creating airport bottlenecks. Ahem. The solution? The "viable, workable answer" is an electronic ID bracelet. This bracelet will replace the need for a ticket and contain all necessary information about the person, and as a bonus, it can allow the passenger to be tracked through the terminal. Crew members would be empowered with radio frequency transmitters to subdue "hijackers." The technology will override a person’s central nervous system and zap them down quicker than you can say "Homeland Security." The company assures us that being dragged through the bracelet process is a "small inconvenience in order to assure your safe arrival." In fact, its studies show that most people would "happily opt" for wearing the bracelet to "insure their own security."
Video promoting the EMD (Electro-Muscular Disruption) "Taser Bracelet" for "Airport Security":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7yJXhxF1mM
And now good ol' telecoms are filing for patents for our very own telescreens! :D
http://www.infowars.com/?p=1044
Companies Try To Cover-Up Move To Watch Consumers Via TV’s
Minority Report will meet Orwell’s telescreens if telecommunications giants like Comcast and Microsoft have their way.
Comcast has denied that it is developing camera devices built in to cable boxes that monitor consumers as they enter the room, despite the fact that Vice-President Gerard Kunkel admitted to a journalist that such a move would represent a "holy grail," and rival companies like TiVo and Microsoft have already filed patents for similar technology.
A firestorm of controversy erupted last week after industry website newteevee.com carried an article by Chris Albrecht which revealed that Comcast was, "experimenting with different camera technologies built into devices so it can know who’s in your living room".
How did Albrecht know? Because Comcast’s senior VP of user experience Gerard Kunkel told him during the Digital Living Room conference held in San Francisco.
"Perhaps I’ve seen Enemy of the State too many times, or perhaps I’m just naive about the depths to which Comcast currently tracks my every move," wrote Albrecht.
The idea being that if you turn on your cable box, it recognizes you and pulls up shows already in your profile or makes recommendations. If parents are watching TV with their children, for example, parental controls could appear to block certain content from appearing on the screen. Kunkel also said this type of monitoring is the “holy grail” because it could help serve up specifically tailored ads. Yikes."
Fun times we are living. Even Orwell would be shocked at our stupidity.