Wealthy, Un-Educated & Broke (but armed to the teeth...)

The USA is bemoaning it's lost status as a world power....and one of the reasons is

Farewell to an old friend over the years. Andy Rooney

First off, I'd like to express how deeply & truly sad I am at the death of Andy Rooney from CBS' 60 Minutes.

I grew up watching that show every Sunday night. If you knew me as a kid, it was playing in my home every Sunday when you were over for some of my mom's barely edible steaks, if you knew me as a young adult then it was playing every Sunday over Chinese/Pizza takeout AND if you had known me on Oct 6, 2011 when he did his last broadcast, I was there watching as well.

Andy represented to me a kindly, grumpy, wise and yet childish grandfather. He said some pretty pertinent shit, called it like he saw it and for all his faults, he was at least honest with himself and his audience.

I will miss him and his bushy eyebrows every Sunday from now on.

RIP Andy, you will be missed in my household.

Some quotes stolen from CNN (don't worry...they can afford it)


(CNN) -- Andy Rooney, who died Saturday at the age of 92, had the last word each week on the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes." Here are some of his great lines from those essays, along with a few others, that reveal his talent as a writer and the dry wit that made him famous.

"I try to look nice. I comb my hair, I tie my tie, I put on a jacket, but I draw the line when it comes to trimming my eyebrows. You work with what you got." -- from an essay on his eyebrows, Nov. 24, 1996

"We need people who can actually do things. We have too many bosses and too few workers. More college graduates ought to become plumbers or electricians, then go home at night and read Shakespeare." -- from an essay on finding a good job, March 21, 2010

"We didn't shock them, and we didn't awe them in Baghdad. The phrase makes us look like foolish braggarts. The president ought to fire whoever wrote that for him." -- on the start of the war in Iraq in 2003

"I recently bought this new laptop to use when I travel. Look at that. Fits right into my briefcase. It weighs less than three pounds. I lose that much getting mad, waiting to get on the plane through security at the airport." -- from an essay on computers, Feb. 11, 2009

"We can all be prouder to be human beings, because that's what they were. They make up for a lot of liars, cheats, and terrorists among us." -- on the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger after it exploded on takeoff in 1986

"Not many people in this world are as lucky as I've been. ... All this time I've been paid to say what is on my mind on television. You don't get any luckier in life than that." -- from Rooney's final "60 Minutes" essay, Oct. 2, 2011

"One of the things we can be sure of over the July 4th weekend is that news reports will keep telling us how many of us are going to die in automobile accidents." -- from Rooney's first "60 Minutes" essay, July 2, 1978

"The third rule of life is this: Everything you buy today is smaller, more expensive, and not as good as it was yesterday." -- from an essay on coffee cans, Oct. 23, 1988

"A lot of these products are actually pretty good. But why are they always trying to con us with the contrived pictures on the box that don't look anything like you get when you eat it?" -- from an essay on the pictures on food packages, Dec. 4, 1988

"I don't know anything offhand that mystifies Americans more than the cotton they put in pill bottles. Why do they do it? Are you supposed to put the cotton back in once you've taken a pill out?" -- from an essay on pill bottles, Oct. 12, 1986

"I understand shipping -- you have to expect to pay for the stamps or for the freight company -- but what's this handling they always have? How much does handling cost, anyway? I don't want a lot of people handling something I'm going to buy before I get it. How much would it cost if you didn't handle it before you sent it to me?" -- from an essay on fine print, March 12, 1989

"Dogs are nicer than people." -- from an essay on the true things in life, Dec. 5, 2007

"I did not believe in the war. I thought it was wrong to go into any war. And I got to the war, and saw the Germans, and I changed my mind. I decided we were right going into World War II." -- from a CBS interview with Morley Safer, Oct. 2, 2011

"I am interested in details. If you go into anything far enough, you get into the details of it, and people turn out to be interested in what makes things work." -- from a 2010 interview in The Colgate Scene

Damn Straight Skippy !!

In an interview published Monday, taken in Times Square during Saturday’s global day of protests, Pulitzer-winning writer Chris Hedges explained his view of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and why he’s supporting it.
“I spent 20 years overseas, I’m a war correspondent,” he said. “I came back and realized that corporations have carried out a coup d’état in my country.”
Hedges wrote for The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Christian Science Monitor, and was part of the team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, for a series of articles examining the terrorist attacks on the United States and profiling the al Qaeda network.

“I covered the street demonstrations that brought down Milošević, I’ve covered both of the Palestinian intifadas, and once movements like this start and articulate a fundamental truth about the society that they live in, and expose the repression, the mendacity, the corruption and the decay of structures of power, then they have a kind of centrifugal force, you never know where they’re going.”
He went on: “What happens, and it’s true in all of these movements as well, is the foot soldiers of the elite, the blue uniform police, the mechanisms of control, finally don’t want to impede the movement. At that point, the power elite is left defenseless. So, where’s it going? No one knows. Even the people most intimately involved in the organization don’t know. All of these movements take on a kind of life and color that in some ways is finally mysterious. The only thing I can say, having been in the middle of similar movements, is that this one is real … And this one could take ‘em all down.”
Hedges went on to say that large segments of the blue uniform police largely agree with the 99 Percent movement, and that many other police are frustrated because protesters aren’t breaking windows, which they “know how to handle.” He added that the protesters’ “non-hierarchical structure” for decision making is “brilliant,” and suggested that he had nothing he could possibly teach them.
Finally, addressing an individual standing off-camera, Hedges concluded: “For me, I got kids. It’s not about me anymore. It’s about my childrens’ generation. I think my passion for what you are doing — I would even use the word love — comes from the fact that I look as you as fighting on behalf of my little three-year-old, and when I … On Friday morning, of course I was up to find out what happened … And I did what I do now, which is to start crying. God bless you all.”

This video was published to YouTube on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011.

Economist blasts GOP’s ‘seven biggest economic lies’

A really good primer on the economy by Mr. Riech. Former Labor Secretary Under President Clinton, now a Harvard Economist & Professor.

What I'm saying is this guy probably knows a LOT more about the economy and it's triggers than some politician who just got elected based on how many times he/she says "God Bless America" or how photogenic he/she is.

___________________________________________________________

By Robert Reich
The President’s Jobs Bill doesn’t have a chance in Congress — and the Occupiers on Wall Street and elsewhere can’t become a national movement for a more equitable society – unless more Americans know the truth about the economy.

Below is a short (2 minute 30 second) effort to rebut the seven biggest whoppers now being told by those who want to take America backwards. The major points:

1. Tax cuts for the rich trickle down to everyone else.
Baloney. Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush both sliced taxes on the rich and what happened? Most Americans’ wages (measured by the real median wage) began flattening under Reagan and has dropped since George W. Bush. Trickle-down economics is a cruel joke.

2. Higher taxes on the rich would hurt the economy and slow job growth.
False. From the end of World War II until 1981, the richest Americans faced a top marginal tax rate of 70 percent or above. Under Dwight Eisenhower it was 91 percent. Even after all deductions and credits, the top taxes on the very rich were far higher than they’ve been since. Yet the economy grew faster during those years than it has since. (Don’t believe small businesses would be hurt by a higher marginal tax; fewer than 2 percent of small business owners are in the highest tax bracket.)

3. Shrinking government generates more jobs.
Wrong again. It means fewer government workers – everyone from teachers, fire fighters, police officers, and social workers at the state and local levels to safety inspectors and military personnel at the federal. And fewer government contractors, who would employ fewer private-sector workers. According to Moody’s economist Mark Zandi (a campaign advisor to John McCain), the $61 billion in spending cuts proposed by the House GOP will cost the economy 700,000 jobs this year and next.

4. Cutting the budget deficit now is more important than boosting the economy.
Untrue. With so many Americans out of work, budget cuts now will shrink the economy. They’ll increase unemployment and reduce tax revenues. That will worsen the ratio of the debt to the total economy. The first priority must be getting jobs and growth back by boosting the economy. Only then, when jobs and growth are returning vigorously, should we turn to cutting the deficit.

5. Medicare and Medicaid are the major drivers of budget deficits.
Wrong. Medicare and Medicaid spending is rising quickly, to be sure. But that’s because the nation’s health-care costs are rising so fast. One of the best ways of slowing these costs is to use Medicare and Medicaid’s bargaining power over drug companies and hospitals to reduce costs, and to move from a fee-for-service system to a fee-for-healthy outcomes system. And since Medicare has far lower administrative costs than private health insurers, we should make Medicare available to everyone.

6. Social Security is a Ponzi scheme.
Don’t believe it. Social Security is solvent for the next 26 years. It could be solvent for the next century if we raised the ceiling on income subject to the Social Security payroll tax. That ceiling is now $106,800.

7. It’s unfair that lower-income Americans don’t pay income tax.
Wrong. There’s nothing unfair about it. Lower-income Americans pay out a larger share of their paychecks in payroll taxes, sales taxes, user fees, and tolls than everyone else.
Demagogues through history have known that big lies, repeated often enough,  start being believed unless they’re rebutted. These seven economic whoppers are just plain wrong. Make sure you know the truth – and spread it on.

Occupy Wall Street - A Primer for you

Some of you may be a bit hazy on just what all this Occupy Wall Street stuff is all about, so below are a few points to think over. There's plenty more but these should get you going.

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It's ok for you & I to worry about our job prospects or job security, our dwindling bank accounts, our non-existent or destroyed retirement savings, the future prospects for our kids, losing our homes, etc..etc..etc...

BUT

As of 2007, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth. The next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 50.5%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 85%. Only 15% of the wealth goes for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers).

The top one percent of households has 38.3% of all privately held stock, 60.6% of financial securities, and 62.4% of business equity. 

According to the Federal Reserve, U.S. corporations held a record $1.93 trillion in cash on their balance sheets in 2010. But they are not investing to expand their companies, grow the real economy or create good middle-class jobs. Corporate CEOs are literally hoarding their company's cash-except when it comes to their own paychecks. AFL-CIO

In 2010, Standard & Poor's 500 Index company CEOs received, on average, $11.4 million in total compensation- a 23 percent increase in one year. Based on 299 companies' most recent pay data for 2010, their combined total CEO pay of $3.4 billion could support 102,325 median workers' jobs. AFL-CIO 

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So now that you've been armed with some arguing points, why not print off a few of the posters below, hand them out to your friends and go protest in YOUR city / country.

Occupy Wall Street - Photos

A sampling of photos from around the inter-webs.

Occupy Wall Street - And anywhere else you can

The New York City General Assembly — the decision-making body for the “Occupy Wall Street” protest in lower Manhattan — approved a statement of purpose on Friday amid concerns that the movement lacked a clear message.

As corporations enjoy near record profits and Americans face staggering unemployment, protesters have pledged to occupy Wall Street in lower Manhattan until something is done about corporate greed and the influence of the wealthy on American politics. The protesters have been camped out in New York’s old Liberty Plaza, now called Zuccotti Park, since September 17.


As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.
 
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. 

We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. 

We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

• They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
• They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
• They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
• They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
• They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
• They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
• They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
• They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
• They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
• They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
• They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
• They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
• They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
• They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
• They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
• They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
• They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
• They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
• They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
• They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
• They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. *

To the people of the world, We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.

Mid-East peace needs fresh US approach

Interesting Read......

Shamelessly nabbed from the BBC without their permission. Original site is here

Middle East

22 September 2011 Last updated at 12:00 ET

Viewpoint: Mid-East peace needs fresh US approach

Continue reading the main story

Palestinian UN membership bid

• Q&A: Palestinian bid
• Israeli view: Existential threat
• EU common approach tested
• In quotes: Bid reaction

Yezid Sayigh of the Carnegie Middle East Center argues that the hollowness of US-led diplomacy and the more and more deeply entrenched Israeli occupation have forced Palestinian leaders to resort to trying to gain full UN membership.

Whatever the outcome of the Palestinian bid for recognition at the United Nations, the Obama administration must confront the fact that its handling of the whole affair has been a mess.
A hard look at what went wrong in US diplomacy is essential if proposals by President Barack Obama and other leaders to launch new peace talks in the aftermath of the UN decision are to avoid the same fate.
The dispatch of veteran US negotiator Dennis Ross and Quartet Special Envoy Tony Blair to dissuade the Palestinians was virtually guaranteed to arouse distrust of the administration's motives and provoke an adverse reaction.
Mr Ross is universally regarded among the Palestinian political leadership and negotiating team as biased toward Israel, and as excessively inclined to browbeat his interlocutors.
As Mr Ross's former colleague Aaron David Miller admitted: "For far too long, many American officials involved in Arab-Israeli peacemaking, myself included, have acted as Israel's attorney, catering for and co-ordinating with the Israelis at the expense of successful peace negotiations."

Continue reading the main story

Israeli viewpoint

Yossi Klein Halevi, an Israeli author and political commentator, argues that all the Palestinians need to do to get a state is to convince Israelis that this state does not represent a threat.

• How not to create a Palestinian state

This week, according to Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, Mr Ross used "undiplomatic language" in addressing the Palestinian leadership. One has to wonder what the Obama administration was thinking.

Tony Blair was, if anything, an even worse choice. The Palestinian leadership not only distrust him, they disrespect him. His accounts of supposed achievements on behalf of the Palestinian economy are deeply resented as overblown and self-promoting.
In my extensive encounters over the years with international officials in the Palestinian territories, this is a widely-held view of Mr Blair's work in the region.
According to a close aide, during his brief visits to Jerusalem, Mr Blair typically arrives late for meetings he has called with senior donor representatives, speaks without an agenda or action points, and then rushes away to catch a flight back to his other activities.
Quartet irrelevant The US attempt in July to circumvent the Palestinian UN bid by recruiting the Quartet, a group that also includes the European Union, Russia and the UN, to issue "quasi terms of reference" for new peace talks was deeply inadequate in terms of substance - the other three members rejected it outright.

Continue reading the main story

Palestinian UN Statehood Bid

• Palestinians currently have permanent observer entity status at the UN
• They are represented by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)
• Officials now want an upgrade so a state of Palestine has full member status at the UN
• They seek recognition on 1967 borders - in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza
• Enhanced observer member status could be an interim option

• Q&A: Palestinians' UN statehood plans

More importantly, however, it confirmed just how marginal the Quartet is.

For years, the Quartet has been used by the United States to safely sideline its supposed partners while America sets the agenda and timetable for action.
One glaring example of this occurred in spring 2003. The Quartet had agreed to establish a "monitoring mechanism" to verify Israeli, as well as Palestinian, implementation of the "Roadmap to Peace", but the United States came under Israeli pressure and unilaterally discarded the mechanism when it published the official version of the Roadmap, without consulting the other Quartet members.
The time to dismantle the Quartet has long passed, since it has failed to balance and constrain US bias.
All process, no peace US diplomacy has been characterised by a multiplicity of conflicting channels, leading to confused signals and a weakened impact.
Over the past four years, the US effort has been distributed among Special Envoy George Mitchell (representing the Department of State), US Security Coordinator Gen Keith Dayton (until 2010), the White House and National Security Council and the CIA, most of whom have strained and competitive relations with one another that end up being counterproductive.

After 20 years of an ultimately futile peace process... the Palestinian leadership has lost credibility with its own people over its dealings with Israel”

Of course, dysfunctional turf battles reflect the more fundamental problem of a policy vacuum towards the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that extends back to the start of George W Bush's administration in 2001.

After 20 years of an ultimately futile peace process, the facts on the ground of the Israeli occupation and settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have become more entrenched and the Palestinian leadership has lost credibility with its own people over its dealings with Israel.
A principal factor in this outcome is that US diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian context has been inept and badly misjudged.
If public statements about launching new peace talks are to be credible, then the Obama administration must engage in a thorough overhaul of how it conducts its diplomacy. This is no guarantee of success, but is nonetheless the minimum bar it must pass.
Replacing the present cast of envoys and mechanisms is necessary to reach the "legitimate and balanced framework" for negotiations called for by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
To retain the old is to maintain the US monopoly on the peace process - all process and no peace - and makes it difficult for the US to present itself as an honest, credible broker.
Ironically, now that the Obama administration appears finally to have woken up, focused and sharpened its skills - even if only to thwart the Palestinian bid - perhaps it can be persuaded to direct this new-found energy into a diplomatic framework that is international rather than unipolar, and not only in name.

Yezid Sayigh is a senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut.

Not Your Parent's Ecomony Anymore.....

Wonder why we don't hear more about this in the media, or why our politicians aren't doing anything to rectify this ? Could it be that the media are owned by the wealthy and the politicians are beholden to the wealthy ? NAH....that would be too conspiratorial...too outlandish...Tickle Down Economics works !! Just look for yourself...

Click to Expand

A few rambings...war, strife and bugger all...

I'm incredibly lucky, I know that. I was raised and continue to live in a society where people are treated with a bit of respect (though I suggest you read a few other posts of mine).Our country & society has certain values that we seem to think inviolable, even for the potential repressors. But....like an idiot, I turn on the TV news like an idiot....looking for answers....looking...looking......................Did I mention I'm optimistic ?

See, you're not as dumb as me !!

In Libya, they just found a morgue containing some 50-100 bodies. Now this building isn't in the middle of some freakin' never-never land. This was in Tripoli !! The bodies had apparently come in to a hospital as wounded people and they were left to, or expected to expire. So there they sat, rotting. I don't know who was in charge of the hospital, who controlled that "sector" of the city. I don't pretend to understand the level of chaos in the area but at the end of the day, someone left them there and didn't even bother with a burial, a card and likely even a freakin' sheet to cover the gore. From what little I know of Islam, this is a VERBOTTEN !

Then we have Mubarak (the last pharoh he thought of himself apparently) who is now laying on a gurney in a courtroom. The media is barred from accessing or covering the proceedings lest they make a mockery of justice. Sorry........I can't come up with better irony than that. It's priceless.

I saw on the BBC, the new interim finance minister of Tunisia who was reluctant to answer a question of "just how much money have you identified in other countires" (relating to the amount the frmr President "stole"). Sheesh, stupid question, cause you know you ain't gonna get a truthful answer and yet at the same time, a question the Tunisians want answered !! (By the way, the Ali family had squirreled away an apparent $5B according to the interview)

My point is this. We're replacing strong-men with newer-strong-men. Tunisia was a template, Egypt was a template and now Libya is the template. Let's all just sit back and watch as the money changes from one ruling elite to the new usurpers. After a time things will settle down and we'll be back to secret prisons, stifling speech, backroom deals with the West and Business As Usual.

I wonder if that guy who started this all by immolating himself in Tunisia ever imagined that his personal revolution would rest in the hands of sell-outs satisfied with platitudes and a few coins.

The Defecit Chart Republican Hate

Kevin Drum

The Deficit Chart Republicans Hate

— By Kevin Drum

| Wed May. 11, 2011 8:48 AM PDT

I get a little bored repeating over and over that our short-term deficit is almost entirely not Barack Obama's fault. It's mostly the fault of the Bush tax cuts, the Bush wars, and the financial collapse that happened during the Bush presidency. At this point, though, this is more in the nature of a religious debate than a factual one, and conservatives are going to keep repeating the same tired disinformation about the deficit regardless of any evidence one way or the other.
Still, just on the off chance that a few people are still persuadable on this, it's nice of CBPP to update its chart showing the source of the deficit over the next decade. (Farther out than that, Medicare is largely responsible for most deficit projections.) As you can see, by 2013 or so, virtually the entire deficit is due to Bush-era policies/disasters. So cut this out and post it on your refrigerator.

Grumpy day so take it out on the kids.......

A few people I know work in education. A job for which they....thankfully..have the patience and good humour that I lack. Ya see, I don't have any kids (that I'll admit to), I'm impatient, somewhat satirical, definitely opinionated, completely lacking any artistic talent and brutally honest....so without further delay.....

KID'S ART DAY AT MY SCHOOL

First of all, I don't even know what this is. If it's supposed to be a dog, then it's the shittiest dog I've ever seen.

You spelled America wrong asshole. Also, I could have sworn America's colors were red, white and blue. There's no yellow anywhere, traitor.

Holy shit, I almost had a seizure when I saw this one. Three words: too many colours. Also, eggs aren't supposed to have ears, dipshit.

Terrible.

This one wouldn't be too bad if the color were kept inside the lines, you picked a new perspective, used non-abrasive colours and asked someone with talent to paint it for you. On one hand I want to give an A for effort but...

On Behalf of all Canadians....Congratulations and....Sorry !!

Unlike about 99.9% of my fellow Canadians, I am not a huge Hockey fan.

Yes, I know, it's out National Sport (sorry Lacrosse, I know you are officially it but really..) and as such, I should know the names and stats of every person who's ever laced up a pair of skates in the NHL. Ain't happening.

Hockey is to Canada what Soccer is to Brazil. Part religion, part sport and all National identity. But that being said, I just couldn't ever get my head around it. Sure, I've been to games, I cheer during the Olympics and I honestly expect us to win internationally every time because I don't know better...So there, the mea-culpa is done with.

Lastnight's Game 7 rout, blowout, beat-down of Vancouver by Boston was a National tragedy I'm told. Some kind of psychic wound felt at a very deep emotional level. Collectively we had our hopes riding on a Canadian team bringing home the Stanley Cup and instead Vancouver basically cratered.

Now I can understand the fans being disappointed, sad, upset and even really friggin' pissed off but what happened right after the game was a disgrace.

People pouring out of the arena rioted. Now Vancouver seems to have a particular fascination with this form of public behaviour. As I recall, there were in the last decade, riots over Hockey, the Olympics and a Concert. Windows get smashed, cars get torched, noses bloodied and arrests made.

Admit it people. The Cannucks lost to a better team. It's not as if they were cheated out of it by some crappy calls on the ice. They simply played a better team who quite frankly, kicked their asses !!

And over this Vancouver riots ?

So on behalf of all Canadians who're nursing a hangover and a grudge, Congratulations Boston. 39 years is a long time to wait for a championship. Trust me, I know, I live in Toronto. As for the city of Vancouver, sorry about the mess but I'm sure it was the beer eh ?

And for those pinheads who actually participated in last night's stupidity, keep it up ya friggin snapperheads. Next thing ya know,we'll get lumped in with British Soccer fans if ya keep this crap up...

Ellsberg: All the crimes Nixon committed against me are now legal

Things that make you go "hmmmmmmm.."

__________________________________________________________________________________
By David Edwards
Thursday, June 9th, 2011 -- 12:59 pm


Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg said Tuesday that disgraced former Republican President Richard M. Nixon would "admire [President Barack] Obama's boldness" in trying to stifle whistleblowers.


"Richard Nixon, if he were alive today, might take bittersweet satisfaction to know that he was not the last smart president to prolong unjustifiably a senseless, unwinnable war, at great cost in human life," Ellsberg told CNN. "And his aide Henry Kissinger was not the last American official to win an undeserved Nobel Peace Prize."


"He would probably also feel vindicated (and envious) that ALL the crimes he committed against me -- which forced his resignation facing impeachment -- are now legal," he continued.


"That includes burglarizing my former psychoanalyst's office (for material to blackmail me into silence), warrantless wiretapping, using the CIA against an American citizen in the US, and authorizing a White House hit squad to 'incapacitate me totally' (on the steps of the Capitol on May 3, 1971)... But under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, with the PATRIOT Act, the FISA Amendment Act, and (for the hit squad) President Obama's executive orders. [T]hey have all become legal."


"There is no further need for present or future presidents to commit obstructions of justice (like Nixon's bribes to potential witnesses) to conceal such acts. Under the new laws, Nixon would have stayed in office, and the Vietnam War would have continued at least several more years," Ellsberg added.


The former military analyst noted that Obama, like Nixon before him, has tried to use the Espionage Act to silence whistleblowers.


Nixon "would be impressed to see that President Obama has now brought five such indictments against leaks, almost twice as many as all previous presidents put together," he said. "He could only admire Obama's boldness in using the same Espionage Act provisions used against me -- almost surely unconstitutional used against disclosures to the American press and public in my day, less surely under the current Supreme Court -- to indict Thomas Drake, a classic whistleblower who exposed illegality and waste in the NSA."


Ellsberg has also been an outspoken supporter of Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier accused of leaking thousands of documents to WikiLeaks. Ellsberg was arrested outside the White House in March while attending a protest in support of Manning.


"Do you believe what Bradley did was necessary and heroic?" CNN asked.


"Yes," Ellsberg replied.


PBS is set to air a two-part documentary on June 13 and 14 entitled The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.


The U.S government announced last month that 40 years after Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times and 18 other newspapers, the study was being declassified and released to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library.

We're voting for what ? A reader's digest version of political double-talk and babble.

Canadians go to the polls on Monday to elect a new government. Based on what I've read and heard over the last 5 weeks of campaigning it would seem that the Conservative Party is on track to once again be the majority party but this time with an NDP (New Democrat Party) led opposition. So sorry Steven, no majority for you and sorry Iggy, not PM title for you. Instead, it'll be smilin' Jack Layton of the NDP who gets to scream & yell on our collective behalf at the Conservatives.

Now a few things pop into my mind as the date approaches. Specifically, if 1 in 3 Canadians is anti-Harper, how in the hell can he still be our PM. I understand the electoral logic "blah blah blah" but come on. He was our minority PM for the last 5 years and he's IMHO dragged Canada downhill yet somehow he's going to get his old job back ? I understand that there's a lot of people who would argue that he's in fact done great things for our country but hey, this is my blog and they're all friggin' idiots.

Harper seems to have absolutely no respect for the urbanites of our country, has no respect for anyone east of Alberta, has no respect for the rule of our Supreme Court, has no respect for our democratic institutions like ohhh....Parliment and he obviously has no respect for the opposition's right to oppose, ask questions and expect answers. Yet somehow Stephen Harper, the dark overlord of the Sith is likely to get to keep his job. His corrupt and secretive cabal of insiders (I'm looking at you Senate and Cabinet) are going to get to keep their jobs and the tax breaks for the wealthy & corporations will continue while the rest of Canada adjusts their diets to water, gruel and cans of tuna.

Not to mention Harper's insistence that he's done absolutely nothing wrong by our country. Alienating our colleagues in the UN where we've NEVER been denied a rotating seat on the Security Council until HE came along. This pompous, arrogant, rich mamma's boy gladly spent $1 Billion dollars on a weekend party with his global cronies, had arrested anyone who complained about it, denied that the money was mis-spent on things like $2 Million dollar ponds and $250k gazebos and then when asked to account for where the money was spent and what benefits we Canadians would reap, told us all to basically suck it.

I think it's clear that I'm not a fan of our esteemed Conservative Leader. The sad thing is that I could spout some venom about his opponents as well.

Ignatief is a whiny academic who has the charisma of a turd and is behaving like the proverbial whiny little brat who's being denied the toy he really, really wants but he promises he'll be good from now on and if only we could all see the fact that he really is meant to be PM because, well.....just cause. I mean don't we know by now that the Liberal Party did great things back when moses was a babe and Ignatief is the ONLY one who can make it all better ? To hear him talk, every other party is crap, he's the only one who speaks for Canada and we should all just give him the job cause he's...well...he's not the other guy ?

Layton, well, Jack's an ok kinda guy but....He want's to be everybody's pal. Got an itch ? Jack'll scratch it for ya. Got a social cause that needs funding ? Jack'll fund it. Lofty aspirations and if we had the money, I'd be all for Jack's giving us all what we wanted but problem is, Jack can't seem to add. If we were to try actually paying for half the shit that Jack's promising then we'd make the current Greek economic crisis look like lollapalooza. Jack, I'd love to live in your socialist, everything's for free, open arms and kumbaya singing utopia but where's the money coming from ? Cap & Trade isn't even in place and yet Jack seems to think that it'll fund everything he's promising including getting grandma's dentures plated in gold, but c'mon Jack, you're moving up to the big league, time to stop playing with crayons & look at the numbers a bit more realistically.

So in the end, as a Canadian I'm left with 3 choices on May 2.
1. Darth Vader and the corporate oligarchy he wants to put in place. The man who would sell your sould to the corporations cause hey, they promise to create jobs (and fund his retirement)
2. The whiny "it's mine, it's mine, it's mine....waaaaa" sniveling academic who's only argument is that he's not the other guy
3. The smiling used car salesman who means well and is only asking to borrow your credit card to pay for it all

Some choice. I wonder if it's too late to throw my hat in the ring ?

Land of the Free and Home of the Oppressed

Let me say this up front, I am not American. My father was, I am a direct descendent of the Mayflower and I have a direct line to the founding fathers BUT I am not today's American.

Seeing what the US of A is doing to this man-child Manning makes me not only angry but also fuels my already dim opinion view of the hypocrisy displayed by the USG. They are my client from time to time, they pay well but they are brutal when they claim gentle. It's time to call them out and hold them accountable.

Manning IS guilty of a crime, I think. Having said that, he is not deserving of being de-humanized to this extent. If the case against him and the charges (recently laid) can be proven, he deserves to be punished. BUT ONLY THEN.


Read the link below and judge for yourself.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/world/05manning.html?ref=world

Food for thought - Not for 8% of us

I came across this and was absolutely stunned by the results for Canada.

This is the IMF (International Monetary Fund) 2010 ranking of"Advanced Economies". I'm usually proud of my country and like to think that we'd rank be way up there, especially under the "enlightened, benevolent, happy-happy-joy-joy leadership" of our current government in Ottawa. But as the results below indicate, apparently 8% of us can't afford to feed ourselves.

Can Mr. Harper please identify the 8.4 Senators and 24.6 MPs.....in fact, the whole 25,211.6 Federal Employees in his government who are going hungry so I can invite them over for a decent meal. After all, running our country is hungry business and I want to do my part to ensure that they're up to the job.

Somehow I don't think that any of those people are missing a meal, nor are the additional 2 Million Provincial and Municipal employees. But you and I...well, you better enjoy your lunch cause it may be all you get today.

And the sad part ? Ottawa will claim this as a victory because look at our numbers vs. the USA !! If I were American, I'd be furious hence the title of the graph below.

(8% of 105 Senators, 308 MPs, StatsCan Fed Employees http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/govt58a-eng.htm)

Click Image to Enlarge

Saif Gaddafi - N. Africa's Glenn Beck

Seif Gaddafi went on air this evening in what can only be described as a delusional, drug addled Brain Fart. Apparently he was the head of their Anti-Narcotics department so I wonder if he pulled a "Tony Montana" before recording his ramblings.


Here's some photos from his tirade earlier this evening. You tell me if this guy doesn't look like he's stripped a few gears. 

Some translated snippets of his speech.

"Citizens tried to attack the army and they were in a situation that was difficult. The army was not used to dealing with riots," he says.

"Libyan citizens died and this was a tragedy.

"There is a plot against Libya. People want to create a government in Benghazi and others want to have an Islamic emirate in Bayda. All these [people] have their own plots. Of course Arab media hyped this. The fault of the Libyan media is that it did not cover this.

Libya is not like Egypt, it is tribes and clans, it is not a society with parties. Everyone knows their duties and this may cause civil wars. 

Libya is not Tunisia and Egypt. Libya has oil - that has united the whole of Libya.

"I have to be honest with you. We are all armed, even the thugs and the unemployed. At this moment in time, tanks are driven about with civilians. In Bayda you have machine huns right in the middle of the city. Many arms have been stolen.

"No one will come to Libya or do any business with Libya.

"We will call for new media laws, civil rights, lift the stupid punishments, we will have a constitution... We will tomorrow create a new Libya. We can agree on a new national anthem, new flag, new Libya. Or be prepared for civil war. Forget about oil.

"The country will be divided like North and South Korea, we will see each other through a fence. You will wait in line for months for a visa.

"The Libyans who live in Europe and USA, their children go to school and they want you to fight. They are comfortable. They then want to come and rule us and Libya. They want us to kill each other then come, like in Iraq."

SRW

Gaddafi's Response to Protesters

Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi has responded to recent protests in the country by apparently hiring African mercenaries to help him quell protesters. It seems that he cannot rely on his troops so he is using his vast oil wealth (that's dollars from you and me) to bring in people who have no qualms about firing into crowds of unarmed civilians.


It should also be noted that Gaddafi's response mirrors that of the regimes in Bahrain, Algeria and Yemen, in fact, are happening RIGHT NOW all across the region.

• Internet and media is being either censured or just plain cut off 
• Police and Army troops are using Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets, Batons and Live Ammo
• Armored Vehicles and Helicopters fire into crowds

All of this to shut down people who are largely protesting in demand of basic rights that you and I take for granted every day. Simple things like the right to speak out, to elect a representative government, to have a say in the running of their own countries, to have a better future for themselves and their kids.

Warning - This is GRAPHIC and I do not recommend viewing if you're squeamish

"Like fish in a barrel" - Bahrain

Not to make light of the situation with the title of this post but this is what the peaceful protesters in Bahrain are being treated like.

Al Jazeera English - Bahraini protesters fired upon
NY Times - In Bahrain, the Bullets Fly


UPDATE 14:37 GMT
The Crown Prince of Bahrain has apparently decided not to shoot any protesters....today. How enlightened.