Can things get weirder?

Can things get weirder? 31 December 2010

Posted by marisacat in Divertissements, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter.
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Quirky regional winner - Martin Mere 'Tough Guy' by Robert BJ Falcon

Quirky regional winner – Martin Mere ‘Tough Guy’ by Robert BJ Falcon [Robert BJ Falcon / WWT Photo Competition 2010 / Supplied by Geoff Robinson]

From a wetlands wildlife gallery at the Telegraph…. unfortunately none of the photos was informative as to the creatures captured on film… This appears to be some sort of baby chick on a lily pad…

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Can things get weirder? Probably so….

I don’t know about anyone else, but I am more than happy to shove, kick, smack, punch 2010 into the past.

My impression of the year is that it never let up. It just kept coming.

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1. marisacat - 31 December 2010: Delusional. Wht a surprise.

TIM KAINE, DNC chairman and former Virginia governor, writing on POLITICO, “The president’s progress”:

“At the halfway point of this term, the president’s list of achievements already dwarfs that of many presidents. … The president’s unique combination of short-term recovery measures and his long-term vision for American greatness have set our country on a new path. … While the political chattering class is consumed with who is up and who is down, the president’s accomplishments transcend such short-term political calculations. They are historic in their own right and likely to have a lasting impact on the well-being of all Americans.

Taken together, these accomplishments represent the most progressive and productive period of U.S. governance since the New Deal.”

http://politi.co/gF5sQ0

Following the passage of Medicare under Johnson (a badly flawed bill but a big step forward) FORTY MILLION seniors moved onto the rolls in ELEVEN MONTHS.

Poor sodden bitches from the New South and that small slice of SS Chicago.

Yeah right.

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marisacat - 31 December 2010: Another honker. What is Tim Kaine smoking? :

The president’s work began the moment he took office, when hundreds of thousands of jobs were disappearing monthly, our financial system was in shambles and our nation’s future unclear. His first priority was to stem the tide of job losses, shore up U.S. industry and set the wheels of economic growth turning again ….

So many rosy prognostications around yesterday and today. GOOD LUCK

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catnip - 31 December 2010: Boot-licking obviously pays well.

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marisacat - 31 December 2010: Snicker… one of the greater national losses a party has had in the mid terms, straight down the line, federal, state and local… but Timmeh keeps his boot licking job.

Hey! Ob saved a job. A job.

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2. marisacat - 31 December 2010: They really live in their own world… one that has nothing to do with us.

I wonder how the parents of the newborn baby who died as it took 9 hours for the EMT to reach mother and baby feel about Blusterbloom’s “character”.

Bloomberg’s ongoing mea culpa

Michael Bloomberg’s ongoing mea culpa over the snowstorm continues:

“This year is not ending the way I would have preferred, but it’s still been a good year,” he said this morning on his radio show. “Nobody has a career that goes straight up.”

He added that the city’s failure to clear streets days after the blizzard was “character building.”

Posted by Ben Smith 03:59 PM

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diane - 31 December 2010: They really live in their own world… one that has nothing to do with us…

yup, and they are now longer acting sheepish about it, …at all. A recent 7/11 interlude I had dovetails nicely with that…

… was asking the young man behind the counter how he was doing as I gave him my money, when some prick to my side (who looked well fed, and not on some emergency agenda), angrily tossed his purchase in between us …. At which point both the young man and I backed off, and ‘bowed’ to the prick, who clearly couldn’t be bothered with whether his fellow human was doing okay. As I walked behind Mister, I said In a hurry, are we? …..asshole wereupon, he informed/reminded me there are two types of people in this world ….and I like the world I’m living in ………

yup, no longer sheepish, not in the least …..

Well have a good eve all, and watch those robocops ………………

(gad to see you’re not in the hospital honey, I checked in last night, and got a little worried…..)

salute………..

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diane - 31 December 2010: and ….yeah, ..those were his/its words, I could hardly forget them:

there are two types of people in this world ….and I like the world I’m living in ………

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diane - 31 December 2010: <:0), sans noisemaker, …….some times silence becomes the only possible response, when the reality is so very tangled …………. not to say that there isn't a time for vocal and physical reaction, …as there is.

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ts - 1 January 2011: there are two types of people in this world ….and I like the world I’m living in.

Ok, so he had the dickheads covered. What was the other type?

If I was the clerk I would have chucked his crap on the floor. Go ahead and complain – this nice lady also says you did it yourself.

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diane - 1 January 2011: yup, honey, he certainly did have all the fuckers covered.

Those were chilling words to hear (though hideously unsurprising), to say the least. …I’m trying to recollect what I said to the prick, before I pulled up next to ‘him’/it, at the red light, an gave ‘him’/it the finger, …before ‘he’/it zipped off (likely to some IPO/Startup/VC slobbering ‘entity’) to Sly Con Valley in his clean white SUV, …as it was bleakly funny.

The more bleakly humorous thing, which I don’t believe ‘he’/it ‘got,’ is that ‘he’/it is not one of the chosen either. Why ‘he’ feels ‘he’ will be, …is anyone’s guess.

I’d love to say Happy New Year All, but it feels so very disingenuous;…because, barring a miracle, it doesn’t at all look like it is going to be one until a multitude are shackled to the point they can do no more harm. All I can really muster, is, hang in there, and treasure those you love, and those you like.

;0(

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3. marisacat - 31 December 2010: Happy New Year!

Brazil’s leader says U.S. policies toward Latin America have changed little since President Obama took office, disappointing many hoping for more engagement.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says the U.S. vision of Latin America has “changed little or not at all” though the region has gone through what he calls the world’s most important democratization process …

SF Gate via Distant Ocean…

And Caruso adds this snippet too:

Speaking to reporters at a breakfast meeting in the capital Brasilia, Lula lamented that the election of President Barack Obama had brought little change to the “empire’s” approach on Latin America.

“Nothing has changed in the US vision of Latin America, which makes me sad,” he said. …

All’s well that continues the American Global Raj

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4. marisacat - 1 January 2011: Happy New Year:

4 drone attacks on N Waziristan just on Saturday. 19 dead in three attacks and death toll still rising.

Ring in the New Year!! As we commence Year Three in the Reign of our Blessed Lord, Messiah Foundling.

Some news prattled to me last night that the Obama Family celebrated NYs in their traditional fashion of … think they said charades.

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5. Madman in the Marketplace - 1 January 2011: Happy new year everybody …

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marisacat - 1 January 2011: Same to you Madman…

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Madman in the Marketplace - 1 January 2011: Reply
6. dropout - 1 January 2011: Here’s hoping…for much joy and laughter for all of us this new year.

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marisacat - 1 January 2011: oh thank you dropout!

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7. Madman in the Marketplace - 1 January 2011: Michele Bachmann: ‘Snotty’ Gore Vidal Novel Made Me Realize I Was a Republican

At a speech to Michigan Republicans on Tuesday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) — the darling of the Tea Party right — told an amazing story about how she shed her youthful Democratic roots and became a Republican. As she told the tale, her political conversion was because of her disgust at a “snotty” Gore Vidal novel that satirized the Founding Fathers.

“Until I was reading this snotty novel called ‘Burr,’ by Gore Vidal, and read how he mocked our Founding Fathers,” Bachmann told the crowd. “And as a reasonable, decent, fair-minded person who happened to be a Democrat, I thought, ‘You know what? What he’s writing about, this mocking of people that I revere, and the country that I love, and that I would lay my life down to defend — just like every one of you in this room would, and as many of you in this room have when you wore the uniform of this great country — I knew that that was not representative of my country.”

“And at that point I put the book down and I laughed. I was riding a train. I looked out the window and I said, ‘You know what? I think I must be a Republican. I don’t think I’m a Democrat.’”

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marisacat - 1 January 2011: Well SOMEBODY shoudl take her.

That (her perception of Vidal) is really only because he comes from an earlier and more broadly educated world…. The move the past few decades has been to deify the Founders.

Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig Mistake.

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8. Madman in the Marketplace - 1 January 2011: Police: Middle Schooler Fondled!

Yes, that’s exactly what we’re talking about. The fondler—who’s made to sound like sexual predator in that headline—was a 13-year-old middle schooler. He’s a classmate of the “victim,” in fact, and the fondling was consensual. And you’ll never guess what happened next:

Police have charged a 13-year-old Greensburg Salem Middle School student with fondling a 12-year-old student when they sneaked away to a band equipment room during school hours. Greensburg police aren’t identifying the suspect charged in Westmoreland County Juvenile Court. They said his actions are criminal even though the younger female student consented to the fondling because, under the law, she is deemed too young to consent. Police said the incident happened Dec. 16 after the students met in a hallway and walked together to the band room at the school.

So now it’s a crime for a couple of middle-school students to make out in a band equipment room. It’s not just ill-advised, it’s not just worryingly precocious sexual behavior or appropriate sexual exploration (depending on your POV), and it’s not a matter for parents and school administrators to address. It’s a crime.

We’ve lost our minds.

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marisacat - 1 January 2011: They won’t be happy til everything is criminalised.

People don’t believe me when I say that is a crime to feed the pigeons in SF, or to feed the famous Telegraph Hill Wild Parrots. Verboten.

It is a crime to not pick up your dog poop… and if you are seen doing that, some sort of park meter maid can indeed TURN YOUR POCKETS out to see if you are even carrying plastic baggies for the poop. If no baggies, double the fine. Which then is close to 800.00

Tho it is much owrse to criminalise a 13 year old boy for doing nothing.

As a friend of mine used to say 30 years ago:

No running jumping laughing.

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dropout - 1 January 2011: Why have taxes…when they can nickle and dime us to death with fines….a racket.

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marisacat - 1 January 2011: Very true…

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Madman in the Marketplace - 1 January 2011: this society is nuts

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9. catnip - 1 January 2011: Happy New Year!

No polar bear dip for me!

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10. marisacat - 1 January 2011: And why would it ever get any better?

THE SHOWS:

–NBC’s “Meet the Press“: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); roundtable with New York Times columnist David Brooks, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, Yale Law professor Stephen Carter, BBC News’ Katty Kay and Sen.-elect Pat Toomey (R-PA).

–ABC’s “The Week“: Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Austan Goolsbee; Actor/Activist George Clooney and the Enough Project’s John Prendergast; roundtable with ABC’s George Will, Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, ABC’s Amy Walter and National Journal’s Major Garrett (substitute host: Jake Tapper).

–CBS’s “Face the Nation“: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN); Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and Rep.-elect Mike Kelly (R-PA).

–”Fox News Sunday“: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI); Sen.-elect Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL), roundtable with Fox News’ Brit Hume, NPR’s Mara Liasson, the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol and TIME’s Michael Duffy.

–CNN’s “State of the Union“: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA); DNC Chairman and former Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA); DCCC Chairman Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA).

–C-SPAN: “The Communicators” (SAT 6:30pm ET): TechNet President & CEO Rey Ramsey … “Newsmakers” (SUN 10am ET / 6pm ET): RNC Chairman candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg Ann Wagner, questioned by Politico’s Kasie Hunt and The AP’s Phil Elliott … “Q&A” (SUN 8pm ET / 11pm ET): Washington Post and Newsweek columnist Robert Samuelson.

–Univision’s “Al Punto“: Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL); former Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs and author of “Regreso Al Futuro” Jorge Castañeda; Hispanic issues expert Arnoldo Torres; former small business owner Lola Gonzalez.

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11. Madman in the Marketplace - 1 January 2011: snicker

Chief justice urges end to partisan stalling

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marisacat - 1 January 2011: Maybe they can all do a Maypole Dance at the next State of the Union.

The whole thing is so fucked.

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12. Madman in the Marketplace - 1 January 2011: Cuban medics in Haiti put the world to shame

They are the real heroes of the Haitian earthquake disaster, the human catastrophe on America’s doorstep which Barack Obama pledged a monumental US humanitarian mission to alleviate. Except these heroes are from America’s arch-enemy Cuba, whose doctors and nurses have put US efforts to shame.

A medical brigade of 1,200 Cubans is operating all over earthquake-torn and cholera-infected Haiti, as part of Fidel Castro’s international medical mission which has won the socialist state many friends, but little international recognition.

Observers of the Haiti earthquake could be forgiven for thinking international aid agencies were alone in tackling the devastation that killed 250,000 people and left nearly 1.5 million homeless. In fact, Cuban healthcare workers have been in Haiti since 1998, so when the earthquake struck the 350-strong team jumped into action. And amid the fanfare and publicity surrounding the arrival of help from the US and the UK, hundreds more Cuban doctors, nurses and therapists arrived with barely a mention. Most countries were gone within two months, again leaving the Cubans and Médecins Sans Frontières as the principal healthcare providers for the impoverished Caribbean island.

Figures released last week show that Cuban medical personnel, working in 40 centres across Haiti, have treated more than 30,000 cholera patients since October. They are the largest foreign contingent, treating around 40 per cent of all cholera patients. Another batch of medics from the Cuban Henry Reeve Brigade, a disaster and emergency specialist team, arrived recently as it became clear that Haiti was struggling to cope with the epidemic that has already killed hundreds.

Since 1998, Cuba has trained 550 Haitian doctors for free at the Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina en Cuba (Elam), one of the country’s most radical medical ventures. Another 400 are currently being trained at the school, which offers free education – including free books and a little spending money – to anyone sufficiently qualified who cannot afford to study medicine in their own country.

John Kirk is a professor of Latin American studies at Dalhousie University in Canada who researches Cuba’s international medical teams. He said: “Cuba’s contribution in Haiti is like the world’s greatest secret. They are barely mentioned, even though they are doing much of the heavy lifting.”

This tradition can be traced back to 1960, when Cuba sent a handful of doctors to Chile, hit by a powerful earthquake, followed by a team of 50 to Algeria in 1963. This was four years after the revolution, which saw nearly half the country’s 7,000 doctors voting with their feet and leaving for the US.

The travelling doctors have served as an extremely useful arm of the government’s foreign and economic policy, winning them friends and favours across the globe. The best-known programme is Operation Miracle, which began with ophthalmologists treating cataract sufferers in impoverished Venezuelan villages in exchange for oil. This initiative has restored the eyesight of 1.8 million people in 35 countries, including that of Mario Teran, the Bolivian sergeant who killed Che Guevara in 1967.

The Henry Reeve Brigade, rebuffed by the Americans after Hurricane Katrina, was the first team to arrive in Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake, and the last to leave six months later.

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marisacat - 1 January 2011: I’ve read they have the lowest mortality rate in their medical camps in haiti than any other group that came in. Something vanishingly small, like under 1% per whatever number…. other medical groups have deaths around 3% of, again, whatever number was used….

One of the European channels, maybe France 24 or Deutsche Welle recently did a segment on the free medical education in Cuba, they accept students from all over, including the US.

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Madman in the Marketplace - 1 January 2011: they do some amazing stuff, apparently focusing a lot on the basics of care first.

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13. diane - 1 January 2011: Hugs to you Marisa!

;0( …and ;0) for the smiles, however few they may be….

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diane - 1 January 2011: listenin to Marvin Gaye sing: Yesterday, …..so very sweeeetttt ……and surreal…. after accidentally spilling red wine all opver (and, over) the frackin carpet, when I wasn’t even drunk yet (and that is a first for a red wine spill. The good thing is, that for once, I appear to have a decent landlord who has already acknowledged the carpet was funky when I moved in ….yeah, well, hangin on to sweet moments…because, in fact, they keep me alive! ;0)

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diane - 1 January 2011: and, well yeah, I love Marvin Gaye’s….dirty underwear….marvin having been brought up in the hideousity of DC….and bearing Topanga Canyon, Cali (spelling? who gives a fuck about spelling at this point? ….. despite the fact that it is in fact helpful …please ya youngins …don’t forget that actual human to human communication is absolutely crucial), and the Gordon Monarchy (not at all to say, that there weren’t those with that surname, who spent tormenting, sleepless nights, hoping for something merciful, and life enhancing) …and Detroit, which now, eats its own citizens, …with the help of the “Federal/US” “government”…………….

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diane - 1 January 2011: truly sleazy, how Marvin Gaye’s piece, You’re the Man was so gamed, ….. by THE MACHINE, ….in the last “major election”..

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diane - 1 January 2011: as marvin sang:

…don’t YOU [Us Presidents, congress beasts, et al] understand? ……..there’s ….MISERY ……in the land …..got ta vote for you?…..

…

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diane - 1 January 2011: I’m so sorry, so sorry and distraught, that I

…don’t YOU [Us Presidents, congress beasts, et al] understand? ……..there’s ….MISERY ……in the land …..got ta vote for you?…..

neglected to BOLDFACE the word understand. above.

…particularly, when understanding, is at the very core of solving a problem …. …but we are not allowed the time to understand anymore are we? …as we are always rushed off to the next emergency to be resolved ……?

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diane - 1 January 2011: I suppose I should add, that in using the phrase Us presidents…. I am certainly not under the delusion that I was ever a president (therefore, not insane ..and in need of forced phizer medication) ..yeah, I am “paranoid,,” I am absoluately aware that those who rule and abuse, will go to great lengths, …. to lock up anyone against tbeir tyranny …:0)

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14. Madman in the Marketplace - 1 January 2011: How could this be … another of the winger “friends” that Teh One elevated in the name of “bipartisanship” slips one into the ribs:

Jon Huntsman, the former GOP Utah governor who President Obama convinced to serve as U.S. ambassador to China, has hinted to Newsweek that he is considering a run for president himself.

in 2012, natch.

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ts - 1 January 2011: I’m hoping for a crowded field on both sides. Keep the popcorn machine going 24/7.

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catnip - 1 January 2011: Mmmm…ribs…

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diane - 1 January 2011: ugghhh, that reminds me of:

…wut about ‘is legs? ….’e don’t need ‘em……

(despite the ‘Savng THE Anglos’ concentration, I think there were some valid points made there,………….. in toll kins musings…….)

so many times I wish I could go to sleep, and not wake up.

:0)

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diane - 1 January 2011: not at all saying that is what you actually meant, catnip. …just saying: …. that is the first thing that popped into my thoughts,……… I should have posted this comment right after my last one, instead of, an hour later. (2:38 Am, Brit Time, “01/01/11″)

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diane - 1 January 2011: shit, 01/02/11 versus 01/01/11

and not that I don’t find your sarcasm appropriate catnip, ….just that I find that us insignificants, backed up against a wall to the point where we express such sarcastic ‘sentiments’ as cannibalism of hideous ‘people’ as a means to empower ourselves, have been forced to utter thoughts which really don’t at all reflect how we feel we should be living from day to day.

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marisacat - 1 January 2011: I think it is hilarious!

I hope he runs…

I saw him on Charlie Rose, think while I was in the hospital. He has some precious little self-presentations… of course so does Obbie…. and the US media helped hide them…

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15. Stanley W Rogouski - 1 January 2011: I’m assuming this will go into moderation. Your site has no e-mail address as a contact.

You still have my old domain http://www.rogouski.com linked on your blog roll. I no longer own that domain. I allowed it to expire a few months ago, not thinking anybody would “squat” on it.

It turns out that a Phishing site in Belarus is squatting on it. They uploaded a bunch of my old content and are trying to pass it off as legitimate.

You might want to take down the link so as not to give the Phishers any more illusion of credibility than is necessary.

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marisacat - 1 January 2011: Is thsi Hair Club for Men?

had you signed in that way it would nto have gone to Mod.

Sure I will take it down, no sweat.

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marisacat - 1 January 2011: I will take it down

Done.

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16. marisacat - 1 January 2011: Ever widening war….

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Saturday condemned separate “outrageous terrorist bombing attacks” in Egypt and Nigeria and said the United States was prepared to assist both countries in responding to them.

A bomb killed at least 17 people outside a church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria early on New Year’s Day and the Interior Ministry said a foreign-backed suicide bomber may have been responsible.

“The perpetrators of this attack were clearly targeting Christian worshipers, and have no respect for human life and dignity. They must be brought to justice for this barbaric and heinous act,” Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii, said in a statement.

“We are continuing to gather information regarding this terrible event, and are prepared to offer any necessary assistance to the government of Egypt in responding to it.” …

“The perpetrators of this attack were clearly targeting Christian worshipers, and have no respect for human life and dignity.

And we do?

“Killing innocent civilians who were simply gathering — like so many people around the world — to celebrate the beginning of a New Year further demonstrates the bankrupt vision of those who carry out these attacks, and we are similarly prepared to offer assistance to the government of Nigeria as it works to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Obama said.

Riiiight. WE pick off wedding parties. SO different.

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17. Madman in the Marketplace - 2 January 2011: In Isolated Utah City, New Clubs for Gay Students

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Some disapproving classmates called members of the new club “Satanists.” Another asked one of the girls involved, “Do you have a disease?”

But at three local high schools here this fall, dozens of gay students and their supporters finally convened the first Gay-Straight Alliances in the history of this conservative, largely Mormon city. It was a turning point here and for the state, where administrators, teachers and even the Legislature have tried for years to block support groups for gay youths, calling them everything from inappropriate to immoral.

The new alliances in St. George were part of a drastic rise this fall in the number of clubs statewide, reflecting new activism by gay and lesbian students, an organizing drive by a gay rights group and the intervention of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has threatened to sue districts that put up arbitrary hurdles. Last January, only 9 high schools in Utah had active Gay-Straight Alliances; by last month, the number had reached 32.

The alliances must still work around a 2007 state law that was expressly intended to stifle them by requiring parental permission to join and barring any discussions of sexuality or contraception, even to prevent diseases.

Gayle Ruzicka, president of the Utah Eagle Forum, a conservative family group, promoted the law. Its authors expected, she said, that requiring parental permission would deter some children from joining the alliances and that restricting topics for discussion would mean that “there’s not a lot of purpose in being there, and the clubs end up being pretty small.”

“I just don’t think these clubs are appropriate in schools,” Ms. Ruzicka said. “You can talk about providing support, but you’re also creating a gay recruiting tool.”

But members of the new clubs said they were undaunted by the restrictions, which they said showed a misunderstanding of what the alliances meant for students who had often lived with fear and shame — at home and at school.

Kate Hanson, a 15-year-old bisexual sophomore at Snow Canyon High School, said that having the alliance “helps you realize that there are others like you and there are people who support you.”

“I was so excited when I heard we could have a G.S.A.,” she said. “I just thought it would be a fun club.”

With the increase in alliances, Utah is joining a growing national movement to provide friendly meeting places in schools for students who have often felt like misfits, clubs where gay youths and their supporters can socialize, speak out against discrimination and sponsor events like the Day of Silence in honor of bullied students.

Since the first club was formed in Massachusetts in 1988, by a gay boy and a straight girl with same-sex parents who were tired of being stigmatized, the organizations have spread to most of the country, reaching more than 4,000 high schools and even a handful of middle schools by 2008. The clubs are surging anew after recent publicized suicides of gay teenagers, said Eliza Byard, director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network in New York.

I love THIS part:

But resistance continues. Some schools are still imposing legally shaky barriers, like requiring the unanimous approval of student officers or prohibiting activities that violate “community morals,” said Darcy Goddard, legal director of the A.C.L.U. of Utah.

As she did in St. George last year, Ms. Goddard has warned officials that such policies may violate the federal Equal Access Act— a law passed by Congress in the 1980s, mainly to protect Bible study groups in schools, [ ] that has become a prime tool for protecting Gay-Straight Alliances from arbitrary hurdles.

In 2007, conservative groups pushed through the state Student Clubs Act, still on the books, that was aimed at the alliances and reflected what rights groups called misleading stereotypes.

The law requires parental permission for participation in all school clubs and says organizations can be barred to “protect the physical, emotional, psychological or moral well-being of students and faculty.”

Students say the law reflects misconceptions about both homosexuality and the alliances, which in many cases are led by straight girls who want to support gay friends or siblings. The club at Dixie High School here, for example, is led by Bethany Coyle, a senior who describes herself as straight and a supporter of equal rights. She said that one vice principal had asked if the club would recruit homosexuals and that students had scrawled epithets on a sign-up sheet, scaring off some potential members.

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marisacat - 2 January 2011: well… the Elders of the Mormon Church are hardly supporters, I would imagine.

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Madman in the Marketplace - 2 January 2011: I would venture to guess that their increasingly overt anti-gay activism is probably helping these groups … it’s much more fun as a teenager to really tweak things that you KNOW will piss the adults off.

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marisacat - 2 January 2011: I read recently that Romney had to get permission from the Elders to put in 50.00 stipend toward abortion in his Romney care.

Of course it is far far more than Foundling did…. Foundling undid access via private insurance schemes.

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18. Madman in the Marketplace - 2 January 2011: RFLMAO

Judith Miller Criticizes Julian Assange For Not Verifying Sources

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marisacat - 2 January 2011: oh that is really really funny!! What a hoot!

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catnip - 2 January 2011: America: Where irony goes to die. (Soon to be outsourced to a war zone near you.)

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19. marisacat - 2 January 2011: Oh FFS.

Arhold has made a final message to Californians… THANKING US.

4 minutes plus of bullshit.

Just go away….

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catnip - 2 January 2011: Ahnold voice: I’ll be back.

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marisacat - 3 January 2011: He says he plans a return to the movie screen and to write an autobiography.

In his Good Bye, Fuck You and Thank You for letting me create mayhem ”address” to us, he finally publicly lauded his destruction of the state worker’s comp scheme, which had been pretty decent. He claims to have returned 50 billion to the Cali taxpayers under his reform of the Workers’ Comp.

Of course absolutely every thing he did was with Democratic collusion and compliance. Tho in truth, he and Maria should just fly the damned Nazi flag from their homes and their gargantuan cars. From their little cars too.

The idiot Democrats are still slobbering for him and calling him the Green Socialist Republican, or whatever tawdry tribute it is they pay him. I suspect he will be dropping in on the conservative in the WH soon.

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20. marisacat - 3 January 2011: California. Tra la!

[T]he economic and political policies promoted by Richard C. Blum [husband of DiFi] and associates, including Senator Feinstein and other leaders of both the Democratic and Republican Parties have locked nations and peoples across the planet into a system of de facto colonialism whereby their lands and destinies are controlled by distant, debt-holding banks and hedge funds. This sort of colonialism, however, is not typically so distant as our original statement implies. To glimpse it, we need look no further than where we live, in which case its manifestations include the scalping of virtually every ridgetop in the Anderson Valley, Mendocino county; the sterilization of tens of thousands of acres of previously vibrant soils with petrochemicals; the destruction of watersheds and fisheries that once provided for subsistence; the fracturing of communities; the displacement of potentially more sustainable and equitable economic models; the foreclosure of alternative futures. The Navarro River, for instance, no longer runs in the summer-time: a condition that, if allowed to endure, will ensure that the watershed never recovers from its initial catastrophic damage by overlogging.

Vineyards continue to expand onto new swaths of Mendocino County acreage. Most of these lands are indeed owned by distant banks and investment funds spearheaded by people like Richard Blum, the very same man most responsible for the structural adjustment of the University of California and so many other cases of economic immiseration the world over. In recent months, by way of their growing resistance movement, hundreds of UC students have effectively shown us a proper way of responding. We would do well to heed them.

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21. marisacat - 3 January 2011: New

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