That fickle finger of fate…

That fickle finger of fate… 27 September 2009

Posted by marisacat in 2010 Mid Terms, 2012 Re Election, California / Pacific Coast.
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New Delhi, India: A rickshaw passes effigies being prepared for the upcoming Dussehra festival
Photograph: Kevin Frayer/AP

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Full text Wapo:

ZURICH — Organizers of the Zurich Film Festival say director Roman Polanski has been taken into custody on a 31-year-old U.S. arrest warrant.

The organizers say Polanski was detained by police Saturday. Zurich police couldn’t immediately confirm the information.

The festival said in a statement Sunday that Polanski traveled to Switzerland to receive an award for his lifetime of work as a director. They said he was arrested in relation to a 1978 U.S. request, without specifying.

Polanski fled the United States in 1978, a year after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl

So. Now they’ve got him.. what are they gonna do? Ship him back to Los Angeles? Last I heard the girl now woman at issue has said she will never press charges and, from her telling of it, the authorities might as well charge her mother as well for facilitating an illegal act… AND Jack Nicholson, in whose house the incident took place.

‘Course… he DID plead quilty. Whoops.

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In other news… a real tragedy in KY… and now some details are coming out.

Jerry Weaver of Fairfield, Ohio, told The Associated Press on Friday that he was certain from the gruesome scene that someone killed Sparkman.

”He was murdered,” Weaver said. ”There’s no doubt.”

Weaver said he was in the rural Kentucky county for a family reunion and was visiting some family graves at the cemetery on Sept. 12 along with his wife and daughter when they saw the body.

”The only thing he had on was a pair of socks,” Weaver said. ”And they had duct-taped his hands, his wrists. He had duct tape over his eyes, and they gagged him with a red rag or something.”

I see Sully frets this is Southern populism, whipped by FOX and Beck and whomever else.

It’s possible, I suppose, that anger at the feds in general could make a drug dealer murder a census worker. But the most worrying possibility – that this is Southern populist terrorism, whipped up by the GOP and its Fox and talk radio cohorts – remains real. We’ll see.

He knows so little about America. Narrow constricted versions of what we really are. Back in the nineties somebody (supposedly the New World Liberation Front) put a bomb under DiFi’s house here in SF… they got to it before it exploded, but for that and other reasons, there were hearings on violence, bombs and militias in America in the Senate. I was glued to the TV… and found out some dicey details. Couple of things about bombs, easy to build and they have a propensity for actually going off… maybe not always to the full extent the bomb maker plans, but they score high for success (detonating)… AND that the two hot beds for militias in the US… were Cali and MI.

Maybe he dreams of Deliverance at night….

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1. marisacat - 27 September 2009: Noooooooooo. Don’t do it to us! (from The Caucus, as if it mattered!)

September 25, 2009, 6:15 PM

Carter’s White House Diaries to Be Published in 2010

Former President Jimmy Carter’s White House diaries will be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in October 2010.

I feel like we are under attack from plagues, multiple plagues, of locusts.

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2. catnip - 27 September 2009: Merkel ‘heads for’ new coalition

Chancellor Angela Merkel has been returned to power in Germany, exit polls suggest, after her conservative bloc won more than 33% of the vote.

Mrs Merkel told supporters they had achieved “something magnificent”, but said she wanted to be a chancellor of all Germans at a moment of crisis.

Mrs Merkel’s bloc now looks set to form a centre-right alliance with her preferred partner, the pro-reform FDP.

It’s a “centre-right” world.

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3. catnip - 27 September 2009: William Safire has died.

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4. catnip - 27 September 2009: BHHM alert

Device approval exposes political pressure on FDA

WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration has taken the unprecedented step of acknowledging that it buckled to “extreme” pressure from Capitol Hill in its approval of a knee repair device last year. While FDA officials call the situation an anomaly, experts said Friday there is nothing to stop similar political lobbying from influencing future decisions.

In a sweeping critique Thursday, FDA leadership said the agency failed to protect its scientists from outside pressure after they twice rejected ReGen Biologics’ Menaflex device.

The Hackensack, N.J.-based company ultimately won approval last December after enlisting the support of four New Jersey lawmakers, who urged then-FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach to intervene on the company’s behalf.

Approval came despite protests by FDA scientists that Menaflex — which reinforces damaged knee tissue — provided little, if any, benefit to patients.

The report marks the first time FDA has openly criticized its own conduct, as Obama appointees try to restore the agency’s credibility following a string of bungled drug and food safety issues.

An FDA official called the pressure from Capitol Hill “the most extreme he had ever seen” and the access granted to the commissioner “unprecedented.” Several staffers at the agency called the ReGen ordeal “the worst experience in their professional careers,” according to the report.

ReGen Chief Executive Gerald Bisbee said in a statement Thursday that FDA’s review involved “procedural irregularities” and does not reflect on the safety of the company’s device.

The New Jersey Democrats — Reps. Frank Pallone and Steve Rothman and Sens. Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg — received a combined $26,000 in campaign contributions from ReGen executives, according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks political spending.

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: … puts a new twist on KNEEL.

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5. marisacat - 27 September 2009: Arundhati Roy on that slippery eel… “democracy”.

hmm I think she’s got it…

[A] Clerk of Resistance

As a writer, a fiction writer, I have often wondered whether the attempt to always be precise, to try and get it all factually right somehow reduces the epic scale of what is really going on. Does it eventually mask a larger truth? I worry that I am allowing myself to be railroaded into offering prosaic, factual precision when maybe what we need is a feral howl, or the transformative power and real precision of poetry.

Something about the cunning, Brahmanical, intricate, bureaucratic, file-bound, “apply-through-proper-channels” nature of governance and subjugation in India seems to have made a clerk out of me. My only excuse is to say that it takes odd tools to uncover the maze of subterfuge and hypocrisy that cloaks the callousness and the cold, calculated violence of the world’s favorite new superpower. Repression “through proper channels” sometimes engenders resistance “through proper channels.” As resistance goes this isn’t enough, I know. But for now, it’s all I have. Perhaps someday it will become the underpinning for poetry and for the feral howl.

Today, words like “progress” and “development” have become interchangeable with economic “reforms,” “deregulation,” and “privatization.” Freedom has come to mean choice. It has less to do with the human spirit than with different brands of deodorant. Market no longer means a place where you buy provisions. The “market” is a de-territorialized space where faceless corporations do business, including buying and selling “futures.” Justice has come to mean human rights (and of those, as they say, “a few will do”). . . . . . . .

Actually, I think they say, “a few is too many, where can we cut and be PRAGMATIC”.

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Madman in the Marketplace - 27 September 2009: that does do a good job of summing up the current climate.

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: I thought so… and she says some more farther down too.

I found this quite interesting, esp as I had nto heard of this battlefield. (Reminded me of a recent article I read on the state of the Falklands/Malvinas now, a couple or more decades later, still littered with refuse from the war, Argentine soldiers still begging for state help wtih injuries)

[I]s Democracy Melting?

Perhaps the story of the Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world, is the most appropriate metaphor for the insanity of our times. Thousands of Indian and Pakistani soldiers have been deployed there, enduring chill winds and temperatures that dip to minus 40 degrees Celsius. Of the hundreds who have died there, many have died just from the elements.

The glacier has become a garbage dump now, littered with the detritus of war — thousands of empty artillery shells, empty fuel drums, ice axes, old boots, tents, and every other kind of waste that thousands of warring human beings generate. The garbage remains intact, perfectly preserved at those icy temperatures, a pristine monument to human folly.

While the Indian and Pakistani governments spend billions of dollars on weapons and the logistics of high-altitude warfare, the battlefield has begun to melt. Right now, it has shrunk to about half its size. The melting has less to do with the military standoff than with people far away, on the other side of the world, living the good life. They’re good people who believe in peace, free speech, and in human rights. They live in thriving democracies whose governments sit on the U.N. Security Council and whose economies depend heavily on the export of war and the sale of weapons to countries like India and Pakistan. (And Rwanda, Sudan, Somalia, the Republic of Congo, Iraq, Afghanistan… it’s a long list.)

The glacial melt will cause severe floods on the subcontinent, and eventually severe drought that will affect the lives of millions of people. That will give us even more reasons to fight. We’ll need more weapons. Who knows? That sort of consumer confidence may be just what the world needs to get over the current recession. Then everyone in the thriving democracies will have an even better life — and the glaciers will melt even faster.

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6. catnip - 27 September 2009: Discipline! There must be discipline!

why don’t you read the pleadings in the case (none / 0) (#43)
by Jeralyn on Sun Sep 27, 2009 at 03:21:47 PM EST

before spouting off. If you can google wikipedia, surely you can find them. And if not, here they are:

* Motion to Dismiss (229 pages, will take a while to load)

* Victim’s declaration

Your point of view is noted. And since you mischaracterized what I’ve repeatedly said — I never said the case should be dropped because he’s a holocaust survivor, but because his constitutional rights were violated by the Judge, in cahoots with a DA not on the case, you are banned from commenting further in this thread.

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: the case is a mess, was a mess… and the [now] woman involved does not want, and has not wanted for years, to see the whole thing exacerbated. Geesh. Let the victim speak.

Poor Jeralyn.

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Madman in the Marketplace - 27 September 2009: victims only exist as conduits for other peoples’ rage. If the victim refuses to cooperate/share that rage, the victim becomes part of the problem, and thus they can be ignored or attacked. Victims are especially not allowed to forgive or forget.

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: I think in this case the “victim” gets the whole picture. And I would guess she gets the political machinations that may be at work in the present minuet as well… (esp if he owns a home in Switz.)

The first interview I caught with her was at least 20 years ago…

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7. catnip - 27 September 2009: Okay…yeah…sorry…ugly.

(Which once again gives me the opportunity to link to my all-time favourite.)

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8. catnip - 27 September 2009: Bizarre: “Dead” baby wakes up for his funeral wake

A baby boy born 16 weeks prematurely was declared dead by doctors at a hospital in Paraguay only to wake up in time for his funeral wake hours later.

Dr. Ernesto Weber, head of pediatric care at the state-run hospital in the capital of Asuncion, said the baby weighed just 500 grams (17.6 ounces) when he was born.

“Initially, the baby didn’t move, he practically didn’t have any respiratory reflexes, nor did we hear a heartbeat and, as a result, we declared a premature fetus of 24 weeks dead,” Weber told Reuters Television.

The family was given a death certificate and a cardboard box with the baby’s name scribbled on the outside which served as a makeshift coffin.

But when the family took him from the hospital to prepare him for his funeral, the unbelievable happened.

“I opened the box and took the baby out and he cried. I got scared and I said “the baby’s crying” … and then he started moving his arms, his legs and I got scared, we got very scared,” said one member of the family, Liliana Alvarenga.

Hours after the baby’s death had been declared he was found to be alive. The hospital has begun an investigation and the baby is now in a stable condition in an incubator.

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: oh the righties are gonna luv this one.

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9. marisacat - 27 September 2009: sigh. I see all the hawks are weighing in………… Iran, etc., you name it.

AND I think DiFi had a nip or two to the face.

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10. Madman in the Marketplace - 27 September 2009: Oklahoma City bombing tapes blank in the minutes before the blast

The tapes turned over by the FBI came from security cameras various companies had mounted outside office buildings near the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. They are blank at points before 9:02 a.m., when a truck bomb carrying a 4,000 pound fertilizer-and-fuel-oil bomb detonated in front of the building, Trentadue said.

“Four cameras in four different locations going blank at basically the same time on the morning of April 19, 1995. There ain’t no such thing as a coincidence,” Trentadue said.

He said government officials claim the security cameras did not record the minutes before the bombing because “they had run out of tape” or “the tape was being replaced.”

“The interesting thing is they spring back on after 9:02,” he said. “The absence of footage from these crucial time intervals is evidence that there is something there that the FBI doesn’t want anybody to see.”

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: “The absence of footage from these crucial time intervals is evidence that there is something there that the FBI doesn’t want anybody to see.”

what can one say to that really. Someone, or someones, tampered highly selectively.

And as I recall sites that are libertarian more than liberal or lib/left … or whatever the words are, like IOZ and SMBIVA took issue wiht some of us using “terrorism” to apply to Roeder, I say “strategy of tension” works very well.

If one is timid of the words and thinks using “terror” amounts to AGREEING with the god damned fucking government. There is STATE TERROR.

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Madman in the Marketplace - 27 September 2009: my guess would be that there was a second bomber, and since they couldn’t/didn’t catch him, or he was an informant or something, they clipped it to cover up mistakes/embarrassment or liability.

We’ll never know, but I always find these kinds of wrinkles to be very interesting.

As for ‘terrorism’, governments do it, radicals do it, even the birds and the bees do it. As they say, it’s a strategy etc.

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: well it was clear pretty quick the government wanted McVeigh out of the way… any thought of keeping him alive long term was anathema to the government. They almost seemed afraid of him.

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Madman in the Marketplace - 27 September 2009: pretty clear they did, and of course now NOBODY wants to talk about it. Blowing up buildings is only something scary arabs would do.

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: we desperately need a Norwegian terrorist. A Swede will do in a pinch.

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11. BooHooHooMan - 27 September 2009: Jerralyn. Hmmm.
Talk about a lapse in the footage,
I love this trend… People leaving up their 25 year old glam shots well on their way to Beached Walrus Estates, a Lifestyle Community™….
{with Highspeed Innnnernet Access!}

Going for the whole E Taylor thing I know, but it will be straight up Elizabethan if it’s left up much longer.

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: hmm I Noticed this in her “firm profile”:

In 1996 and 1997, she served as one of the principal trial lawyers for Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City Bombing Case.

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BooHooHooMan - 27 September 2009: She’s touted that of counsel / co counsel gig whatevah
fo. like. evah .
I’ve never been quite clear what she actually..DID. Sorry. JLocal Denver ury pool selection/ adviser mentioned…seems just like one of the go-to-gals for Bench Patronage and has been using it a s a marketing tool ever since…

…So many great scams in the country…The “Adequate” “Representation” Scam being up right up there. Reminds me of that scene in Albert Brooks’ movie, “Real Life’– where he goes through the motions of greeting then quickly dismissing the extra coupla hundred crew foisted upon the Production :
“Thanks for coming out! You know where to pick up your checks”
LOL.
Well whatever her ideas is….Jeralyn seemed to end playiing Susan Sarandon’s role in Dead Man Walking…
A beautiful thing, too ..as Jerry’s Role in the McVeigh do-over of “DMW” can now , in turn, be played by…………
Susan Sarandon. Very Zen.

All I know is the McViegh /Manson /Tate /Polanski / Carved Census thing…
Quite the “doth protest too much”.
Someone’s beating drum . And the bushes…Pretty obvious too…and just running with it…
Not hard to figure, considering where they’re heading..

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: she mentions the tapes and links to a AP report in her top post tonight.. but no mention of her involvement… of whcih I knew nothing… but then I jsut barely read her. Sometimes if something big comes up .. or to laugh at FernandoArmandoTentola.

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12. BooHooHooMan - 27 September 2009: Founder of Branded, Robotic Uniform Company, Dies.

Prankster at Funeral Home Lay’s him out in Izod.

Not a bad day. Safire, the Neocon Jew NewSpeak guy. Not Bad.
To be diplomatic. The Farce of Polanski’s arrest…
All quite entertaining.

I hear there’s a new Michal Moore Movie out. I hope there aren’t breaking newsreels put on IN the Fucker when I go to see it this week..

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: HA! Flags to fly at half mast in SF tomorrow… for Don Fisher. Think he ws the downtown Parking King… among his other [choke strangle] attributes.

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13. BooHooHooMan - 27 September 2009: In other Butthole Lawyer / Parasite on Society News.

Hale Stewart, AKA “Bondad” , blogger lawyer turned armchair investor/ “economist” now turns once again to LAWYER THE SHIT out of his slop..

Popping Bubbles Isn’t as Easy as You Would Think

Hale “Bonddad” Stewart, 09.26.2009

Former bond broker, tax lawyer, financial blogger

The argument is if the Fed had acted more quickly regarding the housing market then the current problems would’ve been avoided. There’s one problem: what’s the exact definition of a bubble?

Yeh , That and Total Douchebaggery is a problem..
GMAFB.

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: He is so lame.

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14. BooHooHooMan - 27 September 2009: Well his last few on DK?

When Will the Jobs Return?
by bonddad
Sat Aug 22, 2009 at 06:09:08 AM PDT

Despite the fact that most economic numbers are currently moving in the right direction, one statistic remains stubbornly high: the unemployment rate. The question on everybody’s lips is …

No.
The Question on Everbody’s Lips was
How , All Hail oh Hale, Can you Be Such a fuckin DumbAss?

More Signs Of Economic Stabilization Emerging
by bonddad
Thu Aug 20, 2009 at 05:22:27 AM PDT

Over the last week and a half more data has emerged that the economies of the US and our trading partners are stabilizing. Let’s take a look at the data.

The Myth of the Black Swan
by bonddad
Sun Aug 23, 2009 at 05:42:36 AM PDT

The most common argument made against people who see a recovery emerging is that we are in the middle of uncharted waters where the traditional rules of economic analysis don’t apply. As I will demonstrate, nothing could be farther from the truth.

LOL. “The Traditional Rules”…Then he BAILED.
with a traditional rules scolding too. What a fop.

..

GBCW
by bonddad
Mon Aug 24, 2009 at 06:10:56 AM PDT

Since I have been writing about how I believe the economy is bottoming, the tone of the comments has grown increasingly negative and personal. While I am happy to engage in civil debate, I am not happy to be personally attacked on a continuing basis.

This will by my last post until it appears the community is interested in civil discourse and diversity of opinions without personal invective and attacks.

If you like my analysis, you can read my longer pieces at Huffington Post or the shorter pieces at my blog.

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marisacat - 27 September 2009: GBLB

Good bye Lame Bonddad

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15. marisacat - 27 September 2009: California… land where millionaires and billionaires always think they can buy their way in… (Hey! it worked, sorta, for Arnold!).

Meg Whitman. Going down for the count. Sacramento Bee finally really pinned it down. SHE’S NEVER VOTED – – – It’s actually a little stunning. Never registered even til 2002… and then STILL DIDN’T VOTE!

Ben Smith has more. She doesn’t use “you know” like Camelotta but it sure is formulaic, her speech. [NTIM]

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16. marisacat - 28 September 2009: gnu…

LINK

…………… 🙄 ……………

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