Winning the Future

Winning the Future 12 August 2011

Posted by marisacat in 2012 Re Election, Culture of Death, DC Politics, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Israel/AIPAC, NORCOM, WAR!.
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A photograph provided by Israeli Aircraft Industries shows their newly-developed vertical take-off drone, or unmanned aircraft, called the Ghost, ahead of its presentation next week in the AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems North America exhibit in Washington DC. The unit, which is electrical and silent, weighs just four kilograms (nine pounds) and can hover for 30 minutes. It can provide real-time intelligence for ground troops operating in urban areas, or can be used for homeland security purposes. Picture: EPA / ISI

They plan on taking really good care of us all.

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1. marisacat - 12 August 2011: Russell Brand, about whom I know little… has a piece up in the Guardian – on the riots… along the way, he clearly has a fluid rather lovely association with the English language…

[T]his week’s riots are sad and frightening and, if I have by virtue of my temporary displacement forgone the right to speak about the behaviour of my countrymen, then this is gonna be irksome. I mean even David Cameron came back from his holiday. Eventually. The Tuscan truffles lost their succulence when the breaking glass became too loud to ignore. Then dopey ol’ Boris came cycling back into the London clutter with his spun gold hair and his spun shit logic as it became apparent that the holiday was over

…

I remember Cameron saying “hug a hoodie” but I haven’t seen him doing it. Why would he? Hoodies don’t vote, they’ve realised it’s pointless, that whoever gets elected will just be a different shade of the “we don’t give a toss about you” party.

Politicians don’t represent the interests of people who don’t vote. They barely care about the people who do vote. They look after the corporations who get them elected. Cameron only spoke out against News International when it became evident to us, US, the people, not to him (like Rose West, “He must’ve known”) that the newspapers Murdoch controlled were happy to desecrate the dead in the pursuit of another exploitative, distracting story.

Why am I surprised that these young people behave destructively, “mindlessly”, motivated only by self-interest? How should we describe the actions of the city bankers who brought our economy to its knees in 2010? Altruistic? Mindful? Kind? But then again, they do wear suits, so they deserve to be bailed out, perhaps that’s why not one of them has been imprisoned. And they got away with a lot more than a few fucking pairs of trainers. . . . .

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2. marisacat - 12 August 2011: What a SCREAM!!

And just who does this sound like? Why, Slobster. Who else.

We are drowning in fucking Elmer Gantrys.

(via Mike Allen Playbook at ~~People~~, Oh I am sure I mean Politico!)

EXCLUSIVE — Quote from a late draft of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential announcement speech, to be delivered in Columbia, S.C., tomorrow (this is real, not one of our parlor games):

“The change we seek will never emanate out of Washington. It will come from the windswept prairies of middle America; the farms and factories across this great land; the hearts and minds of God-fearing Americans — who will not accept a future that is less than our past, who will not be consigned a fate of LESS freedom in exchange for MORE government. We do not have to accept our current circumstances. We will change them. We’re Americans. That’s what we do. WE roll up our sleeves, WE get to work, WE make things better.”

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brinn - 12 August 2011: I have been saying for almost a year now, that if people didn’t learn their lesson from Dubya, then they deserve what they’ll get from Perry. Goodhair is much more vindictive, mean and fanatical then Dubya ever was — he is a super-shyster who will look after his own self-interest first and foremost, and fuck the rest of us…..

change my ass…if there is any, it will be for the worse (yes, it can get worse) and right quick too..

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3. marisacat - 12 August 2011: Chumps sell-outs creeps and loons. In some cases, all at once… 😆
Might as well laugh.

FINAL SUPERCOMMITEE ROSTER, in order members were named (via POLITICO Huddle):

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) (CO-CHAIR)
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.)
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.)
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) (CO-CHAIR)
Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.)
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.)
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio)
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.)
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.)

I saw some slither slithering about … how “liberal” those last three are, GMAFB.

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marisacat - 12 August 2011: Yup.

[N]ot even two hours later, one of those named—Rep. Xavier Becerra of California—was featured on a fundraiser invitation, sent to Wall Street lobbyists by the Investment Company Institute, that highlighted his presence as a member of the super-committee as one of the perks of the $1,500 per ticket event.

“This will be Mr. Becerra’s first event since being named to the commission and may be one of the first for any of the twelve members of the group,” the invitation said, according to the Wall Street Journal. “This event could give all attendees a glimpse into what will most assuredly be the primary topic of discussion between now and the end of the year.”

Apart from Becerra’s brazen opportunism, the presence on the committee of such politically compromised figures as Chris Van Hollen (head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) and Patty Murray (head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee)—and the fact that the super-committee’s staff will be largely comprised of former lobbyists—means that fundraising opportunities will never be far from the members’ minds when they sit down at the negotiating table this fall.

Read more: BI: The Super Committee is Really Just a Super Fraud and You Should be Disgusted

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ts - 12 August 2011: I saw the committee as just a cross section of special interests that need to be protected (code for give us money and we’ll protect them).

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marisacat - 12 August 2011: oh yeah… out of 535 or whatever it is, there is NO ONE.

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BooHooHooMan - 12 August 2011: Well.
There is need for serious reform.

“…and the fact that the super-committee’s staff will be largely comprised of former lobbyists—means that fundraising opportunities will never be far from the members’ minds.”

I don’t know if anybody has thought of this, but, like,
Why don’t we just shoot the Committee and Staff?
Shoot Shoot Shoot Shoot SHOOT.
shoot.
Shoot-shoot.And so-fuckin-ballistic-so-forth-while-tryin-to-get-off-another-round so-forth, shoot.

Anyways.
Of course, allow new members to be re-appointed while giving constituents a chance to re-load.
What? Oh I don’t mind. LOL.

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marisacat - 12 August 2011: I vote AYE.

(And i think I can speak for Our Lord as well…. he agrees…. Hey everybody says they know what he wants. I want in on the celestial conf call!!)

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BooHooHooMan - 12 August 2011: 😆 Oh I’d’ have made a great priest.
All the Lord’s work,
Real arms-around-the-wayward-fold stuff.
As in Why yes Ralph, I think God WILL eventually send you
that winning lottery ticket! You deserve it!
And Gladys will come back home! BUT FIRST, see, Ralph :
God wants you go to attend a meeting.
A very special meeting n Washington DC..
In a very special place, .
And you’re gonna need to take a few things, Ralphie…..
By the way, You LIKE GUNS?
And meeting IMPORTANT PEOPLE?
May I call you Ralphie?

Real arms-around-the-wayward-fold stuff.

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diane - 12 August 2011: Thanks you two, I needed that smile. An AYE here too.

;0)

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4. marisacat - 12 August 2011: Hey hey… 11th cir says individual mandate in Obcare is unconstitutional. The rest stands. (On to the SC I know…. )

Link to Bus Insider

BUT I think as the mandate dies, the rest will wither.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Georgia has declared the “individual mandate” provision of President Obama’s health care bill unconstitutional.

The section of the bill made it illegal for an individual not to have health insurance, and is one of the most contested parts of the law passed in March 2010. Twenty-six state have filed suit to have the law overturned
Developing…

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diane - 12 August 2011: Was the mandate a topic of Pat’s show last night? I was only able to catch a few minutes and was really disappointed to hear someone, who seemed like they might be a guest speaker, defending it.

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marisacat - 12 August 2011: hmm i have forgotten who she had on – and i am not sure I heard much of her 7 – 10 fill-in…… they do program notes, wtih names of guests and pertinent links, you can check.

hmm she had on Norman Solomon, I do recall that. He is running to fill the old Woolsey representing Marin in the House. I cannot stand Norman Solomon. Totally useless imo. If someone defended Slobster and Obamacare, it ws probably him…

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diane - 12 August 2011: Whoever I heard, he sounded like a self important jerk.

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marisacat - 12 August 2011: oh Norman is just useless… he’s been around for years.. NTIM, I did not think much of Lynn Woolsey either.

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5. diane - 12 August 2011: jeepers creepers, …that thing looks like a wingless Bottle Fly, .. head on. Fed by rotted, maggot infested, Monsanto ™ ..ice taters?

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diane - 12 August 2011: (wellllll okay, a wingless, and stump legged (that sixth hind leg is missing, replaced by some sort of stubby 24/7 camera/missive projector?) Bottle Fly? Tag suggestion: Amazing Prosthetics & WinThatFuture!!!!! )

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6. Madman in the Marketplace - 12 August 2011: I mean even David Cameron came back from his holiday. Eventually. The Tuscan truffles lost their succulence when the breaking glass became too loud to ignore.

A nice, back-handed, slow motion slap …

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marisacat - 12 August 2011: oh I so enjoyed it… and the slam at Boris like he is some big blond ox. Which is pretty much what he is. From clips I heard, he did not handle his availability on the streets well.

GOOD LUCK!!

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7. Madman in the Marketplace - 12 August 2011: London Burning, Punk Rock and a Tea Party dream come true

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8. Madman in the Marketplace - 12 August 2011: BART statement on killing wireless service in stations on Aug. 11, in anticipation of civil unrest

CNET’s Elinor Mills reports that “The initial statement from BART said the subway system had asked the wireless carriers to suspend the service in the stations, but Allison later said BART itself pulled the plug and notified the providers after the fact.”

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marisacat - 12 August 2011: well it was pointed out today that riots have occurred, governments have been toppled, people have been assassinated for thousands of years.

Get over it.

Over the years I have grown to HATE the one spokesman that BART uses for absolutely everything. Round the clock… dayin and day out… ugh.

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9. marisacat - 12 August 2011: Alexander Cockburn has a post up on the riots… a good one… and includes text from an interview he conducted with Darcas Howe back in ’81…

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10. marisacat - 12 August 2011: oh major yum! IOZ is REALLY back… Foodie Friday.. with poule au pot.

And…. you know, done with his special loving twist:

[S]tuff the chicken. Really, you know, fist it in there. It’s going to come out as a kind of sausage, ahem. Sew up the bird’s cavity and then truss its legs and wings. Put it in a good dutch oven or similar heavy pot. Surround it with the raw ingredients from for the pot. Cover in cold water, generously salted. Place on high heat and bring just to boil, skimming any foam or froth that rises to the top. Reduce heat. Simmer for 3 hours on the lowest flame. . . . . .

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marisacat - 12 August 2011: And

I guess liberals are gleeful over the generally nutty display at last night’s GOP shindig, but I will say this for the Republicans–as a matter of pure aesthetics, they have produced once again a genuine bestiary of real American types, whereas every time I see a gathering of Democrats, they seem to have beamed straight from some nearby planet, speak through slightly glitchy universal translators, learned human mannerisms from watching distant television broadcasts that have at long last diffused through space.

. . . .

Barack Obama on the other hand seems like a holodeck beta test.

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brinn - 14 August 2011: BEAUTY! “a holodeck beta test”!!!

*bigassgrin*

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marisacat - 14 August 2011: oh is that not great????????

I loved it… and what IOZ says is true too.

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11. marisacat - 13 August 2011: well … touring the usual suspects, the headlines, the columnists, punditrynuttery… here and in Uk and Europe… I wonder how Obby can hold on. Or if some miraculous messianic Lazarus event is planned. If so, watch out for manna falling on our heads.

Meanwhile Podhoretz takes a victory lap.. of course still keeping to the most useful narrative (far left failes and is rejected yet again by the conservative glory hole that is America) for the Wingers, Righties, Conservatives and White Elites (with of course their multi-colored attendants and courtiers)…

[I]n short, the spell that Mr. Obama once cast—a spell so powerful that instead of ridiculing him when he boasted that he would cause “the oceans to stop rising and the planet to heal,” all of liberaldom fell into a delirious swoon—has now been broken by its traumatic realization that he is neither the “god” Newsweek in all seriousness declared him to be nor even a messianic deliverer.

. . . .

To be honest, when they swooped in on bin Laden… and reading the English language press and columnists around the world, especially some reports that Pakistan, police / army, whoever runs the place… certainly knew he was there, but merely watched him as they felt he had gone passive. Benign. Certainly seems possible, but raises for me the question of why Obby swooped down so early. All is for re-election and certainly closer to re-elect would have been much better. Whatever glow there was to be from the event… would be short lived in this economy.

How scrweweweredd it all is. How screwed we are.

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12. BooHooHooMan - 13 August 2011: Meanwhile Podhoretz takes a victory lap.. of course still keeping to the most useful narrative (far left failes and is rejected yet again by the conservative glory hole that is America)

😆 Oh Good Lord. 😆 The CGH TIA. 😆

OFA / Obama 2012: BACK RIGHT UP!*
Now, Closer Than EVAH!

Welp, forget the buttons, stickers, t-shirts, and wrist gels this time around. You’ll know the Obama campers struggling up to the door by the piston-hammered STALL DIVIDER laminated to their ASS.

” There’s the oral too, tho. I hear.
They can try and work the phones through the divider I guess. Hell, people can call for OFA – from HOME! USing the “WEB”!! No one has to know they have a toilet compartment that-could-impair-vision and is Conservatively-Glory-Hole-Face-Fucked embedded in skull!
Truly – Safety First when going door to door!
Yes We Can! With Part of the Can!
😆

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BooHooHooMan - 13 August 2011: Ooops! Wrong Place!
Meant as reply to Marisacat above!
please add a ~Mcat! after the CGH TIA intro!

Just when we thought we were safe!
Mcat busts down the stall!
😆 😉

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marisacat - 13 August 2011: we r so screwed.

I don’t know what else to say anymore.

A columnist in The Torygraph, whcih of course never fell for him… obviously but it detailed what a schlub he is now on the campaign or exhort the hapless route. The flubs the flat tin ear the dullness the inability to rouse. And it quoted a range of US punditry… supposed liberal to the right… (NTIM).

But the Torygraph was not alone… whcih is a problem. (Well, for Slob that is)

Not bothered yet with the Guardian…

Yeah, sinking as we are in the glory hole that is America. Too right.

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13. BooHooHooMan - 13 August 2011: Then there is the war – wars – WARS.
US Intelligence Shares DOWN – Again! – in heavy trading…

The bodies of eight abducted Afghan security officials have been found in the east of the country.

The three intelligence officers and five policemen went missing on Thursday in Wardak, where 38 died when militants shot down a US helicopter last week.

AND a CIA ? Mossad? kidnapped in Pakistan.
Well, obviously.somebody’s spook.
Now headed… (Or maybe not!)..for the whole drag of a commute home…..

Gunmen abduct American in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A band of gunmen abducted an American aid worker 🙄 from his home in the eastern city of Lahore early Saturday, Pakistani police officials said, in an unusual incident likely to fuel questions about the security of Americans in a country beset by both Islamist militancy and kidnapping gangs.

The U.S. Embassy identified the man as Warren Weinstein, and a profile on the LinkedIn networking Web site indicated that he serves as Pakistan country director for the Arlington-based development contractor J.E. Austin Associates.

The firm’s Web site said it has held contracts with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), including in the insurgent-riddled tribal border region, and that Weinstein headed a “strategic development and competitiveness” initiative. 🙄

The LinkedIn profile said Weinstein — who maintains a residence in Rockville — had lived in the cultural hub of Lahore for seven years.

So much for Rockville! 7 YEARS– Helping! 🙄 Dahmn!.
Hopefully the landscapers got the money up front.

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marisacat - 13 August 2011: Targetted hits…. the enemy has the Internets too…

I don’t think Little Warren of USAID employ is coming home again. Just a matter of time ’til it is Wardak racking up the hits and Arlington headless. Or worse.

Wave buh bye.

(maybe the glory hole should close down.}

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14. BooHooHooMan - 13 August 2011: There is news out of Iowa. 😆

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marisacat - 13 August 2011: I heard wife o f the spiritual gay healer won the straw poll…. Ron P next then Pawlenty…

snicker…

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15. Madman in the Marketplace - 13 August 2011: Income inequality is bad for rich people too

One snippet in the piece, quoted from Financial Times:

Those who would deny a link between health and inequality must first grapple with the following paradox. There is a strong relationship between income and health within countries. In any nation you will find that people on high incomes tend to live longer and have fewer chronic illnesses than people on low incomes.

Yet, if you look for differences between countries, the relationship between income and health largely disintegrates. Rich Americans, for instance, are healthier on average than poor Americans, as measured by life expectancy. But, although the US is a much richer country than, say, Greece, Americans on average have a lower life expectancy than Greeks. More income, it seems, gives you a health advantage with respect to your fellow citizens, but not with respect to people living in other countries….

Once a floor standard of living is attained, people tend to be healthier when three conditions hold: they are valued and respected by others; they feel ‘in control’ in their work and home lives; and they enjoy a dense network of social contacts. Economically unequal societies tend to do poorly in all three respects: they tend to be characterised by big status differences, by big differences in people’s sense of control and by low levels of civic participation….

Unequal societies, in other words, will remain unhealthy societies – and also unhappy societies – no matter how wealthy they become. Their advocates – those who see no reason whatever to curb ever-widening income differentials – have a lot of explaining to do.

It’s long, but some interesting stuff …

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marisacat - 13 August 2011: I heard an interesting thing said this past week… an assessment of fascism. That one element is a “contempt for human weakness”.

And we are fully in that.

People are poor as they don’t try hard enough. People are fat because they are stupid. No idea of when to stop eating. People are sick as they refuse to care for themselves. Or, in our colective estimation, they embrace “bad” life choices…. Etc.

This game America plays of “personal responsibility” became a huge ugly game – and nasty, killing game it is – of “J’accuse”, in a big fat shift of national responsibility away from some kind of, any kind of national commons in which people are equal and have access to what they need to stay alive.

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Madman in the Marketplace - 13 August 2011: yup. I’m always of two minds about reading stuff like the above. On the one hand, part of me wants to believe that rational arguments can still make a difference, but mostly I know that the hard, cold nastiness of American society has risen to the level of zealous religious conviction.

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16. Madman in the Marketplace - 13 August 2011: Collecting DNA From Arrestees Is Unconstitutional, California Court Says

The 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said Proposition 69 amounted to unconstitutional, warrantless searches of arrestees. More than 1.6 million samples have been taken following the law’s 2009 implementation.

“What the DNA Act authorizes is the warrantless and suspicionless search of individuals, before a judicial determination of probable cause to believe they have committed a crime, for evidence of crime unrelated to that for which they have been arrested,” (.pdf) the court wrote. “The United States Supreme Court has never permitted suspicionless searches aimed at uncovering evidence of crime outside the context of convicted offenders.”

The California appeals court distanced itself from other rulings on the issue, holding that DNA collection from arrestees’ inner cheeks is not the same as taking fingerprints. About half of those arrested in California are convicted.

“The question this case presents, which is increasingly presented to the courts of this state and nation, is the extent to which technology can be permitted to diminish the privacy guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment,” the court wrote.

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marisacat - 13 August 2011: Proposition 69 amounted to unconstitutional, warrantless searches of arrestees.

mamamma mia…. something right…

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17. marisacat - 13 August 2011: New

LINK

…………….. 🙄

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