Options 25 November 2011
Posted by marisacat in 2012 Re Election, Afghanistan War, AFRICOM, Culture of Death, DC Politics, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Iran, Iraq War, Israel/AIPAC, Moscow, NORCOM, Pakistan, Total fucking lunatics, WAR!.83 comments
Don’t worry! It can’t be the twilight of the American Empire, we still have options for war…. that table, the one reserved for war options, is loaded to the gills!!! We never empty that table…
You want Northern War? Southern War (always tasty! and a bonifide Reagan favorite!)? War in the East?! War in the West ??? Or, best for last… multidirectional war: Iran and China!!
We have options.
****
Snicker Snax…. a second cartoon in the gallery also dealt with sabre rattling at China, employing a wicked satire of Slob. YUM.
Nuclear 16 September 2011
Posted by marisacat in 2012 Re Election, Culture of Death, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Moscow, Total fucking lunatics.74 comments
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August 1987: The village of Kopachi is buried, house by house. It was located 7km from the Chernobyl reactor that housed the control room and decontamination area in the months after the disaster. A bulldozer would dig a large trench in front of each house before burying the building and covering it with earth and flattening the soil. Entire villages would be buried this way Photograph: Igor Kostin/Corbis
From a gallery at the Guardian on Chernobyl.
I so don’t want one… 1 November 2009
Posted by marisacat in Divertissements, la vie en rose, Moscow, WAR!.76 comments
The Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition armoured car sells for one million euros. It has gold plated bulletproof windows, pure tungsten exhausts, speed gauges encrusted with diamonds – and seats made from whale penis leather
Picture: BARCROFT MEDIA
hmm It occurred to me though that Maria and Arnold might want one so I thought I’d google up a fast article on the item… made by a Russian firm, Russo-Baltique.. (proceed to fret, we are being outdone in the gargantuan division – I say, thanks be to someone’s god!)
If four-wheel-drives weren’t politically incorrect enough, a Russian car maker is offering one with whale penis leather trim. By RICHARD BLACKBURN.
A Russian armoured-car builder is boasting that its latest vehicle has seats covered with “whale-penis leather”.
The €1 million ($1.6 million) Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition armoured car has been developed by the same company, RussoBaltique, that built armoured vehicles for Tsar Nicholas, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky.
On its official website, the company says the whale-penis leather is the same as that used by Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis on the yacht Christina O.
Onassis is rumoured to have had some of the barstools on the yacht, the world’s most expensive at the time, covered in the controversial leather. . . . . .
…it all seems so long ago, but we should be relieved there is continuum! Lest the firmament tear!
For those wondering just how may whales may need to be harvested to outfit the special edition, the answer is not many. The penis of the Blue Whale, for example, can grow up to 2.4 metres.
Maybe they should just ship a whole one, along with the … car. Tank. Whatever it is.
Who knew? 10 September 2009
Posted by marisacat in DC Politics, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Lie Down Fall Down Dems, Moscow.46 comments
I never would have assumed Putin had a poodle (he’s on the record ridiculing Barney, the Bush era WH dog). Apparently he does. Tosya. (This means nothing, just for fun.)
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Via The Page… sigh.
Obama to speak again on health care Thursday morning from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Carry on… we’ll get something out of this, then see what the hell it is.
Sunday 12 July 2009
Posted by marisacat in 2010 Mid Terms, DC Politics, Democrats, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Moscow.31 comments
Qalqilya, West Bank: Palestinian ruling Fatah supporters, chant slogans during a ceremony to commemorate members of the Palestinian security killed in May during a shootout with members of Hamas [Muhammed Muheisen/AP]
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Doyle McManus of the LAT is a remarkably mediocre reporter and commentator – or whatever it is that he is – so when he calls an end to “Obamania”, well, who knows… However this latest jaunt did seem… gosh, FLAT. As a pancake. With no syrup.
Barack Obama has fallen back to Earth.
When he ran for president, Obama said his election would be “the moment the rise of the oceans began to slow.” And when he made his first big foreign trip in April, he was hailed by adoring crowds — and almost-as-adoring politicians — in Britain, Germany, France and the Czech Republic.
But last week, in Russia and Italy, Obamania was little more than a pleasant memory. Yes, his international polling numbers are still high, but the president encountered hardly any adulation in the streets of Moscow or anywhere else. Instead, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin reportedly gave him a tongue-lashing over a two-hour breakfast, and the tent-bound refugees from Italy’s April earthquake mostly wanted to know whether he could rebuild their homes. (“Yes, we camp,” their banner said, pointedly.)
And the oceans are still rising too. At the Group of 8 summit, the developing countries said no to a timetable to stop global warming, the reason for the waters’ rise.
That’s not to say the trip was a bust; it wasn’t. But it was far from a triumph, and that’s a new experience for Obama’s foreign policy team. snipwhippy
Oh I don’t know if it is so “new”, we’ve had a lot of smoke and mirrors for 6 months. Maybe for a year and half. Maybe forever. To be blunt.
Instead, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin reportedly gave him a tongue-lashing over a two-hour breakfast…
I did read that Putin had asked Obama to dinner on his second night in Russia.. and Ob begged off claiming he ”needed family time” (W T Fucking Fuck?)… suggesting breakfast, instead, and that Putin is more of an afternoon and evening person than a morning person. For those hard decisions of State, anyway. Murder, War, Oppression, Peer Conferencing – and the like.
Apparently, he looked grumpy as all hell the next am. Clutching a coffee cup.
Oh the great men and their daily toilette.
I caught Nikita’s granddaughter, Nina Khrushcheva, in several comment spots after the Only Begotten Son’s departure from Russia… where, from a combination of lack of adoring or, in fact, much TV coverage inside Russia (his speech was not televised) of Obama’s visit, the population seemed rather unconcerned about him. Diagnosis: They must be psychotic, we should assume. At the least pathological. This gave rise to us (some of us) hinting the Russians are racist (more dx). Who are we to call anyone racist? Not denying objective observation is allowed anyone, but, Jesus, get real.
Along the way she observed that Russians found him to be “preaching” and they are less ideologues about politics than they are realists.
Works for me… would that some of that could spread.
He can see Russia 5 July 2009
Posted by marisacat in 2010 Mid Terms, DC Politics, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Moscow.53 comments
MOSCOW – JULY 5: Souvenir matryoshka dolls, or Russian nesting dolls, painted with portraits of U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev are displayed near Red Square on July 5, 2009 in Moscow, Russia. Barack Obama will arrive for his first visit to Russia as president on July 6. (Oleg Nikishin/Epsilon/Getty Images)
He can see Russia … from the Embassy window.
He’s taken two slams against Putin in the days running up to this visit. I assume this means Ob thinks he out classes the old KGB man as a ”player”.
I love petty, stupid games between the Big Men on the Global Map.
They don’t all love us, it seems… 19 February 2009
Posted by marisacat in 2010 Mid Terms, Afghanistan War, DC Politics, Europe, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Israel/AIPAC, Moscow, WAR!.111 comments
Kabul, Afghanistan: A man begs on a street [Ahmad Masood/Reuters]
Now we are begging for civilians…
The US Defence Secretary pleaded with Nato allies to send more civilian personnel to Afghanistan yesterday, after proclaiming disappointment at their failure to meet his requests for troops.
Robert Gates made his request as Nato defence ministers convened in Poland, two days after President Obama committed 17,000 more US soldiers to the fight, making Afghanistan his foreign policy priority.
Washington had hoped to capitalise on the new President’s appeal by gaining further troop commitments from European allies, but so far no pledges have been forthcoming from Cracow.
Not the least of our problems… as we pursue war in the land that sinks empires…
The new US “surge” is smaller than commanders in Afghanistan had hoped and comes amid growing concern over the logistics of prosecuting the war with too few troops and too few supply routes into the country.
Russia has said it is willing to help with the movement of supplies but its help will probably come at the cost of Nato expansionism and the US missile defence system in Eastern Europe.
The first shipment of military goods will leave Latvia soon, going through Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Afghanistan. Moscow remains opposed to any permanent Nato or US military presence, such as a base in an area it regards as its unique sphere of influence.
Surge on.
Meanwhile at home.. first on one foot then on the other… anything to stave off a DECISION that might be unpopular. Get it over with chumps. Go for it. (via Politico’s “44” page, no link)
Unsatisfied with the one week reprieve it got today, Justice Department is making a last-ditch plea to a federal appeals court for a full two weeks to negotiate a deal to head off the executive privilege dispute over Congress’s demands for testimony and documents from Bush White House officials Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, and Josh Bolten. — Josh Gerstein (5:55 p.m.)
Surge on.
***
Pro Publica tracking The Change.
Introducing ChangeTracker: Tracking Change in Washington
by Brian Boyer, ProPublica – February 19, 2009 12:40 pm ESTWe’re launching ChangeTracker, an experimental new tool that watches pages on whitehouse.gov [1], recovery.gov [2] and financialstability.gov [3] so you don’t have to. When the White House adds or deletes anything— say a blog post, or executive order—ChangeTracker will let you know.The latest changes are below, or sign up on the right to get alerts sent to you.
Each change links to a page (courtesy of a service called Versionista [4]) that shows the different versions side-by-side. Text highlighted in red means it was removed, green means it was added. If you notice something interesting, let us know [5]. We’ll highlight the gems.
And in the hope that folks will track other important Web sites, we want you to steal our code: Here’s how to create your own tracker for any Web site [6].
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Shuafat, West Bank: A Palestinian boy climbs through an opening in the West Bank barrier near Jerusalem [Guardian – 24 Hours in Pictures – February 19 2009 – Baz Ratner/Reuters]
Bona Fortuna… 1 February 2009
Posted by marisacat in Divertissements, France, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Moscow, Viva La Revolucion!, WAR!.103 comments
A man dressed as the Chinese God of Fortune, right, and a performer wearing a Chinese firecrackers costume handed out “red pockets” with small amounts of money to visitors outside a Hong Kong shopping mall. [Vincent Yu/Associated Press]
we’re gonna need it….
In other news… masses of entertainment will hit, all too likely, in a few years. Weeks ago when Obama was arguing for access to email and the internet, it seemed conditioned on his engaging in non-substantive, non-government, non-Oval Office exchanges.
Hold on to the popcorn machine. Exhort the cows to make butter, cull salt from the seas:
“No,” he [Anthony Lake] said when asked if he had it. “Did. Don’t.”
Neither does Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, nor Steny H. Hoyer, the majority leader, but they do not use e-mail much anyway. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, is a BlackBerry fiend, but he does not have Mr. Obama’s address. Nor do many members of the cabinet, including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has it, along with his own new super-secret BlackBerry and e-mail address. So do Mr. Obama’s chief of staff, his top advisers and some of his oldest friends from Chicago.
Senator Richard J. Durbin, a fellow Illinois Democrat, probably has it but refuses to say. “We’re not going to discuss it,” said a spokesman, Joe Shoemaker. Asked why, he said, “That’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”
It is now the ultimate status symbol in a town obsessed by status. Mr. Obama was spotted last week trying out his new BlackBerry — or actually a more sophisticated, encrypted variation — and aides say that he uses a computer in the study next to the Oval Office but that he has agreed to limit the number of people he would exchange e-mail with. In the process, he created a new measure for Washington to judge who really has the ear, or the thumb, of the president.
…
Those select few who have Mr. Obama’s e-mail address, say people informed about the matter, include Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff; David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, both senior advisers; and Robert Gibbs, the press secretary. But cabinet members like the interior secretary, Ken Salazar, said they did not have it. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is a frequent BlackBerry user, but a spokesman said he did not know whether she had the president’s address.
Apparently Oprah played it cagey… does she or doesn’t she. John Podesta, who does not have the email address, did say the number who do would grow. Oh inevitably…………….
Top to bottom (this is the close) the report simply did not mention the legal implications. Frankly, I think Bush had better legal advice. Not for the nation, but for that wretched institution, the Unitary Executive.
The challenge for those privileged few with the address will be when to use it. What is the etiquette on sending e-mail to the president? Several friends and aides said they would hit the “reply” button but not the “new message” button — in other words, send messages only when messaged first.
“Rarely will I bother him for anything serious or nonserious,” said Alexi Giannoulias, the state treasurer of Illinois and a friend.
“I figure if he needs me or wants to talk to me on any social level, he can get me very, very quickly. His friends need to have a shift in mentality. He’s no longer Barack. He’s an institution.”
Carry on.
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From the many protests…
Russian policemen arrested a man dressed as dustbin as he protested against a refuse disposal plant in Moscow. [BBC]
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Lyon:
Demonstrators in Lyon carried a red banner calling for “Neither state nor bosses – revolution!”
Marisacat 