clever title forthcoming


click here to learn more
**The above figure is only the DIRECT cost of the ILLEGAL Invasion & Occupation of Iraq - it makes no effort to quantify well over 100,000 lost lives, a million displaced humans, 10's of thousands of mentally & physically injured soldiers, and forfeited domestic opportunities
(FYI: It never was a war, calling it such provides a legitimacy that makes a mockery of meaningful events like WW2)


2007.06.04 Monday

Today is the 18th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing, China. This event is universally known in China as "six four" (Liu Si or 六四). China's old crusty ruling male oligarchs simply refer to this event as "turmoil" and refuse to mention it. They have never released any report on this incident nor does anyone know how many lives were lost. One thing is for certain, 18 years ago the Chinese people were at a higher level of intellectual, philosophical, and political discourse. Since this event, the nation has made great economic improvement (the "communist" party made sure everyone has a TV for brainwashing), and along with that a disproportionately massive increase in materialism and unrestrained capitalism (a Chinese FDA? OSHA? EPA? historical preservation? HA!).
...Oh well, at least I can always look to Venezeula for amusement
AFP, CARACAS
Monday, Jun 04, 2007, Page 7
Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Saturday marched in a show of support for his controversial closure of an opposition television station.

Supporters of the leftist president marched under his slogan of "democratizing television and radio," one day after students surprised the government with large anti-Chavez demonstrations demanding freedom of expression.

"Starting today, the [pro-government] counterattack must be maintained across the country," Chavez rallied the throng, claiming that a "destabilizing maneuver was afoot to carry out a gentle coup" and topple his government. He did not offer details.

"If the Venezuelan oligarchy ... does not accept this call to live together in peace that we are making, if it keeps on attacking using the things it still controls, it will keep losing those things one by one," Chavez warned.

Chavez closed Venezuela's oldest and most popular television station almost a week ago, and protests have only grown, prompting international criticism.

The closure of RCTV has become a lightning rod for Chavez opponents. Chavez refused to renew the license of a station that openly called for his ouster in 2002, during a two-day coup bid against him that ultimately failed.
...

"Ho! Ho! Chavez will not go!" his supporters chanted, making it clear that the demonstration was as much about Chavez as about RCTV, the broadcaster of soap operas and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
(RORY SEZ: The above action by the TV station IS TREASON! It's not as simple as described either! DURING and before the 2 day coup the station constantly showed protests against Chavez by the priveleged class as well as coup actions... After the coup and during the MASSIVE pro Chavez demonstrations, the station SHOWED NOTHING! Instead it showed soap operas! How fucked up is that? Selective newsworthyness? Slight media bias? Do you REALLY think a US TV Station would remain in business 5 years until its FCC license was up for renewal if it had advocated treason? Fuck no!!!!)
"In its quarterly report, the Pentagon report showed Iraqi deaths have risen by 50 percent over the previous quarter..."
"...overall attacks rose 24 per cent to 792 per week and Iraqi casualties increased by 51 per cent to nearly 120 per day."
"...That translates to 1,000 additional Iraqis killed each month."

WTF ARE: "enemy combatant" "death squads" "insurgents" "islamofascists" "terrorists" ??

--NPR and MSNBC

"I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it."
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

"CEOs who whine about Sarbanes Oxley don't belong in their jobs. Come on guys, get over it."
-- Bill Watkins, Seagate CEO.

"Strange a God who mouths Golden Rules and forgiveness, then invented hell; who mouths morals to other people and has none Himself; who frowns upon crimes yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man's acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon Himself; and finally with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship Him!" (Capital letters for all "almighty" references in the original.)
-- Mark Twain

Lists Galore

See Wiki
"That new era has begun. We have shown that Venezuela is red! ... No one should fear socialism ... Socialism is human. Socialism is love. Down with imperialism! We need a new world!"
--Hugo Chavez, thrice democratically-elected president of Venezuela

"Theology is a superstition - Humanity is a religion"
--Robert G. Ingersoll

"See you in hell Pinochet!"
--Me

"People should not be afraid of their government, Governments should be afraid of their people."
--V

"See you in hell Ken Lay!" :)
--The State of California

"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
--Sinclair Lewis

"I hate this stinkin' war"
--Neil Young, 2006.08.18 on Colbert Report

"it's difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it"
--Upton Sinclair

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING
or how Americans will learn to stop worrying and love them taxes!

Did you know the US government uses TWO totally different accounting methods to keep track of its income and expenses? Those White House figures we all see on TV and in the newspaper come from totally simplistic deflated expense figures produced using "cash accounting". This method gave us this year's much-ballyhooed ASTOUNDINGLY IMPROVED federal deficit of only about $318 billion dollars!!! It's bad enough we celebrate this monumental overspending. That's $2,800 owed per US household!!! These unfunded expenses don't just evaporate when the GDP grows like the Republicans want you to believe.

Unfortunately, that celebrated $318 billion budget devicit isn't using modern standard accounting practices. In fact, if any US corporation with over $1 million in revenues used the same accounting system as the White House, they would be sued for misrepresentation of finances and violating federal laws. Luckily the US Treasury uses a more proper accounting method called "accrual accounting". This method takes into consideration the cash in and out flows PLUS future OBLIGATIONS generated in this period. Under cash accounting, if I take out a huge cash advance on my credit card this year (that's a high interest loan), I'll appear rich this year. Under accrual accounting that cash advance would be neutral or even negative value since some interest accrues during this period.

Using accrual accounting, this year's US deficit BALLOONS TO A RIDICULOUS $760 BILLION !!! That's $760,000,000,000 in overspending IN ONE BLOODY YEAR. That's $6,700 from every US household or like $115 in taxes from EVERY HUMAN ON EARTH just to fund this one year of under-taxing the wealthy, buying useless military crap, and handing out corporate welfare checks. Accrual accounting would actually wipe out those few latter Clinton era "surplus years". The last four Clinton budgets would swing from a $559 billion SURPLUS under cash accounting to a $484 billion DEFICIT under accrual accounting!!! Awww shucks, what's a TRILLION DOLLARS amongst friends?

It gets worse... If we actually INCLUDE social security & medicare "obligations" then America's financial condition actually WORSENS by $3.5 TRILLION! (for the numerically challenged, that is $3,500,000,000,000.00). And let's not forget the previous 20+ years of fat deficits and unfunded future obligations still must be paid for!

America's actual TOTAL debts and commitments are NOT $8.3 trillion but instead $49 TRILLION. That's just a little bit less than the yearly GDP for the entire WORLD. How's that for a credit card bill?

--USA Today and other sources
PS: We could fix all of this by slighly raising taxes and replacing for profit health insurance with universal single payer medical insurance!!!
Joe Lieberman just became ONLY THE FOURTH Senate incumbent since 1980 (26 years!!!) to lose a primary.

What an embarrassing indictment of our diseased archaic plutocratic democracy! Everyone loves to complain about incumbents yet WE always vote for our same old politicians. Term limits are NOT the solution, but a vigorous informed electorate, VOTER OWNED elections, mandatory debates & questionnaires, and reduced voting barriers (voting holidays, absentee voting, same day registration) would go a long way toward promoting a real market/merit-based government.

BY DEFAULT all voters should be naturally biased favor the best NEW CANDIDATE and THEN ask the incumbents to PROVE what they have done to deserve re-election as public SERVANT. There is nothing wrong with a stellar legislator serving multiple terms of office, but they should never be allowed to rest on some ancient laurels from bygone battles, "political capital", or connections galore for re-election.

No union, church, race, or club should ever blindly offer its support to a candidate on the basis of party affiliation. Support should be earned and RE-earned continually over a politician's career.
--ME

"The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."
--THOMAS JEFFERSON

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our government in a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country."
--THOMAS JEFFERSON

"Timid men ... prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty."
--THOMAS JEFFERSON

"When there is conflict between the liberty of speech and the beliefs of private individuals the liberty of speech must always take precedence. Because otherwise every other liberty, including freedom of religious observance, is put into question."
--Salman Rushdie

"if all of mankind except one were of one opinion, and that one were of another, all of mankind would be no more justified in silencing that man that would he in silencing all of mankind."
--John Stuart Mill, On Liberty

"Grant, in any quarter of the globe, a reading people and a free press -- and the prejudices on which misrule supports itself will gradually and silently disappear."
--James Mill, 1813, father of John Stuart Mill

"Most people are on the world, not in it; have no conscious sympathy or relationship to anything about them, undiffused, separate, and rigidly alone like marbles of polished stone, touching but separate."
--John Muir

"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence that it is not utterly absurd."
--Bertrand Russell

"War does not determine who is right. Only who is left."
--Bertrand Russell

"Most people would rather die than think; in fact, they do so."
--Bertrand Russell

"And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence"
--Bertrand Russell

ON PARASITES:
Or how the US Financial Services Industry rapes and plunders

Q: "What percentage of my net growth is going to fees in a 401(k) plan?"
A: "Well it's awesome. Let me give you a little longer-term example. An individual who's 20-years old today [is] starting to accumulate for retirement.... That person has about 45 years to go before retirement -- 20 to 65 -- and then, if you believe the actuarial tables, another 20 years to go before death mercifully brings his or her life to a close. So that's 65 years of investing. If you invest $1,000 at the beginning of that time and earn 8 percent, that $1,000 will grow...to around $140,000."

"Now the financial system -- the mutual-fund system in this case -- will take about 2.5 percentage points out of that return, so you'll have a net return of 5.5 percent, and your $1,000 will grow to approximately $30,000 to you the investor."

"Think about that. That means the financial system put up zero percent of the capital and took zero percent of the risk and got almost 80 percent of the return. And you, the investor in this long time period, an investment lifetime, put up 100 percent of the capital, took 100 percent of the risk, and got only a little bit over 20 percent of the return. That's a financial system that's failing investors because of those costs of financial advice and brokerage, some hidden, some out in plain sight, that investors face today. So the system has to be fixed,"
--John Bogle, Vanguard Group founder on PBS FRONTLINE

"In my lifetime, we've gone from Eisenhower to George W. Bush.
We've gone from John F. Kennedy to Al Gore.
If this is evolution, I believe that in 12 years, we'll be voting for plants."
--Comedian Lewis Black

"I know when Bush is lying. His lips move."
--Journalist John Pilger

"There is no War on Terrorism; it is the Great Game speeded up. The difference is the rampant nature of the superpower, ensuring infinite dangers for us all."
--John Pilger

"More terrorists are given training and sanctuary in the United States than anywhere on earth. They include mass murderers, torturers, former and future tyrants and assorted international criminals. This is virtually unknown to the American public, thanks to the freest media on earth."
--John Pilger

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a east coast resident, which was posted on the Internet. It’s funny, as well as informative:
—————————–
Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:

When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:19- 24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this?

Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted fan,
Jim

--Popular & True Internet BBS posting

I REALLY HATE corporate speak. With a passion. It's so worthless. Anyone who uses crap terms like "Web 2.0" or "synergy" or "leveraging" or "value-added" or "enterprise" regularly should be retroactively aborted. Here's a great spoof example of the meaningless corporate mission statement taken to extremes:
GNAA (site is a spoof trolling collective, not racist or homophobic)

COMING SOON!
MY Advanced E-Directive ("do not resuscitate") so somebody pulls my bloody plug ASAP if I become Mr. Vegetable
(outdated, from many years ago)
Since 1945, the S&P 500 has gained an average of 10.7% during Democratic presidencies and 7.6% under Republicans.
And during a Democrat's first year in office, the market has climbed an average 14.2%, considerably better than the 2.4% average decline in the first year of a Republican term.

These aren't the droids you are looking for. Move along. There's nothing else here.








zf3334 (ebsuc)









30571961 (egnora)









3211828365 (de)









55624439 (tsotc)









104391719 (kratstfa)









A-665-656-979 (tr.d)