Oct 30 2007
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From the “If you haven’t seen this, watch!” file…
(Again and always, posting these videos does not mean I believe or endorse every statement in the video)
Two interviews with the author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man – John Perkins
10 minutes
via videosift.com
Oct 30 2007
Here’s some stuff to start your Halloween off just right.
except what if some (or all) of this stuff is real.
if anybody has a thread to reality, please leave me the link.
not for the faint-hearted, i can tell you.
h/t to Tigana.
Oct 30 2007
A ‘sort of response’ to breathingstill’s excellent essay
I hate inertia.
If anyone ever seriously asks me “why do you hate America?” I must remember to say….It’s the inertia, stupid.
Right now…everything doesn’t work. Nothing in America is working and I am tired of writing lists of all the things that aren’t working. So even my list making ability is not working. And. When somebody in America says everything is not working, somebody will say …well what is your solution? If they receive an answer, they will immediately say….well that won’t work. And they are probably right.
Because for something to work, people have to agree that it might work and put some effort and brains into it to MAKE it work. And we can’t do that because of the inertia we are stuck being stuck in. The inertia, of course comes from stupidity.
Oct 29 2007
Buffalo, NY – While most Americans’ are introduced to their candidates through friends and families, local salesclerk Tim Ofroll has gone about things differently. After not finding any candidate through traditional means, he wound up finding, then choosing, Ron Paul online.
“I am sorta a political junkie,” said Ofroll, who still hasn’t told his close friends he discovered Ron Paul on the internet. “I watch Countdown with Keith Olbermann and even Meet the Press on Sunday mornings, but I just didn’t see any other candidate I liked. It wasn’t until I went by Reddit.com that I saw Ron Paul, and then clicked on a link to his profile.”
Ofroll, like most normal Americans, usually finds candidates through his friends, or even at bars and parties, where political discussion abounds in the lead up to the 2008 election. But after playing the field, Ofroll still could not find that special candidate in real life that he wanted to share his vote with, instead having to go online to discover Ron Paul.
“Man, Thanksgiving is coming up, and I just know my mom is gonna ask my where I first saw Ron Paul,” said a distraught Ofroll. “I better come up with a story quick, or else I am gonna be shamed into admitting I became a Ron Paul supporter online.”
Oct 29 2007
Produced in Los Angeles, California and Cleveland, Ohio for Kucinich for President 2008 by Chad Ely and Dutch Merrick.
Hosted by Anne Marie Howard.
Directed by Dutch Merrick
Edited by Chad Ely
Written by Dutch Merrick and Sharon Manitta
Camera Operator, Sound Mixer- James Legoy
Script Supervisor, Playback- Sue Sterkenburg
Check out the hottest campaign show on the web!
This Week’s Campaign Update will keep you informed on the latest events in the Kucinich for President Campaign.
Gotta get those credits in!
Oct 29 2007
This is troubling, not because it is unexpected but more due to the fact that many have predicted it and watched as their dire predictions came true. From CNN Money:1
With oil prices setting records over $90 a barrel – and $100 looking ever more likely – experts say there’s a good chance drivers will see $3 gasoline before the end of the year.
“Three dollar gasoline in this market is unavoidable,” said Stephen Schork, publisher of the industry newsletter the Schork Report. “At this rate, we’re going to see $4 a gallon.”
If you think that’s bad, make the jump and read more…
Oct 29 2007
Originally published Sun Oct 28, 2007 at 10:03:07 PM EST on ePluribus Media.
Hat-tip to jrichards of DelphiForums for the pointer to the primary source article.
Sometimes, “follow the money” is best done in rather obscure places, then compared and contrasted to other items of interest to see where things fall on (or off) the balance sheet.
An obscure but potentially informative source to aid in following the money trail is the Consolidated Federal Funds Report (CFFR). The recently released edition — the 23rd such report, which has been compiled and published almost continuously since 19831 — represents all the domestic federal spending for Fiscal Year 2005. The principal author is Gerry Keffer, chief of the Federal Programs Branch at the Census Bureau, who leads a team of eight Census workers in the task of compiling the CFFR.
There’s more…
Oct 29 2007
Light Emitting Pickle here to bring you the most recent open thread. First, a few words about Pickle Pony Parties:
Please do not recommend a Pony Party when you see one. There will be another along in a few hours.
Oct 29 2007
you’ve got me thinking… what if we didn’t think history needed much perspective from one decade or century to the next… when there were long stretches of reproducable events… until spice routes and merchant classes and the world, from ancient china to marriage alliances in europe in the middle ages, created more people and players vying in complex ways for resources, power, and political advantage.
and while we can catalogue events and relate history, even try to interpret it or, as you did, assign cultural milestones… maybe we haven’t begun to grapple with leaving 1000s of years of behaviors to enter a world of mass consensus… relationships too intricate and too large in scope, scale, and implications
maybe we’re still not past napolean or the revolutionary war… definately still an undercurrent of civil war
and in europe, old rivalies still inform cultural attitudes
anyway… just a reaction to your interesting essay, thinking that in the span of time, what’s a few thousand years…
Oct 29 2007
Well, its not really a diary at all – but it will give you a much needed laugh.
From the Financial Times “The Best Political Videos on YouTube”
Highlights including Bush Seniors’ thowing up upon eating brocolli
Enjoy and happy monday
Oct 29 2007
(Crossposted from To Us. Permission to use noncommercially with attribution. I have very limited public access computer time, so if you desire a response, please email me at aek2013 at columbia dot edu for a quicker reply.)
A novice to jazz, I attended the NEC’s tribute to George Russell with an all Russell composition performance. I plunked down in a seat on the aisle in the middle of the hall.
The students, all dressed in beat-wannabe black, clomped on stage, but the pianist was smiling a genuine toothy smile, and he didn’t appear to be any student! Bradley Hatfield was “subbing” for the scheduled pianist.
And then the music started and I was blown away – literally – by the amped up volume, but also by the must-move beat and rhythms.
Just behind me, a tremulous voice was offering some syncopated running commentary. Very pointed and informed commentary.
