August 10, 2010 archive

Shorter Gibbs: Left Wing Pressure is Working

No one likes to have to do all of the work of changing paradigms in the middle of the stream.

When Obama took office, the voters had had enough of Republicans. But as a nation we were still trapped in the very powerful cultural and political atmosphere of fear imposed by the Republicans after 9/11. The paradigm of the Right Wing had been shoved down America’s throat for so long that everything…and I mean everything was approached, examined, and acted upon from a RW viewpoint.

All issues, policies, statements and actions were not based on what was right for the country, what was morally right, or even what would work.

All issues, policies, statements and actions were determined by how they would be viewed through the imposed Right Wing Paradigm that had been established, with the help of appealing to and exploiting deeply primal fears, by eight years of Cheney/Bush.

This is not a condemnation.

That sort of ‘politickin’ was necessary for political survival in the paradigm that existed then.

Open Saint

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News at Noon

From Reuters

Fed ponders more easing as economy stumbles

By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa

August 10, 2010

(Reuters) – The Federal Reserve meets on Tuesday to consider, and perhaps even adopt, additional measures to prop up a softening U.S. economic recovery.

Data since the U.S. central bank’s last policy-setting meeting in late June has been decidedly weak. Consumer spending is petering out and manufacturing, which had led the recovery, is losing steam. The unemployment rate is stuck at 9.5 percent, with firms showing a distinct reluctance to hire.

With U.S. interest rates already effectively at zero, the central bank is out of easy policy options. Top Fed officials argue, however, they can do more to fight renewed economic weakness, including reinvesting proceeds from maturing mortgage bonds back into that market.

Related Stories

Dollar up on short covering ahead of Fed

Obama Unveils Pwoggresive Ponies for Real Americans

Washington, D.C. – Amongst fanfare and joy, President Obama opened up his Pony Ranch today on the White House south lawn. The ponies, so so beautiful and with the shiniest coats ever, can only be seen by the President’s most loyal and dedicated Pwogressive fans.

From across the country, fanatical believers are flocking to Washington, D.C. to see the pony that President Obama says only Real Americans can gander. Those lucky enough to be on hand for the grand unveiling watched in hushed reverence as the herd of ponies, long promised, were to gallop across the pasture made of rainbows and happiness.

“For those great Real Americans, my loyalist of fans, the Pwoggressives, I give you your pony!” announced President Obama, holding a bridle and petting the air beside him. “Not only is this beautiful animal your long awaited pony, it will also cure cancer, end wars and lower taxes. But only the truly pure Pwoggresive can clearly see it, for it takes Real Eyes of Real Americans to behold this glory of the big warm eyes of these ponies.”

Beadle Metros, who had traveled all the way from the West Coast on his knees, stopping every three meters to pray he will be pure enough to see the pony, finally reached the fence and started shouting, “My God, that pony is full of stars!”

All around him, his fellow Pwoggresives also started to scream, “Yes! YES! I can see the glory of the pony now!”

One woman, wearing a Leftists Love Satan button and a shirt that said ‘Equality is Gay’ had to be helped by medical staff after she ran and tried to jump on the pony, only to land face first on the ground causing massive head trauma.

Washington ‘Protecting’ Iraq From…Washington

Crossposted from Antemedius

In a perhaps unintentional and obtuse twist of sardonic wit and possibly complete unawareness of the irony of his own words, Commander of United States Forces – Iraq (USF-I) General Ray Odierno said on Sunday in an interview with ABC’s Christiane Amanpour that the 50,000 US troops that will remain in Iraq along with “a significant civilian presence” after the US ‘withdraws’, will help Iraq thwart “interference from outside countries”.

Really. You can’t make this stuff up. If fiction it wouldn’t qualify as humor.

United States forces under President George W. Bush invaded Iraq in an unprovoked attack in 2003 and have occupied the country since. By some counts more than a million Iraqis have died as a direct result of the US invasion and occupation.

Odierno was former primary military advisor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from November 2004 to May 2006, and has long argued against withdrawal of all US forces from Iraq. He assumed command of USF-I’s predecessor, Multi-National Force – Iraq on September 16, 2008 and took the reins as Commander of U.S. Forces Iraq on January 1, 2010, under President Barack Obama.

Odierno’s ironic comments in the interview followed only a few days after President Obama publicly backtracked on his 2009 pledge to withdraw all US combat troops from Iraq by September 1, 2010:

Docudharma Times Tuesday August 10




Tuesday’s Headlines:

UN: Afghan civilians killed, injured rose 31 percent in first 6 months of the year

Making a profit on soldiers’ death benefits

USA

Pentagon to cut thousands of jobs, defense secretary says

On trial, ‘child soldier’ who grew up in Camp Delta

Europe

German police shut 9/11 plotters’ mosque after fears that it is again being used by radicals

Death rate doubles in Moscow as heatwave continues

Middle East

Gaza’s biggest hospital caught in political, economic crossfire

Nasrallah unveils ‘Hariri proof’

Asia

Pakistan floods: ‘We are now in God’s hands’

Frantic search for China landslide survivors in Gansu

Africa

Rwanda’s Kagame set for big win

Latin America

Even rising drug violence won’t stop him from helping Mexico’s poor

The New World Order video

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

It is a city built of bones,

and daubed with flesh and blood,

in which old age and death,

pride and hypocrisy

are the inhabitants.

–Dhammapada, verse 150

Phenomena XXXIV:  dying



Doorway

Mort

At some instant

one day

the words will cease to flow

their creator (or vessel)

having passed through

the Door

between herenow

and therethen

The words left behind

the ideas they expressed

the actions they instigated

will be all

that remains

to weigh the meaning

of this particular existence

Regret is extinguished

if the words

have expressed

peacefulness

concern and care

and a life lived well

–Robyn Serven

–September 21, 2007

On Saving 319,000 Jobs, Or, Legislation Keeps Teachers Teaching

As I pick up the pace of work again, coming into the midterms, I have to get some stories cleared off the desk in order to make room for some others, and that’s what we’re about today.

We’ll be talking about saving more than 300,000 of this country’s most important jobs, and paying for it in a way that is not only good policy, but is a real problem for Republicans who are yelling “no new taxes!” once again while pretending they care about actually paying for actual spending and actually want to cut actual unemployment.

We have a bit of work to do today, but we want to keep it somewhat short…so let’s get going.

Late Night Karaoke

What if Verizon Could Censor Your Telephone Conversations: Why Net Neutrality Matters

Imagine if you were talking on the phone and Verizon or ATT decided they didn’t like where your conversation was going. You’d be in the middle of a sentence and suddenly disconnected. Or maybe they didn’t like the person you were talking to, or the subject. You’d be unable to connect or your conversation would become so slow and poor quality you’d give up and call someone else. Or maybe you lived in an area of the country where they didn’t want to give you telephone service. So you’d be unable to call at all. The telecom companies would justify all this by explaining that the fiber optic lines or wireless frequencies were simply their private property. They had a right, they’d say, to do whatever they wanted with them.

The Week in Editorial Cartoons, Part II – Climate Change Obstructionism

Crossposted at Daily Kos and The Stars Hollow Gazette

Nick Anderson

Nick Anderson, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Houston Chronicle

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