Oh my god...I can't be the first to post in an open thread? That never happens to me...

Well, Valleri, I thought I was going to be. You must have been posting while I was getting here!

Hi Brad. Yes, by all means stay away from Valdosta. We need you right here.

I guess I'll break the ice for now...

Did everyone read that story about the kid who video taped his teacher freaking out and screaming and swearing and acting like a nazi towards the students? The kid had one of those camera phones, and the teacher was trying to force the students to stand up while he played a creepy, churchy sounding recording of the Star Spangled Banner. Its really creepy, the video is here, scroll down a bit:

http://thegreenlantern.blogspot.com

The only thing I could think while watching the video for some reason was "Hitler Youth"

Hi Peg! I guess I should have read the title "all is well"...maybe I should have posted something a little less fascist and a little more happy lol

Hi Peg! I guess I should have read the title "all is well"...maybe I should have posted something a little less fascist and a little more happy lol

I have 2 topics:

1) Has anyone read Jared Diamond's "Collapse..." as yet? I'm about 75 pages from finished and I must say I think the book is spectacular.

2) What would happen if there was no such thing as the stock market? I wondered this as I read Diamond. I was reminded that corporations were beholden to stockholders to make profit AND if that means not doing the right thing then they can't do the right thing. So, what if there were no such thing as stockholders?

Miss Persistent, I am SCANDALIZED! Go stand in a CORNER! Why THAT would mean the end of the most sacred holy relic of the western world, that golden calf CAPITALISM! And, as every right-thinking human being knows, capitalism is next to godliness and its opposite is...socialism (whisper)...which is heretical and punishable by hellfire, damnation, and the McCarthyites who still look for broom-riders throughout our country.

Top of the evening folks! So, scandal is the subject again? Such an easy assignment don't you think?

Ok, here is one I just heard about on Air America radio's, The Majority Report: The AIPAC/NeoCon Scandal.

According to Garafolo and Seder, this one is ready to blow and will be covered by the media. MSM or not it should be fun!

Be considerate to others please... one scandal expose' per student... per day.

" Why THAT would mean the end of the most sacred holy relic of the western world, that golden calf CAPITALISM! And, as every right-thinking human being knows, capitalism is next to godliness and its opposite is...socialism (whisper)...which is heretical and punishable by hellfire, damnation, and the McCarthyites who still look for broom-riders throughout our country. "

LOL!

HI, Brad. Thanks for the "all's well" ... I was starting to wonder ... stay well and keep up the good work on the good things!

This is a bit of old news, but I'm still glowing, as a Canadian, over this one. Lloyd Axworthy was Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister a few years back. He is largely responsible for helping to create an international treaty to ban landmines (The Ottawa Protocol), among other notable accomplishments. He is now the President of the University of Winnipeg.

Missile Counter-Attack

Axworthy fires back at U.S. --- and Canadian --- critics of our BMD decision in An Open Letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Thursday, March 3rd, 2005

By LLOYD AXWORTHY

Dear Condi, I'm glad you've decided to get over your fit of pique and venture north to visit your closest neighbour. It's a chance to learn a thing or two. Maybe more.

I know it seems improbable to your divinely guided master in the White House that mere mortals might disagree with participating in a missile-defence system that has failed in its last three tests, even though the tests themselves were carefully rigged to show results.

But, gosh, we folks above the 49th parallel are somewhat cautious types who can't quite see laying down billions of dollars in a three-dud poker game...

For the rest of this intellectual dressing down of Condi and crew go to Newsclip Autopsy

Yes, STOP_George -

Isn't Axworthy the fine man?! I wish he'd run for President.

Hi, all. Sorry for the drive-by posting (my second), but I found some between-the-lines amusement at something that was posted at Media Matters, and wanted to share it with someone who might appreciate it.

It concerns the comments a radio host made to Alan Colmes (Faux News' token liberal). "we need more teachers beating people about the face and head, especially on the derriere. If we had more of that, believe me, we'd have less people thinking like you."

What this guy is unintentionally suggesting is that if more teachers smacked their pupils upside the head until they were beaten senseless, fewer of those kids would grow up to think like liberals. (Independent? Open-minded? Intelligent?) Smack 'em until they're braindead, and they'll think like good little conservatives.

Hi, all. Sorry for the drive-by posting (my second), but I found some between-the-lines amusement at something that was posted at Media Matters, and wanted to share it with someone who might appreciate it.

It concerns the comments a radio host made to Alan Colmes (Faux News' token liberal). "we need more teachers beating people about the face and head, especially on the derriere. If we had more of that, believe me, we'd have less people thinking like you."

What this guy is unintentionally suggesting is that if more teachers smacked their pupils upside the head until they were beaten senseless, fewer of those kids would grow up to think like liberals. (Independent? Open-minded? Intelligent?) Smack 'em until they're braindead, and they'll think like good little conservatives.

Peg C:

(chuckle) That won't happen now. He will be labled as "anti-American", if not - ignored altogether by the MSM in the U.S. (even though it was a hot post at some American blogs).

If the U.S. ever does revise the constitution to allow foreigners to become president, it should be for people like Axworthy --- not Arnold.

Well, B -

I don't know whether the other "b" was ever beaten senseless "upside the head," but the results of beating and indulging seem to be the same. He's both senseless AND braindead (and a bad little fanatic rather than a "conservative").

STOP_George -

Don't tread with muddy boots upon my dream! Axworthy's not a foreigner! We're all Americans together! I claim him as mine own...

Hey! Where did that winky in #16 come from? I didn't put it there!

Thanks for setting me straight!!

I forgot that viceroy Celluci declared that Canada has given up its sovereignty last week.

Please forgive me and my Canadian (I mean, American) smugness.

do you censor commons?

To STOP_George-

Wow! Mr. Axworthy's forceful and eloquent words leave me wondering how my country, one that used to share so many of the thoughts and values that he identifies with, could have gone so far astray. I can't deny that it leaves me sad and somewhat afraid for our future. At least it's good to know that the whole world hasn't gone mad- despite the inclination to entertain such notions given the Orwellian environment of our current national predicament!

Pec C:

Which is...?

Steve:

As a Canadian, I am greatly saddened as well. Your present government is one of the scariest things I've seen in my lifetime. After the 2004 poll results, I wondered if the majority of Americans should be put in that category as well. However, after seeing how corrupt the American election system is and knowing how ignorant a lot of Americans are of the truth, I can't justify that anti-American stance.

It makes me wonder, though --- how much longer is the rest of the world going to put up with it?

I am grateful to be able to give you at least some comfort, as a neighbour and friend, that Canadians will stand up and fight for the ideals which seem to be losing ground in present-day America.

Yes, that Axworthy fellow is quite a chap. It makes up for the worst Canadian export in recent years...That shrieking Celine Dion. I was quite perturbed with you dear folks for a while, But that wonderful gentleman, Lloyd Ax, has redeemed you.

Stop_George #27..... I think the rest of the world is showing signs of reacting, and your wonderful country's behavior is setting an example. Such a dignified way of refusing to put up with his moosecrap. It looks like people are really beginning to speak out.

Things might get interesting, as we are all important to one another on this continent. And the little rodent we call a president is meeting with you and Mexico to discuss things very soon.
I think we have a language barrier.

Miss Persistent #6...

I haven't read Jared Diamond's books , but I find him fascinating and I know about his theories. Delicious stuff. I was particularly interested in his analysis of the Easter Island demise... how they ruined themselves building those statues. That lush island turned into an eerie wasteland. I need to read the book. Such intriguing ideas about the destructive and preservative impulses that battle inside of us and our societies.

Hi, Teresa - "Rodent" is an excellent description of Georgie Boy. The "rodent" is meeting with Canada and Mexico soon. Hopefully, they can plant a few "constructive" ideas in his empty head - but since the rodent's never listened before, he probably won't listen now. But we can always hope...maybe he'll make a mistake and DO THE RIGHT THING!

Good morning all,

my scandal du jour is the restructuring of bankruptcy law in the Senate two days ago. Despite repeated attempts by democrats to add amendments protecting ordinary citizens ( elderly, ill, unemployed, those drowning in medical debt, etc.), one by one the republicans defeated each amendment, in straight party line votes with the help of three traitorous democrats, Nelson of Nebraska, Johnson of South Dakota, and Carper of Delaware, with Biden of Delaware bringing up the rear (sorry).

Here is the roll call of the amendments and the results, rejected, rejected, rejected, etc......squeeze the serfs to fatten the kingdom.

For an excellent, albeit profanity laced diary about this at Dailykos by Mary Scott O'Connor, go here.

Another thing that is twisting me the wrong way is the IDIOT'S demand for Syria to get out of Lebanon. Whether or not Syria has any right to be there isn't the question. The question is, can anyone with half a brain fail to see what is happening here? First of all, I really believe that we (U.S.) orchestrated the assasination of Hariri, Lebanon's former Prime Minister, in order to set in motion what we are witnessing now, the U.S. continuance of "democracy" spreading. Freedom is on the march! Fuck you, you hypocritical, mindless backward fucking cowboy. Personally, I hope Assad of Syria refuses to bend to the asshole's threats. Does that make me a traitor to my country? If my country is going to go around the world treatening and invading soveriegn nations, and needlessly wasting the lives of our soldiers and marines, and killing countless thousands of innocents........... then hell yea, I'm a fucking traitor and proud of it! Come and get me asshole, I'm waiting....................

One more thing......promise

Fuck Martha Stewart!

Super....I've never heard you curse before. I'm shocked! Re #31, you can add protection for active troops. I found that one a killer, support the troops indeed!

I'm off for a couple of days. We're gearing up for an election of our own in BC. Our riding is huge geographically, so I'm on my way to get everything ready for the call. Take care everyone.

Teresa #29, Absolutely Delicious! And Easter Island is but one example of societal collapse through environment destruction. The competing chiefs had to have bigger and bigger statues erected in competition with one another, and wood was necessary for transport of those huge stone statues. One student of his asked, "What was the guy who cut the last tree down thinking!?"

But there are societies that have lasted, and those appear to be one's who have been able to see the forest through the trees in one way or another.

Pec C #7, Well I try :hehe:

Supersoling #32 -

I just had the first of my daily scream-and-growl-at-the-TV sessions, reserved exclusively for footage of the little rat telling everyone else in the world what they should do.

We should form a traitors' posse.

STOP_George -

Time was, those values expressed by Axworthy were the ones deemed most "American" and patriotic.

Supersoling #33 -

That might be JUST what she needs...

Tom Feeney, Model Congressman.

Did you guys see this?

Very statesmanlike, Mr. Feeney.

:plain:

This seems VERY interesting:

http://www.dailykos.com/...tory/2005/3/5/9747/20502

American Woman -

Oh, the unmitigated GALL of the man! What a stinking, slimey little CREEP! Just where do these people get off deriding respectable, responsible, professional Americans?

re #39

Yes, George, it does seem very interesting. Eason Jordan had it right, I do believe. And that's why he was forced to resign.
Of all the dirty little secrets, he spilled one of the dirtiest.

STOP_George _

One word for you smug Canucks:

Oh, yeah??!!!!

Take that!!!

Oh, STOP_, that is awful!

BTW, STOP_George -

My baby bro is a Torontonian and he won't let you get away with stealing the REAL American goods!

It merely demonstrates that the first casualty of war is truth.

In Dubya's America, truth won't get you anywhere - tell the lies that you're told to tell and you'll do fine. If you're in the right place, we can even make you pretty rich while you do it.

Tell the truth and you're finished.

When Emperor George falls (and fall he will), we need to chase and harangue him. We must have our day in court and HE AND ALL HIS CRONIES MUST PAY.

Nothing short of indictment, conviction and prison will suffice.

Da Wookie #42 -

"Nothing short of indictment, conviction and prison will suffice."

Makes you wonder how committed you really are to abolishing the death penalty, doesn't it?

Supersoling #32

I hear ya.

>Freedom is on the march! Fuck you, you hypocritical, mindless backward fucking cowboy.

Only thing is, he ISN"T a cowboy. He's a fucking fake! A ten gallon weaselly asshole wielding a chain saw against herbs and trees.

He's afraid of horses.

I thought bright and early this fine day, that one good scenario might be...instead of the dismantling of Social Security, we all could witness the dismantling of George W. Bush's supposed sanity.

A true mental breakdown, covered by the starving media, in which institutionalization would be required.

Teresa #44 -

Have you seen that bit of footage in which the big he-man lops off the limb of a dead tree and then hoots? It make me want to lose every meal I've had over the last five years.

I regularly take down living trees in my woodlot and cut them up for firewood. And I'm a granny. Should I pound my chest and bellow for the national press, do you think?

I saw a great bumper sticker yesterday: More Trees, Less Bush

If the con-gang can cover up murder and suppress news of prompt wires and porta-packs at presidential debates, they can surely manage to keep news of presidential insanity from the front pages. Stuff the little monster with Thorazine, radio-control him to the next podium, and feed him his remarks - line by line.

Hey Peg C #46..

Every meal you've had over the last five years? That could add up.

As a granny, you would have to be careful about pounding your chest, depending on how far down those certain fleshy protuberances have descended.

So I hear they had live, on the spot video coverage of Martha's grand exit from prison yesterday. Between Her Highness and Michael Jackson, the American people must certainly be riveted on their couches watching these urgent stories unfold. No time to even take a piss.

Here's a possible positive:

Ohio news

Peg C #47..

When the porta-packs get to the porta-potty stage, they might be in trouble.

Teresa #49 -

Nah, they'll just make sure he wears rubber pants.

Marski asked:

do you censor commons?

Presuming you meant "comments" instead of "commons" then the answer is no, we do not censor comments. In general. There have been times when comments have been removed because they've been inappropriate or against our very general and liberal posting guidelines, but when that is done, there is always a note in it's place explaining that the comment was deleted and why.

Hope that answers your questions and/or concerns.

this too is WELL worth reading:

http://www.dailykos.com/...ory/2005/3/4/151715/5913

Brad #51 -

I'm certainly glad you don't cesor the commons. There's an awful lot of R-rated stuff on this thread.

"censor"

Interesting Peg C - I just re-read my own (I swear innocent) post #35 for possible "R" rating. Oh good god. I'd say ROFLMAO but then...

re #55 ... As long as we're R rated ... How about ROTFFLMFARFO?

Huh? Granny needs a translation!

Dubya's sanity (or otherwise) is really irrelevant. As long as he's got Karl's hand up his arse and that shite-spout under his nose keeps working, he's good to go.

If he did go, another corporate puppet would be bought up to take his place, the only reasons he got the job in the first place is for his surname and his willingness to do what he's told.

Like I said in another post, tell the corporate sponsored lies and you do fine, it starts all the way at the top and works it's way down - a bit like Reagan's "trickle down" economics model, only this one works - unfortunately.

Viva la revolution de velours, mes amis.

On the neighboring blog I cited Frank Rich's article, "Gonzo Gone, Rather Going, Watergate Still Here," which appears in the ARTS & LEISURE section of today's Times.

It's a long piece, but the analogy to Watergate is spot on. Rich talks about Gannon quite a bit, and how the story was fading but was being kept alive by Gannon himself. He doesn't mention Feeney, but the guy is throwing a cocktail party to celebrate Dan Rather's retirement, under the guise of supporting a 2004 reelection campaign that had no opponent. Ann Coulter is down to about 90 pounds and calling Helen Thomas an "old Arab."

This is just where we were in mid-1973 with Watergate. That story might have died, except the right-wing kept it alive by intramural fighting and leaks from anonymous sources. Remember John Mitchell trying to keep Martha quiet? Remember the plumbers and their contradictory alibis?

We're almost there, folks. It's no time to slow down.

While I too try to figure out ROTFFLMFARFO, can I bring back up my "What if there were no stock market" question #6. I really do just wonder "What if."

But later in the day I honed the question a little more in my mind as I thought more about where I was trying to go with that thought.

What if there was a separate but similar "World's Green Market," where the only companies listed were the companies that had independent certification that they were managed properly with regard to the environment, public health, and everything good for the world and sustainable.

As Jared Diamond points out in "Collapse..." there are wood products from companies that are independently certified for a myriad of up-to-date environmental best practices - in the logging and forestry industries, mining, etc. I would prefer to invest only in those types of companies -whether here or abroad.

By the very nature of "environmental sustainability," these are the companies that would succeed long into the future.

Cheryl #34 ... have a good trip. Just got back from one myself ... cheers

Why isn't anyone running against Feeney??? Fear of losing is not an acceptable reason. The goal is to expose to the voting public the list of all the "questionable" things he has done. Then let the voting public decide. A plan must also be in place to expose any hacking of the voting machine tallies and other voting irregularities. It can be done. It only requires a team with the will to do it. You know what "they" do and how they do it. Now, plan and carry out the counter-offensive. Is it worth it? YES, INDEED!

Miss Persistent #60

There are many responsible investing and mutual funds packages already out there. All an investor needs to do is look. Even my bank, which is as crassly profit-oriented as any, has green investment counseling sessions.

Apparently there are not enough of those companies that have been certified (not including self-certification by pop-up certifiers), otherwise we wouldn't be headed down hill in a hand basket so quickly and inevitably. But yes, there are some.

Anyway, my point is to make it more visible to the public - green seeking them out rather than them seeking green out. There's an extremely obvious tech market - if you want to invest in tech, why you just look there. So how about an extremely obvious green market - with it's own page in the newspaper.

For Miss Persistent: I was a broker with Wall Street firms for 28 years before being fired in 2001. I blew the whistle on the fact that as my wife was comatose and dying, her brother (also a broker) and three sisters forged her signature to a letter and glommed the $60,000 balance from her money market account. I therefore think I can respond authoritatively to your query, "What if there were no stock market?"

The Industrial Revolution modernized the world's economies, and basically ended mercantilism. New inventions gave rise to huge growth possibilities, and somebody came up with the bright idea to sell shares in the companies that created these innovations, on the predicate that far-in-the-future dividends paid by these companies out of earnings could be discounted into a present-value asset. It worked, even though the vast majority of these new corporations never paid a dividend to anyone.

Imagine if I said to you, "I've got an idea for a new gizmo that cooks your dinner, washes your kids' clothes, heats your house, and spreads freedom in the Middle East at the push of a button." Would you buy it? Of course not. But reduce that to plausible levels, and you can see why people would not only buy the products, but invest in them at a price that anticipates a huge return.

That did happen during the dot-com madness of the late '90s, but it's the exception these days. For the most part, Wall Street doesn't raise capital for innovation now; that's left to venture capitalists. What Wall Street does in 2005 is to make money for itself by trading stocks and derivatives of stocks, and by merging two companies together. This makes an instant killing for itself and the top executives of those companies while eliminating jobs.

The excuse is that American corporations must become "leaner and meaner" to compete
globally. It really isn't true, of course, but people buy into it.

Thanks Robert, yours is a very interesting perspective worth thinking about.

Moreover, I'm sorry to hear about your wife's "relations" bilking your family. Inexcusable. I don't know how people like that sleep at night.

I witnessed my cousin removing my grandfather's prized violin under a towel and out of the house on his funeral day. Indelible images.

Went to the Tsunami benefit last nite to see Alan Band play (http://www.alanband.com).

That band is just plain unique. Another band played some Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

One of those inexplicable moments happened there at a space and time when you get a flash of insight.

I guess all the universe there was in sync or something because they played that song as good as it can be played. They sang in harmony as good as that song can be sung. As good as CS&N themselves!!!

I then and there realized that world-class artistic talent is everywhere. What is not everywhere is power. Power to be famous and power to be mighty. All they had was ability and a good time.

As they finished and I was trying to figure out what just happened, Chris of the Alan band walked over from the other side of the stage. He had grasped what had just happened too.

What was remarkable is that the band playing were not soaked in power ... the power of fame. There were only locals there trying to raise some money to help people which raw power had destroyed. Raw earth power.

I switched to a thought track about what I have seen power do to people. I thought about "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" and realized once again that the power on this planet has toxins in it.

The movie stars, musicians, writers, preachers, religionists, and politicians I have known who have soaked in it have soaked up toxins.

Some of them, like the church going mass murderer who was recently caught, take a dose that is fatal to their humanity but a dose that would only make others sick in the humanities.

Everyone has their resistance level or sanity limit of the toxins in the stuff we call power. When that level is breached people die and others loose humanity. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Hey ... the earth is killing people ... and the earth people are killing people ... and tooling up to break some records. Not old LP's, but numeric records.

But think positive ... toilet tissue sales are way, way up in the US, and as a side benefit we are getting fatter - just one sign of being soaked in power.

Ref. Senator Byrd's speech:

http://www.freepress.org...umns/display/7/2005/1084

re #68. Right on! Thanks, George. Harvey Wasserman rocks!

Kind of off the track, but don't ya love it when W blows it and actualy tells the truth. Kind of like a Fruedin slip.
From Brad's blog:
"We want democracy in Lebanon to succeed. And we know it cannot succeed so long as she is occupied by a foreign power,"

Another classic from the debates:

"The truth of that matter is, if you listen carefully, Saddam would still be in power if he (John Kerry) were the president of the United States, "And the world would be a lot better off.""

Dredd # 67,

The 'power' of music is unmistakable. What a great moment you just had.
Power itself is neutral. We battle with it in every way all our lives. We feel overpowered from day one and struggle like mad to get control over these forces. We are so desperately intimidated. We want to be like mighty gods, and as soon as we think we have cornered power, as soon as we are foolish enough to believe that we actually 'possess' it, we throw it around, and force it upon others to verify our might. Big mistake. The law of physics says that it will return to the sender in an equally damaging way.

As an artist, you know that moment inspiration manifests in the power of the creative act. That's why I love the arts. Those moments are between the artist and the universe, and do not require the destruction or subjugation of others.

Toxins are everywhere, but some are immune, while others are nourished by them, and add to them. The ones that are corrupted by power, were probably corrupt already.

Probably fame is not a good thing. It taints the purity of good power.

It is a very tricky thing to connect with power, yet stay humble to its source. It requires self mastery.
We have to remember that power is not ours... we are conduits and we have to let it come and go.

And BTW, Dredd said:

"I then and there realized that world-class artistic talent is everywhere. What is not everywhere is power. Power to be famous and power to be mighty. All they had was ability and a good time."

Power comes from the Latin word ,'potere', meaning 'to be able".

Manuel Valenzuela has a new piece today. Read it here!