Full Article:
http://www.blackisonline.com/2011/09/50-indispensable-african-american-novels
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Recognize Palestine AND Re-Affirm Israel as a Jewish State
Obama and UN: Recognize Palestine AND Re-affirm Israel’s Right to Exist as a Jewish State
Rabbi Michael Lerner
September 14, 2011
http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/recognize-palestine-and-re-affirm-israel-as-a-jewish-state
American and Israeli diplomats acknowledge that they do not have the votes to prevent the General Assembly of the United Nations from recognizing Palestine and granting it some of the rights of member states. The U.S. can block full membership only by exercising its veto in the Security Council, an act likely to intensify hatred of the U.S. in many countries around the world.
A far wiser strategy is for the U.S. (even better, with Israel) to introduce a resolution to the Security Council providing full membership in the U.N. to Palestine while simultaneously reaffirming Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Both sides win. Israel will feel less isolated, and Palestinians will get full instead of the only partial and largely symbolic membership in the U.N. it could get from the General Assembly once the U.S. vetoes membership in a Security Council resolution.
The resolution should make clear that this recognition is contingent on both Palestine and Israel respecting the rights of all its citizens and offering them equal protection under the law, and not imposing any religious practices on any of its citizens. Calling Israel a Jewish state does not mean sanctioning existing forms of discrimination that currently exist there against Palestinians, or against its own secular majority which currently suffers from religious coercion by the Orthodox minority (which gets its way because it has enough votes in the Knesset for the major parties to need the religious groups in any coaliton government secular parties might hope to put together).
The primary concern that Palestinians have voiced about calling Israel a Jewish state is the fear that this would a. validate the right of Israel to continue to discriminate against its Arab citizens in housing, employment, education and allocations to Israel’s municipalities, and b. close the door to the Palestinian “right of return.”
The primary concern that the U.S. has voiced about supporting Palestinian membership is that doing so might end any inclination by Palestinians to engage in negotiations with Israel.
The resolution that the U.S. should introduce could deal with these concerns, using the following formulations:
We call upon both Israel and Palestine to give equal rights in protection, employment, voting, housing, education, health, and all other government-supported activities and programs to all their minority citizens.We call upon Israel and Palestine to negotiate (in a spirit of open-heartedness, generosity and understanding that both sides’ well-being is intrinsically tied to the well-being of the other side and the other side’s perception that it is being dealt with respectfully and justly) a lasting peace, to affirm each other’s right to exist, and, to make territorial swaps of equivalent territory and strategic and economic value — based on the pre-1967 border of Israel, as part of creating borders agreed upon by both sides.
Once an agreement has been reached between Israel and Palestine, we call upon all other states in the region to recognize and create warm relationships with Israel and Palestine and to take necessary steps toward the creation of a Middle East common market.
Nothing in this resolution is meant to determine the detailed outcome of those negotiations or to take a stand beyond previous U.N. resolutions on how to best deal with the legitimate security needs of Israel or the best way to end the suffering of Palestinian refugees.
Israel was the first affirmative action state, recognized by the United Nations primarily out of a global recognition that the Jewish people had faced extraordinary persecution through much of the past two thousand years, culminating in the Holocaust. Its policy of giving a special right of return and special rights to immigrant housing is a legitimate response to the vulnerability the Jewish people continue to face in light of continuing hatred of Jews based on prejudicial views of who Jews are and what we stand for.
But that affirmative action should not extend to treating Palestinian citizens of Israel in discriminatory ways in any other respect except immigration. Israel can continue to privilege Jewish culture and history, while encouraging its citizens to also learn Arabic and supporting its Muslim and Christian minorities to celebrate their own holidays and teaching their cultures in Israeli schools, as well.
Similarly, the Palestinian state that is now emerging should be recognized as an affirmation action state, recognized by the United Nations before it has control over any territory of its own as a way to alleviate the special suffering of the Palestinian people. It should have a special right of return and special rights to immigrant housing for Palestinians living anywhere in the world in light of the suffering that Palestinian refugees have faced under occupation by Israel and in Arab countries which have often treated Palestinians in harsh and discriminatory ways.
Why not turn this moment into a victory for both the Israeli and Palestinian people, and one in which the U.S. emerges as a hero rather than a villain?
Rabbi Michael Lerner
September 14, 2011
http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/recognize-palestine-and-re-affirm-israel-as-a-jewish-state
American and Israeli diplomats acknowledge that they do not have the votes to prevent the General Assembly of the United Nations from recognizing Palestine and granting it some of the rights of member states. The U.S. can block full membership only by exercising its veto in the Security Council, an act likely to intensify hatred of the U.S. in many countries around the world.
A far wiser strategy is for the U.S. (even better, with Israel) to introduce a resolution to the Security Council providing full membership in the U.N. to Palestine while simultaneously reaffirming Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Both sides win. Israel will feel less isolated, and Palestinians will get full instead of the only partial and largely symbolic membership in the U.N. it could get from the General Assembly once the U.S. vetoes membership in a Security Council resolution.
The resolution should make clear that this recognition is contingent on both Palestine and Israel respecting the rights of all its citizens and offering them equal protection under the law, and not imposing any religious practices on any of its citizens. Calling Israel a Jewish state does not mean sanctioning existing forms of discrimination that currently exist there against Palestinians, or against its own secular majority which currently suffers from religious coercion by the Orthodox minority (which gets its way because it has enough votes in the Knesset for the major parties to need the religious groups in any coaliton government secular parties might hope to put together).
The primary concern that Palestinians have voiced about calling Israel a Jewish state is the fear that this would a. validate the right of Israel to continue to discriminate against its Arab citizens in housing, employment, education and allocations to Israel’s municipalities, and b. close the door to the Palestinian “right of return.”
The primary concern that the U.S. has voiced about supporting Palestinian membership is that doing so might end any inclination by Palestinians to engage in negotiations with Israel.
The resolution that the U.S. should introduce could deal with these concerns, using the following formulations:
We call upon both Israel and Palestine to give equal rights in protection, employment, voting, housing, education, health, and all other government-supported activities and programs to all their minority citizens.We call upon Israel and Palestine to negotiate (in a spirit of open-heartedness, generosity and understanding that both sides’ well-being is intrinsically tied to the well-being of the other side and the other side’s perception that it is being dealt with respectfully and justly) a lasting peace, to affirm each other’s right to exist, and, to make territorial swaps of equivalent territory and strategic and economic value — based on the pre-1967 border of Israel, as part of creating borders agreed upon by both sides.
Once an agreement has been reached between Israel and Palestine, we call upon all other states in the region to recognize and create warm relationships with Israel and Palestine and to take necessary steps toward the creation of a Middle East common market.
Nothing in this resolution is meant to determine the detailed outcome of those negotiations or to take a stand beyond previous U.N. resolutions on how to best deal with the legitimate security needs of Israel or the best way to end the suffering of Palestinian refugees.
Israel was the first affirmative action state, recognized by the United Nations primarily out of a global recognition that the Jewish people had faced extraordinary persecution through much of the past two thousand years, culminating in the Holocaust. Its policy of giving a special right of return and special rights to immigrant housing is a legitimate response to the vulnerability the Jewish people continue to face in light of continuing hatred of Jews based on prejudicial views of who Jews are and what we stand for.
But that affirmative action should not extend to treating Palestinian citizens of Israel in discriminatory ways in any other respect except immigration. Israel can continue to privilege Jewish culture and history, while encouraging its citizens to also learn Arabic and supporting its Muslim and Christian minorities to celebrate their own holidays and teaching their cultures in Israeli schools, as well.
Similarly, the Palestinian state that is now emerging should be recognized as an affirmation action state, recognized by the United Nations before it has control over any territory of its own as a way to alleviate the special suffering of the Palestinian people. It should have a special right of return and special rights to immigrant housing for Palestinians living anywhere in the world in light of the suffering that Palestinian refugees have faced under occupation by Israel and in Arab countries which have often treated Palestinians in harsh and discriminatory ways.
Why not turn this moment into a victory for both the Israeli and Palestinian people, and one in which the U.S. emerges as a hero rather than a villain?
Miller Buys Foster's
From Business Week:
SABMiller Plc clinched Foster’s Group Ltd. with a sweetened A$9.9 billion ($10.2 billion) offer for Australia’s biggest brewer after three months of pursuit.
The U.K. company will pay A$5.10 a share in cash for the Melbourne-based brewer, SABMiller said today in a statement. The offer was previously for A$4.90 minus dividend payments.
The purchase will be the biggest ever by SABMiller and give it access to about half of the Australian beer market.
SABMiller’s initial attempts to nab the maker of Victoria Bitter were rebuffed by Foster’s management as undervaluing the brewer, one of the world’s most profitable...
SABMiller to Buy Foster’s After Raising Bid to A$9.9 Billion
Clementine Fletcher
September 21, 2011
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-21/sabmiller-to-buy-foster-s-after-raising-bid-to-a-9-9-billion.html
SABMiller Plc clinched Foster’s Group Ltd. with a sweetened A$9.9 billion ($10.2 billion) offer for Australia’s biggest brewer after three months of pursuit.
The U.K. company will pay A$5.10 a share in cash for the Melbourne-based brewer, SABMiller said today in a statement. The offer was previously for A$4.90 minus dividend payments.
The purchase will be the biggest ever by SABMiller and give it access to about half of the Australian beer market.
SABMiller’s initial attempts to nab the maker of Victoria Bitter were rebuffed by Foster’s management as undervaluing the brewer, one of the world’s most profitable...
SABMiller to Buy Foster’s After Raising Bid to A$9.9 Billion
Clementine Fletcher
September 21, 2011
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-21/sabmiller-to-buy-foster-s-after-raising-bid-to-a-9-9-billion.html
From Apple to Vudu: 8 Netflix Alternatives Compared
Mike Isaac
September 21, 2011
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/09/netflix-alternatives
The curtain hasn't even opened on Netflix's new DVD-by-mail spin-off company Qwikster, and many customers are already walking out.
The company recently revised its quarterly projections of net subscribers to show 1 million fewer customers than it had previously expected. Much to Netflix's chagrin, folks are realizing that the king of mail-away media isn't the only game in town.
We've taken a look at some of Netflix's (and Qwikster's) main competitors, and judged each service accordingly. Do the rest offer enough to stand up to the best?
Netflix/Qwikster
Also known as Netflix: Redux. It's the same service we know and love, only completely different. Faced with massive customer backlash in the wake of a price hike, Netflix split itself into two separate companies this week. The streaming service will retain the Netflix branding while the DVD-by-mail service will be named Qwikster. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said the split will better serve customers in the long run because each company will be able to better focus on one type of service.
Netflix pioneered the DVD-by-mail service, creating an entire industry where one did not exist previously. But after serious flux in Netflix's new pricing system — which split the streaming and DVD mailing services into two separate plans starting at $8 a month minimum — there's no guarantee the company's customers will continue to stick around.
WIRED: It's been around the longest, and is the most familiar service. Massive offering of physical mail-away media. New game rental service sounds intriguing. Streaming to all iOS devices and Android smartphones.
TIRED: Can you say price increase? We don't like paying more money for the same service, and we're failing to see how splitting the companies in twain is going to benefit consumers. Streaming-only service still lacks selection compared to DVD catalog.
Amazon Prime
Amazon's elite-level service launched in 2005, offering two-day shipping on any of its products to members anywhere in the continental United States and other select countries for a reasonable $80 a year. Originally meant for those who couldn't wait more than 48 hours for their tangible goods, Prime expanded in February to offer instant, streaming movie and TV show access to existing Prime customers at no added cost.
WIRED: Fast shipping on everything Amazon! What other movie service offers that? Lower yearly rate than Netflix and Qwikster. Works with over 100 different web-connected set-top boxes, including the ever-popular Roku.
TIRED: Smaller media selection compared to other existing services. Lacks the DVD rental option that made Netflix famous.
Redbox
Redbox made it possible for legions of supermarket shoppers to pick up a movie on the cheap, without having to make multiple stops. Instead of leaving the grocery store (or 7-11, Walgreens or what have you) with only a TV dinner and a Mountain Dew in tow, Redbox's 30,000-plus DVD-rental kiosks make sure you won't go home alone on a Friday night again.
WIRED: Cheap, cheap, cheap. DVD rentals average two bucks a pop, with anywhere from 50 to 200 recent titles to select from in each kiosk, updated weekly. Game rentals to roll out this year.
TIRED: No streaming service? Bummer.
Blockbuster
Once the dominant force in the media-rental industry, Blockbuster has fared horribly over the past few years. After scoffing at Netflix's business model years ago, the big blue-and-gold company filed for bankruptcy last September.
However late, Blockbuster jumped on the bandwagon with its own Netflix clone mail-away service, but with the added advantage of allowing customers to return DVDs to brick-and-mortar Blockbuster stores. And finally, Blockbuster Express is a blue-and-gold Redbox rip, with kiosks placed in grocery stores and Kwik-E-Mart's across the country.
WIRED: The Dish Network acquisition could mean big things for Blockbuster when (or if) the companies get a game plan up and running.
TIRED: Brick and mortar is slowly dying, so the leg-up Blockbuster has on Netflix with in-store DVD exchange may soon be moot. Ripping off its two major competitors shows a lack of ability to innovate, possibly signifying that the company is still behind the times.
Hulu Plus
At $8 a month, Hulu Plus offers instant streaming access to a wealth of TV shows only a day or so after they've originally aired. But seriously, if you're paying a monthly fee, you shouldn't have to deal with mid-show commercial breaks. That's the whole point of paying for streaming service, right?
Still, I challenge you to find a more comprehensive archive of Hell's Kitchen reruns on the web.
WIRED: Streaming to all iOS devices and some Android smartphones and tablets. Tons of TV shows that aren't out to rent on DVD.
TIRED: Despite taking your $8 monthly fee, you still have to sit through asinine commercials. "Hundreds," not thousands, of movies to choose from. Again, no physical media. Rights agreements sometimes complicate how many episodes are available for viewing on the site.
Android Market
Google has struggled to keep up with Apple in its media service offerings, only recently debuting its movie rental service on the Android Market in conjunction with a complete interface makeover. Fortunately, renting flicks from Google is available on all Android devices running version 2.2 and up — that's something even Hulu can't say.
WIRED: Rental ain't pricey, averaging around two to five bucks a pop. Streaming to Android phones is nice. Compatible with PCs.
TIRED: No physical media. Not functional across all Android tablets.
iTunes and Apple TV
There's a down-payment to get Apple TV up and running in your home, and it's in the form of a small, sleek set-top box. Fortunately, it's only $100.
Along with Netflix compatibility, Apple lets you purchase and rent movies from its iTunes media store, along with the ability to buy TV shows (due to lack of customer demand, Apple discontinued TV show rentals last month). Further, you're able to watch streaming media on all of Apple's mobile devices. The company wants to hook you into an Apple-centric world, and the interconnection between its services makes it easier for customers to buy in.
WIRED: Purchase prices are par for the course, ranging from $1 to $3 depending on whether you want to rent or own. Ability to buy entire seasons of a show is convenient. Rumors and speculation have long suggested bigger plans for Apple TV's future, though Apple itself is staying mum on any potential developments.
TIRED: Lacks an "all-you-can-stream buffet" option, which can get costly if you watch a lot of flicks. Though its library is extensive, iTunes alone doesn't contain the esoteric indie films that Netflix totes. So if you're subscribing to Netflix and buying through iTunes at the same time, charges could add up fast.
Vudu
Wal-Mart got in on the media-services game in 2010 by buying Vudu, another streaming media company. Initially the service was available only in a set-top box version, but Vudu has since extended itself to other platforms as a standalone media service in and of itself, available to Playstation 3 users, Boxee for OSX owners and Windows-based PC users.
WIRED: Rentals and purchases stay on par with most other services, settling in the $1 to $5 range for rentals, and upwards of $5 for purchases. Titles available the same day they're released on DVD, unlike other services that require waiting periods. Streaming video available on iPad.
TIRED: No monthly unlimited movie-streaming option.
September 21, 2011
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/09/netflix-alternatives
The curtain hasn't even opened on Netflix's new DVD-by-mail spin-off company Qwikster, and many customers are already walking out.
The company recently revised its quarterly projections of net subscribers to show 1 million fewer customers than it had previously expected. Much to Netflix's chagrin, folks are realizing that the king of mail-away media isn't the only game in town.
We've taken a look at some of Netflix's (and Qwikster's) main competitors, and judged each service accordingly. Do the rest offer enough to stand up to the best?
Netflix/Qwikster
Also known as Netflix: Redux. It's the same service we know and love, only completely different. Faced with massive customer backlash in the wake of a price hike, Netflix split itself into two separate companies this week. The streaming service will retain the Netflix branding while the DVD-by-mail service will be named Qwikster. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said the split will better serve customers in the long run because each company will be able to better focus on one type of service.
Netflix pioneered the DVD-by-mail service, creating an entire industry where one did not exist previously. But after serious flux in Netflix's new pricing system — which split the streaming and DVD mailing services into two separate plans starting at $8 a month minimum — there's no guarantee the company's customers will continue to stick around.
WIRED: It's been around the longest, and is the most familiar service. Massive offering of physical mail-away media. New game rental service sounds intriguing. Streaming to all iOS devices and Android smartphones.
TIRED: Can you say price increase? We don't like paying more money for the same service, and we're failing to see how splitting the companies in twain is going to benefit consumers. Streaming-only service still lacks selection compared to DVD catalog.
Amazon Prime
Amazon's elite-level service launched in 2005, offering two-day shipping on any of its products to members anywhere in the continental United States and other select countries for a reasonable $80 a year. Originally meant for those who couldn't wait more than 48 hours for their tangible goods, Prime expanded in February to offer instant, streaming movie and TV show access to existing Prime customers at no added cost.
WIRED: Fast shipping on everything Amazon! What other movie service offers that? Lower yearly rate than Netflix and Qwikster. Works with over 100 different web-connected set-top boxes, including the ever-popular Roku.
TIRED: Smaller media selection compared to other existing services. Lacks the DVD rental option that made Netflix famous.
Redbox
Redbox made it possible for legions of supermarket shoppers to pick up a movie on the cheap, without having to make multiple stops. Instead of leaving the grocery store (or 7-11, Walgreens or what have you) with only a TV dinner and a Mountain Dew in tow, Redbox's 30,000-plus DVD-rental kiosks make sure you won't go home alone on a Friday night again.
WIRED: Cheap, cheap, cheap. DVD rentals average two bucks a pop, with anywhere from 50 to 200 recent titles to select from in each kiosk, updated weekly. Game rentals to roll out this year.
TIRED: No streaming service? Bummer.
Blockbuster
Once the dominant force in the media-rental industry, Blockbuster has fared horribly over the past few years. After scoffing at Netflix's business model years ago, the big blue-and-gold company filed for bankruptcy last September.
However late, Blockbuster jumped on the bandwagon with its own Netflix clone mail-away service, but with the added advantage of allowing customers to return DVDs to brick-and-mortar Blockbuster stores. And finally, Blockbuster Express is a blue-and-gold Redbox rip, with kiosks placed in grocery stores and Kwik-E-Mart's across the country.
WIRED: The Dish Network acquisition could mean big things for Blockbuster when (or if) the companies get a game plan up and running.
TIRED: Brick and mortar is slowly dying, so the leg-up Blockbuster has on Netflix with in-store DVD exchange may soon be moot. Ripping off its two major competitors shows a lack of ability to innovate, possibly signifying that the company is still behind the times.
Hulu Plus
At $8 a month, Hulu Plus offers instant streaming access to a wealth of TV shows only a day or so after they've originally aired. But seriously, if you're paying a monthly fee, you shouldn't have to deal with mid-show commercial breaks. That's the whole point of paying for streaming service, right?
Still, I challenge you to find a more comprehensive archive of Hell's Kitchen reruns on the web.
WIRED: Streaming to all iOS devices and some Android smartphones and tablets. Tons of TV shows that aren't out to rent on DVD.
TIRED: Despite taking your $8 monthly fee, you still have to sit through asinine commercials. "Hundreds," not thousands, of movies to choose from. Again, no physical media. Rights agreements sometimes complicate how many episodes are available for viewing on the site.
Android Market
Google has struggled to keep up with Apple in its media service offerings, only recently debuting its movie rental service on the Android Market in conjunction with a complete interface makeover. Fortunately, renting flicks from Google is available on all Android devices running version 2.2 and up — that's something even Hulu can't say.
WIRED: Rental ain't pricey, averaging around two to five bucks a pop. Streaming to Android phones is nice. Compatible with PCs.
TIRED: No physical media. Not functional across all Android tablets.
iTunes and Apple TV
There's a down-payment to get Apple TV up and running in your home, and it's in the form of a small, sleek set-top box. Fortunately, it's only $100.
Along with Netflix compatibility, Apple lets you purchase and rent movies from its iTunes media store, along with the ability to buy TV shows (due to lack of customer demand, Apple discontinued TV show rentals last month). Further, you're able to watch streaming media on all of Apple's mobile devices. The company wants to hook you into an Apple-centric world, and the interconnection between its services makes it easier for customers to buy in.
WIRED: Purchase prices are par for the course, ranging from $1 to $3 depending on whether you want to rent or own. Ability to buy entire seasons of a show is convenient. Rumors and speculation have long suggested bigger plans for Apple TV's future, though Apple itself is staying mum on any potential developments.
TIRED: Lacks an "all-you-can-stream buffet" option, which can get costly if you watch a lot of flicks. Though its library is extensive, iTunes alone doesn't contain the esoteric indie films that Netflix totes. So if you're subscribing to Netflix and buying through iTunes at the same time, charges could add up fast.
Vudu
Wal-Mart got in on the media-services game in 2010 by buying Vudu, another streaming media company. Initially the service was available only in a set-top box version, but Vudu has since extended itself to other platforms as a standalone media service in and of itself, available to Playstation 3 users, Boxee for OSX owners and Windows-based PC users.
WIRED: Rentals and purchases stay on par with most other services, settling in the $1 to $5 range for rentals, and upwards of $5 for purchases. Titles available the same day they're released on DVD, unlike other services that require waiting periods. Streaming video available on iPad.
TIRED: No monthly unlimited movie-streaming option.
Bad policy decisions could push the US into a 'lost decade'
Bad policy decisions could push the US into a 'lost decade' and put the eurozone into recession, warns IMF
Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor
20 Sep 2011
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8777693/Bad-policy-decisions-could-push-the-US-into-a-lost-decade-and-put-the-eurozone-into-recession-warns-IMF.html
Cutting its global forecasts sharply, the world's economic watchdog said the global economy had entered a "dangerous new phase" and urged policymakers to tread a careful line between aggressive deficit reduction and growth. Central banks should stand ready to restart the printing presses to aid the recovery, it added in its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook.
"The recovery has weakened considerably. Strong policies are needed to improve the outlook and reduce the risks," Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist, said. "Markets have clearly become more sceptical about the ability of many countries to stabilise their public debt. Fear of the unknown is high."
Europe's leaders came under scathing criticism over the escalating debt crisis. "Europe must get its act together," Mr Blanchard said, adding that there was "widespread perception policymakers are one step behind the action". Urging a speedy implementation of the July 21 agreement to bolster the single currency area's €440bn bail-out fund, he said: "The eurozone is a major source of worry. This is a call to arms."
The warning came as Portugal's prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho said his country may need fresh aid if Greek defaults.
"In the case of a default of Greece, this aid could be necessary and it is important that our partners are convinced that it is worth helping Portugal, and in this case, Ireland, too," he said.
Weaker than expected growth in the US, the persistence of Europe's "sovereign debt and banking sector problems", high oil prices and the Japanese tsunami conspired to dramatically worsen the outlook since June. Global growth for this year has been revised down from 4.5pc to 4pc in the past three months – led by a one percentage point downward revision in US growth for this year to 1.5pc.
The UK was downgraded sharply, from June's 1.5pc prediction to just 1.1pc for this year and from 2.3pc to 1.6pc for 2012. Canada and much of Europe saw even bigger downgrades.
However, the forecasts were based on the assumption that President Barack Obama's $447bn jobs plan is approved and the eurozone crisis is resolved with no more than the small voluntary default on Greek debt already agreed. A worse outcome is a "distinct possibility", the IMF warned.
Under the IMF's "downside scenario" – a "shock" to European banks' capital, higher bad debts in the US and Asia, and slower US growth – "the US and the euro area would fall back into recession, with output in 2012 more than 3pc below projections".
Such a devastating hit would drag the UK back into recession, as the US and the Euro area are Britain's major trading partners. "It would be very difficult to see why the UK should be exempt from that as we don't have any ammunition to withstand it," Jürgen Michels, European economist at Citi, said.
Departing from its previous deficit-cutting mantra, the IMF stressed that countries must be careful not to choke off the recovery by cutting too hard too fast. Even the UK should consider back-ending George Osborne's £110bn austerity plan, by delaying spending cuts, if growth turns out to be "substantially" less than the 1.1pc expected this year, the IMF said.
"Countries with more fiscal space could choose a more back-loaded profile should the macroeconomic environment deteriorate substantially," it said. "In the systemically-important advanced economies, activity and confidence are still fragile. If fiscal consolidation were suddenly stepped up further at the expense of the disposable income of people with a high marginal propensity to consume, these economies could be thrown back into stagnation."
In the US, the IMF warned, if income tax relief and unemployment benefit are not extended and if Capitol Hill cannot agree a longer-term strategy for dealing with the $14.3 trillion public debt, "the result could be a lost decade for growth".
In Europe, policymakers must deal with the mushrooming banking crisis by "injecting new capital and restructuring weak but viable banks while closing others". If banks cannot raise funds privately, politicians "must make the case for injecting public funds". Allowing banks time to shrink their loan books would only further damage the recovery by prolonging the credit crunch, Mr Blanchard warned.
To keep the global ship afloat, the IMF called on central banks – particularly the Federal Reserve in the US – to restart money printing and keep interest rates low for longer. "Unconventional policies should continue until there is a durable reduction in financial stress," it said.
Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor
20 Sep 2011
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8777693/Bad-policy-decisions-could-push-the-US-into-a-lost-decade-and-put-the-eurozone-into-recession-warns-IMF.html
Cutting its global forecasts sharply, the world's economic watchdog said the global economy had entered a "dangerous new phase" and urged policymakers to tread a careful line between aggressive deficit reduction and growth. Central banks should stand ready to restart the printing presses to aid the recovery, it added in its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook.
"The recovery has weakened considerably. Strong policies are needed to improve the outlook and reduce the risks," Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist, said. "Markets have clearly become more sceptical about the ability of many countries to stabilise their public debt. Fear of the unknown is high."
Europe's leaders came under scathing criticism over the escalating debt crisis. "Europe must get its act together," Mr Blanchard said, adding that there was "widespread perception policymakers are one step behind the action". Urging a speedy implementation of the July 21 agreement to bolster the single currency area's €440bn bail-out fund, he said: "The eurozone is a major source of worry. This is a call to arms."
The warning came as Portugal's prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho said his country may need fresh aid if Greek defaults.
"In the case of a default of Greece, this aid could be necessary and it is important that our partners are convinced that it is worth helping Portugal, and in this case, Ireland, too," he said.
Weaker than expected growth in the US, the persistence of Europe's "sovereign debt and banking sector problems", high oil prices and the Japanese tsunami conspired to dramatically worsen the outlook since June. Global growth for this year has been revised down from 4.5pc to 4pc in the past three months – led by a one percentage point downward revision in US growth for this year to 1.5pc.
The UK was downgraded sharply, from June's 1.5pc prediction to just 1.1pc for this year and from 2.3pc to 1.6pc for 2012. Canada and much of Europe saw even bigger downgrades.
However, the forecasts were based on the assumption that President Barack Obama's $447bn jobs plan is approved and the eurozone crisis is resolved with no more than the small voluntary default on Greek debt already agreed. A worse outcome is a "distinct possibility", the IMF warned.
Under the IMF's "downside scenario" – a "shock" to European banks' capital, higher bad debts in the US and Asia, and slower US growth – "the US and the euro area would fall back into recession, with output in 2012 more than 3pc below projections".
Such a devastating hit would drag the UK back into recession, as the US and the Euro area are Britain's major trading partners. "It would be very difficult to see why the UK should be exempt from that as we don't have any ammunition to withstand it," Jürgen Michels, European economist at Citi, said.
Departing from its previous deficit-cutting mantra, the IMF stressed that countries must be careful not to choke off the recovery by cutting too hard too fast. Even the UK should consider back-ending George Osborne's £110bn austerity plan, by delaying spending cuts, if growth turns out to be "substantially" less than the 1.1pc expected this year, the IMF said.
"Countries with more fiscal space could choose a more back-loaded profile should the macroeconomic environment deteriorate substantially," it said. "In the systemically-important advanced economies, activity and confidence are still fragile. If fiscal consolidation were suddenly stepped up further at the expense of the disposable income of people with a high marginal propensity to consume, these economies could be thrown back into stagnation."
In the US, the IMF warned, if income tax relief and unemployment benefit are not extended and if Capitol Hill cannot agree a longer-term strategy for dealing with the $14.3 trillion public debt, "the result could be a lost decade for growth".
In Europe, policymakers must deal with the mushrooming banking crisis by "injecting new capital and restructuring weak but viable banks while closing others". If banks cannot raise funds privately, politicians "must make the case for injecting public funds". Allowing banks time to shrink their loan books would only further damage the recovery by prolonging the credit crunch, Mr Blanchard warned.
To keep the global ship afloat, the IMF called on central banks – particularly the Federal Reserve in the US – to restart money printing and keep interest rates low for longer. "Unconventional policies should continue until there is a durable reduction in financial stress," it said.
Awesome Quotes: Occupy Wall Street Protests
“The smart rich know they can only build the gate so high. And, and, sooner or later history proves that people when they’ve had enough aren’t going to take it anymore. And much better to deal with it nonviolently now, through the political system, than what could possibly happen in the future, which nobody wants to see..."
Michael Moore
"Why isn't any major news outlet covering this? If that's a Tea Party protest in front of Wall Street about Ben Bernanke putting stimulus funds into it, it's the lead story on every network news cast. How is that disconnect possible in this country today with so many different outlets and so many different ways of transmitting news?"
Keith Olbermann
Thanks to Jeffrey Pritchett for the photos...
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Robalini's Week 3 NFL Picks
Here's my results for week 2
W-L-T record: 2-3-1
Season record: 5-5-2
San Francisco 49ers (+2) Over Cincinnati Bengals
The Niners did lose to the Cowboys, but it's a loss that can be built on. It was a close game to a great team, so SF now can believe they are for real. This should translate well against the Bengals...
New England Patriots (-9) Over Buffalo Bills
It's a lot of points, but Tom Brady and the Pats like to beat up on teams that are doing well like the Bills are...
Miami Dolphins (+2 1/2) Over Cleveland Browns
The Fins are a better team than their 0-2 start suggests. Look for them to redeem themselves against the Browns...
Detroit Lions (-3 1/2) Over Minnesota Vikings
The Lions are for real...
Carolina Panthers (-3 1/2) Over Jacksonville Jaguars
Cam Newton is for real...
New York Jets (-3 1/2) Over Oakland Raiders
The Jets are still my Super Bowl pick...
Baltimore Ravens (-4) Over St. Louis Rams
Look for the Ravens to rebound...
Pittsburgh Steelers (-10 1/2) Over Indianappolis Colts
A lot of points, but the Steelers are that good and the Colts that bad...
All bets are placed at Station Casinos:
http://www.stationcasinos.com/
To check Las Vegas odds, The Konformist recommends VegasInsider.com:
http://www.vegasinsider.com/
W-L-T record: 2-3-1
Season record: 5-5-2
San Francisco 49ers (+2) Over Cincinnati Bengals
The Niners did lose to the Cowboys, but it's a loss that can be built on. It was a close game to a great team, so SF now can believe they are for real. This should translate well against the Bengals...
New England Patriots (-9) Over Buffalo Bills
It's a lot of points, but Tom Brady and the Pats like to beat up on teams that are doing well like the Bills are...
Miami Dolphins (+2 1/2) Over Cleveland Browns
The Fins are a better team than their 0-2 start suggests. Look for them to redeem themselves against the Browns...
Detroit Lions (-3 1/2) Over Minnesota Vikings
The Lions are for real...
Carolina Panthers (-3 1/2) Over Jacksonville Jaguars
Cam Newton is for real...
New York Jets (-3 1/2) Over Oakland Raiders
The Jets are still my Super Bowl pick...
Baltimore Ravens (-4) Over St. Louis Rams
Look for the Ravens to rebound...
Pittsburgh Steelers (-10 1/2) Over Indianappolis Colts
A lot of points, but the Steelers are that good and the Colts that bad...
All bets are placed at Station Casinos:
http://www.stationcasinos.com/
To check Las Vegas odds, The Konformist recommends VegasInsider.com:
http://www.vegasinsider.com/
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Evolution of Narcissism
Why We're Overconfident, and Why It Works
Overestimating our abilities can be a strategy for success, model shows
National Geographic News
September 14, 2011
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/09/110914-optimism-narcissism-overconfidence-hubris-evolution-science-nature
Believing you're better than you are may help you succeed, a new study says.
For years, psychologists have observed that people routinely overestimate their abilities, said study leader Dominic Johnson, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Some experts have suggested that overconfidence can be a good thing, perhaps by boosting ambition, resolve, and other traits, creating self-fulfilling prophecies.
But positive self-delusion can also lead to faulty assessments, unrealistic expectations, and hazardous decisions, according to the study—making it a mystery why overconfidence remains a key human trait despite thousands of years of natural selection, which typically weeds out harmful traits over generations.
Now, new computer simulations show that a false sense of optimism, whether when deciding to go to war or investing in a new stock, can often improve your chances of winning.
"There hasn't been a good explanation for why we are overconfident, and this new model offers a kind of evolutionary logic for that," Johnson said.
"It's unlikely to be an accident—we're perhaps overconfident for a good reason."
Overconfidence Pays Off When Costs Are Low
Johnson and colleague James Fowler, of the University of California, San Diego, developed a model using evolutionary game theory to explore how individuals with different strategies perform in competition with each other.
In the model two imaginary individuals, X and Y, stake claims for resources. If both claim the resource and fight over it, the stronger individual wins and gains the resource. Both individuals pay a cost for fighting over it. If only one claims the resource, he gets it for free. If neither claims it, neither gets anything.
Johnson also noted two important twists: The virtual competitors may either overestimate or underestimate their real strength. Secondly, there may be uncertainty, or a degree of error in how a competitor perceives his opponents' strength.
Based on these factors, a person then "decides" whether or not to claim the resource, while risking a fight if the other individual also claims it. They base their decision on their own perceived strength compared with how strong they believe their opponent to be.
"The beauty of the model is it captures a lot of types of human competition," said Johnson, whether it's arguing a court case or fighting over resources such as territory.
The team ran simulations over thousands of generations with individuals who had varying levels of overconfidence and varying levels of error in their assessments of others, and observed which strategies were effective. As with physical evolution, advantageous strategies "survived"—or were naturally selected—and were passed down to the next generation.
The results, published today in the journal Nature, showed that overconfidence pays off only when there is uncertainty about opponents' real strengths, and when the benefits of the prize at stake is sufficiently larger than the costs.
"So let's say you and I are fighting over some resource," Johnson said. "As long as there is some uncertainty about the outcome and the resource is valuable compared with the costs incurred in fighting for it, then overconfidence is the best strategy."
For instance, if people are fighting over an island with oil reserves, the benefit of accessing the oil might be a hundred billion dollars, while the costs of the war might be ten billion.
But if "if the cost of conflict or competition is high, and all for a fairly worthless prize—you're much better off being cautious."
False Optimism Detrimental in Advanced Societies?
Daniel Blumstein, a behavioral biologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the study puts the notion of false optimism into context nicely.
The research "provides some justification for a common phenomenon—[that] in many [modern] situations, humans behave overconfidently, and this gets us into problems."
For instance, hubris might have contributed to the 2008 global market collapse and recent wars, including the 2003 Iraq invasion, study leader Johnson speculated.
In fact, the strategy, which developed in small-scale societies, may be less successful in highly developed and complex societies—"that's when overconfidence starts to go wrong," he said.
For example, being overconfident when making decisions such as whether to invade a distant land may amount to an "evolutionary mismatch."
Johnson compares the survival of overconfidence as a primary human trait to our outmoded cravings for high-calorie food—"a consequence of a preference that was useful to us in the past" when calories were scarce "but [that] goes wrong when there's a McDonald's on every corner."
According to Robert Trivers, an expert in social evolution at Rutgers University, overconfidence may have another benefit, at least for men.
Men tend to exhibit more false optimism than women, a trait that can help in their two traditional evolutionary roles: fighting rivals and courting women.
In both situations, men are partly evaluated by their degree of self-confidence, Trivers said. During a fight, for example, false bravado may make a foe back down.
And, after all, "there are few things that are more of a physical or romantic turnoff than if the other person has low self-esteem."
Special Purr Allows Cats to Manipulate Humans
By Jennifer Viegas http://www.thedailycat.com/ca/behavior/behaviorproblems/cats_purr2
At 5 a.m., my cats want two things: breakfast and attention. Their Plan A is to meow louder than an alarm clock, which usually works. If I take longer than usual to respond, they resort to their no-fail Plan B: climbing on top of my head, butting my chin and purring with hypnotic desperation directly into my ear.
Perhaps you’ve also heard this special purr? Scientists have just named it “solicitation purring,” otherwise known as the purr we humans cannot ignore.
What Is Solicitation Purring?
Karen McComb, a cat owner herself, led the recent study on purring, published in the journal Current Biology. After she and her colleagues analyzed the acoustic structure of recorded cat purrs, they determined one particular type contains an embedded, high-pitched cry. “The high-frequency voiced cry occurs at a low level in cats’ normal purring, but we think that cats dramatically exaggerate it when it proves effective in generating a response from humans,” explains the University of Sussex behavioral ecologist.
The cry, much to a cat’s benefit, is very similar to that of a wailing human infant. “Cats have about the right size of vocal folds to produce a cry that is similar to a baby’s, so there is a coincidental element,” says Dr. McComb. In fact, she believes this cry component of a solicitation purr can sound remarkably like a crying child, and that is particularly effective with humans.
How It Works
If your cat sees you stirring from sleep at all in the early morning, it will immediately switch into giving this solicitation purring and position itself next to your head so you get the full impact. Sound familiar? Here’s what’s really taking place:
First Your cat gets a craving for food, water, attention, playtime or something else. Being relatively small, furry and unable to get to such things alone in your home, your pet sets a strategy in motion.
Second Your cat approaches you while vibrating its vocal folds, or cords, in its larynx. “This is not a normal vocal production mechanism [in the animal kingdom],” says Dr. McComb. “Usually in mammals, the vocal folds are just moved into the airstream and then are blown open and snap shut at their own natural frequency of vibration.” The resulting vibrating low fundamental frequency results in a purr.
Third Your cat doesn’t just continue to purr as usual. It voices a cry, “probably with the inner edges of the vocal folds,” believes Dr. McComb. The cry is superimposed on the regular purr.
Fourth You hear the solicitation purr and instinct kicks in. Studies show that most primates are driven to respond to the sound of an infant in distress, so your brain on some level perceives your cat as though it were an actual human baby, even though you consciously know it’s your needy feline.
Last If you are like most owners, you give in to what your cat desires. Considering cats cannot use actual words, the system is surprisingly effective. Nicolas Nicastro, who studied cat vocalizations at Cornell University, says that although they lack language, cats have become very skilled at managing humans to get what they want -- food, shelter and a little human affection.
Have Cats Domesticated Humans?
Cats are domesticated animals that have learned to pull the right levers and make the right sounds to manage our emotions. And when we respond, we too are domesticated animals.
However, don’t confuse cats for little people. “Felines cannot say, ‘Take a can of food out of the cupboard, run the can opener and fill my bowl immediately,’” says Nicastro. They’ve evolved a different, yet no less effective, method of communicating with us.
Four Types of Purrs
Dr. McComb and Georgia Mason, a professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, suggest cats might purr in at least four ways:
•Contentment purr This is “the relaxing one,” says Dr. Mason. It’s the common low frequency rumbling we both hear and feel.
•Silent purr Purrs can occur as silent forms that we humans feel but not hear. Kitten purrs are particularly easy to feel, probably because of a kitten’s ability to communicate “all is well” to its natural mother.
•Solicitation purr This is the newly identified purr with the embedded baby-like cry. “It’s amazing the way certain cries are recognized by humans as needy, even by non-cat owners,” says Dr. Mason.
•Pain purr Cats also sometimes purr when they’re extremely ill. No one is certain why, but some experts have speculated the felines are attempting to comfort themselves.
If you have heard the solicitation purr, consider yourself lucky. “Not all cats use this solicitation purring,” explains Dr. McComb. “It seems to most often develop in cats that have a one-on-one with their owners.”
Jennifer Viegas is the managing editor of The Daily Cat. She is a journalist for Discovery News, the news service for the Discovery Channel, and has written more than 20 books on animals, health and other science-related topics.
At 5 a.m., my cats want two things: breakfast and attention. Their Plan A is to meow louder than an alarm clock, which usually works. If I take longer than usual to respond, they resort to their no-fail Plan B: climbing on top of my head, butting my chin and purring with hypnotic desperation directly into my ear.
Perhaps you’ve also heard this special purr? Scientists have just named it “solicitation purring,” otherwise known as the purr we humans cannot ignore.
What Is Solicitation Purring?
Karen McComb, a cat owner herself, led the recent study on purring, published in the journal Current Biology. After she and her colleagues analyzed the acoustic structure of recorded cat purrs, they determined one particular type contains an embedded, high-pitched cry. “The high-frequency voiced cry occurs at a low level in cats’ normal purring, but we think that cats dramatically exaggerate it when it proves effective in generating a response from humans,” explains the University of Sussex behavioral ecologist.
The cry, much to a cat’s benefit, is very similar to that of a wailing human infant. “Cats have about the right size of vocal folds to produce a cry that is similar to a baby’s, so there is a coincidental element,” says Dr. McComb. In fact, she believes this cry component of a solicitation purr can sound remarkably like a crying child, and that is particularly effective with humans.
How It Works
If your cat sees you stirring from sleep at all in the early morning, it will immediately switch into giving this solicitation purring and position itself next to your head so you get the full impact. Sound familiar? Here’s what’s really taking place:
First Your cat gets a craving for food, water, attention, playtime or something else. Being relatively small, furry and unable to get to such things alone in your home, your pet sets a strategy in motion.
Second Your cat approaches you while vibrating its vocal folds, or cords, in its larynx. “This is not a normal vocal production mechanism [in the animal kingdom],” says Dr. McComb. “Usually in mammals, the vocal folds are just moved into the airstream and then are blown open and snap shut at their own natural frequency of vibration.” The resulting vibrating low fundamental frequency results in a purr.
Third Your cat doesn’t just continue to purr as usual. It voices a cry, “probably with the inner edges of the vocal folds,” believes Dr. McComb. The cry is superimposed on the regular purr.
Fourth You hear the solicitation purr and instinct kicks in. Studies show that most primates are driven to respond to the sound of an infant in distress, so your brain on some level perceives your cat as though it were an actual human baby, even though you consciously know it’s your needy feline.
Last If you are like most owners, you give in to what your cat desires. Considering cats cannot use actual words, the system is surprisingly effective. Nicolas Nicastro, who studied cat vocalizations at Cornell University, says that although they lack language, cats have become very skilled at managing humans to get what they want -- food, shelter and a little human affection.
Have Cats Domesticated Humans?
Cats are domesticated animals that have learned to pull the right levers and make the right sounds to manage our emotions. And when we respond, we too are domesticated animals.
However, don’t confuse cats for little people. “Felines cannot say, ‘Take a can of food out of the cupboard, run the can opener and fill my bowl immediately,’” says Nicastro. They’ve evolved a different, yet no less effective, method of communicating with us.
Four Types of Purrs
Dr. McComb and Georgia Mason, a professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, suggest cats might purr in at least four ways:
•Contentment purr This is “the relaxing one,” says Dr. Mason. It’s the common low frequency rumbling we both hear and feel.
•Silent purr Purrs can occur as silent forms that we humans feel but not hear. Kitten purrs are particularly easy to feel, probably because of a kitten’s ability to communicate “all is well” to its natural mother.
•Solicitation purr This is the newly identified purr with the embedded baby-like cry. “It’s amazing the way certain cries are recognized by humans as needy, even by non-cat owners,” says Dr. Mason.
•Pain purr Cats also sometimes purr when they’re extremely ill. No one is certain why, but some experts have speculated the felines are attempting to comfort themselves.
If you have heard the solicitation purr, consider yourself lucky. “Not all cats use this solicitation purring,” explains Dr. McComb. “It seems to most often develop in cats that have a one-on-one with their owners.”
Jennifer Viegas is the managing editor of The Daily Cat. She is a journalist for Discovery News, the news service for the Discovery Channel, and has written more than 20 books on animals, health and other science-related topics.
Tattoine Found...
From FoxNews.com
A young Luke Skywalker stares out over the dusty planet Tatooine in this film still from the movie, "Star Wars."
A planet orbiting a dual star system is just like the dusty 'Star Wars' home world of Luke Skywalker, according to a research team from Carnegie Mellon. And while many planets have been suspected of having two suns, this newfound planet is the first “circumbinary" planet confirmed by astronomers.
“This is the first definitive case,” Alan Boss, one of the researchers who made the discovery, told FoxNews.com.
“People in the past have thought they saw instances like this. But there are other ways of explaining them. This is the first one where it’s absolutely, quantitatively sure that this is what the explanation is.”
But if it were possible to live on the planet, Boss says the sunsets and sunrises would be spectacular.
“It would change from day to day because the stars orbit around themselves every 41 days,” Boss told FoxNews.com. “So every time you look at them, they’re going to be in a different configuration in the sky. Sometimes they would be close together, sometimes they’ll be far apart. And when sunrises and sunsets occur, sometimes they’ll be quite widely spaced in time and sometimes they’ll go up and down almost simultaneously.”
The planet's discovery was an unintentional consequence of the prime mission of NASA’s spacecraft Kepler. Launched in 2009, Kepler’s goal has been to survey portions of the galaxy in search of Earth-sized planets orbiting stars like the one in our solar system...
Star Wars Come True? Tatooine-Like Planet Discovered
Loren Grush
September 15, 2011
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/15/star-wars-come-true-tatooine-like-planet-discovered
A young Luke Skywalker stares out over the dusty planet Tatooine in this film still from the movie, "Star Wars."
A planet orbiting a dual star system is just like the dusty 'Star Wars' home world of Luke Skywalker, according to a research team from Carnegie Mellon. And while many planets have been suspected of having two suns, this newfound planet is the first “circumbinary" planet confirmed by astronomers.
“This is the first definitive case,” Alan Boss, one of the researchers who made the discovery, told FoxNews.com.
“People in the past have thought they saw instances like this. But there are other ways of explaining them. This is the first one where it’s absolutely, quantitatively sure that this is what the explanation is.”
But if it were possible to live on the planet, Boss says the sunsets and sunrises would be spectacular.
“It would change from day to day because the stars orbit around themselves every 41 days,” Boss told FoxNews.com. “So every time you look at them, they’re going to be in a different configuration in the sky. Sometimes they would be close together, sometimes they’ll be far apart. And when sunrises and sunsets occur, sometimes they’ll be quite widely spaced in time and sometimes they’ll go up and down almost simultaneously.”
The planet's discovery was an unintentional consequence of the prime mission of NASA’s spacecraft Kepler. Launched in 2009, Kepler’s goal has been to survey portions of the galaxy in search of Earth-sized planets orbiting stars like the one in our solar system...
Star Wars Come True? Tatooine-Like Planet Discovered
Loren Grush
September 15, 2011
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/15/star-wars-come-true-tatooine-like-planet-discovered
You Should Definitely Take More Drugs
James Kent
Sep 13 2011
http://www.acceler8or.com/2011/09/you-should-definitely-take-more-drugs
The greatest discovery of modern pharmacology is not a single drug, or even a vaccine, or even a miracle cure to some wretched disease. Rather, the greatest discovery is the validation of the theory that all human sensation is mediated by chemicals. Chemicals make us feel pleasure, pain, fear, joy, despair, or completely numb. Every thought, action, emotion, or even seeing the color red is mediated a chemical. Our body makes these chemicals naturally, and they can be mimicked or switched on or off by other chemicals. When sensations propagate through the brain they move through neural networks in pulses of chemical packets. When we get a thorn in our finger we don’t feel the thorn, we feel chemicals hitting neurons. And if we take the right drugs to block those chemicals, we don’t feel the thorn at all, we feel nothing. Drugs can reverse any unwanted human sensation. If you’re sad you can take a drug and feel happy. If you’re in pain you can take a drug and feel no pain. If you’re sleepy you can take a drug to feel awake. If you’re anxious you can take a drug to make you relax. If you’re angry and feel despair you can take a drug to make you feel like the king of the world. Pop a pill and change your life. It is just that easy.
Taking drugs is so easy, taking drugs is easier than eating. If you are hungry you can take a drug and feel no hunger. Food becomes a secondary option once you can control every mood with drugs. If you’re feeling malnourished and need to eat, go stuff yourself at the all-you-can eat buffet until you can’t eat another bite and want to puke. Don’t worry about the quality of the food, just eat a variety of everything and take some multivitamins. If you get heartburn you can take a drug to make it go away. If you eat way too much you can take a drug to vomit or shit your guts out at high velocity. No health decision is permanent if you can immediately reverse any drug or food choice with another drug. And if you feel like your system is full of too many drugs, then you can take a drug to clean your blood, drink plenty of clean water to recycle your system, and when you’ve purged your fluids and had a few good REM cycles, you can wake up and smell the fresh-ground coffee, and do it all over again.
If you are a normal human living in the modern world, my advice that you should do more drugs may rub you the wrong way, it may even make you angry. Public morality tells us drugs are bad because they destroy lives. But if drugs can save lives then drugs are good and you should take more. Everybody knows that too many drugs are bad for you, but pharmaceutical companies want you to know — and I’m not making this up — that the appropriate amount of drugs is fucking huge. And the appropriate amount — and I’m not making this up — is several pills and chemicals many times a day for the rest of your life. If you think I am joking please ask you doctor for more details.
Everybody is on drugs, from caffeine and aspirin to pot and nicotine and THC and Prozax and Xanax and opium and Oxycontin and encyclopedias of chemicals dedicated to improving human lives. Even if you don’t like drugs, there’s a drug for you; a drug that will make your life better; a drug that will make you a better person. Everybody is on drugs because doing drugs is definitely better than feeling lousy your whole life and then dying a painful early death. If drugs can mitigate even one percent of the human condition then people will take them like oxygen. It is simple math. And even if you are drug free and proud, when you are dying of a chronic illness or are in chronic pain, you won’t seek comfort in religion, you won’t pray for a miracle, you won’t turn to friends and family for support. No, when the chips are down,you will forget about faith and family and seek help by finding the right mix of drugs to fix it and make it better. There is no shame in taking drugs to fix your problems. This is a myth invented by assholes to make you feel bad for being a proactive problem solver. Assholes will never give you anything but shame, but drugs will never let you down. Just be sure to take more of them when you have problems. Problem solved.
I will admit that drugs can cause their own problems, many problems. But the main problem is that drugs cost money, and the best drugs are illegal, and even legal drugs are more expensive than food. This causes financial problems, supply problems, and problems for suffering people who want drugs not being able to get them.. which is a big fucking problem. Drug supply problems cause social and political problems. Modern governments have long standing arguments over every facet of drug supply and distribution and they grandstand about which feel-good drugs should be illegal and which life-saving drugs should made available to which people at what price depending on their health insurance and where they live. But all of the politics are bullshit when you just want cheap drugs to make your miserable, lonely, disease-ridden life a tiny bit more bearable. Most people will take any drug to make them feel better. They don’t care where it comes from. The biggest problem with the best drugs is that you need to go through some politician, bureaucrat, or doctor who decides whether or not you are worthy enough to deserve them. And how does that make you feel? If you are not pissed, then you must have bypassed the gatekeepers and have already found a way to get those drugs yourself. Congratulations, you may skip being pissed off and resume feeling awesome.
But imagine if drugs were totally free, and taking them made you feel awesome and live longer, and it was socially responsible to feel awesome and live a long productive life. And I’m not talking about an Orwellian reference to Soma, I’m talking about a variety of really ingenious drugs that made you love and create and grow and bond and nurture the people around you to build a place where humans felt no anxiety or shame for being born imperfect. Would you take your free awesome longevity drugs to become the perfect you? Of course you would! Or maybe you wouldn’t. If you value feeling shitty and dying a painful early death than you are pissing away the most sacred of our cultural priorities, which are being happy and living a long productive life. If you reject these principles you are probably an angry outcast and a loner, the kind of person who might gun down a playground full of children just to get someone to pity your black and empty heart for five seconds. Does that sound like you? If so then get with the program loser! Put down the hate and do more drugs!
Don’t get me wrong. Drugs are not the answer to all of life’s problems, just most of life’s problems. You should still exercise and eat and take your vitamins. You need to keep your cardiovascular system in good shape because you’ll need it to pump all those awesome drugs through your body. You also need to be selective about the drugs you take, and make sure they’re clean and won’t ruin your kidneys or liver or bladder or degrade the functioning of your brain. And you need to consider the dose of your drugs, and practice moderation when the positive drug effects wear off and negative drug effects become problematic. Keeping track of all the important things in this paragraph takes discipline and focus, and if you lack discipline and focus there are drugs to fix that. And if you’re unlucky enough to get addicted to certain drugs, there are drugs to fix that too.
And if you think this article is satire, or bullshit, or whatever, I can honestly say it doesn’t matter what you think. I promise you, in your lifetime, you will totally take more drugs. You can’t help yourself. You will take your drugs like a good human, and when you do you can silently thank me for reminding you to feel proud for being among the drug enabled. You could choose to be sick or depressed or angry or unfulfilled, or you can take more drugs. Drugs will always help, they are pretty reliable that way. You should totally take more of them. You should definitely remember to do that.
James L. Kent is the author of Psychedelic Information Theory: Shamanism in the Age of Reason.
Sep 13 2011
http://www.acceler8or.com/2011/09/you-should-definitely-take-more-drugs
The greatest discovery of modern pharmacology is not a single drug, or even a vaccine, or even a miracle cure to some wretched disease. Rather, the greatest discovery is the validation of the theory that all human sensation is mediated by chemicals. Chemicals make us feel pleasure, pain, fear, joy, despair, or completely numb. Every thought, action, emotion, or even seeing the color red is mediated a chemical. Our body makes these chemicals naturally, and they can be mimicked or switched on or off by other chemicals. When sensations propagate through the brain they move through neural networks in pulses of chemical packets. When we get a thorn in our finger we don’t feel the thorn, we feel chemicals hitting neurons. And if we take the right drugs to block those chemicals, we don’t feel the thorn at all, we feel nothing. Drugs can reverse any unwanted human sensation. If you’re sad you can take a drug and feel happy. If you’re in pain you can take a drug and feel no pain. If you’re sleepy you can take a drug to feel awake. If you’re anxious you can take a drug to make you relax. If you’re angry and feel despair you can take a drug to make you feel like the king of the world. Pop a pill and change your life. It is just that easy.
Taking drugs is so easy, taking drugs is easier than eating. If you are hungry you can take a drug and feel no hunger. Food becomes a secondary option once you can control every mood with drugs. If you’re feeling malnourished and need to eat, go stuff yourself at the all-you-can eat buffet until you can’t eat another bite and want to puke. Don’t worry about the quality of the food, just eat a variety of everything and take some multivitamins. If you get heartburn you can take a drug to make it go away. If you eat way too much you can take a drug to vomit or shit your guts out at high velocity. No health decision is permanent if you can immediately reverse any drug or food choice with another drug. And if you feel like your system is full of too many drugs, then you can take a drug to clean your blood, drink plenty of clean water to recycle your system, and when you’ve purged your fluids and had a few good REM cycles, you can wake up and smell the fresh-ground coffee, and do it all over again.
If you are a normal human living in the modern world, my advice that you should do more drugs may rub you the wrong way, it may even make you angry. Public morality tells us drugs are bad because they destroy lives. But if drugs can save lives then drugs are good and you should take more. Everybody knows that too many drugs are bad for you, but pharmaceutical companies want you to know — and I’m not making this up — that the appropriate amount of drugs is fucking huge. And the appropriate amount — and I’m not making this up — is several pills and chemicals many times a day for the rest of your life. If you think I am joking please ask you doctor for more details.
Everybody is on drugs, from caffeine and aspirin to pot and nicotine and THC and Prozax and Xanax and opium and Oxycontin and encyclopedias of chemicals dedicated to improving human lives. Even if you don’t like drugs, there’s a drug for you; a drug that will make your life better; a drug that will make you a better person. Everybody is on drugs because doing drugs is definitely better than feeling lousy your whole life and then dying a painful early death. If drugs can mitigate even one percent of the human condition then people will take them like oxygen. It is simple math. And even if you are drug free and proud, when you are dying of a chronic illness or are in chronic pain, you won’t seek comfort in religion, you won’t pray for a miracle, you won’t turn to friends and family for support. No, when the chips are down,you will forget about faith and family and seek help by finding the right mix of drugs to fix it and make it better. There is no shame in taking drugs to fix your problems. This is a myth invented by assholes to make you feel bad for being a proactive problem solver. Assholes will never give you anything but shame, but drugs will never let you down. Just be sure to take more of them when you have problems. Problem solved.
I will admit that drugs can cause their own problems, many problems. But the main problem is that drugs cost money, and the best drugs are illegal, and even legal drugs are more expensive than food. This causes financial problems, supply problems, and problems for suffering people who want drugs not being able to get them.. which is a big fucking problem. Drug supply problems cause social and political problems. Modern governments have long standing arguments over every facet of drug supply and distribution and they grandstand about which feel-good drugs should be illegal and which life-saving drugs should made available to which people at what price depending on their health insurance and where they live. But all of the politics are bullshit when you just want cheap drugs to make your miserable, lonely, disease-ridden life a tiny bit more bearable. Most people will take any drug to make them feel better. They don’t care where it comes from. The biggest problem with the best drugs is that you need to go through some politician, bureaucrat, or doctor who decides whether or not you are worthy enough to deserve them. And how does that make you feel? If you are not pissed, then you must have bypassed the gatekeepers and have already found a way to get those drugs yourself. Congratulations, you may skip being pissed off and resume feeling awesome.
But imagine if drugs were totally free, and taking them made you feel awesome and live longer, and it was socially responsible to feel awesome and live a long productive life. And I’m not talking about an Orwellian reference to Soma, I’m talking about a variety of really ingenious drugs that made you love and create and grow and bond and nurture the people around you to build a place where humans felt no anxiety or shame for being born imperfect. Would you take your free awesome longevity drugs to become the perfect you? Of course you would! Or maybe you wouldn’t. If you value feeling shitty and dying a painful early death than you are pissing away the most sacred of our cultural priorities, which are being happy and living a long productive life. If you reject these principles you are probably an angry outcast and a loner, the kind of person who might gun down a playground full of children just to get someone to pity your black and empty heart for five seconds. Does that sound like you? If so then get with the program loser! Put down the hate and do more drugs!
Don’t get me wrong. Drugs are not the answer to all of life’s problems, just most of life’s problems. You should still exercise and eat and take your vitamins. You need to keep your cardiovascular system in good shape because you’ll need it to pump all those awesome drugs through your body. You also need to be selective about the drugs you take, and make sure they’re clean and won’t ruin your kidneys or liver or bladder or degrade the functioning of your brain. And you need to consider the dose of your drugs, and practice moderation when the positive drug effects wear off and negative drug effects become problematic. Keeping track of all the important things in this paragraph takes discipline and focus, and if you lack discipline and focus there are drugs to fix that. And if you’re unlucky enough to get addicted to certain drugs, there are drugs to fix that too.
And if you think this article is satire, or bullshit, or whatever, I can honestly say it doesn’t matter what you think. I promise you, in your lifetime, you will totally take more drugs. You can’t help yourself. You will take your drugs like a good human, and when you do you can silently thank me for reminding you to feel proud for being among the drug enabled. You could choose to be sick or depressed or angry or unfulfilled, or you can take more drugs. Drugs will always help, they are pretty reliable that way. You should totally take more of them. You should definitely remember to do that.
James L. Kent is the author of Psychedelic Information Theory: Shamanism in the Age of Reason.
Alien Invasion Imminent? Summer Sees a Spike in UFO Sightings
Damon Poeter September 19, 2011
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393228,00.asp
Is an alien invasion imminent? The past six weeks have seen a spike in UFO sightings in the United States, according to an organization that tracks reports of unidentified flying objects.
The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) reports that there were 1,013 such sightings in August, up from an average of about 500 per month nationwide.
"It's pretty exciting," Clifford Clift, the international director of MUFON, told Life's Little Mysteries last week. "[T]hat's an interesting spike in sighting reports."
There might be several different explanations for the increase in UFO sightings, according to Clift—an actual alien invasion is just one possibility.
Clift told Life's Little Mysteries that UFO sightings periodically increase from time to time—when a big cluster of sightings happens in a short time, it's called a "UFO flap." One reason for this might be a psychological phenomenon called "priming."
When popular culture is focused on UFOs, sightings of them tend to rise alongside the increase in books, movies, and television shows about such objects, he said.
"It's likely that the media and [alien-themed] movies that are coming out, like Apollo 18 and Paul, are piquing people's interest in UFOs," Clift said.
Another possible reason for more sightings is that people are outdoors more in the summer, focusing more eyeballs on the night sky than during other times of the year and increasing sightings of the various objects that tend to get reported as UFOs—airplanes, shooting stars, satellites, weather balloons, and who knows, maybe even alien spacecraft.
There also could be some duplication of sightings going on, according to MUFON. Clift said his organization was still examining the data on UFO sighting reports from recent weeks, with an eye towards determining if during the summer months there had been many reports of many different objects or many reports of the same object, which could be the case if a few objects happened to be spotted in more populated areas.
Perhaps they should also be on the lookout for telltale trails of Reese's Pieces.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393228,00.asp
Is an alien invasion imminent? The past six weeks have seen a spike in UFO sightings in the United States, according to an organization that tracks reports of unidentified flying objects.
The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) reports that there were 1,013 such sightings in August, up from an average of about 500 per month nationwide.
"It's pretty exciting," Clifford Clift, the international director of MUFON, told Life's Little Mysteries last week. "[T]hat's an interesting spike in sighting reports."
There might be several different explanations for the increase in UFO sightings, according to Clift—an actual alien invasion is just one possibility.
Clift told Life's Little Mysteries that UFO sightings periodically increase from time to time—when a big cluster of sightings happens in a short time, it's called a "UFO flap." One reason for this might be a psychological phenomenon called "priming."
When popular culture is focused on UFOs, sightings of them tend to rise alongside the increase in books, movies, and television shows about such objects, he said.
"It's likely that the media and [alien-themed] movies that are coming out, like Apollo 18 and Paul, are piquing people's interest in UFOs," Clift said.
Another possible reason for more sightings is that people are outdoors more in the summer, focusing more eyeballs on the night sky than during other times of the year and increasing sightings of the various objects that tend to get reported as UFOs—airplanes, shooting stars, satellites, weather balloons, and who knows, maybe even alien spacecraft.
There also could be some duplication of sightings going on, according to MUFON. Clift said his organization was still examining the data on UFO sighting reports from recent weeks, with an eye towards determining if during the summer months there had been many reports of many different objects or many reports of the same object, which could be the case if a few objects happened to be spotted in more populated areas.
Perhaps they should also be on the lookout for telltale trails of Reese's Pieces.
Former NASA Employee Claims Alien Moon Cities
phunkychic666 on September 17, 2011
http://www.disinfo.com/2011/09/former-nasa-employee-claims-alien-moon-cities-exist/
Original Story at BeforeItsNews.com
Former National Aeronautics and Space Administration Data and Photo Control Department manager, Ken Johnston, who worked for the space agency’s Lunar Receiving Laboratory during the Apollo missions has been fired for telling the truth.
Johnston asserts NASA knows astronauts discovered ancient alien cities and the remains of amazingly advanced machinery on the Moon. Some of the technology can manipulate gravity. He says the agency ordered a cover-up and forced him to participate in it. Over the past 40 years other scientists, engineers and technicians have accused NASA of cover-ups and obscuring data.
The growing number of accusers’ allegations range from hiding information about anomalous space objects and lying about the discovery of artifacts on the surface of the Moon and Mars, to denying the evidence of life reported back by the Viking lander during the mid-1970s.
Full Story:
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1091/566/NASA_Whistleblower:_Alien_Moon_Cities_Exist.html
The Rev. Jeremiah Wright Recalls Obama's Fall From Grace
Monday 19 September 2011
Chris Hedges, Truthdig
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_rev_jeremiah_wright_recalls_obamas_fall_from_grace_20110919
Barack Obama’s politically expedient decision to betray and abandon his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, exposed his cowardice and moral bankruptcy. In that moment, playing the part of Judas, he surrendered the last shreds of his integrity. He became nothing more than a pawn of power, or as Cornel West says, “a black mascot for Wall Street.” Obama, once the glitter of power fades, will have to grapple with the fact that he was a traitor not only to his pastor, the man who married him and Michelle, who baptized his children and who kept him spiritually and morally grounded, but to himself. Wright retains what is most precious in life and what Obama has squandered—his soul.
The health of a nation is measured by how it treats its prophets. When these prophets are ignored and reviled, when they become figures of ridicule, when they are labeled by the chattering classes and power elite as fools, then there is no check left on moral decay and the degeneration of the state. Wright, who spent 36 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s South Side, since the 2008 presidential campaign has endured slander and calumny and weathered character assassination, misinterpretation and abuse, and yet he doggedly continues Sunday after Sunday to thunder the word of God from pulpits across the country.
I grew up as a Christian. My father was a pastor. I graduated from a seminary. I can distinguish a Christian pastor from the slick imposters and charlatans, from T.D. Jakes to Joel Osteen. Wright preaches the radical and unsettling message of the Christian Gospel. He calls us to live the moral life. He knows that the measure of our lives as individuals and as a nation is reflected in how we treat our most vulnerable. And he knows on whose side he stands. Obama, who like Judas took his 30 pieces of silver and betrayed someone who loved him, withers into moral insignificance in Wright’s presence.
Obama, although his subservience to the war machine and Wall Street mocks the fundamental values of Dr. Martin Luther King, will preside Oct. 16 over the dedication of the King memorial on the Mall in Washington. He will lend himself to the venal cabal of the corporate and political elites who have hijacked King’s image. These political and corporate figures—many of whom donated significant sums to build the $120 million memorial (General Motors, which gave $10 million, uses the memorial in a commercial for its vehicles)—seek to silence King’s demand for economic justice and an end to racism and militarism. King’s vision is grotesquely deformed in Obama’s hands. To hear the voice of King we will have to turn from the choreographed and corporate-sponsored dedication ceremony to heed the words of a handful of men and women who are as reviled by the power brokers as King was in his own life, and yet who battle to keep the flame of King’s message alive.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing that the country would recognize someone as important as Dr. King,” Wright said when I reached him by phone in Chicago, “and recognize him in a way that raises his likeness in the Mall along with the presidents. He’s not a president like Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. But to have him ranked among them in terms of this nation paying attention to the importance of his work, that’s a good thing.”
“I read Maya Angelou’s piece about the way the quote was put on the monument,” Wright said in referring to the editing of a quote by King on the north face of the 30-foot-tall granite statue. The inscription quote reads: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” But these are not King’s words. They are paraphrased from a sermon he gave in which he said: “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.” Angelou said the mangled inscription made King sound “arrogant.”
“I read the explanation as to why we couldn’t include the whole quote,” said Wright, who helped raise $200,000 for the monument. “Kids a hundred years from now, like our pastor who was born three years after King was killed, they’re going to see that and will not get the context. They will not hear the whole speech, and that will be their take-away, which is not a good thing. My bigger problems, however, have to do with all the emphasis on ’63 and ‘I Have a Dream.’ They have swept under the rug the radical justice message that King ended his career repeating over and over and over again, starting with the media coverage of the April 4, 1967, ‘A Time to Break Silence’ message at the Riverside Church [in New York City]. King had a huge emphasis on capitalism, militarism and racism, the three-headed giant. There is no mention of that, no mention of that King, and absolutely no mention of the importance of his work with the poor. After all, he’s at the garbage collectors strike in Memphis, Tenn., when he is assassinated. The whole emphasis on the poor sent him to Memphis. But that gets swept away. It bothers me that we think more about a monument than a movement. He had a movement trying to address poverty. It was for jobs, not I Have a Dream, not Black and White Together, but that gets lost.”
“You look at old guys like me that were alive during that time,” Wright said. “I’m saying ‘wait a minute, you’re missing something, you’re missing something,’ and my grandson—well, my youngest one is 11, he’ll not know that King. I’ll tell him, but what’s going to happen in terms of the curriculum? What’s going to happen in terms of the schools? What’s going to happen in terms of the millions of visitors who go to Washington, D.C.? They will miss that King entirely. We have an idealistic portrait. I think that does violence to what the man stood for and what he was trying to do.”
More ominously, Wright warns, the sanitizing of King has been accompanied by the primacy of a selfish, hedonistic and violent culture which has turned away from values, including self-sacrifice, that make possible harmony and the common good. This selfishness and narcissism, Wright argues, is a form of blasphemy.
“We got so focused in on being No. 1, on being the superpower,” he said. “When the Cold War ends we reign supreme. Empire, corporate interest and business interests take over. We got so focused on that and the media hype, media of course being owned by the corporations, that the founding principles, the core principles that I feel should have been our guiding principles, in terms of becoming what King called ‘the beloved community,’ and becoming what Howard Thurman called ‘the search for common ground,’ got completely lost. We substituted the prayer of Jesus with the prayer of Jabez. Increase my territory. Enlarge my territory. If you notice, Jesus taught us to pray, and I speak as a Christian minister—I realize that the country is not all Christian—but just in terms of the principles that I believe cut across interfaith lines and boundaries is in the prayer. The model prayer the Lord taught us as the Lord’s disciples has no first person singular pronoun. It’s ‘our,’ ‘we,’ ‘us.’ That got lost.”
“We became a ‘me’-focused, kind of dog-eat-dog, Ayn Rand, social Darwinist, survival of the fittest, be strong, and with no care, no concern, no compassion for those that are not born above the scratch line,” Wright said. “And no concern to make the communities in which they live and the world in which we live a community which really cares about all of God’s children, regardless of their colors and regardless of their faith.”
Wright has become something of an expert on the commercial media since he was psychologically lynched by them. The media, selecting clips to tar him, have plastered him with derogatory labels and shut his voice out of the national discourse. He has, like all of our greatest intellectual and moral dissidents, from Ralph Nader to Noam Chomsky, been rendered a pariah.
“The media became interested in profits, in selling airtime, in selling newspapers, in selling magazines, in selling ‘if it bleeds it leads,’ whatever will get us a larger market share of the audience, of the viewing audience, of the listening audience,” Wright went on. “That became the focus, rather than sharing factual news with Americans, and the world, in terms of what’s really going on. That’s no longer important. What’s important is profit.”
“Once that media-spun narrative is out there, from that point on all you hear is critiques of the narrative, deconstruction of the narrative, debates concerning the narrative, affirmations of the narrative, attacks on the narrative, with nobody talking about substance, because we don’t even know what substance is,” Wright said.
Wright insists that the church, especially the liberal church that allied itself with the civil rights movement, is alive, although ignored and unheeded as a voice within the larger society.
“The average church in America has 200 members,” he said. “But they get no news coverage. The news covers the mega-churches, Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes. We’re talking big churches, large memberships. But the men and women who are in the trenches, who have not ‘bowed to Baal,’ the 7,000 more that God told Elijah that God had, are ignored. They’re still there. They’re still doing it. They are not, perhaps—and this is spoken from a 70-year-old, and I would say 50 years of that as an adult looking back—as numerous as they were back in the ’60s. They are fewer and less vocal in number, but they remain. The problem is that the media is not going to put out what guys like your dad and my dad were doing and saying Sunday after Sunday, not just in worship but throughout the week as they tried to make ministry meaningful after the benediction. That doesn’t get covered. I see them still doing, still trying to do what they did back in the ’60s , but not getting the coverage. Let them marry a gay guy, or a gay couple, that’s going to make the news. Let them go up against Wal-Mart, especially Wal-Mart’s treatment of women or its workers, that doesn’t make the news. Because the Waltons, and the corporate giants who control the news, don’t see that kind of work by the church as important. What’s important is that the Supreme Court sided with the Walton family. So that those churches that are trying, that are dealing with poverty, that are dealing with honest conversations about educational reform, that are not jumping on the ‘Waiting for Superman’ bandwagon or Bill Gates, but who are really in the schools, are relegated to the shadows. And from what I see talking to local pastors they’re trying their best to make a difference in the lives of the poor, they’re doing feeding. I just left Fresno and a little small church out there adopted one of the missions [for the needy] in Fresno. They’ve got a place called Tent City in one of the richest counties in the country. Folks are living in tents as if it was Soweto or Calcutta. The guys from that small church in Fresno are going there, because it’s dangerous for the women to go over there, guys are going over there once a week, and they are taking the youth of this church. But that’s not making the news. I’ve seen the church doing all kinds of exciting things around the country, but it’s below the radar.”
“How many times has there been a debt-ceiling vote these past few years?” he asked. “Eighty-seven times. But what becomes news? Well, first of all, don’t mention the number of debt-ceiling votes to the public. The media needs a crisis whether it is the debt-ceiling vote or Obamacare. These are the things we keep in front of the people’s faces. What about the important issues? If it is about the defense budget or the fact that major corporations haven’t paid a penny in taxes, we get—no, no, no, no, no, no, no—don’t put that in front of them. It is ‘low information’ America. It’s ‘my mind is made up—don’t confuse me with any facts.’ I see what the church is really doing, the liberal church, the old-line church, the unpopular churches, the ones that don’t get the coverage. I see them in the trenches seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.”
“Do you know what successful ministry is?” he asked. “When you change and touch the lives of people, when you make a difference in their lives, when you give them hope, when you help them go back to school and get an education. That’s successful ministry. But even seminarians I teach are looking at ministry like it’s a “be like Mike” basketball role model they are pursuing. Instead of important and life-changing questions being addressed, the questions one hears are: How many members do we have? How many CDs and DVDs have we produced? How much money do we make? That’s not a successful ministry. Too many seminary students aren’t interested in making things better. They’re interested in becoming like T.D. Jakes, in building a megachurch. They’re not interested in being in the hood, with those who have lost hope.”
“We don’t want our children to have any kind of critical thinking, we just want them to be able to function in a low-paying dead-end job,” Wright said. “There is no emphasis on teaching the young African-American male to dream. And teaching him, and the young sisters also, him or her, that, OK, education is more than passing scores, how you perform on a test—it has to do with how you live in community with others. It has to do with nutrition. It has to do with poverty. It has to do with the whole person. We are slashing and burning programs at the preschool level. We start with Head Start and early childhood education, and all the way up through the foundational primary grades. Who is going to teach these kids Langston Hughes’ poem ‘Mother to Son’? Who is going to repeat Hughes’ words to them:
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
“Who is going to tell him or her you can do this, you really can, you can achieve, you are not what society has labeled you?” he said. “And then we have to give them an alternative, some tools where they can get a job, where they can take care of their families, where they can learn to think critically and analyze some of the stuff that they’re hearing on television, and deconstruct some of the stuff they’re hearing in hip-hop. Because there are some conscious hip-hop artists who have not bought into the corporate model. But you need to know the difference, and be able to tell the difference between the two. That kind of engagement is what I know several churches are doing.”
Wright, who perhaps knows Obama better than nearly any other person in the country, sees a man who sold his principles for the chimera and illusion of power. But once Obama achieved power he became its tool, its vassal, its public face, its brand.
“President Obama was selected before he was elected,” Wright said, “and he is accountable to those who selected him. Why do you think Wall Street got the break? Why do you think the big three [financial institutions] were bailed out? Those were the ones who selected him. We didn’t select him. We don’t have enough money to select anybody. You’re accountable to those who select you. All politicians are. Given those constraints, he is doing the best he can because he is accountable to the ones that put him where he is. Preachers, pastors, ministers, we are not accountable to these people. I’ll never forget one of the most powerful things he said to me in my home, second Saturday in April 2008. He said, ‘You know what your problem is?’ I said, ‘What is that?’ He said, ‘You have to tell the truth.’ I said, ‘That’s a good problem. That’s a good problem.’ ”“When he was elected to the United States Senate I was asked what advice I would have for Sen. Obama,” Wright said. “I said, ‘Please don’t change who you are, because of where you are.’ Who he was before he got to that position is a very different Barack. Which to me is unfortunate but it’s to be expected because that’s what you chose, you chose to run, to be in that place. I can give you a glimpse into the kind of person he was, which was mind-blowing to me to see somebody with that kind of integrity. He went to his first Congressional Black Caucus meeting the year before he announced that he was running for the Senate. He came back to Chicago and came into my office asking for an appointment. He was heartbroken. It showed to me that night his naiveté and his integrity. He was naive because he was down in Washington trying to get audiences with the Congressional Black Caucus in terms of testing the waters about his making a run for the United States Senate. And it was a meat market. That blew his mind. I’m saying Barack, come on, man—name one significant thing that has come out of any Congressional Black Caucus. Come on. [He] was naive. He told me, ‘My name should be out there right now, last week in September, but I can’t announce.’ I said, ‘Why can’t you announce?’ He said, ‘I don’t know whether or not Carol Moseley Braun is going to run again. I will not run against an African-American woman.’ And I’m saying to myself, what manner of man is this? I know guys who would run against their own mama. You will not run against an African-American female? To have that kind of integrity was awesome to me. He changed. That’s unfortunate.”
“In February 2007 on [a broadcast of] ‘Religion & Ethics’ I said there will come a time when Obama will have to distance himself from me,” Wright said. “Now that’s February 2007. So the fact that he had to distance himself from me does not come as a surprise. What did come as a surprise was how he did it. I’ve heard you describe that your dad laid the foundation upon which you stand. He made you the kind of person you are. I know that when you interview someone and the tears start, you fold up your notepad and put your pen away because you’re not that kind of reporter. If there was somebody from your dad’s church running for an office, and the media comes up to them and puts a microphone in front of their face and says, did you hear what Pastor Hedges was saying about the war? If you disagree, your response is, ‘I disagree with that, next question.’ You don’t have to chastise Pastor Hedges. I just disagree with him. Next question. But [Obama] was listening to people who are politically minded, people who are counting votes. He was not listening to people with integrity. In November and December of 2008 during the ethnic cleansing of Gaza one of the news media persons put a microphone in front of Barack’s face and asked him what do you think about what’s going on in Gaza? He said, ‘We can’t have but one president at a time.’ I told my wife he needed to be on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ the way he danced around that question. That was like a preview of coming attractions in terms of the pragmatist, center-of-the-road, conciliatory, not-speaking-from-principle person the world sees today.”
“And for him to have been a community organizer in one of the poorest communities in the city, Altgeld Gardens housing project, and now to be painted into a corner where he can’t address health care for the poor,” Wright said. “He took the public option off the table. What happened? What happened is politics happened.”
“King would be saying to us the same thing today he was saying in 1967 and 1968,” Wright said. “He would be condemning our nation’s utter disregard for the poor. A strong nation cares about all of its citizens regardless of their color or their race or their religious beliefs. Malcolm, once he broke with the Nation of Islam, and found that God, or Allah, really does have children that don’t look like you, would be appalled by our buying into a military option as a way to peace, as a way to finding common ground. The military option is not an option. King and Malcolm would agree with that.”
“I was walking through the airport a few weeks ago,” Wright said. “I saw on the cover, I think, of Time Magazine, Osama bin Laden’s picture. The caption on the cover said ‘Justice.’ I said, ‘How about murder? It was an assassin’s hit.’ What really bothered me as I read more about it was that Barack and Hillary [Clinton] and the war folk were sitting in the war room watching the hit. There were cameras in the field. It was a hit, two right above the eyebrow. Why, why, why did you murder that man? We have international courts. We have trials like the Nuremberg trials. Why did you murder him? Why not put him on trial? And I sat up in the middle of the night, about 10 days later, with the answer. I said, because you didn’t want him to talk. If he starts talking on the stand everything comes unraveled. We will have to look at the Cheney war machine. A trial would rip to shreds the lies we have been telling ourselves and our American public. We can’t afford that, so we murder him. We murder him and call it justice. That one really hurt. I said to myself, this is the Barack you once knew who cared enough about humankind to work in Altgeld Gardens with the poor, to not run against an African-American female, who now calls for a professional Navy SEAL assassination, a hit, and watches it. It’s like that story you heard your dad preach and you know from seminary in Acts, where the demons said to the seven sons of Sceva, Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you? Who have you become?”
Chris Hedges spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than 50 countries and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times, for which he was a foreign correspondent for 15 years.
Chris Hedges, Truthdig
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_rev_jeremiah_wright_recalls_obamas_fall_from_grace_20110919
Barack Obama’s politically expedient decision to betray and abandon his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, exposed his cowardice and moral bankruptcy. In that moment, playing the part of Judas, he surrendered the last shreds of his integrity. He became nothing more than a pawn of power, or as Cornel West says, “a black mascot for Wall Street.” Obama, once the glitter of power fades, will have to grapple with the fact that he was a traitor not only to his pastor, the man who married him and Michelle, who baptized his children and who kept him spiritually and morally grounded, but to himself. Wright retains what is most precious in life and what Obama has squandered—his soul.
The health of a nation is measured by how it treats its prophets. When these prophets are ignored and reviled, when they become figures of ridicule, when they are labeled by the chattering classes and power elite as fools, then there is no check left on moral decay and the degeneration of the state. Wright, who spent 36 years at the Trinity United Church of Christ on Chicago’s South Side, since the 2008 presidential campaign has endured slander and calumny and weathered character assassination, misinterpretation and abuse, and yet he doggedly continues Sunday after Sunday to thunder the word of God from pulpits across the country.
I grew up as a Christian. My father was a pastor. I graduated from a seminary. I can distinguish a Christian pastor from the slick imposters and charlatans, from T.D. Jakes to Joel Osteen. Wright preaches the radical and unsettling message of the Christian Gospel. He calls us to live the moral life. He knows that the measure of our lives as individuals and as a nation is reflected in how we treat our most vulnerable. And he knows on whose side he stands. Obama, who like Judas took his 30 pieces of silver and betrayed someone who loved him, withers into moral insignificance in Wright’s presence.
Obama, although his subservience to the war machine and Wall Street mocks the fundamental values of Dr. Martin Luther King, will preside Oct. 16 over the dedication of the King memorial on the Mall in Washington. He will lend himself to the venal cabal of the corporate and political elites who have hijacked King’s image. These political and corporate figures—many of whom donated significant sums to build the $120 million memorial (General Motors, which gave $10 million, uses the memorial in a commercial for its vehicles)—seek to silence King’s demand for economic justice and an end to racism and militarism. King’s vision is grotesquely deformed in Obama’s hands. To hear the voice of King we will have to turn from the choreographed and corporate-sponsored dedication ceremony to heed the words of a handful of men and women who are as reviled by the power brokers as King was in his own life, and yet who battle to keep the flame of King’s message alive.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing that the country would recognize someone as important as Dr. King,” Wright said when I reached him by phone in Chicago, “and recognize him in a way that raises his likeness in the Mall along with the presidents. He’s not a president like Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. But to have him ranked among them in terms of this nation paying attention to the importance of his work, that’s a good thing.”
“I read Maya Angelou’s piece about the way the quote was put on the monument,” Wright said in referring to the editing of a quote by King on the north face of the 30-foot-tall granite statue. The inscription quote reads: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” But these are not King’s words. They are paraphrased from a sermon he gave in which he said: “If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.” Angelou said the mangled inscription made King sound “arrogant.”
“I read the explanation as to why we couldn’t include the whole quote,” said Wright, who helped raise $200,000 for the monument. “Kids a hundred years from now, like our pastor who was born three years after King was killed, they’re going to see that and will not get the context. They will not hear the whole speech, and that will be their take-away, which is not a good thing. My bigger problems, however, have to do with all the emphasis on ’63 and ‘I Have a Dream.’ They have swept under the rug the radical justice message that King ended his career repeating over and over and over again, starting with the media coverage of the April 4, 1967, ‘A Time to Break Silence’ message at the Riverside Church [in New York City]. King had a huge emphasis on capitalism, militarism and racism, the three-headed giant. There is no mention of that, no mention of that King, and absolutely no mention of the importance of his work with the poor. After all, he’s at the garbage collectors strike in Memphis, Tenn., when he is assassinated. The whole emphasis on the poor sent him to Memphis. But that gets swept away. It bothers me that we think more about a monument than a movement. He had a movement trying to address poverty. It was for jobs, not I Have a Dream, not Black and White Together, but that gets lost.”
“You look at old guys like me that were alive during that time,” Wright said. “I’m saying ‘wait a minute, you’re missing something, you’re missing something,’ and my grandson—well, my youngest one is 11, he’ll not know that King. I’ll tell him, but what’s going to happen in terms of the curriculum? What’s going to happen in terms of the schools? What’s going to happen in terms of the millions of visitors who go to Washington, D.C.? They will miss that King entirely. We have an idealistic portrait. I think that does violence to what the man stood for and what he was trying to do.”
More ominously, Wright warns, the sanitizing of King has been accompanied by the primacy of a selfish, hedonistic and violent culture which has turned away from values, including self-sacrifice, that make possible harmony and the common good. This selfishness and narcissism, Wright argues, is a form of blasphemy.
“We got so focused in on being No. 1, on being the superpower,” he said. “When the Cold War ends we reign supreme. Empire, corporate interest and business interests take over. We got so focused on that and the media hype, media of course being owned by the corporations, that the founding principles, the core principles that I feel should have been our guiding principles, in terms of becoming what King called ‘the beloved community,’ and becoming what Howard Thurman called ‘the search for common ground,’ got completely lost. We substituted the prayer of Jesus with the prayer of Jabez. Increase my territory. Enlarge my territory. If you notice, Jesus taught us to pray, and I speak as a Christian minister—I realize that the country is not all Christian—but just in terms of the principles that I believe cut across interfaith lines and boundaries is in the prayer. The model prayer the Lord taught us as the Lord’s disciples has no first person singular pronoun. It’s ‘our,’ ‘we,’ ‘us.’ That got lost.”
“We became a ‘me’-focused, kind of dog-eat-dog, Ayn Rand, social Darwinist, survival of the fittest, be strong, and with no care, no concern, no compassion for those that are not born above the scratch line,” Wright said. “And no concern to make the communities in which they live and the world in which we live a community which really cares about all of God’s children, regardless of their colors and regardless of their faith.”
Wright has become something of an expert on the commercial media since he was psychologically lynched by them. The media, selecting clips to tar him, have plastered him with derogatory labels and shut his voice out of the national discourse. He has, like all of our greatest intellectual and moral dissidents, from Ralph Nader to Noam Chomsky, been rendered a pariah.
“The media became interested in profits, in selling airtime, in selling newspapers, in selling magazines, in selling ‘if it bleeds it leads,’ whatever will get us a larger market share of the audience, of the viewing audience, of the listening audience,” Wright went on. “That became the focus, rather than sharing factual news with Americans, and the world, in terms of what’s really going on. That’s no longer important. What’s important is profit.”
“Once that media-spun narrative is out there, from that point on all you hear is critiques of the narrative, deconstruction of the narrative, debates concerning the narrative, affirmations of the narrative, attacks on the narrative, with nobody talking about substance, because we don’t even know what substance is,” Wright said.
Wright insists that the church, especially the liberal church that allied itself with the civil rights movement, is alive, although ignored and unheeded as a voice within the larger society.
“The average church in America has 200 members,” he said. “But they get no news coverage. The news covers the mega-churches, Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes. We’re talking big churches, large memberships. But the men and women who are in the trenches, who have not ‘bowed to Baal,’ the 7,000 more that God told Elijah that God had, are ignored. They’re still there. They’re still doing it. They are not, perhaps—and this is spoken from a 70-year-old, and I would say 50 years of that as an adult looking back—as numerous as they were back in the ’60s. They are fewer and less vocal in number, but they remain. The problem is that the media is not going to put out what guys like your dad and my dad were doing and saying Sunday after Sunday, not just in worship but throughout the week as they tried to make ministry meaningful after the benediction. That doesn’t get covered. I see them still doing, still trying to do what they did back in the ’60s , but not getting the coverage. Let them marry a gay guy, or a gay couple, that’s going to make the news. Let them go up against Wal-Mart, especially Wal-Mart’s treatment of women or its workers, that doesn’t make the news. Because the Waltons, and the corporate giants who control the news, don’t see that kind of work by the church as important. What’s important is that the Supreme Court sided with the Walton family. So that those churches that are trying, that are dealing with poverty, that are dealing with honest conversations about educational reform, that are not jumping on the ‘Waiting for Superman’ bandwagon or Bill Gates, but who are really in the schools, are relegated to the shadows. And from what I see talking to local pastors they’re trying their best to make a difference in the lives of the poor, they’re doing feeding. I just left Fresno and a little small church out there adopted one of the missions [for the needy] in Fresno. They’ve got a place called Tent City in one of the richest counties in the country. Folks are living in tents as if it was Soweto or Calcutta. The guys from that small church in Fresno are going there, because it’s dangerous for the women to go over there, guys are going over there once a week, and they are taking the youth of this church. But that’s not making the news. I’ve seen the church doing all kinds of exciting things around the country, but it’s below the radar.”
“How many times has there been a debt-ceiling vote these past few years?” he asked. “Eighty-seven times. But what becomes news? Well, first of all, don’t mention the number of debt-ceiling votes to the public. The media needs a crisis whether it is the debt-ceiling vote or Obamacare. These are the things we keep in front of the people’s faces. What about the important issues? If it is about the defense budget or the fact that major corporations haven’t paid a penny in taxes, we get—no, no, no, no, no, no, no—don’t put that in front of them. It is ‘low information’ America. It’s ‘my mind is made up—don’t confuse me with any facts.’ I see what the church is really doing, the liberal church, the old-line church, the unpopular churches, the ones that don’t get the coverage. I see them in the trenches seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.”
“Do you know what successful ministry is?” he asked. “When you change and touch the lives of people, when you make a difference in their lives, when you give them hope, when you help them go back to school and get an education. That’s successful ministry. But even seminarians I teach are looking at ministry like it’s a “be like Mike” basketball role model they are pursuing. Instead of important and life-changing questions being addressed, the questions one hears are: How many members do we have? How many CDs and DVDs have we produced? How much money do we make? That’s not a successful ministry. Too many seminary students aren’t interested in making things better. They’re interested in becoming like T.D. Jakes, in building a megachurch. They’re not interested in being in the hood, with those who have lost hope.”
“We don’t want our children to have any kind of critical thinking, we just want them to be able to function in a low-paying dead-end job,” Wright said. “There is no emphasis on teaching the young African-American male to dream. And teaching him, and the young sisters also, him or her, that, OK, education is more than passing scores, how you perform on a test—it has to do with how you live in community with others. It has to do with nutrition. It has to do with poverty. It has to do with the whole person. We are slashing and burning programs at the preschool level. We start with Head Start and early childhood education, and all the way up through the foundational primary grades. Who is going to teach these kids Langston Hughes’ poem ‘Mother to Son’? Who is going to repeat Hughes’ words to them:
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
“Who is going to tell him or her you can do this, you really can, you can achieve, you are not what society has labeled you?” he said. “And then we have to give them an alternative, some tools where they can get a job, where they can take care of their families, where they can learn to think critically and analyze some of the stuff that they’re hearing on television, and deconstruct some of the stuff they’re hearing in hip-hop. Because there are some conscious hip-hop artists who have not bought into the corporate model. But you need to know the difference, and be able to tell the difference between the two. That kind of engagement is what I know several churches are doing.”
Wright, who perhaps knows Obama better than nearly any other person in the country, sees a man who sold his principles for the chimera and illusion of power. But once Obama achieved power he became its tool, its vassal, its public face, its brand.
“President Obama was selected before he was elected,” Wright said, “and he is accountable to those who selected him. Why do you think Wall Street got the break? Why do you think the big three [financial institutions] were bailed out? Those were the ones who selected him. We didn’t select him. We don’t have enough money to select anybody. You’re accountable to those who select you. All politicians are. Given those constraints, he is doing the best he can because he is accountable to the ones that put him where he is. Preachers, pastors, ministers, we are not accountable to these people. I’ll never forget one of the most powerful things he said to me in my home, second Saturday in April 2008. He said, ‘You know what your problem is?’ I said, ‘What is that?’ He said, ‘You have to tell the truth.’ I said, ‘That’s a good problem. That’s a good problem.’ ”“When he was elected to the United States Senate I was asked what advice I would have for Sen. Obama,” Wright said. “I said, ‘Please don’t change who you are, because of where you are.’ Who he was before he got to that position is a very different Barack. Which to me is unfortunate but it’s to be expected because that’s what you chose, you chose to run, to be in that place. I can give you a glimpse into the kind of person he was, which was mind-blowing to me to see somebody with that kind of integrity. He went to his first Congressional Black Caucus meeting the year before he announced that he was running for the Senate. He came back to Chicago and came into my office asking for an appointment. He was heartbroken. It showed to me that night his naiveté and his integrity. He was naive because he was down in Washington trying to get audiences with the Congressional Black Caucus in terms of testing the waters about his making a run for the United States Senate. And it was a meat market. That blew his mind. I’m saying Barack, come on, man—name one significant thing that has come out of any Congressional Black Caucus. Come on. [He] was naive. He told me, ‘My name should be out there right now, last week in September, but I can’t announce.’ I said, ‘Why can’t you announce?’ He said, ‘I don’t know whether or not Carol Moseley Braun is going to run again. I will not run against an African-American woman.’ And I’m saying to myself, what manner of man is this? I know guys who would run against their own mama. You will not run against an African-American female? To have that kind of integrity was awesome to me. He changed. That’s unfortunate.”
“In February 2007 on [a broadcast of] ‘Religion & Ethics’ I said there will come a time when Obama will have to distance himself from me,” Wright said. “Now that’s February 2007. So the fact that he had to distance himself from me does not come as a surprise. What did come as a surprise was how he did it. I’ve heard you describe that your dad laid the foundation upon which you stand. He made you the kind of person you are. I know that when you interview someone and the tears start, you fold up your notepad and put your pen away because you’re not that kind of reporter. If there was somebody from your dad’s church running for an office, and the media comes up to them and puts a microphone in front of their face and says, did you hear what Pastor Hedges was saying about the war? If you disagree, your response is, ‘I disagree with that, next question.’ You don’t have to chastise Pastor Hedges. I just disagree with him. Next question. But [Obama] was listening to people who are politically minded, people who are counting votes. He was not listening to people with integrity. In November and December of 2008 during the ethnic cleansing of Gaza one of the news media persons put a microphone in front of Barack’s face and asked him what do you think about what’s going on in Gaza? He said, ‘We can’t have but one president at a time.’ I told my wife he needed to be on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ the way he danced around that question. That was like a preview of coming attractions in terms of the pragmatist, center-of-the-road, conciliatory, not-speaking-from-principle person the world sees today.”
“And for him to have been a community organizer in one of the poorest communities in the city, Altgeld Gardens housing project, and now to be painted into a corner where he can’t address health care for the poor,” Wright said. “He took the public option off the table. What happened? What happened is politics happened.”
“King would be saying to us the same thing today he was saying in 1967 and 1968,” Wright said. “He would be condemning our nation’s utter disregard for the poor. A strong nation cares about all of its citizens regardless of their color or their race or their religious beliefs. Malcolm, once he broke with the Nation of Islam, and found that God, or Allah, really does have children that don’t look like you, would be appalled by our buying into a military option as a way to peace, as a way to finding common ground. The military option is not an option. King and Malcolm would agree with that.”
“I was walking through the airport a few weeks ago,” Wright said. “I saw on the cover, I think, of Time Magazine, Osama bin Laden’s picture. The caption on the cover said ‘Justice.’ I said, ‘How about murder? It was an assassin’s hit.’ What really bothered me as I read more about it was that Barack and Hillary [Clinton] and the war folk were sitting in the war room watching the hit. There were cameras in the field. It was a hit, two right above the eyebrow. Why, why, why did you murder that man? We have international courts. We have trials like the Nuremberg trials. Why did you murder him? Why not put him on trial? And I sat up in the middle of the night, about 10 days later, with the answer. I said, because you didn’t want him to talk. If he starts talking on the stand everything comes unraveled. We will have to look at the Cheney war machine. A trial would rip to shreds the lies we have been telling ourselves and our American public. We can’t afford that, so we murder him. We murder him and call it justice. That one really hurt. I said to myself, this is the Barack you once knew who cared enough about humankind to work in Altgeld Gardens with the poor, to not run against an African-American female, who now calls for a professional Navy SEAL assassination, a hit, and watches it. It’s like that story you heard your dad preach and you know from seminary in Acts, where the demons said to the seven sons of Sceva, Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you? Who have you become?”
Chris Hedges spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than 50 countries and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times, for which he was a foreign correspondent for 15 years.
Kool Websites
Mort Monday
http://www.mortmonday.net/
Drawn & Written by Konformist pal Vincent Hase. The wacky adventures of a homeless man in the Pacific Northwest. Almost as warm and snuggly as a cat who loves lasagna!!!
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iNLP
http://inlpcenter.com/
NLP Training Online and so much more. Welcome to iNLP.
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However, there are no NLP magical cures, no matter how often you read this online. NLP is a solid, learnable set of skills. The results you get from applying NLP to your life are impressive, but there aren’t any magical formulas, no matter what NLP marketers claim.
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Iams
http://www.iams.com/
We believe the only way to provide the best possible food and pet care products is to know dogs and cats better than anyone else in the industry. We believe that through innovative research and breakthroughs, and by following our unique nutritional philosophy we can enhance the lives of millions of pets around the world.
Our History
From our start in 1946, Paul F. Iams sought out new ways to create quality pet foods that would give pets happier, healthier and longer lives. Our earliest product was the first pet food to use animal-based protein as the primary protein source, predicated on the notion that dogs should be fed as carnivores. Through the years, we have launched innovation after innovation and hold multiple patents on our ground breaking pet food formulas. Some of our achievements:
1968 Discoveries with beet pulp led to advances that helped increase canine immune response.
1994 Discovered that FOS PreBiotics promotes a healthy intestinal environment. (US Patent 5,776,524. Granted 1998.)
1998 Developed the Nitrogen Trap™ Fiber System to nutritionally manage the progression of renal disease while still providing appropriate protein. (US Patents 5,965,175 & 6,093,418. Granted 1999 & 2000, respectively).
2000 Discovered that safe levels of dietary vitamin A may help dogs and cats avoid weight gain.2001Introduced Dental Defense which helps to reduce tartar build-up by up to 55%. (US Patent-Pending.)
2008 Launch of Iams® Premium Protection™, enhanced formulas that help burn fat, develop muscle and promote healthy digestion.
Our Global Approach
In Germany, dogs say “wau wau” instead of “bow wow” while “miau” is “meow” with an Italian accent. We at Iams know that there’s really only one language between pets and their owners: the language of unconditional love. Our goal is to enhance the wellbeing of dogs and cats from Spain to South Africa, from Portugal to the Philippines, and why ??? millions of pets worldwide rely on Iams as their daily source of nutrition.
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Our Pet
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Euka’s has her own official “office” with a bed, toy bin, and other dog-essentials. Her main responsibility is greeting guests entering our headquarters. She also attends stakeholder meetings and special events, and has appeared in Fortune magazine and even acted as Grand Marshall in local parades. With her innate skills to bond and connect with all that meet her, Euka brings our mission, vision and values to life everyday.
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Lego.com
http://www.lego.com/
The name 'LEGO' is an abbreviation of the two Danish words "leg godt", meaning "play well". It’s our name and it’s our ideal.
The LEGO Group was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen. The Company has passed from father to son and is now owned by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, a grandchild of the founder.
It has come a long way over the past almost 80 years - from a small carpenter’s workshop to a modern, global enterprise that is now, in terms of sales, the world’s fourth-largest manufacturer of toys.
Our head office is in Billund, Denmark but we have subsidiaries and branches throughout the world, and LEGO products are sold in more than 130 countries.
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Welcome to Ardoch Lake Developments
http://www.ardochlake.com/
Ardoch Lake Developments Inc. is a Canadian-owned specialty land corporation specializing in acquiring high-quality lakefront or oceanfront real estate for the purposes of development, enjoyment and long-term investment.
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UNMATCHED QUALITY & POTENCY! 100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!
D-BOL WINNI-V
ANODROL ORAL SUSPENSION TEST SUSPENSION
SOMATROPH HC DECA NOR 50
EQUIDREN MASTERBOLAN
...NEED WE SAY MORE!
MASS - SIZE - STENGTH - POWER
DON'T BE FOOLED BY FAKES & SCAMS!
SDI-LABS IS THE ONLY AUTHENTIC SOURCE FOR LEGAL PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT AGENTS AND BEEN IN BUSINESS SINCE 2001!
NOTE: THROUGH THIS WEBSITE ONLY WILL YOU GET THE MOST POWERFUL LEGAL MUSCLE ENHANCEMENT PRODUCTS IN EXISTENCE!
Get ready to "turn on" mind blowing muscle enhancing activity from your workouts, intense PUMPS like you've never experienced before, enormous increases in BRUTE strength and RAW, INHUMAN SIZE! The superior technology innovations that SDI-LABS offers has made us the premier source for muscle enhancement in the world! Discover for yourself the unbeleivable power of our products today and unleash your FULL MUSCLE potential! We offer a 100% money back guarantee on all of our products!
OBTAIN OUR 100% LEGAL ANABOLICS...
Through years of dedicated research at our top quality facilities, SDI-LABS unleashes its new hardcore line of muscle building products that are guaranteed to promote massive muscular gains incredibly fast! These products are extremely powerful, yet technically considered dietary supplements and available without a prescription! Our biochemical researchers have intricately produced this product line of highly advanced anabolic compounds to keep you completely satisfied... cycle after cycle!
These high-tech hardcore products are truly amazing and quite honestly... your results may completely blow your mind! SDI-LABS has established its outstanding reputation by continuously developing anabolic pharmaceutical grade products of the highest quality and value. These products have already helped thousands upon thousands of bodybuilders and athletes achieve and surpass their peak goals.
If you are seeking ergogenic aids for enhanced athletic performance or bodybuilding results, you may trust that this website is your final destination to help unlock your absolute highest potential. Order a product or stack today from our website to see what the hype is all about and we'll send you a free guide just for ordering!
* FREE GUIDE WITH EVERY PURCHASE!
*Complete informational guide for "real" muscle blasting agents!
- WARNING - The products sold by our company may help induce extreme muscle growth and fat loss during weight training cycles. Due to their profound effects and potencies it is recomended to seek the guidance of a physician prior to use. Use in conjunction with a well balanced diet and high protein consumption for maximum results.
WE ARE HERE TO HELP!
We pride ourselves with our high level of customer service. If you have any questions regarding the status of your order, or you desire more information about our line of products, please do not hesitate to call us at the number below.
ORDER NOW:
1-888-256-6785
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Mongolian Yurt
http://www.yurt-ger-yourte.com/
The ger (the original Mongolian term), or the yurt (in Russian), is the traditional dwelling of the Mongols and, in general, that of nomadic people in Central Asia. It is constructed of a framework made of poles (uni) radiating from a center smoke hole ring (tono), which is lashed on top of a circular latticework wall. Many Siberian tribes like the Tsataan, the Altai-Uryankhai and the Tungus (Evenks) are reindeer nomads who live in tshum, which is similar to the tipis or hooghan of the Navaho people in Southwestern North America. Anyway, orientation and symbolism of the yurt are valid for all Mongolian groups. yurts and tipis (yurts) are designed as to be easily assembled or taken down as the nomadic owner resumes his travel; the imayurty and meaning of the yurt, however, stays the same, no matter where it is being erected.
The yurt is not only the center of the universe but also a microcosm within it. In fact, it is a map of the universe at large, and the vault of heaven is reflected in the arched shape of the interior of the yurt roof.
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LifeEnergy Healing
http://www.lifechanginghealing.com/
Greetings & Welcome!
Our mission is to restore health. All our work is donation based, as we do not believe in placing a price on healing.
We provide the United States with access to the world-renowned healing method developed by Zdenko Domancic of Slovenia and brought here by Trent Ryan.
All illness is the result of imbalance in the body's living energy field and can be treated by harmonizing this field to provide life-changing results.
Schedule an Appointment Today
LifeEnergy Healing helps clients take control of their health and improve their quality of life. Excellent results allow us to be entirely donation based.
806.543.4444
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The Unexplainable Store
http://www.unexplainable.net/
Brainwave And Crystal Products
You will receive a 20 minute recording in binaural and isochronic format along with a 10 minute Isochronic Video to try by joining our mailing list on the top of this page. You should experience a "Shift in Consciousness". You can also listen to 1 minute samples of each individual recordings before you buy. The individual samples are the exact same recordings as the products, just compressed into 1 minute versions.
Instant Download And Mailed CDs
We offer Downloads, CD's, and DVDs. All CD and DVD orders come with the instant download so you can start using your new tools immediately!
Risk Free Guarantee
Customer satisfaction is our first concern. We treat each customer as if they are our only customer. We respond to all inquiries quickly and appropriately, and do our absolute best to keep our customers happy. All purchases are protected by the most reliable payment processing company and protected by a rock solid 8 week money back guarantee. Not only do we guarantee great products, we also guarantee great service.
Audio and Video Quality
All of our MP3's are in 320 Bitrate! The files are rather large because we use as little compression as possible to preserve up-most quality. This means you can burn them to CD's and convert them to media player formats with confidence the quality will not suffer. Only the best! All recordings are delivered right to you in an MP3 file than can be player on the computer, ipod, phone, or MP3 player!
All of our shipped CD's are 44100 Hz (High CD Quality). This means they can be played on ANY CD PLAYER or computer and are super high quality! And All DVD's are formatted for 16x9 display.
Free Bonuses
Each and every product comes with Free Bonuses worth more than $75! You will be able to download the bonuses immediately after checkout. For more information on the bonuses items, click here
Listening Instructions
Binaural Beats require stereo headphones. Isochronics do not. But headphones are always recommended if available. If headphones are not available, position your speakers on either side of you.
What To Do While Listening
Delta- You should be laying down comfortable and you may go all the way down to Sleep
Theta- You are Dreamy not able to physically function without flaws
Alpha- Very Comfortable but conscious and aware
Beta- Awake Alert and Active
Take the chart above into consideration and match your session with the purpose. Don't exercise while listening to Delta - Don't sleep while listening to Beta - and Never operate anything dangerous when listening. We have a User Manual available which covers many subjects and practice techniques. Remember, your mind makes the change and the recordings are tools to help your mind reach the right zones. For it to happen, you have to visualize it, feel it, and believe it.
The Unexplainable Store®
RR1 Box 320A
Effort, PA 18330
"The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World" by Daniel Yergin; Penguin Press, 804 pages, $37.95.
From USAToday.com:
As Americans build bigger and bigger mansions, design taller and taller skyscrapers, drive larger and larger SUVs, power more and more appliances, and citizens in other nations such as China develop residential and commercial needs that expand each year, can the Earth yield enough oil to fuel such growth?
Daniel Yergin is an expert on such matters, and he says the answer is yes, at least for a long, long time. At the end of 2009, "The world's proved oil reserves were 1.5 trillion barrels, slightly more than at the beginning of that year," Yergin says in The Quest. He seems certain "that the world is clearly not running out of oil. Far from it. The estimates for the world's total stock of oil keep growing."
But while optimistic, Yergin is no Pollyanna, no single-minded driller without an appreciation of the costs that oil exploration, drilling, transportation and consumption extract.
As a result, The Quest is a book — a tour de force, really — that evaluates the alternatives to oil so broadly and deeply that the physical tome could double as a doorstop.
Plenty of readers live a "black-box" existence. They don't really understand how skyscrapers stay upright, how a sirloin steak reaches our dinner plate (food appears magically in supermarkets, right?) and how the lights come on at the flip of a wall switch in the bedroom. Yergin's book about energy past, present and future, if studied carefully, will remove the black-box mentality at the light switch.
Twenty years ago, Yergin completed his book The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power. That book became the standard guide for a lay audience to learn about what we loosely refer to as "the oil industry." It won accolades; it served as the basis for an oft-watched television series.
The Quest pretty much picks up where The Prize left off. Like The Prize, the new book is fact-filled — and though well written, requires lots of brain power and lots of time to complete. It is best read slowly, perhaps one chapter per day maximum, if the goal is to actually absorb the rich detail and sometimes complicated workings described by Yergin...
'The Quest': A review of Daniel Yergin's epic oil tome
Steve Weinberg
9-16-11
http://www.usatoday.com/money/books/reviews/story/2011-09-16/quest-for-energy/50457496/1
From USAToday.com:
As Americans build bigger and bigger mansions, design taller and taller skyscrapers, drive larger and larger SUVs, power more and more appliances, and citizens in other nations such as China develop residential and commercial needs that expand each year, can the Earth yield enough oil to fuel such growth?
Daniel Yergin is an expert on such matters, and he says the answer is yes, at least for a long, long time. At the end of 2009, "The world's proved oil reserves were 1.5 trillion barrels, slightly more than at the beginning of that year," Yergin says in The Quest. He seems certain "that the world is clearly not running out of oil. Far from it. The estimates for the world's total stock of oil keep growing."
But while optimistic, Yergin is no Pollyanna, no single-minded driller without an appreciation of the costs that oil exploration, drilling, transportation and consumption extract.
As a result, The Quest is a book — a tour de force, really — that evaluates the alternatives to oil so broadly and deeply that the physical tome could double as a doorstop.
Plenty of readers live a "black-box" existence. They don't really understand how skyscrapers stay upright, how a sirloin steak reaches our dinner plate (food appears magically in supermarkets, right?) and how the lights come on at the flip of a wall switch in the bedroom. Yergin's book about energy past, present and future, if studied carefully, will remove the black-box mentality at the light switch.
Twenty years ago, Yergin completed his book The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power. That book became the standard guide for a lay audience to learn about what we loosely refer to as "the oil industry." It won accolades; it served as the basis for an oft-watched television series.
The Quest pretty much picks up where The Prize left off. Like The Prize, the new book is fact-filled — and though well written, requires lots of brain power and lots of time to complete. It is best read slowly, perhaps one chapter per day maximum, if the goal is to actually absorb the rich detail and sometimes complicated workings described by Yergin...
'The Quest': A review of Daniel Yergin's epic oil tome
Steve Weinberg
9-16-11
http://www.usatoday.com/money/books/reviews/story/2011-09-16/quest-for-energy/50457496/1
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