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RedditYikes, it's really true. John McCain is running for president as a tree-hugging liberal.
No, not an all-the-time environmentalist -- rather, as a swing-state-savvy, targeted-message-peddling, hoping-to-pick-up-the-votes-of-lifestyle-liberals-who-want-to-address-climate-change-on-the-cheap murky-shade-of-green Republican.
So, today, in the battleground state of Oregon, where a reverence for the outdoors requires that Republican contenders greenwash their appeals, McCain's campaign will begin airing a new television commercial that essentially says: "Look, I'm not like George Bush and Dick Cheney. I don't live in la-la land when it comes to global warming. I actually believe in something I like to call 'science.'"
The senator -- who broke a little bit with Bush and Cheney on environmental issues, but who never really lined up with the serious Republican environmentalists who were isolated by the administration and burn-the-planet GOP leaders like Tom DeLay -- is reinforcing the message with a major campaign swing through the northwest, where he hopes to put the sometimes swinging states of Oregon and Washington in play by presenting himself as John McCain: Eco-Warrior.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee swept into Portlandon Monday to deliver a major address outlining his plan to "re-establish America's environmental leadership in the world." Here's a hint about how he'll do it: The McCain campaign says the candidates wants to "mobilize market forces."
That may sound good, but as Gene Karpinski, the president of the bipartisan League of Conservation Voters, says, "To his credit, Senator McCain wants to do something serious about global warming, but his proposal falls far short of what the science says we need to do today. He has not substantively improved his plan over the bill he introduced years ago -- legislation that the science now shows is out of date."
Of particular concern is McCain's determination to mobilize the wrong market forces. "[It] is troubling that he continues to support taxpayer subsidies for a mature industry like nuclear which has yet to resolve its waste disposal problem," says Karpinski. "It would be far more cost-effective to invest in renewable energy like the wind energy plant he is visiting today. Better still would be a call for a renewable electricity standard, something he has voted against time and time again."
On Tuesday, McCain will be in Seattle, where his campaign says the candidate will "solicit the views of environmentalists, conservationists and the business community on the most effective strategies for meeting this challenge."
Don't be fooled. The senator's not listening. He's campaigning, as McCain's greenwashing ad confirms.
The script opens with an announcer acknowledging that:
Our environment in peril,
Oil and food prices out of control,
Climate change wreaks havoc with deadly weather.
One extreme thinks high taxes and crippling regulation is the solution.
Another denies the problem even exists.
There's a better way.
Then, McCain does his best to deliver the I'm-no-Bush line that is central to his appeal to voters who think of the environment as something more than a place to search for oil:
I believe that climate change is real.
It's not just a greenhouse gas issue.
It's a national security issue.
We have an obligation to future generations to take action and fix it.
I'm John McCain and I approve this message.
Of course, as perhaps befits the oldest-ever serious contender for the presidency, McCain has embraced an outdated dichotomy: the suggestion that the climate-change choice is between "One extreme (that) thinks high taxes and crippling regulation is the solution" and "Another (that) denies the problem even exists."
In fact, there are smart green solutions that are good for responsible businesses, consumers and taxpayers. McCain could learn about them by studying what European conservatives and even a few American Republicans, like California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, have been saying -- and doing -- for years.
But, as McCain's ad establishes, he's not really serious about climate change. What he's serious about is neutralizing the environment as an issue in a presidential campaign season that will see millions of American voters -- including a great many wavering Republicans -- treat climate-change as an exceptionally serious election issue.
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John Nichols
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ah flippy floppy...
caught between the truth and the science denying satano-aynrando-christofascist right!
wake up suv nation! we're in for a bumpy landing from greedy, gluttonous, prideful, vain, republican fantasy land!
Posted by ibbleblibble at 05/12/2008 @ 2:10pm
"Another denies the problem even exists."
OMG....did Maverick John, the Republican nominee, just call the GW deniers "extremists"!?!?!?
First the Religious Right are "agents of intolerance"....now the "Global warming is bunk" crowd are wackadoodles?!!?!??
LOL!
Posted by Mask at 05/12/2008 @ 2:25pm
Posted by Mask at 05/12/2008 | ignore this person
ya know...maybe hilly should look at the veep slot...
WITH MCCAIN!!!!
wow! talk about flippin ang floppin and panderin and backthrackin and spinnin!
whew! makes me dizzy and naseous just thinking about it!!!
Posted by ibbleblibble at 05/12/2008 @ 2:31pm
Posted by Mask at 05/12/2008 | ignore this person
He will continue to alienate the base of his party once the general election gets into high gear and he has to debate Obama on National Television. He will do his best to play up his Iraq/tax cutting/Iran credentials to remind the LVL/Rio crowd that he is a republican. But, at the end of the day the DNC will paint him as GWB the Second to the swing states/voters and the 527's will play up his weakness on the rest of the conservative platform in the red states. He will still get a very good number of swing voters, but, his base will stay home like in '92. Barring a serious Obama misstep, I doubt he will be able to turn out enough votes to get more than 45-47% in November.
Posted by BizarroRio at 05/12/2008 @ 3:05pm
No, not an all-the-time environmentalist -- rather, as a swing-state-savvy, targeted-message-peddling, hoping-to-pick-up-the-votes-of-lifestyle-liberals-who-want-to-address-cl imate-change-on-the-cheap murky-shade-of-green Republican.©
©2007 frosty zoomworld enterprises, all rights reserved.
i'll see you in court, nichols.
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/12/2008 @ 3:23pm
ERRORS
A word or url was too long, and has been broken up.
ha!
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/12/2008 @ 3:23pm
Monday, May 12, 2008 3:29:20 PM
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/12/2008 @ 3:23pm
Posted by BizarroRio at 05/12/2008
That sounds about right.
Not going GRITS on us, but listened to Limbaugh at lunch. Spent the requisite time slapping his own back for "Operation:Chaos" (even claimed "OP:C is why Hillary will win West Virginia!"....as if she wouldn't without his "help"!)....and of course attacking Obama...
he then went into McCain. It was an odd, rambling "I hate the guy...but we need the guy...but he's going to 'liberalize the Party'....but I can't let the Commie Negro win....but McCain is selling us out!"
In the end, it came off like ol Rush didn't know what to do. He knows McCain won't listen to his advice and "stay true Red conservative...no wire centrism EVER!" (Rushy Dearest)....but can't figure out how to "sell" the base on "hold your nose and vote for him".
OR ELSE....Rush has already decided Obama's going to win it in the Fall, and he's willing to "blame on it McCain's centrism" and let the Democrats "screw everything up" and then come back in 2012 with the "new and improved Mitt Romney" or some less doughy version of Fred Thompson.
Posted by Mask at 05/12/2008 @ 3:47pm
Republicans: WRONG on the Easter Bunny
Republicans: WRONG on Santa Claus
Republicans: WRONG on Global Warming
Posted by LibsWarnedU at 05/12/2008
Uh, CONSHAME.....?!??!?? Are you saying global warming is "as real as" Santa and the EB?
(or has somebody hijacked her nick?)
Posted by Mask at 05/12/2008 @ 4:51pm
(8 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration repeatedly ignored corruption at the highest levels within the Iraqi government and kept secret potentially embarrassing information so as not to undermine its relationship with Baghdad, according to two former State Department employees.
The State Department's policies "not only contradicted the anti-corruption mission but indirectly contributed to and has allowed corruption to fester at the highest levels of the Iraqi government," Brennan told the committee .)
Like global warming, corruption in BushCo is a mythic librool plot to undermine the economy of the US.
Posted by crabwalk at 05/12/2008 @ 5:05pm
(satano-aynrando-christofascist right)-Ibblebibble
Gosh, I just never tire of reading that phrase. heehee. good stuff
Posted by crabwalk at 05/12/2008 @ 5:07pm
How does massive subsidization of nuclear power plants "unleash market forces"?
Is that in the same realm of logic that says "invading Iraq will unleash democracy throughout the Middle East"?
5:11pm
Posted by crabwalk at 05/12/2008 @ 5:10pm
(or has somebody hijacked her nick?)
Posted by Mask
who cares. it was funny.
long live the santa bunny.
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/12/2008 @ 5:23pm
Bob Barr announced.
Not good news for McCain.
Posted by Hman23 at 05/12/2008 @ 6:35pm
It's not what McCain or Obama say, it's what the media takes out of context and boosterizes in their monolithic, monopolistic echo chamber:
The SoundbiteUpYerAssinator XL3
Inputting --> one stodgy old millionnairess-marrying Cheney clone
Outputting --> Maverickman!
Posted by winyahn at 05/12/2008 @ 6:41pm
winyahn
made in china!
slices, dices, chops and grinds, too!
plus, if you act now,
receive a free Scandalbuddy with 2 months of free refills!
7:56
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/12/2008 @ 7:58pm
Can We say: 49 state blowout????
Posted by libzsuck at 05/12/2008
that just may happen.
heheh.
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/12/2008 @ 8:08pm
Why don't you share whatever it is you are smoking to make you so deluded.
Posted by Ccc
you can smoke FLOCKSNEWS?
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/12/2008 @ 8:27pm
Posted by libzsuck at 05/12/2008
Do you have problems with the ability to read or something? He answered the question for you more than once. Brush up on your ABC's and then go read his answer. It doesn't take a superior intellect it takes a rudimentary ability that a 10 year old has.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/12/2008 @ 8:37pm
Posted by libzsuck at 05/12/2008
The fact that you slur his name proves your lack of serious intelligence and debate. You are a child who figured out you could yell and scream on a blog and someone might respond. If you want to have a serious debate then learn to speak like a grown up.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/12/2008 @ 8:53pm
Also learn to get your news from something other than Fox news.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/12/2008 @ 8:54pm
I don't get the Millhouse part of his name either. Is that supposed to be in reference to the Simpsons character?
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/12/2008 @ 8:54pm
Posted by libzsuck at 05/12/2008
Actually it was already proven he was there and he is still not toast. Did you not see the video of him sitting the congregation? And YES he did answer the question. Maybe you should try reading. He has commented on his attendance multiple times. Why should I answer a question ABOUT him FOR him when he has already answered the question. That would just be stupid. Let the man answer his own questions.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/12/2008 @ 8:59pm
I would like to... allow me to correct myself all by, ahem.., myself:
LV is not a cheapshotter
Posted by winyahn at 05/12/2008 @ 9:10pm
Posted by libzsuck at 05/12/2008
Whatever you say Libz. Your analysis of anything is about as useful as an asshole one your elbow.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/12/2008 @ 9:43pm
Posted by LibsWarnedU at 05/12/2008
I have to disagree Libs. There are many good Republicans and Conservatives. There are just as negative of people on the Lib side as there are on the conserve side. We both have our positives and our negatives. I don't think most of the people on this site are bad people. I respect most of our local conserves and think they are all essentially good people. No matter what differences I have with them in beliefs I think most of us are looking to make a better word here we just disagree on the method. Some people I DO believe are looking to make money and nothing more. They don't care how bad the world gets but I think most people generally want to make the world a better place. Conserves have no more evil in their ranks than liberals do.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/12/2008 @ 9:58pm
Posted by libzsuck at 05/12/200
He never made a threat in his entire post actually.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/12/2008 @ 10:38pm
Posted by libzsuck at 05/12/200
I am starting to become convinced you actually can not read.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/12/2008 @ 10:39pm
HAPPY3
go plant your own trees.
your grandkids (may be able to) will thank you.
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/12/2008 @ 10:52pm
What worries most about McCain is Joe Lieberman. How did Israel take control of our politics? I saw both Lieberman and McCain at the wailing wall, this is really scary. I like israel, but I don't want to move Washington there. I don't care how out of touch Washington is, It is still in the United States right? We have, by the way, elected more strange politicians than McCain. Lieberman and McCain are just wall street puppets that will probably get elected, given that the pope said that "life begins at conception".
Posted by julien38 at 05/12/2008 @ 10:54pm
SIGNATURE TOUCHES IN EVERY STATEROOM
Spacious, elegantly appointed staterooms, many with private verandahs
Luxurious Euro-Top beds and premium linens
Daily housekeeping to tidy belongings and keep staterooms immaculate
Large, extra-fluffy Egyptian cotton towels
Lighted magnifying mirrors; massage shower-heads; salon-quality hair dryers
Luxurious terry cloth bathrobes
Televisions with DVD and VCR players
Generous storage
Complimentary fresh fruit
Complimentary 24-hour in-room dining
Nightly turndown service
Complimentary shoeshine service
Complimentary ice service
http://www.nationcruise.com/Pages/ship.htm
all powered by diesel...............
"if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm."
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080526/mckibben
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080526/mckibben
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080526/mckibben
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080526/mckibben
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080526/mckibben
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080526/mckibben
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080526/mckibben
"if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm."
There are two air transportation options for this cruise package...
oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil. oil.
"if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm."
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080526/mckibben
NOT TO MENTION ALL THAT FECAL MATTER................
Monday, May 12, 2008 11:07:19 PM
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/12/2008 @ 11:01pm
how disappointing............
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/12/2008 @ 11:03pm
If you meet the Buddha on the road...
Posted by winyahn at 05/13/2008 @ 12:11am
well,
it just doesn't make sense.
hey happy,
buy me a ticket for the cruise so i can pester them the entire way not to have anymore cruises.
thenation, love you guys.
but cruises?
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 12:23:46 AM
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 12:18am
If you meet the Buddha on the road...
Posted by winyahn
that's hard when everybody's in a car.
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 12:19am
keep on truckin.....
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 12:26am
Posted by HAPPY3 at 05/12/2008
Perhaps the Nation can accommodate you 'bublicans on the cruise...
Cabins below the water line with ventilation piped directly from the engine room (carboniferous stench will remind you of the oil barons you worship)
Theater with loop reruns of Charlton Heston & Ronnie Reagan films.
Casino with slots dispensing tokens good for flagons of pure unfermented grape juice.
Barber shop offering "crew cuts only"
Holographic images of Rush & Insanity around interactive seminars. Voluntary donations to the fund for reshaping Mt. Rushmore toward a "more business friendly" ideal.
Smorgasborg offering Velvetta & Spam on trimmed white bread. Each table accompanied with at least three different laxatives in decorative nondescript bottles.
Swimming pool certified as "non flouridated"
All entertainment endorsed posthumously by Art Linkletter
Under no circumstances will "muslin" sheets be tolerated, as these are of alien manufacture & could pose considerable danger.
Posted by Sorelish at 05/13/2008 @ 12:28am
i think it would be better to accommodate the cruise ON DRY LAND.
(and maybe throw in some nice weekends for some bright minds from the 'hood.)
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 12:39am
yo, Frostnik, that glass of Zin was good!
Posted by Sorelish at 05/13/2008 @ 12:59am
Can We say: 49 state blowout????
Posted by libzsuck at 05/12/2008
that just may happen.
heheh.
Posted by frosty zoom **** since you seem to regard yourself as bromide-in-cheif on this board, I wonder if you might explain what the 'heheh' is supposed to communicate?
Do you or don't you think McCain can pull of a 49 state sweep?
--if its not too much trouble and you wouldn't mind, of course. I'd like to know before addressing that right wing pathological liar and psychotic killer who threatened Libs for hating them unto death, which they deserve.
Posted by jones at 05/13/2008 @ 07:06am
You see, folks, a split has occurred that can be called metaphysical, since it is a split regarding what can and cannot be predicated on as existing, and it is systematic -- spanning the spectrum of conscious content, from the cosmos to Tibet to you*. It doesn't make any difference how any particular person aligns -- except to themselves and their soul. The split is ineradicable and widening.
Posted by jones at 05/13/2008 @ 07:17am
The crackup will be beautiful to behold
Posted by libzsuck at 05/12/2008
Bush= 29%
cheney = 18%
Iraq= chaos
Afghanistan = chaos
Iran= rising
Hamas= elected in free elections
Maliki= corrupt
republicans lose in 2006
29 republicans "retire"
republicans lose in Louisiana
republicans lose in Illinois
You are correct, in a way, it is a beautiful sight to behold
Posted by crabwalk at 05/13/2008 @ 07:22am
ahhh, you neo-cons and your love of flip flopping golddiggers!
What sweet irony come home to roost!
Oprah? Now they have to run against Oprah?
make up your mind Libsuk, is Barak a scary Muslim, or a scary Christian? Or is it that you just live in fear all the time?
7:29
Posted by crabwalk at 05/13/2008 @ 07:28am
FROSTY, check out the National Review cruise.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/13/2499/
Posted by crabwalk at 05/13/2008 @ 07:42am
I would like to comment on the theme: "John McCain as Eco-warrior".
One assumes the sign use is intentionally sarcastic. One knows he is not a tree hugger; it's politics. He's exploiting (coopting, usurping) the issue the way Lexus does legs.
I argue that this particular psychosemiotic 'framing' -- sarcasm as truth -- will lead to McCain sweeping 49 states, unless confronted head-on, unless jews are run out of the media.
Item as premise: front page of NYTimes Sunday mag "HURT GIRLS". My daughter didn't get it, at first, since it was about soccer girl injuries, writhing in pain on the playing field grass as the were.
My associations went to "SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN", and "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND" (=> kill all the kids)
These (as is any references to children as helpless things being abused) are highly active double text x token ambiguities advanced for you* to disambiguate by what Freud termed reaction-formation (reverse instinctive impuses: "NO! NO! to YES! YES! -- ex. "I don't want to kill Father, hurt girls,.." etc. )
The right wing rhetoric will do this, i.e., take the disambiguation good guys provide to get over on the american public until Nov. and they (think they can) save Israel.
That's the game, polytards. Since the right wing is united behind those who have lied to kill and killed for lies, their existential situation requires making you psychotic to/if you talk to them.
Posted by jones at 05/13/2008 @ 07:53am
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/12/2008
Ha! "...Asshole on your elbow." Imagine what pornos would look like. Anyway, I'm wondering how Oprah going/not going to a particular church has anything to do with Obama's presidential campaign. Where are all the quotes from McCain's pastor(if he even goes to church)? And please, don't hate on Michele Obama. I'm sorry if a strong, assertive black woman scares you. Does my mother hate America too because she understands where Michele is coming from? Would you say I hate America because I'm not all googly-eyed about it's practices, regarding its own people as well as those abroad, past and present. Sorry, the history of my people kinda precludes such a rosy vision. My bad. I never received my government-issued rose-colored glasses. Hey, libzsuck, maybe you can lend me yours. Not being as proud does not equate to hate. I love my country. At all sporting events that I watch on tv or in person, I sing the national anthem. I root for the US in the Olympics(I just can't watch curling. That is the most boring sport ever). I just don't understand why, as citizens, we're looked down upon when we show our displeasure of the government and/or their practices. If the government is really of and for the people, it would be foolish for a citizen to not to question deeds/policies that are questionable. I don't know. I guess some people like to be led. Hey lsuck, it's not rain. They're actually pissing on your head.
Posted by k330k at 05/13/2008 @ 08:03am
Ha! Ha! "Polytards". That's a new one.
Posted by k330k at 05/13/2008 @ 08:07am
Jones- Excellent. I think you're describing how words in the media echo chamber have such power over the masses over time? Yes the suffering flowing from "compassionate conservatism" is immeasurable.
Posted by winyahn at 05/13/2008 @ 08:26am
Theater with loop reruns of Charlton Heston & Ronnie Reagan films.---Posted by Sorelish at 05/13/2008
EXCEPT not "Soylent Green" or that peacenik "Omega Man" and anti-Creation science "Planet of the Apes"!
Posted by Mask at 05/13/2008 @ 08:48am
Hey, winyahn,
A. Huffington's (W)RIGHT IS WRONG emboldened my methodology of "flipping and swizzling" the tokens underneath the text in sign-use. I assume we academics do that all the time, instinctively.
The dynamics follows the assumption of three-brain centers of conscious functions: snake, soul and mind. Right wing rhetoric distributes the results of snake brain functions through the mind, and usurp the language of the soul to justify its pre-mammalian group-aggressiveness. (I follow the article "Cheney Speaks to the Reptile Brain" -http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0817-13.htm
It's like swizzling you* out of your birthright. (you* => global free marketeer; see Adam Curtis "the Power of Nightmares") ACB replaces ABC in the order of brain functions; bait-switching from "compassionate" to "faithbased" is how they do it; the secular good is appropriated by the regressed (less differentiated, Oriental "no insultee") religionized mode of common communication.
Posted by jones at 05/13/2008 @ 10:02am
Here's some of that bad science that W and company have been hammering away it. This article is posted right here at the nation. Have a read.
If McCain truly supported the environment, a good portion of his supporters would no longer be his supporters.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080526/mckibben
this is the best way it's been put so far
....wake up suv nation! we're in for a bumpy landing from greedy, gluttonous, prideful, vain, republican fantasy land!
Posted by ibbleblibble at 05/12/2008
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 05/13/2008 @ 11:03am
I wonder if you might explain what the 'heheh' is supposed to communicate?
that's mask's muttley laugh.
Do you or don't you think McCain can pull of a 49 state sweep?
i didn't cut'n'paste anything about mccain. i was talking about obama.
that's why i said "a 49 state sweep just may happen" (i doubt lord wyoming would ever concede "the equality state).
hence the "heheh".
Posted by jones
btw are you jones the anti-semite from before?
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 1:18:54 PM
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 1:13pm
Yes the suffering flowing from "compassionate conservatism" is immeasurable.
Posted by winyahn
that's because no one ever pollinated it.
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 1:15pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008
jones on my Ignore....another doofus LIBZSUK type who blathers various bigotry and bile spewing.
BTW...latest from the blogs on McCain.
A new nickname-
"Weather Vane" McCain.....he points which ever way the winds blows!
Posted by Mask at 05/13/2008 @ 1:23pm
the tin rooster........
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 1:32pm
("Weather Vane" McCain.....he points which ever way the winds blows!
Posted by Mask at 05/13/2008 )
Perfect!
A flip flopping weather vane. different than John Kerry though, somehow.
Posted by crabwalk at 05/13/2008 @ 1:33pm
Posted by lvliberty1 at 05/13/2008
Yet, all he'd have to do is put a "Temple Mormon" like Mitt Romney "one heartbeat away" from the Presidency....
and you'd abandon him!
Posted by Mask at 05/13/2008 @ 1:43pm
Posted by lvliberty1 at 05/13/2008
Then he can pass Anti-Abortion Laws and take away Gay's right to marry. Because I am sure the forefathers had that one in the Constitution.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/13/2008 @ 1:47pm
Posted by jones at 05/13/2008
What an immense pile of crap you've hatched. You might try forming a paint ball militia.
Posted by Sorelish at 05/13/2008 @ 2:11pm
"I have to disagree Libs. There are many good Republicans and Conservatives. There are just as negative of people on the Lib side as there are on the conserve side. We both have our positives and our negatives. I don't think most of the people on this site are bad people. I respect most of our local conserves and think they are all essentially good people. No matter what differences I have with them in beliefs I think most of us are looking to make a better word here we just disagree on the method. Some people I DO believe are looking to make money and nothing more. They don't care how bad the world gets but I think most people generally want to make the world a better place. Conserves have no more evil in their ranks than liberals do."
<Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/12/2008>
Experiment: try reading the above, but substitute "Maoist," or "Stalinist," or "pederast" for Conservative/Republican.
What was it Barry G. said about moderation in cause of freedom being no virtue? Give the devil his due. Sometimes people are as bad as the bad ideas they circulate and enable. If I have to choose, I'll go with CONSHAME and Fidel with rifles and burros into the mountains.
Posted by goyadad at 05/13/2008 @ 2:23pm
Let LVLIBS & Limbaugh & Bush & Cartman & the rest of those self-loving narrow bastards yammer on while the earth warms. They know they'll all have their aneurisms or infarctions before the shit hits the fan. In the meantime, they make out just fine peddling the same old horseshit in the same burlap bags, and the public fork it down their gullets with both hands.
Nothing changes. Nothing can change.
This planet is on the rotisserie set for something between blanch and parboil. But them 'ums 'll skeedaddle up to Noboddaddy's pearly white heaven before things go haywire for F2 or F3 progeny. That's the GOP way.
And that's about right. There might have been a chance in the 1990s to do something to turn this climate change around. But the needle's pegged now, and there's but one choice--just ride it out.
I predict that the world will declare surrender in the climate change war somewhere around 2025-2030. Then they will simply burn as much coal as they can. We probably have a good 200 years of intensive coal burning to go before we exhaust those supplies too.
In the meantime, industry will erect huge megastacks without any scrubbers that will shoot massive quantities of soot into the stratosphere. The entire earth will be enveloped in a shroud of grimey soot. But this will block enough of the infrared to keep global warming from entirely cooking the planet. So carbon will end up buying us the little time we'll have left as a species, ironically enough.
So party on Wayne. Fire up the Hummer. It's all good.
Posted by goyadad at 05/13/2008 @ 2:38pm
Posted by goyadad
thanks.
i shall now go forth and enjoy my afternoon.
cross your fingers.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 3:01:20 PM
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 2:55pm
When campaigning in MICHIGAN, McCain indicated that he supported the tax credit for SUV and "opposed" any tax increase on SUVs.
Why doesn't McCain tell the voters in Oregon the same thing he told the voters in Michigan in January?
THE MICHIGAN PRIMARY Romney States Case to Auto Industry McCain Repeats SUV Tax Claim Against His Rival in a Key State for Both Men
By Michael D. Shear and Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, January 14, 2008; Page A05
DETROIT, Jan. 13 -- Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is tying his fate in the presidential primary in Michigan to the survival of the American auto industry, casting himself as the champion of its workers while blaming his rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for Washington's indifference to its plight.
Both men raced across Michigan's economically troubled landscape Sunday in search of support ahead of a vote Tuesday that is likely to either give Romney the win he needs to keep his presidential hopes alive or firmly establish McCain as the front-runner and someone who can succeed beyond New Hampshire.
With polls here showing the Michigan race essentially tied, Romney portrayed McCain as a villain in what he said is the federal government's overregulation of the industry and blind insistence on tougher fuel standards.
"Look at Washington. What have they done to help the domestic auto industry?" Romney said on CNN on Sunday, citing congressional pressure to improve gas mileage and reduce emissions. "Look, you can't keep on throwing anvils at Michigan and the auto industry and then say, how come they are not swimming well?"
McCain fired right back. After an overflowing town hall meeting Sunday afternoon, the veteran senator told reporters he has confidence that Michigan's auto industry can thrive while meeting tougher environmental rules.
"I am convinced that Detroit can not only meet these standards but exceed them. Maybe Governor Romney doesn't think they can," McCain said aboard his Straight Talk Express bus.
McCain repeated an allegation he first made Saturday that Romney supported a tax increase on sport-utility vehicles. "I would not support a tax increase on SUVs," McCain said.
The rhetoric by campaign operatives was even more angry, reflecting the urgency of a win here for both men. A spokesman for Romney called McCain's SUV claim "absolute nonsense" and said Romney had only called for a tax cut on hybrid vehicles as a way to encourage sales.
"Senator McCain has abandoned the facts for his own brand of hypocrisy," Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said. "He has proposed a massive Washington mandate that would smother the auto industry, yet he's able to keep a straight face while criticizing a pragmatic and growth-friendly way of encouraging more fuel efficiency."
McCain's top aide, Mark Salter, responded quickly by saying that, "In the Romney campaign, facts are unwelcome guests. But they have cornered the market on hypocrisy. Governor Romney proposed a tax on SUVs without industry support and effectively raised the gas tax in Massachusetts."
While campaigning for governor, Romney proposed decreasing the excise tax on fuel-efficient cars. In newspaper interviews at the time, Romney said such a move could lead to higher taxes on SUVs, though he never proposed raising them.
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee spent Sunday in South Carolina, where he is counting on another victory fueled by support from the state's evangelical community. He preached at the 2,500-person First Baptist North Spartanburg. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani campaigned at the El Rey Jesus church in Miami.
Posted by Metteyya at 05/13/2008 @ 2:58pm
Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani campaigned at the El Rey Jesus church in Miami.
<i>the king.........
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 2:59pm
Human neurology is hard-wired for short-term gain. Short-term-benefit is the attractor, but you have to WORK (mentally) for long-term gain. For a million or so years it has been all right to just muddle through. We've built a global civilization and a vast economic structure around short-term-gain, and no McCain or even Obama will be able to undo this knot in time, I fear.
Undoing it (solving the energy and carbon/climate problems) would mean an entirely new kind of economic system, new and different kinds of social organization, unprecedented capital investment, etc. and the window of opportunity is very narrow if it hasn't closed already. There isn't cheap energy available to drive the change, and the existing business and political structures will in any case work as hard as they can against any threat to their short-term advantage.
On the other hand, if the US spent as much on solving the climate problem as it does on invading and occupying foreign countries, it could make a substantial difference...
Enjoy the planet while you can.
Posted by mikecope at 05/13/2008 @ 2:59pm
Posted by lvliberty1 at 05/13/2008
Not my point. Point is, there IS one issue....religious ...that you DO care about McCain selling you out on.
Global warming...campaign finance...affirmative action....closing Gitmo...."no big deal", as long as he keeps TALKING tax cuts and staying in Iraq "until the job is done".
But make "Mormon Mitt" his Veep?...and he could be Ronald Reagan Reincarnated....and you'd stay home November 4th!
Just.....interesting.
Posted by Mask at 05/13/2008 @ 3:06pm
Hagee has often made references to "the apostate church" and the "great whore," terms that Catholics say are slurs aimed at the Roman Catholic Church. In his letter, Hagee said he now better understood that the Book of Revelation's reference to the Catholic Church as "the apostate church" and the "great whore" are "a rhetorical device long employed in anti-Catholic literature and commentary."
somebody who supports mccain or is from west virginia please let me know how mccain's homophobic, racist, sexist remarks somehow allude or are acceptable by national media and get almost no scrutiny whatsoever......why the double standards???? now I know who really controls Big Media.....
Posted by jrs112 at 05/13/2008 @ 4:02pm
mikecope
Brain-mind correlation is on everybody's mind-brain now, I kid you notL
D. Brooks: "The Neural Buddhists" http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/opinion/13brooks.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Using the REALLY outdated term "materialism" to bait nonbelievers in Bushititus, he has hope the neuro-science (read: moralizing psychoentrepreneurs), he woud'st reveal unto us that old Secret of the Lost ark: What the Self is, in case you don't know; and moral intuition.
"First, the self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships. Second, underneath the patina of different religions, people around the world have common moral intuitions. Third, people are equipped to experience the sacred, to have moments of elevated experience when they transcend boundaries and overflow with love. Fourth, God can best be conceived as the nature one experiences at those moments, the unknowable total of all there is."
You see, these people have got to be headed off, whether you call them Jews or not. (you had to grimace as that 'patina of different religions')
They will use false brain psychology to hook you up to their Matrix. Or you will be an atheistic, godless materialist, like Hitchens and Dawkins.
Posted by jones at 05/13/2008 @ 4:07pm
Posted by goyadad at 05/13/2008
You but you can say that about any affirmation about a person. I could take an article about Martin Luther King and replace his name with Hitler and I bet it would work.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/13/2008 @ 4:20pm
I just hate party thinkers. People who think everything their party does is perfect and everything everyone else does is evil. I think that method of thinking is moronic. Anyone who votes their party doesn't deserve to vote. You should vote for the candidate not the party of the candidate. I don't like party thinkers no matter what party they belong to. It is one of the most annoying and stupid things to me.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/13/2008 @ 4:22pm
Posted by lvliberty1 at 05/13/2008
Hmm weird that you are then willing to support Hagee who says the same thing about Catholics... I guess this is a my religion is right and yours is wrong battle.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/13/2008 @ 8:48pm
Posted by lvliberty1 at 05/13/2008
So in other words, he must deny what YOU (and John Ankerberg) THINK his Church says, before you'd vote for him?
(No, don't bother linking to some article from a fundamentalist Christian website telling me what "the real truth behind Mormonism is". The REAL TRUTH is, your religion sub-sect is the one who wants to show that IT is the "true Church" and all others are "devil inspired")
Don't pray...but if I did, it'd be for one simple thing....
"Vice-Presidential nominee Mitt Romney"!
Posted by Mask at 05/13/2008 @ 8:52pm
Hey, do you guys think that terrorist organizations like Hamas recent endorsement of Obama for President will help or hurt him with the American left?
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008 @ 9:07pm
Uh, oh, more bad news for the left. Clearly, the 'hate America first' effort is falling short. You guys need to work harder! Maybe we could make 20 hours of Reverend Wright's sermons mandatory for graduating high school seniors. Good idea?
"Marine Corps meets 142 percent of recruiting goal. "The Marine Corps far surpassed its recruiting goal last month and could eventually be more than a year ahead of schedule in its plan to grow the force to 202,000 members. All military services met or exceeded their monthly recruiting goals in April, with the Marine Corps signing 142 percent of the number it was looking for, the Pentagon said.""
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008 @ 9:36pm
When and if Romney says that his church is wrong and that pastors like myself are not paid by the devil,
Posted by lvliberty1
i thought you did that work pro bono.
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 9:38pm
All military services met or exceeded their monthly recruiting goals in April, with the Marine Corps signing 142 percent of the number it was looking for, the Pentagon said.""
Posted by pontificus
yeah,
ben bernanke can explain why, too.
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 9:49pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008
"ben bernanke can explain why, too."
Very good! Can you jerk your other knee like that too?
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008 @ 9:59pm
Equatorians and Dominicans go where Ponti won't...
Non-Americans are less un-American and many a stateside Hate-radio Limbaugh lapdog
"They have been variously described as 'working class mercenaries', 'green card troops', 'non-citizen' armies, or desperate recruits of the US Government's 'poverty draft'. They are the huge contingent of Hispanic personnel who--for personal and economic reasons--have been recruited into the ranks of the US military. According to US journalist Jim Ross, by February 2005 there were 110,000 of them. The biggest single contingent of such troops is made up of Mexicans and Mexican descendants.
Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Central Americans and Ecuadorians are also well represented. Since the start of the war about a third of the US forces stationed in Iraq--between 31,000 and 37,000 troops out of a total of about 130,000--were non-US citizens serving in the navy, Marine Corps, army and air force."
Follow the money. But begin where it isn't.
Posted by winyahn at 05/13/2008 @ 9:59pm
Hey, you guys didn't answer my question. Do you think the endorsement of terrorists will help or hurt Obama with the left? Don't you guys share an agenda and similar beliefs, i.e., that America is the root of all evil in the world? Why do you disavow your brethren? Do you? How about 'suicide bombers for Obama'? Catchy? Think it'll fly?
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008 @ 10:04pm
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008
Just curious, PONTI...which do you think will happen first?
A. Enough people figure out that McCain is offering "four more years" of the same?
B. McCain moves far enough AWAY from Bush and you guys to try to capture the Middle and Independents that even talk of a "scary black guy who terrorists love" isn't enough to get your disappointed butts to the polls?
Posted by Mask at 05/13/2008 @ 10:07pm
Military metrosexual civilian gay extremist war planners declare:
Black and brown are the new green!
" Most of the JROTC (Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps) Units are located in the predominately Black and Latino neighborhoods. "
Cheney chromomating, recruiting browns here to kill browns there.
Posted by winyahn at 05/13/2008 @ 10:09pm
Posted by Mask at 05/13/2008
Always with the race-baiting, eh MASK? I'd be just as frightened of a white guy like Carter as I would a semi-black guy like Obama. It's the content of their character (i.e., dangerous naivete and a disturbing affinity for blame-America-first" that bothers me, not their skin color. If you recall, it was conservatives that elected Thatcher, the first female PM.
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008 @ 10:14pm
**PONTI actually believes "lefties hate liberty"!**
On another thread, he stated and restated this. He actually believes this!
I asked him whether he believes said liberty-hatred is conscious or unconscious and he didn't respond.
Speak up Ponti! Once more: do you believe A) most liberals hate liberty AND are aware they hate liberty, or B) most liberals hate liberty BUT are not aware they hate liberty?
Do you think blacks hate liberty? How about civil liberty?
Do you think leftie bloggers hate internet liberty/freedom of speech?
Posted by winyahn at 05/13/2008 @ 10:19pm
Posted by winyahn at 05/13/2008
'"hate radio"? What, laying the groundwork to ban it? You're one of those 'of course I believe in free speech, as long as I don't disagree with it' liberals, aren't you?
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008 @ 10:20pm
If you recall, it was conservatives that elected Thatcher, the first female PM.
Posted by pontificus
and what a good choice they made.
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 10:21pm
Posted by winyahn at 05/13/2008
"Speak up Ponti! Once more: do you believe A) most liberals hate liberty AND are aware they hate liberty, or B) most liberals hate liberty BUT are not aware they hate liberty?"
I have no idea what most liberals are thinking. But I do know that liberals like FROSTY ZOOM have no problem with regimes like the Cuban government denying liberty to their citizens. Or that liberals such as yourself classify the speech of people they disagree with (e.g., Limbaugh) as 'hate speech', with the implication that it should be banned.
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008 @ 10:23pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008
"and what a good choice they made."
You have a talent for stating the truth in an ironic manner. You should be like George Costanza. Take everything you believe to be true, and turn it around 180 degrees. Believe me, you'll benefit from it, and sound more intelligent too.
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008 @ 10:25pm
Take everything you believe to be true, and turn it around 180 degrees. Believe me, you'll benefit from it, and sound more intelligent too.
Posted by pontificus
hmmmm?
"ponti is constantly wrong."
becomes
"wrong constantly is ponti."
i like it!
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 10:30pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008
Well, so much for sounding more intelligent.
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008 @ 10:36pm
Posted by Mask at 05/13/2008
"A. Enough people figure out that McCain is offering "four more years" of the same?"
I think the campaign theme will be -
"Four more years of same - doesn't sound so bad when you compare it with four more years of Jimmy Carter!"
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008 @ 10:39pm
PONTI: "I have no idea what most liberals are thinking."
PONTI:
1- Lefties "hate liberty"
2- Lefties "blame America first"
3- Lefties believe "America is the root of all evil in the world"
--------
And now for something completely different...
Limbaugh Says "Liberals Hate this Country."
Posted by winyahn at 05/13/2008 @ 10:52pm
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008
What about you "blame the world first" fascists. The presence of blue helmeted UN troops in the US drove you Nazis wild. Remember the old militia days? Only the mention of a Pinochet or a Hussein (the Rumsfeld embrace) could sooth your red necks (no offense to the originals in W. Virginia of whom I'm sure you're ignorant)
Posted by Sorelish at 05/13/2008 @ 10:58pm
Record Opium Crop Funding Resurgent Taliban
Going on seven years since U.S. troops invaded Afghanistan and sent the Taliban running, opium production in that country--the primary source of funding for Islamist fighters--has grown beyond anyone's imagination. During its reign, the Taliban regulated the heroin trade, strictly enforcing production quotas and making certain that they got a cut of every ounce sold. Oddly enough, the existence of a narco-state kept the size of the crop under control, relatively speaking. Now that the bearded clerics are gone (at least temporarily), market forces have taken over and poppy cultivation has exploded.
According to a report released today by the National Security Network (NSN), Afghanistan's poppy crop, in terms of the acreage of land used for its cultivation, goes beyond anything Colombia's cocaine kings would dare to dream. It's the country's largest export, worth more than $4 billion per year and employing some 3.3 million Afghans. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that last year's harvest was of "unprecedented size in modern times and unseen since the opium boom in China during the nineteenth century." So much for the War on Drugs.
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 11:03pm
http://www.nationcruise.com/
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/13/2008 @ 11:05pm
Can't make the cruise, will be at the Cheney Mushroom Cloud Bunker Party.
Posted by winyahn at 05/13/2008 @ 11:46pm
Hey FROSTY, McCain just reiterated his support for a ban on drilling in ANWR, which is estimated at this time to have enough oil to replace Saudi Arabian imports for 20 years - about the time fusion power is expected to take to be commercially viable. Clinton and Obama, of course, not only support the ban but additional taxes on the oil industry which should have the effect of both depressing domestic oil production AND increasing the cost of petroleum products to the consumer (that's the propane for your trailer, CRABBIE). $8.00 a gallon, here we come!
Choices this fall? Bad, and worse.
Posted by pontificus at 05/14/2008 @ 06:03am
PONTIFICUs, idiot at large.
Mover of goalpsost, flip flopper.
Thank you WINYAH for pointing out one of many ponti flops ..
Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2008 @ 06:52am
ANW has the same oil reserves as the Haus Saud?
Do tell, where did you get these "numbers" from?
----
Slavery a question today?
( Burger King fires 2 after blog controversy Tuesday May 13, 8:25 pm ET By Laura Wides-Munoz, Associated Press Writer Burger King fires 2 over executive's secret blog criticizing farm worker's group
MIAMI (AP) -- Burger King said Tuesday it fired two employees following the disclosure that an executive secretly posted blogs slamming a farmworker advocacy group. The Miami-based fast-food chain did not name the individuals who were fired. It also said it is discontinuing the use of a private investigation firm whose president allegedly posed as a student activist to infiltrate the farmworker group and its supporters.)
(By Leonard Doyle in Immokalee, Floride Wednesday, 19 December 2007
Related Articles The exploited: 'You work so hard to end up earning hardly anything' Print Email Search Go Independent.co.uk Web Bookmark & Share Digg It del.icio.us Facebook Stumbleupon What are these?
Change font size: A A A
Three Florida fruit-pickers, held captive and brutalised by their employer for more than a year, finally broke free of their bonds by punching their way through the ventilator hatch of the van in which they were imprisoned. Once outside, they dashed for freedom.
When they found sanctuary one recent Sunday morning, all bore the marks of heavy beatings to the head and body. One of the pickers had a nasty, untreated knife wound on his arm. Police would learn later that another man had his hands chained behind his back every night to prevent him escaping, leaving his wrists swollen.
The migrants were not only forced to work in sub-human conditions but mistreated and forced into debt. They were locked up at night and had to pay for sub-standard food. If they took a shower with a garden hose or bucket, it cost them $5.
Their story of slavery and abuse in the fruit fields of sub-tropical Florida threatens to lift the lid on some appalling human rights abuses in America today.
Between December and May, Florida produces virtually the entire US crop of field-grown fresh tomatoes. Fruit picked here in the winter months ends up on the shelves of supermarkets and is also served in the country's top restaurants and in tens of thousands of fast-food outlets.
But conditions in the state's fruit-picking industry range from straightforward exploitation to forced labour. Tens of thousands of men, women and children excluded from the protection of America's employment laws and banned from unionising work their fingers to the bone for rates of pay which have hardly budged in 30 years.)
Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2008 @ 06:59am
Support of dictators concern you PONTI?
((Charlie Black
Charlie Black Is McCain's Senior Adviser. According to the Washington Post, Black is McCain's "chief political adviser." [Washington Post, 2/22/08]
Black Enlisted to Improve Marcos's Image. The Globe and Mail reported, "A politically well-connected U.S. lobbying firm is being paid nearly $1-million to help a Philippine client linked with President Ferdinand Marcos, and some analysts believe its task is to improve Mr. Marcos' image." "The firm, Black, Manafort & Stone Public Affairs, began a year-long contract with a client called the Chamber of Philippines Manufacturers, Exporters and Tourist Associations." "Stanley Roth, who serves on the staff of a congressional subcommittee investigating Mr. Marcos' business dealings in the United States, called the arrangement just means of Marcos hiring a public relations firm.' Under the terms of the contract, the suburban Washington-based concern is to be paid $950,000 plus expenses to provide advice and assistance on matters relating to the media, public relations and public affairs interests' as well as lobbying services." [The Globe and Mail, 12/20/85] )
(Black's Firm Lobbied for Somalia's Dictator. Common Cause Magazine reported, "The well-connected Washington lobbying firm of Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly has seen dictators such as Somalia's Mohamed Siad Barre" as its clients. [Common Cause Magazine, Winter 1993]
While Black Lobbied for Somalia, Siad Barre's Army Killed 40,000 50,000 Civilians. The Associated Press reported, "The Somali army killed 40,000 to 50,000 unarmed civilians between June 1988 and January 1990, according to human rights group Africa Watch." [Associated Press, 1/2/95]
Black Lobbied for Zaire's Dictator. Black, Manafort, Stone lobbied for "Mobuto Sese Seko of Zaire." The "military dictator, Mobuto, was a $1 million-per-year Black, Manafort client until December 1990." [Common Cause Magazine, Winter 1993; Department of Justice, FARA database, accessed 2/26/08]
Black Signed Up Nigerian Dictator As Client. The New York Times reported, "Three of the guys who ran the 1984 Reagan campaign Charles Black, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone get" a "million from the dictator of Nigeria," Ibrahim Babangida. [New York Times, 2/17/86; FARA Database, accessed 3/2008] ) )
Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2008 @ 07:02am
"Four more years of same - doesn't sound so bad when you compare it with four more years of Jimmy Carter!"
Posted by pontificus at 05/13/2008
Is Jimmy running for president? hmm, I missed that amongst all the fear of the muslim/christian/black/white guy actually running for office.
Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2008 @ 07:05am
More slavery for POTIFICUS to fight:
(digan is D.C. Lobbyist And McCain Fundraiser. Peter Madigan is one of McCain's top fundraisers and bundlers. He is also a registered foreign agent with the Department of Justice, having represented a number of foreign governments and entities. He was previously president and chief operating officer of Boland & Madigan and currently lobbies at Johnson, Madigan, Peck, Boland & Stewart. His clients have included Philip Morris, Arthur Andersen, Charles Schwab, Goldman Sachs, Shell Oil and Verizon. [Public Citizen, accessed 3/28/08; Johnson, Madigan, Peck, Boland & Stewart, accessed 3/28/08; Senate Lobbying Disclosure Database, accessed 5/12/08]
Madigan Hired to Fight Child Enslavement Claims Against the UAE. Peter Madigan, a top McCain fundraiser, lobbies for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE, "facing a class-action lawsuit over alleged enslavement of boys as jockeys in camel races, has hired several top Washington lobbyists and PR firms to present their case to Congress and the public." The lawsuit alleged "that senior ministers from Dubai conspired to force thousands of underage boys to race camels." According to The Hill, "The year-long contract with Johnson Madigan could cost the sheikhs' more than $800,000. Jeffrey Peck, Sen. Joseph Biden's (D-Del.) former counsel, and Peter Madigan, once a State Department official under the first President Bush, signed the subcontract." [ABC News, 2/1/08; The Hill, 4/4/07])
Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2008 @ 07:06am
Supply and demand:
(A week after the escapees managed to emerge from the van in which they had been locked up for the night, police discovered that a forced labour operation was supplying fruit-pickers to local growers. Court papers describe how migrant workers were forced into debt and beaten into going to work on farms in Florida, as well as in North and South Carolina. Detectives found another 11 men who were being kept against their will in the grounds of a Florida house shaded by palm trees. The bungalow stood abandoned this week, a Cadillac in the driveway alongside a black and chrome pick-up truck with a cowboy hat on the dashboard. The entire operation was being run by the Navarettes, a family well known in the area.
Also near by was the removals van from which Mariano Lucas, one of the first to escape, punched his way through a ventilation hatch to freedom in the early hours of 18 November. With him were Jose Velasquez, who had bruises on his face and ribs and a cut forearm, and Jose Hari. The men told police they had to relieve themselves inside the van. Other migrant workers were kept in other vehicles and sheds scattered around the garden.
Enslaved by the Navarettes for more than a year, the men had been working in blisteringly hot conditions, sometimes for seven days a week. Despite their hard work, they were mired in debt because of the punitive charges imposed by their employer, who is being held on minor charges while a grand jury investigates his alleged involvement in human trafficking.
The men had to pay to live in the back of vans and for food. Their entire pay cheques went to the Navarettes and they were still in debt. They slept in decrepit sheds and vehicles in a yard littered with rubbish. When one man did not want to go to work because he was sick, he was allegedly pushed and kicked by the Navarettes. "They physically loaded him in the van and made him go to work that day. Cesar, Geovanni and Martin Navarette beat him up and as a result he was bleeding in his mouth," a grand jury was told.
The complaint reveals that the men were forced to pay rent of $20 (10) a week to sleep in a locked furniture van where they had no option but to urinate and defecate in a corner. They had to pay $50 a week for meals mostly rice and beans with meat perhaps twice a week if they were lucky. The fruit-pickers' caravans, which they share with up to 15 other men, rent for $2,400 a month more per square foot than a New York apartment and are less than 10 minutes' walk from the hiring fair where the men show up before sunrise. At least half those who come looking for work are not taken on.
Florida has a long history of exploiting migrant workers. Farm labourers have no protection under US law and can be fired at will. Conditions have barely changed since 1960 when the journalist Edward R Murrow shocked Americans with Harvest Of Shame, a television broadcast about the bleak and underpaid lives of the workers who put food on their tables. "We used to own our slaves but now we just rent them," Murrow said, in a phrase that still resonates in Immokalee today.
For several years, a campaign has been under way to improve the workers' conditions. After years of talks, a scheme to pay the tomato pickers a penny extra per pound has been signed off by McDonald's, the world's biggest restaurant chain, and by Yum!, which owns 35,000 restaurants including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. But Burger King, which also buys its tomatoes in Immokalee, has so far refused to participate, threatening the entire scheme.)
Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2008 @ 07:10am
Ponti demands cheap burgers, BK supplies him with slave labor.
But, lets talk about Cuba, Jimmy Carter or Sandy Berger...
Posted by crabwalk at 05/14/2008 @ 07:15am
"ANWR, which is estimated at this time to have enough oil to replace Saudi Arabian imports for 20 years - about the time fusion power is expected to take to be commercially viable."
Wow! Who knew ponti believed in fairy tales.
Fusion?!? Commercially viable? 20 years?!?!?
CITATION PLEASE!
What percentage of our oil comes from S.A. now?
Seriously, other than here, where do you get your informaion from?
Posted by Malcontent at 05/14/2008 @ 5:16pm
Confirmed: John Edwards to endorse Barack Obama tonight
Posted by winyahn at 05/14/2008 @ 6:36pm
$8.00 a gallon, here we come!
Posted by pontificus
Summary: U.S. petroleum exports are about 10% of imports. Want to increase U.S. oil supply by 10%? Stop exporting it. There's a push by some to drill in ANWR to, ostensibly, make the U.S. less dependent on foreign oil. But that won't help as long as we export oil from that region.
http://www.exponentialimprovement.com/cms/petrolprevar.shtml
Oil - production: 8.322 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption: 20.8 million bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - exports: 1.048 million bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports: 13.15 million bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves: 21.76 billion bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/us.htm l
reserves for 1,000 days......
exporting a million barrels per day.......
Posted by frosty zoom at 05/15/2008 @ 12:44am
How much oil is in ANWR? Will it make a difference?
The answer to both is not near as much as you'd think: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4542853/
Posted by leftofcenter at 05/15/2008 @ 08:14am
...And confronted with facts, pontificus disappears.
Posted by Malcontent at 05/17/2008 @ 5:49pm