Barbarism on the Rise – Civilization on the Wane
by Siv O'Neall
Democracy has become an empty word that the world leaders kick around like an inflated balloon when it serves their interests. What is of importance to the Corporatocracy that is running the planet is very much the opposite of democracy. What the leaders are depending on for the continuation of the current misrule of the world is centralized power and dumbed-down, apathetic and poverty-stricken masses who pose no danger to the status quo.
Democracy doesn't promote the interests of the ruling plutocrats. Their goal is to concentrate all the money and power in the tiny elite that hold the strings of the dancing puppets who are politicians. Government and business are all one and the same. Or different parts of the same monster. Some hold the strings of power, others do the kicking and dancing.
What is the difference between a totalitarian state which controls all the means of production and one where the owners of the means of production control the state? A different brand of totalitarianism but the contempt for the people could not be more deadly.
To make the control game possible, the people have to be drugged, muzzled and rendered powerless. Also, the means of running the show have to be deprived of all transparency. Propaganda, biased or filtered media news coverage, violent punishment of 'disobedient' individuals, all clouded in a web of secrecy – these are the tools for running this show of the most flagrant in-egalitarian state of the world that has ever existed. The former lords of money empires pale in comparison to the multi-billionaires of today's distorted world.
Laws have to be ignored or annulled. People who might possibly become a threat to the puppeteers have to be rendered harmless. By any means possible. There are no more any legal limits to what can be done to individuals who are arbitrarily declared to be terrorists or aiding and abetting the 'enemy'. Since international and national laws have become irrelevant, it is no more a big deal to get rid of undesirable persons.
There is also a general tendency to destroy what are considered superfluous masses of people through calculated starvation, wars and well planned genocide. Added to this, there is a carefully staged neglect of the lower classes – with more and more of the so-called middle classes falling into the category of the working poor.
LINK
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Carlyle + 300 Bush Cronies control 50% of ALL "bear shares" on US markets -- using offshore accounts
Tip of the hat to kickysnana:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
http://www.almartinraw.com/public/column335.html
"Indeed, of the short interest in domestic equity markets, if one looks at all exchanges – NYSE, Amex, OTC, etc. – here’s a startling statistic -- half of all of the short interest is controlled by eight offshore funds, all managed by Carlyle Group or its subsidiaries, trusts, limited partnerships and other such vehicles. I heard this last Wednesday. In these 8 funds, there are only 300 investors common to all 8 funds. They are, in fact, the top 300 members of the Bush Cabal.
Most hold interest through offshore blind trusts, ranging from the Cayman Islands to Panama. But they are all Bush-Cabal-aligned interests. They are the top 300 members of the Cabal that, for lack of a better definition, control the short side of domestic equity markets."
The author interprets this as evidence that only the neocon investors (Bush cronies) think the market will recover, and are hoping to reap a windfall, Hudsucker-style.
Given what happened on 9/11, I see something far more sinister at work here.
(For those of you who dismiss such alarming statistics about trust ownership as conspiracy-buzz, consider this factoid: 80% of all new development in the country -- the towns you inhabit, the roads you drive on, the McMansions you admire as evidence someone has attained the American Dream -- is designed, built, financed and sold by five -- count 'em five -- firms, several of whom are privately owned. Some of these firms are involved in projects like the Freedom Tower and other redevelopments of Manhattan that involve concentrations of capital so intense, the owners of the resulting skyscrapers have absolute power over the operation of the resulting business districts and the average citizen commuting in for work is nothing more than ants to them... Due to limitations on the inflationary economic system, which requires endless population growth and white flight out of older neighborhoods, 90% of all new construction is designed, built and financed for the upper income brackets.)
Tip of the hat to kickysnana:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
http://www.almartinraw.com/public/column335.html
"Indeed, of the short interest in domestic equity markets, if one looks at all exchanges – NYSE, Amex, OTC, etc. – here’s a startling statistic -- half of all of the short interest is controlled by eight offshore funds, all managed by Carlyle Group or its subsidiaries, trusts, limited partnerships and other such vehicles. I heard this last Wednesday. In these 8 funds, there are only 300 investors common to all 8 funds. They are, in fact, the top 300 members of the Bush Cabal.
Most hold interest through offshore blind trusts, ranging from the Cayman Islands to Panama. But they are all Bush-Cabal-aligned interests. They are the top 300 members of the Cabal that, for lack of a better definition, control the short side of domestic equity markets."
The author interprets this as evidence that only the neocon investors (Bush cronies) think the market will recover, and are hoping to reap a windfall, Hudsucker-style.
Given what happened on 9/11, I see something far more sinister at work here.
(For those of you who dismiss such alarming statistics about trust ownership as conspiracy-buzz, consider this factoid: 80% of all new development in the country -- the towns you inhabit, the roads you drive on, the McMansions you admire as evidence someone has attained the American Dream -- is designed, built, financed and sold by five -- count 'em five -- firms, several of whom are privately owned. Some of these firms are involved in projects like the Freedom Tower and other redevelopments of Manhattan that involve concentrations of capital so intense, the owners of the resulting skyscrapers have absolute power over the operation of the resulting business districts and the average citizen commuting in for work is nothing more than ants to them... Due to limitations on the inflationary economic system, which requires endless population growth and white flight out of older neighborhoods, 90% of all new construction is designed, built and financed for the upper income brackets.)
Who ARE You People?
Posted by NanceGreggs in General Discussion
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for accommodating religious and cultural differences, acknowledging that not everyone has exactly the same perspective on every issue, even making life a bit clearer for the common-sense-impaired.
But when it comes down to coddling the abjectly stupid, or those who seem to spend every waking hour looking for something to be offended about, I have to stand back and yell, “What the f*ck!”
Who are you people who think shopping mall Santas should refrain from saying “ho, ho, ho” because it might be construed by female passers-by as an insult to their sexual activities? Shouldn’t such people be kept out of the malls because stupidity might be contagious, and we’ve already got enough of that going around?
Who are you people who report to parents of pre-schoolers that their children’s tendency to nuzzle against your chest is a blatant sexual advance? Shouldn’t such alleged ‘adults’ be kept as far away from innocent children as possible? Just how repressed/sexually confused do you have to be before someone decides that maybe the ‘problem’ lies not with the kids, but with you?
LINK
Posted by NanceGreggs in General Discussion
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for accommodating religious and cultural differences, acknowledging that not everyone has exactly the same perspective on every issue, even making life a bit clearer for the common-sense-impaired.
But when it comes down to coddling the abjectly stupid, or those who seem to spend every waking hour looking for something to be offended about, I have to stand back and yell, “What the f*ck!”
Who are you people who think shopping mall Santas should refrain from saying “ho, ho, ho” because it might be construed by female passers-by as an insult to their sexual activities? Shouldn’t such people be kept out of the malls because stupidity might be contagious, and we’ve already got enough of that going around?
Who are you people who report to parents of pre-schoolers that their children’s tendency to nuzzle against your chest is a blatant sexual advance? Shouldn’t such alleged ‘adults’ be kept as far away from innocent children as possible? Just how repressed/sexually confused do you have to be before someone decides that maybe the ‘problem’ lies not with the kids, but with you?
LINK
Monday, November 26, 2007
(Great Energy plan Bush, now small farmers and poor people get fucked over once again)
Ethanol proves to be the big letdown of 2007
By Joe Carroll and Mario Parker
Bloomberg News
Ethanol, the centerpiece of President Bush's plan to wean the U.S. from oil, is 2007's worst energy investment.
The corn-based fuel tumbled 57 percent from last year's record of $4.33 a gallon and drove crop prices to a 10-year high. Production in the U.S. tripled after Morgan Stanley, hedge fund firm D.E. Shaw & Co. and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla helped finance a building boom.
Even worse for investors and the Bush administration, energy experts contend ethanol isn't reducing oil demand. Scientists at Cornell University say making the fuel uses more energy than it creates, while the National Research Council warns ethanol production threatens scarce water supplies.
As oil nears $100 a barrel, ethanol markets are so depressed that distilleries are shutting from Iowa to Germany. An investor who put $10 million into ethanol on Dec. 31 now has $7.5 million, a loss of 25 percent. Florida and Georgia have banned sales during the summer, when the fuel may evaporate and create smog.
''I don't anticipate any sort of immediate rebound,'' says Barry Frazier, the 50-year-old president of Center Ethanol LLC in suburban St. Louis. ''It's going to take 12 to 24 months before the market is able to absorb the large amount of new capacity.'' LINK
Ethanol proves to be the big letdown of 2007
By Joe Carroll and Mario Parker
Bloomberg News
Ethanol, the centerpiece of President Bush's plan to wean the U.S. from oil, is 2007's worst energy investment.
The corn-based fuel tumbled 57 percent from last year's record of $4.33 a gallon and drove crop prices to a 10-year high. Production in the U.S. tripled after Morgan Stanley, hedge fund firm D.E. Shaw & Co. and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla helped finance a building boom.
Even worse for investors and the Bush administration, energy experts contend ethanol isn't reducing oil demand. Scientists at Cornell University say making the fuel uses more energy than it creates, while the National Research Council warns ethanol production threatens scarce water supplies.
As oil nears $100 a barrel, ethanol markets are so depressed that distilleries are shutting from Iowa to Germany. An investor who put $10 million into ethanol on Dec. 31 now has $7.5 million, a loss of 25 percent. Florida and Georgia have banned sales during the summer, when the fuel may evaporate and create smog.
''I don't anticipate any sort of immediate rebound,'' says Barry Frazier, the 50-year-old president of Center Ethanol LLC in suburban St. Louis. ''It's going to take 12 to 24 months before the market is able to absorb the large amount of new capacity.'' LINK
In Miles of Alleys, Chicago Finds Its Next Environmental Frontier
By SUSAN SAULNY
CHICAGO, Nov. 25 — If this were any other city, perhaps it would not matter what kind of roadway was underfoot in the back alleys around town. But with nearly 2,000 miles of small service streets bisecting blocks from the North Side to the South Side, Chicago is the alley capital of America. In its alleys, city officials say, it has the paved equivalent of five midsize airports.
Part of the landscape since the city began, the alleys, mostly home to garbage bins and garages, make for cleaner and less congested main streets. But Chicago’s distinction is not without disadvantages: Imagine having a duplicate set of streets, in miniature, to maintain that are prone to flooding and to dumping runoff into a strained sewer system.
What is an old, alley-laden city to do?
Chicago has decided to retrofit its alleys with environmentally sustainable road-building materials under its Green Alley initiative, something experts say is among the most ambitious public street makeover plans in the country. In a larger sense, the city is rethinking the way it paves things.
LINK
By SUSAN SAULNY
CHICAGO, Nov. 25 — If this were any other city, perhaps it would not matter what kind of roadway was underfoot in the back alleys around town. But with nearly 2,000 miles of small service streets bisecting blocks from the North Side to the South Side, Chicago is the alley capital of America. In its alleys, city officials say, it has the paved equivalent of five midsize airports.
Part of the landscape since the city began, the alleys, mostly home to garbage bins and garages, make for cleaner and less congested main streets. But Chicago’s distinction is not without disadvantages: Imagine having a duplicate set of streets, in miniature, to maintain that are prone to flooding and to dumping runoff into a strained sewer system.
What is an old, alley-laden city to do?
Chicago has decided to retrofit its alleys with environmentally sustainable road-building materials under its Green Alley initiative, something experts say is among the most ambitious public street makeover plans in the country. In a larger sense, the city is rethinking the way it paves things.
LINK
Unthanksgiving
By Joel Hirschhorn
Most Americans have succumbed to tradition and advertising and stuffed their bellies with unhealthy food and stuffed their shopping carts with unnecessary stuff. Now, here are some tough facts about the sad state of the American economy from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, as revealed recently by the Economic Mobility Project.
Anyone who still gives thanks for the classic American dream of rising from poverty to riches is not facing reality. Research has documented that only 6 percent of children born to parents with family income in the bottom fifth of the income spectrum move to the top fifth. The rags to riches story is garbage. Meanwhile, an amazing 42 percent of children born into that lowest fraction remain stuck in that lowly economic class, not even making into middle class status. At the other end, four out of 10 children born to rich parents stay rich.
Looking more generally at economic mobility this is reality: 34 percent of Americans make more than their parents' family income and move up at least one rung on the economic ladder. But more experience downward mobility, with 38 percent moving down the economic ladder.
What about black Americans?
LINK
By Joel Hirschhorn
Most Americans have succumbed to tradition and advertising and stuffed their bellies with unhealthy food and stuffed their shopping carts with unnecessary stuff. Now, here are some tough facts about the sad state of the American economy from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, as revealed recently by the Economic Mobility Project.
Anyone who still gives thanks for the classic American dream of rising from poverty to riches is not facing reality. Research has documented that only 6 percent of children born to parents with family income in the bottom fifth of the income spectrum move to the top fifth. The rags to riches story is garbage. Meanwhile, an amazing 42 percent of children born into that lowest fraction remain stuck in that lowly economic class, not even making into middle class status. At the other end, four out of 10 children born to rich parents stay rich.
Looking more generally at economic mobility this is reality: 34 percent of Americans make more than their parents' family income and move up at least one rung on the economic ladder. But more experience downward mobility, with 38 percent moving down the economic ladder.
What about black Americans?
LINK
Bush Admin: What You Don't Know Can't Hurt Us, 2007 Version
By Paul Kiel
Another year has almost passed under the Bush Administration, and so it's time to review how much less we know.
Last year, we launched the insanely ambitious project of recording every significant instance of this administration stifling government information. As we said then, "they've discontinued annual reports, classified normally public data, de-funded studies, quieted underlings, and generally done whatever was necessary to keep bad information under wraps." To be sure, the list will continue to grow through January, 2008.
TPMm research hounds Adrianne Jeffries and Peter Sheehy set to updating our already extensive tally, and those items have been added below (don't miss our new section on global warming!). But TPMm readers made the list what it is, so if you see something else that should be on there, let us know, and we'll update it accordingly.
LINK
By Paul Kiel
Another year has almost passed under the Bush Administration, and so it's time to review how much less we know.
Last year, we launched the insanely ambitious project of recording every significant instance of this administration stifling government information. As we said then, "they've discontinued annual reports, classified normally public data, de-funded studies, quieted underlings, and generally done whatever was necessary to keep bad information under wraps." To be sure, the list will continue to grow through January, 2008.
TPMm research hounds Adrianne Jeffries and Peter Sheehy set to updating our already extensive tally, and those items have been added below (don't miss our new section on global warming!). But TPMm readers made the list what it is, so if you see something else that should be on there, let us know, and we'll update it accordingly.
LINK
Impeachment: If not now, when?
Lawmakers need to stand up for the Constitution and support impeachment
By LINDA BOYD
GUEST COLUMNIST
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. -- Article II, Section 4
On Nov. 6, Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney on the floor of the House of Representatives. For one shining moment the will of the majority of Americans and the promise of this nation's founders were truly represented.
The detailed charges were solemnly read from the House podium and televised on C-Span. House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer made a motion to table the bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lobbied hard for votes to table.
In a stunning turnaround, House Republicans changed strategy and voted decisively to prevent tabling the impeachment resolution.
LINK
Lawmakers need to stand up for the Constitution and support impeachment
By LINDA BOYD
GUEST COLUMNIST
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. -- Article II, Section 4
On Nov. 6, Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney on the floor of the House of Representatives. For one shining moment the will of the majority of Americans and the promise of this nation's founders were truly represented.
The detailed charges were solemnly read from the House podium and televised on C-Span. House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer made a motion to table the bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lobbied hard for votes to table.
In a stunning turnaround, House Republicans changed strategy and voted decisively to prevent tabling the impeachment resolution.
LINK
Saturday, November 24, 2007
A History of the Wine
The Wine....
Ok so this story begins with the lovely thought of purchasing some wine to send back to the states for personal use and for presents, sounds easy, not so fast my friend. The purchase and shipment went very smoothly and quickly without any flaws which led me to believe that all was ok. But two days later I got "the call" from my mom letting me know that the wine was not going to make it. I got declined because I do not have a import/export license (this is a license that you get basically for paying the government a shit load of money, fucking capitalism) and because I was trying to send to a private address (I tried to fix this by sending it to a winery but this did not work either). Some how 12 bottles of medium prized wine does not make me think that I am going to flood the American market with black-market Rioja from Spain, but evidently they think else wise. I am thinking that I might attempt to send 6 bottles to the US via the vineyard. What do you think, worth a shot?...probably not but what the fuck! I just would really like to bring some back because it will be impossible or nor wise to try and take them to Tanzania. I still do not understand what happened. The Spanish blame it on the US and US blames it on Spain....must be easy to never admit you’re at fault!!
Such as life either way but it really pisses me off and adds to my growing frustration with all. I understand living day to day and just being happy but it ekes me to think of the current and future of this world. To think that we will eventually crumble away on this tiny dot in the universe, not ever knowing what the endless universe beholds. I guess a person can get lost searching for answers to the endless but I find myself trying to answer questions to many things that seem impossible to answer or fix. But I go on trying to make a difference little by little, person to person, and enjoy the great experiences and people I meet along the road.
I am still combating my cold through ridiculous amounts of vitamin C....4,000 mg a day and some odd Spanish sinus medicine powder that dissolves in water.
I have been hanging out a lot more with the Italian/Argentina/American girl. She has begun to mean the world to me, not only with an attraction physically but with her personality as well. I am sure that I will break another heart when I move on....and this I am sorry for because I do not want this. I really like her as well but I guess I am pretty used to moving on....and I have promised not only myself but other people that I will finish my thesis this Spring. But I warned her that I had to leave....maybe and hopefully a different place and different time are paths will cross in this small world....who knows, only the future.
I am hoping my cold lets up so that I can get some last ditch exercise in for the coming assent in Africa. School continues as is it....learning some but more frustrating then anything. Had two interviews this week, looking like one on Sunday and another on Monday....that makes seven....not to bad but 10 would be nice. Well Love to ALL and do not forget to check out Dennis Kucinich who is running for president.....he has great plans...if only people would listen!!
PAZ Y AMOR
TY
The Wine....
Ok so this story begins with the lovely thought of purchasing some wine to send back to the states for personal use and for presents, sounds easy, not so fast my friend. The purchase and shipment went very smoothly and quickly without any flaws which led me to believe that all was ok. But two days later I got "the call" from my mom letting me know that the wine was not going to make it. I got declined because I do not have a import/export license (this is a license that you get basically for paying the government a shit load of money, fucking capitalism) and because I was trying to send to a private address (I tried to fix this by sending it to a winery but this did not work either). Some how 12 bottles of medium prized wine does not make me think that I am going to flood the American market with black-market Rioja from Spain, but evidently they think else wise. I am thinking that I might attempt to send 6 bottles to the US via the vineyard. What do you think, worth a shot?...probably not but what the fuck! I just would really like to bring some back because it will be impossible or nor wise to try and take them to Tanzania. I still do not understand what happened. The Spanish blame it on the US and US blames it on Spain....must be easy to never admit you’re at fault!!
Such as life either way but it really pisses me off and adds to my growing frustration with all. I understand living day to day and just being happy but it ekes me to think of the current and future of this world. To think that we will eventually crumble away on this tiny dot in the universe, not ever knowing what the endless universe beholds. I guess a person can get lost searching for answers to the endless but I find myself trying to answer questions to many things that seem impossible to answer or fix. But I go on trying to make a difference little by little, person to person, and enjoy the great experiences and people I meet along the road.
I am still combating my cold through ridiculous amounts of vitamin C....4,000 mg a day and some odd Spanish sinus medicine powder that dissolves in water.
I have been hanging out a lot more with the Italian/Argentina/American girl. She has begun to mean the world to me, not only with an attraction physically but with her personality as well. I am sure that I will break another heart when I move on....and this I am sorry for because I do not want this. I really like her as well but I guess I am pretty used to moving on....and I have promised not only myself but other people that I will finish my thesis this Spring. But I warned her that I had to leave....maybe and hopefully a different place and different time are paths will cross in this small world....who knows, only the future.
I am hoping my cold lets up so that I can get some last ditch exercise in for the coming assent in Africa. School continues as is it....learning some but more frustrating then anything. Had two interviews this week, looking like one on Sunday and another on Monday....that makes seven....not to bad but 10 would be nice. Well Love to ALL and do not forget to check out Dennis Kucinich who is running for president.....he has great plans...if only people would listen!!
PAZ Y AMOR
TY
Friday, November 23, 2007
(Great article on Kucinich)
The Heroics of Dennis J. Kucinich
by Maryann Mann
Consider five major points:
1.) Dennis Kucinich was right on Iraq. The Congressman stood up to ideological war hawks, refusing to submit to the constitutional calamity of preemptive invasion. 2.) He was right on the Patriot Act. Kucinich lambasted the serpentine piece of legislation which acts as a gateway to eroding our cherished civil liberties. 3.) The Congressman is right on health care. Unlike slipshod “universal coverage” plans proposed by Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama (all of which attempt to incurably fix a broken, private system by virtually mandating that every American buy into it) Kucinich knows first hand that the only morally and economically satisfying version of health care is the one beginning with the words: not-for-profit. 4.) Strength through Peace: The hallmark of the Congressman’s presidential campaign would end using war as an instrument of policy. Haters call him a peacenik devoid of reality. I submit that the intellectually curious might see a president who would embody unparalleled leadership in nuclear non-proliferation and in tackling global warming (mother nature’s WMD) to bridge frayed international alliances, combat climate change and, in effect, revive the plummeting dollar. 5.) Kucinich is right on impeachment. Dennis, as it currently stands – along with 22 courageous signatories – has been the only Congressman brave enough to officially propose articles of impeachment against the dangerously dark Vice President Richard B. Cheney. And on this, he hits the bull’s eye too.
LINK
The Heroics of Dennis J. Kucinich
by Maryann Mann
Consider five major points:
1.) Dennis Kucinich was right on Iraq. The Congressman stood up to ideological war hawks, refusing to submit to the constitutional calamity of preemptive invasion. 2.) He was right on the Patriot Act. Kucinich lambasted the serpentine piece of legislation which acts as a gateway to eroding our cherished civil liberties. 3.) The Congressman is right on health care. Unlike slipshod “universal coverage” plans proposed by Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama (all of which attempt to incurably fix a broken, private system by virtually mandating that every American buy into it) Kucinich knows first hand that the only morally and economically satisfying version of health care is the one beginning with the words: not-for-profit. 4.) Strength through Peace: The hallmark of the Congressman’s presidential campaign would end using war as an instrument of policy. Haters call him a peacenik devoid of reality. I submit that the intellectually curious might see a president who would embody unparalleled leadership in nuclear non-proliferation and in tackling global warming (mother nature’s WMD) to bridge frayed international alliances, combat climate change and, in effect, revive the plummeting dollar. 5.) Kucinich is right on impeachment. Dennis, as it currently stands – along with 22 courageous signatories – has been the only Congressman brave enough to officially propose articles of impeachment against the dangerously dark Vice President Richard B. Cheney. And on this, he hits the bull’s eye too.
LINK
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
What Would Jesus Buy?
By Amy Goodman
"Black Friday” is the name retailers have given to the day after Thanksgiving in their attempt to make Christmas synonymous with shopping. On Black Friday, Americans are expected to flock to the malls and shopping centers, eager for discounts, armed with plastic. Business analysts fill the airwaves with predictions on how the fickle consumer will perform, how fuel prices and the subprime mortgage crisis will impact holiday shopping. Black Friday is followed by “Cyber Monday,” a name coined by the retail industry to hype online shopping. Listening to the business news, one would conclude that the future not only of the U.S. economy but of humanity itself depends on mass, frenzied shopping for the holidays.
Rev. Billy is the street preacher played by Bill Talen, a New York City-based anti-consumerism activist who is the subject of a new feature-length documentary hitting theaters this week, “What Would Jesus Buy?” The film is produced by Morgan Spurlock, who gained fame with his documentary “Super Size Me,” in which he showed his physical and emotional decline while eating only McDonald’s food for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a month.
LINK
By Amy Goodman
"Black Friday” is the name retailers have given to the day after Thanksgiving in their attempt to make Christmas synonymous with shopping. On Black Friday, Americans are expected to flock to the malls and shopping centers, eager for discounts, armed with plastic. Business analysts fill the airwaves with predictions on how the fickle consumer will perform, how fuel prices and the subprime mortgage crisis will impact holiday shopping. Black Friday is followed by “Cyber Monday,” a name coined by the retail industry to hype online shopping. Listening to the business news, one would conclude that the future not only of the U.S. economy but of humanity itself depends on mass, frenzied shopping for the holidays.
Rev. Billy is the street preacher played by Bill Talen, a New York City-based anti-consumerism activist who is the subject of a new feature-length documentary hitting theaters this week, “What Would Jesus Buy?” The film is produced by Morgan Spurlock, who gained fame with his documentary “Super Size Me,” in which he showed his physical and emotional decline while eating only McDonald’s food for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a month.
LINK
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
First Woman, First Black, First Latino, or First Honest President?
Most Dishonest Politicians Have a Better Chance of Winning
By Joel Hirschhorn
The phrase honest politician has become an oxymoron. We should not be impressed by the prospect of having the first woman, first black or first Latino president. What would be far more radical would be to have the first honest president, if not ever, certainly in a very long time.
Presidents in recent memory have been excellent liars, contributing mightily to our culture of dishonesty. Bill Clinton had the audacity to look right into the TV camera and blatantly lie to the American public. George W. Bush has probably set a record for official lying, though it might take many decades to fully document them. Carl M. Cannon saw the bigger truth: "posterity will judge [George W. Bush] not so much by whether he told the truth but whether he recognized what the truth actually was."
Things have gotten so bad that hardly anyone can even imagine an honest president. But if we don't expect an honest president, how can we expect to trust government?
LINK
Most Dishonest Politicians Have a Better Chance of Winning
By Joel Hirschhorn
The phrase honest politician has become an oxymoron. We should not be impressed by the prospect of having the first woman, first black or first Latino president. What would be far more radical would be to have the first honest president, if not ever, certainly in a very long time.
Presidents in recent memory have been excellent liars, contributing mightily to our culture of dishonesty. Bill Clinton had the audacity to look right into the TV camera and blatantly lie to the American public. George W. Bush has probably set a record for official lying, though it might take many decades to fully document them. Carl M. Cannon saw the bigger truth: "posterity will judge [George W. Bush] not so much by whether he told the truth but whether he recognized what the truth actually was."
Things have gotten so bad that hardly anyone can even imagine an honest president. But if we don't expect an honest president, how can we expect to trust government?
LINK
(Wow, seems like are money could go to something better. Kind of big brother as well, tracking what we do through are waste)
Flushing Out a Record of Local Drug Use
Researchers have perfected a method of taking a small sample of incoming sewage at a water treatment plant and extracting the record of local drug use
By David Biello
In the latest attempt to crack down on illegal drug use, scientists say they can determine the extent and pattern of illicit drug use—from marijuana to heroin to cocaine—by sampling sewage and extracting the telltale by-products.
For example, cocaine is snorted, does its brain-altering business and then passes through the liver and the kidneys on its way out of the body. It emerges in urine as benzoylecgonine and, as that urine travels from toilet to treatment plant, it mixes with a host of other by-products of human activity.
Environmental analytical chemist Jennifer Field of Oregon State University and her colleagues, using an automated system they developed, test small samples automatically collected at wastewater treatment plants over a 24-hour period. Solids are centrifuged out and the sewage sample then travels at high pressure through a machine that chemically separates the various compounds of interest chemically, such as benzoylecgonine. By measuring the relative mass of the various residual chemicals, the chemists can then identify what specific drugs have been recently used in that community.
LINK
Flushing Out a Record of Local Drug Use
Researchers have perfected a method of taking a small sample of incoming sewage at a water treatment plant and extracting the record of local drug use
By David Biello
In the latest attempt to crack down on illegal drug use, scientists say they can determine the extent and pattern of illicit drug use—from marijuana to heroin to cocaine—by sampling sewage and extracting the telltale by-products.
For example, cocaine is snorted, does its brain-altering business and then passes through the liver and the kidneys on its way out of the body. It emerges in urine as benzoylecgonine and, as that urine travels from toilet to treatment plant, it mixes with a host of other by-products of human activity.
Environmental analytical chemist Jennifer Field of Oregon State University and her colleagues, using an automated system they developed, test small samples automatically collected at wastewater treatment plants over a 24-hour period. Solids are centrifuged out and the sewage sample then travels at high pressure through a machine that chemically separates the various compounds of interest chemically, such as benzoylecgonine. By measuring the relative mass of the various residual chemicals, the chemists can then identify what specific drugs have been recently used in that community.
LINK
Monday, November 19, 2007
The Weekend Report from the one, the only and perhaps reigning champ....Ty
Well if you are one of the three or four people that actually read by blog and check out my pictures online you might have a general feel for how the weekend went for me. All my pictures are uploaded on http://picasaweb.google.com/tywolosin in case you did not know. This was another great weekend of taking advantage of the higher than normal (for me, not Almeria) temperatures that Almeria is known for. As the northern countries pass into the cold winter, the flocks of RVers appear out of nowhere to claim their parking spot for the winter. They are easy to pick out normally because of the sandals with socks, shorts and abnormally pale skin.
So Saturday was a day of hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Spain. These are the mountains that begin in Granada and stretch to the east into Almeria and South towards El Ejido (another town in Almeria...where the majority of the greenhouses are) and the Mediterranean. It is in these mountains where the majority of the moisture is sucked out of the air to leave Almeria with little moisture. All three of my amigas came along and we met bright in early Saturday morning to catch the bus. Immediately I realized the first fault of the hiking trip, 27 people!!! Way too much for this Soltero. Anyhow I figured I would make the best of getting out of the city and into the mountains....
We were planning on doing a hike on a ridge line but after stopping for about 20 minutes we were told that the hike was a no go. This was due to the danger of Javelin pigs that were spotted in the area. Although I doubt seriously that they would attack a large group I understand that the University and the group have to take precautions. So back into the bus we went and 30 minutes later arrived at are new hiking destination. The hike started out like the kind of hiking I like to do, leg burner straight up the mountain but of course we had to take stops for the group to recover (not the whole group but older people, smokers, etc.). The trail made its way along the side of a mountain following a old Aqueduct that was used to power a small hydroelectric plant. The path/aqueduct passed through a few caves, and around some deep drop offs, finally ending in a beautiful little river and our lunch spot. On the way back we just followed the road....not to exciting but hey it is like the old man says, a loop is always better.
On Sunday I went bouldering with two of my rock climbing friends. We went about an hour away from Almeria in the Parke Natural Cabo de Gata. It was a lot of fun until my hands started to deteriorate into something that resembled a dog toy. I put too much chalk on my hands....which along with volcanic rock worked to rip off a good bit of my skin on the finger tips (dedos). After two hours the other two were not in much better shape so we decided to take off and come better prepared next week (tape for my fingers, food for other friend, and climbing shoes for the third). We went to the nearby pueblo and ate at an excellent Italian restaurant.
Well that is a general rundown of the weekend...
Three interviews planned for this week, so I should have plenty to talk about at the end of the week. Stay Tuned.
PAZ AND AMOR
TY
Well if you are one of the three or four people that actually read by blog and check out my pictures online you might have a general feel for how the weekend went for me. All my pictures are uploaded on http://picasaweb.google.com/tywolosin in case you did not know. This was another great weekend of taking advantage of the higher than normal (for me, not Almeria) temperatures that Almeria is known for. As the northern countries pass into the cold winter, the flocks of RVers appear out of nowhere to claim their parking spot for the winter. They are easy to pick out normally because of the sandals with socks, shorts and abnormally pale skin.
So Saturday was a day of hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Spain. These are the mountains that begin in Granada and stretch to the east into Almeria and South towards El Ejido (another town in Almeria...where the majority of the greenhouses are) and the Mediterranean. It is in these mountains where the majority of the moisture is sucked out of the air to leave Almeria with little moisture. All three of my amigas came along and we met bright in early Saturday morning to catch the bus. Immediately I realized the first fault of the hiking trip, 27 people!!! Way too much for this Soltero. Anyhow I figured I would make the best of getting out of the city and into the mountains....
We were planning on doing a hike on a ridge line but after stopping for about 20 minutes we were told that the hike was a no go. This was due to the danger of Javelin pigs that were spotted in the area. Although I doubt seriously that they would attack a large group I understand that the University and the group have to take precautions. So back into the bus we went and 30 minutes later arrived at are new hiking destination. The hike started out like the kind of hiking I like to do, leg burner straight up the mountain but of course we had to take stops for the group to recover (not the whole group but older people, smokers, etc.). The trail made its way along the side of a mountain following a old Aqueduct that was used to power a small hydroelectric plant. The path/aqueduct passed through a few caves, and around some deep drop offs, finally ending in a beautiful little river and our lunch spot. On the way back we just followed the road....not to exciting but hey it is like the old man says, a loop is always better.
On Sunday I went bouldering with two of my rock climbing friends. We went about an hour away from Almeria in the Parke Natural Cabo de Gata. It was a lot of fun until my hands started to deteriorate into something that resembled a dog toy. I put too much chalk on my hands....which along with volcanic rock worked to rip off a good bit of my skin on the finger tips (dedos). After two hours the other two were not in much better shape so we decided to take off and come better prepared next week (tape for my fingers, food for other friend, and climbing shoes for the third). We went to the nearby pueblo and ate at an excellent Italian restaurant.
Well that is a general rundown of the weekend...
Three interviews planned for this week, so I should have plenty to talk about at the end of the week. Stay Tuned.
PAZ AND AMOR
TY
Friday, November 16, 2007
The Pharmaceutical Industry: Creating Mental Illness for Profit
by max blunt
....On September 4, 2007, the New York Times reported, "The number of American children and adolescents treated for bipolar disorder increased 40-fold from 1994 to 2003 ... Drug makers and company-sponsored psychiatrists have been encouraging doctors to look for the disorder."
Not too long ago, a child who was irritable, moody, and distractible and who at times sounded grandiose or acted without regard for consequences was considered a "handful."
In the U.S. by the 1980s, that child was labeled with a "behavioral disorder" and today that child is being diagnosed as "bipolar" and "psychotic" -- and prescribed expensive antipsychotic drugs.
Bloomberg News, also on September 4, 2007, reported, "The expanded use of bipolar as a pediatric diagnosis has made children the fastest-growing part of the $11.5 billion U.S. market for anti-psychotic drugs." ..... LINK
by max blunt
....On September 4, 2007, the New York Times reported, "The number of American children and adolescents treated for bipolar disorder increased 40-fold from 1994 to 2003 ... Drug makers and company-sponsored psychiatrists have been encouraging doctors to look for the disorder."
Not too long ago, a child who was irritable, moody, and distractible and who at times sounded grandiose or acted without regard for consequences was considered a "handful."
In the U.S. by the 1980s, that child was labeled with a "behavioral disorder" and today that child is being diagnosed as "bipolar" and "psychotic" -- and prescribed expensive antipsychotic drugs.
Bloomberg News, also on September 4, 2007, reported, "The expanded use of bipolar as a pediatric diagnosis has made children the fastest-growing part of the $11.5 billion U.S. market for anti-psychotic drugs." ..... LINK
It’s Treason: Dems Stay Silent on Bush White House Crimes
By Richard W. Behan, AlterNet.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
--Article III, Section 3, United States Constitution (emphasis added)
The mainstream Democrats -- represented, say, by Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Joe Biden, and Christopher Dodd -- have not levied war against the United States. Their treason lies instead in committing the second offense: They adhere to enemies of the country, giving them aid and comfort.
The enemies are President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney. Like no other president and vice president in history, these men attacked their country.
It was not our geography George Bush and Richard Cheney invaded. Instead they abandoned and subverted the bedrock institution of our constitutional democracy: the rule of law. By word and deed, Mr. Bush repeatedly and arrogantly sets himself above the law, claiming obedience to be a matter of presidential choice. Mr. Cheney orchestrates, coaches, applauds and iterates....... LINK
By Richard W. Behan, AlterNet.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
--Article III, Section 3, United States Constitution (emphasis added)
The mainstream Democrats -- represented, say, by Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Joe Biden, and Christopher Dodd -- have not levied war against the United States. Their treason lies instead in committing the second offense: They adhere to enemies of the country, giving them aid and comfort.
The enemies are President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney. Like no other president and vice president in history, these men attacked their country.
It was not our geography George Bush and Richard Cheney invaded. Instead they abandoned and subverted the bedrock institution of our constitutional democracy: the rule of law. By word and deed, Mr. Bush repeatedly and arrogantly sets himself above the law, claiming obedience to be a matter of presidential choice. Mr. Cheney orchestrates, coaches, applauds and iterates....... LINK
Week report from the confused soltero
This week of school brought me back to the usual frustrated confused state of being with the introduction of the indirect verb usage. Not only is this a torture to learn in Spanish but as well in English. The problem arises in the fact that to tell someone what was said by someone else, normally we shorten it because we do not remember all of what was said. This normally gets the point across and the person can hopefully use some of their brain to put together the rest. However in class we have to repeat word for word what the person said and change the verb tense to what best suits the sentence. Really I am confused just writing about it....needless to say this week was like being shot in the stomach, rolling in pain for about two hours, then fixed up, and finally shot again the next day to endure the same process again.
On a somewhat lighter note I did get to play soccer on Monday night. Being that Almeria is a desert, the only grass fields are for the professional teams and instead the people play on clay courts. Basically it’s playing indoor soccer, outside....a bit of an oxymoron but you get the point. If rock-climbing had not already completely liquefied my muscles, indoor soccer put on the final touch....putting me in a hobbled state for the next couple of days. In addition, I took a direct shot to the shin with the soccer ball which I think might have realigned my entire face...not really but that is how I felt. No hard food for 12hours but now its fine!!! I guess I am bitching a lot but that kind of how the week went.
After this week with not interviews......Next week I have two interviews planned and possibly a third.
This weekend I am going hiking on Saturday and Bouldering on Sunday. I am looking forward to both although for hiking, a 8am start will come early but I guess it is a good reason not to go out drinking. I should have pictures and stories by Sunday afternoon....so stay tuned. Well that is all for now
.......
Peace and Love
Ty
This week of school brought me back to the usual frustrated confused state of being with the introduction of the indirect verb usage. Not only is this a torture to learn in Spanish but as well in English. The problem arises in the fact that to tell someone what was said by someone else, normally we shorten it because we do not remember all of what was said. This normally gets the point across and the person can hopefully use some of their brain to put together the rest. However in class we have to repeat word for word what the person said and change the verb tense to what best suits the sentence. Really I am confused just writing about it....needless to say this week was like being shot in the stomach, rolling in pain for about two hours, then fixed up, and finally shot again the next day to endure the same process again.
On a somewhat lighter note I did get to play soccer on Monday night. Being that Almeria is a desert, the only grass fields are for the professional teams and instead the people play on clay courts. Basically it’s playing indoor soccer, outside....a bit of an oxymoron but you get the point. If rock-climbing had not already completely liquefied my muscles, indoor soccer put on the final touch....putting me in a hobbled state for the next couple of days. In addition, I took a direct shot to the shin with the soccer ball which I think might have realigned my entire face...not really but that is how I felt. No hard food for 12hours but now its fine!!! I guess I am bitching a lot but that kind of how the week went.
After this week with not interviews......Next week I have two interviews planned and possibly a third.
This weekend I am going hiking on Saturday and Bouldering on Sunday. I am looking forward to both although for hiking, a 8am start will come early but I guess it is a good reason not to go out drinking. I should have pictures and stories by Sunday afternoon....so stay tuned. Well that is all for now
.......
Peace and Love
Ty
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Sane Bush Hatred
by Joel S. Hirschhorn
The Wall Street Journal gave the top half of its opinion page yesterday to a long essay by Peter Berkowitz titled “The Insanity of Bush Hatred.” If anything, it deserves a gold medal for political propaganda – make that political lies. What caught my attention immediately was the frequent use of the word “progressive” to describe the people Berkowitz was attacking. It was used ten times. In other words, progressives were attacked for hating Bush.
There is a major lie of omission. No mention was made of the vast number of Americans that certainly do not call themselves progressives that hate Bush. Surely there are many millions of sane independents, moderates, libertarians, conservatives and liberals that rightfully hate Bush. To ignore all these Americans betrays the intellectual legitimacy of the article and its arguments.......
There is some truth to the opening statement: Hating the president is almost as old as the republic itself. But the growing consensus that George W. Bush will go down in history as the nation’s worst president is a much larger truth. It is perfectly reasonable for ALL Americans to hate Bush for squandering the lives of the many people in our armed forces, for squandering the nation’s wealth, and for squandering our nation’s good name and reputation. Bush is a national embarrassment and disgrace, and for that he deserves to be hated..... LINK
by Joel S. Hirschhorn
The Wall Street Journal gave the top half of its opinion page yesterday to a long essay by Peter Berkowitz titled “The Insanity of Bush Hatred.” If anything, it deserves a gold medal for political propaganda – make that political lies. What caught my attention immediately was the frequent use of the word “progressive” to describe the people Berkowitz was attacking. It was used ten times. In other words, progressives were attacked for hating Bush.
There is a major lie of omission. No mention was made of the vast number of Americans that certainly do not call themselves progressives that hate Bush. Surely there are many millions of sane independents, moderates, libertarians, conservatives and liberals that rightfully hate Bush. To ignore all these Americans betrays the intellectual legitimacy of the article and its arguments.......
There is some truth to the opening statement: Hating the president is almost as old as the republic itself. But the growing consensus that George W. Bush will go down in history as the nation’s worst president is a much larger truth. It is perfectly reasonable for ALL Americans to hate Bush for squandering the lives of the many people in our armed forces, for squandering the nation’s wealth, and for squandering our nation’s good name and reputation. Bush is a national embarrassment and disgrace, and for that he deserves to be hated..... LINK
Monday, November 12, 2007
Weekend update from the mysterious soltero
Well what a weekend, perhaps the best yet, not in the productive sense thesis wise but in pure enjoyment definitely. Friday I woke up in anticipation for my normal Friday filled with being pumped full of new Spanish verb tenses that seem to have no end. About twenty minutes before departure on my lovely bike ride to campus I received a SMS (text message) from the professora saying that she was not going to be in class and asked that I pass the message along to my roommates. So usually a person would be ecstatic of such news but with a double espresso in the blood stream going back to sleep seemed as likely as walking on water. So instead I met up with two of my classmates and one of their friends who had just arrived that morning. He (the friend) has been traveling Europe (and next Central America) after losing his job and receiving a nice severance pay.
We had the plan to show him a few of the sights around town but the first few were closed because it was too early and the third one we had to leave early because the girls needed to go. Needless to say it was a nice walk but not to productive. In the afternoon I agreed to go with one my friends to the beach to exercise. The plan was that she would ride my bike while I ran because she has some serious shin splint problems. All was well until on the way back the cassette on the back wheel broke. So this means that the bike is unrideable, so we walked back to her house because it was the closest of the two and parked it in the garage. To finish up this story I will summarize what has happened this weekend. A friend knows the owner of the store I bought the bike at so he took my bike to the store....now there are two possibilities: 1) they fix it for free because it has only been a month since I bought it or 2) me and the girl split the cost of the repairs if it is a reasonable price. So this weekend I felt a little lost without my bike but my roommates broken old bike at least gave me a little faster way then walking to get around.
Friday night I made my way to campus for my rock-climbing class. The first class was pretty intimidating and reminded me of the first day of high school. Such anticipation and the knowledge of not being able to speak the language makes you question what the hell you are doing walking into the unknown. Somehow I was put in the "professional" group which made me even more nervous since it was only me and two other people. But it turned out it was great because the other two were extranjeros (foreigners) as well...France and Germany. Class was pretty cool and I got a course on the basic equipment to climbing as well as the double eight knot.
Saturday and Sunday were the climbing days. We were about 15 minutes outside Almeria and a dry canyon with plenty of rock to be climbed. In total I did eight climbs, seven different and one repeal. It was a great time and I think I have found a new sport to practice at least occasionally. I really liked the rush of being on the side of a rock face and the feeling you get when you make it to the top. Plus the other people in the class all (pretty much) seemed pretty cool and most the people I know in Missoula do at least a little bit of climbing. Today I am pretty sore but not too bad. Next Sunday I am going with three of the climbers to boulder (a type of climbing without a rope....but not high or dangerous) on the beach about 40 minutes from Almeria. It should be a good time and I look forward to it. On this Thursday night I am meeting up with some of the group to go for tapas and beer or at least I think that is why we are meeting.
No partying but I did cook for friends on Saturday night.
Well that is a general rundown of the weekend. This week I am hoping to get one to two interviews...we shall see. O and tonight I am playing indoor soccer so that should be interesting.
The days seem to be getting shorter and shorter and I can feel my time line here be squeezed. Only a month and I will be gone!!! Wow I would love to stay here longer but I really want to finish my thesis and just be done with school!!
Paz and AMor
Ty
Well what a weekend, perhaps the best yet, not in the productive sense thesis wise but in pure enjoyment definitely. Friday I woke up in anticipation for my normal Friday filled with being pumped full of new Spanish verb tenses that seem to have no end. About twenty minutes before departure on my lovely bike ride to campus I received a SMS (text message) from the professora saying that she was not going to be in class and asked that I pass the message along to my roommates. So usually a person would be ecstatic of such news but with a double espresso in the blood stream going back to sleep seemed as likely as walking on water. So instead I met up with two of my classmates and one of their friends who had just arrived that morning. He (the friend) has been traveling Europe (and next Central America) after losing his job and receiving a nice severance pay.
We had the plan to show him a few of the sights around town but the first few were closed because it was too early and the third one we had to leave early because the girls needed to go. Needless to say it was a nice walk but not to productive. In the afternoon I agreed to go with one my friends to the beach to exercise. The plan was that she would ride my bike while I ran because she has some serious shin splint problems. All was well until on the way back the cassette on the back wheel broke. So this means that the bike is unrideable, so we walked back to her house because it was the closest of the two and parked it in the garage. To finish up this story I will summarize what has happened this weekend. A friend knows the owner of the store I bought the bike at so he took my bike to the store....now there are two possibilities: 1) they fix it for free because it has only been a month since I bought it or 2) me and the girl split the cost of the repairs if it is a reasonable price. So this weekend I felt a little lost without my bike but my roommates broken old bike at least gave me a little faster way then walking to get around.
Friday night I made my way to campus for my rock-climbing class. The first class was pretty intimidating and reminded me of the first day of high school. Such anticipation and the knowledge of not being able to speak the language makes you question what the hell you are doing walking into the unknown. Somehow I was put in the "professional" group which made me even more nervous since it was only me and two other people. But it turned out it was great because the other two were extranjeros (foreigners) as well...France and Germany. Class was pretty cool and I got a course on the basic equipment to climbing as well as the double eight knot.
Saturday and Sunday were the climbing days. We were about 15 minutes outside Almeria and a dry canyon with plenty of rock to be climbed. In total I did eight climbs, seven different and one repeal. It was a great time and I think I have found a new sport to practice at least occasionally. I really liked the rush of being on the side of a rock face and the feeling you get when you make it to the top. Plus the other people in the class all (pretty much) seemed pretty cool and most the people I know in Missoula do at least a little bit of climbing. Today I am pretty sore but not too bad. Next Sunday I am going with three of the climbers to boulder (a type of climbing without a rope....but not high or dangerous) on the beach about 40 minutes from Almeria. It should be a good time and I look forward to it. On this Thursday night I am meeting up with some of the group to go for tapas and beer or at least I think that is why we are meeting.
No partying but I did cook for friends on Saturday night.
Well that is a general rundown of the weekend. This week I am hoping to get one to two interviews...we shall see. O and tonight I am playing indoor soccer so that should be interesting.
The days seem to be getting shorter and shorter and I can feel my time line here be squeezed. Only a month and I will be gone!!! Wow I would love to stay here longer but I really want to finish my thesis and just be done with school!!
Paz and AMor
Ty
A Conspiracy of Two Parties
The Grand Delusion
By JOEL S. HIRSCHHORN
With an endless, futile and costly Iraq war, a stinking economy and most Americans seeing the country on the wrong track, the greatest national group delusion is that electing Democrats in 2008 is what the country needs.
Keith Olbermann was praised when he called the Bush presidency a criminal conspiracy. That missed the larger truth. The whole two-party political system is a criminal conspiracy hiding behind illusion induced delusion.
Virtually everything that Bush correctly gets condemnation for could have been prevented or negated by Democrats, if they had had courage, conviction and commitment to maintaining the rule of law and obedience to the Constitution. Bush grabbed power from the feeble and corrupt hands of Democrats. Democrats have failed the vast majority of Americans. So why would sensible people think that giving Democrats more power is a good idea? They certainly have done little to merit respect for their recent congressional actions, or inaction when it comes to impeachment of Bush and Cheney.
One of the core reasons the two-party stranglehold on our political system persists is that whenever one party uses its power to an extreme degree it sets the conditions for the other party--its partner in the conspiracy--to take over. Then the other takes its turn in wielding excessive power. Most Americans--at least those that vote--seem incapable of understanding that the Democrats and Republicans are two teams in the same league, serving the same cabal running the corporatist plutocracy. By keeping people focused on rooting for one team or the other, the behind-the-scenes rulers ensure their invisibility and power...... LINK
The Grand Delusion
By JOEL S. HIRSCHHORN
With an endless, futile and costly Iraq war, a stinking economy and most Americans seeing the country on the wrong track, the greatest national group delusion is that electing Democrats in 2008 is what the country needs.
Keith Olbermann was praised when he called the Bush presidency a criminal conspiracy. That missed the larger truth. The whole two-party political system is a criminal conspiracy hiding behind illusion induced delusion.
Virtually everything that Bush correctly gets condemnation for could have been prevented or negated by Democrats, if they had had courage, conviction and commitment to maintaining the rule of law and obedience to the Constitution. Bush grabbed power from the feeble and corrupt hands of Democrats. Democrats have failed the vast majority of Americans. So why would sensible people think that giving Democrats more power is a good idea? They certainly have done little to merit respect for their recent congressional actions, or inaction when it comes to impeachment of Bush and Cheney.
One of the core reasons the two-party stranglehold on our political system persists is that whenever one party uses its power to an extreme degree it sets the conditions for the other party--its partner in the conspiracy--to take over. Then the other takes its turn in wielding excessive power. Most Americans--at least those that vote--seem incapable of understanding that the Democrats and Republicans are two teams in the same league, serving the same cabal running the corporatist plutocracy. By keeping people focused on rooting for one team or the other, the behind-the-scenes rulers ensure their invisibility and power...... LINK
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Dollar's Fall Collapses the American Empire; Bring Those 737 Overseas Military Bases Home!
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
The US dollar is still officially the world's reserve currency, but it cannot purchase the services of Brazilian super model Gisele Bundchen. Gisele required the $30 million she earned during the first half of this year to be paid in euros.
Gisele is not alone in her forecast of the dollar's fate. The First Post (UK) reports that Jim Rogers, a former partner of billionaire George Soros, is selling his home and all possessions in order to convert all his wealth into Chinese yuan.
Meanwhile, American economists continue to preach that offshoring is good for the US economy and that Bush's war spending is keeping the economy going. The practitioners of supply and demand have yet to figure out that the dollar's supply is sinking the dollar's price and along with it American power.
The macho super patriots who support the Bush regime still haven't caught on that US superpower status rests on the dollar being the reserve currency, not on a military unable to occupy Baghdad. If the dollar were not the world currency, the US would have to earn enough foreign currencies to pay for its 737 oversees bases, an impossibility considering America's $800 billion trade deficit.... LINK
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
The US dollar is still officially the world's reserve currency, but it cannot purchase the services of Brazilian super model Gisele Bundchen. Gisele required the $30 million she earned during the first half of this year to be paid in euros.
Gisele is not alone in her forecast of the dollar's fate. The First Post (UK) reports that Jim Rogers, a former partner of billionaire George Soros, is selling his home and all possessions in order to convert all his wealth into Chinese yuan.
Meanwhile, American economists continue to preach that offshoring is good for the US economy and that Bush's war spending is keeping the economy going. The practitioners of supply and demand have yet to figure out that the dollar's supply is sinking the dollar's price and along with it American power.
The macho super patriots who support the Bush regime still haven't caught on that US superpower status rests on the dollar being the reserve currency, not on a military unable to occupy Baghdad. If the dollar were not the world currency, the US would have to earn enough foreign currencies to pay for its 737 oversees bases, an impossibility considering America's $800 billion trade deficit.... LINK
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Well another midweek report from the lone American researcher lost in his Spanish plastic world.
Well this week has been pretty relaxed for the most part. Class is its normal mix of everlasting torture of new words and rules that ridicule my mind....and other times I surprise myself with a bit of new knowledge.
I have made the decision to not drink during the week anymore because I was starting to feel like it was taking its toll on both my mind and body. Though it has only been a few days I already feel better mentally and physically. During the past three (maybe four) I have spent at my classmates’ house. Now all three of the fellow ISA students live in the same house so I find myself hanging out there. In addition, I like one of them and we have...not been dating but teetering with the idea, although we talked the other day and agreed it was better not to really date because I am leaving in basically a month.
Hanging out at this other house for the past few nights has given me a new appreciation for my current house life. It is much chiller here and the food is much healthier. I do not think I could handle deep fried food for both lunch and dinner every day. It is in Olive Oil but the amount I have seen used in the food surpasses any amount that could be healthy. Plus they eat two big meals a day, where as I have been eating one.
Yesterday afternoon I conducted the best interview yet. It was with my friend I made this summer that owns greenhouses that are open for tours. Unlike the other interviews, this one lasted an hour that passes quickly and only now I am I understanding how much information I have. In addition, although only three interviews, I am beginning to see/hear similarities between interviews. I would still like to have ten interviews but feel that I am beginning to better understand both the past and the possible future of this region.
Shitty sleep the past three nights has dampened my mood a bit but I continue to keep my health up for the Mt Kilimanjaro climb and good health in general. The weather here makes it easy to ride a bike and run....temperatures range from 68-73 during the day and about 57-60 at night. I do miss the winter but know that there is always plenty of cold weather if you want it.
I keep up with the politics of are horrible corrupt government and only wish that The People would wake up and make a change. But alas I know that things remain the same and we go along worrying about I and not the big picture. I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do after Grad School and more and more the idea of sitting in front of a computer playing with GIS seems unlikely. Maybe there is a way to integrate what I know in a positive way somewhere in the world but I do not think so. I think the best thing to do might just be to go help people that we (western governments) have made into dire states.
Paz and Amor
Ty
Well this week has been pretty relaxed for the most part. Class is its normal mix of everlasting torture of new words and rules that ridicule my mind....and other times I surprise myself with a bit of new knowledge.
I have made the decision to not drink during the week anymore because I was starting to feel like it was taking its toll on both my mind and body. Though it has only been a few days I already feel better mentally and physically. During the past three (maybe four) I have spent at my classmates’ house. Now all three of the fellow ISA students live in the same house so I find myself hanging out there. In addition, I like one of them and we have...not been dating but teetering with the idea, although we talked the other day and agreed it was better not to really date because I am leaving in basically a month.
Hanging out at this other house for the past few nights has given me a new appreciation for my current house life. It is much chiller here and the food is much healthier. I do not think I could handle deep fried food for both lunch and dinner every day. It is in Olive Oil but the amount I have seen used in the food surpasses any amount that could be healthy. Plus they eat two big meals a day, where as I have been eating one.
Yesterday afternoon I conducted the best interview yet. It was with my friend I made this summer that owns greenhouses that are open for tours. Unlike the other interviews, this one lasted an hour that passes quickly and only now I am I understanding how much information I have. In addition, although only three interviews, I am beginning to see/hear similarities between interviews. I would still like to have ten interviews but feel that I am beginning to better understand both the past and the possible future of this region.
Shitty sleep the past three nights has dampened my mood a bit but I continue to keep my health up for the Mt Kilimanjaro climb and good health in general. The weather here makes it easy to ride a bike and run....temperatures range from 68-73 during the day and about 57-60 at night. I do miss the winter but know that there is always plenty of cold weather if you want it.
I keep up with the politics of are horrible corrupt government and only wish that The People would wake up and make a change. But alas I know that things remain the same and we go along worrying about I and not the big picture. I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do after Grad School and more and more the idea of sitting in front of a computer playing with GIS seems unlikely. Maybe there is a way to integrate what I know in a positive way somewhere in the world but I do not think so. I think the best thing to do might just be to go help people that we (western governments) have made into dire states.
Paz and Amor
Ty
Amazing Grace
By Charles Sullivan
It seems inexplicable that so many of the American people can be so dazed and confused, while moral degenerates ransack our nation, piss and defecate upon the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and brazenly loot the public domain, making a mockery of the rule of law and societal norms; whatever they may be.
Incredible lies are routinely passed as truth and the world as we know it is unraveling, as we prepare to invade and occupy yet another country, perhaps igniting World War Three. We go on with the insipid routine of our dull lives: we go shopping, and bombard our senses with mind numbing entertainment, telling ourselves that it—fascism—can’t happen here, even as its poisoned blossoms unfold before our astonished eyes and fill our lungs with their noxious fumes.
We refuse to believe what we are seeing and we dismiss it as too preposterous to be real. We no longer wholly trust our own senses or follow our most innate instincts, failing to recognize that they are all that is true; all that allow us to survive the wretched madness that pursues us like rabid dogs, and relentlessly nips at our fleeing heels.
Increasing numbers of us move through this world with a sense of impending doom but we do not fully comprehend its origins or the breadth of the disaster it portends. We sense not only that something is wrong—something is terribly, irreconcilably, sickeningly, wrong. We do our utmost to repress those feelings, telling ourselves that our worst fears, our darkest nightmares, are irrational, unfounded phantoms of the imagination; so many ghosts lurking under our beds. LINK
By Charles Sullivan
It seems inexplicable that so many of the American people can be so dazed and confused, while moral degenerates ransack our nation, piss and defecate upon the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and brazenly loot the public domain, making a mockery of the rule of law and societal norms; whatever they may be.
Incredible lies are routinely passed as truth and the world as we know it is unraveling, as we prepare to invade and occupy yet another country, perhaps igniting World War Three. We go on with the insipid routine of our dull lives: we go shopping, and bombard our senses with mind numbing entertainment, telling ourselves that it—fascism—can’t happen here, even as its poisoned blossoms unfold before our astonished eyes and fill our lungs with their noxious fumes.
We refuse to believe what we are seeing and we dismiss it as too preposterous to be real. We no longer wholly trust our own senses or follow our most innate instincts, failing to recognize that they are all that is true; all that allow us to survive the wretched madness that pursues us like rabid dogs, and relentlessly nips at our fleeing heels.
Increasing numbers of us move through this world with a sense of impending doom but we do not fully comprehend its origins or the breadth of the disaster it portends. We sense not only that something is wrong—something is terribly, irreconcilably, sickeningly, wrong. We do our utmost to repress those feelings, telling ourselves that our worst fears, our darkest nightmares, are irrational, unfounded phantoms of the imagination; so many ghosts lurking under our beds. LINK
Monday, November 05, 2007
Weekend Update.
Well this weekend was again probably a little too much. It’s one of those that leave you feeling like you have dropped such an amount of brain cells that your brain capacity and intelligence is growing towards hamster status. It really is the Spanish way, particularly for people my age but I really cannot do it anymore. The fun you have at night does not equalize to the day light that is lost and the lost feeling that comes with the following day.
Friday night was the best of the weekend with a great reggae concert at La Cueva. Well I guess it was more of a DJ Reggae show then an actual show but still it was good stuff. They played mostly stuff I did not know and wish I did know. I would have been perfectly content with going home after that but alas I did not.
Saturday night was fun as well with beer, wine, and drinking games at a friend’s house. Soon enough however it was 5 in the morning with the sunlight quickly marching towards the horizon and my mind slowly deteriating into a glob of nothingness.
Sunday during the day I hung out at the beach, read, and tried to relax.
One of the most frustrating things about not being able to speak a language is an inability to have your word in a political discussion. There are so many times when I want to explain some of views that I know friends would find interesting but alas with a Spanish vocabulary of an elementary student this seems impossible. It pisses me off so much though and adds to the frustration.
Interesting side notes. It turns out that my roommates are ripping me off for rent; at least in comparison to every other friend I have in Almeria. Still it is cheaper than the US but that does not change the felling of disappointment that I feel. In addition, the relationship between all of seems to have changed. Living with a woman couple has and will continue to be an interesting experience. Actually it is my first time to live with a couple....so maybe a guy/girl couple is similar.
A thing that disappoints me about Spain (I think) is that my roommates tend to only hang out with other homosexuals. I guess this means that Spanish people segregate them into that or they have chosen that. I think that the first is true but perhaps I am wrong.
My general knowledge of basic Spanish is pretty good....basically the essentials to travelling in a Spanish speaking country...but I am far from being the conversational I claim on my resume. One more month to go!!!
I have an interview tomorrow afternoon and I am working on another one for the week as well. Stay tuned for updates.
Paz and Amor
Ty
Well this weekend was again probably a little too much. It’s one of those that leave you feeling like you have dropped such an amount of brain cells that your brain capacity and intelligence is growing towards hamster status. It really is the Spanish way, particularly for people my age but I really cannot do it anymore. The fun you have at night does not equalize to the day light that is lost and the lost feeling that comes with the following day.
Friday night was the best of the weekend with a great reggae concert at La Cueva. Well I guess it was more of a DJ Reggae show then an actual show but still it was good stuff. They played mostly stuff I did not know and wish I did know. I would have been perfectly content with going home after that but alas I did not.
Saturday night was fun as well with beer, wine, and drinking games at a friend’s house. Soon enough however it was 5 in the morning with the sunlight quickly marching towards the horizon and my mind slowly deteriating into a glob of nothingness.
Sunday during the day I hung out at the beach, read, and tried to relax.
One of the most frustrating things about not being able to speak a language is an inability to have your word in a political discussion. There are so many times when I want to explain some of views that I know friends would find interesting but alas with a Spanish vocabulary of an elementary student this seems impossible. It pisses me off so much though and adds to the frustration.
Interesting side notes. It turns out that my roommates are ripping me off for rent; at least in comparison to every other friend I have in Almeria. Still it is cheaper than the US but that does not change the felling of disappointment that I feel. In addition, the relationship between all of seems to have changed. Living with a woman couple has and will continue to be an interesting experience. Actually it is my first time to live with a couple....so maybe a guy/girl couple is similar.
A thing that disappoints me about Spain (I think) is that my roommates tend to only hang out with other homosexuals. I guess this means that Spanish people segregate them into that or they have chosen that. I think that the first is true but perhaps I am wrong.
My general knowledge of basic Spanish is pretty good....basically the essentials to travelling in a Spanish speaking country...but I am far from being the conversational I claim on my resume. One more month to go!!!
I have an interview tomorrow afternoon and I am working on another one for the week as well. Stay tuned for updates.
Paz and Amor
Ty
Sunday, November 04, 2007
(Scary stuff here....worth the 10 minute read)
A “Presidential Coup,” The Continuity Of Government, And Blackwater Watching Midtown Manhattan
By: Naomi Wolf
I have argued that in the closing stages of a `fascist shift’, events cascade. I am hearing about them, even across the globe. Here in Australia I hear from the nation’s best-know feminist activist, and former adviser to Paul Keating, Anne Summers, who was also at the time this took place Chair of the Board of Greenpeace International. Summers was detained by armed agents for FIVE HOURS each way in LAX on her way to and from the annual meeting of the board of Greenpeace International in Mexico, and her green card was taken away from her. `I want to call a lawyer’, she told TSA agents. `Ma’am, you do not have a right to call an attorney,’ they replied. `You have not entered the United States.’
Apparently a section of LAX just beyond the security line is asserted to be `not in the United States’ — though it is squarely inside the airport — so the laws of the US do not apply. (This assertion, by the way, should alarm any US citizen who is aware of how the White House argued that Guantanamo is not `in the United States’ - is a legal no-man’s land — so the laws of the US do not apply.) Toward the end of her second five-hour detention she asked, `Why am I being detained?’ `Lady, this is not detention,’ the TSA agent told her. `Detention is when I take you to the cells out back and lock you up.’
LINK
A “Presidential Coup,” The Continuity Of Government, And Blackwater Watching Midtown Manhattan
By: Naomi Wolf
I have argued that in the closing stages of a `fascist shift’, events cascade. I am hearing about them, even across the globe. Here in Australia I hear from the nation’s best-know feminist activist, and former adviser to Paul Keating, Anne Summers, who was also at the time this took place Chair of the Board of Greenpeace International. Summers was detained by armed agents for FIVE HOURS each way in LAX on her way to and from the annual meeting of the board of Greenpeace International in Mexico, and her green card was taken away from her. `I want to call a lawyer’, she told TSA agents. `Ma’am, you do not have a right to call an attorney,’ they replied. `You have not entered the United States.’
Apparently a section of LAX just beyond the security line is asserted to be `not in the United States’ — though it is squarely inside the airport — so the laws of the US do not apply. (This assertion, by the way, should alarm any US citizen who is aware of how the White House argued that Guantanamo is not `in the United States’ - is a legal no-man’s land — so the laws of the US do not apply.) Toward the end of her second five-hour detention she asked, `Why am I being detained?’ `Lady, this is not detention,’ the TSA agent told her. `Detention is when I take you to the cells out back and lock you up.’
LINK
(Good article from the OP Ed of NY Times. Use the link to read the whole article, it is worth it)
Noun + Verb + 9/11 + Iran = Democrats’ Defeat?
By FRANK RICH
WHEN President Bush started making noises about World War III, he only confirmed what has been a Democratic article of faith all year: Between now and Election Day he and Dick Cheney, cheered on by the mob of neocon dead-enders, are going to bomb Iran.
But what happens if President Bush does not bomb Iran? That is good news for the world, but potentially terrible news for the Democrats. If we do go to war in Iran, the election will indeed be a referendum on the results, which the Republican Party will own no matter whom it nominates for president. But if we don’t, the Democratic standard-bearer will have to take a clear stand on the defining issue of the race. As we saw once again at Tuesday night’s debate, the front-runner, Hillary Clinton, does not have one.
The reason so many Democrats believe war with Iran is inevitable, of course, is that the administration is so flagrantly rerunning the sales campaign that gave us Iraq. The same old scare tactic — a Middle East Hitler plotting a nuclear holocaust — has been recycled with a fresh arsenal of hyped, loosey-goosey intelligence and outright falsehoods that are sometimes regurgitated without corroboration by the press.
LINK
Noun + Verb + 9/11 + Iran = Democrats’ Defeat?
By FRANK RICH
WHEN President Bush started making noises about World War III, he only confirmed what has been a Democratic article of faith all year: Between now and Election Day he and Dick Cheney, cheered on by the mob of neocon dead-enders, are going to bomb Iran.
But what happens if President Bush does not bomb Iran? That is good news for the world, but potentially terrible news for the Democrats. If we do go to war in Iran, the election will indeed be a referendum on the results, which the Republican Party will own no matter whom it nominates for president. But if we don’t, the Democratic standard-bearer will have to take a clear stand on the defining issue of the race. As we saw once again at Tuesday night’s debate, the front-runner, Hillary Clinton, does not have one.
The reason so many Democrats believe war with Iran is inevitable, of course, is that the administration is so flagrantly rerunning the sales campaign that gave us Iraq. The same old scare tactic — a Middle East Hitler plotting a nuclear holocaust — has been recycled with a fresh arsenal of hyped, loosey-goosey intelligence and outright falsehoods that are sometimes regurgitated without corroboration by the press.
LINK
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Interview Two as promissed:
The typical crops grown here in Almeria include the following: Tomato, sweet pepper, cucumber, watermelon, melon, green bean, and eggplant. In addition, there are various other veggies (zucchini) and fruits (apples, oranges) grown but typically this is what you are going to find in a greenhouse. Most of these products are sold within the European Union and particularly to the ricer Northern European countries like Germany, Holland, England, etc. The majorities of the products are not organic and are grown with lots of pesticides. However, in the last year the number of products grown biologically has grown considerably. Biological means that instead of using pesticides, the greenhouse uses, for example spiders to eat the white fly or some other kind of carnivore bug that feeds on any bug that eats the products. Here they call this integrated agriculture because it is not organic and not normal but in-between.
In the last twenty years the greenhouses has changed a lot. This is because the agriculture business here is very competitive and a farmer must change with the times. This Means that when a more productive form of a greenhouse is discovered it is in the farmer’s best interest to change as well. Some of these changes include a more integrated ventilation system that allows for better and faster climate control; the structures are now higher than before (off the ground), and learning ways to control the microclimate in an inexpensive matter. Increasing the amount of windows to allow for better ventilation and sunlight is an example of an inexpensive change. The changes have not been huge ones but have been constant in the long term to make a big change.
There has been a problem with water shortages in the past but the building of three desalination plants (one more in the process of being completed) have solved the problem of water shortages for the most part. The interviewee said that the majority of the water from these plants was for agricultural purposes. In the last ten years the competition between tourism development and agriculture has begun to increase. So in the area of the Campo de Dalias, greenhouse production has actually decreased some from the growth in tourism. But a new area of greenhouse production is growing to the east of Almeria to make up for the decrease in the Dalias.
One of the bigger problems for the area is competition from other countries that are beginning to develop their greenhouse agriculture. Morocco is now the largest producer of green beans for the European Union, where before it was Almeria. Because of this, the farmer must change to a different product because he is unable to sell the green beans for a competitive enough price.
For now the majority of the greenhouses in Almeria are owned by small scale local families that pass the job from generation to generation but small enterprises are emerging as stiff competition for these families. For the interviewee he believes that the greenhouses will slowly be taken over by the enterprises and that already this is happening in a small scale. Most of the vegetables are sold to a cooperative that then sells them to the grocery store or the product is taken to an auction. At the auction, the various products are betted on by some form of buyer who then would sell them to the grocery store. This auction is much simpler than and not as hectic as a normal auction.
Well this was probably pretty boring for the majority of you but hope you liked it. There is a bit more on water policies that left out.
The typical crops grown here in Almeria include the following: Tomato, sweet pepper, cucumber, watermelon, melon, green bean, and eggplant. In addition, there are various other veggies (zucchini) and fruits (apples, oranges) grown but typically this is what you are going to find in a greenhouse. Most of these products are sold within the European Union and particularly to the ricer Northern European countries like Germany, Holland, England, etc. The majorities of the products are not organic and are grown with lots of pesticides. However, in the last year the number of products grown biologically has grown considerably. Biological means that instead of using pesticides, the greenhouse uses, for example spiders to eat the white fly or some other kind of carnivore bug that feeds on any bug that eats the products. Here they call this integrated agriculture because it is not organic and not normal but in-between.
In the last twenty years the greenhouses has changed a lot. This is because the agriculture business here is very competitive and a farmer must change with the times. This Means that when a more productive form of a greenhouse is discovered it is in the farmer’s best interest to change as well. Some of these changes include a more integrated ventilation system that allows for better and faster climate control; the structures are now higher than before (off the ground), and learning ways to control the microclimate in an inexpensive matter. Increasing the amount of windows to allow for better ventilation and sunlight is an example of an inexpensive change. The changes have not been huge ones but have been constant in the long term to make a big change.
There has been a problem with water shortages in the past but the building of three desalination plants (one more in the process of being completed) have solved the problem of water shortages for the most part. The interviewee said that the majority of the water from these plants was for agricultural purposes. In the last ten years the competition between tourism development and agriculture has begun to increase. So in the area of the Campo de Dalias, greenhouse production has actually decreased some from the growth in tourism. But a new area of greenhouse production is growing to the east of Almeria to make up for the decrease in the Dalias.
One of the bigger problems for the area is competition from other countries that are beginning to develop their greenhouse agriculture. Morocco is now the largest producer of green beans for the European Union, where before it was Almeria. Because of this, the farmer must change to a different product because he is unable to sell the green beans for a competitive enough price.
For now the majority of the greenhouses in Almeria are owned by small scale local families that pass the job from generation to generation but small enterprises are emerging as stiff competition for these families. For the interviewee he believes that the greenhouses will slowly be taken over by the enterprises and that already this is happening in a small scale. Most of the vegetables are sold to a cooperative that then sells them to the grocery store or the product is taken to an auction. At the auction, the various products are betted on by some form of buyer who then would sell them to the grocery store. This auction is much simpler than and not as hectic as a normal auction.
Well this was probably pretty boring for the majority of you but hope you liked it. There is a bit more on water policies that left out.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Mid-week/Friday report,
Well its been a pretty busy week for me. Class wise the week started off with me in class by myself. The girls were returning from their trip in Morocco and got held up upon their return to Almeria. I had decided not to go because I hate tours or set trips especially to a country with such a high poverty rate. Although there stories of the trip sounded like fun it seemed far from the experience that I encountered this summer. Staying in a three star hotel with actual toilets and a swimming pool seems so far from sweating your ass off in a bug infested dump with a hole in the floor to shit in and perhaps a negative star rating if possible. Ok, so anyhow class went generally pretty well and for once my confusion was pretty limited. Monday night was an early one for me, doing nothing fun but enhancing my mine by reading a bunch.
Tuesday it was back to the usual class schedule with me being the odd man (literally because two other girl students and a women teacher) out because of my lack of vocabulary. It is really frustrating when you feel like your Spanish is getting progressively worse instead of better....The most enjoyable thing of class was me trying to argue the point that I did not find grammatical stuff as important as having a large array of vocabulary knowledge....and i think same with English, I think it’s far more important to have a large vocabulary then be a perfect speller because in time the one will lead to the other. After class I conducted an interview with a professor in the school of greenhouses here. I will write more about the interview in my next blog entry.
Wednesday....Happy Halloween!! Normal day of classes with nothing to report. The afternoon was set aside to wait for the arrival of my professor and chair of my committee to arrive in Almeria. She, her husband and one of their children are on vacation in Spain and were nice enough to make a trip to see me. At five (after I was starting to think she was a no show) I got the phone call and we met up. I took them to the Moorish fortress here in Almeria, then for some tapas, paella and then goodbyes. It was a short visit but still nice to see a familiar face. In addition, I got to learn a whole new world on Saffron. My professor is throwing around the idea of studying it and made a stop here in Spain to visit one of best known Saffron experts in the world. Now I know why these strands cost so much. Not only rare but great human care (rapid care) into preparing it.
Wednesday night was pretty fun and I dressed up as....well...I guess it would be an Australian cowboy with red and yellow stuff all over his face. Not too sure what that would be but that is the basic idea. Pretty fun but nothing to great.
Today I and 7 other friends went to the beach in Cabo de Gata. I posted a few pictures from the beach on my other site. It was really a beautiful day and I had a great time although a bit of a headache from the night. Just earlier it was movie night at a friend’s house...Resident Evil III and Hard Candy. The latter being the better of the two. RE was your basic action sci fi with lots of guns, hot babes, violence, and the norm....hard candy was good probably 3 1/2 out of 5. It just did not hit me as a great movie.
Well tomorrow or this weekend I will recap the latest interview and update everyone with anything else exciting that may have happened.
Peace and Love
Ty
Well its been a pretty busy week for me. Class wise the week started off with me in class by myself. The girls were returning from their trip in Morocco and got held up upon their return to Almeria. I had decided not to go because I hate tours or set trips especially to a country with such a high poverty rate. Although there stories of the trip sounded like fun it seemed far from the experience that I encountered this summer. Staying in a three star hotel with actual toilets and a swimming pool seems so far from sweating your ass off in a bug infested dump with a hole in the floor to shit in and perhaps a negative star rating if possible. Ok, so anyhow class went generally pretty well and for once my confusion was pretty limited. Monday night was an early one for me, doing nothing fun but enhancing my mine by reading a bunch.
Tuesday it was back to the usual class schedule with me being the odd man (literally because two other girl students and a women teacher) out because of my lack of vocabulary. It is really frustrating when you feel like your Spanish is getting progressively worse instead of better....The most enjoyable thing of class was me trying to argue the point that I did not find grammatical stuff as important as having a large array of vocabulary knowledge....and i think same with English, I think it’s far more important to have a large vocabulary then be a perfect speller because in time the one will lead to the other. After class I conducted an interview with a professor in the school of greenhouses here. I will write more about the interview in my next blog entry.
Wednesday....Happy Halloween!! Normal day of classes with nothing to report. The afternoon was set aside to wait for the arrival of my professor and chair of my committee to arrive in Almeria. She, her husband and one of their children are on vacation in Spain and were nice enough to make a trip to see me. At five (after I was starting to think she was a no show) I got the phone call and we met up. I took them to the Moorish fortress here in Almeria, then for some tapas, paella and then goodbyes. It was a short visit but still nice to see a familiar face. In addition, I got to learn a whole new world on Saffron. My professor is throwing around the idea of studying it and made a stop here in Spain to visit one of best known Saffron experts in the world. Now I know why these strands cost so much. Not only rare but great human care (rapid care) into preparing it.
Wednesday night was pretty fun and I dressed up as....well...I guess it would be an Australian cowboy with red and yellow stuff all over his face. Not too sure what that would be but that is the basic idea. Pretty fun but nothing to great.
Today I and 7 other friends went to the beach in Cabo de Gata. I posted a few pictures from the beach on my other site. It was really a beautiful day and I had a great time although a bit of a headache from the night. Just earlier it was movie night at a friend’s house...Resident Evil III and Hard Candy. The latter being the better of the two. RE was your basic action sci fi with lots of guns, hot babes, violence, and the norm....hard candy was good probably 3 1/2 out of 5. It just did not hit me as a great movie.
Well tomorrow or this weekend I will recap the latest interview and update everyone with anything else exciting that may have happened.
Peace and Love
Ty
Voting as Political Narcotic
By Joel Hirschhorn
Fast forward to Election Day 2008: Network anchors, cable pundits, and state and local election officials are going nuts as evening hours pass and voter turnout is hardly approaching 20 percent nearly everywhere. "What's going on?" everyone is asking incredulously. TV and computer screens all over the planet show Americans in streets celebrating and shouting things like "We've had enough political corruption. We're not going to take anymore!"
In contrast, news anchors are grim and aghast with little help from spin-fatigued and stammering Democratic and Republican spokespeople. At 2 A.M. on NBC Brian Williams sits with Tim Russett and Keith Olbermann, and sums up: "Americans have spoken and American politics have changed forever." "It's like the nightmare of entertainers: nobody shows up for their event," says bemused Olbermann. Russett grimly observes, "We should have seen this coming; people have been fed up with both parties for a long time." Meanwhile, the Internet is buzzing with talk of voiding the presidential and congressional election results, that President Bush may declare a national state of emergency, and that the Supreme Court might step in again. Did anyone think that the Constitution required a minimum voter turnout to make elections legit?
LINK
By Joel Hirschhorn
Fast forward to Election Day 2008: Network anchors, cable pundits, and state and local election officials are going nuts as evening hours pass and voter turnout is hardly approaching 20 percent nearly everywhere. "What's going on?" everyone is asking incredulously. TV and computer screens all over the planet show Americans in streets celebrating and shouting things like "We've had enough political corruption. We're not going to take anymore!"
In contrast, news anchors are grim and aghast with little help from spin-fatigued and stammering Democratic and Republican spokespeople. At 2 A.M. on NBC Brian Williams sits with Tim Russett and Keith Olbermann, and sums up: "Americans have spoken and American politics have changed forever." "It's like the nightmare of entertainers: nobody shows up for their event," says bemused Olbermann. Russett grimly observes, "We should have seen this coming; people have been fed up with both parties for a long time." Meanwhile, the Internet is buzzing with talk of voiding the presidential and congressional election results, that President Bush may declare a national state of emergency, and that the Supreme Court might step in again. Did anyone think that the Constitution required a minimum voter turnout to make elections legit?
LINK
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