When I discovered Couer d'Alene Idaho, the only thing I knew about the area was that it looked breathtakingly beautiful in a travel brochure ... and equally beautiful when I visited. Literally, that's it; that and I could get to a major airport in around 30 minutes (which was my sole professional criteria at the time). Another visit and I had a home and was preparing to move a household and office from Las Vegas.
It would take a somewhat tense conversation with a friend in San Francisco, who was decidedly uninterested in visiting, before I would learn of the darker reputation that the Aryan Nations had bestowed on my new locale. Since that time, I have learned bits and pieces of the story and watched the final chapters as the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden was seized and destroyed. Kept abreast of rumors that the core moved north and west to the Priest River area (incidentally, the exact area where the Spokane bomber was located). And generally just picked up local gossip. But I had never gotten a complete story of the history. Until now.
Who will stand up for the vampire squid? Who will speak for the scumsuckers who prey upon the life of the people? Who could possibly defend the corrupt, thieving, rapacious parasites who brought the economy of the nation to its knees?
Fighting to free the investment banks from the (pitifully small) constraints that is Dodd-Frank, a hero emerges from among the hundred senators....It's Banksterman, and his sidekick Kristen G.
For my sins reading Tyler Cowen today brought to mind Marianne Moore's hankering for an Imaginary Garden with real toads in it.
Cowen (no he's not a toad, real or imaginary. Flavius does not do insults. That's the next office) imagines a driverless auto. Or a lot of them doing various imaginary good things. One unfortunately has an imaginary accident and kills an imaginary child. I'll drop imaginary from here on because it's getting tedious ( I know , I know that never stopped me before).
But why is this the case ? When in the past the Democratic party was a staunch supporter of the middle class. Here is a good explanation of what happened by Kevin Drum in Alternet.
After reading Kevin Drums column and Genghis' Blowing Smoke, several academic papers on the Senate rules, the filibuster, and I selected some Journal Articles to learn more about what exactly is going on and what the solutions are for Democrats and Liberals in the future, because if th
A US District judge has just ruled that corporations may now give their money directly to political candidates. I think that we can rejoice that this new era of corporate generosity and philanthropy will enrich the lives of many.
(or) How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon
Overview of the book from Barnes and Noble:
In Reckless Endangerment, Gretchen Morgenson, the star business columnist of The New York Times, exposes how the watchdogs who were supposed to protect the country from financial harm were actually complicit in the actions that finally blew up the American economy.
Drawing on previously untapped sources and building on original research from coauthor Joshua Rosner—who himself raised early warnings with the public and investors, and kept detailed records—Morgenson connects the dots that led to this fiasco.
What more is there to say? That about sums it up. Short and sweet, kind of like this countries reign as the greatest nation on earth.Shame how the caring this nation's leaders once had for their citizens has sunk to and all time low.
Any Presidential candidate the Republican Party offers in 2012 will be a sacrifice to the Gods of elections. Someone has to be the standard bearer but the 2012 standard bearer will be going into battle without an army behind him or her. Repubican leadership is taking more deferments for this unwinnable electoral war. Obama's Presidency is hitting its stride, the tools of incumbency are available to him, and, quite frankly, Republicans don't offer Americans earning under $1,000,000 a year a logical reason to vote for them.
As the obvious makes itself manifest even to the dimwits at the NY Times, can we help marvelling at the seductive power of the whisper heard in every presidential ear "You are the most powerful man in the world--rulers that don't kiss your ass may not be rulers for long, if you feel twitchy..."
We in this country like to view our selves as an island. Politically, socially, culturally and economically. But this has not been the case for quite sometime, if it really ever was.
I have no love for the GOP. I voted republican twice in my life, the same guy in 2006 and 2010 for local council positions. The last democratic party votes I cast were a 2010 write-in for DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, President Obama in the 2008 general and Dennis Kucinich in the primary.
A couple weeks ago I’d read a piece at Al Jazeera about the President being dismayed that India had rejected the fighter jet deal he had pushed on his recent visit to India. Apparently India decided that Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin's F-16 failed to meet technical criteria.
“In a report from New Delhi, The New York Times described India's decision as "a blow for President (Barack) Obama, who had pushed hard for this and other defence deals during his visit to India in November as part of his agenda to deepen and broaden the United States' relationship with India."
"While political and economic relations between India and the United States have been warming for years, American arms makers have struggled to win big contracts" in New Delhi, it said. "After decades of frosty relations during the cold war, which pushed India to rely extensively on the Soviet Union for military hardware, many in the Indian defence establishment are still wary of American intentions and United States military aid to Pakistan, India's main adversary," the Times said.”
Now I don’t know about you, but when I read some of the Wilileaked cables that spoke about US Ambassadors pushing deals for arms and weapons systems at cocktail parties, it disturbed me; I was stuck in the past as to the meaning of diplomacy and diplomat; you remember, the old-school talking to each other to solve problems. Since then, I’d been considering writing a play about the subject except for the fact that a) I don’t know how to write a play and b) I don’t know enough about either the military hardware of the international players to write it as believable satire.
The intra-Palestinian meeting in Moscow has precedent
Russia's hosted such meetings in the past, most recently Feb 2019
Russia has long lamented the US' "monopolization" of the peace process & tried to carve out a niche for itself: mediating among the disunited Palestinians/2
Events: Heavy gunfire is occuring around the area of the U.S. Embassy and residential compounds adjacent to the Trutier area of Tabarre. All Embassy personnel have been instructed to remain indoors and shelter-in-place until further notice. All others should avoid the area.
Actions to take:
Avoid the area;
Avoid demonstrations and any large gatherings of people;
Do not attempt to drive through roadblocks; and
If you encounter a roadblock, turn around and get to a safe area.
All eyes on #Chad right now
Chad has two internet trunks coming into the country: One from the Red Sea via Sudan; the other from Cameroon. Not possible for the totality of the country's internet network to be shut unless done centrally. A lot of rumors swirling; few facts. https://t.co/N6bDJZ2ixO
BREAKING: Three loss prevention employees in Macy’s across the street from Philadelphia City Hall stabbed, one of them has died from stab wounds, @PhillyPolice sources tell me. Police converged on the store as the three workers were rushed to Jefferson Hospital. pic.twitter.com/4U1eKycL4W
You don’t get it.
It’s not about an UNRWA teacher who held an Israeli kid hostage in his house.
It’s all about how for 75 years you have destroyed the future of generations of Palestinians, including my family.
My cousins in Arab countries are still not citizens - not even the… https://t.co/nv6anubGhc
It's wild that Venezuela is now holding a vote on whether 2/3 of Guyana actually belongs to them! Analysts suggest that Modoru may want military action to pump up his sinking popularity.
The lack of a cohesive delegation has allowed attention-seeking lawmakers to act on their own.
McCarthy: “You have [Rep. Matt] Gaetz, who belongs in jail…”
Gaetz: “Tough words from a guy who sucker punches people in the back. The only assault I committed was against Kevin’s fragile ego.”https://t.co/LctPuz6Pcf
"Both the AU and the intl community place more weight on whether elections are held than whether they are free and fair. Sanctions/expulsions occur when there is a coup but not necessarily when elections are rigged or if an “institutional coup” occurs." https://t.co/m9dNimJP0D