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jazzoLOG: Is Faith Another Word For Brainwash? |
Category: Inspiration 39 comments
5 Oct 2008 @ 01:21 by vaxen : One thing... 5 Oct 2008 @ 23:03 by quinty : That's sad that these teachers are bringing their religious beliefs into the classroom. And you teach in a public school, don't you? What does this say about their sense of civics, American history, understanding of the differences between church and state? Or of science too, for that matter? In a private religious school weaving Christianity into their lessons is acceptable, as we know. It is an expression of democracy. Anyway, your piece, in my opinion, is very well said and thought out. It must be sometimes awful working in such an environment. Perhaps you take it with good cheer, but I would be doleful. Ah well, when things get tough we can always go back to Palin bashing. Problem is, we're the ones who are being bashed. Wouldn't it be nice to cease kicking politicians around? Will we eventually have a "new Palin to kick around" in future years? Has McCain opened up a brilliant new career in American national politics here? If they lose will she simply slink back to Alaska and hide in a tent made of rawhide and moose antlers where she can watch the Russians? And if she sees any sneaking in will she shoo them all back? We can always dream. 6 Oct 2008 @ 09:58 by jazzolog : Sarah Palin Is Not A Palindrome even though she comes from Idaho. A palindrome is a word or sentence that makes sense reading it frontwards or backwards. Here is a palindrome with Idaho in it: O had I nine more hero-men in Idaho! As you can see SarahPalin spelled backwards is NilapHaras. Obviously she makes no sense. Nil means nothing or a trifle, and upharass works only as some kind of obscene pun. Nor is she related to Monty Python comedian Michael Palin. But according to a new book, called Joined-Up Thinking: How To Connect Everything To Everything Else by Stevyn Colgan, Palin is a name that can be traced back to 11th century Normandy. They might share ancestry. "Palin" comes from the Latin, meaning, as you might guess, "backwards." So, there you go...again. Don't miss Maureen Dowd yesterday~~~ "I had hoped I was finally done with acting as an interpreter for politicians whose relationship with the English language was tumultuous. "There’s W.’s gummy grammar, of course, like the classic, 'Is our children learning?' And covering the first Bush White House required doing simultaneous translation for a president who never met a personal pronoun he liked or a wacky non sequitur he could resist. "Poppy Bush drew comparisons to Warren G. Harding, whose prose reminded H. L. Mencken of 'a string of wet sponges. ... It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it.' When Harding died, E. E. Cummings lamented, 'The only man, woman or child who wrote a simple declarative sentence with seven grammatical errors is dead.' "Being mush-mouthed helped give the patrician Bushes the common touch. As Alistair Cooke observed, 'Americans seem to be more comfortable with Republican presidents because they share the common frailty of muddled syntax and because, when they attempt eloquence, they do tend to spout a kind of Frontier Baroque.' "Darn right. And that, doggone it, brings us to a shout-out for the latest virtuoso of Frontier Baroque, bless her heart, the governor of the Last Frontier. Her reward’s in heaven." [link] 6 Oct 2008 @ 12:14 by vaxen : Fair weather... "At Sarah Palin's old church in Wasilla, they spoke in tongues. Maybe that's where she picked it up." "True mavericks don't brand themselves." Have you read Naomi Wolfs latest on your darling/charming next Vice President/President? I hear Karl has a direct phoneline into the campaign and is directing every move. So there! ROTFL @ it all. It's debatable whether or not you can call that a debate and more of the same, only different, tomorrow night? I hear that hairspray will work on a female dog in heat, spray their nether parts, to cover up the excessive smell of pheromones (Palindromones?) so that the males won't smell a thing. Also, in case that doesn't work, you can get Vicks Vaporub and mix it with Vaseline then rub that on the male doggies noses and that seems to mute their sense of smell as well. Wonder if that would work with these politicos too? "Do it right this time around." - L. Ron Hubbard Or was that the notorious Captain Hubbard of 'CIA LSD' fame who said that? Entheogens, entheogens. Their in the drinking water. Must have been the Weathermen. 6 Oct 2008 @ 15:30 by jazzolog : I Thought Vax Would Catch Me "Palin" is not from Latin, but Greek. Or maybe he's just going easy on me this election season. 6 Oct 2008 @ 17:36 by vaxen : See... I didn't have to! You caught yourself and that, my friend, is what America is all about. Personal responsibility and self determination. Bravo. This is cute: [link] 6 Oct 2008 @ 19:42 by vaxen : Faith... "We are fast approaching the point of no return. The only way out of this calamitous descent is "shock and awe" on a global scale, and even that may not be enough. "Drastic rate cuts would be a good start. Central bankers still paralysed by a misplaced fear of inflation – whether in Europe, Britain, or the US – have become a public menace and should be held to severe account by our democracies. The imminent and massive danger is now self-feeding debt deflation. "The lesson of the 1930s is that any country trying to reflate in isolation will be punished. The crisis will ricochet from one economy to another until every one is crippled. We are seeing it play again in this drama as our leaders fail to rise above their narrow, parochial agendas." [link] Asymmetrical Financial Warfare. Can't say we didn't warn all these "fearful" folk. This is brainwashing with an admixture of PsyOps 101 for the manufactured crisis we've all been taught/conditioned to be waiting for... Notice the repetitive use of the words fear and fearful and crisis and... yada, yada. Lots of doom and gloom. A new Doom Wad perchance? Don't worry, though, Mighty Mouse will save the day! Obama flies to heaven with his monkey ears and McCains 'jowels' grow redder by the pound. Meanwhile Sarah is seen speaking in tongues (Palindroglossalallia), a lot of them, as old Joe smiles broadly and benevolently on. Bush looks like he has just been goosed by one of his Frat brat fellow initiates in the Tomb and oh glory, glory, glory! Glory - Hallelu Yah! Watch out for flying pigs and soccer moms both wearing lipstick sticking it to the man. 
[link] What all this fails to tell you is that the U.S has been bankrupt since 1933 when FDR shipped all the gold to Switzerland. LBJ did another little wangle on that in his years along with one of his cronies whose name I shall not mention. But long before that, say round about 'the war of 1812' when the Brits 'sacked' Washington bankruptcy was the thing o the times too and yet again at the very friggin beginning... the British Spy and informant and 'Officer,' by the name of George Washington had to face Bankruptcy! So, in effect, the good old USA, a private corporation otherwise known as 'the Virginia Company,' was bankrupt from the get go and beholden to... Tada!, 'the Crown' which is also known as the City. Teach that in your schools and see where it gets you even though it's truth, it's actual, everything is satisfactual. Zippity doo da, zippity ay... My, Oh my, what a wonderful day! Plenty of sunshine headin my way... 7 Oct 2008 @ 06:07 by vaxen : Perelandra III... Now we see the dancer but behind the thrones of earth, concealed by cloaks of silence, invisible powers pull the strings and men are but marionettes. 1 Staggering among clouds of radioactive dust, lurching drunkenly from one imperialist blunder to the next, a bankrupt Pax Americana postures on the global stage like a painted harlot, oblivious to the hissing and jeering of the crowd. In her dreams she is the undisputed mistress and gallant ideologue of a majestic imperium, benign and divine. Hawking her pernicious plans for global dominion, the Whore of War poses as a beacon of freedom, policing a planet in peril and flaunting flaccid promises of peace and prosperity, thrust like gaudy jewels before frightened children. The rise in America of this lethal false utopianism has fostered an aggressive cult of violence that is used as an instrument of propaganda. The new imperialism of Pax Americana insidiously spoonfeeds Orwellian distortion to an ingenuous public that lacks the discernment to recognise disinformation. As the chicanery of a global financial ponzi scheme gnawed away at the heart and soul of a nation trapped in a war of costly error, barely an eyebrow was raised when House Representative Michael Burgess from Texas, revealled that Nancy Pelosi had declared the imposition of Martial Law in the US, when speaking about bailout proceedings. This Congressional Martial Law, that enables unpopular legislation with far-reaching national and international implications to be bulldozed into action without due diligence, invoked a national blank stare not unlike the hohum response evoked by a forcaster who advises that the weather will be cloudy tomorrow with possible showers! [link] Notably, October 7 is the eve of Israel's Yom Kippur ceremony, the Day of Atonement. As the climax of the Yamim Noraim, "Days of Awe", it is the most significant of the Jewish holy feast days. In Christian eschatology the Day of Atonement is interpreted as referring to Judgment Day. Historically, October 7 also happens to be the 7th anniversary of the 10/7/1 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. On October 7, 1958 President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza suspended the constitution, imposed martial law, and canceled elections. October 7, 2004 was also the date of bomb attacks on three Sinai holiday resorts in the Sinai Peninsula. America's financial 9/11 also mirrors another, less remembered 9/11 event -- the CIA assassination of President Salvador Allende, and the military coup that violently overthrew the democratically elected government of Chile on September 11, 1973. In order to first destablise Allende, as declassified documents now reveal, the CIA and Henry Kissinger were authorised by President Richard Nixon through Project Fubelt to "make the economy scream". After the Chilean golpe d'estado, under CIA supervision of the military dictorship of General Augusto Pinochet, Operation Condor ran the human rights atrocities, the brutal crushing of all opposition and the state terrorism of the Chilean secret police that left in it's wake untold numbers of dead and disappeared. 7 Oct 2008 @ 09:37 by jazzolog : The Poetry Of Sarah Palin As most of you know, and plainly can see straight and tall, I am in love with poetry. It is life itself. Consider these gems~~~ "This is an impressive crowd: the Have's and Have-more's. Some people call you the elites. I call you my base." - George W. Bush = "The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all." - G. K. Chesterton = "Every 10 years or so, the US needs to pick up some small, crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business." - Michael Ledeen Not really poems, you say? We must keep up with the times! Therefore I am grateful to my good friend, composer Jason Hartz, for pointing out the revelatory nature of this lustrous individual~~~ The Poetry of Sarah Palin Recent works by the Republican vice presidential candidate. By Hart Seely Posted Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008, at 1:25 PM ET 
It's been barely six weeks since the arctic-fresh voice of Alaskan poet Sarah Heath Palin burst upon the lower 48. In campaign interviews, the governor, mother, and maverick GOP vice presidential candidate has chosen to bypass the media filter and speak directly to fans through her intensely personal verses, spoken poems that drill into the vagaries of modern life as if they were oil deposits beneath a government-protected tundra. Thursday's nationally televised debate with Democrat Joe Biden could give Palin the chance to cement her reputation as one of the country's most innovative practitioners of what she calls "verbiage." The poems collected here were compiled verbatim from only three brief interviews. So just imagine the work Sarah Palin could produce over the next four (or eight) years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "On Good and Evil" It is obvious to me Who the good guys are in this one And who the bad guys are. The bad guys are the ones Who say Israel is a stinking corpse, And should be wiped off The face of the earth. That's not a good guy. (To K. Couric, CBS News, Sept. 25, 2008) "You Can't Blink" You can't blink. You have to be wired In a way of being So committed to the mission, The mission that we're on, Reform of this country, And victory in the war, You can't blink. So I didn't blink. (To C. Gibson, ABC News, Sept. 11, 2008) "Haiku" These corporations. Today it was AIG, Important call, there. (To S. Hannity, Fox News, Sept. 18, 2008) "Befoulers of the Verbiage" It was an unfair attack on the verbiage That Senator McCain chose to use, Because the fundamentals, As he was having to explain afterwards, He means our workforce. He means the ingenuity of the American. And of course that is strong, And that is the foundation of our economy. So that was an unfair attack there, Again based on verbiage. (To S. Hannity, Fox News, Sept. 18, 2008) "Secret Conversation" I asked President Karzai: "Is that what you are seeking, also? "That strategy that has worked in Iraq? "That John McCain had pushed for? "More troops? "A counterinsurgency strategy?" And he said, "Yes." (To K. Couric, CBS News, Sept. 25, 2008) "Outside" I am a Washington outsider. I mean, Look at where you are. I'm a Washington outsider. I do not have those allegiances To the power brokers, To the lobbyists. We need someone like that. (To C. Gibson, ABC News, Sept. 11, 2008) "On the Bailout" Ultimately, What the bailout does Is help those who are concerned About the health care reform That is needed To help shore up our economy, Helping the— It's got to be all about job creation, too. Shoring up our economy And putting it back on the right track. So health care reform And reducing taxes And reining in spending Has got to accompany tax reductions And tax relief for Americans. And trade. We've got to see trade As opportunity Not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs Being created in the trade sector today, We've got to look at that As more opportunity. All those things. (To K. Couric, CBS News, Sept. 25, 2008) "Challenge to a Cynic" You are a cynic. Because show me where I have ever said That there's absolute proof That nothing that man Has ever conducted Or engaged in, Has had any effect, Or no effect, On climate change. (To C. Gibson, ABC News, Sept. 11, 2008) "On Reporters" It's funny that A comment like that Was kinda made to, I don't know, You know ... Reporters. (To K. Couric, CBS News, Sept. 25, 2008) "Small Mayors" You know, Small mayors, Mayors of small towns— Quote, unquote— They're on the front lines. (To S. Hannity, Fox News, Sept. 19, 2008) [link] 7 Oct 2008 @ 17:41 by a-d : Good Reading here Jazzo, by Everyone who each contributed with their particluar Twist on Life in their comments! THANKS!!! Hugs to U all!/A-d 8 Oct 2008 @ 04:55 by vaxen : burning, bursting, heavy... "Real singing is a different movement of air. Air moving around nothing. A breathing in a god. A wind." -Rilke You become more careful walking through a room where music is playing. Don't make the record skip, the earth is tipping already. Step slowly, like wading through an island of white campion, the sky misted with a low wind and sea birds. The world is now understood. Beyond the sound that opens the body into weightlessness- a shadow lingers in the region of the heart that can't retreat- a burning reflection of a storm bursting, leaving behind silent flowers heavy with hunger. Diane Jarvi 10 Oct 2008 @ 00:22 by a-d : Jazzo, your Question: whether Faith is Another Word for Brain Wash...hmmmmm I'm sure people's (innocent-at-face-value/TRUSTING/: "gullible"- has been used against them as to BRAIN WASH them, while calling it all "FAITH"!.... Yet the Concept of Faith has so many "Facets" like a fine crystal, braking the "colorless"/"white" light in to all its splendor!... To me "Faith" -at least today- means to keep my conscious Focus on what is important to me, like Sustainable Living concepts. I beam my Laser like focus onto that concept every single day, so that I don't lose my focus!...Hope I'm making sense here... But, no, I was not thinking in these terms 30 years ago!...when very young and confused (by the Western Culture in my Society in Finland and Sweden. It took some time... to let it all "crystalize" in to this New Understanding. 10 Oct 2008 @ 09:29 by vaxen : faith c.1250, "duty of fulfilling one's trust," from O.Fr. feid, from L. fides "trust, belief," from root of fidere "to trust," from PIE base *bhidh-/*bhoidh- (cf. Gk. pistis; see bid). For sense evolution, see belief. belief c.1175, replaced O.E. geleafa, from W.Gmc. *ga-laubon (cf. O.S. gilobo, M.Du. gelove, O.H.G. giloubo, Ger. glaube), from *galaub- "dear, esteemed." The prefix was altered on analogy of the verb. The distinction of the final consonant from that of believe developed 15c. Belief used to mean "trust in God," while faith meant "loyalty to a person based on promise or duty" (a sense preserved in keep one's faith, in good (or bad) faith and in common usage of faithful, faithless, which contain no notion of divinity). But faith, as cognate of L. fides, took on the religious sense beginning in 14c. translations, and belief had by 16c. become limited to "mental acceptance of something as true," from the religious use in the sense of "things held to be true as a matter of religious doctrine" truce c.1225, triws, variant of trewes, originally plural of trewe "faith, assurance of faith, covenant, treaty," from O.E. treow "faith, treaty," from P.Gmc. *trewwo (cf. O.Fris. triuwe, M.Du. trouwe, Du. trouw, O.H.G. triuwa, Ger. treue, Goth. triggwa "faith, faithfulness"). Related to O.E. treowe "faithful" (see true). The Gmc. word was borrowed into L.L. as tregua, hence Fr. trève, It. tregua. Trucial States, the pre-1971 name of the United Arab Emirates, is attested from 1891, in ref. to the 1835 maritime truce between Britain and the Arab sheiks of Oman. affidavit 1593, from M.L. affidavit, lit. "he has stated on oath," third person sing. perf. of affidare "to trust," from L. ad- "to" + fidare "to trust," from fidus "faithful," from fides "faith" (see faith). So called from being the first word of sworn statements. federal 1645, as a theological term, from L. foedus "covenant, league" (gen. foederis), related to fides "faith" (see faith). Meaning "pertaining to a treaty" (1660) led to political sense of "state formed by agreement among independent states" (1707), from phrases like federal union "union based on a treaty," popularized by formation of U.S.A. 1776-1787. Federation is first attested 1721, from L.L. foederationem, from L. foederare "league together." Federalism (1793) was coined by Burke. Federalist "member or supporter of the Federal party in U.S. politics" is from 1787. Fed slang for "officer of the FBI" is from 1916. fiduciary 1640, from L. fiduciarius "(holding) in trust," from fidere "to trust" (see faith). In Roman law, fiducia was "a right transferred in trust;" paper currency sense (1878) is because its value depends on the trust of the public trow O.E. treowian "to trust, believe," from treow "faith, belief," from P.Gmc. *truwian (see true). Cognate with Ger. trauen. So just when are the Feds not being Federal? ;) [link] 10 Oct 2008 @ 09:40 by vaxen : Brain Washing Or, mind control? mind (n.) O.E. gemynd "memory, thinking, intention," P.Gmc. *ga-menthijan (cf. Goth. muns "thought," munan "to think;" O.N. minni "mind;" Ger. minne, originally "memory, loving memory"), from PIE base *men- "think, remember, have one's mind aroused" (cf. Skt. matih "thought," munih "sage, seer;" Gk. memona "I yearn," mania "madness," mantis "one who divines, prophet, seer;" L. mens "mind, understanding, reason," memini "I remember," mentio "remembrance;" Lith. mintis "thought, idea," O.C.S. mineti "to believe, think," Rus. pamjat "memory"). "Memory" is one of the oldest senses, now almost obsolete except in old expressions such as bear in mind, call to mind. Phrase time out of mind is attested from 1414. To pay no mind "disregard" is recorded from 1916, Amer.Eng. dialect. To have half a mind to "to have one's mind half made up to (do something)" is recorded from 1726. Mind-reading is from 1882. Mind-boggling is from 1964. control c.1310, "to check, verify, regulate," from Anglo-Norm. contreroller "exert authority," from M.L. contrarotulus "a counter, register," from L. contra- "against" (see contra) + rotulus, dim. of rota "wheel" (see roll). From a medieval method of checking accounts by a duplicate register. Sense of "dominate, direct" is c.1450. brain O.E. brægen, from P.Gmc. *bragnam, from PIE base *mregh-m(n)o- "skull, brain" (cf. Gk. brekhmos "front part of the skull"). The custom of using the plural to refer to the substance (literal or figurative), as opposed to the organ, dates from 16c. Fig. sense of "intellectual power" is from 1393; meaning "a clever person" is first recorded 1914. Brainstorm "brilliant idea, mental excitement" is 1849; verb is from 1920s; brainsick (1483) meant "mad, addled." Brain-dead is from 1976; brain teaser is from 1923. Brainwashing is 1950, a literal translation of Chinese xi nao. Though it had been occasionally used since early 1900s, brain trust became current 1933, in ref. to the intellectuals gathered by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt as advisors. wash (v.) O.E. wascan, wæscan, from P.Gmc. *watskanan (cf. O.N. vaska, M.Du. wasscen, Du. wassen, Ger. waschen), from stem *wat-, the source of water. Used mainly of clothes in O.E. (the principal verb for washing the body, dishes, etc. being þwean). Verbal phrase wash out "obliterate, cancel" is attested from 1580; hence colloquial sense of "to call off (an event) due to bad weather, etc.;" the noun sense of "disappointing failure" is recorded from 1902. Washed-out "faded" is from 1837; washed up is 1923 theater slang, from notion of washing up one's hands at the end of a job. wash (n.) late O.E. wæsc "act of washing" (see wash (v.)). Meaning "clothes set aside to be washed" is attested from 1789; meaning "thin coat of paint" is recorded from 1698; sense of "land alternately covered and exposed by the sea" is recorded from c.1440. ablution "ritual washing," c.1386, from L. ablutionem (nom. ablutio), noun of action from ablutus, pp. of abluere "to wash off," from ab- "off" + luere "wash," related to lavere (see lave). lave O.E. gelafian "wash by pouring, pour (water)," possibly an early Eng. or W.Gmc. borrowing of L. lavare "to wash," or its O.Fr. descendant, laver. L. lavare is from PIE *lou- "to wash" (cf. L. luere "to wash," Gk. louein "to wash, bathe," O.Ir. loathar "basin," Bret. laouer "trough," O.E. leaþor "lather"). Water boarding? ;) Heh! Aivot pesu... Pieni ohut vaate Suuri pyöreä kuu A täysi joki Ja sinä olet olet 10 Oct 2008 @ 10:44 by martha : Hots for Palin Hey Jazz I think you have the secret hots for Palin since you have so many articles on her. Sure are paying a lot of attention to a person who is not worthy of it. Like those strong religious babes eh? 10 Oct 2008 @ 15:31 by jazzolog : Hopefully You're Kidding 
This candidate has been designated the Cheney attack-dog of the McCain McSame Campaign. She bears all the markings of a Rove hitjob, even down to pronouncing it "nucular." The news now is full of "Bill" Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois, supposedly "palling around" with the Democratic candidate. McCain's job is to followup if the media goes for the bait. It doesn't matter to jazzoLOG she's female. Whoever got the job of dangling the bait to drag the race into the mud would be given similar treatment at this Log. I never went for the Nazi torture babes either: not my bag. 10 Oct 2008 @ 21:49 by martha : Yes and No While I am kidding I would like to point out that the more you complain about Palin the more attention you bring her. She has had more then her fifteen minutes here! Wouldn't it be more productive in this last month before the election to talk about all the POSITIVE change Obama would like to bring to our nation? Being in a battleground state makes me want to NOT turn on the TV. The ads on all sides are disgusting and encourages me not to vote for anyone! 10 Oct 2008 @ 23:26 by quinty : 15 minutes versus four years. Maybe eight. Maybe even more. There is a possibility she may be famous a long time. I wish it wouldn't last another fifteen minutes more. But this choice is utterly appalling. She may be an Alaskan version of Bush. Bush Light. Ol' George had his macho rush in the brush. Sarah has had her wild moose on the loose. They have both degraded American politics enormously. What about putting George and Sarah into a game of High IQ? Who do you think would win? The question, some might infer, is "elitist." Well, while Joe Sixpack (Sarah's words) is glorying in his Bud, would it be too much to ask for a basic modicum of brains, dignity, and an instinct toward competence? I mean, I wouldn't want a guy who reads Popular Mechanics to perform surgery on me because he has had his hands in the grease. And knows what real things are because he has shot a moose headon in the eye. Even if he was drunk on that most memorable evening, which will surely descend into family lore. What McCain did to us is atrocious! 11 Oct 2008 @ 00:19 by a-d : Never seen Anybody "dancing the Twist" as swiftly, "elegantly" as ..... Posturing, posturing, just like Rishi pointed out! 11 Oct 2008 @ 00:25 by martha : The average IQ is 100 Quinty it doesn't matter what George and Sarah's IQ is. All politicians are appealing to the average IQ which is 100. 11 Oct 2008 @ 07:16 by vaxen : Positive change... Obama rot is not the positive change the propagandists are alluding to. Perhaps this is: 
############# I don't think this photo is authentic. Looks like a Photoshop job. ---jazz Waaaal. duh! ---vax 11 Oct 2008 @ 07:25 by vaxen : GPA Obama's Global Poverty Act (S. 2433) Thanks to reporting from Amir Taheri, the gist of which the Obama campaign has confirmed, we now know that while Obama is telling the American people he wants an end to the war, he has secretly negotiated with the government in Iraq to extend the U.S. military mission there. That is a black-and-white violation of federal criminal law. Very simply, in our system the president is responsible for conducting foreign policy. President Bush is thus negotiating with the Iraqi government for a "status of forces" agreement that would clarify the rights and responsibilities of U.S. forces in Iraq after the current U.N. mandate expires at the end of this year. Yet, during Obama's heralded trip to Baghdad in July, he asked Iraqi leaders to ignore Bush and delay resolving the legal status of our forces until next year - by which time the Senator hopes no longer to need a phony presidential seal. Under the "Logan Act" (now codified at Section 953 of the federal penal code) it has been against the law since the late 18th century for U.S. citizens to carry on "intercourse with any foreign government" that is aimed either "to defeat the measures of the United States" or to influence the foreign government's dealings with the United States. Being a senator is no immunity from this statute - as any Republican senator would find out in a hurry if he dared to pull a stunt like this during an Obama administration. --- Nice try. The Candidate of Hope is hoping that while he caterwauls about our lost billions, you won't notice that he has already proposed the most jaw-dropping transfer of wealth in American history: taking nearly a trillion dollars out of the pockets of American taxpayers and doling it out to the world's worst regimes through its most corrupt intermediary, the U.N. The scam is better known as Obama's Global Poverty Act. Sen. Joe Biden, his trusty running-mate, recently tried to slam it through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - the better to address the rarely discussed fact that Obama, having achieved nothing noteworthy as an Illinois state senator, is similarly without accomplishment after three years in the Senate. The GPA is a monstrosity. Thanks to Obama's praetorian guards in the mainstream media, it is a better kept secret than most covert intelligence programs. But Accuracy in Media's Cliff Kincaid has been digging (see here [link] ). If the GPA became law, the United States would be required to fork up for foreign aid 0.7 percent of its gross national product through 2015. That is, Obama would skyrocket U.S. largesse from its current annual level of about $21 billion (the world's most generous) to - you'll want to be sitting down for this - $85 billion per year. --- The price tag by 2015 for Obama's international trough is estimated at about $845 billion. And that, you can be sure, is just the start. Harvard's Jeffrey Sachs, who advises the U.N., anticipates that the funds needed "to put real resources in support of our hopes" would be raised by "a global tax on carbon-emitting fossil fuels." With a Democrat Congress at his back, a President Obama would surely repeal the Bush tax cuts for Americans, but does anyone see him repealing the global tax on Americans? Dream on. [link] “War is Peace”, “Freedom is Slavery”, and “Ignorance is Strength”. “Those who are not with us are against us.” Gee, well, maybe Brzezinsky and Souros know something that Kissinger and Associates don't? 11 Oct 2008 @ 10:37 by jazzolog : Why No Obama? I've held off any endorsement for Barack Obama for a number of reasons, chiefly of course because he was not my first choice---at all. I've never come so close to voting Third Party as this year. One of the reasons though was that I wanted to see him in person. That has happened now, and a new entry is in the works. 22 Oct 2008 @ 10:00 by jazzolog : How Did Sarah Palin Get Here? By now we all know Joe the Plumber...and maybe even Jerry the Plumber, Wendy the Plumber's Daughter, Sandra the Homeschool Mom, and others that make up "Sarah's Army" [link] , this congregation of regular joes who switched to Republican with Reagan (Onward, Christian soldiers!). And have you heard yet of Adam the Messianic Student? Not to be made light of, if anyone gets credit for giving birth to Palin's V-P candidacy, it's this rather brilliant kid. Is he ready for primetime? A year ago February, Adam Brickley, aged 20 and a junior at U of Colorado, posted the first entry at his new blog~~~ Why Sarah Palin? This blog is the result of about a month worth of research on potential Republican Vice-Presidential candidates for the 2008 election. I had been considerably less than thrilled with all of the early speculation, mostly swirling around second-tier presidential candidates, so I decided to see if there was anyone better suited for the job that I hadn't been hearing about. So, I developed the following profile for the perfect VP candidate (using Rudy Giuliani as my presumptive presidential candidate): 1) A energetic, young, fresh face who will energize the electorate 2) Not connected to the current administration 3) Pro-Life 4) Pro-Gun 5) A woman or minority to counter Hillary or Obama and put to rest the idea that America only elects white males One of the first names I found that fit these qualifications was that of Sarah Palin, the recently elected Governor of Alaska. I knew that I had stumbled upon a fantastic candidate for national office, but I kept looking in the hope that I could find other potentially viable choices. However, after looking at every GOP governor, senator, and congressperson, I found that Palin had only become more appealing. She was certainly energetic and young, having become governor at only 42 years of age. Watching her speches and campaign ads, I discovered that she was definitely a new kid of leader, coming off more as a spunky soccer-mom than a stuffy career politician. As for abortion, she was staunchly pro-life; and as a lifetime NRA member she was the most pro-gun candidate in the country. Furthermore, her experiences in rural Alaska provided a perfect complement to the big-city credentials of candidates like Giuliani. Her moderately libertarian positions on most other issues also match up perfectly to Giuliani. There was thing about Palin that initially worried me - "lack of experience". She had only been elected governor in 2006, and her only previous experience was as a two terms as a city councilwoman and two more as mayor in Wasilla, AK (population 8,471 in 2005) followed up by a failed campaign for lieutenant governor and a brief stint on Alaska's Oil and Natural Gas Conservation Commission. This didn't seem very appealing at first, but then I took the time to look closer at Palin's history. What I had failed to realize was that she had habitually knocked of powerful incumbent opponents and was a quick learner on the job. In the 2006 gubernatorial election, she rolled over scandal-prone incumbent Frank Murkowski in the GOP primary, then went on to defeat former governor Tony Knowles in the general election - pretty impressive. Further back, she had knocked off an entrenched incumbent to become mayor of Wasilla, then developed a reputation as a hard-nosed, effective mayor. Her performance in Wasilla got her elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors and earned her the nickname "Sarah Barracuda". In the end, I decided that Sarah Palin had actually compiled a rather astounding record of achievements in her 42 years, and was more than capable of making the jump to the national level. So now I ask you who you would rather have as your Vice-President. You could accept conventional wisdom and choose from the lineup of old men currently being bantered about, or you could choose an inspiring leader like Sarah Palin. As for me, I'm going with "Sarah Barracuda", a candidate who will help us win the election and then deliver solid results. Posted by Adam Brickley, aka "ElephantMan" at 2/26/2007 12:07:00 AM 56 comments [link] Adam was at home at the time, and it may be of some interest to note that Adam's family are Messianic Jews. He focuses on politics at the Palin For VP blog, but his attraction to Palin certainly comes partly from his evangelical base. Messianic Judaism is a rather complicated topic, but the Brickleys came to it from Pentecostal Christianity in order to get closer to Jesus in these "end days." [link] Therefore, Palin's religious emphasis is of particular concern. The thing about Adam Brickley is, if you browse through that first page of the blog---and maybe keep on clicking around ("Home" takes you to the most recent entry from a couple days ago)---is that he's very good at what he does, which is major in political science and put it to work for him on the Internet. Within a few weeks his blog was attracting attention, not only in the blogosphere but elsewhere among the media. At this point in the story we need to move to an article in the current New Yorker, increasingly becoming a political magazine to keep track of. This time it's a feature by Jane Mayer, entitled simply "The Insiders: How John McCain came to pick Sarah Palin." What? You mean some rightwing, elitist insiders are herding all these mavericks? Ms. Mayer's book this summer, The Dark Side, about the Bush administration's interrogation techniques, is a finalist for a National Book Award. A graduate of Yale, she moved her investigative journalism skills from the Wall Street Journal to the New Yorker in 1995. [link] In the article Ms. Mayer describes the jutted-jaw determination of Sarah Palin to get herself noticed and precisely how she did it. Maybe to entice you to buy a copy of the New Yorker or read it online, the key seems to have been a couple of invitations to lunch in the Governor's mansion for the main stars on cruise ships briefly docked in Juneau. You know those cruises (the lefties do it too) where you pay to sail around on boats that have famous people on board? One of those giant yachts carried the National Review, and the other featured William Kristol, generally honored as architect for both the Iraq War and Palin's vice presidency. Bon voyage! 
[link] 22 Oct 2008 @ 14:34 by Quinty @68.9.133.5 : Palin is one of those people who digs her own hole. While Brickley lays out the case for why a right leaning Christian constituency would back her, exposing their thinking, the choice of Palin also exposes a certain recklessness on McCain's part. No one putting the good of the country first would ever have picked her. And had McCain been wiser he would have seen she creates her own messes..... Oct. 21: In a new NBC/WSJ poll, 55 percent said Gov. Sarah Palin is not qualified to be vice president. [link] 22 Oct 2008 @ 15:53 by jazzolog : Let Them Wear Rags Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Republican National Committee spent more than $150,000 on clothes, accessories, hairdressing and makeup for Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin and her family after she was selected as John McCain's running mate, the Politico.com website reported, citing financial disclosure statements. There were bills from Saks Fifth Avenue for a total of $49,425.74 and a single visit to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis which resulted in a $75,062.63 tab early in September; the committee also authorized $4,716.49 for hair and makeup through September, the website reported. Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for McCain and Palin, said it was always intended the clothing would be donated to charity after the campaign, Politico.com said. [link] 22 Oct 2008 @ 18:36 by rusyn : Really? Let's see, since Obama was in the Senate, what has he accomplished? Running for President, is about it. Palin was a mayor and a governor and runs a business and she has the experience as a real leader. She also doesn't pal around with terrorsits, nor have Hamas' financial support as does Obama. Frankly, all the put-downs of Palin just stink because you don't want to get to know the woman or give her one ounce of credit for anything positive she's done. Wanna talk about that expensive haircut Edwards got? I think right now it's more important to focus on who will be President, not VP, anyway. Financial experts say: Obama made a big leap in the polls, that means higher taxes, more unionization, more regulation,more government and less incentive for people to do better because if they do, they'll be punished for having money. It's going to be tough for the economy to emerge well from the problems if Obama wins. 22 Oct 2008 @ 21:00 by Quinty @68.9.133.5 : Like a society lady, donating her clothes to charity once it's no longer needed. How often does a truly stylish and wealthy woman wear the same gown? Once? Twice? I ask because "elitists" are supposed to do that sort of thing. Whereas in the Republican world elitists are never the rich. Criticizing the rich for behaving like the rich would be "class warfare." So 150 g's for clothes is not really elitist. But one has to wonder how the nickel and dime donors to the McCain campaign feel about such expenditures? Is it okay with them? Ironies abound. 22 Oct 2008 @ 23:23 by rusyn : So what? If she has the money (which came from donors to the party), let her buy whatever clothes she wants to. After all, she's just spreading the wealth around, RIGHT? I thought that's what you guys wanted. How many men have you criticized for buying Armani suits? I know people from all economic positions who donate their clothes to charity. It's a good thing - why criticize it? Why not criticze Obama for buying a house that cost $1.6 million? Yeah, he's one of the poor people alright. Where does Michelle shop? Anyone care? 23 Oct 2008 @ 09:34 by jazzolog : Rusyn's Comments Her comment at 18:36, "She (Palin) also doesn't pal around with terrorsits (sic)," apparently is aimed at Barack Obama (although a comma after "support" later in the sentence would make the charge crystal clear). This repetition of typical Palin poison is not only libel and slander, but a serious charge of treason. Look, it's one thing to sling mud but quite another to question the very patriotism of the leading candidate for President of the United States. The Bush administration has installed a secret police network to rival any totalitarian and terrorist state in world history. If there is evidence of terrorist "pals" and influence in his candidacy and personal life, where is it---and why is Obama not hauled off to Guantanamo? Either be serious, Repubs and your cronies, or cut out this mob-inciting crap. As for Palin's shopping spree at Sak's, spending money in there hardly spreads the cash to the homeless on the street corners outside. Palin has dished herself out as Joe Six Pack's wife, carting the kids in the SUV to the games and church fun. If Joe even makes 150 grand a year, you can bet your bottom dollar he doesn't spend it all on clothes, hair and makeup. It's another signal of how phony the whole conservative spiel really is. The Repubs have responded with a promise to donate her wardrobe to charity on November 5th. Cool, does that mean they expect to lose---and she goes back to flannel shirts in Juneau? Or does it mean she'll need a ton of new wardrobes as vice president for her foreign policy missions around the world? Obama does have one house, not 7...and one car, not 13. No 500 dollar shoes. In fact, his staff once took up a collection for him to buy new shoes because his were so worn out. If the reader's response to that anecdote is snide, take some advice: check out just how sour you've become in the last decade, and what became of the sweetness in your life? 23 Oct 2008 @ 12:59 by rusyn : It's also another thing to be in denial, Jazz. Ayres bombed several cities, destroyed buildings and hurt people, and he doesn't apologize for doing so. Hamas supports Obama. These are not little comments tossed about, this is what is true, so stop attacking Palin for saying the truth. Obama isn't being honest - and either he's stupid or in denial - either way it's a lack of good judgment. I'd like to see you be fair - so far, you haven't been about one thing regarding Palin or Obama. It takes a woman VP candidate for you guys to be so damned concerned about a wardrobe. 23 Oct 2008 @ 13:27 by quinty : Spread the cash around? I guess when Marie Antoinette offered that famous (and disputed) remark about letting them eat cake she was thinking of ways to keep the bakers employed. How civic minded of her! As for being in "denial," rightwingers do project a lot. And since they cling to comforting fantasies believe others do too. Do you really believe, rusyn, that those of us who back Obama really would if he were a "terrorist?" Why do we dismiss the Ayers connection? Because it was so negligible. Because two university presidents belonged to that same committee. Because the committee was funded by Republicans and included several Republicans. Because it was as mainstream and establishment as it could be. Why not just say it? You don't like progressives. To you they're all Communists and Socialists and this and that and one thing or another. So you refuse to see that the Ayers argument is miniscule and intended only to heat up the blood of ignorant and debased people. Those who shout "Kill" at Palin rallies. McCain has trotted out the same slime team that worked on him in 2000. It is the new generation of Karl Roves who have offered us this Ayers thing. And it may just lose McCain the election. Anyway, have a good day..... in a hurry Quinty 23 Oct 2008 @ 16:20 by jazzolog : William Charles Ayers Here's the Wikipedia entry~~~ [link] and his profile, publications and awards at University of Chicago~~~ [link] Back in the day I stopped short of the Weather underground, but I was fascinated with them. I don't recall Bill Ayers, but I remember very well the radical nature of their writings about this country---many of them resembling precisely the kind of thing we hear now all the time around NCN. You know, the money system and banks, invading other countries, secret police, the works---only they decided to do something about it instead of just griping in the Chatroom. I probably could find comments on this very Log about revolution and manning the barricades. 23 Oct 2008 @ 17:07 by quinty : The Weathermen were nuts. I think a gage of the health of a society can be seen through its young people. If they are in open revolt there is something wrong..... And I would include punks and skiin heads along with all the hippies. I was in revolt (ask Jazzo) myself when I was a kid. And could be pretty obnoxious. The only reason I may not have joined the Weather group is because they were too conformist. Though I was also thoroughly put off by their use of terror tactics and violence. I found all that crazy and abhorrent. I don't know why Bill Ayers has been "rehabilitated," and has become a "respectable" member of the Chicago community. I would think that his past activities might permanently brand him. Was he ever engaged in actual acts of violence? Is he connected with anyone's death? But when we judge Obama's tie to Ayers we have to remember that Ayers appears to have been honored and accepted by Chicago society. The establishment. And that includes not only community activists but prominent academics, politicians, Republicans, teachers, Democrats and local celebrities. Maybe Chicago is a funny place. (I always enjoyed visiting.) Maybe not. But what is clear is that the McCain campaign's use of Bill Ayers is a crude attempt to smear Barack Obama. That they have dived head first into the gutter. 24 Oct 2008 @ 04:55 by mortimer : Educational Background Comparison (The U.S. Republican National Committee spent more than $150,000 on clothes, accessories, hairdressing and makeup. Appearing To Be is not Being.) Presidential candidates Let's look at the educational background of the candidates and see what they bring to the job: Obama: Occidental College - Two years. Columbia University - B.A. political science with a specialization in international relations. Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna *** Laude Biden: University of Delaware - B.A. in history and B.A. in political science. Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.) vs. McCain: United States Naval Academy - Class rank 894 out of 899 (meaning that, like George Bush, McCain was at the bottom of his class) Palin: Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in journalism 24 Oct 2008 @ 06:31 by rusyn : You intentionally omit Mayor and Governor Palin, and businesswoman Palin - each one a huge educational experience. Can't say that about Obama. Can't be fair or honest, can ya? Trying to discredit her experience. Did you really think that nobody knows Palin was a Mayor and is the Governor? haahahha 24 Oct 2008 @ 10:24 by mortimer : Rusyn Mirror-Image ''Intentionally omit'', ''Can't be fair or honest'', ''Trying to discredit'' ~Rusyn mirror-image 24 Oct 2008 @ 15:02 by quinty : I agree just yesterday McCain claimed that Obama would be willing to say anything to win the election. And this right on top of an amazing series of attacks including Ayers and patriotism and constant misrepresentations of Obama's tax plan. They do "mirror-image" themselves when they attack others. Was it McCain or Palin who accused the Obama camp of "sexism" for dwelling on that shopping spree? Okay. Let's pretend Biden had gone on a 150,000 dollar shopping spree on the contributors' dime? Let's not also assume that Biden, like Palin, had been presenting himself as "Joe Sixpack," the regular guy who understands everyday household problems. Let's just leave it at this vain and exploitive waste of their backers' money. I would be thoroughly disgusted. And would find myself in a quandary about who to vote for. As for running a business being a fit preparation for becoming President of the United States, well, apart from the fact that the two areas have next to nothing to do with one another (Only in the US would such an assumption be made) I might, for the sake of argument, be a good bike rider but that wouldn't qualify me to operate a jet plane. There is an aspect of rigid denial in refusing to see the obvious. If a businessman were that unrealistic he would soon make all his decisions on the basis of wishful thinking and would go broke. 24 Oct 2008 @ 15:40 by Quinty @68.9.133.5 : More in the "let them eat cake" department. This just in on Palin's makeup artist..... [link] who happens to be the highest paid staffer on the McCain team. Other entries in Inspiration 30 Apr 2008 @ 09:54: The Foothill Fanfairs 29 Feb 2008 @ 06:49: Vote For MRS. Barack Obama! 6 Dec 2007 @ 14:13: Need Some Cheer? Here's Dennis! 20 Oct 2007 @ 12:23: FactCheck Checks Itself In...And Out 1 Jun 2007 @ 07:00: The Divine Feminine 18 Mar 2007 @ 10:46: Blogs: Journalism At Its Finest 3 Feb 2007 @ 06:59: Molly: Enough Is Enough 3 Dec 2006 @ 12:01: Bill Moyers Addresses West Point 26 Aug 2006 @ 15:33: Maynard The Fox 17 Jun 2006 @ 18:04: Ilona: Back In The B-USA
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4 Oct 2008 @ 10:59, by Richard Carlson