Drill Barack Drill!

What is the matter with this guy? A wimpy health care law. Greatly increasing the troops at war. Drill Barack Drill! Obama is worse than Bush in some ways. Certainly so when it comes to the environment.




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Nikon P100 Digital Camera

------------------- CLICK ON THE PICTURES AND THEY WILL ENLARGE

The new Nikon P100 is an amazing camera. It superbly fills the void between a shirt pocket point-and-shoot camera (or cellphone camera) and a full blown but heavy to carry digital SLR.

The very good Nikkor zoom lens on this camera goes from a respectable wide angle to a telephoto focal length of 678 mm in 35 mm terms. The camera takes 1080i movies with stereo sound or slow motion movies. It has built into the camera both HDR and active D-lighting, and it does excellent macro photography up really close. The 3 inch screen is movable which is a great feature.

It is a bit heavier than the P80 which I am replacing, but all the other features more than makes up for the additional weight.

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Friskies Cat Food Ad

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The Eiffel Tower Completed on This Date

On March 31, 1889 the Eiffel Tower in Paris was completed. They assembled 18,000 pieces of iron in just under 21 months, and they did it under budget.

The Eiffel Tower sits directly next to the Seine river and stands 318.7 meters high (1,045 feet). I have visited it many times. This is a picture I took of it a few years ago when I was there visiting at Easter time.

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Three Multiple Executions in Juarez Yesterday

The Mexican newspaper Diario reports that fourteen people were murdered in Juarez yesterday. Three of these were multiple executions. In addition an 18 month of child was killed, and the teenager who was carrying the baby. This attack killed 2 adults.

The insanity continues. In fact it is growing.

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Watching The Death Throes Of The Catholic Church

Unless the Roman Catholic Church rapidly begins ordaining women, and even elects a female Pope, then starts encouraging priests to marry and have children it is dead. The church is dying, and it is doing so rapidly at this point.

For more than 50 years priests worldwide have been rampantly sexually abusing the children under their care. Yet the Catholic Church still feels that the major problem is the sin of a priest disregarding his vow of celibacy, not the sin of him causing horrible lifetime damage to these many thousands of boys. This church-wide pedophilia is an evil beyond description.

Maybe Joseph Ratzinger has the balls to see through this level of change, but I sort of doubt it. After all Cardinal Ratzinger was the “bulldog” who enforced these same rules for many years.

With improved worldwide communication and education organized religion in general has been in decline for some time. What is happening to the Catholics at this point is very different. It is several orders of magnitude greater. It is like the Church has been afflicted by a relatively dormant cancer for many years, but suddenly the cancer has metastasized into an amazingly aggressive and fast growing malignancy. This malignancy of pedophilia now seems to have taken hold all over the body. Unless plenty of really strong chemotherapy and radiation are applied, a fairly rapid death is almost a certainty. There is no certainty of survival even with the oncologists infusing all sorts of poisons. No doubt it will all be horribly painful to experience and even to watch from afar.

It seems equally plausible that the Catholic Church could be deemed a “continuing criminal enterprise” and be found guilty of committing thousands of crimes against humanity. If that scenario were to play out then 100 years from now the Church may well evoke similar mental images of horror and revulsion as do the concentration camps and “ovens” of Hitler's Nazis.

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Sexual Predator Priests

On Palm Sunday the Pope says that he won't be intimidated by criticism regarding the rampant sexual abuse of children which has gone on in the Catholic Church.

No problem Joseph Ratzinger. How about we just forget about the past and focus on the present and the future? Times were maybe a bit different back then, but we clearly see now how evil pedophilia is. Unless you are completely out of touch with reality you will do the following:

Recognize and announce to the church that potentially damaging a young boy's life permanently is a far worse sin than is the sin of a priest not living up to his vow of chastity.

You have already told the church to cooperate with secular authorities regarding these pedophiles. Now take it the final step and tell the church that from this day forward it is the God given duty and responsibility of every Catholic to notify the secular police any time that someone who works for the church is accused of sexually predatory acts. No more dead of night transfers to another parish and no more cover ups. The police and secular courts can determine if the priest has committed a crime, and the church can investigate in tandem to see if the man/woman should be excommunicated from the church.

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Middle East Peace Process

The Islamists and Arabs are furious that the right-wing Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu has finally gotten up the balls to be really honest with them. He has told the Americans and the rest of the world very clearly that East Jerusalem is in a different category than their Jewish “settlements” in the area known as the west bank of the Jordan river. He says that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and That is That. Period. Full Stop. The Jews have zero intention of sharing Jerusalem with some Islamic murderers who continue to call for their destruction.

The Arabs are livid with rage. But what do they expect? They still openly support their religious leaders and their news media in the constant barrage of propaganda telling people that ISRAEL MUST BE DESTROYED!! The Palestinians continue firing deadly rockets into Israel on an almost daily basis. Lebanon and Syria aren't a great deal more in touch with reality.

As long as the Palestinians and Arabs do not accept that Israel has a right to exist, and as long as they support the daily bombing of Israel, of course the Jews are not likely to be willing to share the city of Jerusalem with them. Are these Arabs stupid or are they just totally out of touch with reality?

Real final peace negotiations cannot begin until the Palestinians and the neighboring Arab countries all fully acknowledge Israel's right to exist. The true peace negotiations also can't start until ALL the shelling and aggressive military moves against Israel cease. Completely stop.

“Bibi” is a right-wing red neck, but he sees this one correctly. And he had the balls to stand up to the President of the United States over this.

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Civility? Republicans say, “Hell NO!!”

The chairman of the Democratic National Committee has asked the chairman of the Republican National committee to jointly sign a statement urging civility, and encouraging the elected officials of both parties to set the example. The Republicans have refused to join in. President Obama tried bipartisanship. In fact he kept on attempting to reach a compromise with the Republicans long after it became apparent to most that the right-wing had absolutely no intention of either working with or compromising with a black president.

The hate speech coming from the mouths of the crude and uncivilized Republican congressional leaders has encouraged their ignorant radical right-wing base, and politically motivated threats and violence against Democrats have skyrocketed. One black congressman was even spat upon by a right-wing protestor. In my opinion the leaders in the Republican party are increasingly advocating and encouraging ever more violent confrontations. Bricks thrown through windows, threats of assassination, etc. Right-wing radio and TV talk show hosts are blatantly lying and openly encouraging violence, but their Republican leaders continue to remain silent about it all.

It is sort of ironic. America has the finest president it has had in many years, but the Republicans are going totally off their rocker. Their true colors are coming through. The idea that a black man can be competent and far more civilized than them just makes them get redder in the face, and they continue spouting their increasingly cruel and dishonest hate speech.

And some people wonder why liberal Democrats increasingly are getting permits to carry concealed hand guns. This really is a matter of self defense from these ultra right-wing lunatics.

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Spring Winds

Here in the high Chihuahuan desert of west Texas it gets pretty windy in the spring. The dust/sand storms are legendary.

I just checked with the weather bureau at the El Paso International Airport. The winds are currently gusting to 68 mph (109 km/hour). These trash cans are merrily sliding down the street with the cars desperately swerving to try and avoid hitting them.

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The Lost Tomb of Jesus

In 2007 the James Cameron movie called The Lost Tomb of Jesus came out. It describes how in 1980 a bulldozer near Jerusalem which was working on a construction project accidentally discovered a first century tomb.

The evidence highly suggests that the bones of Jesus of Nazareth, Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary, and members of Jesus' direct family were buried in this tomb. Maybe even the son that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had.

This movie seems to be an unbiased and professional view of the discovery. This is also that same movie that caused Glenn Beck to so thoroughly criticize James Cameron. Although I no longer consider myself to be a Christian, I was raised as one, and was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal church. In the 1970's I traveled widely in Israel. I have no faith in the miracles and all the hocus pocus of the Christian religion, but I do recognize its tremendous historical importance. As an educated person one must hold an interest in the history of the Christian church.

I recommend this documentary movie highly.


LINK: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/tomb.html


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Privatization

Privatization of social security was a horrible idea. Thank goodness that the Republicans were not able to slip that one in. It would also not be wise to privatize the fire department or the police department. When jails are privatized judges end up taking bribes so that more people will be put in jail. Using private military contractors instead of the military has turned out to be a total disaster in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I am not an educator, but as an ignorant layman I certainly have mixed feelings about privatizing our public schools (called charter schools).

When free enterprise is allowed to run rampant without any control or regulation the marketplace does not control the boom and bust cycle – it exacerbates it. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I have some bad things to say about capitalism and free enterprise. Note that I was general manager of a privately owned company with over 100 employees for 15 years. We were highly profitable every year that I served at the helm. So I am not just some wild eyed socialist.

I do admit that when governments allocate precious resources they are sometimes less efficient than businesses. But they are also less ruthless.

For the last 30 years America has been conducting a radical experiment in deregulation and completely uncontrolled capitalism. It has not turned out at all well. The middle class has shrunk, the rich have gotten obscenely wealthy, and the poor are suffering more than ever. American life expectancy has actually decreased. The radical free market capitalists who advocated this deregulation almost broke the American economy, not to mention all the damage which was done overseas. Far fewer workers have employer sponsored health insurance or retirement programs now than in the 1950s and 1960s. Many more people work part time against their wishes, and far more people work for what is well below a livable wage.

Yes, this has been a real disaster. Whenever someone starts talking about privatization we need listen carefully and then think long and hard before we do something really foolish.

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Immigration

Americans are self centered, and for the most part don't pay much attention to what is happening in the rest of the world. Some would call it high-handedness or even arrogance. Others just see it as simple ignorance.

Many Americans are worried about all the poor, badly educated people entering the country from Mexico. They are not aware that Mexico also has a similar problem...many central American people are so poor that they try to illegally immigrate into Mexico and take jobs away from poor Mexicans. Germans are worried about too many Turks coming in, and the French see the massive Muslim immigration as a real threat to their culture. South Africa has a massive problem with people entering illegally from Zimbabwe. People come from North Africa into Spain and Italy. This sort of population movement by desperate people moving out of their home countries and taking shady and illegal routes to more prosperous countries is taking place all over the planet.

These people would not be leaving the comfort zone of their own countries if their economic situation were not so desperate. The question is why has the issue of immigration turned into such a major worldwide problem in the early twenty first century?

In 1950 the world had about 2.5 billion people. In 2009 the world had 6.7 billion people living on it. This is far greater than the sustainable carrying capacity of the planet. Massive numbers of people do not have access to fresh water or enough food. Wild animals, ocean fish, and plants are becoming extinct at the highest rate since the world was last hit by an asteroid. The air of the entire planet is now polluted as are the world's oceans.

In the course of my lifetime things have changed massively. I have seen great improvements in the technology of communication and computing. Cars pollute a bit less than they did 60 years ago. But we have not made great strides in health care, nutrition, world social justice, or the elimination of warfare. In fact many things are now a good bit worse than they were in 1950.

After the healthy birth of my first child in 1976 I had a vasectomy because I didn't want to be part of the problem. At the time we called it ZPG – zero population growth. The ignorant right-wing forces opposing birth control may be stronger now than they were 40 years ago in the 1970s.

Worldwide if we educate women and help free them from the oppression of men it will do more to help the planet survive than anything else. Think schools for girls and micro credit for women. Other than that I think it may be time to begin seriously considering what planet Earth is going to be like after all the humans are extinct.

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Hate Speech

Wikipedia defines hate speech this way:

Hate speech is, outside the law, any communication which disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race or sexual orientation. In law, hate speech is any speech, gesture or conduct, writing, or display which is forbidden because it may incite violence or prejudicial action against or by a protected individual or group, or because it disparages or intimidates a protected individual or group. The law may identify a protected individual or a protected group by race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, or other characteristic. In some countries, a victim of hate speech may seek redress under civil law, criminal law, or both.

America clearly has a problem with radical right-wing hate speech. Since mainstream Republicans are not in any way denying what these extremist radicals are saying, their very obvious silence is aiding and abetting the inciting of violence and racial prejudice.

In America we hesitate to inhibit anyone's freedom of speech. But these right-wing freaks have gone far, far over the line. Is hate speech now deregulated too? How obvious can one be in calling for the assassination of people like President Barack Obama before the law enforcement part of the government gets its ass moving?

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Pedophile Priests

I have been a staunch defender of Joseph Ratzinger for years. I have argued that he is a brilliant man and that he is humble. But I think now I have finally figured this thing out.

When the Catholic Church finds out that one of their priests or bishops has been sexually abusing, fondling, or butt fucking young boys who come to them in good faith and trust, the Church worries that the holy man has committed a sin. The major sin has been the man breaking his vows of celibacy. The Church has viewed it from the perspective of sin and repentance more than as criminal matter which should be investigated by the secular authorities.

The church hierarchy was intensely worried about the image of the Church, so they routinely engaged in cover ups. They don't seem to have been even a little bit concerned about all the young boys that have been severely damaged by these pedophiles.

It really has now evolved to the point where if I see a Catholic Priest I assume that as a minimum he is a homosexual. Probably some kind of a pervert; maybe even a pedophile. I'm sure there are probably many good priests who are not sick sexual predators, but my very first assumption is that this guy probably gets little boys in his congregation to jack him off and give him blow jobs.

If you could “short” the stock of the Catholic Church, I think it would be a good investment.

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Social Security Trust Fund

I see that the chief actuary for the social security administration says that this will be the first year where social security pays out more in retirement payments than it receives from employee payroll deductions. I am now in my early 60's. For well over 40 years I have had large amounts of money deducted from my pay each year to be invested in the social security trust fund. No doubt the government has earned a little interest on my money, so there should be a large trust fund just waiting which has my name on it.

Of course this is all just dishonest propaganda. Social security has always been a pay as you go system. Sort of a U.S. Government ponzi scheme. So where have our elected officials spent all of the excess money? Certainly not on universal health care; nor on programs trying to reduce obesity or smoking. They also haven't spent my money properly maintaining and repairing the nation's bridges and roads.

No, my elected representatives have largely pissed away my pension trust fund on the military and on entirely unnecessary wars. When I was a young boy the outgoing president of the United States, former General Dwight D. Eisenhower, warned the American people about the military-industrial complex. It now seems that these assholes have wasted almost all of my retirement fund on brutality and killing.

These are the same right wing types as represented today by congressman John Boner. Of course the blue dog Democrats blissfully went right along with it all.

I served my country faithfully by giving it three of the best years of my life. After I graduated from college the Vietnam war was still raging, and I served in the U.S. Army as a clerk-typist stationed in West Germany. I received an honorable discharge. Now it seems that these bastards with the United States Government have stolen most of my old age pension.

And you wonder why some people get so angry?


LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/business/economy/25social.html?partner=rss&emc=rss



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Congressman John Boner

Republicans and the Right-Wing Advocate Violence

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Eight People Killed in Juarez Yesterday

Molly Molloy of NMSU is well recognized as one of the top experts keeping track of the brutality and killing happening in Juarez. She sent the following this morning:


Eight people in all were killed yesterday in Juarez, including a municipal policeman. Four of the 8 people murdered yesterday were shot to death at about 6:00 in the evening while they were working on repairs to a funeral home that they owned in the Colonia Guadalajara Izquierda.

One of the men who died was El Paso resident Ruben Quezada. People at the scene said the young men (aged 19, 23 and 24) had been involved in the past with the Blue Star gang and that their enemies, the Tiburones, did not forget old quarrels. Besides, the kids had left this behind and were working for a living, painting and doing other interior work on the small funeral business.

Some 120 federal and state police and soldiers came to the scene and were received with anger and contempt by the residents and relatives of the dead men. The attitude of the agents assigned to the scene angered the neighbors who began to yell things at them such as, "get out of here assholes, go look for the killers" and "you are worthless, standing there you look so pretty" and "if you are not going to do your jobs, you might as well get the fuck out of here..." These were among other expressions that the residents of the neighborhood yelled at the agents.

Yet again, I would ask the experts to explain exactly how this mass killing fits into the idea that a CARTEL WAR is the cause of all of this violence and death in Juarez?

In all, the 8 deaths yesterday bring the total killed in Juarez so far this year to 540. For the month of March the total is 164. The average number of killings per day in the month of March is now 7.

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Firefly

The TV series Firefly aired in 2002. At the time I was living in Europe, and I just recently became aware of it. This TV series was written and directed by Josh Whedon. Fox television canceled it after 11 episodes had aired. I have been slowly and patiently enjoying watching all the eleven episodes over the last couple of months.

This show really appeals to me. I guess that I would have to put it in the top five maybe ten TV series I have ever loved.

If you aren't familiar with it please do watch it. I recommend it highly. I bought mine used from Amazon.

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LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_(film))

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