Tuesday, October 25, 2011

occupy a history book

Video: Former soviet citizen confronts socialists at Occupy Wall Street

Ex-soviet: What are you going to replace [capitalism] with?
OWS: Socialism.
Ex-soviet: Really? What do you think is going to happen under socialism?
OWS: Well, we wouldn't have people unemployed.
Ex-soviet: Really? You're kidding?
OWS: We wouldn't have hunger.
Ex-soviet: Really?

cap·i·tal·ism - noun - an economic systemin which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.

so·cial·ism - noun - a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

com·mu·nism - noun - a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.


maybe instead of reading dictionaries, they should do some research.

Monday, October 24, 2011

ReBlog - no, share it now!

Occupy Wall Street has close to $500,000 in the bank -- $483,663, to be exact -- and those in charge of managing all that money have found that consensus process and anarchist principles don't make for the most efficient financial governance. According to Bill Dobbs, a member of the media committee, as of Thursday, organization has spent $66,742 and a remaining balance of $483,663. The New York Post reported on Sunday that the money that's been pouring in through donations online and at Zuccotti Park had started to lead to discontent among the occupiers, as factions within the encampment clamored for their fair share. But Dobbs explained to us, it's not that the group's financial committee is withholding that money or resisting participants' requests for it -- it's just trying to account for all its expenses and approve them via its own agreed-upon process, just like any large organization trying to administer a half-million-dollar budget.

The Post quoted an organizer of the Comfort working group (the subcommittee in charge of procuring clean clothes, sundries, and so on) who made a request from the finance group: "I was told to fill out paperwork. Paperwork! Are they the government now?" Dobbs explained to us that the paperwork was necessary in order to properly account for expenses. That quote, he said, "is a big clue" to the group's sense of responsibility. "Of course you have to fill out paperwork... that's the least that's owed to donors," he said. The group has registered as a 501(c)3, a member of its finance working group explained in an online budget discussion, and it's trying to figure out how to post its revenue and expense reports online. "I guess it's a question of whether to put them in categories or go all the way down to the receipt level," Dobbs said.

It's also a question of manpower, and that brings up a problem with Occupy Wall Street's fully egalitarian setup: In practice, even though all are welcome and respected at the camp, not all are welcome to handle the money. The finance committee requires background checks, according to the online discussion, which may be a good idea, as the New York Daily News points out the round-the-clock demonstration has become a haven for ex-cons and what it calls "takers." But the background checks mean delays in getting more members, and therefore delays on getting the work done of posting the finances online. Finance group member Johana wrote, "we understand the urgent need to get all records computerized but we are all busy with the frequent business within the park, thus creating more transactions to be recorded minute by minute, while trying to create a financial structure that is PERFECT and easily tracked and reported on in a transparent way ... Um, give us a minute?"

aw, poor babies... they have to use capitalism to run their anarchist / socialist movement... ain't that something?

source:
Occupy Wall Street's Half-Million-Dollar Headache - The Atlantic Wire - Adam Martin

where do i sign up?

Sharia = no interest loans plus polygamy.
Post-Gaddafi Libya will have Sharia Law as the "basic source" of its civil laws, declared interim leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil on Sunday. Already Abdul-Jalil has altered several Libyan laws that did not line up with Sharia, such as banning local banks from charging interest and making it legal to again practice polygamy.
no interest AND multiple wives?... who has been hiding this tidbit of information about Sharia law?... and how do we go about getting this implimented here?

wait... if i don't pay interest on loans, then they charge fees for the priviledge of using their money... banks are going to make money somehow... they're not charity groups, after all (sorry Occupy Wall Street)... so, i'm not saving anything.

well, there's still the polygamy!... then i can have multiple wives inform me when, where, and how i've done something wrong.

*sigh*
nevermind.

source:
Islamic Winter: Tunisian and Libyan 'liberation' leads to Sharia
Mustapha Ajbaili: Libyan NTC chief’s ‘liberation’ speech raises eyebrows

Friday, October 21, 2011

fear and lying in Flint Michigan

You know Pat Moynihan said everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but they’re not entitled to their own facts. Let’s look at the facts. In 2008, when Flint had 265 sworn officers on the police force, there were 35 murders and 91 rapes in this city. In 2010, when Flint had only 144 police officers, the murder rate climbed to 65 and rapes — just to pick two categories — climbed to 229.
- Vice President Biden - October 12, 2011 - Flint, Michigan

I was up in Flint, Michigan, last week. Their police department’s cut more than in half. The murder rate, close to triple. The number of rapes have quadrupled. - Vice President Biden - October 18, 2011 - University of Pennsylvania

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports for those years show that the number of reported rapes declined from 103 in 2008 to 92 in 2010, or a nearly 11 percent drop.
- Factcheck.org

just for clarity, in 2009, Flint had 38 murders and 110 rapes... a 7% increase from 2008... and a 16% decrease from 2009 to 2010...

figures don't lie... liars sure do figure.

source:
Biden’s Whopper in Flint, Mich. - FactCheck.org Posted on
FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports - 2008, 2009, and 2010

cut on a bias

remember the "Spot the Differences" games?... let's see how many you find here.

source:
Eric Allie Political Cartoons

Thursday, October 20, 2011

nothing more than feelings

According to a Boston police report, a disgruntled homeless man got into an argument at 6:15 p.m. with Occupiers because he “had nowhere to stay.” The man urinated on a tent and then allegedly pulled a knife on a group of 10 shocked protesters. No one was stabbed but several protesters later told cops they felt "threatened" by the incident.
they shouldn't feel threatened... you idiots; when someone pulls a knife on you, you are threatened.

but that's what you get from these hippie-reject wanna-be protestors... they grew up where everyone who participated got a trophy; even last place... where you don't speak badly about someone, even if it is the truth... we have to respect people's feelings...

f*#k feelings!

here's some news:
  • Life is nasty, brutish, and short.
Hereby it is manifest that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man.
...
For as the nature of foul weather lieth not in a shower or two of rain, but in an inclination thereto of many days together: so the nature of war consisteth not in actual fighting, but in the known disposition thereto during all the time there is no assurance to the contrary. All other time is peace.
...
In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; ... no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
- The Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes [emphasis added]

more news:
  • Life is tough; get a helmet. - Eric on Boy Meets World

source:
Raymond Flynn to Occupy Boston: ‘Time to pack up... and leave’ - BostonHerald.com:

Friday, October 14, 2011

on "Human Nature" and grasshoppers

part of "Obamacare" is a provision to pay for long-term care... it expects healthy people to pay premiums now in case they become disabled in the future... the government is betting that more people will pay premiums than will require disabled benefits, thus keeping the program solvent.
But officials said they discovered they could not make CLASS [Community Living Assistance Services and Supports] both affordable and financially solvent while keeping it a voluntary program open to virtually all workers, as the law also required.
Monthly premiums would have ranged from $235 to $391, even as high as $3,000 under some scenarios, the administration said. At those prices, healthy people were unlikely to sign up. Suggested changes aimed at discouraging enrollment by people in poor health could have opened the program to court challenges, officials said.
well, DUH!
anyone who has teenagers (or ever was one) knows that it is human nature to bet on their own immortality and health... that is, until they discover mortality and/or sickness... then they cry for government intervention.

One summer's day, a merry Grasshopper was dancing, singing and playing his violin with all his heart. He saw an Ant passing by, bearing along with great toil a wheatear to store for the winter.
“Come and sing with me instead of working so hard”, said the Grasshopper “Let’s have fun together.”
“I must store food for the winter”, said the Ant, “and I advise you to do the same.”
“Don’t worry about winter, it’s still very far away”, said the Grasshopper, laughing at him. But the Ant wouldn’t listen and continued his toil.
When the winter came, the starving Grasshopper went to the Ant’s house and humbly begged for something to eat.
“If you had listened to my advice in the summer you would not now be in need,” said the Ant. “I’m afraid you will have to go supperless to bed,” and he closed the door.


source:
News from The Associated Press

Thursday, October 13, 2011

ReBlog - squat Wall Street

"I’ve been smoking and drinking in here for eight days now,” said Dave, booze on his breath and his eyes bloodshot as he lay sprawled on a tattered sheet of cardboard. “I need to get some methadone. Every day, I wake up, and I’m f--ked up.”
Drugs can be easy to score -- a Post reporter was offered pot for $15 and heroin for $10.
They’ve already fueled at least one violent incident, when a wasted nut job socked a medical volunteer in the face before others hauled the attacker away.
“We are trying to keep everything calm and work with the police, but there are some crazies in here,” said Paul, a security volunteer.
“The other day, there was a guy charging people $5 to use the McDonald’s bathroom. He was on LSD or high on something.”
But the creeps can’t give a bad name to the group’s overall anti-greed message, protesters said.
A coalition of religious leaders and their followers yesterday marched from Washington Square Park to the encampment with a makeshift golden calf in the shape of the Wall Street bull, leading protesters in such spirituals as “We Shall Overcome” and “Down by the Riverside.”
The crowd chanted, “We are the 99 percent!” -- referring to the millions of Americans not among the top 1 percent of the country’s earners -- along with priests, rabbis and imams.
“You are fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah. You have thrown off the yoke. Occupy, occupy, occupy!” shouted Warren Goldstein, chair of the history department at the University of Hartford in Connecticut.
The golden calf sat atop a brown platform that marchers carried on their shoulders. On the platform were the words “false idol.”
The clerics -- some holding signs that read, “Jesus is with the 99%” -- said they were there to support the movement.
“You have woken up all of us ... We will stand with you in every city, every state and every country across this globe,” said Michael Ellick, minister at Judson Memorial Church near Washington Square.
Hundreds gathered around philosopher Slavoj Zizek as he gave a speech and answered questions.
“They tell us we are dreamers. The true dreamers are those who think things can go on indefinitely the way they are,” he said. “We are not destroying anything. We are only witnessing how the system is destroying itself.”
Some protesters have said that in addition to being against Wall Street greed, they also are for a withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq and more help for Haiti.
But as the protest ground on for a 23rd day, it was evident that there were challenges.
Zuccotti Park smelled like an open sewer -- with people urinating and defecating in public.
And some couples have taken advantage of the free condoms distributed by organizers to do the nasty in full view of other protesters.
“It kinda makes me think of what Woodstock must have been like,” said one protester, Sarah, 19 from the Upper West Side.
“I haven’t hooked up with any guys ... but one of my friends did have sex in a tarp with a guy last night.”
The free chow offered to protesters was boosting the crowd.
“People say they are here for the cause, but the real reason is the free food,” quipped Cameron, 26, of Jersey City.
“On my third day, they had smoked salmon with cream cheese. You know how much smoked salmon is a pound? Sixteen dollars. I eat better here than I do with my parents!”
Many of the protesters said they are here for the long haul -- and predicted trouble if cops try to clear the park.
“When the weather starts getting cold, we’re already talking about bringing tents in here,” said Robert, 47, of Pennsylvania. “I’m not going anywhere.
“I lost my job of 22 years, and someone has gotta pay,’’ he said. “Civil disobedience is something we may need to keep this site occupied. If everyone does it at once, the cops won’t be able to do anything.”
Three protesters took their sleeping bags and tried to camp out on Wall Street near Nassau Street last night. When police told them to move, one demonstrator, Zachary Miller, 20, from California, was arrested for disorderly conduct, cops said.
At one point yesterday, a speaker from Washington, DC, told protesters how to break out of zip ties and handcuffs in case they get collared.
The protest vet, Ryan Clayton, 30, demonstrated how use a bobby pin to spring the cuffs open -- while claiming he was “not encouraging people to break out of restraints.”

Sex, drugs and hiding from the law at Wall Street protests
By LACHLAN CARTWRIGHT and BOB FREDERICKS
Posted: 3:28 AM, October 10, 2011
Additional reporting by Hannah Rappleye and Andy Campbell


source:
Squatters and drug addicts invade Zuccotti Park and Occupy Wall Street protests - NYPOST.com

Occupy White House

or: "from crony capitalism to crony communism in one easy step"
But, then, government of the sort progressives demand — supposed “experts,” wiser than the market, allocating wealth and opportunity by supposedly disinterested decisions — is not just susceptible to corruption, it is corruption.

Solyndra got to the government trough with the help of a former bundler of Obama campaign contributions who was an Energy Department bureaucrat helping to dispense taxpayers’ money to politically favored companies. His wife’s law firm represented Solyndra.

From 1965 through 1968, the left found its voice and style in consciousness-raising demonstrations and disruptions. In November 1968, the nation, its consciousness raised, elected Richard Nixon President and gave 56.9 percent of the popular vote to Nixon or George Wallace. Republicans won four of the next five presidential elections.

source:
Here's to a long life for Occupy Wall Street | New Hampshire OPINION02 - GEORGE F. WILL - Oct 13, 2011

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

#iamthe53

In 2009, roughly 47% of households, or 71 million, [did] not owe any federal income tax, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

The ranks of those whose major federal tax burdens net out at zero -- or less -- is on the rise. The center's original 2009 estimate was 38%. That was before enactment in February of the $787 billion economic recovery package, which included a host of new or expanded tax breaks.
47% will pay no federal income tax - CNN - Money - Jeanne Sahadi, Senior Writer - October 3, 2009

"If I can do it, you can do it."... quit your whining and get to work.

source:
I Am The 53% - Tumblr

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

a lovely ballet ensues, so full of form and color

in a letter to Ken Salazar, Senator David Vitter (R-LA) warned of a severe revenue falloff attached to declining energy lease sales... $10,000,000,000 per year falloff... but the President promised to increase oil production in the U.S.

[W]e should increase safe and responsible oil production here at home. Last year, America’s oil production reached its highest level since 2003. But I believe that we should expand oil production in America – even as we increase safety and environmental standards.
-President Barack Obama - May 14, 2011

is this what happened?... let's ask someone close to the problem... say, a Congressman from a Gulf state... like Sen. David Vitter.

September 28, 2011

The Honorable Ken Salazar
Secretary, Department of Interior
1849 C St., NW
Washington, DC 20240

Director Michael Bromwich
Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement
1849 C St., NW
Washington, DC 20240

Dear Secretary Salazar and Director Bromwich:

We would like to bring to your attention the steep decrease in revenue from bonus bids that result from zero Outer Continental Shelf lease sales in FY2011. In FY2008, revenue from bonus bids on offshore leases was approximately $10 billion. For FY2011, the amount is $0.

Our country faces a severe fiscal crisis as well as significant economic challenges related to private industry job creation. Revenue cannot be generated from lease sales that do not occur, and jobs cannot be created on leases that private industry cannot acquire.

Revenue from the offshore lease sale program has dropped from $10 billion to nothing in just three years. As a result, the revenue that Gulf States can anticipate from their share of bonus bids under GOMESA is $0 for FY2011. This is clear evidence that the financial scope of these decisions reach beyond the Federal Treasury.

The 100 percent falloff in bonus bid revenue from 2008 to 2011 will also have long-term economic impacts that include lost jobs, lost royalties, and lost rental fees—all of which have a negative impact on our employment and fiscal challenges. If companies continue to face challenges in obtaining permits, future lease sales revenue will be negatively impacted by that uncertainty. No company wants to own a lease if there is not a reasonable expectation that its exploration plan or permits will be approved.

In order to better understand the direction the agency is headed with federal offshore leasing we ask that you provide the status of all anticipated lease sales for FY2012, as well as current planning areas under review for inclusion in the next 5-year plan.

Sincerely,
David Vitter
United States Senate

Richard Shelby
United States Senate

Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senate

John Cornyn
United States Senate

Cc: President Barack Obama

that's $10 billion just from leases... that doesn't include the jobs working these sites... the construction of the rigs... the infrastructure, the maintenance jobs, the design professionals, the supply vessels, etc.
to quote the movie, The Fifth Element:
Now, think about all those people that created them. Technicians, engineers, hundreds of people, who will be able to feed their children tonight, so those children can grow up big and strong and have little teeny children of their own, and so on and so forth. Thus, adding to the great chain of life.
but Obama wants another stimulous bill?... how about we let companies create the jobs they are already able to?

source:
Senator David Vitter

equal outrage


the Anti Defamation League (ADL) is clear that it is unacceptab­le to make comparison­s to Hitler in political statements­... therefore, Hank Williams, Jr. was wrong to do so.

but for clarity, i'd like to see some more outrage when the tables are turned... we had eight years of Bush-Hitle­r comparison­s... when radio hosts (Mike Malloy) or congressme­n (Durbin, Byrd, Ellison) make these analogies, we should be just as offended.

links for those who always need them:
Malloy
Durbin
Byrd
Ellison

source:
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Monday, October 3, 2011

it's when you compare two things

Williams, perhaps best known for his "are you ready for some football?" lead-in to ESPN's Monday Night Football, Monday compared this summer's so-called golf summit between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner as "one of the biggest political mistakes ever."

As Williams put it on Fox News' Fox & Friends: "It would be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli leader) Benjamin Netanyahu."

When asked on Fox to explain his analogy, Williams said Obama and Vice President Biden are "the enemy."
analogy (noun) - a form of reasoning in which one thing is inferred to be similar to another thing in a certain respect, on the basis of the known similarity between the things in other respects

i think i see why the media doesn't like what Bocephus said...
  1. it was a logical form of reasoning
  2. it called Obama (pbuh) "the enemy"
  3. it compared Obama to a fascist (one who wants a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc.)
  4. it compared Boehner to a jew (a group which oppresses the Palestenian people by their mere existance)
  5. the analogy was apt

source:
ESPN drops Hank Williams Jr. from 'Monday Night Football'

11 Ways to Turn Strangers into Friends | Tiny Buddha: Wisdom Quotes, Letting Go, Letting Happiness In

ReBlog:
It’s an empowering mindset to be able to create conversation with potentially anyone. There is always the choice to talk to whom I want to talk to.


1. Say the magic word: “Hi.”
2. Detach yourself from the outcome.
3. Tolerate rejection.
4. Don’t mind what strangers think.
5. If you feel the fear, do it anyway.
6. Practice.
7. Make it about them.
8. Make them laugh.
9. Try to discover their core passion.
10. Go out and smile!
11. Imagine that the other person is already your friend.


source:
11 Ways to Turn Strangers into Friends | Tiny Buddha: Wisdom Quotes, Letting Go, Letting Happiness In by Matt Ramos
Matt Ramos is a college student who wants to make the world a better place. You can read his blog at http://30vanquish.com. He writes about rejection, breaking social barriers, and altruism as a means of overcoming his struggle with social anxiety while making the world less boring.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Andrew Breitbart Tells Unions To 'F**k Off', Calls Janeane Garofalo Hollywood's 'Sympathy F**k' (VIDEO)


it's rank hypocricy for conservati­ves to cheer this crass and vulgar behavior.



it's rank hypocricy for liberals to call anyone out on crass and vulgar behavior.



we all live in glass houses... Breitbart is no better (or worse) than the liberal haters... i wish Huffpo would stop giving this trash a platform..­. for either side.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost