Topic: WE'RE STUFFED!!!

[Michael]

Watched Barak's acceptance speech the other day.
I have to say he has a talent, that man.

Don't mean a thing, when he has to apply his rhetoric if he gets the job. Still, he has a powerful voice.

But you know, I also got a very creepy feeling.

We have a university in our town, and there is currently a big fight between the Chancellor who is a business man, and wants to turn the uni into a business model, and the Vice-Chancellor who is an academic, and is supported by all the students, staff and academics. There is likely to be big trouble, because the Chancellor is usually an honorary position, but this man is extremely aggressively pursuing a neo-liberal policy, and is not about to be pushed aside. He is due for re-election to another 3 year term by the Uni Council.

Today I read in the local paper, a letter promoting this Chancellor's agenda. It reeked of that neo-liberal, business/money/privatisation mind frame. I realised these people are not going to give up. The population in Australia has turned, and I can see the main population in US is also fed up with this mind frame.

There is no real philosophical alternate position that has the clout of the neo-liberal economical agenda. People are turning away from it out of a deep sense of nausea.

But as I say, the powers that are pushing the agenda of multi-national interests do not care for the sensibilities of the public - they are convinced of their rightness, to the extent they will do anything to stop those who stand in their way.

An articulate, charismatic, highly popular leader from the Left, is a red rag to a bull - the thing that will raise the hackles on the backs of their vermilion necks. They are in no mood for another idiot like Kennedy, and especially one without clay feet.

it bothers me...

[tangerine dream]

I feel the same way.

I don't pay much attention to American politics, but I do have a sense of ....
ominousness.....
doom...
Ya know that heavy shoulder feeling, like someone is pushing on you, holding you down.

[nichi]

They're going to destroy him politically before he gets elected.
The campaign commercials against him are "deep". Not true, but deep. They've put him "in league" with an old Weatherman (violent/criminal leftist group) from the 70's. They've accused him of not "really" being American -- after all, they say, he spent some of his time in Indonesia as a child.
Much is made of his name, and word-plays on the similarity between "obama" and "bin laden" are rampant on church signs. There is constant innuendo that he isn't "really" Christian, but Muslim. It is some of the most disgraceful appeal to the lowest common denominator I've ever seen.

I watched one of the more eminent news anchormen interview him and chide him as if he was a child.

And then, the most obvious thing, which, I'm sad to say, even hits some of my family. Those who have been closet racists all this time have not been open to one thing he has said during the entire campaign.

America will get the president it deserves.

[Angela]

He gathered 84,000 people into a stadium for that historic speech and over 40,000,000 people viewed it on television ... viewed by more people than the Olympics opening ceremony. 

An assembly of "change", or a huddle of "fear"?

Are we ever given quality choices in elections?  I equate it to voting for student council in grade school.  It's a popularity contest, imo.

An interesting statement Obama made on 60 minutes last night.  He said one of the reasons he chose his running mate, Joe Biden, was that if something happened to him, Biden could step in to be President.  That was kind of spooky to me.

Of the two ... I like Obama.  He has always questioned lobbyists and big government.  He will start the ball rolling. 

[nichi]

I like Obama too, but not for historical "reasons". I, intuitive female and watcher of the masses, usually make my decisions based on campaign behavior. It's the perfect time and way to observe their ethics and reactions to extra stress. So far as I'm concerned, McCain started out playing the dirty pool, and crying a lot of sour grapes.  I felt neutral about him up until that point.

OB is wise to look at that possibility, about the vice-president, but how sad. I fear his insight there is prescient.

It's grim to strategically consider this: but for that same reason alone, he should have picked Hillary as his running mate. Enough people dislike her, such that his survival would be less shaky, then. But these are dark and gruesome considerations.

[Michael]

I'm just listening to a program on a US Christian/political organisation called The Family.

Dear me, some nasty stuff you guys have over there.

[nichi]

I don't know much about 'The Family', per se. From what I just looked up, sounds like
Illuminati-type stuff. Not surprising.

While I was thumbing through things, encountered this televangelist, Paula White.
As unappealing as her aesthetic might be to me or to you, it's easy to observe
how she works a crowd -- and how much that crowd wants to be worked.

With the right words ... anything can happen in the us.

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QLvpbfXOqeg/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QLvpbfXOqeg"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/QLvpbfXOqeg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/QLvpbfXOqeg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1</a>

[TIOTIT]

Looks like an each way bet these days....

Sun Makes History: First Spotless Month in a Century

Drop in solar activity has potential effect for climate on earth.

The sun has reached a milestone not seen for nearly 100 years: an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted.

The event is significant as many climatologists now believe solar magnetic activity – which determines the number of sunspots -- is an influencing factor for climate on earth.

According to data from Mount Wilson Observatory, UCLA, more than an entire month has passed without a spot. The last time such an event occurred was June of 1913. Sunspot data has been collected since 1749.

But this year -- which corresponds to the start of Solar Cycle 24 -- has been extraordinarily long and quiet, with the first seven months averaging a sunspot number of only 3. August followed with none at all. The astonishing rapid drop of the past year has defied predictions, and caught nearly all astronomers by surprise.

In 2005, a pair of astronomers from the National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Tucson attempted to publish a paper in the journal Science. The pair looked at minute spectroscopic and magnetic changes in the sun. By extrapolating forward, they reached the startling result that, within 10 years, sunspots would vanish entirely. At the time, the sun was very active. Most of their peers laughed at what they considered an unsubstantiated conclusion.

The journal ultimately rejected the paper as being too controversial.

In the past 1000 years, three previous such events -- the Dalton, Maunder, and Spörer Minimums, have all led to rapid cooling. One was large enough to be called a "mini ice age". For a society dependent on agriculture, cold is more damaging than heat. The growing season shortens, yields drop, and the occurrence of crop-destroying frosts increases.

Other researchers have proposed solar effects on other terrestrial processes besides cloud formation. The sunspot cycle has strong effects on irradiance in certain wavelengths such as the far ultraviolet, which affects ozone production. Natural production of isotopes such as C-14 is also tied to solar activity. The overall effects on climate are still poorly understood.

What is incontrovertible, though, is that ice ages have occurred before. And no scientist, even the most skeptical, is prepared to say it won't happen again.

[nichi]

I've seriously wondered why the tracking of "solar flares" and solar cycles ends up going underground. I would think they would jump on it: it would take the pressure off them for greenhouse emissions, really. But then, they'd have to entertain "the kill shot". Is it that the powers-that-be fear a panic reaction?


Here's a cool site which follows the sun:
http://www.spaceweather.com/

[erik]

It looks like Sun is making up is mind as to what to do with the idiots called humans.

[Josh]

hmm, if only personifications of natural forces pertained to anything outside the shallow human mind obsessed with its own reflection

lets make up some more gods in our image, and worship the shit out of them - that should help

[nichi]

Palin: Iraq war 'a task that is from God'
By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
43 minutes ago


ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."

In an address last June, the Republican vice presidential candidate also urged ministry students to pray for a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it "God's will."

Palin asked the students to pray for the troops in Iraq, and noted that her eldest son, Track, was expected to be deployed there.

"Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God," she said. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan."

~continued at
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080903/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_palin_iraq_war


Whoa, Nellie!

[Michael]

Get your drinks folks, get your snacks and deck chairs. We are in for good show.

First the Olympics, then the US erection, then the plug hole: it'll be water polo for everyone who enjoys a healthy fight.

(Which reminds me, I need a new pair of boots.)

[nichi]

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XHP0iVQ0e8s/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XHP0iVQ0e8s"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/XHP0iVQ0e8s&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/XHP0iVQ0e8s&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1</a>

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yjpAIsAou3E/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yjpAIsAou3E"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/yjpAIsAou3E&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/yjpAIsAou3E&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1</a>

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vkyxwOBm5t0/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vkyxwOBm5t0"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/vkyxwOBm5t0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/vkyxwOBm5t0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1</a>

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/F2zrJuBDc-8/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F2zrJuBDc-8"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/F2zrJuBDc-8&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/F2zrJuBDc-8&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1</a>

Yes, those were some of the left-ish commentators. Here are a couple of the right's:

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/djfwM6KqmM8/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/djfwM6KqmM8"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/djfwM6KqmM8&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/djfwM6KqmM8&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1</a>

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L4C32PI_6og/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L4C32PI_6og"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/L4C32PI_6og&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/L4C32PI_6og&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1</a>

This isn't about the election, but it is a good example of the level of commentary of rightist Fox News's Bill OReilly -- he is truly insane.

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/H7Nt8MQaKko/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H7Nt8MQaKko"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/H7Nt8MQaKko&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/H7Nt8MQaKko&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1</a>

[Josh]

Get your drinks folks, get your snacks and deck chairs. We are in for good show.

First the Olympics, then the US erection, then the plug hole: it'll be water polo for everyone who enjoys a healthy fight.

(Which reminds me, I need a new pair of boots.)

Dont forget the diapers for your ass-ociations, and make sure they are dependable and not leaky squeaky

everybody loves the lowest common denominator.. that party began an infinitely long time ago, but dont worry - its still new and stillborn.. so you can always abort if you need to

icarus liked em too