The author talks about the IMF and past financial crises in which each country needed a loan but needed to live within their means after a period of excess. Typically, the countries were headed by powerful elites that took too many risks. They were run like for-profit companies. The captains of industry became more and more ambitious. They made riskier bets. They got carried away and wasted money via empires based on mountains of debt. They overborrowed til credit tightened.
That sounds like us! So what happened next in these banana republics? Read on!
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: ARE THERE ACTORS WHOSE POLITICAL OPINIONS DISTURB YOU SO MUCH YOU WON'T SEE THEIR MOVIES?
O'Reilly: Just Sean Penn. He's a great actor, and if you hire him, you'll get a good performance. I'm just not going to give a guy who gives aid and comfort to people like (Iran president Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad, Hugo Chavez and Saddam Hussein, when he was alive, my 10 bucks. That's my right as an American.
Obama smears and internet rumors persist, among the 17% of white voters and 2% of other voters who found race as opposed to character to be a deciding factor in the last election. Two thirds of the white voters voted for McCain. A New York tabloid portrayed Obama as a violent chimpanzee about to be gunned down by police. A CA Mayor sent out a picture of him with watermelons on the White House lawn ("no Easter egg hunt this year". An email made the rounds which called the President "the magic mulatto."
Disproven claims about his religion and citizenship persist, particularly that he is Muslim and not a citizen. Senator Shelby of Alabama said "Well, his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven't seen any birth certificate. ... You have to be born in America to be president." His aides then said that the newspaper had failed to report that he also said he was confident Obama was a citizen. Shelby's aides later said the senator had also said he was confident Obama is a citizen. Representative Posey, a Florida Republican, then went on to draft legislation that would require presidential candidates to submit their birth certificates, an obvious ploy to gain votes from racist constituents.
Bachmann tells Hannity how we are headed down the road toward Socialism. She goes on about nationalization, and continues to call for an "orderly revolution." She also wants to "bind Obama's hands" before he goes to the G20. She considers herself a "foreign correspondant reporting from enemy lines." The scary thing is that I think she believes what she says. Hannity then calls her "refreshing" as she reaches out to 535 radio stations. She then makes a plug for a popular wingnut book (conservatism is the only way to prevent tyranny). She went on Glenn Beck's radio show and ranted about the danger of a "one world currency."
She is obviously increasing her public profile and perhaps wants to compete with Palin, since McCain is encouraging Palin to run in 2012 and says most votes for him were actually for her in 2008.
Watch the trailer and then read here about the "kettling" of anarchists by police. Deja vu, as some protesters are disowning others, and police are regarding a relatively small number of young anarchists as a major threat, surrounding them while wearing their flourescent police jackets so that the author says the anarchists look like they've been circled with a florescent marker.
Last night we watched "Battle in Seattle" while eating popcorn. Most of it was on location, though a few street scenes were shot in Vancouver BC. There was quite a bit of original footage, but some guy with a strong accent played Governor Locke. Woody Harrelson played a cop. It was dramatized, with romance and tragedy, and a balance of female characters. The police action did not seem "played down," and there was some context, though alot of it was in the updates with the credits.
I spent most of the original protest week up north working, sneaking a peek when I could. One night we went to a jazz club in Belltown to hear our son's high school music group. The curfew was placed, and we found ourselves trapped behind a police line. We waiting in our car, lights off, til it was possible to go home. Television coverage at the time consisted mostly of a repeating loop of a girl trashing Starbucks, though there were 55,000 union protesters nearby. It was only this year that I was finally able to hear some of their speeches, on Democracy Now on radio.
Have we come so far? The banking meltdown and unsafe food stories were more or less predicted a decade ago! Third World countries are still being stepped on. Middle class Americans such as myself have seen our "assets" (house, 401K) drop sharply. Our kids are not doing as well as we were at their age, and friends in Europe say the same. Who is doing well now? Corporate CEOs and bankers.
If someone from Minnesota had selected the music, Bob Dylan and Prince would have been among the choices. What's informative about this video is the volatility of the market; what made people believe the market was a good place for retirement funds?
This is for real. Thanks Ben Doko, who wonders if for Father's Day they kick their dad in the nads. I read where some other wingnut site made suggestions such as "burn tires."
I do solemnly swear that I will honor Earth Hour by turning on every light in my residence at 8:30 p.m. on March 28, 2009, for one hour. God said, “Let there be light.” Who are we to argue?
Yeah, they want you to turn your lights off, but everybody knows darkness leads to crime.
BTW, if you can’t turn on all your lights tomorrow night, you should at least take a leisurely drive to spew fossil fuels into the atmosphere or eat a nicely grilled (on charcoal) animal of some kind.
Abil Bradshaw is a nutritionist/performance artist who had an unfortunate accident while running and now requires expensive surgery. She and her partner Melissa (who happens to be a chef) are having a series of dinners with friends, but we are donating in exchange, so that Abil might have the surgery. I can tell you that it was well worth it and felt like stepping into a Parisian salon as well! Abil is a scholar as well as a humorist and connoisseur. She entertained and educated us about the history of beer and what I recall (through all that beer and food) is that the Sumerians played a huge role. Beer was a large part of the Cradle of Civilization! (It's ironic to have alcohol restrictions now in that part of the world!)
Appetizers
Beer: Monk’s Uncle Tripel (Belgian-style)
Sweet and juicy, beer-battered onion rings with Melissa's famous Bliss sauce (Wheat-free)
Tender, beer-battered mushrooms stuffed with blue cheese and Melissa's famous Bliss sauce (Wheat-free)
Melissa's cold-smoked salmon; and eclectic pickle-platter
Toasted, bite-sized Rubenesque sandwiches (Vegetarian and wheat-free)
2nd Course
Beer: Pale Ale
Rich and creamy, Pike Pale Ale mussel bisque
Tangy tomato and Pale Ale bisque (Vegetarian)
3rd Course
Beer: Kilt Lifter Scottish Ale
Scottish Ale, leek and wild nettle tart
Scottish Ale, leek and wild nettle custard (Wheat-free)
4th Course
Beer: XXXXXStout
Dark stout, Beef Daube over black truffle-mashed potatoes
Dark stout, Wild Mushroom Ragu over black truffle-mashed potatoes (Vegetarian)
5th Course
Beer: Lindeman's Lambic Kriek
Salad of wild greens, roasted beets, dried cherries and crasins with Lindeman’s Lambic Kriek-beer vinaigrette
Zina Saunders has been an award-winning illustrator for more than 15 years. (Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Progressive, Foreign Policy Magazine and The San Francisco Chronicle)
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