Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
8: The Mormon Proposition
"Jesus took no one's rights away." Interesting stuff. Check out http://mormonproposition.com/
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Dow Jones poised to clear 10K
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Translation of new OBL message
The USG Open Source Center translates the recently released audio address attributed to Usamah Bin Ladin
On 14 September, a forum participant posted to a jihadist website numerous links to an 11-minute and 20-second audio statement by Al-Qa'ida leader Usama Bin Ladin titled "Address to the American People." The audio statement is produced by Al-Qa'ida's Al-Sahab Media and distributed through Al-Fajr Media Center. The statement is dated Ramadan 1430, corresponding to September 2009.
A translation of the statement follows:
"Praise be to God, Who created people to worship Him, ordered them to be just, and permitted the wronged to mete out fair punishment to the wrongdoer.
"American people: This address to you is a reminder of the causes of 11 (September) and the wars and consequences that followed and the way to settle it once and for all. I mention in particular the families of those who were hurt in these events and who have recently called for opening an investigation to know its causes. This is a first and important step in the right direction among many other steps that have deliberately gone in the wrong direction over eight barren years that you have experienced.
"The entire American people should follow suit, as the delay in knowing those reasons has cost you a lot without any noteworthy benefit.
"If the White House administration, which is one of the two parties to the dispute, has made it clear to you in the past years that war was necessary to maintain your security, then wise persons should be eager to listen to the two parties to the dispute to know the truth, so listen to what I am going to say.
"At the beginning, I say that we have made it clear and stated so many times for over two decades that the cause of the quarrel with you is your support for your Israeli allies, who have occupied our land, Palestine. This position of yours, along with some other grievances, is what prompted us to carry out the 11 September events. Had you known the magnitude of our suffering as a result of the injustice of the Jews against us, with the support of your administrations for them, you would have known that both our nations are victims of the policies of the White House, which is in fact a hostage in the hands of pressure groups, especially major corporations and the Israeli lobby.
"One of the best persons to explain to you the causes of the events of the 11th is one of your citizens, a former veteran CIA agent, whose conscience awoke in his eighth decade and decided to tell the truth despite the threats, and to explain to you the message of the 11th. So he carried out some activities for this purpose in particular, including his book "Apology of a Hired Assassin."
"As for explaining the suffering of our people in Palestine, Obama has recently acknowledged in his speech from Cairo the suffering of our kinfolk there, who are living under occupation and siege. Things will become clearer if you read what your former president, Carter, wrote about the racism of the Israelis against our kinfolk in Palestine, and also if you listened to his statement weeks ago during his visit to the destroyed and besieged Gaza Strip. He said in that statement that the people of Gaza are treated more as animals than human beings. For us God suffices, and He is the best disposer of affairs.
"We should have a lengthy pause at this point. Any person with an iota of mercy in his heart cannot but sympathize with those oppressed elderly, women, and children living under the deadly siege. Above that, the Zionists pound them with US-made incendiary phosphorous bombs. Life there is tragic beyond limits, to the point that children die b etween the arms of their parents and doctors due to the lack of food and medicine and the power outages. It is indeed a disgrace for world politicians who are content with that, and their loyalists, who are behaving as such with prior knowledge and premeditation, and under the influence of the Israeli lobby in America. The details of that are explained by two of your fellow citizens. They are John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt in their book "The Israel Lobby" in the United States.
"After reading the suggested books, you will know the truth and you will be severely shocked at the magnitude of deception that has been practiced against you. You will also know that those who make statements from inside the White House today and claim that your wars against us are necessary for your security are in fact working along the same line of Cheney and Bush, and propagating the former policies of intimidation to market the interests of the relevant major corporations, at the expense of your blood and economy. Those in fact are the ones who are imposing wars on you, not the mujahidin. We are just defending our right to liberate our land.
"If you thoroughly consider your situation, you will know that the White House is occupied by pressure groups. You should have made efforts to liberate it rather than fight to liberate Iraq, as Bush claimed. The White House leader, under such circumstances, and regardless of who he is, is like a train driver who cannot but travel on the railways designed by these pressure groups. Otherwise, his way would be blocked and he would fear that his destiny would be like that of former President Kennedy and his brother.
"In a nutshell, it is time to free yourselves from fear and intellectual terrorism being practiced against you by the neoconservatives and the Israeli lobby. You should put the file of your alliance with the Israelis on the table of discussion. You should ask yourselves the following question so that you can determine your position: Do you like the Israelis' security, sons, and economy more than your security, blood, sons, money, jobs, houses, economy, and reputation? If you choose your security and stopping the wars -- and this has been shown by opinion polls -- then this requires that you act to stop those who are tampering with our security on your end. We are prepared to respond to this option on sound and fair foundations that have been mentioned before.
"Here is an important point that we should pay attention to with regard to war and stopping it. When Bush assumed power and appointed a defense secretary who had made the biggest contribution to killing more than two million persecuted villagers in Vietnam, sane people predicted that Bush was preparing for new massacres in his era. This was what took place in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Obama assumed power and kept the men of Cheney and Bush -- namely, the senior officials in the Defense Department, like Gates, Mullen, and Petraeus -- sane people knew that Obama is a weak person who will not be able to stop the war as he had promised and that he would procrastinate as much as possible. If he were to decide, then he would hand over command to the generals who oppose this aimless war, like the former commander of troops in Iraq, General Sanchez, and the commander of the Central Command who was forced by Bush to resign shortly before leaving the White House due to his opposition to the war. He appointed instead of him a person who would escalate the war. Under the cover of his readiness to cooperate with the Republicans, Obama made the biggest trick as he kept the most important and most dangerous secretary from Cheney's men to continue the war. The days will show you that you have changed only faces in the White House. The bitter truth is that the neoconservatives are still a heavy burden on you.
"Once again, if you stop the war, then that is fine. If you choose not to stop the war, then we have no other option but to continue the war of attrition against you on all possible axes, just as we did with the Soviet Union for 10 years until it disintegrated, with the grace of God. Continue the war for as long as you wish. You are fighting a desperate, losing war that is in favor of others. There seems to be no end in sight for this war.
"Russian generals, who learned lessons from the battles in Afghanistan, had anticipated the result of the war before its start, but you do not like those who give you advice. This is a losing war, God willing, as it is funded by money that is borrowed based on exorbitant usury and is fought by soldiers whose morale is down and who commit suicide on a daily basis to escape from this war.
"This war was prescribed to you by two doctors, Cheney and Bush, as a cure for the 11 September events. However, the bitterness and losses caused by this war are worse than the bitterness of the events themselves. The accumulated debts incurred as a result of this war have almost done away with the US economy as a whole. It has been said that disease could be less evil than some medicines.
"Praise be to God, we are carrying our weapon on our shoulders and have been fighting the two poles of evil in the East and the West for 30 years. Throughout this period, we have not seen any cases of suicide among us despite the international pursuit against us. We praise God for this. This proves the soundness of our belief and the justice of our cause. God willing, we will continue our way to liberate our land. Our weapon is patience. We seek victory from God. We will not give up the Al-Aqsa Mosque. We hold on to Palestine more than we hold on to our souls. Continue the war as long as you wish, we will never bargain over it (Palestine).
"Endless war will not tire me
"For I am now fully grown and strong
"For this, my mother begot me (lines of poetry)
"Peace be upon those who follow guidance."
On 14 September, a forum participant posted to a jihadist website numerous links to an 11-minute and 20-second audio statement by Al-Qa'ida leader Usama Bin Ladin titled "Address to the American People." The audio statement is produced by Al-Qa'ida's Al-Sahab Media and distributed through Al-Fajr Media Center. The statement is dated Ramadan 1430, corresponding to September 2009.
A translation of the statement follows:
"Praise be to God, Who created people to worship Him, ordered them to be just, and permitted the wronged to mete out fair punishment to the wrongdoer.
"American people: This address to you is a reminder of the causes of 11 (September) and the wars and consequences that followed and the way to settle it once and for all. I mention in particular the families of those who were hurt in these events and who have recently called for opening an investigation to know its causes. This is a first and important step in the right direction among many other steps that have deliberately gone in the wrong direction over eight barren years that you have experienced.
"The entire American people should follow suit, as the delay in knowing those reasons has cost you a lot without any noteworthy benefit.
"If the White House administration, which is one of the two parties to the dispute, has made it clear to you in the past years that war was necessary to maintain your security, then wise persons should be eager to listen to the two parties to the dispute to know the truth, so listen to what I am going to say.
"At the beginning, I say that we have made it clear and stated so many times for over two decades that the cause of the quarrel with you is your support for your Israeli allies, who have occupied our land, Palestine. This position of yours, along with some other grievances, is what prompted us to carry out the 11 September events. Had you known the magnitude of our suffering as a result of the injustice of the Jews against us, with the support of your administrations for them, you would have known that both our nations are victims of the policies of the White House, which is in fact a hostage in the hands of pressure groups, especially major corporations and the Israeli lobby.
"One of the best persons to explain to you the causes of the events of the 11th is one of your citizens, a former veteran CIA agent, whose conscience awoke in his eighth decade and decided to tell the truth despite the threats, and to explain to you the message of the 11th. So he carried out some activities for this purpose in particular, including his book "Apology of a Hired Assassin."
"As for explaining the suffering of our people in Palestine, Obama has recently acknowledged in his speech from Cairo the suffering of our kinfolk there, who are living under occupation and siege. Things will become clearer if you read what your former president, Carter, wrote about the racism of the Israelis against our kinfolk in Palestine, and also if you listened to his statement weeks ago during his visit to the destroyed and besieged Gaza Strip. He said in that statement that the people of Gaza are treated more as animals than human beings. For us God suffices, and He is the best disposer of affairs.
"We should have a lengthy pause at this point. Any person with an iota of mercy in his heart cannot but sympathize with those oppressed elderly, women, and children living under the deadly siege. Above that, the Zionists pound them with US-made incendiary phosphorous bombs. Life there is tragic beyond limits, to the point that children die b etween the arms of their parents and doctors due to the lack of food and medicine and the power outages. It is indeed a disgrace for world politicians who are content with that, and their loyalists, who are behaving as such with prior knowledge and premeditation, and under the influence of the Israeli lobby in America. The details of that are explained by two of your fellow citizens. They are John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt in their book "The Israel Lobby" in the United States.
"After reading the suggested books, you will know the truth and you will be severely shocked at the magnitude of deception that has been practiced against you. You will also know that those who make statements from inside the White House today and claim that your wars against us are necessary for your security are in fact working along the same line of Cheney and Bush, and propagating the former policies of intimidation to market the interests of the relevant major corporations, at the expense of your blood and economy. Those in fact are the ones who are imposing wars on you, not the mujahidin. We are just defending our right to liberate our land.
"If you thoroughly consider your situation, you will know that the White House is occupied by pressure groups. You should have made efforts to liberate it rather than fight to liberate Iraq, as Bush claimed. The White House leader, under such circumstances, and regardless of who he is, is like a train driver who cannot but travel on the railways designed by these pressure groups. Otherwise, his way would be blocked and he would fear that his destiny would be like that of former President Kennedy and his brother.
"In a nutshell, it is time to free yourselves from fear and intellectual terrorism being practiced against you by the neoconservatives and the Israeli lobby. You should put the file of your alliance with the Israelis on the table of discussion. You should ask yourselves the following question so that you can determine your position: Do you like the Israelis' security, sons, and economy more than your security, blood, sons, money, jobs, houses, economy, and reputation? If you choose your security and stopping the wars -- and this has been shown by opinion polls -- then this requires that you act to stop those who are tampering with our security on your end. We are prepared to respond to this option on sound and fair foundations that have been mentioned before.
"Here is an important point that we should pay attention to with regard to war and stopping it. When Bush assumed power and appointed a defense secretary who had made the biggest contribution to killing more than two million persecuted villagers in Vietnam, sane people predicted that Bush was preparing for new massacres in his era. This was what took place in Iraq and Afghanistan. When Obama assumed power and kept the men of Cheney and Bush -- namely, the senior officials in the Defense Department, like Gates, Mullen, and Petraeus -- sane people knew that Obama is a weak person who will not be able to stop the war as he had promised and that he would procrastinate as much as possible. If he were to decide, then he would hand over command to the generals who oppose this aimless war, like the former commander of troops in Iraq, General Sanchez, and the commander of the Central Command who was forced by Bush to resign shortly before leaving the White House due to his opposition to the war. He appointed instead of him a person who would escalate the war. Under the cover of his readiness to cooperate with the Republicans, Obama made the biggest trick as he kept the most important and most dangerous secretary from Cheney's men to continue the war. The days will show you that you have changed only faces in the White House. The bitter truth is that the neoconservatives are still a heavy burden on you.
"Once again, if you stop the war, then that is fine. If you choose not to stop the war, then we have no other option but to continue the war of attrition against you on all possible axes, just as we did with the Soviet Union for 10 years until it disintegrated, with the grace of God. Continue the war for as long as you wish. You are fighting a desperate, losing war that is in favor of others. There seems to be no end in sight for this war.
"Russian generals, who learned lessons from the battles in Afghanistan, had anticipated the result of the war before its start, but you do not like those who give you advice. This is a losing war, God willing, as it is funded by money that is borrowed based on exorbitant usury and is fought by soldiers whose morale is down and who commit suicide on a daily basis to escape from this war.
"This war was prescribed to you by two doctors, Cheney and Bush, as a cure for the 11 September events. However, the bitterness and losses caused by this war are worse than the bitterness of the events themselves. The accumulated debts incurred as a result of this war have almost done away with the US economy as a whole. It has been said that disease could be less evil than some medicines.
"Praise be to God, we are carrying our weapon on our shoulders and have been fighting the two poles of evil in the East and the West for 30 years. Throughout this period, we have not seen any cases of suicide among us despite the international pursuit against us. We praise God for this. This proves the soundness of our belief and the justice of our cause. God willing, we will continue our way to liberate our land. Our weapon is patience. We seek victory from God. We will not give up the Al-Aqsa Mosque. We hold on to Palestine more than we hold on to our souls. Continue the war as long as you wish, we will never bargain over it (Palestine).
"Endless war will not tire me
"For I am now fully grown and strong
"For this, my mother begot me (lines of poetry)
"Peace be upon those who follow guidance."
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Arguing with the dining room table
"It is a tribute to the first ammendment that this vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated"
Go Barney!
Go Barney!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Bill O'Reilly, still and idiot
Bill O'Reilly recently claimed that Canadian life expectancy is "to be expected" because the USA has 10x the population of Canada. (Reminder: this is one of the top-rated talking heads on the teevee.)
The best part: Paul Krugman's response to O'Reilly's logic? "I need a drink."
Paul Krugman's response to O'Reilly's logic? "I need a drink."
The best part: Paul Krugman's response to O'Reilly's logic? "I need a drink."
Paul Krugman's response to O'Reilly's logic? "I need a drink."
Monday, July 27, 2009
Icons
After seeing this last night:
...I found myself playing with this website last night. My masterpiece? This beauty:
...I found myself playing with this website last night. My masterpiece? This beauty:
Friday, July 24, 2009
TriNations and the history of the Springbock/AllBlacks rivalry
Really neat video on the history of the rugby rivalry between New Zealand and South Africa.
Here are parts 1-3.
Here are parts 1-3.
The farm of the future?
Is this the farm of the future? A $50M Camarillo hothouse tomato farm that produces all it's own energy and treats and recycles it's own water.
Elizabeth Edwards on health care reform
"Let me say to the American public: if you hear somebody saying, we can't afford healthcare reform, because...if they use any of these words: "socialization," or "government control of your healthcare decisions," or if they mention "England," "France," or "Canada," you can be assured that they are not telling you the truth. They are trying to scare you away from a plan that can make a real difference, not just in American families, but in the American economy as a whole."
Excerpted from the Rachel Maddow Show, 7/23/09
Excerpted from the Rachel Maddow Show, 7/23/09
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Le cochon! Le cochon!
Oh, this is fantastic! Gotta try cheering for the pig imitation the next time the flight attendant is doing the pre-flight safety training.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The new Pacific Institute report Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future is an interesting read. Check it out here.
The SF Chronicle covers the story here.
From the article:
Comparison of Water Quantities
The SF Chronicle covers the story here.
From the article:
Comparison of Water Quantities
For an average water year, the water conservation and efficiency practices identified in this Pacific Institute report have the potential to save 5.6 million acre-feet of water, equivalent to:
- more than 16 times the amount of water that can be stored in the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir;
- triple the water that can be stored in the far larger San Luis Reservoir;
- 4.5 times the water than could be stored in the proposed Temperance Flats Reservoir;
- 19 times the water restored to the environment in the recent Delta smelt ruling;
- more than double the 2.3 million acre-feet in urban efficiency improvements identified in the Pacific Institute’s earlier evaluation of the potential for residential, commercial, and industrial efficiency improvements (Waste Not, Want Not).
This savings represents around 17% of all of the water used by agriculture in California.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Farmer In Chief
For anyone interested in the local food movement, this is necessary reading: Farmer in Chief by Michael Pollan
Monday, July 20, 2009
Dan Tubagoo interview
An in-depth interview with Sarah Palin's now unemployed speechwriter, Dan Tubagoo.
Dan Tubagoo, Part II.
Dan Tubagoo, Part II.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Bernie Sanders on health care reform
Bernie Sanders telling it like it is. Fuckin' a.
"I don't wanna shock anybody, have people dashing out of the room, but... the VA is a socialized health care system, isn't it Mr. McCain?"
"I don't wanna shock anybody, have people dashing out of the room, but... the VA is a socialized health care system, isn't it Mr. McCain?"
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
SpaceX launch
Wow. SpaceX apparently launched a commercial satellite in orbit for the first time using a two-stage Falcon rocket which the company developed and built from scratch. A new day for aerospace tech.
Evolution
Your daily taste of poetry:
D is for Darwin
His theory is liable
To confuse the poor folks
Who depend on the Bible
D is for Darwin
His theory is liable
To confuse the poor folks
Who depend on the Bible
Republicans block their own health care ammendments
Taking their obstructionism to an entirely new level today, Republicans blocked their own amendments to the Senate health care bill.
Your government in action (or inaction?).
Your government in action (or inaction?).
More from Paul Thorn
Some really nice Paul Thorn lyrics here; a classic songwriting style, too. The music doesn't do the song justice, so I'll just post the words.
Where Was I?
On a black and white TV
Back in grammar school
I was watching Neal Armstrong
Walking on the moon
That same day I pretended
I was an astronaut
On the playground monkey bars
I flew above the stars
I was in a Dallas disco
The night John Lennon died
The D.J. played "Imagine"
And everybody cried
I remember a thousand lighters
Held up in our hands
All we were saying
Was "Let's give peace a chance"
But where was I when you stopped loving me?
When did I become history
There's not many things
That escape my memory
Tell me where was I when you stopped loving me?
Every twenty-thousand years
That comet lights up the night
On a blanket we watched
It sail across the sky
A moment like that
Comes just once in life
It felt like our first time
At eleven-thirty-five
But where was I when you stopped loving me?
When did I become history
There's not many things
That escape my memory
Tell me where was I when you stopped loving me?
I remember when I met you
The taste of our first kiss
I remember your goodbye
But could you tell me this:
Where was I when you stopped loving me?
When did I become history
There's not many things
That escape my memory
Tell me where was I when you stopped loving me?
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Paul Thorn
I just discovered Paul Thorn.
"I fell in love for the first time when I was ten years old. We're not together anymore -- I remember she had one of her friends call me and break up with me over the telephone. When I heard the sad news, I collapsed crying into my Planet of the Apes sheets, and my momma brought me some chocolate swirl ice cream to try to make me feel better. We all know that only time can heal your broken heart, and we've all got somebody from our past that we used to be so in love with, we thought we could never be over them, but today, if we saw them in WalMart, we would duck down the other aisle so we wouldn't have to talk to 'em. Glory to god."
"I fell in love for the first time when I was ten years old. We're not together anymore -- I remember she had one of her friends call me and break up with me over the telephone. When I heard the sad news, I collapsed crying into my Planet of the Apes sheets, and my momma brought me some chocolate swirl ice cream to try to make me feel better. We all know that only time can heal your broken heart, and we've all got somebody from our past that we used to be so in love with, we thought we could never be over them, but today, if we saw them in WalMart, we would duck down the other aisle so we wouldn't have to talk to 'em. Glory to god."
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