Here we are, at the midpoint of another week. I’m winding down with my project here, and I think I might actually get the damn thing finished before I leave. I had my doubts, and it’s not a sure thing, but I think I’ll mostly have it done (not enough time to give it a real good debugging, or add all the features I’d have liked, but they’re getting a good $10 grand’s worth of work for free – not that they’d realize it – so they shouldn’t complain). I’m starting to remember why I got sick of doing this shit for living, though.
Well, the sooner I get going, the sooner I get this over with, so I guess that’s what I better do. Happy humpin’.
:fu::fu::fu::fu::fu::crap::crap::crap::crap::jason::growl::growl::growl::jason::jason::jason::jason::gate::omg::gate::omg::gate::omg::jason::jason::jason::crap::crap::eek::shock::paranoid::fustrate::mad::rant1:
Talafartface was out today so Rothman subbed for him.. Rothman for a supposed “expert” on the middle east has his head up his a* farther than either Marvin or Shultz.
There talking point is always that Israeli has the right to exist and that the PLO, Hamas, and Hezzbollah are all out for its destruction.. Thats true only because Israel is trying to commit genocide against the people in the region. There Israel filter can’t seem to get that point across. They need to be eliminated..:gate::omg::jason::fist:
Speaking of people who need to be eliminated .. Clintdork is on C-span campaigning for Lieberjerk
The DLC demodorps also need to be eliminated..:gate::omg::jason::gate::omg::jason::gate::omg::jason::gate::omg::jason::gate::omg::jason:
The link to the WSJ middle east news tracker
http://tinyurl.com/epu8o
He was offered the Presidency of Israel, but declined. This quote explains why.
“My awareness of the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish state with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power, no matter how modest. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain — especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks, against which we have already had to fight strongly, even without a Jewish state.”
Albert Einstein
Google for more if you like http://www.google.com/search?q=Einstein+Israel
Thank you for writing to me about the hotly contested Connecticut primary for Senate.
I am traveling to many states throughout the summer and fall to help Democrats take back the Senate and House. I started yesterday morning at a campaign stop for Senator Menendez and then made appearances for Joe Lieberman in Connecticut before he left for a Bill Clinton rally.
So why did I go to Connecticut? When Joe asked me to tell his constituents about our work together on the environment and choice, I told him I would.
I realize this decision has deeply disappointed you. I completely understand your position and only hope that you will come to understand mine.
For 14 years, Joe Lieberman and I have shared an alliance on a range of progressive issues, especially two that are central to my public service — the environment and choice.
We have worked side by side on the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee. When Bill Clinton was President, the stakes weren’t nearly as high. But within hours of President Bush taking office, the environment was under attack.
Believe me, it has not been easy to fight the Bush Administration and the Republicans on this committee who try to undermine the environment, and its supporters, at every turn.
I know that’s not news to you. But what you might not know about is the critical role that Joe has played in this battle.
The fact is, on every single fight I have waged on that committee — from arsenic in the water, to air pollution, to pesticide testing on infants and children, to global warming, to Superfund and much more — Joe has been a stalwart partner and leader.
Joe was the first author of legislation to permanently protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He was one of the first Senators to try to tackle the global warming challenge. The Republicans laughed at his efforts and refused to admit that we were right on this issue. But Joe was undeterred.
And it’s the same with women’s rights, especially choice. Each and every time a woman’s right to choose has come to the Senate floor — including late term emergency abortions — I’ve had a reliable partner in Joe.
He is one of a small handful of Senators who has joined with me both times I have introduced the Freedom of Choice Act, the most strongly pro-choice piece of legislation in the U.S. Senate.
Because of his long record on choice and other important progressive issues, Joe has won the endorsement of organizations such as Planned Parenthood, NARAL, AFL-CIO, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Human Rights Campaign.
Of course, as you rightly point out, Joe and I don’t agree on everything. And nothing has deeply disappointed me more than our complete disagreement on the Iraq War.
The fact is, I disagree with many of my usual allies on the war since my bill to redeploy troops out of Iraq by the end of THIS year is the toughest redeployment bill out there. As far as I’m concerned, I will stand alone to end this war.
Joe and I have virtually no common ground on Iraq except for one thing — we have teamed up to provide comprehensive mental health care for our troops. Our amendment will ensure that our soldiers will not be sent into combat if they have mental health problems, including post traumatic stress, and that they will be able to get mental health help within 72 hours if they need it.
Again, this may sound easy, but the truth is, we had to work very hard to get our mental health amendment to pass the Senate, which it did.
I do not minimize the differences I have on the war with Joe — or any of my colleagues — but as I said, I also have a 14-year alliance on other progressive issues that are important to us, to California, and our country.
I understand that you disagree vehemently with my decision, as is your right. But, on August 8, the Democrats of Connecticut will make their voices heard on Joe’s candidacy, and I will have deep respect for their decision.
Until then, I only hope that you will weigh our differences about this primary campaign against everything that ties us together, and please know that I will continue to work as hard as I can to earn your trust and support.
Best,
Barbara Boxer
:joe:Good Morning, Fred.
Good Morning, Blogsibs:peace:
:ear:9 days to go:ear: Hope PJs inconsistent mental disposition doesn’t get any worse in the remaining D.C. time:eek:
Well, I see Wolfie is in Jerusalem keeping an eye on things. Wonder how much of Israel’s economy is based in maintaining tight security.
🙁 Middle East still blowing up :knit2:
Well, off to the salt mines:billcat:
Vigilance, Peeps!:fist:
Have a good day, all.:jesus:
Claiming that President Bush’s foreign policy agenda has been “hijacked,” some prominent conservatives want the “incompetent” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice transferred to an advisory role, according to an article in a conservative magazine, RAW STORY has found.
“Conservative national security allies of President Bush are in revolt against Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying that she is incompetent and has reversed the administration’s national security and foreign policy agenda,” reports Insight Magazine.
…
The conservatives, who include Newt Gingrich, Richard Perle and leading current and former members of the Pentagon and National Security Council, have urged the president to transfer Miss Rice out of the State Department and to an advisory role. They said Miss Rice, stemming from her lack of understanding of the Middle East, has misled the president on Iran and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
“The president has yet to understand that people make policy and not the other way around,” a senior national security policy analyst said. “Unlike Powell, Condi is loyal to the president. She is just incompetent on most foreign policy issues.”
http://tinyurl.com/htra2
========================================
The conservatives are sssllllooowwwwlllyy beginning to see what’s wrong here.
:banana:YEA Fred is #1 Yea :banana:
:fu::growl::fist::jason: YEA FRED:wink:
The Demodorps who where unhappy with the Israeli Pm’s comments on the middle east crisis ,…are on C-span
If they don’t understand by now that the war in Iraq is a farce, that Iraq will never be our Ally, that the Iraqi’s hate us and their elected government probably represents them better than our government represents us, that it will only be a puppet in the region just like Saddam was then they need a MRI on their heads to search for a brain.:fustrate::fustrate::rant1:
I understand that you disagree vehemently with my decision, as is your right.
Barbara Boxer
Comment by fred — July 26, 2006 @ 5:45 am
Damn straight. Which is why I threw money at Ned Lamont yesterday, even though I have never set foot in the state of CT in my life. Not that Ned Lamont is in need of money. Just to make a statement.
(It wasn’t a huge amount of money, just enough to make a point. So there.)
(This is normally where I would post the finger emoticon. But I can’t go there with Barbara Boxer. At least not yet. She can redeem herself by campaigning for Lamont after he wins the primary.)
:banana::banana::banana:
:eek:Fred, I do however disagree. I think some of the rethugs are APPEARING to come around SINCE ELECTON THIS YEAR :jerk::fu::growl::fist::jason:
I still :love: your angst:banana: 😉
Well, interesting event this morning. I was up early, as usual, and watching the local news until 6 AM, when I switched over to the History Channel, as I usually do. I was a minute or two early, and so caught the tail end of a “How to Make Money on Ebay” infomercial. Then the screen went blank, so I was kinda zoning out, watching my hard drive defrag, when the channel came back on.
It was not the History Channel, however. It was something called “Spice Wild,” which is apparently hardcore porn. Well, I was so shocked and appalled, I could barely watch the four minutes or so of some gentleman and his two lady friends (which, as luck would have it, included the exciting conclusion to this film – or at least this particular scene).
Right there on my teevee, here at the Catholic University of America. :priest: Shocking. Ignominious.
I can only hope that none of the other good Catholic boys and girls were awake and tyring to tune into part two of “Russia Land of the Tsars” as I was. Not to mention any priests and/or nuns.
So far no one calling C-span listened to Rhodes yesterday.. I don’t give Wayne Madsen much credibility but.. what he said is plausible.:eek::shock:
I’ve had trouble with those cable TV tuners myself and ended up watching some just despicable stuff .. for two or three hours..:omg::billcat:
I’ve been watching CSPAN2 – yesterday’s hearings on the GAO being able to impersonate contractors and buy brand new military “surplus” items (plus things like F14 electronics – Iran uses F14’s – handheld rocket launchers, and small arms) for pennies on the dollar.
When you start selling your high tech military stuff all over the world you never know who might end up with your stuff, dissect it and build their own.. China is really good at that.:rant1::eek::shock::paranoid:
RAGING Granny, tea:joe::alc: Cheers. So cool to see your name. I am not usually here since I try to get as much done with 8 ex-strays now “fixed” and 20 outdoor strays — numerous I have fixed — one named Ghost is going in Thursday. I name them Noble Sir or Lady names or mostly Deathly names since when I get them they are near death or literally fur and bones. Now many have great full tummies and “happy feeling fur. And they don’t “understand” the names only the sound and :love: in my voice.
I try to get before Rachel ❗
:knit:Great Journeys:gate::banana: 😉
Fred, re 17 :nod: 😉
ARREST! IMPEACH! VIGILANCE!
oh, I love Babs, then read your post and just have to say this…
:barf:
:paranoid:The guy who runs the firearms place aka Freeperville. bought an M60 tank and an Armored personnel carrier as surplus. The tank did’t come with its gun installed though..He says you could probably go to Arizona and buy a B47 or a B36 from the bone yard as surplus.. I always thought a personal B36 would be cool. You could build a two story house under the wings. :eek::shock:
We need to lock all the Demodorp congress critters in a room and show them PBS documentaries of the middle east confrontations since 1948 over and over again for two weeks straight. They are all just operating with their heads up their a*. :fustrate::fustrate::jason::jason:
Kevin M , Hi 😉 :banana:Cool 8) re 10
Alright if you insist I’ll go back and give Babs (maybe) another chance. Why “go for Joe” he is DLC and she is Liberal? But I try to hold out since she was “all that”.
Well, besides buying weapons-type stuff, they were also buying (off the Internet) stuff like brand new “excess” gasoline engines for $355 at the same time the military was buying the same goddamn gas engines new from the manufacturer for over $3,000. Even stuff like new pots and pans, ceramic body armor (while there was a “shortage” for the guys and gals who need it), chemical protective suits, you name it.
Oh, Liberman rally – time to switch to the History Channel.
I’ll shock all of you … I have guns and know how to shoot them…:eek: But a slug or a worm or a mammel now that would not happen. 😀
Once we have put the whole US army in Iraq Putin can use it for target practice although with the use of DU there the troops may never be able to tell..:eek::shock::paranoid::fustrate::rant1:
pjsauter, re 23 does that mean military shipping outsoon?
pjsauter re 13 :rofl2::rofl2::rofl2:
I have to go down to Penrose and see if Estes model rocketry has their IRBM completed yet. They build this three stage monster that uses nitromethane as fuel. it can lift about ten lbs and fly it ten miles.:eek::shock::paranoid::rant1:
All this Military talk reminds me I can’t just walk outside and target shoot anymore 🙁
This demodorp congress critter on C-span is getting verbal bricks thrown at him .. The articulate left have returned.:banana::banana::rant1:
President Bush views the crisis in Lebanon as a “macho mettle” test, according to New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd’s Wednesday column, RAW STORY has found.
Dowd blasts comments made by the president in a recent interview published by Newsweek.
“Bush may deplore the loss of life, but he also sees the crisis as an extraordinary opportunity,” Richard Wolffe reported for Newsweek.
“I view this as the forces of instability probing weakness. I think they’re testing resolve in many ways,” Bush told the magazine.
“The president sees Lebanon as a test of macho mettle rather than the latest chapter in a fratricidal free-for-all that’s been going on for centuries,” writes Dowd.
“The more things get complicated, the more W. feels vindicated in his own simplified vision,” Dowd continues.
“The more people try to tell him that it’s not easy, that this is a region of shifting alliances and interests, the less he seems inclined to develop an adroit policy to win people over to our side instead of trying to annihilate them,” writes Dowd.
http://tinyurl.com/mxe89
===============================
I would hope Bush gets neutered over this ..:jason::jason:
from the BBC
snip
His comments come as outcry over the death of four UN observers in Lebanon, killed by an Israeli jet, grows.
According to an initial UN investigation into the incident the observers were subjected to a six-hour bomb attack by Israeli forces during which they called Israel’s military 10 times to tell them to stop.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5215692.stm
=====================================
A six hour accident .. :jason::jason::jason:
All the Reich wing and left Reich wing seem to say “well israel withdrew from Lebanon ” How many people did they kill in getting there to start with and while they were there .. something like 25,000 .. would you just let it go ??:jason::jason::jason:
Fred, re 32 :nod: :growl::knit:I Pray :growl:
I still think America should fight a war which we LOSE.. one fought on US soil.. That would bring these problems up close and personal.:eek::eek::shock::paranoid::crap:
No, I think it means times are good for military contractors and black marketeers.
Oh, well, we have. The War on Poverty, the War on Drugs, the War on Bigotry, the War on Brains. Oh, wait, I think we won that last one.
Okay, I agree with fighting here, gosh all would see blood and guts and arms off — would that mean we might not be so into WAR jerk:jerk::growl::fu::fist::jason::!:
#38
well said.pj.
pjsauter re 38 :fustrate::nod::fustrate::nod:
War on Brains :rofl2::rofl2::rofl2:
Strings=M=Branes (pronouned Brains TEEHEE)
The American liberal community since 1967 has been mobilized at an almost fanatic level in support of an expansionist Israel, and they have been consistently opposed to any political settlement. They have been in favor of the aggrandizement of Israeli power. They have used their position of quite considerable influence in the media in the political system to defeat and overcome any challenge to the system of military confrontation using all the standard techniques of vilification, defamation, closing off control over expression, etc. and it’s certainly had an effect. I don’t know if it was a decisive effect, but it had some noticeable effect on bringing about U.S. government support for the persistent military confrontation and U.S. government opposition to political settlement. For Israel that’s destructive. In fact, Israeli doves constantly deplore it. They constantly refer to it as Stalinism. They refer to the Stalinist character of the support for Israel on the part of what they call the “Jewish community,” but that’s because they don’t understand enough about the United States. It’s not just the Jewish community, which is what they see; it’s basically the intellectual community at large.
NOAM CHOMSKY:
Hey, UN Council meet in Rome are ALL calling/telling Ricewhore that bush sucks (my words) to STOP this fight NOW
I have to go feed my Precious Gems (a Tibetan Term) aka my Rats (I called Dharma and Karma and Emerald, Ruby, Diamond, Opal, and Pearl.) Yes, I know =a few not literal gems, but Precious All. :nod:
…and close “shop”. I’ll be back :yawn::growl:
Hey everybody!
Well, what a morning, and I am hardly even into the news!
PJs watching porn at the Catholic’s house, which seems somehow fitting (…as in “come here little boy, lets study some history…right back here in the rectory……heh heh heh…”)
Rice is talking on Teevee saying something that sounds like Charlie Brown’s mom…wah, wah, wah…
and Clinton, Boxer, etc…have decided to support the candidate of the DNC until he jumps parties.
I actually wrote to them in their fundraising materials telling them that they dont get a penny from me nor an ounce of strength until they denounce Lieberman, his alliance with the president, and his desire to jump the party….
Boxer is an interesting dame….You cant say that these few issues that you have maybe worked in the past with Lieberfuck on have made you feel like you should be loyal…because of those issuesand the PAST!…They miss the point: we are in a new era that non of us could have predicted in our worst nightmares or believed, because all you really have to do is turn on the HIstory Channel and look at the hitler stuff to get the gist…so nothing in the past counts.
If someone felt in the past that they should support the president for wahtever misguided reason…we’re at war or whatever….that can be sorta forgiven…but, hell, only if they realize whats going on now.
The real criminals here are the ones who are saying that they want to overlook certain things in favor of the work theyve done in the past…
The past is dead…supporting Bush is not just about the war, its abotu the constitution and the very makeup of this country.
I dont want to be the Third Reich country…I dont want to be this War mongering place with a dictator leader with all power. The thing I like is the checks and balances…and Im sure now that once things get a little better that Im gonna have to continue to work to shake out the BAD democrats…
As good as the things that Clinton wanted to do, meaning he is a good Democrat and did an OK job, he was thwarted from universal healthcare and the like….and he fell in line with the NAFTA thing, which was another brick in the neocon wall…the seeds of destruction of the American working force. Now hes gonna say that Lieberman is a good democrat and we should support him because Clinton had a surplus and balanced the budget!!…I like Clinton in many ways, but truthfully, you couldnt do worse than what was there before. the cycle was on the upswing and the internet had just taken off.
The real test is what you do when the chips are down…and they are down now…
so what have they got?
This is disappointing!
Dru, can you post pics of your pets?…or email them…
PJ, can we have a pictures folder?
Hmm. I don’t know of an easy way to do photo uploads and format the pages and stuff to display them, so I’ll have to put that on my list of things to do, at least until I get back to a more comfortable working environment. I’ve been thinking of doing a few other things here, and have played a bit, but I need to get some time to sit down and really go over it. In the meantime, Flickr seems to work pretty well, or if you want to send me photos, I can put them up on a page somewhere.
Hi, Melina, Well I finally got a Digital Camera, which I have always loved (like a Mac but never had one) since I no longer am into dealing with the chemicals. Now to send … I will have to read what to do 😀 ….. and if we have a picture section that would be sweet…:love: I just thought about a blogspot thing but already it is acting up…It is ALL the computer’s fault, which is my fault in truth and a ongoing love/hate relationship between the computer and I.
I have 500 to 600 files and trying — one year deal with. That is why I may never be to now get a Mac.
I think I answered :yawn: but this coul be tons of verbage saying nothing 😆 😉
And now I get to finally go to bed:
G’Night, G’Day To One And To All 😉 :yawn:
Hey all- IM running out but wanted to let you know that dowd is up on ripcoco….after my post…:shock:
Good morning, blog sibs.
Busy day at work but I just read this from last night’s “Bid Deal with Donnie Deutsch” and can’t stop laughing. Brace yourselves for some truly comedic Coulterism.
Okay, so s/he has parts of the Starr report MEMORIZED? Oh, that’s just too precious…..:alc:
I think memorizing parts of the Starr report shows some level of not-so-latent transexuality. That and the adam’s apple.
From the WSJ
2:35 p.m.: Where things stand: In Lebanon: At least 422 people, mostly civilians, have been killed, according to the Health Ministry. Up to 750,000 Lebanese have been driven from their homes. Israeli warplanes staged 15 air strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday. In Israel: At least 50 Israelis have been confirmed killed, including 32 troops, according to authorities. The Israeli Army confirmed eight soldiers were killed in a battle for the key Lebanese town of Bint Jbail.
12:20 p.m.: Italian Premier Romano Prodi said Italy will commit troops for a U.N. multinational force for Lebanon. Separately, Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, the chief of Israel’s northern command, said he expected Israel’s offensive in Lebanon to last several more weeks.
===========================================
Some one better intervene in this mess or maybe we will have to intervene in our own mess.:jason::jason::jason::fist::fist:
Wednesday, July 26, 2006; Posted: 8:27 a.m. EDT (12:27 GMT)
ROME, Italy (CNN) — Talks in Rome on a plan for ending the 15-day-old conflict in Lebanon have failed to reach agreement barring a last-minute breakthrough, sources said.
With key Middle East players unable to reach consensus on a cease-fire and deployment of an international force, diplomats were trying to come up with a face-saving statement, they said.
A U.S. official described Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as being “under siege” but holding firm any cessation of hostilities must include a permanent disarming of Lebanonese Hezbollah militants.
http://tinyurl.com/laacx
===============================================
LoserLice spent a whole two days trying to fail this time.:jason::jason::jason::jason::gate::omg:
Like I said to the lady in Udall’s office..it may be to late for a primary ,.but…. its never to late to precipitate a special election..:jason::jason::jason:
Fred really scared me @ the top of the page…. :paranoid:
People keep listening to the funny, I’ll keep putting together these compilations/wakes for listen/downloading pleasure.
And it makes me feel special.
SO GO TO http://www.twentyfour.podomatic.com AND DOWNLOAD THE LATEST EPISODE!!!
:jesus:LIVA LA REVOLUTION:banana:
(jesusbanana)
:eek::shock::paranoid:Sheeez a whining bitch and a war monger .. I think I will listen to Hannity..( I need to :barf:):yuck::eek::shock:
Medea, will you marry me? :love:
http://tinyurl.com/zy7yq
Melina, your commentary today on RIPCoco was OUTSTANDING. Everyone go read it if you haven’t already. Really, it’s great. Dowd is good too, as usual when she’s discussing something other than her love life (or lack thereof).
So when do we find out if Condi bought some new shoes while she was out of town? At least if she did, her trip would have had SOME purpose. (Although as a taxpayer, I would prefer not to fund shoe-shopping sessions other than my own.)
:sdavid::cres:
Hey, I just noticed PJ is down to single-digit days in DC!
:banana::banana::banana:
:shock::paranoid:Rhodes sounds like a radio version of a grocery store tabloid these last few days.. Her callers don’t seems to voice any where near the concern she does.. I doubt that Israel or the US(aka The Super Banana Republic) will either invade or nuke Iran ..Pakistan and India would not appreciate the fallout and would respond. Putin might even respond. HU would be pissed and call our debt.. OPEC would shut off the oil..On the other hand Israel might well get the middle east so ticked off all that might happen without anyone invading Iran or using a nuke. :eek::shock::paranoid:
6:30 p.m.: WSJ’s John Harwood writes. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that President Bush stands on relatively firm political ground in his stance toward recent violence in the Mideast. By 45%-39%, Americans say they approve his handling of clashes between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. Americans embrace Mr. Bush’s solidarity with Israel even though a majority believes a wider war in the region is likely. In the current conflict, 57% say their sympathies lie “more with Israel.”
==========================================
:?::?::?::?::?::?::?::eek::yuck::shock::paranoid::fustrate:
Free Ghazi-Walid Falah, Ph. D.
University of Akron
Arrested in Israel
http://muehlenhaus.com/ghazi/
:fist::pent:
NBC/WSJ poll: U.S. pessimism on increase
Doubts about children’s future and concerns about wars weigh heavily
By Mark Murray
Political reporter
NBC News
WASHINGTON – With the congressional midterm elections less than four months away, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that candidates will be facing a public that has grown increasingly pessimistic, as nearly two-thirds don’t believe life for their children’s generation will be better than it has been for them, and nearly 60 percent are doubtful the Iraq war will come to a successful conclusion.
In addition, only 27 percent think the country is headed in the right direction, while just 34 percent approve of the president’s handling of Iraq. Fifty-eight percent say they are less confident the Iraq war will come to a successful conclusion.
And there’s more pessimism: Among those who believe that the nation is headed on the wrong track, a whopping 81 percent say it’s part of a longer-term decline and that things won’t get better for a while. Just 12 percent think the problems are short-term blips.
And 65 percent say they feel less confident that life for their children’s generation will be better than it was for them. In December 2001, the last time this question was asked, respondents — by a 49-42 percent margin — said they were confident life would be better for their children.
(snip/…)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14044391/
===========================================
The Indians are restless.. The smell of war is in the air.. Worse yet OPEC is getting anxious..:eek::eek::shock::rant1:
The legal status of a Jewish community in the period of classical Judaism was normally based on a ‘privilege’ – a charter granted by a king or prince (or, in Poland after the 16th century, by a powerful nobleman) to the Jewish community and conferring on it the rights of autonomy – that is, investing the rabbis with the power to dictate to the other Jews. An important part of such privileges, going as far back as the late Roman Empire, is the creation of a Jewish clerical estate which, exactly like the Christian clergy in medieval times, is exempt from paying taxes to the sovereign and is allowed to impose taxes on the people under its control – the Jews – for its own benefit. It is interesting to note that this deal between the late Roman Empire and the rabbis antedates by at least one hundred years the very similar privileges granted by Constantine the Great and his successors to the Christian clergy.
ISRAEL SHAHAK
We know from Jewish sources that the tax-exempt rabbis used excommunication and other means within their power to enhance the religious hegemony of the Patriarch. We also hear, mostly indirectly, of the hate and scorn that many of the Jewish peasants and urban poor in Palestine had for the rabbis, as well as of the contempt of the rabbis for the Jewish poor (usually expressed as contempt for the ‘ignorant’). Nevertheless, this typical colonial arrangement continued, as it was backed by the might of the Roman Empire[…]
This was, in particular, the situation in pre-1795 Poland. The specific circumstances of Polish Jewry will be outlined below. Here I only want to point out that because of the formation of a large Jewish community in that country, a deep cleavage between the Jewish upper class (the rabbis and the rich) and the Jewish masses developed there from the 18th century and continued throughout the 19th century. So long as the Jewish community had power over its members, the incipient revolts of the poor, who had to bear the main brunt of taxation, were suppressed by the combined force of the naked coercion of Jewish ‘self-rule’ and religious sanction.
SHAHAK
Nick: Interesting stuff not normally known
Fred: Pessism directly attributable to George Bush and everything he did to fuck things up
Classical Judaism : 1000 CE-present (under the guise of Orthodox judaism)
(1) Classical Jewish society has no peasants, and in this it differs profoundly from earlier Jewish societies in the two centers, Palestine and Mesopotamia. It is difficult for us, in modern times, to understand what this means. We have to make an effort to imagine what serfdom was like; the enormous difference in literacy, let alone education, between village and town throughout this period; the incomparably greater freedom enjoyed by all the small minority who were not peasants – in order to realize that during the whole of the classical period the Jews, in spite of all the persecutions to which they were subjected, formed an integral part of the privileged classes. Jewish historiography, especially in English, is misleading on this point inasmuch as it tends to focus on Jewish poverty and anti-Jewish discrimination. Both were real enough at times; but the poorest Jewish craftsman, peddler, land-lord’s steward or petty cleric was immeasurably better off than a serf. This was particularly true in those European countries where serfdom persisted into the 19th century, whether in a partial or extreme form: Prussia, Austria (including Hungary), Poland and the Polish lands taken by Russia. And it is not without significance that, prior to the beginning of the great Jewish migration of modern times (around 1880), a large majority of all Jews were living in those areas and that their most important social function there was to mediate the oppression of the peasants on behalf of the nobility and the Crown.
SHAHAK
Bernie Sanders! :fu:
Greetings, Must infuse Tea:joe: into vain:!:
FRED, WTF :?::?::?: 🙁 :doh::fu::growl::fist::jason:
re 60 :doh::doh::doh: my head hurts WTF :fustrate:
This is good stuff. Oh yes, you know where to leave the offerings and the proper way to bring tribute
Hi Druid. Can you infuse something for me? I”m too lazy to make even my standard chamomile-mint. Oh WTF I’ll do it. Exhausted, though.
What was the social role of Polish Jewry from the beginning of the 16th century until 1795? With the decline of royal power, the king’s usual role in relation to the Jews was rapidly taken over by the nobility – with lasting and tragic results both for the Jews themselves and for the common people of the Polish republic. All over Poland the nobles used Jews as their agents to undermine the commercial power of the Royal Towns …
Alone among the countries of western Christendom, in Poland a nobleman’s property inside a Royal Town was exempt from the town’s laws and guild regulations. In most cases the nobles settled their Jewish clients in such properties, thus giving rise to a lasting conflict. The Jews were usually ‘victorious’, in the sense that the towns could neither subjugate nor drive them off; but in the frequent popular riots Jewish lives (and, even more, Jewish property) were lost. The nobles still got the profits. Similar or worse consequences followed from the frequent use of Jews as commercial agents of noblemen: they won exemption from most Polish tolls and tariffs, to the loss of the native bourgeoisie.
Susan Joy, re 71, Sure I will send “spirit tea:joe:” into the Ether realm…:wink:
re 7o and similar posts 😀 …and shoot all I want to be is Catherine The Great in America
(then to oneday hand over to a Powerful Counsel) but the Judeo/Christain Pantheon would no longer reign supreme.
Royal towns were established by nobles and belonged to them – and they were settled almost exclusively by Jews. Until 1939, the population of many Polish towns east of the river Bug was at least 90 per cent Jewish, and this demographic phenomenon was even more pronounced in that area of Tsarist Russia annexed from Poland and known as the Jewish Pale . . .
Outside the towns very many Jews throughout Poland, but especially in the east, were employed as the direct supervisors and oppressors of the enserfed peasantry – as bailiffs of whole manors (invested with the landlord’s full coercive powers) or as lessees of particular feudal monopolies such as the corn mill, the liquor still and public house (with the right of armed search of peasant houses for illicit stills) or the bakery, and as collectors of customary feudal dues of all kinds…
I’m not much for Norm Coleman, but I gotta give a tip of the hat to his 81-yr old father.
I can’t think of that being such a bad end result, Catherine…I mean Druid :peace::pent:
[I]n eastern Poland, under the rule of the nobles… the Jews were both the immediate exploiters of the peasantry and virtually the only town-dwellers.
During the whole period of classical Judaism, Jews were often subjected to persecutions – and this fact now serves as the main ‘argument’ of the apologists of the Jewish religion with its anti-Gentile laws and especially of Zionism.
right, I’ve heard the arguments for a Jewish state – mostly that Jews are persecuted. To me that’s a reason NOT to have a separate state. Separting oneself does not bring more compassion…in fact setting oneself apart leads surrounding people to come up with beliefs of the separated that lead to prejudiced behavior. There are other arguments against Zionism but that’s one I can think of that’s not really brought up.
We must…. draw a sharp distinction between the persecutions of Jews during the classical period on the one hand, and the Nazi extermination on the other. The former were popular movements, coming from below; whereas the latter was inspired, organized and carried out from above…
Such acts as the Nazi state-organized extermination are relatively rare in human history, although other cases do exist (the extermination of the Tasmanians and several other colonial peoples, for example). Moreover, the Nazis intended to wipe out other peoples besides the Jews: Gypsies were exterminated like Jews, and the extermination of Slavs was well under way, with the systematic massacre of millions of civilians and prisoners of war.
However, it is the recurrent persecution of Jews in so many countries during the classical period which is the model (and the excuse) for the zionist politicians in their persecution of the Palestinians, as well as the argument used by apologists of Judaism in general…
warped logic anyway…persecute other people because you were persecuted…if you were persecuted makes it the best reason to refrain from doing it someone else…
Its clear to see from the recent rash of anti-gay marrage laws (passed by state after state) that the majority of citizens in this country do not support same-sex unions. The rational for these anti-gay laws is a result of the long held religious belief that homosexuality is a sin.
Though we may live in a secular world one cannot deny the power of religion in regard to this issue. As a gay man in this country I cannot help but feel powerless to change the minds of people who have determined the “Good Book” to be the unchanging word of “God”. So when I hear Chrisitans claim themselves a persecuted lot I have to laugh. But underneath that moment of laughter is a great fear. The fear that my life and the lives of other countless gay men and women will forever be fighting a lost cause. For how can one fight and win against the “Word of God?”
Long ago I left the church. I could not worship an unjust God. A God that would create me and then deny me that which gave me such happiness. Then I found myself in a whirlwind. It took awhile for me to become grounded again. A journey that would bring me back to my God. But this time I did not look upon God through the eyes of other men. I looked upon him with mine own eyes.
I have to believe that I am worthy of life. That there is some meaning to my existence. I could pretend to be someone I am not; to lie (that is, it seems) what makes others most comfortable.
But I won’t lie and I won’t pretend to be someone I am not. And if it is to be that I will never find complete happiness and contentment in this world, so shall it be. I shall not yield to the ignorance. But instead remain with hope . . . hope that one day I (and others like me) shall be looked upon . . . as any other man.
-thank you for indulging me this moment
Always a friend,
cnickthomas, more formerly known as Richard.
All Jews who really want to extricate themselves from the tyranny of the totalitarian Jewish past must face the question of their attitude towards the popular anti-Jewish manifestations of the past, particularly those connected with the rebellions of enserfed peasants. On the other side, all the apologists of the Jewish religion and of Jewish segregationism and chauvinism also take their stand – both ultimately and in current debates – on the same question. The undoubted fact that the peasant revolutionaries committed shocking atrocities against Jews (as well as against their other oppressors) is used as an ‘argument’ by those apologists, in exactly the same way that the Palestinian terror is used to justify the denial of justice to the Palestinians.
Alright. I will stop my antisemitism now.
I’ll have to beat you up if you call yourself that…
Self-hating Child of the Haskalah, then.
:sdavid::pent:
:jesus:
And so were “Witches” exterminated due to Christain beliefs. All must stop the HORRORS OF MURDER, N O W . Thus “working” and ACKNOWLEDGING that ALL LIVING have Rights to exist:!:
There are good folk/bad folk of ALL RACES and BELIEFS.
nope. Too late. You waited too much time to post that. Going to have to beat you up now.
Notice that John Elliot has the Israeli propaganda line down. Typical liberal.
(Bernie Sanders is bullshit, too.)
cnickthomas, :love:…and I so agree with you, but as a religious person of my faith, I am still baffled why many Gays and Lesbians even SEEK to join with the persecutors:wink: i.e. Judeo/Christan belief structure
Susan Joy 😉 my bad :spank: :hubba::rofl2:
APPROVAL RATING FOR GEORGE W BUSH AS OF 07/18/06
http://tinyurl.com/keqts
==============================
:?::?::?::?::?::fustrate::fustrate::fustrate:
some people still approve of him? :smack::omg:
:omg::omg: Cruella Watch :omg::omg:
Wondering if Diebold will reverse this :tinfoil: Does she have enough money for that? :fu:
🙁 :fustrate::paranoid::growl::fustrate:my head hurts
PaintgGirl and Farmerkat 😉 “MAJOR” anger “emo” alert 😮
:fu::fu::fu::fu::fu::growl::growl::growl::fist::fist::fist::fist::fist::jason::jason::jason::jason::jason:
teehee :knit::knit::knit::knit::knit:
Either the pollsters are getting paid off or the American Public is so in the dark about what is going on because they watch FAUX news or M$RNC or live in a cave ( that’s actually more plausible).. When they go to bed some night and get vaporized while they are sleeping they will then understand.. Did you all see the poll numbers where 51% of the those polled now thought Iraq had WMD’s when we invaded .. that was UP from like 37%.:fustrate::fustrate::eek::yuck:
RAGING Granny …10 million dollars (done in a breathy whisper) :rofl2::wink:
fred, I take it personally 🙁 :growl: since …
re 99
[David] Horowitz’s response to every question, every development in the Middle East, whether it concerns Lebanon, the Palestinians, Syria or Iran, is the same: “They want to drive the Jews into the sea”. It’s as simple as that. Not even a superficial attempt at analysis; just the message that the Arab world is trying to finish off the genocide started by Europe. And if Laura [Ingraham] is any yardstick, a lot of Americans buy that stuff.
Horowitz is keen to bang the square peg of the Lebanon story into the round hole of his claims that the “Jews” are facing an imminent genocide in the Middle East. And to help him, he and the massed ranks of US apologists for Israel — regulars, I suspect, of shows like Laura’s — are promoting at least four myths regarding Hizbullah’s current rockets strikes on Israel. Unless they are challenged at every turn, the danger is that they will win the ground war against common sense in the US…
JONATHON COOK
Susan Joy, so when are we taking over the nation?:knit:
There seem to be a lot of people who are living with their utilities turned off. That includes older people who can’t pay their electric bill and even some younger people who are part of the 14% that are unemployed .. oops that is 15% oops that is 16% oops..:fustrate::paranoid::eek::shock::jason:
Instead of listening to John Elliot tonight, I checked out Tom Petty’s music program on XM. The guy has got the drollest delivery and really puts on a good music show.
The problem with XM is that you really have to dig to find out what show’s are on. The commercials don’t help because I have been programmed over the years to ignore them.
He just ended the show with The Stooge’s ‘wanna be your dog’.
Cheers everyone!
Fred, that is SOOO WRONG :fustrate::fustrate::fustrate:
:fu::growl::fist::jason:
There seem to be lots of Yuppie dominated cities that are passing ordinances to keep relief groups from feeding indigents by means of mobile kitchens in the city parks. It is estimated that metro Denver with a population of slightly less than 2 million has 12,000 homeless people .. Some big cities like LA maybe 100,000 or more.. This seems to be a way to get rid of these people. I don’t know where they would move to or how they would move to some other place. I think it is also intended to disguise the view of the great depression where people in business suits were selling apples on the street corner.:eek::shock::fustrate:
I cannot AFFORD gas … BUT when cold I CAN MAKE A FIRE —– But everytime I do I say to myself WHAT DO THE Elderly or POOR do? I could not afford “HEAT” in L.A. while in school. One needs heat or you cannot focus on anything else BUT SURVIVAL:!::growl:
hiding or “resettling” the homeless became a big thing under Mayor Guiliani in NYC. I’ve moved out of the city since so not sure if Bloomberg is keeping up this “fine tradition” “Get those parasites off the corner” was very popular with the people in NY. Except for the homeless, of course, and a few others who cared.
:fustrate::growl::fustrate::growl::fustrate::smack:tea:joe:
In the fall after the first frost we see a lot of cases of people doing really poor jobs of holding up 7/11’s and banks then hanging around for the cops to put them in the county jail for six months .. In a place where the night time temps get well below freezing (they used to at least) its a convenient way to keep from freezing to death.:rant1:
Well I have to go beddy by 1:30 comes a bit early .. blog with ya all tomorrow..
fred, 8) Nighty Night :yawn: :knit::gate:Pleasant Dreams
I have to go and get my angst out = Exercise on bike here — I told you I am a recluse Bwah ahah or
MMMwah AhAh or Whatever 😉
Hey Kev, thanks so much for the nice review of my piece today….I made the mistake of looking at it when I was in one of Will’s waiting rooms and I spent part of the afternoon beating myself up for not editing the english more…I do better if I dont look back. I suppose it would be good if I had someone look at these things before I published, but usually Im running out the door and Im lucky to even have finished (thats what happened today…left myself 15 mins to shower and get out of here after messing around too much in pictures and all the bells and whistles which hardly ever work anyway)
So, thanks for the mention. Im glad you liked it!
Im actually working up a little steam on Clinton and Lieberman.
Those fucks just called me and left a message of Clinton speaking about Joe. I guess he let them use a tape of his speech to auto call dems and beg for support.
I talked to the Lamont people today and its incredible how mad people are at Lieberman…everyone is finding that even the die hard Joementum supporters in their neighborhoods are fuming mad.
Im going to deliver lawn signs and try to do some phone banking….and on election day they need help.
I wish that Will’s appointments didnt take up so much time. I just signed him up for a listening program that goes with OT, and its 1.5 hours 3 times per week added to a million other things that hes doing…and all of these little things break the day up in to little pieces for me, when I should be over at the Lamont office calling people to remind them to vote.
Dru- you are so good…I am trying to get on my bike more…really destroyed my knees with a stair climber so now have to be careful…but I like it alot.
Suz- I noticed these past stints and visits to the city that there are more and more homeless. Maybe I wasn in Chelsea too much, but it was almost like the Reagan years, with alot of begging going on and alot of people sleeping on the street…but also I saw more passed out drunks that I would usually see. Back in the Reagan era I harkened it to India…down in the village where I lived…with tons of people on the streets with outstretched hands. Punks to old people, and the line at the soup kitchen was too long so they had to turn people away.
You know, around here. people have been filling their cars with gas and driving off without paying, so you have to prepay if youre not using a credit card. I think that is a southern fairfield county version of things starting to get really bad….
The Guilliani thing was that people were hassled and moved every few minutes and lots of them were given one way tickets to Bridgeport CT by the NYC police (that was a scandal up here) and also I believe that alot of people went underground literally, into the old subway tunnels that go down somehting like 8 stories below NYC. I dont know if those are old wives tales at this point, but things are certainly worse and worse….
My father’s girlfriend just sent me an email with the subject: Pets Trapped in Lebanon Need Your Help!!!
OK….hmmm….
She is the sister of the guy who was Nader’s last running mate….
Hey all– dont forget that tonight is the premiere of Morgan Spurlock’s 30 days season 2 on FX…its on at 10 and then an encore at 11.
Any east coasters out there who might want to come to see Maron…Im thinking of Saturday as probably the night that most people can make….Im going to enquire about reservations or what is involved.
There is no smoking, they should start to have food this month so will have food by then, its an 18+ club so William is out of luck…um…I will find out the rest tomorrow as far as if we can make reservations or need to purchase tickets now.
Melina, I am sending :kiss: 😉
Oh, Melina I have a comment but then my computer just went crazy for many minutes and I again almost, but usually LOST EVERYTHING. Luckily I wrote comment and will send when I get back to office in a few BAD COMPUTER :spank:….:growl:
Melina, Just quickly sending a tea:joe::alc: and as Travis says, “Let’s throw it down.” I hope I didn’t miss you but our “Time” is so different. You and I agree sooooo much and I would :love: to debate re Nader. Seriously :wink:. But anyone with a growing teenager:eek: hahahahahaha but mostly I want to tease about your site. I have tried to leave messages even to you and Travis on your sites but …..Oh I am so :doh::fustrate:
I even tried to make a “blogspot”. And I,accidentaly, left my description in the #1 post 😮 …
I :love:your pixs of all, including snake and parrots (You do have more than one still, right?). Ahhhhh You are a 8) chick 😉 :hubba: with a “kick’n” son. But tell Will to be nice to you or I will send my Rat Patrol. HaHaHa Ask him if he ever heard of BEN?:rofl2: Lead Balloon Humour alert. And Snakey, the rats run fast :rofl2: Rats :growl:
However I do think we “chicks” are 8) with snakes and rats and hybrids and parrots and :billcat:s, Oh My …:rofl2: talk later…C-Ya
Now this is being sent out to the “Ether”…
I just want to proclaim My Computer Hates Me. Often I am sending something, small mostly, and “it” FREEZES.:knit2: and have to shut down…:growl:and it is a bloody 2000XP. (I liked ’98)
I am ex-mountain slow and then it “STOPS”:!::eek::smack::growl: …DHS it is all your fault right :paranoid:
Melina, re animals What’s up?
Pets Trapped in Lebanon Need Your Help!!!
The original story, as most media tell it, goes something like this: Hezbollah attacked an Israeli border patrol station, killing six and taking two soldiers hostage. The incident happened on the Lebanese/Israel border in Israeli territory. The alternate version, as explained by several news outlets, tells a bit of a different tale: These sources contend that Israel sent a commando force into southern Lebanon and was subsequently attacked by Hezbollah near the village of Aitaa al-Chaab, well inside Lebanon’s southern territory. It was at this point that an Israel tank was struck by Hezbollah fighters, which resulted in the capture of two Israeli soldiers and the death of six.
As the AFP reported, “According to the Lebanese police force, the two Israeli soldiers were captured in Lebanese territory, in the area of Aitaa al-Chaab, near to the border with Israel, where an Israeli unit had penetrated in middle of morning.” And the French news site http://www.VoltaireNet.org reiterated the same account on June 18, “In a deliberated way, [Israel] sent a commando in the Lebanese back-country to Aitaa al-Chaab. It was attacked by Hezbollah, taking two prisoners.”