News Stories

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by JMvS

I've read somewhere that Kim Jong Il's recent trip to Russia was aimed at bettering ties between the two former allies, and in the basket there were Russian plans for building natural gas pipeline trough the Korean peninsula among other things.

And the earthquakes didn't deter the Japanese from digging a tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido.

But I don't think that tunnel matches the size and capability to that of the Eurotunnel. If they are going to build something of that size and length between Korea and Japan, it would have been quite dangerous given the fault lines in that area.

Marketwatch is starting to enjoy using the word "downgrade".

Irene downgraded

And also....



Maybe a foretelling of things to come?

[Ithekro]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

but a underwater tunnel would be Gozilla proof.

Nothing is Godzilla proof.

[ganbaru]

Powell says Cheney taking 'cheap shots' in book
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...08-28-15-12-10

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Powell says Cheney taking 'cheap shots' in book
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...08-28-15-12-10

Basically, the whole book is a view into "Cheney's magical world of fantasy" that he lives in. He doesn't react well to having support his assertions.

[Tom Bombadil]

I sometimes doubt what these "journalists" were thinking when they wrote their articles.

China moves Tibet hardliner to heavily Catholic province

The hardline Chinese official removed last week as Communist Party chief of restive Tibet has been made head of the province in the center of contention over China's Catholics, giving him an influential role in another sensitive religious issue.

The title got me interested. I mean, there is a heavily Catholic province in China that I don't know about? Which that may be? Lol, behold:

Hebei, with a population of 70 million, is home to roughly a quarter of China's 8-12 million Roman Catholics.

What make them to report the numbers in such a round about way? Let's say the numbers are correct, and we are going to be generous with the estimate, then that only make at most 4.29% percent of the population of the province Catholic, doesn't it? Where is the heavily catholic in this? Why do they have the number of the population of the province and the number of overall number of Catholics in all China in the same sentence? I know there is "a quarter of" in there, but how many of the readers are going to make the calculation when they read the article?

And sure, taking care of the 4.3% percent of the Catholics is the main reason that this guy is made the head of the province. I mean, really?

Given the special position of the province (it literally surround Beijing on all sides), loyalty as a dog is what they are looking for in him, and if he does well, he might get a position in Beijing after that.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Basically, the whole book is a view into "Cheney's magical world of fantasy" that he lives in. He doesn't react well to having support his assertions.

Too bad than he can't make the difference betweem his fantasy and reality.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Tom Bombadil

I sometimes doubt what these "journalists" were thinking when they wrote their articles.

China moves Tibet hardliner to heavily Catholic province



The title got me interested. I mean, there is a heavily Catholic province in China that I don't know about? Which that may be? Lol, behold:


What make them to report the numbers in such a round about way? Let's say the numbers are correct, and we are going to be generous with the estimate, then that only make at most 4.29% percent of the population of the province Catholic, doesn't it? Where is the heavily catholic in this? Why do they have the number of the population of the province and the number of overall number of Catholics in all China in the same sentence? I know there is "a quarter of" in there, but how many of the readers are going to make the calculation when they read the article?

And sure, taking care of the 4.3% percent of the Catholics is the main reason that this guy is made the head of the province. I mean, really?

Given the special position of the province (it literally surround Beijing on all sides), loyalty as a dog is what they are looking for in him, and if he does well, he might get a position in Beijing after that.

Or a member of the inner circle of the CCCP.

Might as well let him helm one of the aircraft carriers after China built 3 more to invade Taiwan with - he makes the perfect model for a "glorious war hero". *sarcastic*

EDIT :

Japan Puts On Elects New Sanitary Pad Premier

[DonQuigleone]

They were pretty quick to elect the next guy, though I suppose they probably decided it in advance before Kan resigned.

But, eh, this guy doesn't seem particularly charismatic to me...

It feels like the DPJ is just LDP 2.0. They have no excuse, because they hold large majorities in parliament...

[solomon]

Aside from Mr. Lions Mane, when in the HELL have Japanese leaders been charismatic?

Honestly, I can see why the Japanese really don't give a hoot about politics. NOTHING EVER GETS DONE!

[DonQuigleone]

Originally Posted by solomon

Aside from Mr. Lions Mane, when in the HELL have Japanese leaders been charismatic?

Honestly, I can see why the Japanese really don't give a hoot about politics. NOTHING EVER GETS DONE!

Very true. Japan needs some reform methinks...

[ganbaru]

Big oil companies may have to give up Iraq gas
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...77S1TO20110829

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Big oil companies may have to give up Iraq gas
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...77S1TO20110829

savannah05 wrote:

THe idea that Iraqi oil and gas would pay for the expenses of the US military was a liberal fantasy, or still is depending on which hermit you ask. The invasion of Iraq was about reducing risk to the American State, on the energy, trade routes, and allies fronts. Anyone who believed other wise is either an idiot or a media sheeple. And if you thought invading another country would some how increase the economic atctivity in the domestic US, A you were right, the defense industry is one of the largest employers, in the United States, and B everything comes to an end, unless you live in academia.

i love this comment, the Right is blaming the Left for the Iraq war

[Vexx]

Its even worse... poor Savannah05 apparently can't even remember more than two years ago. Those of us paying attention remember when the Bush Administration made that very assertion that the oil/gas revenues from Iraq would cover the costs and that's why we could leave the war costs "off the books". But then, we also see that Savannah's assertion fails because they "prove it" by calling anyone names who challenges it.

Verbal thuggery Mussolini would be proud of

Anyway.. this strident and increasing tendency to rewrite facts and blow confusion about does not bode well for what is left of US democracy.

"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ignorance is just as good as knowledge." -- Isaac Asimov.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Its even worse... poor Savannah05 apparently can't even remember more than two years ago. Those of us paying attention remember when the Bush Administration made that very assertion that the oil/gas revenues from Iraq would cover the costs and that's why we could leave the war costs "off the books". But then, we also see that Savannah's assertion fails because they "prove it" by calling anyone names who challenges it.

Verbal thuggery Mussolini would be proud of

Anyway.. this strident and increasing tendency to rewrite facts and blow confusion about does not bode well for what is left of US democracy.

"Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ignorance is just as good as knowledge." -- Isaac Asimov.

The Right is now calling Bush as a Liberal.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

The Right is now calling Bush as a Liberal.

Bush Sr. is definitely a "liberal" by the standards of these neo-tards, as is Dole, Reagan, Ford, Nixon, and OMG! Eisenhower.

Bush, Jr. was simply not focused enough on the goals of people like Cheny and the Koch brothers and their ilk - so he wasn't sufficiently in line with their goals.

http://www.regressiveantidote.net/Ar...y_Species.html
is actually a pretty on-target assessment of the plutocrat war to destroy the uppity middle class that appeared in the 20th century. Even Eisenhower called these plutocrats and their minions "stupid" (exact words). Where *are* those guillotines?

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

http://www.regressiveantidote.net/Ar...y_Species.html
is actually a pretty on-target assessment of the plutocrat war to destroy the uppity middle class that appeared in the 20th century. Even Eisenhower called these plutocrats and their minions "stupid" (exact words). Where *are* those guillotines?

In a few more hurricanes.....

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Bush Sr. is definitely a "liberal" by the standards of these neo-tards, as is Dole, Reagan, Ford, Nixon, and OMG! Eisenhower.

Bush, Jr. was simply not focused enough on the goals of people like Cheny and the Koch brothers and their ilk - so he wasn't sufficiently in line with their goals.

http://www.regressiveantidote.net/Ar...y_Species.html
is actually a pretty on-target assessment of the plutocrat war to destroy the uppity middle class that appeared in the 20th century. Even Eisenhower called these plutocrats and their minions "stupid" (exact words). Where *are* those guillotines?

Reagan and Nixon would be too liberal to win the Republican Nomination if they were running today.

[Ithekro]

Dole was alright, but the Democrats had his number, so the last "old warhorse" was put out to pasture along with the old ideals. Basically the remains of the Republican party figure they can't win using the old ways since the Democratic party changed a lot in the 1960s to 1980s to counter Nixon and Reagan. Clinton is not an old timey Democrat, and niether is Obama.

[andyjay729]

As I said earlier, 100 years ago the Republicans were more like the modern Democrats and vice versa. Well, not entirely. The Republicans of 1911 were the party of the Northeast and Midwest and favored high tariffs. (They were very pro-business, but the tariffs somewhat made up for that.) The Democrats of 1911 were the party of the South and West and especially before the Civil War favored smaller government and farming interests (think of Thomas Jefferson, often said to be the founder of the modern Democratic Party, as well as Andrew Jackson). At the same time though, they were also heavily represented by new immigrants in the inner cities, especially the Irish. (Enter the Kennedys.)

And it was the Republicans who spearheaded the original Progressive Era in the early 1900s, such as Wisconsin Senator Robert LaFollette and of course Theodore Roosevelt. Democrat William Jennings Bryan meanwhile ran for President in 1896 vowing to establish free silver along with the gold standard. I'm not sure whether that would've fit on the left or right sides, but Bryan's proposal was quite popular in the West (especially in states with large silver deposits). Bryan was also an extremely popular fundamentalist evangelist, and about 30 years later he served as the prosecutor during the Scopes Trial. Imagine a modern-day Democrat in that position.

It's difficult to say when exactly the poles began shifting, but one could most likely draw the line at the election of conservative, small-government Warren Harding in 1920 and certainly with his successor Calvin Coolidge (Ronald Reagan's favorite president). Woodrow Wilson was the first big-government Democrat (though his stance on civil liberties during World War I left a lot to be desired). And then culture clashes and debate over Vietnam added the whole cultural definition. In a nutshell, conservative Southerners were alienated by mostly Northern hippies and went to their former arch-nemises. But some indescrepancies persisted; John F. Kennedy was actually a friend of Sen. Joe McCarthy and even defended him at some points. He only joined the Senate in censure when he was pressured. Meanwhile my grandma from Connecticut hasn't voted for any Republican since at least Reagan, but she's still a registered Republican.

[ganbaru]

Bank of America to sell China bank stake for $8.3 billion
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...77S2MO20110830