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- Jun 22, 2009
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rhubroma said:
Was starting to wonder what had happened to you.
Have you been to Cuba during your absence from here? If so, I'd love to hear more impressions.Of course, Oswald and Ruby both acted entirely on their own...
- Jun 14, 2010
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Amsterhammer said:
I don't go around claiming to know things better. Though feel free to provide example to back that up.
Funnily though, I can come up with examples of where you have been guilty of that yourself.
Amsterhammer said:
Amsterhammer said:
Amsterhammer said:
- Apr 2, 2009
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rhubroma said:
PS. On a slightly different note Raul Castro has recently lifted the ban imposed on Cubans that prohibited them from traveling. What was truly a shame was how real socialism during the Cold War never had a fighting chance in Cuba in the absence of a regime. Too many interests, too much at stake with the US in an all-out struggle to sabotage Russia (and hence Cuba) and vice versa. Yet, at the same time, the tyranny imposed by US imperialism in Cuba and the region alone made the revolucion worth fighting: since the Monroe Doctrine really, though particularly after 1898, when Spain following the Spanish-Cuban-US War signed an agreement - and made a payment of $20 million - ceeding to the US its control over Cuba, Puerto Rico and Guam, which eventually lead to 90% of the productive Cuban farming land being owned by United Fruit Co. before Castro, with just as much of the profits heading back to the US. To say nothing of the condemnable mafia and US intelligence ruling over the Cuban affairs of state under Batista. Too bad that the revolution though didn't result in a reformism that also established democracy. But, for the reasons mentioned above, how was a Cuban democracy going to take off with the US so ferociously hostile? And thus what other chance did Cuban socialism have were it not through the protection of Moscow at the time? When the Soviet Union broke up, America made its stranglehold over the Cuban economy all the more asphyxiating, in the true spirit of humanitarianism and its fight to spread justice throughout the globe, as purely vindictive and punitive measures. Any cargo ship that passed through Cuban ports wasn't allowed to trade with the US for six months, both under Clinton and then Bush, who, along with the neocons, clamped down harder in 2003 by making as they did even more severe such measures, as well as those to punish US citizens who dare to visit the island: declaring them to be engaging in "Trading With the Enemy."
And then the American people wonder why their country is accused of economic terrorism and other forms of willful cruelty.
Nonetheless the island inhabitants are extremely hospitable and, of course, like their music, dance, rum and cigars. The cars really are from the 50's and were just splendid fossils, though the complete lack of emissions standers makes the air in the cities practically not breathable. The most beautiful scenery is in the north, by the canyon of Vinialis (where much tobacco is grown), at Trinidad along the southern coast (above which rise the Sierra del Escambray toward Santa Clara - magnificently steep pass), the Sierra Maestra, the grandest of Cuba's mountain ranges (with the Pico del Torquino at 1970 circa meters being the island's highest point - there is a 10 k road in the Sierra Maestra leading up to the Comandancia or Command Headquarters where Fidel, Che et al made guerilla warfare against Batista that has grades of 30% and more, peaking out at 45%!, the steepest road of the island - and finally the torturous mountain road to get to Baracoa from Santiago de Cuba. The women, of course, were frequently very beautiful and also very available as they say.
All in all, though, the effects of Castro's regime and the US block on Cuban trade has debilitated the country to the point at which it truly makes me shudder to think what will come next, when the country is "rehabilitated" into the free-market world. And I predict opportunism and prepotency to reign free over emancipation and liberty.
Toda nuestra accion es un gritto de guerra contra el imperialismo...
- Ernesto "Che" Guevara
- Apr 2, 2009
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Amsterhammer said:Was starting to wonder what had happened to you.
Of course, Oswald and Ruby both acted entirely on their own...
I provided a few of my impressions above.
Susan Westemeyer
Retired Moderator
- Mar 5, 2009
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The Hitch said:
you have to understand that snakeboy doesnt care for glenn, hence the double standard regarding insults
patricknd said:
I insulted Glenn Beck..Last time I saw there was no rule against insulting another poster's heroes and love interests..Even if they are such fanbois that they name themselves after them.
- Mar 18, 2009
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Amsterhammer said:Was starting to wonder what had happened to you.
Of course, Oswald and Ruby both acted entirely on their own...
Yup. We all know that Kennedy was taken out by the crew of the Red Dwarf.
- Mar 11, 2009
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- May 13, 2009
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Account of the 1988 troubles at the strait of Hormuz which is also a good reminder why the Arab revolution was not allowed to succeed in Bahrain, the port of the 5th US fleet.
In other news, Syria is on the brink of collapse (with Hamas hightailing out of Damaskus), and things go pear shaped in Egypt.
Maybe 2012 gets better.
In other news, Syria is on the brink of collapse (with Hamas hightailing out of Damaskus), and things go pear shaped in Egypt.
Maybe 2012 gets better.
File this under "Don't let the door hit you in the *** on the way out"...
Nancy Pelosi’s Daughter: ‘My Mom Wants to Leave Congress’
http://biggovernment.com/jsshapiro/2011/12/29/exclusive-nancy-pelosis-daughter-my-mom-wants-to-leave-congress/
Ben Nelson retiring from Senate
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70879.html
Nancy Pelosi’s Daughter: ‘My Mom Wants to Leave Congress’
http://biggovernment.com/jsshapiro/2011/12/29/exclusive-nancy-pelosis-daughter-my-mom-wants-to-leave-congress/
Ben Nelson retiring from Senate
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70879.html
- Sep 30, 2011
- 9,560
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North Korea calls Kim Jong Un 'supreme leader'
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- North Korea's power brokers publicly declared Kim Jong Un the country's supreme leader for the first time at a massive public memorial Thursday for his father, cementing the family's hold on power for another generation.
A somber Kim, dubbed the Great Successor, attended the memorial as he stood with his head bowed at the Grand People's Study House, overlooking Kim Il Sung Square, named for his grandfather who founded modern North Korea.
A sea of humanity, including smartly dressed troops and civilians, gathered below him for the memorial that doubled as a show of support for his burgeoning role as leader.
The unequivocal public backing for Kim Jong Un provides a strong signal that government and military officials have unified around him in the wake of his father and long time ruler Kim Jong Il's death Dec. 17.
"Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un is our party, military and country's supreme leader who inherits great comrade Kim Jong Il's ideology, leadership, character, virtues, grit and courage," Kim Yong Nam, considered North Korea's ceremonial head of state, said in a speech.
Kim Jong Un, wearing a dark overcoat, was flanked by top party and military officials, including Kim Jong Il's younger sister, Kim Kyong Hui, and her husband Jang Song Thaek, who are expected to serve as mentors of their young nephew.
"The father's plan is being implemented," Ralph Cossa, president of Pacific Forum CSIS, a Hawaii-based think tank, said of the transfer of power. "All of these guys have a vested interest in the system and a vested interest in demonstrating stability. The last thing they want to do is create havoc."
Still, given Kim Jong Un's inexperience and age - he is in his late 20s - there are questions outside North Korea about whether he is equipped to lead a nation engaged in long-stalled negotiations over its nuclear program and grappling with decades of economic hardship and chronic food shortages.
But support among North Korea's power brokers was clear at the memorial service, which was attended by hundreds of thousands of people filling Kim Il Sung Square and other plazas in central Pyongyang.
Thursday's memorial "was an event to publicly reconfirm and solidify" Kim Jong Un's status, said Jeung Young-tae, an analyst with the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, South Korea.
Life in the North Korean capital came to a standstill as mourners dressed in thick, dark colored jackets blanketed the plaza from the Grand People's Study House to the Taedong River for the second day of funeral ceremonies for the late leader. A giant red placard hanging on the front of a building facing Kim Il Sung Square urged the country to rally around Kim Jong Un.
Kim Jong Il, who led his 24 million people with absolute power for 17 years, died of a heart attack Dec. 17 at age 69, according to state media. He inherited power from his father Kim Il Sung, who died of a heart attack in 1994, in what was the communist world's first hereditary succession.
Attention turned to Kim Jong Un after he was revealed last year as his father's choice among three known sons to carry the Kim dynasty into a third generation.
The process to groom him was rushed compared to the 20 years Kim Jong Il had to prepare to take over from his father, and relied heavily on the Kim family bloodline and legacy as guerrilla fighters and the nation's founders.
Kim Il Sung is North Korea's first and only president; he retains the title "Eternal President" even after his death.
Kim Jong Il held three main positions: chairman of the National Defense Commission, general secretary of the Workers' Party and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army.
According to the constitution, his position as chairman of the National Defense Commission makes him "supreme leader" of North Korea.
Kim Jong Un was made a four-star general last year and appointed a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party. Since his father's death, state media have bestowed on him a series of new titles signaling that his succession campaign was gaining momentum: Great Successor, Supreme Leader and Sagacious Leader.
"Kim Jong Il laid a red silk carpet, and Kim Jong Un only needs to walk on it," Jeung, the South Korean analyst, said.
Last weekend, the Workers' Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, called on the younger Kim to step into his father's role as supreme commander of the armed forces.
Kim also is expected to formally assume command of the Workers' Party and become chairman of the party's Central Military Commission, said Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor at Korea University in South Korea.
He may be officially named supreme commander of the military ahead of Jan. 8, which is believed to be his birthday, said Cheong Seong-chang at the Sejong Institute in South Korea.
The aftermath of Kim Jong Il's death has been watched closely for clues about who in the military and Workers' Party will form Kim's inner circle of trusted aides during the sensitive transition to leadership.
Following right behind Kim during a Wednesday funeral procession through Pyongyang streets with Kim Jong Il's hearse was his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who is a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission and has family ties to the military.
During Thursday's memorial, flags at half-staff fluttered in the wind on the cold winter's day, and people were bundled up in parkas. State TV showed a delegation of foreigners attending the memorial.
They bowed their heads as eight artillery guns fired; military officers removed their hats while the booms resonated across Kim Il Sung Square.
The streets went still again for a three-minute period of silence. Heads bowed, workers paused next to a green train and bystanders stopped where they were, some standing next to their bicycles, as trains and boats sirens blew their horns, according to state media.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-12-29-09-49-08
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- North Korea's power brokers publicly declared Kim Jong Un the country's supreme leader for the first time at a massive public memorial Thursday for his father, cementing the family's hold on power for another generation.
A somber Kim, dubbed the Great Successor, attended the memorial as he stood with his head bowed at the Grand People's Study House, overlooking Kim Il Sung Square, named for his grandfather who founded modern North Korea.
A sea of humanity, including smartly dressed troops and civilians, gathered below him for the memorial that doubled as a show of support for his burgeoning role as leader.
The unequivocal public backing for Kim Jong Un provides a strong signal that government and military officials have unified around him in the wake of his father and long time ruler Kim Jong Il's death Dec. 17.
"Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un is our party, military and country's supreme leader who inherits great comrade Kim Jong Il's ideology, leadership, character, virtues, grit and courage," Kim Yong Nam, considered North Korea's ceremonial head of state, said in a speech.
Kim Jong Un, wearing a dark overcoat, was flanked by top party and military officials, including Kim Jong Il's younger sister, Kim Kyong Hui, and her husband Jang Song Thaek, who are expected to serve as mentors of their young nephew.
"The father's plan is being implemented," Ralph Cossa, president of Pacific Forum CSIS, a Hawaii-based think tank, said of the transfer of power. "All of these guys have a vested interest in the system and a vested interest in demonstrating stability. The last thing they want to do is create havoc."
Still, given Kim Jong Un's inexperience and age - he is in his late 20s - there are questions outside North Korea about whether he is equipped to lead a nation engaged in long-stalled negotiations over its nuclear program and grappling with decades of economic hardship and chronic food shortages.
But support among North Korea's power brokers was clear at the memorial service, which was attended by hundreds of thousands of people filling Kim Il Sung Square and other plazas in central Pyongyang.
Thursday's memorial "was an event to publicly reconfirm and solidify" Kim Jong Un's status, said Jeung Young-tae, an analyst with the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, South Korea.
Life in the North Korean capital came to a standstill as mourners dressed in thick, dark colored jackets blanketed the plaza from the Grand People's Study House to the Taedong River for the second day of funeral ceremonies for the late leader. A giant red placard hanging on the front of a building facing Kim Il Sung Square urged the country to rally around Kim Jong Un.
Kim Jong Il, who led his 24 million people with absolute power for 17 years, died of a heart attack Dec. 17 at age 69, according to state media. He inherited power from his father Kim Il Sung, who died of a heart attack in 1994, in what was the communist world's first hereditary succession.
Attention turned to Kim Jong Un after he was revealed last year as his father's choice among three known sons to carry the Kim dynasty into a third generation.
The process to groom him was rushed compared to the 20 years Kim Jong Il had to prepare to take over from his father, and relied heavily on the Kim family bloodline and legacy as guerrilla fighters and the nation's founders.
Kim Il Sung is North Korea's first and only president; he retains the title "Eternal President" even after his death.
Kim Jong Il held three main positions: chairman of the National Defense Commission, general secretary of the Workers' Party and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army.
According to the constitution, his position as chairman of the National Defense Commission makes him "supreme leader" of North Korea.
Kim Jong Un was made a four-star general last year and appointed a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party. Since his father's death, state media have bestowed on him a series of new titles signaling that his succession campaign was gaining momentum: Great Successor, Supreme Leader and Sagacious Leader.
"Kim Jong Il laid a red silk carpet, and Kim Jong Un only needs to walk on it," Jeung, the South Korean analyst, said.
Last weekend, the Workers' Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, called on the younger Kim to step into his father's role as supreme commander of the armed forces.
Kim also is expected to formally assume command of the Workers' Party and become chairman of the party's Central Military Commission, said Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor at Korea University in South Korea.
He may be officially named supreme commander of the military ahead of Jan. 8, which is believed to be his birthday, said Cheong Seong-chang at the Sejong Institute in South Korea.
The aftermath of Kim Jong Il's death has been watched closely for clues about who in the military and Workers' Party will form Kim's inner circle of trusted aides during the sensitive transition to leadership.
Following right behind Kim during a Wednesday funeral procession through Pyongyang streets with Kim Jong Il's hearse was his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who is a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission and has family ties to the military.
During Thursday's memorial, flags at half-staff fluttered in the wind on the cold winter's day, and people were bundled up in parkas. State TV showed a delegation of foreigners attending the memorial.
They bowed their heads as eight artillery guns fired; military officers removed their hats while the booms resonated across Kim Il Sung Square.
The streets went still again for a three-minute period of silence. Heads bowed, workers paused next to a green train and bystanders stopped where they were, some standing next to their bicycles, as trains and boats sirens blew their horns, according to state media.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-12-29-09-49-08
Scott SoCal said:
Pelosi Aide Denies Daughter’s Quote on Breitbart Site
A right-leaning website today claimed that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s daughter had speculated to a reporter that the former Speaker is done with Congress and remains in office simply because her donors want her to stay.
The incident lit up the Internet and Twitter, and the California Democrat’s office was forced to issue a strong denial, a circumstance that unusually showcased a politician’s family and highlighted new partisan media terrain.
“This may be wishful thinking on the part of a right wing blog, but it is totally untrue. When the day comes and Leader Pelosi’s work is done, she won’t be announcing it there,” Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami told Roll Call in an email.
Andrew Breitbart’s website Big Government quoted Pelosi’s daughter, filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, saying her mother wants to leave Congress.
- Mar 11, 2009
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Good riddance is all I have to say. Remember her talk about "draining the swamp"? Then claiming a couple years later it had been drained? That look on her face when Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes confronted her on her bribery acceptances, I mean insider stock buy benefits, was priceless.Scott SoCal said:
The sad part is that she's likely to be replaced by someone equally, or soon to be equally, entrenched.
God what a sick system we have.
- Jul 7, 2009
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Alpe d'Huez said:Good riddance is all I have to say. Remember her talk about "draining the swamp"? Then claiming a couple years later it had been drained? That look on her face when Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes confronted her on her bribery acceptances, I mean insider stock buy benefits, was priceless.
The sad part is that she's likely to be replaced by someone equally, or soon to be equally, entrenched.
God what a sick system we have.
Tom DeLay and Bill Frist are doing just swell with no complaints from you or scotty
- Apr 2, 2009
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http://video.repubblica.it/mondo/betlemme-rissa-a-colpi-di-scopa-tra-monaci-e-sacerdoti/84640/83029
Since every one of us has vile side, I must confess at having received with unseemly hilarity the frequent news of the brawls between monks and priests of different Christian confessions in the Holy Land. They constitute the comic (and, in the end, bloodless) side of that tragic interreligious hatred, which has disseminated death and destruction throughout history. It isn't evidently enough to believe in the same God: among Christians (just as among Muslims) they detest and combat themselves with a secular pertinacity, as well as a ferocity that only political fanaticism has known how to emulate.
The latest episode - yesterday and the day before - has witnessed with broom strikes Armenian and Greek orthodox monks pitted against themselves. A sort of grotesque parody cartoon between men with very long beards who hit each other like the demonic possessed. I ignored the things that separate them, apart from the maniacal subdivision of territorial jurisdiction that divide the sacred places between Christians of different shores: in practice, dividing the parcels as if on a landed estate. The multiplication of churches and clergies, both ancient and recent, that refer themselves to that poor Christ, to the Old and New Testament, each one assuming for itself a monopoly on the correct exegesis, is so totally stupefying (there are hundreds) as to lead one toward obvious diffidence. Not for the spirituality of humans, but over the concessionaires of the very same thing. Like politics.
Since every one of us has vile side, I must confess at having received with unseemly hilarity the frequent news of the brawls between monks and priests of different Christian confessions in the Holy Land. They constitute the comic (and, in the end, bloodless) side of that tragic interreligious hatred, which has disseminated death and destruction throughout history. It isn't evidently enough to believe in the same God: among Christians (just as among Muslims) they detest and combat themselves with a secular pertinacity, as well as a ferocity that only political fanaticism has known how to emulate.
The latest episode - yesterday and the day before - has witnessed with broom strikes Armenian and Greek orthodox monks pitted against themselves. A sort of grotesque parody cartoon between men with very long beards who hit each other like the demonic possessed. I ignored the things that separate them, apart from the maniacal subdivision of territorial jurisdiction that divide the sacred places between Christians of different shores: in practice, dividing the parcels as if on a landed estate. The multiplication of churches and clergies, both ancient and recent, that refer themselves to that poor Christ, to the Old and New Testament, each one assuming for itself a monopoly on the correct exegesis, is so totally stupefying (there are hundreds) as to lead one toward obvious diffidence. Not for the spirituality of humans, but over the concessionaires of the very same thing. Like politics.
- Mar 11, 2009
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Two wrongs don't make a right. Those guys were awful, along with Jim Wright. Without question DeLay one of the worst of the worst, and when he was around I complained quite a bit about him.redtreviso said:
Precisely.knewcleardaze said:
- Jul 16, 2010
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