This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Open Thread
After the rather tumultuous events of the past 48 hours, it is time to take a moderate to quite moderate break. Please use this space to hyperventilate, or else breathe normally, at your leisure.
»
- 26326 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Sorry.....old habit from my public schooling in West Texas.....where even debutantes sling cowshit in their leisure time.
Oh, no worries, I'm just glad I made it through the eighties.
Blazing Saddles?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H2W1lK7P-I&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lj056ao6GE&feature=related
I didn't hear a harumf out of you
Well...my friend, you are carrying a light load there....I have had to be thankfull I made it through the sixties, seventies, eighties......well, you know where this is going. Actually, I am not sure I made it through the seventies....
Yeah, late sixties early seventies were pretty much taffy pulling years for me.
ask Assange.
JULIAN Assange fears the US government is set to indict him for espionage or some other charge.
The Australian internet publisher turned his attention to the threat of US legal action after winning bail following nine days in jail over a Swedish attempt to extradite him on charges of sex abuse.
"I don't have too many fears about being extradited to Sweden -- there are much bigger concerns about being extradited to the US," he told reporters.
"We have heard today from one of my US lawyers that there may be a US indictment for espionage for me coming from a secret grand jury investigation."
The New York Times has reported that publication by WikiLeaks of stolen government cables is likely to be protected by US laws on free speech. Prosecutors are instead exploring whether he can be charged with conspiracy over the original leaking of the documents, rather than their publicatio
Related CoverageOne of Mr Assange's legal advisers, Helena Kennedy, said the sex allegations might be "a holding charge for purposes other than the ones being declared, especially when the evidence (against him in Sweden) has the appearance of being very, very thin".
Mr Assange's hopes of beating the Swedish charges received a fillip when High Court judge Duncan Outeley said one reason for releasing Mr Assange on bail was that the incentive to abscond was reduced by the fact that the Swedish allegations did not seem to be "a cast-iron case . . . so he has some prospects of success".
Justice Ouseley said the fact that one Swedish prosecutor had felt there was no case against Mr Assange before another prosecutor had gone ahead and pursued the matter suggested the case "would be one that could be resisted by an innocent man".
Mr Assange denies Swedish allegations he committed four sex offences including rape against two women during what began as consensual sexual encounters.
Swedish authorities had appealed against an earlier court ruling that Mr Assange be released on bail. Justice Ouseley rejected that appeal and freed the 39-year-old publisher on strict bail conditions.
He said he expected Mr Assange would ultimately be extradited to Sweden but appeals could stretch the case out for months.
Mr Assange must live at a friend's country estate, wear an electronic tag and observe a 12-hour curfew. Supporters put up bail of more than pound stg. 200,000 ($316,000).
He must report to police daily and has surrendered his passport.
Bradley Manning, a US military analyst, is in custody suspected of leaking caches of confidential cables.
The Obama administration wants to take legal action against Mr Assange and his website over the affair.
Mr Assange said his nine days in solitary confinement in Wandsworth prison had left him even more determined to continue publishing the leaked military and diplomatic cables.
"We have a lot more information to come . . . we are trying to increase the speed at which we are able to publish," he said.
"We are doing that despite presently spending about 85-90 per cent of our resources defending attacks . . . across the board."
The fact his colleagues at WikiLeaks had been able to keep publishing information in his absence had shown "we are a resilient organisation that can withstand decapitation attacks", he said.
"We have been very encouraged by the strong support for us all over the world (and it) will protect us as an organisation and send a warning to organisations that are trying to stop us publishing."
Mr Assange's No 2 at WikiLeaks, Icelandic journalist Kristinn Hrafnsson, said the group now had "dozens" of people working full-time on the cables in locations around the world.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/possible-indictment-for...A short ode to a banksta:
Full fathom five your usurious eyes
under the flatfish and the squids
Graves' disease in a dead banksta's eyes
Where the Z-hedgers have eat the lids.
Interestingly...this is a section that T.S. Eliot wrote in the Wasteland, but Pound cut out because he thought it was in bad taste. Of course, I modernized it somewhat:)
Thank you. I have to go to bed now.
Try this for the ladies: 2 parts vanilla vodka, 2 parts Godiva White, 2 parts Kahlua, splash amaretto. First get off yer lazy ass and go to the store and get some chocolate and drizzle in in martini glass...
Tiramisu Martinis Bicchhhes~!
If I want it thick enough to apply generously and lick off, should I add flour or cornstarch?
corn syrup.
Maybe....but that might seem a little too close to home.....
hydrogenated vegetable shortening always works - you can even shape glass out of it. Or lard.
Ever had a cold greasy pork chop sandwhich served in a dirty ashtray, when you're hung over? Tyler will have to do a poll tomorrow morning.
Can't say that I have, but I can eat an oyster through my nose, and I find to impress the ladies...tie a raw oyster on a string, swallow it and then pull it back up...man, that will get you to the lacy things faster than anything outside a really obscene bank account.
that sounds like a really fucken neat trick. :) thanks for sharing. you ever tried stuffing a vadge full of oysters sand slurpin' 'em out? and did she like it?
No, never tried that, but I will talk to my wife about trying it....she loves seafood.
Well....it goes without saying that anything with lard in it is improved by its addition.
You have a server/domain problems all at once??
your panic email?? .org , .com ??
Sorry.. That was Paulson's theme..
Next time just post the binky you suck on..
Seriously Disapointed....
Lose the Drupal.org base and resurrect as a mediawiki.org base
Then I'll share some thoughts..
And while your at it, pick up a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread, and don't stop off at that bar/fight club on your way home.
There's a thread over on globalresearch about the people and connections behind wikileaks, and it makes a lot of sense [that they're another tool of the gov]... I had hoped that they were something, but I fear that they're just another layer.... Anyway, thanks....... Party on ! ! !
Cold porkchop in an ashtray, Haven't had a night like that in a long time. LoL
wrongwaytrader-
if you are looking for an opinion consensus on wikileaks,go to Oprah.com
asking about public consensus on wikileaks and then coming to the conclusion that they are another tool of the US government obviously you have not looked at any of the leaked reports or you are a US Government tool yourself.
Julian Asange is Australian and I am posting this from Sydney...
see above article in the Australian,
apart from that,I usually don't waste my time with tools
asking for fucking consensus...
just go to cnn or fox!
Lick my ass you forum troll ! I was asking for an opinion from people that I thought were professional, an opinion that up until now I would've held in very high regard. I asked in the most respectful way that I could, and I only pointed to an article as a basis for for my question. Next time I won't waste my time here Jackass.
Jim Cramer is probably in a seedy club in Camden, nursing a 14 dollar Budweiser, and getting a lap dance from a chunky, syphilis laden 44 year old stripper named Jinx.
14 bucks!!! SPJ!!! i can get them here for about $1.25NZD
They mark them up about 2200% in tittay bars, though.
...something about the scenery.
Well, TIS, that is probably where he should be, but the fact is, the old broken fart is sitting here right next to me blubbering in a can of Milwaukees Best Light, smoking a joint the size of MCC's thigh, and trying to explain to me why everyone in the blogosphere is wrong in branding him some kind of village idiot (no offense Village Idiot), when in fact he is a highly tuned trader who, has, after all, ran a hedge fund, and now has a charitable trust, and daily is only inches away from fondling Erin Burnett's ass. The poor fucker seems to think he has the world as his oyster, yet he is here, stone-cold-fucked, eyes bloodshot and hands trembling, wanting me to explain to him why everyone at ZH makes fun of him. To tell the old, washed-up bastard the truth would probably give him some kind of aneurysm, or throw him into another 45 minute blinding, lathering rage that would blow a valve in his already weak heart. He seems oblivious that I am on ZH typing merrily away about him. My wife brings in another bowl of Madras curry that is almost black with Jolokia peppers.....as dark as Satan's heart.
"I can't eat this shit," he waves with his arms, "I have an ulcer from dealing with all those fucking skanks at work who treat me like a caged animal."
Veni brings him a glass of buttermilk...he spikes it with Old Comfort and chugs it down.
He points at my wife and says, "people like her is why the Indian market is going higher, and gold is going lower, silver is fucked...once this economy booms all the metal longs are going to die."
Veni looks at me out of the corner of her eye that says: can't you get rid of this homeless piece of shit?
I show him that evil pic of him that Durden paraded here earlier. He groans and his head falls on the table.
"Do you have a spare bed?" he moans.
"No," I bark back, the only suitable place for you is the street."
YOu have a whole generation of young people that have been "artifically surpressed" for the past decade (the worst in American History). You think Greece is bad... just wait. I am 22.
You folks grew up during the 60-70s mostly. Music went into a "bear market" once America started returning to "feel good Neo-Conservatism". Remember when MTV was a music channel? Remember when Michael Jackson was white? BEAR
The bull woke up after we were LIED INTO WAR. The best music sprang up all over Europe and 'working-class' areas of the US.
"Rock" music started to get more focused, brutal, honest and straight forward.
You think you ain't see nothing?
2001 started the bull market in music, the best is yet to come. However, expect major global conflict, war and financial armageddon in the next decade.
This is the music WE GREW UP ON!! (Volume and MIND SHOCK warning)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2tREd7kod8 (Out of Choas...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zynRICqHdW0 (<<the oncoming storm)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Dq_O_dOWtk (Is Evolution Reversing?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyXuhyJhrSY (Is there still hope?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUylZ08N_Q4 (... Or are We "Set to fail?)
THE TIME IS NOW!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB3tmC2f3t0
An Improved, stable, sustainable and restorable America is not out of reach, history tells us that it really doesn't take all that much effort to get a Revolution going.
http://bit.ly/fIxfuq
Does this mean I can terminate people to the tunes of my choice?
only if you are sitting a top your pile of your Gold & Silver... while polishing your firearm. ME and my truck of bandits-with (handkerchiefs) over our heads- come to claim
Let us call it "Cowboys VS. Indians 2.0". We the younger ungreatful bunch will use iPhones as tomahawks...
bring it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLrrBs8JBQo
yes; with mature discretion, of course.
gee thats some fab music. Can't wait till your gen is in charge. Then we'll have the same thing we have now plus really fab music.
I'll just add this one....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2AU2o92qqE&feature=related
I lurk. Because I am in over my head here. Just heard this on the news, and want to know how this will affect gold, gold mines,& gold mine stocks. Anyone?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/12/17/state/n13011...
- mercury is a valuable metal, get some.
Just don't do with it (mercury) what I used to do as a kind...bust some thermometers, lump all of it together, and roll it around in your hands and play with it....good investment advice.
No worries, sooner or later, a subject will pop up that you might have some competence to comment on.
Thank you for your cogent, well-reasoned response.
First, find a tv repairman and see if he's got an awesome set of tools.
Second, he probably won't be able to fix the problem anyway and if he's smart he'll tell how statey is just making it harder for the average guy to pull the shit out of the ground. Statey doesn't want him to hurt himself or others of course. This is for our safety.
Third, this is your gubments way of staking claims they don't legally have to stake. This is to support your economy, of course.
Fourth... what does this have to do with tv's you ask? You'll need one cuz that's the only place you'll be able to see nuggets if you don't get some of ure own.
Five, ignore drunken rants.
Six, believe half of what you see and nothing that you hear on that tv.
Seven, don't be afraid when you watch jim cramer go bull jinx on gold. It will mean the price will drop and you can buy it cheaper the next day.
And eight...
and on a truly more serious note... in this age of competitive elimination and corporate consolidation, this has to be bullish for newmont and barrick... figuring what lessers and juniors survive would be a more difficult task. Regardless, less supply is bullish for price, less competition will be bullish for the majors.
stoned. buying gold on the saphire card.....BRITANNIA!!!!!
Da boyz in blue (behaving badly):
http://reason.com/archives/2010/03/16/pre-crime-policing
http://reason.com/archives/2010/03/01/45-swat-raids-per-day
http://reason.com/archives/2010/02/17/flashbangs-under-fire
http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/14/chicagos-thick-blue-wall
http://reason.com/archives/2009/12/01/jericho-bile
http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/05/scenes-from-a-crackdown
http://reason.com/archives/2009/09/28/the-infallible-prosecutor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcATvu5f9vE
ZH has both the stupidest and smartest posts of any site I frequent. Wonder why.
Which side of that coin would you put yours? ;)
Should you assume that the "stupidest" posts come without brilliant forethought, think again. Many are written by some of the smartest people. Come, explore the deepest recesses of the inner nut sanctum. Yes, come with me...to Fantasy Island.
Wild Mountain Honey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh_0oaJcMgY
something like that, yes.
I think I got the crabs.....
thanks for sharing. hey hognutz:) good to see you.
Val
Time for a global warming rant?
Hide the decline!
It's the weekend.
Try the dip bitches. The onion dip in particular.
nice
Presumably Jame Dimon is up to something biiiiiiiiggggg to try and save his company (and his ill-gotten gains)
So what is he doing apart from playing turbo-boost short-longs to destabilise gold, silver, copper, wheat & oil prices?
Presumably there are lots of the smartest guys in this zerohedge room who can analyse this.
good article...
http://www.thedailybell.com/1610/Anthony-Wile-The-Greatest-21st-Century-Privilege.html
Probably Wikileaks has information about Bank of America. BofA stopped with payments to wikileaks.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40728284/ns/business/
Dumbest man of the year award goes to Assange letting on he has leaks that can put banksters and Senators in prison. If he shut up about it would still be having fun with his harem in Sweden.
By the time it gets appealed to the European courts the US's name will be so blakened countries wouldn't even extradite Pol Pot there.
He ain't gonna do shit. That is for public consumption.
Eric Holder hasn't ever told the truth in his entire life. Why would you believe him now? This is just political theater.
On the very off chance they do decide to play this for big laughs, the US will demand he be extradited. Whichever EU vassal state has him at the moment will refuse unless the death penalty is off the table, even though we haven't used it for this crime in lots of decades. The O administration will, of course, refuse, pointing out the seriousness of the charge. Stalemate, but everyone gets to play to the crowds. All theater.
Y'all being outrageously outraged over this reality tv show that is Assange, is curious.
Come on, Wikileaks (and/or Assange),
Put up, or shut up. I'm starting to think your gun is empty.
I agree. I don't care so much about Assange. The pussy trouble in Sweden is just two commie bitches crusading for a personal cause. Assange has done little more than the NYT does.
The person that needs to be prosecuted is Army pvt. Manning who put lives at risk. It was his job to safeguard the classified information. That is what he was paid and sworn to do. He/she also did not do any favors for DADT with this action as a transexual with a chip on his shoulder.
If it were your medical records and your doctor blabbed to everybody that you had herpes, the doctor could end up in jail (HIPPA laws) and you could sue. Disclosing classified military information should not be treated kindly either.
Whatever else he is, he is an oath breaker. The only people he put in danger were his fellow soldiers. Little crapweasel deserves to hang.
Whose an oath breaker and what oath?
Manning.
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).
UCMJ: Article 106a—Espionage
To have his job
he also had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
The second requirement that you must fulfill is to sign a "Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement," the SF 312. The President first established this requirement in a directive that states: "All persons with authorized access to classified information shall be required to sign a nondisclosure agreement as a condition of access." This requirement is reiterated in the executive order on classified national security information. The SF 312 is a contractual agreement between the U.S. Government and you, a cleared employee, in which you agree never to disclose classified information to an unauthorized person. Its primary purpose is to inform you of (1) the trust that is placed in you by providing you access to classified information; (2) your responsibilities to protect that information from unauthorized disclosure; and (3) the consequences that may result from your failure to meet those responsibilities. Additionally, by establishing the nature of this trust, your responsibilities, and the potential consequences of noncompliance in the context of a contractual agreement, if you violate that trust, the United States will be better able to prevent an unauthorized disclosure or to discipline you for such a disclosure by initiating a civil or administrative action.
Title 18, United States Code
Sec. 793. Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information
Title 18, United States Code Section 794. Gathering or delivering defense information to aid foreign government
Title 18, United States Code
Section 798. Disclosure of classified information
Title 18, United States Code
Section 952. Diplomatic codes and correspondence
etc..
http://www.fas.org/sgp/isoo/sf312.html
So everyone should just follow orders? And has he been convicted yet? Have you read anything about how he's being treated in prison?
Everyone should keep their oaths. And yes, he should follow all lawful orders.
What high ranking person did he pull down?
It's the "domestic" part that is the sticky wicket here. I don't know all the details regarding Manning. This is not a case of black & white. I'll wager Israel has greater access to US military information than Manning did, even with his clearance.
At what point does the keeping of "secrets" cross the line and violate the trust of the very citizens the military and elected officials are supposed to protect and represent, respectively? Which is the greater trust, where is the greater defense of the Constitution; protecting the lies or exposing the truth?
BTW, I took that oath over 4 decades ago.
Rodent Freikorps
It seems you are using the same defence like Nazi War-criminals
used at the Nuremberg Trials when their crimes were exposed ?
The SS swore an oath as well,but does that justify war crimes and crimes against humanity and should you not expose such crimes if you swore an oath of allegiance for your country?
Rodent Freicorps,it seems to me you are a hypocrite.
What war crime was Manning ordered to perform? Exactly.
Soldiers are required to disobey an unlawful order. He was not given any.
What you consider "war crimes" are not. I guess it helps when you get to define them any way you like.
Can you point me at the War Law you feel was violated?
Its about time someone exposes all the shit that's been happening with the US military and if someone puts lives at risk it is War Criminals like G.W.Bush and that lunatic fascist-terrorist Dick Cheney ! The war on Iraq and Afghanistan was and is a Crime against humanity with all the water-boarding and the torture , Abu Ghraib and the concentration camps for terror and rendition in Poland and Guantanamo Bay.If you Americans had any guts at all,you would stand up and scream out against injustice and crimes like these! But No! You are ruled by fear and so desensitized and doped up on consumption that you think you are in some kind of virtual reality TV Game show .The real world is out there and People don't take this shit any longer,so get used to it.Americans are 310 million people and that's a minority if you try to fuck the world over ,in case you have not noticed yet.
The shit that has been exposed about the US military is the worst ,most disgusting cowardly , murderous conduct and it needs to be exposed ! Only a coward would like to hide a crime like shooting at civilians from helicopter gunships and committing war crimes in Afghanistan like murdering civilians in cold blood,woman and children and firing drones via remote at unarmed civilians half a world away.Murder in cold blood,recorded forever right there before your eyes ! And what is your response America ? The invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan was ilegal.All US war criminals need to be brought to justice,and those covering this shit up are part of the problem,that needs to be resolved!
Army pvt. Manning deserves a medal for exposing those US War Crimes.
War-criminals like Dick Cheney,George Bush and Toni Blair and all other War criminals in the military need to be neutralized and brought to justice before the international court for Crimes against humanity! In their name,the USA has been behaving like the worst totalitarian fascist regime and the rest of the world is no longer putting up with this Bullshit ! Wiki-Leaks is only the start, and all those war-criminals in the US better watch out,there is no place to hide anymore ! It is only a matter of time now....
well, I don't know about some of the details you post, but Bush & Cheney are pig-headed, lyin' mo-fo's; I even cut Dubya a little break 'cause he was under Cheney's control. When they started rumbling about "Iraqi Freedom" I sez to myself: "self...this is way bad shit. sure hope some of the generals at pentagon have the balls to say 'hell no, fuck no, we ain't gonna go' because i've heard chatter, ya know...." then I sez: "aww, shit - dream on!fuckers can't risk the fuckin' pensions or rep over a silly thing like a win-less war they watch from teeveee & sat's" SHIT.
I fault no trooper below the rank of general for any of their actions. period. pussy, moralising know-it-alls need to go put on the uniform & live in the shit-holes a few months/years. THEN we talk. Oh, did I mention, you are required to do 3,4 5 tours first, before you talk?
Focal Point Gold
http://fofoa.blogspot.com/2010/12/focal-point-gold.html
Why gold is different from Silver and other precious metals. ZeroHedge and Max Keiser get quoted in this piece. Must read
Any cuntry that has "In God we Trussed" embellished upon their soon to be worthless wanknotes;
..and stands by a 'value' of "One Sheeple Under Law"..
Deserves to have their peasantry trampled by abusers of the said (body of) 'law', have their remains trussed up by deriders of the faith of their choice and their assets stolen surreptitiously.
Eventually, having robbed you, they'll eat you too.
(hic)
Merry Barfmas - goodwill to all peeps.
(And if you have the fine seasonal luck to be poodling along in your fine Canyonero this festive season, and a lesser scabied Bankster steps out in front of you... remember...
A dead Bankster isn't just for Christmas.. it's forever.
You miss the irony.
Thought I was adding to it.
Just Got Shilling's New Book
The Age of ... Deflation, bitches
The Age of Deleveraging: Investment Strategies for a Decade of Slow Growth and Deflation [Hardcover]Let's have a book reprt when you're done. I like to hear what ol' Schilling has to say. sarcoff
I've realized something after some serious thought and research (mainly luck, a family member is studying history and has a shat-load of books for my viewing) and wanted to share it...
Firstly, Rene Descartes in the 17th century said "I doubt, therefore I am". He believed that to shape our perception and our reality, we engage in doubting our thoughts and the very reasoning that allows us to cement those thoughts into our psyche. I've read that it has been proven by science that our brains facilitate certain processes by literally strengthening and widening the neural pathways on which the process's bioelectric impulses travel upon. The more you think about making money, for example ;), the easier it becomes for your brain to pull on the resources and energy required to do so, making it more efficient for your brain to do what is necessary as you take on the task of making sense of today's serpentine markets trying to parse all the data and indices to know when to jump in. So, it seems that Descartes obviously observed this human tendency to just tweak our perceptions rather than challenge and reshape them, indeed, to challenge is challenging and reshaping one's psyche is painful when Adam Lambert, I mean, the skeletons peer out of the closet. In my naivety, I believe that if everyone today engaged in that practice of thoroughly doubting as Descartes suggested in a truly objective way with the understanding that just like physical actions, our thoughts can become habits, the walls surrounding the sheep just wouldn't be able to stand. Today's flock (society) are herded in this very simple manner. A fork in the road is placed in front of them and the better choice is thwarted by the thorny hedge of fear (I.E. engaging in the War on Terror vs. searching for a peaceful solution that seeks to rout out the causes and objectively identify the actions that precipitated the conditions necessary to stew young minds in religious extremism <imperialism, Saudi funding of Afghan Madrassas...> searching for a peaceful response is met with "you unpatriotic terrorist lover!" which serves to make it a bygone conclusion for the sheep to engage in war, and even anti-war activists say, "we disagree with war but the war on terror is necessary".)
I do have a point and it's coming. After Descartes, came the Age of Enlightenment and the Romantic Era. Enlightenment was accompanied by science and peer review grounded in the belief that we could methodically derive answers from life and nature through experimentation and careful uniform analysis. I have limited understanding so this is where i hope a debate is sparked, after Enlightenment came Romanticism, who's proponents (mainly the big six - Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lord Byron, Shelley, and Keats) believed that one does not need science or a healthy measure of objective self doubt... they believed that one must return to nature and shape one's own perceptions and create realities by observing the actions and forces present in nature. A return to nature for guidance coupled with a strong belief in one's own capabilities and faculties to shape his/her path seems to be the theme.
What I have been sitting back and wondering is, what part did the Elites of the time, and afterwards, have in spreading the message of the "Big Six"? Remember that before the Industrial Age following the preceding ages mentioned, illiteracy was widespread and very little to no education was commonplace (even the Industrial Age was illiterate more so than today) which means the average person probably didn‘t know about or care about these ideas, they were busy planting farms and raising livestock, mostly to “just get by”. Is it agreed upon that no matter what era of history you look at, there is always a ruling class and a working or slave class (by choice or by force respectively)? Could it be that the Elites present at the time of Romanticism saw the value in creating a society that believed in a return to nature, a society that, instead of having a moral basis for their ponderings, would make shit up as they went along and become habitually addicted to their self-reliance and perceived ability to take care of themselves in turn building a psychological, therefore invisible, wall around themselves as the top 10% make a killing? How can society as a whole turn away from this? How can society stop accepting lies, hook, line, and sink'er? Is any of this even remotely possible? With our inherent complacency, would anyone care, if they had an opportunity, to change all this shit anyway?
It has made me realize one perfect thing throughout all of this thought... worrying about the world as it is run today is a waste of time if it serves to anger or change our mood and temperament for the worse. We can take heart because this isn't something we can change... We can spread the truth about bankers and bond markets. We can tell people BurnYankees lies and put them into context. We can ask individuals that we love and care for to "wake up", but, until they, the sheep, challenge and reshape their own perceptions through some serious self doubt and careful analysis, watching the power structure of today’s world fall is something any one of us will never be able to do.
Lastly, is it possible that a discussion can be started on Zerohedge about this? The one thing the elites fear more than having their secrets spread is an intelligent, objective, lie-rejecting society, and I think the beginnings of that can be found here on this website.
Merry Christmas everyone.
you need to link up with Cog Dis for that.
the enlightenment did the most, to move the most, people beyond the slavery of mysticism and superstition. Two powerful methods of control in the hands of the elites. In their place, it raised the pillars of rational inquiry, and the confidence of man.
Romanticism celebrates a world that never has or never will exist. It has helped to undermine those great acheivements. Much can be learned through direct observation. But there are limitations. After that, only the creative processes of the mind, coupled with rational thought, can travel further. Through discourse of rational minds, a relative certainty can be arrived at and built upon. Allowing things to become unknowable, or subject of emotional explainations is stepping off the path of enlightenment and back into the shadowy unknowable worlds of mysticism.
Look around at the results of the last century or so. The effects of a philosophy can take several decades or a century to manifest. Is mankind ascending or descending? The cheap painted facades are peeling. The engine is starting to sputter. The mask is starting to slip. Ask, who has all of this helped, and at what cost? Who has been hurt?
Talking heads keep talking about progress, as if it is inevitable, and only one direction. The snake oil salesman is right to a degree. Buying his elixor will help....his wallet. What will drinking it do to you?
So is it safe to say that we agree that romanticism did us a disservice by taking us from the rational method of explaining the metaphysical and toward an ideological mode of thinking that keeps the bulk of society in a realm of seemingly constant perceived threat (terrorists / economy / job loss)? You say mysticism and superstition are two powerful methods of control in the hands of the elites and that in their place, enlightment, raised the pillars of rational inquiry and the confidence of man, which i'm assuming you believe rendered those tools less effective. To me, it seems that Elites didn't have the same difficulty in moulding the populace back then because Kings and Orthodoxy were widely unquestioned, or it's "Off with your head".
What I am thinking, and what I wish to see challenged so that I'm sure I've come to a healthy conclusion, is that it is this PERCEIVED rational thought and confidence of man that serves to keep the cycle of "sheepishness" alive. I mean, that as individuals go about their daily lives, they can explain many of the old demons away such as sicknesses, that only 250 years ago, before Pasteur noticed bacteria and "germs" caused sickness, would have been thought to be caused by demons or bad thoughts and would require blood-letting and all manner of misguided, ineffective, and at times dangerous remedies. In a modern example, they can see the economy falling apart but feel "better" about it by reading MSM and drinking, as you put it, snake oil, in the form of pundits voicing their opinions that jobs data is looking better therefore the economy as a whole is looking better.
Society's perceived faculties of rational inquiry and it's confidence of man seem to allow them to quickly extinguish the unpleasantness encroaching on their current, painstakingly formed “safe zone” of their limited perceptions and move on in their daily affairs. They quickly explain away what is bothering them, because of Cognitive Dissonance (an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously). Further, humans, when confronted by Cognitive Dissonance, erase truths if they must to eradicate it, the aforementioned unpleasantness. The question is, how the hell do you get a sheep to stop being a sheep? Is that what we were meant to be? I for one, believe that we are better than this, but how do you go to someone who is "safe" in their current perception, and tell them such a threatening thing as, the bankers are raping your anus, daily, moment by moment, and I can show you step by step?
This brings me to my conclusion, which is, that the elites found a much more powerful method of control. Tell society that they have the ability to figure things out on their own. Tell them to have confidence in themselves. When times are good, profit of their backs and nudge them in the direction you want. When times are bad, by design or happenstance, confront them with threats and watch as they pitifully make the choice you knew would be made as they believe that they made it themselves. That is to me, what allows us to be sheep, because all of us, at one time or another, have been their sheep. How can all of this information on Zerohedge serve to do what Wikileaks most likely won’t? How can this information be made unthreatening enough to be absorbed into the collective psyche as opposed to rejected or rationalized into oblivion? That’s a tall order to be sure, but, an answer can be derived; I‘m unsure whether this is possible, but have endless hope for it, because I can’t stand this massive scale mind rape that is going on around us…
(please tell me if I’ve gone of the deep-end with this, is my perception faulty?)
(please tell me if I’ve gone of the deep-end with this, is my perception faulty?)
The place you speak of takes some hard work and luck to get there. Then you have to hold your place against forces of history and keep moving. Always moving, usually forward. If it was that easy, everybody would be doing 'it' for sure.
If enough people are going to be converted for the purpose of changing the game, I would suggest that an easier place to work from is expectation. Expectation is capped in our minds, just like perception. Much easier to change expectation than deep seated perception, imo.
I find that I can raise my level of expectation with just a mood change and hold it there. Get enough "sheeple" together, change mood, heighten expectation, hold it there...and let 'er rip. It should work. I know, more mind control. It would just be temporary.
thought provoking post, btw. cheers.
Your post poses another question while at the same time making me feel less mental... it is less a question than an observation but it comes with questions of it's own. Sheep NEEEEEEED a shepherd. Unfortunately for us, it seems that human nature and our current societal structure disallow a shepherd or leader / oligarchy of pure intent from ever holding a position of power long enough to coax the sheep in the right direction (JFK wanted to split cia and dismantle fed, we know what happened to him...). I don't claim any moral authority to know which is the "right" direction, but let's start with all the great things we have, modern science & medicine, massive economic cooperation regardless of race, creed, etc... and take out the potential for the abuse of power by making our governments truly "by the people, FOR the people".
Could it be that a massive network of individuals could agree on a direction to coax the people toward a more beneficial future by acknowledging the effectiveness of the same concepts that allow Public Relations and Advertising campaigns to be successful? I believe that if we care for our children and our children's children, we here, the one's who consider ourselves unplugged from the matrix so to speak, have a responsibility to awaken the potential for individuals to smell the bullshit. Like you said Senor Idiot, it would be temporary, but could the airwaves and the interweb be used in the same way as the elites to a different end, in an effort to bring at least a more representative and diverse portion, albeit a minority of the populous toward a "eureka" experience that spreads to the masses?
Think about this for a second: what if a feature length film posing all of these questions showing all of these themes on this website and in this discussion were to make it to hollywood only after being agreed upon by many scholars through peer review study, could it make enough people question the safety of their perceptions and bring them to the point that out of the pain of that realization they begin the long journey toward a better future not based on threat minimization, reactive thinking, but instead based on true rational thought and analysis. POSSIBLE? or IMPOSSIBLE?
d
In response to the movie idea - I think we're up to, what, three feature length pieces covering the bankster theme. No major groundswell. It has to be combined with additional elements.
I'm of the opinion that in order for people to start waking up, there has to be a grassroots movement led/supported by people who are well educated, widely accepted, and, naturally strong leaders. Irrefutable. Now you have your Shepard.
Combine a form of media that people are naturally drawn to, create physical symbols that can be placed as a reminder, put the right people up front and let the whole thing come to a boil.
As I write this it comes to me that this is a tactic that has been used many times throughout history - good and bad. Who among us have the power to use the rules of the game against those who would control a society to their ends? Big job - doable. History proves it.
Did I just get punked?
no... i'm genuinely concerned for the future of my loved ones. I can't just enter another perceived "safe zone" that has the potential to shatter around me such as buying PM. magicalmamaliga@gmail.com
"I think we're up to, what, three feature length pieces covering the bankster theme. No major groundswell. It has to be combined with additional elements."
What are those additional elements? I see you believe that the same tactics used by the elites can be used to awake the masses, but it requires different elements. Let's continue this conversation and hopefully gather others. magicalmamaliga@gmail.com
.
You might be interested in a research project called Making Publics. CBC radio program Ideas has a great series of podcasts that discusses a lot of the ideas you mention here. Ive been listening to the podcasts over tye last couple of weeks and really enjoying them. Check it.
Thanks Sockeye
"I am thinking therefore I exist."
(Latin: Cogito ergo sum)
from the Discourse on Method
Does anyone remember when Wal-Mart attempted to get a federal bank charter? This was circa 2006-2007 (IIRC) and the banking cartel testified in horror to Congress about how how terrible this would be. Wal-Mart's application was denied; they still are an "industrial" bank, but no checking or deposit accounts. Can you imagine the competitive hell Wal-Mart could unleash on these $12 a month Chase bank checking accounts? And, yes, I know Wal-Mart is a corporate giant the peddles cheap crap from China. I'm just looking at this from the banker angle. TPTB will let Wal-Mart ruin any American business so long as the bankers can keep their monopoly.
i'd only vote for that charter if walmart promised to live by googles creed - "do no evil" or whatever it is.
whats a blondes favorite surgery?
a slipadictomy.
I somtimes wonder if The Bernank has seen The QE2 video?
I love that video. The Plumber is smarter than The Bernank.
Did you see the QE3 vid?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CsE7WuAuzM
Here's Bernank's wife all time favorite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOUtsybozjg
play it hard and loud............White Lies - EST (electro shock therapy).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hZ5b6PxqJM
The only solution I can think of is a pretty much across the board debt cancellation: a "jubilee"; then back to a commodity standard money. All the debt currently existing can never be paid. All the promises cannot be kept. Since there's going to be a wholesale reneging one way or the other, just do it explicitly and don't play favorites.
http://strikelawyer.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/money/
http://strikelawyer.wordpress.com/2010/12/11/money-ii/
http://strikelawyer.wordpress.com/2010/12/11/money-iii/
Jubilee....horseshit! All this does is allow those who looted the system to keep the loot. This then requires everyone to borrow from the looters the capital necessary to do anything post jubilee. It soleve nothing. Bankruptcy for failure releases the capital to new owners. THAT solves.
Bankruptcy and liquidation on the scale necessary is not even possible. On that score, you don't know what you're talking about.
Also, I don't know why you would maintain that a jubilee would require everyone to "borrow" from the looters for "capital". Capital can be acquired in ways other than borrowing it.
On another level you seem confused, too. You're talking about economic dislocation that would make the displaced persons of Europe in the wake of WWII look puny by comparison. Of all the possible things that could conceivably happen, that is the least likely, and the least desirable. It could not occur without an unimaginable amount of civil unrest and innocent suffering. Desiring such a thing is more than a bit warped.
Resist the impulse to get revenge on "looters". It doesn't lead to anything good.
It appears that ScotiaMocatta has removed most of their silver bar products from their website and is only offering 1oz and 100oz bars. I guess they figure it's better to remove products they don't have rather then have a page of items labeled sold out. Silver to the moon fellas.
https://www.scotiamocatta-estore.scotiabank.com/stores/scotiamocatta/cat...
Glitch in the Matrix. The Woman in Red.
Song for silver bugs.
Rainbow - Man on the Silver Mountain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9nfVrusSMg
Wish I had time to train for this:
http://wimp.com/speedflyingswitzerland/
Wow!
To all the members of Fight Club and sympathizers of Project Mayhem:
A very Merry Christmas to all, bitches!
May you all exceed your strike prices, bust the COMEX, and rejoice at the opening of insurance.aes256. May Tyler escape yet another year without being framed for sex crimes and wanted by Interpol for a late return of Debbie Does Dallas at the adult bookstore.
May the Swedes admit that they're just a poodle of the United States, along with Great Britain and most of the western world.
May your short positions be bought back from pink sheets, may the dollar go to zero and may a sound hard money monetary system come to fruition for all of you. May all of your (got) gold (bitches?) holdings shine evermore into the new year and may it lie safely buried in your Folger's Trust account, three feet beneath your garden.
May Jesus return to the financial temple and this time really smack the shit out of the money changers.
Nothing lifts my spirits more than to come here and listen to all of you bitch about the miserable state of affairs in this nation. It's brings a realization to my heart that I am not going mad. Things really are as fucked up as they seem.
And for that I am eternally grateful, ya' bunch of miserable bastards. ;)
Happy Holiday's!
Woot! Free Post!! Hahaa Biznatches!
And for that I am eternally grateful, ya' bunch of miserable bastards. ;)
a toast your way, ya' bastard.
Thanks DIzzy.
That blew my socks off.
Hallelujah. Indeed!
There is still hope!
If you live in Western Washington State... WAC (Washington Arms Collectors) gun show this weekend at the Puyallup Fairgrounds... print and fill out this form if you're not yet a member and bring it with you (leave your phone camera at home)...
http://www.washingtonarmscollectors.org/printjoinform.htm
I'm from Oregon originally, Western WA is one of my favorite parts of the country. Beautiful.
Speaking of gold and silver .....
Raise your hand if you're paying PMs rent and storage for vault space that is really empty for your allocated or unallocated accounts?
Those of you who didn't raise your hand -- ever check?
I have mine in buried in a 10 acre scrap metal yard, guarded by a mean dog with a bladder infection, in case they come looking for it with metal detectors.
A long but interesting read about how California is becoming Mexico North. Mexicans pretend to hate the USA and love Mexico, but how many of them want to go back there?!?
Two Californias
Abandoned farms, Third World living conditions, pervasive public assistance -- welcome to the once-thriving Central Valley.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/255320/two-californias-victor-dav...
The last three weeks I have traveled about, taking the pulse of the more forgotten areas of central California. I wanted to witness, even if superficially, what is happening to a state that has the highest sales and income taxes, the most lavish entitlements, the near-worst public schools (based on federal test scores), and the largest number of illegal aliens in the nation, along with an overregulated private sector, a stagnant and shrinking manufacturing base, and an elite environmental ethos that restricts commerce and productivity without curbing consumption.
During this unscientific experiment, three times a week I rode a bike on a 20-mile trip over various rural roads in southwestern Fresno County. I also drove my car over to the coast to work, on various routes through towns like San Joaquin, Mendota, and Firebaugh. And near my home I have been driving, shopping, and touring by intent the rather segregated and impoverished areas of Caruthers, Fowler, Laton, Orange Cove, Parlier, and Selma. My own farmhouse is now in an area of abject poverty and almost no ethnic diversity; the closest elementary school (my alma mater, two miles away) is 94 percent Hispanic and 1 percent white, and well below federal testing norms in math and English..........
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/255320/two-californias-victor-dav...
On that note I was in Mexico last summer and was absolutely appalled at how even upscale, educated and perhaps even wealthy (to a degree) Mexicans absolutely hate the US and particularly the whole debacle with Arizona. They made idiotic statements about hating the US, not wanting to go there, being afraid to go there just because some sheriff in AZ actually had the balls to try to check IDs?
Absolutely no acknowledgment whatsoever of the FACT that Mexican immigration law is much more harsh and brutal and has much stiffer penalties.
In fact in most countries in the world the cops can demand to see your passport any time they want for any reason or no reason at all. Not that I support the police state but the US should definitely try to match up to its peers on that front.
Fuckers.
Arnold did miracles for California. Anybody aware of his favorite song?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzeZhCt5PVA
"tumultuous events of the past 48 hours"
To what "events" is he referring? Just the cluster fuck with the domain name or did I miss some big news during my two day bender...?
I can only say I hope for the collapse of the system since I have lost faith in everything other than common sense ethics and morality which are seem to be increasingly completely absent from Western Civilization.
This shit gets more weird all the time!
Lawyer for girls making the accusations against Assange.
how many elliott wave experts does it take to change a light bulb?
42
5 when the bulb is up the ceiling and 3 when it's on the floor
These will be the last playlists I post for y'all. While it is not immediately apparent, there is a synergy between music and this site. How that tradition will or won't continue in the future is something I'm not in a position to answer or influence, yet its my sincere hope that it does continue. To all y'all who have enjoyed these: thanks for clicking, dancing, contributing and coming to ZH in the first place.
Artist of 2010 - Arty: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=59866B8C070FA64C
Best of 2010 - Statica & Heatbeat: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F79EBE9FB77C107C
Freshy Fresh (a freshened up from the last time playlist):http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B64086D4A6EDA49C
Let's get the total over 800. I know we can do it.
BTW: New here. This is my first post.
TEOTWAWKI?
What triggers are y'all look'n for to pull the loud handle bug out? More clearly, what are the economic events that should tell us to pack our cars and leave the city?
I'm just say'n...
3) Saddam Hussein's ressurection.
when I hit 32 years old, i'll make one hell of a party because i'll get a brand new most significant bit
Absolutely brilliant film!
Man from earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njU5CsrYfKM
That is a terrific movie, yep. Starts a bit rough, but so totally worth it.
Watch that shit.
Fairytale of New York, Pogues, Christmas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjEIP6otc4Y
live http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrAwK9juhhY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO8iatdgse4&NR=1&feature=fvwp
Lullaby of London
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-OnS3LPt0w&feature=related
Thousands are Sailing (to the land of opportunity)
First post. Testing. One. Two. Awaiting first junk(s).