Clipmarks | ratilfar's clips

Old-Style Pumps Balk At $4-a-Gallon Gas, Too

Fri, 16 May 2008 20:50:46 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Yeebus!

Like a lot of small-scale entrepreneurs, Cathy Osborne worries that she'll go out of business if fuel prices rise above $4 a gallon. Not because she won't be able to buy gas at that price, but because she won't be able to sell it.

The old mechanical gas pumps with scrolling dials at her country store in Fauquier County lack the gears to go beyond $3.99 a gallon. State inspectors shut down her diesel pump several months ago when the fuel topped the $4 mark, so now all that's left are two pumps dispensing 87-octane gasoline, set at $3.75 -- and climbing.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't have $30,000 to invest in new pumps, and I'm barely skipping by,

Osborne said she doesn't make money on fuel sales, but the pumps are a big draw for the hay farmers and cattlemen who gas up their tractors and take their morning coffee in her store.

"If people have to go into town to get gas, they'll say, 'Oh, I'll just go to Burger King,' " Osborne said.

Tags: oil, gasoline, fossil fuels, prices, yikes

O’Reilly Compares Markos (of the Daily Kos) to David Duke

Fri, 16 May 2008 18:52:16 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: People in glass houses (with no mirrors)....

Clip Source: www.crooksandliars.com

On Tuesday’s O’Reilly Factor, BillO went after DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas for having the audacity to run a site where people are free to write posts like this one, in which dKos member Mahler3 <gasp> juxtaposed photos from Jenna Bush’s wedding with graphic pictures from Iraq. This was not a recommended diary, by the way, and was almost universally panned in the comments section.

Download | Play Download | Play (h/t Bill W)

O’Reilly: And Newsweek magazine, by the way, has legitimized him by giving him a columnist position. I talked to the editor by email, and I said I can’t believe that you’re — that’s like hiring David Duke. Again, I use Duke too much, but I have to — the level of hatred coming out of that website is unprecedented. Isn’t it?

Tags: o'reilly, oreally

Stop-Lossed Soldier Refuses To Redeploy To Iraq

Fri, 16 May 2008 17:40:04 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: www.crooksandliars.com

Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, who served in the Army until being honorably discharged last summer after over four years of service in Afghanistan, Japan, Europe and the Phillipines, today publicly announced his intention to refuse orders to deploy to Iraq.

Good afternoon. My name is Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, and I served in the Army as a Photojournalist until being honorably discharged last summer after over four years of service in Afghanistan, Japan, Europe and the Philippines. As an Army journalist whose job it was to collect and filter servicemember’s stories, I heard many stomach-churning testimonies of the horrors and crimes taking place in Iraq. For fear of retaliation from the military, I failed to report these crimes, but never again will I allow fear to silence me. Never again will I fail to stand. Read on…

Tags: iraq, war, soldiers, army, veterans

Exclusive Video: McCain Was For Talking To Hamas Before He Was Against It...

Fri, 16 May 2008 17:37:02 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: "I will talk to them before I won't".

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

RUBIN: "Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?"

McCAIN: "They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it's a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that."

[Video]

Tags: hamas, mccain, interview, diplomacy, gop

Military Matters: Iraq state fantasy

Fri, 16 May 2008 16:56:41 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: The truth about Iraq and 4GW conflicts that the GOP and the Pentagon (and their supporters) don't get:

"Because there is no state in Iraq, there is also no government. Orders given in Baghdad have no meaning, because there are no state institutions to carry them out. The governmental positions of Iraqi leaders have no substance. Their power is a function of their relationship to various militias, not of their offices. Maliki has no militia, which means he is a figurehead. "

Clip Source: www.upi.com

When Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sent his "army" to fight the Mahdi Army in Basra, U.S. President Bush called it "a defining moment." It turned out instead to be a confirming moment. It confirmed that there is no state in Mesopotamia -- the geographical territory known as the nation of Iraq.

One of the most common signs that America's leadership is clueless about Fourth Generation war is the language they use.

Fourth Generation war has few if any defining moments. Nor does it have "turning points," another common Bushism. In his testimony to Congress, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus revealed the limits on his own grasp of 4GW when he said, "We've got to continue. We have our teeth into the jugular, and we need to keep it (sic) there."

Opponents in 4GW have no jugular. 4GW is war of the capillaries. What U.S. forces have their teeth into in Iraq is a jellyfish.

Tags: 4gw, iraq, insurgency, reality, truth, empire

Phil Collins - Another day in paradise

Fri, 16 May 2008 05:46:55 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Considering how horrible this week has been around the world, from fighting in Lebanon to storms and Earthquakes in Asia, I thought this might be apropos.

Clip Source: youtube.com

[Video]