Clipmarks | willhelm's Pops

The Great Depression Hoax

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:30:03 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

Are we a nation of whiners, as Phil Gramm put it a little while ago? No, the American public is not whining...More likely, though, Americans are just leaving the whining to pundits and trend reporters. Our problem is not whining. It is persuading young people that, with baby boomers retiring, entitlement programs bulging and the world economy growing ever more competitive, now's the time to roll up the sleeves for something other than tattoos.

For example, India produces 2.5 million college graduates every year (with concentrations in high demand fields - electronics, programming, engineering, accounting, etc.), and approximately 90,000 MBA's. Nothing against tattoos, but I do feel ignorance and apathy are much too prominent in America. Awareness of ignorance is the first step to wisdom.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

Never mind that GDP is puttering along in positive terrain. Headlines still scream that we're closing in on 1929, not 2009.

Meanwhile, Prius cars are flying off the Toyota lots, even though they cost $3,700 more than a similarly sized gasoline-fired Toyota and it takes 3.5 years to pay back the investment in fuel savings.

In July the jobless rate among college graduates was just 2.4%, drifting up from 2.1% in March. That is miles away from the 1981 recession and, of course, you'd need scientific notation to compare it to the Great Depression

For some, it still feels lousy out there. But lousy is not a technical synonym for recession.

Still, no president, Democrat or Republican, can create prosperity for those who decide to forgo even a basic education.

High schools don't teach what they used to, and so students who don't go to college are left without the skills necessary to compete in a global economy.

Tags: economy, education, media

First Stage of Global Cooling During 2008/09

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:47:16 GMT

clipped by: amgumen
clipper's remarks: Mr. Dilley of Global Weather Oscillations has found seven different types of recurring gravitational cycles ranging from the very warm 460,000 year cycle down to a 230 year recurring global warming cycle. All of the gravitational cycles coincide nearly 100 percent with 2200 global warming events during the past half million years. This includes the earth’s current warming cycle which began around the year 1900, and the first stage of global cooling that will begin during 2008 and 2009.

Clip Source: icecap.us

climate researcher David Dilley utilizes nearly a half million years of data linking long term gravitational cycles of the moon explain the recent global warming, rises in carbon dioxide levels, and for 2200 global warming cycles during the past half million years.

The gravitational cycles are called the Primary Forcing Mechanism for Climate (PFM), and act like a magnet by pulling the atmosphere’s high pressure systems northward or southward by as much as 3 or 4 degrees of latitude from their normal seasonal positions, and thus causing long-term shifts in the location of atmospheric high pressure systems.

a near 100 percent correlation between the PFM gravitational cycles to the beginning and ending of global warming cycles. Global warming cycles began right on time with each PFM cycle during the past half million years, as did the current warming which began 100 years ago, and it will end right on time as the current gravitational cycle begins its cyclical decline.

Putin: Bush Tricked Me Into Invading Georgia To Help McCain Beat Obama

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:25:39 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Does the US have close ties to Georgia? Yes. Has the US been instrumental in modernizing and backing Georgia’s military? Yes. But did the United States instruct Georgia to use such blunt force against separatists in the areas Russia now wants to be independent? Absolutely not. That was Georgia’s call as a sovereign nation, and Putin’s attempt to lay the blame with President Bush is simply a feint to cover his own country’s aggression in this matter.

A feint that smells suspiciously Soviet. Remember when the Soviets would back rebels and invade countries all over the world and then claim they were just opposing American imperialism? Well we’re back to that again.

Clip Source: sayanythingblog.com

MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Thursday of instigating the fighting in Georgia and said he suspects a connection to the U.S. presidential campaign — a contention the White House dismissed as “patently false.”

[...]

Putin, the former president and architect of an assertive foreign policy that has stoked East-West tension, suggested in an interview with CNN that there was an American presence amid the combat with a potential domestic U.S. political motive.

“We have serious grounds to think that there were U.S. citizens right in the combat zone” during Russia’s war with the U.S.-allied ex-Soviet republic, he said the interview broadcast on state-run Russian television. “And if that’s so, if that is confirmed, it’s very bad. It’s very dangerous.”

It sounds nutty, sure, but you know this will end up in a DNC press release sooner or later.

I think Putin is the one playing the game here.

Tags: putin, president bush, georgia, ossetia

Olbermann dislikes freedom of speech and of the press

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:49:18 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: www.editorandpublisher.com

In an unusually heated attack on a veteran political reporter by a cable news host, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann laced into the Associated Press's Charles Babington an hour after Barack Obama had concluded his speech in Denver on Thursday night.

Olbermann was outraged that the AP's Babington had written, in his analysis of the speech, just off the wire, that Obama had tried nothing new and that his speech was lacking in specifics.

It is analysis that strikes me as having borne no resemblance to the speech you and I just watched. None whatsoever. And for it to be distributed by the lone national news organization in terms of wire copy to newspapers around the country and web sites is a remarkable failure of that news organization.

Obama backers have criticized the coverage of their candidate by the AP

AP had transmitted a Babington preview of the Republican convention earlier in the day in which he declared "Republicans appear to have lost their identity

Tags: olbermann, ap, msnbc, liberal, bias, obama, politics

Democrats have done what in 2 years?

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:00:06 GMT

clipped by: The REAL Napster
clipper's remarks: They can lambast all they want about the 'past 8 years' Truth be told the Democrats have effective control of the house and senate as well as a majority of the governorships in the U.S. since November, 2006. We already know that the 'Speaker of the House' is a sad joke. And Congress actually has as low (if not lower) approval rating than the current president. So, I ask- democrats already have control, now what have you done with it? Nothing. Same as usual.

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

The 2006 United States midterm elections were held on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. All United States House of Representatives seats and one third of the United States Senate seats were contested in this election, as well as 36 state governorships, many state legislatures, four territorial legislatures and many state and local races. The election resulted in a sweeping victory for the Democratic Party which captured the House of Representatives, the Senate, and a majority of governorships and state legislatures from the Republican Party.

The Democratic Party won a majority of the state governorships^[3] and the U.S. House and Senate seats each for the first time since 1994, an election-year commonly known as the "Republican Revolution." For the first time in the history of the United States, no Republican captured any House, Senate, or Gubernatorial seat previously held by a Democrat.^[4]

Tags: 2006 general elections, democrats, republicans

Practices of Love and Forgiveness...

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:28:21 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee
clipper's remarks: most inspiring ...to read the complete article, pl visit the site...

Clip Source: www.loveandforgive.org

If you are just beginning to more intentionally add love and forgiveness to your life, read through some of the practices below. See which ones capture your interest. Or try one that you can practice on a daily basis, such as Show Simple Affection or Self Forgiveness. Share these with a friend or family member and support each other in becoming more loving and forgiving. As you start incorporating some of these practices into your life, notice what happens. Let us know if you have a story to share from your practice. We'll select some of the submissions to post in our Sharing Stories section or on our blog.

Our thanks to Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat for their contributions to this section.

Celebrate the Happiness of Another

Show Simple Affection

Journaling

Expand Your Love to the Earth

Send Love Out to the World

Compliment Your Partner

Be Kind

List-making

Love list.

Make a list for tomorrow.

Pay Compliments

Self Forgiveness

Visualizing Forgiveness

Another Point of View

Just Like Me

London from above, at night

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:39:05 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: www.boston.com

The city of London, at night, featuring the financial district, NatWest Tower, and the River Thames

Big Ben

Oxford Circus

The financial district, featuring the tip of 30 St. Mary's Axe, known by the nickname "The Gherkin"

A lonely curve of a city street

A busy roundabout junction

The Lloyd's Building

Building site at St George Street and Maddox Street

The River Thames, featuring Tower Bridge

Waterloo and Eurostar terminal

The London Eye on the River Thames

London's financial district

A junction on the M25 motorway

Canary Wharf

Tower Bridge and the Thames

Canada Tower and neighboring office buildings at Canary Wharf

Emirates Stadium

Piccadilly Circus

Waterloo Bridge and the River Thames

Tags: photographs, photography, night, london, england

Ferraro likes McCain's choice of Palin

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:29:29 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: hotair.com

How does the first female VP candidate feel about the second? Geraldine Ferraro says that many women feel disaffected by the way Hillary Clinton got treated by the Democratic Party and the media — and they will appreciate an opportunity to support a historic ticket:

Sarah Palin made explicit reference to Hillary Clinton’s remark about “18 million cracks in the glass ceiling”, an overt reference to the historic opportunity for women in this campaign. Will that convince some of Hillary’s supporters to cross party lines? A large number of them already seemed open to that possibility — and Palin certainly has Ferraro intrigued.

Ferraro’s comments point up another potential land mine for Barack Obama. The media may stoke all those leftover resentments if they try to hit Palin hard in the next few weeks, which may drive off even more women than otherwise.

Tags: ferraro, mccain, palin, election, politics, sexism

Russia may cut off oil flow to the West

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:19:06 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Fears are mounting that Russia may restrict oil deliveries to Western Europe over coming days, in response to the threat of EU sanctions and Nato naval actions in the Black Sea.

Reports have begun to circulate in Moscow that Russian oil companies are under orders from the Kremlin to prepare for a supply cut to Germany and Poland through the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline. It is believed that executives from lead-producer LUKoil have been put on weekend alert.

Any evidence that the Kremlin is planning to use the oil weapon to intimidate the West could inflame global energy markets. US crude prices jumped to $119 a barrel yesterday on reports of hurricane warnings in the Gulf of Mexico, before falling back slightly.

Armed with $580bn of foreign reserves (the world's third largest), Russia appears willing to risk its reputation as a reliable actor on the international stage in order to pursue geo-strategic ambitions.

We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a Cold War," said

Gov. Sarah Palin: On The Issues

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:06:27 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: New Alaska Governor Is Strong Conservative
Economy: She supports reducing property taxes and taxes for small businesses to grow the economy.
Climate: However, she has been a vocal critic of scientists who suggest that climate change is leading to the decrease in polar bears in Alaska. She has also threatened to sue to have polar bears not listed as a threatened species.
Immigration: Being that her state only borders Canada and is thousands of miles from the Mexican border, Palin has not often expressed her views publicly on illegal immigration.
Health Care: According to her campaign Web site, Palin supports flexibility in government regulations that allow competition in health care. She believes it will drive down health care costs and reduce the need for government subsidies. Palin also feels patients should have access to full medical billing information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXzY1FvYpnE YouTube: 10:19

Clip Source: www.kcra.com

With the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, Sen. John McCain has extended an olive branch to the far right wing of his party.

The 44-year-old mother of five, who has only been governor for two years, has a conservative track record on both social and fiscal issues.

Abortion: Palin is outspokenly pro-life.

Marriage: Palin opposes same-sex marriage and stated on her campaign web site that she believes “marriage should only be between a man and a woman.”

Climate: Upon being elected governor of Alaska, she created a sub-cabinet on climate change

Guns: Palin is a lifetime member of the NRA. On her Web site, she wrote that she supports “our Constitutional right to bear arms and am a proponent of gun safety programs for Alaska's youth.”

Iraq: Palin is generally supportive of America’s presence in Iraq, her 18-year-old son Track Palin is in the Army and is slotted to go to Iraq in September. Palin has also visited members of the Alaska National Guard in Kuwait.

Tags: gov. palin, social & fiscal conservative, abortion, marriage, guns iraq, economy, climate, health care, immigration

Paul Drummond Illustrations

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:23:42 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: www.pauldrummond.co.uk

Science Fiction

Select an image to view it in detail:

His Master’s Voice

Little Lost Robot

Africa (cover)

Strange Behaviour

Insurgency

Leaving Orbit

Exploration

Tags: paul drummond, artist, art, illustrationist, scifi, fantasy, horror

Obsidian

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:19:52 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: flickr.com

Clip Source: www.finescience.com

For applications where an extremely fine cutting action is required or for studies where trace metals from ordinary scalpel blades cannot be tolerated, these very special obsidian scalpels may provide the answer. They are so fine that they are used in human surgical procedures where objectionable scar tissue might result from the use of a coarser scalpel. The blade is made from obsidian a type of volcanic glass which allows a much finer blade than is possible with the conventional steel blade. In some cases this makes the relatively inexpensive obsidian scalpel a suitable substitute for an expensive diamond knife. Patterned after "stone-age" knives which first made their appearance about 18,000 years ago, these modern versions utilize hard maple wood dowelling for handles and a special epoxy coating. This seals the joint between the blade and the handle, and enables the knife to be autoclaved.

Democrats find 'green' political convention tough to enforce

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:50:02 GMT

clipped by: Smoke TNT

Clip Source: news.cnet.com

DENVER--The Democratic Party has boasted that its convention here will be "the most environmentally-sustainable" gathering in the party's history, complete with a director of sustainability, low-power lighting in some areas, and calculations of carbon footprints.

But reality doesn't always match expectations. Bikes aren't permitted inside the convention's security perimeter, so golf carts and other vehicles are used. The wooden card keys proved buggy, and some were replaced with more-reliable plastic. Fried mini-donuts were prominently on sale inside the Pepsi Center. Party VIPs and celebrities told their decidedly non-green town cars and GMC Yukon XL mega-SUVs--rented from limo provider A Class Above Transportation--to idle, with engines and air conditioning on, in the nearby pickup area.

Tags: democrats, liberals, garbage, hypocrisy

Barack Obama: Biography

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:01:13 GMT

clipped by: Smoke TNT

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: obama

Obamunists Attack Radio Station for Shining Light on Bill Ayers

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:39:17 GMT

clipped by: Smoke TNT
clipper's remarks: "Bill Ayers, the hippie terrorist who went on to launch Obama's career."

Clip Source: moonbattery.com

Another little foretaste of what an Obama victory would mean for freedom of speech:

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign organized its supporters Wednesday night to confront Tribune-owned WGN-AM in Chicago for having a critic of the Illinois Democrat on its air.

"WGN radio is giving right-wing hatchet man Stanley Kurtz a forum to air his baseless, fear-mongering terrorist smears," Obama's campaign wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "He's currently scheduled to spend a solid two-hour block from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. pushing lies, distortions, and manipulations about Barack and University of Illinois professor William Ayers."

Kurtz, a conservative writer, recently wrote an article for the National Review that looked at Obama's ties to Ayers, a former 1960s radical who later emerged as a school reform advocate in Chicago. […]

Obama's campaign has launched similar offensives against stations that have run campaign ads that it did not like.

…as we've seen.

Tags: obama, liberals, democrats, terrorists, dirty ass hippies