Clipmarks | 1980s Clips

VEE Day

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:51:09 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: in Alameda, California, we practiced duck-and-cover as well as earthquake drills. Nothing quaint or or historic about it then.

Here’s Reagan speechwriter Anthony R. Dolan at the Wall Street Journal on the power of “Four Little Words” … you remember them: “Tear down that wall” … and the earth-shaking ideas they represented as well as the action that backed them.

The popular myth is that the wall kind of toppled over by itself, with a little push from people power. That of course ignores not only the prior 44 years of Cold War … interspersed with several hot ones that cost us tens of thousands of American lives … it also ignores the massive military buildup of the 1980s, the encouragement of liberation movements behind the Iron Curtain, the tough engagement with old-school Soviet leaders and, not least, the cordial engagement with a Soviet leader who realized it was time to throw in the towel. An atmosphere was finally created in which people felt like they could

Clip Source: www.julescrittenden.com

It’s Victory in Eastern Europe Day. Though I kind of like the sound of “VUSSR Day.” In Ivan’s face. PO Putin a little … for a change.

Obama of course couldn’t make it to the festivities. It’s an awkward one for him, given the recent retreat in the face of neo-Stalinism, and the fact that he’d have to give credit to one of his predecessors, or maybe sit and listen while others do … it will be interesting, to see if Ronald Reagan does get any official nods.

Twenty years ago today, the Berlin wall came down. It was a fact of the first three decades of my life. I was just one year old when they started slapping down the mortar and laying out the minefields. I even knew about it as a child, this horrible scar across Europe, beyond which basic freedom ended and the nightmare began. It was the very real bogeyman of our time, horrible totalitarianism, 1984 made manifest several decades ahead of schedule, and the threat of nuclear annihilation that was a part of it, such that, in the first grade

Tags: berlin wall, chancellor angela merkel and soviet mikhail gorbac, president reagan, russia

Keys for revolution

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:52:07 GMT

clipped by: chetler

Clip Source: www.slate.com

Lenin once defined a revolutionary situation as one that occurred when the rulers could not go on in the traditional way and the ruled did not wish to continue in that old way. Engels was more metaphorical, saying that revolution was the midwife that delivered a new life out of an older body. Both images come to mind in remembering the revolutions of 1989, which humbled a ruling system that believed itself to be based on the historical wisdom of Lenin and, indeed, of Engels.

Also overlooked in most histories and much commentary is the role played by "people power" movements in non-Communist countries. Throughout the 1980s, democratic insurgencies in the Philippines and South Korea, as well as the long resistance of the anti-apartheid forces in South Africa, showed that when the ruled do not want to go on in the old way, all they really need do is to fold their arms.

Tags: pol

Fox News; Millions of Grannies FLEE U.S as Death Panels Loom

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:24:56 GMT

clipped by: leevardi

Clip Source: mail.google.com

Fox News Reports: Millions of Grannies Flee U.S. as Death Panels Loom

Glenn Beck: "Run For Your Lives"

"I am never one to yell ‘Fire' in a crowded theater," said Fox News host Glenn Beck. "But run for your lives!"

Across the country, slow-moving caravans of 1980s-era Cadillacs with turn signals blinking were making the torturous journey to the Canadian border, their back seats laden with cats, knitting projects, and bottles of Ensure.

Fox News may have set off the mass exodus by warning grannies that if they did not flee quickly enough they would face government-mandated organ harvesting.

Elsewhere, anti-healthcare protesters objected to the language of the House bill, saying there were too many polysyllabic words. More here.

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) - With the establishment of government-mandated death panels just days away, grandmothers began fleeing the United States in record numbers today, reports Fox News.

Real Unemployment Now 17.5%, Highest Since Great Depression

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:58:22 GMT

clipped by: blueridge
clipper's remarks: This does effect not only lives unemployed, but the economic lives of all Americans.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Broader Measure of U.S. Unemployment Stands at 17.5%

With the release of the jobs report on Friday, the broadest measure of unemployment and underemployment tracked by the Labor Department has reached its highest level in decades. If statistics went back so far, the measure would almost certainly be at its highest level since the Great Depression.

In all, more than one out of every six workers — 17.5 percent — were unemployed or underemployed in October. The previous recorded high was 17.1 percent, in December 1982.

This includes the officially unemployed, who have looked for work in the last four weeks. It also includes discouraged workers, who have looked in the past year, as well as millions of part-time workers who want to be working full time.

The official jobless rate — 10.2 percent in October, up from 9.8 percent in September — remains lower than the early 1980s peak of 10.8 percent.

Nearly 16 million people are now unemployed and more than seven million jobs have been lost

Tags: economy, unemployment, recession

Consumer Reports finds BPA in most canned foods

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:41:49 GMT

clipped by: Lexica
clipper's remarks: More:

…our findings are notable because they indicate the extent of potential exposure: Consumers eating just one serving of the canned vegetable soup we tested would get about double what the FDA now considers typical average dietary daily exposure…

A 165-pound adult eating one serving of canned green beans from our sample, which averaged 123.5 ppb, could ingest about 0.2 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight per day, about 80 times higher than our experts' recommended daily upper limit. And children eating multiple servings per day of canned foods with BPA levels comparable to the ones we found in some tested products could get a dose of BPA approaching levels that have caused adverse effects in several animal studies… Drinking three servings per day of canned apple juice with BPA levels comparable to the levels found in our samples could result in a dose of BPA that is more than our experts' daily upper limit.
Clip Source: www.consumerreports.org
The chemical Bisphenol A, which has been used for years in clear plastic bottles and food-can liners, has been restricted in Canada and some U.S. states and municipalities because of potential health effects.
Now Consumer Reports' latest tests of canned foods, including soups, juice, tuna, and green beans, have found that almost all of the 19 name-brand foods we tested contain some BPA. The canned organic foods we tested did not always have lower BPA levels than nonorganic brands of similar foods analyzed. We even found the chemical in some products in cans that were labeled "BPA-free."
Federal guidelines currently put the daily upper limit of safe exposure at 50 micrograms of BPA per kilogram of body weight. But that level is based on experiments done in the 1980s rather than hundreds of more recent animal and laboratory studies indicating serious health risks could result from much lower doses of BPA.

Tags: food, food-safety, chemicals, bpa, consumer-reports

Oliver North

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:39:56 GMT

clipped by: HansWobbe
clipper's remarks: Reference was made to this well known situation as a result of some "Minutes" and "Governance" discussions that took place during the Year End meetings of one of the Boards on which I serve.

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Oliver North

North was at the center of national attention during the Iran-Contra affair, a political scandal of the late 1980s. North was a National Security Council member involved in the clandestine sale of weapons to Iran, which served to encourage the release of U.S. hostages from Lebanon. North formulated the second part of the plan: diverting proceeds from the arms sales to support the Contra rebel group in Nicaragua. North was charged with several felonies, but the charges were later dismissed in 1991. North is married to Betsy North (née Stuart), whom he met while attending the United States Naval Academy. They married on November 13, 1968 (after North was commissioned and finished the Basic School at Quantico, Virginia) and have four children.

Tags: governance, %p, %s

Story About Emmanuel Lewis/Louis And Michael Jackson

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:11:57 GMT

clipped by: jimbarry

Clip Source: www.docstoc.com

There are not many people know that he was very close to Michael Jackson (MJ) since 1980s. At that time Lewis was still a cute boy. MJ is like his best figure, friend, and brother.

Emmanuel Lewis was born March 9th, 1971 in Brooklyn, New York. He is the youngest of the four siblings attended regular public schools in Brooklyn. He started his amazing acting career in TV commercials for such products as fruit juice, cars, stereos, pizza, and Burger King.

Lewis was very close to MJ, they just danced and played together so there were some rumors that Lewis was also one of MJ's pedophilia victim. However, there was no clear evidence that Lewis was one of his victim. Even, there is no strong evidence that MJ was doing pedophilia to children as MJ said it's just bad people efforts to put him down.

Tags: emmanuel lewis, emmanuel louis

Fun Facts About Tigers

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:04:06 GMT

clipped by: Stumblerz
clipper's remarks: The creature use to roam over most parts of the world but now it is only found in some parts of Asia and Africa. Here are some facts about this great animal.

Clip Source: www.stumblerz.com

Fun Facts About Tigers

The creature use to roam over most parts of the world but now it is only found in some parts of Asia and Africa. Here are some facts about this great animal.

-Tigers are the biggest of all the wild cats.

-Tigers are in the top of their food chain, meaning they have no natural predators.

-The tigers at start had 8 species but three of them have been extinct, the last one being the Javan in the 1980s.

-The South China Tiger is suppose to be the first of all the modern tigers.

-The South China Tiger is one of the most endangered animals in the world, there were said to be only 20 in the wild the last time they were checked. But there are about 60 in all of the Chinese zoo’s.

-A tiger in the wild lives for about 10 or 15 years but one living in a human reserve lives up to 20 years.

-The heaviest tiger ever found on earth was a Siberian that weighted 465 kilos.

Hope, Change, Peace, Universal Health Care…Oh…and Alien Invasion

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:51:41 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: ABC "V" TV SERIES PILOT PROMO TRAILER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQoSCEMzJYE

Kenneth Johnson, who wrote and directed the 1983 miniseries (it spawned a sequel and then a regular network series over the next two years), took his inspiration from a 1935 Sinclair Lewis novel called It Can’t Happen Here that depicted an imaginary fascist takeover of the United States. The aliens in the original V were patterned after Nazis, and, just in case anyone missed the point, an elderly Jewish character who was a Holocaust survivor periodically hammered on the similarities.

But ABC’s series takes aim not at a German dictator from the misty past but a sitting " and popular " U.S. president.

Clip Source: www.thepinkflamingoblog.com

November 04, 2009 | SJ Reidhead

As a fan of the original version of “V” I was prepared not to like the new ABC series.

I was wrong.

I love the hope, change, peace, universal health care …. and complete annihilation of the human race.

I don’t know about you, but I find it rather humorous, and highly ironic that an ABC series, that is a take-off on the charisma of Obama, debuts the night Obama gets skunked at the polls.

Is the bloom off the rose?

They have the most powerful weapon – “devotion” – just what managed to get hope/change elected.

What about “Anna’s” resemblance to The One (reptilian)?

Of course and alien presence would fully explain the Dems in 2008. What happened just wasn’t normal. Then again The Pink Flamingo could simply be giving in to alien invasion hysteria.

“…V, an ambitious remake of a 1980s NBC show, in many respects stays close to the original’s story line. What has changed — radically — is the political subtext.

Tags: abc's remake of an 80s series, about alien encounters, mass delusion, universal healthcare, "v" 8-9 p.m. tuesday

UK interest costs 'equal to entire Transport bill'

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:03:38 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: Interest rates will have to go up increasing public debt costs even further, as the value of sterling falls on the currency markets.

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

The IMF singled out the UK as being at significant risk from the threat of rising debt interest costs as it absorbs the effects of the financial and economic crisis. It said that the proportion of UK taxes that will go towards financing the national debt will, in five years' time, be double what it was just before the onset of the crisis.

It said: "Just the increase in interest spending in the United Kingdom is about twice annual outlays for environmental protection and is equivalent to annual spending on public transportation."

The surprising bluntness of the warning, which was contained in a broader document analysing the fiscal situation in a variety of countries, will be seen as a direct rebuke to Gordon Brown, who repeatedly ignored IMF advice in previous years to cut the deficit and leave the UK better-placed for future downturns.

debt servicing costs should not surpass levels seen in the 1980s, they are extremely sensitive to a sudden jump in interest rates

Tags: 1-policy, 1-subsidies, 2-consequences, 2-record, 2-risks, 3-forecast, 3-researchj, 4-uk

Shoulder Pads are Back

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:06:40 GMT

clipped by: wiganfootie

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

It can't possibly have escaped your notice that shoulder pads are, once more, bolstering the silhouette of style's most sought-after garments this season.

Blame Balmain. Their preppy blazer look dominated the High Street last winter; this year they look set to influence our wardrobes all over again with a collection of peak-shouldered jackets and tops that have already found favour among the glitterati (Victoria Beckham and Rihanna, to name just two).

The look has prompted a slew of comparisons with Dynasty's 1980s style icons Krystle and Alexis Carrington and their power-dressing, ear-brushing suits.

But the history of the humble shoulder pad actually dates back to the 1930s, when designer of the moment Elsa Schiaparelli used them in her collections. And, in 1932, movie star Joan Crawford popularised the look when she sported shoulder pads in the film Letty Lynton.

Clip Source: images.google.co.uk

Image of the Day: Time Travel Through the Human Brain

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:48:56 GMT

clipped by: xpersianx

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Over the past 100-years, the way we visualize and understand the complexity of the brain has evolved due to huge strides microscope design and manufacture, together with the development of cell-staining techniques, gave neuroscientists their first glimpse at the specialized cells that make up the nervous system. Microscopes with more magnifying power enabled them to probe nerve cells in greater detail, revealing distinct compartments. Newer techniques expose the connections between nerve cells, revealing the complex organization of the brain.

In the 1980s, scientists developed fluorescent dyes to help them examine the long, thin extensions of neurons that carry information between these cells. Injected directly into the brain, the dye is incorporated into the cell membrane and transported along it, revealing the route of the nerve fiber. This image highlights the long-range connections between sensory areas of a mouse’s cerebral cortex and thalamus, often called the brain’s relay

The `Soviet Approach` to Afghanistan is next !!

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:59:57 GMT

clipped by: beanz
clipper's remarks: The full article is worth a read.

Clip Source: www.tomdispatch.com

Too Big to Fail?

Why All the President's Afghan Options Are Bad Ones

In the worst of times, my father always used to say, "A good gambler cuts his losses." It's a formulation imprinted on my brain forever

Meanwhile, the U.S. command in Afghanistan is considering a strategy that involves pulling back from the countryside and focusing on protecting more heavily populated areas (which might be called, with the first U.S. Afghan War of the 1980s in mind, the Soviet strategy)

In the last week, three U.S. helicopters -- the only practical way to get around a mountainous country with a crude, heavily mined system of roads -- went down under questionable circumstances (another potential sign of an impending Soviet-style disaster)

In the economic lingo of the moment, the war now falls into the category of "too big to fail," which means upping the ante or doubling down the bet. Think of the Afghan War, in other words, as the AIG of American foreign policy.

Tags: afghanistan

Web now truly worldwide as non-Latin scripts get the nod

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:12:20 GMT

clipped by: hotdoge3
clipper's remarks: how will I type in phonetic versions internet addresses? not on my PC?

Clip Source: www.nzherald.co.nz

Web now truly worldwide as non-Latin scripts get the nod

SEOUL, South Korea - The non-profit body that oversees internet addresses has approved the use of Hebrew, Hindi, Korean and other scripts not based on Latin characters in a decision that could make the web dramatically more inclusive.

The board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - or ICANN - voted to allow such scripts in so-called domain names at the conclusion of a weeklong meeting in Seoul, South Korea's capital.

Since their creation in the 1980s, domain names have been limited to the 26 characters in the Latin alphabet used in English - A-Z - as well as 10 numerals and the hyphen. Technical tricks have been used to allow portions of the internet address to use other scripts, but until now, the suffix had to use those 37 characters.

Countries can only request one suffix for each of their official languages, and the suffix must somehow reflect the name of the country or its abbreviation.

Tags: web, now, truly, worldwide, non-latin-scripts, get, nod

BA faces record losses as winter strikes loom

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:32:54 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: More grist for the the re-nationalisation mill? It would be worth it just to see how wound up Richard Branson would get.

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

City analysts expect BA to have racked up a pre-tax loss of £252m during the first half of the year, leaving the airline facing a second straight year without profits for the first time since it was privatised in the 1980s.

Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, will unveil the loss to shareholders at the end of a turbulent five days that begins tomorrow with a union meeting of 2,500 cabin crew at racing ground Sandown park. There will also be a connected High Court hearing later in the week.

Officials at BA fear that even the threat of a walkout will be enough to deter passengers from booking with the airline and potentially saddle it with a pre-tax loss that eclipses the £401m recorded in its last financial year. The summer period is critical for most airlines, and in the first half of 2008 BA enjoyed a profit of £52m despite the UK economy already being mired in recession.

Tags: 1-aviation, 1-losess, 1-strikes, 2-increase, 3-reported, 4-uk