GEE, wonder why nobody ever calls the GE 3.2 BILLION “tax benefit” an “entitlement”. Because that’s what it is.

Posted by: anna missed | Mar 25 2011 20:33 utc | 4

sorry watson, but you have to add Silvio Berlusconi and Umberto Bossi to the list; they too are seen by many as opposing the politically-correct, hypocritical, elitist establishment (imagine a country where Sarah Palin has won the elections)
not so sorry to add also Putin
maybe Gheddafi, he might not be so inspiring in his old age, but he waged many battles throughout his life, he probably has many enemies but also many friends, who knows?

Posted by: claudio | Mar 25 2011 21:50 utc | 6

I wonder about this sometimes: in the last 100 years or so, what government has been really good for its own people. What is the best example of good governance?

Posted by: Joseph | Mar 25 2011 23:17 utc | 8

Joseph
Even as I am most partial to the South American populist left wave of presidents, I think Putin’s presidency in Russia has to fit your bill. He pulled Russia out of abjection to gang-ruled chaos. Early on, he told the gangsters, the oligarch billionaires, they could keep their ill-gotten gains as long as they stayed out of politics and out of media. He stayed true to his word. The only ones who run afoul of him are the ones who cross his line in the sand. I could not have been that prudent, but I think it was wise of him. I cannot stress enough how bad it was in Russia in the ’90s. Putin worked miracles. Yes, the artificially inflated oil and gas bubble made it possible, but he took full advantage of it, and made life radically better for everyone in Russia… if still needing improvement in many places.
I think he and Medvedev are doing a decent job in this global monetary fleecing, too. I am, of course, unsure if they can or will hold this course, but it seems to me they have been trying to build a modern economy without letting the rich take everything from the rest, that what gets reported here as anti-democratic is really anti-fascistic, and meant to arc toward the best interests of all. They seem to want to hold the line against the sociopathic Western elite, rather than push it back. All their global geopolitical moves have been in favor of upholding popular regimes and stopping the advances of fascism.
I think, actually, the PTB agree with me on this, because they have not stopped lacing all media reports on Putin with negative propaganda. The best governments are usually the ones targeted for destruction. I mean, that means their people have the most to steal. So, actually, you can use that as a gauge for which governments need closer scrutiny. The worse our media make them sound, the better they probably are… at least as far as their own people are concerned.

Posted by: 99 | Mar 26 2011 1:56 utc | 10

What’s On Your Mind Fri/Sat, your own words,
your man on the coast
Whatever’s on your mind …
Can I live tax free like GE?
Good news. the zionist have lost one
It occurred to me recently that there aren’t very many charismatic political figures who have a devoted following.
watson, i have a special fondness for evo morales as a man he seems equal parts toughness & fragility & he has always been under great pressure & has shown exemplarity
he waged many battles throughout his life, he probably has many enemies but also many friends
What is the best example of good governance?
The best governments are usually the ones targeted for destruction.
the most important statesman of our time! The iconic LULA of Brasil!!!
the Bloc Quebecois being the reason why there has not been a Harper majority

Posted by: sockpuppet | Mar 26 2011 3:53 utc | 12

biklett, a Fed I believe, hey, it’s a paycheck

Posted by: sockpuppet | Mar 26 2011 6:03 utc | 14

and Chomsky says sockpuppet has cooties. *5*

Posted by: Biklett | Mar 26 2011 7:47 utc | 16

hans, do you have a link? or was it from a book?

Posted by: claudio | Mar 26 2011 11:55 utc | 18

i believe the piece hans is referencing is this

Posted by: lizard | Mar 26 2011 11:57 utc | 20

your welcome Ben.
and now, a little ditty i’ve been working on for the last few days. enjoy:
HIS PURPOSE
equinox, super moon
though no song with which to croon
my heart it feels paralyzed
the con has gone system-wide
I read and write the blogs at night
as war engorges parasites
who salivate for Tripoli
with Tomahawk diplomacy
hey Oblamblam what’s the plan?
your weekend war and African tan
won’t absolve your spineless frame
and how you serve their bloody aims
how you do it is quite the trick
with words as slippery as an oil slick
saving civilians the claimed charade
championed by a three-bitch parade
with every missile launched I see
the ugly depth of hypocrisy
bringing truth up to the surface
no secret anymore, his purpose
exposed for those who wish to know
is performance on the stage, the show
meant to dazzle impressionable minds
providing cover for his master’s crimes

Posted by: lizard | Mar 26 2011 14:52 utc | 22

I did want to comment on the Malooga, 29 in the previous thread, about Lybia.
link
I hesitate to speak for or about other posters, we have had a lot of ‘broad brush’ posts about the general opinions expressed on the board – actually they are really quite varied (it is true some ppl have been banned, but I haven’t kept a scorecard.)
No plan.
No plan does not of course literally mean no plans. It means fluid, changing, even conflicting plans that require compromise thru negotiation or arm-twisting. It means no long-standing, worked out, consensual plan, such as we saw concerning Afghanistan and Iraq.
I still maintain there wasn’t and is not today, much of a plan. The US and the ‘West’ were, and are still, in purely reactive mode, with confused motives / action aims / readings of the situation / thoughts about outcomes. Their actions are opportunistic and not well controlled.
Then, in fluid and uncertain territory and situations, a lot of imponderables and unknown unknowns (Rummy’s claim to history, to be engraved on his tombstone), tipping points that are hard to predict – unsavory actors, the usual culprits, profiteers, local potentates, and accidental figures either calculatedly grab an opportunity (perhaps one of many for them) or simply find themselves on the spot, leading to all kinds of uninterpretable mayhem.
No tribes.
To me talk of tribes is ridiculous, as I said. There is the Orientalist aspect that Malooga mentions. Briefly put, Tripolitania and Cyrenea (sp), leaving out the rest of the country, are territories that are quite well defined, different in their geography, have very different histories, and different positions, particularly economic, in the Lybia we see on today’s maps. As in many other countries – states, cantons, etc. That is enough to be going on with and should take precedence over whatever ‘tribes’ inhabit these places in any serious analysis, and not so thru ‘political’ correctness.
Democracy promotion
Serves different purposes in different situations. Duh.

Posted by: Noirette | Mar 26 2011 16:26 utc | 24

Top Bush-era GITMO and Abu Ghraib psychologist is WH’s newest appointment

Today, Dr. James circulated an excited email announcing, “with great pride,” that he has now been selected to serve on the “White House Task Force entitled Enhancing the Psychological Well-Being of The Military Family.” In his new position, he will be meeting at the White House with Michelle Obama and other White House officials on Tuesday.
For his work at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, Dr. James was the subject of two formal ethics complaints in the two states where he is licensed to practice: Louisiana and Ohio. Those complaints — 50 pages long and full of detailed and well-documented allegations — were filed by the International Human Rights Clinic of Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program, on behalf of veterans, mental health professionals and others. The complaints detailed how James “was the senior psychologist of the Guantánamo BSCT, a small but influential group of mental health professionals whose job it was to advise on and participate in the interrogations, and to help create an environment designed to break down prisoners.” Specifically:
During his tenure at the prison, boys and men were threatened with rape and death for themselves and their family members; sexually, culturally, and religiously humiliated; forced naked; deprived of sleep; subjected to sensory deprivation, over-stimulation, and extreme isolation; short-shackled into stress positions for hours; and physically assaulted. The evidence indicates that abuse of this kind was systemic, that BSCT health professionals played an integral role in its planning and practice. . . .

Theres more to this story at the link, including an update with the White house un-appointing this wolf…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Mar 26 2011 22:12 utc | 26

re, Watson @ 3 – about France.
I do believe that getting into the nitty gritty of politics is necessary. Otherwise, why believe in democracy?
flash transcript
Fukushima. Very hard to appreciate the consequences for now. Remember, its Mother Nature — a severe recall that Nature affects man. I don’t trust the F authorities on what they are saying. The FN was traditionally against ‘nukes’, but that is not of much import now, the situation we are in now – must be carefully examined – particularly our aging nuclear plants, how can they be refurbished or de commissioned (Makes no precise proposition, says it is a complicated problem.)
Yes probably oil. Q was not obedient enough. He is being punished. In contradiction with the UN resolution, which was to protect civil pop. on the ground, we are in an active complicity with armed rebels, and from the start. Sarko immediately recognized them! (mentions an ambassador was appointed?) Masks are falling. The formidable military machine that is NATO is attacking a country of 6 million. The french milit. chiefs disgust me, proud of attacking ppl who can’t defend themselves or respond. France should withdraw, and General Pinocchio (we don’t have Pinochet but Pinocchio) who started all this, under the orders of Gepeto who most likely lives in the White House… (when asked, he says terrorist blowback is a possibility, but the economic aspects are worrisome, should be considered)
Yes 66 % of F ppl were Ok with “protection” .. Personally I’m against any interference, but that’s another matter. But things have changed, it became evident that the bombs and cruise missiles are not protecting but killing, collateral damage…..a *dirty* war.
— Jean-Marie Le Pen ‘diary no 222’ – weekly videos on the National Front Website. TV interview format.
Reviewing Marine Le Pen’s (1) economic program, as it is presented on the web for the public, it corresponds to the advice of economic left-wing bloggers for Greece, Portugal (for ex.): an intelligent monetary policy, the possibility of devaluation, boosting exports – first step exit the EURO.
my comment: The economic program is socialist in the old sense, as its effect would be to make the richer less rich, and the poor not more poor, at the least. It would be a kind of ‘equalizer’, which is indirectly mentioned in the program, in terms of ‘for the ppl’, etc. The terms ‘casse sociale’ – social fractioning, breaking, appear. Marine presents the program in contrast to that of an invented entity, the UMPS, which = the UMP (Sarkozy’s party), plus the PS (socialist party), showing that these two do not differ.
The section on immigration is disgustingly stiff, old National Front stuff, modernised with cooperation with Africa and/or developing countries to keep the ‘blackies’ at home.
One point stood out – they argue that a Nation proud and soldered has no trouble with immigrants. The immigrants find a place, adapt, get jobs, join the mainstream, etc. That will have rung bells in many quarters.
all from:
http://www.frontnational.com/
The FN in France is going to be unstoppable. Le Pen himself made it to one of the two Presidential candidates (facing Chirac) back in 2002. (i am not a FN supporter in any way..)
1. Marine le Pen is the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, and the new head of the National Front. She looks like him, lives like him (divorced with children), acts like him, and is one tough cookie. At the age of 8, she found herself in the street in a night gown, after her home was bombed and totally destroyed. She has endured discrimination and violence that would make most give up.

Posted by: Noirette | Mar 28 2011 15:26 utc | 28

@DoS
sorry to hear it. he was a wonderful ranteur, up there with Mencken, maybe even on the same shelf with Bierce, Swift, and Clemens. “a pen warmed up in hell”. pbuh.

Posted by: DeAnander | Mar 28 2011 16:42 utc | 30

i hope all is well with you & your boat, deanander

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Mar 28 2011 22:01 utc | 32

We still have Fred Reed…….JB rest in peace…….

Posted by: georgeg | Mar 29 2011 11:54 utc | 34

Joe Bageant died last Saturday.
link“>http://www.joebageant.com/joe/>link

Posted by: anna missed | Mar 30 2011 8:33 utc | 36

Work around New York Times 20 article limit

Posted by: b | Mar 31 2011 12:51 utc | 38

I’m using the NYTClean work-around with no problems. I’m keeping the cookies because I sometimes comment there.

Posted by: mistah charley, ph.d. | Mar 31 2011 16:49 utc | 40

Good Lord. Joe Bageant. Never heard of him and he is a local (I grew up in the same landscape/culture close to Winchester). He says what I think.
Here is a long talk if anybody missed it.

Posted by: rjj | Mar 31 2011 17:18 utc | 42

hot time in the old town – or white city as they say

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 1 2011 19:52 utc | 44

anna missed & beq

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 1 2011 21:47 utc | 46