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US Government Restricting Research Libraries
An anonymous reader writes: "In a move that has been termed 'positively Orwellian' by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Executive Director Jeff Ruch, George W. Bush is ending public access to research materials at EPA regional libraries without Congressional consent. This all-out effort to impede research and public access is a [loosely] covert operation to close down 26 technical libraries under the guise of budgetary constraint. Scientists are protesting, but at least 15 of the libraries will be closed by Sept. 30, 2006."
Has any other US president ever done as much damage to the US as Bush has?
I believe the article and editorialization need to be marked (-1, Troll)
Cliff Claven
K.E.G. Party Chairman
Founding Leader of: Koncerned for Egalitarin Governance
When are the people for the future going to return the 4400 people they've abducted over the years to stop these people!!!?
"reality has a well-known liberal bias" - Steven Colbert
Scientists are protesting,
[GWB-Homer J. Simpson]
Pesky scientists - what do they know, with their research and their little bunson burners and stupid white coats.
They'll get nothing and like it!
That goes for you to, mr john q. public - don't think I don't see you watching me. I'm protecting you from dangerous information, information that could turn you into a terrorist. Don't you think if corporations were poisening your water I'd protect you from it? I'll decide what you can and can't know - I'm the decider.
[/GWB-Homer J. Simpson]
Honestly, maybe the new GWB/Republican tagline should be "How low can you go..."
"We are all geniuses when we dream"
- E.M. Cioran
But if we allow our children to read and learn, then the terrorists will have won!
the u.s. government over the last several months has been a massive binge of re-classifying previously declassified historical documents. i think they've done maybe 50,000 of them. this administration has a culture of secrecy and limit of access to information and this move is nicely in keeping with that ideology. my source on the document reclassification is here.
2 1337 4 u!
There's something positive about being Orwellian?
Developers: We can use your help.
For a more useful story, please see http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6365379.ht ml
Some points:
- The information will be made available online
- The information will be available through library loan
- Not all the libraries are closing
- Bush is not defying Congress. He sent them a budget which they either approve or amend
Boy, it certainly made for a good story though! For about 2 minutes... *sigh* Do some research before posting or blogging next time.
The Republican War on Science
Despite the inflammatory name, the book doesn't assert that Republicans are inherently anti-science, but it is a chronicle the past few decades of politicization of science, and how even though Liberals do their own part to misrepresent science, the overwhelming lions share of open distortion percieved by the overwhelming majority of scientists has been unfortunately solidly Republican. It's a rather impressive, well-documented book that I highly recommend showing a trend of scientific limitations and games like today's story.
Ryan Fenton
I had the opportunity to have a somewhat long conversation with the author on a local radio show. Consider me unimpressed.
The author really hasn't thought everything through.
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
Could we arrange an information exodus program -- sending in people with scanners to go in and copy all of the data possible in the next 15 days?
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
-- Pablo Picasso
If citzens can't access it, you know, the PEOPLE in the government of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE, for the PEOPLE, cannot access it, then the people should not have to pay for it. Please either make it accessible to all citizens, DROP it from the budget and CUT taxes accordingly, or risk citizens' waking up to the importance of voting based on character and principles rather than "gee, he's so cute" or "I'm a Democrat/Republican/etc. so that is how I vote."
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
As a fellow government worker, I can attest to the fact that all this "consolidation" stuff is not just restricted to the Libraries & EPA stuff. We're feeling it in pretty much every branch, some worse than others.
Wars are expensive.. And the money's gotta come from somewhere.. Rather than raising taxes (which I'm sure they'll do anyway), they're cutting expenses elsewhere... Rather than fire people, they're "consolidating". Sounds better, but it's the same thing.
I agree that this is as editorialized of a tidbit as I have seen on Slashdot in a while, and that is saying a lot. As a person who has yet to RTFA, I have to wonder, based on this blurb, what the motivation behind closing down these libraries would be. I know, I know, RTFA, but the point is that you can always tell a heavily biased article/news-bit by the sheer lack of an attempt to explain any motivation besides citing "evil."
Look at our President, Bush. He's never been to a library in his life and hes just fine. Hes the freaking President.
Don't ya'll see the nexus? The "big business" president has done just one more thing to fatten the wallets of corporations.
"Cutting $2 million in library services in an EPA budget totaling nearly $8 billion is the epitome of a penny wise-pound foolish economy." - You got to be kidding me!
At least such a thing gets reported in this country. Any other third world country, the politicians would have done it and this would not even be news....
Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when he is in trouble again.
Has any other US president ever done as much damage to the institution of science in the US as Bush has?
I think bush has never done something right in his life except putting saddam to jail. But still that's proving to be a mistake also.
The always progressive and forward thinking Bill Clinton has proposed legislation that will modernize the nation's research libraries by making all of the information contained in the libraries available online, eliminating the wasteful need for old-fashioned brick-and-mortar facilities. At least some people in the federal government are embracing technology. Kudos, Bill!
Am I wrong?
This is getting really old, too. This marks about the sixth time I've seen someone trying to compare Bush's presidency to Carter's. There is NO comparison. Carter was a nauseatingly honest individual who was elected largely in response to the nauseatingly dishonest Nixon administration. He entered the political game playing it straight at a time when the opposition was patently playing it crooked, and inherited (as another poster has mentioned) a terrible situation at a terrible time. What he didn't do was leave a huge mess for future generations to clean up -- most of the situations of Carter's presidency that people didn't like were strictly temporary.
On the other hand, Bush has destroyed a huge budget surplus and left trillions in debt to my kids. His deliberate neglect has more or less wiped one whole American city right off the map. He has ruined America's standing as the leader of the free world with his farrago of lies on Iraq, and he has opened a gaping crack in the Middle East which seems destined to consume innocent lives for decades to come. He has fundamentally damaged the conscience of the nation by actively condoning torture, and actively assaulting our cherished civil liberties -- the one aspect of America that truly makes us American. He has starved the middle class and pushed millions into poverty with his patently worker-unfriendly policies (better known as his "Ownership Society" initiative). He has contributed to the further decline of public education, ensuring that millions can't compete in a modern job market, through his unfunded No Child Left Behind. He has bitterly divided America with his lies and hateful, cynical rhetoric. He has flaunted his authority recklessly and led with all the gravitas of a 21-year old fraternity prankster. In a simple character evaluation of Jimmy Carter versus George W. Bush, there is no question who I'd rather have in charge.
My book, podcast
What came into my mind as i read this was a documentry i once saw on Discovery channel which talked about china.
China used to be one of the most advanced civilisations in the world. They developed so many stuff before any other country. Then suddenly some idiot in there decided to cut off china from the rest of the world and not only stop building technically advanced ships but actually destroy its unmatched fleet of ships. Shortly afterwards Britan was able to conquer the country using the technology that chinese themselves invented.
The fact that US seems to be closing libraries makes me wonder if its another version of the same events.
Even before Congress acts, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to shut down three regional libraries by September 30
Let me make sure this is clear through the use of a lot of html tags: " the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning "
The EPA is its own entity. It makes decisions on its own based on a plan that it generates. Do you really think Bush walked in to the EPA headquarters and said "shut it all down now!"? Try and read the story completely next time.
As for the scanning, did you also miss the fact that you can order whatever material you want via library loan?
I am no Bush apologist (please read that again before modding me flamebait), but I was more than a little perturbed by the editorial tone of the article. So, I Googled the subject and I can find dozens of blogs and opinion pieces dating back to around March or so on this, but nothing from a traditional news source (I gave up after about 5 pages of search results).
I would like to read an objectively written fact based story behind this and not just a lot of reactionary Bush bashing.
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
George Bush is a "good steward of the environment", like any good Christian. Like any good steward, he's making sure it's cooked properly by professionals.
--
make install -not war
G(reat) W(hite) B(ullsh*tter) That's all I need to say.
This sig will self destruct in 5 seconds.
Doesn't anybody bother to look at the source data before flaming? Or is this news "too good to check"?
This is the EPA engaging in political tactics. To begin with, they haven't yet been asked to cut their budget, and they may never be. The closing of libraries is not Bush's idea--it's EPA bureaucrats saying "Look what you made us do!"
The proposed budget cut constitutes a fraction of of a percent of the EPA's budget, and it could be achieved with a minor reduction in the EPA's bloated administrative costs.
This is a standard tactic in every government in the world. Faced with budget cuts, the bureaucrats respond by threatening to terminate one of the few things they do that actually provides a service. The mystery is that they often get away with it.
The special irony in this item is that the EPA isn't planning to cut the service—just the way it's delivered.
I'm a Programmer. That's one level above Software Engineer and one level below Engineer.
In the next issue of The Decider, it is The Decider vs. Captain Planet.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
All we know from the links is that some organization that apparently makes its living by suing the government will not have free ride anymore.
What is the other side? Why is this action being taken? Hoe much does it cost to provide access to these materials?
If you just go on what the whiners say, then you really can't make any judgment of the situation.
I don't understand why ANYONE relies on the gov't for anything, because they do shit like this. Scientists have been bitching forever about how restrictive it is, then golly, move to the private sector and vote to have a smaller government.
After wasting the last 2 days bulsh!tin to get my karma back up to a respectable level, you go and post a polical article again. Let the flame wars begin!
... not at the cost of our research! Not at the cost of helping the homeless! Not at the cost of fixing New Orleans! Not at the cost of rebuilding the trade centers! Not at the cost of our educations! Not at the cost of ....
The EPA are the ones closing this, not Bush. But what did you expect anyways? You libs are just dying to reduce national spending and reduce the budget. But wait
Bush might not eat babies, but he's sure been responsible for a lot of deformed ones.
That is a very compelling movie about the use of depleted uranium in Iraq and Afghanistan and the horrific affects it's having there, and on hundreds of thousands of our soldiers and their families.
The pictures of deformed babies is almost unbearable, and the evidence overwhelming. Just how little of this is getting reported in the normal news is probably most shocking.
Lose Weight and Feel Great with Isagenix
...there is a limit to the amount of criticism that can be heaped on a president who puts on a sweater to cut down on the White House heating bill. Just PR, maybe, but my kind of PR.
Perhaps life really is full of possibilities.
Yeah! That will teach them terrans!
It would have read:
"Clinton, who has been accused of fraternizing with an intern..."
-- it's ridiculous how many people misspell ridiculous... (damn, damn, damn...)
I will listen to no argument by Republicans suggesting any spending cuts whatsoever, and will simply laugh in their face and secretly hope they get hit by a bus, until we stop wasting money in Iraq.
The amount of money wasted on an excessively powerful military (far beyond what is needed for national defense) and useless wars dwarfs any other bit of governmental waste.
It's right down our alley. Politics, republicans & democrats are all topic categories for the stories afterall.
The overwhelming majority of scientists (who would describe themselves as working scientists versus simple degree holders in the field) are academics working in academic university environments, or even in the case of corporate research labs, are in the academic revolving door. It is no secret that major universities are basically immersed in left-wing culture both at the official level (such as having ethnic or women's studies departments, speech codes, etc) and at the unofficial level (such as students groups). So, these guys are working and living in what amounts to a left-wing echo chamber. They can not help but have a certain amount of cultural bias against conservatives or republicans. As in most social environments, there is great pressure to conform. In some cases, non-conforming academics have been ostracized as cretins or kooks, denied tenure, and passed up for promotion. So it is not surprising that a "majority" of scientists" would land of the left-wing side of any particular debate.
Also, without accusing anybody of consciously cooking the data, its easy to see what you want to see in data when you have pre-conceived notions. I would say that even the questions they ask or don't ask (i.e. what they choose to subject to a study or ignore) is influenced by their preconceived cultural notions.
When somebody says "science is on our side", I basically evaluate it the same as if they said "the statistics are on our side" (especially if its based on statistical models and not reproducable in the lab "hard" science).
What he didn't do was leave a huge mess for future generations to clean up -- most of the situations of Carter's presidency that people didn't like were strictly temporary.
The Carter administration left us with the biggest f'ing mess in our entire history. One that we are still fighting today: Iran and the Muslim problem at large.
If Carter would've had the gonads to do whatever it took to keep the Shah and his successors in power (irregardless of whether that would've been right or wrong), and quash the Iran revolution in a huge and terrible unforgettable way, then the world today would be a very different place. Like it or not, the middle eastern culture basically understands only two things: (1)when they've been conquered and thoroughly put in their place, and (2)when they are the ones doing the conquering. Any half-assed attempt at putting them down in a partial manner, and they will always still perceive the situation as #2. Label me troll or flamebait as you please, but this is the truth and it's the way things have always been in that middle east culture for thousands of years, even before Islam and dating back to the ancient Persians, Babylonians, Egyptions, Romans, Assyrians, and yes even the Israelites.
Am I wrong?
Yes.
Clinton got bashed back in his day. The reason it seems we bitch more about Bush than we did Clinton is because Bush is a big fuck-up.
Bush supporters get a little tetchy about criticism of this administration, forgetting that all administrations are taken to task when watchful (and slightly paranoid) people catch them with their hands inside the cookie jar of liberty. The Bush administration just happens to be raiding it a lot more than previous administrations, and a lot more blatantly.
As has been pointed out by others, this story is potentially misleading. I'd write that off to many of us being a bit jumpy around Bush. When the school bully tends to walk up behind you and smack you on the head, you start jerking your head around at the oddest moments. It might look silly when the bully isn't behind you, but it might just save you a few headaches.
But, had Clinton tried doing this, he would have received much the same treatment.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
This is simply unbelievable. This guy goes around claiming to spread "freedom" and instead he has been fighting our freedom since he took office. How about all the "democracy" he spreading throughout the world? Are Diebold and his rigged elections part of it? You can only hope that we are seeing true democracy when the next elections come around and get our true freedom and liberties back.
He's sure made my ExxonMobile stock shoot up though!!!!
Fuck. This guy is really a *****. Wharever he doesn't understand is bad. Global politics. Bad. Books. Bad. Or so it seems.
Suddenly I vividly remember the bookburnings from my historybook. Is there really no way to get rid of this ***
So how amny libraries of Congress is that?
Around 30 Volkswagens.
I'm sure "SlashdotMedia" will improve on all the wonders that Dice Holdings blessed us all with
So I get flamed down for a bit of satire, this is why this site sucks. Everybody is afraid to post anything that goes against the /. groupthink. Resulting in a number of typical, non-thinking posts.
I'm one of those "libs." Actually, more socially libertarian and fiscally somewhat liberal. We need to *get the hell out of Iraq*, stop involvement in the Middle East (which is a lost cause IMHO) and concentrate on our own New Deal. Massive government subsidies for energy conservation, clean energy production, environmental, space, and automation research are in order. We need to reduce our dependence on countries that are poorer than us and have laxer environmental laws for manufacturing while maintaining our high standard of living. This can only be done through automation of manufacturing so that high-value workers can produce more. The environmental stuff is self-explanatory. First, it'll reduce our dependence on foreign oil, which has been one of the driving forces of our worst foreign policy decisions over the last 30 years. Secondly, there's a very high liklihood - I'd call it a certainty - that global warming is real. Enough said.
Why space? Humankind needs breathing room - somewhere for the born adventurers to go and explore. In addition, the Earth won't last forever, and humankind should continue on even in the case of the worst happening.
Cheers,
-b.
-b.
Shit rolls down hill.
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
...the way I think it will play out is that the libraries will close about a year before all of the content is available online, and when it is available online, it will just seem like there are fewer articles than there were before, but nobody will be able to prove it since noone actually counts these things, and the library will be long gone, its contents buried in some archive (aka landfill) somewhere.
I agree completely. Even if they don't censor any information this time, they're certainly setting a very nice precedent to do exactly this for any other library any future government finds "too expensive" to maintain. Note that omission is not the worst problem; consider the subtle (or perhaps not so subtle) manipulation of facts while scanning historical documents of record. Don't forget that there's perfectly plausible deniability if they're ever caught; the populace will easily buy the excuse that it was merely a clerical error or yet another technology foul-up. Plus further changes can be made easily, at any time in the future; swift or slowly to suit the needs at the time, with little or no accountability.
Burning books is far too extreme to be palatable any more, but there are many inventive ways to achieve the same gaols. Total control of the information, especially in electronic form, serves the same purpose with much greater efficiency and impact.
> at EPA regional libraries
Uhhh, our government is wasting money paying for "EPA regional libraries?!?!?" FTW!
Get rid of it all, and take the National Endowment for the Arts with you.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Let's see. The "War on Terror" has cost about US$430,000,000,000 so far over the last 5 years. This figure only takes into account the US investment, and does not include the cost to Iraq.
So, let's assume that money has been evenly spent over the last five years (it hasn't, as the first year or so were taken up by fabricating a reason to go into Iraq, and operations in Afghanistan, which had been hiding bin Laden, have always been secondary). So, that gives us a per-minute estimated cost of:
430,000,000 / ( 5 * 365 * 24 * 60 ) = 163622.526636225 or so.
So, US$2,000,000 would give us about 12.2 minutes.
That's an interesting way to break down the cost of the "War on Terror."
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
"The pictures of deformed babies is almost unbearable, and the evidence overwhelming. Just how little of this is getting reported in the normal news is probably most shocking."
Probably cause its a bunch of paranoid BS. Some guy makes a michal moore-esqe conspiracy video and you think the "evidence" is overwhelming? Here's a hint dont EAT the depleted uranium and you'll be just fine.
If its stupid but it works, its not stupid.
Glad to help.
PS if you want my take on this, the opposition would be saying "He's spending 8 billion then destroying the evidence of what the 8 billion bought".
We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge... and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals.
And when you gaze long enough into the code, the code will also gaze into you.
there are so many anti-bush lies in this thread (and even in the linked to articles), it isn't even worth even starting to deal with.
I know, I know, RTFA, but the point is that you can always tell a heavily biased article/news-bit by the sheer lack of an attempt to explain any motivation besides citing "evil."
Those of us jaded by this Presidency might see the motivation immediately: Bush has been "pro-science" only inasmuch as it supports his policies. When inconveniences like global warming or evolutionary research pop up, this administration has been quick to ignore, deride, obscure, or cut funding to the inconvenient research.
However, it looks like this article might be a bit... misleading. The problem is, the summary seems right in line with things Bush has already done, so I wasn't surprised one bit.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
It's clearly hard to see with your head so far in the sand, but how do you eat and breathe?
Watch the movie or search the internet, then make a decision. You're liable to throw something out if you keep up those knee-jerk reactions.
Lose Weight and Feel Great with Isagenix
Ingredients: 1 Potato, 1 Pat of butter.
You place the butter in the middle of the potato. Lots of butter on that one spot, but wouldnt you prefer to spread butter all over? Try it, and find that one spot now has a lot less butter than it used to.
Everyone knows butter doesnt just spontaneously appear, if you want to spread something to another area, you need to reduce it in some other area!
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
We need to *get the hell out of Iraq*, stop involvement in the Middle East (which is a lost cause IMHO)
We need to go to wherever the terrorists are. If they're in the middle east, we need to be in the Middle East. If they're else where, we should move elsewhere. But we also need to do some all-out attacks, instead of this bullsh!t, drop flyers and warn everybody before we raid crap. Go in, blow them up, leave them aw-struck, and get out. Think about it this way. You inherited your own island. You get to make up all the laws and everything about your new country. Somebody comes in and blows up half your island, and there are more that threaten to do the same. What's the first thing you do? Seal up your boundaries. Even after you seal up your boundaries, they continue to infiltrate and threaten your people. What's the next thing you do? Go on the offensive, and make sure they have second thoughts about attacking your island.
Massive government subsidies for energy conservation, clean energy production, environmental, space, and automation research are in order.
Naw, top priority is we need to spend money on the Borders (north & south), to clamp them off. We need to also spend good money on local law enforcement and then on the military too. Innovators can still innovate even if millions of dollars aren't being tossed in their laps. That's when they become most creative is when they're facing a challenge anyways, isn't it? Throw extra abundances of money on them and they'll just misuse it, similar to every other large group. I won't even go into how New Orleans has wasted millions of dollars already, and still nothing.
We need to reduce our dependence on countries that are poorer than us
We definitely agree on this. Ethanol is a start (for the oil problem), and I think we should put more money towards this and other alternative energy sources and research too.
there's a very high liklihood - I'd call it a certainty - that global warming is real. Enough said.
The biggest BS story of modern man. I think that the novel my Michael Chricton, called State of Fear, draws a swell comparison to what's happening in the real world today. Sure, everybody will agree that Environmental protection, reduced emissions, etc. are good for the world. But there are many many things that should have higher priority over it, like our Safety from those trying to kill us. Like keeping prices down so consumers can purchase and the economy isn't crumpled. Take it in smaller steps instead of asking for the entire pie right away, and I bet you that sooner or later you'll get your environment restrictions.
p.s. Please don't mode this down just for the opinions, just read it and agree with it or don't, comment or don't, ignore it or don't. Thanks.
Carter created a cabinet level Department of Education which has since quite aggressivly reduced public school education quality through poor programs and inferior regulatory statutes.
How on earth do things like this get posted? The first link is to an "op-ed" site that is so obviously anti-Bush that it defies credibility. The article itself is a hysterical mish-mash of fact(?) and opinion that exists only to throw around needlessly inflammatory catchphrases. "Orwellian?" Check. Reference to "Fahrenheit 451?" Check. "Who could have ever envisioned that Ray Bradbury's vicious, futuristic, dystopian society would ever come to fruition; but it may indeed have done just that!" Yeah, it MAY have! Or maybe not... Dude, chill out.
At least the link from PEER is more factual. And of course the facts aren't all that exciting, at least compared with visions of vicious, dystopian futures:
1. Nowhere is George Bush mentioned.2. PEER seems to be mainly concerned with being able to use a library "to locate [...] information and have it produced to a court house in a timely manner." No impression is given that, as a result of these budget cuts, access to all important materials is going to be forever lost. It just sounds like it might be a bit harder to get it in certain cases, hence their concern.
3. The summary of this story makes it sound like this is a grave issue for members of the general public, and said public's access to information of general utility will be severely curtailed in the near future. However, the PEER summary clearly states in its headline: "Prosecutions [of polluters] at Risk from Loss of Timely Access to Key Documents." That is, the usefulness of this information is limited in scope to certain legal proceedings. Of course these cases are very important, but it's not like the libraries that you and I visit all the time are closing their doors.
I know I'm going up against a bunch of knee-jerk leftists here (wow, look at some of these comments!), but I had to at least try and appeal to reason. Slashdot, please stick with tech and science news. If you're going to delve into politics would it be possible to at least provide the most basic quality control to stories that get posted? This story isn't inherently biased, but the way it was presented is just appalling.
It's Godwin's cousin, only about 1984 instead of Nazis?
While this is obviously a bad thing for science and public education, any similarity to 1984 is sketchy at best.
120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
Not only babies, but aborted babies!
"In a move that has been termed 'positively Orwellian' by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Executive Director Jeff Ruch, George W. Bush is ending public access to research materials at EPA regional libraries without Congressional consent."
If you voted for Bush, this is your fault.
God is real unless declared integer
Nope, first isolate the terrorists (yes, folks, that includes a lot of Israelis too) by non-interference in the Middle East. Granted, I wouldn't want Israelis getting killed due to Israel being overrun, so let any Israeli who wishes to immigrate to the US in the next 10 years do so.
Increased border security and screening of *legal* entrants to the US: I agree with you 100%. This is the only way to avoid having draconian laws that reduce freedoms within the United States *themselves*.
If after taking all of those steps, another terrorist attack still happens - I say: go get 'em. But be creative about it - don't use a massive quantity of ground troops. Use bombing or covert assassination techniques to kill those people.
We definitely agree on this. Ethanol is a start (for the oil problem), and I think we should put more money towards this and other alternative energy sources and research too.
Ethanol is only a good solution if it's produced from waste products like corn cobs. Otherwise, the growing of the crops required to produce it will take more energy (and cause environmental damage through fertilizers and other chemicals) than you'll get out in the end. Nuclear, wind, hydro and solar, combined with plug-in hybrid or fuel-cell cars and a coast-to-coast electrified rail network for freight and medium-distance passenger transportation is the answer.
Sure, everybody will agree that Environmental protection, reduced emissions, etc. are good for the world. But there are many many things that should have higher priority over it, like our Safety from those trying to kill us.
Terrorism - domestic and otherwise - has killed no more than 3,000 Americans in the past decade. Compare that to more than 100,000 deaths by misadventure and accident in the US alone, and it's a drop in the bucket. Also keep in mind that Hurrican Katrina, which many scientists do think was a pruduct of environmental degradation, killed 2,000 people. If we start having storms like that annually, it'll make the WTC attack seem like no big deal.
-b.
Why does /. accept articles from AC's anyways? At least be bold enough to stand up and tell us you're anti-bush!
Has any other US president ever done as much damage to the US as Bush has?
This is yet another example of Bush's war against science.
FalconShould there be a Law?
Everybody is afraid to post anything that goes against the /. groupthink.
/. groupthink crap too. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're wrong, but at least they should take their own advice and give others a chance to speak out before being trolled to death! Such hypocrites.
I am not afraid! And you should not be either! karma is so trivial that you should feel free to post whatever you want, gain your karma back by the next day, and post again! I hate that
I think he did it, and for crying out loud, if you can't get laid there, where can you? But so what? Of all the things that you can tar a president for, that is the least of all worries I can think of. Several thousand people haven't died due to that presidents decision to get a little in the oval office. (Possibly for other reasons, I don't let Clinton off any hooks easily,) but the original point was about whether and how the press treats the two presidents differently, not what they really did.
My point in using the word accused is that given the niceties of the current press corp, you would have to stick to what is legal and non-libelous, while still pressing the point, hence using the word 'accused' to convict in the public forum. Clinton was acquitted, hence the qualifier.
-- it's ridiculous how many people misspell ridiculous... (damn, damn, damn...)
- Embargo of Iraq
- UN Weapons Inspectors
- Upon withdrawal of UN Weapons Inspectors, bombed suspected weapons sites (in conjunction with British forces). See "Operation Desert Fox".
Why would someone think Clinton did nothing to answer Saddam Hussein?It's EPA bureaucrats saying "Look what you made us do!"
Who knew the EPA could be so emo?
Carter has done far more for the US after his presidency than he ever did for the country while in office.
Nixon did more after leaving office too, and both Bush Sr and Clinton seem to be busy too with relief efforts. Who would of thought Bush Sr and Clinton would work together?
FalconShould there be a Law?
Every economist worth their salt will tell you that soaring debt is the sign of a great economy. Debt is good, because it means we're spending like crazy and our kids will pay for it and not us.
Carter refused to nuke the Middle East by Gawd and he even suggested we go all flowery and stop being so dependent on oil and stuff.
Now excuse me while I gas up my 20 foot long stretch SUV, yeehaw!!!
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
that's brilliantly put. I agree governmental reform is overdue. I just wish I thought it actually might. Maybe I'll see you in New Hampshire.
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm
What you will see is an exodus of people with-a-brain from the US as soon as it becomes a "acknowledge" dictatorship.
WARNING: Run while you can! Time is running out!!!
How does this system of libraries compare to the federal depository libraries? Many major university libraries get copies of federal documents...would they continue to do so? Or does that library system have nothing to do with documents produced by the EPA?
Okay, if Clinton did exactly this, Clinton would be bashed just as badly. However, Clinton would not have executed this shut down in the same way. Yes I am a Democrat and hell I liked Clinton as a president. Clinton would have had someone create a much more intelligent execution plan.
It's been discussed here that the article is inflamatory but it's also been discussed that there are problems with the over all plan. The materials will be boxed up, and available on interlibrary loan, and not all of the material have been scanned to be available on line. That means some material will only be available on inter-library loan, and that could cause massive delays as it takes someone to have to go through the boxes and find it.
What it amounts to is "Hi! Were shutting down the libraries. How do you get this stuff? Oh well eventually it will be online, someday, but you can get it via interlibrary loan, too... eventually."
Whether or not it's deliberate, it slows down the process these organizations use to file complaints with the EPA significantly. And because it's Bush, and because he's stonewalled people and organizations before, I have a strong feeling it's all deliberate.
Clinton would have had someone in place that made sure the materials were all properly scanned and online FIRST, then closed the library down.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
When you are a world leader, you are supposed to lead; if you aren't capable of handling the existing situation, please don't run for office. With the cold war, Watergate scandal, oil crisis, and post-Vietnam situation, those were difficult times, it's true. But Carter managed to make it worse by his weakness.
His one great achievement was the signing of the Camp David agreement between Israel and Egypt, but why couldn't he have followed it with other diplomatic accomplishments? It was while he was in office that the civil war in Lebanon began, the Iranian Islamic revolution happened, and Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was arming at such a rate that most experts predicted they would be able to invade Western Europe around 1985.
If you think about it, a US president who inherited a messy situation was Nixon. Vietnam was the biggest blunder in US history, Nixon (and Kissinger) had to accept some very bad compromises to get out. The political defeat caused by the impossible military situation presented an image of weakness, which the Soviet Union used to create the largest expansion of communism after the 1945-1950 era. The "domino theory" used to justify the intervention in Vietnam proved true, since not only the neighboring countries, Cambodia and Laos, fell to communist dictatorships, but distant countries such as Angola, Mozambique, and Ethiopia as well.
Presidents such as Ford and Carter, like Daladier and Chamberlain, show how much damage can be done by leaders who may be well-intentioned, but are weak and ineffective when confronted by determined dictators. The same thing can be said of Bush Sr. too, had he done the right thing and taken Saddam out in 1991, the world would be a different place today.
Carter left us with not only a damaged economy, but damaged military and failed Middle East policy.
Carter left with a failed Middle East policy? HAHA! Not one president has been able to bring peace to the region since he was president. At least Carter brought peace between Egypt and Israel. He was able to get them together and have them sign an agreement. And there's been peace between Israel and Jordan as well. I think it was Queen Nora, though she's Jordan's queen she is an American, who said the only reason Jordan would ever go to war with Israel would be because of water.
And perhaps Clinton could be accused of being distracted from foreign affairs, having become preoccupied with his own?
How about that Wag the Dog trick CLinton used?
FalconShould there be a Law?
Furthermore, I recall the debates between Reagan and Carter, the whole thing about Reagan's team obtaining Carter's notes. Carter took a beating during that debate as I recall, he was facing a professional actor with prior access to all his notes.
But what really got me, was how the Republican party seemed to almost gloat about it. Say what you will about Carter's presidency, but he was an honest, decent man - maybe the only president in my memory that I truly admired. Certainly, he is the best ex-president we've ever had. This, coupled with the Republican's un-apologetic behaviour in the matter would taint my opinion of the GOP for many years.
Today, the parties aren't the same as they used to be, but this event probably has a lot to do with why I am an independant even today.
A goal is a dream with a deadline
Nope, first isolate the terrorists (yes, folks, that includes a lot of Israelis too) by non-interference in the Middle East.
I think we're very close to agreeing on this topic. I just don't think we can completely ignore them for 10 years, until they've been isolated. They'll strike again before that, and if Iran or North Korea have any involvement, it'll be a much bigger disaster than 9/11.
Increased border security and screening of *legal* entrants to the US
We're on the same page in this topic.
But be creative about it - don't use a massive quantity of ground troops. Use bombing or covert assassination techniques to kill those people.
We totally agree. I hate the idea of massive ground troups. Hate it, hate it. Air raids and other techniques should be used. Totally agree.
Nuclear, wind, hydro and solar, combined with plug-in hybrid or fuel-cell cars and a coast-to-coast electrified rail network for freight and medium-distance passenger transportation is the answer.
Agree. As I said above, Ethanol is a good solution for now, until we can get all these other wonderful tools to work effectively and efficiently.
Hurrican Katrina, which many scientists do think was a pruduct of environmental degradation
Sorry, but it's just frustrating when a whirl-wind effect ends up pointing the blame of a natural disaster back on the U.S. and modern civilization. We did not cause this hurricane, nor any other hurricane. The forces that cause earth's whether are too powerful to be effected, especially in such a short time, by our moderization. Seriously, if you have time, read the State of Fear by Crichton, just for fun. I'm not relying on it for facts, and I'm just saying it's a good read for this topic.
And one last thing. It's really frustrating to hear comparisons of 9/11 to other non-related things. All you're doing is trying to forget what happened. You're blinding yourselves. Certainly you agree that 3,000 lives are a lot, but essentially what you're saying above is that it was no big deal, because more people die in accidents. That's stupid. And who's to say that the next attack won't kill more? Is 10,000 enough to care? Or do you need 20,000? An entire city? When will you think it's something we should focus on?
Summary:
We agree on so much, and I believe that if all people from both sides of the fence, libs and conservatives, sat down, we'd find out we agree on more than we think. And we need to put aside this 2 party crap and implement some of the things we agree upon.
He wasn't really the first one to ignore it, but he made the idea that the constitution is "just a goddamned piece of paper!" popular.
I read up on this idea of depleted uranium causing problems in the initial article here on slashdot (maybe wired). There is no study that finds the depleted uranium to be linked to any problems. The studies found that you are exposed to more radiation under power lines. Like the initial poster said.. don't eat it and you will be ok. Only problem they found was if you breath it in but in the same way if you breathed in aluminum dust or any other metal dust for that matter.
I'll second that (and give even more reason to be modded-down: a "me too" post!)
/. article qualifying as flamebait (especially including the very first post, which looks to have a near record number of replies -- all of the same ilk) is the article itself qualifying (hands down, don't anybody bother arguing 'cause you know it's true and you'll just look silly if you argue the point) as flamebait. "An anonymous reader writes" as a tag line should be reserved for "it's obviously a joke, laugh and go on" articles (which I happen to enjoy quite a bit, FWIW) but definitely not for "serious" articles. "News for nerds, stuff that matters" indeed. By putting a "spin" on the news, we're tacitly being told we're too stupid to be handed "just the facts, ma'am" and digest them for ourselves (and after scanning the posts up to now, they may have a point...)
What disturbs me more than 90% of the posts to a
Sick of it? Darn tootin'!
This space intentionally left (almost) blank.
There is more technical information available in many libraries than ever before. The move to close these libraries is a cost cutting move alone. To call it Orwellian is ridiculous. I would venture a guess that more people make use of other resources that compete for the same money.
The Bush bashing is getting tiresome. Every president has made some decisions that are unpopular. If we saw government constantly grow without some cutbacks the eventual weight of the government would be more than we can handle. Consider the political motives the source of this information has for being SOOO alarmist.
If you ask me the rhetoric is too thick on both sides. Boil this one down to the faces. . .
Technical Library = Generally expensive to run
Technical Library = Very few users
Technical Library = Very narrow in scope intentionally
Maybe environmental Technical Libraries are best funded by state and other money and not federal. Not only are these libraries expensive by nature but they do not benefit any significant portion of the population and are not in every state. I have no interest in paying for these. So to say this is Bush damaging the nation is only one side of this coin. Maybe it is Bush protecting the interests of those who do not want to be taxed into submission to provide money for Technical Libraries they do not and will not benefit from.
Just consider the very narrow scope of these libraries, consider where other libraries have to get funding and consider whether you would rather see the funding come from somewhere else? Then think about how you would (as president) solve the same problem. It is likely you would cut funding because asking for money from somewhere else cloearly will not work because the people who are complaining about this sure are not going to step up and keep these libraries open!
Gosh, you retards never learn do you? Regular 20th century army doesn't work against gerilla type. You saw it in Vietnam, you proved it in Iraq/2 and Israel confirmed it against Hezbollah. Doesn't work, never did, and won't ever. The only way to win that way would be to make a glass crater out of the whole zone, and even Bush's not stupid enough to do that (yet).
USA live and strive on immigration, USA is immigration. Even if you could somehow close your borders (and you can't), the only thing it would do is haste the death of your country.
WTF? You want to spend MORE money on the military? Christ almighty, you're one hell of an idiot.
That would be your current govt right? Last time I checked, they managed to nearly kill more americans in their "war against terror" than the WTC corpse count, they radically changed the american lifestyle, clamping on everything from freedom (think of your airports) to knowledge (think of your libraries), they managed to make a frigging joke out of the whole army, and they managed to have pretty much every nation under the sun hate the USA.
In that little zone called reality, there are facts proving that global warming is indeed real, such as the glaciers' extremely and increasingly fast shrinking.
"The way we can tell it's C# instead of Haskell is because it's nine lines instead of two." -- wadler
First Bush stole the elections... twice. Next he steered Katrina right into New Orleans and blew up the levies to flood the black parts of town. Now to complete his evil hat trick, Chimpy McSatan is closing down all the libraries!! I am IN SHOCK of this man's evil doing. There is no other explanation for his actions other than BUSH IS THE DEVIL.
Wow, this move is positively Orwellian. It reminds me of the part in 1984 where Big Brother shut down MiniTru (Ministry of Truth). MiniTru had this great collection of records on the citizens, but Big Brother destroyed them all, after running on a platform of "Big Brother is Watching You". What a hypocrite.
Actually, there's nothing Orwellian about it. A government cuts some funding, and an employee organization issues a press release criticizing the cut.
I hope it's obvious that just reading a press release tells us nothing about the merits of the case. Any government spending can be attacked as wasteful, or defended as essential.
He should have gone off to hide at Camp David and play golf like Dubya did after 9/11.
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
This is exactly why research should be independent of the US government.
No more Political BS, No more Government restrictions, No more Congressional BS laws restricting the free speech rights of others and research that can lead to true cures for aliments.
I can find dozens of blogs and opinion pieces dating back to around March or so on this, but nothing from a traditional news source
...
I would like to read an objectively written fact based story behind this and not just a lot of reactionary Bush bashing.
That's just the problem. This story is (a) not "sexy", and (b) not directly in conflict with the interests of Time/Warner, Murdoch, etc.
This is how the Bush administration has gotten away with so much. By slowly undercutting seemingly trivial programs, they've changed significantly the political environment. It's much harder for corporations or government agencies to be taken to task for the things they do to hurt the public. It's like the boiling frog analogy, but the neo-conservatives have figured out how to boil targeted vital organs with no need for a pot full of water.
Carter didn't inherit the Iranian hostage fiasco from anyone.
I suppose you'd rather he have appeased the terrorists with weapons. Why, they'd put you on the ten-dollar bill for that, I'd bet.
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
And of course, if they miss scanning a few documents here and there.... well who would know?
Seems to me that Clinton (and even Bush Senior) realized, as any qued in politico realized, that there was no good way to get rid of Saddam. Iraq has aways been a tangled ball of string. Bush junior thought he could untangle it, and so now we're all wrapped up in this mess.
It was Reagan and Bush Sr who supported Saddam while he was using chemical weapons, not just against Iran but also against the Kurds, March Arabs, and others in Iraq. Saddam couldn't do any wrong according to Reagan and Bush Sr until he invaded Kuwait.
FalconShould there be a Law?
Bush would claim he was told to let the fornicators, drunkards and sinners of New Orleans drown.
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
The Big News Page
In that little zone called reality, there are facts proving that global warming is indeed real, such as the glaciers' extremely and increasingly fast shrinking.
For the fear of getting modded down, I won't call you names, and I won't start an argument. Just tell me a couple things though
- how much of a global warming temperature change are we talking? tenths of a degree, right?
- how accurate were the temperature readings dating back to anything more than 100 or so years ago?
- more over, you would agree probably that the good ol americans have the best technology, so tell me, how accurate are the temperatures even 50+ years ago in anywhere around the world besides the U.S.?
- just like opinion polls, there is a plus/minus level of accuracy even from reading the "ice" in antartica to determine earth's previous temperatures, so how do we know the - there are many places around the world that show a cooling trend, is perhaps earth balancing itself?
- there are many places around the world where the ocean levels have lowered, is perhaps the earth balancing itself?
I defintely agree that environmental protection is a good thing, but I think it's also a stretch to jump out and say if we don't reduce everything immediately within the next few years, we're all gonna burn!
Yes, President Carter. Double-didgit inflation, taxes so high that they broke the econom, etc.
I remember this period well.
Note that legally there is not much effective that a President himself can do about inflation, as the most critical factor involved is the money supply, which is controlled by the Federal Reserve. In addition, the economy was still reeling from the impact of high energy prices on entrenched energy inefficiencies. The result was stagflation: a brutal combination of economic stagnation and inflation.
There's not much you can do to make an economy energy efficient overnight, but what Carter did about this was appoint Paul Volcker as Fed chairman, who proceeded to change the one variable that could be changed quickly: the money supply. Volcker who took office in August of 1979, proceeded to attack inflatoin vigorously, at tremendous political cost to Carter.
Check out these graphs: prime rate, Consumer Price Index, and unemployment.
This is the story they tell. Roughly in the middle of his term, Carter hires Paul Volcker as Fed Chairman, with the job of stopping inflation. Volcker starts the cut off the money supply in order to break the back of inflation. Immediately, the rate of inflation starts to drop, economic growth stalls, and unemployment begins to rise.
Right around the time of the 1980 election, the prime rate is approaching it's historical high of 21.5. This continues to strangle economic growth and drive rising unemployement.
But inflation IS responding to Volcker's shock treatment. Carter gets no political boost from this, becuase he's only succeeded thus far to change the second derivative of prices. Which is to say that prices aren't dropping, they are continuing to rise at historically high rates. But the inflation rate is moving rapidly in the right direction, something that is only apparent when looking at data graphs, not when you go to purchase a quart of milk. What ordinary people see is high prices that continue to increase at a high rate, reduced economic growth, and decreased job security. This experience of economic insecurity creates a new class of voters: the Reagan Democrat. Ronald Reagan successfully argues that Carter has mismanaged the economy, and the voters buy it because everywhere they look, they see pain.
In the first half of Reagan's term, far too early for his economic policies to have had such a dramatic effect, inflation returns to its approximate historical average. Immediately the Fed release their death grip on interest rates, and economic growth ensues. Unemployment continues to rise for a short time as weak companies shed workers, but overall in the context of an economy poised to resume growth, this is a good thing.
Unemployment hits its peak in 1983. By this time, Reagan's fiscal policies are having an effect as well. The biggest thing he can influence strongly is federal spending, and he has embarked on a program of unusually high levels of peacetime deficit spending. Wikipedia does not have a nice graph but you can look it up from the CBO: The last Ford budget had a deficit of 4.1%; Carter's budgets had deficits of 2.7,2.7, 1.6, 2.7 and 2.5%. Reagan's first term budgets had deficits of 3.7, 5.6, 4.7, and 5.1%. An economy is primed for rapid growth responds rapidly to the stimulative effects of federal spending unchecked by offsetting taxes. When the 1984 election rolls around, Reagan looks like an economic genius: inflation under control, economic growth back on track, unemployment rapidly dropping.
Carter of course looks like an economic idiot even though arguably Carter's fiscal restraint and Volcker's severe anti-inflation policies made the strong recover of the 80s possible. Reagan's spending policies would have be
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Technically
We've had Reagan talk about "The War on Drugs" and Bush talk about "The War on Terror" and the media LOVES to talk about "The War in Iraq", but none of these are "Wars"
In some ways I think his current actions with the libraries and Iraq are good examples of Bush's presidency. Using Executive action and Executive order to create sweeping changes in the way things are done.
The framers of the Constitution wanted the ability for centralized control in times of crisis (instead of relying on congress to do anything rapidly), but feared centralizing too much power. Bush has been running roughshod over the Checks and Balances that are supposed to be in place to govern these sort of actions, when there ISN'T a crisis (and not every day after 9/11 is a crisis).
This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
Who said anything about clamping down on *legal* immigration. We need to clamp down on *illegal* uncontrolled immigration and be much more careful about whom we let into this country legally. If someone is bent on destroying our civilization, we should find that out before we let them into the US, and keep them the hell out. The thousands of immigrants who want a better life for themselves and their families; who start businesses that help the economy, etc; they can come and stay. We just need to keep the other kind out!
-b.
Lets add a little more detail to clear things up a bit:
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
What they got in return might not be so wonderful, but it was their choice.
What happened after the revolution in Iran is a good example of why the Second Amendment's right to bear arms is essential for freedom. While the Shah regime was corrupt and oppressive Iranians were allowed to own firearms. After the revolution, to disarm the populace the mullahs guaranteed enough food for a month for a family of four for every weapon turned in. Once the populace was disarmed the mullahs cracked down and started persecutions.
FalconShould there be a Law?
I've been wondering why New Orleans isn't calling for the Administration's head on a platter, now I know. Wow, that's brilliant. This is precicely why modern governments can't be overthrown.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
bush is a cunt, plain and simple
just like all those fat stupid americans who voted for him
you reap what you sow
What in the heck business does the United States government have with research libraries for crying out loud?! This is all the fault of the Bush Administration, as is Hurricane Katrina. No, not the results of the hurricane, the hurricane itself. That's right. Bush is in office, so the hurricane, which would otherwise be an act of God if we had any other president, is Bush's fault. After all, the hurricane took place on Bush's watch. He should have personally gone to the ocean, held up his hand, and yelled, "Halt!" But he didn't do that, so the hurricane was his fault. You know what? I'm also having a headache right now. And since it's happening on Bush's watch, that's his fault, too.
Lots of butter on that one spot, but wouldnt you prefer to spread butter all over? Try it, and find that one spot now has a lot less butter than it used to. Everyone knows butter doesnt just spontaneously appear, if you want to spread something to another area, you need to reduce it in some other area!
Simple math, add more butter!
In America, butter spreads you.
Much to my surprise, most Americans don't equate Iran Contra with the hostage crisis even though they are one in the same. President Elect Ron Reagan should shoulder a significant amount of the blame for the length of the hostage crisis.
After being elected in November, he opened back channel negotiations with the Ayatollah. The gist is Reagan offered to supply Iran with arms on the condition that Iran held our hostages until he took the oath. That's two months those innocent people had to live in captivity so Reagan could score political points.
The only justice in the whole thing is that Reagan is forever stained by Iran-Contra. That's little consolation to the hostages, I'm sure, but it's something.
Carter worked tirelessly in the months before leaving office to secure their release. There was little he could do outside of ordering an invasion of Iran. I think we can agree that would not have been a good thing.
Carter didn't inherit the Iranian hostage fiasco from anyone. And his efforts were unfotunate.
It's clear that you're repeating somebody's talking points. Carter negotiated, and secured, the release of the hostages. That it happened right when Reagan took office was down to how it played out.
O lord, bless this thy holy hand grenade, that with it thou mayest blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.
The underlying theme of the Bush presidency is this: Accountability gets in the way of leader's effectiveness. You can see this pretty much from day one, in the way Cheney formulated energy policy, in the response to 9/11, in the Iraq war, and in the Katrina response.
To be sure accountability often makes vigorous action more difficult. And often this is a very, very good thing.
I've seen this philosophy of management in the private sector, and I'll take transparency and accountability, with reasonable stipulations of course, any day of the week. The idea that a leader must be free from restraint is, in my experience, the philosophy of bluster and moral cowardice; of managing information rather than results.
This is a president who did not veto one bill in five until the stem cell bill. How is this possible, even with a Republican controlled legislature, that he does not disagree with any buill passed in all those years? Carter vetoed bills from a Democratic congress, as did Johnson, Kennedy, Truman, and Clinton when he had a Democratic legislature. It bespeaks cowardice. Instead he uses the signing statement, an instrument that has legitimate constitutional uses, but not as a way of escaping responsibilty for enforcing laws you are too timid to veto.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
I'm reading these articles, and the only occurrance of the word "Bush" is in a deragatory comment. This looks like it is something the EPA is doing, but the articles are too inflammatory to explain why they are doing it. I've never heard of these libraries, so I don't know who has access to them or what is in them or what the real impact is. Was the problem that these were not used by anyone? Or is the information redundant and out-of-date? Is it already in other libraries? The article doesn't even bother to answer the who/what/where/why/when so it is impossible to make a judgement.
This reminds me of a chain-email I got a few months ago about how George Bush Senior was working with some company to try and strip-mine some place in Brazil. I was enraged - then I read the article and realized it isn't a strip-mine, it doesn't involve George Bush, and it isn't an American company, and that the local supported the effort. I don't know if this is a competitor trying to start fake grassroots efforts by using anti-Bush sentiment, or if it is political enemies, or if there is something real happening here.
http://www.archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmare s
r es/chapter1_256kb.mp4 r es/chapter2_256kb.mp4 r es/chapter3_256kb.mp4
Chapter 1: http://www.archive.org/download/ThePowerOfNightma
Chapter 2: http://www.archive.org/download/ThePowerOfNightma
Chapter 3: http://www.archive.org/download/ThePowerOfNightma
Is this documentary biased? Probably some. But it still shows some interesting facts and makes a logical arguement for why Bush acts like Bush.
And this is why, folks, we need Google Book Search. At least then they could search to find out there's a book they should have had access to.
So, I'd go with the following amendments:
I, IV, V, VI, IX, X, XV
I'm still holding my breath on XXII.
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
The writer of the article states in his bio that he's a democratic party operative and advances the agenda of the Democratic party. He's not a reporter, he's a political operative who's spin is always going to be anti-Bush. The whole premise, the whole title and anything presented as fact in the article is completely suspect.
Getting vaguely back on topic, the US federal government has imposed an anti-R&D approach for decades.
Ask anyone in the US trying to do medical cannabis research if they've had any luck obtaining research materials, permits, or approval to do useful studies. In the meantime, the federal government denies the validity of all "foreign" research in Canada, the UK, Israel, Australia, etc.
What was the purpose of the IBM breakup a few decades ago, if not to stop a company from leveraging their own investment in R&D to continue growing their business? In theory it was because IBM had grown to a near monopoly, yet no action is taken against Microsoft when they are far closer to a monopoly than IBM ever was. Obviously market dominance was not the reason for the breakup.
Pharmaceutical research is often forced offshore because US regulations don't permit the kind of testing that would be needed to determine the efficacy of some drugs. Plus that means the US government and US pharmacorps don't have the embarassment of another national Thalidomide debacle -- future mistakes will be kept out of sight in foreign nations.
Bottom line is the US government has done a great deal to ensure that true R&D doesn't happen, because what is a great new product/service line to the owner is a huge threat to the status quo that pays the lobbyists and thereby the government's members. R&D is profitable for new companies, but it's a loss for the ineffective and staid "competition" that cuts R&D budgets in favour of short-term profits to satisfy the stock market.
Therein lies the crux of the matter: The US corporations and federal government, or rather their management, will happily let anything crumble and die, provided they can turn a profit now.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
From Answers.com (via Wikipedia)
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
. So why, then, didn't Gore dump his family's large stock holdings in Occidental (Oxy) Petroleum? As executor of his family's trust, over the years Gore has controlled hundreds of thousands of dollars in Oxy stock. Oxy has been mired in controversy over oil drilling in ecologically sensitive areas.
While some who care about the environment would, and did, dump stocks in corporations like Oxy, there is something stockholders can do that others can't. Stockholders can put pressure on the corporations they own stock in to cleanup their act. This is one of ideas behind mutual funds, funds pool money from many people and invest in corporations. With stock in hand they have more clout with the board of directors and ask for changes in how the business operates. Now whether Gore does or did this I don't know but just because someone owns stock doesn't mean they aren't doing anything to clean up the environment or other sri issues.
FalconShould there be a Law?
Take a look,_ cheney/
http://money.cnn.com/2002/08/07/news/economy/bush
This was the *revised* numbers, he had them reestimated when it showed he plunged the economy into the ground.
I for one wish a better Republican had been elected.
Or do you not consider him an economist?
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
> Has any other US president ever done as much damage to the institution of science in the US as Bush has?
Ah, but if it doesn't back up your policies or religious opinions then it isn't real science.
The failure of the last WTO round is a clear example of the world not putting up with the US crap anymore;
While I don't like Bush's policies or how the WTO is going, it wasn't because of the US that the WTO meetings in Geneva fell apart. That properly lays at the EU's feet. The EU wouldn't talk about the massive subsidies it gives to Europian farmers which Brazil, India, and many countries demanded. The US put a plan to reduce it's subsidies, as massive as they are, on the table.
FalconShould there be a Law?
I was wondering when we would get our daily two-minute Bush-hate
What?
According to your article, the process started in 1999. Bush didn't take office until 2001. It had been going on for over a year by the time the Bush administration even took office.
Fly me to the moon Let me sing among those stars Let me see what spring is like On jupiter and mars
That's been the NEA's standard operation procedure for decades.
It's nice how people stop thinking for themselves and let our "free" media do the thinking for them.
That's part of what got us into the problems we have, while the Bush admin kept beating the war drums the press went along and people didn't demand that they ask where those wmds were or how Saddam got them or why Reagan and Bush Sr supported Saddam while he was using those wmds. Nor did they ask why if the Taliban were such bad guys then why did Bush give the Taliban millions of taxpayer dollars.
FalconShould there be a Law?
* I always vote [Democrat | Republican]
I never vote Democrat or Republican.
* [Ted Kennedy | George Bush] is like Hitler
Ted Kennedy and George Bush are like Hitler.
* The U.S. Government has absolutely no right to [be in Iraq | legislate gun control]
The U.S. government has absolutely no right to be in Iraq or legislate gun control.
* I don't understand how anyone can be [liberal | conservative]
I don't understand how anyone can allow themselves to be called liberal or conservative.
"For some reason extreme partisanship and polarisation has become an integral part of US culture"
1. The nature of our elections (see above on need for proportional voting) strongly inclines decision-making to a simple choice between two views.
2. Media theory: our sources of information and discourse do not profit from making peope informed -- they profit from making people *feel informed. This is accomplished much more efficiently by saying "the administration has _______; critics, however, say that ________" and moving on. In point of fact it would take multiple points of view and multiple assertion-response cycles to become even moderately informed on any political issue.
3. Frontier/Pioneer theory: perhaps Americans have a sort of Messiah complex, a feeling that they represent the good side in a civilization-versus-chaos struggle.
3A. One source for this: the (incorrect) perception that the original colonists landed in an uncivilized wilderness, a blank slate.
3B. The reason for (some of) the original colonists' departure from Europe: persecution, and determination to self-identify as they choose.
These combine to inculcate a sort of us-versus-them mentality. This complex might be traced back to the moment of
One question, though: is this really more of a problem in America than in other places? Partly this seems a result of normal human intellectual laziness -- it's easier to paint a person/issue "black" or "white" and get on with your life...
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
Cause everytime he flaps his ears, it causes massive world wide hurricanes!
Oh wait, that was butterflies, nevermind.
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling
This is the most insightful thing I've read today.
I was just reading this again yesterday...
This morning, as I was filling my swimming pool with gasoline, I was thinking "gosh, I guess it's kind of a bummer that 5 or 6 digits' worth of Iraqis and Americans have been killed over this, but that Uber-cheap oil sure makes that medicine go down..."
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
Ah, Zheng He's fleet. If the Pacific weren't so darn wide, maybe Columbus would have run into Chinese colonists when he reached the American shores, eh? But the dissolution of the treasure fleet was motivated largely by economics. The voyages didn't pay for themselves; they were funded by the sale of an enormous tract of land that the Mongols (the Yuan Dynasty) had turned into a park. When the land had finally all been sold, the federal budget shrank, and it ended up as a historical blip and not much more.
I'd consider Japan's isolationism policy, which lasted over two centuries, to be a more striking example.
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
sudo close the libraries.
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Here is a correction printed by USA Today for the article quoted above:
...The assertion by author Peter Schweizer that the Gores were swimming in Occidental stock is also off base. At Mr. Gore's request, all of his father's stock in Occidental (Oxy) Petroleum was sold almost six years ago as the estate was closed. So, although Mr. Gore has and will continue to call on his fellow Americans to do their part to combat global warming, he isn't asking of them what he isn't willing to do himself.
In a column that appeared Aug. 10 on the Forum Page, writer Peter Schweizer inaccurately stated that former vice president Al Gore receives royalties from a zinc mine on his property in Tennessee despite his environmental advocacy. He no longer does, as the mine was closed in 2003.
Also a spokeperson for Gore offered the following
Rather than vilifying a person who is trying to make a difference, wouldn't it be more fruitful for Schweizer to join the effort to solve the climate crisis?
Stop being mislead by misleaders, and don't believe everything you read.
I'd complain about habeas corpus, but anyone who can do so firsthand has been conveniently disappeared indefinitely. One could also mention the right of privacy guaranteed by the fourth amendment, and the President's illegal wiretapping program.
And while the rule of law isn't exactly a constitutional right, it's the basis on which our system of government is founded. If the President claims that he only needs to follow the law if he feels like it, I'd say that makes our system of laws meaningless. If you think that the most basic Constitutional right is to have your government actually work according to said Constitution, then there's that, too.
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Social Darwinist. Big difference, there. Darwinism is nearly meaningless as a social policy. Social Darwinism is an excuse for those in power.
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Don't think that a silly thing like the rule of law will save you. The President has made it quite clear that he's willing to do whatever he feels like, so long as he can find someone with "Esq." after their name to whisper an incantation in his ear that sounds legal enough. Hence the GP's inclusion of "signing statements".
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Let's break down the posting.
"In a move that has been termed 'positively Orwellian' by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Executive Director Jeff Ruch,
The post directly quotes and attributes the quote correctly. You might not like the piece it's quoting, but the post accurately represents it.
George W. Bush is ending public access to research materials at EPA regional libraries
His administration is doing so, not him. Being as Presidents do almost nothing personally--the bulk of their work is accomplished by staff and appointees--it's a little unreasonable to expect to trace every decision all the way back to him. As Eisenhower said, "The buck stops here." I would not call this totally inaccurate. Give it 1/4 accurate.
without Congressional consent.
The action is being taken prior to Congressional review of the EPA budget. Accurate.
This all-out effort to impede research and public access
The degree to which this is the intent is a matter of opinion. Certainly EPA would never admit this whether or not it were true.
However, there is simply no question as to whether this will impede research and public access. It will. It will now introduce a delay and review process to accessing information that did not previously exist. Rather than walking in and copying a document, a person would now have to wait either for an inter-library loan delivery, or a no-deadline-defined scanning process to complete. This delay substantially reduces the capability for quick-response litigation. And since I'm guessing you think I'm a "knee jerk leftist" now (since I disagreed with you), I'll point out that this also impedes the ability of businesses to quickly access research materials to fight EPA regulation changes, fines, or stays. The business community is just as interested in EPA transparency as the enviros are.
1/2 accurate.
is a [loosely] covert operation
Accurate--the import of this decision was gleaned from a leaked internal EPA memo, not a public communiction.
to close down 26 technical libraries
Accurate--this is the plan.
under the guise of budgetary constraint
Budgetary constraint is the reason given. The degree to which that is a guise is up for debate. 1/4 accurate
Scientists are protesting,
Accurate.
but at least 15 of the libraries will be closed by Sept. 30, 2006."
Accurate.
Of 9 assertions in the post, I scored it about a 7, so about 77% accurate.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
from what iv gathered its seems like bush didnt have much to do with this. There are plenty of other things to hate bush for, this doesnt sound like one of them.
Don't forget two things:
1) the Reagan administration had people pay to keep holding the hostages until after the election
2) elite desert units that were to run a rescue mission prior to the election somehow 'forgot' to put sand filters over the engine intakes of their choppers
That would be a cogent and valid point... if the "middle" could, by acquiring money (and where did you get that the same people trash-talk the rich as tell the middle class to mindlessly accrue wealth?) become rich. To put it in perspective, consider the top 1%, the truly rich, the "creamy layer", who had a quarter of the assets in this country in 1995. (I'll eat a lot of crow if that number's gone down since then, but let's say it's still that.)
Average income (the table breaks down the averages into two segments; I'm recombining them) is about $500k per year. Why, that's only a bit more than ten times what the median family makes; all we middle-class folk have to do is work ten times as hard!
Oh, wait, the assets average $6.8 million. So given that the median lifetime pre-tax income is about $1.8 million (wild guess there, $40k, working from 20 to 65)... hey, all we have to do is work for nearly four lifetimes without spending a cent. Eminently reachable! I have a hard time seeing the difference between the rich and the middle class sometimes myself!
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Presidents such as Ford and Carter, like Daladier and Chamberlain, show how much damage can be done by leaders who may be well-intentioned, but are weak and ineffective when confronted by determined dictators. The same thing can be said of Bush Sr. too, had he done the right thing and taken Saddam out in 1991, the world would be a different place today.
Had he done the right thing Bush Sr never would of supported Saddam to begin with! Throughout the 1980s both Reagan and Bush Sr supported Saddam. In 1988/89 congress was debating on whether to put military sanctions on Iraq and The Reagan/Bush Sr admins fought this. Before Saddam invaded Kuwait Saddam could do no wrong. It was alright if he used chemical weapons against not just the Iranians, but the Kurds, Marsh Arabs, and others inside Iraq who opposed his dictatorship.
If you think about it, a US president who inherited a messy situation was Nixon. Vietnam was the biggest blunder in US history, Nixon (and Kissinger) had to accept some very bad compromises to get out
Yet it was another Republican president that started the fighting in Viet Nam, Eisenhower. I find it rather ironic that Ike is the one who warned against the military industrial complex, yet he did more to expand it that any president before him.
FalconShould there be a Law?
Does anyone really believe that our next president will really change things? Will he reverse this? I do not think so. Both parties want the same thing in the end, which is to control us. Life just keeps getting worse outside Hometown U.S.A.
t it...
If *is only* the EPA database, imagine all the data that could be exploited. Fisheries, dams, wells, aqueducts, farms, estuaries, and more. Even powerplants and towers might be in there. Realize that in Central Valley alone, at least two cars driven by drunk or otherwise-incapacitated drivers were found in the reservoirs/aqueducts. Think about just the corpse/s and gasoline and antifreeze that went submerged for days before discovery.
Now, imagine foreign OR domestic ter'rists exploiting the EPA database. I haven't read nor seen any biblio or index for it, but I imagine it contains HIGHLY exploitable information.
David Syes, posting from work, anonymously.
Is that people can't construct a argument that contains one and ONLY one subject for debate. The left AND the right tend to sandwitch every accusation that could be debated in one long continuious runon sentence.
I.E. The adulterer left wing communist Clinton blah blah blah
I.E. The illegal War waging lying dubya blah blah blah
I don't mind a good debate, but PULEESE onnly one point at a time! Pick something...illegal war, adulterer, lying, left wing and make your case. Don't use a debatable point to back up another debatable point. It's weak and does not convince ANYBODY.
I would offer you the same advice, and add that you should read more widely, like this item from the 6/29/2000 Wall Street Journal: So Al Gore took the payments for 28 years, and didn't stop, according to your quote, until forced to when the mine actually closed. That's Green.... or at least politically expedient. Actually I guess it wasn't even expedient since he took political heat for it, but still kept taking the money until it ran out.
I found the Gore relationship to Occidental even more interesting than the shares that they owned:
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
If you say that forcefully, clearly, concisely, and with emphasis on the vote and on the money they'll listen. They have to. Once you then back up your threats they and he will be punished.
The power of any executive in great measure is an at-will excercize. Bush is getting away with things in large part because many members of Congress are rendering their own institution impotent by shilling for him. They are doing so because they believe that being his friend makes them our friends. Punish them, fire them, smack them hard, and he will lose power. If he is faced with a Congress so scared for their own jobs that they'll make his a living hell and you'll see a lot of this stuff stuff he things is free become very very costly.
Party means nothing. Don't vote for his backers because you're a Republican or a Democrat and better them than the other guy. Now is the time to throw out anyone who has backed him and show them that if they won't do their jobs we'll damn well get someone else who will.
Carter worked tirelessly in the months before leaving office to secure their release. There was little he could do outside of ordering an invasion of Iran. I think we can agree that would not have been a good thing.
Carter could have started nuking the largest cities in Iran. That certainly would have stopped the Iranians dead cold and forced a rapid, unconditional surrender. Yes, they would have slaughtered the hostages in retaliation, but in the end, the Iranians would have an intense, long-lasting fear of the USA instead of contempt and hatred. Yes, hatred would still be plentiful, but the fear would be been so many orders of magnitude greater that the hatred would seem insignificant in comparison. They keep calling us the "terrorists". I say it's about time we give them *real* justification for calling us that.
Of course it would have been impossible for Carter to do such a thing, since he is first and foremost a devout Christian, and a good-hearted, kind and gentle man.... exactly the wrong type of man suitable to have been a US president in the late 20th century... where in order to be an effective US president, a man must be able to willing, even eager, to kick some serious ass and almost be downright ruthless, in order to be effective. I daresay that Dubya is even too wimpy to be able to chew all he has bitten off lately. I hope our next president is much more of a "don't even think of f*cking with me or my country or else you're total deadmeat in a heartbeat" type, to get us out of this mess. We need a Clint / Arnold movie hero type that gets results and scares the holy f*ck out of the rest of the world for 8 years. Then the rest of the world will appreciate it much more when we put the next milqetoast in office.
True
and did not have control over the estate with which to sell them.
I doubt it. That is what being an executor means.... Of course, if you are correct, that leaves some mighty big questions, such as: how did the shares get sold, and who did it, and if it wasn't Al Gore, then why were they in his tax filings?
But there are even more interesting details:
The article even offers some juicy tidbits about Bush.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
In many of the the western states we can make law by initiative, so I propose a law that:
Total expendature for Sport facilites used by professional teams, including all infrastructure, may not exceed funds expended for Library facilities in any state, county, local budget or tax.
Money is a form of communication - hear that?
Ever since the Republicans took control of Congress in 1995 and the White House in 2001, NASA, Commerce/NOAA, Interior/USGS, EPA have large annual cuts proposed in their budgets for environmental projects. Much of this gets restored in the give-and-take when the budget is finally passed. Its appears to a combination of conservative opinions (1) theres too much environmental restriction, (2) too much restrictions on federal land, and (3) the governemnt should directly perform research and development.
NASA had this nice proposal in the 1990s for a couple dozen satellites to study earth called Mission to Planet Earth. NASA would basically send up the same instruments it sent to Mars and Venus and Saturn and some other useful ones. But most of these satellites never constructed. So irronically we know more about the surfaces of other planets than we do about portions of the Earth. Deep cuts in NOAA almost backfired when a weather satellite went out prematurely. Please the cuts leak into more essential R&D such as hurricane forecasting.
Yet it was another Republican president that started the fighting in Viet Nam, Eisenhower.
Totally wrong. The fighting started against the French colonial domain, in 1946, and lasted until 1954, when the French suffered total defeat at Dien Bien Phu. The war between North and South started gradually, as a guerilla war, shortly after the country gained independence. The USA sent some military personnel to the South during the Eisenhower government, but they were training the South Vietnam military and weren't directly involved in combat.
Yes, the fighting between the French and Viet Namese started years before EIsenhower was president but he sent the first military personel to Viet Nam. By that tyme there were ongoing peace talks. An agreement, the Genevas Peace Accord or Geneva Conference I believe, was made in which the people of North and South Vietnam would vote to decide if the north and south would reunite. Eisenhower was against this, so he sent in a team of military advisors led by Colonel Edward Lansdale to arm, gather, and train those from the south who were also against the vote for or against reunification. As tyme went on Kennedy sent in more and more advisors. Then as president Johnson used the falsified Gulf of Tonkin Incident as justification to send regular troops to Vietnam.
FalconShould there be a Law?
That particular innovation started under the Clinton Administration (does that make it good now?) although protestors have been kept away from main events for far longer than that.
I think you've just demonstrated the typical depth behind many of the outlandish charges and "parades of horribles" against the Bush administration.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
I've been reading this forum on and off all day, when I realized... Bush is screwing the fucking pooch, but billions of citizens here, myself including, are letting him get away with it. Which of those two is the bigger fuck up?
No sig for you!!
Via policies of whatever variety, say that one wealthy man gets a marginal income increase of $1 million. He may buy a burger, but I doubt he'll buy that many of them. Most of that money will be locked away as described.
Now say that a thousand middle-class folk get a marginal income increase of $1000. A far smaller portion of the same $1 million will be locked away.
Savvy?
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
funny, I was just listening to the Doors 'The End' when I read that article.
You never catch me alive
While it may be true that we now know Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction
It was known before Bush Jr order the invasion that there were no WMDs, the chief weapons inspector Scott Ritter kept stating this. However there were some in both the White House and in the press that did what they could to discredit him because they wanted the invasion to take place no matter what the truth was. As early as 2000 the PNAC had plans on it's website with the plans for the invasion.
had no ties to international terrorism
Saddam did have ties to "terrorists", Palestinian terrorists, but not with al qaeda or bin Laden. Saddam knew bin Laden wanted him dead as his government was sectarian not religous based, a theocracy, and because he persecuted Muslims in Iraq. In the December before the invasion bin Laden in a radio broadcast talking to Iraqis said they should rise up and overthrow Saddam and to fight invaders when invaded. To bin Laden Saddam was worse than the US because whereas the US wasn't Muslim, Saddam was.
FalconShould there be a Law?
The mark of a true leader is to be able to take something less than optimal, and turn it around. That's far from what we've seen. Instead, Bush has not only taken control of the wheel, but has floored the petal, driving us straight over the edge of a fiscal and sociopolitical abyss from which may takes us years, if not decades to recover.
Oh. Right.
I'm going to go cry into my beer now.
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
So... he strode across Europe and knocked down the Berlin Wall with his enormous swinging cod, then?
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
This speech? I keep hearing how it cost him the Presidency, but I don't see what's so wrong about it. It seems to be saying that yes, we have challenges and problems, and here's how we're going to deal with them. A damn sight better than Reagan's mindless ego-stroking to convince us that we had no problems to deal with.
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Intention means shit. What if his rationalizations, efforts, and goals lead to what many consider the ruination of our great country? Are we supposed to give the man a f*cking medal because he MEANS WELL???? I don't care what the f*ck his conscience is telling him, AND I don't give a f*ck what party he's part of. I can see actions. I can see results. Sometimes the olive branch, middle-path, whatever you choose to call it, IS NOT DEFENSIBLE.
I can spot someone who doesn't hold the ideals of small government a mile off.
Unfortunately the idea of small government died a long tyme ago even amoung republicans. That is why some former republicans left the party while Nixon was president and started the Libertarian Party. It's also a shame that being liberal went from being for liberty and small government almost to socialism. And yes, I am a Liberal, classical liberal in the sense used by Thomas Jefferson, liberty and small government!
FalconShould there be a Law?
OK - this article doesnt go into any specifics about why this is happening and who specifically instigated it. But one thing it does metion is CONGRESS. Sorry dumbbutt but the president isnt congress. This is probably some backend deal for pork spending or exchange for social serivices.
Come up with some actual dsata and you can start pointing fingers. But right now this is just an emotional (hippie) argument that has nothing to do with Bush specifically.
Each president has done good and bad, created their own troubles, passed them along to the next guy, and inhereted some as well.
Its how the system works. Its larger then one single person/administration.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
How quickly some people forget, even if it wasn't that long ago.
I guess that whole Stock Market Bubble never happened?
I guess your BS detector was in self-test mode.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Because most stuf fall on the grey area, that doesn't mean that there is no black or white. There is a widely known and accepted fact (at least out of the US) that the U.S. governement has no right to be in Iraq.
Rethinking email
An interesting anagram of "BANACH TARSKI" is "BANACH TARSKI BANACH TARSKI"
The president is cutting off access to information gathered for us by the government. This snivelling little bitch has to go. I hope the next pres is watching and taking notes. When the evil bastards who are ruling this tragedy of errors are convicted I want to be one who slaps the horses ass so they can dance. Didn't their momma's tell them not to fuck with librarians? These jackasses don't deserve our respect anymore. I am a lifelong Republican and I apologize to everyone who has been fucked by this dickless twit and his ass-rapers. I voted for his daddy because I was young and stupid and I voted for him because I was older but still stupid, now I will vote for someone who makes sense even if it turns out to be Lewis Black or Henry Rollins. Hey! that's the ticket, Black and Rollins. They could form the "Get the fuck out of my life and go play with your own toys" party. Anybody who did not directly work for the people in government could be fired and the CIA's budget could be given to the education department along with a curiously lifelike pinata that resembles Ted Stephens for a nice party.
What turd floated his way to the top of the moron pool long enough to mod this insightful?
Funny, Overrated, or Off-topic only, please.
I was really hoping that "the obviousness of sarcasm by the sheer stupidity of any other possible interpretation" would shine through.
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
Temporary downturn? LOL! Fool! Do the Malaise Speech, double digit unemployment, the misery index, or killer rabbits mean anything to you? That simpering wimp was a dasaster! All President Bush has done was to take an exhausted bubble economy ridden hard and put wet by Bill Clinton and resurrect the American Dream after the worst attack on the US since Pearl Harbor.
Parsing constitutional language about legal rights is narcissistic in the extreme when the canker of islamic terror festers in the US and around the world ready to exploit any weakness.
It didn't get better by chance. Thank Dutch Reagan (bless his soul) and Paul Voelker for the dramitic rebound. Though I am sure at the time you did not appreciate their strong economic medicine.
Its morning in America
an ill wind that blows no good
i live in argentina (it's located in south america, between chile and brasil). some decades ago we had a militar government, which had the support of the US. nearly all latin america had one. in chile, a militar government overthrew a genuinely elected "comunist" president.
I believe that in that time it was "the war on comunism". that was something really bad, it drew back the human development of south american nations like 50 years
I don't have anything in particular against USA citizens, but things like what I said avobe make nearly all this continent HATE USA as a country and it's administrations.
~Kant
p.s.: I apoligize for my crappy english; my mother language is spanish
The debate was a slam dunk after Reagan uttered the words "There you go again..." after Carter stated one of his many lies. Obtaining Carter's notes!!! ROFLAMO Only an idiot would believe something that stupid. You liberal whack jobs are too much!!
The middle is always encouraged to make wise investments and seize opportunities to do work which, in a capitalist society, is rewarded with money based on the agreement of how much that work is worth. If those investments or work pan out (which is always due to luck), those who were their peers dont feel the fortune is deserved. If the only way for anything to work out for the better is luck (and you're a liar or a moron if you think it's possible otherwise), and luck is not respected, then you've chosen bad strategies to begin with.
Survival in a connected society is about luck. That's got nothing to do with hard work, or the "evilness" or "uselessness" of "rich" "people". The law of Big Numbers beat out any other laws long ago.
So your claim that the average person cannot possibly become rich is utterly irrelevent.
So you can work hard for the sake of itself and don't boo-hoo because mister luckypants has luckier pants than you ("He got more! And he worked just as hard or less! No fair! Take his away!"), or you can keep whining and watch nothing change.
Hard work is rewarded. Rewards also come randomly. The random rewards are less likely, but more lucrative. This is a consequence of there being more than two people in the room. If you dont want this to ever happen, remove:
The Internet, Telephones, Radios, Computation, Cars, Busses, Trains, Planes, Modern Boats, Smart People and Lazy People (to avoid these things being reborn), TitleCase, and quotation marks.)
Would it actually hurt to do this? That is, go RPG style and say arbitrarily "you cannot level up twice from a single encounter"? It would probably balance things more, but I've always hated arbitrary things like that, as it's just a pointless patch that doesnt fix the underlying issue (XP being granted for things which XP technically shouldnt be granted for, in an ideal system)
Who does it really hurt to allow a handful of worthless dweebs contribute nothing _and_ still get to put the ocassional stupidly small sum into the flow? Is that worse than them simply contributing nothing as the part-time salad bowl they'd be sans-money?
Most importantly: society has changed enough that the whole of the system should be revisited, rather than trying to put a "you can't level up twice" patch on it. Nothing wrong with people being rich, even super-rich. It's how they get there that's the problem. Fight the sickness, not the symptom, or you're no better than those who try to outlaw P2P applications because of what they can be used for.
(my income last year was ~$10,000, and I don't care how much Bill Gates is worth)
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
...unless it is liquidated into cash and kept under your bed!
Anything short of that, and it is still "working" in the economy.
Try taking a college-level economics course sometime.
Libertas in infinitum
I demand that Google Maps and Google Earth be shut down because terrorists could use them to plan the route of an attack. I demand that a license be required to purchase fertilizer, especially if you own a diesel truck. I demand that all access to computers be government-monitored and that there be a Federal backdoor into every box, because terrorists can use computers to communicate.
It's the same situation. How much information or freedom should be restricted to fight terrorists? It seems that if the Bush administration were to have it's way, we might as well surrender now because America isn't worth fighting for if it isn't free.
How much more information to we classify and how many more freedoms do we restrict in the name of fighting terrorists? Should we shut down the Wikipedia page on acetone peroxide (*cough*put nail polish and store-bought H2O2 together in the fridge*cough*)? Should my post be censored if, hypothetically, I mentioned a 7-step process whereby anyone could make white phosphorus?
To quote Star Trek Insurrection, "When does it become wrong, Admiral? 600? A thousand? Ten thousand, a million!"
All that scientific research keeps contradicting biblical truths.
...
The new course offered at community college:
Evangelical Bio-Study - how G-D proves scientists wrong.
After all: The peaceful holy land demonstrates how Religion can make our world a better place for all
Gore Sr.'s shares made him a part owner of Occidental Petroleum just as much as Dick Cheny's shares made him a part owner of $34 Billion Halliburton. It may have been a tiny fraction in both cases, but a fraction of ownership none the less.
But, there is far more to the Gore-Occidental story than you let on...
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
As anyone that watches B-grade action / adventure / martial-arts / etc. style movies can tell you, evil can't shoot for a damn.
As we know, Cheney seems to be quite the ferocious killer with his 'shotty' at his side. So, Cheney can't be pure evil. I do believe, however, that Cheney still consumes one live baby every morning to replenish his fuel reserves.
[http://it-tastes-so-good.blogspot.com] Are you hungry?
Irrespective of where the blame may fall, if any, what trends do we see from all this?
1)Isolation of population at large on multiple fronts (economic, social, religious, ethnic, educational, geographic)
2)Increase in role of military in our daily lives (here and abroad)
3)Enforcement of ideology and marginalization within the educational system
4)Increase in general sense of frustration and need to seek escape from it
5)Decrease in actual ability of the population to interact with offices of governance effectively.
6)Reduction of available resources for daily activities.
Hmm, kinda resembles the US reservation system employed in dealing with the "indigenous peoples" issue. Guess a lot more people are going to know what it's like to be an indigenous people, huh?
The conspiracy theory that you describe:
You are perpetuating "information" that is not only false, but probably a lie.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
And...
It doesn't matter if the US viewed Iraq's government as legitimate or not, it could make war on it either way.
As to making war on a country "half way around the world" only for oil.... maybe you need a globe, most of the world is half way around the world for the US. The US isn't in Europe, or Asia. Besides, it wasn't oil that was at issue, but Iraq's behavior. I also doubt that what oil Iraq sells to the US is really any cheaper than it is on the world markets. Furthermore, the Iraqi government controls its oil these days, not the US.
In some ways I think his current actions with the libraries and Iraq are good examples of Bush's presidency. Using Executive action and Executive order to create sweeping changes in the way things are done.
Sweeping nonsense.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Well said.
What's truly sad is that your enumeration of abuses is far from comprehensive.
In 2003, Ellsberg was quoted in an interview as saying, "The system really failed on Irangate, Contragate. I didn't believe Reagan and Bush could get away without being impeached, and they did."
And, if anyone would know, it would be a former Washington insider.
People may not have liked the US, but at least there was some grudging respect. But when you vote for a guy who stole the previous election ... when you take an illiterate retard seriously ... when you let a near-dictator start a war based on lies and then let your children die in it ... you become acknowledged as standing among the STUPIDEST people in all of history. Americans collectively behave in the way that one imagines a down-syndrome-club would.
Focus. Bush' hiring incompetents and selling off laws to anyone with money are not the issue. Bush trying to combat science, and end free thought, are not the issue. Bush' creating secret laws, secret police, gulags, and official torture policy, are not the issue.
The issue is terrorism. The hundreds of thousands of guns that the CIA shipped to radical Islamic fighters in Afghanistan. The training they gave Bin Laden and his buddies in how to conduct effective terrorism against modern 1st world countries.
These are the problems. These need to be punished.
It is too late to punish Reagan for the terror he spawned, or Bush Sr, but Little Brain Bush is still busy spawning terror as fast as he can, and he should be stopped and punished.
"There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
As a librarian in a large research and reference library in Canada, I have seen the importance of "The Library" as part of the memory of a society, a city, a nation. Good collections and staff help facilitate access to information that otherwise would have been lost or overlooked. The destruction of easily accessible resources is akin to Alzheimer's: no one can "remember" what they can no longer access. We all thought the Internet would be a boon to research -- and so it is, to the savvy and well-trained researcher -- but I despair seeing a library patron sitting at an Internet terminal for a hour or so in front of me, obvious frustration writ upon their brow, who then comes to the desk with the question, "I can't find anything on my topic! Can you help?" What's the topic, I reply, maybe I can. "The decline of the cod fishery in the North Atlantic. I've searched for an hour and there's nothing." (I weep internally with deepest compassion.) Here, let me try. And a minute or so later I turn my screen around with a gentle smile: Well, here are 371 articles from a wide variety of sources, many from peer-reviewed journals, some from popular journals, most can be emailed to your email address, some are citations (but we've got most of those journals over there on those shelves), and the ones we don't have we can get for you via interlibrary loan. "How did you do that?!" the response comes back, "I couldn't find anything!" I smile more broadly. Librarians have their ways.
As an experiment, try correlating your feelings about the economy tanking with the Stock Market Bubble. Your feelings are misleading you.
My point is that the end of our economic boom correlates with the end of the Clinton administration and the beginning of the Bush administration.
The Onion's headline when W became president was snarky, but unusually prescient:
"Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is over"
If they only had any idea when they wrote that...
My Heart Is A Flower
To quote Star Trek Insurrection, "When does it become wrong, Admiral? 600? A thousand? Ten thousand, a million!"
Hmm... I'll quote Spock: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one..."
I despise roaches, cockroaches and fruitflies and flies, but there are infinitely many more of them than there are humans. I despise mass-murderers, and especially corrupt politicians even more (statistically, I am more likely to be harmed or plundered by politicians and their bad decisionmaking than I am to be killed or maimed or mutilated by a crazed, murderous human...)
That said, speaking of the few, or the one, there are more humans OUTside of the US and all of them combined are lesser targets than the total of the corruption-compounded bunging created by US politicians and dogma and such. So, it seems that despite the "freedom" ideal the US (I ALWAYS make it a point to not use "America", since I am SURE the South Americans and Central Americans and the Canadians don't want to be lumped in the catch-all/specificity-mindedness of the word "America"...) represents, it may as well implode by restricting access to infrastructure and then the rest of the world will surpass it.
Oh, wait, the military and SIGs PREFER entropy... gives them reasons to impose, kick ass, and all that other stuff that ensures the perpetuity of having enemies fought at tax payer expense...
The world needs peace, or deconfliction, relative to the crap going on now. And if it means seizing up the infrastructure and access, then maybe it'll have to come to that. Afterall, the needs of the many outweight the needs of the few, or the one.
Slash word image: "appall", "justices"
(David Syes, posting anonymously.)
But this is defensible. If a Iraq were to end up as big a success story as Germany after American occupation, you'd have to say the US was completely justified. And that could happen. Only history can judge men -- when you try to judge a man in the present, you don't have enough information.
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm
I thought it was a Sudanese pharmaceutical factory that got bombed, not an Iraqi one.
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
It is no secret that major universities are basically immersed in left-wing culture both at the official level
Nothing like the smell of GOP propoganda in the morning. The above is merely part of the right-wing's attempt to continually redefine what used to be the "center" as "left" and what used to be "right-wing" as "center". A press fearfull of the "biased liberal media" charge has never called them on this tactic, allowing them to drag the "center" father and farther to the right while hiding their own increasingly extremist views. This is why conservative politicians like McCain and Lieberman are referred to as "moderates" in the press. Nixon would be a flameing liberal hippie in today's Republican Party.