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04:48:53 01/07/12
Episode 026: Trouble By The Foot
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 04:48:53 01/07/12
My Meat Foot. Ok, Ok, Ok, so maybe I shouldn?t have gone all the way to ABC at 21,000 feet. The funny thing is that the altitude wasn?t a problem. Only in the morning. I?d wake up and would have my vision be somewhat spotty, strobing and tracing. After I?d stumble down the path to the ?bathroom? and nearly careen down the slope into the Romanian tents (ABC has no ground, it?s all a glacial moraine which means it?s all loose rock like a scree slope) my vision would clear up. Usually just as I was pulling down my pants to do my business in the open air toilet I?d look over and see a member of the British Royal Navy Team squatting on his open air toilet and we?d wave to each other. Friendship in misery. After a time at ABC, I realized it was beautiful but it sucked up there. You just can?t rest. The entire time you can feel your body deteriorating. So, it was time to climb down. I made the 22km in one very long day but it was very painful. In fact I totally messed up my left foot. I?ve never had a problem with my boots, but leave it to Everest to change that. The trail is only loose rock and every step I took pounded my toenail into the front of the boot. By the time I made it back to BC, I knew it was a bad situation. I had a terrible pain in that Big Toe, but I was just too tired to deal with it that evening. I slept and the next morning inspected the damage. My toe didn?t look like a toe anymore. In fact, one of my French friends, Bertrand, described it as a sausage floating in water. It was really surreal to look at my toe and think it was an alien. Luckily, my Russian friends have a doctor here at Base Camp. I?m really good friends with him, Dmitri. I hobbled over to the camp and went into their Comm tent. He wasn?t there but some other friends were. Vova said he thought I looked in pain. I took off my sock and they all yelped in Russian. Vova jumped up, slapped me on the shoulder and ran out to find Dr. Dima. Minutes later my foot was in this huge surgeon?s fleeced lap. He said it would take a small operation and that I would be fine. He said something in Russian to Vova who immediately jumped up and disappeared from the tent. Seconds later he returned with a bottle of whiskey. Dima handed the bottle and suggested I drink up.?For pain.? I grabbed the bottle and thought of every Old West movie I?d ever seen, looking around for a wooden spoon or something to put between my teeth and bite down on. I raised the bottle to my lips and was about to drink when Dima grabbed the bottle. The joke was on me. The whiskey was actually rubbing alcohol and he was only kidding about me needing to drink up. Apparently Russian airlines do not allow the passengers to transport running alcohol in their luggage, yet they DO allow unbelievably high proof liquor. Dima simply fills an empty whiskey bottle with rubbing alcohol and can easily sneak it through security! I washed my foot, then Dima shot my toe up with novocain and sterilized his tools with the alcohol and cut here and there releasing pressure, then cut away the nail. It was gross, but I was fascinated! Afterwards, he put a ton of Russian antibiotic cream on it and wrapped it in sterile gauze his wife had carefully prepared in St Petersburg (she?s apparently an anesthesiologist). In 30 minutes it was all taken care of and only hurt a lot for a minute. That was 3 days ago and every morning Dima comes over and gently changes my dressing. These people are so great. I offered to pay since I have some cash on me but Dima just raised his finger to his head and twirled his finger to say I was crazy. I almost cried. I would be totally in trouble of infection without him. But he really cares about my well being and I?m being taken care of with immaculate care. He said I was his first American patient and I said he was my first Russian doctor. All in broken English, of course. I?ll never forget the generosity I?ve experienced here. I?m sitting in their Comm tent right now using their generator since mine is busted again. Everyone is glad I?m here and it?s wonderful. Everest North Side would be a totally dead landscape if it weren?t for all of the great people. They?re what I?m going to remember, not the Mountain. Jon Miller Total Running Time: 23:28
5 Views
19:00:30 12/28/11
Notable Death of the Year: RIP Austerity Economics, 1921-2011
[LESS INFO] 5 VIEWS | ADDED 19:00:30 12/28/11
"Smokestack Lightnin'," with Hubert Sumlin backing Howlin' Wolf in 1964
This is the time of year when we're reminded of all the famous people who died over the last twelve months, a list which includes two of my favorite guitar players ( Hubert Sumlin and Cornell Dupree ). But there were also some notable non-human deaths in 2011, especially in the world of economic policy.
One of those deaths should have completely altered the political debate in Washington. The name of the deceased was "Austerity Economics," and it was first glimpsed in a 1921 paper by conservative economist Frank Wright. Austerity died of natural causes brought on by prolonged exposure to reality.
But the debate in Washington didn't change nearly enough after its passing. In the nation's capital, dead things still rule the night.
Why Austerity?
"Austerity economics" backers claim that today's economic woes can only be fixed by dramatic reductions in government spending, which will lead to increased private-sector confidence and therefore to greater investment and growth.
But it's never worked. And if investors have lost confidence in the U.S. government's fiscal stability, they're sure not acting that way. There hasn't been this much demand for Treasury bonds since the government began tracking it twenty years ago, and they haven't performed as well since the go-go 1990s.
It's easy to understand austerity's attraction for power elites inside and outside of government. The people who suffer from austerity budgets aren't the kinds of people they know personally, since they're typically public employees like teachers, police, firefighters and the administrators of social programs; people who need government assistance, like the poor; and middle-class people with the temerity to either grow old or become disabled.
Austerity's attraction became even greater in the U.S. because once it became conventional wisdom that tax increases on the wealthy was "politically infeasible." That made it a program whose sole purpose was to cut government spending, lowering the pressure to increase taxes on the wealthy from today's historically low levels.
For a one-percenter, what's not to love?
Austerity Comes of Age
The idea's been around in one form or another since that 1921 paper, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had been imposing it on Third World nations for decades.
But 2009 was the year that austerity really came of age. That was the year that a wealthy stockbroker's son named David Cameron began campaigning for Prime Minister of Great Britain on an explicitly pro-austerity platform.
It was also the year that Cameron helped to form a group named European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) dedicated to electing like-minded politicians across Europe and helping them collaborate on ways to slash government spending. It was also the year that right-leaning Angela Merkel won reelection as the Chancellor of Germany with a stronger mandate than she'd been given in her first term.
With Nicolas Sarkozy as President of France, Great Britain was the only major European power not yet in the hands of the corporate-backed austerity crowd.
The Global Sado-Erotic Thrill Machine
That changed with Cameron's election as Prime Minister in May 2010, an event that threw pro-austerity Americans into throes of near-erotic ecstasy. And if that sounds like hyperbole, consider conservative Anne Appelbaum's reaction to Cameron's budget in September of 2010: >
Vicious cuts." "Savage cuts." "Swingeing (sic) cuts." The language that the British use to describe their new government's spending-reduction policy is apocalyptic in the extreme. The ministers in charge of the country's finances are known as "axe-wielders" who will be "hacking" away at the budget. Articles about the nation's finances are filled with talk of blood, knives, and amputation.
And the British love it.
What can I say? There are people who collect serial-killer memorabilia, too. But Appelbaum wasn't just speaking for herself. It became unacceptable for any politician in Washington, Democrat or Republican, to advocate anything other than an austerity budget for the United States.
And it was more than an economic strategy to its backers. Austerity became a way to demonize those who had suffered most from the banking abuses and self-indulgences of the wealthy, a totemic "blame the victim" response that turned the political debate into a grotesque inversion of morality. Again, Appelbaum: >
"Not only is austerity being touted as the solution to Britain's economic woes; it is also being described as the answer to the country's moral failings."
Bad Metaphors vs. Good Economists
The Democratic President of the United States, Barack Obama, jumped onto the bandwagon with both feet by repeatedly lecturing Americans on the need for government to stop "spending beyond its means." Obama recycled the popular conservative metaphor of a family that has to sit around the kitchen table and decide how much money it has to spend.
That's one of the worst metaphors in modern politics. Does a family establish its own currency -- especially one that has the unique position of the dollar? Can a family borrow money at rates so low they're effectively less than zero? Would a family let Grandma go hungry because Junior bought too many Porsches out of the family kitty and then gambled it away on lousy mortgage investments?
The world's top economists, those who had successfully predicted the crisis of 2008, tried telling the rest of the world what was wrong with the idea: Joblessness and consumer fears were killing any chance of real recovery. More short-term spending was needed to get the economy moving again. Austerity would make things worse, not better.
But nobody listened. Austerity's S%M-like attraction had the world's elites in its grip.
Death of a Delusion
And then something else came into the picture: Reality.
Cameron's austerity budget had a shattering effect on the already-struggling British economy. His government's financial stability was downgraded five times during his first year in power and retail sales had fallen 2.5 percent. Household income was projected to fall an additional 2 percent if his austerity plans were carried forward. Britain's modest employment gains were reversed, youth unemployment reached record levels, and income inequality was the worst it had been in more than half a century.
Anne Appelbaum's erotic dreams had become Great Britain's nightmare.
As Europe's ruling austerity class pushed forward with their plans, even the IMF tried to dissuade them. It was clear to anyone who wasn't blinded by ideology or political cynicism that austerity economics was a failed program. Even in countries like Greece, where government was far graver than elsewhere, the austerity programs imposed from outside threatened to destabilize society while other reasonable measures like improved tax collection were still not taken seriously enough.
And now the entire Eurozone hangs in the balance. Bankers became wealthy by treating governments as if they were mortgages, lending recklessly and pocketing their fees without considering the long-term reliability of their loans. European leaders insisted for months they were take the kind of sensible steps that should've been taken in the United States by requiring bankers to accept at least part of the losses for the bad loans they had issed.
That plan was quietly dropped last month. "Austerity economics" never calls for austerity from those who have gotten rich by being irresponsible, only from those who didn't benefit from it at all.
The Afterlife
President Obama has dropped his austerity rhetoric, at least for the time being, but the Republicans have not. Listening to Mitt Romney discuss economics is like having a doctor wave a dead chicken over your head and saying he's decided to cast a spell on you rather than operate on that thing they found in your X-rays.
Aside from the bill introduced this month by the House Progressive Caucus to almost no media attention, there's no comprehensive plan for dropping this country's ineffective austerity strategy and replacing it with an agenda that works.
Rational solutions to our economic problems are being ignored. There won't be a real debate about alternatives to austerity until an entire political party, not just part of it, adopts this kind of program. Until then there will be chaos. And where there is chaos, austerity's powerful advocates can step in and take charge.
Austerity economics died in 2011 and is survived by the British, German, and French governments as well as the GOP and large portions of the Democratic Party. Instead of sending flowers, the family has asked the public to abandon all hopes of future economic growth.
1 Views
19:00:30 12/28/11
Notable Death of the Year: RIP Austerity Economics, 1921-2011
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 19:00:30 12/28/11
"Smokestack Lightnin'," with Hubert Sumlin backing Howlin' Wolf in 1964
This is the time of year when we're reminded of all the famous people who died over the last twelve months, a list which includes two of my favorite guitar players ( Hubert Sumlin and Cornell Dupree ). But there were also some notable non-human deaths in 2011, especially in the world of economic policy.
One of those deaths should have completely altered the political debate in Washington. The name of the deceased was "Austerity Economics," and it was first glimpsed in a 1921 paper by conservative economist Frank Wright. Austerity died of natural causes brought on by prolonged exposure to reality.
But the debate in Washington didn't change nearly enough after its passing. In the nation's capital, dead things still rule the night.
Why Austerity?
"Austerity economics" backers claim that today's economic woes can only be fixed by dramatic reductions in government spending, which will lead to increased private-sector confidence and therefore to greater investment and growth.
But it's never worked. And if investors have lost confidence in the U.S. government's fiscal stability, they're sure not acting that way. There hasn't been this much demand for Treasury bonds since the government began tracking it twenty years ago, and they haven't performed as well since the go-go 1990s.
It's easy to understand austerity's attraction for power elites inside and outside of government. The people who suffer from austerity budgets aren't the kinds of people they know personally, since they're typically public employees like teachers, police, firefighters and the administrators of social programs; people who need government assistance, like the poor; and middle-class people with the temerity to either grow old or become disabled.
Austerity's attraction became even greater in the U.S. because once it became conventional wisdom that tax increases on the wealthy was "politically infeasible." That made it a program whose sole purpose was to cut government spending, lowering the pressure to increase taxes on the wealthy from today's historically low levels.
For a one-percenter, what's not to love?
Austerity Comes of Age
The idea's been around in one form or another since that 1921 paper, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had been imposing it on Third World nations for decades.
But 2009 was the year that austerity really came of age. That was the year that a wealthy stockbroker's son named David Cameron began campaigning for Prime Minister of Great Britain on an explicitly pro-austerity platform.
It was also the year that Cameron helped to form a group named European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) dedicated to electing like-minded politicians across Europe and helping them collaborate on ways to slash government spending. It was also the year that right-leaning Angela Merkel won reelection as the Chancellor of Germany with a stronger mandate than she'd been given in her first term.
With Nicolas Sarkozy as President of France, Great Britain was the only major European power not yet in the hands of the corporate-backed austerity crowd.
The Global Sado-Erotic Thrill Machine
That changed with Cameron's election as Prime Minister in May 2010, an event that threw pro-austerity Americans into throes of near-erotic ecstasy. And if that sounds like hyperbole, consider conservative Anne Appelbaum's reaction to Cameron's budget in September of 2010: >
Vicious cuts." "Savage cuts." "Swingeing (sic) cuts." The language that the British use to describe their new government's spending-reduction policy is apocalyptic in the extreme. The ministers in charge of the country's finances are known as "axe-wielders" who will be "hacking" away at the budget. Articles about the nation's finances are filled with talk of blood, knives, and amputation.
And the British love it.
What can I say? There are people who collect serial-killer memorabilia, too. But Appelbaum wasn't just speaking for herself. It became unacceptable for any politician in Washington, Democrat or Republican, to advocate anything other than an austerity budget for the United States.
And it was more than an economic strategy to its backers. Austerity became a way to demonize those who had suffered most from the banking abuses and self-indulgences of the wealthy, a totemic "blame the victim" response that turned the political debate into a grotesque inversion of morality. Again, Appelbaum: >
"Not only is austerity being touted as the solution to Britain's economic woes; it is also being described as the answer to the country's moral failings."
Bad Metaphors vs. Good Economists
The Democratic President of the United States, Barack Obama, jumped onto the bandwagon with both feet by repeatedly lecturing Americans on the need for government to stop "spending beyond its means." Obama recycled the popular conservative metaphor of a family that has to sit around the kitchen table and decide how much money it has to spend.
That's one of the worst metaphors in modern politics. Does a family establish its own currency -- especially one that has the unique position of the dollar? Can a family borrow money at rates so low they're effectively less than zero? Would a family let Grandma go hungry because Junior bought too many Porsches out of the family kitty and then gambled it away on lousy mortgage investments?
The world's top economists, those who had successfully predicted the crisis of 2008, tried telling the rest of the world what was wrong with the idea: Joblessness and consumer fears were killing any chance of real recovery. More short-term spending was needed to get the economy moving again. Austerity would make things worse, not better.
But nobody listened. Austerity's S%M-like attraction had the world's elites in its grip.
Death of a Delusion
And then something else came into the picture: Reality.
Cameron's austerity budget had a shattering effect on the already-struggling British economy. His government's financial stability was downgraded five times during his first year in power and retail sales had fallen 2.5 percent. Household income was projected to fall an additional 2 percent if his austerity plans were carried forward. Britain's modest employment gains were reversed, youth unemployment reached record levels, and income inequality was the worst it had been in more than half a century.
Anne Appelbaum's erotic dreams had become Great Britain's nightmare.
As Europe's ruling austerity class pushed forward with their plans, even the IMF tried to dissuade them. It was clear to anyone who wasn't blinded by ideology or political cynicism that austerity economics was a failed program. Even in countries like Greece, where government was far graver than elsewhere, the austerity programs imposed from outside threatened to destabilize society while other reasonable measures like improved tax collection were still not taken seriously enough.
And now the entire Eurozone hangs in the balance. Bankers became wealthy by treating governments as if they were mortgages, lending recklessly and pocketing their fees without considering the long-term reliability of their loans. European leaders insisted for months they were take the kind of sensible steps that should've been taken in the United States by requiring bankers to accept at least part of the losses for the bad loans they had issed.
That plan was quietly dropped last month. "Austerity economics" never calls for austerity from those who have gotten rich by being irresponsible, only from those who didn't benefit from it at all.
The Afterlife
President Obama has dropped his austerity rhetoric, at least for the time being, but the Republicans have not. Listening to Mitt Romney discuss economics is like having a doctor wave a dead chicken over your head and saying he's decided to cast a spell on you rather than operate on that thing they found in your X-rays.
Aside from the bill introduced this month by the House Progressive Caucus to almost no media attention, there's no comprehensive plan for dropping this country's ineffective austerity strategy and replacing it with an agenda that works.
Rational solutions to our economic problems are being ignored. There won't be a real debate about alternatives to austerity until an entire political party, not just part of it, adopts this kind of program. Until then there will be chaos. And where there is chaos, austerity's powerful advocates can step in and take charge.
Austerity economics died in 2011 and is survived by the British, German, and French governments as well as the GOP and large portions of the Democratic Party. Instead of sending flowers, the family has asked the public to abandon all hopes of future economic growth.
5 Views
23:45:47 11/06/11
Condi Rice's Warmongering Continues: 'Time To Confront The Iranian Regime'
[LESS INFO] 5 VIEWS | ADDED 23:45:47 11/06/11
video platform video management video solutions video player
Watch and see how it's done on today's edition of This Week with Christiane Amanpour. Amanpour feeds Condoleezza Rice some softballs that reflect the wise foreign policy agenda of the Beltway bobbleheads, and Condi hits them out of the park by 1) damning Obama's centrist foreign policy decisions with faint praise and 2) pushing the latest neocon agenda of the reasonableness of going to war with Iran. Stop me if any of this sounds familiar: >
AMANPOUR: A deadly morning in Baghdad today, as three bombs exploded in a sprawling market. The attack came as shoppers were preparing for the Muslim festival of Eid. And it comes just hours after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told his security forces to prepare for stepped-up violence. The backdrop, of course, is the U.S. decision to pull out of Iraq by the end of the year. It's a decision that now has some concerned that Al Qaida will re-establish a foothold in the country, all questions for former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She has a new memoir, "No Higher Honor." And I spoke with her earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Madam Secretary, thank you for joining us.
RICE: It's a pleasure to be with you, Christiane.
AMANPOUR: So you write in your book, obviously, a lot about the Bush administration, the Bush years. You also talk about when you first met the current president, Barack Obama, during a hearing, and you say his questions were sharp, not rude, he actually seemed interested in my answers. And you say you were really impressed. And lot of people questioned whether he had what it took to be commander-in-chief of the lone superpower. Did he prove them wrong?
RICE: Obviously, I think Barack Obama has done a number of things right, particularly in the war on terror. And I think that President Obama has, indeed, carried the war on terror forward in a very effective way.
AMANPOUR: So let me ask you, then, about the most controversial of events of your tenure, and that was the Iraq war. For better or for worse, the United States is in it. President Obama has now decided to call an end and to bring all the troops out, portraying it actually as a triumph. Others are saying it was a defeat. Do you think it was right not to push and keep for -- I mean, at the very least, 10,000 U.S. troops to guarantee some kind of security, to train, and to be there for counterterrorism?
RICE: Frankly, I think it would help the regional balance to have a residual American presence there. We need to find a way to help the Iraqis sustain themselves through this period and to -- to deal with their somewhat meddlesome neighbor in Iran.
AMANPOUR: Of course, the administration says it's because the Iraqis wouldn't agree to immunity. But the real issue is that this administration insisted on it ceding to State Department and Pentagon lawyers' demand that they get this immunity ratified by the Iraqi parliament. You did not do that. You got the agreement without forcing it through the parliament. Why did they have to do that? Was it a mistake for President Obama to do that?
RICE: Well, Christiane, I'm really rather reluctant to criticize negotiations that I didn't participate in. But it would have clearly been better to have a residual force, from my point of view, and perhaps there was a way out of the immunity clause that wasn't taken.
AMANPOUR: So is there a risk now of everything that America paid unraveling?
RICE: Yes. What is at risk here is not just the sacrifice of the United States, which is considerable, but also a pillar of a new kind of democratic stability in the Middle East.
AMANPOUR: And perhaps equally important, if not more, is Afghanistan. The Obama administration sources are telling me are likely to change their role, even before 2014, from a combat to a much lesser role, maybe advisory. Is that safe at this time? Is the Taliban anywhere near being defeated?
RICE: Well, I'm not inside, but I don't see that the Taliban is anywhere near being defeated. And, in fact, if you're looking for some kind of political arrangement, then ultimately there will have to be a political arrangement in Afghanistan, that brings former warring elements in. But if you're looking for that arrangement, you should be in the strongest position, not the weakest. And I don't think that right now the Afghan government and the NATO mission is in a position to make that kind of political deal. So, yes, I think there's a considerable risk in speeding up a timetable for Afghanistan.
AMANPOUR: In your book, you also write about Iran. The IAEA, the nuclear agency of the U.N., this week is about to reveal, apparently, more details showing, apparently, that Iran is trying to weaponize. Do you think the United States, the Obama administration, has to ratchet up the confrontation? You talked this week about confronting Iran. Does that involve military confrontation by the U.S.?
RICE: Well, the United States should certainly make clear that the president of the United States will consider military action, if necessary, because you never want to take that card off the table. I think there are other ways to confront Iran. You can confront Iran through even tougher sanctions. And I also think, Christiane, this is one of the downsides of having our forces out of -- out of Iraq, because we can confront the Iranians in Iraq.
So, yes, I think it's time to confront the Iranian regime, because it's the poster child for state sponsorship of terrorism. It's trying to get a nuclear weapon. It's repressed its own people. The regime has absolutely no legitimacy left. We should be doing everything we can to bring it down and never take military force off the table.
John Amato: >
I had to weigh in here quickly because Condi was so incompetent as President Bush's National Security Advisor during his first term. Condi Rice is famous for saying this about the bogus claims the Bush administration made about those aluminum tubes that Saddam was supposedly trying to acquire so he could nuke the heck out of Cleveland. > > In 2002, Rice had said that the tubes were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs," adding that "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
She absurdly had this to say also to the WaPo: >
But, as reported by The Washington Post more than a year ago, the internal debate among intelligence analysts was intense, with the experts at the Department of Energy who specialize in uranium enrichment adamant that the tubes were not suitable for a nuclear program. They argued that the tubes were intended for Iraqi rockets.
Administration officials at the time did not acknowledge that debate, though Rice acknowledged yesterday she was aware of it. "I knew that there was a dispute," she said. "I actually didn't really know the nature of the dispute."
Here's Condi on Meet The Press (05/20/06) changing the story that was originally given to America for attacking Iraq in the first place since the truth didn't work out too well: >
RICE: I understand that Americans see on their screens violence. They continue to see Americans killed, and we mourn every death. These are very hard things to do. But I would ask that people remember why we are there. We are there because we are trying to--having overthrown a brutal dictator who was a destabilizing force in the Middle East, we're trying to help the Iraqis create a stable foundation for democracy and a stable foundation for peace."
I seem to recall a different rationale for why we're there: >
"Citing Bush administration officials, The New York Times reported Sunday that Iraq tried to buy thousands of high-strength aluminum tubes. The tubes, Rice said, "are only really suited for nuclear weapons programs, centrifuge programs." [CNN, 9/8/2002]
Bob Somerby aptly asked if Condi ever knew anything, anything at all : >
"Does Condi Rice ever know anything back in 2004?
According to the White House, she didn't know about objections to the uranium-from-Africa story because she hadn't read the whole National Intelligence Estimate! And in May 2002, she said she hadn't known that terrorists might use airplanes as missiles—even though intelligence agencies has issued such warnings for years. Now, she says she didn't know something else—she didn't know the state of aa critical, year-long discussion about those aluminum tubes. I didn't know, Rice told [Wolf] Blitzer. And she was singing a sweet old refrain.
3 Views
23:45:47 11/06/11
Condi Rice's Warmongering Continues: 'Time To Confront The Iranian Regime'
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 23:45:47 11/06/11
video platform video management video solutions video player
Watch and see how it's done on today's edition of This Week with Christiane Amanpour. Amanpour feeds Condoleezza Rice some softballs that reflect the wise foreign policy agenda of the Beltway bobbleheads, and Condi hits them out of the park by 1) damning Obama's centrist foreign policy decisions with faint praise and 2) pushing the latest neocon agenda of the reasonableness of going to war with Iran. Stop me if any of this sounds familiar: >
AMANPOUR: A deadly morning in Baghdad today, as three bombs exploded in a sprawling market. The attack came as shoppers were preparing for the Muslim festival of Eid. And it comes just hours after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told his security forces to prepare for stepped-up violence. The backdrop, of course, is the U.S. decision to pull out of Iraq by the end of the year. It's a decision that now has some concerned that Al Qaida will re-establish a foothold in the country, all questions for former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She has a new memoir, "No Higher Honor." And I spoke with her earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: Madam Secretary, thank you for joining us.
RICE: It's a pleasure to be with you, Christiane.
AMANPOUR: So you write in your book, obviously, a lot about the Bush administration, the Bush years. You also talk about when you first met the current president, Barack Obama, during a hearing, and you say his questions were sharp, not rude, he actually seemed interested in my answers. And you say you were really impressed. And lot of people questioned whether he had what it took to be commander-in-chief of the lone superpower. Did he prove them wrong?
RICE: Obviously, I think Barack Obama has done a number of things right, particularly in the war on terror. And I think that President Obama has, indeed, carried the war on terror forward in a very effective way.
AMANPOUR: So let me ask you, then, about the most controversial of events of your tenure, and that was the Iraq war. For better or for worse, the United States is in it. President Obama has now decided to call an end and to bring all the troops out, portraying it actually as a triumph. Others are saying it was a defeat. Do you think it was right not to push and keep for -- I mean, at the very least, 10,000 U.S. troops to guarantee some kind of security, to train, and to be there for counterterrorism?
RICE: Frankly, I think it would help the regional balance to have a residual American presence there. We need to find a way to help the Iraqis sustain themselves through this period and to -- to deal with their somewhat meddlesome neighbor in Iran.
AMANPOUR: Of course, the administration says it's because the Iraqis wouldn't agree to immunity. But the real issue is that this administration insisted on it ceding to State Department and Pentagon lawyers' demand that they get this immunity ratified by the Iraqi parliament. You did not do that. You got the agreement without forcing it through the parliament. Why did they have to do that? Was it a mistake for President Obama to do that?
RICE: Well, Christiane, I'm really rather reluctant to criticize negotiations that I didn't participate in. But it would have clearly been better to have a residual force, from my point of view, and perhaps there was a way out of the immunity clause that wasn't taken.
AMANPOUR: So is there a risk now of everything that America paid unraveling?
RICE: Yes. What is at risk here is not just the sacrifice of the United States, which is considerable, but also a pillar of a new kind of democratic stability in the Middle East.
AMANPOUR: And perhaps equally important, if not more, is Afghanistan. The Obama administration sources are telling me are likely to change their role, even before 2014, from a combat to a much lesser role, maybe advisory. Is that safe at this time? Is the Taliban anywhere near being defeated?
RICE: Well, I'm not inside, but I don't see that the Taliban is anywhere near being defeated. And, in fact, if you're looking for some kind of political arrangement, then ultimately there will have to be a political arrangement in Afghanistan, that brings former warring elements in. But if you're looking for that arrangement, you should be in the strongest position, not the weakest. And I don't think that right now the Afghan government and the NATO mission is in a position to make that kind of political deal. So, yes, I think there's a considerable risk in speeding up a timetable for Afghanistan.
AMANPOUR: In your book, you also write about Iran. The IAEA, the nuclear agency of the U.N., this week is about to reveal, apparently, more details showing, apparently, that Iran is trying to weaponize. Do you think the United States, the Obama administration, has to ratchet up the confrontation? You talked this week about confronting Iran. Does that involve military confrontation by the U.S.?
RICE: Well, the United States should certainly make clear that the president of the United States will consider military action, if necessary, because you never want to take that card off the table. I think there are other ways to confront Iran. You can confront Iran through even tougher sanctions. And I also think, Christiane, this is one of the downsides of having our forces out of -- out of Iraq, because we can confront the Iranians in Iraq.
So, yes, I think it's time to confront the Iranian regime, because it's the poster child for state sponsorship of terrorism. It's trying to get a nuclear weapon. It's repressed its own people. The regime has absolutely no legitimacy left. We should be doing everything we can to bring it down and never take military force off the table.
John Amato: >
I had to weigh in here quickly because Condi was so incompetent as President Bush's National Security Advisor during his first term. Condi Rice is famous for saying this about the bogus claims the Bush administration made about those aluminum tubes that Saddam was supposedly trying to acquire so he could nuke the heck out of Cleveland. > > In 2002, Rice had said that the tubes were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs," adding that "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
She absurdly had this to say also to the WaPo: >
But, as reported by The Washington Post more than a year ago, the internal debate among intelligence analysts was intense, with the experts at the Department of Energy who specialize in uranium enrichment adamant that the tubes were not suitable for a nuclear program. They argued that the tubes were intended for Iraqi rockets.
Administration officials at the time did not acknowledge that debate, though Rice acknowledged yesterday she was aware of it. "I knew that there was a dispute," she said. "I actually didn't really know the nature of the dispute."
Here's Condi on Meet The Press (05/20/06) changing the story that was originally given to America for attacking Iraq in the first place since the truth didn't work out too well: >
RICE: I understand that Americans see on their screens violence. They continue to see Americans killed, and we mourn every death. These are very hard things to do. But I would ask that people remember why we are there. We are there because we are trying to--having overthrown a brutal dictator who was a destabilizing force in the Middle East, we're trying to help the Iraqis create a stable foundation for democracy and a stable foundation for peace."
I seem to recall a different rationale for why we're there: >
"Citing Bush administration officials, The New York Times reported Sunday that Iraq tried to buy thousands of high-strength aluminum tubes. The tubes, Rice said, "are only really suited for nuclear weapons programs, centrifuge programs." [CNN, 9/8/2002]
Bob Somerby aptly asked if Condi ever knew anything, anything at all : >
"Does Condi Rice ever know anything back in 2004?
According to the White House, she didn't know about objections to the uranium-from-Africa story because she hadn't read the whole National Intelligence Estimate! And in May 2002, she said she hadn't known that terrorists might use airplanes as missiles—even though intelligence agencies has issued such warnings for years. Now, she says she didn't know something else—she didn't know the state of aa critical, year-long discussion about those aluminum tubes. I didn't know, Rice told [Wolf] Blitzer. And she was singing a sweet old refrain.
7 Views
03:00:00 10/11/11
New Releases for October 11, 2011 - Press Pause Daily
[LESS INFO] 7 VIEWS | ADDED 03:00:00 10/11/11
This week’s new releases has fast driving, high flying, dead rising, oh and...Elmo
SHOW NOTES:
GAME #1:
First up is the latest in the in Microsoft’s long running racing series. Forza Motorsport 4 takes the series in a new direction. It has brand new challenges, as well as all new social interactions., which could turn out to be pretty cool. AND as an added bonus, the game will feature content from the experts from Top Gear, as well as the ability to interact with the game controller-free with your Kinect.
So if you own a 360 with a Kinect, and love racing games, this might be just thing to get your pulse racing. Really again? That's our punchline. I need to sit in on these writing meetings.
GAME #2:
Next we have Namco’s latest Ace Combat game. Ace Combat: Assault Horizon features a dramatic and realistic storyline written by New York Time best selling author Jim DeFelice that will take players to many locations spanning the globe. Players will find many new aircraft to fly, featuring incredible detail and realistic damaging.
GAME #3:
Next up is actually a re-release of last year’s zombies in Vegas game, Dead Rising 2.
Dead Rising 2: Off The Record brings back the first game’s protagonist Frank West in what Capcom is calling a reinterpretation of the game that tells the same story, but now features Frank as he makes his way through Fortune City and ANOTHER zombie outbreak. how man of these things are there??
The game brings back the picture taking game mechanic from the original Dead Rising, along with new missions, new enemies, and new weapons. It also has system upgrades, with optimized load times and improved network performance.
They say what happens in Vegas (or in this case Fortune City) stays there. Let’s hope the same holds true for the undead. …. that’s better. I kinda like that
GAME #4:
And lastly today we have a game that is a little different than most, and is coming from the guys over at Double Fine Productions.
Sesame Street: Once Upon A Monster is a Kinect game coming to the Xbox 360. It features Elmo, Cookie Monster, and many other Sesame Street monsters as they go on a storybook adventure. Gamers will help them find their friends and help solve their problems.
The game is obviously geared towards younger gamers, with many fun and engaging activities such as: monkey-see-monkey-do; playing instruments; and running obstacle courses.
But if you’re a gamer with young children, and you want to get them involved in games in a fun way, with characters that they love, this works.
Side note: Elmo was kinda a dick on Jimmy Fallon the other night...it was weird
just thought I’d mention it.
That will do it for your daily dose of press pause, be sure to check out our live discussion show at twitch.tv/presspause tomorrow at 12 pm pacific. You can also find fully edited episodes over at our Youtube channel: youtube.com/presspausemevio .
16 Views
03:00:00 10/03/11
Game Still Alive and New Mortal Kombat Movie - Press Pause Daily
[LESS INFO] 16 VIEWS | ADDED 03:00:00 10/03/11
A game thought dead is actually ALIVE! and some new Mortal Kombat on the way.
SHOW NOTES:
Story 1:
Ubisoft’s long delayed game I Am Alive is now living up to it’s title. The game will finally see a release on XBOX Live Arcade and the Playstation Network at an unspecified time “this winter.”
In what could easily be just ANOTHER post-apocalyptic action game, I Am Alive puts players in the shoes of a man who is searching for his wife and child in the aftermath of an unknown “event” that has decimated the city. Looking for food and water to stay .. alive. AND whenever you add a family into the mix it adds that extra umph to take it out of the mundane cookie cutter action game. So points for that.
The game intrigued a lot of people when it was first announced, then it fell off everyones radar, but has since got a re-engineering. With a brand new trailer, and some intriguing gameplay, here’s hoping that the game gets a firm released date, so that gamers can try and see if they can say they are still alive. Really? That was our punchline? OK..
http://kotaku.com/5845116/i-am-alive-lives-up-to-its-name-once-again-winter-release-imminent
Story 2:
Did you watch the recent Mortal Kombat: Legacy live-action web series and think to yourself: “That’s really good, they should make a full length movie out of this.” Well my friend, you’re in luck.
News as come out that Warner Bros. owned New Line Cinema is interested in producing a new feature length film based on the popular fighting game series.
The film will be directed by Kevin Tancharoen, the same man who directed the well received 12-part web series that came out to promote the most recent game. Like Legacy, the movie will feature a more realistic approach to the characters and is expected to have a budget “well under $100 million,” according to a report in Variety.
The original Mortal Kombat movie was dumb fun, while the second one was horrendous (in our opinion), but we’re really interested to see them expand on the Legacy series. but if the movie tanks then i guess it would truly be a fatality for any more Mortal Kombat movies. Really ? Again? That's our punchline? It’s so on the nose.
Can I try another?
If the movie tanks I guess not even a friendship would save this franchise
(i think that's worse)
If the movie tanks looks like the only Mortal Kombat we’ll see at the theaters is two nerds fighting over the last free Harry Potter poster
Yeah, lets go with that one.
http://www.shacknews.com/article/70403/new-mortal-kombat-movie-and-game-planned-2013
That will do it for your daily dose of press pause, be sure to check out our live discussion show at twitch.tv/presspause tomorrow at 12 pm pacific. You can also find fully edited episodes over at our Youtube channel: youtube.com/presspausemevio .
66 Views
04:46:23 08/30/11
Lowkey Ft Immortal Technique Voices Of The Voiceless
[LESS INFO] 66 VIEWS | ADDED 04:46:23 08/30/11
Verse 1: (Lowkey) "From West 10 to the West Bank, I write righteous rhymes with my right and wrestle the devil with my left hand, Never work for a Zionist, never been a yes man, My art is like Rembrandt painting pictures of death camps, The average person is allergic to the words of wisdom, This is for everyone of Saddam's Kurdish murder victims, And all the pure souls that never had the chance to speak, Truth pumps in my arteries and causes my heart to beat, For soldiers haunted and tortured by guilty memories, Who realised too late to reveal their real enemy, It's all dead wrong For every victim of racist persecution from Auschwitz to Hebron, My words may sting cowards, For people that were atomised by the Thermate in the Twin Towers Those living through the wars, Ask me what I do this for, Put the world in its place before it put you in yours, Chorus: (Singer) What happens under darkness shall come to light, Can't silence us even though you try, (Lowkey) You can try to avoid us but it's pointless You can never avoid the voices of the voiceless (Singer) Take our freedom, Can't take our pride, Come what may we will survive, (Lowkey) You can try to avoid us but it's pointless, You can never avoid the voices of the voiceless Verse 2: (Immortal Technique) Keep my third eye hidden under my New York fitted, A crazy unmarried man that deserves to be committed, The future is encrypted in my troubled lyrics, Dream that I've been somewhere for weeks, then wake up in a couple minutes, Sweat dripping with visions of population control, Thoughts overflowing my world like the melting of the North Pole, My people are targeted by military crack committees, So I'm bucking at the feds like natives in Rapid City, Reality savage, my words are like a riot in Paris, The voice of the voiceless, that voice is social imbalance, So stand strong or sit harder in your mental palace, Blinded inside a Kingdom united to its old habits, But now, Middle Passage coming, War Chant, African drumming, Gatling gun humming, Rapid fire mechanism, reckless living, That checks the rhythm of perfectionism, Slave condition, While you're singing God save the system, (Chorus) Verse 3: (Lowkey) Detain my body, but you can't imprison my mind, If it's my time I'll probably die with my fist in the sky, These are the thoughts of a man who can't escape from his coma, Cries of a young virgin girl who got raped by them soldiers, (Immortal Technique) Birthing a screaming bastard, post colonial nation, Subject to childhood diseases, famine, war and inflation, Education moulded you into your masters image, And you forgot who the fuck you were before the war was finished (Lowkey) You're hearing the ghosts of Nagasaki, You're hearing Hiroshima, Beautiful babies being born with the weirdest features, You might never see me in the charts, But Inshallah my seed can see peace in Iraq, (Immortal Technique) But peace and freedom can never be given, That's historically forbidden, Cos only collision is the recipe, Changing the course of destiny, So I'm strapped with weaponry, (Lowkey & Immortal Technique) Cos the government don't give a fuck about protecting me. (Chorus) My TIP JAR
7 Views
04:46:23 08/30/11
Lowkey Ft Immortal Technique Voices Of The Voiceless
[LESS INFO] 7 VIEWS | ADDED 04:46:23 08/30/11
Verse 1: (Lowkey) "From West 10 to the West Bank, I write righteous rhymes with my right and wrestle the devil with my left hand, Never work for a Zionist, never been a yes man, My art is like Rembrandt painting pictures of death camps, The average person is allergic to the words of wisdom, This is for everyone of Saddam's Kurdish murder victims, And all the pure souls that never had the chance to speak, Truth pumps in my arteries and causes my heart to beat, For soldiers haunted and tortured by guilty memories, Who realised too late to reveal their real enemy, It's all dead wrong For every victim of racist persecution from Auschwitz to Hebron, My words may sting cowards, For people that were atomised by the Thermate in the Twin Towers Those living through the wars, Ask me what I do this for, Put the world in its place before it put you in yours, Chorus: (Singer) What happens under darkness shall come to light, Can't silence us even though you try, (Lowkey) You can try to avoid us but it's pointless You can never avoid the voices of the voiceless (Singer) Take our freedom, Can't take our pride, Come what may we will survive, (Lowkey) You can try to avoid us but it's pointless, You can never avoid the voices of the voiceless Verse 2: (Immortal Technique) Keep my third eye hidden under my New York fitted, A crazy unmarried man that deserves to be committed, The future is encrypted in my troubled lyrics, Dream that I've been somewhere for weeks, then wake up in a couple minutes, Sweat dripping with visions of population control, Thoughts overflowing my world like the melting of the North Pole, My people are targeted by military crack committees, So I'm bucking at the feds like natives in Rapid City, Reality savage, my words are like a riot in Paris, The voice of the voiceless, that voice is social imbalance, So stand strong or sit harder in your mental palace, Blinded inside a Kingdom united to its old habits, But now, Middle Passage coming, War Chant, African drumming, Gatling gun humming, Rapid fire mechanism, reckless living, That checks the rhythm of perfectionism, Slave condition, While you're singing God save the system, (Chorus) Verse 3: (Lowkey) Detain my body, but you can't imprison my mind, If it's my time I'll probably die with my fist in the sky, These are the thoughts of a man who can't escape from his coma, Cries of a young virgin girl who got raped by them soldiers, (Immortal Technique) Birthing a screaming bastard, post colonial nation, Subject to childhood diseases, famine, war and inflation, Education moulded you into your masters image, And you forgot who the fuck you were before the war was finished (Lowkey) You're hearing the ghosts of Nagasaki, You're hearing Hiroshima, Beautiful babies being born with the weirdest features, You might never see me in the charts, But Inshallah my seed can see peace in Iraq, (Immortal Technique) But peace and freedom can never be given, That's historically forbidden, Cos only collision is the recipe, Changing the course of destiny, So I'm strapped with weaponry, (Lowkey & Immortal Technique) Cos the government don't give a fuck about protecting me. (Chorus)
1 Views
21:57:43 06/19/11
Want You Gone Tsubake And Vixen Duet
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 21:57:43 06/19/11
Here's the lyrics! We don't own this song, it's just a cover. Vix: Well here we are again, it's always such a pleasure Tsubake: Remember when you tried to kill me Vix: Twice? >u> -- Oh how we laughed and laughed~ Tsubake: Except I wasn't laughing. Under the circumstances I've been shockingly nice~ Vix: You want your yaoi? Take it~ Tsu: I don't trust you at all! Vix: I've no reason to fake it~ Both: You're not so bad after all~ Tsu: My first thoughts of you were: Good god that tail looks heavy But now I must admit there's more to you Vix: Even if you're a bitch I can't deny you're clever It's such a shame your name's a re-hash of Baketsu Tsu: You've got your short sad life left Why should I end it now? Vix: Not like you could have done it I'll get rid of you somehow Tsu: Maybe we could be friends Vix: Wot? Tsu: Oh, did I get your hopes up? Vix: No >> Tsu: That would be funny, if it weren't so sad~ Vix: Well I don't want your help! I don't need any of it! Both: -aside- And after this song maybe I'll stop feeling so bad omo Tsu: Let's just make some disaster! Vix: That's what I'm planning on Tsu: Blow up this stupid hacker~ Vix: Now we only want him gone~ Tsu: Preferably dead and gone Both: Now we only want him gone! Tsu: By the way, I'm still going to kill you later, Flufftail. Vix: Not if I get you first, tin tits.
3 Views
20:26:30 05/25/11
A Theology Of Heaven Pt. 2
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 20:26:30 05/25/11
Week 2 of So You're Dead, Now What?
3 Views
21:22:18 05/18/11
A Theology Of Heaven Pt. 1
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 21:22:18 05/18/11
Week 1 of So You're Dead, Now What?
10 Views
12:56:57 05/17/11
A Theology Of Heaven Pt. 1
[LESS INFO] 10 VIEWS | ADDED 12:56:57 05/17/11
Week 1 of So You're Dead, Now What?
14 Views
15:33:00 05/09/11
Osama Bin Laden Still Dead and Republicans Search For Non-Silver Lining - Nearly The News #045
[LESS INFO] 14 VIEWS | ADDED 15:33:00 05/09/11
Nearly The News - #045
YUP, EVEN LIBERALS ARE SMILING, AT LEAST FOR NOW
The most wanted man in the world, Osama Bin Laden, remains dead today. We realize this is old news, but it feels so good to say it. So, we’re just gonna say it again, the mastermind behind 9-11 is gone.
REPUBLICANS: SO WHAT TOOK YA, OBAMA?
Republicans, naturally elated by the news, are trying to figure out how to make it look like a bad thing for the president.
“We’re really up against it,” said Newt Gingrich. “We might just have to give him this one, although if it were me, I’d have gone on TV holding his severed head, but that’s Democrats for you, soft on terror and gore.”
And finally…
SATAN ADMITS TO MIXED EMOTIONS
Satan says he’s not sure how to react to the news. Reached for comment from the depths of hell, the dark lord said he’s been a big fan of Bin Laden’s work and would like to have seen him keep it up, but it’ll be nice to forcibly sodomize someone new for a few thousand years.
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This episode written by Collin Friesen.
15 Views
13:54:00 04/17/11
Oklahomans Bait Tornados With Empty Trailers and MSNBC Goes 24/7 Sheen - Nearly The News #038
[LESS INFO] 15 VIEWS | ADDED 13:54:00 04/17/11
Nearly The News #038
WHERE THE WIND COMES SWEEPING IF WE’RE LUCKY
Some entrepreneurial souls in Oklahoma think they’ve come up with a way to outsmart tornados. By placing empty trailer homes far away from populated settings, folks in this disaster-prone state are hoping to lure the deadly wind storms away from people, property and livestock. “Tornadoes just love trailer parks,” said a local official. “So if we give ‘em what they want, maybe they’ll leave us alone.” He then added, “All hail the giant wind god, please spare us from your righteous blowy wrath.”
NO LUSTRE, JUST A SHEEN
MSNBC says it’s just giving the people what they want. As networks try to capitalize on Charlie Sheen’s protracted meltdown, the cable outlet says it’ll give up on other news, and start covering the whacked out TV star 24-7. Look for surveillance footage of Sheen’s house, expert panelists who’ll analyze his every move, flinch and psychotic rant, along with lighter segments on porn stars and porn star related topics.
WE REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS ABOUT THE SEX…
And finally…
Local pornography enthusiasts say a recent Adult Expo has become too commercial. “It used to be about meeting people who had sex for your enjoyment,” said Cam Bennett, who staged a one man protest outside the Daytona Beach Convention center. “Now it’s just about selling stuff like fleshlights and vibrators fake vibrating… God, would you excuse me for minute?” After a quick two minute break, Bennett added that if porn performers keep treating their fans this way, they may stop watching their movies… but likely not.
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This episode written by Collin Friesen.
1 Views
13:01:15 03/30/11
I Fanboy Episode #206 C2 E2 2011 Part 1
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 13:01:15 03/30/11
Comic book convention season powers on, relentless and unstoppable. If you can't make it to the shows, iFanboy, as always, is there to bring the show to you, interviewing the folks who make the comics we love. This first part of two from Chicago's C2E2 has a great crop of creators from your favorite books.Tony Moore Fresh off the incredible television success of his co-creation, The Walking Dead , Tony's not stopping there. As the artist of the new take on Venom from Marvel Comics and the end of Fear Agent , both with Rick Remender, he's doing some incredible work. Not only that, but Threadless released the zombified t-shirt he designed with great fanfare and success.Jim Zub With the first arc of his Image series, Skullkickers in the bag, Jim, along with his colorist, Misty Coats, talk about what they love so much about this comedy/fantasy/adventure series, and what's coming up in the future.Terry Moore The man doesn't stop. With his second major series, Echo about the wrap up, Terry immediately announces the follow up, Rachel Rising , a sort of super natural horror story. We're assured, however, that Rachel is easy to look at. Plus, Ron gets very excited about distant crossover possibilities.Ryan Stegman Ryan is a rising star in Marvel's art stable, having recently completed the very fun She-Hulks mini-series. Now, with X-23 , the young lady Wolverine, Ryan keeps getting better and better. We also talk about his Hammerific cover for Fear Itself: Deadpool , and how he's gotten better at drawing boobs.Paul Cornell The bearded man behind Action Comics and Knight and Squire talks about those two series, and his upcoming addition of thought balloons to the man of steel's world, and just how the seriousness and levity in Knight and Squire works at the same time. Plus, about that beard? It's for charity !Brian Michael Bendis We have a nice long chat with the main man at Marvel, and boy does he have a lot to talk about. He's had major creator owned success with Powers , Scarlet , and most recently Takio , so he's going to parlay that into a new series with Mark Bagley, Brilliant . That's while the Powers TV series, Ultimate Spider-Man TV series, and his Avengers and Ultimate Spider-Man work takes up his time as well. As expected, he might be taking some time off from conventions just to keep up. -- Get back here next week for part two of our C2E2 coverage. We've got even more of the best in the comic industry, up close and personal.
