Daily Topics - Thursday January 7th 2010
By Louise
Quote: “Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” --- Ernest Hemingway
Hour One Congressman Ron Paul www.house.gov/paul How can we get Republicans to stop war and fear-mongering?
Hour Two Are Republicans going to end marriage as we know it? with Republican State Rep. Sally Kern who has introduced legislation to outlaw divorce
Also: Would there be a $1.5 trillion increase in GDP if undocumented immigrants are legalized?
Hour Three - Is the theme of Avatar really to kill all humans and especially the pro-American capitalist humans? Dr. Ted Baehr, chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission www.movieguide.org
Geeky Science Rocks - the magic power of mushrooms!
Comments
#2
Jack!!! bully for you !!!
#3
I can only assume that Texas hates the Internet and that so many kids are growing up knowing that they can research any question they have on it instantly.
#4
What a wonderful group of human beings belong to the Thom Hartmann community. You give me hope.
#5
Turning Lemons Into Lemonade in The Northland:
H2-oh wow
Minnesotans have discovered a wintertime thrill: Throw boiling water into the air and watch it freeze before it hits the ground. Indeed, in an instant, it explodes into a cloud of steamy vapor that rains frozen pellets onto the ground.
Here's why: Hot water changes into a gas faster than cold water. Boiling water thrown into subzero air breaks into tiny droplets of water, very quickly. Because they are so small, they instantly freeze in the frigid air, and drop to the ground as ice.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/style/80810502.html?elr=KArks7PYDia...
#6
Got you! @River
I searched high and low for opinions from others with a disability, found nothing but criticism.
horrid! of course this was a vital message!
While I do think a critical eye is necessary, I’d rather give some credit for the use of disability as way to drive the plot.
yes, and what about the word PANDORA- as in Pandora's Box?
It’s too easy to criticize Cameron for using an able-bodied actor, for using abelist slurs (meals on wheels…), and believe it or not, for promoting the need for a cure, rather than seeing the unconventional use of disability as a plot device.
Ah- ! consider joining the Avatar on Facebook!
#7
Highly Recommend:
Yesterday Gerald Socha posted a link to a wonderful 2-part discussion: Capitalism Hits the Fan. Per Gerald's post: "We are not in a financial crisis; we are in a capitalism crisis."
Thom has talked about much of this. However, this is a far-reaching, succinct presentation worth hearing (and passing on to others):
http://www.rdwolff.com/content/psychology-and-economy-discussion-brecht-...
#8
I copied and pasted this from the review on the Dr. Baehr website:
sexual content includes allusions of sex between partially clad aliens and hints of bestiality with animals and sentient aliens establishing physical and mental connections that are like a spiritual, almost sexual “high”; some upper female nudity on aliens, 10-foot-tall humanoid creatures nearly naked throughout the movie, with partially nude breasts and partial upper nudity, very thin alien clothing, upper and human male nudity; brief alcohol use; smoking and implied drug references; and, greed and exploitation rebuked, and movie promotes an anti-human, reverse racist ideology.
Boy, he must have been seeing something I didn't. Maybe it's the 3-D glasses. He obviously was paying a little more attention to the alien bodies than I was. You'd have to really be looking for some alien Hooters to catch a nipple shot. The sad part is that even with his supposed training, he apparently refuses to recognize how his own views influence his perceptions, and instead tries to suggest that the way he looks at things is the objective or perhaps only way. Doc, I'm trained in cognitive therapy, and it's a basic premise that there is always more than one way to look at anything. You have every right to look at it any way you want, but no matter what your credentials, when you refuse to acknowledge the role your personal views/beliefs play in your personal perception, and try to present your perception not only as reality, but the only reality, you're way off base. Of course, that's something conservative talkers do every day on the public air waves and blogs all across America, and largely why they disturb themselves so much unnecessarily about Obama and a whole lot of other things that are largely a figment of their imaginations. Perception is not reality Doc. Some folks just think it is, and try to convince others it is.
#9
Another copy and paste from the good Doc's review:
human capitalists are presented as greedy, merciless thugs abusing the creatures and landscape of another planet
Heck, that just makes it non-fiction. And we didn't need to go to an imaginary planet to see examples of that. Plus I could have saved $10
#10
Richard Wolff gave an excellent talk on, “Capitalism hits the fan.” Our economic crisis is not financial, temporary, or quickly fixable. WW II brought us out of the 1929 depression. From 1820 to 1970 every decade saw rising wages. We had a regular rise in our standard of living. A successful life was within reach. We are a society of consumption. Real wages stopped rising in 1970. Americans have not come to grips with this fact.
What stopped this rise in wages, starting in 1070? The computer took the place of people; we are not the only competitor. Other countries have started to build better products. If you cannot beat them, you join them. We started to export jobs. Women were now in the economy. We had a wave of immigration into our country. People from other countries came looking for jobs.
What did the people do to acquire more money? They started to work 20% more than any other worker in the world. Americans were working longer and harder hours for less money. Other workers in foreign countries work 20% less. Starting in 1970 Americans went on a borrowing binge. Americans bought into using credit cards. Home mortgage payments helped to produce the debt. Credit cards were extremely helpful with the borrowing binge. Americans are exhausted, anxious, and stressed out. This problem is not a temporary. Americans work more and they are paid less money.
Businesses started to increase their profits on the backs of American workers. Businesses loved it. CEOs gave themselves millions of dollars in wages and bonuses. Businesses merged to gain more profits. The banks and the large companies no longer gave raises to the employees.
Businesses started to lend money to the employees with high interest rates. GMAC lends money to the employees. GMAC is a bank. It is very profitable to push debt on Americans. Boom and bust come into play with our financial and lending systems. The current stock market dropped in proportion to the Great Depression. We now have collapsed bubbles.
Re-regulations will not work. Reagan brought deregulations. Do we need to deregulate? Business boards of directors worked to defeat regulations. Today, the boards did defeat regulations. Business boards have incentives to defeat regulations. Re-regulation will not work because employers and employees are in conflict. The people who work for a business should have a say in production. Everyone is equal. You work Monday through Thursday. Friday should be a meeting day to resolve and work on production and helping the company. Capitalism is the crisis. We have to deal with exhausted, anxious, and stressed out workers.
Richard Wolff gave an excellent talk. Our financial system will not permit cooperation because employers will have to give up power and their huge wages and huge bonuses. Employers will work against giving up their power, huge wages, and huge bonuses.
#11
Here is a documentary on the USA being a superpower and it is an important read. The documentary is somewhat lengthy but it is filled with good information.
The National Security Act was passed in 1947 and it created the CIA.
We use national security as a way to attack and overthrow countries and their governments. We use chemical weapons and warfare as a common practice. The CIA is set up to overthrow governments. The USA does not follow international laws. The USA likes puppet governments under our control. We are creating numerous wars since WW II but we do not say these are wars. We call them spreading democracy, protecting people in other countries, peacemaking exercises, etc. The USA seeks to be an empire and controlling the entire planet.
The USA is a cold-blooded nation where we kill human beings at will. For our government the killing of human beings is totally acceptable. We now fight wars with private contractors and security forces. We do not need our military forces to fight wars. We are out to control all the oil, natural gas, and natural resources on our planet. Trillions of dollars are missing and funneled to private contractors and security forces. These dollars are taxpayer dollars. Our tax dollars are paying for criminal activities. Companies, like KBR, Halliburton, and Bechtel, are committing treasonous acts. Cheney and his wife helped these companies to commit treason while he was the vice-president.
NATO is a cold war organization. NATO perpetuates the cold war fears.
The USA controls the sales of weaponry around the world. We do not have natural enemies; we create our enemies so we can invade another country. We involve our military forces in another country’s civil war. We invade another country to takeover their natural resources.
Economic sanctions hurt Americans and American taxpayers. We initiate economic sanctions as a prelude to attacking another country. The USA invents reasons for going to war. We lie about other countries in order to justify wars. We also start wars to establish military bases. We have at least seven hundred fifty bases in the USA and around the world. We are heading toward economic bankruptcy. We are going to invade Iran because Iran desires to be paid in Euros and not American dollars. If Saudi Arabia or China converted to the Euro, the USA would have to declare bankruptcy.
The USA is not interested in spreading democracy. The American government has created gulags to imprison any person we want to imprison. The CIA uses rendition to kidnap persons to imprison them. In these prisons the USA abuses and terrorizes prisoners. The president will say national security in order to protect himself against crimes of humanity. He uses the words, national security, and he becomes above the law. No court on earth can prosecute him for criminal acts, like murders and torture.
We want to believe our government but we cannot believe in our government. Our government lies to us. We create false flags or deceptions to justify attacking another country. We seek to attack Iran. We desire to have the Middle East live in chaos. The dominate ruler sets the rules. Since the USA is the dominate ruler, we set all the rules to justify our actions, behaviors, and deeds.
America creates high interest rates to stifle economic growth. Americans cannot pay these high interest rates and our economy is stifled. America also stifles other countries through interest rates. Transnational corporations control governments. We do not have regulations to control rampant globalization that is destroying many countries.
9/11 was an inside job. Project for a New American Century desires to have the USA control the entire planet. There is a belief that Osama bin Laden was killed in December, 2001 or 2002 with the second attack on Bora Bora (spell).
Our government wants Americans to believe that their intentions are good. Even if we have to kill people and our intentions are good for killing human beings, then the killing of human beings is acceptable and good. The American government creates violence in America or in other countries to control the people.
America is one huge military-industrial complex. The Pentagon is controlling our government and people. Americans are giving up their freedoms and rights. Once you give up your freedoms and rights, these freedoms and rights will never return to the people. America is a terrorist country. The Patriot Act was written in advance long before 9/11. We created the antrax (spell) scare. Our constitution no longer applies to protect Americans. We take away our freedoms and rights based on fear and use the excuse that our freedoms and rights are being taken away for our safety and security. Chalmers Johnson says we are an evil empire. Our constitutional system is no longer evident in our country; our checks and balances in our constitution does not apply today.
We are an evil people under the control of our government. Our CIA is involved in many covert activities around the world. Our wars are lasting longer and longer. The Vietnam War lasted eight years. The Afghanistan War started in 2001 and there is no light at the end of the tunnel to this war. There is talk that the Afghanistan War will last at least thirty years.
Good Night!
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Hello All
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With His Holiness The Dalai Lama, at His home in Dharamsala, India (Synthesis Dialogues - made into a movie narrated by Harrison Ford)
At Mondragon - both the mountain and the cooperative city - in Spain (written about in "Threshold" book)
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@KMH your statement about writing a comic is just chocked full of implications.