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Thom ,
in your discussion of the Grround Zero community center/mosque you continually state that those of us who dont want it built are racists. Which race are we championing? Which race are we saying is inferior? I believe you are confused. Islam is a religion, not a race.
The problem with this "controversy" is that it's based on the official mythology about the events of 9/11. There is little evidence beyond the assertions of the US government that Osama Bin Laden was the real mastermind of the destruction of the WTC and the attack on the Pentagon. The actual evidence strongly supports the theory that internal demolition charges destroyed the WTC1, WTC2 and WTC7. And there is no evidence of the crash of AA 77 (a very large 757) into the Pentagon. The FBI confiscated all the area security tapes and has refused to release them This was clearly a sophisticated military operation quite beyond the capacities of non-state actors. Furthermore OBL was a CIA asset and as the fired and gagged FBI translator whistleblower Sibel Edmonds has finally revealed worked for the CIA right up to 9/11. At best the 19 rag-tag hijackers, who couldn't even fly a Cessna, (if they even really existed) were patsies. The constant demonization of Islam and Muslims and the new fear campaign about Mosques at ground zero by the religious right and others is nothing more than a continuation of the MSM generated hate campaign that allowed and justified the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and the mass murder and war crimes that resulted and continue to this day. Lastly I wish that Thom would STOP regurgitating the Official 9/11 Conspiracy Theory. He knows it's total BS but doesn't have the courage to admit it!
Afghanistan in three words:
http://cdn1.knowyourmeme.com/i/1383/original/Admiral-Ackbar-trap.jpg?1258588184
If you liked this book, read Cornered by Barry Lynn, and really get a detailed analysis of what has happened in our economy due to both sides not enforcing antitrust laws because the monopolists have taken control of our Congressmen. We have a corporate controlled government and no one seems to care..........................because they're getting low prices. I'm starting to hear working class Republicans starting to complain about the unemployment and soon they'll be with the rest of us, ready for real change.
We've got an excellent opportunity to launch an ecumenical movement that could go a long way towards combating the ideology that resulted in the attack on 911; we have a chance to reach out and turn the other cheek to establish dialogue that would assist understanding in mankind and other cultures...but once again we are going to blow it!
Trickle down is absolutely granting fealty to the wealthy; we sit like dogs under the dinner table hoping to get a scrap - to grovel for something the wealthy don't want. Such a deal!
American Conservative Union? I thought conservatives hated unions. The moment I heard Joe Sestak mention it I had to hop on.
re: "Give me Liberty or...584 channels"!
Clay Jenkinson of the Thomas Jefferson Hour said much the same. We have become complacent.
http://www.jeffersonhour.org/
Benjamin Franklin said "A Republic, if we can keep it".
re: #5: "Give me Liberty or...584 channels"!
I have read Ravi Batra's book The Golden Age, and believe he is correct in his assessment. But the trade deals made back in 1947 and 1948, GATT, started us down the road of Free Trade, and the draining of our manufacturing. By 1972 our Trade deficit started to get out of balanced, and wages started stagnating and downward. It was the beginning of the assault on the middle class and by the time 80's came, people were ready for change. But what they got was more of the same by Reagan because credit was made easy for the American people and the government. Deficits don't matter. .........................The warrior era is coming.........
thom,
Megachurches are built on Fort Campbell and Fort Hood military bases.
The ol' gut, feed phallus and hang trick eh. Those crazy Afgahns, they just love to make a show of their former leaders.
N
Hemp could be grown and used for fuel. Why not pay the Afghans to convert their poppy crops to hemp and buy it from them for use as ethanol until they build their own ethanol plant which we could help fund and do. Seems to me right now we're just building a military state by converting their use of AK47s to M16s so we can sell them our weapons. I have sent my Congressmen emails why we don't do something like this and got one reply back a couple of weeks ago.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." -- Buckminster Fuller
#21 Dan4Liberty Have you read (studied) Ravi Batra's book "Greenspan Fraud"? I believe the creation in jobs after Reagan introduced his tax structure was the increase in private debt (people using their homes as ATMs etc.). One of the key factors in my thinking is the statistic that the median (or average since they are about the same for the distribution of wages) wage tracked productivity until 1980. After the Reagan tax cuts wages flattened out.
I think the only solution to our economic woes is to roll back the Reagan tax cuts for those making more than 250K. To make our economy grow we should also roll back the Johnson/Kennedy tax cuts. I think this is the approach based on the work of Larry Beinhart.
FYI for Carey Lukas, the last time I was at Dillards, I asked the sales clerk if there were any clothes for sale that isn't made in China. She said no. Also I looked for Free the Racoon from Ben Nelson's Head and couldn't find it. As Nebraskans - we would love to join. Hi to Denny & Jan in Marysville, WA
Carrie Lucas is a Milton Friedman parrot. She read an economics book and now regurgitates the propaganda, but has never run a business. Typical working class elite Republican who thinks capitlism is for the rich not for the middle class. Liberty is not low everyday prices, but it is the right to open a business and not have it run out of business by transnational monopolies.
Rethinking the Afgahn economy.
Why do we support the poppy lords?
We could replace this production with a strong and vibrant local Afghan economy. The Afghans could be making rope, clothing, high quality papers, lubricants, and more. They only need to replace poppies with the very easy to grow and harvest hemp.
Hey we could do the very same here in the good ol' USA. Start creating local economies, making jobs, creating security: hemp is easy to grow requiring no chemicals, little water, and is easy to process into paper, clothing, and oils.
Local Economy vs. WalMart
Poor Sam Walton must be turning in his grave at how his American compnay has been corrupted.
Poor Carrie Lucas must be young giver her naivite about business and the effects of governmental regulations and 'monopolistic' behavior of our corportations.
In the 1980's I had a thriving small business with 13 employees. The invasion of Made in Taiwan and Pres. Reagn's change in the tax laws forced many a small mom and pop business to close their doors.I was paying $10-15.00 an hour in 1984, pretty good. I could afford to take care of all of my families needs. Today I work in customer service and make 20.00 an hour. Thank goodness my children are smart and motivated, they were able to put themselves through school. My wife now works, we are comfortable but have little extra money.
We avoid the chain stores, if possible, even though it costs more, because we feel stongly that that is the security and future of this country!
Poor Carrie needs to get out more and look at the consequences of havin gto buy forgien made products!
Is it racism to be against a particular religion? I can understand applying words such as prejudiced, supremacist, xenophobic, etc... but as I understand race is based on a groups' biological similarities, not their beliefs.
However, I do understand that the bottom line, Palin is wrapping herself into a blanket of fear and hate and is touting the comfort of it to others that cling to such warped idealism.
N
It’s not only free trade deals. In 1975 Gerald Ford passed the Consumers Goods Pricing Act, which started the ability of retailers and traders to control prices, and take the right of producers to control prices away. Later the Reagan administration stopped enforcing the Sherman antitrust act in 1981 and hasn’t been enforced since then, which if had been enforced in previous years we wouldn’t had needed the Pricing Act. The results of this have created monopolies that are controlling their sectors, as in Wal-Mart to Proctor and Gamble, keeping small companies from growing and creating jobs. From 1940 to 1998 we had a jobs growth of 20% every decade, and since then we have had 0% jobs growth every decade, but small businesses declined as the monopolies grew. Libertarians should be for the Sherman antitrust act and the second New Deal that stood up for the citizen’s rights to create small businesses that wouldn’t be monopolized reducing jobs growth, anther right to liberty, jobs.
Someday Wal-Mart will die off, for the .99 Cent Store Chain is much cheaper there. (You get what you pay for, but heck a dollar a piece, I'll just get five of them). By Carrie's reasoning it will be an even better world then.
N
I'll be happy to pay 5% more for my super mega TV if my wages are to be increased by 20%, hell that's a stupendous deal, I'd even pay 50% more for that same TV with my wage increased at 20%, I'm still making out like a bandit. So long as food and shelter price increases don't overcome my wage increase, I'm going to get wealthier. (So long as I don't go out and buy a new TV every year).
N
Carrie Lukas seems to be very adept at missing the point.
Thom keeps explaining how more smaller business means more jobs at higher pay.
Her answer, the people working for the big chains are just happy to have a job.
WTF, WTF, WTF.
She not only misses the point, her counter-point is even more infuriating. If there are more smaller business out there, there are more places to work and therefore a higher likelihood that I would be able to find I job I like, instead of I would like to find a job.
I think she's reasonabley intelligent, but in reality I think she gets such a pass at explaining her point of view to her side, she's effectively dumbed herself down. Just shows a complete lack of the practice of critical thinking on her part. Now I understand why Thom debates conservatives on a usual basis, it keeps his wits as sharp as a razor.
N
The GOP plan for America
Ever since Ronald Reagan lowered taxes for the wealthy and the corporations the tax burden has been shifted to the middle class. Republican anti-union efforts have also driven down wages. With declining revenues, they now claim that we can no longer afford Social Security and unemployment benefits. These are among our most important government programs as they benefit the vast majority of our citizens. With our trillion dollar annual military spending, this is their best idea for balancing the budget?