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WATCH LIVE: Pres. Obama’s Speech on Afghanistan

This Republic’s life is not in peril. The nation has sold its honor for a phrase. It has swung itself loose from its safe anchorage and is drifting, its helm is in pirate hands. The stupid phrase needed help, and it got another one: “Even if the war be wrong we are in it and must fight it out: we cannot retire from it without dishonor.” Why, not even a burglar could have said it better. We cannot withdraw from this sordid raid because to grant peace to those little people on their terms–independence–would dishonor us. You have flung away Adam’s phrase–you should take it up and examine it again. He said, “An inglorious peace is better than a dishonorable war.”

~Mark Twain

» Posted By ADONAI On June 22, 2011 @ 6:41 pm

KQ, The U.S. Army is not a humanitarian branch. Their presence only makes things worse.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 22, 2011 @ 6:37 pm

Bring them all home. All of them. You could do it right now. No executive order needed, no Congressional approval. You just say it and it would be done. Do you really think LEAVING Afghanistan and Iraq would LOSE you the election? The soldiers have done far, far more than we should have ever asked of them. End it.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 22, 2011 @ 3:49 pm

The Professional Left and The Big Sam President

choice, First of all, there is no justice at play here. The day we began rounding up people indiscriminately and tossing them in a cage without charges or due process, justice left the equation. Now what yo have are a series of farces. You’re arguing for law and due process for people who have been denied it every step of the way and you’re calling me naive and unconscionable. I’m not the one imprisoning people for no reason.

I do no care if there are guilty men in there. It does not, DOES NOT justify the hundreds of innocents we have caged. And it never will. You wanna defend imperial practice, that’s fine. I will not. And as long as American citizens are spied on(which they are) and innocent men sit in a cage without a way to defend themselves(which they do), there is NOTHING Constitutional going on.

And the FBI told you everything was peachy with the “new” Patriot Act? Well, I’m sold. It’s not like they’ve ever given anyone reason to doubt their word every decade since they were formed. I cannot support Obama’s foreign policy. Any of it. It’s not Constitutional. I will not go as far to call you naive or without conscience. I know you aren’t. I just disagree.

And still, STILL there is no good excuse for extending the National Emergency Act. An act that makes all this “legal”. How much longer you thing they’re gonna keep that going? I just want one reason from Obama for extending it. Other than, “the terrorists are gonna get us”. And how do we know anything about what Obama is doing? After arguing transparency for his entire campaign, he has classified EVERYTHING dealing with these illegal programs. Declared his wiretapping program a national secret and hid everything. In fact, his lawyers have spent A LOT of time in courts since he became President trying to hide everything they are doing.

You wanna say he’s a good President? Fine. I agree. You wanna say he’s trying to do the right thing? I agree as well. But that was never the issue. The issue is that the American government has operated outside the Constitution for a decade now and, instead of ending it, Obama extended it. And that’s just the truth. These things actually happened. For good or bad. They happened.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 27, 2011 @ 12:10 pm

choice, You believe most of the people in GITMO are guilty. I believe most are innocent. I have reams of ACLU papers backing up my hypothesis. So let them go. Unless you too believe a majority are innocent, in which case you’re excusing something VERY unconstitutional. Well, it’s that either way. We locked up people with no due process. And we are still doing it.

And you keep saying you “know”. Do you work for the FBI? The DOJ? The White House? If not, how do you know?

And I;m not talking about things like looking for the word “muslim”. I;m talking about spying on American citizens the government BELIEVES are “terrorists”.

And my point still remains. He has done nothing to reign any of it in. Only expand and continue. But, again, the man’s the President. I get it. Just hope the next guy is just is “restrained” when he receives the same toolbox.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 26, 2011 @ 8:38 pm

choice, I have looked all this up. He extended the Patriot Act. He has done nothing to pull back on the extension of executive power, only extend it.

GITMO can close cause, guess what? We have a place to put them! Right back where we illegally arrested them.

The Justice Department, at Obama’s behest, argued in court for the continuation of ALL of Bush’s wiretapping programs. Obama may not use them(which i don’t believe) but he has done nothing to remove them. Again, this is all under the National Emergency Act which he extended September of last year.

But I’m not even tearing him down. I get ALL of his decisions. But to say they are “grounded in the Constitution” is nonsense. He’s a politician. And he has a very difficult job.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 26, 2011 @ 5:18 pm

I wouldn’t call Obama Constitutionally grounded. He’s extended Bush’s illegal wiretapping to levels maybe even Cheney didn’t think of. And I still haven’t heard a rational reason for holding a thousand people in a cage in Cuba. And we still toss people in prison for as long as we want without even charging them. He has taken no steps to dial back or even contradict Bush’s unwarranted use of signing statements. When the Patriot Act extension came across his desk, instead of saying “This is clearly illegal on so many levels”, he extended it.

Bush gained way too much power under the National Emergency Act. This was that “extension of executive power” that so many people got super pissed about. Did yo know it’s still in affect? 10 years later. Of course Bush kept extending it. Why the Hell not? But I really don’t understand last year’s extension.

So, yeah, he’s a good politician and better than the last guy(that’s really saying a lot), but let’s not get carried away. First and foremost, he’s a politician. He will do what they do til we tell him no.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 26, 2011 @ 4:55 pm

You should ALWAYS question authority. It is your DUTY to decide on your own what is the best way. Your RIGHT to speak your mind. I have no doubt in my mind Olbermann supports the President and will vote for him again. Just as I have no doubt he is a man with his own opinions. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the Oval Office. I have a ton of ideas myself on what the President SHOULD have said. I agree Olbermann’s an arrogant S.O.B. but an S.O.B. entitled to his opinion and with a right and duty to voice it.

I can’t believe I just defended Keith Olbermann. I feel dirty.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 25, 2011 @ 4:31 pm

Watch Current TV or We’ll Burn This Flag!

Thanks Brodie! I will do that.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 21, 2011 @ 5:45 pm

I’ve been a regular visitor to their website for years but I currently have no way to access their channel on the ol’ boob tube. If it runs on the interwebs too, I will do my best to add to their ratings.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 21, 2011 @ 4:26 pm

Well, I don’t care if a flag gets burnt but I do care about unfiltered news.

True, I don’t really like Keith Olbermann but maybe most of that had to do with MSNBC. I’ll give it a shot. Sounds interesting.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 21, 2011 @ 2:41 pm

The Daily Planet, Vol. One Hundred

Congrats on issue 100. Here’s to 100 more.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 21, 2011 @ 3:42 pm

It will only get worse.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 21, 2011 @ 1:44 pm

1.)The people in the Wal – Mart case should not give up. Nothing worth doing is ever easy.

2.)Can we change the line in the anthem from “land of the free” to “land of the straight, white, male”?

3.)I’m always weary about asking “What would the Founders have done?”. I don’t think even they knew half the time. My view of the Constitution is that there is no solid view. It’s not a scared document or something written in stone. It’s the best gift they gave us. A completely flexible, amendable document that allows us to make our own destiny. Stop asking how they would have handled it and decide how we are going to handle it. THAT’S what they intended.

4.) Goddamn hippies.

5.)I’m not shocked by the decline of oceans. People have been short selling it for a while now. It’s absolutely worse than they are telling you. We’re still trying to replace fossil fuels but we’ve already moved WELL beyond that point as far as damage goes. Oh well.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 21, 2011 @ 12:47 pm

Tea Party summer camp: Indoctrination for kids?

choice – Again, they’re 8 -12 years old. I doubt much of it will stick.

Most radical conservatives are turned that way in college. The rest just wind up slightly misinformed or a little racist.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 21, 2011 @ 11:48 am

For $15 it’s a great place to dump the kids for awhile.

Indoctrinating? I doubt any of these 8-12 year olds will remember much of what was said once they return to their X-Boxes.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 20, 2011 @ 8:25 pm

King of Kings

HA!

» Posted By ADONAI On August 14, 2011 @ 3:29 pm

Thank you Em! I like to share my love of history! 🙂

» Posted By ADONAI On August 13, 2011 @ 1:22 pm

jkk, There is really no precedent for Cyrus’ benevolent rule. It could be his back story. If he were raised as a common man for many years, he could have developed a humbleness and respect that only comes from being on the bottom. No matter the reason he was a rarity in his time. Also, he was no dummy. One man cannot run something of that size. You need people you can trust and you need to delegate responsibility. I think he also learned a lot about what not to do after seeing he pathetic shape Babylon was in.

His empire, at it’s height, was about 1 million square miles. A ridiculous amount of land. A little smaller than Alexandr’s empire but it lasted far longer. If Xerxes hadn’t been such a fuck up, I ran might be the dominant nation in the world today. Alexander would have never taken control of the Persia Cyrus left behind.

» Posted By ADONAI On August 13, 2011 @ 1:21 pm

I totally understand why they still celebrate him. He was a true leader and did more public works than any king I can think of right off hand. A bright star not just to Persia but the world.

» Posted By ADONAI On August 13, 2011 @ 1:12 pm

Joan Walsh: Twisted Sister Punches Down

Who is Joan Walsh? I don’t mean to be facetious, I just don’t think I’ve ever heard of her. Admittedly I don’t watch a lot of cable news but will her loss affect the President very much? Is she much of an organizer or campaigner?

» Posted By ADONAI On June 20, 2011 @ 3:45 pm

….. on the “BitTorrent” issue…

yep. They thought it was serious with every other medium too. But it’s not.

And, again, it doesn’t matter. There is nothing they can do about it. File sharing will only become more prominent not less.

You wanna give the government a front door entrance to regulate the internet? I sure as Hell don’t. Support them all you want. But, believe me, they don’t give a shit about you or the artists.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 20, 2011 @ 3:02 pm

These aren’t inventions. There are no patents here. Many artists have no problem what so ever with file sharing. Only record companies.

Until the day actual musicians and film makers come out in unison to decry the “theft” of their “property”, I won’t lose a bit of sleep over the loss of a fraction of their revenue.

But this argument is meaningless anyways. And I totally get your side. It just doesn’t matter. There is NOTHING anyone can do about it. Musicians are gonna have to go back to the old days of relying on touring, filmmakers will have to actually make good movies people would pay to see.

But it will all balance out too and you’ll hear the complaining go down. The “doom” of artists has been sounded before. You think this is the only time the MPAA and RIAA have cried foul over a loss of some of their profit? No.

They went crazy over the cassette tape and the VCR as well. Same thing too. We’ll lose money, pirating will cripple our industry, blah blah blah. Turns out the tech made them more money than they ever would have made without it. This will pass as well. It’s following the same pattern. Creation, adoption, fear, panic, aggression, then hopefully acceptance.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 20, 2011 @ 1:32 pm

Oh man, where to begin.

You’re defending the RIAA?! Really?!

You think this is just about torrent sites? No. That’s just their in card. Next is Youtube, DailyMotion, and any other public file sharing site.

Do you know how record contracts work? The artists don’t work on a salary or an hourly wage. Regardless, they are WELL compensated. And then you want me to feel sorry for a record company? Sorry. I guess they’ll just have to put emeralds around their Olympic sized swimming pool instead of rubies. Jesus Christ! I can’t believe you’re defending these soul sucking vultures!

You know who doesn’t hate torrents? The dozens of bands who signed REAL RECORD CONTRACTS after distributing their music online. I’m sure they’d see this a different way.

And the MPAA can kiss the fattest part of my ass. $12 to watch your shitty movie? No thanks. I can see some bullshit and self deception going on here but I don’t think it’s from the side you think it’s from. Hey, I illegally downloaded Kung Fu Panda 2 the pther day. Angelina Jolie must be devastated. No, wait. She still got paid, the movie made a fortune, and no one cares but some greedy fucks on top. Well, I guess that is cause to legislate the internet. Insanely rich people possibly being only slightly less rich.

But the MPAA and the RIAA are fighting a losing battle anyways. The closer we move to “the cloud” the less control they will have over their “creative properties”. Digital file sharing will only become more prominent, not less. And only complete government control will provide anywhere near the security they may want. So that’s something to look forward to, right?

And the ICC? A conglomerate of super rich businessmen who only care about the most profit they can possibly accumulate?! And THEY WANT TO CALL ME A THIEF!? FUCK THEM!

Internet is the best thing to ever happen to poor people. You think these people are trying to protect you? To help the economy or that they’re worried about their artists? Wake up dude. You’re fighting a battle that doesn’t need you. For people who fucking hate you.

But, hey, we all do what we have to do I guess.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 18, 2011 @ 12:54 pm

Why You Don’t Know What You’re Talking About

KT – That is pretty much it in a nutshell right now. The brain is weird though and we hardly know anything about it.

The “mind’s eye” fascinates me more than it does some people. The fact you can not only project thought but also images that you can “see” but aren’t really seeing.I think people take it for granted, thinking:”of course the brain can do that.”. But that’s such a blase attitude to have about something like that.

We use to think the brain couldn’t fix itself. Once damage was done it was permanent. Now we think that might not be the case. We use to think the brain was incapable of higher functions without our consciousness present. Now we’re not so sure.

It prompts us to flee when we’re in danger. Eat when we are hungry. The “feeling” of hunger? Caused by the brain. It causes pain to tell us we are hurt and can even suppress it to keep us going. You are obviously familiar with the Buddhist monks. They have achieved a relationship with the mind few people have. Instead of the brain telling them when to feel pain, they tell it. Quite an accomplishment. One mastered through years of discipline. Pain is a safety function though and, in high alert situations, even the monks are overridden.

Can we separate ourselves from our brains? Probably. But it’d be difficult. Your mind is constantly creating new pathways and rerouting others. We all have basically the same brain but unique wiring. Whatever “vessel” I transferred myself to would have to be just as unique and tailored as me. We just don’t have any computers right now that are this complex.

The mind recognizes and influences time. The very real perception that time speeds up the older you get is caused by your brain. If you were immortal, time would continue to speed up to a point that you couldn’t recognize the world. And your memories. The brain can only store so much. It’s a lot, but it still has a limit. Once you reach your capacity, the mind simply overwrites old info with new info. You don’t “forget” things because forgotten memories can be recovered. There are gone forever. Overwritten and no longer in your brain.

And I’m seriously rambling now. Sorry. But yeah I think I agree with you. It’s two parts that make a whole. It’s just disturbing how little we really know about either. It’s a lump of sugar and protein sitting in your skull and we have very few answers about it.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 19, 2011 @ 9:03 pm

You too Kalima. Enjoy. I believe I get where you’re coming from. Sorry it took me so long to spot it.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 18, 2011 @ 3:49 pm

Kalima, We are discussing the same thing. You just seem to miss the point I’m making.

You say you KNOW it’s you. You say you CONTROL your thoughts. Modern science seems to disagree with you. Now, granted, most of the time your conscious mind is in control. You OWN you. But, until we learn a little more about what is going on up there, you can’t ALWAYS be sure. You don’t really know how much control your subconscious mind really has. No one does. There are many theories but they are still being studied.

It’s a complex system. When I say no one knows exactly how the brain works, I mean just that. Human consciousness is still a mystery with riddles to be solved. True you are a product of your environment and your “upbringing” but how much does that influence what we think and feel? We’re still answering those questions.

When I say “you don’t know what you are talking about” I don’t mean you are stupid or ignorant, just that you may not “know” what you’re talking about. Knowledge. What that means, what it is.

It has nothing to do with what is said. More about why it is said. The “other self” isn’t a product or some psychosis, it’s you. You are many different parts that make a whole.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 18, 2011 @ 3:07 pm

HA! Good stuff Sally. The idea to write this came to me yesterday while I was stoned out of my mind, contemplating an episode of The Simpsons. I shit you not.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 18, 2011 @ 1:59 pm

Kalima, Indeed we do have time to think before we speak. But, during this time, while your compiling what you want to say, how much control does your subconscious mind have over it? Yes, they’re your words, but who gets credit for them? You, or the other you? It is hard to tell. Remember, you THINK you know it’s you. But what controls that thought?

» Posted By ADONAI On June 18, 2011 @ 1:20 pm

The Weekend Music Thread – Water

अच्छी चीजें यद्यपि

I love India but they are just so over the top sometimes I have to chuckle.

» Posted By ADONAI On June 18, 2011 @ 2:02 pm