Its absolutely stupid that us Stoners are more than happy to throw 2+ billion dollars into our struggling Californian Economy and there are people here who are so close minded to other peoples wants and interests so they chose to pass on it. I'm still going to get high, legal or not, and anyone who voted no can go fuck themselves because all I wanted out of this was acceptance.]]>
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11781950]]>
http://www.scribd.com/doc/35374475/Perry-v...nconstitutional
For you non-US folk and cave-dwellers, prop-8 enacted a state law in California that banned same-sex marriage after the city of San Francisco legalized it.]]>
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/201...3151402507.html
well, "up to" $4m each week, but still:
QUOTE
According to a US military document, as much as $4m per week in US taxpayers' money could be ending up in the hands of the Taliban, via Afghan security firms who extort the money from transport contractors and then funnel the cash to the group.
Chris Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command, confirmed on Monday that an inquiry was under way, but said he would not provide details in order "to protect the integrity of the ongoing case".
The payments reportedly reach the Taliban through a $2.1bn Pentagon contract to transport food, water, fuel and ammunition to American troops stationed at bases across Afghanistan.
Chris Grey, a spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command, confirmed on Monday that an inquiry was under way, but said he would not provide details in order "to protect the integrity of the ongoing case".
The payments reportedly reach the Taliban through a $2.1bn Pentagon contract to transport food, water, fuel and ammunition to American troops stationed at bases across Afghanistan.
shit, give me $2m every week and i'll blow up any buildings you want me to]]>
He shouldn't criticize his sitting commander-in-chief and I hope he is fired. Mostly because he is doing a bad job of running the war (well at least Michael Yon says so). I don't really have time to read it yet but I also hope it gives an insight into how Obama is running things.]]>
QUOTE
NEW ORLEANS – Companies that ferry people and supplies to offshore oil rigs asked a federal judge Monday to lift a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects imposed in the aftermath of the massive Gulf spill.
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman heard two hours of arguments Monday and said he will decide by Wednesday whether to overturn the ban imposed by President Barack Obama's administration after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion.
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman heard two hours of arguments Monday and said he will decide by Wednesday whether to overturn the ban imposed by President Barack Obama's administration after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion.
QUOTE
Obama's administration has also been struggling to show it is responding forcefully to the spill. As part of that effort, the Interior Department halted the approval of any new permits for deepwater drilling and suspended drilling at 33 existing exploratory wells in the Gulf.
But a lawsuit filed by the Covington-based Hornbeck Offshore Services of Covington, La., claims the government arbitrarily imposed the moratorium without any proof that the operations posed a threat. Hornbeck says the moratorium could cost Louisiana thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in lost wages.
But a lawsuit filed by the Covington-based Hornbeck Offshore Services of Covington, La., claims the government arbitrarily imposed the moratorium without any proof that the operations posed a threat. Hornbeck says the moratorium could cost Louisiana thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in lost wages.
First, I doubt the lawsuit will work, but what is your opinion of the moratorium?
I think it's a terrible idea to force people to lose their stable jobs at a time when all the jobs possible are needed. And I will literally freak the hell out if BP's $20 billion fund is used to pay the workers who are not working because of this ban.]]>
From 75 million to up to 10 billion.
We have this wonderful federal law that said oil companies only have to pay a maximum of 75 million dollars in economic damages for the cost of their accidents.
BP has said they will pay all legitimate costs already, but they blamed the incident on Transoceanic who ran the platform.
Sucks hard for Louisiana... Sucks pretty hard for all of us here on the east coast. It's likely to fuck up the beaches a bit as far north as jersey.
/Drill, Baby, Drill]]>
WASHINGTON -- "Titanic" director and deep-sea expert James Cameron is saying the people who keep botching a fix to the Gulf oil spill are a bunch of "morons."
BP snubbed Cameron's offer to help plug the stubborn gusher that's become the worst environmental disaster in US history.
"Over the last few weeks I've watched . . . and [been] thinking, 'Those morons don't know what they're doing,' " he said.
He didn't say who in particular -- BP executives or Obama-administration officials -- he was calling "morons" in a speech Wednesday at the All Things Digital conference in Palos Verdes, Calif.
Cameron is a pioneer of undersea filming and remote-vehicle technologies, as well as director of "Avatar" and "Terminator 2." He huddled this week at the Washington headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency with top scientists brainstorming a solution to the unstoppable oil leak deep beneath the Gulf.
Cameron helped develop submersible equipment to film the wrecks of the real Titanic and the German battleship Bismark about two miles underwater.
Also I am wondering why they didn't just mostly crush the pipe with some new hydraulics. Then they could deal with the reduced flow much more easily.]]>
Norwegian on the boat: The IDF shot us with paintballs full of glass shards and then switched to rubber bullets and live ammunition. And they executed at least one of the passengers.
A "maybe the IDF fucked up" article.
An "IDF was totally right in every way" article.
And some humor.
]]>Much is not yet determined, but what is ... is upsetting.
Members shall give effect to the provisions of this Agreement. A Party may implement in its domestic law more extensive protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights than is required by this Agreement, provided that such protection and enforcement does not contravene the provisions of this Agreement.
-Page 2
This Agreement shall be without prejudice to provisions governing the availability, acquisition, scope, and maintenance of intellectual property rights contained in a Party’s law.
-Page 2
Each Party shall ensure that enforcement procedures, to the extent set forth in the civil and criminal enforcement sections of this Agreement, are available under its law so as to permit effective action against an act of [trademark, copyright or related rights][intellectual property rights] infringement which takes place [by means of the Internet][in the digital environment] , including expeditious remedies to prevent infringement and remedies which constitute a deterrent to further infringement.
-Page 18
So far it's agreed that domestic enforcement of copyright law has to at least meet some internationally agreed upon requirements.
And that those enforcement procedures shall include expeditious remedies to prevent infringement.
So far it sounds like this would give some of the participating countries the authority to straight turn of the warbls.
Sweet.]]>
That's not to say that British politicians are more nuts than US politicians, but the political structure is just absurd.
This makes reading about the recent British elections extremely enjoyable.
That is all.]]>
I do so hope that it is the onset of Alzheimer's. If not.... hooooo boy.]]>
I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service (of NOAA - the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I watched this while eating a breakfast of US Department of Agriculture inspected food.
At the appropriate time (as regulated by the US Congress and kept accurate by NIST - the National Institute of Standards and Technology - and the US Naval Observatory), I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads built by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve bank.
On the way out the door, I deposit any mail I have to send via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at public school.
After work, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to a house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
I then log on to the Internet (which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration) and post on FreeRepublic.COM and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the Government can't do anything right.]]>
I could be mistaken, but this is a real live human being that has been elected to major political office.
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"We aren't gonna play their game, we're not gonna pay their taxes. They want us to pay for this? Because we don't have to. We don't have to. We don't have to follow a bill that isn't law. That's not the American way, and that's not what we're going to do."
Bachmann continued. "Because it's one-party rule now in Washington, D.C. Their Chicago tactics, their Chicago friends, twisting Democrats' arms, threatening their own team members with ethics charges and a submission. This handful of people thinks they can enforce their will on 300 million Americans? They're not gonna do that. This is dictatorial, what they are doing. We are not compelled to follow a non-law just because Obama and Pelosi tells us we have to.
"If they pass the bill legitimately, then yes, we have to follow the law -- until we repeal it. But if they pass it illegitimately, then the bill is illegitimate, and we don't have to lay down for this. It's not difficult to figure out. So if for some reason they're able to get their votes this week and pass this 2,700-page Senate bill -- if they get it, trillions of dollars is what it's gonna cost, when we didn't vote on it, we need to tell them a message: That if they get away with this, they will be able to get away with anything -- with anything. And you can't say you voted on a bill when you didn't, because it's fraud. But we are not helpless here. We are not helpless, there are things that we can do."
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That is 15 lbs of crazy in a 3 lb sack.
/covered in sequins.]]>
NPR coverage
Personally I think the school was waaaay out of line here. The principal confronts the student with a picture taken from the webcam. Principal DENIES authorizing or using the webcam to obtain this photo? Hows that work?
Sorry school system, but the kid has a very solid case if you ask me. Can't wait till the Feds finish their investigation.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124043452]]>
For example, should the government promote an entrepreneurial spirit as an important value or should it just create a chance for equal opportunities so that if society considers it important then it will thrive? (By creating equal access the implicit value is that each person can pursue their happiness, but it is not explicit/a requirement to follow).
I ask this because I think it has changed my opinion on gay marriage. My original position was that gay couples should be given equal rights to married couples (in terms of benefits and having civil unions), but that they shouldn't be able have a state-sanctioned "marriage." My rationale was that government should be able to promote traditional marriage and the nuclear family as the fundamental building blocks of society. But wouldn't our Founders have trusted religion/society/culture to continue viewing traditional marriage as special instead of having our government treat it as special?
If the government is giving equal rights to gay couples except for the word "marriage" then the only purpose seems to be to promote traditional marriage. [In the past the government actually gave married couples more rights than gay couples and so it was actually doing something rather than just promoting an idea, even though I am not advocating going back to that].
It would be a totally different story if gay rights activists were trying to get religions to endorse their marriages, though.]]>
That said, I really don't know what to think about health care reform.
We need it. Badly. In a lot of ways and on a lot of fronts. But I reaaaaallly hate insurance companies, and if the plan to accomplish UHC involves them making more money (which it almost definitely will) I can't help but be a little more hesitant.]]>
We have all been slightly disenfranchised this week. How's that feel? Oh, and good luck running for anything in the future if you don't slob on the corporate knob. The Supreme Court of the United States, comprised of - theoretically - some of the wisest individuals on earth, has decided to bankrupt the country. Both fiscally and morally.]]>
I guess it was a different time and place in history?
She should be standing on here head and saying it now considering the situation today?
What are yalls thoughts on the speech?
I personally didn't think it was too bad. He did a good job of accepting some responsibility, as well as yelling at both parties and Congress in general. I didn't agree with everything he said, but then I don't think he really said a whole lot that was inflammatory. I wish he had touched on the NASA issue. I'm also not real big on the gays in the military portion of his speech.]]>
As a sidenote, and an attempt at deflection from criticism of my personal hero and the savior of us all Barack The Islamic Shock Hussein Super-allah Obama, I ask:
Can anybody find an article from FoxNEWS, just one, that even suggests that something Bush did was different than what he said? Maybe, "We weren't greeted as liberators." or "I thought you said there would be no nation building..."
You might have better luck with things like "where are the WMD's?" or "Didn't we call this torture as little as 10 years ago?"
And then we can all have a nice two-minutes hate about the Left-Wing media machine run by George Soros and Weather Underground.
Why?
Because this is the internet, dammit.]]>
Looks like the little people are going to get it?]]>
My personal estimates was that we are going down to 7500 before we level out. What do you all think?]]>
"Last night, President Obama laid out his plan to defend our national interest by refocusing our efforts on three clear goals: defeating al Qaeda, stabilizing Pakistan, and breaking the Taliban's momentum in Afghanistan.
To achieve these goals, the President has authorized the rapid deployment of 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan, with a firm commitment to begin bringing our troops home in 2011.
It's a clean break from the failed Afghanistan policy of the Bush administration, and a new, focused strategy that can succeed.
"
I fail to understand how putting troops into the middle east is any different that what Bush did, but sure, go ahead and tell us that you're going to take them out right around the time when you need to get elected again.]]>
No cheating, Dan.]]>
QUOTE
The presiding judge in the 9/11 terrorist attacks case at the Guantanamo detention facility granted a continuance in the case Wednesday, according to a military official close to the proceedings.
The action comes a day after President Obama directed Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ask prosecutors to seek stays in prosecutions for 120 days so that the cases of suspected terrorists at the facility can be reviewed.
The action comes a day after President Obama directed Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ask prosecutors to seek stays in prosecutions for 120 days so that the cases of suspected terrorists at the facility can be reviewed.
America : 1
Tyranny : 0]]>