He saw in the Christian Right, long before we did, disturbing similarities with the German Christian Church and the Nazi Party, similarities that he said would, in the event of prolonged social instability or a national crisis, see American fascists, under the guise of religion, rise to dismantle the open society. He despaired of liberals, who he said, as in Nazi Germany, mouthed silly platitudes about dialogue and inclusiveness that made them ineffectual and impotent. Liberals, he said, did not understand the power and allure of evil nor the cold reality of how the world worked. The current hand wringing by Democrats in the wake of the election, with many asking how they can reach out to a movement whose leaders brand them "demonic" and "satanic," would not have surprised Adams . Like Bonhoeffer, he did not believe that those who would fight effectively in coming times of turmoil, a fight that for him was an integral part of the Biblical message, would come from the church or the liberal, secular elite.

Let us conclude. The Israeli people are America’s friends and have a right to peace and secure borders. We should help them secure these rights. As a nation, we have made a moral commitment, endorsed by half a dozen presidents, which Americans wish to honor, not to permit these people who have suffered much to see their country overrun and destroyed. And we must honor this commitment.But U.S. and Israeli interests are not identical. They often collide, and when they do, U.S. interests must prevail. Moreover, we do not view the Sharon regime as “America’s best friend.”Since the time of Ben Gurion, the behavior of the Israeli regime has been Jekyll and Hyde. In the 1950s, its intelligence service, the Mossad, had agents in Egypt blow up U.S. installations to make it appear the work of Cairo, to destroy U.S. relations with the new Nasser government. During the Six Day War, Israel ordered repeated attacks on the undefended USS Liberty that killed 34 American sailors and wounded 171 and included the machine-gunning of life rafts. This massacre was neither investigated nor punished by the U.S. government in an act of national cravenness.

For immediate proof, turn on the television. Locate a reality show on Bravo or MTV. The "Real Housewives of Orange County" and their real children are halfway through a marathon of placating and whining. "The Hills" and "Newport Harbor" are stocked with people who expect to be treated with a disproportionate amount of respect, lest they erupt in a raging meltdown. We watch these shows in horror, with a judgmental eye on their cast members, but how different are we from them? In real life, we want what we want and we want it now. No delay. No aggravation. No hassle, pain-free, our way, right away. We're a highly technical society in a land of plenty. We place a premium on efficiency and convenience. Tiny annoyances and inconveniences foul our moods and affect our behaviors. Why? And how can we get past these trivialities?

For far too long I've sat idly by, twiddling my thumbs and respecting the right of others to form thoughts and opinions independent of my own, and I can't take it anymore. I've got to speak up about the many things that annoy me or I'm going to go crazy. Take these new credit cards with the microchips in them, for instance. Man, those things really get my goat—trying to improve a device that was working perfectly fine as it was. Even worse are those wrappers on CDs that take forever to open. But you know what I hate the most? The one thing that makes my blood boil whenever I see it? Anything beyond my mental capacity, that's what. God, all the people, places, and things I haven't made the least bit of effort to comprehend should just die already.

1 Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory, or ideology, even Buddhist ones. Buddhist systems of thought are guiding means; they are not absolute truth.

2 Do not think the knowledge you presently possess is changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow minded and bound to present views. Learn and practice nonattachment from views in order to be open to receive others' viewpoints. Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge. Be ready to learn throughout your entire life and to observe reality in yourself and in the world at all times.

3 Do not force others, including children, by any means whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat, money, propaganda, or even education. However, through compassionate dialogue, help others renounce fanaticism and narrow-mindedness.

4 Do not avoid suffering or close your eyes before suffering. Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering, including personal contact, visits, images and sounds. By such means, awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the world.

5 Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need.

The foreign exchange markets are not solely about exchange rates. They are about values, smooth flowing of international trade, about trust and reliability. The sight of the $ falling over a long period of time, with bounces and recoveries that don't change the downward trend is far more than simply a drop in value!The $ is steadily weakening, but more than a drop in the $' international value is happening here. The loss of confidence is in the $ is accelerating each time it slips one or more percent on a persistent basis, with small short recoveries being seen in the midst of this decline. How important is this loss of confidence? Critical for it precedes policies, which long-term will lessen the role of the $ to one of the world's top 5 currencies.Growing surplus holders don't want to dump the $ for fear of losing value in the remaining ones in their portfolio, but don't think that a dumping of the $ is what it will take to remove it from the position of principal global currency. All realize that it is the knowledge of the declining value of the $ that will bring on a major toppling of that currency. So it is a choice of a steady ‘controlled' fall or a steep decline to disaster. To get perspective on the global scene what is the thinking out there?

You ignored the nice guy. You used him for emotional intimacy without reciprocating, in kind, with physical intimacy. You laughed at his consideration and resented his devotion. You valued the aloof boyfriend more than the attentive "just-a-" friend. Eventually, he took the hint and moved on with his life. He probably came to realize, one day, that women aren't really attracted to guys who hold doors open; or make dinners just because; or buy you a Christmas gift that you mentioned, in passing, that you really wanted five months ago; or listen when you're upset; or hold you when you cry. He came to realize that, if he wanted a woman like you, he'd have to act more like the boyfriend that you had. He probably cleaned up his look, started making some money, and generally acted like more of an asshole than he ever wanted to be.

What's wrong with Nice Guys? The biggest problem is that most Nice Guys (tm) are hideously insecure. They are so anxious to be liked and loved that they do things for other people to gain acceptance and attention, rather than for the simply pleasure of giving. You never know if a Nice Guy really likes you for who you are, or if he has glommed onto you out of desperation because you actually paid some kind of attention to him.

Many contend that Ron Paul, although an honest, plain-talking man, comes to the 2008 presidential campaign podium without a lot of achievement. While in office, he hasn’t steer-headed proposed legislation into law, or galvanized broad-based support for this national agenda or that, or even been on board with most post-911 bills and actions. For almost twenty years, he’s been a dedicated representative for his Texas District and has not a potpourri of achievements about which to boast on the presidential campaign trail. Is this exactly true? How could someone serve for so long, and have so little to show for it? Ron Paul, like Ling, is a great truth-teller. His voting record is one of the most consistent this writer has ever seen. No flip-flops are to be found. As well, he is a courageous and wise man, and a heck of an economist. Just ask the Wall Streeters. However, he bears to his fellow countrymen (and countrywomen), an empty pot. He can’t claim to have brought you wars or higher taxes, which we now have. He never brought you an unbalanced budget, which is a perennial joke. He never voted himself a wage increase and, to this day, gives back part of his salary every year. He has always voted to preserve the Constitution, cut government spending, lower healthcare costs, end the war on drugs, secure our borders with immigration reform and protect our civil liberties. Sorrowfully, he was outvoted or shot down on all measures. The Constitution has been chiseled down, government spending is through the roof, healthcare costs are out of control, the war on drugs keeps getting less effective, immigration issues remain unresolved and our civil liberties have been crimped for our own safety. I’ll just throw in that Ron Paul opposes regulation of the internet, which has been a revolution in the exchange of ideas, this article being a case in point.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the subprime flood—which has been declared contained over and over again—isn't contained yet. Newsweek's Daniel McGinn ably explains why the rate freeze is far from a panacea for all subprime borrowers. And a flood of new data indicate that the subprime woes may be a symptom—rather than a cause—of a broader economic malady. That awful smell in Midtown isn't from the horse-drawn carriages carrying tourists around. It's the distinctive odor of debt going bad.

He won’t admit it, but Ron Paul is practically running on my third-party ticket. And while I don’t agree with him on every point. I was impressed that he raised four million dollars in one day. Unless my campaign starts showing some signs of life, I might just vote for him next November.

Sure, I don’t particularly agree with his immigration policy of state-run militia’s running around on the southern border, shooting at anything that speaks Spanish. Nor do I sleep well at night thinking about his proposed dissolution of my precious EPA and Consumer Product Safety Commission. However, I think we can all agree that Washington is like the inflamed colon after 20 years without even a flake of Raisin Bran. What it needs is a Ron Paul enema — let’s let it run through the system, clean everything out — You wouldn’t get an enema every day — but we need one right now.

The abrasive and unorthodox Crick and his brilliant American co-researcher James Watson famously celebrated their eureka moment in March 1953 by running from the now legendary Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge to the nearby Eagle pub, where they announced over pints of bitter that they had discovered the secret of life.Crick, who died ten days ago [2004-07-28], aged 88, later told a fellow scientist that he often used small doses of LSD, then an experimental drug used in psychotherapy, to boost his powers of thought. He said it was LSD, not the Eagle's warm beer, that helped him to unravel the structure of DNA, the discovery that won him the Nobel Prize.

The Funhouse Mummy

The Myth:

A prop at a carnival was discovered not to be made of the usual combination of papier mache and carni spit, but human skin and bone. All the little kiddies at the haunted house had been poking and giggling at a real, mummified dead body.

The Truth:

Apparently the smell wasn’t just coming from the convict manning the corndog stand. Back in 1976, a camera crew filming an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man began to set up in the haunted house at the Nu-Pike Amusement Park in Long Beach, Calif.As they were moving aside a "hanging man" prop, they accidentally knocked off its arm and discovered human bones inside. Bionic, this poor sap wasn’t.

China has several economic “weapons” at its disposal for countering the US, ranging from the manipulation of its currency to the diversification of its burgeoning stock of forex reserves. It also has several less blunt options to choose from, such as enabling Chinese companies to compete more directly and effectively with US companies, and opposing the US in securing a domestic energy supply. On all of these fronts, the US is essentially being held hostage, since it has become so dependent on China as the world’s factory. Ultimately, it seems unlikely that China will deliberately butt heads with the US unless it is first provoked, but America should nonetheless be on its guard, since its economy hangs in the balance.

"Hod Lipson didn’t set out to revolutionize manufacturing. He just wanted to design a really cool robot, one that could “evolve” by reprogramming itself and would also produce its own hardware—a software brain, if you will, with the ability to create a body. To do this, Lipson (below, center) needed a rapid-prototyping fabrication, or “fabber.” Picture a 3D inkjet printer that deposits droplets of plastic, layer by layer, gradually building up an object of any shape. Fabbers have been around for two decades, but they’ve always been the pricey playthings of high-tech labs—and could only use a single material."

If you’ve ever put a blade of grass between your thumbs and blown, you’re already aware of the force that drives Shawn Frayne’s ingenious Windbelt. A small amount of air passing over a thin strip of material can create frequencies that translate into sound waves or, in the Windbelt’s case, energy.Frayne’s device consists of a flat, taut membrane that flutters within its housing as air passes through it. At each end of the membrane are magnets that oscillate between metal coils as the band flutters, effectively creating an electric charge. According to the 28-year-old Frayne, prototypes of the Windbelt have generated 40 milliwatts in 10-mph slivers of wind, making his device 10 to 30 times as efficient as the best microturbines.

The Benjamin Franklin True Patriot Act (H.R. 3171) is a bill introduced in the United States House of Representatives intended to review the previously passed USA PATRIOT Act. The bill was referred to subcommittees where it languished without action taken before the end of the 108th United States Congress. The bill will have to be reintroduced in order to be considered again.The bill was sponsored by Representatives Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Ron Paul (R-Texas), with 27 co-sponsors, all Democrats (except Ron Paul). The intent was to review the USA PATRIOT Act to make sure it does not "inappropriately undermine civil liberties." Its name, as described in Sec. 2, No. 1, refers to Benjamin Franklin's famous quote, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Foreclosure filings across the U.S. nearly doubled last month compared with September 2006, as financially strapped homeowners already behind on mortgage payments defaulted on their loans or came closer to losing their homes to foreclosure, a real estate information company said Thursday. A total of 223,538 foreclosure filings were reported in September, up from 112,210 in the same month a year ago, according to Irvine-based RealtyTrac Inc.

I have said that there has been a marked shift in American attitudes toward religion that has come about in the last four to eight years. The Christian Right has so tied themselves to Bush’s apron strings that when the apron got tarnished so did they. But then the Bush years wouldn’t have been possible without them. They aren’t exactly innocent victims of the Bush magic. They were willing accomplices.

16- to 29-year-olds exhibit a greater degree of criticism toward Christianity than did previous generations when they were at the same stage of life. In fact, in just a decade, many of the Barna measures of the Christian image have shifted substantially downward, fueled in part by a growing sense of disengagement and disillusionment among young people. For instance, a decade ago the vast majority of Americans outside the Christian faith, including young people, felt favorably toward Christianity’s role in society. Currently, however, just 16% of non-Christians in their late teens and twenties said they have a "good impression" of Christianity.

Among young non-believers, 87% said they found Christianity judgmental while 85% said it was hypocritical and 75% said it was too political. Of course this was among non-believers. The bad news for the gospel is that young Christians were almost as negative about their own faith.

A Mexican migrant to the U.S. is five times more productive than one who stays home. Why is that?The answer is not the obvious one: This country has more machinery or tools or natural resources. Instead, according to some remarkable but largely ignored research—by the World Bank, of all places—it is because the average American has access to over $418,000 in intangible wealth, while the stay-at-home Mexican's intangible wealth is just $34,000. Intangible wealth are things like the trust among people in a society, an efficient judicial system, clear property rights and effective government. All this intangible capital also boosts the productivity of labor and results in higher total wealth. In fact, the World Bank finds, "Human capital and the value of institutions (as measured by rule of law) constitute the largest share of wealth in virtually all countries."

I know, it's a crazy thought to think an actual third party could form and thrive in this country - someone out there actually able to defeat the duopoly we currently have in place, but close your eyes and dream with me for just a short while at the creation of something this country desperately needs now more than ever: a labor party. Besides, if a Third actually does good enough in a national election to take electoral votes, it's almost inevitable that one of the members of the duopoly will take up the cause just to further their party's gains. It's happened before, and with the right kind of message it can happen again. The idea is already out there, waiting to be fully acted upon and realized. The idea, the platform is almost 120 years old, and it still resonates as much in today's United States as it did back then.

We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures...

The Money Party is a small group of enterprises and individuals who have most of the money in this country. They use that money to make more money. Controlling who gets elected to public office is the key to more money for them and less for us. As 2008 approaches, The Money Party is working hard to maintain its perfect record.It is not about Republicans versus Democrats. Right now, the Republicans do a better job taking money than the Democrats. But The Money Party is an equal opportunity employer. They have no permanent friends or enemies, just permanent interests. Democrats are as welcome as Republicans to this party. It’s all good when you’re on the take and the take is legal.This is not a conspiracy theory. There are no secret societies or sinister operators. This party is up front and in your face. Just follow the money.

It will save you 50% and includes amazing perks such as: * Comprehensive insurance with no deductible * You get a brand new car, fresh from the factory * You get the exact car model you ordered * Customize the car with options such as GPS, CD Changer, Child Car Seats, Luggage and Surf Racks * Unlimited mileage * Minimum age: 18 (unlike 23 for most car rentals) * Pay no tax * You can travel in 28 countries * 24 X 7 road-side assistance * No extra driver charges * Fast and easy pickup/drop-off * Pickup in one city, drop-off in another one

Texas Congressman Ron Paul, an anti-war libertarian making his second run at the White House, will report having raised $5.08 million in the third quarter. The number, which rivals those of John McCain and Bill Richardson, was boosted thanks to last-minute online fundraising that brought in more than $1.2 million in the last week of the quarter alone.This is the second quarter in a row Paul has shown fundraising strength. Last quarter he reported having more cash on hand than McCain, a sidebar that contributed to stories of McCain's collapse.

Many states, in an effort to shut out Ron Paul are now closing their primaries. That means that only Republicans can vote in the Presidential primaries for a Republican candidate. Many states are doing this quickly and quietly and giving people very little time to learn about the new rules. For example, New Hampshire decided only a week ago that you will now have to change your party affiliation by October 12, 2007 or it will be too late to do so. New Hampshire also has a closed primary and only Republicans and possibly Independents will be allowed to vote for Ron Paul. In New York, you must be registered as a Republican or you cannot vote for Ron Paul and again, you must make this decision by October 12, 2007 or it will be too late. In New York, however, Independents cannot vote for Ron Paul. Same with New Jersey and many states around the nation.

I am here to inform Ron Paul fans that "the market" – the gambling website Intrade.com – says his chances of winning the GOP nomination are now 6.1%. In contrast, McCain’s chances are 5.4%, and Huckabee’s a meager 3.2%.Beyond the fact that Ron Paul is now in 4th place – and being ahead of McCain, is now surely a "real" candidate – is his meteoric rise since late May. Just look at this chart from Intrade:

Straw Polls: Ron Paul has come in the top 3 in almost every single straw poll. He has also won most of them.

Ron Paul support is not actually measured by the Gallop polls. They only measure past primary voters(those people who were registered Republicans and voted in 2000)…but only about 25% of Ron Paul supporters voted in the 2000 Republican primary…that means that Ron Paul’s numbers are not 4%, but actually close to 16%

..a grassroots network that dwarfs the competition(47,831 members + 5,487 interested, growing at 6% per week)…compared to less than a 200 for the 2nd place, and 0 for Rudy

Ron Paul will raise the $500,000 in about 3 days, 14 hours…giving him plenty of time to raise $1,000,000 in 1 week. These are HARDLY 2nd tier numbers.

The four players in the present-day American political drama were all represented at the University of Florida on Monday:

1) Andrew Meyer writhing on the ground in agony represents the Constitution and the freedom of speech and the protection from unlawful arrest that it enshrines.

2) The police holding Mr. Meyer to the ground and inflicting torture with 50,000 volts of electricity represent the fascist forces in America led by George W. Bush and their attempts to kill the Constitution.

3) John Kerry droning impotently on in the background and allowing the torture to occur through his shameful lack of courage and principle represents today's Democratic Party.

4) The majority of the students who sat passively by while one of their own was tortured for speaking out represent the largely apathetic American populace.

My New Hampshire phone rings (caller ID 000-000-0000 WTF?)and I pick it up out of curiosity. "This is (talking like a magpie so I haven't got a clue what the name of the company is)Research. Would you like to be part of a poll for the Democratic presidential primary candidate?" I agree and the woman rapidly reads the list of candidates. "Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Dodd, Biden and Richardson." I say, "Kucinich." The woman on the phone says "Who?" I say, "Kucinich. Dennis Kucinich." I hear coaching in the background - apparently the call is being monitored. "I'm sorry, but Dennis Kucinich is not on our list. Is there anyone on the list I gave you who you would vote for?"

So there you have it. Kucinich is down in the polls because he isn't included in the polls . . . and you can forget about Gravel, too.

"In the Pentagon today," he says, "there is active proselytizing by Christian groups that is allowed by the chain of command. When your superior expects you to show up at his prayer breakfast, you may not feel free to say no. It's not at all clear what will happen to your career. He writes your efficiency report. And the next thing you know, you have, in the culture of the Pentagon, more and more active religious outreach."

While libertarians are a diverse group of people with many philosophical starting points, they share a defining belief: that everyone should be free to do as they choose, so long as they don't infringe upon the equal freedom of others.

Shares in one of Britain's largest lenders tumbled another 30 percent Monday as customers, driven by fears of insolvency, made run on the bank and withdrew billions.

Northern Rock's problems came against the background of signs of cooling in Britain's booming housing market.In an interview published Monday in The Daily Telegraph, former U.S. Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan warned that Britain was susceptible to some of the problems now roiling the U.S. real estate market. "Britain is more exposed than we are in the sense that you have a good deal more adjustable-rate mortgages," he said.

George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany. The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism. His business dealings, which continued until his company's assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the Bush family by two former slave labourers at Auschwitz and to a hum of pre-election controversy. The evidence has also prompted one former US Nazi war crimes prosecutor to argue that the late senator's action should have been grounds for prosecution for giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

In the early 1930s, a secret collection of prosperous men are said to have assembled in New York City to discuss the dissolution of America's democracy. As a consequence of the Great Depression, the countryside was littered with unemployed, and the world's wealthy were watching as their fortunes deflated and their investments evaporated. As men of action, the well-financed New York group sought to eliminate what they reasoned to be the crux of the catastrophe: the United States government.

According to MacGuire, the League's members could easily manipulate the media to provide public approval. He went on to suggest that the League planned to protect the country from communism by mimicking the methods of Benito Mussolini, a dictator who had risen to power a decade earlier with the support of a veteran militia. Mussolini's fascist government had successfully restored Italy's industrial viability, so it was deemed as an ideal model for repairing America's impoverished economy. According to the plan, Roosevelt and other existing US leadership would be allowed to remain as figureheads, while the true policy-making power would fall to a new cabinet position which Smedley Butler would occupy: The Secretary for General Affairs.

Greenspan's reference in "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World" to what he calls the "politically inconvenient" fact that the war was "largely about oil" was first reported by The Washington Post on Saturday and has proved controversial.

His main support for Hussein's ouster, though, was economically motivated. "If Saddam Hussein had been head of Iraq and there was no oil under those sands," Greenspan said, "our response to him would not have been as strong as it was in the first gulf war. And the second gulf war is an extension of the first. My view is that Saddam, looking over his 30-year history, very clearly was giving evidence of moving towards controlling the Straits of Hormuz, where there are 17, 18, 19 million barrels a day" passing through.

Greenspan said disruption of even 3 to 4 million barrels a day could translate into oil prices as high as $120 a barrel -- far above even the recent highs of $80 set last week -- and the loss of anything more would mean "chaos" to the global economy.

Since 2004 I have written a number of articles pointing out that offshoring is really labor arbitrage and that if offshoring had the mutual economic benefits associated with free trade, there would be US employment growth in export and import-competitive industries. Instead, employment in these industries has declined in the US but grown remarkably in Asia. In the 21st century the US economy has been able to create net new jobs only in nontradable domestic services, such as waitresses and bartenders and health and social services. Moreover, the growth in productivity and GDP attributed to the US economy were inconsistent with the stagnant real incomes of Americans. Somehow productivity and GDP were growing strongly, but it wasn’t showing up in the incomes of Americans.

Business Week’s June 18 cover story by MIchael Mandel explains the problem identified by Houseman. Economist Matthew J. Slaughter, a proponent of offshoring, says: “There are potentially big implications. I worry about how pervasive this is.” Business Week says the implications are big. The cover story estimates that 40% of the gain in US manufacturing output since 2003 is phantom GDP.

- If you go the "prisoner who's escaped the future" try shaving your head and putting a barcode on the back of your neck. Then stagger around and stare at the sky, as if you've never seen it before.

- Walk up to random people and say "WHAT YEAR IS THIS?" and when they tell you, get quiet and then say "Then there's still time!" and run off.

- Stand in front of a statue (any statue, really), fall to your knees, and yell "NOOOOOOOOO"

- Stare at newspaper headlines and look astonished.

- Take some trinket with you (it can be anything really), hand it to some stranger, along with a phone number and say "In thirty years dial this number. You'll know what to do after that." Then slip away.

The September 7 video shows bin Laden dressed in a white hat, white shirt and yellow sweater. Krawetz notes "this is the same clothing he wore in the 2004-10-29 video. In 2004 he had it unzipped, but in 2007 he zipped up the bottom half. Besides the clothing, it appears to be the same background, same lighting, and same desk. Even the camera angle is almost identical." Krawetz also notes that "if you overlay the 2007 video with the 2004 video, his face has not changed in three years--only his beard is darker and the contrast on the picture has been adjusted."Then there are the audio edits. Krawetz says "the new audio has no accompanying 'live' video and consists of multiple audio recordings." References to current events are made only during the still frame sections and after splices within the audio track." And there are so many splices that I cannot help but wonder if someone spliced words and phrases together. I also cannot rule out a vocal imitator during the frozen-frame audio. The only way to prove that the audio is really bin Laden is to see him talking in the video," Krawetz says.

The days of the dollar as the world's “reserve currency” may be drawing to a close. In August, foreign central banks and governments dumped a whopping 3.8% of their holdings of US debt. Rising unemployment and the ongoing housing slump have triggered fears of a recession sending wary foreign investors running for the exits. China, Japan and Taiwan have been leading the sell off which has caused the steepest decline since 1992.

Speculators, investors, and central bankers have figured out that the US government and the Bernanke Fed will not protect the dollar - not when millions of Americans are having trouble making their mortgage payments. The US money supply is increasing - nearly five times faster than GDP growth. And now, fearing a Japan-style deflation, the Fed is likely to cut rates later this month.The Chinese have one of the largest dollar piles in the world.“Is China quietly dumping US Treasuries?” asks Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the English press.“A sharp drop in foreign holdings of US Treasury bonds over the last five weeks has raised concerns that China is quietly withdrawing its funds from the United States, leaving the dollar increasingly vulnerable.”

So, Mr. Kanzius said, he put sea water in a test tube, then trained his machine on it, producing an unexpected spark. In time he and laboratory owners struck a match and ignited the water, which continued burning as long as it remained in the radio-frequency field.

As a result of generations of constructive fraud perpetuated against the American people, and the peoples of the world, we've been conned into believing we are "owning" property, when in fact, and by law, we're only in " possession" of property utilizing it as a renter or tenant would. So long as we pay our rent (i.e., mortgages), get the licenses, pay the fees, have it insured, regulated, zoned and permitted, we can still remain in " possession."But as soon as we exercise what we believe is our sovereign right to do as we please with our private property, providing we don't damage or injure another or their property, we often get slam-dunked by a fine, eviction or foreclosure. We must learn about allodial titles, land patents, deeds and conveyances to reassert our sovereign right to private property.

Judging by the sounds of the laughter of the other Republican candidates directed at their rival, Ron Paul has now reached the second of Mohandas K. Ghandi's four stages.

"In 1983, the Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS] was faced with an awkward dilemma. If it continued to include the cost of housing in the Consumer Price Index, the CPI would reflect an inflation rate of 15%, thereby making the country's economy look like a banana republic. Worse, since investors and bond traders have historically demanded a 2% real return after inflation, that would mean that bond and money market yields could climb as high as 17%."Yikes! What to do, what to do, what to do whattodowhattodo? "The BLS's solution was as simple as it was shocking: exclude the cost of housing as a component in the CPI, and substitute a so-called 'Owner Equivalent Rent' component based on what a homeowner might 'rent' his house for." Hahaha! The government resorts to lying! "Wow! Why didn't we think of this before?" they are heard to ask among themselves. Fortunately for the government, it worked. "The result of this statistical sleight of hand was immediate and gratifying," Mr Hardaway writes, "for the reported inflation index quickly dropped to 2%"

" We are opposed to further grants of the public lands to corporations and monopolies", "It disapproves of the resort to unconstitutional laws for the purpose of removing evils", "[Import taxes] should be so adjusted as to aid in securing remunerative wages to labor", and "Any system of the civil service under which the subordinate positions of the government are considered rewards for mere party zeal is fatally demoralizing".

Maher Arar, a Canadian software consultant was detained at Kennedy and “rendered” to Syria where he was imprisoned for more than a year by goons that beat him with a heavy metal cable. After the Canadian furor over Arar’s illegal kidnapping and torture, he was eventually released as he had zero ties to terrorists. Yet the Bush gang refused to concede error; refused to provide documents or witnesses to Canadian investigators; and claimed last January it had “secret information” that justified keeping Arar on the watch list.

Besides having created the mortgage-liquidity nightmare, Greenspan and the Fed can also chalk up another accomplishment: inflation. Inflation is so serious that it has more than wiped out any income gains coming to the majority of families in the past seven years.The New York Times reports that "Americans earned a smaller average income in 2005 than in 2000, the fifth consecutive year that they had to make ends meet with less money than at the peak of the last economic expansion, new government data shows. While incomes have been on the rise since 2002, the average income in 2005 was $55,238, still nearly 1 percent less than the $55,714 in 2000, after adjusting for inflation, analysis of new tax statistics show."

We have four days to head off a war with Iran. That's four days to compile, distill, and disseminate information that will undercut corporate media collusion with a desperate Bush administration to open a third front in Bush's wars. We are at a disadvantage, since we are up against professionals with multi-million-dollar budgets. We have an advantage in that their message is predictable and aimed at idiots and cowards.

High levels of organic atheism are strongly correlated with high levels of societal health, such as low homicide rates, low poverty rates, low infant mortality rates, and low illiteracy rates, as well as high levels of educational attainment, per capita income, and gender equality. Most nations characterized by high degrees of individual and societal security have the highest rates of organic atheism, and conversely, nations characterized by low degrees of individual and societal security have the lowest rates of organic atheism. In some societies, particularly Europe, atheism is growing. However, throughout much of the world – particularly nations with high birth rates – atheism is barely discernible.

Number of Times Placing in the Top 3

Candidate	First	Second	Third	Total
Ron Paul	5	5	6	16
Mitt Romney	4	6	6	16
Fred Thompson	10	4	0	14
Rudy Giuliani	0	3	2	5
Mike Huckabee	0	2	3	5
Duncan Hunter	0	1	3	4
Sam Brownback	1	0	1	2
John McCain	1	0	1	2
Tommy Thompson	0	1	0	1
John Cox	0	0	0	0
Jim Gilmore	0	0	0	0
Tom Tancredo	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0

Source:

]]>admin@realitista.comHumor2007-08-24T14:12:22+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/7a6d5af202d2f75a51f17cb9032a4bb8-12.php#unique-entry-id-12http://www.realitista.org/files/7a6d5af202d2f75a51f17cb9032a4bb8-12.php#unique-entry-id-12]]>admin@realitista.comGenerally Interesting2007-08-24T14:12:22+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/1a7e58965cbc8ad3f271928ce29bc61a-13.php#unique-entry-id-13http://www.realitista.org/files/1a7e58965cbc8ad3f271928ce29bc61a-13.php#unique-entry-id-13
Yet federal prosecutors never charged them with buying, selling, growing, transporting, smoking or even possessing marijuana. An 18-month DEA investigation had failed to turn up direct evidence connecting the Tuckers to even a single joint.

Instead, they were locked away for selling the lamps, fertilizer and gardening hardware from the small hydroponic supply shop Gary operated on Buford Highway that enabled their customers to grow pot.

Read the whole article]]>admin@realitista.comPolitics2007-08-24T14:12:21+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/453322a17c95f8e387ea50c16855dd01-14.php#unique-entry-id-14http://www.realitista.org/files/453322a17c95f8e387ea50c16855dd01-14.php#unique-entry-id-14John Stewart in Top Form

]]>admin@realitista.comPolitics2007-08-24T14:12:21+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/17a7e4188a4715e631648baee6173375-15.php#unique-entry-id-15http://www.realitista.org/files/17a7e4188a4715e631648baee6173375-15.php#unique-entry-id-15

Unconstitutional government has created a war crisis, a financial crisis, a dollar crisis, and a freedom crisis. But we don’t have to take it. We don't have to passively accept more dead soldiers, a lower standard of living, rising prices, a national ID, eavesdropping on our emails and phone calls, and all the rest.We can return to first principles, and build the brightest, most brilliant future any people on earth has ever aspired to.

Read the Full Article Here




]]>admin@realitista.comEconomy2007-08-24T14:11:47+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/1769e42d7c61986f955bfb971369d56e-16.php#unique-entry-id-16http://www.realitista.org/files/1769e42d7c61986f955bfb971369d56e-16.php#unique-entry-id-16
M1 — Measure of the U.S. money stock that consists of currency held by the public, travelers checks, demand deposits and other checkable deposits including NOW (negotiable order of withdrawal) and ATS (automatic transfer service) account balances and share draft account balances at credit unions.

M2 — Measure of the U.S. money stock that consists of M1, certain overnight repurchase agreements and certain overnight Eurodollars, savings deposits (including money market deposit accounts), time deposits in amounts of less than $100,000 and balances in money market mutual funds (other than those restricted to institutional investors).

M3 — Measure of the U.S. money stock that consists of M2, time deposits of $100,000 or more at all depository institutions, term repurchase agreements in amounts of $100,000 or more, certain term Eurodollars and balances in money market mutual funds restricted to institutional investors.

]]>admin@realitista.comHumor2007-08-23T14:45:44+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/209c954fb2fb2510d5774f9bff804618-17.php#unique-entry-id-17http://www.realitista.org/files/209c954fb2fb2510d5774f9bff804618-17.php#unique-entry-id-17]]>admin@realitista.comHumor2007-08-23T14:41:00+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/e550efe5ca5d54be07c90dde370ae9b2-18.php#unique-entry-id-18http://www.realitista.org/files/e550efe5ca5d54be07c90dde370ae9b2-18.php#unique-entry-id-18]]>admin@realitista.comEconomy2007-08-23T14:35:46+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/1c3787588746b52e81f8e72cf1cf0d61-19.php#unique-entry-id-19http://www.realitista.org/files/1c3787588746b52e81f8e72cf1cf0d61-19.php#unique-entry-id-19article is good too.


See any similarities between these 2 graphs?


]]>admin@realitista.comGenerally Interesting2007-08-23T13:38:54+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/e36bf0c2d51104c12dba63ca4c9a2a1e-20.php#unique-entry-id-20http://www.realitista.org/files/e36bf0c2d51104c12dba63ca4c9a2a1e-20.php#unique-entry-id-20
]]>admin@realitista.comScience / Tech2007-08-23T13:33:11+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/8af8a776ab24560912068bed5fdfb709-21.php#unique-entry-id-21http://www.realitista.org/files/8af8a776ab24560912068bed5fdfb709-21.php#unique-entry-id-21Vibe Agent which specializes in finding the perfect hotel based on your lifestyle needs. It's very slick and interactive, and it makes this chore actually enjoyable. And I'm not just saying that. I was just looking for hotels for a holiday and realized how crap all the other options were. He needs a bit more content, but there's a lot being added every day, and since it's only been in beta for a couple months, you can't ask too much. If anyone wants an invite, let me know.
]]>admin@realitista.comEconomy2007-08-23T13:21:03+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/4c2d437968b14b8a41fa7000d6eed63e-22.php#unique-entry-id-22http://www.realitista.org/files/4c2d437968b14b8a41fa7000d6eed63e-22.php#unique-entry-id-22Everything that you can't trade with China:

]]>admin@realitista.comEconomy2007-08-23T13:18:25+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/ece7706e4f0315e815bb8647e804d30c-23.php#unique-entry-id-23http://www.realitista.org/files/ece7706e4f0315e815bb8647e804d30c-23.php#unique-entry-id-23
Amazingly, some commentators have been asking “if the monetary crisis will affect the producing economy,” and whether a recession lies ahead. In reality, the U.S. producing economy has been in a recession for the last year. This is shown most clearly by the decline in M1, the portion of the money supply immediately available to people for making purchases.

Read Full Article]]>admin@realitista.comPolitics2007-06-05T12:04:29+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/917e268f64bc65c024becb11e9e6be74-47.php#unique-entry-id-47http://www.realitista.org/files/917e268f64bc65c024becb11e9e6be74-47.php#unique-entry-id-47Ron Paul is so the man! He's just steamrolling everyone in the primaries! He is now #3 in funds raised behind Guiliani and Romney, up from about 9th only 2 months ago. His numbers are doubling in the polls every month, where he's now in 5th place, compared again to around 9th a few months ago.

Finally some good videos have been made that describe his positions well. If you don't want to spend much time and only want to watch one video, check this one out:



He's been on all the major talk shows like Bill Mahr (who says he's his new hero), The Daily Show and news channels many times, like CNN, NBC, even FOX not to mention ruling the debates (most enjoyable was watching fox announcing how Guiliani had won and had Hannity attacking and misquoting Ron while their own ticker announced Ron as the winner) .

He's taking over video viewership, he's he 3rd search term for the blog search engine technorati (just below youtube and sopranos) and he's just behind obama in requests on eventful.com. He's won pretty much every online poll.

I've never seen such a great person with a great message get through to the people in this way. It's truly inspiring, and gives me hope for the world. Actually I've never seen a politician I actually liked and that wasn't completely full of shit. I guess after the most corrupt administration the US has ever had we may be waking up a little bit.

]]>admin@realitista.comHumor2007-06-05T11:39:17+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/b2d8246d57c61ed9496ebc91c285a248-59.php#unique-entry-id-59http://www.realitista.org/files/b2d8246d57c61ed9496ebc91c285a248-59.php#unique-entry-id-59A friend sent me this, it's pretty funny, but probably not safe for work (!). My dick, served a whole luncheon, yo dick, look like a pumpkin. Another friend sent me a classic about Paris Hilton. And one more sent me a picture of this bumper sticker I liked:

]]>admin@realitista.comPolitics2006-07-23T17:18:28+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/e17d9e03f88500c7ad3d0f3dd89fb6b3-48.php#unique-entry-id-48http://www.realitista.org/files/e17d9e03f88500c7ad3d0f3dd89fb6b3-48.php#unique-entry-id-48More than 1/3 of americans now believe 9/11 was an "inside job" by the government, and more than 2/3 believe it is "somewhat likely" or "very likely". More than half say they "personally are more angry" at the government than they used to be.

I honestly can't even say I'm in that 1/3, but I'm probably in the 2/3 who think it's likely. The government needs to respond to all the evidence, as the conspiracy theorists are proposing something far more plausible than the official report, which sounds completely unbelievable.

The latest MSNBC Poll shows more than 87% of respondants think bush should be impeached for the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war, and more.

If you feel that way, then you should participate in DIY impeachment, a movement which is utilizing a very old precedent by which has been succesfull a long time ago in impeaching a judge. The idea being to get enough people to submit the article for it to not be taken seriously.

Personally I feel he should be impeached just for groping the German chancellor.

Also if anyone is so lucky to have America, from Freedom to Fascism in their theaters, I highly recommend you go see it. Aaron Russo is one of the only people who knows how things work in the world who actually cares enough to try to help people. Makes Michael Moore look like a hack (well he sorta is, but he's good at delivery).
]]>admin@realitista.comScience / Tech2006-07-23T11:36:56+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/b3e9553c3d26b940358948e120e7e18d-58.php#unique-entry-id-58http://www.realitista.org/files/b3e9553c3d26b940358948e120e7e18d-58.php#unique-entry-id-58This is pretty weird. It's a whole little strange drama made out of The Sims characters called the Strangerhood which I learned about from David Byrne's blog. It's cool to watch an intelligent multidisciplinary like him blog. But it's sad that he's not only a better musician but also a better blogger than me.

I feel for this guy as I also have to do demos of this technology. But it doesn’t mean I can’t laugh at him, especially since I’d never be caught dead doing this on live tv. The reporter’s “air quotes” also could have been a Steven Colbert parody.

This is a really cool demo of some technology we should have had 10 years ago. Multi-tap touch screens. Like in Minority Report. I hope I can buy one of these soon!

And to cap off the month, what could be better than a Furby in the microwave? ]]>admin@realitista.comPolitics2006-06-24T11:33:22+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/d17353302094769b501f450ac5e85619-56.php#unique-entry-id-56http://www.realitista.org/files/d17353302094769b501f450ac5e85619-56.php#unique-entry-id-56For my serious link of the month, I'll start out by showing you the US budget as a dollar, and then show you why we spend so much. Why We Fight is an excellent documentary by the BBC that explores the military industrial complex which Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against in his farewell speech “Beware the military industrial complex”.

No conspiracy theories or anything too radical, just a straightforward description of the US war machine and why it must be constantly fed. Really just common sense stuff, but it explains the end to end process very well, and you don’t have access to stuff this good in the US in general, so maybe it might surprise someone.. Check it out. If you have a laptop you can hook up to your tv, you can download the whole thing and watch it there in fullscreen.


]]>admin@realitista.comScience / Tech2006-06-24T10:09:07+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/c39f65849ac7506880ea087766e0a0c6-49.php#unique-entry-id-49http://www.realitista.org/files/c39f65849ac7506880ea087766e0a0c6-49.php#unique-entry-id-49To take off the weight I've gained from not smoking I'm trying a little program on my phone called Calorie King which has a database of foods and I just enter in what I ate. So far I've lost almost 5lbs and it's only been 10 days. It's actually pretty easy to fix something when you figure out what you're doing wrong. And it's a lot easier for me than, say, cutting out carbohydrates. For me the problem seems to be beer, so I'm trying to switch to wine spritzers. Same alcohol, less calories, and unfortunately, decidedly less manly. But I'm confident in my masulinity. It's helped a lot. It turns a good night out into the equivilent of 1 trip to mcdonalds instead of 2 (!). I had done it before, but I didn't realize how big of a deal it was. Unfortunately there's no such thing as light beers here really.
]]>admin@realitista.comPolitics2006-02-11T11:29:21+01:00http://www.realitista.org/files/929b0eded556a303240bef3d57c9eba7-55.php#unique-entry-id-55http://www.realitista.org/files/929b0eded556a303240bef3d57c9eba7-55.php#unique-entry-id-55Enjoy this 1946 warning about despotism which is funny to use as criteria to see which way modern US is going. For some reason, people always see things most clearly after a couple world wars. Or Colon Powell's former cheif of staff admitting he participated in a hoax about the Iraq war.

But the most serious, and most important one for any patriotic american to watch would have to be a compendium of all the evidence that contradicts the existing investigations on 9/11. Scary to think our administration may have been involved, but sadly I don't think it's entirely outside of the realm of possibilities the way the US government acts these days. Human lives are secondary to their self serving agendas.]]>admin@realitista.comHumor2006-02-11T09:09:07+01:00http://www.realitista.org/files/227fdfeae2591446d09534711e4cdef0-50.php#unique-entry-id-50http://www.realitista.org/files/227fdfeae2591446d09534711e4cdef0-50.php#unique-entry-id-50To honor my back to back trips to the states, I'm posting my top political funnies of the last month. I think the most funny is one about Bush's state of the union address. And another one here. Or if you ever wondered how Dick Cheney thought of himself, wonder no more.
]]>admin@realitista.comScience / Tech2006-01-03T19:35:06+01:00http://www.realitista.org/files/84d6c377b557cdb1669c68a7ef0ee553-51.php#unique-entry-id-51http://www.realitista.org/files/84d6c377b557cdb1669c68a7ef0ee553-51.php#unique-entry-id-51Got some interesting christmas presents this year. A sleeptracker watch, which is meant to wake me up when I'm not dreaming so I'm more refreshed every morning. It does this by measuring how much I thrash around, and probably wakes me up when I'm thrashing the most. So far it seems pretty good, it's done a couple nice jobs, but I'm going to need to wait until the jet lag is gone because I keep waking up before it tries to wake me up. There are some other similar technologies coming like the SleepSmart, but they require a headband for EEG so they may not be so comfortable. I actually have my own idea for something which will be more reliable than movement based, but more comfortable than EEG. Someday maybe I'll make my own.

Also got the Suunto T6 runner's watch with heart rate monitor and accelerometer for my foot. This will be very nice when the snow's off my running track and it's a bit warmer. Unfortunately I hate running in the gym so I don't do it much, but next year it will hopefully help me lose those pounds that have been so elusive even when I have been excercising a lot.

And to record whether I've gotten fatter or thinner, I got a Sharper Image digital glass bathroom scale with body fat monitor, so far it's a little harder to use than a normal scale, but gives me a reading of my body fat, water weight percentage, and of course normal weight in pounds or kilos. Seems to fluctuate a little so not sure if it's perfect, but it's better than trying to guess if I'm gaining muscle or losing fat. And getting it for christmas is great because I'm never fatter than this time of year.

If I'm feeling ambitious, I may make a review section for these interesting new health products and really tell you what I think of them. But I think that electronic health products have come a long way, and can be of real use in giving you information on how you're living your life. And knowledge is power]]>admin@realitista.comScience / Tech2005-10-18T22:53:05+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/5f08b2c11f83d02c147de4b25f4dce87-52.php#unique-entry-id-52http://www.realitista.org/files/5f08b2c11f83d02c147de4b25f4dce87-52.php#unique-entry-id-52Try mailinator. I’ve been doing something similar to this for years, by having one email address just for when I’m ordering porn service or penis enlargers, one for when I order things, and my personal address only to give to friends in person. If you’re not doing something similar, this is a great service where you just choose any email address at mailinator.com (like sean@mailinator.com) when you are filling something out or ordering penis enlargers. It receives just one email for you which you can go retrieve, and then deactivates the account. This ensures that those penis enlargement bastards can never spam you again.]]>admin@realitista.comGenerally Interesting2005-09-09T16:22:47+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/d9490b147691c2ed30283103329660a1-53.php#unique-entry-id-53http://www.realitista.org/files/d9490b147691c2ed30283103329660a1-53.php#unique-entry-id-53My heart goes out to anyone caught in the floods in New Orleans, and hopefully share everyone's rage about the national government's handling of this issue. Here's an article that I think sums this evil situation up rather nicely, and in a way that captures the powerful feelings I have about this event but am unable to express so eloquently as they were here.]]>admin@realitista.comGenerally Interesting2005-08-18T13:19:21+02:00http://www.realitista.org/files/9a70df2f76bdc6379c565026dc320e3a-24.php#unique-entry-id-24http://www.realitista.org/files/9a70df2f76bdc6379c565026dc320e3a-24.php#unique-entry-id-24
To stop telemarketing calls go to the official national do not call list and add your number to the list. If you do get a telemarketing call after this, you can threaten them with legal action, now that’s fun!
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