Sunday, August 19, 2007

The King of..."persons you must avoid at all costs"

Please, please: Let us go back to pre-2000 elections.
When the C-SPAN producer toiling in obscurity last month reached for the tape, he had no clue how juicy a nugget he had unearthed. The tape was labeled simply, "Life and Career of Dick Cheney"; dated April 15, 1994.
The Untold Story of the Cheney 'Quagmire' Video
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Saturday, August 18, 2007

Thursday, August 09, 2007

W Benjamin

Someone to remember
clipped from plsj.tumblr.com


The concept of progress should be grounded in the idea of catastrophe. That things 'just keep on going' is the catastrophe.

— Walter Benjamin

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Fat is a discrimination issue

fat=bad behaviors?
Today's assumption: if you are fat, you are doing something bad.
A study: Fatness is contagious!!!
I was thinking about the things that a fat person cannot do without others looking down on them or making mean comments. Here is my list; feel free to add to it!
- eat any food, even "healthy" food
- engage in athletic activity ("ewww look at all that fat jiggling")
- exercise in a gym or other public place ("who do you think you're kidding?")
- wear revealing clothing ("ewww gross")
- wear overly casual clothing (we get called slobs, while skinny people get a pass on wearing sweatpants in public)
- be sick ("maybe if you'd lose weight, you would be healthy")
- go to a doctor or emergency room ("It looks like you have a broken nose. You should lose weight.")
- date someone who is not fat ("what is wrong with him, doesn't he notice?" "he can do better than that"), especially someone who is regarded as good-looking (even a good-looking fat man is regarded as dating beneath his station if he dates a fat girl)
- have or adopt children, OR decide to not have children
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Saturday, August 04, 2007

EU and US miles of sensibility apart?

EU is so keen in being like the US that is loosing her soul too. This is the drama. Also, I think there are many americans mourning our loss

Arno Widmann comments on The New York Times' obituary of Michelangelo Antonioni

The New York Times entitled its obituary of Italian film director Michelangelo Antonioni - whose literary works are unfortunately little-known - with the words: "A Chronicler of Alienated Europeans in a Flimsy New World." The title underscores the hopelessness of Old Europe's position. Even before the article began, it made clear how small and thoroughly passé the Old Europe - and one of its most astute representatives - look in the new world of the present.
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Friday, August 03, 2007

quote

do we dare to know a person?
clipped from www.quotiki.com
The only way of knowing a person is to love them without hope.

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Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Antonioni_ Blow-Up

Lessons on the role of photography - Perfect


Verushka & David Hemmings in Blow-Up, 1966


Michelangelo Antonioni


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Yes, More books

It is always useful to share information with others and have help in one's search
BookYards library for today is Free Novels Online.

This is a small library, but it's content is unique and modern in taste.

It relies on submissions from others, makes links to their sites, and has gone to the trouble of categorizing their novels.

When you browse and go through the site, you wish that its content was 100x more.

For access to more free online libraries, go to BookYards Libraries/By Category Page.
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Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Bergman always

Few days ago, two of my favorite films celebrated their 50th birthday
Victor Sjöström and Ingrid Thulin in Wild Strawberries


The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries celebrate 50 years

Two of Bergman's most influential films celebrate their 50th anniversary this year.
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Monday, July 30, 2007

Ingmar Bergman

what were you doing when you knew Bergman died?




Ingmar Bergman




A great loss.

 
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Friday, July 20, 2007

women are vicious

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk
Fake orgasm scan
Tell tale brain activity in a fake orgasm
A simple brain scan can spot whether a woman is faking an orgasm or not, a major fertility conference has heard.
Orgasm
Genuine orgasm: less brain actvity
In women, turning off fear and anxiety is key, while men need to know they will be physically stimulated.
The women were also asked to fake an orgasm so that these scan results could be compared with those taken during genuine orgasms. There were obvious differences.
Professor Holstege said: "Women can imitate orgasm quite well."
"If you look at the women who faked orgasm intentionally you see the motor cortex - the conscious part of the brain - is activated.
"This means the movements that we make in [real] orgasm are not conscious.
"And if you are fearful, it is very hard to have sex. It's very hard to let go."
"When you want to make love to a woman, you must give her the feeling of being protected."
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Thursday, June 21, 2007

Patent to Craig?

This comes just after CV said he could do it!
clipped from news.bbc.co.uk
Medical research using hybrid embryos that are a mixture of human and animal is "vital" in the fight against disease, scientists have said.


The Academy of Medical Sciences said it backed the draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill allowing embryos that were 99.9% human and 0.1% animal.


Under plans, it would be illegal for embryos to grow for more than 14 days.


The report says that, in the future, the "true" hybrids - containing more animal DNA - may be vital for research.

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Wednesday, June 20, 2007

the magic of language

Do, please, associate
clipped from en.wikipedia.org

Apophenia is the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data. The term was coined in 1958 by Klaus Conrad, who defined it as the "unmotivated seeing of connections" accompanied by a "specific experience of an abnormal meaningfulness".

In statistics, apophenia would be classed as a Type I error (false positive, false alarm, caused by an excess in sensitivity). Apophenia is often used as an explanation of some paranormal and religious claims. It has been suggested that apophenia is a link between psychosis and creativity.

Conrad originally described this phenomenon in relation to the distortion of reality present in psychosis, but it has become more widely used to describe this tendency in healthy individuals without necessarily implying the presence of neurological or mental illness.
The identification of a face on the surface of Mars is an example of pareidoliac apophenia.


The identification of a face on the surface of Mars is an example of pareidoliac apophenia.

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Sunday, June 17, 2007

when will this nightmare end?

clipped from www.latimes.com
Last week's presidential tour featured lots of protest and precious little adulation. In the Czech Republic, demonstrators greeted Bush with signs reading "Bush number one terrorist." In Italy, where more than two dozen CIA agents face criminal trial for the illegal "rendition" of terror suspects, tens of thousands of anti-Bush protesters took to the streets. At the Vatican, the pope took Bush to task over the Iraq war. Only in Albania did Bush receive a rapturous welcome — though video footage led to speculation that in the celebration an Albanian Bush "fan" may have relieved the president of his watch.
Come to think of it, there is one thing for which we should all give the president credit. Bush famously promised to be a uniter, not a divider — and at long last, he may have managed to keep that promise. Though there's still much that divides us, the nation and the world are increasingly united on at least one issue: We're sick and tired of the presidency of George W. Bush.
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USA: A Nation of Uneducated Morons

So tell me, everyone: why are scientists supposed to respect religion, this corrupter of minds, this promulgator of lies, this damnable institution dedicated to delusion, in our culture?
Maybe we need to start picketing fundamentalist churches. Maybe it's about time that we recognize religious miseducation as child abuse.
clipped from scienceblogs.com
partisanship.gif
These results tell us that the population across the board is messed up, confused, lied to, and festering in ignorance—it's just that right now the Republican party is a magnet for the stupid
church_attendance.gif
going to church every week since childhood probably induces brain damage. This is just a correlation, of course, so how about asking those people who reject evolution why?
%
I believe in Jesus Christ19
I believe in the almighty God, creator of Heaven and Earth16
Due to my religion and faith16
Not enough scientific evidence to prove otherwise14
I believe in what I read in the Bible12
I'm a Christian9
I don't believe humans come from beasts/monkeys3
Other5
No reason in particular2
No opinion3
The overwhelming majority credit their religion; the two secular excuses ("not enough scientific evidence" and "we didn't come from no monkeys") are common enough phrases among the creationists that I expect a majority of those are ultimately due to religion, too
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Secret CIA prisons confirmed by Polish and Romanian officials

Is the next EU meeting pretending this is no longar a problem?
clipped from www.guardian.co.uk
The CIA operated secret prisons in Europe where terrorism suspects could be interrogated and were allegedly tortured, an official inquiry will conclude tomorrow.

Secret CIA prisons confirmed by Polish and Romanian officials

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Religious fundamentalisms

Try to gel the pig picture
clipped from today.reuters.com

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Violent Muslim, Christian and Jewish extremists invoke the same rhetoric of "good" and "evil" and the best way to fight them is to tackle the problems that drive people to extremism, according to a report obtained by Reuters.

It said extremists from each of the three faiths often have tangible grievances -- social, economic or political -- but they invoke religion to recruit followers and to justify breaking the law, including killing civilians and members of their own faith.

The report was commissioned by security think tank EastWest Institute ahead of a conference on Thursday in New York titled "Towards a Common Response: New Thinking Against Violent Extremism and Radicalization." The report will be updated and published after the conference.

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Tuesday, April 17, 2007

The importance of language

UK is slowly measuring the damages

Bush's 'war on terror' phrase helps terrorists, minister warns


Tania Branigan, political correspondent
Tuesday April 17, 2007
The Guardian

President George Bush's "war on terror" rhetoric has strengthened terrorist groups by helping them to create a shared identity, the development secretary, Hilary Benn, warned yesterday.

The Foreign Office reportedly asked politicians and diplomats to drop the phrase last year. But Mr Benn's open criticism surprised many observers, and critics suggested he might be attempting to woo grassroots Labour activists in his bid for the party's deputy leadership - an accusation he later described as "unworthy".


"In the UK, we do not use the phrase 'war on terror' because we can't win by military means alone, and because this isn't us against one organised enemy with a clear identity and a coherent set of objectives," he told a meeting in New York organised by the Centre on International Cooperation.

"It is the vast majority of the people in the world - of all nationalities and faiths - against a small number of loose, shifting and disparate groups who have relatively little in common apart from their identification with others who share their distorted view of the world and their idea of being part of something bigger. What these groups want is to force their individual and narrow values on others without dialogue, without debate, through violence. And by letting them feel part of something bigger, we give them strength."

He said "hard power" was not enough: "It can certainly win the battle, but without soft power we cannot win the war that will deliver better governance, sustainable peace and lasting prosperity."

Tony Blair's spokesman said he was unsure when the prime minister had last used the term, adding: "We all use our own phraseology." He said Mr Blair believed that "in fighting terrorism you should both use military means where necessary but also political means as well".

Michael Moore, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, said: "The so-called 'war on terror' has always been a flawed concept. Many will be cynical about Hilary Benn waiting until he is running for deputy leader of the Labour party before making these comments."

US sources played down Mr Benn's criticism. David Johnson, deputy chief of mission at the US embassy, told Radio 4's PM programme: "Mr Benn makes an important point we not only do not disagree on, but embrace: the solution will come not just with military force but development and working with other governments."

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

once more they lied and cheat

Some people know this well by experience.
Others still think Gulliani was a hero and the handdling of 9/11 victims adequate

Medical Views of 9/11’s Dust Show Big Gaps - New York Times

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Tolerable cruelty

TDS-Habeus-Corpus.mov (video/quicktime Object)
Jon Stwerart strikes again
TDS-Habeus-Corpus.mov (video/quicktime Object)

Don't get distracted: Rice “more sordid” than Foley

Several bloggers have already pointed out that the "Foley"sex scandal, sordid as it is, should not distract us and the House from other more serious scandals, causing thousand of deaths, extreme precariness and other disasters of this magnitude.
Here is an example:


Dangerous Intersection » Blog Archive » Rice “more sordid” than Foley

Counterbias: Welcome to Neo-Fascism 101

A new dictionary is badly needed

Counterbias: Welcome to Neo-Fascism 101

Friday, September 22, 2006

GAY MARRIAGE: Sen. Boxer says it hasn't hurt HER Marriage

Who feels more threaten?
Feminism Survey: Men on the Street

And YOU what to you think

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

´Diplomacy according to Bush

While conversations are going on at UN and people lie about diplomacy

Retired U.S. Col. Says U.S. Are Conducting Military Operations Inside Iran
Air Force Col. Sam Gardiner (Ret.) said, “We are conducting military operations inside Iran right now. The evidence is overwhelming.”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15022.htm

No doubt that's what the neocons-european-style want too: Be tough, they say!

In Portugal, what is our press saying?
What our great ideologues saying? Mr. Marcelo, Mr. Pacheco Pereira, etc...a word please.
They all need a course on masculinity. They suffer from the 'macho boy' syndrome, I figure.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

The world according to Bush


Bush is not stupid---he is a total paranoid wacko. He thinks he made the world to fit whatever his ideas are.

Let us grant he must have read a lot during vacations. But he is now all confused and had come up with a new strategy: Iwo Jima

Bush! Just go to your world (HELL) and leave ours alone, please!

This is part of what he read on Nine-eleven 06 sitted on his throne:

President's Address to the Nation
The Oval Office


With our help, the people of the Middle East are now stepping forward to claim their freedom. From Kabul to Baghdad to Beirut, there are brave men and women risking their lives each day for the same freedoms that we enjoy. And they have one question for us: Do we have the confidence to do in the Middle East what our fathers and grandfathers accomplished in Europe and Asia? By standing with democratic leaders and reformers, by giving voice to the hopes of decent men and women, we're offering a path away from radicalism. And we are enlisting the most powerful force for peace and moderation in the Middle East: the desire of millions to be free. Across the broader Middle East, the extremists are fighting to prevent such a future.
Yet America has confronted evil before, and we have defeated it -- sometimes at the cost of thousands of good men in a single battle.
...........
When Franklin Roosevelt vowed to defeat two enemies across two oceans, he could not have foreseen D-Day and Iwo Jima -- but he would not have been surprised at the outcome. When Harry Truman promised American support for free peoples resisting Soviet aggression, he could not have foreseen the rise of the Berlin Wall -- but he would not have been surprised to see it brought down. Throughout our history, America has seen liberty challenged, and every time, we have seen liberty triumph with sacrifice and determination.
..........
On this solemn anniversary, we rededicate ourselves to this cause.
Our nation has endured trials, and we face a difficult road ahead. Winning this war will require the determined efforts of a unified country, and we must put aside our differences and work together to meet the test that history has given us. We will defeat our enemies. We will protect our people. And we will lead the 21st century into a shining age of human liberty
Dangerous enemies have declared their intention to destroy our way of life.
They're not the first to try, and their fate will be the same as those who tried before. Nine-Eleven showed us why. The attacks were meant to bring us to our knees, and they did, but not in the way the terrorists intended. Americans united in prayer,came to the aid of neighbors in need, and resolved that our enemies would not have the last word. The spirit of our people is the source of America's strength. And we go forward with trust in that spirit, confidence in our purpose, and faith in a loving God who made us to be free.
Thank you, and may God bless you.

You can read it all
By the way, if you know this G-d, will you tell him to stop this joke? It is not funny.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Monday, September 11, 2006

The 9-11 Hijackers

Nine eleven - who can forget?

Let us mourn the dead and fight these Hijackers without fail. Bring them to justice, US


Reclusive Leftist » Blog Archive » The 9-11 Hijackers
THE BEST WAR EVER

nine eleven

think

all murderers are accountable

Friday, September 08, 2006

Evil Reverend Fred Phelps Diatribe Against Stewart/Colbert

enough to make of you an atheist.
Just think what it would mean to be near such man for ever and ever
Please preserve these devils!