Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
malaise
malaise's Journal
malaise's Journal
December 7, 2016
<snip>
Adolf Hitler: Man of the Year, 1938
Greatest single news event of 1938 took place on September 29, when four statesmen met at the Führerhaus, in Munich, to redraw the map of Europe. The three visiting statesmen at that historic conference were Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain, Premier Edouard Daladier of France, and Dictator Benito Mussolini of Italy. But by all odds the dominating figure at Munich was the German host, Adolf Hitler.
Führer of the German people, Commander-in-Chief of the German Army, Navy & Air Force, Chancellor of the Third Reich, Herr Hitler reaped on that day at Munich the harvest of an audacious, defiant, ruthless foreign policy he had pursued for five and a half years. He had torn the Treaty of Versailles to shreds. He had rearmed Germany to the teeth— or as close to the teeth as he was able. He had stolen Austria before the eyes of a horrified and apparently impotent world.
(See pictures of Hitler Exhibit in Germany.)
All these events were shocking to nations which had defeated Germany on the battlefield only 20 years before, but nothing so terrified the world as the ruthless, methodical, Nazi-directed events which during late summer and early autumn threatened a world war over Czechoslovakia. When without loss of blood he reduced Czechoslovakia to a German puppet state, forced a drastic revision of Europe's defensive alliances, and won a free hand for himself in Eastern Europe by getting a "hands-off" promise from powerful Britain (and later France), Adolf Hitler without doubt became 1938's Man of the Year.
--------------------
Should be fun watching some more Treaties torn up - or maybe as fun as Hitler
Bravo Time Magazine - 1938 edition
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760539,00.html<snip>
Adolf Hitler: Man of the Year, 1938
Greatest single news event of 1938 took place on September 29, when four statesmen met at the Führerhaus, in Munich, to redraw the map of Europe. The three visiting statesmen at that historic conference were Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain, Premier Edouard Daladier of France, and Dictator Benito Mussolini of Italy. But by all odds the dominating figure at Munich was the German host, Adolf Hitler.
Führer of the German people, Commander-in-Chief of the German Army, Navy & Air Force, Chancellor of the Third Reich, Herr Hitler reaped on that day at Munich the harvest of an audacious, defiant, ruthless foreign policy he had pursued for five and a half years. He had torn the Treaty of Versailles to shreds. He had rearmed Germany to the teeth— or as close to the teeth as he was able. He had stolen Austria before the eyes of a horrified and apparently impotent world.
(See pictures of Hitler Exhibit in Germany.)
All these events were shocking to nations which had defeated Germany on the battlefield only 20 years before, but nothing so terrified the world as the ruthless, methodical, Nazi-directed events which during late summer and early autumn threatened a world war over Czechoslovakia. When without loss of blood he reduced Czechoslovakia to a German puppet state, forced a drastic revision of Europe's defensive alliances, and won a free hand for himself in Eastern Europe by getting a "hands-off" promise from powerful Britain (and later France), Adolf Hitler without doubt became 1938's Man of the Year.
--------------------
Should be fun watching some more Treaties torn up - or maybe as fun as Hitler
December 7, 2016
What the fuck - have you heard Groper Don the Con's comments about
President Obama. Oh I really like him. This fucking birther scumbag is special.
Hey fucktard - go Cheney yourself 
December 7, 2016
Holy Shite
He's bringing up that flag crap again - this is rabble-rousing nativism on steroids - not watching anymore of this fascist BS
December 7, 2016
<snip>
A wave of revulsion rolls around the world. Approval ratings for incumbent leaders are everywhere collapsing. Symbols, slogans and sensation trump facts and nuanced argument. One in six Americans now believe that military rule would be a good idea. From all this I draw the following, peculiar conclusion: no country with a McDonald’s can remain a democracy.
Twenty years ago, the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman proposed his “golden arches theory of conflict prevention”. This holds that “no two countries that both have McDonald’s have ever fought a war against each other since they each got their McDonald’s”.
In using McDonald’s as shorthand for the forces tearing democracy apart, I am, like him, writing figuratively. I do not mean that the presence of the burger chain itself is the cause of the decline of open, democratic societies (though it has played its part in Britain, using our defamation laws against its critics). Nor do I mean that countries hosting McDonald’s will necessarily mutate into dictatorships.
The old forms and forums still exist, but their power seeps away, re-emerging where we can no longer reach it
What I mean is that, under the onslaught of the placeless, transnational capital that McDonald’s exemplifies, democracy as a living system withers and dies. The old forms and forums still exist – parliaments and congresses remain standing – but the power they once contained seeps away, re-emerging where we can no longer reach it.
The political power that should belong to us has flitted into confidential meetings with the lobbyists and donors who establish the limits of debate and action. It has slipped into the diktats of the IMF and the European Central Bank, which respond not to the people but to the financial sector. It has been transported, under armed guard, into the icy fastness of Davos, where Friedman finds so warm a welcome (even when he’s talking cobblers).
No country with a McDonalds can remain a democracy -Nice read
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/06/mcdonalds-democracy-corporate-globalisation-trump-le-pen-farage<snip>
A wave of revulsion rolls around the world. Approval ratings for incumbent leaders are everywhere collapsing. Symbols, slogans and sensation trump facts and nuanced argument. One in six Americans now believe that military rule would be a good idea. From all this I draw the following, peculiar conclusion: no country with a McDonald’s can remain a democracy.
Twenty years ago, the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman proposed his “golden arches theory of conflict prevention”. This holds that “no two countries that both have McDonald’s have ever fought a war against each other since they each got their McDonald’s”.
In using McDonald’s as shorthand for the forces tearing democracy apart, I am, like him, writing figuratively. I do not mean that the presence of the burger chain itself is the cause of the decline of open, democratic societies (though it has played its part in Britain, using our defamation laws against its critics). Nor do I mean that countries hosting McDonald’s will necessarily mutate into dictatorships.
The old forms and forums still exist, but their power seeps away, re-emerging where we can no longer reach it
What I mean is that, under the onslaught of the placeless, transnational capital that McDonald’s exemplifies, democracy as a living system withers and dies. The old forms and forums still exist – parliaments and congresses remain standing – but the power they once contained seeps away, re-emerging where we can no longer reach it.
The political power that should belong to us has flitted into confidential meetings with the lobbyists and donors who establish the limits of debate and action. It has slipped into the diktats of the IMF and the European Central Bank, which respond not to the people but to the financial sector. It has been transported, under armed guard, into the icy fastness of Davos, where Friedman finds so warm a welcome (even when he’s talking cobblers).
December 6, 2016
<snip>
Gov. Christie didn't take questions after assembling the media in the Capitol Rotunda last Tuesday for the announcement of a $300 million plan to renovate the Statehouse.
That left a vacuum. Bill Brennan promptly filled it.
The retired Teaneck firefighter quickly commandeered Christie's spot. The cameras flocked around him as talked loudly about his effort to get a special prosecutor named in the citizen's complaint he had filed against Christie last month during the Bridgegate trial.
That got him a lot of media attention. The next day he got a lot more during a press conference outside the Bergen County Courthouse following a hearing on his request.
In that hearing, the judge denied his motion to name a special prosecutor. So that means Christie can finally put Bridgegate behind him, right?
Wrong. It's just getting started.
Then along came Brennan with the law degree he earned after retiring from the Fire Department.
brennan.jpgBill Brennan: Like Christie, he wants to go from prosecuting politicians to running for governor.Anthony Sciarrino/NJ Advance Media
"The question here that's on the court's lap is whether he learned of the closures and whether he had the ability through his staff to end it," McGeady said.
The answer? There was probable cause to pursue the prosecution, he ruled.
But who would be the prosecutor? The county prosecutor, who was appointed by Christie, recused himself. Brennan argues that any subordinate would have a conflict of interest as well.
"I think he has a good case on appeal," said state Sen. Ray Lesniak. "If he doesn't have standing, then no one has standing. Judges do that when they want to punt, when they don't want to make a decision on the merits."
The Union County Democrat, who is a lawyer by trade, attended the hearing last week. He said Brennan did an excellent job against attorneys for both Christie and the prosecutor - an alliance that in itself seems to indicate a conflict, he said.
Ex-firefighter Bill Brennan puts a damper on Chris Christie's ambitions
http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/12/ex-firefighter_bill_brennan_puts_a_damper_on_chris.html<snip>
Gov. Christie didn't take questions after assembling the media in the Capitol Rotunda last Tuesday for the announcement of a $300 million plan to renovate the Statehouse.
That left a vacuum. Bill Brennan promptly filled it.
The retired Teaneck firefighter quickly commandeered Christie's spot. The cameras flocked around him as talked loudly about his effort to get a special prosecutor named in the citizen's complaint he had filed against Christie last month during the Bridgegate trial.
That got him a lot of media attention. The next day he got a lot more during a press conference outside the Bergen County Courthouse following a hearing on his request.
In that hearing, the judge denied his motion to name a special prosecutor. So that means Christie can finally put Bridgegate behind him, right?
Wrong. It's just getting started.
Then along came Brennan with the law degree he earned after retiring from the Fire Department.
brennan.jpgBill Brennan: Like Christie, he wants to go from prosecuting politicians to running for governor.Anthony Sciarrino/NJ Advance Media
"The question here that's on the court's lap is whether he learned of the closures and whether he had the ability through his staff to end it," McGeady said.
The answer? There was probable cause to pursue the prosecution, he ruled.
But who would be the prosecutor? The county prosecutor, who was appointed by Christie, recused himself. Brennan argues that any subordinate would have a conflict of interest as well.
"I think he has a good case on appeal," said state Sen. Ray Lesniak. "If he doesn't have standing, then no one has standing. Judges do that when they want to punt, when they don't want to make a decision on the merits."
The Union County Democrat, who is a lawyer by trade, attended the hearing last week. He said Brennan did an excellent job against attorneys for both Christie and the prosecutor - an alliance that in itself seems to indicate a conflict, he said.
December 6, 2016
Psssssssst so Ivanka Trump is signing a deal with a Japanese company
The main shareholder of this company is a Government owned Japanese bank
Hope you understand why she was in that very first meeting with a foreign leader.
From Chris Hayes
December 6, 2016
<snip>
The urgent threat of climate change means there is “no time to despair” over the election of Donald Trump, according to former vice-president Al Gore, who hopes that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will join an escalated climate campaign against the president-elect.
Gore told the Guardian he remained hopeful Trump would reverse some of his positions on climate change but predicted an unprecedented backlash from environmentalists over the next four years.
Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, has pledged to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord, dismantle the Clean Power Plan, slash renewable energy funding and somehow prop up the ailing US coal industry.
His advisers have also advocated cutting climate research at Nasa and completely exiting the international climate effort.
Gore said such threats mean there will “likely be a huge upsurge in climate activism. I’m encouraged that there are groups that are digging in to work even harder. Those groups working in the courts are even more important now; those organizing on campuses are even more important now.
“My message would be that despair is just another form of denial. There is no time to despair. We don’t have time to lick our wounds, to hope for a different election outcome.
-------------------
Well said Al GOre
Al Gore: climate change threat leaves 'no time to despair' over Trump victory
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/05/al-gore-climate-change-threat-leaves-no-time-to-despair-over-trump-victory<snip>
The urgent threat of climate change means there is “no time to despair” over the election of Donald Trump, according to former vice-president Al Gore, who hopes that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will join an escalated climate campaign against the president-elect.
Gore told the Guardian he remained hopeful Trump would reverse some of his positions on climate change but predicted an unprecedented backlash from environmentalists over the next four years.
Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, has pledged to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord, dismantle the Clean Power Plan, slash renewable energy funding and somehow prop up the ailing US coal industry.
His advisers have also advocated cutting climate research at Nasa and completely exiting the international climate effort.
Gore said such threats mean there will “likely be a huge upsurge in climate activism. I’m encouraged that there are groups that are digging in to work even harder. Those groups working in the courts are even more important now; those organizing on campuses are even more important now.
“My message would be that despair is just another form of denial. There is no time to despair. We don’t have time to lick our wounds, to hope for a different election outcome.
-------------------
Well said Al GOre
December 5, 2016
I think it's worse than many think
I believe Groper Don the Con intends to tear down every norm associated with international relations.
He is of the view that the US is the 'imperial power' and the rest of the world are colonies by order.
Hint - China can devalue its currency without US permission but not according to this lunatic.
December 4, 2016
Tears for the dead in that Oakland fire
To think that I enjoyed a street and art festival in Miami on Friday and am now watching coverage of other street artists who died in a horrific fire in Oakland - now 33 bodies found
Profile Information
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 06:05 PMNumber of posts: 268,903
