L0oniX
L0oniX's JournalDU is a Dem based platform. What is right does not always apply here.
I find that the left and progressives are definitely not republican and or conservative but they certainly are at the least Dem but more than that they are, to put it simply followers of FDR. I hate corporations ...I hate their disgusting immoral sociopath CEO's. They are animals without a conscience for their fellow human being. Their greedy ways and controls are so thoroughly entrenched that no amount of voting will ever stop them now. To think that the Dems play no part in this is ignorant and blind. Thus we have those that blindly follow Obama and continually make excuses for him. They fawn over the family like American Idol fans. I have to admit though that his lies are some of the nicest ones I have heard from our government. He is an eloquent speaker and that has taken him a long long way but he is owned just like the repukes are. Next up will be the war monger and hawk ...Clinton. I wish Dems would wake the hell up and slide over to the lefty progressive side. This place used to partner with the left and progressives. We were accepted and welcome here years ago but I feel that is waning severely. We need someone who is really on our side who will fight for us and not cave to corporations. We need jobs for everyone not austerity. If we are going to go into austerity then they should have let the banksters fail ...that would have been the real free market penalty for their greedy thieving schemes. We need another FDR ...now!
US To Award Medals For Killing Civilians
Pentagon Creates New Medal for Cyber, Drone Wars http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33941.htm
February 14, 2013 "AP" -- They fight the war from computer consoles and video screens.
But the troops who launch the drone strikes and direct the cyber attacks that can kill or disable an enemy may never set foot in the combat zone. Now their battlefield contributions may be recognized with the first new combat-related medal to be created in decades.
<>The new blue, red and white-ribboned Distinguished Warfare Medal will be awarded to individuals for "extraordinary achievement" related to a military operation that occurred after Sept. 11, 2001. But unlike other combat medals, it does not require the recipient risk his or her life to get it.
<>Response in the cybersphere was immediate and divided, and more often biting. While some acknowledged the contributions of cyber and drone warriors and said the award was the right thing to do, others dubbed the medal the "Geek Cross" and speculated that young video-gamers may soon get Purple Hearts for their animated wounds.
Hey now there's an idea. Let's put all those PS3 game playing basement teenagers to work. They'd probably do a better job of killing and they already have a trophy list on their PS3's so I am sure they would appreciate a (bullshit) real medal from our wonderful military. After all they would be suffering and sacrificing with blisters from all the joy stick actuation, button pushing and sores on their feet from the pedals while marching thru the swamps, jungles and hiking up mountains with 80 pounds of gear. Just think ...about the huge cost reduction in military spending. Hell the kids would probably work for free ...and we can rah rah USA USA the parents to go along with it. The whole family could be proud to serve the military without having to actually go over there and kill innocent people. What a wonderful way to kill people and not have to see all the blood and guts. Just think ...no more washing blood off your hands and changing out of those nasty blood soaked uniforms ...or cleaning guns. Nice clean wholesome family fun for everyone. They could be neighbourhood heroes. Maybe we could have a patriot award for them like a banner they could hang on the front of their house.
WTH is our fucked up country doing? Getting worse everyday.
Shouting- USA! USA! USA! ...is for idiots. Ya might as well shout "don't worry be happy".
Obama can't control corporate greed and the sociopaths. Everywhere you look the US is committing suicide. In-debt the youth with college loans for jobs that won't be there ...throw away those over 50 yo ...export the few remaining good jobs ...play world big gun war games instead of caring for our own ...this country was much better than that but now it is all over ...no going back to being decent people who are represented by their government. This country is a facade of democracy under corporate rule with politics playing good cop bad cop and people think their vote really makes a difference ....pffft.
Patriotism is for fools!
Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy. - Henry Kissinger
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children." - Dwight Eisenhower
You measure a democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists.- Abbie Hoffman
Blind obedience to authority is the enemy of the truth. - Albert Einstein
Become an internationalist and learn to respect all life. Make war on machines. And in particular the sterile machines of corporate death and the robots that guard them. -Abbie Hoffman
That worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor . . . This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism–how passionately I hate them! – Albert Einstein
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Patriotism is a menace to liberty. - Emma Goldman
Never was a patriot yet, but was a fool. – John Dryden
A patriot is a fool in ev’ry age. – Alexander Pope.
Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. – Samuel Johnson
In Dr. Johnson’s famous dictionary, patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer, I beg to submit that it is the first. – Ambrose Bierce
Patriotism is as fierce as a fever, pitiless as the grave, blind as a stone, and irrational as a headless hen. – Ambrose Bierce
That pernicious sentiment, “Our country, right or wrong.” – James Russell Lowell
“My country right or wrong” is a thing that no patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like saying, “My mother drunk or sober.” – G. K. Chesterton
Patriotism which has the quality of intoxication is a danger not only to its native land but to the world, and “My country never wrong” is an even more dangerous maxim than “My country, right or wrong.” – Bertrand Russell
Patrioism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it. – George Bernard Shaw
Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious. – George Bernard Shaw
You’ll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race. – George Bernard Shaw
Patriotism is a pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy. – George Bernard Shaw
Patriotism is an ephemeral motive that scarcely ever outlasts the particular threat to society that aroused it. – Denis Diderot
To me, it seems a dreadful indignity to have a soul controlled by geography. – George Santayana
The Athenian democracy suffered much from that narrowness of patriotism which is the ruin of all nations. – H.G. Wells
Nationalism is our form of incest, is our idolatry, is our insanity. “Patriotism” is its cult. . . . Just as love for one individual which excludes the love for others is not love, love for one’s country which is not part of one’s love for humanity is not love, but idolatrous worship. – Erich Fromm
One of the great attractions of patriotism–it fulfills our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able, vicariously, to bully and cheat, Bully and cheat, what’s more, with a feeling that we are profoundly virtuous. – Aldous Huxley
Many studies have discovered a close link between prejudice and “patriotism” . . . Extreme bigots are almost always super-patriots – Gordon Allport
It seems like the less a statesman amounts to, the more he loves the flag. – Elbert Hubband
Patriotism varies, from a noble devotion to a moral lunacy. – William Inge
Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts, as a last resource, pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and glad to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority. – Arthur Schopenhauer
Patriotism is the passion of fools and the most foolish of passions. – Arthur Schopenhauer
Patriotism corrupts history. – Goethe
Into the cultural and technological system of the modern world, the patriotic spirit fits like dust in the eyes and sand in the bearings. Its net contribution to the outcome is obscuration, distrust, and retardation at every point where it touches the fortunes of modern mankind. – Thorstein Veblen
The standardization of mass-production carries with it a tendency to standardize a mass-mind, producing a willing conformity, not merely to common ways of living, but to common ways of thinking and common valuations. The worst defect of patriotism is its tendency to foster and impose this common mind, and so to stifle the innumerable germs of liberty. – J.A. Hobson
2. Patriotism and War:
At the bottom of all patriotism is war: that is why I am no patriot. – Jules Renard
No other factor in history, not even religion, has produced so many wars as has the clash of national egotisms sanctified by the name of patriotism. – Preserved Smith
Naturally the common people don’t want war . . . Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders . . . All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism. – Hermann Goering.
3. Patriotism and Religion:
Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched. – Guy de Maupassant
God and Country are an unbeatable team; they break all records for oppression and bloodshed. – Luis Buñuel
To be patriotic, hate all nations but your own; to be religious, all sects but your own; to be moral, all pretenses but your own. – Lionel Strachey
When a dog barks at the moon, then it is religion; but when he barks at strangers, it is patriotism! – David Starr Jordan
4. The American Syndrome:
If you have a weak candidate and a weak platform, wrap yourself up in the American flag and talk about the Constitution. – Matt Quay
How much longer are we going to think it necessary to be “American” before (or in contradistinction to) being cultivated, being enlightened, being humane, & having the same intellectual discipline as other civilized countries? It is really too easy a disguise for our shortcomings to dress them up as a form of patriotism. – Edith Wharton
The 100 percent American is 99 percent an idiot. – George Bernard Shaw
Treason is in the air around us everywhere. It goes by the name of patriotism. – Thomas Corwin
5. Three relatively positive assessments of patriotism:
A patriot is somebody who protects his country from his government. Or better yet: who has the guts to protect his country from its government. – Piotyr Dirk
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. – George Washington
Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. – Thomas Jefferson
The right thing to do or "good fight" is not always a matter of political party.
We are approaching the day here on DU when we will not be allowed to criticize Dems for anything until the 2012 election is over without risking a pizza delivery. Truth might take second place. The Dem party is not immune to the blind lock step. It will be considered to be more important to make sure and do everything possible to keep any and all Dem's in office irregardless of the possibility that some Dems might not give a sh*t about the poor and elderly. IMO it's all about the money no matter what the political party is. We have drug companies that don't care about the cure but only profit ...and the same with the MIC and health insurance corporations. They are all vampires sucking the life out of us. Yea I will fight the good fight to help Obama be re-elected but I don't trust that the future of the poor and elderly is as safe as it has been before political turn coat asscarrots put SS, Medicare and Medicaid on the table. When a country doesn't care about its poor, handicapped and elderly it no longer can boast any kind of moral high ground.
"It doesn't matter which party is in power"
That's what I think about it as well. While the parties do battle over the emotional issues like abortion, marriage, taxes and immigration, the rich continue to encircle us. It's nice to believe that your vote makes any real difference but until we all focus on who our enemy really is and proceed to do something about it we are all going to continue down the economic drain. OWS may be one way to at least get plutocracy out in the open. We all need to gather together under the common goal of taking our government back and away from the rich. If we don't do this and we continue to be distracted by party or any other freak show we can kiss the middle class good bye. Are you all going to accept the rich getting richer while we get poorer?
Glass-Steagall, Dodd-Frank and The Volcker Rule: A Primer and Resources
Interested in the truth for a change?
http://billmoyers.com/content/glass-steagall-dodd-frank-and-the-volcker-rule-a-primer-and-resources/
http://billmoyers.com/episode/encore-how-big-banks-are-rewriting-the-rules-of-our-economy/
You may also like...
Giving Up Your Bank for Lent
Bank of America Strikes Again
Byron Dorgan’s Prophetic Words
IMO neither party is going to do anything about this ...more info at the top link:
Analysis:
PBS’s Frontline chronicles the rise and fall of the Glass-Steagall Act.
First impressions of the Dodd-Frank bill from The New York Times’ Dealbook blog.
Rolling Stones’ Matt Taibbi says that Congress looked serious about financial reform, until the banks unleashed an army of 2,000 paid lobbyists.
ProPublica explains how the rules called for in the original Dodd-Frank bill have been muddied and watered down.
New York Times columnist Joe Nocera wonders if the bankers might have a point about the new regulations being overly complex.
The Economist calls Dodd-Frank “Too big not to fail.”
WNYC compares Glass-Steagall with the Volcker Rule.
The New York Times’ Dealbook blog calls the Volcker Rule “good as dead.”
The people at the top don't care which party gets the blame and IMO both parties are to blame.
When you look at how cronie capitalism has taken hold over our gov it becomes obvious that it isn't so much a party problem as it is the rotten core of our gov that is owned by anyone with enough money. Also for those who are for free market capitalism, consider this ...Wallstreet got bailed out! That means that free market capitalism was suspended under the lie of fear of a collapse which delivered the bail out. It's one or the other. Either it is capitalism or it is welfare for the rich. Capitalism lets the penalty for failure occur. If you think that is a problem of party then you have been brain washed by the DLC or whatever it was that caused you to think it was just the repukes. It's not! It is those in the gov that are under the full influence of money and that money is not coming from us except for the massive bail out that they got @ >1% and then reinvested into gov bonds @ 3%. When the truth matters more than politics then people can get a real clue on what is destroying our democracy.
Don't believe me ...I don't know that much but there are those that do and you can check it out here: http://billmoyers.com/episode/encore-broadcast-crony-capitalism/
Also see:
David Stockman on Crony Capitalism
Jacob Hacker & Paul Pierson on Engineered Inequality
Encore Broadcast: On Winner-Take-All Politics
Worth Watching: ‘Three Little Pigs’
Encore Broadcast: Crony Capitalism
Damn ...I can't believe how bummed out I get when I hear Dio.
&feature=relatedFor those who don't know ...Ronny passed away last year from cancer.
Netflix has the Sacred Heart DVD of his live concert from 1986. I highly recommended it.
I hate it when people bad mouth him and show their ignorance. He was a very kind man who help found Children of the Night - Rescuing America's children from the ravages of street prostitution. A non profit organization that needs your support.
Also there is a new effort to help cure cancer. The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund.
Of course those assholes from Westboro Baptist showed up at his public wake. I usually wouldn't even think this about anyone but I HATE THEM MUTHA FUCKAS WITH ALL THE HEAT OF HELL!!!!!!
Funny thing about that devil sign is that he got it from his Italian grand mother. It never was ever meant as a sign of the devil.
Please forgive me for my rant ...it just really gets to me when I see him perform Sacred Heart. It's just too cool.
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Name: Home BoyGender: Do not display
Hometown: Hell, Michigan
Home country: The Great Satan
Current location: I don't know.
Member since: Sun Mar 5, 2006, 12:49 AM
Number of posts: 31,493
