Grateful Dead

dead.net the official site

Lose your step fallout of grace... I'm anti-fashion though I like to wear good quality, comfortable clothes and shoes. There was one socially responsible company that set up some kind of fund to help the workers in Bangladesh. It wouldn't be fair not to mention them -- wish I could remember the name. There are companies out there whose sole job is to review factory and wage and environmental conditions and they all seem to be like the bond rating agencies. Give them enough money and they'll certify anything!

Anna, have you seen the recent online video where the guy goes around handing out Abercrombie & Fitch clothes to the homeless? I believe it was in response to a recent corporate statement where the company stated they only wanted their clothes worn by skinny, beautiful people and not fat slobs, or something along those lines. The link to the video escapes me at present, but I'm sure you can find it with a quick Google search. It reminds me of similar statements made by the soulless bastards running Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, etc. And on a similar note, I'm so sick and fed up with the need to look our absolute best when out in public. Seriously, just because Kanye wears shoes that match his pants that match his belt that match his shirt that matches his watch that matches his sunglasses that match his hat is DOES NOT MEAN that we need to do it too! If the youth of the 21st century cared as much about social and political issues as they do their hair and their clothes, those of us here on Dead.net and other such socially-concious sites wouldn't have to complain so much about how badly the world sucks.

The recent building collapse in Dacca, Bangladesh that killed over 800 housed many factories making clothes for many popular retailers The fashion industry has tilted toward cheap, wear once garments that are often made in such sweat shops. People don't want cheap fashion to the point of making working conditions unsafe and wages just above starvation. The relentless maw of capitalism gnashes endlessly for profit. The average consumer doesn't want to hurt other human beings so they can get a seven dollar blouse. We don't have a say in the way we are marketed to, except if we vote not to buy from inhuman bastards who sit as CEOs, CFOs and Board members collecting obscene salaries.

Life truly is not a dress rehearsal...

Y'know, the more I think about how the Republicans want to treat Benghazi like the next Watergate, the Democrats really hold the ultimate trump card. If the one side wants Obama to stand trial for Benghazi, the other should have Bush and Cheney stand trial for 9/11. Because, as we now know, the Bush Administration knew of the threat prior to the attack, but they chose to ignore it. It's still up in the air as to whether or not the Obama Administration knew enough about the Benghazi attack to effectively prevent what happened. Just a thought.

This was a good article that addressed one of the concerns I mentioned - Syria. We get it -- No rush to judgement because of Bush's rush to war in Iraq. The other good thing in the article was Biden speaking of the Chinese killing the planet with coal-fired plants. I've been pushing that point around here for over four years. Biden was short on specifics on how to motivate the Chinese to more expensive alternate fuels. The truth is that in Asia life is cheap and people dieing due to pollution is a secondary consideration to a revolution against the Communist Party for not delivering the economic goods. The gist of the article seems to be to lend Biden some weight when it comes to his relationship with Obama and Biden being the natural successor to a vastly popular president. The problem I see is that Biden is a whitebread kind of guy that is not going to "pull the underclass out of their apartments" to vote. Make no mistake, without a huge turnout of households with small combined incomes the Democrats have very little chance to retake the White House. If Hillary runs in 2016 it once again energizes the base of the party to do something never done before -- elect a woman for president. She doesn't excite me at all but I think she would do as a president and if being a woman is the way in for a Democrat for another 8 years then I'm all for it. By the way Parkas, thanks for mentioning the sequester and it's effect on the military not being high priority. The Pentagon, along with their buddies at Raytheon, General Dynamics and Grumman (among others) know very well which weapons programs can be cut without the least bit of damage to our military preparedness. The days of profligate spending on redundant weapons systems is over! Bottom line though is that Biden is a good guy. He wouldn't be a bad president.

Thanks for the tip on the Biden article. Will see if I can give it a read today ot tomorrow.

I think the sequestration will leave a blemish on his record as well. I got a call from my delegates here in MD regarding the cuts in military spending, and I told them to stick it where the sun doesn't shine. There are more important infrastructures in America than weapons of mass destruction, and I ain't talkin' 'bout no terrorists neither. Speaking of the Obama administration, did you read the latest issue of 'Rolling Stone'? There's a really good interview with Joe Biden in there I think you might like. And I agree with you wholeheartedly that we have to admit when there are problems with the team we backed with our vote, moreso than those who didn't

In an administration that has been remarkably free of sleeze, the current three scandals embroiling Obama didn't have to happen and are a measure of bureaucratic stupidity: 1) IRS going after conservatives 2) AG's Office getting phone taps on 500 AP reporters 3) Benghazi (primarily motivated to be a preemptive strike against Billary in 2016 by conservatives) If you want to add Obama's lack of resolve in backing moderates fighting el-Assad in Syria starting at least a year ago and now revving up to be a major problem with the probable use of chemical weapons it would be a fair criticism. Barak Obama has been a good and noble president and he has been defeated by perverse rules in the Senate requiring a super-majority to get anything done. It is a shame that he will piss away the rest of his administration dealing with these issues when there are so many more important things to be done. Hey, if you back the guy majorly like me then you have to admit when there are problems.

That's the motto of every Leaf fan. I nearly fkn cried. I'm still in shock I think. For a team that dominated the better half of that series that was a epic collapse and a brutal way to lose. I'd rather they lost 8-0. Anyways.....it's over. I'll take the positives out of that series and hope for the best next season My wife and son are big Penguins fans so I think i'll jump on board with them. But really....I don't give a shit anymore.