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    marye
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    Nuclear power! Carcinogenic cell phones! The Stanley Cup! and the usual parade of kids dancing and shaking their bones, politicians throwing stones, etc. Discuss.

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  • deadhead102
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    Deadheads For Bernie!

    Get on the boat! Health care with no deductibles, co-pays, etc. To any union members who think their negotiated health plan is better, if your employer doesn't have to pay for your health care, THEY CAN PAY YOU MORE!

  • marye
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    this topic
    is getting seriously unwieldy; please post in the new thread here: http://www.dead.net/forum/long-strange-and-trippy-still-more-current-events
  • Mike Edwards
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    With Six You Get Egg Roll
    > The cost of the war to America was roughly one trillion dollars. Where this gets really interesting is that the US borrowed that trillion dollars from the People's Republic of China. Add to this the fact that most of the oil coming out of Iraq these days is headed, not for the US, but to Asia, and you've got yourself a real head-scratcher of a conclusion: the US borrowed a trillion dollars from the Chinese to secure their supply of oil?
  • Anna rRxia
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    10 Year Anniversary of the start of the Iraq War
    There are few people out there who believe this wasn't a war of personal animosity between Dubya and Hussein. All the evidence was forged or made up as far as weapons of mass destruction are concerned. In a place where there was no AQ one came to be established in the chaos of war. The US was ill-prepared, thinking it would be a shorter term conflict and not committing enough resources to it. Not only that, the generals didn't conceive of the IEDs that would be used to blow up convoys. Thus, American soldiers didn't have the body armor they needed or the armored vehicles they needed. Soldiers didn't have the psychological preparation needed to fight an enemy without uniforms, melting into an innocent population, thus causing unbelievable psychological damage to the troops - suicides and PTSD were rampant in the front line troops. Some of them come home to become ticking time-bombs. The whole argument of "So what if there weren't weapons of mass destruction there, Hussein was a bad man who needed to be removed." doesn't hold water. There are a lot of bad dictators out there whom we don't regard as bad enough to go to war over. This war is the result of the neo-cons who were thoroughly disgraced -- people like Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld & Bush. These former leaders of the US don't even dare to travel to Britain as they may be arrested, to this day, as war criminals. Due to this war being the first one where contractors took a large percentage of low-level jobs there were relatively few casualties among US soldiers, about 4000. This should be compared to the most precise count of Iraqis killed, based partly on Wikki Leaks information, that shows that roughly 120,000 Iraqis were killed from all sources of violence, not just American or American hired, during the years of war 2003-2011. The cost of the war to America was roughly one trillion dollars. It was this indiscriminate killing by Americans and their civilian contractors that turned the Iraqi population against the US as the war progressed. The neo-cons are now widely regarded as short-sighted fools and part of an administration that allowed carnage and widespread economic suffering around the world to this day because of lax oversight of investment banks.
  • Anna rRxia
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    Their Walls are made of Cannonballs
    The recent spate of gun violence in upstate NY, about 200 miles to the West of me, is quite frightening. The Governor of that State passed the most strict gun controls in the nation and it seems to be of no avail. And that is because the genie is out of the bottle with no way to put the genie back. 250,000,000 guns on our streets will never be turned in again to any significant degree. This latest episode had an otherwise normal 64 year-old man shoot 4 people in a barbershop in Herkimer and then head across the river and shoot two more at a quick lube in Mohawk before returning to Herkimer and barricading himself in an abandoned building in the middle of downtown. He was fatally shot when he killed a police dog that was sent in by SWAT teams after a 24 hour stand-off. These things happening in small towns are very frightening to those of us who live in semi-rural America. I attribute a lot of these shootings not to people who are mentally unbalanced but to otherwise middle-class people who are slipping into poverty and feel that their lives are embarrassing and useless, on top of which they are continuously bombarded by news stories about Congress about to pull the social safety net out from under them. No subsidized housing, no food stamps, no medical care, no medicine, no social security check. This angst is felt by Millennial also who generally feel cheated that the good things 80% of the population experienced during their lives will not be there for them in a brave new world filled with crushing debt, global warming and helplessness in old age. On TV this morning I saw a commercial for Sig-Sauer Academy. It was cutting- edge gun-nut stuff. It showed people responding to being touched on the arm by quickly whipping out a pistol and emptying a clip into them. Being touched on the arm does not constitute a mortal threat and in more than 75% of the states in this country the person who kills such a person with a legally concealed handgun will go to jail for involuntary manslaughter at the very least.
  • Anna rRxia
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    Some corrections
    The Catholic Church's apology last year was for it's role during WWII, not for Cardinal Bergolio's conduct in Argentina. The Catholic church maintains still to this day that it's responsibility was to save Catholics during this time period. Upon reflection, Bergolio has been very outspoken about the responsibility of the rich to the poor. Indeed this is the central to the problems experienced during the time of the disappeared in South America. Bergolio had to know what was going on but he couldn't call a spade a spade or he could have ended up like the Archbishop of El Salvador: Assassinated. It was pointed out yesterday on MSNBC that this retirement of a pope and the election of the first pope outside of Europe in a strongly Catholic emerging continent is not an accident. The bottom line is more envelopes in the collection plate while a European oversees the "colored" pope so he doesn't run amok. At least the last pope gave up the trappings of power such as his red Prada shoes. Jon Stewart pointed out that he could always use those shoes to click his heels three times together and incant: "There is no place like Rome There is no place like Rome"
  • Anna rRxia
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    Furthur Bus
    I guess the Pranksters pulled a fast one on the Smithsonian or maybe a replica was part of the deal, but they drove a bus across the country to be placed in the Smithsonian in or around 1997. I welcome this project by the Kesey family to restore the original bus and certainly hope funds can be raised. Please keep us informed as I will certainly make a small donation to this part of history that could be preserved to at least 2065, the one hundred year anniversary of the Grateful Dead. It could be an attraction at a major festival of jam bands still belting it out and commemorating the scene and one of America's favorite bands. The venue should be UC Santa Cruz, where the archives are enshrined.
  • Mike Edwards
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    But Remember: Nothing Lasts
    At least one member of the Republican Party seems to have suffered a moment of clarity recently. Speaking at CPAC, Newt Gingrich observed that the Republican establishment is "mired in stupidity."
  • wilfredtjones
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    along with the impending return of twinkies...
    ...here's something else to flag down to this summer (well, this summer for the twinkies, next summer for the bus) the furthur bus!
  • Anna rRxia
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    War on the poor
    The Republicans have their guns squarely set on entitlement programs and they are going to get their way. The Koch brothers have set the agenda with their billions and the media has served up this steaming pile of offal like lap dogs. The social contract is about to be broken and for the baby boomers it looks as if those 55 older will be able to keep their Medicare and SS benefits while those under that age will have their benefits cut and delivered two years later. This is not ridiculous, it is a crime. Something needs to be pointed out here before this happens. The stinking mess created by lax regulation of investment banks by a Republican president resulted in massive bailouts that boosted the Federal deficit 1.45 trillion dollars in 2009. As of 2012, the Obama Administration has reduced that debt to 845 billion. The sky is not about to fall. We don't need to declare war on the poor by slashing entitlements and stabbing the middle class baby boomers in the back. This whole dance by Obama seems very well orchestrated. First the big deal of increasing taxes on the rich and then the Republicans refusing to budge an inch on the tax code, closing massive loopholes for special interests you could sail a ship through. Then Obama goes on a "charm offensive" which is nothing but a euphemism for caving on entitlements. Centrist Democrats suck. This rant is far from over. To be continued.
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Nuclear power! Carcinogenic cell phones! The Stanley Cup! and the usual parade of kids dancing and shaking their bones, politicians throwing stones, etc. Discuss.

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all the complexities and grey areas and contradictions and mixed messages and mixed massages should not change the simple message that 'No means no' .
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I totally agree cosmicbadger. No indeed means NO.Just to clarify to everyone, i do not support any entangled web of behaviour as by any means justifying a sad, abusive outcome. There are no excuses. But the more confusing the message, the more perplexing the deed becomes. At what point does lurid, provocative body language and attention getting turn into a "come on"? Men AND women. Like i said, the incredible amount of stupid males in the world WILL read these signs in a particular way. Everyone in this kind of situation are complicit. Some men encourage and demand this behaviour, certain women are all too happy to oblige. Makes for incredibly muddy waters where all parties are ultimately become losers. I remember traveling in Morocco with my wife; we found ourselves with a party of three English girls, seemingly completely oblivious to the Muslim tradition of more modest attire, even in extreme heat. We are talking, and i kid you not, the barest minimum. Which, in turn, provoked in some quarters, cat calls, and quite distressing leering and unpleasant comments. And the girls reaction was one of almost incredulity and unabashed sneers. True, at a certain age you think you're the centre of the Universe and you can do what you want. I understand that, we've all done it. But what the hell did they expect? "I want to walk around pouting, flicking my blonde hair, but don't say anything or come too close; you ain't hot, you ain't fit and you ain't a similarly tangoed arsehole from the West". Maybe leave the country and stick to Ibiza then, no? (They did have some good hash that we imbibed while on camel back, ambling through the desert by moonlight for a couple hours to camp, the wind a cooling complement while Phil Lesh's bassline from "The Other One" played in my gently cushioned mind, so guess we dug them a wee bit). We all know that men abuse their self-assumed positions of dominance (and we all know that women know the real deal; "Talking Loud And Saying Nothing" anyone?). But stupid people attract other stupid people. And you know what? Like most things, it spoils it and complicates matters for the many thousands, nay, millions of people who are decent and mean well. The few shafting the many. Others paying the price for the minority. And likewise, in agreement, riggsjr; Justice totally uneven, and probably encouraged, dare i say, demanded? Possibly the same sentence for a Kynd soul buying a tiny amount of weed as for the an aggravated assault or sexual misdemeanor. Me? I'll stick to music and the love and companionship of my family and friends. Friends i have or friends i've yet to meet.
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A couple of years ago I was in a bar/cafe in Munich Germany with my wife. A smartly dressed woman entered laden with shopping and followed by her 12(ish) year old daughter. As they sat down at the table next to us my wife noticed that the daughter was wearing a pink T-shirt with the following words written across in sparkly writing: 'Just do me' We debated whether to go across and say something to them. Maybe not being native english speakers they did not understand. But we could not think of a way to explain without seeming like complete weirdos so said nothing.
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am quite sure both of them understood exactly what that means! Horriffic!!!!!!********************************** I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde
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Unbelievable spineless wimps on this jury just wanted to go home. Not one would hold out and hang the jury. This equals the OJ verdict. I am sickened by this miscarriage of justice. If Casey didn't do the actual deed, she knows who did and deserves 30 years in the slam for that alone.
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"Not guilty" doesn't = "innocent" by a long stretch. My wife was incredulous over the verdict, I was actually expecting it. Without a cause of death, all of the prosecution agruments, all the defense arguments, were speculation, since whoever actually knows what happened was not telling. That makes the burden of proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" pretty tough to shoulder. Without knowing with certainty how or when Caylee died, how can you prove that a particular person killed her? I observed a trial once where every person in the courtroom, including me, KNEW that the accused was guilty. But all the evidence was circumstantial and plausibly explained by other scenarios. The judge, who I'm sure also believed that he done it, ruled "not guilty." It's supposed to work that way. Sometimes it sucks. Sometimes it sucks a lot.
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Under Scottish Law Juries have the option of a third verdict 'Not Proven', which means 'We know you did it, but it can't be proved' or as some would say "not guilty, but don't do it again". No punishment is associated with Not Proven, but the verdict is not subject to double jeopardy so the accused can be retried if more evidence is found. And the verdict remains as a permament suspicion over the accused. I
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I like that. We need one of those...
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Whoever said the the Scot's weren't smart?
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No one. You're thinking of the Irish.
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don't be knocking the Irish! LOL :)********************************** I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde
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"Do you not get it, lads? The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin. So say it once, say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud."********************************** I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde
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"Somwhere a village is missing 12 idiots" What about all the other children dead in a ditch? Casey Anthony knows who killed her baby, even if it was an "accident" Gee, what did we ever do before DNA evidence? Use common sense? Hey. why should I be surprised when people don't care about their Miranda Rights.
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So News International sells millions of papers based on news which may have been sourced by tapping phones emails,etc. They have also been bribing paying the police to get these details for them and denying in court that this was a regular practice during the Tommy Sheridan trial ( a member of the Scottish Socialists who has been jailed for perjury when he took the News Of The World to court for libel).The heat comes on and what do News International do? Shut down the rag of a 'newspaper' News Of The World ( subject matter, who's having an affair, soap opera trivia). All this so that Rupert Murdoch can still push for his plans to take a greater stake in Sky television and then really try and influence every election or thought we have. It's time someone put an end to this megalomaniac's ambitions but I fear it won't happen under the current government who probably still owe him dues for helping to break the miners strike of 1984/85,and as we know the resulting defeat of the miners threw thousands out of work, destroyed families, made mining villages into ghost towns and decimated people's lives for years afterwards. Thanks for reading this rant which now comes to a close.
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Yep, a sacrifice worth making for a little BSkyB action.Can't wait to see David Cameron start backtracking and applying the sincerity with a pallet knife. In fact, give him a spade, he'll need a bigger surface area. Scary when you consider the influence some of these tabloids have over the public. Some people actually get their "world view" from The Sun. To the right of Attila The Hun? This is a paper everyone, that in 2011, with all our advances in science, philosophy, medical breakthroughs.........has a picture of a girl topless on page 3. If i wanted to look at a pair of tits i'd catch a Cameron/Clegg interview.
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TAXING THE WEALTHY In order to reduce the national debt, would you support or oppose raising taxes on those with incomes over $150,000 a year? Support 1957 Oppose 449 Unsure 351 In order to reduce the national debt, would you support or oppose raising taxes on those with incomes over $250,000 a year? Support 2545 Oppose 133 Unsure 70 In order to reduce the national debt, would you support or oppose raising taxes on those with incomes over $1,000,000 a year? Support 2683 Oppose 62 Unsure 4 CUTTING SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, AND MEDICAID In order to reduce the national debt, would you support or oppose cutting spending on Social Security, which is the retirement program for the elderly? Support 95 Oppose 2614 Unsure 46 In order to reduce the national debt, would you support or oppose cutting spending on Medicare, which is the government health insurance program for the elderly? Support 102 Oppose 2596 Unsure 57 In order to reduce the national debt, would you support or oppose cutting spending on Medicaid, which is the government health insurance program for the poor, disabled, and children? Support 107 Oppose 2577 Unsure 66 NATIONAL PRIORITIES What do you think should be a higher priority for Congress: creating jobs or reducing the deficit? Creating jobs 2449 Reducing the deficit 216 **************************************************************************************** Stop, think, what is obvious common sense here? An Independent US Senator tells the truth while the rest try to brainwash us. Don't go along with the advertizing. Think for yourself.
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...to donate profits from it's last copy to charity. Be still my heart... The righteous Murdoch, who brought forth to America, this ignorant land, the FOX network with it's many, many "Liar, Liar! Pants On Fire" awards from Politifact (an ind. org. who checks news claims). As long as there was a cell phone with a battery in it, on or off, they could hack it. If your cell phone is off and you're enjoying yourself in the privacy of your own home, the News of the World might be listening in as the champagne cork pops. Hey, wait a minute! Our government, news agencies, detectives etc., might be listening to us. Glad to say I was way ahead of the curve on this one. My battery is more out of my cell phone than in. ~ The only privacy we have left is that measured between our own two ears. ~ (from the movie Enemy of the State"
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R)-SC, and a few of his party friends introduced Senate Resolution 226 in order to stop President Obama from invoking his authority under the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling! How do these Republicans get elected, who's drivin' their train, and what valid proposals do they offer to help resolve the issue of our deficit? Simply mind-boggling.
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14th Amendment to the US Constitution "Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void." So Grahm , et. al. is saying that the national debt ceiling had to do with Obama freeing the slaves? Uhhhm, NO! (But could be as SC started the civil war and Obama wants one black vote to equal 1 vote instead of 3/5ths of a voe) Is Grahm saying that the Tea Party and all other organizations fomenting insurrection such as AQ should not be paid for by the States or the US? Is Grahm really trying to say that Obama is trying to support insurrection in our country by providing decent, affordable health care? Basing the objection to raising the debt ceiling on the 14th Amendment is an act of lunacy that could only come from SC. Last: Who is behind this? The Kohn bothers. A billionaire PAC of 2 dedicated to the proposition that the American people can be advertized into doing anything they want. I must admit they are doing a good job with the Supremes right now -- Corporations have human rights and can spend all their money getting whomever they want elected. Grahm, the Tea Party, he Kohns have no valid poroposals. They only wish to fine tune our population so that 3/5th of the population can be the servants for 2/th of the population. It's called "Class War" which is why I'll never again hold that Bob & Phil made a mistake in rallying for Obama.
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A pause from the Koch bros for a moment, and back to the Caylee Anthony trial. And no, Gonzo, the RI part of this is not a reference to wiseguys on Federal Hill nor to Buddy Cianci. This is how you get around pesky things like "laws" in order to obtain justice for the victims of murderers. Craig Price was a teenage serial killer in the late '80s in Warwick, RI. Absolutely guilty, no doubt here, he confessed to his crimes and showed zero remorse for brutally killing 4 people over the course of a couple of years. But he was a minor, and RI had no law in place to try minors as adults. So despite his admitted guilt, Price was supposed to be released from incarceration on his 21st birthday. However, through a series of infractions that he committed while in jail, including assault, extortion and the big one, criminal contempt of court for refusing psychological evaluation/treatment (on the advice of his attorney, most likely because if fully evaluated he would have ended up in a mental hospital/prison for the rest of his life), he's still in jail and currently with a 2020 release date. This was so obviously a case of gaming the system on the part of prison officials, prosecutors, and judges...but his crimes were so heinous that, frankly, nobody cared. I was appalled at how obvious this stuff was at the time. But frankly, I didn't care either. Except, you know, on an "integrity of the system" basis. Price is in his late 30s now. As whacked out as he is, I have to believe he'll continue to screw up in prison and continue do time for crimes other than the horrific ones that got him behind bars to start with. We can only hope. So there's your template. Not so hard to follow, is it?
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...that entice and frighten at the same time. A group of prison officials decided that they wanted this guy IN JAIL for a few more years rather than, as you say, in the ckoo ckoo's nest for the rest of his life. As it is, his lawyer tried to have " justice" done, He will be out at around 48 years old or so. So he serves 27 years for killing 4 people. Casey Anthony gets 4 years for (time served) for killing her daughter. I don't argue that a jury of one's piers is best in trying criminal cases, though you have to admit, judges and lawyers can and do manipulate juries on a regular basis. This judge was on the side of the prosecution. That was obvious. He said no less than three times "even if you have a reasonable doubt , still, IF YOU HAVE A DEEP, ABIDING FEELING THAT THE ACCUSED IS GUILTY THEN YOU MUST BRING BACK A GUI;TY VERDICT! Not one juror heard that instruction or took it to heart and they all just looked into deep space for any reasonable doubt, plausible or imagined. Not one juror had the guts to hang that jury. The Prosecutor's office in Pinellas Country, got deeply burned and won't go through the time and expense of another trial, should more evidence come to light. It's like I said i the other post... What did we ever do before DNA evidence? Use common sense? Yes, I know DNA is kicking people off Death Row all over the place but I still don't think it applies in this case. By the way, Buddy Cianci was the former mayor of Providence, but he didn't have a button. The New England Family is run out of many legal enterprises in RI. I only know what I know cause I lived in that state a long time.
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he was handing the defense an appeal on a silver platter. The judge might not like it, but deep abiding feelings notwithstanding, as the law is constituted the jury with the Not Proven verdict on its hands is obliged to bring in Not Guilty. Now it may come to pass with Ms. Anthony that she experiences a huge transformation and has an exemplary or at least unremarkable life, who knows. Or it may be that she goes the way of OJ and is soon undone over some truly dumbass move. She has a certain amount of control over this and let's hope she's learned enough to use it well.
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which I believe it did, a little girl died and no killer was found. The mother lied and lied and lied and partied till the jig was up. It was all the kind of evidence that does not prove beyond the shadow of a doubt, but leads a rational, sane person in a very firm direction. Sorry there was no DNA, but after six months it all decomposes. If it was a pool accident would a former police officer not call the police? She was observed with her car backed half into the garage and asking a neighbor to borrow a shovel, presumably to bury the kid in the backyard. Many, many juries have convicted with less evidence than this. Most of the time their verdict was probably correct and rendered to the best of their conscious. This one has to live with 3 pieces of duct-tape on little Caylee's face so she couldn't breathe. Somebody put a little kiss or smiley sticker on the the place where Caylee's lips were. I hope they all think of how they cast their verdict at the moment before they die. There was almost a riot in Orlando that day. In some ways it was a strange and twisted saga with the case going to the jury on July 4th. I think it was meant to show that justice does prevail when a mother allegedly callously kills her daughter but when you sequester people in the jury for 31 days for crap pay they are are going to throw out all deliberate reasoning and run for home -- not go into another deliberation on the sentence to be given. As it was, the judge gave her the max on lying to a police officer on 4 counts. Sitting on the bench as an African-American maybe he knows a thing or two about justice that we don't.
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given the surfeit of apparent hysterical fiction coming from both sides, they threw up their hands, looked at the meager actual evidence, and followed the law. We weren't there, we don't know. I do tend to adhere to the better x thousand guilty go free than one innocent be executed principle, though. We're no better than them otherwise, killers of innocents, and institutional ones at that, wrapping ourselves in the flag of justice while we do it. So in a situation like this where the actual evidence is negligible, and that, and a passel of showboating lawyers and media trolls, is what they've got to deal with, I think it's very likely those people in good conscience did the best they could to follow the law. But hey, we weren't there.
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I agree marye.Gut-wrenching and abominable though the case and outcome may be, if there is not sufficient evidence, the verdict HAS to be Not Guilty. Sticks in the stomach i know, but judging by "feelings" and "intuition", even "common sense" (and i use that word quite loosely in this day and age), has no place in a courtroom. It would lead to even MORE abuses of justice, with police and prosecutors with big grudges, stitching people up even more than they probably do already. As i've said before, when you look at some of the people called for jury service and some of the judges in the courtroom, you wouldn't trust them to organise a fuck in a brothel. It would lead to more bribes, more manipulation, more false convictions and therefore more posts in this topic about the injustice of it all and "whatever happened to evidence with a capital E"? Injustice does prevail sometimes. But we need to look to a higher law. These people will get what they deserve. The simple law of Karma. That poor soul's suffering is already in the past, something that is irreversible. We need to concentrate on thinking of her warmly and with infinite compassion. The bottom rung of the ladder complete for this particular cycle and the next step already taken. No concrete evidence, no sentence. If people are sufficiently outraged they are always free to take matters into their own hands. But i wouldn't recommend this.
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A French tv car took out two competitors in the Tour de France yesterday. Knocked them out of the race (German news said one with head injuries, internet article research says he landed naked in barbed wire). How ridiculous!********************************** I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde
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karma cuts like a razor blade, bad or good. And Mary, living in in the country that has the most incarcerated, perhaps letting 9999 guilty go free than have one innocent convicted is the better answer, but I do think that would change my view on gun control. A bolt of lightning hit the tree, next to where Caylee Anthony's body was found, yesterday. I guess some higher powers checked in. Or it's all coincidence.
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Vinokourov woke up in Paris this morning w a fractured thigh bone. The Alfa Romeo that swerved and slammed 2 riders off to their right may have been looking to avoid a big tree on the road's left shoulder: the driver got booted from Le Tour. It may have been a team car for Voeckler.
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it was a TV car..it was horrfic watching that cyclist get catapulted into barbed wire. But both victims got back on their bikes and finished the race. They are coming our way on Wednesday, through Cordes sur Ciel (remember that TL?)
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Looked like the car was on the verge and swerved to avoid the tree; i guess one of those split-second reactions but unbelievable to forget the three cyclists next to him!! Why on earth are that many cars behind them anyways?!! Did you see that documentary, cosmicbadger, called "Death On The Mountain: The Story Of Tom Simpson" last year? Pretty interesting. My cousin just recently cycled up Mount Ventoux; quite a journey.
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I remember walking the lonely road to Cordes, bright and early on a Sunday morning, CB! :)********************************** I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde
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the bell tower and the fois gras! :)********************************** I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde
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Najac- the city on a ridge! OK memory lane done now :)********************************** I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde
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It's hammering down here today..not much fun watching the Tour in a deluge so I may give it a miss. The riders will appreciate the cool weather, but not the bad roads of the Tarn in the wind and wet, as well as some very tricky descents. Hope they stay safe.
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Us Fed Debt -- 14.4 trillionItalian Fed Debt 1.6 trillion The wealthy European Union members are going bonkers over Greece (write-off) Spain, Portugal & Italy. Americans are going bonkers over 14.4 trillion of debt, not to mention the Chinese who own about 22% of that debt. We are not "too big to fail." Our credit rate will be lowered and China will become the new reserve currency, thus taking over the world without firing a shot or wasting a bit of resources. Take a look at the table for US Fed & State Debt for 2016: Fiscal Year 2016 in $ billion Change (2) FEDGov. Xfers (3) State (3) Local (3) Total charts [+] Pensions 1,007.8 [+] Health Care 1,233.0 [+] Education 128.7 [+] Defense 901.8 [+] Welfare 380.3 [+] Protection 60.6 [+] Transportation 117.6 [+] General Government 34.7 [+] Other Spending 41.0 [+] Interest 562.2 [+] Balance 0.0 -0. [+] Total Spending 4,467.8 [+] Federal Deficit 648.7 [+] Gross Public Debt 20,825.0 So, if you took in Monthly $20,285 Plus borrowed $648.70 With interest of $562.20 -- that would mean you earned $20,285 last month And you spent $2149.59. After a while of that some sherriffs with guns come and throw you, your wife and kids and things in the street and take your house. Not Me!!! Fuck the Tea Party Eat The Rich Before they eat us!
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I'd like to know how much in cuts it will take to actually get the "debt clock" running in the right direction ? I think one thing they could do is to actually make Medicare about giving health care to people instead of being about making doctors wealthy with taxpayer money.I wonder how much money is given to doctors just for making "referrals", where they look at a patient for 2 seconds and say "you need to see a specialist" , then charge the government $100 for those 2 seconds of hard work. It just seems to me that most of our politicians and their corporate cronies are our to destroy America, not fix it. And they are doing a much better job than Al-Queda.
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You hit one of the solid gold nails on the head: Not just the MDs -- who always seem to be mindlessly thinking about their next hot vacation spot wit the hot hurse at the nurse's station. It's the nurse. The Nurse Practitioner, the techs in the operating room, the people making $24 an hour sanitizing instruments on 3rd shift. Then there is the insurance companies who cause the doctors to hire and army of specialists who speak the language called insurancese that make the insurance companies very rich indeed. Go on to the pharmaceutical companies that are making trillions of dollars each year, zealously guarding their patents and then not giving a shit when they run out, allowing fully 10% of the world's medications to be counterfeit, even here in the US. Specialists make about $400,000 a year and get richer every time a general practitioner refers somebody to them. Those people didn't earn their money. Sorry, they'reir crooks and thieves and sucking off the diseases of people. People you and I love. That number in the 2016 projected budget is $1,233,000.000.00. S.Brian, you are right, it is a huge place to start. But seniors vote and are scared of the black man who'll kill great-grandma and great grand-pa and then them. Next time you have a visit to a doctor and you have a minute (remember, they only give you 15 minutes) discuss this with them and listen to their answers. Listen to HOW MUCH THEY DESERVE IT!
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Than figure for healthcare as estimated in the 2016 budget is:$1,233,000,000,000.00
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after a miserable 1st half, will be in the Finals for the Women's World Cup. Looks like Japan will be their opponent. Japan is playing a brilliant game tonight!********************************** I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde
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USA team lost their way for a while but their belief in themselves carried them through to a well deserved victory. Likewise Japan started out very badly against Sweden, but what a turn around they dominated after they scored their equaliser and looked like the only team that could win.Should be a great final, fingers crossed that both teams can deliver on the day. Kudos to all the teams for making this a great tournament which should lift the reputation of women's soccer and hopefully carry the game forward to a bright future.
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If you made:$20,285 in year And borrowed $648 With an additional $562 in interest You spent $1210 more than you took in. Math was never my specialty, until it became my survival.
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Can't wait for the Japan vs USA Women's World Cup Final!!!!!Japan going from strength to strength; hopefully the men's team winning the Asian Cup recently will spur them on to a fantastic performance. Homare Sawa is a great Captain and should bring a blossoming inspiration to the players. If the US won't leave Okinawa with some self-respect, maybe they can leave Germany as the losing team. Fingers crossed..... がんばって ね!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Good ole' R. Murdoch and New's Corp's hacking of cell phones has placed the threat front and center. Your phone can be turned on and everything from your voice mails to your current conversations, as long as the battery is in your phone, can be heard, downloaded to texr, whatever.. Lock your phone. Use up to a 12 digit # (at least 10 is recommended) code. If you use your phone to bank and other important apps. and feel yourself superior and hip, the joke may be on you. Watch your phone bill carefully!
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Mark my words; Murdoch will be up before Congress in the next couple weeks.No pathetic dragging of the heels like the UK; (What's the matter guys? Afraid of some "implication"?). And the best way to remove any cell phone threat is not to own one. I don't. Nor does my wife. Never needed to. My parents and their parents and their parents didn't either. How did we all cope? Pretty easily, funnily enough.
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a few years ago, prior to a road trip, and I must admit, I have needed it late at night, when I was stuck somewhere and no communication near, but yeah, never needed a leash before. Mebbe I should just get wunna those pay by the minute suckers to keep in the glove box, for emergencies. Heck, I don't do much more than use it for a watch, and to irritate my son.....
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My numbers were taken from an uncompromisable source. They were stretched into the year 2016, assuming nothing happened to make them go up or down significantly. They weren't my household budget, they were EVERYBODY'S budget divided by the US population of around 335,000,000. The latest news is because of the 14th amendment and coming elections (which never stop) they will allow Obama too lift the ceiling and face the major crunch after the elections. Perhaps the US credit rating will go down, perhaps not..... But, if every person in the US borrows $648 a year And has a cumulative interest over their lives of $ 562 per year..... And if Obama isn't re-elected, and social programs go down the toilet the only jobs are going to be for rent-a-cops and grave-diggers.
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Japan needed that World Cup win much more than we did. Congrats Japan and did that not show the character of the Japanese or what? Two come from behind goals and a spanking given in the shoot out. Good game! J.T. Gossard http://thehallucinogenicbible.blogspot.com/
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16 years 8 months
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Congrats to Japan, for an amazing game! They remained calm and focused the entire game, which won in the end, while the US was more fired up and faster, but made mistakes-like the US defense assisting them in a goal, and missing the 1st two 11 m kicks due to nerves.********************************** I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde