a pleasant sunday in ChinaTown, S.F.

Crap-O-the-Day!

South Africa - H.H. the XIV Dalai Lama

Global

Basic Info

Description:

In March 2009, the Dalai Lama was denied a visa to enter South Africa in order to attend an international peace conference. The South African government initially stated that it denied his visa to avoid distracting attention from South Africa and its hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, although the visa-refusal precipitated precisely such a distraction. South African government officials later acknowledged that his visa had been denied to maintain close relations with China. Chinese officials had urged the South African government to not admit him.  Two other Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Arch Bishop-emeritus Desmond Tutu and former South African President FW de Klerk, criticised the denial and pulled out of the conference. Current Minister of Health Barbara Hogan was critical of the decision, accusing the Government of "being dismissive of human rights". Opposition parties to the ruling African National Congress, including the Democratic Alliance, Inkatha Freedom Party and Congress of the People, also expressed disgust. "The recent shameful denial of entry to South Africa to a peace icon and Nobel laureate, the Dalai Lama, is a demonstration of the ANC government's willingness to sacrifice the standing of South Africa on the altar of political expediency," said Mvume Andale, leader of the last-mentioned, as well as former presiding bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa and former head of the All Africa Council of Churches. "This is especially so if the rumours are true that this was because of the funding arrangements between the ANC and the Communist Party of China." Conference organisers, including the grandson of Nelson Mandela, also expressed outrage over the refusal to issue the Dalai Lama a visa. The conference was subsequently cancelled.  The South African government defended its decision as a matter of sovereignty. One South African official publicly criticised the Dalai Lama and lamented a taboo on criticism of him, while another publicly criticised the government for denying his visa.

Location:

Cape Town, South Africa -----

no-happy-hours friday

Funny Crap !



Crap-O-Week!

<-- A South Korean marine stands guard at an anti-aircraft gun position on Yeonpyeong Island in the disputed waters of the Yellow Sea on May 28, 2009. (Photo: Getty images)

Maybe We Should Take the North Koreans at Their Word

Tad Daley, Tikkun.org: "The one thing we can probably say for sure about the prospects for universal nuclear disarmament is that no state will agree either to abjure or to dismantle nuclear weapons unless it believes that such a course is the best course for its own national security. To persuade states like North Korea and Iran to climb aboard the train to abolition would probably require simultaneous initiatives on three parallel tracks. One track would deliver nuclear weapons policies that directly address the long-simmering resentments around the world about the long-standing nuclear double standard, that directly acknowledge our legacy of nuclear hypocrisy, and that directly connect nuclear non-proliferation to nuclear disarmament." (More)


Apeldoorn Sets High Energy Self-Sufficiency Goals

Le Monde (French): http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2009/05/27/apeldoorn-aux-pays-bas-veut-croire-au-solaire-et-a-l-eolien_1198579_3244.html#ens_id=1198672

Gregoire Alix reports for Le Monde from the Dutch city of Apeldoorn: "'In 2020, all energy consumed in Apeldoorn will have to be renewable, without fossil fuels, without nuclear power, and produced in our own city.' With graphs for support, Michael Boddeke, the official in charge of sustainable development for this city that looks like a blossoming village at the center of the Netherlands, is optimistic: solar, wind, and biogas from organic waste and wastewater should suffice to warm and light this town of 156,000 residents." (More)

A family wades through flood waters to catch a relief boat, north-east of Patna, India. Photograph: Manish Swarup/AP

Report: Global Warming Causes 300,000 Deaths a Year

John Vidal, The Guardian UK: "Climate change is already responsible for 300,000 deaths a year and is affecting 300 million people, according to the first comprehensive study of the human impact of global warming." (More)

Flood victims flee Trinidad, Bolivia, for higher ground. (Photo: Aizar Raldes / AFP / Getty Images)

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the night is deep

Whatta Crap!

Armageddon: the photo is copied and pasted from Stan Van Houcke's blog "STAN: the empire 452"

Bush's Shocking Biblical Prophecy Emerges: God Wants to "Erase" Mid-East Enemies "Before a New Age Begins"
By Clive Hamilton, CounterPunch. Posted May 25, 2009.

Bush explained to French Pres. Chirac that the Biblical creatures Gog and Magog were at work in the Mid-East and must be defeated. (Read More)

the day after memorial day

O For Crap's Sake!

Oil giant in the dock over 1995 murder of activist who opposed environmental degradation of Niger Delta

Shell On Trial for Human Rights Abuse

Daniel Howden, The Independent UK: "Royal Dutch Shell will revisit one of the darkest periods of its history tomorrow as a potentially groundbreaking court case opens in New York. The oil giant stands accused of complicity in the 1995 execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian environmental activist." (full story)

A mountaintop mine in West Virginia (NRDC photo)

EPA Mining Decisions Favor Coal Industry

Mike Lillis, The Washington Independent: "Despite renewed vows to protect Appalachian waterways from the ravages of mountaintop coal mining, the Environmental Protection Agency has recently authorized a number of pending mountaintop permits that will bury dozens of streams in the nation's oldest mountain range. The move has left mining supporters cheering the federal endorsement of a popular extraction method, environmentalists wondering if the Obama administration truly intends to prioritize water-quality concerns above those of the powerful coal industry, and both sides unsure what to expect of mountaintop permitting in the future." (full story)

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at the end of memorial long weekend

Crap-O-Day !

A man owned a small Ranch In Texas.  The Texas Work Force Department> claimed he was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to interview him.  "I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them," demanded the agent.
 
"Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand who's been with me for 3 years.  I pay him $200 a week plus free room and board.
 
The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $150 per week plus free room and board.

Then there's the half-wit.  He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here.  He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally."
 
"That's the guy I want to talk to ... the half-wit," says the agent.
 
"That would be me," replied the Rancher. 

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“Rush will not get his wish and Mr. Cheney was misinformed - I am still a Republican,” former Secretary of State Colin Powell reassured his party on Sunday.

Colin Powell fires back at Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney

Sunday 24 May 2009

by: Jonathan Martin  |  Visit article original @ Politico

In the latest round of the increasingly heated intra-GOP feud, former Secretary of State Colin Powell Sunday defended his Republican credentials and fired back at radio host Rush Limbaugh and former Vice President Dick Cheney, saying the party had to expand beyond its conservative base. (Full Story)

A Blue Cross building in North Carolina. The health insurance company is running inaccurate television ads warning people against the prospect of a public health care option. (Photo: Bill Warren)

Blue Cross Millionaires Are Scared to Compete With a Public Plan
Monday 25 May 2009
by: Dean Baker, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

The boys running the show at Blue Cross in North Carolina are running scared. They're worried that President Obama is going to treat them like autoworkers and make them actually compete in the market. The Blue Cross boys think that they belong in the same league as the Wall Street bankers and should just be allowed to collect their multi-million-dollar salaries without being forced to worry about things like competition. (Full Story)

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Funny Crap of the Day

      These are actual comments made on students' report cards by teachers

      in the New York City public school system. All teachers were

      reprimanded (but, boy, are these funny!)

      1. Since my last report, your child has reached rock bottom and has

      started to dig.

      2. I would not allow this student to breed.

      3. Your child has delusions of adequacy.

      4. Your son is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.

      5. Your son sets low personal standards and then consistently fails

      to achieve them.

      6. The student has a 'full six-pack' but lacks the plastic thing to

      hold it all together.

      7. This child has been working with glue too much.

      8. When your daughter's IQ reaches 50, she should sell.

      9. The gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn't

      coming.

      10. If this student were any more stupid, he'd have to be watered

      twice a week.

      11. It's impossible to believe the sperm that created this child beat

      out 1,000,000 others.

      12. The wheel is turning but the hamster is definitely dead.

      These are actual comments made by 16 Police Officers.

      The comments were taken off actual police car videos around the

      country:

      16 'You know, stop lights don't come any redder than the one you just

      went through.'

      15 'Relax, the handcuffs are tight because they're new. They'll

      stretch after you wear them a while.'

      14 'If you take your hands off the car, I'll make your birth

      certificate a worthless document.'

      13 'If you run, you'll only go to jail tired.'

      12 'Can you run faster than 1200 feet per second? Because that's the

      speed of the bullet that'll be chasing you.'

      11 'You don't know how fast you were going? I guess that means I can

      write anything I want to on the ticket, huh?'

      10 'Yes, sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don't think

      it will help. Oh, did I mention that I'm the shift supervisor?'

      9 'Warning! You want a warning? O.K, I'm warning you not to do that

      again or I'll give you another ticket. '

      8 'The answer to this last question will determine whether you are

      drunk or not. Was Mickey Mouse a cat or a dog?'

      7 'Fair? You want me to be fair? Listen, fair is a place where you go

      to ride on rides, eat cotton candy and corn dogs and step in monkey

      poop.'

      6 'Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster

      oven.'

      5 'In God we trust, all others we run through NCIC.'

      4 'How big were those 'two beers' you say you had?'

      3 'No sir, we don't have quotas anymore. We used to, but now we're

      allowed to write as many tickets as we can.'

      2 'I'm glad to hear that the Chief (of Police) is a personal friend

      of yours. So you know someone who can post your bail.'

      AND THE WINNER IS....

      1 'You didn't think we give pretty women tickets? You're right, we

      don't. Sign here.'

Crap From The Crypt

Obama’s brother lives in a Kenyan shack

20 August, 2008, 16:54

U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama’s lost brother has been tracked down in Kenya. George Hussein Onyango Obama, aged 26, was found by journalists from the Italian edition of Vanity Fair. He reportedly lives in poverty in a shack on the outskirts of Nairobi.

He has the same father as the U.S. senator, Barack Hussein Obama, but a different mother.  Her name has been given as Jael.

The youngest of Obama’s half-brothers says he lives on less than a dollar per month in a 2m x 3m shack. Its walls are decorated with posters of famous footballers and a calendar featuring exotic beaches. The magazine also noted George has a newspaper picture of his brother.

He has only met his famous brother twice. Once when he was five and then in 2006 when Senator Obama visited Nairobi. George admits their meeting was very brief and cool.

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a cool off evening at last

Crap Shots -- Bush-Like !

Obama: acting more like Bush every day

Obama to revive Bush’s military tribunals for Gitmo detainees
May 17, 5:23 PM

President Obama has never failed to disappoint since he took office barely four months ago. I can faintly remember hearing something about candidate Obama offering “change” from eight painful years of Bush; ladies fainted, Chris Matthews got chills, and the streets of San Francisco were flooded with cheering worshippers. But somewhere in Crawford, Texas, George W. Bush is smiling.

Our new President is doing everything he possibly can to perpetuate Bush’s follies, from expanding the wars in the Middle East with no end in sight, signing trillion dollar stimuluses, nationalizing industries, and eroding civil liberties (all things that Bush was hated for doing). So why not revive the Bush era military tribunals for Guantanamo Bay detainees, as Obama is now promising to do?

(Read More)  if you care.

in a sun day heat wave

Crap From the CODEPINK

Obama, Jesus and War

codepink@mail.democracyinaction.org

Dear Friend,

What a shame. Today the House voted 368 to 60 to spend billions more of our tax dollars ($96.7 billion) for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. While we walked the halls of Congress all week urging a "NO" vote, Congressmembers were being lobbied hard by the White House to vote for it. President Barack Obama met with the Progressive Caucus to push the war funding, and each member who showed skepticism received phone calls from the White House.

"Did you know that President Obama is more popular than Jesus Christ?," Cong. Emanuel Cleaver asked us. "I didn't like this bill, but I voted for it. It's hard to stand up to such a popular president."

Fifty-one courageous Democrats (list below), however, did just that. "The pressure was intense," said freshman Cong. Donna Edwards. "But I just returned from Afghanistan and people there kept saying that the solution is not more troops but more development assistance."

Cong. Lynn Woolsey agreed. "This bill has no exit strategy," she told us, "and it allocates over 90% of the money for the military and less than 10% for development. This even contradicts General Petraeus' own counter-insurgency doctrine of 80% non-military and 20% military."

While we were outside Congress with the banner "Stop Funding War," Cong. Sheila Jackson Lee stopped to talk to us." "I must tell you ladies that I voted for the bill this time but I don't feel good about it and I plan to revisit this. I want to thank you for being out here and tell you that you need to keep doing what you're doing, keep the pressure on--in fact, turn it up. That's the only way we'll ever get out of these wars."

  Next week the war funding will be voted in the Senate. So please take Congresswoman Lee's advice and turn up the pressure. Call the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121, ask for your Senators, and say--loudly and clearly--that you want him/her to vote against more money for war. Say you want a surge in negotiations and development assistance, not troops. For more help see talking points below.

We know--and you know--that war is not the answer. Let's help Obama and Congress move us on a new path.

Yes we can, yes we will -- end war!

P.S. If you haven't seen the courageous team of Desiree Fairooz and Medea Benjamin taking on Rumsfeld, don't miss it.

  Here are some key talking points:

• At a time of economic crisis and multiplying domestic needs, the 2009 Supplemental is an appalling waste of our money.
  
• The Supplemental funds the increase of troops to Afghanistan, escalating the war rather than ending it.
  
• The Supplemental places no restrictions on American bombings in either Afghanistan or Pakistan, despite the disproportionate harm to civilian inhabitants.
• The Supplemental maintains a high level of American troops in Iraq for the duration of FY 2009.

Call the Congressional switchboard at
202-224-3121, ask for your Senator, and say--loudly and clearly--that you want him/her to vote against more money. 

Crap O Genéve

La Cathédrale Saint-Pierre of Genéve

Obama's Word Breaks Ice in Geneva Arms Talks
Saturday 16 May 2009
by: Charles J. Hanley | Visit article original @ The Associated Press

Geneva - A single word from Barack Obama has put new life into the stale old disarmament talks in Geneva, where diplomats are hailing a "remarkable shift" by the Americans in favor of a treaty clamping down on production of the stuff of nuclear bombs. (Full Story)

 Genéve. from Google Map.

To See Panorama View of Genéve

the hot sun day

Crap Talks!

FOCUS | Michael Winship: What's So Funny About Washington?
"People have been making jokes about the news and having an impact on it since the Greek playwright Aristophanes cracked wise about Socrates. Now, the late-night shows are affecting traditional journalism and mainstream coverage of events, and influencing public opinion more than ever, whether it's John McCain dissing Letterman and appearing on Katie Couric's newscast instead, President Obama on Jay Leno, or Tina Fey imitating Sarah Palin to devastating effect on Saturday Night Live." (Full Story)

Funny Crap

From: Dessie Henion
Date: May 17, 2009 10:23:31 AM PDT
Originally From: relapse@optonline.net
Subject: Why God Made Moms
To: Dessie Henion

WHY GOD MADE MOMS 
Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions: 

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house. 
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers? 
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us. 
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts..

What ingredients are mothers made of ? 
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean. 
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom? 
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.

What kind of little girl was your mom? 
1. My Mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff. 
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him? 
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3.. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?
THESE ARE VERY GOOD ///////////////////////

Why did your mom marry your dad? 
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mom eats a lot. 
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house? 
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball. 
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms & dads? 
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them. 
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's. 
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time? 
1. Mothers don't do spare time. 
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect? 
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue. 

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be? 
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.. 
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

warm sleepy saturday in america

Typical Human Crap ??!!

Nakba Day

Remember Al-Nakba

Baqaa refugee camp (Photo: UNRWA)

In 1948 the state of Israel was founded upon a program of ethnically cleansing Palestinians. Approximately 711,000 Palestinians were recognized by the UN as refugees and many more were "internally displaced." To this day, Israel has denied these refugees and their descendants their internationally-recognized right of return. Palestinians call this event "al-Nakba," which means "the catastrophe." As we work for justice in Israel/Palestine today, it is important for us to remember how so many of today's problems began and to draw strength from the steadfastness of Palestinians struggling for survival under conditions of dispossession, apartheid and occupation for so long.

At the US Campaign, we stand against the ongoing Nakba today and in support of Palestinian refugees’ right of return. A central component of the ongoing Nakba in Palestinian society includes the destruction of homes and agricultural lands in the wake of expanding Israeli settlements. Since 1967, at least 24,145 Palestinian homes and 1,405,658 trees have been demolished by the Israeli government. Stand with us as we advocate against home demolitions by working to hold Caterpillar accountable for the destruction wrought by their machinery.

There are many ways to commemorate al-Nakba today.

Keep the spirit of Nakba survivors alive 
Educate your community about al-Nakba. Use the following resources, which include fact sheets, maps showing Palestinian Diaspora, testimony from Nakba survivors and much more. If you have additional resources on al-Nakba that you would like us to distribute, please email them to us by clicking here.

Click here to view the Palestinian Aid Society's Al-Nakba website.
Click here to visit the American Friends Service Committee's Nakba webpage.
Click here to visit the Al-Nakba Awareness Project.
Click here to view Jewish Voice for Peace's Nakba Fact Sheet (PDF).
Click here to view Badil's Nakba at 61 info packet.

the night the fog rolls in to the bay

craps from the crypt

Source: From Annk 120/ Dessie Henion/ Email Forwarding

RED MARBLES

I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatoes. I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily appraising a basket of freshly picked green peas.

I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes.


Pondering the peas, I couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the ragged boy next to me.

'Hello Barry, how are you today?'

'H'lo , Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus' admirin' them peas. They sure look good.'

'They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?'

'Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time.'

'Good. Anything I can help you with?'

'No, Sir. Jus' admirin' them peas.'

'Would you like to take some home?' asked Mr. Miller.

'No, Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with.'

'Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?'

'All I got's my prize marble here.'

'Is that right? Let me see it' said Miller..

'Here 'tis. She's a dandy.'

'I can see that. Hmmmmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?' the store owner asked.

'Not zackley but almost..'

'Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble'.. Mr. Miller told the boy.

'Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller.'

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me. With a smile she said, 'There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn't like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store.'

I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Colorado , but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering for marbles.

Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one. Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr.. Miller had died..


They were having his visitation that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.

Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts...all very professional looking. They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband's casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her, and moved on to the casket.

Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one; each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes.

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and reminded her of the story from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband's bartering for marbles. With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.

'Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim 'traded' them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size.....they came to pay their debt.'

'We've never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,' she confided, 'but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho.'

With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

econo blues

Craps O'Cono Blues

Paul Krugman said in an interview with Reuters that half-steps on the economy would lead to a "lost decade." (Illustration: HVW8)

Krugman: US Risks "Lost Decade" Due to Half-Steps
Monday 11 May 2009


 Beijing - The United States risks a Japan-style lost decade of growth if it does not take aggressive action to stimulate its economy and clean up its banking system, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said on Monday.

"We're doing half-measures that help the economy limp along without fully recovering, and we're having measures that help the banks survive without really thriving," Krugman said.

    "We're doing what the Japanese did in the nineties," he told a small group of reporters during a visit to Beijing.

    He said it was not clear that China would suffer sub-par growth as a consequence of the fallout of the present crisis.

    "I'm mostly worried that the U.S. and the euro zone will have Japanese-type lost decades," he said.

    Krugman said he expected little or no employment growth this year or next in the United States, where the jobless rate in April hit a 25-year high of 8.9 percent.

    "A second stimulus is becoming clearly urgent. They need a very, very strong stimulus," said Krugman, a Princeton University professor and a New York Times columnist.

    He said stress tests carried out on 19 leading U.S. banks had bought time for the administration of Barack Obama, but they had not answered the key question of whether the banks have enough capital to fulfill their key role in the economy.

    "It's clear the administration won't take radical action to strengthen the banks any time soon," he said. To have done so would have meant temporarily nationalizing Citigroup and, perhaps, Bank of America, he said.

    Krugman gave credit to China for vigorously implementing its own economic stimulus plan but said he had detected no commitment by Beijing to switch to a domestic demand-driven growth model that would reduce its excess savings.

    "It's very hard to see how the world has a full recovery if China continues to run current account surpluses of 10 percent of GDP," he said.

    If China's big external surpluses persist alongside high U.S. unemployment and low European growth, political friction will ensue. "Something will have to give, and it won't be pretty."

    Krugman said China should not be in a rush to make the yuan, or renminbi (RMB), fully convertible or to liberalize its capital account; countries at a similar stage of development that have scrapped capital controls have run into trouble, he noted.

    "I'm not sure we're talking about a full-floating RMB," Krugman said. "But an appreciation of the RMB, though it's not what China wants to hear right now, is going to be necessary."

    --------

A Sunken Heart in A Brutally Sunny Day

Craps From Gaza Strip

Published on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
Who Will Stop the AIPAC Jews Before it is Too Late?
by Medea Benjamin

While I was being tackled by security guards at Washington's Convention Center during the AIPAC conference for unfurling a banner that asked "What about Gaza?," my heart was aching. I wasn't bothered so much by the burly guards who were yanking my arms behind by back and dragging me-along with 5 other CODEPINK members-out of the hall. They were doing their job.  Read More

Gaza 2009: The Moment of Truth
02:06 05/08/2009

By Dr. Haidar Eid - Gaza

'Israel's fascist foreign minister is of the opinion that Gaza should've been nuked.'

Gaza has returned to its pre-massacre state of siege, confronted with the usual, conspiratorial, "international" indifference after 22 long days and dark nights, during which its brave people were left alone to face one of the strongest armies in the world -- an army that has hundreds of nuclear warheads, thousands of trigger-happy soldiers armed with Merkava tanks, F-16s, Apache helicopters, naval gunships and phosphorous bombs. Gaza now does not make news. It's people die slowly, its children malnourished, its water contaminated,  its nights dark, and yet it is deprived even of a word of sympathy from the likes of Ban Ki Moon and the president of "Change; Yes We Can."  Read More

For more info go to:
Rachel Corrie Foundation For peace & Justice
International Solidarity Movement

sunday blue

Sun Sets Taipei Bridge Over Tamshui River

Craps O'Conomy!

But first, you've got to get out of your chair...
YouTube - Network- I'm Mad as Hell

Free All Zoo Animals! Run Baby Run!

(Photo by Aaron Logan [http://www.lightmatter.net/ source] {{cc-by-2.0}})

Orangutan makes a run for it at Australian zoo
From Associated Press
May 10, 2009 9:00 AM EDT

ah, the sun shining week

Crap O Joke


8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk Bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Craps from the Crypt, Or Elsewhere...


Philippe Boulet-Gercourt | American Bankers Have Learned Nothing!
Philippe Boulet-Gercourt, Le Nouvel Observateur: "At the first signs of a lull in the crisis, they have but one idea in their heads: get rid of the government's trusteeship as fast as possible so they can pay themselves allowances and bonuses as they did before. The power struggle with the Obama administration has begun."

Les banquiers américains n'ont rien appris !

Obama contre Wall Street

Aux premiers signes d accalmie de la crise, ils n'ont qu'une idée en tête : se débarrasser au plus vite de la tutelle de l'Etat pour se distribuer comme avant primes et bonus. Le bras de fer avec l'administration Obama a commencé


Marine Protection as Empire Expansion
David Vine and Miriam Pemberton | May 6, 2009
Editor: John Feffer

Foreign Policy In Focus
www.fpif.org

At the 100-day mark, the new president has tackled an extraordinarily wide-ranging agenda, but one item will need his attention soon: closing the empire of U.S. bases around the world. One place to start is to reverse the marine protection areas that the last president established in the Pacific.




Obama sticks with Bush-era polar bear rule
Protection was granted, but limits were set on what to do

Washington - The Obama administration will retain a Bush-era rule for polar bears, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Friday, in a move that angered activists who noted the rule limits what can be done to protect the species from global warming.

heavy eyed monday

Craps O Day

An Invention That Could Change the Internet Forever

The latest project by Stephen Wolfram is defined as the first "computational knowledge engine." (Photo: Wolfram Research

The Independent UK: "The biggest internet revolution for a generation will be unveiled this month with the launch of software that will understand questions and give specific, tailored answers in a way that the web has never managed before. The new system, Wolfram Alpha, showcased at Harvard University in the US last week, takes the first step towards what many consider to be the internet's Holy Grail - a global store of information that understands and responds to ordinary language in the same way a person does."

Jeff Leys | Analyzing Obama's War Budget Numbers

Jeff Leys, Truthout: "President Obama is seeking an additional $75.8 billion in war funds for this fiscal year.... At first glance, it is easy to conclude that the proposed 22 percent reduction in war spending from 2008 to 2009 represents a significant shift in war strategy and is indicative of a drawing down of the twin wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sadly, such a conclusion would be wrong." 

Dean Baker | Outsourcing Top Management: The Lesson of Fiat-Chrysler
Dean Baker, Truthout: "The media coverage of the auto bailouts has focused on the need for union autoworkers to take big pay cuts, causing them to once again miss the real story. The Fiat-Chrysler deal shows that the pay problem is at the top, not the bottom. At the end of the day, the new Chrysler is still likely to be producing most of its cars in the United States. What the new company will be getting from abroad is technology and top management."

Jet Lag Lag Lah...

THSR - Taiwan High Speed Rail

Taiwan-Kaohsiung 700T Grand Opening  Souvenir -->

The rest of the developed world has high-speed rail. We don't. That's finally about to change.

by Craig Canine/OnEarth.org

TGV -- train à grande vitesse

California's high-speed trains will whisk passengers from San Francisco to San Jose in 20 minutes

It was once said that a black man would be president "when pigs fly". Indeed, 100 days into Obama's presidency, SWINE FLU!!!