Indo_Dude

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Posts by Indo_Dude

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  50

  What To Think Of Mr. Scott McClellan?

  by Rapunzel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  mcclellan has recently published a book that is highly critical of bush and his administration.

  mcclellan's book has understandably created a furor within the current presidential administration, an administration that has valued loyalty above all else.. mcclellan was a long-time bush loyalist, he started working for bush when bush was still govenor of texas.

  mcclellan helped bush to enter the white house, and then followed bush to washington mcclellan became a spokesman for bush, defending the president on such issues as the war in iraq.

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  Indo_Dude

  Confession,

  A few errors that need to be pointed out. Firstly, Al Gore voted for the first Gulf War. Supported the Afghanistan operation of Pres Bush, but was a loud critic against the lead up to Iraq 2.0. For the most part you cannot quote people from before the major bombing operation in Iraq by Pres. Clinton in Dec. of 1998, as even Mr. Richard Clarke has attested to. There were plenty of people before Iraq 2.0 that called out the fools errand that it has turned out to be.

  It's the reason why, as a normally conservative-to-Libertarian person, I have (believe it or not) felt so refreshed by Barack Obama. Although I haven't liked many of his political positions, I came to see him as someone who (perhaps) could help heal the loud, angry, partisan sniping that so polarizes us.

  If you think Sen. Obama isn't going to be viciously attacked by the right, you are dreaming.

  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/opinion/28krugman.html

  Lessons of 1992

  By PAUL KRUGMAN

  Let’s review the sad tale, starting with the politics.

  Whatever hopes people might have had that Mr. Clinton would usher in a new era of national unity were quickly dashed. Within just a few months the country was wracked by the bitter partisanship Mr. Obama has decried.

  This bitter partisanship wasn’t the result of anything the Clintons did. Instead, from Day 1 they faced an all-out assault from conservatives determined to use any means at hand to discredit a Democratic president.

  For those who are reaching for their smelling salts because Democratic candidates are saying slightly critical things about each other, it’s worth revisiting those years, simply to get a sense of what dirty politics really looks like.

  No accusation was considered too outlandish: a group supported by Jerry Falwell put out a film suggesting that the Clintons had arranged for the murder of an associate, and The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page repeatedly hinted that Bill Clinton might have been in cahoots with a drug smuggler.

  So what good did Mr. Clinton’s message of inclusiveness do him?
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  52

  Is manipulation responsible for the skyrocketing price of oil?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as it was just memorial day, let's try to remember what our troops are fighting and dying for - oil.

  but not oil itself; they are fighting and dying for oil profits and that is not the same thing at all!.

  the first gulf war was clearly about oil, saddam invaded kuwait because he wanted their oil and we went to war and pushed him back.

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  Indo_Dude

  You reek sympathy for those who may have chosen poorly.

  For those who have chosen poorly, they can buy hybrids, diesels, or commuter cars that get 35 mpg to 50 mpg. Even those people who drive 20,000 miles a year @ 37.5 mpg would use 44.4 gallons a month. At $2 that's $89. At $4 that's $178 per month. If an increase of $89 kills your monthly budget, someone's living way beyond their means. They can change jobs. Or move closer to their jobs. I view these people as being responsible for such a massive urban sprawl the past 20 years.
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  52

  Is manipulation responsible for the skyrocketing price of oil?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as it was just memorial day, let's try to remember what our troops are fighting and dying for - oil.

  but not oil itself; they are fighting and dying for oil profits and that is not the same thing at all!.

  the first gulf war was clearly about oil, saddam invaded kuwait because he wanted their oil and we went to war and pushed him back.

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  Indo_Dude

  No. People moved further and further out so they could buy a bigger house. One which as the latest trends show, they clearly couldn't afford in the first place. They CHOSE to move that far from their places of employment. They CHOSE to make driving to the supermarket, schools, and every mass chain a commute via car. I guess they CHOSE poorly then.
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  52

  Is manipulation responsible for the skyrocketing price of oil?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as it was just memorial day, let's try to remember what our troops are fighting and dying for - oil.

  but not oil itself; they are fighting and dying for oil profits and that is not the same thing at all!.

  the first gulf war was clearly about oil, saddam invaded kuwait because he wanted their oil and we went to war and pushed him back.

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  Indo_Dude

  Sorry but they are NOT 'horribly regressive' as the poorest and most unable to pay already live close to work, and take mass transportation. Those 'hurt' most are those who drive the furthest, thereby using the vast majority of the roadways and the resultant costs of constructing said roadways to live 35 miles away from work.
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  52

  Is manipulation responsible for the skyrocketing price of oil?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as it was just memorial day, let's try to remember what our troops are fighting and dying for - oil.

  but not oil itself; they are fighting and dying for oil profits and that is not the same thing at all!.

  the first gulf war was clearly about oil, saddam invaded kuwait because he wanted their oil and we went to war and pushed him back.

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  Indo_Dude

  Could the falling dollar be responsible for the skyrocketing price of oil? Have you compared US currency to other currencies lately? It's dismal.

  How much of the dollar's slide is directly attributable to the policies of this administration? Binging on borrowing and flooding the world market with IOUs instead of a balanced budget have helped create this in addition to huge new spending programs. Now as oil is at $125 a barrel, that means America is exporting an additional $ 639 billion of US Dollars overseas every year, thereby putting more pressure on the dollar to decline. Inflation, just as with Vietnam and the huge increase in spending of that time frame roared mightily. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this stuff out.
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  12

  Where Are Those Purged in the Great Bethel Shakeup of 1981?

  by Seeker4 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  over the last couple of days i've been re-reading parts of crisis of conscience, and wondering where some of these folks are.

  i know that ray and cynthia franz are in georgia and having some health issues, and that ed dunlap passed away.

  randy is in ca and often here with us.

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  Indo_Dude

  Peter is still around. He's down in Alabama still. You can find him at www.brci.org .

  Ooops, looks like Blondie beat me to it. :)
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  44

  did you have CO's with speical dietary requirements ??

  by karter in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  we hade one if you served him a meal with onions he would not eat it and said to one sister"don't you know i can't eat this!

  " no she did'nt.

  the latest co around here if you have them for a meal you get a list what they will not eat.

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  Indo_Dude

  Our CO had their own apartment in one of the KH which I thought was the best. I'm sure some of them were aholes about it, but can you imagine if you were the CO? I'm a vegetarian so I can sympathize. It's one thing to sit down politely once in a blue moon at someone's house and eat something you shouldn't, don't usually eat, or don't eat for various reasons. Imagine if you had to eat 2 meals a day, every day, week in, week out and people making you things you can't or shouldn't eat?

  We had one CO whose wife was a great cook, so she cooked the meal and invited the local family over instead, and just submitted the grocery bill to the KH.
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  52

  Is manipulation responsible for the skyrocketing price of oil?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as it was just memorial day, let's try to remember what our troops are fighting and dying for - oil.

  but not oil itself; they are fighting and dying for oil profits and that is not the same thing at all!.

  the first gulf war was clearly about oil, saddam invaded kuwait because he wanted their oil and we went to war and pushed him back.

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  Indo_Dude

  I'm sorry but the writing has been on the wall for a very long time. Just because people chose to ignore it doesn't mean they can say they didn't see it happening. In fact, if you look at all these 'gas is too high' threads, it's 99% of North Americans complaining. Our European posters stay silent, or just say 'it's not that big of deal'.

  After 9/11 it would have been quite easy for the sitting President to have a JFK moment, and remake America's energy plan. So that America didn't have to buy so much oil from the nations that 'hate' America the most. It most certainly wouldn't have taken $2.5 trillion as we have spent in Iraq to move forward with a plan to reduce our oil needs by 15% or 3.5 million barrels per day. It would have taken a fraction of that. Iran and Iraq combined export just shy of 4 million barrels per day.

  America had oil crisises before too. In the early 70's. Again in the early 80's. And right after Gulf War I in 1992. Everyone complained then too. As soon as the price came down, Americans forgot about it and bought bigger and bigger vehicles with more and more horsepower while moving further and further away from their places of employment. When will we learn? Will we actually do anything this time? Or if prices come down again shortly forget all about it again until the next crisis? History isn't promising.
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  52

  Is manipulation responsible for the skyrocketing price of oil?

  by nvrgnbk in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as it was just memorial day, let's try to remember what our troops are fighting and dying for - oil.

  but not oil itself; they are fighting and dying for oil profits and that is not the same thing at all!.

  the first gulf war was clearly about oil, saddam invaded kuwait because he wanted their oil and we went to war and pushed him back.

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  Indo_Dude

  Then again I have to wonder, aren't Americans in a pickle they created in the first place? Don't we truly 'deserve' the current situation since for decades the American public has punished any pol who tried to enact gasoline taxes to better reflect the true cost of oil products? In 1992 Al Gore was pushing for a $ .50 a gallon gas tax. He also said in 2000 for an energy policy for his administration; 'As president, I will bring all the parties and stakeholders together. I am going to come up with a solution that respects the environment and does not cause an upheaval in the economy'. Americans voted for George Bush instead. After 9/11 instead of a new energy policy America went to war to secure oil. George Bush was reelected. Aren't the American people the only ones to blame for their own situation? I think they are.
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  4

  The great oil swindle: How much did the Fed really know?

  by chrisjoel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  conspiracy theory startin to sound pretty intresting..... www.propagandamatrix.com/articles/june2008/030608swindle.htm.

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  Indo_Dude

  As I posted on the other thread. In 2006 the Senate investigated oil, and found that approx. 60% of the price was attributable to rampant speculation and manipulation thanks to Goldman Sach's and others.

  2006 Senate Report - Until recently, US energy futures were traded exclusively on regulated exchanges within the United States, like the NYMEX, which are subject to extensive oversight by the CFTC, (Commodity Futures Trading Commission)including ongoing monitoring to detect and prevent price manipulation or fraud. In recent years, however, there has been a tremendous growth in the trading of contracts that look and are structured just like futures contracts, but which are traded on unregulated OTC electronic markets.

  The trading of energy commodities by large firms on OTC electronic exchanges was exempted from CFTC oversight by a provision inserted at the behest of Enron and other large energy traders into the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 in the waning hours of the 106th Congress. The impact on market oversight has been substantial. NYMEX traders, for example, are required to keep records of all trades and report large trades to the CFTC. These Large Trader Reports, together with daily trading data providing price and volume information, are the CFTC’s primary tools to gauge the extent of speculation in the markets and to detect, prevent, and prosecute price manipulation. In contrast to trades conducted on the NYMEX, traders on unregulated OTC electronic exchanges are not required to keep records or file Large Trader Reports with the CFTC, and these trades are exempt from routine CFTC oversight. In contrast to trades conducted on regulated futures exchanges, there is no limit on the number of contracts a speculator may hold on an unregulated OTC electronic exchange, no monitoring of trading by the exchange itself, and no reporting of the amount of outstanding contracts (“open interest”) at the end of each day.”

  http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/engdahl/2008/0502.html