bush & mccain's 'success' in iraq - april 30th, 2008

the only 'success' is that the american people aren't seeing any images like these of their own dead soldiers, only those of the poor iraqis...

G.M. Loses $3.3 Billion in First Quarter

..oh yeah, and marketing exactly the same giant, heavy pick-up trucks & suv's, but with hybrid engines and pretending they're 'gas friendly' isn't fooling anyone with an I.Q greater than room temperature.

...as the first quarter figures show.

DETROIT — General Motors said Monday that it would slash production of big trucks and sport utility vehicles by nearly 140,000 units this year, a move that would eliminate assembly shifts at four plants and cause about 3,550 workers to be laid off.

and wall st. cheers, and GM's shares rise because the losses and earnings were better than expected...

Bush: Congress let down Americans

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-04-29-bush-press-conference_N.htm
yes, but not this one, george.

the republicans in congress in particular let down ‘americans’ when it blocked a $15 billion tax on oil companies.

just yesterday, europe's two biggest oil producers posted substantial profit on the back of soaring crude prices, with BP saying its first-quarter profit increased 63 percent and Royal Dutch Shell reporting a climb of 25 percent.

of course, president bush, aware of these figures omitted to mention any of this in his statement.

and john mccain, doesn't want to end tax breaks to oil companies...

SHELL MADE $9.08 BILLION PROFIT IN THE FIRST 3 MONTHS OF 2008

BP made $7.62 Billion.

Exxon are expected to report blockbuster numbers. Can't wait to hear how much they need their tax breaks...

or to put it another way, as you watch the display the next time you fill up at a gas station, $1,155 a SECOND...so next time it takes you a minute to fill up at a shell gas station, consider that they just made $69,300.

to listen to bush's speech, you'd think that all this was fixable by drilling for oil in alaska and that america was a helpless victim.

truck drivers in washington, d.c. protesting about the price of diesel, daily news about record prices of gasoline. this country learned nothing from it's past history lessons of the oil shocks of the 70's when it could have begun investing in alternatives and public transportation.

detroit serving up huge gas guzzlers. people responded. they bought them in droves, on credit, of course, and they are the ones that are suffering as they fill up their monsters on the way to Wal*Mart to buy cheap chinese goods and then complain about the lack of jobs in the good 'ol USA when they get back home and switch on their flat panel tv (bought at Wal*Mart, of course, because the once local tv dealer went out of business a long while ago because he couldn't compete with Wal*Mart and the likes...).

what did this country do after the oil crisis? lack of vision and disastrous under funding for public transportation solutions for the future economy should the unthinkable happen. tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts.

sorry, but we've seen how that has all played out for the world's richest nation.

well, welcome to now.
i'm afraid it's time for americans to start paying more tax, not less.

exactly who is out of touch on the gas tax issue?

from the new york times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/us/politics/29campaign.html?hp

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton lined up with Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, in endorsing a plan to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for the summer travel season. But Senator Barack Obama, Mrs. Clinton’s Democratic rival, spoke out firmly against the proposal, saying it would save consumers little and do nothing to curtail oil consumption and imports.

While Mr. Obama’s view is shared by environmentalists and many independent energy analysts, his position allowed Mrs. Clinton to draw a contrast with her opponent in appealing to the hard-hit middle-class families and older Americans who have proven to be the bedrock of her support. She has accused Mr. Obama of being out of touch with ordinary Americans who are struggling to meet their mortgages and gas up their cars and trucks.

At a meeting with voters in North Carolina on Monday, Mr. Obama said lifting the gas tax for three months would save the average consumer no more than $30, a figure confirmed by Congressional analysts. Mr. Obama has previously dismissed Mr. McCain’s proposal as a “scheme.”

“Half a tank of gas,” Mr. Obama told his audience. “That’s his big solution.”

...60% of federal gas taxes are used for highway and bridge construction.

and for anyone thinking of voting for john mccain come november, remember that senate republicans blocked a $15 billion tax on oil companies last december that was part of a larger energy package...

The Blind Republicans...

while the republicans are busy falling over themselves attacking 'barack hussein obama'

and muckspreading so they can promote 'granny knickers' as much as possible without directly saying so...

from the bbc:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7368219.stm

US lawmakers are investigating whether to cut government funding for health education programmes that promote sexual abstinence until marriage.

The move follows a report earlier this year from America's leading health agency, the Center for Disease Control, which revealed one in four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease.

Opponents of abstinence education say the approach ignores the fact that teenagers are sexually active and fails to give them accurate medical information or advice on safer sex.

"We get sex-ed classes in school and that should be where teens get the right information - but that isn't happening," says 15-year-old Mildred, from Arizona, who volunteers as a peer educator with the pro-choice organisation Planned Parenthood.

"They don't touch on subjects like sexuality, STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), birth control - it's not allowed because of abstinence-only education. It leaves you on a cliff-hanger - and a lot of teenagers become sexually active in their middle school years."

"Teens are curious and they want to experiment and if they know what's out there and they have the correct information, they're going to know how to protect themselves and prevent an unwanted pregnancy and an STD," adds Maryland high school student Melissa.

"Putting up a wall and saying 'don't have sex' makes them more curious and wanting to know what it is. But if you tell them the straight facts they're going to know how to protect themselves. It's about taking care of yourself."

...i leave the reader to draw their own conclusion.

McCain Criticizes Katrina Response as ‘Disgraceful’

...but not until 3 years later, when he is running for president.

indiana & north carolina decide

barack, or the evil sith lord, granny knickers, hillary.









it now seems there is only one way to decide the democratic presidential nominee.

forget the boring tv debates. i am talking about hillary vs. obama in a televised

Ninja Warrior contest!

...and come november, save the cost of voting, let us all enjoy watching the very youthful obama-san take on the very ageing and saggy-faced, john mccain-san (ha ha ha).

ps. does 'i'm not releasing my tax returns' cindy, know any other colour besides yellow...

in case anyone had forgotten...

all states count equal, not just the last one that voted...

i'm sure all those that live and vote(d) in those states know that.

unlike CNN, who keep telling viewers every fifteen minutes that they are:

"the best political team in television..."

or as one pennsylyvanian voter put it:

Obama and the lapel pin
She added, “There’s a lot of things about Obama that I don’t like — that he won’t salute the flag and that he doesn’t wear the American flag on his lapel.”

...like THAT'S the most fucking important thing in you and everyone else's life around you and this country. RIGHT NOW.

there is simply no substitute for education. it's where you learn to discern the difference between a valid debate, hyperbole, bullshit, television aimed at 12-year old mentality, and inspirational speeches.

...i suggest others less blinkered than this woman ( who was probably large) try the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

let's see

if anyone in pennsylvania remembers that incredibly sincere and honest speech (because i do) that barack obama gave about race in america...

i somehow doubt it, but i'll be pleasantly surprised if she wins by less than 10%.

americans seem have the political attention span of an ant on amphetamines.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/18/obama-race-speech-read-t_n_92077.html

coming to america - no matter who is elected president.

INFLATION

this country will see between 3% and 5% inflation over the next 2-3 years.

the love affair with cheap oil and consumer debt is over, and it is time to pay the price.

world food prices will adversely affect the usa, not completely removed from its contentious biofuel policy.

the price of oil will fall from its record highs, but not below $90 a barrel or thereabouts, and when it does, the value of the currently weak dollar will climb as investors take their money out of the current safe haven of the oil market, and so interest rates will have to be raised to try and combat inflation.

(this is assuming that there aren't any oil disruptions during hurricane season, or in the outside oil producing nations..)

this is unavoidable (but nobody's got the balls to tell you).

a growing world food crisis and wall st. is acting like the worst is over and just waiting to set off again?

yesterday the dow jones industrial closed at 12,621.78, that's only around 11% off its record high set in october 2007 of 14,164.53.

only those companies that have strong overseas exposure will perform well, and i cannot see how wall st. can continue to ignore the very real effect of record gas prices on the american consumer.

the politics of fear - vote for hillary, or else...

hillary's latest commercial:

from the new york times:

Her commercial was the first in which a Democratic candidate had used Osama bin Laden in the presidential race, although Republicans, including Rudolph W. Giuliani, have done so. In her commercial, Mr. bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is featured along with grainy images of the stock market crash of 1929, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the fall of the Berlin Wall and Hurricane Katrina.

…As Obama supporters worked to drum up support, they said they were still hearing rumors that Mr. Obama was Muslim and questions about his patriotism.

let's hope the people of pennsylvania have tired of all this negative crap that only serves to provide fuel to the republicans when obama gets nominated.

ans it's certainly not what you'd expect from one who would be president...

Clinton's primary campaign begins April in debt

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

er, exactly why is she clapping?

run the economy? she can't even run her campaign finances.

i guess it's all that washington experience.

WAKE UP PENNSYLVANIA!

stunt driver crashes Aston Martin DBS in lake (not on purpose...)

from the bbc:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7356916.stm

A stunt driver has crashed the car used by movie secret agent James Bond into Italy's Lake Garda during filming of 007's latest movie, Quantum of Solace.

The driver was delivering the iconic Aston Martin DBS to the film scene in heavy rain when he lost control around one of the lake's narrow curves.

...this thing's a fuckin' thing's a death trap. the guy driving was a professional stunt driver.

what chance do normal drivers have keeping one of these on the road? remember, it rolled seven times, i repeat , SEVEN times, in 'casino royale', when he braked to avoid the chick in the road...one of er, two very disturbing scenes featuring daniel craig...

they should give bond this:

the new harley davidson...

…Harley Dark Customs suggest precision machines, the refinement of a century-long tradition. They put me in mind of expensive optical instruments — cameras or microscopes or even musical instruments…

- Phil Patton Reviewing for the New York Times

...it looks like a cross-breed between a tractor and a cement mixer, and then painted black.

try one of these, phil.

Nasa's Mars Reconaissance Orbiter (MRO) images Phobos

Phobos was discovered in 1877 by the American astronomer Asaph Hall. Both Phobos and Mars' other moon, Deimos, are thought to be captured asteroids.

Phobos' orbit around Mars is dropping by about 1.8m (5.9ft) every 100 years. This means that in 50 million years it will either crash into Mars or break up into a ring.

the tour de farce...

Bush Sets Greenhouse Gas Emissions Goal

2025? they'll be no polar bears left by then...

'god's rottweiler' meets the worst US president ever

the head of the catholic church is in town to complain bitterly about guantanamo bay and the 28,000 iraqis being held captive that the american news media is strangely silent about...no, just kidding!

the catholic church and christianity, directly responsible spreading such universal joy as the spanish inquisition and the crusades - mass murder and torture of innocents on an unprecedented scale.

oh, and i almost forgot. widespread sexual child abuse from its very own priests.

...and the vatican thinks it has the right to tell me what 'sin' is, and how to live my life! - how about having a go at bush and his war in iraq?

reality, however, is available to anyone to read with an open mind.
http://www.amazon.com/God-Delusion-Richard-Dawkins/dp/0618680004

grande premio de portugal

brilliant win for lorenzo in motogp.

and what a fantastic 250cc race, as always.

...can you get a bit more lean angle, mate?

bush continues to impress us all...

"I don't view the Olympics as a political event,"

Bush said this past week.

"I view it as a sporting event."

this image is shown in the holocaust museum, you know, the one just down the road from the whitehouse...