The meaning of "freedom"

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Sunday November 16, 2008 · 7:37 PM PST

2008/11/16 · 19:37

Only a little reflection is necessary to see that in the American colonies circa 1776, "freedom" referred to a happier and specifically wealthier existence without the irritating control of a monarch on the other side of the ocean. Under the guise of taxation and trade restrictions, King George exacted heavy tribute from the colonies. The authors of the Declaration of Independence realized that British military forces might be incapable of enforcing their king's edicts. In effect, they called George's bluff, and created a new country whose connections with Great Britain no longer constituted a burden.

More below...

dratman

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Friday September 26, 2008 · 6:26 AM PDT

2008/09/26 · 06:26

Melanoma is an extraordinarily dangerous form of cancer which usually kills its victim by spreading into the brain. The resulting tumor causes mental problems of various kinds, ending in disability and death. I know this not only from reading about the disease but also in personal form: a dear friend of mine died after melanoma spread to his brain.

More below the fold.

dratman

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Wednesday June 27, 2007 · 2:24 PM PDT

2007/06/27 · 14:24

Watching the sad spectacle of Ann Coulter cavorting in her own sad filth on the Chris Matthews show inevitably tempts us to be angry with her. But Ms. Coulter is emphatically not the problem. Nasty fools spouting messages of hate can be found with no difficulty. They are everywhere. There is an infinite supply of them.

Chris Matthews is not the problem either. Being the sort of showoff clowning personality he is, Matthews will do anything for attention, money, ratings... you name it, Chris Matthews will debase himself to get it.

More after the jump...

dratman

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Saturday June 02, 2007 · 9:03 AM PDT

2007/06/02 · 09:03

After several attacks here about the quality and even the sincerity of Palast's journalism, we now learn that Tim Griffin has abruptly resigned, apparently in reaction to yesterday's Palast/BBC revelations to John Conyers.

I'm hearing a lot of silence on DKos about the Griffin resignation and Palast's presumed role in bringing that about. In that respect Daily Kos and the conventional media agree: let's not talk about Tim Griffin's resignation and let's not talk about Greg Palast.

If it's true that Palast's work led directly to the resignation of Tim Griffin, I think our community owes Greg a real apology, not just a tepid acknowledgment that he is "on our side."

How many of us have forced a key Bush/Rove henchman to resign?

Please read my UPDATE after the jump...

Poll

1041 votes Show Results

Tim Griffin resigned because

1041 votes Vote Now!

Tim Griffin resigned because

He was overwhelmed by the resposibility of being a US Attorney in Arkansas

9 votes

He was overwhelmed by the "vote caging" evidence shown to John Conyers by Greg Palast and the BBC

689 votes

He wants to spend more time with his familly

57 votes

He wants to spend more time with Fred Thompson

286 votes

Presidential Directive 51: Blueprint for Dictatorship

dratman

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Friday May 11, 2007 · 10:03 PM PDT

2007/05/11 · 22:03

(Cross-posted at Newsfare.)

Released Wednesday, May 9, 2007 by the White House, this executive order, the National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51, uses the principle of the Unitary Executive, as propounded by Dick Cheney, to seize absolute power in the U.S. any time the president feels like putting the plan into effect.

In what follows, italicized text represents my paranoid ideas. I hope all such stupid, alarmist fantasies turn out to be entirely unjustified.

Get ready for a catastrophic terrorist attack in October of 2008, with the unfortunately necessary indefinite postponement of elections after a Presidential declaration of the state of emergency due to the current devastating circumstances.

More after the jump...

dratman

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Tuesday September 05, 2006 · 5:15 PM PDT

2006/09/05 · 17:15

Chris Matthews openly disdains the female majority in this country. From Media Matters (watch the video):

On the September 5 broadcast of NBC's Today, MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews, discussing the November elections with host Matt Lauer, asserted that "the stakes" in the midterms would include "whether we want [House Democratic Leader] Nancy Pelosi [CA] to be the first woman speaker of the House or not." Matthews predicted that, in the event that Democrats take control of the House of Representatives in the November elections, "that iconic fact of that woman sitting behind the president during a State of the Union address is an enormous change in our culture," referring to Pelosi.

Memo to: Chris Matthews
Mr. Matthews, you say you are convinced (in "my own view") that having a woman sitting behind the President during a State of the Union address would be "an enormous change in our culture." I am wondering, how would you feel about having a woman as your physician? Having a woman as your boss? Having a woman as a colleague, or even... as a friend? Read More

DKos Comment Display Mode Usually Wrong

dratman

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Sunday November 06, 2005 · 11:04 PM PST

2005/11/06 · 23:04

I am having a big problem with the display of comments on Daily Kos. When I look at My Profile > Comments Prefs > Comment display mode, I see the selected choice Minimal, which is exactly what I set there and exactly how I would like my comments to be displayed.

Please flip over to read my exciting complaint about Comment Display Mode! Read More

Video of Doctor Telling Off Cheney Pulled AGAIN. Ask eBay why!

dratman

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Saturday September 10, 2005 · 3:18 PM PDT

2005/09/10 · 15:18

As first diaried here, Dr. Ben Marble, along with his friends, made a video of Dr. Marble telling Dick Cheney to "go f--- yourself."

Dr. Marble listed the video on eBay, and some of us (myself included) bid on it there.

The sale item was later removed by eBay, and was relisted. Again I bid on it.

Then just today eBay pulled the item again, with no explanation to bidders other than their standard email, which I received at 1:57 pm EDT today (Sept 10):

Please be aware that the following listing:
Item Number - 7712202734
Item Title - DVD of me saying "GO ** YOURSELF" to DICK CHENEY
has been removed by eBay for violating of one or more of our policies. Any offers or bids placed on this listing are now null and void.

More... Read More

Bush Administration Removes Safeguards Against Mad Cow Disease

dratman

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Tuesday September 06, 2005 · 10:26 AM PDT

2005/09/06 · 10:26

You will be glad to learn that the Bush administration has successfully crafted a response to recently increasing concerns about an increase in the domestic threat of Mad Cow Disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and its human counterpart, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).

From Reuters (emphasis added):

The Bush administration on Tuesday eased regulations restricting the use of cattle parts in certain animal feed, a safeguard considered the main defense against mad cow disease.

The Food and Drug Administration said it would no longer designate a cattle's entire small intestine as prohibited material in cattle feed.
"FDA is amending the rule to allow use of the small intestine in human food and cosmetics, provided that the distal ileum has been removed," the agency said.

Now that madness appears to be the official language, policy and religion of the United States, why restrict it to deer and a few farm animals?

Let 'er rip!

Congress Told the Truth about Oil Depletion by Rep. Bartlett

dratman

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Wednesday March 16, 2005 · 1:19 PM PST

2005/03/16 · 13:19

As demonstrated by this transcript of an amazing hourlong presentation by Roscoe Bartlett, a Republican from Maryland's 6th District, the entire story of peak oil has now been laid out before our elected representatives. It happened yesterday -- on March 15, 2005.

Please turn the page. Read More

Why the Gannon Story is Important: an Open Letter

dratman

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Saturday February 26, 2005 · 1:31 PM PST

2005/02/26 · 13:31

The Daily Howler has consistently served as a much-needed gadfly on the "Mainstream Media" for the past several years. Bob Somerby's specialty is pointing out how dismally incompetent and ineffective many reporters can be when covering significant news.

Now Somerby is expressing disdain and a lack of interest in the Jeff Gannon / JD Guckert story.

Because I think Somerby is missing the point of that story, and because it would be a loss to our side if a persistent rift opened up between him and what he calls the "liberal web," I offer the following open letter to The Daily Howler.

dratman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 22, 2005 · 11:06 AM PST

2005/02/22 · 11:06

Since the mid-1950s it has been apparent to some petroleum engineers that the era of readily available oil will be short indeed on a historical scale.

M. King Hubbert, the first engineer to publish such results, predicted in 1956 that oil extraction rates in the "lower 48" contiguous United States would peak, then begin to decline, around 1970. The actual peak of U.S. production came in 1971, clearly confirming Hubbert's calculations.

The world's earliest extraction of petroleum by drilling began near Titusville, Pennsylvania on August 27, 1859. From that date until the peak in 1971, the heyday of U.S. oil production lasted only 112 years. Yet even that is a significant overstatement, since in today's terms the entire world output of crude oil was negligibly small until about 1915. We might more reasonably say that the "good times" for the Lower 48 lasted only 55 years.

More below the fold. Read More

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The meaning of "freedom"

NOT A JOKE: Is McCain Having A Recurrence of Melanoma in the Brain?

Ann Coulter is not at Fault

We owe Greg Palast a Real Apology [UPDATE 2]

Presidential Directive 51: Blueprint for Dictatorship

Chris Matthews Does Not Trust Women

DKos Comment Display Mode Usually Wrong

Video of Doctor Telling Off Cheney Pulled AGAIN. Ask eBay why!

Bush Administration Removes Safeguards Against Mad Cow Disease

Congress Told the Truth about Oil Depletion by Rep. Bartlett

Why the Gannon Story is Important: an Open Letter

Scary Oil News