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Egypt Hanging by a Thread
Author: BobR    Date: 07/08/2013 14:16:40

The worsening situation in Egypt is creating a difficult situation both inside and outside of that country. It's made for strange bedfellows from a U.S. political perspective. It's created almost a civil war situation in Egypt.

The problem is that after last year's ouster of Mubarak, Morsi was democratically elected by a (slim) majority of Egyptians. A year later they have buyer's remorse, and use a non-democratic method to oust him. Those here and abroad that support the democratic process are understandably concerned of the precedent this is setting. Those who distrust the Muslim Brotherhood are supporting his ouster. Those who abhor the suppression of civil rights and the rights of people over government suppression are supporting his ouster. In U.S. political circles, this has led to fractures within typically homogeneous political parties.
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61 comments (Latest Comment: 07/08/2013 21:26:46 by Mondobubba)

Tit for Dat
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 07/07/2013 14:22:29

Velveeta is happy to be behind the keyboard again. After some minor flooding and some travel and some major work. Whew, it's been a hellava couple of weeks!

What's been happening? I hear there's this upstart in Texas who stood up and fought off some heinous bill. But, it must have been a very fair bill that was being debated, right? I mean it was put forth by republicans so of course it was all about republican things like freedom™, Liberty, God, Flags, and of course small Government.
Right?
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3 comments (Latest Comment: 07/07/2013 21:14:11 by Raine)

Kerry fiddles while Egypt burns
Author: TriSec    Date: 07/06/2013 13:24:02

Morning, comrades.

I'm sure your favorite local right-wing outrage generator has had this story on heavy rotation for the last 24 hours now. Our secretary of state rather quietly spend a few hours on his boat over the long Fourth of July weekend.
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9 comments (Latest Comment: 07/06/2013 23:09:18 by TriSec)

Friday -- Hit me!
Author: Raine    Date: 07/05/2013 13:10:36

It's probably a slow day for a lot of people -- are you at work today? How was your holiday? I'm sifting through the news and seeing a lot of the same stuff...

For now here is a video of sleepy animals...
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48 comments (Latest Comment: 07/06/2013 13:16:09 by BobR)

You Say You Want a Revolution
Author: BobR    Date: 07/04/2013 14:26:50

Eleven score and 17 years ago, our forefathers declared their independence from the monarchy in England. The colonies had endured decades of rule which seemed only interested in using them as labor to enrich the home country. The residents in England had a say in the governance, but the colonists did not. Thus, they ended up getting the short end of any regulations. This was the root of the "no taxation without representation" mantra that ultimately resulted in the colonies declaring their freedom from England 237 years ago today.

After the war ended and we had won our freedom, a framework was put into place to create a representative democracy, where people elected a congress and president to speak and act for them. It's been tweaked a little through the years, but it is still the framework we use to this day. The problem with democracy is that there is always a minority on the losing end of election day that is not happy. Any alternative, however, is worse, so we have live with the reality that there will always be those unhappy with the government.
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11 comments (Latest Comment: 07/05/2013 02:05:27 by TriSec)

Scrambling the Truth.
Author: Raine    Date: 07/03/2013 15:14:04

There was some plane drama yesterday:
PARIS — Bolivia's president left Europe for home on Wednesday in a flurry of diplomatic drama after his flight was rerouted and delayed in Austria, allegedly because of suspicion he was trying to spirit NSA leaker Edward Snowden to Latin America.

Bolivia accused the United States of ordering European countries to block President Evo Morales' flight from their airspace, and accused European governments of "aggression" by thwarting the flight.

However it's still unclear whether European countries did block the plane and, if so, why. French, Spanish and Portuguese officials all said Wednesday the plane was allowed to cross their territory.
This is a pertinent part:
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87 comments (Latest Comment: 07/04/2013 02:28:26 by Raine)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 07/02/2013 10:14:36

Good morning.

Today is our 4,286th day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing war, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 2,241
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,098

We find this morning's cost of war passing through:

$ 1, 452, 481, 900, 000 .00

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62 comments (Latest Comment: 07/03/2013 01:49:15 by livingonli)

Trying to Turn the Clock Back
Author: BobR    Date: 07/01/2013 14:47:10

In 2006 and 2008, Democrats took over the House and Senate, in a cleansing move made to wash away the rampant corruption and cronyism of the Republican congressional era. With the White House in hand in 2008, a flood of legislation made it's way out, securing civil rights, helping the less fortunate, and ensuring justice. The ACA (Obamacare) was the jewel in the crown.

In 2008, there was also the great Bush crash, where the stock and housing markets tanked, and the jobless numbers swelled. Republicans pushed back against every recovery option they could, in an effort to kill a recovery and the chances of the president getting a second term. The economy recovered, albeit much more slowly than desired. They also prevented the closing of Gitmo, and forced the president to compromise on many issues.

As a result, the Republicans rode into the House in 2010 on a wave of anti-Obama fervor from the Republicans and malaise on the part of Democrats and independents. Republicans promised JOBS JOBS JOBS. The turnout also helped secure Republican leadership at the state level, which they leveraged during a census year to gerrymander districts to ensure a permanent Republican majority in the state houses.

So what has happened since? They keep talking about the budget deficit, but the main legislative initiatives they focus on both nationally and at the state levels revolve around a severe anti-woman, pro-Christian (and thus unconstitutional) idealism.
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53 comments (Latest Comment: 07/02/2013 00:47:41 by Raine)

Evolving Faith (or lack thereof)
Author: clintster    Date: 06/30/2013 06:24:29

Today is Sunday. First day of the week on most people’s calendars. For many in the United States it is a day to go to church in order to commune with their God, confess their sins, and see their fellow believers. It has been regarded in the Western world as a day of rest, with the interpretation of what that “rest” should entail changing over the years. In fact, much of what it means to be a Christian has changed in the past few centuries. And it is on the verge of changing again.
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1 comments (Latest Comment: 06/30/2013 13:44:04 by Will in Chicago)

Get Up, Stand Up
Author: Will in Chicago    Date: 2013-06-29 10:39:11

In the face of great difficulties, people eventually chose to stand up for their rights, no matter how powerful the forces -- governmental, societal, political, or corporate -- that are arrayed against them. We have seen many movements in U.S. and world history that begin simply and with the odds against them.

In our national history in the U.S., we have seen abolition, women's suffrage, civil rights and worker rights movements make great strides. Often the protests began with a few people who were outraged and took a stand. Many faced ridicule, billy clubs, bullets, bombs, dogs and firehouses. We have seen leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Dr. King, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and many others start with a few people and then see dozens become hundreds, hundreds become thousands and thousands becoming millions.  They went from being ridiculed to becoming figures that had to be taken seriously by the public and the political establishment.
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2 comments (Latest Comment: 06/29/2013 20:54:19 by Will in Chicago)

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