The Weekly Poll
Results
The 'Ban the Bomb' Edition
Barack Obama yesterday announced a radical drive aimed at ridding the world of nuclear weapons, as the focus of his European visit switched from financial to geopolitical security. "In Prague, I will lay out an agenda to seek the goal of a world without nuclear weapons," Obama said yesterday... "The spread of nuclear weapons or the theft of nuclear material could lead to the extermination of any city on the planet," he warned, adding that suspected rogue nuclear states, such as North Korea or Iran, may only be persuaded to abandon their quests if the big nuclear powers set an example...
Barack Obama's New Offensive Against Nuclear Weapons | CommonDreams.org
How successful do you think Obama will be in this endeavor?
A. Total nuclear disarmament and the dawning of the Age of Aquarius (Hoo Ha!)...
B. Significant arms reduction by the current nuclear powers, rigorous enforcement of the non-proliferation treaty re: Iran and North Korea etal and the Doomsday Clock rolls back a couple of hours (whew!)...
C. Are you kidding? Humanity is gonna, sooner or later, blow itself to smithereens, dagnabbit!
Charlie wrote...
Since the US has huge advantages in conventional forces, one can perceive ulterior motives here, but I'd give disarmament a shot. It would have to be total to really mean anything, since, for instance, it has been calculated that a dozen or so Hiroshima sized bombs targeted on major transportation centers of either the US or Russia would suffice to reduce the surviving population to starvation, and these considerations
render choice B less appealing than it appears at first glance. In addition to the total elimination of the existing weapons, which does have the appeal of eliminating the possibility of accidental nuclear war
and greatly reducing the threat of nuclear terrorism, there would need to be strict controls over fissionable materials, as the knowledge of how to build a bomb wouldn't be eliminated with the bombs themselves (I
believe Obama has touched on this aspect). Since I do not think that Russia is likely to go for total disarmament given its conventional force disadvantage, and although we've managed to avoid it for over 60
years now, I'm afraid that leaves C as the most probable of the three choices, but if we wait a few more decades, I'll probably be dead anyway. I also don't think the dawning of the Age of Aquarius is near
even if total disarmament is achieved, and in any case, one is reminded of this quotation from the great mathematician David Hilbert:
If one were to bring ten of the wisest men in the world together and ask
them what was the most stupid thing in existence, they would not be able to discover anything so stupid as astrology.
(Thanks, Charlie... Well thought out!... But (LOL) the Age of Aquarius thing was meant as a touch of humor!)
Adam in NoHo nails it with...
Somewhere between B and C. While the US, Russia, England and France might be willing to reduce stocks, other countries are still angling to get them no matter the cost, and still other counties still haven't even admitted to having them. All those latter guys aren't going to stop trying or admit the truth and give up their secret stash. Obama would have to be a magician to resolve that sort of a mess.
(We are of like minds, Adam. I should have included an additional category to cover your answer. It would have been my choice, too. Ah, well, I can only blame the post-vacation blahs for it, haha.)
Joe agrees and adds...
I think the answer is B½ . Our President will try his damnedest to achieve A, but he has to rely on pinheads to approve treaties. I can't see the Senate in it's present make up able to do anything that sensible. I'm talking about the "conservatives" on both sides of the aisle. If the US doesn't ratify treaties other nations won't either.
(Excellent point regarding treaty ratifications by the Senate, Joe. That did not occur to me)
SallyP my "radical Socialist Pal" (her words, not mine, haha) on the ramparts states...
Of course I WANT A: Total nuclear disarmament and the dawning of the Age of Aquarius (Hoo Ha!)...
(Don't laugh, the revival of the musical, "Hair" is breaking attendance records here on Broadway - Pally!)
But, would be pleased with B: Significant arms reduction by the current nuclear powers, rigorous enforcement of the nonproliferation treaty re: Iran and North Korea et al., and the Doomsday Clock rolls back a couple of hours (whew!)...
But realistically, I believe that as long as the USA and Israel remain hypocritical about their possession of nuclear arms, President Obama will be unable to disarm, or even reduce, such weapons from other countries. As far as I am concerned, Israel is the ticking bomb of the world - but apparently the President also cowers to them - leaving me to wonder what the true story is there...
(Me, too... As far as Israel being "the ticking bomb", I tend to agree. But, I do believe that Iran is hell-bent on wanting to be the fuse...)
DanD rants...
(Or how about:) D. Obama will be about as successful at banning "nukular" (oops, I'm sorry, this Negro is a very erudite speaker!) weapons as his cracker-idiot predecessor was at capturing that dead towel-head nemesis, O.b. Ladin.
I choose "D."
I choose "D" because Mr. Barack Hussein (a-) O. has actually spent most of his political capital "CHANGE" buying into Dubya Shithead Bush's "War-on-Terror" (Barry's decided to change the name though) than he ever even pretended to accomplish his fleeting campaign claim to support restoration of the U.S. Constitution.
I mean, Zionazi "Israel" just got finished committing war crimes every bit in league, scope, and horror with ANYTHING the minions of Hitler ever accomplished, and this latest Offal-Office cocksucker's only response is to expand the extortion collected from America's taxpayers TO Zionland by more than FIVE-BILLION dollars.
THAT'S TEN BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR NOW THAT AMERICA'S GOVERNMENT GIVES AWAY TO ZIONLAND WITHOUT ANY STRINGS ATTACHED!
It seems the only change that BHO has accomplished is just that he's committing a similar "neo-lib" flavor of neo-con Executive crimes as Bush did ... but with much better communication skills. GDitTH, we should'a been more careful of the kind of "CHANGE" we were voting for.
In the meantime, all you wage-slaves better continue paying your taxes so that all those shiteating international bankers can do us the favor of "borrowing" it back from the government so they can then loan it back to all us impoverished taxpayers ... with interest.
As it is (back to the central theme), does Obama really think he can stuff that irridating little radiation-genie back in its pre-been there, done that bottle? This is just a bunch of empty talking points. Distractions.
Shit.
(Your assertion that Israel's actions have been equal to what the Third Reich committed leave me stunned beyond belief and all I can say to it is... BULLSHIT! ... I also think that your ad hominem attack on President Obama lends a whole new meaning to the word 'Crass'... What manner of mind-altering chemicals were you using when you wrote this screed? Jeesh! What blather...)
Well, there it is, Poll-fans. Another interesting and exciting edition! Thanks to all!
New Question
The 'Know thy Enemy' Edition...
The ancient Chinese military tactician Sun Tzu (400-320 BC) wrote in his acclaimed work, The Art of War...
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not your enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."
I whole-heartedly believe in that wisdom and think that progressives should peruse conservative web sites regularly in order to keep up with current conservative trends, strategy and dogma. i.e Know thy Enemy.
That said, the question is... Do you read any conservative web sites and if so, which ones?
Send your response, and a (short) reason why, to
TODAY!
Erin Hart
Wake up with
Erin Hart today and tomorrow (14 & 15 April), when she sits in for Jay Marvin on
Colorado's Progressive Talk - AM 760 from 5am - 9am PDT (6am - 10am MDT | 7am - 11am CDT | 8am - noon EDT)
To Polarize or Not to Polarize, that is the Question the right raises about President Barack Obama. That plus distorting much of what he has to say.
And Pastor Rick Warren reneged on This Week because he has contradicted himself mightily in statements about his support of gay marriage bans. . . . Is he repenting his earlier bigotry?
Plus the economy-is it wrong to long to see the bankers frog-marched to jail? And is Defense Secretary Gates Really cutting costs? Where has Obama pleased and where has he disappointed-it's close on 90 days, to to evaluate.
And behold, we have a First Dog-Bo, a Portuguese Water Hound-and of course, there is a controversy about pound versus breeder. Pedro says NONSENSE and welcomes Bo with a wag of the tail instead of a growl. What's not to love?
Happy Passover and Happy Easter, all. And Spring Break, of course.
Listen online at www.am760.net and call 303-713-7600 to join the conversation.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
LOUIS UCHITELLE: Economy Falling Years Behind Full Speed (nytimes.com)
As the recession grinds on, more and more of the nation's means of production - its workers, its factories, its retail outlets, its freight lines, its bank lending, even its new inventions - are being mothballed.
Paul Krugman: Tea Parties Forever (nytimes.com)
Everything that critics mock about the recent antitaxation demonstrations has long been standard practice within the Republican Party.
FRANK RICH: Awake and Sing! (nytimes.com)
It is time to leave behind the bubble's toxic culture that not only took away wealth but certain American values, and do something good.
Roger Ebert: Thoughts on Bill O'Reilly and Squeaky the Chicago Mouse
Dear Bill O'Reilly: Thanks for including the Chicago Sun-Times on your exclusive list of newspapers on your "Hall of Shame." To be in an O'Reilly Hall of Fame would be a cruel blow to any newspaper. It would place us in the favor of a man who turns red and starts screaming when anyone disagrees with him. My grade-school teacher, wise Sister Nathan, would have called in your parents and recommended counseling with Father Hogben.
Sarah Warn: "Interview with Wonder Woman's Gail Simone: Part 1" (afterellen.com)
The writer of the Wonder Woman comics talks about the character, feminism, the recent animated WW movie, and the possibility of a live-action one.
Sarah Warn: "Interview with Wonder Woman's Gail Simone: Part 1" (afterellen.com)
Veteran comic writer Gail Simone focused on the Wonder Woman series in the first part of our interview with us. In the second part, we ask her about LGBT characters in comics, the Birds of Prey series, and the new lesbian Batwoman series.
Rosanna Greenstreet: Q&A with David Hasselhoff (guardian.co.uk)
Q: What is your greatest fear?
A: Not working and not being able to continue to live this lifestyle.
Julie Hinds: With free Detroit shows, comedian has burnished his working-class hero credentials (Detroit Free Press)
Jay Leno understands the value of work. The host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" spends most of his time working, whether it's on the air, in Las Vegas, at a theater halfway across the country or inside the comedy club where he goes on Sundays to try out material.
Bill Gibron: "The Last of the Independents?: An Interview with Troma's Evan Husney" (popmatters.com)
Times are tough for true independent films. Just ask Troma. The leading purveyor of outside the mainstream art has just had one of its best years. They released the theatrical masterwork "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead" back in October to massive critical acclaim, and soon thereafter, restarted their definitive DVD distribution of new and unusual off the radar titles. Still, according to the longstanding icon of all things iconic, all is not well within the world of maverick directors and iconoclastic producers.
Will Harris: A Chat with Ed Asner (bullz-eye.com)
"I loved journalism until the day my journalism teacher, a man I revered, came by my desk and said, 'Are you planning on going into journalism?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'I wouldn't.' I said, 'Well, why not?' He said, 'You can't make a living."
Richard Roeper: Dark and strange Seth Rogen comedy goes for broke (suntimes.com)
If the early 1990s Quentin Tarantino had been handed the script for "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" and told to make it his own, the result might have been something like "Observe and Report."
Joe Weider: Shoulders Can Be Widened -- With Work (creators.com)
Tip of the Week: Want to burn fat and get your heart in shape? Lift weights!
wrote:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny.
We're on one of our notorious quick trips to Sac, so Wednesday's page may be a bit late. Or a bit thin. Or maybe not.
TCM pays tribute to the always fabulous
Hans Conried,
who was born on this day in 1917.
Has Most Votes
Al Franken
A Minnesota court has confirmed that Democrat Al Franken won the most votes in his 2008 Senate race against Republican Norm 'Sore Loser' Coleman.
Monday's ruling isn't expected to be the final word because 'Sore Loser' Coleman previously announced plans to appeal to the state Supreme Court. He has 10 days to do so. That appeal could mean weeks more delay in seating Minnesota's second senator.
After a statewide recount and seven-week trial, Franken stands 312 votes ahead. Franken gained more votes from the election challenge than 'Sore Loser' Coleman, the candidate who brought it.
The state law 'Sore Loser' Coleman sued under merely required three judges to determine who got the most votes and is therefore entitled to an election certificate. That critical certificate is on hold pending appeal.
Al Franken
Honorary Degrees
Berklee College
Berklee College of Music has announced that R&B legend Smokey Robinson, vocalist Linda Ronstadt and merengue pioneer Juan Luis Guerra will be awarded honorary degrees.
The three will receive their degrees at the school's commencement ceremonies on May 9.
Robinson also is scheduled to give the school's commencement address to 850 Berklee graduates.
Berklee College
Tribute Concert
Marian Anderson
More than 2,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial for a concert honoring the 70th anniversary of Marian Anderson's historic performance there in 1939.
Because of the color of her skin, Anderson was denied the opportunity to perform at nearby Constitution Hall and local high school. So, instead, the opera singer sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in April 1939 to a 75,000-person crowd of blacks and whites standing together.
In the Sunday afternoon sunshine, African-American opera star Denyce Graves performed three of the same songs Anderson sang 70 years ago: "America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)," "O, Mio Fernando" and "Ave Maria."
The Chicago Children's Choir, women's a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock and the U.S. Marine Band also performed at the concert.
Marian Anderson
Claims 'Glitch'
Amazon
A "glitch" on Amazon.com has caused the sales rank to be removed from gay- and/or lesbian-themed books by James Baldwin, Gore Vidal and others.
"There was a glitch in our systems and it's being fixed," Amazon's director of corporate communications, Patty Smith, said in an e-mail Sunday.
As of Sunday night, books without rankings included Baldwin's "Giovanni's Room," Vidal's "The City and the Pillar" and Jeanette Winterson's "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit." The removals prompted furious remarks on Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere online.
Craig Seymour, author of the gay memoir "All I Could Bare," wrote on his blog Sunday that his sales rank was dropped in February, then restored nearly four weeks later, after he was told by Amazon that his book had been "classified as an Adult product."
Amazon
Decemberists Feud Is On
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert and his musical nemesis, the Decemberists, will face off again.
The Decemberists announced Monday that they will perform on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" on April 27.
Colbert and the band engaged in a mock feud in 2006 after Colbert accused the Decemberists of copying his idea of a fan-created "green screen challenge." The feud culminated in a much ballyhooed "ShredDown" in which Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk took on Colbert in a guitar solo contest.
Colbert claimed victory in one of the show's most star-studded episodes that featured Henry Kissinger, Morley Safer, Peter Frampton and former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
Stephen Colbert
Boston Affiliate Changes Mind
Leno
Boston's NBC affiliate has decided to air Jay Leno's new show, after all.
WHDH-TV owner Ed Ansin issued a brief statement Monday saying that "upon further consideration," the station had decided to telecast Leno's 10 p.m. talk show beginning in September.
WHDH had previously said it would run a local newscast in that time slot instead, prompting a threat from NBC to strip the station of its network affiliation.
Leno
Saint Seeks To Shed Sinner
Mel 'Sugar Tits' Gibson
Court records show Mel 'Sugar Tits' Gibson's wife, Robyn, has filed for divorce after 28 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.
The petition doesn't give any details about the split. Robyn Gibson is seeking jewelry and some other property, and has suggested joint custody for their 9-year-old son.
The records show the couple were married in June 1980.
Mel 'Sugar Tits' Gibson
Estate Sues
Dee Dee Ramone
The executor of Dee Dee Ramone's estate has gone to court to stop publication of a book about the late punk rocker by his first wife.
Ira Herzog says Vera Davie of Florida violated an agreement to let him review and change anything she wrote about the bassist.
Herzog's lawsuit in Manhattan's state Supreme Court uses Ramone's real name, Douglas Glenn Colvin. Colvin was with the Ramones from their creation in 1974 until 1989. He died in June 2002 at age 50 in Los Angeles.
Davie's book is "Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone," published by Phoenix Books of Beverly Hills under the pen name Vera Ramone King.
Dee Dee Ramone
Finally Found Guilty
Phil Specter
Rock music producer Phil Specter was convicted Monday of second-degree murder in the shooting death of a film actress at his mansion six years ago.
A Superior Court jury returned the verdict after about 30 hours of deliberations. The jury had the option of choosing involuntary manslaughter, but did not do so.
The panel also found Specter guilty of using a firearm in committing a crime.
Specter exhibited no reaction to the verdict. His attorney argued that he should remain free on bail pending the May 29 sentencing, but Judge Larry Paul Fidler remanded him to jail immediately.
Phil Specter
Cornell University
Fungi of China
Shu Chun Teng traveled halfway around the world on a scholarship to study mycology at Cornell University in 1923. He left five years later with a knowledge of fungi unequaled in China, then spent the next decade traveling on horseback gathering up molds, lichens, yeasts, rusts and morels in the forests, fields and marshes of his homeland.
During the Japanese invasion in 1937, Teng arranged for his best specimens to be removed from a national botany institute he directed in Nanking to save them from destruction. During World War II, they were smuggled by ox cart to Indochina and then by sea to the United States, and 2,278 of the specimen packets ended up at Teng's alma mater.
At Cornell's initiative, the university is dividing up and sharing its Fungi of China Collection with the Academy of Sciences in Beijing to help advance the exploration of fungal species. Only an estimated 6 percent of those believed to exist in the world have been recorded.
Some 1,700 specimens will be delivered to China in the fall, including 57 considered irreplaceable. Cornell will retain fungi that can't be divided, but make them available to scholars.
Fungi of China
Quake Relief
Italian Jews
More than 65 years after villagers provided shelter to Italian Jews fleeing from the Nazis, a group of those who evaded capture rushed to repay that sacrifice in rural communities hard-hit by an earthquake.
A delegation of around 20 elderly Jews and their descendants - as well as community leaders - made their way to makeshift camps in the area around the mountain city of L'Aquila on Monday, peering into tents in a bid to find their saviors.
They offered everything from gym shoes to summer camps for children.
"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for these people," said Alberto Di Consiglio, whose parents were sheltered in the small hamlets of Fossa and Casentino during the war. "We have to help them."
Italian Jews
In Memory
Marilyn Chambers
Marilyn Chambers, the pretty Ivory Snow girl who helped bring hard-core adult films into the mainstream consciousness when she starred in the explicit 1972 movie "Behind the Green Door," has died at 56.
Chambers and fellow actresses Linda Lovelace and Georgina Spelvin shot to fame at a time in the early 1970s when both American social mores and the quality of hard-core sex films were changing.
For the first time, films like "Behind the Green Door" and "Deep Throat" (also released in 1972 and starring Lovelace) had decent acting and legitimate if fairly thin plots. As the audiences for them grew to include couples, they also began to take on higher production values and to be seen in places other than sleazy theaters.
But "Behind the Green Door" brought something more in Chambers, an attractive young woman who had begun her career as a legitimate actress and model.
While the film was still in theaters, the public learned that its star was the same young blonde smiling and holding a freshly diapered baby on boxes of Ivory Snow laundry soap (which the company touted as "99 and 44/100 percent pure"). The manufacturer quickly replaced her, but it was later discovered that she also had a small role in the 1970 Barbra Streisand film "The Owl and the Pussycat."
She followed "Green Door" with the hard-core films "Resurrection of Eve," in 1973 and "Inside Marilyn Chambers" in 1975.
Then she announced in 1976 that she was giving up adult films to pursue other interests. She starred in the 1977 horror movie "Rabid" and put together a song-and-dance show that played Las Vegas and elsewhere.
She returned to adult films in 1980 in "Insatiable" and through the rest of her career went back and forth between explicit movies and R-rated ones.
Although Chambers was quick to point out in 2000 that she had done more R-rated films that X-rated ones, she made no apologies for the latter.
Chambers, born Marilyn Ann Briggs, on April 22, 1952, grew up in Westport, Conn. She got her start in adult films after answering an ad placed in a San Francisco newspaper by pioneering adult filmmakers Jim and Artie Mitchell.
Married and divorced three times, she is survived by her daughter, McKenna Marie Taylor; her brother, Bill Briggs; and her sister, Jann Smith.
Marilyn Chambers
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
