Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Didn't I read here that Hugo already couldn't meet his current production commitments domestically and was buying Soviet Russian oil to make up the dif?
#2
yep - he's overpromised and the price cuts won't make him any better. Couldn't happen to a nicer asshole
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2006 1:10 Comments ||
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#3
I wonder whether he'll drop production by the exact amount of the 7-11 account.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/30/2006 1:24 Comments ||
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#4
he needs the coin - he won't sh*t
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2006 1:36 Comments ||
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#5
won't cut sh*t....dammit
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2006 1:36 Comments ||
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#6
Hugo is calling his declining output, due to his meddling in things he should have left alone. productions cuts. What a laugh, what a total moron. He can't afford to cut anything; he is over spending like a crack hooked heiress .
#8
SuperHose - 7-11 dropped the Citgo (Chavez) BRAND, but there's a real good chance they're still buying the oil from the same refinery (which may or may not be an actual Citgo refinery), and if they are not, then someone else is. They don't really have much choice - we don't have a lot of spare refineries sitting around. This is not a knock on 7-11 - at least they did what they could; just don't go thinking it will break Chavez.
PRAGUE, September 29, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- NATO, the United States, and the EU have all attempted to calm the escalating spy row between Russia and Georgia. The diplomatic crisis between the two former Soviet states was sparked by the arrest of five Russian army intelligence officers on spying charges, one of whom has since been released.
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer was among the first to offer calming words. He spoke today at a news conference in Slovenia after meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov at the NATO-Russia Council. "On my behalf, there was a call for moderation and for de-escalation, and that is relevant for all parties -- that is as relevant for Georgia as it is for our Russian friends -- a general appeal, also from my side, to both sides to moderate and de-escalate the current situation," de Hoop Scheffer said.
I admire the Georgians' pluck but they're fighting out of their weight class ...
European Commission spokeswoman Emma Udwin echoed that sentiment saying that both sides had to avoid actions that could heighten tensions. And U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that the NATO ministers had urged for calm in their meeting with Ivanov.
A Tbilisi court ruled today that two of the four Russian officers will be remanded in custody for another two months. The court will consider the other two officers' cases later today. Seven Georgian nationals were also charged with high treason in connection with the case.
And Russia today began airlifting diplomats and their families from Georgia.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/30/2006 00:27 ||
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#1
See ASIA TIMES, THE HUNGRY BEAR Parts 1-5 > Russia-China have something cooking in the geopolitical oven, and what is cooking is meant to de facto end US world dominance, INDIRECTLY.
The eccentric North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has hired doubles to carry out his more mundane tasks, according to South Korean intelligence officials. While Kim himself attends major state occasions, two men stand in for him for more routine visits to tractor factories or farms.
"They are the spitting image of Kim the same age, same height and with the same bouffant hairstyle and pot belly," a South Korean news agency quoted an intelligence official as saying. "They are trained to behave like him and even had plastic surgery to enhance the resemblance."
The official also said that assassination was a fear for Kim, an indication of the troubles that lie beneath the surface of North Korea's totalitarian politics. Kim is also believed to have been ill with diabetes and kidney disease. Its a wonder that none of the Sadaam doubles have made it to Hollywood or Vegas.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/30/2006 13:09 ||
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#2
I think the newest crop of homocidal dictators is soft. I can't see Stalin or Pol Pot needing a double to stand in at a public execution of commissioning of a party trout pond.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/30/2006 18:07 Comments ||
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TOKYO: Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, laid out on Friday his vision of a "Beautiful Country" that can be proud of its traditions and culture while also being respected - and loved - by the world. Abe, 52, who took over this week as Japan's first leader born after Japan's defeat in World War Two, has made it a central part of his agenda to escape a "post-war regime" that conservatives believe deprived Japanese of pride in their history and culture.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Great, now kick some tail
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/30/2006 2:19 Comments ||
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#2
Time for you to start banging North Korea. Let us know when you need any help.
#5
Kimmie, if I were you, I would request a State visit right now, so you could hustle over and kiss Abe's ass while he's still in that glowing, generous, benevolent mood. However, you'll probably do some damn stoopid thing like trying to detonate your dud nuke or overfly Hokkaido again. At that point, you should just bend over and kiss your own ass. Goodbye!
#6
I don't like the sound of this guy. Nothing good comes from a leader who wants to be loved. With his "vision" it sounds like he should have taken up landscaping instead of politics.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/30/2006 16:36 Comments ||
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#8
Japan is rapidly growing old. The young folk are not reproducing in sufficent numbers to maintain a replacement rate. I suggest Abe remind the young of their duty to bred if they want to see their civilization last until the next century.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
09/30/2006 20:00 Comments ||
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Chief war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte suggested Friday the European Union take over financing of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal if the United Nations cuts off funds before the court can bring its most-wanted fugitives to trial. Del Ponte said Europeans have a responsibility to keep the tribunal going because its two most-wanted men, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and former army chief Gen. Ratko Mladic, are believed to be hiding with the help of Serbian officials or supporters.
And she's still hoping to convict someone, someday.
The Yugoslav tribunal - created in 1993 by the U.N. Security Council to prosecute suspected war criminals in the Balkan wars - has been asked by the United Nations to start its final trials no later than the end of 2008. The U.N. allocates more than $300 million a year for the tribunal's operations.
The U.N. allocates more than $300 million a year for the tribunal's operations.
$300 mil a year and not one big shot jugged. Sounds like the U.N., doesn't it?
Del Ponte said the deadline set by the U.N. should "not allow persons accused of the worst crimes in the history of mankind to escape justice." She made the comments in a speech in Helsinki, Finland, that was distributed by the court.
How about letting someone else run the show? I bet even Patrick Fitzgerald could be more productive.
The Security Council is likely to decide next year whether to let the tribunal continue if necessary, but Russia was likely to veto an extension, she said. If that happens, accused war criminals may get "a passport to impunity."
Unlike today, where they have a visa to snicker at you.
The tribunal has indicted 161 people, with Serb defendants outnumbering other ethnic groups. Serbs often accuse the court of being biased against them.
The tribunal has indicted 161 people, with Serb defendants outnumbering other ethnic groups.
161 indicted and not one bigshot convicted. Nice record, Carla.
Mladic and Karadzic were both indicted in 1995 on charges of orchestrating the massacre of some 8,000 Muslims in the U.N. enclave of Srebrenica - Europe's worst carnage since World War II. Belgrade's failure to capture Mladic has led to suspension of its pre-entry talks with the European Union. Serbia has maintained it has been unable to locate him. Del Ponte has said that Karadzic is believed to be hiding in the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia.
Brilliant, Carla, how do you do it?
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/30/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
the massacre of some 8,000 Muslims in the U.N. enclave of Srebrenica
When the UN takes control of somewhere there is invariably a massive corpse count, which is of course someone elses fault.
#4
Carla Del Ponte is Jerry Springer's sister and her head is one big zit waiting to be popped.
This is another western hating joke. There is no such thing as a war crime. The winner takes all. Or in another point, you can be fuvking sure that there will not be any Taliban brought before the horny Hague.
DALLAS - American Muslims are setting up voter registration booths in mosques across the United States, echoing a tactic employed by evangelical Christians to support conservative Republican candidates. Their target: close contests where Muslim voters could make a difference. We have set up booths in 150 mosques across the country in the past two weeks, said Mukit Hossain, a political consultant to the Muslim American Society which is behind the drive.
The booths have a computer monitor with a link to a Web site to enable Muslims to register on line during Friday prayers.
Hossain said about 10,000 were estimated to have been registered to date but he expected tens of thousands more to be signed up before crucial midterm elections on Nov. 7 that will decide which party controls Congress during President George W. Bushs final two years in office.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/30/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
This is how Dean plans on the Dhimmis taking Texas.
#2
I suspect the outright support of sizable muslim populations might not bring wins when the remainder of the voters learn about it. If they were supporting my opponent, I can think of two or three ads that would tie the bastard to riots, church burnings, and beheadings, along with Shari aimposed on the population. Think I'd lose? Not a chance
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2006 0:51 Comments ||
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#3
Gotta have the stones to create and run effective ads, though. Sadly, sometimes that ingredient is missing among the pols. Dallas must've changed a LOT since I left. It was only becoming a PC-haven for blacks who were playing at Roots, y'know - wearing silly hats that emphasized their africanicityness and running for city / county offices, last I saw. Otherwise, it seemed more or less sane.
#4
This is gonna be rich. Someone needs to tell the Muslims that voting against Bush-supporting republicans will require registering with the party that vigorously supports homosexual marriage, women's rights and a host of other liberal platforms that are pure blasphemy for Islam.
In a supreme irony, Muslims have more in common with the conservative republican agenda than they ever will with the democrats. I expect to hear Muslim heads exploding like firecrackers on the Fourth of July when this finally sinks in.
Oh, and about those Muslim platform candidates. Except for Dearborn and a bare few other precincts, hell will freeze over before Islamic candidates end up claiming election night victories.
#6
"In a supreme irony, Muslims have more in common with the conservative republican agenda than they ever will with the democrats."
With some parts of it, yes; but I wouldn't put my money on very many Muslims voting Republican anytime in the foreseeable future.
Beware the malevolent confluence of interests between American Muslims and the Democratic Party, fueled in both cases by a limitless and unprincipled thirst for raw power. In the former, you have the world's foremost practitioners of "strategic victimhood", whose capacity for wailing, whining, moaning, feeling sorry for themselves and blaming other people for their own failings is truly without limit; and in the latter, you have a political party which has degenerated over the last four decades to the point where it is a one-trick poney, knowing no other political game than pandering to complainers.
We're about to see what happens when America's foremost panderers and the world's most accomplished self-pitiers discover one another.
It won't be pretty. Or healthy.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/30/2006 8:37 Comments ||
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#7
Do this in an evangelical church and the Donks would be screaming 'separation of church and state'.
#9
Already happened SS. Here in the Peoples Republic of Washington State there was an initiative and people went to their churches to get signatures. You should have heard the left and media scream!
#10
Beware the malevolent confluence of interests between American Muslims and the Democratic Party, fueled in both cases by a limitless and unprincipled thirst for raw power.
Agreed, David D., in the case of Islam, it will be the ultimate in taqqiya for them to vote democratic solely to displace replublican candidates with appeaser democrats.
Once again, I can only wonder if, in their febrile pursuit of power, the democrats will even consider who in hell they're getting into bed with for election night gains. Talk about; "Will you still respect me in the morning?" Should the democrats refuse to learn from their flirtation with the American communist party, any dalliance with Islam will assuredly leave them third degree flashburns. If ever there was, Islam is the poison apple. Tempting to those who do not know better but death to all who take a single bite.
We're about to see what happens when America's foremost panderers and the world's most accomplished self-pitiers discover one another.
It won't be pretty. Or healthy.
Speaking of ugly, try to remember that Democrats aren't the only ones who can pander to Muslims. In the aftermath of 9-11, conservative appointed UN representatives were reaching out to terrorist Iran and Lybia in order to steer wording of World Health Organization funding guidelines.
Be sure that the Democrats will be absolutely shameless about courting Muslims in their no-holds-barred pursuit of mid-term election gains, even as they totally disregard the eminent threat that the Islamic street represents. Just don't fool yourselves that stupidity is an exclusively Democratic domain.
#11
"Just don't fool yourselves that stupidity is an exclusively Democratic domain."
Of course it isn't; Republican politicians are, after all, politicians and they, too, are susceptible to temptations to suck up to whatever Muslim constituents are in their districts.
Nevertheless, it is the Democratic Party which has honed to a fine art the business of cultivating "poor helpless oppressed victim" groups and pandering to them in exchange for votes; and it is Muslims who are the world's champion professional victims.
With Democrats in power, every American Muslim-- not just Mumia abu Jamal-- will have Ed Asner pimping for him.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
09/30/2006 15:30 Comments ||
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#12
Some good 527 advertising opportunities here. If the muzzies want to block vote, they'd better be ready for the consequences
#14
Texas, Dallas, Houston..etc. are INFESTED with Muslims. This is one of the places they are settling them as they import them. It is a concentrated effort, we are mostly lost. The leftist rot is deeply entrenched everywhere. Nothing short of revolt will change things, and no one believes there is a problem.
#15
# 11 -- Gasoline rationed and at $20 a gallon along with a major economic depression would probably change things in the US, but no one knows just what kind of change it would be.
NEW DELHI: Children and grandchildren not taking care of their elders would go to jail while running the risk of being disinherited from property bequeathed to them.
After a year of brainstorming over the sensitive issue of 'penal clause' amid fears it could create rift in families, social justice ministry has concluded that the law would not work without a deterrent. The ministry will soon seek the cabinet nod.
An important feature of the proposed bill is that it would provide protection to not just the 'old' but every parent in need of care. 'Old', by definition, is a person above 60 years, and would not cover a younger parent who may need looking-after.
Giving it a wider range to include 'non-old' parents, social justice ministry has changed the legislation's name to "Parents and Senior Citizens (Welfare & Maintenance) Bill, 2006.
It was conceived as "Older Persons (Maintenance, Care and Protection) Bill, 2005. Parents, below 60, would be legally entitled to maintenance if they have adult and earning children.
Children should take care of their elders or else they could land in jail. The law would set up tribunals in every district where the aggrieved can complain about being neglected.
Posted by: john ||
09/30/2006 18:16 ||
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Billions of dollars and 37 years later, the Merkava tank production line will be phased out over the next four years. Thousands of workers will be affected by the change.
The Merkava has been one of the most expensive projects in the history of the Israeli military, with estimated costs ranging from US $ 7.5 billion to US $10 billion since its conception in 1969 by Major-General Israel Tal.
Thousands of Israelis are employed in production plants and other related military industries that are involved in manufacturing the tank. It is not yet clear how the shutdown will impact the economy. It is certain that many workers will lose their jobs and primary source of income.
According to the Globes business news website, the IDF made the decision to end production of the tank shortly before the recent war with Hizbullah terrorists in southern Lebanon broke out. Although the Merkava has enjoyed a reputation for years as being the safest tank in the world, it proved vulnerable to the new, advanced Russian-made anti-tank missiles used by Hizbullah. During the war, 47 tanks were hit by rockets and two were destroyed by roadside bombs, resulting in the deaths of 33 IDF soldiers.
Defense officials are currently debating whether the tank is still useful altogether in modern-day ground warfare, having been designed primarily for classic tank-on-tank battles. The cost-benefit ratio over the years has been questioned, not only by defense officials, but by others as well.
Posted by: john ||
09/30/2006 18:05 ||
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#1
It will be very interesting to see what the Israelis decide to do in terms of a replacement. The US military in Iraq seems to be having more success with its Strykers than with anything else, although the role they have there is not exactly the same as the role the Merkava has played in the Israeli Army. Something to watch, at least.
#2
Ironically, the conceptual origins in the tank are the maneuvers of what was called heavy cavalry. It had very specific textbook maneuvers that made great sense on the two-dimensional battlefield.
However, technology has added a third dimension to the battlefield, and any major component that does not involve that third dimension is in danger of obsolescence.
The Russians caught on to this idea early, with the heavily armored helicopter, and the US still hasn't made its equal, which would be very complementary to a Stryker brigade.
Such a heavy helicopter would be designed to carry much more potent weapons than our current attack helicopters. Right now, the A-10 fills that gap, but a heavy helicopter is needed as an organic escort to a Stryker unit. Where the Strykers go, the helicopters accompany.
#3
As I understand it the Merkava was also designed to use its main gun as an artillery piece for indirect fire. Just because the IDF plans on shutting down production does not mean they plan on removing them from service.
Thailand's military rulers have chosen Surayud Chulanont, a former army commander and close adviser to the country's powerful monarch, as interim prime minister following their coup, the auditor general said. "Yes, definitely, Gen. Surayud is the prime minister. He is the suitable person," Auditor General Jaruvan Maintaka told a small group of reporters late Thursday. Her comments were carried on an official government Web site on Friday. His appointment was expected to be announced this weekend or Monday, after it receives approval from King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/30/2006 00:00 ||
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If you've recently dreamed about sex with a stranger, flying or the dead coming back to life, or chased by your middle school bully, chances are you're probably a liberal instead of a conservative.
A dream researcher from John F. Kennedy University in California has discovered fundamental differences between the dream worlds of people on the ideological left and the ideological right. Among his findings, Kelly Bulkeley discovered that liberals are more restless sleepers and have a higher number of bizarre, surreal dreams -- including fantasy settings and a wide variety of sexual encounters. Conservatives' dreams were, on average, far more mundane and focused on realistic people, situations and settings. It's called reality.
"Conservatives seem to have more of a focus on the here and now and the material world whereas liberals, in contrast, seem to have a much wider sphere of imaginative activity," he said. "They don't just dream about what is, but what could be or what they wish could be," Mr. Bulkeley said. That's called "reality-based".
His research is being published in an upcoming issue of Dreams, a journal published by the American Psychological Association.
Out of the 134 liberals who participated in the study, 91 per cent said they recently dreamed about sex; only 76 per cent of 100 conservative subjects admitted the same. But Mr. Bulkeley said the two political stripes showed very different tastes in dream partners.
Liberals were far more likely to have sexual dreams about strangers and a variety of partners, while liberal women showed a greater tendency towards same-sex fantasies than their conservative counterparts (24 versus four per cent). "Especially for liberal women, there was a far greater variety in sexual partners and incidents of homosexuality, Umm, think of a Rosie O'Donnell sandwich." Mr. Bulkeley said. "Liberals tended to show a greater willingness to experiment with different things." Conservatives, by comparison, were far more likely to report having sexual dreams about their spouse or current partner.
While left-wingers might be more adventurous in the subconscious bedroom, they're also more likely to wake up in a cold sweat. Middle school bully again? Liberals showed slightly higher levels of nightmares than conservatives -- a statistic at odds with a similar dream study Mr. Bulkeley conducted in the late 1990s.
He said the ideology of the United States' governing party may affect the dream patterns of Republicans and Democrats. While conservatives deplored former president Bill Clinton's reign in the 1990s, liberals are currently both furious and fearful of the Bush administration, he said. "With the change from the Clinton to the Bush administrations, there are waking world reasons for liberals to be more concerned and stressed, and conservatives to be less concerned," Mr. Bulkeley said. Can't handle reality? Then dream of office BJs.
"Dreams are like political cartoons of the mind -- mental op-ed columns. Sometimes dreams reflect internal commentaries on the state of things." Or the liberal's real thinking organ.
The study includes some of the dreams recounted by liberals, such as the following nightmare: "I was at a presidential rally where George W. Bush was speaking. There was so much red, white and blue. Bush speaks: 'There are those who say that we are giving up our civil liberties. But I say, we should be proud to sacrifice our freedoms for America!' The crowd went wild, clapping, cheering and waving flags. I awoke in a cold sweat." The horror! Having to fight islamic maniacs who want to take away your right to extracuricular workplace sex (while ordering troops into Bosnia).
Not surprisingly, Republicans had much more benign dreams about their commander-in-chief: "I was friends with George W. Bush and we were working together on his ranch. I was happy to be there."
Mr. Bulkeley said that the most surprising result in his study is that conservatives showed a higher tendency for lucid dreaming -- being aware in general they were asleep. Conservatives largely reported using their "dream awareness" to wake themselves up from uncomfortable situations and nightmares, he said. You CAN'T handle the dream!!!
Overall, conservative males appear to sleep the most soundly and remember the fewest dreams, while liberal women are the most restless sleepers and fantastical dreamers.
"While some of my colleagues think my research reinforces the stereotype of repressed, uptight conservatives, it also shows that many liberals may he hanging on the edge of mental well-being," No truer words ever spoken.
Mr. Bulkeley said. "There may be a lot of hidden distress and unpleasantness in the liberal mind." Say no more.
Posted by: ed ||
09/30/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Via Michelle Malkin who is dream worthy, when not dreaming about family.
Posted by: ed ||
09/30/2006 0:04 Comments ||
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#2
I dream of flying regularly. Of course, in my dreams, I'm a B-1. I'm hoping to auto-upgrade to B-2 soon.
#7
Not surprisingly, Republicans had much more benign dreams about their commander-in-chief: "I was friends with George W. Bush and we were working together on his ranch. I was happy to be there."
That sounds like BS to me.
Conservatives largely reported using their "dream awareness" to wake themselves up from uncomfortable situations and nightmares, he said.
That's somewhat true for me.
This article seems to mix fantasy and reality. Must be a liberal scientist.
#8
I don't need a research grant to know the libs LIVE in a dream world constantly. No news here. Just another lib throwing a shit pie back in their face. Eat up Teddy, you bloated hog.
#9
"Among his findings, Kelly Bulkeley discovered that liberals are more restless sleepers and have a higher number of bizarre, surreal dreams"
"But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Isa. 57:20
#10
I wonder how many liberals dream about finding their bong?
Conservatives largely reported using their "dream awareness" to wake themselves up from uncomfortable situations and nightmares, he said.
No I use my awareness to assert my will in the dream. All of a sudden CrazyFool knows kung-fu, kicks ass and takes names....
#12
hmmmm - the recurring ones where I show up late for final exams and forgot to study and can't find the room, or where I realize everyone else in school is dressed and I'm all of the sudden naked? Never had those. Nossiree
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2006 13:47 Comments ||
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#13
Is this the conservative answer to the "liberals are more secure" study? :-)
If this is true, you should be able to infer with fairly good accuracy whether someone is liberal or conservative based on their answers to what kind of dreams they have. Except for the sex thing. :-) What do you suppose we won't be hearing about testing this hypothesis anytime soon (i.e.: Too bad this study is crap, too).
Have there been any studies done with separated twins on political leanings? That would be interesting to see if there is a biological component to liberal madnesscluelessnessdenial leanings?
#14
"liberals may be hanging on the edge of mental well-being"
whaddya mean "hanging on edge"?
they fell over long ago :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/30/2006 15:48 Comments ||
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#15
I'm in luck here. I can't remember much of what happens when i'm awake, let alone when I'm asleep. And yes, it does make monogamy a lot more interesting.
#16
I dream of Bin Laden with just the towel on his head.
Posted by: Howard Dean ||
09/30/2006 16:14 Comments ||
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#17
I'll bet the sex discrepancy is a function of conservatives having a lower rate of admitting to having such dreams. And I say that as a conservative myself.
And then, using the Maureen Dowd Ellipsifier 3000:
"Kelly Bulkeley discovered that liberals...have a higher number of bizarre, surreal dreams"
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
PRAGUE, September 29, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- NATO, the United States, and the EU have all attempted to calm the escalating spy row between Russia and Georgia. The diplomatic crisis between the two former Soviet states was sparked by the arrest of five Russian army intelligence officers on spying charges, one of whom has since been released. 
The eccentric North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il has hired doubles to carry out his more mundane tasks, according to South Korean intelligence officials. While Kim himself attends major state occasions, two men stand in for him for more routine visits to tractor factories or farms.
TOKYO: Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, laid out on Friday his vision of a "Beautiful Country" that can be proud of its traditions and culture while also being respected - and loved - by the world. Abe, 52, who took over this week as Japan's first leader born after Japan's defeat in World War Two, has made it a central part of his agenda to escape a "post-war regime" that conservatives believe deprived Japanese of pride in their history and culture.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Chief war crimes prosecutor 
DALLAS - American Muslims are setting up voter registration booths in mosques across the United States, echoing a tactic employed by evangelical Christians to support conservative Republican candidates. Their target: close contests where Muslim voters could make a difference. We have set up booths in 150 mosques across the country in the past two weeks, said Mukit Hossain, a political consultant to the Muslim American Society which is behind the drive.
