President Obama is using a Cold War-era mind-control technique known as "Delphi" to coerce Americans into accepting his plan for a United Nations-run communist dictatorship in which suburbanites will be forcibly relocated to cities. That's according to a four-hour briefing delivered to Republican state senators at the Georgia state Capitol last month.

On October 11, at a closed-door meeting of the Republican caucus convened by the body's majority leader, Chip Rogers, a tea party activist told Republican lawmakers that Obama was mounting this most diabolical conspiracy.

If 68% of your party believes they can be possessed by demons a "United Nations-run communist dictatorship" is cold, sober, rational analysis.

Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere

With that in mind, is it any wonder the Los Angeles Times was able to surreptitiously listen in on a Romney conference call, and come back with just the right gifts for the rest of us?

"The Obama campaign was following the old playbook of giving a lot of stuff to groups that they hoped they could get to vote for them and be motivated to go out to the polls, specifically the African American community, the Hispanic community and young people," Romney told hundreds of donors during a telephone town hall Wednesday. "In each case they were very generous in what they gave to those groups."

...

"With regards to Hispanic voters, the amnesty for the children of illegals -- the so-called Dream Act kids -- was a huge plus for that voting group," he said. "On the negative side, of course, they always characterized us as being anti-immigrant, being tough on illegal immigration, and so forth, so that was very effective with that group."

...

Romney said the Obama healthcare plan's promise of coverage "in perpetuity" was behind the intensity of support for the president among African American voters making $25,000 to $35,000, as well as Hispanic voters:

"With regards to African American voters, `Obamacare' was a huge plus -- and was highly motivational to African American voters. You can imagine for somebody making $25--, or $30--, or $35,000 a year, being told you're now going to get free healthcare -- particularly if you don't have it, getting free healthcare worth, what, $10,000 a family, in perpetuity, I mean this is huge. Likewise with Hispanic voters, free healthcare was a big plus."

...

Romney's frank analysis echoed his secretly taped comments at a May fundraiser, where he told a small group of donors that 47% of the electorate was unlikely to vote for him because they paid no income taxes and were dependent on government. It followed his running mate Paul D. Ryan's assertion that Obama's win stemmed from turnout among "urban" voters.

Both were at odds with the election results -- Obama won several key states without large cities or minority populations. And he did so in part by asserting that it was Romney who was planning to disburse gifts -- by virtue of a budget plan that included tax breaks heavily skewed toward the wealthy.

Some of my friends in the Finnish music biz from way back. Topmost was a big group in the Sixties. The singer here, Harri Saksala, is my singing daughter's lawyer!

Topmost is doing another concert in Helsinki, December. Their invitation triggered this excellent memory ;-)

You can't be me, I'm taken

The Outcome Of The Afghan War Rests On 'Unpaid Donkey Contractors' - Business Insider

Afghan donkey contractors, some of whom haven't been paid for more than a year, are threatening to bring the war effort to a halt.

Yes, donkey contractors.

...

With a corrupt system of money disbursement hindering the Afghan army from running basic services or bringing enough water to their troops, it's no wonder they're having difficulty maintaining the 40,000 Ford Ranger Light Tactical Vehicles given to them by the Ford Motor Company.

"The best we can do is donkeys," a 16-year-old  donkey handler told The Post. "Without donkeys, there would be no Afghan army."

And U.S. advisers are now devoting much of their time trying to solve the donkey problem in key fighting positions because if they don't, the 11-year war effort will completely unravel.

"If you lose the outposts, the Taliban have an open door to walk right in," Sgt. Travis Washington told The Post.

Given that the there will be no peace agreement between the Afghans and the Taliban before the U.S. leaves in 2014, time is running out to master the donkey system.

Just remember this when US declares victory and goes home. Not that I am against declaring victory and going as a strategy, I have been arguing for it since 2001 or something. But it is nice to remember what victory looks like.

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

The time-bomb at the heart of Europe

Why France could become the biggest danger to Europe's single currency

THE threat of the euro's collapse has abated for the moment, but putting the single currency right will involve years of pain. The pressure for reform and budget cuts is fiercest in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy, which all saw mass strikes and clashes with police this week (see article). But ahead looms a bigger problem that could dwarf any of these: France.

(...)

European governments that have undertaken big reforms have done so because there was a deep sense of crisis, because voters believed there was no alternative and because political leaders had the conviction that change was unavoidable. None of this describes Mr Hollande or France.

During the election campaign, Mr Hollande barely mentioned the need for business-friendly reform, focusing instead on ending austerity. His Socialist Party remains unmodernised and hostile to capitalism: since he began to warn about France's competitiveness, his approval rating has plunged. Worse, France is aiming at a moving target. All euro-zone countries are making structural reforms, and mostly faster and more extensively than France is doing (see article). The IMF recently warned that France risks being left behind by Italy and Spain.

NY Times no less.

Did panic grip your soul as you stared into the whirling hypno wheel of the menu, where adjectives and nouns spin in a crazy vortex? When you saw the burger described as "Guy's Pat LaFrieda custom blend, all-natural Creekstone Farm Black Angus beef patty, LTOP (lettuce, tomato, onion + pickle), SMC (super-melty-cheese) and a slathering of Donkey Sauce on garlic-buttered brioche," did your mind touch the void for a minute?

Did you notice that the menu was an unreliable predictor of what actually came to the table? Were the "bourbon butter crunch chips" missing from your Almond Joy cocktail, too? Was your deep-fried "boulder" of ice cream the size of a standard scoop?

As truth-telling begins the long journey back into vogue, we have an example of journalism-not-dead. There will be major food fights over this review.

i just cracked up.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

Nicely written...


You can't be me, I'm taken