The Oughtn’ts.

I would love to say that I will miss the greed, corruption, racketeering, buying of influence, and the selling of the American soul, but this coming decade will just offer more of the same. The top 1% will not be happy until they control 100% of the wealth. I see nothing on the horizon that will pre-empt them from doing so.

how to do this, I am employing a future tense, past tense, double negative that didn’t happen but I want it to, do I have this right?

if so, I would love to miss the death of the fairness doctrine, this is a big one because it gave us rush, hannity, levin and fox

sigh

Late Late Update: The twitter feed of the Times sports section says the last edition will run Friday. And newsroom sources tell TPM that all of the sports staff, and nearly all of both the photo and the features staffs, have been laid off.

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/top-editors-including-birnbaum-leaving-wash-times.php

They are getting rid of the sports section??? Are they nuts Newspapers do surveys some people buy the newspaper just for that one section my old boss told me that the crossword puzzle missing due to a bad paper run gets the most complaints.
Still I assume the Rev Moon has some sports readers who will drop the paper in a second once they drop sports.

An all-staff meeting has been called for 3:30 p.m. ET at the struggling Times, which announced earlier this month it is laying off at least 40 percent of its staff.

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/top-editors-including-birnbaum-leaving-wash-times.php

This decade was all about cost cutting in the newspaper industry so I doubt there was any fat left to cut now.
I don’t see how they can run the paper at these staff levels.

Um, who said today the “PLU-PERFECT FUCK” totally ascribes my opinion.

Adios!

and nearly all of both the photo and the features staffs, have been laid off.

http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/top-editors-including-birnbaum-leaving-wash-times.php

USA today showed color photos sell papers I think the Rev is looking to close the paper down.

The Washington Times sports section is actually not awful and not really influenced at all by the conservative doctrine of its religious financier. It’s also where most all the talent is.

Then killing the sports section is bad if you really want the paper to stay in business.

I wonder how the Rev Moon’s finances are doing?

Other than saying “President Bush” what will you happily miss about the passing ten years?

Ben Stein writing in the New York Time’s business page, Jim Kramer being treated as serious as he used too on investments, Tom Friedman talking about the benefits of globalization without everybody asking him how his wife’s bankruptcy is going.
I think Bush destroyed the GOP business media complex. Sure its still there but its not believed like it used to be.
I look at them to run the other way.

Good morning everyone.

It’s a little eary for my decadal regrets. But I am not looking forward to better 20teens, that’s for sure.

I just saw that Rush was hospitalized in HAWAII. I thought the only foreign country he traveled to was south of the border.

You could expand that Washington Times comment to most of the corporate, Beltway-driven essentially right-wing newspapers, if you ask me. The Washington Post comes to mind especially, but they’re all similar, the LA Times, despite being nowhere near the Beltway, and on and on.

I could barely tell the difference between the Washington Times and Washington Post this year. Sure, I mean okay the really rabidly right-wing one has the two most famous Neocons, plus George W Bush’s ex-chief speechwriter, and one of the worst FOX pundits as regular contributors, along with about nine other right-wing conservatives, plus guest op-eds by Sarah Palin on climate change and Karl Rove on politics. Except that what I just described is who writes for the Washington Post. So you tell me which is worse.

Of course the New York Times continues to be a bastion of balance in this morass of right wing Neocon warmongering, with writers like Judy Miller playing a pivotal part in helping us question and debunk cheerleading and legitimizing the false WMD nonsense of the Neocons and Bush.

It’s interesting to see blogs hiring reporters, making me think that as always, things don’t actually evaporate (the profession of journalism) as much as change form, or coordinates. It is something akin to the advent of the printing press that’s happening however, with the movement essentially toward democratization of information just as back then.

Thank Zeuss. Or Seuss, take your pick.

On beyond zebra, and into the new year……

Morning all.
The cabbage and black eyed peas will not make the bad dreams go away.

My Voodo Doll worked? I must sacrifice a fried chicken.

If Rush is no longer able to do his show and just one GOPer is not inspired to commit a hate crime because Rush is off the air the world will be a better place.

I admit I do not regret the demise of the newspaper, watching what they have become. They couldn’t go out of business soon enough. I’m particularly angry at the NYT, as that used to be my main source of info.

As long as the crossword is still published I could give two hoots about the other poorly edited, poorly written drivel lies.

As for the past decade I will happily miss all the killing in Iraq and Afghanistan, the free for all financial manipulations, the bloated fear of “terrorists”, the sweetheart deals between the WH and big business, the falling wages, the too costly health care, the…. aw shit.

Send a piece of that fried chicken my way, thanks.

And since you seem to have figured out the formula, there’s Beck, O’Reilly, and several megachurch leaders on my list.

Only 15 more donors for Jane’s drive to get 150 to reward Kucinich for good behavior. One of the few scraps that got tossed to us in the last decade.

You were the kind of customer newspaper delivery drivers feared most if we skipped your house:) The Crossword people complained the most. Unless the Bulls were doing a three peat.

Not sure I have enough juice to do all that :)

I thought the paper was a spoof of real life. I also thought that about GOP politics. It was funny for about a half second, until it became clear it was not a joke. Then I puked for eight years.

Goodbye miserable 00′s!

Breaking. Breaking. Army history finds early missteps in Afghanistan. Geez, talk about command of the obvious. Tom Friedman’s never around when you need him.

Double Zero’s a perfect name for the Bush decade I like it. Lost 2 wars plus destroyed the economy for bonus stupid points.

Happy New Year! We’re about 45 minutes into the new decade on a beautiful summer night…the full moon makes it nearly daylight and the neighbors are out in noisy force. Come on into 2010….It isn’t bad at all. signing off from New Zealand.

The dick decade.

But there was a major drawback, a new unpublished Army history of the war concludes. Because the Pentagon insisted on maintaining a “small footprint” in Afghanistan and because Iraq was drawing away resources, General Barno commanded fewer than 20,000 troops.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/world/asia/31history.html?_r=2

So Bush was really not listening to his commanders on the ground I thought as much!

A peaceful new year to you and all those that live in neutral, non aligned countries.

But as early as late 2003, the Army historians assert, “it should have become increasingly clear to officials at Centcom and D.O.D. that the coalition presence in Afghanistan did not provide enough resources” for proper counterinsurgency, the historians write, referring to the United States Central Command and the Department of Defense.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/world/asia/31history.html?_r=2

Did anyone dare tell Bush that?

Good morning all and thanks for the post Attaturk.

Will not miss the Washington Times. Have never read it in print or online.

Hopefull will have the opportunity in the coming decade to miss the declining quality of life of the last decade.

Who would have guess that injecting ammonia into beef could be bad for your health?

A few neighbors gathered earlier this evening. It could have brought tears to your eyes to hear what they had to say about the US. One woman, whose husband flew with US airmen in WWII, said that the US has to regain its stature. It just has to, she said. It gave us all something to aspire to…it was always the example for everyone in the world. There is still an immense amount of gratitude to the US, a residual goodwill, for standing between New Zealand and Japan in WWII. My Irish next door neighbor also insisted that the US is the country of promise, of hope. Soome of those there identify themselves as conservative, but all ridiculed Bush. Not a conservative, just an idiot, was the consensus. I know that many of FDL’s readers are quite disillusioned with Obama, but not so here. They see him as leading the restoration of the US’s reputation. Of course, they think Congress is corrupt. And even the most conservative are aghast that universal health care is even questioned.

Ah, the list of hortatories. Should do this, must do that. Great way to while away time on New Year’s eve.

Oh hell, time for a second cup of tea. Silly me I thought it was the rag from NY not the rag from DC.. but they both as bad.

Meanwhile, the Taliban don’t have any more trouble figuring out who’s a CIA agent than anyone else ever did.

Good doG!
I try to buy only local, organic meats, dairy products and any veggies we need over and above that which we grow.

Buy Local, Give Local

Me too. Ammonia in beef. Apalling.

Thanks for sharing and Happy New Year to you and yours.

Repairing or recapturing our status of global good guys may be impossible. We seem to have sold off moral courage to the highest bidder. Satan won.

The demise of what might have been a great nation eventually is painfull to watch.

You’d think that it is time to start looking at the systemic problem that feeds the enthusiasm of the freedom fighters in Afghanistan and Iraq ( other many other places). Maybe less time spent sucking the Israeli dick and more time spent condemning the crimes against humanity that Israel seems to commit with frequency and glee. More time and money spent fighting poverty, hunger and ill health in the middle east and Africa rather than using Amerka’s might to protect oil and mineral sources and prop up petty dictators that do the will of Big Business. More time redistributing the vast wealth accumulated by greedy financiers and less time spent on driving down wages to keep people in slavery.

Several here have pointed out that poking people in the eye is the only way to maintain permanent war. After all, the Soviet Union is dead, so the U.S. really has to scrounge around to create enemies.

Oh dear, caller on WJ sez Clinton cared about U.S. middle class. Guess he was sleeping the day NAFTA was passed and the day Glass-Steagall was repealed.

Heh. Next caller on WJ sez it’s all Clinton’s fault.

Have long maintained that a tractor factory, locally owned and subsidised heavily, in a place like Afkanistan or Somalia, would do far more good for far more people than anything tried to date. Employment, more plentifull food supply, ect. initially, then education, technological advancement, economic stability. All within a couple generations. Education is hyper-critical but it is impossible to learn when you are starving.

With the U.S.D.A.’s stamp of approval, the company’s processed beef has become a mainstay in America’s hamburgers. McDonald’s, Burger King and other fast-food giants use it as a component in ground beef, as do grocery chains. The federal school lunch program used an estimated 5.5 million pounds of the processed beef last year alone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/us/31meat.html?hp

This is the kind of thing KO should do a special comment about NOW! The blogs and the Times can’t give this story the coverage it needs!

….it’s all Clinton’s fault.

To quote the great Marcy Wheeler; “Blowjob!”

Jesus had nothing to do with the Washington Times. Corruption, phony prophets, the journalistic equivalent of windshield guys with smeary rags and snot dripping from their noses, yes. The guy who threw the money changers out of the temple while preaching the Beatitudes would want no part of most of the major loudmouths professing to act in his name.

NBC calling it the Digital Decade. Nice dodge, there. It’s the Dismal Decade, I’m thinking. Lost years savaged by the screwed up minds of the likes of Chee-knee and boy-puppet Bush (feed his ego and he’ll go ahead and let you bomb anybody). Meanwhile the money-changers rake it all in.

Cause war is good for bidness…whether it’s war in Iraq or war on our own middle and working class here at home.

Good morning, pups. It’s Collins, Cohen and Kristof this morning. Ms. Collins, in “That Was the Year That Was,” says it is good to bid farewell to 2009. And imagine how President Obama must feel. Every problem was a long, grueling slog. Mr. Cohen says somebody must “Change Iran at the Top.” He says a ruler transplanted from heaven is not what Iranians want; a moral guide, rooted in the ethics of Persia, may well be. Mr. Kristof, in “Sparking a Savings Revolution,” says there’s evidence that one of the most effective tools to fight global poverty may be savings accounts.

Here they are.

The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are ready, and I’ve got French toast with warm maple syrup. Allow me to wish you all a Happy New Year now, since we consider this night to be The Night of the Amateur Drunk and make sure to stay home quietly. Besides, as far as we’re concerned Guy Lombardo took New Year’s Eve with him when he went to the big Waldorf Astoria in the sky. Have a great day, and a safe evening.

The Three Cups of Tea guy has a new book out. Haven’t seen a whole lot of attention for Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan . Tells you a lot about the state of the media and the culture when it’s the likes of Sarah Palin’s ghostwritten book and Dick Armey’s back pocket lining Tea Parties that get the attention.

Bread and circuses. With no insult meant to Marion’s French toast.

Saw you on the comments thread. Article is a good example of what the NYT *can* be capable of…..too bad there ain’t lots more of similar in-depth reporting. :-(((

I’m with a lot of the commenters – no more fast food burgers.

The Big Zeros

Paging Upton Sinclair. Paging Upton Sinclair. Ammonia this time, not sawdust.

Oh, we all knew that. It’s just taken eight fricking years for the GOP/Media Complex to consider admitting it.

If we’d sent the same troop load into Afghanistan that Bush sent into Iraq, instead of just doing the “bomb from afar” crap, then Bin Laden might not have had a chance to get to Tora Bora. Plus, we could have cut deals with both Saddam (who really hated Al-Qaeda) and the moderates in Iran (who were looking for the US to truly help them in their fight against the hard-liners who wanted to regain full control) to facilitate staging areas in their countries. The war would have been over in weeks, at which point the troop levels would start being lowered, and the last of the post-war nation-building forces would have been coming home right about now, if not a couple of years earlier.

I am reading John Cassidy’s “How Markets Fail”, a most interesting treatise on economics. In one chapter he reviews experiments proving herd behavior. Psychologists, using one volunteer not in on it, showed cards with different length lines asking the subjects to match obviously equal lines. Unknown to the volunteer the other five subjects were told to match obviously unequal lines. Ignoring the evidence of their senses, more than 50 percent of the volunteers followed the others.

That is a problem with representative democracy and why primarying blue dogs or whoever won’t work. Take my representative-Please-Jim Himes who ran an anti war campaign but who votes for every war appropriation. He was not necessarily dishonest, although coming from Goldman, Sachs, he could be. He followed conventional wisdom. He did not want to be blamed should things go wrong. When House progressives face a health care bill without a public option they may decide the powers that be are right. At any rate, they do not want to risk being wrong.

What to do? How do we change conventional wisdom? One beginning might be to turn FDL into a non-hierarchical democracy. Don’t know if Jane would buy it-quite a large contribution on her part or we might try a blog of that type hoping to enlarge non-hierarchical democracy to other areas. Anyone interested? It is not something I can or would be interested in doing myself.

The opposite of the demise of newPAPERS is the most under-reported story of the year-

-the megaboom in global e-reporting,e-communication and e-social networking.

The social and political implications of these phenoms remain grossly underestimated

Dr.Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa

You are right because we don’t use them for political purposes.

The decade began on 1-1-2001, not 1-1-2000. It has another year to go.

Happy New Year to you and yours. I’m glad to see the last decade gone. However, I’m not as optimistic as your countrymen about prospects for the USA being a country of promise (in the positive way).

@56 -yes the e-power is underutilized

rick lippin

Don’t curse this decade because they are going to almost seem like the good old days soon enough.

All the bad that happened the last decade was because of our Government that doesn’t work.

911 happened because they let the terrorists in, and let them get their trianing, and commit the act under the eyes of all our our Government.

The housing crisis was because they loosened the rules and allowed an anything goes mentality to Not just the banks but the Brokers who pushed the loans.

The Banking crisis was because they allowed the Banks to do whatever they saw fit.

Wall Strret was sold to us as our savior and the way for all of us to get rich.

All the job losses are because of our Governments trade and other policies that let the American people be used to make profits for others.

The foreclosier problems are because the Banks are not required to fix the problems and even try to work things out, just foreclose.

The huge cost of Healthcare, the people who have none, those that had but ended up not having, and those that have died because of none, and healthcares cost on business that has hurt our economy and jobs, is all the fault of our Governments failure to address the problems not just in the last years but past decades.

The wars, bloated Military spending, useless intelligence, and all the wastefull spending of our Government hurt our ability to wheather the crisis’s.

The National Debt and Deficits can only be blamed on our Congress because they are the appropreators, and even Presidents can not spend our money without their aid.

The total unsustainability of not just our intitlement programs, but our Government in general can only be blamed on our Congress.

So hope for the next decade to be better than the last will rely on us fixing the problems, when all the problems rely on our Congress, Politics, and politicains, all of which we have no control over to act properly we seem to be sunk.

I suppose all of that is no reason to give up, but should be a call to action. They have us so divided by American Politics that neighbors are fighting neighbors, and yes even family fighting family, we may not be able to get toghter to fix things.

Question, Can the American people ever again become the American people, one people People, Country, and Society to regain what our Country used to be, and was meant to be?

Not if we continue to support the system and parties that divided us.

“Question, Can the American people ever again become the American people, one people People, Country, and Society to regain what our Country used to be, and was meant to be?”

Jimmy the Greek says the odds are against it.

I’ve seen numerous TV stories on notable deaths in 2009, but can’t remember hearing of the corrupt GOP apologist Robert Novak in any of those.

This leaves me with hope for the new decade… — cool site; Balkingpoints ; awesome satellite view of earth