All-purpose news and politics thread

[Slam_Bradley]

Sometimes I don't quote parts like that just to get that delayed response.

Oh, and this is a black guy. Dying to know what his price was.

Presumably less than forty acres and a mule.

[Cavemold]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/08...try/?hpt=hp_t3

China says their is no pills made from human flesh.....

[Matt Algren]

RIP. He was great recently on Colbert.

Ironically, "I Am A Pole And So Can You" goes on sale today, complete with a cover blurb by Maurice Sendak. "The sad thing is, I like it."

And in case you didn't feel like crying already, here's what he told Fresh Air last September.

I have nothing now but praise for my life. I’m not unhappy. I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can’t stop them. They leave me and I love them more. … There are so many beautiful things in the world which I will have to leave when I die, but I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready.

[thespianphryne]

Ironically, "I Am A Pole And So Can You" goes on sale today, complete with a cover blurb by Maurice Sendak. "The sad thing is, I like it."

And in case you didn't feel like crying already, here's what he told Fresh Air last September.

I have nothing now but praise for my life. I’m not unhappy. I cry a lot because I miss people. They die and I can’t stop them. They leave me and I love them more. … There are so many beautiful things in the world which I will have to leave when I die, but I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready.

I can't help but think that, really, he was talking about his spouse Eugene when he said that.

[Matt Algren]

I can't help but think that, really, he was talking about his spouse Eugene when he said that.

Listening to the rest of the interview right now. Two close friends (his publisher and publisher's wife) had just died, and of course there was Eugene. He credits Bumble-Ardy with getting him through that; he wrote the book while Eugene was dying in the house.

[king mob]

Go and read some economic history. Compared to Germany in the 1920's or Argentina,what the Greeks have experienced so far is nothing.

A disorderly exit from the Euro and a new default, which this vote makes much more likely, will precipitate something far worse than what has happened to fate.

Unless you agree with Golden Dawn that the current crisis was all manufactured by The Jews.

Do you really bloody think that I'd agree with the likes of Golden Dawn?

Pointing out the fact that the Greeks are fucked either because of what economists would like to impose upon them, and what might happen because of a democratic vote is perfectly valid. The fact is that people are fed up of austerity measures that are not bloody working so you can't blame people turning to parties promising some sort of change.

[king mob]

And for twenty one Nazis.

And we have the BNP sitting on local councils and in the European Parliament. We have UKIP gaining support as the respectable face of far right politics. We can't exactly talk.

[StoneGold]

Go and read some economic history. Compared to Germany in the 1920's or Argentina,what the Greeks have experienced so far is nothing.

A disorderly exit from the Euro and a new default, which this vote makes much more likely, will precipitate something far worse than what has happened to fate.

Unless you agree with Golden Dawn that the current crisis was all manufactured by The Jews.

Good joke about that on the Daily Show last night.

"That's right, nearly 70 years after the end of WWII, Germany controls all of Europe! The irony... they don't have an army! Who would have thought, the key to German world domination... would wind up being an international banking conspiracy? THEY NEED US! We'll be right back."

[king mob]

True, but people can't get cheap loans to afford a lifestyle they can't afford anymore.

That's exactly the Tory line when talking about justifying the cuts here and it's mainly bollocks.

[king mob]

Their polices are failing. We're in a double dip recession and people are fed up with seeing wages go down and prices for everything go up, but it's ok because Dave and Nick had a photo op. Hey, it's the Olympics soon, that'll be a great thing to see when everyone's fed up and skint!

Nine men have been found guilty of grooming and sexual abuse, and the problem is this is going to give more fuel to the BNP and the EDL. The problem is that not all forces record ethnicity
and what data there is happens to be poor according to Channel 4 News. Sadly the whole argument over race ignores the fact there's a load of paedophile gangs grooming kids and that's the real problem.

[Nick Soapdish]

Do you really bloody think that I'd agree with the likes of Golden Dawn?

Pointing out the fact that the Greeks are fucked either because of what economists would like to impose upon them, and what might happen because of a democratic vote is perfectly valid. The fact is that people are fed up of austerity measures that are not bloody working so you can't blame people turning to parties promising some sort of change.

There's a big difference between the degrees of fucked that the Greeks can be. They can make it a lot worse if they concede the ability to borrow money from anybody by reneging on debts even after getting those debts reduced by 50%.

Austerity isn't a one-size fits all policy. Some nations simply can't afford to be anything but austere because potential lenders are losing faith in them.

[the4thpip]

That's exactly the Tory line when talking about justifying the cuts here and it's mainly bollocks.

It's very easy to scapegoat corrupt politicians in Greece for lining their pockets.

But all of the money they pocketed only makes up for the tip of the iceberg of Greek debt.

A lot of the money they borrowed went to making expensive gifts to the electorate - from a ridiculous early retirement age, to an insane percent of well-paid government employees to the Olympics.

A much larger percentage of the Greek populace than just the corrupt ruling class enjoyed things that a country that produces so little and has so few natural resources should have made possible. And as long as they did, they kept said ruling class in power.

[thehod]

And we have the BNP sitting on local councils.

not any more.

[cactusmaac]

And we have the BNP sitting on local councils and in the European Parliament. We have UKIP gaining support as the respectable face of far right politics. We can't exactly talk.

The BNP weren't going to last. The candidates they attract aren't exactly top-drawer.

Is UKIP particularly far-right? They seem like slightly nuttier, one-issue versions of the Tories a bit like the Greens are to Labour.

I can't recall anything really appalling said by any of their members in the recent past.

[Iangould]

Do you really bloody think that I'd agree with the likes of Golden Dawn?

Pointing out the fact that the Greeks are fucked either because of what economists would like to impose upon them, and what might happen because of a democratic vote is perfectly valid. The fact is that people are fed up of austerity measures that are not bloody working so you can't blame people turning to parties promising some sort of change.

Australia went through 20 years of economic hardship.

We didn't decide our problems were all somebody else's fault and we didn't elect a bunch of Nazis to Parliament.