First off, it's FOOTBALL.

Second anyone using the vuvuzela is a complete twit. The sound drowns out the reaction of the crowd to events on the field so you never hear those collective moments of wonder when something great happens. The atmosphere generated by singing and chants is lost. And players can't hear themselves. And if they don't enjoy themselves that translates into poorer football.

As Farhad says the organisers are having to think about this very hard because it's ruining the broadcast of the games for millions of people.

And the World Cup is not about morons blowing plastic trumpest incessantly. They could ban it on health and safety grounds as it's probably too loud but in South Africa that's probably not considered a big deal.

Oh and Robert Green. Dropped. Or he should be. None of our keepers are brilliant but David James is probably the best overall.

Just to stir things up some more, here's an example today of Apples's app approval process going mental again. They're blocking an app they already approved previously. And no rhyme or reason for it as usual...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/jun/01/apple-app-store-rejection-groundhog-software

Like I mentioned earlier, they could have requested the UNIFIL task force to intercept the flotilla if they had any reasonable suspicion of weapons aboard.

Then again, Turkish officials say each and every person aboard was checked before they set sail, just like the vessels themselves. And now even the UN security council legitimized the convoy in their presidential statement:

The council urges Israel to permit full consular access, to allow the countries concerned to retrieve their deceased and wounded immediately, and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance from the convoy to its destination.

Digging on some spanish news sites:

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/06/10/madrid/1244616017.html
10/Jun/09 - 25 year old gets killed on traffic accident on road M607, 30km north of Madrid

http://www.telecinco.es/informativos/sociedad/noticia/100016834/Graba+un+accidente+de+trafico+similar+al+que+causo+la+muerte+a+su+hijo+hace+un+ano
4/Mar/10 - Woman records traffic accident like the one that killed his son one year earlier

"During this last years, on the spanish road of Colmenar Viejo 9 people have been killed. A woman, who lost his son on this road a year ago, took her camera and went to the place to record the bad shape of the road and pavement. Her surprise came when she recorded another accident. Luckily, noone was killed on this one."

Tags for this video have been changed from 'candid, camera, relationship, greg, jun, bunny boiler' to 'candid, camera, cruel, prank, relationship, greg, jun, bunny boiler' - edited by EDD

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2009/jun/29/gender-bias-theatre

You should check this out.

^ Those surveys are of people who are fully covered! Great for them! What about everybody else?

I can't hold it in any longer. You, Winstonfiled_Pennypacker(P), make me sick. You are a closed minded, short sighted, cold hearted piece of human filth.

You want to keep the system the way it is because it benefits you, and everybody who doesn't get a great healthcare package through their employer can just suck it. You selfish prick. You can look at the millions of people who recently got laid off and say, "Fuck you, get a job."

I would be happy to pay more taxes so that everybody could get regular check ups instead of waiting too long and ending up in an emergency room. I would be happy to pay more so that people couldn't get dropped from their insurance when they are diagnosed with terminal illness. I would be happy to pay more so that we could re-open all the trauma centers that were shut down after being overwhelmed by illegals and the unemployed who can't afford to pay. I would be happy to pay more so that serious illness wouldn't continue to be the leading cause of bankruptcies in the US.

But if we look at all the empirical evidence from around the world, we could have universal coverage that would actually cost less, and you STILL would oppose it. Because you fear change, and you have no compassion for anybody but yourself.

Why is that I, a self-proclaimed atheist, care more about my fellow citizens than the right wing religious crackpots, who have a mandate from their lord and savior to be compassionate to all?

If they really had any sense of compassion rather than selfishness, they would be working with the Democrats to shape a healthcare system that benefits everybody. Instead, all we hear is NO NO NO - SOCIALISM BAD SCARY!!! Ok, Mr Pennypacker, if a public system is not necessary, then point to a country that has universal healthcare without a public system. I'm pretty sure that doesn't exist, because it would be the very first argument from every Republican right now, and I've never heard it. All I hear is FEAR FEAR FEAR!!!

Why is it that the US is the only industrialized country without universal healthcare? Because we are the only country being roadblocked by politicians owned by the healthcare industry and the idiots who believe their lies. Socialist systems are so bad, because Canadians love theirs, and we hate Canadians, right? We hate them Brits, who wouldn't touch the US system with a ten meter cattle prod. Talk to anybody from any country who has universal healthcare about how great the US system is and they will MOCK you. And rightfully so, because you are either a fool or a heartless selfish bastard. And I don't think you're a fool.

The simple fact is this: If the US had the best healthcare system, other countries would be copying us. That is clearly not the case, so... and I know this is the part you fear the most... maybe we should be copying them. Nobody is saying they are perfect, but they are a hell of a lot closer than we are, and it is the height of pig-headed arrogance not to try to learn from them.

I'd take Jun.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
Cruel, but Jun is probably better off for it.


Exactly my thoughts.

Cruel, but Jun is probably better off for it.

I just read this and it made me roll my eyes:"Go ahead. Call me "Liberal" when I am actually firmly in the masses. I know what a mess the "conservatives" have made."

Thursday, Jun 18, 2009 @02:05pm CST

According to a new study by the Brookings Institution, the economy in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex is among the nation's strongest compared to all other metropolitan areas.

The study reports DFW had the third best change in housing prices, and the fourth best change in total economic output.

In fact, the state of Texas did well overall.

Brookings placed all six of [Texas'] major metropolitan areas in the top 20 of the 100 largest U.S. metro areas.

(Copyright 2009 by Newsroom Solutions)


It's probably all the liberals in Texas keeping thier economy strong, huh?


One more thing:

...Democrats yesterday suggested a $15 automobile license fee and said they may consider a 9.9 percent per-barrel charge on oil produced in the state.

The Democrats’ stance sets the stage for a confrontation with Republican lawmakers because California law requires a two- thirds vote to approve tax increases. While Democrats control both chambers, they are six votes short of a supermajority. State Controller John Chiang has warned lawmakers since May that they had until June 15 to fill the budget gap or the state will be unable to pay all its July bills.

“The budget that we will be voting for on the floor will be a balanced approach and it will be a combination of cuts and new revenues,” Bass told reporters in her office yesterday.

The state’s projected cash shortage, absent a fix to next year’s budget, led Standard & Poor’s late yesterday to place California’s credit rating, already the lowest among U.S. states, under review for a possible cut.

The guardian is a newspaper in the UK. I looks like they were reporting a story and from what I can gather, the camera was operated by one of the Forward Intelligence Teams so this may even be the footage provided by the police themselves.

Should they really have provoked the police if they did not actually want anything to happen in order to get home to the kids? Perhaps not, but it was their choice. They were not violent or obstructive, after all it was the police who approached them.


Some articles I have found at the guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/21/fit-watch-police-surveillance-val-swain-emily-apple-arrests

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jun/22/protest-fitwatch-police-kingsnorth

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/mar/13/surveillance-police-protest

It's officially fake: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/jun/02/digitalvideo-eminem

kymbos' comment makes allot of sense in retrospect

>> ^imstellar28:
"These accusations have been rebutted time and time again"
I keep hearing this, so why can't someone point me to the article/video/website where they were rebutted?


Here's a Snopes article on the birth certificate issue. It took moments to google and read.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthcertificate.asp

The birth certificate itself.
http://msgboard.snopes.com/politics/graphics/birth.jpg

And a follow up article.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/jun/27/obamas-birth-certificate-part-ii/

>> ^dead_tofu:
why do these poor souls care who other grown ups have sex with as long as its not children or animals? ........oh, right, it fuck ups the economy!


Just to set the record straight, California and Massachusetts are making a lot of money off the squimishness of the rest of the country by hosting weddings of couples from other states.

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/02/business/fi-wedding2
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/07/15/state_sees_economics_of_gay_marriage/

Same thing happened with stem cells. The federal government demurred, so California stepped up and brain-drained the rest of the country, drawing even more high-tech businesses to its economy.

A certain amount of libertarianism is good for the economy.