December 4, 2010 archive

An Aryana War-Rug From Faryab Province, Afghanistan

Aryana War Rug

Faryab is often called one of the most peaceful provinces in Afghanistan, which means that most of the towns and cities have only been destroyed three or four times in the last hundred years, and in the more distant past, Faryab Province is named for a town which was destroyed by the Mongols in 1220.

Turkoman Aryana weavers originally migrated to Faryab Province from neighboring Turkmenistan to escape brutal Stalinist sovietization around 1930, and many of them emigrated again to the Northwest Frontier of Pakistan after 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and many others likewise after 1991, when the ethnic Pashto Taliban closed down most of the schools, burned down most of the government buildings, and generally tormented the ethnic Turkoman and Uzbek population.

Open Ruth

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i miss dubya

Photobucketi’ve suffered from writer’s bloc. no fire with which to write. no inspiration. no… no well no anger.

not like the good old days, the BushCo days. in some perverse way, george bush and I carried on a stormy, passionate affair. it was addictive. it was seductive. and it was satisfying.

maybe that sounds strange. but as god as my witness, it’s true. i loved writing (in a perverse way) about this man, his presidency, and the utter subversion of our country and my ideals. i loved finding my political voice and the salonesque experience of writing at places like Daily Kos and Docudharma.

the whole affair gave me purpose and directed my priorities. i was part of a group of people working, writing, campaigning to to keep our country safe by exposing bushCo.

x posted at writing in the rAw

Velly nice doctor!

 Q:  Doctor, I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life.  Is this true?

A: Your heart only good for so many beats, and that it… Don’t waste on exercise.  Everything wear out eventually.   Speeding up heart not make you live longer; it like saying you extend life of car by driving faster.  Want to live longer?   Take nap.  

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A:  No, not at all.  Wine made from fruit.   Brandy is distilled wine, that mean they take water out of fruity bit so you get even more of goodness that way.  Beer also made of grain.  Bottom up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A: Well, if you have body and you have fat, your ratio one to one.   If you have two bodies, your ratio two to one, etc.

Q: What are  some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A:  Can’t think of single one, sorry.  My philosophy is: No pain…good!

Q:   Aren’t fried foods bad for you?  

A:   YOU NOT LISTENING!  Food are fried these day in vegetable oil.  In fact, they permeated by it.  How could getting more vegetable be bad for you?  

Q:   Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A:  Definitely not!  When you exercise muscle, it get bigger.  You should only be doing sit-up if you want bigger stomach.  

Q:  Is chocolate bad for me?  A:   Are you crazy?!?  HEL-LO-O!!   Cocoa bean!  Another vegetable!   It best feel-good food around!

Q:  Is swimming good for your figure?  

A:   If swimming good for your figure, explain whale to me.

Q:  Is getting in shape important for my lifestyle?  

A:  Hey!  ‘Round’ is shape!   Well… I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

And  remember:  

Life  should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways – Chardonnay in one hand – chocolate in the other – body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “WOO-HOO, what a ride!!”    

AND…..

For those of you who watch what you eat, here’s the final word on nutrition and health.   It’s a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.    

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans..  

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION:  Eat and drink what you like.   Speaking English is apparently what kills you!

Food stamp participation (in millions).

Between Feb. 2007 and now, food stamp participation has increased from about 26 million to 42.9 million.  That’s 14% of Americans now on food stamps.  That’s approximately one-in-seven.  Every seventh person you see is on food stamps.  

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Of course, Wall Street, where insider selling is at a record, more than 8,000 times more sellers than buyers, is kicking ass, and taking obscene record bonuses for destroying your lives on your government-subsidized dime.  Party on.  Obama digs the entire scene, man.  Like, Wow.  Trippy dude.

Any White House holiday parties serving cat-food?  

FINALLY: VooDoo Economics!!

It’s about Damn Time somebody not only talks about but uses the labels of the failure of this so called capitalist system that did what it was long forecast it would, “Collapse”!!!!!

One of the many reasons it lasted this long, up till the beginning of the new century {I was in construction, now forced into retirement} and those like myself who were paying attention saw the collapse coming, it was getting harder for developers to find the cash for projects long before the residential collapse, was the easy credit schemes cooked up by the banks and others.

the value of nothing

original post 22 September 2008

____________________________

That’d be roughly seven hundred billion dollars.

Yeah. $700 billion.

$700,000,000,000. heh.

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What kind of crap is still in the bank vaults?

There is only one important question, the Big One, on which everything else rests: Are the banks insolvent?  Karl Denninger makes the perspicacious observation concerning the Fed’s dodgy data-dump: It suggests very dodgy bank assets, that the banks may very well be insolvent.  So much for Ritholtz’s recovery, if true.

Let me first digress on the dodginess of disclosure: While the Fed has published a lot of information concerning the emergency loan facilities provided to the banks, according to Bloomberg, it did not fully comply with Dodd-Frank:

Docudharma Times Saturday December 4




Saturday’s Headlines:

CancĂșn climate talks in danger of collapse over Kyoto continuation

USA

A Silicon Bubble Shows Signs Of Reinflating

After stimulus, construction industry seeing private-sector and state projects drying up

Europe

Military steps in after Spanish air traffic controllers stage walkout

Down Pompeii? The ruin of Italy’s cultural heritage

Middle East

Firefighters battle to halt blaze in Israel

Dirty tricks and sticky bombs in Iran

Asia

Islamists fight efforts to save ‘blasphemer’

37 years after escaping killing fields, a Cambodian returns as US Navy commander

Africa

Zimbabwe not stable enough for IMF

Fury at Ivorian election reversal

Democrats try to regain balance in fight over tax cuts

Emboldened Republicans seem unlikely to back down on extending breaks for wealthy taxpayers.

By Lisa Mascaro and Kathleen Hennessey, Tribune Washington

Reporting from Washington – Congressional Democrats searched for leverage Friday in their bitter debate with Republicans over extending George W. Bush-era tax cuts, lashing out against giving “tax breaks to millionaires” and preparing for a rare weekend session in the Senate on the issue.

But the increasingly aggressive Democratic posture may come too late in the protracted battle over the fate of tax cuts that are set to expire Dec. 31. The White House has indicated it would consider an agreement with Republicans to temporarily extend all tax breaks, even for households earning more than $250,000 annually, if the GOP agreed to concessions and withdrew its block on certain Democratic priorities.ties.

Late Night Karaoke

Pirate Party of New York Now Mirroring Wikileaks

http://www.nypirates.org/

They can’t get us all.

Random Japan

KARMA-RIFIC

A senior citizen trying to steal coins from a donation box at a shrine in Tokushima fell and hit his head while attempting to flee the scene. He later claimed his six stitches were “punishment from God.”

A 35-year-old Japanese man was caught at the airport in Bali with 6kg of hash. Apparently, he recently served time in an Indian prison for a similar offense, and now faces the death penalty under Indonesian law.

The 19-year-old son of an American soldier stationed in Japan was found guilty of seriously injuring a 24-year-old Tokyo woman by stringing a rope across a roadway in 2009, causing her to fall off her scooter “just for laughs.” Three other American kids involved got off without charge.

Three Tokyo teens, meanwhile, were arrested for breaking into a couple of cars using a method they had learned on YouTube.

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