New Hotline Aims to Help Illegal Immigrants | NBC Chicago.
Anyone directly involved in that hotline should be arrested for aiding and abetting.Those people are worse than getaway car drivers for bank robbers.
Just print posters saying “Illegals, leave US alone!” in 25 languages. Much better use of money and legal too.
As for their anchor babies: Easy, denaturalize them and send ‘em packing too.
If I had to sum up my impression of Dream Theater’s new release, I’d say that what we have on the album is Dream Theater, teacher’s pet edition. Yes, it is clear that the songs are Dream Theater pure, but they’re also basic DT. Unless, as has been suggested, the strong references to Awake and Images and Words are intentional, what ADTOE is is mostly a fluffy bunny throwback to early 90s Dream Theater feel good record.
The album is good and I enjoy the tunes a lot, but there’s not much “resistance” of the likes of The Shattered Fortress or new covers on this album, hence the fluffy bunny aspect. Portnoy’s absence shows significantly. Although this album may ironically have turned out this well because of his departure, it shows that the new intra-DT unity is one that dictates that one follow the path of least resistance. It seems that in spite of the remaining members’ afterthought based “protest”, there was a point to Mike being in charge. He inserted the curve balls that engaged the fan, the quirky rebellious aspect in so many songs and so with him out, gone are also his humor and rebellious additions.
And speaking of Mikes, anyone less talented than Mike Mangini would have made this album a disappointment. Only because Mangini is such an utter genius is ADTOE a fun album. His unique style and record setting dexterity add badly needed spice to this collection of songs. This makes me hope that they’ll let him write more as he clearly understands what Dream Theater is and should be and does so remarkably well.
ADTOE is a good start, but please, try harder next time. Dare to offend bandmates, dare to explore. Or just make peace with Portnoy if you’re incapable of taking over that responsibility as well.
World pauses to remember 9/11 – US news – 9/11: Ten Years Later – msnbc.com.
Although it’s been ten years, the memories of that morning will never fade. Though I was at the other end of New York state, it was still the closest I’d ever been to war. The people, the emotions and the sheer shock of the events created memories that will remain.
Never mind how or why the attacks happened. They were a watershed moment and it is our collective reaction that will determine how the event will ultimately be recorded and remembered.
I think it’s safe to say that progress thus far has been far too slow if the idea is indeed to combat the “extremist version” of islam that’s supposed to be the culprit. Perhaps though the event was more catalytic than cataclysmic…
One of the best tributes this year has to be Symphonic Theater of Dreams orchestral version of Dream Theater’s Sacrificed Sons. At least for now, you can listen to the track on their website.
“This crisis has the potential to be a lot worse than Lehman Brothers,” said George Soros, the hedge fund investor, citing the lack of an authoritative pan-European body to handle a banking crisis of this severity. “That is why the problem is so serious. You need a crisis to create the political will for Europe to create such an authority, but there is still no understanding as to what the authority will do.”
via In Euro Zone, Banking Fear Feeds on Itself – NYTimes.com.
That quote says it all. Soros essentially admits that he and his NWO buddies have created and fueled a debt crisis to force the EU into tighter integration through the creation of a fiscal union. Add to this that Rompuy is hankering for the United States of Europe presidency and you have the perfect storm. Kiss your sovereignty goodbye EU states. It’s like I’ve said before, your NWO overlords don’t like free independent states.
This is also further proof that both the EU and the Euro (even more so) were very bad ideas, bad enough to move the Swiss national bank have to institute barriers in the form of a cap on the Swiss Frank to keep the EU from ruining its international trade.
Myself and other mature minded people warned at the time that especially the Euro was a very bad idea. Seems like the fall out is finally reaching them.
True compassion would be to get FEMA out of the way.
via We’re From the Government. We’re Here to Help..
And Dr. Paul hits the nail on the head yet again. It’s a real shame he will never be President.
Having sat on my mouth for long enough, I’ve had enough of Rudess talking smack about Mike Portnoy and have to again add my own $0.02:
“I don’t want to be limited by other people’s desires or abilities.”
Guess what, that’s what being in a band is all about. It’s all about finding compromises and working as a team. Just because you never really got things your way is no reason to lash out like that. Mike and the Johns were there from day 1, you were not, period.
” (…) nailing down a show *…)”
And in the process becoming boring and predictable. Come on Jordan, you’re not fooling anyone here. In the absence of Mike who drove you to excel you’ve become complacent. All you guys can manage different setlists and if the techs can’t manage, fire them and find ones who can cope. I’m sure Trey Anastasio can recommend a few.
“We think the fans will really enjoy it more that way.”
Practically all fans who aren’t hermits would disagree with you there, Jordan.YouTube does a good job of spreading the wealth doled out in every city. I could listen to the same setlist again and again, but when I pay to go to shows and travel to see more, I expect more from alleged badasses.
“he led this band for quite a number of years and did a good job”
Err… he had always led DT. For 25 years! And a good job?! If his performance was good, Petrucci’s is abysmal!
In conclusion: Don’t get me wrong, I love the new album and I enjoyed the gigs I did see this summer. But I also love the Adrenaline Mob EP and Testimony 2 a great deal. So quit biting the hand that fed you and bury that hatchet. All that energy would be much better spent on resurrecting Ytsejam Records and everything else you guys have not been doing since Mike left.
Sun Causes Climate Change Shock – Telegraph Blogs.
Once again we see that unlike what most would have us believe, man made global warming is still an unproven theory.
Murdoch, Hackgate, Climategate, the Guardian and the vile hypocrisy of the Left – Telegraph Blogs.
I guess the cui bono for this case has been answered. It’s the Guardian Media Group that stands to benefit from a News Corp. downfall in the UK.
Yes, the case is about who did what and when, but by far not as much as how much leverage the GMG will be getting out of the alleged scandal.
To pillory a man for pointing out such a glaringly obvious cultural fact just because he’s white and Right-wing would have been quite wrong even before the riots. Post riots it is positively obscene.
via If David Starkey is racist then so is everybody – Telegraph Blogs.
And once again Delingpole gets it right. Like I said, if Starkey was a working class black man they’d be applauding very loudly.
Was David Starkey being racist on Newsnight last night? – Telegraph Blogs.
See, this is what I meant recently when I said you had to be black to criticize black people. Starkey was absolutely spot on, but since he’s white he automatically got accused of being racist. If a working class black man had said the same things he would have been awarded a prize and lauded as visionary. Who’s being racist now?!
Also, this whole notion that “police are racist” has to stop, especially in England! The riots’ magnitude is proof that they aren’t.
Listen ignoramuses, if there is evidence to suggest that a suspect is black, the police must look for him or her among black people and in a majority black area, a suspect will by default be black. This isn’t racism, it’s simple logic! If you’d bothered to get a proper education you’d know that.
So no, there were no legitimate grievances in the lead up to the riots. A memorial, ok, family are bound to ignore the bad sides of a relative that got them killed, but anything beyond that had no justification whatsoever. Mature people get involved, children throw a tantrum. Those who grow up work to better their lot, those who don’t mooch off taxpayers and riot.
Love Britain, give the Bobby a gun!
No friendly skies between U.S., EU – Washington Times.
Kind of ironic that Democrats would be opposed to that tax. Shouldn’t they who want to tax everything and everyone for no reason welcome such a scheme?
Never mind that the whole carbon trading idea is a scam anyway, this scheme does indeed reek of a cheap way for the EU to get the money it desperately needs.
While Mr. Young is of course right (Labour party pantywaists take note), he neglects to add that even with high moral standards across society, some people will never “get it.” Why else have there been so many pedophiles in the Catholic church?
By all means, teach everyone about proper behavior, but don’t expect all to internalize those truths. Keep your prisons big, because the rotten elements will not fade that quickly.
Well spoken, Dr. Stanley. That is exactly what I meant by pussyfooting around instead of putting one’s foot down.
Black children think the police are racist. We must teach them about the 1980s – Telegraph Blogs.
The above column should put an end to the false allegations of racism. We should remember that many minority groups use such charges to excuse their immoral and uncivilized behavior.
And again, remember, if there is solid evidence to suggest that the perpetrators were black, the Met must by definition look for black people to arrest. That’s not racism, that’s policing with a rational mind.
Let’s hope that with the evidence being a bit more immediate than, as in the case of the TSA, the vast majority of terrorists being muslim youngsters, they will find the spine to go and lock up all rioters, no matter what color.
Forget rubber bullets, the public wants to use tear gas and tasers on the rioters – Telegraph Blogs.
As usual, those directly affected have a much better idea of how to handle a crisis than those far away in their government buildings.
Also, once again someone could use a clue from the Swiss. They bring out rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons on day 1. And they’re very successful. Ever seen wartime scenes from the outskirts of Zurich?
OK, Boris and Dave, here’s how to respond to a riot – Telegraph Blogs.
What Mr. Young overlooked there, of course, is that Mayor Nutter can only talk tough because he’s a black man criticizing black criminals. Boris and Dave could not do this without ending their careers.
Sometimes even class enters the picture. As Bill Cosby could confirm, you also should be of the same class as your target in order to be taken seriously.
It’s time all public figures called a spade a spade. Statistics don’t lie. If the majority of criminals happen to be black, say so. If almost all instigators of a riot, as was the case in London, are black, say so. No one should ever be punished for being honest and making truthful statements.
Also, considering how much money the UK government has been pouring into those allegedly disadvantaged neighborhoods, it is clear that it isn’t a matter of the criminals being mistreated or neglected. It’s a matter of them being too lazy, naive and plain stupid to abide by the law. It seems they don’t want to work and thereby support themselves and instead steal from tax payers, neighbors and shop owners.
It’s high time to stop cuddling those primitives and realize that stealing is always wrong, no matter who does it and no matter from whom. If you can steal, you can work. Funny how “repressive regimes” seem to have caught on to this a lot quicker.
“This is not about race, faith and class pure and simple,” said Professor Mike Hardy
via Cameron recalls Parliament as London riots spread – Channel 4 News.
Faith, maybe, but beyond that I’m not so sure. I very much doubt there were any rich business men among the rabble. This is a failure of no one but the criminals themselves and their utter lack of any notion of civilized behavior. It’s their animal like primal behavior that caused the loss and utter mayhem.
Mind you, if Boris and Cameron hadn’t pussyfooted around this long much of this could have been prevented, but that’s another story.
Much of this could also have been curtailed had the labor governments of the past not opened the floodgates to just any vermin and instead focussed on integrating new arrivals like they used to before 1968.
Recent events certainly are a post-humous vindication for the late MP Enoch Powell who predicted these sorts of events 43 years ago. I wonder if Mr. Hardy would like to personally apologize to the victims and tell them that those animals just wanted a better life.
ICE Investigating VA School’s Visa Program | NBC Washington.
Talk about misplaced priorities. Millions of foreigners in the US illegally are no problem if they’re from south of the border, but as soon as a few Indians may be in the US illegally, the ICE swarms out and serves the university with notices.
Not only should such actions be labeled racist, they also demonstrate the ignorance of someone in ICE. Where and by whom does he or she think the code that powers many of their shiny new applications is written?
What a great advert for the US; come here and live an immune criminal’s life, but don’t be smarter than a Mexican or we’ll punish you. I guess Obama truly is only half black…
Air Canada ordered to pay $12K to man who couldn’t order 7Up in French | Posted | National Post.
What a douche… 7up is another manufacturer’s Sprite. Most airlines will carry either. On that count, the Franco-Canadian should have paid a penalty for wasting the airline’s time.
In other cases he might have a point. But seriously, I hate time wasters of his kind. Those petty minded idiots who have nothing better to do than go and bother hard working people should never be rewarded by any authority, except maybe win a grant to get a prison sentence enhanced by a better TV set.
On that note, Ottawa, just let Quebec secede already. Just imagine how much money becoming a monolingual country will save in the long run. Make de facto reality de jure already!
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don’t know
We don’t know.
via The poetry of Donald Rumsfeld. – By Hart Seely – Slate Magazine.
One of my favorite poems. Inadvertently deep and quotable in many situations.
Alert: Terrorists Look to Implant Bombs in Humans – ABC News.
Great… yet another reason to abuse and harass travelers because of “terrorism.”
Wouldn’t it be easier and cheaper to start profiling passengers already? Terrorists still are 95% muslim.
Republicans May Take ‘Mini’ Debt-Ceiling Deal – Bloomberg.
Looks like I called this one. The ceiling will be raised, taxes may or may not be raised and once January 2013 rolls round they’ll find some other excuse to not cut spending or not raise taxes. Shame on the fools calling themselves patriots.
House rebukes Obama on Libya, but lets funding continue – Washington Times.
Once again, I saw this one coming from a mile away. There’s a certain way things in DC work, and not messing with the figurehead’s wars is a part of that.
Chief eunuch of Obama the nitwit in this case is Kucinich. I knew this effort was definitely intended to fail when I saw that lame mallard head up the effort.
So, just for fun, a few more predictions:
And just to cheese off a few more people, I’m gonna quote a rock star: Don’t believe the truth!
Short debt limit hike possible: McConnell – Yahoo! News.
And as usual the RINOs cave in under a modicum of pressure. It’s probably a good thing their kids never join the army, we’d never win a war…
So a terrorist mastermind lived in something little more than a trash strewn building site for over five years? For a few weeks or until the heat dies down, maybe, but years? Hardly.
Even now, we still have no definite confirmation of exactly who was injured, killed or maimed or not at what point at what precise location and the White House still can’t agree on a story.
The story is still fishy and I remain very skeptical. Not that it really matters whether OBL really is dead, there are enough blind followers left and he certainly wasn’t dumb enough to not ensure a clear line of succession.
But the question remains: Why now?
If those muslims hate the west so much, what the hell are they doing in London?! The PM should improve everyone’s lives and deport those ingrates. If they love OBL so much, I’m sure we can find a way to dump them all beside him. Plenty of rocks and ropes for all those idiots.
To start today’s episode, the article linked to below again outlines some of the glaring inconsistencies in the White House’s storytelling:
The Slippery Story of the bin Laden Kill – Garance Franke-Ruta – Politics – The Atlantic.
And it’s gotten better since my last post. The White House now doesn’t want to release any images after all, and everyone except for the US, i.e. probably not just the residents of Abbottabad, allegedly knew OBL lived there all these years.
Oh, and that house he lived in… turns out that’s a “former” ISI safe house which is now allegedly owned by some unknown Afghans.
So, to recap, Bin Laden lived in a “former” safe house of the ISI, a department of the Pakistani Armed Forces, which are led by a beneficiary of US influence, and who, conveniently, also happen to maintain their armed forces academy right down the road from where Bin Laden lived.
And the US government did not know?! What hope is there then that they will now bother to thwart Al Qaeda’s new strategy of achieving their goals through small scale attacks?
Now everybody say it with me: Pull the other one, Barry!
POLITICO 44: Whiteboard Archives for May 03, 2011.
This is significant. If the White House even now can’t seem to get the story straight about who did what where, who dies, who shot, etc.. then there’s clearly something wrong with this picture.
Once again, I do not believe that representatives of “the leader of the free world” (he isn’t) couldn’t order a high ranking officer to speedily debrief / interrogate all living persons involved in the raid, sum up the information and deliver their report to their Commander in Chief. This is rudimentary intelligence work, not science.
This is all symptomatic of a situation where someone invents an only partially true story and then asks everyone to memorize and disseminate it. It’s as if no one in the White House wants to admit to having thrown the baseball that broke the window.
And again I say, pull the other one, Barry!
This just keeps getting funkier by the day…
So not only can the US government not get their story straight or stick to an agreed story (White House modifies Osama bin Laden account), Bin Laden is also supposed to have lived near a Pakistani army unit training base for up to 6 years.
When you now consider that Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the director of the ISI, was virtually installed by the US and that Bin Laden lived very near Pakistan’s military academy, an institution of another department of the Pakistani Armed Forces, the official story all of a sudden really only remains a story.
Pull the other one, Barry.
Among all the hubbub of Osama’s assassination, one question stands out in my mind: Why now?
It still sounds ludicrous that the most powerful nation on earth would take almost 10 years to find the equivalent of a Wahhabi superstar and then hesitate to provide undeniable proof when he is apparently shot. And this victory, which Obama had about as much of a hand in as a bellhop has in transporting your luggage, comes at a time when O’s ratings are at an all time low and even prominent members of his own party are doubting his chances for a second term.
Something smells fishy here and it’s not my socks.
Can US Offer Final Proof Of Osama’s Death? – Yahoo! News UK.
A very good question. Proof would indeed help a lot.
Osama bin Laden Killed by U.S. Forces in Pakistan – ABC News.
Finally! Well done soldiers!
Ironic that the least capable President in history got the chance to sign off on the assassination of the biggest bogeyman of this century. So in that sense, thanks for doing what Clinton wouldn’t.
I wonder who he’s been moved aside for. Ghaddafi is too small a fish.
BLABBERMOUTH.NET – It’s Official: MIKE MANGINI Is New DREAM THEATER Drummer.
Very excited to finally have an answer. What an amazing choice and certainly a great tide-over until they can put their business egos aside and be truly creative with Portnoy again.
Now where’s that album? 
Lara Logan of CBS Talks About Her Assault in Egypt – NYTimes.com.
Liberals won’t see this, but the solution to this issue is very simple: Don’t send any of your female employees to muslim countries or regions. Muslims have no more respect for women than they have for cattle. That would be a sign of respect for womanhood and not discrimination.