The Cellar - Politics http://cellar.org How humans control the powers that control them en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:00:51 GMT vBulletin 60 http://cellar.org/images/misc/rss.jpg The Cellar - Politics http://cellar.org Poor, Pitiful Palin http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=21396&goto=newpost Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:23:27 GMT
Quote:
PALIN: Says she made frugality a point when traveling on state business as Alaska governor, asking "only" for reasonably priced rooms and not "often" going for the "high-end, robe-and-slippers" hotels.
THE FACTS: Although travel records indicate she usually opted for less-pricey hotels while governor, Palin and daughter Bristol stayed five days and four nights at the $707.29-per-night Essex House luxury hotel (robes and slippers come standard) overlooking New York City's Central Park for a five-hour women's leadership conference in October 2007. With air fare, the cost to Alaska was well over $3,000. Event organizers said Palin asked if she could bring her daughter. The governor billed her state more than $20,000 for her children's travel, including to events where they had not been invited, and in some cases later amended expense reports to specify that they had been on official business.
more

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091114/...Qvx5CYFsTgtY54

Palin’s book appears to be attempting to re-write history. Yet even the dumbest high school kid knows that history is written by the winners, not by the losers. It gets even worse when you are a loser who is writing self-aggrandizing propaganda and expecting us all to swallow it whole. Anyone around here have some antacid?
:headshake ]]> Politics SamIam http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=21396 <![CDATA[Bruce Schneier, "Beyond Security Theater"]]> http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=21391&goto=newpost Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:58:22 GMT http://www.schneier.com/blog/archive..._security.html


A nicely to-the-point essay about real vs. theatrical responses to security risks. He takes on, in a way, whether living in a "post 9-11 world" should mean what it does.


Quote:
Security is both a feeling and a reality. The propensity for security theater comes from the interplay between the public and its leaders. When people are scared, they need something done that will make them feel safe, even if it doesn't truly make them safer. Politicians naturally want to do something in response to crisis, even if that something doesn't make any sense.

...

Despite fearful rhetoric to the contrary, terrorism is not a transcendent threat. A terrorist attack cannot possibly destroy a country's way of life; it's only our reaction to that attack that can do that kind of damage. The more we undermine our own laws, the more we convert our buildings into fortresses, the more we reduce the freedoms and liberties at the foundation of our societies, the more we're doing the terrorists' job for them.

We saw some of this in the Londoners' reaction to the 2005 transport bombings. Among the political and media hype and fearmongering, there was a thread of firm resolve. People didn't fall victim to fear. They rode the trains and buses the next day and continued their lives. Terrorism's goal isn't murder; terrorism attacks the mind, using victims as a prop. By refusing to be terrorized, we deny the terrorists their primary weapon: our own fear.
]]> Politics gvidas http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=21391 Political Party Loyalty Test. http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=21383&goto=newpost Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:38:04 GMT Taking the test for the party opposite your own will give you a more realistic summary of where your ideologies are. I should probably become an Independent because I usually support who I think is the best person regardless of political affiliation. Republican Loyalty Quiz... Taking the test for the party opposite your own will give you a more realistic summary of where your ideologies are.

I should probably become an Independent because I usually support who I think is the best person regardless of political affiliation.

Republican Loyalty Quiz
http://politicalhumor.about.com/libr...oyaltyquiz.htm

Your score is 3 on a scale of 1 to 10. You are a solid Democrat. You are not as fiercely ideological or uncompromising as others in the party, but nonetheless remain a reliable supporter. If you could have your way, you'd like to see Democrats leaders take a slightly more accommodating approach on certain issues – and dial down some of their nakedly partisan and bitterly divisive rhetoric.



Democratic Loyalty Quiz
http://politicalhumor.about.com/libr...oyaltyquiz.htm

By choosing 'in a perfect world the US would be France' made me swing too far left wing. Choosing the 'Executing Ann Coulter' didn't help swing me any degree the other way either. I would not walk through fire to support a political agenda ever.

I was much more thoughtful with the republican test so I got a more truer result. ]]> Politics skysidhe http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=21383