pragmatic_dem
pragmatic_dem's Journal3rd Way Purity Test, Entrance Exam, Part 1. Environment
3rd Way Purity Test, Entrance Exam
Part 1. Environment
1. Which statement is true?
a. Deep water drilling is absolutely safe.
b. BP is absolutely safe.
c. Fish + oil = fish oil, a safe nutrient.
d. All of the above.
2. An earthquake in Japan has knocked out power to four nuclear plants, one of which has already exploded, sending radioactive fallout over the neighboring town and forcing evacuations from a town already in chaos from the resulting tsunami. What is the correct U.S. Government response?
a. Require all imported Hello Kitty merchandise to be screened for radiation contamination.
b. Issue a proclamation declaring “National Sushi Awareness Day”.
c. Issue a statement that the nuclear industry has assured you nuclear power is absolutely safe and U.S. commitment and funding for nuclear development will not waiver.
3. A major political donor has a worldwide monopoly on the manufacture and sales of genetically modified seed stock, herbicides and pesticides. Recently, the company has complained about the inconvenience of studies required to prove product safety. Also displeasing the corporation, consumers have requested the ability to choose whether or not to consume these products in their daily diet. The correct response is:
a. Issue a statement that you have been assured genetically modified organisms are absolutely safe.
b. Sign legislation allowing companies to hide GMOs in their food products.
c. Sign legislation that gives amnesty to the corporation from any consequences caused by willful negligence of the corporation.
d. Give the corporation additional funding to develop more powerful GMO herbicides and pesticides to kill the organisms that have quickly evolved resistance to GMO products.
e. Hire executives and officers from the corporation to design public policy.
f. All of the above.
4. Many on the left have an irrational fear of fracking. The best way to respond is:
a. Issue a statement that the fracking industry has assured you fracking is absolutely safe.
b. Build a nationwide pipeline to carry oil recovered from fracking to refineries located in the most polluted state in the nation where it can be processed into petroleum products and loaded on tankers to China, the most polluted country in the world.
c. Shutdown and censor studies linking fracking and ground water contamination such as this research with a title so complicated it must be from some radical eco-terrorist group: http://desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Dimock%20report.pdf
d. Step up surveillance activities on left leaning environmental groups.
e. Buy a Cadillac Escalade.
f. Quickly change the subject to Lilly Ledbetter.
g. All of the above
New Documents Reveal NSA Program Targeting NSA Apologists
WASHINGTON (AP) – A new batch of documents just released indicates that NSA has been actively collecting data on pro-spying groups, collectively known as NSA Apologists. The intelligence gathering program is code named “Trojan Cheer” and shows that NSA seeks to establish whether or not these groups are coordinated by the governments of North Korea, China, Russia or Iran.
According to the new material, agency officials have singled out NSA Apologists because “an American citizen would never willingly allow the U.S. Government to catalog everything they say and do under a permanent state of surveillance. This is contrary to constitutionally enshrined principals of fairness and justice, something foreign nationals would not understand.”
Indeed, the report shows that nations heavily invested in citizen surveillance have done so to limit challenges to government authority, ultimately reducing individual freedom and opportunity for advancement. The report concludes “this is something our foreign adversaries would want to impose on the U.S. to reduce our competitiveness”.
The pro-spying community seemed conflicted by the revelations. Some apologists felt their support for citizen surveillance programs should entitle them to special benefits, such as getting through airport security with a TSA agent manipulating their genitals to completion. For others, the news simply confirmed long held suspicions about themselves; and they feel safer now that someone is giving their metadata much needed attention.
Putin Calls US Threat to Block Porn Sites "Act of War"
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the toughest measures to date against Russia for their Ukraine invasion. In a statement released earlier today, Mr. Kerry explained “with the advice and consent from our allies, we are prepared to block senior Russian officials from many of the Internet’s most popular porn sites.”
Russian President Vladimir V. Putin reacted angrily to the threat of new sanctions, stating “We would consider such action an attack against Russian sovereignty and ultimately an act of war. “
However, many experts cautioned that it is unlikely that the U.S. would resort to such drastic measures. Veteran analyst Annette Haven says she believes the U.S. is simply trying to save face on the world stage, but cautioned that “such a move could plunge the world economy into recession, so we are obviously concerned and monitoring the situation closely.”
Meanwhile, former U.S. Vice President, Dick Cheney, and former U.S. Secretary of State, Condi Rice, have issued a joint statement expressing outrage over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, stating “such aggression is an unprecedented assault on freedom” and urged the U.S. to attack an oil rich nation arguing that “rivers of blood from a million innocent people” will send our allies an appropriate sign of U.S. resolve.
NSA set to acquire AT&T in effort to return profitablity to cloud based services division
WASHINGTON -- NSA (NASDAQ:SPYZ), the world’s largest cloud services provider, has announced plans to acquire AT&T (NYSE:T) in an all cash deal that would create the world's largest telecommunications and networking conglomerate. Analysts say the acquisition was anticipated given the current climate of government/industry consolidation. "NSA has undertaken an aggressive strategy of growth through acquisition and AT&T gives them access to over 100 million wireless customers," according to James Holliway, President of Survey Analytics, a research firm specializing in telecommunications trends. Mr. Holliway added that the move may be a defensive play to maintain market share amid rumors that the CIA is in discussions to purchase online retailer Amazon's web services division.
The deal caps off a turbulent new year for NSA, whose recent entry into the cloud based storage and monitoring business was widely ridiculed due to implementation blunders. NSA hopes to correct these early mistakes by leveraging AT&T's extensive network of call centers in India. "AT&T's ability to appear responsive to clients without actually expending any resources to solve a problem is unparalleled in the industry and exactly what NSA needs if they are going to grow in this competitive market segment," Mr. Holliway explained.
In return, AT&T expects to use NSA's political clout in its ongoing war against net neutrality. AT&T believes equal access interferes with its sovereign right to restrict internet content from those who cannot afford to pay for premium web content such as MySpace.com.
At a press conference today announcing the news, NSA's Media Relations Supplicant, Jay Carney, said, "We are looking forward to AT&T joining the NSA family of companies. Clearly, this demonstrates our willingness to work with our partners in industry to position ourselves more effectively against the best interests of the American public.
Regulators have yet to formally approve the deal, however, approval is viewed mostly as a formality and the two companies have been quietly integrating operations over the last several years. The move positions NSA as the largest telecommunications company in the world, displacing state owned rival China Telecom from the top cloud services provider spot.
Shares of AT&T rose 12% on news of the acquisition.
Nickelback to Host NSA Benefit Concert at SXSW Featuring Creed Renunion
WASHINGTON- Underscoring the need to help NSA community members ravaged by poor self-esteem, the alt-conservative Canadian rock super group Nickelback is organizing a benefit showcase at this years SXSW in Austin, Texas.
Reach for comment, Nickelback's Chad Kroeger hopes the money raised can be used to buy surveillance drones for impoverished communities across North America, stating "this is the least we can do to help our biggest fans for their years of loyal conformity.".
In a surprise move sure to delight millions of conservative fans, the alt-christ rock group Creed announced that they will be getting back together for the event in support of NSA. Creed's founding member Scott Stapp indicated he felt relieved that NSA, like Jesus, is watching us all, making a list and double checking it as a test of our purity, devotion and faith.
Eric Holder Sees Shadow, Predicts Six More Years of Spying
PUNXSUTAWNEY -- Emerging from his winter den, US Attorney General Eric Holder peered out into the bright, transparent sunlight and cast a long dark shadow. According to local legend, the shadow predicts the US will have six more years of spying. After making his prediction, Mr. Holder hurriedly retreated back to his cozy den, clearly annoyed that his winter sleep had been disturbed.
Dianne Feinstein should do the right thing and turn herself in...
Clearly she was disclosing sensitive and classified information that would undermine our intelligence gathering community and put the nation at grave risk for a terrorist attack. Her traitorous assault against our most glorious Motherland should not go unpunished.
A Relentless Widening of Disparity in Wealth
The ideological menace, known as the "third way" in Democratic policy circles and "trickle-down/supply-side" in Republican policy circles, has infected leadership at every level - i.e. the rich are rich because of their education and hard work. Meanwhile, the other 300,000,000 (without inherited wealth, trust funds or Harvard degree) are just slacking and don't deserve basic civil rights, justice or economic opportunity.
You'll hear many Democrats exclaim "its a global economy" what they really mean is when it comes to education - we are expected to learn to live on $7/Hr and no benefits. Either that or move to the slums of China and India.
Glancing back across history from the present-day United States, it looks as if Kuznets’s curve swerved way off target. Wages have been depressed for years. Profits account for the largest share of national income since the 1930s. The richest 10 percent of Americans take a larger slice of the economic pie than they did in 1913, at the peak of the Gilded Age.
This is not solely an American phenomenon. Across many other developed nations, the distribution of economic rewards in the 21st century is taking on decidedly 19th-century features.
If anything, this means future inequality in the United States will be driven by two forces. A growing share of national income will go to the owners of capital. Of the remaining labor income, a growing share will also go to the top executives and highly compensated stars at the pinnacle of the earnings scale.
Is there a politically feasible antidote? Professor Piketty notes that the standard recipe — education for all — is no match against the powerful forces driving inherited wealth ever higher.
Taxes are, of course, the most feasible counterweight. Progressive wealth taxes could reduce the after-tax return to capital so that it equaled the rate of economic growth.
But politically, “the fiscal institutions to redistribute incomes in a balanced and equitable way have been badly damaged,” Professor Piketty told me.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/business/economy/a-relentless-rise-in-unequal-wealth.html?_r=0
NSA shout out thread
- You wear your flag pin on your lapel!
- You proudly display your Police Association membership sticker on the rear window of your SUV!
- You signed a petition to bring the next Nickelback tour to your town!
- You've never been searched by TSA! And anyone who has, probably deserved it!
- You never jaywalk!
- You think it might be time to put social security on the table!
Don't let all those apologies go to waste! Let NSA know you love them with a shout out where they'll be sure to see it!
Right here!
And you'll never be blacklisted.
Pinky promise.
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Member since: Fri Feb 21, 2014, 12:15 AMNumber of posts: 410
