Dancing Bear’s Family

Canada rated world's soundest bank system

nobody@vox.com(TruthTeller998) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:18:03 -0400

Canada rated world's soundest bank system
Thu Oct 9, 2008 2:41pm EDT
By Rob Taylor

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Canada has the world's soundest banking system, closely followed by Sweden, Luxembourg and Australia, a survey by the World Economic Forum has found as financial crisis and bank failures shake world markets.

But Britain, which once ranked in the top five, has slipped to 44th place behind El Salvador and Peru, after a 50 billion pound ($86.5 billion) pledge this week by the government to bolster bank balance sheets.

The United States, where some of Wall Street's biggest financial names have collapsed in recent weeks, rated only 40, just behind Germany at 39, and smaller states such as Barbados, Estonia and even Namibia, in southern Africa...

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Link: Zina Saunders

nobody@vox.com(TruthTeller998) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:42:58 -0400

art on the web.

Link: Zina Saunders

http://www.drawger.com/zinasaunders/?

Artist website.

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Connecticut Supreme Court legalizes gay marriage

nobody@vox.com(TruthTeller998) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:44:31 -0400

Connecticut court legalizes gay marriage
The Washington Blade | Oct 10, 11:24 AM

The Connecticut Supreme Court today ruled that denying marriage rights to same-sex couples is unconstitutional.

Connecticut is now poised to become the nation’s third state to allow same-sex marriage, joining California and Massachusetts.

Eight same-sex couples sued, claiming their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process were violated when they were denied marriage licenses.

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NATO joins war on Afghan opium trade

nobody@vox.com(TruthTeller998) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:32:54 -0400

NATO joins war on Afghan opium trade
October 10, 2008

BUDAPEST (AFP) — NATO announced Friday its troops would from now on target Afghanistan's opium trade directly in an effort to cut off hundreds of millions of dollars of drug money financing the Taliban insurgency.

NATO has generally avoided tackling drugs, with many members fearful of compromising support from ordinary Afghans, including many poor farmers dependent on such crops for their livelihoods...

...NATO defense ministers agreed that "ISAF can act in concert with the Afghans against facilities and facilitators supporting the insurgency, subject to the authorization of respective nations," said spokesman James Appathurai...

...Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain had led opposition against officially diving into the drug war, believing that the Afghans themselves should drive such efforts...

...The agreement would allow governments to tackle the "high end" opium trade if they wanted to, but not tie the hands of those nations unwilling to take part, the official said.

"This means that the United States and Britain have free rein" to take action, a NATO diplomat said.

"Germany will continue to act in coordination with Afghan forces," he said.

Senior NATO officials say that Afghanistan's drug problem has been largely brought under control, except for seven provinces in the lawless south of the country, where many of the insurgents have been operating...

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Beetle Tea

nobody@vox.com(pyrit) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:53:17 -0400

Roll low, soft stones, trundle brushed colors

Cloak a hummock throne round a gargling crower

Mull over heavy fruit in foggy groves

As dewey pools sweeten buried troves.

Roll by, soft stones, send sprays to windowsills

Send tree faces; Picassos, Raphaels, over the hills

Leave bare veins, and sweet sap within, to stand still

Wildly flatter Mother Nature's will.

Roll on, soft stones, spread bewildered view

This bleary mist, this autumn we fall into

Sullied, to dwell, by fire's trial true

Shake out the old, shake out the new.

Betelgeuse in Orion

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I don't get it. Why are so many on the Left embracing T. Boone Pickens?

nobody@vox.com(TruthTeller998) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:18:46 -0400

T. Boone PIckens is a part of what is worst in our country. I think he is a liar (half-truths) and a megalomaniac. Here is an older YouTube video that can serve as a reminder of who and what T. Boone Pickens really is. (T. Boone funded the swiftboat ads that smeared and slandered John Kerry) The second video exposes the Pickens Plan for what it is.

T. Boone Pickens on Hannity & Colmes

Truth About The Pickens Plan | ZapRoot

greenwash: A false or misleading picture of environmental friendliness used to conceal or obscure damaging activities.

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QotD: I Smell Roses

nobody@vox.com(uncagedbird) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:17:48 -0400

What's your favorite scent?

Sex...

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Hillary at the eighth annual Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee luncheon

nobody@vox.com(TruthTeller998) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:58:27 -0400

Hillary at the eighth annual Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee luncheon

Hillary tells it like it is and why it is imperative that we elect Barack Obama as President of the United States of America.

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It's a new day people.

nobody@vox.com(TruthTeller998) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:09:57 -0400

Yes, I believe.

The American Promise

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Another day, another plane story.

nobody@vox.com(TruthTeller998) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:13:23 -0400

Iran forces down Hungarian flight
54 minutes ago

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran forced an aircraft carrying Hungarian military officials to land after it entered its airspace, Hungary's Defense Ministry said Tuesday. The plane was allowed to continue to Afghanistan after it was determined the entry was accidental.

The ministry said the airplane, carrying a four-member Hungarian military delegation, had strayed into Iran's airspace on Sept. 30 because of an "administrative error."

"After clearing up the problem, the airplane was able to continue its journey to Afghanistan," the ministry said in a statement released in Budapest...

...Both Iranian news reports said Iranian officials questioned the passengers and determined that the entry had been accidental, and that the plane was allowed to continue to Afghanistan the following day...

AP correspondent Pablo Gorondi in Budapest contributed to this report.

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