Website666.com

Angelina Jolie writes about her preemptive double mastectomy

thepete — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:57:21 -0400

Angelina Jolie writes about her preemptive double mastectomy:

This surprised the hell out of me. What surprises me more is that Jolie isn’t taking this opportunity to call for a war on cancer. I don’t know how anyone touched by this disease doesn’t, at some point, wonder why the government spends trillions on banks and fighting terror but only millions on fighting the disease that is kills so many more people than terrorists do. We all know someone with cancer. I’ve known several. How many of us know victims of terrorists? Not very many.

I hope Jolie will do the next logical thing and demand we fight cancer with the same vigor that we’ve been fighting terror for the last 12 years.

Just my ¥2.

thepete: breakingnews: Colin Powell endorses President Obama...

thepete — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:19:25 -0400

thepete:

breakingnews:

Colin Powell endorses President Obama for re-election

CBS This Morning: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell broke with the Republican party during the 2008 election, to endorse then-candidate Barack Obama for president, calling Obama a “transformational figure.”

Powell joined “CBS This Morning” on Thursday and with 12 days to go before the presidential election publicly endorsed President Obama for reelection for the first time.

“I voted for him in 2008 and I plan to stick with him in 2012 and I’ll be voting for he and Vice President Joe Biden next month.”

Photo: Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell (Shaun Heasley/Reuters)

Whoa—Colin Powell endorses Obama again. Yes, AGAIN. I don’t remember him doing it before.

thepete: whitneymcn: Motley Fool: The Best Presidents for the...

thepete — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:19:02 -0400

thepete:

whitneymcn:

Motley Fool: The Best Presidents for the Economy

Quick quiz: how many people will vote against Obama because he’s “anti-business?”

Well, THIS needs to be reblogged a few hundred times—Obama the best president for the economy?

NYT: alternative currency creator facing up to 20 years in jail for trying to create competition for the USD.

thepete — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 09:56:46 -0400

NYT: alternative currency creator facing up to 20 years in jail for trying to create competition for the USD.:

thepete:

From the NYT:
Bernard von NotHaus, a professed monetary architect, will soon be sentenced for minting and distributing a form of private money called the Liberty Dollar.
And a bit more:
Described by some as “the Rosa Parks of the constitutional currency movement,” Mr. von NotHaus managed over the last decade to get more than 60 million real dollars’ worth of his precious metal-backed currency into circulation across the country — so much, and with such deep penetration, that the prosecutor overseeing his case accused him of “domestic terrorism” for using them to undermine the government.
So it’s legal for the Federal Reserve to create money but we, as American citizens, aren’t allowed to create competition for the USD? It’s not like the Liberty Dollar is created from thin air like the US Dollar is. The Liberty Dollar is paid for with USD. The difference, I believe is, that a Liberty Dollar will always be worth the gold it is made of. Of course, that gold’s value can go up and down but not with the ease the USD is amde to go up and down by the Federal Reserve (some might find that debatable, I suppose). Another of course is that if the USG goes after the Liberty Dollar guys, I wonder how long it’ll be before the Bitcoin offices get raided.

Website666 is done.

thepete — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:13:21 -0500

Sadly, real life is getting to be a pain in the ass and I’m finding myself forced to consolidate my efforts online even more than I already have. I’ll continue posting stuff like I have on Website666.com but I’ll be doing it on my lifeblog at http://thepete.com/life or on my Tumblr. So please follow me in either place or on Twitter.

This blog will stay up but I’ll probably transfer all the posts in it to my lifeblog and to my Tumblr. Eventually, I may take the blog down entirely just because I’m a bit OCD and I like things tidy.

Damn, I really wanted to keep this site going. I just have too much to do in real life and in my virtual one. 2011 has been the year of realizing the difference between what I am capable of doing and what time, itself, will allow me to do. That process has helped me decide what is most important to me as a creator and a concerned citizen. So, I hope you’ll check out my other projects at the links mentioned above. I’ll definitely carry on my contrarian thinking policies as that’s the only way to make the world a better place.

Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll continue to follow my exploits at one of the locations above. Take care and please remember to question everything!!

OWS rant by someone else (and a challenge by me)

thepete — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:22:16 -0500

sirmitchell:

I’m having a really hard time understanding my country right now. I’m seeing an overwhelming amount of apathy, laced with immaturity, on a level that is unbearable.

Democrats, Republicans, and every other bastard in Washington (minus a few like Kucinich, Paul, Sanders) do not give a single shit for any one of us unless it makes them richer, or more powerful. For years they’ve continued on a path that makes them, and their friends richer, while letting the people they are elected to represent starve economically & figuratively.

Two months ago today, a small group of people started to protest, they’ve had enough. They decide to finally take a stand, in a way no politician has in decades. The small group, begins to grow. Do we welcome them with open arms? Some do, some don’t care and the rest condemn them. Call them lazy, smelly, unpatriotic, hippie scum, liberal idiots with no direction. I’m sorry, I thought this was the fucking Land Of Opportunity. What kind of bullshit American Dream exists where you graduate school with $80k in student debt, can’t find a job, can’t afford health insurance and when you stand up to protest, you are met with rubber bullets, pepper spray, and batons. Yet hardly anyone cares that their friends, family and neighbors rights are being tossed in the shitter. We have a President who openly supported Egypts right to free assembly, but doesn’t seem to care one bit that police across the country are playing batting practice on peaceful protesters. It’s entirely unacceptable.

I think it’s about time we redefine what “patriotic” is, because it’s not about wearing t-shirts will Bald Eagles breaking through them on fire holding an American Flag in it’s talons while shooting fireworks and drinking Bud Light, the official beer of freedom. Patriotism is caring enough about your country that you will stand outside for two months straight in an attempt to make a better, stronger, smarter country where everyone can succeed, and not just the ones who can afford a lobbyist in D.C.

Look at history—America has never been a universally trustable country. We’re supposed to have been founded on principles that we’ve violated countless times. Freedom of religion, but here’s money on which a god is endorsed. Equal rights, but if you’re Japanese we’re locking you up while we atomize two of your cities. Freedom of speech is guaranteed, except for a while when it was illegal to talk shit about the government’s latest war. I know I don’t even need to talk about that time we randomly decided all men aren’t created equal and that it was OK to own people.

One thing that’s been consistent, probably since America Day 1, is our country’s friendliness toward businesses. Pick up some real history books (ok this one) and learn about how the American government has always protected the rich and how American wars have always been a racket.

I don’t think it’s time we redefine “patriotism” at all. I think it’s time we redefine what is important to us as a species. Is it better that America respects human rights? Or that all governments on planet Earth do? Is it more important that the planet’s economy is strong? Or that we have something that maybe isn’t an “economy” at all that can better protect human rights and guarantee human advancement?

What we’re seeing now is the tipping point between Capitalism/Globalism kinda-sorta-working and it utterly crumbling around the ears of 99% of the Earth’s population. Does anyone really want to protect/support the country that was the Number One proponent of the Capitalist/Globalist system for nearly a century?

America has always been a tool for the rich. All our borders give us is an excuse to not care about the rest of the world.

Let’s redefine ourselves.

A week of Wall Street layoffs

thepete — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:53:45 -0500

mlesblog:

theamericanbear:

As protesters find new ways to “Occupy Wall Street”, major financial firms have been busy handing out pink slips this week.

It’s the second week of what’s expected to be a brutal season for job cuts as big banks have already announced that there will roughly 75,000 fewer people working at their firms.

Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase commenced new rounds of job cuts this week, following the lead of Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and RBS.

Most of the layoffs at Bank of America this week came from the firm’s investment banking and capital markets divisions, according to a source close to the firm. A Bank of America spokesperson declined to comment. In September, Bank of America announced planned cuts of 30,000 employees over the next several years.

JPMorgan Chase’s spokesperson wouldn’t discuss whether any jobs had been cut or any numbers. “There were no job cuts beyond those previously announced months ago.”

In the firm’s third quarter earnings conference call, JPMorgan Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon said the firm would see a reduction in headcount but no major layoffs. Sources familiar with the bank’s activities this week said that a number of traders were handed pink slips this week.

“Things have gotten pretty bad, pretty fast,” said Richard Lipstein, managing director of the executive search firm Boyden. Lipstein said he’s seen a big uptick in jobseekers over the past two weeks, particularly among midlevel executives.

Mid-to-late November is typically the season for layoffs, as banks want to avoid making cuts during the holidays in December. By doing it before year-end, these employees aren’t eligible for bonuses. (more)

Silver lining: New dissidents for OWS.

They aren’t really thinking are they….

No, the rich folks just aren’t getting it. It’s like they WANT it to get so bad that violence happens. It’s like they really ARE stuck-up assholes like we’ve all been saying.

"Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent."

thepete — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:07:01 -0500

“Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent.”

- -Issac Asimov (via penny-royal)

It’s also the first option of the most desperate. :\

"I was there to take down the names of people who were arrested… As I’m standing there, some..."

thepete — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:41:32 -0500

“I was there to take down the names of people who were arrested… As I’m standing there, some African-American woman goes up to a police officer and says, ‘I need to get in. My daughter’s there. I want to know if she’s OK.’ And he said, ‘Move on, lady.’ And they kept pushing with their sticks, pushing back. And she was crying. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he throws her to the ground and starts hitting her in the head,” says Smith. “I walk over, and I say, ‘Look, cuff her if she’s done something, but you don’t need to do that.’ And he said, ‘Lady, do you want to get arrested?’ And I said, ‘Do you see my hat? I’m here as a legal observer.’ He said, ‘You want to get arrested?’ And he pushed me up against the wall.”

- Retired New York Supreme Court Judge Karen Smith, working as a legal observer after the raids on Zucotti Park this Tuesday, via Paramilitary Policing of Occupy Wall Street: Excessive Use of Force amidst the New Military Urbanism (via seriouslyamerica)

Sigh… this is some serious police-state-ish kind of behavior. How does this sort of behavior go away?

The right to assembly is being crushed; the Internet is on the verge of censorship; the legislative body of the most powerful nation in human history is about to declare pizza a vegetable. We are no longer citizens, we're the sane inmates in an asylum run by psycopaths and sociopaths.

thepete — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:42:34 -0500

The right to assembly is being crushed; the Internet is on the verge of censorship; the legislative body of the most powerful nation in human history is about to declare pizza a vegetable. We are no longer citizens, we're the sane inmates in an asylum run by psycopaths and sociopaths.:

thereisnogod:

apoplecticskeptic:

syntheticpubes:

(and the pizza = vegetable thing passed.)

“I declare congress a vegetable.” Awesome.

Totally on point.

BRING IT! I’m sick of people pretending that we don’t live in a corporate police state simply because America doesn’t look like the novel “1984”. These American frogs clearly need the water they’re cooking in to start bubbling or else they’re never going to realize that smell is them simmering in their own juices.

“The get a job” crowd clearly have jobs but zero imagination or compassion. Assholes.

simplyopinions: :( THIS is how you present facts and tell the...

thepete — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:47:41 -0500

simplyopinions:

:(

THIS is how you present facts and tell the truth in a graph. Numbers, text, imagery, all representing actual FACTS.

Please check all of the content you consume for confirmable facts. It’s depressing how some on the left think that they can get away with lying just because they’re lefties.

saboma: American Censorship Day November [16th] What the hell...

thepete — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:37:47 -0500

saboma:

American Censorship Day November [16th]

What the hell is the exact definition of an “infringing link”?? I hate these over-simplified “infographics” that fail to define basic terms. The fact that there is no definition of “infringing link” makes me want to ignore the whole thing. I am so sick of people on either “side” of the political “aisle” failing miserably at properly informing the people they are trying to persuade. This is a bad infographic because it does a great job of inspiring fear but a shitty job of, you know, actually providing information.

And it’s not just the lack of an “infringing link” definition. Look at the “As a result” section. It represents what website self-censorship is like now and will be like after SOPA passes. Before SOPA, it’s a small circle. After SOPA, the circle is MUCH LARGER!! OMG!! THAT CIRCLE IS WAY BIGGER!! How bigger? Well, I can’t tell since there are NO NUMBERS describing the circles. This is all beside the fact that there is no way to measure self-censorship in a future we haven’t lived in yet. In short, this ven-ish diagram has zero basis in fact. In other words, it’s made up just to scare the shit out of you.

The same can be said for the line graph next to it. Before SOPA, you see the number of new startups rises! But after, it goes down. :( BUT THE DATA POINTS AREN’T NUMBERED, so we have NO WAY OF KNOWING WHAT THEY MEAN!!! This, also, is beside the point that this line graph does the same thing the ven-ish diagram does—it makes shit up about the future—there’s no proof that the number of new startups will go down after SOPA.

Under the “HOW DOES THIS AFFECT” section, it would be nice to see the part of the law that explains email providers would have to censor email with infringing links. It would also be nice to know how social networks could possibly censor the links of hundreds of thousands of users, especially when URL shorteners can be used to mask the links.

As I mentioned, this infographic fails to mention what an infringing link even is and that inspires even more fear than the even bigger circle of self-censorship or the non-specific datapoints in the “new startup” line graph. What IS an infringing link?!?! Is THIS an infringing link? Is THIS? Would YOU be posting an infringing link by linking to this post? OMG!! WE LIVE IN SOVIET RUSSIA!!

It’s a shame propagandists get hired to make “info”graphics like this, instead of good human beings who want to properly inform people. Especially since the truth about this bill is probably very terrifying.

THANKS FOR THE FEAR MONGERING, AMERICANCENSORSHIP.ORG!

simplyopinions: triumphalarch: unfavoredtruths: Anti-Atheist...

thepete — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:50:31 -0500

simplyopinions:

triumphalarch:

unfavoredtruths:

Anti-Atheist America

It’s insane that these small minded evangelical ‘christians’ preach love and say they follow Jesus when they are literally the SOURCE if the hate and segregation.

We shall not live in the closet. We shall be proud Atheists.

My favorite part of this video is how hokey it is, complete with a “stirring” soundtrack. Why not just type the words:

ATHEISTS ARE PEOPLE, TOO! WAAAAAAA!!

Ok, that last bit isn’t a word, but still. This struck me as a seriously whiney video and I’m an atheist!

I guess I just don’t like the idea of turning ourselves into victims. We’re the ones who are on the right side of history (not to mention, reality). Our wrong answer is still more accurate than most religion’s “right” answers. I feel no need to defend myself against ignorance. I simply live where I won’t be discriminated against.

COME TO THE CITIES, FELLOW ATHEISTS!! EVEN BELIEVERS HAVE TO GET ALONG WITH US HERE!

Seriously, atheists folks, get over yourselves. If we live long enough, they’ll all die off and reality will eventually win out. Besides, making atheists into victims does nothing for our cause.

btx91: withgodgivenass: 9gag: PETA Owned Husbands raping...

thepete — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:37:50 -0500

btx91:

withgodgivenass:

9gag:

PETA Owned

Husbands raping wives is a very real issue, guys.

Dont like PETA, but bondage/bdsm isnt rape/abuse.

Great, but then where is the guy in that pic above? Whips and chains are more commonly known as tools for abuse and oppression. Showing them in connection with (or connected to) a sexy woman, seems like a seriously weird message for an animal rights group to send.

"We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create..."

thepete — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:08:18 -0500

“We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone.”

- Orson Welles (via executions)

Wrong.

1) We’re not born alone. Our mother is there and at least one other person, like a doctor or a midwife. Sometimes even our dad is there.

2) We don’t live alone. Even if we never marry and never have roommates, most of us have neighbors and, beyond that, every single one of our lives depends on the existence of other people.

3) Sure, some of us do die alone, but very rarely does it have to be that way.

4) That last sentence is so incredibly cynical that it’s almost not worth commenting on.

But seriously, if we were truly alone, we’d not have electricity in our homes, or food in the grocery store, or clothes to wear. Every damn moment of the day we are touched by other people. Just because Orson Welles was a great film maker, that’s no reason to ignore the fact that he was a self-centered white guy who was an egotistical drama queen.

We are not alone.

Only through our relationships with others can we make sure that none of us feel alone. Only through our own emotions, our acts of caring, and our lack of self-centered tendencies can we help each other and ourselves understand and feel like we are truly not alone.

It’s this kind of nihilistic BS that encourages selfish behavior. Orson, you could make a really good movie, but you were a freaking drama queen.

I loved you in Transformers: The Movie, though.

Another one for the #USAWTF files or maybe we should start...

thepete — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:57:02 -0500

Another one for the #USAWTF files or maybe we should start calling it #Failmerica? Either way, this one comes from thefremen:

inothernews:

This is video, reportedly shot during the OccupyCal protests yesterday, November 9, of Berkeley, California police officers driving their batons into the stomachs of protesters at UC Berkeley, who appear to be doing nothing but linking arms and voicing opinions. The officers in the middle are striking the two women directly in front of them square in the gut, ruthlessly and mercilessly. I don’t see any projectiles thrown or anything else that could possibly justify the brutality we’re seeing here. Unless cops just don’t like the concept of peaceful protests.

Reblog this, folks.

(h/t katiesilorio, et al)

Contrast this to the non-existent police response to the pro-pedophile riot at Penn State.

Contrast this to the non-existent new coverage or the non-existent outcry of America to stop this sort of injustice from ever happening.

That video is bizarre. It’s like the women getting pepper sprayed in NYC a couple months back. No clear reason for the violence to continue. The kids in the video above do nothing to instigate the violence and the cops aren’t in any clear danger at all. I’m just glad they stopped beating them at all. The demeanor and the uniforms of the cops make this look like a student film, almost. That’s not riot gear they’re wearing. Gray helmets with face shields? Where’s the body armor? If those students had fought back I bet they could have taken those cops. It would have been in self-defense. How else does an innocent civilian react to a police state?

And yes, kids, this is what a police state looks like.

A definite sign of the failing of America...

thepete — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:48:00 -0500

A definite sign of the failing of America from stfurapeculture and others:

stfuconservatives:

likeproust:

stfuconservatives:

haguenite:

theweekmagazine:

Occupy Wall Street? Egyptian riots? London looting?

NOPE.

Penn State student rioting over the firing of Joe Paterno. More photos from last night’s riots here.

If a group of crows is a murder, what’s a crowd of rape-apologizing douchebros called?

I believe a pace of asses would be appropriate.

-Joe

I think the overwhelming majority of male faces in this photo is rather telling.

mhmm

Fucking sickening.

Did Americans have a riot when the Supreme Court ruled Bush could enter the White House? Did we riot when Bush illegally invaded Iraq? Did we riot when we found out that Bush lied to us about Iraq? Did we riot when it was discovered our government tortured in our name? Did we riot when Obama assassinated Osama bin Laden rather than putting him on trial like the Iraqis did with Saddam? Did we riot when an American citizen, convicted of no crime, was assassinated by an American drone?

What’s it take to get Americans to riot? An LA Lakers game or the firing of a beloved coach who did nothing to stop illegal sex acts.

What the fuck is wrong with us? Seriously, America, your attitudes are so assbackwards I am completely unable to reconcile your claims of moral righteousness with your actual behavior.

Seriously. #USAWTF

thedaytheytriedtokillme: Ex-CIA agent Nada Prouty says Detroit...

thepete — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 18:28:03 -0500

thedaytheytriedtokillme:

Ex-CIA agent Nada Prouty says Detroit prosecutors railroaded her

Huh, kinda reminds me of Sibel Edmonds. Her new(ish) website is here: http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/

simplyopinions: religiousragings: A Right-Wingers Guide to...

thepete — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:29:42 -0500

simplyopinions:

religiousragings:

A Right-Wingers Guide to Life’s Value

so true.

This is why I hate our culture because it allows for blatant contradictions and truly absurd disconnections like these to exist.

socialistguineapigs: Because the 400 are our masters, and we...

thepete — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:47:57 -0500

socialistguineapigs:

Because the 400 are our masters, and we don’t want to go against our masters.

Nah, it’s because we want to be them.