Lucky

Stocks Plunge on Fears of Global Turmoil Investors Cite Slow U.S. Recovery and Europe’s Debt Crisis By GRAHAM BOWLEY 31 minutes ago American indexes fell around 5 percent as new data heightened fears that the United States may be headed toward a double-dip recession and that Europe’s debt crisis could widen. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/business/markets.html?_r=1&hp Is the Times getting its news from this forum these days? Look at this: News Analysis Time to Say It: Double Dip Recession May Be Happening By FLOYD NORRIS It has been three decades since the United States suffered a recession that followed on the heels of the previous one. But it could be happening again. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/business/economy/double-dip-recession-may-be-returning.html?hp

Flaws in your reasoning? Dude, this could devastate the male hooker industry! Let's assume that half of those 14 million out of work are women. That leaves 7 million men. Assume that 1% of them are gorgeous, then you have flooded the market with 70,000 new hustlers. How can the current escorts keep up their rates in the face of that competition? Prices would drop and even more people would be out of work!

Lookin, I wish I could agree with you, but I was better at politics in the eight grade than Obama is in the White House. You learn early that you don't start negotiating at the 50 yard line and work to the opposition side. You hopefully have some balls to take a position that you support and work from there, maybe meeting at the 45 yard line or closer to the 50th. Obama can give a great speech, but that is the extent of his political skill. Why else was Biden doing all the heavy work? Hillary would have had Boehner standing in the corner until he could play nicely.

Better hurry. The FAA may be back any minute.

Yes, perhaps some threads do need to be flagged! I was expecting to see a cute pic of a new puppy!

I am all in favor of changing the amendment to limit citizenship to babies of US citizens and not foreigners. This is so easily manipulated. And as for Muslims increasing in power in Europe, yes, I dread it. Why shouldn't a gay man be concerned that after years of winning his rights he now has yet another group of right wing fanatics and bigots to contend with? Beyond that, Muslims in government cannot let their church values stand to the side anymore than a Mormon or Pentecostal. They are all a danger to gay rights, and I don't mean to leave out the Catholics or those nutty Scientologists.

I don't see the opposition. We need to liven things up here, not by being timid and afraid of a post that might say something we don't like, but let's get some conversations going. If you have stopped posting here, don't handcuff the rest of us. Having a separate politics forum divides the community. Let's bring everyone together and make this the discussion forum. How about this? WHEREAS, the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party recognizes the challenge presented by President Obama's negotiating away Democratic Party principles to extremist Republicans, we are challenged by President Obama in the following ways: His unilateral closed-door budget offer to slash Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which endangers the New Deal and War on Poverty safety nets. His determination to escalate U.S. militarism through illegal secret CIA drone attacks and unauthorized wars. His willingness to extend the Bush tax cuts for millionaires and bail out big banks without ending the foreclosure crisis that displaces American working families . His insistence on pushing a health insurance bill which enriches private insurance companies while ignoring growing support for single-payer health care or robust public options. His continuance of President Bush’s assault on civil liberties with an extension of the repressive Patriot Act. His failure to restore due process, including the protection of whistleblowers and habeas corpus. His numerous failures to adhere to international law. The continuing practice of nationwide FBI raids of anti-war progressive protestors. His decision to increase the arrests and deportations of undocumented workers. His facilitation of the privatizing of the public sphere, which includes education and housing, among others. His disregard of his promises to the Labor movement. His failure to adequately protect the environment and adequately address climate change. WHEREAS, the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party recognizes the historical significance of the Eugene McCarthy/Robert F. Kennedy anti-war challenge to President Lyndon Johnson. The challenge followed President Johnson's decision to escalate U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, betraying his campaign promise to end a war that polarized America. Similarly, we recognize the danger and betrayal that the current "Grand Bargain" represents to the legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's signature gift to all Americans, Social Security and the New Deal, a point of pride for all Democrats. WHEREAS, the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party is committed to the understanding that an interest in a 2012 Democratic presidential primary challenge will not interfere with President Obama's ability to govern and not limit his ability to do so in ways that include invoking Constitutional options, we recognize that this will, in fact, raise debate on important issues without risking the ability to mobilize and energize the base of the Democratic Party to elect a triumphant leader to counter the far-right agenda. THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, to make our views heard, the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party will begin the process of contacting other Democratic organizations, Democratic Party members and public organizations that share our views on the issues and which seek to alter the course of history by exploring other steps to effect a necessary change, including a possible primary challenge to President Obama. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=94646#ixzz1U1wTKiWZ

"I'd rather die before I reach the permanent frustration stage." When is that?

Could we have these video threads flagged?

Yes, no flags needed.

Gcursor has definitely hit on a hot topic. For me, size does not matter unless too small. By that I mean a guy whose cock is the size of his thumb. Yes, I have met one, Big cocks are easy on the eyes, but not always very practical!

So life becomes even more meaningful the moments at which death approaches? By then, you are kind of limited in what you can do...

gcursor, I was so shocked that a man of my history on the boards would still be expected to provide written materials on the proposed Senior Escort's Retirement Home. Tell you what, I may make you in charge of determining which cocks are too top heavy and need athletic support. A $50,000 donation by tomorrow could guarantee that slot!

As active as Ace is with members of MER, I Hope he increases the number of posts. I think he has a lot to tell us.

The economic news following the debt deal is not good. Markets are worried about sluggish consumer spending throughout the world, as well as the fragile economies in Greece and elsewhere. So, with the government cutting spending instead of increasing it to pump the economy, and with voters through out America totally disillusioned with their leaders, is the future bright? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/business/daily-stock-market-activity.html?hpw And, a more detailed analysis from Slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2300560/

A Review of a book, "Rock the Casbah," by Middle East journalist Robin Wright in today's NY Times presents a more hopeful picture for the Muslim world: Ms. Wright’s latest book, “Rock the Casbah” (which takes its title from a 1982 Clash song), builds on the arguments laid out in that earlier volume [Dreams and Shadows], not only looking at the causes and repercussions of the recent Arab Spring but also examining broader trends in the Islamic world. As she sees it, the revolts against autocratic rule in countries like Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen are “only the beginning of the beginning,” and a positive new dynamic is grabbing hold. “The far wider Muslim world is increasingly rejecting extremism,” Ms. Wright argues. “The many forms of militancy — from the venomous Sunni creed of Al Qaeda to the punitive Shiite theocracy in Iran — have proven costly, unproductive and ultimately unappealing.” Rejecting the notion of a “clash of civilizations,” she argues that “even as the outside world tried to segregate Muslims as ‘others,’ particularly after 9/11, most Muslims were increasingly trying to integrate into, if not imitate, a globalizing world.” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/books/robin-wrights-rock-the-casbah-on-islamic-world-book-review.html?ref=books

Robert C. W. Ettinger, a Proponent of Life After (Deep-Frozen) Death, Is Dead at 92. Ettinger, a science fiction writer and physics instructor whose idea of freezing the dead for future reanimation repelled most scientists, inspired Woody Allen and Mike Myers to some of their best work and persuaded at least 105 game humans to pay $28,000 each to have their bodies preserved in liquid nitrogen at his Cryonics Institute in suburban Detroit, died on July 23 at his home in Clinton Township, Mich. He was 92. Now the good scientist is himself frozen at 371 degrees minus Fahrenheit and awaits the resurrection of his body at a time in the future when scientists have learned how to cure the respiratory failure that took his life. While alive, Ettinger speculated that returnees to life in the future may need to be equipped with wings and body armor made of hair. "In the last months of his life, Mr. Ettinger and his son arranged for procedures that would have to be done in the first few hours after he died, to maximize the benefits of cryonic freezing. They notified the funeral home where he would be embalmed with a kind of medical antifreeze to protect tissue from damage. They arranged for 24-hour nursing care, mainly so they would know the exact moment to begin the procedures. At one point, his son said, Mr. Ettinger allowed himself to think past the technicalities of the freezing to what his life might be like if he were ever unfrozen. Since the war, with one leg shorter than the other, he had not been one for sports. “So when I come back,” he told his son, “I’d like to try skiing.” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/30/us/30ettinger.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries

EXPAT's link takes you to Paul Krugman, who argues that the president has surrendered. Here is another one, about the diminished presidency of Obama, by Ross Douthat: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/opinion/the-diminished-president.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

That's okay. These heavy subjects can rattle you. We cannot, of course, assume that the rise of Muslim political power means that the Islamic extremists will also rise in power- at least proportionately. Without the female Muslim vote, their power becomes diluted as well. But it cannot get better for gays if Muslims start having influence in the city circles of what have been traditionally pro-gay societies. Today is the first day of Ramadan, so now I know why all of those French restaurants close in August- the Muslims are fasting!

Didn't we while the summer hours away having a nice conversation on all of this? I like it when we talk!

I heard that Hooboy made almost $200,000 a year from his site. Is that true?

And, say, while we are at it, why should a baby of foreign citizens become a US citizen simply by virtue of the fact that the mother was in the US at the time of birth?

Did no one read this article I cited above? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/5994047/Muslim-Europe-the-demographic-time-bomb-transforming-our-continent.html

Yes, it is a few posts above this. A demographic study done in 2009 shows Muslims will be a majority in many European counties by 2015. However, Muslim women will not be able to vote. And, even if Muslims do not become a majority (Pew study), there can be no doubt that they are fast becoming a political force. What that means for gays, and Jews, is not good.

The travesty that has been the debate over the debt ceiling has shown Americans the lowest levels of their government leaders. Not Obama, not Reid, not McConnell, not Boehner, not the Tea Party, not Congress at all has acted for the American people. The debt deal they apparently have reached is a mere stopgap, something to tide things over until the 2012 elections are over. I don't see how Obama can run again. After all, there can only be one Republican candidate.