Hi, Rabbit! Dropped by to see how you were doing. Still slogging it out with The Bat I see. Has it been asked what evidence there is that the planes that slammed into the towers were indeed Boeing passenger planes? If so, they were the most synchronistic and dramatic duds in the history of aviation engineering. If planes were really that volatile, then whoo doggy---they would not be safer than driving, even if cars really did explode on impact in real life as often as the ones in movies do. Next move, will probably be to discredit the bland, common sensical …
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wileywitch
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Clearly the janitor did it. Hi, Mymarkx. Hi, Doug. You're doing a great job of slogging it out with a sleep aid Rabbit---this has got to be a record of some sort. Now----Bush administration. Laws of physics. Bush administrations. Laws of physics. Bush Administration---- LAWS OF PHYSICS. I know the official story isn't true the way I know that I can't jump off a ninety story building, burst into flames, then drop directly down to the ground in a neat little pile of ashes. It's hard to express verbally to the LOP deniers, because we started to experiment with it in …
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that's kitchen COUNTER
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A bit off topic, doug, but about those RFID tags that some people have proudly had implanted in their pod---er bod---and that are EVERYWHERE---they are a nuisance. Have you noticed how often sales people in stores wave it off when the alarm goes off at the exit door? I bought a coat last winter, and as I was going through the door, the alarms went off. This bugs me, because I would go door to door with a broom offering to do odd jobs for a dollar before I would shoplift (I learned from that time I got busted in high …
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O.K. My trusty assistant FOUND the RFID tag and said, "Look! I found it."
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Hey, that reminds me of a pair of twins I knew once. One broke into a duplex to steal electronics, then the house lifted itself off its foundation and floated in the air. Ten minutes later, his brother ran into an identical duplex to steal electronics and----naturally (duh)---that house also lifted itself off its foundation and floated in the air. So the sheriff declared a war on twins.
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Yes, Rabbit---I am an authority. I've scribbled it on vellum and signed my name. Anytime you need a ludicrous thought experiment, I'm your man. I leave all the work of Nat to you and your cohorts, and work from your posts and theirs. As vigilant and hardworking as she is (as YOU are, Nat my darling industrious Bat), reading her prose is like swimming through asphalt for me. I'd rather sip Drano. Oh, Frog, Clouds and I looked the Patriot Act up when it first came out. Hideous. It is a phone book of legalese addendums that a team of lawyers …
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Oh, I had no idea you were such an expert scientist, Scorp. So how did that passport survive the crash and explosion? And why did the hijackers pack suitcases and make a big scene in a titty bar the night before the evil-doer deeds? There must be a scientific explanation for all this and the fact that "ground zero" wasn't cordoned off as a crime scene while a long, detailed, and professional examination of the crime was investigated by top experts and more than one team. There must be a scientific explanation for the failure of all our civilian and military …
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Why would anyone open their mouth and say they had a hand in this? All questions of who did it aside, there was not a proper investigation and people with great responsiblity were not held accountable. If the commander of Norad had been Japanese he might have committed hari kiri after leaving his neatly typed resignation in the appropriate box. Mechanics in the Air Force go to Mannheim or Leavenworth for screwing up. And these guys get promoted after the worst security failure in the history of the U.S.? What the hell do we pay these people for? Are the concepts …
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http://www.planecrashinfo.com/pictures.htm The building angle has gone around in batty circles so long, wouldn't it be food for thought to look at other plane crashes? This site has some interesting photos. The one that crashed into an apartment complex in Amsterdam is particularly interesting. Note the fifties accident in which two airliners collided over the Grand Canyon. It's tragic I know, but I keep trying to imagine something that might have made this disaster just a tad bit more disastrous. If I have this fact straight, this wreck over the grand canyon inspired the founding of the FAA. The crash in Queens …
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Oh, Natalie, I'm not presenting any arguments or "evidence". I'd rather have a bat tattoed on my ass than to "argue" or "debate" with you. I was giving the other guys food for thought. You do understand life outside of constructing "arguments" and the futililty of "proving" something with them, don't you? You apparently aren't very persuasive, but a few people really enjoy picking through your buckets of weasel words and making sure that the challenges to the official story are still alive and kicking. This editing option is great, btw.
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http://www.oilempire.us/wargames.html#airforce This is one of my favorite pages on 9/11. Has it been mentioned too many times already that Donald Rumsfeld changed some of the rules of engagement for errant aircraft in June or July of 2001? Yes, Natalie, you have to put on your tin foil hat for this one, but then again you probably don't have to read an article to blow it off, right? Do you have your little "legitimate" list to work from? Good for you. Keep slogging. I have fun reading the posts in response to yours.
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Move to Florida.
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Florida is getting warm, right Natalie? O.K.--- Howzabout Alabama? And you would be the perfect mentor, oh Bat of Wonder, to show KansasKal how to stay at the 4,000 word limit when it's time for the card stacking game.
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Has anyone gotten to this yet? http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/080206Q.shtml Here's my review: This is the worst and most phony piece of drama queen hype I have ever read in my life. Every bit of this contrived harlequin romance of supreme military failure drips with B-grade script devices. Had the author not included the ages of all but the strangely anonymous voices (like someone walked in off the street and picked up a direct line to GONADS) I might have thought they were twelve year olds at play. The answer to the article is "Cut the chatter, and stick to protocol. Copy that?" Apparently, …
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Somehow I sensed that you would remember that, Natalie----the emotional appeal. How can I kick those poor, poor souls when they're down? The same way I would kick a brain surgeon who showed up drunk and scrambled a patient's brain. Boo-effing hoo. Who is the victim here? Clue: Not the f**k-ups. There is nothing difficult about this concept once the scales of romanticism and cheezy denial are wiped from the eyes. The word is "responsibility"----look it up. "If nothing else, it might have given the public a more realistic sense of the limitations, particularly in the face of suicide terrorism, of …
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I've worked in NORAD and on radar, Natalie. Save it for the chumps. Do I have any criticism for the unidentified perpetrators? Of course. I have nothing but contempt for any and all murderers. I also have contempt for inept bunglers who are supposed to be DEFENDERS. It's abuse of power to be incompetent and not to have everyone's "stories straight", when one is commissioned with grave responsibilities. Just like I have harsh words for the drunk driver who kills a familiy and then gets slapped on the wrist because he's well connected, I have harsh words for the institutions that …
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Oh Natalie, Natalie, Natalie. Always the same tricks. What hijackers? The nineteen hijacker list is a lie that people like you perpetuate. It has little to do with what really happened, which hasn't really been investigated as an attempt to find out exactly what happened and who was responsible. "Dodge". Funny. How about the emotional term "19 hijackers" that immediately brings up those made for tv mug shots of swarthy, shifty looking men that were found to be responsible and tried before the court of television viewers within days of the attack . Oh, and you're "grateful" I didn't go into …
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Oh Natalie, that is so preschool. I am not even going to respond to that "oh so there were no highjackers" taunt. One question I have yet to see asked is---Why didn't the people who were running the exercise stop the exercise when it became clear that there was a real-time emergency in progress? The purpose of these exercises is not just to train, but to evaluate. The people running the exercises know exactly what is in the exercises, and should know when something not in an exercise occurs. That it would be appropriate to stop the exercise, and give all …
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Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah Natalie. I don't belive in hijackers? I'm embarrassed to say it in front of friends? Guffaw. Yes. NORAD's and NEADS job is to protect our airspace. All this "unexpected, unthinkable, unbelievable" adjective fest is pure red herring. So they were having an exercise about just exactly this kind of event at the same time it happened, and no one "could imagine, or believe, or expect..." All this hooey. If NORAD can't handle that, then they should have their missiles taken away from them. There is nothing fantastic about an aircraft being used as a weapon. Think …
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Oh, yes. I'm thinking that this is the limited hang-out, but for what indiscriminate yet-reading audience? There is absolutely no reason, whatsoever, for any officer at NEADS not to know exactly what the protocol was. And they were watching CNN on the screen at NEADS? Wha??!1! Christ! Could they not have picked up a phone and called NORAD or Ted Turner to get some satellite imagery to help them out? 45 minutes is a long, long, long time in the world of unidentified or hijacked aircraft, and missiles. These guys should have been seeing everything in slow motion. So back to …
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Nice to see you too, Frog.
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The question is not whether or not I "believe" in hijackers---like do I "believe" in God, Santa Claus, miracles, whatever? It's not a metaphysical issue. Of course there are hijackers in the world----whenever someone is hijacking something, there is one or more hijackers. That doesn't make the official story true. You might as well have accused me of not believing in aircraft, and said that if I don't believe the official story it's because I'm some kind of mental case who doesn't believe in aircraft. Raise the bar, Natalie. So back to my question: Why haven’t we heard from the people …
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Natalie, I've already made it quite clear that I do not believe the 19 hijacker story. Rabbit has provided plenty of evidence, and so has a whole slew of people. You keep challenging the most elementary things as if you were lying in wait for some clueless twit to drop at your feet. Subpoenaed by the commission during its investigation, the recordings have never been played publicly beyond a handful of sound bites presented during the commission's hearings. Last September, as part of my research for the film United 93, on which I was an associate producer, I requested copies from …
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Here's some more cheese from that awful article: 08:37:52 BOSTON CENTER: Hi. Boston Center T.M.U. [Traffic Management Unit], we have a problem here. We have a hijacked aircraft headed towards New York, and we need you guys to, we need someone to scramble some F-16s or something up there, help us out. POWELL: Is this real-world or exercise? BOSTON CENTER: No, this is not an exercise, not a test. PLAY | STOP Powell's question - "Is this real-world or exercise?" - is heard nearly verbatim over and over on the tapes as troops funnel onto the ops floor and are briefed …
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Oh good gawd Natalie. I suspect you're intentionally tiring. Whatever you get out of making excuses for failure is your business, I suppose. Perhaps it just doesn't fit into your single minded pursuit of denial that 9/11 was anything other than an Arab miracle so "unthinkable" that the world's greatest military couldn't think while it happened. Tell me Natalie, do you understand the difference between "responsibility" and "blame"? Were nineteen Arab hijackers responsible for the defense of our airspace?
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A NORAD that had insufficient out-dated equipment. A NORAD that had it’s resources (bases, aircraft) cut way back since the end of the cold war. A NORAD that had grown a little complacent since their heyday during the cold war. A NORAD that was primarily tasked with looking beyond our borders for threats, not within. A NORAD that wasn’t getting prompt and accurate enough information from civilian air traffic control Thanks for making my case Natalie. And it's cute to blame it on Clinton, isn't it? But I don't care who was president, the FAA and NORAD shouldn't either. Wouldn't you …
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"The real story is actually better than the one we told," a NORAD general admitted to 9/11-commission staffers when confronted with evidence from the tapes that contradicted his original testimony. Hmmm. So this is supposed to be acceptable? The "real story" is better than the lies they told when they were not under oath? Keeping in mind that Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is a real story, I must say I have zero faith in our military leaders. Being coy isn't a quality befitting an officer and a leader who has literally held the fate of the earth in …
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If you think that competence is too much for the military----if you believe that it takes superhuman effort to handle an unscheduled emergency, Natalie, then you might want to consider becoming very active in the cause of Nuclear Disarmament. Low standards and nuclear arsenals are a terrible combination. Anyone with a double digit IQ should be able to see this. The movie? Give me a break. No one KNOWS what happened on flight 93 but the people who made it happen and the people who were there. What is it that makes people so weak that they would prefer contrived heroic …
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Frog, Rummy is notorious for exaggerating the Soviet Threat. http://www.prospect.org/print/V12/4/vest-j.html
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Rabbit, thank you for that lucid scolding. I feel cleansed. Oh Natalie, preaching to the idiots are you? And the bigots? Nothing you listed changes anything about the behavior of Israel or the fact that it is Israel illegally occupying territories, brutally attacking Lebanon in a collective punishment for something the people of Lebanon have no control over, and the fact that our good buddies in Israel sold American military secrets to the Soviet Union and China through out the Cold War. Rabbit has described Israel very well. It is a pathologically self-absorbed nation of "chosen people", with the chutzpah to …
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Perhaps the question is do you---WTH, Scorp, and Natalie believe that there are conspiracies? Do you believe that there are theories? Do you believe that it is possible to have a legitimate theory about a conspiracy? Because if you believe that there is no such thing as "conspiracies" and no such things as "theories" and no such thing as a legitimate theory about conspiracy, then what are you thinking?
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"So far, they’ve been successfully been made fools of on several cable tv and mainstream radio shows by people with very little detailed knowledge about the actual events of that day, or of the mechanisms at work in a burning lightweight steel structure." That's interesting, Natalie. In the MSM, are they staging "Conspiracy Theorists" against the "Hardly Informed and Relatively Ignorant"? I don't get television reception. Please describe to me how the Hardly Informed and Relatively Ignorant people made people in the 9/11 truth movement look like "fools", and how the talking heads mediated that process. Perhaps you could explain why …
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Well, Natalie, I'm wondering if the shows you're referring to really want people with knowledge and background to counter those who disagree with the official story. It seems that if they wanted truth, that they would find knowledgeable people to challenge the truth movement. I also wonder why anyone would bother hosting a show for which they have not done enough research to have enough grounding to actually mediate fairly, or why they would not have someone there who could. A three year old could make Einstein look like a fool, if "looking foolish" meant not looking like you were having …
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Some Muslim guy under the tutulage of the FBI did set off a dud of a bomb under the World Trade Center. That would make the World Trade Center a great target for another false flag operation. George Bush lied about Hussein having weapons of Mass Destruction and Iraq having a connection with Al Queda and and has murdered hundreds of thousands of people. Most people in Iraq do not have electricity or clean water right now, Natalie. Stop whining about the WTC---it's garish and vulgar. This victim stance over 9/11 is getting old. If our government wanted justice, they would …
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Natalie, there are twenty car pile ups with more deaths on a daily basis than that bomb that was supposed to "take down the World Trade Center" (according to you). A bomb that is intended to destroy a skyscraper in NYC during business hours that kills six people and does a little damage to the garage is a "dud". Yes. Do that with enough "terrorists" acts with fewer than ten deaths and you'll be undermining your own cause. There are probably that many people shot in parking lots on any given day in the U.S. The poor victims are dead, and …
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I'm telling ya, Rabbit----it's Rumsfeld and the neocons. They have this comic book fantasy. Bush wasn't in office for two weeks before he pissed off China. They all have their own set of shared fantasies and warped weltanschaungs, if you will, but they all have their separate selfish issues in play as well. The neocons and other totalitarian zionists are the biggest, most armed, and toxic clusterf*ck in the history of the human race. I'm limiting my news reading right now, because I am getting too floored. Not to deflect any blame for the U.S. and Israel, but the fact that …
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Can anyone pinpoint that time that questioning, skepticism, and a willingness to consider new information that might pull the rug of perception and opinion out from under oneself was anything other than intellectual honesty, and the qualities of a responsibile citizen in the U.S.A.? It's amazing that among all the cries of "freedom" and "liberty" that challenging the status quo is treated by some as if it were madness. That's awfully suspect on a planet in which such a small percentage of the population of people on this planet owns the rest. Do these wealthy people really need the love and …
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Yeah, I liked that quote too, Rabbit. One of my favorite Dylan songs. And thanks for giving WTH some credit. He realizes that the MSM is full of it and so he is not just going along for the ride. You clearly need to hear it WTH, so I'll say, "I'm sorry that you feel dissed---OR---as I'd like to spell it--- d-i-s-t." Are you aware, Rabbit, that you are part of a plot to make reckless and unfounded accusations of mass murder being thrust upon by all rational accounts innocent people, and thus being deflected away from the obvious and self-admitted …
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Drama Queens in high places have declared the potential devastation of the hair-gel bombers, and---we may safely presume---all future terrorist attacks (real or imagined) to be beyond any adjectives. They must, therefore, resort to putting the prefix "un" before any semblance of intelligence, imaginative thought, or sense of proportion---i.e., "unthinkable", "unimaginable", "unprecedented", etc. Houston, we have a problem. Abort Operation Hyperbolic Zombie immediately. I repeat, "Abort Operation Hyperbolic Zombie immediately". They are not falling for it, and there appears to be far fewer undead than our Papa Romeo team had predicted.
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http://www.boingboing.net/2006/08/10/british_aviation_ban.html I did not ask permission to post this here, so I hope the guy doesn't mind. It's an excellent website, and this bit here is so perfectly logical AND hilarious that I couldn't help myself. I declare this quote irresistable: The point of terrorism is to make us afraid. The UK response to a foiled plot is to create an unspecified period during which fliers are arbitrarily deprived of iPods, novels and dignity. If this is a good idea now, then why won't it still be a good idea in a year? A decade? After all, terrorist plots will always …
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Nonetheless, I’m dumbfounded by the catastrophic numbers forecast by British and American officials. Michael Chertoff, United States’ Secretary of Homeland Security, said the presumed plot “had the potential to kill hundreds of thousands of people." That obviously sounds a little silly, and leads one with a brain to assume that either Chertoff never said that, or that he obviously mis-spoke. You got me there, Natalie. In an interview with Jim Lehrer he said "hundreds OR thousands of people". An error, however does not make an entire magazine wrong, as you well know. The logic that there is always a …
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"Direct interviews with EYEWITNESSES??? "EYEWITNESSES". Workers who requested anonymity to protect themselves from harrassment from whom? The liberal media?! Can you show us some links to forensic investigators? It was the scene of a mass murder, and a plane crash. Where was the FAA then? Why was it not all filmed and documented thoroughly? Why is the subject so shot full of holes now? Did the government investigate thoroughly and report all this information to the American people who think that the money coming out of their earnings pays for the rat bastard Executive Branch to provide for the common defense …
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Hi, frog. The "nobody could have imagined" bit really gets me. These hijacked planes were flying around for forty minutes while air traffic controllers and NEADS and NORAD didn't have to "imagine" a god damned thing. All they had to do was follow the procedures for a high-jacked plane. Regardless of whether or not the planes were shot down, or made their targets, the agencies mentioned above had specific protocols. In NORAD, the chiefs have something like twelve minutes to decide whether or not to launch a counter attack against a report of a missile attack (whether it's a false alarm …
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Oh, yeah---my point---I forgot that. Why don't they have the strategic sense to hit America where it would really hurt----communication networks. How about CNN or Fox? How many Americans fly places, really? How many Americans watch television and get their "news" from Fox or CNN. These terrorists are idiots and it appears that there may be copycat evil geniuses who don't have enough imagination to blow up something besides an aircraft.
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Are you making a funny reference, Natalie? That's almost like making a joke, you know. ...formation of a study panel....to determine why some Muslims hate airplanes.... Hmmmm. If airplanes are such a source of ire amongst "some Muslims", then wouldn't a quick survey of "some Muslims", or a perusal of "some right-wing Muslim publications" give us some clues? How could they keep that a secret? Are all Muslims guarding this little treasure? All of a sudden the Muslim world is a tight knit group? Or is it that they are such separatists that no one but the Muslims who hate airplanes …
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If a group of Laplanders bludgeoned to death a group of British scientists with golf clubs, and a plot by another group of Laplanders to bludgeon to death another group of British scientists with golf clubs was foiled, would there be a study asking why Laplanders hate golf clubs?
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Oh yeah: Why did whoever was responsible for the tapes that ostensibly caused confusion on 9/11, not stop the tapes when the confusion began? Who on God’s green earth allowed tapes to be inserted into real time in some of the country’s most busy and vital airports’ air traffic control imagery? Why wasn’t everyone involved testifying under oath? There are some very fundamental questions about very concrete, demononstrable, and legal issues that haven't been answered. The "Why do some Muslims hate airplanes?" provides some comic relief, anyway. I'm looking forward to the panel that asks, "Why have people who would put …
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Rabbit, have you found a language in which Natalie might hear the question: Why did everyone involved not testify under oath?? It's not like it costs extra or anything. Did they feel that Americans don't deserve the effort it would take them to make an oath and speak the whole truth? And all this reticence with a white-wash investigation! What a bunch of pussies.
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So, Natalie---why didn't everyone who took part in the 9/11 hearings make their testimony under oath? Why did the president, and vice-president, and Condoleeza Rice not take responsibility for what they said, and speak the truth under oath on the record? Simple concept. Simple question. Are you going to respond to it or not?
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WTF, are you talking about Scorp? If someone in a government position is not willing to answer an inquiry involving what that person in that position is responsible for under oath (and won't allow the inquiry to be transcribed), then what does that say, other than: 1) the person did not want to be held accountable for what he said 2)the person did not want to leave a record of what he said 3)the person reserved the right to lie with impunity For what reason would a leader not want to give a complete and honest accounting of a national event …
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Yeah, I guess I failed to acknowledge that, frog. I wanted to elaborate on it, that not only was "nobody imagined" just total bull-double-hockey-sticks that passed because matters were supposedly so "technical" and involved "national security"---BUT where the failures of the FAA and NEADS and NORAD were concerned, it was irrelevant. They didn't need to "imagine" planes ramming into buildings, they only needed to notice that planes were off course and their transponders were off and deal accordingly in a timely manner. OH the first week Bush was in office, he (his handlers) made sure that documents from the Reagan era …
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So, Natalie--- Do you have any thoughts on why our Commander in Chief would not testify to the 9/11 Commission under oath? What did he have to lose?
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SO (comma)NATALIE----DO YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ON WHY OUR COMMANDER IN CHIEF WOULD NOT TESTIFY TO THE 9/11 COMMISSION UNDER OATH?
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Because, Natalie, I'm an American citizen. What are you? You may believe that Bush is some sort of God-like power that can't be questioned by a mere voting citizen, but what do you call that? If not willful ignorance, or a lame attempt at suppressing a reasonable question, then what is it that makes an American suggest that other Americans have no right to expect accountability from their leaders or to ask for it? What are you? Why don't you just admit that you want a dictator or a totalitarian idealogue? Why make up a lot of paper-thin and transparent excuses …
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make that pompous twit
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Once again, Natalie---you insist on discussing "blame" as if we were in group counseling together and not citizens of a supposedly "elected" government which is required by law to be held accountable to the public. Are you sure you're not a liberal? If I and other people don't know the particulars it is because we haven't been told the particulars. And why not? That's the question, Natalie---why not? It is our information, not George W. Bush's private story. It was the nation that was attacked on 9/11---not George and Dick. Anyone with a vague idea about civics would get this. I …
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Oh, now you're playing the psychiatrist, huh? I don't have any "problem" or "confusion" or "misplaced anger", thank you. I'm doing just fine. This "blaming the victims" is your distortion, and "making excuses for the criminals" is your distortion. There are no formal charges, there has been no thorough forensic investigation, there has been no binding inquiry under oath and transcribed for historical record, and there have been no convictions. The "Muslim hijackers" are hypothetical and hearsay. The victims are dead. Their families grieve. And you won't allow them the vindication of people who were responsible for the defense of their …
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Natalie, honey, get a dictionary and look up the word "believe". And then look up "responsibility". I have had positions of responsibility working under NORAD, and as a caregiver. In both cases, protocol, and facts were what mattered. Death was a very real threat that could be brought on by failure on my end. Dealing with reality was what kept people from dying, not "beliefs" or "imaginings". CAN the "belief" and "imagining" crap, Natalie. This isn't Peter Pan. If you can't see your leaders take the heat, baby, then maybe you got some growing up to do and maybe a psychiatrist …
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My God, Natalie. That's so ass backward it's amazing you said it. The burden of proof of who was behind 9/11 and why the organizations guarding our air space failed to respond in a timely manner to four off-course planes with transponders off is on me???? And the Commander in Chief should not be required to testify under oath because of people like me? Well there's the problem I guess, Natalie---no one told me I was supposed to be running the government.
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Natalie, you are now busy smearing me with your imagination. Why don't you go get the United States vs. Muslim Hijackers and Bin Laden case and show us the Official Case with the official charges made against the Muslim Hijackers and Bin Laden and how the jury decided. If I'm not mistaken, you'll find that in your imagination, but only if you believe. "There can be miracles, if you believe..." la la la la Wiley would have stopped the training tapes as soon as she saw that there were hijacked planes in real time that weren't on the war game scenario. …
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The transcriptions of the tape that I already referred to. Now all of a sudden you're concerned with details? The same story says that NEADS was overwhelmed with false alarms of hijacking for hours after the attacks ended. If you're so sure I could not work with the details, what makes you so sure you can do something with the information all of a sudden---the information that no one could have "imagined". You don't need facts dear, you have faith and imagination. Wiley did her time and did it well. Wiley dealt with a more profound threat than hijacked planes. Wiley …
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Natalie, you are my only dark little indulgence on the internet right now. I'm busy with course catalogs and schedules, so soon, arguing with you is going to be an utterly complete waste of my time. Not the entertaining waste of time it has been. I trust that Algebra and Public Speaking will be much more fun. I will try to get back to this melodramatic dung heap we are supposed to believe is the record from NEADS and FAA later, but now I just want you to ponder this little gem you quoted: “You would see thousands of green …
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Who was Commander in Chief during 9/11 Natalie? And why wouldn't he testify under oath and without Cheney holding his hand? If you know anything at all about the military you hide it well, Natalie. The romantic view you want to convey is laughable to me, and I imagine to most people who have been in the military so that they don't need to "imagine" or "believe" what it's like to be in a high pressure situation and they know why repeated drilling is necessary to train people not to have all those "understandable" Scarlet O'Hara moments when they are supposed …
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While harping on what you consider to be my heartless demands for accountability, preparedness, and competence from people with power, you want to hear some heartlessness in response to 9/11?: "Looks like I hit the trifecta."
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http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0604/062104c1.htm 9/11 communication failures still baffle FAA, Defense officials "The hijacking net is an open communication net run by the FAA hijack coordinator, who is a senior person from the FAA security organization, for the purpose of getting the affected federal agencies together to hear information at the same time," he said. "It was my assumption that morning, as it had been for my 30 years of experience with the FAA, that the NMCC was on that net and hearing everything real time," he added. "And I can tell you I've lived through dozens of hijackings in my 30-year FAA career, …
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That all critical events have not been recorded, examined, investigated, catalogued, tagged, and the whole bag of snakes laid out over the course of five years, by the proper government and independent authorities is damning enough to make the call for impeachment for failure to secure a crime scene, for suppressing evidence, for lying like cheap rugs, etc. It' s just a hop, skip, and a jump from there to complicity. Why----five years after the event are things more muddy than ever? People who were responsible either clearly don't want all the facts to be revealed, or are criminally negligent and …
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Natalie, the simple fact that there wasn't a thorough investigation of 93 carried out and reported the way any other aircraft disaster would be investigated screams 'something rotten in Denmark'. Once you've excused a hundred 'little things', you've made one big whopping excuse that in most circles is called "a cover up". These things happen. Remember Nixon? That wasn't made up by people who wear tin foil hats. To suggest that anyone who questions 9/11 and all the misleads, lies, failures, etc., that go with it is paranoid and/or delusional or a poor, misled, simpleton is nefarious in its own right. …
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Well, honestjoe---they didn't get the itinerary and the little map with "you are here or here or here" with stars by Crawford, Texas, granite bunkers, and a grade school in Florida; and the towers and Pentagon circled in red with "Terrorist Targets!!!" printed beside them. Without the times and dates of attacks, air defense systems are helpless and emotional. Without exact coordinates, jet fighters can't find planes. That's why dogfights are so notoriously hilarious in that Key Stone Cops sort of way----chasing their tails, flying in the wrong direction, flying over the wrong country, etc. While people in tactical radar units …
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Oh, Natalie GIVE UP! Your retorts stink to high heaven, and you are, quite frankly starting to sound like a snorty little school girl. Wipe the snot off your nose. You have explained nothing, especially why you think you understand NORAD and air traffic control better than I do, and why expecting the government to do its job is so cold and unfeeling. I am not going to play your silly little game. You are a bore, that is only effective with people who want to believe and aren't particular about how ridiculous the things they believe are so long as …
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What's with the "gubmint" crap, Natalie?
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You, Natalie, apparently see no reason for NORAD or the FAA to be held accountable for the protection of our air space. Are we supposed to believe that you're innocent, or I'm the wicked witch of the west for thinking the military can be expected to defend us? Do you have any idea how ridiculous and hollow you sound? Take a remedial shill course. Except for the truly desperate, you are merely making Rabbit, Frog, and others look like grown-ups next to you.
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Frog, http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6739227220487922409 There is a shot of Condi Rice in this video that will make your blood freeze. I think the tape is over the top (for my tastes), but a lot of it probably true, and the picture of her---OUCH! She's one evil looking harpy with some serious issues.
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And what's with "a small bit of progress"? Progress for whom, to what end? Have you got a little chart for "progress" on your desk? Do people who agree with you or say something you can use get little foil stars? Why are you here? Why are you so hell bent on defending organizations that never bothered to make a case? Why are you doing it? Why does this government leave so many questions unanswered and beg so many more, that after five years, this is still a controversy and an increasing number of Americans are beginning to doubt the "impressions" …
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I was in the mood for understatement, Rabbit. I think I've already mentioned the girliness of her postures. I admire your tenacity and endurance, and vivid memory, and am glad you have it, because I don't. I have nothing but contempt and pity for anyone who would spend so much time defending this administration----even if they're getting paid. They aren't winning. And in the U.S., that's a sin in many eyes. As turncoat and unfair as it is that all those people who rallied behind the president after a disaster which has become the hallmark of his administration (they should patent …
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I would wager, john, that she knows full well this administration is corrupt AND incompetent. What a combination. That's why they need so much PR----so many shills----so many young and stupid Republicans banging their gong. So much repetition. And Rupert Murdock---what a horrible joke the MSM is. 24/7 "news" and no journalism. Once you step back from the media trance, and the starry eyed need to "believe" (in miracles) there is simply NO REASON TO BELIEVE THE OFFICIAL STORY. Or is that STORIES? And then more lies: We're going to Iraq to avenge 9/11. Because Sadaam Hussein has WMD and we …
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Every time an American training team crashed a jet in Germany (regularly) while I was there, we all held our breath for a moment and muttered prayers and best wishes for the mechanics. If it were found that a mechanical problem that a mechanic was responsible for caused the loss of a jet, or a jet and a pilot and/or navigator, it could be reasonably expected that the mechanic would end up in Mannheim and be dishonorably discharged after that. And of course, he would be/feel responsible for causing deaths if they occurred---which I imagine would be worse than any punishment, …
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Did you say that you invented a bomb, Frog? Natalie---there you go again with the Mary Had a Little Lamb----"I just don't see how" defense. Everyone else in the world sees it, Natalie. Do you know what a tiny, tiny group of true believers or true deceivers you belong to? If you don't see anyone behind you, honey, it's not because you're so far ahead---- it's because you've been "left behind". Next time you see a falling star, say to yourself, "I just don't see how that could be a reentry vehicle". If you finish the sentence, it's not because it's …
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Yes, Natalie. Here is the job I imagined for NORAD: North American Aerospace Defense Command The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a bi-national United States and Canadian organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. Aerospace warning includes the monitoring of man-made objects in space, and the detection, validation, and warning of attack against North America whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles, utilizing mutual support arrangements with other commands. Aerospace control includes ensuring air sovereignty and air defense of the airspace of Canada and the United States. You imagine the rest, …
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Trusting and unsuspecting defense forces. That's almost funny, Natalie. (You appear to be becoming a parody of yourself.) That explains our unrivaled nuclear arsenal and the most expensive military in the world and all of human history---we're so trusting. Dang. Why didn't I figure that out? We attacked two countries that weren't formally found to be involved with the attacks on 9/11, but bin laden might have slept in one, and there still has not been an explanation for attacking Iraq that has proven to be well grounded, realistic, or justifiable. And then our wonderfully humane administration apparently just did not …
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Sane adults treat mass murder as a crime, not an excuse for a crusade, Natalie. Adults who are not bigots do not justify the bombing of nations based on the activity of NGO's. Adults who are truly civilized do not condone reducing cities to rubble and killing tens of thousands of people to supposedly kill one specific group of people, or even one specific leader, that might be hiding anywhere in that country---so HEY----just bomb the whole country. That's abominable. That is not in any way commensurate with the spirit of democracy. Responsible adults in positions of grave responsibilty take responsibility …
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(Frog, I want to hear your stories.) The neocons' help and minions have bought into or are enforcing the idea that ideas are dangerous. People getting ideas into their head is a real problem, I mean what if they actually start to t-h-i-n-k? Shhhh. Am I speaking too loudly? You never know what might be the embodiment of evil. Knowledge is evil. And with that mental structure in place you can keep everyone off their toes and on the defensive with the absurd and the arbitrary, and proud of being dumb as a fence post. I was talking to a lawyer …
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Yeah, it's a kick in the butt, Frog. I highly recommend to all television viewers that they stop watching television, stop listening to the radio, and stop reading newspapers and magazines for six months. Stay out of talk about current events. Read a lot of classics and catch up on some mending. Garden, whatever. Stay in the present and the immediate. After six months of disciplined MSM blackout, and focus on the world that is manifest around oneself, turn on the television. Trust me. It will be surreal. You'll never see it the same way again. One of the reasons it's …
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http://www.physics911.net/georgenelson.htm Hi, Natalie. I see you're getting more pathetic and desperate. What makes you think that proper investigations of air crashes were done---other than faith, and "of course", and "it would seem"? When you can't get beyond "Bush hatred" as the ad hominem to deflect criticism of this administration on this board, then I DO submit (not 'would" submit, as if it were a hypothetical submitting) that you've got real problems. You might want to improve your sagging defenses by practicing at home with : Pol Pot Pinochet Steve Baldwin Tom Delay Milli Vanilli Elliot Abrams Stalin Steven Segall Paris Hilton …
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Not to point too fine a point on your gross and desperate reach to frame Clinton for a "crusade" in the Balkans---Clinton didn't declare "a war on terrorism" or imply that the Muslim world harbored all eville. Say whatever you want about the man---I think little of him, and certainly don't support him or his slimy wife. You may notice, I put them both on your list for practice, but at HOME. Nothing Clinton, Richard Nixon, or Abraham Lincoln did has a bearing on the legal, ethical, moral, and existential responsibilities of the current administration. Are you playing dumb, or do …
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I don't cry and scream Natalie. And I'm not selling canned peas. I'm not selling anything. This "consistency" thing is for sales people and quality control for the mass produced product. Am "I" consistent? What a stupid question. I seriously doubt that you even think that you're talking to ME, doll face. You're talking to someone who might buy what you peddle. Consistency. Har. So, should we let a mass murderer go because we didn't complain about the last one enough? What the hell are you even talking about? These stupid talking points! "Fairness" is "both sides". Are there any good …
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Perhaps, Natalie, you should just blow Clinton and get it out of your system. Nobody is talking about Clinton. The topic is 9/11, which occurred under the Bush Administration, and you're just prattling on about CLINTON, CLINTON, CLINTON. I think you have some unresolved issues.
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Keep going, Natalie. It's like a field study in anthropology to watch how you define people, judge their judgement, and draw all kinds of conclusions from what appears to be a little checklist, or flow chart, or the Diagnostic Manual of Political Beliefs---a very thin volume---that is getting thinner by the minute. One thing you apparently feel the need to express as a great law is that no opinion or observation about George W. Bush can be made solely on the behavior of George W. Bush and/or his administration. He and Clinton (in your mind) appear to have some sort of …
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Natalie. You twist again. All you really say, repeatedly, is that the "official story" is true, and that anyone who disagrees with it or questions it has some inherent fault. Now you're trying to "prove" that I'm "inconsistent" by wracking up all your projections and twistings of my words. Hijackers can be dead AND put on trial, you know. It seems the government doesn't believe in the hijackers---- No trial. No mounds of evidence. No case. From the beginning, I've been asking WHY NORAD FAILED. They clearly, failed, silly girl, we were attacked. From the beginning I've asked why they were …
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Natalie, why don't you just make the case for the "official story" for us? In a nutshell. It seems that the burden of proof should be on the accusers and those that claim that they know the truth and are acting according to that which they know. Whatever you think of the people who question 9/11---which is the majority of literate people in the world---and however much you would like to typify them as subsets of an order of people who are not to be believed; no one in the "truth movement" is launching aggressive attacks against nations or cities based …
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Frog, I was under a self-imposed news blackout during the whole ordeal in the Balkans and will admit I know next to nothing about it. Whatever the case, it doesn't excuse any misbehavior on Bush's part. Two wrongs don't make a right. I had a class full of four and five year olds in day care who knew that much. All this posturing that pulls Clinton out of the closet just boils down to nanna-nanna-boo-boo and has no bearing on the realpolitik. Christ these true-believers would blame Clinton if Bush nuked Cuba out of some misplaced sense of tradition. I'm not …
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It wouldn't hurt to give the 58% a little credit would it, Redhorse? Is denigrating all Americans important to you? You seem to express joy at the prospect of American people suffering. Am I misreading you? Did you enjoy watching people in New Orleans drown?
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Honestjoe, you seem to be such a nice guy. You might want to be a bit wary of letting "nice" get in the way. Everyone who disagrees with Natalie doesn't fit in her options. It was carried out by 19 Islam hijackers with boxcutters. I wonder why there were 19 hijackers and four planes. ANYWAY, the hijackers, like all "Islamofascists" hate our freedoms. So they crashed aircraft into two towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. The towers collapsed according to theories written after the fact. The part of the Pentagon that was hit was …
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Glad to meet ya Redhorse. We can work together.
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Redhorse, I did overreact a bit. Sorry to be strident and unfair to you. I think it would be wise, though, if "we" worked a little more at being a little more careful with the uses of "we" and "you". It's bad enough dealing with neocons without having to be blamed for the damned things. No Scorpy, I didn't "sleep" through the eighties. I suppose "sleeping" in your parlance means doing whatever you did. I was busy with college, and I wasn't majoring in poli-sci. I guess that makes all my political opinions irrelevant, huh? I studied enough to see how …
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What the heck, going cold turkey can be unbearable, especially right now. This may not be a good time for a media blackout experiment. There may never again be a good time, come to think of it. But just a pointer---when quitting something, in order to bypass the part of the brain that doesn't get the concept of "no", it's vital to tell yourself that you're going to do something else instead. Make a long list. But, yes the repetition is unbelievable. You might want to make a game when you do watch it of writing down each fact you hear. …
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Well, WTH, I WAS in that situation in which I had to evaluate whether or not what appeared to be five missiles being launched from two known Soviet Submarine sites---- that fit the profile of Soviet Submarine launched ballistic missiles--- were really missiles, during the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. (It really hurt to say, "yes". But it was somebody else's bad---someone in NORAD who had slipped a tape into real-time (sound famililiar?)). I know what it's like knowing that the men in the silos and submarines are pulling out their manuals and a handgun and getting …
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You made some thoughtful points WTH, and I'm not going to address all of them. I disagree on many, and am not informed enough to have an opinion on a few of them. The president or any governement official should be able to stand up to criticism and questioning, and not try to thwart any scrutiny where his actual job is an issue. We pay him. He is there to serve us. It's not just the law, it's the principle. Anyone "hurt" by criticism should not be in the limelight. Complaining about it, or acting like it was uncalled for in …
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Natalie, how many measly college years of Political Science, or Marketing and Public Relations have you had? Or measly years of anything?
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Well, Natalie, people with just four measly years of engineering and/or physics instruction can read and reason too. Oh, "technical". That old buzzword. Did Edison go to college? To claim that it's too "technical" for you to understand, yet that you can tell who is and is not a legitimate analyst is more than just a wee bit odd. Falling back on the plea to the only authorities you will recognize is not the model of sound reasoning.
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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/archive/s_467580.html Grassy knoll conspiracy theorists at the Livermore Laboratory. What next? Tell us the story Natalie, about how the DNA of the hijackers was found with their Arab DNA genes intact and how all the samples of DNA that were beyond the shadow of the doubt the DNA of the hijackers was found to compare with the DNA scraped from the rubble, and how that DNA evidence proved that the "Arabs" were hijackers. I'm going to skip off to find the article about the Arab gene. I had no idea that the geographical ethnicity gene had been isolated. But, until they …
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In a typical scenario there are hundreds of samples taken from remains that must be matched to the pedigrees of the alleged victim’s surviving relatives. Moreover the samples are often degraded due to heat and exposure. To develop a competent method for this type of forensic inference problem, the complicated quality issues of DNA typing need to be handled appropriately... http://bioinformatics.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/22/14/e298?rss=1 Wow! This article was published in 2006. Our WTC investigators must have really been on the cutting edge. These Oxford guys should be blushing. I guess, since they're on the internet this is probably seductive (in that brainy-guys-turn me on …
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It's amazing how you can go so far, WTH, and then just clam up. I don't think Bush "manufactured" it either, btw----the man couldn't manufacture a taco. But I don't think "speed" explains the errors or the incredible preponderence of errors on 9/11. NORAD and air traffic controllers should be quite accustomed to speed. Jets tend not to move slowly. In the matter of Intelligence, I can see an argument that volume, a.k.a. "too much information" is a problem, but not in air traffic control or NEADS, or NORAD---organizations that should be quite comfortable with a large volume of traffic. But …
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O.K., Natalie---I'll play your silly little game. The recent revelations about the JFK assassination are an excellent example of superior science winning out over a politicized investigation. As a person who has claimed not to be a scientist at all, how do you determine what is "superior science"? The hijackers were on the plane that crashed into the towers, exloded into flames so hot that they (supposedly) softened the steel beams in a building that was designed to withstand the impact of a 747, burned for twenty minutes or so, and were then buried under quite a few floors that collapsed …
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http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/ WTH, if you have some honest, open questions about the situation in Iraq---and I trust that you do---then you might want to send one to Dahr Jamail's website. I don't know how busy they are now, but I've found that if you ask a sincere and respectful question, you'll get a sincere and respectful answer.
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http://www.politicalcortex.com/story/2006/8/26/195425/883 Some of the most disturbing questions arise from the discovery and subsequent comments of Scott Forbes, someone who should have become a household name had the mainstream media done its job properly and raised important questions that have been largely left begging. Scott Forbes was an employee of Fiduciary Trust, a firm located on floors 90 and 94-97 of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Forbes reported that over the weekend of September 8-9, 2001, floors 50 and above of the South Tower experienced a power down, meaning that all electrical currents were shut off for about 36 …
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Natalie, why is a proclaimed Republican such as yourself indulging so much in moral relativism? Isn't that the domain of "liberals"? You just can't seem to understand anything someone says about Bush if they haven't criticized another president. If Bush destroyed China from space because he wanted to try out his new secret weapon---an act without precedent---does that mean that it would not be possible to judge his action? I get tired of humoring this 'Bush is the president' thing, but if he only exists in comparison to other presidents then let that be Lincoln.
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Natalie---the whole point was the identity of the hijackers. Scorp, take a flying leap.
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Aye, johndoraemi it is "depleted" because it is no longer useful as nuclear fuel and it's much cheaper to give it away or sell it as scrap metal than to go to all the expense of disposing it according to regulations. It's "born again" in ballistic weaponry that 'penetrates' metals and dna. Really it's re-emasculated uranium; but Halliburton, KGB, and Bechtel don't like to brag about mass indiscriminate murder, mutation, and environmental destruction that will spread throughout the planet for all human time. Oh, Natalie, nothing says uneducated or poorly educated middle class wannabee like suggesting that you can't understand what …
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Oh, Natalie, you're so cute when your condescending. As a "compassionate conservative" you say the opposite of what you mean, and then pretend that is a kindness on your part. That's so noble, I can't stop yawning. adios
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Oh, gag. Your plea to authority again. I already read this one. So what? The majority don't want to rock the boat. Just one more reason why Americans are so poorly educated----they're afraid of ideas and believe that positions confer actual authority about what is real and true, Universities have become quite accustomed to altering their "findings" to please the corporations that sponsor them. They are working for the same people our government is. I'm together dear. Quite together. I don't need to work incessantly to hold up a lie with paperclips and bailing wire----coddling the reputation of a drunk, and …
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Honestjoe, I don't really get that much into disussing specifics on 9/11. The way I see it, the government made allegations. The ball is in their court. The government has failed to do thorough forensic investigations, failed to hold people in charge of air defense accountable, failed to make a case, failed to "prove" anything. The "stories" are Fractured Fairy Tales. I think it was cunning to allow so many obvious impossibilities into the story. We could argue individual issues til Tuesday after the cows come home. But all you have to do is not believe the bullshit that interferes with …
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Oh, but to answer your question, Joe---it makes no sense whatsoever for people planning on hijacking a commercial aircraft and crashing it into a skyscraper to be out making a scene the night before the deed. Whoever carried out the hijacking was a soldier. A good soldier sleeps when he can, and suicide martyrs don't need to pack luggage to be stowed under the plain unless it will explode, or in some way help in the mission. However "crazy" and "depraved" anyone wants to make the alleged hijackers out to be, the attacks of 9/11 were not something that the people …
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I love this poll Natalie, The poll is the first scientific survey of Americans' belief in a 9/11 cover up or the need to investigate possible U.S. government complicity, and was commissioned to inform deliberations at the June 2~4 "9/11: Revealing the Truth, Reclaiming our Future" conference in Chicago. Poll results indicate 42% believe there has indeed been a cover up (with 10% unsure) and 45% think "Congress or an International Tribunal should re-investigate the attacks, including whether any US government officials consciously allowed or helped facilitate their success" (with 8% unsure). The poll of American residents was conducted from Friday, …
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Beneficial effects of radioactive contamination of land, air, and water supplies? Natalie, I think you're losing it. Ya think the Afghanis and Iraqis will start growing huge vegetables like on Gilligan's Island when those crates of radioactive seeds washed up on their beach? Or is cancer a good thing now? You really are starting to hate your job aren't you? You keep insisting that words like "defense" and "toxic" and "gravity" are being misinterpreted here. The only way to "misinterpret" such concepts is to be clueless or dishonest.
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Natalie, why don't you show us the evidence that the two Chertoff's are unrelated, and this is just another one of the incredibly long streams of "coincidences" that will be the hallmark of this lying sack of shit called "the Bush Administration". But first, tell me how you can prove that they are unrelated and have never met? This proving negatives is all the new rage isn't it? And to think it was thought for so long to be impossible. You are brilliant Natalie---such a rare genius that I have to wonder why you're slumming it with all us tin foil …
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Honest Joe, it never stops. I think I understand why zombies movies are so popular now. Brain. Brain. Brain. They really want a brain and are dying to get one. Wakka, wakka, wakka. I have told her repeatedly that radar blips do not "disappear" when a plane turns off it's transponder. If that were the case, we would have been totally defenseless against enemy aircraft since the dawn of the what the hell did they invent it and use if for if it was worthless without a friendly transponder radar? I mean, how smart do you have to be to …
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WTH, so what? Military personnel means squat. The United States military bombs. In missile warning 78-80 we needed three people on scope at a time in my unit to watch the Western Hemisphere. FAA and NORAD should clearly be the last to be cut, and I seriously doubt that Clinton made cuts in Air Defense. I seriously doubt that Clinton could have stood up to a lobby if the Pentagon really wanted to beef up domestic air defense. The Cold War did not end air traffic. The Cold War didn't even change our nuclear forces that much. We've still got missiles …
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Scorpy-shit, go blow yourself . I have a life that is far too rich to be wasted reading your trash. Natalie at least has some entertainment value. You are just a frustrated troll. Crawl back into the hole from which you crawl. Your side will lose, and you will be sorry to be on it. Promise.
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Funny that someone who opens with "bileybitch" is niggly about form. I will soon be too busy for this little diversion. Everytime I hear an American wondering why they ever fell for it, I'll think of you--- Natalie, and you--- Scorp. I will celebrate the fall of the Vulcans and blow out two candles just for you. May not be this year. May not be next year. But they will fall, and fall hard. And everybody you know will know where you stood. And you still won't get it. Every time I walk into the Agricultural Sciences building I'll be reminded …
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No, Natalie, that means I'll be starting on my Bachelor's of Science in Horticulture and will have absolutely no excuse to waste my time with dead-ender shills. I'll say "ciao", now, since I have far more interesting things to do (like picking my teeth) than watching Nat and Scorp reruns, and I wasn't gullible enough to fall for the 'official' "story" in the first place. Keep the bar low for standards of government and helping people make excuses for the status quo. You need practice. I don't remember seeing either of you make any conversions here. Toodles. "Yeah, when they built …
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I think men and boys are in need of the "you're not crazy" vindication that women got from the third wave of feminism. I would like to kick it off with, Yes. You do cradle the baby like a football.
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Hi, shand, I think the idea of maturity as "settled, comfortable, and stable" is the old marketing cliche to build suburbia. I can't argue with "responsible" as an important part of maturity, so long as "responsible" for what? is on the table for discussion. Hi, xetere, I agree that boys and men are being dogged. I've been feminist since I was eleven, but now I'm looking for a new word for it. A couple of years ago I was a nanny for a child I walked to school. A lot of kids in the neighborhood wanted to walk with me and …
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Hi, forwardfem I never thought it would be better if women ruled the world. The valorization of a group is one thing, proposing that they become dominant is another. I'll confess that I went through a male-bashing stage in the eighties. There was a lot of blatant mysognyny in the media then, but now, as is addressed in the article it's turned around. Fortunately, a friend called me out on my bashing and I stopped. Then I started to see nice men hanging their heads and looking confused, and hang-dog, like--am I crazy? while women carried on about how "bad" men …
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Solid article, forwardfem. I bookmarked http://www.lipmagazine.org/ and put it in my news folder. It makes me happy to see an argument against feminist qua women telling women what they ought to be because they are women.
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Maria, I see your point and I surmise that anyone who takes a feminist perspective has the same struggles, but think about it---whose hand rocks the cradle? I can't count the number I've times I've seen a mother tell her two year old boy not to be a "baby". Who just loves a man in uniform? Also, if women weren't competing with other women, men would not be able to dominate. This is a generalization, but I think it's fair to say that women tear other women down. If you don't see that out of whack "feminine" energies that are destructive, …
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Rocco, if you look at gender differences worldwide, you'll see a lot of different sets of "differences" that often contradict our Western view of gender. I'm sure there are sexual and intellectual proclivities that differ, but those are differences on a scale. I'm not arguing with you, just want to make a point. Like there are a lot of people whose body temperatures are usually 97.3 Fahrenheit. It would be a mistake and an abuse of a mean to think that these people are "off". Women who are more "masculine" in tone (according to our cultural codes) and men who are …
Posted to Men Growing Up to be Boys
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Rocco, I am taking a mini-break from spring cleaning and cannot go into the intricasies of your post right now. I hope to get to them by Thursday. It's a fascinating topic. aquraishi, it is ridiculous how marketing belittles and cheapens us all. It is not to our credit that this sells and that's why they do it. I'm glad that we can see men cry in movies now, and even on live telecasts sometimes. I'm glad to see men snuggling with their baby. I'm tired of seeing men being dogged too. If you have a penis and your an adult, …
Posted to Men Growing Up to be Boys
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I'll get back to you on that Thursday, johnny----Wednesday night if I'm lucky. In a nut-shell I do not believe that women are inherently morally superior, I don't believe that one should believe that they should have or amplify, or should not have or should minimize any human personality trait based on the accident of the sexual organs they have. I also, believe that no one is "liberated" until everyone is "liberated" among groups that live together. Auquraishi, backlash is an interesting thought in this context. That's why I have such a problem withovercompensating, and over-valorizing tactics, they naturally lead to …
Posted to Men Growing Up to be Boys
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Dang! Dang! Dang! I wish I had more time, it's going to take me a couple of hours to catch up on this thread and respond to all these posts. Have fun. Keep it hot.
Posted to Men Growing Up to be Boys
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Being a willful mesomorph, I'm guessing that it's probably a little bit of both rocco. We do all have the same hormones, we just be different cocktails at different times, depending on the bar, and crowd, and accidents of our births. I am busy with spring cleaning that would make Hera proud. I guess I'm 50-50 androgynous genderwise, and 100% heterosexual female sex wise. T(hat surprised me.) According to tests I took recently, I'm 50-50 left/right brain as well. What's important to remember with generalizations, statistics, and trends is that that's what they are. A person who doesn't understand this might …
Posted to Men Growing Up to be Boys
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rocco, I think this is the same test I took. My alpha amigo had it downloaded for a class, so I didn't go through all that registration stuff. I also score in the middle of thinking/feeling on the Meier Briggs. Johnny I've got a lot of catching up to do and do not want to respond to your posts without careful reading and thought. I do want to point out that women have testesterone, and men have estrogen. As far as hormones and behavior goes, I can't take birth control pills because they either make me royally depressed, or violent. …
Posted to Men Growing Up to be Boys
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Oh, bother! I'm going to watch a movie, now.
Posted to Men Growing Up to be Boys
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I haven't had television reception for about four years. I occassionally see something at a friend's house. Women in manic states over pine oil is weird. I still have uncompleted missions and have been lame all day. Though my progress is wunderbar. The house is cosmetically lovely. You wouldn't believe how much work tomato, pepper, and basil plants are when they're toddlers. Johnny, I've been thinking of you and a way to approach what you're saying. I'm not one to say "I'm not feminist but...". I'm feminist, but I want to see men liberated too. If men aren't liberated, how can …
Posted to Men Growing Up to be Boys
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Johnny, I'm still having difficulty getting focused and reading all these posts. I would like to point out a couple of things. 1) Most interpretations of the prehistorice hunter-man, gatherer-woman stuff is crap---it's projecting the fifties and sixties on prehistoric cultures. Most likely, in most groups, all members who were able to work, helped to encircle and trap an animal while anyone who had the weapons and talents went in for the kill. If a prehistoric woman had a 100% kill rate with a spear, I doubt that the tribe would keep her from hunting because it wasn't "lady-like". And rocco, …
Posted to Men Growing Up to be Boys
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Johnny, I know you're not stupid. And I trust that if you were a woman, you'd see a side of women you don't normally see, and you would understand why you should decline the invitation when two women who haven't seemed too thrilled with you lately, invite you to lunch. (Assuming that you're dealing with American women, in an American setting). You're romanticizing women. One of the reasons you may see women "agreeing" so much, is because it's often seen as an act of betrayal to disagree with the alpha female, or other women in a pack. That's why I preferred …
Posted to Men Growing Up to be Boys
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Johnny, I've been consistent too, but I haven't had enough time to write carefully enough to get across. It's odd, but I just quit one of my jobs and now I'm really busy. It's also March. For a gardener in my zone, March starts out like tra, la, la--- spring is coming, and somewhere in the middle it turns into get up and shine your boots! (or watch two months of work go down the drain---I do a lot of starting from seeds indoors). And, as I am whenever the war drums are beating, I'm a little overwhelmed by the prospect …
Posted to Men Growing Up to be Boys
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I'm glad we're cool. It's all real. It's all important. It all counts. I see your point, and I will not say all of the things I could say to make you feel less optimistic about the precarious state of the world.
Posted to Men Growing Up to be Boys
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Syphillus, tuberculosis, and TB are bacteria. The bacteria have never been "wiped out", and probably shouldn't be. The diseases the bacteria cause when they overwhelm a person's immune system have been treated successfully with antibiotics and therefore, not spread as widely. Strains of bacteria become resistant to antibiotics through the overuse of antibiotics, poor cleaning and sepsis protocol, and insufficient hand washing. One thing I've noticed is that people often behave as if gloves were magic and are not vigilant enough about where all they are putting their hands when they are wearing gloves. These infections can also be spread through …
Posted to Are Hospitals Hazardous to Your Health?
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Just about every year hospitals are evaluated and number one on the list is a need for increased handwashing. I think part of the problem is that there are more people living longer, and our society is unhealthy. It's not natural for a person to wash their hands every five minutes, and to wear latex or vinyl or neoprene gloves all day. Health care people have developed allergies to latex and died from thier gloves. What's necessary isanal. In fact, health care people could be written up for not being anal or compulsive enough with handwashing. People have been having amputations …
Posted to Are Hospitals Hazardous to Your Health?
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"Most of what women do at home is unnecessary cosmetic work that often spreads germs." --an arresting accusation. Got proof or is this merely bashing the woman of the house? LOL Well, I could dig up some studies if you're interested, Tim. I've studied this for years and have years of experience as a caregiver and housekeeper. Did you really perceive "bashing" in my post, or are you joking? Being "the woman of the house" myself, and all. It's hard to tell with LOLs these days. I have no problem with cosmetic cleaning btw. Over 80% of the deaths caused by …
Posted to Are Hospitals Hazardous to Your Health?
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Hi, antlantaelaine, I don't doubt what you say, but I don't want to let clinics,hospitals, and medical personnel completely off the hook, either. I've seen a nurse touch an MRSA infected and weeping sore, then---with the same glove--- touch a lot of other areas on the client's body, bedding, and wheelchair. I wanted to clock the woman. I also saw a client in the hospital for a week with an iatrogenic infection caused by surgical implements that weren't properly sterilized. It was a University hospital, the admitted their mistake. My client could have died from that, and we both do our …
Posted to Are Hospitals Hazardous to Your Health?
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Wrongo, Mr. Christopher, there are more fecal coloforms (sp?) in the kitchen than in the bathroom---there is food in the kitchen. In tests done by microbiologists, household kitchens are often found to contain more pathogens than public restrooms. Biggest offenders---sponges. People go out of their way to spread microbes by wiping surfaces all over the kitchen with a nasty sponge so that the kitchen looks nice. If you built two identical kitchens and had one sterilized like a NASA clean-room, and the other covered with deadly pathogens, you couldn't tell the difference by looking. My papercrete dreamcottage that exists in my …
Posted to Are Hospitals Hazardous to Your Health?
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...women actually think that a mans penis is a disgusting thing; except of course, when it becomes useful to them as a means to an end. Disgusting? That's harsh. Do they think their own genitalia are "disgusting"? Have you ever sat down on the toilet and fallen into the bowl? It's most unpleasant, but when I do, I take equal blame for not making sure the seat was down, and I have to laugh because it's slapstick. If I were going into home architecture I'd work a urinal and the sensored self-flushing, lid closing toilet into the bathroom. I don't know …
Posted to Are Hospitals Hazardous to Your Health?
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It's great you got through it, David. Catheters are high on the list for hospital bred, anti-biotic resistant bugs. Clouds was stuck in the hospital for six days with an infection he was given him while they cleaned out his bile ducts and put in a new catheter. If the infection was antibiotic resistant, it wasn't resistant to all of them---or he'd be quite dead. It was staph. I don't want to go to the hospital either. Once, I thought I had a kidney infection (it turned out to be lumbar pain from working ten minutes on an assembly line while …
Posted to Are Hospitals Hazardous to Your Health?
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oil If there is truth in this article, then the situation in Darfur is about much more than feelings of tribal superiority. I was happy to see that there is talk in my state of divestment from the oil market in the Sudan. According to the article, a lot of retirement folios have a lot of investments in Sudanese oil. It confuses me that this administration will use the word "genocide", while the U.N. argues about what constitutes "genocide", and yet we do nothing and the European nations do nothing, and NATO does nothing to intervene and stop the violence. …
Posted to Raising a Million Voices for Darfur
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I don't "google", Jay. I use a search engine. I found some interesting articles and it appears that China is indeed, at least one of the sponsors of these atrocities in Darfur, and China imports a lot of petroleum from Sudan. But how about laying off, the evil empire schtick? China isn't doing anything that we haven't done for Exxon or Bechtel. Neither we nor China invented imperialism, colonialism, or the divide-and-conquer technique. I would like to see the Security Council abolished so that the U.N. can get down to business with majority votes of a quorum. Then we could have …
Posted to Raising a Million Voices for Darfur
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Can you give me a source for that pharmaceutical information, Harrower, I have a friend who has a life or death situation with medication and the constant threat of having insurance dropped or cut is a strain? I've been looking at international pharmacies, doctors in these parts are as unlikely to admit such a thing as Pfizer is. The prices are so much lower it's maddening.
Posted to Raising a Million Voices for Darfur
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Hy ryaninfo. Agreed, I would also like more audio---like Fire on the Prairie(ITT) on-line so I can listen while I work. This article points out one more example of the inherent opportunism, inefficiency, corruption, and amoral decision making in neoliberal or neocon (a thorn is a thorn is a thorn) economic practices. It's a ponzi scheme. It's a profiteering free-for all. And I'm going to rant about it while I finish my first cup of coffee, here. New Orleans is an American city, and a great American port. If most U.S. citizens had enough information and understanding, I think they would …
Posted to The Gulf Rush
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Good news! Keep up the good work, brian28
Posted to The Gulf Rush
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You'd think those donations would be tax deductable, brian. It's so charitable and all.;)
Posted to The Gulf Rush
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WTH, let's not be the darking pot calling the kettle black. In case you haven't noticed, Rumsfeld and the whole PNAC crowd is working hard to make China and Russia our enemies again so that they can relive the comic book days of their Cold War youth. I expect to see a lot more news in the future about how awful the Chinese government is to citizens who want "democracy" and "freedom". Whether the stories are accurate or overblown matters not. The point is that all good Americans are supposed to hate China and think that they are our enemies. (Be …
Posted to China Dissidents Disappeared
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Kuya, China is certainly a rising economic power. There are also public uprisings all over the place (we don't hear much about workers' revolts) by workers who want their piece of the pie---they know the pie is getting bigger, and their government is running all over the place putting out fires (so to speak), especially when there are workers who are not getting paid at all, for some reason. They also have a lot of majorly catastrophic floods. But I digress. Bicycles are being ordered off roads and roads are being made wider to accomodate the growing middle class in China …
Posted to China Dissidents Disappeared
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Hello, i_am_the_walrus. I'm all in favor of NGOs helping out where they are welcome (though I think the Chinese government would not be over-the-top paranoid, if they suspected that some of these groups were fronts for the CIA). I am all in favor of human rights and non-abusive governments. However, I must say that I don't think I "must" do anything about it, anymore than I think the Chinese should feel like they "must" do something about our abuses at Guantanamo, Abu Graib, Bagram, and other gulags spread around the globe. As for buying their products, that's a horns of …
Posted to China Dissidents Disappeared
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They have a rising youth movement working for democracy. This is NOT the time to bomb their country or take any action that will create disorder that the government will (naturally and predictably) crack down on. I don't think we have to do anything about China. Have we not made enough antimonious, and tragically impossible situations in the MIddle East ? We should consider ourselves lucky if China doesn't get too concerned about what to do about us. We need to take care of our own problems. We don't seem to be doing a heckuva job rebuilding New Orleans, or preserving …
Posted to China Dissidents Disappeared
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There is another lie they told you WTH---the one about our precision weaponry and superior military cababilities. For the bombing of military targets in the opening attack we were 0 for 50. Russia studied our attack and concluded that we relied so heavily on satellites for communications that we could very easily be crippled and left dead in the water. In aerial combat exercises with India about two years ago, India won---their jets and their pilots were better than ours. When you hear talk about how splendid and super-advanced our weaponry is, think Boeing, think Lockheed, think Northrup Grummon. That's who …
Posted to China Dissidents Disappeared
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Hey, Mitcherino, I had a wha??!! moment when Odom began to speak as if we were hurting Israel, rather than doing it's bidding. Whatever the case, if having nuclear weapons and delivery systems (including submarines) that can hit any place in the mid-east or Asia doesn't console them, then what will? God knows, it must be confusing to be the chosen people, illegal occupiers, the elephant in the living room, and the all-time-greatest-victims in the history of humanity at the same time, but it might relieve some of the pressure and disappointment that Israel has been expressing about U.S. actions lately, …
Posted to General Condemnation
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Mitcherino, I think he's saying that anyone who questions anything about "The Holocaust" is to be completely dismissed as a nut case, and that anyone who criticizes Israel is crazy, if not anti-semitic. (As if the Palestinians weren't Semitic). It is supposed to be obvious that Palestinians are all terrorists and Islamo-fascists, because they fight against Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. It is supposed to be understood that when Palestinian children throw rocks at soldiers, that the soldiers are obliged to shoot the children in the head so that they don't grow up to be suicide bombers. Those that rail …
Posted to General Condemnation
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Logan why I find it compelling escapes me, but I want to assert that I am a she. I'd love it if we had a gender neutral pronoun for people, because sex doesn't matter in these posts, but I am not a he---so, I feel like I have to correct that, or I would be lying. Liked that article by the way. Very level-headed tone, though it has probably been described as "shrieking" and "ranting" and "maniacal", etc.
Posted to General Condemnation
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logan, nothing to forgive---it's not like being a man is a bad thing. I just wanted to give the information. I have been reading a bit about Holocaust revisionism, and It is not easy to question the "story". It feels like having the rug pulled out from me, and to many people have managed to accomplish that. Since I was in the sixth grade, I've been taught that Israel grew roses in the desert. It sometimes appears that Isreal grows roses out of its butt. Isreal has been taught with such essentialism and exceptionalism that we were never even taught to …
Posted to General Condemnation
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typo correction: NOT TO MANY PEOPLE have been able to pull the rug out from under me
Posted to General Condemnation
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TOO many people
Posted to General Condemnation
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Ya think Terry or any of his followers have asked themselves how many foetuses have been murdered by our armament in Iraq and Afghanistan? Are some foetuses more equal than others? Kuya, I see your point about conflict between democracy and extreme religious groups. The less stressed a society is though, the more likely it is to lean toward tolerance and open-ness (sp?), and the more educated a society is, the fewer illiterate people will be taken in by extremist "religious" hucksters. I agree that zealous ideologies that will use any excuse to justify violence are NOT going to help. People …
Posted to The Crescent Menace
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I have no problem with religions, for the most part, and do not believe that these people are as representative of American Christiandom as it appears. They certainly aren't representative of Christianity worldwide. As another article pointed out a month or so ago, gay teenagers are being executed in Iran---just pointing out that this rampant homophobia is not limited to Christian fundamentalists. Any control freak, homophobe, paranoid/cowardly personality can find a way to channel that through religious and political groups. The secular can be just as faith-based and dogmatic as the God-based religions. Just add people who are looking for someone …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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And, oh yeah----didn't Jesus say something about woe to anyone who hurts a child? Punishing and stigmatizing the children to hurt the parents is vile. You don't protect children by villifying their parents---even if the parents are abusers or neglectful and the child is no longer in their custody, it is not in the child's interest to hear mean, spiteful things said about their parents. Adoptive parents are parents. Is nothing sacred to these demonizers?
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Kuya, then they would fight amongst themselves. (Baptists are cannibalizing now---that's pretty much what Baptists do). They are being led by people, and many are people who thrive on opposition and demonizing. Probably, most of the people rallying behind their religious leaders on these issues would change for the better if given the real life opportunities and living examples, but it would be a lot of work, because most of the zealots are addicts that don't even know they're addicts. They get high off their little frenzied tantrums----the big domapine score. They are like the rich and powerful who will never …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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John Ireland, you and I must have been making our posts around the same time. I didn't see your post before I posted my last one. I agree with what you say, and think that the internet still holds the same promise for democracy it always has, it's just that we Americans tend to want everything yesterday, and have been given the impression that if things don't come off instantly and easily, then we must be dumb or wrong. The internet is as much a revolution as the invention of written language, in my opinion. I don't understand people who put …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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True enough, , cabdriver. Activism is important, but also, the personal is political and vice versa. Taking action on issues is important, but so to is not treating hate speech as "free speech". When the wing-nutty elements jump on board and speak as if everyone else in any forum is the same "other", this is called "depersonalization", and when the right of the supposed homogenous group to exist or be treated equally is drawn into question or denied, it is called "dehumanizing". It is not benign. It is a serious warning bell. The more bullies think they can get away with …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Already saw that movie. It seems that the administration has been pushing the other route---mandatory psychological testing and mandatory drug administration. I'd rather have an exorcism, personally. I could confuse demons I don't necessarily believe in, until they leave me alone---like the one who keeps telling me I can smoke ONE cigarette. Screw him! The movie skirted a fine line. I believe people have a right to alternative therapies, so long as they are not delusional in the way of thinking they can eat glass, or morph into paper airplanes. The woman did give her consent (or so they said). Mean …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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So, johnnyincentx you think none of this stuff you mentioned fisting, multiple partners, drug use is a heterosexual issue? How about wife beating and fathers molesting their daughters? Should we ban heterosexuality over patriarchal, heterosexal abberrations? I do see your point about gay groups being partially responsible for the way they are received. I think there is truth to that for every group and their public reception. As far as what is sexual "excess" goes, I maintain the right to determine that for myself so long as all concerned parties are adults, and I extend that liberty to all of my …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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"...a generic sense of morals as written by the majority..." What are you talking about? Rule by moral fashion? Have you not heard of minority rights? The last thing that will be tolerated is a small group of sexual hedonists demanding all social rights... Oh, you mean like the people on those reality shows with Paris Hilton, or Pleasure Island, or Spring Break? (That's the fault of gays?) Heteros are well aware of their flaws. Their reasons for keeping homosexual culture at bay is to prevent an influx of forces that would further erode their values, and as corrupted and imperfect …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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I don't think adult sex should be part of a child's world at all. Adult sex is even less childrens' business than it is the business of government or neighbors. So, I think, it is a valid point, Kuya and johnny that adults should be discrete about sex. Their relationships, however, should not have to be hidden, IMO. Deception is an ugly thing, especially when it has to be engaged to avoid bigotry and bashing. And, I don't like to see heterosexuals making out in public either. Get a room!
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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I don't know where you live, johnny, but I've lived all over this country, and in Europe and have done a little traveling. On the whole, the overwhelming majority of get a room! behavior I have seen has been heterosexual. The worst I've seen is middle aged couples on buses. Fortunately, I usually have a book with me. Shoot, if I had things in my purse or my pack with labels on them, then reading labels would be more compelling activity for me than watching them make out or complaining about it. I've been guilty of it myself in my youth, …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Johnny, I'm not saying you're anything, or that you said I said that you were anything, but where does "the rules" come from? Did you not get my points earlier? Rules change. Fashion changes. Boundaries change. That is often called "progress" in a society that values or claims to value individualism. That's why I don't have to wear long nails, and nylons, and type 60 words a minute without errors and without breaking my nails. I'm also not expected to tease my hair with a metal comb that looks like a medieval torture instrument, stack it so that it looks big …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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I spent a lot of times with gays in art circles. A lot of gay bars and clubs were great venues for local bands too, so it wasn't assumed that everyone there was there to be gay. For some reason, I don't care about the sexual practices of people with whom I am not having sex. Somehow lesbians could spot me as a "breeder" right away, and I was never hit on my women in gay clubs. We give ourselves away unconsciously I guess. The gay people I knew just wanted to be themselves. They didn't want to convert anybody, though …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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In case you haven't noticed, johnny, I'm an open book. "Wiley" is a joke on myself. The nugget we have a problem with, I think, is that you appear to see "the rules" as homogenous and standardized, and I see things in constant flux. The nuclear family of two people who married each other as virgins and never had sex with anyone else all their lives, and who had kids, and stayed together til death did them part was a fairy tale when it was the dominant model of "decency" and "normalcy" and "the American family", now it's unreal. I think …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Well, johnny we are still deadlocked at a point which requires more linear and historical examination than I care to put myself through, but I'll give you this---I think the gay population fell for it when they took the gay marriage single issue bait in an election year. Timing is everything, and the single-issue bandwagon is in danger of being harnessed to dead horses. I don't think the issue of gay rights is all that parallel to other civil rights movements, though. White Americans were afraid of African-Americans. I could list other reasons, but I'm pressed for time, and want to …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Cabdriver, I don't think you understand how the left is as responsible for the boat we're in as the right is. I am generalizing, of course, but it seems that the left (a generalization) has a very hard time admitting that it's wrong, and is so sure of it's solutions (based on theory) that it doesn't bother to ask why and how bigotry exists and thrives. In fact, it seems to me that many on the left are too concerned about sullying themselves with "the salt of the earth types" (which I count myself among) to be bothered all that much …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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People don’t understand that the basis of racism is the early structuring of the economy’s class system and the many functions it plays in buffering groups from each other while politically stabilizing the accumulation process. I'm not going to read your post completely right now, because Clouds is still sleeping and my only chance to be on my puter before he's up and and ready to finish studying for his finals may be up any minute now. For now I'll say that that quote of yours is a good example of how the left (a generalization) is generally ineffective. You're …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Why do I hate college, cabdriver? Are you serious? Is that how you respond to disagreement? Is it a knee-jerk sort of thing? I LOVED COLLEGE!!!!. If the treasury doesn't go broke and the VA keeps their promise, I'm going to GO BACK TO COLLEGE, and LOVE IT SOME MORE!. I'm damned good at it too---I'm an excellent student, and one thing I've learned is that a lot of theory is rife with cultural assumptions and academic assumptions---most especially Marxist and Freudian assumptions about what makes people tick. The social sciences are as much popular myth as science, and that's before …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Agreed, johnny---what you said. Kuya, I understand your conundrum. I would add sending the Guard in to allow black children to enter school as one of those unfortunate times when government disavowal of majority opinion had a leg to stand on. But I don't think it's necessary for the government to rule on this gay marriage issue any time soon. Amending the constitution for it is just ridiculous, IMO. I could be wrong (I could always be wrong), but I think most gay couples can get what they want without court recognized marriage. Power of attorney comes to mind. And people …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Johnny, I chuckled out loud, and will continue with my designs to take over the world, as planned. Cabdriver, I am also autodidactic. So what? It's not uncommon. Let me give you one of my quotes: Many liberal arts cults feel it necessary to consider themselves as scientific as a rocket scientist. But they generally base new theory on old theory, one way or another---even if the new theory is just a reaction against the ruling trope. There is a lot of great and enlightened thinking in the liberal arts and social “sciences”, and there is also a lot of …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Speaking for myself, I'll think about it whether you leave me to it or not. Cabdriver, I am far more tentative, careful, and precise with my speech than you are giving me credit for, nevertheless, I am going to respond to your last post casually. Thank you so much for recommending someone who is accessable and easy to understand. It is so kind of you to consider my mental deficiencies. Nevertheless, I have three books going now, am a gardener preparing for spring, and have to do some research on nuclear issues for my own pet project. Anyone who ever exchanged …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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LMAO! God, I wish I had said that johnnyincentx!!! Can I copy it and put it in my Live Journal? All names would be changed to protect the whatever, and I would credit you, of course. Still laughing. Ahhh, now an opportunity to use one of my favorite lines from the Queen of American Punk: Yeah, when they built that tower of Babel, they knew what they were after. They knew what they were after. --- Patty Smith
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Kuya, I understand. I am sympathetic. What Johnny and I have been discussing is tactics. I stand by my suspicion that the gay community took the bait and was suckered into making "gay marriage" a divisive issue when all eyes should have been on the government and the election. The homophobes fell for it too. I was embarrassed for all sides by the media spectacle. Our entire planet is tottering on the brink. We need to choose our battles carefully, and develop a sound strategy. Preventive wars/gay marriage. Nuclear strikes/gay marriage. Destroying our alliances/gay marriage. Energy/gay marriage. Water/gay marriage. States going …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Johnny here is my live journal entry with your post: today's post It's been so long since I made a link, I think I forgot. I'll see in a second. Click somewhere around and you'll find the Live Journal home page.
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Johnny, you know I know you know why I want to bang my head on a brick wall so that my psychic and physical selves can feel consonant after trying to talk to a fellow liberal about the liability of having political fashion, self-indulgence, and new-age tribalism in the front seat. There has always been a conflict between the individual and the group in human society, and there are reams of theories, and schools, and political institutions who have attempted and are attempting to alleviate this conflict, or at least to make the struggle more fair. Anyone who can't step outside …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Johnny, I have so been enjoying this talk. I have been thinking that a spoof of the left is overdue. It needs work. The following is not to be taken literally. Anyone who really believes in the cause of freedom should remember the great leaders of peace and resistance---Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King. A real patriot is ready to die for their country, for liberty, for freedom, for the right to watch pornography. Having my head smashed into the pavement by seven cops, having my nuts chewed off by rats in a Slavlavian prison, being shot in the head by …
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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How you manage to be more pessimistic than I am escapes me WTH, but your first paragraph there is a zinger. Economics is primarily a group of cults with fortune tellers (not completely, but "primarily"). I agree that the 24/7 and increasing speed of the market is a serious factor that is not being addressed too. You could get whiplash watching markets rise and fall. Plug for Henry George--- If land is treated as capital or left out of the formula then the whole theory is crank. There are better measures. We do actually progress sometimes WTH. The simple act of …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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WTH Henry would have probably used a lot of serious adjectives to describe the injustice of this Eminent Domain thing. He would have recognized it as the legalized theft for the owning class that is. He would also recognize NAFTA and CAFTA as scams would be my guess. Anything that can written into law, can be written out. Of course, there is a possibility. Much of the world is rejecting the WTO and IMF. Neoliberal economic policy is losing ground as we speak. I'm not saying that things are going to be all rosy, we might all suffer miserably in its …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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Righteous post Kuya. Everything gets back to education. If we had the math skills and rhetorical skills not to be so easily bamboozled. If we weren't all brain washed with the idea that supply-side economics is God's blueprints of economies that are ruled by laws neither God nor Human and not a faulty theory. If professors could focus on research and teaching instead of having to come up with more crap theories to publish so they can keep their job and advance. If independent media, especially news were the norm. If we weren't living in a plutocracy and corporate feudal state …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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I hear you WTH. If it's any consolation, Indian phone workers are having nervous breakdowns. At first, they didn't think it was real work. Ha ha. I so totally saw that coming---it's not digging ditches, it takes its pound of flesh out of your head. However "globalism" has affected our economy (and I think the term "globalism" is as ambiguous, impure, and dishonest as the term "capitalism"), we need to start making things. We must manufacture. And we must learn how to do business if we want to live a decent life in the future. Necessity is the mother of invention, …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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We've agreed on so much now, WTH. Refreshing. I figure if the dollar and joblessness tanks enough we'll be able to barter with doctors and dentists. Like the old West----here's a fifth of whiskey and some apples doc.
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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OUCH, WTH. You might want to soak some gauze with Anbesol and pack it around the offended tooth and gum area. Sip the whiskey through a straw, unless you are taking vicodan or oxycontin. The risk of a vegetative state does not outweigh the benefits of even the finest Scotch. If you can't find compromizing photos of your dentist, then you're stuck with that hefty bill. Shelling out a gran hurts, but a tooth is worth it, especially if it's a back tooth. What's the real value of your tooth?
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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Wow, WTH, television news started to make me feel like that a long time ago. That conversation is trippy. Is Larry King on acid. Am I on acid? Did someone slip me a mickey? I can't believe I'm seeing this conversation. Especially the interview guys---they get so creepy. I have rarely watched television my whole life, but found myself glued to it during Gulf War I. I'm ashamed to say that along with getting the news, I was looking for a glimpse of my favorite aircraft---the A-10. While I was watching video clips on CNN I thought this is an Air …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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Hey! What happened to my LOL? I posted you and LOL WTH, "American Idle" is a hit.
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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WTH, I had posted a one line LOL because I thought American Idol was funny. I usually select and save as I go on short posts. On long posts I often type it in word and then paste and edit. I think I might have hit a button that made the post disappear, and assumed it posted. A round later, I noticed it wasn't there. I have tics in my hands and blinks sometimes so I hit buttons (and drop things) unconsciously. And sometimes, the posts just drop out for what I assume is server reasons.
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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cabdriver, on my hiatus, I got a lot done, but forgot to work on a spiel about projecting the past onto the future. Maybe, later. I have been thinking about it, but I've also been thinking a lot about nuclear war and gardening---those usually trump everything else for a while. Speaking of gardening---the low budget Americans have for groceries represents a lot of crap food, which means more dollars spent on doctors. It would be nice if they grew a few vegetables and fruits so they could see what "fresh" is really like, then maybe small, local farmers could get a …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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The invisible hand of the capitalistic economy (that elusive, metaphysical economic nirvana) is so fickle that sometimes ranchers cut the throats of their cattle and chuck them off a cliff to cut their losses. Killing all their product can lose them less than shipping the cattle to a market. I say, cut the invisible hand off if it offends thee. (You can usually find it among economic rentiers.)
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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I don't know about your neighborhood, Minerva, but no one I know feels "insulated" from poverty. Most of the people I know fear losing their health insurance and, in some cases, fear dying as a result of not being able to afford their medication or hospitalization. Most of those life saving medications are marked up thousands of times over the cost of producing them, and that's not because R & D costs so much----It's because advertizing wall to wall and spending what averages out to $2,000 dollars per physician in the U.S. for promotions and junkets costs a lot of money. …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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Hey, Brian, did it. Thanks for the update. I've lost count of the number of impeachment petitions I've signed, but things are starting to get really hot. Exciting, isn't it? Cheney's emails? YES!!
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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The invisible hand is a bastardized and overwrought concept used to deflect responsibility from government and corporations for the results of their actions and policies. There is no invisible hand, IMO, there is cause and effect, and choices that people make (and advertizing and marketing, but that 's too big a tangent for the moment). These measurements are nothing if not cynical. If every working American adult went out one day, spent their last dime and maxed out their credit cards on pesticide, asbestos, cyanide, and salad dressing; then went home and killed their children then themselves, it would be one …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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We need a radical change alright, WTH I am for impeachment though, indictment, and prosecution for all crimes committed by government officials in their capacity as government officials. We can't keep letting them get away with murder and expect things to change. Mr. Kirkpatrick is hard at work. Bless his heart. I can almost say that I pray for him every day. I think the most profound changes would require monetary reform, making elections completely public, and letting officials know that abuse of the public trust and accepting bribes is more criminal and damaging than smoking crack and should require much …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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Correction to above post: That's Fitzgerald not "Kirkpatrick" the God I don't believe or disbelieve in knew who I meant when I almost prayed for him----that prosecutor with the Justice Department that's got Libby, has cornered Rove, and is working on Cheney.
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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WTH stupid and presidents is as stupid and presidents does. He signed on, he signed the legislation, he's responsible no matter how misguided, or well intentioned he is. His character is not al that relevant. He's not in a Miss American Pageant he's the president. He is in the venue of LAW. Perhaps, since he doesn't understand the role of President as Commander in Chief as one of civilian oversight he should be charged with Impersonating an Officer. That would be a good start. It's Cheny, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Rove I would most like to see brought to justice but whether …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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Well, you've had days in court and won! That's some notches on your belt. I (almost) pray to the God (I don't believe or disbelieve in) that I never require the services of a lawyer. Yet I like sending money to the ACLU. I don't have a lot of confidence that the rabid bats at the helm will be brought down before there is much weeping and gnashing of teeth all around. But I do believe that there are possibilities and possible solutions to most of our problems. I think you have economists fairly pegged. And the feds have made an …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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WTH, you and I both know we're not going to agree on the war issue, but on the defense of the homeland, I say HIRE AMERICANS! I am anti-war, but not a pacifist. I believe in a strong defense. The whole time we've been spending all this money on radioactive munitions to kill people and ruin the world of the survivors we should have been working to protect our ports, borders, and the air space we so clearly failed to protect before the "war on terror" was launched. We need well trained first responders and communications----in short, every thing that went …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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That reminds me, WTH, while I was stationed in Germany, there was a major flood in Austin, Texas and people died. I have an uncle who is a hydraulic engineer and what could have prevented the flood was something he had pushed for for years to no avail. ANYWAY---the emergency broadcast system didn't work at all. Radio stations just shut down. No claxoms. No information of where to turn or what to do. Mensch. Also, while I was in Germany, terrorist alerts were a regular thing. Al Queda is not the one and only original group of terrorists. One reason why …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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got atropine Ran into this article today. Here are a few excerpts:
NEWPORT, Ind. - Army officials said Wednesday a drain-plug that dislodged in a chemical reactor caused about 300 gallons of caustic wastewater to spill at a plant built to a destroy western Indiana's stockpile of a deadly nerve agent. Tuesday's spill the Newport Chemical Depot halted chemical neutralization of the VX nerve agent until the problem is corrected. It was the fourth such spill since May 2005, when an Army contractor began destroying VX at the complex. No one was injured or exposed to the hydrolysate, which Kimmell …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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My brain is very lazy today, so I'm not going to say much before I watch the rest of "Good Night, and Good Luck". What I've watched so far makes me miss Walter Cronkite. Those news casts were delivered with the assumption that the audience could read. Today's journalists are nattering gossipmongers by comparison. Competence and quality. Where did they go? I think it was Reagan who repealed the Eisenhower act that made it law to declassify government information after 40 years? First thing Bush 2 did when he took office was to keep Reagan and Bush 1 information from being …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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I'm not ignoring you WTH, but perhaps because I haven't finished my first cup of coffee I don't quite get your point. You know we aren't going to agree in the war, and that I don't understand your disconnect between "don't we all (have left over nerve gas)" and attacking Iraq for WMD they didn't have.
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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I would agree that all your predictions are possible and most are probable. But, after things fall apart enough, I can see human creativity kicking into action. Our economy is built on sand. It needs to fall apart, because most people are running around using up resources and producing a lot of waste to produce products and services that are, at best, not necessary. It's an old chinese saying, let me see if I can find that fortune cookie fortune--- muzak Didn't find it, but found "You are strong and brave enough to pull yourself through". That's a good one. …
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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Tis true that the character is the same. It's in the I Ching. The main thing, is not to panic. And whatever you see before your eyes, no matter how crazy---believe your eyes. That moment of disbelief can get ya.
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
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Demographics change. Is the percentage of identifiable races (a social construct perpetuated by it's own prejudice and shibboleths against sex and reproduction with "others") really the issue here? Does it matter, Joseph, if the maids turning down sheets in what is probably now one of the most toxic places on earth, check "caucasian" or "African American" on government forms and job applications? Racism is definitely an issue in New Orleans as it is anywhere in the U.S., but isn't class and power structure the real issue? Isn't obscene amassing of money and the abilities it gives individuals and small groups to …
Posted to Masking New Orleans
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Hi, pal mal. I have no idea what is up with your posts. You might want to take it up directly with the contact us at the bottom of the page. This last post of yours clearly posted. Too bad you expressed your frustation with not being heard on that one, instead of the thoughts you want heard. That was a crumbly cookie.
Posted to Masking New Orleans
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Kuya New Orleans was a major port and a tourist town. Mardi Gras was big money---lots of tourists who only stayed for a few days, spent a lot of money, and then moved on, leaving the town to the home crowd. The in-home diaspora of these people is overwhelming and frought with government malfeisance. I think the celebrations that will matter most for the survivors might be the little ones for individuals and families whenever they find their footing, gain a little or a lot of ground, and renew themselves in countless ways. I think those might be their celebrations. But, …
Posted to Masking New Orleans
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I was thinking the same thing Kuya! Chuck a rock and some raunch at those nasty rubber-necking bastards. A ghoulish tourist industry peeking at others' devastation? Shouldn't all the survivors get a cut? The commodification of tragedy---unfu**ing believable! Anyone with the start up money and no decency can make money off of other peoples' pain. Aye, aye, aye, aye.
Posted to Masking New Orleans
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What are you talking about, Joseph Duran? You didn't offend me. I don't understand what you're saying about the military and New Orleans. What were people thanking you for? Were you part of the rescue operations and such? The band thing? What instrument do you play? I was enlisted in the Air Force. The enlisted/officer thing was really hilarious sometimes. I went to Biloxi, Mississipi twice for tech school and man was it a poor and dirty place. I haven't seen anything about all the other places in the south that were hit by Katrina. They didn't have the lake to …
Posted to Masking New Orleans
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So let’s remember what economic, political and social life was like for women in 1964. Want ads in the newspapers were segregated by gender, meaning that women simply could not apply for some jobs. Discrimination and admissions quotas to graduate and professional schools meant that women could be nurses but not doctors, teachers but not professors, secretaries but not managers or executives, paralegals but not lawyers... Thank you. I remember much of this, and it is refreshing to see this as a follow up: All of this has changed because of legislation and court cases: not ideas and discourse alone, but …
Posted to Friedan and King: Super Models
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Clearly, change happens on many levels (or there wouldn't be enough momentum for change), but your story reminds me of an important point about the third wave of feminism. Many people have the misconception that women started going to work because feminists convinced them that they weren't full members of society and/or independent without jobs. Fact is, the family wage began to end in the mid to late fifties and women were forced to go to work. Of course, poor women often had to work even before them, but middle class women were being forced into the workforce in droves and …
Posted to Friedan and King: Super Models
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In the old days, they were called spinsters. Then they got hip with bachelorette. To insecure married women, the term was slut---still is. So, you're saying that you're not a young fur seal kept from the breeding territory by older males? Be completely honest, dave. The bachelor thing is really interesting. Until the bachelor age arrived, women did most of the shopping for the men in their lives. American men have pretty much always had simple uniforms. Concern for finery was considered effete and possible grounds for a beating in fifties American male culture. The large group of unmarried men, however, …
Posted to Friedan and King: Super Models
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Not too many characteristics, I hope. Look at this: In June, male seals, called bulls, compete to establish breeding territories before the females, or cows, arrive on the beaches. Each bull gradually acquires a harem of up to forty cows. These bastard bulls have harems, for crying out loud, and they won't share one female with a young male, who is probably half crazy with hormones. Jiminy, these runts have to stand around acting like nothing's happening while a host of orgies are in progress? These seals have got to have some serious social problems. Male and female seals come together …
Posted to Friedan and King: Super Models
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Kinda, eeking back on topic here, but do we need leaders like the leaders of the civil rights movement now? Can we even support them? The Civil Rights movement built for years before the marches and protests began, people networked and had community. We don't. We can't just make one up out of whole cloth either. There has been a conversation going on on a Socrates board for over year on the question "what is community". John Gatto distinguished it from 'networks'. We need networks too. But "community"? Can we advance as millions of individuals? It may be possible.
Posted to Friedan and King: Super Models
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I haven't even read the article yet, but I will. One thing for sure---the whole campaign/media process is racketeering and fraud. "Reform" is much too pleasant a term, we should throw the book at them. Later I'll read the article and recommended links, and read the posts more thoroughly, but while I'm taking a break from house work I want to throw out a couple of party ideas that I think are worth mentioning. Sometimes when striving for change, we work to change what is most glaringly wrong, and let stand traditions that are insidious and damaging in their own ways. …
Posted to Dems on Ethics: A Day Late and a Dollar Short
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I've been too busy even to read much news lately, but this article caught my eye today: misinterpretations? An excerpt: Bush’s ill-fated invasion of Iraq has set in motion forces beyond his control. On February 23 the Asia Times reported that America’s Pakistani puppet, Musharraf, is “losing his grip.” Some Pakistani provinces are already beyond Musharraf’s control, and the remainder are rioting against “Busharraf” as Musharraf is now known. The infantile American press misrepresents the riots as responses to the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed, but in fact the target of the riots is the American puppet. Since "free …
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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Frog, the holocaust revisionism as crime is strange, no? Whatever you can tell me about how this is going over in France would by me be much appreciated. What I'm wondering now, is why and how these cartoons became a "free speech" issue? When the alleged and bogus films of Palestinians celebrating the 9/11 attacks was shown on television, I don't remember hearing, well, whether you agree or not, they should have the right to "free speech". When there is a school shooting, I don't hear about the right to bear arms. When politicians lie, I don't hear about the fifth …
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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Legislating what is historically true, frog? Has everyone gone off their nut? This reminds me of Baptists taking a vote at a Convention to determine whether or not Jesus performed miracles. Except that Baptists have a right to do that, and can do so without making it a punishable crime to believe otherwise and to say as much. (Anyone interested in other peoples’ liberties must appreciate that it is best not to say otherwise at the top of one’s lungs in a Baptist church on Sunday morning, don't you think?) I am also interested in historical revisionism. This is one of …
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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On a lighter note Chirac refused to sign the law obliging teachers to teach the “positive aspects of colonialism” ! Frog, there was a time when I wouldn't have thought, "Oh. Isn't that nice". But these days, you have to give the poor children of government credit for wiping their noses.
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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Maria, I hear what you're saying and if I'm reading you correctly you're feeling a little sad and frustrated? I know I am, though I have a slightly different take---I believe we are all sexist, racist, this-ist, that-ist, all of our lives. So much of what we think isn't even conscious and we would reject it completely and sincerely if someone could pull it out of our brain and show it to us. But there are all kinds of messages in our unconcsious mind that we aren't aware of and that we often act on unwittingly. It doesn't mean that we …
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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What is Pol Pot instructing children to murder their parents by suffocating them with plastic bags to save ammunition? What is people being "disappeared" and tortured to death and just about everyone else living in constant fear of being "disappeared" and worrying about the fates of their family members and friends? What is having your wife and children kidnapped and raped in front of you? Enough with "the holocaust" being the epitome! It was horrible. Atrocities are horrible! All atrocities are horrible! I met a German man who refused to put a Heil Hitler doormat out instead of the Gruss Gott …
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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I wasn't ranting at you WTH. This deal with throwing holocause "deniers" in prison has got my jockey shorts in a wad. I noticed after I posted and re-read other posts that you were making an economic point, but my mind couldn't go there at that time. It can't go there now. I have lots of work to do. But, if you want to expand on the economic point, I'd be interested in reading it later. Something in your post got me thinking about conscription and draft as slave labor.
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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holocausT
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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Well I’m glad that you’re not sad nor frustrated, Maria. If I weren’t busy with gardening tasks getting ready for spring I would be miserable over the state of our world. Please don’t think I’m picking on you. I don’t blatantly disagree with what you say, but I think these things are complex and I'm working on precise speech. Somehow, I have made an effort to understand man’s history on earth but taking into consideration that we cannot possibly alter the past , but have a personal responsibility in the state of present affair... the sooner we learn that the world …
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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typo correction for clarification: If you die in battle you’ll be rewarded in heaven (so it shouldn’t bother you that the V.A. is cutting your medical coverage and benefits). You’ll be a hero, a martyr, you’ll get laid. is my statement, not Maria's.
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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It's probably just another crony appointment, WTH. A member of the Taliban attending Yale isn't as offensive to me as people who have no earthly idea what they are doing being appointed to FEMA, the EPA, and the CPA. If he starts slapping women around for not wearing vales, or otherwise harrassing them he should be expelled. It is a terrible contradiction, though isn't it? Someone in this administration needs to figure out what a terrorist and terrorist sympathizer is. This guy is probably NOT on the no-fly list, and Kennedy can't seem to have himself removed from it, so clearly, …
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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You can't look at the wall, cabdriver and see the Warsaw Ghetto? Why not? Why is that unthinkable? Do you think that the mechanical carpet bombing of cities or the dropping of atomic bombs is any less horrifying or mechanical than the Nazi holocaust? Do you think the horror in Cambodia that killed a third of the Cambodian population was not as evil as the Nazi holocaust? I think all murder and genocide, and politicide (as if that leaves people less dead), and omnicide is wrong. World War II ended over 50 years ago. How many "holocausts" have there been since? …
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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“"Rumsfeld and Cheney began a concerted effort - first secretly and then openly - to undermine Nixon’s treaty for peace and to rebuild the state of FEAR. They did it by claiming that the Soviets had a new secret weapon of mass destruction that the president didn’t know about, that the CIA didn’t know about, that nobody knew about but them. It was a nuclear submarine technology that was undetectable by current American technology. And, they said, because of this and related-undetectable-technology weapons, the US must redirect billions of dollars away from domestic programs and instead give the money to …
Posted to Islam vs. the West: Clashing Sensibilities
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I think you're overlooking something here brian28---why sue the red herrings that fall into your lap. Let the strangely "divided" nation argue amongst themselves about Michael Moore. Fukuyama (sp?)---the neoliberal neocon Godfather, has admitted that it is an erroneous and unsustainable vision. The neocons in the administration are deadenders, losers, and criminals soon to be trapped like rats (God willing). I'm looking forward to the spectacle of Patrick Fitzgerald prosecuting Dick Cheney for treason. How could it not be art? Law has a lot more punch and consequence in our society than culture, no matter how it appears on television, in …
Posted to Sundance Docs 2006
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This is a fascinating thread. Very complex. Must get back to it tomorrow. All kinds of issues here. WTH, I believe Reagan made the changes to government processing of paper work so that it was not exactly required for a citizen to give their social security number, but the government wouldn't process the form if one didn't cough up the number. I memorized my social security number in boot camp, and still say it and think it with the cadence that I called it out when asked. I usually silently add "sir" after saying the number so that I don't feel …
Posted to Information Is Power
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I want to find out whether my grandfather was really a bigamist.
Posted to Information Is Power
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Hurrah! I've thought for a long time, that given our (U.S.) lack of manufacturing, that an arts and crafts movement might help us become independent and attuned to the processes of manufacturing. When you stop and think about it, rolling your own cigarettes is manufacturing, even if only on a tiny scale. An appreciation of quality and durability and its relatedness to manufacturing is a big step towards a sustainable economy, self-sufficiency, and the manufacturing of products (besides weapons) that the rest of the world wants. You don't have to start with a factory and capital to make something of value. …
Posted to Of Crafts and Causes
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Planned obsolescence and the shrink-wrapped world turning our planet into disposable (sic) plastic. In a word---stupid evil. I agree that industry needs to change and that class is an issue. You won't find industrial waste buried near the manor, but getting Americans to talk about class or to question the basic tenets of capitalism is a monumental chore.
Posted to Talking Trash
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Do you guys---Kuya and mariaaaa have children and full time jobs? Rhetorical question, no need to answer. I won't be around to respond to an answer. Nothing personal, but there are reasons why some people don't make recycling a priority. For someone making minimum wage and working two jobs, with children to care for, the warm fuzzy feeling doesn't cut it. I don't have children and have a light work schedule, but my landlord doesn't want to bother with recycling. Since I don't drive, I have to throw stuff away. I have to stop myself from trying to save every jar, …
Posted to Talking Trash
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Who wants to rally behind someone who calls them "pieces of shit"? Are you really working for Nader, Naiderraider?
Posted to The Republicans Democracy Disorder
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About representatives. I tip-toed through a board I used to spend time on to get this address, and had to force myself to not start reading the posts on economics. I think this guy has a great idea: here Here is an excerpt: Our House of Representatives, however, is defined in the United States Constitution to be composed of Representatives elected in uniform districts of as few as thirty thousand people. The bond between the representative and the people gained by such close proximity is the means by which the common people are protected from the encroachments on freedom and …
Posted to The Republicans Democracy Disorder
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Point of information, WTH, there was no filibuster over Alito. 25 Democratic senators and all the Republican senators voted for cloture. Then Alito was voted in, so his wife will have to find something else to cry about. Perhaps she could be a comfort to Mrs. Lay. Oh, the trials and tribulations.
Posted to The Republicans Democracy Disorder
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Johnnyincentx, I noticed Byrd voted for cloture and for Alito. Maybe he's senile, but it makes me wonder if maybe Alito isn't the demon he might appear to be. The whole system is corrupt and I would like to see the campaigns go completely public and low budget. No spin doctors. No PR companies. No make-up artists. Questions. Lots and lots of serious questions. I think the progressive democrats are alright, but---as Major Major has said, they're running so fast they don't see that noone is behind them. We need a few more parties. I'm totally rooting for Patrick Fitzgerald, btw. …
Posted to The Republicans Democracy Disorder
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I can't see the aristocracy ending abortion on demand. I could be wrong, but I think the administration is stringing the wing-nut peanut gallery along. I don't know what I think of Affirmative Action. It seems like a sad compromise. If Russia and China can't put a cork in this government, what are we peasants going to do? Do what you can. Stay strong. If this administration doesn't take the whole world with them, it will fall. We will pick up the pieces and move on. If we nuke Iran...whoo...we think things are crazy now. Mercy. I don't think Bush is …
Posted to The Republicans Democracy Disorder
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I had no intention of making that whole paragraph bold. That's obnoxious.
Posted to The Republicans Democracy Disorder
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Thanks for the correction, MM. Wish I had more time. I'll get back to this later. Shifting demographics, political landscapes, and their relationship with petroleum and its cost is very interesting.
Posted to The Republicans Democracy Disorder
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Hey, johnny, there is fun to be had on the 9/11 thread. I see the house of cards going down with overstretch alone. You run out of silver, you lose the war. You can only get so much blood out of a turnip, and these guys pay way to much for their shoddy equipment and private armies. They aren't even smart shoppers. That's a lot of cliches, I know, but doesn't that sound par for the course? They just don't get it. The comic book, mad-cap villians are, by their very nature, unsustainable. Nothing will ever change that. Sooner or later, …
Posted to The Republicans Democracy Disorder
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A lot of people woudn't touch that post with a ten foot pole, Major Major. I would say that Bush stood on his mark and took his ques and responded with the speech that was written for him, and only knew what little the perpetrators of the 9/11 conspiracy would tell him.
Posted to The Republicans Democracy Disorder
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Johnny---word to the wise---all caps is screaming, and lol's throughout a post appear maniacal. It undermines your message.
Posted to The Republicans Democracy Disorder
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bold italics bold and italics underline
Posted to The Republicans Democracy Disorder
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that didn't work and then the <>with /b inside it and then the <> with /i inside it and then the <><> with the inside most first---/b and then the outermost /i why the underline worked? dunno and
and then <>with /blockquote inside it
Posted to The Republicans Democracy Disorder
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Cabdriverinchicago, who is this "general public"? Who are the "selfish" and "hardnosed"? I work as in-home caregiver and am a union member. A strike would, for obvious reasons, be inappropropriate in this case. When talking about "atomization" among people who consider themselves to be "liberal", the topic of middle and upper class college educated people insulting working people rarely comes up. People on all sides of the political spectrum will react against having the topic of "class" introduced, as if it weren't a pertinent issue. Fact is, a large number of college educated activists are so accustomed to referring to the …
Posted to In Search of Solidarity
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...their boss at least gives them a check...
Posted to In Search of Solidarity
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Cabdriverrinchicago, what I'm saying is that the activist left is responsible for a lot of that alienation. The Republicans have done an excellent job of exploiting it. If anyone is going to help the working class and/or cultivate solidarity or any kind of understanding with the working class they are entering, they would be well advised to stop insulting the formally uneducated and start listening. The snobbery is often hidden in presumptuousness of what constitutes intelligence, and it is rampant. I agree that radical individualism is extreme in our culture, but that's not the whole problem. The attitudes that many on …
Posted to In Search of Solidarity
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Cabdriverinchicago (can I call you "Cabbie"?) I am not harping on this for the sake of argument, I am persisting with this for the sake of reason and progress. I have seen people on the left alienate working people, ridicule people who showed up for a cause but weren't dressed fashionably enough, and denigrate just about anyone who didn't agree that the world revolved around their pet cause. I've also seen people in activists groups fall for the wolf in sheep's clothing, because he said all the right things, which, btw, includes the denigration of people who don't think that the …
Posted to In Search of Solidarity
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I'm not talking about personal attacks, cabdriverinchicago. I'm talking about attitudes that very nearly define the left . There is a reason why Republicans are popular even with people they are hurting. Republicans don't tell them that they're morons. The intellectuals and the workers don’t relate to each other. Bridgeing this gap could be one thing that could be worked on as a common project. What I said. A big step would be not assuming that people are stupid because they haven't acquired knowledge. And not assuming that "intellectuals" are smart because they have. Is a little humility so hard to …
Posted to In Search of Solidarity
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I will get to the positive in a few seconds, but first, I challenge you to look at the way Whites appear to you to react to criticism and the way Blacks and Latinos appear to you to react, and ask yourself whether or not your perception may be slightly skewed in the direction of being more "tolerant" and understanding of minority anger. And if, perhaps, you have a tendency to assume that members of a minority group suffer from great forces working against them, and working class white people only suffer from the 'little things'. Why, for instance, do you …
Posted to In Search of Solidarity
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I'll get back to the race issue tonight (barring disaster), cabdriver. I think you are stereotyping whites. I'm not saying that there aren't whites that can wear that shoe, but that most don't---not anymore than any other group of people.
Posted to In Search of Solidarity
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Cabdriverinchicago rather than lying and making up a disaster, I'll just tell ya I am tired. When looking for some articles to help me compose a response to your last post, I found a couple of really cool blog sites and I just wandered off. Did get some material anyway. I guess I can ask---do you have any information or study or any set of measures to back up this statement of yours: White working classes historically tend toward fascism in situations of extreme crisis because of the way their consciousness has been formed by mythological notions of being independant yeomanry, …
Posted to In Search of Solidarity
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I don't need to study anything, love. In fact, that is a fine example of the imperiousness I was referring to earlier. Are you a man? Perhaps you tend toward domination because of the way your consciousness has been formed toward patriarchy? Where's the crisis? If you do not have any studies to back up this claim, then it isn't even a fair hypothesis. Perhaps, you need to examine the not so well hidden Freudian and Marxist assumptions (with, perhaps, a little Jungian "collective unconsciousness" thrown into the mix) in your conclusion. White working classes historically tend toward fascism in …
Posted to In Search of Solidarity
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Hey cabdriver, i'll copy this stuff and look up some things. Right now I have to not post for a bit so I can get with a few of my own programs. I'm not ignoring you, I will respond about two weeks from now.
Posted to In Search of Solidarity
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There are two things that all of us who are interested in good government should be promoting. If we can’t get these two provisions passed all the rest is idle gossip. Mirmir, are you aware of the asinine tone of your post? The corollary is that people who aren't promoting these two things aren't interested in good government. These two things are term limits for Congress and a no-exemption draft. According to you, these are things that anyone who cares about good government must promote---lest all other issues be reduced to idle gossip. These things are close to obscure even among …
Posted to A Progressive State of the Union
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I'll give you an answer, NaderRaider. It's all I can do to keep up with our latest wars and what's going on in Congress. Every once in a while, there is comic relief like the following update on the votes by congresspeople in my state: The House gave final approval to a measure intended to trim $39 from the budget deficit over the next five years. Otherwise, the news is grim and increasingly horrifying. I don't watch television. I don't listen to the radio. I read two to six hours a day, everyday.I only have so many hours in a day, …
Posted to A Progressive State of the Union
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Anytime, Naderraider.
Posted to A Progressive State of the Union
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the link Lumens gave is an excellent resource. I looked all over for a concise list of administrative crimes. This is in my bookmarks now. Thank you. Point of information Liberal---the military is admitting to the use of White Phosphorous in Fallujah. For whatever that's worth, Napalm was developed to be used as an incendiary anti-personnel weapon. It's jellied gasoline that was designed to stick to human flesh (sick, isn't it?). White Phosphorous is used for illumination. It kills people just the same, but the military can deny that it was intentionally used for that purpose. Dr. D, I agree---both …
Posted to Witness for the Prosecution
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the following excerpt is from Harper's
The national turnout in 2004 was the highest since 1968, when another unpopular war had swept the ruling party from the White House. [1] Yet this ever-less-beloved president, this president who had united liberals and conservatives and nearly all the world against himself—this president somehow bested his opponent by 3,000,176 votes. How did he do it? To that most important question the commentariat, briskly prompted by Republicans, supplied an answer. Americans of faith—a silent majority heretofore unmoved by any other politician—had poured forth by the millions to vote “Yes!” for Jesus’ buddy in the … Posted to Witness for the Prosecution
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I guess that's "BLOCKquote". The following posts are an article about rape and women in the U.S. military who are serving in Iraq. I'm asking people who are interested to read this, and then write their congresspeople and ask that this be addressed. I wrote mine this morning and included a list of the top five portable toilets at about.com. A simple thing can save a lot of women a lot of grief, humiliation, and pain that some women have literally died to avoid.
Military Hides Cause of Women Soldiers' Deaths By Marjorie Cohn t r u t h o u …
Posted to Witness for the Prosecution
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Karpinski testified that a surgeon for the coalition's joint task force said in a briefing that "women in fear of getting up in the hours of darkness to go out to the port-a-lets or the latrines were not drinking liquids after 3 or 4 in the afternoon, and in 120 degree heat or warmer, because there was no air-conditioning at most of the facilities, they were dying from dehydration in their sleep." "And rather than make everybody aware of that - because that's shocking, and as a leader if that's not shocking to you then you're not much of a leader …
Posted to Witness for the Prosecution
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You can find the rest of the article here Military Hides Cause of Women Soldiers' Deaths By Marjorie Cohn t r u t h o u t | Report Monday 30 January 2006 It's not doing battle with e-ville but providing these women with privacy and safety is a simple, low-budget task. Who knows, maybe some senators might even be happy to get something done for a change. At least one of them ought to be able to write a memo to make it happen. I can't see Rumsfeld arguing with this.
Posted to Witness for the Prosecution
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Calling Rabbit! Thinky? I had completely forgotten about Thinky, had to scroll back up to take a look. Still nothing stuck, but I'm a little sleep deprived right now. Stuff doesn't stick to my brain when I don't get my full ration of sacred sleep. Rabbit, are you a sweeTroll? I am pondering this and my own inclination to be more level than most protestants can bear. Too bad you and MM don't get along so well. Or maybe that's wonderful. I feel like I can be placed on the middle of a spectrum that has you on one end and …
Posted to Witness for the Prosecution
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Oh, I'm not going on a campaign, Lumens. I want to see this one issue addressed. The democratic senator in my state (who had better be in Washington right now) just put up a web site. I actually like the way he votes on most things. I think they are starting to catch on. The web is still promising for democracy. People just expected it to happen too fast. Technologically based change always takes a while to catch on. I'm questing for some mentors to help me inform myself more and get organized to write substantially and post around on nuclear …
Posted to Witness for the Prosecution
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EWWWW, Lumens! You guys are sinister! I thought cactus. Nah. No plant could compare to the pineapple. Artichoke just came to mind. Nah. I was thinking about the four syllable beat of a pineapple. A Moray Eel, and something else came to mind----oh year---a set of blinds... you guys are too good. I thought I might need a little game to keep my mind occupied while I did housework, today. But, I actually had fun cleaning. Sometimes it just goes that way. Washed walls, and mirrored doors. It was a sunny day---it felt like spring cleaning after three years of rain. …
Posted to Witness for the Prosecution
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I'll trust that you---David and you---Liberal have nothing to hide; but that's not the point. It may sound noble when you say you're honored to be spyed on by the government, but I don't think you're thinking this through. In the U.S., our right to privacy doesn't start and stop with whether or not we have anything to hide. With all due respect, guys, I really wish you would not be so blaze about everyones' right to privacy. Why in the world are you justifying illegal eavesdropping by the fact that you have "nothing to hide"? Who determines what should be …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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I know you didn't David. Please don't take my post personally, even though I named you in the post. Same to you Liberal I am an ass sometimes, though lately I'd say that I'm just too lazy to phrase things more carefully and to include all the actual qualifiers that are necessary to speaking my truth more precisely. That was an actual rhetorical question, not a sarcastic taunt. At first, I took what you said at face value, and didn't give it a lot of thought. Then, it chewed at the back of my head overnight, so that by the next …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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Tell us how to give up all we have in defense of democracy, rocco---if you value democracy and are wise, that is. If you don't value democracy and/or are not wise, then tell us how accepting your eventual servitude is coming along? Keep us updated, o.k.
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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Your "solution" is a sucker's game, rocco.
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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So now I propose "resting in comfort". Find someone else's words to play with for a while. They did not sacrifice so that they could say that they sacrificed, and they spent a hell of a lot of time in the library before they struck out on a path. There work is glorious, their deaths are a crime and not something to aspire to. Your thinking is uselessly simplistic (unless it's enough for you to appear to have made a point), and your conclusions are trite. Oh. Look at Jesus. You're not really doing anything unless you're getting nailed to a …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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I'm working class fellas. And I'm going to leave you to your self-righteous little bandwagons.
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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Alright, wth, I agree with you for a change. Going down, down, down. Unless, of course, you just say that working class is middle class, then they aren't going anywhere unless they're going somewhere to demonstrate, otherwise they are so locked into their comfort and ease that it's amazing they even bother going to work.
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/%7Erjensen/freelance/hopeisfortheweak.htm (My alma mater.) Posted on ZNet and Dissident Voice, November 15, 2005. by Robert Jensen In the face of the vast suffering in this broken world, some people turn away. But others want to rush to action, any action. When there is so much pain around us and in us, how can we not feel that compulsion to act, to do something to relieve what suffering we can, and by that action relieve some of our own pain? Indeed, we should nurture that instinct in ourselves and each other; it is at the core of what makes us human. But …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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All of the above should be in italics. It's taken from a talk given on the link above. Same for most of the rest. The first, and perhaps most important, move is to recognize that we humans long ago outstripped our ability to fully understand and control the consequences of our actions. The crises we find ourselves in today are largely the product of social systems and technological advances that have moved far past the point we can control them… That is a dangerous thing, especially in this complex world of nation-states and stateless armed forces, this world in which the …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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But that is not the most difficult thing that hope demands. Perhaps the hardest discovery from which we must not shrink is related to that first point, about the limits of our knowledge. As we intensify our commitment to analyze and act, we have to abandon any certainty about that analysis and action. We must cope with a fundamental uncertainty that will dog us as we must take up our place in the struggle, and that is hardest of all. I believe that to claim to know “for sure” is to mark oneself a coward. It is to say, “I have …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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I could have written as much, all by myself, but that would have been undisciplined, lazy, unauthoritative, not reviewed by academia, not blessed by a rabbi, etc., and therefore illegitimate. Funny how that works, huh? And it would have been uncouthe, not genteel, crass, clumsy, rude, and uncivilized for me to tell someone directly that I think their time is spent in meaningless pursuit because they don’t satisfy my criterion for time well spent. Without the pretense of only wanting to help someone improve themselves through my selflessness and brotherly love ---why that would breach etiquette itself. Mercy, no!!! I’m too …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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You might want to read the whole talk, David. He is not kidding. Neither am I. The closer we get to the brink the more useless or dangerous the people with all the answers become. Technical plans that will fix everything right up should be especially suspect. This spying business and data mining sums up the stupidity of the technical solution. The more information you have, the more likely you are to see patterns---whether the events in the pattern are related or not. It's how our brain works. One of the most difficult exercises in art school is to make something …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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So, the fall of the middle class didn't start with NAFTA? WTH has made a good point and a joke. Well rocco and mirmir it appears that posting here is suddenly a valuable pursuit. Because you're doing it, right? Why is it so important to you,mirmir, to set the off topic agendas? Do you two have any evidence that protests are effective? Does doubt ever enter your mind or are you too well grounded in the self-comforting idea that demonstration would work if only more people would show up? They don't show up because they're "lazy" and "comfortable"? That's the only …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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Well, rocco, it surely isn't as vindicating as being one of the few people who are doing anything that really matters?
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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Isn't it a bit obvious, WTH, that the decision and egging that went into publishing these cartoons was questionable? Does the right to free speech make it necessary to support a person's choice to publish something that is certainly offensive to the sacred beliefs of a billion people? If a person were to publish something discussing the pleasure of raping small children, would you be arguing for their right to free speech, and denigrating the people who got out their pitchforks and torches? I'm not saying that both offenses are the same, just that the "free speech" argument is not so …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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Thank you for your specificity, Rabbit. It is not an isolated incident, and how much vinegar should be pouring on the wounds of a people who are by a landslide NOT TERRORISTs? I wouldn't be surprized if Sufi mystics starting burning things down. Equating being any kind of a Muslim with being a terrorist is simply wrong. I found an article on terrorism today, that included mention of white supremacist terrorist groups in the U.S.A.: ...especially in the wake of 9/11, we’re just focused so much on Islamist terrorists. I just want to find the name of this -- it’s a …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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continued from above One thing they have in common is a frustration with establishing a clear identity. What religious extremist groups offer -- and that can even include groups that don’t get involved in terrorism-- is a very clear identity. It’s very clear who we are, and it’s very clear who the outsiders are, and what makes us different from them. And one of the primary tasks of a religious terrorist leader is to capitalize on some feeling of humiliation, often related to identity, that they find in potential members (emphasis added). It could be a personal feeling of humiliation, or …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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So, WTH, what if Al Jazeera published drawings of Jesus Christ (with a hat shaped like a mushroom cloud) shitting red, white, and blue bombs on top of a little village where children are playing? Would you condemn any and all violent protests in the U.S., and site the old "sticks and stones" clause? Like if Iraqis wanted to test their new democracy and their right to free speech with the question Why are these followers of Christ in a country we did not threaten bombing our homes? How about if they had that put on bulletin boards (that they rented, …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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WTH---knock, knock, knock. How many armies from nations with a huge muslim populations are bombing your neighborhood? How many of those nations have their nuclear missiles trained on our cities? You are one of the laziest thinkers I've ever met and are locked in self-made victim mode. Oh, poor us, poor us, we can't kill moslems fast enough! We need a bigger bomb. We need tactical nuclear strike capability. We need bunker busters! Ahhhhh. Why do you people always talk as if killing moslems wasn't the number one goal of our faultless nation? Why do people complain when we arrest people …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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Go ahead and fear, WTH, that is apparently what you do. I, however, am strong, brave, and have no interest in being a diplomat, which you may have noticed. I was hoping you would have a more fiesty rebuttal. Sometimes smacking back gives you a little depth. Oh, I don't think that anyone can be a figment of their own imagination, What the Heck. Imagination is a product of the brain, which is a physical object. If one is a figment of imagination, then one is not real, and cannot have a brain that is the instrument of the imagination of …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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I like chickens---clear, concise, easily recognizable. The ones who would vote for Satan if he promised that the police, homeland security, the military, and security guards at malls would all be required to shoot anyone who looked suspicious. This would also cause a dramatic decrease in the case loads of family courts. Statistically, so far, we are far more likely to be killed by a vending machine than by a terrorist. Yes---even after our actions in Afghanistan and Iraq drove the rate of terrorist attacks upward. I never could figure out why Americans weren't freaked out about driving around with their …
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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I'll give you that one, WTH. Feisty. Good show!
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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I don't know, Rabbit--- it's this crazy thing---I'm a little fond of WTH. The patience that Lumens has with this guy is a beautiful thing to behold, too. I feel like I am able to go back to middle school to have another stab at learning algebra, except it's rhetoric I'm studying. Is that nutty, or what? It doesn't make any sense.
Posted to FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You
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Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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I can only wonder what kind of situation would occur in which somebody with the capability to stop a nuclear bomb from being set off would know everything they had to know about the evil plot but what could be tortured out of someone in their captivity. Perhaps torture is being shamelessly promoted so that most Americans will believe that they understand that torture is necessary and that it can be utilized to save millions of lives, though there hasn't been any "actionable" intelligence gained from three years of torture at Abu Graib and Gitmo. Whether or not torture is effective, …
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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Oh yeah, MM. I knew what was coming when I heard the name Negroponte---groups of people found dead with a bullet in the back of their heads, and their hands cuffed behind their backs. Sick bastard! (Negroponte) These mass murderers are loyal to their methodologies. So predictable, once you understand sociopathy. I'm glad you brought up the citizens. Collective punishment and bombing homes is a form of "torture", I think. It's an effort to break people down and make them pliable. Maybe oppression is a better term. It's disgusting that something as brutal and mentally apish as carpet bombing cities is …
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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Thank you, Liberal.
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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Is MM happy all the time?
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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It's funny you mention that confuzed canuck. I've been saying for some time that it is as if the neocon warhawks have read all the comic books and satires, and instead of heeding the warning therein, concluded that the evil doers had great ideas, they just wore the wrong capes. Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Cheney are Dr. Strangeloves from way back. Rumsfeld especially has held tight to the fantasy of winning a nuclear war. Megalomania gone mainstream is pretty scary stuff.
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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Confused Canuck, I wonder about that ordained by God farce. I'm thinking "not". He doesn't care, because he doesn't care, is my guess. I almost feel sorry for him. I think he believed that he would be recognized as a great president and everyone would love him, and all he had to do was smile for the camera and prang out some slogans. And PR firms write the slogans. He is usually either on vacation or campaigning for the GOP. WHY IS IT ACCEPTABLE FOR AN ACTING PRESIDENT TO CAMPAIGN FOR A PARTY? Or going to political conventions with his 2000+ …
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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Confused Canuck, the more confused you get, the more you understand what's going on. It appears that the red right is so obsessed with violence, divorce, etc. because those are serious problems in predominately red society. Here's an excerpt from an article. The link is at the bottom. Too busy to shrink and link. Sorry. Conservative Christians are forever telling us that their religion is the key to a cohesive and peaceful society, and that all hell began to break loose in American culture when we "took God out of the schools" (itself a myth). So at the very least one …
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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* The Economist: Quality-of-life index * Vanderford-Riley well being schedule * Physical quality-of-life index * UN Human Development Index * Genuine Progress Indicator * Gross National Happiness In wikipedia there are definitions of these indices. I don't think most economists take the GDP that seriously as a quality of life indicator. It helps to calculate the trade deficit, but as far as the quality of life goes, the GDP goes up whether the money made is spread equally among the workers, or the workers are living on slave wages, paying too much for cheap soap at the company store, and eating …
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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This brings up a crucial question: What does this all-pervasive sense of urgency mean ethically? The pressure of events is so overbearing, the stakes are so high, that they necessitate a suspension of ordinary ethical concerns. After all, displaying moral qualms when the lives of millions are at stake plays into the hands of the enemy. Is this the point that you think everyone is missing x2dn? Or what? Others veering off topic does not prevent you from posting "the point" that you think was missed. I think it was acknowledged well enough. How long do you expect people to talk …
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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Hey frog, I've been meaning to ask you---what's with Chirac and that little outburst about using nukes against any nation that nuked France? Was that necessary? I understand that world leaders are under a lot of pressure, and if it was a warning to us, I get it; but I hear talk about Germany, England, and France going along with this Iranian nuclear power plant as potential nuclear weapons program soap opera, and I feel like they're all off their friggin rockers. There are sedatives. I'm waiting for mine. Tell Mr. Chirac to ride it out, take it easy, don't have …
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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Hey, x2dn, ten point spread. I'd jump in on that action if I were you. ;)
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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I forgot about NATO and Yugoslavia, frog. I was a media hermit for a few years, and know next to nothing about that situation. The more I learn about Clinton the less I like him. Oy, weg. Our species has a serious control problem.
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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I had to look around for that article, frog. I was hoping to find it in The Onion, a very funny news satire site. Didn't see it on the link you gave, but I'm zonky. Did find it mentioned. My God! It really happened. I think these guys are on drugs. Not good drugs, or beneficial drugs; but the kind of drugs that make people lose their spouse, and kids, and house, and job, and friends... You know, it might be one of those trial balloons the administration floats every once in a while to see if the nuts will fall …
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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Alrighty, it's not as bad as it looks. Here is what he said before that statement: GONZALES: I gave in my opening statement, Senator, examples where President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance of the enemy on a far broader scale -- far broader -- without any kind of probable cause standard, all communications in and out of the country. Ho ho ho! Washington authorized electronic surveillance? As one wag put it on the radio this morning, what Gonzales meant to say is that Washington authorized smoke signal interception. But then you read what Gonzales …
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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Hey, frog, Cheney has been implicated in the outing of Valerie Plame. He may be the first to go. Who knows? I guess it depends on whether or not a tech guy can retrieve the e-mails some parties deleted. This is a serious soap opera. People are singing like canaries, and leaving government posts in droves---hopefully they are leaving so they can sing like canaries.
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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So far, crashtech, it hasn't been proven that Muslims crashed into the WTC, and there is no evidence whatsoever that Iraqis were complicit in 9/11, or that Hussein had WMD. If you want to justify killing terrorsts and Islamists who wish us harm, then you support thought crimes. And if using as much force as necessary includes nukes, then you wish to use WMDs and---unless you propose making it legal, or at least turning the other cheek, when other countries develop and or use nukes, you are hypocritical and no less a follower of despotism and fanatic nationalism than the …
Posted to Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency
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I know, I know opeluboy. Ignoring them doesn't make them go away either. It is the posting itself that does it for them, I think. Freeper posts are graffiti. They don't even try to argue. Haven't you noticed? We're not dealing with reason, or any facsimile of reason. They aren't going to go away. They are simply exploiting something that liberals tend to be proud of---recognizing freedom of speech to a ridiculous and totally unnecessary fault. It is a real weakness and it is being exploited. I know some liberalesque people will come back and say that that is really a …
Posted to Coal Miners Slaughter
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Now you come from a long line of coal miners, Minerva? Was your mother a coal miner? Did they meet on the sea?
Posted to Coal Miners Slaughter
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Workers at the non-union Sago mine knew the facility was unsafe, but were afraid to speak out, according to the son of one of 12 miners killed in the underground explosive accident there on Jan. 3. But while John Bennett said his father and the other miners were afraid to discuss the mine’s problems, AFL-CIO officials and federal reports counter that Sago, in rural West Virginia’s traditional coal mining area, was an extremely troubled mine. And a list published by Bush’s Mine Safety and Health Administration shows it dumped several rules four years ago that could have bettered safety at Sago. …
Posted to Coal Miners Slaughter
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I don't think paying taxes is a bad thing either. Investing in citizens and the general welfare is righteous in my book. Right now, there is money in the billions if not trillions that our government can't even account for. Investing BETTER is indeed an issue, as is accountability. We have a tendency to take public projects for granted and to give the great man way too much credit. The computers we're on were developed with public monies. The phone system was developed and built with public monies. Most people here can read because of the public education they received. …
Posted to Coal Miners Slaughter
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Hi, robin.
Posted to Coal Miners Slaughter
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I don't think we've met, robin. I just wanted to say "hello". Your post was resonant, and it reminded me of the mixed feelings that can exist between working class families and their educated children. I've been through West Virginia a few times. It is beautiful.
Posted to Coal Miners Slaughter
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Well, Liberal, if you come up with a succint way to illustrate the fact that money spent on public projects, and public welfare, infrastucture, and education is not a zero sum game, then slap it up here, pleeze. Most people get the impression that when government (which is ostensibly, a public servant) pays monies to institutions and people it is not thrown into a dark hole. People and institutions spend that money into the economy so that it becomes income, payment for goods, more taxable income, payment for services, etc.
Posted to Coal Miners Slaughter
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Correction ...it is thrown into a dark hole...
Posted to Coal Miners Slaughter
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I didn't think your article was sensationalist at all, Cdcook. Your clarification doesn't hurt, either. And even if the rate of deaths were the same for mining and construction work, there is a particular horror of being buried alive that---since it's unlikely that anyone wants to test it---is worthy of respect and particularly diligent preventive measures. I take reproach for preventable workplace deaths to be a sign of mental health and social responsibility. More dilligent safety measures on construction sites is not a bad idea either. You wouldn't believe some of the scaffolding I've seen.
Posted to Coal Miners Slaughter
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We must free ourselves!
Posted to Let Them Eat Crap
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It's especially good to be a king who spreads democracy---that pretty much covers all the bases. The breadth of this man---whoo.
Posted to Recess Appointments Reek of Cronyism
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It doesn't reek of cronyism, it is cronyism.
Posted to Recess Appointments Reek of Cronyism
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Thank you for bringing up the present, rocco, it's so refreshingly germane and...you know---present, now, happening, in progress, and so on. There really is not much that is more relevant than the people who are currently holding positions of power in our government. Like you said, the majority here don't care for Clinton. I think most presidents suck, you almost have to suck to be president. I'll stay independent for now, but if we're ever going to be a democracy, we're going to need a lot more parties. I'd like to see Americans looking at all the different government posts and …
Posted to Recess Appointments Reek of Cronyism
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It looks like someone is a closet liberal yearning for a nanny state.
Posted to Let Them Eat Crap
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Hi, hydro. Tina1 is our resident kooky troll. Stroll around the threads (until you feel at home)---note how many people do not care for Clinton or Bush. Note how many people do not claim to be Democrats. Note how tina1 has this liberal strawman she sets on fire and then lols over, regardless of what anyone else posts. You cannot reason with her. You can't even speak with her in any meaningful way. You will see that she is a victim of Kooky Troll Poo Spew Syndrome, or KTPSS. Again, please check out the threads. Rocco insists on talking to her …
Posted to Recess Appointments Reek of Cronyism
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True Believers, Lumens. I haven't looked up Bolivar yet, but I have been reading some interesting things about cults that I believe shed light on KTPS syndrome. So much to read. So little time.
Posted to Let Them Eat Crap
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Hi, BMiller. The Cult of Bush is as removed from reality as any other cult. Tis sad that so many are so lost that they will blame the people of New Orleans for drowning, while expecting absolutely nothing from a government official assigned the responsibility of dealing with disaster. If these cronies think that government is unnecessary, then why do they accept these posts and public money? They are at best, hypocrites and sandbagging thieves.
Posted to Recess Appointments Reek of Cronyism
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Perhaps you both should seek out an admittedly dictatorial society, since that's what you both apparently want rocco and tina1.
Posted to Recess Appointments Reek of Cronyism
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Why, rocco, are you projecting? Or what? Why do you ascribe anger to my post? Did I say that I was angry? Tina1 says that a lot too. Liberals are so angry. Yes, well, whatever. You post something to the effect that we should all be open to dictatorship and then you classify a negative response to that as "knee-jerk"? Uh-huh.
Posted to Recess Appointments Reek of Cronyism
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I really don’t see what’s so difficult about accepting a dictatorship. Many people have done so during the history of civilization. But if Brutus is more your historical idol than Octavian, be my guest in fighting it. It might be fun. Posted by rocco on Jan 28, 2006 at 2:00 PM
Posted to Recess Appointments Reek of Cronyism
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FBI, DoD, NSA: All Spying on You thread, rocco.
Posted to Recess Appointments Reek of Cronyism
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I haven't been involved with a group since campaigning for Kucinich in the primaries. I think a lot of activism for the sake of being "active" is a waste of time and a middle class conceit. I've been active and have known a lot of people active in other organizations and have found that they have a tendency toward group think, excessive fashion consciousness, and contempt for the working class they deign to speak for. Many groups also use a top-down organizational heirarchy. I'm not saying that I don't look for groups or appreciate a lot of their work--- I do …
Posted to Recess Appointments Reek of Cronyism
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Instead of telling me how to live my life, and telling me what I should be doing with my life, why don't you mind your own business. I am here to discuss issues. I am not here for validation or advice about how to manage my life, or how to be a citizen. Regardless of what you think is valid, or legitimate, I have my own life and my own pursuits. I'm happy with those and I don't give a flying fuck what you think of it. So let's cut out the sophomic little pretention that you can guide me. If …
Posted to Recess Appointments Reek of Cronyism
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One thing not mentioned here---has anyone ever noticed how dieticians are generally in lockstep with the latest food fads? It appears that they are trained shills. Thirty years ago it was "common knowledge" and accepted as gospel that we should eat meat at every meal and that the best meat is marbled with fat. Now it's difficult to find whole milk products because they are just shy of being heretical. Ten years of "low fat" tyranny and sugar substitutes and America is still fat. Most Americans don't have the education and time to seriously study and experiment with diets. And most …
Posted to Let Them Eat Crap
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Yes, a round-about way to say that Israel is stealing land, and dividing the Palestinians into "enclaves" so that their movement and organization can be controlled by Israeli forces. The wall reminds me of something...what was that...everyone has heard about it....WW II.... oh, yeah ---the Warsaw Ghetto!!! What is Sharon up to anyway? Is he dead yet? Will we get the pharoah's funeral on Fox? I hear you opeluboy. They can worship caribou for all I care. What the Israelis are doing to the Palestinian people is shameful and evil. Ah, but the oppressed do yearn to be the oppressor. You …
Posted to Hamas: Sharon's Legacy?
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Hi cabdriverinchicago, glad you could make it. Do you have space making capability on your puter? If you could break your posts into shorter paragraphs, that would be wonderful. If not, I'll read ya anyway, I'll just get lost sometimes. Actually, I hear about a third of the Israeli population wants peace, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are willing to give up the occupied territories. I have never heard anyone complain about the Jewish problem in Israel. It is always the state sponsored terrorism and militancy that is criticised. The knee jerk reaction against any criticism of Isreal as …
Posted to Hamas: Sharon's Legacy?
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How do people manage to make such hopeless situations and keep the conflict going? I do want to stress one thing, because the U.S. press has distorted its reporting for so long: the occupied territories are being illegally occupied by the Israelis.
Posted to Hamas: Sharon's Legacy?
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I'm going to have to chew on this for a while. I wish there were more hours in the day to read.
Posted to Hamas: Sharon's Legacy?
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frog's map A pipeline from northern Iraq to Haifa? Does anyone else see this as a cruel joke, or believe that it will happen?
Posted to Hamas: Sharon's Legacy?
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Dang. Why didn't that work? frog’s map
Posted to Hamas: Sharon's Legacy?
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I tryed, frog. The cut and paste does work, anyway. I heard a Palestinian woman talking about this on Democracy Now a month or more ago, she mentioned the Palestinian settlements being laid out like swiss cheese, so that the settlements were the holes and it's nearly impossible for them to do business with other Palestinian settlements. The old divide and conquer, with an apartheid wall. Could Israel do this without U.S. support? Hmmm. Cabbie and Major Major have certainly got some historical perspective on this. Is Israel a welfare state with a caste system or what?
Posted to Hamas: Sharon's Legacy?
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Hey, frog. I see what you're saying. The Taliban wanted Afghanis to be able to use some of the oil that would have been piped through Afghanistan, and wanted Bechtel to pay a little rent for the pipeline. Someone evidently would rather have the taxpayers bomb Afghanistan into submission than cut into profits and shareholders' dividends. Makes sense in a brutal way, I suppose. Ken Lay is going to court today? Enron has had entirely too much influence on our little planet. I am wondering why there isn't an explosion of heroin use here. Maybe I'm just not hearing about it. …
Posted to Hamas: Sharon's Legacy?
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http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/article.php?id=183 Am having html issues, so I'll just leave that there for cutting and pasting. Enron Pipe Dreams in Afghanistan is roughly the title. Good background information.
Posted to Hamas: Sharon's Legacy?
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This Iranian thing is woefully awful. Criminy! If we start with a nuclear strike, then where do we go from there? My guess, is that if we nuke the power plants, we'll take a lot of pretty satellite pictures to show around the table (that everything always seems to be on) and then We'll start production of bunker busters. This is a test. This is only a test. Brought to you by Soma--- Hug me til you drug, me, baby! and Pantex--- Building better bombs, is our business!
Posted to Hamas: Sharon's Legacy?
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Scared? is it not enough to be concerned, InThoseTimes? Isn't being concerned legitimate? The fact that the Congressional Democratics suck doesn't justify the process of making the presidency a "legal" dictatorship. (We'll have to look at W. in military costume with obscene racks of ribbons and medals, if this flies. You realize that don't you?) How about the ninth justice? I wonder. I wouldn't be so quick as Mr. Moberg to conclude that impeachment is not politically viable, and am old school enough to say that a criminal act is no less criminal by being political. What isn't political? I'm curious …
Posted to An Imperial President
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Am I not getting a joke? What does "rule" mean, Rocco?
Posted to An Imperial President
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A benevolent king would be better than an idiot dictator, but somehow, we are never given that choice, are we? A benevolent King, if we had one, would be fine in the short run, however the children of the wealthy and powerful seem to be almost unanimously useless even when they do look good in a bikini.
Posted to An Imperial President
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That's a good point, Rocco. How to adapt to corporate imperialism? Will we all be in the French Resistance? Will democracy be a low priority? Wherever we go from here, survival will eventually trump all. Our chances aren't exactly getting any better, but life is certainly interesting.
Posted to An Imperial President
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I don't know much about Costco, Rocco, but this concept of unitary executive priviledge is about as sophisticated as pig latin. They are just making shit up as they go along, apparently.
Posted to An Imperial President
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Democratically run businesses are communist. Haven't you heard?
Posted to An Imperial President
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Hi, Max Godwin. Tina1 is a kooky troll. She may look almost coherent right now, but she's not. It is futile to reason with her. Facts mean nothing to her. She has paranoid delusions about "liberals". They are everywhere. They control the media. They just hate Bush. They are all losers. Talking points, ditto, ditto, ditto. You get the drift. If you go back through the threads you will see how she works. I ask you, personally, Max Godwin and rocco, and all else-- please do not feed Tina1---ever. I've adopted her. For the sake of intelligent discussion and the integrity …
Posted to An Imperial President
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It is scary when Congress is helpless in the face of a statement. What does Rove have on these guys? Have they received death threats? How can they let this happen? Bush isn't even popular anymore.
Posted to An Imperial President
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It's nothing new, csmelnix. The FBI has keeping tabs on the Gray Panthers. It's a no brainer that the administration is more worried about dissent than terrorists, and that it benefits from divide and conquer tactics. There is a chance that the supreme court would vote against this executive privilege. My guess is that the "president" would then make a statement that that isn't binding either. There is no reason for this to even be taken to the Supreme Court.
Posted to An Imperial President
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Rocco, of course you are free to respond to whomever you chose. I asked for cooperation, I didn't demand it. If you want to be the warrior for hopeless causes, you are certainly free to do so. Tina1 is certainly hopeless. I have to wonder why you wouldn't rather devote your time to people who are a bit more promising, but that's your issue.
Posted to An Imperial President
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I'm not keeping her from speaking, rocco, but whatever.
Posted to An Imperial President
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Ah---the cry for help.
Posted to An Imperial President
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You guys just don't understand how threatening these South American leaders really are! It's not just the leaders---it's the people behind these leaders! These guys are really popular! And God knows (if W. informed him) that those people are being led into the dark den of communism, via democratic socialism. They're nearly indistinguishable forms of government that are out to get us, because we know in our hearts, even if our minds won't tell us, that people who speak for working people and think that the well being of producers is a priority, are evil. By the time these people realize …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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We must have regime change in South America to get rid of their socialist leaders. That will teach them not to vote for people who think that their leaders matter more to them than to us. It's the free market that makes the measurably most out of the peasantry and herbal plants---not the unwashed masses where their clear lack of refinement. Uppity peasants. The gospel of Supply Side Jesus is all they need.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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And when do we learn? When China calls in the debts? At least Venezuela is leaning on a resource, we're living on credit.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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And we're living on credit. Our dollar is pegged to petroleum. And the petrodollar is on its way out. How are those tax cuts to the wealthiest 1% working out? Are they comfortable? How nice. BTW, Scorpy, a couple of things that fueled the economy after WW II was the G.I. Bill, and veteran loans for buying homes. What say you about that little bit of socialism? Working people could afford to buy and/or build new homes. They could go to college and learn the skills that would help to provide a skilled workforce for the technologically advancing economies of the …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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You, Tina1, are shrill, and your posts look like something that might be computer generated to respond to key words and then go into tirade mode. You never really address issues in any broad sense. You react, and your reaction is always pretty much the same. BTW, who says, How do you like them apples? Are you in the geriatric branch of FreepersAnyonymous? I am going to adopt you. I am going to learn how to love a troll. It is not going to be easy, but I hope to learn how to make the most of my broomstick. Now, Tina …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Tina1 goochie goo, goochie goo, goochie, goochie, goochie goo. The grown-ups are going to talk later. Go find your gucky.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Scorp do you think that state owned oil will run out sooner than privately owned oil? How does allowing oil reserves to be privately owned benefit the state? Do you see any conflict of interest between privately owned oil, and people who are heavily invested in oil businesses making energy policy?
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Scorp, the pollution problem China is having, is no different from the pollution problems we were having in the sixties and seventies. The Soviet Union had the same problems too. These are problems of industrialization and large scale agribusiness, not communism, or socialism. By the time the Potomac river caught on fire, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring had a following and regulations were being made to keep pollution and the poisoning of our environment from destroying it. As far as China and their dependence on us as consumers go, that is why China is making friends worldwide and developing other markets. Do …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Yes, it works. There's your gucky. The topic is Venezuela. Can you say that? Vin-i-zway-luh. Go suck on your gucky.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Chavez isn't a god, but surely it's not hard to appreciate the value of the first mestizo leader in Venezuelan history.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Poor girl is in Milwaukee and we're talking about Venezuela.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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That's an awfully long address. Lumens can tell you how to find tiny url's. I tried it once, so far, and it didn't work for me, but it apparently does work sometimes. It looks like you have all the code right. I'll see if cutting and pasting works. Small price to pay for an article.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Good thinking Lumens. She's a kooky little baby. tina1Kooky baby. Kooky. Kooky. Who's a kooky baby? Yes you're kooky. Lumens and RoccoI read an article recently claiming that only five nations in South America are leftist. Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil were among them. No wonder the newspapers don't publish maps anymore. I'm trying to find some balanced articles about Venezuela and their economic boat. One thing is clear to me, the natives in Venezuela aren't afraid to say what they want and to voice opposition to particular policies. Much of the changes going on Venezuela appear to me to be geared …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Am wondering why Venezuela is being treated in our media as some rogue nation where oil is concerned, and why OPEC is not being discussed.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Who would that benefit, Rocco? When does the MSM ever treat another nation like it was anything but our honey pot or not? Shoot, in geography in grade school memorizing the nation's resources was second only to finding it on a map. Why? I know you know. I'm beginning to wonder what's so bad about Castro. I'm sure he's not a choirboy, but I have to wonder what's going on when the leader of a country is reviled in our press without any mention of why he is being reviled. It's like a tradition or something. He's like the mascot for …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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I just asked a friend who is 9 years younger than I am what his impression of Castro was when he was a kid. He said he got the impression that Castro was a militant drug lord, who always had a cigar. I knew he was communist and we were supposed to think he was evil, but I always wondered why there was never a list of atrocities associated with his name---something you might expect from someone who embodied evil. It was understood that we were supposed to detest communists. I knew he was Cuban and associated him with the Cuban …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Hi cabdriverinchicago. I think you hit the nail on the head. Are you planning on hanging around? If so, welcome. Please do me the favor of not feeding our resident kooky troll, tina1. It's not good for her. I'm asking for this cooperation as a favor. Check out the threads and you can see what I'm talking about. If you have links to some in depth stories about LA, please post them here. It's hard to keep up with the world.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Hey Rabbit, it is funny how Americans suddenly have strong opinions about the leaders of countries that were not in the news until now, all of a sudden. Last week, who ever heard of Venezuela? This week, Chavez is the devil's underwear! It's a crazy thing. I really wonder what's in the water sometimes, but I know it's the power of advertizing. Oh well, I got two new brooms today. One for the bathroom. One for the kitchen. It's deep cleaning time. Yahooey. Off topic My tactic with this troll, Rabbit, is to ask people not to speak to her. It …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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What is happening with me and the HTML? Sheesh.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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I think he wants to be a real hero. There are worse callings.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Oh Rabbit! Can we just talk about our baby's troubles amongst ourselves and try to keep it to a minimum of irresistables? Nothing too much? I've gone through some threads and have seen that baby kooky poo has had entirely too much impact on the quality of discourse among sane adults. Of course, we can hardly discuss single-minded, hysterical, sycophantic, brain-washed, propoganda spewing, polarized, idiotic, blow-hard thought processes without tipping our hat, but it would be nice if we didn't provoke it or rub it's belly. In fact, it might be a good idea to distill the essence of the kooky …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A top Republican lawmaker said Sunday that the U.S. must explore alternate energy sources to avoid being held hostage by Iran or by "wackos" in Venezuela -- an apparent reference to Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's populist president. Sen. John McCain, a potential presidential contender in 2008, said recent action by "Mr. Chavez" and by Iran's leaders make it clear that the U.S. will be vulnerable as long as it remains dependent on foreign energy. "We've got to get quickly on a track to energy independence from foreign oil, and that means, among other things, going back to nuclear …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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We may have to eat them, cabdriverinchicago. Bet they're tender.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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My major concern centers upon how Chavez’ currently unopposable ability to control the country may lead to ever more strings of power being gathered into fewer and fewer hands. Where does this come from, Kuya? I'm under the impression that Venezuelan media is owned by the right- winged gentry, and that what is keeping Chavez in power is real popular support. The coup against him failed because the majority of cititzens literally and physically put him back in office and then stood guard around the capital building. The military and police stood down. I can't see the military and police suddenly …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Oh, curses on my inner editor! Thank you, Rabbit. Funny you should mention those lols. I'm working on those with an experimental method of reparenting called remote parenting---I influence her telepathically. She has Kooky Troll Poo Spew Syndrome, or KTPSS, for those who have to carry around the label for the rest of their lives, and she is in need of a personalized program. Though you may not see me, every time she posts, I'm there. The lols seemed to be the right place to begin because they can be emitted pro-socially. From now on, when you see her lols, bear …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Note how important it is for her to convince everyone that she is in control---calling me "Broomstick", for example. She is also trying to demonstrate special knowledge--- You only think you know what is going on.... soon you will understand. Is she in a white supremist cult that is going to poison water supplies with cyanide? Has she been promised special powers so that she can torture her imaginary liberals in person, a la Abu Graib---now that liberals are being compared to bin Laden by her favorite pundits? One can only wonder. Perhaps she is constrained by circumstance to only hint …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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David, would you say that you've been influenced a great deal by the unsung heros of politeness---Chip and Dale? Rocco, gawd, I've been reading all day. Haven't gotten to Bolivar yet. Hope it's very interesting. The definitions of socialism in the wikipedia aren't what I expected. Now I'm curious. I'm pretty sure that Chavez is using Jesuit land reform theology as a model for land reform, by giving land that was not being utilized to peasants for farming. Am wondering what the story is on some shortages that are allegedly due to his policy. Ironic? Hopeless appearing to have hope? I …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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In Germany the series is known as "Ahörnchen und Behörnchen" and "Chip und Chap", in the Netherlands as "Knabbel en Babbel", in France as "Tic et Tac", in Spain as "Chip y Chop", in Italy as "Cip e Ciop", in the Middle East as "Sanjub wa Sanjoob", and in Brazil as "Tico e Teco". This is wonderful information Dave. So Chip and Dale are too heavy for you? The old stuff? Did they disturb you when you were a child? Hi, oliver cromwell. Are you familiar with Henry George? I better scat around the threads then get to work. Later. Hope …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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I hope you don't feel like I'm picking on you, Dave. I like you. The world needs you gentle souls. Haven't done the Bolivar reading yet. Taking a break from the housework.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Well, since the president has proclaimed his liberty to spy on citizens, it's not too surprising. It's always the last person you would think of---like a Canadian---who isn't a citizen; but that's the point, isn't it? Who would guess a Canadian? No one would guess a Canadian, and that's what makes you're suspect David. What are you trying to hide with your firewall? We have reasons not to suspect you, and that makes you dangerous.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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I think the government is frightful. But I'm glad you're not worried. I don't have anything to hide, but that doesn't really make any difference, does it? I can only wonder how many people are pouring through how much data from how many people, for what?! And do they get health benefits? I hope they use AOL and Internet Explorer---they deserve that combination.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Hey, Rabbit. It's so easy to bear other peoples' pain, isn't it? I've been looking through articles about Chavez and Bolivarism. Some searches turned up the same three articles published in a whole slew of different periodicals. I took a break from my computer for a while. Haven't found a gold mine of information about Chavez and Venezuela, or Chavez and Bolivar. I guess, growing up with radical individualism makes it a little difficult for me to embrace Bolivar's ideal society, because it puts the society before the individual. That said, I can see how the need for security in a …
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Rocco wants her.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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I have found an interesting site, Rabbitarmac, on strategies for encounters with wing-nuts. OH, I'm up too late and want to stroll around all the haunts tonight. Get behind and it's nearly impossible to catch up. Good day, and good night.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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I have to wonder if he's a Scorpio.
Posted to No Discounted Transit for Oil
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Anyone else having a problem with asthma? Anyone else see a 300 foot ceiling of cloud cover so dense and opaque that it looks like a ceiling painted with a roller and flat latex paint? Anyone else see the air all the way down to the ground? I'm not just talking fog, here---it makes the eyes feel gritty just to step outside sometimes. Near a busy intersection, the eyes burn. I've been holding a scarf in front of my face. I'm starting to hear other people talking about these effects and attributing them to the air. People are saying are also …
Posted to When Red Goes Green
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Hi, GrayArea. Being an American that doesn't drive, I do indeed see how hooked on cars this society is. This culture doesn't even understand walking. I can't count the times I've asked for directions and heard "oh, you can't walk---that's too far" when "too far" was about seven to ten blocks. So often, people have expressed pity when I tell them I'm walking. My policy for this is to point out to them that if I told them I ran around in a circle every day they might envy me, so why pity me because I walk. And who hasn't heard …
Posted to When Red Goes Green
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Think4yourself, it is possible to impeach Bush without hating him.
Posted to When Red Goes Green
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Well johnnyincentx, I'll take that into consideration. Still, I'm thinking that lowering our demand and changing our architecture and cityscapes will do more in the long run than alternative energy sources. There is design technology and materials now that will lower electric demands by at least half. One question about the nuclear industry is how long before we run out of fuel for that? Surely, nuclear energy is no less finite than fossil fuels. Maybe not? I'd put my money on finity. I need to do a little research on that.
Posted to When Red Goes Green
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I love birds too johnnyincentx. Just hung up a new birdfeeder full of seed, and I'm waiting patiently with my camera and the zoom lens I got for Christmas. How many wrens would it take to make a stew? ;) Can I call you johnny? One of my concerns with nuclear power plants is the bathtub curve. Nuclear power plants are more likely to suffer failures when new or old. I do not remember off the top of my head what constitutes old, and am not going to surf right now because I'm too distractable. My point is, that most of …
Posted to When Red Goes Green
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Hmmm. I'm a former Texan. Aren't central Texans getting their nuclear energy from Kellog, Brown & Root---a Halliburton subsidiary? I wouldn' trust that company with a book of matches. I can only wonder why statesmen would trust the people who support them. Oregon fought Enron long and hard, but eventually Enron won. After the collapse and publicity, judges in this state were wondering out loud if that little trick where PGE and Enron sold energy back and forth on paper, raising the price each time, was illegal. They were smart enough to figure out that it was unethical. Evidently lobbiests have …
Posted to When Red Goes Green
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wha?? This article is a wild one. According to this, China is on the verge of making "infinite energy" with a fusion device, there's just one little catch: If a device is developed that can withstand temperatures as high as 100 million Celsius degrees and control a deuterium-tritium reaction, it will be as though an "artificial sun" had been created able to supply infinite, clean energy for human beings. I wonder what the temperature is inside of a volcano?
Posted to When Red Goes Green
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Hmmm. Only about 2000 degrees Celsius for lava. How about nuclear blasts?
Posted to When Red Goes Green
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Exceeding 300,000 degrees. Either the Chinese have a terrible case of can-do optimism, or the Angolan press is making fun of them. Maybe something was lost in the translation.
Posted to When Red Goes Green
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Hmmm. I'm going to look up Hong Kong and lung cancer. Be right back.
Posted to When Red Goes Green
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Hi, bobynairn. China, with 1.27 billion people, is home to 20 percent of the world's population and consumes 30 percent of the world's cigarettes. The Chinese government is the largest producer of cigarettes in the world. The study tracked deaths from tobacco in Hong Kong, where the population started smoking about 20 years earlier than the people of mainland China. It takes about 50 years for the full hazard of persistent smoking to emerge. Researchers said the Hong Kong pattern is seen as foreshadowing that of China because the Hong Kong population was able to afford to smoke decades earlier than …
Posted to When Red Goes Green
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We're interesting. I think we're doomed, though. Eventually, we will live shorter and shorter lives until we can no longer reproduce, if we are not all killed in a catastrophe or a series of catastrophes. I was thinking last night, that if, samples of humans taken at a stage in our de-evolution when we have roughly the same life span as prehistoric human---around sixteen---could be taken to a new and pristine "earth", then the DNA of those specimens would carry the message to either start deleting the frontal cortex that designs weapons and toxins, or to modify the lizard brain so …
Posted to When Red Goes Green
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How long is "eventually" opelboy. In human years? Republicans were idiotic as well. Where does "I'm sure you're a decent man, blah, blah, blah." fit into a hearing? How is he "sure"? Has the Republican senator dated Alito, or what? The ass kissing and attempt at ass whipping are appalling on both sides. Is it hard to believe that most Congressmen are lawyers, or what? Tough call. Grandstanding all around. This has got to be the worst administration and Congress ever. Since people living until they are eighty or ninety years old is not uncommon anymore, is this lifetime appointment really …
Posted to Alito Hearings Drowning in Words
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Thweatening us with impwisonment you funny wittle baby. Go get your gucky.
Posted to Alito Hearings Drowning in Words
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I was thinking about that yesterday Major Major. The improved economy only lasts as long as the war. Economic depression is sure to follow. Blowing up things in another nation does not produce wealth in our nation. BTW, I've adopted Tina1, and am asking that others not respond to her. It's tough love. I've gone through the threads, and have seen how this kooky troll ruins the ambience. I have, on one occasion, "lost it". For the benefit of reason, I ask you to ignore her. Have you noticed how she always seems to be on the wrong thread? This is …
Posted to Alito Hearings Drowning in Words
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Hi Liberal. Did you read my posts? It is hopeless. You cannot get through to her. She needs reparenting. The topic is "Alito". Please don't feed the kooky troll. She'll spit it back in your face, and then scream that you're not feeding her anything. Tough love. Please don't talk to her. There are some really interesting people here. And then there is Tina1. Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated. So would information. If you find a great article about Alito I'd love to have a look at it.
Posted to Alito Hearings Drowning in Words
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Ain't that the truth, Major Major. If you patented decontextualized political diatribes, you could sue the bastard trolls. I haven't got the patience for it. Oh yeah, Alito. Isn't there an adult who won't bring his/her weepy spouse to a hearing? Must everything be a soap opera? Must they all be bad actors?
Posted to Alito Hearings Drowning in Words
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Lumens, you have such an eye for detail. Bravo.
Posted to Alito Hearings Drowning in Words
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So, cabdriverinchicago, are you driving a cab because you have a p.h.d. in liberal arts? : ) (smiley face) It's going to hurt. Am I going to call my D-senator and ask him to filibuster? Scream. They're all assholes.
Posted to Alito Hearings Drowning in Words
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Political Science! That would have been my guess. I'm wondering, is it really necessary for them to go through all these incremental steps? What's preventing them from proclaiming all powers now?
Posted to Alito Hearings Drowning in Words
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Oy.
Posted to Alito Hearings Drowning in Words
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That's been fresh for about five years now. No offense to Flavia. Is charisma and credibility something other than a media phenomenon? Should Democrats set themselves on fire in public to get coverage? I'm not saying that they are great shakes, but the ineffectiveness of the Democratic party and those Republicans who are not in lockstep with the administration is more about the media than the man.
Posted to Alito Hearings Drowning in Words
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Sorry, resaltz. I should have said "hello" before disagreeing with you. Hello.
Posted to Alito Hearings Drowning in Words
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So, they let you out again, did they, tina1? Guards!!!
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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It wasn't exactly born yesterday---this whole idea that when we wage war on other nations it is our war. Even when we say that Iraq is like Vietnam, we're talking about our Viet Nam. Has it slipped anyone's attention that whenever Viet Nam is brought up to compare with whatever this aggression is called---O.I.L.?---that the Viet Namese aren't brought up? Even though the Viet Namese are still stepping on our landmines, and still suffering from environmental degradation, and health problems caused by Agent Orange, the people of that nation don't seem to merit mention. When I was a child I thought …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Uh, Rabbitudinal---Sorry about the mess I left over there, pal. I guess I didn't read your last post carefully enough.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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middle east Hope this link works. Let's see if the National Security Archives are a den of twisted liberal thinking on the topic of the Middle East and propoganda. lol. Thanks for going into specifics, AmmoniaD.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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No, that didn't work. I'll be right back.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Okay, if you scroll down about halfway down the page on the right hand side, there is a search engine for the archives. I typed in Iran and found a lot of interesting documents about our history of propoganda campaigns in the middle east.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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I have noticed the air is more foul than any I've ever breathed. I have asthma now. I've also noticed people with clearly disturbed psyches ranting on endlessly about "liberals" in a manner so inconsistent with the surrounding discussion for so long, that it appears to be symptomatic of mental illness. As everyone but tina1 has probably noticed, no one here is "crying" or "whining" about anything. I'm not laughing at tina1 anymore, there is something seriously wrong with this person. She rants on and on about "the liberals" under her bed. I'm wondering if her parents or guardians know that …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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I'll tell you what tina1 is to me rocco. He, she, or it represents where the left has gone very wrong. If I may generalize about the left being mostly individuals who support individualism and liberty, and are prone to tolerance. Too much tolerance. Rather than being democratic and exercising democracy, the left tends to take tolerance to new and unnatural limits. "The left" (which, as I already stated is a generalization) has tolerated antisocial behavior to the degree that if people on the far right (another generalization) were to start literally killing people on the left, just for being "liberal", …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Is anyone else here willing to take the giant "liberal" leap of "censoring" hate speech? Is there any reason why this right wing spam-fest must be tolerated? the Muslims rioted for almost 3 weeks, burning down everything in sight, 9000 cars got torched. lol ... Yeah. That's real funny, isn't it? If "liberals" can't stand up to this disgusting shit pile of posts because of fear of being intolerant of antisocial posts, then being victims is a "liberal" calling. I move to ask this magazine to block tina1 and any and all partisan hate speech. If a person cannot rise above …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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For anyone who hasn't seen twenty or thirty of tina1 one's posts, let me point out something. The post she's referring to was an attempt to hold up the mirror of reality for her. She either saw herself in it, or didn't. I don't care. I wrote a particularly vulgar post, because I was only going to do it once---not twenty or thirty times with no regard for prior posts. I'm going to do a little experiment. See you in a bit.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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You niggers are something else ... you just can’t accept the fact that you LOST. But that makes sense, niggers always think they are correct, never wrong about anything. Niggers know everything. lol .... Why wasn’t Ohio a problem in 2000? And why aren’t you niggers looking into Wisconsin? Kerry only won that state by 11,000 votes ... only 11,000. Bush wins by 120,000 in Ohio and there is some kind of problem, but Kerry wins by only 11,000 in Wisconsin and the “nigger conspiracy theory” nuts don’t say a thing. Funny that the day after the election we only heard …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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You're right about how the alpha male and testerone works, rocco---Ofiginally it---the most famous experiment supporting the idea that alpha males were alpha males because they had more testerone to begin with, was conducted by carrying out testesterone tests only after the alpha males won their position. Then somebody had the insight to test the testerone levels of all the males, before the big alpha male parade and again afterward. There is no direct correlation between the amount of testerone an animal has before the exhibition (or, in this case, the election). The male that "wins", wins because all the other …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Rep. Murtha (D-PA) & Rep. Moran (D-VA) Town Hall Meeting Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA) attends a Town Hall meeting in Arlington, VA, hosted by Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA). Rep. Murtha discusses his controversial call for the redeployment of U.S. troops in Iraq. This is on C-span. Only one troop had anything nice to say about our involvement in Iraq. There are many reasons why recruitment is difficult now. The following post not a happy camper
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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"...some controversy existed whether French cheeses of a similar nature could also be labeled Gruyère..."---wikipedia It's just like you, David, to invite controversy, like this. There was no cheese argument, until NOW. Jiminy Cricket, you people are impossible. Now, I'll storm off to the kitchen, take some Midol, and wash something. Harrumph.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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He really does, Stinky Pete---all the time, he says, be nice and be respectful. David loves trolls the way Jesus loved tax collectors. There was probably more comic relief among tax collectors than there is among trolls, but David is Canadian (hence the "in Canada" part). Canada is a hotbed of niceness and troll tolerance.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Kuya, that's a good point about the boundaries of nations being redrawn. The world had barely gotten over the League of Nations' redrawing of the maps when the Cold War ended and many small countries of the world whose economy depended on supporting one side or the other failed miserably in the aftermath. Oh, this godawful tinkering with nations! Will we ever learn?!
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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War on radical Islam? So you're alright with a war on radical Christianity, right whattheheck? Religions are fair game? Should we attack every Muslim nation?
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Actually, thinking about the 700 club makes me think that bombing ourselves might not be a bad idea.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Oh hello, Kingboy and Stinky Pete. Always nice to see new people.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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You know, Stinky Pete, if you don't sever her head, she'll just keep coming back. She'll eat your brain to stay alive. She will not benefit in any other way from it.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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You mean....we can't bomb any country we want to bomb? Any time we want to bomb a country? For any reason? Is that fair, Rabbitianol? Do you know who we are? I feel oppressed. Oppressed, I tell you! How dare you tell us who we can bomb! We are the cat's pajamas. The cream of the crop. The best of the best. We are the reason the sun comes up. Look at how white our teeth are. Can you tell me why a nation with such white teeth and bright smiles should not be allowed to bomb whomever we please? Don't …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Hey, Rabbityzer! Just when you pop out, I'm getting sleepy. It's been a full day. Gotta work outside da manor manana. Quite a crowd, huh? Give 'em hell and all else.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Oh, Rabbitation. It is valiant. Hopeless, sure. Impossible, of course. Maddening---you know it---but valiant, nevertheless. I think I'll just start telling him he's doing that thing again, when he brings up the radical islam/new york....whatever that is. It's not an argument. Too tired to pull out the thesaurus, right now, but back to my point---with a WTH memo approach, I won't be ignoring him (I don't dislike the guy), yet I won't (hypothetically) feel like I'm beating my head against a brick, either. Be a pal, and remind me of this, when I forget it. Typing in a scratch-that-correction, and then …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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You're doing that thing again, WTH.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Laaaaadddiieeess and Gennntllemen. Welcome to the Wednesday night, ITT Championship of the Web. In the salmon colored shorts, with scarlet sequined trim, pleeeease welcome Wabbiiiiiiiiiiit!!! crowd goes wild In the shrimp colored shorts with cranberry bric-a-brac, pleeeeeease welcome King Rocco!!! crowd goes wild No scratching of the eyes, no brass knuckles, no rolls of quarters, no knives, no automatic weapons, no explosive devices, no STDs, no aerosols,no nibbling on the cuticles, no poison gases, no biting, no hitting below the belt. Hug! Now back to your corners and come up swinging!!!
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Now, now Rabbitiernamo. I think WTH is a sensitive soul the way my little brother was afraid of caterpillars. I don't know what that means, but I sense that something like that is the case. I still hold the silly dream that he can despise Islam while he and his live in reasonable safety---like they do right now---unless they're in a moving vehicle or at the mercy of a medical team. Islam, if not thrown into chaos and desperation can take care of the radicals. Most moslem people believe that terrorism is a sin. Most of them just want to get …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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gratuitous wileyisms bold, italics, both and CAPS!
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Rats. I lost my post. The only person here that is particularly party loyal is Tina1---a resident troll. Please do not feed the troll. I'm experimenting with adoption. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated. The topic is reserve troops. We're not particularly prickly about staying exactly on topic, but Tina1 has a habit of changing the subject and being annoying and disruptive the way trolls are. She's also totally insane and she thinks that there are liberals under her bed, and in all quarters reaping havoc. As far as keeping the Republic goes, confused canuck---we never had it. The public school …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Oops, my bad---the topic is the attitudes of U.S. troops.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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It worries me that my response "hugely impressed" you, like it bugs me that almost everyone I know in this town is more screwed up and/or out of touch than I am. Scary. Scary. Not that I don't stoop to namecalling...it's an American past time---like wounding people and then offering a cure. Shoot, if you don't get rough now and then, the bullies will think they own you. Sometimes it's wise to fire off a warning shot. I know it's difficult for you sensitive Canadians. I used to want to homestead in Canada. Now I want to spare you. I am …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Oh yeah. The first part of that post up there is to you, confused canuck
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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It is sad, Stinky, that most U.S. citizens don't seem to stop and think of killing people as a soul searing, no-going-back, sort of event that changes a person. It's not like losing your cherry, or buying your first car. As always the people who are the least affected by war are the sociopaths, and their impossible to emulate coolness about it all will be held up as a model of mental health. Help.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Confused canuck. Most of the COs came back, huh? That surprizes me a little. Can't say why. Though I can say that I would probably feel like an oaf in Canadian society. Rabbit is Australian and is very Rabbitty. I was shocked to find out that we were using DU and had used it already in Gulf I. That makes the Gulf War Syndrome make sense. It's horrifying, but one of the wonders of advertising in the U.S. is that poison isn't a fearsome thing. The skull and bones has been declared too cool and now we have Mr. Icky or …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Same happened here, Rabbit. The crime rates did go down in states that made it legal to carry hand guns. I'm not crazy about guns. I keep a hatchet by the door, and am thinking about getting a cross bow. You can reuse the arrows---that's economical.
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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I was not totally serious about the weapons, CC. The hatchet is in case I need to cut wood. I've used it to cut shrub roots out of a previous garden. Wouldn't mind a cross bow, though. An arrow goes through sand bags too. I remember that incident in Montreal. Handguns did make it easier to carry that out, and if the guy had no weapon he might not have done it. But I agree that there is something seriously screwey in people who go on shooting sprees. A lot of returning troops from Iraq are turning hand guns on themselves. …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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killology This reminded me of something, Rabbit. Now I'm not asserting that this is the case for the Port Arthur incident---how would I know? But it reminded me of an excellent series of articles that I think will be interesting to anyone who uses a brain---especially parents. Here's an excerpt: One of the boys allegedly involved in the Jonesboro shootings (and they are just boys) had a fair amount of experience shooting real guns. The other one was a non-shooter and, to the best of our knowledge, had almost no experience shooting. Between them, those two boys fired 27 shots …
Posted to Postcards From the Front
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Scientists must be bored.
Posted to Hello, Youve Got Smallpox
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What will they dig up next?
Posted to Hello, Youve Got Smallpox
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Hey, they've isolated the gene that makes us all assholes and soon they'll be able to synthesize it!
Posted to Hello, Youve Got Smallpox
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Will they ever isolate the gene for menstrual cramps?
Posted to Hello, Youve Got Smallpox
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What about big pox that are pleasant? Why do they always have to be small and irritating?
Posted to Hello, Youve Got Smallpox
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So, can everybody agree that Rumsfeld's streamlined military is a flop?
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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He hasn't got the prize he wants yet---winning a nuclear war with Russia. That may sound over the top, but that was his belief all through the Cold War, and as you have probably noticed, these people don't change their beautiful minds.
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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BTW, csmelnix (Hi, csmelnix), Rumsfeld has a private army supported by public funds. He doesn't care about the soldiers. Are you familiar with DU? I talked to a V.A. nurse last week who hadn't heard of it. I gave her the search engine I use (alltheweb.com), and recommended that she simply put depleted uranium in it. When I got home, I did that simple search myself to see how many hits were there--- one million, seven hundred and ninety thousand entries. Yet this nurse had clearly never heard of it. The nurse had never heard the term "gas-lamping" before either. I …
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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Though, I see the attack on Iraq as an illegal and unjustifiable aggression, the poor handling of the attack and its aftermath made everyones' situation worse. Who was the general they had "retired" because he wouldn't say "yes"? Shinseki? Going to look that up. Who actually benefits from all this?
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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Rumsfeld ticking off In his testimony, Mr. Wolfowitz ticked off several reasons why he believed a much smaller coalition peacekeeping force than General Shinseki envisioned would be sufficient to police and rebuild postwar Iraq. He said there was no history of ethnic strife in Iraq, as there was in Bosnia or Kosovo. He said Iraqi civilians would welcome an American-led liberation force that "stayed as long as necessary but left as soon as possible," but would oppose a long-term occupation force. And he said that nations that oppose war with Iraq would likely sign up to help rebuild it. "I …
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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correction Wolfowitz did the original ticking. Now he's working for the world bank (?), where he doesn't have to deal with messy troop issues, he can bring a country to its knees with a loan.
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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ALL HAIL KING ROCCO!!! HAIL!!! HAIL!!! (I feel like a peasant today.) That's one big, fat, lead gauntlet you're throwing down there Rabbitalisman. I'd throw in a new car. And a house. And a horse. And, and, and... I saw that article last week. It surprised me that the V.A. nurse I spoke with had heard nothing about him leaving, and nothing about D.U. Didn't save the link, but I ran into a disturbing statement today. According to that uncited report, the VA budget is not guaranteed. The government can just yank it anytime they want. That's frightening. I have to …
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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Rabbitierro, I have bookmarked that blog---Joe Bageant is to the point. It is sad, isn't it? This is one of the reasons why I was never completely at home in the "left". csmelnix, thanks for the general name dropping. I've put them on file----that saves a lot of wear and tear on the search engine (so to speak). Please slog away with more information and insight on defense preparedness. Personally, I'd like it if we veered off into the question of how do we defend the homeland and deal with natural disaster without the Guard and the Reserve? Oh, yeah---you might …
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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Damn pacifists! You're ruining everything with your non-violence, and your silly little peace signs and those tie dyed shirts! I hate those tie-dyed shirts! You never punch anybody in the face! You'd rather have lunch! What is your problem?! You wooly little peace-niks never kick anyone's legs out from under them! You're so darned polite all the time, like the most important thing in the world is going out to lunch! For crying out loud, do you really expect anyone to take you seriously? You never even think of pointing guns at people! Ya'll don't even carry weapons! That's how useless …
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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Contracts? Treaties? Who cares csmelnix? Oh---you must be part of the reality based community. You think an agreement means something, huh?
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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At least, pacifists don't fool themselves into believing that violence is the only sane response to all possible threats. I'm not a pacist (used to think I was), but I see violence as a last resort, an admission of failure, and a grevious act that is only justified when one is under physical attack. Revenge doesn't count in my book. The rule of law, it seems to me, supercedes the rule of the jungle. Having all of our troops, including the guard and reserves overseas doesn't sound particularly smart to me. The effects of an attack depend as much on how …
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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Rabbitabouli, take it easy and tell us what talk there is in Oz about a draft. Does Oz have any kind of conscription? What is the talk about Australian troops in Iraq lately? Though it hasn't been brought up much lately, I think that our disrespectful relationship with our allies is going to bite our butts.
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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Ahhh, Rupert Murdoch is an Aussie, ain't he? The Coalition of the Willing isn't talked about anymore. Looks like being a satellite state of the evil empire is a thankless job. Wonder if Blair has noticed as much? I don't hear any sis boom bah over British involvement in Iraq. You think Australians are going to care about the troops when they get back? Are they going to be cared for?
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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Don't forget Blair. He's a liar. I honestly don't understand what is keeping Blair glued to the post. They don't tippy toe around each other in Parliament, and the Brits seem pretty vocal. I don't think most Americans really care about the troops either. Many people here were very quick to conclude that Gulf War Syndrome was all in the soldiers' heads and that the troops were just trying to milk the system. I've heard people say that on many occasions and I've seen it implied on newscasts. Viet Nam vets are still a major part of the homeless crowd. Most …
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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Oh, Rabbit, you should have seen people here after 9/11! I got a transparent bagpack so checkers and sales people wouldn't be scared. If I had expressed or shown morbid fear and tipped toed around the produce cart as if there were hand grenades in the avocado box---and My gawd!!! The produce guys have boxcutters!!!Well howdy-do. I'd be crazy, right? Maybe no one trusts that our active duty military, and our guard, and our reserves, and our commander in chief can protect us. Hmmm. I wonder why?
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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I get it, David in Canada. It's not like you're trying to force other people into being pacifists---not that that wouldn't be a neat trick---something to do on a Sunday afternoon, eh?
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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Hi jjjoe. I had an argument with a couple of guys in an Irish pub in D.C. Last September. This man said, WHAT DO YOU PROPOSE?! THAT WE PUT SOLDIERS ALL AROUND OUR BORDERS??!! That was supposed to illustrate to me the stupidity of not fighting terrorism over there. When I said, yeah---I think that's an excellent idea---take our troops from around the world and secure our borders and air space! (I'll add ports to that list now.) He guffawed like that was the craziest thing he had ever heard. So now, we don't have enough troops and equipment over here …
Posted to Backdoor Draft, Back Again
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I admit, I didn't read this closely. It seems like it's about time for these group scams to get fired up again. God forbid that someone might think that they are part of a society and forces that are bigger than individuals, with or without God. It's just a hop, skip, and a jump away from facing that to questioning the nature and quality of our relationships. I'll take this as a good sign. For there to be enough people who will pay a few gran to have their individuality removed, methinks there must be a whole lot more people questioning. …
Posted to Cult of Character
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Just one little point crashtech (hi, crashtech)---there is no discrete entitity called godlessness that is or is not required for a person to be humane.
Posted to Cult of Character
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Who is "we", yuri? Just curious. There's a lot of room for interpretation in your post. It seems to me that the crime rate in the U.S. has steadily declined in the last decade (don't have any reports on hand) though crime is being reported much more on television newscasts. And what are the great afflictions in the U.S. that makes so many people want most people to flock unto the church for instruction? Hmmm. Let's see----homosexuality, sex before marriage, pornography, prostitution, recreational drug use, abortion----things that primarily offend evangelical "Christians". I never hear calls to crack down on murder (unless …
Posted to Cult of Character
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I felt the same way, Tell on, when I was a child and my mother dragged me to Southern Baptist church services and tent revivals. The congregations struck me as being Pharisees and Phillistines then. Now I just think they're awful. I personally thought that the lesson of the Good Samaritan was pretty clear. Those Baptists were either reading stuff that wasn't there, or skimming over stuff that was while directly contradicting the beautitudes. It appears that they haven't changed much. Some of them apparently thought that they were better than Jesus, they didn't drink or dance. Yep, Jesus would clear …
Posted to Cult of Character
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Oh, hi Tell on.
Posted to Cult of Character
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Nice data Hifi. It has also been shown since the alleged elections that the red states have much higher incidences of divorce, abortion, etc. I do, however, think that it is not accurate or fair to assume that that this holds true (or not) for individuals. Many religious people do take the gamble-on-God-instead-of-dealing-with-this-world approach. There are some, however, who believe that dealing with reality as it is can be a spirtual calling (not something to impose on others, btw.) You probably won't find such people at "character building" seminars. Responsible adults don't call God to bail them out of the bed …
Posted to Cult of Character
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Thank you for iterating those points, Dave. Going from general to specific where demographics and statistics are concerned is often fallacious thinking. A complete rejection of "religion" or "spirutuality" is as religious and often feverish as any "religion" or "spiritual path". I'm thinking I should meet the Quakers in this town. Can't beat 'em for consistency in the anti-war category. Sooooo, are you saying that you were at a "character building" seminar? You're such a straight man, David, I can't tell when you're pulling my leg. I just sent my grandma an e-mail. I'd thought for ages that she was Catholic …
Posted to Cult of Character
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For sure, David. That's what I thought.
Posted to Cult of Character
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Hey, Kuya. This is a list I hold close and dear. Gatto is my favorite educator. John Taylor Gatto, former New York City and New York State Teacher of the Year has compiled the following list that he calls "The 20 Qualities of an Educated Person." 1. A broadly knowledgeable mind 2. Self confidence 3. A life purpose 4. A touch of class 5. Good leadership skills 6. The ability to work with a team 7. Patience 8. Good public speaking skills 9. Good writing skills 10. Resourcefulness 11. A desire for responsibility 12. Honesty 13. A public spirit 14. The …
Posted to Cult of Character
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I see your points, though I like to stay a little more open where judgements are made. Like staying tentative---saying "yea" or "nay" so that I don't end up in the position of struggling over something because I said I would do it, though it is no longer the best action to take. So, I say "...perhaps, if..." a lot. In our society, that is often considered to be wishy-washy. I've found that I'm more effective when I don't waste a lot of time trying to be resolute for the sake of being resolute. What I like about both lists is …
Posted to Cult of Character
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Gatto is talking about qualities of an educated person which is admittedly culturally relative. I agree with your point, and see much of the conflict in U.S. society as a reaction against leaps in knowledge and the ethical quandaries they present---nanotechnology, cloning, life on Mars(?), global warming, etc. As you pointed out with the "Golden Rule" example, humans and human society are not simple. Here's a question Hifi---How would you define "community"? It seems to me like a lot rigid thinking is a desperate attempt to feel secure in a world with few or no nets. You touched on this when …
Posted to Cult of Character
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Hello, Lumens. I think you're right on about the stages of development. There are neurological realities that make children children and not short adults. It's better not to throw the baby out with the bathwater---the fact that social engineering (Dewey and Freud. Yuck.) attempts to capitalize on these various stages of development doesn't mean that those stages are not real. One of my pet peeves about public school is the way that children are segregated by age so that they are expected to adapt to a somewhat arbitrary standard.
Posted to Cult of Character
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Language is a blunt instrument, but it doesn't have to be so blunt that we confuse our abstract analysis with our being. I like the maxim---give yourself completely to the moment. It doesn't mean to ignore the past. We can't be fully in the present while ignoring all the signals from the past. You seem to see people as actors with no inner drive, in a play of abstract cultural imperatives. Are you familiar with Foucault, mirmir?
Posted to Cult of Character
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You said a mouthful for Wilbur, Lumens. I was trying earlier to find a kernel from Jaspers expressing somewhat the concept that philosophy was about being authentically, not defining it. Ages ago, I ran into a website in which the author was developing a holistic mathematics to express phenomenon in a language that could be shared with all disciplines---an interdisciplinary language. The ways that knowledge is divided for study has grown klunky. Who wrote Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance? Been thinking about that to---that we are all on the very front of the train---everyone always has been. Everyone who …
Posted to Cult of Character
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....words cannot do everything. Chalk it on the walls where dead poets lie in their mausoleums.
Posted to Cult of Character
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Zing. Takes the top of the head off (like Emily said).
Posted to Cult of Character
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Mirmir, please look through the other threads. The threads here are long. We wander around. It's good. Ignorance is no problem---who isn't ignorant? Hang out. Relax. The water's fine, once you get used to it.
Posted to Cult of Character
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Hifi. I'm struggling with the who is "we" question. There are so many different cultures. Unfortunately, the marketing memes are transmitted more easily, and completely, and unconsciously than most others. "We" can always think of something else we "need". I think there's a Dr. Seuss story to that effect.
Posted to Cult of Character
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there's a Seussville University! This is so cool. I feel all yahoo-ey like Kermit. Anyone with little kids should check this out. Maybe I was thinking of the Lorax tree. Not to be quite so glib as the "everything I needed to know, I learned in kindergarten" spiel*, but there is still a place for storytelling as part of a shared language of values. Much of what we spin our wheels over is pretty simple stuff. Though anyone who has tried knows that it isn't that easy to lead a simple life. *Did they teach this guy how to dismantle …
Posted to Cult of Character
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Ashes to ashes, mirmir? You may think this is the most daft thing you've ever heard, but I've been thinking of posting my poetry and fatuous lyricism on my website with some explanation. The closest thing we Americans have to a common language is television and movies.
Posted to Cult of Character
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Do I have a poem about character?
Posted to Cult of Character
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Nope.
Posted to Cult of Character
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My best friend who knows me better than anyone ever has, has no idea what my poems are about. This one is about trying to come to grips with the prospect of nuclear annihilation. I sense Lumens will recognize the title. ...and so on... With the last human sacrifice, memory fails. Could not at least the sun remain? Myth and rhythm breathe in the turbulence--- fire and rock, the etching of planets, lumbering worlds, stars---- they sputter and die as we speak.
Posted to Cult of Character
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I'm just waiting for the world to blow up, and I'm lazy. In a previous life, I lost, in the final round of a poetry slam, to a guy who did a haiku about "stump training" (which, I believe is having sex with a cow). I never kid myself about a world waiting for my poetry. I rarely read poetry myself. It takes more energy than it's worth to me. Hey mirmir, there are crowds on other posts. We have primarily sustained this thread by talking beyond the article. Happens all the time. It works. Can anyone get a conversation going …
Posted to Cult of Character
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Mirmir, my concern is that we are launching an illegal aggression against Iran. They aren't in violation of anything, and if they were, it wouldn't be grounds for a preventive attack, which is illegal anyway. We have more nuclear weapons than God. That Pakistan or North Korea has a handful of warheads, doesn't worry me. We started the MAD doctrine, why do we throw fits when countries that we targeted and branded evil, make nuclear weapons to deter an attack? It apparently works. Furthermore, Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapons program---they're ready to gear up a nuclear power plant. They are …
Posted to Cult of Character
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Just out of curiosity, mirmir---what makes you think that bin Laden's supporters in Pakistan would use a nuclear weapon against us? How would that benefit them?
Posted to Cult of Character
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...the trees planetarium...--- I love it! I love deciduous trees, and especially fruit and nut trees, in all their seasons. This line actually conjured some of my favorite views of pecan trees in the south at night, when all is left is husks that are shaped like stars. Their silhouettes against the night sky are fabulous. To the lemon! To love! To the love of lemons! Prost!
Posted to Cult of Character
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Mirmir, do you not agree that the U.S. should mind the nuclear log in it's own eye before attempting to remove the capability from other nations?
Posted to Cult of Character
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mirmir, is it too much of a stretch to think of this as the informing part?
Posted to Cult of Character
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pumpernickel shoes I think that I will never see suspenders on a bumble bee, a chatty at a word for loss, or onion flavored dental floss. God, I hate rhyming poetry. The only thing more futile than writing poetry is translating it.
Posted to Cult of Character
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Oh mirmir, you're taking it all too seriously. Poetry isn't going to stop wars, or starvation, or unemployment. It's not going to open the mind of anyone who didn't want to open their mind already. It's not going to teach the illiterate how to read. It won't treat radiation poisoning. It won't prevent cholera. You can't eat it. It won't stop a bullet. It won't keep you warm. It won't make our leaders tell the truth. It won't keep industry from poisoning our planet. Hell, it won't even put food on the table. I'm not saying that I don't sit down …
Posted to Cult of Character
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Ahhh. Who doesn't have the government they deserve? You have given quotes from others, mirmir. What do you say about it? I'm more interested in dialogue than refutation, though I see how it may not appear that way.
Posted to Cult of Character
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source China: More than 100 warheads. France: Approximately 350 strategic warheads. Russia: 4,978 strategic warheads,1 approximately 3,500 operational tactical warheads, and more than 11,000 stockpiled strategic and tactical warheads. United Kingdom: Less than 200 strategic warheads. United States: 5,968 strategic warheads,1 more than 1,000 operational tactical weapons, and approximately 3,000 reserve strategic and tactical warheads. Defacto Nuclear-Weapon States: India: 45 to 95 nuclear warheads. The Pentagon projects that New Delhi has a relatively small stockpile of nuclear weapons components that could be assembled and deployed “within a few days to a week.” Israel: Between 75 to 200 nuclear warheads. Pakistan: …
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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You should be proud of your insight and keep churning out the good word. I was going to write a cogent, sane, and normal response to your, um, thoughts - but I think I just feel sad for you at this point. So, In Those Times, what is it that offends you here? Is it the reading, the writing, the people who don't mirror your opinions? I suspect that feeling sad over someone else's post is a lot easier for you than writing a cogent, sane, and normal response---whatever "normal" means to you. I'm curious to see what other standards of …
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Hey, WTH, how about signing back on the ABM treaty and taking steps toward disarmament. Look at the numbers. Look at the countries. Ask yourself if we've really made room to talk about a country starting a nuclear weapons program. If you think the U.S.A. has some god given right or moral authority to make hay over starting a nuclear program while we've got a few thousand warheads, then you are chauvinistic, and unrealistic, if not deluded. Our government has a first strike nuclear policy, even against countries that don't have nuclear weapons. If that isn't incentive for another country to …
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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In Those Times, I'm still waiting. Why don't you educate the "progressives"? You can start by defining the "progressive" mind set. And if you would be so generous, explain to us what you are. And---making all the posts you need---tell us all about the sixth grade history of the mideast, if you please.
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Perhaps Iran is just flirting with the American right, trying to win their hearts and minds. Demonizing homosexuality, the death penalty...this might just turn them on.
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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It's horrible, and it's Iran's problem. Should France attack Texas for executing mentally retarded people? Not to compare homosexuality to mental defects, but once you accept the death penalty and your government, you are pretty much limited to fighting your government or not---what you don't do is invite another country's military to bomb you and/or your power plants. Have you looked at those numbers and names, WTH? Don't you see a pattern? This assumption that we're going to be victims of Iran if we don't bomb them first, while divorcing responsibilities for acts of aggression from what most people would consider …
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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>a href="http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/cnpp2003/CNPP_Webpage/pages/..%5Ccountryprofiles%5CIran%5CIran2003.htm">IAEA Yep. Iran is there. Anyone want to come to bat with 'well, why does a country that has that much oil need a nuclear power plant?'. Batter up? What better to do on a stormy Saturday afternoon? Clues: Review your sixth grade history lessons. Before the ayattolah came to power. A CEO in the Bush II administration.
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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RATS!!! Oh, I see the error. Silly. IAEA
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Can't seem to set a space between the a and h. Oh, well. A copy and paste in the address bar will pull up information about Iran from the IAEA website.
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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I can see the pattern clearly, Rabbitoni. Though I, at first, resisted the term "moron", I have changed my mind. It's as fair a word as any for a lot of honking geese that are apparently incapable of entertaining any thoughts but their own, and those they recognize without having to challenge themselves. It wasn't that long ago that I said that I have never met a stupid person. Perhaps I've been too tolerant---oh, what the hell---I have been. Never bought that no such thing as a stupid question bit---that's for suckers and people who never met a four year old; …
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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In those times, is it the "weekend" for everyone? Is everyone required to spend their weekends the way you see fit? If you live your life so much better than "liberals" why do you keep dropping by a site that appears to be trying to be liberal? What must one do to give themselves as much credit as you give yourself for posting on this board? What is it that you find so wrong about reading and writing? Just doing your duty, I suppose. You still haven't said anything intelligent. Does the threat still stand? Are you going to educate the …
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Rabbitello, when I saw your recommendation for the human rights commission, I was a little embarrassed that I hadn't thought of that bit of decency. We got kicked out of the Human Rights Commision at least five years ago.
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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So, Minerva, what do you think the U.S. should do about the lack of freedom in Iran, and the harshness with which they deal with issues of sexuality?
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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no room to talk Apparently, the role of the president as civilian oversight of the military is completely lost on the president and his advisors.
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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I didn't know about the DU used in Gulf I and Kosovo. I know almost next to nothing about the whole Bosnia, Sarajevo, and Kosovo situation and almost regret the time I spent as a media hermit. It's all so horribly tragic. Read the link you posted on 9/11 thread. It's nice to see it out like that. Thanks for the encouragement. I'm going to be tired of being nice for a little while. Would rather just throw in another cartridge, and rat-a-tat-tat!!! I've known since I was a child that people (in my country) often confuse kindness with weakness. It …
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Well, WTH, I have mixed feelings about Rabbit's post. And I can see why you would react as you did. But I also understand what he's saying. I would not personally use the word "superior" or make such a claim for myself or anyone else, and I wouldn't count anybody out. The "don't look back, lest you turn into a pillar of salt" thought struck me true. I would use the term "adaptable" for people most likely to survive the next decade. I'm not sure I want to survive as long as luck and skill might have it. Survival is and …
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Good choice opeluboy---and on topic, too!
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Did you know, Rabbitillo, that penguins also crowd around the edge of an ice flo, look around the water, and then one penguin or another pushes a penguin into the water to test for sharks? That's the penguin no one wants to be. I lived and served various leadership roles in student housing coops in college. Founded one other with a couple of coop-mates. The mascott for the corporation was a penguin. Many of us agreed that leadership was a lot like being that penguin that gets shoved into the water. Yeah, yeah. I need to be called down now and …
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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We may be on the verge of violence the likes of which most of us have never seen, and no one in their right mind would ever hope for. I know I want to start talking seriously about our pending strike against Iran. Or Israels' strike. Any takers? This is much bigger than sexuality, of course, but at least the name Iran is up there. Hey, ITT? Any pending-strikes-on-Iran articles being thrown your way? I've noticed lately, a couple of patterns in the alternative news sites I haunt regularly. The first pattern I noticed was a bait-and switch type format showing …
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Wow, Rabbierto, it gives the impression that the shill was sitting and waiting like a spider. Probably they have a little more electronic savvy, but the effect is disturbing. Thanks for ratting that out. I'm not inherently suspicious in conversational mode, for some reason. I tend to take what people say at face value. (Must be the Ox in me). Sneakiness rules the day, so anti-venom is good.
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Rabbitite, me and Clouds have The Endurance on dvd. I love it! It is amazing what we humans can endure, and how little our survival depends on things.
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Talking about conspicuous absences---well, not conspicuous---you're an Aussie (Rabbittoire), Dave's a Canadian, as you both know. Where are the Brits? The Dutch? Where's the coalition of the willing people?
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Ya, I know they aren't really "willing" Rabbitango. I wonder why they aren't here giving us hell.
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Having watched two hours of CNN today, I am not feeling encouraged. The spin was nauseating. Tomorrow I'll howl at network news with my friend the king of catastrophe. Perhaps, this weekend, I'll manage to strike up some discussion about Iran in reality, and Iran in the spin machine. Maybe I'll figure out how a nuclear power plant is a nuclear weapons program. Maybe this article was an attempt to get American ^. . ^ gays fired up in protest against Iran. = =
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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^..^ = =
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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^..^ =. =
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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disregard character experiments
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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^. .^ .
Posted to Irans Anti-Gay Pogrom
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Satire these days, must be absolutely hilarious if it is to be anything more than a painful reminder of what passes for wisdom these days. Thanks for breaking the ice, Dave. I didn't want to be discouraging to the author, but I also understand that silence is hideous after putting the work up and hoping it has legs, while you're gone. Perhaps Ms. Douglas could check out Counterpunch for the Ron Jacobs rule. Off to check out David in Canada's link.
Posted to My fellow Americans
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poetic justice for Sharon If this link doesn't show up properly, and you haven't read it, then you might want to look up this article in Counterpunch, opeluboy. It's moving in a spooky sort of way.
Posted to My fellow Americans
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Seditious libel, in a Republic---that, ideally, would be the work of a real genius.
Posted to My fellow Americans
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Oh, Rabbit, I should have read this before....Yikes. Mama. Sorry.
Posted to My fellow Americans
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We all agree. How often does that happen? Wow.
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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It's nice to see a longer article---bullits even. Would like to see more of that. IMO, Kerry and Bush were wretched choices---they're both twats. This year, one of my resolutions is to learn more about campaign issues and voter issues, and to find a way to work for campaign reform.
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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I do see how stupid that story sounds tina1. Do you have any earthly concept about why that story sounds stupid?
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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Tina 1, those maniacal lols combined with your poorly organized bile gives the impression that you have serious emotional problems that are interfering with your ability to think. Your stereotyping of "liberals" is paranoid, at best. No matter what is said, or how it is said, you always come back with the same attitudinal mess. Who are you talking to? Really? What do you want out of this experience?
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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Right on, POL. I have a confession. Did you see that Chris Rock movie in which he played a character that was being duped into running for president by his opponent? Near the end of the movie, it's close to the end of polling time, and the camera is looking down an apparently empty suburban neighborhood. The clock is ticking. There's a voice-over about how near to closing time it is. Then people come bursting out of their houses, and running down the street to go vote. It made me cry. I cry when I think about it. I'm crying now. …
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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Yes, Kuya. And the costs! Who would spend a lot of money on voting machines that are inherently fallible---as you so wisely point out---when paper slips and pencils are more reliable and make a recount possible? Who would benefit from machines with no paper trail? Not the voters, and whoever wins is my guess. Evidently many people do not get the one person/one vote, whenever one person's rights are being violated, everyones' rights are being violated. It seems that CONSERVATIVES!!! (burp, slurp, stagger around) have a problem with verifiability and accountability. It seems that way. Now I really think that true …
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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Am having serious problems with HTML codes, for some reason. Anyway---I’m sure Nixon is Richard Simmons compared to Dick “My nursery grade grades are a national secret” Cheney. That's funny AmericanInsurgent. Hi Kuya. You're doing great work for the democratic party tina1. Keep it up. I'm independent, but I can appreciate how well you demonstrate what is so wrong about the right-right wingers that are out of control, shreiking, single-minded boobs, and rubes.
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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It's more than out of fashion, Kuya. We're dealing with pathologies when we're dealing with this administration. They don't care. They don't care. They don't care. You can save a lot of energy by not expecting them to, or trying to get them to act as if they did. They're going to attack whatever country they want to attack. Give the corporations what ever they want to give them. Jail and torture whoever they want for whatever reason. Kill whoever they want for any price (it's on the taxpayers' tab). And fix any election however they want. And just like the …
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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Oh boy did I want to puke watching the Democrats run up to the camera and shoot themselves in the foot trying to look "tough" with Alito. The worse part is MSM describing the questioning as "tough" and he was "grilled". I'd be tougher interviewing a babysitter. They're all soft. Hey, am I annoying yet? How about this---they're all a bunch of pussies! What question scared you, Kuya? As far as the money goes, it's like wanting to live in a world without cars, and then deciding to drive there. It may sound harsh, but I honestly believe that most Americans …
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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I'm wondering if the media might simply ignore a war on Iran. Just not talk about it and hope that nobody notices. It is certainly not easy to strike up a conversation about it. Maybe it's not polarized enough yet? The spin machine is running behind? Sigh.
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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You must be the grand-poo-bah of....something. ...just stop talking about it.... Don't tell me, you're studying law, right. The truth is... blah, blah, blah. If you and tina1 are not the same then you two might want to hook up.
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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Tina1, I'm so glad you and andrew have found each other. It must be very hard to make it appear that you represent the majority when you are all alone. Haven't you noticed, Tina1? You're never really part of the conversation. How do you like them apples? And today's tina topic is "I.D.s" Are you over 18? I get the impression that you are not an adult. Do your parents know you're....that's it! Your parents are democrats, right? You're over here instead of working things out with your parents? Good luck. Just for good measure, you might want to look up …
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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You Republicans are never talking to anyone in particular, you just spout empty rants about the stereotypes you make up. It's a lot like talking out your asses isn't it? lmao. YOU ARE TALKING OUT YOUR ASSES>>>>> YOU REPUBLICAN MORONS ALWAYS THINK YOU'RE IN CONTROL BECAUSE YOU TALK LIKE YOU ARE! lol. You Repuclicans don't know me or anyone else here, you're all a bunch of useless sycophantic twits that are ALWAYS complaining about liberals because actually discussing issues is too much of an intellectual challenge for you. lol. You retarded dip shit Republicans only bring up facts as supposed examples …
Posted to Ghosts in the Voting Machines
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My country right or wrong. My mother drunk or sober. Is about how Shaw put it. Out of all the liberal-bashers on this thread, why do you pick on tina1? Is she really so much dimmer than the rest? Just curious. As you were. Back to your little square dance, or line dance, or whatever you call this little orgy of insults. It's nice to see you kids having fun. Just don't get any on ya.
Posted to Country's Jingoistic Jingles
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first link I found with Murtha's recent speech about the state of our military> Only chumps and propogandists are still behind this war. Read it and weep: "The threat posed by terrorism is real, but we have other threats that cannot be ignored. We must be prepared to face all threats. The future of our military is at risk. Our military and their families are stretched thin. Many say that the Army is broken. Some of our troops are on their third deployment. Recruitment is down, even as our military has lowered its standards. Defense budgets are being cut. Personnel …
Posted to Country's Jingoistic Jingles
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Thanks for the clarification, Gray Area. I think a lot of people are confusing the Commander-in-Chief with someone who knows their ass from a shetland pony on military matters.
Posted to Country's Jingoistic Jingles
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Talk about shrill! Do you ever read your posts? You could just say, "All liberals suck. They're wrong. I'm right. I saw something on t.v. that proves it.", and save yourself a lot of typing. Did you read Murtha's speech? Do you know who he is? Aside from what you see on television, what do you make of this speech?
Posted to Country's Jingoistic Jingles
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The new, hot country single I’ll Save You a Place "General Casey said in a September 2005 hearing, "the perception of occupation in Iraq is a major driving force behind the insurgency." They think I’m bad "General Casey said in a September 2005 hearing, "the perception of occupation in Iraq is a major driving force behind the insurgency." that I oughtta eat lead General Abizaid said on the same date, "Reducing the size and visibility of the coalition forces in Iraq is part of our counterinsurgency strategy." they want me gone, they wish I was dead "Much of our ground transportation …
Posted to Country's Jingoistic Jingles
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OOOWWWWWCH! That hurts, opeluboy. I'd like to think that the current pitch of Bush supporters is a frantic swan song, soon to become a dirge.
Posted to Country's Jingoistic Jingles
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We haven't cornered the entire market on stupidity, but our stock in reason has certainly plummeted to dark-age depths. Our poor language! So abused. Oh, well. Gotta play the hand that's dealt us. Would rather err on the side of hope sometimes. Even though I think the evil memes will win, I'm privileged enough to carry some hope, so I feel obligated to generate a little cheer. Nothing too much. I've learned to throw the deadbeats off my raft without apology.
Posted to Country's Jingoistic Jingles
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Kris Kristofferson?
Posted to Country's Jingoistic Jingles
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Yeah, we gained a lot in manufacturing by calling fast food "manufacturing". Now we just have to find a way to export hot hamburgers and french fries. BTW, there were over 130,000 engineers in Iraq before we bombed them. They didn't need our help to build anything. In fact, most of what needed to be repaired was stuff we bombed. Iraqi school children could have painted their schools, they didn't need Bectel to do it. Fixing (at exhorbitant costs) stuff we broke and expecting credit for that is sick. Why is their this tacit assumption that 9/11 did grave damage to …
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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Sooner or later, we're going to have to start producing things---durable goods. Planned obse--- (my gawd, how do you spell that?!) obsolescence has run its natural course. We are now obsolete. What's saddest, I think, is that we worked so hard to get here. Mercy.
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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Major Major--- I feel it in my bones--- I think you would love Catch 22. Joseph Heller. WWII bombadiers. Hilarity. Just thinking about the Made in Japan of my childhood, compared to the Made in Japan of the eighties. Things can turn around a lot in twenty-five years. Hope we don't have to start with those little paper umbrellas and plastic swizzlesticks. Nobody needs that crap. There was a time when everything in Sears was made in the U.S.A. and it was good. Saw some MS newscasts today, and so once again it occurred to me that we should have a …
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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Tina1. You're never happy. No matter what anyone says you complain. In fact, you go out of your way to find people to complain about and then you complain about their complaining. Nixon is charming by comparison. What is your mission in life? You just bitch, and bitch, and bitch, and bitch about this supposedly discrete and homogenous group of people called "liberals". Since you've made them into an institution, perhaps you should capitalize the term--- Liberals and add a little font. Maybe you can copyright it. You keep building these little strawmen and setting them on fire. You don't even …
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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We'll see brian28. I would like to see Israel put into perspective.
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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And furthermore, brian 28, it is so hard to keep up with this busy-body administration---if you know of a good article that describes this mess in detaill, could you throw me a link?
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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buzzflash <a href="http://www.pastpeak.com/archives/2006/01/dean_crushes_bl.htm">link to transcript
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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Now I've seen your claws and fangs, Major Major. Nice claws. Nice fangs.
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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"We people constantly carp..."? Is that really fair, Major Major? I didn't see you shaking your tail, but I'll keep my eye out for it. And, with one tyranny or other, I must say that "capitalism American style" is incorporating to make an immortal institution that can skate around personal responsibility and accountability, patent a gene for "cow" that was discovered through public programs, patent the gene and sue the hell out of anyone breeding cattle and/or require others to pay tribute to said corporation for perpetuating the concept of "cow".
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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You rebel, you.
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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Wow. Since in-home caregivers joined the SEIU, we've gotten workman's compensation, health insurance (for ourselves only) , taxes taken out of our paychecks, and a week of paid vacation a year. Isn't that horrible? Of course, they can't stop people from working underground for less. Maybe we should encourage immigration, especially illegal immigration to make sure that no one gets payed too much. You know you can have that burr surgically removed. It's a day surgery now.
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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Of course, the above post is to tina-pay-me-less-you-liberal-socialist-asshole 1.
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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Don't tell me---your ex is a liberal. No---your ex left you for a liberal.
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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So that makes .....two...opportunities...no three... You worry much too much about liberals, tina1. They can do fine without you. And your pweshus wittle pwezuhdent Is not going to dry up and blow away because of liberals. You aren't going to do or say a damned thing that will honestly influence people who aren't on your little red liberal bashing wagon. Why don't you call your hard-working friends with their BMWs and Lexuses and have them pick you up and take you out to the spa or the golf course so you can forget about liberals for a while and relax? Take …
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,liberals.....and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...for example....blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah election. Blah blah blah, blah blah blah....blah BLAH. Here....blah, blah election 2,000>>>>>> http:..www.whogives afck?.com And blah, blah blah blah blahblahblahblahblahbla hblabhablahblahblahblahblahblah bblahabla bhblahlb ahbhalbhlahbbhbhlahDEMOCRATS!!! Here is the link >>>>>>>>http://www.Idontgiveafck.com And furthermore, blah, blah, raspberries, raspberries, blah, blah. And blah, blah blah blah blahblahblah blahblahbla hblabhablahblahblahb >>>>>> http://www.republicansonacid.com
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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Could we have a show of hands from all the democrats on this thread?
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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Such an anthropological view doesn't make the myth any less destructive, but it's an interesting interpretation in its own right.
Posted to The Republican Crack-Up
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I would like to see more on this topic. Perhaps a series of small articles? Longer articles? Bullits? Just when a story gets compelling, it abruptly ends---like the author was running out of ink.
Posted to Cleaning Up Elections in Connecticut
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While we're supposedly trying to "win the hearts and minds" of Iraqis, the leadership and representatives we pay to mind the store have no appreciable desire to win the hearts and minds of their constituency and fellow Americans. Boy, Nixon sure screwed up that expression. Without campaign reform and a better system of voting, our government will remain corporate lackeys and the best or worst of two evils.
Posted to Will the Dems Step Up in the New Year?
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How, NaderRaider, is your attempt to frame the "true liberal" substantially different from tina1's attempts to do so? Granting that she limits herself to strawman rants and name-calling, and you're a bit more sophisticated. Why do you think it's necessary to make Ralph Nader the messiah of "the real progressive movement"? It's all real. I'm sorry Nader got screwed. We clearly have republicrats and demoblicans and our entire election system is pathetic. I like Nader and would like to see him head up the E.P.A. or in some other cabinet position with which he can hold industry accountable and put his …
Posted to Will the Dems Step Up in the New Year?
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I campaigned a little and voted for Kucininch in the primaries. I voted for Kerry at election time because my main concern was getting Cheny, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld out of power. Bush is a fundraiser. He doesn't concern me much. "The Crazies", however, are extremely dangerous and deluded. We're more likely to have a nuclear war than we are to elect Nader. Why not have a party that wants to unite the majority in the U.S.? The far right are lunatic fringe. Why not be so reasonable, clear, and tolerant that the other candidates look like the partisan hacks that they …
Posted to Will the Dems Step Up in the New Year?
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That's the problem ---most of the Democrats are crooks and liars too. No one can raise the money needed for a winning election without selling their soul, or at least taking money from lobbies that they will end up owing favors to. I don't buy the "we were fooled" argument at all. Almost everything you hear now was published on the net before we went to war. If their aides were doing research instead of giving blow jobs, they would have known. I know it's crass and ugly of me to say so, but capital hill is crass and ugly. You're …
Posted to Will the Dems Step Up in the New Year?
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I'm not ashamed to be an "American", i.e. a U.S. citizen. I'm not proud of it either. It was an accident of my birth and not an accomplishment. What has happened to New Orleans is a crying shame. The shame, IMO, is squarely in the administration's court. Michael Brown should be charged with criminal negligence, and a few thousand counts of manslaughter, and whatever else may apply, IMO. Throw the book at the rat bastard and the rattier bastard that appointed him---disaster relief is not a vanity job. People drowned while this prissy, useless pig lingered over lunch. And he's still …
Posted to Christmas in New Orleans
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Tina (stuck on stupid)1. What is FEMA responsible for? Hmmm? I'm not screaming, "It's Bush's fault". He's on vacation. Or raising money for the GOP at events populated with people who have signed loyalty oaths. Or he's taking his 2,000 + entourage to foreign nations where he is openly ridiculed. Do you really think you are doing Republicans or Conservatives or Bush any favors? You're so embarrasing. I wouldn't wish you on Republicans. The quality of discourse is poor enough.
Posted to Christmas in New Orleans
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Hello again, Rabbit, David, Lumens, Andi. Nice to meet you katiez and KarenR. I'm wiley. WOW! At first I was excited about the article. My first thought when I opened it, however, was that the length is appropriate for a letter to grandma, and completely inadequate to the task at hand (unless the task was to dismiss a person who contradicted the official version (although there isn't really an "official" version (there is no transcript of the hearing)---there is just an accusation, impressions, and prepackaged hype that defies Newton's laws and all manners of sensibility.) Half way through the article my …
Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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Ahhh, man---I still gotta wrap some presents and then get to bed, but I can not resist one little post: O.K. Whatever you think of Micheal Ruppert, I've got to tell you that the only question I ever had about 9/11 (aside from how can so many people accept this in your face "trifecta"*) was how did they silence all those FAA air traffic controllers? These people are generally brighter than cows and vigilant, and in the case of something going off course, it's reasonable to expect them to be hyper-vigilant. Four aircrafts flying through different parts of the country and …
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RATS!!! explanation edit: link fixed.
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GRRRRRR. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but it's worth a copy and paste.
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There is really no particularly special knowledge necessary to see through the bull. Like Rabbit said, they didn't really try to cover up their tracks and they were sloppy. But this talk sends me skipping down memory lane. In a hotel in the U.S. midwest, in the early eighties, a set of three bridges collapsed, one on top of the other, killing the couple of hundred people who were mingling on the bridges while attending the gala opening of this hotel. Bam, bam, bam. I heard this story from a fellow worker---we had been swapping when your number is up stories. …
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continued from 1:17 That builder went to prison. There should be a lot of civil engineers studying 9/11, but the evidence was removed so that there is nothing to study. How convenient. Does anyone here want to declare that they don't get this because they aren't a physicist, a civil engineer, an architect, or a person who once fell off of a swing set? Too shy to speak up? Try a thought experiment. Imagine that you are standing straight and tall and that your feet are bolted to the floor. Imagine a robotic arm with a hand full of napalm punching …
Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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preface: Don't get me wrong---I think it's important to examine all evidence (that's left) and take apart the legend of 9/11 for the sake of truth, history, and prosecution. I would, however, like to point out that even if you start with the assumption that it was executed by 19 mideastern hijackers with no assistance of any kind (which would include looking the other way, the president---who trumpets his role as commander-in-chief and tries to pass himself off as a pilot--- was completely derelict in his duty as commander in chief before, during, and after 9/11. More on that and the …
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Merry Christmas, Andi! I'm waiting for my friends to wake up and gear up for celebrating. Missed a celebration yesterday because another friend was coughing madly-badly. We're hoping for a not-raining Christmas. To show the poll questions: Yes, between the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war and more, there is plenty to justify putting him on trial. 85% No, like any president, he has made a few missteps, but nothing approaching "high crimes and misdemeanors." 5% No, the man has done absolutely nothing wrong. Impeachment would just be a political lynching. 8% I don't know. 2% I will have to …
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I use AlltheWeb.com. It has a couple of paid sites listed at the top, and the rest are ranked according to hits.
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Nat, I had forgotten about NORAD's Santa tracking capability. The Russians were surely behind on that one. I believe it started in the late fifties. It was a public relations manuever, primarily aimed (doesn't matter whether or not the pun was intended) at people in proximity to Cheyenne Mountain. 'We track Santa is warm and fuzzy. 'we are a primary target for multiple nuclear strikes' is not.
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Oh. Santa gets a jet escort. Hijackers don't.
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Just FYI, Nat, NORAD beefed up to infrared satellites in the seventies. The radar system was saved as a back up. Don't know if the phased array radar system is still in place. Don't care. But Santa tracking requires radar. Rudolph's nose is not bright enough to register with an infrared satellite, and there is no plume of fire behind Santa's sleigh like there is behind rockets being launched or heat in the wake of any explosion. Isn't that funny? Really, what's more funny than utter failure to protect the homeland? Those people jumping from the WTC? Your little joke was …
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http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/searchResults.jsp?searchtext=norad&events=on&entities=on&articles=on&topics=on&timelines=on&projects=on&titles=on&descriptions=on&dosearch=on&search=%2BGo%2B Yes, Nat. Been looking this up. Wasn't aware that NORAD does have an active air traffic control/ radar set up in the Northeast. That makes them even more responsible, IMO. Cut the "nobody imagined" crap. It doesn't matter what they thought. All that mattered is what they did or did not do. If handling traffic was too much for them then they didn't make a very good career choice. Air traffic control has always been intense. And nobody had to magically pick out an aircraft---a blip without information from a transponder should stick out like a sore thumb. Can you …
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My friend Clouds has just discovered that he can't sign in because we have the same IP address, so I'm posting this for him.
Perhaps I’ve been unclear
Unclear how? It seems pretty clear that you turned a catastrophic failure of our homeland defense into a perverted joke about tracking Santa and his reindeer. To further compound this, you likened any belief in our national defense protocol into believing that reindeer can fly. Seems pretty cut and dry to anyone who has the semblance of understanding that failure to protect our citizens is not funny....even the good folks at NORAD …
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Seriously, it wasn’t like Osama has been blamed for attacking anything else involving America as in an Embassy in Africa, right? Taleban firm on bin Laden
Perhaps if Jimmy Carter had been reelected, our defenses would have all still been in place. He and his campaign staff should be held accountable for this tragedy
. No, the executive blame rests solely on the men who made the decision not to protect the homeland. Why do you keep trying to divert blame on those who set the standard rather than those who broke it? Oh, I get it. You’re making one of …Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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Wiley's response to Nat: Where does "flawless" fit in with four hijacked aircraft being unreported? No one said anything about "flawlessness". You think it's unreasonable to expect them to do their jobs? Are they not adults? Did they not know that their jobs entailed grave responsibilities? Enough with this useless emoting and misdirection---any air traffic controller who cannot handle him/herself in a crisis is either not cut out for the work or inadequately trained. “Unprecedented” doesn’t count either. It doesn't matter what the "hijackers" planned on doing with the planes. All the controllers had to know was that there was a …
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Wiley’s further response to Nat’s last post: I wouldn’t say that I’m an expert. Most controllers would not say that, is my guess. But I was an Aerospace Control and Warning Systems operator in the military. I worked under NORAD, and also in a conventional radar unit. It certainly seems possible to me that al Qaeda had knowledge of these games and might have purposely planned the attacks based on the cover it could provide. Are you suggesting that they had inside information? How could al Queda have known that NORAD and the FAA would be playing a war game that …
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There is a precedent for this blurring. There was an incident in which a training tape--- a war scenario--- had inadvertently been inserted into real-time in the missile warning system. Going to DefCon 2, sending our bombers into a holding pattern (that the Soviets would recognize), and having the men in the silos get ready for launch was the kind of over-the-top threatening situation that resulted in changes for the purpose of preventing such a thing from happening again. When I and my partner saw nuclear missiles that fit the profile of Soviet Submarine Launched missiles being launched from the symbols …
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I am more concerned about protecting the homeland than bombing nations into the Stone Age in order to spend more money and create more ire to make us broker, and terrorists stronger. Ya know, there was that one piece of intelligence that mentioned something about flying planes into buildings, I think we better shoot it down, just to be safe. I never said this. Sneaky aren't you? Your little song and dance about heartlessness and spockishness is childish and stupid. The nation should be glad that our safety isn't completely reliant on emotional boobs. There are teams of professionals who spend …
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CLUES: It's the opposite of name calling it uses slippery or vague words and phrases it uses language to stir emotions target audiences accept impressions* without thinking critically about what is being touted That smell is (a drum roll, please)--- glittering generalizations! *I think instead of having to get answers correct on math tests, that students should be able to give impressions. Can't we all be brothers? ---Jack Handy
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Securing the National Homeland... the combination of unconventional weapons proliferation with the persistence of international terrorism will end the relative invulnerability of the U.S. homeland to catastrophic attack. A direct attack against American citizens on American soil is likely over the next quarter century. The risk is not only death and destruction but also a demoralization that could undermine U.S. global leadership. In the face of this threat, our nation has no coherent or integrated governmental structures. We therefore recommend the creation of an independent National Homeland Security Agency (NHSA) with responsibility for planning, coordinating, and integrating various U.S. government activities …
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One more point. People who are too squeemish to shoot down an airliner that is not responding to an intercept by military fighter aircraft, should not be in a position that requires exactly that call to be made in exactly that circumstance. Protocol goes with the job. If you can't do it, don't take the job. (Note to Brownie.) Anyone that squeemish should also not be carpet bombing cities. You still insist that you know how ATCers feel or how they are supposed to feel. How much energy did it take you to blow off and distort what I said? …
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Natalie, are you capable of saying anything with fewer than 300 words? If you weren't quoting me, then who were you quoting with italics? Just stacking up the weasel words, aren't you? Stacking up the cards? You might be able to pass this post off as reasonable to someone who doesn't know anything about air traffic control and military protocols and only wants to have their pro-Bush views repeated for the thousandth time, but I know better. Fighters were supposed to get close to the aircraft to intercept and escort the aircraft to land, just like they had done 90 times …
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You, Natalie, read anger that wasn't there in my responses. Are you whining about our victimhood? Yes, there was an attack. Why? Well there were the people who carried out the attack, and then there were the people who failed to follow protocol and failed to prevent the attack. You only tell half the story. Many people are evidently comfortable with the idea that our defense system is manned by unimaginative, deadbeats that make us easy hunting within a trusting nation, I have higher standards. You make excuses. Which are we Natalie? The most powerful nation in the world or a …
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One bit of misinformation or misunderstanding or red herring is that ATCs lost sight of planes because their transponders were turned off. This is ridiculously false. If transponders were necessary to get a blip, then any air fleet could go undetected and attack us by not having transponders, and anyone could hijack a plane and sneak away under the cover of transponder off mode. The blip is created by radar signals bouncing off the aircraft, or clouds. You've all heard about doppler radar from the weatherman, yes? Do clouds have transponders? Of course not.
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experts who disagree and another A few quotes from these links: Experts said no building like it [WTC7], a modern, steel-reinforced high-rise, had ever collapsed because of an uncontrolled fire. (Glanz, 2001; emphasis added.) That’s correct – no such steel-beam building had ever before (or since) completely collapsed due to fires! However, such complete, symmetrical collapses in steel-frame buildings have indeed occurred many times before -- all of them due to pre-positioned explosives in a procedure called “implosion” or controlled demolition. What a surprise, then, for such an occurrence in downtown Manhattan— three skyscrapers completely collapsed on …
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Hey AD, I thought I'd see ya back. Hope you aren't holed up with another injury. Just checked out your link to Global Research Canada’s 9/11 pages. It's a bit overwhelming, but at first glance I'd say that it certainly asks a lot of questions. Will go back there later. The arguments over whether or not a plane actually hit the Pentagon is interesting. Could be a lot of well poisoning, so that everything can be dismissed by dismissing one aspect of the attack. One question I would like to have answered is "Does Osama bin Laden speak English, and if …
Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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Thanx for the link, huiler. information about NORAD You know, I have to suspect that the attack was so sloppy so that we in the reality-based community can go around and around with GOP shills while the administration and its shadow carry out yet more heinous crimes. To think beyond 'the blast that supposedly set everything so hottly ablaze that it melted/softened (whatever) steel left a hijackers passport intact on a sidewalk ' is taking the bait. What bullshit. Nevertheless, I'll return. Ignoring it is just as unseemly. The kings of antimony rule (for now). This is the kind of …
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No, Natalie. I was taking your excuses to their logical conclusions. You're the one who keeps insisting that "no one could have imagined"....blah, blah, blah. You are the one who keeps insisting that it was somehow understandable for ATC to miss all the planes and that no one could have imagined, etc. That would be 'unimaginative, deadbeat, childish, and irresponsible, but I'm not worried about jets crashing into my neighborhood because I trust that air traffic controllers are not that lame. They don't have to imagine planes being hijacked---they are trained to deal with that---with tapes, that should not be confused …
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No. An apology is not mandatory. I did not say that I was an "expert". You're putting words in my mouth. Why? Perhaps because you wish you hadn't said a few things, and because the position that "no one could have imagined" is indefensible. It was either incompetence or manipulation. You have clearly sided with incompetence and have made excuses for it. Does it make you feel safer to believe that "incompetence" is the answer? It apparently comforts you. Or you are throwing out red herrings rather than discussing the probablity of 9/11 occurring with in-house help. If reports had been …
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please outline and link to the protocol that was in effect the morning of 9/11, apparently not followed, that would have so easily facilitated the shoot-down of flight 11, and subsequently the shoot-down of flight 175, which hit the second tower only 15 minutes later. No links necessary. If jets had been scrambled within ten or twenty minutes of a non-responding plane, then the pilot would have at least seen the first jet crash into a tower, and there would be no doubt that the next jet should be shot down before it entered into NY airspace. Why didn't that happen? …
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Ahhh. It's easy to leave out the quotation marks, hey. (Do you Canadians put a question mark behind the hey, or write it independently, like, Hey?>?) There's a lot of argument about whether the Pentagon was struck by a missile or plane, and whether or not that is a red herring, or poisoning the well, or a erious question. I dunno. Where are the films from the cameras? Is it just one more happy coincidence that that part of the Pentagon was being remodeled? And why should we believe that the "terrorists" (no one has claimed responsibility, no criminal investigation has …
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Eh? Davipedia, these articles be interesting some, but mostly tiresome, eh? Knowing I'm not crazy and knowing buildings don't fall into a heap of dust like that when you crash into the side of one with a jet are mutually intertwined. The shills bring out all these little details, and bury them in mounds of emotional-esque marketing language, in an effort to make those who are not accustomed to reflection comfortable with the bag of deep-fried doo-doo* that's being peddled. I'm confident that revealations of governmental and other wrongdoings will not make me wilt. I'm also confident that our airspace is …
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Rabbit, good to see you up and hopping. You gave up the ghost, eh? I must find out where she gets that monotonous rhythm. She reminds me of an economics teacher I had in high school. He read out of the economic text book the whole class---that's all he did. He had one note in his voice. First time I ever fell asleep in school. Woke myself up snoring, saw that most of the rest of the class was sleeping, and went back to sleep. Only time in my life I ever napped regularly. Staccato rotto. Must dash to work soon. …
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AD Marshall, if I didn't live in the U.S.A. , it would be very difficult for me to understand what happened to it. I do live in the U.S.A. so it is merely difficult. This country has gone completely bat-shit. There is no kinder way to say it. Let me give you a few examples of the trash being talked by people who thinks of themselves as "conservative" and/or Republican: Torture is just like fraternity hazing ---it's no big deal; but we need to do it in order to get information. Liberals should be taken out and shot. France is an …
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Ah, yesssss. Extraordinarily extraordinary extraordinariness. Ssssssssssoooooooo, sssssssssspecial, sssspecial, special. Keep in mind. Squawk. Keep in mind. Squawk. Keep in mind. Squawk. (You're getting sleeeeeepy. Sleeeepy. Sleeepy.)
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My dear friend Felonious Grammar recommends a game of Astronomical Odds. All players welcome. Just copy and paste some of those wild, crazy, and totally unlikely events surrounding 9/11/2001. I'll start: Agency planned drill for plane crash last Sept. 11 Associated Press August 22, 2002 WASHINGTON -- In what the government describes as a bizarre coincidence, one U.S. intelligence agency was planning an exercise last Sept. 11 in which an errant aircraft crashed into one of its buildings. But the cause wasn't terrorism -- it was to be a simulated accident. Officials at the Chantilly, Va.-based National Reconnaissance Office had scheduled …
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ASTRONOMICAL!, Rabbit. Waddayaknow! Marvin Bush If the Towers were brought down with explosives how could anyone get them in. Step in Marvin Bush whose company installed the security system... Vol. 9, No. 2021 - The American Reporter - January 20, 2003 SECRECY SURROUNDS A BUSH BROTHER'S ROLE IN 9/11 SECURITY by Margie Burns Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON, Jan 19, 2003 -- A company that provided security at New York City's World Trade Center, Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., and to United Airlines between 1995 and 2001, was backed by a private Kuwaiti-American investment firm with ties to a brother of …
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When you're responsible for air space, Natalie, you're responsible for airspace. What part don't you get? Clearly there has been no investigation to determine exactly how we missed four hijacked aircraft. Let me repeat this for the cheap seats--- FOUR HIJACKED AIRCRAFT!!
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No, I am not "constrained". Duh!
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The majority of the attackers, 15, were from Saudi Arabia while two came from the United Arab Emirates, one was an Egyptian and another was Lebanese.
This makes it pretty clear that we had to attack Afghanistan and Iraq. The Saudis had boxcutters. These are the world's most idiotic evil geniuses. They can hijack four planes, defy the laws of physics, but the best weapons they could come up with were boxcutters? Did they throw them in the bowl before going through the metal detectors or what? Boxcutters??? I believe that toenail clippers were used …Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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Rabbitanovichz, I give you astronomical for thought experiment, da? I go back---read more Rabbitanovichz and see if can go to Murphey's Law link you give. You good, Rabbitanovichz. Good Rabbitanovichz. Bye. Bye. Tomorrow, me post make here.
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Funny you mentioned that Rabbitarnia. Felonius Grammar was thinking about a new game called "Thomas Anyonymous". When anyone has a quote and doesn't know the source, it could be credited to Thomas Anonymous, and over time, we could see how often it pops up. I put "Thomas Anonymous" in Alltheweb.com just like that. Over 850 hits. Maybe another name. The idea is to see it spread into many various topics. I understand the hmmmm. It used to be that you could put unrelated words like "sandwich" and "dancing" and find a manic rant or two. Haven't seen a manic rant in …
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I don't know much about key words and how that works. Tonight I post "astronomical", I hope.
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No one here? Good, I'll wait til tomorrow. Oy, my aching back. Gonna watch a movie.
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Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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with friends like these <i>Next to address reporters was former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia James Akins, who for years has spoken up for Liberty survivors. Akins noted that his friend Ambassador Dwight Porter, U.S. ambassador to Lebanon in 1967, had told syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak, Akins, and other friends (including the Washington Report’s publisher, executive editor and this reporter), that he had seen transcripts of Israeli radio discussions during the attack. The U.S. monitors heard an Israeli pilot identify the Liberty’s American flag. His superiors ordered him to attack the ship anyway.and government officials …
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It's hard to catch a rabbit on my hours.
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Natalie, Natalie, Natilie. Who loves you, baby? Once again---all the air traffic controllers needed to know was that the planes' transponders were off, and that the aircraft that showed up on the screen was not identified and was off course. And then they needed to call NORAD---if the 9/11 investigation is correct, in that, they failed to contact NORAD. Air Traffic controllers are trained to deal with planes that don't have their transponders on, unresponsive pilots, and hijackings. Any air traffic controller expressing befuddlement over dealing with a possible hijacking is sorely lacking in imagination and must have missed that class. …
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David, it's been a couple of years, now; but I did see several mentions of the Oklahoma Bombing site and the 9/11 site having the same contractor for clean-up. Guess they're one of those on-the-go-federal-yet private-clean-up crews. Got a 91 percentile on that test. The 9% of me that is gullible is terribly good at it sometimes. Have to work to keep myself on my toes.
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As for the disingenuous assertion that no one had ever contemplated that Islamic Terrorists would use airliners for Kamikaze attacks: “On December 29, 1994, four terrorists alleged to have ties to Osama bin Laden hijacked Air France Flight 8969, a flight from Algiers to Paris. They loaded the plane with explosives and filled it with extra fuel, with the intent of ramming it into the Eiffel Tower. Commandos stormed the plane and killed the hijackers. (Source: NBC News. September 30, 2001. Chris Hansen, "The Lesson of Air France Flight 8969") A full seven years before September 11, an al-Qaeda suicide hijacking …
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It stunk because some nut thought he had the authority to kill innocent people to advance a twisted agenda. This does not ring any bells for you, I take it. Lumens has made the point well enough, but I must chime in and challenge you to form a reply (under 300 words) that doesn't rest on reality being this or that based on emotion or what you would prefer to believe, or what you would prefer to proffer whether you believe it or not. Sounds at least as credible as believing that we would deliberately murder thousands of people and cripple …
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So, what I hear you saying is that we failed to prevent the attack for emotional reasons, and because of a lack of imagination, and/or from an inability to believe that aircraft were being hijacked. Glad we're on the same page.
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And, oh yeah, glad it's "official".
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O.K., Natalie, we'll clear this up, one thing at a time. 1. Radar signals are beamed into the sky. Let me know when this sinks in. In fact, why don' t you rephrase it so that I can see that you truly understand it before we go to the next step. I'm rooting for you.
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Well, she did keep her last post to me under 300 words, so maybe she's trying. Unlike air traffic control, trying counts in cyberspace and failure is of little consequence. Catching rabbits is fun, yes? Heidi Ho, Lumens! It makes more sense to ask someone to prove that the fall was not a demolition, does it not? Who are you going to believe----the 9/11 commission, or your lying eyes?
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Oh, Rabbit and Lumens, what thinks yuens about the Israeli mossad angle? (Don't want to stanch the flow of thought, here.)
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Until Sept. 11, 2001, NORAD conducted four major exercises a year. Most included a hijack scenario, but not all of those involved planes as weapons. Since the attacks, NORAD has conducted more than 100 exercises, all with mock hijackings. source of confusion
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Damn! Well, there is the address, though it comes not with the tiny url thrill. Don't jump in Nat. You're still on 1. I can see how someone might be confused by such reports that ever so conveniently fail to mention that not only a mere hijacking, but a yet more mere plane accidentally flying off course is enough cause to scramble jet fighters. What a plane does after being hijacked probably matters to NORAD about as much as a nuclear warhead detonating---they'd draw a little box around clusters of data to keep it from burning "ghosts" into the screen. Once …
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...jets used as MISSILES...
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Minerva, you're speaking with full sentences and paragraphs all of a sudden. The first physicist that reported that the collapse was consistent with demolition was silenced. Unfortunately, your argument doesn't really have legs, darlink. I think this operation was very well planned. I think they realized that there was a window of opportunity, and it was choreographed well, and despite any attempt there might have been at interception the die was cast when the terrorists took over the flights and turned the craft around. I find it implausible to suggest that the ‘military-industrial complex’ ( remember those guys?) allowed or …
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No one on earth defies gravity. No terrorists could have been aware of this scenario and plotted their attack accordingly without inside information and assistance. Only stunning ignorance, and willful disbelief can think otherwise. Why is the WTC where we hurt? Who is this "we"? Wouldn't it hurt more if they had crashed into busy airports? Or into malls? Or into schools and churches---making a big sloppy mess? Who does this clinical, laws-of-physics-denying, surgical strike benefit? Why would the terrorist even attempt such a complicated attack in which U.S. forces should have had time to scramble? And why would the terrorists …
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As for the flight plan of the scrambling, intercepter type jets? As a kid who grew up on air force bases, I could tell you when a military jet flies overhead. You don’t have to be some sort of genius to figure out the habits of the military response in this area...you don’t need expensive technology, or some inside source. Ears, eyes, and a working knowledge of math could inform you about the response time of fighter jets in New York. Minerva, as someone who grew up serving in the Air Force and working for SAC/NORAD and a tactical mobile radar …
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found it! I knew this happened. Got to remember to check out Wikipedia first. This is Pappy Bush's refusal to apologize for the military shootdown of a civilian airliner. He would never apologize for the United States of America. What a pathological load of shit. I had almost forgotten how much worse having a former CIA agent was than having a bad actor in the Executive mansion. Hi skipper7.
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Oh, skipper7. I'm pretty new here and don't think I've seen ya round before. I'll check out your link. Thank you. But in the future you might want to think twice before you throw the word "sheeple" around so loosely. Unless of course, you're a strictly hit-and-run offensive poster that won't be hanging around long enough to get the verbal ass whooping that this loose use of the word "sheeple" deserves. You're not afraid of having allies are you? Hmmm? Who are you talking to? Or were you asking us to "wake up sheeple" as a verby sort of thing? …
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Skipper's link brings up the point that seems so obvious it's easy to forget---there has been no evidence from the administration backing their claims and their contradictory actions. Shortly after 9/11, I asked a 24/7 reference librarian if she had a list of all the "evidence" supporting the accusation against bin Laden, and al Queda. She sent me a list of hearsay and things that had already been debunked by other world police sources that dealt with terrorism and its threat. I asked her, after I received it if that was IT? She said, "yes". I said, "this is the evidence? …
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I'm bitchy. Won't pretend otherwise, though I'll put a little cork in it (not too tight). Am starting to swing a bit wide. It's so odd to have to talk to people from other countries in order to get feedback on reality, and not just for fun stuff like how do you celebrate birthdays, what was grade school like, how many shots of liquers do you toss back before you start drinking, and other pleasant banter. The only time I've been able to strike up a bit of friendly conversation with anyone around this town is when I meet another gardener. …
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Yes---the television trance. I was forced to watch television as a child. My mind would wander off---the only programs I liked were Jaques Cousteau and Warner Brothers cartoons (but only if I couldn't go outside.) Around 8 years ago, I bought a television and watched it for several months, because I needed to have a cultural exchange. Talk about being on the outside---a U.S. citizen who doesn't drive or watch television! I had no idea what people were talking about half the time. Yes, television is mesmerizing and ubiquitous. When Clouds was in the hospital last, I stayed in the lobby …
Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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Deep breath. Hold. Sigh. Repeat.
Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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Thanks for the heads up, Rabbitoid. That's not a bad tactic on her part. I wonder who taught her that?
Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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Hey Wiley..if you were actually an air traffic controller, keeping the world safer for Democracy and Capitalism through Norad in the past 25 years, perhaps my father either taught you your trade, or ran the school that educated you. I was in NORAD 28 years ago. All that's declassified now, but I don't remember hearing public testimony from NORAD concerning 9/11. Why don't you be a sport and ask your father to give us some information? I was in a tactical, mobile radar unit after that. The guardedness of air space is what I know. That’s who HE is. Good for …
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Hey, Rabbitamini. Right as rain as usual, I see.
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Welcome back, Nat! I'm so thrilled! I was actually starting to think that Rabbit might have given you too much credit. But here you are, beautful! I haven't forgotten---you're still on lesson ONE. O.K., Natalie, we’ll clear this up, one thing at a time. 1. Radar signals are beamed into the sky. Let me know when this sinks in. In fact, why don’ t you rephrase it so that I can see that you truly understand it before we go to the next step. I’m rooting for you.
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Natalie, you're jumping ahead. But while you're here, why don't you explain to us how 9/11 was not a conspiracy. That's the one I'm really looking forward to. How did this caper spontaneoulsy happen?
Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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Enron and Afghanistan Lumens, you might also be interested in this article about Enron and Aghanistan.
Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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You know, Nat, these little vignettes don't even make sense. Not only do they not explain anything, they don't even really describe much of anything. At most, they say that some people expected the building to collapse, a corner was nicked off the building, there were fires in the building, and the building collapsed. That doesn't make any sense. Nobody expected the skyscrapers to collapse, but all of a sudden all concerned parties expect building 7 to collapse? Like the collapsing skyscrapers caused some kind of conversion among the firefighters so that they suddenly expected all burning buildings to collapse? We …
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1. Radar signals are beamed into the sky. Let me know when this sinks in, Nat. In fact, why don’ t you rephrase it so that I can see that you truly understand it before we go to the next step. The next step is step 2. but it doesn't come along until after step 1 is assimilated. Are you getting warm, Nat?
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Are you saying, Nat, that it's impossible for 9/11 to have been carried out with assistance by anyone in the U.S. government? Are you really asking why any American involved in the attack or that was aware of Americans being involved in the attack, didn't sing? Talk about denial. And are you really suggesting that because people have been singing about Bush in regards to other matters that there should have been singing about Bush's involvement in 9/11? Now that you've defined reality for yourself, how about spending some time in it. Oh, who said anything about Bush being involved in …
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Oh, MINEEEERRRVUUUUUUHHH!!! How about those sonic booms? Heard any yet? Know what I'm talking about? HUH,HUH,HUH???
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Yes, Natalie, we all know what it's like to shout "hello!" into a canyon and listen to it exploding off of the walls. You really are slippery with issues that three year olds are able to test scientifically. Are you seriously trying to tell us that there are adults who don't recognize the difference between an echo and an explosion? Echos, get increasingly feint---with each bounce, sound is absorbed---that's why echos stop instead of echoing infinitely. That's why we're not all deaf from echoes through the ages. Some expert testimony by air traffic controllers was cut to ribbons and scattered among …
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Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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Now, I'm not suggesting that everyone be fired. And I'm certainly not going to blame the union. I suspect that the reason the tape was destroyed is because it was too realistic. I surmise that it would have begged questions like, Did they actually see the planes crashing into the tower? Did they see the crash outside of their windows? Or, Did the image of a jet crash into an icon of the WTC on their screens? Or, How many towers were involved from the time the four planes took off until the time they crashed? Or, Why didn't the …
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Yes, Minerva, Canada is part of NORAD. Our president stamped his feet not to long ago because Canada's prime minister wanted us to ask before shooting down missiles over your territories. Does that sound familiar? Unless your father worked in Biloxi, Mississippi or Colorado Springs, he didn't train me. I don't remember being trained by anyone who wasn't U.S.A.F. Canada was rarely mentioned among my crews, except for the phased array radar system on the border, and perhaps on written tests. Since you are so close to NORAD, perhaps you should ask yourself why you feel so much more comfortable with …
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And, Minerva, as someone who worked in nuclear forces, I can say in all honesty that reality is a fucking nightmare. It would be wonderful if incompetence were the problem. That would be so easily rectified.
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Oh, now you have a sister that made flight simulations? What next? You? So you have all this experience at your disposal and still don't have enough inside information to find sources on line to share with us. What have you said besides citing your family and your wishes and your knowledge of simple math? Is everyone supposed to take everything you say at face value. Your father assures you of this or that about 9/11. Now your sister writes exercises. What do you do, besides emote and talk about your family and your yet to be demonstrated math skills? If …
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BTW, Minerva, my step-father worked for General Dynamics which is now GrummonNorthrup(? (I think)something like that) and there was an air force base adjacent to GD, and jets being tested over our heads, all the day, waking up the babies...I was always informed when another F-111 crashed and burned in Viet Nam... ...but I wouldn't put that on my resume.
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Why are you on this thread, Minerva? If you don't want to discuss 9/11 with any references not already in your head, why then do you sully your pretty little head? Seems a little silly to log on, go into a thread discussing 9/11, and to then declare that all other web references are invalid. Can't you be subjective by yourself? Do you really think you're doing people favors? Do you really think that you have a life, and we don't? Are you projecting? If you don't want to talk about 9/11, then go to another thread, doll face. You can …
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Minerva, since your sister is on the cutting edge in air traffic control, what are her thoughts about privatization?
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Show me where I said that something was "proof". Take your time.
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And what you are doing in the "side show" if you aren't a "freak" yourself?
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If you read my posts, you might have noticed that the reason I started talking about my radar experience was because I knew better than to believe that all the air traffic controllers covering all those air spaces could have missed all those planes. Air space is intensely guarded. This is a simple fact. Air traffic controllers are not "Beetle Baileys". Oh, and I knew two former marines that were air traffic controllers at O'Hare and L.A. International. Whoop-di-doo. (They were intense.) The exercise running concurrently with real time on 9/11 was the first thing that made sense to me---whatever you …
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So, everything is peachy. Cool. I will be nice to you. Yeah, I knew there was something wrong from the go, and that is was more than an error among controllers. BTW, there is a lot of very good and solid information on the net, just like there is a lot of very good and solid information in a library. The net is where I found the date of my false alarm and the official explanation. My captain lied. The web is where I found Bruce Blair---a missilier, head of the Center for Defense Information and a font of information. Lots …
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Stinky Pete!---don't ever write a sentence like that again! Good Gawd, and good grief, you should have had your 12 year old daughter proofread it for you. SLAP!!!
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Under the influence, hey? Not a bad defense. I didn't look at your math. You can keep that in your pants too.
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Hello, Lumens---didn't mean to leave you out of the not buying it roster. You are so patient. So focused Yo se (?) Have you seen the Tom Tomorrow cartoon Rabbit linked to for WTH? Rabbitacio if I had your knack for whacking on a regular basis....damn, damn, damn!!! The time I spent in charm school---wait. That was someone else. Nevermind. You crack me up, Wabbitari. I have vicarious joy mit you. I am taking a week off to pretend that I'm not obligated to work and to have flu-like symtoms. During this time, I intend to study this thread well and …
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Not to belittle the victims or make light of the perpetrators of 9/11, but to poke fun at those who would rather not look. Lt. Pervis: Commander Murdoch? Commander Murdoch: What's the problem, Lieutenant? Lt. Pervis: The Mayflower, sir---she's coming in hotter than a firecracker, sir. Their computer is down, they've lost their crew, and they're flying on manual control, sir. Commander Murdoch: We better get to the tower, Lieutenant. Lt. Pervis: We have no tower, sir. Commander Murdoch: We have no tower? Lt. Pervis: Just a bridge, sir. Commander Murdoch: Why the hell aren't I notified about these things? Commander …
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Gee, Stinky Pete, I forgot to swoon with gratitude. Remind me to do that later. What thinks you about the official story of 9/11?
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It's not particularly hard to cut and paste a web address Mr. Stinky. demolition>/a>
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Oh. Now I'm mad. demolition
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http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~2aday/temp/demolition.mpg Yep. Cut and paste works. Wonder what makes this link so hard to shrink.
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Wow. Imagine standing on top of that building when it collapses. It's a free fall. My stomach rides up to my tonsils just watching this thing. There are no jerks when one floor hits the floor beneath it. There's no bam, bam, bam, bam with each bam growing heavier and clunkier than the one before it. There are no hunks sliding off the sides*. There is only one fluid jhoop and then that now all too familiar cloud of boiling dust. *In the case of the WTC, there is no keeling over in one direction or the other that might reflect …
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Hey, frog. I can't say exactly why I was expecting something big that would change everything but I was, and I said as much to a friend on many occassions. I'm not offering this as proof or evidence, of course, am just saying what my thoughts were when I first saw television coverage of the attacks. So when I saw the video of 9/11 I thought this was "it" and that there is no way those plans made those buildings fall like that. No way. I was also struck by how neatly pre-packaged it all was. "Ground Zero"? Hero firefighters. It …
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Griffin has written an article about the omissions and distortions in the 9/11 commision's report. Here is how the list begins: Given this clarification, I now list the omissions and claims of The 9/11 Commission Report that I, in my critique of that report, portrayed as lies: 1. The omission of evidence that at least six of the alleged hijackers---including Waleed al-Shehri, said by the Commission probably to have stabbed a flight attendant on Flight 11 before it crashed into the North Tower of the WTC---are still alive (19-20). Can anyone explain why this illustrious and expensive commission failed to address …
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That does appear to be the case, frog. Though the terrorist stock market balloon turned to lead pretty quickly. TIPS didn't go over so well..... Hmmm. No one picked up the colony on mars ball and ran with it, but I think that was just another made-you-look misdirection. Other than that, they've pretty much sold it all. I actually was looking for a link to a story about OBL being buried in an unmarked grave in Pakistan. His obituary--- according to one source---was published in a Pakistani newspaper. Who knows? I got distracted and found a few 9/11 tidbits that I'll …
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I was just starting to read an article by Robert Fisk that starts with Why only audio? A friend and I started talking and he brought up the Taliban banning television, and we were skating around with this issue, and I said, if they have cells all around the world then somebody can go into a Best Buy, or whatever, and by a freakin' video camera. Hell, they could knock out tourists and take their cameras, then it occurs to me that: IF THESE "TERRORISTS" CAN'T GET A VIDEO-CAMERA, THEN WHAT KIND OF THREAT ARE THEY? REALLY?! YOU COULD SEND A …
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correction: bin Laden's will was published in an Egyptian newspaper.
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Yeah, Fisk is a war correspondent. He doesn't go too far out on a limb, but he is very knowledgeable about the mideast. I like him. Security doesn't really do it for me as an argument for audio instead of video and audio. Anyone who has ever watched a movie knows that you can make a set on a budget that will not give away your location. For that matter you could make a set suggesting that you're somewhere else. Unless, those sneaky bastards want people to suspect or believe that the tape is a forgery. That would be evil genious-ey. …
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Isn't that a kick in the ass, frog? Artifice and reality running neck and neck. Is it my imagination or are humans ever involved in the wrong contests? I see the debunked messages from bin Laden as another cog in the 9/11 cover up. Since there was no forensic investigation and trial, there is no closure. The administration is two steps from riding on a rail, and the less romantic the view of our president and his cabinet, the more likely people are going to start wondering if there is something to all those "conspiracy theories". More of the many coincidences …
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Oh, and how about the terrorist training for a bomb in the subway being run at exactly the same time as the actual bomb was in place? London leaks like a sieve too? Should we all have "suckers" branded on our foreheads? These terrorists are psychic! Mein Gott! These men should be oracles.
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If you must drown, frog, then I hope you drow in the hard cider. It's much better than drowning in tears or tap water.
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Oh yes, Rabbit. The sociopaths love to tell you what they're going to do to you in such a way that they can deny it and say that you were warned, as well. A conscience hardly knows what to do with that. What is most amazing is the people who will clamor to defend the sociopath and blame the victim. What is scary to me in all this is the conclusions the authorities come up with. Did you know that the only way to stop a suicide bomber is to shoot him/her in the head? Shoot first, ask questions later. All …
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Minerva, Minerva, Minerva, what were you thinking? It is futile for you to fight with Rabbit. Don't you see? Don't you see? You sound frazzled. Do rest. Dial 911 if you are feeling desperate, otherwise, I find it irresponsible for you to talk about committing suicide. This is the kind of thing you should tell your family. Suicide isn't funny. I'll ask Rabbit not to joke about it, but I understand that I'm taking my chances by doing so, and that Rabbit is Rabbitty. You seem lacking in net-i-sense. You might want to dedicate yourself, your family, and your next crap …
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Not everyone can see how soft and furry you really are, Rabbitowsky. Some people might get the impression that you're ruthless, and forthright, and not altogether polite. It's crazy, I know. People think I'm direct, all the time, I don't know where they get that. Mensch. Gonna crawl into my nest and go to sleep now.
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It amazes me what does come out sometimes, frog, and what is missing. Considering the contents of your usual news porn, it is odd that we haven't heard accounts of what happened on 9/11 from air traffic controllers, we haven't seen interviews with the families of passengers on all four flights, we haven't seen surveillance video ad nauseum, we haven't heard from people who worked in the WTC towers but weren't there that day, we haven't heard from jet fighter pilots in proximity to D.C. and NYC, we haven't heard much from our hero firefighters, we haven't even heard much from …
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Seriously,Minerva---is there something you want to talk about? Look, I know you had your reasons. There were extenuating circumstances. Anyone in your position would have done the same, I know that. You're not a bad person. You're a good person, in a bad situation. Anybody could see that. I know you want to get it off your chest. Your conscience is eating you alive--- you can't eat, you can't sleep. You wish you could turn back the hands of time, and do it all differently, but you can't. The jury will understand that and they'll go easy on you if you …
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I see Nat is keeping you warm and fozzy, Minerva. Wakka, wakka, wakka, wakka.
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Hope you don't mind me reposting this Lumens. Lumens said: Natalie; You know that I believe that the official story of the collapse of the WTC has a null probability of being true on 2nd Law of Thermodynamics and 3rd Law of Motion grounds alone. The controlled demolition theory explains the physical evidence without contradiction. What is it that I’m supposed to believe? That nefarious deep dark schemes are at the root of every facet of every major event in history? Sorry, I don’t believe that. Just the ones that have nefarious schemes at the root. Don’t you believe in nefarious …
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Five pages, Nat. You're getting blunt and boring as ever. If you can't address the following question, then please give us a list of reasons explaining why the official story is beyond reproach. Griffin has written an article about the omissions and distortions in the 9/11 commision’s report. Here is how the list begins: Given this clarification, I now list the omissions and claims of The 9/11 Commission Report that I, in my critique of that report, portrayed as lies: 1. The omission of evidence that at least six of the alleged hijackers---including Waleed al-Shehri, said by the Commission probably to …
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Minerva, what the hell are you talking about?
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I was thinking just that, Lumens. Her whole schtick is like an astonishing medley of casseroles, in which the number of apparent varieties truly is astonishing, once you realize that they are all the same low budget tuna casserole. Not a bad trick for a one-trick pony. Maybe with a little pressure she'll come up with another one. Natalie, have you tryed lying yet? Just make something up. That sounds like fun doesn't it?
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another 9/11 link Wow, Rabbit! Your link is great. It is so refreshing. I'm going back in. See ya.
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From the bang bang bang link above. George W. Bush was in the process of becoming the original first-term lame duck president in history. Half the country believed (correctly) that he pulled a fast one in order to slither into the White House in the first place. One of his first orders of business was to eliminate repetitive motion injury claims for working Americans. Vermont Senator, Jim Jeffords, defected to an independent status in order to hand power to the Democrats in protest of the bullying tactics displayed early on by the White House. Bush's tax-cut package was already doing damage …
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http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F00C1FFE355F0C728EDDA00894D9404482 http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/victims/AA11.victims.html http://www.eionews.addr.com/psyops/news/passenger_list_puzzle.htm http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/victims/AA77.victims.html http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/victims/ua175.victims.html http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/victims/ua93.victims.html Wonder if this is going to be translated into screams? A few more links about the hijackers. I signed up for a trial of some "select" hooey at New York Times, so that I could get articles from the "paper of record". What a lousy record we have. The eio link is an interesting one for people who like puzzles. The CNN links are on the eio site. CNN links are passenger lists for the hijacked aircraft. Am on pens and needles over our impending nuclear strike. Can't sleep well. Ordered sedatives. Good God! They're …
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Yep. Screaming like a Banshee.
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Maybe the font is in bold because moles have poor eyesight. If electrons start revolting---- the only thing we can be certain of, is that the market would be flooded with self-help books about how it's your fault, and the twelve steps to turning your bold electrons into capital.
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Define "real".
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http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/revision/germany.shtml Do you have a problem with revision, Natalie. It's a perfectly acceptable pursuit, especially when new documentation is found, or when one or more prior claims are proven to be questionable. Surely you don't think it's sensible to reject an entire news source on the basis of your prejudice? Perhaps you think the BBC and the Telegraph are part of a conspiracy?
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If I knew how to "dold"--- Oh, I know how it is though, Pistol Pete--- I have HTMLADHD. It's not what everyone thinks it is, it's a communist plot. Rabbit isn't communist. Though I hear he casts a furry spell.
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Continued from the link of Rabbit, above. Asking any of these basic questions to a conspiracy theorist is likely to cause a sudden leap to the claim that we know that they were on board because they left a credit card trail for the tickets they had purchased and cars they had rented. So if they used credit cards that identified them, how does that reconcile with the claim that they used false IDs to get on to the plane? But by this time , the fruit loop is in full swing, as the conspiracy theorist tries to stay one jump …
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Having triumphantly established a circular delusion in support of the mythical Arabs, the conspiracy theorist now confronts the difficult question of why there's nothing left of the planes. Anybody who has seen the endlessly replayed footage of the second plane going into the WTC will realize that the plane was packed with explosives. Planes do not and cannot blow up into nothing in that manner when they crash. Did the mythical Arabs also haul a huge heap of explosives on board, and mange to deploy them in such a manner that they went off in the exact instant of the crash, …
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look at this easy error Hope these links work. Seriously, we can only wonder if this was a "friendly fire" type error, or a twisted warning shot. The brass won't take the heat for anything, and I don't think the troops care much anymore. Most of these guys are on their third tour, and they can probably tell that things are only getting worse.
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Oh, Natalie, you're such a bore; but I see how you work. Real is what you want to hear, the way you want to hear it. You are a victim of the fruit loop. In the fruit loop the BBC and the Independent are part of a vast conspiracy. Pistol Pete is new here, so maybe it's understandable that he doesn't see why we bother to argue with your fruit loopiness. He'll come around---post some more of your loopy fruit, so he'll fall in love.
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Since they're already re-engineered the combustion qualities of jet fuel, violated the second law of thermodynamics, and redefined the structural properties of steel, why let a little thing like the laws of gravity get in the way? The tower fell in a time almost identical to that of a free falling object, dropped from that height, meaning that its physically impossible for it to have collapsed by the method of the top floors smashing through the lower floors. But according to the conspiracy theorists, the laws of gravity were temporarily suspended on the morning of September 11th. It appears that the …
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This is for you, frog. It would not surprise me if you wondered just exactly what our government did besides bombing Afghanistan and Iraq, to protect us after the alleged Pakistani and Saudi Arabian terrorists attacked us. Well here it is:
After a one hour interrogation and with TSA officials unimpressed by Margaret's production of official Quantas letterhead documents, she devised a way out that speaks volumes about the nature of this whole farce. She simply wrote a note to the TSA official saying that she was CEO of Quantas and signed it. They let her go. In this instance she …
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Oy, I screwed it up. Here is the first half of the article.
Just when you thought TSA screening horror stories couldn't get any more anathema to common sense, the latest victim of the little Hitler airport Gestapo proves otherwise. Let's brush aside for the moment the fact that Margaret Jackson is the CEO of a major world airline company and judge whether her appearance would set alarm bells ringing. A blonde haired bespeckled Australian women in her 50's. About as far away from Mohammed Atta as you can possibly imagine. Yet when the TSA rifled through her bag last year …
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WASHINGTON, DC—A sharp rise in nearly bloodless attacks, improbable explosions, and other forms of highly choreographed violence has concerned citizens demanding that the government pass strict new standards for what they consider the key...
An article about violence in America. I thought you might benefit from this cultural exchange, frog. It might clear up a lot of confusion.Posted to What's the 411 on 9/11?
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Nat?! Do you have a cold? It seems like your voice has changed. Hmmmm.
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Oh, Rabbit, that thought is too awful to contain. I will wack the side of my head to dislodge it--- UUURGG--- one more time--- Smack! O.K. Don't want to have nightmares. Come to think of it, a couple of days ago I was coming out of sleep and having a speaking dream. No images. Just words. And I was going around and around----stuck in a game of "he said, I said", "I said, he said, I said", "he said, I said, he said..." On and on like that. It was horrible. It was like being on a thread with Nat. Cringe. …
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Though I never believed the official story for one minute, I decided to conduct a test. I tried to believe the official story. 19 hijackers? Right! Koran at the titty bar? Check! Flight manual in the trunk? You better believe it! Invisible planes? Sure! Why not? Black boxes didn’t make it? Alright! Passport did? You got it! Suspension of gravitational laws? O.K.---but only for that one day---I’ve got to sleep at night. Pancake theory? When suddenly---my mind became clear and silent. The emptiness--- vast as the ocean---engulfed me and I felt peace. I became light, and was wordlessly aware that I …
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MOOO. Mooo. Ahem. What?! Where am I? Is that you Rabbit? Rabbit? If we can just hang on til things break apart enough for alternatives to be worth it, then I think we can wise up. Maybe. One well trained generation would make great waves too. And---hey, if we can't hang on for ten or so years, then we probably can't hang on, period. I know it may sound strange, but U.S. culture is in gridlock, understood in some quarters as a clusterf*ck. School is a racket. War is a racket. Farming is a racket. Real estate is a racket. Taxes …
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Well, since you're defending DU, Nat, you're probably not worried about silly things like souls. How time flies. It's been a year with this computer and I just now opened a nuclear folder. Cluck. Cluck. When one considers that the VA didn't officially recognize health problems caused by Agent Orange until 1989, it isn't surprizing to see that a General is downplaying DU now. In fact, that's tantamount to saying that it is a military issue and responsibility. If they could only learn to drag their feet, stall, and stone-wall going to war as well as they hold out on acknowledging …
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Yo, Rabbit. What I miss is the liveliness of nature. When I was a child, there was a huge kingdom of insects, caterpillars, butterflies, moths, beetles, bottleflies, fireflies, dragonflies, pill bugs, lady bugs, and more; and then there were different kinds of little bitty tree toads, assortments of larger frogs, horned toads, garden snakes, bullfrogs...I mean the place was alive! And at night there were way more stars than you could ever count. There were trees, wild and cultivated. Flowers in the gardens and in the fields. Pecans and peaches. Johnson grass and honeysuckle. The world was much more alive then, …
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I'm just selfishly yacking at you guys. Looked at permaculture by the way, Rabbit. I've read about it before. If I had property I'd do it, but still, I'd want a greenhouse, and indoor plants, and a pond, and container gardens, and an acre of lavendar, and some xeroscaping, and a luscious bit of rye grass. And a degree in horticulture and all relevant licences and certifications--- I could live the rest of my life on six acres of land and be happy as a clam. A girl can dream, can't she? Unless the climate changes radically in this zone, organic …
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Next step, prisoners working on mid-eastern oil wells and pipelines until their life sentence prematurely ends? Like these articles, say, there are many man made radioactive isotopes---including Plutonium---present in "depleted uranium". The word "depleted" only refers to the fact that the substance is no longer useful for producing nuclear energy. The fact remains that depleted uranium is both a radiological hazard, and a heavy metal that can be stored in our bones where it displaces useful metals and does damage to stem cells. Could it be that depleted uranium munitions are the latest in the line of the Pentagon's “magic” weapons …
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When I say "our" in the above post, I'm referring specifically to humans though it's probably true for most life forms. No prions, though--- radiation doesn't kill them.
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I have to confess, Rabbit the whole DU issue makes me morbidly sad. Soon, I hope to get active in an orderly way---on the web. Perhaps there's a shilling for free for disarmament course on the web somewhere, and I can start posting on nuclear issues on a lot of sites after getting up to date and organized. Or perhaps I'll do it on my own. I think the web is a seriously good place to talk about these issues. One really good nuke post a day? On several sites? Is that anti-nuke spam? I'll be more resilient and positive when …
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I heard the bat flap. She appears to want to play my game and she is asking questions. I'm tired, need to wash my hair, brush my teeth, set my alarm. That's all so compelling. Nat will have to wait until tomorrow night or Wednesday. I'll get prepared and stock up on the Cheez Whiz. Thanks for making me laugh Rabbit and frog and Nat---in your own batty little funny way...
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Oh, I lied. I'm going to take a bath. Keep Nat warm for me, will you Rabbit? Natalie! You're doing it again! And you were doing so well. Tsk. Tsk. Do TRY to limit your posts to three hundred words, please. You're style drones on and on. It's just not worth the bother to slog through your long, monotonous posts. If you can't keep it neat, I'll have to resort to ignoring you completely and making a lot of very short posts with links and excerpts that are interesting to read and I'll do my best to get all the html …
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Guys, I can't even read this. Have to force myself to stay off the board for two weeks so I can get with the seed starts and spring cleaning, and a good bit of research on nuclear issues. The sun is out! It's miraculous! Fight the good fight. I'll miss you, and will slap my hands more than once, I surmise. Shoot it will take my hours to catch up on the reading when I get back. Ya'll might want to look up the story about the alleged terrorist attack of a building in LA. Someone in a spy agency said …
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Hey guys. I miss you. Yet I have found that roving itch I've had and am scratching it on the ICH board. Defending DU. Tsk. Tsk. Oh, yeah, you can just 'wipe the radioactive dust off your can of Satan's Potted Meat Product' and it will be fine'. The deformities in these poor accursed babies have only been found in the presence of radioactive contamination, in all of recorded medical history which goes back at least 3,000 years. The Marshall Islands. Afghanistan. Iraq. I haven't looked it up but how could the same thing not be happening wherever DU is used …
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Hey, Lumens, come to my website at wileywitch.livejournal.com. ICH is the Information Clearinghouse. It has some issues. Nat should enlist in the military---the Army---to get up close and personal. Since she is immune to the effects of radiation (which makes me suspect she's a prion) then she will be a valuable asset in our mission to--- Our mission to---? Nevermind.
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nyvegan , do try your hand at informationclearinghouse.info . (Sheesh, it's been so long, I forgot the html code. Not that it takes me a long time to forget the html code). There I am talking to people about themselves, in an effort to get people to focus on the issues, instead of American bashing which is like having a foot-race with a three year old in the category of "sport". Somehow they don't understand how focusing on the U.S. all the time, instead of learning about and discussing other nations and concepts is American exceptionalism, even thought they're bashing the …
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I'm onto your little tricks Dave, anyone who wants to know how to be sincerely and lovingly mocking can send $29.99. Seriously, I wish I were a better librarian, I read an article recently saying that NATO uses DU munitions, and that China and Russia are using it as well. It seems like the people on all the fast-tracks in the arms race are morons. They're all (no offense, Dave) monkey-see, monkey do. I hope that your opinions will be acceptable as incontrovertable facts, Dave, so long as your opinions are incontrovertably correct, which I suspect them to be. I reject …
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SCREAM. Oh, Frog! Oh, Frog, why are we so stuuuuuuuuuupiddd? Tungsten isn't radioactive though, right? It's wicked, but only once. Like that's noble. I wish something would put a fire under the UN's butt. DU, mines, tactical nukes? Insane. You'd think that by now so-called "advanced nations" would be able to send in a team of sharp-shooters to take out the big guys if regime change is what they're really after.
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Don't tease me. I've fallen for bad stories in two weeks. I don't know what is up or down anymore. Except that bombing people and spreading radioactive waste hither and yon is a horrible thing to do to people.
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Mercy, mercy, mercy, mercy.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3050317.stm Forgot html. Has everyone seen this BBC article? A Canadian doctor is finding high levels of uranium in Afghanis. Not DU, uranium. There is speculation that the U.S. might be using new uranium weapons. Wouldn't be out of character, but I looked up to see if there was natural uranium in Afghanistan. I read recently that Iran has a lot of uranium ore. It is naturally occurring in Afghanistan. I don't know enough about it to know if the deep penetrating bombing could bring up radioactive dust from natural deposits and then contaminate the air, water, land, like all other …
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I see very little chance of the video being real, what bothers me is the lack of logic. And I bet, Rabbit, if ICH put up little flags, we'd see that a lot of the bashers ARE Americans and half the rest are ex-pats. The timing is unfortunate, with the military ready to prosecute for war crimes that have been documented. What bothers me is not that I am being insulted, but that Americans who want to figure out what is really going on because they don't trust the authorities and the MSM anymore are met with sheer hatefulness. Why should …
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Rat bastards. "Tactical nukes" are not "mini". It's outrageous. Just the thought of it is maddening and sickening. The people we need to open our borders to, and give land and financial and medical assistance to are the Afghanis and Iraqis. Because we ruined their land. Not just their "market" or their "job prospects"---we ruined their land, their water, and their sky. We'll all get a taste of it eventually, but they received the most brutal assault and the brunt of the poisoning. We can't fix it. We need to stop doing it. And just as is the case when parents …
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I'll come back and re-read these posts. Not finished with my first cup of coffee and am not ready to do justice in reply, except for where I only speak for myself. It's nice to see you guys. I'm not as worked up as I appear to be, but actually, before the MaCBeth thing----if you go back on the threads you will see that the smart regulars, except for Dan (he's bright and shiny) kept returning to the DemonSpawnofColombus theme. I've noticed they've laid off of it a little. I don't see it from my perspective as "an American" , except …
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Of course, Lumens 4.5 billion. It's too big! It's too big! I am worn out from news. Was in the middle of a DU article on Uruknet and had to stop. What's saddest of all, Rabbit, is the people who think they are so blessed to get the crumbs. I heard a southern black man use the expression "on the buggy" once, to describe somebody being let in for a while, and having a little creature comfort instead of walking. Most of Americans are "on the buggy", and the wheels are about to fall off the buggy. I've been very lucky …
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Surely you know you're adored Natalie. I heard you were here, stopped by and you were gone. Though I didn't say it directly, the angst you see in my post is yours. I see you're as prolific as ever, and am relieved to see that you haven't lost your verve. Toodles, luv. I trust you'll have company soon.
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Frog, I love those guys. "Trust Us, We're Experts" is a must read. I would recommend it especially to teenagers who need to rebel against something. The Center for Democracy in Media and Spin of the Day is such a vital resource. Power to the watchdogs.
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Long story short, Rabbit, she needs a makeover. This stacking five or six decks worked when most Americans were still pushing the snooze button on the 911 alarm. But not now. What you need, Natalie, is some jingles. Shorty little ditties that will get stuck in a mo-mo's head. Like: DU? NO PROBLEM! NOT WHEN YOU'RE DEAD, AND ALL THOSE SYMPTOMS ARE ALL IN YOUR HEAD. DU is our friend, to the bitter, bitter end, DU, DU, DU! Let's sing a song about the Terminator Seed, the Terminator Seed, The Terminator Seed. Your friends at Monsanto have everything you need, so …
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Isn't that funny (strange), frog. It is evidence of our anti-thought compulsory school system that most people haven't been saying something, like: "Wait! That was a very dramatic, and peculiar crime. How many actual suspects can there be? I mean, how many people in the world could have pulled this off?" If it weren't so fantastically intricate it would have happened more often by now. If not here, then elsewhere where terrorist activity is normal. Why is the administration, Homeland Security, and all other appropriate agencies not working with terrorist specialists and arms of governments that have infiltrated terrorist networks, instead …
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Keep in mind Rabbit, that those phone polls only phone land lines at home. Many Americans are hardly ever at home, because they're always working. Many Americans screen their calls and don't do political polls. I won't do a poll unless I'm told who is running it and who is funding it. The 15% is mostly burned out biddies who believe in the Rapture, think George W. is a man of God, and think no further. They watch Fox news every day, and televangelists all day Sunday. However bright they may have been in their youth, they no longer know shit …
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I've been perched on a missile for 28 years. We'll do our best. Or blow our brains out. Or do our worst, or some odd combination. Don't panic. In the midst of chaos, there are infinite possibilities that have been buried by the maintenance of the ruling order. We might have one more renaissance, one more awakening before we go. Don't steel yourself, Rabbit. Always be open to the possibility of a shining path opening before you and yourn. Oh what a difference a day makes. It could all be shit no matter once, but don't let yourself get mesmerized by …
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Hey, Natalie--tra la la la la, tra la la, tra la la. Tra la tra la, la la la---to you too.
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Rachel Carson killed more people than HItler? I bet I've had sex with more men than Hitler? Can anyone come up with something they have done or probably have done or NOT done more or less than Hitler? Let's allow nothing not to be compared to Hitler. It's so close to being worn completely out, perhaps we could give it just a few more shoves before it goes over the cliff into the abyss of the thoroughly laughable comparison that most people would be too embarrassed to make. I've eaten more Big Macs than Hitler.
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There you go, Rabbit. I bet you've made more boats than Hitler. You evil boatmaker. I think you're right about "Bush" being the new standard. Though he was just a lawn ornament, there is justice in his name being dragged through the mud. I don't normally go for the "sins of the father" clap-trap, but that whole family sux. Natalie needs to be reprogrammed. She does not have her finger on the pulse by any stretch. So many words, so little meaning. sigh.
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LOL on that Mr. Hitler tune, Lumens. It seems that many African nations have had enough of the dustbowls and are moving rapidly toward green technology. Ethiopa has sworn to it at least. I'm happy to see that. I remember the grown-ups talking about and using pesticides when I was a kid. There was a time when everyone was telling a story about how someone died because he sprayed pesticide while barefoot and absorbed the poison through his feet. I don't know if it was always the same guy, or what.; but I do remember when people started taking poison a …
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Wow, what an excellent resource, frog! I wish there were fifty hours in a day and we only slept three. I have a feeling, that soon there is going to be a big round-up. I hope this feeling is satisfied. Too many bad guys on the loose with power. It appears that more Americans know the elections have been shams than people from other countries.
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Ommigawd, 6/6/6 is my first anniversary of not smoking cigarettes. 999. LOL. Snow is getting it. That's pretty funny. Hang onto your hats. Just remember, that when the cage doors open and people are existentially naked and upset, and so asking who is responsible for all this and really wanting to know---that's when you start playing the pin the crime on the jack-ass game. I don't know about how things are where everyone else is, but in America, actually learning something that actually rings your bells is so RARE, that when they do learn something---they want everyone to know what interesting …
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I hope Mrs. Rabbit hasn't been taken? That could be unsettling. It's nice you think she would be taken. Sorry you might feel "left behind". Feeling like a bad cliche is always a bitch. (When I was married, I'd find my husband rolled into a fetal position on the farthest corner of the bed every morning. I kicked the crap out of him all night. It was nothing personal. I just had a lot of nightmares and kicked demon ass in my sleep. I never understod why he insisted on sharing a bed---he was always bruised.) Today, while cleaning the kitchen, …
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Oh, Rabbit. I know it's hard sometimes. You've been through a whole lot lately. Take it easy on yourself. If you need to, stop looking at the news for a while. Don't allow yourself near the world or local "news" until you're refreshed. Look up. Literally, look up at the sky more often. Make lists of what and who you love that is still here and be with as many of those people, places, and things as you can. Make plans for being with those you can't connect with from where you are at a future time. Listen to music you …
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NO! NO! NO! How could you be more wrong than the world? Did you cook and eat your family? Did you eat them raw? "A bad day" and talking about self-destruction is discombombulated. Decide which one, and then act accordingly. For "bad days" I like drop-kicking things. For feeling like one is about to self-destruct (first define "self-destruct") act accordingly and get help.
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David, thanks. I wanted to point out that a lot of the language the media and government uses is patronizing crap. I suggest that if we really want to "win the hearts and minds" of Iraqis, we might want to empathize with them to such a degree that we don't see much point in bombing them. The whole idea that if we weren't fighting them "over there" that we'd be fighting them "over here" just floors me. Who are these "terrorists" who can pull off 9/11, but find fighting us in Iraq to be a sound strategy? If we pull out …
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Naderraider--- I voted for Kucinich in the primaries, and Kerry in the election because I wanted Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, and Cheney out. The president isn't supposed to be the be-all and end-all of our government. Jay, if the wages are raised to ten dollars an hour and you rent, you can bet your butt that your rent will go up accordingly. Prices will go up too, because they are based more on what people are willing to pay than the cost of making these products. Wages have been steadily rising for the last thirty years or so, yet the middle class is …
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WTH, I'm familiar with that single stat---I used to like living alone, but over time, it became unaffordable even though I made more than minimum wage. GM spends more on health care than steel. An automobile corporation (don't remember which one---think it was a Japanese corp.) just chose to move a plant to Canada instead of the U.S. because (they claim) U.S. workers are mostly illiterate, they're too hard to train, and to costly to insure. My guess is that what a GM CEO makes in one year is enough to support at least a hundred workers. Why is it that …
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WTH, I'm not blowing you off, I'm recouping from the holidays. At least we agree on a couple of things.
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Sorry whattheheck, I'm having a hard time reading anything less pressing than our current foreign affair fiascoes, and life and death matters. Everyone I know is freaking out about medicaid, and/or immediate health issues. And all hell about to break loose
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Everything is slanted WTH. If it's not slanted, it's not saying anything. Look at Israel, WTH. People don't just establish states like buying a house. For one thing, the Kurds want a lot of oil rich territories. For another most of the Arab world and Turkey is going to find that completely unacceptable. What gets me about the Kurds is that they keep falling for it----this administration doesn't care about the Kurds or anybody else, and it is most likely that, once again, the Kurds will fight for their independence with "our" encouragement and then we will leave and they will …
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Well, WTH, I probably don't need to tell you that people are more complicated than weather. We all have our biases. Too bad we don't have six or eight parties with which to hash out our various problems. We could be united on some issues, and in opposition on others without being unnaturally and unnecessarily polarized. I want us to stop bombing people and to spend more our our money on infrastructure and education than we spend destroying lives and property. No one on this planet needs more trauma.
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WTH, I would kill, if necessary to protect any child. The problem with Iraq is that it has nothing to do with terrorism and was no threat to us. Other countries have been dealing with terrorism for years. When I was stationed in Germany, the Bader Meinhoff Gang was active. People didn't build their lives around terrorism and give up their rights in the name of it. There are rebels and terrorists in Central and South America. There are criminals everywhere. I would like to see us focus on defense. How we respond to something is as much a part of …
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WTH, we'll never agree, probably. I think of bombing cities as state sponsored terrorism. I think killing Iraqi children is just as dishonorable and inexcusable as killing an American child. Terrorists are criminals--they are mass murderers. To label them as something so huge is to downplay our own role in conflicts and to excuse our unlawful behavior. We've dropped 300 tons of radioactive bombs and bullets on a country that did not threaten anyone. We cannot eliminate every threat. It's pathological to think that we must. To keep defending our outrageous and illegal behavior is to invest yet more in future …
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So, Jay. What I hear you saying is that it's alright to kill and poison Iraqi children because you think Hussein is a threat? How many of his peoples' lives equals one Saddam? Is that "democracy" at work? If we were threatening another country that had done us no harm, with a nuclear strike, would it be alright with you if that countrys' armed forces spread radioactive munitions in your neighborhood, poisoning your children, giving them cancer? Would that make sense to you? If you support this, then you support state sponsored terrorism. How can you think it's o.k. to dump …
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Thank you, David. It's sad that so many people cannot summon the generosity and charity to say that it is at least tragic for us to kill so many civilians, and that we could do better. It's such a simple thing for anyone who happens to think the golden rule is valid. There is a fundamental lack of reciprocity here that is dangerous and hypocritical. We have duties and responsibilities even as (illegal) occupiers for the care of the Iraqi people and the restoration of what we broke. And since we so take the "bad" with the "good", why can we …
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Here's a public relations idea---let's reanimate their children's corpses. Of course, for this public relations project to work, we must demonstrate that we think this is such a good idea that we don't mind if they return the favor in our hour of need.
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I guess you ARE blaming the U.S. for kids killed by suicide bombers and roadside bombs. Who gets the blame for teaching their kids to do the bombing? Is that our fault as well? Are you forgetting this, or did you not bother to read it? “Some 2,000 terrorists were trained at these Iraqi camps each year from 1999 to 2002, putting the total number at or above 8,000. Intelligence officials believe that some of these terrorists returned to Iraq and are responsible for attacks against Americans and Iraqis. The only "terrorist" group in Iraq before we attacked them was …
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Of course, the above post is for WTH.
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CORRECTION---Sufis most certainly did not fight with Iran. They wouldn't fight in a poetry slam. That almost rhymes. SHIITES.
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Are you a moral relativist that judges the deaths on our watch by comparison to Hussein? Great! At least the parents of children murdered by our weapons can thank God that they weren't murdered by Hussein. You think you can judge what government Iraq needs? Tell us everything you know about Iraqis and Iraq. If you know so much about the Iraqis that you know we should have removed their leader at a previous time, and that they are better off now, then why don't you tell them. Apparently, a lot of them don't think they're better off now. Straighten them …
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Rabbit doesn't babble either. Do you Rabbitino?
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Madeleine Albreicht (sp?) also said that "it was worth it" to kill all those Iraqi babies (and fetuses, no doubt). It was worth what? To whom? For what purpose? I dunno, Rabbitack. I'm thinking WTH is an economy class shill. So, WTH---rather than responding with political chess (wannabe) agitprop, how about being a man about it and coming right out and saying that you aren't concerned, or you don't care about Iraqi children. Stop hiding behind the skirt of (faux) political strategy and take responsibility for your callousness.
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That's alright, Rabbitavo. I am very sorry for the collective mental state of my country. I visibly irritated my boss today by telling her that Wolf Blitzer of CNN is no less a shill than the crew on Fox. She thinks CNN is liberal. Did you furinnurs see Mrs. Alito crying behind her husband today? My God! I would have kept an open mind about the possibility of him actually being judicious and fair once he got the seat; but clearly he's not judicious enough to leave his weepy little wife at home while he gets grilled (that's the "liberal" Wolf …
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Я не проголосовk 72;л для того идиота.
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Cyrillien ? ! Que diriez-vous de des caractères chinois ? Non. Intéresser. Babblefish could come in handy.
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RRRRRRRRRrrrrr. babblefish
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I'm typically American in at least three aspects, one being the fact that I only speak my native tongue. When I try to remember simple Spanish words I tend to remember simple German words, though three year olds learning either language would know more words than I do in their respective languages. I'm surprized that this site supports the cyrillic alphabet. Considering that "chink" is the only racial pejorative that is censored here, it surprized me a little that it doesn't support Chinese characters as well.
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Danish? Cool! Before we divorced, my husband was reciting classic Chinese poetry to me in Chinese---first the whole poem---then he recited each line in Chinese with an English translation for each line. Then he'd recite the whole poem again. Oh yeah. Did you know that Kuwait was part of Iraq before World War I? Or II? Read it recently. Maybe I'll look that up later. Kuwaitis were ripping off the oil, for sure. Do people really believe that Hussein just decided to attack Kuwait on a whim? What ee-ville can I do today? I know---I'll attack Kuwait---they'll never see it coming! …
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Yes, wth, you do pick up on simple concepts, but any time in history doesn't generally influence the present as much as that which is in living memory or recent history. People dying in the streets of Baghdad will be rightfully uncomforted by your conveniently telescopic view. Pick any time throughout history when humans had the capability to murder 50 million people with the push of a button; or the ability to make the whole planet uninhabitable to any organism that can succumb to cancer, or that needs to breathe. The world is much more volatile now than it has ever …
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Get with what, WTH? Are you saying that 9/11 had something to do with Iraq? Or what? Get with what WTH? Are you comparing the attacks of 9/11 with full blown nuclear capability? How much do you think we ought to squeeze out of the victims of 9/11? Hmmmm? How many countries can we attack because of 9/11, WTH? All the muslim nations? When do we get to stop being victims? How many innocent Iraqi, Afghani, and Pakistani people do we need to kill to get the equivalent of 3,000 people killed in New York, over three years ago? Then what? …
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Babblefish doesn't do Danish, Rabbitroni. Du bist wie eine blume? OH, what is the topic? LEAVE. WE SHOULD LEAVE.
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That Holocaust Syndrome sounds like something you might see in Israel. Is that it? Is this the big one? Who will be the first to say "anti-Semitic"?
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9/11 was horrible enough, without the marketing. But without the marketing, I think the response would have been sober and would have remained focused on the need for an investigation and cooperation with the rest of the world that also wanted the killers brought to justice. Or maybe we would have forgotten about it after a couple of riveting episodes of Star Search and Survivor. I don't know. (I don't feel like I know this country at all anymore). Honestly, I don't understand why so many thinking people feel that our attack on Afghanistan was justifiable. What's that? The first country …
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What does that have to do with attacking Afghanistan or Iraq, WTH? What you posted last is indeed, simple. It is also irrelevant. How long would you want another country to wait before carpet bombing this nation to capture Luis Posada Carriles?
Posted to To Leave or Not to Leave
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Riiiiight, WTH. Does this allegedly dying "us" get a response to the simple question, WTH? Can you not come up with a better response than suggesting that because I wouldn't commit genocide willy-nilly to look busy that I would do nothing? What does that have to do with attacking Afghanistan or Iraq, WTH? What you posted last is indeed, simple. It is also irrelevant. How long would you want another country to wait before carpet bombing this nation to capture Luis Posada Carriles? Try again, WTH. You clearly need practice. Your response is lazy even for trolls, shills, and morons. …
Posted to To Leave or Not to Leave
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Oh. That woman might be me. What if? What if? What if, WTH? You might want to do a little research on "dirty bombs", it might bring you around to the conclusion that they're not nearly as devastating as a Chernobyl, and so you might want to rail against the threats posed by nuclear power plants---especially at a time when most of our reactors are old or new, and most statistically likely to malfunction. One in five chance of a Chernobyl type nuclear accident in the next decade. And NASA is taking a 1 in 300 chance of accidentally spilling plutonium …
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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Just looked up "blame" in the dictionary. 1. to hold responsible; find fault with; censure: I don't blame you for leaving him. 2. to place the responsibility for (a fault, error, etc.)(usually followed by "on"): I blame the accident on her. 3. informal to blast, damn (used as a mild curse) : Blame the rotten luck. 4. to blame, at fault; censurable: I am to blame for his lateness. I'm comfortable with blaming this administration for the mess in Iraq. If they can't handle blame reasonably they can't handle power responsibly. I have yet to see the MSM challenge this …
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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Lumens, I understand your desire. I also just happen to believe that after attacking and arresting Iraq, apology will be meaningless without consequences for the offenders. It would be more than icing on a cake, it would be an important and long overdue message to the world that we don't think it's o.k. to attack innocent people in their homes. And it would send the message that rich white guys with power can be every bit as criminal and more than poor black guys with squat.
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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WTH, why do you bring it up that we haven't nuked anyone (lately). You insist on giving U.S. credit for that. I haven't set a cat on fire today, never did. Aren't I sweet. I'm sorry you live close to a nuclear power plant. You are wise to be concerned about it, I hope you and your family have prepared yourselves and have a plan for meeting up and getting clear of the area. Seriously. We all saw New Orleans, right.
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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Yep and amen, Lumens. It pains me to see this over and over again. After our government sends troops to kill people for whatever reason, the national debate focuses on whether or not it was "worth it". "Worth it for whom?" What "justifies" it? "Winning", of course. And if we don't "win", well there is always "good intentions". As long as a political body can get away with this crap, they will continue killing and abusing.
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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WTH, it is so obvious that it's embarrasing to have to point it out---when "we" fought for "our" independence "we" were fighting for "our" independence".
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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I'm reposting this as a refutation to that too convenient breakdown of the Iraqi populations: Shia are definately not a tribe. Shia and Sunni are the two main sects of Islam. You were correct in assuming that most of southern Iraqis are. Shia-they are. But tribes in Iraq can be both sects of Islam, and some of the bigger tribes are both Shia and Sunni. In fact, there are 10s of thousands of marriages in Iraq are between Shia and Sunni. Kurds are an ethnicity in Iraq...and most of them are Sunni. But Kurds are not figured into the mix when …
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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Clearly, I failed to delineate here---The quote in italics after the name "Dahr" belongs to Jay Cline. Just a typos Jay. Sorry 'bout that.
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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Jay, can you give us a reference for your statement that the Sunnis and Shiite have "excommunicated" each other? I'm not asking to be pedantic, I read two to six hours a day (no television) and I'm not much of a secretary or librarian, so I don't expect opinions to come with bibliographies. Fair is fair. But, since you are so adamant on this point, I would like to know where you got this information. Last I heard, Shia leaders asked their followers to stand down and not attack Sunnis who were going to vote. Is this "excommunication" something that happened …
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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WTH, I am opposed to the death penalty for a lot of reasons, but especially on the point that sociopaths will not be deterred from the threat of death. They have no empathy, not even for themselves, and tend to be immune to threats. There was a time when most groups of people would have looked the other way while someone bashed the bully's head in with a rock, but we're supposed to be better than that now (or at least we are supposed to pretend that we are). I understand the sentiment of gunning the madman down in the heat …
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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WTH, my condolences to your friend. That is horrible. Am wishing her blessings and strength. Though clearly the offender would not have been able to commit that act had he been put to death, if he had been imprisoned for life (and kept separate from other prisoners) he also would not have had the opportunity to commit this act again. IMO, anyone who committed an act that heinous should be imprisoned for life and studied. Then your friend and others wouldn't have to go through the hearings, etc.; and someone would have more information with which to figure out how a …
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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Point of information, Jay---I did not say that all hunter-gatherer tribes are anarchist, I said all anarchist tribes (seven count, last time I looked into it) are hunter/gatherers. Agriculture requires a lot of organization and planning.
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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Jay, it's been longer than I want to admit probably since I read up on anarchist tribes. I think we're crossing wires, here. I have no clue how many hunter/gatherer tribes there are. I read an anthropoligal study of existing anarchist tribes about seven or eight years ago which counted 7---they were hunter/gatherers. If I remember correctly, an aborignal tribe in Australia was among them, and a group of Pygmies. There was one that lived on a the Pacific island, and a few others. They had no government, were completely self-reliant, were extraordinarily healthy, and had remarkably keen senses. Unfortunately, development …
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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WTH---just want to make a couple of points--- intelligence and knowledge and understanding are all different things. A lack of knowledge does not mean a lack of intelligence, but precludes understanding. Sociopaths can be very smart, and very knowledgable (sp?), so I agree with some of what you're saying (albeit, I have not carefully read this thread). I think it could be fairly argued that sociopaths are ignorant of love and understanding (empathy), though that's an understatement. (My mother died today. Or was it yesterday? "The Stranger" --- Albert Camus) Though I do have to agree that an ignorance which fancies …
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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I'll bite---Sweden and Canada.
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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I realize as LB stated, “intelligence and knowledge and understanding are all different things. A lack of knowledge does not mean a lack of intelligence, but precludes understanding.” That was me---Wiley. Not to be pedantic, but in the category of pathologies, what----in your mind---distinguishes loading a jet with radioactive missiles and firing on cities, and then loading the jet again, and again, and firing more missiles for weeks on end (with a group of pilots on a rotating schedule (with millions of dollars worth of equipment)) from highjacking and flying plains into buildings?
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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How do you get in there, David? It's good to see ya. Next year. There is something inherently silly about language and titles, hey. Am off to check out Hogmanay. Tschuss (sp?), nay.
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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Lumens, I see your point about sociopathy.....kinda. I was a nanny to a child with (I don't like these titles, but it is the best we can do, sometimes) Reactive Attachment Disorder. She would scream like she was being murdered after hearing the word "no". I know the reactive victim mode all too well. After the war, many soldiers will leave their lizard brain, return to their frontal cortex, and then hurt like hell for the rest of their (short) lives. Many people will point to the unaffected psychopaths as a model of how well adjusted the veterans of Gulf II …
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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I agree, and I am being a little pedantic, but I think it is important to refer to sociopathy as a developmental problem. psychological problems can be healed with psychological solutions---not so sociopathy. The jury is still out on whether or not someone can develop a conscience (a neural network of deep connectedness in the brain/mind) after puberty. And it is arguable whether or not a person can develop a conscience after infancy. But, yes, the circle goes round and round. Newborn people should not be slaves to fashion, or judged and labeled by circumstances that they clearly had no control …
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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I don't celebrate New Year's Eve and it's been raining for days. Here's a qoute form Gabriel Kolko(some guy I never heard of before) about intelligence and policy: "The state's intelligence mechanisms are constrained by a larger structural and ideological environment and by the inherent irrationality of a foreign policy which foredooms any effort to base action on informed insight to a chimera. Even when the insight is exact, and knowledge is far greater than ignorance, political and social boundaries usually place decisive limits on the application of 'rationality' to actions. The political and ideological imperatives and interests define the nature …
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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I used to work several retired women who remembered the Great Depression. They were fascinating women who, each in their own way, had a sense of community. One of them told me that when she felt the world was going to hell in a handbasket that she'd pull out a book about the history of civilizations. She showed me a recipe for small children. It was a recipe to cook small children. I think of her often. I think that although we are more dangerous now, our ideals are still advancing.
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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worked for... Mygawd, that error sounds awful!
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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I want to throw in the Netherlands. Off to read Swift. Get outta here kid, you're bothering me. ---W.C. Fields
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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Swift would make an excellent straight man. If he were alive. Am wondering WTH, your concern is the immediate---that's probably true for all of us. You're here for some reason---you express you concern about terrorism. How do you think the problem of terrorism should be addressed?
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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Я не проголосовал для того идиота.
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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OOps. Wrong thread.
Posted to Tale of Two Wars
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Dr. D., I am sorry I laid into your post so hard on the Lapham thread, I was way too tart, and hope you can accept my apology.
Posted to Evo Morales Has Plans for Bolivia
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No need to reply to my tartness. So far, so good. I like the way he and Chavez get down to business and defend their country and culture without apology. On vacation, I met a man in a dining car on Amtrak who was from Bolivia. I broke the ice by asking him if he considered himself to be "Latin American" or "South American". He said "South". I asked him what he thought about the last ousting, and he said the people were wrong and the last president was right. He said something about how much we had in the U.S. …
Posted to Evo Morales Has Plans for Bolivia
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Is he communist? That's pretty darned five minutes ago. I haven't seen that. I've read that he want's to nationalize oil and natural gas so the natives can have a piece of the pie, but if that's "communist" then so is Alaska. On the topic of coca leaves---a friend of mine is a paraplegic in constant pain. Criminalizing an effective pain reliever that doesn't destroy your liver and kidneys like daily doses of pharmaceuticals over a long period of time, is, IMO, unethical.
Posted to Evo Morales Has Plans for Bolivia
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He ain't communist, btw--he's socialist. Can't quite picture Bolivia going for a one party government, but I can't picture a lot of things.
Posted to Evo Morales Has Plans for Bolivia
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The gnarly threat of "communism" is, I surmise, the reason why so many Ummericuns feel that we citizens should pay taxes and not benefit from them unless one is employed by the state. Seems sort of silly to me. People gamble on insurance all the time in the States, yet many find gambling with a national pool "communist."
Posted to Evo Morales Has Plans for Bolivia
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I know I harp on this theme a bit, but if the U.S. has enough money to maintain our nuclear forces, to begin developing "tactical" nukes and 77 other new weapons development programs, and keeps trying to get Star Wars (a thoroughly useless flim-flam) up and running while people who work full time can't afford health care, then they don't need an "ism" to be pernicious varmints and toxic critters. Obviously, the government is getting more than we need to be giving its fat, omnicidal rump. Bear in mind that people under democratic socialism generally vote on much, much more than …
Posted to Evo Morales Has Plans for Bolivia
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Good thing there was an adult among his peers. I think he's going for that waifish you can't ask me to explain myself---I'm only three years old look. Nevertheless, you're absolutely right. His hair is inexcusable. Really. ;-)
Posted to The Three Alitos
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That little experiment didn't work. Really.
Posted to The Three Alitos
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Americans believe that Carter was a failed president because the press told them to believe he was a failed president and because Rupert Murdoch was hopelessly in love with Reagan, whose five day funeral overshadowed the loss of a much better "American"---Ray Charles.
Posted to The Georgia Preach
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Hi, druid. Me and my compadre were going to celebrate Christmas with friends today, but one of them is busy coughing up a lung, so now I have time on my hands to scroll through the threads. I saw a sign on a church billboard today that said, "Without Christmas, there would be no Easter." I could almost hear Jesus groan. I read that the megachurches won't be having services this Christmas because it falls on a Sunday. What is it? God? Or Mammon? Jesus? Or Santa?
Posted to The Georgia Preach
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My useless vision---that they would all be stripped of the right to use currency, and forced to hold up their "will work for food" signs at busy corners and have no recourse but their evangelical "base" for all other needs, or drink the damned hemlock. Actually, I want them to be tried in accordance with the good laws they have flouted. Matters not to me whether the death penalty goes before the cabal or after. (Wouldn't wager on it, but wouldn't wager against divine intervention either.)
Posted to The Georgia Preach
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Greece. Nice, huh? Those poor chumps. I almost feel sorry for the administration. What a bunch of turncoats. It seems to be true, for as long as I can remember that Americans want to be on the side that's winning. Like Homer Simpson said, 'it's more important to be popular'. My guess is that all but the true believers (who may kill their family and themselves before questioning the Rapture, W. as a man of God, and Israel as a monument to biblical proportions), will simply act like they never thought otherwise , but that George and his posse were all …
Posted to Lapham's Way
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I've been reading Lewis H. Lapham's Notebook in Harper's for about twenty years. I guess I never stopped to ask myself how much more an accomplished career writer and editor made when compared to the wages of an average press operator. In my opinion, his writing is better than average, and it isn't his responsibility to correct the behavior of our national economy, but I'm a superstar in Plato's cave, or whatever, so what do I know?. I'll ask Mr. Lapham---- Mr. Lapham, how did your pay compare to the pay of "your average press operator"? And, why didn't you do …
Posted to Lapham's Way
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I can change my mind as the result of "more enlightened conversation"---even on big issues. At least, if I don't change my "yes" to a "no", or "no" to a "yes, being able to frame something differently or weigh it differently is to be influenced. We're all influenced by other people. I see your point about the left slamming religion, and I wish they wouldn't because they are only being religiously anti-religious, and I don't believe that it is "stupid" or "sheepish" to have religious beliefs; but that doesn't mean that a religious idealogue doesn't have a tendency to use faith …
Posted to Lapham's Way
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Although I personally think the most pressing issue for America is not how to define “national security”, but how to use our incredible power and influence in a way that benefits ourselves and also helps/refrains from hurting other societies. That doesn't seem incompatible with what Lapham was saying. There is no state of absolute security, so setting the parameters for what constites "security" might not hurt. A society made mostly of confident, competent, people who learn and consider themselves to be part of the fabric of a society are going to be more secure than people who are mostly scared …
Posted to Lapham's Way
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Well (not to be argumentative) but I don't think that the metaphysical and physical worlds are necessarily at odds in any natural sense. You might be interested in reading some of Fritjof Capra's work, like the "Tao of Physics", if you haven't already. In "The Turning Point", I think he made a really good argument for working toward shedding ourselves of Cartesian assumptions. The mind/body reductionist and dualistic thinking divides us against ourselves. A lot of stuff in it went over my head, but I hope to catch up with it bit by bit. Not that DeCartes didn't get things done …
Posted to Lapham's Way
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http://www.counterpunch.org/jensen12162005.html This is quick, light reading--- I think it's a reasonable look at the issue of science and religion both having their places, functions, and limits. If put on a pedestal and accepted without question, then science becomes a religion and ceases to be science. And just a thought, science is not just standardization and control. Observation, imagination, and questioning are important to the art of science. Much has been discovered through intuition and accident. The history of science is dominated by prior scientific theories and conjecture being proven wrong---which is part of it's charm, I think, we do manage to …
Posted to Lapham's Way
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Condemning the social dislocations produced by industrialism (imperialism, fascism and communism) while praising the scientific discoveries which made them possible appears, to me, to be hypocritical and grossly disingenuos. I hadn't intended to contradict you at that point. I recommended that article because I though it complimented what you were saying. Science and social structure is an interesting juxtaposition that I hadn't really contemplated much. I was thinking that the age of Industrialism was kicked off by fossil fuels, but I can see the science connection you referred to. Would you wish us back to the Stone Age? It looks to …
Posted to Lapham's Way
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It's not like I just love to argue with you, but I feel compelled to say "what's your point"? Are you being deconstructionist? I think that there are "giants". They would not have been "giants" without the conditions that allowed them to be which is moving toward an ontological argument here---a lot of great artists worked in the shadow of Michaelangelo, and Michaelangelo probably would not have been as great as he was had he not been surrounded by them and the work of prior great artists but there are geniuses that deserve credit. Is it hypocritical for a person to …
Posted to Lapham's Way
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I'm just as infatuated with people who aren't "giants". I think their accomplishments are all of ours. I didn't know you were funny Major Major (my friend just said that I'm "giggling uncontrollably to myself again") but that is a funny story that could be straight out of Catch 22.
Posted to Lapham's Way
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Glad to see you sober AD. Or looking like it anyway. Oh yeah---Lapham. He can put together some complex sentences---usually in an historical perspective. A person could easily do worse with their education.
Posted to Lapham's Way
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Ad, I love Lapham's writing and will not allow my subscription to Harper's to run out for now. Everything stops around here when I get a new issue. I hope it doesn't nose-dive now that L.L. is gone. It seems like it hasn't had as much punch as it used to, but still I like it. (I wouldn't be hanging around here so much if I weren't sick with a flu, btw. Like the threads, but am looking forward to making myself a bit scarce in the near future. The other day my bones were melting, now they feel frozen, though …
Posted to Lapham's Way
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Thank you, Wolf. Merry Christmas to you and yours---sincerely--- (your little joke has not gone over my head.) Public service message --- the death toll for medical error has exceeded the death toll for car accidents, so drive carefully (you don't want to end up in the hospital).
Posted to Lapham's Way
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You can attribute it to wileywitch.
Posted to Lapham's Way
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I love Kurt Vonnegut's voice, and I do not expect him to humor or entertain me. He's always been serious, even when he's joking. Same with Twain. Humans have always had to explain things to themselves to keep from going crazy with the brains ability to concoct an infinite number of possibilities. We can't test them all. This fear of infinite possibilities has led to some very frightening situations such as enough missiles with enough warheads to blow up the planet scores of times on hair trigger alert. I think what is made from fear is most likely to be frightening. …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Marge, it isn't reasonable to ask or expect anyone else to "get off their asses for us---whoever "us" is. Frankly, I don’t know how you find the energy to live Mr. V. I am 41 and can barely take it anymore. I’m drowning. What’s your secret? The rootedness of the tenured is a float you can grab onto until the panic subsides and you remember how to tread. They've done their time and payed their dues. The world could easily be worse than it is now, were it not for people of principle who worked on behalf of humanity.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Well, Marge, then I guess I haven't given you us all you wanted ME to present in MY post. That just breaks my bleeding little, heart hon. Do you take, like special classes to learn how to sum up an entire personality with one post. Or is this just some gift you have? Maybe you could put that to work for the betterment of mankind. Miraculously, enough, I don't even care what it is I was supposed to get in your mind. Get over yourself.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Industries should be allowed to do whatever they want to do: Bribe, wreck the environment just a little, fix prices, screw dumb customers, put a stop to competition and raid the Treasury in case they go broke. That’s correct. That’s free enterprise. And that’s correct. The poor have done something very wrong or they wouldn’t be poor, so their children should pay the consequences. That’s correct. (You know, now that I've learned html italics code, I can't get enough of it.) Yes, Lumens, comedy is getting harder all the time, too. Things are getting so over the top it's hard to …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Do you feel better now ThePopulist? Sorry if my sharp tongue made you uncomfortable. What's that quote from the Crow, "'Mother' is the name for 'God' on the lips of all children". ? The thing about secular vs. religious is that it tends to make an unnecessarily black and white distinction---for the secular person, it leaves out the spiritual world, and awe of the universe, whatever it may actually be populated with; and for the religious person it often assumes that religious people are either haloed or brain damaged. I know this is clumsy, but to get myself to the point, …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Have you seen the movie? I am so amazed that they pulled it off. ANYWAY, I don't think Rabbit is saying that what is right or wrong, or good or bad, is not important. I think he's saying that they are very important, but that we need to deal with reality more directly and deal with what is, and learn about what is instead of relying on orders from the past, and trying to force myths into service during crises in which only letting go of the past and being open to change will allow us to transform so that we …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Thanks, Lumens. I'm in the state you think I am, and you? It amazes me too that what you described (Lumens) can be so clear at times, and so lost at other times, as you both say. But you know it's always there even if you can't seem to recognize or shut down the maladapted defenses that get in the way and go there at will. selfishness is above all things, the desire for some illusory future acquisition that one presently lacks. That gives me a whole new look at selfishness. Boing.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Didn't mean to drop your name from the post Kaw---it should read "as you and Kaw both say".
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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The world may yet be (futher[depending on which bracket you fall into]) crucified, but like Jesus, fearless virtue, uncomprimising love and compassion, and an understanding of unity shall conceive new life; new life bearing the scars of deprivation but unburdened by the trivialities of its previous incarnation. I guess my point is best assimilated in the metaphor of the forest. Life is renewed and catalysed by fire, and the grandest of the creatures, the evergreens, ONLY reproduce in times of disaster. Hmmm.....bopfrog, I'm not sure I'm getting your point here. If you're saying that great change can occur through disaster, I'd …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Hi GregoreSalmon. Would you say the forty are all Vulcans, or is this a "bipartisan" (that adorable little assumption that we're supposed to be limited to two parties) crap shoot ? I'm thinking that even their shoddy guesswork is overshadowed by the work of their accountants. Rat bastards. I was in D.C. for the first time in September and was really amused by the countdowns they have on their walk-signs and how completely they were ignored. I'd guess that even in Washington you would have to enforce the 'no thinking' signs to make it stick.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Lumens, I never even thought of that one. Hope you didn't worry too much about being crucified. How awful. My mother told me there was no Santa Claus off the bat, and regretted it later. She might have thought crucifixion was too good for me. It always bothered me that people who couldn't read a map were absolutely certain of God's will, or claimed to be anyway. I guess I'm an infidel, but it always struck me as being a bit too cheeky and even sacreligous to claim God as one's own and knowing God's will as one was claiming to …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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...So, they are probably quintapartisan, if such a term exists... It does now. Reverse psychology---sneaky. Eventually, though, they'll have to reverse it again because, no matter what, some people always start catching on. If we're lucky they will eventually confuse themselves sufficiently to give up on social engineering and make the delicious mistake of revealing themselves as the controlling, mean-spirited, and small-minded little jerks they are. (I guess they needed hugs and got power instead. Sniff.) Do the farting ones tapdance? They might have to do a lot of that one day (Dance! (pa-ching)).
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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They are waiting for all of you at Bellevue. Are you waiting with them, deary? Have them give you a sedative. And I am not a troll. How Nixonesque. I had an idea. How did that feel? And you all did with it what ignorant beings always do to ideas. At least we're consistent. as for the deck chairs rabbit referred to. That activity is wiley’s Alright! I've never travelled by ship, and I heard it did wonders for Molly Brown's skin. instead of writing novels of nonsense on this board, referring to Mr. Vonnegut in the third person, as if …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Oh, one last point Marge, since you're so briliiant and misunderstood, why don't you write a book? A lenghty article? A coherent paragraph?
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Rocco, are you posting outdoors. There should be a name for the practice of posting to tell one or more posters that their posts are evidence that they have no life, blah, blah, blah. What exactly do you know about the lives, values, and actions of people on this thread? How does dismissing everyone for posting (which is communicating to others if you stop and think about it) make you socially or morally superior to all other posters, even at the very moment that you are posting? Why the sycophantic theme that we should all live our lives according to Kurt …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/ If you're not familiar with Gatto, Rabbit, this might interest you. "The Ten Lesson School Teacher" is the most vindicating thing I've ever read about our public school system. It really is a social engineering racket to prang out consumers and drones. As far as language goes, I think, in California they figured out that kids learned better through immersion than the bilingual approach. I have to wonder if the immigrants drop out for social reasons. I've noticed a general cultural rift around here between the Mexican children (who are very well behaved, share freely, and are concerned for their …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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To not really answer your question admarshall, it seems counterintuitive to me that the Vietnamese would want to learn English, or French, or deal with IT consultants from the U.S. or France.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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David---so feisty! Now I want some fried chicken to give me the power of the chicken. Look Ma, no terrorists!
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Danke shane for the defense mon witty hare. I bows 2 ya. Now, if I can just get that image of old underpants under a pillow out of my head...
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Hey, Lumens, ITT has an article on Evo Morales (?).???---this guy. A paraplegic friend of mine with constant pain would really be stoked to hear about this. He's talked about chewing coca leaves and drinking coca tea as a possible form of treatment that would be superior to the pharmaceutical drugs that assault his kidneys and liver and carry the risk of overdose. A coca poultice might even help. Villifying benign herbal remedies to sell poison is dastardly. South America seems to be on a roll. I admire their head on determination and willingness to get straight to the heart of …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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I like this one: Neurotics build castles in the sky. Psychotics live in them. Psychiatrists collect the rent.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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"I've got to concentrate, concentrate, concentrate. Hello, hello, hello? Echo, echo, echo. (the crowd roars) Pedro Carbone pinch-hitting for Manny Moto." ---inside Ted Striker's head
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Probably a good choice, Lumens. Prop up yer tootsies. I'm going to read until my eyes cross and play a game my friend Felonious Grammar made up, called "and then smoked some crack." It's easy to play---whenever you read an article or hear a newscast, see if you can slip "and then smoked some crack" after a line in it somewhere so that the article then makes sense. p.s. This joke always makes me laugh because it's so close to the truth.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Well, Rocco, the day after I decided to save this site as my homepage and jump in (after going five months without a bulletin board) I found this article. http://www.counterpunch.com/lindorff11192005.html Someone out there thought this 'zine died with Dave Lindorff and its own compromises with truth. They feel that their beloved ‘zine has been taken over by fools and crazies, and they look behind at a bitter memory of enlightened and pointed discourse. Hey staff! If this is the case, then why don't you get the stones to say as much, instead of having rocco do it? If you feel put …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Corrections: My bad Jim Weinstein is the name of the man who died. Dave Lindorff wrote the article. And that last paragraph up there goes to you alone rocco. I hope that the staff has enough sense to connect the crowd it attracts with its own manifestation instead of having a pity party, and having an abrasive jack ass express it for them, if that indeed is what's going on here. If not, very well then. Rocco can waft in and out on his own stink---he's contributed nothing as far as I can tell, but summaries of people he doesn't know …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Perhaps I should have stopped there Dave, but I had to make a correction, and you know how it goes? http://fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/122005_world_stories.shtml#1 There's an article starting with "Head's Roll..." about DU here. If this is correct then the whole DU cat is out of the bag, and the VA will not be able to deny it much longer, which means the government won't be able to deny it much longer. I won't get my hopes up too much, but thanks to the work of Viet Nam veterans and those who helped them, this atrocity won't be denied as long as the effects …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Just out of curiosity, how many people here call themselves and consider themselves to be Democrats and how many call themselves and consider themselves to be Republican. I'm independent.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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And who are these pathetic souls lurking among the threads but not speaking, who make it so important for armchair presidents to pontificate on a forum that is populated by people who just don't understand something no matter how often it's repeated and who aren't "real"? Rocco, I have - and again to my credit - responded to the “conversation” for my own reasons, not to least of which is I had been asked by staff to do so. They feel that their beloved ‘zine has been taken over by fools and crazies, and they look behind at a bitter memory …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Glad I made you laugh Ad. It appears that your drunken pain-relieving ritual worked. I may have to steal the "interdependent" label if someone starts an "independent" party.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Populist, not to have a pissing contest, but to keep ourselves honest, why do you say this: I agree with Rocco, let’s get back to political discourse, and lose the pontification and phishing. Whether that is his point or not, the purpose of this thread is to discuss his essay. Can you help me? I'm blonde. I don't see anything about Vonnegut's essay in rocco's post, nor do I see anything worthy of the title "political discourse". I see nothing but invective and bitching and claims to special posting status based on his relationship with a staff member. Did somebody say …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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And why do you say this?: Whether that is his point or not, the purpose of this thread is to discuss his essay. and then post this: Ad Marshall; Yes, I’ve read some “theories” that propose the Bush administration was responsible for 9/11. I dont believe it, in the sense that I dont believe his cronies actually planned the attack and made it look like al-Qeada did it. These things are preposterous. Does anyone actually believe that the US military chain of command, (they would have to be involved), would take part in such a diabolical act? Most of our military …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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I have no problem with this reply. For some reason I don't think that forums must be limited to discussing an essay as if we were all amateur critics with a calling. The 'zine might do better to look at what people here want to discuss in depth and throw in more meat. The manner of discourse seems to be a theme, and I think that's a topic worthy of pursuit and a pursuit worthy of exercise, when there are so many dittoheads of all stripes in echo chambers trying to kill discussion and there is so much that we need …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Now, I'll address the topic of your last post: Well, rather than "guessing", I would say that this is wishful conjecture, based on I don't know what. Have you served in the military? I've heard a lot of people carry on and on about how wonderful our troops are --- 'I know your son is a noble hero, and a good person....blah, blah, blah---(because he wears a uniform.) They don't know. It's magical thinking--- awfully close to believing in elves---to believe that a uniform confers all that it is supposed to symbolize on whomever wears it. There are serial rapists in …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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I worked in SAC/NORAD, and in a tactical radar unit in Germany with NATO forces, and for me, the most preposterous thing about 9/11 is that figuring out how in God's name our overlapping air defense system and satellites (that can read a furnace in a concrete warehouse) failed so completely. No heads rolled? That is preposterous! Our nuclear missiles are on hair trigger alert (only someone as simple and gullible as a president and the generally poorly informed public believes that the Generals can't launch without presidential authority. Russian Soviet submarine commanders have launch authority.) Our nuclear missiles are so …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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NORAD and SAC are no longer together, NORAD is joined with the Space Command, and probably has a whole lot more satellite imagery now than they did back in the day. (Google probably has a lot more capability than the military back in the day, but because of our "free market" Google I'd guess, that Google and other corporations are making big bucks on this technology that was developed with public funds.)
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz have no excuse for "guessing", their signatures adorn a whole slew of breifings and committee reports on everything about nuclear force capability and command and control structure going back to the seventies. I'm just guessing, but it's an educated guess that they are not acting on what they know, but what they prefer to believe. While they are ragging on Iran and North Korea, this administration has broken the ABM treaty, tried to push development of a new line of tactical nukes, tried to push through Star Wars (don't let the word "defense" fool you, it would be …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Ahhh. The the wine drinkers. The the pea soup eaters. I learned about them in Michael Moore's documentary, Canadian Bacon.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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;)
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Believe what you want. I will not entertain excuses. It amazes me that so many people refuse to hold people with grave responsibilities to their contracts. The U.S. has become a a society of incredibly childish people projecting their unreliability and lack of integrity all around.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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So, Minerva, how long does it take to travel 50 miles? Think about it.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Whoa. I just found a lot of posts in my junkmail. Howdat happ'n? I was hoping to see confirmation of the receipt of an electronic form I spent three hours figuring and filling out to day. No dice. Must do again. Oh well--transcribing will take much less time. Tra la la. Can't complain. I started typing before I read you post, Minerva. I have no idea what "respect issue is here", so it couldn't have been too important. Even if it was, I almost always forget about little offences I find. I get mad. I spout. That's it. Sorry, if you …
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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How old is Rabbitique? I was born before the flood... In rabbit years you're probably three years old. My guess. Give or take a century.
Posted to Your Guess Is as Good as Mine
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Any characterization of any group of people as "other" by one or more other groups of people acts pretty much the same way. Degrees vary. The bars for "acceptable" risks, damages, harm, and insult varies widely across the economic and social classes. The game is pretty much always the same. Divide and conquer is always a strategy for maintaining dominance. Have the slaves enslave and whip themselves. How many books and dissertations have been done on Daley's and the Chicago police? I digress. I agree that African-Americans have suffered and are currently suffering far more in the Unites States' penal system …
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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By it's very nature, the issue of blacks being overwhelmingly overrepresented in prison populations is a race issue. Race is a class issue. I don't think the black imprisonment rates can be resolved without specifically addressing racism and how it is manifested in the legal system. The point I wanted to make was that the Iraqi people are suffering far more torture, murder, and other ills being done to them right now than any thing even this racist nation would allow for its own citizens as "normal" or "staying the course" or whatever euphemism is to be used for an aggressive …
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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Then, yesterday, on Democracy Now, I heard testimony from New Orleans African-Americans talking about concentration camps they were put into where they were separated from family members, that many were still searching for. As loosely as I use quotation marks, I'm not going to put quotes around that term because I don't want the term to be drawn into question. What they described did indeed sound like a concentration camp, and all people responsible for these conditions and for treating people this way should be removed from positions of authority and public trust, and prosecuted in whatever way would work in …
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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For what purpose do you want quantification? For validation? It amazes me how often Umerricans ask for quantification to validate or justify something---a nation that hardly believes in mathematics. What is it about numbers that you believe will prove or disprove the existence and exercise of extreme racism and sadism in specific instances? From whence comes all this innocence and disbelief, Wolf? You've seen the pictures.
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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To answer your question, I use "Ummericun" to separate it from the term "American" which pretty much includes people and things of the North and South continents of America. It seems to me that a physicist would know better than anyone that atoms existed long before they were numbered. Personal question---feel free not to answer, but I'm wondering if you're Libertarian. It appears that you consider the individual to be the alpha and omega.
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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Johnincentx, the thoughfulness and diplomacy of your post is nice.
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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Wolf---so we agree on quite a bit. It's almost un-Ummericun not to feel entitled. I too am prone to pragmatism, and think that extreme approaches tend to cause more stress than they're worth. For me pragmatism includes fixing things before they breakdown. I don't generally have feelings of entitlement like many Ummericuns I know, though I feel we owe ourselves the benefit of the taxes we pay, and are wiser to invest it in ourselves, our infrastructure, health, and education than to let plutocrats use and 'misplace' and 'lose' trillions on interest and weapons development. The government is not supposed to …
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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Wolf, if the government that is currently dripping with oil money had fixed the levee like the engineers who lobbied for the job to be done in the name of safety and sanity, then New Orleans would not be much worse off than the rest of the southern coastal cities that got hit by Katrina. The federal government thought our tax money would be better spent on murdering Iraqis and 77 new weapons development programs. If you're going to criticise Nagin more than Micheal Brown---the head of FEMA, then I have to wonder what you're thinking. I'm disappointed in Nagin in …
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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We're on at the same time here. It seems like your replies are coming up quicker than my posts. I am surprised that a candidate championing “economic justice” has not emerged. One no brainer could be to index minimum wage to inflation (ala Social Security) or even to congressional pay increases. It is clear to me that a robust platform supporting economic justice could be constructed, but i see no real efforts being made. Well, it would be treated by the press as being classist. I guess there isn't enough irony or convolution in the world. I'm not sure the wage …
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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Wait a minute---I was working on a post about racism, and then I re-read your post Jay--- America is not a race. Call it "racist" if ye dast, but it doesn't make any sense. "Reductionist" might be a fair word, but relating U.S. government sponsored torturing of Iraqis to U.S. government torture of U.S. citizens is not stereotyping when what is being described is actually happening on a wide scale. Do you think it should all be racked up to coincidence?
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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Well Wolf, what johhnyincentx and Lumens said. I am not impugning your intelligence---everybody is stupid sometimes in some ways and smart at other times and in other ways. I do, however consider the question of whether a person can be in favor of the Iraq war and still be "intelligent" to be a totally useless inquiry---too callous and conceited to entertain, unless you are going to poll Iraqis about this too, and then judge their "intelligence", but noooooooooooo, that doesn't really work either does it?
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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Lumens and johnnincentx. You guys prang it out. Wow. I was so relieved and energized to see your responses. Now I want to mention a specific example of why I am glad that I started reading alternative news sources when I was 18. Over and over and over again I would see a story in an alternate publication hit the mainstream years later---perhaps, when the statute of limitations ran out? And so often I'd find stories that the MSM ignored completely. So I just check out MSM to see how the propoganda and sales are doing. Don't remember what the name …
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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If you have any objections to my critique of Salim’s liberal use of rhetoric, short of hare splitting, I would be encouraged to reflect upon them. You made the claim, Jay. If you want to make a federal case of it then the burden of making a case is yours. You'll have to look elsewhere for assistance slandering Salim Muwakkil. If there is racism in his article, I don't see it, nor do I feel inclined to split hares looking for it. Surely you meant h-a-i-r, though it's an amusing spelling error that brightened up your post a bit.
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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The important words, which are often necessary to discuss the sort of things which you say, like bullshit, arsewipe and piss, are all allowed. As are useful terms like wanker, dickhead and fuck off. This is shocking to me Rabbit! Af far as torture goes I guess I would have to say that it's really fucked up--- only a psycho wanker dickhead arsewipe piss-ant would defend this bullshit.
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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He called you Bunny Face? We'll meet on a field of onions!
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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I think Vorpal sounds like a groovy term, because it sounds good and would be in good company between vorlage and Voronezh; though Kurt Vonnegut is above it all. One thing for sure, it's difficult to stay on the topic of torture. Depressing isn't it.
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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I, being the queen of England (diabolical laughter) declare this thread to be DEAD, DeAd, dead... ...and you can take your blue suede shoes with you!!!
Posted to Torture in the Homeland
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This whole Rumsfeldian streamlined military thing is wack. Privatizing grunt jobs is ridiculous. Why pay more to have services provided to G .I. s by private companies with cost-plus contracts? It looks to me like the no-bid civilian companies are showing the soldiers their asses and providing low quality service. There is a very real and direct accountability for working and living conditions if you're an independent, all volunteer military that is sufficiently staffed. I surmise that if military benefits had increased instead of being steadily cut for the last decade, that it would be no problem keeping the military well …
Posted to Road to Riches or Ruin?
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Hey BlackBear. Sorry about your predicament. Checking out the board while waiting for the phone to call grandma. Methinks you're absolutely correct about why "we" have wars.
Posted to Road to Riches or Ruin?
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You've done a lot of groundwork Craig Aaron. I don't know when I will be able to read the rest of the article---might need to see some comments that will stop this INNER SCREAM!!! first: RAT BASTARDS!!! GRAVY SUCKING PIGS!!! GRAVY SUCKING RAT BASTARD PIGS!!! I'll calm down when I feel like it. Way to nail it, Mr. Aaron.
Posted to In and Out Burglars
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Quoting your article: "Seizing on the stench of corruption, more than a dozen groups formed the Revolving Door Working Group (http://www.revolvingdoor.info) to push a series of sensible reform proposals: doubling the one-year “cooling-off” period in which ex-officials cannot lobby their former colleagues; requiring officials to disclose job negotiations taking place while they’re still in office; revoking the special privileges enjoyed by former congressmen if they’re registered lobbyists; and improving the frequency and availability of lobbying disclosures, ethics forms and other documents". Well, there is a little blue sky, isn't there? Will check out the RDWG on their website. Doing it by …
Posted to In and Out Burglars
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"We do not torture" and "I am not a crook". You got it. It's all so sickening. I have a diffuse memory of (some time in the blur of 2003), seeing an "OPIONION POLL" header on a cable news-feed on a homepage. It was a three word question--- it was either "Is torture justified?" or "Is torture necessary?" I had other things to do and didn't check it out any further, but it gave me the creeps and felt like an ill omen for an agency to be popping off this question all casual like--- out of nowhere. Come to think …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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The Executive Branch appears to be having some serious boundary issues.
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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You hit that nail on the head, David. http://home.comcast.net/~just.tina/abu.html For anyone interested, this was my rant over the "Abu Graib Scandal" when it was breaking news.
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Whence goeth N.A.T.O.? Are "we" (the U.S.) still in arrears (sp?) on our dues for the space station, the U.N., and a lotta embassies worldwide? We may not be invited to all the big suaree's (sp?) anymore. Hip dinnner parties begin after ten o'clock p.m.
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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It's worth repeating, David. "Tastes Great. Less Torture. Slogans ‘r’ us Posted by David in Canada on Nov 29, 2005 at 12:57 PM" How did that go? "No matter how many ducky feathers you glue on a tank you still won't be invited to an inflatable pool party"? LOL! This guy is very funny in a Zen-koan sort of way. Canadian?
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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When Congress calls for a "special" (aren't they all?) counsel to investigate, or at least backs up the GAO and doesn't allow the executive branch to keep it from doing its job by cutting their budget, then we'll be on our way to reason.
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Whattheck, how do you know how disgusting the torture is at Abu Graib or any other U.S. military prisons? Were you there? Did you see it? Did you take part in torturing prisoners? Were you tortured? Have you ever been in a fraternity? Were you hazed? Were you hazed in the military? Let me point out a couple of differences here between fraternity hazing and Iraqis, that seem profound to me: 1) Fraternity wannabees clamor to hazing parties they were invited to after going through a lengthy application process, the presentation of their pedigrees, and an interview. The wannabes dress to …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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No, whattheheck I was not there. I saw the freaking photographs and read the testimony of people who were there and none of it resembled HAZING. Are you really such a dodo head that you don't get the point I was making? Criminy, I hope you don't get paid to Freep. It bothers me even to see Republicans throwing away good money.
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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BTW, WTH, I'm a veteran of the United States Air Force. Through boot camp, and tech school, two years in SAC/NORAD, and two years in a mobile radar unit in Germany, the closest I ever came to "hazing", was drinking contests in which nobody cheated, arm wrestling, backgammon, and a little joke in which someone would tell a new-bee to go get a bucket of radar paint. Perhaps the time someone "accidentally" put a training tape of Soviet submarine launched missiles being launched from symbols for known submarine sites in the North Atlantic during real-time it was "hazing". In that case, …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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You vollied with "The Abu Ghraib stuff was disgusting and stupid, but hardly worse than some of the stupid hazing of basic training in our own military". And then went on to talk about actual torture as a completely hypothetical situation that has nothing with the hullaballoo over "Abu Graib" (Iraq's most notorious torture chamber---now under new management (still Iraqis don't want to join the Abu Graib club, or the police, or the army--- under our gentle wings--- (Imagine that. Perhaps it's the emotions being triggered by their past under the Arab Hitler---doesn't have anything at all to do with stuff …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Sooooooooo, what I hear you saying Rabbit, is that WTH is a moral relativist? Did i hear you correctly? It is so true, Rabbit, le cabal does the "hard work" to legalize the pathologically criminal behavior of corporate CEOS, lawyers, and lobbiests. and their shills (our government) (and there ilk), while criminalizing the working class and poor. Your "kid" can shoot up Iraqi families then incincerate them at improvised roadblocks thrown up at night and not clearly marked, but that same kid could go to prison for growing a pot plant, harvesting his/her own bud, and smoking her in the privacy …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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David in Canada, you know that saying about 'when all you have is a hammer'? Same for the frontal cortex. Not everything that looks like an argument or dialogue or conversation is one; often it is (wittingly or wittingly) a convolution of words and phrases that stifles the things listed above. Sometimes it's just a bad habit. Sometimes somebody just needs to take a nap, or drink a beer while watching a sunset. "Our troops" (most troops come to think of it) are often deprived of these recharge times and zones, and have been for a long time. It has made …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Consulted Dahr Jamail about terminology and got this answer: "Here's the very short answer to your issue. Shia are definitely not a tribe. Shia and Sunni are the two main sects of Islam. You were correct in assuming that most of southern Iraqis are Shia---they are. But tribes in Iraq can be both sects of Islam, and some of the bigger tribes are both Shia and Sunni. In fact, there are 10s of thousands of marriages in Iraq between Shia and Sunni. Kurds are an ethnicity in Iraq...and most of them are Sunni. But Kurds are not figured into the mix …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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LOL!!! David, I just figured that out and was looking for the place I posted it! Thought of GhostRabbit and wondered if we were under the same planetary influence. I saw your response. It's such a pleasure to have a dialogue with people who understand the positive value of terms, and the negative values of conflating a mis-used or misunderstood term with the quality of a person's overall intelligence or suggest that they have no right to comment on a matter because of an error that makes them instantly illegitimate. And this "...research before you...." crappercakes is getting OLD----it has been …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Yeah, POL, that's on the torture topic, for sure. So many sadists so little time. Can hardly find words to think about it---it makes me feel queezy, outraged, sad, and beaten. IT HURTS!!!
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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"I under stand the griping about the humiliating of one’s religion, but torture is a source of interrogation, it has been around as long as time and it is quite effective, the Geneva Convention and the UN need to keep their noses out of certain things and this is one of those issues, remember 9/11… these are our enemies". Posted by Robert W. Loken Jr. on Dec 5, 2005 at 10:59 AM Well, Mr. Loken, this makes me wish I had really LEARNED how to parse sentences in that grammar class. Where to start? ""I understand the griping about the humiliating …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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"...a most blatantly egregious practitioner of (bad) reasoning from ignorance..." ---luminous beauty Mind if I call you "lumens"? It's easy for me to type. This troll thing is an interesting internet phenomenon. I wonder if there might be a somewhat direct relationship between the population of trolls a society endures and the acceptability and practice of torture in that society. I do not want to belittle terms such as "torture" and "poison". These words should keep their sting. But when I think about what trolls do to language the word "torture" pops into my head. The word "torture" has been too …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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AARRGHHHH!! POL and GhostRabbit the articles you excerpted and the links you posted are informative, to say the least. It hurts even to read. This reminds me of another game my friend Felonious Grammar thunk up---it's called "Clues that You are Working for a Sociopath or Psychopath"? I'd like to add this to the list: Tries to frame high tech military torture of people swept up at random as "gathering intelligence" or ----at it's most egregious---defines breaches as "abuse". This is already on my list: Tells you to nail somebody to a cross and then if he's taking too long to …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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So, that isn't some secret code, or a famous quote in a 'foreign' language, or an islander's hex, whatever? Yes, the witch thing is always the same, isn't it? I was born before the Flood, and I'll tell ya --- It's always the exact same play. The costumes, locations, and names may differ, and the methods of torture may differ in appearance (but they are always in the tweaking), and all have the same end---producing unfathomable pain and terror. Most of the adjectives and objectives are the same no matter the players. Don't let the packaging fool ya. It may one …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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So, Rabbit, Lumens, David in Canada, POL, and Robertcetera, who is going to have the last word on the Torturers R' Us thread? Has everyone given a listen to Fire on the Prairie? Lakshmi Chaudhry is a goddess. Listening to these radio shows are like swimming in brains. Maybe that's not such a good image, but ANYWAY, it's nice to hear voices. Well, to hear the voices of others outside one's head... Good night. Someone finish this thread off already.
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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So 68 is just foreplay? We all know what comes after 68. When in Rome... POL, I predicted this exactly. I also predicted our "withdrawal" will look like the March to Baghdad in reverse, or Slaughter to Baghdad, or whatever PR name we gave our merciless mission in Gulf War One while Iraqi troops were retreating. I predict it will make the fall of Saigon look like a tea party if we don't make real withdrawal plans soon. May take one year, may take three, but mark my word, if the U.S. doesn't leave peacefully, it will be driven out. (BTW, …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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After re-reading my post, it occurred to me to wonder how the government is getting so many troops to engage in torture. Perhaps the mercenaries and IDF is responsible for most of the torture, and/or are training U.S. troops--- that don't know already---how to slither into their lizard brains, stay there for a shift, and then fall asleep. Perhaps some recruiters are looking specifically for Ummericun sociopaths to fill the guard posts in torture chambers. Of course, the CIA and FBI look for sociopaths all the time, why not hire a few? These organizations also have extensive files they can share …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Short answer. I am so ready for bed. Will read your post more thoroughly and respond within three or four 12 hour periods of low, gray cloud cover with a constant threat of rain and yet more mud. It wasn't until I had spent several years in a broad variety of leadership roles in democratically operated student housing co-ops, that I first experienced a feeling of nostalgia for the military. Couldn't everyone stay focused on the freaking mission? Must we break down into group therapy every 45 minutes? Can't people just put all their personal baggage aside, and get the damned …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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I have Mars in my first house, but it's tempered by Aquarius and Gemini, so I guess that's makes me a fiesty advocate and a warrior. I do battle with the dishes and laundry. My fire is almost all on the surface. I'm also a metal rat. What I don't understand sometimes is why (women particularly) get so upset by something I phrased carefully and (I thought) diplomatically---the things I could have said off the cuff were whithering beyond belief. Do they not understand how much restraint I am using by just being a little bitchy and not ripping the rug …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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and how do you get your teeth so white?
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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"That you start with Abu Graib says it all to me. After 45 days on the front page of the Times and continues media re-showing of the photo of some twit, finger shooting a man’s private parts, I figured there was nothing more to consider". JasonPappas So, you felt no need to consider the man who was getting the finger shoved up his ass---- a 'hazing' ritual that you might overlook if it were happening to you, perhaps? In the spirit of brotherhood? "I ask my fellow workers and they can’t site one instance of torture. These are highly educated people, …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Hey friends, mi amigo sez he can teach me html codes real quick like (and he has codebooks) so I can start doing things with italics and boxes. It really punches up your posts, the way you format them.
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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So true Lumens--- anti-ideology always requires the dark and inhuman enemy human and its children and resources. I have a disdain for Utopianism as well.
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Jason, I am linking to one of my earlier posts and reposting it here so that I don’t have to rewrite it. I am not submitting this as “proof”. (Look around. No benches. No jury boxes. No witness stand.) Yes, the witch thing is always the same, isn’t it? I was born before the Flood, and I’ll tell ya --- It’s always the exact same play. The costumes, locations, and names may differ, and the methods of torture may differ in appearance (but they are always in the tweaking), and all have the same end---producing unfathomable pain and terror (emphasis added). …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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I judge an ideology by the doctrines and what it would mean if implemented. As I said above, I understand people often don’t follow the doctrines of their religion; and when the doctrines preach conquest, subjugation and oppression of others, one can only hope they’ll ignore their religion So, how do Christians rate with you? How about them Christian Evangelicals who believe in a "Rapture" in which they will be lifted up to sit at the right hand side of God, so that they can get balcony seats and watch the destruction of all "others" through a nuclear war and fire …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11231.htm Ummericuns are arguing about whether or not torture is happening whilst this administration and the taxpayers' lawyers are working overtime trying to make it LEGAL. Mensch!
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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David in Canada, me and mi amigo thanks you much for hilarious link. Its a been a long time since I laughed until it hurt a little. Brilliant!
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Yikes, Rabbit! I stopped reading that article half way through----what they've done to Riverbend and her sisters!!! Rat bastards. I'll try to finish it now. I think that this author gives too much credit to Bush. Methinks all his 'thoughts' are what Karl Rove has been whispering in his ear. Can you hear Bush defining the differences between strategy and tactics off the cuff? He doesn't understand the game he's playing.
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Wiley is working on her first cup of coffee ( "morning god"). This is kind of kicky---describing herself in second person...no article...hmmmmm. Wiley is happy to have practiced and----whoa!----not using the article because we don't have a gender neutral pronoun! (Wiley does not often use so many exclamation points.) Wiley wants a gender neutral pronoun. Other languages have one? Anyone found one? Wants to make one up? Knows a gender neutral in a foreign (furrin)---well that's chauvinistic, no? In a language other than English? Wiley was thinking zee, zoss, and zer. Then Wiley forgot what they were supposed to translate into. …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Long article. Will listen this morning. Read tonight. Some Christians want to crucify everyone but themselves and complain about being martyrs having to do all this "hard work" of crucifying all these people.
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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But Wabbit, people are offended by "it". Tell someone "it sure is cute" referring to their infant. Heck, I've seen people get upset about their cats being referred to as "it". "One"---in the Ummerican vernacular---is not in the Ummericun vernacular. It is often considered to be pretentious or condescending. Spanish, you silly rabbit doesn't just imply the person, it's built into the conjugation of their verbs. No matter, though. I was just yakking. Listened to Democracy Now. Today's story was devoted to New Orleans victims, and the term "concentration camp" came up. Give it a listen--- it's definitely on the Torturers …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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You had me going there for a few seconds David in Canada---I was starting to think you were really an a**hole. Just teasing. ;) My bright and beautiful mind is always being ravaged one way or another. Sorry, I mix up Lumens and Rabbit. Mixing up "Jordan" and "Jason" is more understandable. Both start with a "J". No, I haven't been smoking anything. To the topic of "torture". Is normalizing trauma and collective punishment a form of torture? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11258.htm Another story about increased aerial bombing in Iraq. Is it fair to say the U.S. Air Force is terrorizing and torturing the …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Blowing shotguns through cyberspace would be quite the bonding exercise. You could have tasting parties. We must be something. We's about to be really broke. The United States in Chapter 11, not allowing individuals to declare bankruptcy. Having them work it off in government camps. My model of the U.S. after the party's over is one third dying in the first two weeks from discomfort and inconvenience, and then another third preying on the third who are trying to deal with it! Where are these huge sums of money going to Halliburton, et al, coming from anway? Opium sales?
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Bush did say a really bad thing; but he could always afford more than the Constitution could give him anway, right? Clouds in Blue Sky says that maybe someone will one day hand W. his Death Warrant and tell him not to worry---it's just "a goddamned piece of paper".
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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LOL, Lumens. Officers, you say? Someone would really have to be "educated" I guess to think something that stupid. It's understandable that these guys are killed by their own "men" in wartime. In one of my units we regularly elected an officer as "the most likely to be shot by his own men in a war zone". Air Force officers sometimes appeared to me to be doing a lot of acid, but thinking that---nahhhh----I can't even think that. Do you think these officers ever got smart enough to wonder why they were sent into so many war zones that were such …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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They really made pretty good sense in a purely military sort of way. May I suggest that it made sense in a purely territorial way, and that a military operates or should operate on a strategy that is formulated upon some fairly complex and abstract issues. Tactics is where you get into pointing at objects, throwing up perimeters (doesn't that sound painful?), and taking aim. I wonder if the Marines you know are in tactical units. Not stupid so much as unimaginative. There are way too many otherwise intelligent people who only see the denotative and have no room for the …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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There are way too many otherwise intelligent people who only see the denotative and have no room for the connotative. Lumens, Did you mean that otherwise intelligent people make the mistake of taking things too literally, and missing the finer points in the process? Truth be told, I've been too lazy and forgetful to look up "denotative". I'm not sure I know exactly what it means. My impression was that you were referring to people making judgements based on --- Oh hell, I have to look that up. Where's my flashlight? Clouds in Blue Sky is sleeping. Got it. Muzak. …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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EADORA, hello. Wileywitch here. You seem like a social butterfly---fun at parties----been around this block a while. Unlike Condi. Ms. Rice may become the most reviled woman in human history. I wish she weren't African-American, or at least hadn't told anybody. The lies, lies, lies, lies!
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Creepy, isn't it? This is off topic, but I invite everyone who has a minute or two to kill, to scroll through one of my wordless walks to work. http://home.comcast.net/~just.tina/walk2work_29nov05.htm
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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David in Canada, The last words on that Jay link shook me up on the torture topic: Stellar's Jay will also dive bomb predators such as an owl sitting in a tree or a cat walking on the ground. This is called 'mobbing'. This is a behavior common to many birds, and is usually done by a flock of birds, rather than an individual bird. Scientists believe mobbing has several functions: 1. to scare off predator. 2. to let other birds know a predator is in the area. 3. to protect young. Earlier in the article, it referred to the Bluejay …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Raise your hands if you anticipated groups of people turning up with their hands tied or cuffed behind their backs and a bullet in the back of each head when you first heard Negroponte's name mentioned in connection with Iraq, or thought of him after seeing reports of his style of execution turning up all over Iraq. Bet there are quite a few hands up out there. Some people make me think there might be something to that anti-christ thing and that it has many minions.
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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That play I want to see, Rabbit, is you and Lumens, and David in Canada, Eadora, et al.--- whacking trolls and ...whatever it is that you do to shills. (It seems like every article here has a different group on it.) ANYWAY, I like to study. Personally, I've been forcing myself to read about torture and the CIA renditions. It hurts, Rabbit. It hurts bad and I want to use that hurt and put that hurt into a whack on the back of the neck of a troll. WHACK!!! One wack, neat and clean! And then (after an apprenticeship) I want …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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I would have to be trained Eadora, this is much different than a Korean-vintage mobile radar unit. It's tactical stuff. Gotta loyne du taktiks. Haven't been to 'Jesus General". Is that JasonPappas link? He needs practice being withering. His dismissals are too cool, ----Wait! I'm not here to train trolls. I like your metaphor for what time does to you. There was something I was going to say to Lumens but I forgot. Rabbit, that was one of the articles I read yesterday. Sheesh. Someone said, or quoted someone who said something to the effect that the fact that we're talking …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Boy, is you a bunch a killjoys or what? I was so psyched for jousting, and so now the very existence of trolls is being drawn into question? What next? Are we going to draw the existence of propoganda into question? What if the speakers believe the lies they tell? Or agitprop? Is it all just an amazing coincidence? Look over there!!!! Michael Jackson!!! Forged documents. Lacy Petersen!!! If sociopaths account for approximately three to five percent of a society, then in any city there will be one on every block. People who know not how to joust are easy marks. …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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..."troll" can also mean the inflammatory message itself posted by a troll or be a verb meaning to post such messages. "Trolling" (the gerund) is also commonly used to describe the activity. From the wikipedia, David in Canada. Would you feel more comfortable if I used "troll" as a verb? I could easily point out many "trolls" as a verb in my own posts and still I think 99 out of a hundred people surveyed would say that my posts, and the posts of most of the posters on this thread are not characterized by trolling. Ja? Niet? What?
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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TORTURE TOPIC: After hearing an activist on Democracy Now asking U.S. citizens to take action and tell the government if you want NGOs to have access to Guantanamo. I sent this: Why do you not let them in? What do you have to hide? Why does international law scare you so? What exactly is the toll you would have to pay if someone forced you to obey? Clouds was afraid that I was sending it directly to the president's e-mail. I told him that was the last place where it would be read. If you want to chime in, I guess …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Another big mistake is to insist that all people are basically evil. That is certainly a big mistake---that 'born in sin' kind of thing, or Freudian model of a human as a death force that must thwart itself in order to become decent. People are basically good and evil. See, this is where the left ain't getting it, Dave. Some people are NOT basically good. They have no conscience. They have no empathy. They have no remorse. They never had it. A person can only get a conscience and then lose it through rare and unfortunate brain damage or very specific …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Funny you should mention that, Dave. I was thinking about saying something to the effect that I was going to go with my mystical troll slaying adventure spirit whether or not it is tilting at windmills. Better than tilting at nothing as we totter on the edge of our species' existence. Language itself is worthy of a strong defense. It is the scaffolding of our thought.
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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11325.htm Eadora, I just finished reading those articles on ICH and will go read the article in the Nation next. It's very difficult to talk about, and it's sickening. What can we do? If other governments in the world can't stop this, how will the atomized U.S. stop it? Millions marching, and writing, and calling doesn't matter because Congresspeople are listening to the lobbyists who pay them more than the taxpayers do. This isn't even "our government" they're just (bad) manager is the kingdom of corporate feudalism. I feel like the peasants in "The Holy Grail", talking about the King while …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Ahhh, but such is their faith Rabbit, the ones at the top intend to spend that time in a granite bunker with a lake, stockpiles of food and medicine, and stock piles of people of their ilk. There are rumors that they can't pry Cheney out of it sometimes. Like pharoahs, they will be preserved in a sarcophagus---albeit a really big one. Even if they survive the blasts, they will surely die, all sealed up nice and neat so that anthropologists from another galaxy could easily glean the names and numbers of the sleazy little morons that destroyed our race. Perhaps …
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I think this John was the original anti-christ. He was step one in co-opting Christianity. Look at his description of heaven! As an adult I can only see a Roman wanking off when I read Revelations. Besides, the world was still flat then and it only consisted of the Roman Empire as far as the Romans were concerned. He and his cohorts didn't even have a concept of our planet, much less the destruction of it.
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Hmmm. That's interesting Lumens. Had to check with the unabridged to put Ptolemy in time. Thanks for the correction. Perhaps it's the stink of sulpher from the fire and brimstone of my childhood, but I have always hated the way rapturists and other (il)literal fundamentalists use Revelations as justification for nuclear war and love of cataclysm. Whatever the case, future prophets and teachers of the mysteries might want to consider how their work would be taken if it were taken literally and save the poetry for the initiated. Perhaps John did do that...oh don' t care, I still hate Revelations. …
Posted to Torturers R' Us
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Though I think that it vital to know what is being done by the U.S. government in the name of the United States citizenry at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer, and it is important that it be documented; it sometimes strikes me as a national pathology to argue about technicalities while innocent people are being massacred in an illegal occupation that followed an illegal aggressive attack that has no legal justification whatsoever. It is not my intention to criticize this article---I believe that there is a need for it to be written, read, and discussed. But in the big picture, …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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"We" did not mean to destroy an "enemys" ability to fight. There was no justification for attacking Iraq. Iraq had not in any way threatened us, and until we bombed their populace into madness, there were no "terrorists" in any part of Iraq that Saddam Hussein controlled. There may have been a few in the Northern Fly Zone in which Hussein had no control. Dictators have a tendency to keep "terrorist" activity at a minimum. Totalitarian Idealogues are generally terrorists in uniforms or facsimilies thereof. Hussein was a dictator. No matter what a bastard Saddam Hussein was/is that is not an …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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Perhaps I've been misreading Wolf. I didn't think his point was that that we shouldn't use any firearms or weapons at all, though he does seem to me to be genuinely questioning warfare. Maybe I just failed to pick up on his pacifism. Anyway, I get your drift about 'talking about' evil, but you haven't specified who the "we" is that is wondering what to eat for lunch and is wondering how "evil" we can be before we start to appear to be "evil". I don't ever hear anyone talking about what acceptable evils we can commit, other than which president …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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David---I started reading the article you connected to but my innner scream stopped me. I'll finish it later. It did remind me of something I heard recently---we've been doing illegal fly-overs over Iran for months with fighter planes. One manuever we're repeating (I can't remember the name of it) is a similation of how a fighter would fire a tactical nuclear missile. It fires, then turns quickly around to fly in the opposite direction of the missile to escape the blast and the effects afterword. Pretty dramatic show on the radar, I'd bet. I don't think the military people in Iraq …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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MInerva, are you familiar with Henry George? You might be interested in a discussion group and/or a free economics class based on the principles of Henry George that makes land an intentity separate from capitol in it's economic theory. I'm too lazy to go get the address, but if you put "Henry George" and "Economic Justice" in a decent search engine I'll bet you find it. The wars we have today wouldn't be possible without the proceeds of massive amounts of economic rent, a debt based monetary system with a private reserve banking system, and the abiliity to tax the future. …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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Anaracho-Sazi--- Yes. Pot and the kettle are awfully black, are they not? David---Amen, and pass me another pint of beer.
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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I'm not sure I get your point. NO----THAT'S A LIE. I don't get it....except for the part about Christmas, credit, and love being the really reaky thang, that it is. But that encyclopedia does not do George or geoism justice at all. I suspect it was written by a grunt of "free trade" and "the invisible hand" and "globalization". George did not "primarily borrow"....etc. anymore than anyone else is influenced by the thinkers of their time, though he probably "narrowly missed being elected..." This----"Had George's single tax on land been in existence, Disney might never have made the investment" (in reference …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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I see lots of Christmas tree farms on the ride between here and Portland. They're sweet looking little tree farms. There's some serious geothermally heated greenhouses with a light schedule that puts trees through three growing seasons in one year. After a year of fruit flowers dying in the frost (no fruit), I like the idea of smart tree farming even more than I usually do. I love trees. Christmas trees aren't war atrocities, that's for sure. Exploding or incendiary Christmas trees and ornaments would not be festive or appropriate accessories for a holiday that glorifies the birth of Christ and …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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I think the Big Boyz are going to take the Vulcans DOWN baby! On the world stage, they have already lost---a bunch of dead-enders. Only the most boob-tubed American true-believers and grifters (who will lose it all before they face the fact of their unsupportable uselessness and empty portfolios) will stick behind this sorry a**ed bunch of pathological losers. Republicans running for Senate consider appearing with the "president" to be political suicide. His aides are talking about invoking Article 25 (?) and having Bush removed for mental incompetence. Generals are scared. (Generals are only going to be scared for so long, …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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TERRIBLE TYPO CORRECTION: "Shia" should read "Sharia" (Sp?) --- a term that refers to the equivalent of "biblical" law in Muslim society. "Shia" refers to an ethnic tribe. The Shia tribes in Iraq are concentrated in oil rich Southern Iraq. The most right leaning imams of this tribe are allied with right leaning Iranian Shia and the current Ayatollah. Thanks to the chaos, insecurity, and soul crushing grief being dealt to Iraqis, recruitment for radical moslem fundamentalist groups is up. I don't know what the ayatollah of Iran's name is. We practically handed him Southern Iraq on a platter of mint. …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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Oh, David in Canada, my heart melteth. That's beautiful! Thanks for the correction, as well. Good link PoL. You're keeping your eyes on the ball. Before a computer crash about three eons ago, I had saved a site in which a very clever person had taken a large volume of photos taken of Rumsfeld talking with his hands, the way only he can. The comedian gave it a martial arts moniker and then named each of a series of gestures as martial arts moves. It was hilarious. Now Rumsfeld looks ridiculously silly to me. I almost enjoy watching him talk now---is …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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Oooh, doggy. Unf***ing-believable. Their ability to top their lowest selves is beyond the ability of those who feel bonded to the human race and suffer from the conscience that comes with empathy and a clue. To the puzzle factory with all of them! The high-security criminally insane puzzle factory---not of those cushy state hospitals. Then off to the trials. Off to more trials. To prosecuted and imprisoned for life, or to be extradited for trial in all countries in which they are guilty of committing or conspiring to committing crimes again peace, humanity, and war crimes. Then off with their heads! …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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So, Campesino, just how dearly educated are you in matters of Iraqi ethnicity? Are you the grand poo-bah of Middle Eastern Studies, or something? If I am in error or am misunderstanding this point---which I don't consider to be any great shame (I'm only human. And no one knows everything)--- that is fine with me. If you can link to a source that states that the Shia are not a "tribe" and/or the Sunni are not a tribe, and/or the Kurds are not a "tribe" I would be interested in seeing it. Other than that, I will not consider you a …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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GhostRabbit, I cannot seem to sign on to your blog to make comments---Blog won't accept any of my names, or even other people's names like "stupid". Don't know what the problem is, but you've posted here so I will reply here: Crazy ain't it? It's the advertizing. U.S. people don't believe that poison is a bad thing. Killing somebody in a war is just making hash-marks on your gun barrel, or writing your mother's name on a nuclear warhead. It's all just symbolism, "politics", and pictures with the constant footage and few sentences it takes to call itself "news". All that …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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Shia Sunni Kurd Posted by David in Canada on Dec 2, 2005 at 10:21 PM Wikipedia cool, but branching and easy for adhd mind to stray from the path. Did you read it all? Is there anything here stating that it would be "wrong" to call the Shias of Iraq a "tribe"? I'll go ask Dahr Jamal and see if he writes back with an answer. toodles
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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Consulted Dahr Jamail about terminology and got this answer: “Here’s the very short answer to your issue. Shia are definitely not a tribe. Shia and Sunni are the two main sects of Islam. You were correct in assuming that most of southern Iraqis are Shia---they are. But tribes in Iraq can be both sects of Islam, and some of the bigger tribes are both Shia and Sunni. In fact, there are 10s of thousands of marriages in Iraq between Shia and Sunni. Kurds are an ethnicity in Iraq...and most of them are Sunni. But Kurds are not figured into the mix …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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Don't feel lost, dear. You're on the "White Phosphorous Lies" thread. We haven't said a lot about White Phosphorous, but what can ya say? Horrors! Now that I think about it though, methinks, the the use of White Phosphorous (like there aren't powerful LIGHTS on helicopters) should be illegal. When the only difference between the use of a weapon being legal or illegal is intention, then we ought to err on the side of restraint. This includes (for me) the manufacture of live vaccines---especially those resurrected from a pandemic. I'd say that the partial drowning of prisoners is morally FUBAR and …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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I'll answer from bottom to top. Minerva, hope you found it stimulating. Henry was down to earth. "Progress and Poverty" is a good read, too. Wages and wealth will look different after you read it. For me, that meant that they started looking more like what they really are and not the illusion of some slimeball economic theory. (Like Freud and conceptions of them mind! Insidious. It's hard to get out from under prior definitions alone. David in Canada, what triggered the Lewis quote? Rabbit, How about we just start taking ourselves and our precarious presence on this lump of rock …
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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Uhhh...it sounds like a.d.d., except I like to look at the pictures. If Alice were wondering how she could exterminate the antipathies and take their resources so that they could have freedom, then she would have sounded like W., and I would have left her where I found her. Alice has curiosity. And noticed how she thought "antipathies" instead of "anteopathigies", or was that "antipathdegrees"--- " Screw it! Call up Air Force One---I need to vacation in Crawford until Karl makes me come back."
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What the hell is "troll piss"?! I'll ask my trusty assistant Clouds in Blue Sky, too. Rabbit swims? Lairs?
Posted to White Phosphorous Lies
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One thing that is rarely mentioned in talk about U.S. military might is the fact that we have enough nukes and delivery systems to destroy the world. Currently, it is U.S. policy that we may strike first with nuclear weapons---even in countries that don't have nuclear weapons---if the nation is perceived to present a possible threat... Aside from the culture of bonding by killing together (and its attendent aversion to risking individual American lives), what makes the U.S. a profoundly formidable threat to the rest of the planet is not the murderousness of army or marine troops (though they do much …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Why we used the bomb is debatable. Nevertheless, the administration has attempted to escalate the nuclear war by producing more tactical nuclear weapons and by erecting SDI (what does that do but encourage an enemy to launch MORE missiles, since some may be shot down?), and by instituting a first strike policy. I wouldn't give us credit for not using nukes anymore than I would give someone credit for not raping a child. Furthermore, the risk of accidental wars is actually greater now than it was during the cold war. if you put "nuclear missiles" and "false alarms" in a decent …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Thanks, David. I'm enjoying this forum and the focus on current issues. If I weren't so behind on my reading list I would get a copy of "Jarheads" to get one Marine's point of view. It would behoove the American public to understand that soldiers are individuals and not interchangeable action figures in some romantic plot or unstained living symbols of all that is "great" and "pure" about America. It's refreshing when someone on the inside defies such deluded clap-trap. I'll shut up for a bit. Time to go to work.
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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We are not. That we can be perceived this way or perceive ourselves and others as such is not because of who we are, it is because of how we allow ourselves to be treated and labeled and how we treat and label others. Behaving as such can be forced on us, but as soon as the force is withdrawn individual idiosyncracies come to the for and younger generations change. That's why Germans aren't goosestepping much these days. (I'll surely have opportunities to rake the public school systems over the coals later.) I "get" the idea you are expressing, but refuse …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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"Without wisdom, inner strength, and honorable leadership that reveres national and international law and human rights in high ranking military and government personnel, then our military will naturally digress to the lowest common denominator, which might actually be at the top". ---WW It is not "vague" scorp, it is a general statement and was intended as such. Surely you know the difference between dialogue and making a case in court. The U.S. is required by Article VI of the Constitution to abide by all treaties it makes. The U.S. is a signatory to the Geneva Convention. Anyone who can use a …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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You apparently are well studied on this topic. Good for you. I have other fish to fry, no time to research this topic in depth, no interest in arguing with you, and no apologies. You have not changed my perspective on this war, and I have not changed yours. That's what makes America great, right? Our perspectives are so fundamentally at odds that I see no reason for us to discuss this any further. Perhaps we'll find common ground on other issues. I was, btw, perfectly aware that the People's Tribunal was not legally binding. I posted it because it was …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Major Major--- "So now, finally, the process of European and North American industrialization is virtually complete, if only they can consolidate their control of the Middle Eastern oilfields, and encourage the former Chinese communists to attack the former Russian communists." Sure picked a bad time to start running out of oil. Since the Russian (are they officially "communists"?)military did joint naval military exercises with China off the coast of China (they're getting to be awfully capitalist communists) this summer and are going gangbusters on the trade pack they made a few years back, and are now planning to run a joint …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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When women are afforded opportunities, an economy is doing well enough, birth control is available, and infant and chilhood mortalities are low, there is a natural tendency for women to have much fewer pregnancies and fewer children. I suspect, though that in the last twenty years or so in the U.S. that many caucasions in the U.S. have started having lots of children from a fear of becoming a minority. There appears to be a little white baby boom in these parts. I'm seeing young white women hauling three to five children around on a daily basis. Yeah, Iraq does have …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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I have to wonder if you live in the mid-western United States. Everywhere else, most people are developing a serious distaste for the Republican-Neocon crowd. I have heard blatant talk about the need for white people to have more babies, especially from the Christian right. I also hear a lot about how "they" (hispanics) are the root of all our problems and are "taking over". On the topic of obedience, would it cheer you up to know that in just three years desertion, recruitment, and fragging are already problems for the military in Iraq and Afghanistan? And this without an official …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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I see your point. There are certainly economic realities that are of great consequence. Part of the problem with the U.S. is that we have ignored the fact that matter is finite---even oil and water---for so long that most of the population will be shocked more than reason warrants. For whatever reasons Germany became fascist and Russia became communist, they both had pathological leadership, as (I believe) the U.S. has at this time and I would say that the cultures did have a predisposition to embrace authoritarianism and totalitarianism when the chips were down. In many parts of the world, with …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Seeing your post sitting there unvindicated for so long was getting to me. I so agree. Our cultural lack of empathy is disturbing. How much is posturing, and how much is genuine pathology? Regardless, there is no amount of remorse that will bring back the dead or erase the memories of those who take part in an aggressive war and have consciences to be disturbed by that fact. In the U.S., most of the remorse and guilt will be felt by the troops who were most directly and viscerally involved in the killing. Is that justice?
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Ending war is like ending the public school system---it's such a racket and so many people are entirely dependent on the "jobs" that are involved that a moneyed lot (especially the banks and industries that get monster rich from supplying loans and the factories that go into full protection making munitions and gear (sometimes for both sides) is going to invest heavily in brainwashing a good deal of the public that a war is necessary. These are the people who create "the conditions for war" most of the time. Then the lemmings follow. The soldiers follow orders. And the news media …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Oh, Rabbit! If anyone but me could make me blush, I would blush at your praise. Bet I disappoint you or come up with something you find wholly disagreeable in under a month. It's my forte. ANYWAY, I wonder what "the jarhead" would say about all this. I haven't read the book or seen the movie. I would guess that Ms. Chaudry's point in her review of the movie is spot on. Looks to me like American war movies that appear to condemn war on one hand, are always patting it on the back with the other. Methinks the American audience …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Scorps, methinks you are ill-mannered. Me also thinks that it is pompous and self-righteous to compare isolated terrorist attacks to months on end of carpet bombing in major cities in countries that have done us no harm. Or haven't you heard that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11? Since you think I'm full of shit (based on whatever posts of mine you have read, I suppose) then I'm sure you have the intelligence not to bother yourself with "my shit" and have the self-control not to read my posts. I don't find your posts compelling, so It looks like we …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Wolf, is it asking so much of the people of the U.S. to look at the effects of what our military is doing and calling on empathy to put ourselves in the places of civilians who are just trying to survive? Do we actually have to have a boot ground into our faces in order to understand that when we grind our boots into people's faces it hurts them? What life for Iraqis was like before our illegal aggression is not our point to make. Killing the village to save it? Did anyone learn anything from Viet Nam? How would you …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Don't forget that women were half the college and professional population and veils were not required. Women in Iraq have lost fifty years of secular progress. It is hard to convince my fellow Americans of this. It's nearly taboo in some circles to suggest that the U.S. military could make a mistake---suggesting that it is doing WRONG and having horrible effects is beyond the pale. Are we not human? Don't humans screw up? Don't humans do bad things sometimes? Why is it so hard to face our faults? If you use a circle as a model, you can see the behavior …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Yes, Rabbit---I read Riverbend. I can't say why, but her earlier stories remind me of Mark Twain. She is gifted, no doubt. She has been robbed by "my" government. "This" government. I don't even know if "government" is the right term. You can bet that the cabal can count on racism and xenophobia to work in its favor. You would not believe the guffaws I've gotten from saying that bombing Baghdad is like bombing Paris---it's a huge and densely populated city. What's not to get?! Am currently reading Zinn's "History of an American People". For a while there, the Puritans were …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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re: Posted by Major Major on Nov 20, 2005 at 10:19 AM and what you said----yeah. What you said. I see your point about the effectiveness of massive social engineering and agree that it is leviathon in its proportions. I would like for you to consider the possibility that the primary reason that you feel you must justify or accept war as a necessity for any reason other than self-defense under a direct and sustained attack (especially when a group has openly declared "war") is because this programming is so effective and you haven't totally taken it apart yet. I'm not …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Was that turkey, like, Ollie North ?
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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I wonder who is employing Mr. Hellyer. Aliens is as good a red herring as any. In a time when corruption rules, distraction and misdirection are absolutely necessary for cover for the outlandish thievery and brutalization by the dominating class. "The Alien Threat" is an eazy-peazy, low budget operation, I'm sure. Why would he say that they are "as real as the airplanes that fly over your head"? Of all the metaphors. Though it makes sense for an "ethical" race of extraterrestials to contact a Canadian, I can't for the life of me buy the argument that extraterrestrials have managed to …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Hi, Max. I agree with you that much of the U.S. population is guilty of this simplistic polarization. I can only wonder if this part of the population realizes how severely racist it is. Going into tantrum over France was silly anger, the tone for the mid-east is bitterly hateful. (There is no evidence, btw, that Bin Laden is responsible for the attacks of 9/11---it's all hearsay from severely questionable sources (a bunch of liars)). I don't think most people in the U.S. are still upset over 9/11---it's just another thing that was on television for anyone who didn't suffer a …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Rabbit, I am woman.
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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We MAKE this stuff! Plutonium?! I, mean really!! We're making radioactive ELEMENTS, man!! Bad monkeys! Bad monkeys!! Bad, bad, bad monkeys!!! "I buy them books, and buy them books, and all they do is chew up the covers". ----uncle richard Thanx for staying on the page for the rant, guys. Now it's time fo' some west and wewaxashun. Peace, comfort, and health be upon ye, maties.
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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It's speaking painfully true. In my personal and second hand studies of American (U.S.) males, I find the same pattern in the court system--- especially the family court. Older "gentlemen" have a way of "castrating" younger men and killing the competition. I wonder what makes so many of them so fearful of young and teenaged men? Is it the way they treated their peers and younger men when they were young? Is it the way they treated older men? I've had one stay in a mental health ward in my life, thus far, a.k.a. "the flight deck" ---in February 03 with …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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I don't know where to go with women in the military and their mothers. Personally, I just wanted to go to college (the "war" taught me a lesson about modern warfare, right!?). I was well into my college years before I realized that my mother didn't expect me to go to college to get an education, she wanted me to marry up. What a silly concpept. ANYWAY, it seems funny to me that all of a sudden women are routinely placed into combat situations and it isn't even being talked about. I must not have been paying attention when things changed. …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Have you noticed the correlation between Bush presidencies and widespread accusations of widespread child molestation----"Satanic ritualistic abuse" in a public L.A. Day Care center? Bad administrations to be Catholic under as well. Taking into consideration the tendency for psychological projection to be a characteristic behavior for sociopaths, the degree to which this has been confused with irony or lacking a sense of it---in this strange nation, in this strange time--- is truly mystifying... The librium is taking effect. Night. Night Wabbit. (OOO Bwunhilduh, yuwer so wuvwy...)
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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You were supposed to reply with, "yes I know it---I can't help it". Anyway, i'm going to take pictures I took around town yesterday and make some Christmas post cards with "tis the season" on the front and pictures of trees and ducks in the parks I stopped by on my walk to work. I can't handle any more heavy articles right now. I trust you'll give me a summary if I ask. It seems that the Johnny Gosch story could be catnip to the media in due time. The bottom line is always the bottom line, and the network and …
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I am curious about these "boats". Don't worry about disappointing me---I'll just forget it like I forget about most stuff. Just don't remind me (too many times and too often) that you've disappointed me and I won't remember. Funny you should say, "wack", though, Rabbit. I sung Elmer Fudd's part in The Nebuling (?) Or Whatever you call it--- that Wagnerian opera with--- "kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit!" Bugs Bunny plays Brunhilde, and Elmer plays they guy with the spear and magic helmet who (being smitten and not seeing that Bwunhilduh is a wabbit) sings, "OOO Bwunhilduh, yuwer so wuvwy"... …
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Rabbit (bites knuckles)? You are an Aries? I am Aquarian sun and moon, with gemini rising and suspect that I'm a druid. Other aliases are: Felonious Grammar, Just Tina, just Wiley, and binky . I have begun a folder marked "cyberfriends", and your site is the first bookmark in this folder. I have been looking for guidance with troll issues. Guess the student was ready, huh? I want David and others to be my friend too. Hope that doesn't make me a "cyber-slut", though I am an incurable flirt. Here are my first two sites: http://home.comcast.net/~just.tina/ http://www.livejournal.com/users/wileywitch/ Both are slight and …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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My grandmother called me "Binky" when I was an infant and toddler. I think it's a word for a pacifier like "gucky" is. Am totally orally fixated. Que es ADE? I do all kinds of little dances, and I like having friends, and I like doing all kinds of little dances with friends, And I swear to ----well, to swear! I swear that this is the last post I will make on this thread!!! It is my duty to read another article to stay up on the latest news and to sharpen up on a new thread. On the other hand, …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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The trolls feed on and feed the unconscious collective Troll (with a capital "T" that rhymes with "P", that stands for 'Pool.') Other members of the collective brain-trust committee are beginning to snap out of it so that those who can and have been "taking names" are now more able to "kick ass". The collective mind is tiring of the troll that is clearly beginning to look like the AA definition of "crazy"---doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Also, the GOP is going to have to raise trillions for their next election bids, so that most …
Posted to When Boys Will be Jarheads
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Support what you love. Sometimes it is necessary to fight on the battlefield of language to defend truth, honor, ethics, freedom, and so on. Example is a great teacher. Where I think the left has failed (and I have failed in this, too, in the past) is in making the assumption that everyone is basically "good" and wasting a lot of time appealing to a conscience that isn't there, and just being generally unwilling to consider that there really are monsters and they won't listen to any reason and they won't respond to any amount of love or wisdom. Instead of …
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- Joined November 17, 2005
- Last Visit September 25, 2006
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