3ringheathen

No one said that. In fact, it doesn't even make sense. In this case, he either genuinely cares, or doesn't care and is simply doing PR work. I would think that whether or not his visit makes a soldier feel better depends upon what that soldier believes Rumsfeld's motives are. At anyrate, don't confuse the animosity some of us have for certain politicians with how we feel about the soldiers! I'm gratefull to all the soldiers, and hope you come home safe. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

That does not mean that the US was not founded on Christain beliefs. I find your argument puzzling. We've established that some of the founding fathers were Christian, and some were not. We've established that the Treaty of Tripoli explicitly states that the US is not founded upon Christian beliefs. This was ratified by Adams and congress. So how do you arrive at your conclusion? What exactly are you trying to say? -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I was actually thinking of the Lagavulin when I wrote about bandaid flavor. It's now technically Christmas day, and I'm sipping some Glengarioch 10 that I got as a present from my brother. Probably the best 10 yo that I've had, but I'm not certain. I might have to buy another bottle of Oban and compare. Damn it. What's really strange to me is that just a few years ago, I was firmly convinced that no one actually liked Scotch. I thought it was just totally pretentious. Then someone gave me my first bottle, which I sampled primarily so as not to offend them. It was a Glenmorangie 18, and I've been broke ever since! I still owe my rigger a bottle for my last cutaway. Fortunately, I'll probably drink nearly as much of it as he does. Merry Christmas, and goodnight all. -Josh ok, just one more glass... If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Reminds me of the warning label on one of those continous loop cloth towel dispensers you find in public restrooms: "Inserting head into loop may cause serious injury or death." That means that someone, somewhere, managed to kill themselves trying to dry their face off. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Not necessarily, especially with a cask strength bottle. It's really about what you enjoy. I like my Scotch straight, with a touch of water, or sometimes with one ice cube. You can get very different, but equally good sensations from playing with that. I'm a big fan of Glenmorangie 18, McCallan 12, and Highland Park to name a few. Occasionally I like to thrash my pallet with some Talisker or Laphroaig. Who would have guessed I could like something that reminds me of bandaids and burnt plastic? Unfortunately, I probably have to pay a lot more for them than most of you guys do. WA state liquor taxes are amongst the highest in the US. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

That's amazingly stupid. Often times there's more to the story than meets the eye, but I can't imagine anything that makes the principal's actions any less absurd. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Yep, and occasionally they kill each other over such trivia. Some of them did, some of them did not. Collectively, they were in agreement that the government be secular. Ding, ding! As you said, we have a winner. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

So therefore he had them. Yep. Past tense. Yes, actually he did. He was a pain in the but about it, but once we started rattling our saber, he started cooperating. How's that? Proof that they were working is the fact that nothing was found. Proof that they weren't working would have been the discovery of WMDs. Nothing was found. What proof are you referring to? We're finding those missing conventional explosives all the time. Unfortunately, they're often being delivered to our troops via IEDs and suicide bombers. So? A year after the mission was accomplished , it still appears that the number one reason we cited for invasion was bogus. I don't agree, but whatever. Please stick to the topic...How can 360 TONS vanish without a trace, but we should be able to find a few tons of WMD? If you don't agree, tell me why. Please stick to the topic? When did you become the arbiter of what's relevant to the discussion? My points are topical. As to your final question: You're asking me to support a position that I didn't actually take. I didn't say we'd easily be able to find a modest stockpile of WMDs. I said we were irresponsible in leaving the conventional weapons unguarded. Now they're undoubtedly being used against us. As for proving that no WMDs exist, I get the impression that you'll be arguing that we just haven't found them yet until every building, house, hut, barn and hill in the whole country has been torn apart. You can cling to that rational for another decade and still claim that we just haven't found them yet. Meanwhile, other countries are busily doing whatever they please because our resources are already tied up. Great! I feel safer already. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

That's your opinion. The supreme court ultimately decides what the founding fathers meant, and they've fairly consistently ruled in favor of a rather stout wall between the two. From the Declaration: ...to which the laws of nature and of nature's God ... ...all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator... ... appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of... I find it very telling that the founding fathers went to such great lengths to omit any reference to a specific religion's god. Personal correspondence from the Jefferson and others makes it exceedingly clear that this was intentional. Particularly when other historical documents state explicitly that our government is in no way founded upon the Christian religion. What you fail to see is that there are conflicts between various aspects of the constitution and bill of rights. It's cut and dry on paper but a little messier in the real world. In theory, we are all guaranteed free speach, but that doesn't mean we can say anything we want, anywhere we want. I can't get up on a podium and tell people to kill Christians or assassinate Bush for example. Why? Because even though I'm theoretically entitled to free speach, that speach crosses a line that violates other rules our society has. I fail to see how *that* is hard to understand. I missed the part where anyone attacked Christianity. Could you provide some of that evidence you've been ranting about? -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

No one disputes that SH had and used WMD previously. However, they have a limited shelf life, and his capacity to manufacture new ones was disabled. Sanctions and inspections were working. That's why no WMDs have been found since the invasion. Funny you should mention that. For starters, those are conventional weapons, not WMDs. Second, poor planning and foolish decisions on the part of our administration left those explosives completely unguarded. That's why they went missing. As far as I'm concerned, this constitutes gross negligence. Those explosives are almost certainly being used against our troops now. Mission accomplished?! -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Read it again. I didn't say I don't know anything about him, I said I don't know much about him, relatively speaking. None the less, it didn't take much to convince me that he's wiser than Bush. This isn't surprising considering a lot of people voted for Bush because he doesn't seem *too* smart. That kills me. Call me crazy, but I want our leader to be exceptionally intelligent. Blairs speaches on foreign policy were well thought out, articulate, and charismatic. I don't know anything about his domestic policies, or how'd they translate if he were a US politician, but I find it unlikely that he'd be any worse than Bush. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

None of those countries has a constitution that recognizes the importance of separation of church and state. Merry Christmas none the less. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I see from your poll that you don't want to claim the French, either. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I admit I don't know a whole lot about him, my opinion is based mostly on watching a couple of speaches he's made. I couldn't help but think, if only Bush could speak like this, the world would rally to our side on this. He was vastly more articulate than Bush, and markedly less arrogant. Both useful traits for securing international respect and cooperation. Do you think the UK opinion you describe is a direct result of Blair's support of Bush? That would be my first guess. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Also sending threatening private messages. I haven't slept soundly since. Maybe I should sue him. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Within the constraints of the poll, I voted for Bush and us for electing him. I wanted to vote for SH first and foremost, but that option in the poll included responsibility for 911. I can't perpetuate that myth. Having said that, I'm very glad SH is out of power, but I think Bush's arrogance and lack of diplomatic skills put us in much more of a quagmire than was necessary. If say, Tony Blair were the president, I think he could have mustered a lot more international support and cooperation, and the situation might very well be more stable now. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

In my experience, that's what virtually everyone I know does, regardless of the particulars of their beliefs or lack thereof. It's just that someone always posts something to the effect that it's purely a Christian holiday, or suggests that no one would be celebrating at all if it weren't for Christ. Well that's just not true. When various earlier origins to the holidays are pointed out, *some* Christians take it as an attack. I don't think that's usually the intent, but since predictions of persecution are part of their faith, I suppose it's understandable that they misinterpret it. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

It's definitely Kapowsin. I recognize my old jumpsuit on the guy on the right side. The view at altitude is spectacular. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Sadly I have a plain old black/dark grey shadow like everyone else. I refused to video this guy because I thought his lack of opposable thumbs to be unsafe. One of the other, less conscientious videographers noted that there's nothing in the BSRs about having opposable thumbs. He even encouraged the jump. I don't want to name them, but it rhymes with bomb willups. Anyway, just as I feared, and just as Tom hoped, the jumper in the picture went in with no handles pulled. Tom is in negotiations with Surreal TV right now. Stay tuned. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

It's not exactly crystal clear that the bible actually forbids homosexuality: http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bibh.htm Regardless, that's between them and God, it's not for us to fret over. Judge not...remember? Besides, if one doesn't like the idea of gay sex, the surest way to kill their sex drive is to let them get married. It works for heterosexuals. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

A lesbian would call her well hung. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Who do you think took the picture? duh! -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

Just because I don't pay rent doesn't mean you can whore out my emergency crash pad. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

That's exactly what I was thinking! I'd be jumping in a tshirt and shorts down there. Maybe next year. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.

I know what you mean, that's why I'd written "the McDonalds lawsuit wasn't *nearly* as frivolous..." Regardless, I just checked a couple of websites. Their coffee was an average of 20 degrees hotter than any other restaurant tested. This is the difference between 3rd degree burns in a couple of seconds and 15 seconds or so. They'd had over 700 previous complaints of injury, and settled at least a few cases for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The woman in question was willing to settle for much less, but they turned her down, thus forcing her to follow through with the lawsuit. Here's a snippet: POSTSCRIPT - Following the trial of Ms. Liebeck's case, the judge who presided over it reduced the punitive damages award to $480,000, even though the judge called McDonald's conduct reckless, callous and willful. This reduction is a corrective feature built into our legal system. Furthermore, after that, both parties agreed to a settlement of the claim for a sum reported to be much less than the judge's reduced award. Another corrective feature. ADDITIONAL NOTE - Prior to the Liebeck case, the prestigious Shriner's Burn Institute in Cincinnati had published warnings to the franchise food industry that its members were unnecessarily causing serious scald burns by serving beverages above 130 degrees Fahrenheit. OUR COMMENT - Any common consumer product which can cause third-degree burns (the worst kind) in two to seven seconds is seriously dangerous. Who could have imagined this risk from a cup of coffee? But, McDonald's had ample evidence of it. Lawsuits filed in the 80s and 90s commonly involved people that became addicted in the 50s and 60s. In the late 60s, my mother's doctor advised her to start smoking. Clearly, the dangers were successfully suppressed through at least that time. Even today, the big 5 tobacco companies deny that nicotine is addictive, and insist that there's no solid evidence that second hand smoke is dangerous. Both claims are patently absurd. They've been waging a massive disinformation campaign for decades, and they've been purposely targetting kids for just about as long. Was there publicly available information about the hazards of smoking? Yes, but efforts to inform consumers were undermined and outspent by sophisticated and outrageously deceptive tobacco advertising. Advertising that was coordinated with pseudo scientific research by tobacco puppet organizations. I've got far more sympathy for McDonalds than big tobacco. -Josh If you have time to panic, you have time to do something more productive. -Me* *Ron has accused me of plagiarizing this quote. He attributes it to Douglas Adams.