winsor

He was an actor with fake blood all over him and a lot of makeup? No, I think he's referring to a distant cousin of mine. I'm pretty sure the guy is no blood relation of Ron's.

NOW your opinions are facts???? Gotta love it This from the guy who claims GWB never told a lie despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.. You are working on the assumption that GWB UNDERSTOOD the evidence. I say you give him too much credit.

So . . . put another way . . . the issue these reports are true or false is not what matters, but those against her believe them. Is that about it? You are as reliable as the sun coming up in the morning.

If those things had actually happened we would have heard about them somewhere other than a skydiving forum. The order to dress in civilian clothes was widely reported at the time, and she backed down immediately from the withering backlash. The incident hitting the Secret Service agent was in a secure area and got no press. The issue is not the veracity of these reports, but the fact that none of this matters to her supporters. Based on her own statements, her handling of SIGINT was the kind of thing that puts mere mortals behind bars, but her supporters don't care in the slightest. Wheb a Republican had earned my loathing and contempt for doing despicable things, Hillary's supporters are in lock step. Since it was Hillary, either my data are false or I am mad at her for being a female. I call bullshit. BSBD, Winsor

I am sick of one special interest group or another getting a pass by their claims of intolerance. If I really like or totally despise someone, I can think of no case where it is simply because of their gender, sexual preference, race, religion, favorite sport or whatever. After going against Kamikazes in the Pacific, my father could not bring himself to buy a Japanese car. Nevertheless, a significant number of our close family friends were/are Japanese ethnic or nationals. If I think someone is a dreadful human being, I will not give them more or less credit for being a lesbian, Norwegian, negro, Buddhist, a Physicist or whatever. Am I prejudiced? Sure, I have general expectations of various groups of people, based on a great deal of exposure. One reason I like working with people with independent credentials is that I don't have to wonder if they got their degree because their uncle donated a building to the University, or nobody wanted to give an F to the negro, or those bodacious tatas were surely worth an A or whatever. If you're a Registered Architect, you have to know the subject matter cold, no matter what school you attended. When Hillary ordered the White House staff to dress in mufti because she found military uniforms 'offensive,' that was a deal breaker for me. A reputable source witnessed her tell a Secret Service agent to pick up a glove she had dropped and, when he said "it's not my job," she slapped him. That, in addition to being a Felony, shows a complete lack of class on her part. The reports of her competing with Bill for other women are largely a matter of indifference. It is not so much that I do not trust her as it is that I trust her to remain true to form, and she has worked long and hard to earn my deep and abiding loathing. The fact that she is female is neither here nor there. Trump is a loose cannon and a complete jerk, but at least he isn't a lawyer and he has occasionally turned a profit. I am not sure that I like him any more than Hillary, when all is said and done. This election cycle is a train wreck and everybody will lose, regardless of who floats to the top. BSBD, Winsor

He went to the best schools and uses the best words. He said so himself.

In 1970 in Moscow, an AFS student drew an eyepatch and put a scar on the cheek on an official poster of Lenin. Later, another student made a paper airplane out of it and threw it out the window. I do not recall that the Powers That Be ever figured out quite who was the comedian or the aircraft designer, but it was clear that they were MOST UNHAPPY after a Militia member unfolded the aircraft. I put it down on the list of things not to do - do not make fun of people with absolute authority. About a month later I met a guy who was in great pain. It seems that he had inadvertently showed disrespect to a picture of General Franco that he did not know was there, and the Guardia Civil gave him guidance in the matter with rubber hoses. The same month they voiced their disapproval of a graffiti artist with a burst of SMG fire, so the guy who overlooked the General's picture got off easy. All things being considered, I do what I can to stay clear of locales with unforgiving regimes. I have been to enough Socialist Workers' Paradises to last me for a lifetime. BSBD, Winsor

Because one side is actively condoning, encouraging and inciting violence. Amazes me how some people don't see a difference in that. Trump is not offering any policies either. It is all motherhood statements, nothing with any "meat" tied to it. Trump has his supporters so fired up that putting muslims and Mexicans in a camp with a monthly "shower" would be applauded and cheered if suggested. That is scary and nowhere near: the other side is just the same. He's offering Hope and Change. Hey, it worked for the incumbent...

Again, I submit that if Climate Change was one of the top 5 issues that threatened the survival of the human race, we would be in comparatively good shape. As it is, Climate Change is but a symptom of the problems we face. Maybe anything more formidable than secondary issues is too daunting. I hope not.

His campaign seems to be right out of the Weekly World News. Bat Boy is a Trump supporter? I suppose I should have expected that. I thought Bat Boy grew up to BE Trump.

There is a finite likelihood that a book on my shelf will undergo a spontaneous chain reaction and cause a nuclear explosion. This likelihood rounds of to any significant digits to zero. This likelihood is, however, many orders of magnitude greater than the likelihood that anything resembling any common definition of a deity exists. Calling bullshit is thus not a stretch.

True - but perhaps I don't wish to have such a high carbon footprint. Pretty hypocritical for those that are alarmists to abide a larger carbon footprint than those that are agnostic about the whole mess. The comparison between George W's Crawford ranch and Algore's TN mansion is a case in point.

I think it is a moderately brilliant ploy on the part of the Gov't, claiming "woe is me, trying to get past the brilliant security of Apple is beyond our meager abilities, etc.," while they are likely already going through the details of what was on the phone. 'Losing' the 'battle' with Apple could have people thinking "ha, ha, ha, I have all this incriminating information that the FBI can't access! I'm so smart!" Disinformation is a key element of the cat and mouse game that is intelligence. BSBD, Winsor

God is like Elvis, She is everywhere. She is in everything. Some people can only see Her in a few places, but She is universal. (BTW, God does not really have a gender, why would the creator have need of gender? I just choose feminine pronouns as a personal choice, I like the idea.) So therefore, all the Gods that people worship are real, to them. You can choose differently as you like. I'm making this all up as I go. And it is as valid as anyone else's belief. One belief that I find particularly absurd is that God created man in His own image. Just how conceited does a man have to be to make that up? Elvis has left the building.

If you have 100 people that each believe in a different deity, and each claims that all the others are wrong, I submit that each is accurate in the latter assessment.

Viruses are the means of smiting the wicked.

His campaign seems to be right out of the Weekly World News.

I'm in favor of a "Mein Kampf" clause regarding religion. In Germany, National Socialism is heavily proscribed. Given the excesses that have resulted in the past, this makes a certain amount of sense. What I propose is that any 'religious' text that condones such things as, say, genocide should not be granted First Amendment protection. Since no truly 'holy' document could possibly support such universally abhorrent practices, this should find acceptance among all decent people. Fair enough?

Jesus, I actually agree with you on something.

So the solution is a huge rise in the minimum wage? It's pretty obvious that the problem with poverty is that some people don't have money. Thus, all we have to do is give them money and the problem is solved. Of course, the worst kind of poverty is poor children. Thus, if we give people money on the basis of how many kids they have, we kill two birds with one stone. That's how we win the "War on Poverty" (tm)! Either that or create a culture of "Kids as a Cash Crop," I forget which. BTW, you never lived in Switzerland, did you? BSBD, Winsor

The irony is: That is a very true statement. Yeah, I kind of liked it.

Indeed they didn't: no votes for women, no votes for much of the male population either, an Electoral College to make sure that the wealthy elite got its way despite the wishes of the common people. You make it sound like a bad thing. Though attributed to de Toqueville, Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee seems to have originated the following "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilisations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage." We are pretty much in the apathy to dependence stage. Beyond the "Meeting House Democracy" scale, have-nots are thus the bane of attempts at pure Democracy. Switzerland works pretty well, but there are precious few have-nots amongst them. BSBD, Winsor

She turned me into a Newt. Did you get better? Of course. Did you immediately get the urge to write a "Contract with America"? Mine is a Contract ON America.

She turned me into a newt. Did you get better? Of course.

She turned me into a newt.