winsor

I'd like to build the world a home And furnish it with love Grow apple trees and honey bees And snow white turtle doves I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony I'd like to hold it in my arms And keep it company I'd like to see the world for once All standing hand in hand And hear them echo through the hills For peace through out the land (That's the song I hear) I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony I'd like to build the world a home And furnish it with love Grow apple trees and honey bees And snow white turtle doves I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony I'd like to hold it in my arms And keep it company I'd like to see the world for once All standing hand in hand And hear them echo through the hills For peace through out the land (That's the song I hear) I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony, that's the song I hear SONGWRITERS B. BACKER, B. DAVIS, R. COOK, R. GREENAWAY PUBLISHED BY LYRICS © SONY ATV MUSIC PUB LLC Maybe buy them a Coke, who knows?

There is the apocryphal tale of the platoon in Vietnam that came upon a ville, where they were able to obtain fresh eggs and local cannabis. After smoking and eating, they became silly and engaged in a food fight that got out of hand, the Medic wound up being involved. A couple of weeks later, one of the grunts who was treated became the recipient of the Purple Heart. It seems that the egg inflicted injury was logged by the Medic as treatment for "shell fragment in eye." After Tarawa, General Julian Smith was at a loss as to the issuance of medals. He felt that, given the level of gallantry that was the norm by the Marines who conducted the attack, singling out those who may be more deserving than others was an exercise in futility. As far as medals that brought dishonor by their very issuance, Lyndon Johnson's Silver Star comes to mind. A PR officer, LBJ wound up as a passenger on a bomber on a milk run, which returned to base for mechanical reasons before nearing Japanese airspace. Nevertheless, the citation had the aircraft being attacked by numerous Japanese aircraft, and the young Lieutenant, for unspecified reasons, manning one of the machine guns and blazing away with wild abandon. Of course, nobody else on the plane recalled the incident, and the aircraft logs indicate otherwise. Anyhow, my reference to the PH was a quote from someone who was wearing one. Napoleon's 'bits of ribbon' may or may not reflect the level of courageous resolve they imply, and their absence is also not conclusive. Until his dying day, my father spoke in awe of watching UDT at work. He was on an LSIG (365), whose job was to get close to the beach and shoot at the Japanese, drawing fire from their big gun emplacements so that the battlewagons could target and eliminate them. He manned a Bofors 40mm and had some armor for protection. He said the most amazing sight he ever saw was the guys in their little boats who went right up into the surf against withering fire, rolled out in their bathing suits, and blew up the obstacles. Some of them got hit, and some of them survived. The mission of the UDT required "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty" on every mission. The lives of Marines saved by the acts of UDT are no less significant than those saved by Medics who received the Medal of Honor. Maybe the fact that many Medics were Conscientious Objectors who put their money where their mouth was is part of the equation, and my hat's off to them. I have known all too many guys who suffered grievous wounds, and appreciate the fact that they willingly went into harm's way. I am, however, more impressed by substance than symbolism BSBD, Winsor

Hillary is a truly despicable human being, regardless of her politics. With friends like her, who needs enemas?

"The devil made me do it!" (with apologies to Flip Wilson)

Be afraid - be very afraid.

Climate Change (tm) is all about us. If it happens on our watch, it's our fault! Al Gore should factor this into his equations (actually, I am unsure if he passed grade-school arithmetic). In any event, it is a fool who only considers one factor in a complex system - significant though that factor may be. Unless, of course, your funding is dependent on one factor to the exclusion of all others...

AKA the "I Forgot To Duck" medal.

Sounds like grounds for a civil rights lawsuit. Civil rights are akin to animal rights in the sense that animal rights are most easily applied to cute animals. Carrion eaters and parasites are every bit as much a part of the ecosystem as are bunnies and bambis, but they don't get anywhere near the attention. Similarly, having a bunch of hairy bikers subjected to mass gunfire by trigger happy police does not garner the same level of outrage as does a Kent State event. I have been in a few shindigs where the bulk of attendees were biker trash, and the only time there was a problem was when cops showed up. Mind you, I am not suggesting that there is no possibility of mindless violence among bikers from opposing factions that wind up in the same venue, or if someone says the VERY WRONG THING to them, but in this case, where the police cut deeply into their ammunition budget, the likelihood that it was anything but a massive police fuckup is practically nonexistent. Even if you think bikers are Bad Guys, I contend that, if you want to wear the white hat, you have to follow the rules. In this case, the cops were an order of magnitude worse than the bikers. BSBD, Winsor

Deny that a small affiliate, 7 hours after he posted that it wasn't on the network you say it is NOW? Is that what you want him to deny? The liberal application of Government is the solution to all of our problems, all of them I tell you! If the Government did not take money away from people to spend on Worthwhile Things (tm), these foolhardy people would waste these funds on things that do not serve the Common Good - or, worse yet, they would SAVE that money so that it does NOBODY any good. We elect the wisest from among us to represent our very best interests, and Government Employees are the finest minds, who address every problem with the very best possible outcome. Capitalists are concerned with turning a buck, and couldn't care less about the noble goal of bringing Truth, Justice and the American Way to the whole world. Capitalists want to pick up their shovel, pack up their ass, get on their camel and head to the promised land. Progressives know to put down their shovel, sit on their ass and light up a Camel - this IS the promised land. Go Bernie! (he's so kewl...)

This is the one I came across. They basically said that the models suck, but that we should remain cautiously terrified anyway. I'm still scared beyond the capacity for rational thought (with apologies to Harold Ramis).

I got a couple of buddies who do...

You wanted to watch the presidential debates? Masochist.

You realize that, according to the surviving, heavily redacted and belated accounts of his first go-around, most people were not on board with any of the claims made about who and what he was at the time he took mortal form. Why, then, do you think that he would find any greater acceptance upon his return if he demonstrated the exact same set of criteria as he did before? For a couple of thousand years people have been on the edge of their seats, assuming that the "be right back!" message would be fulfilled. In every generation there has been one or more groups who 'knew' that the prophecy was going to be fulfilled, some of which disbanded when it turned out their guesses needed work, and some of which morphed from cult into sect (Seventh Day Adventists, et al.). You might be right - in the same sense that there is a finite likelihood that the morning paper will undergo a spontaneous nuclear chain reaction and evaporate everything within a mile radius. This is to say 'you might be right' in a theoretical sense, but the practical reality is that the possibility is so vanishingly small that it rounds off to zero to any significant (and most insignificant) digits. Put another way: 'bullshit.' BSBD, Winsor

Popular communicable mental malware in the form of religion is one very effective way of achieving this goal, but military organizations have, through the years, been able to get nice kids to do unspeakable things without bringing invisible friends into the mix. Mechanisms for doing so are well documented, and there are millions of examples to support the principle. Using religious fervor to achieve this purpose is simply cutting to the chase. "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker" and all that. BSBD, Winsor

The Epistles were raw politics.

No. The House initiated impeachment proceedings, but before he could be subjected to impeachment, he resigned. The criminal law equivalent would be indicted, but not brought to trial. Was he guilty? They had him dead to rights. Were the charges against Clinton factual? Every bit as much as those being brought against Tricky Dick. Was the finding of 'not guilty' an indication that Clinton did not commit the offenses of which he was accused? Not hardly - Congress quite rightly concluded that ejecting him from office would cause MUCH more damage than they were willing to endure, so he got a pass. I try not to let my likes and dislikes cloud my ability to discern facts. Anyone who thinks Nixon was impeached should be subject to remedial Civics study. BSBD, Winsor

Pretty impressive bit of engineering, electrifying a wind-up clock. I'm sure he will discover that coin batteries have better energy density than the bundle he used for this design, but hey, he's only a school kid.

Article Four agrees.

"...rights inherent & inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness..." Happiness requires drugs. Ask any pharmaceutical rep. QED

Like Chicago? The gang infested areas, for sure. The higher socio-economic neighborhoods, not at all.

Looks great when you compare to contries like Honduras, great goals. When you look at the current list of homicides per capita you will also see that the US is in level of many African countries that are in Civil war, same level as Albania which is basicly controlled by criminals. Other western countries are pretty much all found at 1.0 or lower. The civilized communities in the U.S. are as safe as anywhere. The feral populations tend to skew the statistics.

Ok. The police have a name. From a criminal. Now what? They have to prove that the name given to them, by a criminal, sold the firearm without a background check. Good luck with that. The law is un-enforceable. Seems to be enforceable enough when it comes to drugs. Yup, they passed laws against drugs and they are no longer a problem. Why can't we apply the same common sense approach to firearms that we did with alcohol during Prohibition?

Who do you think the NRA is?

I know, changing an opinion is a major sign of weakness and should be avoided at all costs! Why is it that first world countries with strict gun laws have far less homocides with guns? Demographics. Can you explain? Yes, I can - though I will steer clear of specifics. As a friend of mine, who owned a liquor store, pointed out, 90% of his sales went to 10% of his customers. The most heavily armed people I know are the least likely to engage in violence. Others, if they have a cudgel, are going to hit someone with it. Like 'no child left behind' and other well-intentioned efforts, the propensity to regulate on the basis of the lowest common denominator is doomed. Gun control is not about guns, it's about control.

I have known Germans of all stripes in the time I lived there. The spectrum of personalities is as broad as that of any nationality. Be advised that Saxons are not interchangeable with Bavarians or Prussians, and there was a HUGE difference between East and West Germans back then (I suppose that has morphed in the interim). Bonn and Berlin are not interchangeable, either socially or politically. Think of it as being as different as Bangor Maine vs. Biloxi Mississippi. If a U.S. citizen is being a schmuck, that is not reflective of all denizens of the U.S. of A. Hopefully. As an aside, some of the finest, most honorable soldiers I have ever met were German. Back to the issue at hand, to compare equally armed societies, the reason Switzerland does not have an equal level of insane violence as does the U.S. has little to do with the capacity for violence. BSBD, Winsor