Sen.Blutarsky

I agree with you. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

See above my camel metaphor. The decision-making process is irretrievably political, even the “experts” have their agendas/incentives/lobbyists, and, consequently, I believe that most of the vast sums of taxpayer money that would be committed to implement any centrally-directed recommendations would be squandered since the projects aren’t necessarily calculated to prevent future attacks but instead to serve other interests. As I said before, I agree that more needs to be done even though I believe that undisclosed steps have been taken to attack the problem at its roots, which is where we need to focus. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Help me understand your position by working with me through a terrorism scenario. Here in Chicago, as elsewhere, we have long trains of tanker cars which routinely transport volatile toxic liquids that can gasify into huge poisonous clouds and spread out given the right conditions. Often these transit near our downtown commercial districts. How would you prevent a determined cadre of terrorists from prepositioning an Oklahoma City-type truck bomb under a railroad overpass, we have a lot of them, hijacking a tank car train that is carrying volatile hazardous liquids, emplacing the tank cars on the overpass and then detonating the truck bomb to release a flood of toxic gas which could disperse throughout the office canyons of Chicago perhaps murdering tens of thousands? Do you armor U.S. train cabs, arm the engineers, monitor key railroad crossings or provide gas masks and hazmat suits to those at risk? Who will pay and how will this affect the economy? What about safeguarding all the other potential vulnerabilities in this country and how do you prioritize. Shouldn’t we use our limited available funds to equip our baby-carrying airliners so they can decoy shoulder-fired missiles instead? Why blame the Administration for charting its own course when it’s simply impossible to defend all of our vulnerabilities, as many have been recommending, not that more shouldn’t be done, I agree with your other suggestions for example. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Hastily, Clinton Administration (1993-2001): 1993 World Trade Center bombing (6 killed, 1,000 injured) 1994 Jewish students attacked by terrorist on Brooklyn Bridge (1 dead) 1995 Oklahoma City bombing (168 dead) 1996 Olympics/Atlanta bombing (1 dead, 100 injured) 1997 Atlanta gay nightclub & abortion clinic bombings 1998 Bombing of the U.S. embassies in Africa/sovereign U.S. soil (224 killed, 5,000 injured) 1999 Animal Liberation Front attacks on U.S. research facilities 2000 Bombing of the USS Cole/sovereign U.S. soil (17 killed, 39 injured) Know what a camel is? It’s a horse designed by committee. Arguably the current Administration has decided to forego the camel approach and, so far, their horse appears to be “winning” the contest. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

I dunno, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil occurred with regularity during the Clinton Administration but the frequency of these attacks has declined significantly since 9/11/2001. What is causing this pattern, assuming you choose not to attribute it to the fact that we’ve better equipped our country to defend against terrorist attacks after 9/11/2001? I’m open to being convinced the terrorists are deliberately exercising patience (thereby yielding military and political initiative for reasons that defy convention) or, say, that they have abandoned trying to get us due to their deep and abiding respect for human life. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Vista Bahn or back bowls? Suddenly I'm jealous, although I console myself with the fact that the bounded trails at Vail can get boring pretty quickly. Have a blast and then head to the bars. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

It's somebody from the Southside of Chicago referring to his/her teeth. If queried the same person would respond that the whole number between two and four is "tree." Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

We can produce many of those things, or acceptable substitutes, from the grains grown on the vast farms here in the Great Lakes states. Our region also controls large deposits of coal and, if push comes to shove, peat which can be converted into products that are manufactured from oil at the present time. Assuming localization due to necessity ever does become reality the Great Lakes should be okay, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if we are the U.S. region best-positioned to triumph over the crisis with our lifestyle largely intact. We have abundant fresh water, renewable energy, aerable land, engineering talent and industrial infrastructure. In addition, our region collaborates with Canada in matters involving the countries’ extensive transborder commerce as well as our shared custodianship over Great Lakes water. Perhaps this interdependant relationship could give our states special access to Canada's tar sands in the event the region needed foreign oil. I might be substantially more concerned if I lived in the sunny Southwest. I mean, what will Las Vegas do to survive if it becomes impractical for people to visit there or the available fresh water supply gets choked off? LA or Phoenix? The manufacturing base just isn’t there for them to fall back on, and desalination is energy expensive. Yet people continue moving to places like these, in part to escape the “severe” seasonal weather changes that help replenish Great Lakes water. Are they expecting a New Orleans-style rescue operation if a crisis materializes? It’s interesting behavior to witness from a distance, that much is for sure. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Er, we lead the nation in producing renewable biofuels and we have plenty of nuclear plants per population density. We should do just fine on the energy side. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Sounds like the Great Lakes states will do fine. Hooray for us, pity the sunny Southwest. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Hey, somebody's gonna hafta teach your kiddo the proper way to do it, you best get out there and practice so you're ready when the time comes Just be careful. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Hookay . . . so join a “movie group” (you watch movies and discuss them afterwards over cocktails and wine) or a cooking class. They’re inexpensive, attended mostly by women and involve consuming lots of good booze if you undertake your due diligence to locate a suitable group. Used to work for me when I was single Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Not mutually exclusive activities, in fact I often combine them. Yes you might get tagged by a dick. Usually they don’t want to get out of their cruiser, however, because it’s too freakin' cold. I’m 40 and I still cut tracks on deserted parking lots when I think no one is looking Seriously though, get outdoors even if it means acquiring a bota bag for your liquid refreshments and a mylar survival blanket for sex in the snow drifts. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Most people I know spend too much time indoors during the winter season and I think that’s a big mistake because they’re forgoing a lot of fun in favor of routine drudgery. I grew up in a Michigan snowbelt and learned to enjoy playing in the outdoors regardless of the season. I make a deliberate effort to get outside as much as possible, whether it’s ice skating, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, snowshoe trekking or snowmobiling. Join an amateur hockey league if you can or learn from a local expert how to build and sleep out in a snow cave. At least try to find a deserted parking lot so you can whip your car around in donuts. Snow and ice are cool, extract the benefits that winter offers same as you would with the other seasons, it’s good for both head and heart. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

I personally like the idea that more-evolved creatures might someday be studying my bones and other remains to reconstruct how I once lived. I’m looking forward to being displayed in their museum and frightening their young children with my canine teeth and imposing glare. I wonder whether they’ll find Nylon fibers embedded in my leg bones from the innumerable Sabre slams. Finally I’ll be famous! Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Saint Michael's College Cashman Conference Center 1 Winooski Park Colchester, VT 05439 802-654-2615 www.smcvt.edu/conferences $50 - no minimum stay Sleepy Hollow Inn Ski & Bike Center 1805 Sherman Hollow Road Huntington, VT 802-434-2283 866-254-1524 www.skisleepyhollow.com $85-155 No minimum stay I usually stay at the Sheraton when I visit, it's an okay hotel but pricey for a snowboarding holiday. Good luck and don't break anything you need to skydive. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

For some reason or another this post really struck my funny bone, then it resonated and I laughed out loud. Organizational dysfunction tends to affect me that way I guess. I believe they have (gay women too): http://online.logcabin.org/. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Heston has peeked into the windows of the cabin a few times, you know, just to monitor the subversive types. Now please serve it up on the leftists for variety’s sake, there’s hypocrisy aplenty all-around, Streisand arriving with her motorcade at a rally against greenhouse gases will get me laughing every time … Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Yep, it's Beldar. I checked. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Beldar Conehead, from France? Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

We use those babies here in Chicago to control the local pigeon population. Most aren't aware of this, although every now and then Street & Sanitation accidently lobs 23 mm into an office highrise and it makes back page of the Trib Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Yes. It means $1 less that a well-intentioned person could have donated to charity and good works. Burn a symbolic note if you wish to register political protest but give the actual item to a worthy cause instead of acting on your rage against the machine. Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Are they British? Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

Militarist! Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

I’ll happily decline your invitation. The Senator has recently become a cue ball and he is now using the same Mach 3 for both face and cranium. What ever drove me to attempt this grooming practice still escapes me but I’m liking it nevertheless, as does the SO judging from her expressions of “enthusiasm” Blutarsky 2008. No Prisoners!

It's that time again, we’ll be spending the American Thanksgiving Holiday there in the company of many fine truffles and chestnuts. Please share with us any not-widely-disseminated “must experience” things that you’ve personally, well, experienced south of Sienna. We’re deliberately avoiding the coasts this trip. Names and numbers appreciated, cheers regardless. Mandy Pepperidge and John “Bluto” Blutarsky