idrankwhat

Quote Of course not. It's obvious that Saddam should be returned to power. Since you bring it up, we should have picked our battles better; we should have dealt with the "war on terror" before over extending ourselves in a premeditated, illegal nation building project. Ask yourself a few simple questions: who attacked us, where were they, where are they now and which battle is demanding all of our military, political, and financial resources? He'll take care of all those darned mischief-makers. This bit of truth stings but he was actually doing a much better job of that than we are. So what if he murders a few hundred thousand of his own people - at least we'll have "stability", and that's what counts. Spoken like a fan of Reagan/Bush (41). And then if terrorists move in and use the country, with Saddam's permission and assistance, for planning, training and funding terrorist acts around the world, so be it. I miss all of those pre-war fairy tale fear mongering stories of Bush's first term. Tell me the one about the aluminum tubes again while I get another s'more.. Free countries who are supposed to be setting a good example and who are trying to export their style of free/fair governance (that's the rumor) don't go around toppling countries and killing thousands of people based on unlikely worst case scenarios with no factual basis. America deserves whatever it gets, after all. Fair is fair. Some of the reasons given by bin Laden for warring with the US come from our actions over there, on their land. He says that we exploit their resources and foster instability and conflict in the middle east so that we'll have access to and control over their oil. Are we doing that? He says that we want to maintain military bases on their land in order to maintain control of the region. Is he right? He says that have a one sided view of the Israeli/Palestinian crisis and turn a blind eye to Israel's illegal and provocative land grab activity. Any truth to that? Now if you agree that the above claims have any validity then I'd hope you would agree that maybe they are pissed off at us for a reason, i.e. we're doing exactly what bin Laden warned his follower about. I would think that that might make you rethink how we should deal with our energy, political and military resource demands. If you don't think those claims have any validity then I'd be interested in hearing what you're basing that assumption on. If you think the claims are valid but don't care because you think that the US deserves to use its power in any manner it feels is necessary to make American lives comfortable, then you need to accept that you're an imperialist and you need to realize that events like 9/11 are a cost of maintaining the status quo. How you view it is up to the individual, but try to be honest with at least yourself.

You're right, the newer technologies aren't the end all solution, but they are a step in the right direction. If we can continue to develop efficient batteries and put more power on the grid from solar, hydro and wind then each step is one towards dealing with our pollution and foreign dependency problems. On the other hand, we also have to deal with a Congress who will choose stupid ideas like making coal into gasoline because that's what the coal lobby and their bank accounts full of "free speech" want us to do.

California was stolen from Mexico by hook and crook, by the evil Imperialist and violent Americans. Americans should evacuate California and return it to its rightful inhabitants - the peaceful Indians, Mexicans and Spanish who formerly lived there. America has no right to that land. Cut and run! So, what are you in favor of, Iraq being the 51st or 52nd state? I'm thinking we should give 51 to DC. I think you should change your war cry from "cut and run" to "God wills it!" http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Armoiries_J%C3%A9rusalem.png

A big fat ZERO....again I'm in week three of recovering from a torn achilles. My hackey is turning blue!

Yeah - I see he didn't want to engage on the matter of 1 in 6500 versus 1 in 100-150. Throw in the fact that our army doctors are saving a large portion of the wounded then ever, and the casualty rate could more than 5% of the soldiers per year. If 5% of the motorists in America were getting killed or maimed every year, yeah, we'd move, or ban cars. And I've also been waiting for someone to point out the obvious point that California is part of the United States and that Iraq was/is an ill conceived imperialist nation building exercise designed in part to protect another non-US entity which can't seem to quit provoking its neighbors. In addition, the exercise is succeeding in creating more of the very thing that it is purported to be fighting. But if it's easier to stick to transportation analogies then basically the answer to the California transportation death problem would be to build fleets of Hindenburgs and Ford Pintos.

In my case the opposite is closer to reality, but Bono is a grade A hypocrite who wants nations already dripping red ink to spend even more on pet overseas causes as many people struggle domestically and our grand kids are already in debt to the tune of trillions, all as he does his best to avoid paying his share. The latest affront is the Bono Geldoff duo at the G8 summit where they're bitching that half the pledged 30 billion is money already pledged and there's not much evidence of new money. Are we supposed to get the checkbook out to the tune of tens of billions of dollars every time these tax avoiding ass clowns roll into town on a cause? Fuck that. In fact how about a big fat sincere unqualified fucking thank you very much and bugger off for at least 5 years before we give another nickel or listen to these wealthy beggars again. I understand your argument and you've laid it out well. What I was trying to point out is that his lobbying methods in favor of his causes are no different than the banks, pharmaceutical companies, and oil companies who not only lobby for their causes but who also write the legislation that gets passed by Congress. Your tax dollars are being spent to subsidize the industries listed above, all of which also take advantage of a complicated tax system that is written to provide an advantage to the wealthy. The difference lies in that the Bono lobby results in monies that help provide awareness and relief for the poor and diseased (many of whom are living in resource rich countries whose resource exploitation makes our lives easier) while the Corporate lobby results in monies for the companies and their shareholders.

Leave the bong alone until your food is read. Good advice for washing your hair too. You'll use up a whole bottle of shampoo if you don't plan the wash and wash the plan. "Wet hair, shampoo, rinse, repeat"

Dead is dead, it doesn't much matter how you got that way. The mayhem on America's streets from car accidents is 40,000 per year. That's thirteen times the number of soldiers killed in Iraq, in all the years of the war. And it happens each and every year! I gave it a day, thinking that the lamest argument in support of the Iraq war I've ever heard might die out. I guess I was wrong. Hey, why don't we just kill everybody on earth? We're all going to die anyway.

Explained by arrogance. Apparently the real crime is getting caught. I mean, how can we make the claim that we don't condone torture and human right abuse if we keep getting caught doing it?!?!?! thesearen'tthedroidsyou'relookingforthesearen'tthedroidsyou'relookingforthesearen'tthedroidsyou'relookingforthesearen'tthedroidsyou'relookingfor

Sounds like a case of "class envy" to me Here's some reading you might find interesting. http://www.amazon.com/Perfectly-Legal-Campaign-Benefit-Everybody/dp/1591840198

Doesn't Clinton have a microwave? And didn't he get a blowjob? There, Mission accomplished!

Good point. The local newscaster asked this morning if "Paris Best Western" would have gotten out of jail so soon.

How about starting by coming to West Point when you get out. I'll buy you a jump and a beer.

Welcome!!!

Do you realize how many individual people, businesses, and government leaders the above describes? The difference is nature of the work that they do and who profits from the efforts.

That would be "Sir" Carpet bagging popstar But, not to interrupt the bashfest but I guess I have two questions. 1) What your problem with Bono? Is it him or the charity work that he does? 2) Is there any truth to the article's claim that Canada's PM is trying to block accountability for promised aid?

Would you like to bet $100 on that? I'd like in on that wager for $100. DC is most assuredly not a state. They've been trying tho. Well maybe if DC's Representative would cast a vote once in a while it might clear up the confusion

For almost 30 years, Nazi groups in the US have been practically invisible. They're a non-issue. Can the same be said for Germany? I'm not sure that the comment was directed at neo-nazi groups What do you think she meant by "Nazi groups with thier odd ideas are well spread over the US, would you explain that for me"? Ooops. I think you're right upon re-reading. (see, that's not so hard) Sorry. I guess I still had Putin's quote in my head and thought she was referring to Bush's neo-demokracy policies.

For almost 30 years, Nazi groups in the US have been practically invisible. They're a non-issue. Can the same be said for Germany? I'm not sure that the comment was directed at neo-nazi groups http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11497296/

The Dem leadership isn't calling for his resignation, are they? Not yet. They've only made it mandatory that it be investigated within 30 days and kicked him off his committee positions (stepped down from one, kicked off the other). Pelosi: The charges in the indictment against Congressman Jefferson are extremely serious. While Mr. Jefferson, just as any other citizen, must be considered innocent until proven guilty, if these charges are proven true, they constitute an egregious and unacceptable abuse of public trust and power. Hoyer has stated that Jefferson's effectiveness is impaired and I think Hoyer is involved in the investigation that will probably have Jefferson removed, even before a trial. But to be fair and balanced, what did Boehner say: About Ney on whether or not to step down after Ney pled guilty: "That's a decision he and his family are going to have to make". And after the DeLay gave up trying to get the "DeLay rule" passed, was subsequently indicted and resigned, Boehner said "He has served our nation with integrity and honor, and I’m honored to call him my colleague and friend."

I guess I wasn't actually giving a reason to ignore the issue. I was giving a good reason to ignore television. But now that I'm thinking about it, I guess I really don't have a problem with allowing profanity on TV. Maybe it will get so bad that people quit watching it or parents may start paying attention to what their kids are watching and lock the most offensive channels. Then the advertisers, not some appointed government political "decider", will crack down and force broadcasters to change their content. Hell, shit, fuck. Bring it on. How much television do your children watch? Live TV: 0-30 minutes/week. Usually 0. DVD: Maximum of 1.5 hrs/day total. Typically about 45 minutes. Books: Probably a minimum of 10/day for the three year old and the 8 month old gets to listen to all but usually only participates in maybe two or three.

I guess I wasn't actually giving a reason to ignore the issue. I was giving a good reason to ignore television. But now that I'm thinking about it, I guess I really don't have a problem with allowing profanity on TV. Maybe it will get so bad that people quit watching it or parents may start paying attention to what their kids are watching and lock the most offensive channels. Then the advertisers, not some appointed government political "decider", will crack down and force broadcasters to change their content. Hell, shit, fuck. Bring it on.

Without a doubt, the fact that the Bush administration has brought us to the point where I quite frequently agree with Pat Buchanan has to be one of the most telling signs that we've got serious problems.

The nature of your swoop into the discussion made it look like we were gearing up for another thread diversion into the land of NC and Kal's "what's your definition of is". Please pardon me if I was wrong. But if you want to stay on topic, I think that a few bad words is not the problem with TV. I think that the mindless TV programming, lack of imagination, excessive violence, and the playing to the lowest common denominator are the problems. But then again, that crap seems to sell, and since that's what the game is all about I don't really expect it to get any better.