StreetScooby

Only because we've lost the will to be a clear winner. We are all engines of karma

Gee. I could have gone to MIT in ChE with 3 fellowships paying my way. We are all engines of karma

Clearly you worked for it. We are all engines of karma

My wife and I have already stashed cash. We are all engines of karma

I continue to be stunned at how many people on this forum have the view that "we're the bad guys". That's a simplification of many views here, but it's relevant in what is happening today. We're about to elect a radical liberal who's good at being opaque, while saying all the right things to whoever happens to be standing in front of him. Biden was right. Obama will be tested. And, it's not going to stop, for years to come. We are all engines of karma

The winner. And, sometimes it comes to that in life. We are all engines of karma

Are we the Mexicans or the Minutemen? We are all engines of karma

And, what do you make of the attacks on your own nation? We are all engines of karma

My stated position has nothing to do with offensive military capabilities. You keep trying to drag it to that. We are all engines of karma

Quote ...the next 4 years will be pretty bad if the Dems win. [/relpy] Yep. We are all engines of karma

LOL! That's what we need right now, more reproducible observations! We are all engines of karma

You did it, again. Where we really disagree is your perceived right to distort my words. We are all engines of karma

bill, you're taking my words out of context. Yes, I said that. Yes, you said that. Now, you're a smart guy, and you have a non-trivial impact on these debates. The next sentence you replied to: ...does imply that I advocate both strong defense and strong offense. That is taken completely out of context in our discussion. And, you know that. I was referring to things that OUR COUNTRY needs, and had absolutely nothing to do with being an offensive power. It seems to me, that anytime military power is discussed in this forum you always remember "our atrocities". The reality, IMO, is OUR COUNTRY has done far more good in this world than not. There are many cultures on this planet that do want to impact our way of life n a negative manner. And, that reality is not going to change anytime soon. Am I advocating we go and drop nuclear weapons on them? Absolutely not. I personally favor a far more conceptually simple idea to deal with this problem - kill the money. Let the rest wither on the vine. I'm still trying to understand the poetry piece you shared... It's pretty powerful stuff. We are all engines of karma

Ah, shoot. I have to go study this now. I will not treat is as a timed test ;-) We are all engines of karma

Thanks for sharing the Stanford link. I read it. With these examples, there was more than just the US "supporting dictators". I seriously doubt our country was the only source of funds. I've never checked that out, but that's my understanding. We are all engines of karma

In the 1980s, I was still trying to figure out how to get the buggers off my fingers during timed tests. For reasons I have never fully understood, picking my nose in that environment was comforting. Yep. Agreed. I have always been appalled at the Republican party's propensity, over my lifetime, to happily engage fundamentalists christian groups. Agreed. I think our country's leaders over the last 50 years have been very driven by what is commonly referred to as "Cold War Thinking". Thank god they were good at what they did, because that war never went hot. If it had, our planet would have died. One of my favorite books is Richard Rhodes, "The Making of The Atomic Bomb". http://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-Richard-Rhodes/dp/0684813785/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224790807&sr=1-1 I read this book every other year, because I always learn something different. The book is that good. We need a very strong national defense. Way above every one else, by orders of magnitude. And, we'll need that for the next 100 years. No, I really do mean all of the above. That includes militarily. We are all engines of karma

You seem to bring this up alot. Do you have examples you can share with us? Yes, in every way. You did. Apology accepted. We are all engines of karma

I haven't read anyone here advocating that level of "disengagement". We are all engines of karma

You're such a bleeding heart liberal. In your view, America is the bad guy, end of story. That's bullshit. And I'm personally offended that you would ever associate me with such demented thinking as a "final solution". I want an apology. There are many countries in this world that don't like us, and it has nothing to do with our actions over the last 100 years. They've never liked us, or anyone like us. These countries are now reaching points in their histories where than can, and will do their best, to inflict damage on us and our way of life. When the time comes where we really need to stand up for our way of life (and I'm not talking exporting democracy), our country must do that. That's my point. And, I want an apology from you. We are all engines of karma

Fuck them. They're not Americans. We are. Let's keep it that way. We are all engines of karma

We are all engines of karma

It's not Sunday. Today is Wednesday. We are all engines of karma

huh? We are all engines of karma

Actually, it goes like this... "Sooner rather than later..." We are all engines of karma

You're right! We are all engines of karma