nacmacfeegle

"Quote ---------------- training and funding unstable freedom fighters ---------------- Sounds like an excellent idea. Which ones are those? Which ones will be bad 15 years from now? If you have the list, the state dept would love to see it." Which ones? All of them. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

I do like your sense of humour John, it brightens up an otherwise dull day at the desk. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"and you expect ME to come up with a fix?" Any chance of a time machine then John? We will go back and try to prevent this whole debacle. Mind you we did try the first time round but no-one listened then either. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"PS: Interesting to see how the usual suspects - just dismiss these issues and call all critics ant-american and tell all foreign critics to go and fuck themselves." Och thats okay, I can take a little constructive criticism, feedback, or even debriefing after a fucked up skydive.

PM'd in the interest of world peace. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"Now, if the girls decided to put themselves in the public eye (e.g. stumping for dad) all bets are off. They entered the public eye of their own will." Thats about the long and short of it Michael. Taking the UK's royal family in your example. Diana was a media darling, when it suited her she loved it, and used it well. Unfortunately the media is a two edged sword, she ulitmately died as a result of media intrusion (conspiracy theories aside), fleeing from the press in Paris led to her untimely death. If the Bush girls are flirting with the press, Vogue spreads etc, then they are entering that courtship and should be aware of the affect it might have on their lives, and even the presidential elections. I would advise them to be very careful. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"and while i don't agree with everything MM said or did in BFC, I enjoyed the movie and own a copy of it b/c I also really like some of what he says, and i think he brings up some good points." You're just full of surprises Jeffrey. "I already said that I did watch (some of) the movie. I stopped watching in large part because I had to return the video and I was out of time (the library gives only two days without a renewal). I was not interested in bothering to renew the v ideo. I had already read plenty about Moore's b.s. shenanigans in the movie before I took it out to watch, and even if I had not read up on it, I would have been turned off by the parts I did watch. The movie is a piece of shit. It's paraded around as "documentary," but it's twisted like taffy to make it say what Moore wanted it to say -- truth and accuracy be damned."http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1091184#1091184 When asked if you had viewed the film.... "Fine, maybe I will -- the library has it for free. I just have to find the time. Trust me, watching Michael Moore spew what I know are lies is very far down my priority list. "http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1091195#1091195 For someone who is constantly crusading for FACTS, you seem a little confused. On the same day, you say that you own a copy and quite like (parts at least of it) it, also that you borrowed the movie from the library, but didn't watch it all, and you proclaim that it is "twisted like taffy". Whats that term you guys use? Ah yes 'flip flop'. Facts and statistics are for those trying to prove a tenuous point, I'm just interested in truth. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

No point crying over spilt milk, so we have to sort this mess out, pronto style. The "Puppet" administration will be in place until proper democratic processes can be put in place. It is currently anticipated that free elections for a non-western influenced Iraqi administration will be held in January next year. Even I have to agree (see further up the thread) that a non-elected interim administration will have to be appointed, the sooner the better IMHO. The alternative would be to appoint a UN based peace keeping administration (thereby silencing critics that might suggest a western influence on the interim administration), but sadly the UN moves with glacier-like agility, its unstoppable, ultimately powerful, but not exactly swift. Now then, the extent of the powers of the interim administration are up for discussion..... EG do they have the power of veto over US led military operations into places like Fallujah for example. Another example of uncertainty might be the trial of Saddam. What laws apply, and who can be appointed to ensure that he gets a fair hearing. Regardless of how bad a guy he is, the trial will have to be seen to be providing justice, as opposed to a lynch mob, or kangaroo court. Thats the civilised way to do things. The handover of authority in Iraq has to be carefully staged, otherwise the local malcontents will see cause to challenge the authority in the only way they can, and we all know what that entails. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"but it is the first step in the democracy." I'd take you to task about the appointment of an unelected body, by an occupying foreign nation, as being the first step to a democracy. But I'd agree with you that it is a necessary step on the road to a democracy, so its all good.

Someplace like Bestbuys or similar will have something for you then. I'd still urge you to consider the Pelican. I reckon Aggie could drive his truck over one without harming the laptop. And thats some pretty heavy duty abuse. Anything short of a Pelican and your deluding yourself as to its protective qualities. When you buy your chosen bag, ask the sales assistant to demonstrate its rugosity with one of their own laptops, say by dropping it ....... -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

The whiskers are back, but I'm guessing the smiles and the smells never went! -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

See? Now it belongs in the bitter endless arguments forum. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

So what if I am? What's it to you bignose! -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"Bible, guns, liberal, Bush, terrorism, oil, Iraq... " Dude, I can't believe you missed out "big engines bad, small engines good"

"Tonto, No offense intended, but the ranting and raving is going on in all the other threads. Go there to rant and rave and bitch that all Americans suck, etc!, ok?" Ah Cora, if you post stuff in Speaker's Corner, people will challenge it, throw stones at it, twist it, spin it, disprove it, generally turn it to their own ends, or get really emotional over it. If its feelgood stuff, and this is feelgood stuff, it should be posted over on the Bonfire. I'm sorry you got upset by this, but thats the way it is over here in the bitter and twisted endless arguments forum. "Hey...maybe they aren't all bad." You aren't all bad, and it shouldn't be like this. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"What do you think we should do about it?" Look at why they hate you, and deal with the cause as opposed to the symptoms. But that means revisiting some of your less public foreign policies, such as supporting unpleasant regimes, training and funding unstable freedom fighters, or providing military aid to governments with piss poor human rights records. Well, thats what I think anyways, I'm sure there is more that could be done, and I'm sure we are about to hear all about it....... -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

http://www.pelican.com/cases/cases.html Expensive but pretty much indestructible, I have a medium sized one for my laptop, cameras etc, and only have good words to say about them. My one has survived 5 years of international and oilfield travel and more importantly, my laptop has survived ready for use after the baggage handlers have done their best to bust it.

"and the bachelor" Yup, I'd agree with that addition.

If you did a head down jump on your 999th, would anything funky happen? -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"How far is too far?" That question can only really be answered by the SO. The line in the sand will change depending on the personalities involved. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

Clarification here.. "It will be up to the Iraqi government and its people to decide whether the troops stay or not". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3745643.stm Listen to the French? Aye that will be the day, listen to the majority opinion of the security council, possibly. Mind you, Alawi seems confused... "Dr Alawi said he expected an indigenous Iraqi security force to be in place by the end of the year and certainly before the planned elections of next January." Plenty of time between the end of the year and next January! For what its worth I reckon the troops will slowly change hats from cammo to blue ones, but will stay for a while yet. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

As far as I understand it Kev, the puppets will be in place till january next year, after that the new democratically elected administration will have the right, and power to expel any occupying forces. I might be wrong though..... -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

I didn't watch it, but I've read key excerpts from the speech. The whole thing seemed reasonable, but lacking detail, not surprisingly, it is after all a dynamic situation. Tactically Dubbya must ensure transfer of power as promised, the date has already slipped once, further slippage will give ammunition to his critics, both at home and abroad. The plan that was outlined seems presumptuous and optimistic, and to me shows nothing new of any substance. I reckon the next 6 weeks or so will prove critical to the success or failure of the liberation process. I really do wish the coalition every success in this difficult period, but can't help harbouring some misgivings. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"Why not? It's what they do in Germany and Britain. Try saying something "detestable" there -- like "The Holocaust never happened." " Care to expand on that statement Jeffrey? -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

"That said, well, rights only work if everyone gets them, including the detestable. Ick. Wendy W." "Some of us are wise, Some of us are suckers. But we all bleed red, Even racist motherf*&%ers" The Fun Lovin' Criminals. What Wendy said, the minority low lifes have a right to broadcast their shite, and liberal minded people have to acknowledge that, even if the message is despicable. -------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson