SudsyFist

You're entitled to your opinion, but I think it's a bit of a reach (and, to some, an insult) for you to invoke scripture to support your macho bullshit.

It's on, muthafucka, yeah, nigga. Damn, I just can't wait, man, nigga horny as a muthafucka, man, dick all hard, nigga, I'm ready to fuck, nigga, straight up, nigga! I'm just ready to get my groove muthafuckin' on, you hear me, nigga?

Foul temptress.

As if we didn't derail the thread enough... It sounds like fun. Bmin, 3/4 cool?

Exploit the severe handicap of my non-movie-watching arse, why don'tcha.

Look! Shiny!

Who restricts that to just Bonfire? I was accused of being a pagan just last night in SC!

Awww, honey... *smooches*

What you said *was* pretty harsh, Bill, but I chalked it up to crass hyperbole (of which I, too, partake). Your statement above, however, leaves me with a great big WTF? Back on topic, though, the only troops I ever hated were the ones in my chain of command. And in my unit. And on the Camp Casey bus screaming at the driver, "Next stop, SHI!"

I heard a bit when I was at the gym this morning. That's one smart financial resource we're losing. Hope whoever's taking his place meets or exceeds his standard. And has balls to boot.

Cool, cool. My apologies.

Good point. And I'd also like to add that it's not something that just happens once and is final. To forgive is to forgive every day; at times of weakness, you are at risk of retracting it, much like love. It takes a lot of strength to consistently forgive. And even more strength to consistently forgive such an personal atrocity. EDIT: Stray indefinite article cleanup.

I'm right there with you!!! Hey, there, big boy: http://www.foxnews.com/ Same photo and everything! EDIT: Seems bad news sells... or at least it's that about which people want to read.

Without having been put in that specific situation, I'm pretty confident that I can say, "Yes, I could." A big part of this has to do with separating a person from their actions, which is pretty intrinsic in me now as I had adopted that notion long, long ago. It really clears the way for empathy, as well as forgiveness. EDIT: I'm anticipating misunderstandings in this thread over the definition of the word, "forgiveness." Perhaps it'd be good to clarify that one from the get-go, Bigwind.

Taking into account that the, "correctness," of what politicians do in their job is highly subjective, then I'll say, "Of course!" And what I'm meaning is that I agree with some of the things he has done in office. You think I'm kidding?

Fuck off, foul mouthed hypocritical Catholic hicks! Fuck off!

Serious question: do you really think that way, or are you just pushing buttons? If it's the former, I'm really fascinated as to how you've come to this, and, if you don't mind, I'd love to study you for a paper I'm writing.

It gets way more convoluted than that. Way more. It's not just a slippery slope; it's a sun-facing glacier wall.

I think you grossly underestimate the power of the people and their desire to be heard. If this resource isn't yet being tapped to its fullest, then there are some seriously critical failures going on over there.

So, you found a man and your throat hurts? We know what you've been doing. Or not. The one that coats is the only one you need.

Suck it, we'll live on seafood, sunshine, and bikini-clad babes.

That's a good point, but I really have no idea how their press is working right now. I strongly doubt they are operating freely, but I'm not sure who's pushing what agenda on them. With a media that neglects to report the GOOD things that are going on... how would you suggest that happen? *If* that's the case, then I'd start by investigating why. If media cartels under the influence of the insurgency are already springing up, then investigate and dissemble the network. You know, along those lines. If it's a free and open media, and it's still neglecting the good news, then perhaps it's time for some grassroots movements among the people to be heard. After all, there are many stakeholders of the good news within the citizenry, proper. And they're the media's market, to boot -- nothing better than having some of your customers barking up your tree to get you to shift some gears. Aside from that, psyops is a very fascinating field, and there's tons of info on the 'net in which to bury one's self. You'd probably dig checking it out.

And, likewise, the ambient humidity. Then we can throw in air movement, and temperature, and perhaps another few factors. From my own experience, I can't be certain, but I don't think the smoke is going to have long-term effect in an outdoor scenario, unless you're close enough to be melted down by the shit anyway. In urban environments, however, there are enclosed rooms. With families huddling together from the onslaught. And I'm sooooooo not down with that. That's not even mentioning potential "chemical burn" effects on combatants, against which I stand firmly, as well.

If it's presented as news, and not as an op/ed piece, then I don't think it's OK. Further, I'd prefer all op/ed stuff to be corralled into its own show and properly labeled ("The Libertarians Are Whiny Suck Asses Op/Ed Show", e.g.). Yep. Scrutinize everything you hear. If for some reason you feel comfortable with a certain source, that's reason for even more scrutiny. To an extent, Trent. When we're espousing freedom and freedom and freedom, though, we're not doing very well by bribing or coercing propaganda into their newsstream. We're violating the very thing for which we're standing by pursuing it in that way, and the end result is going to be nasty when the locals find out they've been had. There are a number of methods by which to garner the support of the Iraqi people during the occupation, the most effective of which, IMHO, is making substantial progress in the improvement of their lives and situation, exactly which many of our uniformed personnel over there are working very hard under great duress to do. But I hear your concerns about combatting negative messages. There are more effective and less hypocritical ways than controlling the media to do that. It'll certainly take more brainpower and effort, but I think it's worth it in the long run.

Although I agree with the spirit of your post, this bit is wrong. What makes something an acid is its pH, so there's a huge variety of acids out there, both by compound and how far it is away from neutral on the pH scale. Many of these we may find on our skin right now. We can take a swim in others. Hell, I used to screw with people (notice a trend here?) in high school by pouring a bit of moderately high-molarity hydrochloric acid into my bare hand, then dropping bits of magnesium ribbon in, watching it fizz away. Different acids react differently with different compounds/elements. I'm not gonna get into valence shells and other geeky nasties here, but just take my word for it. You can trust me.