SudsyFist

Huh? I made a point with regard to one of the criteria you used to support your position. From where did this admission/stance stuff come? OK, now it seems you're moving on to other criteria... Battle Damage Assessment (BDA). At the tactical level, these stats are very important. At the strategic level, their value is to operations that target reduction of enemy troop strength. The War on Terror, however, is a different environment than conventional war. Consider the lack of enemy organization and structure (divisions, brigades, battalions, etc.), for example. Strategically, these numbers alone don't do much in this case, unless we can somehow link them causally with actual reduction in enemy effectiveness. At this point, we can't do that, especially when we take into account the ideological factors which drive much of the terrorism to begin with. Agreed. Good things. I haven't seen anything concrete to indicate this is true. Do you have anything to substantiate this claim? People choose all the time that to which they pay their attentions. I try, however, to be as objective as possible. Do you? In case you haven't noticed, we're not fighting for freedom here. Wasn't the last time we fought a war to protect our own sovereignty as a nation (not to be confused with political objectives) somewhere around 1941-1945?

Matthew Shepard comes to mind as one example, but I think a quick Googling can turn up more. Where'd you get those stats? I'd be more than a little interested in such a report. "Recent," is a really subjective and ambiguous term, btw.

If I was really attempting to obfuscate a point, then I'd agree it was a weak attempt. After all, I kinda spelled it out by closing with the following: Which was kinda my point.

Add in judicial oversight, and I agree. If I'm not mistaken, it's a procedure familiar and available to law enforcement in the US.

Shite, you got me on Oklahoma City, but my choosing 1993 as the start year was to take into account the first WTC bombing. OK, so either change it to, "catastrophic foreign attack on US soil," or "1995-2001."

The first half of your comparison is broad, whereas the second half is specific to a particular incident. Try again, perhaps?

I hate that song. White Zombie ruled. Rob Zombie sucks.

Pathetically weak argument. Same could be said about Christians with regard to racial lynchings, hate crimes against gays, etc., and it would hold about as much water (read: none).

Thanks for the clarification. Good on you.

Would you agree, then, that we were winning the then-undeclared War On Terror from 1993 to 2001 (mostly under... *gulp*... Clinton), a period during which there no successful terrorist attacks on the US? Would you change your mind about our our current state of winning if, say, there was another catastrophic attack on US soil within the next year? If not, then doesn't that negate your use of it is a criterion for our "winning"?

How would you regard it if someone stated that the number of victims of 9/11 was, "relatively inconsequential in the grand scheme of things?" I find most people's lack of empathy abhorrent. Is considering role-reversal really that difficult?

I love you, man. Will you PLEASE have my babies now?

If you've seen what I've seen, then I strongly believe you'd share in my disillusionment, as I once held the same view. The fact is, however cynical it may sound, that without adequate oversight and enforcement, most people will abuse a system in which they participate. Consider the plethora of structures we have in place for precisely this purpose. In clandestine military situations, this responsibility for this oversight typically comes from a single source: command, which, incidentally, would also be ultimately responsible (read: consequences) for the performance of the unit, good or bad. Think about this for a minute. Would you trust a system in a corporation, for instance, where oversight on sexual harassment started and stopped with each section's supervisor/manager? How about police activities without IA, legislative, or judicial oversight? I concede that the single point of oversight has the potential to work well in specific cases where command has a very clearly defined mission, and establishes and enforces very clear and compliant (with treaties, etc.) directives about the conduct of that mission. Realistically, however, these cases are few and far between... too much cover-my-ass-for-my-next-OER shit going on, e.g. Fortunately, many U.S. intelligence activities actually have some internal checks and balances set up to help stem systemic abuse (whether it is enough is certainly up for debate); however, there are also many that do not. In the case of these secret prisons, we don't know what kind of internal oversight, if any, is going on. It's also hard to determine whether keeping them clandestine is mission-critical, rather than for the sake of appearance or something equally superficial. If, at the very least, written policies were published regarding the internal oversight of such activities and enforcement thereof, I'd at least feel a little less uncomfortable about the whole situation, but I'd much rather see this unilateral, unchecked approach to indefinite incarceration and denial of humanitarian agency access go like the Dodo.

Screw up? Perjury's a screw up? Euphemizing, not to mention downplaying, one politician's transgressions just because you consider yourself on their team is a quick way to lose credibility in the discussion, even if you have valid points to make: it reeks of fanboy-ism. You can represent your objectivity better by scrutinizing both the politicians whom you support as as well as those you don't. Just sounds like a smarter way to go, too.

If I had a vagina, I'd totally be slamming my Mustang right now.

You are sooooooooo gonna be corporally punished next time I see you... Twas great chillin' wit da homies. Gia rocks and sniffs fingers like no other. VanillaSkyGirl's million faces makes me wanna be her personal photographer. Skylord is the ass-kickinest Denny's trivia whore. Viking's doofed attempt at trendiness still has me giggling. Cajones is the mack daddy daddy mack. And Diablopilot is still, well... Diablopilot.

Fuck. Yeah.

Well, they pleaded with me to stay, but you know how sometimes you just don't *feel* welcome or comfortable enough to take up an offer. *sigh* Raisin Bran makes me less bitter. So does Skyhook. EDIT: Spelling correction. Dumbass.

It's a menstrual thing.

You son of a bitch: you couldn't let me sleep, now could you? RIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGGGG! RIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGG!!! Now that I'm up, I'm gonna hit that fuckin' continental breakfast like a group of high school cheerleaders on their 18th birthday.

Drove to Perris. Jumped with Viking. Almost died. Drove to Big Bear. Jeep, top down, brrrrrrfuckrrrrrrr. Got to Mom's. SudsyFist: "What'd you do with the couch?" Mom: "I got rid of it. I'm getting a new one in a few days." SudsyFist: "You knew I was coming; why didn't you keep it until you had the new one?" Mom: "I didn't like it." SudsyFist: "So where am I supposed to sleep?" Mom: "..."Brother kicked loads of major ass.. Brought the house down. Standing ovations, chicks, drugs... it was great. Worth the drive up. Got dissed by Dad at his house afterwards. Went back to Mom's to check email, hoping for some vague attempt at contact by someone. Nope. Nada. Without even a place to sleep, multiple hints taken. Decide to drive to Perris and sleep there. Left Big Bore at 12am. Same Jeep, same top-down, same fucking brrrrr. San Bernardino, still brrrrrr. Riverside, motherfucking fog ultrauberbrrrrrrrrr. Thank goodness for the Newman tackified gloves in my gearbag. Days Inn. Finally, 1:30am. No Vacancy. Fuck. Drive to Sun City. Brrrrr. Super 8. No Vacancy. Fuck. Drive to Temecula. Cheeks frostbitten, lips bleeding. Can't even fucking say brrrrrrr now. Holiday Inn Fucking Express. No motherfucking vacancy. Further down the road. Best Western, 2:15am. VACANCY. FUCK YEAH. 130 bones. FUCK YOU. 110 bones, then. Got Internet? Yeah, wireless. DEAL. Enter room. Prepare for mind-numbing stress-relieving sudsy jerkfest. Turn on computer. No fucking wireless networks found. Call front desk. Uhhhh. Borrow cable? Yeah. Barefoot jaunt to front desk. Brrrrrrr again, motherfuckers. Get 3 foot cable, sign life away. Return to room. Fucking look for hidden fucking RJ45 jack. Oh, there it is. On the fucking floor. What the fuck am I gonna do with this three foot cable? Sit on the goddamned floor and fucking bitch about it.

Scheisse... forgot that bit.

Keep pouting, Travelin' Jack. You ain't gettin' no play no way.

Is that some kind of secret code that we have to decipher? No deciphering required. It is what it is. EDIT: Fuck, that drive was cold. I'm still not convinced, however, that it's time to put the top up...

If you EVER even REMOTELY consider the question of whether you deserve pie, my friend, then you're in desperate need of retraining. City of Industry beckons.