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Monday Non-Politics Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 09:34:10 AM EST
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I'll be in court most of the day and off-line. For those looking for a place to share news and thoughts about matters other than the presidential race and politics, here's a thread for you.

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    Monday Non-Politics Open Thread | 39 comments (39 topical)

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    Go Giants! (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 11:44:17 AM EST


    And you were worried when they were.... (none / 0) (#4)
    by kdog on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 11:57:00 AM EST
    0-2.  Congrats bro...the defense really came together, they were awesome yesterday.

    [ Parent ]
    Yeah man. (none / 0) (#6)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 12:37:38 PM EST
    One game away from the big show.

    [ Parent ]
    Only the frozen tundra.... (none / 0) (#8)
    by kdog on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 12:45:29 PM EST
    and the ghost of Vince Lombardi stand in your way.

    And some guy named Favre:)

    Football at Lambeau in January...it gets no better.

    [ Parent ]

    Congrats (none / 0) (#11)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 05:36:52 PM EST
    I always loved to play when it was muddy and cold. The game wasn't meant for artificial turf.

    [ Parent ]
    Dear Talkleft hunky cool men (5.00 / 1) (#16)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 07:46:56 PM EST
    My husband is due home soon and I would really like to get him some new stylish civilian clothes.  I have the jeans down, need some T-shirts of some kind.  He has some older Microbrew T-shirts that he likes.  Any suggestions and links to where you find your favorite T's please.

    If am not mistaken (none / 0) (#1)
    by Saul on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 09:43:13 AM EST
     
    correct me if I am wrong, but when congress voted for the war wasn't that a midterm election year for congress?  Since Bush and his neocons took advantage  of 9-11 to implement their old plan to invade Iraq, using the highly public lynch mob mentality that permeated the air at the time,and did not that make all those who were running for congress almost impossible for them to vote against the invasion of Iraq for fear of not being elected and looking unpatriotic even if they had strong convictions not to vote for it? Would the vote have been different if it were not an election year?  

    2003 wasn't the midterm (1.00 / 0) (#15)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 05:51:29 PM EST
    W)e need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime. We all know the litany of his offenses. He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation. ...And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction. That is why the world, through the United Nations Security Council, has spoken with one voice, demanding that Iraq disclose its weapons programs and disarm. So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real, but it is not new. It has been with us since the end of the Persian Gulf War." -- John Kerry, Jan 23, 2003

    "I am absolutely convinced that there are weapons...I saw evidence back in 1998 when we would see the inspectors being barred from gaining entry into a warehouse for three hours with trucks rolling up and then moving those trucks out." -- Clinton's Secretary of Defense William Cohen in April of 2003


    [ Parent ]
    Yes - Cohen was an idiot too, ppj (none / 0) (#17)
    by Edger on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 04:37:53 AM EST
    Just like Bush and his supporters, Cohen wasn't bright enough to not be sucked in by the neocon propaganda machine. How could people fall for that transparent crap, anyway?

    [ Parent ]
    If edgey says something in a forest (1.00 / 0) (#18)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 07:15:53 AM EST
    is there any sound?

    [ Parent ]
    So you don't think it makes any sense (5.00 / 0) (#22)
    by Edger on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 09:05:06 AM EST
    to agree with you, ppj....

    I agree.

    [ Parent ]

    I don't think it makes any (1.00 / 0) (#30)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 03:31:01 PM EST
    sense to agree with you. Period.

    Tell us again how we should turn the terrorists into common criminals..

    Tell us again how terrorists blowing up their fellow citizens is anything but terrorism.

    Tell us, edgey. I always enjoy a good fantasy.

    [ Parent ]

    Easy. (1.00 / 0) (#31)
    by Edger on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 06:50:28 PM EST
    Arrest Bush and Cheney. In fact arrest all of their idiotic supporters too. Even you could figure that one out, ppj.

    [ Parent ]
    hehe (5.00 / 1) (#35)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 06:34:46 PM EST
    I understand that you want to arrest everyone who disagrees with you. After all, you did write:

    Posted by edger at September 3, 2005 01:04 PM
    ."..might consider, though, that the real villian is a MSM and the Far Left..."
    This may get me kicked off this site, and I'll probably regret saying this later, but here goes...
    Jim... you know how to use a gun? Bullets are cheap, and plentiful, you can get lots of 'em almost anywhere if you are out of 'em...
    You only need one, though...



    [ Parent ]
    Serve your country, ppj. (5.00 / 0) (#37)
    by Edger on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 08:10:26 PM EST
    Volunteer.

    [ Parent ]
    If PPJoke (none / 0) (#19)
    by Dark Avenger on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 08:07:33 AM EST
    has BAKS in the forest, does anyone care?

    [ Parent ]
    If DA supports the troops (1.00 / 0) (#20)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 08:27:46 AM EST
    why does he say this??

    The fact that you don't want to touch (none / 0) (#24)
    by Dark Avenger on Wed Sep 12, 2007 at 12:59:30 AM EST

    ...People will think either I'm crazy or used to be in Naval Aviation, and I don't know which one is worse.



    [ Parent ]
    I'm still waiting for (none / 0) (#21)
    by Dark Avenger on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 08:52:05 AM EST
    my white towell PPJ:

    The facts remain that the interview (1.00 / 1) (#23)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Sep 11, 2007 at 10:49:48 PM EST  Why don't you tie a white towell to a fishing pole and wave it?

    I've already stated my position, why do you feel the need to distort ?it?:

    Now tell us how you support the troops.

    Not by wanting them to stay in the meatgrinder that Iraq has become for our military, which position is shared by you, OBL, and your Fearless Leader.

    Sorry to splash a bucket of cold water on your accusation, PPJ, but you always did have problems here when dealing with reality................

    [ Parent ]

    DA (1.00 / 1) (#28)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 03:23:13 PM EST
    Have you noticed that we are winning??

    Guess it's hard to do with that white towel over your eyes.

    But beyond that, the fact is that you were just insulting the troops. Your snark has nothing to do with withdrawing them, or protecting them.

    People will think either I'm crazy or used to be in Naval Aviation, and I don't know which one is worse.

    Just an insult. That's all you can say of it.

    That it might hurt their morale doesn't seem to have entered your mind.

    No surprise there.

    [ Parent ]

    Funny, you've been asked here (none / 0) (#33)
    by Dark Avenger on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 03:33:03 AM EST
    a number of times to define what 'winning' looks like in Iraq without any kind of response forthcoming from you because, I dunno, no one asked "Pretty please" before doing so or they just happened to catch you on a bad day when they made their request.

    Guess it's hard to do with that white towel over your eyes.

    Guessing is all you have left lately, perhaps.

    Oh, BTW, you've mixed up waving the white flag with throwing in the towel, but finding you mixed up isn't exactly a new experience for most of us here..............

    But beyond that, the fact is that you were just insulting the troops.

    Interesting on how you insist that Naval Aviation ="The troops" when I turned an insult you made towards me against you, I guess the saying about big boys and lacrimal activity isn't really true............

    But beyond that, the fact is that you were just insulting the troops. Your snark has nothing to do with withdrawing them, or protecting them.

    Repetition only weakens your position, PPJ. I hope that doesn't lessen your snark.

    Just an insult. That's all you can say of it.

    Why don't you tie a white towell to a fishing pole and wave it?

    But implying cowardice isn't even an insult, from your POV.

    That it might hurt their morale doesn't seem to have entered your mind.

    Nor the possibility that they might be attacked by  Klingon cruisers armed with disruptors and photon torpedos in the near future.

    Also, call me crazy, but I doubt that dealing with serving in Iraq leaves much room for worrying about what us folks here pontificate about on the Internet.

    That someone would agonize over what I wrote but not have their morale affected by the possibility of getting injured or killed by an IED, shot by an insurgent, dealing with the heat and an unfamiliar culture, etc., doesn't seem sensible, but YMJMV.

    I understand, PPJ, it's not your ego that's been offended, you're just doing your bit for the troops.

    Strange, though, that I'm reminded of the old vaudeville trick of unfurling the flag and have the band strike up the Star-Spangled Banner to rouse the audience and get some applause...............

    TTFN

    [ Parent ]

    You wrote what you wrote (1.00 / 0) (#34)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 06:31:29 PM EST
    That someone would agonize over what I wrote but not have their morale affected by the possibility of getting injured or killed by an IED, shot by an insurgent, dealing with the heat and an unfamiliar culture, etc., doesn't seem sensible, but YMJMV.

    Anyone engaged in dangerous work has concern for their safety. But that isn't the issue. People work through these things for a variety of reasons and a variety of ways. One of them is having high morale. Morale affects many things, including confidence and the ability to do a job without being distracted. Distraction is something that people doing a dangerous job is something they don't need. It leads to mistakes. Mistakes leads to injuries and death.

    You said what you said, DA. It was your psyche leaking out through your fingers. I will help you keep it on display.

    hehe

    [ Parent ]

    As did you (none / 0) (#38)
    by Dark Avenger on Thu Jan 17, 2008 at 12:37:11 AM EST
    Your lecture about morale is all well and good in the abstract, extrapolating that my insult responding to your snarky accusations of cowardice would cause someone in Iraq to lose morale to the point where the consequence could be serious or fatal demonstrates your own twisted psyche for all who have eyes to see.

    You said what you said, DA

    Yes, you can't stand being snarked at and your attempt at thought reform tells us much about you:

    3. Demand for Purity. The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection. The induction of guilt and/or shame is a powerful control device used here.

    I am flattered that you think I could be a distraction with my comment.

    If you think things through, you would realized that whatever morale-lowering affect you've found in the comment, by calling attention to it repeatedly you've served to amplify the discouraging effect(if any) of said comment, and therefore should be placed somewhere so that you cannot continue this pattern of helping the enemy by faking a patriotic concern over what I wrote a while back.

    It was your psyche leaking out through your fingers. I will help you keep it on display.

    Something was leaking through here and it wasn't  pretty:

    DA - You got a concession on one point. Be happy. The sun don't shine on the same dog's butt every day.

    Tee-hee-hee.

    [ Parent ]

    2002 (none / 0) (#25)
    by Saul on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 12:09:31 PM EST
    The resolution to go to war was voted on in Oct of 2002 which  was a midterm election.  Your quotes are after they voted for the war. The pressure  for the whole house of rep was there to vote for the resolution even though probably many did not want to for fear of not being elected.   In the senate there were 34 incumbents running and Kerry was one of them.  Looks like all that were running voted for the resolution for fear of not being elected even though several probably did not want to vote for the war. Had it not been a midterm election year how would they have actually voted on the resolution.  

    [ Parent ]
    Fusion Power in less than a decade? (none / 0) (#2)
    by MSimon on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 11:06:33 AM EST
    There are some energy things on the horizon that could change everything.

    Easy Low Cost No Radiation Fusion

    WB-7 First Plasma

    MSimon (none / 0) (#14)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 05:43:34 PM EST
    I share your hope, but if it was easy to get that last "inch" it would have been done years ago.

    [ Parent ]
    Scientific advancement (5.00 / 1) (#27)
    by jondee on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 01:49:16 PM EST
    is incremental over time, i.e., what wasnt "easy" THEN, may be NOW.

    Of course, a concept like that would never occur to someone who thinks the advancement of knowledge stopped working whaen Tailgunner Joe's liver did.

    [ Parent ]

    hehe (1.00 / 1) (#29)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 03:25:52 PM EST
    What an ignorant response made to a very benign comment.

    I suggest you get a life if that is an example of what you do for social activities...

    [ Parent ]

    Scary Stuff (none / 0) (#5)
    by andreww on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 12:19:28 PM EST
    Between the Real ID in the US, and now this story coming out of the UK, I'm left to wonder, how free are we, if at all?

    Philip K. Dick territory... (none / 0) (#7)
    by desertswine on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 12:38:19 PM EST


    [ Parent ]
    Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?? (none / 0) (#13)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 05:40:46 PM EST
    Best sci-fi movie ever... "Bladerunner..."

    [ Parent ]
    Less and less free everyday.... (none / 0) (#9)
    by kdog on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 12:46:38 PM EST
    at least that's how it feels.

    It could be worse, at least the RFID chips are easily disabled.

    [ Parent ]

    Doug Bruce (none / 0) (#10)
    by MileHi Hawkeye on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 03:38:10 PM EST
    Jerilyn--

    I would really like to hear your take on the whole Doug Bruce saga.  

    To me, it is bad enough that he wants to be sworn-in while the House in session, but then he goes and assaults a RMN photographer in chambers this morning.

    I question if he can even be sworn-in if he hasn't resigned his El Paso county commissioner seat as that would be a violation of Colorado revised statutes.  One can't hold two elected offices at the same time.

    I hope he gets charged with assault.  And, to be made into the poster boy for the Colorado GOP.

    Is Doug still causing problems (none / 0) (#12)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Jan 14, 2008 at 05:39:27 PM EST
    for the political class??

    If he hurt the RMN reporter sorry, but good-o if he he's back. Lots of fun and games ahead.

    [ Parent ]

    Bush Cheney Industries, Inc. (none / 0) (#23)
    by Edger on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 09:20:12 AM EST
    Treason for sale
    Larisa at-Largely, January 14, 2008
    We know that there are a number of Saudi royals sympathetic to the Jihadi cause. We also know that many in the Saudi royal family fund terrorism in general and al Qaeda in particular. We know that the majority of foreign fighters in Iraq are Saudi nationals - killing our troops. We know too that the majority of 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Yet, the US has continued to supply the Saudis with weapons, despite their role as being the world sponsor of terrorism. The latest is as follows:
    "RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush, trying to counter Iran's growing military clout, made clear his commitment on Monday to go ahead with a major arms sale to Saudi Arabia as he began his first visit to the Islamic kingdom.

        Just hours after his arrival in Riyadh, the U.S. administration said it notified Congress of its intention to offer the Saudis a controversial package of advanced weaponry as part of a multibillion-dollar deal with Gulf Arab allies."

    Sorry? If I recall we were fighting a war on terror and yet we are providing advanced weapons to the terrorists? How the hell is this not treason? Seriously, I want a Constitutional scholar to tell me how this is not treason. The Saudi regime may be Bush's ally in the mythical war on terra, but they are no ally of the US, and they are certainly no ally of Israel or or India, or to any other democracy in the world.

    Oh did I mention what types of weapons we will be handing to the Saudis? Our deal includes - sit down now - Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bomb kits.

    Let's hear a big round of applause for George W. Bush and his idiot supporters....
    Will our president be attending... (5.00 / 1) (#26)
    by kdog on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 01:18:26 PM EST
    the stoning of any rape victims in between the lavish meals and arms deals while visiting his good buddy the king?

    I hope he finds the time.

    [ Parent ]

    His supporters don't seem to mind him raping them (none / 0) (#32)
    by Edger on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 06:56:19 PM EST
    for the past seven years, in fact they seem to like it. But he might lose the few he has left if he starts having them stoned too. Even ppj would probably get upset at Bush having him stoned on top of being raped by him all this time, no?

    [ Parent ]
    Edger has his standards (1.00 / 1) (#36)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Jan 16, 2008 at 06:40:59 PM EST
    The facts remain (5.00 / 1) (#145)
    by Edger on Thu Sep 13, 2007 at 12:23:42 AM EST
    which you conveniently ignore, that 1) before the invasion Iraq was one of the most advanced societies  on earth,

    Guess rape rooms, gassing villages... they don't count.

    [ Parent ]

    Rape rooms, gassing villages? (5.00 / 1) (#39)
    by Edger on Fri Jan 18, 2008 at 08:02:50 AM EST
    And your preferred solution was to kill the victims. To kill a million Iraqis. Why, ppj?  No one would let you stone them?

    [ Parent ]
    Fans of ... (none / 0) (#24)
    by desertswine on Tue Jan 15, 2008 at 09:56:14 AM EST
    "Plan 9 From Outer Space" will mourn the passing of Maila Nurmi.

    Monday Non-Politics Open Thread | 39 comments (39 topical)

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