Come now, schwarzmeecrob ! Stereotyping me as a Deep South bigot? Such intolerance does not become you. Also, you're being very narrow-minded. Yes, we owe the French a debt of gratitude for their support during the Revolutionary War. Lucky for us they hated England even more than we did. But that doesn't change the fact that the premier Frenchy metropolis of the New World seems to have been a really bad idea. If the Frenc
More evidence that the the French suck: New Orleans. Now, I'm not saying it's a bad idea to build a city below the water line of the nearest large bodies of water. I mean, the Dutch managed to put an entire country below the water line, once, and they've been doing just fine ever since. But note the key difference between Holland and New Orleans.<BR
Chak , it's also Constitutional to be a quadruple amputee, but that doesn't make it a good idea to go out and chop your limbs off. Everything Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera did for the MTV film crews was Constitutional, but that didn't make them any less jackasses for doing it. Pointing out that the Constitution allows idiots to mouth off doesn't change the fact that they're idiots, and doesn't justify their idiocy. Cindy Sheehan is free to say whatever she lik
Well, to be fair, big brother was always watching you: there was never any telling when a state trooper would roll up behind you and clock your speed, run your plates, etc. Nowadays, a lot of that kind of police work can be done better, and cheaper, with a black box, a computer network, and a couple clerks. But it's still just the same old business of society policing itself.
My watch is analog, with a spring-winding/time-setting knob. As has been the tradition for over a hundred years, the knob is on the right side of the dial, making it convenient to the right hand when the watch is worn on the left wrist. With these newfangled modern digital watches with seventeen buttons on each side of the watch face, it probably doesn't matter much which wrist you wear it on. With the older models, the only rule I e
My favorite commercials are the Conspiracy commercials. Conspiracy commercials are moments in a TV show or movie that are part of the actual program, not the commercial break, but which feel like a commercial in one or more ways. For example, that scene in Will & Grace, Season 4, where Karen buys a motorcycle for Woody Harrelson's character. The make and model of the motorcycle--it was a Ducati something-or-other--was announced loudly several times during that scene.
I tried blogging in a few different places, including JU. JU took a lot of getting used to, at first, but I can't imagine blogging anywhere else, now. I've been here a few months.
Thanks for adding that piece to the puzzle, dharma . I'll adjust my knee-jerk reactions accordingly Clearly, not all the re-enlisters are doing it just for the good deeds.
So it looks like soldiers are reenlisting in greater numbers than ever, but less civilians are choosing to enter the military for the first time. I think this is pretty interesting. What it tells me is that the people who have the best, personal, first-hand inf
Thank you Dr. Guy, for debating ideas instead of indulging in pointless and childish ridicule. You have found an excellent way to convince the opposition faction that you're a serious and thoughtful person with whom it is worth discussing the important (and not-so-important) issues of the day. And your wise and well-considered actions have already influenced Manopeace to become a better person! Congratulations!
From the classic Bon Jovi touring song, Wanted Dead or Alive : "I've seen a million faces, and I've rocked them all." It's a reference to the rockstar experience of being up onstage in front of a huge crowd, rocking hard. If the question is confusing, try it without the "faces": Do they rock ? The answer to that question is all you need to know. Whether or not they can play an instrument i
What is this "musician" crap? First of all, the voice is an instrument for sure. It requires tuning and practice. It requires focus and control. It requires a deep understanding of its limits and how to push them. But that's totally irrelevant, because we're talking about rock musicians . And when it comes to rock musicians , there's only one question we need to ask: Do they rock faces?
Pat Robertson is a dolt.
I think the cows, chickens, and pigs were caught by surprise on account of them being cows, chickens, and pigs. Which is not to say humans can't be caught by surprise. But it is to say that humans generally take a much more active and thoughtful role in the ordering of their societies and the realization of their vision for the future. It's doubtful that cows, chickens, and pigs even have a vision for the future. I don't doubt that
I've been to Sex Ed-like classes three times: once in grade school (6th grade), once in high school, and once in 7th grade at a private school in Brazil. Boys and girls were segregated, but us boys did get taught stuff about sex. In the high school version, we also got taught about STDs and such. So yes, I have been to sex ed classes (the Brazilian one followed the same basic model as the American ones). Why do you ask?
That's funny. Last time I checked, Sex Ed was offered in public schools, and parents had the option of taking their kids out of that class. The Sex Ed scenario msladydeath describes is exactly the scenario in effect in public schools today. I think the real problem is that while we have the basics of nutrition and exercise pretty well figured out and agreed-upon, there's a lot of stuff in the Sex Ed curriculum today th
Bahu , what about the mother whose son sacrificed himself for a noble cause in the deserts of Iraq, and who supports the war and the President who ordered it? What about her power? When are you and the media going to broadcast her story, and praise her integrity and commitment? If, as you imply, mothers of dead soldiers are the ne plus ultra</
Oh, absolutely. Myrr . That's why I called it a "silver lining", and not a "successful law enforcement operation". For the rest of us who aren't dead, though, the surveillance cameras have exposed a cover-up by a government agency, which, you know, is a nice thing to have happen. Without the surveillance cameras, we would never have known what really happend on that tragic day. Say what you like; it's still a silver lining--especially
Wow. What an amazingly shitty thing to happen. Nice catch, Ico . One silver lining is that apparently, in an open society, surveillance cameras work for the citizenry as well as the government.
I also think my concerns are valid, but it now seems like it's waaay to early to be sure of the whistleblower's credentials and reliability. As my favorite conservatives have been saying for days now, there's something worth looking into here, but let's wait and see what the real story is, before making accusations.
The crosses did not honor the fallen dead. They co-opted the dead to support a different sort of agenda entirely. The crosses were a travesty, not a memorial. There are plenty of ways for me to respect our fallen soldiers and memorialize their heroic sacrifices for me and mine. Taking these roadside crosses seriously isn't one of them. Show me that Cindy Sheehan is taking her son's choices and commitments seriously, and I'll reconsider
Thanks, bee . I try to maintain a certain minimum level of humility. Glad to see it's making a favorable impression. Seriously, thank you for the positive recognition. I discovered recently that it's a widely-held principle of psychology that if you praise an 80% success, you increase the chances of the praise recipient turning in a 90% success the next time they try. But if you criticize a 20% failure (the flip side of t
So it looks like I was wrong about the whole Able Danger thing (my article ). The issue is a lot more complex and inconclusive than I thought, and the implications aren't really clear yet. I apologize for mouthing off when I should've kept the ol' pie hole shut. That is all. Carry on.<!-- Ju-Anc
These crosses represent nothing of the kind. They represent the protestors' frustration with the war, the deaths it's caused, and the President who ordered it. My outrage is reserved for those who would turn our soldier's sacrifice into a cheap publicity stunt, played for blind emotionalism instead of rational debate. Both those who put the crosses up and those who ran them down are behaving badly. But hey, if they w
So can anybody give me a justification currently being used, that was not clearly enunciated by the President in one or more public speeches prior to the invasion? Liberation of the Iraqis? Check. Weapons of Mass Destruction? Check. Harm to terrorists and terror-sponsoring states? Check. Paving the way for a liberal democracy in the Middle East? Check. The purpose of the invasion of Iraq was never to make terrorism go away. It was to make Iraq
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