stutefish

Reply to Sorry. It Just Slipped Out in Personal Relationships JoeUser Forums

Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, I think very mean and unfair thoughts about my wife. But I know that these thoughts are born of my weakness, not my strength. I know that even though these thoughts are emotionally compelling, and fill my head at that moment, they are not the good and true thoughts that are my real idea of my wife. Sometimes, at my weakest or most excitable moments, these mean, petty thoughts slip out. And wh

Reply to Dear Congress, We the American People are tired of you! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Actually, the Founding Fathers designed this government on purpose to be at a standstill as much as possible. Also, "making points with the voters instead of policy" is how real policy really gets made in our system of government. These guys are hungry for power. We, the peoople, give them the power they crave, with the understanding that they will try to keep the inevitable corruption to a minimum, and use that power mostly to mak

Reply to It's a push. in Gaming JoeUser Forums

Badass. If there's one thing I've learned from other people studying poker, is that poker is not a single game.

Reply to Where Not to Get an Education in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Heh. I can see it now: "We, the Supreme Court, hold that the constitution is unconstitutional. Also, numbers are not numerical, emotions are not emotional, and gravity is not gravitational."

Reply to How long 'til I get to sue? Exposure to second-hand smoke in Health & Medicine JoeUser Forums

Research shows that the effects of smoking diminish rapidly upon quitting, and that most people will recover their full lung capacity and health, and their original life expectancy, within a couple years of quitting. Chances are you were fully recovered within a couple months of leaving that company. The same company, by the way, which rightly took steps to protect its capital investment, while at the same time treating its employees

Reply to Privacy of Crime in Politics JoeUser Forums

For me it's never been a question of religious morality, but of simple human rights. I wholeheartedly agree that a human's right to choose, for itself, whatever itdesires, is trumped by nothing else in the world... except for another human's right to live. I honestly don't see what religion has to do with it. We already hold the right to life to be self-evident and inalienable, without needing religion to tell us why this might be so

Reply to It Is OK to have KILLED U. S. Troops in Iraq! in Politics JoeUser Forums

It's a tough political nut to crack. Ultimately, the Iraqis must govern themselves. If establishing peace and security means granting amnesty to some insurgents, I don't begrudge them that. Also, OF COURSE it's "OK" to have killed U.S. troops. Soldiers aren't criminals. Killing enemy soldiers is war, not crime. When a war is over, the soldiers on the losing side lay down their arms and go home, not to prison. And if Gene were serious about this, instead of just desp

Reply to The Iraq War after Saddam Fell was a DISASTER! in Politics JoeUser Forums

I think the real obstacle is political. If the U.S. wanted, it could establish martial law and sweep each city from end to end, and bomb anybody the caught driving a car after curfew or without clearance. But this isn't just a war zone. It's also a nation full of free Iraqis, trying to form their own Iraqi government, establish their own Iraqi law and order, and apply their own Iraqi dreams and values to the country. So the c

Reply to The Bush Tax Cuts Were Unjustified! in Politics JoeUser Forums

In other news: Bush may be on track to halve the deficit three years ahead of the deadline given in his earlier campaign promises. One reason given for this: tax revenues. Link: http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=5&issue=20060612

Reply to Trying to start word-association in Humor JoeUser Forums

fabulous glue

Reply to BUSH FAILS AGAIN! in Politics JoeUser Forums

Also, I do think this particular even is newsworthy. The media narrative for Katrina established a pattern of government incompetence. This event breaks from that pattern. That makes it newsworthy. The media has spent the last six months reporting stories convincing us that the government just doesn't do this sort of thing. Now it turns out that the government does this sort of thing occasionally? Totally news.

Reply to Support the WAR? or Anti-WAR? in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

I'm against war. By the same token, I'm in favor of making wars nasty, brutish, and short.

Reply to BUSH FAILS AGAIN! in Politics JoeUser Forums

I don't think the press should "praise" anybody. But I do think the press should, pretty much by definition, report the progress of reconstruction efforts after a major disaster.

Reply to Bush has Given our Military the WRONG Mission! in Politics JoeUser Forums

Gene, my very first comment on this article directly addressed your point.

Reply to Bush has Given our Military the WRONG Mission! in Politics JoeUser Forums

LW, I find it personally satisfying to engage and refute the arguments, even if I will be forever denied the satisfaction of actually seeing Gene admit that he's wrong. I like the challenge, I like the mental exercise, and I like the experience of marshaling my facts and logic to present a well-constructed counter-argument. The way I see it, Gene's doing me a favor by giving me such interesting problems to practice on.

Reply to Bush has Given our Military the WRONG Mission! in Politics JoeUser Forums

Another problem with this article is that Gene is quick to say that the troop's failures in Iraq are because of poor training and preparaton, but he never acknowledges that the troops on the ground succeed, day in and day out, much more often than they fail. I assume this is because he can't explain it, except by saying that either the troops get good more good training than bad, or that human beings behave better under pressure than some peop

Reply to Bush has Given our Military the WRONG Mission! in Politics JoeUser Forums

It's a fundamental principle of army-building that only a core of combat veterans can effectively learn and teach the lessons necessary to change the institution. The world is changing, and the army has to change with it. Gene, you were a soldier during the Cold War, a period of relative peace, when the military had the luxury of staying in the last war's rut, and considering the next war only in the ease and comfort of the classroom.

Reply to Major General Caldwell grilled about al zarqawi in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Besides, it was a STRIKE TEAM. The whole purpose of an army is to kill people. Doctors and police and engineers are all incidental to the core business of killing people and blowing stuff up. They're not rushing in to rescue anybody who didn't die in the explosion. They're rushing in to make sure nobody survived the explosion. And not in a "because if they did survive, we have to save them" kind of way, either, but rather in a "bec

Reply to Would be Abortion Clinic bomber foiled in Current Events JoeUser Forums

How is it that Canada gets a terrorist cell seventeen members strong, with plans to set off massive bombs and murder the prime minister, and all America can come up with is a single lone wacko trying to explode an abortion clinic? I guess the liberals are right: The terrorists don't hate our freedom after all. Of course, it doesn't look like they hate our imperialist oppression all that much, either... but what could they possibly hate so muc

Reply to Osama Bin Laden: If you were the one to "off" him... in War on Terror JoeUser Forums

Picture this. It is a dark and stormy night. You creep along the ravine. Your way is just barely lit by a hide and seek moon. You come upon a band of "nomads." You realize one of them is the most wanted man in the world, Osama Bin Laden. Would you do it? - Yes. How would you do it? - Weapon of choice: laster pointer for the missile drone's targeting system. Alternate: Radio for calling in artillery or airs

Reply to The Great Bush Economy is Falling Apart in Politics JoeUser Forums

Oh, and is it just me, or does Gene's entire argument boil down to agreeing that it's wrong to overtax the rich, but seeing as how we can't control our spending, can't we continue being wrong about overtaxing the rich just a little longer?

Reply to The Great Bush Economy is Falling Apart in Politics JoeUser Forums

You know, as long as Gene's solution is to spend as much as he likes, and then find some rich people to mug when it's time to pay the bill, can I just say that we should probably be mugging non-Americans? I mean, that's really all Gene is doing: looking around for someone with money, and then taking it from them. Not because it's his money. Not because they don't deserve that money. But simply because he doesn't feel like controlling his spe

Reply to Ann Coulter is an Asshole in Current Events JoeUser Forums

It's my theory that emotions are excellent for telling you that something has to be done, but that emotions suck for telling you what has to be done, and why. So I'm totally unimpressed by arguments based on the idea that it's okay if your thinking is weak, so long as your feelings are strong.

Reply to The Ultimate Cure in Blogging JoeUser Forums

Garlic was considered a holy plant in the middle ages.

Reply to Give Me Your Recipes in Home & Family JoeUser Forums

All my recipes are from my childhood, when I'd stay up all night reading vintage Hardy Boys books (sometimes two or three a night). Scrambled Eggs: (This one I learned from my mom.) Get up at 2 AM. Put some butter in a cast-iron skillet. Heat the skillet. While the skillet is heating, Crack two eggs into a bowl. Add 3 dashes of salt (one for the bowl, one for each egg). Stir vigorously with a fork. Sp