JGowans

Fear not my Traskian friend for Mr. Bush and his cadre of elite war hungry politicos will quickly realize that the economy is still fucked and will therefore try to further avert our attention from it by invading, umm liberating, another hapless nation. Do you hear me Syria, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, China, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, etc., etc.?

I'm done complaining. It's a losing battle. When your phones are tapped, your email is checked, you have to pledge allegiance every day at work, there's statues of Bush in every town center, you're beat up by the police for the slightest infraction, half the world is sending suicide bombers over here, the U.S. is involved in numerous wars on numerous continents with the military fully deployed and a national draft underway for all men under 65, and you are not allowed to complain about shit...I'll be the first to laugh and say I told you so from my solitary confinement torture chamber deep below the municipal courthouse in downtown Seattle.

I saw U2 during their Achtung Baby tour in '94 in Glasgow, Scotland. 60,000 fans inside a soccer stadium. Bono called the British Prime Minister (John Major) at the time. Pretty funny.

I was thinking about this...Iraqis kissing Bush portraits. They've been repressed and manipulated for the last 30 years. Do you think now they feel free? Rather they probably fear Bush as much as they did Saddam. They probably think it's nothing more than a coup d'etat where they change allegiance fro one dictator to another. Three cheers for liberation!

I understand where you war supporters are coming from. I don't think anyone would ever argue that the average Iraqi was a repressed individual living under the threat of violence from a violent dictator. Under those circumstances, I think most folks would be inclined to celebrate now that the wicked bastard is apparently gone. My point of contention though as it has always been, is that I really don't believe the U.S. & Britain had a right to break numerous international laws under the pretense of wiping out WMD (which have yet to be discovered) and declaring a link between Saddam and Al Queda (which has yet to be proven). Now we're talking about liberation but that was never the initial context of justification for the war. We've been totally conned into believing that we're part of some noble cause celebre but the path to how we got there was anything but noble. Rather, in my mind at least, it was illegal and illegitimate. Sometimes I feel that it's just not worth arguing about anymore because it would appear that almost everyone believes the popular media without question and to be a dissenting voice is an act of futility.

Go to my buddy's site. His name is Bryce. It may be worth giving him a call too. He has some good stuff. http://www.evogear.com

Why? How would you propose throwing something at someone if you had your back to them and couldn't see them?

I hope so too dude.

No, the police have a zero tolerance policy against throwing things at the police. The Longshoremen did not throw anything at the police. I'd also hazard a guess that the dude who was shot 3 times in the back was probably not in the act of throwing objects at them either. He most likely was trying to protect himself from being shot in the face like that crazy looking chick who could probably take on the entire Oakland PD.

As I noted before, I don't condone violence. So, no, 2 wrongs do not make a right. I just simply stated that it's hard to know what to do when your government is changing the rules and flaunting laws to suit themselves. Where once there were clearly defined boundaries of acceptable behavior of which free speech was one, it would now appear that the government is enforcing a policy of zero tolerance to protestations. Where's the outlet for being heard and having one's opinion respected? It wasn't enough that millions of people around the world protested before the war began and Bush derided those efforts as not worthy of taking seriously. Now, they are being taken seriously but in a different way...they're being stamped out before they can really begin. In this particular incident, even the longshoremen were shot. Maybe Bush was getting revenge on them for striking eh?

You do have a point Trask with respect to Civil Disobedience. I can't condone criminal behavior. However, with our own government flaunting the laws of the U.N. in pursuit of their own agenda as well as changing the laws domestically to suit themselves and limit our freedom, it's little wonder that people feel driven to commit criminal acts when all they're doing is following the lead set by G.W. and the like.

I would suggest that this dude was probably trying to run away and got shot anyway. That violence would appear to be at the hands of the cops. Not only was he shot three times with these weapons, but he was shot in the back three times. This means, in short, that he was running away from the police. This means he was no threat whatsoever to armored cops. He was heading away from them when they fired those slugs into his retreating back. "Police moved aggressively against crowds because some people threw rocks and big iron bolts at officers," said Deputy Police Chief Patrick Haw. It is difficult to 'move aggressively' when your back is turned. Along with the protesters, a number of longshoremen working the docks were hit by errant shots coming from the Oakland Police. "I was standing as far back as I could," said longshoremen Kevin Wilson in the story below. "It was very scary. All of that force wasn't necessary." Trent Willis, a business agent for the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said, "They shot my guys. The cops had no reason to open up on them." Note the actual ammo used and the instructions on the ammo. I wonder if the cops actually bother to read things like instructions? Probably not..."Holy shit! Those fuckers are walking in unison. I've heard about these kinds of people. They're called marchers or something. Quick, shoot to kill! Aim for the head and neck of that skinny chick that weighs probably less than the dougnuts I ate this morning. She's a fesity bitch. Shoot her!!! Quick, get that fucker running away. He may come back with WMD. We can't have that!!! Liberate his fat ass."

Thanks. Is there any particular that you swear by. Also, is it really a big difference in dry v. non-dry?

eh?

I've slept in it at Paradise quite a few times. It's a '99 Disco with 72K on the clock. Good rig. Why are you selling the Subbie?

Whatever happened to San Juan Salsa's Afterburner flavor? I can only find Medium, Hot or Traditional. Can't get Afterburner anywhere...corn tortilla chips are the preferred transporters of said salsa.

I'll trade you. My Discovery for your Subaru.

Is there such a thing? I'd like a rope that I can use for anything...rock, alpine, and glacier. Is there such a thing? I'd like to get a good 60m dry rope but that seems like too much weight for 2 or 3 folks on glacier travel. So, what do you recommend for my first rope, and do you know of any good deals? Bear in mind that most use for now will be sport routes and glacier travel. Thanks in advance for the advice.

Do you think it's make-up? Yeah, you're probably right. They've doctored the picture in some way. Hmmm, they make it look pretty realistic. Somebody there's got some good Photoshop skills.

if you dare to protest the war. http://www.truthout.org/index.htm

I guess I'm beating a dead horse or whatever other metaphor you wish to employ, but the latest from MSNBC says that test indicate that the barrels do in fact contain only pesticide. Additionally, it would seem that reports of the rockets containing weapons grade warheads cannot be confirmed. “I’VE SEEN NOTHING in official reports that would corroborate that,” Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal told reporters at the Pentagon. He was referring to news reports Monday that Marines had found rockets, possibly packed with sarin and a mustard agent, at a warehouse outside Baghdad. So, right now, I'll sit here like a smug little git and laugh defiantly at all you right-wing war mongerers who can't see past the end of a rifle scope. I imagine soon though that you'll have your chance to sit there and say "I told you so" but until then....adios. http://www.msnbc.com/news/895392.asp?0cv=CB10

Umm, I'm not sure that name-calling can be categorized as being violent nor do I recognize the correlation between me calling you numb-nuts and violent anti-war demonstrations. So, I suppose I don't have a comment for that one. I would agree that violent anti-war demonstrations are idiotic though. Does this mean that we're going to invade, whoops, I mean liberate Russia next? Btw, no proof exists (that I know of at least) that Iraq sold weapons to terrorists or sponsored terrorism. There were a couple of forged documents but that's the extent of it as far as I know. Am I missing something? This is a tough one. I really do feel terrible for those poor people, but who are we to judge the rest of the world and assert our morals and ideals? As for Israel, I'm not going say too much other than they continue to instigate and escalate much of the region's woes. Again, no proof exists that Iraq sponsors terrorism. Just to clarify your stance, are you saying that only the U.S. should be allowed to produce WMD and that any other country that produces WMD should be invaded, er, liberated? Any credbility that the U.N. may have had was completely eradicated the day the U.S. & Britain set foot in Iraq. That organization has been rendered irrelevant by these 2 countries ignoring the opinion and will of the democratized world and doing whatever the fuck they want. Secondary motives might possibly be A rich nation is a dangerous nation. Is that the thought process here? A poor country can be more readily manipulated by having carrots dangled in front of it? We don't need to occupy anything to cotrol it right? That's the name of the game...control and contain. Maintain the veneer that these countries control their own destiny to pacify the masses but behind the scenes manipulate them as you see fit.

On the other hand, if the U.S. controls the oil wells, it's therefore part of OPEC and thus the laws of supply and demand don't apply. When you are a cartel, you control the supply and pricing. Supply and demand only works in an open market. Got any other "justification"?

Does that mean it's also justified to topple the governments of China, N. Korea, Cuba, and all Arab nations in the name of liberation from oppression? Where does this end? Is the lesson to be learned "If we don't agree with you, consider yourself fucked and prepare for liberation muthafucka."?

Are we talking about the same thing here? 'Cos this is what I'm talking about... http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030407/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_war_wmd_030407175243