tvashtarkatena

Too many zeros doin' meth? What's with you Brokebackers and meth, anyway? Guess it must be the stress of having to put up with all those Texans.

Agreed. It's hard for the young to step back and be objective regarding how their candidate did, but those of us who've been down this road a few times recognize that debates are political street theatre, and that candidates are not at political liberty to discuss the issues as frankly as they would in a closed room full of people actually trying to solve them. Each candidate appealed to his base, within the confines of his personality. McCain was the attack dog, teaching 'the kid' a lesson. McCain supporters, and you are a poster child for that type AKA (whether or not you actually are a McCain supporter); the 'let's kick some ass' crowd', lap that shit up, no matter what actual substance or lack thereof comes out of the candidate's mouth, and very little came out of McCain's. Unfortunately for America, we've had 8 years of 'let's roll' and we're on our backs now as a result. What may have been good for McCain for that particular debate against that particular very different kind of candidate will not be good for the country in the future; after all, it hasn't been for the past 8 years. More than anything, McCain's statements during the debate proves to me that there is little, if any difference, between Bush's methodology and his own. Obama, on the other hand, is famous for being unflappable, and he remained cool during the debate. His personality reminds me of the absolutely coolest character I ever met; the commander of a nuclear attack submarine. Much of America, the land of Adult Children, doesn't really know how to relate to someone who actually has their shit together, unfortunately. Frankly, I prefer that kind 'Apollo 13' leadership and problem solving than an impulsive, angry, and irresponsible guy like McCain whose only foreign policy seems to be to threaten other countries with power we don't have. Obama refused to attack McCain in kind, so his performance naturally seemed defensive, but to me that's a testament to the kind of together person he is, not a sign of any weakness. Given the guy's history, he's anything but weak. As a final point, it's pretty clear why the world wants Obama and overwhelmingly rejects McCain. The world wants to re-connect and re-establish friendships with America; we need each other now more than ever. Obama's presidency would make that so much easier and productive for our country. McCain's presidency would just further degrade our working relationships, which would cause us the same kind of harm that we've already reaped from 8 years of unilateral aggression.

"replace societies norms with some scientific structure?" Does this mean I'm bent on replacing all emotion with logic, like on Vulcan? Or do I seek to create a Brave New World; society as chemically controlled insect colony? Let me know so I can get started executing my Evil Plan. That is, if you know what you were trying to say. BTW, I was in the African bush the whole time. Sorry to dissappoint. Not that such a detail is relevant to my point, which you characteristically weren't able to grasp, that its probably not a great idea for witchcraft and other superstitions to play a significant role in American politics. Prrreeeettty simple, really. As for Godskid's comment that witches are scary, I would counter that, in my universe, they're far, far less scary than Evangelicals. And their religion has exactly the same validity. It's all the Boogie Man in my book.

Could be.

What on God's name are your trying to say here, man?

McCain's debate strategy was one of condescension. "I've been friends with Henry Kissinger for 35 years and you haven't." His foreign policy solutions seemed to consist of threaten, threaten, threaten...without acknowledging our current weakness. His world view assumes that we can just dictate to Russia, Iran, etc, despite the failure of that strategy over the past 8 years. As fantasy fueled as this view is considering how flat on our back we are today, Americans eat this Rambo shit up. With a few sob stories about returning from a Vietnamese prison camp, etc, thrown in. McCain played to the crowd, and did it well. Obama actually debated the issues of the day, accurately targeting what America has done wrong over the past 8 years, but half of America is incapable above McCain's primal emotional level. I predict McCain's numbers will go up slightly.

That would be surreal. Tammy Faye's dead.

THey still want to bestow these rich incompetents with a fat capital gains tax cut; the most regressive there is. They are, after all, Republicans up for re-election.

The Biggest Gainer Pregnant mother/daughter teams compete for....

Wasilla and Mirny, Russia, wouldn't be sister cities today without Sarah Palin, foos.

Katie Couric, beyotch! The most conscientious journalist the World Has Ever Known. How dare you? Given that the citizens af Blaine and Sumas are randomly chosen by lottery to negotiate US/Canada trade agreements, I think Palin's remarks about Russia have some validity. Why doesn't Palin ever mention Canada; a country with which her state actually shares a lengthy border? Perhaps she's not aware that its there....

I'd hate to see Palin step down. She's Obama's greatest asset. And, she provides endless entertainment, as painful as it is to listen to her. Dan Quayle, an baffoon uncomfortable with his high position, never even came close to this woman, who doesn't even realize how much of a baffoon she is. McCain is extremely unpredictable and impulsive, so replacing Palin as a desparate, last minute attempt to re-invigorate his flagging campaign is a possibility, but probably a remote one. As for Palin herself...that woman's not a quitter. She can't be; she's on a mission from God.

Palin didn't have a passport until last year because, as she explained, she wasn't the type to get one from Daddy and Mummy after graduation so she could spend the summer in Europe. She worked all her life. Funny, I don't remember getting one from Daddy and Mummy, either. As I recall, the Federal Government issued one to me, and I travelled Europe with money I'd earned working my way through college.

Any bail out plan that requires a large goverment loan to the troubled investment banks will rapidly inflate the money supply and lead to hyper inflation. To stay functioning, the financial industry needs three things: 1) capital 2) Investor/consumer confidence 3) A stemming of mortgage foreclosures, which, after all, is the root cause of all this mess. One plan to address all three might include: 1) Federal insurance, purchased by the financial institutions, to bolster confidence in their long term prospects immediately. This is one part of the House GOP plan. 2) The ability to negotiate a reduced mortgage in bankruptcy court. After all, any other kind of debt can be negotiated down in such a court, why not a mortgage? This would hurt banks a bit, but cost no money to the Feds up front, and greatly help to address the stem cause foreclosure problem. Yes, it 'rewards' bad behavior, but everyone's gotta give up something here. 3) Executive compensation limits (although this is more punative than substantive, but it's still necessary and this is THE time to do it, when Wall Street's bargaining power is just about zilch.) These two actions should reduce the liquidity problem. 3) WIth a reduced infusion necessary, the Feds could make up the difference with successive purchases of investment bank equity in, say 50 billion increments, as needed (randomly chosen number, but much lower than the flood of 350 billion or 700 billion, which seems unmanagealbe, too risky, and frankly, knee jerk to me. If the taxpayers are going to pony up here, they should own a piece of the pie to sell off later. So, a plan of insurance, mortgage relief, and equity purchase, and exec compensation limits, IMO, would seem to balance up front risk with the need to stop foreclosure hemmoraging and boost investor/consumer confidence.

It's a rare day in America when citizens vote for any legislation directly. We are a "representative democracy". So have you voted for any representative that has voted for legislation proscribing freedoms and the right to choose? If you have voted for any republican in the last 25 years, the odds are good that you voted to limit my right to have butt sexx, marry a member of the same sex, or have an abortion, while also voting to have your fairytales taught as fact in public schools. This is why you are getting especially harsh treatment on this website right now, right before an election. Climbers tend to be of the libertarian, live-and-let-live type and don't appreciate people telling them what to they can and can't do. The christian right have fucked up our country and are threatening to continue to fuck it up and folks on this website are pissed about that. you're absolutely right. i have yet to see one candidate that stands for my exact beliefs. i also don't care if he/she claims Christianity. i personally don't think someone can possibly hold any high level political office and not ever compromise their morals or beliefs. so i look at the whole person, what they stand for on the issues. i also understand when people are upset because they feel their rights are being infringed upon. i would also be upset if someone tried to limit my right to worship as i choose. i do not understand the assumptions, the vulgarity, and the hatred though. but i guess some people just express their anger in different ways. i also don't like when someone assumes to know what i think and believe, or that because i choose to believe something different from them that it makes me and ignorant moron. isnt this the same thing that upsets you all about what some of the christians think about you? it goes both ways, i just ask that you all don't make it personal and one sided. So cry us a river, already. You're not getting a drubbing because you believe in God. You're getting an appropriate bitch slapping because you've made statements concerning certain subject, such as evolution, that reveal your fundamental ignorance on the subject. You're being criticized for your postings, not any assumptions about your beliefs. And don't confuse hatred (what kind of drama queen are you, anyway?) with recreational dismissal. Now go pray or something and STFU about science. Stick with what you know.

I can just barely make out the top of your head from 35,000 feet. That's 2 so far...

the DOI isn't law. The Constitution is.

My believes are already law; it's called the Constitution of the United States, and it includes a basic principled that separates Church and State. Give it a read, sometime. And regarding the anonymity of Spray, I've got some secret news for you; many of us actually know each other, some in a Biblical cowboy homo kind of way, on this BB. We even (gasp) CLIMB together sometimes. Your standard Christian playbook argument of labeling more choice as being 'intolerant' of your believes is utter bullshit, rhetorically and in practice. You're free to do or not do whatever you want. Don't want to marry a gay or have an abortion? Then don't. Wanna pray? Go ahead. Want your kids to have a religious education? Home school 'em or send them to the religious school of your choice. Your legislative agenda, however, seeks to force your views on the rest of us, so that if we want to have an abortion or enter into a gay marriage, we can't. It also seeks to inject your religious teachings into public education; a blatant violation of the Constitution that, so far, has been shot down time after time in court. QUIT TRYING, for fuck's sake. Make no mistake, the Evangelical legislative agenda is theocratic totalitarianism, and it's un-American. It's proponents are the enemies of tolerance and American freedom.

On a similar note, Stewart broke his altime rating records this week for his coverage of same...also somewhat less than complimentary towards the good senator from AZ and his mascot. The major networks have been reporting that McCain's just been sitting around saying nothing, not asking questions, while Obama's fully engaged in the inquiries/discussion regarding the crisis...AND he still has time to follow through on the national debate he committed to...TO THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. It's also being widely reported that McCain is actually siding with the GOP holdouts and obstructing progress in the bail out. Fuck McCain and his self aggrandizing little games. Fuckin' primadonna.

A radio station of my own creation on Pandora.com. Check it.

You see what you want to see, here, Bug. What you're seeing is ignorance bashing, not Christian bashing. As the Buhddists say, ignorance is the root of all evil, and we should all be intolerant of it. And as for my ignorance, I assure you, I'm as well versed in Christian philosophy as you are. But you're still a Christian so you've got to play for your team. We understand that, but don't even remotely pretend like you're in a position to pontificate above the fray.

Not faith, just a little education and the ability for you to turn your religious filters off long enough to at least absorb some basic information so that you can (try) to refute it intelligently. Try getting off your intellectually lazy ass, put your fucking Bible down for a few minutes, and read something that's been written on the subject in the past, oh, say, 75 to a 100 years. And if you know nothing about a certain subject, which is certainly the case regarding evolution and cosmology judging by your postings, please just STFU. It's impossible to debate topics like cosmology or evolution with someone as ignorant as you are because you don't even have enough of the basic prerequisites, or even the basic terminology, under your belt to discuss it at even the most rudimentary level. We've been here on this BB before with other ignorant Christians such as yourself, so don't fantasize that you're coming up with any arguments we haven't heard before multiple times. Your ignorance and unwillingness to absorb very basic information is just not our problem.

I've dismissed what you have to say on evolution not because you're Christian, but because you're an ignorant moron who clearly doesn't know what he's talking about but keeps on talking about it anyway.

Pretty much.

Oh, for fucks sake, another one of these ignoramuses whose science background covers everything up to about 1750. Fuck off and die, already. And for Christ's sake, take the time to read something current on the subject before you make an ass out of yourself about what has and has not been supported repeatably (scientific theories are not proven, they are supported by experiment, numbnuts).