tvashtarkatena

I'm more of a brain eater, actually.

Neither. I was sent here. High density housing is more ecologically sound, affordable, and necessary for a sustainable future. Paving farmland and forest for subdivisions is not. The burbs are the least sustainable lifestyle we've invented; their days are numbered, at least in their present incarnation. If I owned in the burbs, I'd be a bit concerned about my investment right about now. The problem with multi unit structures isn't the density; it's the ugliness and cheapness of some of these buildings. Pro-development oriented city governance holds some of the blame, as does easy credit. The solution is not to create more burbs, but to create quality high density without destroying the character of neighborhoods. Portland has many examples of this type of development. Seattle less so. I don't think some of the new condo buildings on Phinney are that beautiful, and they certainly could be more so, but after living here for 17 years, I can inequivocally say that the neighborhood has vastly improved because of higher density. I have not been able to find a single neighbor who doesn't agree with me in the aggregate. Higher density has brought in a younger crowd, better stores, better eats, drinks, entertainment, a farmer's market...the list goes on and on. Sure, I loved the used appliance stores that were never open and the auto body shops I never needed that predated all this new stuff, but you gotta sacrifice somewhere. Gardening and landscaping has vastly improved as well. Hundreds of trees have been planted. The crows have learned to subsist on cigarette butts and litter, so their is none. Dogs are smarter now, and they are poopless and barkless. A free beer wagon plies the main street every evening at 7:00, pulled by naked, dancing nymphs.

Why settle for local headlines when you can go international? Chew his balls off.

The hail blocked up the storm drains, and they started to overflow in some low areas in Ballard. I watched cars roostertailing through a full 18" of fast moving, ice covered runoff. Unfortunately, each passing car sent a mini- sunami right through some poor household's front door and into their living room. This little disaster took all of 10 minutes to fully develop. It kind of shows you just how fragile our infrastructure is when Mother Nature gets to feelin randy.

Congress should get back to the vital work of pissing off Turkey.

Domesticated dogs are all the same species, yet some breeds have been proven by scientific testing to be dumber than others. OKBYENOW.

I couldn't agree more here. Studies have shown over and over again the human beings under duress, when their senses and ability to process information are overloaded in a deadly situation, can and will do things far more extreme than they would do under normal circumstances. In these situations, a purse or a toy becomes a gun, and bad things happen to the innocent. Systematic torture, and I believe the evidence to indicate that this is supported from the President on down is overwhelming at this point (although some here are still back at square one trying to argue that it has not occurred...tee hee). This is a much more agregious act than those committed regrettably but impulsively by soldiers in combat situations. Oh, and BTW, Kevbone and KKK, let's stick with torture for a while. Who the fuck cares whether Bush is the worst, 2nd worst, or 20th worst president. Pull some hair from your ass, count them, and that's your answer. It's a five-year-old's musing, not a debate topic.

True to form, KKK will pontificate endlessly without bothering to read the previous link that provides detailed documentation of the torture that has occurred, as compiled by the ICRC, probably one of the most impartial organizations on the planet. Of course, we all know how those liberal fuckers lie.

If irony could make steel, KKK would be a magnate.

My area just got pummeled by 1/2 inch hail stones. That has definitely not happened since I moved here in '82.

Nah. It was a mobile chemical weapons facility.

Actually, psychological torture can do much more severe and longer lasting damage to an individual than many 'classic' forms of physical torture. The brain is an organ that can be damaged, just like any other, only the brain can be severely damaged by non-physically traumatic stimuli, unlike other organs. For those of you who believe Guantanamo Bay is a hotel/resort for terrorists, here's a summary of a report, submitted to the administration in February 2004, compiled by the International Committee of the Red Cross on treatment of detainees in U.S. military custody: "We have seen evidence of federal government employees engaging in acts such as soaking a prisoner's hand in alcohol and lighting it on fire, administering electric shocks, subjecting prisoners to repeated sexual abuse and assault, including sodomy with a bottle, raping a juvenile prisoner, kicking and beating prisoners in the head and groin, putting lit cigarettes inside a prisoner's ear, force-feeding a baseball to a prisoner, chaining a prisoner hands-to-feet in a fetal position for 24 hours without food or water or access to a toilette, and breaking a prisoner's shoulders." It's not just about waterboarding, folks. I would argue that the administration has only benefitted from the 'waterboarding debate', for all the misunderstanding it generates on forums like this one, and because it diverts attention from the much more brutal practices that are actually going on at Guantanamo and our secret CIA prisons abroad. The report was classified by the administration. I'm not sure if it still is. I did find a heavily redacted copy online here: February 2004 ICRC report

Bullshit! A couple dozen congressmen put this letter together. They represent the USA and federal authority. What they did is what I'd expect from Stalinist Russia or Goebbels. And YOU would AGREE if Republican congressman had done this. Oh, Jesus, another precious quotation. What is the maximum amount of posts KKK can wait until he dredges up a Stalin comparison? Smoking ban? STALINISM! Leash law? Yosef would have LOVED THAT! It was a letter, for Christ's sake, not a pogrom, that has backfired spectacularly, no less. Get over it.

um, whoa. there must be some sort of alignment of the planets against me, or else I am human after all! If you will peek back at my post, I quoted "tvash" because I just assumed it was his post. He commonly uses the accent-written-as-it's-heard tactic, and coming from him it sounded pretty surly and know-it-all, and deserving of a little zip in a response. Now that I realize it came from you, I.. I, boy I just wish I could do it all over again! Can you bear to forgive me?!?! :cry: Surly and know-it-all? Moi? BTW, SMARMY and know-it-all would be more effective phrasing.

wakes for the undead are the best kind right up until the moment when the undeceased starts gnawing on precious little McKenzie's skull.

Given the increasing deference that both the Supreme Court and Congress have shown to the Executive in recent times, it seems as though we're governed more by monarchy than democracy these days. We can vote all we want, but when the Executive ignores the laws, and the Congress and Courts refuse to sanction him for it, what else can you call it? There is one aspect to this that is democratic, and that is where to place blame for this erosion of democratic power: Us. For decades we've screamed for a 'strong leadership' rather than a weak president whom we can keep in check and, well, we got what we asked for. I wonder if our 'lay down the credit card, let someone else do it' culture might have something to do with it. Have we become too detached from controlling various aspects of our daily lives, and thus less independent? Remember our parent's 'do it yourself' mantra? OK, that resulted in some really fucking ugly home additions, but in any case, you get my point. How many of us are involved in governing our own local neighborhoods or townships, which constitute such an important factor in our daily well being? When someone throws up a super fucking ugly apartment complex or a Walmart next door, how many of us feel that we have a say in determining the quality of life and asthetics of our community? That kind of local control is a rarity these days. I would say that we have, as individuals, deferred the decision making in many aspects of our lives to others, right up to the President. So now we have an AG appointee saying "um, fuck off" to the rule of law. We reaping what we've allowed others to sow.

Nope. Not very worried here. On another note, the ACLU successfully defended Rush Limbaugh's right to privacy when the government attempted to obtain access to his medical records after his drug related legal problems began. Specifically, the state of Florida seized Limbaugh's medical records as part of their probe of his "doctor shopping spree". The ACLU filed a friend of the court brief, which was subsequently accepted in a judicial ruling which prevented Limbaugh's medical records from being used as evidence.

I'm prolly going back midweek next week for another round when the weather calms down a bit. From Sunday on is supposed to be OK in that area.

Mostly Cloudy Temperature -292°F Chance of Precipitation 0% Winds W at 800 mph

Or this:

This looks like fun:

Well, forgiveness isn't exactly your strong suit.

Neah, dis funneh. Ah don knowz bout no No-bel o D N A or sum shit, but down heah at the bottm dis human powuhd boat, we sho preciate a ho witta beah bong fo lil entuhtainmint.

The five of them are too busy posting here to post there.

Only Trashie will be left behind; the rest of us will be taken up in the rapture. Please...oh, please.