tvashtarkatena

There is a great big fish to fry, and that is our failed MIddle Eastern foreign policy over the past 3 decades, but it is precisely shocking incidents such as these that bring the larger issues to the public's attention. I thinkg the Blackwater shootout generated a media storm because the employees of a corporation killed innocents in Iraq. It ties together two major concerns in American life today; the despair about our failure in Iraq, and the well-earned mistrust of corporations that have gained way too much power over our lives (and now the lives of Iraqis), particularly under recent 'business friendly' administrations. At a time when insurance companies, energy companies, and financial companies are fucking the American public in all the wrong orifices, it seems only natural that the public would take exception to a corporation that actually kills people wantonly. I also think the public is tired of the roid rage approach to life. Unfortunately for Blackwater, it's employees are the physical embodiment of such an approach. We tried our 'kick ass and take names' strategy in Iraq; and, predictably, got our asses kicked. Now, with our dollar falling like a freshly pinched dookie, our deficit somewhere out beyond the orbit of uranus, estate boom that has run out of cocaine, and a population entering the adult diaper era, the public is finally pining for brainier, not brawnier leadership. Of course, the White House party doll that the insurgents, Chinese, Taliban, you name it, have been fucking daily for the past six years has been anything but brawny.

What you're saying, in essence, is that anything goes in Iraq, because we shouldn't be there in the first place; a convenient formula for doing nothing. I.e., fuck it, let's have another brewskie. If I can't have it all, I'm going to check out. The more reporting that comes out on Blackwater, the worse their track record looks. That IS a treatable condition.

Specifically, a few 10#, 5#, and 2.5# plates, standard (small hole) size. Iron only; no plastic please. I you ain't usin' 'em, I will.

THat is not what happened, according to reports. If you're going to take the time to post your opinion, at least make sure it's informed. The Iraqi doctor was shot first, then his car drifted (not hurtled) towards the convoy...because he was dead and his weight was still on the accelerator. The convoy then opened fire in all directions at everything that moved, including those trying to flee. Hardly a trained, professional response.

So, by majority rule, it's OK to take away the rights of everyone, including those who voted against it? This is "democracy" run amok, with people voting how they feel on an issue instead of voting by the principles of freedom the country is based on. You're making the common but assumption that people who don't vote the way you do are dumber than you are. Referendums are not democracy 'run amok', but pure democracy, which famously suffers from the tyranny of the majority. A bill of rights can counter this, but there is no 'right to smoke' embodied in any state constitution. any guess to what percentage of emergency services motorcycles make up? [edit: oh, and if you want to talk per capita, then please give me some per capita stats on climbers & their SAR usage, b/c I'd bet it's at least somewhat higher than other user groups Do your own web research, lazy bones.

Dude...when you abort a baby, not only does it hurt the mother... but it also kills the baby inside her. Physically! So, no one is telling you not to kill, just do it to a deer in the forest or a clump of carrots. It can hurt the mother a lot more to have the state force her (and yes, that is what you propose) to have a child. Child birth has a much higher mortality/morbidity rate than abortion.

If that's not a GW Bush quote, it's a pretty good parody. That's tea for the tillerman, and wine for the....

Perhaps not....

How....admirable. I think I'll send this to your adoring wife and children.

I think the use of public roadways presents a special case in favor or regulated behaviour. The ubiquity of this public resource, and the inherent and immediate danger posed by moving vehicles and the very high monetary and human cost of accidents necessitates a higher standard safety regulation than do most other activities in life. Most folks would not support allowing a government which turns a blind eye towards auto makers who make inherently unsafe cars. Much of this type of regulation aims to prevent injuries should an accident occur, but not necessarily accidents themselves. Similarly, seatbelts also do not prevent accidents, they mitigate injuries should an accident occur, yet there are many who object to drivers taking some of the regulatory burden that auto makers have shouldered from the beginning. If the state can (popularly) mandate automobile safety features, it seems fair that it may also require drivers to use those features.

No, I don't agree. The reporting I've read indicates that Blackwater has behaved badly; noticeably worse than it's competitors in the same industry. Perhaps it's part of their corporate culture. In any case, the evidence so far indicates that Blackwater's actions are ripe for scrutiny and reform. There is a larger question of the accountability of these private security firms, but it usually takes an incident like the recent civilian shootings in Iraq to bring the issue to the attention of the public and congress.

I would never risk my life to preserve the freedoms of an ungrateful, anti-american a-hole like you. As they used to say in the military (not that you'd know, of course): excuses are like assholes. Actions, or the lack thereof, are what makes the man.

as a REMF, right? No, actually, I spent 6 on, 6 off, 24x7 in a 5" 38 gunmount on a cruiser from 300yds to 2 miles off the North Vietnamese coast for just under a year, daily firing what came to be a bit shy of 400k rounds including the only attack on Haiphong harbor during the war. All this at a time when old 5" mounts were going-off self-destructing like so much popcorn. When I wasn't in the mount I was on Marine helicopters over NV looking for SAM sites for the night's mission. Try again, and exactly why don't you support this war or our troops with your service and life? A perfect moment in time and space.

Our smoking ban passed overwhelmingly by referendum. It was "us telling the government to protect us from us". The government simply did what we told them to. Regarding helmet (and seatbelt) laws: The state provides emergency services, such as EMT, as well as roads. It has the right, therefore, to require a certain amount of safety compliance from citizens using those public facilities. Out of compliance drivers and riders (those who are more seriously injured due to lack of a seatbelt or helmet) soak up the lion's share of state EMT and State Patrol services, thus requiring costly increases in capacity for those services. The state, therefore, has a definable and reasonable interest in mandating the use of the highest value basic safety equipment; most notably helmets, seatbelts, and, to a lesser extent, airbags. It's interesting to note that, after the federal government dropped it's requirement for helmet laws to qualify for highway funding in 1975, the number of states dropped from 47 to about 2/3 of that within 5 years. Furthermore, would you argue that children not be required to wear seatbelts or ride in carseats? Climbing Hood is not a similar issue, because climbers use only 2-3% of SAR services. It could easily be argued that singling climbers out for regulatory purposes violates the constitution's equal protection clause. The state would have to license or ban all outdoor activities, which, of course, would be unnacceptable to the public.

Size large for me, please. And the ribbon color? Why, green of course.

Arctic Ice Unnerves the Experts (NYT)

Our neighborhood is overrun with tweakers trying to fence landscaping materials. You can't walk two blocks to the grocery store without some scabby zombie desperately shoving a rail road tie or water feature in your face. Our community is practically under self imposed lock down. The methheads have started staging hot ceramic jockeys on my front lawn. I can't take it anymore. This is all because of habeaus corpus. Or the lack of it. Or both. Something must be done. IT MUST STOP.

The last time I played Monopoly my older brother robbed the bank.

I would have loved to have had a dad that introduced me to climbing as a boy. What a gift.

We posture, Mike enlightens. And that pontification about the days of yore when the warrior cast was a venerable and honorable profession; pure Patton. Perhaps Mike should finally throw his '300' DVD out.

HEY, TVASH, THOUGHT YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW THAT I'M IGNORING YOU!!!!!!!!!!11111111 BTW, according to an article on military.com, Blackwater is now under congressional investigation for trafficking illegal weapons in Iraq.

Nah. You're not real. You're either a KKK mini-me or Porter playing a moron. Hard to say; the 'Death to America' post was so perfectly cliche (Porter?), but your last post was pure K Kube; you know, pure eleven year old, not a nit of wit. Hmmmm. Even Porter with a massive head wound, floating on a boxcar full of pain meds could do better. One of Porter's stem cells could do better. His anus, removed and transplanted into Fidel Castro's body, could do better, albeit in spanish.

How loud DO you have to sing 'Kumbaya' to block out the Jihadist screams of "Death to America"? You can't possibly be for real.

This is some incredibly vigorous ignoring you two are engaged in.

Not ignoring me enough to keep yourself from flooding my inbox with PMs, apparently. As for being a pacifist (as if that were a bad thing), I supported the ousting of the Taliban through military force from Afghanistan. I just don't support stupid wars. Sorry to dissappoint.