tvashtarkatena

Doctors have been able to resurect dead dogs for a while now zombie dogs I don't remember God being involved, just science How much would it cost per month to store two dogs that way?

You win. Let's let it lie. The Enigma example was a good one, you've got to admit. That prevented a lot of grunts from suffering more than did.

I'm warm to some of this, but I don't the American public's going to go for the last suggestion. And that, unfortunately, is the toughest one to tackle. I've advocated partition, but I really haven't a clue as to how that would be executed. It's just not what I do for a living. There have got to be some other competing ideas out their regarding sectarian squabbling.

I would argue that none of those bombings were necessary to win WWII on either front, but that could go on for days. Suffice to say that, of the targets mentioned, only Tokyo was strategically important. By the time Hiroshima came around, Japan was already on its knees and close to surrender. I would argue that we won that war by slugging it out across the Pacific, not by a finale of fireworks. Some have said that our allowing the Japanese military and civilian government surrender without requiring the emporer to do the same made more of a difference in ending that war sooner than Hiroshima. Fatman did demonstrate one thing, however: it sucks to be nuked. It certainly played a significant role in deterence from then on. In any case, the analogy doesn't fit. Japan was a nation state with tightly focused leadership. There was someone there to negotiate with. The situation is Iraq is much more complicated. We blow big up; who makes the call on the other side? Which of the many groups we're fighting is going to respond how? Will it foment more anti-US action around the world? Clusterfuck, really. Finally, we're going to have to agree to disagree about the service thing. Is a nuclear sub captain whose never seen combat less honorable or valuable than the people you serve with? How about the office nerds that broke the Enigma code? It takes all kinds to make military campaign successful, and to prevent future ones from being necessary.

Here, here. Well said. Congress is very much to blame for allowing this debacle to unfold, no doubt. Those who 'believed' the administration's mail order intel and threat assessment were either covering their asses, or they were just plain stupid. Neither is admirable. However...Congress voted to authorize the President to use military force, so some in that body have argued that they did it to give the President negotiating leverage against Saddam for the purpose of a peaceful resolution. Uh...I'm not buying that one either. The scuttlebutt around Washington is way too efficient for the President's summer decision to go to war the following spring to have been kept a secret. Shit, I was reading about it in October before the invasion! Congress made the supreme mistake of given the President a blank check, when they should have been more specific about the use of military force (authorizing it campaign by campaign, for example). That way, they could have said yes to Afghanistan, yes to worldwide counter terrorism efforts, and no to Iraq. Oh well.

Perhaps John Kerry might have had the nutsacks to define what 'getting the job done' means. From your quote here, it sounds like you are at odds with your Commander in Chief's stated goal of bringing security and stability (if no longer democracy) to Iraq. That leads me to believe that you are unclear of your mission there, which leads me to question why we are there at all. Your big bang theory is stillborn in practice. Anti American terrorist groups know full well the extent of America's military might. They also know that the more innocents we kill, ie, the bigger the bang, the more adherents to their side they will gain. That is the nature of a asymetrical warfare: the information campaign is as important as the use of force, and we seem to be losing on the PR front. A big bang, which I'm reading as an escalation to total warfare and thus a higher tolerance for indescriminate killing (bombing Mecca, etc, etc), is clearly what those destabilizing Iraq right now would prefer. Why not get America to help them do what they're already doing? In addition, is a display of deadly force really a deterent to suicide bombers? The war's detractors are often criticized for not having an alternative, so I'll present one here. Rather than destabilizing a country and creating a petri dish for terrorist groups to operate against the US in Iraq, I believe we should have ignored Iraq, which was essentially contained, and continue to pursue nation building in Afghanistan while continuing to rout the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and all the other assholes that have flocked to that region since the Soviet invasion. We should then have concentrated our efforts on infiltrating and neutralizing terrorist groups in other countries with the cooperation of those governments. Guantanamo has been recruitment poster child for the other side. Bad idea. Try em, convict em punish em, let the others go. Our indefinite detainment strategy has been a lose/lose for us: it has eroded support for the WOT at home and made us look like pricks abroad, which reduces the willingness of other governments to work with us on counter terrorism efforts. This administration blew Al Qaeda and kin up to be much more than they are. This is not a 'clash of civilizations'. These terrorist groups can blow a few things up, but they have no invasion/occupation/subjugation capability whatsoever. They have no 'civilization' to clash with. They are simply international criminal enterprises; thugs, not much different than the mafia. And that is how we should be fighting them: better intel through protected informants, etc...similar to the way the US successfully took down most of the mafia in the 60s and 70s. Instead of marginalizing a few assholes who needed killing as such in the eyes of the world, our grand efforts, particularly our near unilateral invasion of Iraq, has allowed much of the Islamic world to paint our efforts out to be a war on Islam itself. This is a loser's strategy: one without political resolution. It's also an unsustainably and needlessly expensive one. That's why I advocate withdrawal from Iraq. We've not kept our eyes on the ball in our anti-terrorism efforts because of this grand plan. I support a return to the strategy I've outlined above. As for those groups duking it out for turf inside Iraq, let them figure it out. If they can't, a partition will happen (it seems to be happening now whether we like it or not). Fine. Finally, your criticism of another combat veteran's service seems to violate what I perceive to be your own code of honor. The only thing one should say to a combat vet, regardless of the efficacy of the war they fought in, is 'thank you for your sacrifice'. Enough said there.

It was interesting that she was brought back from the dead by human beings. Hmmmm.

I respect your beliefs. I just don't respect you. As for your last sentence, we either will or we won't, and that, right there, is what divides our thinking.

No better self description was ever uttered on this forum.

Atheism has done a lot for me. a) It's helped me appreciate my limited time here more. b) It's helped me realize that all we have is each other. c) It's helped me appreciate the value of truth over comfort. d) It's helped me hang around with a smarter, funnier, and more spirited group of people. e) It's helped me relax. I don't have waste my energy being offended all the time by things that don't really matter. f) It's helped preserve my life on occasion, by making me realize that its up to me and only me to get myself out of the occasional tight spot. g) And finally, it's helped me appreciate what I believe is the true value of Jesus and his message of hope, without all the hocus pocus.

Two thousand years ago a man named Jesus preached a message of peace, love, and understanding. We've been fighting about it ever since.

Da Debil's OK bah mah ass:

Kevbone outta touch. I unnerstan he lib'ral. Heck, Ah 'gree wit summa dey stuff. Butt to be sahdin' wit dis conspir'cy crap showz a lacka smahts. Seahawk, you GOTS to stop imm'tatin' my ass!

what has atheism done for yours? or Buddha, or whatever... It saves me a few hours every Sunday.

I believe the time has come to take bold new steps to protect our nation from the Christian hordes who have overrun our homeland. It is time for America to convert its big box churches into internment camps, where a carefully screened staff of hate-filled atheists and feckless agnostics will deprogram our Christian population through a round the clock diet of high decibel dethmetal, pole dancing shows, and selected readings from Nietzche, William S Burroughs, and Mark Twain. After deprogramming post-Christians, postians if you will, will be subjugated into a slave class to serve the needs of their godless masters. Never more will we uber pagans need to serve our own cocktails, wax the Prius, make our own Thai massage appointments, or re-fill the bong. Never more will we be subjected to another Pat Robertson doomsday prediction, seamy Ralph Reed scandal, tearful Jim Bakker confession, or miraculous gay to straight testimony ala Reverend Ted. 'Rapture' will regain its former romantic meaning, 'witnesses' will be once again found only in court, and the term 'believing ON the lord' will be extinguished forever. Man will have finally succeeded in finding both Heaven and Hell, right here on Earth.

8:00 at Sully's Snow Goose on 62nd and Greenwood/Phinney.

Perhaps Dominoes should offer an "I'm being mugged" promo discount. Unless, of course, you're being mugged in a donut shop.

It's the (big blue) 2 story house with the lawn near the center of the photo. Easy to spot...lots of junk all over the place.

That means that a maximum of only two rottweilers get the choice pieces. The rest are gonna be piiiiiiisssssed.

Actually, if they've got a 'protect los ricos gringos' mandate, they might have gone straight to the guy's house, who they probably know already, and beat the living shit out of him for you.

I gotta say you really are an ass. Go to Happy Land and see how long you last or if you came from there...please return. You know how much rottweilers love it when you throw them a Bone.

Don't forget your mahi mahi and ahi tackle.

Si Senor, pero solamente si tu eres una Supermodelo sin hogar que pasa hambre. Update: a detective called me today and asked some questions. He didn't yet have all the case information in front of him, though. That is all.

Bring her as punishment for attempting to restrict your carbo loading.

Goose. No Squirrel. 8:00?