Serenity

America will be better by 1/300,000,000th on that day.

Who cares, China can have the whole shit-pile.

As compared to a Harvard graduate 'conditioned to not react above their monetary ranking' , who surrender their intellect to a torpid community of intellectuals who have never left the hallways of power they shine with their asses?

I didn't know you were only 13 Dan. You look much older for your age.

Moto boots wouldn't cut it in my career field.

I ride motocross bikes for work, and I wear my La Sportiva Glaciers (Similar to Makalus). They work great. The firm platform is good for standing in the pegs for hours, and I have no problems shifting.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You need to quit watching the Deer Hunter reruns brother.

I predict the OBL will be turned over for the bounty as soon as Bush is out of office. Sort of like how the hostages were released as soon as Carter was out of office.

Everyone drink their Kool-Aid

Hey I just turned the corner into my 6th straight year in this 'unjustified war'. I've been to both sandboxes several times, and I haven't figured out a whole lot of shit, except that there are some folks who know shit about shit, and love to talk out of their asses. We'll just keep our heads down and driving on despite...

Old-timer, I would just get an early start to enjoy the morning, and the firmer snow conditions. No need to camp unless it's something you really want to do. Don't know about you, but after spending ten years in the infantry I like sleeping in a bed as often, and as much as possible. The hike itself is pretty unique as far as hikes go. In July you'll have plenty of daylight, and plenty of people around you. Take as long as you need or want. Just carry plenty of water and sunscreen. Enjoy the views, and go on a bluebird day if you can. Man I miss home.

We MUST protect the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at ALL COSTS. Simply vote for the candidate that will grant their effete leadership the most privileges, and buy your "freedom" by creating a Sunni hegemony. I mean after all, 75 years ago the majority of people in Saudi Arabia believed that the radio was a form of sorcery. Surely we must assist them in their ascension to glory.

Obama gargles with jizzum

If you're in Vancouver your best bet is probably Squamish.

Hey Rudy, How's that pack of Spider Monkey's you've been training? All is well, but recent events have made life interesting. I won't be back for awhile, but I hope we can get out when I do. Later Bru, M

That's the most interesting TR I have read in a long time Amar. Welcome to the rest of your life. Enjoy.

I'll take you out to some cool trails sometime when I am home.

Old growth forest off the top, stay right of cliff band at mid height. 3-4 hours car to car. Kendall clearcut offers better skiing.

0TLA_f7S0cw Rated PG 17 youtube.

I like. "If you're scared, say you're scared".

Strategic Forecasting, Inc. --------------------------- GEOPOLITICAL DIARY: 'BLUE SKYING' BRAZIL Brazil is a rising power politically, economically and militarily. Not only is it South America’s largest country in terms of population, economic heft, military strength and land area, its geopolitical power is expanding while most of its traditional competitors -- namely Argentina and Venezuela -- are contracting. But while Brazil is almost certain to evolve in a few years from the region’s most powerful state into a regional hegemon, it is still difficult to see Brazil doing more. South America's geography is too fractured for any power to control the whole space, and the continent is too remote from the world’s power centers -- 7,000 miles from Buenos Aires to Brussels, more than 10,000 miles from Santiago to Singapore -- for any of its powers ever to be a player on a global stage. Unless, that is, something changes. And for a few hours on April 14, it briefly appeared that that something had indeed changed. Initial reports from the Brazilian government asserted that a new oil find in the Carioca offshore block contain 33 billion barrels of crude. By nightfall Petroleo Brasileiro SA -- the state-influenced (and quite competent) national oil firm had formally denied that test drilling had even reached the depth necessary to confirm or deny the presence of oil -- much less a mammoth find. Even if this specific announcement has not played out, Brazil only began exploring the region in question in 2007, and it already has generated probable finds of at least 13 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Many, many more discoveries not only are possible, they are likely, and what has been found to date already has doubled Brazil’s reserves. This crude will not come online cheaply or quickly, and much uncertainty remains in these heady early days of exploration in Brazil’s ultradeep. But with potential discoveries of this size it is worth exploring a possible future. Brazil has recently become self-sufficient in oil production -- and that is without the recent (and likely future) finds. And that got our analytical team thinking. What would a world look like with a Latin American Saudi Arabia? How would things change on the global scene? At Stratfor we undertake what we term "blue sky" exercises from time to time, albeit typically in a much more compact geography and on a much shorter timeline. These exercises help us think outside the tactical minutiae of day-to-day events, and prevent us from becoming too wed to our own predictions. It is not every day that something happens that can change global economic and political interactions on such a grand scale. So rather than tightly edit our analysts’ responses to this question, here are some of their responses in the raw: Should Brazil become a significant oil producer, global interest in Latin America will increase in proportion -- not only from the United States, but also China, Russia, Europe and others. Competition for access to -- and potentially control of -- the resources, for security of the shipping routes, and for influence over the Brazilian government and energy companies also would rise. A resource-powerful Brazil, coupled with China's labor, India's tech and labor pool, and Russia's energy and arms could also revive the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) concept, perhaps making it a more viable bloc of formerly second-tier players, and bringing some counterbalance to U.S. global hegemony. Brazil is too far away from energy consumers like India and China to tap without great cost and competition with the United States, a much closer consumer. In time this would lessen U.S. energy dependence on the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia -- leaving that region for other energy consumers, like the aforementioned India and China. Such a shift largely would regionalize energy routes, leaving the United States looking at its own hemisphere for energy supplies, Europe to the former Soviet Union, and Asia to the Middle East (leaving Africa as a swing player). Though this may look like a more peaceable reality, it would be far from it, and could actually lead to more instability as no power would have much of an interest in stabilizing energy supplies going to other regions. Canada’s tar sands hold anywhere from 800 billion to 1.2 trillion barrels of oil. Oil shale deposits in the U.S. Rocky Mountains are estimated at around 800 billion barrels. The success of these industries is not certain, and technological and economic factors must play out, but in 15-20 years, substantial flows of oil flowing from Brazil coupled with these potential new sources of North American oil (though more difficult to extract and expensive) and only moderate efficiency gains could guarantee almost complete energy independence for the entire Western Hemisphere. A legitimate and proximate alternative oil source means the primary geopolitical motivation for immense U.S. investment in military operations in the Middle East begins to slowly evaporate. Though mastery of the world's oceans remains a core geopolitical imperative for Washington, the disproportionate focus of the U.S. Navy on the Persian Gulf and the maintenance of the Strait of Hormuz becomes far less critical. Suddenly freeing the energy and capability the Pentagon has cultivated to make a sustained presence possible on the other side of the world from that imperative would lead to a very robust and flexible -- but far more evenly distributed -- global U.S. naval presence. This could also be just the opening for the Navy, which in many ways has failed to re-evaluate its post-Cold War stance, to fundamentally remake itself for the 21st Century. The region with most to worry about from this development is the Middle East. From Washington's view, getting oil from a relatively friendly and stable country to its south is far, far preferable than dealing with the chaos of the distant Middle East. Saudi Arabia and the other major Gulf powers will become distant not only from their biggest energy customer, but also from their biggest security guarantor. With a diminished U.S. interest in the Middle East, regional fault lines are more likely to erupt, spelling more instability for this already largely volatile region. Israel in particular has much to lose as it sees its regional security framework --which is built around having the United States deeply involved in the Middle East -- weaken, and its alliance with the United States strained as a result. Copyright 2008 Strategic Forecasting, Inc.

Long banned dead avatars resurrection thread?

McCain? He's not the enemy, and deserves more respect then is being accorded here. The man spent 5 years in a notorious POW camp. That's a major sacrifice, that none of us will hopefully ever comprehend. I'm not saying that makes you the best candidate, but it also gives you honor above being called out like a punk in this internet forum. If Obama had a credible foreign policy stance, I might consider voting for him, but his 16 month pull out plan, makes no sense whatsoever. There is no solid criteria or reasoning to offer this plan up to the American public other than to attract votes from the uneducated. We don't need capitulation in the face of bold threats. The threat is very real, and will simply follow us to whatever rock some people think we need to hide under. I for one am not hiding, and never have.

The good thing is that Europeans that I met are pretty aware of, and sick of their own immigration problems the Muslims are creating. If you tried to proselytize Christianity in Saudi Arabia it's doubtful you would ever see the light of day again, or worse. Making threats to free societies journalism is cowardly and deserves a solid kick to the front door of whatever shithole internet cafe you are spreading hate from.