Displaying 301 To 330 Of 955 Comments Arab Uprisings: Still Writing History I believe that this is the best course: let the Libyan people decide whether to shoot down the planes themselves, and let them do it themselves. After all, they were the ones who paid for them. I’m not saying not to intervene at all. I’m just saying they are the ones who should be saying what kind of help they need, and from who. Otherwise, we’re just missionaries performing circumcisions against the will of the patient, to save them from starvation. Like they did in the American West. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 17, 2011 @ 2:58 pm Almost makes you miss the ability to moderate other people’s comments, doesn’t it? (poking fun at AdLib, who corrected that glitch) To quote Apollo (not from the TV show, by the way): “I preach moderation in all things… including moderation.” » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 17, 2011 @ 2:55 pm I would prefer going with a binding resolution in Congress. It would be a novelty, considering we had 8 years of unicameral actions against the governments and citizens of other countries. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 17, 2011 @ 2:38 pm Good thing we don’t have to worry about the cost in lives of the Libyan people then. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 17, 2011 @ 2:37 pm I would hesitate to put to put RPGs or shoulder-mounted SAMs in the hands of those not trained to use them. RPGs are notoriously hard to aim (at least with the intent to hit the target) and SAMs can lose target-lock in built-up (and therefore populated) areas. Personally, a handful of hand-held laser pointers ($5 at your local convenience store) would do more good. Pilots and soldiers are conditioned to be feraful of a red dot on their chest, and most ECM systems will read them as being targeted. A few dots on Gaddafi will drive him deep underground in a heartbeat. Smudge pots are good to discourage airplanes and helicopters as well. Enough smoke hides ground targets, which makes the civilians on the ground a lot safer, unless the pilots are complete idiots. Another tip? Get a large ballon, fill it with helium, string it on a long line of some type of metal line. Put up a bunch of them. The line will snarl the rotors of a helicopter, which is a nightmare for competent pilots and helicopter mechanics. (weather balloons are great for this, and some of them come with their own cannister). Want to confuse a B2? send up bottle rockets with tinfoil tied to the tail. ECm systems read this as flak, which is hell on jet engines, and the cockpit becomes a living hell of klaxons and alarms. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 17, 2011 @ 2:35 pm Just because Dubyah was willing (and was allowed, for some reason) to start wars unicamerally, doesn’t mean it is in any way a good thing. We have a law here. We don’t start wars without good reason, and those reasons must be vetted by Congress. Congress is expected to vote in the best interests of the country, balanced by the will of the people. I don’t want B2’s in Libya. I don’t want innocents killed as “collateral damage”. “Collateral damage” is corporate-speak for “people who are of no use to us anyway”. Any country that sends in military force of any kind is endangering people, and taking away the choices of the Libyan people to effect change that they want, in the way they want it. The slippery slope that you are advocating leads in one direction, and it is not “up”. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 17, 2011 @ 1:37 pm While I applaud that change in the previous status quo, I am going to bide my time before accepting the new trend as the new and improved raison d’etre of Facebook. I am not a fan of anti-social networking. A recent episode of “What Would You Do” was rather good at portraying what Facebook is being used for, more often than not (I saw the episode because my buddy was watching it while I was in the room). » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 16, 2011 @ 5:16 pm That’s okay, I am not from the Facebook generation. I don’t expect facts to be entertaining or cheerful. Besides, there have been instances in the past where a cold shower *has* cheered me up. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 16, 2011 @ 5:06 pm You know, there are days where I really sympathize with nihilistic anarchists. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 16, 2011 @ 4:35 pm Great job. Just goes to show that some of my reference books are out of date, I have a completely different flag for Libya. It is most likely the old flag (or one from a couple generations ago). » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 24, 2011 @ 2:10 pm The oil companies are very dishonest about their justifications about their pricing. Let’s say I am a {{spit}} oil company. I buy oil on the 5th and on the 21st of the month. On the 5th, oil prices were low. I am expected to lower prices, so I do, to prevent whackjob environmentalists from getting up in my face. On the 7th, there’s a big protest against the government in the capitol of a country I sometimes do business with. I raise my prices, because the uncertainty is driving up speculation. Ka-ching! On the 12th, the premier in that country is rumored to be shooting foreign oil engineers (started by my own “R & D” department). I raise prices again, because the cost of doing business there has increased: my engineers are refusing to go there without an increase in wages (although I never asked them and they never told me). Ka-ching! And a stiffy! On the 14th, because my “R & D” department has pushed the rhetoric a little too hard, the premier is forced to flee the country, and the parliament is disbanded. While I am raising prices because of the problems there (Ka-ching!), the President of the US speaks without my permission, offering to send in Georgetown University political science professors and food. On the 20th, the President goes to the other country to observe, is given a cute panda bear cub out of gratitude. Speculation regarding the good will drives the projected cost of oil. I say nothing, just keep raking it in. On the 21st, I have to buy more oil, this time at the reduced price. I can wait another day, until the price I paid is made public, before dropping the price again. My “R & D” department suggests starting rumors that the college students in the other country are advocating nationalizing the oil fields. I sit back and wait for my next stiffy. Notice, at no time did I buy oil from that country! All of those raises in price are free and clear! And the “R&D” department is tax deductible! » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 23, 2011 @ 11:26 pm While I was reading this article, one of my partners was reading over my shoulder trying to (hyperactively) describe all the benefits of oil derived from hemp (as a lubricant for commercial, industrial, and consumer needs). Try explaining to a guy who failed civics that no, Obama does not have the power to veto a law that was passed in 1958 (?). » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 23, 2011 @ 4:00 pm The Episcopalians sent me to summer camp once. That’s where I learned about marijuana, masturbation, and what girls really want. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 22, 2011 @ 10:27 pm Um, because of the pictures, we can’t vote on this article. I give it a 10, because it is important for us to connect the news to real places and real people, through their eyes. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 22, 2011 @ 2:58 pm Best wishes to New Zealand in coping with this. I really wish I had my own means to get down there (and other places around the globe where there are big, messy problems to deal with) and pitch in. Incidentally, I just discovered Firefox does not have a spelling for New Zealand. Huh. The things you learn. But HH, I thought you were in Japan? I could have swore you were once in an episode of Pokemon, and that is filmed live in the *real* Japan (not that fake version they try to sell you on travel shows). » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 22, 2011 @ 2:57 pm Ouch. You’d probably have to get out more towards Pasadena, south towards San Diego… don’t go toward Palm Springs, they’ll laugh at you. I think I saw some places up by Napa as we went through, but that’s a bit far to drive for you. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 22, 2011 @ 10:05 pm Cher, if you want to have a lot of fun decorating your home-space (from apartment to house), see if you have any “architectural salvage” outfits in your area. There’s a really fun place in Aurora, Oregon, not too far from where I am, where you can get pieces of old houses that were deemed too valuable to destroy. Benches, trestle tables, old windows, old cabinets, wooden columns, etc. You can do a lot with that stuff, even if you don’t refinish it yourself. A friend of mine has a ton of old salvaged materials from Vermont farmhouses, decorating the inside of his Spanish hacienda-style house in Palm Springs, and everybody loves it. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 22, 2011 @ 4:33 pm I fail to see how doing away with Direct deposit is a budget issue, especially since they will still be using the service for state employees. Most banks will offer Direct Deposit for free to any employer, since it helps cut down the number of people needed to process paper checks. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 22, 2011 @ 4:28 pm BigDogMom, bloggers mostly, but they don’t get paid. Unless they get co-opted. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 22, 2011 @ 4:26 pm Cher, when a company is contracted by the government to provide services, the “why” tends to be patronage and campaign contributions… if not outright bribery via lobbyist. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a real way to research how much a company funneled, via various channels, to politicians and candidates? They are using so many different tactics to obfuscate this, it’s impossible. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 22, 2011 @ 4:25 pm I wish you were closer. However, I am glad I found a part-time, erratic job as “renovation helper”. Much better than nothing. We will see how this next weekend goes, my first job with them. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 22, 2011 @ 4:22 pm The problem I have with “buying for logo” is that you pay out the nose, provide free advertising for the manufacturer, and it is still crap. I had an acquaintance try to tell me I would look so sexier in Hilfiger jeans. I asked him how much Hilfiger would pay me for being a walking billboard, and then pointed out that Hilfiger doesn’t even make jeans in my size. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 22, 2011 @ 4:19 pm Cher, regarding Wackenhut. One of my exes was briefly a corrections officer in Michigan, employed by Wackenut. After some high profile deaths of inmates, including in a supermax prison where guards are not even supposed to be accessible by inmates or vice versa, Michigan was not supposed to employ Wackenhut any further, for any contract in any area. However, that was quietly over-ridden somehow by Governor John Engler, without fanfare or legislative vote. Wackenhut has been sued so many times by so many different agencies and families of victims, I’m surprised they do not have a “shoot on sight” policy for lawyers and judges. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 22, 2011 @ 4:16 pm Thanks, Cher. You are correct. I used to call it voter ignorance. But it is more like arrogance. People are saying to themselves, “I don’t need any more facts, I’ve made up my mind.” Even though the facts show that the choice they are about to make is the worst one they can make for themselves. It also does not help that places like FN create news by quoting each other, and anything that does not fit into their rhetoric is accused of being fabricated or is just dismissed as irrelevant. That just feeds into the arrogance (or maybe it caused it). » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 24, 2011 @ 5:27 am Plato, you hit that nail on the head. Several times in fact. What you and Cher both said describes what is going on very well. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 24, 2011 @ 5:23 am Yeah, a majority of people will say they support improving education for kids, but I have never seen a millage increase yet that passed at the polls. I have seen pseudo-cons convince developmentally-disabled adults to canvass in support of implementing a sales tax in Oregon, telling them that all mental health services and group homes will be closed if the tax doesn’t go through. (Luckily, that one failed) » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 23, 2011 @ 11:33 pm That depends on your definitions. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 21, 2011 @ 4:18 pm Oh, please, gods yes! The best way to lead is by example. Let people observe how it works on their own, and they’ll do their best. Of course, I’ve also been a big proponent of the “clean up your own backyard first”. And by “your”, I mean “our”. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 21, 2011 @ 4:16 pm Like brown recluses? » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 20, 2011 @ 5:10 pm The Daily Planet, Vol.1 Sunday Edition Great job. Looking forward to seeing more like this. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On February 20, 2011 @ 2:17 pmComments Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit
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