kapkomet

QUOTE(Soxy @ May 16, 2007 -> 05:38 PM) I really think we need to really start thinking about beefing up our national public transport systems. I think that should really be examined. Hallelujah. Can I get an amen? Seriously, I wish I could take public transportation. We are in what is becoming one of the top 5 metro areas in the country (I think it goes NYC, LA, Chicago, Houston, and D/FW). We have NO public transportation except one teeny ass train that runs between Fort Worth and Dallas, and another smaller one that runs from the north Dallas suburbs to downtown Dallas. Big deal. If we had a really good infastructure, I'd use it. The problem here is that everything is so spread out. Unfortunately, I could either pay up the ass for a house that costs twice as much as mine, or I drive 25+ miles to work one way every day. I can afford the gas, but it sucks because it definitely costs more to just work then it did just 6 months ago.

QUOTE(NUKE @ May 16, 2007 -> 09:46 AM) My interenet's been down the last few days or I would have chimed in on this sooner. If I were to go and ask every member of my unit whether they had heard what these retired generals had to say about Iraq I'd be hard pressed to find 2 ( not including myself ) that even knew about it. If you want info on how we feel about the war in general, I think the general consensus is fairly close to my own. Most of us feel that going to war was the right thing to do but the way things are being run at the higher levels......ahem......leaves something to be desired. A lot of us feel that decisions are made by people who are out of touch with what is really going on on the ground and sometimes run contrary to what we feel is the best course of action. And myself playing MMQB 5,000 miles away from it, that's EXACTLY how I feel about it.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ May 15, 2007 -> 06:12 PM) I heard he was a drunkard, who had sex with his mother in an outhouse. Hey, religious right...f off That's pretty ignorant. As some others have said, this person may have had views that were extreme (which I absolutely do not agree with) but comments like this cross the line. As far as BigSqwert's comments, if there were comments like this, we'd probably close that (BinLadin's dead) thread as well. However, there's a difference between a war criminal such as BinLadin and Falwell (again, I don't agree with the guy at all...) Edit: Oops, this was closed. But hey, I'll leave it anyway. Edit again - well it turns out that Falwell was used in an ad in 1988 in Hustler, hence Tony's reference. I still think it's crude, but at least I understand the reference now. My fault, Tony.

I agree. And I disagree. /carry on.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ May 15, 2007 -> 04:23 PM) Bush Derangement Syndrome Which I think we all suffer from, anyway... no matter what party you lean towards.

QUOTE(Damen @ May 15, 2007 -> 03:32 PM) Yeah, I'd rather have my daughter act like the bush twins over chelsea clinton too. I hate to break it to you but Chelsea (during her Oxford days) at the same age did the same stuff that the Bush twins did, so I'm not sure what you're trying to imply. Frankly, I don't care what they did. It has nothing to do with the point that was made.

The one major difference between Carter and Bush is the economy. The bottom line is, if the economy were the same in 2004 as it was in 1980, JFK II would have won in a landslide.

Bush is pigheaded and stubborn. But, I do think he tried to do the right thing.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ May 15, 2007 -> 06:01 AM) Ottawa is playing ridiculously good hockey. If it wasn't for Miller tonight (and a post or two) it's four or five to zero. Ottawa has dominated them in all three zones...so it's a combination of that and Buffalo not quite showing up like they did in the regular season. Ottawa has a nice balance... if Anahiem gets out in the West, Ottawa will lose. If it's Detroit and Ottawa, it's Ottawa's Cup.

Thank you, sir, I do appreciate it. I think this is the best way to do it so we don't pollute Nuke's thread.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ May 14, 2007 -> 10:24 PM) So here's the question I'm interested in...which is more effective, the Clinton spin machine/smear machine/whatever you want to call it, or the machine the Bush admininstration has turned on anyone who crossed it? I think they're both loathesome, at least that's the first word that comes to mind. Most of you miss my point ... I think George W. Bush is an assmunch. But, I certainly don't think he deserves the negative credit that he gets, if you know what I mean. He's the best assmunch for the job today... WAAAAAAAAAAY better then John Kerry, and probably better then the Goracle. Better then Bill Clinton? That honestly depends. On morality, I'd take GWB any day. On fiscal policy, ditto. On the military policy, again, ditto. On immagration? Probably I would take Clinton's stance, but then again, it's not the same now as it was 7 years ago.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ May 14, 2007 -> 08:55 PM) So, when the station fills his tanks up with gas that he would normally sell for $2.50 a gallon, raises it to $2.75 the next day, because the price of his NEXT batch went up, that's not making a little 'extra' profit? When gas goes up overnite by .25 per gallon, every gallon in his tank at that moment nets the owner and extra .25 net. I'm all for profit, being a business owner myself, but that always seemed like a bit of greed to me. However, you are right, big oil would be the guys you would want to hurt, or even better, the speculators that drive the cost per barrel up because Imadinnerjacket, or whatever his name is, looked crosseyed at Condi Rice, or mentioned that he hates Jews. That will eventually net out when the prices go back down - but gas never goes down as fast as it comes up.

QUOTE(Damen @ May 14, 2007 -> 08:50 PM) Maybe that's where the problem is. For some reason, you've got this kneejerk reaction to add whatever you think I want to say and respond to that. I'd prefer if you deal with what I say, unless the point is to avoid having a real conversation. If that's the case, I'll stick to talking about why Greg Walker needs to be fired and avoid political conversations here all together. Again, all I'm asking for is proof of the claims you guys are making here. I'm not asking for 85 sites about the Clinton smear machine (which is different than a spin machine). I'm asking for any legitimate evidence you guys have. well... go figure out why Greg Walker needs to be fired then. Seriously, you're right in this case - spin and smear are two different terms, good catch. I KNOW the Clinton spin machine works well, and "smears" if it has to so that they come out on top. There's a lot of instances where that's the case, and if I have some time, I'll "link" to some later. The problem with that is, though, you might think it's "spin" and I might call it "smear", and frankly, I don't even want to debate that with you. So maybe I'll just leave it as "spin machine" and I stand corrected.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ May 14, 2007 -> 08:45 PM) If you want to 'hurt' them, don't buy the Pepsi, candy bar, coffee and doughnuts every time you go in, that's where the profit is at. And we're not trying to hurt the store owners, we're trying to hurt "big oil", who by the way, don't really control gas prices to begin with... but don't let that get in the way of "facts".

QUOTE(Damen @ May 14, 2007 -> 08:20 PM) You have terrible reading comprehension, and resort to s***ty sarcasm way too often. All I'm asking for is the evidence behind these claims you guys throw around like fact. Apparently I'm asking too much. I can read just fine, thank you. I can also read what's not there. All too often, you act like there's some sort of innocent standard in politics, and it's just not the case. About 99.9% of politics is spin. I don't feel like linking 85 sites (or whatever the # is) about the Clinton spin machine. It's happened, and has ALREADY happened in this campaign. Big deal.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 14, 2007 -> 08:28 PM) My protest began 2 years ago when I sold my car, bought a bicycle, and moved 1 block away from the Blue Line. Maybe I should have just bought a Hummer and put a "Support the Troops" magnet on it instead. All hyperbole aside, I'm glad you're able to do that. In Dallas, there's very little I can do in the way of public transportation (that's environmentally friendly). I'd rather take trains, etc. to save myself the headache of driving, but that's not an option.

QUOTE(Damen @ May 14, 2007 -> 06:44 PM) I find some of the commetns here hilarious. You've bought into these absurd caricatures of these people absent any real evidence. What proof is there, exactly, of this ruthless Clinton smear machine? How, exactly, did Obama become "deceitful"? How has he pandered? That's laughable. How DARE anyone say ANYTHING bad about the Clintons? All I'll say is, where there's smoke, there's fire, and in this case, a raging inferno.

QUOTE(Texsox @ May 14, 2007 -> 05:12 PM) A catch-all, miscellaneous kind of place, it seemed too minor to start a thread. takes one to know one Ok, so let me see... this is a thread to and for Nuke (and not a catch all thread, like you called it) so we can ask him questions and he can respond - and you're posting a political advertisement in here? C'mon. You can move it.

QUOTE(Soxy @ May 14, 2007 -> 03:39 PM) Even if it was about substance I don't think Obama could win. I think he is all surface and avoids taking hard stands on anything so he can pander to the middle. Plus, there's something about him that I just don't trust. At least with Hillary you know you're getting the HBIC (head b**** in charge), but with Obama, I have no clue what lies beneath the smoke and mirror stuff. His (lack of) substance at this point is by design. He will start to veer hard left before the primary and turn back if it looks like he has a chance to win the nomination. I think he has a huge challenge and it will be interesting as this plays out, but I just wish it was 9 months from now, and not now, if that makes sense.

QUOTE(Texsox @ May 14, 2007 -> 03:42 PM) I was wondering where to put it. Do we have another Iraq war thread started? I didn't like it here either. There's only a million of them you dork.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 14, 2007 -> 03:30 PM) I'm not sure how you can say that this early in the race. We already know he can keep up with her financially. Once the Gravels and Kucinichs of the world begin dropping out I think things will get tighter in the polls. The only reason why I don't think he has too much of a shot is because I think there's going to be some dirt come out on him (from *AHEM* Republicans - but not really) about two weeks before N.H. and Iowa. Then, some more will come out right before super-duper-pooper-super-mega-win it all-you can't possibly lose this- Tuesday... the Clintons aren't stupid. And, I will add that I think this is what's wrong with politics today. It's not substance, it's about keeping your nose cleaner then the other guy (or gal).

^^^^ Tex, I'll leave this here, but I question whether it should be in this thread.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ May 14, 2007 -> 02:32 AM) Economies of scale is the interesting problem here, and in a lot of cases around the world. Sure this works when you are talking about 3 million people, but how well would it work for 300 million? And if it works so well for 3 million people, why are people risking their lives in shanty boats to get to where it doesn't work? Because they want to come to America to have our (socialist) government take care of them. puke.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ May 13, 2007 -> 04:39 AM) Does anyone here work for the government? I have a friend who is interning with the government and I have been looking into various options (go back to school for my MBA) or try my career at the government level and I was curious as to whether anyone has worked for the government and what there experience was. My background is in accounting and I currently work for one of the big "4". However, I'm always looking into other possibilities and I must admit I'm intrigued with the idea of the 5/4/9 workweek (you work 9 hours a day, plus one 8 hour a day shift for 9 days and get a day off every two weeks). Plus from what I was looking at it appears there are 10 holidays, 13 vacation days and 13 sick days a year (starting and I guess you get more vacation time as you stay with the government) in addition to a great pension plan. One of the main things I am curious are the chances of promotion because If I were to leave my job (one where I know if I stay I will get promoted and promoted or fired if I'm not meeting there standards) I'd want to make sure I could continue a steady climb wherever I went. Another concern was pay as I know in the past the government just didn't seem to pay as competitively as private business, but I also know the gov have recently up the pay for many of there positions (accounting positions being one of them) and I'm starting to think there benefits (is it something like full pension after 25 years of service???) mixed in with other stuff could make it something worth while (for someone who absolutely is beginning to hate working long hours). So anyone have any experience with this or the MBA approach (ie the type of jobs you can look for coming out of an MBA; I know I read about the average salary an MBA makes starting but I wonder if those things really are that realistic). Go see my other post... But, I do have some more info to send you, if you'd like .... my university has a relationship with some people for governmental jobs. I can try to get some information, but if you can stand another year or so, it will pay off huge for you.

Some of these are business stupidities (Gap, Sharper Image, Hot Topic), some of these are a little surprising. It's pretty much a proven fact, though, that when gas goes up, (other) discretionary spending goes down.