[Trump rips WTC2 design, pushes own idea]

The WTC was amazing for the architectural feat it was at the time.

 

I wouldn't say it was "amazing." IIRC, the buildings were ~ 100 feet taller than the Empire State Building (not a big deal), but were overshadowded by the Sears Tower a year later. They were also bland and looked very similar to the Amoco Building (now called the Aon Center) in Chicago, which was completed the same year.

 

I'm not sure which design I would rather see built: A recreation of the original ugly twin towers or a the previously-selected avant garde Euro-eyesore. If it were up to me, I'd build a 1,700-foot (e.g., world's tallest) tower, similar in design to 900 N. Michigan in Chicago, but that's probably not going to happen.

[Irresponsible Journalism]

Muslims beleive the Quran to be THE word from God... even more so then our bible, meaning we in the western world view that the bible was written by chosen ones - muslims believe no intermediary was involved - therefore each copy is sacred.

 

If we throw a bible away and go pick up another one, most in the western world don't give it a second thought.

 

EVERY copy of the Quran is sacred and to not be desacrated (sp).

 

So - when you do that, you really piss off some people.  And rightly so if they're doing it purely for reaction.

 

Similarly, Catholics and Orthodox Christians believe that one is actually drinking the blood of Christ during communion. Because of this, Presbyterians are not allowed to take communion during Catholic or Orthodox services. However, when a Presbyterian friend of mine took communion at a Catholic church a couple years ago (he didn't know about this rule), nobody threw him in prison or even yelled at him, despite the fact that he "disrespected" their beliefs.

[Is someone from Texas in here?]

Is there any good bars? Sometimes it is good to have some beers and know few girls    And the weather? I believe that in the winter it is not that cold. I know it is 100 miles from Houston and 130 from Dallas.

 

I don't know much about the bars, but the weather probably isn't much different that Houston's (maybe gets into the 30s or 40s in the winter with ample rain, but snow is rare... temps in the general area are mid-90s and humid in the summer). You'll need to bring a coat, but not a heavy one, for the winters and the summers are most likely similar to Brazil's.

[Is someone from Texas in here?]

From what I know of College Station, it's a nice town with plenty to do. It's also very football-oriented (much like the rest of Texas). And if you're a Republican, you'll probably enjoy the Bush Presidential Library.

[Irresponsible Journalism]

BigHurt35, you make some very good points.  I stated at some point that anyone who would pull this flushing Quran pages was stupid.  But, on second thought, I change my mind.  Ok, so it would be a PR nightmare for us in Muslim countries.  However, we are also at war with Muslim terrorists.  "Desecrating" the Quran is not torture.  It's not inhumane.  It does, however, hurt their feelings.  Awwwwwwwwww.  Too f***ing bad.

 

I think that flushing Koran pages down the toilet, in general, is childish and can understand why it would offend Muslims. But it's not like we're (allegedly) doing it in a public square in Mecca. I'm all for it being used as an interrogation technique (if that's indeed what happened) for dealing with violent Islama-fascists. If they've been captured after attacking/killing our soldiers, I agree that we have the right to hurt their feelings.

 

I wonder how the Chinese or Russians would deal with captured terrorists? Probably not half as humanely as we have.

 

And here I was beginning to think it was just me who found spreading the Gospel absolutely revolting.   

 

Now that's funny. You get a virtual "gold star," Jim.

[Irresponsible Journalism]

Is it more newsworthy?  Is it unexpected?  That doesn't surprise me very much.  But I don't have a good idea at all what government interrogators do.

 

And why should you have a good idea of government interrogation methods? Shouldn't they be classified? Of course, we need to make sure that they're not torturing inmates but, as we've seen before, there are plenty of whistle-blowers in our military who would likely report it to senior officials or the press anyway.

 

I stand by my assertion that arresting Christians (you think they'll get due process in Saudi Arabia?) for spreading the gospel, something that most Americans find absolutely revolting, is a hell of a lot more newsworthy to Americans than someone flushing pages of a religious text down the toilet. Newsweek obviously had an agenda when they published the story.

[Irresponsible Journalism]

The point is just that it was news, and the reporters want stories.  It wasn't calculated, this is just getting silly.  How exactly did Isikoff's massive liberal commie pinko America-hating bias play into the Monica Lewinsky story?

 

Which wing's vast conspiracy is the guy on?

 

Funny, I didn't hear the much-more-newsworthy story of Saudi Arabia arresting 40 Christians for "trying to spread their poisonous religious beliefs." I wonder why that is... :rolly

[What will the U.S. do with Cuban terrorist?]

Jim, I expected better from you than not liking the cut of his jib by giving him a jab on his job.

 

Hurt benches 275 and squats over 400. I don't think that either of you want to throw "jabs" my way.

[Irresponsible Journalism]

There are a couple interesting points raised here, but they are destroyed by the inherit racism of some of the comments...  anyways, without further ado, just for Apu....

 

Ann Coulter

 

And I thought there was no liberal bias in the major media outlets.

 

What bothers me about this is that flushing pages of a book down the toilet doesn't fall into the category of prisoner torture or humiliation. As opposed to Abu Ghraib, it isn't a newsworthy story for a (relatively) clear-thinking American audience. I'm not saying that they didn't have the right to report it (IF it were true, and we're not even sure about that), but what was the point? The only purpose of the story was to incite anti-American sentiment in the not-so-clear thinking world of Islama-fascism. What does that accomplish, besides making our current administration look bad and putting our troops in even further harm?

[What will the U.S. do with Cuban terrorist?]

I think it should open a big can of wormsfor the Administration since as we have all been told, a nation that harbors terrorists is as bad as the terrorists themselves.  I say 'should' because in reality it won't officially phase the Administration, just like none of their hypocrasy ever phases them.

 

And speaking of hypocrisy...

 

As Cuban exiles are quick to point out, Castro's record on terrorism isn't stellar either.

 

The U.S. shouldn't be concerned with the comments of corrupt dictator like Fidel Castro and will certainly not extradite Posada to Cuba. But they have no business harboring him here, either. My guess is that they extradite him to Venezuela.

[Irresponsible Journalism]

Somehow I don't think they see eye to eye on pork products.

 

[Fonda did not hand over notes from POWs]

Nixon had absolutely nothing to do with Watergate other than covering it up. I suggest you read Secret Agenda by Jim Hougan and Silent Coup by Len Colodny and Robert Gettlin. Both are far far superior to anything the boobs Wooward and Bernstein ever wrote.

 

Sorry, but I don't buy that.

 

I'm busy writing a grant proposal right now and don't have the time for leisure reading. What is their evidence?

[Irresponsible Journalism]

I think you hint at the real reason we are in Iraq.  Launching points  - and a hard-core ally in the Middle East (aka puppet government).  Yea, it's elected, and yea, they'll disagree with the USA, but they won't bite our hand off.

 

With Saudi Arabia ties that weren't exactly perfect, we needed a foothold in the middle east.  Now we have one.  We have 150,000 troops right next to Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, just in case they get stupid - which amazingly enough our ties are "back on track" according to Prince Abdullah after his last visit.  I wonder why?

 

Better a puppet government than a regime like Saddam's that executes/terrorizes innocent cititzens and financially supports terrorism.

 

Agreed that having an ally in the Middle East is very important, but I think it goes beyond that. The Middle East is a breeding ground for terrorists because the vast majority of the people live in poverty under repressive regimes. The Saudi royal family have more money than God, yet the country has a 40% unemployment rate. No wonder there are so many Islama-fascists there. Most people have little hope of leading a fulfilling, meaningful life. Democracy and Capitalism are the solution to that.

[Irresponsible Journalism]

LMAO.  Mr. Franken... 

 

Saddam didn't have any of those at the time of invasion either.  So it doesn't matter.  You just used justification of his "regime" to invade a country, so why don't we invade everyone with the same issues?

 

If Saddam didn't have those weapons, perhaps he should've allowed UN weapons inspectors to do their jobs. And perhaps he shouldn't have invaded Kuwait 15 years ago. Or shot Scud missiles at Israel. Or shelled his own people with VX. Or terrorized and tortured tens of thousands of others. Or given $20,000 rewards to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. Do you see a pattern here?

 

The obvious answer to the second part of your question is that we can't force regime changes in ALL rogue nations. We simply don't have the resources. Our best course of action is to deal with the most threatening ones (i.e., ones that have or have been known to possess/use WMDs). One could (strongly) argue that overthrowing the Islamic government in Iran would've been a better course of action. North Korea would've been disarmed years ago if it didn't have China on its side.

 

BTW, I take the Hannity comparison as a compliment.

[Irresponsible Journalism]

Saddam kept power and kept his neighbors at bey, by them believing he was more powerful than he was. If Iraq thought that Kuwait had WMD to retaliate with, they probably would not have evaded the first time.

 

Kuwait is about the size of Rhode Island and never would've stood a chance against Iraq.

[Irresponsible Journalism]

If you're going to open that can of worms, Mr. Hannity and Mr. Limbaugh, er, I mean, BigHurt, then what about Rwanda and Somolia and everywhere else on the planet genocide occurs?  Why Iraq?  (gee, I wonder - and NO, it's not oil).

 

Well, Mr. Franken, the governments in Rwanda and Somalia have never had chemical/biological weapons or a nuclear program. They've never threatened to "build bombs the size of Hiroshima." They've never used VX on their own people.

 

BTW, did we get any oil out of Korea or Vietnam? :rolly

[Irresponsible Journalism]

Or maybe our fault for not listening to a lot of our own intelligence. But that's neither here nor there. There was more than enough information out there, not being reported in the US mainstream media, that threw that issue's credibility into question. They chose, irresponsibly, to not report it. If it had been reported, the battle over Iraq may have been fought differently or not at all. Does that make them responsible for the deaths of 1500+ soldiers?

 

If Saddam didn't have WMDs, why did he go to such great lengths to keep weapons inspectors out of certain locations? That's not how an innocent man acts. Especially someone who has not only posessed said weapons in the past, but used them on his own people.

 

I have no problem accepting the fact that the WMDs were never there. Then again, Saddam's actions suggest otherwise. Perhaps he covertly shipped them to Syria or destroyed them before the invasion? He had ample time to do so. We may never know the truth.

 

BTW, I wonder how many innocent Iraqis were murdered by Saddam's regime. I'll bet it was a lot more than 1,500. IMO, that alone provides ample justification for a regime change.

[Vincente Fox apologizes for "blacks" comment]

Moron

[Raymond series finale...]

Raymond's my favorite finale...I'm glad it's over.

 

I didn't like this show....

 

Me neither. I can't stand the way that he lets his wife and mother walk all over him.

[Raymond series finale...]

IMO, Newhart had the best ending (when Bob woke up in his bed back in Chicago, on the set of his former series... his job as an inkeeper in Vermont had all been a dream). That was genius.

[Irresponsible Journalism]

Does this mean that the So Called Liberal Media is responsible for the death of thousands of US soldiers for not adequately investigating the claims about weapons of mass destruction?

 

No, it was Saddam's fault for not allowing UN weapons inspectors to do their jobs.

[Fonda did not hand over notes from POWs]

I'm so old, not only was I alive in 1972, I was old enough to vote. Nixon had no threats whatsoever to his reelection after Wallace was shot and Muskie self destructed. When Fonda committed her heinous acts in North Vietnam, Nixon was pretty much a shoo in, and one of the biggest reasons was Jane Fonda herself.

 

He apparently didn't think so when he ordered his goons to break into the Watergate Building. Perhaps his paranoia had something to do with his decision regarding Fonda.

[Irresponsible Journalism]

Agreed, and that their best interests would be in keeping quiet.

 

And the liberal media has an interest in doing anything to bring down the Bush administration. Hell, they've already been caught reporting a fabricated story (Memogate). Why should we assume that Newsweek's story is legitimate?

[Irresponsible Journalism]

Letter from the newsweek editor

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7857154/site/newsweek/

 

I'm still not sold that this didn't happen.

 

If it did, I'll bet that more than one person saw it.

[Irresponsible Journalism]

the editors of some magazine, in their rush to discredit our methods of prosecuting the war against terrorism, didn't bother to fact check their story properly. 

 

I'm no journalist, but it seems to me that if I'm going to make serious allegations that will cause incredible outrage (and, in this case, death), I find more than ONE source to corroborate the story.

 

I find it odd that this "source" suddenly changed his/her story and am wondering if said person even exists.

 

To borrow a recent catch phrase around here........

"Wow,  just wow."