FlaSoxxJim

My favorite and most personal family ornaments are tree stumps. It's true. Every year since almost when my wife and I have been dating (1992) we take the small disk of tree stump that you cut off the bottom to improve water uptake, drill a hole in the top of it, paint the year on it and make an ornament out of it. Having more than a dozen such ornaments from different years all over the tree is pretty cool.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 12:04 PM) Or, WE TORTURE, STFU AND GET BACK IN LINE NOW BEFORE I SHOVE THIS CARBON DIOXIDE DOWN YOUR THROAT!!! Sure, there is something to be said for the Wolfram and Hart approach to honesty in evil.

McMaster should have been running the show in Fallujah as well. The contrast in how these two operatiosn were con ducted, and in the efforts to rebuild afterward, are striking.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 11:55 AM) I'm just sick of dependance on oil in general. Emissions from vehicles are destroying the air we breath and accelerating global warming. It's the entire environment I am worried about, not just Alaska's. EDIT: And before anyone points their finger at me and calls me a hyprocrite, I sold my car earlier this year and ride my bike to work or take the bus/train. Also a member of the NRDC. Global Warming is a Myth. Oh yeah, and We Don't Torture. Now Get Back in Line.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 22, 2005 -> 11:29 AM) Some rebuttals for traditional arguements... http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/...91756-3971r.htm OK, I'm convinced. If a wonk from Joe Coors' Heritage Foundation says this is the right (Right?) thing to do, then absolutely let's do it. I mean, if this works out half as well as the Foundation's Reagan era advocacy of SDI and the arming of Afghanistan and Nicaragua it should be just fine.

Tony is as classy as they come. This is absulutely tragic. Hearts and thoughts are with the family.

Behold the Power of Cheese.

Yessirree. Can you say Constitutional Crisis? One of the Kos Front Pagers says this is going to break in tomorrow's WaPo. Piss off a bunch of Federal judges. That's the ticket. If they can connect the dots and show that BushCo used the information from the unauthorized wiretaps to then go and request court approvals for wiretaps for as if it were a priori knowledge it will be absolutely damning. Particularly if some of the bogus FISA approved wiretaps ended up in actual terrorist arrests that can now be challenged as being the products of illegal search and seizure.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 08:24 PM) But in the mean time, we need oil, it is there, and I don't give a f*** about caribu. Holy crap, dissing the reindeer three days before Christmas. . . ! You won't need any oil, Brother Evil. Looks like you'll have pleny of coal soon enough.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 06:38 PM) Grassley's widely respected in Iowa by both dems and republicans. My Dad, who spent large parts of the seventies being a hippie and becoming friends with the grass, is still a hardcore liberal, but he votes for Grassley every year because he works hard to represent Iowans. Then again, it'd be nice if he wasn't mentioned in the same breath as Stevens. Grassley gets my respect for beginning the push to bbring Sarbanes-Oxley style reform to non-profits and making thenm start living up to their fiduciary responsibilities.

Too bad the raping of Medicaid, Medicare and student loans was passed 51-50 with Cheney's tie-breaking vote.

These pretzels are making me THIRSTY!!

QUOTE(Mercy! @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 12:42 PM) Well, I see everyone’s finding the Cool Kids side. I’ve given up on the concept of these “--- only” threads, though. You usually get just one or two posts into them before the “other” side can’t control its urge to post. Like the time I tried for a “ghey only” thread and it was swarmed by you perverts in an instant, defiling the sweet purity of the Julie Andrews Day in Chicago. Whatever happened to “I like to watch?” Signed, Questioning on the Northside. I agree. f***ing Breeders. . . btw, I have had two of my own Julie Andrews Days since then, while watching my annnibersary edition of Sound of Music. Signed, 2Sloppy2BGhey

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 11:49 AM) Along these lines, I really think that the Republican party is fracturing into two camps. One is the 90's model, which is highly pro-business, stringent fiscal policy, smaller government, and socially moderate (on the average). The other is this weird neo-con group, the religious right, who are socially very conservative, anti-individual-freedoms, and fiscally ambivalent. Which leads to something else that might spark some interesting discussion. I think that Bush played the far-right in both elections to get him into office, but despite outward appearances, I don't think Bush is a social conservative at all. I dislike a lot of his actions as President, but if you look at the really contentious social issues (abortion, religion in schools, gay marriage), he's talked a big game, but has stopped short of making any real moves. Frankly, I think he played the Cons, and they may not know it yet. I think you need to divide further, as the Christian Right Wingers and the Neocons are really two entirely different species.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 11:17 AM) The truth of the matter is, "conservatives" only vote Republican, because the party is supposed to be for "hands off" government more then the Democrats. The even-more-truth of the matter is this is becoming less and less true as time has moved forward here. It's interesting that you say the Democratic party is a wider variety of people. I tend to agree with that, at least by old standards. But, why is it that they are slowly getting away from that reach to "all sorts of people" and shifting their own focus to what's more "fringe" politics? By the way, this is good stuff. I like this kind of conversation. I don't think all of the core dem issues are on the fringe. Or at least they shouldn't be. Concern for the health of the environment is something most Americans profess, but when it bumps up against the selfish interests of big business the environmental advocates are painted as extremist treehugggers (Which do exist. ELF's bulls*** extremism and such does nothing but overshadow the legitimate encironmental advocates.) Civil Rights has always been a core dem issue, and it is only a 'fringe' issue because there are segments of society whoo do not ascribe to the belief that all Americans deserve equality. That the issue has expanded from race to gender to sexual orientation is as it should be. Labor has become a tougher issue, of course, but the Dems need to find the right message here. The GOP Congress has coddled big business and the result is that it has simultaneously become rediculously easy for companies to shed their pension obligations in bankruptcy while becoming almost impossible for Joe Six-pack retirees to file for personal bankruptcy after the companies they worked for for 30 years f***e them over. Without being shills for the Unions (which obviously have their own problems), the dems can find a voice to rail against these incongruities. Social Securrity is the crown jewel of the Dems, which is precisely why the Bush GOP wanted to take it from them in the stalled and flawed overhaul campaign. Point out to Americans precisely why the Bush plan won't work and figure out a better way to fix the system (hint: make the first quarter- or half- million dollars of personal income social security taxble, and not just the first $90K.). Concern over the need for affordable health care for all Americans is a critical issue and I think it is one where the Dems are going to come up with working strategies, find their voice, and win big on. The Boomers are hitting retirement age at a rate of one every 7.7 seconds, IIRC. Veterans' benefits is something BushCo (and the GOP by association) has really dropped tthe ball on. It would be a great thing for the Dems to lead the charge here.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 10:32 AM) Seems to me there are at least two disparate ® parties right now anyway. The D's are more in the same camp, but they don't have their s*** together just yet. I think you are shortchanging this board by only putting in D and R. I am willing to bet there are a lot if "I"s out there, and maybe a few G, C and L's as well. I was a proud "I" for most of my voting-age life until I decided I needed to be able to vote in party primaries and couldn't if I was registered as an Independent.

YES! Gorillas do experience menopause. The More You Know. . .

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 10:11 AM) Are you mocking me? I'll say this nicely in here. I really wish the Democrats would get a great message, and clean up some things. That way, we could have REAL debate about issues, not just what's wrong. That' sthe real trick, of course. The Democratic Party is a very diverse party and so for some time now it has been hard to find a singularly unifying message. Bleeding hearts, blue collar unionists, academics, civil libertarians, environmental proponents, pro-choice advocates, socialized health care advocates, gay rights advocates, etc., etc., all claim affiliation to the party, and it's hard to find the singular message. Other than general agreement that the GOP cares very little about the average american little guy – unless it is an election year.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 09:59 AM) Come on Paul Harvey, let's hear, the rest . . . of the story That was John's own admission in an interview. The repeated reference to 'isn't it good? Norwegian wood' were taken directlt from a fling he had where in the back of his mind he kept thinking of how quickly her wood-panelled house (or apartment, I don't recall) would go up in flames. Thanksfully, rather than acting on the impulse, John merely wrote a song about it. The song is of course important for George's contribution to it – the first time he played sitar on a record and a foretelling of his later more serious exploration of that instrument. And now you know. . . the rest of the story.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 09:47 AM) One of my favorites, if nothing else for its pathetic lack of obviousness... Did you know that John is alluding to the song's protagonist burning da b****'s house down in the last verse? It's true.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 21, 2005 -> 08:06 AM) I don't know about some of this, but he touches on my pet peeve of this arguement and that is the arrogence of academia when it comes to ID, and actually to most arguements. The air of all knowingness and the willingness to look down their noses at anyone who would dare believe in something other than what they publish is the most irritating part of all of this. Either you believe in ID, or you are somekind of 18th churchhouse knuckledragger. If you believe that science considers itself all-knowing, then you'd have to ask why any scientists have jobs. EVERY scientific hypothesis and theory is open to critical evaluation, iterative adjustment, or abandoment as evidence indicates. That seems to me tthe opposite of all-knowingness. rather it is an admission that scienttific knowledge consists of a set of working hhypotheses rather than gospel truths. That is not to say that individual scientists cannot mistakenly feel they are infallable in their conclusions. But that is a human failing that we can see in certain individuals from all professions. The important part of that article above is this, and I agree with it: If philosophy, religion, or theology departments want to add an exploration of ID to their course offerings, that's perfectly acceptable to me and the vast majority of scientists. But since the existence of a God/Divine Agent/Intelligent Desiger is NOT TESTABLE, none of it has a place in science or in science classrooms.

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Dec 17, 2005 -> 02:07 PM) Has anyone gotten a chance to listen to "This Bird Has Flown?" The 40th Anniv Rubber Soul tribute album. A lot of really good covers and a couple good stiffs. Highlights: The Donnas surprisingly faithful rendition of Drive My Car Sufjan Stevens does an amazing deconstruction of What Goes On. Rhett Miller's version of Girl. It's like the song was written for his voice. Disappointments: The Fiery Furnaces - Norwegian Wood (Arguably the absolute worst track on the CD.) Nellie McKay - If I Needed Someone. I don't know who she is and what she does, but after that track I hope I never hear of her again. Ted Leo - I'm Looking Through You. It's an alright track, but its just not great Ted Leo. It's on my Christmas listt. But if I don't get it I'll havve to take matters into my own hands and buy it for myself.

I'm trying to post in this thread but. . . Aarghhh! It burns! It burns!! Make it stop!!! Hmmm, guess I'm not welcome here.