Rex Kickass

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Aug 11, 2010 -> 11:08 PM) Pretty much any scene from Pink Flamingos. Or Female Trouble. "Say it with me, liquid eyeliner."

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Aug 19, 2010 -> 02:20 PM) I dont think I ever said that. Merely stated that they feds have a conviction that could carry up to 5 year prison term. What more do they want? 20 year term? 50 year term? The guy is in ruins, he wont ever have the opportunity to commit a similar crime again. He poses no real risk to society. I guess Im not into punishment for the sake of punishment. They convicted Blago, why do they need another show? I would prefer that they moved on to bigger and better things. I am of the mind that if you punish the coverup and not the crime, it just encourages politicians to be more brazen about the wrong that they do, when and if they choose to do wrong. Because if the crime is just politics, why bother lying about it?

Pew Survey http://people-press.org/report/645/

So all this controversy is probably going to end up killing the project after all. The project is still in the beginning stages of development and with the Cordoba House foundation having mere thousands of dollars in the bank instead of tens of millions..... my guess is that the Burlington Coat Factory mosque will likely stay just an empty Burlington Coat Factory.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 18, 2010 -> 03:31 PM) Yep, just ignore the reality of the situation to fit your argument. It's only because they're Muslim. Context means nothing. Republicans just hate brown people, period. There, you won. The reality of this situation is that if the WTC site was truly hallowed ground, we shouldn't be doing things like building a shopping mall right in the middle of it. We shouldn't have strip clubs and gay bars right next to it. Or any bars for that matter. But we do. Yet, there's no outrage there. I've heard the argument that the Burlington Coat Factory mosque would be like putting a Japanese monument right next to Pearl Harbor. But shouldn't the idea of commercializing the same hallowed ground with a Baby GAP be just as abhorrent? If that's not the case, why shouldn't Disney be able to build their Gettysburg theme park? We either treat "hallowed ground" like hallowed ground, or we don't.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 18, 2010 -> 03:30 PM) Oh GMAB. You act as though the evil puppet master Republicans run the country. And it won't work, because there's nothing they can do about it. They can puff their chest and yell outrage and 6 months from now all this s***'ll be forgotten. I just hate that in this country whenever you don't have the progressive view on an issue you're instantly deemed a bigoted racist. So unnecessary (and wrong). Again, my problem is not that whether or not you support the building of a community center in a former Burlington Coat Factory when it happens to contain a mosque. My problem is that one particular political party has chosen to take a local zoning issue and frame it as an attack on America completely devoid of any actual context. It appeals to the worst of all of us, frankly. If you choose to think that the location is a poor one, that doesn't make you a bigot, and it doesn't make you a racist. If you choose to exploit an opinion for political gain, and describe in terms that insinuate that the US is at war with an entire religion (like Palin, Gingrich and a surprisingly large number of GOP hacks have done) by appealing to fear and anger, that would make you a bigot (although not a racist.) So are you a bigot for opposing this project? No. Are the people making a mountain out of a molehill on this issue to win seats bigots? You betcha!

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 18, 2010 -> 03:14 PM) Bigoted my ass. It's just bad form! It's rude. It's unsympathetic. It ignores a significant event in our history. So would putting a shopping mall in the same place. Where's the outrage there?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 18, 2010 -> 03:03 PM) Well, we can ignore the reality of the situation, or we can say that in this particular instance, it's just bad form. I never said the government should stop them. The idea that people who aren't ok with it are suddenly racist (or are treating muslims like "they" treat gays) is ridiculous. I think it's ok for people to oppose it. I think its fine to stand before your community's zoning board or community council and seek means to stop it. That was done in New York City. It had to pass through several hurdles and commissions to get approval to get built. And it did. What's appalling about all this, and the point I've been arguing all along - is the national faux outrage that the Republicans are whipping up. This became a national political issue before the President said word one about it. This became a touchstone of what Republicans are running on. And what's more sad is that it will work. As much as it pains me to see this, the GOP seems to find the only way to victory for them is through belittlement and exclusion. I'm not saying that Democrats don't play this card too, they do all too often. It just happens that the Republicans are better at it.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 18, 2010 -> 02:06 PM) Yeah because in this scenario there's ZERO difference there. It's not like muslim extremists killed 3k people near the site of this place. Forgot gays did that kind of stuff all the time. GMAFB. I don't think many people are seriously arguing that these people don't have the right to build their center there, it's a question of whether or not common sense dictates that it's a good idea. Actually there is no difference. Rather than talk about their own record or any real agenda, they talked about 9/11 and how gays were out to destroy marriage in 2004. In 2010, their path to victory is ignore talking about their own nonexistent agenda - and instead talk about how some muslims want to build a community center that happens to hold a mosque, in a neighborhood wwhere an abandoned Burlington Coat Factory stands because its relatively close to a location where there was a terrorist attack. As far as the GOP is concerned, this year's Burlington Coat Factory community center is 2004's Gay Marriage.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 18, 2010 -> 12:52 PM) Sarah Palin is a non-entity, same with Gingrich. Reid should have kept his yap shut. I don't care what people who are basically just media shills (Palin, Gingrich) say. The President and the Senate Majority Leader (who represents Nevada) would better serve their party and their roles by not saying anything. Palin and Gingrich, as much as we would like them to not be non-entities, are entities. They are legitimate contenders for the Presidential nomination in 2012, and what they say - can to an extent - matter. Did Obama's statement hurt Democratic chances in November? Maybe. But I think he did absolutely the right thing over the weekend by affirming the freedom to practice the religion of your choice over the continuous and growing astroturf outrage over the Burlington Coat Factory mosque.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 18, 2010 -> 09:56 AM) I agree on the bolded. Its sad to see the sort of bigotry and fear that some people display. But I disagree that it was the President's place to wade in and take a side on a local issue. For that matter, its not Sarah Palin's place either. Nor is it Newt Gingrich's place. Nor is it Mitt Romney's place. Or Harry Reid. They all did make a stance. And in reality, it was those stances that forced a presidential response. Or maybe its the GOP PAC's that are spending money on a TV campaign to generate outrage to try and stop getting a community center built in an old Burlington Coat Factory because Muslims are the new gays.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Aug 18, 2010 -> 07:14 AM) The law is irrelevant. I said this pages ago and I'll say it again. The only reason this imam wants to put this thing there has nothing to do with religious "tolerance" but really, "intolerance". He's thumbing his nose at the world with a big "FU", I'm putting a mosque here whether you like it or not. And it's all for the attention. Of course, Rex, it's all about the GOP. It always is in your mind about how the little guy's getting screwed over and over again by the GOP. Biiiiiiiiiiiig yawn. When the GOP starts giving a s*** about people who make under a million dollars a year, I'll change my tune Kap.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 18, 2010 -> 09:10 AM) Well that's not really true - Obama has talked about it twice now. That's a bit disingenuous. Obama only mentioned the controversy last week, after a month of browbeating from potential GOP Presidential wannabes and political hacks like members of the AFA, Newt and Palin - called for "peaceful" muslims to rise up against the building of a community center, Newt so much as said that we should only allow the building of mosques when Mecca allows the building of churches, and the American Families Association has come out and said that we should only allow mosques to be built once they have denounced the Koran. And, truth be told, he didn't even talk about whether or not it was a good idea to build anything there - he merely said that all religions have the right to build houses of worship as long as they comply with local regulations and laws. The truth is, say whatever you want about W, he probably would have said the same thing - especially if the controversy was happening during an Iftar that he was hosting at the White House, which he did annually as well.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 04:30 PM) The rest of the world is/was 99.999% sure Israel has the bomb. That's still a good deterrent. In fact, you could make the argument that the reason that Saddam Hussein pretended to have a moribund WMD program working after Desert Storm in 1991 was for deterrent reasons. The soviets used vapor ware bomb systems constantly to exert influence, and it can work well if properly managed.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 09:37 PM) It's not the NATIONAL government's place to decide this. Oh, unless it's the taking of private property for some taxable interest. Then it's ok, but I digress. Seriously, this is not a government issue, really. It's also not a first amendment issue, even though everyone is trying to turn it into that. CONSTITUTIONALLY they can do whatever they want, but there's common sense here somewhere and something about some imam being an attention whore. The only people making a national case out of this happen to be Republicans. Locally, this group passed every hurdle. The community center doesn't even have a view of Ground Zero. It did, however, used to be a Burlington Coat Factory.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 02:05 PM) nothing will stop them once the reactor starts Not true. It also remains to be seen about how the fuel is being used and removed. If the Russians are loading the fuel in, and removing the fuel, it is not likely that Iran will get access to plutonium. Further, if fuel rods are being exchanged less often than every three or four months or so - the likelihood that this is being used for anything other than energy needs is also not likely, because any plutonium left would be too unstable to be properly weaponized. If Iran is following its agreement with Russia in getting Bahshehr online, the ability to weaponize fuel from the plant would seem to be pretty limited.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 01:20 PM) So, what does everyone think? We're just a few days away from the day that Iran becomes a nuclear power. Thoughts? Clearly Bolton doesn't like the idea: http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Ar....aspx?id=185060 Having a nuclear reactor does not make you a nuclear power.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 09:44 AM) I'm sure no one can guess which media conglomerate has made the largest corporate contribution to the Republican Governors Association. You know, I wonder what the GOP would say if a foreign national renounced his citizenship to control an ever increasing share of broadcast and print media within the United States with a definite slanted bent and then decided to openly use his media company to donate to a single political party. Turns out, they just say thanks.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Aug 16, 2010 -> 10:49 PM) Wrong. Remember 8%? The same report also predicted four million jobs protected. Moody's and Princeton people did a study. They found out that was wrong too. http://www.economy.com/mark-zandi/document...t-Recession.pdf

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Aug 16, 2010 -> 10:51 PM) That's what pensions are for, right? (serious question - teachers are highly pensioned) Some, not all.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 16, 2010 -> 02:44 PM) Industry funded effort to overturn the law setting renewable energy and greenhouse gas standards for CA on the ballot this November. I think they are looking at falling short of the 20% target in California by the end of 2010, but its going to be relatively close - between 18 and 19 percent is the best guess of where it will end up.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 16, 2010 -> 04:42 PM) what? i said hardly any. if we were just going to throw money at construction projects it should have been used to update bridges or ports or canals or whatever else is 10 years away from falling apart. I can point to three specific bridge infrastructure projects within 10 miles of my house that are at least partially funded by TIGER and ARRA.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 16, 2010 -> 02:35 PM) Does that assume prop 23 fails? I don't know what prop 23 is.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 16, 2010 -> 02:31 PM) The "bailout", as in TARP, was not only a necessity, but it was one of the more successful programs the government put in place in recent memory. They allocated $750B, used only about $200B, have gotten back almost $150B of that with interest, and will probably only have a final cost of around $40B last I looked. And considering the dire consequences of inaction, that was highly worth it. Now the Stim bill, on the other hand, was poorly executed and a huge wasted opportunity. Stim bills are always seen as poorly executed - because a good stim bill tends to phase in progress. This one did that, it just unfortunately wasn't quite big enough in actual spending for jobs.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 16, 2010 -> 12:36 PM) Also, this reminds me, saw an interesting graphic on npr's site today. Talks about how most of the progress made so far in alt energy has been done by the states... and shows a map of goal levels, and actual performance levels, of % electricity generated by renewables, by state. I figured the top states would be out west, where population and demand is low, and there is so much opportunity for solar and wind. But as it turns out, the top 2 states are Maine and Iowa. Also interesting, I was shocked to see how high the %'s actually are - there are a number of states well over 10%, and quite a few more in the 5-10% range. Graphic. At the end of the year, California will have 18-20% of its power produced by renewable energy sources.