Rex Kickass

In my neck of the woods - 2000+ jobs to be lost at end of the year when a plant closes near GR. The jobs are being moved to Mexico. Another plant is shutting down in Holland - 880 jobs lost. Another one may be dropping anywhere between 400 to 1100 jobs this week. General unemployment may not be so bad - but in the states that will hinge the election - - unemployment is on the increase in most of those states.

It just sucks it took a week of public browbeating before the White House realized this might actually be a good idea. It seems like they don't want this investigated till they realize keeping their mouth shut hurts them that week in the polls. You're a leader. Lead, dammit.

Here's the painful truth. Papers that make money hit the most popular stories the hardest. In Chicago right now, the Cubs are a 10, the Sox are a 6. Who do you think is gonna get more coverage?

He made it. It's called a prop and its something used by both sides. Don't you remember the stink when Bush did his speech in front of all those boxes painted "Made in the USA" and it turned down they were all made in Taiwan?

If it makes you feel any better, I don't think anyone is paying attention to this division at all. TBH, this is a wide open division - and the team that gets the hottest the longest will win out. I could honestly see everyone in the division winning between 70 and 90 games. TSN had a great preview of the division I thought and picks the Sox to win second, behind Minnesota but says that it is by no means a lock and that KC and Chicago have the strength to pull ahead of the pack - they just don't think the history of a strong finish is there.

Call it heresy, but I agree. When the Sox win their division, I'm sure they'll get 5 pages too.

I4E... another thing you're wrong on The White Stripes are more blues than punk. I wore out my London Calling CD. If you're gonna honor American punk though - its all Descendents baby... All? No ALL!

Where's your vinyl dammit? Ghetto Defendant is by far the bestest song on Combat Rock. Ginsberg doing spoken word. Although Punk doesn't get better than White Riot.... What about the Misfits?? I got somethin to say..... I killed your baby today..... and it doesnt matter much to me as long as its dead.....

I would gaurantee the right of employment and fair housing to all GBLT people. I would reinstitute ownership caps on broadcast license holders. I would allow any pair of consenting adults hold marriage benefits regardless of sexuality. I would apologize to the American people for failing to prevent the attacks of September 11th. I would prevent drilling in ANWR. I would encourage development of fuel cell technology and devise a carrot/stick method to improve the energy efficiency of energy consuming products in the United States. Then I would make myself dictator for life and make Tony Hawk the Minister of Awesome.

I'm sorry, but when did I miss the Libya developments. It was my understanding that El-Baradei said that Libya was several years away from nuclear capabilities. As for Chemical and Biological weaponry, it seemed - when inspections first began that their delivery systems and programs were pretty crude and not nearly that well made. Pakistan fighting Al-Qaeda elements in their own country may be a temporary help to the US, but it also came out this year that Pakistan, a state that the Clinton administration placed fairly tight sanctions on were selling nuclear technology to rogue states. North Korea's agreed framework was never fully funded by the Republican congress. We, in fact, reneged on that agreement before the North Koreans. By their own admission, they did not seriously pursue a nuclear weapons program until 2001, after the Bush inauguration took place. A point in which you could see a shift in attitude towards the North Koreans from the US government. Then North Korea said: we are reprocessing our fuel rods unless you talk with us. The Bush administration would not. Now North Korea has nuclear weapons - although a delivery system is not adequate to their needs at the moment. How did the Bush administration by waiting nearly two years to speak with the North Koreans and create some sort of understanding regime make the US safer? The Pakistan/India situation is cooling off in the same way that the US/USSR situation cooled off in the 1970s. The proliferation of Nuclear weaponry within both states seems to have created a Mutually Assured Destruction regime which, in my view, seems to be growing in a similar fashion to the US/USSR regime of the 60s and 70s during Cold War II. This has little to do with US influence. Is the US safer? Probably not. Are we safer? Probably, because September 11th made us more aware of the risks of living freely in the world. In some ways, this is the strongest weapon against terror available. But that is something that the government can not provide for us.

Is this game on WGN?

Were you gonna vote for him before?

On the contrary to your first point. The increased deficit is not all about the war on terror. If that were the case, we'd be looking at a deficit of 100 to 150 billion a year rather than 500 billion dollars. Bush's tax cuts (which by the way have meant higher taxes on the state level for many people) contributed to the deficit. The Bush white house and the Republican congress have increased discretionary spending at a higher rate than Clinton, or Bush 41. In fact, studies have shown that the "small-government" Republicans are willing to spend more on Pork Projects than Democrats were when they were in the majority. Steroid use is a concern. But if the President supports individual liberty and personal freedom, it should be up to individual states and municipalities to create laws and programs dealing with steroid use. Further, this is where parental responsibility comes into play. Because 1 out of 20 kids in High School is juiced up, it's not a reason for me to vote Bush. The prescription care package that Bush rammed through the Congress is a start, that's correct. However, he only got it passed by not revealing the higher cost estimates until after the vote took place. This is the same bill by the way that a Michigan congressman was offered a bribe to vote for during a three hour roll call vote on the floor of the House. He made those comments on WKZO-AM radio in Kalamazoo (his district). A couple months after the bill was passed, the cost estimates rose by 30% with a disclaimer that said - we pretty much knew this before the vote. Here's a true story. In 2001, I paid a smaller percentage of income tax than in 2002, despite the fact that I made less than 2000 dollars more than the year previous. Granted, the difference was about .3% of my annual income - but that still seems like a tax increase to me. And I made less than 25,000 a year. In the mean time, in the state that I live in, which has faced budget crises since the federal deficit has meant reduced funding for federal mandates within the state - state income taxes have gone up. In Indiana, sales tax has increased from 5 to 6 percent. It seems that the taxes that have gone up on the state level to compensate for reduced funding due to reduced funds from the Federal Government tend to have a greater impact on lower income groups. Think about it. If everything you buy costs 1% more because of a sales tax increase - who's wallet will it affect more. The person scraping by hand to mouth, or the fine gentleman who just received that Dividend Tax cut? RE: Outsourcing. The Bush administration released a memo a few weeks ago encouraging outsourcing jobs for increased economic growth. The Kerry campaign previewed his plan to close tax loopholes for those companies who outsource out of the US and for a 5% cut in corporate taxes generally. RE: Intelligence. It came out this weekend that the intelligence about the Iraqi mobile weapons labs came from two sources, one the CIA regarded as unreliable and discredited, and another from an interview between German intelligence and an Iraqi dissident. The CIA never sought independent confirmation of this intelligence. It never sought corroboration from these claims, and it turns out both informants were on the Iraqi National Congress payroll. The INC, by the way, makes up a large portion of the Coalition Provisional Authority. Oh yeah, David Kay - the man Bush appointed to find the Weapons of Mass Destruction after the toppling of the Hussein regime - was quoted as saying if the sources for this material, presented before the public, were also public, we would have been laughed out of the court. Just some things to think about when you use these reasons to vote for Bush.

Well, however you feel about unions it doesn't change that the National union has endorsed Kerry. It doesn't change that a Republican dominated Congress and White House has promised funds for First Responders that never materialized. And it doesn't change that New York City has had to close Fire Departments post September 11 because they couldn't afford to keep them all open.

Its not so much a quote, I'd just like to praise apu for use of the term "assmuppet"

Do I think Bush's joke was funny? No. Would I have minded as much if his father had done the same? Probably not. Why? Because there is an aura of arrogance that I see around the Bush administration. If his father did it, it might have seemed like good natured humor. But when he does it, its like he's thumbing his nose at everyone that believed his hype about WMD. And that's not exactly "restoring dignity to the office" is it?

I am voting for John Kerry because of the following reasons: 1. I believe that John Kerry is a consensus builder and not a polarizer. This will help us in foreign policy and allow us to gather the international support necessary to tackle important issues more easily. A Kerry presidency will strengthen a weakened NATO coalition. 2. I believe that John Kerry will not outright lie - say he will do one thing and immediately do another. We've suffered through nearly 12 years of that at this point, and I need a change. 3. With the Supreme Court not having had a vacant seat in nearly a decade, most politicial thinkers believe as many as 3 or 4 seats on the Supreme Court may be vacated by 2008. My gut feeling is that Kerry would be less likely to place ideologically rigid justices like Scalia or Thomas or Ginsburg to the bench. 4. I believe that John Kerry more closely believes in the premise of equal rights for all people. 5. The national firefighters union has endorsed John Kerry. Firefighters are our first line of defense post attack - and if attacks will happen, we need to make sure that we are prepared to deal with the aftermath. Pledges to first responders after September 11 are yet to be fully funded. 6. John Kerry is not as ideologically rigid as other candidates at this point in time. Although I may be a pretty extreme liberal, I don't want a president who governs from one side or the other. 7. I believe that the best action the US governments have taken in modern times have been with a divided government - a Congress dominated by one party, the Presidency by another. It is not likely, although not inconceivable that the Democrats will be able to take back the legislative branch majorities in 2004. 8. I firmly believe that we should honor those who made commitments to our country by putting their lives on the line. Time and again over the past few years, we have seen Guardsmen go months without pay and inadequate veterans benefits. Because Kerry served - in battle - I believe he is more likely to honor our nation's debt to veterans. There's eight reasons. Maybe I'll find more later.

They are the reason I wont go to a protest.

F**k em.

What I think is funny about all this is that the White House never got its story straight about Richard Clarke. Cheney was saying on Limbaugh that he's out of the loop. Given that he ran the response desk on 9/11 and 9/12 during the tragedy... that would make him THE loop. Clarke's story checks out for the most part actually. There are a couple excellent articles in Slate about the allegations and the fact that they are corroborated by people who didn't work with the guy. If the warnings didn't come from Clarke, they came from others. Including Ruddman and Hart who were chairing a blue ribbon counter terror panel chaired by the Clinton administration. I remember Gary Hart specifically voicing his concerns about an imminent terror attack on the show I was producing in Spring 2001. The report they issued showed a drawing of a jet flying into the WTC. But we never expected that?

Didn't Carol Mosley Braun make it to the senate in 92 being ridiculously outspent in the primary? Being a 14 yo in Indiana, I didn't even know she was running til she won the Democratic nod! What I think is awesome is that George Bush came to Boston, stays in a hotel for a fundraiser - and because of security concerns, kids aren't going to get home from school on time and the Boston Renaissance Academy has to close for the day. For a fundraiser. Probably to make sure no child is left behind.

Ain't no thang but a chicken wang.

except now they think its some dude from Chechnya and not Al-Zwahiri.

No offense, but I don't wanna hear bible quotes. I'm not asking you to marry me here. And given the number of people I know whove attempted suicide because they can't not be gay - given the fact that I spent years trying to hide my sexuality and change and all that myself, I'm pretty sure this ain't a choice.

Dude. Teach all you want about Christianity, I have no issue. But here's where you're wrong about diversity Nuke. Teaching about these deviant lifestyles might make it less of a risk for me to reveal who I am to people. I take a risk by posting on this board. If my boss discovers who I am, there is the distinct possibility I might be fired. If people in my town discover who I am, there is the distinct possibility I might have my ass kicked for no reason other than I'm not like them. Why? Because people don't understand what it's like to be anything other than what they are. Education breeds tolerance. Education breeds acceptance. You don't have to like what I do - but you do have let me lead my life.