Rex Kickass

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 17, 2009 -> 11:57 AM) Bulls***, Ameri-trade asked the guy to investigate one of Obama’s friends due to mysterious allocations of taxpayer money, and then the guy is mysteriously fired after finding damning evidence. The man did nothing to deserve being fired, unless you count doing his job. Sometimes the obvious answer is the right one. Mysteriously fired and replaced by someone else who joined the Inspector General's office under the Bush administration. You'd think they'd have brought someone else up who didn't work under the Bush administration if they really wanted to pull some hijinks.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 17, 2009 -> 11:54 AM) Well that is the thing, I believe that Khamenei will begin to distance himself regardless of the outcome in an attempt to show that he "wasn't part of this". Im not sure that the entire govt has been shaken to the core where some one could outright challenge him, at least not Mousavi. Now if another high ranking cleric or clerics, began to speak against Khamenei and implicated him, then perhaps you could see both the President and Ayatollah go down at the same time. Khamenei said something to the effect of "If Achma...ijad (sick of spelling it wrong) loses, I lose," just before the election. So it's hard for him to weasel out of this. Moderates are rising up. It takes a LOT for Moderates to rise up in general. Because generally, they're pretty.... moderate.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/20...opriate-co.html Or it might have been that he was hiding exculpatory evidence, and that a bipartisan review board unanimously recommended his termination. Frankly, I don't really know. Which sounds to me a lot more plausible than covering the mayor of Sacramento's ass. I think, and at least hope, that if Obama was going to pull shady s*** like people on such award winning websites as infowars.com, prisonplanet.com and talkaboutham.com accuses him of, it would be for bigger deals than pulling a mayor of a second tier California city out of the fire. For all the talk about being spoonfed other places, taking people like Alex Jones at face value certainly seems like a bit of spoonfeeding yourself.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 11:54 PM) I want to see the investigation into the woman's husband that supposedly asked for money. Political ties, recent meetings, anythign if it exists. The woman's husband was also a "top aide" to Senator Ensign.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 17, 2009 -> 08:27 AM) This morning I was going to b**** about a Justice Department decision yesterday concerning gay rights where they compared it to incest and stated that, and how the Obama administration's direction with gay rights was annoying me so far (gays in the military notwithstanding, I defended him earlier on that). Then, almost as if they knew already, theydid this, letting partners of federal employees receive benefits. Hey, it's a start. Except DOMA prohibits most benefits. Except relocation. It's kind of a s***ty sop move. We compare homosexuality to incest then we'll pretend to throw gay couples a nonexistent bone. Obama was never strong on gay rights issues. The truth is that gay organizations got behind people like Obama and Hillary during the primary for no good reason whatsoever, because anyone with a brain knew that they'd be sold right down the river at the first opportunity. Instead, they spurned Richardson who was the only major candidate to strongly back equality for GLBT Americans because he misspoke in a forum and said that being gay is a choice. (He meant to say, and his policies at the time backed him up - I don't care if it's a choice.) Maybe they spurned him because he's a lady toucher although, as Ensign's recent admission holds true - who isn't? Or maybe they spurned him because they didn't think he was sexy enough - because for too many people in my GLBT community, if it isn't another episode of "Dynasty," who cares? Obama's administration sold out gay people with the DOMA defense brief. Is it expected? Should have been. Is it an awful brief? Hell yeah. Is there a lot of fake outrage over a brief that the President probably never read or even thought about? Most definitely.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 12:55 PM) As for the Palin's letting other jokes about their kids go in the past, well they shouldn't of and they are being a little hypocritical, but in no way shape or form does that excuse Letterman. Also, I'm not easily offended. I was a public defender for 2 years, and the type of dark humor that is floated around that type of office is very dark. This joke struck a horrible chord with me, maybe because I've been involved in cases with sexual abuse to minors. I never said that this excuses Letterman who has given two fairly detailed and very public apologies. It does fail to justify the outrage that Palin has had, and who has, as a sidenote, accepted the second public Letterman apology.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 11:43 AM) Note he says "no evidence" on treatments, but the fact that the updated tech, building, tools, etc, costs more is the answer why, even if the writer doesn't want to admit it. It's easy to read between the lines here, the updated technologies obviously offer more and cost more, the say otherwise is insane. And it's possible because they're running a bunch of unnecessary tests -- or a plethora of other reasons, none of which the article actually uncovers...it just leaves it up to assumption. Let's review. El Paso and McAllen are roughly equal when it comes to demographics, including non-English speakers, and illegal immigrants. They offer roughly the same services, and have tort reform legislation in place. So straw man #1: Blood sucking Lawyers - not an issue. Straw Man #2: Illegal "They took our jooobbbssss" immigrants - not an issue. McAllen ranks below El Paso in quality of service across the board. Yet charges twice as much to Medicare. Is it a lack of regulation keeping costs reasonable in McAllen? Is it that El Paso just hasn't caught up in charging as much? Or should health care just be this expensive?

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 11:38 AM) A paragraph later than the one you quoted explains why. Until you get to the next page:

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 10:20 AM) I'll type this slow so no one misses is. I-L-L-E-G-A-L-S. Boy, that was a hard answer. Then why does El Paso have half the cost per patient? http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06...fa_fact_gawande

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 09:41 AM) File this under "things that would have been different for the worse if John McCain won": He is saying that Obama's not criticizing the Iranian elections loud enough, he wants Obama to publicly call them a sham run by a corrupt regime etc. This is about the worst possible course of action he could take. Right now he is being subdued on it and letting the whole thing play out on its own, without us. Support for the Islamic government has never been this low and there's at least an appearance that the rug was yanked out from under the clerics, and the government may well be slowly collapsing before our eyes (the 1979 revolution didn't happen overnight either). There is a de facto current for cooler relations with the West... now, if you have the US president making public comments on internal Iranian affairs - again - now you have the Iranian government able to say the US is meddling with their right to govern themselves - again - and what happens to that support, and anti-regime sentiment? It evaporates and you go back to waiting. Word. Obama has been pretty good on foreign affairs so far.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 09:03 AM) Because frivilous malpractice claims are actually only a small part of the problem in health care. It exists, its worth addressing, but by itself it isn't something where we fix it and all is well. That's sorta my point. It's the one thing that we consistently hear from politicians who are opposed to a public option as the lynch pin of lowering health care costs... even though it affects costs much less than people think.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 11:21 PM) Balta, in all fairness, you linked an article that was written by a medical malpractice attorney. He has an obvious economic interest here. You did not link the study, even though the article mentions where the study can be found. But still, it shows that there is advocacy based on profit from trial lawyers whom may be prone to cherry picking data, as well as the insurance industry. If you wanna match anecdote for anecdote, explain why McAllen, Texas is among the most expensive cities in the country for healthcare - and yet Texas has the very same malpractice reform that people who whine about malpractice reform want?

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 16, 2009 -> 02:38 AM) I'm calling BS on this. If he felt so bad, why did he wait a week after he made the "joke." Also, this apology came after CBS lost an advertiser. This was his second on air apology. And here's why the whole thing is BS and manufactured outrage. Jay Leno - September 2, 2008 There was a skit on SNL in September 2008 that referred to the Palin family as being fans of incest and accused her husband of sleeping with her daughters. Where was that outrage? Conan O'Brien - Oct 8, 2008. At the time, Palin was traveling with her 13 and 6 year old daughters.

Letterman tonight.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 01:32 PM) Um, Willow was at the game with Sarah. Bristol wasn't. I really doubt Letterman knew which daughter was there to be honest. In fact, I doubt he even wrote the joke. And for that matter, the jokes weren't even really about Palins as they were about A-Rod and Spitzer for being sexual predators. But, its a great way for Palin to keep in the news for her 2012 run.

It's so hard to stop this beast once it gets started. If it comes out that Khamenei's guy only won with 51% of the vote, it looks rigged and the protests continue. If it comes out that there were "no irregularities," protests continue. This kind of genie is damn hard to put back in the bottle once it's let out - and any member of the Iranian revolution of 1979 knows this to be true - because they were the genie back then. Khamenei just lost his gamble here - he's losing control of his own country, and I'd wager the only way he thinks to save it is to put Mousavi and Ahmadenijad in a runoff election.

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 10:33 AM) Like he said she did not call him a child molester. You're right, and Letterman did not specifically indicate Willow Palin, either. But I'm sure, that's different. It's always different.

So watching his Republic spiral out of control, Khamenei has apparently ordered a vote probe. Also documents appear to have leaked out of the interior ministry showing that Achmadenijad finished third, not first.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 12:40 AM) They didn’t call him a child molester, they called him out for trying to make the rape of (what the Palin’s saw as a) 14 year old girl a laughing matter. Also, you can’t tell me you found anything about Letterman’s apology sincere, right? He was trying to cover his own ass and did so by showing no remorse and digging himself a slightly greater hole. Sarah Palin on the Today show on Friday:

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 13, 2009 -> 12:02 AM) I really don't care. She's not attacking anyone, and she's making a living out of this. Good for her. Most conservatives are getting pissed cause every f***ing day they're called crazy gun nuts who are homophobic, etc. etc. etc. And all the double standards. It gets f***ing annoying. You know for a fact if Dennis Miller or anyone stated that Michelle Obama looks like slutty stewardess, the media would be going crazy and feminists would be protesting outside his house... but when David Letterman stats Sarah Palin looks like a slutty stewardess, he's just a silly comedian making a joke! I think when you have Sarah Palin retorting by calling David Letterman a child molester, after he apologized for telling what he, in retrospect, viewed as an inappropriate joke, it kinda gets harder to see her point. When you keep bringing it up day after day, it kinda gets hard to see the actual damage done to her children... because if she was looking to protect her children from this, maybe she wouldn't be talking about this incident to anyone that will have her on their radio or television show for days after the incident. But its part of a broader point here - maybe one that I should have brought up in a separate thread or elsewhere - but given the cross pollination of the party threads, I think its reasonable to bring it up here. When the GOP was in power, they complained about the culture of victimization of the "liberals" and the "democrats." But now that they've found themselves out of power and in the wilderness, the whining seems to have started almost immediately. Sarah Palin: It's not enough that lame jokes were inappropriate and I got an apology, I have to say that Letterman is oppressing all women and call him a child molester, because people don't see how much of a victim I am. Miss California USA: I didn't lose my position because I broke my contract and stopped showing up to obligatory appearances, it's because I became a political activist. All sorts of Republican governors: We have had our state's rights taken away because the Federal Government offered us extra money for specific purposes and we can't move the money around elsewhere and it's not fair! That's not to say that Democrats have suddenly stopped whining, or that Dem politicians have suddenly started to no longer play the victim - but I will say that I think its odd to support an ideology of taking personal responsibility for your actions, and expect to make an exception for that standard when it comes to yourself. It's just plain out hypocrisy. The same hypocrisy that so many Republicans on this board seem to accuse the Democrats of for any little thing in the past few years. But I'm sure that it's different. After all, it's always different....

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 12, 2009 -> 05:28 PM) They quite literally can't have much plutonium left if they test a 3rd. The theory behind it is probably this: if we test a few and have one left, we get the deterrent benefit without having a lot of weaponry to maintain.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 12, 2009 -> 10:31 PM) I would have loved to see what would have happened if she answered the question as: "My view on gay marriage is the same as President Barack Obama's and I feel marriage should be only between a man and a woman." The thing I hate about the media isn't that they are far left, I could give a s***. If you love Obama, fine, it's a free country... The thing I hate is all the personal attacks they put out on people who disagree with their ideology. I understand trying to make the other side look stupid or bad, that's all politics... but do you have no decency? I also love how all the feminists aren't making a big deal about any of this, or the Palin situations... I think the book deal and political appearances that were in initial violation of her contract to begin with justify her termination. And her not acknowledging invitations and not showing up for events she was contracted to be at also justify her termination. But for all the talk about liberals wanting everyone to be the victim, it seems that nobody seems to whine louder about being persecuted than a conservative these days.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Jun 11, 2009 -> 04:08 PM) Does anybody here live in one of the countries with free health care like Canada, France, etc? I have required medical treatment in France. The treatment was well done, simple and free.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jun 11, 2009 -> 09:28 AM) If the definition of "preventative care" must include being told by our government what it constitutes, then it is a straw man that will lead to what will and will not be treated - and will be incredibly costly because now the system will require payments on "preventative care" visits. Preventative care = checkups, innoculations, etc. When was the last time I went to my doctor for free? I think it was when I went to the health center in college.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 10, 2009 -> 11:24 PM) How many times have you actually watched O'Reilly? Or do you just believe everything the liberal media writes and says about him? If you actually took time to watch his show, you'd see that while he is a conservative, he presents both sides of the argument and then states his opinion. He's got liberals and conservatives on every night for every argument. While you might think he's some crazy conservative talking head, he's really fair and balanced. Probably the most of all the prime time shows. I stand by my jackass comment. The man is a bully. And I've watched O'Reilly occasionally over the years. He shouts down anyone who disagrees with him on a regular basis - he was a hack on Inside Edition, he's no better on Fox News. He did consistently refer to a doctor performing legal procedures as a "baby killer." That's a jackass thing to do, it's also something a bully would do.