Just Curious wrote on Apr 3, 2008 7:53 PM:Many options besides guns to kill someone
Very interesting. I wonder are there any credible stats of people who would be alive if it were not for a discharge of a firearm? Are there any stats that show the number of people who are alive because of the existence of or use of a firearm in defense of life and limb?

OBSERVATION wrote on Apr 3, 2008 8:22 PM:By STEPHEN FARRELL and JAMES GLANZ BAGHDAD - More than 1000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen either refused to fight or simply abandoned their posts during the inconclusive assault against Shiite militias in Basra last week, a senior Iraqi government ...Another defining moment brought to you by GWB.

VET for PEACE - wrote on Apr 4, 2008 12:51 AM:- Darrell Issa is well known for putting his foot in his mouth, but this time he stuffed his entire size 11 shoe into his mouth with his worst insult ever. He said the federal government has already done enough to help New York cope with 9/11, describing it as nothing more than a big fire that “simply was an aircraft” hitting the World Trade Center.
Issa asked “why the firefighters who went there and everybody in the City of New York needs to come to the federal government for the dollars versus this being primarily a state consideration.”
Issa set off a firestorm, stirring up angry reaction from both Republicans and Democrats. Some called for Issa’s impeachment. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) sharply criticized his fellow conservative’s remarks, stating, “New York was attacked by Al Qaeda. It doesn’t have to be attacked by Congress. I’m really surprised by Darrell Issa,” King added. “It showed such a cavalier dismissal of what happened to New York. It’s wrong and inexcusable.”
The NY Daily News editorial declared “What Issa said Tuesday was callous in the extreme.”
Issa has often shown calloused indifference to the suffering of Americans, most of all to our troops and veterans. He has one of the worst voting records in Congress on veterans issues. Now he has expressed the same callousness toward firemen and first responders in the great tragedy of 9/11. Issa lives in an ivory tower, cut off from the real world of Americans who are willing to sacrifice for their country.

Focal Point wrote on Apr 4, 2008 6:47 AM:Clinton was robbed: Blaim the states. They violated the nomination rules.

To John Shea wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:20 AM:Thanks for the laughs!!!! Your letter is eloquent and well written however, you must be ignorant to the tactics and methods used by these so called, self proclaimed Patriots. These men and women have nothing in common with or do not compare at all with the Minutemen of the Past. Once again thanks for the laughs, now I will get back to my morning coffee.

Reardon wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:32 AM:The BBC headline reads, “Global Warming Dips This Year” – apparently they cannot say the word “cools.”

The BBC News reports that: “This would mean global temperatures have not risen since 1998, prompting some to question climate change theory.”

No joke, Dick Tracy! There has been a general warming trend for 20,000 years, so I suspect it will continue to warm – but I sincerely doubt Ted Turner’s predicted ‘cannibalism” in “30 or 40 years.”

This BBC report on top of a recent NPR report from NASA that there has been no rise in ocean temperatures in “five or six years” – NASA has hundreds of robot devices trying to find ocean “global warming.” ZERO!

Yesterday, the Senate was “studying” the problem with the predicted death of polar bears due to the “Global Warming” – of course polar bear populations have risen 400% from the 50s, and 300% since 1972 – but NOW we must consider putting polar bears on the endangered list.

There is insanity in the air.

Just for the Record wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:33 AM:What if they disclosed a torture memo and nobody cared? This week, an 81-page memo, authored by John C. Yoo, who was a deputy in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice at the time of its creation, was declassified and made public. The memo, which, among other things, was used as the rationale for authorizing the torture of government detainees, has long been held to be a savage reimagining of the structure of the Executive Branch and its authority, hostile to the traditional checks and balances that circumscribe the President's authority. And that's stating the matter diplomatically. A less kind observer might conclude that the memo was a legal abomination which tortures the accepted body of Constitutional law along the way to glibly authorizing a Grand Guignol of authoritarian power that our nation's founders would find abhorrent. With these high stakes as the prologue, you'd have to imagine that the disclosure of the memo would be of pre-eminent importance to the media. You'd be wrong. The extent to which this story, the questions it raises, and the impact it has on our lives failed to resonate in the sphere of the traditional media is distressing and disturbing. Non-traditional media did much better, but the fact that this matter did not acquire a portion of the mass-media megaphone makes one worry that by this time next week the matter will be forgotten. But in many quarters of the Fourth Estate, the waters of Lethe are already being poured. Yoo's memo is a historic document. It is the ultimate expression of Cheney's belief that anything the president or his designates do -- no matter how illegal, barbaric or un-American -- is justifiable in the name of national self-defense. It is also an example of how enabling zealots to disregard the rule of law and the customary boundaries of human conduct leads to madness.

Alf wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:33 AM:From yesterday - "Reardon" at 3:37PM, your premise that an uninsured or uninsurable house that "If the home burns, of falls, "Ain't nobody's business but my own," and not my problem." can, in fact, be your problem if it damages your home or property. Then what? Someone so cheap as to A) build a non-compliant house and, therefore, B) not have insurance would C) not be someone from whom you are likely to be able to get compensation for the damage to YOUR house or property. If you collect on YOUR insurance, they jack up YOUR rates and the cheap joker who built the non-complying house may have a judgement against him, but try to collect. Liken it, if you will, to auto insurance, do you think that it is OK to drive a car with NO insurance? Sure, if the "other guy" totals his car in a single car accident "Ain't nobody's business but his own", but what if he totals out his car AND YOUR car? Regards, Alf.

To Tom Adler wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:34 AM:What a great letter written by Tom Adler. I agree with you completely and I fear that we will not see justice. I think it is important for our elected officials to protect the general public. If our Law Enforcements agencies are not going to enforce the law than we are headed for anarchy. Sadly at this point Law enforcement officers, our own District Attorney is creating a dynamic that is not only dangerous but creates a state of anarchy. When it is okay for an ODO to use his weapon and not suffer the ramifications of his actions if they were outside the confines of the law than we are perpetrating old west style of law enforcement. This is a dangerous mindset. I have read twice in the NCT just over a month's time of officers shooting at people while off duty. One was drinking before the shooting and now this where a young boy and his mother were shot. This is insane!!!! That officer needs to be taken off administrative leave basically a paid vacation and made to answer for his actions on March 15, 2008. Bonnie Dumanis MUST be honest with those who elected her and do what is right regardless of her chummy relationships she has with Law Enforcement departments.

John McCain and the Troops wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:36 AM:General Wesley Clark writes: "Robert Lopez served 8 years in our military, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan as a tank commander. He was told he'd get his whole education bill paid for when he got out of the service. Mr. Lopez has fought and sacrificed for our country but like so many others, Mr. Lopez has faced the bleak reality of a government that has turned its back on its veterans. That is why Senators Jim Webb and Chuck Hagel proposed a new GI Bill, which would bring back WWII-style standards of providing vets with full tuition, room and board. And that is why 51 senators have signed on, including 9 Republicans like John Warner, giving this GI Bill tremendous bi-partisan support. But it isn't enough. Faced with unprecedented filibusters, the only way to ensure Senate passage of the GI Bill is to get 60 cosponsors. So far, John McCain has refused. The same McCain who insists he supports our troops. The same McCain who is voting lockstep with the Bush administration (who have also resisted this bill). We need to get John McCain to do the right thing. We need him to sign now and signal to other Republican leaders that we should be strongly behind our vets."

esteban wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:40 AM:Real quick to all those libs who are quick to charge Repubs with killing all our soldiers.....These are active duty US soldier deaths by year since 1980 in armed conflicts. 1980 ......... 2,392 (Carter Year)
1981 .......... 2,380 (Reagan Year)
1984 .......... 1,999 (Reagan Year)
1988 .......... 1,819 (Reagan Year)
1989 .......... 1,636 (George H W Year)
1990 ......... 1,508 (George H W Year)
1991 .......... 1,787 (George H W Year)
1992 .......... 1,293 (George H W Year)
1993 .......... 1,213 (Clinton Year)
1994 .......... 1,075 (Clinton Year)
1995 ......... 2,465 (Clinton Year)
1996 .......... 2,318 (Clinton Year)
1997 ............ 817 (Clinton Year)
1998 .......... 2,252 (Clinton Year)
1999 .......... 1,984 (Clinton Year)
2000 ..........1,983 (Clinton Year)
2001 ............. 890(George W Year)
2002 .......... 1,007 (George W Year)
2003 .......... 1,410 (George W Year)
2004 .......... 1,887 (George W Year)
2005 ............ 919 (George W Year)
2006.............. 920 (George W Year)
2007............899 (George W Year)
Clinton years (1993-2000): 14,000 deaths
George W years (2001-2006): 7,932 deaths
Looks like more soldiers dies under Clinton's watch than the Dubya's. Uh oh, that's gonna hurt some libs arguments. i shouldn't have done that!

Bush/McCain Policy wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:44 AM:TESTIMONY BEFORE THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE ON IRAQ
By William E. Odom, LT General, USA, Ret.: "The only sensible strategy is to withdraw rapidly but in good order. Only that step can break the paralysis now gripping US strategy in the region. The next step is to choose a new aim, regional stability, not a meaningless victory in Iraq. And progress toward that goal requires revising our policy toward Iran. If the president merely
renounced his threat of regime change by force, that could prompt Iran to lessen its support to Taliban groups in Afghanistan. Iran detests the Taliban and supports them only because they will kill more Americans in Afghanistan as retaliation in event of a US attack
on Iran. Iran’s policy toward Iraq would also have to change radically as we withdraw. It cannot want instability there. Iraqi Shiites are Arabs, and they know that Persians look down on them. Cooperation between them has its limits. No quick reconciliation between the US and Iran is likely, but US steps to make Iran feel more secure make it far more conceivable than a policy calculated to increase its insecurity. The president’s policy has reinforced Iran’s determination to acquire nuclear
weapons, the very thing he purports to be trying to prevent. Withdrawal from Iraq does not mean withdrawal from the
region. It must include a realignment and reassertion of US forces and diplomacy that give us a better chance to achieve our aim.

Yokozuna wrote on Apr 4, 2008 8:09 AM:Wow!! All this stuff about Bush and Cheney. I'm certainly not going to vote for them this year.

Reardon wrote on Apr 4, 2008 8:12 AM:Alf: I'll bet lunch that you carry "uninsured motorist" on you car insurance. Theat rider is regardless of the condition of the other motorists vehicle, or even whether he is in the country legally. Similarly, such a rider on a home policy would make you whole after your neighbor's house causes damage to yours.

Bush/McCain wrote on Apr 4, 2008 8:43 AM:Two important pieces explained the roles played by McCain and his advisors in creating our current foreign and domestic crises. In Politico, Lisa Lerer detailed how former Senator Phil Gramm, the general co-chair of McCain's campaign and one of his top financial advisors, was the primary force behind the banking deregulation bill in 1999 that helped pave the way for the current subprime meltdown. Two years after Gramm dutifully did the banks' bidding, he was rewarded, after a quick trip through the revolving door, with the title of vice chairman at UBS and, along with two others, with $750,000 in lobbying fees. UBS investors weren't as lucky as Phil: the bank has written off over $18 billion in subprime loans, while 8,000 UBS employees were laid off.

And McCain has hinted that Gramm might be his Treasury Secretary.

The new McCain has started backing away even from campaign finance reform, his signature maverick issue. And with his buddy Phil best-friend-the-banks-ever-had Gramm right behind him, the idea that McCain is some sort of financial reformer is absurd. But don't tell that to the media -- it would be like telling an 8 year-old there's no Santa Claus. They worked hard constructing their McCain narrative, and dammit, they're going to keep believing in it. It's much the same on the foreign policy front. In the great new site The Washington Independent, Spencer Ackerman has a dead-on analysis of Mccain's foreign policy. The money shot:

"Since he began running for president, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has embraced President George W. Bush's foreign policy. He has done so for a simple and understandable reason: it was McCain's policy first." That's right -- the reason McCain will be a continuation of George Bush's foreign policy is because George Bush was following McCainism all along. Or, as Ackerman puts it: " McCain represents not a break from the Bush Doctrine, but rather its intensification."

Here's John McCain circa 2000:

"I'd institute a policy that I call 'rogue state rollback'...I would arm, train, equip, both from without and from within, forces that would eventually overthrow the governments and install free and democratically elected governments." Now over seventy percent of Americans believe that "rogue state rollback" has not worked out that well.

Straight Talk from John McBomb Bomb Iran wrote on Apr 4, 2008 8:50 AM:Just this weekend, McCain told a crowd of supporters, “There’s going to be other wars. … I’m sorry to tell you, there’s going to be other wars. We will never surrender but there will be other wars.” Oddly, though, McCain keeps picking up the votes of Republican primary voters disgruntled with the Iraq War despite being, in reality, the candidate most fanatically devoted to the cause.

Alf wrote on Apr 4, 2008 8:52 AM:While I agree with your 8:12AM post, "Reardon", that still removes the responsibility from the joker who endangers others, be it by faulty construction, faulty wiring or faulty operation of a motor vehicle and places it on "everyone" else. Paying for uninsured driver insurance or paying for a rider to homeowner insurance STILL means that the uninsured driver or neighbor is costing you money each and every day, shifting the financial burdon from himself to other people. Is that being responsible? I don't think so. Regards, Alf.

BALL wrote on Apr 4, 2008 8:53 AM:CLINTON IS A JOKE....

To esteban wrote on Apr 4, 2008 8:55 AM:Thanks for the list of the lost. You have convinced me. NO CLINTON OR MCCAIN! Obama 08! You rock, esteban!

Oh Please! wrote on Apr 4, 2008 8:56 AM:esteban[-] wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:40 AM:
This has been discussed on this blog previously. The GWB stats are for combat deaths. The Clinton stats include combat deaths and deaths due to accident and or due to natural causes. You Consevos are always trying to pull a fast one. Besides this is not a death contest. Quit trying to mitigate the deaths of our people in Irag.

Oh Please! wrote on Apr 4, 2008 9:01 AM:esteban[-] wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:40 AM:
You got the stats on the wounded and maimed as well?

Alf wrote on Apr 4, 2008 9:01 AM:It might interest you to know, writer John Shea, that the Minutemen of the American Revolution were honorable patriots, not vandals, thugs, instigators, publicity seekers and prevaricators. The mere mentioning of the current local group in the same sentence is an insult to all the REAL Minutemen of the American Revolution. Regards, Alf.

sadraoul wrote on Apr 4, 2008 9:11 AM:McCain Claims Sadr ˜Not Contesting American Forces’ As Sadr LoyalistRally Against U.S.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), 4/8/07: “Extremist Shiite militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr is in hiding, his followers are not contesting American forces”

Muqtada al-Sadr, 4/9/07:

“‘You, the Iraqi army and police forces, don’t walk alongside the occupiers, because they are your archenemy,’ the al-Sadr statement said. He urged his followers not to attack fellow Iraqis but to turn all their efforts on American forces. ‘God has ordered you to be patient in front of your enemy, and unify your efforts against them - not against the sons of Iraq,’ the statement said.”

Sadr has called a rally today where “hundreds of thousands of Shia protesters have burned and trampled on US flags in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf.” Despite McCain’s claim that Sadr is not “contesting” the U.S. occupation, Al-Sadr called Thursday for a "million-strong" turnout for an anti-American demonstration April 9 to mark five years since the U.S.-led occupation in Iraq began.

The statement said protesters should head to the Shiite holy city of Najaf south of Baghdad waving Iraqi flags "to cement the unity of Iraq and demand its independence." It called on demonstrators to "raise your voices high in the skies of Iraq against the oppressing occupier," a term the Sadrists use to describe U.S.-led forces.

Al-Sadr also offered to help the government rid the army and police of what he says are terrorists and rival militiamen. Stay tuned, folks!

OH PLEASE! wrote on Apr 4, 2008 9:23 AM:EDIFICATION FOR ESTEBAN:
Congressional Research Service. "American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics," 29 June 2007.

Department of Defense. "Active Duty Military Personnel Strengths by
Regional Area and by Country," 30 Sept. 1993.

Department of Defense. "Active Duty Military Personnel Strengths by Regional Area and by Country," 30 June 2007.

Kung, Hsiang-Ching Kung, et. al. "National Vital Statistics Report -- Deaths: Final Data for 2005." January 2008. Centers for Disease Control. 28 January 2008.

esteban wrote on Apr 4, 2008 9:32 AM:Adler, your so righteous. How about waiting until you actually know what happened before you spew your anti-cop filth. If he's in the wrong, the cop will be arrested...when the investigation is complete. If he's in the right, he won't. Now be quiet and wait patiently like the rest of us.

Liberal Monitor wrote on Apr 4, 2008 9:57 AM:esteban[-] wrote on Apr 4, 2008 9:32 AM:
esteban[-] wrote on Apr 4, 2008 9:32 AM
"filth" There is one of the conservative code words again. "spew" there is another one of those conservative code words. I am just waiting for "ilk" and "your kind" and our day will be complete.

Joseph wrote on Apr 4, 2008 10:07 AM:The combat death figures that esteban lists are a lie that has already been debunked by snopes. But they fit right in with the rest of his posts.

Ron wrote on Apr 4, 2008 10:49 AM:Still buying the hype, eh... "Alf"
@7:33 AM. Car insurance, more precisely, mandated car insurance in California, how's that working out?
AAA estimates the 1 in 5 drivers in California don't have minimum car insurance, at all. In my mind, this is premeditated theft. You drive your car on the road with other people's property at risk by your own actions, and you don't have the means to restore them to wholeness if you crash into them, even by mistake?
And now... let's talk about home insurance. Surely, if you have a mortgage, your lender requires insurance, but in the last fire, how many home owners didn't have insurance?
In the end, it is those who are repsonsible for their own lives who end up footing the bill. Where you have buy uninsured motorist coverage to protect yourself in a State where coverage is supposedly mandated. That is truly, a oxymoron. Or the guy who just hit you flee's, leaving you with the mess to clean up. Or you find that he's a multiple offender, suspended license, no insurance, probably the car's not registered either...and YOU fix the mess again. Those who did not have home insurance, the taxpayer picks up the tab.
Now, in all it's glory, this so-called consumer protection, this safety, this helping to prevent injury to person's, which are the reasons given for ALL this regulation. In the end, who really is cleaning up the mess? Them, the Government by mandating actions? Or YOU by protecting yourself?
And who does a better job of it? You by being smart, using some common sense, and seeing into the future based upon your present needs? Or the Government who passing off this responsiblity onto YOU by default?

DD Wiz wrote on Apr 4, 2008 10:51 AM:The post from "Reardon" (8:42am) exemplifies perfectly the core problem with conservative thinking, when he dismisses concerns about the need for fire safety regulations by saying we should rely on insurance companies to make us whole.
Aside from the problem of who would protect us from predatory corporate insurance companies absent regulation, the conservative mentality is to wait until tragedies occur that could have been easily prevented, and then clean up the mess which is huge instead of requiring small preventive measures that would be easy.
"Reardon" labors under the illusion that insurance companies make us "whole." No, "Reardon," insurance companies offer partial reimbursement for financial losses. They do not reverse the trauma and suffering and terrible inconvenience, which you think our neighbors should be free to expose us to. Anyone who thinks insurance companies make us "whole" has either never experienced a catastrophic loss or is callous beyond words.

Karl wrote on Apr 4, 2008 10:55 AM:Ya'll depress me, both the way right and the way left. I think I'll go play golf and partake in some sudsy amber adult beverages with my friends (democrats, republicans, greens and libertarians). As a baby boomer I want to sincerely thank from the bottom of my heart the generations previous to mine and todays soldiers for providing me with this option. I hope to hell my son and grand children have the same option.

Ron wrote on Apr 4, 2008 10:58 AM:I also have an Observation, for "OBSERVATION" @8:22 PM.
Can you tell me how many New Orleans cops, firefighters, and other emergency "professionals" refused to help or simply abandoned their posts during Katrina?

Oopsies McBomb, Bombs wrote on Apr 4, 2008 11:01 AM:Senator John McCain, "who says he will court the African-American vote this year and campaign in places Republicans often shun," spoke in Memphis on Friday to mark the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But his speech was met with boos and interruptions from many in the audience, as he apologized for repeatedly opposing the creation of a holiday to celebrate King's legacy. McCain voted against the creation of a holiday honoring King in 1983, a vote which was supported by a large number of Republicans. McCain claimed this week that he was largely unaware on the importance of King's work at the time, due to his Vietnam-era service overseas. Speaking on Thursday to reporters, he explained that his conversion occurred around 1990: "I voted in my...first year in Congress against it and then I began to learn and I studied and people talked to me. And I not only supported it but I fought very hard in my home state of Arizona for recognition against a governor who was of my own party."
But McCain's voting record since 1990 doesn't support this explanation. In addition to voting to oppose a state holiday in 1987 (which he later supported) and a federal holiday in 1989, McCain voted in 1994 to cut funding for the commission that promoted King's holiday.

To John Shea I thought???? wrote on Apr 4, 2008 11:03 AM:I thought in the Military you were taught how to be wise and strategic! I find your letter to be ridiculous and ludicris. If our Marine Corp is producing push overs who do not investigate the truth before writing a letter attempting to promote a group I am very discouraged. The minutemen are a bunch of crazed wild-eyed individuals who insult, berate, and cause division in our communities. They are not patriots they are bullies.

Better Times Ahead wrote on Apr 4, 2008 11:04 AM:Reardon and Ron exemplify the mantra, "I got mine and screw you." This unenlightened thinking will soon be a thing of the past, thank goodness.

Ron wrote on Apr 4, 2008 11:15 AM:You know what's intersting about your story, "VET for PEACE" @12:51 AM?
One thing. MONEY.
What you are recounting is a typical fight between Congressional members for money from the Federal Government coffers. More precisely, your & my tax money.
When the Federal Government opens the Treasury door, several thousand groups line up to collect, including Congress.
This is nothing new, and they will use their speaking time to bash one another, in order to sway votes for their projects, districts, or pork projects.
I think Issa has a point, about San Diego County being at risk. Afterall, we do have Navy aircraft carriers based here, a sub base, and other vital defense needs to be protected. Not to mention, people in San Diego are just as much justified in requesting money for Homeland Security as much as New York.
But, the larger point is carping over money. Who's in line first, and who deserves it most. That's in the eye of the beholder, my friend.
What I find even more unseemly about this whole matter, even beyond what Issa said, is this idea that we have to crawl on our belly's and grovel to the Fed's for money, that we sent them.

OBSERVATION wrote on Apr 4, 2008 11:25 AM:Ron[-] wrote on Apr 4, 2008 10:58 AM: I am sure you already know the answer. It is not germain to my observation. My observation is the report that over 1,000 men of the Iraqi police and army surrendered or walked away from battle. This action at Basara per GWB is a defining moment. The subject matter is not Katrina, it is the action at Basara. Your comments on the action at Basara are welcome. Regards OBSERVATION

DD Wiz wrote on Apr 4, 2008 11:26 AM:The post from "Reardon" (7:32am) exemplifies the worst of both conservative thinking as well as strategy.
"Reardon" and his ilk are so determined to "prove" pre-determined beliefs that they will glom onto any tiny thing they can find, no matter how much they have to distort it or take it out of context.
First, "Reardon" takes a few select statements from a news article out of context. The report cited, on today's BBC website, notes that a one-time dip brings this year's global mean temperature down to the same level as 1998 due to a La Nina condition. The same article notes that the decade from 1998 - 2007 was the warmest ever recorded, and that this one-time aberrant datum does nothing to change long-term outlook on climate change. I recommend readers find the BBC website and read for yourselves the portions that "Reardon's" selective editing did not feel you needed to know about.
The problem for people like "Reardon" is that they want everything to go in a straight line. They don't understand that one-time, short-term aberrations are part of the up-and-down of a long-term steady increase, and they are so desperate to latch onto anything that supports their beliefs that they will say or do anything to try to make a point.
This kind of ... thinking -- the kind that can't tell the difference between a TV weatherman and a meteorologist, or an obituary and a PEER-REVIEWED journal article -- is convinced that it has secret, insider knowledge that can explain why science is really wrong about that silly round earth theory or the sun being the center of the solar system, or like Irvin Forbing in the Faith and Values letters going through tortured mental gymnastics to explain why all the scientists are wrong about evolution. Reminds me of the engineer who proves that the laws of physics render it impossible for bumblebees to fly, but still they take wing.
Submitted 10:33am; re-submitted

Ron wrote on Apr 4, 2008 11:33 AM:Just for the record... "Just for the Record" @7:33 AM.

>>>What if they disclosed a torture memo and nobody cared?>>>

If your talking about how we treat these barbarians who cut people's heads off? Your right, we don't care.
Keep them at GITMO, deny them constitutional rights they would enjoy if brought into the United States, and hold them until the end of hostilities.
The last thing we need is to bring them here, inside the US, and let them hook up with slip-n-fall ACLU lawyers, like John Edwards.
And just for the record, until this latest activist {Supreme} court sought to stick their collective noses into this war, the standing law was: a 1950 case; Johnson v. Eisentrager which denied access to habeas corpus for nonresident aliens captured and imprisoned abroad.
And in 1942, the Supreme Court ruled in Ex parte Quirin that unlawful combatant saboteurs could be denied habeas corpus and tried by military commission, making a distinction between lawful and unlawful combatants. And these guy's were caught on US soil, and denied those rights.
I am proudly a "Water-Boarding American." I find people like you highly immoral. You'd rather protect some terrorist, than extract the necessary information needed to protect a larger amount of Americans. In your world, you'd not water-board so Europe will "like" you again, and allow hundreds, perhaps thousands of Americans die, by no fault of their own, just so you can say you did "the moral thing."
In short, your perfectly willing to sacrifice Americans to spare your sense of right & wrong. That's pretty caviler of you. Wouldn't you think?

sdraoul wrote on Apr 4, 2008 11:41 AM:How funny. Once again, someone who can't find Iraq on a map and can't find Moqtada al-Sadr because he is hiding in Iran tries to denigrate our position in Iraq.

In Basra, al-Sadr's people went into hiding because they were being slaughtered by 29,000 fighting Iraqi troops and American and British fighter bombers.

Certainly it appears that some Iraqi soldiers didn't fight and deserted their posts but some Americans do that also, ask the Canadians who gave them a place to desert to and hide. There are American deserters in Canada today.

Or ask the Army Lt. who got "religion" and didn't want to go to Iraq or the sailor who refused to go overseas on his ship, or ask the hundreds upon hundreds of American sailors who suddenly discover they are homosexual so they can get an administrative discharge because they have second thoughts about serving our country.

This is not a slight on people who are sincere about their sexuality but it does reflect on the suddeness of the discovery of status after they join the Navy, Marines, Army, et al.

Alf wrote on Apr 4, 2008 11:45 AM:Well, "DD Wiz" at 11:26AM, you just reminded me of the school clocks at my Jr and Sr high schools - at 1 second before the next minute, the minute hand would go back 1 and then forward 2 (2:59 to 2:58 to 3:00). It's amazing how little things prompt old memories! Regards, Alf.

Ron wrote on Apr 4, 2008 11:49 AM:Here we go again....
This mantra by "John McCain and the Troops" @7:36 AM: is MORE of the SAME!
If you really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, Really, REally, REAlly, REALly, REALLy, REALLY Cared about people, you'd spend more oney on them.
This is the typical liberal rant, mantra, mindless filibustering.
Now...
Why do I say, Here we go again?
I'll tell you, when I joined the military, I had full GI benefits.
One year later, when my brother joined in 1976, the benefits were less. I had a 36 month college tuition paid for, he had to pay for part of his.
Slowly, over time, under the Democrat's in Congress, they have depleated the funding to Veterans. During the Clinton Administration, means testing was applied to those seeking medical help.
And now... we have run full circle.
Now that the Democrats have sucked the very life out of the Veterans programs, now they are on-board with restoring the same benefits? That they stole?
And you know what else? It's just in time for an election. Now, how cynical is that?

Chris to Karl wrote on Apr 4, 2008 11:54 AM:Concerning your post for 10:55. Oh, pleeeeeeze. So if it wasn't for our military you wouldn't be able to play golf and drink beer. What rot. Were the Indians going to stop you. How about the Mexicans we trashed in the Mexican American war. Maybe the Confederates. Maybe it was the Cubans and the Filipinos that we conquered in the spanish American war. How about the Germans in WW1 and WW2 or the Japanese none of whom were comming over here. How about the Vietnamese. Maybe it was the Iraqis that were going to louse up your golf game. So you want to raise your son and grandson so they can go and mess up the lives of some other misfortunate people so they can play golf and drink beer. You have got to love god's choosen people, the Americans.

hardtack wrote on Apr 4, 2008 12:10 PM:Actually, Ramsey Marcus Tuell, our politicians (not to be confused with statesmen) like to indulge in these little dog and pony shows for the benefit of their constituents. What’s for them to loose? We pick up the tab for the whole show. As tax payers, we get to pay for the government actors; as consumers we get to pay for the oil company lawyers.

You may have noticed, Ramsey, that a growing number of politicians discount self-determinism and free-enterprise and have reduced everything a profits-are-sinful mentality. The fact that the majority of politicians denounced each Congressional investigation of the Clinton/Lewinsky affair, while applauding each investigation of Bill Gates’ wealth, would seemed to support the point.

To John Shea Too wrote on Apr 4, 2008 12:18 PM:What a Great Letter! I agree that the minutemen are doing great works! It was only a small number of folks who got this great Country going.

It is because of people like the previous commenter "To John Shea" that we are in the fix we are today.

...

HaH HaH

Ron wrote on Apr 4, 2008 12:20 PM:We do have a difference of option, as "DD Wiz" @10:51 AM states. Chiefly,
his belief that conservative thinking dismisses prevention. He could not be further from the truth. In fact, conservatives value the individual to the point where we know, we believe most people will seek proper instruction and consult with private secotr experts in beginning a project, in order to succeed. Rather than a top down, mandated list of rules & regulations from "on-high" by a bunch of bueracrats sitting in little cubicles in a far away city.
The latter approach, which is the liberal approach, requires you to assume most people are stupid, and require your superior knowledge, plus your consent to proceed.

No one is dismissing the need for fire safety regulations, but we do question them when they are imposed for reasons other than safety. Or if they are not enforced for political reasons, ie. the over crowding of illegals into one small lvings spaces.
And here's another clue to his bias, his term: "predatory corporate insurance companies."
You know, I really get sick of hearing people say this so mindlessly. You guy's mandated car insurance, and yet... why am I still buying uninsured motorist coverage in California, if it's working so well?
You have the regulation, absent prpoer enforcement, risking insured morotists.
My conservative mentality is to buy the insurance, and hopefully the other guy thinks like I do, if not, then I'm still insured.
So here you have a primary example of a liberal fix, that hasn't fixed it.
In the mean time, we conservatives still have uninsured motorist coverage because we know you solutions never work. We know we must, in the end, always protect ourselves, cause no one else will look out for our own best interests, like we will.
I could go down an entire list of these liberal "fixes"; and in the end it always comes back to the taxpayer to bail someone out, in the liberal scheme of things. You guy's aren't doing the average joe any favors. You surely like to act like you are, but your not fooling anyone. We know, and YOU know someone will pay. In the conservative mindset, we know that WE are ultimately responsible. You guy's, on the other hand, keep looking for someone else to pay for it, regardless of fault. Cause in the libe mindset, everyone's a victim of something. As conservatives, we know, people willingly choose to victimize themselves, either knowlingly, or unwittingly. And the latter is generally because they bought into one of your latest schemes. Like mandated car insurance. You want to go through the rest of my list?

Ron wrote on Apr 4, 2008 12:35 PM:Of course it's not germain to your liberal observation... "OBSERVATION" @
11:25 AM. You wrote that post, for one reason, and ne reason only. Right?
"Hey Everybody.. look at Iraq.. It's failing!!!"
Right? Is that your point? ...
I thought you might like to see some parallels in the discussion. But since your not willing to get off your hate Bush mantra... ok.
As to this action in Basara being a "defining moment", my friend, we've had many, many defining moments, and we will continue to have defining moments.
You guy's always have to prop up one action, one battle in order to serve your political talking points.
We had success's & and we've had set-backs. Both in Iraq and Afganistan.
Heck, I just heard the French were sending another 700 troops into Afganistan. How come you never mention any "good news." I mean... afterall, you want to see the bad guy's defeated too? Don't You?
But, back to MY question. The number of police who refused to show up, or left their posts, and abandoned their duties to protect & serve, were 512. Nearly half the work force.
Next thing they knew, Wal*Mart & the military were picking up their slack.
God, that must just make your skin crawl, huh? LOL

Apollo wrote on Apr 4, 2008 12:37 PM:Re: Ron (11:33 a.m.)
Ron says we "don't care" about the "barbarians who cut people's heads off" and proposes we keep them at GITMO.
Amen. I agree with Ron.
However, I also understand that a lot of people at GITMO are there because some neighbor snitched them out to collect a bounty.
I can't imagining anything worse than someone who is completely innocent languishing in prison and torture for for years, for something they did not have anything to do with.
So I really want the barbarians who cut people's heads off (or the actual people who invaded us in that 9/11 thingy Darrell Issa now belittles) to suffer for their vicious crimes.
But them and only them.
None of the innocent guys, which is where the whole "due process" thing comes in - making sure the ones we’re punishing are the ones we should be punishing.
So why would anyone object to just making sure only the guilty get punished?

Oh Please! wrote on Apr 4, 2008 1:25 PM:sdraul: Americans desert too? I do not know of 1,000 Americans who refused to fight in the face of an enemy. Take another toke.

OBSERVATION wrote on Apr 4, 2008 1:39 PM:Ron[-] wrote on Apr 4, 2008 12:35 PM: You are certainly an excitable character. I posted an observation. All bloggers are free to express their opinion on the report. Thank you for your comments on Iraq. The bloggers can take it at face value. As for me, LMAO.

OBSERVATION wrote on Apr 4, 2008 1:52 PM:FROM THE PRIME BUZZ:
So, exactly who is in charge of Iraq these days?

So, we're almost five years from the day Baghdad fell, and it's time to ask: Who is in control of Iraq?

It's a question we've been asking for five years. And while in the pundit and political belts, the answers have varied (and the real answer is probably no one), the single person who comes closest is, perhaps, the one the US will least want to hear: Muqtada al Sadr.

Chris wrote on Apr 4, 2008 1:56 PM:Let's get this desetion thing in context. First of all we destroyed the economy so most of the people in the Iraqi army are there because they need the money. The so-called Iraqi government is just a puppet for the US and does not represent the Iraqis. So these Shiites in the Iraqi army are being asked to kill their fellow shiites for the benefit of the US. So instead of killing their brothers for the US that is occupying their country illegaly they deserted. The fact is that our Iraqi government wanted to get rid of the Sadr people (who represent the Iraqis) before the election and so they started this bloodshed in Basra. Now the US and our puppet government has been systematically trying to diminish Sadr's group all along even though Sadr declaired a cease fire. So once again our corrupt military uses it's overwhelming firepower against the true representatives of the Iraqi people in order to force our corrupt governmetn on them. This whole thing about bringing democracy to Iraq is just more lies.

To Oh Please wrote on Apr 4, 2008 2:03 PM:Another one of Ron's straw man arguments. He thinks it means nothing that the Iraqi soldiers are deserting because the Americans do it too. Makes no sense. The real issue is that the Iraqis are defecting to Al-Sadr and taking up arms against "American invaders" and Maliki's Puppet Bush Government. It's pretty embarrassing that our soldiers are reduced to handing out thousand of (tax payer) dollars on street corners every day to bribe the Iraqis not to shoot at them. Pretty soon the Iraqis will take back their government and the Americans will be forced to leave. This will happen before November and we all wonder how McBomb will still be able to claim the surge is working. Perhaps McBomb gets his news from the same source as sdraoul.

Oh Please! wrote on Apr 4, 2008 2:04 PM:RON; Please name one inmate at GITMO that has been charged with decapitating any body, any where at any time?

To Observation @1:52 wrote on Apr 4, 2008 2:07 PM:Now that is the same conclusion I have come to as well. sdraoul says that al Sadr is in hiding (he agrees with John McCain) but I say he is becoming a national hero to the Iraqis who are tired of the American takeover and that next week we will see his popularity in action, along about, oh, April 9th. Then we will see if sdraoul and John McCain are correct, or if they are as deluded as I think they are.

No Surprise wrote on Apr 4, 2008 2:10 PM:Ron says: "I am proudly a "Water-Boarding American." Yes, we know that about you already, Ron. The fact that you believe people who are against torture are immoral is one of the world's greatest ironies. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. Ick.

OBSERVATION wrote on Apr 4, 2008 2:11 PM:sdraul: Once again your description of events in Iraq do not coincide with published reports. The Shia certainly were not hiding. They held the Nationalists to 1/4 of the city and shamed them in battle. 1,000 Shia in the Iraqi police and army refused to fight. American and British support was limited to request on demand from the Iraqi commander. Your tangents on American deserters due to religion or sexuality is entertaining but hardly germain to the issue.

esteban wrote on Apr 4, 2008 2:20 PM:Once again...the NCT censors are out in full force. Listen folks, if you are against torturing those sub human terrorists in GITMO, then you are anti American. Simple as that.

OBSERVATION wrote on Apr 4, 2008 2:30 PM:AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER:
Rudd replaced Howard as prime minister in elections last November. Rudd, a Chinese-speaking former diplomat to Beijing, has promised to follow an independent foreign policy and to withdraw 550 Australian combat troops from Iraq this year.

OBSERVATION wrote on Apr 4, 2008 2:41 PM:US Military Deaths in Iraq at 4,012

By The Associated Press – 21 hours ago

As of Thursday, April 3, 2008, at least 4,012 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,272 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

The AP count is one more the Defense Department's tally, last updated Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT.

VET for PEACE - wrote on Apr 4, 2008 2:45 PM:- Thanks for clarifying esteban’s deceptive statistics (7:40 AM). The media continually publicize the erroneous statistics of the Pentagon and the Bush administration on the fatalities and casualties of the Bush War.
The official number of fatalities as of today is publicized as 4,013, but this is only those killed in action, and does not include those killed in accidents, or the 145 confirmed suicides while on active duty, nor does it include those who die after being evacuated to military hospitals outside Iraq. It does not include those who died of wounds after being discharged from active duty. So many soldiers have died after being discharged.
The most tragic aspect of the Bush War is the number who have serious permanent disabilities, now estimated at 33,000. Many of these are near comatose, the living near dead. Then there are others who are partly disabled, and those dismissed because their brain injuries and psychoses were not judged as readily apparent. All told, there are over 64,000 veterans of the Bush War with injuries and disabilities.
I must point out that Darrell Issa has continually voted against funding bills for Veterans care, rehabilitation and disability pay.

sdraoul wrote on Apr 4, 2008 2:49 PM:You forgot to read about only a "few dozen" Iraqi officers who actually refused to fight. You read the left-wing reports about a mythical "thousand" and believed them. That's the Harry Reid school of reporting.

As for 1/4th of the city, pushaw! Iraqi troops are caravaning throughout the city of Basra in thgeir Humvees and armord cars and the Shiite cowards are crying because that "violates" the truce agreement. Pushaw!

A-Sadr is hiding in Iran. He won't come to Iraq.

sdraoul wrote on Apr 4, 2008 2:52 PM:"To oh please" are you kidding? Do you know where Iraq is? The Maliki governmetn was elected by the Iraqi people. The government is the first elected in Iraq in 5000 years. It's not perfect as the sysrtem isn't either, but it is so much better than the rest of the governments in the Middle East.

Our mistake, besides disbanding the Iraqi Army was not installing a single-winner district government. The parliamentary system is deficient.

sdraoul wrote on Apr 4, 2008 2:56 PM:There were entire battalions of American soldiers in Korea who refused to fight. It was a National Guard battalion from Puerto Rico.

And, there were thousands in the Sixties and Seventies who deserted or dodged the draft, William Jefferson Clinton being one of the draft dodgers.

Besides, the "thousand" are a mythical figure reported by leftwing reporters. Actual observers on scene report "several dozen" such soldiers who refused to fight out of 30,000.

Hoo Boy wrote on Apr 4, 2008 3:25 PM:"The Maliki governmetn was elected by the Iraqi people." Yes! And the Bush government was elected by the American people. See a parallel there? The people of both countries have finally realized they have been had. You just keep dreaming your dreams of blood and glory, sdraoul, because they give you so much comfort.

To sdraoul wrote on Apr 4, 2008 3:28 PM:"It's not perfect as the sysrtem isn't either, but it is so much better than the rest of the governments in the Middle East." Are you kidding me? Give me ONE clear example of any kind of success Maliki's goverment is having. Just ONE. A real one, not a made-up one.

Alf wrote on Apr 4, 2008 3:46 PM:There goes "esteban" (at 2:20PM),saying that denouncing torture is un-American. The only thing un-American is advocating torture, which, by the way, violates our American Laws ever since we signed the Geneva Conventions. Don't let little things like the Law and the Constitution get in your way, GWB sure as shoot hasn't. Regards, Alf.

What Does sdraoul Know That the Generals Don't? wrote on Apr 4, 2008 3:52 PM:I watched the Iraq hearings on C-Span last night, Webb and Hegel asked some really tough questions of the 3 retired Generals and the one civilian international expert on the panel. General McCarthy and Lt. General Odom, reflected both ends of the spectrum, yet were closer than you would think. Odom"s opinion was get the troops the hell out of there, before it becomes another Dien Bien Phu. McCarthy's opinion was less drastic. He stated that this party is OVER, the victory that McCain's talking about is not an option, because the volunteer military is simply being used up, period. Both Odom and McCarthy expressed the opinions of the officers, non-coms, and enlisted personal they have been interviewing in Iraq for the last year. McCarthy stated that he has conveyed this to Bush-Cheney personally and they are going to leave the mess to the next administration. Both men said the military leadership is deeply concerned that they will be caught up in an all out muti factional Civil War. McCarthy also stated that it's imperative the US open diplomatic relations with Iran and Syria; the constant saber rattling, or worse could trap US forces, whom will have to break out past 400 miles of a hostile Iranian border, taking huge casualties. Webb was visibly distressed. The panel agreed that at the end of the day the Iraqis, sick of this war, will trade one dictator for another and the sacrifice will have been in vain.

Expat Doug wrote on Apr 4, 2008 5:02 PM:... Some regular, assembles numbers of dead service members, and uses them to prove that a Republican/Conservative Administration send fewer troops to their deaths then a Democrat/Liberal.

Regardless of what side of the political aisle you set on, such an excercise in statistic is a slap in the face to the families and friends of those dying in the service of the United States.

I can't think of a single parent, who after losing a son or daughter in battle, would find solace in which party was in power at the time of their loved ones death.

Such misguided logic is as bad as statements like, "Sure America had slavery, but there is no need to apologize, because other countries throughout history have had slavery,",or, "Sure America uses torture, but the Japanese during WWII, and the Chinese and North Koreans during the Korean War did also."

Perhaps before drawing such foolish conclusions, people should recall the ancient advice of sage parents who ask their unthinking children, "Just because if Johnny jumped off the bridge,then you think its okay for you to jump, too?"

Geez, guys (and I refuse to acknowledge these writers by screen name), I know you like to see your name in print, and get a lift out of the attention you get when people respond, but couldn't you at least add some intellect to your rantings and diatribes?

Reardon wrote on Apr 4, 2008 5:34 PM:You have to hand it to DD: He ignores the fact that there has been NO WARMING for 10 years, and holds onto the computer prediction of future warming! I love it! Ignore actual and accept oija boards! I'm sorry, but since we have only had reasonably scientific measurement since about 1860, 10 years is not "weather" it is climate. And, so far as I know, CO2 has continued to increase over the past 10 years -- so where is the straight-line relationship between CO2 and "Global Warming?" Tell me DD, will we be reduced to cannibalism in 30 or 40 years?

Ball wrote on Apr 4, 2008 5:43 PM:Clinton was robbed: Hmmmm. are you joking...

Reardon wrote on Apr 4, 2008 5:50 PM:I see that the Clintons have made $109 million since Bill left the presidency. Talk about profit! Zero capital investment! Zero product produced! $109 profit! And, as I recall, the Senate had the heads of oil companies before them – and pilloried them for making a 10% or lower annual profit on HUGE investment, while producing the gasoline for your car. The mind boggles! I remember that Senator Clinton said, “:"The other day the oil companies recorded the highest profits in the history of the world. I want to take those profits. And I want to put them into a strategic energy fund that will begin to fund alternative smart energy, alternatives and technologies that will actually begin to move us in the direction of independence."

Mrs. Clinton wants to take EARNED profits? How about her unearned profits! Can we take those FIRST?

Epiphany wrote on Apr 4, 2008 5:59 PM:I was on a blog last night that was pro-Clinton and I saw an amazing amount of people express the sentiment that they "couldn't wait for Bill to get back in the driver's seat". I see now why Hillary was expected to be a slam dunk for the nomination, it's THE DREAM TEAM! The old white ladies will vote for Hillary (but they are really voting for Bill and feeling good about themselves for voting in the First Female President) and the old white men will vote for Bill (and of course some others will too just 'cause we are a diverse society) but they didn't forsee a wild card like Obama. I can't believe how dumb I was not to see that up front, but we used to have a Constitution and it never occured to me that people were seeing Bill as a co-leader (but he has so much experience so isn't that better?)and don't care that they are voting for Bill Clinton to have a third term in office even if that isn't how they saying it. I remain hopeful that we can restore the Constitution of the United States and return to being good and decent people. We have a long way to go.

OH PLEASE! wrote on Apr 4, 2008 6:02 PM:sdraul: I can not contain myself. I am laughing at you out loud. If you want to continue to hold yourself up for ridicule, be my guest. Thank you for the comedy. You should get an act and apply at comedy central.LMAO and good night.

DD Wiz wrote on Apr 4, 2008 6:09 PM:The post from "Reardon" (5:34pm) again, for the second time today (repeating his 7:32am misrepresentation), misstates the substance of the news article HE cited from today's BBC website.
Again, I direct readers to seek it and read it for themselves, using the Google search terms "BBC" and the title of the article cited by "Reardon" (7:32am), "Global Warming Dips This Year" so you can decide for yourselves who is citing this accurately.
He says there "has been NO WARMING for 10 years" but that is not what his own source says.
The BBC source says that the last ten years have been the hottest ever recorded, and that this year's single dip to the same level as 1998 is a one-time, temporary aberration caused by a La Nina condition.
Don't trust either of us.
Read it for yourselves.

esteban wrote on Apr 4, 2008 6:19 PM:Alf, my esteemed friend, how many times have I told you that the bending of the Constitution during wartime is ok by me if it helps us eradicate the ... [the enemy.] I think most people would agree.

Apollo wrote on Apr 4, 2008 6:35 PM:Re: Reardon (5:50 p.m.)
Reardon accuses the Clintons of making money with "Zero product produced!"
Each of them has written books and audio CD's and have performed on stage for fees.
Reardon may not like the product, but product it is.

Reardon wrote on Apr 4, 2008 6:46 PM:Absolut Vodka has an ad running in Latin America showing Mexico owning the Western United States. Google the ad in the LA Times. or go to the Drudge Report. Now, it was once true, for the briefest time, but primarily the Western US was under the King of Spain. Californios expelled the Mexican Governor so often that he got saddle sores, and many Mexicans, called Texicans joined with the US in expelling Santa Ana from Texas. Of course the US PAID Mexico for the land they NEVER controlled, and only had sparse settlement in for a few years. How much did we pay? $369,582,977.45 in today’s dollars – for uninhabited scrubbrush! Absolut rubbish!

OBSERVATION wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:19 PM:n Basra, military and police officials said about 900 Iraqi soldiers and police deserted or refused to fight the militias after the offensive was launched March 25.
The officials said the mutiny involved an army battalion from the 4th Iraqi Division numbering about 500 men as well as about 400 policemen.
By ROBERT H. REID and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writers

Kali wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:25 PM:Just looked at that ad. If Absolut Vodka cared about an Absolut World, instead of trying to make a bunch of drunks out of everyone, there ad would read more like, The mexican government is actually helping their citizens and is no longer corrupt, their citizens have rights and want to stay in their own country and make it a better place.
Absolut Vodka is an Absolut JOKE.

Hasta Hasta wrote on Apr 4, 2008 7:30 PM:Reardon[-] wrote on Apr 4, 2008 6:46 PM:
I could understand you getting excited if the ad was in an American magazine published in the US. But, man, it is a Swedish company advertising its product in a Mexican magazine in Mexico City and other parts of Latin America. Big deal, Amigo.

DRUDGERY wrote on Apr 4, 2008 8:16 PM:Reardon at 6:46 recommends the Drudge report which he cites as his source.
The Drudge Report!
Now there's an objective source!
Hahahahahahaha!

Reardon wrote on Apr 4, 2008 8:16 PM:Please do as DD asks, where you will find the following sentence: “This would mean global temperatures have not risen since 1998, prompting some to question climate change theory.” While you are at it, Google "NPR The Mystery of Global Warming's Missing Heat" where you will find: " Some 3,000 scientific robots that are plying the ocean have sent home a puzzling message. These diving instruments suggest that the oceans have not warmed up at all over the past four or five years." Then Google "Ted Turner Global Warming" and pick your source for his recent "cannibalism" structure. Meanwhile I will be spending my evening Googling (is that a verb?) the sales of the Clinton books, their earned Pulitzer prizes, the relationship between their book income and J.K Rowling, and the books they published and money they made in books before his presidency. Ahhhh….Nah!

RichardM wrote on Apr 4, 2008 8:26 PM:The 1000 desertions from the Iraqi military are nothing new. Arab have been deserting or even changing sides in combat for years and years. Remember the first Persian Gulf war? Iraqi soldiers deserted or surrendered by the thousands. Many changed sides and the amazing thing was the other side accepted them as SOP. It's not cowardice, necessarily, it's expediency. They just like taking the easy path with the least danger.

dear esteban wrote on Apr 4, 2008 9:26 PM:Would you please cite your sourses for the military deaths, thanks JA

to Tom and Salvador wrote on Apr 4, 2008 9:27 PM:You are so right in my book!!

Brian wrote on Apr 4, 2008 9:30 PM:Esteban has been called on posting obviously bogus stats: "The combat death figures that esteban lists are a lie that has already been debunked by snopes."
His response? Just ignore that he was caught posting more lies. Move on to the next one. ... Just like your buddy Chucky. Just like most conservos. Throw out a bunch of blatantly false info and when that's debunked, throw out some more while ignoring anything resembling 'facts'

to Esteban wrote on Apr 4, 2008 9:43 PM:"Bending the constitution" ia a cop out a lot like being a "little bit pregnant"
NO SUCH THING!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reardon wrote on Apr 4, 2008 10:05 PM:To Drudgery: The Drudge Report is NOT the citation, Drudge is just a "portal" that takes you to the liberal sites I mentioned -- the BBC and NPR. I like citing liberal sites because there is a tendency to downplay conservative news sites -- there is no chance of the BBC and NPR being considered "conservative."

esteban wrote on Apr 4, 2008 10:23 PM:\Brian, I responded to the Snopes thing but NCT has been witholding my comments all day. So I'm not dodging anything, it's just that there are some moderators who don't like posting my comments. And "to esteban at 9:43"..ok fine, give the enemy Constitutional rights. They'll kill your family and laugh at you, as nothing happens to them. Grow a spine.

Keep Mamma Out.. wrote on Apr 4, 2008 11:42 PM:Oh pleeeeease, Reading about you crying in your milk all day long over NCT witholding your comments is weak at best esteban, even for you. A lot of comments were held back today, who knows why!?!? not me, but I know for a fact at least 8 of mine on different boards were, but you don't hear the rest of us crying to mamma over it. Grow up.

Focal Point wrote on Apr 5, 2008 9:36 AM:esteban[-] wrote on Apr 4, 2008 10:23 PM:
I stand more of a chance of my family being murdered by an American than I do some Arab terrorist. In fact, Americans have murdered more Americans this year than have been murdered by the terrorists during 9/11. Constitutional rights have noting to do with the ability to kill. It has everything to do with the Bill of Rights and the Rule of Law under the Constitution. Everyone as a matter of justice whether or whether or not under our Consitution, deserves to be tried in a legitimate court of law and to be represented by counsel. People like esteban are the real anti Americans. They would sell the soul of their nation for a few kicks torturing helpless prisoners.

foolednomore wrote on Apr 5, 2008 2:05 PM:Readon as with all CONS is making it up again. Reading impaired Readon not only pulled and out of context quote and wrongly implied its meaning, he also added his own words inside of the quotation marks. In my world adding to a quote is called LYING. But then again Readon drinks the CON Koolaid daily, I don't blame him for becoming a bit addled from the toxic brew of CON deceit and made up facts in his Koolaid.

Here are the words Reading challenged Readon added to the end of the actual quote, "prompting some to question climate change theory.” His added words (lie?) completely change the meaning of his out of context quote. here is the actual quote: "This would mean that temperatures have not risen globally since 1998 when El Nino warmed the world."

The out of context quote sounds like a reversal of scientific opinion when it is given OUT OF CONTEXT, but if one actually reads the article one finds that the antecedent of "this" is not scientific opinion rather it refers to the tiny measurement difference in methods used by NASA and by the Hadley's Centre in the UK. If Hadley's measuremets are correct then the long term warming trend has leveled off for ten years which would be great news but if NASA measurements are correct then the La Nina event has caused a leveling in the last three years only. Here is the reason the article gives for the differences "Researchers say the uncertainty in the observed value for any particular year is larger than these small temperature differences. What matters, they say, is the long-term upward trend."

In other words the earth is very big and complicated place and the year to year temperature measurements are subject to tiny variation in measurement accuracy but there is no question that the long term global temperature trend is UPWARD!

Please anyone who wants to understand the twists and turns of the deceptive and devious mind of a CON google: "BBC News Global temperature dips this year." Reading the article and then Readon's convoluted interpretation of it illustrate the fantasy filled world view of the CON better than anything I could write.

Stephen wrote on Apr 5, 2008 6:43 PM:John Shea needs to sit down and be quiet. Today's Minutemen are not patriots. The problems we now face started on our side of the border. A true patriot would have told the United States Supreme Court that their ruling on Engle v. Vitale was wrong. After all, this is what caused the crime rate to go sky high. We need to quit blaming the outsiders. They had nothing to do with it.

To Yokozuna Apr wrote on Apr 24, 2008 2:00 PM:Of course you're not going to vote for Bush and Cheney this year- Bush has already served two terms, and Cheney's not running.

Wow. Way to keep up with politics.