79: Also, the first books by K.W. Jeter were Laser Books.
I don't have untreated sleep apnea; I have undiagnosed (I think) ADD.
I'm not the type who posts just to have a number in the thread. But I will this time -- 666! -- because the thread is, well, mine; and this has been one year exactly. Hello!
Good for you. It's good to watch fraudsters going down.
Like Velma said, it's a major shock.
Earl, I don't see anything in the signing statement that relates to the deployment of troops on US soil, nor in the sections of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 that the signing statement refers to (841, 846, 1079, 1222).
Are they just ignoring the Posse Comitatus Act?
“In the short run, adjustments in the financial markets can be painful both for the people concerned about their investments and for the employees of the affected firms,†Mr. Bush said at the White House after a meeting with President John Kufour of Ghana. “In the long run, I’m confident that our capital markets are flexible and resilient, and can deal with these adjustments.â€
"No need for concern, sir. It's only natural in a period of transition for the more timid elements to run for cover."
I keep wondering how long they can keep this huge financial charade going by simply pretending nothing's wrong and trusting the rest of the world will go along with it because if we're completely fucked they're pretty fucked too.
Dave Bell, perhaps so, but in my defense, the ground the phrase "certain death" was covering changed after my last post on the matter. The "certain death" quoted by Beth was considerably more specific. When I was disputing the use of the phrase -- or rather, the correctness of using the phrase whether it turned out to be true or not -- nothing so specific had been quoted.
The first instance:
There was some sort of official pronouncement made that to stay was "certain death."
which was followed by
It's used infrequently enough in official weather jargon that I agree with its usage in this case regardless of the actual casualty count
and
That, (as with Katrina) this wasn't as bad as it could have been doesn't really change the accuracy of the report.
Note that at this point we still hadn't had any specificity. Remember that orders of evacuation were general. So far as I could tell, what was being defended was telling people who resisted the general evacuation that they were facing "certain death". If I was being stupid in thinking that, if death were in fact far from certain, this was a counterproductive use of the phrase, I wasn't alone: see Lynn C's 82, MadGastronomer's 93, and TexAnne's 96.
Then in 107 Beth posted:
"Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one or two story homes will face certain death."
This in reference to people along the shore in the hurricane strike area.
And I haven't had a chance to post since then. I hope you can see that this is a much more constrained use of the phrase, and I was never arguing against its use in this kind of context, where "certain" does indeed seem to mean "certain."
Sorry for going on so long. I don't mind being thought stupid, but I want to make sure it's for what I'm actually arguing.
Teresa, I'll try that! Although it may be a bit complicated by the fact that the leak is mostly coming out of the ceiling fan vent.
Seriously glad to see these scum go under. This despite the fact that they had some of the only seriously intelligent baseball coverage in all the mass media (if they count as mass media, anyway).
Our kitchen is leaking even more merrily than our usual rain leaks. And the leak over the toilet -- sigh -- is a constant every-few-seconds drip. It is unbelievably annoying. I just hope we don't have a big plaster collapse.
"Those who put down Palin make their sexism clear: a woman in politics is OK, but only if it's a liberal woman."
A good response to this would be: "Oh, so because she's a woman, we're not allowed to criticize her? How very Politically Correct of you."
Is there something fiendishly clever about this pick, or are they just flailing?
Does she help bring in the Christian right vote, or the extreme right-wingers who can't stand McCain? Something like that?
Do they figure the media and the Democrats already had a response lined up for any of the usual choices, so what the hell, let's confuse them?
I mean, if the Democrats nominated someone with her resume, can you imagine what the media would be saying?
Everyone is "voting their conscience". But the ones who make a big point of it are even more interested in voting their egos. Voting as a feel-good act, with special bonus Independent Thinking self-stroking.
I can accept voting for hopeless third-party candidates that is accompanied with an argument explaining why this is better for the country, short-term, long-term, whatever. I can respect many Libertarians on this ground, for interest, even while I profoundly disagree with them. Most of the Green party voters I've observed, though, seem to cast their votes out of disgust at the very idea that national politics is about consensus and compromise, refusing to taint themselves with anything less than purity. And most of them have been people who can evidently afford the consequences of the greater of two evils. It astonishes me that there are still people who can take this stand at this crucial point in our country. So far as I'm concerned, Green Party voters in the national election are as much my enemy as Republicans, and if the election is close and is lost, I will take it personally and hold it against them, and will not, I think, be able to forgive them as I forgave those who were friends of mine and voted for that pious fraud Nader.
Over the years I've found that Scraps often has better judgment than I do when it comes to knowing when to disengage. I'm gonna take this as a clue.
You are wiser than I.
Why, Greg, do you think that it is a cliche among people of color that when they object to things white folks say that they will be told they are inclined to take offense? Why, do you suppose, is it a bitter running joke? Why is it that so many people of color seem to be "inclined" to take offense? Why is that seeing that accusation would make them steamed (oh, awful word!)?
Are they genetically inclined to take offense? Have they been coached? Are they insane? Lacking in generosity and understanding?
Is it possible -- just the teensy-weensiest bit possible -- that when people of color take offense at something said by a decent well-meaning white person, that something offensive was actually said?
Malcolm Gin: "Do you want to ask me how many conversations I’ve managed to have with unvetted white people (and even with acquaintance-level friends) about race that have not backfired and ended up with me being called militant, delusional or hostile? Go ahead. Ask me."
But he's probably just inclined to take offense. I'm not, generally, myself; but I admit I may lean a bit in that direction from now on when I see the words "Greg London".
If a person can't talk about some being inclined to take offense without someone getting steamed, then that someone is inclined to take offense.
I apologize for coming back to look. But this line is transparent bullshit. If I wrote it and looked at it a year later, I would be ashamed.
You might just as well say, Greg, that if I say you can't punch me without my getting mad, then I am clearly inclined to be mad. Can you actually justify telling people they are inclined to take offense? What colossal arrogance. Okay: people who argue as you do are simply inclined to tell other people what's what, and have no interest in anyone's response except to refute it, however irrationally. Now we're having a dialogue!
You are motive-bashing, and then bashing the person who objects to having their motives bashed. It's hard for me to believe -- since I assume that you are after your own fashion sincere -- that you can't stop for a second and see it, unless you are simply decided on the issue and the people who argue it, and deaf to reason.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 6 |
| 2008 | 69 |
| 2007 | 57 |
| 2006 | 39 |
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