Crap Throwing Monkey

No, I'm saying he malingers in blocking...he doesn't do much of anything, just kind of stands there and gets in the way sometimes. Much like this thread.

But again...like I said, that's what a Western program would do. Iraq - were they pursuing a nuclear program - doesn't necessarily have to use state-of-the-art technology. Hell, they don't even have to use state-of-the-art '60's technology...they're perfectly welcome to come up with their own solutions to engineering problems (and have - "dusty mustard" is a nasty chemical weapon they invented). Just because the US hasn't used aluminum in 40 years, doesn't mean no one else can.

There's lots of fascinating stuff coming out of the ISG's work...much of it points to Iraq having certain WMD programs in limbo or at a low rate of activity. None of it that I know of points to Iraq having weapons "cocked, locked, and loaded", as the administration used as one of its 19 different bull sh-- reasons to invade Iraq. The link is...interesting. The "81mm rocket" story strikes me about as unlikely as the centrifuge story. My artillery books - yeah, I have reference books on modern artillery, I'm weird, we all knew that already - are still packed, so I can't easily look up other rocket types to see what their bodies are made of. Steel, or even cast iron, fragments better than aluminum, hence makes a better munition in many cases - but not all. So it's possible. But basically, after skimming that link, I see a lot of "We have theories...but we don't really know." Which, despite media reports to the contrary, is how the world usually works anyway. Certainty only exists in the mind of Dan Rather; too bad the rest of us have to live in the real world.

I honestly don't know. Theoretically, they could have been centrifuge parts. As a practical matter, it depends on the tolerances they're milled to. From what I've heard (anecdotal), the tolerances of the tubes were not enough to be used in a uranium centrifuge... ...for a Western nuclear program. But if you're willing to run your centrifuges at lower speeds (or accept greater risk of catastrophic failure), you can use lower-tolerance material. So really, the question of "Were the aluminum tubes intended for a nuke program" is kind of ambiguous - theY could have been, but you can't just look at the tubes themselves and get a concrete "yes" or "no" answer. My gut feeling is: probably not. I don't think Iraq in 2002 was pursuing a meaningful nuclear weapons program, for the simple reason that such a program requires a rather extensive and obvious industrial base that just wasn't apparent from any of the information (same with missiles - and as opposed to chem, which can "hide in plain sight" in dual-use programs like agricultural or petrochemical industries, or bio, which could be performed in a $10k basement lab.)

I'm actually surprised. I hadn't figured them to rank hire than 29.

So close...but that was just an unintended benefit...

Ironically, that's also an accurate description of Williams' blocking...

So Strahan bought himself a Honda Fit. Big deal...

Ding ding ding ding ding! We have a winner. It's cheaper to produce on version of the keyboard for all ATMs. Congrats, you get a cookie. It should be in your "cookies" folder right now...

There's actually a very good reason for this. First person to figure it out gets a cookie...

Only in your warped little mind.

Well...in his defense, he's right: the reason this sort of violence wasn't present in Iraq before is because of Saddam Hussein's brutal ruling practices. And that just goes to show how much of a total !@#$ing idiot O'Reilly actually is.

But Honkies are Evil. I thought you knew...

I'd think it was more misleading if a certain subset of Hispanic immigrants didn't refer to it as the "Reconquista".

Evil B word Snake Woman. Where's my f-you smiley? There is a difference between just saying we caused the insurgency, and actually explaining in some detail what we did to cause it. Hell, there's a difference between calling it "the insurgency", and outlining what it really is, for that matter. I particularly like the part of the book where he outlines some forty different insurgent organizations fighting the occupation (a good many of which represent the "Sunni majority" in Iraq - in their words, not mine). That's not insurgency, that's anarchy...and it hardly supports the typical image of unity of Iraq against the occupation. It also hardly supports the image of unity of Iraq for the democratic process the administration's shoveling. Reality, again, is very complex...and in Iraq, schizophrenic to boot. "Sunni majority."

One that doesn't consist of proven axe-grinding bullshitters like Soros or MoveOn.org. Which basically means: no one. Turn of the TV and try to find some independent sources.

Mine came back: Ed ~ Your Special Fairy Skills ~ * Driving a flaming ass-rammer of a car *

Yes, Crystal City is a Metro stop. The Marriott, as I recall, is right next to one of the subway entrances. Good neighborhood...Crystal City is basically office buildings above, an underground strip mall below. I don't think much happens after 5pm or so through most of it. Some good restaurants - there's an Irish pub on 20th St that's pretty good, and shows Bills games regularly. Legal Sea Food next to it. Ruth Chris's Steak House somewhere in there. Plenty of others. http://crystalcity.com/

1) Yes, there is. Or at least exposing them as grotesquely stupid - the interpretation I prefer, as it explains why the administration would indulge such idiocy as trumpeting Nigerian yellow cake when Iraq already have forty tons of its own yellow cake available for use. 2) If there's "quite a bit" of information...why do people have to rely on notorious, proven axe-grinding bullshitters like Soros and MoveOn.org?

But successful people don't get that way because of planning and hard work. They're successful because they take advantage of innocent, everyday people. So it's only fair that robber-barons like you and me should be punished for exploiting people like meazza and stevestojan... And that's why Congresscritters get guaranteed pensions and cost-of-living raises...because they protect Americans from exploitation.

A statement that itself illustrates the vast gulf in perception. Yes, they're illegals from all over the world here - I know more than a few from south and southeast Asia, myself. But how many Irish illegals do you think are actually here? 50k? 100k? As compared to 12 million Hispanic illegal immigrants? Hell, there's almost certainly more illegal immigrants from Mexico here than there are Irish in Ireland! So while you're technically correct in that illegal immigrants come from all countries...the perception is that illegal immigratrion is overwhelmingly a problem of Hispanic migration (or, as I told some of my H1-visa'd coworkers, "illegal immigration" is really just a "secret code" for "Mexican immigration.") And that perception is based on the simple reality that it's far easier for your average Mexican to walk across the border than it is your average Irishman to cross the Atlantic (as you pointed out yourself - there's organizations devoted to getting Irishmen into the US...Hispanics can just hoof it on a whim if they choose.) The problem - such as it is - is overwhelmingly a "Mexican" (i.e. Hispanic) immigration problem. And yeah, that's racist. That's why it's referred to as "illegal immigration" and not "Hispanic immigration".

And I think you're to blame for that. Not me, though.

Actually, he didn't "choose" to go all the way back to 2001 to defend TD. Every year, on the principle that you have to wait five years to really know how a draft turned out, he grades the draft five years previous. Five years from now, he'll be bitching about Starbucks and Marv's first draft...

Happy Birthday Nervous Guy!