Scraps

Hey, we discuss the important issues here on the OTW board.

Anyone else wondering where all the food is coming from? I thought they ate it all in one big party. Hurly has had ranch dressing and candy bars while Locke and Jack apparently have cereal.

I don't give them a pass. They had professional war planners who told them otherwise. Those professional war planners were either fired, Shinseki, or beaten into submission to drink the kool aid, Franks. It is no surprise that the only professional war planner high in the administration, Powell, was the most reluctant person to sign onto the program. Maybe a surprise to the Days of Our Lives/American Idol crowd but those in the Administration should have had time to resarch the issue and know better. I thought the weapons inspectors debunked so much of the intelligence that the major conclusions were highly suspect.

I don't think the Administration really thought much at all. From what I've read, they thought they were going to have 30,000 or fewer troops in Iraq by the by September 2003. The only reason Iraq was secular was because Saddam repressed fundamentalists. The fact that sectarianism took hold is hardly surprising. Tribalism is at play in virtually every country in the ME.

Sounds like the judge and prosecutor are looking for some way to avoid their archaic law by calling him insane. Either way, it looks like he is toast.

Hostages rescued

What aspects of lobbying are you opposed too? 1) Contacting elected represenatives and letting them know how you feel about an issue. 2) Campaign contributions. 3) Junketts for Congressmen. Or are there other aspects that I haven't covered?

So why don't you be a big boy and comment on what was actually said?

Really? I see many of you people substituting "blame the Jews" for criticism of Israel or our relationship with Israel. Any comments on the article? Or are you just going to use the typical "well the otherside gets away with it" tripe to ingore a serious issue?

Its been my experience on this board that people who claim to be Jewish rarely engage in this behavior. In fact I can't think of a single Jewish person on this board who has done this, which makes the practice particularly perplexing.

Why don't you address the issue instead of coming up with reasons to avoid it. That criticism "Silencing skeptics by organizing blacklists and boycotts -- or by suggesting that critics are anti-Semites -- violates the principle of open debate on which democracy depends" has much validity based on the typical arguments many posters to this very board take regarding anyone who dares question the value of our relationship with Israel.

So your line is Clinton Bad! Thanks for the distinction.

I wasted 4 minutes of my life watching this crap. Why is it so difficult to see that the "flashes" occured when the NOSE of the planes hit the buildings?

Given Bush's choices of his running mate, Rummy, Wolfowitz, Perle, Faithe etc we've just replaced one set of incompetents with a bunch of incompetents who happen to be zealots.

Generally speaking, the fleet is shrinking. Six new ships is probably an anomoly to the trend. I know that Los Angeles Class submarines are being retired faster the Virginia Class subs are being built. The "jobs program" is really at the ship yard, which is a contractor.

Could you expand on this story or Congress ordering six new ships that the Navy doesn't even want? As a Navy employee, I've been hearing for a couple of years that the fleet is getting to small. Navy brass has been talking about the fact that costs have to come down in all other areas so the ship building can go up. I'm not saying you're wrong. I can see how it might happen. I can see how the Navy might want to stop funding a particular shipbuilder for instance, but politics get involved and Congress earmarks money for additional ships to be built by that ship builder, thus making the cost per ship higher than it need be. Also, didn't Clinton shut down the government because he wanted more money for many discretional domestic spending programs than Congress passed?

The cynic in my says these are two smart republicans trying to get gullible democrats to pay for this kids college tuition.

I just don't see why port security should not be addressed because tangent boy swung a shiny object out there.

That has nothing to do with airplanes, which was the BS tangent. Maybe no foreign entities should be running our ports. Bigger risks such as? No set of security will be foolproof. What does this tangent have to do with ports?

I don't think its a bluff. Iran has taken and held American hostages in Iran, Lebanon and many believe they are responsible for Khobar Towers.

What makes you so sure that port security isn't a weaker point than international airlines?

I believe that the dangerous things that can be brought in through ports far outweigh the risks of an airliner. We have and do control who can fly into the US and have turned airlines around based on who they had on board on occasion. Its a BS tangent.

What do airlines have to do with port security?

Sorry, I didn't look closely enough. I thought I was responding to GG who originally posted the non sequitur question.

Apples and oranges comparison tangent boy.