A disgusting vat of filth that no self-respecting intelligent person would wade into.

[Adder]

Originally posted by ironweed
Sounds like someone should read a book or two about the good folks who ran South Vietnam. Or maybe "headway" is a pun?

Is there something you are implying about that photo that I am missing? It is labelled as a Viet Cong officer shooting a man (which is what I always understood it to be).

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Adder
Is there something you are implying about that photo that I am missing? It is labelled as a Viet Cong officer shooting a man (which is what I always understood it to be).

That was some high S Vietnam official shooting a suspected Cong guy. The publication of the photo here caused people of Icantread's ilk to question whether our allies were really good guys, given that one of them shot a guerrilla w/o a trial.

Originally posted by Adder
Is there something you are implying about that photo that I am missing? It is labelled as a Viet Cong officer shooting a man (which is what I always understood it to be).

It was mislabled in the URL (but not on the site itself) by the person who runs the site I found it on. Who, incidentally, sounds like someone who would enjoy a few beers with Slave and Sam Kinison's character from Back To School.

eta: sorry, Sam.

[Adder]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
That was some high S Vietnam official shooting a suspected Cong guy. The publication of the photo here caused people of Icantread's ilk to question whether our allies were really good guys, given that one of them shot a guerrilla w/o a trial.

Hm.. well.. chalk that up to the greatness of American public school education.

Of course, the war only ended twenty years (for us) before I graduated high school, so how could we really expect up to date text books. But as least I learned a lot from watching Good Morning Vietnam in class.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Icantread's ilk

I understand the enduring comic value of plays on Weed's name, but know that there's an inflection point where they cease making any fucking sense to the broader polity, and become more clearly amusing only to the onanistic circle of devoted authors who pen them.

Carry on.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by sgtclub
I read somewhere today that there is a renewed effort to tap into the heat/energy in the earth's core and that not only is this possible, but fairly efficient. Could be interesting, although I'm sure the environmentalists will find something they don't like about it, and it probably will cause more earthquakes or something like that.

It's called geothermal energy, and last I heard, it's only very theoretical at this point. There are places where the Earth's internal energy is very close to the surface and easy to tap. Of course, those places tend to be characterized by volcanoes and geysers. I don't think they've come up with a way to get the energy to places that aren't dangerous yet.

[SlaveNoMore]

Adder
Slave has figured out how to kill ideas, so we got that going for us.

Any "idea" that involves coddling terrorists, their supporters and wannabes, deserves killing - so we can agree on that point.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by taxwonk
It's called geothermal energy, and last I heard, it's only very theoretical at this point. There are places where the Earth's internal energy is very close to the surface and easy to tap. Of course, those places tend to be characterized by volcanoes and geysers. I don't think they've come up with a way to get the energy to places that aren't dangerous yet.

Google "geothermal loop" and you'll get a series of systems for homes and businesses based on geothermal energy. They're commerically available, and some are even self-install. There are also tax credits available.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by sgtclub
First of all, since when did economics become a science?

It's the dismal science.

Whatever you think of economics as a discipline, the question of whether inequality is increasing is an empirical one.

Second this politization of science is nothing new and happens on both sides of the aisle. I don't know why you want to make this a partisan issue.

That is, of course, exactly what many conservatives want you to think, on a range of issues from evolution/ID to global warming to inequality. Who are the lefty partisans peddling junk science and trying to create uncertainty on those issues?

You can find lefty hacks peddling junk on other issues -- Michael Bellesiles' "research" on colonial gun ownership comes to mind, but he was abandoned by the academy once his hackery became evident. On the issues I named above, people like Reynolds are funded by conservative-aligned interests -- corporations and the religious right -- who have good reasons to confuse and forestall science. Where do lefties have analogous interests? I'm not saying it never happens, but off the top of my head I can't think of an example.

Third, why is the rising gap, if it exists, necessarily bad?

That is a whole separate conversation that I don't have the time to get into now. Suffice it to say that once you acknowledge that inequality is rising, the next question is: why? To the extent that governmental policies are to blame, even a libertarian should be able to see that the benefits of government action should not go dispropotionately to the most well off.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Adder
You know, I really don't appreciate your suggestion that I have no compassion for the troops that have chosen to serve our country.

Think of it as a sign of intellectual desperation.

[SlaveNoMore]

Gattigap
Buckley.

Buckley, as always, makes good points.

His conclusion is suspect though, given the remarkable job the UN has done "brokering" the peace in recent conflicts such as the Sudan and Lebanon.

Perhaps Ki-Moon will do a better job than his predescessor - it sure wouldn't be difficult.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
She was first elected to the Senate in 2000, and re-elected in November 2006. Her Presidential inauguration will be in January, 2009.

How is that not a full term?

S_A_M

Math is hard.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
The Speech George Bush Should Make Tuesday Night

Good idea. Lying about the supposed ties between Iraq and al Qaeda worked for him before.

[SlaveNoMore]

Tyrone Slothrop
Think of it as a sign of intellectual desperation.

"Intellectual desperation" is more akin to saying you "support the troops" - in order to avoid some social taboo - when declaring their mission to be wrong and giving succor to the enemy - is the furthest thing from supporting the troops.

[SlaveNoMore]

Sidd Finch
Good idea. Lying about the supposed ties between Iraq and al Qaeda worked for him before.

Hundreds of pages of translated documents show that the Hussein government had open ties and dealings with Al Qaeda members - which is not the same as saying Iraq was responsible for 9/11, which, again, the Bush government never did.

But hey, "bush lied, people died" sounds a lot better, and makes for a great bumper sticker.