Offering constructive criticism to the social cripples in our midst since early 2005.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

I lost my mind here earlier re: pensions. I have no excuse. I was on an awful 4 day bender over the weekend. The brain chemicals are very stormy at the moment. I am going through the "why can't I be that twisted all the time" rigors, which appears to have thrown me into a bad imitation of Ayn Rand on a fistful of bourbons.

I am sorry for sinking the board and getting personal. That is all.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
I lost my mind here earlier re: pensions. I have no excuse. I was on an awful 4 day bender over the weekend. The brain chemicals are very stormy at the moment. I am going through the "why can't I be that twisted all the time" rigors, which appears to have thrown me into a bad imitation of Ayn Rand on a fistful of bourbons.

I am sorry for sinking the board and getting personal. That is all.

If they don't buy this, you are free to try the "my head has actually exploded" excuse. Gratis.

[Replaced_Texan]

Gotta love the Brits:

To quote an old Londoner who lived through the blitz and got caught up in the Canary Wharf explosion: "I've been blown up by a better class of bastard than this!"

London is a tough old town, and will bounce back just fine. Which is not in any way, shape or form to diminish what happened today. Indeed, I wish I was there now, to be with friends and family. Or just as a defiant "in your face" to the killers who did this. I recognize all the areas from the clips American television replays (and replays, and replays), and I want to be with my city while it's hurting.

If the Luftwaffe couldn't bring the city to it's knees, these pathetic penny-ante cowards certainly won't. I lived in the Commonwealth Hall dorms just off of Russell Square at the height of the IRA campaigns. It's surprising how quickly one adapts, in a way, to life with bombings. If the IRA decides to bomb Harrods every Christmas, you just don't go to Harrods at Christmas - no matter how good the flapjack is.

One of my friends at Queen Mary College was Anthony Allen. Not "Tony" - AN-thony. Though slight of frame, he was, to my mind, the quintessential Englishman: the True Brit, in a stiff-upper-lip, sophisticated, Etonian kind of way. I'm quite sure he didn't go to Eton, but dammit, he should have.

A favorite memory from college was when he and I popped into the McDonalds by the Tottenham Court Road tube station for a milkshake

This was in the day when a McDonald's was still a novel thing in London, so it was a bit of a treat. I mean, up to that point in time, ordering a milkshake in Britain meant getting a glass of milk with a little froth on the top that might - might - taste vaguely of strawberry, banana, chocolate or whatever, depending on how generous the server was feeling at the moment.

Now, you must know this: to eat food in a British restaurant, you had to pay a Value Added Tax. Somewhere between five and ten percent, I believe it was. It could have been less. This was before my economics degree, you understand. If you wanted the food to take away, though, that was easier: there was no extra charge.

Well, Anthony and I decided to take a break from the summer heat and pay the VAT on a couple of milkshakes and fries (a significant decision, when you're on a college budget). We took our trays upstairs, to the second floor seating area, and grabbed a table by the window. Not that the crossroads of Oxford Street, New Oxford Street, Charing Cross Road and Tottenham Court Road offer spectacular vistas, but there you go.

We were a few bites into our fries before we noticed police outside slowly but surely cordoning off the McDonalds.

I look around, a little nervously, bomb squads not being a London sight I had any prior close-hand familiarity with.

A woman came up the stairs.

"The IRA phoned in a bomb threat," she said. "They said they're going to blow up a fast food restaurant on Oxford Street. Everybody should leave."

Everybody left in a very English, orderly kind of way.

Except Anthony, who chewed calmly on his fries.

"Uh, Anthony," I prodded. "We really should get out of the building."

Chew, chew, chew.

Swallow.

Pause.

Antony picked up his shake, and took a drink.

"No," he said, in that particularly reasoned and responsible voice the English do so well. "I paid to drink my milkshake in, and I am going to drink my milkshake in."

There really was no arguing with that.

****

As it turned out, the IRA blew up the Wimpy's, further down Oxford Street. Nobody was hurt, but the restaurant was destroyed.

If you, like me, had ever eaten at a Wimpy's, you, like me, might consider that a mercy killing, also.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by Fair and Equitable
Funny, the only gang-rapes of young women I've heard of are by their Muslim neighbors. See, e.g.,

http://www.abrahamic-faith.com/Islam...rway-rape.html

or this,

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapc...istan.rape.ap/

If you're really concerned about your neighbor's daughter, then you better make sure that she isn't caught talking to some American boy; otherwise her father or brother may have to take drastic actions to protect her family's "honor".

quick -- which of those countries has Bush allied us with?

[SlaveNoMore]

Replaced_Texan
This would have happened if we'd gone into Iraq or if we hadn't gone into Iraq. If we hadn't gone into Iraq, they would have listed some other perceived slight as justification.

Exactly. Until the Islamists are eliminated, this is the future of the West.

[ltl/fb]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
And I stand by mine. That was the number.

ETA: I just reread that. You do know I was talking about health ins for a person my age? I don't know what a 60ish person would be. I think there might have been a miscommunication there.

Why oh why would I think you were citing a single number for health insurance for a person your age in response to a post about health insurance for a group of retirees? Why?

A box of chocolates might be a good way to start your atonement. Not anything horrifically expensive, but not so cheap as to be fake. And I prefer milk chocolates or a mix -- not all dark. Yes, I'm a tasteless prole.

To RT, Wimpy's sucks. I think they use offal or entrails (are those the same thing??) in their ground beef. And it appears that in LA, you pay tax on food that you buy to eat in, but not on food that you take out. At least at, like, a starbucks equivalent I go to sometimes.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by sgtclub
Huh? You mean to tell me we would not be safer at home if we pulled out of Iraq? Blasphemy!

Worked for Spain.


But seriously -- I don't think anyone is suggesting that pulling out would make us safer. I'm saying that the argument that going in made us safer appears to be a crock.

As for the wisdom of pulling out of Iraq -- well, as Powell said, we broke it, we bought it.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Exactly. Until the Islamists are eliminated, this is the future of the West.

2.


We just have a different view on how to eliminate them.

[sgtclub]

This gave me chills:

• The London attacks have a special resonance for the American people — for America has no stronger or closer ally in the world than Great Britain. We are bound together by a common heritage, a common language and a deeply shared commitment to freedom. As President Bush indicated earlier this morning, the United States will stand with the British people with unflinching resolve.
  
  Though it is not yet known with certainty precisely who is responsible, we do know terrorists' intentions. They strike without warning and without regard for human life in the hope that they can frighten and intimidate free people — to change our way of life. And they won't stop until their side or our side has prevailed.
  
  But if these terrorists thought they could intimidate the people of a great nation, they picked the wrong people and the wrong nation. For generations, tyrants, fascists, and terrorists have sought to carry out their violent designs upon the British people only to founder upon its unrelenting shores.
  
  Before long, I suspect that those responsible for these acts will encounter British steel. Their kind of steel has an uncommon strength. It does not bend or break.
  
  The British have learned from history that this kind of evil must be confronted. It cannot be appeased. Our two countries understand well that once a people give in to terrorist's demands, whatever they are, their demands will grow.
  
  The British people are determined and resolute. And I know the people of the United States are proud to stand at their side.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Gotta love the Brits:

The pension-hording health-care-wanting pussies across the pond should take note.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
But seriously -- I don't think anyone is suggesting that pulling out would make us safer. I'm saying that the argument that going in made us safer appears to be a crock.

Dissent. At the very least, in the short term we are killing or occupying a large number of people that would otherwise potentially do us harm. But I always bought into the long term view (i.e., the only way to ensure long term safety is to bring democracy and capitalism to the ME.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Gotta love the Brits:

A Letter to the Terrorists, From London

. . . And that's because we're better than you. Everyone is better than you. Our city works. We rather like it. And we're going to go about our lives. We're going to take care of the lives you ruined. And then we're going to work. And we're going down the pub.

So you can pack up your bombs, put them in your arseholes, and get the fuck out of our city.

I'll drink to that.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
I lost my mind here earlier re: pensions. I have no excuse. I was on an awful 4 day bender over the weekend. The brain chemicals are very stormy at the moment. I am going through the "why can't I be that twisted all the time" rigors, which appears to have thrown me into a bad imitation of Ayn Rand on a fistful of bourbons.

I am sorry for sinking the board and getting personal. That is all.

You can send fringey chocolates and retract your douchebag claim too.

BTW, one of the luxuries of a steady job is that you can work off the four-day benders without worry about resupplying the Maker's Mark cabinet.

[Mister_Ruysbroeck]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
Enjoy the check collecting. And the Seiko. Brother, if thats all you ever want... If you can live with the bargain... Hey, you and I are never going to meet minds on these issues.

Fringey has me by the balls. I ventured into her area and she slapped me a bit. But what have you argued back to me except "I'll be secure." Really? Is that the best? Cause that ain't much.

Its a real long ride when you wake up at 50 and think "What if?" I may ccrash and burn, but fuck it. I played a few hands. Not as risky as I'd like to be, but I can at least say I gave it the college effort.

You're just the man in the grey flannel suit.

1. I resent you questioning my fashion sense. I don't wear suits to work anymore and, if I did, it wouldn't be fucking flannel. They do pay me enough to afford nice suits, though, if it were required. As it is, I do get my slacks and shirts tailored and I only wear khakis on fridays (occassionally). I dare say I am one of the better dressed men in my office. So there fuck you and your baseless grey flannel suit accusation.

2. There's plenty of risk in the stock market. I mean, come on, we're throwing nearly 30K every year into investments that may never pay out. Just because we are doing it through an employee-sponsored retirement plan, doesn't mean it isn't risky. Yeah, it's not "fuck you corporate america" risky, but you know what I'm saying.

3. No, we are never going to see eye to eye on the "be your own boss" issue. You're right, I don't want to be my own boss. I want to be the boss of every fucking person in my company. Is that an OK life aspiration?

Regarding your apology: it wasn't necessary, but I'm sure the sentiment is appreciated.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally posted by sgtclub
Dissent. At the very least, in the short term we are killing or occupying a large number of people that would otherwise potentially do us harm.

I keep hearing that. But I also keep hearing about how we are thwarting dozens and dozens of attacks, and of course every once in awhile failing to thwart any attacks.

I also keep hearing that Clinton left us utterly defenseless, which means he failed to thwart any attacks whatsoever, which can only lead to the conclusion that a whole lot more people are attacking us now than ever tried to do so under Clinton. I wonder why? But I guess this is neither here nor there.

Anyway -- if we are really thwarting so many attacks, then it seems that, on a net basis, the number of people otherwise being occupied or killed in Iraq is less than the growth in people who became willing to do us harm as a result of the war. Put differently, as I've said before, the war in Iraq was a big boon to the al Qaeda recruiting drive.

I would disagree, also, that they are not harming us just because they are in Iraq. I think 1500 dead American soldiers counts as harming us. Do you agree?

But I always bought into the long term view (i.e., the only way to ensure long term safety is to bring democracy and capitalism to the ME.

I think I agree with that. I don't agree that going to war in Iraq was the way to promote democracy in the region. I'm not sure that I can suggest a better way, but we seem to have drawn closer to the Saudis than ever and they are hardly democratic, and hardly our allies against radical Islam.

I also wonder -- seriously -- whether democracy in the ME is such a good thing. If Iran's voters are a clue, then I really wonder. And worry.

Bluntly, I'm pretty fucking down today.