Sarcoma

I just finished reading a book by Ralph Peters called "Wars of blood and faith" If you have any interest please read the introduction. I was stunned, it really put my mind to working on how I "feel" about the war and such...

I not rant on..Read it tell me what you think.

Sarcoma

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Sarcoma.

Guardianx11x

You are more right than I think you know. Check these articles out. (PS. Stiglitz is a nobel prize winning economist)

Bin Ladens Plan:
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200609/fallows_victory/5

Another good read:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...702846_pf.html

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FrankManik

Seconded. Berkeley is like an emergency let off valve for extreme left wing behavior.

TheBigC

They posted a decent counter video that covers this incident.

Berkeley Out Of America Now!

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The Meek shall inherit the earth..... after we're through with it!

The Wounded Warrior Project, help support my friends

TurkishDelight

Good but not good enough....

....I want to see "Code Pink" and the rest of the idiots, shoved off a cliff....

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|TG-X|Turkish

Steeler

Someone just got their copy of 300 from Netflix, methinks.

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USN_Squid

You must've missed this part of the report so I'll quote it here for you:

"In the years between the two Gulf Wars, UN sanctions reduced Saddam's ability to shape regional and world events, steadily draining his military, economic, and military powers. The rise of Islamist fundamentalism in the region gave Saddam the opportunity to make terrorism, one of the few tools remaining in Saddam's "coercion" toolbox, not only cost effective but a formal instrument of state power. Saddam nurtured this capability with an infrastructure supporting

(1) his own particular brand of state terrorism against internal and external threats,

(2)the state sponsorship of suicide operations, and

(3) organizational relationships and "outreach programs" for terrorist groups. Evidence that was uncovered and analyzed attests to the existence of a terrorist capability and a willingness to use it until the day Saddam was forced to flee Baghdad by Coalition forces."

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ScratchMonkey

Good quote, Squid. It's that kind of thing that never gets reported where the common man can see it. Its absence creates an illusion that the administration is hiding important details from us.

I hate mass media, including my local "news" radio station I listen to on my 10 minute drive to work. They hardly ever give a story enough time to give any useful detail. The average person will buy their spin, while I'm sitting there thinking "wtf aren't they telling me?". On rare occasions I'll hear a breaking story with a full interview. Later in the day as I drive home, the same interview gets pared down to something barely resembling what I heard on the way in, with none of the illuminating details included.

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Xen

All I can say is, if things continue the way they are going. We are going to have US made bombs going off all over the US. The bombs infront of the NYC Recruiting office all lend themselves to one thing. Binladen has won. He will no longer have to bomb us because the hatred and fear he created will cause us to do all the attacks ourselves. And, mark my words, it will get worse. We have a growing swell in this country that has learned that, to get the government to react, all you have to do is blow something up. This mentality will tear the US apart, and even though you hate Code Pink, they have just as much right to say things that people agree with. It's called the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, something that every armed forces personel are sworn to protect above all else. So, even if you disagree with the politics of these events, remember, everyone get's their say, whether it's viewed as good or bad, right or wrong, none of that matters. As soon as you start wanting to shut people up for what they say, you help supress freedoms all of us have. Soon, it's no longer Code Pink, it some other entity that you don't like, now they have to shut up, and the cycle continues until we no longer have a 1st amendment. And then we start with other amendments because once no one can disagree with the leadership, none can oppose other changes. Now, this maybe a bit extreme, but we already lost certain freedoms after 9/11. Try making an overseas call without being listen in on. Or that telecom industries haen't kept your call history secret. You can bet that the government has looked at your phone records and anyone on it that they might suspect is or has broken the law (read pot dealer for those that smoke) in the past will now be on a list. And your now on another list as an associate. Remember, to save money, the Bush administration tried to lump the War on Drugs with the War on Terror. They tried to say that all drugs being sold were funding terrorism. Hopefully, people realize that is not the case. Goto California and you can see where, because of Medicinal Marajuana laws, people have gotten permits for growing from the state. I can almost garentee that all that money being produced is going strait into state coffers, which helps them ween themselves off Federal dollars. The Fed's have tried for years now to get states to be completely dependent on them for funding, and in some states it works. Why would the Fed's want states dependent? Simple, the Fed's can dictate policy with the threat of removing funding for said projects. Guess who get's hurt with that mentality? That state's citizens, not the US.

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Curiosity is going to kill this Cat.

Guardianx11x

I didn't miss that part. Yes those are all things we look down upon. But in reality they do no distinguish him as being any worse than any of his neighbors...

Again, we went in and destroyed Iraqs government. Even if we had confirmed this information (as we have with other nations) and had not suspected them of having WMDs we wouldn't have attacked them. As it turns out, from a world perspective those actions he was taking are quite trivial. If you are impressed by things like that you should probably read about some african nations.

PS: I'd like to hear the reactions to the articles in my previous post...surprised nobody had anything to say about that.

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Switchcraft

Stiglitz is also the mascot of a facebook group that asks "Joseph Stiglitz: Crappy Economist or Crappiest Economist?"

The op-ed in the Washington Post you cite is part of a campaign by him and a fellow author to advertise a recent book. From the Post article, it's clear he faults a major cost of the war on irrespinsible tax cuts "on the rich," claiming that not enough taxes are being collected.

A mere 7 days later he says that rich people pay too much in taxes!

This guy is just trying to sell his book. And I don't know too many economists that don't visibly wince when hs name is mentoned: he's done about as much to earn his Nobel Prize as Al Gore did for his.

ScratchMonkey

Wow, we pay 14% of taxes for 12% of the benefits? Even more reason to stop collecting taxes here and stop paying us benefits. But of course that would take control out of the hands of the Feds and put it back in the hands of State and local governments. Can't have that.

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Kerostasis

It doesn't say 12% of the benefits. It says 12% of the population. I'm sure there's a statistic you could find out there somewhere that would compare taxes paid vs benefits received, but this isn't it.

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Guardianx11x

Hahaha, if I win a nobel prize...I hope nobody starts a facebook group that discredits me. My career would be over.

Oh, by the way...did you actually read what he won the nobel prize for there champ?

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ScratchMonkey

True. But I'd be happy if the DC round trip got eliminated even if California got a net gain, effectively stealing from other States. I see no value in having DC controlling local governments with the power of the purse, slipping out a bit for its own profit along the way.

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