HeyYou

There are some serious holes in that theory though..... Of course, I don't agree with all the conclusions reached in the wiki article.... Mainly, parents having no responsiblity if their children turn out bad.... Blank slate assumes peoples values are formed by their environment, who has the most control over that? The parents......

I read an article today, don't remember where.... that basically stated that Obama was attempting to destroy our credibility as a super-power, by promising action, and then backtracking in various ways, and ultimately not doing anything, when congress won't give him its blessing...... I found it amusing, and more than a bit biased, but...... plausible, if you give obama credit for that kind of intelligence. (which I seriously doubt....)

Congress doesn't pay attention to what the american people want. Witness Obamacare. The majority of the public was against it, yet it passed anyway. That is not the only example of congress voting in direct opposition to public opinion. And we continue to re-elect those bozos..... AIPIC, and various other lobbys, do indeed run this country. Should congress vote to go ahead with a military strike, I doubt many americans will even make the connection. Its pretty much business as usual in DC. Obama WANTS military action. He can do it on his own, without congress blessing.... as he doesn't have to worry about re-election, he has less incentive to hold off. Now, the dems will suffer terribly come '14 should congress say "no", and Obama goes ahead anyway. Kerry doesn't have a clue. Folks funding the islamists will continue to fund them regardless of whether the US hits Assad, or not. In fact, it is highly likely that should the US bomb various places, the islamists will see an uptick in funding.... as I seriously doubt we can do a strike without killing a large number of civilians. Russia stating they will stand by Assad, and the fact that they are moving naval assests into the area, does not bode well for any variety of "peace", should the US attack. This is a no-win situation. Doesn't matter what we do, it is going to turn out badly. The fact that congress doesn't want to see Russia's intelligence information on the attacks speaks volumes about the mind-set in washington. We saw the EXACT same thing with Iraq. The folks clamoring for war had no interest in anything, no matter the source, or reliability, that said anything other than the party line. Saddam was working on nukes. We see how that turned out too..... Nothing good is going to come of this. Should we attack, I suspect it is going to make the situation worse, Not better. We are going to annoy the russians, and with all the military assets in the area, it won't take much of an incident to spark a much wider war. The LAST thing we need.

And Putin is saying they have evidence the "opposition" initiated the gas attack. Are we having fun yet?

That is not entirely accurate. When I was in the Marines, my MOS was "NBC Defense NCO.” (Somewhere along the line, the acronym morphed to WMD, but I was already out by the time that happened.) Which mostly meant I was the most hated man in my unit twice a year when I ran everybody through what was officially called a “chemical weapons environment exposure exercise,” and was unofficially called names that will at least earn me a formal warning from the Nexus for swearing. We were, however, trained in all aspects of defending (as much as a defense was possible,) against these sorts of weapons. This included training in how to destroy stockpiles of these things. The key is fire or extreme heat. Breathing the smoke from burning chemical weapons will probably make you sick, (in the “I think I just threw up my toenails,” type of way,) but it is unlikely to give you what we referred to as “the VX shakes.” You guys though, for the most part, assumed being boots on the ground, and being able to deal with such things on an in-person basis. I will grant, our bombs have gotten more accurate over the years, but, in this particular case, a few feet one direction or the other changes the scene from destruction, to 'unleashing'...... Personally, I think its a bad idea.... but then, the government hasn't gotten in the habit of consulting me on these types of decisions yet..... :D

There is no reason, or logic, to washingtons actions. We have been down this road before, and wound up in more trouble than we would have gotten had we kept our noses out of it. But of course, it seems it is impossible for washington to learn anything at all. History, and past failures, have taught them nothing. They are too stupid, or blind, or bribed.... to see the writing on the wall. Iraq is already involved. On Assad's side..... So, techincially, the US is playing both sides against the middle here. We directly support the rebels, and we indirectly support Assad. (via Iraq, where do you think the material Iraq is sending there came from?) This is going to turn out badly. Congress needs to get is't feces in one sock, and tell Obama to stuff his military strikes where the sun don't shine.

Well, see, that's just the problem..... Hitting areas where these weapons are stored, to 'prevent their use', is just as likely to cause civilian casualties as the various folks over there actually using them intentionally. It's more like "Don't do that, or I will hurt you!", or "My army is better than your army." Or some such nonsense of that nature.

I am sure they are interesting, but, I don't have 2 hours to sit and watch them....... Breif synopsis please?

Bizarre..... Sounds like a bad orchestra warming up. :)

As I have said before, it doesn't matter what you say, there is someone out there in the world that will find it offensive. Trying to legislate 'politically correct' speech is simply stupid. I find being politically correct offensive. Shall that be branded as 'hate speech'? Whatever happened to the days when people simply spoke their mind? If you disagreed, you argued your point, if it looked like you were losing, you shot them. (joking.....) I don't particularly care what folks say. If what they have to say is too far off the mark, I simply ignore them. But, today..... in the touchy-feely us of a...... can't be hurtin' anyones feelings, or saying anything that might upset them, even if it IS true....... Ah, stupidity at its best.

I find it interesting that NO ONE here is advocating military action in Syria. (the forums here.) I find it interesting that the populations of various countries (US, UK, France, etc.) don't want military action in Syria. The only folks that appear to actually want a war, are the politicians. What ya gonna bet that we get one, regardless of the 'democratic' process?

That's just it though. Limiting speech in ANY fashion is simply a step down a road to total censorship. Think I am exaggerating? Paranoid? Take a breif look into history, and see that any government, when given an inch, takes a lightyear. At this point, everyone is so worried about 'offending' someone minority group, even the language has changed. So far, the government has protected someones right to flat out LIE. But, say something against gays? Hate Speech. You are now a criminal....... But then, our government MUST give the appearance of 'doing something' to make sure they do their best to get the votes of those various minority groups. Please note, that does NOT imply that what they do actually has to make sense, or even be effective in and manner whatsoever. Its all in the appearance.....

It is called a saving grace. I think they will say no...he thinks they will say no. This way he can get out of the corner in which he painted himself without losing face. Hopefully Congress will vote like I think but then....they never cease to surprise me. Obama does not have to have their permission to do it though...just to do it for a prolonged period. Also if things go to hell in a handbasket..he can point and say, "it was them!" Fingers crossed that sensible heads win the day, either way the longer this drags on the less chance there is of someone doing something stupid. I have the ultimate faith in our governments ability to do something stupid.... I think our resident puppy is correct though. This is an 'out' for Obama. He can blame it all on congress, and not look like the fool he has been acting of late. Good.

LOLOLOL! "To Serve Man." :D Loved that one.

WWII was one nation attacking another soveriegn nation. Syria is an internal matter. Other countries only involvement is sending fighters/supplies/etc to Syria. Syria is not invading anyone. They are not a threat (currently) outside their own borders. it has turned into a sectarian conflict, and neither side has much use for the US, or any other western power. (aside from money, and help to win, once that is accomplished, we all become the 'great satan' again.) Look at Lybia. We have pretty much the same situation here. Syria is a no-win situation. Doesn't matter which side comes in to power, nothing is really going to change there. They will exchange one overbearing form of government, for another, that is even worse, should the rebels win. If Assad carries the day, then it will start to look at lot like Iraq, with bombings, and such on pretty much a daily basis. Of course, it probably won't look much different from Iraq regardless of who wins.... Currently, there is no UN sanction for military action. Russia won't let that happen. Should Obama decide to unilaterally attack, he is going to piss off folks, just like GWB did. With the same results. Our government is simply incapable of learning from its mistakes. I can't keep the image out of my head of a bunch of politicians sitting around a table, trying to convince everyone "It will be different this time." and "Third time is the charm." Or something equally as inane. We need to stay out of this. Completely. No aid to either side, no military intervention. No american blood, or treasure. Unfortunately, the military industrial complex has a great deal of influence over our government, and THEY want another profit-center. (otherwise known as "war".)

What ya got runnin' in the background? First thing I would do is 'streamline' the system. Kill off unnecessary processes/applications. First thing I did with my new machine was to follow one of blackvipers' tweak guides, and shut off any service/process that wasn't required for windows. (My win xp looks a LOT like win 98..... :) ) At startup, when things have settled down, there are only 17 running processes. Vista/7/8 you won't be able to get quite that low, as things changed pretty dramatically with Vista.... A lot of the 'prettys' are resource hogs..... :D

Reading in the news today, the latest poll shows only 9% (that's right, nine percent) of americans support military action in Syria. But, as Obama has already stuck his foot in it, pretty much flatly stating that we are going to 'do something'...... he is stuck. He can either pull a George Bush, and attack unilaterally, and piss off most of the world..... or, he can back off, and Syria can giggle and point, and claim that american threats are hollow, and meaningless. Quite frankly, I think it would be good for him to eat a little crow. Beats the crap out of the alternative. Kerry NEEDS to appeal to the emotional angle at this point, because he sure as hell isn't going to convince anyone with logic or reason. Both of which seem to be in excessively short supply of late.

Wonder if he got some new intelligence that doesn't paint quite the picture he would like.... I really wouldn't be surprised to learn that the rebels gassed their own people to drag the various western powers directly into the war. It would pretty much assure they would win..... and it is a well published 'fact' that use of chemical weapons would annoy the various powers that be.... Assad would have to be flat out suicidal to pull that particular stunt with inspectors a few miles away...... In all reality, this is one of those situations where neither side is any better than the other. Assad had the advantage of keeping his terrorists in check in their own neighborhood. I doubt the muslim brotherhood would be quite so considerate.

I will grant that the plot for the US to use chemical weapons, and blame it on assad does stretch credibilty..... but, on the other side of that, I wouldn't put it past our government to do exactly that either. Now, the rest of the points, Assad is winning the war of hearts and minds, and UN inspectors are less than ten miles away..... that holds water regardless of the source. Mainly because it has the advantage of being true, and verifyable thru multiple sources..... He would have to be flat out stupid to resort to chems under the current circumstances. I have seen articles showing chemical weapons in rebel strongholds.... staged? Maybe. But, as good a chance as being true as of the US prompting the use of chemical weapons as an excuse to go to war. Again. I really don't trust our government. They don't have a clue. I am firmly convinced that they are on the WRONG side in this war. Assad may not be exactly a nice guy, but, he sure beats having yet another islamist government promoting sharia law, and all that entails, in the Middle East.....

Given past performance? Nope. Not a snowballs chance in hell. The various leaders are simply foaming at the mouth, just waiting/hoping/anticipating an opportunity flex their military muscle. Its really unfortunate that the american people don't get a say in the matter. I voted for Obama originally because I didn't want what I expected to be a war-mongering republican to win. Instead, I got a war-mongering democrat..... Peachy. I encourage ALL people to write to their various government reps, and tell them flat out, NO MORE WARS. Not that I think it would make any difference..... just get some nice flowery canned response about 'defending freedom and democracy'. Or some such nonsense. Maybe they should ask the folks in Iraq if things are 'better' now with Saddam gone. From where I am sitting, and everything I have seen/read, the answer would be a resounding "NO!"....

Trouble is, our government is no longer "of the people", and most certainly NOT "for the people". If it were, they wouldn't even be considering yet another military action in a middle eastern country. The two previous ones have accomplished all of nothing, aside from giving al-queda a couple really huge training grounds, with live americans to shoot at, and one of the best recruiting tools they could have ever wished for. Bascially, I see this as the defense (*cough*) industry looking for another profit center. We are pretty much out of Iraq, and Afghanistan is winding down. We aren't using up near the ordinance we were at one time...... need to keep that ball rolling. Syria has NEVER been 'in the fold' to begin with. Syria has hated the US for decades. Nothing is going to change, regardless of which side prevails. Assad simply doesn't like us. The muslim brotherhood/al-queda think we are the great satan. They don't seem to have an issue taking our money and such though.... Not to mention that in all reality, we are supporting BOTH sides in the war. We are giving aid directly to the rebels, and, we are giving aid indirectly to the assad regime, via Iraq, whom have come down on assad's side, and are supporting him. (with money/equipment they got from US.) Nice huh? The folks in the military industrial complex are wringing thier hands in anticipation of huge profits once the shooting starts. I have come to the conclusion that the US government is terminally stupid. Or Insane. Perhaps both. I hope Ron Paul runs for president again. I will vote for him. What is really, truly scary is, his is the only voice of reason on topics of this nature. STAY THE HELL OUT OF IT.

:laugh: Works for me.

I think we should form a special interest group. Our goals would be to prevent sterotyping and profiling of aliens. Legal or otherwise. :)

There will always be folks with an opposing veiwpoint, regardless of what the issue is. If you stood on a street corner, and loudly announced the grass is green, someone would be along to disagree with you. You can count on it. Really doesn't matter what you legislate. Folks will still pretty much say what they want. Whether it is true or not. Whether it is illegal or not. If it is part of their core beliefs, you aren't going to change their minds, and you aren't going to shut them up. The more savvy folks will simply ignore them. After all, what good is the 'prophet' that no one listens to?

I would be more likely to believe it is cursed. :)