Guard Dog

So the US authorized itself, therefore it was legal. In other words, "might makes right". Can't really argue with that. Great philosophy while you're top dog, not so great when you cease to be. It was legal inasmuch as the standards for going to war under the US Constitution were met. It was "legal" if for no other reason than there is no international body to whom sovereign states are beholden to justify themselves to or has power to redress the wrongs they do. Was it just? Was it moral? No, I'd have to say it wasn't. With Iraq at least. Add to that it was extraordinarily ill-advised and what you have left is, I hope, an object lesson to future administrations to use military force more judiciously and sparingly. Sometimes the status quo is better than all the possible alternatives. And I'm sorry to say, might does make right. When Russia invaded Crimea did the "international police" go arrest Putin? Did anyone do much of anything meaningful? Not really. So to me that means it is incumbent on those with might to learn from past lessons and use their power responsibly. Which brings me back around to Manning going public with bad deeds which just puts everyone's back up rather than be a true whistle blower and give the information to people who might have done some good with it.

No, you didn't comment on it, which is precisely what rubbed me the wrong way: "once the shooting starts no questions whose side I'm on right or wrong". Those were your words. I might have misunderstood what you meant there, but it sounds like you'd take "our boys'" side regardless of what they did, because they wear the same uniform you did. That's not patriotism. As for the bangers, being part of an armed service in a combat zone does not *in theory* afford you impunity to commit illegal acts, even though it usually does in practice. The big question is if the Iraq war was illegal to begin with. If it was illegal, what is the moral difference between your average jarhead and a common thug? Again, no conscription. Frankly, I'm surprised that you think that following proper procedure would have yielded any results, especially considering your wider stance on Congressional dereliction of duty, executive overreach, etc. So Manning should have followed the rules knowing that it would have amounted to nothing? Even considering that the leaks were open and public, what has been done about them? The only person to go to jail over the whole affair was Manning. Honestly, what do you think the outcome would have been if some commission had been tasked with "reviewing" the claims made by some nobody analyst with serious issues? I'll have faith in the rules and the system when the people who actually put the lives of servicemen and intelligence assets at risk are made to face the music. Fat chance that Dubya, Rummy and Cheney will be indicted though, so I guess I'll keep rooting for "lawbreakers". Right or wrong meaning you don't damage your country by enabling or helping it's enemies. Like I said, if he had gone to the Senate Armed Services Committee justice, after a fashion, would have been done. It would not have been big, or splashy. It would have been kept quiet and would be altogether unsatisfactory but it would have also included steps to prevent a repeat. Now, were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan illegal? No. They were not. Right or wrong in both cases the Congress of the United States authorized the President to do what he did. There is no higher international law to measure that against. Were they ill-advised? Yes. Were the poorly executed? Well, the combat phases were not but the management that came after is certainly questionable. Iraq in particular was a total waste of lives, time, and resources that made a bad situation worse. As for Afghanistan, in the wake of 9-11 doing the wrong thing would not be as bad as doing nothing.

Bruce you are wandering into a different pasture here.

If it's done right it can be and interesting and enlivening part of the RPG experience. It is seldom done right. It never feels organic and usually is so clumsy it just ends up being a distraction. And to say nothing of the incessant bitching from players who didn't like the romance options, wanted someone different, etc. PoE and Fallout NV I thought did a really decent job of fleshing out interpersonal relationships with NPCs without the irritation of a badly implemented "romance". I'd say keep doing that. Skyrim did it the best IMO. You could have nearly anyone you wanted so there was nothing to complain about and it didn't matter anyway because they all said the same s--t. The best in-game romances I've seen were mods. And the best part about them is you can pick and choose.

An engine is NOT a motor dammit! I don't care what MIT says!

Yeah. You do know that kind of reasoning was thrown out by the US in, er, the Nuremberg Trials, right? Following orders is not a valid defense to justify supporting illegal wars or wartime acts, let alone some twisted interpretation of "patriotism". And by the way, unlike in the US, there was conscription in Germany. Dat victor's justice doe I guess, following the same logic, that you'd be on the side of All-American gangbangers mugging and killing foreign tourists, "once the shooting starts". Provided they proudly wear the US flag on their shoulder, ofc. First of all I am only addressing Manning leaking information. I didn't say anything about WHAT was leaked or what I thought about it. Don't comment on points I didn't make. Second of all your example of "all-American gangbangers" assaulting tourists and somehow conflating that wit the actions of an armed service in a combat zone is about the most intellectually vacant thing I've read this year. I am a little surprised it came from you. For the record this thread is about Manning and his actions. Some of the info leaked describes activity that could credibly be called war crimes. But not all or of or even most of it. The body to deal with this kind of information in the US is the Congress, and the DoD. Had Manning sent information of illegal acts to the Senate Armed Services Committee instead of Wikileaks his story would likely have gone down completely different.

Zebra Shark gives birth without a mate: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/17/health/zebra-shark-reproduction/index.html He IS the chosen one I tell you!

It's a bit of a stretch to credit him for this. He was a pretty vocal opponent of same sex marriage all the up until the tide of public opinion could not be ignored. Jumping on the bandwagon long after it got rolling does not strike me as particularly virtuous. Now the US Solicitor General did argue on behalf of the Plaintiffs in Obgerfell so there is that. But the real credit here goes to the five justices who listened to the Equal Protection argument..

Do you mind sharing why? I know you will have an interesting reason Manning's leaks endangered lives, caused the deaths of innocent people, and aided Al-Qaeda, Snowden's embarassed the NSA? That would be my answer. I'm opposed to military action in Syria, Iraq, Libya and (insert name of any country here) but once the shooting starts there is no questions whose "side" I'm on right or wrong. Manning jeopardized the lives of Americans and American intelligence assets. Snowden embarrassed the would be "Big Brother" ambitions of an out of control government agency. Big difference.

One other thing. He has pardoned or commuted nearly 2000 non-violent drug offenders so far and is suggesting more to come tomorrow. I'm all in favor of that. Locking someone up for 30 years for a victim-less crime offends my sense of justice and it should yours too. Most of those folks did not deserve the punishment they received.

He was commuted, which is a lowering of the penalty. Pardon means forgiveness. Correct. He is getting out of prison but he is still a convicted felon.

Why are you annoyed? Does (s)he get tax breaks that you don't for having a court recognize him as a woman or something? Only affects him*, really, which is why your King of England analogy doesn't hold water. That being said, if you can get the British Parliament to recognize you as the King of England, I'll be happy to address you as befitting your station. Let's imagine for a second that tomorrow gene therapy allows these people to have their chromosomal endowment rearranged. Would you still be uncomfortable referring to him a she? *to be fair, it affects everyone, because the whole pronoun thing is a total cluster**** You know, I really don't know why it bothers me. It always irritates me when someone refers to their car engine as a motor too. An engine and a motor are two different things. I guess I'm just kind of anal retentive like that. I demand people call a thing what it is. But if they could magically replace Manning's Y chromosome with another X, well that would make him a her. Heck they don't even need to go that far. Once the surgeries are finished that's close enough. But until then he is a dude in a dress taking pills.

People's gender identity can differ from their assigned sex. In this case we're probably dealing with someone with mental issues, but there are lots of people who have felt like they were born in the wrong body, and haven't been able to live good lives until they "look" like they feel. To me (probably because I'm Scandinavian!) it's just plain insensitive to refer to a trans person as the sex he/she was born into rather than the one he/she identifies with. Well I guess I can identify with that. I've always felt I had the wrong body. In fact I'm pretty sure Tom Brady cut ahead of me in line and ended up with the one I was supposed to get.

So we have entered the last 48 hours of the Obama Administration. Over the past eight years I have written thousands of words of text criticizing his politics, his philosophy, his utter disregard for things more important that life, etc. And all with good reason. Many of you have as well. There have also been thousands of words of gushing praise from some over the same things. But in this thread I want to do something different. Nothing in life is entirely good or evil, successful or unsuccessful, you get the idea. So I'm opening this discussion to everyone but in particular Obama's harshest critics. Can you think of anything he has done that you agree with? Has there been a policy, law signed, executive order issued, pardon or commutation that left you thinking "good job"? I'd rather this not devolve into a general political thread... if it does so be it. Some folks can't help themselves I realize. For me the greatest achievement was rooted in something he did I didn't agree with. In 2010 he cut funding for NASA's Constellation program and cancelled the Shuttle Program. After all the years taking a major part in leading the human race into space the American Manned Space Program came to a unceremonious end. But following that he did something I did not expect considering his antipathy towards private enterprise. He encouraged and removed the long standing roadblocks to private spaceflight and went even further by contacting out actual spaceflight operations. Because of that we have companies like SpaceX, Orbital Mechanics, Virgin Galactic (although they are not doing government work I'm including them). The Falcon 9 is closer to being a reusable heavy lift vehicle that the Space Shuttle ever was at a fraction of the cost. So, well done Mr. President. Any others?

My understanding is that she's not received the gender reassignment surgery; although I believe (but could be wrong) a federal court ruled that prison couldn't block gender reassignment (I seem to recall that she's on hormone treatment since 2015), I believe the logistical questions of how the surgery would be provided (as the military isn't equipped to provide it in house) and what to do with her afterwards were still questions now side-stepped by the commuting of the sentence. The rationale I heard was that Snowden didn't face the US justice system and either stand exonerated as a legitimate whistleblower (his claim) or convicted of treason (the state's claim), instead fleeing the justice system to Russia. Manning faced the justice system, was dealt with fairly and accepted her culpability in what happened. It probably also helped that the 35 year sentence has been deemed by many with knowledge of such things to be out of proportion with sentences given for similar action in the past. I guess the rationale on Snowden makes sense. As for Manning the commutation might have just saved the taxpayers the cost of cutting his manhood off so kudos to the President on the cost saving move!

No He went hormone treatment and gender reassignment surgery so reshaping the male genitals into the shape and function of a vagina. He effectively becomes she....why GD do you think she is hot and feel guilty? Its okay, no judgement on this forums Ummm.... no I was actually thinking of the use of feminine pronouns when referring to a man. If you could actually turn a horse into a zebra I'd call it a zebra. But painting black and white stripes on a horse won't make it a zebra. I will admit I am annoyed by the whole touchy feely "I identify as a woman so call me she" b------t. A thing is what it is. 2+2=4 no matter how anyone feels about it. I feel like I'm the King of England so I want all of you to refer to me as Your Majesty from now on. But even if you did when I show up at Buckingham in a U-Haul I'll be in for a disappointment.

Another thing. The President is willing to commute Manning's sentence after releasing information about what his administration was doing abroad. But not Snowden who leaked what he was doing right here to the American people. I might be crazy but I've always gotten this vibe from Barack Obama that he felt he real enemies were not in Russia, or China, or the Middle East. It always seemed like the people he thought were the real enemies were right here in the US. Of course his administration telling the police to keep an eye one me and people like me in 2009 because we were likely terrorists might have colored my view on that.

Correct me if I'm wrong here... and this is inconsequential to the story... isn't "Chelsea" Manning a man in drag? As far as I'm aware isn't all the XY plumbing still in place? If I put on a superman suit it does not make me able to fly.

You beat me to it Chilloutman. Of all the Apollo astronauts who walked on the moon only Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, David Scott, Harrison Schmitt & Charlie Duke are still with us. And they are all well past 80. It is likely they will all pass on before a human steps on another body other than Earth again. If you had told me that in 1972 when Apollo was cancelled I wouldn't have believed it. Actually in 1972 I was one year old so if you told me that I wouldn't have understood it.

Trump getting elected is the best thing that ever could have happened to SNL. For so long it was just not funny because they never wanted to stick it to Obama. Now they have a President they hate and political humor is back on the menu. I'd call that a win.

You'd think the guy at Carvel would have warned the man who bought this that maybe... just maybe it's not such a good idea!

The upshot of a government job is I get Martin Luther King's birthday off. So.... happy birthday Dr. King

Breaking News! The Russians just released a photo of Donald Trump with a Russian hooker: Oh wait... wrong picture....

what is terrible is how some folks will never realize what is lost. as a southerner, am expecting gd has experienced a college football game day, yes? watch a college football game or baseball game at the actual sporting venue is not the same as watching on tv or via internet. in fairness, is not always better to watch spectacles live and in-person, but such entertainments is different when experienced direct. live entertainment offers a whole range o' sights and sounds and smells and Scale not capable o' replication via any kinda media. and like it or not, as social primates, a spectacle experienced as a group o' thousands touches 'pon some primitive part o' our ape brains. is different. perhaps all things do fade, but we can nevertheless feel diminished. HA! Good Fun! Oh no argument there. Especially your College Football example. I've found the NFL to be a lot more antiseptic as a live event compared to College ball. Whatever "it" is the college ball has, the NFL doesn't. Some things just have to be experienced live. I remember being so excited when a circus or fair of some kind was around. I grew up near a little town in Florida called McIntosh. They had a huge two day festival every year called 1890 Days for when the town was founded. It was very cool, period costumes, crafts, exhibits, a parade, all this great food and stuff like that. I loved it. My brother still lives there and told me they stopped doing it a few years ago because not enough people showed up the cover the costs. That broke my heart when I heard that.