Walsingham

Most journalists are honest. They are also very very very lazy. They tell you the truth as they see it. They just don't bother looking very hard for the other more factually related truths that are out there. I'm a particular fan of op ed pieces aboiut warfare written by journalists who've never seen so much as a bar fight. And Sand, you ARE shaping Iraq policy. Every person here has within them massive potential for good or evil. To take one example, your criticisms could dissuade someone reading from joining the US Army. You just deprived the Army of a soldier at a time when they need them. Conversely you could annoy someone so much that they DO join up. You could send or withold letters of support to your troops out there.

A trout in dark glasses?

I had a big bowie knife like that years ago. Fierce damn thing. Never ever got used. Bought a folding knife. Used a lot more. My opinion is that if you buy one you're just learning an expensive lesson.

I assumed you meant The Fish Brothers. And by 'back' you meant 'from the lavatory'.

I agree with GD. We are overthinking this.

Boring now! Night night...

Sorry to hear you are ill. I believe the chief constable said it best when he observed that it was perfectly normal to have people detained for questioning and then released without charge in large investigations. My point is that you must admit the man's behaviour subsequent to the arrest is comical for someone claiming to have been stupidly arrested. As for being a police state, if we were he would never have been released! Torture, false confession, and straight to prison/firing squad.

Sand isn't an alt. Sand's what Hades looks like when not viewed from the gutter.

I agree with Volo.

I just wanted to make my apologies, since I am going away on business and will be unable to keep up with the debate.

Jamie Lee Curtis can't have kids. Or was that the joke? :confused: But hey, I remember this part from Van Buren! Legend has it she's a hermaphrodite, least that's what my brother thinks. That was just scuttlebutt that was intended to make men question themselves. Wintersun's glee is premature.

If I was going to dump the weak and homeless I'd use a trebuchet. Seriously though, I don't see that this represents the way all US hospitals work. Possibly the ones in Thailand...

But what we're saying is that if the firearms are intended to deter the government those are precisely the weapons that you would need. With regard to regulation I'm curious to know whether YOU personally think regulation would be a good thing, because as I say it should have many benefits in harmony with your stated objectives.

I choose to be smug about the fact that if a new ice age occurred we could pull out all the stops and cook ourselevs to Tahiti!

Think 1940s/Russ Meyer.

I think we are facing a lameness gap. We need to improve our lameness.

So a US serviceman serving in Hawaii is actually guilty of torturing people in Abu Ghraib? i'd argue that in fact the average citizen is more guilty of Abu Ghraib because unlike the servicemen they had free reign to object and enquire. Collective punishment is outlawed in the Geneva convention as an abuse of human rights. I would suggest that logically the concept of mass guilt must be wrong as well.

Big concerts are for raising awareness. I rather think everyone with access to electronic or print media already knows climate change is an issue. Do I think it will help? Excuse me while I laugh bitterly. These gigs are about making simple travelling minstrels feel like world statesmen, and apathetic dribbling masses feel as if they are doing something 'right on'. The only thing that is worse is a multi-billion dollar concert for food aid or world poverty. *sour look*

I think it's sensible to buy something that tells you which way the gun is pointing in the dark. Hell, you need that on a can of deoderant! GD, on the subject of whether gun owenership reduces property crime I'm finding I can disagree little with your conclusions based on the facts you have observed. As Alan says this makes it almost imperative that you track down these figures. However, I would ask you to consider my observation that well-trained, regulated gun owners would make a more effective deterrent to both criminals and government, and be a smaller hazard. I really cannot retreat from that position yet.

Actually they'd have done better to refer to the fact that prior to 9/11 there were substantial numbers of bombs made by outright fruitloops, like our dear mailbomber who is currently active in the UK. Leaving illuminated signs everywhere that exploded would be perfectly consistent with anarchists, revolutionaries, or anyone who looks really weird. I personally don't think it was unreasonable to treat the devices as suspect. But mostly I hate advertising chimps, and nothing is too bad for them.

It's like I always said. The norges are planning Ragnarok.

Probably just the God Bhaal empire-building.

I know how you feel. I've never been much for porn (of any stripe; just doesn't strike my fancy), but Anna Nicole Smith represented sexy women to me, and she's the only Playboy Playmate during my lifetime that I had any interest in. Donna Edmondsen. ....*happy sigh*

Thanks for trying to clarify, but I need your continued assistance. In the Uk the cops will take ten minutes to half an hour to turn up, assuming they do at all! But that doesn't mean (in general) we would rather have everyone dispensing 'justice' in person. I might gently observe that efforts would be better spent on trying to stop people busting into so many houses! With regard to the revolutionary war I would likewise gently observe that you chaps owe a great deal more to the ineptitude of our officers than some jihadist fervour. But that's not really the point. If you know the fight is doomed, and you'd raher die than survive, then why not arm yourself with a really kickass flagpole, and a cutlass?