[blahblahblah]

Great article — did everyone catch the bit that in California in 2005, 1 in 5 (20%) mortgage loans were pay option while in 2003 the ratio was 8 in 1000 (.8%)? It’s classic late-stage bubble behavior where all of the weak hands rush in. Hold on tight, this is going to be a doozy…

[blahblahblah]

“Currently there is also in existence right now, a car that runs on water. It used the H in H2O, and it’s only emission is water, which drips from the tailpipe.”

Yes, it uses water as fuel and produces only water as exhaust as it propels you down the highway at 80mph. It’s parked right over there next to that perpetual motion machine.

[blahblahblah]

cowboy wrote:

“The homes in Texas are made much better in my opinion. Built of stone, etc.”

Are you a dime store cowboy or a real cowboy? Real cowboys are from Texas, and we know that the home construction in the Lone Star State is every bit as shitty as the home construction in California. Those new “stone” houses you see are just cheap lumber frames with stone or brick facades. The stone/brick serves the same function as stucco here, and the only reason Texas houses have it is because Texas is full of cheap stone and bricks. A long time ago, back before the fire ants and carpetbaggers took it over, Texas had real stone and brick houses, but you won’t find many of those anymore, certainly not at a low price. Also, termites and foundation problems are worse in Texas than here because of the wetter soil (at least in the parts of the state you’d probably want to live in).

And I’m just funnin’ with ya about bein’ a dime store cowboy, so don’t get your pants in a twist. New homes are built poorly all over the good old U S of A, so just go ahead and rent or buy one in some place you like, settle in and enjoy it! There are lots of good reasons to live in Texas, but home construction quality is generally not one of them.

[blahblahblah]

I watched the trailer and it smells like bulls**t to me. Being a Texan, I’m very familiar with the odor.

[blahblahblah]

Operation Deliberate Force (1995) and Operation Allied Force (1999) were NATO interventions in the former Yugoslavia, not solo US actions. Several European governments as well as the US were involved.

[blahblahblah]

Good post, bgates. It’s nice to have the real bgates back, and not the impostor! I think one big difference I see in the opinions here are the level of confidence in our government in different areas. Conservatives tend to be very confident in our government’s ability to execute foreign policy but less confident when it comes to social policy. Liberals often have an opposite view, less confidence when it comes to the government’s ability to carry out foreign policy and more confidence for domestic social policies. As for myself, I’m losing confidence in our government’s ability in general to get things done, either abroad or here at home.

I totally agree on the immigration deal, people here don’t understand what’s happening. We are getting many of the poorest-educated folks from Mexico and Central America; lots don’t even read or write Spanish. The governments down there are glad to get rid of them, and our government is complicit in this whole deal.

[blahblahblah]

No, the same rules apply. I wouldn’t like to hear President Bush compared with Limbaugh either. I believe President Bush is doing his best in service to the country, just like JFK did. I also believe that both of them overreached (JFK in vietnam, Bush in Iraq) in their efforts to spread democracy to other countries.

[blahblahblah]

Sorry for posting some unfounded rumors and personal attacks about a man that has based his entire career on broadcasting unfounded rumours and personal attacks:

Limbaugh implies that Hillary Clinton is gay

Limbaugh implies that the Clintons had Vince Foster murdered

And of course there are Rush’s attacks on the Clintons’ daughter, who he repeatedly called “the family dog”, as well as that horrible slander against Michael J. Fox. I just didn’t appreciate having JFK compared to Rush Limbaugh. Like him or not, he was President of the US and he paid the ultimate price in service of our country.

[blahblahblah]

Actually, this thread gives a good example of how these flame wars get started through distraction techniques. The original poster listed some quotes from JFK, who is then compared to Rush Limbaugh in a later post. I refuted the comparison and the debate becomes about my impartiality. Success – the thread has been successfully redirected away from its original topic and now reverts to essentially a childhood game of “my daddy can beat up your daddy”. We all post and try to catch each other in little gotchas in an attempt to prove our superiority to one another. So sad…

[blahblahblah]

PD, I never said pain-related addiction was “okay”, I just called the comparison invalid. Also, JFK wasn’t ever arrested on drug charges, nor did he repeatedly and publicly condemn those suffering from drug addiction like Rush did on his show.

Notice how these distractive debate techniques always come back to “you like so-and-so, so you’re not impartial.” I never said I “like” JFK. Being an educated, informed adult (who for some reason feels compelled to post on these silly blogs), my opinions of public figures are more nuanced than simply “like” or “dislike”. Every one of us has bias, so if you’re saying that no impartial person can ever express an argument, these boards would be quiet indeed.

[blahblahblah]

jg, I wouldn’t compare JFK’s drug abuse to Rush’s. JFK got hooked on the junk as a way to ease his pain from injuries he received in battle. Rush got hooked on hillbilly heroin, perhaps to deal with pain from his anal cysts, or maybe to deal with the depression he suffers as a closeted homosexual.

[blahblahblah]

I think you’re going to see a lot more condo projects offering rental options in 2007 and 2008. What’s most interesting is that those 2 projects are really nice compared to most of the cement box high rises. The rents look reasonable, too. I notice they didn’t include any of the local wildlife (crackheads, schizophrenics, winos, etc…) in their architectural drawings.

[blahblahblah]

I wrote something here but I have deleted it. This is all so silly. Let’s all grow up and stop posting to these stupid threads.

[blahblahblah]

bgates wrote: “CONCHO, you’re wrong. According to your own link, the French sent ‘4500 including 3500 for the Marine Nationale’, or navy. given that Afghanistan is 500+ miles from any body of water, I’d consider that 3500 less than significant”

I’m sure our US sailors reading this blog will appreciate your comment that Navy troops are insignificant in ground wars like Afghanistan and Iraq.

And yes, we did fund, train, and equip the Taliban as well as Osama and his goons during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The article I referenced didn’t “blame” the US for the 9/11 attacks, it merely pointed out that one of our useful monsters had come back to bite us. Saddam was another of those useful monsters.

[blahblahblah]

We did have a big coalition for Afghanistan, by the way. Worth noting in those stats is that everyone’s favorite whipping-boys the French sent the largest contingent of troops after the US. We are all Americans, if anyone remembers that…

[Author]

Posts