Kerry has conceded

[johnnyapollo]

I believe you are referring to "kahunah" - although the Kahunah may have the biggest cajones, please don't confuse the two!
Not to be confused with Chanukka or Hanuka either!

You guys ever see the move Anchorman? One of the characters had his nads named - very funny.

-- John

[Anita]

Originally posted by johnnyapollo
One of the characters had his nads named - very funny.

-- John

Since we are talking terminology, where did "nad" originate.

[BaM*BaM]

From 'gonad'
Pronunciation: 'gO-"nad
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin gonad-, gonas, from Greek gonos
: a reproductive gland (as an ovary or testis) that produces gametes
- go·nad·al /gO-'na-d&l/ adjective

Slang term started in early 80's within the Cal Rad earth/sufers/snowboaders

[jimbo]

from Greek gonos

Gonos .. Ah yes ... the ancient Athenean god who shrunk up when he was cold.

[Anita]

Duh!! :homer:

[insert brain back in head]

[t2p]

jimbo ........
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actually, something *did* come out of whitewater ... filegate ....... travelgate ........
.
what was unveiled ....... to those that were not already aware of it ..... was just how bad Mrs Pres - Hill Rod Clinton - was/is ........
.
Mr Bill had the problems with the sexual harrassment ...... the other scandals - the majority (or all) of them - were primarily attributed to Hill Rod ......
.

[t2p]

.
did anybody .......... has anybody ......... noticed ......
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that Johnny Apollo is having fun with this thread ........
.

[t2p]

jimbo ......
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can't argue with the slant on P Wolfowitz ........
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appears to be an opinion shared by many ..... and fairly well documented .........

basically traces back to the comment I made about 'nothing was done for 20+ years'. The 'nothing' was diplomacy. Weinberger, Powell, others on one side - favoring diplomacy, etc. Shultz, Wolfowitz, plus others on the opposite side - with more hardline views.
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9-11 tipped the scales in the favor of the hardliners. Diplomacy .... etc .... was moved aside - and replaced with pre-emption ..... and/or the threat ........

[t2p]

.
hmmm ............ Is this where George (Constanza - on Seinfeld) yells 'SHRINKAGE' ........

[SlowPro48]

Originally posted by jimbo

I'm not saying there is tons of evidence, but like many of these things it sometimes takes years for the truth to surface.

It's either an elaborate hoax, or there is some truth to it and I don't think it has been settled yet.

Man - mass graves are disturbing aren't they? I checked out those links. It's definitely not a hoax as far as the existance of the graves but it looked like the most reliable source was the physicians' site - and none of their witnesses mentioned Americans being involved. That angle only showed up in the google search results such as wsws.org - the World Socialist Web Site and AlterNet. Don't know how accurate they are. Could possibly have a little bias.

Like you said - time will tell. That's a grisly story though. Hope it's not true.

Hey thanks for posting those links!

[SlowPro48]

Originally posted by jimbo
Again you are missing the main point I'm trying to make about the dangers of putting "rights" issues up for a popular vote rather than handling them in the courts at the federal level.

<<<major snippage>>>>

We could see wide variations between states on all these "rights" issues. I don't think that would be good.

Whohoo! Look out boys the viking's been in the akavit tonight and this kind of talk fires me up so this might be trip down Faque Lane!

Jimbo, I'm sorry I missed your main point but... well... it got buried under the heaps of dung you foisted off on me! Come on man - you toss out something as outrageuos as Souhern states doing away with civil rights for minorities and expect to get away with it by saying it's just an "example"? You are freakin' pegging my bull**** meter dude! Ha! I love it! I was actually laughing out loud as I read your post. I really admire a good BS'er and I am 100% serious about that. You probably reeled in a lot of strange as a single man didn't you?

And NO - A BIG FAT NOOOO - I DON'T think your racism statement is true in ANY part of the country, but I DO think it gives us some insight into what the "Proud Members of the Intellectual Elites" living in "The United States of Liberty and Education" think of us backward saps in "Jesusland". I'm sure you've seen the button that says "Dear Red States, to be honest, we DO think you are ignorant rednecks" There's a bunch of funny items on that Betty Bowers site. Too bad the button designers weren't intellectual enough to realize "elites" is not a word...

What the heck - it's all good. In the future, you might consider leaving the scare tactics to blowhards like Limbaugh and Carville though. You're good - but not THAT good. They are professional BSers/entertainers whose livlihood depends on keeping the country divided with all that trash talking.

OK - enough of that - got kind of sidetracked there. We've got our own trash talking to do! Let's get to your MAIN POINT which was, in your words, "the dangers of putting "rights" issues up for a popular vote rather than handling them in the courts at the federal level".

Aha! The Democracy part of that Democratic Socialist thing you Democrats have been cramming down our throats for the last 40 years is now biting you in the ***** isn't it? It was looking pretty good for a while there - when you were the majority. The "proselytizers of a new faith" were on a roll - but then Shazzaam! Gomer wants his country back! SO - now you're looking to the Judicial Branch to impose your morality on the entire country through activist courts. Last time I checked, our government was a Constitutional Republic, relying on a system of checks and balances (the three branches of government and the Constitution) to protect us from just such a thing. It also protects us from what you NOW fear - majority rule - also known as pure democracy or "mob-ocracy" if you will - so buck up little camper - your civil liberties are safe. Have faith in the system. It will be rough for a few years because you won't get exactly what you want - but it will work out in the end.

In the meantime, lie down on my psychoanalyst couch and let's talk about converting you to Libertarian!

Do you not see the beauty of a federal government limited by Constitutional checks and balances? Do you think we should exchange a system of government that has worked just fine for 200 years for an Orwellian, we-must-all-think-alike Democratic Socialist form of government?

What disturbs you so much about states having different laws? To me it seems like a good solution to intolerance. If you just can't stand to be around those who think/act differently than you, then you can MOVE to a state where the philosophical and political leanings (and thus the state laws) are more to your liking. Can't stand tobacco smoke? Move to NY! Love those cigs? Move to NC and smoke up Johhny! Banjo music get on your nerves? Stay the hell out of the South! Go see Le Nozze di Figaro at the Met instead...

And yes, I'm substituting less controversial issues for the ones you always mention in order to cut down on the red herring factor but I think you'll get the point.

I think it's a damn fine sign that both the Republicans and the Democrats are wailing about "activist judges". Sounds like the balance of power is just about right for a change.

OK - your turn. With a little help from BaMBaM's massive cut and paste effort I think we can get 30 pages out of this baby.

[Maverick]

wow, i swore off this thread, but its like coffee, cant have just one cup...the 'problems have been debated and beat to death, that horse is nothing but bone fragments now....but im a solution oriented dude...and i simply dont see any coming with the current administration..
already Bush has ousted any voice of dissent in administration.. Colins' gone,replaced by a "yes" woman.. Rumsfield on his way out, not to mention a host of others..from my point of view, basically everyone who has challenged Bushs reasoning is being replaced. yet another example of his "im right, period!" policy making... Ofcourse, thats his perogotive, and it wasnt unexpected..
Already hes pushing to open up the Alaskan wilderness for drilling and mining, im not convinced that can be done with out severe environmental consequences, and its pretty scarry...
Already weve seen the largest battle since the war "ended" in Iraq, conducted by better than a 75% majority of US troops..what happened to those 140,000 Iraqi troops he was telling us about? why couldnt we support them and let them take the high casualty rates? And how the heck did we let 'the rebels" concentrate to that strength in one place to begin with??
Already, were seeing the far right wing religious factions making threats if their agenda isnt brought fourth as they were promised...
oh , and if the lame duck governemt session doesnt increase the spending cap this week, further increasing the deficit (or have they already, im not sure), our government will cease to be able to function because were broke...

and i almost forgot, the Brits now have a better than 70% dispproval rate oftheir troops being over there..i dont know how tony is going to be able to continue to help us at this rate, and if they pull out..man..thatll be bad , not just for troop strength, but itll be seen as a victory by the "bad guys" and motivate them..and well be further short handed and have to face an enemy increasing in strength..not good...

i really wish i could see a solution forming , but apparently nothing is broken if you listen to the rhetoric.. ive been carefully scanning the morning paper on a daily basis looking for at least some signs that things will improve now that the election mess is over, but all i see is more problems being added, or current problems deepening..and instead of the country coming together, all i see is the rifts getting wider instead of smaller...i really want to stand behind our president , despite the fact i dont like him, fergadsake, this is America, thats what we do, we come together in a crisis..dont we?? somebody show me something encouraging....

[jimbo]

Slowpro - Something I learned while finding that physicians page you mentioned, that I wasn't aware of, is about the other massacres at Mazar.

Many of the grave sites they visited were from the late nineties and were suspected to have been involved in the mass murders of civilians that took place when the Taliban took charge.

This sounds to me like a possible motive for the alledged mass killings of the Taliban soldiers by the northern alliance during the USAs route of the Taliban.

In other words a little payback (in a grissly sort of way).

The other thing that seems up in the air for me about the eyewitness reports on the physicians website is that it was not clear (I don't think?) whether any of the Taliban were still alive at the grave site, and subsequently shot, or whether it was just a hurried attempt to hide the results of a terribly botched transfer of prisoners.

In either case the USA supported, and to a large extent directed, the Northern Alliance during this incursion so it makes sense to me that America should be held at least partially responsible for any human rights abuses that may have occured.

What do you think of the prisoner shootings in Fallujah?
---------------------------------------
I mostly agree with your other assertions (and am tired of arguing about them) except to say that I think the so called "red herring" issues are different than the other issues you mentioned. I see the issue of gay marriage (for example) being about being able to marry the person you love, to possibly fall under the "pursuit of happiness" clause in the constitution and would expect the judicial branch to disagree with the legislative branch and at least attempt to over-ride them as they try to disallow this new (and long overdue) change in our society.

In other words I am far more comfortable with a strong and liberal leaning judicial branch. A progressive minded bench to balance out the other branches and make sure that the rights of minority groups of all kinds are protected.

I am afraid this strong protection will be less likely now as the federal appeals courts seem to be becoming more and more conservative, thus becoming simply a rubber stamp of the conservative legislative branches agenda. And the legislative branch seems to be becoming more and more a rubber stamp of the executive branches wishes (at least right now).

Example: I read a decision by Alberto Gonzales from his days in Texas in which he made a pretty good argument that judges (even at these high appeal levels) should attempt to stick to the "original intent" of the law that the legislature intended. A fairly narrow view that if implemented would reduce the powerful role that courts like the supreme court have played in the last 50 years or so. (to say our governement has functioned in the same way for 200 years is just not accurate)

I like the way our country has grown and changed in the last 50 years and want that trend to continue. (obviously sense I am such a liberal elitist bullsh#tter) LOL

Bush admits he has not had to veto one piece of legislation because there was total agreement between the conservative powers in congress and his office. That doesn't seem like the checks and balances are in place currently to me.

Anyway, got to get to work now.

Bam Bams turn, then T2P

[jimbo]

Originally posted by t2p
.
hmmm ............ Is this where George (Constanza - on Seinfeld) yells 'SHRINKAGE' ........

That episode was so funny!!!!

[V-Twin hiCROSS]

Maverick,
Just a few comments to your recent post:
1) It is very common for a second term president to make changes in his cabinet. Especially in the turbulent times that we have seen over the past few years. In several of the current positions (namely Colin Powell), these individuals needed a break form that life. It is by no means a cake job, many tough decisions.
2) Drilling for oil in the Alaskan wilderness only makes sense. There are currently three other countries that are tapped into that mass of underground liquid gold. They are just getting to it from the oceans. If we do not start tapping that resource, it will be used up before we get ours. I am no expert on the subject, but my understanding is that it is more environmentally safe to drill them from dry land.
3) Recent reports tell us that the Iraqi troops are starting to meld and have some good cohesion. It takes a bit of time to train these new soldiers. Currently they are working closely with our American boys to learn the ropes in "real" situations. Give it a year or so, and those Iraqi's will have some experience and will have seen the impact that they can make if they work as a trained team.
4) Having the Insurgnece all couped up in one town seems to be the best alternative from what I can see. At least we know where they are and that most anyone left in that town needs to be "86'ed".
5) I see much good since the election. My 401K climbed nearly 5% in the last few weeks. In my neck of the woods, everyone seems to be getting along just fine. We do not agree on all issues, but I think that we mostly have the same basic goals for this great land. If you choose to be the pessimist, there are always faults to be found. Things are not perfect, but they are far from dismal.