EricF

Try to have fun with this and let's keep it pretty clean

I'll start.

Che Admin:

Chirac: "Zut!"

Isn't chandra sposed to be taunting cullen with her tales of living close to him?

I finally finished all the beer in the fridge so i'm sleeping. night.

Most likely though, the guys who did that will be killed in far worse ways than hanging.

Gender equality in the Middle East is very poorly represented to us. It's sad that they're being hung, and wrong... But I would assure you that there are almost certainly people doing worse things to those who rode off on their bikes from the incident.

It's a totally different world over there, but not completely without its justice. (Not that I'd ever live there or want those I know to live there!-- except maybe a few )

Is having a president who understands the military the most important criteria for electing a new leader?

Most important, no... Important? Yes. They're the highest ranking executive officer and have command over the armed forces.

And this is to all of you that like to point out alot of crap and say nothing but crap about generalizing, ok back in the desert, some MOFO came up and started talking giberish! now there was a 50/50 that Mofo was an AlQueda member so I gave him the benefit of the doubt searched him and nothing, like I said a lot of you like to BLAH BLAH BLAH but you have to put it into action, kinda like practice what you preach!

I don't know about you, but I'm studying 24/7 with a course load prepping me for a counter-terrorism grad program. Yeah you might say that I plan on putting my ideas into action... Even if I don't end up with a job in that area, I can still get articles published, academia is pretty influential in counter-terrorism these days.

And 50/50?

On the frequency of container checks... If one out of ten isn't enough, what would you expect? I'm sure they will increase security to make the American people happy after this anyway.

I live a couple miles away from Port Everglades and pass through the PE turning basin every time I go out fishing, so I'm certainly not isolated from these port issues. (Yes I know that PE isn't one of the ports in the deal)

Here's a link for you from one of the more neutral and educated news sources out there. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0222/p01s01-usfp.html?s=widep

Here's my take on it.

DUBAI is a wealthy CITY, but United Arab Emirates is an even wealthier COUNTRY.

With regards to the sale of 'our' ports, they weren't really ours in the first place. They have been owned by a British company for many years.

How is the UAE purchasing the ports any more of a 'national security threat' than the British company?

Finally, the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection Agency will continue handling ALL imports/exports from these ports.

In my opinion, the US economy relies heavily on the investments of US securities and assets by wealthy middle east individuals. There are many princes/shieks throughout the middle east who are major shareholders for many well known US corporations. For example, a majorly publicized event was when a Saudi prince purchased 1 BILLION dollars of stocks (paid in cash) in AOL, Chase, and Priceline, back in 2002. I think he owns about 5% of Chase...

Thank you George

The port employees will still largely be American, the security procedures will still fall under the jurisdiction of American agencies, what's the big deal?

UAE is a heck of a rich country and Dubai from what I've heard is light years beyond most of our major cities in terms of technology and such. There have been UAE citizens who were Al Qaeda operatives, but there have been US citizens who were/are Al Qaeda operatives. This is just another example of the media playing on the ignorance of and stereotypes held by the general American population so they can make some money.

If I were a terrorist and wanted to bomb a US port, I'd put explosives on a ship leaving a port in a different part of the country which has little to no security, and detonate it when it gets here. It doesn't take much rocket science to come up with that either...

Just a total non-issue being blown out of proportions so people will watch the news to see what the latest update on it is.

Am I included? Nope

You are part of the chosen few!

What kinda RPM are you winding this thing out to? Imagine stock cams might hurt the potential if you're going to 8000+, but I don't know their specs and timing can make a nice difference...

You know what you're doing, just wondering and rambling as usual.

Ya the Skullsplitter is hardcore (that Delirium Tremens Belgian Ale is 8.5% too!).... But tonight I'm being a little classier.

Two draft amber bocks with dinner with our loveliest waitress who apparently thinks I'm cute, then an Olde English 32 oz. bottle, followed by multiple miller high lifes, the last of which I am finishing off right now.

A good night? Oh yes.

League night is always a good night... The time draws nearer where Brendan and I try to encourage y'all who aren't totally lame to start up your own league nights throughout the nation. That's right. I said it!

Opio - Talk Dirty

That's my song recommendation for the hour.

Got to drink good beer at the bar tonight.... Very refreshing!

Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat Ale (never had it on tap before..)

Delirium Tremens (Belgian Ale)

Skullsplitter (Scottish Orkney Ale)

etc...

Holy stuff I'm drunk.

So, anyone else ever been in that situation where they're not having fun so they think if they just drink more it will get better? That crap actually worked last night

And tonight we're getting a keg... don't really feel like it at the moment.

No cover, 20 dollars gone. $1 a drink. 20 drinks.

I know you're not even on this site anymore... But Darn, 20 drinks and not a penny's tip for the bartender?

I go to $10 all you can drink (including top shelf) every week, and usually spend about $20 on tips alone.

EUREKA!

Went to fridge for one of these....

Only to realize that I still had the better part of a 12 pack of these......

And yes, the second one is a shitload better and not only because the picture is more in focus.

I'm getting there...

You all should have seen me the other night. Credit card retrieved from the bar by my buddy, and I was definitely carried.

Hey, Pat's back!

(and there was much rejoicing)

EricF has graced this dump of a thread with his return!

Anyway. Sniff you jerks later.

Wow Joseph... Gas up here is under $3 a gallon for 93.

I've debated this topic too much to talk about it :(

Cool, a little nicer and more universal than the AIM chat :)

It probably wouldn't hurt for you guys to take some political theory classes

Just so we're clear, what political theory classes have you taken?

I'll try to start tallying mine.

Nothing is cheap! Billions is *nothing* and we certainly pay a lot more in taxes than that... And it takes a crapload of money to keep the United States running even when everything is going great, much less when we have two very significant military involvements overseas.

The idea of the government shouldering the financial burdens of this disaster by itself is just foolish. Sure, they will dedicate a ton of money and assets, and probably an enormously significant amount when viewed in the grand scheme of things... But the cost of this disaster is far beyond the level at which the government can just draft a check and say "Here, now it is all fixed."

We don't live in a socialist or communist state, that's why the government doesn't do everything for us. Sure, they have responsibility, but they can't just magically fix everything.

Did you miss the first post in the thread?

I was complaining about DeLay's "summer camp" remark.

Regardless......

This is America, not Nigeria. Supposedly one of the more advanced countries in the world. These medium-term refugees are still living in makeshift accommodations. Nobody asked to have their houses and livelihoods washed away. These people need residences (with kitchens, bedrooms and furniture) and subsistence in the meantime. Call them whatever you want. The fact remains that these refugees did not cause the hurricane.

Go ahead, keep making light of the situation. I'm sure yours and DeLay's "caring" attitudes will perpetuate this "third world" treatment of the problem.

I'm a Republican who will vote against welfare EVERY time. However, I'm also a patriot who believes that we pay billions in taxes so that our gov't is equipped to take care of dire situations such as this one. There are no excuses for American people displaced by disaster to endure third world living conditions.

There's only so much the government can do. Bureaucratic immobility has ruined a lot of the relief efforts, especially early on. Nobody was seriously ready for this, and if you think that the bulk of these people are going to get houses with kitchens, bedrooms, and furniture, you need to wake up. It's just not realistic.

It's a tragedy because it's tragic what has happened and is happening, and it's of such a large scale that teh government can't just fix everything with a wave of their hand. The summer camp comment was in bad taste, but the pressure on them is probably beyond what you and I can imagine. I've said some stupid things in high pressure situations before, that doesn't mean I'm going straight to hell for it.

It's very easy to be critical of others and how they deal with this situation, especially when they are under the lime light and in our living rooms dealing with it from moment-to-moment, but placed in the same situation, we probably wouldn't do so well either.

I've said it in other places, but if it weren't for school (or if I was ahead of schedule in school), I would try to find a way to get out there and see how I could help. Especially if I was making $10k a month.

Charles, I know a guy in the Merchant Marine who offered to help up there and couldn't find anyone who would take his help... This was about a week ago, but do you know anyone I should have him contact if he's still not able to find a place to pitch in?

Holy crap I'm hungover.

  sweet. Next time I go to gainesville, I hope to drop by and pay a visit to see a couple of the cars

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Field trip?

Sorry I came up with blanks on those hose fitting people by the way... They said they don't really do this kind of thing :(