COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, December 11, 2006

NATO, Taliban and al-Qaeda Prepare for Spring '07

Nature abhors a vacuum and so do the Islamists.

An article in today's New York Times, by Carlotta Gall and Ismail Khan confirms other reports that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are taking advantage of a peace deal with Pakistan to consolidate power and control in the tribal regions of north western Pakistan. All made possible by the generous donations of fellow muslims in the Persian Gulf.

Gall and Khan write that anonymous Pakistani officials admit that the agreement was a bad deal for the Pakistanis in that it has no teeth for enforcement.

This is encouraging in that Musharraf can make the case to his people that the other side reneged on its word. Eventually, he'll have to, at the very least, look the other way as NATO planes take care of business in the western provinces.

Jihadis are beginning to operate in the area and are using the same tactics used by the "ali babas" in the Anbar provinces of Iraq.

The area is becoming a magnet for an influx of foreign fighters, who not only challenge government authority in the area, but are even wresting control from local tribes and spreading their influence to neighboring areas, according to several American and NATO officials and Pakistani and Afghan intelligence officials.

This year more than 100 local leaders, government sympathizers or accused “American spies” have been killed, several of them in beheadings, as the militants have used a reign of terror to impose what President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan calls a creeping “Talibanization.” Last year, at least 100 others were also killed.

While the tribes once offered refuge to the militants when they retreated to the area in 2002 after the American invasion of Afghanistan, that welcome is waning as the killings have generated new tensions and added to the region’s volatility.

The foreign fighters in the area include Afghanis, the Taliban, Uzbek and other central Asians, and of course Arabs including Osama and Dr. Al. Suicide schools are doing such a lively business that some volunteers have been turned away due to a lack of class space. The Afghan Intelligence reports that some 500 to 600 students are currently enrolled bombers have in Suicide U. of Pakistan.

Also mentioned in the article are a cast of unsavory al-Qaeda and Taliban characters including the infamous Mullah Dadullah, the fiery one legged "spiritual leader" from Afghanistan.

The other, for the same reason, is Mullah Dadullah, a ruthless Taliban commander from southern Afghanistan, who has emerged as the main figure in the resurgence of the Afghan Taliban.

The one-legged Dadullah — he lost a leg in fighting — has a flamboyant if cruel reputation. He narrowly escaped capture in northern Afghanistan in 2001, often gives boastful interviews to news agencies, and is known to have personally ordered the killings of aid workers. His latest announcement, made in a phone call to Reuters, was that the Taliban had infiltrated suicide bombers into every Afghan city.

So the stage is being set for next seasons "Afghanistan Summerstock, 2007." The casts are busy preparing themselves and by all accounts, next season's production of "Tora, Tora, Bora - Kamikaze in Afghanistan" promises to be a "rocking and rolling" extravaganza that will blow away audiences and critics alike.

143 comments:

  1. "Barbaro's strength on the right hind limb has been gradually improving," said Dr. Dean W. Richardson, Chief of Surgery. "It is normal to be a bit stiff and weak after being in a cast for a long time; however, he is capable of bearing full weight on the previously fractured right hind leg even without the supporting soft bandage."

    Barbaro Working Out Again!

    161

    163

    149

    150

    177


    INDEX 2

    INDEX 9

    INDEX 10

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  2. This AIN'T Great, but we gotta keep track!
    ---
    Former Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment.

    Gore said Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions.

    The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida's hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications.

    "The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake," Gore said during the Jiddah Economic Forum. "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States."

    Gore told the largely Saudi audience, many of them educated at U.S. universities, that Arabs in the United States had been "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable. They cut off ears, wired testicles to IPOD Battery Packs in a Manner Reminiscent of Jenjis Khan, etc"
    - Breitbart

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  3. Michael Yon is NOT pleased about the censorship in Iraq, and he says don't blame the media.
    ---
    He asked Hunt, the Photog above if he had insurance, Chad asked:
    "Do you think I need it?" !
    ---
    "No Insurance" was the reason given for refusing Yon, although the guy had no idea whether he does or doesn't.
    ...Someone else is in charge in Afghanistan.

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  4. While Gore was kissing Saud ass, Cherie Blair and a Lady from Ireland were criticising the Saudis!
    Strange times.

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  5. Pictures make you wish you were young again!

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  6. Yes, Doug, we haven't been that young in a long time! It would be nice to be young again.

    ... the gathering storm, Whit, the gathering storm!

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  7. In the previous thread, at the end of the discussion, there was speculation about what went wrong in Iraq. It is worth a look because there were some very insightful comments. The question is a good one and unfortunately there is a lot to choose from. It is a question that is more than academic.

    One of the shibboleths of the Iraq war was that "we need to stop them there" and the counter argument was " Iraq would be an incubator for jihadis everywhere." The latter argument seems to have been more right than the former. That is becoming more obvious in Afghanistan.

    Whit, The same NYT article contains this. Consider the implications:

    "...The Afghan intelligence service said last week in a statement that it had captured an Afghan suicide bomber wearing a vest filled with explosives. The man reportedly said he had been given the task by the head of a religious school in the Pakistani tribal region of Bajaur, and that 500 to 600 students there were being prepared to fight jihad and be suicide bombers.

    The bomber said that the former head of Pakistani intelligence, Gen. Hamid Gul, was financing and supporting the project, according to the statement, though the claim is impossible to verify. Pakistani intelligence agencies have long nurtured militants in the tribal areas to pressure the rival government in Afghanistan, though the government claims to have ceased its support.

    So numerous are the recruits that a tribal leader in southern Afghanistan, who did not want to be named because of the threat of suicide bombers, relayed an account of how one would-be suicide bomber was sent home and told to wait his turn because there were many in line ahead of him."...

    And add this to the things to worry about:

    ..."The fundamentalists’ influence is seeping outward, with propaganda being spread on private radio stations, and through a widening network of religious schools and the distribution of CDs and DVDs. It can now be felt in neighboring tribal departments and the settled areas of the North-West Frontier Province. In recent months, Pakistani newspapers have reported incidents of music and barber shops being closed, television sets burned and girls’ schools threatened.

    The militants are more powerful than the military and the local tribal police, kill with impunity and shield criminals and fugitives. Local journalists say people blame the militants for a rising tide of kidnappings, killings, robberies and even rapes."...

    Let us return to the speculation about where things went wrong in Iraq. I will offer a few thoughts of my own and am interested in yours:

    It is obvious is that without law and order nothing else is possible. The highest priority in any Muslim country and especialy Iraq should be to maintain law and order. The moment that weakens or breaks, militias or Islamists will seek and gain control by any means. Law and order should trump everything else. That order must come from within the country.

    Our concern should be that instability not be exported. We should not be breaking things to fix them the way we want them. That will not work and is not in Iraq.

    Democracy imposed, is impossible. There is no yearning for democracy by the majority. They do not understand what it means or how to practice it. To them everything is negotiation to gain power with the intention of never giving it back after it is attained. Regardless of the intentions, bringing democracy to the Muslim world is a fool's errand. Democracy is no panacea. It is none of our business.

    The religion of Islam is the heart of the problem. It is a cult and we make the mistake thinking it should be given equal respect and held equivalent to Christianity. The mistake is that in the Western Democracies we separate religion from secular life. Christianity allows that. We even quote something that most believe to be in the constitution, "the separation of church and state." That is impossible with Islam. Islam does not allow that. All life and society becomes part of Islam. If they pretend that it is possible, that is only a feint for the Islamists to gain control and create an Islamic state.

    We should no more tolerate Islam in the West than we did Communism during the fifties. The European countries that did allow the Communist Party to participate put their societies at peril.

    The implications of the Iraq War are many. Go to war to destroy your enemy. Destroy them completely and leave. If that is not your intention, then do not go to war. If Islam is as I believe it is, incompatible with the West, leave them alone.

    For those Muslims already here, require them to conform to our standards and culture. Demand that they discard all practices that offend our ideas and practices including all forms of discrimination against woman. Remove their tax exempt status and if they are unhappy with that, invite them, encourage them, and then demand of them that they leave. We will all be happier and safer.

    If we do not have the courage to do that, we will forfeit our civilization. It will only be a matter of time. Islam is at war with itself. That is unfortunate, but it is their problem to solve. George Bush made a mistake going into Iraq to transform their society. He had a right and obligation to remove the threat of nuclear or chemical weapons. He made a colossal blunder obligating the US to the mission impossible of changing their society.

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  8. I offer this to those uf ya with a bit of the Irish in ya. Sung to the tune of Irish Lullaby, also known as Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ra.

    Over in Afghani
    Many years ago,
    Me Imam sang a song to me
    In tones so cruel and low.
    Just a simple little ditty,
    In his good old Islamo way,
    And l'd give the world if he could sing
    That song to me this day.

    "Tora-bora-bora-, Tora-bora -a lay Tora bora -bora -li
    Come the Spring we'll bomb ya, in both night and day
    Tora-bora-bora, Tora bora-a lay, kill'in Tal-i-bani's is our favorite way

    Oft in dreams I wander
    To that mountain cave,
    I feel there's safety a-huggin' me
    Though the bombs all fall my way.

    And I hear his voice a rant'in
    To me, as the blood flows rapidly down,
    And when my leg was blown right off, I said oh what the hey
    Cause soon I'll a fuck'in more but where's my dick I pray

    Tora bora-a tora, tora a bora a lay
    The Yanks are com'in with BLU to blow us alllll aaa-way.

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  9. Doug and Whit,

    This is America. You don't need REAL news to report on, just make up something half way plausible and go with it.
    Like:
    Reports from un-named source say that the ISG had an orgy the night before the report was released.
    or
    Sources close to DARPA say the US has developed a cigarette size 155 howitzer that can be hand fired with no recoil.
    or
    Smegma found to cure acne in teenage girls.

    See, ya just mix and match some verbs and nouns with some topic a viola .. NYTimes quality reporting.

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  10. I full contend that Islam should no longer be referred to as a religion but an ideology, used in the same manner as Marxist "pray" for their ideology and Maoists pray for their's.
    If we can alter the catagory we can apply more restrictive laws and build a stronger base for dispatching the louts.

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  11. Trish let me help you.

    When you leave you pack all your gear neatly in the appropriate container. Usually one goes to an airport and boards a plane for the flight home.
    Once home you unpack, kick back, and have a cold one, or if you smoke a good cigar.
    OK

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  12. Doug,
    You mean to tell me that the catfood I've been paying premium money for "Barbaro's delux" isn't really the real thing..damn.
    (probably some stakes race looser,or maybe even an old greyhound retired from the dogtrack and no good for coats at coats-a-million.)

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  13. Habu wins! BINGO!

    Islam is NOT a religion!

    News Flash!

    Cats found to be living on Mars - having conquered Earth long ago.

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  14. Sung to the tune of ballad of the Green Berets....

    Fighting Tal-i-ban we kill
    Fearless men who'r blow sky high

    Men whose flesh we mean to rot
    As the gangrene just eats 'em up

    No front teeth are in their mouth
    These are men, most have the louse
    One hundred men we'll kill today
    But only three will get a-way

    Trained to live, off nature's land
    They'll eat dung and pee stained sand

    Men who fight by night and day
    Courage deep, the Mohammad way

    No front teeth are in their mouth
    These are men, most have the louse
    One hundred men we'll kill today
    But only three will get a-way

    Back at home they beat their wives
    Her fat cheesy body all bruise and black
    He has died for those sheep he fouls
    Leaving her with crampy bowels

    Put a round right in his face
    Make him one wholooks like waste
    He'll be a maggot pile real soon
    So shoot to kill and not to wound.

    No front teeth are in their mouth
    These are men, most have the louse
    One hundred men we'll kill today
    But only three will get a-way




    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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  15. Tigers got it..

    Unnamed sources say the cats living on Mars are not feral but rather enjoy the warm theraputic baths of the Sea of Tuna juice.

    Other unconfirmed reports say that a close cousin of the cat, the hippo are found on the savannas of Mars or along THE GRASSY KNOLL.

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  16. 2164th, brilliant post.

    You wrote: To them everything is negotiation to gain power with the intention of never giving it back after it is attained. Regardless of the intentions, bringing democracy to the Muslim world is a fool's errand. Democracy is no panacea. It is none of our business.

    To them, everything is fair game. Legal-rational authority does not mean anything to them - neither does the concept of de jure authority stand up against their culture of inherent factionalism and lack of respect for the code of law. Power represents everything that they desire for - the unlimited accumulation of power over others through religious and state conformity - a perverse distortion of Lockean liberalism of unlimited accumulation of wealth and property; authority is merely a fig leaf of legitimacy for their brutal way of life: assassinations, brute force, coercion - all are options that appeal to them in order to seek and maintain power.

    Give them no quarter. Multiculturalism, cultural relativism and such are simply euphemisms for defeatism and surrender. We shall not concede one inch, not on the battlefield, not at home.

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  17. Lets all play the Gore, Who Cares Game.
    Starting with the 1908 election I'll list vice presidential nominees. You see if you can tell yourself, or anyone ,ONE plank of a platform they stood for.
    1908:James Sherman,John Kern
    1912:Tom Marshall,Hiram Johnson,James Sherman
    1916:Tom Marshall,Charles Fairbanks
    1920:Calvin Cooledge,FDR
    1924:Charles Dawes,Charles Bryan,BurtonK. Wheeler
    1928:Charles Curtis,Joe Robinson
    1932:James N. Garner,Charles Curtis
    1936:James Garner,Frank Knox
    1940:Henry Wallace,Charles McNary
    1944:HS,Truman,John Bricker

    OK I'm tired of typing but figure it out. How relevant is Gore?

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  18. The Curtis LeMay Group is still looking for fresh faces. Our platform is simple and straightforward.

    Bomb our enemies into the stone age.*

    * The former has been endorsed by former baseball great, U.S. Marine Corps pilot, and currently cryogenic head Ted Williams.

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  19. Find an ambitious young colonel who will play ball. Get it clear what you want and inform him that you will be back if necessary.

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  20. Trish,
    Lets me offer my humble services once again.

    Usually one does not step "in" but rather over. Things get all piled up it looks like a three year olds room.
    As for the vaccuum thing. Hey it's not just nature. I hate 'em, my wife doesn't like to do it so we have to have the illegal do the vacuuming.

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  21. Trish,
    Yeah but it's neolithic...we need to drill down deeper, really get to the core.

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  22. H-1

    He (Gore) is not. The only time we hear from him is when he is in front of HIS constituents, i.e., somewhere deep inside San Francisco or Manhattan, a speaking engagement at ACLU, PETA, or some other group left of Terry McAulife.

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  23. Where, trish, have the 250,000 Iraqi Army gone off to?

    If there would be nothing for a new, young tyrant to command.

    What is happening with that Force?
    Who are they loyal to?

    Which of the Factions is largest and most influental, within the Iraqi Army?

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  24. Because the Iraqi Army is Iraq
    For whatever that's worth

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  25. Trish..
    The survivors try to restack the shack.
    Meanwhile we extract the boons owed to us for our toil. If another power wants in we kill them, but they won't come.
    We cease funding the UN but remain at the Seurity table to veto stuff.
    We let AIDS and ebola eat up the African tribes.
    Then we clean up Dearborn.

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  26. Barbaro is a gelding, every dime spent was a wasted, emotional investment.

    But horses are not much of a business, but a really expensive hobby, that, sometimes has a payday or two along the way.

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  27. Harrison said, "Give them no quarter. Multiculturalism, cultural relativism and such are simply euphemisms for defeatism and surrender. We shall not concede one inch, not on the battlefield, not at home."

    Local peace groups are applauding Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., for
    reversing his support for the war in Iraq in a speech Thursday night on the Senate floor in which he described the current military strategy as "absurd."

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  28. To the topic of the day, Afghanistan.
    Seems that the US is unhappy with the British General, there. The Brits have led a withdrawel from some of the villages contested over the summer.

    The General President of Pakistan has called upon NATO to negotiate a settlement with the Taliban. Thus ending the War, in Afghanistan.

    Although Mr Bush's rhetoric was of a "Global War" that idea has been dashed.
    Even here, at the Bar, this hotbed of reactionaries, buddy says that Mohammedan actions in Nigeria, Iraq and Afghanistan are "unrelated" as the Enemy has a networked and not a hierarchical command structure.

    This is also the position of the Supremes, evidenced in the Hamadan decision. The Congress in both the Authorizations for Use of Force and it's reaction to Hamadan. The President, in not invoking the 14 Sep 01 Authorization, over riding with a Presidental Determination the very basis of Hamadan, that Afghanistan was a "local" war.

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  29. Only if that Army is considered to be the Enemy. If it is the Ally, it picks up the pieces, afterwards, best as it can.

    Who is the Iraqi Army and why will we not turn it loose?

    Why not give Baghdad to the Iraqi and let them "sort" it out?
    Other than the US demanding and getting the Authority and Responsibility to provide security in and for the country.

    Meannwhile the World waits for the Decider in Chief to speak on the matter of a Plan to the US Public.

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  30. trish,

    From the previous post, your husband will be in our thoughts and prayers.

    As to Iraq, my opinion is clear, I think. The US needs to stay in Forward Operations Base Iraqi Aid (FOBIA). If hardnosed American leadership can be found, Iraq is the perfect platform from which to project power and FEAR into the region.

    For instance, whenever Syria steps out of line, we can readily reach out and touch them. It is for this reason that the regional powers want the US out.

    By way of further example, while the US remains in Iraq, it can credibly threaten to make life difficult for the Chinese. A rigorous, time consuming inspection regime in and out of the Strait would drive the Chinese nuts. To end such a program, the Chinese might even see their way clear to reining in the North Koreans.

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  31. nah, rat--I was answering your i thought rhetorical question, about "related". I thought you were going after a recognition of how these global incidents feed off each otehr. My point, and a small one it was, was that a few "call it off" speeches by such as OBL and Achmadinejad would probably knock the shit out of the jihad.

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  32. With Polonium 210 in the news I am wondering why we can't just dirty bomb the Tora Bora area, spreading radiation hither and yon and making the Taliban's beards fall off.
    Once we've done that they won't want to come to town and will be to sick to do so anyway. We'll be able to pack up and move on to Venezuela where Mr. Chavez needs some guidance.

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  33. noted, VDH nonplussed re the Hannity/Tommy Franks interview.

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  34. I'm beginning to worry about this group and the dreaded DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS

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  35. we're all ticking time bums. er, 'bombs'.

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  36. Man I'm tell'in ya these diplomatic charm schools our generals and admirals are attending are ruining our fighting capability and ability to sustain an action against a foe.
    It's the State Dept. job to do the diplomacy and the military to kill.
    Now we've got general talking about "inflammatory" language...Dear Lord, Please help us find military men who know how to kill in mass quantity. Amen

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  37. There is no ONE nor even a small cadre that can call the "War" off, on the Enemies side.

    It is spread throughout the Mohammedan culture, both the Shia and Sunni. It is organic to them, though not all are infected, some are merely carriers, showing no outward symptoms of radicalism, but harbouring the virus in their system.

    It is not the innoculation that cures the patient, but the antibodies and white blood cells that result from the treatment.

    Our first attempt to cure the patient was with a band-aid over a torn off scab, not nearly enough.

    Finacial Times man on the FOX that is talking of a "new" Parliment coalition in Iraq. Centered on Mr al-Hakim, after his White House meeting with Mr Bush. Perhaps another new set of soulful eyes.

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  38. No one has been able to come close to convincing me that if we bombed an enemies capitol to rubble the rest of the bad guys wouldn't slow way down on the shit they're kicking up.
    Have an entire city look like the remains of the WTC and I guarantee the words, "Holy Shit" would reveberate around the globe.

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  39. trish,
    If tomorrow Mr Bush announced we were "bombing the enemy" into submission, would he order the artillery to hit the Iraqi Army?
    Would we kill the Iraqi at Camp Tanji?
    I doubt that.
    Destroy the "Enemy" whomever Mr Bush decides that is, give the remainder of the Iraq to the Iraqi Army, to deal with as they will. Democracy or not, it's up to them.

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  40. Nope, no one authority could surrender the jihad, but a regime change or two would sure enough set it back a good deal.

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  41. Something you can bet on, the MSM will be baiting the new congress to ever greater rhetorical highs against the war, as soon as it convenes. The jockeying for "peace" soundbites will a wonder to behold.

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  42. shooting war in Beirut, civil-type, by the weekend--50/50?

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  43. Times when you wish there weren't such things as "precision" and "smart" bombs. Then you could use the excuse that you needed to carpet bomb the entire town and hope all the "enemies" were obliterated.

    >buddy Coming over from Totten's site, I'd stick with 50/50. Abu Kais paints a pretty grim picture.

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  44. buddy larsen,

    re: Lebanon civil war

    This is why Syria and Hezbollah should have been killed this spring. Instead, we have the Franco-American UNSC Resolution 1701.

    Israel has sworn it would never allow a Hezbollah dominated government to come to power in Lebanon. Olmert had better get cracking.

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  45. The French have promised to fire on Israeli planes, what will they do with regards Israeli tanks, as the UNIFIL Force withdraws to Beirut.

    The French Naval weapons having been reconfigured to hit the Middle East.

    The Russians, Italians, Turks and Germans, as well?
    People Power in Lebanon, majority rules.
    Cedar Revolution Redux.

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  46. Then, to not allow another "Afghanistan" it is off to Somalia and Sudan, rufus. They "own" both, now.

    I do not see it happening, but perhaps it is.
    If the US has a presence in either it is not readilly evident, the Mohammedans have a free hand in both locales.

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  47. that's an awful good clue as the whether the 'rabs or nuts or just crafty--it's gotta be 'nuts', as they are burning through their last chance to industrialize and establish market economies.

    Look at it--oil @ $62 for their Arab brethren, and the Gaza still has 70% unemployment--and they're rioting over the international handouts drying up a tad.

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  48. One wonders why we let ourselves get hamstrung by the French and the UN "peacekeepers", who basically sat around watching Hezbollah camps park right beside their towers. Still can't get that image out of my mind.

    One wonders why we are so kind as to accommodate our enemy's rearmament delays; we should have driven Hezbollah north of the Litani and back to the Bekaa when we had the chance. There was a heck lot of consensus on that at Chester's this June/July, but did they heed our advice? Noooo.

    Seniora and Maliki - in the same boat, plugging holes that are getting bigger and bigger. The sharks smell blood.

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  49. modified trip wire, rufus--i agree--unless we do the nixon-kicked-outta-town thing come Spring.

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  50. Then NYT can re-run the "Our Long National Nightmare Is Over" headline.

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  51. Mr Nixon's job insurance was Mr Agnew. When Spiro got the hook, Dick was done.

    As long as Mr Cheney is in Naval Housing, Mr Bush has job security.

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  52. Well, at least this canadian gets the picture right. Ya gotta kill the enemy. dah

    Am. Fatal Mistake

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  53. And we can go back to the discos, as Ahmed al Pol Pot comes to rest on page 18.

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  54. wow--that canadian link liked to blew up the 'puter--windows 'aborted' it--oh i'm so tech savvy--

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  55. rufus,

    re: Now, we're going to have to fight them, more or less, continuously, until then.

    Now, by golly, that is the truth. It not depressing to me. What could be depressing is my country's unwillingness or inability to come to grips with truth.

    It is for this reason that we do not surrender a single acre of Iraq, which is not to say we attempt to defend every acre. No, we coil in our redoubts, permitting the factions to bleed on another white. When it is in our interest, we strike out and devour the wounded and weak.

    The US, remaining firmly entrenched in Iraq, scares the hell out of our adversaries. For instance, the efforts of the Russians, Chinese and French to hand us a boarding pass out of Iraq is not based upon some desire on their part to keep us from hurting ourselves. Oh no, these people know exactly the danger they must face in the future with America poised in Iraq, ready to wreck havoc.

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  56. But these kids are not the only ones who have absolutely no idea of what a culture is - which is neither a handful of slang phrases, clown or slut dress and offensive behavior.

    As one young man told me when I saw him walking at night with a group of guys who seemed on the verge of anarchy but were merely playing a part, the whole thing is a come-on to get girls, who have made the thug into a sex symbol.

    "We don't want to shoot anybody, to rob anybody, or to get into a fight. We know the honeys like all of this. If they didn't, that would be the end because we go the way they go," he said.

    The solution may have to come from the women, who have been known to get men to act right when they have gotten tired of them acting like animals.

    To face this crisis and the fact that the street thug impersonation is now considered "cool" and is attached to the multibillion-dollar hip-hop industry, will take some doing. After all, let us not forget that Harriet Tubman said that she could have gotten many more slaves off of the plantation if she could have convinced them that they WERE slaves.

    The trouble was that they believed that slavery was a natural state and one that they should accept as no more than the way life was.
    CROUCH

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  57. Allen--exactly right--the thing is to maintain a global open auction market for raw mtrls. we let ourselves get 'vietnam syndromed' again, we'll bleed deep just to get back to where we are right now.

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  58. How do we say "no" tho, when the legal gov't of Iraq asks us to leave? what is our answer?

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  59. How do we say "no" tho, when the legal gov't of Iraq asks us to leave? what is our answer?

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  60. Nixon was toast when he didn't burn the tapes.had he done that the rest would have just been noise.

    HARRISON..I'm tak'n 'bout carpet bombing with iron bombs, a few guided ones,some phosphorous. Get as nasty as possible. A-10 circl'n over the roads outta town to strafe the terrorist helpers trying to escape.
    On day two we do it one more time, just for the terror effect. They want hell, can do. If they cause more trouble we create more rubble, can do.
    When Grant took over command of the US Army he told all his generals to quit telling him what Bobby Lee was gonna do and start telling him what they were gonna do to him...the entire war changed. He went on the offensive and NEVER let up until the south surrendered. Sherman destroyed everything in his path..ditto the other generals. Richmond looked like Hiroshima and Atlanta burned to the ground.
    I do believe that Rx might work again if applied to the right cities. I want a "Holy Shit Allah, we didn't bargain on this" uttered by every islam on earth.

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  61. Buddy,
    If the "legal" government of Iraq asks us to leave it will be done in private first. Before any public announcement is made we assassinate those who would ask us to leave.
    The others remaining would not ask us to leave. Guaranteed.

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  62. Stay the Course

    In the face of coming human rights violations, sectarian cleansing and genocide.

    "Worse tha Saddam, if we leave" said Mr Rumsfeld about a year ago, he knew then, and told US. Some just did not want to listen. Selective hearing, my dad used to call it.
    Seems though that it is going to be "Worse than Saddam", even if we stay. No one in the US is going to want to watch that.

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  63. buddy larsen,

    re: when asked to leave

    Like our friends the Saudis, we keep things stirred up enough that no one would ask us to leave. Failing that, we do what every get power in history has done: we find a pretext to force ourselves upon our reluctant hosts. Not to be snarky, but the Roman methods used in the ME two millennia ago offer some genuinely useful lessons - come in as an invited protector, remain indefinitely to insure stability. Will the American public buy into this? Just as with Rome, that will depend upon an executive capable of salesmanship. Of course, one can never say too much about the benefits of plain old greed, i.e. oil for nothin and the dates are free.

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  64. We'd best get our heads outta these Marquess of Queensberry rules. It's not becoming a superpower.

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  65. buddy,

    Lest anyone come away with the idea that a New Rome is my personal preference, it is not. However, from the day we naively allowed our adversaries to get the drop on us, we were doomed. Like it or not, this is a fight for survival; there are no rules of engagement. This is no longer the clash of civilizations; it is the clash of forces of nature.

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  66. We must accept the fact that we are at war with an enemy like no other we have faced before and that new conditions of war require new rules of engagement. The enemy relies upon our overwhelming, even ill-advised desire to treat all people as equal and decent. All people are not equal or decent - some are indecent and deadly.

    We must accept the fact that there can be only one winner in this war and that if that winner isn't us, all of western civilization is in grave danger. We must also accept the fact that we can not win this war with one eye blind and both hands tied behind our back
    From my 11:14 post link

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  67. Mr Bush is about to give a short talk, maybe a question or two?

    The State Dept is doing a great ob

    Challenges and tasks involved in standing up an Iraqi Government

    Looking for a new way forward.
    The neighboring countries were discussed, and the US will focus their interests.

    Us will help and there will be further deliberations. Mr Bush has to get more input and then he'll find a new way foward

    Extremists are now the Enemy.
    Calling of our time to defeat extremists and radicals.

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  68. Fear is not merely a tool that the enemy has a monopoly on. We must gather the will necessary to strike FEAR into the hearts of our enemies (that is, if they even have one in the first place).

    It is an existential war for sure. To consider it otherwise would be to concede defeat.

    I shall retire for the night. Thank you all for your discourse today. It has been nothing but enlightening.

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  69. 1941 : Germany declares war on the United States

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  70. rufus, did you see the cover story in the WSJ the other day, slash and burning in Indonesia, for date palm groves.

    The article also stated how water intensive these Palm trees are, some areas have been stripped and replanted, using diminishing groundwater reserves to irrigate.

    Government enterprise at it's worse.

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  71. The pictures indicated a moonscape with ashed out slash piles, on a geometric roadgrid. Not part of a regenerative process.

    But, as you say, the same story could be spun in a totally different fashion. It did focus on the negative aspects for the enviorment and the people in the areas cultivated.

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  72. I think we can look at this ME situation from a different angle.

    Say the USA bugs out, look at what we would still have:
    * Pimp My Ride
    * Brittany's cooze shots
    * Jimmy Carter Library
    * Moon Pies

    The list is really endless, let's count our blessings

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  73. All this middle east/OPEC shit may yet prove to've been a blessing in disguise--an head-start--albeit rammed down our throats--on an early out option from a diminishinhg resource. A little bit slower traffic on the interstate would be another nice thing.

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  74. One HUGE disappointment with the EB is our seeming lack of discussion about Katrina. Are we savages?

    more thanks
    *Vienna sausage
    *Interstate rest stops
    *Brittany's cooze shots\
    *Tammy Fay
    *March Madness in April

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  75. da cooze needs some cover--but maybe i'm old-fashioned--

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  76. Buddy,
    But we just discovered one of the biggest deposits of oil in the world right off Louisiana...I think they call it Big jake or something...plus coal liquification..it figure we can keep polluting for another 100 years.
    Intersate speed a problem? one word..Peterbuilt.

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  77. yep--that's a biggie out there--but won't come on line for a few years yet--&, a tough environment to step out the field. Other good news, congress passed the OCS/Florida drlg--could be a dam break for the rest--?

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  78. Rufus,
    You left out the human flatulence recovery system each car will have. And,and, another advantage is with all that electric high voltage wiring throughout the car, in an accident the emergency people will not be able to use the jaws of life or a high speed saw to rescue you..one less, more for me..

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  79. Well, on FOX the had one of those little graphic factoids pop up:
    $10 Billion USD spent on training the Iraqi Army.

    Out of the aprox. $400 Billion USD spent.
    US expeditures for training and influencing what could have been our best tool in the Region,
    2.5% of the total.

    So, there you go. The level of US interest and investment in the only replacements the US troops were ever going have, exemplified by spending priorities.

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  80. Rufus,
    Who cares about building the plant..just get the government grant of 500 million to begin and then just let the money get spent..a big mansion for Rufus with swedish message "helpers",
    Ole habu buys that surplus A-10 warthog, Buddy gets whatever floats his boat,DR a string of Arabian horses....we could call the company En-less-ron

    ReplyDelete
  81. rufus driving his Plug-in hybrid, flex fuel, solar-assisted car running primarily on electricity generated from Solar, and bio-mass/waste vehicle.

    ReplyDelete
  82. rat, that cost comparison is like saying the deer you shot cost only the bullet, and the fortune on getting into position didn't count.

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  83. DR..
    If we bug out how many recruiting should go way up since they'll have almost 100% guarantee we'll never commit troops anywhere for any reason.
    We'll have an entire Air Force of UAV's RPV's and guide by wire robot soldiers or ones that will have AI so they can "learn".
    Nano-dillos, armour plated to infiltrate...we'll really whack 'em from our easy chairs.

    ReplyDelete
  84. turn it over to the video-gamers, and go hide someplace

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  85. No, not at all, buddy.

    The analaogy indicates that after paying to travel halfway around the to shoot the rhino, the US hunter decides he does not need the local guides, that with gps and a map he's got all the guide he needs to stalk the rhino. No need to waste money on the locals.

    Penny wise, but pound foolish.

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  86. "Central Video-War Dep't, having vanquished the jihad, is reprogramming to fuel its vehicle fleet with over-50 male biomass diesel"

    ReplyDelete
  87. I was pointing out that there's the 'sales' line (the deer/Rhino kill, or the trained Iraqi troopers) vs the "cost of goods" line, would be separate on the balance sheet, rat, not that either line has a good number on it.

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  88. habu kept that 'Swedish Masseuse" line uppermost in his mind

    ReplyDelete
  89. double latte mocha
    foamin' on that stiff lip

    ReplyDelete
  90. scroll down from the coffee beans, and find the deal of the Christmas Season:

    Holiday Steal O' The Day from Overstock.com
    2” Memory Foam Mattress Topper - only $79.99

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  91. i think i want my used mattress purchases to have as little "memory foam" on 'em as possible

    ReplyDelete
  92. somehow, i don't think we're seeing possum's link

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  93. if it ain't from the "do it yourself" dep't, it will have negative commercial sales appeal

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  94. news coming out of real estate today, subprime lenders are going on a few of the rating service's 'watch' lists--seems the '06 interest-free 40 yr mortgages are starting to rack up delinquencies--look out, Phoenix, rat--

    ReplyDelete
  95. habu_1

    re: helper

    That is biomass.

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  96. Ahead of that curve, buddy.
    Seen it coming, been through this before. Many have not.

    Real Estate still hasa 15% downward adjustment comin'.

    But if the rates stay reasonably steady for the next 18 months or so, we'll absorb the inventory.

    About 25,000 empty homes, more or less, in Phoenix metro.

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  97. i guess a cascade thru the subprime lenders won't be unexpected--jeez--gonna be some deals when the lenders start selling the foreclosures--

    ReplyDelete
  98. young folks never hear the warnings

    ReplyDelete
  99. That's what they say.

    Taco bell at $285,000
    Realtor.com snaps this picture of Phoenix.
    Search: 3Brm, 1.5+bth, $250,000-300,000
    1,144 of 11,583 properties in the area match your criteria

    That is not the whole of the metro area, just Phoenix, itself. Just a snapshot of inventory.

    Lots of empty new homes, built on spec.

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  100. Two years ago there were twenty houses a day coming on the market and a bidding war between the buyers. Contracts written in a day or two, closing in thirty or sixty, soon as the money cleared.

    ReplyDelete
  101. the actual stocks--the wall street stocks--of the big builders seem to've bottomed back in June/July. good sign--unless there is a double bottom--

    ReplyDelete
  102. habu, every one of those links went to yahoo--the last one was "The Secret Life of Squirrels".

    ReplyDelete
  103. Wall Street keeps talking about a cut, Q2 seems to be the consensus. Weak dollar is the fly in the ointment. Russia & OPEC just announced a further diversification into Euros. Wonder if they're trying to bust our housing bubble? Not bust--but, stretch us out a little--

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  104. Long rates will be tough for them to manipulate tho--so long as we have the Asians still loving to hold them long treasuries. I'm still 80/20 'for' the soft landing--even with a mild growth recession the two middle Qs 07.

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  105. Hey, can we hope?

    Monday, December 11, 2006
    Iranian Students Smash Cameras, Burn Ahmadinejad Photos During His Speech in Tehran!

    Students smashed Iranian state television cameras installed to cover the event!!
    The students lit firecrackers and burnt his picture while he spoke!

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  106. Rufus 02:43:14 PM EST,
    Seems like cooling real estate in combo just makes things worse, tho.

    ReplyDelete
  107. Bostonians have LESS Equity in RE than they did in 2000!
    The Piggy Bank's been drawn down.
    My Nephew with a HS degree drives a Merc 55AMG, Escalade, something else, and 9 motorcycles!
    Real Estate's had a good run!

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  108. He's a VP in a Piggy Bank run by an Indian, I think, in SoCal.

    ReplyDelete
  109. The Rabbi being blamed for Sea-Tac Christmas Trees had no such intent:
    He simply wanted a Menorah displayed, and the evil pc maroons caused the rest and let him get blamed.

    ReplyDelete
  110. He just gave his mom a new Camry:
    We're buying her old car, waiting for the kid to buy my Lambo.

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  111. Correction, the Rabbis lawyer screwed up and filed lawsuit.
    Probably one of those Jewish Oligarch Lawyer types.

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  112. While the impression is given of shielding Saudi Arabia, the proximity also permits the use of the hammer against Wahhabists.

    The US Cannot Leave Iraq

    Link

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  113. Author of
    "Because they hate"
    is on Medved
    http://www2.krla870.com/listen/
    ...from an undisclosed location.
    Death Threats, You Know.

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  114. The show cannot go on without all the actors. Cox and Forkum give first billing to our friends the Saudis.

    Saudi Zakat

    While we have all focused on Iran, the Saudis have been busy as well.

    ReplyDelete
  115. Hey Trish!
    Make sense out of this:
    The Hate Gal says state went to CIA for some names and were refused, had to go to Google!
    (afraid state would screw up in some way?)

    ReplyDelete
  116. Looking at Afghanistan, how much Saudi support has gone into reinvigorating the Taliban in Pakistan?

    The administration had better get way out ahead of this. I smell a scandal coming, and the close ties between Bush 41, Baker, Scowcroft et al. and the Saudis will not go unnoticed.

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  117. Please, do not misunderstand, a nuclear armed Iran cannot be allowed. But, in its own way, Saudi Arabia is causing the US an equal amount of trouble, worldwide; e.g. consider the financing of mosques, madrassas, and Wahhabi imams.

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  118. The Six Tribes will still be on the "outs", assissting aQ.

    The Mahdi Army factions, all 20,000 to 30,000 of them in Baghdad will still be in Baghdad.

    Who does Mr al-Hakim turm the Iraqi Army on, but the Six Tribes?

    Will the Iraqi Army attack the Mahdi? Will it have to?

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  119. Doug said, "Correction, the Rabbis lawyer screwed up and filed lawsuit. Probably one of those Jewish Oligarch Lawyer types."

    Correction on the correction (this is a local story)...the Rabbi's lawyer gave the Port of Seattle less than 24 hours to allow a religious symbol (7 foot Menorah) to balance what SCOTUS already ruled was a non-religious secular symbol (Christmas trees). The Port of Seattle board decided to remove all symbols until after the holidays and rule on it later.

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  120. 'Rat,
    We used to stir up shit around the World.
    Now we got a shitstorm all in one place, so we let somebody else do it in So America, Africa, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  121. Trish,
    The Author of
    "Because they Hate"
    referenced above.
    ---
    She's complaining about still not sharing, but I'm of the mind that State should be locked out of govt decision making process.
    ...names of some Jihadi somewhere, no doubt.

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  122. Davey Duke is at the Holocaust Denial Conference!

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  123. Buddy,
    the Secet Life of squirrels ...well must be some type of computer voodoo cause they're fine on my side...sorry you missed 'em.

    I'll get in touch with immigration.

    ReplyDelete
  124. La migra?
    por que?

    Todas es amigos aqui, verdad?

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  125. That housing surplus in PHX is a government set aside program for the illegals.

    Just quickly running the numbers a surplus of 20,000 homes can house the entire population of Mexico City so things are a-ok

    It's all part of the Bush dynasty MasterPlan. Jeb speaks fluent Spanish being married to a woman of Spanish background. He'll be stumping in espanol big time, throwing in some insider jokes, parading in a low rider.
    He's also learning jai alai so he can go beyond the Chic Chac and Chula! phase
    Viva Jeb

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  126. Jeb's wife is an accomplished Smuggler too!
    Viva!

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  127. Contrabandista, Senora Bush?
    No creo eso, como pueda?

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  128. The Thames used to freeze, in London, but has not for one hundred years or so. The river may very well freeze there, again.

    Circles and cycles, that glacier in Detroit melted quite a while ago. The earth is neither static nor zero sum.

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  129. Aren't BDS Maniacs Extremists?

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  130. I didn't know about Gel Ding, 'Rat:
    Jeez!
    How about Cloned Horsies?

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  131. what is a smuggler tool?


    I'm getting ready to study THE MAP that is on the next post. Is that avacado color? looks like some of the kitchens circa 1950's.

    The map needs at small cube where the Kabba is located, and migratory routes taken by the Muslimminnieites.

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  132. You are correct, sir!
    (about Hawaiian Experiment)
    Environmentalists protest Geothermal here, just as they do wind elsewhere.
    Maui has a fairly decent size wind farm with rather large mills, like maybe 150 feet in diameter!
    What the state NEEDS to do is bring houses up to energy efficient standards that the PGE electric utility established back in 1970's in California!

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