I’m a great admirer of Rusty Shackleford, so it’s with distress that I read that he’s decided that our invasion of Iraq was a mistake, because it hasn’t improved our security. I say so in part because Iraq has discredited al-Qaeda and its ideas in the view of many in the Islamic world. Here is the testimony of Dr. Fadl, one of the architects of the Jihadist philosophy that animated the organization and its affiliates:
Fadl acknowledges that “terrorizing the enemy is a legitimate dutyâ€Â; however, he points out, “legitimate terror†has many constraints. Al Qaeda’s terrorist attacks in America, London, and Madrid were wrong, because they were based on nationality, a form of indiscriminate slaughter forbidden by Islam. In his Al Hayat interview, Fadl labels 9/11 “a catastrophe for Muslims,†because Al Qaeda’s actions “caused the death of tens of thousands of Muslimsâ€â€Arabs, Afghans, Pakistanis and others.â€Â
The most original argument in the book and the interview is Fadl’s assertion that the hijackers of 9/11 “betrayed the enemy,†because they had been given U.S. visas, which are a contract of protection. “The followers of bin Laden entered the United States with his knowledge, and on his orders double-crossed its population, killing and destroying,†Fadl continues. “The Prophetâ€â€God’s prayer and peace be upon himâ€â€said, ‘On the Day of Judgment, every double-crosser will have a banner up his anus proportionate to his treachery.’ â€Â
At one point, Fadl observes, “People hate America, and the Islamist movements feel their hatred and their impotence. Ramming America has become the shortest road to fame and leadership among the Arabs and Muslims. But what good is it if you destroy one of your enemy’s buildings, and he destroys one of your countries? What good is it if you kill one of his people, and he kills a thousand of yours? . . . That, in short, is my evaluation of 9/11.â€Â
Dr. Fadl seems to understand the Bush Doctrine, including the part about reversal of asymmetry. (h/t Roger Simon)
Oh, and here, of course, are NPR’s experts who know better than Fadl–people like San Fran Nan–who understand that really that’s all illusory because the Jihadists have accidentally shot off their own dicks, just as your vaunted pro football team doesn’t lose so much as defeat itself. Because sometimes, in this nuancy world of ours, appearance isn’t necessarily reality.
Yikes! Should have read Karl’s post with more attention.
Comment by happyfeet on 5/31 @ 7:47 pm #
Fuck him then. Loser piece of shit can just stay home and lick his own scrotum while the rest of us have a good time. Yay freedom.
Comment by datadave on 5/31 @ 7:47 pm #
Fadl seems very compassionate and wise. Osama bin Laden is like Bush: Stupid.
9/11 hurt Islam far more than it did the USA. But Bush’s mistakes made up for Islam’s failures for loss of the gains we might have had if a wiser leader led the USA. The invasion of Afghanistan was justified and would have been more successful if we’d focused on ‘nation-building’ there…but now we’ve cut taxes and can’t do a proper job in either of the two invasions. We may lose in both places due to Bush’s folly. And our ‘capital’ is being squandered.
and jessum h. christ, don’t hurt your credibility by associating with the hyper violent Malkins.
Pingback by a-foton » Blog Archive » Do the Math [Dan Collins] on 5/31 @ 7:49 pm #
[...] Ed Brill wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI’m a great admirer of Rusty Shackleford, so it’s with distress that I read that he’s decided that our invasion of Iraq was a mistake, because it hasn’t improved our security. I say so in part because Iraq has discredited al-Qaeda and its ideas in the view of many in the Islamic world. Here is the testimony of Dr. Fadl, one of the architects … [visit site to read more] [...]
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 5/31 @ 7:49 pm #
but now we’ve cut taxes and can’t do a proper job in either of the two invasions.
Who is “we”? You’re an admitted tax cheat. You don’t pay for shit.
Comment by troy mcclure on 5/31 @ 7:54 pm #
Ah Dave, have you read of the British experience in the NorthWest Frontier; that did take nearly a hundred years with three major wars, and about 60
separate operations over the period.
Not to mention that in order to operate successfully in that region, one would probably need about a million troops covering that area.
Comment by B Moe on 5/31 @ 7:55 pm #
‘On the Day of Judgment, every double-crosser will have a banner up his anus proportionate to his treachery.’
I think Spencer may have missed that bit.
Comment by datadave on 5/31 @ 8:01 pm #
I pay more in percent of income than your Bush and other ‘leaders of Conservatism’ and their 15 percent capital gains taxes. Why should I pay more in percent than them.
Comment by Karl on 5/31 @ 8:01 pm #
datadave may want to read not only the New Yorker piece Dan linked, but also the TNR piece — both of which I covered a few days ago. He’ll discover that taking the fight to Afghanistan and Iraq caused AQ and bin Laden to become even less popular than the dreaded Chimpy McHitlerburton.
Comment by B Moe on 5/31 @ 8:03 pm #
I don’t think we want dave doing the math. Just sayin’.
Comment by guinsPen on 5/31 @ 8:07 pm #
@ #6
I wonder what’s the penalty for griefers?
Comment by Karl on 5/31 @ 8:07 pm #
Also, Pres. Bush paid 30 percent of his taxable income in income taxes.
Comment by B Moe on 5/31 @ 8:07 pm #
He’ll discover that taking the fight to Afghanistan and Iraq caused AQ and bin Laden to become even less popular than the dreaded Chimpy McHitlerburton.
Not with the folks he hangs out with, obviously.
Comment by Pablo on 5/31 @ 8:13 pm #
Oh, look! That’s data, dave.
Comment by datadave on 5/31 @ 8:15 pm #
“We have defeated al Qaeda in Iraq ” from http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/192864.php
what a turd of an argument. Al Qaeda wasn’t in Iraq with Saddam in power. Al Qaeda in Iraq is thus a huge strawman. Al Qaeda never had much power even in Afghanistan. The Taliban used Osama, not the other way around. We are fixated on a one-hit wonder of a terrorist. A slightly more social Unibomber… and we made him into a bogeyman. We squashed the Taliban like bugs and eliminated Osama’s playground and for all we know he’s a wounded walking deadman or already dead and held up as a bogeyman. Islam is in reaction in general and that’s the problem …not some minor terrorists (who got a lucky slaughter due to the USA’s non intervention policy towards hijackers… and US airline’s weak security policies). That loophole was eliminated the day after 9/11 and al Qaeda’s been in retreat since except for Iraq where the US Invasion created al Qaeda in Iraq…(as hostility by insulted and underemployed young men was exploited in gang-like fashion.)
The War on Terror is a fraud. Just a cover for the War on the Middle Class by the Financial Elites that endorse the neoFascist Republican party.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 5/31 @ 8:17 pm #
Stop drinking the bong water, dave.
Comment by datadave on 5/31 @ 8:19 pm #
of course, Bush had to pay the full freight… but once he’s out of the limelight? Like his fellows. Hey, I work for a living. I am not sure 2 or 3 month vacations on his ranch and riding mtn. bikes and being the ‘decider’ is ‘working’. Can we get our money back?
Comment by Dan Collins on 5/31 @ 8:21 pm #
I’m sorry, Dave, but we should have hunted these cunts down and killed them when they blew up the embassies.
Comment by datadave on 5/31 @ 8:21 pm #
b moe: Spencer?
Comment by Dan Collins on 5/31 @ 8:22 pm #
Also, compare Bush with Clinton, please, regarding cashing in on the presidency.
Comment by B Moe on 5/31 @ 8:23 pm #
You are a whiney little thief dave, quit projecting.
Comment by Dan Collins on 5/31 @ 8:24 pm #
You tell the soldiers who’ve strenuously discovered and destroyed the innumerable caches of weapons purchased by Saddam with Oil for Food fraud money that it’s been a phantom conflict, dave.
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 8:25 pm #
datadave:
Bush is a lot smarter than you are, that is for sure. And Zarqawi was in Iraq before we invaded, he came there from Afghanistan where he had been training with AlQaida, he was a proxy and he eventually joined the larger group. So considering the fact that Zarqawi became AlQaida in Iraq, it is not true to say he and his followers were not already there.
It is also true that back in the Clinton administration the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein was designated a terrorist supporting ties with financial ties to AlQaida. It is also true that in 1998 the United States named Hussein’s regime as complicit in the African embassy bombings. Now I know that the fashionable revisionist theories paint Saddam as a sort of victim, not important, not involved, but he was important enough that the Clinton administration made removing him from power our national policy in 1998 when they passed the Iraqi Liberation Act.
After the invasion of Iraq, Kaddafi gave up his nuclear program and the infamous Kahn network. None of that would have happened had it not been for the invasion.
I realize that is a matter of faith for the left wedded as they are to simple minded partisan hatred to assume that the world would be a better happier safer place if Saddam Hussein were still filling mass graves in Iraq, but they {and you} are wrong.
So you can call Bush stupid if you like, but at least he is not caught in some ridiculous idiotic mindnumbing loop of a groundhog day where it is 2003 forever and ever and ever and ever.
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 8:26 pm #
And as far as focusing on nation building in Afghanistan, it is exactly what the progressives wanted, a UN, NATO, International, Multinational, effort. I thought that was how you guys wanted it.
Comment by Akatsukami on 5/31 @ 8:31 pm #
Dave can’t handle that his fellow ratbags told the truth by accident.
“The killing of innocent Iraqis will turn th rest against us!”, they shrilled. “For every terrorist noble freedom fighter that we kill, a dozen more — his grieving and enraged sons, brothers, uncles and cousins — will take his place!”
Quite true. Except that for every Iraqi that, despite our care for innocent life, we accidentally killed, the apes and pigs of al-Qa’ida deliberately and ruthlessly slaughtered a hundred. And the people of Iraq turned against them, instead of us.
The leftist scum of Europe and America hoped that the murders by the apes and pigs would succeed in intimidating the survivors into putting their chains back on voluntarily. When they found that the reality was the opposite, they trembled…for that defiance bodes no good for their own plans.
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 8:32 pm #
As for money datadave, it seems to me that the Democrats are becoming the party of the super rich, the billionare hedge fund operators. When Obama made his snotty remarks about clingy gun toting back ward rural people he was on billionare row in San Francisco…the richest block on planet earth. Not even the Saudis can compete with them.
Comment by datadave on 5/31 @ 8:33 pm #
I think we tried….during Clinton’s administration and the pre9/11 Bush Administration…. .but Saudi’s intelligence agents weren’t helping. And apparently still don’t offer much support. Still most of the money for terrorism still seems to come from the Kingdom. Osama was banned their but he still has admiration from some of the old sheiks there. And they are protected. The Sunni Saudis are very upset that the USA has put Shiites in power in Iraq. And thus money leaks to some terrorists I am sure …why else would the Kingdom be labeled numerio uno in financial support of terrorists by the CFR in 2004. (I’ll admit maybe Iran could be number one now…but not by much.)
And GW continues to kiss the Saudi’s arse. Our wealthy oligarchs in Saudi Arabia seem to ignore GW’s asskissing: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/news_breaking/20080531_A_former_al-Qaeda_fighter_accuses_a_Saudi_charity.html
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 5/31 @ 8:37 pm #
their 15 percent capital gains taxes.
But yet you’re staunchly opposed to the fair tax, even though everyone would pay the same rate.
As noted many times in the past: you don’t even believe your own bullshit, dave.
Comment by Satan's lapdog on 5/31 @ 8:37 pm #
Fuck. Dave is still around. I would have thought that he’d turn tail and amscray realizing that he’s like an idiot and this place like isn’t for idiots. What a fucking dumb human being. Truly mentally ill.
Now on to Rusty. I kind of feel the way he does. I understand that constituents of Al Queda were in Iraq prior to the invasion and that Saddam was in material breach of whatever agreement we had after the Gulf war, but I still would have liked to concentrate on Afghanistan at the time. Saddam was neutered. However, it’s all moot as we did invade. We did remove him. We broke (an already very broken country) now we have to, we owe it to the “good” Iraqi’s, assure to the best of our abilities a somewhat secure, stable and safe Iraq. We are doing that. So let’s “stay the course”.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 5/31 @ 8:41 pm #
IMHO, the Democrats are the party of the “I made mine, now the rest of you can go hang” folks, and the Republicans are the party of the “I made mine, and you can do it, too” folks. Thus one party favors the impediments to building wealth — taxes, regulations, the abuse of the legal system as a lottery, piss-poor education — while the other tries to tear those down.
And I’m sure dave will be pissed as hell at that characterization. But I’m just calling it as I see it, and unlike him, I try to see what’s really going on, rather than the bizarro world he inhabits.
Comment by Dan Collins on 5/31 @ 8:51 pm #
It doesn’t bother me that dave disagrees with me. It doesn’t reflect badly on Rusty, either, that he’s come to different conclusions than I. We’re all doing the best we can.
The only thing that really bothers me is dishonesty (of which, I think, ingratitude is a part).
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 8:54 pm #
No dave, they did not try all that hard. Listen, if Bill had killed Osama we would probably not be having this chat. And to tell the truth I bet if he had it to do again, he really would kill the man when he had the chance. And if Bill and the Brits and just about everyone else on planet earth had decided back in 1998 to say to hell with it and turned Saddam loose with a clean slate instead of rattling sabers and making threats, then yes I would say that you could blame it all on Bush. But they did not turn Saddam lose. Just the opposite. Now they want a do over. So they have decided to absolve themselves of any responsibility for the war by revising history…that way the Democrats are victims, not perpetrators. Poor babies, Bush lied to them. If only the press had saved us…blah blah blah.
But then I can remember a documentary on ABC back in 99 about Saddam’s relationship with AlQaida, so exactly who misled who?
Now ofcourse, if they disavow the war, they have to disavow any good that might come of it. It must all be bad all the time. The problem is the Iraqis might have other ideas. They might not want to turn into Gaza just to please and appease Obama’s party.
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 8:58 pm #
I think a lot of people think that the war was not worth the effort because they are just tired of hearing about it. God knows I am. And they can not come to terms with what a long conflict it could be. Like the cold war it could be generational, and like the cold war not anyone conflict will make us safe. It is a process.
Comment by cynn on 5/31 @ 9:06 pm #
Yes, it is a nebulous expansive war that will engulf generations to come. Well done, spooks!
Comment by maggie katzen on 5/31 @ 9:09 pm #
because it hadn’t already…
oh, you wanted it to remain largely one-sided?
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 9:13 pm #
cynn:
Spooks? Well my dear, it was not Bush’s idea to start this war. AlQaida declared war on the United States long before the spooks took the reign of power in the US. The mullahs were chanting death to America decades ago.
It has been more than 20 years since hundreds of Marines were murdered in their beds in Lebanon. I thought this ideology would die of its own stupidity but it has not.
So if you want to blame someone, it might be a good idea to blame the head hackers.
Comment by cynn on 5/31 @ 9:14 pm #
I’d like it to end. But you seem to have an axe to grind…
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 9:22 pm #
No, I don’t have an axe to grind. I have had relatives who have fought in Iraq. I don’t want them to have go back over there in 15 years. I want it to be over, the sooner the better. But I am not the one who is fantasizing about some messianic confabulation that is going to establish the Caliphate and make Islam the ruler of the world blah blah blah.
Comment by cynn on 5/31 @ 9:23 pm #
You are simply parroting the company line. I’d like to talk to some actual service folks. You’re a lie.
Comment by Rusty on 5/31 @ 9:26 pm #
Nobody said it was going to be a short war or easy. As a matter of fact the administration went out of its way to inform us all that this is going to take a while. And yes, as a matter of fact we are safer.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 5/31 @ 9:27 pm #
Yes, it is a nebulous expansive war that will engulf generations to come.
cynn, this war has been in progress since the year 710.
Hint: it wasn’t started by the West. Or by Bush. Or by the NSA.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 5/31 @ 9:28 pm #
I’d like to talk to some actual service folks.
Of course you don’t know any. Do you?
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 9:33 pm #
cynn:
I am lie? Well considering the fact that this is the internet, we could both be anybody. But the truth is I am one of those rural back water types who has several members of my extended family in the military. After all, we are not as bright and sophisticated as folks like you so we have to make a living any way we can.
Comment by cynn on 5/31 @ 9:35 pm #
No, I don’t know any; do you fuckhead? And y’all right; this is I suppose a long war. But when did I commit my children to it? I did not; therefore, it must end here and now.
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 9:35 pm #
And if you really want to talk to service people, they are not hard to find. It is not as if they are an endangered species living on some remote nature reserve.
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 9:37 pm #
Well cynn, unless your kids join our volunteer military they will probably not have to go fight. Now I can not speak for the terrorists, they may decide they want to blow you up whether you are into it or not.
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 9:37 pm #
I mean exactly who do you want to surrender to?
Comment by Akatsukami on 5/31 @ 9:39 pm #
I have no doubt that you did not commit your children to it, cynn.
Have the Islamists committed your children to it?
Comment by cynn on 5/31 @ 9:39 pm #
I guess I am not so concerned with servide people as I am with my children. Sorry; I love them both, but am only bound to the latter.
Comment by The Sanity Inspector on 5/31 @ 9:41 pm #
But when did I commit my children to it? I did not; therefore, it must end here and now.
cynn: The fact that you didn’t commit your children to beating back The Jihad is only half the equation. Nobody “committed” the Dutch to having their throats slit in their own streets, or for England to “suddenly” (after decades of unrestricted Muslim immigration) have their streets peppered with exploding mass transit. But it happened anyway. The liberal solution of kissing 3rd world ass more smoochily in order to appease them isn’t going to work, because it hasn’t worked so far.
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 9:47 pm #
cynn:
So, do you think the fact that you love your children makes you special. Do you think the rest of us are not capable of love? Your statement is absurd.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 5/31 @ 9:49 pm #
No, I don’t know any; do you fuckhead?
Yeah, I do. A fair number of my students are either in the military or have family members who are, dipshit. Also, my nephew will be joining the Air Force (like his daddy) when he graduates from high school next spring.
But when did I commit my children to it?
That’s not really your choice, dipshit.
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 9:49 pm #
There were two fifth graders on the plane that hit the Pentagon. They had won a National Geographic field trip. They died instantly. Their parents did not commit them to any war either.
Comment by Big Bang Hunter (pumping you up) on 5/31 @ 9:52 pm #
- Why bother wasting you time arguing with douschebags that need to lose to the Jihad so they can stand a hope in hell of getting back in power?
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 9:52 pm #
There were 13,000 children in one mass grave in Iraq. The children had been tied together in pairs. That way only had to be shot, the other could suffocate in the grave. Saddam was an efficient murderer, why waste a bullet. I bet money their mothers did not commit them to war either.
Meanwhile George Clooney continues to yammer on about Darfur. Anywhere but Iraq. Iraq is the no go zone for self righteous humanitarians.
Comment by Terrye on 5/31 @ 9:53 pm #
BBH:
Too true.
Comment by cynn on 5/31 @ 9:57 pm #
Spare me your patriotism. Face it: we have a crisis of need, and a lack of bodies. Give my daughter one good reason to toss herself into the maw that is the modern military.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 5/31 @ 10:00 pm #
Give my daughter one good reason to toss herself into the maw that is the modern military
What part of “you don’t have a choice” didn’t you understand, dipshit? But, okay, I’ll give you one:
Because she doesn’t want to have her clit cut off, spend the rest of her life living inside a sack, and be the chattel of her husband.
How about that, dipshit?
Comment by Big Bang Hunter (pumping you up) on 5/31 @ 10:00 pm #
cynn: How about so you don’t have to worry about some sand fucker, with 50 pounds of C2 strapped to his waist blowing you and 50 others up when you go to the grocery store?
Comment by datadave on 5/31 @ 10:01 pm #
yeah, yeah, I know Terrye. We lower middle class are fucked by both parties. At least the Democrats pretend to notice. Not sure if San Fran is that rich. I’d bet on certain streets in Taipai and HongKong these days. or Singapore.
if we are serious about winning. Why cut taxes for the needed funding of the military. Why not make it a shared responsibility. Why is it basically only the lower middle class that is fighting this war? And I know a kid who’s enlisting: he was a juvenile delinquent, but straightened up by his stepdad schoolteacher, probably adhd whatever? , but smart enough, a good kid but only jobs avail. are walmart shit w/ no benefits and he likes to shoot…and the recruiter convinced him that he’ll not go to Iraq…but get training for the security firm he wants to start after his service is over.
Saying Bush is smarter than me is a like another strawman argument. He’s rich and I am “poor” although rich in love…..but that’s not the argument. If smart military people are saying Bush’s judgement …or more likely his policy influences….are misinformed…then I listen. I saw the Taliban forming and they got 4 billion in aid from Bush for poppy eradication but I fumed and was insensed that we didn’t forcefully condemn their cruelties to women and Buddhist shrines. When 9/11 happened I was mad as hell at Bush for enabling the Taliban….as I knew immediately that they were involved….before noon of that day and then was proven right when the conspiracy of Al Qaeda was revealed.
(this note is late as I was on the phone… before posting it…)
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 5/31 @ 10:03 pm #
Face it: we have a crisis of need, and a lack of bodies.
Reenlistment is running at 137% of quota, dipshit.
Comment by Swede on 5/31 @ 10:04 pm #
Well, other than the terrific education and training I’ve gotten out of it, it’s also allowed me to serve my nation in a way most people never will. It’s hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. It’s made me appreciate not only my country better, but my family and my way of life. As far as patriotism goes, I’ll spare you some. It sounds like you could use it.
Comment by Big Bang Hunter (pumping you up) on 5/31 @ 10:05 pm #
-“Saying Bush is smarter than me….”
- Would be the understatement of 2008.
Comment by cynn on 5/31 @ 10:08 pm #
Hey, inappropriate morons. I have a conceal carry, so I’ll wait for ‘em here OK? Why indulge your foreign hard on over there, unless you want to go tomorrow? Then good riddance.
Comment by B Moe on 5/31 @ 10:11 pm #
Give my daughter one good reason to toss herself into the maw that is the modern military.
What the fuck does that have to do with anything? You daughter doesn’t want a military career, so nobody else is allowed to? You guys are taking this chickenhawk shit way too far.
Comment by Swede on 5/31 @ 10:12 pm #
“Hey, inappropriate morons. I have a conceal carry, so I’ll wait for ‘em here OK? Why indulge your foreign hard on over there, unless you want to go tomorrow? Then good riddance.”
Really? I had an M4 and an M9, grenades, body armor, an uparmored Humvee with crew served weapon and a bunch of guys trained to kill. And some of us still died.
Good luck with your pistol and your permit.
Comment by Big Bang Hunter (pumping you up) on 5/31 @ 10:13 pm #
- I repeat – Pacifists and appeasers are natures sacrificial goat “stunt crash dummies”, and it takes a hell of a lot of them because the Tyrants go through them so damn fast. The pay can be pretty good, if short lived, but theres absolutely zero future.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 5/31 @ 10:14 pm #
so I’ll wait for ‘em here OK? Why indulge your foreign hard on over there
Because (as a general rule) it’s better strategy to blow up the enemy’s country instead of letting him blow up yours.
You’re not too bright, are you?
Comment by cynn on 5/31 @ 10:15 pm #
Sorry, that was bad of me to say. I’m just not letting my daughter going on this phony war.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 5/31 @ 10:17 pm #
I’m just not letting my daughter going on this phony war.
You don’t have a choice, dipshit. If she should decide to join the military, you won’t have jack shit to say about it.
Really.
Comment by TmjUtah on 5/31 @ 10:17 pm #
cynn -
Shucks, my Marine experience left me with twice as much patriotism as I had going in…
But I can’t offer you any.
It’s like honor. Or discipline. Or pride. Or morals.
You either have it or you don’t.
Wish I could help. Truly. And you’ld be well served to put down whatever is in that cup and call it a night.
Comment by Swede on 5/31 @ 10:18 pm #
Which phony war?
The one in Iraq or the one in Afghanistan?
Comment by Big Bang Hunter (pumping you up) on 5/31 @ 10:20 pm #
- Oh yeah. Now theres a fucking genius idea. Lets “negotiate”, and stall around until they turn New York into Baghdad or Beirut.
- Jesus. Its hard to believe there are people among us that are such fucking weasel-assed chickenshits.
Comment by TmjUtah on 5/31 @ 10:22 pm #
cynn-
You’ll LET? Or NOT LET?
Do you think for a second that the folks at Morgan Stanley LET something happen?
Or that my brothers in Beirut OBJECTED to their deaths?
Funny thing about wars. They don’t care if you wish to participate or not. That’s what makes them DIFFERENT from say, bunco night. Or Weight Watchers.
Don’t feel bad if you don’t get it, cynn. We’re getting ready to see somebody who thinks exactly the same way be elevated to his party’s candidacy for leader of what’s left of the free world.
I know how the Romans felt after Marcus Aurelius.
Comment by datadave on 5/31 @ 10:31 pm #
the “leftist scum” have plans…that’s news to me, akatsukami.
I try to read some of the strange new posters here and wonder, assumed identities (sockpuppetry) of prior post’s identities…to say things less politic in disquise. Satin’s lapdog indeed.
I am all for nation-building in Afghanistan: As ever since Carter and Reagan we’ve mucked up there so much….bankrolling the same fuckers that became the Taliban. I was upset for Carter getting involved there and even his turning the Olympics into a political football for it…and It’s been universal steroids and commercialization ever since….another pro-sports spectacle…back when only the Eastern bloc’s so-called amateurs used steroids, and it was an amateur non political competition. Thank You Jimmie for being a fake liberal and instead beating up on the Soviets for killing our future enemies. I’ve been following this Afghanistan thing for a long time.
#
Comment by troy mcclure on 5/31 @ 7:54 pm #
Ah Dave, have you read of the British experience in the NorthWest Frontier; that did take nearly a hundred years with three major wars, and about 60
separate operations over the period.
Not to mention that in order to operate successfully in that region, one would probably need about a million troops covering that area.”…
damn with our technology and focus We could have done it and perhaps can still ….but Iraq diverted our attention and we aren’t any near as patient as the British.
Comment by Big Bang Hunter (pumping you up) on 5/31 @ 10:33 pm #
- The ME denizens have lived for literally centuries, killing each other and stealing from each other, and blaming it on Mohammad, or whatever else they could find for an excuse. They live and breath by the code of taking what you want with a sword or a gun. The craziest of the murdering idiots even think blowing themselves up so their buds can steal and murder, is a high virtue.
- The fact that your side is to scared or to stupid to understand the concept of strong horse, weak horse that drives everything they do, think, and feel is EXACTLY why you and your kind cynn, should never be allowed within 500 miles of any position of authority.
-The scared shitless approach of you and your brethren would get us all fucking killed.
Comment by B Moe on 5/31 @ 10:38 pm #
I am all for nation-building in Afghanistan: As ever since Carter and Reagan we’ve mucked up there so much….bankrolling the same fuckers that became the Taliban. I was upset for Carter getting involved there and even his turning the Olympics into a political football for it…and It’s been universal steroids and commercialization ever since….another pro-sports spectacle…back when only the Eastern bloc’s so-called amateurs used steroids, and it was an amateur non political competition. Thank You Jimmie for being a fake liberal and instead beating up on the Soviets for killing our future enemies. I’ve been following this Afghanistan thing for a long time.
Hard to argue with that.
Comment by datadave on 5/31 @ 10:52 pm #
that Enlistment is no surprise to me. Recessions help the military build enlistment. It happened in the 70s and will again now. It’s about the only job with full benefits that doesn’t require a professional college degree in a tight job market. I told you about the kid enlisting in my neighborhood…six months while practicing rifle shooting (with pellets inside my mechanic’s garage) he said “No way, I am getting in that mess.” after I suggested he looked like military material…. Now, after trying the local job market, he’s enlisting.
Comment by datadave on 5/31 @ 10:52 pm #
the enlistment is up I meant to say….
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 5/31 @ 10:57 pm #
Recessions help the military build enlistment.
There is no “recession”, dave.
We’ve had three straight quarters of positive growth (sluggish, but positive).
A recession is defined as two quarters of negative growth.
Unemployment is at near-record lows, too.
Comment by Big Bang Hunter (pumping you up) on 5/31 @ 11:00 pm #
- Just because you kid yourself that defending your country is for suckers, and something you’ll be glad to let the other guy do for you dave, doesn’t really change the fact that you’re a fucking coward.
- For all your “talk”, I bet at the end of the day thats a really sucky feeling.
Comment by nishizonoshinji on 5/31 @ 11:01 pm #
pfft, Dr. Rusty is exactly correct.
The Bush doctrine was a craptacular loozer strategy.
The Petraeus/Kilcullen model is what’s successful.
Why? Because you can’t kill your way out of the jihaadii factory.
The Israelis have been tryin it for years.
Well…there is one way–genocide of the population spawnin the jihaadiis.
But whoses got the stones for that? Not the Israelis, and not us.
Nope, what works is the Petraeus/Kilcullen doctrine…..dismantle the jihaadii factory and sell off the parts.
Comment by TmjUtah on 5/31 @ 11:02 pm #
cynn-
For these words: “You either have it or you don’t.”
I ask your forgiveness. They are glib, presumptuous, and imply a status on my part that is simply above my station in life.
It sounds like you are worried about your kid. I am, too, for my two daughters, one of which graduates from high school in a matter of days. We have good reason to be worried. But let us not pretend that this is something new. If it wasn’t war it would be something else scary and beyond our control; such is life.
I wish I could write this better. My patriotism comes from very easily understood experiences. I was born a citizen of the United States, in Iowa. I was adopted by Bob and Vee. I went on to grow up in Texas.
Honestly, everything since “born a citizen” has been cake. And it’s because of the overarching ideals of the founders and all those men and women who have tried to make them work that all this united states stuff has worked so amazingly well… in spite of the whining and destructive bad faith of people who wouldn’t know tough times or real despotism if they were dipped in them before being staked out on the anthill.
Have a fine one. Again, I apologize for my ill-chosen words. I mean you no disrespect, nor pain.
Comment by TmjUtah on 5/31 @ 11:15 pm #
Uh… nish:
The Patreus doctrine of COIN is working favorably toward making the Bush Doctrine a success.
I am not making a philosophical comparison between historical legacies here, but would just like to point out that Lincoln went through CG’s for the Army of the Potomac like Ted Kennedy went through martini olives yet the Civil War went to the Blue side.
The end objective is to fulfill the governments duty to provide for the common defense, nish.
That we are able to do it by exporting the benefits extending from responsible self- government, as we have enjoyed them for our history, is not like any imperialism or colonialism ever practiced anywhere on this planet.
That we attempt to counter the barbarian threat this way, the Bush way, and not by the time honored (and let’s face it, much more cost effective, short term) method of a war of annihilation.
The Israelis haven’t done it. And neither have we.
Yet.
Comment by nishizonoshinji on 5/31 @ 11:28 pm #
Tmj,
The intersection of the Bush Doctrine and the Petraeus/Kilcullen model is the null set.
How do you get armed social work out of nonintervention and spreading “freedom” a.k.a bushstyle democracy?
Comment by nishizonoshinji on 5/31 @ 11:33 pm #
dude. i unnerstand the prime directive better than most.
but democracy farming is a loozer.
social networking, developing trusted networks, ground-up strategies and armed social work is the polar opposite of installin a top down democracy.
Dr. Rusty is 100% correct.
Comment by B Moe on 5/31 @ 11:35 pm #
Why? Because you can’t kill your way out of the jihaadii factory.
What the hell is that even supposed to mean?
How about if we make it extremely unprofitable to be a jihadist, or to work at the “factory”. Are Muslims too stupid to change a tactic that isn’t working? It would explain your conversion, I suppose.
Comment by nishizonoshinji on 5/31 @ 11:36 pm #
And the Bush Doctrine is a global strategy, installin a democracy to govern top down.
Petraeus/Kilcullen is local.
Comment by nishizonoshinji on 5/31 @ 11:40 pm #
Nope, the Israelis are too stupid to change a tactic that isn’t working.
kassam rocket==IDF precision targettin of hamas official.
“martyrdom” of hamas official–> new jihaadii recruits.
Comment by TmjUtah on 5/31 @ 11:41 pm #
“Nonintervention” is the null set.
And it’s American representative republican democracy, to be precise.
And democracy is NEVER top down. Unless, of course, you let Democrats have the legislative and the executive.
Oh my.
Comment by B Moe on 5/31 @ 11:43 pm #
Nope, the Israelis are too stupid to change a tactic that isn’t working.
Israel is still there. I would say their tactics have worked. Or do you think the Palestinians are winning?
Comment by nishizonoshinji on 5/31 @ 11:52 pm #
Unless, of course, you let Democrats have the legislative and the executive.
well, why not? They already have academe, culture, science and technology, the arts and the media.
if the dems capture the legislative and the executive, isn’t that just a grassroots movement?
hahaha
Comment by nishizonoshinji on 5/31 @ 11:54 pm #
I would say their tactics have worked
no, B Moes, its a CAT game, a stalemate.
kassams keep a comin, hamas dudes get whacked.
there is an inexhaustible supply of both, unfortunately for the Israelis.
Comment by Big Bang Hunter (pumping you up) on 6/1 @ 12:01 am #
-“…there is an inexhaustible supply of both”
- Actually nishit, thats just what they want you to believe…..what they’re really after is your essence….
Comment by B Moe on 6/1 @ 12:01 am #
The objective of the Palestinians is to eliminate Israel, Israel’s objective is survival. Israel is still there, that is not a stalemate. Idiot.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 6/1 @ 12:08 am #
there is an inexhaustible supply of both
There are approximately 10 million Palestinians.
10 million is not countably infinite or any higher order of infinity.
You’d think a JEEEENIUS like you would know that.
And “Palestine” continues to exist for exactly as long as Israel doesn’t view them as an immediate existential threat. If that ever happens, “Palestine” goes away.
Comment by JB on 6/1 @ 1:55 am #
“Oh, and here, of course, are NPR’s experts who know better than Fadl–people like San Fran Nan–who understand that really that’s all illusory because the Jihadists have accidentally shot off their own dicks, just as your vaunted pro football team doesn’t lose so much as defeat itself. Because sometimes, in this nuancy world of ours, appearance isn’t necessarily reality.”
Nuancy Pelosi. Feel free to use without attribution.
Comment by Sean M. on 6/1 @ 4:02 am #
So, wait…I’m confused. Are we talking about Al Qaeda or the Niners here?
Comment by thor on 6/1 @ 5:17 am #
#
Comment by cynn on 5/31 @ 10:08 pm #
Hey, inappropriate morons. I have a conceal carry, so I’ll wait for ‘em here OK? Why indulge your foreign hard on over there, unless you want to go tomorrow? Then good riddance.
Adding firm to my wood, cynn be packin’ a heater. She’s a dangerous woman. Hippie chicks with guns, that’s so damn hot.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 5:45 am #
Recessions help the military build enlistment.
There is no “recessionâ€Â, dave.
We’ve had three straight quarters of positive growth (sluggish, but positive).
A recession is defined as two quarters of negative growth.
Unemployment is at near-record lows, too.
keep smokin that weed, fella….
Just because you are financially stable doesn’t mean the lot of us feel like you. I know the ‘definition’ might seem like there’s no recession…but what do people feel? They feel screwed that’s what. It’s a new paradigm. Texas is doing great due to the oil profits. So Texas (at least Houston) is as my Peruvian friend says “fantastico!”. But some parts of Texas, people working at Walmart feel the pinch. You tell ‘em, get a new job. Yeah, sure, it takes maybe 8 years to get a law degree, 12 to get a medical degree and they don’t have the grades anyway. So people with higher professional degrees are okay but they’re a minority and as most people don’t want a handout despite what you think they take the schlock jobs, the minimum wage jobs (anything less than 20 bucks an hour imo), and you’re numbers make you feel secure that the Bush years were wonderful…well, dude, try to make it on 30 K a year or less….and see how it feels. It feels like a Recession.
Comment by Roboc on 6/1 @ 6:12 am #
So datadave, what’s your solution? How would you get us out of the non-technical version of a “recession” you speak of? Would you tax our way out of it? That’s not conducive to economic growth, which is needed in order to increase tax revenues. The people at the bottom of the income scale will be the ones most affected by this kind of policy. Like it or not, we’re in a global economy, and there’s a lot of competition. Education is the key to economic oportunity, so lay off the class warfare.
Comment by Pablo on 6/1 @ 6:22 am #
Just because you are not does not mean that we are in a recession. You can tell by the way that we’re not in a recession. Words mean things, dave, except when you use them.
Comment by sashal on 6/1 @ 6:30 am #
Pablo, I work with consumers on everyday basis.
I also know and familiar with what is going on in other businesses.
Whatever word you guys want to use, I don’t care.
Can I say that we are in the deep doo-doo?
Comment by Roboc on 6/1 @ 6:54 am #
That settles it, the deep doo-doo economy is upon us. What’s going on at Applebees, sashal? It seemed pretty busy last night! Must not be a business you’re familiar with. Parking lots were nearly filled at Walmarts, Publix and CVS. What businesses are you familiar with?
Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/1 @ 6:57 am #
Sure, so long as we can point out that it’s a meaningless term with no bearing on reality.
Comment by syn on 6/1 @ 6:59 am #
Well I think Mohammed Fadhil understands the situation far better than Rusty Shackleford or myself or sachel; plus I’ve met Mohammed in person and I know for a fact he is far wiser than poor sashal can only imagine to be.
The Mideast Won’t Change from Within
By MOHAMMED FADHIL
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121219223736534379.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
Comment by sashal on 6/1 @ 7:05 am #
Applebees, hah?
Thanks for confirming my statement…
Comment by syn on 6/1 @ 7:05 am #
“The intersection of the Bush Doctrine and the Petraeus/Kilcullen model is the null set.
How do you get armed social work out of nonintervention and spreading “freedom†a.k.a bushstyle democracy?”
nishizonoshinji, click the link in the above post and you’ll have your answer. I recognize your reading skills might be as bad as your writing skills however I encourage you at least try.
Comment by sashal on 6/1 @ 7:07 am #
Rob, that you live in alternate universe with no bearing on reality I already know.
Did you get your tax refund yet? Or you are over $150000 bracket?
Comment by Pablo on 6/1 @ 7:09 am #
I’ll settle for accurate.
Comment by Salt Lick on 6/1 @ 7:10 am #
Just because you are financially stable doesn’t mean the lot of us feel like you.
In 1992 (another election year) the MSM convinced Americans they were in dire economic straits even though the economy was growing at 3.9%. The day I see even 10% of drivers on the interstate going 60 mph (as I’m doing) and not 80 mph, I might entertain the idea that the economy is sour. Until then, all I see is people in a very rich country making choices on how to spend their disposable income.
Comment by Roboc on 6/1 @ 7:13 am #
Confirming what statement? That you work with consumers daily, and you’re familiar with some vague businesses that aren’t doing well, or that you’ve somehow concluded that the entire economy is in “deep doo-doo”. Just because people won’t pay four plus dollars for a cup of coffee at Starbucks anymore doesn’t mean everything is “going to hell in a handbasket”!
Comment by Pablo on 6/1 @ 7:14 am #
Admittedly, I do not have a pony. How good can things be?
Comment by syn on 6/1 @ 7:18 am #
“Did you get your tax refund yet?”
Sashal, when you received your ‘refund’ check from Big Government did it make you feel like the hapless infantile creature who is receiving an extra allowance from Mommy and Daddy for being an obedient child?
Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/1 @ 7:22 am #
WTF does that have to do with anything?
Comment by sashal on 6/1 @ 7:23 am #
syn, i excuse your ignorance, but that money are actually yours from your taxes you paid.
Second, the question was to Rob about it.
Our family exceeded that border for the tax year of 2007.
My hope is you will go and blow this money in mine business.
Fehrstein?
Comment by syn on 6/1 @ 7:23 am #
“Just because you are financially stable doesn’t mean the lot of us feel like you.”
So how then is the Dem mecury bulb idea to raise taxes on everything, everywhere including carbon taxing the gas from your asshole going to help you feel financially more secure?
Comment by sashal on 6/1 @ 7:24 am #
Rob, when economy is in good shape, you do not receive economic stimulus money.
See how simple that is.
Ready to come back to reality?
Comment by Roboc on 6/1 @ 7:27 am #
sashal argument=non sequitur.
Comment by sashal on 6/1 @ 7:29 am #
Roboc, you naive you, almost none of the businesses doing well.
Capice?
Comment by syn on 6/1 @ 7:30 am #
“syn, i excuse your ignorance, but that money are actually yours from your taxes you paid.”
I didn’t receive a refund even though my small business paid a shitload in payroll tax plus I live in a 20 X 20 sq ft apt and do not own a car because I can’t afford the parking space because the taxes I pay are going to people who don’t ever pay tax.
But hey you’re all about Equality right? So why don’t you pay for my parking space the rest of my life and we’ll call it even.
Comment by Roboc on 6/1 @ 7:34 am #
I’ll take you at your word that your mystery business isn’t doing well.
Comment by syn on 6/1 @ 7:34 am #
“almost none of the businesses doing well.”
They’re well enough to pay a shitload of payroll taxes. Again I ask the question:
So how then is the Dem mercury bulb idea to raise taxes on everything, everywhere including carbon taxing the gas from your asshole going to help you feel financially more secure?
Comment by sashal on 6/1 @ 7:39 am #
syn, I feel your pain, and I excuse your inability to keep conversations on the subject.
What the fuck the democrats’ perceived future actions have to do with the raised topic ?
What the fuck your personal failure and inability to pay for the parking(shame) has to do with the current economical status of our country
Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/1 @ 7:40 am #
Unless it’s an election year, and the politicians are pandering. Then they institute a single-year tax cut, call it a “stimulus”, and my refund’s a bit bigger.
Really? Based on what?
In any case:
The facts, the actual measurements of the economy, say we’re in a slowly growing economy. We haven’t had a single quarter of negative growth, let alone two.
Things can be bad without being a disaster. Learn that and you will learn perspective.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/1 @ 7:45 am #
Perceived? It’s what they’ve fucking promised.
Comment by Pablo on 6/1 @ 7:48 am #
Oh, come on, Rob. You know how they lie.
Comment by serr8d on 6/1 @ 8:24 am #
“almost none of the businesses doing well.â€Â
Mine’s doing well enough to hire two new employees in the last year.
I chose service veterans.
The hippy-dippy liberal types who applied? Out the fucking door.
I’m discriminatingly selective-service that way.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 8:38 am #
two employees at the cut and paste shoppe…jeesh, The Economy is booming. Really! But ‘thor’ needs to check out his fame agrowing at the cut and paste shoppe: your website which wont link here for some reason.
very entertaining btw. I liked the other picaresque Obama-posters you did too.
but what about the thousand independent truck companies that went belly up in one month last month? It’s a good thing that the Republicans didn’t pull up all of the train tracks like they tried to do. (for the independent truck companies they championed…for the oil lobby).
btw, ‘independent contractors’ rarely get unemployment benefits so thus don’t show up in econ. stats.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 8:40 am #
what benefits do you offer?
benefits? like that’s a lost concept in the GenX employer caste. MicroSerfdom perhaps?
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 8:51 am #
roboc, I can’t keep up with every thread being in real life telephone etc. but ’stimulus’ is a good idea: like Keynesian economics. I’d definitely rescind the tax cuts for the “takers”(the investment class that’s done “fantastico!” during the Bush years), give tax cuts for the “makers” (start ups, small business, middle class), and “Education is the key to economic oportunity, so lay off the class warfare.” INVEST in education and infrastructure ala Bill Clinton’s excellent tax increases that funded the huge boom in the mid-90s. Don’t forget they raised taxes and put it in infrastructure and things boomed in the 90s.. and Bush cut taxes and things stagnanted for most people during the 2000s.
Now, here comes the killer: state and local govt’s cutting back after the Fiscal year closes:
state and local govt. (and medicine) were the growth employment centres during the Bush decade… and they’ll be cutting soon.
America? Welcome to the Third World.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 8:56 am #
another link that won’t work here is the NYTimes one The Nation
Think the Economy Is Bad? Wait Till the States Cut Back
By LOUIS UCHITELLE
Published: June 1, 2008
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 8:57 am #
not sure I can’t link it freestanding but while in brackets it works…sorry. a href!!!
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 8:58 am #
tax refunds are bad business…you should always owe taxes….collect the interest yourself.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 6/1 @ 9:08 am #
I know the ‘definition’ might seem like there’s no recession…but what do people feel?
Yes, screw fact and numbers. It’s all about what people “feel”. In particular, it’s about what one hippie tax cheat “feels”.
They should just make you Chairman of the Federal Reserve, dave!
America? Welcome to the Third World.
dave, backward hippies like you have been predicting this for decades. It hasn’t happpened. It’s bullshit.
It’s bullshit which you don’t even believe yourself, or you’d be getting the fuck out.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 9:10 am #
“In 1992 (another election year) the MSM convinced Americans they were in dire economic straits even though the economy was growing at 3.9%.”
it takes a few years to recoup the losses of one bad year. 1990 was pretty bad for especially people in the construction business: I had the only new house going up in June in my metro area. It was astounding. Some tiny li’l house and everybody was calling me for work…..and I’d priced it pretty low so I thought it was funny people thought I had money and then Pres. Bush couldn’t relate to what ordinary people were suffering and was off doing another war for the rich Fucks in KyWAIT…for people who never worked and abused their servants. Bush One, Bush Two…same thing: Rich Fucks inherited everything and never worked for a living. And Arrogant about it. That’s why people remember even if the economy started to grow in ‘92. And Clinton’s tax raises even made the economy better. So don’t give the tired old Argument that Kennedy cut taxes and grew the economy when the guy barely survived a couple of years. Clinton’s economy ran pretty good ’til GW started running it down with his mouth in the early campaign of 2000.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 9:11 am #
you having a conniption or something, dude. Get a hold of yourself.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 9:12 am #
keep putting gas in that SUV, sucker. Maybe Hippies are on the right track. We have more fun with less.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 9:13 am #
tax cheat? you paying your sales tax on your Amazon purchases? You’re all tax cheats. High and Mighty suckr’s
Comment by Pablo on 6/1 @ 9:15 am #
That’s not cheating, dave, that’s the law as it stands, otherwise Amazon would be charging tax. Failing to declare income, as you’ve freely admitted? That’s tax evasion, thief.
Comment by Dan Collins on 6/1 @ 9:16 am #
Well, I’ve lived in Italy, Czech Republic and Mexico for extended periods, and although I think that this is a bit pessimistic, on the whole it’s true.
If you want to spend some time in the bloody third world, go live in Glasgow for a while.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/1 @ 9:17 am #
When did dave establish he was a tax cheat? I’m not doubting it, just curious. The most doctrinaire liberals I’ve ever known have all had the firm belief that “the rich” cheat on their taxes, so they can too.
‘Cause two wrongs make a right, or something.
Comment by Pablo on 6/1 @ 9:19 am #
The babies just come with the scenery…
Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/1 @ 9:20 am #
Ah… crossed comments.
Yep, that’s the usual form, by their bragging — “work under the table”. All the while they demand higher taxes and more government spending and spit on those of us who actually pay what we owe. After all, we’re “greedy” for wanting taxes lowered and spending limited.
Feh.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/1 @ 9:22 am #
Or any US city that’s been run by Democrats for 30 years or more.
Comment by syn on 6/1 @ 9:31 am #
“syn, I feel your pain, and I excuse your inability to keep conversations on the subject.
What the fuck the democrats’ perceived future actions have to do with the raised topic ?”
How about this; I don’t want you to feel my pain I want you to stay out of my life because you’re a fucking cunt and even if you have a dick you’re still a fucking cunt; and I can say this because I am a woman who is sick of the fucking cunts whinning endlessy about their fucking pain all the fucking time.
Now leave me the fuck alone fucking cunt and answer the question:
So how then is the Dem mercury bulb idea to raise taxes on everything, everywhere including carbon taxing the gas from your asshole going to help you feel financially more secure?
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 6/1 @ 9:35 am #
Yep, that’s the usual form, by their bragging  “work under the tableâ€Â.
I suspect that dave hires illegal aliens, as well. I’ll bet he doesn’t provide health insurance or any other benefit.
Comment by B Moe on 6/1 @ 9:39 am #
From the link at 105
It is obvious that in the Middle East there’s a real war raging between the supporters of extremism and totalitarianism and those of democracy and tolerance. The choice before the world is whether it will support one side by doing something, or the other by doing nothing.
That last sentence says it for me: You can’t choose to stay out of this thing, that is picking a side also.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 6/1 @ 9:42 am #
How about it, dave? Are all your subs U.S. citizens or at least green card holders? Are they really subs, or is that just a scam you use to avoid providing any benefits or paying payroll taxes? Do you even carry worker’s comp?
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 9:46 am #
Evans-Pritchard became known for his controversial stories about President Clinton, the 1993 death of Vincent Foster,[2] and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.”"He is the author of The Secret Life of Bill Clinton (1997) which was published by conservative publishing firm Regnery Publishing.[3] In this book, he elaborates on assertions that the Oklahoma City bombing was an FBI sting operation that went horribly wrong, that warnings by an ATF undercover agent were ignored, and that the Justice Department subsequently engaged in a cover-up”
Too bad, Bill didn’t follow up on that one…and do a GW Bush type of coup off of the ‘terrorism’.
whoa, you picked a great journalist, Dan. I know you picked him just to make me into a Goat Herding Hippy. I’ll even drink Bully Hill to that one. LOVE GOAT, ‘07!
syn and cyn…what a sin I can’t keep track of who is who.
spies, you betcha!!! damned passport though costs 100 bucks now….how am I gonna afford being an illegal alien??
Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/1 @ 9:50 am #
WTF? There’s been a coup?
Then why the hell are we wasting our time on the Democrat primary?!
Nobody tells me anything.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 9:58 am #
Petula Clark’s on that link too: who’s she?
Downtown, things will be great, when you’re Downtown
Comment by Dan Collins on 6/1 @ 10:01 am #
That article by Evans-Pritchard discusses what’s in the report, by the right-wing Association of European Chambers of Commerce.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/1 @ 10:04 am #
Doesn’t matter, Dan. Dave’s decided the facts don’t fit his narrative, so that’s it.
Comment by Roboc on 6/1 @ 10:13 am #
First, it’s a stolen election. Now, it’s a coup. They’re running out of excuses! Too bad about separation of church and state, otherwise Divine Intervention would be next.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 10:32 am #
It’s very interesting, Dan. And I am comfortable here in the States despite my Cheese and Whine….just not ’secure’. The Euros have problems it’s true. Nuggets like these:
“EU’s overall employment rate was still stuck at levels attained by the United States in 1978, chiefly due to an incentive structure that discourages women from working and prompts early retirement by those in their fifties.”
(jeesum, if we could be so lucky…women staying home w/ kiddoes, and me in my dottage not looking for work until my late 70s.__) I got my Euro education from Euros on holiday….like the Swiss couple that stayed at my home for 6 weeks on 18 mo.s of unemployment. The French skier chick from the Alps who could go down 35 degree slopes on cross country skis and turn on them and smile back at me real pretty, and describe her exquisite govt. benefits and flying for free due to her bro being an Air France pilot. Or the French doctor-to-be helping me hang sheetrock.. and later having his residency on the Riveria. Jeesh, I shouldn’t talk to the Euros. They smoke too much like Obama does too. Way more than folks here in the US and yet they live longer. At least you traveled, Dan. Good on you, but Americans in general haven’t. And I heard about Glasgow as a young lady here in Vermont got a scholarship there as she’s of Scotch heritage. Pretty amazing the crazy tongue they’ve got there. She said it’s like an incredibly rare language, not printable nor linguistically decipherable. She had a grad degree in German and eventually married a German and prefers doing work there, for Siemens or something such.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 10:39 am #
probably Edinburgh (Edinborough), not Glasgow, me thinks.
“Mr Midgley called on the Prime Minister to put an end to “gold-plating”, alluding to over-zealous enforcement of EU rules that are often skirted or even ignored by other countries – though not by Germany and the Nordic states.”…jeesh, the Nordic states are doing fine, so why not be ‘over-zealous’?
Spain though has had a good run and as has Ireland.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 10:43 am #
That’s not cheating, dave, that’s the law as it stands, otherwise Amazon would be charging tax.
you’re obligated by state law to declare purchases and pay sales tax…but no one does so now the state of New York is sueing amazon.com to force them to collect sales taxes. It’s ahappening as we speak, Amazon’s fighting of course with big lawyers.
Comment by sashal on 6/1 @ 10:46 am #
syn, do you have to be that nasty?
And you are a woman? Do you suck dick with that mouth?
Comment by B Moe on 6/1 @ 10:51 am #
you’re obligated by state law to declare purchases and pay sales tax…
Not for interstate purchases done over the internet. Or the post, last time I checked. Now that internet commerce has grown so much, greedier lefty states like NY can’t keep there hands out of the till. They are suing to change existing law, not enforce it.
Comment by Dan Collins on 6/1 @ 11:00 am #
You know, Dave, one of the reasons that property values, especially near the lake, have gotten so high in Vermont is because NY State raised its income taxes so high that lots of well-heeled New Yorkers decided to move to Vermont, telecommute when possible and fly Jet Blue into The City when necessary. For a lot of them, it’s turned out to be a shorter trip than their previous commute, and not a lot of difference (from their perspective) in terms of costs, all considered.
Comment by sashal on 6/1 @ 11:08 am #
I only ask because i’m not a woman, but I do suck dick with mine.
just a harmless question, syn, ha ha ha!
Comment by Rusty on 6/1 @ 11:11 am #
156
You may be obligated as an individual in the state of NY. If the corporation has no physical presence in that state it has no obligation to pay taxes on purchases by individuals from that state. Commerce clause and all that. You should have studied more in school. Wakipedia is not a learning tool.
Comment by serr8d on 6/1 @ 11:25 am #
To #129, crybaby datadave…“what benefits do you offer?
benefits? like that’s a lost concept in the GenX employer caste. MicroSerfdom perhaps?”
Well, how abut full health care, dental, 401-K and a company car? And the additional benefits of not having a bunch of whiny liberal dopers as co-workers?
We don’t hear many complaints. We haven’t had any turnover since, oh, 1993.
But keep working your lawn-mowing bidness, datadave. There’s always room for grass fuckers.
Comment by RDub on 6/1 @ 11:34 am #
Here’s a question I’ll likely regret but: DDave – what the hell does this:
tax refunds are bad business…you should always owe taxes….collect the interest yourself.
possibly mean? We talking about working as a loan shark here or what?
Comment by guinsPen on 6/1 @ 12:25 pm #
@ #128
It’s a good thing that the Republicans didn’t pull up all of the train tracks like they tried to do.
Thanks, dd! I have Official Guides dating back to 1872, but I don’t recall ever seeing the Republican Railway System. I promise to pay more attention from now on.
Comment by maggie katzen on 6/1 @ 12:25 pm #
Rust, already addressed it @ 161. but to address individuals further, most states require you to declare any purchase you made in another state and pay sales tax on it unless you paid the other state’s sales tax (IOW, SOMEONE will collect sales tax on your purchase). I don’t know of a state that has actually gone after an individual on this, but it is on the books in most states. (I used to have to research this crap for work)
Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/1 @ 2:02 pm #
OK, the person posting crap as nishi in multiple threads is also doing it to sashal. See #160.
I doubt it’s a regular, probably a “griefer” like nishi.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 6/1 @ 2:04 pm #
He’s saying you should underpay on your withholding, then pay what you owe at tax time. You can bank the underpay and earn interest on it.
Perfectly legal, unlike failing to report income.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates - UMBA on 6/1 @ 2:06 pm #
He’s saying you should underpay on your withholding, then pay what you owe at tax time. You can bank the underpay and earn interest on it.
Although you will get a penalty if you underpay too much, so be careful about that.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 4:15 pm #
That maybe true is some cases, Dan. Never heard the local Chamber of Commerce swear though that our VT taxes are so low that we’re bringing in rich New Yorkers. I thought it was the nice look, no billboards, the coolness factor (and skiing) bringing ‘em here…and land prices in Vermont are puny compared to those near NYC. But then CNY is a real deal as far as land. Mostly second home players I am working for these days in Vermont. Taxes, they don’t even care about them except for bragging rights….like one wife of a wall street dude was talking to me from her RangeRover, bragging about the half million tax bill they just paid and she was on her way to her Lake Winnipesaukee lake ‘cottage’ and said they were yearning for either a Lake Champlain site or a Stowe ‘third’ home. And that was a flirt back 9 years ago trying to get me to change my opinion about Bill Clinton’s affairs while she’s carrying on behind her Wall Street husband’s back. He finally followed her phone records and put a stop to her flirtations-affairs. Discretion? not a clue. They like the ‘look’ of Vermont and a few taxes aren’t going to stop them. But the local county taxes in NY are outrageous as they took the Medicaid bill out of the income tax revenue supply column and put much if not most of it on to local county property taxes. My g/f get two property tax bills, one town and one county and a huge part of it is to medicaid….I imagine this the most creative cost shift ever from those who can afford it to those in the middle class. I’ve never heard of medicaid being paid out of local property taxes, Until I saw my g/f’s tax bill. Holy Shit! Clever Regress-tivity. ‘course Vermont has some doozies too…like YOU don’t have to pay for car insurance if you’re rich…..just prove you have liquid assets of about 120K or so. It’s on the books! Be “self-insured” and forget about Geico or Progressive. (I mentioned Catamont’s rich health care premium of only 20 bucks a month if you’re willing to go for a 100K deductible). Very smart move on the part of NY Senate Republicans and wealthy New Yorker Dems. to put Medicaid on local taxpayers bills…so I’d say higher income taxes must be for the excellent roads going to state owned ski resorts like Gore and Whiteface. Land’s cheaper but Property taxes can be higher in NY more even than NH or VT’s already high taxes.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 4:32 pm #
serr whatever in Tennessee…I guess you’re not in the internet biz w/o turnover since ‘93. good for you. Must be a Dinosaur of an old small firm you got there.
grass fuckers? thank god I am not in the petro-laden lawncare racket. If bugspraying “Hammer” Delay was in business these days he might’ve become a Democrat.
Comment by datadave on 6/1 @ 4:33 pm #
employees are a thing of the past….so no quarterly payments. Someone else you thinking of?
Comment by Rusty on 6/1 @ 5:44 pm #
169.
No. Really dave. Nobody gives a shit.
171
That’s just stupid.
Comment by datadave on 6/2 @ 5:33 am #
yeah, Rusty….sure. Do the Math! 169?