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#201 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Puget Sound
Posts: 11,019
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To survive election season on a skeptics forum, one must understand Hymie-the-Robot.
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#202 |
Nasty Woman
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 66,331
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#203 |
Grammar Resistance Leader
TLA Dictator Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Pattaya, Thailand
Posts: 37,738
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You're describing an incurable situation? It can't be fixed, so let's have them buy worthless tanks and continue to be unable to account for a hundred billion at a time? Rather than fix that, you propose we just throw money at it because they an intransigent bureaucracy?
Sorry, we'll have to agree to disagree. You may be too close to the situation to realize that something other than the trial balance needs to be ameliorated. Your classified evidence is nothing more than anecdotal. If you can't disclose what you know, stop telling us how you know it. I'm bound by NDAs not to tell you how I know what I know, so you'll just have to accept my nearly five decades in logistics, a lot of for certain North American governments, as gospel truth, 'cuz if I was to tell you what I know, I'd have to kill you. ![]() |
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Ha! Foolmewunz has just been added to the list of people who aren't complete idiots. Hokulele It's not that liberals have become less tolerant. It's that conservatives have become more intolerable. |
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#204 |
post-pre-born
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posts: 22,553
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#205 |
Master Poster
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,347
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Not incurable by any means. There are programs that are in use today that have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars. My pressure flapper valves, which used on the Air Force's C-5 has saved the government thousands of dollars and that is just one small example of thousands. DoD personnel can also benefit from identifying fraud, waste and abuse simply are writing a report, but those not in a position to know that are the ones who are claiming the military is basically financially fat. There have been severe cutbacks within the military that have affected military and DoD civilian personnel, which is still in effect today. That is another reason why I am supporting Trump's call to increase military spending even though I did not vote for him. I have said that he is unfit to be president, but in regard to the increase of military spending, I am all for it. Most Military Families Expect to be Hurt by Defense Spending Cuts https://www.debt.com/2016/military-f...spending-cuts/ |
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#206 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Cymru
Posts: 24,177
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Military families expecting to be worse off has little or nothing to do with the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars being wasted by the Pentagon.
You seem unable to grasp the fact that is possible for the military to be adequately funded and for people on the ground to be short of equipment. For example, the UK wasted a fortune developing the Nimrod MRA4 while at the same time forcing UK forces in Afghanistan to use unarmoured "snatch" Land Rovers. If the DOD get another few tens of billions of dollars, there's no guarantee that conditions will improve for servicemen servicewomen and instead the money will be spent on grandiose multi-billion dollar projects that serve only to line the pockets of defence contractors and their shareholders. |
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#207 |
Master Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Istanbul...again
Posts: 2,931
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Well, Macron beat LaPen decisively in France. I wonder if Trumpy will call to congratulate him as quickly as he called Erdoğan a few weeks ago or if he thinks Macron is a "smart cookie," too.
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"... no man wants his obituary to mention a pig." --phiwum “Limp Bizkit did nothing wrong.”- Chalkman |
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#208 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,056
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#209 |
Proud Award Award recipient
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Belgium
Posts: 1,936
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"Congratulations to Emmanuel Macron on his big win today as the next President of France. I look very much forward to working with him!"
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...00169438113793 |
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The method of science is tried and true. It is not perfect, it's just the best we have. And to abandon it, with its skeptical protocols is the pathway to a dark age. -- Carl Sagan |
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#210 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 16,905
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I have a permanent room at the Home for the Chronically Groovy - Floyd from the Muppets |
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#212 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,865
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Not for me. I wrote Trump off looong ago, the first issue being torture very early on in the campaign. I said that numerous times on this forum. That didn't make Hillary the candidate of choice. This election, in the end, had no candidate I could vote for. The neocons infiltrated the Libertarians, and the the Greens just have to much in their core beliefs for me.
The second matter to me, I also wrote, as if the first were not enough, was his assertions about seizing the oil in the Middle East. Well, sure - we haven't been seizing the oil. If we take that as an objective from now on, we're just criminal gangsters. From Trump's own book we know he stakes out some absurd opening position and in the ending "Deal" he negotiates down. Some of his politics can be explained that way. But I oppose all the World Police actions no matter who is president, let alone posing the military as a means of brazenly plundering other nations. In the long run, he's going to regret the cavalier use of the military. That first action in Yemen proved he had too much faith in our special ops people and technology. This missile attack on Syria's airport - while eating Chocolate Cake with the Chinese President: ugh. Letting everyone know what trigger-happy royalty he is. North Korea. Well by all means, it's exciting adding whole new countries to our successes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, etc. I see some of his base worked up over Korea and others behind it. It's obviously a horrific dictatorship and among all police actions it would be about the least objectionable. But how about ending two wars for every new war you start like with Trump's idea on regulations? |
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#213 |
Graduate Poster
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,901
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#214 | |||
Illuminator
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 3,056
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I don't think Donald is looking forward to working with Macron -- not after this, anyway:
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#215 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 3,487
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Yep, but the vast majority would have voted for him anyway - simply due to the 'R' next to his name. They didn't really vote for Trump, they voted for all the things he stood for as a Republican - racism, sexism, bigotry, xenophobia, nepotism, crony capitalism, narcissism - and so far they haven't been disappointed.
Donald Trump Job Approval by Party Identification, 2017
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We don't want good, sound arguments. We want arguments that sound good. |
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#216 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 28,844
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All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power & profit - Thomas Paine |
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#217 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: NY
Posts: 9,329
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#218 |
Proud Award Award recipient
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Belgium
Posts: 1,936
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The method of science is tried and true. It is not perfect, it's just the best we have. And to abandon it, with its skeptical protocols is the pathway to a dark age. -- Carl Sagan |
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#219 |
Graduate Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,739
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That's true, I remember clearly your position rejecting Trump's comments about torture and oil. I still had the impression you'd vote for him. I don't know you personally, so I don't know how much you'd stand on principle, but I've heard from pleeenty of Trump voters who said "I don't really like him, or the x and y things he says, but..."
Based on Trump's track history of staying true to any number of issues, it puzzles me that anyone would be surprised when the rug gets pulled. |
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"come on. Judas is meeting us at midnight with the getaway donkeys" |
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#220 |
Lackey
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: South East, UK
Posts: 80,945
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If only Macron had managed a huge majority like Trump did!
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I wish I knew how to quit you |
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#221 |
Lackey
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: South East, UK
Posts: 80,945
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I wish I knew how to quit you |
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#222 |
Lackey
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: South East, UK
Posts: 80,945
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I wish I knew how to quit you |
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#223 |
Orthogonal Vector
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 42,322
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Now if only we were at war with people who have 40 tanks.
I know we need to spend more on the military than the rest of the planet combined, and then it will still not be enough. And how do you know that the budget increases will do anything to get needed supplies to the people who don't have them and instead be big ticket items to fight theoretical enemies instead of giving our troops the tools they need to fight the enemies we are currently fighting? |
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Sufficiently advanced Woo is indistinguishable from Parody "There shall be no *poofing* in science" Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Force ***** on reasons back" Ben Franklin |
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#224 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Mineral Bluff, GA
Posts: 5,000
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“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that...I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” - President Donald J. Trump, January 20, 2017. "And it's, frankly, disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write. And people should look into it." - President Donald J. Trump, October 11, 2017. |
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#225 |
Graduate Poster
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,901
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I don't know if this would be more appropriate in the US/Canada Trade War thread, but it turns out that members of the White House staff had to call a foreign power in to stop Trump from doing something stupid.
Quote:
I guess he found some intelligent people for his staff after all. |
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#226 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: N.Cal/S.Or
Posts: 6,211
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---------------------- Anything goes in the Goblin hut... anything. "Suggesting spurious explanations isn't relevant to my work." -- WTC Dust. "Both cannot be simultaneously true, and so one may conclude neither is true, and if neither is true, then Apollo is fraudulent." -- Patrick1000. |
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#227 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 28,844
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__________________
All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power & profit - Thomas Paine |
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#228 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 9,790
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Uh oh leftists. Trump is nominating 10 lower court judges!
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017...rsuch-win.html |
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#229 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 3,735
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"When someone asks you if you're a god, you say "YES"!" |
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#230 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Mineral Bluff, GA
Posts: 5,000
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“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that...I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” - President Donald J. Trump, January 20, 2017. "And it's, frankly, disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write. And people should look into it." - President Donald J. Trump, October 11, 2017. |
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#231 |
Fiend God
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: In the details
Posts: 72,392
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Master of the Shining Darkness ![]() ![]() |
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#232 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 9,625
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Trump has the right to nominate judges, though of course McConnell's partisanship is to blame for why there are so many vacancies. The Senate dragged their feet in the last year of Obama's presidency, purposely failing to have votes on many of his nominees in the hopes that they would win the presidency.
It worked. It was a dirty tactic in my book, but it worked. As a result, Trump will leave quite a mark on the judiciary. (I believe I heard about this tactic on Morning Edition or All Things Considered, but am not certain.) |
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#233 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Mineral Bluff, GA
Posts: 5,000
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I personally think if cloning was possible, and we had a Supreme Court composed of 9 Antonin Scalias, this could lead to a dark, dystopian future with both intended and unintended consequences we would all come to regret.
But I also feel if cloning was possible, and we had a Supreme Court composed of 9 Ruth Baden Ginsbergs, this could lead to a dark, dystopian future with both intended and unintended consequences we would all come to regret. What some fail to see it's the balance that makes it work. It's a pendulum that swings left and right, indirectly pushed by the will of the electorate. Unbridled in either direction is not a desireable end state. |
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“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that...I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” - President Donald J. Trump, January 20, 2017. "And it's, frankly, disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write. And people should look into it." - President Donald J. Trump, October 11, 2017. |
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#234 |
Orthogonal Vector
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 42,322
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Sufficiently advanced Woo is indistinguishable from Parody "There shall be no *poofing* in science" Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Force ***** on reasons back" Ben Franklin |
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#235 |
Fiend God
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: In the details
Posts: 72,392
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Master of the Shining Darkness ![]() ![]() |
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#236 |
Orthogonal Vector
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 42,322
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__________________
Sufficiently advanced Woo is indistinguishable from Parody "There shall be no *poofing* in science" Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Force ***** on reasons back" Ben Franklin |
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#237 |
Fiend God
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: In the details
Posts: 72,392
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Master of the Shining Darkness ![]() ![]() |
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#238 |
Orthogonal Vector
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 42,322
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__________________
Sufficiently advanced Woo is indistinguishable from Parody "There shall be no *poofing* in science" Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Force ***** on reasons back" Ben Franklin |
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#239 |
Fiend God
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: In the details
Posts: 72,392
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Master of the Shining Darkness ![]() ![]() |
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#240 |
Orthogonal Vector
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 42,322
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__________________
Sufficiently advanced Woo is indistinguishable from Parody "There shall be no *poofing* in science" Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Force ***** on reasons back" Ben Franklin |
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