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Scorpion & Frog
Author: wickedpam    Date: 07/17/2013 13:04:22

There’s an old fable that been popping up in my mind lately, The Scorpion and the Frog. Like many, I first heard the story as part of Aesop’s Fables in Elementary School. Aesop’s story’s date back to about the 5th or 6th century BCE and are supposed to teach us morals in a mostly fanciful friendly form.
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64 comments (Latest Comment: 07/17/2013 20:47:56 by BobR)

Ask A Vet
Author: Raine    Date: 07/16/2013 12:51:04

Good Morning.

Today is our 4,300th day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing war, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 2,249
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,098

We find this morning's Cost of War passing through:

$ 1, 456, 289, 700, 000 .00
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54 comments (Latest Comment: 07/16/2013 22:09:23 by Raine)

Whither Now? (redux)
Author: BobR    Date: 07/15/2013 12:44:43

Way back in 2007, after 4 years in Iraq, after 6 years of jingoism and bully patriotism, I saw my country on a lazy path towards an authoritarian state where basic human rights would only be a memory. I wrote one of my very first blogs on this site named "Whither Now?". There are some who still believe that the power of the people matter not a whit over the power of the government, even though we have seen some seismic changes due to the decisions made at the polls over the years.

Unfortunately, we as a country have made other choices along the way that have driven us down the easy highway in the direction of a very dark place. The jury decision on Saturday in the Zimmerman case was the last straw. I have to ask once more - whither now America?
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53 comments (Latest Comment: 07/15/2013 21:16:43 by Raine)

More on "The Stupid"
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 07/14/2013 14:41:31

........... Where to begin?

I suppose a disclaimer. No, you have NOT stumbled on an offshoot of "The Onion". This is actual news.

Since Velveeta doesn't even know where to start, let us spin the STUPID-STATE WHEEL OF SUPER-STUPIDITY™
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10 comments (Latest Comment: 07/15/2013 05:26:36 by clintster)

Why Congress is like a colon
Author: TriSec    Date: 07/13/2013 11:29:54

Good Morning.

Some of the more delicate among you may want to read a different blog this weekend. :-)

In any case….I've been pondering some discussions we had earlier this week with one of our members, and I had a passing thought about it.

Back about Monday, our friendly RWLMs excoriated a local brewer because their commercials loosely quoting from the Declaration of Independence somehow managed to omit some wiggly bits about "The Creator". I did indeed shake my head sadly and poured some of their product out. (Into a glass, and then drank it, but I digress.)

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3 comments (Latest Comment: 07/14/2013 03:53:06 by Raine)

Aborting reality.
Author: Raine    Date: 07/12/2013 12:08:57

I have to do a few things this morning so this will be a brief and concise post.
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63 comments (Latest Comment: 07/12/2013 22:03:18 by Raine)

Do We Have the Energy?
Author: BobR    Date: 07/11/2013 12:50:19

In the 2008 presidential campaign, there were certain lines that were clearly drawn. Republicans said they were strong on defense and the Democrats were weak. Republicans said they wanted government out of our lives and the Democrats wanted a "nanny state". Republicans chanted "drill, baby - drill!" to Democratic concerns about the environment.

A strange thing happened on the way to the gas pump, however. President Obama picked up the pursuit of Osama bin Laden that President Bush had abandoned, and was able to successfully remove him from the picture. Republicans - on both a state and national level - have been pushing medieval abortion legislation that puts government in the doctor's office in an unprecedented way.

And - oddly enough - domestic oil production is up.
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62 comments (Latest Comment: 07/11/2013 22:31:40 by livingonli)

Anonarchy: it's here.
Author: Raine    Date: 07/10/2013 15:10:07

Back in December of 2010 I wrote a post titled Anonarchy.
I said a few weeks ago in one of my blogs:
Some may think this information dump is a good thing, for our freedom, for transparency. I can't disagree with that from an idealistic point of view. From a pragmatic point of view, I don't know. I am personally concerned of a bigger clampdown of information. Sometimes there is a right way of going about things and a wrong way -- it doesn't have anything to do with what's legal. It has to do with what is best for our fragile democracy.
and I am feeling more strongly about this statement than ever before.

There are those that are celebrating the acts of Wikileaks. They are celebrating transparency, as an act of true patriotism. Will they celebrate when the government's website is taken down?

It just happened to Sweden.

Knowing they are capable of that, what will they say when they have their bank accounts hacked? Cellphone? How about the nation's power grid? How about when they decide to take down Wall Street, and financial institutions? Is that worth it in the name of revealing the "truth"?

It looks like the answer will soon be forthcoming. THIS is what Julian Assange has wraught. I wonder if the ends justify the means or vice versa.

One thing I do know: it's not going to get better anytime soon. It may not be a country attacking, but this is an attack -- you can be assured that nations will fight back. This is no longer about freedom of speech, this is designed to create insecurity among people as well as governments.

Fasten your seatbelts -- it's gonna be a bumpy ride. Welcome to the world's first cyber war, where we don't really know who is fighting it.

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26 comments (Latest Comment: 07/10/2013 19:17:52 by wickedpam)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 07/09/2013 10:15:30

Good Morning.

Today is our 4,293rd day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing war, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 2,241
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,098

We find this morning's Cost of War passing through:

$ 1, 454, 376, 700, 000 .00


I usually keep a 'clipboard' of links and stories that I'll pick and choose from on any given week. It's the nature of the beast that I always have more saved than what I have space for in any given week. So this week before vacation, I've decided to do a "story dump"....I'll clear out some of the oldest stuff with a minimum of commentary.
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71 comments (Latest Comment: 07/09/2013 23:17:32 by BobR)

Egypt Hanging by a Thread
Author: BobR    Date: 07/08/2013 14:16:40

The worsening situation in Egypt is creating a difficult situation both inside and outside of that country. It's made for strange bedfellows from a U.S. political perspective. It's created almost a civil war situation in Egypt.

The problem is that after last year's ouster of Mubarak, Morsi was democratically elected by a (slim) majority of Egyptians. A year later they have buyer's remorse, and use a non-democratic method to oust him. Those here and abroad that support the democratic process are understandably concerned of the precedent this is setting. Those who distrust the Muslim Brotherhood are supporting his ouster. Those who abhor the suppression of civil rights and the rights of people over government suppression are supporting his ouster. In U.S. political circles, this has led to fractures within typically homogeneous political parties.
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61 comments (Latest Comment: 07/08/2013 21:26:46 by Mondobubba)

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