The New York Times found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from war. In many of those cases, combat trauma and the stress of deployment — along with alcohol abuse, family discord and other attendant problems — appear to have set the stage for a tragedy that was part destruction, part self-destruction.
Three-quarters of these veterans were still in the military at the time of the killing. More than half the killings involved guns, and the rest were stabbings, beatings, strangulations and bathtub drownings. Twenty-five offenders faced murder, manslaughter or homicide charges for fatal car crashes resulting from drunken, reckless or suicidal driving.
About a third of the victims were spouses, girlfriends, children or other relatives, among them 2-year-old Krisiauna Calaira Lewis, whose 20-year-old father slammed her against a wall when he was recuperating in Texas from a bombing near Falluja that blew off his foot and shook up his brain.
A quarter of the victims were fellow service members, including Specialist Richard Davis of the Army, who was stabbed repeatedly and then set ablaze, his body hidden in the woods by fellow soldiers a day after they all returned from Iraq.
And the rest were acquaintances or strangers, among them Noah P. Gamez, 21, who was breaking into a car at a Tucson motel when an Iraq combat veteran, also 21, caught him, shot him dead and then killed himself outside San Diego with one of several guns found in his car.
Quote by TriSec: ATTENTION PEOPLE OF THE WORLD:
Anyone who drives a "penis compensator" in the snow like a FUCKING IDIOT deserves to land upside down in a ditch in flames and die and GO TO HELL!!!
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Quote by TriSec: ATTENTION PEOPLE OF THE WORLD:
Anyone who drives a "penis compensator" in the snow like a FUCKING IDIOT deserves to land upside down in a ditch in flames and die and GO TO HELL!!!
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Quote by velveeta jones: I'll entertain the *masses* whilst you whittle away.............
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Quote by BobR:Quote by TriSec: ATTENTION PEOPLE OF THE WORLD:
Anyone who drives a "penis compensator" in the snow like a FUCKING IDIOT deserves to land upside down in a ditch in flames and die and GO TO HELL!!!
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Hey - the commercials show you can climb mountains and blow through snowbanks with aplomb. A little snow on the road is nothing, right?.... right?....
Quote by TriSec:Quote by BobR:Quote by TriSec: ATTENTION PEOPLE OF THE WORLD:
Anyone who drives a "penis compensator" in the snow like a FUCKING IDIOT deserves to land upside down in a ditch in flames and die and GO TO HELL!!!
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Hey - the commercials show you can climb mountains and blow through snowbanks with aplomb. A little snow on the road is nothing, right?.... right?....
Well, gee...the commercials don't show them tailgating in a whiteout and passing cars on MAIN STREET over the double yellow now, do they?
<-- still steamed
Quote by TriSec: Oh, and of course the ASSHOLE didn't bother to clear off his truck enough so I could see the plate, either.
Quote by velveeta jones: Well, the article I was trying to find is from the Pacific Free Press and it will not load on my computer or my wifes computer! Spook cleansing in process? Anyway it was called: Warrior on Drugs. Posted just two days ago.
Quote by TriSec: Something Dr. Maddow said about our returning vets some months ago has stuck with me all this time...
"The war won't be over until the last tortured vet dies in his sleep 75 years from now..."
Quote by Raine: Heya,I found the article, but it is taking a billion years to load...
Quote by Raine: OH!!!
In case y'all missed it!!!
:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:
:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:
The giants beat the Cowboys!!!!
Quote by TriSec: Oh yes...TriSec was rather happy with the out of town scoreboard yesterday, too! :party:
Quote by TriSec: BCBSNC? Anything I can do to help?
Quote by velveeta jones: Raine, glad you found the article. My wife did end up finding it on Alternet.
Anywho. I just got off the phone with my non-insurance insurance company BCBS. Wish I had recoreded it. Got them to admit that they are just trying to STEAL money from me. Seriously!!! The BCBS rep, was very quiet when I asked her to give me an honest answer and she finally said............."yes".
Oh...........why did I not record this!!
Quote by livingonli: Can we get the weather people to stop the hype? Here in New York a few days ago we would get a foot of snow last night. But then they downgraded it to 5-8 inches then 4-7 inches. While it changed from rain to sleet on my way home. I woke up this morning to find the only snow we got was a coating on the ground while paved surfaces were clear.
Quote by TriSec: Heh. We have the Blizzard of '78 to thank for that.
Forecasters were calling for a minor storm, and instead we got 48 hours of blizzard conditions...hundreds were trapped on Route 128, the city was shut down for a week, and people did indeed run out of bread and milk.
So, ever since, we've been spoon-fed "Bread, Milk, PANIC!!!" and of course no one could find a loaf of bread or a quart of milk in the six-state area this weekend.
Quote by TriSec: Shelagh, I used to have 2 resumes, an old-school "chronological" and a newfangled "skills-based" resume.
Turns out I hated the skills one and have stuck with the old "TriSec's Timeline" for a good long while now. It's still out at Monster, I even get an ocassional nibble, but nothing that I *really* want...
Quote by Raine: I am here for the moment... Going out for a bit this afternoon to buy a replacement remote.
How is the packing going Shelagh?
And how is that thereworking for you mala?
Quote by velveeta jones: Yipes! Resumes? Try doing a resume where you have major "gaps" due to being a homeless alcoholic!! Not a fun one to explain to the HR rep.
:huh:
Quote by livingonli:Quote by velveeta jones: Yipes! Resumes? Try doing a resume where you have major "gaps" due to being a homeless alcoholic!! Not a fun one to explain to the HR rep.
:huh:
That might be where the "skills-based" resume comes handy.
Quote by will in chicago: Paris Hilton seems to be the best argument for keeping the inheritance tax - even though her grandfather did cut her and the other grandkids out of the will by leaving most of it to charity.
Quote by Raine: GOOD NEWS BTW!!!
The comcast guy was wonderful... he gave us a new remote for free! No questions asked.
Actually he apologized becuase it was a reburb! I am happy happy joy joy now!
Quote by Mondobubba: Oops double post there. Raine, Bobber or Tri, fixxity por favor.
Quote by Raine: *cough* Checked my messages!!!
I say... (as I put my pshychic hat on) JOHN McCain???? :P
Quote by starling310:![]()
No connectivity for the first 7 hours of the day!
Quote by starling310: Listening to *static* Stephanie Miller from this morning.
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Hello God. It's me; Starling.
Please let Hillary and Barack continue to eat each other alive so America will get annoyed and vote for John Edwards.
Thank you God.
Quote by Raine:I must say I was thinking this as well. I was really rather disappointed with the show today.Quote by starling310: Listening to *static* Stephanie Miller from this morning.
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Hello God. It's me; Starling.
Please let Hillary and Barack continue to eat each other alive so America will get annoyed and vote for John Edwards.
Thank you God.
IT is even more interesting listening to Randi right now.. She is basiclaly pointing out the 2 VERY major flaws from hill-Obam, and how the drugs and the race flames are being really flamed.
All Edwards really has to do is stay out of the fray, at this point.
Quote by starling310: Why are people saying that the New Hampshire voters got manipulated?
Barring a change when they do the recount, it would seem that they voted for who they wanted. . . how can we say with certainty that they were manipulated? That's a tough case to make.
Quote by livingonli: In the national GOP poll, Rudy has fallen to fourth behind McCain, Huckabee, and Romney.
:banana:
But he is still ahead of the sleepy one . {Fred_Gump}
Quote by Raine:Quote by livingonli: In the national GOP poll, Rudy has fallen to fourth behind McCain, Huckabee, and Romney.
:banana:
But he is still ahead of the sleepy one . {Fred_Gump}
I think Rudy is totally done for...
You know, the interesting thing about his Florida strategy is that becuase Florida moved it's primary date, the GOP cut the delegates in HALF. So instead of him possibly getting the winner take all of 114 delegates, it's only 57 --- which theoretically at 114, would have put him in the lead, he wouldn't have a chance in hell even if he did win.
It fuzzy math that rudy has... :P
Quote by velveeta jones: Oh thank goodness Cate is okay (after being hit by a drunk driver). Another reason to push universal health care, where the driver can go to REHAB.
Quote by Raine:CAN I get an AHHHH-MEN?Quote by velveeta jones: Oh thank goodness Cate is okay (after being hit by a drunk driver). Another reason to push universal health care, where the driver can go to REHAB.
Quote by Raine:Quote by livingonli: In the national GOP poll, Rudy has fallen to fourth behind McCain, Huckabee, and Romney.
:banana:
But he is still ahead of the sleepy one . {Fred_Gump}
I think Rudy is totally done for...
You know, the interesting thing about his Florida strategy is that becuase Florida moved it's primary date, the GOP cut the delegates in HALF. So instead of him possibly getting the winner take all of 114 delegates, it's only 57 --- which theoretically at 114, would have put him in the lead, he wouldn't have a chance in hell even if he did win.
It fuzzy math that rudy has... :P
Quote by Raine: HEya Shelagh.. what do you need to know about WiFi?
Quote by shelaghc:Quote by Raine: HEya Shelagh.. what do you need to know about WiFi?
How can I find out the range of local hotspots? I'm going to be about half a mile away from the closest one to where I'm moving. DSL/Phone won't start up until between 9:00 and Noon of the day after I get there. If I can catch the local wifi, I'll be happier.
Quote by shelaghc:
Quote by livingonli: I'm going to grab a catnap. Make sure I don't oversleep and miss Olbermann.![]()
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Quote by Raine: Should I bother watching the last 12 minutes of *ucker?
Quote by Raine:AHHH...Quote by shelaghc:Quote by Raine: HEya Shelagh.. what do you need to know about WiFi?
How can I find out the range of local hotspots? I'm going to be about half a mile away from the closest one to where I'm moving. DSL/Phone won't start up until between 9:00 and Noon of the day after I get there. If I can catch the local wifi, I'll be happier.
First ... and this is not my area of expertise... but you might be able to piggy back a local area network from your new home.
BUT... I suspect STRONGLY that many places will have the free wiFi. Around here in the Atl, I am seeing independant coffee shops and local watering holes that have the wifi.(pretty much anyplace that wants social gatherings, has WiFi these days... and it is free!! ) If you are actually *in Pittspburgh* (and I suspect you are, I think you will find a lot more places that have the WiFi than you think..
Quote by shelaghc:Quote by Raine:AHHH...Quote by shelaghc:Quote by Raine: HEya Shelagh.. what do you need to know about WiFi?
How can I find out the range of local hotspots? I'm going to be about half a mile away from the closest one to where I'm moving. DSL/Phone won't start up until between 9:00 and Noon of the day after I get there. If I can catch the local wifi, I'll be happier.
First ... and this is not my area of expertise... but you might be able to piggy back a local area network from your new home.
BUT... I suspect STRONGLY that many places will have the free wiFi. Around here in the Atl, I am seeing independant coffee shops and local watering holes that have the wifi.(pretty much anyplace that wants social gatherings, has WiFi these days... and it is free!! ) If you are actually *in Pittspburgh* (and I suspect you are, I think you will find a lot more places that have the WiFi than you think..
That's not quite what I'm looking for. I'm wondering if I can pick up the wifi of a local place from my home. Once I get to the new apartment with the cats, I'll be too tired to go out and about just to pick up a signal and I won't even have dialup to use that first night. Also, my laptop battery is toast so I can't really haul it around anywhere.
Then I have to hang around in the morning until the broadband folks show up to hook up my lines which might not happen until as late as noon or 1:00PM Eastern. If I'm stuck hanging around that long, I'd really like to be able to listen to Steph and just check my email.
Quote by Mondobubba: ZOMG! Omar is living large in a tropical paradise with his boy-toy!
Quote by Raine: Is there a debate tonite? :yawn:
Quote by Raine: MONDO GAVE A SPOILER!!!!!
DO NOT READ HIS QUOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!Quote by Mondobubba: ZOMG! Omar is living large in a tropical paradise with his boy-toy!
Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine: MONDO GAVE A SPOILER!!!!!
DO NOT READ HIS QUOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!Quote by Mondobubba: ZOMG! Omar is living large in a tropical paradise with his boy-toy!
That was not a spoiler a spoiler would be; redacted redacted redacted and then Bunk said f&%k you, Jimmy!
:rofl:
Quote by Raine: heya liv, I see you were able to wake up.
Quote by Raine:touche...Quote by Mondobubba:Quote by Raine: MONDO GAVE A SPOILER!!!!!
DO NOT READ HIS QUOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!Quote by Mondobubba: ZOMG! Omar is living large in a tropical paradise with his boy-toy!
That was not a spoiler a spoiler would be; redacted redacted redacted and then Bunk said f&%k you, Jimmy!
:rofl:
:spew:
:rofl:
Quote by Mondobubba: Keith on Kos! :thud:
Quote by Raine: SLAM! I cannot wait for this last segment to arrive on the internets. KO gave a TOTAL KO to Frank burns.
Quote by starling310: Did the 9-11 hijackers come over the Mexican border?
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Quote by Mondobubba: Does Momma know Keith turns fifty on the 27th
Quote by starling310: Did the 9-11 hijackers come over the Mexican border?
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Quote by starling310: Did the 9-11 hijackers come over the Mexican border?
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Quote by TriSec: Evening, folks.
:kickcan:
More drama at the cubbies this evening. Prolly should have taught the kids how to be white supremacist skinheads instead of homophobes.
At least that's what one parent is accusing another one of, to the point where the white lady had to call the cops last week...and a gang of blacks beat up her kid on the bus. (and remember, these are grade-schoolers.)
Sheesh, I've been at this 20 years, and I can't remember a season filled with so much turmoil.
Quote by Raine: You know what the best thing we could do for national security is? Invest in our infrstrucure and our education system.
IT's natinal security... not the fear fo other countries that we border with. Last time I checked Mexico and Canada were our allies.
F*ckin Fred.
Quote by Raine: You know what the best thing we could do for national security is? Invest in our infrstrucure and our education system.
IT's natinal security... not the fear fo other countries that we border with. Last time I checked Mexico and Canada were our allies.
F*ckin Fred.
Quote by TriSec: Oh, and in other news, we had "Thundersnow" this morning for a brief period during the non-nor'easter event today.
Quote by TriSec: "baby sitters of America" Raine...
99% of the parents "get it". It's that 1% that makes everyone else's life miserable.
When Hillary Clinton's people want to hit you hard, you'll never see it coming... or going. When Obama tries to go after you, you'll know it before he does (i.e., it'll be a bit clumsy and less-than-effective). While I'm divided on Hillary's harsh tactics against Obama in the primaries, that kind of take-no-prisoners politics is exactly what we need, and often lack, in the general election. I'm just not sure I like to see it done against fellow Democrats.
Take the recent spate of subtle, many would say racially-tinged, knocks the Clinton camp has been throwing at Obama. They've talked about Obama "shucking and jiving," about how Martin Luther King was a great man but couldn't have done it without President Johnson, about how the idea of a black man being president is a "fairy tale," and then there's the Clinton folks' penchant for lacing far too many conversations with a veiled reference to Obama's teenage drug use (aka young black male on drugs).
Now, the Clinton people will be the first to tell you that race was NOT what they meant in any of the above instances. And that may be true, though it's a tough stretch. On the shuck and jive thing, it's a phrase used to describe slaves. As for MLK, Hillary basically took the accomplishments of America's most famous black man down a notch because Obama was implicitly comparing himself to King. On the fairy tale thing, I didn't interpret it to be a racial thing, but lots of people did. And finally, the drug thing. It's a great smear in and of itself, since Obama admitted his youthful indiscretion long ago, but there's that added little zing of the public thinking "young black male, drugs." In all of the cases, race is there. Why? Because it hurts Obama in the polls, in my view, every time America remembers that he's a black man rather than a man who, oh yeah, happens to be black.
And there is a difference. Think of it this way. You have friends who are white, black, Asian, gay, and disabled. Do you refer to them - do you THINK of them - as your black friend, your gay friend, your disabled friend? Probably not. Of course you know that each has that particular trait, but it's not how you define them - it's practically an after-thought. The more that Obama's race is an after-thought, the better I suspect he does in the polls (I still think race played a role in New Hampshire). In any case, at the very least, it probably doesn't help Obama with most of the white (and non-black) vote to constantly remind people that he's black.
Oh but it gets better. The way the Clinton campaign has framed these issues, and the debate surrounding them, if Obama engages in a tit-for-tat with Hillary, all he will do is remind people that he's black (by saying "no my campaign is NOT about race" Obama is still talking about race while saying he's not), and he'll be reminding people, or educating them for the first time, that he dallied with drugs as a kid (e.g., "Hillary should stop the personal attacks about my youthful drug use") - it's simply impossible to respond to Clinton's attacks, and denials, without further the discussion about the very topics Obama doesn't want us to talk about.
It's a tactic I used when I launched DearMary.com in early 2004 in order to educate the world about the fact Vice President Cheney has an openly lesbian daughter (while it was known in gay circles for years, the media would generally refuse to mention the fact that Mary was gay). After the site was launched, that all changed. How? Because Mary's defenders in the political world and the media kept saying, publicly and loudly, how awful it was that I was publicly talking about her being a lesbian. I went on TV show after TV show to discuss whether it was okay to launch a Web site talking about the fact that the vice president's daughter was a lesbian. Well, at that point, I'd already won. With every bit of criticism I received, the story was out there even further.
And that's the pickle for Obama. When Hillary criticizes him for injecting race into the campaign (or brings up the drug thing), all Obama can do is take the hit or respond and start talking about race (or drugs), which makes people think about the very issues Obama would rather avoid.