House of Eratosthenes

Kind of sums it all up, doesn’t it? And they said Bush was the one who pissed all over the Constitution and ran it through a shredder. He’s got nothing on Chairman Zero.
- cylarz | 03/25/2010 @ 02:41
I might buy “Image of the Decade,” given this century has about 90 years left. Mushroom clouds over Tel Aviv and Tehran might could top this. And you know there may be others but prognostication ain’t my long suit. My hyperbole detector is in fine shape, though.

–Your Friendly Neighborhood Pedant
- bpenni | 03/25/2010 @ 08:12
“Image of the Century” Well, until a better one appears. I have some thoughts on that, but they involve… well let’s just table that for now.

I’ve done my part to make this go viral. Some folks have taken it up and are using it for their avitar!
- HoundOfDoom | 03/25/2010 @ 08:31
Mushroom clouds over Tel Aviv and Tehran might could ~~top~~ happen as a direct result of this.

Gotcha there, pedant. Object inheritance, parent class…events, effects, causes. This is the most frightening aspect of socialized medicine, IMO, that each and every single country that got it going has wholly or mostly abandoned the maintenance of a rugged, ready, formidable, devastating fighting force.

There are no exceptions. And you can be sure we aren’t going to be the first.
- mkfreeberg | 03/25/2010 @ 10:30
Unrelated, but as-per our hot-button debate from a few weeks ago:

Looks like some of you guys may get your wish after all.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/25/calif-voters-decide-legalize-marijuana/?test=latestnews

Rob was right. The battle on this issue is over and we already lost.
- cylarz | 03/25/2010 @ 10:47
…the maintenance of a rugged, ready, formidable, devastating fighting force.

There are no exceptions.

Ummm. Morgan. DISagree.

Respectfully awaiting your rejoinder. There are damned few nations who maintain equal or better armed forces than the United States. Israel is one of ’em. I’d be comfortable if the IDF were in charge of our national security, universal health care and all. Just sayin’.
- bpenni | 03/25/2010 @ 15:13
Oh… and cylarz? re: your link. Looks like ya might have to find find another nigger to keep down. The druggie niggers are about to get respectable. Dang but I bet that hurts,, don’t it? 😉
- bpenni | 03/25/2010 @ 15:16
Their defense is a force to be reckoned with, for sure. But do you know of lots of innovative drugs and treatments on the market developed in Israel?

OK that’s a little bit of a “No True Scotsman” fallacy at work; I said you can’t maintain a fighting force and now I’m shifting my argument a little bit. The point stands that the larger nations like ours…and the UK, and France, and Canada…have had to scale back militarily to keep the albatross afloat. Offering Israel as an exception may be valid, but it kind of misses the point. Kind of like having Rain Man tell you Qantas hasn’t had a plane crash when you’re trying to get to Los Angeles.
- mkfreeberg | 03/25/2010 @ 16:47
Buck, Buck, Buck. Talking out of your ass again, I see. Do you have to wipe after you speak?

As usual, your comments are as offensive as they are wrongheaded. I honestly have no idea A) what Morgan sees in you that’s positive or B) how someone spends an entire career in the military and still winds up with such warped views. Or, C) what in the hell race has to do with any of this.

Do us both a big favor. Don’t address me again.
- cylarz | 03/25/2010 @ 18:10
But do you know of lots of innovative drugs and treatments on the market developed in Israel?

Well, not personally. But The Wiki sure does. See here. Next?

Offering Israel as an exception may be valid, but it kind of misses the point.

How so, M’Friend? You made an absolute statement, I offered a rebuttal. A simple “point taken” mea culpa rather than a rear guard action might have been appropriate. 😉

cylarz: My views, acquired during my service career, reflect tolerance, asshat. The exception would include people such as yourself. I dislike bigots of any stripe and your track record here and elsewhere (remember Daphne’s place? Been back yet?) has convinced me you are one of the most intolerant sorts I’ve ever had the displeasure of encountering. I’ve been assiduously ignoring you in this space up until today, but I couldn’t resist responding to your link, specifically because your narrow worldview is about to get trashed. I’ll resume ignoring you.

Oh… and RACE had nothing to do with my comment. For your illumination, not that I fucking care:

nig·ger
–noun
1. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a. a black person.
b. a member of any dark-skinned people.
2. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.
3. a victim of prejudice similar to that suffered by blacks; a person who is economically, politically, or socially disenfranchised.

You are now schooled. Wear it in good health.
- bpenni | 03/25/2010 @ 21:30
You made an absolute statement, I offered a rebuttal. A simple “point taken” mea culpa rather than a rear guard action might have been appropriate.

You have a mea culpa comin’ to ya…yes, that is the price of making an absolute statement, and I leaped into mine without looking.

Just trying to figure out how much of a mea culpa you’re getting. A whole one is pretty much outta the question, of course. We do have the UK…we have Canada…we have France. No two of them offer universal health care quite the same way. But all three of them are bragging at us that their way is so much better — and meanwhile, their military forces cannot do what ours can do. Haven’t seen any of their hardware make the Exile in Portales Plane Pr0n section lately, that’s fer sure.

Come to think of it — aren’t the liberals constantly lecturing at me, all these years later, that the WTC got hit because of our aid to Israel? And aren’t their detractors coming back with the point that, even if aid to Israel was the hot-button issue, shutting it down is out of the question because it’s badly needed? See, the situation is not that simple. These things slow down your mea…and they whittle it down to size, as well.

Another thing to take into account is that I’m still here in the sunny state. And you know what THAT means…wah, wah, wah, our budget’s a mess, gonna have to cut some more services, but meanwhile out of the services we still get isn’t it just wonderful?? The only good regional news I get out of my radio in the morning is that the freeways will be clear because it’s a “furlough Friday.” Now if California had to maintain a military…how do ya think it’d be doing right now. My point was that this doesn’t work, and obviously it’s a long way from being razed to the ground.

But yes. Absolute statements. They be treacherous. Lesson learned.
- mkfreeberg | 03/26/2010 @ 07:07
Morgan, I love your blog. I really do.

Some of your friends, on the other hand? Not so much.

I can definitely tell you three relevant things here:

1) Words have generally accepted meanings, regardless of what an individual thinks they mean or in some cases, even what the dictionary says. If you don’t want to project those generally accepted meanings, don’t use the words. Find some others that better convey your point. It sucks, I know. That’s life. Get over it and move on. It’s the very reason I do not use the word “niggardly” because even though the dictionary lists “stingy” as a synonym, it’s far too easy to be misunderstood.

2) Anyone who used such hateful language in MY front yard would find himself flying toward the street, with my size fourteen bootprint on his ass. And by “front yard,” I mean “blog.” No way, no how. Certain things are not tolerated in the realm of civilized discourse.

3) The idea that your friend is going to “school” me on anything, strikes me as roughly analogous to a three-year-old teaching me about particle physics. He knows nothing of which he speaks.
- cylarz | 03/26/2010 @ 21:58
Buck does have an unfortunate habit of debating complex subjects by setting traps, watching people walk into them, and swinging the door shut. I don’t know why he does this, honestly. He must realize that to some, there is a residual impression that the primary topic under discussion escaped his attention, after he’s spent significant energy talking about something else. The Israel thing is a classic example of this. Countries maintain fighting forces that address all their military needs OR health care systems that address all their medical needs…eventually, they have to choose one or the other. So Israel’s day of reckoning hasn’t arrived yet. What of it?

Well, a lot of intelligent people do this. The thing immediately under discussion doesn’t suit their fancy, so they get going on something else. Now, I don’t know why he did that with the “N” word; I agree with your Point #2. But it’s obvious, to me, he was in “set a trap” mode. He set one, you walked into it, it worked. Rather a Pyrrhic victory though. Anyone smarter than a rotten vegetable knows, just about the only place you can use a defense like that is back here on the comment pages of some other guy’s blog.

I’m not gonna get in the mode of censoring though. The “real” world offers plenty enough of that environment, that impossible-to-meet “Could Be Construed As” standard, with the bleached skulls of those who fell short of it laying about on the ground. It offers far more of all this than I want. Eratosthenes peeks into the well, he does not dictate whether it is to be full or empty. It is what it is. Besides, if I got into that I’d have to change my position on stories like this one.
- mkfreeberg | 03/27/2010 @ 08:18

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Image of the CenturyWednesday, March 24th, 2010

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Wednesday, March 24th, 2010