Firestarter

Nor do I. The only truly bipartisan quality is incompetence.

Arlington VA, 5 minutes out of DC. No.

Visited it again today. It's nice, but it should have been better.

No one has argued anything so ridiculous in this thread. SJ simply said that gov't intervention would probably be a less effective price control than market forces, which is amply supported by every historical instance I can think of. The Laffer curve predicts that as prices rise usage will decline and tend to approach zero; of course it won't actually reach zero. (Even before prices began to rise traffic congestion was having precisely this effect. In the absence of gov't interference a number of new coping mechanisms have already sprung up, and they're quite effective for the most part.) European prices would theoretically make gas usage decline, but the curve would be levelled off (ie it wouldn't be as steep a drop as it might be elsewhere) by the vast cultural and land mass differences between the United States and Europe. The decline in demand caused by a rise in price would result in a greater relative supply and the price would reach an equilibrium as a result. Gov't intervention would impose artificial price controls based on what would amount to a subsidy of postulated acceptable consumption and the markets would be unable to adjust dynamically. As a result efficiency would be thrown out the window. This is utterly basic econ 101. There are no serious arguments against it. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Your mom.

You don't know what a Laffer curve is, do you Tyler? Quick, Google it! ...idiot.

About fucking time. Electrocute this piece of shit and move on to the next one; God knows there are enough of them still out there.

Crashing through the sky comes a fearful cry Cobra, Cobra! Armies of the night, evil taking flight Cobra, Cobra! Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, panic spreading far and wide Who can turn the tide? Cobra! Retreat! Retreat!

Sorry, she's not hot enough for me to vote for her. Actually she looks barely average. Then again, none of the others are much better. Oh, what the heck, I'll do it... wait, full name, age, email? Nah, I don't think so.

You people are pathetic.

Um... <marks>

u suk at teh itnernet.

It's similar. I went through an SBI (Special Background Investigation), which can take over six months for clearance, and I go through a standard periodic reinvestigation every two years. As Cerebus said, a given clearance level isn't carte blanche to read any and all files - and all levels of clearance are restricted by department at the very least. It depends on your job's PSD (Position Sensitivity Designator), but usually your access is restricted to exactly what you need to do the work and nothing else.

No, but I knew that already.

It's called a doctorate, you illiterate twit. And it's in psychology and military tactics. If you want to randomly flame me rather than taking issue with anything I've actually said, take it to NHB. This isn't the place. Am I clear?

Also, it isn't part of the mainstream culture over here, even if it's part of some subculture I've never heard of. I've lived in several different parts of the United States (East and West Coast, Northeast, South, and Midwest included) and I've never seen a single instance of anything like this. No one brings guns to a celebration - in fact it's against the law in most states to even carry a firearm anywhere where alcohol is being served, as well as in any place of worship.

I know, but honestly, as callous as this sounds, the more people we scare shitless (and hopefully avoid killing) at these ridiculous "celebrations" the better. I remember the exact same thing happened once in Afghanistan a year or so ago; since then I haven't seen any similar stories. With any luck that's because the Afghans realised that firing weapons into the air to celebrate an event, any event at all, is no longer good for their health. (Not that it ever was.) Perhaps after this the Iraqis will have a similarly blinding collective revelation. Hello kids, your culture is stupid. Stop it and play nicely or we'll kill you, thanks.

The last thing we need right now is people firing weapons for trivial reasons, and distracting our soldiers from going after terrorists. Image is important but secondary, and frankly, our image amongst Iraqis hasn't been affected very much by the prison abuse. It won't be affected by this either.

Because insignificance reinforces itself?

Would you like to suggest a better time? I can make a note.

Don't. Fire. Weapons. In. A. War. Zone. It's really not that complicated.

See, that's one thing I could never do. I think I get the majority of my calories from alcohol these days.

Oh absolutely. As you said, as long as you don't overeat you can always make up for going off your diet later. The key is to avoid associating food with emotion - guilt and pleasure are equally dangerous. I never refuse interesting food if I'm at a party, even if I'm watching my weight. I just work it off afterwards.

Fair enough, as long as it isn't seen as the goal of the exercise or the diet. That's when you get into trouble.

True, but while Frasier is a Freudian, I am a Jungian. So there'll be no blaming Mother today. Of course, since self-loathing is a natural consequence of feeling unattractive and unhealthy. I'm not speaking from personal experience here, since the heaviest I've ever been in my life is 130 lbs and I had a pretty darn good opinion of my looks even then, but it's psychologically obvious that any residual self-loathing would be displaced to anyone whose appearance provided triggers for unpleasant memories or emotions. Exactly.

Nope. That's exactly the mindset you have to avoid. I wanted to lose 15 lbs a couple of years ago and I started thinking in terms of "rewards," seeing a dessert on the weekend as something to look forward to after the "punishment" of a week of dieting and exercise. Surprise! A month later I'd gained 5 lbs instead of losing 15. I reassessed my priorities and found other ways to reward myself - a day at the spa, a weekend of horseriding, ridiculously expensive facials, and the completely gratuitous and unprovoked aggravation of various Democrat officials - and I lost all 20 the next month. I've never since thought of indulging myself as a "reward." It isn't. Appetite, like fear, is a slave that longs to be a master. NB. Any mods who think it's funny to edit my posts without my permission, kindly take a flying leap into a trash compactor before you ever even dream of doing it again. I don't find it amusing and I will not tolerate it. You will take your toys somewhere else and you will play with them somewhere else, preferably very far away from me, is that clear?