Firestarter

Thanks Mike. One more thing: if there were a massive and ongoing cover-up and intimidation campaign, that hypothetical GS-14 or 15 Wilson mentions would probably be able to put all his kids through college on the proceeds from the book deals alone, and he'd be able to retire on the countless television appearances if he didn't want to take advantage of the extremely generous whistleblower protection laws to secure his career once and for all. What serious financial threat could there possibly be?

Haven't we been over this already? Hasn't Tyler been made to look like a complete moron on this issue several times? Aren't we sick of hearing about it yet? Since there isn't any new information at this point, why continue to retread old ground? Well, I am. I also happened to work for the CIA at the time under the executive office of Dr Rice, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. (I've been seconded to the USAF since.) And I didn't know that Joe Wilson's wife was one of my co-workers because, frankly, my life doesn't revolve around Wilson and his family. I doubt many people knew and I'm sure far fewer cared. Wilson's claims about the Niger uranium were unimportant and unverified. There was no reason for anyone in the administration to attempt to discredit him or his claims. In fact, the media furore began in earnest only after Novak's column about Wilson's wife was published. So, to paraphrase Reginald Rose, if you buy this silly "smear campaign" story, you have to assume that the administration is unprincipled but smart one moment, and stupid the next, evil and cunning again for all of the two seconds it takes to leak a name, but at the same time so godforsakenly dumb that the possibility that this will focus national attention on a previously trivial news item never occurs to anyone. Neither does the fact that scaring one fairly undistinguished diplomat and trying to invalidate his unsubstantiated claims isn't worth any effort at all. No one realises that such tactics inevitably prove horribly counterproductive. Yet at the same time the administration is spinning an incomprehensibly complex web of lies to establish the presence of WMD in Iraq and crushing all dissent with an iron fist so anyone else with something to say is terrified into silence. Well, that didn't work too well with good old Joe, did it? So why on earth is it working with anyone else? Don't you see how absurd and contradictory all these claims are?

Al Gore and the Internet - original statements, clarifications, and the facts behind the soundbites

Imagine my relief. Yeah, and also, he had a real motive to do the things he did. It wasn't just "I must rule the entire GALAXY!" bullshit - he honestly thought his way was better and his system of government, based on the Emperor's New Order, would ultimately benefit people more than the Rebellion's. Plus, he was respected by his subordinates not only for his strategic and tactical genius but for the way he treated them. Darth Vader was a cardboard cutout who ruled through fear and stupid random killing, but Thrawn was a superlative military commander who inspired loyalty and even devotion - and that loyalty paid off for the Empire. A good example is the far-reaching effect of his decision to promote the ensign who let Luke Skywalker escape from the Chimera tractor beams the second time - when Lando tried the same trick in Spectre of the Past, the Empire had come up with a countermechanism and it didn't work. Thrawn never killed without reason and his opposition to the Rebellion was honourable. That's why I see him as a hero, although technically I suppose he still falls into the "villain" category.

"Her character... transforms into Catwoman... to take on her nefarious boss, played by Sharon Stone." Oh yeah. Halle Berry "taking on" Sharon Stone... I'd give my right arm to see that. Rowr.

Yeah, they're icky.

It's the phonetic spelling of grammar.

Okay, that's pretty nasty. But not as nasty as this.

... Shaddap.

You mean the little threads between the leaves and the cob? Um no, I've never smoked those and I doubt I ever will.

Nope. Where would I find that?

Ah yes, it was the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel.

Screw Sosa and his supersized ego, Prior and Wood are kicking ass and taking names.

Ahhh. That makes much more sense.

I would've thought that Alina would be Kotz if Alina were feeling feminine.

Another vote here for Grand Admiral Thrawn, although I see him as more of an antihero or even just a hero opposed to the regular cast than a villain per se. Regardless, he was fucking magnificent. I was rooting for him to win or return throughout all five of Zahn's books.

On the whole I prefer a la carte because I feel that if I'm going to pay for food someone had better wait on me hand and foot and cater to my every whim, goddamnit. About the only time I can stand buffets is in the morning, and even then only if there are like two or three people at most up there. Also, breakfast dishes tend to be lighter so it's possible for me to sample several without stuffing myself so full I can barely move. I find that Thai or Chinese food tends to work best for this, especially the tiny bits of super-crispy ginger chicken mixed with flat rice noodles and basil leaves that we had once in some hotel a couple of hours outside Bangkok. Can't remember the name, though. I'll look it up later because I'm sure you're all terribly interested and it'll make a huge difference in your lives. You're welcome.

I was asked to look at this thread and determine who was in the right and who was in the wrong, but after half a dozen posts I found that I couldn't care less. All I have to say is that I echo Tyler's sentiments word for word.

Can't remember. Even when I didn't actually post in it I occasionally glanced over the funnier threads.

It wasn't really relevant. <g> But most of cynicalprofit's posts consist of ludicrously funny groups of misspelled and syntactically insane words which simply BEG to be taken out of context. And I've always loved the idea that we should all live like cavemn and we should never have messed around with oil. It's too much like SKBF's vision of Joe Smloe for me to ignore.

But why do you care? I mean, cavemn had no taxes or jobs other then being self sufficient, whats so wrong with that? Surely a decently run world wouldn't need cable television. We'd all live like cavemn. Why do you pay for cable in the first place? Why do you watch any channels at all?

hhhruls made me laugh if only for the way he spelled "Jingus." And his topic titles were short and hilariously to the point: flaym JINGES u suk

Ah fergive you, darlin' chile.

Switched from Blue Ridge to Yachtsman tobacco today. Ridiculously smooth with a slow cool burn, wonderful cherry and oak scent with a bit of orange. I got a small bag of Antietam as well, which I can't wait to try - it's supposed to have been blended with apricot brandy.

I like almost all seafood except crab legs. Crab legs come from king crabs, not crabs, and king crabs are spiders. I refuse to eat spiders.