The President's Speech by Wulfenstar

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

So, what did you guys think?

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 4:42 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

Can they (whomever makes the decisions about this) stop framing it so that Joe B. and Ms. Perky aren't like right there???

"You Lie!" Gee from South Carolina... Not just for that but I thought it was a missed opp for Republicans - imho images of them (liberal media bias perhaps?) sitting on their hands throughout most of it just made them look like children with their hands folded and their backs turned, "not gonna!"

Presidential Gaff: "With details to be determined later..."

Presidential winner: "I'm not going to waste time listening to those who will not help us move forward."

I am getting a little numb to his patterns - wish he'd adopt a more spontaneous manner.

I can only imagine how great our health care could be if both sides worked together. And then I wake up!

Boehner - I swear I saw smoke coming out of his ears.

Hey Wulf, what did you think?

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com Now available on your iPhone

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 5:17 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

I thought he made a lot of good points.

Yes, INSURANCE needs to be reformed. I read somewhere that the denied claim rate was in the 30% range. That is ridiculous. If you pay for insurance, they shouldn't be allowed to deny you.

You should not be denied coverage, or charged an insanely high rate because of a preexisting condition.

You should not be denied coverage, or charged a ridiculous rate, because you are doing it on you own.

However, he lost me completely with mandatory coverage. Its unacceptable for the government to have that much info on me, and to force me to get insurance for just being alive.

The whole car insurance thing? I can still refuse to drive. I can't refuse to breathe.

As to paying for it? Please. I pay too much in taxes as it is, and the whole "it will mostly pay for itself" sounds like a lot of B.S. No government agency has EVER been able to do that.

The "You Lie" outburst? It was already a Dog and Pony show.... he just made himself look foolish. He got heated, and yelled out. While I can understand the compulsion, and applaud passion from our reps,(I've been known to have a few outbursts of my own from time to time) BUT there's a time and place, y'know?

On the whole, I can't believe in it. If they want to oversee the Insurance companies, and make sure they are "playing fair" then I might agree to hearing more.

But as of right now? No way.

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 5:37 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
I thought he made a lot of good points.

Same here - but after seeing enough of these you realize that that's Being Prez 101 - even W. used to make good points.

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
Yes, INSURANCE needs to be reformed. I read somewhere that the denied claim rate was in the 30% range. That is ridiculous. If you pay for insurance, they shouldn't be allowed to deny you.

You should not be denied coverage, or charged an insanely high rate because of a preexisting condition.

You should not be denied coverage, or charged a ridiculous rate, because you are doing it on you own.

Seems obvious don't it? It'll make your blood boil even more if you know any of the poeple that have fallen into those categories. And they really have no one to go to - they're just effed.

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
However, he lost me completely with mandatory coverage. Its unacceptable for the government to have that much info on me, and to force me to get insurance for just being alive.

The whole car insurance thing? I can still refuse to drive. I can't refuse to breathe.

Heh - the Gov knows what's on your ipod Wulf - have no illusions of freedom from that!
Mandatory coverage is to protect tax payers - those most folks consider hard working citizens - from having to pay for those who can't afford insurance and end up in Emergency rooms where it costs even more for tax payers. It's the lesser of 2 evils, and people get health care, which makes a lot of sense. Wait until the numbers come out - no one on either side is going to put up with it if it's rotten.

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
As to paying for it? Please. I pay too much in taxes as it is, and the whole "it will mostly pay for itself" sounds like a lot of B.S. No government agency has EVER been able to do that.

Yeah - no one with a brain believes that one - it MIGHT look good on Dem letterhead but...

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
The "You Lie" outburst? It was already a Dog and Pony show.... he just made himself look foolish. He got heated, and yelled out. While I can understand the compulsion, and applaud passion from our reps,(I've been known to have a few outbursts of my own from time to time) BUT there's a time and place, y'know?

I strongly suggest you check out the Prime Minister Questions half hour on cspan if you want to see how the Brits do it - you'll be surprised.
Prime Minister's Questions airs LIVE Wednesday mornings at 7am ET on C-SPAN2 & reairs on Sunday nights at 9pm ET on C-SPAN.
"Bollocks Sir!"

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
On the whole, I can't believe in it. If they want to oversee the Insurance companies, and make sure they are "playing fair" then I might agree to hearing more.

But as of right now? No way.

They need to do that too.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com Now available on your iPhone

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 7:15 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Didn't watch. I figured it'll be chewed over, shown in bits, rehashed, etc., enough in the next few days, and I think it's kind of a waste anyway. Much as I admire the man's oratory style, and it's sooo nice to hear someone speak like he's got two brain cells to rub together, I think this was a waste of time in the end. So we watched "Robin Hood, Men in Tights" that I picked up at Best Buy for $4.95.

Public option's gone. Not sure that's such a bad thing, given how few it would cover and how it's been made virtually the entire plan in people's minds. If they can get ANYTHING passed, I see it as a beginning; we can build from there.

Definitely want "prior conditions" done away with. Definitely want being dropped for being sick (how insane is that?) done away with. Definitely want caps raised/done away with. Not at ALL happy about the proposed 35% tax; WE'LL end up paying for it through the nose. Don't like mandatory insurance coverage, but if it can be made FEASIBLE, I agree:

Quote:
Mandatory coverage is to protect tax payers - those most folks consider hard working citizens - from having to pay for those who can't afford insurance and end up in Emergency rooms where it costs even more for tax payers. It's the lesser of 2 evils

I hope the House Dems let up on "no public option, no bill"...better half a loaf than none. Hope the Blue Dog assholes come through. Haven't heard yet what Snow thought of it--don't like her "trigger" idea (pretty sure ins. co.s can find a loophole), but she seems to be the only remaining hope.

If it fails, poor Ted will roll in his grave, as will LBJ, and I'll be disgusted with our government, right and left both. The right has become a joke with their outlandish idiocy and focus on just stopping Obama, period. The left is showing itself to be the usual gutless wonder, "snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory".

Quote:
imho images of them (liberal media bias perhaps?) sitting on their hands throughout most of it just made them look like children with their hands folded and their backs turned, "not gonna!"

Along the lines of

? I don't think it's media bias--the only shots I've seen yet show Dems applauding like crazy...and to avoid the other side of the room WOULD be bias! Idjits, all of them. But they DO hold together, which can't be said of the Dems!

Quote:
I can only imagine how great our health care could be if both sides worked together. And then I wake up!

Word.

Quote:
I strongly suggest you check out the Prime Minister Questions half hour on cspan if you want to see how the Brits do it - you'll be surprised.

I've always abhorred that...talk about your dog-and-pony show!!! Besides, as I posted elsewhere, it's different. That's a long-held tradition; here it's just blind hate and currently a disgusting, accepted ploy which displays the deteriorating respect for the office. The one thing I have envied the Brits is their "vote of no confidence" thing; if we had it, Dumbya would have been long gone and we wouldn't be in QUITE the pickle we are now (and no, it wouldn't affect Obama; he's got majorities and the MAJORITY of the American people are still behind him--would be a much bigger majority if the right's tactics weren't so effective). But the outburst? Disgusting, and doubly so in that it shows how far his detractors are being allowed to go. I was appalled.

Quote:
If they want to oversee the Insurance companies, and make sure they are "playing fair" then I might agree to hearing more.

Boy, me too. Don't have much hope of it--sounds from what I've heard that the insurance companies' have had their fingers in the pie so deeply that it'll be more in their favor than otherwise, and I have full faith in them to find enough loopholes to continue as is.

Mostly just a waste of energy and air time. I'm not even sure it cleared up anyone's minds in the populace--damned sure it didn't even penetrate into the Republican's dense brains. No speech has ever helped a bill pass, as all the pundits are saying, and the Republicans have pretty much managed to stop Obama in his tracks on this one (and others).

A pox on both their houses

________________________
Together we are greater than the sum of our parts

I hope nobody minds my using color for my posts...I'm not just enjoying it, I'm finding it very useful in locating where I left off in long posts!

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 7:20 AM

I still say nationalise it.

We the people paid for it, then we the people OWN it.

Sure, some will scream socialism, but fuck man, we PAID for it, it belongs to US, not some goddamn insurance company viper who's nothing but a tollgate demanding tribute in between you and what you've already bought - that's just bullshit.

Look at public highways, they're PUBLIC, anyone can use em, and we pay taxes to keep em in repair, and barring a certain amount of corruption that decent oversight and citizen bitchin keeps to a minimum, it works out pretty well overall - not, yanno, perfect, but it WORKS.

Suppose some private company came round and set up shops demanding a toll at every exit - that'd piss you off, right ?

So fuck em, full nationalisaion, complete with scholarships and grants to folk willing to devote some of their time afterwords to work within the system, and allow private practitioners to offer premium services if they like, with reimbursement up to the cost of such service under the national system.

You want extra, willing to pay extra, more power to you, I know a couple docs, like Corvera, who I WOULD pay extra cause they're that damn good.
Although ironically Corvera mostly does do for poor and low income folk on gov assistance, despite being good enough to have a premium level private practice.

Seriously, we buy it, we OWN it, what's so very wrong with the concept ?

-Frem

It cannot be said enough, those who do not learn from history, are doomed to endlessly repeat it

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 7:23 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

"Seriously, we buy it, we OWN it, what's so very wrong with the concept ?"

Ever done 120 on a highway? We own it, we can do what we want to on it, right? The problem, is those in government would have a problem with that.

lol

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 7:37 AM

Wulfie, you know who sets the speed limits on those, right ?

The state you live in, not the feddies - oh the feddies DID try that shit a while back, artificially low speed limits (55mph?) and threatened to withhold the proper cut of any state that didn't play ball, but in the end that failed, and for much the same reason that prohibition did, nobody much gave a fuck, nor obeyed the limits, all it did was lead to further corruption of police forces by encouraging speed trapping, and even then they couldn't ticket EVERYONE - and it broke that stupid idea to pieces.

Here in MI, the speed limits in many places are actually a little high, but that's ok, cause you got the right hand lane for cruisin, and instead of leaving a construction zone speed limit in place when no work is being done just to provide a speed trap, WE actually pull down the signs when we're not using em, which translates into some extra respect and care when there are workers present, cause if those signs are up we KNOW there's people on site and to be careful.

Collectively, we're VERY much ok with a 70MPH speed limit on most of these highways, and there's some places where legal or not, folks don't go that fast cause it ain't safe to do so.

If you really WANTED to do 120mph, it's not like I'd bitch, just get the hell out of your way and hope for your own safety you came to your senses before you piled up traffic by having a wreck, besides which it adds additional wear and tear and savages your gas mileage.

Me, imma be over in the cruisin lane with the cruise control locked on at 70MPH, one thing about the engine powering that Alero is that because of where the RPM/gearing breakpoint is, it gets DAMN good gas mileage at that speed.

-F

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 7:41 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

My point, Frem, was that its a nice ideal... but even if we "pay" for it thru our taxes (which will be really high) we won't really be in charge of it.

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 7:59 AM

DEADLOCKVICTIM

Quote:
I still say nationalise it.

We the people paid for it, then we the people OWN it.

that's the camp where i pitch my tent...

As far as the speech, I've thought (and still do) that President Obama is one of the most eloquent speakers in memory. Say what you will, the man speaks from the heart - and I always feel that he truly believes in making this country (world) a better place for all humanity - even the boneheaded duffus crowd that would not agree on the time of day with him.

Look, this has to be done - i'm not getting any younger and i have seen way too many horror stories about people dying because of lack of insurance coverage or of companies denying people with insurance because of idiotic policies designed to maximize profits at the expense of the insured.

Let's call this what it is (not what I wanted, but what it will be initially) which is Insurance Reform - it's a start, and hopefully can help ease the burden of people struggling just to get by.

If you believe (like i do) that we have to start doing something about the future of health care in this country - please stand up and be heard - let your representatives know that we need to pass this bill now - and continue to work toward a fair system for all.

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:20 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

"I'm not getting any younger and i have seen way too many horror stories about people dying because of lack of insurance coverage or of companies denying people with insurance because of idiotic policies designed to maximize profits at the expense of the insured."

I agree.

But a point I want to make... and forgive me if my experience is showing...

Some people act like by "fixing" healthcare... they will live forever. I'm sorry, but you won't. We are all going to die, one day.

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:26 AM

Bottom line: Obama is the best President this country's had since I've been of voting age.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:30 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

Maybe.

Reminds me of the movie "X"....

Given the choice between 2 cups of water, both dirty and gross... you will choose the one with less shit floating in it.

Yeah, we havn't had a clean drink of water since... well, forever.

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:32 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

I can't resist

Quote:
let your representatives know that we need to pass this bill now.

One of the nice things about living here is that Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi (well, two out of three) are our reps. We rarely have to tell them what we want, they fight like hell for it anyway. Yeah, the Crazy California Women...but they're usually right on. And all three would have fought the Iraq war if they weren't pressured so severely and didn't know that dissent would be a waste of time.

But when it comes to health insurance, man, they're right there with us. They KNOW what we want, and they're not bought-out by so many special interests that they ignore it. NOR are they the kind of wing nuts I hear from other states--how some of those get elected is beyond me!

Yeah, Frem, I wish to hell more of that "stimulus" had gone to infrastructure...after years of ignoring same (and the last eight in favor of a war), we need it.

Quote:
instead of leaving a construction zone speed limit in place when no work is being done just to provide a speed trap, WE actually pull down the signs when we're not using em, which translates into some extra respect and care when there are workers present, cause if those signs are up we KNOW there's people on site and to be careful.

We do, too, with the same result. Unfortunately, I wish it were the way you say about speed limits here (and in LaLaLand). Instead, we've got nutcases doing 95 in the fast lane, and tailgating, honking, road-raging anyone who holds them up by going any slower. Speed limits are a joke around here, and not enough cops enforcing them. Me, I'm like you; only I set mine for 55 for gas reasons.

Means I have to drive in the second slowest lane (to avoid cars coming on the freeway) and get the nutcases pissed off sometimes, but at least out here most freeways are four lanes each way, so it's not too bad. But gawd forbid I should go ANYWHERE at rush hour...Steve Marin's "LA Story" was far too close to the truth with the bit about shooters on the freeways!

Quote:
As far as the speech, I've thought (and still do) that President Obama is one of the most eloquent speakers in memory. Say what you will, the man speaks from the heart - and I always feel that he truly believes in making this country (world) a better place for all humanity - even the boneheaded duffus crowd that would not agree on the time of day with him.

Me, too. It was such a joy to contemplate not having to change the dial or plop in a DVD whenever our Idiot-in-Chief was on...but I've been so disappointed by now that I know, whatever he SAYS, it'll only be an ideal, won't come to pass for the most part. Still a pleasure when I'm up to it, tho'. And i would add, besides the boneheaded duffuses, those in his administration who convince him he can't do what he wants, but has to compromise, compromise, compromise to get ANYTHING achieved!

Quote:
Look, this has to be done - i'm not getting any younger and i have seen way too many horror stories about people dying because of lack of insurance coverage or of companies denying people with insurance because of idiotic policies designed to maximize profits at the expense of the insured.

I agree. Unfortunately, when young we have that "invincibility" factor going for us, and have no concept what might happen when we get older, so we need someone else to take our money and keep it safe for when that happens...and I vote for the government. Screwed-up as it is, it's better than the blood-sucking vampire insurance companies who'll do their best to leave me in the lurch even when that time comes!

________________________
Together we are greater than the sum of our parts

I hope nobody minds my using color for my posts...I'm not just enjoying it, I'm finding it very useful in locating where I left off in long posts!

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 10:10 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Well, at least the guy who burst out "You're lying" has had the decency to apologize, and Obama has accepted it. That's better than nothing...sigh...

What I'm hearing is that illegal aliens will not be able to get government assistance to buy into the proposed healthcare...on the other hand, they can buy it if they can afford it. Well, if it keeps at least some of them from using the emergency room as their primary care, I don't disagree with that.

But the "you're lying" bit was shameful...Obama said there was no provision under the bill to GIVE illegal aliens healthcare--or so I've heard--which is on lie. The government won't "give" it to them.

Nitpicking, I realize, but not an excuse for that outburst, so I'm glad he's apologized. Maybe that will keep others from doing such things...or not.

________________________
Together we are greater than the sum of our parts

I hope nobody minds my using color for my posts...I'm not just enjoying it, I'm finding it very useful in locating where I left off in long posts!

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 10:17 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

So Nicki, are you for illegals being given healthcare? Licenses? Homes they can't afford?

Hell, some days I WISH I was illegal. No taxes... what I make, I keep.

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 10:57 AM

BYTEMITE

Quote:
Mandatory coverage is to protect tax payers - those most folks consider hard working citizens - from having to pay for those who can't afford insurance and end up in Emergency rooms where it costs even more for tax payers. It's the lesser of 2 evils, and people get health care, which makes a lot of sense. Wait until the numbers come out - no one on either side is going to put up with it if it's rotten.

Yes, we do need to wait on the numbers. If the numbers come out and everything is hunky dory, I'll breathe a sigh of relief and score one for Obama. I like pretty much everything else in the proposed bill.

But the mandatory insurance thing has got me uneasy as well. That was a measure that plainly wasn't inserted by either side of the debate, and not enough people are looking at it warily.

The idea that this measure will prevent us all from having to pay for people who can't pay for health insurance may be the spirit of the law, but I don't think it'll be the result.

Since when have the poor ever had time for filling out forms for exemption? It's laughable. We're still going to be paying for them anyway, because it's the poorest people in America who work the most dangerous jobs.

Really, I think this measure is just going to target the poor and middle class who won't be exempt as another way to make sure they have even less money to keep their lives in order and their children cared for. But hey, who doesn't like working longer hours, huh?

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 11:15 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

(It's "Niki", sweets--after years of people writing Nicky, Vicky, Micky, Nikki, even Nike (!), I'm in the habit of reminding people...don't mind me...)

Well, you're probably asking the wrong gal. Healthcare? Yes; it's more expensive, especially here in CA, to pay for them using Emergency Rooms or the cost of the clinics we have which don't ask about status (I know, 'cuz Jo went to one the entire time she was here, even tho' she became "legal" after two years) they use now.

Licenses? Yes, at least they'd have to pass a test, rather than be out on the road with no idea what the laws are.

Homes they can't afford? Wasn't aware there were any illegal aliens who bought homes; if so, sure, it's better than them camping out on the local marsh, which some of them do now.

Aside from which, I don't think they're "GIVEN" any of the latter two. They pay just as we do. As to healthcare, they're "given" it now; if they were part of the healtcare reform, they'd pay for it, and not go to emergency rooms, which cost ME.

So you wish you were illegal, eh? I wish you could spend a while as illegal. Jo was for the first two years here, because she overstayed her visa. Even tho' she was from England, and I tried to convince her that Brit citizens were the LAST people ICE was interested in, she was terrified nonetheless. Wouldn't drive, afraid she'd get pulled over and deported, couldn't get a job (not that she could have or would have anyway, given it was Jo), couldn't vote--so many "couldn't"s and so much fear. At one point she was afraid to leave the HOUSE for months, sure she was going to get picked up and deported.

I wouldn't want to be illgal for all the saved taxes in the world. Illegal makes for sweatshops, it makes for the guys who hang out on about ten miles of sidewalks here in San Rafael in the heat and cold hoping for someone who has a job for them, manual labor requiring no proof of citizenship.

You only see the "no taxes" side of it; I invite you to think about all the rights and privileges illegals DON'T enjoy that you never even think about, and what a hard life it is for most of them just to get by here.

If they come here, live here, work at whatever shit jobs they can and have kids, then get caught--they go home, the kids stay. Think about that. They lose EVERYTHING, whatever few things they worked to attain, and go home with nothing.

I'm not in favor of illegal immigration at ALL, but I do recognize they're humans and have it a helluvalot worse than I do. They're people to me, and I can try to put myself in their place; it's not a glamorous life, not even a good life for the most part.

Byte,

Quote:
Really, I think this measure is just going to target the poor and middle class who won't be exempt as another way to

...I'd say "increase the insurance companies' profits, since without a public option, we'll all be stuck with one insurance company or another"...

________________________
Together we are greater than the sum of our parts

I hope nobody minds my using color for my posts...I'm not just enjoying it, I'm finding it very useful in locating where I left off in long posts!

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 1:43 PM

Quote:
Nike (!)

I like that actually, it fits.
(bad baaad pun there!)

Seriously tho, greek goddess of victory, and swift with a shoe up someones behind too, works for me that way - but what especially made me think it fit so well was a story from the David Weber book BOLO! set in the Keith Laumer Bolo universe.

That story is "Miles to Go", and the Bolo XXIII/B-0075-NKE "Nike" quite reminds me of you in personality, oh so very much.
http://www.webscription.net/p-41-bolo.aspx
The "sample chapters" link on that page will give you the first eight, and I own the book, of course.

-F

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 1:54 PM

BYTEMITE

Quote:
...I'd say "increase the insurance companies' profits, since without a public option, we'll all be stuck with one insurance company or another"...

Probably true, because I've thought for a long while that the public option is probably going to be sabotaged.

That, plus the other, is why this mandate is scary, and why I suspect it was something suggested by the insurance companies (or worse).

It's what I've been writing in the letters I've been sending to Senators: "No public option + mandate = fail."

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 3:30 PM

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
"Seriously, we buy it, we OWN it, what's so very wrong with the concept ?"

Ever done 120 on a highway? We own it, we can do what we want to on it, right? The problem, is those in government would have a problem with that.

lol

As a matter of fact, yes. 137mph, indicated. Legally. Montana has - or HAD, as in past tense - a daytime speed limit of "reasonable and prudent". It was basically left to an officer's discretion whether someone was acting within those reasonable and prudent limitations. So I showed 137mph, and at that speed, I saw a car pull out in front of me, marked the spot on the road and checked it against my odometer. When I got to that spot, it was 2 miles from where I'd been when the guy pulled out. So yes, I was completely legal in going that fast, and no, I wasn't doing anything unsafe. Had my wife and dog in the car at the time, too. :)

Oddly, the highest limits in Texas are 80mph, and those are only in a few areas in west Texas. Out there, they really SHOULD be higher, because there's nothing to see but long, long, straight roads.

Mike

"It was already blue when we got here!"

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Thursday, September 10, 2009 4:12 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
Montana has - or HAD, as in past tense - a daytime speed limit of "reasonable and prudent". It was basically left to an officer's discretion whether someone was acting within those reasonable and prudent limitations.

So, in other words, a human being was left to judge the "prudence" of another.
Welcome to Sherwood Forest.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Friday, September 11, 2009 4:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
So Nicki, are you for illegals being given healthcare? Licenses? Homes they can't afford?

Hell, some days I WISH I was illegal. No taxes... what I make, I keep.

You can do that, you know. Just burn all your documents, and live like an illegal. It's not like you actually have to swim across the Rio Grande to be "illegal" - you just have to not have the right documents to live and work here. You should try it.

Also, can you cite for me ANY instances of an "illegal" being "given homes they can't afford"? As far as giving mortgages to illegals, isn't that already illegal? Aren't you blaming the government for something you're alleging has been done by the private lending industry? If anything, you seem to be arguing for MORE government control, to make sure this kind of thing ISN'T done in the interest of higher profits.

Mike

"It was already blue when we got here!"

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Friday, September 11, 2009 6:34 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Frem, are you speaking of MOI???

Quote:
Controlled by their tireless electronic brains which were programmed to admit no possibility of defeat, the gigantic robot tanks known as Bolos were almost indestructible, and nearly unstoppable.

I am in DEEP

if that's the case! I don't think I dare ask where you see the similarities; I might not like the answer!

As to the shoe, nope, doesn't fit me at all. I DESPISE shoes, and clothes only slightly less. Which is why I'm currently suffering, hobbling around on one foot because, moving one of my upside-down tomato plants two days ago, I stepped on a nice, rusty you-know-what! Jim says my feet are like those of an Indian, and he's not far wrong, so it didn't get me as bad as it would one of you lilly-livered, pink-soled types (well, "lilly-livered" doesn't really fit, for YOU anyway!). But it sure hoit.

Actually, the description sounds very interesting--I haven't tried a new sci-fi author in far too long...think I'll run (well,

) down to Borders and see if they have him (internet takes too long!). Hmmm...thanx for the idea.

Yeah, Byte, I've heard a few pundits remarking on that...it's a conundrum. I happen to think anything's better than nothing, 'cuz it's a first step and makes it easier to modify from there, but if it turns out the whole thing only benefits the insurance companies, I'm gonna be one verrrry pissed puppy. Hmmmm, in which case, if only I WAS a "Bolo"... or at least could legally

Mike: You only beat me by a bit. When I was a kid, they built a new freeway up in the hills (which still isn't used as much as the horrific 101 down in the valley). Literally NOBODY used it for quite a while. So I took daddy's Mercedes (no, we couldn't afford one, we bought it from the factory on our way home from Afghanistan and had it shipped to NY on Pan Am's nickle, and dad drove it to CA) and got it up to 120 before I chickened out. Quite an experience!! Now, the idjits who fly by me at 90 scare the living you-know-what (see above) out of me!

The idea of "reasonable and prudent" does the same, these days, for exactly the reason Chris mentioned!

I heard somewhere on TV that in some parts of France you can drive and ridiculous speeds even now, too, tho' I forget the details. Typical French! (Hey, I may be half nauralized-citizen French, but it doesn't mean I have to LIKE them!

)

And yeah Mike, I kinda thought "giving" them homes was illegal--as in selling them mortgages. Thanx for clearing that up. Also that it was private lending industry, which hadn't occurred to me.

(Sorry, just got up and I'm in an emoticon kind of a mood...you hadn't noticed, I'm sure

. Havent had enough

to be fully conscious yet.)

________________________
Together we are greater than the sum of our parts

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Friday, September 11, 2009 6:43 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

Yeah its illegal... yeah, yeah, yeah. That was one of my shot-from-the-hip comments..

and we ALL know that making something illegal stops the action right then and there.

(whistling to myself)

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Friday, September 11, 2009 6:47 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

I was talking more about the ones who have a green card, work at McDonalds, get a mortgage for 500 grand, pile 8 families in a 3 bedroom apartment...

That just happened down the street from me in case you were wondering.

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Friday, September 11, 2009 9:03 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:

I liked "Rambo" too.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Friday, September 11, 2009 9:44 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

So did I.

Punisher: War Zone was pretty damn good too.

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Friday, September 11, 2009 10:35 AM

HERO

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
So, what did you guys think?

YOU LIE! (Shame on Wilson, but I may have yelled the same thing at my TV.

)

Didn't get much else out of it. Obama, Health Care, blah, blah, illegals, blah, blah, massive beauracracy and crushing debt that completely fails to meet its stated goal while destroying the present system, and so on.

Liked his tie.

H

"Hero. I have come to respect you"- Chrisisall, 2009.

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Friday, September 11, 2009 10:50 AM

Quote:
Frem, are you speaking of MOI???

Yes.

While most Bolos are indeed somewhat hardcase if not actively bloodthirsty in personality, Nike had a gentle, HUMAN quality about her that made her in every way superior even to models produced well over a hundred years later.
(and she does remind me of you, in personality)
That very humanity made her a PERSON, regardless of her physical form, rather than "just" a machine of war.

Both in-universe context and standing on it's own, a wonderful story - and if you cannot find it elsewhere, you can have Baen e-mail it to you as an E-book in any format you like (I prefer RTF for it's compatibility with anything/everything), which takes about 30 seconds from purchase.

-F

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Friday, September 11, 2009 11:21 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Nah, I'm old fashioned, I like paper between my fingers. 'Sides, I can sit in my recliner to read; sitting at the computer is more painful. Also I stepped on a rusty nail day before yesterday; my soles are like those of an Indian (so hubby says) so it didn't go in as far as it might have, but it went in far enough that it HURTS, so sitting with feet up is a goal presently!

So, okay, curiosity killed the cat; never did me no good either. What is it about her/me that you find similar? I'm gonna HAVE to read this now, you've piqued the damned thing!

________________________
Together we are greater than the sum of our parts

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Friday, September 11, 2009 11:26 AM

http://youtu.be/VUnGTXRxGHg

Hell, Nicki... be careful what you ask for.

Not saying Frem is wrong, but I would be curious what the devil has to say about me too.

lol

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Friday, September 11, 2009 11:30 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

It's "Niki"...or are you from another Firefly website which refuses to use my real name?

________________________
Together we are greater than the sum of our parts

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Friday, September 11, 2009 3:34 PM

Quote:
Health Care, blah, blah, illegals, blah, blah, massive beauracracy and crushing debt that completely fails to meet its stated goal while destroying the present system, and so on.

"Hero", were you watching one of your old Bush tapes again?

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Friday, September 11, 2009 4:06 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
"Hero", were you watching one of your old Bush tapes again?

Hero hates to be wrong- it's in his nature as a Law-dude. Forgive him. There are only the guilty & the innocent.
Well, like, not so many of the innocent.

Original political sin, & all that.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Friday, September 11, 2009 4:35 PM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!

What president? Illegal Alien-in-Chief?

Immigration lawyer with CIA wife calls Hussein Obama Soetoro a liar
www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/10/obama.heckled.speech/index.html

Imagine if the entire Congress threw their shoes...

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Friday, September 11, 2009 4:46 PM

The laughing Chrisisall

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Friday, September 11, 2009 7:11 PM

Quote:
Nah, I'm old fashioned, I like paper between my fingers.

Me too, but I couldn't find it in print anywhere.

Quote:
So, okay, curiosity killed the cat; never did me no good either. What is it about her/me that you find similar? I'm gonna HAVE to read this now, you've piqued the damned thing!

Careful what you wish for - twas this passage that did it.

Nike was moving at barely twenty kph, far too slow a speed to require his couch's independent shock absorbers or crash frame, but he felt the gentle undulation of her suspension and grinned as he cocked the couch back in its gimbals. If anyone asked (not that they were likely to), he could justify his actions easily enough. Unit Zero-Zero-Seven-Five NKE had been on secondary power from the depot's systems for eight decades. A test of its running gear and fusion plants was long overdue, and if he had other motives of his own, those were his business, not Psych Ops'!
Another huge tree toppled, and, as it fell, one of the large, scaled, lizard cats, the most feared predators of Santa Cruz, leapt suddenly into sight. It crouched before them, staring in disbelief at the enormous intruder into its domain . . . then screamed its challenge and charged the moving mountain of alloy.
Merrit couldn't believe it. A lizard cat was four sinuous meters of vicious fighting power, the absolute ruler of Santa Cruz's jungles, but surely not even one of them could think it could stop a Bolo! Yet the cat kept coming. He opened his mouth, but Nike halted abruptly on her own, before he could get the order out. The main fire control screen was slaved to her forward optical head, and Merrit frowned as it swept past the lizard cat now ripping futilely at one of her stopped treads with eight-centimeter claws. Ranging bars flickered, closing in on something in the center of the display, and he inhaled in surprise as he realized what that something was.
Four scaled shapes, far smaller than the monster trying to savage Nike, lay revealed where the roots of the falling tree had torn out the side of a subterranean den. They were almost as large as Merrit himself, perhaps, yet that was tiny compared to a mature lizard cat, and they turned blind, terrified eyes towards the snarling fury of their dam.
The display focused on them for a moment, and then Nike moved slowly backward. The lizard cat tried to fling itself on the moving tread, only to tumble backward with a squall of pain as the Bolo brought up her kinetic interdiction battle screen. She must have it on its lowest possible power setting, since it hadn't splattered the cat all over the jungle, but it was sufficient to throw the scaly mother safely away from her treads.
The lizard cat heaved herself groggily to her feet, swaying for balance, then howled in victory as the threat to her young gave ground. Nike retreated a full hundred meters, then pivoted to her left once more to circle wide, and Merrit shook his head with a wondering smile. Any other Bolo would simply have kept going. Even if it had realized the den lay in its path, that wouldn't have mattered to it. But no other Bolo he'd ever served with would even have thought to wonder why the cat had attacked in the first place, much less acted to preserve both mother and children.
The Bolo started forward once more, skirting the den, and he patted the couch arm.
"Nice move, Nike, but how'd you guess? I just thought the critter was out of its mind."
"I have not previously personally encountered a lizard cat," Nike replied calmly, "but the depot's computers are tied into the planetary data net. I have thus been able to amass considerable data on Santa Cruzan life forms, yet none of the records available to me suggested a reason for a lizard cat to attack me. I am neither edible nor small enough for it to hope to kill me; as such, it could not regard me as prey, and lizard cats are less territorial than most large predators. They are also noted for their intelligence, and, faced with a foe of my size and power, the only intelligent choice would have been for the creature to flee, yet it did not. Thus the only logical basis for its actions was that it perceived me as a threat it could not evade, yet the lizard cat itself manifestly could have evaded me. That suggested a protective reaction on its part, not one of pure aggression, and that, in turn, suggested investigation to determine the nature of that which it sought to protect."
Merrit shook his head, eyes shining as he listened to the explanation no other Bolo would have been capable of making.
"I follow your logic," he said, "but why stop?"
"Your tone suggests what Major Stavrakas called 'a trick question,' Commander. Are you, in fact, seeking to test me?"
"I suppose I am, but the question still stands. Why didn't you just keep going?"
"There was no need to do so, Commander. No time parameter has been set for this exercise, and avoiding the creature's den presents no inherent difficulty."
"That's an explanation of the consequences, Nike. Why did you even consider not continuing straight forward?"
He watched an auxiliary display as the mother lizard cat, still snarling after the threat to her cubs, retreated into her half-ruined den, and Nike moved smoothly along her way for perhaps five seconds before she replied.
"I did not wish to, Commander. There was no need to destroy that creature or her young, and I did not desire to do so. It would have been . . . wrong."
"Compassion, Nike? For an animal?"
There was another moment of silence, and when the Bolo spoke once more, it was not in direct answer.

"Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!"

"What was that?" Merrit wondered aloud.
"A poem, Commander. More precisely, the first verse of the poem 'To a Mouse,' by Robert Burns, a poet of Old Earth."
"Poetry, Nike?" Merrit stared at the command console in disbelief, and the speaker made a small, soft sound that could only be called a laugh.
"Indeed, Commander. Major Stavrakas was a great devotee of humanity's pre-space poets. My earliest memory here on Santa Cruz is of her reading Homer to me."
"She read poetry to you? She didn't just feed it into your memory?"
"She did that, as well, after I requested her to do so, yet I believe she was correct not to do so immediately. It was her belief that poetry is a social as well as a creative art, a mode of communication which distills the critical essence of the author's emotions and meaning and makes them transferable to another. As such, it reaches its fullest potential only when shared, knowingly and consciously. Indeed, I believe it is the act of sharing that makes poetry what Major Stavrakas called a 'soul transfusion,' and it was her hope that sharing it with me would complete the task of enabling the emotion aspects of my Personality Center."
"And did it?" Merrit asked very softly.
"I am not certain. I have attempted to compute the probability that my 'emotions' and those of a human are, indeed, comparable, yet I have been unable to do so. My evaluations lack critical data, in that I do not know if I have, in fact, what humans call a 'soul,' Commander. But if I do, then poetry speaks directly to it."

-F

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Friday, September 11, 2009 7:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
"Hero", were you watching one of your old Bush tapes again?
Hero hates to be wrong- it's in his nature as a Law-dude. Forgive him. There are only the guilty & the innocent.
Well, like, not so many of the innocent.
Original political sin, & all that.

The laughing Chrisisall

I don't know why he hates being wrong - he's had so damn much practice at it! "Hero" should change his screen name to "SoWrong4SoLong".

Mike

"It was already blue when we got here!"

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Sunday, September 13, 2009 4:19 AM

I bet Hero looks nothing like Jet Li.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Sunday, September 13, 2009 6:04 AM

DREAMTROVE

Chris

lol. I made fun of Hero earlier for naming himself after a commie propaganda film

I'm taking a day off so I'm going to comment on a couple things:

John. So what? I mean sure, the democrats are whining, but I support the president here: He intends to lie about healthcare for illegal immigrants, and then give healthcare to illegal immigrants. But isn't that the right thing to do?

I mean consider this:

1. If Obama supports fed$ to help aliens, he'll fail. bill must go on, so lie. (oh, anyone who wants to nitpick this go ahead, obama admitted to lying about something on the campaign trail, and kudos to him: presidents lie their asses off, it's part of the job. If obama had held to everything he said he would do on the cammpaign trail, it would be a disaster.)

2. Consider a mexican family living and working in the US because there is no work in Mexico. they work unofficially, are paid under the table, and don't pay taxes (but at these wages, they wouldn't anyway, if Reagan's rules were still in place, thank you mr. clinton.)

3. Mexican worker gets injured on the job, and isn't covered because officially, he's not working. He has to be rushed to the hospital, and then What? is handed a bill equivalent to 20 years labor? what is this a prison state?

No. He should get health insurance. I don't care if he's documented or not, he's an american. If he is here undocumented, it's not to mooch off of welfare, because he would have to be documented to do that, he's here to do work. If you're working you're contributing to the productivity of america, and that's a damn site better than more than 1/2 of natural born americans are doing.

So hats off to the illegal immigrant, who has avoided the radar of big govt, and contributes to his new country anyway, and does an honest days work. And if he needs it, yeah, sure, he should have health care, not just because he's earned it, but because he's an american.

And yeah, sure, Obama understands that, and I hope he agrees, but he knows that it would be political suicide to say so.

Having dealt a fair amount in business I can say that I've met no more hard working segment of the population than mexican immigrants.

So, okay, Addison Graves Wilson is out of line, if he blurts out what he really believes, and it's just bad protocol, and the GOP is angry as hell at him.

But I respectfully disagree with the congressman's core beliefs. Here's just a few:

1.Slavery was a benign institution to help blacks
2.The south should secede from the union (okay, anyone might go along with that one

)
3.The confederate battleflag should fly over the state capitals of southern states
4.People who think the US supplied Iraq with WMDs hate america
5.Strom Thurmonds black daughter could not be his daughter because she was black. A possition that baffled Thurmond himself.

Here's one position I do agree with him on:

This "Joe" actually named "Addison" on our Earth, supported a bill that would use federal funds to supply medications to illegal immigrants in 2003.

Rep. Wilson disagrees with Rep. Wilson's position on that measure on which point I respectfully disagree and am forced to agree with Wilson.

I hope that clears things up.

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Sunday, September 13, 2009 9:13 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Oh, well spoken, DT!

--my opinion exactly, and exactly what I believe.

Okay, Frem, now you've got me; curiosity at full pique. I gotta find this stuff...

and many thanx for the compliment!

(I may have to change my screen name!)

________________________
Together we are greater than the sum of our parts

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Sunday, September 13, 2009 12:52 PM

Quote:

1. If Obama supports fed$ to help aliens, he'll fail. bill must go on, so lie. (oh, anyone who wants to nitpick this go ahead, obama admitted to lying about something on the campaign trail, and kudos to him: presidents lie their asses off, it's part of the job. If obama had held to everything he said he would do on the cammpaign trail, it would be a disaster.)

2. Consider a mexican family living and working in the US because there is no work in Mexico. they work unofficially, are paid under the table, and don't pay taxes (but at these wages, they wouldn't anyway, if Reagan's rules were still in place, thank you mr. clinton.)

3. Mexican worker gets injured on the job, and isn't covered because officially, he's not working. He has to be rushed to the hospital, and then What? is handed a bill equivalent to 20 years labor? what is this a prison state?

No. He should get health insurance. I don't care if he's documented or not, he's an american. If he is here undocumented, it's not to mooch off of welfare, because he would have to be documented to do that, he's here to do work. If you're working you're contributing to the productivity of america, and that's a damn site better than more than 1/2 of natural born americans are doing.

So hats off to the illegal immigrant, who has avoided the radar of big govt, and contributes to his new country anyway, and does an honest days work. And if he needs it, yeah, sure, he should have health care, not just because he's earned it, but because he's an american.

I'm with ya on most of that, DT. However, I have to add one point of clarification. Illegals living and working here not only DON'T suck off the public teat in the form of welfare and food stamps, etc., but they DO indeed contribute to the local, state, and federal coffers. How? Simple. They live here. They buy things. Unless you know of some magical way to live here without paying property taxes; and yes, renters DO pay property taxes - it's called "rent", and the property taxes are part of it. You pay them every month, to your landlord or property owner. The big difference is, they own the place you're living in, and you don't.

As for contributions to federal coffers, well, if you're here illegally working on an illegal Social Security Number (SSN), then money IS being paid into the system - money you will NEVER get back out of the system. And even if you're working completely under the radar, off the books and no taxes are being deducted from your pay at all, you're still paying and contributing. Every single thing you buy that has sales tax tacked on, you're contributing to a system you don't get the full benefits of. And if your boss isn't taking taxes out of your check, that's really YOUR BOSS that's screwing the system, isn't it?

So yeah, if you're here, you're contributing and you're paying taxes. Some pay more than others, and some GET more than others. Show me one single illegal or "welfare queen" who's getting rich gaming the system, and I'll show you ten corporate titans raping that same system for 200 times as much. Decrying abuse as a reason to scrap the system SHOULD mean that all multinational corporations would be immediately outlawed, because they have a worse track record for fucking over the common people than even the CIA does!

Mike

"It was already blue when we got here!"

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Sunday, September 13, 2009 4:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by dreamtrove:
lol. I made fun of Hero earlier for naming himself after a commie propaganda film

A *good* Commie propaganda film.

The laughing Chrisisall

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Sunday, September 13, 2009 5:00 PM

DREAMTROVE

Mike,

A lot of them aren't paying rent, or buying much of anything, because they're in some sort of arranged work situation, but their employers have to buy things for them, and somewhere, sure, taxes are being paid. But having dealt with a number of them I can say they're damn hard workers, and without them this country might grind to a halt. But overall, they should have health coverage.

Chris,

Well done, yes, but I found the unfettered rhetorical monologue at the end hard to take.

Zhang Yimou only made the film because Beijing told him that he was a subversive, and if he didn't make some form of state propaganda he would be blacklisted. It's rumored that communist party officials even wrote the end monologue themselves, which is why it doesn't fit as fluidly into the film.

The same is apparently true of Machiavelli, who had been viewed by the Prince as a subversive anti-authoritarian, and a dangerous element. Machiavelli was commissioned to write "the Prince" under punishment of probably a lot worse than being blacklisted, but now, it's all he's remembered for, to the point that we use the word "Machiavellian." Might history be so unkind to Zhang Yimou?

It's a very tricky business, writing, esp. politically. There is essentially no message in Hero that Zhang Yimou himself would agree with, except maybe some very subtle points which may be viewed as subversive but somehow missed the censors. The key issue that the state wanted the film to say was "Laying down your life for the state is a noble cause and trumps everything you are, the individual is nothing, the collective is everything." In a very subtle way, this film fail to say that, in spite of the fact that it blatantly outright says it.

Party officials are politicians, not artists. Subtle nuances can miss them.

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Monday, September 14, 2009 7:30 AM

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Hey Frem: Bought the book, stayed up waaaay too late enjoying it, and of course, since she's first, read Nike's chapters.

Had changed my "sub-handle" to call myself Nike, but after reading, of course I'm not worthy. Even slightly, nor do I have the capability of defending anyone or anyTHING!

So I'm instead gonna "aspire" to be her sister, if I could have half her bravery and selflessness (not that she'd call it that), I'd be a pretty spiffy heroine!

I do see similarities in mentality, and boy, if I had her capabilities, I know several places I'd be rumbling to right now!

Thanx for turning me onto the writer and the book--gonna have to gain some self-control so I don't stay up too late reading it! From the cover and other things, it seems to be either a continuation or companion to something else...wanna fill me in?

Down at Borders, of course I wandered...distressed to find some of my favorite authors (Zahn, McCaffrey, etc.) either aren't writing anymore (dead?) or are writing in conjunction with someone else.

Guess I really HAVE gotten too old (thought I was when Heinlen, Aasimov and others bit the dust, but now the second generation has abandoned me, too!). So always looking for new good authors to take me to other worlds...

________________________
Together we are greater than the sum of our parts

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Monday, September 14, 2009 8:20 AM

Quote:
Hey Frem: Bought the book, stayed up waaaay too late enjoying it, and of course, since she's first, read Nike's chapters.

Aye, good stuff - as an insomniac with PTSD and constantly gettin catapult launched out of sleep, I read a LOT...

Quote:
of course I'm not worthy. Even slightly, nor do I have the capability of defending anyone or anyTHING!

I dispute that, in the right hands, logic, reason and compassion can be every bit as effective as a hellbore, and you're WPM certainly matches an infinite repeater for rate of fire. (baad puns, hehe)

Quote:
Thanx for turning me onto the writer and the book--gonna have to gain some self-control so I don't stay up too late reading it! From the cover and other things, it seems to be either a continuation or companion to something else...wanna fill me in?

Indeed, Keith Laumer, while better known for his Retief works, also did a lot of stories in the Concordiat-Bolo universe, which didn't get as much attention at the time any more than Fred Saberhagen's Berserkers did (and I possess ALL those books, even the special edition, exclusive single-run for the Waldenbooks Otherworlds club) - and both the Berserkers stories and Bolo stories are individual pieces of a non-continuous tapestry wound together around basic themes - David Drake (along with some fine up and coming writers) did a masterful job of that with the six books of THE FLEET as a series.

The Bolo-universe is a big place, and it's rare that any human characters from any one story actually appear in any other (to my knowledge it only happens once, and the first part is in the book you own, poor, poor Maneka...) Although the central theme of that book is the location itself.

I feel a certain empathy for Bolo XXXIII/D-1097-SHV "Shiva" myself, to be honest.

There's a good chunk of background at the end of the book, and a bit more here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolo_(tank) <-Add manually.
Some of the novels are a bit hit or miss, but I'll make a few reccomendations.

Bolos 6: Cold Steel
ISBN: 0-7434-3549-4

This one deals with the events on Thule, you'll like it, I think.

Old Soldiers.
ISBN-10: 1-4165-0898-8

This is the continuation of Maneka's story, and it's quite good although slightly faltering in quality in places.

The Road to Damascus
ISBN: 0-7434-7187-3

This is a truly excellent book dealing with not only human and Bolo psyche and themes, but also showing in horrifying detail just how badly a "liberal" regime can go once it starts sliding off the moral event horizon - Ringo totally nails it, and without his strawmanning because he had another author holding a leash on it.

Of all of the Bolos, Bolo XX/SOL-0045 "Sonny" is the only one I've known to engage in seriously levels of ironic snarkery.

Quote:
Sar Gremian stares into the camera. "How immensely reassuring. You can't find three stolen nuclear weapons platforms or a convoy of multi-ton trucks, but you're not insane. Is there some other task you can waste time on while looking for the stolen guns?"
"I can keep talking to you."
This is, perhaps, not the most politic thing I might have said.

Gee, that DOES remind me of someone around here...
*sideways glance at Mikey*

Quote:
Down at Borders, of course I wandered...distressed to find some of my favorite authors (Zahn, McCaffrey, etc.) either aren't writing anymore (dead?) or are writing in conjunction with someone else. Guess I really HAVE gotten too old

Me too, the pickings on the fiction front have gotten slim, and the quality has slid pretty bad - the nature of the endless round of ego stroke to get publishes ensures most of it is worse than bad emo livejournal, something Jim Baen and Eric Flint started correcting with Baen's free library and Ebooks, but ever since Jim kicked it the folks remaining seem to wanna turn the place into a propaganda engine.

It's true, they don't make em like they used to - but all hail the internet.
Oddly enough, I have THIS one in hardback, bought at a yard sale ages ago despite it being published in 1898 - and surprisingly it found it's way online!
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/8716

I once read The Counts Apology out of that to a bunch of kids at the library (I looking to see if he wrote anything else!) on a whim since their teacher was losing it trying to keep em under wraps - they were quite appreciative!

On the other hand you do find the occasional diamond in the rough, Larry Corrieas MHI should appeal to anyone who like Buffy, Army of Darkness or Tremors, and he fought it straight, self published (original copies are goin for $300+ curse it) and then got picked up by Baen, and then sold THAT run out besides!
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-International-Larry-Correia/dp/14
39132852/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252952330&sr=8-1
You'll have to call around to find a treeware copy, alas - damn good thing I pre-ordered three of em!

And I better stop now before I just keel over and expire cause I really SHOULD be in bed, gack!

-F

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Monday, September 14, 2009 1:43 PM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

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As much as I disagree with Obama about many topics, I thought this was funny.

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Monday, September 14, 2009 1:52 PM

Quote:
The key issue that the state wanted the film to say was "Laying down your life for the state is a noble cause and trumps everything you are, the individual is nothing, the collective is everything."

That sounds very similar to what Spock said to Kirk, ya know. So you're saying that Spock was a commie?

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Monday, September 14, 2009 1:53 PM