[dukey]

more meat for the grinder

[rangerone314]

For many years post-Vietnam our total regular military size was around 2 million... we seem to have gone a tad overboard with the emphasis on technology vs boots on the ground, and I don't take the importance of technology lightly.

Imagine the difference 200,000 more boots on the ground would have made in Iraq in May 2003.

[eastbay]

Better yet, imagine the difference zero troops on the ground would have made in Iraq in 2003. This is all to feed the craving for more war as repeatedly promised.

[rangerone314]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'B')etter yet, imagine the difference zero troops on the ground would have made in Iraq in 2003. This is all to feed the craving for more war as repeatedly promised.

[eastbay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'B')etter yet, imagine the difference zero troops on the ground would have made in Iraq in 2003. This is all to feed the craving for more war as repeatedly promised.

[jlw61]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'B')etter yet, imagine the difference zero troops on the ground would have made in Iraq in 2003. This is all to feed the craving for more war as repeatedly promised.

[WyoDutch]

July 24, 2009: Posted: 07:03 AM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) — Two U.S. service members were killed Friday in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military told CNN.

The military confirmed a report from NATO’s International Security Assistance Force that an insurgent attack killed the two troops.


Outside their family and a few friends... no-one will note their passing. We have a "volunteer" military and therefore, we can tell ourselves "Well, they volunteered. They knew what they were getting into."

Fortunately for the United States government... the economy sucks and there will be lots of unemployed and underemployed to fill the vacant ranks.

[Umber]

Maybe our beloved senators figure they're gonna need some additional boots on the ground here in the good ole US of A to help confine civil unrest?

Nah. That wouldn't be it. They're all patriots and freedom lovers, every one.

Umber

[babystrangeloop]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Evil genius: It takes true artists to pull off this kind of carving
By Doug Miller / The Baltimore Sun / October 11, 2011

Unlike the frequent school redistricting that puts parents in a frenzy every few years, the realignment of legislative districts for the federal, state and local governments only happens once every 10 years. But perhaps for that very reason, emotions surrounding it can run almost as high.

That time is upon us now, and we've begun to hear the predictable (and often valid) claims of partisan manipulation.

The high-profile piece is what will happen to the congressional districts, which the state legislature will determine in a special session that begins Oct. 17. Republican Roscoe Bartlett, who has represented Western Maryland in the U.S. House since 1993, figures to be the big loser. ...

[fletch_961]

If I believed in conspiracies, sure. If I looked up the make-up of the Maryland State legislature (70% Democrats, both houses), I would know the answer has to do with that (R) in front of his name when he is on C-SPAN. Maryland has 8 seats in the House, 2 controlled by Republicans. The Democrats plan is to gerrymander the crap out of the state so they can pick up a seat.

Which Republican seat would you try to get rid of?

Andy Harris---Committee Appointments---Natural Resources
Science, Space, and Technology
Transportation and Infrastructure

or

Roscoe Bartlett----Committee Appointments---Armed Services
Science, Space, and Technology
Small Business

Of course if you choose to believe that the Democrats in the Maryland State legislature hate peak-oil advocates, you go right ahead.

[babystrangeloop]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('fletch_961', 'O')f course if you choose to believe that the Democrats in the Maryland State legislature hate peak-oil advocates, you go right ahead.

[emmahudson88]

i don't understand the question.

[bratticus]

Big Slash to the mass transportation incentives. What are they thinking?

[dissident]

There's an endless supply of the crack from Canada. LOL.

[Plantagenet]

When the government cuts your mass transit tax subsidy while simultaneously increasing your government parking tax subsidy, its a clear sign they want you to use an EV government tax subsidy to buy a VOLT, from government subsidized GM.

[MD]

Mass transit initiatives fail for the same reason that they failed 100 years ago. The auto industry.

Detroit's on this big comeback now, y'know.

And let's not forget the airlines. They have a stake in this too.

[bratticus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')b]Congress Ends 2011 With Record-Low 11% Approval
by Frank Newport / GALLUP / December 19, 2011

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new record-low 11% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, the lowest single rating in Gallup's history of asking this question since 1974. This earns Congress a 17% yearly average for 2011, the lowest annual congressional approval rating in Gallup history. ...

[Cloud9]

Why do you think congress is turning this into a fascist dictatorship? They know what the public thinks and feels. They can smell the torches and see the glint off the pitchforks.

[Fishman]

15 trillion dollars in debt, gosh, you think that might have something to do with it?

[Cloud9]

The debt will not be repaid. At some point it will no longer be serviced unless we destroy it with hyper inflation. I will be more than happy to mail the treasury one hundred trillion. I have that much on my desk as I write. The serial numbers on the two fifty trillion dollar bank notes are AA02122 and AA3462515. See, problem solved.