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Munkeymon posted:Hopped Vodka (~$45) is delicious as is Beer Barrel Bourbon (~$40). Actually, if you can find Dragon's Milk, the beer that bourbon is based off of, you should try it because it's amazing. When it comes to Vodka, I'm partial to potato vodkas instead of grain. The very best, smoothest I've found is also dirt cheap. Monopolowa, has its origin in Poland but is currently made in Austria, costs only about $15 for a liter bottle. A liter bottle fits neatly into the freezer and is ready for any occasion. You can spend more but why, when you can buy something that's this good for less. Plus, the bottle has that proletariat look that says gently caress you Chopin, and Grey Goose too.  For Rum, I've tried just about all of the high end, and low end also, but nothing beats Myer's Rum. Unfortunately, it's pricey also. I like Mount Gay too but, after Myer's, everything else tastes watered down. I've never had the Ron del Barilito so I'll need to give that a try. A drink that will get you in trouble because it tastes just like soda pop is Dark Rum and ginger beer, a good real live ginger beer, not that ginger ale crap. Cock & Bull is a good ginger beer. 
radical meme fucked around with this message at 08:50 on May 7, 2014 |
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May 7, 2014 08:42
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Dancer posted:Hey, so I don't mean to circle-jerk about it, and I acknowledge his flaws but, given the repeated mention of actual issues in the OP (as opposed to just politicians), is there any reason you didn't add Matt Taibi to the OP under reporters? He's not perfect, but there's good reasons so many of us like him. Where the hell is he? He quit Rolling Stone and is supposed to join that Glenn Greenwald/Pierre Omidyar operation but, I haven't seen anything from him since he quit. I may be wrong, but the most recent thing Greenwald put out was in the Guardian. Is that other operation ever gonna make it off the ground? Did Taibbi jump into a thing that's never really gonna happen?
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May 7, 2014 16:03
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JT Jag posted:I really, really hope one of the conservatives on the bench dies before abortion goes up to the Supreme Court again. There's nothing wrong with the current U.S. Constitution that can't be corrected by the loss of two conservative Justices and the appointment of three new progressive Justices: I'm looking at you Ginsburg; because of her age, not her politics.
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May 7, 2014 19:54
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Blindeye posted:Well, it looks like the derp is spreading out west... This is from a few pages back but I think it deserves to be pointed out that this article clearly establishes that the canyon in Utah is absolutely open to the public for their use and enjoyment; you just have to either hike or ride horseback to enjoy it. These rear end in a top hat man children are arguing for the freedom to destroy public lands and antiquities with their ATVs and dirt bikes. These people are loving children screaming "you're not the boss of me". radical meme fucked around with this message at 19:27 on May 11, 2014 |
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May 11, 2014 19:11
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In the political war over climate change, Rubio said this today:quote:"I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it," Rubio said, according to excerpts released by ABC "This Week," "and I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it, except it will destroy our economy." The politics of denial falls into two categories; the people who outright deny that climate change is even happening and the people who say stuff like Rubio, that it's not caused by anything that we can do to correct or stop it. Both forms of denial are wrong. The press does a really lovely job of distinguishing between the two. The difference is important because the guys who just outright deny it's happening can't be dealt with while, the ones who say it's not manmade can be.
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May 11, 2014 19:24
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a shameful boehner posted:
I tell people all the time that "air conditioning/refrigeration" expertise is almost a guarantee of employment if you live in the South or Southwest. Air conditioning is the only thing that makes living in places like Texas or Arizona even acceptable.
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May 13, 2014 01:21
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zoux posted:I just think it's kind of hosed up that we expect 18 year old kids to make rational decisions about their future straight the gently caress out of high school. I would've done college so differently if I'd have had the slightest inkling where I would end up and what my professional interests would be in my mid-thirties. But then again, I expect the vast majority of people feel the same way. Yeah, Texas' priorities for public education are abysmal. The Legislature is not going to help and neither is the Governor's office; since the priority of both is just to cut taxes. The only hope is the Judicial branch. Hopefully, the court's can put in place guidelines and mandates for reform of our public education system; that's not a good choice though since any final decision may take years to implement. radical meme fucked around with this message at 17:44 on May 13, 2014 |
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May 13, 2014 17:39
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Two Finger posted:That's what really threw me. His schooling speaks to someone very intelligent but reading those questions, when so many of them are clearly doublethink, I just have to believe he's playing a game. But the flipside of that, well, if it walks like a duck... He is playing a game and its only object is for him personally to win, he doesn't give a drat about anybody but himself. I've said this before but, Cruz is the living embodiment of a dirty Tleilaxu Face Dancer, straight out of Herbert's novels. He can be anything he needs to be, take any position or side he needs to take to accomplish his personal goals. haveblue posted:The NSA scandal is pretty significant and still ongoing. PBS had a Frontline special on last night that explored the roots of "The Program" as its was called; covering beginning and the spread of the NSA spying on U.S. citizens. It explained just how it started under Bush and then was continued by Obama. It's a two part program and the second part airs on May 20 and will pick up with Snowden. radical meme fucked around with this message at 19:02 on May 14, 2014 |
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May 14, 2014 18:59
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So have the 10-20 million patriotic protesters all checked in to their D.C. hotels yet? Is there indication at all that this weekend in D.C. will be anything other than business and tourism as usual?
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May 16, 2014 02:14
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dinoputz posted:Great news for hip-hop conservatives everywhere! The NRA is looking to get into youth outreach, but the video comes off horribly awkward and pandering. In other words, about as you'd expect. I could only watch the first 4 minutes of this before I became disgusted and turned it off. But the intro I saw was the two hosts talking about accessorizing and customizing their firearms by ordering custom colors on their weapons and, wanting to have their expensive weapons delivered in more ornate gift boxes. Again, not tools for use, but fashion accessories, weapon bling.
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May 16, 2014 16:37
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whydirt posted:You might say people cling to their guns or religion. The thing that bothers me the most about the whole gun debate is how easily, and quite recently, the right/conservatives have slipped into the "second amendment remedies" mindset. The idea that if enough people don't like what's happening in D.C. they can just pick up their guns and start shooting. To many gun right's people push the idea that the second amendment is there to support violent revolution.
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May 16, 2014 19:23
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Charles Pierce's politic's blog at Esquire gives us this info. Lee Bright, who is challenging Lindsay Graham in the South Carolina Republican primary, had this to say: Lee Bright posted:During a discussion concerning the passage of the state’s annual budget, Lee Bright began talking about the Civil War, which he claimed “was kind of family against family, and I didn’t get corrected until probably I was in my twenties, when somebody said, ‘That wasn’t a civil war, a civil is when it’s one people attacking their neighbors, and this wasn’t about people attacking their neighbors.’” There's video of this in that link for those interested. This characterization of the Civil War by Bright led Pierce, in his blog post, to suggest that Bright never read the Corner Stone speech by Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America: Alexander Stephens posted:But not to be tedious in enumerating the numerous changes for the better, allow me to allude to one other though last, not least. The new constitution has put at rest, forever, all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institution African slavery as it exists amongst us the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the “rock upon which the old Union would split.” He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with, but the general opinion of the men of that day was that, somehow or other in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away. This idea, though not incorporated in the constitution, was the prevailing idea at that time. The constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the institution while it should last, and hence no argument can be justly urged against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the common sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the government built upon it fell when the “storm came and the wind blew.” Flash that at the next person who claims the Civil War wasn't about slavery. radical meme fucked around with this message at 00:25 on May 17, 2014 |
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May 17, 2014 00:22
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Joementum posted:
He doesn't seem to be alone. I don't understand the outrage but, I seriously hope he didn't actually break any laws to do this; we'd have bills of impeachment drawn up by mid-week.
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Jun 1, 2014 01:05
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PostNouveau posted:I don't know how much to read into this, but Ted Cruz just barely beat Ben Carson 30%-29% in the straw poll at the grassroots activist straw poll at the Republican Leadership Conference. Carson didn't even attend the event. So what is the Republican Leadership Conference exactly? Who attends this event? This CNN article shows how some of the other potential candidates did in voting there.
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Jun 1, 2014 01:22
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Joementum posted:The Republican Leadership Conference occasionally goes by its full, original name: the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. Oooooohh. That explains a lot. By the way, the White House is admitting that they skirted the law but say they did it for unique and exigent circumstances to gain Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's release. I can understand this but, prepare for impeachment week coming up. Why doesn't the White House just ask for a resolution to approve the prisoner exchange and then watch the poo poo storm develop as the GOP tries to explain why the guy should still be a Taliban prisoner.
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Jun 1, 2014 03:01
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TGLT posted:According to this article, the claim that he deserted comes from currently unconfirmed emails and interviews published by Rolling Stone. Nothing about him wanting to join the Taliban though, just that he might have been disillusioned with the war. I'd also point out that according to this 2011 CNN article, the guy has been promoted twice by the Army during his captivity. Now, it was pointed out to me that the Army regularly continues to promote people, even if they have been captured to give them the benefit of time served however, on the second promotion, this happened: quote:With the promotion, Bowe Bergdahl, 25, rises to the rank of sergeant. He was last promoted in June 2010 to the rank of specialist, according to Central Command. Maybe Brigadier Generals do this poo poo all of the time and maybe guys in captivity get promoted all the time but, do they really do it for a guy that's supposedly gone AWOL? radical meme fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Jun 1, 2014 |
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Jun 1, 2014 22:53
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In regard to the accusation that Bergdahl is directly responsible for the death of American service men, the Daily Beast has this story today: We Lost Soldiers in the Hunt for Bergdahl, a Guy Who Walked Off in the Dead of Night. The author says that he "served in the same battalion in Afghanistan" as Bergdahl. quote:His release from Taliban custody on May 31 marks the end of a nearly five-year-old story for the soldiers of his unit, the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. I served in the same battalion in Afghanistan and participated in the attempts to retrieve him throughout the summer of 2009. He doesn't claim to have known Bergdahl. An Army battalion apparently consists of at least 500 soldiers, not a huge number really. He makes the claim that: quote:And that the truth is: Bergdahl was a deserter, and soldiers from his own unit died trying to track him down. The author pretty clearly establishes that he has no personal knowledge of what happened to Bergdahl: quote:Make no mistake: Bergdahl did not "lag behind on a patrol,” as was cited in news reports at the time. There was no patrol that night. Bergdahl was relieved from guard duty, and instead of going to sleep, he fled the outpost on foot. He deserted. I’ve talked to members of Bergdahl’s platoon—including the last Americans to see him before his capture. I’ve reviewed the relevant documents. That’s what happened. In fact, in the opening lines of this story, the author establishes that he wasn't at the same base as Bergdahl when Berdahl went missing; quote:It was June 30, 2009, and I was in the city of Sharana, the capitol of Paktika province in Afghanistan. As I stepped out of a decrepit office building into a perfect sunny day, a member of my team started talking into his radio. “Say that again,” he said. “There’s an American soldier missing?” So the author rambles along until he gets to the gist of the headline and presents his accusation that military men died because of Bergdahl: quote:On July 4, 2009, a human wave of insurgents attacked the joint U.S./Afghan outpost at Zerok. It was in east Paktika province, the domain of our sister infantry battalion (3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry). Two Americans died and many more received wounds. Hundreds of insurgents attacked and were only repelled by teams of Apache helicopters. Zerok was very close to the Pakistan border, which put it into the same category as outposts now infamous—places like COP Keating or Wanat, places where insurgents could mass on the Pakistani side and then try to overwhelm the outnumbered defenders. So the author, by implication and based on what his freind believes, blames all of these deaths on Bergdahl. The author then rambles on some more about how, yeah Bergdahl may deserve some sympathy but he's no hero and gently caress him anyway. The bottom line is that the basic argument by anybody complaining about this prisoner exchange is that Bergdahl's life was not worth saving. That's it in a nutshell. radical meme fucked around with this message at 20:20 on Jun 2, 2014 |
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Jun 2, 2014 20:17
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Fried Chicken posted:The 5 guys we swapped him for were all on the docket for potential release in the next 7 months anyways. The thing that really bothers me about the entire Bergdahl story is something that the press, the politicians, the military and just about everyone else is ignoring. Its the stuff in the Rolling Stone article that talks about how dysfunctional and chaotic the military operations, training and leadership was from the time of the guy's intense training at that California facility to the time he walked off the base; the dropping of standards and cutting of corners in the recruitment of soldiers. I don't know anything about the military but, what I read there doesn't seem right. I would think that a military the size of ours and with as many well trained and educated officers as our military academies turn out every year would be run a lot more efficiently. I just have a bad feeling that the U.S. experiment with an all volunteer military the size of ours has not worked out well.
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Jun 2, 2014 23:28
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Thanks Boon and Fried Chicken for your comments. They help to explain some of the problems. computer parts posted:Having a drafted military would drop standards even farther. The only reason standards dropped in the first place was that you needed a lot of people for idiotic wars and surges. I completely understand what you're saying here but, and its a big but, gaming your comment out to its ultimate conclusion, it says that an all volunteer military works great, as long as you don't have to go to war with it. That's a lot of food for thought right there. I'm not in favor of a total return to the draft but, maybe some type of hybrid recruitment program could insure military readiness in times of both peace and war; the draft end of it ramped up in event of war, and also act as a deterrent to wars of choice proposed by chickenhawk neocons.
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Jun 3, 2014 02:52
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computer parts posted:That's why taking something to an ultimate conclusion is usually dumb. Except for the fact that this is exactly the situation the U.S. found itself in with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think your statement about lowering standards to meet recruitment is exactly correct. So it's not like we have to deal with hypotheticals to see the results. The military lowered its standards to meet quotas; which is well established by many articles I've read. There was nothing wrong with the standards. It was the circumstances that mad the standards unworkable. I 'm just suggesting that maybe the military should learn from that real life experience.
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Jun 3, 2014 04:21
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Fried Chicken posted:NBC is reporting the DoD is starting a high level investigation into desertion and cooperation charges for Bergdhal. That's pretty typical. In the past when this has happened they have brought charges and conviction but punishment has been light and overlaid with other things since being held in hellish situation is generally viewed as punishment enough. That said 6 people died while looking for him, and this is going to be pretty political, so we'll see how it shakes out. This was several pages back but, the bolded part is based on nothing more than the subjective opinions of some pissed off people. The New York Times article says that the Pentagon doesn't believe this is true and that a review of the facts shows that the people saying it are blaming him for every death that occurred in Paktika Province, Afghanistan in the four months following his disappearance quote:The furious search for Sergeant Bergdahl, his critics say, led to the deaths of at least two soldiers and possibly six others in the area. Pentagon officials say those charges are unsubstantiated and are not supported by a review of a database of casualties in the Afghan war.
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Jun 4, 2014 00:46
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Fried Chicken posted:The US and Iran have reached a 6 month deal on the nuclear program. This is a separate deal from the one that is being negotiated with the P5+1 It says that article was posted 45 minutes ago. Whats the over and under on time till Netanyahu complains its American appeasement? On more claims of Obama treason by the right?
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Jun 4, 2014 23:42
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