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POPS Advance To The Rear!
(Well, in fairness, even if the president did declare back in 2008 this war was a vital national security interest, and he did signal last spring he was on board with counterinsurgency, and even if he did appoint Gen. Stanley McChrystal to get the job done in May, the general’s recommendations only arrived in August, and the president didn’t look at them until, what, late September, and he’s been really busy this whole time letting Congress bollix his health-care initiative, throwing Eastern Europe under the bus and flying to Copenhagen, that kind of thing, so he’s only been able to squeeze in seven high-level national security meetings, or is it eight? Is it so unreasonable to ask for new options on top of the new options that he asked for on top of the new options that McChrystal gave him? Meanwhile, China’s ass wants kissing and then we’re into the holidays … ) OK, I get that the political piece is vitally important, and for Eikenberry, up to his armpits in scheming
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POPSIn Memory of Common Sense Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student, but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, “Truth” and “Trust,” by his wife, “Discretion,” by his daughter, “Responsibility,” and
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POPSShould America Start Drilling? The US needs to stop grovelling to Chavez and others and start using its own natural resources of which it has plenty. I'm sick of America kissing ass for oil when we have so much ourselves.
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POPSReminder: Roman Polanski Raped a Child "I understand the victim's feelings on this. And I sympathize, I do. But for good or ill, the justice system doesn't work on behalf of victims; it works on behalf of justice"... The point is not to keep 76-year-old Polanski off the streets or help his victim feel safe. The point is that drugging and raping a child, then leaving the country before you can be sentenced for it, is behavior our society should not -- and at least in theory, does not -- tolerate, no matter how famous, wealthy or well-connected you are, no matter how old you were when you finally got caught, no matter what your victim says about it now, no matter how mature she looked at 13, no matter how pushy her mother was, and no matter how many really swell movies you've made... Polanski raped a child. And rushing past that point to focus on the reasons why we should forgive him, pity him, respect him, admire him, support him, whatever, is absolutely twisted.
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POPSReminder: Roman Polanski raped a child More: Polanski was "demonized by the press" because he raped a child, and was convicted because he pled guilty. He "feared heavy sentencing" because drugging and raping a child is generally frowned upon by the legal system. …The point is not to keep 76-year-old Polanski off the streets or help his victim feel safe. The point is that drugging and raping a child, then leaving the country before you can be sentenced for it, is behavior our society should not -- and at least in theory, does not -- tolerate, no matter how famous, wealthy or well-connected you are, no matter how old you were when you finally got caught, no matter what your victim says about it now, no matter how mature she looked at 13, no matter how pushy her mother was, and no matter how many really swell movies you've made. Roman Polanski raped a child. No one, not even him, disputes that.
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POPSCreepy Relics I've always found the idea of religious relics to be rather creepy. It seems that the fear surrounding swine flu has put a temporary stop to a ritual associated with at least one such relic.
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POPS"An outgoing, confident, people-loving dog that puts his heart & soul into everything he does."
More: "That includes climbing into your lap, digging out of an inadequately fenced yard, competing in canine agility trials or just following you around the house," Reynolds said. "Intelligence, determination, trainability and a good sense of humor are the hallmarks of the breed." Pit bulls may be crazy about people, but that's not always the case with other dogs. "They're terriers, and like all terriers, aggression towards other animals is not uncommon," she cautioned. "And like all dogs, pit bulls and their owners need training to become a good people/dog ambassador team." The reality is that even pit bulls from known fighting backgrounds, covered in fight scars, often turn out to be complete sweethearts -- even with other dogs. One of the best-known examples of this is Hector, a squirming, face-kissing bundle of love who is a certified therapy dog today, but started out his life as a fighter at Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennels.
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POPSThe Military's Death and Paperwork Experiment In a revelation that surprised no one ever in the history of anything, researchers determined that errors in cognitive reasoning occur more often if a person is being exposed to unusually high levels of stress. So under no circumstances should you whip out a job application in the middle of a car accident or attempt to file a tax return while being stabbed to death.
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POPSThe 10 mysteries of human behaviour that science can't explain Scientists have split the atom, put men on the moon and discovered the DNA of which we are made, but there are 10 key mysteries of human behaviour which they have failed to fully explain. The New Scientist magazine compiled a list of the everyday aspects of life which continue to confound the world's greatest brains, including the reasons behind kissing, blushing and even picking your nose.
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POPSWhy Amy Fears Obamacare Perspective: The "Amy" in the title is a patient with cystic fibrosis--which, in case you didn't know it, is a white folks' disease. CF patients die young--but they live longer in the "heartless" capitalist USA than they do in any other country in the world, bar none. The difference: Socialized medicine elsewhere; private doctors and clinics here. She has every reason to fear that socialized medicine will shorten her life. She's 27 now. Right now, if things are left alone, she's got ten years to live. Under socialized medicine she'll have less than that--as many as three years less. Or worse. Some things, you do need new drugs to help manage. CF is one of them. Does anyone suppose that Amy is going to get those new drugs? They either won't be developed or they will be deliberately withheld. "Not cost-effective." "We have lots of other patients to take care of." Yes, patients in protected groups, which don't include whites.
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POPSOuch! Canker Sores really Hurt…Ouch! Canker Sores really Hurt… If you happened to have an open, white or red shallow sores in your mouth and had taken a lemon juice or an orange juice – Gesusss – Ouch! – You know how painful canker sores are but you are not alone. About one out of five people are getting into these and occur among adolescence and young adulthood. Opposite of what others believed canker sores are not contagious (thank god) so you can’t spread the sores by kissing someone or sharing foods.