Dear old GPL, still the benchmark as far as I'm concerned :up: If you've got time to look at a speedo you're obviously not going fast enough 
Someone mentioned chocolate beer? :yummy:
/makes mental note not to show up at Shotglass's door without kevlar pants ...
/makes mental note not to show up at Shotglass's door without kevlar pants ...
Stick with it, Guinness is a king among beers :up:
Hooray! Another tangent! =D
Hooray! Another tangent! =D
Maybe you should edit that again, you could've thrown in a few more generalisations before you called me a sanctimonious lemming. My first post, by the way, wasn't a condemnation or an attack. I merely posted a link after reading an article I found disturbing and awaited responses. Then I responded to some of them with my thoughts - which aren't just based on this one article, as I've been keeping up with Katrina news since it happened - all without managing to abuse anyone. Racer Y disagreed with me on a few things but at least he had the class to leave that personal shit out of his response and stick to the topic.
I read guys like Palast (and John Pilger, Robert Fisk, Paul Craig Roberts and others - doesn't seem like you actually have read Palast's work, rather just dismissed him as yet another lefty conspiracy theorist without analysing his work at all, just like those idiots Rush or Ann would do) because he goes to the places he writes about himself, talks to the people that are there and gets his info first hand. He doesn't just regurgitate Whitehouse/GOP talking points like O'Reilly and Hannity. He doesn't get FOX-sized funding or a Hannity-sized paycheque so this sure isn't about making money for him. Regular news (and it's getting like this around the world, not just the states) is becoming more and more slack, slipshod and half-arsed when it comes to covering just about everything, so I look elsewhere. I don't just bilndly swallow what I read, I think about it and if it makes sense to me I share it. Lumping a guy like Palast in with those ridiculous self-caricaturing Bushite cheerleaders you listed is about as far from the mark as you can get. It seems that in the US, anyone who doesn't belong to a major news outlet isn't considered to have a damn thing to say that's true, meaningful or relevant and is instantly dismissed as lefty nutjob.
Living in the states doesn't necessarily mean you have a better grasp of what's going on either. It may mean the opposite in some cases. Distance from a situation can give a person a great deal of perspective.
I read guys like Palast (and John Pilger, Robert Fisk, Paul Craig Roberts and others - doesn't seem like you actually have read Palast's work, rather just dismissed him as yet another lefty conspiracy theorist without analysing his work at all, just like those idiots Rush or Ann would do) because he goes to the places he writes about himself, talks to the people that are there and gets his info first hand. He doesn't just regurgitate Whitehouse/GOP talking points like O'Reilly and Hannity. He doesn't get FOX-sized funding or a Hannity-sized paycheque so this sure isn't about making money for him. Regular news (and it's getting like this around the world, not just the states) is becoming more and more slack, slipshod and half-arsed when it comes to covering just about everything, so I look elsewhere. I don't just bilndly swallow what I read, I think about it and if it makes sense to me I share it. Lumping a guy like Palast in with those ridiculous self-caricaturing Bushite cheerleaders you listed is about as far from the mark as you can get. It seems that in the US, anyone who doesn't belong to a major news outlet isn't considered to have a damn thing to say that's true, meaningful or relevant and is instantly dismissed as lefty nutjob.
Living in the states doesn't necessarily mean you have a better grasp of what's going on either. It may mean the opposite in some cases. Distance from a situation can give a person a great deal of perspective.
Last edited by Hankstar, .
Guinness. I almost wish it was cold again so I could get stuck into it. Ever tried Chimay beers? Truly a beery revelation - the silkiest tasting beers in the universe and, at about 9% strength, a real monster if you're not careful 
Those Belgians really do know what they're doing!
Then there's Coopers Vintage, the lord of all beers. It should be laid down like a good wine for at least a year before opening, preferably on a cold, dark evening with a fine Cuban cigar. Pure magic
Those Belgians really do know what they're doing!Then there's Coopers Vintage, the lord of all beers. It should be laid down like a good wine for at least a year before opening, preferably on a cold, dark evening with a fine Cuban cigar. Pure magic
Last edited by Hankstar, .
Nah, I wouldn't. I'd bomb the crap out of Iran.
Show where someone has personally and indisputedly insulted you - and managed to get away with it - and I will happily agree with you. In the meantime, consider this effort of yours from a few minutes ago, in response to a distinctly non-personal comment:
Something (i.e. reading your posts over a couple of years) tells me you were sent on vacation for more than just a single, isolated incident.
/me waits for lock
Something (i.e. reading your posts over a couple of years) tells me you were sent on vacation for more than just a single, isolated incident.
/me waits for lock
Bourbon St may be back on track and they've had a Mardi Gras, but who's rebuilding the parts where poor people live?. That's what's disgusting. It's been two years and thousands are still homeless. Countless people died because FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (at the time being run by "Brownie" - a Bush buddy who'd never worked in emergency management before and whose previous job was judging horses or some such unrelated endeavour), couldn't get its shit together. Two years after the 2004 tsunami, the million or so people affected were housed and back to rebuilding their lives. Plus I wouldn't call being stuck in some FEMA trailer park as "re-settling", XC ... This whole thing just rankles me. I'm a Red Cross worker and I know what's supposed to happen after a disaster, especially when the country it occurs in is wealthy and organised. I saw what happened after the 2004 tsunami and, naively I suppose, I expected the same things to happen after Katrina, only quicker due to the wealth of the US and the proximity of the disaster. But parts of NO still look like freakin' Bangladesh and thousands are still spread over the country living in trailers. What gives?
For the record, hummer:
Couldn't possibly take that personally, could I? Forget the pms or IRC, I believe I'll just avoid any personal contact with you if it's all the same to you. I'm not fussed if it's not.
For the record, hummer:
Couldn't possibly take that personally, could I? Forget the pms or IRC, I believe I'll just avoid any personal contact with you if it's all the same to you. I'm not fussed if it's not.
Last edited by Hankstar, .
General, I really don't think I'm the one who needs to calm down here.
There's really no response for that. I'm glad I quoted it though, you never know when someone around here's going to pull some slick editing. For the record, the "genius" comment wasn't personal and a quick re-read of it would reveal that. I don't write in ****ing code for god's sake and I don't hurl personal insults either, unlike some. Although reading the above post in Eric Cartman's voice was goddam funny...
Noone's blaming the president for the hurricane and you'd be an idiot if you did. Everything that's happened since the hurricane & since the declaration of the state of emergency, however, pretty much has to rest with him and his fellow Sith lords. Two years after the 2004 tsunami, for example, the recovery was going well and people in SE Asia were being repatriated & assisted by their governments. Two years after Katrina and people are still in refugee trailer parks all over the place, being prevent - actively prevented - from returning to their homes to rebuild. Even the people whose homes survived aren't being allowed back into them (in some areas anyway - seems the richer areas are doing fine). Entire neighbourhoods are still ruined. This is the richest country in the world, not Bangladesh! I don't get it. What am I missing?
Last edited by Hankstar, .
I've missed your insight, well thought-out posts and blatant personal attacks, I really have. Never leave us again.
But tell me, when are you supposed to evacuate people when you know a hurricane's coming? Before it hits, in order to minimise loss of life (whic is the entire point of an evacuation, one would think), or afterwards, when everyone's homeless and drowning in the street? Or perhaps during the hurricane, just to make a challenge of it?
But tell me, when are you supposed to evacuate people when you know a hurricane's coming? Before it hits, in order to minimise loss of life (whic is the entire point of an evacuation, one would think), or afterwards, when everyone's homeless and drowning in the street? Or perhaps during the hurricane, just to make a challenge of it?
So, um, what ... you're meant to evacuate people after a hurricane?
Genius. Mind-boggling, MENSA-worthy genius.
You weren't real clear on the football thing tbh (or maybe it's because it's Monday morning down here). But I'm glad we agree about NFL. And Becks isn't so bad, it's Budweiser that should come with a disclaimer: ATTENTION, BOTTLE MAY APPEAR EMPTY BUT REALLY ISN'T, HONEST.
Mate, I think even the world's gayest man would be tortured by Eurovision. Surely even the fluffiest of gay guys would have his limits when it came to second-rate, campy pop songs. Sexuality aside, I think Eurovision should qualify under the Geneva Conventions as "cruel & unusual broadcasting" ...
Mate, I think even the world's gayest man would be tortured by Eurovision. Surely even the fluffiest of gay guys would have his limits when it came to second-rate, campy pop songs. Sexuality aside, I think Eurovision should qualify under the Geneva Conventions as "cruel & unusual broadcasting" ...
New Orleans two years on
http://www.gregpalast.com/
A series of articles by investigative journalist Greg Palast about the state of New Orleans two years after Hurricane Katrina, the non-evacuation then and the non-rebuilding now (among other things). Disturbing.
A series of articles by investigative journalist Greg Palast about the state of New Orleans two years after Hurricane Katrina, the non-evacuation then and the non-rebuilding now (among other things). Disturbing.
Not true! We don't like Becks. We drink Coopers Ale, which requires the use of a fork.
Plus rugby players don't wear pads - that's those lace-wearing NFL players. Y'know, the ones that look like the dude from Metroid who run around for 10 seconds, get puffed and need a 2-minute break.
I think being forced to watch Eurovision would be considerably more inhumane. Ten points for bringing us back on topic, btw
Meh. Everyone's beaten England at football, including Australia (and, frankly, we suck at football. Except rugby).
Whatever you like, we actually have both kinds down here.
Not if we're bowling.
So the tent's not an excuse?
With a cricket match you can stay home at switch the TV on, not pick fights with the neighbours and not bother buggering around asking the church for permission From capital punishment to cricket. That's a tangent to tell my grandkids about =D
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG