leh-nerd skin-erd

Still skeptical of government power, still question everything, still recognize that the camp I’m in— the “Holy crap I hope the evidence they saw that convinced them that they had to act at this level, at this time”—-and hope it turns out to be the correct camp to be in. It’s ultimately a luxury to sit and judge this (or any) military action, and I’m mindful that I could be in the wrong camp. However, the international community, keepers of the peace, etc all seem to point to the conclusion that Iran unchecked was going in one direction and that was a very bad thing. That they chose that path tilts the scale for me. I think I’m pretty consistent in this regard. I appreciate your diplomacy before death approach to this situation, but I see a certain amount of naivety in parsing between a day, a month and a year with the stakes here. The Iranians were in the catbird seat and simply had to agree not to do that which everyone (even a non-intervention interventionist in a Hillary Clinton pantsuit like you) feels they should not be done. You’re apparently willing to wait unit the bomb is made but not yet deployed, I’m hoping the decision was appropriate and they dealt with it before that happened.

Yes, exactly like Iraq…that’s why you have to hold your nose. And yes, hopefully they go quietly, though they could have done that already.

I’m no warmonger, but it seems clear to me that Iran was viewed as an imminent threat to the safety of…the world. I say this not because bombs were dropped, but because the international community seems quite fixated on Iran not developing nuclear weapons. Yes, it was possible to sit back, wait another year, or two, or five, or to allow Iran to develop their weapons program. At the risk of repeating an earlier point, the reality is we don’t know what intelligence analysis revealed and at some point, hold your nose and trust, or hold your nose and criticize, each of which leaves us in the same place. I understand your perspective and guess we’ll have to see. Off the top of my head….Costa Rica. Argentina. Dominican Republic. Columbia. Guyana.

There’s a lot of hypocrisy in the public school system. I saw something last night where a young lady received sportswoman of the year award. I’m sure she’s a great young lady and athlete, but I just don’t see the point when other students might suffer at home, with learning or whatever. Anyway, the 10 Commandments should not be posted in a public school imo.

It’s interesting that a guy who lead the free world for 8 years and is known for his eloquence struggled to find the words to describe his version of government regulated free speech.

I don't know, Kay, because while Iran was potentially compliant during v1.0, they clearly were not compliant after being compliant. In addition, it seems logical to question the arbiters of compliance, given Iran's wax on/wax off approach to being good international citizens. It seems more likely to me that they are playing a long gane, moving forward with the intent to secure nuclear capability. Ah, so you were not talking at all about the US government/intelligence apparatus covertly encouraging regime change. It seems to me that a fundamentalist regime like Iran would not be comfortable as all with allowing the Tok (et al) and western decadence into the homeland. CKA shows way too much skin for the average extremist, I would think, and they view that as a non-negotiable and far beyond the pale. Maybe, though. As to Israel, you've beaten that drum loudly and clearly, and at some point to me you cross from sensible citizen of the world to...well, to something I'm not interested in debating.

Right, but they're a scary bunch, too, like the Leprechaun.

Me too!

I use Leprechaun. That way there is no confusion whatsoever, except between the Lucky Charms guy and the Leprechaun from the movie. I just say "Not the Lucky Charms guy!" when necessary.

Non-intervention would be wonderful if workable. Another agreement is sensible if there is both carrot and stick to contend with, and an appropriately heavy hand were to come down at the first sign of non-compliance. Instead, it seems in the past we've got warnings and concerns but precious little else. I guess my question for you--as a non-interventionist, why do you support intervening via low-key revolution and king-making for the Iranian people? Why would the current Iranian leadership stand by and accept that approach, any more than they are accepting the direct assault by Israel now? Why not let the Iranian people see it through as they see fit?

Gotcha. Do you feel those under your professional care consistently acknowledged receipt and conveyed understanding via socio-medical relevant verbal/non-verbal cues, in a manner that an objective observer would conclude met the needs of all stakeholders?

Well, your partners in blue would most definitely spread the virus on their way to, during, and on their journey back home to all manner of voter—blue, red, independent. That was the reason the mass protests were so destructive, and why it was insane that you let your people run amok without so much as a whisper. As a doctor, did you tell people and patients that the virus hovered above the protests? That when they stopped at rest areas, hotels, slept in vehicles or bought supplies at stores along the way that the virus stayed in the car? I think the problem is actually that you oversimplified something quite serious.

🤫

A "doctor' minimizing the spread of a highly contagious disease in mass gatherings is really fascinating to see, but it goes back to the notion that even people with medicine have agendas that trump common sense. It was sort of an awkward pitch he made though---The fact that a 5 digit number of ignorant people---it's like he had to work extra hard to find something silly to say to distract from what he was saying.,

Nonsense. When tens of thousands of people protest regularly in cities across the country, traveling from there to here, or here to there, standing shoulder to shoulder, the damage is exponential. Worse still, these same folks often returned to disadvantaged communities, obviously spreading the virus to people the most at-risk members of the community, the death and damage from things like long covid would be unfathomable. You can attempt to downplay that all you like, but it's obviously bull-sh!t. To make matters worse, then VP Harris and soon to be Candidate Harris spread vaxx disinformation to many people of all parties and encouraged distrust of the vaccine developed in very quick order through a strategic alliance between pharma and govt. The damage she did there was catastrophic---at least when viewed through the number of potentially unnecessary deaths on her watch. Meanwhile, millions of conservative, independents followed the guidance, social distanced, stayed away from houses of worship, kept to themselves in families where no more than two households were gathered at any given point in time and quarantined in place once they became ill. Then again, this is just what the science and common sense tell us.

If vaxx hesitancy and reliance on HCQ was a problem, one can only imagine the spread caused by social justice mass gatherings. Death and serious illness was very good for the liberals leading up to Biden's election. Imagine if Trump had not delivered the vaccine?

I do miss her on some level. Or as Kamala might say “Our hearts yearn for acceptance in the most acceptable sense, our souls stretch across the divide that represents the divide between us, and soap and water ain’t gonna clean anything without a whole lotta elbow grease and some white wine vinegar.” Happy Juneteenth to you as well!

I am a gentleman if nothing else, as many men of my era were encouraged to be. Some listened, some didn’t, so I don’t want to paint with a broad brush. On the other hand, too many compliments leave us precious little room for growth. One of the biggest issues for me in all this is that I have no idea what the real intel is on Iran, their nuclear aspirations and partnerships/alliances with enemies of Israel. On the other hand, the international watchdogs have said that they were up to no good, and that seems likely enough to me. Ceasefire, Hamas releasing all hostages, agreements all good. Regime change would likely be a positive, though who knows. Oh, I know it’s good Jack! Here’s the secret though—a little intermittent fasting goes a long way for me without the plant based diet. I’m a tad lazy on that, but was at a pretty decent weight a few months back. Sadly, muscle isn’t jamming up my bmi at this point, but maybe I ralky for the beach next month. 😉 cassette deck and mix tape. The good old days! I do like my m&ms. This is quite good, and you’re welcome for the inspiration playa.

You need to walk around a bit in the shoes of an American citizen before you pretend to judge. It's a national past time to blame the citizens of today for slights real and imagined from a few hundred years ago. I can most definitely consider the policy decisions of the past as they relate to the situation we face today. I get that you're not comfortable dealing with the reality of your country's apathy and indifference to people in need--and that is separate and apart from the issues here. However, it's still apathy and indifference. Tibsy is a closeted maga!

Bill, you preach a mighty fine sermon, yet, oh, the (in)humanity. The cool part about turning people away en masse is that they never get to the point where you have to weigh the moral argument that they are the wife of a member of the RCMP. Pretty slick positioning. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-turning-away-more-foreigners-approving-fewer-visas-border- crackdown-2024-09-03/ https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-12-12/housing-crisis-economic-woes-and-trump-how-canada-turned-against-immigrants https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c780rj9nve0o

Little known fact...the original lyrics were quite different. JL was ahead of his time, and the concern was they wouldn't get much air play as people weren't sure exactly what a boomer was. Calmer heads prevailed I guess. Imagine there's no Boomers It's easy if you try No rage to deal with No one needs to cry Imagine all the people Excluding certain ones Ah--ha-ah-ah-ah You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one The boomers are anti-social And really not much fun

Please, Kay, refer to my original post. There’s no discussion to have—I acknowledged your very astute takedown of the boomer gen, and the transformation to love, respect and tolerance thereafter. I’m in the zone today and would appreciate the tolerance your generation is famous for—I’ve got my relaxation mix playing in the cassette deck. A little classical music, the obligatory 70s and 80s soft rock, a bit of alternative and finishing strong with some uplifting rap, M and M (I think that’s how he spells it) and later. Let’s let this be a bullying free zone. Congrats on the BMI, btw, I bet that’s the result of hard work, attention to fitness, and munching those plants. It should be a source of pride for you. I don’t pay a tremendous amount of attention to that, but could stand to shed a few pounds. I checked today—assuming the internet calculator is correct, I’m rocking a 24.8, just shy of fat boy city. Chubby side of average. Big boned+ (there’s crude joke in here for people of my generation, but likely not for the enlightened class). Long in the waist. Interestingly, though, after my recent physical, I used the “real age” calculator on my health insurance website and my levels suggest I’m 7 or 8 years younger than my actual age. Ok, it was 5 years but still, I’m not actually even a boomer, maybe! Oh, one small course correct—the lawn thing. We (all of us, obviously) typically become angry only when it’s “kids” on the lawn, not fully developed folks presumably not too too far off from middle age. Typically for the latter, it’s some version of physical/emotional impairment, substance abuse etc that leads them to violate the norms of civilized society—better to just contact local law enforcement and keep the peace. There is some tolerance here if the offender is smoking hot based on modern societal standards of course, but that happens rarely, I think.

I’m certainly the wrong person to ask. I would hope it’s bluster, but I have no idea. Let’s hope for the best.

Are you speaking of the congressional hearing or whatever the 911 thing is from Iran?

This was hard to watch, between the narrator producing in his basement, the odd lilt of Congressman Mouton’s speech, and the last guy from Cali going old-drunk-guy-at-little-league-shouting-at-umpire. These things are always theater but this one especially so. And really, the pretend outrage over classified material after the last few years?