ahegeman

It wasn't a justification for the war. Just a disagreement with the stats.

I think you two are confusing margin with mark-up.

That's a far lower death rate than the 1M or so deaths quoted as a result of the sanctions imposed on Iraq after the Gulf War (or more appropriately, by the governments penchant for building palaces rather than distributing the oil-for-food money as intended). Of course, many of those weren't technically "violent" deaths, so I guess they don't count. A foreigner's death only matters if one can somehow pin it on the US. Starving to death under a dictator's thumb doesn't make for such good headlines.

It also compares favorably to the rate of 13K/year (300K over 23 years) murdered by Saddam's security forces, the conservative figure claimed in the link you provided, so I don't know how you can claim it is "considerably higher" than when Hussein was in power.

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the high triple digits which can be found in the higher end jewellery stores.

Over 100% margin? Wow, that's quite a trick. I'd like to get into that business.

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Iraqi deaths overall are at their highest level since the invasion (and considerably higher than when Hussein was in power.)

You sure 'bout that? According to what statistics?

I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just interested in the specifics of what you're talking about.

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ASSHOLE RIGHTIE

Ooo . . pre-emptive personal attack. Cute.

Yo! Asshole Rightie, right here!

Racism is neither a root philosophy nor the exclusive franchise of the Republican party. Many of those who vote Republican sincerely believe that Democratic positions on crime, welfare, taxes, and many other social issues are actually detrimental to the country as a whole and minorities in particular. You can of course disagree with them, but that doesn't make them assholes.

The Democratic party's history on race is as ugly as the Rebuplican's, just like the rest of the country. Trying to define it along party boundaries is useless. All our predecessors share the blame equally. Sure, a Democrat pushed the Voting Rights Act, and another Democrat filibustered it. Big whoop. Trying to assume a mantle of racial superiority now because of party affiliation is at best misguided, and usually just pathetic.

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The wackos on the other side of the thought-stifling one-dimensional political spectrum are just as wacky, but at least their true motives don't seem to be racial and sexual bigotry.

You should check out the many comments often made about Condoleeza Rice, JC Watts, Colin Powell and other black Republicans, then reconsider. Many far lefties apparently only like blacks as long as they stay on the Democratic plantation.

And to think that so many want the same fuckers who gave us the TSA to run our health care system.

Lisa Marie - you are so forgetting "Tantric" and "Kama Sutra"

By the way...it doesn't take that long to buy a dildo!

That soundbite is hardly representative of all Republicans.

Not that I know of, but we've all known about it for weeks.

A guy here at Skydive Dallas won it.

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Makes me wonder about the hiring practices of PD and the citizenship of the PD employees.

Walt

Why should it? Plenty of legal immigrants can't speak English well. Things like this are how they learn.

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Would you send me a pic of it if you have one??
I love eagles.

Here's a cool eagle pic for you.

The taking of wild game with trained raptors.

Several falconers I know fly Peregrines. They are amazing creatures. I was out hunting with a guy who's Peregrine nailed a quail from a 1000' foot dive (aka stoop) only a few yards away from us. I sounded like someone hitting a watermelon with a baseball bat.

They are amazing flyers, but even falcons go in, sometimes. Several falconers have lost their falcons to collisions with the ground. Sometimes the intended target will dive to the ground as a diving falcon gets close, and the falcon can get so focused it follows the prey all the way in.

The "remarkable comback" is due to 2 factors. The DDT ban, and the captive breeding programs started by falconers. The government and various colleges tried unsuccessfully for decades to breed Peregrines in captivity. Falconers, understanding these birds better than anyone else, finally got it figured out.

In fact, the recovery has been so successful that the Fish and Game is about to begin allowing falconers to take wild Peregrines for falconry again.

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GOPers want Government off your back and out of your life, .

the NeoCon's want nothing of the sort...

Unfortunately, no one in politics apparently does. Even more unfortunately, I don't think the voters do, either.

Its difficult to imagine that there is a question. Barn owls are pretty small. Snowy owls are HUGE. But a snowy owl in southern California would be rare. However, last February a local raptor rehabber I know received a snowy owl that had been injured right here in Fort Worth, so its not inconceivable.

Most likely is that it was an immature Great Horned owl. Desert dwelling GHOs tend to have lighter plumage, and immature ones are lighter still.

No, I meant murder. The average time served for murderers released in 2001 in Illinios, for example, was under 14 years.

Justify however you want which crime is worse, I'm not trying to say either is. Its just something to think about. Which would you rather have walking the streets?

Without disagreeing that he deserves every year of that, its worth noting that you can murder someone in this country without getting that much time. Even with time off for good behavior, the earliest he can get out is 2027.

You forgot "poke them with sticks",

What the heck is that?

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Both this guy and Sam were pretty down to earth.

"Down to earth"

Now THAT's cold!

We were talking about 4-way exits at the DZ last weekend and our coach told us "don't fear the meeker" (we'd been having some trouble with it). I said we gotta have more cowbell and everyone looked at me like I was from another planet.

Whatever happened with the whole pebble bed concept? I heard a lot about it for a while, and it seems to have faded away. Seemed like a great idea overall.