purnell

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Posts posted by purnell

  1. Vince Kohler passed away earlier this week at the home of friends in Mt Vernon, Ohio. He was one of those rarefied few who touch the lives of all those around them.

    At his best he could be surly, stubborn, egotistical, and obnoxious. He was also equal parts generous, gentlemanly, caring and good hearted. He was always the first to offer the next round, a place to stay, or a jump ticket to round out a 4 way.

    Vince introduced me to skydiving 3 years ago and his outgoing nature and sense of adventure led to friendships across the country. There are dropzones in 3 of 4 timezones we are proud to think of as home.

    I miss you already brother, you left us too early. See you on the flip-side.

    C

  2. You're ignoring how much additional effort posters will have to put in to their initial posts in order to completely spell out the benefits and the costs.

    -- Think of the extra time people will have to put into evaluating both sides of every issue.

    -- Think of the bandwidth wasted explaining both sides of every issue.

    -- Think of how much longer it will take to read every post.

    This will never work.

  3. Quote

    OSU? Ohio State University, in Michigan? Is that in the panhandle?



    Ohio State is in Columbus Ohio, Univ of Mich is in Ann Arbor, Michigan (also known as the team up north). It's been a great college rivalry.

    The pick 4 thing (lottery) is admittedly creepy.

    With the game that close it will be very interesting to see how the rankings come out. The only thing more complicated than modeling global warming is the BCS poll.

  8. I think the idea goes along the lines of:

    You live on a cul-de-sac with 4 other neighbors. Three of the neighbors hold jobs, pay their taxes, raise their kids, and are generally law-abiding. They also own guns because although it's not a bad part of town,it's not great either.

    The fourth neighbor has a troubled past. Run-ins with the other neighbors, family members who mysteriously disappear, and he has a habit of standing on his lawn threatening the other neighbors with violent death if they step on his lawn.

    Is it arrogant to suggest neighbor number four not be allowed a gun?

    Just a thought...

  9. Quote

    Quote

    ***

    North Korea's government doesn't worry me as much as mine (US) does. We need to stop bullying other countries when it politically suits us. We also need to stop abusing our veto power in the UNSC so that only those countries we do not like are held responsible for their UNSC resolution violations.



    The people who live there may disagree with you. North Korea is a closed society which we know little about. What is generally acknowledged is that most of the population is routinely in a state of semi-starvation and the government has a habit of putting 10s of thousands of its own citizens in gulags for various 'political' crimes.

    But, using your logic that everyone should (or at least has the right) to have nuclear weapons, perhaps the best solution is for us to provide Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan with some help with their nuclear programs. By providing working examples to study and play around with.

  12. The African Union has peace keepers deployed now, and they are incapable of stopping the violence.

    I can't buy the argument that the complete lack of post-war planning in Iraq should have any bearing on stopping an incredible humanitarian disaster.

    What does our 'credibility' have anything to do with stopping the rape and murder of un-armed civilians on a wholesale level?

  15. Afghanistan demonstrates why we should drop rilfles instead of surface to air missles.

    US intervention certainly isn't guaranteed to make things better, but if we are going to wait for the UN to make a difference it isn't going to happen. We'll all shake our heads two years from now and wonder how the world let another 500,000 people die under our own noses.

    Maybe we'll get another Caans film festival winner out of it.

  16. There is oil there, it's what the fighting is about - control of the oil and the revenues it creates. The natives are black, some christian and some muslim. The international community should care, but I guess genocide in Africa isn't quite good enough for headlines.

    The Bush administration wanted the UN resolution passed earlier in the summer to include the charge of genocide. The wording was refused because its inclusion would have required the UN to actively take measures to put a stop to it. As it stands, the UN attempted to replace the African Union peacekeeping force with a UN contingent of peacekeepers. The Sudanese government refused, indicating it would treat any UN peacekeepers as foreign invaders.

    The idea of the UN is a nice one in theory, but the situation in Darfur again demonstrates what an ineffectual organization it is.

    The least we could do is airdrop food and Ak-47s to the refugees on the ground so that they'd have a crack at defending themselves. :|

  18. That's simply incredible on so many levels. How the &*#@ does 5% of the population get through the day if they can't even determine what friggin month 9 is?

    It's easy to blame the schools, but it also has to start at home. Wow.

  19. Quote

    Anyone else think this story is a little wierd?

    www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=59416


    I mean, don't they need a LOT of explosives and only a few detonators to blow a huge bridge?



    Ah, but I can't believe you of all people don't see through their nefarious plot ... don't you teach the Tacoma bridge collapse in your freshman physics course?

    1. Purchase 1,000 cell phones and download the Homer Simpson "D'oh" ringtone

    2. Place cell phones strategically around bridge supports

    3. Call all phones simultaneously

    4. Resonance induced by ring tones brings down bridge.

    Whala!