So how was your day?

[OMNI]

aye tropi i was watching the news and i was giggling like crazy

tho i have to admit for some reason during the past 15 or so years swedish trains have started to suffer when it snows to much.

 

[EvilSpaceAlien]

aye tropi i was watching the news and i was giggling like crazy

tho i have to admit for some reason during the past 15 or so years swedish trains have started to suffer when it snows to much.

That's more as a result of poor funding, too much traffic on the current tracks for the system to cope (seriously, we need some extensive modernization of our rail system), bad management, and the fact that since the railroads were deregulated and Banverket split from Statens Järnvägar and then SJ itself split into six different state owned companies in 2000, which led to nothing but communications problems. Go figure that there's a problem with the railways during the winter when the railway is owned by one company, the trains by another, and the people who are responsible for clearing the snow are employed by another.

 

[Bluce Ree]

I go thru about a gallon of distilled water a day, no lie. It's pretty much all I drink nowadays. I'll occasionally drink a caffeine-free diet soda, but not on a daily basis. Water is my friend!

Not sure if I'm going to get sliced and diced yet. They thought I had a torn meniscus (sp?) but I don't, so no surgery needed right now. As for the shoulder, it's an impingement on the nerve which I've had all my life. It's just gotten worse suddenly but it's always been an issue.

The good thing is that the surgeries for knee or shoulder are much improved now. My mom, who just turned 80, had her knee done for a torn meniscus a few months ago and she healed very quickly. Was arthroscopic so they just poked tubes in her and no major incisions. She walked out of the clinic 2 hours after surgery. And my doc (her same doc) told me the shoulder surgery had the same prognosis for recovery.

Now, granted, I don't want surgery but if PT turns out to be a bust then I'll just want to get it taken care of. The pain is not worth dealing with and I am not one for taking opiates. My docs always are surprised that I don't ask for vicoden or oxy when they see me. I guess everyone else does but for me I just don't want that stuff. But I don't want to be in pain either so like I said if PT doesn't work then I'll have them cut out the demon that lives in my scapula.

Besides, it's my right shoulder and I'm right handed and this pain is starting to affect my love life...ha!

Maybe it's time for an affair with the virgin lefty.

 

[shavedape]

Maybe it's time for an affair with the virgin lefty.

Believe me I've tried but she won't give it up.

 

[Bluce Ree]

Believe me I've tried but she won't give it up.

Pfft! Virgins. When we're young, we wanna be the first. When we get older, we realize it's a waste of time and just not worth the effort.

 

[Tropicana]

LOL, the pair of ya are hilarious.

Maybe Shavedape should just play rough with the lefty.

 

[Tropicana]

@OMNI

If there's a repeat of last year with London Heathrow Airport this winter, I will personally begin a campaign to get the CEO of BAA who owns the airport, fired.

(I have to reply to ya this cos the mobile skin won't allow me to reply and quote ur original msg for some reason, must get OM1 look into it.)

 

[Stonelesscutter]

I expect the heavy coverage here in America but I'm a bit surprised it's inundating Europe. Personally I don't care for the coverage each year, mostly because it was so horrific that I won't ever forget it and don't want to relive it. Being the 10 year anniversary they are really pumping it this year. It started 2 weeks ago if you can believe it. Not to be unpatriotic but this stuff is just too depressing to dwell on for so many days at a time.

Since it was a news story there is tons of free footage that these channels can cobble together to make shows, so I doubt it's being done out of sympathy but rather as a means to generate profits. As for airing this stuff in Europe though, well, I don't know what their motivation is. Sure it's noteworthy but does a person in say Holland *cough cough* really want to watch wall to wall coverage of 9/11 ?

Because I hardly watch any television, especially where news items are concerned, I don't mind seeing 9/11 coverage too much. It's not like I've seen a whole lot of it before. Since it's almost ten years ago that the tragedy occurred it makes sense that there'd be a lot of attention for it.

I'm actually mighty interested in seeing how ground-zero has transformed in the last ten years from a disaster area into what it is now. As to what it is now, I don't really know, strangely I've hardly seen any footage whatsoever of the new tower(s) they're constructing. I don't know how far along the project is even. The only thing I saw on tv about it a few days ago was a 2 second shot of the memorial/monument/waterfall-thing.

oh we have a similar problem here in regards to imigration ie if you coplain about it and the failed intigration of all these imigrants flooding into our country you are imediatly deemed a RACIST and a NAZI and as such you end up ridiculed hated and not listened to EVEN tho you raise valid points that people should be concerned about...

Mega greenage for you my friend!

People fear some rare things because media reinforcement but don't fear things that they have a greater chance of. lol, we fear potential kidnapping more than car accidents even though the chances of a car accident is far more likely. Or some other stupid little thing that happens to a minute group of individuals.

BEWARE! KILLER POSSUMS LOOSE!

Fear is an instrument of power. Politicians and insurance companies and especially dictators thrive on it.

*ahem*

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091499/

I happened to catch that movie on tv a couple of months ago and I found it entertaining enough to watch it. Or at least most of it. Ofcourse perhaps I was just bored out of my skull.

True dat but we lead the pack. Haven't heard? America is always #1 no matter what the category.

Please forgive me for :puke:

 

[Graybrew1]

when that is how the majorty of the people live it CANNOT be defined as a time of wealth and surplus imo,

The Majority of my country was not living in slums in either the 80's surplus or the 2001 time period. The majority of Americans are the middle class. The poor are the minority that is why in the past they have been left to slip through the cracks I have agreed that this is a horrible thing and don't approve of it. The true crying shame in my country is the disappearance of the middle class.

The structure of the few poor, many middle, and few rich is IMO how it should be. Currently the poor are still poor, but many of the majority of the middle class are getting closer to poor, and the rich are getting richer. The worst possible thing to happen to our nation would be have have only the poor and the rich. This would harken us back to the days where pure corruption runs rampant as the rich would strive to get even richer and the poor would never stand a chance.

This should at the very least show you that I do not find my nation without faults. All this being said I still love my country.

 

[Graybrew1]

Halliburton was granted a no-bid contract for the war in Iraq. Rather than being watched by a government appointed oversight committee to make sure there was no abuse, they were left to their own devices. The result was price gouging, like soft drinks priced at a few bucks a can and selling gas to the military at prices higher than you see at the pump, even though it was available from neighboring Saudi or Kuwait for less than a buck a gallon.

Capitalism works when it's not abused and left to fester in its greed. This country has proven time and time again that certain industries need to be heavily regulated and/or government run.

This point we agree on. This is true for both sides of the political coin, left and right and everything in between.

 

[Graybrew1]

Torch lighter? What, are you smoking cigars???

They used to make these pretty little mini torch lighters or butane lighters and I had one. It was my favorite lighter at the time, but that my was my dumb fault. So be it.

 

[Stonelesscutter]

very blind of you...

people that love and think those people just BC they "serve" are infallable bug the hell out of me... police especially.. as imo they are just as bad as the criminals but they have a "badge" so they have the "right" to do whatever the hell they like..

Do I detect some leftover hostility towards the men in blue? Most police officers aren't bad man. There's a couple of rotten apples to be sure. Same is true for any other part of government.

We become great when we can laugh at ourselves and recognize our faults.

Well said. Is that your own or someone elses quote?

That is sad.

But some do wish us all to rot and die. I don't like the delays and scans and lines at security for flying either. It is something that must be done to protect us from the possibility of another plane high-jacking. I still believe that SAFETY must come first. So, where do you draw those lines?

What rights would you choose to give up for the guarantee of your loved one's lives? None, Some or any? That is a decision, I would not want to have to make. I fault this country's politicians for multitudes and still feel 90 percent of them are innately corrupt, but I don't have a problem with putting somebody on a watch list, if there is even a chance in a million that it will prevent injury to my kid.

The watch list is only the first step on the way to a society that would be horrible to live in and would completely contradict the constitution Americans are so proud of. You guys better be careful out there coz right now you're on a very slippery slope. It wouldn't take much to get the ignorant masses that make up the bulk of the populace to vote for a law that takes away freedom from the people and delivers power to a few people who seek to gain from it in any way possible.

The TSA's current security measures are designed to frustrate and fear monger. They are everything but about protecting people. Liquids in ziplock bags? Please.

Israel, a country surrounded by hostile nations and targeted by terrorists on a daily basis, is able to get you from the curb to the gate in 30 minutes flat. They have turned airport security into a science. They start the screening process at the curb, with specially trained people who observe and interact with you, and it continues all the way to your gate. How many hijacks and/or bombings have occurred from Israel's international airport? Try zero.

London Heathrow airport, once targeted by IRA terrorists and still subject to hostility, gets you from the curb to the gate in under 45 minutes.

USA does not have anything even remotely resembling the threats Israel is subject to, where terrorism is a daily occurrence. Instead of taking example from security measures that actually work, they decide to do as America always does, follow the advice of in-bred hacks running the TSA and implement ass-backward and utterly useless security measures. The kicker is encountering TSA people with an IQ of 35, who barely have sufficient brain function to think without shutting down their vital organs, running *your* security. Fear mongering is now a way of life. Airports are always at threat level orange and never budge.



None and you shouldn't have to. The fact that you can be detained without cause under the Patriot Act is Orwellian. Illegal search and seizure is now legal without a warrant under the Patriot Act. People get put on watch lists for absolutely no reason. There are procedures to follow and these procedures are meant to keep a high level of integrity and accuracy when dealing with law enforcement matters.

Without constitutional rights, we erode the society we're trying to protect. Then what's the point?

Hear hear.

The TSA doesn't know their ass from their elbow. They employ dropouts with high-school equivalencies. The US isn't stupid. They have agencies like the NSA, the FBI, the CIA that have been highly successful and are relatively organized since their inception. Why is TSA such an exception?

The next time you see eight TSA agents hanging around the x-ray machine cracking jokes, you'll understand why I say they are *not* understaffed.



If the USA can't put together a comprehensive security plan for their own airports, then were in a lot more trouble than we think and it proves that the country is being led by mentally challenged bureaucrats. Israel and UK been dealing with it for decades. So, look to them for advice on how to implement efficient and effective security and stop putting ignorant people in charge of vital government agencies as we do now.



Grey, you know I love ya but that's just plain silly and more proof that the fear mongering has managed to convince you of the bullshit they push.

Watch this:
- board plane with liquids in ziplock
- sit in my seat
- pull liquids out of ziplock
- wave goodbye out window
- mix & kaboom

Oh, look! I did the absolute impossible! I broke the impregnable sandwich-bag security!

There's no pussyfooting around it. It is a plainly stupid and useless measure.



If Israel can keep bombs off their planes, it would be wise to consult the Israelis on airport security.



That's admirable and would expect nothing less. However, if you're referring to giving up constitutional rights, then you've allowed the terrorists to win and are allowing your country to move towards a policed state.



Another misconception. Was the US at war with Timothy Mcveigh, too?



Yet Israel gets it and can implement smooth, efficient security without stripping you of your dignity and patience. You've allowed the bullshit started by the Bush cronies to clutter your judgment. The US is the most advanced country on the planet when it comes to military and conventional technology, law enforcement and intelligence but, somehow, we're ass-backwards with airport security.



Do you have an idea of how many post 9/11 terrorist plots have been stopped by unlawful search, detention without cause and no-warrant wire taps? Again, by allowing our constitutional rights to be eroded in this manner, we let the terrorists win.

Dude! Stop writing so many greenable posts already! Just kidding. Keep 'em coming bro.

"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws."

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Can anyone say that this isn't a truism in today's world?

I cannot.

 

[Graybrew1]

No, no, no, no NO! This isn't a political debate! I purposely called it the Clinton era surplus, not the Clinton surplus. It means there was surplus during his two terms. It doesn't imply he had anything to do with it.



Money flowed. Halliburton was paid handsomely for their rare cans of exotic soft drinks and magic gas. TSA was served a rotten egg salad sandwich because, frankly, airport security was not priority but they had to make people believe something was being done.

It is hard to talk about one part of this issue without some of the other jumping in. You brought up the speciific name, and the statement inferred that it was Clinton's surpus. I merely felt a need to clarify and give Reagan his dues.

I never said it (TSA)was without fault or handled perfectly. The original statement I was debunking by you is that the TSA were purposely frustrating and fear mongering the Amercan public. That seems to me you would need some pretty clever TSA agent's to conspire to do that. So, which is it? Are you morons ? Or conniving evil bastards?I am not a big fan of most conspiracy theories. That comment stroke me as such. Was I misreading you intention?

 

[Graybrew1]

Goodnight!...

Okay guys, what outfit is GB going to be wearing tomorrow? Any guesses?

Funny you should ask..........................

 

[Stonelesscutter]

One of my neighbors is a supervisor at PHI for TSA, he is college educated and very intelligent. There are stupid Teacher, Doctors, Cops, TSA, Lawyers, and Janitors.... my pet peeve is over generalization. I have never had any major problem with any TSA every. The stopped me from bringing a Torch lighter on a plane in Salt Lake City. They were polite and intelligent enough. They explained my choices and I told them to throw the thing away, off to my flight I went.

The whole point of the ziplock bag is that they check the fluids so that that cannot happen. They would be able to do it guaranteed without it. We are not the only country that has these restrictions. The only difference I noticed in other countries was that sometimes I did not have to take off my shoes. My main delay at airports, is always checking in. This is the fault of the airline and not a TSA matter.

I continue to understand that you are unwilling to give up any rights no matter the cost, I am.

Ask the men and women that are serving overseas with bombs exploding around them if this is a war. It is. Timothy Mcveigh is like comparing apples to oranges. There are nations of people that want us all dead.

Who's generalizing now dear?

 

[Graybrew1]

spoilsport!
who cares the topic took off and some really intresting discussion happened!

I agree, THIS is what happened in my day.
I decided to have a debate over some ineresting and diverse sujects with my friends from around the globe.

 

[shavedape]

I cannot.

Fine, then please explain why you can't agree with that statement.

 

[Graybrew1]

OK time for "English" rant
English as a subject does NOT really exist to teach you language skills.
YES they are part of it, but it is NOT the main point. The main point of English (or whatever your native tongue is) is to teach you to not only communicate well (or within it's structures), but to encourage CRITICAL THINKING. In Oz , the ONLY compulsory subject is english, purely for that reason. You NEED to be able to see how "things" work. Math does not teach it, neither does history or geography, they deal in ABSOLUTES (well, theoretical absolutes) Language study generally encourages the student to think for themselves and formulate thier own conclusions. YES it must work within a "System" for marking purposes, but for everything else...............
Ahhhh, stopping now.

I had a teacher in Eleventh grade for my hounours English course that taught to enourage critical thinking. Too this day, he was my favorite teacher. I took with me everything that I learned from him. He would be the first to acknowledge my horrid grammar skills.

He did make me want to read more and and think more in general. He was a truly GREAT teacher.

 

[Rac80]

JUST IMHO of course!

aye its the same bloody thing over here and on sunday channel1 is dedicating the whole day to it.. i mean WTH??? its been 10 years sure it was an incident worthy of note but FFS this is europe and ALOT has happened here aswell that is more worthy of note to us... and they keep blabbering on about how 9/11 changed the world forever... wth? not that much changed tbh...

vote with your clicker and change the channel...there's no one FORCING you to watch it is there?

I've noticed that, even around here, most people are sympathetic to the event but they don't seem to obsess over it. It happened, it was a tragedy, but they're hardly sitting at home watching a 24 hr marathon about it and the only time anyone even mentions the event is when September rolls around. The media makes a much bigger deal out of it than people do.

The media seems to think they actually matter and everything is about them....

oh we have a similar problem here in regards to imigration ie if you coplain about it and the failed intigration of all these imigrants flooding into our country you are imediatly deemed a RACIST and a NAZI and as such you end up ridiculed hated and not listened to EVEN tho you raise valid points that people should be concerned about...

LOL yep say you worry about ISLAMIST terrorists and you too will get hit with the nazi or racist epithet here in the USA. or if you are a tea party member who simply worries about the gov't spending too much money-- you too will get called a terrorist as I am. yes I have reported myself to the white house's rat line.

People fear some rare things because media reinforcement but don't fear things that they have a greater chance of. lol, we fear potential kidnapping more than car accidents even though the chances of a car accident is far more likely. Or some other stupid little thing that happens to a minute group of individuals.

BEWARE! KILLER POSSUMS LOOSE!

I just fear some idiotic driver who doesn't understand how to use a rotary!

Sometimes, I wonder if such reactions are truly sincere or if they're only beating up on complainers just because it seems to be the socially acceptable thing to do.

sounds like it to me!

I don't assume they are perfect OMNI. But they DO put their lives on the line everyday.

THAT alone deserves respect in my book. I never said they were infallable. I have several friends that are police and they are neither dirty or think they have a right to do what they want. They are highly regulated nowadays by the IA. My Dad, Big brother and now my nephew are/were Marines. I am a bit Subjective I admit it. But I can't apologize for that. That is my heart and my opinion.

I totally agree...those who risk their lives daily deserve our respect and gratitude, yes there are a few bad apples, and of course the press EMPHASIZES those bad apples. but the vast majority are good honorable men and women who do their jobs each and everyday despite the ungrateful assholes out there. My Dad fought his way across the pacific in WWII- he always said there is no such thing as a former marine-once a marine always a marine...HOORAH!

I can't speak for the world, but I would have felt that way at any time. Before or After 9/11. If you are going to point out flaws in ANY country I think a disclaimer is acceptable. The one thing that 9/11 did do, IMO, is raise the emotion level.

I was in Mexico the week before 9/11 and having a very interesting debate with somebody from UK about their countries flaws versus mine and we both made a point to say to each other that we still loved our countries.

Think about this as more human nature. If you love your Mom/Dad/Spouse/Kid whatnot but they drive you nuts. Don't you make sure to tell whoever you are venting to that you still love this person? I think most would.

The great thing about the US is that you have the right to spit on the flag and burn it. Those people that risked their lives to give that too you, should be the first to acknowledge that fact. They don't have to be happy about it, but they do have to accept it.

or as daddy always told my hippie older sister- "I may hate what you say...but will fight to the death for your right to say it"...don't remember who he was paraphrasing.

The TSA's current security measures are designed to frustrate and fear monger. They are everything but about protecting people. Liquids in ziplock bags? Please.

Israel, a country surrounded by hostile nations and targeted by terrorists on a daily basis, is able to get you from the curb to the gate in 30 minutes flat. They have turned airport security into a science. They start the screening process at the curb, with specially trained people who observe and interact with you, and it continues all the way to your gate. How many hijacks and/or bombings have occurred from Israel's international airport? Try zero.

London Heathrow airport, once targeted by IRA terrorists and still subject to hostility, gets you from the curb to the gate in under 45 minutes.

USA does not have anything even remotely resembling the threats Israel is subject to, where terrorism is a daily occurrence. Instead of taking example from security measures that actually work, they decide to do as America always does, follow the advice of in-bred hacks running the TSA and implement ass-backward and utterly useless security measures. The kicker is encountering TSA people with an IQ of 35, who barely have sufficient brain function to think without shutting down their vital organs, running *your* security. Fear mongering is now a way of life. Airports are always at threat level orange and never budge.



None and you shouldn't have to. The fact that you can be detained without cause under the Patriot Act is Orwellian. Illegal search and seizure is now legal without a warrant under the Patriot Act. People get put on watch lists for absolutely no reason. There are procedures to follow and these procedures are meant to keep a high level of integrity and accuracy when dealing with law enforcement matters.

Without constitutional rights, we erode the society we're trying to protect. Then what's the point?

One of my neighbors is a supervisor at PHI for TSA, he is college educated and very intelligent. There are stupid Teacher, Doctors, Cops, TSA, Lawyers, and Janitors.... my pet peeve is over generalization. I have never had any major problem with any TSA every. The stopped me from bringing a Torch lighter on a plane in Salt Lake City. They were polite and intelligent enough. They explained my choices and I told them to throw the thing away, off to my flight I went.

The whole point of the ziplock bag is that they check the fluids so that that cannot happen. They would be able to do it guaranteed without it. We are not the only country that has these restrictions. The only difference I noticed in other countries was that sometimes I did not have to take off my shoes. My main delay at airports, is always checking in. This is the fault of the airline and not a TSA matter.

I continue to understand that you are unwilling to give up any rights no matter the cost, I am.

Ask the men and women that are serving overseas with bombs exploding around them if this is a war. It is. Timothy Mcveigh is like comparing apples to oranges. There are nations of people that want us all dead.

yep the average TSA agent can't tell what a liquid is just by sight or smell...married to a chemist here- he has told me of several combos that are innocuous looking but would give quite the explosion with only 3 ounces each. and who can forget the panty-bomber who tried to blow up a plane with his underwear...TSA didn't catch him. The TSA only serves to irritate americans because they focus on grandmothers and three year olds instead of the 20-something Muslim men who have been the actual terrorists! (look out...granny has geritol! )

yes and how was life for the poorest in your country at that time eh? what i see in my head whan i think about those times are projects in new york in ruins.. economical growth and surplus my arse.

actually being poor in america is NOT like being poor in africa...the poor in america have A/C (76 %), own their own home (46 %), have tvs (nearly 99%), dvds, cable tv, X-boxes,...oh you get the idea. thanks to the wonderful charitiable organizations in this country being poor here is NOT like being poor elsewhere. Oh btw- most of the "homeless" choose to be for their drugs/alcohol addictions or mental illnesses...we emptied the mental hospitals on to the streets in the 70s...the libs thought it was a good idea. http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/39016

 

[Graybrew1]

Who's generalizing now dear?

Yes, I have already answered this in my response to this comment. The miilions an millions of people that live int he countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria.