inignoct wrote:
] good read... somewhat dense in spots for those of us without
] a lot of experience in political philosophies.
]
] i take from all this that Neocons generally define themselves
] as pragmatists, acting in all cases in such a way as to
] maximize the global benefits for the U.S. specifically with a
] middle-of-the road approach to the tradeoffs between the size
] of government and the availability of social programs.

What's especially interesting to me is an article I read today on Talking Points Memo which states that the conservatives are equating neocon to mean conservative jewish people. I had no freaking idea that this was going on, but apparently, when you criticize neocons, yuo are "anti-semitic," according to some of these sources. Totally absurd notion. Read the talking points memo story at: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2004_01_04.html#002372

RE: Conservatives and Neoconservatives

inignoct wrote:
] ] A former Iraqi intelligence officer, whom the Express did
] ] not name, told the paper that Saddam was held prisoner by
] ] a leader of the Kurdish Patriotic Front, which fought
] ] alongside US forces during the Iraq war, until he
] ] negotiated a deal.
]
] ] The deal apparently involved the group gaining political
] ] advantage in the region.
]
] This would be interesting if this hit the mainstream press.
] Certainly would change the views of Bush's job in Iraq. I
] wish some enterprising journalist in the US would follow up on
] this.

Bonus Ryan: There have been some reports criticizing this story, but no one seems to be able to refute some of its core points. Here's a good one for you: the hole Saddam was in was incapable of opening from the inside and he had no communications equipment with him.

RE: Yahoo! News - Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops

] The Army will prohibit troops returning from Iraq and
] Afghanistan from retiring or leaving the service for
] other reasons for up to 90 days after arriving at their
] home bases, military officials said Monday.

Thanks for your service! No, you can't leave. Sorry.

CNN.com - Army to delay soldiers' exits - Jan. 5, 2004

] An 11-year-old girl sold heroin on the street while
] dressed in her school uniform or even her pajamas, doing
] the bidding of her mother and a man who may be her
] stepfather, police said.

!!!

CNN.com - Dressed in her school uniform, 11-year-old sold heroin, police say - Jan. 6, 2004

] Wolzien has a plan: Regulate the DVR so consumers have to
] watch the commercials. It's the only way to prevent the
] technology from destroying a $60 billion business. The
] government mandates all sorts of things in TV sets, after
] all--from UHF tuners to closed-captioning to HDTV. He sees ]networks feeding their signals with codes that tell DVRs whether ]the commercial can be skipped, giving "control of playback ]parameters to the content provider who sells the bulk of the ]revenue-producing advertising that funds that content."

That's just fantastic thinking. As one commentator put it, why not just ban switching channels during the commercials as well?

Broadcasting & Cable - The Shape of Things To Come

] A former Iraqi intelligence officer, whom the Express did
] not name, told the paper that Saddam was held prisoner by
] a leader of the Kurdish Patriotic Front, which fought
] alongside US forces during the Iraq war, until he
] negotiated a deal.

] The deal apparently involved the group gaining political
] advantage in the region.

This would be interesting if this hit the mainstream press. Certainly would change the views of Bush's job in Iraq. I wish some enterprising journalist in the US would follow up on this.

Yahoo! News - Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops

] "I should have had the opportunity to get help, but
] baseball had no fancy rehab for gamblers like they do for
] drug addicts," Rose wrote. "If I had admitted my guilt,
] it would have been the same as putting my head on the
] chopping block -- lifetime ban. Death penalty. I spent my
] entire life on the baseball fields of America, and I was
] not going to give up my profession without first seeing
] some hard evidence. ... Right or wrong, the punishment
] didn't fit the crime -- so I denied the crime."

One of the greatest men in the history of the sport may finally now get the recognition he deserves.

SI.com - MLB - Rose admits to betting on baseball - Monday January 5, 2004 8:49AM

] Dean's Kentucky campaign begins poorly: Letters received
] by Dean after he signed Vermont's civil-unions bill: "I
] was really sorry to read where you have allowed the
] passage of a bill recognizing queers to marry," wrote
] someone from Kentucky, "who vowed never to vacation in
] Vermont again." "I have been a Democrat all my life, but
] now that the Democrats are turning into queers, I am
] switching to the Republican Party. I hope you and all
] your queer buddies rot in hell."
]
] Another said, "Dean Is a Faggot Lover. All Homosexuals,
] Go to Vermont, Dean Loves You. All Normal People, Stay
] Away From Vermont. A State Full Of Perverts—Run By
] Perverts. Boycott Fag Run Vermont." On one fund-raising
] walk after the bill-signing, an elderly woman walked up
] to Dean and said, "You fucking, queer-loving son of a
] bitch."

Just when I think my faith in the American voter cannot sink any farther, I run across something like this. Ah, my old state never serves to disappoint. I mean, seriously.

A Browser's Guide to Campaign 2004, Cont'd - Slate reads another Dean book so you don't have to. By Chris Suellentrop

] AOL's 'Top 10 Spam Email Subject Lines' of 2003:*
]
] 1. Viagra online (also: xanax, valium, xenical,
] phentermine, soma, celebrex, valtrex, zyban, fioricet,
] adipex, etc.)
] 2. Online pharmacy (also: 'online prescriptions'; 'meds
] online')
] 3. Get out of debt (also: 'special offer')
] 4. Get bigger (also: 'satisfy your partner'; 'improve
] your sex life')
] 5. Online degree (also: 'online diploma')
] 6. Lowest mortgage rates (also: 'lower your mortgage
] rates'; 'refinance'; 'refi')
] 7. Lowest insurance rates (also: 'lower your insurance
] now')
] 8. Work from home (also: 'be your own boss')
] 9. Hot XXX action (also: 'teens'; 'porn')
] 10. As seen on oprah

] * - Source: AOL. This list is unscientific, and is not in
] any specific order. The cited email subject headers are
] not ranked by volume.

Also noted in the press release-- AOL blocked nearly half a trillion spams this year.

America Online | Press Releases

] Arthur R. von Hippel, a German-born scientist who made
] critical contributions to the development of radar and
] was a pioneer in the study of material science, has died.
] He was 105.

CNN.com - MIT scientist, pioneer dies at 105 - Jan. 4, 2004