Monday Open Thread
I’m too busy with other work to engage right now (proofreading a book about an idiot), but I don’t want to keep you guys from gabbing, so here’s a new open thread for you. (I feel like I’m tossing meat into the lion cage).
I’m too busy with other work to engage right now (proofreading a book about an idiot), but I don’t want to keep you guys from gabbing, so here’s a new open thread for you. (I feel like I’m tossing meat into the lion cage).
How about a discussion about why English should be the national language? I’m not saying it needs to be the only language, but I do believe if your a citizen you must learn it, unless of course your an elderly who is dependant on others. Thats all I’m saying!
I agree. I was born in Guatemala and came to the US in 1974 at the age of 10, we moved into Marina Del Rey, CA. I was expected to learn the English language by my parents, teachers, and peers alike. The school I attended had a program called ESL, English as a Second Language; I remember there were kids in that program who were born in the US but had spoken only Spanish at home and had no clue how to function outside the home in their homeland. I credit my mom, who would speak to us in only English after 2 months of being here. We lost German though, her native tounge, but that’s the price you sometimes pay.
I do not agree that an elderly person does not need it, anyone who is here should learn it. If anyone visits abroad, do not most people take a dictionary of that language? I feel it’s important to learn several languages, It is more of a global economy these days, and in order to excel, our kids need to learn the ways of the world, not only the local ways. It’s all about learning.
Speaking of learning, Scott the trucker, you may want to learn the difference between “your” and “you’re”. Not making fun of you, just want you to know the difference.
I’m not sure why English as our national language is such a touchy subject. It seems pretty intuitive that if you’re looking to move to a country and thrive there that it’s in your best interest to learn the language. One of the consequences in jumping into a melting pot is you are going to have to melt at some point.
I think the reason this conversation pushes all the wrong buttons in certain communities is because it just so happens to be one of the rallying cries of some very racist douche-nozzles. Some people forget that immigrants built this country and, like Keith Richards, we periodically need new blood to thrive.
That being said, I would like to see Illegal immigration made a hell of a lot more difficult and Legal immigration a hell of a lot more easy. If people from Mexico are (and that is who we’re talking about) are going to come here, they should be doing it on our terms…and considering we DO want and need them here, it should be very simple for them to do so.
While many people inside states will agree with you, it can never happen. You will be called a racist as soon as you put a plan like this forward. Heck, people that were against ebonics in Cali were called racist.
People just love throwing that word around. If we build a wall to our south, it is racist. But Mexican’s who catch Hondurans illegally crossing will be jailed or worse. That’s not racist?
Regardless of what it is, you have to look at it from their perspective. While reasonable people may be making these suggestions, they’re also being shouted by genuine racists. When people are pushed, they push back and when you’re so used to pushing against an idea, it ceases to matter who’s making the case and why. You just push.
For those of us who aren’t racist cock-bites, this provokes a similar reaction. We see someone reacting “irrationally” to a very reasoned opinion, and we react by pushing back. After all we’re not racist! How dare they call us racist!
It’s a vicious cycle…and unfortunately, part of human nature.
For those who are online as of this post, Petraeus & Crocker are testifying before the Senate on Iraq. All 3 presidential candidates will be asking questions, I believe. Watch here: http://www.cspan.org/ to hear for yourself. I’m listening as I code. It is also being carried live on the news channels on Sirius. Those who missed it can get it on CSPAN’s archive.
A protester was just removed. I wonder how many more will erupt?
Hey did anyone catch the Artie Lange show at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles on Saturday? Artie gave Pete a lot of credit for keeping things light after the Screaming Deacons — a rather undistinguished metal band — overstayed their welcome and cut short the time available for the comics. I thought the band was silly — where’s the rebelliousness in smashing your guitar to pieces at the end of the show if everyone can see you just exchanged the one you’d been playing for a prop guitar? — and I enjoyed the comics but I do believe Artie, Pete and co. would have been better if they hadn’t just transplanted a typical nightclub show into a six thousand-seat arena. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, even allowing for the Screaming Deacons, but I’m surprised that the production of the show was so low-rent. I’m not expecting Vegas glitz, just not a nightclub act with too big a vacuum to fill…
Okay, what did Pete promise to send to you if you fluffed him?
Slowhand, as in Eric Clapton Slowhand?
Yes, as in Eric Clapton. Funny how few people get that, and nobody under 40!
I want you to listen up today:
I have noticed that when Pete is on the phone with someone who is in agreement with him, he allows the person to simply blurt out anything he chooses (alot of which is usually wrong). (Example from yesterday where an American in Canada can call in and claim the economy sucks because the exchange rate has changed and the dollar is ‘weak’)
When someone disagrees with Pete, that individual is held to a higher standard and must produce evidence to back up his claim. (I called in to discuss how in Macro that a weak currency is often a good thing… but I had to provide evidence of what we are exporting as well as other information I could not get while driving).
My evidence for yesterdays claim:
From http://www.chicagofed.org/consumer_information/strong_dollar_weak_dollar.cfm
Weakening Dollar
Advantages
U.S. firms find it easier to sell goods in foreign markets.
U.S. firms find less competitive pressure to keep prices low.
More foreign tourists can afford to visit the U.S.
U.S. capital markets become more attractive to foreign investors.
Disadvantages
Consumers face higher prices on foreign products/services.
Higher prices on foreign products contribute to higher cost-of-living.
U.S. consumers find traveling abroad more costly.
Harder for U.S. firms and investors to expand into foreign markets.
Additional Evidence:
From
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/business/worldbusiness/12econ.html
If you look at the graph on the left, it shows that exports have come from around 95 billion/month in late 2006 to 150 billion in January 2008. That is an increase of 58%!
During that same period, imports have gone from 195 billion to 206 billion. An increase of only 5.6%
The article, from the Washington (socialist Post, is kind of doom and gloom, but is surprisingly factual.
John, the name of the show is Pete’s Big mouth, with Pete the being possesive, which leads me to believe he can do what ever the fuck he wants as long as the suits in the upper floors at Sirius feel he is doing well. He is responsible for making the show entertaining to millions of listeners. Well, maybe a handful of listeners anyway.
The McCain thing made me spill my tea, lol invading Mexico. Nice 1 Pete
The McCain thing is funny. Pete’s unsupported claims about Bush violating executive privilege is not. It is irresponsible.
Here’s a challenge:
Name one part of the constitution Bush has decided to change, as Pete’s current caller is claiming. Make the argument, point to the evidence.
Christian is the name of the caller.
Pete,
Can you name an instance in history where we deposed an oppressive totalitarian government by invasion and stood up a representative and constitutional government?
Did Bush & his Capos make mistakes in the after math of their successful mission to depose the Baathist regime? Of course. More importantly, did they recognize those mistakes and change tactics and personnel? I think it is hard to say they did not.
Indeed, look at the post action history of any conflict and you’ll see the same. It may be fair to say Bush waited too long to change course, but he did the right thing.
2/3s of Americans also voted for American idol contestants.
Popular opinion can be swayed by ignorant mouthpieces and half-truths. That is why we have a representative republic instead of direct democracy.
FACT CHECK: Congressmen do vote their own pay raises but do not go into effect until AFTER their current term in office. See the 27th Amendment.
Martin, I know it is his show… I am just trying to stir the pot as always.
The caller was trying to say that people twist the words of the document to their advantage.
Hell, look at the first amendment. You tell me where there is a separation of church and everything even remotely funded by tax dollars… All it really says is that we will have NO state religion and congress cant pass a law saying that you can’t worship a religion..
It is sooo twisted now.
His show or not, you should call him out on it just the same. Dredge up the nitty gritty facts and educate us all. I enjoy all the new shit I learn reading this blog. ;-D
John,
I get that, but which words? What is the factual basis for such a claim?
The First Amendment States:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
You tell me where it says that you can’t wear a T shirt with Jesus’ face on it to school.
Pete,
Good points just made about mis speaking. It matters that he knows in the larger sense.
An aside, you’ve got quite a left slant on the blogs you guys use. Get an aggregator or check Technorati.com.
John,
I’m referring to Pete’s caller, named Christian, who said Bush was essentially ignoring the constitution. I’m asking for specifics.
I doubt Bush can even spell constitution, let alone ignore it.
I know… I am just trying to tell you that he really hasn’t broken the law.. He may use some selective interpretation just like everyone else.
As I said earlier today on the blog. It seems that people can make these claims about the current regime and not back it up… only as long as it agrees with Pete’s beliefs.
John from Cleveland, I know you were stiring the pot, which is why I responded, just for you.
John, what office are you seeking?
Ohio State Senate District 13.
http://www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/bios/sd_13.html
She looks at me with those weeeee beady eyes.
Mike Myers as Charlie’s dad talking about the Colonel? Charlie also played by Myers
I’m crying at Pete right now.
Did he just ask Alexandra if she ’shart’?
ahahahahahahahah
What a good laugh I’m having.
Yea, good for a chuckle.
John,
Who’s that fox? I need her #.
John, when elected we expect good things going on in Ohio. I drive through there every now and then on my way to. . . alright, you caught me lying, I have never been to Cleveland. All I know is that Ford has a motor named after that city.
Hey guys. I just wanted to chime in on the “Bush Crimes” topic
The following link is something I found that may seems to outline seven impeachable offenses that Bush has made during his term in office.
http://www.impeachbush.tv/args/impeachbush.html
I’m sure Todd and John will tear each and every one of the seven listed apart and I invite them to do so. I just figured what people are saying are the reasons Bush should be punished for should be posted.
I’d like to make clear that while I would like to see Bush punished for being a horrible president, I remain neutral on the topic of impeachment. The country has suffered enough under his “leadership” and the sooner we move on the better.
Fire away boys!
I looked at these claims objectively. The constitution states that any president can be impeached by committing any “high crimes and misemeanors”. I don’t think any of those qualify.
Remember that the house would have to impeach him in a manner similar to a grand jury says that there is enough evidence to hold over for a trial. The Senate then has to CONVICT him of these alleged crimes. Most of the list is filled with conjecture only.
The reason Clinton was impeached (and he WAS impeached) was that he committed obvious perjury and was caught. He just wasn’t convicted by the senate and removed from office.
I amend my above statement. He can be removed from office for said crimes.
Martin,
It would take too much time to deconstruct the half-truths and distortions of fact on the page you referenced.
Lie #1 is demonstrably false. The British government backed the 16 words in the State of the Union speech as accurate. Joe Wilson lied to the press, but not under oath to Congressional investigators, so said the Senate Select Committee for Intelligence.
If this particular Bush hater group is going to lead with falsehood, I see no reason to spend another minute of time rebutting the rest.
But if you’d like to cite some specific examples which you think demonstrate evidence of impeachable offense, I’d be glad to respond on a case by case basis. Convince me of the validity of one impeachable offense and I’ll support it.
Clinton, by the way, deserved removal from office. Not only did he lie, he lied to evade accountability under a sexual harassment law HE SIGNED! We aren’t ruled by men above the law, shame of every voter who still supports this man, or his horrible life partner, Hillary Rodham.
By the way, did you ever see the Juanita Brodderick interview done by Lisa Myers on Dateline?
By the way PETE -
Can you cite a pattern of falsehood in the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad campaign against John Kerry? Do you know Kerry still hasn’t released his relevant military records?
“Swift Boating”, if used to describe a scurrilous false attack before an election, does a dis-service to the truth. Moreover, it was John “reporting for duty” Kerry, at the Democratic convention and during the campaign, who made his Vietnam mythos a part of his qualification to lead.
For instance, his claim that he went illegally into Cambodia. Google “Kerry’s Cambodia Whopper“
That was me, not Martin, who posted that Todd…and obviously they’re a Bush hating group since they’re advocating impeachment.
And I’d very much appreciate it if you would go down the list and dispute the other 6, I don’t particularly think the first one is very strong or that we need another “Lie impeachment”.
If you can blow all seven out of the water, I’d like to hear it.
There’s also this one…not that you’ll like this one better Todd, but it’s another link for you to dispute
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_to_impeach_George_W._Bush
Wow, I leave for a few hours to pick up my son from school and cook dinner and I get blamed for posting half-truths.
Martin,
Sorry ’bout dat.
Travis,
Meh. As I said, they led with falsehood. For such a serious accusation, that kind of sloppiness or dishonesty impeaches the credibility of the accuser beyond repair.
My offer above stands - you (or anyone, really) give me the top most impeachable offense and the supporting evidence. You can wade through any number of bilious bush hating websites and surely find something credible, can you not?
YO Slowhand…i was rapping to someone around 40 yesterday about how Howard Stern said Alvin Lee was so amazingly fast, and he didn’t know who Alvin Lee or Ten Years After was…WTF???
The MTA don’t like Black people—i KNOW you don’t have to deal with the subways Petey-boy, but the “proposed” transit cuts are already in effect in the ‘hood!!! It NOW takes an hour to go from 42nd Street to Jamaica Center, USED to take less than that to go from JC to the World Trade Center a decade ago!!!
And anyone who’s ever had to take the Q7 eastbound at Rockaway Blvd after 7 PM or on weekends watches at least FIFTEEN Q10s go by, with maybe ten people on them max…and i won’t even get into the billions spent on Whitey Express—the proposed Second Avenue blueblood line that the MTA is wetdreaming about.
Mussolini for Mayor—at least HE had the trains running on time:)
Not a problem Todd.
This morning I dropped off my son at school, came home and let the puppy out so she can tinkle, I boot up my laptop only to find this article.
http://www.comcast.net/news/articles/general/2008/04/08/Government.Credit.Cards/
This shit pisses me off more than just about anything: federal employees charging millions of dollars for internet dating, high-end meals, movie tickets, laptops, and a host of other shit. While regular Joes, us, work our asses off these cock-sucking mother-fuckers, and I mean that in the most insulting way, use tax dollars collected by a government agency, the IRS, and blow it on shit for personal gain. According to the article, roughly 41% of the $14 billion in question may have been used without proper authorization. $14 BILLION. That will buy a lot of school books and computers at many inner city schools, feed many hungry children, house many battered wives and their kids, will pay for a lot of health care.
41% of hard earned money may be going to a low-life to buy a laptop for internet porn so he can jerk off in an unused cubicle next to the vending machines that are always out of chocolate chip cookies. What is the point? He probably charged the box of tissue he uses to clean up too. When the fuck is the government going to look at itself for improvement.
The article does state that some of the money may have been used to buy actual stuff for the government, but was in question.
I think I will hold up a sign at a freeway offramp that reads “will rant for food” and get in my Lexus and drive home at the end of the day. Kidding, I don’t drive a Lexus.
Yeah, its a Hummer H2. License plate O3SUX (o3 is ozone). You had special seats upholstered out of American Flags. I still can not believe you were able to convert it back into leaded gas though!!!
Ten Years After was a great band in their day, Alvin Lee is fast and accurate. I love their music.
John:
Nope, not a Hummer H2. If I were to buy a Hummer, it would be an H1, the H2 is a glorified Suburban with wider track. I drive a Saturn that gets 41 MPG. I do have a SUV, a Jeep Cherokee I bought for my daughter when she was 16, she didn’t like it so she bought something else with her money and I kept the Jeep for my youngest, who will start driving next month. I love Jeeps, this is the 4th I have owned and all have been great. They last for ever.
As far as the leaded gas, I like lead only in paint and kids toys. The flag is not meant to be used like that, I respect it. I have seats upholstered out of elephant skin and the shifter is ivory. What can I say, I love wild life. The plate is not right either, the Jeep’s plate is 4PLAY, in relation to playing in the mud and dirt. We’re just a bunch of rednecks here in VA.
One of the most difficult time wasters ever: http://www.spin-the-black-circle.com/
What a difference a president’s party affiliation makes
Todd, please post a link to a source that backs up your assertion that Bush’s Air Nat’l Guard Unit was sent to Vietnam before he joined and was slated to go back when he joined. I can’t prove they weren’t, but looking at several pages about the unit’s history, I can’t find any reference to Vietnam service.
Brian,
I’ll be glad to. Let me dig it up.
I think Pete needs to be chided for false advertising. He doesn’t really like to be challenged.
For the record, I asked Pete to put up one fact to support any of the bilious bush hating bullshit he spouts daily and he balked with a lame joke, then told me how universally unlike I was!
And caller after caller have been stating his brilliance?
Pete,
You are correct. I’m sorry I wasn’t letting you talk, my wife hates that about me. I thought I was responding to your words in turn. I’ll listen to the replay later.
Todd, just post the link, buddy. You said you had a source, so fire it up. I know for a fact that Pete loves to be challenged, but he gets understandably flustered when someone calls in who is religiously devoted to a viewpoint and who makes wild claims and then asks for them to be challenged. You’re very well spoken, Todd, but you’re also super hard to deal with because of your attitude and the fact that you seem to just want to argue all the time.
That said, I’ve ordered a copy of that quitting smoking book you referenced on the show last week. I really liked what you had to say and can’t wait till it arrives. I’ve been off the nicotine for about 2 weeks now, but this is maybe my 30th time stopping, so I really need some help.
RE: Pot smoking vs Cigarette smoking
I don’t smoke pot, but comparing cigarette smoking with pot smoking is ridiculous. The amount of pot smoked is tiny compared to the amount of tobacco smoked.
Additionally, pot can be vaporized, which is much better for your lungs.
Brian,
It appears I was wrong in my recollection.
I think this story or maybe this one is where I got the notion Bush’s Air National Guard Unit was scheduled to be deployed.
Both of the opinions I linked above do make the point that Air Guard service was in no way a duck and that historically Guard units are called up for duty in conflicts. Moreover, Bush’s unit was an active combat unit until 1972, 4 years into his ANG service.
One of Bush’s mates from that time said he and Bush both went to their commander to volunteer for a Vietnam combat program which was to use the type aircraft they were trained on, but were told the program was winding down.
From the first link:
Oh, Todd, you were so emphatic on the phone, and so indignant, and so nasty. How can you behave like that, and be so very, very wrong about demonstrably false statements, and then expect to be taken seriously about this kind of thing? It would be one thing if you put it differently, but you were so emphatic and so self-righteous, it’s kind of sad that you were so, so wrong.
But I do respect you for coming clean. I just hope you realize being that emphatic about something so demonstrably true/false is just dangerous as hell unless you REALLY know what you’re talking about.
Brian,
I know I’m insistent, but I have to say I think I answer any criticism of my views on the merits. I do like to argue, but not for arguments sake. I don’t believe I naysay or fail to back up my opinions.
We cannot both be correct when holding mutually exclusive views. We can both be wrong, but there is no such thing as a square circle.
Also, besides the ANG claim, which isn’t too far off the mark, what else did I say which qualifies as a ‘wild claim’? Was Bill Clinton impeached for false statements in Federal court attempting to evade questions under oath about his sexual past - authorized under the 1994 Violence Against Women Act?
What did I say that was nasty? Okay, I was wrong that his unit was going to be called up - but the point remains that Bush’s service wasn’t as a danger-avoiding desk jockey, as Pete and Jesse V both implied. Flying fighter jets is not easy duty or shirking one’s duty. There were many men who served in various NG units who were not avoiding their duty. (By the way, my father was active duty US Air Force and we deployed to Thailand a few months after my birth. He missed my sister’s birth entirely.)
It is ironic that the only reason National Guard duty was an out in Vietnam (as opposed to all other US conflicts), was that Johnson was afraid of the political fallout
Oh yeah, Brian -
Good luck with that book. I didn’t put what I read into practice until a month after I finished reading it. But I was amazed at how much I enjoyed quitting. The best part, in my opinion, is being deprogrammed that certain things act as smoking relapse ‘triggers’. As I said on the air, a week after quitting I spent two nights by a campfire with 4 smokers and drank a bottle of wine each night. I did crave a smoke on a few occasions those nights, but resisting was so incredibly easy with the new mentality gained from Carr’s Easy Way.
Brian wrote,
I’m curious, do you give Pete this advice? Because he emphatically says a bunch of shit almost every day that is demonstrably false!
As for my emphasis, zealotry or whatever you wish to call it - I have been burned before and have had my recollections vindicated on many occasions. I have good reason to trust my memory, it usually doesn’t fail me.
That said, in this case, I was technically wrong about his unit being in line for deployment, but (I think) understandably so given the article I linked and the larger counter point that Bush was somehow evading dangerous duty in the TANG.
Yes, Todd, I give that advice to Pete all the time, but since you listen to the show you know he’s that emphatic about very little. He often expresses doubt when he doesn’t need to and admits he doesn’t know what he’s talking about a lot of the time. I don’t think he’s ever done what you did today, which is to scream from the hills that you’re right when you’re in fact dead wrong.
He was emphatic in challenging you today, but that’s because what you were saying was so solidly untrue, it was easy to reject. If it had been the case that (1) Bush’s unit had recently deployed to Vietnam and (2) was on its way back, we would have heard that before you said it today. Your beloved Swift Boaters would have told us.
As for saying you were close, or that you were effectively right, isn’t that like Dan Rather saying he used a false document to make a true point? I mean, you can’t come down on him for doing that and then do the same thing (I was technically wrong, but the point remains true). And I believe it was you that recently slammed the Rather thing on this very blog, no? Give us a break, Todd.
Surely Bush knew he wasn’t going to be sent to Vietnam when he volunteered for that program, if he in fact did so. I can’t prove that, but the argument otherwise is so freaking weak as to not deserve any serious consideration, no matter what one guy says. If he wanted to go to Vietnam, he could have joined the Air Force (or any other active branch). (Is there even documentation of his request, or are we just trusting one supporter’s oral recollection?)
The real question is, Why on earth do you feel the need to defend Bush on this matter? I mean, he’s a scoundrel, it’s so obvious, and yet you seem to have a religious attachment to the matter, like he’s your big brother or something. This is NOT the battle to choose, but then, it doesn’t strike me that you choose battles — you seem to throw down on every little issue, no matter how little ground you have to stand on. Being more selective would be advisable.
Thanks for the extra advice re the quit smoking book, my friend. What I need the most help with is “trigger” stuff. I can’t wait to read it!
Honestly, I don’t care if he made a conscious decision to stay out of the war. I think that most of us would if we had a choice. What normal, rational person wants to go to war.
What I don’t like is when Pete tried to put me in a situation where I would have to say that Kerry was a better choice. I hate spun questions like that. He hates it when people do it to him, but since it is his show, I have to entertain them… I guess.
Lastly, why isn’t he talking about Clinton’s military record more? I know that the stories are not completely accurate, but what about the draft dodging, draft card ripping, and fleeing north stuff we used to hear about?
John, keep in mind that Bush claimed to support the war at the time. I said on the air when I was in the studio that I give huge props to anyone who avoids serving in an unjust war of choice. Clinton never supported the Vietnam war, as far as I know, and he still maintains that it was wrong. If you are for a war, and you’re healthy enough to serve, there should be no deferment. You should have to go fight. If it wasn’t just a matter of sending other people’s kids off to kill and die, we’d have a lot fewer wars, I promise you that.
The other thing is that Bush tries to claim his service as a merit, so that opens the door to investigating just how valuable his service really was. Our dad was in the reserves for 6 years during Vietnam, but I’ve never once heard him claim that as anything but what it was: an attempt to stay out of the war. And he was against the war, so he took the less-safe route compared to a lot of his contemporaries. If Bush would just be up front about it, or say the war was wrong and he didn’t want to fight an immoral war, I’m not sure anyone would care that he dodged it.
Same could be said for Bill Clinton and the Monica Lewinski thing. It’s the lie that got him, and he deserved what he got for that (if not much more), as far as I’m concerned. (None of this partisan apologetics for that prick — he should have been impeached for war crimes just like Bush should, rather than the pathetic but valid reason he got soaked.)
As for your boo-hoos about Pete treating you unfairly when you call in, John — you keep calling in, don’t you? I think you like the abuse
BBB
Big Brother, Can Pete speak on his own without your own advice? I’d love to hear his own views
Mark, you can hear Pete’s views 3 hours a day on the air. Sirius Channel 110
He reads every comment on this blog but doesn’t want to get drawn into the dialog. It would get really time consuming, and he works his ass off and has a family, like 10 regular gigs, etc.
As for his independence from my advice, believe me, it’s robust. If I were running the show, it would be very different — which is why he’s running the show…
foreign currency trader…
As of June 30, 2008, there were 45 mutual funds and eleven exchange- traded funds (ETFs) in this category. — Currency: These funds invest in US and foreign……