EngineerBill's Comments (439)

“I agree - the Underpants Bomber should have been a no-brainer. But I also think that in spite of our filters, no system is ever going to be perfect. The security we have in place now is better than what it was, and it will keep us safe if terrorists run the same plays as they have in the past.

Common sense should invade the system at some point, but so far it has not. I think it's easier for security to keep adding more layers of flags than it is for them to streamline the process, and it's easier for us to just go along with it. Like Chris said, indifference has much to do with it.”

“Either people cry President Obama is taking on too much or not doing enough. Which is it? How many issues can one man take on in 11 months? We have NO IDEA what is being done or not being done to update policies. I'd say, in light of the gargantuan problems this Administration has to deal with, the President and his agency heads are doing a great job overall.”

“If he did have a flashing sign that said "I am a suicide bomber" they probably would have confiscated it before letting him on the plane.”

“The current policies have been in place for years. The fact is the man came from another country and boarded a plane from yet another country to the U.S. Simply buying a one way ticket, paying cash and having only one carry on bag does not a bad guy make. Obvious now, these actions should have triggered a much more thorough search in Amsterdam. Once he was on a plane, there was no action the U.S. should have or could have taken. No doubt, there was an intelligence failure, but it was international not national. In hindsight, entering a person's name in the initial database for research of a claim should have triggered a review of his visa status and a suspension of any active visas. That is one thing that will change. He got his multiple entry U.S. visa in 2008 (long before his Dad reported his suspicions and he got his "training" and "ordnance" from the other bad guys). It is entirely too easy to monday morning quarterback.”

“Yeah. The head of the TSA must go.

Oh wait. DeMint (Obstructionist -SC) has been blocking the nominee.

Er. Nevermind.”

“And, when did they put Napolitano and President Obama in charge of airports in Lagos and Amsterdam?”

“Oh why, yes, thank you. I do get it. But aside from quibbling over syntax I was simply making a point that our military spending is extremely high, as in a trillion dollars. I think that although Cheney tried to build a private army out of Blackwater we should toss them in as well as part of our military presence and budget... and by budget I mean money tagged for spending on military matters. You should include the FBI, DEA, NSA, CIA and all the other groups involved in killing people who offend our national senses.The government doesn't bury the cost of being violent in order to somehow keep valuable information from groups like Al Qaida , they do it so we won't know how much we are in the red to Communist China. Seriously, if Bush had accurately portrayed the cost of our "War on Terror" and the number of Americans likely to die, the number of innocent children likely to die, a lot of people might want to pause and reconsider his actions. But instead even Obama lies to us about where our taxes go and just how far in debt to out enemies we've gone. I consider the Communist Chinese with nuclear missiles pointed at American cities to be a great threat than idiots who try to blow up planes but only set themselves on fire.”

“"Defense-related expenditures outside of the Department of Defense constitute between $216 billion and $361 billion in additional spending, bringing the total for defense spending to between $880 billion and $1.03 trillion in fiscal year 2010.[6]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States

RIGHT BACK AT 'YA.”

“I've read that the Pentagon has "misplaced" more than $2 trillion. No one has any idea where the money went. Just think: the missing money would pay for health care for all of us.”

“Oh come on now! Surely you aren't naive enough to think the official budget represents the money spent!? The CIA is actively involved in this war and their budget is top secret: we never get to know. The military don't want the "bad guys" to know what we spend or somehow they will use that knowledge against us. Yeah. The actual amount of money spent by the military is over a trillion dollars a year, just ask our Chinese bookies. When China owns 100% of our government they will pull funding and take over the government legally. Then we can pay taxes to both China and the Federal flunkies.”

“If you really believe they're going to the 680 billion, and that they won't go back with justifications for more, I've got a great deal for you. i have 200 acres of ocean front property in Yuma for your eyes only. how about this price? 50.00 per acre.. that's 50 bucks per....”

“LOL”

“Good one!”

“Great point. One more thing to consider, Bush's logic for war was never well thought well articulated or bore a shred of convincing evidence with a link to Bin laden. How so many experts and great thinkers were fooled is beyond me. So Obama taking his time to think tis through and suggesting an unpopluar but well-thought out solution goes against our sound bite thrity seconds or less to convince me mind set.

If we can't understand how important it is to think before we act , especially where lives are involved, who cares if we improve the economy and return to last empire status. The cost would be our soul as a nation and that just so happens to be priceless,”

“It may be easy to be cynical but it's just as easy to be deferential.”

“In the BIG PICTURE this is none of our business'.
Love
bette”

“No was one actually saying that the plan worked. In the beginning they just though it would be a quick in and out "mission accompished" and remember the Iraqi people were going to be treating us like heroes. That was the thinking, that a grateful Iraq would say "sure come and help us modernize our oil industry - we'd love to have you." However, as we are all well aware, it didn't quite pan out that way.”

“Comparing the cost of oil today to the cost in 2002 doesn't explain a thing.”

“Works for me; hope it works for Harry.”

“EngineerBill is right. And this last go 'round when the Dems took back DC also wasn't because they did an outstanding job campaigning. Many Americans were voting Against the Republicans, not For the Democrats.

The Dems had better wake up and smell the coffee because both parties are losing their hold.”

“But will they realize in time, or will the Sarah Talk Express just coast along the rails to the nomination? She's still incredibly popular with base voters; she could win by default.”

“Those there you betcha!!”

“I loved George Carlin. Thought he was awesome. Once in Vegas (I think it was in 2005), my husband and I took our two sons to see him. We kept telling them how incredible he was, etc. I agree with Engineer Bill. George was always angry, but to my dismay, I thought he had gone completely over the edge. He wasn't as funny and he seemed just totally angry, in fact, was incredibly rude to some folks in the audience. When we left, I thought, perhaps it was us, having an off night and maybe he was as funny as ever. We popped into the bar for a drink and everyone around us was saying the same exact thing, that he wasn't as good as he was before, was too angry, etc. When I got home, I mentioned to a couple of friends that we'd gone to see George Carlin. They immediately said, "What a horrible show, wasn't it? He's just too angry now." I knew it wasn't us. George was an incredibly funny man, he was great for many, many years and we do miss him. I hope he's found peace.”

“You may have watched but you didn't listen.”

“tHAN WHAT, IF IT IS USEFULL?
lESS POLITICS - MORE SENSE.”