ggm68's Comments (41)

“For an excellent short film on the subject of ocean acidification, check out Acid Test, from NRDC:

http://www.nrdc.org/oceans/acidification/aboutthefilm.asp”

“"They" are "anyone who would complain about it." Literate much?”

“I've seen a lot of suggestions for people who are already IN Dickipedia...

I have two words for y'all, and I've been waiting for this one for many months:

MICHELLE BACHMANN

Please. Please. Total, incontrovertible dick credentials.”

“I long for the day when the public conversation notices that the treaty is called the U.N. Convention Against Torture AND Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (note all those words after the word "and.")

We're talking as if ONLY torture is illegal (not to mention shockingly abhorrent), and quibbling over whether waterboarding is or isn't. Americans, at the direction of high-level Bush officials, have engaged in many horrific, sadistic acts against detainees, only one of which is waterboarding. It t does not matter whether it "rises to the level of torture," because "torture" is not the only thing that's illegal, immoral, and antithetical to everything we claim to stand for.

After watching "Taxi to the Dark Side" I am beginning to suspect that what we know about abuses at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib pales in comparison to what we don't yet know about what was done to detainees at Bagram. What we DO know is horrifying enough. Those of us with a conscience must not turn a blind eye to what was done in our name.

Why are we setting the bar for illegality so dang high? Cruelty, humiliation, and inhumane treatment are ALL illegal. We're acting as if the issue is all about waterboarding, and it just isn't. We inflicted horrific cruelty on many, many detainees, only some of whom were guilty of any wrongdoing, and until we come to grips with that, America will continue to be lost in the moral wilderness.”

“Meanwhile, the PBS show "NOW" recently aired an expose of tens of thousands of rape kits that =are never tested=. Ten thousand in Los Angeles County alone. So the victim goes through the difficult process of having all this evidence collected from her freshly violated body, and then law enforcement doesn't even bother USING the evidence to try to identify the perpetrator? Man, Afghanistan has got nothing on us!

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/517/index.html”

“make that:

no kid, gay, straight, or otherwise, deserves to have Joe the Plumber for a dad”

“but no gay kid deserves to be born to a father like him”

“Hasn't this woman earned a Dickipedia entry yet?”

“This man deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. Sign the petition here:

http://www.nobelprize4pete.org/”

“As others have said, it looked like it was made from a chenille bedspread, it didn't flatter her figure, and she was constantly working to avoid tripping over it. Maybe it's lovely in person, but given that most of the world will see her only in photos and on TV screens, she needs to learn to choose dresses that look good on TV. This one didn't. She was radiant and beautiful in spite of it all, but...”

“The planet will outlive all of us. That is to say, the big rock we call Earth will still float in space. But that doesn't mean it will be hospitable to human life if we don't take care of it. If you have kids of your own, you should darn well care what kind of world they're going to inherit.”

“"ohhh get that, would you Diedre?"”

“I don't hate children. But I do think parents can do a better job raising them if they have fewer of them. I don't hate the bible. But I do think some people have taken "go forth and multiply" a little too seriously.

I love the planet we call home, and think it's irresponsible to overpopulate it.

"It takes courage to raise a family..." I would have to agree. It takes a kind of courage I lack. But 18 children????? Eighteen? On a planet that's pushing seven billion? That's not courage, it's recklessness. If the planet's population of humans was on par with its population of polar bears (about 30,000) I'd be all for profligate breeders. But that's not our reality. For the good of ALL OF HUMAN KIND we need to cut the birthrate, not celebrate a woman spending her entire adult life pregnant and delegating parenting responsibilities to her own offspring.”

“"YOU HAVE MADE ENOUGH CHILDREN FOR 4 FAMILIES"

More like nine.”

“If I was their ObGyn I'd have taken out her uterus along with the baby. There is no way you can do a decent job of parenting this many children at one time, and the last thing the world needs is more humans. These people are nuts, and it's a shame TLC is glorifying their fecundity. Reminds me of a line in a '90's era song - "been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding, the cretins cloning and feeding...." Not sure which is worse: This story or the one about the hammerhead shark.”

“Kittens, too, don't forget. Best when their little eyes are still closed. I hear he snacks on 'em like popcorn....”

“Correction: Get a breed from a RESPONSIBLE, reputable breeder and you're probably in good shape. Even then, there are no guarantees that an individual puppy is going to behave in a totally predictable manner.

However, the fact remains that there are more dogs than available homes, and plenty of shelter dogs are GREAT, well-behaved companions. The shelter where I volunteer puts all their dogs through training to reduce the chances of their being returned due to behavior problems.

Bottom line, if you want purebred, look for a breed-specific rescue org, and if you simply MUST buy a puppy, check out the breeder carefully, and don't do business with the bad ones.”

“I don' t know where on Earth you are getting your information, but you could not be more wrong. Quoting The Ocean Conservancy:

"Despite their fierce image, sharks are among the most vulnerable creatures in the ocean. Sharks generally grow slowly, mature late, and bear few young. These traits hamper sharks' ability to withstand heavy fishing pressure and to recover once populations are depleted."

Please educate yourself.

http://www.oceanconservancy.org
http://www.pelagic.org/conservation/
http://www.sharks.org/
http://www.neil4sharks.org/sharkconservation.html”

“If you dive often with sharks, then you know the biggest risk in diving with hammerheads is that they'll get spooked and swim away before you get to take a picture of them. The oceans around the world are being depleted of sharks at an unbelievable rate. It's tragic and barbaric.”

“"her sense of humor is dry and she comes across as a know it all."

Funny, those are two of the reasons I like her! Honestly, she is my new favorite for current events on TV (I still love Amy, but”

“Gates is only temporary. His presence reassures people who need some continuity to make them feel safe. Given the magnitude of the problems we face, maybe it's best that the Defense baton be passed slowly and carefully. But I expect a change within a year or so, after we've had some time to cope with our other crises.

Shinseki should be a strong contender for SecDef when the time comes, with a lot of support from folks who have thus far felt underrepresented in Obama's cabinet. Having Shinseki as VA Secretary until then would a) FINALLY put an ADULT in charge of taking care of our country's veterans, and b) Let Americans see what he's made of, thus enhancing his acceptability as a future SecDef. But there are a lot of other good contenders for that job, and I'm just speculating. Whether it's Shinseki or not, I expect it will be someone with his kind of credibility on Iraq.

Now I'm wondering what Obama's plans are for Tammy Duckworth and Max Cleland, both of whom were at the top of a lot of people's lists for the VA.”

“Hrmmm.... Not liking this format for him. I do not doubt he means what he says, but the setting is dreary, the delivery lacks fire, and I worry that the country is not seeing him at his best. Sitting at a desk, with the obligatory flag, window, credenza, and family photos in the background, reading a script into a camera, it's too staged, and his performance was stilted.

What I want to see on YouTube, if he's going to be speaking to the American People, isn't some sterile, formal address to a remote audience. My recommendation to the Obama folks would be to apply some more creative talent to bringing the Fireside Chat into the 21st century in a way that can really connect with people.”

“Y'know, when the President of the United States pardons a turkey, they bring the turkey to the White House for the ceremony. Hence, no embarrassing slaughter going on in the background. But that reminds me: The whole turkey-pardoning thing IS a POTUS tradition. I've never seen a governor do it before. Of course this IS a Governor who thinks God wants her to become President, so she probably thinks pardoning a turkey will look good on her Presidential resume for 2012.”

“Marijuana use doesn't lead to violence or death, but marijuana trafficking and sales sometimes do. Ironically, the only thing standing in the way of making marijuana SAFER for all concerned is the fact that it remains illegal. I can only hope that BO is not changing his previously stated stance, and will direct his appointees to follow more sensible policies whether they agree with them or not.”

“My word, for someone who calls himself "Makesense" you sure don't! There is NOTHING anti-heterosexual about the fight for equality under the law. There is NOTHING anti-religion about pushing back against those who would use their religion as a bludgeon against a whole segment of American society. And there is NOTHING about the LGBT community that has anything to do with shoving ANYTHING down your throat. They just want to get married and have a happy life. Why on Earth would you want to deprive them of that? Seriously.”