mawrm's Comments (1036)

“I think the main reason you're seeing more federal employees in the over $100,000 bracket is because the wages for similar skills in the private sector have gone up much higher. For certain skill mixes, the federal sector has to compete for the same employees as the private sector and you'd be surprised how bad the delta is in some cases. I know someone who decided to work for the gov't a few years ago doing a job function he'd done for the gov't under a contractor and he ended up taking at _15%_ pay cut, nevermind that the contracting company he worked for wasn't paying him nearly what they were charging the government for his services.”

“Sho' U Right!!!”

“I've gotta give Chris Matthews credit - he realized he said a bone-headed thing and turned around and apologized for it. He's human and susceptible to error and I respect the fact that he was decent enough to apologize, even though I don't necessarily agree with his views. There are others in the media who still need to learn to do the same.”

“I'd have to respectfully disagree because it requires one to assume that everyone at West Point has an ideologically inclination towards military action/weaponry/etc, regardless of the circumstances and that is wholly incorrect. The fine folks at West Point are interested in serving and defending their country. They are not necessarily more pre-disposed to war than the couch potato generals dispersed in our general population who rave about weapons, guns and how we need to "bomb this and bomb that" as a solution to every problem. President Obama looks to the defense of our nation. He's just not interested in going off on unnecessary wars and putting our troops in harms' way for foolish reasons.
Thank you for your service and God bless.”

“Is this some kind of French sushi or something?”

“EXACTLY. Oh, wait, there's more... I recall something called the Powell Doctrine... Wait, that Gen. Powell dude was Bush's own Secretary of State and counselled against going to war in Iraq, especially without sufficient troops to support an occupation (remember, Bush playing semantics - "it's a liberation not an occupation") and international backing. Funny how he left after Bush's first term.

Where were these apes when Bush was IGNORING the generals which is why we've ended up in this awful mess in the first place?!?!”

“If we had only had 10% of the level of forethought that Obama has shown on the Afghanistan situation 8 years ago, imagine where we'd be today. Frustrating to even think about that now. We can only hope that our brave men and women on the ground there can do something to turn the situation around.”

“You are certainly not mistaken - US Ambassador April Glaspie met with Pres. Saddam Hussein prior to the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, after months of international complaints by Iraq against Kuwait regarding border issues, slant oil drilling, etc. There is dispute as to the interpretation of the remarks but she essentially said that the US had no opinion on the Kuwait issue and that it was not associated with America. This was basically (mis)interpreted by Saddam Hussein as a green light to go ahead and invade Kuwait.”

“This is getting ridiculous - why the heck wasn't all this brought up _seven years ago_ when W decided to ignore Afghanistan and go off to invade Iraq? This disaster didn't occur overnight!! I want public congressional hearing on why are we hearing all this _7 years LATE_ after spending BILLIONS of dollars on this "War On Terror". If US forces encountered these difficulties even 3 years ago, why were they not publicized or scrutinized before billions more were allocated to this war? And our derelict media failed to cover this issue - no surprise there. Heads need to roll and folks need to get locked up for this, considering the expense in treasure and human life that has been expended on this so-called "War on Terror" while Osama Bin Laden and other Al Qaeda operatives still roam free. Yes, Obama needs to make a decision, however, context is critical here so that whatever decision he makes is well understood by the American public. If it was already known 2 years ago that Afghanistan was a lost cause, why was withdrawal not considered then?”

“Umm...first, nothing was "detonated" on the moon, just simple velocity impact physics, that's all. Secondly, the majority of the impactors' structures are probably embedded into the moon. Thirdly, the moon has a weak gravitational field so that the ejected debris in all likelihood returned the moon's surface.”

“She is a beautiful woman no doubt. Obesity is a tough issue because there is the concern of physical appearance but there is also the concern of health and it is often difficult to discern from which angle folks are coming from in their critique of obesity. Being secure and confident in your own skin is important and that's part of what I admire about Ms. Gabourey Sidibe. In the same breath, what would cause me worry is to see someone like her cut down to soon by preventable conditions brought on by obesity - diabetes, heart ailments, cancer, etc. And it matters when the person is more than just someone we see on the silver screen, when it's our own mother, sister, wife, significant other. Unfortunately, it's extremely difficult to convey that concern without it being seen as just a "cover" for commenting superficially about one's appearance. One could make an entire movie about how poverty and the resulting poor food choices drive obesity, leave people dealing with expensive, life-long health complications.”

“Also, Germany, Japan & Korea are not comparable because a significant thing happened - we WON the wars against those nations and there was a definite cessation of hostilities. (yes, North Korea is a special case, however, when was the last time we lost a soldier there in fighting?) When the fighting stops it's much easier to rebuild. But without peace, you're fighting a losing battle trying to restore normalcy.
It is truly sad the choices our nation faces today regarding Afghanistan considering what "could have been" have the Bush Administration been focused and serious in trying to eliminate Al Qaeda and restore democracy and peace to Afghanistan. We could have done it. But unfortunately, we did not. We have to leave with the mission unaccomplished.”

“KDog76A - I agree with you wholeheartedly in principle that we should not leave Afghanistan until the job is done. However, Obama is stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one. I know folks say, "don't blame Bush", but unfortunately the blame rests squarely on his shoulders and here's why - our nation has only a _finite_ amount of resources to spend on foreign military actions. It is imperative that these resources are expended wisely as there is a limit to them. Simply put, the Bush Administration foolishly depleted these resources in a needless war in Iraq, losing the more important war in Afghanistan. Now we're in a state, we're $1+ trillion dollars poorer as a direct result of these wars, our economy is in tatters, 4000+ servicemen and women dead, people's patience has worn thin and we no longer have the resources to do in Afghanistan what we COULD have done (as you've rightly suggested) had we been smart from day One. History is replete with empires that collapsed because their idiot rulers tried to wage multiple wars simultaneously. And Bush's successor is put in the difficult position of having to pull the plug with frankly little to show for _8_ years of blood, sweat and national treasure effort.”

“Perhaps this is a foreign concept for some considering we saw little of it in the preceding 8 years, but there is such a thing as deliberation or "thinking" about a complex problem. Unfortunately it takes some time and requires the use of factual information and consideration of real-time conditions. Yes, I know, we had the almighty "gut" of W along with his conversations with the heavens to guide our nation unsuccessfully in previous years. Well, this new president likes to think about the best solution BEFORE acting. Rule #1 - you don't go to war without an exit strategy - even W's own dad probably told him that. We ended up in this mess because of lack of foresight. Obama is wise not to prejudge the situation either way but to take time, examine all angles of the situation and seek the best options for a COMPLETE plan before acting. As he said during his campaign - "we must be careful getting out as we were careless getting in." There are a lot of variables at play in the Afghanistan situation, not simply the well-being of our troops but what happens after we leave. Obama wants the US to leave in a responsible manner, not leaving a disaster zone that we'll have to return a few years down the road.”

“I don't believe that's correct - it's amended so that if you want abortion coverage, you have to purchase that additional rider separately from your general coverage.”

“I just wonder.... if it had been a born & corn-fed raised Midwestern Christian white guy who'd become a psychiatrist and later cracked after years of counselling men broken by war then being told to that he was being deployed to the very hell hole that he'd been hearing so much about, I wonder what prognosis the Pox News peanut gallery would have pronounced on him? This isn't the first time a soldier has gone ape and fragged his own brothers during these 8 years of war. It just happens to be the deadliest incident of such. Suicides are way up in the military right now. I mean, this guy was single, late thirties, trying to get a wife - a sign of someone trying to seek normalcy but not finding it.
My thoughts and prayers go to all the victims of this tragedy with the hope that our men and women in uniform can get the support, peace and strength they need to carry out their jobs.”

“Did the wholesale massacres of Bosnian Muslims by Orthodox Christian Serbs during the 1990s war in the Balkans completely miss you?”

“That was EPIC!!! He NAILED GB sooo well!!! He should get an Emmy for that skit alone!!”

“Might want to read up on the Bosnian war in the 1990s- you had Orthodox Christians massacring Muslims by the thousands and dumping them in mass graves. And there is a long history of nations in crusades for the Catholic faith killing innocents in the name of their religion - I say this being a Catholic myself.”

“*ding ding ding* We have a winner!!
That's EXACTLY the issue. Don't claim you're "Fair & Balance" when there's overwhelming evidence that you're not. I don't have a problem reporting the nonsense they're reporting. Just a) Don't Claim that the rest of the media is some vast liberal conspiracy and b) don't insist that you report "Fair & Balance". They're trying to project onto the American public that somehow all the news they get from other sources is "liberal" and they're the only true source of "balanced" journalism which is a patent lie and distortion of the truth. They barely research their stories in any intelligent or objective fashion, report half-truths all day long and spend most of the time regurgitating right-wing talking points.”

“I think you guys are on to something... would make a great movie!”

“The requirement for priests to be celibate is a requirement tied mostly to the Roman rite of the Catholic Church and it in fact not a strict requirement in many other Catholic rites (which are still in communion with the Roman rite). Some rites allow married priest, but do not allow married bishops. The celibacy requirement was largely a product of an age where bishops in particular wielded a lot of influence and nepotism meant they'd pass on their office to their children/kin. The allowance for married Anglican cleric to become Catholic clergy is a bit of a head-scratcher considering that long-standing married members of the Catholic community are not afforded that option. On the other hand, the number of Anglican clerics switching is very low so it doesn't present as many issues as if married clergy were allowed on a larger scale.”

“A bit of context to Archbishop Wabukala position - the issue with disaffected Anglicans affects mostly Anglicans in Western nations like the United States where there's a rift in the Anglican communities over gay clergy and similarly controversial issues. The Anglican Church in Africa is generally a lot more traditional and conservative and has not embraced those controversial changes. So in the mind of Anglicans there, there is no compelling need to switch over to the Catholic denomination. In fact, some Anglican churches in the United States are joining African-based Anglican archdioceses/communities, thus remaining Anglican but under a different congregration.”

“ROFLMAO... I can only imagine the thoughts going through your head during that ride... Life is funnier than fiction.”

“Ummm... take a look at the educational statistics of the South, a small indicator you won't be hearing much Einstein content in their music. Worse is that is that these rappers are speaking in the "language" of folks here so it guarantees lots more record sales than if you had more grammatically advanced rapper, fueling a vicious cycle leading to the expansion of ignorance.”