Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Go Us

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  • giovanni tiso,

    But KOS came to the story as a result of rumours from Alaska (allegedly via a Republican source) that it was Bristol who had taken an inordinate amount of time off school (5 months) with 'mono' and that it was Bristol who was pregnant. Which turned out to be correct.

    I'm sorry to beat on this dead horse, but I can't let this notion that the Kos diary was "partly right" go unchallenged. The story (which has finally been pulled - cowardly bastards) alleged that Bristol took - if I remember correctly - eight months off school with mono, not five. But even if it were in fact five, the periods wouldn't match. She was supposed to have taken that time off to conceal a pregnancy that finished in April, remember? Whereas in fact she's been pregnant since April, so it makes absolutely no sense.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    when he consciously and consistently tried to provoke WWIII, not just once or twice but as an ongoing policy

    I'd heard that myself, but hadn't a source.

    Body fluids? Le May? Really? Wow. Still, it's no weirder than Wishart and a step below Icke or any of the apocalyptic fundies.

    Hmm, I wonder if we can come up with a recognised unit of paranoid weirdness... a Hoagland, an Icke, a Wishart, a LaRouche... "Yep, it's metric, unlike the old fashioned Adamski scale... I'm getting four hundred and thirty-two milliIckes on the wackometer for that Fox newscast and a reading of a couple of kiloForts of inexplicability too."

    How about a unit of desperate denial and advocacy masquerading as sagacity? I nominate the Fran as a unit considering a certain columnist's most recent epistle in the Herald. "Point eight-five Frans of specious denial there... and there's an ambient patriotism factor of eighteen Jingoes, oddly misplaced, since this isn't America."

    Bah, sorry, just being silly.

    The scary thing though is Kubrick was so spot-on in deconstructing the myth of the competent masculine leader. To me, Teller strikes me as one of the most obsessive and considering his long and powerful influence, the most malevolent of those old Cold Warriors.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    Here's the doco..it's "Baiting The Bear", sorry.

    To me, Teller strikes me as one of the most obsessive and considering his long and powerful influence, the most malevolent of those old Cold Warriors.

    The current VPOTUS has a bit of a jump onto the lower ends of the Teller scale, albeit without the barking mad quotient, which we will call the Curtis, that so defined LeMay and others. Maybe a benchmark is required.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    I'm afraid that when you say Curtis, I think of Ian. That would probably be a unit of existential melancholy?

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    I'm afraid that when you say Curtis, I think of Ian. That would probably be a unit of existential melancholy?

    Or it could be Tony....thus a unit to measure the speed one spins with a rose in ones mouth whilst attached to Marilyn Monroe

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • sagenz,

    Craig - oh ffs seriously. You supply a video that does not even play the reporters question.

    "Sarah Palin - Have you ever eaten a Democrat for breakfast?"

    Refer to "threats" without going into any detail about them and then have an in depth interview with a Democrat.

    I dont know enough about that issue but for all I know Palin might have behaved entirely correctly in acting to dismiss a State Trooper making threats.

    uk • Since Nov 2006 • 128 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    And even if she doesn't -- and before we even start on SCOTUS picks -- I don't think it's a whacky "conspiracy theory" that the theo-cons are going to expect their new "rock star" will have some serious influence over a whole tier of Cabinet, sub-Cabinet, judicial and ambassadorial positions that are Presidential appointments. And not all of them require Senate confirmation. (And if, as seems possible if not certain, the Democrats pick up enough seats to win a filibuster-proof majority, then they might actually get their spines out of hock and slap down the worse aspects of a Palin Administration. :) )

    Yeah. And she's shuffled right to the front of the line of 'presidential candidates in four or eight years', depending on how this election turns out. Still, she'll have four years to add to her CV I guess.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • sagenz,

    those criticisms really hurt.

    Irony does not really come across well on this internet thingy does it? Unless you use a smiley. But ups to you Paul.

    Personally the Kos/Huffington/Sullivan/Brown frenzy over whether Palin was pretending her daughters child was her own is a wild conspiracy.

    Craig - McCain has walked the bipartisan walk for decades. Unlike Obama and his 130 "Present". btw does anyone want to respond to that outstanding example of decisiveness & leadership.

    Now that Simon has validated the general history. Does anyone want to address the likelihood of the Russian bear or Iran deciding to up the stakes and challenge Obama. Krushchev tested Kennedy and someone will test Obama. That will make the world a very dangerous place, but does anyone really think McCain will be tested in the same way?

    uk • Since Nov 2006 • 128 posts Report Reply

  • sagenz,

    Craig - The treatment of the $60m makes it not a lie. But I guess we will just have to disagree on that point. Perhaps not everyone had their eye on the whitehouse right from the start and framed all 130 of their non decisions on the basis of how they would play in the media.

    the fact she backed her town while mayor is being pitched as something bad. New Zealand has seen the impact of being good global citizens on trade when it eliminated its subsidies 20 years ago. Its part of the reason we fall further behind the global economy. I believe in free trade but negotiation is never about giving away everything you have at the start.

    uk • Since Nov 2006 • 128 posts Report Reply

  • sagenz,

    Jake - so I guess Obama should stand down after Biden and Clinton both said he was unfit to lead and McCain was preferable.

    uk • Since Nov 2006 • 128 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    Or it could be Tony...

    Pretty good, yes. Did you know that there are subatomic particles that have to spin seven hundred and twenty degrees instead of the usual three-sixty to end up back where they began? I'm sure that there's an allegory in that.

    Oh Sagenz is back. What a bore. Hell is other people, banality is itself an evil....

    "has validated the general history..." Oh dear. "general"? "Straws, grasping at, this is" in Yodaspeak.

    Look up "tar baby" and especially, "In Camera," a play by Jean Paul Sartre (translated by Paul Bowles as "No Exit"). I really can't be bothered with this - I conducted an inadvertent experiment in Newtonian physics involving the meeting of a 90 kg human and a 2,500 Ford Explorer and decided from a rigorous analysis of the results that life is far too short for this sort of shit.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    Irony does not really come across well on this internet thingy does it?

    Ah yes, the burden of the truly gifted when preaching to the crass and unsubtle 'you lot' that haunt these threads. For us shape-shifting reptilans, though. irony can be quantified to the nearest nanoIcke.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    Does anyone want to address the likelihood of the Russian bear or Iran deciding to up the stakes and challenge Obama.

    no

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Hell Kracklite, I trust that experiment didnt involve yourself/person you love?

    I've read this entire thread with interest & bemsement and am somewhat belightened (no, I dont mean enlightened...) I wont go
    deliberately head to head with people I think have made poor-but-repetitive arguments but would suggest someone who entitles themself 'wise' would be advised to be sagacious.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Mark Harris,

    <pedant>Sartre's play was actually called Huit Clos which can be translated as In Camera among other things, and is a legal term under French law, meaning in camera</pedant>

    Moving on, Canterbury - your next question, for 10 points is...

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    Actually it did involve me. I concluded that SUVs do indeed impact more on the pelvic and thoraic regions than the femoral and that sometimes one can be extraordinarily lucky and some SUV drivers can be very gallant indeed afterwards. I do not intend to repeat the experiment by samples of control data, eg., an incident of broadly simlar dynamics with altered geometry utilising a vehicle of another type, even though I am confident that relatively less harm would be done to vital regions if the vector of primary impact were lower. I suspect that my reluctance has something to do with my aversion to prolonged pain.

    The doctor who conducted one of the physical examinations afterwards assured me that my kidneys were "beautiful", but according to the state of my liver, I should eat less cheese.

    Fortunately, my iPod was undamaged.

    Sagacity, I note, is a descriptor that is bestowed upon one by others, not oneself.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    Oh, and look both ways.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Bob Munro,

    Unlike Obama and his 130 "Present". btw does anyone want to respond to that outstanding example of decisiveness & leadership.

    Not Really. But you can get an idea of the subtle political mind behind the use of the 130 'presents' in the Illinois State Legisture in this article in The New York Times

    Christchurch • Since Aug 2007 • 418 posts Report Reply

  • sagenz,

    Sagacity, I note, is a descriptor that is bestowed upon one by others, not oneself

    What? You mean like my ancestors? We were thrown out of France hundreds of years ago for being annoying (and Protestant). I trust you will enjoy the family traits. :^)

    uk • Since Nov 2006 • 128 posts Report Reply

  • sagenz,

    ah bugger, forgot the punchline

    Phil Sage (sagenz)

    uk • Since Nov 2006 • 128 posts Report Reply

  • sagenz,

    Bob - onya for at least attempting.

    If you are worried about your next election, the present vote gives you political cover,” said Kent D. Redfield

    indeed.

    Lawmakers and other Illinois officials said the present vote was devised to enable lawmakers to recuse themselves from voting on bills that present personal conflicts.

    Its obviously about the career rather than doing your duty to those who elected you the last time.

    uk • Since Nov 2006 • 128 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    Sage -- seeing as both were in an election race against Obama, and thus were going to say that, no.

    Karl Rove, on the other hand, is now an analyst for 'fair and balanced' Fox News, and thus should have some modicum of decency. Plus, he seemed to set a standard over which it seems difficult to change one's mind: three years governor and time as a mayor of the 107th largest city in the US is not enough. The fact that Richmond has a population nearly a third of Alaska, and Va's population is ten times Alaska's should give us pause.

    Basically, I think that people directly involved in political campaigns are entitled to a bit of leeway on changing their minds once someone stops being their opponent and becomes their candidate. That's in the nature of the primary system. Three of the four people featured in that clip are, in theory at least, pundits, and the fourth, Nancy Pfotenhauer, should at least not be complaining about 'outrageous double standards' when talking out the other side of her mouth.

    In terms of

    does anyone want to respond to that outstanding example of decisiveness & leadership.

    Gee. I dunno.

    Oh, and a Huguenot. Cool.

    @John Amiria: Oh snap. Still, I think it's worth watching more than once. :-)

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Just Milly,

    Sage - may I call you that?

    Platitudes, platitudes, platitudes. 29pages of them. Can I at least have a nice side salad with just a drizzle of balsamic and a nice glass of wine with mine?

    Sorry, but I just don't get an old rich white guy spouting change. Maybe in some parallel universe but surely not here on planet earth? And, Palin. OMFG. Dubya with boobs, lipstick, high heels and waving a hockey stick. Oh sassier, that's true, prettier, again true, but George W nonetheless. Scrape away the Fay Wray meets Erin Brockovich makeover and what is there left? Duplicity, half truths, bridges to nowhere and the faint whiff of nail polish remover. Georgies Girl.

    Surely Americans will not sleepwalk to the polling booths again, high on the fumes of nail polish remover and vote for another refrain of the same tired old pop song? Surely not?

    "Beam me up Scottie!"

    The witty, charming and at times acerbic Mr Ranapia likes to quote Jane's (and let's face it, who doesn't?) wonderful and equally charming and witty Mr Bennett, myself, I usually turn to George W who has a quote for every ocassion, methinks.

    "If a person doesn't have the capacity that we all want that person to have, I suspect hope is in the far distant future, if at all"

    Excuse me waiter, where is that side salad?

    Since Jul 2008 • 17 posts Report Reply

  • Just Milly,

    "Would you like me to tongue your balls while I'm down here, Mr President?"

    That comment alone was worth price of admission!

    Since Jul 2008 • 17 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov,

    But as to your point - it ain't a huge issue because the policies don't differ. National supported Labour deploying troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.

    and so why do you as new zealanders support that?

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080905/ap_on_re_as/angry_afghans;_ylt=Ah.ysc9CGrMGff7hNkBFHNIBxg8F

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

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