This blog seeks to promote reasoned discussion on a wide variety of topics of interest to the proprietor. All point of view are welcome subject to the following:
– Arguments must be well reasoned.
– Arguments must be supported by evidence if that is possible given the topic.
– Opinion is welcome if well argued.
– Insults are not allowed.
– ad hominem attacks are not allowed.
– Gross language is not allowed unless present in quotation or used in such a way as to not violate other SST policy.
– Excessive length is undesirable.
– SST is for orginal thought. Do not use the blog as a bulletin board for other blogs.
These policies are subject to revision by the proprietor. pl
Pat,
Interesting timing.
It seems that in all human intercourse ,even in a personal blog, reasonable regulations (rules,policies, laws) are necessary to keep us from attacking each other and descending into barbarism.
I prefer appropriate government to anarchism.
Your rules and standards make this site what it is.
An oasis.
Pat,
Roger.
Mike
No mindless venting allowed?
I’ll explode!
In all seriousness, it is absolutely amazing how well you keep your blog running, Colonel. The Internet has turned into a haven for the angry and is the new home for the “lunatic fringe” who used to occupy the Short Wave bands and extreme edges of the AM dial. (How I miss listening to those folks from years ago.)
Thanks for keeping this up and running.
Cheers…
PS: The Artists dragged me to the Corcoran on Sunday and what do I see in the gift shop? Rothko greeting cards! One eye twitched uncontrollably while my ears grew flush.
Could you, or would you like to, write an article about Somali piracy (or high seas piracy in general)? Nearly everyone likes reading about pirates but I haven’t found an authoritative over view of the subject.
Best regards
Will Pat, Roger & Mike invite the rest of us?
DoM
Everyone but you. pl
Hello Col. Lang,
I’m racist.
I believe in the inverse penis size to brain size theory. That would place Blacks as having the largest penises, Us Caucasians as middle size, and Orientals as small size. Brain capacity being the inverse.
What facts do I have to back this argument up? Not much really, just a few headlines about some studies somewhere. But that’s the beauty of being racist. The fewer facts you have, the easier it is to hold a belief. Sort of like religion. As a matter of fact it’s little annoying getting to know some one of a different culture or race because then you have a whole group you can no longer stereotype. Another down side is finding out that at least ½ of them are just as smart as you, which is a real bummer.
What divides me from my hard core brothers and sisters is that I do not believe that the smartest Black is still dumber than the stupidest White, or the most corrupt believer is better than the most sensible non believer, because God will lead the believer to the right path). Yah, sure, we’ve seen how that works.
I also have a notion, (Less than a belief, more than a passing fancy) about hybrid vigour. We do it all the time in agriculture. All new crop varieties come from crossing old varieties to bring out the best points of the parents. Barak Obama is ½ black, ½ white. Need I say more!
One final thing, why the heck did Obama pick a black spouse? Didn’t he want to get back on the winning team? Is like he’s happy being black. That’s nuts.
Sincerely
Farmer Don.
Written for the fun of stretching your policy rules.
All
We make special rules for “Farmer Don.” He’s from Saskatchewan or however it’s spelled. pl
As long as you will post my occasional rants, I approve.
Colonel,
On another blog I frequent, a basketball blog with nothing better to discuss in the offseason than this or that political cataclysm, there is a single McCain supporter who has been taking all comers.
Now this is a fairly intelligent blog, and the comments supporting Obama and criticizing McCain are quite well-reasoned. But I find myself almost incapable of having a civil discourse with someone who tells us that “McCain will defend the country” and “Obama is one of the elites.”
I think civility is necessary for the constructive compromise of good accords, and I can certainly remember times in the past when I have been so outraged at the government that I thought they had reached a new low…
But I honestly believe this fellow (whose basketball IQ is rather high, by the way) is defending a way of life I can’t tolerate. He won’t SAY he is for wars of adventure or torture and prisoner abuse, for the advent of a new Cold War, or for the continued trampling of the underclass beneath the heel of the–
Well. You get the picture.
I told him about your blog and how, being a veteran, he would gain a great amount of insight from your perspective. What I really hope is that he shows up with his rah rah show and you would clean his clock.
But seriously, I understand that immature outbursts of rage aren’t helpful at this juncture, but do we still have to treat these people destroying our country with the calmness and tolerance they’ve never shown us?
Okay okay… I know the answer to that one too. Perhaps when this is all settled we can still have a truth and reconciliation process like South Africa to finally put all these crimes behind us without burying them unexamined.
Things I learn from this blog:
Horse is much dumber than a bacteria.
I bet the neocons have gigantic size of penises.
I’m with Farmer Don. Hybrid vigor is the way to go. After all, haven’t you noticed that mutts are brighter and easier to train than pure breds? Same goes for people. Let’s mix up them genes, folks! We can only get better!
Curious,
my arabian gelding resents your remark — Horse is much dumber than a bacteria.
since when have you seen bacteria cut/herd cattle?
harrumph.
Good blog, I’ve been drive-by lurking for a while.
I wish all blogs had such a well-reasoned approach to dealing with their comments. Civility is one of the cornerstones of civilization, after all. I approve very much.
“The Internet has turned into a haven for the angry and is the new home for the “lunatic fringe” who used to occupy the Short Wave bands and extreme edges of the AM dial. ”
So true. I miss having a shortwave radio, haven’t had one since before Reagan was elected. I think I’ll look into getting one.
The other Golden Rule
he who hath the Gold Rules- in this case – the Sysop owns the bandwith.
By the way, it has been a while since i put a little الذهب أو الفضة
in the pot.
Col. Lang:
I really like Fitz’s ‘pirate’ idea. I’ve always seen pirates and piracy a little bit like the canary in the coal mine. Its got lots of ramifications. Maybe we could even discuss reinstituting letters of marque.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/world/africa/01pirates.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Alnval, Fritz, you’ll probably be interested in this article from the NYT. It’s an interview with the Somali pirates who hijacked the arms shipment recently.
Man I have been at the cottage all spring and summer, and the few times I checked in here was the same ad hominen story. Unsettling for an erstwhile regular of such a tony joint. Which I just can’t fathom, notwithstanding colder swimming resulting in a commensurate expansion of my fathoming powers, according to Farmer Don’s er, yardstick. People, this ain’t FOX Haaretz, we must behave.
I do agree with you Don, hybrids are the wave of the future, it’ll be medium size brown dicks all around, with the delightful and confounding variation you note still befuddling us. Women’ll be after us even more to start thinking with the brains the Creator finally gives us, and that includes Play Nice, stick to the point and answer the question.
I feel high on indignation and low on prescription myself, and my rants precede me, so I must think a while before I post. I just haven’t a clue what to do or where to begin, so thinking will have to do. I recently heard Janeane Garofalo say that voting for McCain would be a moral failure to her, and emotionally, I agree. Hardly the basis for respectful informed argument.
W/r/t piracy, just saw a squib at Debkafile saying “Somali FM: International community may use force against hijacked ships”, There’s French, American and Canadian ships reported within a dozen kilometers of the Ukrainian ship, so stay tuned.
My current wish is for an analysis of how the Pentagon can handle the shortfall expected in Govt. revenues.
Demand that all countries hosting overseas bases pay for all expenses including salary and retirement and dental and etc etc –oh, and a percentage of the Pentagon?
You endorse Obama and he starts hitting 50+% in the daily tracking polls! Amazing!
🙂
Col. : sir, I’ve just arrived from a blog recommendin’ YOUR blog. & it’s plain for all to see from the “Live traffic feed”. How’s that for ADVERTIZIN’?
Thanks for letting me post on your blog Col. Lang. I’ve been thrown off all the others.
“Gross language is not allowed unless present in quotation or used in such a way as to not violate other SST policy.”
A couple of years ago, a group of troubled and troublesome Brit ish teenagers were sent to some sort of boot camp in the US. The “tutors”, “guardians”, whatever they were called, rightfully operated a policy of penalties against any “client” who transgressed a rule against gross language. Soon, the orrible kids learned not to shout F***, Sh**, C***, etc whenever the going got tough and they were forced to clean latrines or peel spuds. But they learned something else. Their American tutors were utterly unfamiliar with such words as bollocks, wanker, berk (rhyming slang – Berkshire hunt meaning …..)and soon they were merrily indulging in “gross language” without their tutors being aware. I fully agreee with the policy of banning gross language from your blog; too many blogs are marred by unnecessary coarseness and insults. However, I report this tale simply to inquire of you, Colonel, how familiar you are with the foul language of other varieties of English than North American or indeed with the rich vocabularies of insult and coarseness other languages.
Drongo
My wife is addicted to your television.
We do not seem to be acquiring your popular speech as you are ours but a passive knowledge of wankerisms is hard to avoid.
oh, yes. I once worked for a London based company. pl
This blog is the closest I can get to an enlightenment salon. It is how I imagine Ben Franklin or T. Paine talking and discussing ideas about politics and the natural world order. In this age of the computer, technocrats abound; empty of well developed ethics created as a result of vigourous discourse and self-examination. Where are the men and women of letters….HERE! We need places where things can be discussed with insight, candor, honesty and vigor. Too often the MSM spits out talking points with no substance, and i am infuriated that American people, with degrees (no less), simply repeat them with no thought. Vigorous discussion minus ad hominem (i had to look that one up) attacks are too long missing in our society. If only there were a bar which served some ale or whiskey that loaded up with this webpage….
I am going to piggyback on the hybrid theme. I have long thought that God’s (or whatever particular arrangmeents of letters and/or symbols make represent the all powerful energy you use) master plan is fo all of us to interbreed. Hybrid people are always more beautiful than folks with a bland DNA, as are flowers, and let not talk about pear-apples. Interbreeding until we are all one race, finally taking away the last card politicians can use to justify war against the “other”. Interbreeding will eventually lead to world peace.
You head it on the Col’s site first!
Speaking of Britishisms, imagine my shock on my first visit to the island in the 1980’s wearing something that was kind of trendy then, a “fanny pack.” Needless to say, I quickly learned to adopt the British variant, “bum bag.”
Fitz,
Great idea on asking for a strategic view on Somali piracy.
Short term:
Patrol the area and keep the see lanes clear.
1) Patrol the area with an LPH, like the Tarawa or Saipan, take off most of the marines and add a few apache attach choppers. Attack and destroy pirates on sight. To paraphrase William T. Sherman “The only good pirate is a dead pirate”.
2) Engage our allies in the region to assist so this is not just the U.S. Navy acting alone.
3). If this is not acceptable just sit around and wait for the Russians, Chinese or someone else to do this.
Long term:
A clear strategic vision on US policy in the region. Something definitely worth more thought and effort. What are your ideas?
Col. Lang asked me why I was getting thrown off blogs, specifically my home town paper the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Here is my reply to Col. Lang who is nice enough to let us post here.
Hi Col. Lang,
I haven’t really been tossed but for expressing these beliefs: that the President of the United States should put aside partisan politics. That everybody should have health care even at the cost of taxing ourselves more (taxes are unpopular). That we ought to spend less, save more and be a good neighbor while practicing the advice of Frost’s famer, “Good fences make good neighbors.” Thses posts in my home town newspaper, where I do 99% of my posting, upset people who are uncomfortable with these ideas, who I think engage in wishful thinking, go from reasoned debate (not to many) to the usual “Why don’t you drop in a lake” and worse (sigh). I interpret those response as a wish that I would not post my ideas that we are also partialy responsible for this mess we are in. The blame for the kind of government we’ve got lies with us, the “Weans” like as in We the People.
These ideas don’t seem to impress the people who use the Internet. They didn’t impress me when I was young. Live for the day was a philosophy that along with “If it feels good do it” had me thinking I didn’t have a care in the world. Meanwhile our Country was mangled by opportunists. Thinking only of there own advantage and like leopards in tress they took advantage of there position and squandered our national treasure, our national honor and the prestige in the world so hard to come by and so easily lost. We are in a mess, leaderless and floundering while the enemies of America rejoice and do everything in there power to destroy us. That sort of thing seems uncomfortable to read. We want someone to lead but whom do we trust? Are we’re going to have to get ourselves out of this mess!? I think so and it’s going to be painful, Getting America back to the postion we had 8 years ago is going to take courage, sacrifice, patience, and that seems to make people very uncomfortable. The people are suffering and we shouldn’t be but when the boats filling up with water the predominant emotion is fear. Leadership like FDR exhibited during the decade of the New Deal would be welcome.
Thanks for asking.
Mike Torpey
Col:
Given your familiarity with British slang, presumably you are aware that the rhyming slang “Barclays Banker” refers to a W****r. In the present context, perhaps the term may be modified for an American audience to “Wall Street Banker”.
I sure this is the wrong place to vent my frustration but I just finished listening to because I don’t have TV (I know I’m totally out of it) and gov Palin did not answer any of the questions. probably watching her she seemed much better but just listening she didn’t awnser anthing, she made up her own questions. My husband is a professor of speech and he could not believe it. Then we listened to CNN and they said she won. WHAT?
I draw the line at being civil to Canadians. With their terrifying warlike ways and rancid baconey breath, the are the Maple Menace … the Devil’s own ‘EH’ Team!
No one should be allowed to be from Saskatchewan, I can’t spell Saskatchewan. It should be called Eastern Alberta or Manitoba’s Sudetenland (that would make a great license plate). Much to my surprise they have invaded Prince Edward Island …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Saskatchewan,_Canada.svg
It wasn’t enough that they destroyed Ed Muskie, they had to ruin football.
How To Spot a Canadian: Tell the person you got called for icing. Americans will think you are a bakery supplier. If they start talking about a “Blue Line” call the border patrol. Also, only Canadians say “North American”.
Montana’s Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger wrote an op-ed:
“Frank St. Pierre, of Anaconda, fought in World War II. He is one of the most decorated living veterans in America. And yet, on Wednesday, my party — the Montana Republican Party — tried to invalidate his voter registration because he lives in a county with a lot of Democrats. Incredible as this may sound to you, it is the truth…”
johnst
thanks.
S&S
I missed the hing about and “you know that.” A reminder. If you call me a liar, I will refuse to talk or write to you. pl
DaveGood
Point 1 -This brigade is tasked to support a wide variety of missions in support of a Northcom task force. As I said before, the only difference between this and the status if any other unit is that this brigade is dedicated to that support until relieved.
Point 2 – Assuming this AR is genuine it deals with agreements between Army posts and federal prisons for the use of the federal prisons’ inmates for labor on the Army posts. What is the problem? Army prisoners have always been used for labor on Army posts. I grew up watching MPs herd stockade prisoners around to do gardening work. At Ft Leavenworth for example, there is a a huge post which is home to the Army’s Combined Arms Center (you know, where Petraeus “wrote” the COIN document). On that post, there are also several prisons. One is an Army prison and the others belong to the BofP. The regulation says that if the federal prison from which the inmates come is at a distance then a facility must be provided to house them while they are there.
This regulation, assuming it is genuine, allows the Army to use prisoner labor for things that the taxpayer would orherwise have to pay for.
I now see that a lot of you will insist on believing that this a directive for establishing an American Gulag. Sad. pl