Freedom of speech is the primary thread that the Bill of Rights, and thus, the U.S. Constitution dangles from. However, it is not absolute - e.g., I cannot yell "fire" in a crowded theater.
Now, I hold free speech especially dear to my reasoning. I believe that John Milton's Areopagitica is essential - i.e., "Let [Truth] and Falsehood grapple." (That is the key to explaining my Glenn Beck submissions.)
And don't get me wrong, I'm all for drawing Muhammad, but I downvote this because this guy is a moron and I don't think that you should blame an entire religion for something a handful of douche bags espouse. The real shame is that these handful of douche bags has been given such a loud voice by the media that it quivers others into submission.

[edit]: If Freedom of Speech is the thumb, and laws expressly prohibiting religion, press, assembly, and petition are the other four fingers on the hand which makes the Bill of Rights--why was religion guaranteed first and foremost?

Well - first off I'd dispute it when you say "all of the comments" I make "bash Obama" or "praise FOX News". I accurately criticize Obama/Democrat policy. That isn't bashing per se, though it may be seen that way by those who disagree. As far as "praising FOX" - hardly. I criticize the MEDIA as a whole. FOX is no avatar of virtue to me. What I find odious is when people here are willing to lambaste FOX when it exhibits bias, while at the same time praising equally biased crap from MSNBC, CBS, TDS, ABC, etc...

But - to your question... My 'purpose'? You call it commotion. I call it discourse. I present the opinions of an average American who believes in fiscal conservatism, limited government, and constitutional constructionism. If you disagree with an opinion, then grapple with it in the crucible of ideas. If you find such an exercise wearisome, then withdraw yourself. I am delighted to advocate a position that I believe in, and consider the resulting discussion an educational experience. That is because I do not fear encountering other ideas, even though I may not agree with them. Sometimes I am strident, but I do not attack specific people (Sifters) as a rule of thumb (public figures all bets are off though).

Upvote for his obvious grappling with not swearing when describing the size of it.

>> ^LostTurntable:
Bush did "inherit" 9/11 in as much as Clinton didn't do a great job fighting Osama Bin Laden on his watch, but Bush just flat out IGNORED him. There's more then enough blame to go around on that one.


Actually, Clinton wanted to go after Bin Laden more. There was just this little issue with an intern's stained dress that the GOP thought was more important at the time. Had the GOP-heavy congress given him the OK, he probably could have found Bin Laden before 9/11 would've ever happened. After all, the attack on the USS Cole did happen on his watch, so you'd think that the GOP would've put bringing him to justice for it up on their list of priorities. Sadly, pursuing terrorists is only a priority when it makes one of their own look good for doing it.

But Clinton knew something big was going to happen the second week of September 2001. He even made sure to let the Bush administration know everything his administration knew about it. Condi Rice had been photographed several times carrying around that report, but I could never find a pic of anyone actually reading it.

That report was leaked not long after 9/11 happened. The media largely ignored it, however. It spelled out a number of scenarios, as well as counter-strategies for dealing with issues as they came up when it came to diplomacy and the Middle East. Sadly, none of the warnings were heeded. The rest, as they say, is history.

So let us place blame where it should fall - on the Republican-led Congress that Clinton fought with for 6 years. They repealed Glass-Stegall. They put more effort into looking at sperm on a dress than intelligence reports. They put party before country, and we're STILL paying for it, over 10 years later.

So Fuck Newt Gingrich. Remember, he resigned as Speaker of the House (who is next in line after if the Prez and VP are unable to perform their duties) because he was a fucking hypocrite who, despite being an ugly, fat sack of shit, managed to find someone other than his wife who would let him fuck her. His intended successor was guilty of the same crime, so they had to get Dennis fucking Hastert, a retired high school wrestling coach, to play third-string House Speaker. (And someone who made a living of watching young men grapple and roll around isn't gay at all. Really.)

And Mary Matalin must have her head so far up her ass she can see an alternate reality. Let's get NASA on that shit.

Mexican Wrestling Lizards! This clip features extensive grappling of *Mexican Lizards!* A M A Z I N G

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:
PostalBlowfish
Your name is well chosen. But, as always, it is nice to encounter a person so willing to grapple with issues, avoid non sequiters, eschew ad hominems, and to stick to facts and substance. You represent your side of the debate well, sir. By all means continue to serve as the Jungian archetype of your persuasion.


You pretend like you would be willing to have a debate, but I can tell by your discourse that you're not. Here's a hint - I left one word in the quote I edited. Here's another hint - if your posts contain borderline conspiracy rants, don't expect to be taken seriously. As you have pointed out I did not engage your drivel, so you really can't say what side of the debate I would represent. I can - reason. But I make it a point not to waste too much of my time on people who will abandon reason in the end if it turns out the alternative would be to admit they are wrong. You should thank me for not wasting yours.

PostalBlowfish

Your name is well chosen. But, as always, it is nice to encounter a person so willing to grapple with issues, avoid non sequiters, eschew ad hominems, and to stick to facts and substance. You represent your side of the debate well, sir. By all means continue to serve as the Jungian archetype of your persuasion.

is all that you do hate?

Hm? Eh, what? Hate as in people? I'm not an emotive fellow. I dislike hypocrisy, deceit, and inefficiency, but that's probably not what you are implying.

Isn't there anything that you actually like?

Sure. I like honesty, efficiency, hard work, thrift, and common sense. I like taking responsibility, and refusing to pass the buck. I like getting things done, helping out folks who need it, and helping people to learn how to not need help in the first place. I like when people stand on their own feet, take care of their own, and have the guts, grit, and determination to refuse to take things they don't need. I like freedom, small government, and the original Constitution & Bill of Rights. I also like apple filled doughnuts.

You bail out of any argument or debate as soon as it becomes clear your losing .

I typically note that I'm the guy that sticks with the discussion much longer than the average sifter. I also note that other sifers - such as yourself with this thread - are the ones that generally respond with insults, attacks, profane language, non sequiters, and so forth. I try to stay on topic, keep things impersonal, and confine the discussion to issues as opposed to generic frothing and ranting.

what change is it you hope to affect ?

Change? I'm not Obama. I don't deal in platitudes. I discuss issues, and correct misinformation about the conservative position. I also - such as this thread - sometimes like to keep the left honest by spurring them to grapple with the reality of just who and what they are cheerleading. Like this vid. Mobama impugning a large group of people and calling them (effectually) racists with no evidence. It was despicable and purile, and showed her to be an intellectual lightweight and a judgemental buffoon. The early comments went on and on. "Yeah - you go girl..." I have effectively shown that at the very BEST she was a thoughtless cad - and (more likely) at worst is more racist herself than the people she was addressing. Not quite something to cheer about anymore, is it?

And just in case you hadn't noticed the pendulum went the other way the last time we had a say in it.

I don't even understand what this is in reference to. Who is 'we'? What subject was under discussion about which 'we' had a 'say'? I'm afraid I require antecedents.

>> ^Almanildo: There, you said it yourself. Treating God as a scientific hypothesis is simply a sophisticated way to say that you demand a reason to believe in it. This reason has to be either some sort of evidence or some logical or philosophical argument. As QualiaSoup points out, the philosophical arguments are flawed. So skeptics seek evidence for God.
It seems like you are trying to evade the question by having it both ways. First you assert that God does have an effect on our daily lives, through points of contact with our world. Then you refuse to treat these effects as potential evidence requiring analysis.


Sure, we have to provide some reason why we believe in something. That does not mean that the reason has to be construed in strict scientific terms. It may need to be in some sense empirical, rational, and all that, and hence capable of being grappled with intellectually, but that does not mean that what is being investigated is open to scientific inquiry in the way that rocks and bacteria are.

Science relies on a rather narrow kind of reason--instrumental reason--and not reason totally or simply. There are other forms of inquiry--such as the phenomenological investigations of Husserl, Heidegger, or Merleau-Ponty--which depend on very different kinds of reason.

This deserves more votes!

Looks like it'll be great fun to play. Maybe needs a * comedy tag for some of the different ways to kill enemies and the jumping between vehicles.

Pity it's apparently not going to launch with multiplayer, deathmatches with the grapple/shute and vehicles would be insane.

>> ^theali:
How does the Wiimote work without the infrared receiver in front of it?


The Wii remote only uses the infrared receiver for screen positioning, so the Wii knows where the Wii remote is pointing precisely. Otherwise the infrared receiver is useless. Aside from that the Wii remote has accelerometers within it, which communicate through blue-tooth, and this is what registers the Wii remotes' trajectory and motion in space. This latter technology is what this demo is using. Since there is no need to use the Wii remote as a pointing device here, they don't need the infrared at all. Only it's ability to detect motion and direction.

"I look forward to finding out whether you get the grappling hook or boomerang first in this new Zelda"

FYI, here is the transcript of that portion of Obama's speech:

I want to be honest: this is the toughest issue we will face. We are going to exhaust every avenue that we have to prosecute those at Guantanamo who pose a danger to our country. But even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States. Examples of that threat include people who have received extensive explosives training at al Qaeda training camps, commanded Taliban troops in battle, expressed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden, or otherwise made it clear that they want to kill Americans. These are people who, in effect, remain at war with the United States.

As I said, I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American people. Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and those that we capture - like other prisoners of war - must be prevented from attacking us again. However, we must recognize that these detention policies cannot be unbounded. That is why my Administration has begun to reshape these standards to ensure they are in line with the rule of law. We must have clear, defensible and lawful standards for those who fall in this category. We must have fair procedures so that we don't make mistakes. We must have a thorough process of periodic review, so that any prolonged detention is carefully evaluated and justified.

I know that creating such a system poses unique challenges. Other countries have grappled with this question, and so must we. But I want to be very clear that our goal is to construct a legitimate legal framework for Guantanamo detainees - not to avoid one. In our constitutional system, prolonged detention should not be the decision of any one man. If and when we determine that the United States must hold individuals to keep them from carrying out an act of war, we will do so within a system that involves judicial and congressional oversight. And so going forward, my Administration will work with Congress to develop an appropriate legal regime so that our efforts are consistent with our values and our Constitution.

Not quite what Rachel made it out to be.

I don't blame her for being attentive on this issue -- I sure as hell am. I also don't blame her for using her show to try to build political pressure for Obama to Do The Right Thing^TM, but I don't see any reason to think from this speech that he's decided to do something bad, or even left the door open to do something bad.

What I heard was what he's always said: we don't have to choose between our values and our safety.

He's just pointing out, in a very, very delicate way, that Guantanamo as is operates entirely outside of the law, but that it would be irresponsible to release the people we can't try because Bush ignored due process and the Geneva conventions and made it impossible to build a legitimate legal case for holding some of these people.

I think the idea is to come up with a way to charge them for "conspiracy to commit terror attacks" that passes muster, so that their detention ceases to be unlawful and indefinite. As Xaielao said, there is some precedent for this with Prisoners of War, though most of the law written about that assumes there's a state with a government to deal with in some clear way about the release, so we'd need a new legal framework for dealing with non-state actors...

http://www.physorg.com/news161960925.html
This morning, at precisely 8:57 a.m. ET, a carefully orchestrated maneuver was carried out 350 miles above the Atlantic coastline of Africa, marking the successful end of the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission.

Ever so gently, the Atlantis crew released the grapple fixture on the shuttle’s robotic arm, allowing Hubble to resume orbiting Earth on its own, as it has done since its deployment in April 1990. After Hubble’s thousands of orbits, thousands of images, five tune-ups and countless discoveries, a space shuttle crew is leaving this great observatory for the last time.

Cruisin' Mos Espa
In my Delorean
War's over
I'm a peacetime mandalorian

My story has stumped
Star Wars historians
Deep in debate,
Buffet plate at Bennigan's

Rhyme renegade
Sure to penetrate
First and second offense
I won't hesitate

Got a job to do
And Darth's the guy that delegates
Got something against Skywalker
Someone he really hates

I don't give a fuck
I'm after Solo
For all I care
He could be hidin' at Yoda's dojo

Gotta make the money
Credit's no good
When the jawas runin' shop
In your neighborhood

Think you can cook
I got a grappling hook
Let's make this quick
'Cause I'm really booked

I'm a devious degenerate
Defender of the devil
Shut down all the trash compactors
On the detention level

chorus
My backpack's got jets
Well I'm Boba the Fett
Well I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt
To finance my 'Vette

wicky wicky woo

Well I chill in deep space
A mask is over my face
Well I deliver the prize
But I still narrow my eyes
'Cause my time
I don't like to waste.

Get down

I'm a question
Wrapped inside an enigma
Get inside the slave one
Find your homing signal

From Endor to Hoth
Ripley to Spock
I'll find what you want
But there's gonna be a cost

See, my name is Boba Fett
I know my shit is tight
Start not actin'right
You're frozen in carbonite

Got telescopic sight
Flame throwers on my wrist
You still don't get the gist
Spiked boots are made to kick

Targets are made to hit
You think I give a shit
Yo mama is a bitch
I see you in the Sarlaac Pit

You just flipped my switch
Integrity been dissed
You scratchin' on my itch
You know I shoot to get

Got bambinas at cantinas
Waitin' to lick my lusty lips
So I'll let you get back inside
Your little space ship

Give you a head start
'Cause I'm the sportin' kind
Consider the starting line
The sneaky smile I hide inside

Hope you have hyper drive (drive)
pray to stay alive ('live)
Don't try to slip me a five
'Cause I never take a bribe

To the beat of a different drummer
Bad ass bounty hunter
Let no man put asunder
Or else they be put under

As in six feet
Got an imperial fleet
Backin' me up, gonna blow up
Any attempt to defeat

They gotta death star
Got four payments on my car
Hand it over to hammer head
At Mos Eisley bar

He used to carjack
Now he's a barback
Just goes to show how you can
Get back on the right track

As for me that's not an option
Can't say that with more clarity
Me going legit would be like
Jar Jar on speech therapy

Chorus
My backpack's got jets
Well I'm Boba the Fett
Well I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt
To finance my 'Vette

wicky wicky woo

Well I chill in deep space
A mask is over my face
Well I deliver the prize
But I still narrow my eyes
'Cause my time
I don't like to waste.

Get down

Slice you open like a Taun Taun
Faster than the Autobahn
Or a motorbike in Tron
Do the deed and then I'm gone

Jaba has a hissyfit
Contact Calrissian
Over a colt, the plan unfolds
No politic is legit

Back in the day
When I was a slave
Living life in the fast lane
Like in a pod race

My mean streak tweaked
I became a basket case
So this space ace
Split that place, poste haste

Took up a noble cause
Called the Clone Wars
'Cause life's not all about
Girls and cars

Getting fucked up
In fucked up bars
See, I'm not a retard
Or gay like de Barge

I'm large and in charge
With a face so scarred
A cold black heart
That's been torn apart

The Sith wish that they
Had a dick so hard
'Cause it's long long ago
In a pussy far far

Call me master, 'cause I'm faster
Than Pryor on fire
I no longer have to hot wire

I'm a hunter for hire
With no plans to retire
And all the sucka MCs
Can call me sire

Chorus
My backpack's got jets! (jets jets jets)

Well I'm Boba the Fett! (the Fett the Fett)

Well I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt, (Jabba Hutt Jabba Hutt Jabba Hutt)

...To finance my 'Vette (my 'Vette my 'Vette my 'Vette my 'Vette)