As a partial answer to myself, I found this showing that indeed, Iraq did, at least to this point, cost more than the Stan. I guess that does make since as there was an actual army that needed killing there and an entire urban warfare scene that got out of control. In my reading, though, it does talk about logistics being a MAJOR problem in the Stan. For every dollar you want to spend there, you have to spend even more dollars to get that money on the ground...more so than Iraq which is just a drive up the road from Kuwait. Which means that out of that 400 billion spent on the Stan, much less of that money was spent on actually fighting than in Iraq, the Stan is a very ineffective war in comparison. Like Napoleon invading Russia, or the Soviet Union in.... Afghanistan (sigh), this is a great war to spend lots of money doing very little. On a positive note, I guess, this is the last spinning war plate. Well, that is until we decide to hurl missiles at some other person we don't like, in the name of freedom of course.

Have to do some research later on which war has cost more (dollars) , Iraq or the Stan. My money is on Stan just because it was longer, so I might need to metric it or something. It would be neat to see that the war that will really bankrupt us is the one that no one cares to stop.

I was reminded of the old make-and-break engine: http://youtu.be/UxGw4d2NFMo

Which I only know of because of the late Stan Rogers' "Make and Break Harbour:" http://youtu.be/6E2DFa18kYI

edit: Now a Sift! http://videosift.com/video/Stan-Rogers-Make-and-Break-Harbour

>> ^doogle:

Oh for Christ's sake, can we get spell check on the title for these Videosift videos?
It's STANLEY. You even had it right in the description. But fucked up in the title.
And 2 exclamation marks is poor form. Put one, or three. Not two. But that, I don't care about.
I for one wouldn't mind a Stanely Cup getting dented. Whatever the hell that is.
For Christ's sake.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>

whoops
..but I'm not changing the punctuation.

Oh for Christ's sake, can we get spell check on the title for these Videosift videos?

It's STANLEY. You even had it right in the description. But fucked up in the title.

And 2 exclamation marks is poor form. Put one, or three. Not two. But that, I don't care about.

I for one wouldn't mind a Stanely Cup getting dented. Whatever the hell that is.

For Christ's sake.

http://videosift.com/video/The-Murray-Prayer

And thanks for the promote!

In reply to this comment by legacy0100:
I'm starting to like this show a lot lol lol lol. My kinda characters, my kinda humor.

Thanks TRB! And here's to Jack.

In reply to this comment by therealblankman:
Just listened to the Jack Layton musical tribute on CBC radio. Had to hear this one again. *promote

the new spiderman is not spiderman

different abilities makes it a different mutant and should have a different name

many of the hardcore fans of marvel and spiderman franchise have already posted flames on the marvel forums, there is one thread over 2000 pages of protest

media will call it racism that we dont like it, but that's not true, the real spiderman in the alternate universe he got there from the normal one, but died.

this new thing they want to call spiderman has different powers and abilities, and to call it spiderman is stupid even Stan Lee has voiced his opposition to it.

If Stan Lee the "god" of the spiderman world is against it then of course the change is bullshit.

course no worries the sales will definitely tank, and noone will buy them in the first place. And those that are semi interested in it can download them off piratebay or demonoid and use free open source program comicbook reader to read them to see how bad they screwed it up

(LYRICS)

(Chorus opening)

There I was havin’ a good hard shit for myself
After the parsnips,peas,cauliflower the lump o leek and de brussels sprout
All inside in me,dyin’ ta get out it was and shur what could i do i had to go
And i’m readin de oul sunday paper,as you do you never know what you might see like and I turn the page and theres this big fuckoff ad for Eminem live in the point depot, and who comes in de door only my little brother Matthew(matcho)
Runs in the the door sees the ad runs downstairs to mammy “Eh mammy mammy Eminems comin to de point depot,mammy mammy Eminem live at the point depot can i go mammy can i please please mammy can i go?” Bastard!
Mammy tells me to go an get tickets I go and get tickets, I’m standin’ outside HMV for 17 an a half fuckin’ hours,with nothin but a flask of turnip soup I had last sundaay and a fuckin’ sleepin bag...Frozen to my balls I was and muppets all round me screamin’ an roarin’ an shoutin’ ‘cleanin out dere closet,cleanin out dere closet’ langers on a half a bottle of fuckin’ smirnoff ice, but shur what can you do wit em?, dere muppets de whole lot of em’
Nonetheless dey move,I move, we all move, I finally get up to de counter
“Eh 2 tickets for Eminem” “Thats 50 euro per ticket and 4.50 bookin’ fee”
“Whats the bookin' fee for?? I booked nothin standin here for 17 1/2 fuckin hours, no credit card, no nothin. Fuckin MCD robbin bastards,robbin’ bastards de whole lot of em but I’ll tell you 1 thing, ye met yer match lads Ha Ha!

(Chorus)

Bus Eireann,deres another shower o right muppets altogether 20 euro a piece for myself an matthew....8 1/2 hours and I standin the whole fuckin way from Limerick to Dublin! When does it ever take 8 1/2 hours to go from Limerick to Dub..I’d fuckin’ swim to New York quicker! And It a broken down heap o shit an all it was and blated punctures and bumps,every bump was like a fuckin crater of a moon it was,
Nonetheless we finally get there had to queue outside de point depot for another 2 1/2 hours, half way through the queue some muppet feels my balls “Have you got a camera?” he says....Have I got a camera,I can’t stand the sight of the peroxide fuckers head an he’s askin me have I a camera?! I can’t take a shit,make a hang sangwich an de fuckers lookin’ back at me. I’m only up here for matcho you know!!
Jesus I get in I hadda queue for a burger ('cos Matthew wanted a burger) I hadda queue for a pint,I hadda queue for a piss! Everything,you can’t even make a phone call and some muppets on the line “Eh your call is important to us,please stay on the li….Fuck you ya bastard! Fuckin Eircom robbin bastards! Robbin bastards de whole lot of em,robbin de country blind, fuckin’ government don’t have a clue whats goin’ on in this country!
Nonetheless we’re pushin an we’re squeezin an shovin tryin to make it up to de front for Matcho (Hes only small hes only up to my arse,hes only six, like)...and of course I’m fartin de whole way up coz I couldn’t go to the toilet coz I couldn’t get inta de queue!! And his mouth was open an all and he’s dere “Ah Stan are we near the front yit Stan, Eh stan Are we near the front I can’t breathe stan eh... “We’re nearly dere now hold onto yourself boy!
We finally get there Hes all excited hes on my shoulders,I’m all excited coz hes all excited We came all dis way for you,just for you…..and you send out some black fella…..a big fat black fella an the back of his trousers down his arse. And him roarin into the microphone ‘Whos ur nigger,whos ur nigger ur niggers in da house, Jenny's on the block..” Well I’ll tell u one thing Jenny Suck my fuckin’ cock!!! We didn’t come all this way to see u or no one like u! Jez who are you? Nobody gives a shit about or no one else! We came here to see 1 man 1 man only, do me a favor will u?
GET OFF DA FUCKIN STAGE!!!!!!!

(Chorus)

Out you finally saunter with your vest wrapped round you good an tight,an oul hangy baggy pants on you and nonetheless an oul pair o nike runners on you
an you screamin into the microphone! how u were fucked in the arse when you were 5, Thats not my fuckin problem you know! We’ve all got issues we’ve all got problems,I’ve a wife that hates me,Ive a child that I love but shur what can we do about em? We don’t go rantin an ravin to the public about how fuckin brilliant we are, how our lives are all fucked up an I want to put my wife in a bodybag an drive her over the edge of a cliff. Well I’ll put you in my bodybag ya bastard! I’ll drive you over the edge of a bridge or a cliff or a mountain or somethin! Don’t go rantin an ravin with ur la de da de da bout your hoosit an wtsit in the world!! I have issues here in the world and I’ll tell u 1 ting!If I’m goin down I’m takin’ you with me coz ur nothin but an ape! And I’ll tell u somethin else,I’ll rip ur liver out thru yer arse! BASTARD!!!!

(Epilogue)

"Dear stan, you sad, sad little man....why do you think I should give a shit about you or your little brother Matthew, it's fuckin' apes like you that are making me a fortune, I'm worth a FORTUNE....I release an album, you buy the album, I release a single & you buy every single song off it, I mean why do you buy it twice...why why?? You queue for hours you buy tickets, I can't even get a passport leave my own country & the likes of you are still out there buying all my shit that I pump out...so what if I'm moanin' and groanin'?....I'm worth a fortune, I couldn't care less about you, anyone, no-one...I LOVE it...I'm worth so much money, it's SICK...I'm sick to my teeth with money...I'm loaded, I am loaded....I'm fuckin' LOOOOOOOAAAAAADDDEDDDDD!!!!"

(Chorus)

Thanks for reading that long long loooooong post. It certainly came from my heart!

I didn't see the comment stream as "backlash." I fully expected it. This is what humans do, it seems -- lash out, misinterpret, cherry pick one sentence and analyze it to death out of context, extrapolate, and build themselves up into fake and real outrage. Happens all the time on comment streams of longer length.

I include myself in that description, but I am trying to wean myself from doing that. It isn't productive. I know I am not 100% successful, but I do it less than I used to. I'm still learning to recognize the behavior in myself. I have learned a lot from being on the Sift.

And I think you are right -- this place is mostly guys and I don't care how old they are, the kid is still inside there and he wants to play. Women have been called a "civilizing" influence -- I prefer that idea to the negativity of the idea of Political Correctness -- and the guys are absolutely right. It sucks the spontaneous fun of reacting in the moment.

I think the best example of that is that horrible C Punch vid that Lasurus posted. http://videosift.com/video/CUNt-PUNCH

The first comment. Now that is honesty -- he knows there is something distasteful about this vid and he finds it funny. I say good on him for just telling truth.

I always bring up Louis CK as a perfect example of the lie that is Political Correctness. Here's a guy who has said some of the most objectively offensive things I have ever heard, but I am never offended. Why? Because he tells the truth. Always. If he finds something that is objectively speaking distasteful, he says -- man, this is gross and I like it anyway. It is the bone deep honesty of it that steps him back from the edge.

AND. It is tiring to keep that up when all you want to do is watch videos and react, though. I get it.

I was very interested in how you reacted to the C punch vid (with the title that offended me.) I have a couple of fantastic male friends who are not the "normal" kind of guy. Heterosexual but gentle. To hear their tales of being bullied and abused, of their struggles to find their way to be themselves in our culture that is so abusive towards its men, that only allows one image for what it means to be masculine.... it's enough to break your heart. I heard echos of that in your post. I know you say that you felt protective towards women -- well, I may be projecting my friends' experience, I may be off base, but I heard echos of my male friends' struggles in your outrage.

I know that this place is mostly male. I come here because of the science (there used to be more, but there is still some), and the smarts, and the generally progressive attitudes, and dft and blankfist having the same argument over and over again.

I believe it is inappropriate for me to "squash" the boyish fun -- if this were a predominantly female site, the men would be expected to respect the culture of that site.

But they also aren't here alone. And that first poster on lasurus' linked vid KNEW it wasn't appropriate, that a line had been crossed.

Blah blah blah.

I am going to the new Pirates movie now. (Saw Thor last night -- man, was that stupid. But then, I don't know the comics, so maybe it was actually very good. I had no reference. I did recognize Stan Lee though....)



In reply to this comment by spoco2:
Very nice post

Thank you for the promote. Appreciate it!
In reply to this comment by enoch:
me likies..
promote

Lol, I've only had bourbon once and it didn't really impress me. I still haven't had any Canadian whiskey. Weird, eh?
In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
And I don't like bourbon. I'd rather drink (ugh) Canadian whiskey.
In reply to this comment by Fusionaut:
Gasp! Blasphemer! Shun the non-believer! SHUUUUUNNN!
In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
The truth: I don't like scotch. I prefer regular whiskey, preferably blended, and even more preferably Irish whiskey. I just said scotch because it made the sentence flow better. I'm a wordsmith.
In reply to this comment by Fusionaut:
Thank you! Oh, and can you recommend any good scotch?
In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I like my jazz as I like my scotch - smooth. Also my bowel movements.

And I don't like bourbon. I'd rather drink (ugh) Canadian whiskey.
In reply to this comment by Fusionaut:
Gasp! Blasphemer! Shun the non-believer! SHUUUUUNNN!
In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
The truth: I don't like scotch. I prefer regular whiskey, preferably blended, and even more preferably Irish whiskey. I just said scotch because it made the sentence flow better. I'm a wordsmith.
In reply to this comment by Fusionaut:
Thank you! Oh, and can you recommend any good scotch?
In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I like my jazz as I like my scotch - smooth. Also my bowel movements.

Gasp! Blasphemer! Shun the non-believer! SHUUUUUNNN!
In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
The truth: I don't like scotch. I prefer regular whiskey, preferably blended, and even more preferably Irish whiskey. I just said scotch because it made the sentence flow better. I'm a wordsmith.
In reply to this comment by Fusionaut:
Thank you! Oh, and can you recommend any good scotch?
In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I like my jazz as I like my scotch - smooth. Also my bowel movements.

The truth: I don't like scotch. I prefer regular whiskey, preferably blended, and even more preferably Irish whiskey. I just said scotch because it made the sentence flow better. I'm a wordsmith.
In reply to this comment by Fusionaut:
Thank you! Oh, and can you recommend any good scotch?
In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
I like my jazz as I like my scotch - smooth. Also my bowel movements.