10:30pm Sunday Night President's Having a Press Conference?

[Danzig]

no doubt karzai is taking a lot of heat-he wants to stay in power, but probably doesn't want to appear as a u.s. puppet. afganistan is a mess; it was mishandled and shunted aside for iraq's sake, now it's just appearing to be an endless quagmire. people are talking about having discussions with the taliban- i don't see us agreeing to that. we need to get the heck out of there, that situation will probably never improve.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Danzig

no doubt karzai is taking a lot of heat-he wants to stay in power, but probably doesn't want to appear as a u.s. puppet. afganistan is a mess; it was mishandled and shunted aside for iraq's sake, now it's just appearing to be an endless quagmire. people are talking about having discussions with the taliban- i don't see us agreeing to that. we need to get the heck out of there, that situation will probably never improve.

Ditto. We've fallen into what the Russians went through. It's tribal, it's unregulated - let the rest of the middle east, and Putin, worry about it. The only inroad we've made is to get some villagers on our side, because we'll pay them more than the Taliban will. And that will only last as long as the money flows. Let it just be the heroin capital of the world.

PS - I've never read any of Shelby Foote's civil war stuff, but I'm aware of it - what's the best one to start with?

[hi_im_god]

Originally Posted by Riot

Ditto. We've fallen into what the Russians went through. It's tribal, it's unregulated - let the rest of the middle east, and Putin, worry about it. The only inroad we've made is to get some villagers on our side, because we'll pay them more than the Taliban will. And that will only last as long as the money flows. Let it just be the heroin capital of the world.

PS - I've never read any of Shelby Foote's civil war stuff, but I'm aware of it - what's the best one to start with?

danny's probably a better source but it's written as a chronological history.

i only finished fort sumter to perryville and skimmed the last two but if you want to have an encyclopedic knowledge start with that and work your way through. as much as i loved him as a commentator on the ken burns series i just found 2000 pages plus more of a challenge than i was up to.

i also gave up on ulysses, infinite jest, and gravities rainbow.

i try to be smart but some books just kick my ass.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by hi_im_god

danny's probably a better source but it's written as a chronological history.

i only finished fort sumter to perryville and skimmed the last two but if you want to have an encyclopedic knowledge start with that and work your way through. as much as i loved him as a commentator on the ken burns series i just found 2000 pages plus more of a challenge than i was up to.

i also gave up on ulysses, infinite jest, and gravities rainbow.

i try to be smart but some books just kick my ass.

Ulysses is a mean joke. Off to Amazon.

[Danzig]

there are three books, fort sumer to perryville; fredericksburg to meridian, and the last is red river to appamattox. the first book is just over 900 pages, the other two are each over 1k. i recommend the books for anyone not frightened at reading books that took a total of 20 years to be written. lots of details, but not boring to read.

as for ulysses-ugh.

now war and peace, that's a good book. i know people crack jokes about it, but it's excellent.

[Mike]

There needs to be a real poll to see what your typical American muslim thinks about the killing of bin-Laden.

I'm quite perturbed with what the main spokesmen of their institutions of higher learning, along with their most widely revered and respected clerics, seem to be saying about how we desecrated the body of one of theirs.

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by Mike

There needs to be a real poll to see what your typical American muslim thinks about the killing of bin-Laden.

I'm quite perturbed with what the main spokesmen of their institutions of higher learning, along with their most widely revered and respected clerics, seem to be saying about how we desecrated the body of one of theirs.

Frankly, and this coming from a person who has always respected other cultures and religions, I could care less! This butcher wasn't a man of any god, he killed women and children without mercy or regard for their beliefs! The fact that we took the time to wash and clean the body and conduct things in accordance with Islamic law was out of respect for law abiding Muslims not him. If folks can't see that it is because they don't want to....American Muslims have been consistent in their relief this monster is gone.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Mike

There needs to be a real poll to see what your typical American muslim thinks about the killing of bin-Laden.

I'm quite perturbed with what the main spokesmen of their institutions of higher learning, along with their most widely revered and respected clerics, seem to be saying about how we desecrated the body of one of theirs.

i posted an article after that all happened, it's somewhere in the wreck of this thread i believe...the muslim americans that were cited were all happy he was dead.
than, i was listening to npr when they were discussing the killing...a muslim called, also very happy. then there was someone who mentioned that with egypt and tunisia, people know there are alternatives to al qaeda, to ultra strict islamism...

in other words, i haven't seen/heard one negative thing about it. al qaeda has killed a lot more muslims than they have non-muslims, and their potential victims overseas know that.

[satan's twin]

Originally Posted by Danzig

there are three books, fort sumer to perryville; fredericksburg to meridian, and the last is red river to appamattox. the first book is just over 900 pages, the other two are each over 1k. i recommend the books for anyone not frightened at reading books that took a total of 20 years to be written. lots of details, but not boring to read.

as for ulysses-ugh.now war and peace, that's a good book. i know people crack jokes about it, but it's excellent.

Glad to hear someone else has thoroughly enjoyed this classic as much as I have. A hundred pages into it and it's not exactly kept me on the edge of my chair. I don't think I could understand it less if I had a copy of it in Braille.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by satan's twin

Glad to hear someone else has thoroughly enjoyed this classic as much as I have. A hundred pages into it and it's not exactly kept me on the edge of my chair. I don't think I could understand it less if I had a copy of it in Braille.

it was billed as the greatest novel of the 20th century...after wading thru the first few chapters, i remarked that it was a shame that trees were cut down to provide the paper that mess was printed on.

they banned it supposedly because it was pornographic...i think it's really because it sucked.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Danzig

there are three books, fort sumer to perryville; fredericksburg to meridian, and the last is red river to appamattox. the first book is just over 900 pages, the other two are each over 1k. i recommend the books for anyone not frightened at reading books that took a total of 20 years to be written. lots of details, but not boring to read.

as for ulysses-ugh.

now war and peace, that's a good book. i know people crack jokes about it, but it's excellent.

That's what I am starting with, first one (ordered). Thanks.

Having Borzoi, of course I have always loved the hunt scene in W & P