Free Republic

The 4th secret is that the church clergy is riddled with pedophile priests.

Oxygen starvation killed Payne Stewart, Greek passengers in another incident.

The North Korean missile is a joke. It’s a liquid fueled contraption that takes a week to fuel. They are closely watched, so if they ever decide to put a warhead on a missile, the ROK or ROJ could blow it up during fueling.

Their original nuke test was a failure. I doubt they have a bomb. The danger is principally to the ROK, because they could try to kamikaze a nuke over the DMZ by plane, truck or boat.

The real tragedy of North Korea is the terrible imprisonment of the population. This is the human tragedy that appeasement has created.

First, if you join the military you must follow the orders of the C-in-C, who, like it or not, is Obama. Going in with the thought that Obama will “ruin” the military conveys a very low opinion about the institution you wish to join and it’s ability to withstand whatever ruinous things might happen.

I also find it hard to fathom that you can’t find a job in the civilian sector, especially with a Fed contractor. Even the stimulus bill contains cyber security elements. Also, NSA and HSA are hiring people in this field. Where do you live? That might be the problem.

As for not fitting into the corporate world, I think that would be a bad indicator of how you would fit into the Air Force or other branch, especially as an officer. What about the corporate world is the problem.

The quote says “on a single jet flight”. Since about 750mm pasasenger legs are flown each year, your 1 in 300 million works. Goofy comparison anyway.

Odds that if your in a crash that you’ll be killed is about 75%. Odds that you’ll killed while President not as high...

Shouldn’t make you feel better at all as a taxpayer. Hold-to-maturity values are important for bonds, but not for mortgages which have the option to default, which they are doing because housing prices are falling. An MBS is an aggregation of short option positions in a falling market, which doesn’t work. See http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2008/09/the_holdtomatur.html for a good explanation.

A market sale is the only way to balance economic interests. Seller motivation and buyer motivation determine price. When no buyer exists it’s because the asset at market is toxic in the sense that it is too dangerous to be acquired at any price. If the government buys an MBS at a price as the sole buyer, it has overpaid. The economic exchange is from the taxpayer to the bank, it’s shareholders, the homeowner, the builder, the original seller of the land...everybody who made money or extracted value in the value chain that is embedded in the MBS mortgages.

The holders of these things should have to pay the piper. If you recapitalize banks, protect depositors, and threaten to nationalize short-term debt markets (in ways that are less socialistic than this bill), you’ll get the rate through the snake much more quickly.

Another attempt by you to apply puddle-depth knowledge and generalizations rather than discuss the facts of the incident. Do you deny that the vertical stabilizer, in it’s entirety, broke from the aircraft? If so, did the conspirators somehow plant an identical one in Jamaica Bay and rush to the crash site to remove evidence of the one on the plane? You know the stabilizer I’m talking about, the one filmed and photographed being lifted from Jamaica Bay after the crash?

Why do keep posting nonsense about the “rudder”. The entire vertical stabilizer of the plane was snapped off by control inputs. The plane was in a climbing bank at about 250kts when this occurred. The forces on the aircraft were not benign at this point, and excessive side-slip led to aerodynamic stall almost immediately.

Your argument that planes can be flown without rudders, and that some planes have flown without significant stabilizers in place, all reference a specific situation with it’s own flight dynamics. If you had read the NTSB report you could perhaps understand this, but apparently you’d rather just post uninformed general comments than have a position based on on knowledge.

Your attitude is an insult to those who died. How is your uninformed conspiracy theory any less insulting than that of the 9/11 conspiracy nuts? By falsely attributing this incident to terrorism in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, you actually reinforce the outrageous claims of others.

Just picking up on this thread...the flight data recorder clearly showed the over-reaction by the co-pilot to wake turbulence from a departing JAL 747. It then showed that the plane lost yaw control due to the vertical stabilizer snapping off. It was found in the water along the terminal flight path. Losing the vertical stabilizer would not cause the plan to lose lift, but would cause uncontrolled sideslip and loss of control, which will result in a stall.

If you want to rebut the findings of the NTSB on this topic, which would mean that you suspect a wide-ranging government conspiracy among the investigation team, you could at least bring a fundamental understanding of the actual events and some notion of aviation/aerodynamics. Otherwise you should leave the conclusions to experts or put on the tin-foil hat.

Why were the interviews in Spanish and Italian shocking? Kobe spent much of his childhood in Europe. His father played in the Italian league. He’s fluent in both languages. Not every pro basketball player is from the hood.

It’s not the % in foreclosure that matters, but the fact that the % in foreclosure greater than expected that matters. Mortgages are funded by people who expect a certain return, either with their capital or with borrowed money. When foreclosures double (as they’ve done, and not just in subprime), the original capital holder gets screwed on rate of return. That may be their problem, except the entity getting screwed will then pull money out of the mortgage market, which makes mortgages more expensive and more difficult to obtain. That’s not a bad thing, it’s how the market corrects abuses. But it is the reason the Fed is having trouble driving mortgage lending rates down.

JPM almost bought Bear Stearns previously, has done alot of diligence. Bear Stearns building in mid-town is worth almost 1 billion, private brokerage is worth another billion, rest might be a wash. The Fed engineered the shut-down of LTCM in the ‘90’s as well.

Bear Stearns is the most exposed Wall Street firm in sub-prime/alt-A market. Very dependent on it. The reason they failed is an asset run by counter-parties last week. Nobody wants to leave assets in a bank that might go under, so there was a white-shoe run on the bank by it’s hedgie and PE customers. JPM is not in that position.

Please cite the rules that you speak of specifically. And don’t claim they exist, show may they exist.

And continuing to throw me in with Kos and Michael Moore is not relevant. I’ll work with the facts if you’ll provide them.

I knew what the hell was going on that day, because I was in NYC watching the towers fall. I knew what was going on in Washington because my family was there. I did everything possible that day to get back home - at one point I contemplated buying a car to drive back since there were no rental cars, flights, or available train tickets. I was back home before Bush made his speech, despite having to hire a car service to take me to Hartford, then find a limo driver that would take me and two employees back to the DC area that day.

Many people rightfully panicked that day, many stood tall and did heroic things. W’s performance stands out as mediocre. How do you explain the position we find ourselves in today as a party? Denial gets you nowhere.

Chaos indeed. By early afternoon downtown DC was an armed camp. The chaos was at the Pentagon, where people were dying. Rummy, not one of my favorite guys, personally ran to the impact zone and helped carry wounded out until dragged away by staff and security.

And what one thing the President can do in times of crisis from Washington that he can’t do from a bunker at an AFB. He can appear Presidential and reassure the country. Lincoln was in DC during the Civil War, surrounded by assassination plotters. It’s not unreasonable to expect the President to exhibit leadership.

I’m not asking for courage in this case, since I don’t think he was in any danger that day. How exactly would you attack the POTUS after all planes are grounded, traffic barred from core of DC, and all Law Enforcement on hair trigger alert.

This was a defining historic moment and I have heard it from many people over the years that his decision to fly around all day made him look indecisive.

Where did Churchill spend the Blitz? Lincoln the War? Washington the war? Protocols indeed. He was safer than just about anyone that day, with fighter jets and surrounded by armed professionals. And Washington was hardly a hotzone by mid-afternoon. Planes were all on the ground. Hotzone indeed.

I went to the annual Lincoln dinner, our big Republican event where I live. The speaker was the recently resigned Political Director of the White House. I wondered what it must be like to be the political director for a President who has squandered a once-in-a-generation opportunity to construct a sustainable Republican governing coalition.

When she began speaking - to about 700 people - it was obvious she was a political hack and had no idea how disappointed people are in the President. The standard excuses - the media isn’t telling you the good news from Iraq, the President is leading everyday and he’s excited about the legislative agenda (at the time I didn’t imagine that it was immigration that had in a lather) - were ponied up and the quiet pain of the audience went on for about 20 minutes.

There’s nothing left for him to do but go away. Sadly, his failure to lead has made prospect of getting another solid Justice on the USC seem like a fantasy. We can hope, but I just think that his legacy will be a Democratic Senate for at least a decade. The races just don’t line up like we need them to in ‘08.

I’m not pissed off, I’m disappointed. I voted for W in 2000 and 2004, but not with much enthusiasm either time. Just because I voted for him doesn’t mean I can’t criticize his leadership. He was the lesser of two evils both times, but he has not led in any of the ways noted. I had no expectation for Gore or Kerry, so what do they have to do with anything.

History will not look kindly on his handling of the Iraq war, nor the performance of the Cheney-Rumsfeld team. I supported to Iraq war, but the inability to deploy adequate troops, the decision to but Bremer in charge, and numerous missteps since have discredit the national security team in my eyes. Too many soldiers ave died because and W and his team did not have the will to deploy appropriate levels of troops and take and secure ground as required. Leaders make mistakes in war, and people die. But contemporary accounts of the performance of the post-War Bush team are universal in depicting amateurs at work.

What overwhelming outcome is Bush trying to bring together? He can’t articulate it? He may be a good man, but he’s hardly a great President. Moreover, in trying times a leader must be more than good-intentioned.

On 9/11 someone asked me what we would do now as a nation. I said we’d need to find our Churchill. Sadly we haven’t. Despite my best hopes, I think for many W was subconsciously defined on 9/11 as Air Force One flew from safe haven to safe haven. Ordinary citizens, rescue workers, and military personnel put themselves at risk in an environment of great uncertainty. The President, rather than overrule the Secret Service and return to DC, simply flew around the country. Sometimes the right thing to do is to get in harms way, to share risk, and to get out in front. To do that required that W just simply order the plane to Andrews. His place was in Washington, regardless of the risk. Compared to others that day, he came out looking less than commanding.

I’m not sure on what front he’s been a fine President. Size and cost of gov’t driven up with center-left ideas like No Child Left Behind and Prescription Drug Coverage. Significant tactical and strategic errors in executing the war in Iraq. Failure to rally the country with abysmal public speaking skills. Willingness to compromise with Dems again on immigration. Squandered a once-in-a-generation majority building opportunity, lacked the will to build up forces in Iraq to adequate levels to secure the country.

I’m sure I’ll be attacked by many, but it’s time to start dealing with the W legacy. It is not pretty for the party. We have lost our conservative tether on many issues, and he has been a catalyst for much of that. It does no good to whine about the leftist media, H-wood, and other left-wing groups. These exist and will continue to exist. The President’s job is lead the country and vanquish these forces intellectually and politically. To do that in today’s world, one has to be an effective public speaker. W is as bad now, if not worse, than when he started.

Considering the idealogical and political momentum that Reagan left office with, the Bush legacy will be to have reversed the momentum. Those are the facts.

He didn’t post a link to an ideogram site. The Korean’s have phonetic alphabet just like we do. It dates back to the 15th century. Get your facts right.