Which way to the front?

Cunning Realist nails it again. When will our-war-prez and our-war-prez-wannabee be able to answer this simple question?

Coincidentally, I am reading The Assassin's Gate: America in Iraq by George Packer. Dubya and straight-talk are excused somewhat since apparently no one has known the answer during the period from March 2003 to the present. Dick cheney has known an answer at various times, but there seems to be no correlation to the facts on the ground.

What does

"Put Your Big-Girl Panties On" mean?

Minimum Standards for Driver’s licenses and Identification Cards Acceptable by Federal Agencies for Official Purposes

While libby takes a fall, the beat goes on:

chertoff releases a proposal for implementation of the Real ID law (2 years after passage -- yes, they were dragging their feet.)

Cost? 23 BILLION! in 2006 dollars.

When you open the link to the pdf file -- buried on page 106 of 162 is the cost estimate.
23 effing billion effing 2006 effing dollars!

When you're setting up a police state, be sure to bring your visa card!

Suspicious Activity Tip Line Memo at Work

Suspicious Activity Tip Line

The Kentucky Office of Homeland Security created an anonymous tip line to allow residents to report suspicious activity throughout the Commonwealth. The number is 1-800-EYE-ON-KENTUCKY.

[Stakeholders] are encouraged to report suspicious activity on or around the [site]. Strange actions could include, but is [sic] not limited to:

* People asking unusual questions about building security;
* People taking pictures or video of buildings, bridges or other locations;
* People asking detailed questions about the schedules of public transportation;
* People seen timing the arrival/departure of public transportation;
* People seen loitering around non-public areas around reservoirs, water treatment plants, dams or power plants;
* People watching a building for extended periods of time;
* Suspicious vehicles parked in unusual places or at unusual times.

forelle:
WATCH OUT! for people asking questions about the schedules of public transportation!

This is nuts!

New Freedom Commission on Mental Health

A Hypothetical Election

pangloss:
We need to elect a new world leader.
Here are facts about the candidates. Who would you vote for?

Candidate A.

Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists.
He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B.

He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in
college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C.

He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.

But wait! FDR is A, B is Churchill, and C is Hitler.



pyrrho:
Hitler had a mistress and was very much into the occult. He got counsel from astrologers and psychics.

forelle:
Partial truths are the most devastating lies. By leaving out the critical information, we can make black into white, and day into night. Watch.

It is all colors. Black or white? All colors reflected = white, all colors absorbed = black.

It is when animals are active. Day or night? Diurnal animals, then day; nocturnal animals, then night.


pangloss:
It's what we KNOW about a person that makes them attractive or ugly. Political elections are like dating, you only see the side of a person he or she wants you to see, and then when it's too late, you see the other side. I think this is what we are speaking of, the other side that is not known of the person is what you need to worry about.

forelle:
It's what we KNOW about [proposed wars] that make them attractive or ugly. [Going to war] is like dating, you only see the side of a person he or she wants you to see, and then when it's too late, you see the other side.

In other words, partial truths are the most devastating lies.