| Author | Message | ||
     Addy Citizen Username: Addy Post Number: 4 Registered: 12-2003  |
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| Kenney Citizen Username: Kenney Post Number: 209 Registered: 11-2003 |
Since it seems it was too much to expect for you to click on the link i provided, here is some more info.... From Presidents Bush budget: The President has sustained large increases in military pay, and ensured that military compensation remains competitive. In 2002, President Bush proposed, and the Congress approved, the largest military pay raise in 20 years. This raise included an across-the-board increase of 4.6 percent, plus additional targeted raises for certain experienced personnel. Total pay raises averaged 6.9 percent. For 2003, the President proposed and the Congress approved a military pay raise of 4.7 percent—including an across-the-board pay raise of 4.1 percent and further targeted raises averaging 0.6 percent. The President’s 2003 Budget also proposed, and the Congress approved, up to $1,500 monthly, on top of base salary, to personnel accepting certain hard-to-fill assignments. The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today..FDR.. Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth...G.W. Everyone wants a voice in human freedom. There's a fire burning inside of all us...L.W. | ||
| Nohero Citizen Username: Nohero Post Number: 2599 Registered: 10-1999  |
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| tom Citizen Username: Tom Post Number: 1697 Registered: 5-2001 |
Oh, man, what's next?? | ||
| sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 10536 Registered: 10-2001  |
Dearest Nohero, I wouldn't worry about the latest information that Tom posted. After all, it's a big freaking joke, isn't it? I mean why worry as long as Cookie Monster and Ernie, those lovable muppets, are looking after us. When an airliner crashes into a convention center or some asshole drops a dirty bomb in Times Square at midnight on New Year's Eve, I'm sure you'll be tickling yourself with just how silly it is that the government even bothered to caution us. Oh how funny it all is. Isn't it? ---> Brought to you by Sbenois Engineering LLC <- Hey, it also wouldn’t look good coming out of a motel with your wife’s best friend saying you were just planning a surprise birthday party for her husband...- Arturo November '03 | ||
| 1-2many Citizen Username: Wbg69 Post Number: 766 Registered: 6-2002 |
so what's your point, sbenois: that the gov't is buying itself an "I told you so"? are we just supposed to shelter in place now? how about, instead of laying the blame and responsibility on Joe and Jane America, the gov't takes a look at the foreign policy that has earned US international hatred in the first place. | ||
| sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 10537 Registered: 10-2001 |
What a load of utter crap. ---> Brought to you by Sbenois Engineering LLC <- Hey, it also wouldn’t look good coming out of a motel with your wife’s best friend saying you were just planning a surprise birthday party for her husband...- Arturo November '03 | ||
| Tom Reingold the prissy-pants Citizen Username: Noglider Post Number: 1513 Registered: 1-2003  |
We are at risk of being attacked. We always will be, because to an extent, it's up to the bad guys to be good or bad. We can't control the behavior of each person on the planet. This is a part of personal responsibility. The government can do stuff, and it does, too. What are we the people supposed to do when the warnings go out? They're not telling us to stay home. So, what do we do? Um, be careful? What the heck does that mean? I think it means be fearful. What a crock. What good is that? FDR said we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Bush wants us to fear everything, because that way, we have an enemy and a constant state of war. Some leadership. As someone just pointed out, we cannot afford to declare a low level of danger, because that creates a great opportunity for the terrorists. Tom Reingold There is nothing | ||
| Dr. Winston O'Boogie Citizen Username: Casey Post Number: 396 Registered: 8-2003  |
I'm also glad the govt has decided to give us this "Orange" warning. Now I can protect myself and my family by uh, um, uh, ahhh... buying duct tape? Thanks for the heads up Tom. | ||
| Dr. Winston O'Boogie Citizen Username: Casey Post Number: 397 Registered: 8-2003 |
I meant Tom Ridge, not Tom Reingold | ||
| sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 10538 Registered: 10-2001 |
Dearest Tom R., This is just beautiful. On the one hand you and others believe that these warnings mean nothing and offer you no comfort or direction. Then this gem comes along which clearly, if unwittingly proves that something must be different in the way we act when the alert level is raised because it somehow deters terrorists. I wish you'd make up your mind on whether there is value or not. ---> Brought to you by Sbenois Engineering LLC <- Hey, it also wouldn’t look good coming out of a motel with your wife’s best friend saying you were just planning a surprise birthday party for her husband...- Arturo November '03 | ||
| Dr. Winston O'Boogie Citizen Username: Casey Post Number: 398 Registered: 8-2003 |
I guess my issue is with these broadcasts of the color coding warnings to everyone. my recollection is that a host of terrorist plots were foiled in the days leading up to New Year's Eve 2000 by simply warning law enforcement personnel -- the people who could actually DO something about the threats. why does a grandma in Pocatello need an Orange alert? just so her blood pressure can go up when her kids get on a plane to see her at Christmas? | ||
| sbenois Citizen Username: Sbenois Post Number: 10539 Registered: 10-2001 |
There are not enough law enforcement people in the United States to DO SOMETHING. They need help. They need us to be a lot more alert (and a lot less snide) when these warnings come. And yes, they need grandma to worry because maybe grandma, with her eyes wide open, will notice something amiss. ---> Brought to you by Sbenois Engineering LLC <- Hey, it also wouldn’t look good coming out of a motel with your wife’s best friend saying you were just planning a surprise birthday party for her husband...- Arturo November '03 | ||
| bobk Citizen Username: Bobk Post Number: 4118 Registered: 5-2001 |
Sylad, but you forgot to bring up Monica. No post such as yours is complete without a Monica reference. With all his faults, and there are many, Clinton would have stayed in Washington during the alert for PR and leadership reasons. He might have set up shop in the bomb shelter in the basement, but he would have stayed in town. And on a lighter note. Shortly after lunch yesterday there were a series of explosions near the corner of John Street and Water Street. This area is visible from our office and most everybody ran for their lives since almost all of us had been through at least one attack at the World Trade Center. It turned out that the explosions were from a construction accident, but everybody in the area really got their juices flowing. | ||
| Nohero Citizen Username: Nohero Post Number: 2604 Registered: 10-1999 |
Dearest Sbenois: Maybe we're just going about our lives, as requested by government officials from the President on down. So, like, chill, and have a Happy Festivus. | ||
| bobk Citizen Username: Bobk Post Number: 4120 Registered: 5-2001 |
There is a story in today’s NY Times about a kid in Maine who got prosecuted as an adult under Federal Law for torching a boat yard. The justification given by the government is that the boatyard was engaged in interstate commerce, although the tone of the story is that the prosecution was because George I had a $21,000 boat engine destroyed in the fire so this was “terrorism”. It isn’t my intent to defend the kid. In spite of being an honor student with a clean record he deserved jail time for what he did. However, he has been shipped off to a maximum-security youth facility in Pennsylvania where he is in the mental health wing. I would also add that the RICO statute that was passed to give law enforcement an additional tool to fight organized crime is regularly used in routine B to B lawsuits. Those triple damages sure are attractive!! | ||
| Tom Reingold the prissy-pants Citizen Username: Noglider Post Number: 1514 Registered: 1-2003 |
Yes, regular people can help law enforcement. Maybe we should be in the habit of looking for and reporting suspicious behavior. That habit should be active at any official level of danger. If Grandma is waiting at home for her family to arrive, it does no good at all for her to worry a bit extra. It doesn't get them there more safely. There is a cost to worry. Are we forgetting that? Tom Reingold There is nothing | ||
| Charles "Chuck" Howley Citizen Username: Cowboy Post Number: 203 Registered: 9-2003 |
I cannot help but address with some of the casual comments posted on this thread. Dave, at some point earlier on this thread you stated that you, “have yet to establish a connection between The Weekly Standard and journalistic integrity.” Please provide us with specific examples(proof) of where “The Weekly Standard” has shown itself to be unworthy of “journalistic integrity.” Or does this simply lend additional credence to what Kenny correctly terms, “if the facts dont back up your memory(hope), ignore them and go on the offensive.” Dr. WOB, “why does a grandma in Pocatello need an Orange alert? just so her blood pressure can go up when her kids get on a plane to see her at Christmas?”Do you honestly think it was Tom Ridge’s desire to upgrade the terror threat during this holiday season? I seriously doubt that this came about casually as you may suggest. This is serious stuff and lives are at stake. Bobk, you mention “Clinton would have stayed in Washington during the alert for PR and leadership reasons.” Would that make a difference? Do you mean to suggest that you would feel better if Bush if he stayed in Washington? Would you then consider voting for him? How fickle, and telling. | ||
| lumpyhead Citizen Username: Lumpyhead Post Number: 583 Registered: 3-2002 |
Dammed if you do and dammed if you don't. Maybe the public can make an informed decision about "flying" to see Grandma or "going" to Times Square on New Years Eve. I certainly appreciate that information if I was planning a trip. You all would be the first on line to sue the government for not alerting you in the event that something did happen. | ||
| Dr. Winston O'Boogie Citizen Username: Casey Post Number: 399 Registered: 8-2003 |
no "Chuck," I don't think Tom Ridge picked the holiday season specifically for an alert. He's given us plenty of other warnings over the past two years. But I'm with Tom Reingold - there is a price to getting 270 million Americans riled up without giving them a precise idea of what they should do to protect themselves. Let's look at the current alert: planes and dirty bombs. Are we supposed to stop flying? No, they tell us to keep to our plans. Am I supposed to carry a Geiger counter to detect dangerous radiation? And that's the absurdity of these alerts. Sure as LH says they're letting us make informed decisions. But the information is conflicting. Ridge tells us the alert is now Orange, but also tells us air travel has never been safer. Huh? And I disagree that there aren't enough law enforcement personnel to do this job. There are hundreds of thousands of trained professionals across the country - 60 or so in Maplewood alone if I'm not mistaken. Instead we're arming regular joes with vague information so they can send law enforcement off on wild goose chases like shutting down highways because a couple of Middle Eastern men decide to visit a Shoney's. |
