Job Discussion Forums

[ChinaEFLteacher]

can't argue with you extor. not with somebody who obviously knows more than me and has the verbosity of a howler monkey. accosted you online, yep, can't stand you chimps with a "fire in the belly" hooting and hollering from yer tree, defecating on the rest of us below.

[extoere]

Kev: I'm an Independent ---- loathe both parties, Democratic and Republican ---- and, although the Democrats alternately bore me and piss me off, as much as I vow never to vote for them again, I always end up casting votes for certain Democrats. (Kennedy, Johnson, Humphrey, Carter, Clinton) Even after swearing I'd NEVER vote for another Democrat, I voted for Gray Davis for California governor. I wish I could declare unequivocably to you that I will NEVER vote for another Democrat ---- or even that I PROBABLY will never vote for another Democrat. But .... I probably will .....

I indeed flip flopped.
You busted my chops.
I'm duly chagrinned.
But I'll do it again!

Accordingly, I hereby withdraw my candidacy for President of the United States.

Excessively remorseful, Extoere

[poro]

[extoere]

Poro: Couldn't agree with you more. But the Hour Is Late, the Wolf Is At The Door and, like I said, I'm not worried too much about the economy. I'm far more worried about several of those missing "backpack" nuclear devices from the Russian arsenal, along with whatever the terrorists have put together with Pakistani and North Korean assistance, that have very possibly already been planted in the U.S. I first learned of these devices and tactics used in their deployment ---- through unusually reliable and intimately involved sources ---- some years ago and was quite astonished. Recent developments are truly chilling. Three of the prime targets are New York and Los Angeles, of course, and Las Vegas, where a hit on Hoover Dam would result in the same catastrophic effect, knocking out power to a vast area and flooding the basin below, probably killing at least 100,000 people immediately. I live in LA. For now.

cheers,
ex

[distiller]

[poro]

[Talkdoc]

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[poro]

[Talkdoc]

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[Manasketa]

"...Epictetus asks still more strongly: "Why are we not angry if we are told that we have a headache, and why are we angry if we are told that we reason badly, or choose wrongly"? The reason is that we are quite certain that we have not a headache, or are not lame, but we are not so sure that we make a true choice. So, having assurance only because we see with our whole sight, it puts us into suspense and surprise when another with his whole sight sees the opposite, and still more so when a thousand others deride our choice. ..." -Blaise Pascal

-----

Both sides of any real question have equally valid points. The real issue is choosing what valid point you cherish most, or in other words, the end to your means. What do you value: temporal human life, or the immortal institution that houses it (or oppresses it)?

In the case of a real election, there should be a choice between tough or weak foreign relations -and at the same time a choice between war and a path towards peace in the Middle East. But since there is no choice with regards to the war issue since both Kerry and Bush are trumpeting the war horn with whatever breath they can muster, its my opinion that there is no question at all who should win the election. Of course, that's if people use their head. Bush has nothing going for him but his kill-the-terrorists, i'll-be-your-jesus persona, which I feel has no real value at all, especially since his only viable competitor is apeing his terrorism policies move for move.

[extoere]

Poro: Nuclear "backpacks" have existed at least since the 1980s in progressively more sophisticated forms. Initially, there were four specific "packs" involved, each of which were carried by individuals using portable oxygen supplies to enable insertion from high altitude over pre-selected target areas. These "HALO" (and alternate "HAHO") insertions were aided by personal navigation systems, allowing accurate insertion within a few miles of each other into metropolitan areas, where special groups of rear-guard commandos had been surreptitously deployed to projected response routes from local police/military units. Using their navigational systems, the four individuals bearing the "packs" assembled at the target site, where the leader of the quartet --- "first violin," we shall say --- bearing the trigger/timer mechanism, directed the assembly and subsequent withdrawal. Escape window was based on variable timing.
And both Russia and the US practiced this exercise to exacting standards.

This, of course, is merely one scenario for the placement of a portable nuclear device, one whose technique has been perfected over years of practice. There have been more sophisticated forms of these "backpacks" developed during the intervening years. And some are missing from Russia's arsenals. One estimate is ... more than 70. Now consider that inspection of all incoming cargo in the US is something like 8-10 percent on everything from air freight to oceangoing ccargo containers.

No state? Try Pakistan, where a renegade scientist has enriched himself and, doubtless, many top generals, by selling plans for nuclear devices to North Korea ----- and a yet-undetermined-number of others. And Korea is led by a manaical leader whose utter disregard of his own people has resulted in the starvation of hundreds of thousands, and whose million-man army consists mainly of an entire generation of conscripts noted for their diminutive size from malnourishment. Oh, but one can be certain of his concern for what Kofi's international community thinks!

One last thing, Porous, LA doesn't have to worry excessively about its continuing lack of water resources. We have regular infusions from the same sources as the revenues paying for our bloated medical programs for illegal immigrants: Other People.

cheers,
ex
P.S. Check the weather on your international charts for Los Angeles today. I think you'll find that it's raining as I type.

[extoere]

TalkDoc: Funny you should single out Foster Care programs. A few short years ago, I was working in the LA program; specifically, the one charged with providing medical care. Both in California and Florida, these programs have been under increased scrutiny by various agencies as a result of the horror stories still emerging ---- misappropriation, embezzlement, fraud, murder, rape, etc, most of which I'm sure you're generically aware. Not more than seven months ago, my ex-boss, the Director of Nurses for our particular program, quietly checked into a motel and injected herself with a lethal dose of barbiturates.

I make it a point to randomly query others in the department, "Whatever happened to Cheryl?"

You might or might not be alternately surpised and depressed to know just how many say "Not sure" or "Cheryl who?"

cheers,
ex

[extoere]

Distiller: Forget my previous suggestion re: "Everything .. from MTV." You might consider "Wisdom Accumulated Through Hardened Classroom Experience. And Over-Priced Textbooks."

You ever consider Civil Service?
I suspect you'd be a natural.

Oh! And don't worry about such trivialities as qualifications. The noble advocates of Affirmative Action successfully lobbied for the elimination of the federal entrance exam once given to prospective college graduates. I know, first hand, of at least eight ex-felons with records longer than your putz currently running federal/city block grant social programs. So even without Walking the Yard, you'd seem a natural fit!

Damn! How I love such terms as "real issue" and "what you must understand." Or Peter Jennings' immortalized "To Put This Into Perspective For Us .." Makes me nostalgic for musty old Poli Sci lectures. Or the .... Evening News!

cheers,
ex

[poro]

[extoere]

Poro: Excellent points and well taken. I completely agree. Except for your denial of "backpacks." They do exist in reasonably manageable sizes, but large enough to require four carriers. Lately, I don't know. But I've seen sufficient the miniaturization of technology ---- "cameras" small enough to enter my own heart and display an occluded Left Anterior Descending artery above me on a television monitor, as I lay close to death on a hospital gurney --- to have confidence in the science of nanoscience. And this isn't even nanotechnology we're discussing.

You've driven a tank? A considerable expertise, factoring in tactics! Artilliary too? Done that. Gimme a manual typewriter anytime!

Re: government propaganda, of course, I agree. But Pakistan has long been the worry for nuclear proliferation, over 20 years now. And the reports come not only from the U.S. and Britain, but from UN investigations. I think there's evidence aplenty that Pakistani scientists and generals have indeed aided proliferation. And within the last week, the UN's own inspectors have issued a report detailing their discovery of missing nuclear development devices previously known to be in Iraq.

I hope you're right. I hope it's a myth. But I don't think so. The son of whom I sometimes speak was, at different times, both a Ranger and a member of a Special Forces group. He's also a qualified Jumpmaster and Pathfinder. If you're truly an Army veteran, I think you'll know the significance of these qualifications without going into them, right?

Ironically, he just called me from Texas where he's involved in desert training, prior to deployment to Iraq. Although he's rarin' to go, his descriptions of our remaining personnel resources leave me with a growing sense of urgency about the ability of an all-volunteer Army to sustain its mission --- at least in its present use. I think we can certainly expect some major shifts immediately following the election.

And on that point, I'm giving less and less of a damn WHO wins, because either candidate will be faced with the same grim realities.

cheers,
extoere