Posts by Alex Coleman
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RE: ticket scalpers: evil or oppressed ?
Seems to me a ticket is not a commodity in the same way that a book, cabbage or house is.
A ticket is merely a signifier that the holder has paid the price that the event promoter wants for entry to the event. In return for paying that price the holder is entitled to enter the event as per the contract they have entered into with the promoter.
If the promoter as a part of that contract has stipulated that the ticket cannot be resold, then a scalper will surely be going to hell.
He/She does not have any moral right to make a profit by allowing a third party to access the event because the contract that he/she entered into with the promoter specifically says that the ticket buyer is not buying the right to do that.
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er... the evil deed
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Good old Ian Wishart hints at dark forces that were really behind the evil dead.
What is wrong with him?
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So it looks like there is another batch of the dreaded brown acid in town then.
Don't eat it peeps, but if you do, just have a half.
And stay off the internet for a day or two. -
And I have to say I haven't noted any secular groups, no "Atheists of Manhatten", no "Secular Progressives of Berkley", no "Humanists of San Fran". Just those damned Christians helping someone out every time you turn around.
No Red Cross either? I am surprised.
I assume you are unaware that the Red Cross, despite it's symbol (which is simply the inverse of the Swiss flag), is a secular organisation. If you were unaware of this then I am glad to have let you in on the secret, so that you won't feel so badly about secular folks in the future.
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I am not suggesting that this is a reason to go bomb Teheran. But taking out any identified Al Quds command control, training or support locations close to the Iraqi border is something that is long overdue. Same for Syria. By not acting decisively the US is creating doubt about it determination and emboldening its enemies.
James, I don't think that anyone is denying that Iran is playing about in Iraq, The question is, essentially, 'So what?'
In any conflict like Iraq, the neighbours will be involved in some way or another. They have legitimate interests there. The questions that the Bush admin has not addressed in the last few weeks include:
Who is Iran arming in Iraq? Just saying Shia militia is not enough. The Quds forces that you want to bomb are, by most accounts, supporting Hakim's SCIRI. That's no surprise, but means that if you go after Quds you alienate SCIRI. Hakim is purportedly the current US fravorite to replace Maliki should that be needed.
What exactly are the Quds forces up to in Iraq? If they are simply advising and liasing with some actors in the civil war that is one thing, if they are actively fighting that is another. No evidence has been put forward either way. Some clowns asserted that quds forces did the karbala assault a couple of weeks back, but the only evidence they gave was that Iraqis would be too stupid to pull it off. Not a mistake Churchill would have made.
How important is the Iranian interference? If all the Iranian stuff ceased how would that effect the situation on the ground. Who would be strengthened and who would be weakend? The Iraqi govts allies or their enemies? That's a pretty important question that has not been answered. The idea that the Iraqi govt must not be a friend of the Iranians is another trap that Churchill would not fall into. If The US wants to get out of Iraq leaving behind a stable govt rather than a failed state, it may have to accept that that govt will be a friend of Iran's. How bad that is depends mostly on the US's attitudes and actions. Is Iran really worse than Saudi, Kuwait or Yemen?
With regard to your comment above, you seem to indicating that the US should attack Quds forces inside Iran. That is a defacto declaration of war. I'd like to see some serious answers to the questions I raised before I would consider that drastic step to be wise. The idea that Iran is already at war with the US has not been proven, and nor does it make sense. Iran would like a shiite ally in Iraq, I don't see how the US can prevent this if they want anything like a democracy there.
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This is interesting, via digby.
Slide 15 of the evidence is a picture of some Iranian anti-tank rockets marked LOT: 5-31-2006
I'm not going to say based on that that they are fakes, but that date is in a strangely American format. So either it's a really stupid fake, or the Iranians are making rockets specifically to look like bad fake Iranian rockets. Which would be weird.
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Neil, you say you are prepared to wait and see what evidence is going to be brought forth to justify the claims being made. Normally this would be both prudent and admirable.
However it seems, at least to me, that in this case it is just foolishness. The announcement of this stuff was delayed twice just so that there would not be a repeat of the Iraq evidential fiasco. This would suggest that what they gave out was the best they have. The next stuff to come out will not be better evidence. It may however be more scary, but based on less facts.
Even if we accept this lot of evidence, what do we have?
Some weapons are coming into Iraq from Iran. No surprise there. They don't tell us who is getting these weapons, but it is most likely to be SCIRI and to a lesser extent Sadr.
The alledgedly highly machined shaped charges that can only be made in Iran have killed a total of 170 US troops. Meanwhile the Sunni militants that _have_ been targetting US troops are getting their weapons from who knows where. Saudi? Syria? Jordan? Who gives a fuck apparently, because the US needs a Sunni block to counter the Iranian influence in Iraq. Influence that amounts to arming the groups that support the parties that make up the majority of the much bally-hoo'd purple finger government.
The Qods secret agents that they arrested with documentation about whatever were picked up working in the offices of SCIRI, the head honcho of which was recently in the White House being hailed as the last great hope should Maliki not take on Sadr.
Is Iran messing about in Iraq. Yes.
Would Iraq be a success if they weren't? No.
So why are is the Bush admin talking about it in _exactly_ the same way the talked about Saddam's WMD in 02/03?I fell for it then and was stupid to do so.
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The mercenary issue gives me a feeling I can only describe as a dose of the non-specific creeps.
The US has the most expensive military in history, why do they feel a need for private armies to fill roles such as the protection of civilian US govt figures in the war zone? Why do they want a bunch of guys running around outside the chain of command, on the govt dime? What budget does all this come out of and what sort of oversight is there? It reeks to me of plausible deniability for the training of death squads.
It takes Ike's military-industrial-complex meme to insane dimensions.
No slur intended, Brendan, to your mates Dad. There are a lot of private guys over there that are not working for the US govt in military roles. I'm only concerned about the blackwater types.
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The "ex-gay ministry" video may be viral marketing, according to sleuths in comments at Steve Gilliards place.
http://www.lovegodsway.org/ and the linked sites all suddenly appear about a month ago with no prior track record. All the domains are owned by http://www.domainsbyproxy.com/ and I'm getting the same IP address as Mike above when I trace the server. These sites are all hosted by http://www.brainfood.com/