Nah, I've backed off that since I turned 65!!!Something to take up on Conversations, Tree?
Nah, I've backed off that since I turned 65!!!Something to take up on Conversations, Tree?
We have moved into the 21st century and surprisingly majority rules ... Suck it up Buttercup ......or the leftist who want to ignore the rules so their tiny majority can ram through their agenda???
Unless you forget about the 60 vote majority needed in the Senate... It is meant to stop harebrained bills from the House becoming law. It's been that way for over 200 years and no one has removed that obstacle yet...We have moved into the 21st century and surprisingly majority rules ... Suck it up Buttercup ...
Sorry old friend ... One side of the Senate lost any credibility after the second impeachment ... Well over your 60 agreed there was only one outcome but guess what ... forget our responsibility to democracy ... Lets stick to party lines ... I could go on but I'm sure you need to top up on the Seagrams ... (but I still like you)Unless you forget about the 60 vote majority needed in the Senate... It is meant to stop harebrained bills from the House becoming law. It's been that way for over 200 years and no one has removed that obstacle yet...
Although the land that is now Afghanistan had many different rulers and incoming peoples in the past - 'Aryans', Scythians, Greeks (Alexander), Persians, Turks, Mongols - it's been a ghastly graveyard for European forces - British, Russian, American ...It is worth noting that the United States did indeed botch this, but there is a question of whether anyone could succeed. The country has been at war for so long and has built up so much animosity that only an effort and occupation like those of the Second World War could possibly change things. That said, the real villain is Pakistan. They have been playing the "Great Game" in Afghanistan for years to counter India. The Indian-Pakistani conflict is the real problem. Without that, the stakes would be much smaller and the arms much less potent. The Taliban are simply a group of religious gangsters who use Islam to cover their own greed and lust for power--it reminds me of right-wing preachers in the United States, who would be just like this if they could (blocked still by 200+ years of the rule of law). The ones with the most to lose are the women of Afghanistan.
Seems like a party had it in for him. Impeach twice and lose both times? Not at strong showing at all...Sorry old friend ... One side of the Senate lost any credibility after the second impeachment ... Well over your 60 agreed there was only one outcome but guess what ... forget our responsibility to democracy ... Lets stick to party lines ... I could go on but I'm sure you need to top up on the Seagrams ... (but I still like you)
As I said it just reinforces the lunacy of political blindness ... "I know it's wrong but if I don't vote this way I might lose at the next primary"Seems like a party had it in for him. Impeach twice and lose both times? Not at strong showing at all...
A few things...As I said it just reinforces the lunacy of political blindness ... "I know it's wrong but if I don't vote this way I might lose at the next primary"
Is it true that your state has banned the wearing of facemasks ... Pray you make it through ...
That all sounds good and I'm with you, man.One, I haven't had any Seagrams in over a year and a half.
Two, I've had my shots for months.
Three, the Dems went for impeachment twice and walked away empty... and they only needed 60% of the senate. an empty case.
No, my state has not banned facemasks. Where do you get your news?
Works for me, Tree.How about we get back on the topic of the thread?
I really haven't!That all sounds good and I'm with you, man.
Except - don't expect me to believe "I haven't had any Seagrams in over a year and a half."
Good for you. Now back to our regular programming.I really haven't!
They also grew a lot of opium. That is one attraction for colonialists.When I was twenty, I had a long series of conversations about Afganistan with one of my college professors. He knew Pashto and a bit of Dari(?) and had lived there several times for a total of about six years. He loved the people, said they were proud in their poverty, and nevertheless exceedingly generous to visitors.
However, he said it wasn't a country. It was a cutoff geographical region with a slight unity of language and perhaps religion. It is like those African countries where the colonizing Europeans drew boundaries based on their conquests with nothing to do with the people there. Afghanistan is what you have left after you carve out Pakistan, Iran, and the old Russian Empire to the north.
Most people live in the lowland plains and cities and are rather peaceful. Those who live in the mountains are very different, tougher, and more warlike. They traditionally have descended on Kabul when they didn't like what the authorities there (in the old days, a king) did, killed them all, and then went back to the mountains.
The Taliban are of this type, but with a fanatical religious streak added that causes them to want to stay and enforce their ideas. I am not a fan of the religious right in the US, but I think comparing them to the Taliban is about as honest as lumping Bernie Sanders in with Joseph Stalin.
For a horrifying vision of the fate of women under the Taliban, watch the 2003 movie Osama (Dari: اُسامه, romanized: Osamah). Warning: you may have trouble sleeping for days after. I saw it in a movie theater with my wife and I've never had a more disturbingly moving experience.
If I recall, Victoria's Afghan expedition went very badly and only one guy on a horse made it back to India. When Holmes first meets Dr. Watson, Watson is "brown as a nut". "Been to Afghanistan, I see", Holmes immediately deduces.Although the land that is now Afghanistan had many different rulers and incoming peoples in the past - 'Aryans', Scythians, Greeks (Alexander), Persians, Turks, Mongols - it's been a ghastly graveyard for European forces - British, Russian, American ...
Kipling gave a grim view of the land in the last verse of 'the Young British Soldier':
When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
So-oldier of the Queen!
The whole poem is at:
That poem was on American media a lot back in October 2001.Although the land that is now Afghanistan had many different rulers and incoming peoples in the past - 'Aryans', Scythians, Greeks (Alexander), Persians, Turks, Mongols - it's been a ghastly graveyard for European forces - British, Russian, American ...
Kipling gave a grim view of the land in the last verse of 'the Young British Soldier':
When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
Go, go, go like a soldier,
So-oldier of the Queen!
To be clear, the 60-vote (2/3) majority is only for conviction upon impeachment and treaties and constitutional amendments, not for every piece of legislation. The requirement of 60 votes to break a filibuster is a custom, not a constitutional mandate. In fact Mitch McConnell did away with it for confirmation of judges (and now Democrats have a much freer hand for Biden's appointments).Unless you forget about the 60 vote majority needed in the Senate... It is meant to stop harebrained bills from the House becoming law. It's been that way for over 200 years and no one has removed that obstacle yet...
Have to agree on progress Tree but had to have a go as I love America having visited a number of times ... Rode a Hog over 2,500mls through all the old western towns ...A few things...
One, I haven't had any Seagrams in over a year and a half.
Two, I've had my shots for months.
Three, the Dems went for impeachment twice and walked away empty... and they only needed 60% of the senate. an empty case.
No, my state has not banned facemasks. Where do you get your news?
How about we get back on the topic of the thread?
Two things...
Absolutely!Two things...
I live in Missouri.
Hutchinson's is a 'statewide ban'... Little Rock can still do a city ban, for example.
Glad you liked the US! Come back when you can!
Let's give this thread back to its topic, OK?