The random political thoughts thread (Part Deux)

[Strangler Lewis]

Okay! I said I was wrong!

And catch the subtle Spike Lee riff.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Originally Posted by Tom

Lest you had forgotten about Mike Gravel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPZ7t4MwCJk

Holy crikes! That is the MOST INSANE campaign video that I have ever witnessed. What the hell is he even trying to say with it? I mean, I got the obvious references to potential candidates who might be assassinated, but... beyond that... er...

[BDBopper]

So what is Mike Huckabee's next move? Well we have to wait a week to find out. His website just went down (a day after he posted a tribute to Charlton Heston) and is now replaced with a ticker counting down to Noon Eastern April 15th with the words "Coming Soon" in bold print.

[Alex]

Assuming the date has any relevance and since the abolition of the IRS was one of his big campaign issues I'd guess it will be the announcement of some tax reform advocacy group or something similar.

[BDBopper]

Originally Posted by Alex

Assuming the date has any relevance and since the abolition of the IRS was one of his big campaign issues I'd guess it will be the announcement of some tax reform advocacy group or something similar.

I am pretty sure that will be either it...or a part of what he is planing to do. I think what he may be doing is forming a coalition based upon what his platform was during his campaign. Well we will find out next week I suppose.

I think McCain is seriously considering him for his running mae...among others. Regardless I think (to the dismay of the GOP elites) McCain will demand Huck speak at the convention.

[Gemini Cricket]

When a grenade bounced off his chest and fell to the floor near his fellow troops, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor acted out of instinct.His actions didn't stem from a lack of training. His instant reaction was to protect his comrades.
The Navy says he committed a selfless act: jumping on the grenade and taking the full force of the blast.

Source
I find this story to be heartbreaking.

And at the same time, I find this man to be truly heroic. And, boy, he was hot. (I know, I'm going to hell...)

[innerSpaceman]

Where I will be jealous of you having the steamiest sweatiest uber-saunafied mansex with too-hot-for-hades Petty Officer Monsoor.


And if that doesn't get me admission to hell to join in the fun, how about if I poke fun at his last name that is likely how his father mispronounced the French word for Mister?

[sleepyjeff]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...Rbs&refer=home

Now will this help the US dollar? After all, isn't a dollar basically 100 copper Pennies

[Alex]

Actually it will hurt. It costs the Mint more to make a penny (and a nickel) than they are worth. So if copper goes up, that just gets worse (though not necessarily much, pennies are only copper plated, most of their weight is zinc. It is actually the other nickel plated coins that are mostly copper.

I wish I could remember it correctly but I recently read about a guy who was doing a decent profit in melting down pre-1982 pennies for their copper but was blocked by some new regulation or law.

Maybe it is time to turn our backs on ol' William Jennings Bryan and return to the gold, silver (and copper) standard.

[Ghoulish Delight]

So thanks to TurboTax I got taxes done in an hour last night. It certainly made my life easier, but I wonder if it's a bad thing in the long run. It obscures the outrageous convoluted disaster that is U.S. tax code and actually makes things seem relatively straight forward. I fear that any chance of motivating the populace to demand serious reform will be diluted by the fact that fewer people are dealing with it hands-on.