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Posts Made By: James Lacey

August 22, 2012 04:04 PM Forum: Politics

Sound Familiar?

Posted By James Lacey

http://reason.com/archives/2012/08/20/the-wrong-side-absolutely-must-not-win

The Wrong Side Absolutely Must Not Win


The past several weeks have made one thing crystal-clear: Our country faces unmitigated disaster if the Other Side wins.

No reasonably intelligent person can deny this. All you have to do is look at the way the Other Side has been running its campaign. Instead of focusing on the big issues that are important to the American People, it has fired a relentlessly negative barrage of distortions, misrepresentations, and flat-out lies.

Just look at the Other Side’s latest commercial, which take a perfectly reasonable statement by the candidate for My Side completely out of context to make it seem as if he is saying something nefarious. This just shows you how desperate the Other Side is and how willing it is to mislead the American People.

The Other Side also has been hammering away at My Side to release certain documents that have nothing to do with anything, and making all sorts of outrageous accusations about what might be in them. Meanwhile, the Other Side has stonewalled perfectly reasonable requests to release its own documents that would expose some very embarrassing details if anybody ever found out what was in them. This just shows you what a bunch of hypocrites they are.

Naturally, the media won’t report any of this. Major newspapers and cable networks jump all over anything they think will make My Side look bad. Yet they completely ignore critically important and incredibly relevant information that would be devastating to the Other Side if it could ever be verified.

I will admit the candidates for My Side do make occasional blunders. These usually happen at the end of exhausting 19-hour days and are perfectly understandable. Our leaders are only human, after all. Nevertheless, the Other Side inevitably makes a big fat deal out of these trivial gaffes, while completely ignoring its own candidates’ incredibly thoughtless and stupid remarks – remarks that reveal the Other Side’s true nature, which is genuinely frightening.

My Side has produced a visionary program that will get the economy moving, put the American People back to work, strengthen national security, return fiscal integrity to Washington, and restore our standing in the international community. What does the Other Side have to offer? Nothing but the same old disproven, discredited policies that got us into our current mess in the first place.

Don’t take my word for it, though. I recently read about an analysis by an independent, nonpartisan organization that supports My Side. It proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that everything I have been saying about the Other Side was true all along. Of course, the Other Side refuses to acknowledge any of this. It is too busy cranking out so-called studies by so-called experts who are actually nothing but partisan hacks. This just shows you that the Other Side lives in its own little echo chamber and refuses to listen to anyone who has not already drunk its Kool-Aid.

Let’s face it: The Other Side is held hostage by a radical, failed ideology. I have been doing some research on the Internet, and I have learned this ideology was developed by a very obscure but nonetheless profoundly influential writer with a strange-sounding name who enjoyed brief celebrity several decades ago. If you look carefully, you can trace nearly all the Other Side’s policies for the past half-century back to the writings of this one person.

To be sure, the Other Side also has been influenced by its powerful supporters. These include a reclusive billionaire who has funded a number of organizations far outside the political mainstream; several politicians who have said outrageous things over the years; and an alarmingly large number of completely clueless ordinary Americans who are being used as tools and don’t even know it.

These people are really pathetic, too. The other day I saw a YouTube video in which My Side sent an investigator and a cameraman to a rally being held by the Other Side, where the investigator proceeded to ask some real zingers. It was hilarious! First off, the people at the rally wore T-shirts with all kinds of lame messages that they actually thought were really clever. Plus, many of the people who were interviewed were overweight, sweaty, flushed, and generally not very attractive. But what was really funny was how stupid they were. There is no way anyone could watch that video and not come away convinced the people on My Side are smarter, and that My Side is therefore right about everything.

Besides, it’s clear that the people on the Other Side are driven by mindless anger – unlike My Side, which is filled with passionate idealism and righteous indignation. That indignation, I hasten to add, is entirely justified. I have read several articles in publications that support My Side that expose what a truly dangerous group the Other Side is, and how thoroughly committed it is to imposing its radical, failed agenda on the rest of us.

That is why I believe 2012 is, without a doubt, the defining election of our lifetime. The difference between My Side and the Other Side could not be greater. That is why it absolutely must win on November 6.

November 2, 2012 01:41 AM Forum: Politics

Romney reveals his crazy Religious views

Posted By James Lacey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxMD02zU9SE

If you're voting for Romney I recommend watching this. It'll give you an idea of the religious beliefs that Romney holds with all his heart. He's a religious nut-bag which I always knew, but frankly, I'll take the secularist Obama.

October 6, 2010 06:49 PM Forum: Beginning Astronomy?

Why the price difference?

Posted By James Lacey

Terry swan said:
Why is there such a differences in prices between 1.25 and 2" eyepieces? Meade 2" is roughly 50-$100 difference in the use market and similar price from the new vendors. TV Powermate 2x 1.25 used is about $120, compared to $200+ for a 2"

Going from 1.25 to 2 is a 62.5% increase in diameter, but it's a 256% increase in surface area!

Probably harder to make defect free stuff that's larger too.

Terry swan said:
What is a compression ring? is that like an adapter for a 1.25? on a 2"

Essentially, it allows you to capture and hold your eyepiece into your diagonal, or powermate, or what evere w/o ever having a set-screw contact the eye-piece barrel which could potentially mar the eyepiece barrel. Think of it as a ring clamp that holds your EP in place all the way around it's barrel instead of single point of contact like with a traditional set-screw.

October 21, 2010 02:05 PM Forum: No Holds Barred

Let's use this space...

Posted By James Lacey

Sometimes I wonder if you guys even RTFA.

October 27, 2010 03:53 PM Forum: Politics

Vote to Recall?

Posted By James Lacey

Every State has a recall provision for their governor already; it's called an election.

I did some reading and the Illinois recall resolution seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to Blagovich or in other words the current politicians just want to be able to beat their chests and say they are doing something to combat corruption among elected officials.

The bar for recall is being set ridiculously high from what I read too, which makes it virtually an impossibility for a grass-roots movement to recall a governor. On the other hand, special interest groups with deep pockets could pull it off. Doesn't sound like a good idea to me and actually counter-productive with respect to promoting democracy.

Personally, I'd vote no.

November 4, 2010 04:49 PM Forum: Politics

Obama still doesn't get it.

Posted By James Lacey

Paradoxically, the man who has failed and one who is at the peak of success are in exactly the same position. Each must decide what he will do next, choose the course that will lead him to the future.

— Jigoro Kano

November 4, 2010 05:27 PM Forum: Politics

San Francisco is a 3rd world city...

Posted By James Lacey

You could always move to Oklahoma where they seem to think it's necessary to protect themselves from the Islamic boogeyman by passing legislation banning the use of Sharia law in their court systems. Brilliant. Ban a paranoid hallucination that doesn't exist.

November 8, 2010 06:47 PM Forum: No Holds Barred

Freedom

Posted By James Lacey

We live in a secular nation today because our ancestors knew first-hand how bad it was to live in a nation where a state religion held great sway and power over politics and the business of the people.

"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries." - James Madison

November 16, 2010 03:25 PM Forum: Religion

Religion of Love and Peace Newsfeed

Posted By James Lacey

Doug Matulis said:

AP
The Mideast
Muslims Torch Christian Homes in Southern Egypt

CAIRO-- Muslims set fire overnight to at least 10 houses belonging to Coptic Christians in a village in southern Egypt over rumors that a Christian resident had an affair with a Muslim girl, security officials said Tuesday.


What is a tad humorous about your position Doug is that Coptic Christians emphasize meritorious works in salvation along with liturgical ritual rather than salvation through belief in and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So, according to your beliefs, they are not "true" Christians and in other contexts you would roundly condemn them as such.

November 18, 2010 03:21 PM Forum: Politics

Now here is a novel idea!

Posted By James Lacey

Yeah not really so novel. Just more political pandering. Doesn't he have real problems and issues to worry about? Like maybe state budget shortfalls, or securing the border, or gang violence, or unemployment, or...