Mitt Romney, man of mystery

[Whitey44]

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/201...gn-mitt-romney

GOP nominee's big secret isn't in his tax return


July 24, 2012|By David Horsey
Mitt Romney's income tax returns may contain some surprises that he does not want the world to know about, but they are hardly his only secrets. His biggest secret, the question he has not answered through the entire campaign, the one that bothers conservatives even more than it irks liberals, is this: Does he believe in anything besides Mormonism and money?
He won in the Republican primaries because he did not hesitate to do whatever it took to destroy his opponents. Now, his campaign aides are saying, off the record, there is no limit to what they will do to beat Barack Obama. The Romney campaign will attack him for the shady friends he may have kept back in Chicago. They will ding him for smoking pot in high school. And, as demonstrated this week by one of Mr. Romney's surrogates, John Sununu, they will try to cast doubt on whether the president is a true American.

The one thing Mr. Romney did not do in the primaries and is not doing now is reveal what sort of president he wants to be. Oh, sure, he has put out position papers. Every day on the campaign trail he speaks in generalities about getting government out of the way of business. He is against apologizing for the USA in foreign affairs. But does anyone really know what his economic policy would be or how he would conduct himself as commander-in-chief?
Mr. Romney is an enigma. He has reversed the positions he took as governor of Massachusetts on gay rights, abortion, health care and immigration, yet his reversals are squishy enough to make many conservatives doubt the sincerity of his new convictions.
The one thing upon which he has stood firm is his refusal to let people paw through his tax records. He has released documents covering the last two years but resists releasing more because, he says, the Obama campaign will simply use the information against him. Yet it is not just Obama partisans and the media demanding full disclosure; it is the National Review, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and a long list of other Republican officeholders and conservative commentators. One of the few prominent figures on the right who is urging him to stand his ground is Rush Limbaugh (the same guy, by the way, who urged him to go after Mr. Obama's youthful indulgence in marijuana and supposed tenuous identity as an American).
The longer Mr. Romney keeps his tax forms secret, the more intense is the speculation about what he is hiding. Is he really richer than he has let on -- a billionaire, perhaps? Are there years in which he paid no taxes? Is there something so damning in the documents that he is willing to sustain the damage to his campaign caused by his failure to disclose?
The liberal activist group MoveOn.org has put up an attack ad in Ohio that compares Mr. Romney to Tricky Dick Nixon and uses the term "crook" in speculation about what nefarious activities might be recorded in Mitt's tax forms. That attack goes too far. In the same way, several liberal commentators went over the top by slamming Mr. Romney for saying the word "Obamacare" in a speech to the NAACP. The lefties insisted the use of the word in that venue was a coded appeal to white racists. That is a real stretch. Mr. Romney says "Obamacare" 20 times a day, and it would have been strangely calculating for him not to say it in front of a black audience.
No, there is no need to imagine Mr. Romney as a crook or a race baiter. That is not the secret he is hiding. It is likely something far simpler.

Mitt Romney is a very wealthy man with a family legacy in politics who thinks it would be nice to fulfill his father's dream of living in the White House. Perhaps, that is all there is to his candidacy. That is a secret he would want to keep.

[Whitey44]

[Whitey44]

[Whitey44]

[Whitey44]

[Whitey44]

[Whitey44]

[Whitey44]

I don't know exactly how I managed to get two threads with identical names started here. :P

[richief]

Why the brouhaha over his tax returns, surely if he has done something dishonest the IRS will be chasing him, the fact that he may be richer than he says is nothing really, aren't most politicos richer than the electorate.

[suzymoss]

He has given us a hint, he embraces the Ryan Budget that gives more tax breaks to the rich at the expense of retirees Social Security and Medicare

[Whitey44]

[richief]

His foreign policy appears to be "flip flop" as much as you can, at the start of the video he is criticising London and at the end he his certain it will be a success, and any one who can get "dissed" by Boris Johnson really needs help.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19008923

[AZRIEL]

[Whitey44]

[Whitey44]

Originally Posted by richief

His foreign policy appears to be "flip flop" as much as you can, at the start of the video he is criticising London and at the end he his certain it will be a success, and any one who can get "dissed" by Boris Johnson really needs help.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19008923

Mitt just wants to be President so he can make his father proud.

[Whitey44]

[JayneyRedd]

Originally Posted by richief

......any one who can get "dissed" by Boris Johnson really needs help.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19008923

Hilarious!

I have no idea/opinion on American politics, but if the lovely (but bonkers) Boris can take the mickey out of you then you're a lost cause....

[stumbler]

Originally Posted by richief

Why the brouhaha over his tax returns, surely if he has done something dishonest the IRS will be chasing him, the fact that he may be richer than he says is nothing really, aren't most politicos richer than the electorate.

One aspect is that his tax returns might reveal several more tax havens and bank accounts in more foreign countries. And aspect might be his tax returns would prove he was lying about when he left Bain Capital or if he ever did. And at the very least show that Romney actually pays a far lower percentage of taxes than the average American does.

[tommyturtle]

I'm still waiting for Obama's college transcripts and IQ. I don't question his birth place. Bill O'Reilly showed the copy of the Honolulu newspaper announcing his birth.

How many tax returns did Obama make public before his election? I don't think there is a law requiring any.

[umpire2]

Romney is about as big a mystery as the guy who claims not to have farted, but has a big shit stain on the back of his pants.

[richief]

Originally Posted by stumbler

One aspect is that his tax returns might reveal several more tax havens and bank accounts in more foreign countries. And aspect might be his tax returns would prove he was lying about when he left Bain Capital or if he ever did. And at the very least show that Romney actually pays a far lower percentage of taxes than the average American does.

Maybe so, but the average citizen complains if the government snoops around his or her finances so why should he not be accorded the same privacy, it is not as though any information there will actually stop him being elected, there is plenty of other ammunition to shoot down that duck. As it is a privacy matter this is turning into the GoP's version of a "birth certificate" hunt.

[ladygodiva123]

Originally Posted by richief

Why the brouhaha over his tax returns, surely if he has done something dishonest the IRS will be chasing him, the fact that he may be richer than he says is nothing really, aren't most politicos richer than the electorate.

I think it's more likely that it will show that he was with Bain Capital in some capacity after February 1999. His status at Bain is already questionable because he signed at least 6 documents filed with the SEC as the "reporting person" through 2001. Why does this matter? One, because someone is lying. Either his name was forged on those documents which would be a felony or he was involved with the management of Bain for an additional 2 years. Why would he lie? For one thing, in 1999 Bain invested $75 Million in a medical waste disposal firm called Stericycle. Stericycle has been attacked by anti-abortion groups because they disposed aborted fetuses from family planning clinics across the US. It would be difficult for Romney to argue that he is staunchly pro-life if his firm was profiting from the "baby killing" industry.

We already know from the sole tax return he has revealed - 2010 - that he took a $77K BUSINESS tax deduction for the care and feeding of Ann's horse, which she credits with her recovery from MS. Horses that are owned by businesses must show a profit for 2 out of 7 years in order to claim the expenses as tax deductions AND the owners must depend on the income. While it's not difficult to show $1 of profit during some years just by buying feed in bulk some years and not others and pre-paying certain expenses, it would be a stretch to say that the Romneys depended on that income. They wouldn't be able to claim it as a medical expense because it would have to amount to 7.5% of their adjusted gross income.

What other fishy deductions have the Romneys taken over the years? Why did they file an extension for 2011 so that there was no tax return to review before the election? The only tax information he's released for 2011 is an estimate. Why did Romney turn over 20 years worth of tax returns when he was being vetted to be vice-president by John McCain and he's not willing to release those same returns now? After seeing those returns, why did McCain still think Sarah Palin was "the better candidate"?

Mitt's father George was the first person running for president to release his tax returns (12 years worth) 40 years ago. Why does Mitt disagree with his father on this issue? Why are the letters between Mitt and his father noticeably absent from George's archives - 450 boxes of letters, clippings etc. that are kept at the University of Michigan. He had dozens of letters from his other children. There is only one from Mitt.

Why did Romney have his staff purchase and remove hard drives from the state owned computers used during his stint as governor of Massachusetts and have all e-mails from 2002 to 2006 scrubbed from the servers? These are usually kept as part of the state archives.

As for the IRS investigating the Romneys, how could that be done without bouncing back on Obama? Mitt essentially started his quest to be president when he didn't seek re-election as governor of Massachusetts in 2006. He wouldn't have been investigated while Bush was in office. He was a GOP golden boy.

[richief]

So he is probably as crooked as Nixon, how does this matter when the reality of him getting elected his quite low, but if he as broken laws surely the appropriate agencies will investigate. Personally I would save the ammunition just in case he does get elected, then you can go after him big style.

[xnxxbob]

His friends are NOT bill ayers, wright, nor van jones....................enough for me.................

Mitt 2012

[cptjohnstone]

man of mystery?

[clarise]

Originally Posted by cptjohnstone

man of mystery?

+1

Like anyone but a moonbat would give a damn about Romney's tax returns. Christ.

[clarise]

Captain,

For that past couple weeks I've been battling DistantLover, Baller, Stumbler and others. Trying to make the case that Obama is a pinko red diaper doper communist, and most likely an Indonesian citizen to boot. Your one picture says it better than I ever could. I am going to borrow it, but I'll give you credit for finding it.

[shyguyy2]

No mystery, He has income and tax cuts he doesn't want to show. He promotes war with Iran and Syria but dodged Vietnam like a motherfucker (while my dad spent 7 years there by choice) and sure as hell won't let his boys fight the wars.
He has no interest in helping the economy with jobs only helping the stock market(whick I'll admit would make me money) but not nearly as much as it will him. I hate Obama but Romney needs to crawl in a hole and disapear.

[stumbler]

I hope Mitt Romney can make it out of Israel without starting a war but I've got my doubts.

Romney: ‘Providence’ and culture make Israelis superior to Palestinians

Palestinian officials on Monday accused presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney of racism after he told wealthy donors — including billionaire Sheldon Adelson — that Israelis were more economically successful because of their culture and intervention by God.



“And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things,” Romney remarked at a $25,000-a-plate fundraiser, adding that a climate of innovation and the “hand of providence” also played a part.



“As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality,” he said.



According to the CIA, Israelis had a 2011 per capital income of $31,400, while Palestinians had a per capita income of just $2,900.


“What is this man doing here?” Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat told The Associated Press. “Yesterday, he destroyed negotiations by saying Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and today he is saying Israeli culture is more advanced than Palestinian culture. Isn’t this racism?”


Activists have long said that Israel’s restrictions on trade and strict border blockade are responsible for crippling the Palestinian economy.


“Mass unemployment, extreme poverty and food price rises caused by shortages have left four in five Gazans dependent on humanitarian aid,” Amnesty International estimated in 2010. “As a form of collective punishment, Israel’s continuing blockade of Gaza is a flagrant violation of international law.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/3...-palestinians/

[stumbler]

And the OP isn't the only one seeing Romney as a mystery man. Bibi Netanyahu is also wondering who Mitt is and why he claims to be friends with him.

Bibi Netanyahu: No, Mitt Romney Isn't A Close Friend of Mine

Mitt Romney, who's currently in Israel holding secretive fundraisers out of the view of the press, loves to brag about his close friendship with with Bibi Netanyahu.

“We can almost speak in shorthand,” Mr. Romney said in an interview. “We share common experiences and have a perspective and underpinning which is similar.” [...] “Before I made a statement of that nature, I’d get on the phone to my friend Bibi Netanyahu and say: ‘Would it help if I say this? What would you like me to do?’"

And,

“Israel’s current prime minister is not just a friend, he’s an old friend,” Mitt Romney, with whom Netanyahu worked at the Boston Consulting Group in the 1970s, told aipac in March.

Mitt and Bibi: BFFs!
Except no one told Bibi.

“I remember him for sure, but I don’t think we had any particular connections,” he tells me. “I knew him and he knew me, I suppose.”

Yes, Bibi Netanyahu just called Mitt Romney a liar.


First of all, take a moment to imagine the howling by Jennifer Rubin and the rest of the right-wing smear machine if President Obama had bragged about being buddies with the Israeli Prime Minister in '08, only to have the Israeli leader say publicly, "Obama? Yeah. I suppose I've heard of him."


Now, it's easy to believe Romney's lying -- he lies about everything. But Bibi didn't have to throw him under the bus like that.


So what gives?



Either Bibi has concluded that Romney's going to lose in November, or he just doesn't like him. Can't think of anything else. Got any other theories?

http://crooksandliars.com/blue-texan...mney-isnt-clos

[clarise]

Where did you find that gem, Stumbler?

Netanyahu and Romney worked together at Boston Consulting Group, for chrissakes. They attended B-school and graduated at roughly the same time (Bibi at MIT), and then they started their careers in the same company. They go back decades.

[stumbler]

Originally Posted by clarise

Where did you find that gem, Stumbler?

Netanyahu and Romney worked together at Boston Consulting Group, for chrissakes. They attended B-school and graduated at roughly the same time (Bibi at MIT), and then they started their careers in the same company. They go back decades.

Netanyahu is once reported to have said—he now denies it—that he “speaks English with a heavy Republican accent.” “Israel’s current prime minister is not just a friend, he’s an old friend,” Mitt Romney, with whom Netanyahu worked at the Boston Consulting Group in the 1970s, told aipac in March. (Romney, Netanyahu suggests, may have overstated the tie. “I remember him for sure, but I don’t think we had any particular connections,” he tells me. “I knew him and he knew me, I suppose.”)

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2...el-mitt-romney

[clarise]

Originally Posted by stumbler

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2...el-mitt-romney

Well, the couples got along grandly at dinner last night, for virtual strangers.

I do not think anyone would go so far as to suggest that Romney has a chance at New York as a result of this trip (why waste hope on the impossible?), but it is not a stretch to suggest that he has picked up Florida.

President Obama has not visited Israel. When Netanyahu called on Washington, Obama stood him up for lunch and sent him out through the kitchens. The Jews will not forget it, and I really doubt they will all be in the tank for Barack this time around.

I have said I won't vote for Romney, and I mean it. But I must say I have been impressed with this tough talk these past two days. He hasn't lived down his blunders in London a few days ago, but he is definitely improving. People are finally seeing some evidence of bedrock principles, such as standing with one's allies.

[clarise]

Originally Posted by shyguyy2

No mystery, He has income and tax cuts he doesn't want to show. He promotes war with Iran and Syria but dodged Vietnam like a motherfucker (while my dad spent 7 years there by choice) and sure as hell won't let his boys fight the wars.
He has no interest in helping the economy with jobs only helping the stock market(whick I'll admit would make me money) but not nearly as much as it will him. I hate Obama but Romney needs to crawl in a hole and disapear.

There is a dirty rumor going around that Mormons are pacifists. Not true, but many do conscientiously object.

As for Romney in particular, it could be he was too busy making money.

But it is equally possible that he is one of the conscientious objectors. He is heavily active in the Mormon Church. Here in Massachusetts, the Mormon Church built a huge temple on a hilltop in Belmont (and riled the local Catholic diocese by erecting a steeple more than three times higher than the Catholic bell tower). Mitt and Ann Romney were such big donors to that construction project (some say upwards of $30 million) that the building could justifiably have been named after them.

So possibly Romney is simply a man of God.

[clarise]

Another view of the Temple that Romney Built.

[BigTrobbing]

Lets also remember that obama was involved with the apartment buildings that were not livable for dogs and they kept people in them.

Also the wookie michelle when she worked at the hospital she came up with the plan of dumping patients that were poor to other hospitals and they would only take the wealthy and highly insured.


Boy and I thought the democrats cared about the poor. Guess they really are just being used as their base.

[cptjohnstone]

Originally Posted by clarise

Captain,

For that past couple weeks I've been battling DistantLover, Baller, Stumbler and others. Trying to make the case that Obama is a pinko red diaper doper communist, and most likely an Indonesian citizen to boot. Your one picture says it better than I ever could. I am going to borrow it, but I'll give you credit for finding it.

no problem, what you say is totally true. I will try and post more on this cite.

[spjames]

SchrodingersCandidate.jpg

[richief]

What a candidate Romney is.

[Distant Lover]

Originally Posted by clarise

Captain,

For that past couple weeks I've been battling DistantLover, Baller, Stumbler and others. Trying to make the case that Obama is a pinko red diaper doper communist, and most likely an Indonesian citizen to boot. Your one picture says it better than I ever could. I am going to borrow it, but I'll give you credit for finding it.

On a number of occasions I have stood alone against a lynch mob that flamed me because it could not refute my arguments. My arguments are fact based, and debatable. I welcome rational refutation. Insults reinforce my conviction of personal rectitude. I make an effort not to descend to the level of my detractors. I believe I usually succeed.

clarise, you are not presenting fact based and debatable points. You are engaging in silly name calling that only a fool could approve of. Because you refuse to behave respectfully, you do not deserve to be respected.

XNXX sometimes resembles a troubled high high school where the principal does not come to work, and where the hall monitors side with the bullies and juvenile delinquents. Nevertheless, in my comments I try to maintain the atmosphere of the OP ED page of a newspaper.

You clarise are contributing to the corruption of XNXX. The other corruptors cannot help themselves. They really are that poorly educated and vulgar. For a long time I expected more from you. That is why your recent behavior is disappointing.

Either something bad has happened to you - if I knew what it was I might be sympathetic - or you have decided to reveal what you have been all along.

[clarise]

Originally Posted by Distant Lover

On a number of occasions I have stood alone against a lynch mob that flamed me because it could not refute my arguments. My arguments are fact based, and debatable. I welcome rational refutation. Insults reinforce my conviction of personal rectitude. I make an effort not to descend to the level of my detractors. I believe I usually succeed.

clarise, you are not presenting fact based and debatable points. You are engaging in silly name calling that only a fool could approve of. Because you refuse to behave respectfully, you do not deserve to be respected.

XNXX sometimes resembles a troubled high high school where the principal does not come to work, and where the hall monitors side with the bullies and juvenile delinquents. Nevertheless, in my comments I try to maintain the atmosphere of the OP ED page of a newspaper.

You clarise are contributing to the corruption of XNXX. The other corruptors cannot help themselves. They really are that poorly educated and vulgar. For a long time I expected more from you. That is why your recent behavior is disappointing.

Either something bad has happened to you - if I knew what it was I might be sympathetic - or you have decided to reveal what you have been all along.

sheesh... wait... ...better!

Honestly, DL: I am just bored!

If people visited my poetry and short stories threads at even 50% of the rate they visit my political flames, I wouldn't even be here.

So, thanks for the sympathy, but I do not need it. Not unless you want to pity me over how shitty my poetry is. In which case I will happily accept.

[stumbler]

Originally Posted by clarise

Well, the couples got along grandly at dinner last night, for virtual strangers.

I do not think anyone would go so far as to suggest that Romney has a chance at New York as a result of this trip (why waste hope on the impossible?), but it is not a stretch to suggest that he has picked up Florida.

President Obama has not visited Israel. When Netanyahu called on Washington, Obama stood him up for lunch and sent him out through the kitchens. The Jews will not forget it, and I really doubt they will all be in the tank for Barack this time around.

I have said I won't vote for Romney, and I mean it. But I must say I have been impressed with this tough talk these past two days. He hasn't lived down his blunders in London a few days ago, but he is definitely improving. People are finally seeing some evidence of bedrock principles, such as standing with one's allies.

There ya go now you can move up from an overblown reactionary living in your own plastic bubble to a full fledged brainwashed parrot Clarise.

If Only President Obama Would Visit Israel As Often As Ronald Reagan Did

As we reported earlier, the conservative group Emergency Committee for Israel, co-founded by Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol released an ad criticizing President Obama for not visiting Israel during his presidency, although he did visit as a candidate in 2008. If presidential visits to Israel are the new yardsticks for a quality POTUS, perhaps Kristol’s group (and Politico, who reported on the ad rather uncritically) should see how Obama measures up to leading Republican presidents like Ronald Reagan and the Georges Bush.

Now over three years into his presidency, it’s true that President Obama hasn’t visited Israel with the frequency of some past presidents. President Jimmy Carter, for example, visited Israel in March of 1979, in the third year of his first, and only, term. President Bill Clinton visited Israel in October of 1994, and again in November of 1995, March of 1996, and December of 1998.


President George W. Bush, however, didn’t get around to visiting Israel until January of 2008, near the end of his second term, visiting again in May of that year. His father, President George H.W. Bush, was an even less frequent visitor, traveling to Israel as President in February of Never.


Surely President Ronald Reagan, the patron saint of Republicans, the exemplification of all that is good and conservative, was known to get his Israel on, right?


Wrong. Ronald Reagan never traveled to Israel as President, an in keeping with Kristol’s group’s ad, here are the countries he did manage to visit: Mexico, Canada, Jamaica, Barbados,France, Italy, The Vatican, The United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Japan, South Korea, China, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium, Grenada, Indonesia, Iceland, Finland, and the USSR.


In fact, when George W. Bush went to Israel in January of ’08, he was the first Republican president to do so since Richard Nixon, who went in June of 1974 (only after he had already been to Iran).


The value of frequent flyer miles to Israel is debatable, but if anyone should be keeping quiet about such a blunt metric, it’s Republicans, who apparently have real trouble counting. And Googling.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/if-on...ld-reagan-did/


Once again you prove in grand form what an intellectual and academic fraud you really are; parrot.

[stumbler]

Speaking of total frauds. The conservative/Republican/Tea Baggers are nothing but. Remember when President Obama brushed off Russian President Putin with the comment that any new discussions would be better after the election?

Well where the fuck if the outrage over this?

Mitt Romney Says Israel Settlements 'Should Be Discussed In Private'

The sensitive issue of Israeli settlement construction in the Palestinian West Bank is something that should be "discussed in private," Mitt Romney said in an interview with CNN Monday.

"I believe that the issue of settlements is something which should be discussed in private by the American president and our allies," Romney told Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room." "When we show diplomatic distance between ourselves and our ally, I think we encourage people who oppose that relationship to seek other means to achieve their ends."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1721080.html

There is no private in a government for the people and by the people. And Romney has once again proven himself to be a very mysterious man. But its one thing to be a very mysterious man about your tax returns, your jobs, narratives, and direct contradictions. But when you start offering to enter private talks with Israel about settlements you're saying you want to do the American people's business in private and just trust this mysterious man.

[clarise]

RE: Reagan and Bush to Israel: First of all, I am not a Republican, and I find this "two wrongs make a right" stuff tedious. You have to go all the way back to Reagan to justify the way Obama shoved one of our staunchest allies out of the White House through the kitchen door? Okay. Whatever.

But over and above that, I am not suggesting that presidents should make an obligatory trip to the Wailing Wall just to work on their tans. Reagan beat the living crap out of Iran and did Carter's job for him, within the first six months of office. So people did not exactly have anxiety as to where Reagan stood in terms of the Middle East.

And Reagan didn't have the Arab Spring to deal with, did he? He didn't empower the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and leave Israel without a secure southern border, did he?

I mean, Stumbler, could even you imagine where Reagan would stand today, if Israel were to come to him with a request to assist in taking out Iran's uranium purification facilities? Do you think Reagan would be stonewalling Israel and telling them to "let the sanctions work" for a couple more years?

Netanyahu and Israel have washed their hands of Obama. They cannot rely on us to have their back in a fight. You can't admit that?

Fine. Don't concede it, if you can't.

Originally Posted by stumbler

Speaking of total frauds. The conservative/Republican/Tea Baggers are nothing but. Remember when President Obama brushed off Russian President Putin with the comment that any new discussions would be better after the election?

Well where the fuck if the outrage over this?

Mitt Romney Says Israel Settlements 'Should Be Discussed In Private'




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1721080.html

There is no private in a government for the people and by the people. And Romney has once again proven himself to be a very mysterious man. But its one thing to be a very mysterious man about your tax returns, your jobs, narratives, and direct contradictions. But when you start offering to enter private talks with Israel about settlements you're saying you want to do the American people's business in private and just trust this mysterious man.

You are taking material from spinmeisters who really do want Romney to start a war. He's damned by them no matter what he says.

Not that I care. I won't vote for him.

[richief]

Originally Posted by Distant Lover

On a number of occasions I have stood alone against a lynch mob that flamed me because it could not refute my arguments. My arguments are fact based, and debatable. I welcome rational refutation. Insults reinforce my conviction of personal rectitude. I make an effort not to descend to the level of my detractors. I believe I usually succeed.

clarise, you are not presenting fact based and debatable points. You are engaging in silly name calling that only a fool could approve of. Because you refuse to behave respectfully, you do not deserve to be respected.

XNXX sometimes resembles a troubled high high school where the principal does not come to work, and where the hall monitors side with the bullies and juvenile delinquents. Nevertheless, in my comments I try to maintain the atmosphere of the OP ED page of a newspaper.

You clarise are contributing to the corruption of XNXX. The other corruptors cannot help themselves. They really are that poorly educated and vulgar. For a long time I expected more from you. That is why your recent behavior is disappointing.

Either something bad has happened to you - if I knew what it was I might be sympathetic - or you have decided to reveal what you have been all along.

How OpEd was joking about cancer, please stop putting yourself on a pedestal you only make your self a bigger and easier target, your behaviour does not disappoint me, it is what I expect of you, once people see past your glamour they realise what your really are, some are surprised others shocked but they all see the poison in you, they all see your bigotry and many do not like it.

[clarise]

Originally Posted by spjames

Attachment 1928451

You're still a dweeb for insinuating that the idiot, Obama, is smarter than I am. That is an insult to morons everywhere.

But I'll have you know my new book devotes a whole scene to Schrodinger's Cat!

Seriously.

Hold on, enough of this politics crap.... here it is. (If you see blue lines on a white background, change to the Blue-X style. It is much nicer on a Kindle.)

_____Back in the yard, at the chess board, Jessica had been telling Nelson about the commencement of her second semester in college, and specifically her opening day interview with her academic adviser, Dr. Filmore. She had gone into Kendall Square on Tuesday to get her assignments for the term, and she had told Dr. Filmore about her impressions on a book she had read over the summer. “The book itself is of no importance,” she had said, “just a lay primer on quantum mechanics. A whole chapter went on and on about Schrödinger’s Cat.”
_____“Ahh,” Dr. Filmore had said, “Erwin’s infamous thought experiment.”
_____Dr. Filmore and Jessica had referred, of course, to a hypothetical experiment, first proposed by Erwin Schrödinger, which had been intended to demonstrate not only the mechanics of superimposed quantum states, but also the power of seemingly inconsequential subatomic quantum events to impose themselves on the everyday world. According to the experiment, one would place a necessarily docile tabbycat in a black box, together with a lump of radioactive cobalt, a decay detector, and a glass vial containing cyanide gas. Once one closed the lid of the box, events inside would be a mystery. In the absence of an observer, the cobalt would both decay and not decay, according to the rules of quantum mechanics. The two states— decayed and undecayed— would both exist at once, superimposed, in the absence of an observer to force the cobalt to choose one state or another. The detector would both register the decay and not register it, and would both signal a trigger apparatus and not, which would both break the cyanide vial and not; which would both kill the tabbycat, and not. Hence, for as long as the lid remained closed, the states within the box would be superimposed, and the cat, according to Erwin Schrödinger, would be both alive and dead. Only when an observer opened the lid, whilst wearing a gas mask, of course, and peered inside, would the superimposed states collapse and resolve to either one or the other. The observer would either hear the meow of an emancipated and indignant tabbycat, or would look down on a gruesome corpse.
_____Dr. Filmore had called this the infamous thought experiment, because it had stumped the greatest minds of the 20th century, and had purportedly once reduced Einstein himself to stuttering in apoplexy. Even into the twenty-first century, the paradox of Schrödinger’s cat had the power to illustrate the perplexing apparent absurdities of the quantum realm.
_____In the yard that afternoon, over the chess board, Jessica had recounted to Nelson that Filmore had wanted to know her take on the whole business. “I told Filmore,” Jessica had related to Nelson, “that as long as men dominate science, no real progress will be made. Men thrill in their capacity for needless complication, and they are so busy admiring themselves and their ridiculous inventions that they fail to see the glaringly obvious.”
_____Filmore had wanted to know what the best minds of the twentieth century had missed. Nelson, in the yard over the chessboard, had wanted to know, too.
_____Jessica had replied, “Obviously, Schrödinger could simply have asked the cat.”
_____Filmore had wanted to know how, and so had Nelson.
_____“He could have knocked on the box. He would have heard the cat’s meow, or not, and would therefore have learned whether or not the cat had died.”
_____Nelson had retorted, “But then Schrödinger would have been observing the contents of the box, albeit from the outside. Same thing as opening the lid, at which point the states would no longer have been superimposed.”
_____Jessica had grinned and had said, “Men! Damn it, you’re all the same. Filmore told me the exact same thing.”
_____“And did you have a comeback, Miss?”
_____“Of course. I told him that the observation happens long before one knocks on the side of the box, because the cat is an observer, too.”
_____This response had left Nelson speechless, just as it had left Professor Filmore speechless.
_____Jessica had continued, “One observer is as good as another. It’s not like the cobalt administers an IQ test to the cat to determine whether it qualifies as an observer. For that matter, the cobalt doesn’t administer a Turing test to determine whether the cat is or is not sentient. In that respect, the decay detector is an observer, too, and is no more or less privileged than the cat in the box, or the male idiot standing outside of it. I’d even go one step further. When the cobalt decays it emits radiation, which the walls of the box absorb. The cobalt does not conduct tests to determine whether the walls of the box are capable of reporting that absorption to some device, such as a cyanide vial. The walls of the box, by virtue of their ability to absorb the radiation, are observers, too, no more or less privileged than the detector that is connected to the cyanide— or, for that matter, the rods and cones in Erwin’s eyes.”
_____Dr. Filmore, on the interview, had wanted to know what conclusions Jessica had drawn from her observations. Nelson, at the chessboard that afternoon, had wanted to know, too.
_____Jessica had replied to Nelson, “I told Filmore that the universe is rife with functionally congruent observers, from end to end, and everywhere in between. Hence, all waveforms are collapsed in practice. There are no superimposed states, and there is no uncertainty, in practice, on any scale, apart from that which men contrive in trivial thought experiments for purposes of confusement. Finally, any apparent superimposition can be explained by mechanics, provided the systems are examined with satisfactory precision.”
_____“Poor Dr. Filmore,” Nelson had said.
_____“Yes,” Jessica had agreed, “He told me he couldn’t believe I am just fourteen. I told him that I am fourteen no longer, and he wished me happy birthday. He does not know quite what to make of me.” She had fretted at the chessboard, at the conundrum that she presented to just about everyone.
_____Now, in the car, the conversation came back to the fore, and she resurrected it to make yet another observation.
_____“I really do believe that the so-called thought experiment is a load of bull, and the cat is either alive or dead. By extension, I believe that the cobalt in the box has either decayed or not. Schrödinger can take a running leap, for all I care. The paradox merely illustrates a gap in our understanding of the way the world works. Yet all the same, Nelson, I feel just like his cat.”
_____

_____
_____
Okay. Enough of that crap. Back to political flame wars.

[CS natureboy]

Originally Posted by cptjohnstone

man of mystery?

But, but, but, he's Obama...... So that makes it ok........

[stumbler]

Originally Posted by clarise

You're still a dweeb for insinuating that the idiot, Obama, is smarter than I am. That is an insult to morons everywhere.

But I'll have you know my new book devotes a whole scene to Schrodinger's Cat!

Seriously.

Hold on, enough of this politics crap.... here it is. (If you see blue lines on a white background, change to the Blue-X style. It is much nicer on a Kindle.)

_____Back in the yard, at the chess board, Jessica had been telling Nelson about the commencement of her second semester in college, and specifically her opening day interview with her academic adviser, Dr. Filmore. She had gone into Kendall Square on Tuesday to get her assignments for the term, and she had told Dr. Filmore about her impressions on a book she had read over the summer. “The book itself is of no importance,” she had said, “just a lay primer on quantum mechanics. A whole chapter went on and on about Schrödinger’s Cat.”
_____“Ahh,” Dr. Filmore had said, “Erwin’s infamous thought experiment.”
_____Dr. Filmore and Jessica had referred, of course, to a hypothetical experiment, first proposed by Erwin Schrödinger, which had been intended to demonstrate not only the mechanics of superimposed quantum states, but also the power of seemingly inconsequential subatomic quantum events to impose themselves on the everyday world. According to the experiment, one would place a necessarily docile tabbycat in a black box, together with a lump of radioactive cobalt, a decay detector, and a glass vial containing cyanide gas. Once one closed the lid of the box, events inside would be a mystery. In the absence of an observer, the cobalt would both decay and not decay, according to the rules of quantum mechanics. The two states— decayed and undecayed— would both exist at once, superimposed, in the absence of an observer to force the cobalt to choose one state or another. The detector would both register the decay and not register it, and would both signal a trigger apparatus and not, which would both break the cyanide vial and not; which would both kill the tabbycat, and not. Hence, for as long as the lid remained closed, the states within the box would be superimposed, and the cat, according to Erwin Schrödinger, would be both alive and dead. Only when an observer opened the lid, whilst wearing a gas mask, of course, and peered inside, would the superimposed states collapse and resolve to either one or the other. The observer would either hear the meow of an emancipated and indignant tabbycat, or would look down on a gruesome corpse.
_____Dr. Filmore had called this the infamous thought experiment, because it had stumped the greatest minds of the 20th century, and had purportedly once reduced Einstein himself to stuttering in apoplexy. Even into the twenty-first century, the paradox of Schrödinger’s cat had the power to illustrate the perplexing apparent absurdities of the quantum realm.
_____In the yard that afternoon, over the chess board, Jessica had recounted to Nelson that Filmore had wanted to know her take on the whole business. “I told Filmore,” Jessica had related to Nelson, “that as long as men dominate science, no real progress will be made. Men thrill in their capacity for needless complication, and they are so busy admiring themselves and their ridiculous inventions that they fail to see the glaringly obvious.”
_____Filmore had wanted to know what the best minds of the twentieth century had missed. Nelson, in the yard over the chessboard, had wanted to know, too.
_____Jessica had replied, “Obviously, Schrödinger could simply have asked the cat.”
_____Filmore had wanted to know how, and so had Nelson.
_____“He could have knocked on the box. He would have heard the cat’s meow, or not, and would therefore have learned whether or not the cat had died.”
_____Nelson had retorted, “But then Schrödinger would have been observing the contents of the box, albeit from the outside. Same thing as opening the lid, at which point the states would no longer have been superimposed.”
_____Jessica had grinned and had said, “Men! Damn it, you’re all the same. Filmore told me the exact same thing.”
_____“And did you have a comeback, Miss?”
_____“Of course. I told him that the observation happens long before one knocks on the side of the box, because the cat is an observer, too.”
_____This response had left Nelson speechless, just as it had left Professor Filmore speechless.
_____Jessica had continued, “One observer is as good as another. It’s not like the cobalt administers an IQ test to the cat to determine whether it qualifies as an observer. For that matter, the cobalt doesn’t administer a Turing test to determine whether the cat is or is not sentient. In that respect, the decay detector is an observer, too, and is no more or less privileged than the cat in the box, or the male idiot standing outside of it. I’d even go one step further. When the cobalt decays it emits radiation, which the walls of the box absorb. The cobalt does not conduct tests to determine whether the walls of the box are capable of reporting that absorption to some device, such as a cyanide vial. The walls of the box, by virtue of their ability to absorb the radiation, are observers, too, no more or less privileged than the detector that is connected to the cyanide— or, for that matter, the rods and cones in Erwin’s eyes.”
_____Dr. Filmore, on the interview, had wanted to know what conclusions Jessica had drawn from her observations. Nelson, at the chessboard that afternoon, had wanted to know, too.
_____Jessica had replied to Nelson, “I told Filmore that the universe is rife with functionally congruent observers, from end to end, and everywhere in between. Hence, all waveforms are collapsed in practice. There are no superimposed states, and there is no uncertainty, in practice, on any scale, apart from that which men contrive in trivial thought experiments for purposes of confusement. Finally, any apparent superimposition can be explained by mechanics, provided the systems are examined with satisfactory precision.”
_____“Poor Dr. Filmore,” Nelson had said.
_____“Yes,” Jessica had agreed, “He told me he couldn’t believe I am just fourteen. I told him that I am fourteen no longer, and he wished me happy birthday. He does not know quite what to make of me.” She had fretted at the chessboard, at the conundrum that she presented to just about everyone.
_____Now, in the car, the conversation came back to the fore, and she resurrected it to make yet another observation.
_____“I really do believe that the so-called thought experiment is a load of bull, and the cat is either alive or dead. By extension, I believe that the cobalt in the box has either decayed or not. Schrödinger can take a running leap, for all I care. The paradox merely illustrates a gap in our understanding of the way the world works. Yet all the same, Nelson, I feel just like his cat.”
_____

_____
_____
Okay. Enough of that crap. Back to political flame wars.

Just another hint I was going to give you. Anyone insecure enough to shamelessly keep plugging their own writing is pretty obviously not much good at writing.

[Distant Lover]

Originally Posted by stumbler

Just another hint I was going to give you. Anyone insecure enough to shamelessly keep plugging their own writing is pretty obviously not much good at writing.

That becomes more obvious with every plug.

[Geraldo]

mitt romney looks like a nazi frankenstein. ITS ALIVE! ITS ALIVE!