Croc

Uh huh. That's like my father saying he isn't racist because he likes this one black family he met. Or the people who claim they aren't homophobic because they're friends with a token gay. No, you haven't said anything racist, but you most certainly have chosen to express your frustrations in a way that has a very clear undertone. You rant about Spanish language in billboards, then you bitch about the neighbors next door who play loud music and speak Spanish, then you rant about all the damn illegals coming into the country. Three questions: 1. Are your loud-music-playing neighbors there illegally? 2. Why are you equating military recruitment in Spanish with illegals? An illegal couldn't enlist, duh. 3. Why are you ranting about all these completely separate issues in the same thread? Illegal immigrants are not all Mexican. I'm sure there are a few Canadians who emigrate illegally every year as well. What about Americans emigrating illegally to Canada during Vietnam? The fact that you rant about illegal immigration, the new neighbors, and a spanish-language advertisement all in one thread seems to indicate that the real issue here is that you don't like people who speak Spanish. You don't want signs to accomodate them, you don't want to hear their music, and you don't want them coming into the country "illegally," though I'd love to know just how you determine their legality. If it smells like smoke, there's probably fire.

Really? Because immigrant neighborhoods sure seemed to have a lot of immigrant-language local newspapers, which had local immigrant-language ads in them. And as has been pointed out here in this thread, and in just about every article on the topic, immigrants tend not to learn English, but their children do.

McCain used the exact same expression against Senator Clinton and her health care plan back a few months ago. Also, Palin's whole joke was comparing herself to a pit bull. Now, had Obama said "you can put lipstick on a pit bull, but she's still a bitch" then I'd agree that there was something uncalled for. But "putting lipstick on a pig, and it's still a pig" while obviously referencing McCain and NOT Palin (if you see the clip within the context of what he was saying), it's moot.

If there's too much noise coming from next door, call the police and file a noise complaint. Except that...I don't think the noise is really the issue you have with them.

Final thought: Times change. Get used to it. You can either adapt and move with it, or you can get angry and pissed off while clinging to the past like Archie Bunker. Your choice.

Only if they were consumed with raging bigotry. There, I said it. Have you even BEEN to Mexico? They happily court the money of Americans. I've never heard anything other than English language music in the Mexican cities due to all the tourism. Of course, *I* thought that was a terrible thing and felt like I was being cheated out of experiencing much of another culture.

FALSE FALSE FALSE! Just because you disagree with the lack of an official language does NOT mean that what YOU WANT is the "rule of thumb." Try telling that line to someone who grew up in the Bronx years ago and he'll tell you Yiddish was HIS "rule of thumb." I see plenty of languages used in advertising on a daily basis. I see English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc., but I know that's because I live in Los Angeles, which is one of the most diverse areas of the country. Open up your eyes and your mind to the world around you. What difference does it make when 1 out of every 100 billboards you see along the freeway aren't in your language? And what does the fact that it's along the freeway matter, anyway? The government doesn't coordinate all interstate advertising--that's done by local private landowners wanting to make a quick buck off their freeway-fronting property, barring any anti-billboard ordinance by the municipality.

Plastic surgery.

So charmingly frivolous. Very Great Gatsby of them.

You guys do know this song has been out since the Fall of 2004, right?

But he isn't refuting it...he's using the opportunity to highlight the "mock outrage" campaign tactic.

I asked you that question to test your veracity. I don't really appreciate being lied to, so you'll have to continue your end of the debate with someone else.

Some interesting articles: Palin Received Per Diem at Wasilla Home Wydon Challenges Order Authorizing Export of Alaskan Natural Gas Businessweek: Obama vs. McCain: Taxing and Spending

I love K-Town. I can't read a damn thing, but it just adds a totally different flavor to the area.

FALSE FALSE FALSE!! America has no official language, hence this debate even existing. Question: when you go to New York or Chicago and go to Chinatown, does it piss you off that all the signs are in Chinese? Me? I love it...gives the places character.

Some Op/Ed I found online...very interesting: http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginal...ibertarian.html

Exactly. Anyone who has had a cat knows this: the funniest face a cat can make is when they do something embarrassing in front of you.

You came to this conclusion watching C-Span and forming your own opinions?

Oh stuff it. For all the crap on the internet, there is plenty of easily-accessible legitimate information. Wikipedia is a great source for compiling information, and when the wiki entry cites its sources, THOSE sources can be used to trot out arguments. Those can then be debated legitimately. Hell, even using $h! sources in a thread like this isn't even a problem, because citing a $h! source would lead several posters to check up on it and promptly debunk it if it is not legitimate. But generally credible journalism, like most newspapers, is easily accessed on the net.

False. The issue is offshore drilling, NOT drilling on domestic land that the oil companies already have leases for. The ban on offshore drilling was STARTED by Reagan, and has been renewed all along, through both Republican and Democratic leadership. The oil companies already have a LOT of domestic land for which they hold the leases that they ARE CHOOSING NOT TO DRILL ON. How would allowing them to drill offshore--where the environmental concerns are much greater, and the cost and technology involved for extracting such oil is already MUCH MORE expensive than the domestic land for which they are not drilling--help any? From even a business perspective it makes much more sense for them to do the cheaper drilling NOW on DOMESTIC LAND instead of inject millions or billions into offshore drilling operations. They may be able to desecrate the offshore environment when the ban expires this October, but they aren't going to start drilling for years at the earliest, and why should they when they've been choosing not to drill on land they already can--and IMO SHOULD--be drilling on?

Always a cat for me. But the cat must be independent, perfectly able to take care of itself outside if need be, and not be too friendly, but not be too much of a little $h!, either. I desire a cat that does not need me, but rather enjoys my company, if you get the difference. Of the four cats my family has, only one fits that bill. Two are totally helpless and dependent, and the other is an incorrigible asshole.

THANK YOU!!

That's just it, though. Getting your "facts" from the talking heads on the TV is like listening to a bunch of toddlers muse about the ways of the world and use their musings in your own discussions. The mainstream media does not offer "facts" anymore. Pay attention to the next newscast you see--on NBC, since they at least attempt to be "fair and balanced," they will essentially read the D press release followed by the R response, or vice-versa. They do this under the assumption that "the truth is somewhere in the middle." They then "discuss" the press releases in what they call "analysis," but it is rarely any real analysis. No actual fact-checking. "Analysis" means getting a Dem and a Repub, putting them in splitscreen on your TV, and then each just regurgitates their own party's talking points. It's all a bunch of worthless crap. Again, I agree but I ultimately disagree. People on the far right go to church on Sunday. Their sermons are often very political. Someone being spoon-fed politics on a weekly basis has a deeply-ingrained sense of duty come election day, if only to support the party as a whole.

Oh, no I know how much they dislike him...but they still dislike Obama more. Lesser of two evils.

If that's what happens. I still disagree with your line of reasoning because if McCain is really a moderate and were campaigning as such, the far right may not be happy with him, but they'd vote for him out of a "lesser of two evils" point of view. They certainly wouldn't vote for Obama instead. The only other alternative is they wouldn't vote at all, and that isn't very likely. Also, if McCain were more moderate with his campaign, he'd most certainly be courting the Independent and conservative Democrat voters, who would more than outnumber any non-voting, disaffected rightwingers. And it's really all so the citizens of Scottsdale can have their lush gardens and olympic-sized swimming pools in their private golf course gated communities. IMO that goes to Michelle. Cindy looks like a Stepford Barbie, and I find that extremely unattractive.