BellGab.com Archive

Quote from: NowhereInTime on March 25, 2014, 04:13:19 PM
Leaving aside your asinine analysis about this somehow being the result of "Obama's Apology Tour" your sabre rattling isn't going to impress anyone, least of all a KGB thug like Putin.

I love your Shelbyville approach to Putin's aggression:

Shake harder boy!

We can "tell Putin to stay out of Venezuela etc., etc..." like we did with Andropov, Brezhnev, Khrushchev, and Stalin but they didn't care so what makes you think he cares?  What's our impetus, military response?  Idiotic.  Rather, draw him in and force him to expend resources that we have in piles compared to him.  He won't be spending much time on this side of the globe.

An aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean?  War games?  Why not just put on a gorilla costume and beat our chests?

(You know, P*B, they have little blue pills to fix the problem you're apparently having...)

The Iran solution is a multilateral success.  Heard much about the "Iran Bomb" lately?  If there was real concern, don't you think Israel would be screaming bloody murder right now?  If anybody has tabs on the Iranian nuclear program, its Mossad and they're allowing the process to work.  Failure on your part.

Selling helicopters to the same Egyptians who just sentenced over 500 political opponents to death? HELL and NO. Failure again on your part.

Oh, and unilaterally piss off the Chinese to show 'em who's boss.  Good Heavens please tell me you were drinking. Continued failure on your part.

Your response reads like the impetuous, emotional response of an angry adolescent or a cranky old senior citizen with one foot in the grave.  In my experience in retail, sadly, they tend to be one in the same.

Geez, someone with common sense who obviously knows history and keeps up on current events.  Do you think anyone's actually going to listen to you? 

Quote from: Uncle Duke on March 25, 2014, 03:34:15 PM
We disagree what "regional power" means from a military perspective.  Several thousand nuclear warheads and a means to deliver them accurately anywhere in the world gives the Russians the ability to exert military force more than regionally.  Same with China, they may not be able to project conventional power to even invade the RoC, but I consider them a world power militarily.  And as previously stated, this goes beyond just military might.

In the big picture, we don't disagree, however.  This is no more our fight than was Hungary in 1956, or Afghanistan in 1980.  My problem isn't with Obama, or any other head of state, expressing concerns, even contempt, for what the Russians did in Ukraine.  No problems with sanctions either, such actions are an accepted response in the international arena.  I am not, however, advocating US military action now anymore than I did in 1980. Simply put, Ukraine is neither in the US sphere of influence nor is fighting for it within our national interests.

The issue here is the taunting nature of Obama's comments, for the reasons I've already explained.  What would I do?  It's more what I wouldn't do, I wouldn't poke Putin in the eye with a stick if I knew it could result in some action I had neither the will, support, or the capability to react to.  The rest of the world and the UN is condemning Russian actions for the most part, the US can lead that condemnation through diplomatic means (even if "from behind" as Obama is fond of doing) without trying to marginalize the Russians and taunt Putin.

Looks like we pretty much agree on the subject, Uncle Duke. I have to say I'm not worried too much about Putin's nukes, though. I lived through a large part of the Cold War and spent a few childhood years absolutely terrified that Soviet nukes were going to rain down on us at any time.  Since that didn't happen, it's hard to believe Putin (or anyone else) would seriously consider them an option unless he's bat shit crazy, because there would be absolutely nothing to gain except charred ruins, ungodly radiation poisoning, and nuclear winter.  Nobody in their right mind would want to rule over that, and if it happened being a "global power" over that kind of globe would be a hollow victory indeed.  Realistically, he can have all the nukes he wants, but they won't don't him a bit of good if he doesn't use them.  He's definitely an asshole, but he's not a stupid one who wants to spend the rest of his life living in a mine shaft. 

As for Obama's comments, I see it more as a little dig in the ribs than a serious poke in the eye that's going to provoke Putin into doing anything rash.  I imagine if we searched enough, we could find a few instances of Putin making some snide cracks about Obama. Soviet leaders directed a lot of bellicose statements at U.S. presidents, and vice versa without serious consequences.  It's just part of the game.

Quote from: Mind Flayer Monk on March 25, 2014, 03:12:39 PM
Getting Russia to overstep its bounds is probably the easiest and cheapest way to get them to fall apart.

Well said, Mind Flayer.  The economic drain of trying to control Eastern Europe was a big reason for the collapse of the Soviet Union.  Throughout history, Russia has tended to protect its borders and let invaders break their armies on its defenses and brutal winters rather than try to take over the world. Any serious incursion outside its immediate sphere of influence would be doomed to fail.

Russia is a regional power because it doesn't have the ability to exert sustained military force on any kind of global scale.  Crimea is part of a regional territorial dispute that has been simmering for a long time. It's also an economic mess with a lot of seriously outdated infrastructure and is going to be a huge drain on Russia's resources.  It's hard to imagine what Putin would gain by doing anything that would start a war with NATO..  The same people who are criticizing Obama's response didn't have a problem when Dubya didn't rattle the saber or send troops to the border after the Russian incursion into Georgia. It's a sad and frightening time for many Ukrainians, but it's not our fight.  When we invaded Iraq, which is a lot closer to Russia than the Ukraine is to the U.S., for much flimsier reasons Russia didn't threaten a military response. It just sat by and let us dig a deep hole for ourselves.  It might take a couple of years, but the same thing is probably going to happen to Putin over this, so we need to view it in the long-term and not worry so much about the day to day developments.

And, Uncle Duke, what would your plan of action be if you were President?  I'm not trying to pick a fight, I'm just curious.

Jason the Plumber and his Ghost Hunters.  They really bug the shi...Oh, my God! What was that!!??  I just saw a shadow move over there and felt something icy brush my arm, but nothing showed up on the camera.  Now the electro-detectaghostometer is jumping all over the place for no apparent reason, but it obviously means something!  Unfortunately, I can't prove any of it, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Quote from: Uncle Duke on March 25, 2014, 08:54:23 AM
White punks on dope

I blame their moms and dads for moving to Hollywood.

Quote from: Little Hater on March 21, 2014, 07:17:10 PM
Love this:

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/kafkas-joke-book

Nice one, LH!  What a concept!

That didn't work.  Sorry about that.  Guess you'll just have to follow the link.

Rare Beachboys unplugged!


http://youtu.be/4XidgJdRs74

Quote from: Bart Ell on March 21, 2014, 05:51:21 PM
People may feel he same way about C2C as you do but you are still very much alone. You do understand that you are still alone though, right? Nobody is going to make your Ovaltine for you tonight. Nobody will pull the sheets off you as you sleep, leaving you cold while they lay mummified and comfortable beside you... not unless one of the single people of your particular preferred persuasion has already made their move on you.

They are known for that here, insatiable in their desire to partner - not to practice making babies or any other fun stuff - they just like to sit in chairs with the am radio on and bitch about a show they could easily ignore.

Crap, just when I thought I ran out of asshole I go and post this....

Chin up, Bart.  If it's any consolation, I'm confident you won't be running out of asshole any time soon.   

Quote from: Unscreened Caller on March 21, 2014, 04:42:13 PM
Welcome aboard, fellow hater!

Quote from: ziznak on March 21, 2014, 01:47:24 PM
I feel some sort of kindred bond w you ghost after reading yer intro... you, me, and a shit ton of other bellgabbers all have bonds.  It could be the love of the topics or the hatred of snore-boy but in the end that really doesn't matter... what matters is that in the end we always do come back for more. 

fucking masochists

Hi ziznak,

I know what you mean about the kindred bonding thing.  I used to think I was alone, but after lurking here for awhile reading posts, I realized there are lots of people who feel the same way I do about C2C and who like to have fun expressing their opinions.  After that, I had to sign up. 

And while I'm sure there are a few masochists who listen to C2C, I always figured most of them listen to Rusty Humphries.

Quote from: area51drone on March 21, 2014, 01:12:51 PM
Rule 156 of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition:  More Posts = More Profit!

Cool!  How many posts do I have to make before I can start sharing in the profits?

Hi expat,

Nice to see you here.  I enjoy your Dork Mission blog! Is Morningstar's junk yard the same one where Hoagie found the sneaker, engine parts, and Data's head, or are we to assume Mars is littered with junk yards. 

And it's been rumored that some ancient alien theorists believe this could be a picture of ancient Martian scrap dealers who imparted their knowledge to prehistoric pickers.

Likewise, McPhallus!  And yeah, Robert Ghostwolf really bugged me, especially after I found out that his real name was Robert Franzone and he was about as Native American as Vladimir Putin. 

Thanks, maureen!  It's good to be had.

Quote from: MV on March 21, 2014, 10:53:57 AM
a pleasure to have you, mr. ghostwolf's ghost.  post often.

Thanks, MV! 

BTW, wish we could use punctuation in our IDs here, because mine sorely needs an apostrophe.

Hello,

Just wanted to introduce myself, and this thread seems as good as any. I recently discovered Bellgab, and am sorry I didn't find it sooner. It looks like a very fun place to hang out and discuss all things good, bad, and hideously ugly on C2C.

I've been listening to C2C since the late nineties, because I've been interested the paranormal since I was a kid. I devoured everything I could find about UFOs, ghosts, reincarnation, and anything else that's weird and spooky. I used to believe, and still want to, but the lack of any sort of real evidence (not counting, of course, everything that's being covered up by the Shadow Government, the Illuminati, Freemasons, and Tri-Lateral Commission, the Build-a-Burgers, the PTA, and Queen Elizabeth and the rest of our reptilian alien overlords) is impossible to deny. However, I still enjoy listening to self-styled experts discuss the topics, and you can't beat C2C's entertainment value when it comes to that. Even though it's almost entirely BS, I appreciate the inventiveness of people who can peddle twaddle in an imaginative and often credible sounding way, and get a big charge out the obvious frauds and charlatans who are so ridiculous you have to wonder who's buying it.

I also listen to C2C because I've been falling asleep to the radio since high school, and there's nothing else on the air these days that offers any real entertainment value. Talk radio is all far right trash talkers and sports ranters, and there hasn't been any good music radio since the Freeform underground format was swallowed whole in the seventies. For all its flaws, C2C is good fun, and that's all I ask from all night radio.

To conclude this introduction, any astral projectionists here are always welcome to "pop in" to my place any time after three on Friday afternoons. It's BYOB, but I have plenty of freeze-dried survival meals and bushels of fresh produce from my Alex Jones Pyrrhic Victory Apocalypse Garden.

And I'm absolutely ecstatic about the departure of John B. Wells, who never should have arrived in the first place. It was nice to read all the posts expressing the same sentiments about him.

Looking forward to participating here. Best to all!