Arbor Update

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Reagan Quotes, The Good, The Bad...

7. June 2004 • Ari Paul
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In response to the AU’s controversial coverage of the death of president Reagan, our continuing coverage features quotations compiled by our wire reporters: the funny, the serious, the heartwarming, and the threatening. Thus, read on, and judge for yourself.

Enjoy:

  • “Welfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.”
  • “Facts are stupid things.”
  • “Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”
  • “My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.”
  • “How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.”
  • “Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root.”
  • “A Hippie is someone who walks like Tarzan, looks like Jane and smells like Cheetah.”
  • “I’m convinced more than ever that man finds liberation only when he binds himself to God and commits himself to his fellow man.”
  • “We are trying to get unemployment to go up, and I think we’re going to succeed.”
  • “History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.”
  • “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. “And if it stops moving, subsidise it.”
  • I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.”
  • “Trees cause more pollution than automobiles.”
  • “A few months ago, I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not.”
  • “I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace, to give us the means of rendering those nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.”
  • “I hope the people on Wall Street will pay attention to the people on Main Street. If they do, they will see there is a rising tide of confidence in the future of America.”
  • “All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk.”


  1. Ari,

    Cutting and pasting a bunch of quotes that aren’t on their face prejudicial against Reagan is quite funny, and almost proves my point that your arguments tend to lack strengh because it’s so clear you’re unable to see the world in any other way than a ridigly ideological one (what you liberals often accused Reagan of…).

    Intellectual laziness and myopia-which I know you’ll accuse Reagan of, but even if so, his was backed by conviction and belief, not merely hate for anyone different-will only get you so far beyond Ann Arbor, Ari. But, I’m sure you know that.
       —James Dickson    Jun. 7 '04 - 02:12PM    #
  2. James,

    Respectfully, I don’t think you’re going to get anywhere with sneering parentheticals about “you liberals”. One can almost hear the spittle hitting your monitor, and I bet it’s warming Ari’s heart to read your comments.

    As a flaming liberal, I count about 6 quotes in there that I completely agree with, 4 that are forehead-slappingly stupid, and the rest somewhere in between (declaring Russia illegal is hilarious, in a dangerously ill-advised way; looking at nuclear waste by volume is completely accurate but disingenious, etc).

    I expect that, when Ari posted this set of quotes, he was sincere in his respect for some of them, even while giggling wildly about others. How ‘bout you? Are you free enough from rigid ideology that you can acknowledge what’s wrong with a few of these? Or that you can supply brilliant Clinton quotes? If you want to prove a point, you’ll have to do better than trying to let even-handed posts by Ari do your work for you, especially if your point is that he’s incapable of doing so.
       —Murph    Jun. 7 '04 - 03:09PM    #
  3. Great collection of quotes! I don’t understand what James Dickson’s point is—this collection isn’t one-sided or full of rhetoric. It’s just quotations from the Reagan, and many of them are quite funny!
       —Eric Goldberg    Jun. 7 '04 - 03:15PM    #
  4. I only have two problems with the post:

    1. Ari says that it was “AU’s controversial post about Reagan.” No, Ari, it was your asshole quote and subsequent dancing on Reagan’s grave hours after he died that was “controversial.”

    2. Ari still clings to the notion that someone else is going to be idiot enough to mistake weight for volume with regard to nuclear waste. Last time he brought that up, it was to “prove that Reagan was a liar,” only to be absolutely BITCH SLAPPED by the truth.

    As a matter of fact, a few UM nuclear engineers and I were laughing at what an idiot you are for making that asinine argument in the first place.

    Other than that though, the quotes were fun and one of them even made my quotes list on my website.
       —T.J.    Jun. 7 '04 - 04:33PM    #
  5. Headline from the Detroit News and Free Press, Sunday edition:

    Reagan Dies, Brought Hope Back to America

    I was impressed that they got it right!
       —Mark    Jun. 7 '04 - 04:56PM    #
  6. I got “bitch slapped by the truth” once. Unfortunately it wasnt covered by my health insurance.
       —mcfo    Jun. 7 '04 - 05:05PM    #
  7. Thought I’d share some comments from an non-profit techie list I’m on. First, the poem by ozzie sutcliffe, titled “one for the gipper”:

    bq.Gipper
    your warm smile,
    the walls you broke down,
    your lust for freedom,
    all will stay,
    You have left us now,
    now you are truly free,
    peace be with you.

    Then the responses collectively titled “not one for the gipper”:

    Sheldon Mains:
    While I wish his family well and know hard it is like to have a father die,
    pardon me for not sharing your enthusiasm for his administration:

    *His deregulation of the banking industry cost us several TRILLION
    dollars to fix, a tax estimated as an additional $16,000 per man
    woman and child in the country! (Remember, that’s where brother Bush
    brother Neal
    Bush, got busted for fraud at Silverado…)

    *His declaration that trees were causing most of the air pollution.

    *His bombing of Libya which included the killing of Khadafi’s
    adopted daughter and 36 other people. (Predates the Pan Am 103
    killings by two years…)

    *His military support of Pinochet in Chile.

    *His military aid and support for the Indonesian genocide of millions in
    East Timor.

    *He arranged for our hostages to stay in Iranian hands until he was
    president.

    *He was an early supporter of Saddaam Hussein.

    *He fired all the air traffic controllers.

    *He classified ketchup as a vegetable for poor students.

    *He funded counter-revolutions in Angola which laid the landmines which
    still make it the home of the worlds largest number of child amputees.

    *He refused to honor the international boycott of South Africa until the
    last minute, called Nelson Mandela a terrorist and called off the embargo as
    soon as possible, extending the war and death for years.

    *He authorized the bombing of Grenada, the smallest country in the Western
    Hemisphere, to take our minds off the bombing of the Marine barracks in
    Lebanon.

    Bob Schmitt:
    I feel pretty sad for Nancy Reagan. It must be tough to be without him after fighting so hard for him all these years. But I think Reagan’s term both in California and in DC were disasters. He had a gift for inspiration—in the wrong direction. To your list I’d add:
    – Backed off a proposal of mutual destruction of ALL nuclear weapons held by both the US and USSR during talks with Gorbachev in Iceland. Gorbachev proposed it, Reagan declined to accept.

    -Loudly silent on public health issues raised by AIDS research and actively fought against increased funding for AIDS research by NIH. AIDS is now the #1 killer in the world.

    -Actively supported the Guatemalan military in it’s genocidal campaign against the Mayans during the 80’s, resulting in between 140,000-200,000 killed, 40,000-80,000 “disappeared,” and 500,000 “displaced.”

    -Actively supported covert operations in El Salvador and Nicaragua against the advice of military intelligence agencies (who were more concerned about the rapid decline in the ability of Soviet satellite states to control their nuclear and tactical arms being sold to hostile states and terrorist actors). Used money from arms sales to Iran (at the time listed as a “terrorist nation”) to fund the covert operations. Then lied about it. Then “forgot” about it.

    -Actively supported Saddam Hussein against Iran in 1987, to the point where US ships were trading fire with Iranian gunboats (talk about playing both sides…)

    -Preached smaller government while growing it. His military spending (primarily on the Strategic Defense Initiative – “Star Wars” and increases in the Navy’s ship building budget), combined with tax cuts led to a massive budget deficit, decline in the dollar, historic trade deficits and the crash/recession of 1987 (which directly impacted foundation funding to nonprofits).

    -Systematic defunding of civil rights protections, fair housing protection, job discrimination and public education initiatives.

    -Systematic defunding of the public treatment of mentally ill and a 75-80% reduction in Federal rent subsidies led to an explosion in the homeless population.

    -Began the current trend of shifting the tax burden towards lower income tax brackets and away from higher income tax brackets. Between 1977 and 1988, tax-payers below the national income average had their tax rates increase 1.6 percent, and taxpayers in the top 1% of income had their tax rates decrease 6%

    -The “War on Drugs” begun during his term emphasized imprisonment while slashing funding for addiction treatment. This resulted in a dramatic increase in the USA’s prison population while having little or no impact on the availability of drugs in this country.

    -As for the military buildup leading to the decline of the Soviet Union—it helped, a little bit. But there are very persuasive arguments that rock n roll, the fax machine, and personal computer networks and massive internal corruption were more effective in the “fall” of the Soviet Union than a massive defense build up in the US. He himself admitted it, ” In June 1989, Ronald Reagan said, “Information is the oxygen of the modern age. It seeps through the walls topped by barbed wire, it wafts across the electrified borders. ... The Goliath of totalitarianism will be brought down by the David of the microchip.” (One of the few things he said that I believe).

    -Finally, more than 30 members of his administration were convicted of bribery, corruption, influence peddling and served time in prison. This does not include numerous others given presidential pardons.

    -He wasn’t even “The Gipper.” George Gipp, a varsity football player from Notre Dame in 1917-1920 was the Gipper. However, Reagan played the Gipper in a movie made in 1940 called “Knute Rockne-All American.” (Come to think of it, he played the part of “President of the United States, 1980-1988” as well).

    Jeez…

    In many ways, we are still dealing with the fallout from the “Reagan Years.” Reagan epitomized the way we Americans can delude ourselves with naive optimism and empty slogans.

    I guess the thought that sticks with me when I think of Ronald Reagan is that we have only ourselves to blame and it makes me sad.

    And Deborah Finn:
    I’m a Californian (by birth and upbringing), and a child of
    intermarriage (in the sense that my father is a Republican
    and my mother is a Democrat).

    In 1980, I was a college student in New England, voting for
    the very first time. When California’s electoral votes all
    went to Ronald Reagan, I was truly shocked, because it
    seemed to me any state that had survived two Reagan
    gubernatorial adminstrations would never, ever vote him into
    the White House.

    So I made a long-distance call to my parents to debrief. How
    had we allowed this to happen? I admitted that I had voted
    via absentee ballot for the Libertarian candidate, Ed
    Clarke. My father copped to having voted for the
    independent candidate, John Anderson. And my mother the
    Democrat had voted for Ronald Reagan! When I asked her how
    that had happened she said, “Well, first of all, I believe
    he’s a good man. Secondly, he doesn’t take office for a few
    more months. And after all, the president isn’t really that
    powerful, so he can’t do much harm.”
       —Scott    Jun. 7 '04 - 06:15PM    #
  8. I think the Cubans go too far, below; but still, just for amusement…
    At http://salon.com/news/wire/2004/06/07/cuba/index.html :
    —-
    Cuba: Reagan should never have been born

    June 7, 2004 | HAVANA (AP)—Cuba harshly criticized former President Ronald Reagan and his policies on Monday, saying he should “never have been born.”

    In the first reaction to Reagan’s death from the communist government, Radio Reloj said:

    “As forgetful and irresponsible as he was, he forgot to take his worst works to the grave,” the government radio station said.

    “He, who never should have been born, has died,” the radio said.

    ...
    —-
       —David Boyle    Jun. 7 '04 - 06:22PM    #
  9. “As a matter of fact, a few UM nuclear engineers and I were laughing at what an idiot you are for making that asinine argument in the first place.” -el teejito

    i never claimed to be an nucyaler scientist, however, in this last post, i’m making no comment, just letting the quotation sit by itself…and just juxtapose that to the fact the the country’s nuclear waste is being stored in a mountain, not under a desk (unless of course, reagan was talking about a very, very large desk)...

    i don’t slap people…

    “Damnit, Beavis, I’m not a rocket—,uh, rocket—, uh, rocketship.”-Butthead…

    -ari p.
       —Ari P.    Jun. 7 '04 - 11:32PM    #
  10. It’s pronounced nook-yoo-ler… nook-yoo-ler…
       —Elliott M    Jun. 8 '04 - 12:30AM    #
  11. Murph,

    It wasn’t just this post I was responding to, but a recent history of poor arguments from someone who I know can do better.

    Though my disdain for some types of liberals may come through in my writing, nothing I’ve written has been inflammatory, and certainly nothing was written for the specific purpose of being inflammatory, as was Ari’s post on Reagan. Come back when the idea that I hate liberals has a logical or factual leg to stand on.
       —James Dickson    Jun. 8 '04 - 12:46AM    #
  12. Ari,

    And what exactly do you know about nuclear waste storage? Keep in mind that I am living in Albuquerque this summer to be with my girlfriend, who is interning with one of the foremost experts on nuclear waste transport and storage, the person who wrote the software used to calculate the risk and cost of transporting and storing nuclear waste.

    Suffice it to say that any ridiculous, ignorant arguments you might make regarding the safety of said nuclear waste will be quickly dispatched just as they were last time.

    BTW, Reagan said that the waste from one nuclear plant could fit under a desk. That’s ENTIRELY TRUE.

    As for your argument, there are 65 nuclear power plants in the United States. Each plant produces approximately 3 cubic feet of nuclear waste per year.
    Thus, 195 cubic feet of nuclear waste is created by ALL of the functioning nuclear plants in the United States each year combined.

    And no, nuclear waste is not being stored in a mountain. There is DISCUSSION about storing it in Yucca Mountain in Nevada, which would be entirely safe (decades of research went into picking the various storage areas), but the NRC has not officially approved anything. Yucca is in a dry area, there is no waterflow in or around Yucca, there is very little groundwater, so there’s no way for the waste to get out.

    Even if it were being stored in a mountain, your argument is entirely misleading. Just because they are storing it in a mountain does not mean that there is a mountain of it.

    But hey, nobody ever accused you of knowing what you were talking about, or actually having a FACTUAL BASIS behind your claims…
       —T.J.    Jun. 8 '04 - 02:38AM    #
  13. T.J.-
    My, you’re quite an asshole. I suppose you’re quite proud of the reactionary gibberish you’ve been spewing on this site. All that seems to come through is your bitterness toward liberals, Ari and anyone who disagrees with your poorly substantiated points.

    I sincerely hope that you keep coming back, cause you make me laugh. I read the shit you write and I wonder, “is this guy for real?” or did the administrators of this site make him up for comic relief?

    For the record, I am not a liberal. I see where many other conservatives who’ve commented on this site are coming from, but you are just way out there, son. Might not agree with all of Mr. Paul’s views, but I admire his cleverness, for he never fails to bring ignorant* bastards like you out of the woodwork.

    -I must be scum if I’m not with you

    *you do not know jack shit about nuclear waste, so shut the fuck up.
       —Anon.    Jun. 8 '04 - 10:09AM    #
  14. “There is DISCUSSION about storing it in Yucca Mountain in Nevada, which would be entirely safe (decades of research went into picking the various storage areas).” -teej

    good point, however, the saftey concerns don’t have to do with the mountain itself, but the transport from the plant TO yucca mountain, many of those routes go through populated communtiies and cities by train and truck…

    here’s my opinion piece on the matter (apologies that the site is fucked up):

    http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/07/08/3d290591ab58d?in_archive=1

    nook-ya-ler,
    ari p.
       —Ari P.    Jun. 8 '04 - 11:21AM    #
  15. but tj, size doesn’t particularly matter when it comes to nuclear waste. Germs are tiny and you could store a bottle of anthrax in my naglene but i wouldn’t particularly want to. A pound of nuclear waste can be quite dangerous – even mildly radioactive shit is bad news.

    moreover, yucca mountain is on or near a fault line.

    jp
       —jess piskor    Jun. 8 '04 - 11:43AM    #
  16. Ari,

    There are a billion different ways I could die if I were to go outside. I could get stung by a killer bee, I could die of noxious gas inhalation, I could get shot in the head by a stay bullet, etc. The chances are so very remote though that to keep from going outside because of it is ridiculous.

    I guess until you have seen the work that goes into the planning of transporting nuclear waste, you really have no idea how small the risk is. And it’s being stored in temporary facilities right now, which isn’t anywhere near as safe as having it all headed to one place.

    Further, your article acts as if it would be a 99-car train loaded to the brim with nuclear waste. Remember, 195 cubic feet per year.

    Anon,
    If you want a response, stop posting anonymously. Have the guts to post as yourself.

    Jess,
    What is your point? Yes, nuclear waste is dangerous. Nobody said it wasn’t. But Ari keeps confusing weight for volume, as if there were a “mountain” of nuclear waste.

    As I pointed out to him before, a one-ton brick of gold is not going to be anywhere near as big as a one-ton sponge or a ton of feathers.

    Further, Yucca is near an INACTIVE fault line, and geological experts have determined that it’s EXTREMELY UNLIKELY that the fault would activate within the next 10,000 years.

    Think about it. Right now, it’s being stored in a bunch of different places. When you have it stored in many places, there are that many more places to worry about there being an accident.

    There is nuclear waste. That’s a fact.
    It has to be stored somewhere. That’s also a fact.
    Yucca Mountain is the safest place to store it. That’s also a fact.

    I don’t see what the fuss is about. The waste has to go somewhere, it’s ALREADY BEING TRANSPORTED THROUGH POPULATED AREAS TO GET TO THE TEMPORARY SITES. It’s a lot more dangerous to have it spread out to these sites.

    THE REASON THEY ARE PLANNING TO PUT IT IN YUCCA MOUNTAIN IS BECAUSE IT’S SAFER. Not a difficult concept.
       —T.J.    Jun. 8 '04 - 01:47PM    #
  17. Safer than what? I don’t think transporting it via train through heavily populated, low-income communities to put it in Yucca Mountain, which is located in the state with one of the largest population growth rates in the country, is particularly safe. Nor are there plans to reduce the waste in the first place by phasing out nook-yoo-ler power plants, thanks to the ridiculously inept NRC, championed back in the day by who? Oh yeah, that Reagan guy.
       —Ellen    Jun. 8 '04 - 04:30PM    #
  18. TJ- You don’t die from getting stung by a killer bee, unless you are allergic enough to die from being stung by a regular honeybee. What makes killer bees dangerous is that they attack in swarms, and don’t relent. OK thanks, bye.
       —Eric Goldberg    Jun. 8 '04 - 04:46PM    #
  19. Ellen,

    First of all, who says that the trains go through heavily populated areas?

    Second, go ahead and tell me exactly how much radiation a properly shielded train gives off. I’ll wait here for your answer.

    Third, population growth rates are irrelevent in this case. Las Vegas is 90 miles away, and you have to go through mountains to get there. There’s nothing anywhere near it.

    Fourth, there is no reason to “phase out” nuclear power plants, it’s among the cleanest fuel sources available to man. Coal plants give off more radiation than nuclear plants. The batteries in solar panels give off toxic waste that can find its way into the water table. Three Mile Island, often brought up by nucleaphobes as a horrible disaster, gave off less than a yearly safe dosage. It would have been more dangerous, radiation-wise, to stand in front of a microwave oven.

    The funny thing is, most of my nuclear engineering friends are tree huggers. Environmentalists. They laugh at how other tree huggers villify them and nuclear energy, when it’s cleaner and safer than their proposed alternatives.

    Fear that stems from ignorance is a dangerous thing. Luckily, the lawmakers know more about it than you people do.

    Thanks for responding to my e-mail, by the way.

    -T.J.
       —T.J.    Jun. 8 '04 - 06:50PM    #
  20. From Janelle:

    ” the stupid article says: (she is referring to Ari’s article, which I sent her) “Furthermore, over ten thousand trucks will travel on the interstates through cities like Atlanta, Tampa and Miami for the next two decades.” Actually, there have been thousands of shipments in the past, and there are many occurring every day. There has NEVER been an accident in all of the shipments of radioactive waste.

    And it’s not high level waste.. Most of the shipments are “cool” (low enough in radioactivity) enough to be “low level” waste.”

    Regarding the assertion that it goes through heavily populated cities:

    “Radiation transportation ALWAYS takes the least-risky route. Least-risky means that the fewest number of people would be exposed, and radiation doses to the population would be as small as possible. Thus, they always take the shortest route that goes through the least-populated areas.

    If they HAVE TO go through a city, they always take the bypass roads around the city, like beltways, rather than the interstate that goes right through.”

    Again, Janelle is interning with the foremost expert on nuclear waste transport in the US.
       —T.J.    Jun. 8 '04 - 07:57PM    #
  21. “First of all, who says that the trains go through heavily populated areas?” -teej

    routes originally indicated for the southeastern region were to go through tampa, miami, and of course, my hometown of atlanta, as reported from the atlanta journal-constitution from a few years back…

    interesting how you/janelle bring up shipments in the past…there has been political in the pressure in the past to have those routes in changed in places like say, my neighborhood, which isn’t exactly what you might call liberal…actually, now that i think about it, the community was actually up in arms about napolm and other volitle chemicals, but not nuclear waste, but that’s beside the point…

    i would hope that all that can be done to avoid accidents in the future can be done…true, there has never been an accident in the past…thank heavens for that…you want to crucify someone for saying that nuclear waste is going through someones community…go ahead…

    should nuclear power be eliminated??? i’m not really sure…a friend of mine once told me that if a plane crashed into a nuclear power plant, probably nothing would happen, due to the way they are designed, and i’m inclined to believe her…however, i do think there is nothing wrong with informing people of the possible dangers especially when it involves their community and surroundings…

    “Smithers: Where should we store the nucelar waste? The park?
    Burns: No, all those bald children are beginning to arouse suspision.”
    -The Simpson

    three mile islandfully yours,
    ari p.
       —Ari P.    Jun. 8 '04 - 09:50PM    #
  22. Janelle informed me that I was too liberal with regards to the amount of radiation that was expelled at Three Mile Island. I thought it was akin to standing in front of a microwave oven, but it turns out it wasn’t even that much.

    As for the routes, there are lots of different routes to Yucca being proposed, but nothing has been set as of yet. And transportation is very much safe, to the point where a collision with a truck carrying nuclear waste would most likely not cause a problem, unless the collision involved a train hitting the truck. The shielding is extremely thick, overly so, to placate the greenies who think anything nuclear is dangerous.

    Seriously, trucks hauling vegetable oil are far more dangerous than trucks hauling nuclear waste. A close eye kept on FARK will show you that they get in accidents all the time, and the spills created often cause multi-fatality car crashes.

    Your friend is right, a plane crashing would likely not cause any sort of disaster at a nuclear plant, other than the normal disaster created when a plane crashes.

    I get a kick out of the anti-nuke people because they are feeding on a hysteria surrounding something they don’t understand. If they did understand it, and understood why it’s so safe and efficient, THEY would be the ones pushing for it.

    That’s why Nuclear Engineers are disproportionately green. Janelle and Elliott are the only two non-”outdoors” types that I know. Here at Sandia, and I know it also happens up at Los Alamos and at Idaho Falls and Yucca Mountain as well, they go on staff hikes ALL THE TIME, to the point where people who DON’T hike are made to feel left out.

    You would think that if nuclear energy were so unsafe, these outdoorsy greeny types would not support it so fervently.
       —T.J.    Jun. 8 '04 - 11:54PM    #
  23. The visitor’s center at Palo Verde nuclear power plant in AZ (proudly powering much of Southern California, thanks to Gray Davis) features a video shot during construction of the containment facilities.

    They put a slab of the outer containment wall (the grey monolithic half-domes, in which the noo-kyoo-lar reaction takes place) on a strip of unused railroad track. On the other end, they put an A-4 skyhawk, loaded with extra weights and fuel. Lit that puppy up, and let it smash into the wall at close to the speed of sound.

    The result? A big, black streak. That’s it. You couldn’t knock those puppies over with anything short of a direct hit with a 16in gun, and since they’ve retired the Missouri, none really exist.

    Also, the facilities are guarded by security forces who train against the Navy SEALS, I’d imagine these precautions extend to the transport of the expended fuel rods, not to mention astronomically high “accident” protections.

    In my life, I haven’t really heard one good, solid reason as to why nuclear enegy is a bad idea.

    And to the social justice advocates (and TJ): The reason these fuel rods will go through “poor communities” is b/c these communities tend to be built near rail lines. Show me a more efficient, accident-free(er) way to transport anything cross-country, and then we can talk.

    “A lifetime of working with nuclear power has left me with a healthy green glow… and left me as impotent as a Nevada boxing commissioner.” -Mr Burns

    Nuke me baby,
    RWD
       —Ruben    Jun. 9 '04 - 01:27AM    #
  24. el teejito,
    contragulations, you account for more than 27 percent of au’s comment stream, far more than any other contrubuter…be proud, my son, be proud…

    that is all,
    ari p.
       —Ari P.    Jun. 9 '04 - 02:03AM    #
  25. As long as T.J. is outsourcing his ridiculous persona free-of-charge, he can feel free to head on over and troll my site! We could use some comic relief; it’s been sorta quiet there lately. That way, I only have to post T.J. bait once every couple days, and let him sit there for hours, index finger poised over the Refresh button!

    Hah!
       —Eric Goldberg    Jun. 9 '04 - 04:42PM    #
  26. it is jess, despite the new email address (no real proof though)

    tj writes “Three Mile Island, often brought up by nucleaphobes as a horrible disaster, gave off less than a yearly safe dosage”

    but see, it gave it off in a shorter period of time. if i ate a little less than a year’s supply of advil tomorrow i would be in a world of hurt.

    also, if, as you all say, nuclear power requires huge protected shielded power plants, trained navy seal type soldiers, huge protection costs, yucca mountain storage facilities, special treatment of fuel, specially designed transportation routes and refinement of radioactive fuel, how exactly is nuclear power so efficient again? Sure the actual act of energy creation is efficient, but the infrastructure to allow that is great indeed…

    and just becuase you like to go hiking, doesn’t make you an environmentalist – when i worked at a national park it was always the boy scouts we looked out for, because they came in with hatchets and shovels and tore up the landscape.

    jp
       —jess piskor    Jun. 9 '04 - 05:46PM    #
  27. “but see, it gave it off in a shorter period of time. if i ate a little less than a year’s supply of advil tomorrow i would be in a world of hurt.”

    There were zero incidences of radiation sickness or anything of the sort from Three Mile Island.

    “also, if, as you all say, nuclear power requires huge protected shielded power plants, trained navy seal type soldiers, huge protection costs, yucca mountain storage facilities, special treatment of fuel, specially designed transportation routes and refinement of radioactive fuel, how exactly is nuclear power so efficient again? Sure the actual act of energy creation is efficient, but the infrastructure to allow that is great indeed…”

    Efficient in that it’s cleaner than all forms of energy outside of wind, it’s safer than all forms of energy except wind, and it’s cheaper than all forms of energy except coal.

    You want the cheapest? The environment suffers greatly, and there’s a finite amount of fuel available.
    You want the safest? The costs would be prohibitive.
    You want the cleanest? Again, costs would be prohibitive, especially considering that the difference is negligible.

    “and just becuase you like to go hiking, doesn’t make you an environmentalist – ”

    No, but being an environmentalist does.

    What, is there some sort of test that you have to pass to be an environmentalist?

    Honestly, why does EVERYTHING have to have pretense behind it at UM? Groups like SOLE get to define what “progressive” means and who is “progressive.” Groups like the NAACP (and, in their own minds, BAMN) get to determine what is “racist” and who is and isn’t a racist.

    Now there are people who get to decide what makes an environmentalist?

    My girlfriend memorized the numbering and classification system for recycling and taught half of her hall what the classifications were, and organized them in separating their plastics by type. My car ashtray is filled with straw wrappers because she gets pissed at me if I drop one in the parking lot.
    She decided on Nuclear Engineering because she learned it was the best option, environmentally and fiscally speaking, of any of the viable and reasonable fuel sources available to man as of right now.
    She even gets pissed at me for running the water while I brush my teeth in her dorm room, despite the fact that she doesn’t get billed for it.

    Let me guess, that’s not enough… She needs to grow out her armpit hair, stop showering, start smoking weed, wear a t-shirt with Che Guevara or a hammer and sickle and stand in the diag protesting all day to be considered an “environmentalist” at UM, right?

    Jess, this isn’t meant as an attack on you, of all the lefties on this site, you tend to be among the more rational. I am just fed up with the pretentiousness of UM people. And it isn’t confined to the left, either.
       —T.J.    Jun. 9 '04 - 06:36PM    #
  28. “Let me guess, that’s not enough… She needs to grow out her armpit hair, stop showering, start smoking weed, wear a t-shirt with Che Guevara or a hammer and sickle and stand in the diag protesting all day to be considered an ‘environmentalist’ at UM, right?”

    I’ve met probably over half of the lefties on this site, and I don’t know one with out of control armpit hair, though I haven’t taken a thorough survey. I haven’t smelled any non-showerers, nor have I seen any Guevara or sickle t-shirts. As for standing on the Diag protesting all day, you, my friend, seem to be the only person with that amount of spare time.

    But please, keep appealing to caricature and oversimplification. It’s quite amusing, and furthers your goals of becoming Official Arbor Update Simeon-Mascot. And my offer still stands for you to troll any of the sites I run. You are a good bargain!
       —Eric Goldberg    Jun. 9 '04 - 07:28PM    #
  29. i had a che shirt once…i think i lost it at a concert…

    oi to the world,
    ari p.
       —Ari P.    Jun. 9 '04 - 07:59PM    #
  30. Eric,

    I will not respond to your childish personal attacks.

    Beyond that, if you have never seen a Che/sickle shirt or girls with hairy armpits and/or unbathed people, you need to look a little closer. IIRC, Ari has/had a communist shirt and they, along with the Che shirts are everywhere.

    Hairy armpitted girls can be found all over the place in SNRE and MSA meetings. And there was one who was an RA in Baits and one in MoJo.

    Anything else?
       —T.J.    Jun. 10 '04 - 12:51AM    #
  31. What’s wrong with hairy-armpit girls?

    I thought “somebody” supported non-racial forms of diversity; female armpit style freedom of choice is one of those forms. Does he want a constitutional “Women Must Shave” amendment or something???
       —David Boyle    Jun. 10 '04 - 02:30PM    #
  32. I’m just impressed by Teej’s thorough survey of the Ann Arbor female armpit landscape. I, for one, would not have the dedication or insight to perform such a ground-breaking analysis.
       —Eric Goldberg    Jun. 10 '04 - 05:03PM    #
  33. David,

    Good point. I have no problem with there being hairy-armpit girls. I personally find it distasteful, but then I find smoking distasteful too. (probably moreso because hairy armpitted women don’t take minutes off my life with their armpits). My problem is when they decide my girlfriend isn’t an environmentalist, when their only pro-environmentalist actions are to smoke pot, have hairy armpits, and harrass people in the diag about some ridiculous, pointless rally they are going to have to save something insignificant in some place nobody has ever been.

    Eric,
    Most of my friends are female, and catty women are quick to point out things like that.

    Plus, I hear Ari is into hairy woman porn. (better than scat porn, eh Ari?) ;)
       —T.J.    Jun. 10 '04 - 05:12PM    #
  34. actually, now that t.j. has brought up porn, that gives me a chance to plug my shakespean porn project…featuring ‘ass you like it’, ‘macbreast’, ‘king rear’, and ‘a midsummers wet dream’...

    hey, teej, just wondering, what are you doing for the summer???

    -ari p.
       —Ari P.    Jun. 10 '04 - 10:13PM    #
  35. Ari,

    Up until today, I have just been “hanging out” in Albuquerque, reading and doing research for grad school this fall. I got a management job today, so I won’t be here as much.

    I know, I know, you’re all very sad, but you will learn to cope, I am sure.
       —T.J.    Jun. 11 '04 - 12:38AM    #
  36. I was just searching for inspirational quotes from Reagan and stumbled upon this predominantly liberal circle-jerk. It almost sounds like most of you weren’t even around then. Some of these “facts” are so God awful wrong it would be a waste of time to begin to refute. Just remember, 49 states, highest approval rating in history, and to this day, thousands are planning to pass through his presidential library to respect one of their heroes. I know it’s frustrating to be wrong and insignificant. Nice try, though. Good luck with your continued pessimism. I’m off to celebrate the independance of this great nation. Happy flag burning!
       —Bill    Jul. 3 '04 - 11:37AM    #
  37. PS-Respond if you wish, but it will only result in meaningless self-gratification as I plan on never visiting this site again.
    Farewell.
       —Bill    Jul. 3 '04 - 11:41AM    #
  38. u were a good football player in the late 1800-1900 i wish i was like u


       —qasim williams    Apr. 10 '06 - 06:42PM    #