Larry Kuperman

Did Petraeus Agree With Obama? in Democrat JoeUser Forums

Trying as hard as I can to be fair and unbiased (which I will admit is difficult in these turbulent times and for me perhaps especially) General David Petraeus' recent comments at the Heritage Foundation seem to undercut John McCain's paraphrasing of the General's position and seem to lean more toward Barack Obama's offerings. Asked by a questioner specifically about the disagreement on this topic that McCain and Obama had at Tuesday night's debate, Petraeus demurred a bit, but said:

Reply to 13 is in the Cooler in Blogging Stardock Forums

Thank you for posting this. I am a firm believer that by the acts of good people, such as you, is the world made a better place. Besides, you reminded me that it must be two months since I last donated, time to go again! Interesting to note that despite our differences, we share this in common. :) Thanks again for your post!

Reply to Happy 5769! in Religion Stardock Forums

Shana tova to you both. Somebody tell ModerateMan that I send greetings his way as well. And agaon, much thanks to Dr. Guy, a man with whom I have disagreed so often, but who is often the first to post something supportive. All the replies mean something to me, but you really showed what community is all about.

Reply to Happy 5769! in Religion Stardock Forums

Thank you, Dr Guy, for your thoughts....and for being you! I don't say that often enough.

Reply to Happy 5769! in Religion Stardock Forums

The moral of the story is that the Rabbi performs a good deed, anonymously, without the requirement or the expectation of thanks. Unknown to him, he performs the good deed in so humble a manner that he opens the formerly cynical eyes of the Litvak. We don't always know the outcome of our good deeds, how they can have a ripple effect that goes far beyond our understanding.

Happy 5769! in Religion JoeUser Forums

Last night I went to the Jewish Cultural Society (JCS) of Ann Arbor for Rosh Hoshanah celebration. We are a Jewish, Secularist, humanistic society, but as I have said many times in the past, our celebrations resemble religous ones to a greater degree than many might suppose. It was a wonderful celebration welcoming the New Year and, as you would also find at a religous observance we reflected on our short-comings and affirmed our committment to do better in the coming year. One of my

Reply to Life As It Is in Life Journals Stardock Forums

Do you know the story of the Rabbi of Nemirov, sometimes called "If not higher?" http://www.galun.com/misc/ifNotHigher.php It is an inspirational story and, please accept this as a compliment, reminds me of you.

Reply to Life As It Is in Life Journals Stardock Forums

L'shana tova, my friend.

Reply to The Record: McCain vs. Obama in Politics Stardock Forums

Great article in Time Magazine on blaming the SEC: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1843519,00.html?xid=rss-topstories Opening sentence: "John McCain didn't parse any words last week when he called for the firing of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Christopher Cox. The Republican nominee's choice of words may have been more direct than others — and more misguided, since the president can't technically fire the SEC head — but McCain's sentime

Reply to The Record: McCain vs. Obama in Politics Stardock Forums

Charles, it became clear during the week that John McCain did not know that the President cannot fire the head of the SEC, we have laws guaranteeing the independence of that office. McCain then backpedaled saying that he could make anybody resign that he wanted to. The Supreme Court, in a decision rendered June 14th, 2004, ruled that forcing a resignation is what is called an "Adverse Employment Action" and would constitute a Wrongful Termination. Basically, it would be against the law

Reply to Please List Obama’s Accomplishments in Politics Stardock Forums

"For instance, a casual reader of your reposted "accomplishments" post might get the impresison that Obama reaches across the aisle. But he doesn't. He's one of the most partisan members of the senate when it comes time to vote." Agreed, he has pretty much been a partisan politician (90 plus percent) although the Federal Funding Accounting and Transparency Act of 2006 was sponsored by Coburn, Obama, Carper and McCain, two Democrats and two Republicans. Regarding the financial cri

Reply to The Moral Hazard of the Bail Out in Current Events Stardock Forums

"As far as I know the bail out announced by Mr Paulson was without the approval of Congress and congressional approval like the Military spending bills can be taken for granted." LOL! That is because to this to this point there has been no "bailout announced" only a proposal that is being voted on this Wednesday. The premise of your article is pretty much wrong or at least premature. As Dr. Guy will attest, I would certainly take any Conservative to task for writing somet

Reply to The Record: McCain vs. Obama in Politics Stardock Forums

I don't if you saw the McCain/Obama interviews on 60 Minutes tonight. John McCain was asked if he knew that you can't fire the head of the SEC, Christopher Cox. He replied that "When I become President, if I want someone to resign, they will!" And laws be damned.... Brad, in December of 2007, McCain gave an interview to the Keene (NH) Sentinal responding to the question of whether he foresaw the debacle and was acting to avert it: McCain: “I don’t know the dimensions

Reply to Please List Obama’s Accomplishments in Politics Stardock Forums

Anthony, do you ever look things up? one of the "lame" bills was the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act, a comprehensive ethics and lobbying reform bill, passed by a 96-2 vote. This bill was signed into law by the President in September 2007. I am really not sure that you understand how the government works. The author of a bill can't control its fate or the possibility of Presedential veto. Take S.133, a bill that Barach Obama sponsored "A bill to promote the national sec

The Record: McCain vs. Obama in Politics JoeUser Forums

My esteemed colleague, Island_Dog, recently posed the question as to what Senator Obama's actual accomplishments have been. I have posted a reply on that, but let me take things one step further. I am going to offer that, regardless if you are Conservative of Liberal, if you actually compare the records of the two men, especially in light of the current crisis facing America, not only is Barack Obama the logical choice, John McCain is positively a scary alternative. Here is Senator Mc

Reply to Please List Obama’s Accomplishments in Politics Stardock Forums

Thank you for this opportunity to present Sen. Obama's credentilals: "Obama has sponsored 136 bills since Jan 4, 2005, 2 have become law.This figure does not include bills to which Obama contributed very substantially as cosponsor, such as the Coburn-Obama Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 or the Lugar-Nunn Cooperative Proliferation Detection, Interdiction Assistance, and Conventional Threat Reduction Act of 2006. They also exclude amendments to other bills, a

Reply to Sarah Palin = Republican Eagleton in Republican Stardock Forums

I need to apologize for not keeping up on this, I can only offer the press of work and home life have priority. Lipstickmama, please note that I have not called anyone stupid, in this post or any other that I can recall. Anthony R and Dr. Guy are quite correct. If you heard her interview in the entirety, Ms. Palin's remarks were temperate, especially her re-interpretation of the so-called "Bush Doctrine." Unfortunately her remarks were "cherry picked," something that I would nev

Reply to Sarah Palin = Republican Eagleton in Republican JoeUser Forums

Boy, Dr. guy, you are really bending over backwards to try to hold me to a standard that you yourself have never even come close to. I cited source and date for each article. Easily verifiable. Nor, if you looked up the articles, did what I post contradicte the tone of any article. How is that unethical? Daiwa, Newsday link: http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/saturday/nation/ny-usebay065831440sep06,0,7486973.story Linked version is quite favorable to Palin

Reply to Sarah Palin = Republican Eagleton in Republican Stardock Forums

To Dr. Guy: We still share some common ground. You won't see me quoting from Daily Kos or Moveon.org because of their obvious bias. And I do endevour to fact check. Daiwa and I agree as to the basic facts of the plane sale, for example. He offers a different interpretation while to me the fact that the plane was sold to a Republican contributor for less than the purchase price is not only germane, but central. Specifically to the point the "and made a profit for the people of Alaska" p

Reply to ID’s Stardock Trip: Day 1 in Personal Computing Stardock Forums

Most people tell me that I look better on email.......just saying. We did a quick mini-tour of Ann Arbor. Went past the University, a quick trip. We passed the Diag (where they still hold the annual Hash Bash) and the law library (where union lawyer and anti-Creationist Clarence Darrow got his degree), got a quick glimpse of the bastion of Hippy-dom. We passed the steps of the Michigan Union where JFK introduced the Peace Corps concept. I tried my best to corrupt him, but face i

Reply to Sarah Palin = Republican Eagleton in Republican Stardock Forums

Responses to all three below. Anthony R, you could have said that you were unable to find the links, or that they do not in fact exist. Dr. Guy, this is a blog cite, a forum for users to express their opinions. In all the years that we have blogged together, I have never read a post of yours that did not express a particular point of view. Objectivity is not a requirement for posting. Daiwa, thank you for an intelligent rebuttal and I will attempt to answer in the spirit

Reply to Socialism in Action! in Current Events Stardock Forums

Oh, since McCain is clearly not the candidate for change (90% agreement rate with George Bush) lets see how his running mate has historically handled things: ************************************ Bloomberg, September 6th, 2008- Palin Boosted Oil-Company Taxes While Alaska Had Budget Surplus. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who has joined the Republican national ticket as a tax-cutter, was a driving force in raising a tax

Socialism in Action! in Current Events JoeUser Forums

One of my long-time contentions is that, despite the posturing otherwise, when it comes to actual implemenation, Republicans and Democrats are not that different. It is just the public face that is put on the actions. Today, the Federal government took the unprecedented step of seizing our nations two largest mortgage lenders, a move that, if we had a Democratic President, would certainly be decried as Socialism: ****************************************** CNN- Federal official

Reply to Sarah Palin = Republican Eagleton in Republican Stardock Forums

Anthony, what debunkings? Put up or shut up.

Reply to Sarah Palin = Republican Eagleton in Republican Stardock Forums

Thank you all for posting. ThinkAloud, thank you in particular. I appreciate that. OckhamsRazor and Anthony, would it be fair for me to say that you don't dispute the facts as I have presented them, but you think that breaking the law for your own personal benefit, for vindictiveness or to help a contributor are qualities that are okay in a "reform" candidate?