Great to hear!
unfortunately, I have exams all next week, so pleasure reading will have to wait until the fifth. I still can't wait, though.

Second! I can't believe this is only the second comment?! Where are the rest of the Whittle Badass Justice Avengers? Welcome back, by the way.

I'm here with you Girlwitharifle!

Unlike some, I will have plenty of time to read the next epic. I'll refrain, however, from repeatedly and annoyingly (a lá the Simpsons) asking the question:

   Are we there yet?
   Are we there yet?
   Are we there yet?

or rather:

   Is it here yet?
   Is it here yet?
   Is it here yet?

But I'll be thinking it nonetheless.

The better part of "Is it here yet?" is doing your daily check of the website and seeing that big blank space between the sidebars. Now most people would groan and say "Man, his website is hosed...". Us faithful readers, on the other hand, are jumping up and down in anticipation knowing Bill's gonna post something within a few hrs....its sorta like seeing your home exit sign on the interstate after a 12 hr car-ride back from vacation!

I have absolutly no doubt it is going to be well worth the wait.

   Is it here yet?
   Is it here yet?
   Is it here yet?

What, Bill's posted something here? Even if only a "coming soon" announcement? Call the Weekly World News! This is rarer than an Elvis sighting! ;-)

Bob, what you said!
This is wonderful news to read while recovering from a little outpatient surgery, Bill. I can't wait for this weekend's post (c:
Amy

YAY!

When are you going to release the swimsuit calendar with pictures of your favorite bloggers?

I was beginning to worry that the editing suite was collapsing on you or somesuch fate. Congrats on a job completed. At least one thing, I bet ideas bounce around when you are re-trimming something for the 32nd time.

Look forward to the essays! Let the good times roll.

Sapper Mike

Bill, where's the book. Where's the book?! Show me the book!!!

Seriously though, always glad to see your updates, but I still *need* to have the book by my bedside table.

Glad to hear it. I don't always agree with your essays, but I enjoy them and they make me think. Bravo!

Joy, Bliss and Ecstasy (the emotion, not the drug) are we there yet?

I think you should be more explicit here in Step Two.

Don't wait for the second coming (of Bill), go see the first leaving (of JC). Started in theatres on Ash Wednesday, and parents have been taking their 5 year olds to see it, as a lesson, in what I'll never know. The DVD is going to have an alternative ending where Mel Gibson and Danny Glover come in, guns a blazing, and rescue JC. DVD will also have humorous outakes.

Bill! Glad to see you're still alive. Drooling as I await your latest.

And I'd pose for a flightsuit calendar, but not a swimsuit calendar.

While we are waiting patiently for the next installment from Bill, here's an on-topic essay by Charles Krauthammer that this group may enjoy in the mean time.

http://www.aei.org/news/newsID.19912/news_detail.asp

Yo, troll-boy, you want we should start in on all the conflict of interest stuff available on Dashle, Kerry, Edwards, and either of the Clintons? No? The peddal it to someone who cares. And some documentation to go with your slander might be nice... Of course, given that the Defense Policy Board isn't part of the administration, I don't see how this is supposed to tar the President.

Troll boy...

I work at Boeing. The VC arm that Miller Adams runs is so far removed from business capture that they might as well be on different planets. I can't even get $500 to pay back a vendor for his expenses in loaning us equipment for us to demonstrate for a customer!!

We won FCS because we totally blew the competition away. Our NCO architecture is awsome. It's so good that when they canceled the Comanchie our stock went UP. The street knows NCO is the future, and it's all us.

You want to see conflict of interest, look at Darlene Druyan. We could have covered it up, doing the right thing is only going to cost us about $15 billion, and send several thousand jobs to Airbus, and cost the taxpayers MORE, but it's the right thing to do, so we did it.

Hey spammer/troll,

Nobody here asked your opinion about Perle, and no one cares. Get your own blog if you feel like spouting off your dim-witted opinions.

Bill,

You go to periscope depth and then surface, usually--and you leave the scope up.

Durn airdales....

If'n His Whittleness wants to visit a real sub, drop me a note--I might be able to arrange same. Just drop the spam trap.

Chap.

Bill, you'll have Marquis billing on my humble blog, anytime you post a new feature here.

And the book. Yes. Soon. Please!

Jim
Sloop New Dawn
Galveston, TX

I'm looking forward to the new essays:)

If you write it...

They will purchase.

(Don't rhyme well, do it... Well, just GET THE DAMN BOOK IN PRINT!! :)

Hmmm, my calendar shows that the weekend's over. Will I get to see your new essay tonight, Mr. Whittle? Pretty please?
Yours,
Nagatha

It's ... Monday night ... *sob* wh - why? *hysteria*

Bill, I stayed up until almost midnight hoping for a night cap and must go to sleep, alone, without profound new ponderings to wake up to this world naked with only normal mortal thoughts like what the hell am I going to wear or what color is my parachute or who the fuck ate my cheese. I will check back next year or the year after for your wisdom.

Cheers.

And I was just beginning to suspect that this was a VRWC to drive up Eject3's traffic or hit rate or whatever it is that people who care about such things measure.

So all this checking back was in vain....

*sigh*

Bill, you need a XFL nickname. I propose Work Be Gone

I'm not going anywhere for the next few weeks or so...so make it good. Give me something to think about while I recover.

Has Silent America been published yet? So many of your readers have been anxiously waiting for your book. Forget the trolls - when you come up with your next essay, you will blow everyone away (friend or foe).

Bill,

You'd better post it soon, or I'm going to hold my breath until you do. I'll do it, too!

[ Panel Relaxes Nuke Plant Inspection Rules

Mon Feb 23, 8:54 PM ET
Associated Press

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Monday that it is relaxing visual inspection requirements at the nation's nuclear power plants. ]

Homer: "8:58, first time I've ever been early for work. Exept for all those daylightsaving days, lousy farmers!

/To start, press any key/
"Hmmm...where's the any key?"

"I see esc, catarl, and pigup. There doesn't seem to be any any key! All this computer-hacking is making me thirsty. I think I'll order a tab.

Hup, no time for that, the computer's starting!

Check core temperature, yes slash no... Yes!

Core temperature normal. That's too easy.

Vent radioactive gas? N-0!

Venting prevents explosion. (Laughs) This is hard, where's my tab? Okay then, yes, vent the stupid gas!

Vent radioactive gas, Y-E-S. Decalcify calcium ducts?

Well, give me a word, give me a cheer, give me a "Y."--

Hey! All I have to type is Y! .. Y, Y! Let's see, so many letters to choose from. I'll pick Y.

Y, Y, Y!... "

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040224/ap_on_go_ot/nuclear_plants_1

We won FCS because we totally blew the competition away. >>

You don't understand the accusation. It's not that Boeing acted inappropriately. It's that Perle did.

With his left hand, Richard Perle accepted millions from Boeing into his venture capital fund. With his right hand, Perle encouraged the Pentagon to give the defense contract to Boeing. Perle did not disclose to the Pentagon that his recommendation was not that of an uinterested observer/ but that of someone financially compensated by an involved party.

That's unethical. It's against the rules.
It's wrong. It's dishonest.

Richard Perle is corrupt.

His PNAC cronies are corrupt. Including Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Bush.

Dear Mr. Perlephobe;

Point #1: AGAIN... wrong place, wrong time, wrong audience. And as suggested earlier, go rant on your own blog, on your own dime, and your own bandwidth. Or, at the very least, if you've just GOT to do your tedious purging here, how about waiting until we're talking about something that's at least distantly related to what you're ranting about.

Point #2: Stop the presses! Stop the presses! Unprecedented revelation surfaces in the very heart of America's leadership! Self-serving and ambitious people in the administration might just be doing underhanded things to line their own pockets and further their own greedy objectives! UNHEARD OF! Never been done before! Utterly unique to this administration and this administration alone! By God, it's a sure sign of the total collapse of the American republic! Not to mention PROOF POSITIVE that absolutely EVERYONE in this administration is corrupt to the core, blinded by pure power-lust, and downright EVIL! Stop the friggin' presses, dammit!

(yawn)

Please, feel free to list for me all the untainted cabinets and congresses that came before this one, so that I might have a pristine example by which to guide my choices in the future. Hell, I'll settle for a handful of untainted INDIVIDUALS. I'll even go for just one completely unsullied president, for that matter -- screw the cabinets.

There's never BEEN a corruption-free governing body, ever, "dude." There've been dirtbags, money-grubbers, philanderers, power junkies, delusional and completely incompetent morons in every one, and there always will be. You don't field a team of ambitious, driven, big-play personalities without dragging along all the scheming, under-the-counter connections, the black books full of promises, and all the temptations of power and personal gain that are the baggage of such personalities. It sucks, but that's just how it is. You do your best to weed out the rif-raff that you can catch (and by the way, thanks for catching this guy NOW, rather than BEFORE, when it would have been much more helpful -- unless, of course, you're suggesting that it might actually be TOUGH to catch these kinds of people red-handed). But they're GOING to get through. "Nice guys" and "choir boys" might be preferable for your scandalized soul, but historically, they also tend to get run over by the World Events bus.

So what do you want? An effective leader, whose effectiveness is, at least in part, a function of his/her ambition, or perhaps their "take-no-shit" approach to opponents, or their stubbornness, or just their plain old bald-faced ego? Or would you prefer a model American citizen, whose "leadership" grinds the nation's global standing, pride, strength, and economy to a dead halt because they're so busy trying to make everybody happy, that they just wind up pissing everybody off? Those are admittedly the black and white extremes, but they're also, historically, the only noteworthy administrations in the books, for better or worse.

It's not that we don't want the underhanded dealings exposed and punished -- and thank GOD we've got the likes of you to do that for us -- but again, THIS AIN'T THE PLACE, THE TIME, OR THE CROWD! Even if we actually gave a shit about your witch hunts, what would you like us to do about it? And if there was ever a chance in hell that we'd have shown the slightest interest in your "cause," did you really think the way to "bring us over to your side" was by busting in on a completely unrelated exchange between friends, and throwing a used diaper into the guacamole?

Don't just go away... go away MAD.

(see point #1)

GHS

P.S. - posting at the end of a long, hard day at work... not recommended.

Live your life, first, Bill. We'll wait. Anticipation only adds to the pleasure.

Point #1: Bill: Stop giving yourself deadlines. Or at least stop publishing them - you're not good at deadlines. :-)

Point #2: I really enjoyed GHS's rant! Bravo! Well done, old chap!

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
-Douglas Adams

Aww man. I got the forty-third post for my Douglas Adams quote. So close...

To the anonymous ass who wrote...

"Bill, I stayed up until almost midnight hoping for a night cap and must go to sleep, alone, without profound new ponderings to wake up to this world naked with only normal mortal thoughts like what the hell am I going to wear or what color is my parachute or who the fuck ate my cheese. I will check back next year or the year after for your wisdom.

Cheers."

...good riddance.

We're here for you, Bill.

GHS

That was great fun! Better than throwing frisbees while waiting for the concert to begin!

That's what we're doing, right?

Thanks GHS.
Haven't even had a chance to lurk much in the last few months. Your words reassure me in the desolation of all the pointy-headed leftists with whom I have been dealing lately.

David March

ist nice to be hire, verry informative

this side ist fantastic,

Bill, just remember the "under promise, over deliver" mantra of Tom Peters.

"And then a miracle occurs..."

That phrase conjures up memories from sophomore physics at MIT. Our professor would start elegant proofs on the left side of the black board, then skip to the solution on the right side. He would comment that "it is intuitively obvious" how we should get from the equations on the left to the solution on the right. It wasn't always intuitively obvious to me, nor to many other students who complained about the lack of actual proof. So he dropped the "intuitively obvious" shtick, and started saying, "And then a miracle occurs."

I don't know where Bill is going with his essay, but to me the idea of "And then a miracle occurs" seems to be that you get the result you are looking for, even if the necessary steps/proofs/reasoning has not preceded the result. For example, "Adequate records of Bush's Guard service are not available...and then a miracle occurs...and Bush was AWOL." Or how about this one "The entire world's intelligence community predicted Iraq's WMD, but we haven't found any...and then a miracle occurs...Bush lied to send us to war."

I'm really looking forward to Bill's take on this (and hope I didn't steal any of his thunder...)

--Fletch

Actually, I'm predicting that "ATAMO" will have more to do with a classic Far Side cartoon. Three generic scientists are standing at a blackboard that is filled with equations, much like Fletch described above. In the middle of the equations is the phrase And Then a Miracle Occurs. The caption reads "You might want to be a little more specific there."

Gee, I hope I haven't spoiled any surprises.

--Dave

PS: Do you realize that there is now an entire generation that is utterly unfamiliar with Gary Larson's cow-themed masterpieces? It's days like this that I feel old.

Actually, that's not a Far Side cartoon. It predates The Far Side. It's done by Sidney Harris. See it here.

One of my favorites.

Just thought you'd want to know...

[-whispering-] Today, Thursday the 4th, Bill is out out town. That's why he's not updating this site. But he's doing something incredibly cool (if you're into 'pilot stuff'), cool enough that I'd be castrated and gutted like a fish if I spilled all the beans before he got back to tell you about it himself.

Suffice it to say, it's a worthy excuse for being a little delinquent on his essays. And it ought to be a sufficient catalyst for another posting by him within the next day or two, I'd think.

Ssshhh -- remember, you didn't hear it from me.

GHS

P.S.- thanks for the kind words after my last rant, because that's just what it was... a rant. Glad it didn't just come across as sounding hysterical. Apparently it's better for me to post in the morning rather than after a long hard day at work. I'll try to remember that in the future.

Post as late as you like, GHS. There is a world of difference between impassioned reason and hysterical lack of same.

Excuse me, Mr. Childish Troll Who Does Not Take A Hint?

Go away.

Excuse me, Mr. Childish Troll Who Does Not Take A Hint?

Go away.

Hm. I could have sworn I hit the post button once...

I'm a little curious, just which Monday night was brother Bill referring to?

I'm waiting for the monomaniac above to call Perle a "beast-man", like Lyndon LaRouche. Or is it Dick Cheney who's "Beast-Man"? These conspiracy-types are very confusing. Except for the Lone Gunmen. Who are funny.
Oh, and BTW Bill...can we have the essay now? Pretty please?

"You need me."
---------

Don't flatter yourself. You aren't "disagreeing" with anything, you're posting your own blog here in Bill's comments section, which is why nobody is listening to any of your tripe. This isn't a politics messageboard where people sound off on whatever opinion they have floating in their heads. If Bill writes an essay about how great Richard Perle is, feel free to chime in.

Like many have said before me, get your own freakin' blog or go to one of the many, many political forums scattered all over the net.

Picture this, "Mr. Perle"...

You're having a little get-together at your place. Nothing big, nothing fancy. Just some chips-and-dip, a game on TV, and some light conversation. Nothing deep. Just "Hi, howya' doin'? How's the wife? How's that book coming along?" You know... just "the guys" hanging out.

Suddenly the front door blows in, and there I am, outraged and snorting and holding the filth-encrusted transmission from my '87 Ford Escort in my arms. I stomp into the middle of your circle of friends, and I dump that transmission right on your 4'-long sub from Subway, screaming at you the whole time about what a braindead greedy jag-off that mechanic was that you recommended (through a friend of a friend of a friend -- you don't even know me, yourself).

I'm curious -- at that moment, do you really give a good God damn WHAT my issue is? I mean, you don't like braindead greedy jag-off mechanics any more than I do -- hell, you'd probably be MORE outraged than I am, because you recommended him. But right now? Right this instant? WHO CARES what my point is! There's a transmission sitting in the middle of the table, and your door is hanging off the hinges. I just trashed your happy little casual party, and ruined everybody's day, over something nobody at the party can even do anything about. So does that mechanic's corruption and incompetence mean anything to you RIGHT NOW? Or is the far bigger affront my method of delivery -- barging in on a friendly little gabby get-together, trashing the food, and blocking the TV on 3rd-and-goal?

In this context -- which is the context I'M taking here -- what would YOU think of this statement: "If I am unwelcome on these pages, it is because of your shortcomings; not mine." (substitute "in your living room" for "on these pages," and you've about got the scenario).

No, in this analogy, once you're done letting your guests beat the shit out of me, then you're going to sic the Rotweiler on me.

I'll say it again: wrong place, wrong time, wrong audience. Did you see any OTHER comments in this particular comment stream with anti-administration rhetoric flying out of left field? No. Somehow all the other Bush-bashers that hang around this site full of "empty-but-sonorous oratory" (like flies over the potato salad) knew that this wasn't the time or place. THEY knew that Bill would eventually chime back in with something they could jump into with both feet, and voom! There ya' go! A time and a place where we EXPECT to hear from the extreme left, the professionally outraged, and the corruption junkies.

But here: before Bill's delete-n-ban ray can blow you into the ether where you belong, allow me to respond as you seem to so desperately need.

You said, "Nothing I have said has been refuted here or elsewhere. Everything I offered has been backed by sources such as the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, or Perle himself. Perle's offenses are the stuff of the Business section. Not wild accusations from the fringe."

So apparently you're not breaking this information to the world yourself. A lot of people already know about this, including the only people who can or will (or won't) do anything about it. So this is not a revelation, it's OLD news, and whatever action will be taken against this demagogue of evil is already being contemplated by those who can take it -- and obviously, even to you, WE are not those people.

So what is it that you want from us? You want us to sign a petition or something? Are you expecting this to change our opinions about the current administration? As if YOU think that WE think this administration is without flaws? Do you think that by your dropping this transmission in the middle of our hors d'ouevre table that we're suddenly going to "see the light" and call for Bush's impeachment? No, all you want is to regurgitate already-published news (the credits for which you so generously included in your latest little diatribe), and see if you can't get a rise out of us. And since there's nothing else you COULD get from us, why are you so shocked with this response?

I DON'T care about Richard Perle personally, especially since, as you so thoroughly pointed out, everybody who NEEDS to know and do something about him already DOES and IS. His "crimes," if that's what they turn out to really be, are NOT new, and despite your assertions to the contrary, do NOT stand out above the greed and corruption of others in any and all other administrations.

You've made your tiresome point(s), knowing full well, as you undoubtedly did, that NOTHING we could have possibly said in response would have satisfied you. And amazingly, the fact that no one even contested your points didn't make you happy. Nobody's denied your allegations! Look at that! You win! What? That's not good enough?

You clearly know how to use words -- you've clearly got a political agenda -- you're clearly not intimidated by people who think you're an annoying insect! So go start your own blog! That way the people you piss off will have at least come to you of their own volition.

In the meantime, repeat after me: "wrong time, wrong place, wrong audience."

Now Bill -- the D&B ray, please.

GHS

Agree with Chap. Don't lower that periscope! Very bad ju-ju. We must be able to see what we're preparing to surface into. Passive sonar doesn't detect sailboats very well...

I dunno, I thought the whole point of Bill's essays was "the big picture". That is their stated purpose, no? You can look at the sidebar and see the titles of the essays: Empire, Honor, Power, etc... That's about as "big picture" as you can get. What possesed the monomaniac to think any differently?
I suspect his own hypertropied ego.
He wants to feel important by being a "missionary to the right-wingers". He wants to bring us troglodytes in our caves the light. Glory be!
This is the rock the Left is rupturing on. Not that its ideas are nonsense...there are plenty of nonsense ideas in full and rosy bloom in America...but because of their unstudied assumptions that all right-wingers are ignorant.
There are many reading who feel the same way about Mr. Perle's shenanigans; you'll notice they're not holding forth now...because this isn't the time, and it isn't the post.

PS It still amazes me to see how many people consider this a "hard right-wing" blog. From what I have read, gay rights are advocated here, science is cheered, religion is viewed with a somewhat skeptical eye, and some form of government assistance in troubling times is not automatically considered the tool of Satan (please see the essay "RESPONSIBILITY"). Sounds kinda mainstream, to me. But then again, that's the big picture. Very simplisme, I know. Thus, I need to be enlightened on the evils of Perle, according to my betters.

(Regarding the Perle of Wisdom visiting comments:)
I suspect his own hypertropied ego.
He wants to feel important by being a "missionary to the right-wingers". He wants to bring us troglodytes in our caves the light. Glory be!

So basically he wants to be Tony Foresta? Or is Tony Foresta?

Though I agree with the GHS wrong time, wrong place rant, and at the risk of encouraging our Perle-centric visitor...

He has a point. Perle is an interesting combination of farsighted intelligence (domino-theory of democracy in Middle East was partly his idea) and short-sighted seflish behavior. He has resigned from his position in the State Department because he is such a polarizing figure. Were he more of a politician and less of a businessman, he would be Richard Nixon (talk about damning with faint praise...)

But...so what? The administration of Ronald Reagan was so riddled with scandal that Reagan was often referred to as "The Teflon President". From Edwin Meese to Ollie North to many others, the Reagan years were a revolving door of governmental shenanigans.

But none of that can diminish the brilliance of Reagan's vision of our place in the world--and it was that vision which led directly to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

So it is with Mr. Perle. He has many flaws and seems to be a magnet for polarizing positions and scandal. But, in my opinion, he is but a footnote to what is going on in this administration, and at this time in the world. Will history even remember Mr. Perle in light of the War on Terror and its success or failure? I doubt it.

Oh, and Mr. Perle-centric visitor? Around here rational debate is expected and rewarded. Off-topic ranting is usually either vilified or ignored--sometimes first one, then the other. And, the exception of his good friend GHS notwithstanding, Bill usually insists that commenters show some personal courage and give their names--not some cutesy pseudonyms, as you have been using.

So please, give us a break with your Perle postings. Start a blog--they're fee and easy at www.typepad.com or www.blogspot.com--and then come here and post a comment with a link to your blog. People who are interested in what you have to say will visit you directly, and the rest of us will continue to ignore you (or vilify you, as our mood dictates).

Sorry for the length.
--Fletch

Nicely done, Fletch.

Welcome to the blogosphere (c: I look forward to visiting your site again.

Amy

The Perleophobe uses the term “big picture” as if it were a pejorative. The “big picture” is essential. The big picture is a map and a compas. It shows you where your ultimate destination lies, possible routes to that destination, and the principles by which to select a route.
The processes of deduction, inductive reasoning, heuristics.... These are like the skills of driving. No matter how skilled one is, without a big picture as guidance, one's unlikely to reach any meaningful destination. One’s ultimate “big picture” is the set of first principles, or fundamental values. As a software engineer, I can't count the number of projects I've seen fail because the "big picture" was forgotten when the programmers got lost in the weeds coding. I've seen lives wasted and talents squandered when people lost their personal big pictures.

Yea, Bill throws out big pictures. Read Bill's big picture. Compare it to your own, study the differences, the similarities, think about the consequences that might result from these different "big pictures" being implemented; try to formulate a comment on these thoughts, throw it out, and hope it will provoke some thought, or raise a smile, hope someone will counter with something that will in turn make you think, or smile. That's a hell of a lot more enjoyable and enriching than simply compiling a dossier on a public figure.
This is a place about ideas, not public figures.

Just wanted to congratulate (and thank) Shiva Archon for saying, in a handful of succinct sentences, what it took me just two postings and about 50 paragraphs to say. Excellent. Well and simply stated. Would that I could master that skill.

Also, good one Fletch. And the length was fine. I also liked Jim's P.S.

Yep, the gang's still here.

GHS

Some lyrics borrowed from a song in the StrongBad album. Come on, people, sing with me to the slow guitar tune of your choice....

Ciiircles
He's spinning me around in ciiiircles
waiting for the essaaaayyyy
trying to ignore the anxietyyyyy
that today's not the day for the essaaaaay
It's the thirty-first tiiime todaaaaay
that I refreshed the pahaaaaggge
Circles
Whittle's spinning me around in cirrrrccccles
aaaaand the ages and the aaaaaages

LOLOL! Thank you, Girlwitharifle, for the mid-afternoon merriment at the office.

You're welcome. How long have you been in recovery from liberalism? I've been clean for two and a half years. I realized when I got to college and started reading blogs that I had lost control of my liberalism. I knew I had hit bottom and that if I didn't stop, I would become a puppet-waving UN supporter.

Girlwitharifle: Beautiful! (Weird...is this song really in G? =D ) That seriously made my weekend.

Thanks GHS, but I gotta say its awfully entertaining reading your long posts when I agree with every word. I like the long ones.

Dear Perlephobe -

In one line you write:
"You don't understand the accusation. It's not that Boeing acted inappropriately. It's that Perle did."

and in the next you write

"With his left hand, Richard Perle accepted millions from Boeing into his venture capital fund. With his right hand, Perle encouraged the Pentagon to give the defense contract to Boeing."

It takes 2 for a bribe to occur. You've just accused Boeing of bribing a government official.

Now, Boeing has plenty of problems with that topic right now. It looks like DD gave us information on Airbus's Tanker bid while she was talking to us about working for Boeing after she left the Pentagon. Because of that, she, her boss, and our Chairman/CEO are all gone, and we'll probably loose the tanker contract and 10,000 jobs. See, with the information about Airbus's bid, we may have lowered our bid to beat it, keeping jobs in the US and making less than AB would have on the job. So we must be punished.

If there was a hint of truth to what you're saying, Miller Adams would be gone, along with Jim Albaugh, Ron Prosser, and probably Harry Stonecypher. We would fall on our sword, AGAIN, because it's the right thing to do. We have an entire division that does nothing BUT look at Boeing's actions to make sure they're ethical.

I don't personally know the facts behind the rest of your claims. But on this, you're absolutely dead wrong. If I had to bet, I'd say the rest of your claims are wrong, too.

Still wrong place, wrong time, wrong audience. Start a blog. Discuss it there. Add comments. Invite participation. Call it "Perles of Wisdom" or something, but this the comment subsection of Bill's blog, not the main section of the Perlephobe's.

In the not so modern vernacular: GET A ROOM!

...and throwing a used diaper into the guacamole?

GHS...you totally rule.

Sigh....Yeah, yeah, I know - when someone is so rude as this guy, it's hard to not respond. Even so, people, PLEASE don't feed the troll any more! It just keeps him coming back - bad attention is better to him than no attention at all.

In the meantime....BILL, WHERE ARE YOU? We need you to lock the door!! Vermin keeps getting in the house!

Bill, I was wrong. He's no longer amusing.

Democracy Took the Day Off
Thursday March 4, 3:28 pm ET

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., -- Author and Gospel singer Bob Miller, a registered Republican shocked his fellow song writers at their annual conference this week with his most unexpected political opinions. Miller said, "With the backbone of the Democratic Party, William Jefferson Clinton, out of the way and the Bush Storm Troopers in place, democracy took the day off. Then this war-for-profit crew moved forward with their plans as if world opinions were irrelevant."

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse, as Miller continued, "Now that the moment of glory has passed and the long years of blood, sweat and tears are upon us, they will yet again -- according to plan -- take their spoils and move on, leaving the rest of us to bury the dead and balance the checkbook."

After taking a drink (presumably of water) Miller said, "Think about it ... $30 million dollars and instant naturalization given to an Arab who provided the whereabouts of Saddam's sons in order that Bush, Blair and the major armed forces of the world could at least find someone or something, if not WMD.

"I am grateful for the many invitations to join the Democratic Party, but I'll stick it out here. I mean, how could it possibly get any worse than having the second most hated man to live in the last 200 years as your candidate?"

There were no hecklers, but then most everyone appeared speechless except Miller, "I'm not campaigning against a fellow Republican. The truth is, Bush does not represent the Republican Party or any other party for that matter. He represents the Bush dynasty. Is it not bad enough that another four years of his dictatorship will produce yet more unemployed, homeless and demoralized Americans?

"Can we also risk having to cope with his uncontrollable ego? The leadership of this father and son team can be critiqued using a term that epitomizes their presidencies: Collateral Damage. Clearly, America's integrity and economy fall into this category when they clash with the prosperity of Bush and his accomplices."

Mr. Miller followed this up with a gospel song.

Miller authored "Conversations with God" (Vanquish Publications), served as a pilot in Vietnam, and challenged Richard Shelby for a U.S. Senate seat in 1992.

And then did Bildalf emerge from Fangorn forest, bearing a scroll in the ancient tongue. And as he beheld the field of Isengard he saw that it was infested with trolls, and the air did reek of carrion.

"Too long have I been gone from these lands," said Bildalf, and he help up his staff, and behold! A white light, cold and pure as of a thousand stars shone forth! And the trolls were smitten, and did turn to stone, and all their works were washed away.

And there was peace in the valley, and soon the birds and trees did return. And the land was made clean again.

And Bildalf turned to those that had defended the land in his absence, and he did smile upon them. "My brave Hobbits," he said "You are not to be underestimated!"

And together they set forth for the black land of Mordor, for the road was long and there was much yet to be done.

Is it just my imagination, or did somebody (and all his flatulence) just up and disappear?

By gum, that's a mighty fine staff y'got there, Mr. Bildalf. Where might I pick me up when o' them there, do you think?

GHS

P.S.- thank-you

P.P.S.- Bob Miller did not author "Conversations with God." I've read the entire series. They were "channeled" (although HE wouldn't put it that way), written, and verbally narrated (for the audio version) by Neale Donald Walsch.

Otherwise... hmmmm.

GHS

slava boga!
I was wondering how long it would be before Bill whipped out his "troll-be-good" stick. Good to have you back, kind sir. Your absence has been sorely felt. Looking forward to whatever miracle you have conjured.
Respectfully Submitted,
doc Russia

Wow, that guy was annoying.

Just promise me something, Bill? Please don't smite just anyone who disagrees, only loathsome idiots who employ the grapeshot-argument tactic. Kay?

Cheers.

GHS, looking at Miller's website, he has a statment that makes it clear -

"I do apologize for the cover and advertisement in the back of the book; both were mistakes. Note: (There are a series of books by this same title by Neale Walsch that was published by Putman in 1995.)"

The strange thing is that his website doesn't say anything about his being a songwriter. And the link is to a press release he put out. Basically an attempt to get some press to try to sell some books. Pathetic, really.

Bildalf

Count this Rider of Rohan in the war against Mordor.

J

Ah, yes. Good enough for me, Richard R.

...Retreat!!!

To Enron and Global Crossing, add another name that zinging around the world,bringing shame on the U.S. Government as well as corporate America.--Darlene Druyen is a national disgrace. By cheating,lying and prodigiously misusing taxpayers' money she and her cronies have exposed a culture of coruption in U.S. Defense Procurement that makes a mockery of Washington's complaints of bribery in other countries. When at a time in history we vitally need the support of other world powers, she gives the Airbus bid and complete plans to Boeing who she later went to work for in D.C. A $250,000 year salary in return for the contacts she made as Dep Undersec of the AFthe Pentagon and was only part of the "let the good times roll" policy. In her trial she confessed to
*comitting the Air force to pay boeing as much as 100 million more for its AWACS aircraft than she herself believed they were worth.
*handed boeing copies of a bid from its nearest rival, Airbus, whose price was lower.* signed off on a payment of 412 millionto settle a seperate contract dispute over the production of the C-17. * awarded Boeing futher contract for 4 million upgrade to C-130 aircraft and the rest is lengthy and more expensive. She was fined $5,000 and nine months in jair--which puts her out on the street just after Martha Stewart. Combine antics like this and itsnot difficult to see why America -haters point to the Druyen-Boeing affair as proof that the $417 BILLION U.S. Defense budge-from which buy America laws exclude all butr a few foreign suppliers--is a sinkhole of coruption. Rumsfeld looked the other way. this fiasco may fade from the headlines during the election but not the rest of the world. Airbus and others will not rest until the Pentagon re-opens the bidding.