(e:paul) you read what you wanted to in my post, not what I actually said. I authored the post, I am the one who knew what I was getting at. The post was about how nukes are BAD... end of story. You can take it to the bank as again, I am the one who actually wrote it and as such I'm the final arbiter of the actual meaning of what I wrote. It could be argued that I wrote a poorly worded post... and I actually agree with that. :) And to think I got all "A" grades at UB in English, and actually tested out of the undergraduate writing requirement! Instead of acting in a knee-jerk way you should have asked me what I meant... I think a lot of unnecessary drama could have been avoided. Anyhow I'm glad that you understand that we actually agree on the subject.

Moral of the story - if you aren't sure about what somebody meant just ask them instead of freaking out and flaming them. And before you get your feathers ruffled, thats not a flame! I've done the same thing before as have most people that communicate with others via the internet.

Wireless networks at hotels are, in general, piss poor. elmwoodstrip barely, barely, barely loaded here. Its like trying to load a media-filled page using a 1200 baud modem. It makes me want to cry.

In general, the South is superior to the North. Naturally there are people that could never live here, as it would force them to break out of the boundaries of their comfort zone. However, the cities here are cleaner and just as big, there is an abundance of cultural things to check out, the girls are finer and not as unjustifiably bitchy as they are in Buffalo, and most importantly - people here are 1000% more civilized and polite then they are up north. NYC is the capital of obnoxious people. I would hardly call the place civilized and it would take at minimum a $150k a year position to even get me to consider living there. Seriously, people there act like animals. I'd take Atlanta over any major northeastern hub 99 times out of 100.

There is not much happening in NC though. Lots of woods, a big lake where many millioniaires live, Duke/UNC basketball, John Edwards (if you forgot about his absurd "Two Americas" theme fret not, you are about to get an earful until 2008), NASCAR fanaticism, and a lot of highways cutting through said woods. For the first time I can't wait to get home.

Coming up its going to be nice though - we go to San Antonio, spend the weekend in Los Angeles, take a detour to Las Vegas, go back to L.A. to work, then back home! Allegedly the virtually brand new white dress shirt that a cleaning lady generously "liberated" from my shit is at the same hotel we are going back to.

(e:paul) -

First of all, I'm tired of being mean so I'm not going to do it anymore.

You are 100% wrong about my opinion on this subject, and I'm tired of repeating myself. You are reading into what I wrote and interpreted it through your filter instead of actually listening to the guy who wrote the damn thing. I did NOT justify the use of the bomb - the point of my now infamous "list" was to weigh the end benefits vs. the death AND SUGGEST THAT IT WASN'T WORTH IT. The thrust of my original post was that nukes are BAD - any free thinking person who doesn't approach the subject with a knee-jerk reaction can see that. Like I've said about three times now, I don't think that what happened in Hiroshima was justified, even though as a result of the death and destruction Japan blossomed. Perhaps Japan would have blossomed anyway if we didn't drop the nuke - we'll never know. If somebody told me today, "Hey, if we nuke Pyongyang we'll save hundreds of thousands of lives overall plus North Korea will become a democracy" I would say ABSOLUTELY NOT - we should not drop a nuclear bomb anywhere.

See, in 1945 we unleashed a Pandora's Box. To be honest, when we dropped the first atom-splitting bomb there was NO research done on what might happen to the human body (in particular the effects of radiation) as a result of dropping the bomb - we only did studies on how it might destroy military targets. The most important lesson that we learned that year was that we as a human race should not repeat the episode ever again.

1. I think nukes are bad and that they were bad in 1945 and that they still are now
2. I think the "bunker buster" nuke is a horrible idea and I think that most of the country agrees
3. I don't think that we need to create any more nukes of any type - there are too many in the arsenal already
4. I think that the world should eliminate the nuke, although in reality I know that as soon as we and the others do another country is simply going to develop them
5. You and I are actually in agreement on this subject and I'm not going to repeat myself again

Ok?

I have to catch a plane.

Basically you ignored my entire post and read what you wanted to read, seeing as your anti-war goggles were on (which I do not blame you for). I WAS NOT justifying what the United States did. Read what I wrote again... and if you need to read it again. And try not to gloss over the parts where I said I wish we don't ever have to do it again and that I wish we didn't have to do it the first time, albeit the results of such a disaster afterwards couldn't have been better than they were. Its evident that you did gloss over what I wrote.

The ends DIDN'T justify the means. I think its unfortunate that such extreme measures had to be taken. I don't think that Osama bin Laden's ends justify the means, and I also don't think that he is going to get what he wants either. I also don't fault America for doing what they did - it IN FACT ended the war, and saved countless hundreds of thousands of lives - that is A FACT. Think critically for just one moment please Paul - if we did not drop the bombs and instead invaded Tokyo, how many millions of civilians would have died as a result? Nobody is justifying ANYTHING. Civilians die in war - I hope I don't have to remind you that several thousands of Americans died on 9/11/01 - where is your compassion for them? A universal fact of war that both you and I despise is that civilians ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS end up dying during armed conflict and I think its shameful for the human race. My position (try not to gloss over this part like you did last time... so I'll be explicit) is that I wish that none of it had to be done. I WISH THAT NONE OF IT HAD TO BE DONE. I WISH THAT NONE OF IT HAD TO BE DONE.

OK? OK? OK? OK? OK? That was the moral of the story.. I thought that you would have understood the first time.

As far as my "lack of compassion" you completely lost the point and glossed over the fact that my heart sinks at the thought of so many people dying (read it again). THANKS FOR READING MY FUCKING POST COMPLETELY PAUL! I don't filter what I write, and I expect people to be able to interpret what I write in an intelligent manner. Do not flame me with false pretense because it upsets me when I have to backtrack and point out the parts that people "filtered out" because their political bias overtakes their rational thought. That shit is irritating.

I'm actually on your side on this subject. Jesus fucking christ. In my best Foghorn Leghorn - "I say I say I say I say, Paul... there is no reason for you to be stultified!"

And your mentioning of what I wrote as an "attention getter" - please don't take offense but that is the single most fucking stupidest thing I've read on this site thus far. I don't write shit to get attention Paul. I don't want or need attention from anybody that is reading this right now. I blog for myself and nobody else. I don't care if people like OR hate what I say. If nobody reads it I'm just as happy as if somebody was paying attention. I'm not interested in my "search count" - I have a life and a job and I'm too busy to be concerned with that trivial crap. Trust me - I am aware of the extremist political bias of this particular URL. Extremist hard left is nothing new to me - I used to be that way. I'm unconcerned with it. 90% of my friends are liberal and we get along fine because we are mature adults. It works great once you try it.

Stop being a jerk. I like you, you like me (admit it!). You dislike all aspects of war and I respect and admire that. Lets carry on.

My next post will be from NC, where I can update people on how the rednecks are doing.

Seeing as its the 60th anniversary of us dropping nukes on Japan I have been thinking a bit about it. At the time the Japanese were hellbent on winning and would have died to the last man if they had to in order to achieve their objective. Thinking about the sheer number of civilians and military that died that day anybody with a heart would feel their heart sink to their feet. On the other hand -

1. We ended WWII doing this
2. Had we invaded Japan even more Japanese and Americans would have died, so therefore the least amount of people died doing it this way
3. People saw the horror of the atom bomb - as a result its never been used since
4. We rebuilt Japan and it became a democracy

The "Mutially Assured Destruction" principle protects us so far, and although I would like to see the eradication of the nuclear bomb... reality dictates that this will never, ever happen. Wars are going to happen - its our nature as human beings. I just hope that nobody ever has to suffer like that again - both the people who die and the people who execute their mission and have to live with the burden for the rest of their lives.

(e:drchlorine) is a man's man. The one thing about ladies (well actually this applies to the gay contingent too, feelings are feelings you know!) that I've learned is that being upset over losing one is pretty much one of the stupidest things you can do. Naturally you might be shocked or hurt... or both. But the numbers are just too mind-bogglingly in your favor to find someone far, far better. The best way to go about it is to act professionally when the news breaks - say to him/her "Ok, if that is what you want that is what I want." Give a short, polite hug, then walk out the door. No crying, no jaws on the floor. Your now former partner will think to him/herself - "What the hell, I just spent a week feeling sick to my stomach over this, and he is just going to walk out the door and say NOTHING?! RAWWWWRRR!!!!!" You are the one that supposedly got fucked over, yet SHE/HE is the one that is upset. YOU WIN because A) You just got released back to being single, which means now you get to upgrade from your previous model, and B) your scheming and plotting ex is the one with the knot twisted in their belly over this bullshit.

I'm FINALLY starting to feel better... I've been sick all week with this weird and violently painful ear/nose/throat thing. I swear this is true but its going to sound cliche - chicken noodle did the trick! Time to go get my usual - mucho grande iced coffee. Or maybe an iced redeye (ooh la la).

Besides that I have to go to the garage and get an oil change and another tire. I love going to the repair shop - the smell of rubber and oil reminds me of my grandfathers garage, which of course reminds me of my grandfather... who I miss very much. Grandma is still kickin' though - she is one of the funniest people I know. She is curious about where I go and what I do so I thought of something cool to give to her - a laminated map of the United States (and printouts of the countries I visit) and a bunch of gold stars. I put the stars on all the airports I've gone through, and when I go through a new one I call her when I land and tell her to stick a star there. Sometimes I grab the hotel stationery and write to her.

I love my grandma!