A former senior U.S. intelligence official familiar with the meetings described them Thursday to the AP to confirm details first reported by ABC News on Wednesday. The intelligence official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the issue.

LINK

FYI It’s actually 2.5 million light years to Andromeda. ;-)

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But the distance is closing fast. In the not too distant future Andromeda and the Milky Way will collide and become one super galaxy.

A little known fact is that our galaxy is CURRENTLY colliding with two smaller galaxies. One is called the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy and the other is called the Canis Major dwarf galaxy. ** Both these screen names are currently available to potential TP members.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1202/p25s01-stss.html

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Under normal circumstances, I’d say that you’re losing it. However, at least in my own estimation, I wouldn’t call what we’ve been living through for the past six-odd years under the Bush administration anything remotely resembling normal — and considering the fact that many legitimate questions continue to go uninvestigated and unanswered surrounding 9/11 (such as, as an example, the dramatic surge in “put options” placed on Boeing stocks as well as American Airlines and United Airlines stocks days before 9/11), I for one can’t blame you for at least momentarily thinking that perhaps this might be a ruse enabling someone to put the mechanisms (literal as well as figurative, perhaps) in place for a “false flag” operation of some sort such as 9/11 is believed by some to have been. After all, let’s face it…George W. Bush’s credibility with the American people is at an all time low, voters appear to be leaning in the direction of selecting a Democrat for President come November, and the economy is not in good shape. As reluctant as I am to voice it, if there truly are people within the Bush administration and/or its supporters who would be willing to use a “false flag” operation to accomplish their objectives (whatsoever those might be) — and frankly, I personally wouldn’t put anything past most of these people — the next few months would be an ideal time to pull such a thing off.

should have been “agrees”

Yep, the right wing nutballs like the trolls that used to infest this place have absolutely zero tolerance for dissent, disagreement, or working with anyone who doesnt agree with your viewpoint 100 percent. This is why so many of them hate mccain, because he only disagrees with them 90 percent of the time and not 100 percent. Yet now, he has to pander to them, tell them lies about iran that even dick cheney wont repeat, or they will turn thier viscious slander machine.

I do agree with what someoen else said, the war machine doesnt want to troops to be educated, because if more of them were better educated, they might start to get second thoughts about being sent thousands of miles away and leaving thier old ladies to get porked by the rest of the apartment complex, just so some fat rich dude can watch his defense stocks rise..

FYI It’s actually 2.5 million light years to Andromeda. ;-)

By comparing the absolute and apparent magnitudes, Ribas’s team concluded the Andromeda Galaxy is 2.52±0.14 million light-years from Earth. This agrees perfectly with the Cepheid-based distance to Andromeda: 2.5 million light-years.

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=3640

Cheers,

Goalposts? They used to be right around here, somewhat north, east and south of Tikrit!

Interesting thing – these anti-immigrant waves all seem to coincide with slow or stagnant economies. Coincidence?

Most probably, spurred by the dear leaders, who want to distract the attention of their sorry management of the economy. They need someone to pin The Blame(tm) on.

It’s the horse that rode Hitler.

The trolls, General Snarkington, are no doubt the negative chemical reaction in this debate. If cooler heads could have prevailed years ago, we’d be enjoying a 21st Century immigration system.
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It’s also worth mentioning that immigration has been an issue in this country since the Puritans landed and began worrying about the next generation of boats to arrive. I’d even wager that the first Siberian tribes to cross the Alaskan land bridge were suspicious of all the tribes that followed them.

In the 1850s, it was Anglo-Saxon Protestants who feared that the massive influx of German and Irish Catholics would destroy the moral fabric of America. In the 1880s, the European-descended Americans banded together to keep the Chinese from destroying the moral fabric of America. In the 1920s, we tried to keep the Jews and Eastern Europeans from destroying the moral fabric of America. In the 1950s we tried to keep the Communists from destroying the moral fabric of America. From the 1960s to 1990s we tried to keep Mexicans and other Latin Americans from destroying the moral fabric of America.

So here we are in the 2000s, the moral fabric of America still intact, trying to protect ourselves from the next wave.

Interesting thing – these anti-immigrant waves all seem to coincide with slow or stagnant economies. Coincidence?

Oh no – of course not. I was just wondering if the entire nation of Spain was planning on weaseling out of the effects of climate change and global recession by taking a 30 light-year trip to GJ 436T. It wouldn’t be the first time!

Heh, well, travelling 30 ly to a 300C degrees in the surface planet isn’t exactly a winning recipe to evade GW. And I mean Global Warming, not GW Bush. But a McCain win would make it really a reallistic option.

Well, a bit of national pride isn’t bad, eh?
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Oh no – of course not. I was just wondering if the entire nation of Spain was planning on weaseling out of the effects of climate change and global recession by taking a 30 light-year trip to GJ 436T. It wouldn’t be the first time!

Obviously, you’re not a member of an reality based community either, or you’d be able to see that “Blind Trusts” are bullshit.

Facts? We don’t need no stinking facts! I don’t think you’ve realized yet that you are conflicting yourself in the space of two sentences.

Why do I even bother?

Going somewhere, Evil Spaniard? *raises eyebrow*

Well, a bit of national pride isn’t bad, eh?

But many issues have been tangled these last several years. We can’t be surprised that this one is any different.

You’re a good man, TRoS.

TRoS, what you’ve raised is certainly very fair. Nothing against you in my original post. In my mind, the main gap in this report is, “The cost may be x to the federal government, but the contributions from immigrants must offset those costs to a significant degree. What are those figures?”

Immigration, both legal and illegal, is a very complicated and painful issue in this country

This is the primary reason I quiver when TP posts something on the topic — because it’s inevitably going to become very heated.
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Which is also why the issue NEEDS to be brought up and discussed INTELLIGENTLY and HONESTLY, and not used as an inflammatory and divisive wedge issue, like the troll was trying to do.

We’re okay, McWars.

May the Snark be with you!