Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Republicans have sunk to a low that I just didn't think was possible.

They're copying the Nambian healthcare system.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

They're copying the Nambian healthcare system.

I really hope that other leaders and diplomats don't call him on this sort of bullshit because they're so shocked they lost their ability to speak, not out of some sort of respect for him/us/the office. He/we/it doesn't deserve a single iota of respect.

[SEC_Chick]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

I really hope that other leaders and diplomats don't call him on this sort of bullshit because they're so shocked they lost their ability to speak, not out of some sort of respect for him/us/the office. He/we/it doesn't deserve a single iota of respect.

I don't know what I am now, since I left the GOP and now people associating with Trump are being called conservatives, but I agree completely.

As to Graham-Cassidy, meh. Overall, federalism is better. And while it looks like its buying votes, it's not as brazen as the Cornhusker Kickback, which is part of how we got Obamacare in the first place.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by ferrets_bueller

Burns is extraordinary. Last night was hard for me. Although I didn't get to Vietnam until 1970, I served in the First Cavalry, indeed in the1/7 Cavalry that was depicted last night. The Colonels I served under, Tony Labrozzi and Earl Spry, held the same position as Hal Moore, who was made famous by Joey Galloway in We Were Soldiers Once, and Young.

Labrozzi was a "true believer." He lived to kill Communists. He was a "mustang"...an enlisted man, made sergeant, and then got a field commission in Korea. He carried an open bolt Grease Gun, and got right in the thick of things when he could. My platoon, a Recon unit, reported directly to him, and I got to know him well. His successor, Spry, was very different. A student of war, who studied the Vietnamese tactics.

My platoon has periodic reunions. I have virtually nothing in common with most of them, but I am closer to those men than family. The majority of them are flyover country Trump supporters. I'm also in the local First Cav alumni association, people who were mostly officers. (I was a "shake and bake" instant sergeant, given three stripes at NCO school at Fort Benning as a consolation prize for being able to read.) I have less in common with them; most were careerists.

I am depicted in a recently self-published book, available occasionally on Amazon, War Stories, by Conrad Leighton, a First Cav draftee journalist, who often traveled with our platoon. Along the way, I spent some time in Bien Hoa in the rear area, where I picked up a unique military occupational specialty.

Go here: http://www.vintagezodiacs.com/watchstories.php

The first picture, at the First Cavalry Sniper School, is a shot of my wrist watch on the wrist of the left handed sniper in training, Ferrets. (Because of the mounting, I had to learn to shoot a Starlight Scope right handed for night work.) The spotter behind me is Bill Bearden, deceased, one of the President's Hundred, a combat sniper on a par with anyone who ever picked up a rifle in anger.

Hell of a way to spend ten months. But when I landed back in law school, I met a classmate in my new second year class. We're still married.

I watched last night's portion. Tough to watch for me, which means it's probably 1000x tougher to watch for people who were actually there.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

I watched last night's portion. Tough to watch for me, which means it's probably 1000x tougher to watch for people who were actually there.

Watching last night I realized my biggest criticism of the Vietnam documentary is that I constantly want more detail, more information, more history. I want to know more about the Vietnamese interviewed, more about the experiences each person had, more about what happened going back farther in history.

When the biggest complaint one has about a packed 18 hour documentary is that you want more of it, it's one hell of a work.

[Hank Chinaski]

Anyone have experience/advice deposing a foreign language speaker?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

I really hope that other leaders and diplomats don't call him on this sort of bullshit because they're so shocked they lost their ability to speak, not out of some sort of respect for him/us/the office. He/we/it doesn't deserve a single iota of respect.

He craves respect. If you're the leader of another country (say, not one near North Korea), wouldn't you just decide not to call him out to avoid getting into it with him? He's our problem, but until he's their problem too, he's not their problem.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Anyone have experience/advice deposing a foreign language speaker?

No, but I have experience defending the deposition of a foreign language speaker. Should be obvious, but apparently wasn't (or the alternative was too expensive for government work): bring your own translator and especially don't use the person the other side uses who is/was also a lawyer.

And now I can't remember if the deposition in the Hague was in English or not. I really wasn't paying attention because we'd settled the night before and I was only there to keep up appearances. I think it was not, but regardless, my only tip in that situation is try to stay awake, while regretting that you stupidly stayed off the ganja the night before because you might have to actually care.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Anyone have experience/advice deposing a foreign language speaker?

Get a translator and understand that it's going to take twice as long. Also don't let the witness switch back and forth from English to whatever his/her native language is - it happens every time and you have to remind him/her to stay in his/her native language. I would actually include this rule in the ground rules at the beginning of the deposition.

ETA: also, make sure your reporter has experience with capturing translated testimony.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

Get a translator and understand that it's going to take twice as long. Also don't let the witness switch back and forth from English to whatever his/her native language is - it happens every time and you have to remind him/her to stay in his/her native language. I would actually include this rule in the ground rules at the beginning of the deposition.

ETA: also, make sure your reporter has experience with capturing translated testimony.

Can you get a reporter who can transcribe in both languages? Or videotape to capture the second language, in case there's an issue? I would think that the existence of a tape would deter some gamesmanship around translation on key points.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Can you get a reporter who can transcribe in both languages? Or videotape to capture the second language, in case there's an issue? I would think that the existence of a tape would deter some gamesmanship around translation on key points.

Video is a great idea. I usually video important witnesses regardless (on bigger cases).

[Tyrone Slothrop]

" It’s not entirely convincing for the editor of the leading hippie-punching journal to be shocked when people start punching hippies in real life."

[Tyrone Slothrop]

For Hank and Sebastian.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

For Hank and Sebastian.

I've done this and I'm done with it. You can't look at Dem loss % 2012-2016, with looking to where it went. Can't.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

I've done this and I'm done with it. You can't look at Dem loss % 2012-2016, with looking to where it went. Can't.

I think it's interesting to look at for what it says, setting aside what it suggests about political outcomes.