Mark F. Barnes

I think what needs to be separated here is the terms "Marriage" and "Holy Matrimony". Leave Marriage as the Legal Term, and the Holy Matrimony to those that feel they need to have their religious beliefs protected. Having "marriage" and "matrimony" as one in the same is where I see the problem is. People renew their vows in a "matrimony" ceremony, without having to re-apply for a "marriage" license. It's a strictly religious ceremony that holds no legal value, ad serves only that of those involved.

Now "marriage" is a legal term, that is represented by two people listed on a marriage certificate, that have been unified by someone authorized to do so, whether that be a J.P., Judge, Clergy, or Captain of a Ship at sea, and whoever else falls into that category. It's when people try to bring religion into a legal term, that screws things up. I kinda thought that's where the belief in separation of religion and state came into play. In this case it seems to have been overlooked by that belief.

All this huff over changing definitions seems a bit overdone. Just leave "marriage" as a legal term and "matrimony" as your religious term. If you apply for a "Marriage Certificate" there is no mention of God on it. So what ties the term to religion legally, other that personal preference? Nothing I can see. But then there are those that take a different view on everything, and just insert religion where it serves a convenience. But in the same breath scream separation when it serves them wrong. Make up your damn mind will ya. If two people of the same gender want to get married, what threat is it to people of opposite gender? I really don't see any.

My poor Aggies have some real issues to work out. But if UT makes it through the next 4 in their schedule, you best start polishing up the trophy. Mack has it firing on all eight, right now, better than the Vinnie era. They are going to be tough to beat.

You know I asked nicely for this not to turn into a flame war, I wanted some honest input, both opinions and facts. Al this personal stuff needs to be taken to the schoolyard. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE try and play nicely. I really don't want this thread closed. There is info from both sides that needs to be heard.

Western Food is not a problem

I don't read TV's posts, so I'll respond to your summation.

If we can't make socialized medicine work, why can other countries do it? Is it something wrong with our ability to govern, or something about our citizens that makes them ungovernable?

I find this part, in light of all that's going on around us, comical to say the least. Who are they going to put in charge of this, Barney Frank? Or how about a former CEO of Pfizer? Would this be governed by a committee put together in the House or Senate? The bigger problem would be to find enough people beyond reproach, with impeccable credibility, in Washington DC.

Back on the streets

This guy is a street cobbler (shoe repairer)

More shops, you can pickup a lot of cool stuf cheap here.

Speaking of cool, this fellow here definately fits the bill.....

Folks looking for bling, this would be your heaven, Gold shops every 20 yards....

Bling alley my wife and girls love it here.

ACORN Accusations

October 18, 2008

McCain makes exaggerated claims of "voter fraud." Obama soft-pedals his connections

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/ac...ccusations.html

I posted this for Sparky

The picture you are seeing is of my sister, in front of the "Slap the Axis" joint at Playland in the mid-forties during WW11. If you hit one of them, Hirohito, Mussolini, or Hitler, they would turn around and go the other way. They ran on an oval track that went in the back part of the joint and then came out on the other side and ran across the front as shown in the picture. I will try to scan a few of the others and send them to you. Thanks a lot, (Sparky)

The Taxi Docks

Market Street in Old Town

Also found I had the Steady Shot disabled and the exposure setting on delay. Nut loose behind the Sony logo.

When I was up on the Observation Deck I was trying to do one of those cool shots where all the tail lights stream like laser beams, like Jax is always doing. They didn't turn out like I wanted. My wife's the photog not me, should have brought her.

I had to do some digging through emails and found this. I friend of mine sent it to me a couple of years back. Pretty wild.

And it's 4 AM I'm going to lay down Later.........

Yeah the moving boat thing is not working for me, I am better on my feet.

More from Downtown

I don't feel any real issues. I tell you I have never seen a purse snatched, or any of the normal mischief you see in any big city. The shops are still open, places to eat, The Mall of the Emirates is always jumping. I just much prefer Old Town, that and down at the Creek. Dubai Creek is a lot like Kemah, except more of it.

Dubai Creek

Public Transportation runs regularly and is heavily used.

iPhone shot on the bus.

The real partying goes on down in the Marina District, Yachts everywhere the night life is different down that way, more Westernised.

Dubai Marina from the Sheraton observation deck.

To answer your original question, safety is not an issue with my view. Twenty years ago it was different, now days not even close. The Saudi based logic they go by, doesn't tolerate any BS. I am sure the two brits can testify to that. There is definate cultural seperation, between the hard core East and the Westerners. But that could be said in Chicago as well.

Night's are better because the heat and hunidity is down, that's the best thing.

Boat Taxi ride on the Creek

Well the dust always makes an amazing filter for light.....

This thing is going to take some getting use to.....The Burj

Dubai World Trade Centre

The Souks Market area at night

More Souks

I strongly sugget you read the Bio of Michael DeBakey, he not only cared for Duke of Windsor, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, President Turgut Ozal of Turkey, a Nicaraguan leader, Violetta Chamorro, Boris Yeltsin, Aristotle Onassis.

"Dr. DeBakey's reputation brought many people into this institution, and he treated them all: heads of state, entertainers, businessmen and presidents, as well as people with no titles and no means," said Ron Girotto, president of The Methodist Hospital System.

He performed more than 60,000 heart surgeries during his 70 year career, His patients ranged from penniless peasants from the Third World to such famous figures as the Duke of Windsor, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, Turkish President Turgut Ozal, Nicaraguan Leader Violetta Chamorro and Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. But he said celebrities don't get special treatment on the operating table: "Once you incise the skin, you find that they are all very similar.''

I'm betting that out of those 60K plus surgeries, they weren't all heads of states and celebrates. He did tireless Pro Bo-no work. And that's just his work, what about all the other high end specialists in the US? It's those high paying clients that offset the charity cases that can't pay.

Going out now to catch some sunset and night shots, with the Sony. Still 90

Well you claim to want to exclude partisan politics, then make a patently false statement about what the Democrats have proposed regarding healthcare... "Pros and Cons of a Socialized Medical System as the Democrats are always claiming they will deliver."

I'm not exactly sure what you are talking about. Obama wants to expand employer-based coverage (private insurance), and utilize government-based coverage if a citizen cannot get health insurance through a provider.

No one ever talks about implementing socialized medicine (certainly not Obama or mainstream Democrats)... which would involve the US government dissolving the entire private health insurance industry in favor of a single-payor system. This simply would never happen in the US, so you are essentially building up a Straw Man to beat down on this issue.

Then explain this:

Obama (as quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Aug. 19): If I were designing a system from scratch, I would probably go ahead with a single-payer system. ... [M]y attitude is let

Okay Mem answer me this, if the Socialized medicine is so great everywhere else and ours is so bad, why when it comes to highly specialized surgeries, and treatment, do they flock from all over the world to come here and get it?

Remember like I said, before you answer, my question is quality of care in the highly specialized medicine, we are not talking flu shots and basic wellness. If you try and regulate highly specialized medicine, they will go elsewhere to practice, where they can command top dollar for what they do. And if for some reason they cardio specialists and vascular surgeons that do stick around, are not going to be the A-Team players, you are then setting for second best. Is this what you want? Because that's the way I see it playing out. What is the incentive for these top of the line specialists to stick around? Not their Hippocratic oath I can tell you that. The almighty dollar is the only thing that will keep them around, and their free ability to charge it and collect it.

So address that directly and not generalize it with some obscure article about how good it is in Canada and England, yet people from all over the world come here for the top end treatments.

Well it's alittle after noon right now and 98

Since I am so tired of all the Politics over who's going to be President, and baiting, name calling, I wanted to start a topic, that does involve politics, because it will have to be voted in through Congress. The President cannot just wave a magic wand and make it happen. However this is something I want discussed seriously, because there is a possibility of it being approached by the next possible administration. Even though we've had Democratic Presidents before, it still hasn't happened yet, and I honestly don't think it ever will, but it's always used as a way to sway electoral votes, ad it's never delivered.

But for arguments sake want ear your Pros and Cons of a Socialized Medical System as the Democrats are always claiming they will deliver.

I personally see no upside to it. I personally believe you get what you pay for. You want top quality mechanic work, you hire the best money can buy. You want the best heart surgeon, up until a few months ago you hired DeBakey. NOW whoever the top gun is, you hire him or her.

There have been several HAIF members, call for a system like Canada has. Some have called for others. I personally think it will bring the quality of care down. Stump speeches are always bringing up other countries and how good it is. Well I can tell you from traveling all over the world, and socialized health care has a severe downside when it comes to quality of care. The only reason you see someone go outside the US for health-care, is because they are getting treatments for something that the treatments aren't legal here in the US for whatever reason. I can tell you right now if Emir Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has to have a specialized heart surgery, he will be flown to Houston, and it will be done there. Why, because it is known around the world as the foremost center for heart surgery, period. I will ask him Monday when I speak with him if you like, but I already know the answer to the question, because when his father had to have work done, DeBakey himself performed the surgery. Think about my point before you answer, what do you think will happen to highly specialized medicine, if the government takes over the system and sets their own rates and regulations? It will move elsewhere, where they can practice without the regulations, that's what. If you think not then explain what will keep them from it. I just think if it was ever put in place the way Obama wants it, we would lose quality of care. That's my main concern.

I don't want to talk about taxes, or Marxism, or anything but Socialized Medicine. Anything else take it to another thread.

Thanks

Well it's 5:42 A.M Saturday morning, and a nice Balmy 82 degrees right now. But re's a great vew of the Burj Al Arab.

First off let me apologize to Montrose, I stand corrected. I some how got my links screwed up, and for some reason I have two stray photos in my UAE folder in photobucket, just so happens they were in adjacent to the photos I was trying to post. Me and these static pad mice don't get along anyway. I edited the photo I was actually trying to post. Originally I just posted and closed out because I had to get to Bush to fly out. And somehow got my wires crossed. When I responded to his questioning it, I was on my iPhone in mobile mode, setting at my gate and couldn't see the photo he was questioning, and this is the first time have had Internet in the past three days. Not much Internet on the outskirts Abdali where I have been Since Wednesday. But now I am in Dubai, and have a two days break before some intense meetings. Friday was the last day of Shawwal, and work some will get done Monday. There will be feast all weekend because of the overlap of Ramadan and Shawwal. So I am going to relax and catch up on my HAIF fix. Going to walk around town and take in a few local treats and will shoot some more interesting shots of the older stuff around town. Sun will be up in a couple of hours.

Call me crazy, but isn't that NYC?

Nope!

Crazy

Well going to have to weigh in my two cents here. Having lived there for many years, been there more times than you can count, as recently as the past few months. Will be back over there around Christmas. My children were born and raised there at a young age, and back then things weren't near as over conservative as they are being painted here. Yes the laws are different, more stringent in many ways. I personally love their tolerance or rather lack of tolerance to DWI. I wish we were less tolerant here. You don't have the drunk driver death toll there as you have here. Though an rookie Arab Cabby can be deadly. I first went over to Dubai in the early seventies, it wasn't much more than a desert stop back then, now it's Las Vegas in comparison. It's been highly westernized, of course that's in comparison to the way it use to be. I guess not westernized enough for some, but you need to realize, you are talking about a culture that been around for thousands of years versus a couple hundred, and you can't very well count out culture as being that old because it was just as ass backwards two hundred years ago as any place else. You want to make a case for treatment of migrant workers, take a trip to South Texas and Southern California, or even parts of Idaho, where migrant workers are living in terrible conditions, working for next to nothing. Please don't act like it doesn't exist here in the US because it does. There are still sweat shop labor in garment assembly plants, working on a by piece, 1099 contract basis. Dubai has come a long long way, in a very short time. Don't believe everything you hear, and don't judge until you've been there and spent some time in the real Dubai. Just a vacation visit, isn't enough to make a good opinion. Spend some time down in the street markets, learn and understand the culture first. It's really a lovely place.

I still own an Condo in Dubai in DWTC downtown, bought it in 1979 when I had an office there in the WTC Tower. Back then, the tower, (39 stories), was the premier building in Dubai, and one of the tallest, now it's a dwarf.

In 1979 this was the tallest building in Dubai, and remained that way up to the early 90's

I had the Texaco-Anglo Dutch offices on two floors in that building. I lease my residence in the DTC to Schlumberger, they have it as a VIP visitor residence, and use it like a long term hotel type of deal. DTC is a full service residence next door to the tower, complete with maid service, 24/7 whenever whatever consierege. Schlumberger has offices in the Tower and it makes it convenient for them and I keep up the taxes, and make a few dollars on it. It's been paid off for about several years now. At 2100 sq/ft it would be 5 million dollars to replace it. I bout it back in '79 for 375K on a 30 year note and paid it off early. Hydril leased it for several years and paid most of it off for me. The annual rent on an average one bedroom say 1000 sq/ft. is about $95K USD ($7900.00 USD montly). And we are talking non-full service on the edges of the business district, in the older part of town. Down near the marina's it's twice that. Waterfront you don't even want to talk about. Hotels run you five to six hundred USD, and we're not talking the Burj Al-Arab (the Burj will run you $1600 USD per night), just say the Hyatt.

This is old Downtown Dubai, doesn't look much different than say Chicago.

In less than 20 years a lot of these buildings you see here are gone and replace by skyscrapers everywhere you see.

It's such a huge change from the old Dubai, it was staggering to me to watch it happen. My daughter Lindsay now lives in NYC in the Majestic apartment building, on Central Park West, and I much prefer Dubai over Manhattan myself. I mean the Majestic is a coll old building, not really much into the Art Deco thing myself, but a lot of Gangsters lived there in the 30's, so it's got some historic character about it. I couldn't begin to tell you how much it cost's to live in that coop, my Son in Law's parent have an entire floor in the south tower. I know it's not cheap. Been there twice, it's okay to visit but not for me as far as living there. Of course I couldn't handle living in Dubai anymore either, been in the country too long I guess, but I love to visit and stay a week or too. Too old and set in my ways I reckon.

Now as far as these two that were arrested for having sex on the beach, I'm thinking you would get arrested in Galveston for the same thing. They were let off with a warning the first time and then did it again a few minutes later. And knowing a drunk Brit, she got mouthy with the cops, it was described as aggressive, you'd be getting the beat down in the Galveston County Jail for that type of behavior. Sp lighten up a little on the overdose of melodrama. It's not near as conservative as other places in the world, and not much different than any place in the US. You want to lay around naked and screw on the beach, it's no holds barred in parts of the Riviera, or fly to Jamaica to one of the Hedonism Resorts and "rock out with your c_ _ _ out". But don't try to through a dim light on Dubai, because the won't tolerate it. Not many places will. Now there are old school conservative Muslims in Dubai, but they stay to themselves, have their own parts of town where they eat and shop. But you are never beaten over the head with their beliefs. It's just not like that.

Now you can still catch a Camel race if you want to.

A Sikorsky flying in at the Burj Al-Arab.

The one the only Burj Al-Arab. You really have to see this place in person to really appreciate it.

The beaches are beautiful and clean. They work hard to keep them that way. Heat takes some getting use to, but it bearable.

And I am going to throw this one in just for you there Vines!!

This is a portable generator on a local construction sight. Yes and you are reading that lable correctly. The Bin Ladin (the is the correct spelling for Osama's last name) family in Saudi Arabia are a very well respected development outfit, and are big in the construction business in Dubai. Osama Bin Ladin was banished by his own family because of his radical politics and religious belief. Believe it or not, there are a lot of outstanding, hard working, Muslims out there, that are no more an issue than the Southern Baptists in Georgia.

Spend enough time around them your get a better picture. My wife is Lebanese, born in Lebanon, but her family left to avoid persecution, and she grew up in Abu Dhabi, I met my wife there, when she was in school at ADU. Her family were Christian converts, that's the reason they had to leave Beirut.

Great pictures of Hallowed Ground there Boris.

Did you get the feeling of traveling through Jerusalem or Mecca when you visited Aggieland? An almost cleansing of the soul, and feeling of eternal peace!

Gig'em Baby!!!!!!!!!!! Whoop!

In case someone hasn't read the economic plans for both canidates, here they are:

Good points in both of them, enjoy the read.

What are you talking about ? I am quoting the poll's numbers. They are both in Obama's favor. I am not bitter, I am pissed that there is nobody worth a hoot running for President, maybe that is where the bitterness is coming in ? What did I call you, if you took offense to anyhting I have said, especially anything I said about you personally, I will apologize in front of everyone here. I honestly don't know what namecalling you are referring to.

If you are referring to the Sheople comment, man o'man, I thought you had thicker skin than that my friend.

You're just bitter because the shadow of your ass now weighd 30 pounds. Don't you dare blame that crap on Austin, maybe too many trips to the Oasis......

Maybe he's been in the Zacapa Centenario too much TJ

Can Obama Win Texas?

Many Texas Republicans are telling Texas that if they vote for Obama its a waste because he is not going to win the state. But I here that if atleast 70% of Texas Democrats went out and voted for Obama, that he could win the state. What do you guys think?

Well if they believe that their own vote is a waste, than I guess it is. If they need someone to tell them what their vote is worth or how to cast it, it actually is a waste. The way I see it is, a vote is meant to represent presence of thought and knowledge. It's meant to represent the the agenda of the person casting it, and what they believe is in their own best interest. If they can't decide that for themselves, then I guess it is a waste.