My bicycle mechanic and I were discussing the Presidential election today as I

[cliffordu]

installed a replacement part on my single speed and as we were talking about October Surprises and the very real possibility that if the race gets close enough the NEOCONS could steal this one too....

I mentioned the voting machines, and then HE said (and I paraphrase):

"I think the White House is going to instigate Israel to hit Iran while Obama is there, actually right there in Israel, and then he'll either have to stand there and condemn Israel from the middle of the conflict, or he'll have to admit that talking to Iran is off the table.

They'll make it look like Israel is defending itself."

I get home after 2 hours in the woods flogging myself stupid on that very singlespeed and lo-and-behold BUSH is sending an envoy to talk to Iran during some UN palaver to the surprise of the talking heads and then I realize that if (when) that meeting proves fruitless, Bush has all the ammo (!) he needs to green light the strike.

'Can't talk to the Ter'rists, We tried that and they go and bomb Israel'

Low blood sugar? Histamine reaction to blackberry thorns?

Is my mechanic on to something??

[madeline_con]

1. Maybe the voting machines are repaired to the point that it's

necessary for them to pull shit like the scenario described to keep the W.H. :shrug:

[loveable liberal]

2. doubtful...

I believe if attacked Iran will take out every oil supply and supplier they can in their vicinity. complete chaos ensues, and bush would be taken down for participating in another undeclared war. He would be removed by congress (or at least I hope he would).

[cliffordu]

4. Ya know - you're right -

I keep forgetting that Iran could completely kill the oil trade worldwide for

a couple of weeks, if nothing else....kinda renders my mental whirlygig moot....maybe....





I just helped kneecap my own topic...

:rofl:

[AllentownJake]

5. Not to mention

They have over a million person army and an Iraq invasion would not be hard for them to pull off seeing they don't have to go accross any other countries and our troops are spread all over throughout Iraq. We may have better technology but a concentrated force would overwhelm us.

[Selatius]

3. It's starting to feel like to me that war with Iran is inevitable. Some appear dead set on war.

The problem is how to get off the railroad track before the other oncoming train slams into us head-on.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

6. If we or Isreal hits Iran, get ready for $250-$300 oil and what, $7- $8 gas?

Good luck to McFossil and the pukes if that happens.

[The River]

7. You Ride a Single?

Are you a masochist?
I run 27 and use 'em all.

[cliffordu]

9. Actually.....

I find a singlespeed easier to ride than a geared bike..... in mountain bike races single speeders over the longer races actually place in the top 10 regularly.

I didn't believe it either until I'd been on one for a couple weeks - you do have to anticipate hills better and keep your speed up - you get in touch with your own capability and the terrain and the actual RIDE rather than the constant thought process that 27 speeds entail - this is not an insignificant thing.

You HAVE to rest on the downhill sections, too, and spin madly on the flats, that flushes the crap out of your system while packing you with oxygen for the next hill.

I walk up some of the real long steeps but that means I'm keeping up with a lot of folks spinning madly up that kind of hill anyway.

I ride a bike with no suspension and ride with a 32:16 gear ratio, do over a thousand feet of real steep climbing in about a 2 hour ride and at 56 am in the best shape of my life.....except for two months after I got back from riding a touring bike across the country three years ago.

A singlespeed puts you into that state you were in as a kid riding your first bike......it's beautiful.

You should try it. Talk about drinking the kool-aid......

[The River]

13. I'm A Go-Fast

and I can't even estimate how many thousands of miles
I've done on a single speed in my youth ..... which is why
I felt so liberated when I got my first 3 speed.
As it progressed through 10, 15, 18, 21, 24 and
27 speeds I just got faster.
I do draw the line at 27 though...30 is just too much.

Keep your single and your Kool-Aid. You'll need it to
wash off my 58 y.o. dust.

[cliffordu]

14. But-but-but.....

YOU should really try single speed cyclocross...

All the fun you can have in 50 minutes with all your clothes on.....

[The River]

15. LOL

I Guess I Could just stick it in
a middle middle gear and tape the shifters
shut for a day...
when no one is looking.
maybe.

[sakura]

16. Is it a fixie? nt

[cliffordu]

17. No, not hip enough for that...

:rofl:

[sakura]

21. So you're not a hipster doofus? Gee, all this time I was imagining you

in bike racing clothes, gulping a latte while skidding through traffic with messenger bag at your back, multicolored tattoos covering at least 2/3 of your body. Where did I go wrong?


:-)

[cliffordu]

22. Nah, you have to live in the city to make that costume work -

I live in a small port town where being an urban fixie hipster would be just another hippie on a bicycle.

Low information bicyclists.

I do have a couple tattoos though - I got my first one in 1966. I was in kiddie jail (California Youth Authority) at 14 and got one by a guy who was sniffing glue......

Thread wrapped around a needle dipped in India ink....

[sakura]

23. I was just kidding. You don't seem the doofus type.

The tattoos are cool, though. I'm going to get my husband one of a cecropia moth for his next birthday. (His idea, not mine.)

[cliffordu]

24. And yet, I go read some of my old posts and see how everyone could

see me as a doofus....

:rofl:

That will make a great tattoo!!

[TlalocW]

8. A bicycle mechanic?

You liberal elitist. :)

TlalocW

[cliffordu]

10. Yeah, but he's a really BAD mechanic....

:rofl:

[Morrisons Ghost]

26. I was

wondering the same thing! Didn't realize there were bicycle mechanics!

[snooper2]

28. I was a bicycle mechanic..

When I was 10 :rofl:

By 11 I mastered tightening spokes to straighten wheels :)

:rofl:

:rofl:



funny




GOBAMA!

[Muttocracy]

11. you're not the first on DU to suggest that, and it may be part of the checklist

for going to war - what's next, a U.N. presentation by Condi?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3627949#3628460
(DUer gratuitous, there may be others)

[DebJ]

12. I had a dream two nights ago that the October Surprise would be

nuclear war with Iran. I kept seeing the date, 10-12-07, with 10-12 in bold numbers flashing and "07" in lighter font. Then I saw nukes going off over Iran. The dream kept repeating itself, as have other dreams I've had of things that have later happened, so it freaked me out. I googled iran 10-12-07 when I woke up, and I got a hit stating that this was the date that Obama finally spoke out against Hillary's vote to condemn the Iraqi guards as terrorists and that the US should root them out and destroy them. Also, 10-12 was the date that the Senate voted to give Bush a free hand in Iraq. Freaky. I had no idea about this historical aspect of 10-12 before I googled this. It seemed like my dream was telling me that we would have a nuclear war with Iran because of that Senate vote. Sometimes I have such dreams and nothing comes to pass, but about 75% of the time they are on target. Hope I'll be celebrating the other 25% this Columbus Day.

[vaberella]

25. That's really depressing on an already depressing thread.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

18. If the middle east is flattened, then what?

fall out?

[RNdaSilva]

19. Don't forget the Strait of Hormuz...

and its implication for oil delivery out of that region...in case of bomb, bomb, bomb.

Just don't ask McCain to pinpoint this location...here's a little help for him. No John, Iran is not Persia.



http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/world.html

I'm having problems finding Czechoslovakia.

[cliffordu]

20. It was when he was in school.....in 1679

[ensho]

27. I keep thinking something will happen to Capitol/Cong. bldgs.

that would mess things up proper