[paraclete]

Yes I tripped over a nice big red belly black and met one another day near my dam neither were interested in biting me but my adrenalin levels rose. Now had it been a king brown I probably wouldn't be here and when you get a two metre kangaroo cough at you you know it's time to go. We don't carry guns otherwise I would have used one. I had to chase a brown out of my house one day, used sulphur, they don't like that but spiders respond to a spray bottle full of petrol and a match

[smoothy]

I get non-poisonous snakes up near my house all the time (Garter and black snakes)... But I know they are safe and eat the bugs and rodents... I leave them alone. Unless they decide my garage or shed are a good nesting place... then I have a problem with them..

[paraclete]

I don't live in the bush anymore so it is no longer a problem, I'm sure if there are any around here the cats deal with them in fact I haven't even seen a snake on the road in a long time maybe the cane toads are eating them

[smoothy]

I don't live in the bush anymore so it is no longer a problem, I'm sure if there are any around here the cats deal with them in fact I haven't even seen a snake on the road in a long time maybe the cane toads are eating them

I'm in the middle of suburbia... I have to drive at least a few miles to even get to the closest small farm. And this is the land of small lots... and I see Deer, groundhogs... daily.. I see a fox at least once a week.in my back yard... and that's just the daytime critters.

I do have to admit snake sightings aren't exactly a daily thing... but I don't go looking for them either. Mostly because I've learned exactly where they are most likely to be and avoid them.

[paraclete]

I also live in suburbia, a small rural city but the nearest farms would be within a mile however we have a rail track between here and there so I expect that cuts the wild off. My daughter lives near a reserve and she has concerns about snakes. We don't have any wildlife around here not like you do in North America but kangaroo are the same risk as you would find deer and wombats; they realign your front suspension very quickly

[smoothy]

And eat your expensive landscaping.

[paraclete]

Yes that too although in the country we don't have expensive landscaping, I prefer native plants personally they don't need watering and anything but a good mulch.

I can see that the news front is slow when we get to discussing the garden, etc. I note Al Qaeda has rared its ugly head again with a big prison break in Iraq. We would have been better off if we had left well enough alone there but I'm sure someone will get out the drones to solve the problem

[smoothy]

yes that too although in the country we don't have expensive landscaping, I prefer native plants personally they don't need watering and anything but a good mulch.

I can see that the news front is slow when we get to discussing the garden, etc. I note Al Qaeda has rared its ugly head again with a big prison break in Iraq. We would have been better off if we had left well enough alone there but I'm sure someone will get out the drones to solve the problem

If we just shot every one of the terrorists after we got everything we needed to know... they wouldn't be running loose.

[paraclete]

You know the wet blankets in your government would never allow you to do that otherwise you would have closed gitmo by now. I don't know what the problem is, they had no difficulty offing OBL, and many others with drones. I guess it is your obscession with media and committees and inquiries that stops you from doing it or is it they don't have a gun in their hand, for heaven sake, give them one

[tomder55]

yes that too although in the country we don't have expensive landscaping, I prefer native plants personally they don't need watering and anything but a good mulch.

I can see that the news front is slow when we get to discussing the garden, etc. I note Al Qaeda has rared its ugly head again with a big prison break in Iraq. We would have been better off if we had left well enough alone there but I'm sure someone will get out the drones to solve the problem

A far different narrative than the emperor's "AQ is on the run" lie during the campaign last year.
It appears that the Malki government is not capable of taking on AQ without the US help .The emperor suffers from premature withdrawal . He should've stuck with the deal the Bush Adm made with the Iraqi government .

The assault released many senior AQ leaders and was sophisticated in planning and execution.
I doubt if the Shia militias will lay down and take a new surge in Sunni militant attacks. There could be levels of violence not seen since pre-surge 2007 levels.

Below is a link to Thomas Joscelyn's testimony to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade about AQ . It doesn't speak of an organization on the run or facing defeat. (only quoting the final paragraph to answer your comment of "leaving well enough alone" )

Global al Qaeda: Affiliates, objectives, and future challenges - The Long War Journal

Today, the Al Qaeda Network is more geographically diverse than ever. Al Qaeda and its affiliates are fighting in more countries than at any other time before or after 9/11. It has several established affiliates, which it lacked on September 11, 2001. The ebb and flow of fighting changes the scope of al Qaeda's footprint on a regular basis, but the network has shown the capacity to challenge for territory across Africa, through the Middle East and into Central and South Asia. Meanwhile, al Qaeda's general command maintains safe havens in the Kunar and Nuristan provinces of Afghanistan today.
It is true that al Qaeda's affiliates allocate most of their resources to waging guerilla warfare against their "local" enemies. But if we have learned anything since 9/11 it is that the gains made by al Qaeda "over there" can easily lead to a threat against Americans "over here." Indeed, al Qaeda's expansion in recent years has led to more threats against the U.S. Homeland, not less.
Here are four examples.
First, AQAP has emerged as a threat to the U.S. Homeland. AQAP was decimated after 2003 by a relentless counterterrorism campaign. But in early 2009 the group was reborn after al Qaeda's Saudi and Yemeni wings united. By December 25, 2009, AQAP had placed a suicide bomber on board a Detroit-bound plane. Luck and the vigilance of the passengers on board Flight 253 saved the day. Prior to the Christmas Day bombing attempt, many counterterrorism analysts assumed that AQAP was only interested in attacking targets inside Yemen. Several attempted attacks by AQAP have followed that initial failure.

Second, months later, in May 2010, the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) dispatched a terrorist to Times Square. The SUV bomb did not go off, saving numerous lives. The Pakistani Taliban is the same group, discussed above, that shares a "symbiotic relationship" with al Qaeda. The Pakistani Taliban's resources are devoted, by and large, to operations inside Pakistan and Afghanistan. And yet the group almost detonated a truck bomb in the heart of New York.

Third, on April 22 of this year, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced that they had disrupted an al Qaeda plot to derail a passenger train traveling from New York to Toronto. This was the first known al Qaeda plot against Canada since 9/11. RCMP officials said the plotters received "direction and guidance" from al Qaeda members in Iran.

Fourth, al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) has had a hand in plots against the West. In 2004, according to the Department of Homeland Security, Osama bin Laden instructed then AQI emir Abu Musab al Zarqawi to assemble a cell capable of striking the U.S. In 2007, failed attacks in London and Glasgow were tied back to AQI.33 And in June of this year Iraqi officials claimed to have disrupted a sarin and mustard gas plot that was intended to target Iraq, Europe and the U.S.34

Luckily, these plots have either been foiled or failed for other reasons. It has always been difficult to mount a large-casualty attack against the U.S. Homeland. But the diversity of attempted attacks against the U.S. Homeland demonstrates that while the Al Qaeda Network is fighting for territory "over there," it remains a threat to Americans "over here."

[smoothy]

you know the wet blankets in your government would never allow you to do that otherwise you would have closed gitmo by now. I don't know what the problem is, they had no difficulty offing OBL, and many others with drones. I guess it is your obscession with media and committees and inquiries that stops you from doing it or is it they don't have a gun in their hand, for heaven sake, give them one

I personally believe terrorists are legally entitled to nothing... not even food.

But I don't get to call the shots.

[paraclete]

Oh no they are entitled to a legal death

[smoothy]

Oh no they are entitled to a legal death

Bullet to the skull... quick efficient and cheap.

However there are a select few I'd bind their arms and legs and throw them in a pen of hungry hogs to be eaten alive.

But again... I don't get to make such decisions.

[paraclete]

No too extreme just use the KISS principle

[smoothy]

Well the latter does offer a time savings in being a hole doesn't need to be dug and filled back in.

[speechlesstx]

It's come to this... the NSA can snoop on us at "thousands of trillions of operations per second" - but allegedly can't search its own emails.

NSA Says It Can’t Search Its Own Emails - ProPublica

[excon]

Hello again, Steve:

Don't look at me.. I believe the Constitution.. I believed it when Bush was violating it, and I believe it when Obama is.

excon

[speechlesstx]

You seem pretty flexible when it comes to the first and second amendments.

[excon]

Hello again, Steve:

Nahhh... A hospital is NOT a church, and a background check BEFORE you buy a gun is NOT a limit on your rights to own a gun...

All that is just so. But, I'm used to you guys BENDING the Constitution to suit your needs..

excon

[speechlesstx]

It's freedom of religion, not freedom of church. Religion is not confined to inside the church walls and the church is not confined to a building with a steeple, but you already know that. Plus, we already have background checks, but you know that, too.