john5746

This info is a "slam dunk" according to the CIA. I think China also will have a problem with an aging population. They will become number one though. I guess America needs some guidance from Europe in dealing with becoming second class.

He isn't the only one, almost all of the Congress and Senate and the rest of the country don't want an immediate withdraw. The country isn't ready to give up, yet. At least the scenario for withdraw is being talked about more clearly and readily. It is good for the administration to feel pressure to get the job done. I bet things are starting to happen behind the scenes to get better results quickly. This is what is important, not any political points. Of course, both sides of the aisle won't agree come election time.

Maybe evolution can be expressed as a wave function? Anyway, intelligence on our level seems to be very rare so far. Eventually, nature will win and our species will be wiped out, IMO. It seems to pay to be small and humble when hard times hit, and I think this trend will continue. When that happens, intelligence such as ours will be a mere blip on the evolution timeline, so it may not happen again for a very, very long time. So, the teleology would seem to be, the meek shall inherit the earth. This seems to hold true for both genetic and technological evolution.

I was too general in my previous post. I have no problem with people using those terms, although one description is skin color, the other is origin. I am white and have no problem with that description. Why is any other skin color seen as offensive? Should we teach people that black or red or yellow skin color is offensive? In any case, African American, Native American and Asian/Oriental or Pacific Islander are used commonly. If that is what a certain ethnic group want to be called than so be it. Carrying these things to an extreme is also wrong though. Saying blackboard or master/slave drives should not be offensive to anyone. If it is, they have the problem and need to fix themselves, not the other way around. We should learn to be respectful and have empathy towards others, but also learn to not rush to judgement and be easily offended.

Yes, I can just see in the next presidential debates - Oh, you voted not to withdraw from Iraq before you voted for it. - Flip/Flop. Just as a vote to give the President the authority to invade Iraq automatically became a vote that supports what he did with that authority. Bush rushed to war, not the senate or congress.

Yes, emotions allow stronger social bonds. Having larger groups that care about one another would be a strong advantage.

For Wal-Mart to do this, they must be afraid of lawsuits? Wal-Mart is big in the bible-belt south, the last place you would want to not say Christmas. I can't imagine any survey showing a significant group of people being opposed to Merry Christmas.

- Train the Iraqi army and police forces to the point of being self-sufficient This should be job one. I wonder how many people in Iraq are actively involved in this? Can they do this and fight the terrorists at the same time? They should be able to, IMO. They probably keep statistics on how many are trained, etc. They can probably even forecast how many they will have trained in a year. I hope they are "training the trainer" and will leave excellent officers behind who can continue training. - Continue working on the infrastructure This is secondary and the terrorists make this more difficult. The Iraqies should lead on this. We probably will overdo it, thinking they need the same technology we have in the US. We are worried about spending too much in New Orleans, I wonder how much Haliburton is making over there that really isn't necessary. - Once these goals are met, begin pulling out our troops How will we do this? I think we should leave one city at a time in Iraqi control and pull out that way. Maybe leave the Sunni areas for last. You don't just wait till the end and say, OK we are done time to leave. A timeline is necessary. You set a schedule, try to meet the deadlines, and change the schedule as problems occur. This is how most functional people operate. They don't have to say we will withdraw at this date. Just say how many they need to train, how many they can train/month. How they plan to put the Iraqi's in charge - phases, etc. Right know its whenever they feel like it. Why trust Bush on this and not on Harriet? He has shown himself to be a weak leader. He let his VP run over him and his Secretary of State, he was asleep with Katrina, he blew it on Harriet. We have to reign in this guy for his own good and ours. Both parties, especially the Democrats need to forget about the past. We are in Iraq and need to make the best of it. But trusting Bush to get it done, well - WE WON'T BE FOOLED AGAIN.

What is the "course"? A golf course? This is the main problem I think. People are not sure what the objective is and cannot trust Bush has one either. When we leave Iraq, it will still have all the problems it has currently. They need real objectives and real timelines to meet those objectives.

Proof positive that this is a government conspiracy! They propagated this info so people would wear them and be controlled!!

I don't see the problem with that. All the jobs I have applied for had a background check, and I am not responsible for the lives of 30 kids. They are professionals and should be treated and held responsible to be a professional.

I'm not sure Pangloss, you think he may be trying to head off a Republican exodus from the Iraq war prior to the 2006 elections? He may want to avoid being pressured to withdraw from Iraq prematurely? Just a hunch, have no evidence for it.

I voted for McCain in the primaries. I think he is a true hero, but that doesn't automatically get my vote. I would more than likely vote for him over Hillary, but not sure about the Repub primaries. He may just be a better senator than a president. I am not sure about his fiscal stances. I just knew almost anyone was better than Bush, except for Gore - or so I thought at the time.

I agree, the price of gas probably has more to do with inflation than the money supply. I hope the gurus realize that and leave things alone going forward, but I doubt it. If gas gets back down to 1.50 and Americans shun hybrids, it will be costly for us in the future though.

One that bothers me is the spending of tremendous resources to prop the Middle East up so we can siphon the oil, but no real concern for developing alternative energy. If Americans had to pay the real cost of gas at the pump, our cars would already be more efficient, and alternative fuels would be making better headway. Also ignoring the effects of global warming is a concern.

Jimmy Carter can blame himself for giving the Democrats the reputation of Dove's. He was not a strong commander in chief. Too eager to compromise or give in to the enemy. Bush is on the other end of the spectrum, but people would rather have that in the current situation. I thought it strange he brings up Bush fundie thinking, then mentions Jesus when talking about abortions. Jesus wouldn't fight the terrorists - so what?

There still is some of that. If you are black and a Republican or have a white collar job and move Uptown, you are a traitor. If you are a rapper, athlete or movie star, you are gold. Which one do you pick to emulate if you are a kid - the traitor or the star?