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McCain does have a storied history of using and abandoning powerful, beautiful, but gullible women as stepping stones on his path to power.

Looks like the Maverick scores again.

Some problems though: This "babe" (as Rush Limbaugh calls her) wants to teach creationism as science in public schools, has an interesting set of scandals being investigated, and has some even more interesting friendly ties to Ted Stevens - which is rather impressive, given her very limited time frame for building up these problems.

This should be an interesting election season.

Ryan Fenton

Oh of course whomever set up his email program knew the difference. And not just Bush, but 50 people in the Whitehouse. This was a cheap runaround to the Presidential Records Act. While it was a cheap shot, it was also effective. Millions of emails 'lost', subpeonas to turn emails over ignored - ahhh, the Executive Branch must love all the extra power they've gained over the past 8 years.

Of course, this is from someone who understands math, finance, and economics. I understand your generation never got even the basics of those in your public school years or your college years.

I'll be sure to stay off your lawn, old man, if you promise to stay off of mine. My degree was in Accounting with a minor in Economics, and I work as a programmer for a bank (one of the largest who didn't get involved in the sub-prime mess). One of the most arrogant things that one can do in life, is always assume that you are more intelligent, or educated than the next guy. If it's true, it shouldn't need to be said. Human progress and the American Dream depends on one generation teaching the next, if my generation lacks any knowledge you consider 'basic', it's your failing, not ours. Education is only as good as its funding and leadership, kids don't pay or lead.

You mentioned the bubbles, and I think that history will see the three bubbles (tech stocks, real estate, and oil) of the naughts at least in part as a result of Baby Boomers chasing after wealth using the seed money from their depression era parents. The real irony is that the story of Gordon Gekko was supposed to be a cautionary tale, and has been practically inspirational to (guessing) your generation. As it showed many that real wealth could be generated practically from nothing but hype. "Greed is good", well only when manipulation isn't one of the tools people are allowed to use. However, lately manipulation has been the name of the game. The Republicans have been using negative campaigning, the oil barons have been rigging oil prices, and etc [manipulation is fairly common theme].

It would certainly explain the sheer amount of credit card debt you've run up.

uh, Bankruptcies Soar for Senior Citizens

Actually, until last year I was a card-carrying Libertarian (finally got fed up with the pot-smoking crazy wing of that party). Now I'm just a libertarian with a small "l".

The disastrous 'War on Drugs' is the only wedge issue the Libertarian Party has that has not been fully co-oped by the Republican Party, and as they are larger and more successful it's only natural (well at least in the U.S.) that the Libertarian Party would be much smaller. However, if the Republican Party really does fall apart this election cycle, I suspect that the Libertarian Party would gain membership exponentially. Sort of like rats leaving a sinking ship, except they're Republicans (as if there's a difference, lol). Also, I'm certain that many would hold your conservative social views like Bob Barr, but they'd still have to lighten up their stance on pot, as true libertarians believe 'my body, my rules'.

Of course, this is from someone who understands math, finance, and economics. I understand your generation never got even the basics of those in your public school years or your college years.

I'll be sure to stay off your lawn, old man, if you promise to stay off of mine. My degree was in Accounting with a minor in Economics, and I work as a programmer for a bank (one of the largest who didn't get involved in the sub-prime mess). One of the most arrogant things that one can do in life, is always assume that you are more intelligent, or educated than the next guy. If it's true, it shouldn't need to be said. Human progress and the American Dream depends on one generation teaching the next, if my generation lacks any knowledge you consider 'basic', it's your failing, not ours. Education is only as good as its funding and leadership, kids don't pay or lead.

You mentioned the bubbles, and I think that history will see the three bubbles (tech stocks, real estate, and oil) of the naughts at least in part as a result of Baby Boomers chasing after wealth using the seed money from their depression era parents. The real irony is that the story of Gordon Gekko was supposed to be a cautionary tale, and has been practically inspirational to (guessing) your generation. As it showed many that real wealth could be generated practically from nothing but hype. "Greed is good", well only when manipulation isn't one of the tools people are allowed to use. However, lately manipulation has been the name of the game. The Republicans have been using negative campaigning, the oil barons have been rigging oil prices, and etc [manipulation is fairly common theme].

It would certainly explain the sheer amount of credit card debt you've run up.

uh, Bankruptcies Soar for Senior Citizens

Actually, until last year I was a card-carrying Libertarian (finally got fed up with the pot-smoking crazy wing of that party). Now I'm just a libertarian with a small "l".

The disastrous 'War on Drugs' is the only wedge issue the Libertarian Party has that has not been fully co-oped by the Republican Party, and as they are larger and more successful it's only natural (well at least in the U.S.) that the Libertarian Party would be much smaller. However, if the Republican Party really does fall apart this election cycle, I suspect that the Libertarian Party would gain membership exponentially. Sort of like rats leaving a sinking ship, except they're Republicans (as if there's a difference, lol). Also, I'm certain that many would hold your conservative social views like Bob Barr, but they'd still have to lighten up their stance on pot, as true libertarians believe 'my body, my rules'.

Of course, this is from someone who understands math, finance, and economics. I understand your generation never got even the basics of those in your public school years or your college years.

I'll be sure to stay off your lawn, old man, if you promise to stay off of mine. My degree was in Accounting with a minor in Economics, and I work as a programmer for a bank (one of the largest who didn't get involved in the sub-prime mess). One of the most arrogant things that one can do in life, is always assume that you are more intelligent, or educated than the next guy. If it's true, it shouldn't need to be said. Human progress and the American Dream depends on one generation teaching the next, if my generation lacks any knowledge you consider 'basic', it's your failing, not ours. Education is only as good as its funding and leadership, kids don't pay or lead.

You mentioned the bubbles, and I think that history will see the three bubbles (tech stocks, real estate, and oil) of the naughts at least in part as a result of Baby Boomers chasing after wealth using the seed money from their depression era parents. The real irony is that the story of Gordon Gekko was supposed to be a cautionary tale, and has been practically inspirational to (guessing) your generation. As it showed many that real wealth could be generated practically from nothing but hype. "Greed is good", well only when manipulation isn't one of the tools people are allowed to use. However, lately manipulation has been the name of the game. The Republicans have been using negative campaigning, the oil barons have been rigging oil prices, and etc [manipulation is fairly common theme].

It would certainly explain the sheer amount of credit card debt you've run up.

uh, Bankruptcies Soar for Senior Citizens

Actually, until last year I was a card-carrying Libertarian (finally got fed up with the pot-smoking crazy wing of that party). Now I'm just a libertarian with a small "l".

The disastrous 'War on Drugs' is the only wedge issue the Libertarian Party has that has not been fully co-oped by the Republican Party, and as they are larger and more successful it's only natural (well at least in the U.S.) that the Libertarian Party would be much smaller. However, if the Republican Party really does fall apart this election cycle, I suspect that the Libertarian Party would gain membership exponentially. Sort of like rats leaving a sinking ship, except they're Republicans (as if there's a difference, lol). Also, I'm certain that many would hold your conservative social views like Bob Barr, but they'd still have to lighten up their stance on pot, as true libertarians believe 'my body, my rules'.

LOL if the successful bidder turns out to be Chavez.

Well, it would only buy him some time, as they are planning to eventually release publicly the entire archive. I suspect that they will get some pretty good bids for it, as the right wing media doesn't have much in the way of ethics. Besides, I'm not even sure if it is truly unethical as many whistle blowers count on publishing companies for advances on books and then the news companies report on it. As they often have close ties, at least for marketing, if not more direct corporate ties; This action just cuts out the middle man. The only question that I have is "how and why did they get it?", was the source paid, did he donate it thinking of the public good, or was it made up altogether.

So I'm thinking a bidding war won by Fox News. While seemingly intellectual, Chavez is a fairly scary leader, I'm sure that McCain is looking forward to using the worst of Machiavellian activities. I'm just wondering if they'll publish what I'm sure is his gloating over the manipulations of the oil market

There's been a big issue with rising property taxes in Florida. Part of it is due to some counties overspending on their budgets (and thus raising the tax rate), the other part was the rising cost in home values. There's an article about the crisis here

Thanks for the link. I noticed it funding education was part of the problem. I was in student government in college when the lottery came up. At first I supported the lottery but after reading the bill I came out against it. The lottery was meant to supplement education but the bill authorizing Lotto didn't guaranty the lottery money would go to supplementing education.

So the tax rates being tied to (at the time) rising property values, compounded with rising hurricane insurance premiums have sadly made things a bit tougher in Fl.

While hurricane insurance has increased, I think that's because builders are building, and buyers buying, where buildings shouldn't be built or are built inappropriately. For instance you don't bulldoze wetlands then hope houses built there won't get flooded. Nor do you build on the beach and hope sand won't be washed away. Or build a seawall and not have the same happen.

People move there then they want government to take care of them. I used to crack up when I read an article about how someone who had recently bought a new home in a new development freaked out when they found an alligator in their swimming pool. Many move there because "nature is so beautiful" but get upset when nature gets on their property.

Falcon

Otherwise the only taxes are property tax and a sales tax of 4.5%

There's been a big issue with rising property taxes in Florida. Part of it is due to some counties overspending on their budgets (and thus raising the tax rate), the other part was the rising cost in home values. There's an article about the crisis here.

The article cites one individual who's property taxes jumped from $2800 to $7400 in one year (thankfully capped due to new legislation), however if he were to sell the house the new owner would be paying $20,000 in property tax a year (since they no longer qualify for the new exemption).

So the tax rates being tied to (at the time) rising property values, compounded with rising hurricane insurance premiums have sadly made things a bit tougher in Fl.

Another interesting quote from the article:

according to a new Zogby International poll, half of South Floridians and 37% of all Floridians say they're considering moving out of the state.

Maybe now with the mortgage crisis the property values will hopefully re-settle.

Japan already has that for a while: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1815509,00.html?imw=Y : Japan's Booming Sex Niche: Elder Porn

The article you were referring to.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1574851,00.html

I posted a better article from Time Magazine a few weeks back.

Of course, it was rejected...

What happens when the work that makes the sound waves is interactive? In that case, the instructions to make the sound wave don't ever need to leave the player.

So, that would involve turning all movies, TV series, and songs into games? No doubt there will be some of that format in the future but can't see it being the preferred method of generating (or consuming) content.

Capturing the sound wave just captures one playing of the work, and replaying that over and over can get boring.

Boring? There are a lot of films, TV shows, and even more so music that people watch watch/listen to over and over again.
And there are enough people driving cars while interacting over their cell phones that I wouldn't want to see what would happen if they were also interacting with the music.

Could be wrong but I think "boring" non-interactive forms of entertainment will always be the the norm.

I seem to recall that similar laws exist in the UK.

Yeah Right... see with your own eyes:

http://barbadosfreepress.wordpress.com/2007/03/02/cricket-world-cup-special-rules-for-veiled-women-at-security-checkpoints/
http://www.jamd.com/search?assettype=g&assetid=72167185&text=burqa+london
http://www.pbase.com/srebla/image/69181927

And finally a very sickening editorial by some idiot at the times...

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1562873,00.html

If those game developers were going london downtown fully enveloped in the grabagebag no policeman would ever think of attempting to stop them. That's how london cops deal with real problems, ignoring them.

Have you seen's Al Gore's setup?

Wow, I haven't seen a reference to the International Committee for the Fourth International in Ages - ever since I didn't get commercials for the French Communist Party. You could also get your news from The Economist (http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11893699) or even Time Magazine (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1831857,00.html?cnn=yes). Or pretty much any other news source that covers international events. Anything will have more and better analysis than what is essentially a worldwide organ for Russian-style communists.

I was young, but I remember West boycotting the 1980 Olympics in the USSR — Russia's suppression of democracy in Czechoslovakia (military), Hungary (military), and Poland (political) were still fresh, as was the USSR's decision to, once again, prohibit its citizens a move to another country.. I could not really understand things then, but I'm disgusted, that the rest of "the Western Civilization" has deteriorated over the years down to the levels of the IOC...

Oh, and the 2014 Winter Olympics will be in Sochi — only a few miles away from Georgia. Is not Putin the coolest? He sure is, and now he is hot too...

Commence the "troll" moderations, and "insightful" responses on how the US is just as bad...

This is the country where the most well-known cultural hero is a robotic cat from the future who has an arsenal of privacy-invading tools.

Teach Huckabee COBOL? That's because he didn't major in math, he majored in miracles. And getting quality COBOL code now would quite frankly fall under the latter.

"This is a common exaggeration. Once they've served their time they are once again allowed to vote. it's only while incarcerated or on parole that they are forbidden."

Really? My references:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felony_disenfranchisement#United_States

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1553510,00.html

I was also in the Air Force and the only reason why the AF encourages a second job is to help pay for kids. The active-duty guys I saw who took on a second job(usually shit like pizza delivery) did it because of the low pay and tough conditions for few-kid families -- they weren't super-hackers who hacked China's government by night. You do know that plenty of military families, AF included, receive food stamps, right?

Silly Staff Sergeant, you're not supposed to drink the kool-aid until you make Tech :)

This article supports your description of his perspective in your class:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,945743,00.html

You are completely wrong.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1827342,00.html?cnn=yes

Even 30 minutes does almost nothing.

Weight lifting is much better than aerobics. It actually gives you cardiovascular benefits like aerobics does, plus a few:

- Muscle burns fat even when you're not using it, where fat just sits there doing nothing at all. Your basal metabolic rate increases when you build muscle.

- Everything you do, EVERYTHING depends on muscle, having more makes all of it easier.

Correction: It was Time (a much more reliable source). Here's the link: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1612688,00.html.

--AC

Buzz Aldrin reported seeing flashes of light when he closed his eyes on the way back from the Moon:

As Apollo 11 sped back to earth last July, Astronaut Buzz Aldrin kept seeing strange flashes of light in the darkened spacecraft, even though his eyes were closed. "I think I'm going out of my mind," Aldrin told Neil Armstrong. While Armstrong and other astronauts confirmed the mysterious flashes, NASA scientists were at first inclined to attribute them to an optical quirk. Now they have proposed a more plausible explanation: cosmic rays. Though only some of these high-speed particles--mostly protons--manage to break through the shield of the earth's magnetic field, they can easily penetrate the eyelids of a space traveler, pass through the eye fluid and strike the retina. At times, they may even hit the brain's optic nerve. Such bombardment causes no serious damage during a short lunar mission. But since the effect of cosmic rays on the body is cumulativeâ"like that of X raysâ"they could present a greater peril on prolonged space voyages.

Who knows what else those cosmic rays were breaking? I mean, we're talking about iron nuclei at relativistic speeds...

>There are certain professions that are not allowed to go on strike because doing so would endanger too many lives. I know doctors can't strike.

Doctors on strike in New York, see link below:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879493,00.html

1. What the weather will be x in 100 years when we have never seen anyone reliably predict the weather even 1 week in advance?
2. That it's our our contribution of CO2 that is doing it so stopping this will help stop famine (don't plants live on CO2? oops), and
3. that it's a bad thing that the temperature is going up when it is no where near what it was in the middle ages.

It just floors me. In 1974 "they" were predicting an ice age. Now "they" say it is global warming. Here is a well thought out examination of the climate and "they" says its another ice age... http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,944914,00.html

Fool me once, same on you...

And Gregory Benford didn't adress a new problem either, it's well known problem that's been on the table for quite some time. Even the Department of Energy formed a panel to examine the problem in the 1980s (see this Time Magazine article from 1984 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926980,00.html )

I heard about it the first time when I took a human-computer interaction course in the early 90s.

Perhaps Windows ME was New Coke and Vista is just Pepsi.

No, Vista is definitely a Ford Edsel

That's why we're all here, right? To celebrate V Day, the date 2 years ago when Microsoft took one of the computer industry's most hilarious pratfalls. But why? It really wasn't that bad an operating system. True, the OS was kind of homely, resource hungry and too expensive, particularly at the outset of the late '00s recession. But what else? It was the first victim of Redmond hyper-hype. Microsoft's marketing mavens had led the public to expect some plutonium-powered, pancake-making wonderOS; what they got was a XP in drag. Cultural critics speculated that the software was a flop because the CEO behaved like a cunt.

Paraphrased from Time's 50 Worst Cars.

No, the Edsel was a marketing failure of near biblical proportions, not an engineering failure.

Do you think someone will be able to get $200K+ for a mint condition Vista Ultimate CD in 50 years?

I do like your paraphrasing of the Time write up though.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1823186,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

Surge is over. Given how wrong you are on that I'd recommend everyone take the rest of what you say with a huge grain of salt.

The surge is over.

Given violence has continued to drop even as we've been pulling out troops I'd say your hypothesis is wrong. Much like Obama's, only in your case you can't edit your post to claim you never said it.

No, Vista is definitely a Ford Edsel

That's why we're all here, right? To celebrate V Day, the date 2 years ago when Microsoft took one of the computer industry's most hilarious pratfalls. But why? It really wasn't that bad an operating system. True, the OS was kind of homely, resource hungry and too expensive, particularly at the outset of the late '00s recession. But what else? It was the first victim of Redmond hyper-hype. Microsoft's marketing mavens had led the public to expect some plutonium-powered, pancake-making wonderOS; what they got was a XP in drag. Cultural critics speculated that the software was a flop because the CEO behaved like a cunt.

Paraphrased from Time's 50 Worst Cars.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see us actually get the heck off this planet and start populating the solar system, but the realities aren't just daunting, they're outright Godzilla-like.

The Nova Now guy, Neil deGrasse Tyson said in Time

"Do you know that Antarctica is balmier and wetter than the surface of Mars? Yet I don't see people lining up to build condos in Antarctica. So how long? A thousand years. Never. We can visit them. But to land there and say, "What an oasis!"--not anytime soon."

Don't be ridiculous. Slavery has been gone from everywhere in the world except Mexico since the 1800s, and it's not coming back.

So what? I ask again--do you believe that the issue of slavery should have been left to the states?

Yeah, it sucks, but what's your alternative? Have environmental regulations apply over the whole country, so that all the industry goes to China, resulting in no net change in pollution? Because that's exactly what's happening right now.

Countries have trade barriers and tariffs between them. The lowering of these barriers as an integral part of globalization means that capital moves much more easily than people do. As trade barriers between states are pretty much nonexistent, this state of affairs is the norm within a country. Externalities like pollution become a problem when the mobility of capital and people are grossly different.

While lowering trade barriers around the world (thus bringing us closer to that one-world system which bothers you so much when it's people who are doing the moving) replicate the problem on a larger scale, it still exists on a smaller one.

Just because you think certain regulations should apply everywhere doesn't make it so. Should strict environmental regulations apply everywhere? I think so, but others do not. Should strict religious regulations (requiring women to wear burqas and banning divorce) apply everywhere? Some people think so. Why should your environmental regulations apply everywhere, but not strict religious regulations that you probably don't agree with?

Because people's weird religious beliefs in neighboring states don't affect me. Poison being dumped into the river does.

Answer me this: should abortion be legal? People in California say yes, people in Mississippi say no. Who's right? Right now, there's a tug of war going between the groups, and it's been going on for decades, with no sign of stopping. The pro-choice people think things are ok, because RvW has allowed abortion since 1973. But what happens when a new Supreme Court revisits the issue, reversing that decision? (You can see I'm assuming you're pro-choice here, based on your environmental stance.) Are you still going to be OK with a strong centralized government, where the same rules apply everywhere? If you're ok with environmental rules being strict everywhere in the USA, then you have to be ok with anti-abortion laws applying everywhere as well.

Banning abortion on a state-by-state basis would have the effect of banning it for poor women, while making it slightly more expensive for the wealthy, who'll have to take a trip. (It's like this in El Salvador, where the government employs uterus inspectors. Seriously.)

So an argument could be made that it'd burden the surrounding states, but it's a very tenuous one. So no, if you're arguing from abstract principle rather than a consideration of how a change in policy would actually affect people, there's no real justification for federally regulating abortion.

(Unless, of course, you figure that it's a question of bodily integrity covered under the right to privacy, and that, just as states can't establish official churches, they can't chuck individual rights guaranteed under the feds.)

You also have to be ok with anti-marijuana laws applying everywhere, including California and Oregon where medicinal marijuana is legal according to the states, but not according to the Federal government.

It would be extremely difficult to ban the sale of a drug in one state and allow it in another; drugs can be smuggled around in a number of disturbingly clever ways. While I think public health decisions like these should be left to the states, I'm doubtful that it'd be effective to do so. (States regulating the sal

He will never veto it, because Jindal supports the teaching of intelligent design in public schools.

I do hear the US left calling for nationalizing healthcare pretty much every day. Many of them want to ban the use of petroleum-derived motor fuels altogether, long before we have any suitable alternatives. How's that for lefties? They want to redistribute so much wealth that people who can work but won't get TVs, DVD players, cars, and video game consoles -- all things which I don't recall being necessary to a healthy life.

I have friends who are honestly downright socialist and communist, some who are entirely libertarian, and a few who are nearly fascist. I assure you I can tell the difference. Very few people on broadcast TV fit any of those extremes, but some on satellite TV and on the radio do.

It's clear that Katie Couric, for example, supports the tree-hugging, bleeding-heart, government as the cure for all ills hippie mold, but isn't afraid to compromise her principles with the checks she gets from CBS. The folks at CNN try to lean as far left as possible on the air, probably to offer an alternative to the bias in the other direction at Fox.

Most of the rest are more subtle, but you'll see many news outlets pound into the ground the dead horse that is G. W. Bush's 25% approval rating, but won't ever mention the 14% approval rating of the predominantly Democratic House of Representatives. Thankfully, Time Magazine is still independent and objective enough to tell both sides.

(I know it's beside your point, but the evidence I cited was from Hadith, not the Quran, and I'd rather not have the two confused!)

I realized that sometime after I hit submit, but alas /. doesn't give you the ability to go back and edit mistakes, so all I can do is apologize for my error.

A little ironic but I think it's better for both sides that false information about Islam stops spreading.

I would agree with that. But I think my point is still valid. I don't really care if the guy who killed me did so because his faith told him to or because of socioeconomic conditions that left him hopeless and despondent. I'm just as dead either way.

Time just had a very interesting article about suicide bombers. It was focused specifically on female suicide bombers but it still gives a pretty interesting look at what motivates them. Faith is an undeniable part of it. It might be a twisted reading of that faith but it's still there nonetheless.

In theory, M$ Office has support for Word Perfect. In reality, M$ Office does not support M$ Office and this is why OOXML is such a mess. The kind of support they are talking about is just another weapon to them. The sum of their anti-competitive efforts against others is something that does not work for their own customers.

IBM, Sun and others have made real moves to free software. M$ does not have the technical expertise or confidence to do the same. As Steve Ballmer said back in 1995:

"It doesn't matter if we bang our heads and fail," says Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's executive V.P. for sales and service. "We keep right on banging and banging and banging and banging and banging."

You can translate that as they don't care if something does not work for you and you don't want it, they are going to shove it on you anyway. There's nothing new here and no change should be expected.

Sorry to be replying myself. I made a mistake in the link above.

Correct one: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1661031_1661028_1661016,00.html

Also, here's a very different list,
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/24/pollution-baku-oil-biz-logistics-cx_tl_0226dirtycities_slide_26.html?thisSpeed=30000
using the Mercer Health and Sanitation Index Score as the ranking value.

The first five are:
- Baku, Azerbaijan
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Antananarivo, Madagascar
- Port au Prince, Haiti
- Mexico City, Mexico

The general population wouldn't be as xenophobic, thus less willing to go after the "evil doers" as our current leader labels them.

There would be fewer "evil doers" because we wouldn't run around the world in a ignorant haze spewing American propaganda without realizing that, perhaps, we're lucky to be where we are. It is not a eternal right. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers

we're becoming so busy trying to protect what is already here we have become myopic. The world changes. Everything changes. If you're not changing then entropy sets in and the end product is disorder. And the more I travel around this country the more it tends to look like it is falling apart slowly. Bridge by bridge, neighborhood by neighborhood. The gentrification process is slower than the sprawl and subsequent dilapidation that occurs.

The US is still a country of immense wealth, both intellectually and in natural resources. But there is a fundamental issue where the culture is becoming one of fear rather than optimism. This is not sustainable or productive. It's up to us to change where we're going. Family member by family member. Friend by friend. And even, stranger by stranger. You have to build it piece by piece even when misguided leaders break it down so quickly.

But this guy is winning something more important now: The 100 things Challenege"! Now he just has to work his way back up to one hundred, and he's gold.

The Telco's also knew or should have known this administration's propensity to have others take the fall (CIA/Tenet).

Dude. if we had had the tools then, the towers would still be there.

HAHA!!! The Bush admen knew something was going to happen but didn't prevent it. Heck the Justice department even prevented FBI agent Coleen Rowley from investigating a potential hijacker, Zacarias Moussaoui. Personally though I agree with that decision. As Benjamin Franklin said " Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

I was listening to NPR this morning and they were bringing up decent points regarding drilling off the coasts. The impact would be negligble and would take a while for it to show any signs of impact. According to this article from Time - Will Drilling More Mean Cheaper Gas?, which mines some quotes and data from the EIA of the DOE, found that drilling ANWR would only decrease the cost of gas by 3.5 cents per gallon by 2027. When it comes to offshore drilling, the National Resources Defense Council says that it will only cut down by a similar amount, 3-4 cents per gallon.

Shale oil I'm really interested in because I heard that the major barrier was the cost effectiveness. With oil at about $140/barrel, I can only hope to see a more concerted effort in refining that oil at a cheaper price. Do we have the necessary infrustructure to do so and make an immediate impact?

Still, the counter argument can be made as to why we shouldn't even bother drilling offshore or in Alaska.

(Q2) As for the second question that we want to answer: What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?

(1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam.

Convert to Islam, or die. So much for freedom of religion.

(2) The second thing we call you to, is to stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you.

(a) We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling's, and trading with interest.

We call you to all of this that you may be freed from that which you have become caught up in; that you may be freed from the deceptive lies that you are a great nation, that your leaders spread amongst you to conceal from you the despicable state to which you have reached.

(b) It is saddening to tell you that you are the worst civilization witnessed by the history of mankind:

(i) You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator. You flee from the embarrassing question posed to you: How is it possible for Allah the Almighty to create His creation, grant them power over all the creatures and land, grant them all the amenities of life, and then deny them that which they are most in need of: knowledge of the laws which govern their lives?

Eliminate the separation of church and state, and implement Islamic Sharia law, or die.

To comply we will have to completely revamp our banking laws, completely change the relationship between the sexes, force women into "modest" clothes, kill homosexuals by either crushing them under walls or pushing them off buildings, kill blasphemers, chop off body parts of thieves, severely punish people who drink alcohol, take drugs, publish cartoons featuring Mohammad, and a very long list of other things. They probably won't be happy unless we also oppress Jews, kill pagans and pantheists. We will need to institute dietary laws for ceremonial purity of food, ban some types of food, pray 5 times a day, and visit Mecca at least once. Our marriage laws will need to change to allow men to marry multiple women, and divorce them by saying "I divorce you!" three times. The sex habits of Americans deeply offend them, as do pornography and much of our literature. The Taliban banned kite flying as unIslamic. We'll have to start separating men and women in many activities... at least when we allow women out of the house. The 'Burqini' (not a joke) will be the hot new swimwear.... for those wanting to avoid a whipping for immodesty. Forget concerns about if lethal injection is too harsh under the Constitution because stoning, beheading, and crucifiction will be making a comeback. Democracy is unIslamic.

Sense a pattern there? They don't like our freedoms to worship, dress, eat, marry, work, pray, read, play, and just about anything else, the way to do now, including the way we govern ourselves. If it isn't getting through to you that, yes, they (Al Qaeda) really do hate our freedoms (to live as we do now), it isn't because the evidence isn't there, and it isn't because they don't tell us. Why aren't you listening to what they say?

By the way, New Y

It's called "Jeep Disease" and I've had it happen twice to me. God bless drugs! See site below:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,796473,00.html

Haliburton/Cheney sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/world/middleeast/25reconstruct.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101040607-644111,00.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/26/politics/main575356.shtml

Bush sources:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0207/S00104.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/jul/10/qanda.usa

Obviously, you can also just use Google to find other sources.

These are not conspiracy theories. These are fact-supported TRUTHS. You could likely find some of the press conferences referenced in those sources on youtube, if you need video as well.

remember this...? http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1098371,00.html http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1098961-1,00.html

remember this...? http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1098371,00.html http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1098961-1,00.html

In the case of the titan rain attacks, US investigator (Shawn Carpenter) broke into the machines that the attackers were bouncing off of, and the trail always stopped at a set of three routers in Guangdong. He set up camp there and watched.

"Carpenter had never seen hackers work so quickly, with such a sense of purpose. They would commandeer a hidden section of a hard drive, zip up as many files as possible and immediately transmit the data to way stations in South Korea, Hong Kong or Taiwan before sending them to mainland China. They always made a silent escape, wiping their electronic fingerprints clean and leaving behind an almost undetectable beacon allowing them to re-enter the machine at will. An entire attack took 10 to 30 minutes."

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,1098906,00.html