Sounds a bit expedient, but no worse than Bush's false promises of a compassionate government and a humble foreign policy.

On the JC question, it's a lot tougher to confirm. When I took time off to teach HS History for a year, one of my students asked how we know that JC ever existed. It's a tough question, and one with little "scientific" proof. Just a lot of circumstantial evidence. This is where the Muslims have an advantage. Even though their history shifted from pacifism to high violence during the Prophet's lifetime, they have plenty of historical records about Mohammad's existence and long life. They even have a family tree leading from Mohammad to people who are alive today. Christians have no tangible proof that JC was even a real man rather than a mythological response to Roman oppression.

Whatever written history resided in the Holy Land might have been saved, but from the time of JC through the end of Simon bar Kochbar's revolt in 132 C.E., Israel was the scene of constant conflict between the Romans and the people of Palestine. It would have been tough to keep a paper library through that era of conflict.

Zed -- You should start a blog on the Shakespeare was a fake theory. Actually, on NPR this AM they continued a long established debate on how a modest merchant from Stratford on Avon could have been so wise in the ways of so many above his status and people from so far away. They even quoted mark Twain. One theory is that as political and social commentary, the writings of Shakespeare's could not pass unpunished if written by a wealthy and influential noble, so a wealthy and educated noble wrote the plays and hired Shakespeare, who had an interest in acting, directing and staging the plays at the Globe Theater, to be his front man.

He's sooo right! In Puerto Rico one January we went to a Chili's Restaurant one beautiful night. The temps were in the 70s and yet the restaurant kept the AC so low that frost was forming on the inside of the windows. It was so frikkin ridiculous, we left and went to a sea-side restaurant and had pina coladas by the sea. Muy mejor!

What is it with people who need to turn down the AC?

Even dire predictions sound so much more romantic when spoken in Italian than in English.

Per non preoccuparsi. … L'Italia sarà popolata da Arabs da 2150 ed il papa predicherà in arabo ai musulmani romani.

(Translation: Not to worry. ... Italy will be populated by Arabs by 2150, and the Pope will preach in Arabic to Roman Muslims.)

E triste da vedere Europe' lingue che diminuiscono con Europe' tasso di natalità basso e capelli grigi.

Primo lingue Europa muoiono… allora la gente? Ha potuto Europa essere vuota ante 2150?

Dove sono gli bambini?

Le prime lingue comunitarie muoiono… allora la gente? Ha potuto Europa essere vuota da 2150?

E triste da vedere Europe' lingue di s che diminuiscono con Europe' tasso di natalità basso di s e capelli grigi.

From Christy Brinkley to this ... They cover everything here on the Retort.

What did she ever see in the creep? And to think, she could have had me!

Don't worry, Rcade -- #43 likes things simple, and he's got a lot of pride. He'll make it 43% by Election Day, you can bet on it.

So, in theory, now American goods are cheaper for everyone else in the world to buy, and everyone else's products are more expensive for Americans to buy. This should lead to a manufacturing boom for the USA, right?

Unfortunately, the weak dollar means that the only bargain has been until recently, US labor, whose cost to employers has grown modestly. US real estate was a bargain early on, before the bubble got heated up, and now it may be becoming a bargain to overseas investors again. But for manufacturers and any business that consumes any natural resources, the cost of those resources -- metals, plastics, energy, etc. -- has skyrocketed with global competition for the resources.

Looking ahead, resource competition will continue to drive up the cost of raw materials and powering all businesses. The cost of goods bought will reflect thoses costs. And the cost of labor will likely rise as employees find it harder and harder to make ends meet, to keep their families fed and their homes warm, and to commute to work.

It may not be a depression, but it does look like the return of "Stagflation". You cannot blame cost increases on an over-heated economy, and if you drop interest rates, you can crash the dollar, and if you raise interest rates, you will shut the door on R&D and capital investment.

It's a fine fix you've gotten us into Dubya!

Nanc -- a 20 second digression from my real job:

Today's Westerners have combined the philosophy of social liberalism with an underlying theme of Acquinas's Christian egalitarianism and justice. That's quite simplified, but it's hard to deny that Judeo-Christian ethics underpin many of Western society's values. Of course, these have been combined with a recent surge in materialism and affluence, so the Judeo-Christian values of 2008 are a bit different from those of 1778, but it is the philosophy we have grown up with our whole lives. That said, wahhabism, the ultra-angry version of Islam sponsored by the Saudi royals, originated in Arabia in the 1770s when a Sheik Wahhab sought resistance to European colonialism in the Middle East through a religious/political movement based upon conservative interpretation of Islamic teachings.

So, today's Islamists have as long a histoty of growth in their Wahhabi philosophy as Western liberals have in their concept of popular secular governance. It's not surprising that after 230 years, and with all of the wealth now residing in the land of the Prophet, that two differing and opposing world views are bumping into one another. Unfortunately, one world view is unforgiving and intolerant -- for them extremism in defense of Wahhabi theology is no vice; and the other world view is forgiving, altruistic, secular and pacifist.

I believe it's important for every forgiving, altruistic, secular and pacifist-leaning non-Muslim to engage a true-believing jihadist in intellectual conversation. It will definitely be a shock to understand the vitriol and contempt that the jihadists have for their liberal Western counterparts. And there lies the rub ... forgive and passively recieve another's hatred, or push back and try to convince the intolerant and unyielding to tolerate and to yield?

Nanc -- Fine journalism there, girl! This is a highly credible source, and the interview should that should be read by all of the fine patriots on the Retort who believe they understand the miracle book of Arabia. Thanks for the post.

My bet -- in 6 months there will be funeral dirgess for UBL. Dec 08/Jan 09. And I'd bet one share of Halliburton stock on that.

KGB -- Iran v. USN would be tougher for each side than they think. But it wouldn't be a ground war if they came to blows over Hormuz, and that says a lot. Plus, there are a lot more moderates in Iran who don't like A'Jad. There is some pressure for A'jad to sit down and keep quiet.

truthhurts at 2008-07-02 05:40 PM

This is "shocking!" An empty promise from the "morality" candidate of 2000? I just cannot believe it!!!

Steam -- According to a Texas court, he is no criminal. Is here another jurisdiction that stands ready to judge him?

No question about it. What does W know about Woodrow Wilson? Nothing! It was oil and wildcatting all along.

Oh, and I just found a relatively recent article on Saudi oil revenues. Before oil jumped $25 / barrel, and before Saudi upped production by 20%, they were looking to take in $290 billion in 2008. I think that the $500 billion from 7/1/08 through 6/30/09 is looking like a pretty close swag (if you can forgive the decimal point error that I just apologized for).

Ok, I pushed a decimal point one place too far. make my projection $500 billion, not $5 trillion. What's a decimal point ot two between friends, anyway. If my friends on the Retort can't give a tiny decimal point one way or the other, than they can't take a joke.

Funny, Jo!

He's right. He's also rich. Very, very rich!

Saudi Arabia increased it's output by 200,000 barrels a day, right? That means about $28,800,000 more petrodollars a day into Saudi coffers. You can pay for a lot with that kind of money. (Ok, maybe only a F-22 jet or two per day, but if you're into more carnal pleasures, you could do a lot with the dough. And in an year, it's $1,051,000,000 additional petrobux for the House of Saud.)

My SWAG (super-wild guess) is that Saudis will take in something like $5 trillion a year in petro profits over the next 12 months. Hey, if it makes them love the West any more than they do now, it's a good investment. (Eh, bubba?)

W'melon & straberry pie, oh my!

Actually, it's a legit photo, but it doesn't look like Sadr City. More like one of the province towns. As for the kid standing on the GI's boots, its probably cause they're cooler than the ground. That ground gets up to 140 degrees in teh heat of the day.

Thanks for the link!

Ole!

Let's hope Bush cares enough about his legacy to succeed at this.

An interesting article. Guess our "war on drugs" is a flop?

This is ridiculous. The value-added tax is a consumption tax, but when confined to a city or small area, it is a regressive tax on anyone who cannot afford to shop in the burbs. Dumb idea by taxaholics who cannot figure out how to balance the books by making wise decisions. Mayor Daley, this reflects on you very poorly.

FUNNY, EXCEPT IF YOUR NAME IS TYSON GAY.

Yes, Pak became home to AQ as soon as GWB outsourced getting UBL to the pro-AQ Pak Army. Duh! Set back about 10 years!

Make that a sarcastic "popular" as the Bush Cheney guys have been.

Arianna may be correct. The rhetoric has to remain hot to keep his crowds enthusiastic. He has to evoke Bobby and Jack Kennedy, and Eugene Mccarthy while adhering to a Horatio Alger ethos that will pull moderates from the center.

As for triangulating, he needs to select then send forth national security, agriculture, economy, and energy policy wonks from his "pre-convention kitchen cabinet" who will reassure centrists in those 4 policy areas that his tent of advisors is very wide and will ultimately include centrists.

But ultimately, Arianna has to agree that any administration will need to pull somewhat from the center or it will be as popular as the Bush Cheney administration has been.

KB -- Is it really the Pepsi Center? Ugh!

Nanc & R8RH8R -- sliced, pan grilled eggplant, in a light spray of olive oil and some smashed garlic cloves and red pepper, then laid flat in layers in in a casserole with fresh diced tomatoes, basil, and a sprinking of bread crumbs, oregano, romano and mozzerella cheese and then baked til hot through and through. Serve with whole wheat pasta or italian bread and a mixed salad! Yum! And healthy too. Even better with some grilled yelow squash mixed among the slices.

Thanks C. I'll check the suggestions out.

Cawdor -- Welcome to the Retort. If Nok = Nokia(?), then what are SEK and SGD? What's in it ofr you to suggest these alternatives?

RIR -- Thanks for the encouraging link. But it was dated 3 weeks ago, and nothing has changed. In fact, people were warning that real estate was becoming a bubble in 2003, 4 years before it started to tank. So if we are mid cycle in the "oil is a bubble" warnings, expect it to double again (to $260?/bbl) before it snaps back.

(And, btw, RE may drop 33% from its peak in most markets, perhaps as much as 50% in Florida, but resorces and real estate inflation is real. They just don't make any more of the stuff, and population is expanding fairly rapidly in the Middle East and 3rd World, and the middle class is expanding in most emerging markets, Both dynamics mean more competition and more demand for increasingly scarce resources.)

RIR -- Thanks for the encouraging link. But it was dated 3 weeks ago, and nothing has changed. In fact, people were warning that real estate was becoming a bubble in 2003, 4 years before it started to tank. So if we are mid cycle in teh "oil is a bubble" warnings, expect it to double again before it snaps back.

(And, btw, RE may drop 33% from its peak in most markets, perhaps as much as 50% in Florida, but resorces and real estate inflation is real. They just don't make any more of the stuff, and population is expanding fairly rapidly in the Middle East and 3rd World, and the middle class is expanding in most emerging markets, Both dynamics mean more competition and more demand for increasingly scarce resources.

OA -- "Moral of the Story: When you get a second chance...Take it." Good one!

Zat -- (D8mn typing errors) Interesting STATS!!

Zat -- Interesting state! High correlations between red states and gun deaths and high poverty/low education attainmant and gun deaths. Double whammy if you live in a red state with low education attainment!

Klifferd -- Re: NJ, you forgot Camdem -- one long forgotten ghetto that would be worse if it weren't for Campbell's, and Trenton, Perth Amboy and parts of New Brunswick are pretty rough, too. But overall the state is pretty mellow.

Nanc -- You hubby reminds me of my Uncle Chandler, a real southern boy who from Flodida who was 6'3" and 165 lbs. But he didn't drink so much and he probably didn't get so much luvin from my very religious Aunt. If your hub is getting it, great. But if he can't get it up, then that's a sign of heart trouble. -- In that case get him to a cardio-doc fast. And he needs an annual check of his blood to see if he's developing liver damage or diabetes. Some people metabolize alcohol very well, others less well. Hopefully he's in the first group. But if he's not, don't nag. Guys hate to be nagged, even if it's for their own good.

Rcade -- Texas mentality.

Oddly, I'd like to see some stats to show that gun-happy Texas is a safer place and less prone to crime than any other place. IMHO, I think that the land of former Gov. GW Bush, where there were so many more people executed by the state every year than anywhere else, is a crazier, wilder, and more dangerous and less civilized place than any other place in the civilized world.

(But then, it's teh kind of place where you can drink til you can't see straight, shoot your lawyer friend in the face, and then get him to apologize for causing you such inconvenience. Texas! What a state!)

Simple soultion -- We import mediocre graduate physics students from those very large countries China, India and Indonesia, and then give them visas to teach physics here in the West. The upside, they'll work for a lot less than mediocre US physics teachers (or English teachers paid to teach physics). The downside -- They might write home and tell their fellow countrymen just how scientifically illiterate most of their American stuents really are.

726 -- Interesting and sad. I didn't realize that the employees' burden would become the employers', but you hit the nail. Sure before high gas, we could blame rising costs on things not job or employee cost inflation related. But if an employee cannot afford to drive to work, then they will find jobs closer to home. You must have your place of employment in a remote location, but about 20% of jobs must be in remote locations. Thanks for making the economist in me see that.

Just heard Hersh on BBC a while back. Sounded like BBC asked the same q's as Ms. Gross did. Could they have dubbed their own voices in between the Hersh responses? Anyway, whether hey had permission from NPR or not, the answers were just as chilling this time around. Essentially, Hersh thinks that the US is spending $300 million for black ops that Congress has no idea about. Apparently Admiral Fallon got wind of the plan and wanted Cheny's people to tell him what was up, and to pause the show, but lost his job instead.

Wonder what Fallon would say about this now?

This would have been a good bet.

Nanc -- He sounds fitter than 90% of US males. Good for you! I'm still trying to get my BMI back down from 19% to the 17% it should be. It's a struggle, but fried foods are definitely out of the question; so are white pastas, bagels, white bread, mayo, salad dressings, etc. Small portions of lean meats and ample servings of veggies and fresh fruit are definitely in!

No wonder European fertility rates are at disastrously low levels.

Could you imagine Arnie wearing that get-up?

Goats -- Someday, we could see the rubberband on oil snap back and gasoline fall back to some dopey cheap price, and then we'll be back where we have always been, subsidizing the Arab war against the West (and the East, and everybody else who doesn't believe in what they believe).

But at these ridiculous prices, where it costs the House of Saud and the Mullahs of Iran only about $5 to produce a barrel of crude for export (I have heard that in contrast, it costs a West Texas oilman about $35 to produce each barrel of oil), that the Arabs and Iranians are making $137 per barrel in profit! That equates to TRILLIONS in profits just by virtue of geography and geology. (Tell their terrorists that Alahu isn't Akbar! Is that luck or what??? And we are their unwitting benefactors because we are simply addicted to their crap.)

Bottom line -- we need to really push consumers to get off the gasoline habit, and fast.

But, the deeper thought is this? Could the US Government afford for consumers to cut back on their gas consumption? It's not a dumb question, as most highway programs are financed by gasoline taxes. The tradeoff for the FEDs is what happens IF AMERICANS SPEND LESS PER YEAR for gasoline? Answer -- Highway revenues fall, and that deficit will need to be made up somewhere. So if gasoline prices double again in 2 years, but gasoline consumption drops by more than 50%, then the Feds will be "earning" less from gasoline taxes than they are today. Ipso facto -- why the heck should the Feds who manage our highways want us to dramatically cut back on gasoline consumption? And whoever heard of a commuter PHEV contributing to the Highway Trust Fund if it gets all of the juice it needs from the power grid?

Dr. Howard Dean is a family practice doctor in good health. He knows obesity is an epidemic.

And to be very fair, the reality is that the average adult male should target having a girth at waist no more than half his height. This means that a 6 foot tall man should have a 36" waist. Heck, not many American men could do that, no matter how good it is for them.

But, how many delegates could tolerate it?

Imho, if you look at how trashed out some 3rd world countries are, what kind of unequal societies they live in, the un-Christian/un-Western/un-
liberal values they espouse, and the sorry, nasty and brutish lives thay have made for each other, you would have to conclude that sparing your gene pool from continuing on into the future so that some nasty and brutish chauvinists can be more genetically successful than your ancestors will have been is foolhardy. Can we afford to pass on to the solo children of our collective only children, a world that is dominated by characters who can only live as they do in some amoral, chaotic and vile, 3rd world hellhole -- you name the place? As odd as the biology of reproduction may seem, those are the ones who are successfully passing along their genes into the next generation (them and the uber-wealthy Arabs like Bin Laden and the sheiks and emirs and retirees from the Emirates, who have as many children as they can from as many wives as they can coerce into marrying them), not the "civilized" Europeans, Japanese, or wealthy and educated Canadians and Americans.

RIR -- You can always get back to threads even when they slide behind the front screen. Since the issue has a lot of gravity to it, it would be good to see it discussed somewhere where there are intelligent thinkers around to mix it up with. But everyone has grown so comfortable to thinking that having children is a bother and falsely thinking that not having children will save the world. Sure it may save the world, but for whom? And what will their values be when it comes to conservation and species protection?

Here are some respected military generals who protested either the intent of the invasion of Iraq or the insane way DOD was run by Rumsfeld:

Van Riper
Swannack
Batiste
Eaton
Zinni

And you could Google a bunch of others.

True, some will say that Rumsfeld ticked off a lot of traditionalists with his adherence to RMA theories. That's just a bunch of red-herrings to cast doubt onto Rummy's critics. But Rummy's theories also have been proven wrong by experience. RMA meant going high tech and going light. For what? The grunt on the ground is now carrying more than he ever carried before, and all of those light HMVees are not trashed and had to be up-armored or replaced by mine resistant vehicles. Great theory Rummy. Got any more good ideas?

Haven't we already been tracking these things? Can't the EU or ASEAN coalitions finance this sort of monitoring program, thereby easing the financial burden on the US, or at least providing a benchmark and backup system for what the US has?

Sully -- Seems like I agree with your post almost 100%. Moral of the story, behave with honor in all your actions. Serving in Vietnam was the honorable thing to do, even if his initial motives were to jumpstart his political ambitions. An his grandstanding against the war, while in line with the conventional wisdom of populist politics of the day, was perhaps a bit over the top (but so was everything hapening at the time, and for a stiff guy like Kerry, a little ganja might have thrown him over the top, too).

Still Brent Bozell and Cheney were never honorable and their shenanigans defamed a lot of decent people of honor, who according to Cheney, probably had LESS "important things to do". Right! (Cheney s*cks!)

When will we implement the following energy policies:

1. Offer Federal rebates to car buyers who purchase cars that get 35 MPG and even higher rebates for cars that get over 45 MPG?

2. Encourage the development of PHEV automobiles for commuters?

3. Encourage solar and wind-power on the corporate, home and local business scales, by mandating that utilities go to net metering pricing.

4. Tax all petroleum usage so that it compensates the public impacts of the country's excessive petroleum dependence (i.e., war financing costs, Iraq occupation costs, Arab sheiks sticking it to the West costs, road and infrastructure replacement and repair costs, air pollution mitigation costs, maintaining a fleet in the Persian Gulf costs, protecting Japanese and Chinese oil tankers transiting the Indian Ocean and South China Sea costs, etc.).

5. Subsidize urban and inter-urban rail transit to make commuting less costly.

RIR -- Before retiring from DOD, I suggested in a final presentation that demographics was a critical strategic concern. SECDEF got my presentation, but it was only on his retirement that he mentioned in a private farewell to journalists how he, too, saw demographic changes and trends as the greatest unexpected adverse strategic developments of his career.

If the USA is looking at an unfunded pension and healthcare liability in the tens of trillions, and it has a box shaped population pyramid, what kind of liability is Europe looking at? It has an inverted pyramid, with virtually NO base at all.

Good for Europe that they now have strong trade ratios with the US and other parts of the world. Good for them that they can afford their current social programs. But beneath it all, they must be scared witless to know that the current generation of school age youth will be Europe's last line of defense against government bankruptcy and islamization. Tough, too, that these great kids have a lot riding on their shoulders. As I may ahve said before, it will probably lead to internal strife and a virtual civil war.

What, no comments yet?

LM, cute.

So we go to war with Iraq, only to realize that if we ahd had a choice, we should have gone to war with Iran? What kind of Dumbf*ckups are working at our intel agencies?

And as Jay Leno and Dave Letterman so wisely observed, the US and Iraq went to war and the winner was -- Iran!

Still, if Mossad is so good, why then couldn't they have persuaded the Bush Cheney administration from invading Iraq? IMHO, AIPAC has tried to manipulate US policy to much for too long.

RIR, ex-wives are usually easier to get along with than soon-to-be exes. I have actually heard of some exes becoming friends after the divorce. But that aside, don't let the exes get you down.

On the link you posted, thanks. I read that article back when it came out the 1st time and forgot about it. It reminds me of several ghost towns I say out West and soon to become ghost towns in the declining pats of the Northeast. My expectation is that there will be some ghost towns, but the real security risk, as I see it, is for internal conflict within the cities entirely because a welcoming liberal, areligious Europe opened its doors to social refugees of an entirely different stripe, and that act of charity and human tolerance has paved the way for an intolerant invasion from within.

Another point, however, is that population decline is seldom considered to be benign. In this case, Europe's genetic pool is shrinking in relation to the world's population (as is the US's European derived population).

If European infertility and population decline were a disease, the UN would be forced to investigate the causes. To the rest of the world, is it seen as a case of just desserts?

When, oh, when will we implement the following energy policies:

1. Offer Federal rebates to car buyers who purchase cars that get 35 MPG and even higher rebates for cars that get over 45 MPG?

2. Encourage the development of PHEV automobiles for commuters?

3. Encourage solar and wind-power on the corporate, home and local business scales, by mandating that utilities go to net metering pricing.

4. Tax all petroleum usage so that it compensates the public impacts of the country's excessive petroleum dependence (i.e., war financing costs, Iraq occupation costs, Arab sheiks sticking it to the West costs, road and infrastructure replacement and repair costs, air pollution mitigation costs, maintaining a fleet in the Persian Gulf costs, protecting Japanese and Chinese oil tankers transiting the Indian Ocean and South China Sea costs, etc.).

5. Subsidize urban and inter-urban rail transit to make commuting less costly.

Global warming may be related to CO2 emissions, but the melting of the Arctic Ice Cap has more contributing to it than just CO2.

By 2015 -- Just 7 years from now, many of Europe's urban kindergartens will have more children of legal and illegal immigrants of non-European ancestry than children of parents of native European ancestry. It is a shame. And it has all been because of the good intentions of Europeans to do their part to stop having children.

DG, Funny!

Just think how many good guys shot themselves in the foot by telling their bosses this BEFORE the invasion???

Never had the Pentagon been so filled with assinine ideologues as it was under Cheney Bush.

Is Ignatius a shill for the neocons? Dubai would like to believe that it is the future home of American Presidents and VPs, but the idea that it should be the setting for a presidential campaign debate... nichts ser gut. Not so good.

Zat -- Check!

HC -- Now back to your thought-provoking and positive point. All of our soldiers, marines and sailors are interacting with noble and honest humans everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is a hope in the US and in Europe for common ground and mutual acceptance between groups, but on the ground in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere, the soldiers absolutely need to find common ground.

The pseudo-Wilsonian idea of "liberating" a country when you know nothing about the underlying culture is foolhardy and naive. But the Bush Cheney neocons thought they knew what they were doing. They certainly made Cheney's and Bush's oil friends wealthier, but they really screwed things up for everyone else. Maybe the average Muslim and the non-Muslim will see the world from the same perspective. But screwups like Cheney, Bush, Rummy and Condi haven't made that very likely anytime soon.

From early Islamic history is the concept of the love of death. This originated in the year 636, when the commander of the Muslim forces, Khalid ibn Al-Waleed, sent an emissary with a message from Caliph Abu Bakr to the Persian commander: "You should convert to Islam, and then you will be safe, for if you don't, you should know that I have come to you with an army of men that love death, as you love life." This account is recited in today's Muslim sermons, newspapers, and textbooks.

On a tape claiming responsibility for the atrocities in Madrid, a man is heard to say, "We choose death, while you choose life." It is a mindset that rejoices in suicide and murder.

Chief Palestinian mufti Sheikh Ikrimeh Sabri stated, "We tell them, in as much as you love life, the Muslim loves death and martyrdom. There is a great difference between he who loves the hereafter and he who loves this world. The Muslim loves death and martyrdom."

HC, interesting point. Thought provoking, but look at it this way and you might modify your comment.

When fundies began killing people at planned parenthood and abortion clinics, the entire society, including moderate Christians and Jews jumped in the sh*t of the fundies. When fundie muslims began blowing up people at markets and in buildings what did the moderate muslims do? No way that the moderate muslims have been near as responsive as teh moderate Christians have been.

And I know a lot of homeschooling fundies, and none of them has ever expressed a desire to become a suicide bomber. I know (second-hand) of hundreds or thousands of muslims who think that suicide bombers go straight to Paradise and that they are killing for the benefit of Allah.

No sh*t! Those muslim fundies really think that Allah loves death! SO, I don't think the point is really fair to fundie Christians.

Arab Americans have got to feel the hostility they have invited upon themselves, however. Sure they thought Bush would be good for the Arabs, but they didn't realize that Shrub and Shady would be good for OIL OWNING Arabs. Unless you own an oil well, tough noogies!

But they can take heart -- what's good for the emirs and mullahs is good for all Arabs. After all, a set percentage of the windfall profits going in to the coffers goes right into the annual charitable duty that the emirs and mullahs have to pay into. And that goes right to making sure no one challenges the right of male chauvinist Arabs to have as many wives as they want, to prohibit women from going to college and driving cars and thinking freely, and to suicide bombers of all stripes in the name of the religion of peace.

(And the way Shady and Shrub see the world, well anyone can call themselves relatively more peaceful>)

Oh, no -- more nightmares for neocons like Boaz ("black Jimmy Carter") Oh, Boo! Boo! Boo!

Scared you didn't we? Boo! Boo! Boo!

DOn't wet your pants little boy! Mama Cheney and her lesbian daughters will protect you. Just you wait.

Boaz -- Since WHEN is Iran our enemy? You neocons are all alike -- Everyone is your enemy, right?

Boo! You must have nightmares every night. What did you do before Cheney became the supreme ruler of the USA? What will you do when he is gone? (Oh, I forgot, Cheney is working right now to convince McSame to nominate Dick Shady as his VP. No law against that and Hell, why change horses in the middle of the stream especially when Dick Shady's national security policies have been oh sooo successful so far. Gotta stay the course, right?)

Boaz -- Since WHEN is Iran our enemy? You neocons are all alike -- Everyone is your enemy, right?

Boo! You must have nightmares every night. What did you do before Cheney became the supreme ruler of the USA? What will you do when he is gone? (Oh, I forgot, Cheney is working right now to convince McSame to nominate Dick Shady as his VP. No law against that and Hell, why change horses in the middle of the stream especially when Dick Shady's national security policies have been oh sooo successful so far. Gotta stay the course, right?

Good! A mystery post! Whatever it turns out to be, I'm 100% AGAINST IT! (Unless it turns out to be soemthing I'm not against.)

Ray -- Is that pop wisdom or is there a reference that you are basing the opinion on? If oil is priced right at $145/barrel today, why was it only $20/barrel 8 years ago? What changed to make the markets smarter than before?

Or, are the markets being duped now? Were they inefficient and overly optimistic in 1999/2000?

Yes, this was to be expected. In a country of 25 million inhabitants, most of whom either accepted or acquiesced to Talibanism, and where there is little exposure to outside ideas, the intrusion of NATO ideas was a risky bet, and one which the US evidently wasn't committed to because it chose not to make the new government work, but to pursue short-term goals and to divert its energies to expanding the war to include an unrelated Iraq.

Next steps -- do not expand the war further, into Iran! Do begin to get Pres. Karzai to rid the bureaucracy of it's most greedy corrupt officials and do begin to speak to the most honest and flexible Taliban. Betting that Afghanistan can become like Texas (as unctuous as Texas is for the rest of the West) is a very risky bet. A low probability, very expensive endeavor. The better bang for the buck would be to opt for a melding of Karzai's semi-Western reform focus with he most flexible honest dealers among the more populous Taliban.

If that idea seems kooky, then will someone please tell me a better way to make Afghanistan's 12 million men, who are > 75% Taliban-or pro-Taliban, drop ingrained Taibanism in favor of Western-style freedoms, corporatocracy and democracy?

yes, this was to be expected. In a country of 25 million inhabitants, most of whom either accepted or acquiesced to Talibanism, and where there is little exposure to outside ideas, the intrusion of NATO ideas was a risky bet, and one which the US evidently wasn't committed to because it chose not to make the new government work, but to pursue short-term goals and to divert its energies to expanding the war to include an unrelated Iraq.

Next steps -- do not expand the war further, into Iran! Do begin to get Pres. Karzai to rid the bureaucracy of it's most greedy corrupt officials and do begin to speak to the most honest and flexible Taliban. Betting that Afghanistan can become like Texas (as unctuous and Texas is for the rest of the West) is a very risky bet. A low probability, very expensive endeavor. The better bang for the buck would be to opt for a melding of Karzai's semi-Western reform focus with he most flexible honest dealers among the more populous Taliban.

If that idea seems kooky, then will someone please tell me a better way to make Afghanistan's 12 million men, who are > 75% Taliban-or pro-Taliban, drop ingrained Taibanism in favor of Western-style freedons, corporatocracy and democracy?

Not a bad initial idea, but it has to be followed up buy at least a few real bumps, or it will only provide false security. As drivers get accustomed to being fooled, they won't slow down. But that will happen just as pedestrians are accustomed to a "safer" street. The logical result -- less wary pedestrians and drivers who are becoming jaded to the warnings. The expected outcome, a drop in accidents early on followed by an increase in accidents later.

Si, se puede. Catchy slogan, BO.

JM, what's your bumper sticker say? (Que dice su pegatina para el parachoques?)

And in respect to that analysis, I think that Europe would rather go broke than allow more immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East into its borders. I have heard from folks in the UK and Ireland that they will fight the islamization of England and Ireland.

(But, if one takes a long term view, it may be already too late to stave off the inevitable. Is it?)

From the article:

"By one analysis of U.N. figures, Britain would need more than 60 million new immigrants by 2050 — more than doubling the size of the country — to keep its current ratio of workers to pensioners, and Germany would need a staggering 188 million immigrants in the same time period. One reason for such huge numbers is that while immigration helps fill cities and schools and factories in the short term, the dynamic adjusts over time. Immigrants who come from cultures where large families are standard quickly adapt to the customs of their new homes. And eventually immigrants age, too, so that the benefit that incoming workers give to the pension system today becomes a drag on the system in the future. A European Commission working document published in November 2007 concludes that “truly massive and increasing flows of young migrants would be required” to offset current demographic changes. Few Europeans want that. Immigration already touches all sorts of raw nerves, forcing debates about cultural identity, citizenship tests, national canons, terrorism and tolerance, religious versus secular values."

Bani -- Thanks for the link -- It comes as news to me, and one which will show that US federal and municipal debt obligations exceed the US $13 trillion/year GDP, which is horrific news. Add to that the potential unfunded liabilities for retiree healthcare costs and pensions, and there is a huge likelihood that the IMF will rebuke the good name of the US.

Still, imho, if you look at the cash flow, the US's federal and local governments will have to increase their income by 5% per year over inflation and over costs to be able to pre-fund the liabilities that are accumulating.

I don't know if the US public or Congress is up on this. But then, I'm becoming so much more cynical that we cannot see risk at all and prefer to put our heads in the sand and hope the lion won't bite our asses while we aren't looking.

Here's another nail in any pending decision NOT to vote for McCain -- He's in bed with the NEOCONs!

From the Hersh article: " The Washington Post recently quoted Randy Scheunemann, the McCain campaign’s national-security director, as stating that McCain supports the White House’s position ...

" Scheunemann, who is known as a neoconservative, is also the McCain campaign’s most important channel of communication with the White House. He is a friend of David Addington, Dick Cheney’s chief of staff. I have heard differing accounts of Scheunemann’s influence with McCain; though some close to the McCain campaign talk about him as a possible national-security adviser, others say he is someone who isn’t taken seriously while “telling Cheney and others what they want to hear,” as a senior McCain adviser put it.

" It is not known whether McCain, who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been formally briefed on the operations in Iran. At the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, in June, Obama repeated his plea for “tough and principled diplomacy.” But he also said, along with McCain, that he would keep the threat of military action against Iran on the table."

MWMFOF -- Already the most common name in maternity wards in the UK is the one that you wouldn't even name your dog by. There will be more Moes in London by 2020 than there are Joes!

CAIR goes far overboard defending terrorism and needs to back off. Same for its European counterparts. But these organizations are bound to attract the most devout true-believers to volunteer their efforts to make Islam the dominant political force in the free-world.

The ironic thing is, if they succeed, where will we be? In a brave new world of dhimmitude?

Bill -- good link.

CC -- We aren't geared up to drop he ME from our oil supply. We all consume much more energy than he ME provides. If we stopped buying, others will just step in to buy from the sheiks, mullahs and emirs.

No sh*t, Sherlock!!!

The Spec Ops reports from the caves of Kandahar reported that Al Qaeda monitored the global media, and had a vast intel network that far outstripped what the USA and West mustered. AQ continues to excel at exploitation of the internet and global media.

Hey Dick Shady! What use is it to spend hundreds of billions on the Executive Branch's private secret army and intel service (CIA) if it doesn't gather intel better than our would-be enemies? The POTUS's CIA has become the puppet of the VP, eh! Good enough for Dick Shady!

So far so good, and like Rasta said, much faster.

Dobson has always used religion as a wedge. His religious radio empire does good work in speaking up about Christian values, but Dobson and his empire ought to stay away from politics or risk losing the empire's tax-exempt status. Sure there will be the Coors', Koch's, Scaifes' and Devos' family's billions to contribute to Dobson's empire even without the tax windfall, but when a huge religious organization like Dobson's crosses the line, they should be the first to lose their tax exempt status.

Pros-hound Vitter is an ordinary family bubba! He ought to win the Bubba family values Nobel Prize!

Since when has Bolton been right about anything? He's a freaking extremist.

Jomama -- Que lastima!

It's a pity the US has no understanding of how the Bush Cheney presidency bf's the country. It's a pity that no mainstream media covered Kucinich's 35 impeachment articles which were generally articulate and on-target indictments of the Bush Cheney administration. It's a pity that our enemies are regrouping, while we have been doing our duty in response to Bush's post-9/11 directive to "Go shopping!".

Ultimately, Roubini's rubber-band theory is almost more disturbing as $200 oil. Sure, $200 oil will cause American umbrage and stimulate all sorts of good initiatives -- more efficient cars, R&D into other energy alternatives, more resource exploration resulting in finding new energy reserves, and smart growth initiatives. But the coming collapse in oil prices will cause a lot of banks to fail, and the abandonment of well-intended energy independence initiatives.

Lee -- Thanks for the link to the LA Times story. It's a keeper.

Prof Roubini from NYU thinks oil is already artificially too high. As it rises, expect the rubber-band to snap back more forcefully.

Years ago, and especially after 9/11, I thought the US should adopt a gasoline consumption tax of $4 to $6 per gallon, to get Americans to kick the oil habit and to wean the country off Arab oil.

The inflation of oil prices from $20 a barrel to an expected $200 a barrel under Bush Cheney definitely helps Bush Cheney's Texas and Wyoming campaign contributors and the Koch family; But it also is a "godsend" to Arab emirs who spend practically nothing to pump oil from their sands. So, under Bush Cheney we have had an energy policy that increased their friends' wealth enormously, but which has increased the wealth of their Arab friends (America's and Judeo-Christianity's enemies) 20x as much!

Bill took this all a lot too personally. It seems that he thought his popularity would extend to Hillary, and that the duo could get back into the White House, and that they would go down in history as the first husband and wife team to lead a democratic republic (since the Peron's in Argentina).

Unfortunately, Bill, you forgot the basic lessons of US history -- it is unseemly for political leaders to appear too ambitious or greedy. Washington set the Cincinnatus tone, when he returned to Mt. Vernon after 8 years. He didn't expect Martha to pick up where he left off. Every POTUS since then, except FDR, stopped at 2, and after FDR, Congress decided that stopping at 2 (terms) was just right.

So ideally, as ex-POTUS and husband of a US Senator, your obligation was to campaign for teh PARTY first,a nd for your wife second. Not to disparage any other Democratic Party candidate, and to accept the decision of the Party. As ex-POTUS, you had the potential to become a Party spokesman and leader for the Party's best interests and to be the Party's white-hared elder-statesman. Instead, you have become the Party's white-haired petulant infant-terrible.

(A good reputation (and a grand leadership opportunity) is a terrible thing to waste.)

Can you believe that here are a large number of European kids who have NO AUNTS or UNCLES? These are children of only children.

Remember a time when every kid had a ton of cousins and aunts and uncles?

A generation lives for about 70-80 years. Where will Europe be in 80 to 100 years?

Correction: Where have all Europe's babies gone? Will Europe collapse because of a lack of heirs?

Is now the time to buy in or emigrate to Europe (to be in place to inherit its riches before its Boomers and post-Boomer generations die off or dispose of their assets before heading to nursing homes)?

Boaz funny!