Why is anyone pretending that it makes any difference from whom a question to Rumsfeld comes from if it is in fact a legitimate question? If our troops have a serious lack of adequate armor then they have a serious lack of armor regardless of who formulated the question.

This is yet another example of the insidious detailed consideration of the inconsequential taking the place of actually examining, reporting on, discussing and resolving real issues. It needs to end and quickly.


Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Pitting wits against Rumsfeld

In my opinion this is the military that we pay for intentionally being sloppy with its systems in order to claim more radio frequencies exclusively. Consumer systems are on the edge of these frequencies because Congress allowed them to be agains the military's insistence that it have exclusive huge of increasingly large ranges of frequencies. In todays world such exclusively use is not even remotely necessary. The military has some of the best knowledge around of how to tune its radio frequency gear appropriately to its needs without interference and by extension without interference with "civilian" usages.

We should demand the military we pay for which includes the military cleaning up its own messes.

CNN.com - Military signals may jam garage-door openers - Dec 6, 2004

American Born, Addicted to Happiness

The author of this piece tells the American people to not think about fixing the many wrongs, which I agree very much are wrongs, but simply "prepare to suffer". NO! It is not to late to think about a change of course that can prevent countless deaths and near-endless suffering. It is only that "can-do" spirit that can possibly be of help.

To throw away the Enlightenment principles this country was founded on with some cynical rewrite of history is beyond contemptible. As is the implicit guilting of Americans as not having had our fair share of suffering. It is true that we have caused much suffering in the world, suffering that we have ignored and not experienced ourselves. But it is time to acknowledge the suffering and do some things radically differently, not to take on great suffering ourselves.

I have heard the bad news. But hearing bad news doesn't mean you simply give up and "prepare to suffer". While there is any energy or opportunity to make things better at all you fight on for a different outcome.

There is nothing so negative in the current circumstances that we cannot set it right given vision and will enough. To just give up now or preach doing so to receive our "just desserts" of suffering is about as EVIL as it gets.

I do agree with the author on one thing. Total transformation is demanded of us. Unlike the author I don't believe we have to embrace a lot of suffering to get there. Given human nature it may well take that but it is not inevitable.