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    marye
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    When our previous topic hit the 1,000-response mark, sleazy behavior by politicians was eliciting a certain amount of non-astonishment.

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  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    Cal Thomas
    Read it, agree with most of it. It is surprising for Cal. My view is so far to the left of that I can't even spit it out here. In a land where Donald Trump can be seriously taken for a presidential candidate, can anything be taken seriously anymore? I guess I'll just say "...the pursuit of money is a noble thing" is a horrible curse, a hammer, the root of evil and the death of our planet. Though there are a few corporate CEOs who have taken cuts for their workers (and just regular owners of companies for that matter), they are so few as to be unmentionable. GDean, one thing I've always wanted to ask you.... do you wear sports-coats with elbow patches and smoke a pipe? You always sound so moderately reasonable!
  • Hockney
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    More Economics
    The Lefetz Letter (http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2011/04/07/income-inequ…) linked to a Vanity Fair article about wealth inequality (http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/05/top-one-percent-2011…). Vanity Fair?. Maybe the revolution IS on the way? I need to get that "Building Barricades for Dummies" downloaded onto my Nook.
  • gratefaldean
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    Hard to believe that I'm saying this
    But I read a column by Cal Thomas yesterday that I actually agreed with...something I'd have considered impossible before I started reading. On the subject of wealth distribution, a seemingly uncharacteristic opinion from this arch-, though traditional, conservative: http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/thomas040511.php3
  • TigerLilly
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    Despite extreme economic problems elsewhere
    The German economy is up 22% or so. More jobs and higher wages to follow. But now it is official that Portugal is in trouble, as you said Gonzo. I like and agree with your last post, btw. Am just in a very fine mood, so wanna report good news today! ********************************** I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde
  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    Senate has the ball on shutdown, GTed
    The House passed a 61 million dollar cut that then went to the Senate who have so far acted like children who can't share or make compromises. One of the problems of living in a republic instead of a democracy. There is no doubt that the fledgling economic recovery launched by Obama will be hurt by ashutdown, not only that it will cost millions to shut down and power up again. The Teapanistas are holding Bohner's feet to the fire (Repub. head ramrod). They won't be satisfied until Washington DC is sacked. The Democrats and Obama have everything to gain by making the Repub. look like the inhuman monsters they are. Mod.. Dems & Teapanistas and Independents will vote against them for forcing the shut down in '12, thus assuring a Democratic majority in both houses and Obama's reelection. That would mean programs for the POOR will continue while the MILITARY will be cut and I'm all for that. For that and other reasons to numerous to mention I want the government to shutdown. To be fair, what Repubs. and Teapanista's are screaming about is all true (except Social Security which we all paid for). A 1.4 trillion deficit is not sustainable and will lead, ultimately, like Portugal and Spain to higher interest rates for government bonds. Higher than the .41 on $1 we already pay when we hold a T-Bill auction and the Chinese buy it up. Cut the throats of the mega-corps. and their stinking metrics, ratchet taxes on the rich and police them so they have no where to hide and no way to let their kids inherit more than a million without 80% tax rates and cut the military to the bone. Or let the rich rule and get ready for your standard of living to be slashed.
  • Gr8fulTed
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    Uncle Sam is a large employer
    No relation to Psychedlic Sam... KC has 38,000 feds and Denver 54,000 workers. A furlough and delayed, or no, paychecks will be tough on many, compounding the frustration of other folks who need federal assistance, like the poor and elderly. Hopefully, the cat and mouse House of Reps game will end without shutting the government down.
  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    Plague of rats
    Torrential rains in Australia have have bred a huge population of 30" rats that are about to over-run Alice Springs. Crocodile Dundee had no comment.
  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    Will the governmet shut down alreaday!
    Could we just have a little more unrest and anarchy around here?
  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    Well, the church in Florida burned the Korans on 3/20
    And 16 people in Afghanistan have died to date due to Karzai trying to make political hay out of the incident. What a friend we have in Hamet and his heroin-addicted brother. I know! Lets all burn the Koran and incarcerate every Muslim who breaks the law. This is a sure psychological test of who is a fundamentalist and prone to violence. Besides, the private prison industry is hurting in our country and we need to fill those beds!
  • Anonymous (not verified)
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    Radioactive water in Japan
    Unit #3 has sustained the worst damage with a 70% meltdown of the core to date. Radioactivity is now many times higher from the steam and water escaping from efforts to cool down the overheated rods. Gone are the mention of plutonium and played up is the half-life radioactive iodine isotopes with an 8 day half life. One wonders if climate change will force all nukes to shut within Tsunami range (whatever that would be). The 38 foot wave that swamped this nuclear complex may be nothing compared to, say, a 120 foot tsunami crashing into the California coast from baja to SF. 2 nukes totally underwater while a swamped population struggles for survival. ... As an alternative, clean-burning coal will fill those gaps as well as underwater oil exploration. Obama, who took huge campaign contribution from Chicago area energy companies says for the US to be oil independent we must use all sources of energy, even the ones that destroy the environment.
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When our previous topic hit the 1,000-response mark, sleazy behavior by politicians was eliciting a certain amount of non-astonishment.
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that vision of 1984. The govt has it's hooks in the auto industry, financial systems, and soon our health care.....of course, this is just my opinion, but I'm more than a little worried......they don't need to know what I buy, nor how much, nor what I do with my money. The mandated digital TV is part of it. I looked at the back of a portable I bought recently and it had stamped on the info/serial number plate "must accept interfering signals". Traffic cameras, red light cameras...... Our complacency and trust in the administration is gonna be our downfall.... Go ahead, tell me I'm just paranoid.
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It is coming true and there is nothing we can do about it!!!!!! you can run but you cant hide from it.
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but to give up because chevron got a court order, suppose its easy to be critical sitting here in my warm and humble abode just expected more.I have been a member of greenpesce for years and will always support them.
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I did my civic service yesterday. At about 3:15 pm yesterday, having not yet been called into a courtroom, I was thinking that either the day was gonna time out before I got hauled into a trial (1 day service complete, so my obligation would be fulfilled), or they'd pull us in late and who knows how many days that might turn into? One more, minimum. At 4:15 I was Juror #1 for about 20 minutes in an assault trial. After his questions to us, the prosecutor cut loose Jurors #1 and #9. My guess is that it was because we were the only two to recount negative experiences with police officers, which presumably might color our opinion of the police testimony in the trial (my negative experience consisted of listening to a cop lying on the witness stand, so not a bad call by the DA). The judge, in asking if there was anyone who could not serve the following day, was kind enough to point out that anyone that he might excuse would be rescheduled for jury duty for the week of Oct 25, when a capital murder case was on the docket (2-week trial...). There were no takers...
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are you implying that a police person would lie in a court of law.....
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lol
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To a question posed by an officer of the court. I did point out that the affair took place 25 yrs ago, but apparently the prosecuter didn't want to take that chance that I'd still be bitter about the actions of that cop a quarter century later.
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I am trying to understand this article, as finance is definately out of my field of expertise-but what I can comprehend is that if true, this is very very bad! http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100007777/s… ********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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"The dangers of tipping into a debt compound trap – as described by Irving Fisher in Debt-Deflation Theory of Great Depresssions in 1933 – outweigh the risk of an expanded money stock catching fire and setting off an inflation surge later. Debt deflation is a toxic process that can and does destroy societies as well as economies. You do not trifle with it. But deliberately creating inflation “consistent” with the Fed’s mandate – implicitly to erode debt – is another matter. Nor can this be justified at this particular juncture. M3 has been leveling out. M2 has begun to rise briskly. The velocity of money has picked up. The M1 monetary mulitplier has jumped. We have a very odd world. The IMF has doubled its global growth forecast to 4.5pc this year, and authorities everywhere have ruled out a serious risk of a double dip recession. Yet at the same time the Bank of Japan has embarked on unsterilised currency intervention, which amounts to stimulus, and both the Fed and the Bank of England are signalling fresh QE. You can’t have it both ways. If the US is not in deep trouble, the Fed should not be thinking of extra QE. It should step back and let the economy heal itself, if necessary enduring several years of poor growth to purge excess leverage. Yes, U6 unemployment is 16.7pc. But as dissenters at the Minneapolis Fed remind us, you cannot solve a structural unemployment crisis with loose money. Fed is trying to conjure away the hangover from the last binge (which Greenspan/Bernanke caused, let us not forget), as if to vindicate its prior claim that you can always clean up painlessly after asset bubbles. Are the Chinese right? Are the Americans and the British now so decadent that they will refuse to take their punishment, opting to default on their debts by stealth?" Article by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard alluded to by Lilly. Now my take: I am no an economist but my simplistic view is that you can't erode debt with deflation with the possibility of setting off a prairie fire of inflation. Our medicine is a couple of decades of unemployment hovering around 20% to preserve this generation's greed grab -- till the next generation devises their wealth grab from the producers (poor workers). Anybody care to meet me for a beer at The Haymarket in Chicago next Saturday Night?
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...the Dead as Master marketers because they let their fans trade tapes free. What a crock! I would submit you have TO LIKE the band in the first place. The truth is: 1) The Dead never had a #1 hit 2) LSD 3) Magic Mushrooms As usual with everything else with the Grateful Dead, it became successful through ass-backwards anarchy. What a shuck to make money!! (The book, that is)
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to create new safety division in wake of spill this will improve risk management and safety said a bp spokesperson. A bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
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you are kiddin me is this an actual article and if so can you send the link gonz pleeeeze.I beleive they made big money after touch of grey/built to last but im sure none of it was planned.Markerteers lol they built this big bestie wall of sound thing and then realized it was too big to transport and cost to much. marketeers my arse.
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Goes nowhere....?
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site currently not being served by convio.......??
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All gone
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... from the USA nationally syndicated program "All Things Considered" which has a segment in the morning called "Morning Marketplace Report" which has no URL (I think) because as it is overwhelmingly listener funded, you have to be a member to receive the morning pod cast once trhe segment has gone live from 6:50am to 7:00am Mon-Fri.. I could be wrong about that, but in any case this is real and I don't have a way to access it. Sorry, it is worth a listen just for the sophmorpic masters thesis quality of it (the commentators kind of alluded to the whole thing being quite inane).
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this is actually a pretty common subject; it all started with a Forbes article when Jer was still alive, I think, and I'm personally acquainted with at least one prominent biz school professor who's talked and written about this a lot. The recognition that allowing tape trading was excellent marketing is hardly controversial in my book. Marketing, properly done, is just good matchmaking.
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This is about the conservation act of 2010 and in particular about tigers who are in danger of becoming extinct,partly due to habitat destruction but mainly due to certain eastern countries using there body parts mainly for medicinal purposes.We should all support this cause.
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for summarizing my link for me. And yes we should all support this cause. As I wish to support my kid turning into an animal activist in front of my eyes-I LOVE it!********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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...(Tape trading as marketing ploy), I would assert that you have to have a motivation to begin with -- which I feel safe to say in this case, especially the Dead, never did, They were always known as never having had it together commercially in any way, forget about scheming to trade tapes to hype the band. Witness the Grateful Dead Movie, losses from which kept them almost constantly on the road for 18 months (lucky us, poor them). Beyond that, it was the true Grateful dead Music Lovers then, and especially today, who were/are the continuation of the tapers/viners. Then there were those who were mutant-hybrid combination's, like myself, that threw psychedelics and radical politics into the mix (and whatever else was in the kitchen sink). ~ Long live the Grateful Dead! ~
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look at the multigenerational culture they've built up, fueled in large part by those tapes. Or FLACs, as the case may be. Look at the people who show up to see sixtysomethings play. Marketing is about something a bit more complex than the benjamins. It's about creating win-win situations when it works right. Even when benjamins are involved.
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I'm willing to concede you may have a point! ~ Long stop the Grateful Dead! ~
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i beleive jerry said we can have the music after they played it this is how the tapers section was born and even written into there warner bros? contract.It was a free thing like the free shops/clinics etc set up by the diggers an act of kindness not marketing.
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i am passionate about this cause tigers are beautiful and complex animals,recently there was a documentry shown about tigers in the himalayas,thease guys were trying to film them but only found one,they have moved further up the mountains and are in danger of disapearing completely oh dear im getting angry again arrrrrrggggghhhhh.
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are beautiful and complex, and must survive in their natural habitat. My kid is about ready to fly off to the Himalayas and stalk poachers, but we have settled on the compromise of donating half of her allowance to wildlife fund to protect them.********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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Most of the world's surviving tigers are high in the Himalaya, like around 15 thousand feet, a place where human beings are relatively rare. They have complex systems of trails and one male tiger may roam more than 500 miles in establishing an area where a mate may be found (sounds like some deadheads I know from West Texas). Most of those high Himalayan Tigers are found in the last Buddhist Kingdom left in the world, Bhutan, where the animals are protected by royal decree. Trade in exotic animals like tiger parts is extremely lucrative and hard to stop at poor crossroads like the Kathamandu Valley. I just had a great idea for choking off the trade in illicit tiger parts. More on that later, but, thanks Lilly. You may have given me an idea for my life's work for the next ten years or so... I hope it is very effective.
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well can't wait to know what your idea is, and be sure you have at least two strong supporters!!********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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I'm not one to throw fairy dust. I'd be be sure to have at least 2 NGOs to monetarily and administratively oversee me. No flights of fancy. Just enough of an idea (at least) to chuck money at and have more than a reasonable chance of success with something to build upon. Sorry to be so cryptic but give it a month or two to gel and the you'll see why. In the meantime, if you have any ideas about snuffing out Tiger penis envy among the less educated oriental cultures, I'm all ears! ~ Just a saint of circumstance, Just a tiger in a trance ~
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Do you really think you can change an ancient cultural tradition at the snap of your fingers? I agree it's not good that they take the endangered species, but sadly, there will always be a demand. I remember when Condaliza Rice stated the she was going to the Middle East and she would get it all straightened out in a matter of weeks. This feud has been going on for THOUSANDS of years, it's not going to be solved quickly or easily, and neither is the black market trading animal parts. More arrogance, anyone?
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Attempting to make a difference is not arrogant, but putting down someone for trying certainly is. I'm gonna paraphrase here....all that it takes for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.
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Think you need to read just a teenzie bit closer before you flame my idea I haven't even yet espoused. Though perhaps I was unclear in the phrasing. What I meant was I need to talk to some experts, academic and otherwise, for a couple of months and write a coupe of grant proposals that have a 75% or better shot of working before I can even BEGIN the project. If you're writing under a pseudonym, ratsnkats, care to let us in on who you are??
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Gonzo is anything but arrogant!********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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As always Rene...luv ya...and I would think it's obvious that what brother Gonz is proposin' is a work in progress, not set in stone, though I do concede that ratsnkats has a right to his opinion, miscued as it may be (be it noted that that is only MY opinion, of course).
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as Gonzo said, what is wrong is having a negative opinion before even knowing what Gonzo's contemplating! That is NOT OK!********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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wagwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwag...
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I could write a lot about tigers since I have been involved on and off in tiger conservation for 15 years. 12 years ago at the Year of the Tiger conference in Dallas we were shocked that there were just 7000 left in the wild. Now the latest Year of the Tiger conference announced there are a maximum of 3500..so half have gone in a decade. The unrelenting demand for tiger products from China is undeniable and will lead to their extinction in the wild in the next 30-50 years. I despair at the selfish publicity of the ‘discovery ‘of those tigers in Bhutan. 10 years ago we made similar discoveries in SW Cambodia…tiger signs were common and sightings quite regular. Within 2 years the middle men and traders moved in and the slaughter began. Now there may be just 10 left there. All the publicity about Bhutan will kick off the same process…I wish they had just kept quiet. If you have a new idea Gonzo I am really glad because folks are running out of ideas. The best tiger conservation going on now is in Sumatra where teams of brave guards patrol tiger habitat 24/7 and finally the government has started prosecuting not just the poor people who do the poaching, but also the middle men and big shots who drive the trade. Now even the World Bank has got on the Tiger Conservation Trail, trying to mobilise governments and business to get involved...take a look at their new site http://www.globaltigerinitiative.org/ it has a lot of facts and figures. All good stuff, but the best hope at the moment is committed protection in the places where tigers hang on.
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There should be a way to fund the "brave guards who patrol" directly. I bet if there was a bit of a salary involved, more local people might be inspired to patrol and help protect tigers. Or we set up a camp locally with a bunch of volunteers to do it. I guess this is risky and dangerous-but I would do it! And my kid :)********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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I am thinking of finding a couple of NGOs like from the Japanese (strangely enough they might want to throw some cash in the way of their whale fiascoes) and from the Australians and perhaps the Dutch or Germans or Swedes or Norwegians -- maybe the old-line US environmental's too. Even a budget of ten milion dollars could put a sizable force on the ground in Bhutan, Nepal, Sikkhim and Darjeeling, plus a few surrounding areas. The problem is corruption. If this had huge fanfare to start with & government support in total it would only take about a year for the poachers to get back to work, their very grisly work -- which, I might add, is NOT nonviolent. Not least of all from the tiger's side, though they (the tigers) seem to have more justification than anybody else. Even if funding could be kept constant, the voracious Chinese demand for "medical" parts, with very little scientific evidence on the "medical", would be almost impossible to abate without starting some wildly untrue rumor like "all Asian tigers have aids." You start to see the problems involved here and despair is a byproduct. Imagination may be the key. Bright thinkers with keen incite - C'mon, know you're out there. Just another tiger in a trance looking for a St. of Circumstance
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Saving tigers is truly a worthwhile cause. And in the meantime-the notorious kung-fu kicker DeJong (outrageous kick at Spain's Alonso) has been dropped from the Dutch national team for at least 2 games, for breaking a player from Newcastle's leg. The 2nd player's leg that this brute DeJong has broken. He made me ruin a perfectly good flyswatter, and kudos to the Dutch national team coach for making this decision. ********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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The work of the tiger protection teams in Central Suamtra has actually led to an increase in tiger numbers there. They do amazing work. You can find out more and how you can help at http://www.fauna-flora.org/2010_tiger.php WIldlife Alliance is working on direct proteciton of tigers and other wildlife in Cambodia. http://www.wildlifealliance.org/forest-protection/ Wildaid do great work on trying to stop the wildlife trade in Asia http://www.wildaid.org/index.asp?CID=1
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previously i am passionate about this cause and GONZ i will support and help with anything you have in mind keep me updated.
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desperatly to ignore your post ratsnkatz......
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Convoys of Americsan fuel trucks are being struck regularly at a Paki-Afghan border point while several groups of terrorists are are stalking the streets of Europe with automatic weapons and grenades, waiting for the opportunity to create a Mumbai style incident (started, incidentally, by a renegade CIA officer in Mumbai). I would say it safe to say that things are moderately to very moderately out-of-control - by anybody's estimate. I think it's time to say that there is nothing to be done here except, in coalition with US allies, use WMD to show we ain't fucking around anymore. Which is, of course, an unacceptable option for sane people.