Grateful Dead

No need to go out and use more energy so the USA is #1 again. This is not good news. The Chinese see no need to put the breaks on it's consumption as long as the US does nothing to reign it's piggery. Legislation to limit energy usage is shot down continually by a cabal of repulsivecan senators. The problem, as I have pointed out several times, is that more than 60% of the Chinese power comes from dirty coal-burning power plants. The superpowers are in a clinch and nobody wants to given an inch. I won't state the obvious here, it's too depressing. Unbelievable, really, as we experience climate change symptoms such as record rainfalls that are flooding major US cities on a regular basis.

I'm only throwing stuff out there for conversation openers.

Thanks Gonzo, for your interesting and continuous posts in here. You are great at keeping us current on world events!********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain

What a joke! Since Ronnie Ray-guns the repub presidents have taken a record amount of time off.

Seepage from the floor of the Gulf has been detected, as well as other problems, and the US is telling BP to submit a procedure for opening the cap back up. Though the flow rate has not been determined it is estimated that over 184,000,000 gallons have spilled into the Gulf. This is a nightmare that never seems to go away. It is depressing and disheartening for people all over the country who have an iota of empathy, not to mention the people who have to live on the Gulf Coast. One bright spot -- no hurricanes on the horizon.

Don't understand why they waste their time on this site. I don't even undertsand why they do it at all, you have to work really hard at it. The links have to stay up long enough and people have to hit on them. I wish people wouldn't encourage them by hitting the links.

I was just watching a movie last night about how the US contributed (certainly didn't start, but added greatly to the problem) to the chaos in Afghanistan-after the Soviets invaded in 1979. How there was a behind the scenes gathering of funds and weapons to supply the Mujahideen (predecessor to the Taliban) because they were fighting the communist Soviets. Another instance of America backing the wrong horse. A horse that comes and bites them in the ass later!********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain

The US military in Afghanistan suffered a rash of suicides in the last month, 31 in all. It is more than alarming that an average of over one per day is occurring. The question of WHY must be asked. If the mission is just and this is an all-volunteer force why is morale so low that soldiers feel compelled to take their own lives? I have asked several vets and they all say the same thing: They don't know... If they don't know then the military must be having a hard time mounting any response to this problem. And this has been a problem for quite a while, years in fact. I guess conjecture is in order here, though any from a non-vet is a shot in the dark. Obviously the stress and tension of war must be great. The difficulty of the weather and the terrain must also weigh in. But these are all factors that soldiers have faced in all wars. So what is different about this one? I would suggest the obvious -- the glaring contradiction between the rationale for war laid out in the propaganda and the actual reality on the ground.

Leggo recap was cool. Like the sliding, tripping and slo-mo goal.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2010/jul/13/world-cup-2010-fin… for all who missed the World Cup finals-here is a very very brief recreation of it. It's also a very funny lil vid! ********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain