Michael Duffy of Time Magazine has written a thought provoking article “How To Walk Away’. He incorporated the thinking of some of the top officials in the world – which motivates one to think about this situation based on facts and experienced knowledge of respected military, political, and diplomatic leaders. The title of his article elicits a gut wrenching reaction to those of us who are not accustomed to our country ‘losing’. But after reading the article – his summation makes sense.

Wow, ain't nothing like a week at the beach! Read a lot, sunned a lot, ate too much, and just relaxed. 'Twas hard to head to work this morning!

Already some journalists have written a few books about the Afghanistan and Iraq war, but I forsee the release of possible scores of them once the war is either over or has failed to accomplish much of anything. I'm sure there is great hope that we can organize, at least Iraq, so that a workable government can exist alone in the near future, but it isn't very promising. I think we are there to stay, from a distance maybe, but with some control when necessary.

We can either help Musharraf, our good friend who protects the tribal area, or he will fall---or at best be in a civil war.

The local embodiment of Crankshaft, our cantankerous, irascible and humorless state representative Dan Lakly is turning 65 on August 8. The big deal is that he goes on Medicare on August 1, joining the 43 million or so people already on it.

I know that the conservatives do not want anyone in government to interfere into how to run a business, or how far business can go to outsmart customers.

Since our Army the Iraqi Army, and Halliburton can't get anywhere in Iraq, we now have hired the Sunni militia, who did help the Bin Laden people, to fight for us.

This is from Peachtree City
CODE OF ORDINANCES

Sec. 2.10. Compensation of mayor and councilmembers as fixed; expenses of office allowable.

What used to be a good economy is no longer. High production rates where factories are at 90+ of capacity, low personal debt, personal savings up, infrastructure (Interstate Highways, etc.) being built and repaired, low interest rates, local banks being local, education inexpensive, small business thriving.

... a bunch of 'head chopping' Muslim radicals?

Does anyone really believe that? Do YOU really accept that? I do NOT.

Not really a fan of her but I find this story interesting:
Congressman clashes with police
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican Rep. Christopher Shays apologized Friday for a loud and angry altercation he had a day earlier with a Capitol Police officer, saying he behaved “in a way I know was not appropriate.”

In the month of July the Catholic Church meditates in a special way upon the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. While it may seem strange for a religious people to be devoted to something as earthly as blood, it is not just anyone's blood that we meditate on. It is the Blood of the Paschal Lamb who was slain for the sins of the whole world, and we truly worship His Blood as the perfect sacrifice which sanctifies us.

It is difficult to grasp the mess that the Bush Administration has created by sheer incompetence in handling Iraq. Things would not be that bad if we didn't face a future in which terrorist, emboldened by this failure, will attempt further attacks on us.

Before 9/11 the Federal Emergency Management Agency listed the 3 most likely catastrophic disasters facing America: a terrorist attack on New York, a major earthquake in San Francisco and a hurricane strike on New Orleans. "The New Orleans hurricane scenario," The Houston Chronicle wrote in December 2001, "may be the deadliest of all."

I was also very impressed with this Washington Post article...

Now, An American Vision for Iraq
By Charles Krauthammer

I thought you guys might find this article to be interesting. If, in fact, the War in Iraq is a lost cause, we would be wise to develop a plan B. I, however, question the wisdom of pulling all our troops out of the Middle East and Central Asia...

As the British Prime Minister said upon exiting from an airplane in London, just before the First world war, and waving a piece of paper, "this paper indicates peace in our time."

All the maps, all the signs, all the text books, all the library books, all newspapers, all legal papers, all conversation, and of course all basic colors (purple, chinese red, brilliant blue, and bright yellow are in: brown, black, grey and tints are out.

I stopped at Dunkin Donuts this morning for a cup of coffee and noticed on my way out that there were five people in the drive-thru line (four of which were SUVs incidentally) yet there was no line inside the store. I guess people would rather let their cars run in idle for 5-7 minutes while they wait for their turn at the window, then get out of their cars and get their order filled in a minute or less.

SWMBO,

Here is a sampling of incidents that our former county attorney was involved in. Some might appear petty and some appear very significant. The point being that McNally either overstepped the duties he was hired to perform and/or conducted him self unprofessionally over the years. I’m not saying that Bill never did any good for the county but what I will say is that Bill over stayed his welcome. Bill was simply arrogant and controlling in regards to how he dealt with the county employees and the citizens who paid his salary. Too many times he called the shots rather than letting the commissioners and the county staff performs the tasks they were either hired for or elected to do. Well….here is a few examples of McNally abusing his position. I’m sure this will spawn more discussion on this subject. Sorry if some of this may appear sloppy as I had a lot of work to do on my home work assignment. I’ll try to clean it up a bit after I post it.

Our street light is out at Robinson Rd. and Spear Rd.

Who do you call, the EMC or the city?

No Peanut butter, no chili, no hamburger, no lettuce, no spinach, no foreign fish, spiders in the bananas, winter fruit from Chile tasteless, tomatoes would make good faucet seals, and would stink if they had any taste, chickens have avian flu, pet food has anti-freeze in it, toys from China are dangerous, cell phones give one cancer of the lobotomy, extreme addictions are occurring to our young playing computer games, heroin crop in Afghanistan up 20% from last year, Colombian crop up 30%, Watermelons don't now have seeds, cantaloupes are running neck and neck with tomatoes for horrible or no taste, corn has ceased to be either sweet or tender, Fairburn company (Rupert Murdocks) tried to kill all the birds and animals and sicken many humans with toxic crap from everywhere (he owns many of those facilities, and now the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones), hogs and chickens feet never touch the ground, our beef is fully loaded with penicillin, all of our clothes are cotton again and we quit growing and spinning it, most cars are now from somewhere else, most jobs aren't necessary but we have to subsidize them anyway in product costs in order for most to have a job, (I saw three 22 + old guys sitting at a grocery store branch in a bank cubicle, calling people to make predator loans and collect past due loans), but Hot Dog Chili?

The citizens who go to the polls will decide how to best spend the tax dollars.

As they consider this matter they should also decide what level of service they are willing to accept from our Public Safety departments and how much longer the City will be able to fund and equip those services without a tax increase.

No real surprise here is there? If she makes them feel better just think how much they love Harry Reid and the "We have lost this war" crowd.

Well, it appears a Judge has ruled that Valerie Plame and her Gigolo husband Wilson have no claim and has thrown out her suit against Cheney, White House political adviser Karl Rove, former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and others seeking damages for the alleged 'outing' of her identity as a 'CIA Agent'.

There are still tens of thousands of mobile homes sinking into the mud in Arkansas, not due to the fact that no one needs them but due to the fact that they can't find any place to park them, supply water and sewer, power and gas to them! Build roads to them, and maintain them.

Some don't think we can replace the current illegal alien grunge work if we send them home--which we can do by allowing local, state, and federal officers to work together, and by jailing people who hire them.

Illegal immigration update: Get ready to start paying

The impact of the defeat of a rational immigration bill brought on by the extreme right as well as the impact of the plethora of politicized municipal and state anti-illegal immigration legislation is having an effect on our economy much sooner than I anticipated. Get ready to start paying folks. Open your wallets. I assume that you did realize that your “no amnesty” rhetoric was going to result in almost everything costing more – soon –like now.

In case you were living on another planet, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was recently indicted on federal charges related to dogfighting. Vick is an immensely talented player, but the Falcons must be getting fed up with his off-field actions. What should the Falcons do? Release him (the cap hit would be exorbitant)? Attempt to trade him?

I tried some of the Chinese noodles made of cardboard and they taste pretty good!
By soaking the cardboard, brown cartons, and other paper products in a brew intended to soften the wood fibers and chemicals in the glue, one can use a meat clever and chop up the softened stuff into particles about like soft onions out of a blender. That then can be mixed with rease, and pork products? that are also chopped fine, rolled into a noodle and fried in deep grease from ducks, geese, chickens, and othe fowl stuff.