benny

First, in the truest sense of the word the United States of America is not a Democracy either. And Iraq will never be a democracy either, we'll never let that happen. But the truth of the matter is that the people have a voice in governmental policy making in Spain as can be since in the post election policies of the new government. But this is what the Spanish wanted all along, before and after the tapes and bombing. So, it's simply the natural progression of a government molding to the demands of its people. Second, I'm not sure exactly what the terms of the arrangement were but at what point exactly would it be ok for them to pull-out, when we decide? Third, the people of Spain were angry at their former government for taking them to Iraq and they responded accordingly at the polls. The appearance is unfortunate and the bombings and tape were most likely planned entirely due to the fact of the appearance they'd have. Of course it's all about symbolism but don't call Spain pussies or traders for doing what they wanted to do all along. Thank them for the assistance they have given, ask them to still hold up financially maybe, and wish them luck. Al Quaeda's the enemy. Get it straight, these people are our friends and if push came to shove and the shit really hit the fan, they be in it with us. But like somebody said before, wasn't it only like 1200 troops anyway? Once again, appearances, like "our coalition's really big, really." So, let it go, and spread the word that the people did what they wanted all along in Spain and that the terrorists had no effect. They want you to think they had that effect. It adds fuel to the flame. Never go to a DZ strip show.

Man, all I gotta say is don't get too hard on yourself. Just keep doing it, listen to your instructors. It will all come. I'm still working on getting my exits down, particularly my hop-n-pops. I've down like 15 of them now, I'm happy if I don't flip over and well, just don't get too frustrated. The more you have fun and relax, the better it will get. Blue skies Never go to a DZ strip show.

Well, considering that the government of Spain went against the wishes of its populace, what would be the proper time to decide that a democratically elected gov't should do what its people want... Would you have seen this as ok if they hadn't been recently bombed or if they hadn't released the OBL truce tape? I seriously doubt it? I realize that appearance is important. But what I also see is that, if people weren't so shortsighted and thought about the political situation in Spain prior to these events, then they might realize that these events are not the reason Spain is withdrawing, but rather an unfortunate conflagration of events. Here, an analogy, GI Joe decided a while back that he just didn't want to be in the army anymore but he'll serve out his term... His term ends day x. One day before day x there's a bombing. GI gets out on day x just as he had planned... Under your logic, GI only got out because he was scared by the bombing. Those who know GI know that he wanted out all along. Never go to a DZ strip show.

Truth: When the terrorists say "jump", the new government of Spain answers "how high?". How many times do you have to be told that the Spanish people did not to be involved in this war for you to realize that this was the path that they should have taken all along and is not some kind of giving in to terrorists? I guess its just pretty hard for us Americans to believe that the government could actually carry out the wishes of its own people rather than cow-towing to special interests or foreign players. Never go to a DZ strip show.

Hey Rocket, look above you... seems at least one Spaniard agrees with my analysis that reached the conclusion that the Spanish didn't want to be there. Spanish people, Spanish government, not exactly one in the same. Never go to a DZ strip show.

Right or wrong I will not debate other than saying it is the wish of the majority of the Spanish citizens and therefore... However, it is clearly not succumbing. If anythin it could be said that in making the decision to join the Iraqi invasion in spite of its own citizens' wishes the government of Spain had succumc to US pressure. But, You guys do have a point, it does look bad, but mostly because people won't stop for a minute to think "oh yeah, the Spanish never wanted to be there in the first place" and will hence reach the conclusion that Spain has succumb to terrorism and is taking heed of OBL's truce offering. This, however, as noted before is erroneous. Never go to a DZ strip show.

Do I have to point out to everyone once again that the public of a democratic country, Spain, was overwhelmingly against participation in the war in Iraq before the recent train bombings and the recent OBL European truce tape...? How is it succumbing when you follow through with the wishes that your citizens have held from the beginning? Untimely for your, maybe our, aspirations but in no way did they succumb. Never go to a DZ strip show.

Northern Ireland was kept under British control because of the conflicts between Protestant and Catholic communities. Ask someone living in Northern Ireland whether they want to be part of Eire or the UK and the answer you get depends pretty much on which denomination they are. How many Palestinians want to be controlled by Israel? There are Palestinians who are quite happy living within the borders of Israel and would choose to stay there even in the event that a Palestinian state is formed in the territories. So your point there is kind of moot. Israel is a democracy and has a pretty damn good economy at times so even Palestinians in the territories want to come over for work... Then again, we are talking about targeted killings, not mass murder of innocent women and children at buses, bars, malls etc... so I see it kind of hard as to how you can seemingly show sympathy for hamas. Gimme a break, if the Palestinians want peace and a state of their own they need to rise up against their own militant factions. Israel would then be forced to follow a road toward peace or face the ire of the entire international community. Never go to a DZ strip show.

But ya know, it's an honor to die like that Never go to a DZ strip show.

The report I heard said bodyguard and his driver, but who knows, and as the saying goes que sera sera Never go to a DZ strip show.

They got him too didn't they... well then, how was he supposed to guard against helo-fired missiles anyway. Nonetheless, Israel is probably one of the few situations where I would be described as a hawk... sometimes I think more drastic measures than "targeted" killings should be considered. Never go to a DZ strip show.

Geez, and here I was thinking mine was a lot of fun no foreskin and all... I'm not going to enter into the debate as to whether or not it should be done, but as far as I'm concerned, save your pity for someone else. If my penis were any more fun, it'd drive me crazy... oh wait, it already does! Never go to a DZ strip show.

Yeah, I'm all for targeted assassinations. No really, I am. I say withdraw from all but a little bit of the territories, seal the borders and let the palestinians have fun developong their own economy. Never go to a DZ strip show.

I paid less taxes for 2003 than I did during the Clinton years. I had a household income of less than $60,000 last year. Are you saying that I am rich? These are called "tax breaks". What you are actually saying is "independent of the tax breaks that everyone received, no one really got any tax breaks". Well, I don't know your specific situation so I couldn't sat but if you are single with no dependents then 60k may not make you "rich" but it's certainly on the higher end of the income spectrum. As far as the latter statement and reply by you... umm, no, if you're poor and not popping out babies then you received no tax breaks. Republicans and democrats alike give such "child tax credits" because they like to appear pro-family". I say fuck that, they should be giving me money back for not reporducing when I can't afford to! Give us incentive not to overpopulate, the incentive otherwise is great enough as it is. Never go to a DZ strip show.

Billvon, thanks for taking the torch while I was away working and drinking... mostly drinking but that's beside the point. Pajarito, I'm all for paying less in taxes, every self-loving human being alive is. The question is, which is better for the economy, lower marginal rates, or a balanced budget. I think the answer is clearly a balanced budget. As for someone's earlier claim that everyone got tax cuts, that's a fallacy. The lowest income earners in America received no tax break whatsoever (independent of child tax credits etc.). Now, you may claim that you and the rest of the ludicrously rich people deserve a tax break, but what about needing one... surely those who are below or just barely above the poverty line needed a tax break worse than you? But back to the point of actually helping the economy, maybe you all have heard of a little thing known as the marginal propensity to consume? This means, what portion of every extra dollar earned will you tend to spend... For that poor schmuck (oh damn I am that poor schmuck) below the poverty line, it's nearly 100 percent. For the rich guy who deserves the tax break, we'll assume and statistics support that it's much lower. What does this mean? Give a dollar to me or a dollar to Donald (Trump that is). If you want to help the economy, give the dollar to me, I'll spend it all. Or balance the budget and give it to the gov't, either way it's spent and recycled throughout the economy, not the case when you hand it back to a fat cat who doesn't need it. Not that he doesn't deserve it but the "tax breaks for the rich will save the world" myth has been debunked many times over. Never go to a DZ strip show.

Hmm, lets see, we meandered through the eighties under this lie and then in 1993 Clinton, under the advisement of Greenspan, decided that low marginal rates for the ultra-rich were not the bst priority so he raised taxes and we spent the next 7 years in a boom where everybody got richer... Now, we bring GWB in a they tell us the lie again... "Just give this money back to these rich people. They'll go spending crazy and hire you poor schmucks... trust us, we want what's good for you." Umm, so, jobless recovery, I think last week's initial unemployment claims were record setting. So, again, how did I prove his point? Never go to a DZ strip show.

Like, if we just keep giving tax breaks to the ultra-rich, it will trickle down, right? Never go to a DZ strip show.

I’m certainly not a psychiatrist. Is there one that’s saying that she is, in fact, insane and, therefore, might not be responsible for her illegal actions? You were the one proclaiming her sanity... I don't know, I think it's fairly obvious that she isn't in the right state of mind and might be better served by having trained mental health professionals review her case. Maybe she is sane, maybe she did what she did out of completely malicious intent. I have a sneaking suspicion that she would be called emotionally disturbed at the very least. To an extent, some laws have sentencing guidelines, some have mandatory minimums. I would venture to guess that the judge, if she is found guilty, will have some leeway in how he/she sentences her. In my own personal opinion the judge would be doing a disservice to his constiuents by sentencing her to any jail time. You seem convinced that jail time is appropriate for her. If the statutes which apply to this case allow for reducing sentencing would you be ok with that? hmm, I gonna go out on a limb here and guess that at some point or another you've broken a law. do you think you yourself should be in jail? would it serve the public good if we locked up every speeder, or litterer? There are a lot of things that the law says you shouldn't do but which we still don't prescribe jail time for. Never go to a DZ strip show.

Hmm, she's sane, well, I'm glad to know I got that straight from a licensed psychiatrist. When'd you get that degree pajarito? Granted murderers are not the only people worthy of inprisonment, however, certain things are hardly worthy of inprisonment. Where do we make the distinction? Maybe we determine who should go to jail or not based on the public good. Ask yourself, once again, does sentencing this young woman to time in jail actually do the public any good? I don't think so... my guesss is that a judge will agree with me... they do so in many cases. If she serves jail time it will be a travesty, community service, fines, whatever, jail time for this is silly. Never go to a DZ strip show.

It's pretty clear, based on the reporting thus far, that she was aware of her actions, and knew "right" from "wrong". Her emotional issues be damned, her little stunt sucked the resources dry for a week and she needs to be held accountable. Umm, so you think she doesn't have issues? Seriously, ok, she cost some money, resources, what have you. Do you really think it's going to do a service to anyone, her, her family, the place she lives, anyone, to lock her in jail? This is ludicrous. It's not like she killed somebody... She literally cried out for attention. God, gimme a break, once again it does no good, noone benefits from locking her up. It doesn't even make an example... all it does is add to the problems of a girl with a fucked up head who could otherwise with the proper treatment be a fully functionioning member of society. This isn't some criminal mastermind we're talking about. BTW, jail costs the taxpayers more money, psychiatric treatment can be paid for through her parents insurance. Never go to a DZ strip show.

I'd say probably forget about getting the deposit back but the goal is not to pay more than that. Have a friend call claiming to "represent" you. Talk about court. They don't want to go to court... neither do you... it would cost either of you more than it's worth. Never go to a DZ strip show.

39 and counting... the pace has really picked up since February which was when I finished AFF. Never go to a DZ strip show.

Call me a sucker for a pretty face but I think it's ridiculous to charge this chick with a crime. Honestly, let her parents cough up some donation to the police department and get her some psychiatric help. Locking her up doesn't do anyone any good. Never go to a DZ strip show.

Well lets just remember once again that terrorism is in no way ethnicity or religion specific. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols anyone? Theodore Kaczinkski? The name escapes me but Yitzkh Rabin's killer was a Jew who wanted to stop Rabin's peace efforts. Everybody's got their bad apples, don't go getting all holy on us, Americans and christians have done bad things too. Never go to a DZ strip show.

As long as we continue to populate the world at the rate we do and as long as there is a constant source of available land (ie, until we begin to colonize the moon or mars) the cost of housing will continue to rise. My question, where are the jobs that allow people to pay for these houses? Never go to a DZ strip show.