"Urging".

Isn't that sweet.

"the pressure, I think, is going to build..."


Uh, shouldn't he have a better answer than, I think...

Yea, that tone must scare the socks off Ahmadinejad.
I think.

Carolyn1.. You are getting funnier as time goes on!! LOL..It's nice to see you back.
I'm sure Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs are shaking in their sandals.

'Obama' is getting in too deep!

His Days are 'Numbered'.

The Man's arrogance and ego knows no bounds.

Jock MacSprog ~5,

"arrogance" becomes,..'long time dead'.

Roll on Nov.4th. I grow tired of the hate.

Why is Iran's nuclear power programme illicit yet the US's and Britain's are not?

#9 - We were there first. And, we aren't ruled by a religion bend on world domination. The soldiers man the walls, while the fat and happy laugh at their warnings.
#7 - Any relation to Tokyo Rose? What directorate do you work for in the Chi-Com government?

1,2,3,4,5,6

Ahmadinejad and others in Iran have not demonstrated any "shaking in their sandals" with the threat of attacks by either Israel or the US or both. Even with the US fleet just off Iran's coast.

You people who attempt to denigrate Obama by his use of diplomacy with Iran are really denigrating yourselves by your obvious, overt, misguided and jingoistic "Israel is right in whatever they do" at all costs views.

Just for a moment, reflect on the alternative. McCain is a time bomb just waiting to go off. He's over the hill and his mental state (can't control his temper) is not an appropriate subject for the presidency.

Those who will vote for McCain also have suspect mental conditions.

Iran did not "shake in their sandals" even during an 8 years war with Iraq which was supported and supplied by the US with numerous illegal WMD.

It should be obvious even to the least mentally endowed that the current threats and policies toward Iran are a total failure.

#11 postmarkfifty-5. Fine. You are exactly right. I was so blind. Why could I not see it? Bush rigged the elections, is making tons of money through kickbacks from all the US oil companies secretly in Iraq, and is planning to invade China after our Israeli lackies bomb the fight out of the Iranians. And then, he will hand everything over to Senator Reid and Housemistress Pelosi and peace with reign on earth with the coming of the Muslim/Christian Messiah Obama.
It is all a vast, right-wing conspiracy brought about by the maschinations of the Knights Templar through the Scottish Rite Order of the Freemasons.

#- 9,
Go back to sleep.

Life mimics pictures of dogs playing cards and smoking cigars.

#-7,

Ye,Ye, Ye.
I do not need to comment on your post, but I wet my pants laughing after reading it.

#9
Only the world's bully (the USA)and its playmates is allowed nuclear toys!

#18 Quite right. You are only allowed an illicit nuclear program if the bombs are aimed at brown people or commies. They are not allowed if they are needed to defend against nice white people like us.

"Continue your illicit nuclear programme and the international community will ratchet up pressure with stronger and increased sanctions."

Great idea.

Let's stop Iran from selling its' OIL !!!

That should be a great help, eh?

"Ahmadinejad and others in Iran have not demonstrated any "shaking in their sandals" with the threat of attacks by either Israel or the US or both. Even with the US fleet just off Iran's coast."

All this political posturing does just one thing......it strenghtens the hand of the current Iranian Government and let's them play up to their domestic audience.

Their message is...."see you need us to protect you from these big bad Westerners".

This also makes it much more difficult for opposition groups in Iran to criticise the "authorities" while they are "protecting" the country from outsiders.

But don't expect any neoCon to see the simple logic and common sense of this.

Obama is a proper statesman. This guy looks like he has been involved in European politics his entire life.
Articulate, unlike most American leaders, he exudes integrity, something missing in American politics under the war mongering Bush regime. Obama means well, something most American leaders pay little interest to.
Obama is the man for the job!
Boom boom bomb bomb McCain, you got no chance pal. Obama will eat you up and spit you out without trying.

BO will eat McCain??? literally... he looks like he could use it... there's a joke to be had there about BO being a generation removed from african canibals... but we cant go there, can we??? sad the state of witicism today, isnt it???

FIGURATIVELY.... hmmm... if BO is SOOOO tough WHY did he run from debating McCain like some girl-scout... wait I cant make that joke, can I?

will I be a racist if I merely point out that BO isnt ready?

It appears Iran has learnt the lesson of Iraq. If you do not have the nuclear deterent expect an American invasion. When the American troops have occupied your country your 14 year old girls will be raped and 24 members of her family will be murdered by the American troops to remove witnesses to another American crime against humanity. Haditha in Iraq is where the American rapists / murderers had a "party" with the 14 year old Iraqi girl! Oh also don't forget the American military was able to turn Abu Ghraib into a torture centre on an industrial level with American know how.

After Iraq no country is safe from America's lies about it possesing WMD and on the grounds of the lie an American pre-emptive war and subjugatation!

After Iraq, all countries must strive to obtain the nuclear deterent America will lie about them having WMD anyway as an excuse to invade!

The neo con, bible bashing thugs are about to meet their demise...HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Bye bye Bush Pig and take boom boom bomb bomb McCain with you...

Obama is not the president and hopefully never will be.

It is the job of the president to conduct diplomatic relations with foreign countries, not he yet-to-be-nominated pretender.

media 1,

"Articulate, unlike most American leaders, he exudes integrity,"

Sorry, I have to take a moment, a long moment, to stop laughing at this. Obviously, you have not heard Hillary Clinton speak. The biggest difference is that when Hillary speaks, she knows and understands what she's speaking about. Don't you think this is a good time in history for the USA to have a president who understands policy and the reasons for specific policies? Umm, Obama is clueless, I think.

As for integrity, you can't seriously put "integrity" and "Obama" in the same sentence. There isn't an ounce, or a gram, of "integrity" in him. Opportunism? absoulutely. Narcissism? Definitely. Not a scrap of integrity, though.

This is the US Senator who passed on visiting injured American troops in Germany because he couldn't use them as a photo op. As a US Senator, he can visit injured American troops whenever he wants, but they're no use to him if he can't take campaign pictures with them. Fortunately, the DoD protects our brave soldiers from being used by slime like Obama. Agree with the war in Iraq or not, and I do not and never have, our military men and women, and especially the injured, deserve more from us than being made a backdrop for political preaching.

I have tremendous respect for this man and I am amazed that he has the strength and commitment to undertake such a gruelling tour at this time. Indeed, if he had been in full health last weekend, I feel sure that Padraig would have had to settle for the runner-up spot.

you sirrah are a nutcase

you may not LIKE the rule of law, but for Haditha, there were 8 murder charges brought, 6 were dismissed because witnesses were not available, one was found not guilty, and one still has charges pending

abu grahib, again, the rule of law prevails, charges have been brought, people have been disciplined, I believe that the one-star general in charge lost her retirement in the deal...

if you have some misguided belief that soldiers are beyond reproach, I dont know what to tell you.... they are human beings subject to frailties of judgement

oh and if you think that it is only americans who are capable of this.... think again...

FACT:

Since the democrats have taken control of the house, 80% of the legislation has been passed without voting.

80% is never debated.
80% shows no dissent.
80% allows no voice from the republicans.
A two party system is meant to work on checks and balance of each other- under the current control, the minor party is allowed no debate and therefore no checks and balances.

Any legislation the republicans want to present, is never allowed to the floor.

Second Fact:
Obama wants internationalism and he wants globalization of economies.
He wants all incomes and wealth to be equally distributed, not just in America, but in Europe.
He spoke of this quite clearly in Germany.
Was anybody listening to the actual words?

He and his wife are Marxists.
Already he controls all leguislation in the senate and he isn't even president yet.

oh media 1

its the LITTLE things that give such sweeping insights into the character of BO....

Landstuhl Army Hospital...

BO cant take the media, so he wont go...
I dont care WHAT you think of why we are there... Soldiers dont decide where they want to go...
BO can NEVER say anything about "caring for the troops" ever again...

BO was there on the US taxpayers nickel...

and he cant spare the time to see wounded soldiers... I think he just lost the military vote... (as if he had it before he got there)

we, the american voters are supposed to ignore Jerrimiah Wright, William Ayers, Michael Pfleger.... "gun toting bible thumping"... Landstuhl... "audacity of hope"

I think the pile of what we are supposed to ignore is getting bigger than the pile of what he wants us to pay attention to...

I challenge you to keep your mind open, just not SO open that your brains fall out....

#13 Reaver..Is that before or after the USA attacks Venezuela!!! (according to Chavez)

#22..Exudes intergity? No one knows WHO Obama is..in America he's called the "Mystery Man"

Oh, so sorry for Pictus family.. sincere condolences to friends and family.

Sandi

Here is the thing! If Obama was in power there would be no massacred soldiers to visit because he would never have sacrficed them like the neo cons did.

In 50 years time we will all learn that the neo cons arranged the hit on 11/9 or 9/11 as you call it. Far fetched? I think not, far more awful things have happened at the hands of American politicians and I am not speaking about Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
That was was manufactured, planned and permitted to happen on the basis that they needed an excuse to attack Iraq.
Remember Osama?
What the fukc is that all about? An entire US Army,Navy and Airforce, with all that fire power, soldiers, navy seals, pilots, CIA agents, FBI Agents, government officials, informants and all the money on the planet cannot find ONE MAN?
Please do me a favour and take off your blindfold.
McCain the boom boom bomber man and his carnage cannibal friends the Bush family are history. And good riddance

R.I.P. Pictus. Gone on to a better place, where may you always win on line arguements.

Finnking-Nice obit. on your site-I well remember his "Roamin' calf lick" joke. I do agree w/feeling sorrow for the loss of people we never actually meet, remember Scaramouch? But so it goes. Thanks for the info.

#11 pk

pk said:

"The US is run by a dictator hell bent on world domination"

This is rich. Here you have comrade chopsticks writing from China, a country that is openly and enthusiastically Marxist-Leninist. They are 21st century Bolsheviks. That the individual is the property of the state is Marxist orthodoxy. The state is the repository of rights and may dole them out or withhold them at its whim. And yet here you have commissar kung pao calling someone else a dictator. Sheesh!

Gere #24

You are obsessed with the rape of 14 years old Iraqi girl and I believe the main reason lies with because the rapists are Americans. So what about those rapists and murderers who killed and stoned young girls and women to death either due to adultery and family honour? That also included devout Muslim fathers who murdered (or beheaded) their daughters because they suspected their daughters were raped by one of their male relatives.

On honour killing, the girls and women are usually raped first before brutalised to death! Sadly to say, many of these murderers and rapists get off scot-free with no charges whereas the American soldiers were brought to justice, threw into jail and disciplined. This is not fair or is it for you?

#37

"This is rich. Here you have comrade chopsticks writing from China, a country that is openly and enthusiastically Marxist-Leninist".

...and you should be very grateful as China's system is largely keeping the US system afloat.

#39

"...and you should be very grateful as China's system is largely keeping the US system afloat".

I'll take that back - almost afloat.

#39 & 41 LHTT

LHTT said:

""...and you should be very grateful as China's system is largely keeping the US system afloat".
I'll take that back - almost afloat."

Modern industrial China is the creation of the American consumer, so the question of who is keeping whom afloat is not quite as clear as you present it.

I would like to digress. Your two replies were excellent, that's the way to lay it in there, good work. I agree with you to some extent. However it's a two way street. But there is a more interesting question so let me ask you what you think.

In the Confucian tradition the status of occupations fairly clearly delineated. The merchant class is the lowest. Throughout Chinese history the ruling class has taken it's foot off the necks of the merchant class allowed them to prosper, skimmed the action and then, once the rulers have gotten what they wanted they clamped down on the merchant class once again.

Although not exactly the same, do you detect any friction between the industrialists and the communist party central committee? How much slack do you think the CCP will allow the individual? Do you believe that there will be a natural disentanglement from the clunky communist apparatus as the country continues to prosper? What resemblance do you think the CCP of today has to the CCP of Mao and Zhou Enlai? Do you know why the Chinese Army isn't as fearsome as it would appear?
And, any other thoughts you have of a predictive nature regarding the Chinese?

#43

Come on, I say, come on, boy, the fast ones go right by you. You have restated my proposition without knowing it. Nice. You say:

"As a matter of fact, we do keep you afloat, for we have replaced your overpriced products with ours. The same can be said for the EU."

Its hard to believe that something that is staring you in the face like this eludes you detection. If you are keeping us afloat then we are keeping you afloat. If the US quits buying Chinese goods, where will you get any money? It is US consumer spending that supports the Chinese economy. The easiest way to examine this proposition is this. Suppose two things: one, China no longer supplies any manufactured goods to the US. Two, the US doesn't buy any more stuff from China. Who suffers most?

We can always get along without cheap plastic items, China supplies nothing vital to the US. Most of the products produced in China for export to the US are of US designs for US products for US consumers. The money is in innovation, creativity, and vision. The profit from most Chinese made goods sold in the US is retained in the US. What China is good for is a vast sea of cheap labor.

So, we will continue to invent, to improve, and innovate. We'll keep most of the cash, too. We'll ship the peasant work off to where there are lot of peasants.

#31
Very nice tribute to Pictus.

Pictus lampooned me more than once! An honor, don't you think? Because of his scenic and tender poetry, and the occassional aphorism, I always recognized that he and I both shared a love of nature, mankind and our responsibility as caretakers. I call it being wondrous of the world around us. Seeing it, and knowing it and wanting it to stay that way.
When I met with Woods Hole's MBL, Ed Wilson and his new project the Encyclopedia of Life that sprang from his book Creation, Pictus wished he could attend the meeting too. - I offered my home to him. But he couldn't make it.
At that meeting here in town, among many different avenues we considered, we realized that poetry, such as Robert Frost' could be one of many ways to 'plant the seeds' of how truly wondrous the planet is- its diversity- the people, nature and animals all interconnected. We thought that through writing, not unlike Thoreau did a hundred years ago, we could instill in the next generation the need to be responsible caretakers of the planet. At the time we specifically were looking for scientists who wrote about nature, so I asked Pictus to send his poetry or writing, but he didn't. If he did intend to, perhaps it will find its way to me afterall.

I agree Finking that the internet is great because it expands how we communicate and with whom. But it does little to break down the walls, virtual and otherwise, between posters. We never get to know the real person behind a name. Pictus was frequently at odds with me because I believed in God and disputed that Darwin was not the only answer to explaining life. Now that Pictus is no longer an earth walker, I'm sure it is of great relief to him to not really be dead, but evolve once again to a spirit that fills us.
Pictus will always be in our hearts and part of the collective energy around us, still writing,... and still lampooning me, no doubt:)

Finnking, If you are aware that Pictus did want to give some

continued...
Finnking, If you are aware that Pictus did consider the idea of sending some writings to MBL, e-mail me or if you google a bit, you might find my maagazine and a mailing address.
Best regards to his family.

#44

"So, we will continue to invent, to improve, and innovate. We'll keep most of the cash, too. We'll ship the peasant work off to where there are lot of peasants".

Why ship it to China when the peasant population of the US is growing by the day?

I believe you are forgetting that China is largely financing your adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

#47 lhtt

lhtt said:

"Why ship it to China when the peasant population of the US is growing by the day?"

Really? The peasant population of the US is growing? Would you care to cite the sources of information that has led you to this curious conclusion. Maybe it wasn't meant to be accurate statement but more of a quip. Who knows? The only conclusion that one can draw from your comments is that it is a good illustration of how distorted things can look from eight thousand miles and two hemispheres away.

Sorry, Chirpy, you lose.