Why in the world can we not decide on the one and only solution to this problem?

It would take less than 20 billion dollars, the cost of the last big flood, to return vast stretches of the flood plain to the mighty Mississippi River. Knock down most levees and protect only towns that cannot be moved. With more available flood plains the river won't get as high as it does now. Farms in the unprotected areas could be put on stilts or artificial hills. There are hundreds of these in the North Sea and they withstand worse floods than the Mississippi can ever produce. Why should the tax payer bail out those who build in flood plains again and again? Shipping may have to adjust to variable water levels and farming to occasional floods.

I served two full years as a commissioned officer in Vietnam, boots on the ground. While there I was convinced that we were doing the right thing, the necessary thing, and that we would win. Indeed my second tour was from Sept 68 to Sept 69 and the Vietcong seemed to be defeated. It took me a long time to realize, admit to myself, that this war was unnecessary and unwinnable. McCain says more bombs could have won it. Is he kidding? We dropped more bombs on Vietnam than on all of Europe in WWII. We devastated the country, destroyed much of the lush jungle with Agent Orange which in itself qualifies as a war crime. Countless Vietnamese died from it or are still scarred because of this chemical agent. After all, chemical warfare is outlawed, isn't it? Smarter people than McCain realized that we had to end this nightmare. So we declared victory and got out. The rest is history.

Why do I say we won?

Simple. Vietnam now is one of our more important trading partners. Had we stayed the course as McCain now proposes for Iraq we might still be fighting in Vietnam. Therefore, the decision to get out put us on the road to winning.

Come on now, what do you expect of FOX News? This is not a legitimate news source. The Nazi's Goebbels and Stalin's Pravda were neophytes besides FOX News. Of course they didn't have the technology Fox has nowadays.

One ought to dismiss FOX News were it not for the sad fact that it is the only news source for millions of Americans. That makes them dangerous.

Are you sure this article wasn't written by the Obama campaign manager?

I assume is wasn't.

If I had any doubts before I am now convinced that Obama is the right man to lead the nation at least for the next four years. One of the biggest fears by many is that Obama will feel obliged to pump ever more money into the urban blight society. Certainly many Afro-Americans may expect exactly that of him. Yes, these people need help but money alone will not do it. If Obama understands this and sticks to his principles he will become even more electable in 2012.

Reading this article it struck me again how identical the attitude of Christian and Muslim fundamentalists is towards premarital sex. Both condemn it. Virginity prior to marriage probably made sense when girls were married off as soon as they reached puberty. But today many women don't marry until their late 20s and often later. Does anybody believe that a 30-year old virgin will make a better bed partner than one who learned all about sex when body and soul called for it?

Doesn't this man realize that we have been living beyond our means for many years? The economy has been driven not by real growth but by speculation and by borrowing from the rest of the world. The USA as a whole has a negative savings rate. Whereas in most countries money in the bank means savings, in the USA most people have their savings in real estate or stocks. Speculation overvalued both and people thought they were rich. When the bubble bursts the savings disappear. One of these days the big bubble will burst and then what do we have? A huge pile of debts!

It's time to start living within our means.

The American Embassy is located on Pariser Platz next door to the Brandenburg Gate. Less than a week ago, the American Ambassador, assisted by President Bush Sr. and Chancellor Merkel hosted a major event at the Brandenburg Gate, and in front of the new Embassy, celebrating our Independence Day and the formal opening of the new Embassy. If the Ambassador wants to greet Senator Obama at the same location and give him the opportunity to give a major speech, then I am sure nobody would stop him from doing so. But Chancellor Merkel is correct when she prefers that no German official host such a speech at the Brandenburg Gate. To do so would be almost as bad as permitting him to speak in the Reichstag. Both venues are reserved for heads of state. How would it look if the Mayor of Washington DC permits a contender for the highest office in a friendly nation to give a major speech at the Washington Monument?

By the way, neither Kennedy nor any other President prior to Bush Sr. ever had the opportunity to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. The closest they ever came was on a platform on the West side of the Berlin Wall. The Brandenburg Gate lay in solitary splendor on the other side, surrounded by empty space. Space that is now filled with among other things the American, British and French Embassies and the Adlon Hotel.