If you were a male friend of mine, I would tell you to shut the hell up and shit or get off the pot. God, the whining and doubting and analysis.

Honestly, I don't even know why the hell I still subscribe to Salon. I give more to blogs in 3 months than my entire Salon subscription.

Just ugh.

If you actually look at the phase diagram for carbon, you will see that its diamond allotrope (allotrope just means different atomic packing in the crystal) is stable only at very high pressure and temperature, which are the conditions under which they form.

At atmospheric pressure, diamonds are slowly converting back to graphite. So in "forever" your diamond ring will consist of graphite mounted in gold/silver/platinum.

What is this weak, pathetic criticism that people voted for Lamont because they hate Bush? At the root of it the implicit assumption that hating Bush is somehow wrong. Oh dear me, Dems should be above the fray. Pish posh, we must be bi-partisan and take the high road. F*ck that s*it. Hate, when properly harnessed and channeled, can be an effective emotive force to move forward and reach electoral victory. Here's a hint: the Republicans do it ALL THE TIME! Bush acts as an effective short hand for all of the un-American crap the Republicans have brutalized this country with.

I don't know if such an idea will work in a country where basic security and services such as water and electricity are at pre-industrial levels will work, but it is worth a try. I think you have accurately named what Iraq is: an unsolvable problem. There are no good options, just a lot of bad ones. And while I despise this administration, and a big supporter of progressive blogs/policies, I see too little of ideas such as this. I suspect this is largely because it is almost pointless to contemplate them, since even the chance of considering such notions at the political level is essentially zero.

We will not leave Iraq in the next two years, barring some remarkaable political changes in the US, and I doubt we will leave for 1-3 years following that, especially if a Republican is president again. We always assume we will leave, but look at all the troops stationed all over the world. South Korea, Germany, etc. It is not unreasonable to believe that the US will be in Iraq in some capacity for the next 10-50 years, given historical precedent.

Right now we have a Sunni centered foreign policy. Our main allies are Sunni dictatorial regimes (Saudia Arabia, Egypt). What if we switched to a Shia centered policy, with Iran as our chief ally? At least they have elections of a sort, and of course they have tons of oil.

One thing I do know is that as long as Bush is president, no new thought will be allowed.

None of this is new. It has happened in past wars, and it will happen in future wars. The only hope is that govt investigates war profiteers. I think war profiteering should be considered high treason, punishable by the death penalty.

Everyone should read this: http://lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm

War is a racket, and that's all you ever really need to know about it.

I love all the Islamic experts we have here. How many of you read the Quaran in Arabic? Just like the Bible, certain portions of it can be used for extremist goals, like all religions. Although, we shouldn't equate Christianity with Islam in terms of violent methods/tactics, at least in recent history. It does make me wonder what our attitude would be if instead of Muslim suicide bombers, they were Christian.

I would like someone to give me an outline of the Islamic strategy for taking over the West. Is everyone in the US going to convert to Islam? No? Then they will force us somehow! With what army/navy/air force will they do this? Oh I know, it's going to be Iran! When they get the bomb in a few months, they are gonna totally drop it on us! They have a suicidal government that's been in power for 30 years, but now they want to end it all. That's gotta be it. Replace the Red Scare with Muslim Marauders and it's the same shit, with the exception that the former USSR had tons of ICBMs, a modern army, navy, and air force. Otherwise, totally the same!

As for this author, like many she has some good ideas, but not everything she says is workable, because the real world tends to not conform to academic theories most of the time.

Here is another idea: limit contributions only to those legal entities that are allowed to physically vote for a candidate. Set a contribution limit. Make bundling illegal. Plus do the other things people have suggested: free airtime, limit campaign duration.

If this article is a troll, then ha ha. Compromise with Republicans? You must be drinking too much of that fine Minnesota water. Where was the compromise when the R's were in total power for 6 years eh? Or is compromise only for when you're in a weak(ened) position, like they are now? No, there should be no mercy for the Republicans. No fate is too ill for them to suffer. The conservative and Republican agenda should be attacked without respite 24/7 until the Republican party as we know it ceases to exist.