But it turns out that it's all part of the grand plan, the -- dare we say it? -- "National Stragegy for Victory."

Should be National Stategy for Victory.

Unless that's how Bush had it on the big backdrop behind his big ears.

--cbelz

I like how they used The Wilhelm Scream in there.

Tres nerdy.

--cbelz

This may be off-base with regards to your article, but I feel like I've been seeing more cars and trucks running red lights in NJ recently, and along with the apparent increase of NJ Parkway racing (all, I admit, my own estimate of increases, and may be more likely something I'm more prone to observe as I'm getting older), I feel like like a general tendency of aggressive driving (at least in NJ) is on the rise.

I bring this up with regards to this article because of the claims that the author makes about boredom and invincibility being major factors in risky decisions by folks these days.

I can't help but think that this social phenomenon is related to the arrogant attitude the U.S. has in the global community.

I could be wrong, but it may be related.

I thought Club Dread was better than Super Troopers (where the plot suddenly tried to matter 3/4ths through). The kink! The slaughter! The bad decisions made while running through a jungle/woods from a knife-wielding maniac!

Sounds like Michael J. Fox does name the Republican trying to block the stem cell research. I heard it.

"Yet he also noted that mental states are difficulty to quantify. You can count, say, the number of people a soldier believes he killed. But how do you measure disillusionment? In a scientific study, Shay noted, there is "a constant suction toward measurability" and away from topics that seem too squishy to quantify."

It sounds like this issue needs a qualitative study that develops a definition of the concept "disillusionment," and then some nice, quantitative measures that ask vets things like, "While in combat, how much did you feel the Americans back home were not supporting your efforts on a Likert scale from 1-7."

That gets the ball rolling and begins to identify the aspects of disillusionment that are relevant to the hypothesis that disillusionment is a moderator of PTSD.

That's why science invented the squishy approach of qualitative studies.

--cbelz

I have a pet peeve (now that I've almost completed my doctoral degree in clinical psychology) about the overuse and misuse of the word 'schizophrenic.' It is frequently used as if it meant 'split personality', but it really means 'split from reality.' And it describes a condition of psychosis, but not necessarily a condition of multiple identities (which is very rare, and possibly fictional anyway).

Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.

flak, flack (nn.)

Flak is an acronym from the German name for antiaircraft guns (Fliegerabwehrkanonen); it also refers to their bursting shells and therefore to figurative shell bursts as well: My statement earned me a lot of flak from my friends. Such figurative senses are Informal and Conversational, but the literal sense is Standard. Flack, a homophone of flak, is a slang word meaning “press agent”: He worked as a flack for several television personalities. Flack has now also become a variant spelling of flak, but you should avoid it as needlessly confusing.

--cbelz

I thought most ads had the "I approve of this message" at the end, and that this strategy worked best with negative ads, so that the viewer felt that the candidate didn't *really* say those nasty things, it was the voice-over announcer guy.

Didn't Obama have an ad recently where his message approval was at the start, reflecting his more exuberant approval of the message?

How do others understand the approval at the start or end of an ad?

WFMU radio, 91.1 fm, in Jersey City, NJ had a show with all Obama music for 3 hours last Saturday. This was my favorite song: Kenge Kenge's "Obama For Change."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0QNiGYClbM

http://www.wfmu.org/Playlists/Robw/tsp.html

Featuring Obama songs in Japanese, Luo, French, Spanish, Portuguese; Obama benga, Obama cumbia, Obama Mariachi, Obama reggae, Obama soca, Obama soukous etc… PLUS: Obama’s roots in music: Hawaii, Kenya, and maybe even Kansas.

Hear a one-hour version of this show (with added bonus features) on Election Day, Tuesday November 4 7-8am NYC time as part of WFMU’s all-day Electile Dysfunction special web stream. Info here: http://www.wfmu.org/ed-08.html

--cbelz

I agree with jef, another commenter. Huckabee really sounds like he's saying all pregnant women should only be allowed to "make the right choice." And that's not actually allowing them a choice at all.