Science of brain functioning is too new to draw much of any conclusion from either this study or the other imaging devices and studies mentioned. The VAST MACHINE we call the BRAIN is much too complex, I think, for anyone to figure it out beyond a rudimentary level (sorry, folks, if this offends anyone) in the near future. In fact, I would hazard a guess that as we approach the end of of this century, science will be saying that the fMRI technology was so primitive that any conclusions drawn from its use should be discarded.

Unfortunately, material like this simply brings false hope to those who want to imagine that a child born with severe and irreversible brain damage - or no functioning brain beyond a brain stem - or a person in persistent and irreversible vegetative state is capable of being "cured" or the process reversed.

And we'll have opened a Pandora's Box with all the subsequent waste of resources and ill-conceived laws. All because some researchers thought it would be fun to experiment with this newest technology.

Jeremy Scahill wrote a good book about how Blackwater got its start and how it continues to grow not only in war zones, but here in the U.S. providing training to law enforcement.

It also reveals, as I recall, that Blackwater is not only recruiting in the U.S. but in foreign countries as well. So the assumption that all personnel in Iraq are U.S. national may not be true. And Congress -- as well as the media -- needs to take a much, much closer look at their personnel.

I read BLACKWATER when it first came out, so was not at all surprised to hear about these mercenary-wannabes going bezerk and killing innocent civilians.

...and I'm glad. Of course, a lot of us said it from Day One when Kerry chickened out and gave the election to Bush....again. I regularly receive e-mails from John Kerry asking for donations to this cause and that cause, and never respond because I continue to be angry that he didn't stay in there and fight----like John Edwards wanted him to do and like WE, THE VOTERS, WANTED HIM TO DO.

The last election was lost to this gang of thieves not because the people didn't go out and vote -- especially all of those people in Ohio, many of whom endured problems that most of us wouldn't even begin to deal with at the polls -- but because of corrupt election officials (can you say Blackwell?) who were in the pockets of a corrupt administration.

It's kind of ironic that those corrupt administration folks didn't include Blackwell into their machine-fixing package to insure that he'd win, too! I'm glad Blackwell went down to defeat, but I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when he realized that they used him! At least Kathryn Harris got a Congressional seat out of her service to the Bush family during the 2000 election.

I personally believe this happened on a smaller scale in lots of other states, including New Mexico and Arizona and Florida. A handful of votes "steered" to Bush in a handful of precincts in a handful of counties would go unnoticed (except to local activists) in the larger scheme of things. So it was guaranteed that the race would come down to those electoral votes in Ohio, with its corrupt election officials.

It's the machines, people! If we aren't on top of things for 2008 it will happen again.

...of his books. I doubt any of the others self-authored their books.

What the heck is this all about? Ya gotta be a writer to be president these days??????

Did someone photo shop Bush's picture onto the one with Lance Cpl. Gallegos? Or is Bush simply unable to look directly at the man?

I'd bet of the former because Bush and his ilk can't and won't face up to what his pursuit of a "legacy" looks like in real life.

All the expert care, repeated plastic surgeries, and psychological counseling won't change that young man's life back to what it was pre-Iraq. He will carry scars on the inside as well as the outside the rest of his life.

How can Bush continue to say he sleeps well at night, is confident history will treat him well, and continue on with his warmongering after seeing real-life results like that? No, I don't believe he was even in the same room with the young man.

...that Dubya is now turning his attention to North Korea?

In my local paper there's an article headlined "BUSH FORWARDS LETTER TO KOREAN DICTATOR" in which he hints we may normalize relations with that country if they disclose their nuclear programs by the year's end. This is a follow up on a previous story about North Korea disclosing it's nuclear program.

So now we have the complete Axis of Evil involved. Don't be surprised if we see increased saber rattling against that country now that the Iran situation seems to be defused.

Could be designed to take our minds off Iran, while Cheney-the-Evil positions their war machine to move forward in Iran. Could be they need another enemy to focus upon. Could be they planned to "do" Iraq, Iran and North Korean from the get go.