We know what "the process" is for this President. He "hear[s] from his commanders on the ground," until such a time as those commanders start telling him things that he doesn't want to hear (see Shinseki, Eric), at which point that commander "retires", or "accepts a new assignment", or some such. And then Bush does whatever it is he needs to do to keep stretching out this war until January, 2009.

This President wouldn't agree to sign a bill bringing the troops home if he was frog-marched across the Oval office and had the pen forced into his hand at gun-point. A few adverse words from Senators and military officers is definitely not going to do it. History will vindicate him after we're all dead.

Or at least, after a lot more American troops and Iraqis are dead.

My first thought was, "Senator Lieberman better enjoy his power while he has it." If the Democrats pick up four seats--or even one--I have to think that they are going to cut Lieberman loose faster than you can say, "We are turning the corner in Iraq."

Lieberman has been lording his swing-vote power over the Senate pretty freely. I hope he enjoyed it; it looks like it's days are severely numbered.

I don't have the figures, nor do I know of any way to get them, but consider the following points:

o) "Heroes" was NBC's highest-rated show in a good, long while. It was a huge hit.

o) "Heroes" was available on iTunes. (I wonder how many episodes were purchased that way?)

o) The new season of "Heroes" premieres on September 24.

o) NBC and Apple are grappling over the cost of individual shows on iTunes . . . on August 31.

Hey, call me a crazy, tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist, but there seems to be some correlation there to me. Typical of a media company, NBC sees the possibility of a big short-term profit, and gives absolutely no thought whatsoever to the long-term consequences. (Remember the market saturation of "So You Want to Be a Millionaire?")

Of course, I could be completely wrong; Lord knows it's happened plenty of times before.

You buy a release one technology product, you know it's going to be more expensive, more prone to problems, and more likely to be obsolete. That's what happens. It happens all the time, in every industry, but especially the computer industry. That's why, usually, I don't buy release 1 versions of anything. No release 1 DVR, or HDTVs, or plasma screen TVs, or flat-panel computer monitors, or digital cell phones, or hybrid cars, or low-flow toilets, or low-flow shower heads, or whatever. They're always more expensive and don't work as well as the next generation, and the generation after that. Them kinks gotta be worked out.

But I got a Release 1 iPhone anyway. I already have AT&T, one of my PDAs is a three year old, unsupported Tapwave Zodiac, the other is a ginormous O2 XDA Exec (that they don't even sell in this country) running Windows Mobile--which I despise--and my cell phone was an ancient Motorola v180. I knew I was overpaying, that Apple would release a new model some time in the next 6-12 months (probably with more memory), that the software would improve (but you can download the new software; that's the beauty of it), and on and on. For me, a new PDA and a new cell phone with solid-state memory of 8Gb was worth it at $600. Especially in a, what, 4oz package?

The same thing happened with the original iPods. Big deal. The question is, do you wait for the next generation, or wait a few more months, or even a year or two, and get an additional two or three generations down the road? Bearing in mind Moore's Law, waiting out the full length of your AT&T contract (while getting constant software updates and fixes, mind) might not be a bad idea.

So any early adopters who are bent out of shape, they were fooling themselves if they though anything else was going to happen. It happens all the time.

And "anonymous:" $200 is a third of $600, not 50%. Back to math class, dude.

Well, they can't have been doing much more than "reflecting," can they, seeing as how they were on vacation for the entirety of August.

And it makes one wonder what it is, exactly, they are doing as they "reflect." Chanting and burning incense? Speaking in tongues? Sitting in lotus? Laying out Tarot cards and conferring with Romany fortune tellers? Throwing I-Ching coins? Reading random sections of the Koran and wondering how they apply to the creation of a federated nation in the middle of sectarian violence in the MidEast?

I hear we're arming Sunni tribal leaders now, folks who last year we were calling "insurgent leaders." Perhaps the Shiite government leaders are reflecting on that, and on U.S. government duplicity, and the elasticity of U.S. foreign policy and promises.

Let us all reflect on the fact on how many more of our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, cousins, uncles, and aunts will die in the next 16 months while the cowardly Congress and the intransigent President continue to fight a useless war in order to let Iraqis have time to "reflect."

The Prisoner had both a classic opening sequence and a classic closing sequence.

The opening to Babylon-5 was a good one, I always thought.

The Simpsons opening is good, yes, but it's of course a takeoff on The Flintstones, which is itself a takeoff on The Honeymooners. (Not that I personally think that the opening of The Honeymooners is classic . . .)

I always like the opening of Baretta, myself. And S.W.A.T. may have been an execrable show, but it had a pretty kickin' theme song. For the 70s, anyway. And finally, the trumpet flourish of The . . . F . . . B . . . I . . . was always one I liked.

And yeah, I was born before 1980. 'Way before.