Bush: "Setting an artificial deadline to withdraw would send a signal to our enemies -- that if they wait long enough, America will cut and run and abandon its friends."

When have the Iraqis been our friends? When we were bombing the hell out of them in 1991 - 2003? When we were embargoing them so it was difficult to feed their families or provide medical needs? When we invaded their country? When we occupied their country? When we set up a puppet government? When thousands of men, women and children have been slaughtered since "Mission Accomplished"? Lots of Iraqis most want for us to go away and leave them alone so they can get on with whatever they want to do to each other and their country. Because of us they now have radical islamic extremists and terrorists entrenched in their country. We may be the kind of "friends" they can do without.

Corporations and business in general are well aware of how much they depend on the depth of knowledge and skills women demonstrate in the workplace, it's just that they are so conscious of productivity measurements that they can never quite look at the longrange picture; it takes government intervention, and to some extent benefits competition in the employment market, to make them see the wisdom in such obvious facts of life as: employees get sick, employees children get sick, employees need vacation time to be productive, and - odd as it may seem - "family" is a long and popular tradition in most cultures and people only qualify when they actually have babies.

The greater an employee's responsibility (read: greater perceived impact on the bottom line), the less patience there is with any time away from the sacred grind. There is a considerable degree of blindness to "the ultimate meaning in life" that most companies really believe that anyone in a managerial position has no other more pressing goals in life than those outlined by upper management. More and more, that view is routinely pounded into those whose roles are non-management but whose productivity is in many ways far more sustaining of profit and success.

A "good" employee is by default extremely healthy; has healthy, self-sufficient children; is needful of less time off (you are such a wuss!); and maternity leave? (for God's sake, what made you decide to have a baby at this supremely critical time in the life of the company?!) Could you not have had the decency to consult with us?

So, yes, it may be necessary to have some legal guidelines that provide a level playing field. And yes, the right to sue may be just the thing for reluctant employers who insist on being illogical, myopic and somewhat juvenile.

Of course, it might not be necessary to sue on the basis of "sex discrimination" if, as is the case in some (less enlightened) countries, the father also has new birth leave. But, horror of horrors, that smacks of "socialism"! Should America sully its sterling reputation in such a way?

Am I understanding this second part of Thompson's proposed amendment: a state judge can not rule on the constitutionality of a state stance on gay marriage without the legislature's permission to do so? What part of the words "separation of powers" and "checks and balances" does this man not understand? Bigotry and the eagerness to limit the equal treatment of citizens under the law always trumps reason and rational thinking.

A lie is a lie even if you are sloppy, stupid or a lazy reporter. As a person who commands an audience and expects to express ideas/information that should be taken seriously by listeners, get your facts straight and very carefully separate your own opinions from what polls indicate (even if you think they are misleading or inaccurate), then make it clear where you are stating your own opinions of the wisdom of what is clearly a publicly-held opinion. There is entirely too much editorializing by those in "news" media, too much personal agenda, and way too much use of the cover of "news reporting" to push personal or organizational agendas. Let's erect some fences between News (reporting) and Opinion - and while you are providing "opinion", take note of opposing views in an appropriately honest and fair manner. I have no problem with Greenwald's use of "lie" in this story.

I'm short on details, but I read somewhere recently about a freeze drying method coupled with pulverizing the brittle remains - resulting in a powder much like ashes but without the gases involved in burning and perhaps more environmentally sound than a biodegradable burial with its impact on ground water and soil.