I live near Ashland and I can assure you that the events described in this article have not and will not cause any lasting "uproar" that will affect the overall character of that community.

The problem, as a previous writer alluded, is that the US government is trying to simultaneously appease the governments of competing countries (e.g. Saudi Arabia and Israel) by affording "special treatment," both good and bad, to some of their citizens. Some Saudis are given kid-glove treatment in the US; some are classified as terrorists or "sympathizers." Some Israelis are given kid-glove treatment; some are classified as terrorists or "sympathizers." Same for Cubans, same for Pakistanis, et al.

Most troubling is that some of these foreign nationals seem to be able to "switch sides," mid-stream. They live comfortably in the US, being supported by the ruling oligarchy back in their home country, then when it is discovered that they are spying or funneling money to terrorists, they are whisked overseas and able to wash their hands of the whole situation.

So the real issue is collusion between various governments and the effect on ordinary citizens. In the case of the US, it's pretty obvious that the determining factor is money, and the willingness of the parties involved to help prop up the increasingly phantom US economy. See also China and Chinese immigrants to America.

This is nothing new or necessarily unique to America. In fact, in happier times it could be seen as a positive attribute of our national character. Through the cold, egalitarian lens of international finance, we transcend the Old World conflicts of ethnicity and religion. Loyalty goes to the highest earner.

The reason this mentality is increasingly falling apart is because more actual American citizens are seeing their personal economic situations deteriorate. They were willing to countenance the pimping of our government to foreign interests when times were good, but now times are not so good. Yet instead of focusing more attention on a needy citizenry at home, US officials seem to be pandering more than ever to foreign interests for foreign dollars, which increasingly "trickle up" to a smaller and smaller percentage of American elites.

That is an issue on which average Americans could easily agree and unite. The "Constitutional rights" of the Tahoe-driving Mayor of Riyadh? Not so much.

For AMERICAN CITIZENS. Do all you people crying racist and other epithets against me understand that? Al Buthe is a Saudi Arabian citizen and a member of a government that I consider to be a pretty obvious human-rights violator.

Where is due process for the women of fundamentalist Islamic societies of Saudi Arabia and Chechnya?

Even Pete Seda, who is an American citizen, was not imprisoned, nor did he have his personal assets frozen. What was frozen were the assets of a charity that was receiving funds from foreign governments and sending its "charitable money" to places like Chechnya. I'm sure you can all assure me, from the comfort of your Portland, Oregon living rooms, that those Islamic groups were not involved in anything like storming Russian elementary schools and causing the deaths of hundreds of children, right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beslan_school_hostage_crisis

So cry me a river. I urge all the Frisco liberals on here to put down their violins and come on up to Ashland, and see what $187,000 of Saudi Arabian money could do for economically distressed citizens right here in Big Bad America.

Am I concerned about the issues discussed in this article? Of course. I believe strongly in the Constitution and am no fan of the Bush administration by any definition. But if you're waiting for the average low-to-middle income American to be shocked into action by tales such as this, all I can say is don't hold your breath. Call me whatever names you want, that's just a fact of the matter.

The real problem is not "capitalism" or "communism," but the meme that is heat-dried and encrusted onto every modern human brain, the one that pits these two theoretical academic constructs against each other as if they were actual, tangible things or people.

How long do we we have to exist in the Age of Totalitarianism before people drop this outdated economic sectarianism?

Is China communist or capitalist? The self-evident absurdity of that question alone--its total uselessness in examining the actual physical machinations of one of earth's largest societies-- should prove the need for fresh nomenclature when it comes to the varied topics of political economy.

Normally, even the most pretentious literary recounting of a young lady's first sexual experience would keep me revieted through at least a paragraph. This article led my eyes right off the screen while I pondered the cool new word I just learned, "oversharey."

Then this line: "Choose a side? No thanks. I'm a 24-year-old member of the hookup generation -- I've had roughly three times as many hookups as relationships -- and, like innumerable 20-somethings before me, I've found that casual sex can be healthy and normal and lead to better adult relationships.

When I was 24 years old I had been working full time for eight years already, had lived in several different states/countries, and was single-handedly supporting a family of four (that is still intact by some miracle). Guess what? I didn't know jack shit about jack shit, and I still don't, and neither do you. Least of all the method for creating meaningful "healthy, normal, adult relationships."