IMO I do not think it is bad that the US is working with other countries to solve problems.

IMO I do not think it is bad that other countries are gaining wealth, and that a billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty.

I am not opposed to the concept of other countries becoming super powers, I just hope that they are free nations which will have a positive impact upon the world.

As far as US influence is concerned, we still have tremendous influence. The US gives tons of aid to Africa, we have signed several new trade agreements with South American countries, and have several more waiting for congressional approval. Our ties with Asia have grown stronger through trade and assorted agreements. Eastern Europe has been supportive of our anti ABM systems.

The biggest area where the US has been unpopular has been in Western Europe. However, that has been minimized by the election of new leaders in both France and Germany who are more pro America than the previous leaders.

I suppose you could also say that the US is not popular with radical Islam, but that has been the case for decades, and is not specific to Bush.

Before the recent economic problems I remember reading article after article discussing the "decoupling" of the world economy from the US, which would have reduced our influence, but in the past couple months it has become clear that economic problems for the US still cause economic problems for the rest of the world.

First the liberals complain about the US being the only superpower, and Bush's willingness to go it alone. Now they are complaining that Bush is working with other countries, and that other nations are growing more powerful.

This sounds more like partisan whining than an actual philosophical difference of opinion.

Since I am not a structural engineer, I originally thought it was strange that jet fuel would weaken the building supports enough to result in a collapse.

However, a few years ago I saw a news story about a semi truck whose fuel caught on fire. The gas fire caused the steel support beams of a bridge to weaken, and collapse. Since jet fuel burns hotter than gas, it is possible that such a fire would weaken the support beams of the building.

I have also been told by some friends who are engineers that it is possible that two planes could have brought down all three buildings. Because they did not quit their jobs and spend a few years studying the evidence, they are unable to give an absolute answer.

I find it ironic that the anti war left has voted for a candidate that supports the Bush foreign policy objectives, while they painted Ron Paul as a nut during the primaries.

As far as domestic economic concerns I tend to agree with Ron Paul, although I do not think the Federal Reserve is as big of a problem as he states. Unfortunately this country seems to be moving towards more big government socialism.

The federal government is not supposed to be involved in education. The Constitution does not give the Federal government permission to get involved in this sort of thing. It is supposed to be a State and local government issue.

However, if the government is going to promote sex ed, it should include the use of the most effective abstinence programs.

Just as sex ed programs in general vary in their effectiveness, so to do abstinence programs have different rates of success.

It is so incredibly rare for me to be wrong that I do not hesitate to admit when I make a mistake.

Five of the ten hottest years in modern times occurred during the 1930's, including the hottest year.

If mankind is causing global warming, then why haven't we become hotter than the 1930's?

As far as the prior charts posted by another, it is interesting that the charts begin in the end of the Little Ice Age, and do not show the significantly warmer temps prior to that miniature ice age.

It is easy to create the appearance of warming when you begin your measurements at the coldest time in the past 200 years.

I know those who worship at the altar of global warming do not want to hear any claims to the contrary, but for those who are open to learning more about this issue, I recommend the following articles.

http://www.newsmax.com/metcalf/ice_age/2008/02/11/71736.html

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/8/6/100434.shtml

http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/NASA_Climate_cooling/2008/05/01/92541.html

http://www.newsmax.com/brennan/Global_Warming/2008/05/27/99158.html

At least you are consistent.

I personally find it hard to believe that Bush could personally plant explosives in the WTC, but yet he could not manage to plant WMDs in Iraq.

The WTC was filled with policemen, firemen, and assorted civilians, yet Bush was able to plant bombs there without getting caught.

Iraq has huge areas that are not inhabited where Bush could easily plant WMDs, yet he did not plant the evidence that would have greatly increased his power and popularity.

The 1930's were hotter (globally) than any other decade since.

The only climate model that has consistently accurate predictions is the one based upon solar activity.

One of the reasons why scientists do not agree about the existence of man made global warming is because of the lack of definitive evidence.

The one thing we do know for certain is the falsity of the more extreme global warming predictions, since they have already failed to occur.

Personally I would rather make changes that will make measurable improvements in our environment, rather than spend trillions on something that may not make things better.

Whoever wrote the article quoted above did a poor job of explaining what was going on.

In one paragraph the author makes it sound like the news clip was pulled because an evangelical group complained that the author being discussed is Morman, and in the next paragraph it sounds like the Morman Times wanted the clip pulled (which I doubt).

As far as the issue itself, I am not sure why this is a major story. Is it surprising that evangelicals tend to promote evangelicals, rather than those of other faiths?

I have a soft spot for a damsel in distress.

Luckily I have learned that I need an equal partner. Someone who is emotionally strong enough to get through the tough times.

I lived in a house with a shared driveway for awhile, and one of the people that rented the other house would constantly block the driveway. The worst occasion was a day when I needed to get to school for an exam, and my car was blocked in while the neighbors were passed out in their house. After spending ten minutes banging on their door, I gave up, went inside and called the police. I was told that the police do not deal with shared driveway problems So I went back to their house, pounded on their door for another ten minutes, and they finally moved their car. Fortunately I was only a couple minutes late for class.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/wakeup.asp

As previously mentioned, the story in the original post is true.

I know some people do not like to have chain emails forwarded to them, and I have even heard that many contain hidden viruses.

However, I think this could have been handled better. If a particular story is false, just post a link to a site that says the story is false, then ask that the poster does not post additional chain emails. If the story is true, just ignore the thread, if you don't want to see threads about chain emails.

Personally I think it is ironic that both the original story, and much that has been said in this thread has been a case of people being upset about something when they don't know the whole story.

Sure, why not. My grandmother set me up on a pleasant blind date once.

Then again was E=MC2 not absolute or did we fail to account for things like dark matter?

Over the past couple years we have been discovering that there is a lot of stuff floating around in the vacuum of space that we could not detect until recently.

If our actions are completely controlled by our DNA and environment, then it should be possible to create a computer that would accurately predict the future based upon different choices.

If we truly have free will, then such such detailed, specific, predictions will not be possible no matter how advanced science becomes.

From my personal experiences, it seems that I have free will, although there exists the possibility that it is a delusion.

Is anyone surprised that the democrats found enough votes after the election was over to overcome Coleman's thousand vote lead?

It is a shame she was fired for refusing to say Happy Holidays. However, employers mostly have the right to fire people for whatever they want, and the employer should probably win this lawsuit.

I hate having dirty dishes on the counter or in the sink.

I could not go this year. Usually I travel with friends to the festival over on the east side of the state. I do want to make the trip in 2009.