Originally Posted by Benson

I hope that "nothing but" is mere hyperbole? At best, you might claim a few lies, some distortions, and some misemphases.

(And, the way I see it, any notions the Iraqi government promoted regarding the existence of its weapons programs, whether lies or not, are to be taken as fact. Bluffing by pretending to have a gun gets you shot; a tragedy, I'm sure, but maybe the next guy won't do it.)

Please do not confuse supporting the invasion with supporting whatever ensues; it's possible to believe that the invasion was right, and still should have been carried off altogether differently.

There are two sane approaches available, <snip>.

Finally, I also take issue with the notion that fostering hatred is a bad thing, or at least a serious enough bad thing to invalidate the war. As long as the US is a better place to live than a thugocracy, the thugs in question will do their best to convert the resulting envy into hatred, so they don't get overthrown.

There's no world cop to take care of such things, so we have to stand up for our own interests, and stand demonstrably stronger than our enemies.

Of course not, but invading Iraq does not involve trading freedom; to paint with an exceeding broad brush, I'm "with" Bush on foreign policy, and "against" on domestic policy.

Originally Posted by Benson

I thought that was common knowledge...

But since it apparently wasn't, here's some other advice which I haven't heard lately (as many of the dispensaries of driving advice are more concerned about safety and/or obeying the law, and merely bring up finances to make you care about it...):

If you're coming up to a curve at say, 55 mph, and you can make it around at 45, taking it at 45 instead of backing off to your customary 20, saves gas*...

Honestly, one of the best things you can do in shopping for a standard (not electric, hybrid, or diesel) car is to go with a little sports car, with the smallest available engine, and just don't use all the acceleration available. You'll get a standard transmission (better gas mileage (although not as much these days, thanks to lock-up torque converters), and more fun), a small engine, a light-weight car, and... you don't waste so much energy braking for corners! Had a little MX-3 with the 1.6l l4 engine (also available with a 1.8l v6, and some people swap in the 2.5l v6...), and driving with an eye to mileage, but no real hypermiling techniques, and running the speed limit (55mph max, along my route), I got 37+ mpg consistently; a couple times I broke 40, when I was real careful with coasting up to stop lights so they turned green before I stopped.

*Net petroleum savings may vanish if you take it hard enough to squeal the inside tires; tire tread is made from oil, too...

Originally Posted by devaler

You're kidding, right?

Originally Posted by neubie

If we had taken every dollar spent on Iraq, we could have bought solar roofs and wind turbines for every public building and a LOT of households....

(Not to mention keep bridges from falling down, levees from bursting, schools from deteriorating, etc.)

Originally Posted by joepagiii

guess you dont have any kids do ya

Originally Posted by geneven

"If we developed our own resources (and no I do not mean offshore drilling) and stayed the hell out of other nations, they would have no reason to hate us."

Interesting. Can you name any country on the face of the Earth that has "stayed the hell out of other nations" since the world began? The last I heard, we are one interconnected world. The idea that we could ever disconnect ourselves in any meaningful way is an illusion.

Can you list countries that have prospered by not being involved with other countries? Swiss? What about those watches?

Originally Posted by Benson

Pedantic, but that's the only freedom tradeoff I see associated with going into a little war like this, where conscription is not, and cannot (conceivably) be, employed.

Originally Posted by Benson

Indeed not; I'd probably be much more careful what advice I give.