who's making up your mind?

If you haven't actually spoken to a soldier yourself, why don't you listen to this:

""Look--this gallery was put together so that my friends and family could see what I was seeing and doing in Iraq. It was never meant to turn into a political forum. I have been in Iraq for a year now and have seen so many different things and have learned an incredible amount. What we (soldiers) are doing for the people of this country is so amazing and I am so proud to have done my part. This is an experience that I will never forget and will hold in my heart forever all the smiles and hugs and laughter I have seen, felt, and heard. Please respect what I have done and what all my fellow soldiers have done for these people--keep your shitty comments to yourself. You haven't been here so you don't know how it is. Enjoy the pics and thank you to all those who have supported us in our endevours. Air Assault!"

Remember, it's your mind. You're the one who's supposed to make it up.

who’s your daddy?

'nuff said.

timing is everything.

Yes, it is. And coincidences don't happen very often, do they? So how is one to read the defacto nationalization of Russia's Yukos Oil? Being one of the largest producers in the world's second largest exporting nation, one would have to be unconscious to fail to grasp the buying panic this move would cause in the oil markets. And really unconscious to not see that such a trick would hit market economies below the belt -- one in particular, just before an election.

I don't like what this suggests about Putin's preference for President of the United States. I wish it were all a coincidence. But it seems like there are a few nations whose leaders would prefer a United States that isn't quite so strong.

Well, tough luck, boys.