Oh, NO! If you so much as even thought of begining to consider the possibility of adopting one of the above behaviors, then you're nothing more than a slave.
That's what Mars told me, and Goober Steingart (self identified watermellon) backs him up.
The world is over, buddy, so just grasp every last thing you can out of God's Green Earth before the whole place goes up in flames.
Hybrid cars, saving money, public transit, living near where you work (the city???). That's just crazy-talk.

__________________
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? - Psalm 27:1

Tann..I moved from Bucks County to East Falls to be closer to work...6 miles each way...I own a 25 to 30 mile per gallon Corolla only because Hybrids are still somewhat of a gimmick tech wise and priced too high although I'm considering a SMART car but French cars frighten me (remember the Le Car?). Unlike most Americans I have a considerable amount of savings although savers are not rewarded because of inflation, low interest rates, and a devalued dollar. My home is only 1100 square feet but managable energy wise because I insulated it instead of buying a flat screen. So there is no craziness here.

My point is that this all very un-American wouldn't you say? You are the Uber-patriot so why should we live like "wimpy" Europeans? Again the freedom that we are supposedly fighting for in the Mideast and Horn of Africa should afford us cheap energy so we can live in 3000 square foot homes, drive Hummers, live out in Collegeville or Coatsville among all the nice white gentry and take on interest free loans for 12 months or 3 yrs or 5 yrs from Lowe's and GMAC indefinitely. Why am I having to lower my standard of living if this is the land of the free and prosperous? Tell me Captain America....

__________________
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? - Psalm 27:1

You amuse me ...the circus is in town..go apply for a job.

To new patriots who wave their Chinese-made American flags [dude, before you buy an American flag, at least check to see if it was made in America]...

In the time of American patriots, almost every small town and village was laid out in a European format or with European influences. From St. Augustine to... wait for it... Philadelphia! We threw our own changes on European civic engineering and later generations styled the word "Colonial" and/or "Federal" to describe it. One of those changes was a new idea to lay out a city in a grid pattern, which has been copied in a few other US cities, such as NYC, Houston and Phoenix. It makes the job of city planning that much easier.

Even then, cobblestone and narrow streets is a European concoction! So is walking and biking to work! So is having a corner store on your block! Living in cities and preserving rural lands close to the cities is a European fashion! There's even sunbelt cities that are as old as Philadelphia (San Antonio, TX is pretty darn old) laid out in the same way. Go to downtown San Antonio, it's laid out in Spanish-colonial style, and the historical society there places too much emphasis on tans, browns and tera cotta.

What have we contributed to the world in grand urban design over the centuries besides the skyscraper (a triumph in economical thinking) and 15-lane freeways (a revolutionary way that created wealth of its own)? Tenements and manufactured housing are a couple things I can think of. That's not a good track record for the world's greatest superpower.

Here's an opportunity to re-engineer our cities into a new world where energy isn't cheap, distance is a cost, density isn't a detriment, and urban problems which we've tried to ignore since the 1940s might actually get some attention now that it's too expensive to run away from them.

Jane Jacobs would be furiously writing a new book right now if she was still kickin'.

__________________
WHYY pays their CEO $750,000 a year. So WHYY should I renew my membership? Seems they have no problems finding money and spending it unwisely.


And this is why you should donate to PACCA, not PETA:

In September, PETA made headlines in Vermont and across the nation for asking Ben & Jerry's ice cream to use human breast milk in their ice cream, instead of cow milk

EC...you do realize I'm being facetious with regard to being "un-american" and my European comments to Captain America? My parents are both from Europe and I'm the son of recent immigrants like many Americans past and present. Tann on the other hand is the Son of "Uncle" Sam and he types with hooves. He is also a mental midget who is so naive he thinks we're over in the Middle East fighting "al Q" as opposed to establishing permanent bases in the most important energy region of the world. He doesn't have the mental capacity to understand that the U.S. has national security interests with regard to energy. He is a brainwashed dolt with the intellect of a 3rd grader (I'm being magnanimous).

President Rejects Ban on Building Permanent Bases in Defense Authorization Bill

On January 28th, President Bush signed into law the Defense Authorization Act, but rejected the provision barring the use of funds for the establishment of permanent bases in Iraq.

This July the House voted overwhelmingly to permanently ban any building of permanent US military bases in Iraq, a long standing focus of FCNL's work on Iraq. It was included in HR 4986, the Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 as barring any funds from this act to be used:

"To establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq." or "To exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq."

President Bush signed HR 4986, but released a signing statement that rejected this ban on permanent bases along with provisions to establish a commission to probe contracting fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan (Sec. 841), to expand protections for whistleblowers who work for government contractors (Sec. 846), and to require U.S. intelligence agencies to promptly respond to congressional requests for documents (Sec. 1079).



The President's signing statement is posted below:


For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 28, 2008

President Bush Signs H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 into Law

Today, I have signed into law H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. The Act authorizes funding for the defense of the United States and its interests abroad, for military construction, and for national security-related energy programs.

Provisions of the Act, including sections 841[Establishing a "Commission on Wartime Contracting on Iraq and Afghanistan"], 846["Expands protection for whistle blowers working for government contractors"], 1079[Intelligence agencies mandated to report to Congress], and 1222[Barring these funds to be used for establishment of permanent bases or to "exercise US control over the oil resources of Iraq"], purport to impose requirements that could inhibit the President's ability to carry out his constitutional obligations to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, to protect national security, to supervise the executive branch, and to execute his authority as Commander in Chief. The executive branch shall construe such provisions in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

January 28, 2008.

__________________
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? - Psalm 27:1

Hey Genius..why didn't you respond to my second post? Who is slinking away like a big hairy w-ussy...

Mars, it truly appears that you have no familiarity with our Armed Forces, and your startling ignorance is on display once again.
Why should Iraq be different than any other country where we've spilled our blood that has strategic interests for us?
Just a quick run down on similar countries: Germany, Japan, Belgium, Italy, South Korea, Cuba, Greece, Netherlands, and formerly, the Philippines.
And that's just off the top of my head.

Why do you now take to inventing arguments and trying to defeat me that way?
Oftentimes, that's called a "straw man" except that you really are expected to beat the straw man, but you seem to have it fall over on you and pin you down.
Oh, and "types with hooves", where'd I hear something like that? Oh, was it me saying something about you typing with your fists? Must have really stung you. It was a throw away line, I didn't mean for you to dwell on it that long. Let it go.

__________________
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? - Psalm 27:1

Straight from the horse's ass...which you love to kiss.



Today, I have signed into law H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008. The Act authorizes funding for the defense of the United States and its interests abroad, for military construction, and for national security-related energy programs. (OIL)