We seem to be inching closer and closer to WWIII.

[FormerRepublican]

With all the Iran rhetoric, the cartoon protests, and everything else going on in the world right now, it just seems to me that some war that will kill half the global population is right around the corner. It's almost as if we need one of those clocks like they used to use for nuclear war during the cold war. 3 minutes to Midnight.

Maybe Iran should be prevented from developing nuclear power so they don't get a bomb. But isn't there a better way to persuade them other than threats of invasion?

Maybe Denmark was wrong to publish those cartoons, but isn't there a better way to respond than global violence?

Maybe the US should keep it's mitts off the ME, but isn't there a better way to make that happen than terror attacks that kill innocent people?

Maybe the US needs oil, but isn't there a better way to negotiate for that than to invade and destroy Iraq?

Europe used to be completely opposed to war, but it would seem the changes in European governments and the cartoon controversy has changed all that. Who will pull Bush's chain now to keep him from attacking like a mad dog? Russia and China appear ready to step up to the plate, but do we really need to reignite the cold war to avert WWIII?

There MUST be a better way to handle all these global crises.

I feel as if forces on both sides are steadily inching us toward a war that would be catastrophic for both the world and humanity itself. There has to be a better way...

Lord, I wish they hadn't gutted the State Department and we had some gifted diplomats who could persuade the Administration that they could handle things diplomatically...

[Newsjock]

1. WW3 is a tangible, desirable policy goal for these nutcases

Anything to hasten rapture. I'm not exaggerating here. Sure, it may not be the majority opinion, but these wingnuts have the ear of the White House. And to them, global annihilation is not just a foggy concept, it's an actual goal, to be pursued and savored. I can't express in words how dangerous I find these people.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002791288_evangelical08.html

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Pastors of some of the largest evangelical churches in America met Tuesday in Inglewood to polish strategies for starting 5 million new churches worldwide in 10 years, an effort they say they hope will hasten the End Time.

[kiraboo]

2. True. Some may laugh, but I believe that religious fundamentalism

has been responsible for much of humanity's pain these last 2000 years, and may very well be the impetus for its demise. On that note, there is hope! My MIL is a Catholic nutcase. She has assured me that a particular visionary, who experiences stigmate, has predicted that GWB will be assassinated this year. Apparently Jesus himself is the source of this revelation. My quandry? I don't know whether to scoff at her religious gullibility, or hope that she's right and TRUST IN JESUS! LOL.

[PDJane]

3. Unfortunately,

I do tend to agree with you.

In Canada, the muslim protests against the Denmark cartoons has been very muted. In part, that's because Canada has a very-well educated class of Muslim emmigrants. In part, it's because we have a very multi-cultural society...and in part, the muslim clerics are against this kind of rhetoric and action.

[kiraboo]

6. PDJane, that's why I'm proud to be a Canadian, albeit one

living in the U.S. (and currently contemplating returning to the bosom of the motherland haha). And I think it's interesting to note that discussion, political or otherwise, is far from absent in Canada. But there is a rationality, and a respect for one's fellow man, which is in short supply in the States.

[WCGreen]

4. 2000 years...

Try ever since grog discovered the "afterlife" and exploited the concept....

Turned it into a power play.... A controling device...

I mean, come on, western civilization doesn't have it all on killing in the name of god...

[FlemingsGhost]

5. One's perception of the world reflects one's perception of "self"

There is the microcosmic realm, and the macrocosmic illusion we project. They are one.

The impending "war" is within ourselves.

[FormerRepublican]

7. That won't make me feel any better if old folks like me get drafted.

[FlemingsGhost]

8. "What if" is not what is

Fear is an illusion.

[FormerRepublican]

11. And yet I feel the adrenaline rush.

[FlemingsGhost]

13. The mind is a funny thing, isn't it?

A wonderful problem-solver, a horrible master.

When it doesn't have a "problem" to solve, it makes one up. The rest of the body comes along for the ride.

Get out of your head.

[FormerRepublican]

16. Or maybe life is an illusion and nothing really matters. Who knows?

What, you don't like nihilism?

[sandnsea]

9. It is looking that way

And how do you explain it to your grandkids, 20 years from now. Well there looked like there was some hope to keep a lid on things until that cartoon, and well the world just couldn't find a way around that. Sorry we blew up your planet over a cartoon dear.

[omega minimo]

10. omfgodthisisHUGH!!!!!!!!!!1

Where are you getting this shit? :rofl:

[Strelnikov_]

12. Delete

Too much reality.

RE: EU - They are simply doing the Kabuki Theater expected of them.

RE: Chindia, Russia - They are going to let us walk into a huge quagmire, confident in the fact that it will be the final act of unrivaled US global influence. Our economy is a house of cards, they know it, we should know it.

Once we are cut down to size, Chindia knows they will be the preferred buyers of gulf energy resources, since they will have the manufactured goods for trade.

$750 b trade deficits cannot go on forever.

[hopeisaplace]

14. Which is why I wrote these song lyrics last week

I've posted them before, but again, they tie into what you're saying about
approaching closer to WWIII...things seem so confused, so out-of-balance,
like we're really living on the edge of the abyss right now...which is why
I wrote this...a release of sorts,


WHERE HAVE ALL THE LEADERS GONE?

(VERSE 1)
Beyond the sunset another child smiles
Held in her mother’s arms for a while
Cuddled up with faith her guiding force
She prays to her God for the same things of course;
For leaders to lead us down a path of peace
That her baby will always have enough to eat
That her neighbors get all the help they need
And imprisoned minds will someday be freed

(CHORUS)
We sing for justice in a song
The world in disarray for so long
If right is someone else’s wrong
who’ll teach us how to get along
With divide and conquer going strong
Where have all the leaders gone?

(VERSE 2)
How many questions did you ask today?
Do you believe what the media has to say?
Did your neighbor lose his job or home?
If the leaders tell him to do it alone…
do you believe he should rebuild on his own?
There’s no money left, sorry it’s gone
Where has all the money flown?

(CHORUS)
We sing for justice in a song
The world in disarray for so long
If right is someone else’s wrong
who’ll teach us how to get along
With divide and conquer going strong
Where have all the leaders gone?

(VERSE 3)
Does money define the entire earth?
How do we determine what a life is worth
Who makes the call that some live and some die?
A mother asks while she’s doubled over to cry
“Why me, why us, why tell me why!
why did my child have to die!”
This pain is her prison and they still deny
that wars are built on sandstone lies

(BRIDGE TO CHORUS)
Leaders who lead us to live in peace
Who build bridges of hope without shaking their fist
Who understand we must all co-exist
and share the resources of this earth
‘Cause no one owned it at its birth
who owns the moon?
who owns the stars?
is that where all the leaders are?
We sing for justice in a song
With the world in disarray this long
and right is always someone’s wrong
who’ll teach us how to get along
with divide and conquer going strong
Where have all the Leaders Gone?

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

15. K&R Salient points.

Scares the shit out of me.