Spectacularj1's comments

Feb 23rd 2011 6:52 GMT

in addition to the total number of acreage or 'hectarage', showing it as a percentage of cultivated farmland would be helpful.

Feb 23rd 2011 5:54 GMT

Thanks for the insult - born of ignorance mind you.
You injecting something completely unrelated into the debate, you are using this forum as your soapbox to pontificate on unrelated matters as though you are some sort of expert.
I just wanted to inform that I have more first hand experience whatever it is you are attempting to lecture me on.

Feb 23rd 2011 4:56 GMT

Devils Advocate_2

That has absolutely no bearing to either to the article or my comment. This isn't about the US. As for Iraq, don't lecture me, I completed two tours over there and was against the war from the start.

Feb 23rd 2011 4:53 GMT

What will take the Unions place?

Poverty, that's what. Americans no longer get paid a fair wage - unions were one of the few organizations left that advocated for workers, without them, there is nothing.

The US economy is service based, it is predicated upon people have surplus cash to buy things with. But, as Americans no longer have decent paying jobs and increasingly have to spend all of their waking hours working hard just to afford existence - there is no surplus money or time to spend consuming.

Simply said, if people aren't paid enough to have the surplus cash to consume with then a service based economy stands no chance.

Feb 22nd 2011 3:39 GMT

With so many Libyans resigning their official duties, I think it's a major question as to whether the army will even fight for Gaddafi; hopefully not.

Feb 22nd 2011 3:29 GMT

People in the West often forget that few, if any, of China's neighbors are its friends. Just about every single country sports a grievance against the Chinese. If this is apparent yet, it will when the Chinese finally make a move on the Spratly and Paracel Islands.

Feb 20th 2011 5:38 GMT

Part of the reason Israel is in this situation to begin with is because they have never been forced to make nice with their neighbors. US support has allowed them to avoid conciliatory action. This cannot last forever, Israel will have to learn to play nice with its neighbors (and Palestinians) or it will get kicked out of the playground.

Feb 19th 2011 2:30 GMT

This was all largely an exercise of criticizing just to criticize. An opportunity came along and they took it - none of it actually had anything to do with how the situation was handled.

The truth is that his administration handled about as well as they or anyone else could have. While many were quick to throw stones few had any ideas to offer themselves. Frankly, what set this aside from past issues is that this one was even more pathetic and an even more desperate attempt to find something to bitch about.

Feb 18th 2011 9:21 GMT

Innominata -

It is insurance because everyone with a paycheck has money taken out for Social Security and for Medicare, but not everyone is receiving benefits. A much greater pool is providing the money to be utilized by a few - just like insurance.

The fact that in time, everyone can be eligible doesn't change that fact.

Feb 18th 2011 9:21 GMT

Innominata -

It is insurance because everyone with a paycheck has money taken out for Social Security and for Medicare, but not everyone is receiving benefits. A much greater pool is providing the money to be utilized by a few - just like insurance.

The fact that in time, everyone can be eligible doesn't change that fact.

Feb 18th 2011 9:16 GMT

how is going back to the village worse than living in a basement?

Feb 18th 2011 4:31 GMT

Social Security and Medicare are not entitlements. If you pay into it your whole life how can it be considered an entitlement? It's insurance and it's solvent (for now), pre-tending that this is the source of our budget woes is ridiculous.

Feb 16th 2011 8:28 GMT

Zod - we do rely on the car so much for long commutes but you won't see anyone in Europe commuting to and fro in a Chevy Avalanche, Ford F-350, or Cadillac Escalade. That is just inexcusably wasteful and I have no pity for the drivers of those cars.

In fact I would prefer gas prices to continue to go up to get those beasts off the road.

Feb 16th 2011 3:36 GMT

Species don't need to constantly evolve, but they must always be "fit" in the evolutionary sense, which essentially means good enough.

Apparently iPhones are incredibly over priced.

I called this yesterday! Ok, enough patting myself on the back.

This is great for both companies, Microsoft needs hardware and Nokia needs software.

Feb 11th 2011 3:15 GMT

Environmental news that doesn't depress me. What a pleasant surprise!

Feb 11th 2011 3:02 GMT

Mubarak was not dropped like a hot potato. Only when it started to become clear that his tenure was unsustainable did America look for a way out.

America needs to be friends with Egypt, no matter who is running it - not just its ruler.

Feb 10th 2011 9:46 GMT

Ever had to print something several times before it came out right? Either because errors were noticed after the fact, your boss told you to do something differently, or just because the printer screwed up? Before you knew it you had a pile of print rejects just to get one perfect document.

I have a feeling that this won't be much different and it will create mountains of garbage. A system of effective and efficient recycling for defect prints needs to co-evolve alongside this new technology.

Feb 10th 2011 6:31 GMT

Nokia can still make great phones but they need to ditch Symbian and just focus on hardware. Leave the software to google, or even microsoft.

Beta v1.3

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