Texsox

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 BLAST OFF

We did!? Sorry, I do not remember.

Actually I was the evil misquoter

Willie, It is difficult making statements that compare Vietnam with any other US war. First off there wasn't a unified America back home, that made a big difference. In Vietnam we had tours of duty. Finish your tour and go home. In WW2 is was go until you get the job done. There is a population of military men and women who joined because of a lack of options in their lives. They aren't as gun ho as you might imagine. They were hoping for 6 years of peace, learn a trade, move on. Vietnam was hampered by political factors we didn't face in Gulf War 1 or 2. The enemy could run into Cambodia and stick their tongues at us and we were ordered not to go after them. We tried to fight the war on two fronts, in SE Asia and at home. We made some stupid decisions to try and get a majority of the American public on the war side. The Soviet Union actually was an empire and we had to be careful of pissing them off enough to send man along with the weapons and strategy aid they were already. THere is a difference between volunteering for a war like happened in droves during WW2 and joining the military to learn computers and finding yourself in a sandstorm 3000 miles from home with women and children trying to either feed you or kill you.

LMAO, I thought it was

If we run out of willing bodies, we may not be free for long.

We have always had different laws for different countries. The border economy in Texas is dependent on a flow of goods and people back and forth. Over $12,000,0000 was spent by Mexican nationals with their American Express cards in McAllen last year. The cash trade is multiple times that. With a closed or restricted border a thriving economy of 500,000 US and over a million Mexicans would turn to depression levels in months. I've had the pleasure to meet many individuals who worked as migrants growing up. If you are a farmer and need 100 individuals to work for 2 or 3 weeks per year, where are you going to find them? Will people quit there regular jobs to earn minimum wage for two weeks? Will someone willingly travel for 5 or 6 months following the crops, living in cars or poor provided housing? A big misconception is these individuals commit a lot of crimes. Not even close to true. They desperately do not want to be deported. THey risked their lives literally to get here. They get screwed by bosses that don't pay them full price. Pay double and triple grocery store prices for food from bad owners, and get taken advantage of in other ways. We worry about poor Mexicans coming and working in our restaurants, landscapping companies, packing houses, and others menial jobs. How about the thousands of high tech jobs being moved to China, Malasia, etc.? We allow Canadians to come in with a smile and a wave for 6 months.

Doing what I can. I think Pena will use that to motivate the Royals

Ireland made some great economic strides the past 15 years. The engine was, in many peoples opinion, the apprenticeship style of education that was in place. I worked on a multi million dollar apprenticeship program for the Rio Grande Valley. It's amazing how cost effective this education model is.

I just do not think you will see things like younger drinking ages with MADD against it and issues like that.

Harassed 'Saddam' Seeks New Name RIYADH (Reuters) - A Saudi Arabian man who called his son Saddam Hussein 14 years ago is now desperately trying to have the name changed. Mohsen al-Harithy first asked the relevant authorities to change his son's name in 1990, when the forces of the now-deposed Iraqi president invaded neighboring Kuwait, the Saudi English-language Arab News newspaper reported Monday. But the boy's file was destroyed by an Iraqi missile attack on the civil status department in the Saudi capital Riyadh in the 1991 war to liberate Kuwait. "After I found the paper was gone, I forgot about the whole thing but recent events and the capture of Saddam force me to change the name," he said. "The Saddam name now symbolizes pessimism, evil, mockery and disappointment all at once." Saddam, once regarded as a hero by Arabs for adopting policies against the United States and Israel, was captured by U.S. troops in December without a fight. A U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam in April. Al-Harithy told Arab News his son was constantly fighting with his classmates who tease him about his name. The newspaper did not say how the man planned to change his son's name without paperwork.

Coroner Says Diana Not Pregnant at Death Princess Diana was not pregnant when she died, a former royal coroner says, apparently ruling out one of the rumors which has swirled around her death in a car crash six years ago.

Too bad her past may bite her in the ass.

Now we agree. My comment was voting isn't enough.

Washington Post Article

campaigns have changed too much in the past 30 years. Polling technology, focus groups, etc. have made for a much different political landscape. Plus in the 60s and 70s the youth were able to convince the public some of the changes were a good thing. Demonstartions, sit ins, etc. did more than voting.

When texsox jr. saw this on tv he quiped "did the dad have to pay a quarter to get him back?

Still not that different. Until they run businesses which contribute $$, combine to lobby like AARP, be the editors and publishers of mass media outlets, have the networking that the 40 and up enjoy, voting still won't make that much of a difference.

What we have done with Mexico has caused massive investment by Europeans and Asian companies who want access to NAFTA countries. The same would happen in South America. I want a European style agreement which would open the US markets as well.

I have to agree with him 100% on this. Thank you for the compliment. Yours are funny sometimes.

mooch, welcome to the real world. the decision would be made by our elected representatives and last time I looked, most are not draft age. Same thing with voting age, drinking age, driver's license restrictions, etc.

Explain?

So if you have served you can vote for a draft and if you have never served you can vote against? Only our law makers who have served can vote on the matter? We can debate whether it is worthwhile to send a man to the moon, without actually having been to the moon, we can debate whether or not capitol punishment is worthwhile without having committed a murder or been a victim, so I think it is valid to debate if military service for all is necessary. I never served, I was 4 inches away from the paper with a pen in hand when I noticed a little lie by the recruiter and backed off. I'm certain my sarcastic There is actually two debates in one here. A draft is one method or perhaps we could look at a required 6 month to 1 year military service for everyone. For those who object to military service, they could do community service work.