Bogus data on the "letting Republicans have their way", at least from what I have read. Bigger problem was that Walter Mondale was closer to Congressional leaders than he was to the President and that apparently gave Tip O'Neill et. al an edge they used to basically ignore much of the Carter agenda, which IIRC was <b>much</b> more moderate in scope and more "American" in terms of the preservation of individual and States rights than anything the national Democratic party has stood for since the early '70's.

is in... i.e., some people actually do try to improve a facet of their lives based on the idea that each New Year is an opportunity to overcome one more challenge than the last. Not that we succeed, mind you -- I still have about a third of the bad habit's I've made resolutions about -- more than once -- but at least it's a lower vice count than I had before.

And even if no one else appreciates that, at least my waistline appreciates that. Meaning that I might even live long enough to keep workingon the stuff in my resolution / bucket list.

Let's see, so if I use an IR mouse, my friend uses a bluetooth driven mouse, and another friend uses the touch screen on his mobile device. One person is networked in via Cat5, etc. All to select "B" as the answer to a question, and the web server collects the data and syncs it up to produce a right/wrong poll for the teacher.

Exactly what part of the mouse, the bluetooth, the touch screen, or the network, the web server, or the education application software (which can be copyrighted but not patented) does Microsoft claim to have invented? Or even a business model? (sorry, Blackboard et. al have something along those lines first, for all the good it will do them)....

So, if the biggest bully in the neighborhood tells you that he means you no harm, do you silently give in and give him the keys to not only your house, your car, but also to your kid's online educational future?

I think not.

yeah but we make up for it by being easily the best equipped, best trained, deadliest fighting force in the world.

Also the most dedicated, the most compassionate, the most responsible, and the most worthwhile. It's hard to get the average American soldier to act unethically, and the officer corps are generally even better.

There may be arrogant Americans sometimes but Americans are generally pretty good folks. Try saying that about the makeup and leadership of any of the other five ahead of us.

Leaks to expose corruption and illegal power politics is one thing. These shotgun releases of hundreds of thousands of documents is another.

Diplomatic correspondence is supposed to be and stay private, though the use of diplomatic correspondence to send military information is something I disagree with. But imagine if there'd been a WikiLeaks about the whole Enigma/decoding project in WWII -- and the totalitarian regime known as the Nazis had been given total access and insight into what the Allies were up to -- from the untimely release of diplomatic materials.

Where power is given, responsibility is expected.