IrresponsibleUseOfFr's Journal: Re: The Big Badda Boom!

Well, I'll admit that I'm wrong. North Korea did not set off a nuclear explosion. They set off a huge convential explosion. Their cover story of it being for a hydro-electric dam is fishy. Experts claim that the nearby river is a poor choice for such a dam. The fact remains that it is very near a uranium enrichment facility. Who knows what they are doing.

Moderation: How I moderate

So, I've gotten moderation duty a few times recently. I'd just like to mention how I moderate. I do have an agenda, but I try not to mod things up or down because of it. I do naturally have a view-point. So if someone claims: we invaded Iraq because they have a StarGate, as oppossed to saying: we invaded Iraq for oil. I generally need to see more evidence supporting the claims of the StarGate then for the Oil invasion. Although, I try not to moderate on claims on their face. However, you'd need more links to support the first case (preferably from reputable sources) then the second.

I will automatically mod something down if I see a direct insult of someone else, regardless of the point they made. If something is unmodded, I will generally mod it up if it has a link that is relevant to the story in someway.

Posts that are previously modded up in some way will get modded up by me if they are good English, well-reasoned, provide links to other relevant information, and/or demonstrate a mastery of articles of the story or the underlying issue. 3 is the average post which is above just a mere opinion. 4 is for a good post. 5 is generally reserved for an excellent post.

I try to set my standard so that I feel we'd see a bell shaped curve on most stories of sufficient size. Although, I don't care about the low-end, and the high-end might be scewed a little bit. What I'm saying is that I prefer to use my mod points to mod people from 0-2's then to move people from 4s to 5s or 3s to 4s.

Questions for President Bush

Bill O'Reilly is interviewing President Bush and is soliciting questions. You can e-mail them to [e-mail] or something.

On a personal note, I don't much care for Bush. I don't think he's been a good president. He led us into a war in Iraq that I have been against before it even started. I am upset that he turned budget a surplus into budget busting deficeits in less than a year. However, I still consider myself a Republican, so I naturally like some ideas. I like the idea of testing kids although the consequences of taking away the school's funding is too extreme. Why not institute year-long school or impose uniforms?

Well, anyway, I have been trying to think up questions that address issues that concern me. I'm trying to think of questions that are not just veil'd attacks, but rather how he views the world. So here are some examples.

If the American people are safer, when can we expect the Department of Homeland Security to drop the Threat Advisory below "Elevated?"

Obviously America is going to stay the course in Iraq, but when do you foresee Iraq having enough stability for us to withdrawl our troops? How many American and coalition causualities do you foresee by this date? How many innocent Iraqis and insurgent causulaties do you foresee? Did you expect the Iraq invasion to be this difficult? What insights has this war given you that you would use if we conducted a future war conducted against let's say: North Korea, Iran, or Sudan (i.e. what would you do differently)?

What are the victory conditions of the "War on Terror"? For example, if Al Queda was completely destroyed, Bin Laden killed or captured, would the war on terror be won?

How do you plan to reduce the budget deficeit during your next term?

For no child left behind, will you consider alternatives such as having year-round school instead of reducing a school's funding?

I really don't think there will be a snow ball chance in Hell that any of these would make it to the president, but doing nothing is worse. I'm going to have to pick one though.