You are looking at the wrong side of the equation. Inflated stock valuations as opposed to the price of labor is a direct result of the Fed pumping $85B a month into treasuries. The investment dollars that would have purchased treasuries buys equities instead. This papers over (pun intended) the deflationary reset that should have happened five years ago. The result is an economy with no real growth (jobs) but ever increasing stock valuations. That 85 large has to go somewhere. So before we try to add central planning to both sides of the equation. I wonder what would happen if we let real markets determine the actual time value of money. Fed manipulation of interest rates = dishonest transfer of wealth from labor to share holders. It is that simple.

Well said Shakrai. For future reference Max Weber has your back on the whole government/gun point thing.

Nobody said our current system is any good. I simply object to the notion that government provide "universal" care is preferable. McCain was wrong on A LOT of points. However, his plan to remove the tax exemption from employer provided care and to provide a tax exemption to individuals that pay for their own health insurance, fund HSA's, etc. is FAR BETTER than anything in existence or presently being discussed. Everyone determines the value of their own healthcare. Consumers become more cost aware in paying for their health care. Insurance companies provide good service at a good price or suffer the wrath of the internet. Remember you aren't choosing from the three plans your employer provides (all from the same insurance company). YOU (not the gov't) are choosing from the entire marketplace of insurance and healthcare providers to get the best possible service at a good price. Lower costs, unlimited choice, personal accountability...now, tell me (in an intellectually honest way) why Obamacare is better.

Question #1 - When does human life begin? Two criteria "human" and "life". Is a fertilized egg alive and can we call it human?

Question #2 - Is there a word for destroying human life?

On the one hand "murder" sounds caustic if the debate is not settled. On the other hand "the removal of embryonic tissue" seems to miss the mark if you understand abortion as the destruction of human life.

On an intellectual level, I find the reflexive nature of the debate over appropriate language fascinating. On a human level, I am sad that we are fighting over the best words to use for the destruction of over 50 million human lives.

I call straw man! Most identifying themselves as prolifers are opposed to IVF, embryonic experimentation, and the death penalty. I know it doesn't neatly fit the D vs. R script, but neither do most Americans.

I have been lurking for a few years. I figured it was time to toss in a few thoughts. Check MY /. number. Two comments... 1) I provide basic support for XP and Mac workstations and networks. I have installed Ubuntu a few times and played around with Debian in the pre-Ubuntu days. I get the basic install finished. OO.o, firefox, and thunderbird all humming nicely and I have essentially reached parity with the most basic functions. Next I will pop in a cd and I am in what feels like troubleshooting mode. I can self teach my way through using apt, finding and reading documentation with a text editor, but at the end of the day I spend time trying figure out how to download the right app (I mean pkg) and get it installed and config'd with my hardware. All of this to supplant what felt much easier on a proprietary platform. The GUI should bring software, hardware, and user together in a way that easy, efficient, and enjoyable. I would place more emphasis on ease than eye candy. All the *nix power users love command line because they conformed their brains (taught themselves) the intricacies of an arcane foreign language. Because of their disposition this pursuit was fun in and of itself. For the average user a computer is not a puzzle that they will have fun trying to solve. They want a tool that they can use as easily as possible to solve other problems. The GUI should be designed to provide this intuitive ease of understanding. If I want to listen to or rip a cd, how can the OS/gui make this process as easy and as intuitive as possible? 2) Closer to the debate. I wonder what lessons the content v. style debate in web development has to offer the conversation. This thought comes from one who knows html, css, a little php, and a little javascript. I am not a programmer (IANAP?), but is it possible to have software define the content of certain functions (i.e. cut, paste, print, etc.) and let the gui universally decide how to make those functions available? It seems as though each app (even within the windows and make screenshots included in earlier comments) are defining their own look and feel. The software can define the function and the gui can provide how those functions are made available. Sort of like applying a theme to firefox, only the theme (interface) connects to where the print option appears in menus, what shortcut keys can access print, and where the print button appears in toolbars. It seems like each pkg developer makes these "style" decisions creating inconsistency. There seems to be a desire to define a consistent style and try to persuade all the developers to conform. Instead let pkg developers create functionality and let gui developers create consistent hooks for how that functionality is accessed and displayed within all pkgs. This would allow copy and paste to show up in the same place/way across the entire gui. Flexibility and consistency, but probably a completely different way for pkgs and gui's to interact. Now where is my free pony?