Seán O

For years now - I've been recycling, using low energy bulbs, trying to cycle instead of drive (even to the recycling bins). I've reduced my house hold garbage to less than half and my driving is below 1,000 km per month from over 4,000. However - my road tax keeps going up, my car insurance keeps going up, my fuel tax bill keeps going up, my house hold taxes keep going up. Thus it strikes me - I have to pay for all these resources, fuel, garbage removal, insurance, road tax regardless of whether I use them - so I should try to maximize my use of these resources until the government taxes me in proportion to my utilization.

General Giap was a brilliant, highly respected leader of the North Vietnam military. The following quote is from his memoirs currently found in the Vietnam war memorial in Hanoi:

"What we still don't understand is why you Americans stopped the bombing of Hanoi. You had us on the ropes. If you had pressed us a little harder, just for an other day or two, we were ready to surrender! It was the same at the battles of TET. You defeated us! We knew it, and we thought you knew it.

But we were elated to notice your media was definitely helping us. They were causing more disruption in America than we could in the battlefields. We were ready to surrender. You had won!"

General Giap has published his memoirs and confirmed what most Americans knew. The Vietnam war was not lost in Vietnam -- it was lost at home. The exact same slippery slope, sponsored by the U S media, is currently well underway. It exposes the enormous power of a Biased Media to cut out the heart ..

The US political world (all of it - regardless of party) rams the word "Freedom" down our throat. Its often spoken by US politicians to other liberal democracies in a patronising manner to the effect we just don't get the point.

Can someone tell me what is it in the US Freedom model that's not available in the EU model, the Canadian Model, the Japanese model; Norwegian or Singaporean model - lets throw in the Australian and NZ model for good measure.

In September 1939 Germany invaded Poland resulting in a declaration of war from Britain and France. Two weeks later Russia invaded Poland - no response from GB and France. Was this simple cowardice or was there more to it?

Forbes carries an article that a group representing the children of holocaust survivors have filed a lawsuit against Germany to pay for psychiatric care. Given what Germany has done to make reparations over the last 60 years - when will enough be enough.