We actually were welcomed by the general populace in Iraq. My cousin did four tours there in the U.S. Army, including rolling in on the first day. He told me that the people generally liked Americans, especially George Bush for liberating them. They had a nickname for him meaning "the liberator" in Arabic. On the other hand, he said that Iraqis h**ed the British and Tony Blair, for having once been the Colonial power in Iraq.

They probably would not have become a Democracy for a long time if we did not invade, because Saddam would have kept his reign of terror going for who knows how long. Let me ask you "Would Germany or Japan have become Democracies if we did not force it upon them and left them alone?

I am doubling down on "you're nuts." Absolutely nobody is forcing them right now. They are keeping their Democracy going with no outside pressure at all. Who do you think forced them over the last 8 years? Obama?

Great article Blurry! I know the typical joes who don't study the technical stuff are not going to pay much attention, but I like this stuff. I was unaware of the increasing cloud feedback that blocks sunlight, or it never occurred to me before. It has always been frustrating to me that the so-called G****l W*****g scientists always discount the Sun as a possible cause of fluctuations in Earth's temperature. This is mind boggling. You actually have to block certain overwhelming evidence out of your conscious mind in order to believe their theories.

I think CNN should encourage all their journalists to swear as often and as loudly as possible. They could carve out their own niche in network news.

This is just deplorable, especially when I read about her salary.

You are nuts. Their own troops are enforcing freedom on their own people? OORAH! I guess they must be doing even better than I thought! I rest my case.

How is that not a success? The genocidal reign of Saddam Hussein was ended, and Iraq became the first Democracy in the Arab World. While there is still trouble with terrorism over there, I would note that the country has not reverted back to a Dictatorship. Can you point to an Arab Country that gives its citizens more control over their own Government?

I don't know about you, but I couldn't care less if the rest of the World laughs at us. Won't hurt me one bit.

How about illegal spying on Associated Press members, and on opposition Party members.

This isn't about cleaning up the air (air pollution). It is about reducing carbon dioxide emissions. CO2 was never considered a pollutant until environmentalists decided to label it as such. It is a vital nutrient to keep plant life alive on the planet. Most people are not aware that the modern CO2 levels are hovering around their lowest concentration in the atmosphere in the entire geologic history of Earth.

I know this report sounds ominus, but I have learned to distrust epidemiological studies. My wife is an infectious disease researcher with degrees in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She has told me that most epidemiological studies are extremely suspect because they usually consist of data mining of other studies and use broad extrapolation to obtain their results. She says that even some prominent researchers in the field will use the derogatory epithet "all epidemiological studies are junk."

This is an exaggeration of course, but they say it because biological causations are extremely difficult to pin down, and deaths usually arise from a wide variety of factors in every individual. I'm sure there are people dying of air pollution, but in this country where air pollution has mostly been conquered, I doubt it is the main cause in many individuals. Probably the most famous of the "junk" studies are the ones that claim so many people die each year from 2nd-hand smoke. While it is possible that some do, there is not a single recorded case that confirms an actual death due to 2nd-hand smoke. The figures are all derived from assumptions, extrapolations and predictions rather than from recorded causes of death.

People do like to have certainty however, so there is a strong tendency to believe studies when you have no other source of information.

What I want to know is if Russia was to enter Turkey from the rear, would Greece help? (I know this is an old joke, but I couldn't help it!)

I think you are right about Biden and Sanders, and there are some Republicans who have had sexual scandals, but Democrats sure seem to have the lion's share when it comes to sexual impropriety. They also do not preach against it very much, being more tolerant of extramarital affairs and d*****t sexual behavior than Republicans.

Travelwp's main point is that women's rights groups have never publicly condemned such behavior in Democrat politicians, only against Republicans. For the most obvious examples just look how much Trump was roundly condemned by women's rights groups just for talking dirty. Now compare that to the condemnation they dished out to Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, or Anthony Weiner (I still can't get over that last name!). I am not aware that there was any, though I could be wrong.

Congressman Barney Frank's gay partner was caught running a gay prostitution business out of their shared apartment in Washington D.C. A lot of people never even heard about this because it was just a whisper in the news. Now imagine if Ted Cruz's wife was a madame running female prostitution out of their D.C. residence. Would it make the news?

Then perhaps we all should take advice from the W***e A******ns who ended S***ery.