I was reading about Iraq, and I saw that Baghdad is hinged on the border of chaos. After 5 years of U.S. intervention, that area is still unstable.

I wondered what things would be like if we’d left that area alone and focused on catching bin Laden.

Did you see the movie “Mr. Destiny?” Jim Belushi was living what seemed like an OK life, but his front lawn and driveway were all mud. The slacker landscaping guy wouldn’t get on the ball, and kept asking for thousands of dollars more each time he and Jim met. Then Jim goes back in time, mentally, to a crucial moment in his past, changes it, and returns to the world he would have been living in all along had the past played out like he changed it. He goes to his house. His lawn is full of lush, green grass. His driveway looks terrific. But he doesn’t live there! A cop lives there instead, because Jim now lives in a mansion. When you think about it, something must have happened between the cop and the landscaper. If he hired the same guy, he probably gave him some kind of ultimatum, and saw concrete results. (ha ha)

Well, it all just makes me wonder how Iraq would be if some aggressive dictator showed up and used brutal force to instill peace. I know the U.S. wants to maintaining a certain level of civility, and I agree that we should. But in a tactical sense, I’m wondering if the fighters and Iraqi militia guys would ever allow that method to work.

It’s like a nice babysitter comes over to watch a bunch of rambunctious kids. They see she’s nice, so they know they can take advantage of her, and pelt her with Nerf darts all day. I figure that’s why we haven’t achieved peace yet, because the violence is desired too much by some, and they don’t respond as well to “soft” treatment. And sending a brutal babysitter runs contrary to our ideals.

Hmm, but maybe not even brutality would be enough to remove the urge to war… I guess if the problem is a fundamental part of someone’s ideals, then no matter what you do, if you can’t act in accordance with those ideals, lasting peace cannot be maintained. So when someone programs themselves with ideals so stringent that they don’t allow for their neighbors to be of a certain type, I guess that is like declaring war on the world. Because everybody is neighbors with everybody.

You may be aware that I’m still not over my incredibly painful addiction to money. Good thing I don’t suffer from the similarly debilitating sports addiction. Although sometimes I just want to kick back and watch the game! With chips and dip of all varieties… And then if I don’t like what’s happening I’ll yell at the TV! And if I really don’t like what’s going on… Well let’s just say I lose more TVs that way.

I guess it would be really bad if I was a gambling junkie on top of everything, and needed to constantly update my baseball betting picks.

Thankfully, I’m a bigger fan of betting on…the DSRL!

I guess in certain sectors. A top government official could probably do one thing and say another, and nobody would know. Or at least, the people who "shouldn't" know, wouldn't know. I know I don't.

For us little people living outside the security fence, our world is pretty heavily monitored. Actually, it's probably always been this way, we're just better equipped to communicate what we see and hear now.

I just found out that Hillary Clinton "screwed up" again in her telling of an unfortunate hospital experience one woman had. She didn't name that many specifics, but some people apparently had enough to go on, because eventually the full details of the case were published in the media. Then the hospital in question felt it necessary to defend itself, and said, "Knock it off, it's a lie!" So Hillary stopped. But it turns out that what she said really is somewhat accurate.

So, ok, she didn't get her info from hidden spy cameras. She got it from talking to a County Deputy Sheriff. And even he didn't have all the facts. The only reason there was so much scrutiny is because the final telling of the story (by Hillary to various groups and crowds) made a decent impression, and the hospital was losing rep points in the public eye.

"You jerk, you bad hospital. You're bad!"

And the hospital says, "Oh, that's just not right. Information! I demand information! Yes…ah ha…found it…Read this! Listen, look here everybody! Hillary was wrong again! We're in the clear!"

Hillary wasn't that wrong. My first impression reading that article was that, "Oh no, she can't be trusted. She's a liar, through and through." But that's not the case at all.

I wonder if the top dogs in the media (or at Yahoo) decided to milk this story for all it's worth, and tried to factor it in with the previous Bosnia debacle? Without seeming like that's what they were doing…

Anyway, the hospital problem happened at our level. Then the Sheriff learned of it. Reported the story to a Presidential candidate, who reported to all of us. And then we boycott hospitals nationwide! "Chin up folks, we can't get sick no more!"

My reason for writing this out is that twice in a row, it seems, a major political figure (the same both times) has been corrected by the media. I guess the media is like a selective bullhorn that certain sectors of the public gain access to from time to time.

I feel like a few years ago a candidate would say something, you'd think, "They must be right," and no one would come up and say anything otherwise.

But now we're all about the truth.

…Or are we? [Dunh dunh dunnnnnnnnnnn......]

I feel like things are becoming more and more accessible these days. Buffalo chicken used to be only available in restaurants; now we can buy the sauce and pre-made wings at the store! Certain extras only applied when wealthy groups bought in bulk; now the average can get those benefits no matter how small their order!

I just found out that a company is offering a service where they’ll customize Visa Gift Cards with the logo of your small or medium business. This company is called GiftCardLab.

It used to be that only Fortune 500 companies could buy Visa Gift Cards that came customized. They’d order a ton, slap their logo on there, and the provide all their employees with a corporate incentive. But the small and medium business guys couldn’t do that. Well now you can!

Why would you want a customized gift card for your business? Because it’s a highly appropriate corporate gift. And it’s great for the holidays, employee anniversaries, contests, golf tournaments for charity, referrals, customer thank you’s, and for providing that extra push of motivation for your sales associates.

The best part about GiftCardLab? There’s no minimum that you have to buy! I wonder what the world has in store for us next…

[Regains consciousness, sees test results for 2nd time]

Oh no, I’m not clean anymore! All those years of rehab… I gotta give my sponsor a call, quick! Hmm, but how much will it cost?

You too can find out if you have an addiction, like I did. Fun blog quizzes can provide you with the most shocking answers! I couldn’t believe it. But numbers don’t lie. Numbers… Just add a dollar sign and you’ve got money!

No! Must resist…the urge to…think…in…monetary…terms!

I've heard from McCain and others that our time in Iraq may be lengthy. Maybe 100 years. It's been 5 so far. The general consensus of a large portion of the public seems to be, "Let's get out of there now." In the news, you hear things about "major milestones" and "great strides," but none of it seems to be lasting.

I think all the "Mission Accomplished" talk is really motivated by spin doctors trying to shape the reality of the situation in such a way that it meets the demands of the "get out of there" crowd. If it really will take 100 years for things to work out the way we've "intended" in Iraq, then all the milestones will come much later. So why bother feeding us all the "we've turned a corner" rhetoric? Because it's a way to postpone the inevitable.

It's like a mother tells her kid to stop playing video games and go to bed. And he says, "Just a couple more minutes, Mom…"

Two minutes go by. She says, "I mean it, get to bed!"

And he says, "I'm almost to the end of the level!" Either that's what he thinks (and he's wrong), or he's lying.

Another 5 minutes go by. The Mom says, "All right, that's enough. Time for bed."

"But I just found the Sword Of A Thousand Truths!"

Seven minutes later, "Get to bed!"

The party for the war keeps telling the party against the war that "it won't be long now," even though the idea has already been put out there that it could take a lot longer.

But if we stay for 100 years, what kind of resolution could we achieve? I feel like the real major strides are dependent not on us being there (since 5 years hasn't really done the job), but on some unknown factor. Like maybe some agreement must be reached between a number of other countries, or some new technology needs to be invented that solves a major problem.

That could happen, and we're in Iraq in 2020. "War is over! Iraq is all better! Mission Accomplished."

Or we're not in Iraq in 2020, and those unrelated developments still take place. "Iraq is all better! Thanks to [insert solution here]."

I support America, I support the American people, and I support our troops. I believe blindly following the leadership without questioning the status quo is a quick route to an unregulated authority that inevitably weakens the public and the country. I think it makes logical sense that people who truly love their country are willing to judge what those in power are doing to ensure that the state of the nation remains strong.

I love convenient phone numbers. Dialing 777-7777 in the 212 area code (or 800-777-8888) will get you in touch with Dial 7, a NYC Car Service. It offers transportation to and from Brooklyn, Manhattan, New York City, and New Jersey.

What will you be riding in? Whatever you choose! You can get a Lincoln Town Car, a mini-van, a full-sized van, a luxury sedan, or even a limousine. The service is safe and reliable, and will completely erase your parking woes. How? Because you won’t be driving!

New York Magazine has called Dial 7 providers of “the best ride in town.” Clean, convenient, and willing to meet to your specific demands.

So, for limousine service Newark residents and all the rest should remember one thing: Dial 7!

I had no idea how inexpensive it was to call abroad. Honestly I thought it would be like dollars per minute. But you can call Ecuador for 3.9 cents per minute, Bermuda for 2.1 cents a minute, and a lot of places it’s unlimited! I guess that means that the call costs a one-time fee, and you can then talk forever without being charged anything more.

“How can I get these great rates,” you ask? Prepaid international calling cards! GetMeCallingCards.com specializes in the calling card industry, and says there’s a current “boom” in sales. Why not? International calling cards save a lot of hassle when figuring out how to place an international call and how much it will cost. And if you make calls to one specific country more often than the rest, say from the USA to India, then you just get one of the india phone cards.

GetMeCallingCards can get you in touch with people in over 150 countries with their vast array of world wide calling options. So pick up the phone, dial the old way, and shout, “Get Me Calling Cards!” Then hang up the phone and surf over to GetMeCallingCards.com.

Last night I watched Stephen King’s “Dreamcatcher.” It was awesome! [SPOILER ALERT] It had psychics, military action, an alien invasion… There was a lot going on.

At one point, a really overweight guy was sitting on a toilet…

And an alien creature emerged! Yeah, that’s pretty sick. But it got me thinking. A while ago I picked up a book written by a cancer survivor. She said the key to her success was fasting, vitamins, a vegetarian diet, and daily enemas.

Apparently there’s a lot of waste material in our systems — a lot of unhealthy particles scattered throughout our entire bodies. Like, you eat junk food, and you process most of it, but some remains. It apparently sticks around unless you fast and give yourself enemas.

Some people use the technique of colon cleansing not to cure a disease, but to improve their health beyond where it’s already at. You can go out and buy giant containers of Colon Cleanse, and then spend the near future detoxifying your body. Some people claim that after it’s all over, they feel lighter, cleaner, and healthier than before.

I’ll bet the guy in “Dreamcatcher” felt a bit lighter!

When I was watching Die Hard, I heard Hans say that he and his cronies would soon “be sitting on a beach, earning 20%.” I’ve always wondered what it took to get a decent level of return on your investment. I think some “regular” bank accounts offer like ½% per year. PayPal I think has a fund that supposedly was getting 4% a while back, but there’s no guarantee. I figure you’ve got to be rich to earn more than 10%. I mean, that’s the only way, when dealing with big money, right?

Wrong! I’ve just learned how to get a 12% return on an investment, with a “low margin of risk.” The investment is in Real Estate Trust Deeds. “High yield first trust deeds and hard money lending systems” can produce a 12% return which would be fantastic for general income purposes, IRA investment, and retirement. Diamond Bay Investments is a company that can help get you started.

You see all those commercials saying, “Buy gold!” But you see in the news that the Real Estate industry is changing rapidly. I think if you can figure out an edge (and I’ll bet there are 2 or 3), you could do well for yourself. Diamond Bay Investments has a website (AGreatWayToInvest.com) with plenty of information on the Real Estate Trust Deed method, and can help anyone learn about high yield investments. Twelve percent! Sounds good to me.