FFEMTPD72

Not an alert, but an overnight shelter @ John Jay High School should be opening soon.

Power's on its way out in Dutchess again.

I routinely confuse some of the fire houses down there as large venue halls. We're talking bowling alleys, 2X the amount of bays needed and tiki bars.

Agreed. Censorship should not be practiced here. Some of the best resolutions have spawned from heated argument and debate.

That is the point of a debate, is it not? Again, we are not suggesting that the United States lay down arms in favor of an entirely paper and pen approach. Our current and past methodologies to achieve "peaceful resolutions" have been largely in vain, especially in regards to the two nations we highlighted. Sure, we have passed economic sanctions, but what did that do? These nations still have dozens of allies which proudly support them, regardless of threat from the United States and its democratic partners. India (world's largest democracy and prime ally for us) and numerous other nations have taken a more diplomatic stance in their approach to North Korea, and receive at least recognition from the North Korean government. Still, India and these nations continue to detain and inspect North Korean ships for weapons (etc.). Therefore, I certainly would not call their approach 'appeasement'. It is because of our hard-line approach that no significant progress has been made. 194 countries, where France France, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand and Luxembourg are 1-6, respectively.

Like I stated before, no one doubts the bravery and courage of our armed forces. Remember, emotionally loaded language is a fallacy in rhetoric. And, you are using the example of a few isolated executions as representative of all our adversaries? A bit hasty, wouldn't you think?

Yes, we all know that we live free because of this and that. Not one individual doubts those claim. We want to consider the past in our current affairs, but not live in it. Also - we are #7 in standard of living. Not important in this debate, but just an interesting fact.

Absolutely not. In the diplomatic arena.

It's OK - they have a ambulance the size of a heavy rescue to transport all injuries.

So you feel we should continually use military power to threaten and influence entities which do not see things our way, rather than attempt to research novel diplomatic solutions (which the current administration IS doing, regardless of insufficient 'output' YET)? As I said, we will only further isolate ourselves by doing this. You cannot compare WW2 to now. Today is TODAY, not 1940.

Looks absurd.

These 'signs of indecision' and 'lack of commitment' are inevitable results of Obama's effort to revise our overall approach. Clearly, as INIT915 suggested, our past attempts have largely failed to bring any substantial change in global politics. We often forget that the current administration is dealing with a massive crisis on the home-front as well. Informed decisions need to be made based on what is best for America in the long run, and there isn't room for the use of 'immediate, resolute and overwhelming' style tactics to instill fear in future global politics. We're only isolating ourselves by maintaining hard-line tactics. I'm quite sure this is the current administration's sentiment as well.

I'm not advocating the use of generous appeasement tactics either. What I am suggesting is that an approach like Obama's, which certainly differs in comparison to other times in our history, may be beneficial in the long run. His prose and rhetoric is based upon careful research into what would instigate the lowest amount of global damage.

Although the letter has the proper theme, many elements in it are misguided. It's important to appreciate that the President does many things to ease global tension. We cannot win taking hard-line stances anymore. Also - Obama's approval ratings have started to rise again after the dip.

From the Poughkeepsie Journal: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100120/NEWS05/100120023/Person-found-dead-in-Church-Street-apartment--police-quiet-about-the-cause-of-death