... in response to Re: Wait just a minute..., posted by CelticUrge on Nov 2, 2005"Is it necessary for me to act as an academic researcher for each and every post to insure complete and total accuracy, send to my peers for review and make the necessary changes?"
No offense, but one of the most common war-related figures known to Americans is the casualty count of Vietnam.
Roughly 58,000.
In many cases, if you open a conversation with that number alone, people will know instantly what you are referring to.
Aside from that, it takes a minute or two to do very simple stat/source checks on the Net before posting something as authoritative. No one has to BE a "Researcher" to reference a researcher. I think this is why blogs are so "in" now. People have come to realize that their own personal comments/opinons on a subject don't hold much sway (or receive fair responses) if they're devoid of "linked" sources. Blogs help the opinionated refine facts and keep people (even big media) on their toes.
Regarding oil: A few days ago I "Wish Listed" a book by Dr. Thomas Gold at Amazon.com titled, "The Deep Hot Biosphere: The Myth of Fossil Fuels". A review of the book has been floating all over the Net, and here is a short snippet of one (the original includes an interview with the author):
"Thomas Gold contends, based on long study, that oil, natural gas and coal are not so-called 'fossil fuels'."
"Instead, according to Dr. Gold, these resources are constantly being manufactured within the Earth by natural processes that are little understood and which point toward new, relatively unexplored realms in science."
http://www.americanfreepress.net/RFA_Articles/Natural_Gas__Oil_Occur_Natural/natural_gas__oil_occur_natural.html
As far as war goes, if you're in doubt to its necessity, check out this reminder of why it'll be around for at least a few more decades. It's a resource of all of the world's terrorist groups. Note how many of them are of Islamic bent:
http://www.tkb.org/Home.jsp
A few days ago, I found an article on Drudge reporting world conflicts to be in decline. The U.N. published it few weeks ago, and I even ran across it in my local newspaper:
"A study issued Monday paints a surprising picture of war and peace in the 21st century: Armed conflicts have declined by more than 40 percent since 1992, and genocide and human rights abuses have plummeted around the world.
"The only form of political violence that appears to be getting worse is international terrorism - a serious threat that nonetheless kills extraordinarily few people per year compared to wars, it said
"'Over the past dozen years, the global security climate has changed in dramatic, positive, but largely unheralded ways,' the report said. 'Civil wars, genocides and international crises have all declined sharply.'
"Professor Andrew Mack, who directed the three-year study, said there has been a shift away from the huge wars of the 1950s, '60s and '70s where million-strong armies faced each other with conventional weapons.
"'The average number of battle-deaths per conflict per year - the best measure of the deadliness of warfare - has been falling dramatically but unevenly since the 1950s,' it said.
"In 1950, the worst year, the average war killed 37,000 people directly, Mack said. 'By 2002, it was 600 - an extraordinary change.'"
I know. I have too much free time on my hands.
Peace, yo!
