Lurch, i would refer to bases in germany, uk, lithuania and literally scores of other countries as a form of occupation, it's a kind of quiet empire. The presence of those bases gives the USA considerable political leverage.
"state sponsored killing" referred to collateral damage, not bases. i would definitely call the US Army blowing up Iraqi civilians "state sponsored killing". Hope that explains it.

As for the whole "there will be bloodshed if we withdraw"... damn, as if there isn't bloodshed now, and as if the bloodshed will stop quicker with an occupying christian army on their soil. Comparisons to Vietnam are interesting... last time I checked Vietnam was not a communist stronghold bathing in blood.

What you are saying, by extension, is "there should be US troops in every country where there's bloodshed" and that is totally impossible. What is so different about Iraq? Why not go prevent the bloodshed in Sudan or Burma or China or Russia? No war proponent has ever explained this to me.

About those bases you say aren't permanent:

We're talking about a U.S. embassy compound under construction these last years that's meant to hold 1,000 diplomats, spies, and military types (as well as untold numbers of private security guards, service workers, and heaven knows who else). It will operate in the Iraqi capital's heavily fortified Green Zone as if it were our first lunar colony. According to William Langewiesche, writing in Vanity Fair, it will contain "its own power generators, water wells, drinking-water treatment plant, sewage plant, fire station, irrigation system, Internet uplink, secure intranet, telephone center (Virginia area code), cell-phone network (New York area code), mail service, fuel depot, food and supply warehouses, vehicle-repair garage, and workshops."
...
When it comes to American construction projects in Iraq, the sky's really the limit. Just recently, National Public Radio's Defense Correspondent Guy Raz spent some time at Balad Air Base about 70 kilometers north of Baghdad. As Thomas Ricks of the Washington Post reported, back in 2006, Balad is essentially an "American small town," so big that it has neighborhoods and bus routes -- and its air traffic rivals Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174858/baseless_considerations

This made me curious to see how many voices he does, so via wiki:

1. Porky Pig (1936-1989, assumed from Joe Dougherty)
2. The Maxwell (Jack Benny's car)
3. Daffy Duck (1937)
4. Happy Rabbit (a.k.a. Bugs Bunny's prototype) (1938)
5. Bugs Bunny (1940-1989)
6. Woody Woodpecker (1940)
7. Cecil Turtle (1941)
8. Tweety Bird (1942-1989)
9. Private Snafu, numerous World War II related cartoons (1943)
10. Yosemite Sam (1945-1989) ("Hare Trigger")
11. Pepé Le Pew (1945-1989)
12. Sylvester (1946-1989) aka Thomas (1947) in some films
13. Foghorn Leghorn (1946-1989)
14. The Barnyard Dawg (1946-1989)
15. Henery Hawk (1946-1989)
16. Charlie Dog (1947)
17. Mac (of Mac & Tosh) (1947)
18. K-9 (1948) (sidekick to Marvin the Martian)
19. Marvin the Martian (1948)
20. Road Runner (1949)
21. Beaky Buzzard (1950)
22. Elmer Fudd (1950, 1958, 1970s and 1980s)
23. Bruno the Bear (1951)
24. Wile E. Coyote (silent until 1952, first spoke in the short "Operation: Rabbit")
25. Speedy Gonzales (1953)
26. The Tasmanian Devil (1954)
27. Barney Rubble (1960-1989)
28. Dino (1960-1989) (Fred Flintstone's pet.)
29. Cosmo G. Spacely (1962)
30. Hardy Har Har (1962-1964)
31. Secret Squirrel (1965-1966)
32. Bubba McCoy from "Where's Huddles?"
33. Chug-a-Boom/The Ant Hill Mob/The Bully Brothers from "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop (1969)"
34. Speed Buggy (1973)
35. Tucker the Mouse from "A Cricket in Times Square (1973)"
36. Captain Caveman (1977)
37. Twiki from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)
38. Heathcliff (1980, appeared in syndication from 1984-1987)

thanks again - did you forget to vote?

In reply to this comment by Fedquip:
done and done
http://www.videosift.com/video/To-Hare-is-Human

done and done
http://www.videosift.com/video/To-Hare-is-Human

It'll probably die in the queue anyway, but I thought you might want this classic toon for your saturday morning playlist.

Oh,you're most welcome... sorry I didn't see it sooner. Dag voted it to the front for ya.

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
Thanks for rescuing "Hillbilly Hare" for me, swampgirl. I couldn't believe it either when I first saw the discard notice. Who could throw out Bugs? There oughta be a law.

Thanks for rescuing "Hillbilly Hare" for me, swampgirl. I couldn't believe it either when I first saw the discard notice. Who could throw out Bugs? There oughta be a law.

Larry Hama's probably the worst writer in comics, but somehow Bucky O'Hare is totally awesome. How did that happen?

From YT:

I couldn't find any NES remixes I liked so I used C64 remixes instead for the music.

Here are the tunes used in this video, all by Instant Remedy -

Game On (Issue 0989)
Last Ninja - The Palace
Ghosts 'n Goblins (Trance Version)

Full list of games in the video (might be some errors) -

1. Super Mario Brothers
2. Contra
3. Dragon warrior 1
4. Dr. Mario
5. Excite Bike
6. Lola 3
7. Ice Climber
8. Gradius
9. Ice Hockey
10. Kiwi Craze
11. Little Nemo
12. Scheherazade
13. Abradox
14. Addams Family
15. Adventure Island 1
16. Basewars
17. Marble Madness
18. Kirby
19. Batman 1
20. Battle Chess
21. Mappy Land
22. Maniac Mansion
23. Kid Icarus
24. Silius
25. Duck Hunt
26. Treasure Island 2
27. Goonies 2
28. Castlevania 1
29. Bugs Bunny Birthday
30. Bomberman 1
31. Battletoads
32. Bionic Commando
33. Blades of Steel
34. Blaster Master
35. Castlevania 2
36. Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle
37. Casino Kid
38. Caveman Games
39. Crystalis
40. Deja Vu
41. Double Dribble
42. Duck Tales
43. Double Dragon 2
44. Golgo 13
45. Hogans Alley
46. Jackie Chan
47. Castlevania 3
48. Double Dragon 1
49. Ninja Gaiden 1
50. North & South
51. Prince Of Persia
52. Metroid
53. Metal Gear
54. Pirates
55. Mega Man 2
56. Micro Machines
57. Paper Boy
58. Punch Out
59. Super Mario Brothers 2
60. Ultima IV
61. The Three Stooges
62. The Guardian Legend
63. Bucky O'Hare
64. Wizards & Warriors 2
65. Zelda
66. Turtles 1
67. Tiny Toons Adventures
68. Wrath of the Black Ninja
69. Super Mario Brothers 3
70. Tecmo Super Bowl
71. Tombs & Treasures
72. Snakes Revenge
73. Super Contra
74. Snake Rattle n Roll
75. Talespin
76. Star Tropics 1
77. Spy Hunter
78. Zelda 2
79. Yo! Noid
80. Turtles 2
81. Silver Surfer
82. Robin Hood
83. R.C. Pro Am
84. River City Ransom
85. Shadowgate
86. Robocop
87. Rygar
88. Tetris
89. Supercars
90. Rampage
91. Willow
92. Final Fantasy
93. Mario Brothers
94. Ghosts & Goblins
95. Joe & Mac
96. Donkey Kong
97. Chip & Dale
98. Legendary Wings
99. Bubble Bobble
100. Faxandu

When I was 15, I spent a long evening trying to talk a friend out of joining the Hare Kirshnas the next day and failed. I'm 47 now, and a few years back he looked me up to thank me for trying. He had given his inheritance to them, which had supported the local group for a while, but eventually it ran out and the members had to take regular jobs and give the money to the group. Eventually he came to the realization that he was wasting his life, and could work at a dead-end job and not have to share a bedroom with a bunch of other guys.

Choggieeeeee! You playlisted my Hare Krishna video, but didn't vote for it... what can it mean?!

Niiiiice kitty...

oh and atheists....get a fucking room, who gives a fuck if a president belives in evolution....What the fuck IS evolution anyhow, and who gives a fuck......don't you know what religion is yet?????!!!! Jesus H. Fucking Christ.....why does one feel they need to prove there is no god anyhow......(ask this about a christian who feels they must prove there is, and then buy yer atheist ass a new fucking mirror, cause yours is BROKEN!!!

(seriously thought this atheist shit was over, when Madelyne Murray O'fucking dysfunctional Hare, was dead and gone, good whining-ass riddance!!!) Why is faith in anything so abhorrent???? You folks who feel you must take a stand on god need therapy.......

Hey you jumped the gun there zinfab, I replaced the viddy you flagged dead.......hare trigger there pardner.....

haven't even watched this yet, still having fun reading the banter, again, both sides of the fence have devout, both faiths rely on unprovable datum for their conclusions, and we seem to think in this particular trip as sentients, that it is imperative we reach a decision as to whom or whom not to believe, that this resolution will somehow make the remainder of our short trek more tolerable or peaceful.....

"In God We Trust" "One Nation Under God".....don't really see the seething obsession on the part of Atheists to erase a grand part of the United States tradition, history, and heritage.......every once in a while a dysfunctional freak, will file charges against some school district, and soon all can see, that the real issue is not getting the mention of god out of schools, or prayer, etc.....It's about the snotty, bitter little dweeb's own bullshit, whether it be a recent divorce, or he has been a shit all his life anyhow, now he has a pulpit.......

Look how fucked up Madeline Murray O'Hare was....her son...
Look how screwed the preacher's lives are that get busted for their bullshit, and how quick all are to blame god's inadequacy on his followers, or downplaying the atheist's
arguments, on the few whacked spokespersons.....

Perhaps this is why Jesus came down on the Pharaseeical practice of praying in public....."Go in yer closet to pray"....this means you atheists, as well, yer religion is just as insulting to the psychic space of your fellow humans.....

KEEP YOUR BELIEFS TO YOURSELVES-seems the best bet....after all, yer brain is yours alone, and the loneliness in there will be with you the rest of your life.......start screaming this or that from a mountain, and see how fast the rest of the monkies scream back foul.......or become followers, if that's your desire.......

Atheism is the same beast as the Born-Again Fundamentalist Pentacostal-Both are confused, self-deluded, and close to being burnt-out, on a very short, interesting, trip we call humanity......why don't ya'll get a fucking room!!!!????

Oh my science. This is the kind of stupidity and peer-pressure that religion thrives on. Bringing up christmas is just dumb, as presents and Jesus have absolutely nothing to do with each other (Like Easter and eggs -- or so the Hare Club for Men would have you believe).

What's the confirmation age in the states? 14-15? Would you truly be old enough to make a binding contract by that age? Not according to most countries, where you have to be an adult (18+) to make a contract.

It seems that Atheist is the new Gay.

"Have you tried not being an atheist..?" Heh.

While this may very well be faked, it's a dramatization of what many go through. And that's a bit frightening.