BARISTAS NO DIFFERENT FROM...?

In regards to the silliness over what women should wear in the workplace, it kinda reminds of all the times I either watched an adult video, skimmed through a Playboy every now and then, or drooled over the latest swimsuit calendar in Wal-Mart or Borders.

I thank both heaven and earth that things like these give guys like myself the reason too keep on living and being happy with my choices in life.

Much like these women dressed in dynamite bikinis at these baristas.

So? Where's the fire? Where's the real threat with some java joint babes dressing differently? I remember a few times we had women parading around in bathing suits in car washes about ten years ago.

To spruce up business. Where was the outcry then?

Why is now any different from a decade ago? Why do we have some people think that women in bikinis has now become something of a public safety menace?

And stalker risks? Please! These places have been hit by robbers more often for their money than anything else. (Does the famous "Captain Jack Sparrow" robbery a few months back ring anyone's bells?)

I seriously doubt they will be going after women in binkinis soley for appearance.

Schuyler Thorpe

xxxth Street xx #X001

Everett, WA 98204

(XXX)-XXX-XXXX

NO ANSWER TO THE MESS IN IRAQ

Despite one recent letter writer's insistence that things are going "swell" in Iraq, one should always keep an open mind about the sacrifices that our troops are being asked to commit to--both here at home and abroad.

Here at home, we have one Republican candidate and one President whom wants to veto GI funding legislation aimed at giving our soldiers the college education that was promised to them--upon enlisting or re-enlisting--while at the front (in Iraq), we no longer have a clear strategy to win the war in Iraq.

We have an Iraqi government that is the worst example of US-planning ever conceived thus far--an institution that neither wants nor desires unification of any kind--leaving our military to bear the brunt of this occupation/"police-force" until when?

2013? Or 2103? I think McCain said both.

We all know by now that our military has no desire to leave Iraq in its present condition--despite second and third-hand reports that they desperately want to.

But the Iraqi government is neither moving forward or backwards. And we all know what that means, don't we? No progress in hindsight.

However, nobody wants us to stay in Iraq forever--not even by the smallest of margins. But getting out is a question that no one--not even the military heads--can easily answer.

Because no one has ever encountered a military paradox like this one.

So we are down to two obvious choices here: Leave and lose everything we worked for. Or stay and literally bleed ourselves to death over an extended period of time.

Which will it be?

Schuyler Thorpe

xxxth Street xx #X001

Everett, WA 98204

(XXX)-XXX-XXXX

OBAMA STILL GOING STRONG

Something I noticed while watching the news today: How so many black pastors are turning Wright's words of hatred and flights of fancy into calls of unity and hope behind Barack Obama's message of change.

I'd say that despite all the mudslinging and exchanges of misguided Republican rhetoric, Obama has shown true leadership and integrity in his run for the White House.

He has shown that he doesn't have to play by the same old rules governing both parties. He can change when he wants to.

And he has changed the way we think and act already.

As President, I can see that he will do so much more. And this...is what we need as a nation: A man whom can change things for the better--instead of following the same tired political playbook over and over, and over these many past years.

If you need an example: Look at the gas tax 'holiday' proposal both Clinton and McCain are currently fielding.

Then look at Obama's. And you will see what I mean.

Schuyler Thorpe

xxxth Street xx #X001

Everett, WA 98204

(XXX)-XXX-XXXX

MISSION NOT SO ACCOMPLISHED AFTER ALL

Surfing the news on the 'net recently, I finally got a few answers to a long burning question that had left me scratching my head--like so many others:

"What was the purpose to the 'MISSION ACCOMPLISHED' banner anyways?

As we all know--five years ago--Bush flew on the Lincoln to declare such a thing: "Mission Accomplished!"

The war in Iraq was over. We had prevailed.

Or so we thought. The symbolism of the banner implied--as the White House had intended--was to signify a victory over our enemies in Iraq: That...we had won...the war in that country--and the President wanted something to portray such a victorious cavet for all to see.

Up went the banner.

Now--5 years later--the White House was simply implying that the banner was supposed to illustrate how the Abraham Lincoln had "successfully" returned from its 10-month mission overseas.

Not how we initially won the war in Iraq.

So did Bush simply 'misspeak' what was later documented in his speech on the carrier's deck? That 'major combat operations in Iraq' were in fact not over?

Maybe on the 10th anniversary of the Iraq war, we'll finally have answers to these questions too.

Schuyler Thorpe

xxxth Street xx #X001

Everett, WA 98204

(XXX)-XXX-XXXX