“Why are we getting these weird, irrelevant comments all over the place?”

It looks like we are being trackbacked at a feverish pace lately. My guess, given that many of the trackbacks have no relevance to the topics at hand, is that we have some bloggers whoring for traffic.

SL, to answer your question:

It ain’t an easy one. I don’t think the US can leave now. Hell, I doubt they can pull out for twenty years at a minimum.

The region is significantly destabilized, not just Iraq, thanks mostly to the foreign policy of Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Bush (in that order, I think).

- Iran is a real threat to Israel; so is Syria
- Pakistan has nuclear weapons already and is a powdercake
- Palestine is in a mess as well
- There is some fear that a Sunni, Shia larger civil war is brewing across the region

There are several scenarios whereby the current malaise could result in a much larger conflict. Almost none of the above existed to the degree that they do today because of US involvement in Iraq.

Having said that, the US must fire Condi Rice who has been useless in her role. Granted, she has been but a messinger for a failed neo-conservative agenda, but the US needs real diplomacy. Its allies, even the UK are abandoning them and they need to reach out and establish good will with their European allies. They need the Russians on board as well.

The US needs more boots on the ground to stabilize Iraq. They can only get them from willing partners or a draft. A draft is not an option given the President’s current level of support.

Its time to end the ham fisted diplomacy and start reaching out to the rest of the world.

Whooee! Balbu, you sed — “…we have some bloggers whoring for traffic.”

I know a little ’bout SEO. That’s Search Engine Optimization. When you get bogus trackbacks, it’s called trackback spam. The whorin’ boogers ain’t really lookin’ fer direct traffick from yer readers. They’re lookin’ fer inbound links an’ they’re creatin’ them inbound links (or yer site), themselves.

Google’s the big daddy in the SE world. ‘Bout 2/3’s of Canajuns use Google as their main search tool. Google keeps track o’ who’s linkin’ t’ who. The more incomin’ links a site has, the better it does on Google. Makes sense, sez I. The more boogers an’ other website owners who link to a site, the more they value that site as a valuable source.

That makes sense when you or me post a link on our boogs on accounta we think the other booger or website has sumpin’ worth seein’. The Boog trackback system short circuits the linkin’ theory. If other site owners are allowed t’ do sumpin’ (create trackbacks) that automatically gets a link to them from Stageleft.info, Google sees it as the same thing as if you were endorsin’ that other site by linkin’ to it — even if you have absolutely no reason why you’d ever link to ‘em.

It’s jest dirty trickery. The SEO world is full o’ spammers an’ dirty tricksters who’ll do jest ’bout anythin’ t’ get their sites on the top at Google. Trackbackin’ is how they use unwittin’ boogers t’ make it look like their sites have relevance when they really don’t.

Trackbackin’ can be a useful tool when used legitimately but when yer gettin’ lotsa trackbacks from irrelevent sites, yer bein’ played as a pawn in the SEO game.

Yores trooly,
JimBobby

P.S. On the topic of EyeRack, failure is not an option because it’s already happened. The only way fer success is t’ turn back the hands o’ time an’ that ain’t gonna happen.

When Merka lost the Vietnam War, it weren’t on accounta they didn’t sacrifice enuff good Merkans (50,000+). It was on accounta they underestimated what people’ll do when they see an invadin’ force comin’ in. Shee-it! I betcha even sum of us peace-lovin’ Canajuns’d take up arms an’ go guerilla if the Merkan Army men came marchin’ over the Peace Bridge or through the Windsor Tunnel.

The Iraq Study Group was made up o’ smart fellers an’ gals who’s wearin’ all sortsa polytickle stripes. They had answers but the dictator wouldn’t listen. The dictator don’t believe in democracy. He sed so on 60 Minutes when he sed it don’t matter what Merkans’ elected reps in the House an’ Senate say an’ his mind is made up an’ he’s gonna do what he wants regardless o’ the will o’ the people an’ their voted-in reps.

My answer - Impeach the dictator. Impeach Cheney. Jail the Gitmo jailers an’ torturers.

An’ here’s the big one — Bribe the bad guys.

I reckon the Merkans could help create a stable mideast by payin’ off Sadr an’ the other badasses so’s they’ll quit with the terrism. Money talks an’ Merka’s got lots. They oughta quit spendin’ on bombs an’ destruction an’ Halliburton rebuildin’ contracts an’ start spendin’ on buyin’ friends. It’ll be loads cheaper an’ Merkan boys an’ girls won’t be gettin’ killed fer Dick Cheney’s profiteerin’ buddyboys.

JB

Lateral thinking… Hmm.
Give the whole middle east, every man, woman, and child, computers, internet access, and subscription to Everquest. Then leave while everyone is too busy pursuing a net addiction to care.

Or, um, interior decorating. A lot can be done with feng shui, so I’ve been told.

(I have no clue.)