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I'm really pretty lousy on the whole war thing. I know I've got the wrong attitude, but I don't care. First of all, war is dangerous. People get killed doing that shit. Look at Iraq. It's like a war over there. The administration calls it a 'robust insurgency.' Either way, Dick Cheney doesn't need me running around with rifle, getting shot at for Halliburton. Actually, that's exactly what he needs. Checks from Halliburton don't write themselves, after all. My question is: What do I have in common with Dick Cheney? This guy made over a million dollars last year, and he wants to me to run into Falluja with a rifle? I would have more in common with the people trying to kill me--and by that I don't mean Dick Cheney.

McDonald's has changed dramatically since the end of major combat operations in Iraq. For one thing, there is no two-cheeseburger extra-value meal anymore. It's just not there. Now a number two is a quarter-pounder with cheese. A number three is a double-cheeseburger. They don't have the skimpy cheeseburgers with the onion shavings and the one slice of pickle anymore. They all have tomatoes and lettuce and all these vegetables on them like you're at Wendy's. I guess it's part of the whole "healthy" McDonald's scam--like the elimination of the "super-size" option (because it's too much for people to resist an unhealthy bargain when they see one). In a word, lame. The other thing that struck me was the cost. These new meals are all the same price--$4.19, with a tax that puts them around $4.50. That's outrageous for a meal which won't even reach the 2000 calorie threshold like the old super-size deals would. I never ate the supersize meals because my stomach is exceedingly small. (Think of the ratio of time Bush has spent acting as President vs. time spent clearing brush on his ranch. That small.) But that's not the point. I used to be able to eat an affordably priced two cheeseburgers with fries and not experience hunger for 36 hours. The new, healthy McDonald's did not yield a similar value, as we will soon see.