Larry, I'm sorry to hear about the insurance situation in NY. There's a result of the WTC attack that I'd forgotten about.

As far as bread vs. bullets goes: In a perfect world, nobody would give anybody else guns, clubs, boxcutters or karate lessons. No one would hate anyone, and we would all live in peace. But we don't live in a perfect world, and there IS greed in this world, as foolish as greediness may be. So as long as other big nations keep supplying little nations with weaponry for their own greedy purposes, I'm sure that this nation will do the same out of self-defense, which stems from the sense of self-interest that you espouse.

Yes, the US has been the aggressor sometimes; the US has also had an isolationist policy sometimes. The US has been the humanitarian sometimes. It seems that we are disliked by some people no matter what we do. And even if we change our policy, people with long memories will still want to punish us for what we once did. And greedy people will always take advantage of generosity.

It is as you say: in order to live in the peaceful world you envision, "the people of the world" must "realize the folly of war and greed." Not just one big nation, the world. Every person in the world who will ever be born. Let's face it; that will ever happen...

...but I AM impressed that most of the nations of the world are speaking out together to condemn terrorism. That's a BIG GIANT step in the right direction. Still, words of condemnation must be reinforced by action. As you say, the kid who's punching another kid in the face – for whatever reason – is the one who must be punished. The rich kid who won't share toys with the poor kid must be encouraged to do so, but can't really be punished for not wanting to be hit with his own toys by a kid who isn't interested in sharing but would rather draw blood.

It doesn't matter to the rich kid that the poor kid has been taught all his life that his problems are the fault of the rich kid's parents. The rich kid only knows that HIS problem of the moment (the bloody nose) is directly the fault of the poor kid... and he knows that it's not his OWN fault for not trusting the poor kid, since the poor kid has been threatening since kindergarten to beat the tar out of the rich kid. (So much for sharing wealth for peace.)