(Last post came out garbled for some reason and the "preview" feature is dicey, so here's a resend of the previous post...)

Hmm...as a former journalist turned algebra teacher, I respect the effort but am still scratching my head. Am I to assume that T(x) is shorthand summary of the {2,500-5,000}x term in the first equation? If so, extremely bad news from the generals [i.e. the domain 0 ≤ x<0.28] range would have McCain leaving a negative troop level in Iraq after 16 months.

I can, of course, interpret negative values of Y(x) as absurd but then, if the news from Iraq got really, really bad, I can picture a few situations in which a pissed off army might be considered a negative asset on the national balance sheet (Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon comes to mind).


Again, this all depends on what the function T(x) stands for in the McCain equation. If it is indeed a stand-in for {2,500-5,000}x, here's a chance at some extra credit: Assuming a conservative pullout rate of 2,500 troops per month in each plans, how bad does the news have to be for the Obama and McCain to leave the same number troops in Iraq after 16 months?

You can use the following quantitative scale to define "bad":

0≤ x ≤ 0.3 -- very, very bad (i.e. Russian Front 1944 bad)

0.3 < x ≤ 0.7 -- very bad (i.e. Vietnam bad)

0.7 < x < 1 -- kinda bad (i.e. Iraq now bad)