Maintaining a military presence on foreign soil makes the left nervous because it feeds the perception that the United States has an itchfor imperialism and can't go long without scratching it.
Russia has signed all the accords that aim to prevent such proliferation, yet greed for cash and an itch to stick it to America make it repeatedly turn a blind eye to its own arms exporters.
For folks who get the itch (and have the means) to upgrade their set every few years anyway, we don't see why you wouldn't make the jump to 1080p. 720p sets can still fetch a decent amount on the used market, and 1080p HDTVs can be had for a song if the right sale is caught.
Americans have always had an itch to move to greener pastures, searching for better opportunities and breaking away from the bounds and frustrations of the places whence they came.
And you might have an occasional itch to tell this co-worker to put a little more effort into his or her appearance -- for his or her own sake, of course.