Reason Morning Links: Contractor Surge in Afghanistan, Drug Import Ban in Senate Bill, Return of Glass-Steagall?

• Surge in Afghanistan will include up to 56,000 new private contractors as well.
• Senate health care bill would ban importation of prescription drugs.
• Citibank will repay bailout money, but will also get billions in special tax breaks.
• Sen. McCain proposes bringing back Glass-Steagall.
• Former South Dakota state legislator convicted of rape claims copyright on his name, threatens news agencies who publish it without his permission, makes national news in series of stories that also mention his rape conviction.

Comments

[TickleStick]

CLIMATE CHANGE IS NATURAL: 100 REASONS WHY:

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/146138

[SugarFree]

SugarFree Holiday Gift Guide

Are you a "Wise Latina"?
Let the world know with this deluxe T-shirt.

Steve Smith Holiday Ornament
What Christmas tree is truly complete without the hulking threat of pine-scented rape? Available in Pacific Northwest Brown? and Angel Wing White?.

[Trocar]

Too funny! Thanks.

[Ska]

pine-scented rape

Time phrase of the year.

[WTF???]

Time magazine names Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke 'Person of the Year'

http://www.startribune.com/bus.....:_Yyc:aUUZ

[Goodwin]

Time Magazine, Man of the Year, 1938 . . . .

[Tim Geithner]

an expert on tax accounting [said] "I've been doing taxes for almost 40 years, and I've never seen anything like this, where the IRS and Treasury acted unilaterally on so many fronts."

Pretty cool, huh?

[Gomer Pyle]

Surge in Afghanistan will include up to 56,000 new private contractors as well.

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

[Death Panelist]

Ted Alvin Klaudt? should copyright fail.

[Mad Elf]

I wonder when the people who are calling to reinstate Glass-Steagall will realize that the stand alone investment banks were the ones the failed i.e. Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. The investment banks that were tied to commercial banks like J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo, BoA, and Citibank have survived. Of course, one could argue that the latter two survived due to TARP, but the eagerness with which those banks are looking to pay back the funds now that they realize all the strings that are attached makes me question whether or not they actually needed them in the first place.

[T]

Well, BofA arguably wouldn't have needed the funds if the Fed hadn't strong armed them into the merger with Merrill Lynch. You also have to consider the fed "strongly encouraged" some of the banks to take TARP funds so customers wouldn't be leery of the banks that took the funds.

[mr simple]

Isn't it time we put McCain out to pasture yet.

not nearly enough is being done to change Wall Street and, in particular, to address the "too big to fail" problem.

Because things only get done when congress addresses the issue, and banks totally didn't get too big to because of congress snd it's regulation. Sorry, that might be too much sarcasm in one sentence for some people.

He wants to ban federally guaranteed commercial banks from risky trading in derivatives and other arcane instruments that could precipitate another huge bailout some day.

See previous. Also, here's an idea: don't bail them out!

"I think going back to Glass-Steagall would be like going back to the Walkman," says one senior Treasury official.

Exactly. What a way to start the day.

[Seward]

ban ... from risky trading in derivatives and other arcane instruments...

Well, good luck with that Sen. McCain. I don't think it is going to work however.

[CaptainSmartass]

Here's an idea: get the Federal government out of banking entirely. Leave it to the states to manage banks. One side effect of this would be, no interstate banks! That alone would limit their size, ensuring "too big to fail" would be a thing of the past.

[SugarFree]

SugarFree Holiday Gift Guide Con't

Necky
The Scarf for People Too Dumb to Use a Scarf

Romp Wooden Anal Toy
Created just for a man's body, this sturdy prostate toy is made from exotic hardwood and guaranteed to provide hours upon hours of environmentally conscious assplay. Every one is handcarved and heirloom quality, just the thing to pass down to your children and their children and their children.

[robc]

Apparently "animal print" is a color.

[Dello]

Only if you are a woman or gay: To straight men, its a target...

[Dagny T.]

So Sug, do you find it comfortable for extended periods of time? Aside from the inevitable ass-splinters, of course.

[SugarFree]

It makes me want to poop all day.

[Sonia Sotomayor]

Can I get a "Wise Latina" Necky?

[Kyle Jordan]

Is that like a "Pearl Necklace"?

[SIV]

Please refer to our Returns Policy for this item.

Well at least it's returnable.

[BakedPenguin]

Sure it is. Edward "Lefiti" Morris buys all of their used ones, so long as they haven't been washed.

[Rich]

Citibank ... will also get billions in special tax breaks.

Guess all that not sleeping pays off.

[John]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....stoplights

Environmentalists kill a few more people. But the lights are "green and energy efficient". If you put those terms with anything, people check out of all rational thought.

[Rich]

Short of some kind of technological fix, "as far as I'm aware, all that can be done is to have crews clean off the snow by hand," said Green Bay, Wis., police Lt. Jim Runge. "It's a bit labor-intensive."

Gotta love those Green Jobs!

[kinnath]

A 90% decrease in energy use over the entire life of the LED bulb is definitely outweighes the cost of installing heaters that can be turned on during the limited time of a snow storm.

Pretty much every technical innovation comes with one or more "oh shit moment" that wasn't anticipated. The problem can be corrected now that it has been identified.

By the way, I imagine finances drove the decision not environmental concerns. So you complaint should be that the tight-fisted bastards that run government killed a few more people, not environmentalists.

[John]

"A 90% decrease in energy use over the entire life of the LED bulb is definitely outweighes the cost of installing heaters that can be turned on during the limited time of a snow storm."

I wonder about that. Putting a heater on every traffic light in town is a big expense. And 90% sounds like a lot, but how much energy does a traffic light actually use? Yeah it is 90%, but 90% of what? And what about when the heaters fail? What about the maintenence on them and testing them before the winter? And all of those labor costs? Technological innovation isn't always an improvement. Sometimes the simpler proven technology works the best. I mean you can only do the job of a traffic light so well.

And I gaurentee you they were sold as a green initiative that saves money.

[brotherben]

John, John, John, you know as well as I that a guarantee has to come with a link around here. Sheesh

[kinnath]

A heater is a simple resistive circuit. Detecting faults by monitoring current is another simple problem. Overall -- not complicated.

More sophisticated would be the switching to turn the heater on and off from a remote location.

Retrofit always costs more than forward fit. The best solution would have been to install heating when the new LEDs were installed. Hindsight is always 20/20.

I can't say much on behalf of the cheese heads, but I can guarantee you that "green" doesn't drive local government here in Iowa -- it's all about budget.

[Atanarjuat]

It kind of defeats the purpose of saving energy with LEDs if you have to put a relatively inefficient heating element in the light and use it for a good chunk of the year.

[kinnath]

Winter == 25% of the year

Snow storms == 10% or less of winter.

Heating requirements 2.5% or less of the year versus savings of 90% for 100% of the year.

[robc]

Its Wisconsin, winter = 75% of year.

[kinnath]

About a decade or so, our community switched over from high wattage lamps in the traffic lights to very low wattage lamps with a lense to focus the light in the direction of oncomming traffic.

This provides two benefits. The electrical bills for running traffic lights in a moderately sized midwest town are substantial (at least high six figures annually -- the budget must be enormous in an major urban setting). It makes the lights nearly impossible to read from a perpendicular angle -- so it keeps people waiting at a red light from "anticipating" light changes and jumping the gun.

So to conclude: money and safety.

[T]

Those lenses fucking blow. It's great to not be able to see the light if you're off axis at all, especially when you're moving at 40 miles an hour.

[JW]

DC installs these lenses in various places and they're incompetent about it to boot (BIG surprise). You have no idea what the light color is until you're about 25' away from the light.

[MattXIV]

I agree with T and JW - unless the road is straight and level leading up to them, you don't know what the light is at until you're on top of it. The lenses on the ones around here also sometimes end up reflecting the sun when they're at certain angles and looking like they're lit when they're not. I'm guessing Iowa has flatter and straighter roads than average due to it's geography, so they probably work better there.

[Zeb]

You are right. But it is the good kind of green initiative that actually creates efficiency and saves money without some stupid subsidy. This is a winner with a small technical problem, easily solved, for places where it snows a lot. You are letting your hate for hippies cloud your judgment again, John.

[brotherben]

No word yet on why the good people of Waaaahsconsin are too fuckin stupid to treat the intersections like a 4way stop when the lights aren't visible. We do that down here when the power goes out. It's called common sense people. Give it try sometime.

[Ska]

Common sense and driving usually don't mix well together.

[wylie]

Obviously we need to add more gradations to the Graduated Licensing System. People will be allowed to drive without supervision by 55, maybe 60.

[Scooby]

And those 55 and over will need annual testing to make sure their eyes haven't gone bad and reflexes haven't slowed.

[Zeb]

Especially winter driving.

[kinnath]

From the linked article:

One reason there have been so few deaths is that drivers know they should treat a traffic signal with obstructed lights as a stop sign, traffic experts say.

"It's the same as if the power is out," said Dave Hansen, a traffic engineer with the Green Bay Department of Public Works. "If there's any question, you err on the side of caution."

[Chedderhead]

That's not how we pronounce Wisconsin.

[JW]

Do you know how many people know that situation is the law? Beyond you and me that is?

LED lights combined with big honkin batteries in the control boxes would do a world of good in my area, where 90%+ of the fuckheads on the road have no idea that this is how it's supposed to work and blissfully blaze through dark lights. I stop for dark lights and I either almost get rear-ended or the moron behind me starts laying on the horn.

Having a system that would allow the lights to blink or even have a rudimentary cycle in the event of a power outage would be welcome.

[BakedPenguin]

A lot of people in Central florida know - with a lot of electric storms that kill power, dark lights are inevitable.

Unfortunately, "a lot" of people isn't everyone, and it only takes one idiot to ruin your day.

[MattXIV]

Cut them some slack, brother b - the average Wisconsin driver can barely navagate an intersection with a working traffic light.

[Nick]

The solution, as always: roundabouts. I don't know why people hate them so much. I love them. It also has the benefit of keeping traffic moving so we don't waste fuel sitting at lights for a minute or more, and we don't have to brake as hard, we just slow down for the roundabout and keep moving.

We have a few in my area and they are so much better than stop lights. It's a one time expenditure to build the roundabout and zero expense after that, besides painting the lines and signs once in a long while, which they do now anyway.

[Untermensch]

Roundabouts aren't without their own drawbacks. Studies (sorry, no link) show that they increase the number of traffic accidents in intersections, but they also make them less severe, so there is lower likelihood of death or serious bodily harm, but more chance you're going to end up having to file a claim for body damage to your insurance company.

[wylie]

And what's the problem with that?

Isn't the goal Harm Reduction? Sounds like a lot less harmin' goin on with the roundabouts.

[Nick]

If they were ubiquitous, people would have less accidents in them because they would be used to them, kind of the way people would be more comfortable around open carried guns, if it was just "the way it is."

[eb]

"The solution, as always: roundabouts."

Or as we resident Massholes call them... "rotaries"

[robc]

Bestest roundabout: recursive

[brotherben]

thanks for the motion sickness.

[robc]

notice that you reverse directions as you change from inner to outer. Its in England, so you go left around the outer roundabouts, but right around the inner one, then back to left as you get to your proper outer one.

[BakedPenguin]

Might as well link to this.

[TrickyVic]

Look kids. Big Ben. Parliament.

[wylie]

There's got to be a cutoff though, where if your climate gets enough snow, it would be MORE efficient to just keep the self-heating lamps.

[John]

http://www.politico.com/click/.....rget_.html

"According to a House Republican aide who happened to be seated nearby, the notoriously chatty New York Democrat referred to a flight attendant as a "bitch" after she ordered him to turn off his phone before takeoff."

That aide is slow witted. He should have filmed the thing on his cellphone. Too bad someone didn't. The best way to tell someone's character is how they treat people they don't have to be nice to. It am not surprised that when given this test, Schumer turned out the be the nasty piece of shit I figured he was.

[BakedPenguin]

He was just testy from having to fly with all the little people.

[brotherben]

That aide is slow witted.

I caught that right off. There where it said republican. oh, and maybe she was a bitch about it. It isn't always wrong to call a spade a spade.

[Inkblots]

'Call a spade a spade'.

... you racist!

[Nick]

Schumer is the biggest asshole in the world. He's never held a real job in his life, so his disdain for someone doing there's is not surprising. Giant glorywhore scumbag with his nose in everyone's business. Guess he doesn't like it when someone gets in his, even thought it was also hers. What a shitstain that guy is.

[eb]

I actually have a friend whos grandmother lives in PA... she was at a fair in NY and met Schumer there... he was doing the political thing to an old lady being all nice... as soon as she said she was from PA, he instantly walked off before she was even done talking.

[Tulpa]

Schumer gave the keynote address at my college graduation. Because of idiotic college policies, it was held outside in the pouring rain (though the important people on the stage had a nice canopy over them). When it was his turn to speak, he just said "The first rule of politics: when the weather gets worse, your speech gets shorter," ripped up his speech and sat back down. He got a standing ovation from us gowned masses, including myself, I admit with some shame.

But ideology has to take a back seat to comfort sometimes, right?

[TP]

Well, here's some good news:

http://www.redbankgreen.com/20.....front.html

[John]

They didn't already have hookas in New Jersey?

[TP]

Not in an "upscale" environment.

[Santini redux]

"You can sit there for two or three hours and not even notice it," Santini said. "It's a very relaxing thing."

And that's just with tobacco in the hookah.

[Pro Libertate]

You can't copyright your name, silly. And you can't use copyright or trademark to stop people from talking about you.

[John]

What is funny is that there are about a million sex perverts out there. This kind of story happens about once a week somewhere. If he really wanted to be forgotten, he would have shut up. Now his name is in the New York Times.

[robc]

Speaking of which, the guy will filmed Erin Andrews has pled guilty and is probably getting 27 months (assuming judge accepts the deal).

[Rich]

Some of us will remember the entertainer Tiny Tim. He thought about naming his kid Crest or V8, but settled for Tulip.

[TP]

I don't know about other states, but in my state, if you own a business that has your own name as part of the company's name, you can't prevent someone else with the same name from using it in their business's name.

[Pro Libertate]

That's trademark.

[Pro Libertate]

Common law trademark, that is.

[Abdul]

There was a cult/criminal organization in the Philly area that called themselves something like the "Princes of Morocco" who did the same with the copyright issue.

The Princes ended up taking out liens on the houses of the prosecutor and the judge at their trial because the defendants never got paid for all the times their names were used. The prosecutor only discovered it when he tried to sell his house and it took him years to clear it. They were re-tried and the judge had to order the defense attorney to keep the names of the jurors secret so the Princes wouldn't fuck up their credit.

[Tulpa]

really? that sounds fictitious.

You can't copyright names, and even if you could, it would be your parents who owned the copyright. Also if someone born before you had the same name, it wouldn't be original and couldn't be copyrighted.

[Pro Libertate]

Why not post the legislator's name, by the way?

[Trocar]

Some posts have disappeared (e.g., SugarFree's). Why is that?

[Trocar]

Some posts have disappeared and I'd like to know why.

[Trocar]

Why does H&R think I'm spam?

[John Tagliaferro]

Former South Dakota state legislator convicted of rape claims copyright on his name, threatens news agencies who publish it without his permission, makes national news in series of stories that also mention his rape conviction.

Politicians are masters at self promotion.

[Pappy Smear]

Former South Dakota state legislator convicted of rape claims copyright on his name, threatens news agencies who publish it without his permission, makes national news in series of stories that also mention his rape conviction.

Politicians are masters at self promotion.

[Pappy Smear]

That was a test

[Rich]

It seems the squirrels are not happy about some of today's, um, activity.

[Pappy Smear]

So how come some of the posts on this thread disappeared? SugarFree's links and also the link to 100 reasons the earth isn't really warming?

[Pappy Smear]

Here's the link:

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/146138

[SIV]

SugarFree was offering links to low priced Uggs and an anonymizer service this morning?

[Isaac Bartram]

Surge in Afghanistan will include up to 56,000 new private contractors as well.

Of course, The International Brotherhood of Nation Bulders, Grafters and Associated Thieving Trades is at its best when ensuring adequate manpower levels.

It takes skilled workers to guarantee plenty of graft and corruption, and plenty of them.

You'd better not be doing any nation building with scabs. Someone might get hurt, if you know what I mean.

[Pappy Smear]

Report: NKorean leader Kim's health worsens

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is suffering from chronic laryngitis ? probably because of excessive smoking and drinking ? and he can't work without resting every other day, a news report said Wednesday.

The disease worsened last month, though the 67-year-old leader has recovered much from last year's reported stroke and a kidney disease, said the Seoul-based Open Radio for North Korea, a radio station specializing in North Korean news.

The station cited an unidentified "high-level source" in the North saying that Kim can't work without resting every other day because of the illness.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....&tsp=1

[John]

Once he is dead, I wonder how long it will take for someone to put a bullet in the brains of his idiot sons. I think even the NORKs have had enough of the Kims.

[John]

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/295854.php

Anyone else see this? Apparently Sullivan doesn't even write his own blog.

[brotherben]

I have so many thoughts about that. John, could you write them down for me and post them? I am confident that you understand how I think.

[John]

Ace of Spades said it best. Sullivan has been promoted far beyond his abilities. He is in no way capable of producing an interesting or readable blog on his own, even to his most derranged supporters. The only thing he has to sell is his name. So that is what he is doing, selling his name.

One of the ghost bloggers said "I have been stewing in his (Sullivan's) cerebral juices for years now" Now that is not an image fit for the morning or anytime for that matter.

[Rhywun]

Ace of Spades said it best

It's hard to discern a coherent argument amidst all the gay-bashing in that article.

[SugarFree]

Anything I send from my main ip address gets marked spam. Even without links.

I'm not posting from my phone from now on, so I guess this the last from me for a while.

Have fun with crayon, Morris, and the nitwit twins.

[John Tagliaferro]

You wouldn't want to look like a slob!

[SugarFree]

And just as mysteriously, the squirrels once more smile upon me... Behold the power of passive-aggressive whining!

[Kyle Jordan]

Yeah I was just about to type that some of your posts reappeared. Weird.

[Satan]

So why do my comments get deleted?

[Jesus]

Gee, I dunno, man.

[FrBunny]

My bag was half-packed.

[Kyle Jordan]

Is that like.....nevermind. I'll be nice to the bunny.

[John]

Didn't anyone tell you? Chad and Tony are the Reason web masters.

[SugarFree]

Wouldn't surprise me, really.

But it was the 3rd party spam filter that caught me, apparently. Never mind that I and everyone else post links all the time and I didn't post more than two at once.

Personally, I thought I had finally made one too many Steve Smith jokes.

[John]

I tried to post a link to a National Review Planet Gore post last night and it shut me out as spam. Yet, anonymity bot goes merrily on. No one at Reason seems to notice the fact that they are getting spanned ten times a day while shutting out legitimate postings.

[brotherben]

There's a spammer in the works.

[Tulpa]

Once I tried to post text from a Wikipedia article -- with no links or anything -- and it got blocked as spam. Then I removed all the little citations (just numbers inside brackets) and it accepted it.

[MNG]

http://www.senate.gov/legislat.....vote=00377

The vote to limit the freedom of people to buy prescription drugs from abroad. The breakdown is interesting. I'm certainly ashamed to see so many Dems voting that way. Big Pharma has some massive teats...

[MattXIV]

I'm disappointed, but not suprised. Not allowing importation was part of the deal with pharma to prevent them from running ads against the reform bill.

[Tulpa]

It's more complicated than that. Foreign countries get such cheap drugs because they threaten to void patents if the pharma companies don't give them a steep discount.

If the US market starts paying those prices too, drug development will grind to a halt.

[eb]

this is one of the major missed point on foreign health systems... we heavily subsisidize them. If we addopted their price controls there wouldnt be many drugs.

[Hazel Meade]

The drug companies are bluffing. If we legalized reimportation they would just have to stop selling into those makrets, or limit the sales there.

Ultimatly, there wouldn't be enough supply for everyone who wanted to reimport those drugs. Shortages would develop in those countries and they would be forced to ban exports.

Likely, most countries would ban exports of price controlled drugs faster than the shortages develop.

Honestly, I don't see why it's our responsibility to protect the drug company's profits. They are perfectly capable of shutting down production in countries where it isn't profitable on their own.

[BakedPenguin]

They massaged this one perfectly. 51-48, with one not voting.

[eb]

since when was limiting freedom in this bill a concern of the democrats?

[Pappy Smear]

Obama: Do Not Fear; This Health-Care Bill Puts Us on the Edge of a Large, Scary Cliff
It was with an odd statement that Obama announced the progress he had made in meetings with Senate Democrats today on the health-care bill he's desperate to pass by Christmas, no matter what's in it.

"We are on the precipice of an achievement that has eluded Congresses and presidents for generations," Obama told reporters after meeting with Senate Democrats for about an hour at the White House complex.

If you're thinking to yourself that the word "precipice" has negative connotations, and you're wondering why the great orator would use it to illustrate his grand victory, you have reason to wonder. Here are the two definitions of the word, both quite unnerving when applied to the health-care debate:

1. a cliff with a vertical, nearly vertical, or overhanging face.
2. a situation of great peril:

If Bush had done it, the clip would have been on loop as Freudian proof of Bush's dislike of Americans and his intention to get rid of them via risky health-care overhaul, but when the greatest orator of our time stumbles over his words, nary a newscaster will mention it.

But maybe I'm underestimating Obama. Perhaps his intent was to delve into our collective cultural memory to evoke famous, inspiring cliff imagery from American cinema as a metaphor for his great generational health-care triumph.

[SugarFree]

SugarFree Holiday Gift Guide, Think Of The Children Edition

Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope

Inspirational is the word for this glowing picture-book biography, framed by the fictional story of a small African American boy who asks his loving, single-parent mom to tell him about Barack Obama. With fast free verse ("His family stretched / from Kansas to Kenya; / his mama, white as whipped cream, / his daddy, black as ink") and big, handsome illustrations, Coretta Scott King Award winners Grimes and Collier tell the story of Obama's life. Beginning with his childhood in Hawaii, double-page spreads show him interacting with kids from all over the world. Despite the sadness of his parents getting divorced, both inspire him to find hope in education, and he learns to confront racism ("hurt and hate and history"), and is moved to help the poor. Grimes' stirring words and Collier's watercolor-and-collage pictures convey the power of diversity to make a "new whole." On each spread a small box displays the running conversation between the boy and his mother, and his final comment is: "When I grow up, I want to be the president."

Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx / La juez que crecio en el Bronx

Before Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor took her seat in our nation's highest court, she was just a little girl in the South Bronx. Justice Sotomayor didn't have a lot growing up, but she had what she needed -- her mother's love, a will to learn, and her own determination. With bravery she became the person she wanted to be. With hard work she succeeded. With little sunlight and only a modest plot from which to grow, Justice Sotomayor bloomed for the whole world to see.

Antes de que la magistrada de la Corte Suprema Sonia Sotomayor llegara al m?ximo tribunal de nuestra naci?n, no era m?s que una ni?ita en el South Bronx. La magistrada Sotomayor no tuvo mucho durante sus primeros a?os, pero s? tuvo lo que contaba -- el amor de su madre, la voluntad de aprender y su propia determinaci?n. Con valent?a se hizo la persona que quer?a ser. Con trabajo arduo triunf?. Con un poquito de sol en un solarcito donde crecer, la magistrada Sotomayor floreci? para que todo el mundo la vea.

[Slut Bunwalla]

his mama, white as whipped cream, / his daddy, black as ink

(:O

[P Brooks]

A senior Republican staffer also questioned the government's rationale. "You're manipulating tax rules so that the market value of the stock is higher than it would be under current law," said the aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "It inflates the returns that they're showing from TARP and that looks good for them."

We can expect the SEC to subpoena all communications between Geithner and the White House, right?

I'll be here, holding my breath.

[SugarFree]

Tonight's the night! Please take pictures if you go. Please.

NYC Feministing Holiday Happy Hour
@ Lunasa
126 1st Ave # A
New York, NY 10009-5783
(Between 7th St. and St. Marks Place)

Wednesday, December 16th - 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

[John]

If I were in New York I would go. I wouldn't say anything. I would just observe.

[Kyle Jordan]

If questioned you could say you're trying to enter in to a polyamorous relationship with three hot women.

And if anyone does go, I want shots of the kept males. I have some theories I need to test and further develop.

[brotherben]

Mrs. brotherben says she is leaving me home this year.

[FrBunny]

Go as Dick-in-a-Box. And wink a lot.

[John Tagliaferro]

Looks like I'll be missing that one.

[Slut Bunwalla]

126 1st Ave # A

Stupid feminists. A isn't a number.

[P Brooks]

Despite the sadness of his parents getting divorced, both inspire him to find hope in education, and he learns to confront racism ("hurt and hate and history"), and is moved to help the poor.

Tingly.

[SugarFree]

That's how you know it's working.

[John]

OMG. Does the book have a picture of Obama hitting a hole in one the first time he hit a golf ball?

[BakedPenguin]

Why? He hit 12 more on the same course that day.

[John Tagliaferro]

Unpossible. That is 5 shy of perfect.

[BakedPenguin]

Look here for the explanation.

[Maya Angelou]

"his mama, white as whipped cream, / his daddy, black as ink"

Damn. Wish I'd penned that.

[Kyle Jordan]

This has even less to do with the conversations then the tripe I usually post but everytime I read your name, I think of the movie "The Rock" and Sean Connery pronouncing the name "Angelou" to the operator.

[highnumber]

PKD's daughter is suing Google for using the name "Nexus One" for an Android phone.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab.....-lawsuits/

[T]

Because phones are just like replicants!

Man, I should go find Karel Capek's kids and start suing everybody. We'll be rich!

[brotherben]

I'm a child of God. Descended from Adam. Can I sue Steve Jobs?

[SugarFree]

Because phones are just like replicants!

Well, Nexus-1 is only five generations from Nexus-6. But would Google really want to suggest to people that their phone has a deliberately short life span and is apt to commit patricide if it escapes?

[Kyle Jordan]

"replicants"

There's an Obnoticus joke in there somewhere. I'm just too tired to find it.

[Tony's Mom]

'Obnoticus' would be a great nickname for some really irritating Roman guy.

[SugarFree]

They are a litigious lot since losing out on getting a slice of that sweet, sweet Terminator money.

Nexus One / Nexus-6 is a Mr. Fantastic level stretch.

[alan]

My vote for best headline of the day:

Julia Stiles Cares About The Environment More Than You.

http://www.videosift.com/video.....e-Than-You

[uh huh]

I don't care, and I ain't buying any T-shirts.

[alan]

Hocking wears? On the internet? Funny, I didn't notice. Apologies that I subjected you to capitalism.

[P Brooks]

Julia Stiles cares more about the environment than she cares about me? That's fair; I care about the environment more than I care about Julia Stiles (whoever that is). So we're even.

[alan]

So you are saying that if Julia Stiles came over to you and said, "I'll suck your cock if you go over there and punch that spotted owl, you wouldn't do it?"