Mercy!

It has to be brutal sometimes being in the political public eye. On the other hand, as I heard some Senator say yesterday on the news, no one dragged me here to Washington kicking and screaming. Condi is so private (some would say secretive) that I find it really hard to picture her running for the top spot, especially with her never having submitted herself to the electoral process to date. Interesting, though – I don’t often refer to people I don’t know by their first names. And everyone seems to do so with Condi------and Hillary. But with the latter, maybe sometimes it’s just to distinguish her from that other Clinton. Too bad Colin Powell didn’t run when he had the chance and his stock was highest. He could have been a big unifier.

I think it will be interesting to follow Obama's career. But he certainly needs some seasoning on the national stage so that everyone can get a better idea of the sort of leader he would be. I can't imagine him leading the ticket in 2008.

To quote George: “Only in America could a guy like that find work.” But who among us hasn't been in that position?

Well, yeah, there is the problem right there.

Dang. I was going to make an Edgar Allen Poe joke, spelling Ussher incorrectly. But I see you did it for me. Edit: Maybe this is deeper than I thought. Now that I see the good Archbishop is further demeaned in your post.

The bad thing about perfect payback is that the person can never be aware that you were the cause of it. The good thing is that you get to appreciate it without suffering any repercussions.

Defensive much? Yeah, well maybe you have reason to be. Let’s break it down, shall we? You start a thread called “You’re Invited” You post links to photos and a video clip of a 7th grade girl You say “I'm so going... Who else is gonna crash the partay with me?” You post her real name and where she lives. And then you’re shocked, SHOCKED that someone asks what’s up with that? Uh-huh. So in response to my reasonably neutral questions you: Post a photo of black people Ask if I’m Jewish Say that you are 9 years old. Um, okay. And now you’re saying “this girl would probably suck some guy off in the bar of a bathroom in a few years.” Oh wait, it’s not like you REALLY said that. No wait, you really DID. Smart Lighten up, you say? Honey, you have no idea. But may I make a couple of suggestions? Find some age-appropriate female interests. Soon. And you might start giving some serious thought to scrubbing that hard drive. You’d be amazed how little it takes to get this Justice Department curious about you.

Ah, another deep thinker of intellectual rigor for my ignore list. Buh-bye!

I find that mildly disturbing. What's he doing with his mouth? Please, make it stop.

For you and everyone who really believes this - how wide an intellectual net are you casting on this subject? Many conservative civil libertarians are appalled. Here's one place you might start, that bastion of Communism, the Wall Street Journal: Wiretap Furor Widens Republican Divide

But if they're in kid's toys, how expensive could they be? Or maybe I just didn't read the article closely enough.

Suit yourself, I guess. What I was wondering was what we’d find on YOUR hard drive? LOL. In this day and age, you might want to think twice about posting stuff like that, even if it does float your boat. Know what I'm saying? Wink. wink.

Thank you for the info. So why don't some manufacturers make fridge magnets out of this material? I hate those cheesy tiny iron ones that always fall off 'cause they're so weak?

I may not be understanding what you mean. Do you know this person? Are you really making fun of this 7th grade girl? Or just her bat mitzvah? Or do you just get off on posting stuff about 7th grade girls? How old are you?

Yes! I like that very much; it is (usually) great. Last time I had some, it was not so good. Don’t know what the problem was. Maybe just a seasonal thing about the cows being out and able to graze versus being in the barns. Although I wouldn’t think that would be such an issue in a climate as temperate as Tasmania’s. Anyway, people here will appreciate this I know. At my local Whole Foods, they label the Roaring 40's cheese as being from “King’s” Island, when, in fact, it should be "King" Island, Tasmania. Although I’ve pointed this out to them a time or two in the past couple of years, they’ve never changed the labeling. :rolly :rolly If they roll their eyes, though, they’re always careful to do it behind my back.

Please don't cry. You are absolutely correct. I missed the fact that Tex also was engaging in plagiarism. I seem to recall busting his chops on some previous occasion for this practice. At any rate, it is so easy to cut and paste the attribution as well as the text. I always like to think how I would feel if someone were appropriating my work without giving me any credit. The one place where all this goes off the tracks for me is where I make use of someone else's photos or other graphics. The best I can say in my defense is that I usually am providing a link which someone can follow back.

Won't you please watch your feminizing language about our Penis-in-Chief. Let's show a little respect around here, okay?

Well, just don't tell Tex. Then I'd have to start sending the photos to you instead of to him.

I couldn't believe that little hanging sack o' tiny intestines in one of your photos. It was really amazing to think they just eventually got suuuucked back in. Pretty awesome.

I'm indignant that you called him on that! Edit: But I guess I'll have to indulge you.

YEAH BABY!

Assuming you believe in democracy, he deserves to be tried first and administered just punishment afterward. Somewhere in the world, there are people who think you should be beheaded simply because of who and what your are (or aren't). That's why we're better.

I think that times may have changed, and no one bothered to do the legal/legislative work required to bring our laws into the reality of the feds needing to domestically utilize x terabytes of data per second coming down off our spy satellites versus some guy putting a couple of alligator clips on a line down at the central office. However, it’s been over 4 years since Bush claims our world changed such that he could pick and choose which laws he obeyed and which he didn’t. He has NO excuse for not coming to Congress over this. No one would have batted an eye if he had done what he’s done and then requested modifications to applicable laws. It is not giving aid and comfort to the enemy to have a national dialogue on the generalities of this subject. Bush has totally blown it. And he is continuing to misread the country's mood on this.