Mercy!

If these crimes had been committed by Mr. Williams in Israel, he would not be put to death by that state. Shalom.

Talk about a topic crying out for a more creative headline than "Urine-Powered Battery, The" Is there an Ig Nobel Prize in this guy’s future? I certainly wouldn’t bet against it. If you really have a hankering to read the original paper, complete with illustrations: Urine-activated paper batteries for biosystems

And now a word from your future: Just remember, as you go through life after your school days are over, you will from time to time have those nightmares where the final exam is tomorrow but you haven't attended a single class all semester or read any of the required material. You'll wake up thinking, "Dang, I can't believe I'm STILL having this dream all these years later." But, of course, the good news is that it will all just be a bad dream. Happy finals!

I’ve always thought it was kind of weird how humans keep drinking milk even after they’ve been weaned - and from different species of animals to boot. I've tried soy milk maybe once; can't deal with it even though I like other soy products. I’ve never lost my taste for cow's milk, even though I know I could get the nutritional benefits elsewhere. We used to call skim milk “blue milk” when I was a kid. I wonder if they’re putting something in it these days to make its color look more like the full-fat product.

Okay, I admit I haven't read the article or followed this thread to the end. Just thought I'd point out that Arabic fluency isn't required in Pakistan.

Even though this stuff is an easy target for a funny headline, the nutritional principles behind the decision are certainly correct. Except for babies and people with difficulties getting proper nutrition, people who aren’t cruising for all that artery-clogging saturated fat should avoid whole milk. And the difference in fat content between baked versus deep fat fried chips is huge – up to 10 times as much fat for fried.

Looks like an old style muckraking journalism series of articles on mercury contamination in seafood in the Sunday Chicago Tribune. Some very interesting stuff. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/special...ll=chi-news-hed

I’ve been curious as to why there isn’t one of those standard “Read This before You Post” or FAQ type of things to allow new posters to get up to speed on the site’s dos and don’ts. Since Soxtalk has been around for awhile, I figure it must be a conscious philosophical decision not to have such, rather than not having the time to do so. Just wondered what the reasoning was behind that decision.

Joe always reminds me of the actor Henry Gibson in the film Nashville.

I’m sorry about that. It certainly wasn’t my intention to get Qwerty in trouble; I wasn’t aware of whatever rule you’re referring to. But now that you mention it, when I first started posting I looked all over the place to try to find out what the site “rules” were, if any, so I wouldn’t step wrong. Never did find anything. So like practically the first thing that happened was that a really innocent photo I contributed to the Naked Rambler thread got removed for being somehow objectionable. I thought it was pretty ironic considering some of the “acceptable” content I’d seen, but hey, I wasn’t about to start weeping over it, either. Not my site, not my call. Is there some thread somewhere with The Rules? Thanks.

“We bad. Uh huh, that's right, we bad."

Gee, thanks for the link. And the warning. That was a pretty pathetic spectacle of a thread wasn’t it? By me, the fact that women joined in the yuck-yucks was more sad than anything. Can we talk? The first time you listed one of those weird-type links a couple of months back, I was curious and visited your profile. I clicked on the “homepage” you gave and ended up on that hard core site - the one with the bazillion gay male porn photos. Whassup with all that? Not the porn. The links.

“Well, Ms Trashalot presents a positively unprofessional appearance when she comes to the lab wearing these skanky lime green mini skirts with throw back white patent leather go-go boots, and……What? Oh, you mean critique their proposals. Uh, I’ll get back to you on that. Sorry.”

As the Magic 8 Ball tells us: Outlook Not So Good

I bet you'd like the film, Magnolia.

I’m embarrassed to admit on a sports board that I can’t remember the last Super Bowl I bothered to watch. I record every Bears game (talk about zipping through something in years gone by), but I’m not much of a football fan. Funny, but last Super Bowl I meant to record it JUST to watch the commercials, but forgot all about it.

Sucka, you’d best not be implying stuff about my viewing habits re Miss Janet and that boy twit.

Addition: Best Discussion of Singing Icon Beloved by Lesbians Everywhere Which Unfortunately Ran Aground Due to Jugg's Unnatural (or maybe not) Obsession With Barbra Streisand

I’m a sissy. I try to avoid Midway, even though I’m a fan of Southwest Airlines and its stellar safety record. I remember my first landing there. I was coming from Washington National (which has its own approach issues) and when we went into our descent for landing I had a few seconds of sheer terror. I had never experienced a final approach that fast and that steep in anything other than a small plane. Maybe sitting in the rearmost seat had something to do with it, but I was certain that we were going to crash. But when I looked around, everyone else was reading, talking, acting normally and I realized everything must be okay. Then BANG we landed plenty hard. Welcome to Midway.

During at least part of the 22 years I was smoking 3 packs a day, I would have disagreed with you. I was one selfish cookie. Hospital rooms. Elevators. No problem. Hey, I had no problem with it. Appropos of your first sentence, who would dream of smoking in hospital rooms today? Anyway, I find it so hard to believe that anyone likes the taste of cigars. Now pipe tobacco is altogether different - I still love to smell that smoke.

I misunderstood you. I thought you were being serious. Thanks for clearing that up.

Is it like Australia, where voting is compulsory?

Sweet lord. For that kind of foul-up, I'd think that seppuku would be in order. For the trader, the trader's supervisor, and the trader's supervisor's supervisor.

TIVO. I bought one over four years ago and have zipped past commercials ever since. Of course, that means I'm just that much more in the dark regarding another category of cultural references.

The right of the government to regulate public accommodations doesn’t depend on the severity or the immediacy of the danger. It actually doesn’t even require a danger. You just have to accept that fact. "These people" don't have to organize in other industries for the right to breathe clean air. There is no reason that they should be considered second-class citizens here, either. So, apparently, you do think I would be within my rights to make you ingest a legal substance of my choosing as a condition of employment? Your only recourse being to switch jobs or stage an informational picket? I'm trying to stick with your analogies here. Or apples.