I like the finished work.

Why would you post that picture of the unfinished work?

I suspect a conspiracy to get a lot of "That's ugly and dangerous" posts!!!!!

{8^[

/that's a smiley with a tin-foil hat on!

The key point in RYANH's post is that Windows is so bloated, it runs poorly on these computers. Vista is hopeless, and XP runs slowly.

Maybe they just concentrate on removing all the crap from Windows and make it so it runs faster.

Goodness that's an ugly buckle. It makes no sense at all.

But, what if it was a SKULL?

:D

As we all know (from Russell Meyer), Roger Ebert loves big tits.

Let me just say that if I were to become the next "Naked Cowboy", this would be the guitar for me.

/That's all I wanted to say.

:D

Replace the "trophy head" with a skull.

What do you think now?

Malaysian Batman

For years I worked in an cubicle farm and I could have sworn that the section next to ours had an escalator that went to the first floor.

I have no idea why I thought that - we were on the 27th floor. That would have been a hell of an escalator.

SCIENCEPUNK has it right:

This is just an example of trying to sex-up a product with science, instead of relying on its real draw: it looks neat.

It just looks cool.

If you wanted more surface area with an ice cube, you could just get a bigger ice cube.

I stick with my statement that it is completely stupid, but it does look cool.

That dress makes your butt look.... clean?

This is completely stupid. I love it.

:D

No matter what they cost, if you gave one of these to a 6 year old, she would look at you with incredulity. "What's THIS? A shoe box?"

@ #7 Someone in the government machine is so incredibly thick that they want the fingerprints of a woman with no hands,

So you think that the woman was standing at the counter and the clerk said: "We need to get your fingerprints", the woman responded by holding up her stumps and the clerk THEN said: "I'll take that as a no.".??

and didn't have the brains to escalate it to someone with the power to override the requirement.

Which was exactly my point, if you continue to read on.

I think it's just a happy face, not a "happy horror" face.

You are reading way too much into a piece of baloney.

Instead of being "deeply concerned", couldn't it just be that somebody made a bone-headed move, correct it and move on.

Why does everything have to be a full-blown crisis?

“Home Affairs should look at international practices and see what system can be put in place to assist people with disabilities to get their IDs.”

Does this happen a lot? Are there so many people with no hands that you need to have a policy manual on it. Common sense. Everybody should just have ask 2 other people before making a decision on something like this. No three people would have said that a person with no hands had to get fingerprinted.

Terry Pratchett has 3 books in the YA section.

A Hat Full of Sky
The Wee Free Men
Wintersmith

The first song I thought of was that "Knock three times on the ceiling if you love me, twice on the pipes if the answer is no" song.

Don't know the name or the "artist", but that belongs there.

PROTO ARTIST "Mrs. Jones" gets worse by the number of times the singer says "ee" in the "me" part: Me-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee and MRS., MRS. Jooooones...."

Of course, once it gets to about 20 "ees", then it becomes ridiculous. Only Bill Murray could get away with 20.

Why do I get the feeling that some Pentagon General's brother-in-law runs a chip testing facility?

I don't trust "celebrity" reviewers anymore. It's always something like "This book changed my life" and "That's the greatest book ever" and then I read it and "Meh" is my comment.

I've had better luck just looking at the book cover.

It's tiny, isn't it? I'll bet it's not even 3 inches tall.

Maybe he could get together with this guy:

At 6:31 a.m. April 7, in the 1900 block of SW 356th Street, two men were strangely wandering around their house. One was wearing a tank top and pants, yelling that he was hearing and seeing things outside. He was saying that people were stealing from him, and was pointing at his garage. Police said that the man appeared to be paranoid and delusional, and that he was living in filth, utilizing the stove as heat. The other man was running around the yard with a hammer.

From here:
http://www.fedwaymirror.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=91&cat=23&id=1197939&more=0

Hahahaha! No, they a director and a gaffer and a best boy.

Of COURSE, they need MONEY. Now, MAN UP with some hard green! Otherwise, you're just a bunch of yakety pussies!

:D

It worked in Viet Nam, didn't it?

:P

For somebody who wants to carry one and actually work on it while standing, the 9 inch screen sounds too big.

I found it! It's a ytmnd.com

http://dontfallforthis.ytmnd.com/

Hahaha! The internet!

I wish I could give credit to whoever created that cartoon, but it's been on my hard drive forever and I don't remember who wrote it. It doesn't seem to be an XKCD.

Don't fall for this

OGC

Yup. We had one of these in 60s, too. A little black box that did exactly what this box does.

It's a sick person who see penises in everything, MEDIATINKER.

:)

It's ZION, Illinois. Super-religious people who believe fun is the reading the bible.

Could somebody translate that into Klingon so I can read it??

:P

How is a concordance adding anything to the "stew", though?

It seems to me Gaiman is writing about something different altogether.

BABAR has really degenerated. One day a king, the next cleaning urinals.

Th nbmbr ls klld 3 ppl, crsly ngh. nd t's qstnbl s t whthr ths 3 wr th ppl h ws mng t. r, t lst, thr wr n sfgrds t prvnt th bmbs h snt frm kllng scrtry r pstmn.

H ls hd wcky mnfst, whch sm f y prbbly gr wth.

s thr nybdy hr wllng t dfnd th nbmbr?

JAMESGYRE, they didn't scare anybody off. They hardened people's minds, and not just against them, but against the whole anti-war movement.

Three people were killed, you seem to forget, giving the pro-war advocates the chance to say "Look at these idiots" and paint the whole anti-war movement with the "idiot" brush because of it.

XPHR, tht's nt tr, bcs 'm nt skng y t prv tht 'm wrng. 'm syng 'll stck wth my sttmnt ntl smn prvs thrws.

Bt, snc ths ws yr nly pst n th thrd, myb y r trll?

It's also soooooo beautiful!

:P

The guy doesn't have a clue, though. The advantage of this is isolation. You have to roll the Mediator over so that the entrance is on the carpet.

Then you can't be bothered by your yakky wife! Especially if you insulate it well.

JAMESGYRE, what did they accomplish, though? Absolutely NOTHING.

More people were turned off by their use of bombs for no good purpose than some publicity for themselves.

i could argue you defend a greater violence by attacking the WU, who again killed ZERO with their bombs. and while i love mlk jr, bobby k, and the yippies too, they weren't necessarily enough, were they.

I'm defending violence by saying that violence wasn't the answer? That's some tortured logic right there.

Martin, Bobby and the Yippies WERE enough. And THEY were the ones who changed the world, not the Weathermen.

How many people showed up for the "Days of Rage"? That should show you the support that the Weather Underground had. Tens of thousands showed up for the Dem Convention protests. What, 100 people showed up for the "Days of Rage"?

VRYN.THGHT.THY.WR.DCKS-VLNT.DCKS.

N, y'r jst dfndng vlnc. nd n, th Wthrmn st bck th fght gnst th Vt Nm wr. nlss y cn shw thrws, 'll stck wth tht.

Nc rvsnst hstry, Cwcd. Bt 'v sn tht dcmntry whn t frst cm t, nd vn thgh t trtd thm lghtly, thy stll cm ff s dcks.

Sr, thy'v 'fnd Jss' nw nd thy r tryng t rvs thr hstry (th lghbl "t ws ll jst jk" - yh, ntl smbdy gts klld), bt dn't knw n prsn wh thght t th tm tht ths ws th wy t mk ny knd f lstng chng.

Tmthy McVgh cld prbbly rtnlz wht h ws dng nd th nbmbr hd whl scrd n why h ws dng wht h ws dng, bt t ll cms dwn t trrrsm.

Forgive me if I stick with Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, Abbie Hoffman and the Chicago Seven, Yippies, political organizing, the ballot box and peaceful protest rather than bombing buildings.

f y fl tht bmbng bldngs s th wy t g, y r n bttr thn Tmthy McVgh, whch s bt whr pt th Wthrmn.

ntns, yr drst drm s fr th whl wrld t b rld by th C.

THAT was the way to stop the war in Viet Nam?? The only people that thought that were the Weather Underground.

A number of groups gave them "face time" because they were "doing something". They didn't know anything about them, but they thought they were "sticking it to the man". Bt mstly ppl thght thy wr dcks. 'm srry f y dn't lk th trmnlgy, bt tht's th wy w flt bt thm.

They set back the movement by about 10 years. It's almost 40 years later and I'm still pissed off.

Yh, rght. bnch f thr lsrs nd ppl wh hv thr wrpd gnd s t wht ws rght fr mrc.

The Black Panthers had a better handle on reality and a possible reason for hating Amerika. And the the Black Panthers didn't want anything to do with them. Ths ppl wr jst dcks, plyng rnd nd fgrng thy cld gt wy wth t. Spld brts wth bd gnd.

Ths ppl wr jst dcks. Thy hd nthng t d wth wht ws gng n t th tm, thy hd thr wn wrpd gnd nd thy shld b ssgnd t th dst bns f hstry.

Even better than books, line your exterior walls with closets and hang clothes in there!

Hang your old t-shirts on the wall for insulation!

:D

Even if you read books more than once, you can still check it out from a library a second time!

It's difficult to find a taco shack in East L.A.???

Hahahaha!

If you hang them on the wall, they would be good insulation!

;)

How am I going to impress the chicks now? I get all my books from the LIBRARY! Sheesh. I guess I'll have to steal books from the library instead of checking them out!

PBBBBBBTTT!

I'm assuming this is tongue-in-cheek, but just in case it isn't:
Did they take into account the massive amount of energy it takes to make paper? Wouldn't it be cheaper to just INSULATE your house!

I disagree. These are 3 of the strongest candidates in years. With apologies to Al Gore. We have 2 lifelong Social Progressives and a Conservative who USED to have some integrity, I like to think he still has it, but I'm disheartened by some of his meetings with the like of Pat Robertson and other far right extremists.

Any of the three would be great Presidents.

Do like everybody else and use your old t-shirts as rags.

:D

You know, HornCologne, those coat hooks cost about 69 cents with screws. I admire your recycling, but geez, for less than $40, you could have purchased the whole thing and spent the 8-10 hours working at a recycling center or something.

The Obama-ites are crying about mistreatment by the press??? Wow. That takes some real cojones.

:P

Takes up too much wall space.

#19, when I was a kid in Grand Forks, ND, they had the same thing for the Grand Forks Air Force Base. If you ever saw one of them, you picked them up. Good guys.

I don't think they were traveling cross-country, though. Just into town, that sort of thing.

I have to say, people are much better looking when they are little!

That includes ME! I was a handsome little kid. Now, not so much.

:{

That is great, though. I kept thinking of pictures I could use. There's hundreds of them!

Shmengie, he looks like a real nut!

:)

What's up with that guy in the picture? He looks like he either: a) just farted or b) just blew your ears off with a B flat!

:)

Bidding on this sounds like a good way to get yourself on a DEA "Watch List".

YIKES!

Maybe we could just PRAY that the bugs will leave.

I'm pretty sure that will work just as well.

That staircase is not completed, right? Because that looks like really nice wood, and if it was sanded and stained, it could be gorgeous.

Or they could paint, I suppose. I'm not a paint man myself, but as it sits right there, it's pretty ugly.

It would have been easier if the sanded and stained BEFORE they put it up.

How come the effect of illegal immigrants upon the cost of healthcare keeps getting dragged into every topic imaginable, and never has any sort of evidence to back it up?

Because the price of healthcare sucks and part of that cost is free care given to illegals? But let's just put out heads in the sand and ignore that, OK?

Modern Capitalism:

You have a herd of cows. You hire a bunch of illegal immigrants to tend them, slaughter them and sell the meat. Since there are no controls, some of the illegals get sick or injured and go to the Emergency Room and get care, which they can't and don't pay for. The price of beef stays down, but the price of health care and health insurance skyrockets. The owners of the ranch get rich, while everybody else suffers.

In fact, the rooms with bags had fewer flies but, terrified of their reflections, the flies reflexively evacuated their bowels, causing spurious spot card results.

Hahahahahaha! That just goes to show ya, you need peer review! Somebody WILL come up with a better theory!

LOL!

It was pretty cool how they made a lot of those shots in the Harry Potter movies!

Goldfish LYNCHING! There isn't enough of that! I will have my REVENGE, Goldie! I will have my revenge!

:D

#15 Dillenger69 , Lutherans don't eat crullers. It's donuts or nothing!!!

:)

Sexist? Isn't this the "communication" that all women want??

That's what they SAY anyway?

Hahahaha! When guys actually TELL you their feelings, they are sexist assholes!

PBBBBTTTT!

Geez, can't they turn the pigs into biofuel, at least?

You all need to move into the big city. Very few bugs in Chicago downtown. We've got 3 million people swatting them, maybe that's why!

#6, what's a water bee? Sounds scary.

Is it just the picture or is that an awfully HUGE watch?

It looks like it would take up most of your forearm.

What happened to him, anyway? Somebody beat him to death?

Just kidding. Don't hate me.

Ha! Interesting. It didn't work for me, because I automatically have javascript turned off.

Why doesn't anybody think of a Square Dance when they do this kind of stuff?

Another counter-example. At the Walgreen's near where I work, you can't even give the woman the 50 cents for the Tribune and then leave because she has to ring it up and give you a receipt. At least at the little news stands, you can drop the money and grab a paper.

Yes, there is something fishy about this story, and it's "How can a person who can run for 3 days straight not finish a marathon under 5 hours?"

The whole "running for 3 days" thing just took a big hit as a test of running skill.

Why is the US paying for their internet?

I don't get it.

Geez, there's about 20 of these out, a lot of them with Linux or XP.

Go to dynamism.com and click the UMPC link.

130,000 yen is about $1300, right? That's a lot of money for these right now. You can get the Cloudbook for $399 with a Linux implementation.

Five hours and 30 minutes? I've beaten that!

I'm off to kill a lion, then! I'll report back! Lincoln Park Zoo, LOOK OUT!

:)

I'm pretty they got whoever did this on camera!

They'll find him!!!

:D

I just saw this book in the giant library. I would have picked it up, but I already have 7 books I'm reading. Maybe I'll get it later.

In my neighborhood, I'm pretty sure all the papers would be gone and no money paid.

If you needed a paper, you could then buy it from the "homeless" guy on the corner.

No kidding, Jack @ #24.

I've got a half-dozen nice watches sitting in a drawer with broken or worn out straps.

I'm hoping that my latest watch strap will last longer as I am taking it off every night before bed.

Geez, THE OTHER MICHAEL, do you have money invested in this?

Like I said, it's too stupid looking to be ART or FASHION and the reason people wear watches is to tell time. AND, even if you are wearing a watch for FASHION purposes, you STILL want it to tell time! Otherwise, it's NOT A WATCH.

That bowl isn't big enough for the spoon to completely fall into. So, what's the point?

OK, that's just stupid. The only reason to wear a watch is to tell time or, if you are Dick Tracy, communicate with the Chief. Painting a watch defeats the purpose, while MAYBE providing a dubious "artsy craftsy" experience.

Let's just put it this way. If you wore this and 95% of your friends didn't say: "That's stupid", then you must be living in San Francisco.

Hey! I've got an IDEA! Let's put it in the White House! That's high security! And this is a completely safe lab, so why would they complain?

No room? Put it in Crawford, Texas! Plenty of room there. I hear there's a nice plot of land that Cindy Sheahan was trying to buy near the Bush ranch!

ROBCAT, when I first looked at the picture, I thought Laika was taking a leak-a!

:)

At this point (actually from 2001 onward) we should just do exactly the opposite of what George W Bush suggests!

For the good of America! It's our patriotic duty.

Johnny Lee is awesome!

In this case, she CAN'T get in trouble for yelling "Hey, you monkeys! Get outta that tree!" at those kids.

:)

Don't worry about it, SCOTTFREE. Nobody's buying any of these except Sigmund Freud and the couch.

:)

ALEXIS I wonder if this company filmed Obama's meetings with Tony Rezko?

:P

/I'm starting the comment box chant again!

FIX IT!
FIX IT!
FIX IT!

What kind of a claw does Dick Cheney have on the end of his arm?

What was it, a tobacco plant?

I guess ethical considerations are coming back to bite Wal-Mart in the butt.

After all, Wal-Mart never actually does anything ILLEGAL, either. Just sort of unethical.

Can't somebody fix the comment box?

Let's start a chant!

FIX IT!
FIX IT!
FIX IT!

Libertarianism can only work in a perfect libertarian world.

Probably the best system to work in a perfect world: Socialism.

Sadly, there is no perfect world.

Didn't the IMF announce yesterday that they were selling a large amount of their gold, if they could get permission?

Wouldn't that be stupid if a recession is coming? Gold is sure to rise in price in a recession as more and more people seek a safe harbor. The price might double!

Stupid DOG!!!

:)

It could be worse. It could be an anal probing. Count your lucky stars, Radivoje.

Not only rip up the cuffs, but if you are swinging your arms, you could rip your pants or your suit coat.

Not worth it to ruin a $1000 suit.

Also, most cufflinks I've seen start at about $30.

For $125 you can get these in sterling silver.

http://www.redenvelope.com/re/gifts/product_display/product_information.jsp?nc=96823&refPg=endeca_srch&N=0&No=12&Nr=searchable%3A0&Ntk=search&Ntt=cuff+links&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&initSrch=search&oid=21100503&nc2=1

Oh, yeah, because it's "liberal" to support religious rule by a mystical magical leader chosen by what? Swords in a lake? A prophecy?

Look, if you want to argue that China is a despotic, controlling, non-democratic nation, fine.

But, if you want to say that Tibet would be better off under the Lamas, I call BS. And I say, you haven't been paying attention.

Cause of the month.

Oh, please, you have no arguments and now you are calling me a malicious liar? And you are the one who said that I was being shrill? Wow.

And yes, Takuan, I'm taking the WHOLE thing in context. You notice he didn't mention his use of the CIA in that propaganda. You are willing to accept anything this guy says, aren't you?

I think it's a treat that the China shills are being bitter and sarcastic. It's a nice change from the robotically reasonable, scientology-sounding comments that they usually make.

I fail to see that. It seems like I've been putting a lot of arguments why the rule of the Lamas might not be all that the religion lovers think it will be and I've been called a shill for the Chinese multiple times.

The Dalai Lama has tried to use EVERYTHING he can to get back in power in Tibet, including using the CIA. He's decided now that it's in his best interest to appear mystical and appeal to Hollywood. He'd probably say that Tibet would be the first Scientology based theocracy if he thought it would help him.

Let me re-post this:

His goal is to re-establish religious rule in Tibet: Under Tibet's Kings and the Dalai Lamas, we had a political system that was firmly rooted in our spiritual values. As a result, peace and happiness prevailed in Tibet.

He wants to return to the time of Kings and Dalai Lamas and spiritual values.

That's his own words, from your link, Takuan.

Yes, yes, we've seen what the Dalai Lama has written. We also all know that the Dalai Lama has been trying to get back in power in Tibet for 50 years, for a long time using the CIA to accomplish it. You'll forgive me if I don't trust him that much.

His goal is to re-establish religious rule in Tibet: Under Tibet's Kings and the Dalai Lamas, we had a political system that was firmly rooted in our spiritual values. As a result, peace and happiness prevailed in Tibet.

That is, unless you were one of the serfs doing all the work for no money. He fails to mention that.

You'll forgive me if I don't think that rule by religion is a good idea.

Here's a little propaganda from the other side:

What truly happened in Tibet before 1959 when it was ruled by the Dalai Lama who claimed democracy was his ideal? Before 1959, lands and people in Tibet were fiefdoms of institutions of Tibetan local governments, monasteries and nobles, who sustained the Tibetan feudal serfdom as the three major estate-holders. With less than 5 percent of Tibet's total population, the three major estate-holders owned almost all the arable lands, pastures, forestry, mountains, rivers and most livestock. They not only were entitled to the blood-sucking exploitation of the serfs but also held a dominating power over them. Serfs and slaves, who accounted for 95 percent of the population of Tibet, had no basic human rights or freedom. From birth, serfs belonged to an estate-holder. Their life, death and marriage were at the disposal of serf-owners. Being treated like livestock, serfs could be sold, bought, transferred, offered as dowry, given to other serf-owners as gifts, used to pay off debts or exchanged for other serfs.

MUIRNE81, I've been in Southern Illinois many times. I have relatives there. Mom lives there. Sister lives there.

It's a scary place, religion wise and gun wise. It's a "newsmax.com" scary place.

#52 DA BEAKER, I'm not a huge Rob Sherman, but to be fair, you should probably continue that quote:

"On the 40th anniversary, today, of his murder, I'm sure that my boyhood hero, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., would have been appalled at Rep. Davis' bigotry."

or just quote the whole thing:

Friday, April 4: State Representative Monique Davis (D-Chicago) declares that Rob Sherman is a danger to the children of Illinois and has no right to testify before an Illinois legislative committee because he is an atheist. On Wednesday, April 2nd (my 55th birthday), I testified in Springfield before the House State Government Administration Committee. My testimony was that Governor Blagojevich's plan to donate one million tax dollars to Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago is unconstitutional. For background, see the March 4th update, below. Representative Monique Davis responded for the committee. She accused me of hating god. She said that the state should donate the million tax dollars to Pilgrim Baptist Church because the people of Illinois believe that there is a god. At a time when we are in the midst of a decades-long pervasive epidemic of Roman Catholic priests raping America's children, Representative Davis said that I was a danger to the children of Illinois because I tell them that there is no god. She said that I had no right to inform children of that perspective. She then ordered me out of the witness chair, screaming, repeatedly, "Get out of that seat," because I'm an atheist. Made me feel like Rosa Parks, who also was told, "Get out of that seat," and arrested when she didn't give up her seat on the bus to Whitey. Now that Negroes like Representative Monique Davis have political power, it seems that they have no problem at all with discrimination, just as long as it isn't them who are being discriminated against. On the 40th anniversary, today, of his murder, I'm sure that my boyhood hero, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., would have been appalled at Rep. Davis' bigotry. Eric Zorn wrote a column, yesterday, about the exchange between Rep. Davis and myself. His column is complete with both a printed transcript of part of the exchange between Rep. Davis and me, as well as a link to an audio recording of most of the exchange. Here is a link to Eric Zorn's column. Here is a direct link to the audio recording, courtesy of Eric Zorn and the Chicago Tribune. Then e-mail me at rob at robsherman dot com and let me know what you think.

I think that China would like the Tibet Autonomous Region to be a buffer zone between India and China. It seems to me that the resources of this area barely support the population already there.

OK, then, Takuan, make it more complex, rather than just being all mystical. Are you saying "We must support the Dalai Lama in his effort to return Tibet to a serfdom ruled by the Lamas"?

I'm not shilling for anybody. I'm just call bullshit on the whole "Lamas are great and holy and peaceful and we should return Tibet to their rule, because it would be Shangri-La all over again" and I'm getting attacked for it, instead of defending your position.

NELSON C and LEXICA, who are you shills for, the CIA?

If you want to refute my point, do it!

Why aren't you rising up against Castro's regime to give Cuba back to the Cuban exiles in Florida? It's the same thing!

I agree with Bill Hicks - stop bringing up Jesus.

This is all happening because the Dalai Lama has been on a world tour of bullshit for 50 years, trying to sell somebody on "Help us! We're holy!" and finally ran into the gullible Richard Gere.

Paul M Tibet is mostly uninhabitable, though. They have less population than the greater Dallas area. 2.5 million or so.

Controversial (for purposes of marketing)

I believe if you log in again, you are then able to post.

I wonder if Monique Davis goes to Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church.

She's the right religious sect (United Church of Christ), and the District is close enough.

Does the green dog with the yellow hat have boobs????

/I need to get out more.

Today, Tibetans. Tomorrow, you.

If we lose in Viet Nam, the Commies will be in California next year.

Again, the Chinese invasion of Tibet was in 1950. There isn't a huge cry from the Tibetans - this is just the Lamas stirring up trouble.

Who has caused more problems for the world

George W Bush is not an option???

Then I'd have to say China, since Tibet hasn't even existed since 1950 or so.

If you want to say that China has civil rights violations, fine. You can pick from many. But, let's not make saints out of these Lamas. Please.

Geez, they didn't have to even change the sign much - it just went from "Free Willy" to "Free Tibet".

I wonder what would happen to some religious sect in, say, Texas if they decided that Texas should be free from the tyranny of the United States?

Lamas = Hare Krishnas. But the guys at the top still believe in slavery.

This isn't about "freedom" for the people of Tibet. This is about the Lamas. And from what I've heard, the Lamas aren't exactly the greatest humans ever.

It's been 58 years since China invaded Tibet. The game is up.

The Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950.

Hoping that Tibet will once again become Tibet controlled is like the Cubans in Florida hoping that they will control Cuba again.

It ain't gonna happen. The Lamas are just stirring up trouble for no purpose. The Dalai Lama is rich enough - he can bring all the rest of the Lamas out of Tibet if he wants to. I'm pretty sure China wouldn't object.

I'll bet that Arab language and culture studies could get you some funding from the military!

You just have to be a little imaginative!

/I thought that's what you humanities types were good at. Pbbbbbtttt!

/Physics-Math major

There's an old tale about American Scientists in the 19th Century who were so proud of their tiny wire, they sent it to Germany.

The German scientists sent it back with a hole in it.

Let me get this straight. The riots were staged by the Chinese, who then beat the rioters to death and then reported it as Tibetans rioting?

Seems a bit far fetched. Tin-foil hat far-fetched.

Also, I think that the Dalai Lama PR machine is more well-oiled than the Chinese PR machine.

It doesn't work! Dammit! I want to see the Eddie Arcaro interview.

:(

Hahahaha! @ #2 DWIFF, my parents put me in the theatre to see "Some Like It Hot" when I was about 10 years old. I got to sit through it twice while they partied with friends. I owe them big time just for that alone.

We also saw "The Americanization of Emily" with James Garner, Julie Andrews and James Coburn when I was about 7, because the parents of my best friend thought that a birthday party wasn't a birthday party without going to a movie and this was the only movie showing. We got to see tits! At age SEVEN! No wonder I love the movies. TITS!!

I've seen this movie more than ANY other movie. And I see a LOT of movies. At one point, I was going to over 100 movies a year.

I OWN this movie on LASER DISK, for cry-yi.

This is the greatest movie ever. Haha! I mean it.

The greatest viewing of this movie was in the old McClurg Court theater in Chicago. They had probably the widest screen ever in a movie theater and at the time, the projectionist must have been a Kubrick nut or something, because he/she cranked the sound up to about ELEVEN. When they opened the curtains to start the movie, you said "NO! NO! Don't open any wider! It's beyond my peripheral vision!" Hahahaha! Great times.

OR, you could just get out your paints and do it yourself!

/Come on, "crafty" people. Sheesh.

The first one was 25 CDs and it was redacted!

But if you listen to books while walking around and walking to work, it usually only takes a month or so.

I "read" about 30 books a year by ripping them to mp3s. It used to be a lot more, but in the past 2 years, I've been listening to a LOT of opera. 3rd row seats at the Lyric! Sweet!

You can just say "Ditto", #11, SANTA'S KNEE.

Hahahahaha!

Fuji is concerned that you may see some blurry tits, I guess. OMGWTFBBQ!

Thank you, Fuji, for your concern!

There can't be any major library that still uses a card catalog. Sheesh.

Unless it's some kind of STEAMPUNK Library!

This is what happens when you let amateurs use that Fuji camera!

Now you know why the HAD to have that Eula. It melts away body structures!!

You may have hit on the reason, STEFAN JONES!

HA!

But DON'T buy the audio version of "System of the World" trilogy by Stephenson. Even though the publisher says it is unabridged, it is NOT unabridged. It's highly redacted.

(I love how the word redacted comes easily to mind because of the Bush administration - hee hee! It's a major part of Bush's legacy!)

Not to be used for "Papparazzi-like activities"??

So, if Cameron Diaz is in town, you can't photograph her with this camera? WTF?

There's no way this holds up in a court of law.

Wow. While I think Gibson is great, he's not in the same league as Stephenson, IMHO.

Gibson has a bunch of great ideas and a good story telling gift, but Stephenson creates whole worlds, complex and multi-layered. After I'm done with a Stephenson book, I sometimes pick it right back up and start over.

PAPERS! May I haf your papers, bitte!

Sheesh.

Those pictures are going to keep me away from MMOs.

I don't want to turn into a "plus" size.

Here's an Armani Messenger Bag for $70! Buy the Silver one and you can paint your own Boombox on it and save $355!

http://www.armaniexchange.com/product/mens/all+sale/messenger+bag.do?asc=&sortby=&size=

That can't be right, Keneke

/Although, in my case....

:)

Hahahaha! Maybe one of these MMO's is Hari Seldon's Psychohistory!

That's really nice. How does this guy Yoo live with himself?

It's VENTURE Capital, not INTERNET or TECH Venture Capital. They can invest it in anything they want!

The writer is either misinformed or these VC people are way, way too narrowly focused.

Hey, VC people, invest in water desalination! Or electric car batteries research! Or SOLAR! How about a string of charging stations for electric cars. Hydroponic food!

Come on, this article is just nuts. VC people aren't that stupid. There's plenty of good money to be made. Just not on the Interwebs.

Yeah, right!

I LOVE the giant Library we have in Chicago! YAY, GIANT LIBRARY! Over a MILLION books in one place!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Washington_Library

I saw DaVinci's face on a piece of toast today!

/Just before I ate it. Was that a mistake?

I haven't owned a car in a long time, but why would Circuit City tell you that YOU had to deal with their insurance company? Shouldn't THEY pay to get it fixed and then deal with their insurance company to get reimbursed?

He's STILL at it? Or is this a video from around 1996?

Almost ALL Sushi you eat comes from the Moon organization.

He owns the Washington Times, an extreme right wing newspaper.

He also owns (owned?) a town in the Northwest US.

How does he remain so unknown?

/No relation

I believe Studs Terkel did something similar for a guy who robbed him (but I can't find the story)

/The LAST thing I give a guy robbing me is my coat. I'll give him all my cash, but my coats are expensive!!! I have a LOT of coats, though. They're almost ALL worth a lot more than any cash I might be carrying.

:)

Dang! That thing is sweet! NOBODY would ever wake you up again!

"I'm sleeping in, and there's NOTHING you can do about it! Hahahahahahaha!"

Don't de-vowel me, Bro!

:)

Doesn't every single corner in Washington D.C. have a printing company of some sort?

/Not related to "Reverend" Moon.

I am not a doctor, but this: Giusi had a tumour on her ear and was told to never submerge it in cold water. But the piranha tank was kept at almost freezing temperatures to make the fish lethargic. seems made up and sensational. The story is bad enough without these little tack-ons that are added on to almost every one of these type of stories.

I'm whistling the bouncy little tune right now! Before I even look at it!

#3, I burst into laughter when I read that and cow-orkers came running over, because I SELDOM laugh or even smile at work.

:D

Geez, I think I offended one of those legos nuts.

Maybe he'll build a statue of me doing something horrible out of legos!

:D

Rush Limbaugh's head just exploded!

If we just a donkey to give birth to a human being, we can also get Hannity and Savage's head to explode!

Hahahahaha! Good job, transgender dudette/dude/whatever!

:D

It's all part of a Nazi breeding program that didn't end with WWII! They also have underground caverns with U-Boots and nuclear weapons and all sorts of other cool Nazi stuff!

We're DOOMED!

/I read too much pulp fiction, maybe

"Crafty" projects are USUALLY an excuse for somebody with no talent in art to try to do art. And then cover up by saying "It's just craft"

This one doesn't fall into that category. The knitted bunny toilet paper roll covers does.

:)

Diatryma

My mother used to do that.

Normally, I'm against these little "crafty" projects, but this is nice. It captures both the spirit of that kind of sock and the book.

Good job, SueJG!

The food is shaped like legos!

You could use the clothes dryer as a butt dryer!

Sweet!

That's just nasty. I didn't need to hear about that!

:)

Wow! Edward Teller once gave a lecture on gamma ray bursts in space at Argonne National Laboratory and it was so interesting that nobody asked about his work with the Manhattan Project. Even HE was freaked out - he asked "Doesn't anybody here want to ask about my work on the first atomic bomb?"

Hahahaha!

The inflation is caused by two things, mainly:

The price of oil has gone up because China's developing economy has been burning oil like Elliot Spitzer spending money on hookers. Scarce oil doesn't just cause gas prices to go up, it causes the price of almost EVERYTHING to go up, due to the added cost to shipping.

The price of food has gone up because oil prices have gone up and corn is being used more and more for fuel, rather than food and feed for beef.

Remember a year ago or so when ALL the big financial firms were handing out billions of dollars of bonuses. IIRC, top level managers got $10-25 million at the end of 2006. Even secretaries were getting the equivalent of their base pay in bonuses.

If you are top management, who cares whether the whole thing goes bust? You can blame it on somebody else and you already collected.

If you are the secretary, you collected a little, but now you are unemployed in a tough job market.

I think there should be a way to revisit those bonuses, especially in a case where the government is bailing out a company.

Yeah, geez, Hassan, you are right. I HATE having my entire vinyl collection and my entire CD collection on one little portable shiny new thing instead of 600 vinyl albums and 400 CDS.

:P

Mur is a cool name.

@ Jim Flynn, they aren't really free to download, though, are they. I think that was the point.

The Ugly American now carries a gun and brings along 150,000 or more friends.

It's almost like beating a dead horse, but this horse keeps coming back from the dead, so:

George W Bush = Worst.President.Ever

Anything with "Moons" on it is alright by me.

:)

It's the new Legos! Spoons!

:)

Arkizzle You may run into trouble. That sounds an awful lot like Harry Turtledove's Crosstime Traffic books.

Yeah, right, Antinous, like anybody could resist that!

Come on, get real! We're talking time travel here! If you just wanted to observe, you could send a robot camera back in time! Sheesh.

:)

Wouldn't it have been better to put some spine into the British or French and stop Hitler before he invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland?

Philbert, Making History was a great book. Scary, but great.

Does CBC show the races at Woodbine? That would make me very happy.

:)

/Broken down horseplayer

Well, since religion HAS taken over the world and oppresses more people and causes more paranoia than the Chinese ever could, what do we have to lose?

Hahahaha! Good one.

Usually when a work is recommended on this site, I read it and say "That was OK" - short and funny might be the way to go with your recommendations!

He's quite a piece of work, this Prince:

http://aycu17.webshots.com/image/46656/2005286980755005100_rs.jpg

So, this is where Ricky Gervais got his material for Office?

I liked the last one. They SHOULD have swiped that picture.

:)

This is really sad. 7 year olds making a kindergarten play could do better.

/Somebody had to say it.

Are you sure this isn't like that insurance commercial?

"A meteor hit the car, dear"

"A METEOR???"

"Yes, a meteor!"

The sad thing is, I've seen ALL of those movies.

That TJX thing had me worried, because I used a credit card at Marshall's AND TJ Maxx during that period.

YIKES!

I worry that once the "newness" wears off, the kids will then be on their own. The parents will only be around to buy stuff for the kids and the kids will turn into "Daddy, I wanted the BLUE Mercedes, not the black one!" self-absorbed pouters.

I had the choice of paying $300 for a bulb for my old Dell or buying a new better Dell projector for $600. Guess what I did?

As an aside, those upconverting HD-DVD players make the resolution of regular DVDs better than any movie theater I've ever been in.

Antinous, or make one out of Legos!

/We have the American Science Center in Chicago - same thing as Edmund, as near as I can tell. Before they went all Nazi on us, it was a great place to browse and buy stupid stuff. Do they really think well dressed gentlemen are going to steal their $1 gears and 50 cent pens? All the good stuff is locked up behind a counter, which is OK, but practically having to strip to shop is too much.

For $120, I'll stick with Armani. Now THERE'S some nice fabric.

The charity of his choosing with be "The Lama Foundation" or something like that.

LOCALGIRL Does that mean it's clever, witty and fun?

I haven't had that experience on Second Life, because it takes too long to load and refresh - this fractal stuff sure isn't going to help.

From an old George Carlin routine:

"Castro has a beard, Gabby Hayes had whiskers"

If it's Canadian, it's got DRM on it and won't work with the Space Station systems!

Oh, noes!!!

I wonder what his insurance bill is? For the store? Personal?

It looks like you kicked sand on him like some beach bully.

/I'll bet he's going to the comic store to buy tiny beetle comics just for the "Become a He-Beetle" ads.

Here's a bare bones kit for $50

http://www.compactappliance.com/xq/JSP.detailmain/EdgeStar_5_Liter_Mini_Keg_Beer_Dispenser_Accessory_Kit/itemID.19335/itemType.Product/iProductID.19335/qx/shopping/product/TBC50ACC.htm?mtcpromotion=CA%20Froogle%3EBeer%20and%20Beverage%3EBeer%20Dispensers%3ETBC50-ACC&CAWELAID=148762211

Now THAT's hilarious!

:D

As long as I'm goofy, did everybody see the xkcd toon from yesterday. It's a classic tribute to Gary Gygax!

http://xkcd.com/393/

There is a picture of a dork (not the whale one).

From Urban Dictionary again:
http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/44913/2003616078164722253_rs.jpg

Or maybe THIS:

dork

Someone who does things that are kinda silly and not neccessarily cool but always cute

He's such a dork. I love dorks.

But, never, never, never THIS:

dork

(n)a whale penis

The blue whale has the biggest dork on earth

Never!

Since the cats already out of the bag; from Urban Dictionary:

Dork

Someone who has odd interests, and is often silly at times. A dork is also someone who can be themselves and not care what anyone thinks.

You are such a dork.

/That's what I meant! Really!

:D

@ #69, Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator Author

Takuan and Antinous are just trying get me into trouble!!!

There's no looking up words on the internet!!! Or crying in baseball!

:D

The correct term is not "Nerd" or "Geek", it's "Dork"

:D

/I tease because I love....

I only read Spook Country and Brasyl, but if those are two of the best, SF is in trouble.

They were good, but not great.

That said, at least I have a reading list!!

My favorite comment on this was (and I forget where I saw it or I would credit them):

You're willing to endanger the lives of yourself, your family, other motorists and pedestrians, all so that you can make smalltalk while driving?

/Maybe they should publicize the laws a bit more - I saw a cop driving down the street yesterday yakking away and smiling. Sheesh.

Just to give an idea of how that could be changed to a romance novel:

Lying below him as he relentlessly tore into my clothing until all has been obliterated from me except the feel or his hands and the warmth of his body, which is imprinted into my being forever. A swirling army of red thoughts and feelings, millions strong, the eye of a petrified hurricane leading us right into the centre of the stalled but fighting storm that is our passion. Standing in its back-blast, in a place far deeper and darker than any middling storm sewer, I breathed and drank from the fount of the universe and swam closer to its centre than I ever will again.

You don't even have to change that last sentence!

:D

/How'd I do?

A few years ago, I posted that I almost missed the Buckley style of Republicans compared to the current crowd.

/Then I went and took several shots of whiskey and kicked myself in the ass for an hour.

//I find it interesting that of the five moments, all of which are very interesting, the one that made the front page was about marijuana. I'm reporting this to the DEA, BoingBoing! Hahahahaha! :D

It's a beautiful tunnel, but that writing sounds like something out of a romance novel.

:D

@ #25 ROSSINDETROIT, "assholishness" just sounds wrong, for some reason. I would go with "assholiness" - it sounds more Papal.

:D

Are you allowed to hose down people on private property? How about if it's YOUR private property? How about if you have permission from the owner of the private property to hose down people on his property?

If it was on public property, I think this is vigilante action, and probably illegal. I don't know about the above scenarios, though. Anybody?

@ #9 DIZBUSTER, the problem is the "stars" that these slimeball record execs bring to us are people like Britney Spears and Ashley Simpson and the InSynch - it's all marketing, not talent.

My guess is (and I have no idea of the truth of this, but it makes sense) that Radiohead had a pretty big club following and that's how the record execs found them and signed them. Word of mouth on the internet now being pretty much worldwide, I would bet they would have been discovered by everyone before too long without the record companies.

@ #5 KID, if a band only has 100 fans, they'd better keep their day job. :D

That's incredibly stupid. I suppose we should be glad he wasn't driving. He probably would have run red lights and killed somebody.

Craig Venter has the solution!!! (maybe)

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/craig-venter-fuel-co2-ted-conference.php

(from TreeHugger)

The Chinese certainly don't have that privilege, David Newland!

It might also be an Engrish problem. Maybe that isn't exactly the right translation.

Trippy? Yeah, in a Peter Max/Andy Warhol/Late 60s/Early 70s sort of way.
Subversive? I don't see it.
Edgy? No.

Don't get me wrong. I love the art, but these are the wrong adjectives.

:D

I'd go with trippy, electric (maybe), dazzling?? Help me out here, wordsmiths.

@SOUPISGOODFOOD, maybe you've drunk the Kool-Aid and/or work for the CIA?

/Two can play that game

As near as I can tell, the goal of the Lamas is to live life "religiously" and not do a damn thing. Meanwhile, the people that have to support them are some of the poorest people in the world. Except, of course, if you can convince somebody like Richard Gere that their religion has deep, hidden meanings and is going to save the world (eventually - what's it been, 10,000 years?)

Didn't the Dali Lama institute torture methods in his "Heavenly Palace" to keep the servants in line?

Hasn't there been constant connections between him and the CIA to spy on China?

In October 1998, the Dalai Lama's administration acknowledged that it received US$1.7 million a year in the 1960s from the U.S. Government through the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and had also trained a resistance movement in Colorado, (USA)

I know he THINKS he's a god, but let's not make gods of people.

The Olympics should go back to being a competition, not a political forum.

This is very convenient. If you NEED a scissors, you just use one of the scissors to cut the string of the one you need! Sweet!

I'm the reincarnation of Beowulf and my goal is to rid the world of Grendels!

/I'm doing a better job than this Lama!!

However, if the Lama was NOT a religious figure, he would not be a political figure. If there weren't some religious hocus-pocus, nobody ever would have heard of this Lama.

There are other parts of me that have been described as art!

:D

So, why not have the Pope carry it?

The leader of the Wiccans?

I don't understand what's so special about this Lama. Does anybody really believe he is the "Chosen One" or whatever?

More religious hocus-pocus.

People who live the richest lives are people who are retired and get to sit around with two or three good friends and drink and bullshit. Oh, and there might be one other person you don't really like all that much because he's annoying, but you'd miss him if he weren't there.

That's my theory.

But it still didn't get hacked because NOBODY CARES!

Hahahaha! Just kidding, Mac folk!

:D

I haven't shopped at Best Buy or Menard's for 5 years because of this practice.

I'm sure I'm not the only one. Maybe retailers should take notice.

That sign ("We reserve the right to inspect your bags" is meaningless in the United States.

What probable cause was there that a crime had been committed?

IIRC, if a Security type is going to make an arrest, several things have to happen:

The seven steps of the Retailer's Law of Arrest are:

Require that in all cases the apprehending employee be positive that a person has committed a crime. Do not take unnecessary chances; it is not worth the risk. You must be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect did commit the shoplifting crime.

The apprehending employee must have the suspect under observation prior to the taking of the merchandise--a very important guideline.

I first learned the importance of this strategy 20 years ago when one of our store's best detectives reached the top of an escalator just as a woman was removing a blouse off the rack and placing it into her purchase bag. This suspect was apprehended as she left the store. On investigation, however, we found that this customer had purchased a blouse two days earlier, and had returned to exchange her blouse for one she liked better. Since there were no employees in the blouse department when this customer arrived, she decided to exchange her blouse for the one on the rack. As she was doing this, the detective arrived just in time to see her place the blouse in her bag. This mistake cost our store $30,000 because the detective did not have this woman under observation prior to seeing her take the blouse.

The apprehending employee must see the suspect take the merchandise and be able to prove that the suspect did not pay for it or have any intention of paying for it.

The apprehending employee must know where the stolen merchandise is, be able to identify it, and not lose sight of the suspect.

The suspect must always be given ample opportunity to pay for the merchandise. If possible, it is best to make the apprehension after the suspect has passed the last point where the item can be paid for.

A suspect should never be apprehended in the area where the merchandise was taken. While it is true that some state statutes have concealment clauses, over the years there have been too many instances in which a customer for some reason has placed an item in their pocket or purse and later paid for it. The last thing you want is to unjustly accuse anyone of committing a crime.

An apprehension should never be made based on someone else's word. The apprehending employee must be required to observe the suspect take the merchandise. Any other person giving this information could be mistaken, or the suspect may have seen this person contacting your employee and then "ditched' the merchandise.

From HERE: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_n22_v26/ai_6087617

Can somebody give me a reason why Obama is the best of what's around (other than "He's inspirational!" or "Change!")?

I'm not a McCain fan, but he's right. We will be in Iraq for 100 years. Hopefully, we only be FIGHTING in Iraq until January 20, 2009 or shortly thereafter.

I haven't purchased a car in a long time, but when I did the tires were top notch!

I hear they are now selling a device that produces a magnetic field around the espresso maker - it helps smooth out the taste.

It's probably the best reviewed product on Amazon. At least, the MOST reviewed.

That should be "Kitchen Aid" up there!

BOUNCY BOUNCY, marketing is an insidious thing, isn't it? Does anybody think that Kitchen would have hesitated to put a "tamp" like this in their $750 espresso machine if it made any difference?

The "wine weenie" sect has now been duplicated in beer and coffee. What's next, Kool-Aid? Milk?*

*There's actually no contest on Milk. We ALL know that Tuscan Whole Milk is the greatest!!!

http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B00032G1S0/ref=cm_cr_pr_redirect

GREGGREGGREG. With your double post and with your screen name being what it is, my diagnosis is that you should lay off the caffeine for a while.

:D

This doesn't seem like a Minnesota Norwegian Lutheran thing. I'm going to have to talk to Garrison and see what the h-e-double-hockey sticks is going on in Roseville.

:D

THESE CAMERAS ARE FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES ONLY!

As #12 said, you wouldn't get in trouble for browsing BoingBoing at work, but you would for a really small picture of a woman's ass?

Sheesh. You need a warning system for when your boss is coming, I think.

OK, #77 Takuan, I'm LOL at that one!