#56, I'm afraid I must award you a prize too. Not all Americans are indifferent about abortion. Many of them actually care, a lot. Speaking as an unplanned pregnancy whose parents became volunteers at a crisis pregnancy center, there are a lot of folks out there who are informed about fetal development and are adamantly pro-life. I considered your statistic when I read this article, but I figured this probably wasn't the place for that debate.

Nursing homes are where you find people in their purest form, stripped of their youth, their strength, their good looks, and most of the time, their wealth. You'll see people there you won't find out and about in society. Most of them know it will be the last place they will live.

Many nursing homes today have regularly scheduled entertainment and social activities, but for those that don't, thankfully people like this guy exist to bring hope and vitality to these people. I had the opportunity to volunteer at a nursing home for about a year before I moved five months ago. I recommend volunteering on a regular basis if you can.

#57 & #58, I must commend you on your Internet debating techniques.

#57, you get a prize for implying that HEDONISBOT does not care about the mother who lost her child.

#58, Pro-life = Westboro Baptist Church. I never would have guessed. Thanks for connecting the dots. Brilliant.

Someone just died because of a government employee's incompetence! Rally the troops, because it's time to go to war! Everyone line up on party lines! White Republicans on one side, everyone else on the other! Ready, aim, solve nothing! (I think dchbg translates well without vowels, don't you Cory?)

While an occasional flame war is expected on a site where anyone can post a comment, I find it rarely encourages actual thought. Most of my comments are intended to make people either think a little or smile a little.

On the other hand I do enjoy a good bit of snarkiness every now and then.

Okay true story -- I worked at Arby's in 2002-2003, and one of the managers was a former mafia guy. (Rochester, NY is well-known for its mafia history. Also we have some great local pizza joints.) He gave me the name "Gentleman Jim Teal, the guy that makes 'em squeal." Sadly, he was fired for taking more than his fair share of smoke breaks.

Hence the "apparently" and the "sometimes". I usually qualify my statements to help prevent painful rebuttals. (Note the "usually" and the "help". Yes, I know how to write ad copy.)

@#1 Takuan

But these guys were caught. Apparently intrusive surveillance works sometimes.

Nice to see Valentines without licensed cartoon characters.

silo = silhouette

He removed the background so the art stands alone.

My dad used a 15-passenger van with no seats instead of truck. Easier to secure, far more usable cargo space, better protection from the weather, but somehow decidedly less "manly".

Mynocks

Never read it, but now I may have to.

This my friends, is why we have the right to bear arms. Our founding fathers didn't want citizens to be hopelessly outgunned against a possibly hostile future government. Not that a gun would do much good against this thing anyways.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Google's real business AI? Their search engine is one of the many tools they use to help determine how computers should respond to a user's query, the end objective (??) being a computer which can "converse" normally with a human being, even with all of our linguistic nuances.

The aspects of the Internet Google has their hands in -- Google maps, web search history, advertising, email, blogs, etc. -- makes this prospect a little scary.

But Noen... MN newspapers are liberal!! (St. Paul resident)

"Cheating was never hard in high school."

Neither were the tests in high school. I could usually score between 90-95% on a test simply by remaining alert in class and doing most of my assigned homework. Call me lazy, but I figured this method required less effort than staying awake at night contriving and constructing intricate devices that would allow me to bring possible test answers to the test site. Whatever information can be scrawled inside the 1.5 pt lines on a cheap piece of loose leaf or stitched into a pair of jeans is probably not so much information it can't be easily memorized.

Besides, it's the principle of the thing. But maybe I'm just bitter because I know for a fact the salutatorian cheated off of me on a regular basis.

I just read the list for 2004. Whoa. Spot-on.

Perhaps there is some kind of subtext here.

I can see now why this got on Mythbusters.

I hate that in order to find electronica at a record store, I have to peruse a section called "dance".

The Remington R1 throwable wireless camera is obviously inspired by Thief II: The Metal Age! They should make a steampunk version so I can pretend I'm Garrett the legendary savior thief.

Those over 50 may remember when much of our food came from guns and gardens. If you can hunt and/or gather, it's usually a good idea to do so. Gardening saves money, is a relaxing activity, and if you plant enough of your yard, you may qualify for a tax break. Some municipalities allow you to raise chickens or goats even if you live in a neighborhood. Of course if you'd rather eat other people, that's your business.

I was piecing together parts of public-domain nineteenth century black & white images the other day. Thanks to you guys, know I now not only has someone else already done it, they've perfected it. Crap. I hate the Internet.

Way to go, #25! Classic Internet debating technique! *applause*

I think describing it as "Victorian" might go a little too far. The interior is all but devoid of Victorian architectural details, including colors and textures.

Matthew Gardner!?!? A guy named Matthew Gardner is on the no-fly list?

Why can't criminals have less common names?

@#30 Cpt. Tim: Even though Paul was a Roman citizen, he was a member of the Sanhedrin and would've followed a strict Jewish diet. It was Peter who God told not to discriminate against the Gentiles because they ate pork.

Since the teachings of Jesus are all about how to follow God, presumably it would be difficult, or at least frustrating, to reject God and try to follow Jesus.

And I see you are the same guy I replied to yesterday. So... I'll quit now.

And it consists of mostly weird noises and percussion. How surprising.

Are his pockets taped on?

Cpt. Tim,

God condemns people to hell in the same way traffic cops condemn drunk drivers to crashing into trees. It's kind of your own choice.

Documentary to be released Fall 2025 --
"Who Killed the Perpetual Motion Machine?"

If you were the only person who ever lived, would you live forever? I mean cause you're the only thing in the universe with a perception of time. Hmmmmm...

Okay, I admit I'm trolling...

@#44 "The style is richly and perfectly captured in Disney's film of Verne's classic novel, '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'"

And also in the "Thief" video game series. My favorite.

@#45 How well do you see through those nostrils?

LOL @#6

Boing Boing commenters forbid that someone in government have religious beliefs.

@#14

GO NINJA GO NINJA GO!!

Ugh... I feel dirty just reading these comments. Think I'll go watch TV instead. I wonder what's on Fox?

I served on a jury in a case where a man tried to rob a convenience store with a twig. I guess you could say it was a "stick-up".

Would "psy-fi" make more sense?