cryptique

I'm considerably more cynical than you are, then. Don't get me wrong -- even though I'm not a Democrat (or a Republican), I will vote enthusiastically for Obama in this election, and I do harbor some hope that he really will insulate his administration from the special interests -- but down in the trenches where legislation is hashed out (i.e., Congress) the lobbyists still exert enormous influence, and we'll have to wait and see whether Obama (if elected) can stand up to them when it comes to sign or veto the legislation that they help write.

No, "we" really don't make the rules, and our "democracy" isn't especially democratic. In any typical election, we get to choose between a Republican candidate who is beholden to powerful special interests, or a Democratic candidate who is beholden to powerful special interests. Third-party or independent candidates virtually never win elections that actually matter in terms of setting economic policy, so the electorate is nearly always left with a choice between two badly compromised candidates. Even if a candidate prevails who is not in the pocket of big business, that person will have lit

Joe Strummer did some fine screaming in his day.

Yes.

Sure it will. It just won't be televised.

I had all four (impacted) wisdom teeth taken out at once, and when the anesthesia wore off, I jumped right up and offered to drive home. My parents wisely banished me to the back seat. About thirty seconds after I walked into the house, I was asleep, and the next couple of days were mostly a fog.

The best thing the Temptations ever did. Even better than "My Girl."

I had surgery a couple of years ago, and though it was a quick outpatient procedure, they basically hacked out a sizable chunk of tissue in my lower back (or upper booty, really) and left it to heal as an open wound (it's not something they could staple/glue/suture), meaning it had to be continually repacked with gauze (and, because I couldn't easily reach it myself, poor Melissa had to do the honors). Those weeks of healing were extremely unpleasant for both of us.

A true giant in the industry. That said, I might not have recognized his name if it weren't for Billy Bragg: Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong Are here to make right everything that's wrong Holland and Holland and Lamont Dozier too Are here to make it all okay with you (from "Levi Stubbs' Tears") RIP, sir.

I saw a Bryan Adams show when he was touring for Reckless, and it didn't suck nearly as much as I was expecting. As for better albums, I can only offer this:

Isn't it just an SG with a flared end and a stupid paint job? Oh, and ... who's Zakk Wylde?

Jonas Brothers, obviously.

from tampabay.com: When Sciesinski was apprehended on the top of the Rays dugout, the game stopped - and both the Rays and Red Sox took notice. "He got tattooed," Red Sox slugger David Ortiz said. "Holy god, that was a big dude, man. He had a lot of policemen all over him. "When you come to baseball games, it's something you’re supposed to enjoy. You don’t want to be acting stupid. You got kids around and things like that, so you want to make sure you behave." - - - - - - - - Ortiz is calling this guy a "big dude"?

I don't agree, but if I did, I would add that there are plenty of things as bad as an evangelical atheist. But really, you're just using that as a spiffy slogan.

I have to say, I am frustrated by non-atheists' attempts (not necessarily in this thread, the bulk of which I have not read) to attach religious terminology to atheism, to ascribe to it some of the trappings of religion, or to equate it with religion or agnosticism. As an atheist, I am completely lacking in "belief" in any god or divine being, or in any kind of deliberate design to the universe, or destiny, or fate, or anything that could be described as "supernatural" to even the tiniest degree. Mine is a firm absence of belief, and in contrast to an agnostic, I am completely at peace with

Yeah, I cringed at that too, but decided not to bring it up.

If the White Sox hold on to win the division without him, that might undercut his case.

The '80s and Ronald Reagan laid the groundwork for this decade. Sadly, Clinton did little (if anything) to reverse things.

I suppose you're right. When I stop spelling things correctly, just assume I've hit the MegaMillions.

Does Beanie have an irrational fear of Trojans?

tugmoose, can you correct the spelling to "moguls"? I keep reading the thread title as "We're Financial Mohels!!!" edit: and like Sir Stewie, sometimes I also read the title as some sort of bread product.

...or the pockets of our childen, or grandchildren. Yet another reason why I'm not having kids.

I've generally heard it pronounced as "Swame."

Good point. It occurs to me that I haven't heard anything more about this spectacularly bad idea during the current campaign...

I'm sure within a year or two of this thing hitting the market, Honda and/or Toyota will release their own versions, which will work better and last longer. I think I'll wait.