bjorn_skurj

What's your birthday?

The former. There is plenty of good journalism out there, but it does not get the kind of response the bad stuff does. Believe me, if a lot of people wanted to see McNeil-Lehrer type stuff, they would get it.

Cronkite is still alive. I see him at the Scorpio Cabal meetings, and he is as unhappy with what's gone on in this country as anybody.

The goal I stated is the actual, this-is-what-we-should-shoot-for-if-we-really-want-this-to-work-out goal. I don't have personally or know of any actual proof that the "real" reason we went in is what you stated above, but I certainly would not put it past them. My personal theory tends more toward the "securing a chunk of the world's oil reserves ahead of the peak oil" scenario, but I may be giving the PTB too much credit.

There's a goal - it's just lofty. The goal is to establish a stable, autonomous Iraqi government capable of maintaining civic order. Failing to do so will result in either a continued, open-ended U.S. presence or abandoning Iraq to civil war, Iranian domination and other things which will drive up oil prices and not look good on CNN.

I kinda like Pat Buchanan. He is a funny and often incisive commentator.

It is impressive and perhaps a sign of things to come that all the preacher-gate nonsense hasn't derailed his campaign or seriously dented his char-razz-ma, but I suspect it's the kind of thing where most of those who got pissed about it wouldn't vote for him anyway. We shall see. Obama might win, but he ain't a shoo-in by any means.

Third blown save in a row by Wagner. Another bad sign in a season full of bad signs.

Somewhere, Jimmy Carter is smiling at you.

Nels! Nels! Nels! Happy birthday!

Edit: This is herbert_hoover.

I dunno, man. 600 HR is a plateau not many reach. Is he better than Bonds, overall, or The Rod? No, but I would say at least top five in terms of outfielders in the past 20 years, but I may be thinking more of his pre-f ton-of-injuries days when he was slated to hit 900 HR and be Strat-o-Matic's first "0"-rated outfielder.

That's one R.E.M. album I must have missed.

Yup.

I like Rush. I had no idea GL was such a big baseball fan.

Anyone who believes in the inerrancy of a piece of writing first written in ancient Hebrew, translated into Greek about a half a dozen times, then translated into English about 30 zillion more times is disrespecting the reason that God gifted them with. The Bible has some of the best moral guidance and wisdom ever collected, but fundamentalists are wrong, in my humble opinion, to think they can correctly divine what that book means at all times and without error.

Happy birthday, and welcome to the (almost fully) adult world!

I will eat green chile stew tonight in your honor. Happy birthday!

Precisely 600 more than I will ever hit. Junior's main legacy will be of the "oh, what could've been" flavor, but I think he will also be honored for achieving 600 and never once being mentioned in a steroids report.

Congratulations to Ken Griffey Jr. on his 600th home run.

You have my sympathies. New York in weather like this is very, very tough to put up with.

Yes. Mid-September in these latitudes is perfect camping weather.

Might not be as bad at your mom's - there are trees up there. As long as you can stay in the shade, it's tolerable.

Close to 100 here in Kingston, N.Y., today.