wrod.

Hey, my ex-military, prison guard, former O'Reilly watching brother came out to me as a Democrat with a capital D the other day.

He's been brainwashed by Massachusetts!! Where the republicans wear radio-collars and the democrats are the sleek, corrupt shmoozehounds. (What, me? Annoyed with gubernatorial politics already??)

I'm pretty sure that letting anyone buy a sniper rifle that can hit someone a kilometer away isn't a good idea.

My rule of thumb is, if the bullet for it is bigger than a banana, there is something desperately wrong with the brains of people who want that kind of gun.

I wouldn't even call them a necessary evil. Just a necessary annoyance.

Having been a government employee (a librarian), I think taxes are the Best Thing Ever. I am sure my fellow government employees -- firefighters, cops, schoolteachers, highway repair people, social workers, certain research scientists, Animal Control, certain hospital workers, etc. -- agree.

It blows my mind, the people who knee-jerk say "government is bad! Taxes are bad!" And then they turn on the TV and watch CSI Miami, Law & Order, and Without A Trace. Hello! Who do you think all those characters are?? Government employees.

That's why Homicide's my favorite...they look like it, too. Wear the same clothes all the time, drive beat-up Cavaliers...

And that's part of why I won't be a Libertarian -- I believe there should be and needs to be laws regulating business, protecting the workers and consumers.

That's me too. I think regulated capitalism is a lot better than unregulated capitalism (or a state-run economy but it's not like there are many advocates for that). I think it comes from reading upton sinclair.

as does a momentary resolve toward vegetarianism, which I failed to keep.

The most sophisticated space probe ever sent to another planet is set to enter orbit around Mars today:

The tension is mounting for scientists and engineers of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission as their spacecraft heads toward a red planet rendezvous today.

MRO is expected to enter Mars orbit after a 27-minute maneuver around the planet’s southern hemisphere, completing a seven-month trek. That burn is set to begin at 4:25 p.m. EST (2125 GMT) this afternoon, with MRO swinging back into communications range by 5:16 p.m. EST (2216 GMT).

NASA has not had the best of luck in getting probes into Martian orbit, so I imagine there are many crossed fingers....

[link]

Life size chocolate skulls

These "life sized" and realistic confections, cast from an actual human skull, are worthy competition to any Jack-O-Lantern. Composed of the highest quality mixture of white and milk chocolates, Marina's Chocolate Skulls are a sensual way to celebrate the 'deep dark sleep that comforts all but the living'.

This is where the two-party system really screws you. It forces people to choose between these huge coalitions of interests.

I mean, what the hell to unregulated capitalism and social conservatism have to do with each other? (I know this is an idealised version of the current Republican platform, which is actually closer to Kleptocracy plus social conservatism.)

I like the sound of instant runoff elections where you vote for more than one candidate. I think it could open things up a bit.

If the advil doesn't kick in soon, I'm probably going to hurl all over my desk. It's so stupid that certain kinds of upper back pain make me pukey. I want a redesign.