AdamSmith

Mmmmm. A somewhat similar outcome can be had from halving them, blanching lightly, then sautéing fairly heavily in a little bit of browned butter.

No less than George Washington gave astoundingly prescient warning in his farewell address that love of power will ever work toward creating a despotism in America if proper checks and balances are not vigilantly maintained to limit government power: It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free Country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective Constitutional spheres; avoiding in the exercise of the Powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power; by dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the Guardian of the Public Weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If in the opinion of the People, the distribution or modification of the Constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield.

These lists are usually fairly ridiculous but this one I like a lot. His selection and also his notes on each title: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/17/the-100-best-novels-written-in-english-the-full-list

Plus, it does not inhibit terrorists.

She said that for less severe transgressions. As for me running a fever -- as Alice Roosevelt Longworth would have said, how can you tell?

LMAO Give me twenty lashes with an old stove pipe as Ann Landers used to say!

Real news story! Dublin Airport seizes toddler's toy Minion Fart Blaster http://m.nydailynews.com/news/world/dublin-airport-seizes-toddler-toy-minion-fart-blaster-article-1.2327031

Google Flights! https://www.google.com/flights/

Thread hijacks have been a topic of discussion, often heated, ever since online discussion forums began. Originally it was considered the height of rudeness to divert a thread the least iota from its original topic. The reasons are easy enough to see. Early Usenet groups and so on were difficult to navigate. Navigation through a thread, and across a forum, took time and effort. Online connect time was expensive and, depending on one's access method, often limited by hard stop times, so every minute online needed to count toward a more or less single-minded goal. Today, most if not all of those issues have gone away. Cost and availability of online connect time are no longer limiting factors. Forum software such as here is vastly more navigable than of old. The old pattern of interest groups made up of large numbers of often largely anonymous-to-one-another participants has in many cases given way to communities such as here, where, while still anonymous, the continuity of participation makes many of us known to one another in the sense of our consistent, authentic screen personas, what each of us is interested in, what you can expect when you see a given individual posting, etc. Given all that, some of us -- I for one -- very much enjoy it when a thread meanders off its original topic, going into side discussions much as we would if sitting around together over after-dinner drinks. On the other hand, some strongly dislike it when a thread deviates at all from the original topic. This poll is just a Curiosity Shop entry to see how many hold to the one view, and how many to the other. Or don't care either way.

Hilarious!

Further to MsGuy's enlightening seminar: China halts yuan devaluation with slight official rise against US dollar http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/aug/14/china-halts-yuan-devaluation-with-slight-official-rise-against-us-dollar

This piece notes how China's currency devaluation will add to Brazil's economic woes because of China being such a huge export market for Brazil. China's currency move will hurt one country more than any other https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/chinas-currency-move-hurt-one-194619901.html

AAAAAND the thread rounds back to its title topic!

STALKER! I've got a good mind to report you to management!

Someone asked that this topic have its own thread. Herewith... 2016 Olympics: 13 US rowers fall ill after competing at polluted venue Venues have recorded high levels of bacteria from sewage Team doctor suspects water is to blame for vomiting http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/aug/10/2016-olympics-13-us-rowers-fall-ill-after-competing-at-polluted-venue

Surely the End Times are upon us. Upon OPEC at any rate? OPEC just kicked oil into the $30s http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/opec-just-kicked-oil-into-the-dollar30s/ar-BBlEuHr?ocid=wispr

And would you believe! Fart Waffle Similar to "sharting" When passing gas a secretive, more solid waste form is also released... creating a shit-fart aka Fart Waffle. The Fart Waffle can only happen when wearing underwear, as pressure is needed to create the perfect shape of excrement. "I must use the facilities before I fart waffle..." "You should have seen that fart waffle..." "Welp, I've created a fart waffle." "Wha... is that a fart waffle?" http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fart+Waffle