Lucky

Sexy Cleveland outfielder Grady Sizemore saw his nude pix go wild on the internet last year, and he claimed that he had been hacked. He denied spreading them himself, and, he was telling the truth. The story, along with a pic: http://deadspin.com/5686492/now-we-know-where-grady-sizemores-coffee-mug-dong-shots-came-from

Californians went through the election being told that the state faced a $19 billion deficit. Now that the election is over, we are told it is really $25 billion...not exactly small change in a state that is broke. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/11/MNJA1GA39R.DTL&tsp=1

Got the message! Okay, it was a sweeping mandate for change. And so shall it be. Health-care reform shall be repealed, and the number of Americans who have no insurance shall rise in the face of ever-increasing health-care costs. They will not receive regular care but will be able to visit over-crowded emergency rooms when their untreated chronic condition becomes critical and it is too late to help. The rich shall continue to collect and own a higher and higher percentage of the economy, and the legislature, and the courts. Product and food safety rules will continue to be weakened, but there will always be the overcrowded emergency rooms to deal with that. Minimum wage laws shall be repealed, and you will have the freedom to work three jobs for the rest of your life without the ability to retire ever because Social Security shall be privatized and your three jobs don't pay enough for you to save anything. The climate shall deteriorate, and a freak tornado where, hey, we didn't USED TO get tornadoes here at this time of year, will blow your house down. There will be no FEMA and not even a Brownie to help you out. When your equally devastated neighbors come prowling around looking for food, you will have plenty of guns to shoo them away. Although they will have their guns too. Because of police department cuts, you can work that out for yourselves. The loser can go to the overcrowded emergency room. Oh, wait, that just got closed for budget reasons. --Tom Toles

Not only was the 9-11 attack on the WTC predicted in an episode of the Simpsons, so was a false flag nuclear attack last Saturday. A false flag attack is one perpetrated by a cadre in the US government in order to further their right wing causes and the sales of arms. However, now wise to the Simpsons, this last attack was stymied in the nick of time by devoted patriots. Think I'm joking? It's all here in the New York Observer,a respected newspaper. Check it out. The first video is also included in the second, longer but interesting, video. http://www.observer.com/2010/culture/why-conspiracy-theorists-think-simpsons-predicted-911

Shortly after I read your question, I came across this article on a trade that the Oakland A's made today: "I (writer) spoke to (Coco) Crisp, who was (David)DeJesus' teammate in Kansas City, and he wows about him as a hitter and noted that he very rarely makes an error. Crisp also noted - and then later tweeted - that he believes the A's now have the best-looking outfield in the league. "David is a handsome man," Crisp told me with a laugh. "You put him out there with Sweeney, me, Conor, Rajai - that should get some ladies to the stadium." Crisp added later, "David's a pretty boy, a stylish cat. But he's a good baseball player, too. He'd established himself as one of the premier hitters in the game before he got hurt last year." Other than this, I would say the answer is no.

MsGuy started a thread on this in the Politics forum as well.

One reason medicare is expensive: they cannot consider the cost of a drug when deciding to approve it. And, now this from the NYTimes: Prostate Cancer Drug Gets Lukewarm Review By ANDREW POLLACK There is only “moderate’’ evidence that the newly approved prostate cancer drug Provenge helps patients, according to an analysis done for Medicare that was made public on Wednesday. The analysis is part of a controversial review by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of whether to pay for Provenge, which costs $93,000 per patient and extended lives by about four months in clinical trials. Medicare advisers will meet next Wednesday to discuss the drug, which was developed by Dendreon, a Seattle-based biotechnology company. Provenge is the first so-called therapeutic cancer vaccine – meaning it works by training the patient’s immune system to attack the tumor – to win F.D.A. approval. The treatment is made for each patient from his own blood. Sales have been small so far because Dendreon’s manufacturing capacity has been limited. While Medicare generally pays for drugs that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, its debate over paying for Provenge has raised concerns among some cancer patients, doctors and investors who say the government is sending a warning shot that it will not automatically pay for high-priced medicines.

How can we become disheartened when we see young gays like that as the future?

You are obviously not a coffee drinker!

The proposals don't stand a chance in hell, so your hair is safe. Dropping the mortgage exemption now would devastate what is left of the housing market as hundreds of thousands of homeowners who are underwater or near there would finally give up and walk away. Medicare now is not cheap. Wipe out some of the bureaucrats and the fraud might help though. I favor raising the age for Social Security, but not for anyone close to retirement now. And the tax increases? Good luck with that when we are already fighting over extending tax CUTS.

Being honest about living in New York sure was a mistake for me. If they didn't know I had moved there I wouldn't have had to pay $300 a month in New York CITY taxes. I never earned a dime there, but paid them far more than I pay in California.

Feel free to read "Out at Home: The Glenn Burke Story," written by Eric Sherman. It's a paperback original, priced at $14.95, but now only available used at $25.00 through bn.com. Amazon didn't list it as far as I could tell.

Lookin, I appreciated your work on the envelope. When I listen to Conway speak of business, it makes sense when I think of the small businessman struggling to turn a profit and meet his payroll. But big business seems to be awash in profits,with CEOS making record salaries. These companies know how to lobby Congress, hide their profits, and generate money beyond their needs. Taxing them only makes sense to me. Your point about the guarantee of using $70 billion a year for new jobs versus a possible trickle down from the Bush tax cuts is unassailable. IMHO.

Are you afraid of spiders? They seem harmless to me, although there is the Black Widow to fear. National Geographic says: This spider's bite is much feared because its venom is reported to be 15 times stronger than a rattlesnake's. In humans, bites produce muscle aches, nausea, and a paralysis of the diaphragm that can make breathing difficult; however, contrary to popular belief, most people who are bitten suffer no serious damage—let alone death. But bites can be fatal—usually to small children, the elderly, or the infirm. Fortunately, fatalities are fairly rare; the spiders are nonaggressive and bite only in self-defense, such as when someone accidentally sits on them or when an internet poster makes fun of them.

The LA Times tells us today about the rising prices of commodities, coffee, cotton, and other items, that will be pinching our pocketbooks even more as the dollar weakens: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-commodity-prices-20101110,0,6641189,full.story

A movie will be shown at the Castro theater in San Francisco about the life of Glenn Burke, the Oakland A's player who was introduced to his new teammates by the manager as a "faggot." Burke only officially came out after he quit baseball, but his status was quite well known to other players, who did not exactly react with warmth. He later died of AIDS. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/09/DD5K1G7C3A.DTL&type=books

From the NY Post, this article might make you realize what a peaceful place we have: A Japanese man committed suicide live on the internet after heated exchanges with online users who dared him to kill himself, local reports said Wednesday. The 24-year-old man in the northern city of Sendai was found dead Tuesday morning in his apartment by local police, who received reports from web users, newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported. The man, who lived alone, had been on extended sick leave from his job since August and had posted complaints about his work, local newspaper Sankei Shimbun said. The man began to broadcast images of himself on live streaming service Ustream on Sunday night, announcing his plan to kill himself and discussing his views about life. After a break, his broadcast resumed early Tuesday and he hanged himself in his apartment at around 5:30am local time, Sankei said. His broadcast received many messages, with some web users encouraging him to kill himself quickly, while others urged him to desist. Ustream stopped the broadcast after 6:00am Tuesday, following reports from an increasing number of viewers, Yomiuri said. Japan has one of the world's highest suicide rates, accounting for more than 32,000 deaths last year, the 12th consecutive year to exceed 30,000 deaths. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/japanese_man_commits_suicide_live_AhKeLXIRET51fC15htRbhI#ixzz14tJWSy3g

Who, TY? Kennedy? LBJ? Since I doubt you wouldn't speak ill of the dead, it must be TY!

KY, thanks for the info on the health care bill. I agree that it has problems. But I do think they got the best bill they could get at the time, with the hope of fixing things later. Not the best approach, no doubt. Conway, hard to argue with your last sentence. The Dems buttfucked gays when we only needed a blowjob. Thanks for participating as it has made for some good conversation...I am listening to what you say. Where else could I talk with a Tea Party supporter?

Yes, thank you.

Conway, I don't accuse you of any racism or anti-this or that. I just don't think you have all of the facts. The Health Care bill was not perfect, but health care reform was desperately needed. To say that there was no debate on it, well, where were you? It was being debated all over the place. The Democrat bill won. The Republicans are now playing sore loser, but history tells us that at every turn they will favor the health care INDUSTRY over the consumer. Those fat cat lobbyists are paid by the drug companies, the insurance companies, and the medical associations. With the Republicans, the average Joe has no chance on getting a better health care system. As for the gays voting Republican, well, I understand voting your pocket book. I understand the frustration with weak Democrat support in some corners. But remember Reagan and AIDS. When we needed the Republicans the most, they weren't there for us. They won't be there next month when DADT is voted on, and they won't be there to support gay marriage. You can take that to the bank.

And now Obama is talking about how he didn't try hard enough to "reach across the aisle." That's not how I remember it. He reached, they smacked his hand.

DreadedNed.com has all the maps one could want for Thailand.

Thanks for the info, although most of it is over my head. My AT&T contract is up right before my trip to Asia. So that would be a good time to switch, but I don't understand the SIM card stuff. Would I just sign up for Verizon World plan, or do I need to get a SIM card that's sold in Asia? See, I told you I didn't know!

Wasn't it the responsibility of the loan officer to deny those applications? Was it fair to the people following the rules to allow those who did not qualify to receive a loan? The value of everyone's home collapsed, not just those that didn't deserve the loans. Granted, the loan officer may have just been following the policies in place, but the buck starts with him. The desire for profit, the greed of Wall Street, ruined this economy, and it wasn't the average home buyer's fault. I commend you for meeting your obligations. It's the way I was brought up too. But recently the president of the National Mortgage Association lectured people who were thinking of walking away from their mortgages that it was their moral obligation to pay those mortgages. Then, that very association walked away from its $79 million dollar obligation. Just walked away. So let's lecture them first.