lookin

(Duplicate post - frazzled HTML code - and, no, I'm not trying to scorch ahead of Lucky and EXPAT in the contest. In fact, here's a post toastie to the both of them! )

Not so fast, Counselor! What I actually commended Simon for was attempting to divine your hidden meanings. To wit: Although, in another thread, you did warn us of a persistent penchant for perfidy.: All of which gives me an idea for yet another contest: What Did Lucky Really Mean? Participants would converge from around the globe to discuss your every post and trade insights on the myriad meanings within. You would be the foregone winner and award the title of Biggest Loser to the least aware among us. As losers don't get any prizes, the associated budget would be nil, with the reward being the challenge itself. I know I can't wait to get started! What Did Lucky Really Mean?

Given the profound thought behind your selections, I have to commend Simon for even attempting to explain the hidden meanings. Though he may have been a bit wide of the mark, he did at least give it a shot. with admiration, lookin

Thanks! Very thoughtful. What about the pic you chose for yourself? I notice he's not wearing any shoes or socks. Or toenails for that matter. Foot trouble perhaps?

Well I think I have a reasonably good sense of humor but I sure couldn't figure how you picked your pics. Try as I might, the underlying theme has eluded me for days. Care to smarten up a chump?

I'd still like to see Clinton swap places with Obama. Let her run in 2012 and 2016, while he becomes Secretary of State. He can then return in 2020 for his second term as President. Between them, they'll have twelve years to groom a couple of VP's for a run in 2024 and beyond. By that time, maybe the Republicans can figure out how to stop embarrassing themselves.

Imagine sitting in front of a high def Apple TV with your iPhone, iPod, or iPad in your hand. All your downloaded media, music and video, are on either screen or both. All your cable channels and all your streaming channels are on either screen or both. Use Cover Flow to browse through everything. Imagine your phone calls, audio and video, are on either screen or both. A camera and stereo microphones in the TV pick up your voice and image and stream it onto the internet. Imagine you channel-surf, change volume, and switch between phone calls and TV right from your iPhone, iPod, or iPad. Or just use your voice or maybe even hand gestures. Imagine you download and play games and other apps from iTunes with the big Apple TV mirroring the sound and high def video. I'd be pretty sure Steve Jobs imagined all this and that the products are under development now. New high-speed WiFi chips will be available soon for fast data transfer between devices. I suspect Apple has the operating system that can make it happen, and no one else can come close. Apple's good at user interface. They can take the clunky out of TV, just as they've taken it out of computers, media players, and phones. As you say, not everybody will switch out their TV right away. But I bet plenty of folks will want to. .

Rosario Rosario lives just outside Bogota in Columbia. He works at a local market selling vegetables. Rosario has a girlfriend, but he admits that he is bisexual. He loves having sex with drag queens and very effeminate men.

Do I smell a new contest shaping up? I sure won't win on the number of posts, but for five hundred smackers, I can be as obsequious as the next guy! PS: Did I mention my admiration for the site moderation?

About a decade ago, soon after 9/11, I read an article in the New Yorker called "Private Lives". It highlighted the differences between Germany and the U. S. around the issue of transparency between the government and its citizens. In Germany, partially as a result of its Third Reich experience, things were set up specifically so that the government was to be as transparent as possible to its citizens, while the lives of its citizens were to be as opaque as possible to the government. The Germans were quite clear that, while the government should not have any secrets from its citizens, its citizens should be perfectly free to have secrets from the government. One result of this philosophy was that Germany's spy agencies were deliberately set up so that they were in separate parts of the country and communications among them were intentionally made quite difficult. Since one of the terrorist cells responsible for 9/11 was based in Hamburg, the article highlights the frustration that the U. S. expressed with the German philosophy and the carrots and sticks used to change it. In my opinion, 9/11 was a major factor in the latest wave of privacy erosion in the U. S., spawned by a desire to make sure the 'bad guys' can't hide anything from the government. Unfortunately, the 'good guys' also get swept up in these changes to our laws and challenges to our Constitution. Even worse, I think, is that the line between 'good guys' and 'bad guys' can be blurry at best and, at worst, can be pretty easily shifted based on political and financial interests. Whose political and financial interests, you ask? Good question.

Indeed, and you've expressed the present trends very well. Burying a rider in a future bill to further restrict what they didn't get around to restricting in this one is all too easy. It's becoming nearly impossible for groups of ordinary citizens to keep ahead of lobbyists and 'corporate persons' when it comes to influencing legislation. It seems odd that the tilt in U. S. government is away from individual freedoms, while we encourage the exact opposite in other regions of the world. Perhaps an overstatement, but I find myself wondering if we need a State Department that represents our values here at home as well as abroad.

(Ooops! Wait a second. I forgot about the contest.) . . . . . . . . . . . .

Gcursor, I totally agree with KYTOP. Opening your heart to someone who needs help is a wonderful thing to do. Though it doesn't sound like it happened in this case, there could be times when you might get taken advantage of. But that doesn't take away from your act of kindness which, in my opinion, is the important thing as it's what makes us human. Good for you! And good for your flirt-guy for heading back to his family. Thanks for sharing your story.

Perhaps he is gathering material for his next post.

There are definitely a lot more posts than I can read these days, but I'm sure that's always been the case for some folks, and hopefully it won't be the end of the world for me either. What's important, in my opinion, is that quite a few folks are having a good time with it, and it should shake up the site dynamics a bit. A few hardy posters will end up with some cash in their pockets, and the Awards Banquet should be a fun time with a good opportunity for members to mingle. I also think it's pretty nice of OZ to put some thought and some cash into the community. There aren't a lot of site owners who would do that, and I think it's worth acknowledging. PS: Not proud to admit that only today, this old dog finally discovered the View New Content tab, so that should make things go a bit quicker.

You just have to use your imagination a little. ( Now guess what I'm imagining? )

Much obliged, MsGuy, though I'm happier being just one of the Pepys.

Three old posts, three old posts, When are they from, when are they from? They nearly engendered a furious fight, And sparked a debate over wrong versus right. Did you ever see such a thing on the site, As three old posts?

While such a consummation is not without a certain appeal, I must confess to a bit of difficulty picturing it.

That better be a real 11 ½ inches, young man!

Stick around folks. I'm just gettin' warmed up!

Personally, I'd let this 'friend' know that I've been moved to take a vow of silence.

According to this article, acupuncture can result in increased levels of melatonin in the blood. If this is, in fact, the mechanism by which acupuncture works and, if you have concluded that melatonin doesn't help you, then acupuncture may not help. Of course, I doubt it would hurt either, and there may be some other mechanism(s) at work. If I had debilitating insomnia, I'm pretty sure I would head to the Stanford sleep clinic. These folks have been around for a while. I would expect, at the very least, if they couldn't help you, they would tell you why they couldn't help you. Personally, I'd be optimistic that they might uncover the underlying reason for your insomnia, and be able to provide at least some relief. I don't know how insurance companies look at this field of medicine, but a phone call to the clinic should get you some answers. Very best of luck!

I wonder if OZ has any plans for those who post too much?