Azalin

' I have always been left in terms of social issues and right in terms of economic policy. Environmental protection cannot be classified in this simplistic left-right scheme, because I position it in the centre, between those fronts. I think the absence of scientifically justifiable demands, combined with a left, anti-American and anti-market attitude, led the environmental movement into the ideological impasse in which it lies today.' thanks for linking that article. I find his approach to environmentalism to be much, much more sensible than what we hear from Al Gore & company.

Texas politics is always pretty brutal, but this ad is backfiring on Davis big time, especially with moderates and undecideds. the hard core Texas dems - the so-called 'yellow dogs' - will vote for her anyway

someone like Saul Alinsky?

you might not see him in person, but he'll see you just the same.

one great thing about e-cigs/vaporizers is that having kicked the cigarette habit by switching over to the electric variety, I can now go into the bathroom on a transatlantic flight and puff away without setting off alarms or bothering anyone. technology is awesome.

we ought to start a 'funny stories from when you worked in a restaurant' thread. I don't have any 'messing with customers' food' stories because I never did that, but some of the things that we did to each other are pure comic gold.

same here. there was one time in particular when a waiter brought back a bowl of french onion soup but was extremely rude in demanding that I make sure the next bowl was hot. big mistake. not only did I heat the soup to boiling, but when I put it under the salamander to melt the cheese, I also placed the saucer that the bowl was served on under the salamander. I had to use a towel to place the soup in the window for pickup. my boss was right there, so I told him 'watch this...'. when the waiter picked up the soup, you could hear the 'tsssssss' of his fingers fusing to the plate. those were the days

I was under the impression that she was more concerned with 'black' than 'African'. Africans are just Africans, but blacks are oppressed.

having a fear of flying is completely understandable, but it's not nearly as scary as you might think. I have an intense fear of heights, but flying doesn't bother me... I think because you're so high up that you lose the perceived perspective of height (unless you intentionally dwell on it). despite having flown many (many) times before, I decided to ask my doctor for something to relieve anxiety before my recent trip to Ireland, since turbulence over the atlantic on a prior trip to Madrid kind of freaked me out. I usually don't take stuff like that, but he gave me a prescription for Xanax. it worked like a charm without a drop of alcohol, in fact it took three attempts before I was able to watch the new Godzilla movie all the way through. as others have already mentioned, the noises of the plane (most of which I believe is just hydraulics for steering/control and the stowing/deployment of the landing gear) can be a bit unnerving if you're not used to it. turbulence can potentially freak you out, but plenzmd1's advice is good - research. all turbulence really is is just the plane moving into areas of varying air pressure or crossing something like a jet stream. it sounds and feels like you're in a Greyhound bus hauling down an old dirt road, but it's nothing to worry about. just do what I do: watch the way the crew behaves. if they're smiling, relaxed, and not batting an eye, then everything's okay.

good thing he didn't have a tape worm....

what that article is saying is that of all the closely contested senate seats, the majority of them currently belong to democrats. that's bound to change as election day draws closer, but the gist is that at this point in this election cycle, senate democrats are in a more precarious position. my own take is that at this point, anything can happen. all a politician has to do is open their mouth and let the wrong thing come out and they're toast. the news outlets and blogs are just going through their pregame routines.

how quickly do you think they'd close the borders if a wave of republicans were trying to get in?

according to that piece, there are 7 democrat senators in danger of losing their seat vs 3 republicans in danger if losing their seats.

with regard to Obaba's campaigning, I know that he's been attending a great deal of fundraisers, but I'm not seeing him making any appearances on the campaign trail on anyone's behalf. is he actually polling so low among democrats lately?

I found it to be rather refreshing that she doesn't identify with any specific race or sexual orientation. a lot of politicians and social advocates would be out of work if everyone thought that way.

still have nothing to offer but a smarmy cut & run I see.....

'The fact that a 22 year old women was no naïve as to believe that a potato was an appropriate and safe method of contraception shows a concerning lack of education for young people as to the options available for them when they become sexually active.'

there's nothing in Austin that I think even comes close to being halfway decent, but there's still a couple or so places I haven't yet tried. I figure that there are just some foods that are primarily regional if you want the good stuff. I worked in the kitchen at Transit Lanes when I was a teen, where I first learned how to make pizza, wings, and subs. one thing I found to be common among the better sub places was that they all used Costanzo's sub rolls. for my taste, Costanzo's are the best there are. it's been long time since I was in the Buffalo area (1983 to be specific), but the best subs I remember having were at John & Mary's, as well as a little place on Main st in Williamsville called Fran's.

that's got to be the most vague example of being specific I've ever seen.

I don't have an ignore list. I figure that if someone wants to act the fool, it's a little added entertainment for me.

I'd like to see that as well.

wasn't Syria destabilized due to their own civil war before we got involved? I thought Obama's bogus 'red line' speech was supposed to be a warning to al-Assad that we would become involved if he didn't back off his killing of his own citizens.

I'm impressed....Affleck actually manages to out-smarm Maher.

you're right. I haven't listened to that in years.