DrW

The "setlist wiki" (https://www.setlist.fm/stats/concert-map/garth-brooks-1bd6b168.html) lists about 675 concerts for Garth Brooks. All but ~50 were in the US or Canada, and all but 17 were in English-speaking countries. Of the 17 in countries where English in not the main language, 15 occurred in a single tour in 1994/1995, although I read somewhere else that more concerts outside of the US and Canada are planned. Thus, Iron Maiden's point seems to be well-taken.

Did Orlando - San Antonio in 2005 with my then 5-year-old; two nights in reclining seats, but quite comfortable. We both enjoyed the trip tremendously. Through Louisiana, they had a ranger from the National Park Service in the lounge car who explained the history and nature of the area. Food in the dining car was fine, better that economy-class airline meals. I can confirm that as a party of two you are seated in the dining car with another party of two. Usually, I would have liked to avoid such a situation. However, with Daniel it was no problem; he was the darling of the old ladies on the train. The most memorable incident (especially considering that it occurred in the Deep South): A few rows ahead of us was a young mother (white) with a 3-4 year-old child. The kid made a mess throwing chips all over the place; it looked like a pigsty. The conductor (a ~50 year-old black gentleman) handed the mother a carpet roller, and she cleaned up the mess. I have to admit that I do not know if (a) he told her to clean up the mess, or (b) she asked for the roller and he gave it to her. (a) would be funnier, but (b) seems more likely.

Back in Germany in the 80s, I had a Honda CM400T, an HP-restricted (more than 27 HP put you in a completely different insurance bracket) "soft chopper". I loved that bike, and I used it for trips to Southern France and to Denmark. In general, Germany is much more motorcycle-friendly than the US. First, the roads are in better conditions; in Germany, they are aware that potholes that can be managed by a car can be detrimental on a motorcycle. Moreover, motorcycle owners are not automatically associated with "biker gangs", as it is sometimes the case here. Our (female) head technician in the Biochemistry department of the Medical University where I got my degree still rides a Moto Guzzi to work every day.

In Germany, TV was not as prevalent as in the US. We did not have a TV until 1968. However, from time to time I watched TV with a classmate who lived in the apartment above ours. My earliest memories: Flipper, dubbed in German; the title song is still recorded in my memory: "Wir lieben Flipper, Flipper, Freund aller Kinder, Grosse nicht minder, lieben auch ihn, den klugen Delfin." Translation: "We love Flipper, Flipper, friend of all kids, but he is also loved by adults, the smart dolphin." I should add that the Germans were/are masters in dubbing. Shows like "Get Smart" or "I Spy" (German title: "Mit Tennisschlaegern und Kanonen", translated "With Tennis Rackets and Guns") are actually often funnier in the German version than in the American/English original. And the German voice of John Wayne, Arnold Marquis, adds a depth to John Wayne's voice that the original lacks.

No, I think that Kim is truly thankful to Trump for talking to him person-to-person, and that is actually a positive development. But I also think that the Kim letter goes a bit overboard in Trump's praise, because NK knows that such a tone sits well with Trump.

And you are sure that the "your excellency" letter is meant seriously?

However, it is interesting to note that the "your excellency" letter was sent on July 6, while the gangster tactics accusations came up on July 7.

Of all the female Law & Order ADAs: Annie Parisse

Angie Harmon. Of all the female ADAs in Law & Order, I found her (by far) the most annoying.

The bracket has now become severely unbalanced. One finalist will come from a tough group consisting of two pre-World Cup favorites, Brazil and France, plus Belgium and Uruguay which are playing quite well, and Mexico and Japan. The other finalist will be either Russia, Croatia, Sweden, Switzerland, England, or Colombia. England might have a good chance to emerge from the second group, but will have little chance in the final.

Now that Germany is out, I also have high hopes for Belgium. To their advantage, I think they do not really care about if they play number one or number two of group H in the next round (Japan, Senegal, or Columbia). Thus, they can afford to rest Lukaku (injury) and De Bruyne (one yellow card) against England.

I think they built them from 68 to 70. I do not remember what year mine was. I bought it used in 1980, and it lasted until 1985.

Sorry, I don't have an original pic, but it looked like this (even the color is correct), only with a German license plate. It was a "Super Beetle" with an 50 HP engine and a semi-automatic transmission. With this transmission, there was no clutch, but you had to shift once when you reached 25-30 mph.

Especially, because it will determine where Brazil and Germany will end up in their respective group. It is pretty likely that both make it into the next round; but if one of them ends up at #1 of their group and the other one at #2 (a scenario which is rather probable), the Brazil - Germany game that many pundits expected as the final will be played in the round of 16 instead.

Iceland was not in the 2014 World Cup. What you remember is the Euro 2016.

On the internet, I can only provide a picture of Sappho (from the island of Lesbos), who is the symbol of love between women. All my other pics of lesbians cannot be shown on a web site that is accessible to minors. But, here you go:

OK, I did not want to post the whole NIH abstract and project terms. But here they are: Abstract Text: High rates of contraceptive dissatisfaction, switching, and discontinuation in the US demand new approaches to contraceptive acceptability and promotion. Behavioral models of contraceptive use have failed to address sexuality, even though contraception is designed for sexual activity. By following new contraceptive users across 12 months, this study will 1) document sexual acceptability for a variety of contraceptive methods, 2) determine associations between sexual acceptability and continuation over time, and 3) set the stage for the creation of new, more valid sexuality measures to be used in future reproductive health research and interventions. The proposal catalyzes a patient-centered approach to contraception that has the potential to improve women's experiences with their methods. Research from this program could ultimately be used to help match women with the method(s) they will find the most sexually acceptable— methods they will like and use—thereby helping women fully realize the social, economic, and health benefits of contraception. RELEVANCE (See instructions): Many effective contraceptives are available today, but half of women discontinue use within a year due to dissatisfaction with available methods. Women have requested oral contraception to be used immediately in advance of infrequent intercourse. This proposed “On Demand” Contraceptive Center is focused on the development of effective, safe, acceptable contraceptives for women which block ovulation to prevent pregnancy. Project Terms: Address; Adverse effects; Affect; Arousal; base; Behavior; Behavioral Model; behavioral study; Breast; Characteristics; Child; Client; clinical practice; Clinical Trials; cohort; condoms; Contraception Behavior; Contraceptive Agents; Contraceptive Availability; contraceptive efficacy; Contraceptive methods; Contraceptive Usage; Copper Intrauterine Devices; Counseling; Data; Decreased Libido; Depo Provera; design; Desired Family Sizes; Development; Dimensions; Disinhibition; Economics; Equation; Esthesia; experience; Factor Analysis; Failure; Family Planning; Female; Future; Goals; Health; Health Benefit; Hemorrhage; Heterosexuals; Hormonal; Implant; improved; indexing; Individual; Injectable; Instruction; instrument; interest; Intervention; Intrauterine Devices; Lead; lens; Levonorgestrel; Libido; Life; Link; Longitudinal Studies; Lubrication; male; Male Condoms; Measures; men; Method Acceptability; Methods; middle age; Modeling; Muscle Cramp; novel; novel strategies; Oral; Oral Contraceptives; Orgasm; Outcome; Ovulation; Pain; patient oriented; Patients; Pattern; Perception; Personal Satisfaction; Persons; Physiological; pill; preference; Pregnancy; prevent; product development; programs; prospective; psychologic; Psychological Factors; Psychometrics; Public Health; racial and ethnic; Reporting; Reproductive Health; Research; Research Design; Research Personnel; Research Project Grants; reversible contraceptive; Risk; Role; Sample Size; satisfaction; Sex Behavior; Sex Functioning; Sexual Dysfunction; Sexual Partners; Sexuality; Shapes; social; socioeconomics; Structure; Surveys; Time; tool; Translations; unintended pregnancy; Vagina; Vaginal Ring; Woman; Work Can you please tell me where you find the terms "sexual minority women" or "lesbian contraception"? Please understand me correctly, it is obvious that the PI works on these topics. However, they are not part of the research funded by the NIH.

OK, I was skeptical, and I went back to original sources, the CV of the lady (available on her web site) and the NIH Reporter, which gives you access to information about all NIH grants, such as the abstract of the grant and "project terms", i.e. keywords for search engines. The result: the title of the write-up in "Hot Air" linked by B-man and its message is a gross misrepresentation of the project actually funded by the NIH. The source of the "Hot Air" piece in the Washington Free Beacon actually gets it about right, only the "Hot Air" writer manages to turn it into, well, hot air. As many researchers, the PI (Principal Investigator) has actually several projects she is working on. The NIH grant (with $350,000 so far) is for a project entitled "SEXUAL ACCEPTABILITY'S ROLE IN WOMEN'S CONTRACEPTIVE PREFERENCE AND BEHAVIOR". The relevance of the project, according to the abstract: "Many effective contraceptives are available today, but half of women discontinue use within a year due to dissatisfaction with available methods. Women have requested oral contraception to be used immediately in advance of infrequent intercourse. This proposed “On Demand” Contraceptive Center is focused on the development of effective, safe, acceptable contraceptives for women which block ovulation to prevent pregnancy." While we can argue if this research is appropriate for funding by the NIH, nowhere in the abstract and in the more than 200 keywords you will find the term "lesbian". Beyond that, she is Co-PI on a collaborative project on "Understanding Family Planning Disparities among Sexual Minority Women: A Critical First Step for Improving Contraceptive Care", which indeed addresses contraceptive use by lesbians. However, this research is not funded by the NIH, but by a $75,000 grant from the "Society of Family Planning", a private agency. Conclusion: At least in regard of the case discussed here, the claim the NIH would spend "$350K to see if lesbians are using the right contraception", is wrong.

Me and my son were on our way from Lubbock to some National Parks in Colorado and Utah for a week of vacation. About 15 miles after Santa Rosa, my Ford Windstar blew its transmission. AAA sent a tow truck that towed us back to Santa Rosa. The repair shop said it would at least take half a week to get all the parts and do the repair, which would have essentially killed our vacation plans. I called the tow truck again (as AAA would pay for 100 miles per incident) and asked him if he could tow us to Albuquerque; I would pay for the charge beyond 100 miles. Unfortunately, the tow truck had only 1 passenger seat. Thus, my son had to sit on the floor of the cabin for 100 or so miles; he survived. In Albuquerque, we found a repair shop specializing on transmissions. However, even they would need a few days to fix it. What to do about our trip? Fortunately, close to our two-star motel was a four/five-star hotel with a car rental. The selection was not great, but we got a Kia Sportage with which we were able to do the trip we had planned. Returning to Albuquerque, the van was fixed for our trip home. This was 7 years ago. The Windstar is still alive, now driven by my son. If he and his friends get together, he is the only one who does not drive a truck (after all, this is Texas). Strangely enough, his friends appear to have accepted his choice. A year ago, when finishing high school, his classmates (I assume, some females were involved) decorated the van very elaborately and labeled it "Swagger Wagon".

You underestimate my familiarity with the history of this site; I have been lurking for quite a while. I have to admit that I did not see the comment by B-man as ironical; my apologies if it was meant that way. And I would still like DC Tom to give me an example where a single study overturned the settled science.

No. Whatever side you are on, a single study never "settles the science".

This is very funny, but is clearly a parody. For me, the mother downing the drink is a clear giveaway. And I could not find the video anywhere on the nextgenamerica.com web site.

I am with you on that.