Reuben Gant

In Japan after the gas attacks, everyone took to using clear plastic backpacks that you could see into.

or perhaps: "If I saw myself dressed like that, I'd have to kick my own ass."

"Now that's what I call high quality H2O."

But how can you divorce organized religion from the things we do? Whatever the motivation, my point is that this is just what I see on the local level. I just hear the "organized religion is bad" mantra all the time. But those are some of the things we do as a faith community. It certainly is religion, and it is certainly organized. We worship together too.

Wishing you a happy 12000 more. (if you agree with me that is )

Well my parish seems to do a lot of good. Every mass along with the collection people bring in food for the poor, for local food pantries.. We have a group that visits sick and shut-ins. We sponser a very poor parish in Central America. There is another group that picks a house every spring to help re-build it, kind of like Habitat for Humanity but on a smaller scale. There is daycare for kids. A school to educate kids. There are also literacy volunteers. There is a thrift store for poor people so that they can buy nice clothes at a reasonable price with dignity. The confirmation program takes kids to work at places like Viva la Casa in Buffalo, or St. Francis Inn in Philidelphia so that they are active doing works of mercy. I play poker with guys I met at the Parish and we share fellowship and like to drink beer together. And as far as I know, nobody in the Parish has killed anybody recently.

Take care. That one looks like a killer. Congrats.

Actually just the thought of this has cheered me up. Thanks AD, Thanks BiB. I think I'll put it into one of the old lady's Body Shop containers and he'll think its Oceanus Body Lotion.

My therapist told me I needed to get in touch with my inner child so I snapped her in the ass with a towel at a pool party. She now tells me I need to find a new therapist. Should I keep listening to this woman?

If you can find a good one for "basalt" then you are really punning at a deeper level.

Why do good women put up with Bozo's like this? Sorry to be blunt, but you need to wise up.

Ahhhh. Fresh or the 3 month old petrified kind?

a Lab.

Need a gift idea for someone I don't like, but whose party I can't avoid. He is a smarmy know-it-all prick and a Pats fan (if there is a difference).

nope.

Lt. Frank Drebin has left the building. I repeat. Lt. Frank Drebin has left the building.

When I was young, men never took a good bust for granite.

just to brighten your day. Portville NY. teacher found guilty of molesting kids today. Have a nice day. Rule: if they seem strange they are strange.

What you state I believe is a common misperception. Most of the time cutting costs wherever possible and charging the most the market will bear for the lowest quality goods or services that can consistently be sold is the key to maximizing profits. A company's most profitable item can be low end and of poor quality.

nuthin like a single malt after a few hippie picked mushrooms.

That convention speech was something. He modeled it after that Dana Carvey character the grumpy old man from the 80's. I'd love to have a beer with him too.

The best product is the product that maximizes profit. It is ultimately indifferent to quality. Sometimes the product that maximizes profit has high quality. But, bottled water for example is of no better quality than most tap water, but it is a great product in terms of the abilty to make a profit. You can agree or giggle

That is a consumer choice. Capitalism is not about making the best product. It is about making the most money. The organizing principle of capitalism is to maximize profits. Toyota making better cars than GM makes no difference, price makes no difference. Whatever maximizes profits makes the difference. Lay people off to if it maximizes profits. It is ultimately indifferent to the quality of products.

Thanks for that thoughtful reply. I was thinking the same thing as far as self-determination goes. But there lies more of the rub - self determination inside arbritrary borders. We are not really promoting self-determination for the Kurds or the Shia - but self-determination et. large. Also if self-determination later limits individual freedom, as you mention, does this not just give us the context for the next war of self-determination. (Actually a bit Jeffersonian when I think about it.) Both Germany and Japan had some experience with representative democracy before Hitler and Tojo- but given the mosaic of people in Iraq, and religious beliefs- it is possible that a democracy could radically curtail individual freedoms. I think that the "from within" model has to be given time to evolve, very difficult if there is no rule of law. What you wrote has given me plenty to think about.

Singapore Airlines and Cathay aren't bad either.