LOL thanks, Tom. I've been in meetings all day long and am just now getting home and settled in.

Funny thing, I had a dream last night in which I was talking with a psychiatrist about turning 60 and I started crying. He asked why I was crying and I replied that I did't want to be 60 years old....whaaaa whaaaa whaaaaa. I actually woke myself up!! Of all the decade birthdays, this one is just a little different to me.

Glad I'm in good company!!

I remember the "Bomb Iran" song from many years ago, I don't recall the context, though. It may have started back in the 1991 Gulf War.

@tomsdesk said:

my two cents: If you were satisfied with the arrangement before he contacted you, send him a waver letter refusing additional payment (the extra heft in your karma bucket is worth more anyway :`)

I agree with you, Tom.

@mateo soletic said:

I agree with Mike that this little girl Yang Peiyi should not have been
substituted by Lin Miaoke. This is a big injustice to the little Yang who
obviously has the tallent but hasnt got the required looks or at least
someone thinks this way.

And for the people that think that this is fuss over nothing let me tell
You something about these countries like China.
I lived most of my life in a socialist/comunist state that was once
called Yugoslavia. In those countries being a individual is nothing .
The individual only exists to serve bigger cause. So now they took
her voice tommorow they will take her kidney . Believe me I have
been there.
And the worst thing the communists did is with peoples minds.
If these people had to choose between democracy and totalitarism
The majority would even now choose the latter.

It will take generations to change this. And if we keep saying that
this is fuss over nothing it will take even longer.

Mateo

Thanks for saying this, Mateo. I DO think this substitution is a big deal. It shows how desperate the Chinese government is to put on a happy face to the world. I'm not fooled. In fact, things like this just reinforce my sentiments.

I take things like this message board for granted, so I'm always remiss in thanking those responsible for creation and maintenance. Thank you Coen and all the moderators for all you do!! I know this is a labor of love and I very much appreciate your efforts.

Do you suppose any of these nitwits have ever been in an airplane at 35,000 feet?

LOLOL....

@mr s said:

That Americans did have the chance and didn't seize the opportunity is America's loss.

Boy, do I ever agree with this statement. I'll probably vote for Bob Barr, the libertarian candidate. I wonder how successful Ron Paul would have been if he had run as a third party candidate. He was never given a real chance as a true conservative.

I'm really fed up with our 2 party system; they seem to be melding together into a big government philosophical approach.

Looks like one of the inventors of the "structure preserving clone brush" is "our" Fredo.

I don't think Bush or anyone else in the administration deliberately went into Iraq to drive the price of oil up. Let's not forget about UN Resolution 1444 (I think that's the number). The price of oil is overwhelmingly driven by supply and demand variables.

I think ALL of government is infected with moral hazard; from local to federal. This is a great term. Their lack of moral behavior creates a hazard for all of us. It's getting worse and the one thing that just really pisses me off is the lack of accountability.

Vote Libertarian, I say.

This may come as a surprise to some, but I don't trust the current power structure at all and I certainly wasn't implying that veterans can't be critical of the government, or the military for that matter. In fact, more than anyone they have earned this right.

BTW, in what context did you see the term "moral hazard"?

@tomsdesk said:

This seemed germane:

Tom, aren't you a veteran of Vietnam?

Thanks, Chris. For some reason, it's working fine now.

The links get me to a "sign-in" page and when I log in, I get a blank google doc. How does one view the spreadsheet?

@remus said:

Reading the title of your post made me think of that article

I wonder how many people actually use any of the features in adobe that arent scrolling and zooming.

It took me hours to figure out how to use Adobe's text tool so I could insert text in a PDF. You would think it would be a noticable and clearly marked icon on the basic toolbar.

Double posting.

Thanks again Adam. I'm keeping current with your versions. A brilliant piece of coding. The text on the right side is small, but I can read it OK. How old are your eyes, Bruce?

In a way, this topic is similar to abortion. You either believe it has it's place, or you don't. Period.

Recently the US Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional for child rape. Now, I can tell you that if my granddaughter got raped, I would think long and hard about killing the bastard. Now, whether I would go through with it....I can't say. You'd have to live it to know.

@plot-paris said:

just to cheer you up...

my 5 year old laptop with a Celeron-processor and 1 gig ram achieved 1.7 frames with the cube test!

Jakob, looks like you and I are at the bottom of the barrel. My Sony has really been a workhorse for me over the years; can't complain too much.

@unknownuser said:

I have children...I have Grandchildren. If I witness someone killing one of them..well you know I would snap their neck, on the spot. If I did not see the incident but had reliable proof i.e. picture video etc, I would snap their neck. The problem arrises when it is circumstancial evidence. I would still have to be restrained. I would have to look deep into my soul for answers and I can't say how it would go.

Otherwise I don't even kill bugs...they have as much right to life as I do. The spark of life is special in any context, birds, bees, trees, people.

Hey, if you don't see it that way, I'll snap your neck!!

I agree with everything in your post. I actually capture bugs and flies in my house and transport them outside!