^How...original.

Dhulqarnayn, if you're going to set up a silly air-headed argument like that, at least go on and give us the lecture about what a republic is. You know you want to Oh, and look up "Bill of Rights" while you're at it, since apparently you've never heard of it. It's gonna knock your socks off! Sayid_Somal, why don't you tell us what democracy means to you? On second thought, don't. No more talk out of you. I hereby appoint myself your queen and you must do as I say. Now go to Dhulqarnayn and apologize to him for your temerity, after which you will be his servant for 1 year and do his every bidding until he has forgiven you. That's an order

^LOL. Come on people. Is it really that hard to say you support or oppose something while acknowledging that there are pros and cons to either side? Prisons: 1. Not the best deterrent and can actually harden criminals or give them more contacts in the criminal underworld for when they get out. 2. Expensive to run, from the buildings themselves to prison guards. 3. If it turns out poor Xassan really didn't steal that skateboard at Wal*Mart, the state can apologize and let him out. Now there's a bitter young man who lost a couple of years of his life in state custody. 4. A criminal record will make potential employers leery, but Xassan could move to somewhere else. Public executions and corporal punishments: 1. A better deterrent. 2. Cheaper for the state (one or two executioners with an assortment of whips, sharp knives and maybe a guillotine vs many prison guards) 3. If it turns out poor Xassan really didn't steal that skateboard at Wal*Mart, the state can apologize and give him his hand back. Or not. 4. Xassan might have a hard time getting a legitimate job when any potential employer sees him with a telling stump. Moving away won't solve this problem. Corruption and politics are irrelevant. The method of punishment/correction isn't the problem at that stage, but rather the justice system at the level of sentencing. Remember that man who was killed by his victim's 16 year old son in Xamar? Many people were saying that it wouldn't have happened if the accused murderer had been from a major clan. Go figure.

Exactly, Pujah. ----------------------------------------------- Party in Power, Running as if It Weren’t ST. PAUL — The nominee’s friend described him as a “restless reformer who will clean up Washington.” His defeated rival described him going to the capital to “drain that swamp.” His running mate described their mission as “change, the goal we share.” And that was at the incumbent party’s convention. After watching two political conclaves the last two weeks, it would be easy to be confused about which was really the gathering of the opposition. As Senator John McCain accepted the Republican nomination for president, he and his supporters sounded the call of insurgents seeking to topple the establishment, even though their party heads the establishment. This was, of course, part Mr. McCain’s nature and part political calculation. It was also part history. For the first time since 1952, the party holding the White House has nominated someone other than the sitting president or vice president, someone without a vested interest in running on continuity, and at a moment when the party finds it difficult to defend its record from the last eight years. The effort to position Mr. McCain and the Republicans as the true agents of change benefited this week from his selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate. Known for taking on her own state party over corruption and wasteful spending, Ms. Palin projects the image of the ultimate Washington outsider, literally from more than 2,800 miles outside the Capital Beltway. And she would be the first woman to serve as vice president. But as a matter of history, it is easier to run as the opposition party if you actually are the opposition party. “When the president of the United States is from your own party, to present yourself as a change agent is not the easiest thing to pull off,” said Joe Trippi, a Democratic strategist. Referring to Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, Mr. Trippi added, “All Obama has to do is say, ‘Bush-McCain, Bush-McCain.’ ” That was certainly a chant never heard in the Xcel Energy Center over the last four days. President Bush canceled his trip here to supervise the response to Hurricane Gustav and addressed delegates only by video Tuesday, before the broadcast networks began their coverage for the night. Once his image faded from the screen, none of the marquee speakers for the rest of the convention mentioned his name during the nightly prime hour. Indeed, a computer count showed that Democrats mentioned the name Bush 12 times as often at their convention. And delegates on Thursday were shown a video about the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that included a picture of Rudolph W. Giuliani and Donald H. Rumsfeld but none of Mr. Bush, whose presidency was singularly shaped by that day. New York Times

^Ooh sounds like fun. If you ever need a sidekick let me know. LOZ, you chauvinist farm animal! Instead of commenting on her appearance, why don't you say something about her policy decisions or stand on important issues like the economy and the war in Iraq!? On a totally unrelated note, Obama was totally sizzling when he was talking about something or other the other day.

^Return of the Zu ugu yeer from now one Ibti, I'm a full-time nerd too, hasn't stopped me from being on SOL. In fact it's in the job description.

Reading the YouTube comments made me feel the woman didn't cover the most important case in which it's permissible to kill people: rank stup!dity.

Good morning/afternoon everyone. Where's Stoic? I have a toothache and just remembered he was supposed to be starting dental school this year (I think).

Brilliant. You can actually hear the audience's incredulity, especially during Rove's piece. LOL @ Papa Bear. Where's Layzie to come to his defense?

Seriously? If I checked my work email using Chrome and downloaded a PDF containing confidential work Google could lay claim to it? And SOL comments? Are they the property of Google? But I planned to collect all my wit and wisdom into a book someday!

Cynical lady, maybe they were forced or pressured by their families. It could've been a lot worst.

Now men can blame their genes for having a roving eye. Use it wisely Ngonge.

I think that "for now" is the bravest thing you've ever said, Ngonge. Hello Trollers. Today I was planning to sleep in but forgot to turn off the alarm.

I'm on page 29 of the bloody comic, at what point do we get to try it out?!

^By your own metric, what's the fact that Churchill was a racist got to do with his leadership abilities? Hitler was a bigger racist, and while he did inspire Nazi Germany, he was also profoundly wrong about the outcome of the Second World War and ended up killing himself in disgrace as his nation was defeated. In other words, a common goal is worthless if it leads you down the wrong path, wouldn't you say?

^Should it matter though? You can be a terrible family man/woman and a fine leader, hard as it is to believe. Reminds me of this email that used to circulate a few years ago: It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three leading candidates. Candidate A: Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists. He's had two Mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day. Candidate B He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening. Candidate C He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife. Which of these candidates would be your choice? Decide first, no peeking, then scroll down for the answer. ------------------------------------------------------------- Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt. Candidate B is Winston Churchill. Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.

A beautiful young blond woman boards a plane to LA with a ticket for the coach section. She looks at the seats in coach and then looks ahead to the first class seats. Seeing that the first class seats appear to be much larger and more comfortable, she moves forward to the last empty one. The flight attendant checks her ticket and tells the woman that her seat is in coach. The blond replies, "I'm young, blond and beautiful, and I'm going to sit here all the way to LA." Flustered, the flight attendant goes to the cockpit and informs the captain of the blond problem. The captain goes back and tells the woman that her assigned seat is in coach. Again, the blond replies, "I'm young, blond and beautiful, and I'm going to sit here all the way to LA." The captain doesn't want to cause a commotion, and so returns to the cockpit to discuss the blond with the co-pilot. The co-pilot says that he has a blond girlfriend, and that he can take care of the problem. He then goes back and briefly whispers something into the blonde's ear. She immediately gets up, says, "Thank you so much," hugs the co-pilot, and rushes back to her seat in the coach section. The pilot and flight attendant, who were watching with rapt attention, together ask the co-pilot what he had said to the woman. He replies, "I just told her that the first class section isn't going to LA."

Ngonge, you're just miffed that Aaliyah knows instinctively what took you many hours of family counseling to realize Hello trollers. Please excuse me while I Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh

Well, who did you make the check out to?

^Demand a refund!

Get out you pests.

^Yeees? Canjeex, then why don't we say "Mr. Right-for-her"? Maybe then it won't be so offensive to you gentlemen. I'm glad I don't have to answer that question, I don't have a calculator OR calender handy, and I don't want to get up and disturb the spider to fetch either.

^I say both halkaan and meeshaan, but it's fariiso not fadhiiso And the word is af-fur, not af-ur.

^LOL. Very fitting. Canjeex, what you're saying is that instead of waiting for Mr. Right, a woman should just give up and accept you eh?

^Naa yur :confused: