Ewwwwwww

Vote on the new face of Monopoly

Ugh

Sesame Street Songs

I remember reading about a simpler version of this back in the Weekly Reader ohhhhhh 20 years ago. So, it's about time.

...duh

The idea is safe, sane, and consensual. Removing body parts outside an operating room is at least not safe, and possibly not sane. (see also) (Note: Savage's comment on Dr. Phil really hit the mark for me) (Note also: I can understand, to a degree, the "born in the wrong body" issue. But there has to be a better way to resolve that than indulging that need in terms of a direct sexual fetish--and I'm all for indulging your fetishes--I'm just also for not mutilating and eating people, even if they want to be eaten and/or mutilated). (Seriously. Youch. Few fetishes give me the willies like this--it hurts me and I don't even have the equipment)

A little Googlebombing, since I love BMEZine so so much: Shannon
(Spirit, you can ignore that line) (maybe not, there's some good stuff on that blog)

Bwahahahaha!

Oh, one more: priceless.

Also, some eye candy.

There be ghosts here

Sex in 2010: first the male pill, now possibly a topical HIV-preventive.

These are cool

So is this

And this

hahaha

Not much to surf tonight, guess I'll turn in early. I miss Spirit.

Brief comment

Sex is good for you

Medical MJ and the Catch-22

Long live the Queen ...there have been rumors for decades that she will pass the throne directly to her grandson rather than to Prince Charles. Looks like she may plan to do so simply by outliving her oldest son.

Wow... problems run in the Sheen family, don't they?

Once again the wire services are behind the curve (but Blogs aren't "real news")

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Oops

The classics never die

I'd like to thank John Scalzi for writing this. Mr. Scalzi, I promise to buy and read one of your books soon. Until then, I'll remain a faithful follower of your blog.

more here on purity balls. I can't bring myself to link directly to the FotF website, but the link's on Whatever.

Here's the crux of it:
"I make a promise this day to God to remain sexually pure until the day I give myself as a wedding gift to my husband. I know that God requires this of me, that he loves me, and that he will reward me for my faithfulness." And the daddies pledge to protect their little girls' honors.

What do you do if you have Vampire problems?

This is amazing. By "religious" (esp. with the breakdown on the second map), they clearly mean the Abrahamic religions--someone in the post complains about native tribal religions "not counting"--but I'm still amazed that my own county is in the lowest category. I'm also surprised by how much of this country is primarily Catholic (could've pointed out the Baptist states to you, though, no problem). (I realized reading down that I shouldn't be--a lot of the Southwest are big, spacious states, taking up a lot of space and therefor color on the maps--and they have very high Latino populations, which tend Catholic). I really am floored, as people around here seem to take for granted that everyone either goes to church or should, yet less than 1/3 of people around here are members of church congregations? (In point of fact, I'm still a listed member of at least two church congregations--one Presbyterian, one Salvationist--but haven't attended either in the better part of a decade, and am pretty firmly Pagan these days).

Hmmm...

This looks cute. I'd still like to see Akeelah and the Bee, too. Not sure who the non-spelling-geek audience is on that one, but then, ESPN2 always draws viewers on the National Bee, so maybe. (Gripe: I only got shown in the background on ESPN2. And the girl who won my year was a spoiled, self-absorbed little thing. I think she won the Jeopardy! teen tourney a couple years later).

Remember ladies, the guy who's nice to you, but not to your server, is not nice.

I'm going to end here. I'm feeling like crap, walked a few miles today, and am now burning a CD for my new truck. (Yeah Spirit I said MY new truck 8P)

thoughts on this: 1. And by ending the auction, eBay probably gave this wider exposure and guaranteed a good sale. 2. "Found guilty but criminallly insane... died in a mental hospital." This needs to happen more. Not guilty by reason of insanity is dead wrong. If you're insane enough to kill someone they need to be able to put your ass in a hospital for a minimum sentence.

Did you know the original Cheeta is still alive?

...the soles of one's feet?

Why would you keep plain-glass glasses to wear when you have contacts in? Why risk the irritation of contacts just to wear glasses anyway?

Help some poor dude have a threesome

fun with 404s

deep beneath Paris...

This scares me. Living a lifestyle doesn't make you a bad parent or imply your children are exposed to it.

Well, I slept 4 hours and was woken by a train, so time for one more nap before I have to go feed my friends' mutts. Sweet dreams, world!

hah

"because of her years of service she will not be fired" --she needs to be put on administrative duties and never answer another emergency call. I have a little boy only a little younger and I can only imagine him watching his mother die because the grown-ups there to keep us safe didn't take him seriously when he called for help. We teach our kids to call 911 in emergencies for a reason.

your weekly dose of smut

So who's been following this Gospel of Judas story? I've figured for a long time that Jesus was in on his "betrayal," so I don't find this earthshaking or feel the urge to deny or bury my head in the sand.

This is just brilliant.

Ironic and uncanny? No, Gnostic scholars and others have long believed that Mary Magdalene married the Christ and that they may have had progeny.

Drool, men, drool... Nice how they went with a woman 20 years younger but are still trying to get the Hoff.

Baby showers gone bad

Ick

Overgrown plants? Get 'em drunk

Let's think about the implications of the phrase "new species of dinosaur" before we use it in mainstream journalism, hmm? How about newly-discovered species of dinosaur? 'Cause if we actually have NEW species of the things cropping up, some of evolutionary biology's gonna need a major rethink.

And I thought child custody cases quickly became ridiculous

I really like the phrase "self-adjusting nut wrench"

Life without this stuff--day, ummm, must be 5 now--still sucks. I'm trying to revamp my healthiness wholeheartedly, sticking to only whole grains, no refined sugars or starches. Slight exception for refined sugars and caffeine for very small amounts of chocolate--mostly I really still crave diet cola and I still really want a daily cigarette or two no matter how long I go without. Pray for me--my pain levels are through the roof and I'm dragging--usually I only have one or the other, maybe because the pain keeps me awake, but apparently, without caffeine, it doesn't. Still, the anti-caffeine crowd insists that giving it up is one of the biggest health/sleep differences you can make for yourself, so I'm trying. Hard. Next winter when I'm wolfing bagels and mocha lattes to keep warm and fat in a Northern winter, don't remind me of this.

These are funny

Why this business sucks for workin' girls

nsfw links follow:
I don't understand this. You find a real girl then dress her up like a doll? Aren't dolls for when you don't have a real girl available? ...Actually, in intense D&S to the point of objectification play I can see it. But this takes fetishism to a different level. I never say never, mind.

OWWWWWWWWW
...hehe

Did you hear about the prostitute who specialized in bondage?

...She was strapped for cash.

Youch

Ditto

fun

sleepy--going to close my eyes and let my cold medicine work while the kid plays a game.

This makes me regret my experiment in giving up caffeine (except small amounts of chocolate). No caffeine and no nicotine makes Cricket an edgy, bitchy little girl...

Well, I guess Chuck thinks the whole thing is pretty funny.

I'm a little late posting this but I've got a lot of respect. Actually, the first time I donated my hair to Locks of Love, I wanted to go totally bald, but got talked out of it, so both times I've gotten an attractive if shorter cut. If I could raise money for a good cause, though, I'd still do it. I'd look butch as hell, though--I looked pretty butch in a recent picture and I have enough hair to cover my breasts now.

WTF?

Oh, the horrors

Some shirts and some cartoons

"Donkeys better than wives"

Fun with time (sorry, guys, you missed it, but I'll stay up for it tonight and let you know when it gets there at home, Spirit--well, if you want to count PM instead of going on the 24-hour clock, then you've got one more shot)

This is ridiculous--why's NYC being so Puritan lately?

Homestar Runner has a wiki--I make sure I watch every Foamy cartoon, but I always forget to watch Homestar Runner. This does have an up-side--I've seen only a handful of HSR cartoons, and on one of the 3 days off I had to take next week, I'll have something to do here. I mean how can you not laugh at this stuff? You know, unless you're in pain and sort of down in general and too tired to laugh so you're laughing on the inside and don't even realize how grouchy you appear on the outside until someone asks how you can not be laughing... oh... wait. Seriously, though, the Strongbad emails are the best ones, IMO.

Minor spoiler for Shrek 2: Why on earth don't they make stuffed animals of the little mutant babies? I haven't even been able to find a picture of them--and they're adorable! If anyone knows of stuffed animals of the dragon-donkey babies, please contact me and let me know where I can try to find them.

PSAs from The Office

These were the best ads ever. The "Church" one was the first I saw--spirit and I just stared at each other in amazement for probably a full 30 seconds before bursting out laughing. This MySpace page has some obnoxious formatting/background music, but has the text for a couple I hadn't seen. That O'Haire guy didn't last too long on WWE (except that apparently he was back last week, which is odd, because that's like the one time I've watched RAW in forever, and it got me wondering what happened to the dude, but I didn't hear that during the show. To be fair, I was a bit distracted playing with Spirit's new (NSFW) jewelry).

Why does this keyboard have two Xs?

Don't forget to wash your eyeballs

Don't try this at home

(or this)

I love this guy

I do love the Internet on April Fool's Day. I told Spirit that the best prank would be to get married today, were it possible--no one would believe us--but alas, it'll still be some time--hopefully 8 weeks-ish, but shouldn't be past mid-July, Gods willing. But anyway, enjoy. Change "2006" to the previous few years in the URL for more fun.

Your DNA in a crystal...

New Prestige Class for D20 (hah)

(Great Cleave has a lot of good gaming stuff, otherwise, too)

Best COPS-style vid EVER

Introduce your little girl to roleplaying!*

After you die... Heaven After death, you will exist in heaven. Everything and everyone you love will constantly surround you for all of eternity. You lucky scoundrel.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

I just hope it's not the same version of Heaven as Pat Robertson ends up in.

*Yeah, April Fool's. Cute, non?

Wow

...Uh-huh.

Nummy

Bwahahahaha!

(also) (the men's is just as disgustingly, hysterically stereotyped)

I have a couple days off, except for a few hours Sunday morning. Nice, right?

Oh, if you've ever wondered how hard it'd be to get laid through an adult online service, read this--the answer that's an email sent to/through the ask-er is awesome.

nice

A new take on Optimus Prime

An interesting adult game

Not at all SFW, this Luvbight gallery. Thoughts: 1. Ow. 2. That's a gorgeous tattoo.

cool

This is a nice read (very science-heavy) but I can't help but think that causality and the violation thereof is so much relativistic bullshit; "the light exits the medium before it enters it" being true from the lab frame doesn't make it absolutely true. However, if you can violate causality with light this way, bear with me, now, does that make it (theoretically and potentially, not mechanically) possible to construct a light-speed journey so that, not only does it not create the oft-posited effect by which our traveller would return from a short-to-him relativistic journey to find himself in the far future of his home, but make it possible that the longer the journey, the earlier he returns--in effect, making FTL speed a means of *backward* time travel?

(Note: I know better, but the thought experiment is fun)


I've linked to some Zen koans before, but for a different understanding of Zen, hit Zombocom or Superbad. This one gave me pause.

I must get ready for work, so before I go to the glare and harsh lines of that place I hate so, here's some of the wonder of nature for your eyes

Something to make m'love smile

The Army is relaxing its rules on tattoos

Oh, get over it. If they left the kid alone, the disruption/distraction would be over within 2 days.

Argh

Kindergarten student expelled for ten days for bringing unloaded gun to school
1. Clearly he was thinking of it as a toy, show-and-tell, what-have-you. The punishment is extreme--the child was not threatening, nor was the mere presence of a gun. The magic number is FIVE. Duh.
2. Parents should've been paying more attention or had the gun locked up as well as the ammo. No matter how careful, it only takes one bullet being accidentally left in there for tragedy to happen.

This is seriously awesome

But not this awesome. This is a different level.

Something for the kids

(more cute fuzzies)

Wow.

OK, I took something to let me sleep tonight, the house feels so empty right now, but I can feel it, and must go to bed whilst I may still walk there.

Kink vs. feminism? Key quote: "When feminists stop standing up for the choices women make, I stop recognizing them as feminists, it's that simple."

M'love and I were taking fenugreek to smell nice and mapley, but it requires maintenance, so when he left, I went back off, at least for a while. Anyway, this looks like an easier way to smell better from the inside out. Here's where you can buy the rose online, but Spirit may need to try to find the vanilla from Korea.

On beards--Spirit says the military guys have to shave because several would just sport 5 O'Clock shadow all the time if they didn't, but I still think it's silly and panders to fashion over common sense, which isn't what the uniform should be about. Have also heard that it decreases uniformity in the uniforms, makes more difference and makes it easier to pick out a target in a sea of camouflage. This makes more sense to me, but I just want them to let my man grow some manly facial hair 'cause we both like that sort of thing. (Wiki link contains more on the military's justifications). I Googled "History of Beards," because I'm sure fashion if not the laws and uniform codes have required them at various times, and those times seem to have been glossed over in the DI piece, and found an interesting article on the history of bearded babies.

hehehehe

This is awesome if you're in a weird quiet mood. I'm hurting bad today--it feels like a migraine-cum-sinus headache (one more reason I hate people using "cum" in a sexual sense and prefer "come" is the previous usage, so stop giggling). Honestly, it's probably slightly both, more the broken night's sleep combined with Spirit likely hurting from the lack of sleep and projecting it over the miles back to me.

I've known some couples who could've used this in their separations

wow.

This Ask.MeFi post was interesting. I've felt major differences by condom type. I prefer without if I feel good about my partner, but certain textures have been an enhancement. ...More on Spirit's PA later.

This makes me wish I were anywhere but here. I'm gritting my teeth and keeping this from spilling over--most of it's the stress of him going again, and I have to grit my teeth and bear handling everything for a while again, but showing it will just make the going harder, and it cannot be helped. But there is nothing beautiful or good here.

NSFW post

A spanking party

This is beautiful ( in case the NSFW tag wasn't enough warning, this is some hardcore fetishism described)

Ahahahaha

I agree on vaginal plastic surgery being useless, but I really link this for the photo collage

Here's my take on this: As long as my personal mores don't inflict on your rights to life, liberty, property, the pursuit of happiness, and all that good stuff, my morality is my own business, whether I keep my beliefs and morals in my own home or put 'em out here or on MySpace for the world to see. It's not your, the website's, or the governm ent's job to believe that (though if my personal mores violate a website's stated beliefs, I don't disagree that they have the right to take it down--me printing graphic defenses of alternative sexual practice on an SBC church's website would be indefensible)

Don't shoot the puppy

who owns the internet

Punishing people in MMOs by crucifixion

OW OW OW no friggin' WAY--Spirit and I got some piercings this weekend, bringing him to 3 and me to 10, but 1016 at once? Even if I understand that, that would put my body into some sort of shock mode for weeks. Please tell me the guy has some recovery time planned.

He's leaving again tomorrow, so this made me cry (rest of site NSFW)

The rest of my readings today have been very NSFW--I have a list of feeds I read off sugasm and blogs that those blogs link to. This ends up meaning that I've often read several of the Sugasm articles each week, but there's always something worth a read there.

ugh.

huh?

hah.

heh

Ow.

Why our screwed-up day-night cycles might be making us sick

I'm surprised that this phenomenon is as rare as all that; I read an article semi-recently stating that many performers were "nuts" and unprofessional, and one example was of a prominent singer being difficult for technicians to work with because she'd say things like the sound needed to be more "purple." While I see why this isn't entirely professional and should be translated for the more technical (or she should have her own sound crew who knows what those nuances mean to her), neither is it New Age or psychotic--I know many people who have this, though, including myself. Sounds have shapes and colors in my head, and smells have aspects of every other sense.

Traits of the passive-aggressive male

From Ask Mefi:

*FEAR OF DEPENDENCY - Unsure of his autonomy & afraid of being alone, he fights his dependency needs - usually by trying to control you.

*FEAR OF INTIMACY - Guarded & often mistrusful, he is reluctant to show his emotional fragility. He's often out of touch with his feelings, reflexively denying feelings he thinks will "trap" or reveal him, like love. He picks fights to create distance.

*FEAR OF COMPETITION - Feeling inadequate, he is unable to compete with other men in work and love. He may operate either as a self-sabotaging wimp with a pattern of failure, or he'll be the tyrant, setting himself up as unassailable and perfect, needing to eliminate any threat to his power.

*OBSTRUCTIONISM - Just tell a p/a man what you want, no matter how small, and he may promise to get it for you. But he won't say when, and he"ll do it deliberately slowly just to frustrate you. Maybe he won't comply at all. He blocks any real progress he sees to your getting your way.

*FOSTERING CHAOS - The p/a man prefers to leave the puzzle incomplete, the job undone.

*FEELING VICTIMIZED - The p/a man protests that others unfairly accuse him rather than owning up to his own misdeeds. To remain above reporach, he sets himself up as the apparently hapless, innocent victim of your excessive demands and tirades.

*MAKING EXCUSES & LYING - The p/a man reaches as far as he can to fabricate excuses for not fulfilling promises. As a way of withholding information, affirmation or love - to have power over you - the p/a man may choose to make up a story rather than give you a straight answer.

*PROCRASTINATION - The p/a man has an odd sense of time - he believes that deadlines don't exist for him.

*CHRONIC LATENESS & FORGETFULNESS - One of the most infuriating & inconsiderate of all p/a traits is his inability to arrive on time. By keeping you waiting, he sets the ground rules of the relationship. And his selective forgetting - used only when he wants to avoid an obligation.

*AMBIGUITY - He is master of mixed messages and sitting on fences. When he tells you something, you may still walk away wondering if he actually said yes or no.

*SULKING - Feeling put upon when he is unable to live up to his promises or obligations, the p/a man retreats from pressures around him and sulks, pouts and withdraws.

Bwahahahaha! (Sorry, Mr. Hayes. You'll be missed) ...hahaha...

Water and extraterrestrial life--a smart treatment on the subject

Capsaicin and prostate cancer--guys, start developing a hot-pepper habit now (I know they make external capsaicin ointments, but do they sell it as a pill supplement?)

More on the Star Wars TV show

The fuck?

Margo Howard (Ann Landers's daughter) has a column under her own name now, if anyone's missed her on Dear Prudence

Exactly. Key point for fundies:

To withhold a medicine like this because you think teens will [fail to] postpone sex if they know they're immune to HPV is appalling. First of all, they won't. Second of all, what if a girl remains virgin 'til her wedding night but her husband was wild and though he's now found Jesus and reformed, he has HPV ... does she "deserve" to contract it as well because some blithering idiots completely out of touch with sexuality, teenagers and the modern world have a religious objection to a vaccine? You don't want your daughter protected from HPV, fine, no one *requires* you to innoculate her.

There's a Foamy cartoon up that I hadn't seen

Hapland! (Have fun)

Every geek's wet dream--the Wrist PC

Periodic table--was looking the table up for the kids just yesterday, and this showed up in my regular reading last night

If you read no other essays or heady or politically-charged works in the forseeable future, please read this.

If you're a little more into politics or long essays, read this, too.

Busy times lately, will return with more links soon.

Why are we leaning more and more away from freedom of personal choice and toward policing the vices of others again? What happened to the days when the Republicans were the party of "a government small enough to drown in the bathtub," of personal freedom of choice and personal responsibility? Now Republicans are in power and still, both parties want to keep the people under control, and new restaurants can't open without their liquor licenses.

Yum.

Ditto.

Dear military friends, Bawls is doing something just for you.

The real family Von Trapp

Nice. Why don't gamers just replace all the minis with lego people?

Mmmmmmm, carbon monoxide.

Some like it hot.

Another blog

No links--haven't been online much at all--I'll have a huge backlog eventually--but for now, my new blog

One more:

The Multidimensional Scale of Sexuality

According to my answers, it is likely that I identify as
Heterosexual with some homosexuality
or equally,
Sequential bisexual.

Complete set of results

Heterosexual with some homosexuality:		4
Sequential bisexual:		4
Concurrent bisexual:		3
Homosexual:		1
Asexual:		0
Heterosexual:		0
Homosexual with some heterosexuality:		0
Past heterosexual, currently homosexual:		0
Past homosexual, currently heterosexual:		0

Information

The Multidimensional Scale of Sexuality was devised by Larry Kurdek, B. Berkey and T. Perelman-Hall. It is an extension of the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid, recognising that sexual identities can change over time, people can identify with more than one sexual identity, and that asexuality is a valid sexual identity. The Multidimensional Scale of Sexuality was published in the "Journal of Homosexuality" in 1990.

Take the quiz

Klein Sexual Orientation Grid

I scored an average of 1.86

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Heterosexual

Bisexual

Homosexual

Meaning

This result can also be related to the Kinsey Scale:

0 = exclusively heterosexual
1 = predominantly heterosexual, incidentally homosexual
2 = predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual
3 = equally heterosexual and homosexual
4 = predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual
5 = predominantly homosexual, incidentally heterosexual
6 = exclusively homosexual

Summary

The idea of this excercise is to understand exactly how dynamic a person's sexual orientation can be, as well as how fluid it can be over a person's lifespan. While a person's number of actual homo/heterosexual encounters may be easy to categorize, their actual orientation may be completely different. Simple labels like "homosexual", "heterosexual", and "bisexual" need not be the only three options available to us.

Take the quiz

The Five Love Languages

My primary love language is probably
Physical Touch
with a secondary love language being
Quality Time.

Complete set of results

Physical Touch:		12
Quality Time:		7
Words of Affirmation:		7
Acts of Service:		2
Receiving Gifts:		2

Information

Unhappiness in relationships, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don't understand our partner's requirements, or even our own. We all have a "love tank" that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others.

Take the quiz

Mistakes a person doesn't make twice

Well, another personal moment, here--Spirit's most-likely sitting sleepy and headachy in Tokyo waiting for his flight... I had barely time to make my flights when I travelled to and from RoK, but he's got 7-8 hour layovers at every step. So I'm watching Hidalgo and wondering if I will be able to sleep.

Also, I bought a RAZRv3 today. If anyone knows how to get the PhoneTools to actually transfer images/ringtones to and from the phone, drop me a comment.

A personal post, for a change

Hi, babe, what are you doing up?

I didn't think "I overslept" would be a good excuse.

Heh. No. Did you get some rest?

Not really. Like an hour.

We went back and forth for an hour or so, then talked about some last-minute information about the bus ride and flights, and then, hours too soon and months too late:

OK babe, I'm heading down to the CAC to grab some chow then I'm on my way

OK, m'love, come to me--I'll be here waiting.

As though as a message, a jet flies overhead, all I can hear as I see his avatar log off and know he's taking the first steps (literally--they walk everywhere) of his journey home to me. Only for a month before he goes again, this time, but still--I tremble.

I like this. Well, we all like things that support our point of view. But by origin, "come" makes a lot more sense than "cum" for orgasm or (n.) ejaculate. It's "come with me," at that moment, because you're going to a place Beyond, and when it's right, you want your lover with you in every sense.

And a beautiful poem from the same blog

I could've written this, any number of times.

Sex--better with a partner? (The interesting part is that it seems they point to a form of mini-ED caused by prolactin, a feel-good hormone that floods the body after orgasm--moreso with a partner--as the cause of the male refractory period).

How severe a punishment do ride-by butt-smacks warrant?

Living here would make it tough to give an address

Is this blog legal? Or are the MP3s?

This looks interesting, with a less than legal hack for those who'd do that kind of thing

Poke looks like more work than just playing the game to get your stuff/money.

Broke and Broker?

I could think of so-much-better things to do with a secret room than grow pot.

Damn but I'd like to be on some sort of global culinary journey--I'm starting here.

Neurogenesis (brain-growing/rebuilding) versus cages--or cubicles

A Chocolate Hog

A place to stick a knife

Scream Queens--I love Christina Ricci and Fairuza Balk the best--because I loved them as children, even then destined for this page (As Wednesday Addams and as Mildred Hubble in the made-for-HBO, Tim Curry/Charlotte Rae Worst Witch--I really need copies of all 3 of those, come to think).

Funny-but-NSFW

How you know reality shows have gone too far

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Much better

Glow-in-the-dark carpet

Sweet.

I love retractable Sharpies, but isn't it a bit late to be blogging them as a "new" product?

Car-tipping...

Um... yeah?

Me like Hockey...

When nude isn't sexy

The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out--of the glacier

I appreciate what these guys are doing--on the other hand, this may just encourage Phelps to get louder and turn these services into even bigger circuses.

Your blogger has the flu, so not much today. Time for a soak in the tub and a rest before work.

A good look at corset piercings. Bare female backs but no real nudity (realized after someone pointed out I'd posted a link to MeFi with some serious female close-up nudity that I don't think about or notice this sort of thing nearly as much as convention dictates I should). Anyway, Spirit said something about liking the look of them, and I rather do, myself, though I'm not so sure about the idea of surface piercings in general.

These are great. Laughter seems to have escaped me, other than the hysterical sort, but I've been laughing on the inside at this contest (2nd link is to the "view all" view and will load more slowly) and this video.

On whalesong

eh-heh-heh-heh

I know too many people with chronic tinnitus (from chronic illness or medication reactions, not loud music) to think this is anything but a potential godsend. Hope it works.

Also cool. I'll be hunting for this link if I ever take up camping.

I knew I was weird. I'd use at least half of these.

Now this is a neat idea. Sit in chair, vacuum out air, voila! a chair that conforms perfectly, permanently to your ass. Also saves ever worrying about someone else taking your seat at game time.

Liberator Shapes

coke with real sugar instead of corn syrup

Fighting over Oscar tickets. Oh, to have these freaking problems. Dear academy, send me one. I'll be out of debt by next week.

I've heard nothing but good about Choxie. However, as in a couple weeks I'll be swimming in Korean chocolate, I'll hold off on ordering any.

A murphy bed for pets. Dear Spirit, WHY?

This is just sad. Why not just hand out business cards to everyone you like in a club? "Ann, sco/sag cusper, into movies, Teh Intarweb, books and music of all kinds, and my kinks are beyond number--email if interested!" "Jim-Bob, don't believe in astrology, into tractors, country music, and beer, gimme a call if ya wanna maybe go fer a drink"--hey, maybe ice-breaking business cards are an idea for a custom mail-order business.

Did this really require a study?

Rubik's Cube--for the blind

Review of an artificial foreskin

I always knew chewing gum was a good idea...

A lengthy discussion (inspired by the Frey contract) on consensuality and master-slave contracts

This story (related tangentially, and listed in above thread) is fascinating (but sad).

More on the Frey thing

This still has me all over the sex-related blogosphere, because of things like the comment on MeFi to the effect that those judging should read about the lifestyle from the inside. And then I can't stop clicking.

Bondage lessons

This post indirectly supports my belief that yes, there are prostitutes who are in it for themselves and satisfied with the career choice.

Did you ever catch your parents? Did it bother you? My mom walked in on me and my ex when we were newlyweds, but I don't think I ever found my folks having sex.

Fleshbot has some good info and gadgets.

Some truths about marriage (warning: PDF)

Odd quiz:

You're The Guns of August!

by Barbara Tuchman

Though you're interested in war, what you really want to know is what
causes war. You're out to expose imperialism, militarism, and nationalism for what they
really are. Nevertheless, you're always living in the past and have a hard time dealing
with what's going on today. You're also far more focused on Europe than anywhere else in
the world. A fitting motto for you might be "Guns do kill, but so can
diplomats."


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

You're Bikini Atoll!

You once believed that your biggest concern would be a shark attack. Now
you know just how much more destructive humans can be than any other creature. While you
don't like mushrooms, you've had to eat so many of them that it's become almost a way of
life. Exiled from your home and forced to wait for someone to clean it up, you've become
bitter but remain powerless. Most people like to gawk at those who share your
name.


Take the State Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

One more I couldn't resist posting before I go out:
Kill Harry!

Great French Renault ad (click "Entrer," then once the flash loads, on the left it will say something about "le webfilm"). Pain empathy warning for any man who's ever stuck his tongue to a frozen post.

Oh, dear.

Absinthe marketing promotes alcohol as date-rape drug? You be the judge.

When did Mary-Kate and Ashley get sophisticated?

If you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear? 1. We have a resonable expectation of privacy within our homes. To those who state that the right to privacy is a legal fallacy--it's clearly implied by intent in the fourth amendment. 2. The fact that we're doing things we might not want others to know about does not make those things illegal. 3. The fact that some things are quasi-legal does not make them wrong (see Lawrence and Garner vs. Texas--that I could probably in some places be arrested because I let a man sodomize me doesn't make it either a wrong act, an illegal act in the sense that the law punishing it is valid, or something I want the police to be allowed to witness for their own jollies).

In case you don't have anything stuck in your head, this will fix you.

Oh, hell no.

Don't be such a square

Lovesaber?

Oh, don't I just wish?

Bare Back Magazine looks interesting.

Since yesterday we had geek love, now it's geek sex

I have a lot of thoughts on this--mostly along the lines of, as much as I believe in kids having free creative expression, in most of the public schools I've attended, a boy going to school with his nails painted pink/gold/purple would be in physical danger from other students. I don't think I'd disallow that expression, but I'd ask the kid if he was sure the other attitudes would be tolerable or worth it.

Traditional family values strike again

I must respectfully disagree with this post. While I do agree with the points made that much prostitution does equate to slavery and human trafficking, it's the slavery that needs to be illegal--pimping needs to be illegal, not whoring. Most women are forced into it? Maybe more women would freely choose to rent their bodies out by the hour or the night (it's not "selling," now, is it?) if they could freely make that choice. Not many, of course, but maybe enough that they'd keep the pimps and thugs from controlling the business. Actually, I wanted to comment on a couple of the comments after the post, too--#6 is about what I think, and #21, God almighty, *economically* forced into it? I'm economically forced to do a job that's impossible for my body to maintain the work without threatening literal collapse from exhaustion and flaring chronic pain. Circumstances force us into all kinds of jobs. Believe me, if I could make twice my income with less than half the work hours by doing something I like doing (no matter how many hours or how repugnant the customers, I like fucking better than waitressing, and I have every reason to believe the income is far better--I just won't make career choices that end in prison--and it is not institutionalized rape unless I have lost the right--in this theoretical scenario--to refuse a customer), I'd consider it a personal career choice and my RIGHT, not a political statement one way or another. Oh, I don't disagree that those cops are way out of line. Fuckers. I just disagree that prostitution should be considered a crime against women.

A Contract of Wifely Expectations--Huh? Honey chile, you can't be doin' this in the 21st century unless you've got an honestly consensual dom/sub relationship. And if they did, she'd have signed the paper.

I'm heading all over the feminist blogs tonight. Click one and you end up following links everywhere. Anyway, this is just wrong. Here's the guy's actual profile. I've known some good folk who'd be perfect for him, but on the other hand, I hope if he finds someone and manages to breed, their offspring are more enlightened (or maybe, less so).

Sugasm gets my attention--a few of the blogs on my regular rounds are participants. For some reason I never thought to add sugasm itself to my list, though. I've added several blogs I'm not likely to read more than a couple times a week (since I require sleep sometimes). Some of them, or representative posts from them:
Eternal Apprentice
Lumpesse is his girlfriend--where in the South are these people and why can't I find them?
Always Aroused Girl
BareLace
Sexblo.gs went on the daily list because it rounds up highlights of several major sex blogs. Not all hot, but all interesting.
NYC BDSM Boy
This is just a good title
The Holiday Life
Sabrina in Stockings
My Not So Secret Self

Hijinks is showing a prank in which they convinced kids they were banning candy sales in NYC. You'd seriously have kids making and dealing candy like dope. I would've.

Geeks in Love!

wicked

Ouch

Waitressing bites lately. The truth is, something minor and petty happened the other day, and it was just the straw that broke the camel's back--there's little love/respect for the staff, staying positive is just beyond me at work right now, and after 2 years of loyal hard work, I see people I was training on the floor a few months ago being moved up to bartending and keying without even asking for it--the person I object to most on these grounds, and it's not that I object to *him* like I would several other people, but he's military and in a program that has him off active duty to finish school then will be commissioned as a pilot in a matter of months, so even the possible excuse that I may not be there all that long wears thin. And I actually was his server trainer less than 6 months ago. I am now something like the 8th most senior server in the place, and among the waitstaff the third most senior employee. I'm respected very much by my co-workers--almost as in high school, I'm treated as a bit of a legend--not someone to befriend, but the person to ask about anything, work, personal, or intellectual--and it's frustrating as anything I can remember in this life that my coworkers assume that because they have that respect for me, so does management--several people, last they trained a bartender, asked me why I didn't want to do it, as though I had a choice, as though I haven't had to beg and plead for every job I've gotten to learn, though I'm acknowledged the best in the place at most of them and I work as hard as anyone and harder than most, as though other people don't just have these jobs handed to them and then complain to me that they don't want to do them.

Anyone want to hire a bitter, jaded, late 20-something server/admin? I don't have much of a resume, but I'm damned good (at waitressing and at paperwork), and can provide references.

Neat buildings

Unphotographable

This is incredibly trippy. Follow the instructions. I *tried* to hear the guy saying "ba" while watching his face, and I could not hear it until I closed my eyes or switched tabs. How does visual information mess with hearing that badly?

while you're tricking your brain... (I'm pretty good at this test, that is, tuning out the word to "read" the color, but it does take longer than processing the words)

But, buying marijuana supports terrorists. ONDCP told me so. I never knew Washington (state) was so full of terrorists--why're we spending so much in the Middle East, then?

I disagree with this--it seems to me that the ability to get his female partner off is a barometer for a man's masculinity in the real world, too.

I will never hear the end of this once my kid finds out.

OK, guys--is this idea appetizing?

A belated valentine

Is this a joke? I hope? Although the cargo jeans with the attached onesie isn't a half-bad idea. I'd have loved a jacket or shirt with a built-in front/nursing sling a few years back...

I have got to get one of these.

These sound good too.

Wow, cool. Are all/most humans with mismatched eyes chimeras, then?

liqueur pouches (with drinking license!)

Why do you need your own picture on your mint tins? I can see buying them for wedding favors.

This is neat. For some reason the applications for strip clubs strike me more than I'd want such a thing in my own bathroom.

Owie.

Death through sex! You are going to die by having a heart attack during sex. This is probably because it fills up so much of your time now that if you died doing anything else, it would be going against the odds . Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

You fit in with: Humanism Your ideals mostly resemble that of a Humanist. Although you do not have a lot of faith, you are devoted to making this world better, in the short time that you have to live. Humanists do not generally believe in an afterlife, and therefore, are committed to making the world a better place for themselves and future generations. 0% scientific. 100% reason-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

The overlying picture (sort of a "you are here" star on that map) broke it, but I was exactly halfway between scientific/spiritual and all the way at the bottom--100% reason and 0% scientific. Heh. So I have some spirituality but no faith right now? Sounds about right.

These are awesome

Reference day!

Erotica, Victorian-style

This looks like it might replace both the google personalized home and a couple other of my homepages if I play with it some.

I like this interface better than the major blog aggregators'

"News fairly unbalanced. We report. You decipher."

Heh.

Refdesk--general fact site

And a dictionary reference

Great books--includes some of the classic quotations books

Internet Public Library--unfortunately, there's a necessary lack of modern books there.

Librarians' Internet Index

If you're still with me, check out the Astronomy Pic of the Day--educational AND cool!

More cool pics

I know it's hard to be sure online, but this is a joke, right?

I'm pretty sure this isn't. Heh. Excellent. Combating fundamentalism with showtunes.

A soothing meditation in very large pixels

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww

These games have been getting some blog press and look interesting.

Excellent article that outlines what bothers me in the growing tendency of the morally outraged to equate prostitution explicitly with human trafficking

AHAHAHAHAH MMO contraception... "By the time he had a level 43 character, our intimacy problems were a distant memory!" (Get 2 copies. You can cyber and it's still valid as birth control...)

This is an interesting if slightly dry read. I'd still like to check out Sociolotron sometime.

This is what an enlightened country does with its STD prevention services (as opposed to changing valid scientific data to try to destroy any sensible information on safe sex as it just encourages more sex)

Dr. Ruth's sex game (1985, text only)

Take this job and...

Reality, Manga-style

A bunch of links about bottled water suggesting that it's silly, that the whole thing is a scam and we're all dupes for buying into it. But it's convenience, really. Sometimes I'll buy a gallon of water for the jug and sometimes I'll pour tap water into a jug and stick it in the fridge. But if I want something easy to grab for gaming, or I'm out and want something cold to drink, I'll buy water as well as soda, because it's easier than dealing with glasses and ice. It doesn't mean I've got something against tap water--I'm just glad to have the choice to get cold water in convenient reclosable containers. And if you're buying for the home, it isn't that hard to find it fluoridated in the gallon sizes, though it would be nice if the single-serve bottles came fluoridated.

Doping videogame "athletes"

Cool satellite picture of one of the Augustine Island volcano eruptions

More on why men and women think differently--I wonder if they've cross-referenced this with people who apparently think as males or females, aside from their physical sexes, as in the BBC's brain sex quiz.

speaking of the BBC's articles on sex ID and the brain...

Well, then again, maybe you do need a hole in your head.

Cheesecake? No, just cheese.

Cricket's got to take a break to go pick up the laundry--my plumbing's screwed so I splurged and it feels SO good to know I'll pick up cleaned and folded clothes and linens. Happy Sunday!

Once again, those models aren't perfect, either.

Digg for videos?

How cool would it be to live at Disneyland?

I still wish I knew why PostSecret doesn't have an accessible archive. This hit me a little hard. It's different, I'm pretty sure, though.

This is random but worth a read if you're at all curious about what real BDSM lifestyling is all about. Adult, not safe for work, covers sensitive adult issues, etc., etc. And he's got a point--if you're going to get into something and portray yourself as part of it, you should know what it's about. Anyway, for lifestyle or just sexual blogs, LordStar and his partner, Mim Redbeard, are worth reading.

I vote for #7 (first paragraph). Let's all be fat and happy and live as we will.

I can't imagine. I also can't imagine, as in the comments, that "what they lose in numbers, they make up in wattage." If I gained "wattage" I'd totally lose consciousness in the middle of sex. The really powerful orgasms still don't have a "refractory period" for me, though for me to get another one in the next few minutes requires someone else who cares to do all the work, because while the nerves there still work, I'm too weak to actually do anything to work for it.

Cat meets... bunny?

I want to work at Google. Anyone there need an eclectic soul who's great with numbers and paperwork and general archive-type research, but somewhat undereducated and not great at coding?

This might be worth a download. Probably after I set up an external drive to free some space.

Speed-reading

CG water. I'd like to watch this side-by-side with a real slow-motion video of water poured similarly into a glass.

But is remarkably good prose an excuse for proselytizing in the middle of an otherwise-good story?

Too cool. Only, warm.

The world's other Trekkies ain't rich enough for this.

Cthulego

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

More awwwww--scroll down for a baby aardvark and some penguin chicks.

Veggie Liberation Army manifesto

Mmmmmmmm, nuts. Something about this part of the winter makes me depressed and munchy. If I move up North I'll either need to exercise a *lot* to curb both impulses or be downright roly-poly through the spring.

While we're on junk food, I could go for some pie.

Gotta buy the kid new shoes tomorrow. His feet grew again. Other shoes only about 2 months old but he's fussing that they hurt again.

This is strange.

Second Life really is something else.

I hear this game is cool. I can't actually play it as that flash makes my computer stop doing anything. Took me 25 minutes just to shut the window and get back here. Still, if you're on something faster, have a look.

Posh porn (erotica)

Yoga--good for kids. I've been teaching the sprout to meditate to deal with his angry impulses and not wanting to sleep, so getting him into yoga is a really good idea and on my to-do list--I just need to find my good yoga tapes.

The middle of this column has a point to make about texting. Don't miss it.

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh my EYES!

"Part of the great thing about committed togetherness is the sharing of each and every germ."

Your brain and the process of maturity--I have to wonder if this is a social construct. In a culture/time/society in which adulthood is defined at an earlier age, do similar changes take place between 12 and 20? Or is this a static part of the brain-developing process in all humans?

This article is kind of useless, but the comments are a great discussion

hahahahaha

Does this strike anyone else as catering to a bunch of repressed geeks who'd rather be domming it in a lifestyle club but are too, I don't know, too Japanese, too repressed, something...?

Kangaroo plastic surgery

You know, I wanted to try World of Warcraft, but gods curse it, if my lover and I can't go as a lesbian couple, I ain't goin' at all! (I jest--but on the square. These policies would, in fact, be a dealbreaker--and doesn't incline me to spend money on future Blizzard games. I met some very longtime 'net friends over Diablo on Battle.net back in the day, so I've generally been kindly disposed to Blizzard games until now, even when their ideas of game "balancing" broke everything that worked in D2). More details here--one of the comments I find odd is something like "2% of couples in the world are homosexual, surely fewer in game." First, that's because outside pressures keep couples from forming stably or from admitting their "couple"ness, and secondly, I don't see it being fewer in game--I've known of as many lesbian (not as many male homosexual, mind, but both stats are a product of who's likely to be playing) marriages in certain games as I have straight ones.

Sexual Intelligence--a monthly newsletter on "the sexual implications of current events, politics, technology, and the media."

Please read this if you like, or hate, Dr. Phil or Oprah. I got outright angry at a Dr. Phil episode that effectively demonized my life's choices, and it took very detailed explanation of why I was angry for my best girlfriend to realize that she had both been agreeing with Dr. Phil and with my right and ability to make the choices he was demonizing--and to realize why I was upset at all. It says more than I can say about why the American public putting so much trust in its major media figures (see Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and my comments yesterday on Judge Judy for more) is bad for us. And the thing is, it's these people who have an effect on how people think and on the way the country is run, not the much-maligned "Hollywood liberal" set--it's the people who tell you "Family Values" is about hating those who make different choices or follow different inclinations about/in regard to their bodies and their lives and their sexuality who keep us from all being allowed to be proudly, openly who we are. Everything I've seen indicates that these are decent, generous people, and I don't fault that or wish them ill--but I wish they would learn nonjudgment of those of us who choose differently. Read the article--more venomous than I'd be, but that's OK.

Since we're on sex--it isn't porn if there's a consenting adult at each end? I'd say unless they're putting on a show for a viewing audience, I agree. If I have cybersex or teledildonic sex or in-game avatar sex with a partner, it's no more inherently pornographic than it is when we're in the bedroom ('cause, you know, sex, no matter how kinky, ain't porn until there's a camera). But if there's going to be a lasting electronic record, is it porn then? Is it porn if I save the text of a cybersession and get off on it alone later though I was a participant?

10 Obscure Games We'd Like to Play on Revolution (aside--I had a copy of Lester the Unlikely. Didn't get too far with it. That whinging "Ow" made it not worth it)

Does anyone think this will actually see mass-production? Technologies that improve fuel-efficiency are bought and buried.

Totally unsubstantiated rumors that I hope have some truth

Satire: A brief history of video game violence

If you have to sell something, don't go reading about it. I'm not going to be able to sell a Chocolate Thunder from Down Under with a straight face ever again.

Note to Judge Judy

Museum of coathangers. Does anyone else have a favorite type? This is mine, for several reasons.

Have you ever gotten in that "that's-blue-no-that's-green" argument? My colors are way off the average for English speakers from the chart.

Meet Sid (heh)

Love potion. Herbal but without the spells.

Tonight was a total waste of my time and energy. I hate Superbowl Sunday.

RIP Grandpa: Al Lewis dies

Also Betty Friedan--whatever you might think of modern feminism (which term encompasses so many different philosophies as to have become meaningless), in the 50s something had to give.

Uh-huh. OK then. Yeah the military hatches fast-paced relationships that can fizzle out. A military person and a civilian fall for each other, and deep in that early infatuation, where in the civilian world there would still be a few years of dating and courting ahead, someone gets orders to somewhere far away. A TDY could mean them getting killed--while making those heady, dreamy plans for the future, there's a practical side going "I love this person, and if something happens to me, at least s/he'll be taken care of if we're married," and what young couple in that infatuation stage wants to be separated indefinitely by a PCS (especially when the gulf is a distance that makes courting difficult). It might be better for those relationships to see if they can survive the TDY before marriage plays into it, but that doesn't mean it's gonna happen. Military chaplains (at least in the specific cases of which I've been aware) require counselling (like some churches) before they'll marry you anyway, but so far, at least, they have to allow regular, civil, Vegas-style marriages as legal. Key quote: "It teaches the lovestruck to pace themselves with a R.A.M. chart - the Relationship Attachment Model - which basically says don't let your sexual involvement exceed your level of commitment or level of knowledge about the other person." --so if you're going to get hitched, you need to know the other person's bad habits and really like being around them when it's not time to party or get it on? Check.

Superbowl Sunday in Iraq

I don't care about the game (flippin' Seahawks...), but I will probably tune in for the commercials. Or get tired of them after an hour and watch the usual cartoons on Fox.

Concept cars. I hate concept cars because the ones I'd love to own (not that I could afford them if they did see production) never quite seem to make it to the showroom floor or the highway. I also love them--I can't help being fascinated and reading all about them.

Oooooooooooooooooooooh.

If you're offended by "gay" being thrown around as insulting (or sounding like it), don't watch these.

These were listed as a soap opera. I was thinking like the old coffee ads, but this is just bizarre. I actually found myself interested in what was going on with the coffee people. Someone wrote a novel--anyone know how that story turned out?

Fun with movies. I got 10. Most of the rest I haven't seen.

This is one of the best comments on relationships I've ever read: "I'd rather be alone if my mate doesn't make me want to sit for an hour every morning and watch her sleep..." I can dig what the first couple comments are saying about smell, too. Not that I want to sniff someone (though I've been accused of doing so), but when you can lay your head against someone and breathe them in, you know where the chemistry lies (or doesn't).

Yes yes yes yes yes yes YES!! A new thing to hold over my kid's head on his behavior (and something to go with the other two for Spirit's dorm room)

Awesome printable paper models

cool knit scarf

I can't help wondering how these things come out in kids.

I couldn't write anything about this that isn't a curse word uttered in amazement. If you click nothing else today, click this.

This might be a good idea. The amount of time before just buying new toothbrushes at need would catch up to the cost in a small household is fairly large, though.

Italian Ramen?

Makin' bacon.

This looks cool.

More on Groundhog Day and Imbolc. Pointing out that Candlemas was an attempt to Christianize Imbolc is true enough, but putting candles in the windows is not purely Christian--a little, but the older celebrations of Imbolc involve lighting all a house's lamps or hearths.

Collectible limited edition Pez, wedding-style

Penguin whores would be a good name for a rock band.

Daily rotten

Rotten library

See especially the page on witchcraft for some enlightening views on the Inquisition and the Malleus Maleficarum: "When women commit sexual excesses with demons, they are prostitute-witches. When men do the same, they are the victims of prostitute-witches." (that's not in the words of the MM but the words of the website's author).

just interesting facts

Happy Groundhog Day! I really have to find my copy of that movie, since it doesn't appear to be airing in prime time. Six more weeks of winter? Here in SC, that means six weeks *of* winter--I haven't seen any yet.

Apparently people reporting stolen drugs happens all the time (according to the 911 dispatcher in the family). Most of them think better of it and disappear before the cops show up to take a statement.

If God really punished people so directly for their errors, this fruitcake would be at the top of the list.

AHAHAHAHAHA Pageboys--IMeanThey'reAllFineHousesFrosh!

This headline is ignorant. I'm hard to offend by usual means, and will interject with something mischievous right when people expect me to run away blushing and squeaking, but I have my own hot buttons and issues that offend me.

I have to agree that the male body can be beautiful--and if you don't believe those who say "look at Hollywood," then look at the ancient Greeks, at art through the ages.

On the end of the telegram

Review/comparisons of bittorrent clients--I like Azureus. I thought about using (mu)Torrent, but honestly it bugs the hell out of me that they use "u" for (mu), and I don't want something that drives me nuts to think about running on my computer.

This is a big issue lately, and one of the best arguments I've seen against the free-market folks. They claim free markets lead to greater innovation, yet clearly the Telcos being able to form an oligopoly have inhibited our progress compared to the rest of the world.

Blue light helps keep you alert? Sounds like something that could be useful for late-night drivers.

To Mars in an afternoon? Hells YEAH!

And some good information on relativity

In favor of hybrid autos

Wow. Someday I hope to have a house this awesome.

I guess if I had to come down on this debate I'd say to take those objects, including Pluto, off consideration for planethood.

"Can a 160-year-old man hit on a 91-year-old woman in an oxygen bar without being considered a predatory scumbag?" The answer should obviously be "yes;" a 75-year-old man hitting on a 35-year-old woman is seen as creepy and a dirty old man now, but not as a predator.

Good writeup on the SWG NGE

Remember that moment of respect I had for the prez? I'm over it.

This is so, so wrong: Brokeback to the Future

This should be wrong too, but I'm too distracted by the idea of the young Tom Cruise and the young Val Kilmer together. Damn but that's going to fuel my dreams for weeks.

Java RPG: Triglav

And beneath Will Durst's biting humor column lies the true State of the Union.

Goodnight.