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You may need to be a Babylon 5 fan... but then again, maybe not.Maybe Rep. Wilson should "apologize" like Sheridan "apologizes" in the Babylon 5 episode "The Fall of Night" (here, just after 33 minutes). The context is that a hostile race had prepared to fire on Commander Sheridan's space-station, Babylon 5, a sort of intergalactic UN in space. Sheridan had responded with deadly force, and the ship had exploded.After that, an Earth envoy cut from the Neville Chamberlain mold had told Sheridan that he was ordered to make an apology for the incident — to the aliens who had...

This has become the first (mirabile dictu) well-run GOP Presidential campaign in recent memory. But I do hope they're preparing for two major eventualities which could become derailing distractions. Not long ago, I would have said "well-run GOP Presidential campaign" had become an oxymoron. And I'd never have guessed that I'd be applying the phrase to anything related in any way to John McCain, who was about my 479th pick out of the GOP field. But give the man his due: this has become a well-oiled, disciplined, focused machine. The selection of Palin was a daring act of sheer brilliance....

Well, today is supposed to be the day the big, huge, bad, devastating, apocalyptic, {insert-dire-adjective-here} political "bombshell" is supposed to drop on Senator The Obama's head. Which... um... (looking around)...so far, no "boom." So I am proposing we mount a "Bombshell Watch." And thus, I make the first log entry: 6:13am PT — so far, no "boom" In the meanwhile, you can (if you like) read my own prediction Man your posts, FReepers!

This question is for lovers of Handel's Messiah only. Which is your favorite version, and why?

LOS ANGELES (AP) - O.J. Simpson says the only thing he is guilty of is trying to get out of debt and provide for his children. The former football star said in interviews with The Associated Press that he deserved criticism for his part in the "If I Did It" book and interview deal. He said any profit from the book would be "blood money," but he needed to pay his bills. ...In interviews with the AP, Simpson denied committing the murders, disputed his publisher's contention that the book amounts to a confession, insisted the title was not his idea,...

December 7 is a day of great infamy, treachery, tragedy. It also provides a benchmark in assessing America's cultural slide. Though admittedly ancient (50), I'm not old enough to have experienced the attack on Pearl Harbor, nor World War II. But I am old enough to be able to mark one stark point of cultural difference, simply from growing up in the 50's and 60's. That point of chasmic disconnect: Hollywood, and with it, the "mainstream" media (which, at the time, was pretty much the only-stream media). As I grew up in the 50's and 60's, I saw endless movies...

This is the vainest vanity I've vanitized. My blog (http://bibchr.blogspot.com/) just went whack on me, out of nowhere. Look! The right side panel is on the floor! I did nothing, I changed nothing. I can't figure the code problem. Blogger hasn't answered me, readers have no idea. My guesses haven't worked! FR has the best assortment of techiegeeks I know -- and I use that as a term of respectful endearment. So I turn to you. Anyone with a clue? Please, ping your tech FRiends if you haven't one. (A clue, I mean... not a friend.)

Premise Senator Ted Kennedy: "On March 19, 2004, President Bush asked, 'Who would prefer that Saddam's torture chambers still be open?'" said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. "Shamefully, we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management: U.S. management."Senator Dick Durbin: "If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime—Pol Pot or others —that had no concern for human beings. Sadly,...

Please briefly link to what you think is the best Memorial Day essay, pictorial, article, or poem. Explain why you prefer it.I'd like to read something to my family, ages 5 to very old (me), that sums up what Memorial Day is about. I haven't yet found something that is exactly right. Brief is best.FReepers are such a rich resource, it seems fitting to provide a central thread on this day for us to bring forth what we think best captures the day, whether it be new or old.Thanks!

Well, he's done it again. Arizona's gift to the world — and I speak humbly, given the baleful Senatrixes that my own California has inflicted on everyone — has shafted us all again.So, I'm wondering whether there is any consensus as to an officially-adopted descriptive nickname for that great war hero/trick knee, John McCain.I will make some suggestions, please contribute your own... and KEEP IT CLEAN. McMeMeMeMcChamberlinMcJerkMcMediaMcSelloutMcMirrorMcCluelessMcPainMcLovemeMcGilderoylockhart (HP fans only)McVainMcCryforhelp

I hope President Bush is reading his Bible these days. If so, here's praying that he attends closely to Proverbs 21:22 -- A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust. Since Democratic leadership joins call for Gannon inquiry, and various other liberal sources keep expressing outrage that an uncredentialed and politically-motivated individual could actually break into the hallowed ranks of the White House presstitute corpse [double sic], I think the Bush administration should pull a deft Judo move. They should propose performing the exact same investigation on all WH reporters....

Speaking to a capacity crowd at a The French Were Right rally, Senator Ted Kennedy (D - MA) pronounced the effort in Iraq "failed," "a quagmire," "bad form," "tacky," "really embarrassing," "stubborn," "coyote ugly," "like waking up after a four-year binge — and believe you me, I know," and "just plain buck-toothed stupid."Each of these comments was punctuated by a standing ovation by the crowd, which had already been enlivened by an arms-dropping exercise led by the opening speaker, Senator John Kerry. "You go, Teddy!" cried one attendant. Many "Kennedy/Boxer '07" signs were held aloft by people wearing "Math Is...

For those who've seen the Extended Edition of the final movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, "The Return of the King."If you haven't seen it and just want to mention how superior you are to everyone else and, though you've never created anything in your life that anyone would want to see, you're sure you'd have done a better job and the pictures are total irredeemable trash... please start your own thread with that as the title.Otherwise, this is the place to discuss what you loved, what you loathed, what you found baffling, and basically other of the...

So far, I am permitted to choose my desktop background at work. I'd like to have a Christmas-themed, and therefore Christ-centered, desktop. I searched Google and didn't find any large pictures that I loved. There were some gorgeous wintery scenes, but no really great nativity-type desktops, particularly with an appropriate Scripture or message. I found a good one, but it is small and has no message. So I just bet someone here has found a great one, or a great fifty! Care to share a link?

Since we know that W always reads our board.... Well, okay, that may not be likely! But hopefully someone at the WH FReeps. And even if not, we need to get this out of our systems!So if W were to call and ask for any last-minute pre-debate thoughts this morning, what would yours be? (I mean, besides, "Aaah! What are you doing, calling an idiot like me?! I'm nobody! Who's driving this car? Aah!")Let's try to keep it short, sweet, and to-the point. Like this: Get a nap! Ask Laura to give you a massage, tell you a story, whatever....

The Message Board associated with my Biblical Christianity web site was spammed to death, and I need to find another host, with controlled access.This guy with a real problem with God (and W) had spammed and abused our board for months, and then he finally just posted like 200 single-to-triple-letter posts ("a"), and wiped all existing posts off the board. I had banned him a dozen or two times, but he kept getting a new IP address.So my best thought is that I need to find a clean, free Message Board host that allows me to require logons, so that...

Having predictively nailed John McCain, I'd like to offer my brief thoughts on what Kerry will do tonight, and invite yours.Today's Democratic Party's notion of Real Leadership could be defined thus: the ability to say, with the most nuanced conviction, "Wahh!!"And so, since the Swift Both Vets' ads and Bush's ads have scored some tellingly accurate direct hits, and since those hits have cost Kerry dearly, I think this is Kerry's biggest plan. I think that he is being advised that the knockout punch will be to cry and moan and complain, and to put the President on the defensive....

As the big 4-9 looms this Thursday, and I anticipate entering the fiftieth year of my pilgrimage, I took a day to pray, evaluate, think, regroup, analyze. One particular shortcoming that leaps out is that I need to get a grip on how I invest — or waste — my time. There's a Bible verse that calls for "making the best use of the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16). I realize that I don't. (You will note, at this point, that this is not a Breaking News essay.) And while I don't at present share my species'...

That was a pretty good speech McCain gave at the convention tonight. So, how will he undo it Tuesday? My guess is that some morning show host will ask him, "So, do you think that John Kerry would be a good war time leader for our nation?", and he'll say "Sure," and that will totally erase his speech. "'Kerry Would Be Good War Time President' -- McCain" would be the headline, I expect. What's your guess?

[I'll be brief and to the point; do me a favor, and either read before posting, or don't post at all, willya?]I'll admit, Mondays in general seem to hit me harder than they used to. But it seems to me as if the drum beat of the news has been going from bad to worse, with precious little to break it on the national scale. I figure I'm not the only one here who feels that way.My purpose in this essay is to lay out what is making me feel so gloomy, and to invite anyone and everyone to share...