riddler

To be fair, I think he is saying that the U.S. government can't run anything right. Apparently, he feels that Costa Rica knows how to run a government. Or at least their government-run healthcare is run correctly. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Rush says that if healthcare passes, he's going to Costa Rica. I hope not, because I don't want to see his fat, white butt in tent-sized swimming trunks on the beautiful beaches there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNQn3aBKtlo Funny thing is, I remember when Bush won his second term, and a few left-wingers wanted to leave the country. I know a few that did. But the right-wingers were saying things like "America, love it or leave it". Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Um, yes, there certainly is. I saw one yesterday. I'm installing some new machines - 10 of them - with Win 7, and I just ran into a machine with a poltergeist in it. After the first boot-up, it failed and restarted itself a few times. After I thought I had sorted out the issue, I got a BSOD. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Have they been giving any support before this? Seems like starting in January, every single item has each and every republican against it, not just healthcare. They really are behaving as the "party of no" right now. It does amount to a party-wide tantrum. What are they being threatened with if they vote yes to anything? Parties really should be completely removed from politics. It's the only way representation will go back to the people. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Girls never fart in bed? The only difference is the volume. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Rome, as the global dominant power (at least from what they knew of the globe), lasted 1,000 years, 500 years in a democracy, 500 years in a quasi-representative dictatorship. The U.S., as the global dominant power, has only been that way for about 65 years, and only 200 years in the existence of our current constitution. If we can do as well as the Romans for longevity, we will be doing really, really good. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

And you can bet that they will increase our premiums now for changes that don't take effect until 2014. Insurance is and always will be on the verge of criminality - the claim to be based on numbers, and yes, they have statisticians that do run numbers, but the truth is, they will get you for whatever they can, whenever they can. Since they know everyone is watching, they will use this as an excuse to do it again now. What's interesting to me is how this will affect small business people, like you and I. Our premiums will rise - they rose before any legislative actions were taken, and they will rise after. Any rise from today on will have right-wingers screaming that it was the result of legislation (and conveniently forget about all the major increases that happened in the years 2008-2010). But people that work for corporations usually have healthcare paid by those corporations, and it will be interesting to see if more people move away from small business to corporate jobs just to get their insurance paid for. My health insurance has doubled in the last few years. I wonder if it will double again in the next few. Ultimately, we are all paying for our baby-boomer parents, and grandparents. But corruption by insurers is the real heart of the issue, IMO. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Wow. Just wow. Now, it looks like I'm totally wrong, and they might actually pass some semblance of healthcare reform. It's not going to be great, but I hope it passes. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Just means that Republicans were quicker to adopt the Internet than Democrats. The democrats are probably still having debates about whether this new fangled email thingy is a good way to go. Supportive democrats are trying to woo Hispanic representatives with promises of immigration reform in order to get them behind their spam campaign. But judging by my mom, it seems clear to me that Republicans are more likely to believe the trash that circulates on the 'net. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Here's what another pundit thinks about the Texas Board of Education Skip to second segment (minute 10:00). Memorable quotes from the clip: "Someone's got to stand up to these experts" "We shouldn't teach people this, because no one knows it" Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Some people feel like a twat when they skydive dressed in a jumpsuit that resembles the Papal Swiss Guard. Others think they look pretty cool. It's all about how ostentatious one is. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

So, this is definitely not a dropzone you're trying to get a job at. Otherwise, I would expect to hear "you came across as uninterested, arrogant and very unprofessional - when can you start?" Seriously, people read WAY too much into body language. It's hard to know what they picked up on, but I'm betting they were judging you on anything but what you actually said, or, more importantly, your credentials. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Well, at least we've moved from the dead-animal to the live-animal category. I'm speaking as a vegetarian, here, not a perv. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Damn! I was really hoping this thread was about something else. Preferably with pictures! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Personally, I think a private school can and should do exactly what it wants to. I plan putting my oldest daughter in Waldorf this fall, because I agree with what they teach there. And they make it very clear what they do and do not teach, and what is acceptable behavior for both children and parents. Likewise, I think that people that are utterly homophobic should have a place that they can send their kids to school and be assured that they are not being tainted by the sin of those other kids, who are doomed to an afterlife of Hell because of what their parents do in their bedroom. I am utterly amazed that a huge organization (probably the largest in the world) is making a statement that the sins of the mother are cause for social outcasting of the children. I am equally amazed that they would do exactly the opposite of what Christ himself taught. So, I disagree with their moral views, so what? Well, at the very least, I think they need to make it very clear, maybe put a big sign on the front of the school, about what is acceptable behavior of the parents. Things like, if you're gay, don't bother to bring your little demon children here. Even if they are not gay. We're pretty sure they'll grow up that way, anyhow. Using the word of god as a pretense of homophobia, racism or persecution is one of religion's most bitter tenets. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

No way - homes are dangerous. Most accidents happen there. I take every opportunity to be away from my home. It scares me. So far, the safest places I've found are kid's entertainment centers - kids never mug you, and their parents almost never do. And if a kid runs into you at full speed, it doesn't hurt much. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

From the "... and your kids, too!" file, a lesbian couple's children were expelled from a Catholic school here in Boulder, Colorado, because their parents are gay. The archdiocese in Denver supported the decision. This begs some other questions: are gay aunts and uncles OK? What if your dog is seen humping a dog of the same sex? http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/16/lesbian-parents-of-expelled-kids-defend-their-catholic-faith/?hpt=T2 Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

In many major cities, the police are trained to give up ground pursuit, since it leads to a lot of traffic deaths. Radio and coordination with helicopters, etc seem to be a much safer option. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Don't confuse the experience with the people That having been said, skydivers make up my closest associates - choose carefully. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

That's right! We liberals love criminals! In fact, most of us are criminals (only the bad liberals are not criminals). And we sure as heck don't want the government having copies of our DNA, because we all get arrested at least once a week (I got arrested three times this week). I'm pretty sure all of this was started by the Bush administration, as a way to clone people, but you're just blaming Obama for what Bush started. Geez, sooner or later, I thought you would run out of labels - you must have a label-making machine in your basement or something. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

No, there was never a statement that the level of greed increased. The issue is that the greedy people have found new ways to convince our "representatives" to allow them to be more greedy, to the detriment of us all. Laws that used to exist are being eroded by people that have forgotten history. The Glass–Steagall act was put there for a reason! Why did the Republicans repeal it? Why, because their rich, greedy friends paid them to, of course! And the rest of us suffer for the few. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Given that money is what drives and controls everything in this country. Well, who owns most of the money? The funny thing is that they have the rest of us believing that we live in a democracy, and that our voice counts for something. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

My thoughts are never as fun, but here's a plain old boring one. My chiropractor described a triangle between the collarbone, and various muscles in the shoulder and neck. Between all this run blood vessels and nerves. When you sleep on your shoulder (most of us do), you compress that triangle, which impedes the blood vessels and nerves. Some people have that compression all the time, it's called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. I don't have T.O.S., but usually my pinky finger falls asleep when I'm too long on one side. How do you resolve this? A few different ways - I have a temperfoam bed, and I never get that when I sleep on it. Another way is to retrain your head position when you sleep, using a cylindrical pillow. A chiropractor can help you identify the cause and do something about it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Also, if the general public (more than 50%) wanted to shut down all the dropzones, would a closet-skydiving politician lie about his/her own skydiving, say it's evil, sneak out the DZ every weekend, and still vote to shut down dropzones? Would that make him/her a good politician or a bad one? All the theories are that his constituents wanted anti-gay amendments passed. I suspect it's more about his homophobic, church-sponsored Party than his constituents. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

There's the real reason for the "yike!" I'd rather plunk down $3,000 for a Ninja250R. But this is still a very cool bike! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD