@zeytourn:

Debate all you like, but when my head collided with the roof of a Honda Fit last September, I was glad for my helmet; and I know a helmet saved my dad's life in July of 2007 when a car backed in to him as he did 45 down a hill.

Unless there's a specific stipulation in child custody laws that says one parent can limit the legal activities of another, this is an Amendment 1 issue.

There are some "religions" on the list that aren't really religions at all, like atheism, objectivism, bushido, communism, veganism, or "radical feminism."

Kids need to learn how to make good decisions, and resist temptations. If we put too many artificial limits on their options, then they won't be able to make good choices when they're out on their own.

Also, 60 calories is hardly something worthy of a ban, especially for children.

Mastodon's Leviathan album was based on Moby Dick, and it is the light and the way.

Absolutely not.
Re: Kanye- this is not the first (nor will it be the last) time a rock star makes an ass of him/herself at the VMA's. (example from 2000: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyRO22VSsNg)
Re: Serena- Have we forgotten McEnroe in 1981?
Re: Joe Wilson- See also: The Caning of Charles Sumner, 1856 (http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm)

Hmmm... So if I drink wine AND beer, I'll get an extra 7.5 years...

So for a full glass of wine and 2 beers a night, I'll get 15 years...

I'm going to drink my way to immortality.

30 years ago, an International Business Machine was a typewriter. Now it's a weapon

Completely agree. The Upcoming Queue has downgraded my Neatorama experience. Most of the posts that make it through are things that I've already read on other sites, rather than unique finds.
Either the filters need to improve, or the feature needs to die.

This is I IV vi V, not I IV V.

The indescructability of the Reddus Neckulus Americanis never ceases to amaze me. After another 3-5 generations of breeding, I predict their skin will have evolved to a level of bulletproof-ness on par with most body armor.

@Sasha, et al:

The poll is "Who do you think will be the next US President." Not "Who do you want to be the next US President." Arguments against a two-party system aside, there is no reasonable possibility that a third party candidate will be president in 2009.

Stay focused. This is an important election, and we need to work with the hand we're dealt here. Sticking your head in the sand and saying "you're voting for bankers" is just a cop out. You can make all the excuses you want to not get involved, and then sit back with smug "I told you so"'s when everything goes to hell.

Want to change the process? Participate in it. Vote. Run for office yourself. Stop making excuses.

I think most advocates of gun criminalization (note that I did not say "gun control") fear that an armed populace presents an immediate threat to their safety. This may be true. There is an indisputable correlation between the US level of gun violence, and the volume of guns in private hands.

However, if I have to choose between security and liberty, I think the choice is clear. I'd rather live bravely in the land of the free than live safely in the pen of the supervised.

For the record, I don't own a gun, and likely never will. But freedom is only tangible in the ability to make a choice. Every choice your government makes for you is a freedom you've forfeited- and the list of choices you can make should always be longer than the list of choices you can't make.

Apple's made a lot of lofty claims about the capabilities of the iPhone.

I don't remember "It pleases all of the people, all of the time" being among Jobs' bullet points.