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Letna Park is a place to cruise outdoor in Prague (close to the huge metronom overooking the river). The other park where it is possible is the TV Park. Cruising places also include Drakes, Heaven cinema and Alcatraz, which are indoor sex clubs.

I love my KitchenAid products. They are heavy duty and, as you suggest, likely will last a lifetime. When making a high labor item like a lemon pie as per the Abigail Adams recipe, one needs all the patience and electric aid one can muster. It still takes hours to make and those who love lemon pie will fawn and more when eating it. Good stuff lasts. My testimony to this effect is the friends we have. Best regards, RA1

A judge in the Florida Keys today overturned Florida's ban on gay marriage. Circuit Judge Luis Garcia in Monroe County made history, ruling that a provision in the Florida Constitution that outlaws same-sex marriage violates the U.S. Constitution. His ruling, if enacted, would make Florida the 20th state to allow same-sex marriage. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-gay-marriage-ban-overturned-florida-20140717,0,5016096.story

1. Hurrah another domino falls! 2. Cue hitoall...

Oldie but goodie.Martyrs, Virgins and Grapes By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF Published: August 4, 2004 The New York Times ''The virgins are calling you,'' Mohamed Atta wrote reassuringly to his fellow hijackers just before 9/11. It has long been a staple of Islam that Muslim martyrs will go to paradise and marry 72 black-eyed virgins. But a growing body of rigorous scholarship on the Koran points to a less sensual paradise -- and, more important, may offer a step away from fundamentalism and toward a reawakening of the Islamic world. Some Islamic theologians protest that the point was companionship, never heavenly sex. Others have interpreted the pleasures quite explicitly; one, al-Suyuti, wrote that sex in paradise is pretty much continual and so glorious that ''were you to experience it in this world you would faint.'' But now the same tools that historians, linguists and archaeologists have applied to the Bible for about 150 years are beginning to be applied to the Koran. The results are explosive. The Koran is beautifully written, but often obscure. One reason is that the Arabic language was born as a written language with the Koran, and there's growing evidence that many of the words were Syriac or Aramaic. For example, the Koran says martyrs going to heaven will get ''hur,'' and the word was taken by early commentators to mean ''virgins,'' hence those 72 consorts. But in Aramaic, hur meant ''white'' and was commonly used to mean ''white grapes.'' Some martyrs arriving in paradise may regard a bunch of grapes as a letdown. But the scholar who pioneered this pathbreaking research, using the pseudonym Christoph Luxenberg for security reasons, noted in an e-mail interview that grapes made more sense in context because the Koran compares them to crystal and pearls, and because contemporary accounts have paradise abounding with fruit, especially white grapes. Dr. Luxenberg's analysis, which has drawn raves from many scholars, also transforms the meaning of the verse that is sometimes cited to require women to wear veils. Instead of instructing pious women ''to draw their veils over their bosoms,'' he says, it advises them to ''buckle their belts around their hips.'' Likewise, a reference to Muhammad as ''ummi'' has been interpreted to mean he was illiterate, making his Koranic revelations all the more astonishing. But some scholars argue that this simply means he was not ''of the book,'' in the sense that he was neither Christian nor Jewish. Islam has a tradition of vigorous interpretation and adjustment, called ijtihad, but Koranic interpretation remains frozen in the model of classical commentaries written nearly two centuries after the prophet's death. The history of the rise and fall of great powers over the last 3,000 years underscores that only when people are able to debate issues freely -- when religious taboos fade -- can intellectual inquiry lead to scientific discovery, economic revolution and powerful new civilizations. ''The taboos are still great'' on such Koranic scholarship, notes Gabriel Said Reynolds, an Islam expert at the University of Notre Dame. He called the new scholarship on early Islam ''a first step'' to an intellectual awakening. But Muslim fundamentalists regard the Koran -- every word of it -- as God's own language, and they have violently attacked freethinking scholars as heretics. So Muslim intellectuals have been intimidated, and Islam has often been transmitted by narrow-minded extremists. (This problem is not confined to Islam. On my blog, www.nytimes.com/kristofresponds, I've been battling with fans of the Christian fundamentalist ''Left Behind'' series. Some are eager to see me left behind.) Still, there are encouraging signs. Islamic feminists are emerging to argue for religious interpretations leading to greater gender equality. An Iranian theologian has called for more study of the Koran's Syriac roots. Tunisian and German scholars are collaborating on a new critical edition of the Koran based on the earliest manuscripts. And just last week, Iran freed Hashem Aghajari, who had been sentenced to death for questioning harsh interpretations of Islam. ''The breaking of the sometimes erroneous bonds in the religious tradition will be the condition for a positive evolution in other scientific and intellectual domains,'' Dr. Luxenberg says. The world has a huge stake in seeing the Islamic world get on its feet again. The obstacle is not the Koran or Islam, but fundamentalism, and I hope that this scholarship is a sign of an incipient Islamic Reformation -- and that future terrorist recruits will be promised not 72 black-eyed virgins, but just a plateful of grapes. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/04/opinion/martyrs-virgins-and-grapes.html

Watched my grandmother's sister (great aunt) use one. Although she lived in mid-town Memphis, she had a party line and when you picked up the receiver, an operator would answer with, "number please". She also added food coloring to margarine which was lily white when bought. Most things aren't really better than those days, only more expensive. Best regards, RA1

Unfortunately the Onions rendition of how police departments use evidence is sometimes too close to the truth for comfort. Of course, often, comedy is very much based upon the "truth". Best regards, RA1

Police Department Reduces Costs By Using Same Evidence For Every Investigation NEWS IN BRIEF Local Police Crime & Justice News ISSUE 5028 Jul 16, 2014 JACKSONVILLE, FL Noting that the new procedure is far more efficient and has completely streamlined the investigative process, representatives from the Jacksonville Police Department confirmed Wednesday they have been able to sharply reduce costs by reusing the same evidence in every case they handle. "Our department used to spend considerable time and manpower scouring crime scenes for clues, obtaining search warrants, interrogating suspects, and interviewing witnesses, but since we started using the same gun and DNA swab for every crime, weve been able to breeze through investigations in no time," said police chief Alec McCarthy, who stated that the Jacksonville police have been able to close every case that has come up since the new protocol was enacted as well as make a significant dent in the departments accumulated backlog of unsolved crimes. "Homicide investigations would often drag on for weeks, but now we're in and out in two hours. We knocked out a triple murder, four breaking and enterings, and two aggravated assaults with a deadly weapon just this morning, and were on track to wrap up a couple of old child abduction cold cases by the end of the day." Citing the success of the new program, the department said it is considering reusing the same signed confession for each case as well. http://www.theonion.com/articles/police-department-reduces-costs-by-using-same-evid,36476/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=Default%3A2%3ADefault

Of course, crazy is a term of affection. I hereby offer you the opportunity to join those of us who lost their minds so long ago, we don't even miss them any more. Best regards, RA1 Granny Clampett was always my favorite.