caeron

I guess you'd have to define success. If some people came out at work and helped open some eyes, then it had some. As a concept, it's entirely too diffuse to have much impact overall. Now if it had been "go piss on a mormon temple day", that might have had some impact!

I'd heard detroit had gotten their quality up a lot in the last number of years. I actually was thinking about getting a GM instead of the Toyotas I usually buy next time around because I like the OnStar feature. In the abstract, I do think bankruptcy would probably be better, but I'm selfish enough that I'm not sure I want to take the damage on wall street when they start failing....

I too enjoyed The Day the Earth Stood Still, but say so with the proviso that I am entertained by schlocky sci-fi movies. If you like bad hollywood movies, you'll like it. If you want a coherent plot, you'll be disappointed. I liked Quantum of Solace too. It's still very much a hollywood james bond, but with some actual thought put into the character, and I like the fact that you walk out of the theatre with some questions. They've got more of the story to tell, and don't feel obliged to wrap the whole thing up with a bow at the end. For TV, we've been captivated by Dexter recently. The writers have done a good job of making a likeable, but sort of squicky serial killer.

Wow, this had me in stitches. We just went to see The Day the Earth Stood Still, and in addition to being stunningly bad (though dare I admit entertaining), it nailed nearly all of these.

I'm not really out at work. I thought about it, but thought one, I don't really care to discuss this with my boss. Our relationship over the years has improved a lot, but it's always been a bit tentative, and this would be a weird way to broach the subject. Second, my company is very gay positive, so it seems like a kind of stupid way to make a point. I think targetted protests/actions where you can focus a lot of gay attention on a few people generates the most bang.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/us/13smi...eld.html?ref=us Interesting article on the unionization of the smithfield ham plant. Much he-said she-said, but in general it seems the company was really nasty about the unionization. This quote I think really echoed the sentiments we expressed here: “It feels great,†said Ms. Blue, who makes $11.90 an hour and has worked at Smithfield for five years. “It’s like how Obama felt when he won. We made history.†“I favored the union because of respect,†said Ms. Blue, who is black. “We deserve more respect than we’re getting. When we were hurt or sick, we weren’t getting treated like we should.†You wonder if this would have been an issue at all if the company had just treated their employees well. As a manager, people talk all the time about how they want more money, but what they really respond to is positive feedback and feeling valued. (provided their money is reasonable, of course)

I too have to wonder what I'm going to do about healthcare after I retire. I have a couple of pre-existing conditions that are likely to drive my premiums sky high in the private market. I think it would be great if we could get to the point where we all have a solid base of care, and then we can buy kicker policies to upgrade that.

I agree that the Healthcare issue is a back breaker for Detroit. We need to address this with some form of national healthcare. As someone who has a nice HMO, I don't want to lose what I've got, but it just isn't right that many do without anything at all. Companies can't carry this burden alone, it has to be addressed federally.

New review going us seem to frequently still not be showing their city to me. Right now, daniel, arekk, and andrewjustice all aren't showing their city. Is this still an issue for others or is it just me?

I'm also a bit dubious of unions, but have little sympathy for companies that treat workers as expendable and then are surprised when their workers unionize and are hostile to the company. I get the wonder of free markets, but I'm selfish and worry that we're bleeding out our nation to raise the standard of living for others. If the golden goose dies, what then? I have no answer though. I think most of the cures proposed are far worse than the disease.

I recently bought an iPhone after I cleverly left my last cellphone in my pocket and then washed my pants. I was dubious at first. I used Mac computers in college years ago, and thought they were fine, even good, but overhyped. But I like it, quite a lot. Internet access is pretty good, and it's easy for me to get news on it. Anybody have any must-have applications they've found for it. I'm liking Shazam, a free app that you can hold up to any song, and it will tell you what it is. For a guy trapped in 80s music, it's a real boon.

Betti Page died yesterday. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/arts/12p...tml?_r=1&hp Good obituary. “I want to be remembered as a woman who changed people’s perspectives concerning nudity in its natural form.â€

Senator Craig lost his latest appeal to overturn his guilty plea to indecency in a public restroom. I can't imagine what the conversations at home are like. But I'm more curious about the fascination with T-rooms. I had a good friend in college (20+ years ago) who went a lot until he met his boyfriend in one. But they never much appealed to me. Maybe because I'm more into greek than french, and getting all naked in a public loo just seems a bit nasty. What were others experiences with T-rooms? Did you do them then? Do you do them now? What appeals?

It is really true that we've gone from class to walmart in the sky. Business travel offices have mandates to go cheap-cheap. Leisure travelers shop by fare. Economies of scale dictate that a vendor trying to differentiate on comfort is going to have a very tough road. Maybe someday I'll win the lottery and be able to get netjets.

There is need everywhere. I guess I tend to support international charities more because I was a military brat and grew up in travelling the world. When you're an 8 year old boy living in Izmir Turkey, you get to see a form of poverty you just don't see in the US. It was a valuable experience for me. Another charity I support is Doctors without Borders. http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/ These brave folks go places I wouldn't dare go to help folks in need. So what are other people's favorite charities?

Last year I took a dream trip to SE asia. Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. This year is a weekend at Yosemite. My portfolio's in the tank, and I have no hope of a bonus next year to cover all my special needs. What's a girl to do? Fortunately, my family and friends have gotten out of the habit of gifts for each other. I'll give my nieces and nephews a donation to Heifer international http://www.heifer.org/ this year. I think it's a good thing to remind kids growing up in the land of plenty how good they've got it.

Not the loss of the afterglow, but I always think it's a professional touch, though I'm cynical enough to think that it's the escort trying to build a repeat clientele. The one that gets me is the ones fishing for business that turn up like 6 months later. I had one guy in orange county when I visited who after setting a time called me to beg off at appointment time (my sense was he didn't want to bother driving to me.). I got two separate emails from him over the following months fishing for appointments!

I know that cities say they do this because there isn't enough parking and they want to keep people moving, but they really need to look for other answers. I hate parking meters. I avoid going downtown unless I'm sure there is going to be a garage nearby. It's funny. I don't mind paying for the parking, but having to watch the time that carefully annoys me.

You really think Craigslist can argue with 40 attorney generals? Are you nuts? They could obliterate the company. They have no choice. Let's hope the blue tide helps get those folks focused on things that matter, but I'm not terribly hopeful.

Like this? http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/elec...in-Mexico_N.htm "McCain also met with President Felipe Calderón and visited a new center where Mexico is training federal agents to fight drug smugglers and terrorists." All candidates do this. Don't let the spin machine fool you.

This is why I really prefer reviews here to there. You don't have to write soft core porn, but most of us have acts we like in the bedroom, and if we're paying, we want to get what we want. If you include NO facts about what you did, how am I to know if this escort will satisfy?

JC, You're more "holier than thou" than of us you're accusing. Your holiness is that you think we should support suicidal behavior. You're judging this behavior every bit as much as we are. You're just judging it as OK. I have clear data-driven reasons for disparaging this behavior. Data that you aren't interested in looking at. 15 years ago, people didn't bareback. now it's a "market segment". That is sick, twisted and deadly to our community. Young kids listen to what the community is saying. When they hear barebacking is ok, they do it. And then have to live with that for as long as they can. What we as a community condone matters. If we don't send a clear signal that this is self-destructive behavior, we lose another generation. I'm not ok with that. A fatal virus that has no cure isn't a market segment. So yeah, I'm going to beat the dead horse. Because even if you don't listen to me, I hope others will.

[quote name='SouthernMan' date='Apr 7 2008, 08:54 PM' post='11802' I'd wage a small fortune that 80% of the posters both here and at the other place have never had a m2m encounter that didn't involve an exchange of money, and that 100% of those posters know nothing about what it means to be a gay man. Just my opinion! Yes, if you don't think it's cool to engage in suicidal behavior, you're not really gay. If you don't think its cool to engage in suicidal behavior, you're "holier than thou". No wonder so many gay kids are doing it, with cheerleaders like you guys around.

Translation: I am now embarrassed about arguing unsafe sex is a moral issue and am going to make random attacks on the NY times to avoid addressing the issue. Whatever.

Read this article on living with HIV from the NY Times. If the disease doesn't kill you, the long term effects of the treatment probably will. We don't need the message out there that barebacking is ok. We don't need the message that those who object are just prudes. HIV is a killer. We're lucky we can hold it off for a while with drugs, but this isn't just a lifestyle choice. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...xprod=permalink