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Chazerai would have made my list too. Literally pig food, but useful for just about anything disgusting. I like the visuals conjured up by Yiddish words. I could carry a bag of groceries home easily enough, but it packs a lot more punch if I shlep it. Plus they're fun to say. As Ihpguy says, putz should be on the list and it's much more fun to say than plain old penis or dick. Even dickwad isn't as much fun. And chutzpah! If you have any phlegm in your throat before you say it, you won't when you're done.

Sher-i-dan! How thoughtful of you to call Mummy, Dear. You're staying with an old queen where, Dear? St James's Palace? Oh my word! Now do be careful, Sheridan. Don't step on the corgis. And wear your rubbers, Dear. You know how Mummy worries. Yes, I'll ask Daddy to send an extra fifty pounds. By-ee!

It looks like he's found it.

I understand stool color can even be used to predict sexual preferences.

Even as a fellow goy, I find it odd they mention gevalt only peripherally. I think it was one of Leo Rosten's funny stories about a Jewish woman whose family changed their name, became Episcopalian, moved to Connecticut, and joined the country club. One afternoon, lunching with her waspy ladies group, the waiter spilled hot soup down her cleavage. "Gevalt!" was out of her mouth before she could think. As all heads swiveled toward her, she added demurely, "Whatever that means."

. . . Well, maybe we should get a life. Face it, sweetie, this is our life. . . .

Not only a delightful read, but contains a quote I've been searching for for years! I thought it was in a book about Robert Oppenheimer, but turns out it was one of E. M. Forster's: It has never happened to me that I’ve had to choose between betraying a friend and betraying my country, but if it ever does so happen I hope I have the guts to betray my country. Obliged to a factor of ten! Also happy that La Parker liked it too. She adds, 'Now doesn’t that make the Fifth Amendment look like a bum?'

Lifetime Gold Member AdamSmith sets out to explore the Boytoy® empire

Despite what some others may think, My liver's accustomed to drink. Late one night I was toasted And had the thing broasted, Though I still can't get over the stink.

Perhaps when he's finished in Hong Kong, he could come over here and help us get some candidates who aren't hand-picked.

] Andre? Any further thoughts about bottoming?

I'd knock on doors for charity, I'd phone bank, and I'd beg. I'd stand in snow and ring a bell, And do it on one leg. But if I had to wax my nuts To help the down and out, They'd all just have to find a job, or starve, without a doubt.

Please, I'm begging you, use the spray!

Too bad you won't be around next week. My twin brother is coming from Recife.

The good news is, what lung tissue you have left should be tough as Kevlar® and let you work without a mask under any earthly conditions.

Haven't smoked a ciggie for forty-plus years but, if I did, it would have to be one of these. First heard of them a couple evenings ago while watching a biography of Princess Alice of Battenberg, Prince Philip's late mother, heavy smoker, and part-time resident of Buckingham Palace. One fellow remarked that you could tell when she was in residence by the smell of Woodbines along the palace corridors. Apparently, these smokes were also known as "gaspers" owing to their high tar, absence of filters, and the inability of novice smokers to handle them. They sound like the British equivalent of Gitanes or perhaps U. S. war-time Chesterfields. The harshest thing I ever smoked though were Indian bidis, their only redeeming feature being the low price. They say there was no cow dung in them, but I was never fully convinced.

And in his spare time, Dr. Emanuel likes to climb mountains and think up ways to keep old people from using up the health care budget. Personally, I was hoping my friends would take me out for a nice drink on my seventy-fifth, instead of trying to suffocate me. I guess time will tell. Worth noting that the author is one of the architects of Obamacare and was the guy Sarah Palin had in mind when she rattled on about 'death panels'. He's also the older brother of Rahm Emmanuel. I sure don't see him coming anywhere close to supporting treatment choices being taken away from older folks by anyone, either insurers or the government, although I do think his 'personal' reflections are meant for a wider audience both within and outside the NIH and could enter into public discussion about eventual policy. It seems a bit disingenuous, if not silly, for an intelligent fifty-seven year old man to be putting stakes in the ground about what he'll do when he's seventy-five. Makes it sound like he's not expecting to learn anything new in the meantime. In his favor, he left himself an exit strategy the size of Uranus. He does make some interesting points, but then so did that guy selling aluminum siding.

Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been? I've been to London to look at the Queen. Pussy cat, pussy cat, did Her Majesty purr? Decidedly not, and her mouse pulled my fur.

Fascinating story, AdamSmith! Hadn't heard that one. Dunno how Burns decided what to put in and what to leave out. As mentioned before, the series covered a lot of history but the focus was definitely tilted toward the personal. The full title was The Roosevelts, An Intimate History, and there was a lot on the various Roosevelts themselves. Perhaps the Sumner Welles story didn't make the cut. He didn't show Eleanor in flagrante delicto, that's for sure, but it wasn't apparent to me anyway that he was "whitewashing" her relationships with other women. CharliePS, I'd be interested in your take after you've had a chance to watch the program. I could easily see a whole thread on attitudes toward gays throughout U. S. history. My own peccadillos began almost two decades after FDR's death and, even then, I don't recall anyone who was bringing the issue into the public discourse, let along taking a public stand on it. It wasn't until the Walter Jenkins story that I remember hearing anything in the media about it. It would have taken a rare politician to support gay rights in those days. In fact, I don't recall the word even being used then. One of these days I might sneak off to the Hormel Center and see what I can find.

Regrettably short notice but just saw that "A Piece of Work" is on PBS' American Masters series tonight at 10:30. Went to see it when it came out and I think I'll watch it again.

They probably don't know many vegans. Here's a little Bowels of the Earth video that will tell you where in the world this technology could really take off. (hint: it's not New York)

And you knew about the Depression, right? What's especially nice about this series for me is that, even if you know all the history, the personal insights enlighten the events. I could feel the despair and the triumphs that everyone was going through. A man watching FDR's funeral was weeping. When someone asked him if he knew the president, he said "No, but he knew me." I bet you're going to like the series more and more as you go along. PS: Keep an eye out fot the hardbodies in the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Well, lookie here! Paul Krugman, only yesterday, called out the mean-spirited folks who have succeeded in cutting unemployment benefits while the rich are getting richer. Not as surprising that the politicians are pulling this shit as it is that we're letting them get away with it. Better wind down my rant here, before I get run off to the Politics Forum.

Probably should have put this in the Politics Forum, but there has been so much more than politics in this series. I've never been much of a history buff, but then something like The Roosevelts comes along and makes me realize what I've missed. I hope that MsGuy, and others, will come along and put this incredible family in better context. So much is different between then and now but, in my opinion, the similarities and differences are pretty equally weighted. What really seems different though is how much our political discourse has changed. F'rinstance, one blurb from Franklin Roosevelt's second inaugural address was amazing for its simplicity, directness, and honesty, but mostly for the fact that a president could nearly get booed from the platform for making it today: The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. He was warmly cheered for saying that we should be concerned for the less fortunate among us. Today, there would be millions of selfish voices swearing that the only path forward is to cut taxes on the wealthy and cut benefits to the poor. They believe, or so they say, that we will be a much better nation if we let the poorly paid and unemployed just suck it up and put as much money as we can into the pockets of the rich. Such a position would be shameful to FDR and, personally, it's counter to all the values I learned growing up. How can our national values have changed so much? Something else I learned in the program, or rather unlearned, was the role that World War II spending, in advance of and during the war, was the reason the economy improved so much. In fact, the programs that FDR put in place during his first term, while WWII was still a ways away, had an immediate impact in improving wages and cutting unemployment. Moreover, when he cut back the programs after a few years to 'balance the budget', another mini-depression followed immediately, and most of the programs were restored. And, once again, direct federal intervention worked wonders. Another learning experience, for me anyway, was how active Theodore Roosevelt was in shifting the balance of power away from the wealthy industrialists and toward workers. Even as a Republican, he was not shy about spreading the country's wealth around more equitably. Also, I hadn't realized how eager he was to go to war, any war, and it was surprising to see how much he cared for the common man, as long as the common man was born in the United States. I'd known about Eleanor Roosevelt's lifetime connections to active, involved, and powerful women, many of whom were likely gay, but I hadn't been aware of how completely these women were integrated into the Roosevelt family and how much influence they had on FDR himself. This is the first time I ever stayed glued to two hours of TV, seven nights in a row, and was focused the whole time. All in all, an incredible bit of storytelling by Ken Burns and I'm likely to watch the series again. Looks like they're all on the PBS website for anyone who's interested. I do tend to get doe-eyed when enveloped by compassionate folks who put their beliefs into action and I'm sure I've missed plenty of nuances in how this powerful family affected our country and the world and millions of hearts in the bargain. So I hope those who are more knowledgeable and informed will rein me in before I become too worshipful.