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I've read enough about this story to know that two of the pilots are named Lee, so I'd like to think this wouldn't have got by me. Had that not been the case, however, I'm pretty sure I would have just sounded them out as written and hoped for the best. Maybe by the time I got to 'Fuk', the light would have gone on. I hope so anyway, but I couldn't guarantee it. Besides, had I been a Fox newscaster for any length of time, I expect I'd have long ago stopped paying attention to most of the horseshit that rolls by on the teleprompter. And apologizing for it would be a full-time job all by itself.

If you can't change the corroded battery contacts, you may be able to sandpaper them down to shiny metal. The important thing is to make a good connection between the contacts and a new set of batteries. You can also look in your closet for the AC adapter that came with the keyboard. That's another way to get power to it. If you can't find it, Radio Shack sells universal AC adapters. Take the CASIO along with you and ask the salesperson to show you the right connector for your unit. Who knows? You may even find a husband!

Unwilling to believe The Web is really closing, AdamSmith decides to stick around for just one more.

True enough. But what do we do? Do we sit back as our government learns more about what we're doing and we learn less about what it's doing? How long will it take us to revert to where we were 250 years ago? Are we already there and just too dumb to know it?

If we didn't buy a product just because it was made by a straight guy, then I think your analogy would be valid. But Card goes beyond just being a straight guy and actively opposes rights which are important to gay folks. He would, if he could, have prevented my friends from getting married this morning. And Charlie. And Lucky. If there were a gay guy who tried taking away the right of straight couples to get married, I wouldn't buy his books either. Card is entitled to his views, as I am entitled to mine. The difference is I don't go around poking my big bazoo into his business.

Congratulations, Charlie! I went to my first all-groom wedding this morning in the rotunda at San Francisco City Hall. They've been together for twenty years. Very nice.

As this is an all-volunteer site, I don't think anyone is obliged to put up with behavior they don't enjoy. Nor do I think it's an act of 'manliness' to endure rude and unpleasant behavior from folks one has never met. Who needs it? There are plenty of manly men around who are just as pleasant and affable as the day is long. Not that this site is overrun with unpleasant behavior. Far from it. Not only have OZ and TY done a great job of setting acceptable boundaries, but I think most posters here are pretty good at moderating themselves. But that's not always the case on all sites, and a little vigilance can't hurt. As we are reminded whenever a favorite poster disappears. I'll also add that I think the responsibility for site health and longevity lies with the person who writes something unpleasant, rather than the person who reads it. Sometimes a reader is already creeped out by the time he realizes he's reading a snarky post or PM. Whereas someone who writes a creepy post or PM always has the opportunity to refrain from hitting the 'send' button. I think most of us can overlook an error in judgement from time to time but, if it becomes the norm, then the site can go off the rails pretty quick. I remember a site called 'EscortSpeak' where the members all had skin as thick as a water buffalo but, even then, folks began to drift away until there was no one left to pay the bills. I also remember my own experience being creeped out at Daddy's a few years ago not by just one poster, who was obnoxious as could be, but by a couple of others who stood on the sidelines and cheered him on. I figured if that's the kind of site they want, more power to them, but I myself had other places I'd rather be. My hope is that this site remains a supportive one where folks keep looking for ways to keep everyone under the tent. Even if someone is having a bad day and feeling crabby, it might be better just to say so before lashing out at someone else. I think most everyone here has a good heart and can be counted on to help soothe another poster's jangled nerves.

It usually improves mine.

Perhaps RA1 could give him a lift.

Tomorrow, there will be a group marching in the SF Pride parade in support of Bradley Manning. Daniel Ellsberg, 82, will be among them. There was a kerfuffle in April when the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee board named Manning Grand Marshal, and then rescinded the nomination a few days later. I hope he is aware of the strong support he has.

Plus the District of Columbia!

They can save their money as far as I'm concerned. I was at a small winery last year and asked the winemaster - mistress, actually - why there were two different-colored oak barrels. She told me the darker ones were French toasted oak barrels that weren't as harsh as the lighter local oak barrels. It finally dawned on me that the harshness I picked up in some white wines was from oak. She went on to tell me that oak had become a fad in recent years and, to reduce the time it took to impart oak flavor, the Australians had gone so far as to flow the wine over a bed of oak chips. Yech! She said that, thankfully, the fad was starting to die out and that she was glad the emphasis was swinging back to the grapes. I've found that most places will be able to make a recommendation for low-oak whites, and I always ask.

Everett prepares to diagram the sentence. He has requested a large piece of chalk, and a footstool.

Some nest! I think there's an egg in there somewhere but how am I supposed to sit on it underneath all those shoes? You promised me you'd add on a nursery after the last one. That was three weeks ago. All you ever do is sit around here drinking all day. And I'm still waiting for that worm you went out to get this morning. I told you you'd have to leave early if you wanted to stand a chance but, no, you had to stay out all night crapping on windshields. It's a good thing I'm so patient and sweet. And it's starting to smell in there, worse than the last time and I'm getting sick and tired of just putting up with it and suffering in silence. By the way, your mother called and she wants you to . . .

Just make sure he's not working for Rick Santorum. You may find yourself honeymooning in Cuba.

Aw, baby, she means nothing to me. And the burrow was so dark, I thought it was you! Honest!! Here, have another cranberry.

One thing for sure is that the harder the feds make it for him, the harder it will be to shove the genie back in. Snowden wanted a national dialogue and he's got one. I, for one, am very glad. Imagine if this issue had stayed in the closet for another decade.

That reminds me, I've got to clean the fridge this weekend.

Gosh, does this mean that every annoying, hypocritical, racist TV personality will be leaving the airwaves?

I'll go out on a limb here and speculate that the NSA is collecting a lot of stuff, particularly voice calls, that they haven't shared with us yet. I don't know that they're processing all the info in real time; in fact, I'd be surprised if they were. But I bet they're storing it in case it comes in handy some day. And, once it's stored, I wouldn't bank on its being destroyed after five years, as some have said it will be. Once it's in those servers, my guess is that it will stay there. And, if you'll permit me one more presumptuous prediction, I'll posit that this trove of data will be mined for purposes other than "making us safer from terrorists". Once the records are there, why wouldn't they be mined for all manner of federal, state, or local purposes? Suppose one day we find ourselves with a government that's down on hanky panky and decides to see who emailed an escort or called him to see if he was all tied up for the weekend. Just as I can't say with any certainty that this will happen in the foreseeable future, I also can't say that it won't. Once the capability exists to dig into someone's daily activities in detail, why would it not be used? And, if the government continues to be as secretive as it is today, I think it will be happening long before we know about it. Maybe it is already. There was a terrific Bill Moyers interview a few days ago with Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig who is all over this privacy issue. I totally agree with him that the infrastructure itself is something to be careful about, no matter for what good reasons it's used today. He seemed amazed that it's as open as it is to access by a contractor, and argued that the same technology that is used to collect the data can be used to make sure it is used only as the law allows, with auditability of civil protections built right into the software code. He said that hardly anyone is even thinking about having that discussion today. If you decide to watch the whole interview, hang on to your hat for the second part. He explains exactly why Congress is broken and lays out a plan to fix it. Not an easy plan, but a necessary one. The guy's got a head on his shoulders.

Well, maybe you've got the right idea. The politicians that I've been supporting advocate food, housing, and health care for all. As we are now often reminded, that can get pretty expensive. So maybe what we should be doing is giving everyone a gun instead. There's a modest one-time up front cost and the lucky ones can use the gun to get everything they need. And the unlucky ones won't need anything at all. Problem solved.

Wonder what I could get for 40.

It sure looks pretty.

From your lips . . .