JKane

Damn, forgot about the end of month gathering, was even free last night!

Hillary's appearance on Sesame Street converted me!

I want to know who the muscular hottie in the tight polo shirt with #3 on the sleeve was! Saw Raul there and this guy who've I've also seen advertise on Craigslist oh, and Jason, looking like a model.

Slate's also had some great stuff on prostitution and its legality in general. Probably most of it is linked here. But the most interesting thing out of this whole discussion, having nothing to do with Spitzer, is this in-depth analysis of why porn is legal and prostitution isn't.

Am I the only one really tired of Hillary's response to hard questions being "we'll talk about that after I'm the nominee"??? Clinton's earmarks. I think it's starting to be pretty clear she has a lot to hide financially. The stuff Bill's been up to--where they've been getting millions of dollars, and now, why exactly they were given that money.

Friday we made history! For the first time in god knows how long the US economy was no longer #1 in the world. Good job Bush!! http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1491971920080314 We're not yet behind a single country, but the way things are going... I'm no economist either but I figure near the heart of the problem is our economy now being service-based. We don't export anything (except maybe grain and other agriculture), and we are loosing our lock on inventing intellectual property worth anything. Instead we sit here inside a bubble drifting downward, selling crap to each other and needing to import a fair amount of stuff. When the bubble hits the floor... pop.

Yeah, too bad it's butt-ugly! I kinda liked the previous ones, but this one, front and back is fugly.

I'm getting more pissed-off by the day that US automakers have taken billions in handouts to improve fuel efficiency, develop hybrids, etc and there are STILL NO PLUG-IN HYBRIDS!

Yep. I also became worried when I heard him credited as a main force keeping us out of Iran (so far)... And don't forget McCain's "joke" about the old Beach Boy's song "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran". $5-6 a gallon gas anyone? Ok, I've given up on the flying car, but WHERE THE FUCK IS MY PLUG-IN HYBRID???

At the very least please tell us what you find! But be careful, those communist countries aren't exactly friendly to the friends of Dorothy... Could be a hell of a destination some day. Until American corporations sweep in and ruin it...

I'm also a big fan, but I watch off DVD instead of HBO so please no spoilers! I've heard this season may not have been as good as previously, but those seasons were masterworks so I'm guessing this is still pretty good TV (especially given what passes lately!). What was your favorite season/storyline? I think mine has the be Season 3 with Bunny's solution to cleaning up the communities streets. And I liked where he went in S4. The Dock/Union stuff in 2 was good too. It does always seem to end badly for everybody though. I've been to Flint, Michigan, so I can easily imagine a city having been that bad in the 90s/early 2000's. I'd hope it would have picked up some of late. I'm also interested to hear anybody's perspective who lives in/travels to Baltimore lately. Eagerly awaiting the final DVD box, on Wire withdrawal, I've been watching some Homicide reruns. Not quite a good, but obviously has a fair number of similarities. I'd say anybody who's a fan of cop dramas (or just good TV) owes it to themselves to pick up the first couple seasons of The Wire on DVD. It may take a couple episodes to get into it but soon you'll know what *everyone's* raving about!

I've been thinking that maybe Mexico city is as far south as my innate cheapness plus variable schedule might let me get... I just noticed 3 very promising guys on Rentboy, but there are only 4 listed for the city... Another Christian.--Never did get around to trying Kristian in LA before he retired, looks like maybe there are more where he came from..? Pablo and Danyel. Anybody have any experience with any of them? I like that they are all listed as 'vers' in the stats, how's Mexico in general with the latin 'oh, I don't get fucked' machismo? Maybe the guys I'd had bad experiences with in LA were just hustlers... I've certainly had a couple great latinos, but lately my experience is they either have a great body and don't bottom or have a dumpy body (which I don't really need to pay for) and bottom poorly (especially the latter on Craigslist). Doesn't seem to be quite the bargain Brazil used to be, are those prices fair for the market or inflated for rentboy? Are there better sites (English language or easy to figure out) for Mexico City or Tijuana male escorts, with larger selections? What about the guys in la Zona Rosa, are they junkies or regular guys? Safe to hire? Cops still do the 'Tijuana shakedown' in Mexico City? Is it easy to get around without knowing any Spanish (beyond the menu at the local Mexican restaurant)?

I am very surprised to be the only person in this thread with this view, although I was overly harsh in my first post (sorry, was tired and pissed). My problem with Hillary comes down to not seeing what she brings to the table. First, she's by definition a DLC centrist, which we've watched lose the last two elections. So going in she's not going to be trying for anything revolutionary... she'll *start* with compromise on anything she tries to accomplish. Further, she starts her candidacy compromised. Her basic position on the Iraq war is that it was a mistake, that she let herself be duped--but she's awake now. So she agreed with McCain until she didn't, and if the surge continues to be presented as having worked she stopped agreeing with him at the wrong time. Second, she arouses the currently apathetic right-wing. Gives them a reason to get out and support McCain. IF somehow they don't manage to defeat her in the polls (remember, Rush Limbaugh ordered his drones to support her because she'd be easier to beat--and they did--which helped push her over the top in Texas) what makes you think her whitehouse would be less of a circus than her husband's second term? Even if he does somehow keep it in his pants they'll start slinging mud... I'm surprised they've restrained themselves this long from bringing up her husbands last acts as President, those legacy-ruining pardons. Then there's his business dealings since, before they even have to dig out the time machine for her old questionable dealings... Third, Obama really is something different and his potential for change is enormous. Not because he can give a good speech but because those speeches do a better job than any previous candidate in bringing new voters to the polls. Voters Hillary just doesn't inspire--she gets the people who would've voted anyway; he brings the new blood--obvious in the record turnout at primaries and even pain in the ass caucuses. Think for a minute about what that could mean for the rest of the ballot come November! --By significantly *expanding* the Democratic majority in the house / senate and at least starting in a position of idealism imagine what he could accomplish! I don't think we saw its like in JFK's first 100 days, maybe not even in LBJ's. Finally, I think that presenting a truly new face to the world will help us rebuild the relationships we will need to win in Afghanistan, get out of Iraq and have a real shot at winning the 'war on terror'.

With the 3AM ad she did at least as much for McCain as she did for herself, and now she's set a path for McCain to have a 7-week free pass to attack the Democrats while she basically does the same thing--even though mathematically it is almost impossible for her to achieve the delegate lead. So 7 more weeks of this crap after which she will *still* not have the delegate lead! She'll then continue on with the hope of overturning the popular vote with backroom superdelegate deals and anything else she can grasp at such as counting elections where her opponent followed the rules and didn't compete... All this just to get the nomination to a race that many feel she can't win due to electoral college math and her effect on the otherwise apathetic right-wing base. And now there's this shit. My feeling is that Hillary needs to sit down and shut up, for the good of the party and the country. But she's made quite clear that the good of the party and country can fuck off because it's "her turn".