My boss is so much happier now that I've only spent three minutes (counting this letter) of productivity, which isn't all that much, money-wise. Fortunately (for you), I've now spent more time with King Kaufman's Superbowl comments than watching hype on tv.

So far.

I still say my missives are worth more than $17. If we're making up numbers, aim high.

By Challenger, Gray & Christmas' estimate, writing this letter to the editor is costing my company around $17 (if I don't run it through a spell checker). Of course, since I'm self-employed, that means it's costing me a minute's worth of Real Work. And I'm worth more than $17.

Let's crunch the imaginary numbers further: If the average hourly wage is three times the current Minimum Wage, what does that say about Undocumented Workers? They get paid very little but probably don't discuss the Super Bowl at all. Illegal aliens are a bargain for any company around Roman Numeral Time. Our immigration policy should reflect workers productivity.

Preview... oops, now I'm up to $34 and counting. My boss (me) will be damn disappointed if I don't get an Editor's Choice star.

I haven't read all the letters so I don't know if anyone else has made this point, but the huge passionate outpouring here in salon.com reflect the anger of the larger world. Gary Kamilya has bought into Karl Rove's bullet points, and I reject his premise from the beginning.

There were some of the largest demonstrations in history, both in the United States and abroad, protesting Bush and the Iraqi invasion. If they made the newspapers, the reports were buried on page six. If they made the cable tv channels, it was briefly mentioned during primetime with a longer report at night. Only The Daily Show spent any time on the huge crowds.

Learning the lessons from the success of the Vietnam War anti-war protests, the right wing has successfully co-opted the media. It's not a "movement" if no one knows that they're neighbors went to a rally. The story is huge, and the conservative news media is staying away in droves.

To the media, the story is never the protests, but the Cindy Sheehan doesn't like George W. Bush. This is more than incompetence, it's a complete abrogation of journalistic responsibility.

Where is the outrage? Everywhere.

Where is the outrage at the press for missing the story? Not here in salon.com.

I rather suspect The Holocaust Memorial Museum didn't like the hopelessly agenda-driven Bush administration shoving Dennis Prager down its throat. The Holocaust Memorial is dedicated to remembering and fighting genocide anywhere. In an astonishing display of public consciousness-raising, they showed slides of the Darfur genocide very publicly against the outside facade of the Memorial. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/21/AR2006112100275.html

This is a free country and Prager has the right to say any damn thing he wants, but he should not be associated with an institution fighting intolerance and hatred.

Bolling is making a satiric point: We won't go into space unless someone is making money. Right now, everyone is making money off the space program. Virtually everything you do, eat or wear in the 21st Century was affected -- for the better -- by the US Space Program. The corporate entities that control space will make a LOT of money. And who will make a LOT of money? The people who have a LOT of money now, eg Haliburtexxon. Where would we be without the internet, weather satellites, new food processing techniques, cheap but strong building materials? Drinking Orange Julius? (They've never been the same since you can't add an egg.)

A dash of satire to remind us that we're not going into space for noble reasons, we're doing it to benefit us here on earth. Oh, and to preserve our nuclear missile dominance, but let's not mention that right now.