You just had to bring that up, didn't you?

I didn't live to see the fall myself; I was backing Hasdrubal when the Romans and that bastard Masinissa finally captured me (not without a fight, for the record). Masinissa got Sophonisba back, too, which really sucked. She was a serious hottie.

When things get bad as the fall of Carthage, no one's going to be taking the time to post on blogs anymore. At least, no one on the losing side will.

Thanks for the Treaty of Tripoli bit. It's not going to convince any True Believers (too much cognitive dissonance, but it's another arrow for the quiver).

Amen, sister.

Similar deal here. My dad died when I was 6, and though my mother doesn't drink, she's bipolar and has some other interesting mental health issues. Plays fast and loose with her many medications at times, as well. We had DSS involved in our family for many years.

Now, I'm happily married with four kids. I married a wonderful, *sane* woman, and my daily mantra is "be there for my kids & don't screw them up!".

Some of the keys for dealing with messed up parents are limits and humor. Engage your parent, but keep a hard line. Don't put up with too much crap. When too much is encountered, disengage & explain why- "I'm not calling/visiting for awhile b/c I'm sick of listening to/cleaning up your vomit". Messed up parents can be very manipulative (my mother can sucker ~50% of mental health professionals); just say no. Balance honoring the family bond (which means something, even in dysfunctional families) with protecting yourself.

Humor is pretty much essential in these situations. Tragedy + distance = comedy; you need enough distance to be able to laugh. For example, last Thanksgiving, my mother requested that she eat mashed potatoes in my bed. While wearing an eyepatch that she doesn't really need to wear. As though this was a perfectly normal and reasonable request.

Though such behavior continues a long history of overstepping boundaries, socially inappropriate behavior (we had guests that we were just getting friendly with), etc., it was also pretty damn funny.

I voted for Obama, and on balance I think he's doing a pretty good job so far. On balance, I think he's been more or less consistent with his campaign promises on most issues.

But on this important topic, WTF? I am not of the opinion that Obama is a power-hungry fascist, so I am searching for a rationale that makes any sense. I would like to think that some dead-enders in the DOJ didn't get the memo that we don't do this stuff anymore, but that obviously isn't the case.

I'm not looking for justification, just explanation- what the hell is the DOJ (and ultimately, Obama) thinking?

Pirates are primarily in it for the money.

Terrorists are primarily in it for the politics (and/or because they are f-ing crazy).

If a group hijacks and oil tanker, and later releases it and its crew for a few million dollars (see e.g. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7820311.stm), is that terrorism or piracy? Who, apart from the handful of (unharmed) crew and their families, was terrorized?

Isn't seizing a vessel manned by a small number of people out in the middle of nowhere an exceedingly ineffective way to terrorize people?

Let's not confuse terrorists and criminals. Different motives and different tactics that require different counterstrategies.

P.S. Saying "wake up people" is a pretty ineffective method of persuasion.

P.P.S. mbkcrs: Well played.

I am a reasonably experienced programmer, but am just thinking about my first iPhone application. This tutorial will save me a lot of time.

I've visited a few times and lived within 100 ft of the French/German border for a few months in 2006.

I honeymooned there, conceived kids there (TMI, sorry), road their great trains, watched the Tour de France live. I saw more American flags in towns in Normandy than most towns here.

I'll consider retiring to Provence (maybe near Sault) if I have the euros.

But calling Sarkozy a typical arrogant Frenchman is a real insult to typical arrogant Frenchmen. What a dick.

@teaparty420: Well done.

1. Right now, they can, after fed and state incentives. With solar costs dropping ~5% a year (and we're currently experiencing a much bigger drop due to a glut of Si, continued innovation, and a drop in demand due to the recession), and electrical prices rising at comparable clips, grid parity is approaching. Fed/state incentives are helping to accelerate this. For national security, air pollution, fossil fuel price hedge, etc., this is a good thing.

2. Muni bond interest is tax-free, so they can borrow at lower rates (b/c it's equivalent to a higher taxable interest rate). They also pool risk.

Frankly, there is *some* risk for the muni gov't here. If a large proportion of the pop. in a city or town had town-financed solar and then defaulted (conditions like... now), the muni gov't could be on the hook for a decent liability. Right?

But as long as the muni gov't has some say in who qualifies for said loans, that's their problem.

My town has a muni utility. It can issue bonds. As a muni, we can't get external incentives for solar (well, we can, but at a price). But man, the moment the day 1 cashflow on solar (interest vs. value generation) goes positive, we'll be all over it. As should you. Keep watching.

The Bush administration blamed 9/11 on Clinton?