I checked and they're not crystal. Neither are they shorn (which, you might've noticed, was the topic du jour a day or so ago here at Salon--not my jewels, that is (!) but other nether regions).

Here's a passage from one of the books I'm currently reading (The Jesuit and the Skull, by Amir D. Aczel): "Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck ... was very perceptive about evolution--which he called transmutation--although he had no understanding of how the process actually worked .... He believed, for example, that of generations of mice had their tails cut off, eventually mice would be born tailless. According to this theory, Jewish men and others whose ancestors have been circumcised over many centuries would by now be born circumcised."

Now that's my kind of science, even when it's wrong. So my thinking is if I try hard enough, my so-and-sos might become like crystal and let me predict the future (such as "On what day will Glenn ban me?")

I don’t believe that you have ever mentioned that you are Dustin Hoffman’s love child.

This reminded me of a scene in the woefully underrated Billy Bathgate where Hoffman, as Dutch Schultz, says to one of his henchmen (paraphrasing): "Lulu, you're dumb, you're ugly, and that's the truth of you."

Ah, simplicity!

Both Obama, and Bush work for the wealthy.

If you believe this, then who cares where Obama was born? It's a game we can't win, no? One thing's for fuck (forgive the profanity) sure, if what you believe to be true is true, then you're wasting your time over this birth certificate stuff.

and she or he says strange things to you - like - that they absolutely loove Bush and these Republicans always were right and some other foolish 'stuff' - and you watch them how they watch you getting excited - and they look forward that you come down on them like the wrath of god - but you don't - you give them some kind of this Mona Lisa smile and you stay cool and relaxed and it will be a whole new world!

Man, that's both poetic and a real turn-on. I seriously hope you're a woman or I'm in a lotta trouble.

to jump on billybilly, but, well, okay:

You scumbags went after Bush for 8 years, now it payback time!

Scumbags!? Why do you defend someone who's broken the law at every turn, brought murderous warfare to millions of innocent people, many of whom will never have lives absent the trauma of inconceivable acts of violence? And that's just abroad. Here, in the "homeland," we have wiretapping, waste, fraud and abuse (a favorite RW talking point) on a ginormous scale.

Who, sir, is the scumbag? Put down yer Bible, pick up a copy of the Constitution and review Wikipedia's entries on Enlightenment philosophers. Or simply return to your cave and marvel at the wondrous magic of fire.

Why not get a little revenge--The unions have been stealing money from their members and using it in elections againt republicans.

You really are an utter moron; or a Republican tool/operative/employee/hanger-on, which amounts to the same thing. Find some self respect, sir. Be a human.

UAW workers make about $10/hr more than non-union auto assemblers, according to the very NYT article you cite in claiming the pay difference is "spurious."

I quibble with the use of "spurious," but I also have to ask why you're remarking on that $10 an hour difference? For Christ's sake, will we all have to be in Old Poor Richard's poorhouse before you're satisfied? I await the revolution where certain so-and-sos meet a certain such-and-such-an-end and meet their maker in such-and-such-a-manner.

Freedom's on the March, alright.

I'd have said "a'ight" if a shoe had narrowly missed my pinhead and pea brain.

ehillesum: Pehaps conservative churches with the nerve to espouse traditional values is subjected to arson.

But what if it was the Hand of God behind the "arson." I mean, who was behind the burning bush (in the days before penicillin)?

There's more here than meets the eye, a'ight.

Ve vill barry you.

MY God, that turned out to be true!

That is, if I have the right Barry.

to a dullard.

Bar Food and Barry Funny ....yep, couldn't resist the Barry pun, Timothy.

bebop-o will confirm.

Salon is in need of another letters section that will probably garner anywhere from 3 to 500 hundred posts from assorted trolls and outright nuts who need to continue to vent their bullshit.

My thoughts exactly. That's one way for Alex to get that Christmas bonus.

Next up: "Just present the long form. Why won't he do that?"

Look people, Bush and company fought the war as best they know how, succeeded in some fashion and failed in others. Nationally we have decided to turn the page and elected someone we think will not make the same decisions. That is the Democratic process, and it has worked.

I guess you goad for goading's sake (which, I suppose, is the most charitable way to put it) but, really, to say they "fought the war as best they know how," (my bold) is simply beyond the pale. Why do you defend what simply isn't defensible? I just don't understand what, exactly, you're wedded to. It isn't truth. It isn't decency. It isn't justice. I can only sadly conclude it's the status quo. Great thing to have on your tombstone. Here lies shooter242 who sold his soul on behalf of maintaining the power of those who exercised it with viciousness, malevolence and an utter, inhuman disregard for any reasonable standard of decency. It'll be a big headstone to fit all that, but maybe it'll be worth it (if anyone ever comes to visit).