I'm planning on stocking up on stock in companies that sell things like "Dinosaur Eggs". Kelloggs, Procter and Gamble, and so on. I'm thinking beer companies and Campbell's, as well. We all gotta eat and the stock prices are dropping to the point where the P/E ratios make sense.

When I got my second college degree, I had to take a history course. It was pretty basic, but I liked that one assignment was to sit down with someone in the generation previous and talk about events that were important to them. One student talked to granny, who lived in an internment camp. Another talked to a WW II veteran. My dad and I talked The Great Depression. People took care of each other and fed each other. There were suicides, but I have to wonder if those guys would have killed themselves anyway.

Given how the economy has been, we're drowning in clothes, shoes, toys, gadgets, and so on. Stable people will always find a place to live with friends and relatives. The FDIC is here and its doing its job. The U.S. did not have the FDIC back then.

We'll manage and the truly smart people won't panic and will wade through the sheep to pluck up some bargains on the market and prosper when this all bounces back.

Her timing was fine. She had to wait for people to stop laughing before she delivered her next line. Betty's a great person and does wonderful things under the radar. I remember when Katrina hit the Audubon Institute's aquarium, she financed the rescue of all those little penguins on her own dime and sent them to the Monterey Aquarium. Fed Ex got tons of credit for flying them back, but consider that this one little old lady shelled out about 50 grand to bring them to CA and the only notice of it was in the local Monterey paper. I hope she gets to meet Obama to give him a little "experience" (She'll probably drag him to the animal shelter and make him adopt a dog for the girls.)

Given the national scrutiny and now the results of "troopergate", Alaskans have an idea of who they voted into office. She's not a VPILF or a GILF, she's a blindly ambitious self-marketer with no substance and a lot of greed. Hopefully, after the country runs her out on a rail, Alaskans will as well.

I recall watching a black comedian, perhaps D.L. Hughley, talking about what it was like to start to become famous. All of his friends assumed he was able to splash his money around. One of his lines was to the effect of "I need a tank of gas. Can I have 400 dollars?" So, put yourself in their shoes. People are standing around your cousin, palms up everywhere he goes.

The only people who should even think of getting away with asking someone for stuff are nonprofits and small children.

I think even doing what Cary suggests - writing a letter asking for advice - is going too far. If you actually like the guy, then be in touch with them because you enjoy his company. If you don't, send him holiday cards and show up at his house if you are invited to something. But, leave it at that. Begging will pretty much guarantee that you'll be persona non grata. He didn't get where he is by being a chump.

Just sayin'

San Francisco Chronicle for Obama today. (Not a big surprise)

I don't know if LW is male or female, but Little Brother sure is. Men don't do the birthday or holiday cards. Women do. The wife usually winds up doing all of those cards. If she has chronic fatigue, she's not going to do it. It'd be a nice world where men send cards, but they don't. As for his attire, I can say that the world is not staring at him as if he were Napoleon Dynamite ("Gaaa. I can do whatever I WANT!"). You are staring at him. I used to freak out over my parents being overweight when I was a teen, but as an adult, when I see a teen with two overweight parents, I see three people, not a teen carrying her parents like a set of post-its.

I commend the water bottle thing. We need more people to carry them.

As for being Aspy - if he has a wife and a good job and can afford to travel around, it can't be that bad. I know lots of autistic and aspy people all up and down the scale, because I'm in high tech. I'm used to them. You should get used to it, too. I don't think he needs professional help. I think you need to get over yourself.

I'm seeing liberals refer to Palin as a cunt. I am seeing conservatives referring to Obama as a terrorist.

I think everyone needs a glass of milk, some cookies, and a nap.

I saw the video on the HuffPost and wondered who the guy was. He asked all the questions I would, only more loudly and persistently. That congressperson had a really limited arsenal to work with and should have known better and done some homework before going on the air with those assertions and broad statements.

Why is it less of a problem to abort a fetus from a rape than from a zesty backseat session between two consenting people? I am, btw, very pro choice. But why do we have to use the strawman that some circumstances behind a choice for an abortion are more acceptable than others? If the conservatives are all about the fetuses, why do circumstances matter?