..in the workplace was just bizarre.

Do you really want to go to the doctor and have your diagnosis voted on by the staff including the cleaning crew? How about when you get your car fixed or go to the movies--do you want your car fixed or the movie shown whenever the repair guys or the projectionist feels up to it?

Of course people take direction at work. Most people are doing work that's bigger than they are. People in corporations or factories or doctors' offices are usually doing little bits which are in support of some larger purpose. That means someone has to tell them what to do, and that person ends up being known as the 'boss.' Is there some better way?

Collaborative effort is not an invention of Adolf Hitler and honest work is not soul deadening to real geniuses. Albert Einstein, for example, did his best work while working at the patent office. He wasn't 'too tired' at the end of the day to do some creative thinking, nor did he turn to drugs or flaming t-shirts. By all accounts, Einstein was actually good at his day job. Unlike your average self-proclaimed genius, Albert Einstein wasn't crushed by the 'system.'

Highway 61 Revisted.

Top that, anyone.

Of course, it's not like I even knew who Bob Dylan was at that time.

...Sorry, but I just can't stop thinking about what a complete dipshit Carry is. There are people at Salon who work for Cary or under him; somebody draws his picture, edits his words, puts his column online, checks the reader responses, etc. Somebody cleans his office, looks after his supplies, maintains his computer. Somebody handles the bills, gives him his paycheck, brings in the advertisers.

And if any of these people don't do their job, they get fired. If they vote to do something else, they get fired. If they're 'too tired' after work to do something else, that's just too bad for them. If they find their work soul deadening, it's no sweat off Cary's nose.

Cary bitches about 'authoritarianism' in the workplace but he has no apparent problem imposing this 'authoritarianism' on anyone else.

Working IS a waste of a human life in most situations.

And just how is 'democracy' in the workplace supposed to change that, if true?

Suppose your job is to punch holes in paper. Now we have 'democracy' in the workplace. Doesn't somebody still have to punch the holes in the paper? Won't it be you? Will you like it better then?

If it's the democratic vote of the workplace that says you have to punch holes in paper, why is that better then getting your orders from a boss? At least you can bitch to your fellow workers about your boss. But who do you bitch to when it's your fellow workers who are your boss?

Neither you or Cary is thinking this thing through. A job is not about doing what YOU want to do, it's about doing what OTHER people need or want done. Getting adequately paid for it is probably the best most people can ever hope for. And even that's not necessarily a given.

Try on some 1965 for size:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKoV1yJnqAI

Again it has to be admitted that I actually have no more connection with Bob Dylan in 1965 than a baby born just this morning. But somebody has to stick up for 1965.

No pardon.

Bush has yet to show that he gives a shit for anyone else's problems, so why would he start now?

He probably thinks Libby betrayed him by not shooting himself in the head.

Will Bush lose more of his base if he doesn't pardon Libby? Yes, but Bush doesn't care.

...and hasn't been for decades.

This cartoon makes me laugh and that's all it needs to do. Is it slyly self contradictory? Yep, and that's funny too.

...there is no more reason to believe that there's a God who writes "TINKLES IN THE TUB" in the sky then there is to believe that penquins can talk. He's simply pointing in a gentle way how absurd it is to believe that there's some giant master of the Universe out there that somehow cares if we tinkle in the tub or not.

There's no cop out here.

...I note the complete lack of BS. Her factually based, level headed common sense could play very well in the election. This is not something that either Kerry or Gore had to any degree.

...would be a great idea, and highly subversive. Couldn't Salon arrange to do it?

...and Kerry flipped a salute. Neither really ran on the issues or their expertise.

The plastic ones like shells work well and are easy to set. Use peanut butter as everyone says.

Glue traps will make you feel like Mouse Hitler. And you can't reuse them.