I spit hot coffee out my nose when I read that one. This is the first paglia column i've taken time to read and i'm now both richer and poorer.

Poorer because I expected to take 4 minutes to read a single page.

Richer because I had to read the whole thing and follow many links. The naomi mather vidi is great. I like it better than the holwlin' wolf version because I really really like raw guitar played well.

I never magined I'd like anything from clarkson, but have been now proved wrong.

I think I'll read the next column too.

Thnx

Bill still did some stuff after the impeachment. He gave presidential pardons to some shady people. There were also rumors that the clinton's "liberated" some items of value from the whitehouse.

So, there are a few new arrows in the quiver. I don't think any of them will pierce though - not even the marc rich pardon.

At least we (probably) won't hear about the maybury machiavellis again.

I finally found someone with a credible reason to vote for hillary. "why the hell not?" If the candidates are all indistinguishable corrupt scheming assholes, then the woman and the black man at least look different. Maybe a woman actually would be different. What's to lose?

Glenn describes a priesthood. They surround themselves with ritual and decree who is allowed to watch, participate and join. As with the Aztec priests, they are willing to doom some unwilling participants (they call 'em regrettable civilian losses and other euphemisms).

Interestingly, Glenn seems to want to learn the secret handshake. There is no secret handshake, just a willingness to engage, carve out territory, and protect turf. If you want in on the discussion, start discussing. If the priests won't talk to you, then talk to other people. If you catch the right ears, you win. Hell, even Ann Coulter is anointed as a serious voice in some circles. It's a matter of engaging and picking the right circle.

Gather other voices, have reasoned debate, and pull mind share. The priests will dismiss you until you get too loud to ignore. Then they will try to crucify you. Meanwhile, if you want a pissing contest with the priests then you must learn to use sound bites. A thousand word discourse works in the hallowed halls amongst those who play by certain "Byzantine rules" but taxes the attention (and indulgence) of others. Think of it this way: A truckload of poo is fertilizer while a slung turd is annoying and leaves a smear.

I suspect that his company's faltering stock price is as unwelcome to him as it is to China.

I disagree. An IPO is the mechanism by which the earlier investors cash out and (hopefully) realize their profit. Also, Blackstone is a bunch of finance dudes who profit from buying and selling but not from creating. They priced the IPO to extract maximum cash from the market. If the price had gone UP, they would have been upset because it means they left cash on the table.

Sure, the value of their remaining stock has dropped, but that is paper - not cash. Finance guys are critically aware of the difference between billionaire and paper billionaire.

The dems passed the latest spying bill because they approve it, not because they fear bush. Under bush, the mantra is to fear terrorists and islamo-fascists. Under the dems, the mantra will be to fear the pedophiles, hate speakers, right wing militias, and fornicators.

Either way, the message is the same:

Get your fear on!

But don't worry. The government is here to help, you shouldn't worry if you've nothing to hide, and you weren't using those civil rights anyway.

No math isn't sexy. Women that understand math, however, have a sexy facet that others lack. It's about the way people think. For example, when studying a language you eventually understand ideas that can only be expressed in that language The attic greek word kalistos is my favorite example. Additional languages lead to additional ideas and levels of understanding.

Similarly, people that understand mathematical logic have additional strata of ideas and expression.

In my research engineer decades, I dated/befriended/loved a few women who operate at a PhD level in physics, engineering, chemistry, and biochemistry. A pretty face wears thin without a brain behind it. A less pretty face gets fascinating when an inner light shines through. It reminds me of that bit about cleopatra:

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale

Her infinite variety; other women cloy

The appetites they feed; but she makes hungry

Where most she satisfies: for vilest things

Become themselves in her, that the holy priests

Bless her when she is riggish

Many people incorrectly think

It's vastly more important that a Democrat win in 2008 when it is more important that the power of congress and respect of the constitution are restored. Further down the list is getting the best person elected - either dem, GOP, or independent.. Having bush in place doesn't matter because no one is running against the man but many are running against his legacy.

No, impeach the bastards now. Let future presidents know that it can and will happen. Restore congress to the position of making laws that the president obeys and enforces. Those are more important than who gets the oval office next. The way things are going, we'll get another proto-dictator. Perhaps even hilary.