Not quite right. Our 29B doesn't go to bear-stearns (hereinafter BS) shareholders. It goes to the BS creditors. IF BS were bankrupted without taxpayer funding, then the share value goes to zero and the creditors get to fight over (actually walk away from) the worthless BS assets. With us bailing them out, then those creditors instead fight over the 30B, of which 29B comes from you and I.

Bottom 5 of his Annapolis class? Maybe. I'm not going to bother checking.

That doesn't make him dumb. Most people aren't smart enough to get through the door to that place. It's easier to get into Yale and Stanford. I personally know lots of academy grads and have met a lot more. Lots of them are arrogant pricks. Many are not well versed in literature or abstract mathematics. I don't consider any of them as stupid. That gives them too big an advantage - and they play to win.

Meanwhile, GW took the SAT before 1974 and scored 1206. That puts his IQ back then at 125 or slightly higher. Please recall the the SAT has been "adjusted" over the years with the result that we now have many more higher scores.

So, saying bush is dumb is, well, stupid. He may be evil, intellectually lazy, myopic, misdirected, and/or psychopathic. He is also, surprisingly, intelligent. Maybe it isn't such a mystery that he's out maneuvered the democrats for so long.

It's really funny that there are men whining that women won't give them permission/support to be masculine. It's even funnier that some women are saying it's OK, go ahead, and BTW - we're not the enemy.

Wow. Is that the antithesis of masculinity or what!

I guess I'm too old school. Gentlemen: Be men, don't apologize for it. Allow women to be women, love them for it. Simple.

As for certain feminists, some won't accept masculinity from a man. Big deal. There are lots of women, even lots of feminists, that actually like men being men. Ignore the haters, focus on the rest.

Then there are the "men" that think that masculinity means denigrating femininity. That's bullshit. Women should ignore guys like that. The best women do ignore such creeps.

Women who embrace their own femininity can be amazing, powerful, and sexy. They balance the masculine and we balance the feminine. Somehow, it all works wonderfully.

Praise to manos99 for the John Waters reference. Don't forget the egg lady.

Tracy Ullman starred in "A Dirty Shame" directed by John Waters and did a screamingly funny version of the Hokey-Pokey.

A concoction of sweet wine and assorted fruits is placed in an opaque blue blown glass bottle and set aside to age. An artificial cork tightly seals the bottle to thwart feminine access. It is never opened, but looks damn fine just sitting there. It is occasionally taken to parties, gifted, regifted, but never opened.

When no one is watching, various men sneak up and take a sip from the bottle. They know a secret, but deny everything. As such, the bottle seems to magically loose weight until, finally, it is empty. The bottle is thrown away once its emptiness is noticed.

Donald trump said something like "If I owe you a $100,000 then I have a problem. If I owe you $100,000,000 then YOU have a problem.

The real question then, is who does Bear-Stearns owe all those billions to? It certainly isn't the stock holders or executives. The best we've heard so far is "the market" but that is just a distraction.

As we've heard so often: "Follow the money".

Just because there is shale in a geologic formation doesn't mean that production requires "pulverizing mountains." Unless the shale is on/near the surface. Over the Bakken, folks are drilling and pumping, not mining. The hard parts are the relatively new horizontal drilling techniques being used.

Those who took the time to scan the blog A. Leonard linked to would have noticed discussion of the output of wells, not of mines.

I only hope that the environmentalists that actually know things can be heard over the clamor from the under informed.

Weak arguments like this just make people look shrill. Adjust the numbers for inflation before climbing on the soap box. Unless, of course, you're trying to recruit the shrill and inane to your cause.

Here's another way to look at it...

The Louisiana purchase cost about $23 million for 828,000 square miles. The linked article said something about $500 billion in defense spending. That is 20,000 times $23 million. The surface of the earth, including the oceans, is about 200 million square miles. About that a third of that is land.

So, absent inflation adjustments and reality, that 500 billion is 30,000 percent the amount needed to buy the earth's land surface!

Do they provide the level of access that McCain does?

How should the reporters act? Should they shun every candidate except for formal Q&A sessions?

Sure, it is interesting that McCain is developing a cozy relationship with some reporters. It begs a question though. What kind of relationships are hillary and Obama developing with the press? Is McCain simply playing his hand better? Are the dems kept from informal interactions with the press for some reason?

Enquiring minds want to know!