Here we go some more. This comment caught my eye (it was a recent response).

"It was applicable only to those who seek to justify everything Obama does - even when they don't understand it -- by assuming that he's so wise and Good that he must have hidden, unknown justifications for doing it."

Any theories why Obama hasn't opposed this more? It doesn't seem like much of a risk to me. I fail to see what he has to gain from taking a bad position on this.

Corporate donations to the DNC? Democratic Senate and House leaders off the hook 'cause they signed off on the program originally? Favorable Mediacracy coverage if he lets their corporate overlords off the hook?

None of the above really make sense to me. And nobody has as yet given me a compelling reason why Obama and so many other Democrats are willing to go along with what seems on the surface to be a bad bill.

Any ideas?

"Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka), I think, would be the appropriate recipient of that distinction. But then again, to call it a cartoon might be to belittle a wonderful film."

Grave of the Fireflies is a wonderful film. It also just about tore my heart in half. It probably doesn't help that I have a son and daughter who were about the same age as the children in the film at the time that I watched.

Grave of the Fireflies is a very true film. The victims of war are children, and Grave of the Fireflies will not spare you a bit of that truth. What makes it worse is that there are no evil villains or wicked monsters to blame. The evil that is done happens naturally, a consequence of normal people in situations where the weak are left for the wolves.

You will hate war after you watch this film. But make sure you are ready to digest the mundane horror of war (not big explosions and piles of mangled bodies--but rejected children, slowly dying). Have someone around to talk to after you watch it, and don't watch it if you're easily depressed.

It is that brilliant and powerful, and it shows you the abyss without ever turning away to let you catch your breath. Tie yourself to something solid before you go take a look.

"In every place, at any time of day, I found a spot, usually several, often within five minutes. The spaces were certainly odd -- little scraps of pavement between garages, in otherwise unparkable corners jammed up against hydrants -- but they were all legal. And I had one of the only cars in the city that could fit in these out-of-the-way areas."

Riiiight. And the reason these tiny spaces were available?

Cause you had an unusually tiny car.

Once Smart cars become more common, even just a little more common, those scraps of parking will disappear forever. Goodbye advantage.

And 33 MPG is not going to cut it. I got 28 MPG in my Suburu Legacy station wagon, with all wheel drive and the ability to tow a thousand pound trailor. 'Course, I drive a 5-speed manual. Automatics, to put it kindly, suck eggs. I assume the Smart is also available with a manual?

A rollerskate like the Smart Car is going to have a hard time competing with regular small cars that get similar mileage. One problem with being nice and high up in the Smart Car is that you are pushing the same wind profile as a regular car, just with 3 feet cut off the end.

I'd rather spend my money on a plug-in electric with a 50 mile range as a second family car. A temporary parking advantage isn't good enough for me.

"If people generally replace their big cars with smaller cars, you'll have more parking in the city, right?"

And if there is more parking in the city, the 'tards will quickly buy bigger cars to take advantage of it!

Good point about overall urban efficiency however. There just needs to be some mechanism to rewards folks who drive such small cars. How about 1/2 parking spaces? Fit your Smart-sized vehicle into a half-space, pay half the parking fee (or fine, if you forget to feed the meter). Use a full-size car? Pay double!

Seriously, I wonder what a well-sprung and manual transmission Smart might be like. I remember when the VW Rabbit debuted. It was a small car, but pretty hot and it got 40MPG. I remember one of my schoolmates doing front wheel drive burning rubber donuts in the school parking lot with one of those. Very impressive.

Well said downthread, I'm just repeating this because it is so true.

"Graveyard of the Fireflies" was mentioned in an earlier post, but I can't imagine a film more inappropriate for young children; it's emotionally wrenching and both main characters die horrible deaths. It's an excellent film, but for teens and up.

It is a brilliant, honest film, but children can't handle it. I could barely handle it. I highly recommend every other Studio Ghibli film for kids (Princess Mononoke is a little violent), but not this one.

It's over Joan.

Time to move on.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/horsey/viewbydate.asp?ID=1792

The difference? The New Yorker would never have the courage to run a cover like this about a right-winger.

Linked in my Sig as well. Apologies if it has already been posted.

Apparently not.

Ho-Hum.

Tuning out.

We've had some fierce Table Talk arguments in the past, but he always plays by the rules.

Congratulations. This one definitely deserved POTW.