No, not that kind of memory.

Does anyone else remember a show at Sea World called "Wheels"? I distinctly remember seeing it sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s at the San Antonio Sea World. At the time I thought it was ridiculous, since it clearly had nothing to do with anything aquatic. That's true. It was also ridiculous for many other reasons.

It was set in some sort of dystopian community, a la Metropolis. I think the roller skaters, known as "foot rollers," were on the bottom of the society. Bicyclists composed the upper crust, I think. The plot involved a foot roller rebelling against the class structure. He may have had to save the princess. I remember the king, the royal spokesman (which I remember as "smokesman," and thinking it was a pun,) and of course all the stunts: bicycles spinning inside a circular cage, a climactic battle fought on a spinning metal girder, et cetera.

I can't find any information about this online, or anywhere else. Does anybody else remember this?

Don't these papists believe that the souls of the aborted go straight to Heaven?

I've often wondered why it's assumed that it takes forever for women to take the extra steps needed in the restroom. All that only takes a few seconds, right? Then earlier, somebody mentioned children and menstruation, and that made some sense. Even so, I remember somebody who attributed the long women's lines to time spent primping. Is there any truth to that?

I don't understand why porn is such a big industry. For one thing, I don't find it very appealing, and for another, it's available for free. Why pay for it?

Education doesn't occur in societies where it's privatized and completely unaffordable, under the terms of the World Bank/IMF's structural adjustment programs. I'm talking about imperialism in the present.

If I may be so bold, I'll answer Mikes Pace's question.

Some organizations try to gently, tactfully inform Africans that FGM is extremely harmful and pointless. They have some success with this, but it seems to me that there's a better solution.

FGM is mostly practiced for superstitious reasons. It cuts across different supersitions, as it has been found in branches of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and animism, as well as syncretic variants of the above. It's yet another way in which Religion Poisons Everything. The solution, then, is to secularize the society.

How? Poverty tends to cause superstition, and development (even without great wealth) tends to lead to secularization. Even in the U.S., the most religious rich country, less than 30% of the population attends regular church services. Most of the poverty (not all) in the world is the result of First World (not just American) exploitation of the Third World. This exploitation (imperialism) manifests itself in three ways: Grossly unfair trade, debt slavery from the World Bank/IMF load sharks, and violence.

To eliminate all of the above, we could elect more avowed anti-imperialists like Sherrod Brown, Dennis Kucinich, and Ron Paul to Congress. Of course, we could also attack the problem from above by electing a President like Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader, Brian Moore, et cetera. Similar examples exist in other developed countries.

An Africa liberated from imperialism would probably begin to develop, and thus secularize, in short order, bringing an end to such barbaric, superstitious practices as FGM.

Anti-imperialism is the answer to everything. Yes, I know there are religious groups that share my political beliefs.

I should see the film Idiocracy. Apparently, it depicts the English language degenerating into Ebonics, Redneckese, and Valley Girlish. All kidding aside, that's a serious problem. Many people born and raised in the U.S. speak neither English nor a language brought to the U.S. by their parents/guardians. They instead speak a homegrown gibberish. Now that I think about it, they probably couldn't read this paragraph, or write one like it.

I don't think I ever do.

...then how could I care? Besides, carrisima, don't you believe that the "souls" of the aborted go to heaven anyway? Isn't that a better deal than being born, and possibly jeopardizing their salvation? It's like the story of the missionary and the Inuit.

... I can find a job there that pays a living wage. I should look at their immigration site again.

But before I get to that: Did somebody write something about soldiers defending our freedoms? Do you really believe that's what this, or any war since the war of 1812, is really about? Wars are fought for the profits of the ruling class.

***

It's only technically legal censorship when the government does it. Don't cry "First Amendment" when it involves private entities. Agree or disagree, it's not applicable.

With that said, AKA Smith, you were indeed snarky and condescending.

You can say/write it. Nothing bad will happen.

Only sixteen percent admit to being non-religious. As a comparison, forty percent claim to attend religious services weekly, when in reality only twenty-something actually do.

A low birthrate is what the whole world needs. There are too many people on this planet already. The idea that each generation should support previous generations is a pyramid scheme, and those are inevitably unsustainable. I don't want to live long enough to need some descendant to take care of me. Who would wish that on their children, or anyone?

How about Lita Ford? Her songs are tacky, but she's an excellent guitarist.

And does it have to be guitar? Tori Amos's piano playing comes to mind.

The dolls look creepy, or just expressionless. That's particularly noticeable because, on the covers of the books and DVDs (there have been direct-to-video releases of the earlier films, by the way) the girls look cute.

American Girl is excessive in some aspects, but all things considered I think it's really positive. Getting kids interested in history like this is wonderful.