Congratulations on your tenure here at Salon. Have always enjoyed your columns. IMO, you're a big upgrade to Alan Barra (ugh).

Have to agree with Mike in Chapel Hill that UNC gets alot of home cooking. As a UK fan, my team also has got its share of questionable calls over the years.

Boy, I do hate Duke, though...

Evidently I can't remeber a name I saw 5 minutes ago!

Quote from said idiot: 'This is why we need to repeal the 17th amendment. Most people don't know that originally the Senators were elected by the Legislatures of each state. This gave the states a say in the Federal gov. and helped prevent the Senators from becoming pork barrel politicians beholden to the whimsy of the electorate. There is also the question of whether the 17th was even legally ratified.'

Great stupid idea, Bill. Do you know how many senators we'd (Democrats) have if state legislatures elected senators!? We wouldn't have a majority, that's for sure. The 'whimsy of the electorate' has given us Democratic senators in Montana, Nebraska (just barely Democratic, that one), Louisianna, Virginia, Florida, etc. etc.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned by the commetariat here is that Mrs. Nowak is an active duty officer Navy Captain (that's an O-6 Captain). There will probably be some UCMJ ramifications coming out of this. If she has her 20 in, she can still retire with her big fat pension to the big house in Stark, FL.

I read today where a criminal psycologist opined that this kind of methodical, list creating plan was quite unusual for a woman (very usual for a man). He stated that women usually just kill the object of their affection (in this case, the shuttle pilot). I don't agree, as I have read several stories over the last 3 or 4 years about women offing or attempting to off romantic rivals.

I would say you have to be pretty driven to be an astronaut & you wouldn't be the knid of person who takes a 'no' willingly. You have a goal & you reach that goal, come what may (in this case, a stint in prison).

I feel very sorry for her kids, and for USAF Capt. Shipman.

Unlike gas & oil, ethanol cannot be sent thru pipelines. This is because ethanol absorbs water (which is always present in pipelines). Oil & gas absorb no water when sent thru a pipeline.

Quote from Mike D. above 'And the Barbary states routinely hijacked ships in the Mediterranean and enslaved crew and passengers into the 19th century.'

I'm no fan of Islam, nor of Zionism or (most) Christianity but to use this nugget in your condemnation of Moslems takes some chutzpah (considering Islam probably doesn't lack for examples of intolerant behavior over the centuries).

You may have forgotten, but citizens of the USA were allowed to enslave other people (dark ones) until about 1863. I'm sure you can find other examples, but (IMO) I would leave out pre-20th Century slavery.

Resume screeds!

The Professor opined a few pages ago: 'Anamika is criticizing the same segments of the US population (the racists, the bullies) and the same US government policies (imperialism, neo-colonialism) that every US progressive I know also criticizes. That is not the same as 'hating Americans,' except in the eyes of the far right.'

I concur.

Aruru quoted: 'The face of Islam is the Black Muslim in the U.S.,'

I may have read too much into this snippet above, but if by 'Black Muslim' you mean the cult started by the man kown as Elijah Muhummad & supposidly based on the belief system of one W. D. Fard, then you are mistaken in lumping them in with those who practice the religion known as 'Islam'.

The Black Muslims I refer to have as much to do with Islam as David Koresh's cult has to do with mainstream Christianity (IMO).

If I was mistaken, my apologies.

Wes' opinion: 'I do think Bonds is the greatest of all-time, any sport'

Wes, although I do like almost all the nuggets you throw out, I must call you on your praise of Mr. Bonds above. I know it's your opinion, but (IMO) there's no way Mr. Bonds is any better in his sport than Don Bradford was in cricket.

Greatest in baseball (I don't agree here, but I can see a good argument for that, personally I think Honus Wagner is the greatest there ever was (in baseball)). But, 'greatest in any sport'?!

Quote from Glenn when responding to one of Wes' nuggets: 'Obviously, if we do that, we are going to make enemies, and we should debate and decide whether whatever benefits we think we get from that involvement (access to oil resources, protection of Israel, general influence) outweighs the risks and harms, including an increase in anti-American resentment and terrorist attacks which result from that.'

It displeases me when I see one of our most progressive bloggers insinuates that the only force preventing the total destruction of Israel is the good ole USA. Ha, ha. Which is what your quote 'protection of Israel' implies.

IMO, Israel is quite capable of fighting all her battles with her own excellent military (I think it's probably about the 6th or 7th strongest in the world). If you don't believe me, ask Egypt, Syria & Jordan. A faction in Israel, however, has manipulated our nation into expending our treasure (both men & money) in attempting to cow the Arab world into accepting that there will never be a viable Palestinian state.

Like so many of their schemes, it appears they have severely miscalculated what turning Iraq into Mad Al-Max Land does for their long term security. Unfortunately, at this point, this miscalculation is merely a topic of discussion within Israel itself. All the while American troops die, die, die like a drip, drip, drip from a leaky water faucet.