No decent human agrees with rocket attacks on civilians! It's clearly a crime - but it should be a police matter, and innocent civilians should not be targeted as a result.

The point is that if you are an Israeli, you are actually safer from being murdered than an American citizen, even including all the various attacks. (In fact, Israel is the 8th country in overall life expectancy - "Palestine" is the 77th.)

Far more Palestinian civilians have died because of the blockade on food and medical services than Israelis were killed by rocket fire; and separately, far more civilians killed in this recent series of attacks too.

The strategy of strong benevolence towards law-abiding civilians with relentlesss *police* enforcement of the laws is the only mechanism that's ever been known to stop guerilla warfare, with the exception of wholesale genocide.

During my lifetime, Ireland went from being a war-torn mess with centuries of grievances on both sides to a peaceful and prosperous member of the economic union - but this only happened when the British government finally decided to treat it entirely as a police matter and give the greatest concern to negotiation and peaceful civilian populations, while never relenting on the pursuit of murderers.

There were a lot of givebacks and complaints at the time - I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone today who didn't think it was worthwhile. I expect by the time I die that the endless "Irish question" will be completely distant to most Irish people, in dusty history books, and what an amazing thing that will be.

...particularly on this difficult matter where your personal sentiments and justice might differ.

...you don't mention that the very dictionary definition of scoop - "An exclusive news story acquired by luck or initiative before a competitor" - explicitly excludes every one of these stories as they all played out in front of everyone.

(Aside from the fact that each one is trivial, sophomoric and pointless - but that, you got.)

Keep up the good work!!!

That so, so deserves a movie!

Wow, hope this one does well...

Thanks for the pome, but I get lots of play!

You'd be rather surprised what I'm doing today.

I don't find cheap pee-pee jokes always abhorrent,

But I'd rather a trickle than rap's salty torrent.

Surely your life is a little forlorn,

If you've nothing past bling, cum shots, Remy and porn?

(And, musician, I don't find

Value of the music kind

In drum machine's deadening hip hop beats,

Perhaps I'm one of the "elites"

But I know that this music is created by a bunch of "turn on the drum machine and ramble" jerks,

Who aren't worthy to lick the bass drum beat of a single second of Kraftwerk's.)

I think several of you have missed the point here.

I don't think anyone's saying that these lyrics aren't clever - though they're a lot less clever than you think, you should really get out more.

The point is that they're "bad" to a regular person because they're endlessly, mind-numbingly crass. They're relentlessly about sex, and not erotic sex but juvenile, degrading sex.

Now, it's not like there isn't a place for this! I like juvenile sex as much as the next guy, but I only spend a small part of my life thinking about it.

Let's put it this way. Suppose someone phrased the same sentiment, without the "cleverness", to your sister or daughter. Would you be offended?

I hasten to add that I'm not offended: in fact, I laugh because the lyrics are so bad and when it comes down to it, stupid (despite being "clever", and not "bad" either). But I'd never listen to this music: life's too short to waste my time that way.

...even though the people charged had nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11. The mind reels.

Your father called right back to apologize for yelling. That's pretty decent. It sometimes takes years for people to admit they're wrong. (I also thought the skywriting joke was pretty funny! He could have called you all sorts of horrid names - instead, he makes a joke.)

I'd definitely go on with the organizing, and take some of that that extra joy you have and redirect it back at your parents. I'll bet once they realize that you're much happier this way, they won't be so mad.

You also might ask yourself why this makes them sad. Could it be they're hoping for kids? But why should this make kids impossible? If you're also expecting to have kids, I'd strongly make this clear to them, it might cheer them up.

Could it be they feel it's a reflection on them? Again, I'd explain to them that that's just the way you are biologically and no implied commentary on them.

But "to thine own self be true" - go out and organize, let it make you happy, and that happiness will illuminate the rest of your life.