As you are obviously aware, Shooter is a professional troll, Lab2112 is a rank amateur.

I make it a habit not to feed trolls, and so rarely respond. Since I didn't recognize LAB2112 (unlike Shooter), I did reply. That time. What about sonofabastard? Is he considered a troll here, too. Or is it just that he has just taken such an extreme dislike to my blathering that he ends up sounding like one? (Just curious.)

I am glad you are not a Randian. After I thought about it, I realized it was highly unlikely you would be. At least you read the book. I couldn't get past the first chapter and took Ms. Parker's advice with a vengeance.

Highly unlikely now. Disclosure: I did go through a brief phase of proselytizing about Rand's books when I was much younger and more stupid. A lifetime ago. None of my older friends then could explain why/how they "outgrew" her, leaving me to figure it out on my own.

Still, I still think her novels are worth reading, if only because they have had so much influence, but not without supervision. You might like The Fountainhead better. Some consider that the better of her two larger novels. Actually, I think her books can cause a lot of damage when they are used to justify greed and not taking responsibility for consequences. (How many members of the wider BushAdmin do you reckon are fans of Rand?)

The segment on Imus-- actually, it was more about the pundits and politicos who were enabling him-- begins about 20 minutes in, after the Zinni interview.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10005066/

...decriminalizing drugs. I have so little interaction anymore with anyone w/ drug issues-- less drama is good-- that I hadn't actually thought about whether meth should be an exception, but agree that it should. [My elitist language preferences aside, I am otherwise pretty liberal.]

It's entirely possible that when I think I'm being sarcastic, it instead sounds sanctimonious to you. Differences in style, regional idiom (I don't have one), gender, and probably agedness (mine)...

But, the War on Drugs? And all of the ripples from it? A complete and utter disgrace.

And your comment puts a thumb on the non-troll side of the scale. I can usually decide for myself, but we clashed so early and I hadn't seen any of your other comments... so, I wasn't sure. Your screen name suggested otherwise. (To me.) [Frankly, it hurt that you were trying to connect me with such an obvious troll as shooter. But I just sucked it up. {/sarcasm} ]

I am not the anonymous you refer to and do not belong to a knitting circle.

For one thing, I would have to read your posts in order to comment on them. But the format, the asterisks, the lack of punctuation, are pretty uninviting so I skip over them. I only happened to read that last one because it was unusually short and my name was at the end of a line and jumped out at me.

In future, please leave me out of your comments, and you can be sure that I will also leave you out of mine.

Is the kind of story that is (or should be) inextricably linked to BigBusiness stories on the consolidation of the the Media, and the CEOs who may (must be?) currying favor with the BushAdmin's version of the FCC. If there are reporters out there (like Savage, or GG) who can connect those dots...

As long as the handful of people in control of BigMedia feel they must protect BushCo, it will filter down through the ranks.

However, this week, even the BigMediaGuys had to learn a hard lesson when (reportedly) some of their key employees finally expressed long-held opinions that Imus needed to go.

[I like Glenn's use of media "stars," too. I have been using elites myself this past week, but noticed that Bill Maher was making a case for "reclaiming" elite.]

gkrevvv:

You'd have to get someone to accept the ads, of course, unless they were put on YouTube.

Some of the Democratic candidates had excellent results using YouTube last November.

...and I have to wonder how much of it is just personal and how much is the GOP's innate sexism (their platform, values, etc.). It must be pretty hard on some of those guys to hear Pelosi described as the most powerful woman in the country (or in the world). Especially because they really didn't think the gavel was going to change hands. And to think how high she is in the line of succession... Imagine what it must feel like to try and wrap their brains around that one. Unbelievable! And that she could even seem more presidential than the president? Insufferable!

...against nouns becoming verbs, e.g. impact, task, among others.

However, in this case, since backlash is also listed as a verb (which I also did not know), and, even more importantly, because the sentence is then in the active voice, rather than passive... I must yield. ;~)

...if this difference is just a matter of terminology or semantics, or an actual difference of substance. Both you and sob have probably given this a lot more thought than I have. I was certainly taken aback by your example of liquor store owners having a shoot-out. However, it did point out the distinction between complete legalization and decriminalization.

My first reaction, is well of course regulation-- but do you have any sites to recommend where I can learn a bit more?