] As a result of this study, I must conclude that cooked
] flavor is a result more of ancestral inheritance than of
] convergent evolution. Many animals taste similar because
] they evolved from a common ancestor that tasted that way.
] The meat of our argument is that "chicken-like" flavor is
] ancestral (that is, plesiomorphic) for birds and many
] other vertebrates, as well. Indeed, the emphasis on
] chicken in the statement "tastes like chicken" is
] misleading. The common ancestor of most tetrapods would
] have tasted similarly, if we had only been there to cook
] and eat it.
]
] I therefore propose that the use of "taste like chicken"
] be banished from common speech in favor of "tastes like
] tetrapod."

Check out the "Taste Like" diagram at the bottom. This guy ate some seriously gross stuff for this study. Cat taste like tetrapod, in case you were wondering.

They also have an article that literally compares apples to oranges.

Tastes Like Chicken...[aka 'Have you seen Fluffy?']

] LONDON, England -- British anti-terrorism police have
] started an investigation into five Britons to be freed
] from the U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba after
] being held without trial for two years.
]
] London and Washington announced on Thursday that the five
] would be sent back to the United Kingdom in the next few
] weeks and could be freed on their arrival.
] ...
]
] Washington says the prisoners are "enemy combatants" who
] have no right to lawyers. The U.S. government has been
] interrogating the detainees and deciding whether they
] will face military tribunals or be released.

Any thoughts on the rights of "enemy combatants"? What are their actual rights (if any) and what are they entitled to?

I definitely am not cool with the U.S. just holding them with trial, or, I'm assuming, even charging. Of course, this kind of thing probably happens all the time, especially after 9-11.

CNN.com - UK investigates Guantanamo five - Feb. 20, 2004

] SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- A massive outbreak of
] crop-eating locusts has been triggered by heavy rains
] that broke the worst Australian drought in a century to
] generate record crops and flood parts of the Outback.
]
] It is the worst outbreak since up to 100 billion of the
] pests were spawned in December 2000.

Ah, the Outback...where a can of Raid is more precious than diamonds.

CNN.com - Locust plague hits Aussie Outback - Feb. 19, 2004

] SEATTLE, Washington(AP) -- Microsoft Corp. is sending
] letters to people who are downloading or sharing portions
] of its Windows source code, in an effort to stop the
] illegally obtained operating system secrets from
] spreading further over the Internet.

Yeah...better keep an eye on those tightly guarding "secrets" to user disfunctionality!

{snip}
] Microsoft admitted last week that some parts of the
] tightly guarded source code for its Windows 2000 and
] Windows NT4.0 computer operating systems were illegally
] leaked over the Internet. The Redmond, Washington,
] software giant has said it is working with the FBI on the
] case, and the company has vowed to "take all appropriate
] legal actions to protect its intellectual property."

e.g. They're taking steps to buy off the administration and get the "Microsoft Anti-Thinking Act" passed before The Shrub goes down in flames. They can probably squeeze another couple of souls out of the White House to pawn for votes.

///

Oh Lisa! You and your stories! Bart is a vampire! Beer kills brain-cells! Now lets go back to that...building...thingy... where our beds and TV...is.
--Homer Simpson, 1F04

I've been hanging out with Fighter all day ["Yo."] I could literally feel him sucking away at my...brain-thinky score thing.
--Red Mage, 8-bit theater 076

CNN.com - Don't distribute leaked source code, Microsoft warns - Feb. 19, 2004

] SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- The city of San
] Francisco Thursday filed a lawsuit against the state of
] California, challenging the state law that defines
] marriage as being between one man and one woman only, the
] city attorney's office said.
] ...
] The action comes one week after newly elected Mayor Gavin
] Newsom ordered the county clerk to begin issuing marriage
] licenses to same-sex couples. Nearly 3,000 couples have
] taken advantage of it, despite the filing of two lawsuits
] against the practice.

I never thought I'd say this, but...thank God for California! I especially like the quote at the bottom saying that redefining marriage to include homosexuals will lead to activist polygamists, group-marriage proponents, and, though she didn't add it, I'm sure she fears love between man and beast will be sanctioned next. That's right, lady...the difference between this handbasket and hell is a slippery slope. I wonder if she considered suing Disney over "Beauty and the Beast"; might make for an interesting edition of "When Lawyers Attack."

CNN.com - San Francisco challenges state's same-sex marriage ban in court - Feb. 19, 2004

] Jeffrey K. Skilling, the former chief executive of Enron
] Corp., surrendered to the FBI in Houston this morning and
] pleaded not guilty to fraud, insider trading and other
] charges contained in 42-count indictment by a federal
] grand jury.

Take that, corporate scum!

Former Enron Chief Executive Surrenders to FBI (washingtonpost.com)

] I work at a well known flower shop, and one day a gentleman
] came in whose Mother had just passed. He ordered a casket
] spray (flowers on the casket) --a beautiful arrangement
] of 5 dozen pink roses. I asked him if he'd like a script
] on it (the ribbon with the lettering) to say something
] like "Dear Mom" or "Beloved Mother" or something similar
] to that. He thought for a moment, and then said, "Yeah.
] Yeah, I do...uh, can you make it say 'First Class
] B#*@h?'".

Woo-hoo! More Etiquette! This is etiquettehell.com and it will simultaneously make you never want to get married, attend a ceremony, work in an office, attend an office party, or basically celebrate anything or have any friends. Unless, of course, you get to bitch to an international forum. Burn, hours, burn.

Etiquette Hell

] I love my boyfriend fiercely, and we're engaged to be
] married this December, but I am worried because
] practically everyone I know hates him. (And HE wants
] nothing to do with my friends.) They all feel he's
] controlling and whiny and that he oftentimes makes me
] feel bad for things that are not my fault, though he
] swears this isn't his intention. We've had long drawn-out
] discussions and fights about this. Other than that, he's
] a deeply committed, loving, compassionate boyfriend.

Yes, I like gossip and yes, I couldn't stop myself from being the first to post in the erroneous "Home and Garden" section. Something makes me think that heading is just Decius' little joke.

However, enjoy reading the advice column. It has a lot to do with manners...which you use in your home...and garden(?).

Party Pooper - When being a great host is thrust upon you.

] When Bush decided to go to work for [the campaign for Senator of]
] Blount, he was obliged under Guard rules to request an official
] transfer to a different Guard unit. He applied in May 1972 to a
] tiny postal unit in Montgomery and was accepted.
]
] There is no paper evidence that he ever reported for
] duty. Two months later, the Air Force overturned that
] transfer, and so Bush, in September, requested
] reassignment to the 187th Tactical Reconnaissance Group
] at Dannelly Field, about 15 minutes from downtown
] Montgomery. The unit flew planes but not the kind Bush
] could fly.

I was curious about the controversy surrouding The Shrub's "service" to his country prior to skipping into the White House and found this article from Time. They fudge the point a little, but it's there, as obvious as a strategically placed pointy stick.

Also, under the last heading, ask yourself if maybe he inhaled.

CNN.com - How well did he serve? - Feb. 16, 2004

ryan is the supernicety wrote:
] inignoct wrote:
] ] ] President Bartlet (Martin Sheen): I like how you call
] ] ] homosexuality an abombination.
] ] ]

]
] Ryan -- I love shows that make me feel righteous.

I remembered this little dialogue after finding out that some people at my main hangout believe every word of the Bible. How could engineers, much less scientists fail to take even a brief academic look at something that was conceived out of human ingenuity?

Even the Memestreams-allowed HTML tags can't express my utter disappointment in "tomorrow's leaders." Or, at least, tomorrow's room moms.

RE: The West Wing