] Homosexuality can be separated from marriage in roughly
] the same way. Marriage is a broadly shared American
] value. You don't have to support homosexuality to support
] marriage. A politician can say, "I'm pro-marriage. The
] issue isn't whether you're straight or gay. The issue is
] whether you support marriage."

This is a fantastic article for anyone interested in the political ramifications of the Mass. ruling concerning gay marriage. A clear way for liberals to win the argument.

It's the Commitment, Stupid - How to sell gay marriage. By William Saletan

On the second day of Christmas...

Remember kids, chlamydia is not a flower. Use a condom. ;-)

The 12 STI's of Christmas

This interactive web site allows you to explore a selection of the paintings featured in the exhibition Painted Visions from India and Pakistan, Past and Present.

This is quite possibly the single most beautiful and effective online flash-based "museum exhibit" I have seen yet. This is what Flash is truly capable of.

Stories of Krishna: The Adventures of a Hindu God

The pollution is horrendous. The rich have withdrawn into fortress-style towers. The avenues teem with unruly, eccentrically dressed immigrants who speak a rough street language instead of English. References to these scenes show up everywhere, from books about politics to civic-planning documents like "L.A. 2000," a look at the future commissioned by Tom Bradley, when he was mayor of the city in the 1980's. The report warned that the region might deteriorate into a scene from "Blade Runner": a featureless sprawl seething with class and ethnic hostilities. In "A California State of Mind," the public-opinion analyst Mark Baldassare writes that Californians who were asked about the future "presented an image more like a nightmare than a utopia" — descriptions that recalled a certain science-fiction movie.

Even Raymond Chandler painted an ugly picture of California. Everything moves faster here, technology and politics, qnd also all the problems that threaten to turn the entirety of the Western world into miserable scifi scenario. Yes, we're afraid of the bad bits. who wouldn't be?

Viewing California Politics Through the Lens of a Science-Fiction Movie

Those given the vaccine were no less likely to contract HIV, and the jab did not slow the progress of the disease.

Another vaccine fails.

And certainly dozens of others will also fail before scientists come up with one that works that doesn't carry a risk of actually infecting the person being vaccinated. HIV mutates like mad, too... Even if a successful vaccine is found, will it protect against all strains? will the virus be able to mutate around it?

And once there is a successful vaccine, will we see a return to 70's-style promiscuity?

HIV vaccine trial ends in failure

] Observation this year of Veterans Day comes as about
] 130,000 troops 102,000 active military and 28,000
] reserve — remain on duty in Iraq. As of yesterday,
] according to the Pentagon, 394 have died in the war.
]
] Below are excerpts from among the final letters home of
] some soldiers who died there.

Veterans Day: The Things They Wrote

Pornographer Larry Flynt says he bought nude photos of Pfc. Jessica Lynch last month to publish in Hustler magazine, but changed his mind because she is a "good kid ... and a victim of the Bush administration."

I originally couldn't figure Larry Flynt's motivation, but in light of Jessica Lynch's recent objections to her story being used as propaganda by the Bush administration, I can see Flynt being amused the fact that Hustler magazine is showing more restraint and respect for Lynch than the goverment.

In fact, I'm laughing too.

Pornographer says he bought nude Jessica Lynch photos; calls her 'a good kid'

The quotes below [inside] are complaints reported by clients of Room 111, a public health clinic in St. Paul that treats people for sexually transmitted diseases. Nurses at the clinic began creating the list two decades ago; it now includes several hundred comments.

Things overheard at the STD clinic

"Last year," I told him, "I picked up a woman in labor who had three contractions in 12 minutes in my cab. We made it to the emergency room just in time. Her husband told me they'd been calling for over an hour. You had to wait only 40 minutes."

Why Is It So Hard to Get a Cab in San Francisco?

"Good morning. Just a second while I get this connection to work. Do I press this button here? Function-F7? No, that's not right. Hmmm. Maybe I'll have to reboot. Hold on a minute. Um, my name is Abe Lincoln and I'm your president. While we're waiting, I want to thank Judge David Wills, chairman of the committee supervising the dedication of the Gettysburg cemetery. It's great to be here, Dave, and you and the committee are doing a great job. Gee, sometimes this new technology does have glitches, but we couldn't live without it, could we? Oh - is it ready? OK, here we go: "

The Gettysburg Powerpoint Presentation