Hey Chris Burke (original link suggester)-
I really enjoyed your work on the TV Show "Life Goes On". What have you been up to since?

Heh heh ... Unlike "free"healthcare, L and I agree on this topic! I'm not crazily anti-chemical or anything, but it seems kinda kooky to perfume a very young child that is just developing its immune system.

Oh I've got an 8 month old by the way (generally smells good, unless there is a load in his diaper). After the birth, the doctors/nurses at the hospital(and subsequently his new pediatrican as well) cautioned against using baby powder. The fear is that the very fine talc dust can irritate their lungs. Considering how long baby powder has been around, I suspect the risk is pretty low, but I guess there have probably been some instances (maybe with stupid parents generating a huge dust cloud -- I don't know). What I'm getting at is that the "proper" way to care for a child is CONTINUALLY under change and varies with time and geographic location. And all the "experts" try to guilt trip you into following their advice -- nevermind 10 years earlier the exact opposite was "essential". Makes me laugh a bit...

Nothing keeps you from buying your own health insurance (or choosing to "opt out", assume the risk, and put the $ towards something you value more. Having the freedom to choose a healthcare policy to meet their needs also allows them to purchase the most efficient product for their situation. They may choose to get a very inexpensive policy that only covers against high-$ unexpected expenses. For single, healthy people, this is often a better strategy that keeps more $ in their pocket. I used to do that and it protected me against bank-draining risk of a serious problem at very low cost, but I paid for ordinary doctor visits on my own. Now that I am older, and also have a wife and young child who depend on me (and can get themselves), I buy a much more comprehensive policy.

Police, fire, and street cleaning are not practical examples to "sign up for" on an individual basis. Ditto the court system and military. But, if you want to change the subject and offer extended examples like those, I will counter by saying that food should be a basic "right" too! Everyone needs food, so why should people have to buy food on their own? Shouldn't it just be free? Why don't the governments just give us all food regardless of our ability to pay or desired to eat the particular food doled out? No thanks - I would rather choose the food and healthcare that meets my needs and let the sellers of each compete against their respective competitors to offer the best products to meet my needs at the best prices.

And by the way, if the guy wants to have 6 kids, or 12 for that matter, more power to him -- as long as he can pay the bills somehow (including via selling artwork) without resorting to the government picking my pocket. "L" is suggesting that healthcare should be "free", but not for people who have "too many" kids. Well, is "too many" 6 ? Or is it 4? Or maybe it even 2 kids is too many, as in Red China. Even the first child must be pre-approved and if you violate protocol they forcibly drag you out to a "clinic" for a forced abortion. Ummm, no thanks. I'll have as many kids as I want and you'll not have a word in the decision, since the added ones don't cost you a penny. Liberty is what it's all about -- pass it on.

Straight talk from Sid.

What's a basic human right, Cristina?
"Somebody" has to pay the doctors, nurses, and others who work at the hospital. Do you expect them to work for free? If that somebody is "the government" then please realize that "the government" only gets its money by taxing its citizens. It can't just print more without instantly devaluing the currency. So, through taxation these funds must come. Why should anyone be forced to pay for anyone else's children or health expenses, especially when its not a sudden emergency involving the destitute?

I'm not criticizing the artist -- He looks to be doing things the right way. If he elected not to pay for health insurance or to work for an employer who offers it as a benefit of employment (employers compete for employees on the basis of benefits like these, not just salary), he works hard to save money to pay health expenses himself, essentially self-insuring. That's what the free market is all about and kudos to him for using the internet to sell the product of his artistic skills.

Nothing is *free* -- ultimately SOMEONE (real people, not a faceless government) pays for it. If you live somewhere where you think healthcare is "free", then either you or someone else is being robbed (taxed) of their property to pay for it. And unlike "free" healthcare, property rights ARE a basic human right.

If your baby needs cologne, you need to give the little guy/gal a bath.

Dude-
My cousin Jim lives! I am convinced that he is hiding out in the Sudan. He's coming back, I tell you!

Hey I'm all for cool looking industrial design, but if it isn't at all feasible b/c of the materials used (glass can't get hot enough) what's the point really. If I can ""design" a cool looking aircraft that has nowhere near enough lift to actually fly what have I but a slick paperweight model?

I'm betting that most non-Catholics won't quite get the humor of the link, but for someone like me who is a conservative Catholic, it is *really* funny.

I'll offer some commentary for the baffled. SKip it if you already know the background...

The site is quite cleverly poking fun at the myriad of weirdness that has infiltrated many Catholic parishes' services since 1970 when the Latin Mass was rather abruptly surpressed. The Vatican II council intended to make the Mass "more accessible" to the faithful by offering it in the vernacular languages (English, French, Spanish... whatever), but a lot (a great lot) of liberal priests (either with the outward support of their bishops or just the assistance of their blind eyes) used this as an excuse to try all kinds of wacky experimentation with the liturgy -- "liturgical dance" is one of these being lampooned here. The 'rules' on how to say the "new" (now 37 year old!) Mass are well-documented; it's just that many parishes choose to ignore them.

Cardinal Arinze heads the "department" within the Vatican that establishes protocol on conducting the Mass. He is from Nigeria & widely considered to be a conservative, who doesn't tolerate much nonsence or kooky theology. He was also a close advisor to the late John Paul II, and was considered a front-runner for the papacy himself. If he had been elected, he would have been the first black pope, which would have kept Jay Leno busy for a couple weeks. He's a good man -- let's hope the African countries put out more like him :-)

Straight talk from Sid.

Hmmmm... it doesn't bother me too much, but I can see how it would bother others. Some explanation for the people who can't understand:

The issue that's it happens to be a da Vinci work is completely irrelevent. If someone else had painted it, feelings would remain the same. What bugs many Christians is that a respectful reverent image of their God is being lampooned. If the image was a Petunia Pig parody of da Vinci's even more famous "Mona Lisa" (La Gioconda), nobody would object. It's not the artist or how famous the work is, it's the subject.

It is quite telling that the lampooners wouldn't dare try the same thing with an image of Mohammed (considered by Islam adherents a prophet, not a deity). Reason? They are scared about how devout Moslems might express their displeasure. Lesson? It's only OK to mock someone's religion if you can be reasonably sure they are non-violent.

Angela - loosen the bone a little... I was just responding to the nonsense posted by #21, the basic premise of which (government schools indoctrinate pupils to vote Republican) could not be further from the truth. Call me active defensive if you must, but please not the contrapositive. Cheers!

Necco wafers are awesome! What other candy comes in "clove" flavor??? Yum yum!

As a 12-14 year old growing up in suburban New Jersey in the late 1970s-early 80s, there were a lot of "not-so-safe" games we played (at home). No one worn any sort of protective gear likebike helmets or the like.

1. Head-Wobbler: In this fun game a group of n kids (say n=6) get in close together and throw up into the air n-1 sports balls of varied types (basketballs, soccer balls, kickballs, whatever). When they come down, everyone fights for them and uses them as weapons to throw against the kids who didn't get one. The idea is to bean somebody who is running away, giving them a "head wobbler". You could alternatively bring someone down by striking their thigh really hard with a ball. Bruises were many, especially if you got knocked down with a basketball (heavy).

2. Supreme Dictator: One kid on a bike riding figure 8s and circles in the street. The other kids have sports balls (of varied sorts) and try to knock him off and cause a crash.

3. Show No Mercy: 3 or 4 kids all on bikes in the street doing circles and trying to cut each other off or kick the other riders' front wheels (so as to cause a crash). To make it more interesting, we also would attempt to throw sticks (or rubber bungee cords) into each others' spokes. If one was able to bring down another rider through such a maneuver, it was called (I kid you not) "An Ultimate Spoker"

There were other stupid things we did as well.

I'm thinking it is a torch tip. The screws on the sides are for securing it to a wooden handle. There's a hole on the bottom you can't see (go to the link for more pix) -- this hole is actually on the end that faces up and it is where the combustible wad is inserted for burning.

So it's just watered down espresso? We Americans need to change the name of that -- we've got a bad image in matters of taste already.

I take my coffee black and my espressos double, sans the lemon.

When it comes to drinking urine, I think the issue is not so much impurities in the urine, but rather, it's the high salt content. I believe that will get your kidneys into trouble (just like drinking saltwater). So, what one really needs is a urination-desalination system -- some sort of stil essentially. That might be pretty easy, depending on what's down there.