a severe lack of historical enquiry.

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Maybe you'll call me crazy

I've always preferred a president with previous military experience to one with none.  I think Colin Powel would have been much less likely to take us to war than George Bush did, precisely because he knows that war is hell.  Obama, Clinton, and Bush (despite his stint in the reserves), really don't understand what war is like.  Neither do I. 

But service in the military isn't a guarantee of good judgment.  Remember when Wesley Clark was running in 2004 for the DNC nomination?  Lots of folks got behind him.  What a whacko.  That's the guy that nearly started World War III in Yugoslavia about 20 years ago. 

Moreover, I've known a few war veterans who are pretty sketchy.  Some Vietnam vets I knew who were parents of my friends when I was growing up were nuts.  Not that they all were, but some of them definitely were.  It wouldn't bother me at all if they decide that they don't want to vote. 

Also, you'd be disenfranchising many people who have clear, strong minds who would responsible voters if they were the kind who were refused by the military for medical reasons.  Even if we had a system like China or Israel where every woman and man does some temporary service, you'd have some who would be disqualified for military duty because of physical ability.  I could understand not wanting to hire a blind person as a bus driver, but should he be prevented from voting?

24 questions, and none about ancient aliens?!

Do you agree that nudity=porn? Does it make a difference if the nudity is from a different historical era?

No.  And no.

Nudity can be artistic, and nudity in itself, regardless of the era in which it was produced, may be inappropriate or appropriate.  Does the art serve its purpose?  That's a hard question to answer. 

As for hippies, they're usually from vulgar white trash stock, and the folks that might want to read about them can be classified similarly.  Hippies are nasty, basically.  I hate to be a fascist about it, but you have to draw the line somewhere--the nudity in playboy is okay, and the nudes of antiquity are high art, and good pornography is always welcome, but anything hippie reeks of trashing the environment, wasting resources, and encouraging extremely irresponsible behavior.  This may have been acceptable in the past, but in an age of eutrophication of natural bodies of water, global climate change, disease pandemic, and overpopulation, any naked hippie is nuda non grata.  There may be a few genuinely credentialed academics and history students who want to study the hippie movement, but aside from that any interest in hippies amounts to mental masturbation. 

Having said that, I'd have to agree that Apple's position is intellectually indefensible.  If you want to refuse to carry books about hippies then why not come out and say it?  It's an easy pill to swallow, so there's no need to pretend that nudity is tantamount to pornography.  Still, I don't think Apple would have much to worry about if all it is targeting is the hippie movement.  If we were going to boycott apple, we'd have better reasons than this. 

I thought Rockefeller republicans liked democracy.

?!

Well, of course they can tolerate democracy, but they're not necessarily the poster children of the democracy movement.  They tend to be Hamiltonian in this regard. 

Today I learned that my son can eat half a pound of bacon in a single sitting.

Everyone's tried and has an opinion on Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Indian, Japanese, etc. cuisines

I guess I never put it that way.  Folks say, "Oh, I like Mexican food."  Well, I like tacos al carbon, but I'm not too crazy about menudo.  Or the say, "I love Chinese food."  Well, I like shrimp and bracket fungi in a black bean sauce, but I really don't care for pickled pig's feet.  Same goes for Peruvian.  I spent about 3 weeks in Peru about ten years ago.  Some of the stuff I liked; some I didn't.  The street potatoes and the street corn was excellent.  The street cuy was pretty nasty.  To keep an open mind, I also tried cuy in an expensive tourist restaurant.  It was better presented, but not less gamey than the rat-on-a-stick I got from a street vendor.  Not that that particular restaurant didn't have some excellent food.  One night I had alpaca there and it was better than most beef I've eaten.

Anyway, I like good food.  There are items at the Indians restuarant I like, and items at the Indian restaurants that I don't like.  Just like there are items at Joe's All American Diner that I like, and items at Joe's All American Diner that I don't like.

Generally, as a rule, the Chinese make the best food in the world.  I've been to a number of restaurants in China and I've never had a bad experience.  One exception is spaghetti.  Like the song by They Might Be Giants says, "Ants can make an anthill and monkeys make a mess.  Spaghetti comes from China, but Italians make it best." 

The French also make good food.  Rabbit, especially.  I've had rabbit in France, rabbit in China, rabbit at a Chinese restaurant in Boston, rabbit in Mexico, rabbit at a Mexican restaurant in Canada, rabbit at a portuguese restaurant in Dallas, and rabbit at a little shack in Jamaica.  I think I can say the word "rabbit" in more languages than any other word.  It's a handy thing to know.  Anyway, none were bad.  All rabbit is good rabbit, but the French rabbit was the best. 

I... mentioned that Santorum is one of my political heroes. He began to physically twitch.

Bet you get that a lot. 

But I agree that this guy's not very well informed.  Romney lost because of Romney, and to some extent because of Obama. 


Remember Winfield's Romney poll from about five years ago?

Romney:

___achieved greatness through his efforts.
___was born to greatness
___had greatness thrust upon him

Ah, good times. 

Pshaw!  When the producers of Happy Days created Fonzie, did they name him Arthur Goldberg?  Did they name him Arthur Jorgensen?  No, they named him Arthur Fonzarelli.

When Cher agreed to be in a Chick Flick, was it Tea with Hitler?  No, it was Tea with Mussolini.  Matter of fact, whom did Cher marry?  Sonny Bono.  Even though he was nerdy and short.  

Who ran the docks and the teamsters unions in New York all during the 20th Century?  Who did you have to pay off if you wanted your fruits and fish delivered on time?  I'll give you a hint:  it wasn't the Jews and wasn't anyone in Chinatown.

What operas fill the stadium?  That German stuff from Mozart?!  I think not.

On Sex and the City what shoes did Carrie always buy?  Were they Nunn Bush?  No, the were Bruno Magli.  What handbags did Samantha favor?  Were they Martha Stewart's Kmart brand?  Of course not, they were Gucci.

When we want to impress a date, do we take her to a sushi restaurant?  Do we take her to McDonalds?  No, we take her to places with names like Ciro's where they have little round tables with red-and-white checkered tablecloths and a short fat man playing an accordion singing Volare and we order overpriced linguini and drink overpriced Primitivo.

And isn't Quentin Tarantino the coolest filmmaker?  No?  Well, he's from Tennessee anyway, not Italy.  But who is the coolest filmmaker?  Federico Fellini, of course.

When Kia wants to sell you a new car do they show the couple in an all-you-can-eat Korean buffet having Kim Chee with chopsticks and sipping little cups of tea?  No, they show them in a street cafe decorated with pictures of the leaning tower of Pisa, and they're eating tiramisu and making orgasmic groans when they taste how good it is.  (What that might have to do with buying a car I can't quite say, but I sure know it makes me want to go out and buy one.)

You might even be old enough to remember that Aldo Cella knows what women like.

Dagos are boss.  All Americans know that.  This is a thread about stereotypes.  We may not have many stereotypes about Canada, but we are deeply intrenched with stereotypes of Italians as well as their descendants in the US.  

option 1.

i enjoy a hefty serving of hamburger helper from time to time.

I've seen the Hamburger Helper product in the supermarket but have never bought it so I can't vouch for it.  We used to buy Tuna Helper frequently though.  Love it.

I guess I'll vote for pastaroni.  It's okay.  We eat that once in a while.  I usually throw a can or two of tuna in it, along with a few cloves of garlic and some thinly sliced serranos.

Don't forget drunks and finicky.

Finicky drunks?  May yer glass ever be full, laddie.  Aye, but only wi' Jameson's.  

I don't know.  I'm just not feeling the German.

Neutral: Say "eh" every other word, play hockey all day

That's not a prejudice, eh.  That's how Canada got its name, eh.  Thomas Jefferson was touring the North Country one summer and he saw three dudes that were sitting around trying to think of a name for their country.  He suggested that they just put all the letters of the alphabet in a hat and take turns drawing them out randomly.

The first dude reached in and pulled one out and said, "I got a C, eh"

The second one said, "I got a N, eh"

The third one said, "I got a D, eh"

Thomas Jefferson was taking notes, and what he heard was "C A N A D A"  

The name stuck.

they are considered machos, fashion-obsessed and of course the association with the Mafia.

dude, that's the bad stuff?!  I'm pretty sure those are all the reasons that Americans think Italians are the most cool people there are.

Summer!

Well, any thread concerning women will bring out a lot of sexism, so...

true, but this wasn't a thread about women.  it was either a thread about baseball or possibly a thread about politics.  

Apparently right wingers associated "niceness" with being soft, ineffective and weak.

I think this basic pattern could probably be generalized to most western countries.   

I think Churchill and his crocodiles would approve of your conclusions.

I won't say that no condiment sauces are necessary if the steak is done right, since your original post indicates that you already know that.  I'll just vote other.  I think we understand one another.

I love Popeyes!

So do I.  Unfortunately, no one else does so we never go there.  Once in a while we stop at a rest area with a Popeyes, a Thai Gardens, and a McDonalds next to each other.  Everybody's happy.

Am I the only one that did not find the first one funny.

I liked it.  My son liked it very much.  I hope he doesn't notice the commercials for Despicable Me 2.  It is almost certain that Despicable Me 2 will really, really suck, since Despicable Me was good.  In my experience, if Movie is a good movie, then Movie 2 almost always is terrible.  American Pie, Jaws, Blues Brothers, Men in Black, etc.  I don't know why they can't let it go with a good movie but rather they have to ruin it.  Hollywood producers are like one of those big fat cats that you have to feed every day because if you leave it enough food for a week it will be eaten in one sitting.

Maybe it goes the other way as well:  It may be that since you didn't like Despicable Me, you may very well like Despicable Me 2. 

I've never heard of this, actually.

That's a good thing.  It means that you live a healthier lifestyle than the rest of us.  People with the knowledge that the drive through is open much later than the dining room typically don't come by that knowledge vicariously.

Increased to age 70

Actually, the SSA is encouraging that.  If you wait till age 70 to start the claim, you'll get about 30% more than if you start at 65.

Actually, it is being raised.  Well, the Early Retirement Age will remain 62 I think, but the Full Retirement Age will increase to 67 by the early 2020s.  Some detail is given at http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/IncRetAge.html  In my opinion, it should be raised a bit more.

I had a long post but nobody reads them if they're too long, so I deleted it.  I'll just say that SSA either needs to raise revenue or cut costs to survive the very long term.  They have already raised the revenue by letting a previous SS payroll tax cut expire.  In January 2013 we all saw a little decrease in our net pay.  Coupling that with a reasonable increase in the full benefits age makes sense.  I'm not sure what the exact number should be.  I've seen estimates ranging from 67 to 84.  It depends upon what model you use.  70 seems like a nice round number to start with.

I don't ever do the drive through at places like Burger King.  Not that we go to places like Burger King often, but when we do, I order it inside and eat it inside.

I think they prefer not to go inside because of the risk of a maniac coming and shooting everyone in there, angus.  After all it is America.

Ah, but they have tubes that you can climb in, and a bounce house, and a room full of little plastic balls to bury yourself in.  Also, when we do eat at places like burger king, it's because we are on the road and we're hungry.  Typically we also need to pee so going inside makes sense.

I voted in the poll that I have nothing against it, which is true, but I'm not really a drive-through sort of guy.  Even at banks if there's a choice between a proper cloistered ATM and a drive-through ATM, I'll park my car or my bicycle and get out and walk inside the one where I can stand up and relax.  Most of the branches of my bank have regular wall ATM, but there is one that only has a drive-through.  I usually avoid that one. 

I have been known to walk through the drive-through window at restaurants when I was younger.  When I first started posting here I lived in an apartment where there was a Burger King a few blocks away that closed at 11PM but the drive-through was open very late.  Often if I was with other people at the bar near my place, we would walk to the little speaker and make our orders, then walk to the window to get the food.  But I lived so close that I didn't mind doing the carry-out thing during those times since it would still be warm by the time we got back to my place.

Sure, why not?  It's not like using a telephone or something.  Well, there is that "sqrrk, mrrh, mu m baw maw ff?" moment at the speaker thing, but you just assume that they're asking you what you want and you tell them.

Jeez, I haven't done that in years.  I think the last time was when we were moving from Columbus to Cedar Falls and I stopped at a Sonic in Cape Girardot, MO.  Sonic has awesome jalapeño burgers--double meat, double cheese (well, double squares of partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil colored yellow), lots of lettuce and tomato, mayonnaise on both sides--and excellent onion rings.  We didn't eat in the car, though.  Ordering at a window is okay, but I'm not a big fan of eating in the car.  After we got our stuff, we went to one of those little red plastic tables under a parasol.  We were the only family doing that, though.  All the other folks ate theirs in the car, or drove off to eat it somewhere else, the way a cat will drag a bird off to eat it somewhere else so that the other cats don't see it.  That was at least 8 years ago, and it was the last time I can remember ordering from a little speaker box.

I don't ever do the drive through at places like Burger King.  Not that we go to places like Burger King often, but when we do, I order it inside and eat it inside.  Mostly, if I have fast food, it's at a Subway, and mostly it's a tuna on whole wheat, and it's never in drive-through situation, but if I pass a Sonic, I always try to talk my clan into stopping there to sample their double/double with mayonnaise and jalapeños.  With onion rings!

Well, technically, they call Sonic a "Drive In" and not a "Drive through."  I'm sure you can see why.  Still, I can't see the words "drive" and "food" in the same sentence without thinking about the excellent jalapeño burgers at sonic, (and onion rings!), so I'm voting yes, but probably for the wrong reasons. 

I meant places like South east of Missisippi or Lower Mid West. Its clear that in Europe it is very easy to travel 20 countries in same way as it is possible to travel 20 states in US since the tickets can be really cheap if you choose a cheap train or bus.

I assume you're a big boy.  You have figured out the internet and all.  You might even be able to locate a globe.  If you can find one, the kind that has colors for political entities, put your finger on Sweden.  Now, put a different finger on the United States.  Notice how your finger doesn't really cover the United States that well, even the same size finger on the other hand covers Sweden pretty well?

Yes, in places where countries are relatively small one can travel between them cheaply.  I remember when we lived in Germany we went on a couple of vacations to different countries.  One time we drove to Denmark and it was like going to the mall.  Once we drove to the Netherlands, and all we had to do was drive a few miles, roll down the window, and show our passport to the scary looking gun toting jackboots at the border.  That was 40 years ago.  Nowadays it's even simpler.  I was working in Amsterdam about ten years ago, and we traveled to France and there wasn't even a border guard there anymore.  Just drive through, like you'd drive from Iowa into Minnesota.

Obviously, if you live farther from a border, then it will be more expensive to travel to that border than if you live near a border.  This probably doesn't require some special expertease to figure out.  For example, when I lived in Iowa, it was relatively expensive to travel to another country.  For starters, the nearest international airport was at least a couple of hours away.  We did several trips, usually for about a month or so each summer.  One summer we went to China, but all the others we went to some Caribbean island nation or to Mexico.

Also, there's timing.  Four years ago we flew to China it cost $666 per ticket.  This summer it's going to cost us more than twice that per ticket.  Ticket prices were best in the 12 months or so immediately following September 11, 2001.  I suppose everyone was paranoid and scared to fly.  At the time I was living in the San Francisco Bay area, and round-trip tickets to Cabo San Lucas could be had for $99.  I even got a round-trip ticket from L.A. to Lima for $176.  (Imagine that!  Nowadays, you can't get from L.A. to Phoenix for that amount.)  On that trip I met nearly as many Germans as Californians.  All were hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.  Great hike, if you're into that sort of stuff.  4 days.  Serious up and down.  Saddles at 4500 meters, floor at 200 meters.  Better get in shape.

The key here is being able to fly on an airplane.  This is because the USA is huge--also, because we're not really train people, or bus people.  We like private cars.  Problem is, they haven't invented a private car that can drive to Jamaica, despite those 1960s VW Bug commercials that showed them floating on water.  (That's marketing.  One thing gringos are really good at is marketing.  In 1965 there were many Americans who actually believed that you could drive a Volkswagen from Miami to Kingstown, but that's for another thread.)--anyway, the US is huge.  It's like China or the USSR, but with more economic mobility.  It's the only place in the known universe where you can drive 3500 miles without having to show a passport.  Nowhere else is like that.  We say, "I'm going to spend the summer in California" the way you say, "I'm going to spend the summer in Spain" or "I'm hiking in Colorado this summer" instead of "I'm hiking the Alps this summer." 

Anyway, if being in small places where borders are nearby and cheaply accessible is your thing--and that is the case for many gringos--the nearest place like that is in Central America.  I spent the summer of 2001 tooling around southern Mexico and CA.  For example, I could get from the capital of Guatemala to the capital of Belize for around $15.  The trip was a bit arduous--I once found myself seated between a goat and a rocking chair for about 2 hour--but the price was right.  Back when I had more time than money that's the way I liked to travel.  I got myself from Panama City to San Jose, Costa Rica for about $30.  I ran into lots of European white trash and American white trash, much like myself.  Little money, lot's of time, that's what young folks have, and for those who like cross-border travel and don't have much cash, Central America is your best bet in this part of the world, at least when it's not in revolt or general strike.  Nowadays, I prefer to go to one country at a time, spending lots of time there.  And yes, it is pretty expensive.  In January I spent one week in Bonaire.  I cost us over $2000 per person, counting travel, lodging, food, and my expensive habits and hobbies.  This summer, I'm sure we'll spend upwards of $5000 per person to hang out in China for four weeks.  I love my family, but I do miss the times when I could be happy in a $4-dollar-per-night hostel, traveling between villages on the back of some good samaritan's motorcycle and eating street food.

The gods have a great sense of humor.  When you're young, you have all the time in the world, but not two coins to rub together in your pocket.  By the time you get enough scratch to enjoy it, you understand that time is in really the high value commodity, and that it is far more valuable than any money.  (Yes, I had chinese fast food today and actually read the fortune in the cookie.  Still, it's true.  Time is more valuable than money, but it takes most folks half a century to figure that out.)

I voted great.  We eat pizza a couple of times per month, sometimes from stores and sometimes frozen.  All pizza is good pizza if it's hot and I'm hungry.  No pizza is good pizza if it's cold or if I'm not hungry.

For those who have been only in US, how expensive would it be to visit another country.

Depends.  If you live in Laredo, Texas and happen to already have a passport, then it's free.  Just walk a few blocks. 

On the other hand, if you live anywhere in Hawaii, then it's very expensive, not only to visit another country, but another state.

Huge location dependence.  No single answer to your question.