On the subject of Madonna, I stand with music critic J. Freedom du Lac: Madonna is the most over-rated act in the history of rock. At any age. Karis seems more than a tad defensive on the age issue, though. The fact is that men generally age more gracefully than women. That's just the way it is. I chalk it up to the natural order of things and the fact that men can reproduce at a far more advanced age than women (it goes hand-in-hand with nature's edict that the male of the species is colorful and attractive while the female is plain and able to blend with her environment) . We humans have the ability to buck Mother Nature, but we can't deny her entirely.

Do, please, tell us about standing up to the "banksters" and "other greedy morally bankrupt corporations and their bought and paid for politicians." Have you shut down a bank? Have you shut down even one branch? Have you brought a greedy corporation to its knees? Have you effected any changes whatsoever in the way banks and corporations do business? Have you changed the pay of even one executive? Have you transferred one red cent from the 1% to the 99%? Have you even addressed the political process? The answers are: no, no, no, no, no, no and no.

Your world-wide movement isn't expanding and gaining steam; it's being shut down and has lost whatever momentum it might once have had. You've become public nuisances and public health and safety hazards and the people of the cities you "occupy" are sick to death of you. Your camps are fetid swamps of lawlessness and abuse. You are not the second American Revolution; you are merely revolting. And, you and your buddy upthread are a couple of drama queens.

" Does anyone really believe that California or New York would abide by its pledge if a Republican won the national popular vote?"

That's been my argument exactly. The first time California electors are required to vote for a Republican candidate who didn't win the state, the law will be made null on the spot.

And to everyone still plotzed about the Patriot Act: Where were you when those civil rights were first abrogated by the previous wars declared on organized crime and drugs?

I believe it's been well-established that once your trash is at curbside, it's fair game as you no longer have any reasonable expectation of keeping its contents private. Law enforcement has been dumpster diving forever which is one of the reasons shredders have become standard home office equipment.

And who knew FBI agents were prohibited from searching a data base, any data base, unless the search is related to an open investigation? I'd like to know for what purposes such searches are conducted and why until now they've been prohibited.

And lastly, what type of First Amendment-related investigations will no longer be subject to "heightened oversight?" Is the FBI, for example, required to investigate all charges of hate crimes even when the "crime" involves no harm or threat of harm and amounts to little more than hateful (and protected) speech?

While I take a back seat to no one in my scorn for the Holder justice department and abhor the decades-long erosion of our civil rights, I can't seem to get especially exercised about these particular new rules. Of course, I'm one who thinks "profiling," including ethnic and religious profiling, is a legitimate law enforcement tool.

I fail to see how a better understanding of Islam would make statements like "you are an infidel and don't deserve to live" acceptable or even palatable.

Sweetie, check your chromosomes. If you find an xy staring back at you, you're male. And when it comes to feeling people up at the airport, no one cares what you identify with.

By what definition of sanity is one person allowed to create this kind of havoc. Yang was not suitable for the position he sought and should have accepted another position. He should have been refused the job as airport screener and it should have been perfectly legal to do so. Rules are made on the basis of the norm. It's the only way it can work. Left-handed people learn early that it's a right-handed world, that's not gonna change and they just have to cope.

Or at least cover himself with dung.

I don't know if it's right to include Gigolo John in this mix. After all, he married his millions (and I'd love to see the pre-nup). That wealth actually belonged to a former member of Congress.