Lots and lots of Protestants don't take Genesis as literally historical either. That's a more common view among Anabaptists, most of whom don't consider themselves Protestant.

"Protestant" is not the same as "Not Catholic", as any Orthodox adherent would gladly tell you. Hell, "Catholic" doesn't even mean what you think it means. It's just an adjective meaning "whole" or "complete". I assume that you're using it to mean the Roman Catholic Church but this is a situation where the exact terms do matter.

Also, please don't confuse the ravings of a vocal and well-organized minority with the beliefs of the majority just because we're not all out in the streets fighting the culture wars. Some of us have more pressing matters to worry about, like keeping our jobs.

IAAAACAAPTYVM (I am an Anglican, a Catholic and a Protestant, thank you very much).

I can't find an analog station that will broadcast it, you insensitive clod!

To use a /.-mandatory car analogy, make automobiles mandatory to go the the doctor's office, and you'll find unmaintained cars breaking down in the middle of the road all over, because the car hasn't been made that doesn't need tire replacement, oil-and-filter changes, and other periodic maintenance.

This isn't about making cars mandatory, it's about getting the government to build and maintain a road that goes to your house. You don't have to own a car but even if you don't the government will still maintain that road to your house. This is because at some point we all decided to use tax dollars to ensure that everyone who wants to own a car has the means to use it.

Same thing with the electricity, water, telephone. You aren't required to make use of it but government will ensure that you can make use of it at any time should you desire, and they will ensure that you don't get price gouged for living in a rural area or for using a non-Bell phone.

The days when Internet was a magical voodoo totem of the privileged few are far behind us. Millions of Americans are hooked on fast, always-on Internet access just as much as they have come to rely on telephones. It's time to stop pretending that net providers are justified in dragging their feet to roll out new service and then charging everyone an extra $15/month for it.

I too was quite happy with the OS X port until I had to type something longer than a page. Then I found out it will crash if you cut a loud fart or look at it funny. Now it's pretty much useless to me.

Why the hell is OO.o still missing support for SVG? Users have been bitching about this for years, literally. It was a Summer of Code project in 2007 and still, nothing.

Believe it or not, people actually tell me that they don't want OO.o because it doesn't have clip art. Too bad that there thousands of free clip art images out there but OO.o is too SVG-retarded to use them.

...can't think... too many jokes... all trying to get out at once...

I do really wish that we would move past the single-vote plurality system when voting for federal office (President, Senate, House). I like approval voting for its simplicity and its moderating effect. I love the idea that it might be possible to elect a true compromise candidate instead of violently swinging from one extreme to the next.

But that's not what I want the most (nor is it all that likely to happen any time soon).

What I want the most is for the US to finally welcome international inspectors to watch our elections. We expect emerging democracies to admit inspectors, so we really should eat our own dog food. Would it be painful and humiliating? Quite possibly, for the first few years. But it would be a nice step toward shedding our reputation as a nation that says, "Fuck the rest of the world, we're the US-of-goddamn-A." Oh, and it might actually drive improvements to our voting system, just maybe.