"You should quite smoking. It's not good for you."

He probably has.

It's hard to smoke after you disintegrate. Though, I am impressed he still was able to post to Slashdot.

Obvious error. That should be Snowden not Assange.

I must need more coffee. (As if there wasn't a time when more coffee wasn't appropriate.)

They often change their policies on a turn of an election or public opinion.

In fact, less democratic forces often embolden their followers by saying that the democratic countries will lose interest or determination and give them a victory by default. They're often right.

Absent some sort of very strong constitutional guarantee, Assange would be one election (or one cabinet meeting) from being deported.

It's unlikely that the Russians will be making up with the US any time soon even if Putin died or was replaced, so he should stay there.

We are removing the di-hydrogen monoxide from our products and replacing it with water!

And the horse seems to be happily running free somewhere thousands of miles beyond the barn door.

If this works like many IT security efforts, we'll spend millions replacing the barn door with a bank vault door. And then leave the window next to it open

The beginning was:
"We Didn't Know the FBI Was Creating a Small Surveillance 'Air Force'"

But it continued:

"Those jerks told us it was going to be a big impressive air force! Not a bunch of Cessna's that were rejected from crop dusting!"

I met her at a space development conference in Chicago back in the 1980s. She's very much a fan of space exploration.

She's one wonderful lady. I wish her a speedy and complete recovery.

"but is an insult not because homosexuality is 'bad'"

Riiight.

So, you're telling me that if a presidential candidate called someone a cocksucker do you think they'd be able to weasel out of it being an implied slam on gays? Really? What planet are you on?

You need to do a better job of rationalization there, bub.

You're trying to rationalize it and failing abysmally.

So, by your logic calling a woman a "carpet muncher" is no slam on lesbians. I call bullshit.

"cocksuckers"

So.. We use a term that's an implied reference to gays as our insult of choice? Why don't you just come out and call him a faggot like you really mean and have done with it. That way it's clear what you're saying.

Yeah. You're a real progressive there, bub.

No, no. Since the information came out and it's about someone we don't like (Hastert), it's "whistleblowing" not blackmail.

If it was someone we liked it would be blackmail. Understand?

". . . caused by a really hot meteor"

That's one hell of a spin cycle.

"How Dinosaurs Shrank and Became Birds"

Lemme guess. You didn't read the label and washed them in hot water?

I still use both balderdash and clusterfuck. Guess I'm just too old fashioned.