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The MGB Experience : "Why do people purchase Little British Cars (LBCs)? More specifically, of the many vehicles consumers have to choose from, why would anyone purchase an old, unreliable, slow LBC, namely a MG? Is there a logical explanation for owning an automobile that last landed on American soil from the British manufacturer in 1980?" MGB Tech Tips from Motorhead and mgcars.org.uk. And don't forget the britishcarforum for all your LBC (Little British Car) sickness needs.
comment posted at 1:42 PM on May-31-06

Fuck law.
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NewsFilter: Kerry Pressing Swift Boat Case Long After Loss
comment posted at 7:57 PM on May-30-06
comment posted at 3:49 PM on Jun-2-06

Why Tolerate Religion? Brian Leiter's new paper on the philosophical and legal justifications for toleration of religion. From the abstract: Religious toleration has long been the paradigm of the liberal ideal of toleration of group differences, as reflected in both the constitutions of the major Western democracies and in the theoretical literature explaining and justifying these practices. While the historical reasons for the special “pride of place” accorded religious toleration are familiar, what is surprising is that no one has been able to articulate a credible principled argument for tolerating religion qua religion: that is, an argument that would explain why, as a matter of moral or other principle, we ought to accord special legal and moral treatment to religious practices. There are, to be sure, principled arguments for why the state ought to tolerate a plethora of private choices, commitments, and practices of its citizenry, but none of these single out religion for anything like the special treatment it is accorded in, for example, American and Canadian constitutional law. So why tolerate religion? Not because of anything that has to do with it being religion as such - or so this paper argues.
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comment posted at 3:27 PM on May-31-06

President George W. Bush has bestowed on his intelligence czar, John Negroponte, broad authority, in the name of national security, to excuse publicly traded companies from their usual accounting and securities-disclosure obligations. Notice of the development came in a brief entry in the Federal Register, dated May 5, 2006, that was opaque to the untrained eye.
comment posted at 5:38 PM on May-24-06
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The view (with humour) from two people who serve you drinks. One a cocktail waitress in Vegas, the other a bartender in Cincinnati.
comment posted at 7:37 PM on May-23-06
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Marijuana doesn't increase your risk of lung cancer. As presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference today. "Even very heavy, long-term marijuana users who had smoked more than 22,000 joints over a lifetime seemed to have no greater risk than infrequent marijuana users or nonusers."
comment posted at 4:05 PM on May-23-06
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comment posted at 4:32 PM on May-23-06

I don't own a gun, and I hope my neighbors don't either.
comment posted at 4:48 PM on May-23-06
comment posted at 1:30 PM on May-24-06

Lloyd Bentsen dead at 85. He was a renouned senator and vice presidential candidate on the Dukakis ticket, whom you may know better for his famous quote in this debate.
comment posted at 9:16 AM on May-23-06

Watch as the jet blast from a 747 tosses cars as if they are toys! Would Flight 77 Have Really Thrown Cars & People Off The Highway? Perhaps.
comment posted at 5:26 PM on May-22-06
comment posted at 2:16 PM on May-23-06

Berkeley's infamous Naked Guy died of an apparent suicide on Thursday. Before and after his 15 minutes, he was a real person. People loved him. Rest in peace, Andrew Martinez. (NSFW)
comment posted at 9:32 AM on May-22-06

Schaffer Library of Drug Policy - read the transcripts of hearings held on the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, or the text of court decisions regarding drug policy, or the well-researched Consumer Unions report on licit and illicit drugs, or the differences between beer and drugs, according to Anheuser-Busch. A huge archive of materials, admittedly compiled from a pro-reform perspective.
comment posted at 6:32 PM on May-20-06
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comment posted at 12:24 PM on May-23-06

Forever Pregnant. The CDC has released guidelines for improving the "preconception health" of all women of childbearing age whether they plan to have children or not. From the the WaPo article: "among other things, this means all women between first menstrual period and menopause should take folic acid supplements, refrain from smoking, maintain a healthy weight and keep chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes under control." So ladies, don't even think of touching the litter box. You know, just in case.
comment posted at 6:47 PM on May-19-06

updated red state/blue state map of America with recent poll results in place. Bush still (alarmingly) holding down Utah, Idaho & Wyoming, otherwise, not so great...
comment posted at 12:59 AM on May-19-06
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comment posted at 6:50 PM on May-19-06

1 DEPLOY GUNS AND BADGES. Josh Bolten's Five Point Plan is in full effect. "It'll be more guys with guns and badges," said a proponent of the plan. "Think of the visuals. The President can go down and meet with the new recruits. He can go down to the border and meet with a bunch of guys and go ride around on an ATV."
comment posted at 11:00 PM on May-18-06

Indicted! No, not him. Today the "most prestigious and recognized plaintiff law firm in the United States" was indicted (.pdf) on federal charges of obstruction of justice, perjury, bribery, and fraud.
comment posted at 8:21 PM on May-18-06
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comment posted at 9:39 PM on May-18-06

A televised snooker 147 is the big deal for snooker professionals. The first was by Canadian Cliff Thorburn. The fastest was by Ronnie O'Sullivan. The luckiest goes to John Higgins. Also by Kirk Stevens, Mark Williams, Stephen Hendry, and Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie.
comment posted at 9:39 PM on May-17-06

The Australian cigarette health warnings have pretty much filtered down to every retail packet that's bought now. They're pretty gruesome and some smoking acquaintances cover them up with stickers. I thought I'd have a look around and see what other countries warnings were like. None of them were pulling any punches except for Uruguay.
comment posted at 8:48 PM on May-17-06

An Open Letter to the Michigan Secretary of State People Worse Than Us suggests an interesting solution to Michigan's suffering economy. Could license plates be the solution?
comment posted at 5:58 PM on May-17-06

Loving v. Missouri: In February, Olivia Shelltrack and Fondrey Loving were denied an occupancy permit because they have three children and are not married. "This ordinance is outdated. We are a family," says Shelltrack, 31. "There's a mom, there's a dad, there's three children. We are a family." Whether Shelltrack, a stay-at-home mom, and Loving, 33, who works for a payroll-administration company, are married "should not be anybody's business, if I pay my taxes, if I'm able to buy the house," she says.
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comment posted at 8:41 PM on May-18-06