ChrisR

And we in America have all learned that "Foster's" is how Australians say "Beer"! (Though in fact it sounded a lot more like "Beeyah" at the Woolloomoolloo Bar)

So was this a Steve Martin production or a Quinn Martin production?! Wow!

Well written and ... OUCH!

The entire story is missing here, Merkin - just Dude's opening sentence and his personal quote. Houston, we have a problem!

Captain Thomas Marking has returned in: Drummer Boy Book 2: The Road North That is all.

Seeing who's logged in is pretty simple. If you click on the MORE button (top right on the Forums screen) one of the options is ONLINE USERS. Voila. I've noticed that it has looked pretty empty lately, so perhaps it doesn't track back as far far it used to. (Typically, I used to note about 20 users 'in the last 30 minutes' whereas now it's only 3 or 4.) As to newly joined members, I haven't spotted that one yet.

I'm amused by the ever-so-slight suggestion in the cartoon that perhaps she was left-handed, often claimed as a sign of cleverness. But I find no indication that that is the case. And ideas?

Just to show what kids can do, a group of Australian teens decided to see if they could beat Shkreli's $750 price tag. Took them a while, but it seems they could manufacture it in their high school chem lab for $2. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-38153254 (And the article mentions that the drug cost in the rest of the world is $1.50)

Thank you.

They apparently came under attack a few days ago. Perhaps it's something lingering. http://forum.iomfats.org/t/8909/

Isn't that a little bit unfair - comparing mere amateurs to the unquestioned pro? Besides which, Richard the Nixonian was perhaps the most honest campaigner I've ever seen. I vividly recall seeing his lawn posters throughout the East Bay that proclaimed: Don't Change Dicks In the Middle of a Screw Vote for Nixon In '72

Which sounds amazingly like every other politician I've ever seen. Like the one, whose name evades me at the moment, who declared rather definitively "I did not have sex with that woman." Just the sort of honesty the nation needs.

To say nothing of a magnificent musical magic trick in the middle!

The timing of this story as a Pick of the Month title is a bit scary - ominous even - considering the prediction by Dr. Stephen Hawking the other day: [ http://newsok.com/article/5527200 ]. Not to mention Graeme's flash of genius!

Dear Your Majesty - How thoughtful of you to be thinking of Us at this time. We can do little on this occasion but quote one of Our own Founding Fathers, John Adams, on the occasion of Our independence. (We guess you might still consider him a bit of the traitor, but c'mon Liz: let's let bygones be bygones.) He once said: "It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more." With that in mind, We chatted up Our new pal Vladimir and he's offered to join in the celebration by loaning Us one of his magnificent Tsar Bombas for one holy hell of a fireworks display above your Buckingham Palace. Just like Johnboy put it 240 years ago, it should illuminate just about the whole damned continent over there. Love always, The Donald

It may only be on its first chapter, but this is a beautifully written tale and promises some fascinating reading. A definite period piece it shows itself to be well researched and clearly written. The reader can pick up the scent of a cigar, perhaps the clanging of a cable car, and, most clearly, the longing of a young heart. China Boat seems to transcend mere story-writing; it reaches beyond that to become literature.

The most eye-opening thing I found in the story was the enormous change in technology over the years. In those days it was necessary to know where you were in order to accurately determine the time. Today we require incredibly precise time measurement to figure where we are! On the other hand, some things remain the same. Like the jerk of a recruiter who sends you to be stationed 5,000 miles away from home. Gotta love it.

Thanks for pointing out this jewel, Nigel. When I first glanced at the title I somehow misconstrued it as The Clock and the Crocodile and honestly thought it would be a Peter Pan parody! Definitely my bad. This is some great work!

The most meaningful to me is Jeff Buckley's take on it for The West Wing, season 3 finale.

You probably know more than the average American about the electoral college now! And since the college membership is based on state representation in Congress, it suggests that many laws might also be passed that The People don't want. Amazingly, for Presidential elections, you could have a case in which only a single voter showed up in each of 11 states (CA, TX, FL, NY, IL, PA, OH, GA, MI, NC, NJ, totaling 270 electoral votes). If those eleven people all voted for the same candidate, no matter how many millions showed up in opposition in the other 39 states and DC, the eleven votes would win!

Don't abandon quite ALL hope just yet. Until the Electoral College officially votes and the certified votes are accepted, it's still an election blowing in the wind. And it seems that there's no legal guidance on what to do if the Electoral College makes oddball moves! In the Electoral College: Instructions for State Officials there is a clear statement that says: There is no Constitutional provision or Federal law requiring electors to vote in accordance with the popular vote in their States. However, some States have such requirements. https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral- college/resources/state-officials-instructions.pdf Could there yet be hope?

Well, he's due to become my president in two months or so regardless of how I feel about him, the jerk. And the problem isn't that too many people voted for him. It's that too many chose not to get out and vote against him. Colin Kaepernick, he of the 'kneel for the National Anthem' infamy, acknowledged he didn't get off his *ss and vote. I guess he doesn't bother working towards improving things unless he's getting $500k an hour. Boo hoo. Great leadership, Colin. So look who we end up with. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/11/09/colin- kaepernick-didnt-vote/?cid=eref:nbcnews:text Opinions about presidents are always amazing. One person's perception of strength is another person's of weakness. Carter was a great president? Even good? Not to me. In January and February of 1981 I shared a dining hall with 52 folks in Wiesbaden, Germany, who felt much more kindly towards President Reagan than Ye Olde Peanut Farmer. That's because after 444 days as imprisoned hostages, less than two hours after Reagan took office the 52 were aboard an aircraft flying them to freedom. President Obama is a Nobel Prize Laureate for Peace. And we've been in non-stop combat since he took office. He's even the man who introduced legal drone strikes that have been 'responsible' for an enormous number of civilian deaths. Essentially, we've been in continuous war since he took office. Is this what they meant in the 70s by Peace at any Price? Now we have the class clown coming in to take over. It's unlikely he's going to be an improvement. The job is tough and it's real easy to set up a mantra of "Wrong!" to his opponents. It takes something else to succeed in light of the challenges. But just maybe he'll have the cajones to walk into McDonnell-Douglas offices when they tell him the F-35 isn't up to specs and running another quarter trillion over budget, look at the entire executive suite and say, "You're Fired!" Or would it be more presidential if he simply authorized a drone strike?

I've heard the same thing, but it's the other forty-nine states who are doing the voting!

Indeed, which is part of the rather ironic self-flagellating Spamalotian humor. One song in the show, however, makes great fun of the need in many musicals to modulate keys several times, generally in an upwards direction, to the point the male vocalists themselves have a difficult time of it. (Been there, done that, got the strained vocal chords to prove it!) It's a great invention brilliantly done as the male singer threatens the conductor. Mad chaos follows. This video, however, tosses in a rather pedantic "Fuck... it's time to change the key" which is a pretty lame variation on the original theme. Somewhat like holding a party for illiterates to celebrate Magna Carta Day.

Thank you for not making it Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony (Pathetique). Beautiful music indeed, but reportedly was the music being played as Captain Hans Langsdorff committed suicide after the loss of the German cruiser Graf Spee during World War II. Given the number of robocalls I've received prior to this election, there have been moments...!