5/16    Can anyone tell me what Greece is hoping for by rejecting austerity?
        From here it seems like the austerity is a pretty generous attempt
        to keep Greece from imploding entirely.   Are they hoping the
        Germans will put them on eternal state welfare, or what?
        Also, why would an outright default mean they must leave the Euro?
        Is it just that they won't be able to pay basic gvmt services
	...

12/15   I'm planning on traveling to Europe and I was wondering if there's
        any reason I shouldn't be able to use a US power tap/strip (no surge
        suppression) with just a plug adaptor (i.e., no voltage conversion).
        This would be for use with electronics that accept 100V-240V. While
        the power strip is intended for use at 120V, it's just wires, right?
        (Also, this power strip has no power LED or similar.) If anything,
	...

4/25    "Aliens may exist but contact would hurt humans"
        http://www.csua.org/u/qmq (news.yahoo.com)
        Normally I'd just shrug it off when I hear comments like this, but
        this time the one who said it was Stephen Hawking.
         \_ Why? what aspect of Hawking's intelligence makes him any more
            compelling than the 1000s of others who have pointed out this
	...

12/5    If Harry Potter is rewritten in a modern style using science
        instead magic, and using real people and references instead of
        fiction, what could it include? I'll start:
        -Slytherin Pureblood = Nazi Ayran
        -Muggle = melting pot
        -Dobby = Black slavery, illiterate
	...

6/30    German John was talking about miniskirts in Europe. Well, I made it
        to Paris and Amsterdam in June and he wasn't kidding. I liked the
        tall blonde Dutch girls riding bikes in short skirts and boots.
        \_ Damn, now I want to go to Amsterdam. Again. Without my wife and
           two kids. Probably not going to happen this summer.
	...

5/18    how come we interfere with Bosnia civil war, yet we don't even
        bother to raise complains about Sri Lankans' genocide toward
        their Tamili minorities?
        \_ it's a protest against recording artist M.I.A.
        \_ because our military capacity is overtaxed based on our
           insane implementation of PNAC's ridiculous vision of a
	...

5/1     Europe Explained:
        http://www.swiss-miss.com/2009/05/europe-explained.html
        \_ Can't read some of the smaller print.  What's it saying about
           Bosnia, Albania, etc?
           \_ http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3510/3192055736_5d3e9ca1f0_o.jpg
	...

8/3     We Americans are not the only ones failing geography.
        http://www.csua.org/u/txk (sports.yahoo.com)
        \_ American travel agent.
           \_ Really?  The article didn't say this.
              \_ Yes, it did: "but her travel agent accidentally scheduled"
                 \_ I don't see "American" anywhere in that line, unless you
	...

10/11   Are there any CSUA'ers in NYC, or who know things to do in NYC? steven
        and I are doing the tourist thing.
        \_ I thought the Empire State Building was much better than I
           expected it to be. The museums are all stellar, especially the
           Met, MoMA, and Natural History Museum.  Lots of good
           plays/shows/concerts. Top notch restaurants. Worth seeing the Statue
	...

9/18    Tonight I think I finally can consider myself middle-aged. I'm in
        my 30s and I am on travel for business without the wife. She is
        probably in the top 10% of women her age in terms of looks and I
        am not bad, but probably not as good-looking as she is. I went to
        a dance club tonight for the first time in a long time and had the
        following experience/revelations:
	...