7/21    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cold_War_pilot_defections
        This week's food for thought, brought to you by People's
        Republic of Berkeley: Did you know that many US pilots defected to
        communist Cuba?  South Korea pilots defected to communist
        North Korea? Iran<->Iraq pilots defected to each other?
        W Germany pilots defected to E Germany? Taiwan/ROC pilots
	...

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
	...

2/16    "Iraqi: I'm proud my WMD lies led to war in Iraq"
        http://www.csua.org/u/sl0 (news.yahoo.com)
        \_ Duh.  the best thing that could ever happen to a country is
           the US declaring war on it.  cf: japan, germany, and now iraq.
           the US winning a war with it.  cf: japan, germany, and now iraq.
	...

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    Miss France is very good looking:
        http://curiousphotos.blogspot.com/2009/12/miss-france-2010-pictures-13-picsvideo.html
        \_ she has a hook nose and face is a bit too V shaped.  Body is ok.
           I mean lets look at the sample pool of 20 something EU:
           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkPI8m5GhnA
        \_ French women in general are good looking, so Miss France is probably
	...

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
	...

11/9    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/11/free-market-capitalism-gets-thumbs-down-in-27-countries-including-us.html
        Most people think Free Market is not fine the way it is
        and needs some adjustment/tuning.
        \_ Why don't you move to France, you Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey?
        \_ Tuning in their favor no doubt.
           \_ obviously. the emotion is not too different than that
	...