KALEL

- besides the stupid joke about the Palin girl?

And is he running a Cannibals Only nightclub that I never heard of?

True stories:

1 Our company went out of business. I found a new job first. One ex-coworker, call her P.J., had just purchased a house before losing her job, her husband's work was slow, and she had 3 kids. She was about to lose her house. I lent her $1,200 in December 2003. We agreed 2 years, no interest. She has recently acknowledged the loan, but only paid back $120.00. Nothing, no word from her, for 4 months.

2. Another ex-coworker, call her Rowan, has borrowed money from me several times. She would pay a little, then stop, write me checks then ask me not to cash them. Eventually she would pay me back. Recently her relative had legal trouble, she had to move, and I lent her $500, total $750. Her troubles are resolved for now. Yesterday she was telling me about going halfsies with her neighbor for fiber optic ISP at $480 a year. No mention of paying me as she discusses this luxury.

These two have been friends. I would never do this to my friends. What should I do?

I went from Judith Crist to Pauline Kael. Pauline intellectualized far too much but I gleaned a lot from her reviews even when I disagreed with her, which was often.

Siskel and Ebert brought a folksy approach, and they had a true love of film that would outshine their b*tch-sessions. I preferred Gene, he demanded more of a film than Roger, who could give thumbs-up to "Benji: The Hunted" without so much as a blush. I miss Gene. Roger lost his edge years ago.

I no longer have a favorite. I've been avoiding critics, and I miss reading good criticism.

Recommendations?

A building catches fire. If you HAD to choose between saving a container with 1000 frozen human embryos inside, or saving a 4 year old child, which one would you save?

And how do you feel about your answer?

I would like to know. No trick answers, please. No saving of both, or supernatural aid, no asking if the child is disfigured or handicapped, no bickering about zygote vs blastocyst. Just an honest answer, if that is possible.

Compliment - yes, an actual compliment from a Liberal

Shrink, I wanted to thank you for this posting on YA:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArLtX...

This is one of the most cogent definitions of the difference between Left and Right that I have ever seen, and reminded me why I was a Republican once (note that I always spell it with a B). I printed it out. Well done.

I could reply to your spin on the left, but that would detract from the pleasure I had in reading this, so I will leave it alone. It's mostly true, anyway.

This one posting did more to persuade me than thousands of others have done. People forget what the basics are. Though I am not changing parties, it is nice to see our "conversation" approach a more meaningful level than Mike Stivic and Archie Bunker. There's too much bickering and nothing accomplished.

Thank you for your literate postings. It's rare in here.

I've been using Amazon, but I'm looking for something more complete. Something with a decent search engine, and/or arranged by release date. There are so many sites. Feedback is appreciated!

I need to get some information from receipt slips from several years ago. They are too faded to read. Is there some chemical or process that would make the faded stuff show up again? Brush with Elven water and view under a black light?

I think it's thermal paper, if that makes a difference.

Help!

We already have the Thursday paper, there's a bunch of information on the sales. YOU PROFESSIONAL SHOPPERS OUT THERE: PLEASE TELL ME YOUR FAVORITE NET SITES OR SEARCHES to get more information. Anything that focuses on the 6 hour sales? All input welcome! Thanks!

I didn't know the blue placemats were in the load. Now all the towels are splotched blue and white.

How do I get the blue dye out without setting it? Or did it already set when it went through the dryer on high heat?

The towels are white (or were), so I don't have to worry about their color running.

I already have a cellphone, thanks. My land line cordless phone needs replacing. The last time I bought one, the sound was awful! I returned it, tried another. And another. The 4th phone I got actually sounded good. It was GE, about $100, not that the brand is best, just that that particular model sounded fine.

I don't want to go through that again. Can anyone recommend a great cordless?

And which headset? The excellent Radio Shack model I was using is no longer made. Their newer models are clinkers.

Feedback, anyone?

Which photo-management program works best for categorizing, sorting, displaying, copying, renaming, etc? I have Photoshop so don't need help manipulating, just managing.

Suggestions?

I'm using Excel 2002 from MS Office Pro. If you right-click on a cell, then hit format cells, then hit patterns, you get a measly 56 cell colors to choose from. How do I get more colors??

The man pretends he has a mandate. This is not true.

The legitimacy of the 1st election doesn't matter. My point is, he is supposed to be leading the entire country, and moderating some positions based on the fact that these were THE CLOSEST ELECTIONS IN US HISTORY.

Instead he makes his decisions as if presuming the whole nation agrees with his position, as if he got in by landslide. I believe that is because he is incapable of understanding the concept of mandate, or of moderation.

Does anyone think he has a mandate?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_go_ca_st...

So on a scale of 200, 0 being most secure about foreign ties and 200 being least, the present score came up 130. Some of you will think the number somewhat accurate, some will think it is a lie.

My number would be closer to 160. I believe our foreign policy is ill-conceived and based on propaganda, and instead of nations coming together, we are driving them apart.

How would you score?

Other feedback?

Hackers have found a way to use Firefox's Java script. I don't really need to know more about the problem... just what is the solution, from an end user's point of view? Change browsers? Wait for the patch? The news said it was unpatchable.

I love Firefox, but for now I am using Opera. I'm told Explorer is completely full of holes. Haven't tried Netscape in years.

Advice?

I don't get it. Why aren't they ashamed of themselves? Are they really thinking this is 1950?

I have an Af-American co-worker, well educated, who has a very mainstream accent. She has had phone conversations with customers who assume she is white and say racist things.

I'm incredibly embarrassed by this behavior from other whites. Is this happening to anyone else??

Christians can worship at home, at church, and during all their off time. You can go to church every day, if it's open. You are free to teach your beliefs to your children. You are free to spend every minute in silent prayer, if you wish to.

Would someone please explain why you ALSO insist on praying in schools, ALSO insist that the government sanction one religion over all the others, ALSO try to rewrite science to include religious creationism, and ALSO claim persecution when your public crusade is limited in any way?

I really do not understand this. It's incomprehensible to me. Even if I can't agree with you, I would like to understand you a little better. I know we live in a chaotic culture in which cursing has become a sacrament and people have sex with anything that moves. I'm disgusted too. Are you reacting to this? Or do you honestly want to change the United States into a Christian theocracy, and disregard all the other religions that exist here?

Please explain.

I'm trying to repair the frame on my mother's picture. She's deceased and this is the only picture of her I really like. I don't want to mess this up.

Photo is 4" X 6". Frame is about 6 1/4" X 8 1/4".

The frame is beveled glass. The backing is dense cardboard and is now detached. I have to glue it back on. I don't have to worry about the glue showing through the front, because of the layers of glass. The old glue lines still show on the back.

Which glue should I use??

ANY advice will be much appreciated.

The cruelty and extremism of Muslims never ends. There's always something in the news. Do you think this insanity is coming from Islam? Or is it coming from desert nomad punks who have never really tried to enter the 20th century, let alone the 21st? Or is it a combination of the two?

The world pretends Muslims are civilized and I'm sick of it. They are barbarians. Some Muslims can fake civility, but if they do not condemn the barbarians then they share the guilt. Now they threaten to bomb the Vatican because of a speech! (No, I'm not Catholic.)

Western nations are violent too, and have their own evils. I didn't vote for Bush and I was against the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses. I think it was revenge against the Middle East, pure and simple, even though Iraq was not involved with 9/11.

But do we threaten to bomb Mecca? We do not. And what is the difference really? The religion, or the primitive culture?

For me, it's my quarterly water bill. We do a lot of gardening and the usage goes up in summer. Water and sewage charges on the same statement. Water is metered, and of course sewage isn't. But the late-winter bill, which should be tiny for me, is an ESTIMATE based on summer water usage, and the sewage charges are jacked up out of sight. I've called the water utility and NO ONE understands how their own estimates are calculated. I asked them to send some kind of explanation to me, and received a silly note with no helpful information at all.

Remember, I'm talking about unfairly calculated bills. A high bill that is reached fairly and documented properly would not qualify.

Feedback? Similar stories? What's YOUR "demon-bill?"