DISQUS

@Keshav - you continue to ONLY listen to what you want to.

[This section of my reply is edited from the original reply - I felt there was too much personal information on a public blog]

It is the right to choose what to do with the pregnancy, the embryo and your body without which the pregnancy will not continue. Clear?

And you seem to be a single issue voter. Please see above for all the issues I care about. I hardly want an administration that will say no to gay marriage/civil unions etc. etc. (all detailed in my response to Ram)

@Keshav - you are right, Obama could not have voted for the 2002 bill. "Mr. Obama said in 2004 and again on Saturday that he would have supported the federal version." But, you're right that would have is not the same as did!

To answer your point on restricting minors who wish to travel inter-state to get an abortion due to home state restrictions. Forget the father impregnating. The issue is that the girl gets pregnant and is too scared to tell the parents. Cannot get an abortion in state - has to go to another state. Or, the kid tells the parents, the parents insist she not have an abortion - she's a minor, but she doesn't want to continue the pregnancy. What are her choices here?

Anyway, we can debate whether minors should have sex (they do, that's the reality) and whether they should be made to carry the pregnancy to term, but we will never agree.

I've been pregnant. I worked really hard to get pregnant. I've had that incredible feeling of hearing the heartbeat when the embryo is just a spec. It is amazing. But that is *me*.

I would not presume to tell another woman what she should do. And, by the way, that's the libertarian philosophy on things - stay out of my finances AND my personal life! You and I will just never agree on this topic, so let's let it rest, shall we? :)

@Keshav - since this post is about Sarah Palin - let me ask you - would you ever want her to be the VP? Ever? If the answer is a resounding no, then you can't vote for McCain.

And re: Obama and the Born Alive act - he voted against the Illinois bill but FOR the Federal bill. Why? Because the Federal bill contained language that protected Roe v. Wade that the Illinois bill did not. At least he's paying attention to the details.

@Ram - Thanks for visiting.

First, Krishna, who you say you agree with, thinks Palin is a moron. Do you share that conclusion?

Curiosity of the world is travel. Period. Ebert uses Europe because in the US, it is considered the easiest place to visit. Unlike South Asia etc.

And so what if she has five kids?? She's the one who says that she shouldn't be given negative points for that, so let's not. She should have done it anyway. You can't have it both ways - use the kids when useful and then say the kids won't hold you back when useful. If the kids won't hold you back from doing a great job, they shouldn't have held her back from doing anything else either.

Did you actually listen to her interview on ABC with Charlie Gibson? It gave me the shivers. She said several frightening things - she thinks she's ready to be president. No qualms. Wow! I wonder if *anyone*, even the president should be that overconfident. Oh, and foreign policy experience - she can see Russia from Alaska. Wow!

Ivy League in itself is irrelevant. It is merely a proxy for achievement at a high level. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne is an excellent, excellent school. It is very highly regarded and produces brilliant graduates. An Ivy League education per se is not relevant to be good at what you do. However, 6 schools in 5 years to graduate? A bit on the other extreme perhaps?

You seem to be a single issue voter (just guessing from your last point). I am not. I am a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. The Democrats will give me socially liberal policies. The Republicans will give me nothing - as the last 8 years have proved, they are *not* fiscally conservative. What they will do is give tax breaks for the >250K. I will likely benefit. But I don't want to. I would much rather pay more taxes and live in a land where the woman has a right to choose, where gay marriage or civil unions can be celebrated and where children learn about Darwin instead of creationism.

I care about who gets put on the Supreme Court and whether my tax dollars will go to Irag or to restore the third-world level airports and transit systems.

I care that the US has a relationship in the world that is collaborative and inclusive. Where we sit down with people before firing missiles at them. Where the POTUS knows the difference between Spain and Latin America (This was McCain, by the way who said he would not sit down with the President of Spain! http://tinyurl.com/4cme7m)

Finally, I really think we are living in an "Atlas Shrugged" world where we make excuses for mediocrity and go so far as to celebrate it. When did mediocrity become a great thing??

@LivePaola - yes, gorgeous. But usually only in the upper e/w sides.

@tgfi - dang. Fixed now.

@tgfi - I think the only one like that has already given me his phone :)


@Kiran - yeah, smart devices are the savior of mankind... :) But really, if some of these apps were available on the bberry, I would consider switching. The bberry desperately needs an app store.

Just to be clear - the "alley" reference is something from the technology world. Silicon Valley refers to the Bay Area and people refer to New York (in the tech world) as Silicon Alley.

So the point is that it is not an "alley", it is much more than that.

@Kiran - thanks!

@Krishna - banks happen to be headquartered here - that is not the fault of the city!

I agree with you though that the bankers themselves are not innocent. In fact, far from it!! As an industry, it gets way more money than it should for the work that it does.

Every Governor and Senator of a state where voters are in trouble of any kind will support the constituents. HOWEVER, the *only* one who can have an impact on it and make decisions is a federal body. A federal body that is backed by the Republican party in power - the people in that body were put there by Republicans over the past 8 years and they should be fully held accountable for this disaster. They are bailing out some and not others and putting the government into businesses it has no business being in (ah, yes, small government... anyone??) They are doing it because the Republicans don't want to be held responsible for sleeping at the wheel for the past 8 years and letting the financial system as we know it collapse entirely. Vote them out - forever!

Also, McC was upheld for his "high principles". What does it say when *every* major newspaper has called him on his lies? Not just the NY Times, but the WSJ and the Washington Post - "Now he has broken that promise so completely that the John McCain of old is unrecognizable. He has become the sort of politician he once despised. " (http://snurl.com/3rfqk)

And not just news organizations - even the most despised and despicable of all liars - Karl Rove thinks McCain has gone too far. Sad.

@Krishna - Good point - I do think debate is a good thing as long as it is civilized.

As I conceded earlier, I think Obama is running 4 years early. However, I still think he's better than McCain. For example, in the first major decision as a nominated candidate, he picked Biden - someone you respect, while McCain picked the moron. What does that tell you about their decision-making abilities?

And I can think of cases where someone just out of HBS (say 2-3 years out) may be better qualified to run a company. Can't you? ;)

@vruz - agreed.

@Eileen - I think the Dems handled a lot of this wrong. Focused too much on Palin... primarily due to shock! Time to focus on McC who is only being talked about now b/c of Palin. Let's put the focus back on him and therefore de-energize them! :)


@Krishna - True, Barry is probably running a bit earlier than he should. However, let's be clear - at least he has the wisdom of choosing a running mate who is equipped to be President. Do you seriously believe Sarah "I can see Russia from Alaska" Palin is even remotely qualified? What does it say about McC that he chose her.

And... this is blog that is clearly Democrat (often Independent, but in this case, Dem!), so of course like-minded people will chime in here. If you want to find a blog where the Reps are chiming in, there are millions on the web. You can find them very easily I am sure!

@Priyank - True, there is a relation and I, for one, am okay with that within certain bounds. The key condition is that if you charge *anything* for a product, it better work. Actually, even if you don't charge, but if you warrant to the customer that they should use it and depend on it, it better work.

So, you should be offended that your screwdriver never worked. That's ridiculous. What was the $5 for then?? The company should be ashamed.

Once the product works, I am completely okay with a company charging more for a quality product where the form surpasses expectations. More power to them!

Finally - your site was pretty and usable :) Congratulations.

@miapan - I've used them for 15 years now. You do have to be a bit careful, but I find it worth it. If you are very worried, you could pay a premium and go for daily disposables. The risk of infection is all but eliminated.

Love the parody... and the newspaper cube-plastering!

I really felt it would just be a piece of paper since, when I became a citizen, I'd already lived here for over a decade... Interestingly it was more than that...

@ylenol - Lol.

@Vidya - yes, it is true. The Wikipedia link I provided that confirmed it. Snopes is always good too though.

And you can find "Untitled" here. Thank you for your kind words about the film.

@LivePaola... yikes. Yes, I think I am destined to wait. Either till the iPhone Dev Team unlocks it or till 2010 when the ATT contract expires.

@all - I think it just depends on each child. Some children learn faster and are fully capable of interacting with children who are older - they should be encouraged to do so. The Kindergarten/Primary school I went to was particularly good at identifying these kids and making sure they were in a class of their "intellectual peers" versus their "chronological peers".

For others, their chronological peers are their intellectual peers and they are in the right group for their needs.

As long as the child is happy and learning, that's what is important.

@tgfi - thanks! Please do let me know if it stops again.

@mumbaigirl - I'm with you on the bath thing, but funnily enough, if the day is warm, the rain doesn't feel that cold.

@Prakash - Tell me - did you do it?! :)

@Rakesh Malik - I often felt that NYC was a city that was better to visit than to live in. I've changed my opinion on that over the years. I think it is good for both.

@Rakesh - It is true that different people will be happy in different cities. Or one can be happy in any city if you find the "side of its personality" that works for you.

No, Apple doesn't care much about its users. I use the products because they are the best designed products out there. Hopefully the unlock will be upgrade resistant like the unlock of the 2G phone :)

Android... hmm... so far from reality still. Let's see how it goes.

@Bob Nolin - Have you tried to contact support on their site? I am sure they would try to resolve the issue immediately to enable you to sign up and pay... Good luck!

And it is definitely working for me!

@Everyone - Hilarious, yes. I still find it funny after all this time.

@Zach - The actress is Jaya Sheel apparently...

Blue - TOTALLY agree with you. I'm a recycling freak (even tear the windows out of window envelopes to ensure they can be recycled safely :) )

@Krishna - The professional clothes are an acceptable excuse, but doing your own laundry?? :) Just throw the stuff in the washer! But, yesterday was the weekend anyway - there were still very few people braving the elements unprotected (but there were a few!)

@TGFI - The whole experience is much better in the summer when the weather is good. Doing this in the fall would be extremely unpleasant to say the least!

Hmm... filed a complaint with bloglines. Let's see what they say.

@Prithvi - I seriously thought about dancing and prancing - or more specifically opening my arms out wide, tipping my face to the sky and whirling around. But then I felt a bit silly since there were people about. Maybe next time :) And when you do your singing in the rain routine, be sure to let me know!

Jonathan - VERY cool. And a hosted solution too! What about a Wordpress plugin? :)

Every day I get search queries to this post looking to move to tumblr, so your plugin would get some traction!

Prithvi - It is a beautiful poem with a whole slew of interesting odes to Manhattan. How cool that you were able to do it to match the title!

And if Currid really recommends more night clubs, I shudder. We are seeing an influx of them around flatiron and it is not great...