Matthew:

I would bet those fires burned 24 hours a day and not just at night.

Oh, Oh! MI5 is a great series.

"Mistresses" is adult, but well acted and written.

Yes- Lark Rise is great, too.

Oh- we have just begun watching Dr Who and loving it!

See if they have Gavin and Stacey. It is hilarious. Also see if they have Hustle which is a great grifter/heist series. The House of Cards trilogy is superb. Luther is fantastic as well.

Denise, I feel the same as you. Did you get hooked on Smallville? I thought it was great.

Excellent post. I am 55 and have been a libertarian since age 19 or so. The argument I always make on libertarianism's behalf is that when it comes to letting the government do more than the bare minimum the means is worse than the ends. For example, reducing poverty is a great goal but you don't want the only institution that can legally use force, by means of guns and jails, to be involved in such. You have to keep the government beaten down or it will inevitably swallow you whole no matter how noble the ends.

Yes, just because of the fact they had grossly violated the terms of  the treaty of the first war. The war should have been conducted better, such as better efforts to shoot insurgents coming in from Syria and Persia, but something had to be done.

Let's see, what comes next?

My mother lost her foot from diabetes so I favor banning sugar.

My brother was made paraplegic in Iraq so I am against war for any reason.

My uncle had to spend his life in prison for murder so I am for legalizing murder.

My son loves two women and a man so I am for polygamy.

Thus Portman.

When I think of "ancient" Rome I think of the institutions they imposed on the conquered and how these were generally superior to what the conquered had lived under before. In Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples, a wonderful and interesting book, he asserts (if memory serves) that after the fall of the Roman Empire Britain would not achieve the overall level of prosperity they enjoyed under Rome until Victorian times. Around 1400 years of a less prosperous society.

When America falls we could enter a new Dark Age depending on who fills the vacuum left after the influence and might of the English speaking peoples is gone. Ancient America will be seen as a mythic Valhalla, perhaps.

His speech was pretty but his actions have been  "feckless" concerning debt- especially his reaction to the pork-infested Sandy spending and his unneeded brown-nosing of Obama just prior to the election.

Maybe they can find one this time who is not pro-socialism and realizes that free people in free nations creates the most "social justice". The Catholic Church stance on statism is appalling.

Spin: You missed a great football game AND watched Bette Midler instead? And you are not ashamed to announce this publicly? Time to get some counseling, buy some guns, and enjoy football!

You should listen to your friends. They love you and care for you. Football rocks and is pro-American. There is no stupid organ music- they play hard rock! Have you checked out the cheerleaders? Baseball has a guy in a stupid costume. You have been in California too long. Time to buy some guns and enjoy football!

I doubt if Obama is disappointed- he knows John Roberts and his Supreme Court is more compliant than the French court.