Randy: Careful! I've been cultivating a reputation as worst poster on Ricochet. You'll ruin it all! ;)

I lived in Minnesota 1998-2001, about three years total. I was just in time to experience half the Ventura years! Jesse Ventura did a lot to ruin politics, I think, and not just in the obvious ways he did. Ventura mistook his successful election as proof America was ready for a third party movement, when really he gained a lot of success getting the youth vote out who thought it was hilarious to vote for Jesse Ventura. The weakness of his opponents just helped him along.

Side note: The best thing Jesse Ventura did was during his election. Indirectly he demonstrated just how terribly partisan the Star-Tribune was when they polled the governor's race entirely wrong.

Again, this is one of the prime reasons I haven't left the GOP. As frustrating as they are, the third party gambit is such a long shot it's like firing a model rocket kit to land on the moon.

Side note: I've lived in two states under governors who have appeared in the movie, Predator.

Duane:  I think that is essentially the issue I'm dealing with, though perhaps we're looking at it from different perspectives.

I believe the "Wait and see" attitude remains wisest in this case. The trouble with many of us who want to see things change is that we're afraid that it's not just slow going, it's not going at all. In many cases we watch the GOP make head nods our way but then turn and seem to go entirely in a different direction. Yes, it's difficult to change direction, but it's even harder when it seems we're still steering in the opposite direction. At least that's to our perception.

Our fear is that those in Washington are far more concerned with maintaining their own power, and I believe such fears are borne out by history. Men seek to gain and keep power. Rarely have we achieved it and let it go willingly. The last several GOP candidates, Pres. Bush included, have come from the direction that big government is good if you just have the right manager.

Many conservatives like myself reject this premise. The GOP has yet to do so.

The Anime I got started on was Robotech and Voltron. Both were heavily altered for the American version. They still had enough of an effect on my entertainment preferences that in gaming groups, when listing tasks, I'm no longer allowed to say, "And I'll form the head!" Killjoys.

In college I discovered Usurei Yatsura and Tenchi Muyo. Both are "High School Boy has wacky hijinx with aliens" sagas, but the protagonists of both shows were polar opposites of each other.

Escaflowne was one of my favorites in the nineties. That was one where up until about halfway through, it makes sense, then it does but doesn't ... Great music, too.

This is about as pathetic as those classes in college where students would spend one day pretending to be homeless, then return the next day to their warm classrooms feeling great about themselves because now they are full of empathy (and themselves -- though they probably didn't realize that part).

Wise words, Fred Cole. In all honesty I think the 2014 elections and the following presidential election will tell me a lot about where I want to be.

Also, if I run for office it'll tell me which party I'd want to run under.

... Sanity? Are you sure you read my posts? ;)

Wow ... they analyzed my writing? I hope they were kind.

What is this? Do people actually talk about me behind my back?

Whatever I said while I was drinking, seriously that's not me!

Texas is not entirely immune to the problems in other states. Public employee pensions are ticking time bombs to most states. The question becomes how will each state deal with it.

California and Oregon have chosen the, "Let's ignore it and maybe it'll go away on its own" solution. States who chose to deal with it have faced serious backlash from public employees.

The question is, how will Texas deal with it? I don't know if the answer is all that obvious, either.

And I tend to be a bit more lenient (watching Batman animated series with my 6-year old nephew). Still, Deathnote can and should spark conversation about what the protagonists do.

Y'know, that's a good summation. And again, the second half just doesn't match the quality of the first.

I'm in agreement. IT's a good series, and it's dark but not horrifying.

I did find that it falters a bit in the midpoint and fails to be as strong as the first half thanks to something I can't even mention without spoiling.

One reason I think people say Anime is weird is because they'll take two or more genres that we regard as entirely different in Western entertainment, and then mash them together - sometimes seamlessly sometimes otherwise. The result appears weird to us because we wouldn't do that, but I find fans enjoy that aspect a lot precisely because we wouldn't think of that at all.

I've found something like this as well. Frequently we start the story in the middle. We meet the characters with little build-up as to who they are really are. Over time, the story fleshes out in both directions. Our perceptions of characters change as we begin to learn more of where they are going and where they came from. It's quite different than the linear progression we love in Western storytelling.

It's a better term than "Japanimation" which I remember from the early days. Yikes!

Cowboy Bebop is a classic, imo. One of those shows that basically invents its own genre.

I enjoyed anime because in the 80's and 90's, it was different, unique, and something better than the crud we were getting on tv/Video at the time. Nowadays I like the themes: Pursuit of excellence, self-sacrifice, overcoming the self, loyalty ...