Free Republic

"Since long hair is so closely linked to femininity, Fabio-like locks might signal to women that a man is somehow less virile or capable than his buzz-cut brethren, Kline theorized. "

No. Very long hair on man usually signals that he does not have a job that amounts to anything.

I have had about a half a dozen root canals. (The really painful part is PAYING for them.) Seriously the only part that hurts is when he gives you the novocaine injection. After that it's just you feel pressure and you have to keep your mouth open for a good while. It's not really bad. Just RELAX and accept it rather than dreading it.

"After visitng the originating site, I get this impression this article is a spoof."

I think so too.

"My Lucent stock was almost at 3$. Shucks!..It will never get back to 87$!"

Oh man don't you just wish? LOL!

Dammit. There goes the DOW.

"He has displayed dignity and class throughout his public life."

This is so true. He always seemed very professional, gentlemanly and mild mannered. I don't really care if he is gay or not. The subject bores me. If he wants to come out, fine. There is a difference between just saying, "I am a gay person", and making a huge, exhibitionistic deal out of it the way Ellen Degeneres did. I always thought she was extremely talented, another Lucille Ball. I knew she was gay but I did not care. I did not want to hear about it, because like 90% of the population I am not gay, I can't relate to it and I don't want relate to it. Trouble is she kept insisting that everybody relate to it.

Pinging you on my previous comments.

"I think mizsterious already pinged one of the "catfish" that swallowed the bait. Their faith in all things bad about USA has let them down again."

Oh you want to pat yourself on the back because you think you saw through yet another media plot. Please. You guessed and got lucky.

Anyway where you are going wrong is that you think those of us here who were upset about the looting "have faith in all things bad about America." That is just totally untrue. I am a conservative. I am not a blame America firster. I do think that at first, the media really did believe that the museum looting was very extensive and serious. That is what the media was told by the affected parties. And that being the case they had an obligation to report on it. People who were already against the war were very angry that the military seemed not to care about the looting. People who were always FOR the war, like me, were also angry that the military seemed not to care about the looting. Actually the military didn't care about the looting UNITL a worldwide outcry went up. Then they got on the stick and sent an investigator.

"What they mean is, "I told you the U.S. couldn't be blamed," because they're tone-deaf to any more important issue."

Right.

"I've read a number of articles that contradicted those early reports of 170,000 artifacts being stolen. But it appears that some people see only what they want to see: if they happen to believe the US and the military are the "bad guys,"

For weeks there was no electricity in the museum, the vaults were dark they could not tell what was taken for a while. Plus the fog of war and taking reports from all kinds of upset people with various motives made it difficult to establish the facts. In my experience it was one of the most confused and confusing news events I have ever followed. But for the most part I do not think it was a media conspiracy to make the Administration look bad. That's just conservative paranoia. After all the event was reported on during a major war, the aftermath was and is still very very chaotic.

I was very upset about the initial news of the looting of the museum (And all the other looting too, Iraq is a mess. It is a tar baby but that's another subject.) When it's all said and done, we DID NOT guard that museum and no intention to guard it till we got good and ready. That STILL bugs me. They just did not do their best in that area. I don't think the military are the "bad" guys. But I don't think they are "perfect" guys either. I hope that that in the future the military will get the message that they should try to come up with more and better strategies to assure the protection of historical sites in war zones. It's just one of those things modern people want the military to be able to do. I am sure the military are up to the challange.

I especially objected to those precious antiquties and ancient works of art being referred to as "just pots" and "relics of a dead past." I am glad not everyone feels that way.

'Ahhh... but see if the film is popular and you say you thought it stunk, then you get to be the "one above it all". "

lol! Exactly!! They are trying to sound like Matrix is just not cool enough for them because they are soooooo waaaayyy cool. Ha!! It not possible to be cooler than Matrix. LOL! It is the epitome of cool.

"Does anyone on this thread even understand the concept of escapist film??? Keanu was hot. He may be big and stupid, but he was hot."

Those two, Monica and Keanu are the very definition of the BEAUTIFUL people. Keanu is a work of art in the flesh and so is she. I mean that not in a sexy way, even though they are both sexy. I love to watch them do the marshal arts in same way I like to watch ballet. And they work at doing that and being fit. They are dedicated. They are fine performers and it was really fun movie. I am going to buy all three DVD's. And I don't think Keanu is stupid at all. He seems very intelligent and stable to me. I never hear any scandal about him. I don't know why people say that about him. I LOVED him in the Devil's Advocate. He is the best looking man alive! IMHO!

"I thought for a second that he was Julie Andews! He also reminds me of the lead singer for the band Radio Head. If you blend the two together, you've basically got Clay."

Whatever. I think you could say that about last year's runner up, Justin what's his name. He's kind of girly too if you ask me. But entertainers, they get away with being different. Clay, Justin, Ruben, Kelly...they seem like nice young people I think that's the the main thing.

A pop idol should not be morbidly obese and Ruben is morbidly obese. That's just a fact. I don't mean to be mean. I am just telling the truth. Clay is too skinny and his ears stick out. That's true too. But if you have to pick one, the skinny one can at least move around and dance some and won't keel over from a heart attack.

"And sings like the lover most will never have. "

He would crush his lover! Oh I am just kidding. It's only a TV show.

"Neither one of these men are losers. They both are upstanding Americans that we ALL should be proud of. "

That's right. Both wholesome men. No drugs, no cursing, no sex filled videos. American Idol is a pretty good show, it does promote wholesome, talented young people.

Can't wait for Clay's CD. I will buy it...but not Ruben's. Ruben just does not interest me. He's nice, he's talented but he's lack luster. Clay has a little mystique about him and he's got a fantastic voice.

"Ruben has the ability to move your soul. "

He sweats like a pig.

"Sounds like hown my Bush beat gore... Doesn't matter by how much..."

When one person can vote as many times as they can get through for weeks and weeks in a row, it does matter by how much. A thousand votes out of 24 millon votes is nothing under those circumstances Common sense tells me that 1000 votes does NOT prove Ruben is the better singer. It's a tie.

"Ruben won because he is BLACK. The white person won last time -- this is OH SO TYPICAL!!!!!!!!!"

Nah! He only won by 1000 votes. Which really is not a WIN. It is not decisive in any way. It's a tie and zillions of people love Clay and they love Ruben so both will do well.

"Ruben won because he is BLACK. The white person won last time -- this is OH SO TYPICAL!!!!!!!!!"

Nah! He only won by 1000 votes. Which really is not a WIN. It is not decisive in any way. It's a tie and zillions of people love Clay and they love Ruben so both will do well.

"I know which CD I'm going to buy. I like Ruben but not enough to buy his CD."

You took the words right out of my mouth. We will see who sells more CD's and I bet it will be Clay. That will be a story in itself. Anyway to win by 1000 votes is really not a win at all considering the way the voting is done. It's a tie.