I agree that there are all kinds of extenuating circumstances in this case - everything from the judge reneging on the sentence to Polanski fleeing the country and to his deeds since then. Even if one were to argue that Polanski's tough childhood and the tragic events around the time of his crime should grant him leniency - that still would have made it, maybe, temporary insanity.

When we strip away everything else, what we are left with is this: he raped a young woman. She said no but, he continued to force himself on her.

After 42 days in prison, Polanski then went on to live his life - leaving the young woman to face a media circus, court cases and 30 years of questions. So much attention, that his victim would rather that everything was dropped and that everyone would just shut up about it so that she can live her life in peace.

I'm not advocating for Polanski to be thrown in jail for the rest of his life or for him to be castrated but, he needs to face up to what he did (42 days in prison and not paying what he owes on the civil judgement against him doesn't cut it).

Seconded.

As a complete outsider (purity balls were after my time, I don't have kids and I'm not religious at all) looking in on the father-daughter purity balls I find it all incredibly creepy. I'm so glad I didn't have to or feel like I had to participate in any of that. Girls have enough hang-ups about their body and their sexuality, they don't need another hoop to jump through.

Hooking I'm fine with - it's parts of Craigslist (or rather, some of its users) who I'd like to nuke from orbit.

So, between the hookers and the weapons grade stupid in 'Rants and Raves' on Craigslist I think our only option is to nuke it. From orbit.

It's the only way to be sure.

Whoa.

First, I see the shuttle land at Edwards AFB. Then on my way home, I see the brightest shooting star (I'm guessing) that I've ever seen in my life - right in the middle of town and in the direction of Edwards AFB. I come home, click on Face News and what do I see? Aliens! Flamin' aliens attacking, under the headline 'Are You Prepared For Disaster?'!

I'm far too tired to figure out if I need a tinfoil hat to keep the aliens out of my brainwaves...

A lot of local Democrats didn't attend the McCarthy rally - sorry, 'town hall' - because they knew it would be exactly that - a Republican rally.

There were a few Democrats in attendance, me being one of them, but none of them felt like they were welcome to speak their mind. One man who asked a question critical of McCarthy's stance on HR 3200 had the mic taken from him in the middle of his question.

It's a shame that McCarthy seems to be using the word 'bipartisan' to mean 'I'm going to wail and gnash my teeth until I get my way!' and his way is to, basically, strip out all Democratic input in the current bill.

I completely agree...and I'm president of the Bakersfield Democratic Club! lol

Wild, arm-flailing 'He's teh Nazi communist!!1!' from the far right is just as unproductive as the wild, arm-flailing 'He's teh Nazi communist!!1!' was from the far left. It took eight years for mainstream Democrats to sufficiently distance themselves from people like the 9/11 Truthers who claim Bush orchestrated the whole event.

That is the Republican party's challenge now. If they want to re-gain the votes and the seats they lost in the last election, they will have to distance themselves from the Birthers and the Deathers but, I honestly don't see them doing that right now. Republican leaders seem to be under the false impression that the more of a frenzy they whip up, the more support they garner - when in reality, they're merely hearing a louder shout from their base and pushing away the more moderate members of their party.

Wait...

Strange men grabbing your boobs is a bad thing?