A.J.

The one on the right of Santa is clearly a woman. Look at her suit bulge outwards at the breasts. I think the one on the left is a woman too due to the haircut, but she is clearly more flat chested. Just my view.

Happy Birthday, Mikie!

Happy Birthday, Foopy!

Happy Birthday, Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaade!

Happy Birthday, Cia!!!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Myr!

I can't believe I've got fewer points than Krista.

Did you seriously just compare gun violence to a radicalized group that regularly mass executes people? In 2010, when the U.S. population was approximately 310 million there were according to Wikipedia statistics: 19,392 firearm-related suicides 11,078 firearm-related homicides 32,999 deaths attributed to vehicles Perhaps we should ban vehicles. They are clearly as deadly as firearms.

I'm the mystery player. I requested my account be reactivated, but wasn't sure it would happen before the 2PM Eastern deadline. Thanks Steve for posting my entry.

Been giving you hugs all week, but there are more where those came from. I feel honored that several of us have been able to talk with you and help celebrate his life with you this last week. While his loss is immense, he lives on in the hearts and minds of so many people that his life touched in 67 years. As you told me a few days ago, your father could walk into a room and raise everyone's spirits. He knew how to make people laugh and his life's legacy includes you. You built and shared GA with all of us. Your site has touched countless lives and given hope to people struggling with their sexuality. You too have made this world a better place. Like father, like son.

I think we essentially agree on that point.

Yes, I did read the results and the underlying scientific basis for it. Doctors are still making the mistake of classifying cancers solely based on where they are originally found and not based on the mutation that leads to the cancer/halt in cell death. Breast cancer is not one disease but a group of diseases. Medications are often targeted to a particular mutation and therefore will not treat all breast cancers. All cancers, regardless of where they are found, can be caused by numerous different mutations. Some mutations produce slow growing tumors, others more aggressive forms. Some cancers are even highly affected by glucose consumption so one person with a low sugar diet might have a slow growth rate compared to another person that guzzles soda. Depending on which group of statistics you use, on average 35-50K women between the ages of 30 and 49 will be diagnosed each year. I realize that benign tumors and cysts are often found in the breast tissue and can lead to misdiagnosis, but that to me suggests we need to have better testing and not just put off the problem. I'm sorry, I disagree with you that this is a one-size-fits-all problem. Some women no matter when they are detected will die because of this faulty logic. Until we start sequencing tumors and picking the appropriate medicine based on the mutation people will continue to die. Finally, one of the main tenets of preventative medicine when it comes to cancer is that early testing, diagnosis and intervention will reduce death rates and costs associated with the treatment of metastatic cancers. I support preventative medicine. I think it is cost effective and will save people's lives. I'm not willing to let a bunch of pricks in Washington tell me when I should get checked based on graphs and statistics that fail to see that real people fall below their graph and WILL DIE as a result of it.

I'm not a fan of rushing to medicate people. I think that we are too quick to use medication to solve our problems without thought to the long-term risks associated with their use. Have an issue? We've got a pill to solve it! By the way, why draw the line there? Why not make standards for other medications/behaviors? Why not have doctors encourage birth control to their female patients as soon as they menstruate? It is clearly cheaper than pregnancy and no one likes the idea of teen pregnancy or abortions anyways. Why not immediately issue statins / beta blockers / ACE inhibitors to everyone over 40 or with a BMI over 25? After all, so many people develop high cholesterol and heart surgeries are really fucking expensive. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2010 suicides accounted for 6 in 10 firearm deaths in the United States. Now, I know you'll respond and say "ban guns" but that is a constitutional issue and not a medical issue. So, my response would of course be... Why not evaluate and medicate everyone for depression that owns or has access to a firearm? Personally, when the US Task Force on Prevention raised the recommendations for mammograms from 40 to 50 a few years ago I wondered what the fuck they were thinking. There is clear evidence that women are dying from breast cancer in their 30s and 40s and to raise the age where doctors will recommend a mammogram just exacerbates the problem. I'm not wholly opposed to PrEP, but I think condom use is more effective.

Several of the other songs I would have listed like Rush's Nobody's Hero and A Great Big World's Say Something have already been mentioned, but Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here reminds me of a former member of GA that passed. Here is my favorite version on YouTube.

While I certainly would like to see Pat Robertson off the air, this is folly. The cable channel that became ABC Family started out as the Christian Broadcasting Network. As part of the sale of the CBN cable channel, they became contractually obligated to air The 700 Club several times a day. My understanding is the network made attempts to purchase the network without this stipulation and the offer was rejected. You may ask why didn't ABC Family just create a new channel. The reason is, getting a new channel on all the different cable and satellite providers is both costly and time consuming. Usually new channels are brought into the lineup because during contract negotiations they force the cable/satellite provider to take the new channel by making it a package deal. ABC/Disney could certainly do that now, but they'd essentially have to start a new channel and eliminate this one at a later date.

After a long delay since our last author promotion, we begin today to replenish the list of Promising Authors with the promotion of Valkyrie! Valkyrie is fairly new to writing fiction, having only finished her first serial in May 2014. Valkyrie's stories tend to feature flawed individuals who go through some pretty rough times before reaching their happily ever after -- if they ever do. As she states in her author bio, she is a big fan of animals and several of her stories feature them. In addition to her writing, Valkyrie is also active on-site as both an editor and reviewer. Make sure to check out Valkyrie's stories HERE, and please join us in welcoming Valkyrie to the Promising Author group!

Why do I feel at least one song by Heart belongs on this list?

I believe James and many others have the best of intentions when they display/discuss the Confederate Flag, but I do not believe that the flag can be reclaimed as of yet. First, I don't think all southerners agree on the meaning of the flag -- current or historical. Second, the flag is still used by the ignorant amongst us to represent white supremacy, disregard for the law, bigotry, and reckless behavior. Do not expect me to embrace a flag being used by some as a token representation of their ignorance just because you have a good feeling about it. This should have been a blog entry. I'd have enjoyed being more colorful with my response.

I think New England clearly outplayed Indy regardless of the inflation issue. That being said, a lot of money is involved in this game for players, coaches and teams. Players and coaches often get large bonuses if the team makes it into the playoffs, championship or superbowl. With that much money on the line, I think sportsmanship and fair play have been sidelined. Even at the college level there is obviously corruption. I think the NCAA turns a blind eye to most of it.

I happen to be a big fan of the song and it has been part of my music collection. I'm a bass player and I happen to like the very prominent bass line in the song. I also like how the song ends with a piano solo. I remember learning to play the bass line in the late 90s. Is it just me, or does the lead singer in the video look like a young, drugged Christopher Walken? This was my first time seeing the video for the song.

I paid $1.79 this morning.

Happy Birthday, Krista! Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Happy Birthday, Kyle!