BEHIND BARS

The potential for human error (and horrendous injustice) in any penal system was at the center of a lively conversation this week. "Man Spent 50 Years In Prison Without Trial," with 215 votes and 45 comments, was about a Sri Lankan who sat in remand for a half century. His compensation–the equivalent of $14,000–struck a few Propeller members as reasonable. "To people in some of the remote villages," wrote ThKng, "and even to some of the poorer people in rest of the country, $14,000 is a lot of money." Sandra honestly disagreed: "No matter how much money he gets, he can’t get his life back, and that’s what really matters." And 1-2-Oscar saw nothing but self-interest in the payoff: "The reason they are discharging him now is because he is old and infirm and caring for him is apparently going to become expensive. Admitting a ‘mistake’ and dumping him onto the street is an economy measure." Meanwhile, "Death Penalty & Wrongful Convictions" also saw a lengthy debate. "The death penalty is not a deterrent," declared skeptic271. There was agreement from eugenegerard: "Lock them up for life. The state should not be in the business of killing." But for JohnQPublic, a serial killer has forfeited his inalienable right to life: "The only way to deal with a rabid animal is to kill it." Statistics, and some deeply held opinions, were lobbed back and forth, with little resolution in sight.

GOING SOUTH

As the presidential campaign shifted down below the Mason-Dixon line, Fred Thompson regained center stage here at Propeller. "New Poll Says Thompson Gaining In South Carolina" clocked 143 votes and 257 comments. For jovial, the aging actor’s run at the White House was impossible to take seriously: "He’s got one foot in the grave, and the other on a banana peel." AlphaGnosis shot back: "I hope I can serve you some crow Saturday night. How do you like it prepared?" (Just for the record, the response was with "a little Cajun spice.") A related story, "Human Events Endorses Fred Thompson," earned 129 votes and 318 comments. Then there was "McCain carries too much baggage," which prompted this non-endorsement from AntiNeoCon: "When you get that old, you need to be out fishing or enjoying your retirement, not trying to rule the world." The senator from Arizona got an additional drubbing in "McCain Is the Amnesty Candidate." For ranchhand, the candidate had lost all credibility: "I think he’s been in bed with crooked politicians far too long." NelsonR, while disapproving of McCain’s immigration policies, still saw a core of decency at work, calling him a "more honorable man than all your other candidates combined." Stay tuned for Saturday night, and remember–there’s another pan-blackened crow for everybody. There might even be enough for seconds.

UNCIVIL WARS

"Stereotypes and Prejudice at Propeller.com" produced this week’s longest comment thread, at 595 and counting. JackofallChems wasn’t quite ready to beat his rhetorical sword into a plowshare: "There’s no point in excessive civility if it keeps you from identifying and abusing fools and fiends that ply their garbage on the Web." But Spadecaller, who posted the original article, made a pitch for exactly that sort of civility: "Haven’t we had enough hatred? Why haven’t we learned?" It was mesodude who suggested that silence, at least in response to a vitriolic comment, was golden: "Neg trollers are the creatures I deliberately do not neg–because I know they’re usually just a bored johnny one-note here to get a rise out of others rather than engage in legitimate debate." Spadecaller also posted this story about Adolf Hitler’s relationship to Christianity, which tallied an impressive 541 comments. The debate was vigorous, even if it largely went in circles, since almost no group–neither Christians, atheists, agnostics, nor Buddhists–is eager to claim the demented Führer as a mascot. This was the tack argued by splitrch, who said, "Rather than argue about whether Hitler was or was not a Christian, we need to focus on the effects of fascism on humanity, regardless of religious differences."

AND DON’T FORGET….

The death of 19 bald eagles, who had stuffed themselves on waste material parked outside a fish processing plant, struck a chord with the community. The story racked up 157 votes and 243 comments. Sticking up for these birds of a feather, Eagle Eye noted that "the responsibility for the death of an American Bald Eagle is punishable by law by a fine of up to $500K and 5 years in jail." With 161 votes and 66 comments, "Mysterious $100 ’supernote’ counterfeit bills appear across world" also got some love from the Propeller crowd. (CaptainLucid offered this quick lesson in Economics 101: "If I have real bills and someone prints a dump truck full of fakes, that will lead to inflation and my real dollars will be worth less.") There were popular stories about global warming, creationism, Internet addiction, and the famous Lancet report on Iraqi casualties. "Nationwide Poll: Fox Most Trusted News for Americans," with 142 votes and 285 comments, immediately turned into a jousting match, with Fox, CNN, CBS, MSNBC, and C-SPAN paladins riding into violent combat. Many a lance was broken (and many a poll cited) before the dust settled, at which point Mdiar questioned the validity of the polls themselves: "Wait, they still believe after that Dewey fiasco? I’m confused." And as usual, at least one humorous story made it into our Top Twenty. This week, it was "Secondhand Smoke Linked To Secondhand Coolness," with 173 votes and 18 emphysemic comments. There was a stubborn shot across the bow from denden79: "You have relegated me to doorways, alleys, and my car/home, where I still enjoy my legal habit and right to use tobacco." And ind06 reminded us that there’s a whole world of vicarious vice out there, if we’re just bold enough to explore it: "Not to mention what secondhand alcohol does for a person."

THE COMEBACK TRAIL

Not surprisingly, the New Hampshire primary took center stage this week at Propeller. “Clinton Upsets Obama in NH; McCain Wins,” with 165 votes and 469 comments, was securely lodged in our Top Twenty. Needless to say, there was a wide variety of responses to this double upset in the Granite State. ETproductions was happy with the outcome: “Now it’s not a cakewalk for anybody. Let the real fight begin.” Endoscopy suspected some Clintonian foul play: “Her goons got in and doctored the counts.” And AlphaGnosis, not a traditional Hillary fan, had some kind words for the teary candidate: “I think Hillary’s emotional moment helped her. It humanized her.” Meanwhile, this story about the New Hampshire debates elicited a similar range of reactions–including a lengthy digression about Fox’s decision to bar Ron Paul from its own debate. And the Republican victor was turned over the coals in “McCain: Straight Shooter or Bootlicker?“, with 119 votes and 207 comments. To Will1313, the senator from Arizona was “a virtual rubber stamp,” while getreal1 insisted that McCain was uniquely qualified to battle the terrorists: “If you dropped him off in the Pakistani mountains, he would get the big O.” (No, not Oprah.)

BARACK ON THE RACK?

Despite his narrow loss to Clinton in the primary, Barack Obama remains a lightning rod for high-voltage hopes and resentments. Both were present in the comment thread for “Republicans Worried About Obama,” with 143 votes and 523 comments. FSU92grad expressed his disbelief that Obama could really be the “squeaky clean, leave-it-to-Beaver candidate” he appears to be. JohnQPublic fired back at what he perceived as a Republican smear machine, which had “already tried the character assassination route with Obama.” There was also “Barack Obama’s Racist Church,” with 123 votes and 392 comments. To tkyrchncs, the Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright’s statement about leading an “unashamedly black” congregation was problematic: “No person should be ashamed of his race, but to identify a Christian congregation as black or white or any other race is about as unChristian as you can get.” But smithichie suspected that a double standard was at work, pointing to Rudy Giuliani’s cosy relationship with Pat Robertson. “I didn’t see Rudy Giuliani turn down his endorsement,” he argued, “even though Robertson makes millions from his church and makes yearly predictions rivaling those made in the past by The Weekly World News.” On a more positive note, there was “Backers say Obama can regain world’s respect for US,” with 124 votes and 278 comments. This thread too became a referendum on role of Islam in the candidate’s past (and present). But at least one member, doggammit, expected Obama to weather the storm quite nicely: “For several very obvious reasons Mr. Obama is a prickly pear. I very much doubt any mainstream politician will even consider a Swift Boat campaign against this man.”

STRAIT TALK

Which story snagged the most comments during the past week? That would be “Iranian boats ‘provoke’ U.S. Navy ships in Hormuz,” which rang up 156 votes and 745 comments. Much of the thread devolved into a pitched battle over who destroyed the Twin Towers–Al Qaeda, George W. Bush, and the Mossad being popular candidates–but after about 200 comments the conversation drifted back to the Strait of Hormuz. One member, john-galt, dismissed comparisons to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in 1964. Iran, he asserted, “is a very real threat to us, because they are getting closer all the time to a weapon the [North Vietnamese] could only have dreamed about.” But fourthfunz had little patience for this argument: “Your left vs right gibberish was invented to keep the populace from getting together.” Said catstevens: “Playing around with a US Navy Ship is not a good idea.” Countered pcknowledge: “A US Navy ship hanging around the Middle East oil shipping routes is not a good idea, at this point or ever.” Still confused? Take a look at this related story, with 120 votes and 300 comments and a dead link, alas, to the Navy video of the incident. (You can see at least snatches of the video in this story at LiveLeak.)

AND DON’T OVERLOOK….

Several stories about Christian Fundamentalism made our Top Twenty. “The Christian Fundamentalists Who Support Huckabee,” for example, racked up 130 votes and 517 comments. MonkeyBiz quickly labeled Huckabee’s ultra-conservative base as “the American Taliban.” Not so fast, responded secondchance: “I find it to be very strange that the left/liberals are on a mission to trash Christianity till hell freezes over, but this same group will never say anything bad about Islam.” A related post, “Christian Dominionists Attack Public Ed,” earned 110 votes and 363 comments. There were popular stories about North Korea, loofah-loving pundit Bill O’Reilly, and abdominal massage. A post about the death of Sir Edmund Hillary elicited this valedictory comment from Teech: “If, indeed, there is a Heaven, Sir Ed will climb, and ascend to it.” And finally, Propeller members asserted their inalienable right to silliness by voting up “Earth-Like Planet Discovered Around Moon.” Leave it to ind06 to up ante: “Just this morning the exciting news came of the discovery of a Sun-like star less than a light year away!” But it was Rinty who registered the most hopeful response: “I wunder if thers any intelajunt life forms there.” Well, they’ve got to be somewhere.

A DEATH IN PAKISTAN

It would have been nice to ring in the new year on a positive note. Alas, our top story for the last week, with 226 votes and a whopping 757 comments, was “Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Assassinated at Rally.” In the thread, Islam got a pretty thorough shellacking. But one member, quackpot, argued that Muslims had no monopoly on terrorist violence: “Of the terrorists attacks in Europe last year, about half were Muslim-related. The other half were by various separatist groups.” A similar point was made by dissent, who suggested that Bhutto’s killing was less about Islam and “more likely to be about politics and power, something I find fascinatingly absent from most of the comments of the Muslim-bashers commenting here.” Thinker, however, was having none of this: “Not all Muslims on the planet today are terrorists but almost all terrorists are Muslims.” A spate of additional Bhutto-related stories also made our Top Twenty. For starters, there was “Benazir Bhutto’s Assassination: What Killer Video Footage Reveals,” with 107 votes and 39 comments. (The latter post offered neither a link to the video footage nor any evidence for its assertions, but at least one clip of the shooting can be found here.) There was also “Giuliani speaks out about Bhutto and Military Funding,” in which the presidential contender pointed to the assassination as one more proof that the United States needs to “go on the offensive.” MisterX took Giuliani’s comments with a grain of salt: “Well, it’s a good springboard for Rudy to flash the terrorism card again.” But the ex-mayor had his supporters as well, such as libsRfunny, who insisted that “Rudy is much truer to his word than, say, Hillary Clinton or pretty much any other Democrat candidate.” And finally, “Doctors were pressured to give Govt. view of Bhutto’s Death” bagged 122 votes and 60 comments. Nobody seemed too hopeful that investigators would get to the bottom of this one.

THE RUMBLE IN IOWA

By now the Iowa caucuses have come and gone, with Obama and Huckabee as victors. But earlier this week, speculation about the outcome was rampant on Propeller. “Joe Biden Has Strong Dark-Horse Buzz in Iowa,” with 124 votes and 109 comments, produced a lively conversation. Few candidates were spared. One member, purpose, gave a thumbs down to Fred Thompson: “I for one would be very disappointed to see that old coot Fred Thompson win the bid for president. But if you think there is a possibility then I’m buying stock in Geritol.” (Never fear–Thompson polled a miserable 13 percent in Iowa.) Biden, who has now folded his tent, took some heat from walden3: “Granted Biden may come from the credit card capital of the land, but he still has never seen an anti-consumer or pro-banking bill that he didn’t like.” But it took an Iowa resident, baddad59, to remind us of the real purpose behind this shooting gallery: “It is a patriotic duty to discuss and argue the merits of each candidate, and I for one will listen to any valid argument.” A second story along the same lines, “Can Biden Defy the Iowa Odds?,” got 113 votes and 100 comments. And a third, “As Iowa sizes up the candidates, so do I,” racked up 104 votes and 182 comments, including this dire assessment of a Clinton presidency from Spinward: “We get Sandy Berger back, Bill’s cigars, bizarre fundraisers, and a Motel 6 sign in the White House lawn.”

MUSIC, MAESTRO

With 115 votes and 36 comments, “Considerable Sounds: Best Of Year List” handily made our Top Twenty. Posted by one of our most active members, Radiofreeeuropa, it ran down the last year in music, awarding the palm to such disparate artists as Osvaldo Golijov, The Mars Volta, Annie Lennox, Brad Paisley, and Youssou N’Dour (pictured here). One member, mmrhe, gave his blessing to the list, especially for the presence of country stud and Telecaster wizard Paisley: “Kudos to your guy for having the guts to include Brad Paisley. There’s nothing more boring than music critics trying to out snob each other.” Both BoxMonkey and gamahuche applauded the choice of Robert Wyatt. There were also additional suggestions. It was humemacdonald who made the pitch for the White Stripes and Goldfrapp, while icono1 had just one word for Praxis: “Sweet, sweet, sweet.” The Propeller Award for honesty, however, goes to marshx, who was quick to confess: “[I] never heard of any of the artists on the list!!”

AND DON’T OVERLOOK….

No week at Propeller would be complete without a call for the impeachment of at least one Administration official. This time, “Take This Survey: Do You Think Cheney and Bush Should Be Impeached?” put the issue back on the front burner, with 170 votes and 623 comments. (Incidentally, this story too was posted by Radiofreeeuropa. Way to go!) TemplarScribe recommended something a little more dramatic: “The rope’s the only way to do away with this kind of evil, just like they did in the Old West. The irony shouldn’t be lost on a couple of straight-shooting Texas cattle rustlers like these two.” Responded Codi6934: “Threatening a President is illegal, and can cause the Secret Service to visit you.” Elsewhere, Propeller members voted up stories about global warming, skyrocketing oil prices, and the United Nations. And just to show that the quirk factor hasn’t tapered off too sharply, let us not overlook the popularity of “Know Your Meme: I Like Turtles,” with 103 votes and 34 comments. The video left me speechless. Not palama, however, who responded with this burst of regional pride: “Maryland Terrapins… the only turtles worth talking about.” No argument there.

DENNIS THE MENACE?

Although he’s previously had a low profile here at Propeller, it was Dennis Kucinich who claimed the spotlight this week. But it wasn’t his presidential campaign that got all the attention, strictly speaking–it was his ongoing effort to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Not all Propeller members were convinced. Some, like grandpawh, expressed real distaste for the former Boy Mayor of Cleveland: “He’s just a camera hound like some others I could name.” Another, rufus red, came to the candidate’s defense: “Obviously, you have a prejudice against shorter men and you must not have listened to a word he has said because you don’t even quote him.” A related story, “Spurned by major newspapers, Dem Congressman takes ‘impeach Cheney’ appeal to Web,” bagged 130 votes and 387 comments. This post was about Rep. Robert Wexler’s online impeachment campaign, and sparked a fierce debate about the reliability of the mainstream press. Spadecaller argued that “the real news is rapidly disappearing.” Locky12 fired back on a satirical note: “You’ll find reports about the relevance of impeachment of this administration right next to the article about unicorns which is just below the article about centaurs.” But at least one member, jordan11, found fault on both sides of the aisle, dismissing the Democrats but also putting a question to his fellow Republicans: “What about us? Why do we continue to accept the use of our air waves for propaganda?”

JAGGED LITTLE PILLS

The steroid scandal also made a big splash here. “Baseball drug abuse list is huge,” with 179 votes and 74 comments, prompted a debate about whether earlier baseball titans–for example, Babe Ruth–had been artificially enhancing their abilities. Teech blew the lid off that rumor. The Sultan of Swat, he insisted, “did it on 6 to 8 bottles of beer and 10 hot dogs! Followed, allegedly, by several boxes of Cracker Jacks.” Then came a related dispute about whether players with such skeletons in the closet should be eligible for the Hall of Fame. BronxBomber denied that character was truly an issue: “There are people in the HOF that I wouldn’t invite to a Boy Scout Jamboree.” But AtheismIsReality quoted chapter and verse from a clause on the HOF ballot, which states that “character, integrity, sportsmanship and contributions to the game” are part of the package. And amesburyroad urged zero tolerance for what he called “cheaters, frauds, snakes, [and] jocks.” (Bonus points for being all four at once!)

A MATTER OF TASTE

“A Fifth Taste Joins Salty, Sweet, Sour and Bitter,” with 183 votes and 60 comments, was about unami–a Japanese word that translates (more or less) as “mouth feel.” Evidently ketchup has unami to burn, because that was the focus of a fairly mouth-watering conversation. “I used to add a secret ingredient to my homemade spaghetti sauce (a splash of ketchup) and now I know why everybody loved it,” said AlphaGnosis, who also posted the story. One member, fizzleboink2, had some issues with those three slippery syllables: “Why did they pick such a clumsy word?” On the other hand, sumptuousdigs (evidently a resident of William Penn’s green country town) saw some real fusion possibilities: “In some Philly neighborhoods it’s mixed with cheesesteak to get that distinctive Yomama flavor.” And cosmogenium got the ball rolling with what should be a regular tsunami of unami jokes (say that ten times fast): “Umami’s so hot, she make me drool!” I guess we’ll stop right there.

AND DON’T OVERLOOK….

With 244 votes and 229 comments, “Lawmakers vote to hold Bolten and Rove in contempt” was among our top stories for the week. RickytheGriff thought that a contempt citation was far too kind a treatment for these Bush stalwarts. He recommended a more rigorous procedure, which began this way: “You take both Bolten and Rove and you stuff ‘em into two Civil War era cannons, right? Then you roll those cannons about five feet in front of a large brick wall…” At least one member, injest, took the opposite tack, predicting that “this so-called scandal will go nowhere.” VMan, however, detected a whiff of stonewalling: “If there’s nothing to hide, why don’t they just show up and talk?” Elsewhere, Propeller members were talking about Mike Huckabee, synthetic DNA, and the death penalty. A story about painting your nails earned a surprising 141 votes, and this confession from socialpyramid: “I used to paint my nails in college (I’m a dude). It was fun.” (You’re the man!) There were alarming posts about PTSD and our dwindling food supply. And finally, the Propeller crew tipped its hat to the holiday season by voting up this latest version of “” The YouTube video generated 160 votes and 46 comments, including this observation from CactusAnnie: “Those little dreidels were adorable.” On that note, Propeller wishes you all a pleasant holiday and a happy New Year and (if you’re so inclined) a celebratory gin-and-tonica. But only if you’re good.

LET’S GO TO THE VIDEOTAPE

The CIA’s erasure of interrogation videotapes prompted some of our liveliest conversations over the last week. This story, for example, bagged 235 votes and 229 comments. One member, afoaf, seemed to be regretting the lost opportunity for some cinematic thrills and chills: “Pull up a chair, I’ll go make some popcorn!” Another, palama, considered the erasure just one more example of the current administration’s modus operandi: “What’s the surprise? Emails destroyed, videotapes destroyed, National Guard records lost.” Another interrogation-related story, “Military Interrogator from Abu Ghraib Speaks Out,” produced 106 votes, 233 comments, and a long debate about the authentic meaning of Christian witness. “There is no private interpretation of God’s Holy Word,” insisted Silverghost. “Hogwash,” responded djn3nunez3. “There is nothing but private interpretations of God’s so-called Holy Word (actually it was written by men).” Still a third story, with 223 votes and 336 comments, revolved around a different cover-up: “Victim: Gang-Rape Cover-Up by U.S. And Halliburton.” The comment thread dwelled in great detail on procedural oddity of the rape kit being handed over to KBR. “When I worked in the ER,” noted jaem, “I never once saw a rape kit handed over to suspects.” Apparently the Propeller community possesses more legal expertise than we might have suspected–but at least one member, AnteUp, admitted that his comments were based on “my TV legal education.” (I’ll see you in chambers, counselor!)

HOLIDAY CHEER

On a lighter note, we had a couple of popular stories about the impending holiday. “God Bless Us, Every Mushy One” was about the enduring power of holiday classics on television, and hit almost everyone’s nostalgia button right on the nose. “When we watch these classics,” said Fangarius, “we’re reminded of a time when things were simpler.” Said priapism: “Nostalgia is such a good thing. I’ve noticed that the older I get, the better I used to be.” (Yet cherev noted that getting older had its drawbacks, too: “Have you noticed that the parts that are supposed to be dry leak and visa-versa?”) Meanwhile, a more facetious post collected 127 votes and 38 comments: “Wealthy Cruelly Deprived Of True Meaning Of Christmas.” Again, the concept of holiday spirit was batted back and forth. Were the rich truly insulated from Christmas cheer? “I guess we should be thankful we don’t have to put up with all the expensive gifts that aren’t appreciated anyway,” opined cowboygrandpa. Another member, natashas, suggested her own tribute to the season: “Let’s make a toast to Master[card], Visa, and Discovery!”

WARM ENOUGH FOR YOU?

As the days grow short and the nights grow cold, the Propeller community still enjoys a good smackdown about global climate change. “Gore: Ignoring Climate Crisis Akin to Appeasing Hitler” (116 votes, 184 comments) spawned a bare-knuckles referendum on the former VP himself. Spinward argued that “Al is not being very honest and he is counting on lemmings to follow him.” Responded Jaydee40: “Al Gore is not the issue, but how come most Americans can’t see past that? The planet is in a mess and humans are the biggest single contributor to that mess.” From there, the brickbats just kept flying. (Bobo in Texas: “Crespi, by what percentage have you reduced your carbon footprint?” Crespi: “I concentrate on eliminating poison gas issuing out of Neocons.”) And what about the embattled bears of the Great White North, whose icy terrain is melting out from under their lavishly padded feet? According to “Polars bears on the brink? Don’t you believe it,” the poor things are doing just fine, relishing their new visibility in the Golden Compass film and not worrying one bit about global warming. The story, with 148 votes and 232 comments, led to some pointed exchanges. Blackadder1964 took issue with the reporting, which “seems to say the bears are not in trouble, then in the second half says the bears’ weight is down 20%, and the ice around Churchill has melted more than usual and three weeks earlier than it used to.” RickyDawkins saw worse to come: “This is only the beginning. Soon polar bears will be applying for visas, or worse, coming illegally to the United States and taking jobs away from our brown bears.”

AND DON’T OVERLOOK….

“OpEd: Warning! Science and Atheists Beware” was this week’s champion in terms of conversation. The thread, which ran to 461 comments, was essentially another wrassling match between science and religion. According to memestryker, organized religion “is no different than the cultural engineering of Chairman Mao–in fact, St. Paul, Moses, Elijah, Mohammed, Joseph Smith all were very successful cultural engineers who understand how to use fear and hypnotic suggestion to control people.” GWHayduke disagreed: “Without religion, man can only have faith in himself (man), and the pursuit of self is, ultimately, not a worthy endeavor.” Propeller members also voted up a storm for these stories about John Lennon, Alex Trebek, and White House mouthpiece Dana Perino. “LEDgendary: Zep Can Still Rock” generated a whole lotta love in the comment thread. “I’m an Ol’ Zeppy Hippy,” proclaimed djr1970, and in the opinion of foge, Planty and the crew “reclaimed their throne.” (The thread also took joeeddie on a trip down memory lane, clear back to the Age of Vinyl: “I’ll never forget the look on my grandmother’s face when I opened up Houses of the Holy one year for Christmas.”) Finally, this satirical clip on the Canadian conquest of Turkey seemed to tickle the collective funnybone. But greenmac, apparently a Canadian himself, marshaled at least a little braggadocio in return: “The air force, the Flying Gulls, never miss [its] targets… precision bombing at its best. Our navy, the Codless Fishermen, never gives up.” What more can any nation ask?

WIN, LOSE, OR DRAW?

The troop surge in Iraq–and its implications for the future of that bruised and battered nation–dominated much of our Top Ten this week. "McCain & Lieberman: It’s inexcusable for Congress not to fund the troops" generated 96 votes and 396 comments. The thread was split down the middle. Bobo in Texas, who also submitted the original post, took his shots at the Democratic Congress, which he called "the Retreat & Surrender Caucus." Another member, ybdogsct, begged to differ: "The public gave Democrats a mandate to withdraw the troops in last year’s election. They are trying to meet these promises." This story, with 56 votes and 180 comments, prompted a similar set of arguments. On the other hand, the comment thread for "Why Bush’s Troop Surge Won’t Save Iraq" was definitely tilted toward the antiwar contingent. Blackacereturn wrote, "Just bring our people home and call it a wash." DarkWizard, waxing just a little satirical, foresaw a future in which the U.S. has annexed the entire Middle East and "we’ll all live happily ever after bathing in oil and drying off with piles of hundred dollar bills." But even here, there were protests. "It’s amazing," wrote crghass, "to read how many people can’t tolerate any successes in Iraq."

ARKANSAS TRAVELER

Among the presidential candidates, it was Mike Huckabee who seemed to be igniting the most conversations this week. "Huckabee Shines In GOP Debate" bagged 145 votes and 182 comments. One member, joeeddie, declared Huckabee the undisputed champ of the Republican rumble: "My rating: Huckabee, McCain, Thompson." Another, tanglang, had a similar response, while noting that "Romney and Guiliani were bickering like school girls." AntiNeoCon expressed some mixed feelings about the Arkansan’s performance: "Huck was better than the professional city slickers, but Ron Paul didn’t get much attention for some reason." And 5urfsup neatly dispatched some of the other candidates: "Thompson needs to display some energy. He looks bored. I like Hunter, but he doesn’t have a snowball’s chance, and both he and McCain need to take Econ 101." Did anybody have an unkind word for the Republican dark horse? That would be toph1973, who denounced Huckabee and declared his allegiance to Ron Paul, "the only politician running that isn’t a traitor to this country."

THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

Money matters were also close to the community’s heart. "National Debt Grows $1 Million a Minute," with 172 votes and 136 comments, conveyed the fact that the U.S. government currently spends an average of $1.4 billion per day. Teech had a sardonic response: at least George W. Bush wasn’t throwing away these dollars on "commie/pinko stuff like universal health care, improved education, rebuilt infrastructure, and stuff for Americans." Most members seemed to assume that tax hikes would be necessary to refill the federal piggybank. One commenter, aceofspades1, was already anticipating anguished protests from the taxpayers, which he compared to "blaming a fireman for getting your house wet while putting out the fire." Other members had more inventive solutions. "Sell Manhattan," suggested earthlingerer. ("No, don’t sell Manhattan," replied saintetienne. "Trade a dumpy state like Idaho or Kansas for Baja California.") Meanwhile, "Exxon CEO awarded close to $20 mln in bonus, stock" prompted some loud grumbling about executive compensation. "How nice," said allasam. "I guess the bonus is for keeping Exxon from spending a nickel on the damages in the Alaska oil spill." The appropriately named Anti.trust was more outraged: "Sickening to even think about this." But only two members were striking back. One, flyonthewallzz, was boycotting Exxon stations. And not2needy was taking it a step further, going "many days without buying gas, oil or any other petroleum-based products." Be afraid, Rex Tillerson–be very afraid.

AND DON’T FORGET….

There was some major mourning for the late Evel Knievel. "Right now he is probably giving Charon the finger as he jumps the [R]iver Styx," speculated tanglang. For Tcaros, the motorcyclist "represented that foolishness of youth. The first time you realized you could build a ramp in your driveway and jump over a few friends. The time you road the wheelie all the way down the street." There were popular stories about Guantanamo (with 194 votes and 303 comments) and a 500-year-old map. "Iran stopped nuclear weapons work in 2003," with 178 votes and 345 comments, caused a fiery exchange of epithets, including "neocoward" and "defeatocrat." And finally, "Sex and chocolate boost brain power" was greeted as good news by almost all Propeller members. Not surprisingly, though, the comment thread turned into a heated flirtfest, which culminated in that time-honored line: "Wanna play doctor?"

WEAVING THE WEB

While our audience is obviously tech-savvy enough to thrive on social news, our Top Ten at Propeller is seldom dominated by stories about the Web itself. This week, however, not only the Web but the site itself generated some very lengthy conversations. Our top story, with 260 votes and a whomping 923 comments, was “Propeller’s Incorrigibles.” Spadecaller, who wrote and posted the original article, threw down the gauntlet in the comment thread: “I’m sick of personally abusive commentary that targets [a] member’s race, age, sex, nationality, ethnic background, or disability. What about you?” The debate went on for days, and pertained not only to miscreants at this site but to Internet protocol in general. JohnQPublic acknowledged the presence of “ignorant and uncouth individuals” who like to inject a note of nastiness into every exchange, but argued that “they are few in number (percentage wise when compared to total membership) and there simply aren’t enough of them to get all twisted in knots about.” Obaku insisted that a little mudslinging was actually constructive, and maybe even a patriotic duty: “If you support the destruction, or damage, to the Constitution, I will call you a traitor, here, in the newspapers, and from the rooftops.” (ConquerorWyrm seemed to concur: “What’s wrong with anarchy?”) Meanwhile, other Web-related stories included “Propeller Close to Overtaking Reddit as Social Media #2” and “The Top Ten Biggest Web Annoyances.” The thread for the latter post found Propeller members fulminating against spam, trolls, pop-ups, and server hiccups. Only gamahuche had a potential solution: “Have you tried Buddhist acceptance?”

MORE GORE

Speaking of the Internet, its putative inventor Al Gore was back in the news this week. “Bush to Welcome Gore to White House for Nobel Prize Honor,” with 107 and 153 comments, marked a more amicable meeting between the president and his old nemesis. “It’ll be great to watch Bush grit his teeth and eat crow,” wrote Raiderwall. Another member, vettenut, took the opposite tack: “[N]ow that he has won a quite sizable sum from the Nobel Prize, folks, Al Gore can afford to pay one month’s worth of utility bills from one of his mansions.” But it was KYRed who got in the last word: “Al Gore created the Nobel Peace Prize.” In any case, while the former VP was making nice at the White House, his personal blog was being hacked. Read about it in this story, which earned 149 votes and a scanty 8 comments, including this career assessment from jumpmaster: “I would consider Al to be more of a hypnotist than a scholar.”

D-I-V-O-R-C-E

“Fight or Flight: How Men React to Divorce” produced a bittersweet comment thread. One member, sumptuousdigs, quoted Henny Youngman: “Take my wife. Please!” CactusAnnie responded with a line from America’s most beloved marriage counselor, Willie Nelson: “Walkin’ is better than runnin’ away, and crawlin’ ain’t no good at all.” On a more serious note, several members drew on their own experiences to point out that divorce is a sad, confusing, and sometimes inevitable phenomenon. It was new member pjustice71 (welcome aboard, by the way) who urged divorcing couples to treat each other decently: “No matter how bad you want to get angry and fight, it is such a better idea to be civil.” Mark Stevens, on the other hand, sounded ready to wash his hands of the whole matrimonial enterprise: “Remember, marriage is the number [one] cause for divorce.” Hard to argue with that.

ANNAPOLIS SUMMIT

The Annapolis summit also grabbed a lot of attention this week. This story, about the Syrians climbing aboard just before the peace conference kicked off, bagged 107 votes and 201 comments. Many Propeller members sounded skeptical about any possible outcome. “You cannot invade, occupy and destroy a [M]uslim country and hold a peace conference for the same region,” declared nikkibabe. A long dispute about the legitimacy of the Jewish state broke out, with Hyperbola citing the controversial Israeli historian Ilan Pappe and PapaWolf pointing the finger at both parties: “Extremists on both sides have been beyond stupid on this.” A related story, with 102 votes and 169 comments, also turned into a slugfest, with George W. Bush and Bill Clinton as dual piñatas. Yet flyonthewallzz did sound a lone note of hope: “The President has my support on this one. At least an agreement to speak gives me a chance to bet on the puppies. The odds may be long but stranger things have happened.”

AND DON’T FORGET….

“What Is Money?“, with 178 votes and 48 comments, envisioned a world where paper currency and coinage have been completely supplanted by electronic transactions. For vvv63vvv, this scenario smacked a little too strongly of Big Brother: “Wouldn’t it be great if your doctor could block your card at McDonald’s if you made the obesity list, or block candy from the supermarket?… I’ll stick with cash.” Propeller members were also tickled by stories about immigration, Ferrari, and tequila. The latter story, with 145 votes and 25 comments, elicited some real enthusiasm for demon alcohol. Radiofreeeuropa nominated Jose Cuervo for president, and deathray fondly recalled that “back when I had the liver of tomorrow, I regularly won tequila drinking contests.” (There was one, rather blunt dissent from sarahj1113: “tequila = instant blackout.” Or was that supposed to be a positive thing?) David Petraeus and Google got their share of votes and comments. And finally, chess master Gary Kasparov won the admiration of many Propeller members for his anti-Putin protest. The comment thread was mostly a referendum on Putin himself–a negative one–with several members dwelling on George W. Bush’s nickname for his opposite number: Pootie-Poot. Or is that Pooty-Poot? We may have the answer by next week, folks.

As I struggled to fight the effects of Thanksgiving turkey, I started to think about what I am thankful for in 2007. My family and friends, for sure. The stellar Propeller team, absolutely. What makes the Propeller site really tick, though, is the community involvement. We the Propeller team take our hats off to you, the Propeller membership. Without you we would not have come so far.

We are continuing to work hard on platform improvements to better serve the membership. However, in reading the feedback that comes in, I have noticed things about the site that can be confusing.

I’d like to show my thanks by helping to clear up misconceptions about how things work on the site, to help in navigating issues that cross Propeller to Netscape to AOL and back, and to answer member questions. I’ll start off by using this blog to post the best (or most provocative) questions and answers that have come in on a particular day.

We will answer questions posed, and also get to work on upgrading the site to be more clear.

I will also use this forum, from time to time, to ask questions of the Propellership. I hope that you will humor me by sharing your opinions.

You can submit questions to: feedback@propeller.com

We will be reading that e-mail list, as well as taking in feedback via our own e-mails, sitemail, and bug reports. You can submit your feedback anonymously if you desire.

We hope you will find this useful.

I’m sure we’ll talk soon.
Tom

FIGHTING WORDS

On the basis of comments alone, our most popular story last week was “Protestors Call For End to Iraq War.” The thread ran to 357 comments, with a predictable split between pro-war and anti-war participants. Codi6934 had nothing but contempt for the protesters: “When the hometown does not support the home team, that bugs me. And don’t say you support the troops, and not the war. That is a load of crap. That is the PC way of spitting on the troops.” Another member, KMFDM, begged to differ: “With that kinda of ideology, you would have supported Hitler in WWII if you were German. Last time I looked, it wasn’t the soldiers that started this war.” A related story also made our Top Ten, with 135 votes and 85 comments, prompting a debate about the role of oilman Ray Hunt and this pessimistic summary of the conflict from hyperbola: “It appears that the U.S. has set itself up to protect the Kurds while supplying arms to both the Sunni and Shiite forces. Arming both sides in a civil war while sitting in the crossfire is crazy and the actions to create this situation can only be called treason.”

LAW AND ORDER?

Still another Iraq-related post, “Blackwater Guards Given Immunity in Shootings,” snagged 132 votes and 161 comments. Although gamahuche considered such grants of immunity to be a scandal, he did think some exception should be made for “soldiers who are following superior’s orders…. Of course in the surreal world of warfare there’s often not a whole lot of time to deliberate.” Some members preferred to hold their tongues until the investigation was complete. “We should not rush to judgment as to the guilt or innocence of these men until all the facts have been laid out to review,” urged palama. Others, like rightfromwrong, had no doubt about the guilt of the Blackwater contractors, which he described as “Bush’s thugs.” There was, meanwhile, a parallel debate about whether Blackwater guards qualified as rent-a-cops or a true mercenary army: are they latter-day Pinkterons or the sort of Hessians-for-hire that George III employed during the American Revolution? The jury is still out on this one.

MATTERS OF FAITH

A story about the impending release of The Golden Compass–and the campaign conducted by Christian groups against the film’s atheist message–brought in 116 votes and 315 comments. Just as they do in Phillip Pullman’s intricate trilogy of novels, the believers and nonbelievers took to the trenches. StillUnashamed wrote: “I’m not afraid of letting atheists spout their nonsense.” To which Candida, waving the atheist flag, replied: “That’s the right attitude. We are not afraid of letting the religious people spout their nonsense either.” Just for the record, the conversation thread also included a sidebar about spam–the food, not the pernicious Internet phenomenon. According to tanglang, it’s a Hawaiian staple: “They say it’s as popular as hamburgers are on the mainland.” Bringing the conversation back to the original topic (sort of), slate fired back: “Spam must be the new kosher food of the atheists.” Nobody else had an opinion on that issue.

AND DON’T FORGET….

The Propeller community had plenty to say about Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, and even faux-candidate Stephen Colbert. (The latter story, with 181 votes and 126 comments, also gravitated toward an irrelevant food theme. “Free Doritos for all! I want the Fiery Habenero ones!” V.O.R. declared.) There were popular posts about the spike in oil prices, the FBI raid on a George-Soros-related firm, and the late Gerald Ford’s characterization of Bill Clinton as a “sex addict.” Another winner: “Belief in Ghosts High,” with 121 votes, 164 comments, and surprisingly few skeptics in the house. (Jaydee40 did ask the question on everybody’s mind: “Where’s Scooby Doo when you need him?”) Finally, two Propeller-related stories made it into our Top Ten. “Note to Spammers: Propeller Is Not For You” warned purveyors of spam (not the food, this time) to stay away in no uncertain terms. And the annual Halloween Avatar Contest got an excellent turnout, with 136 votes and 143 comments. The winner? That would be Vidman04, for his vision of a suave skeleton in a green suit.

PLAME WARS

With a new book hitting the shelves, Valerie Plame was back in the news, and the Propeller community had plenty to say on the subject. “Valerie Plame: Bush Didn’t Keep His Word” snagged 161 votes and 427 comments. In a wide-ranging (and occasionally mud-slinging) discussion thread, the former CIA operative was praised for her courage and pilloried as a publicity hound. “I would like to thank Valerie Plame and her husband for their courage and honesty,” said cowboygrandpa. “What happened is unacceptable. Cheney and Scooter should be in prison.” Another member, teagen, was considerably more skeptical: “Unless Val was the secret director of the CIA, this story has gotten way to much play. We’re seeing only a small part of a very large puzzle. This smells of CIA/Bill Casey end run. What are they covering up?” Another Plame-related story picked up 129 votes and 131 comments. It also featured this comment from Poulenc, which both sides could effectively use as a rallying cry: “My grandfather used to call stuff like this ‘dirty politics.’ He would then add that the phrase was redundant.”

CALL ME RUDY

More than a year before the next election, the presidential race remains at center stage. And this week, the Propeller It Boy seems to be Rudy Giuliani. In “Giuliani Asks Values Voters to Trust Him,” the leading Republican contender extended the olive branch to a gathering of social conservatives–and at least a few community members thought highly of his performance. “I believe most of the values voters will accept Rudy, warts and all,” said aniokly. “He is the best qualified, an administrator, not a legislator.” Another member, aceofspades1, wasn’t ready to admit Giuliani to his personal circle of trust: “You’d be safer with one of Siegfried & Roy’s lions in your corner.” As evidence, he might have cited another top-ranked story (with 123 votes and 104 comments), “Giuliani Defends, Employs Priest Accused of Molesting Teens.” Almost nobody sprang to the ex-mayor’s defense on this one. (Said mntnman444: “Is this Rudy’s version of the ‘big tent party’?”)

SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Also in the news: drugs. According to a recent study, America’s youth is indulging fairly heavily in alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana (plus a number of nastier substances). “A day in the life of U.S. teens” touched off a lively conversation, with more than a few Propeller members recalling their own intoxicated heyday. “Rock on, kids!” commented Teech. “Nobody could tell me anything! I knew it all and demanded to experience it.” Another member, thaw, took the opposite tack: “Stay the hell away from chemicals. They will kill you.” Or at least confine your activities to a safe-injection room, like those currently under consideration in San Francisco. This story about the SF initiative, which bagged 93 votes and 189 comments, led to a lengthy discussion about whether addiction was a moral issue or an insidious illness. “Addiction is a behavior, not a disease, and the choice to use substances (heroin, meth, crack, cocaine, etc.) is a moral choice,” argued Mintyfunk. Others, like fishifanb, insisted on a largely pragmatic calculation: “It is much more expensive, hence an even bigger waste, to lock non-violent drug offenders in prison. If drug addiction were treated as a public health, rather than law enforcement, problem the costs (fiscal and social) to society would be greatly reduced.”

AND DON’T FORGET….

The Propeller community weighed in on wildfires, the religious right, and a wee bit of backpedaling from Democratic kingpin Harry Reid. “Jesus Never Claimed Divinity” inspired a mini-clash of civilizations in the comment thread, along with at least one ecumenical note. “We are all supposedly children of God,” said tkyrchncs. “That statement makes no impact on the divinity of Jesus.” There were hot stories on Ron Paul and the NRA’s secret graphic novel, all of which provoked the sort of headbanging comment threads that make Propeller such a bracing experience. But it’s worth noting that this week’s most popular story, with 240 votes and 347 comments, was “Sign a Get Well Card for Deathray.” Yes, our contentious crew is happy to pull together when one of our own is under the weather. Best wishes for a rapid recovery, Deathray, and we’ll look forward to your return.