We must win a faith that does not break down in the face of social ills, but that completely envelopes and transforms them - a faith that embraces economic problems and solves them. This means a faith that takes on all inner and outer tasks and makes them part of our daily life; it means faith in a God who created everything and provides for everything and who does not let go of any part of his will.
Eberhard Arnold

G to Me: Ah, the Mounds bar has that mix of exotic, classic, and cutting edge. It has coconut, it's a staple, and as we now know, dark chocolate is better for you. They need to figure out how to make a larger bar.

G in Response: Why is this person also the one who tssktssked my upcoming hour of power tailgate? Hmmm.

G Responds: Good thing Kerry didn't get elected. He would've cut off all aid and funded fascist guerillas with a shadow budget. Well, no, because that was Bush the father. And Reagan. Also no, because the conservative party is already in power, and rounded up Shining Path. With by the way, Patriot Act-like laws that are now the reason why the trial for the Sendero Luminoso leader was declared a mistrial. I'm not saying that what Shining Path did was OK, but yeah, laws overturned, in South America. Makes you wonder what they were exactly.

G Responds: Actually, it's really because they didn't decide to elect a leftistgovernment in the 80s. The respect only went that far. The Peruvians are really lucky that they prefer corrupt authoritarianism. OK, there are feminists and leftists in Iraq and Afghanistan who will like the Bushes, but maybe you should ask the same question in Grenada (80s highlight of America's military), El Salvador, Chile, Guatemala, and of course, Nicaragua. Will they have a similar attitude? I think, er, not so much.

G Responds: Well let's not get ahead of ourselves here. These people top out at 30%, maybe higher in the south. Demonizing them really puts blame on people who talk and dress differently. Sure, there are many many shitkickers in the South, but racism isn't just in the south, and if the left continues to think this way, they'll never win another election on their own terms.

This election was lost because moderates went Republican. And even if you assume that the "values" people voted Republican, I think that it's because they don't have control over everything else in their lives that they're just grasping at something they can do that gives them some kind of autonomy, real or not. Economy is crap, the president is telling you to go to community college if you lose your job, the schools are crap, and why are there metal detectors at the door? One's "morals" are the last thing people can decide for themselves, and they just don't want to lose that.

G Responds: Gavin, you damn Limey, you've actually met these Americans. But they want your money, so they wait until you leave before they start chanting "Euro trash!"

Kerry never understood this stuff, his campaign speechwriter never understood. I was pulling my hair out wondering why he was saying the things he was saying like wanting to internationalize the war. I mean, they maybe made sense, and people generally say they make sense, but it ain't flying in these people's minds. I really wonder who came up with that crap. So may of Bush's lines on the other hand, were pure genius.

Also, in the long run, drinking the water that tourists walk barefoot in is probably not going to hurt you more than if you drank Coke everyday.

• We all love Laura Linney.
• Topher Grace - he got hot sometime when they took those seventies close off of him
• I'm interested to hear if you think the inability to form meaningful relationships is intrinsic to the character or intrinsically a response to the reality of living as a female in the twenty-first century
• Topher Grace makes you want to have shockingly inappropriate sex.