Well I admit I was blurring the line with synth guitars. And you're right… with Maiden they're backdrop, not out front.

Well yeah, and that's why those states are so shitty. I can only agree that the EC needs some rejiggering, but states' rights can and often are used to push good things nationally. I completely believe that if so many states hadn't legalized gay marriage, it wouldn't have been on the table federally. Good thing it…

Yeah we voted on Colorado care last year. It didn't take. But the model and method was there. We were also going to start using the Texas textbooks until there were school walkouts state wide.

Eh. Varying mileage and such!

I think things like that are in indicator that the math needs some major rejiggering. I think Sid Meyer needs to work on a rebalancing update.

The best part (snort) about charter schools is that they're often serviced by companies owned by the school owner, so when they inevitably run under budget, they need state funds to pay that asshole. Privatization always works! (double snort)

Oooo that's good. Excellent way of putting it.

Except when it legalized gay marriage years and years ahead of the SCOUTUS (and was the push for a federal decision).

I dunno… lots of pretty strong environmental laws in CA. Gay marriage was approved in states long before it became federal. Decriminalization of marijuana. State funds for universal healthcare, state funds toward higher education, ability to have direct referendums, etc. It's not all bad. If my state was brought into…

They're also often about legalizing pot ahead of the country, allowing assisted suicide, setting up statewide healthcare funds, educational funds, state-controlled facilities maintenance, and legalizing gay marriage. Remember, it was a swell of state-to-state support for gay marriage that pushed it into being a…

It's true that we're a single country, but we're also a federation of states. So, for example, I revel in the fact that where I live now, I'm registered to get every ballot on every issue (we have A LOT of referendum votes where I live, more than practically any other state), along with a voting guide that laws out…

We're a constitutional republic, but that's a whole other conversation.

Well now that I'm older and long over my guitar-synth bias, it's truly a face-smashingly awesome album. Wasted Years has kinds become an anthem of mine in my 40+ years. I learned Stranger in a Strange Land on my guitar last year (what took me so long?). Soooooo heavy over those bass triplets.

I was looking for Maiden, but I was think more of the synth guitars used extensively on Somewhere in Time. I distinctly remember being a skeptical teenager when that happened. What a twat I was.

Mine doesn't. I do anything else on my laptop (it's hard to type from the lounger). I knew I would do that when I bought it. It's purely for gaming.

I gotta be honest… Spinal Tap is legendarily quotable, and everyone should see it once. But sitting with some friends for like the fourth viewing… it gets draggy as fuck. It's one of those movies that's better to have known than it is to sit and watch. Cultural currency for sure, but… you know.

Oh for sure. It's hard to believe he's given so much to those sort of causes. People are complex and confounding, I suppose.

Holy shit. I just realized that this could be an Innsmouth joke combined with slamming on conservatives. Well done!

Nah man. We know Dik. (phrasing!) and he just misspoke. He knows his words.

Oh wow. Hey speaking of… what is the actual bio term? Genotype?