One big issue - in a lot of case - Princeton, Yale, etc., we're talking about organizations that have billions of dollars in their endowments. They're the .1% as well, and in some cases they're acting unethically and abusing the gift in a pretty high-handed way. And, honestly, they've got enough cash to deplete the…

NEW COUPLE ALERT! Supermarket tabloid the National Examiner is reporting that U.S. president Barack Obama is having an affair with U.K. president Harry Styles.

I don't have a problem with people wearing shoes in the house in general, but I have a problem with shoes on furniture.

I agree, we can learn so much from our past and try not to repeat the same mistakes.

It depends on the terms of the gift. Honestly, though, a number of Universities (Princeton comes to mind) have successfully defended themselves against donors (or their estates) suing because the terms of a gift were violated or the use was substantially altered. If the use of the money is still for the benefit of the…

this did make me smile and tbh team glitter husband SORRY NOT SORRY HE HAS THE RIGHT IDEA

It depends on under what conditions the money was given.

Yep, yep, yep to all of that. I went to a college that was small enough that was small and informal enough that we all called the president by his first name, and even their board met when they were scheduled and that was it. That is often because some of those folks don't live in the area.

That is one of the reasons they couldn't do it fast enough to suit the people who don't realize how involved this stuff is. The lawyers and the financial people have to go over everything with a fine toothed comb. Some endowments have more qualifiers and requirements than others.

I guess we have different taste because I don't think the use of a deus ex machina automatically invalidates the storytelling. I think it's been done to great effect a lot. There were a couple dei ex machina in Harry Potter I wasn't wild about:

The only person in the Potterverse wielding Deus ex machina is Dumbledore. He constantly pulls out spells/knowledge to solve problems the characters have been working on the entire book. That's his thing. That's why she kills him off before the fight with Voldemort.

Pretty ironic considering some might also call into question whether an attorney is capable of love.

I am an extremely sucessful professional woman, and I did take risks as a child/teenager. But, they were never stupid stunts. My risks were social risks that required me to dare to be different from all the other kids around me and do what I thought was right whether it was popular or not. It also required me to make…

Hey, it sounds like you're a great parent, and I don't want to bring you down here, but I think it's really worth pointing this out. You talk about getting your daughter to "avoid the girly girls who only define themselves by what the boys like." And you go on a lot about exploration and risk and STEM-type stuff.

At least none of these people stole bikes. Bike thieves should be shot on sight.

The headline here sums up my main trepidation about Hillary 2016 (even though my heart says yay). I feel pretty certain that all those old FOBs (Friends of Bill) can NOT wait for another Clinton presidency, and I fear for the compromise Hillary will have made before she even takes office. Of course, this is true of…

coco, probably.

I can't take your sorry attempt to rile me seriously.

Seeing the Dresden Christmas market for the first time today, so I think I'm doing alright, but thhhaaaaaaannnnnkkkkkksssssss

I think in this case we can read "natural" as "over-the-counter and not formulated".