motorbike is having a mix meme fest. Like - go to the theme generator, get the box and you got three weeks to go for it.

What did I get? Lawrence Stepelevich. This is after drawing Merrie Melodies pr0n for yuletide. Not complaining, mind. S-T-R-E-T-C-H -

Oh man, I need a beer. *laughs*

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) fell as much as 17 percent in Thursday trade after its partner Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) pulled the plug on their inhaled diabetes drug Exubera amid sluggish sales.

Let's see a show of hands.

Who's insurance carrier covers inhaled insulin at the same level as injectable?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Bad marketing, my ass.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) fell as much as 17 percent in Thursday trade after its partner Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) pulled the plug on their inhaled diabetes drug Exubera amid sluggish sales.

Let's see a show of hands.

Who's insurance carrier covers inhaled insulin at the same level as injectable?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Bad marketing, my ass.

The friend said he last saw Mr Xue in Auckland on Thursday, the day he flew to Australia with his daughter. They stayed in a Melbourne hotel for two nights. Mr Xue bought one return ticket to Los Angeles on Friday at a travel agent. The flight departed at 10.45am on Saturday, almost three hours after he abandoned his daughter.

The friend said Mrs Xue, who is in her late 20s, left her husband about three months ago with Qian Xun, but that the couple had reconciled last month. "I think he solved the problem so his wife came back. He went to Wellington to pick his wife and child up and go back to Auckland," the friend said. "Quite of a few of us went to a meeting there for people from the same home town. At that time only he was there, but after a few days he got his wife and child back."

He left a three year old daughter in a train station, boarded a plane for Los Angeles and dissapeared.

The mother has yet to be found. There is a history of domestic abuse in Australia.

Keep your eyes open for this guy.

If there are pawns, it might very well be blacks who are content to reside on a plantation run by the Democratic Party -- a party that often gives very little financially to black candidates and a party that failed to fund the fight to defeat Prop. 209, which banned statewide affirmative action in California.

This is California, where 6 per cent of the voters once said they could never support Tom Bradley for governor because he was African American. If people think voting for Fong just because he is Asian was a terrible thing, I would say voting against Fong just because he is Asian is a lot worse.

The writer? Chauncey Bailey.

Who was shot and killed outside a courthouse in Oakland today in what is being called a deliberate hit.

*buh* *checks calendar*

It's 2007, not 1967....

OH WAIT

If there are pawns, it might very well be blacks who are content to reside on a plantation run by the Democratic Party -- a party that often gives very little financially to black candidates and a party that failed to fund the fight to defeat Prop. 209, which banned statewide affirmative action in California.

This is California, where 6 per cent of the voters once said they could never support Tom Bradley for governor because he was African American. If people think voting for Fong just because he is Asian was a terrible thing, I would say voting against Fong just because he is Asian is a lot worse.

The writer? Chauncey Bailey.

Who was shot and killed outside a courthouse in Oakland today in what is being called a deliberate hit.

*buh* *checks calendar*

It's 2007, not 1967....

OH WAIT

SNARK_MODE=ON

RENO, Nev. - A couple who authorities say were so obsessed with the Internet and video games that they left their babies starving and suffering other health problems have pleaded guilty to child neglect.

..

Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts each of child neglect. Each faces a maximum 12-year prison sentence.

Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing "Dungeons & Dragons" series, to give their children proper care.

"They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games," Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration.

Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection. His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking, investigators said.

I had to bold part of that. They don't mention the pet(s) in the story.

Okay, you read that. Here. Have some schaudenfreude:

[Poll #1022545]

No, they don't have an LJ. but she certainly has something at MySpace. Oh look. Four cats. Wow.

Each of them needs a one-way ticket at least five hundred miles outside the country - and no way back unless they find a job and work their way back home. In opposite directions. I don't see an internet problem as much as a couple of children who missed the part about growing up.

And gee thanks, for taking two innocent kids (and the four cats) with you.

In my family, two of my siblings have had kids. In Jim's, only one - his older brother.

And it's been a train wreck, start to finish.

BIL has children with two women - one he married, and one the courts determined became pregnant while he was unaware. (Long story.)

He divorced the one he married, and despises her.

He refused to acknowledge the children from the other woman (she had twins) until one of them developed cancer and he was contacted for bone marrow transplant reasons. By then, he had alienated the children born in wedlock - not hard to do when you despise their mother and you have to deal with custody issues, and you're a pompous asshole. (He is. He lost his LA privileges early on.)

He's married to a woman now with no kids of her own - and a fairly clear desire for a childfree life. From day one.

We begin to talk about having kids of our own, somehow the conversation always goes to BIL's children - the fact we just had a family reunion doesn't help.

And we have to explain. And explain. And explain. And explain. And explain.

There just is no graceful way to do it.

Jim adores these kids, and is quick to tell anyone who wants to listen all about them - but then we have to explain. And explain. And explain.

And there's just no way to do it without being somewhat feeling dirty afterward. Gods save me from anything related to divorces.

In my family, two of my siblings have had kids. In Jim's, only one - his older brother.

And it's been a train wreck, start to finish.

BIL has children with two women - one he married, and one the courts determined became pregnant while he was unaware. (Long story.)

He divorced the one he married, and despises her.

He refused to acknowledge the children from the other woman (she had twins) until one of them developed cancer and he was contacted for bone marrow transplant reasons. By then, he had alienated the children born in wedlock - not hard to do when you despise their mother and you have to deal with custody issues, and you're a pompous asshole. (He is. He lost his LA privileges early on.)

He's married to a woman now with no kids of her own - and a fairly clear desire for a childfree life. From day one.

We begin to talk about having kids of our own, somehow the conversation always goes to BIL's children - the fact we just had a family reunion doesn't help.

And we have to explain. And explain. And explain. And explain. And explain.

There just is no graceful way to do it.

Jim adores these kids, and is quick to tell anyone who wants to listen all about them - but then we have to explain. And explain. And explain.

And there's just no way to do it without being somewhat feeling dirty afterward. Gods save me from anything related to divorces.

( We are SO MISERABLY SORRY... )

It's worth keeping. Eesh. I don't think they could have made a better clusterfuck of the situation if they had sat down, met and drawn up a plan. I mean - really.