Notre Dame junior Lauren Galgano, who I happen to know personally via the ND pro-life club, wrote this response in The Observer to my column on gay marriage. I'll let you read it without any commentary on my own, so as to let you judge for yourself its merits. Btw, the original column can now be found on this website as well, right here.

I'll post any further letters to The Observer on the topic right here on DC.

They ruined my football trifecta this weekend, by losing a heartbreaker to the New England Patriots. This comeback stuff can be kindof cool, but its bound to bite us in the butt, every once in a while, as was proven today.

I'll be back at ND this evening. Here are some relevant scores from the weekend.

First, Roncalli High School won their 7th Indiana State Championship yesterday in the RCA Dome in class 4A. The score was 17-0, and Roncalli won in their classic style: running the ball over and over again.

Next, Penn High School got creamed in the class 5A championship by Indianapolis school Warren Central 57-7. This is the first time ever that Indianapolis area schools won all 5 classes in the football tourny. And Catholics, like always, dominated... winning 3 of the classes this year.

Finally, Notre Dame had its first blow-out in a long time, beating Stanford 57-7, their worst loss at home... ever.

So, its been a good football weekend. Go Colts!

Ok, the below two posts should give you plenty to read for the next few days, though I probably will make a few more over the holiday break. Now, I'm heading back to Indianapolis to visit the family and friends. My alma mater, Roncalli High School, is again playing for the 4A Indiana High School football state championship, so I'll be at the RCA Dome to view that game on Saturday. Lesson: Catholics like their football. Catch ya on the flip side.

[ed. note: DC regular Kristine Lam went to see NYTimes columnist David Brooks, when he visited ND last week. Here are her thoughts on his lecture.]

David Brooks, semi-conservative New York Times columnist came to speak at Notre Dame Tuesday evening about "Extremism and the Defense of Politics: The Landscape for 2004." Except, that was just the title of his lecture and what he said had very little to do with a) defending politics or b) the landscape for 2004. But that is okay because his lecture was still very interesting.

One of the points Brooks makes in this lecture is the homogeny within communities in America. More and more we live in neighborhoods or communities with people who are very similar to us on the basis of race, ethnicity, economic status, living style and political beliefs. For example, Brooks says that if you are a moderate Republican who likes to recycle and go mountain biking, you will probably live in Colorado rather than Kansas.

This homogenizing has two effects. First, it leads to expansion and more suburbs. Second, it leads to what he labels trench warfare politics. That is because homogenous communities lead to homogenous districts, which lead to districts that are overwhelmingly Republican or overwhelmingly Democratic. This leads to less moderate candidates. The people on the floor of the House and Senate look across the aisle and do not see an adversary or opponent, they see the enemy. And they have a seething hatred for the enemy. This is why we have a Medicare Bill that Democrats tried to filibuster. This is why one of Senator Hatch’s staffers decided to hack into Democratic computers and steal internal memos. This type of behavior is embarrassing.

Sadly, this era of trench warfare politics has also led to a scandal happy Capitol. Whether it is Bill Clinton or Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republicans want to see Democrats go down hard and vice versa. They hate each other. And because they hate each other, they can never cooperate, even for the good of the country. They also can’t be similar in any way whatsoever. I might be exaggerating a little but it’s partially true. Brooks points out that not so long ago, there were such things as a pro-life Democrat. Now, in order to be a Democratic Congressperson, you have to be pro-choice. (However, there are pro-choice Republicans.) On the other side, you will not find a Republican against the death penalty, while there are Democrats for the death penalty.

David Brooks lays out these arguments, and he makes sense. He believes that is up to future generations to say enough. Enough of hatred, of stalemate of getting nothing done because it will be used against you in the next primary election and enough super partisan politics. We don’t need the perfect bill, we need a functioning government.

Last night I saw the play A Hotel on Marvin Gardens, written by Nagle Jackson. Directed by Notre Dame student Justin Williams, and cast by ND students, the play was an exceptional blend of humor, symbolism, and societal critique.

Performed in the "thrust stage" setup, where the audience occupies three sides around the stage, the play had an intimate feel, and the actors were really able to shine. The play was set at the house of KC on a private island in Long Island sound. KC, the daughter of old wealth, owns a magazine called "Me," which is entirely geered towards self-gratification and getting, getting, getting. It is April 1st, and KC has planned her annual tradition of a friendly game of Monopoly. Unfortunately, this game does not turn out so friendly. Prophetically, KC states at the beginning that she likes this tradition because "Monopoly brings out the worst in people."

Also present at the house, and set to play the game, are the editor-in-chief of "Me" named Henry, the publisher (who as been sleeping with KC) Bo, and a food critic from the magazine named Erna (well-played by my roommate's girlfriend Christy Ruggiero, who also was a former guest blogger on Daily Contentions). Each character is plenty over-the-top, but that is a purposeful tactic by the director to comment on the "emptiness" of material wealth.

All along, parallels are drawn with the game of Monopoly itself. At one point, the rich daughter KC mortgages the poor side of the board (the "slum properties" as she calls them) so she can buy hotels for the richer properties. At this point, the nearly morose Henry, who has recently begun therapy, jumps from the table. KC angrily asks him what's wrong. He yelps back, "Oh the symbolism here is staggering!" In that delightfully self-aware moment of the play, I knew my two hours had been well invested.

In the aftermath of WWII, the powers of Europe had a vision that economic union in the continent would lead to enhanced internal security and less strife. Hence the European Coal and Steel Coolition (ECSC) was born. Out of this simple collaboration came the European Economic Community (EEC), which morphed into the European Community (EC) and later into the European Union (EU).

Economically, Europe has continued to become more united. First, internal tariffs were abolished and external tariffs normalized. Then came a common European currency and associated financial/economic requirements on member states. Also, the EU has begun to exercise control over environmental, social, immigration, and labor policies. Conspicuously absent, however, is a common foreign policy and European military. The highly controversial proposed European Constitution would take steps to increase unity in these non-economic spheres, but still falls quite a bit short of the level of federalism we have in the United States.

With these changes comes fear-- on both sides of the Atlantic. Some nations, like Britain (and even France), are becoming skeptical of increased European unity, and the great question remains as to how much sovereignty European member nations will be willing to relinquish. The United States, meanwhile, has reason to be wary of the new power dynamic created by a unified Europe, with a unified foreign policy and military. With the US and EU having recent and significant trade disputes, one must look at democratic peace theory with a cautious eye.

Also of import are internal domestic attitudes within Europe, which may affect that population's ability to compete with the U.S. economically, even with a greater overall population. Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, has some very critical words regarding these attitudes, specifically in regards to work and vacation. The lead of this Washington Times article spells out his position:

Czech President Vaclav Klaus said Europeans are living in a "dream world" of welfare and long vacations and have yet to realize "they are not moving toward some sort of nirvana."

...but snow, beautiful snow. After 4 days of mid-60s here in South Bend, we deserved it :-)

In every person's life there are moments in which he can know himself, tell himself who he is, whether he is a man who values his human dignity above his life or a weak creature who does not know his dignity and is concerned merely with being useful (chiefly to himself).

-Leo Tolstoy, "Advice to a Draftee"

Strange, I drive by this fine establishment (a combo restaurant and gas station) every time I travel from ND to Indianapolis, or vice versa, but I have never thought of the humor in that sign. Thanks to CollegeHumor for enlightening me.

On Friday I wrote a post about the movie "Donnie Darko." Pure masterpiece in my opinion. But anyways, Brendan Magee, one of my friends here at ND, says, "you should note on your blog that if people like donnie darko, they should read 'an occurence at owl creek bridge' [a short story] by ambrose bierce. of course, you can mention that I told you."

Very well. Consider it done Brendan.

Its nice to know that I'm not the only one. Andrew Sullivan, of course, has long been a champion of the cause. And now NYTimes columnist, David Brooks, has a column headlined "The Power of Marriage." Its the best written NYTimes column I've read in a long long time. Thanks to reader Michael Manning, for the pointer.

BTW, Mr. Brooks spoke at Notre Dame this past week. Previous DC guest blogger, Kristine Lam, went to the lecture and might be able to fill us in.

Update: My column is now posted on Daily Contentions as well as DawgNet. Find it here.

Check out this parody column making fun of NYTimes columnist, Thomas Friedman. Its quite funny and captures his style and middle-of-the-road character pretty well... brought to you by AllahPundit

Btw, Daily Contentions claims no endorsement of the parody column's content... just a few chuckles

Thanks to Dan Ornelas for the point-out

I watched the movie "Donnie Darko" (2001) Thursday night, at the recommendation of a friend in the residence hall. It was awesome... a perfect blend of dark humor, surrealism, and intrigue. The acting was decent, plot exceptional, and direction superb. Check it out.

On Tuesday I mentioned the Massachusetts court ruling striking that state's ban on same-sex marriage and I gave a brief Constitutional outlook. Now, I have stated my overall opinion on the matter in a column, which can be found on Butler University's news website, DawgNet under the headline, "Nation should celebrate court ruling on same-sex marriage."

Here is the lead:

On November 18, 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court struck down that state’s ban on same-sex marriage, and homosexuals across the nation rejoiced. Gay columnist Andrew Sullivan triumphantly declared, "Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

...read the rest

I will also retain a copy of this column published on Daily Contentions, for future reference.

Cancer: (June 22—July 22)
Your habit of falling back on arguments of constitutionality during every debate won't help decide whose turn it is to take the garbage out.

Its clear that The Onion knows me all too well (though it should be noted that I'm a virgo, not a cancer... not that it matters of course). And here's another one, all too poignant with the recent Massachusetts court ruling:

Pisces: (Feb. 19—March 20)
There's no law that tells people whom they can and can't love in this world, but you're doing everything in your power to convince legislators to change that.

One of my professors, David Yamane, sent our class this ad for a mock religion that suits the busy needs of today's spiritual consumer. Funny stuff. Here's the whole thing in .pdf format.

...an actual headline from Notre Dame's student newspaper, The Observer: "Hungaria honors Fr. Gabriel"

Now, I must say that I searched and searched, and I just couldn't find Hungaria on the globe. Maybe I was just looking in the wrong area.

Some pressters have begun the annual tradition that is speculation on whether Notre Dame will join a conference in football. Usually, the rumors point to the Big 10, but now some are pointing at the ACC. And as usual, these rumors have absolutely no basis in fact, or even hint of fact, whatsoever. So, as usual, I casually dismiss them, as does the university.

What is more disturbing is the fact that some of my friends here at ND are actually beginning to suggest that we consider joining a conference. This is pure insanity. I could write an entire essay on just why a conference would hurt ND financially alone. But joining a conference would also remove tradition and flexibility that ND has almost alone in the nation. Why give up those unique advantages? I would elaborate, but I have to get to my last class. Damn class for interrupting my blogging.

The Mirror claims to have exposed "the biggest royal security scandal ever." I haven't had time to read all of the details, but the gist of the matter is that the paper planted an individual within Buckingham Palace, who worked his way up the line as an employee over the last few months. This man eventually reached a position where he had access to key security information, such as the exact itenerary of President Bush's visit.

Now, assuming this man did not have a criminal background or any other overt reasons why he should have been trusted as a state official, I see no reason why this is a that big of a deal. Color me the skeptic.

So says Chris Letkewicz, who pointed me to this awesome Flash rendition of the classic Super Mario Brothers game, albeit with a twist: Super Mario Rampage

... at AddictingGames.com... Great for the college student who has 20 pages of writing due the next day. Hmm, who could that have been?

Thanks to Dan Ornelas for pointing out this site. He recommends a couple games on the site, btw: "Feed the 9-mouthed baby" and "the immigration game" ... I take no responsibility for these games :)

Wheww... Possibly the most exhausting 18 pages I've ever written. But hopefully also the most fruitful. Now I can be a semi-free man again. Expect increased blogging :-)

...as written in The Observer by Kamaria Porter, and ND student. The first paragraph says quite enough:

Whether from the puppets of mass media, the pages of elementary school textbooks or the White House press room, Americans have been and are being fed an outrageous lie: the myth of individualism. This myth takes various forms and assumes many guises, yet all its manifestations converge to one desired result: the sustained power for the ruling classes.

Note to Kamaria: class warfare does not work, and it never has.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has struck down that state's ban on homosexual marriage.

Rather than outright mandating the issuing of marriage licenses to homosexual couples, the Court has ordered the Mass. legislature to come up with a solution within 180 days, consistent with the Court's ruling. I think this is a minor mistake, because it will result in a battle within the legislature to create a watered down version of a gay civil union. Ultimately, however, the Court's ruling is strong and leaves little room for unequal treatment of gays:

The question before us is whether, consistent with the Massachusetts Constitution, the Commonwealth may deny the protections, benefits, and obligations conferred by civil marriage to two individuals of the same sex who wish to marry. We conclude that it may not. The Massachusetts Constitution affirms the dignity and equality of all individuals. It forbids the creation of second-class citizens.

So, where to from here? Inevitably other states will take Massachusetts' lead, either through legislative or judicial remedies. Also, other states will go in the opposite direction, pushing for amendments or laws defining marriage as a union only between a man and a woman. The primary federal question that will arise is whether one state has the right to ignore gay unions formed in other states. Under Bill Clinton's tenure, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was passed; it declares that no state must honor the gay unions enacted in another state. This act could be challenged in front of the United States Supreme Court, producing the most definitive federal ruling on gay marriage to-date. Check out this post I made on September 3, addressing these constitutional issues.

Check out Andrew Sullivan for continued updates on this story.

...and he says that President George W. Bush is the "greatest threat to life on this planet that we've most probably ever seen."

In my opinion, European stupidity is the greatest threat we've ever seen. Correct me if I have my history wrong, but the 20th Century was the bloodiest on record-- almost entirely because of two massive wars on the European continent. Their ignorance and antipathy towards the United States today is typical of their short-sighted selfishness.

Part-time friends are not really friends at all.

After the final seconds ticked off of the game clock in Saturday's game vs. BYU, the seniors stayed in the stands. After the band finished playing the Alma Mater, the seniors still remained. After the band and players and most of the other fans had left the stadium, the seniors remained. After the stadium lights were turned off and an announcement was made to exit the stadium, the seniors stayed put. Only after a couple more such announcements were made and the stadium ushers starting getting pushy, did the seniors begin to filter out of the stadium.

This was our tribute to Notre Dame football and the 4 years we had to cherish it as students at Our Lady's university. The traditions, culture, history, and unadulterated spirit make Notre Dame football a unique experience. While tailgating before a home game freshman year, I firmly stated to my fellow tailgaters that 'there is no place I'd rather be right at this moment.' My belief in that statement was no less true this previous Saturday than in the 20+ previous football Saturdays of my past 4 years and surely was shared by many of my classmates. For this reason, we stayed in the stadium as long as we could.

The finer qualities of the experience are numerous and diverse: the last second victory over Michigan last year and the subsequent rushing of the field, the pep rallies with parents, players, alumni, and students cheering as one community, the class shown to our opposition (applauding the Navy players as they exited the stadium this year), the tailgating among thousands of fans, the realization that Notre Dame football transcends mere collegiate sport.

Much of this hit me at halftime of Saturday's game. The band played the Super Mario Brothers' theme song, and at that moment nearly all of the students present were culturally united, for if our generation can be associated with anything, its Nintendo :-)

In what is becoming a yearly ritual, chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov is facing off against the supposed world's best chess computer-- this time, X3D Fritz. In this best of 4 game match, Kasparov reached a draw in the first game, lost the second game with a blunder, but then kicked the computer's silicon ass in game 3. The 4th and deciding game will be tomorrow at 1 PM. I think its televised on ESPN for those so inclined.

Germany has planned a tribute for homosexual victims of the Holocaust.

Thousands of homosexuals were killed alongside the millions of other victims of the Holocaust. They were forced to wear pink triangles before being rounded up, just as the Jews were forced to wear the Star of David. West Germany continued to have a discriminatory law against homosexuals until 1969; East Germany had one until 1957. And just last year, Germany issued formal pardons for homosexuals charged under the Nazi regime.

Otherwise known as "Catholics vs. Mormons"

Lets see, our Church is nearly 2000 years old, their's is less than 200... ;-)

Hey fellas

Yeahh?

Whats cooler than being cool?

Ice cooold!


Bonus points to anyone who knows what song thats from :-)

These "iTunes + iPod" ads absolutely exude coolness.

This Church-sign generator site is pretty cool-- especially because the signs turn out realistic looking.

If you want to see signs like "We put the 'fun' back in Fundamentalism" then check out this page which has tons of those hilarious signs.

Famous sex researcher Alfred Kensey performed numerous studies in the 1940s-50s on numerous topics relating to sex. One of the fruits of these studies was his scale of sexuality.

Instead of looking a sexual orientation as an either-or condition, Kinsey developed a seven point continuum based on the degree of sexual responsiveness people have to the members of the same and other sex.

0 - exclusively heterosexual
1 - predominantly heterosexual, incidentally homoexual
2 - predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual
3 - equally heterosexual and homosexual
4 - predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual
5 - predominantly homosexual, incidentally heterosexual
6 - exclusively homosexual

Continue reading this article to see how Kinsey classifies people into each category. Its pretty straight-forward (no pun intended). The article also contains some interesting statistics regarding these groups, including that 4-6% of all men are exclusively homosexual and that 10% of men fall in groups 4,5,6 (that is, that they are predominantly homosexual).

From this Washington Post article on the recent Democratic filibuster:

Undaunted by Reid's filibuster to protest the anti-filibuster filibuster, the Republicans marched to the Senate floor en masse promptly at 6 on Wednesday night to start their talkathon.

I'd say its about time! I'm tired of people speculating about players juicing. For the players who aren't juicing but are accused, its not fair; and for the players who are juicing, its time they get exposed for the cheaters they are.

Buy low + sell high = a simple way to make money in the stock market

And its a great time to invest

I went to Chicago yesterday evening with a few friends to see the Badly Drawn Boy concert at Park West. They were superb, superb, superb. You definitely should check out there music. Damian has great personality, and is the best live performer I've ever seen. Maybe it helped that we were standing literally touching the stage. We wanted to get there early, but forgot about the 1-hour time change, so we got there waaaay early.

But perhaps divine providence was acting on our behalf. Chicago was truly living up to its nickname "the windy city" as the wind was continually blowing 30-40 mph, with gusts up to 60 mph! When we were walking, I almost thought I'd blow away for a second (well, I never really felt in danger). Needless to say, we were anxious to find shelter and get out of the wind. We finally set our eyes on a bar/restaurant near the venue, and a gust of wind literally blew open the door to the joint as we reached it, and almost blew us inside. And guess who was inside? Yup, the band :-)... Just think, if we hadn't made the time-change mistake, we would have missed meeting them like that.

Dan has a post ("That rage that is running through my veins") about a particularly despicable episode of censorship at a University against a student paper. If Notre Dame tried something like this against The Observer, our student paper, the students would nearly riot.

Also, in another post ("Whine[r]s, complainers and politicians") he makes some interesting, yet contestable, points:

Journalists whine too, but their whining is expressed in the form of news stories. What politicians must understand is that journalists control the pulpit from which politicians must speak. Good? Bad? Or just a fact of life?

Personally, I'm sick of seeing so much whining from reporters. I want the facts, and not the bullshit speculation and fear-mongering that so many reporters (print and TV alike) have such affinity for. Secondly, I take contention that the media has full control over the "pulpit from which politicians speak." Primarily, its misleading to think of the 'media' as one entity with unified control. A political candidate can buy commercial time on TV and radio. This is one form of access by the media, with commercial motivations. Another form of access, is the act of reporting on a candidate's speeches or actions. This is quite different, in that the reporter acts as a lens. It would be patently absurd to lump the two different forms into one logical structure of control. Their interests are conflicting. This is a good thing, because if the entire media had one system of control, its power would be far too great. Secondarily, a politician may reach the people through means, completely outside the grasp of the media (albeit, a more restricted process), such as speeches, campaign stumping, posters, and grassroots evangelization.

From here, I must point out an irony in the progression of my thoughts on the press and media. From the outset, I've been critical of several things in the press-- some specific, some systematic. In fact, I have made an assertion in the past that is even stronger: that journalism itself is a chimera, a wishful fiction. This contention, I will now redact and amend.

Journalism is a real idealized process. That is, it is the ideal way that reporters and editors communicate reality to their readers and viewers: information consumers. While this ideal is impossible to attain, reporters and the like must try. Every negative post I've ever written about the press echoes that sentiment. Therefore, it would not make sense of me to say that journalism itself is a fiction, because that would entail that the press should not even try to be objective and ethical. Indeed, several people today make just that claim. They point to papers in Europe that are unabashedly biased. Yes, these papers may be more honest about their ideological leanings, but if every media outlet leans one way without a pull to the center (journalistic objectivity), then is the information consumer actually benefited? I say no! Instead, confusion arises, and the public are left with little trust in the press.

This change in semantics is useful, in that it carefully defines "journalism" as a set of ethical protocols and objective ideals. I must note that this challenges the definition of "journalism" as a practical fieldcraft. In this light, the job title "journalist" is often misleading. Used as a catchall for numerous positions in the press (reporters, anchors, editors, etc.), the title loses its necessary connection to the ideal of journalism. In other words, a person could be a reporter, but not be a journalist, if they do not sincerely espouse the journalistic ideals. And many do not. I suggest that we find a new term for the practical fieldcraft-- one that is more honest. Perhaps: "informatician" or "presster." Ok, maybe those are dumb. I challenge my readers to come up with some good sounding ones.

Another HIV-vaccine trial has failed-- this time in Thailand. Btw, it should be noted that this article (and numerous other articles) incorrectly refers to the vaccine as an "AIDS vaccine" when in fact, this is not the case. HIV is the actual virus that can be vaccinated against. AIDS is the set of adverse immunal symptoms that are often caused by HIV, but which can be caused or made worse by other factors as well.

Numerous other trials are in the works, though, so all hope is not lost.

First, if you have Windows XP and don't have Apple's iTunes music software, get off your lazy bone and download it. Its free and awesome.

Second, if you do have iTunes for Windows, you'll want to hear about this: a new program called MyTunes has been released. You know how iTunes lets you listen to other people's shared music over a local network, but not download it to your computer? Well, MyTunes changes that. It lets you download people's songs to your computer. Get it while you can, because Apple will inevitably take action against the developer, and beware Apple updates to iTunes, because they probably will plug the loophole that MyTunes uses.

Now for the obligatory disclaimer: use MyTunes only for your personal use to preview, not steal music. :-)

see above posts

Here is evidence that radical Islamicist terrorists, such as Al Quida, are intent on taking control of the Arab world. The West and Western values are not their only target.

My blogging will remain light for the next few days. Concert in Chicage tonight (Badly Drawn Boy). More paper writing to do. And a friend and family coming up to ND for this Saturday's football game. I assure you, I'll be back with a vengeance after that.

In the mean time, check out Dan Pulliam's blog. His permalinks don't seem to work right, so I'll just point you to two of the posts you should check out. The first one "I'll answer these questions tomorrow" is a the first post of two that make an historical argument against abortion.

A 55 year old man who was born on May 5, has been married 5 years, has 5 children, makes $55,555.55 a year, who's lucky number is 5 receives a phone call from a friend. The friend informs the man that a horse named Lucky 5 will be running in the fifth race at the local track that evening.

Excitedly, the man withdraws 5,555.55 cash from his bank account, goes to the races and bets on Lucky 5.

Sure enough, the horse comes in fifth.


At work :-)


-a friend from Ithaca College

Thankfully, I keep this kindof stuff out of Daily Contentions...

Mom Finds Out About Blog (The Onion)

I didn't post any yesterday because things have been very hectic. My dad and brother came up for the Notre Dame vs. Navy game yesterday (which ND won with a last second field goal), and I also had a couple friends up from Indy for the weekend. Good times.

Anyways, posting will remain light for the next couple of days. I have 35+ pages of writing due this week, and 5 done so far. Cheers :-)

Penn State University just signed a contract with the Roxio Napster 2.0 Music Store to offer its students unlimited legal song downloading... for free. This has sparked a debate at State as to whether their tuition funds should be used for a purely entertainment purpose. The contract has also sparked a debate as to whether or not State should have picked iTunes instead of Napster. This letter to the editor in their college paper makes some good points.

I proudly identify myself as a member of both the Nintendo generation and of the Simpsons generation. And every member of the Simpsons generation is surely familiar with the famous episode where Homer crossed tomato plants and tobacco and formed... Tomacco!

But now Oregon resident Rob Baur has actually produced Tomacco-- and the world will never be the same:

Baur grafted a tomato plant onto tobacco roots, and voilà, he had a real, live tomacco plant. The two plants can successfully become one because they come from the same plant family, which also includes eggplant and the deadly nightshade. The tomacco even bore fruit, although Baur said he believes it's poisonous because it likely contains a lethal amount of nicotine.

And if that wasn't enough, the Crazy Engineer Network has created Skittlebrau, from the mind of Homer Simpson (nothing like a cold beer with skittles added). He tried several different beers and got varying results, but finally came upon the divine concoction of Lowenbrau and Skittles-- Skittlebrau... I'm making it tonight.