Jimbo ponders the big questions, as usual. To wrap, or not to wrap? That is, hygienically speaking, the big question. I personally might put a wafer-thing sheaf of paper between my rosy cheeks and the seat, should it come to that. It's more out of habit than from any hope of erecting a sort of magical barrier, blocking diseases. It is, after all, merely a micrometer-thin sheet of tissue, and not a Trojan.

But it's important a) not to overdo it, and b) clean up after yourself. We had a mystery in our dorm, back in college days. Two or three times a week, somebody would take a dump in the same men's room stall, and leave a protective ring of toilet paper on the seat that was at least 4 inches deep; hundreds of layers of toilet paper, probably weighing 5 pounds. The day or time was unpredictable, there being no obvious pattern other than it always in the same stall.

We pondered often whence the infamous ass-gasket came, and who the builder could be. We were often convinced it was somebody we knew, someone in the clique, and no one was above suspicion. Eventually, every one was cleared with an airtight alibi; Easter vacation, for example, or having failed out of school. Yet the ass-gasket persisted; nay, flourished.

We never found out who had built it, or for what reasons it was piled so high. It remains a mystery to this day, part of the lore of Georgia Tech's Towers Hall for Young Men.

I guess after the 2006 elections, the Democrats are finally comfortable doing what comes naturally-- Playing Santa with other people's money:

The state is apparently facing a budget crisis--to the tune of $1 billion. On Thursday, House Democrats delivered a spending bill that includes the idea of putting $38 million worth of public funds toward outfitting every student with a digital music player. The plan also included measures to tax soda and satellite TV services, among other things, to raise funds.

...

But, The Detroit News' editorial makes an astute point wondering "how financially strained Michigan residents will feel about paying higher taxes to buy someone else's kid an iPod."

In all fairness, the word 'iPod' wasn't mentioned; still, I have to wonder about state mandates like this. Much like "universal health care" actually means "mandatory health care that costs 3 times as much", this proposally probably actually proscribes "mandatory ownership of a knockoff MP3 player that is indirectly linked somehow to a Michigan lobbyist named Chang".

The Socialists are giving away the store, that they may pat themselves on the back with good warm fuzzy feelings all 'round. But wait a minute; mandating things like digital music player ownership would have certain, erm, multicultural implications, wouldn't it? Case in point, those Michiganders of the Islamic variety. Music is haram. Wouldn't mandating iPod ownership, as well as levying taxes to pay for it, violate their religious rights?

Most multi-cultists forget: Your average moderate Muslim is just beyond Lithgow in Footloose on the wack-o-meter.