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Here is a machine for writing Valentine’s Day poems.

We’ve been trying to think of a democratic way to chose a new shower curtain for the apartment. The dinosaur curtain was disqualified for not being translucent. So was the tropical curtain. Now, we have a short list of two, and in a secret poll my roommates each chose different curtains – which lands the decision back on ME. This is a big decision, people.

Cast your votes?
Curtain 1
Curtain 2

Residents of Puerto Rico, Washington DC, Guam, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa won a symbolic victory yesterday when the Democratic House voted to give limited voting rights to the political representatives of these “territories”.

It’s a symbolic measure which only lets them vote on ammendments, and never lets them decide the outcome on any vote, but at least it’s a nod in the direction of more democracy – even if it is condescending and doesn’t address core injustices.

“It’s representation without taxation,” say Republicans who are unhappy with the outcome. I suppose colonization without self-determination is better?

Gerald Ford was the longest-living president ever. He was vice president when Nixon got the boot. He died in December.

Here’s is journalist Tom Brokaw’s memorial speech:

And here is comedian Dana Carvey pretending to be Tom Brokaw a few years earlier: (UPDATE: video was removed, but here is script.)

If you ever thought of donating a few dollars to openDemocracy, now would be the time to do it. We’ve got two charities lined up to double whatever funds we can raise. That means your help is worth twice as much right now. And even more to everyone who works there (cough).

John le Carré is a big fan of openDemocracy. If you’ve read Absolute Friends you might even be able to find a few references to us. The writer and his wife have just made a £5000 donation to openDemocracy. Of course, he has a vast fortune, so it’s aproximately the equivalent of the average reader of this blog donating about $20.

Thanks!

And while you’re browsing openDemocracy – check out our new podcast.

The latest photo on Armrest Buddy made me laugh. Good to be friends with busy travellers, although one called me yesterday from his flight to Brazil lamenting that no one was sitting next to him. Oh well. In response to other questions: we prefer airplanes, but armrests in movie theaters count too.

Thanks to Bill, for this cell phone video of Marcel, the pet Lobster. Fans everywhere will be pleased.

The picture of a lobster in a car below was sent in by an anonymous reader. It is not Marcel. It is not even a live lobster. It is a hoax.

This won’t be interesting to everyone, but my friend Bill has a friend named Ann who has a pet lobster named Marcel. Lobsters can grow very old if you don’t eat them. This was recently the subject of some discussion after a visit to Montauk, NY where they sell lobster sandwiches (apologies to lobster lovers).

“Te cuento que todo esta igual que siempre no te dejes llebar por las noticias…”