To Facebook User, really, what are our choices for those blue collar workers who've been laid off in Detroit and elsewhere? They have manufacturing expertise -- would you prefer them to work low paying service jobs? What about creating jobs that rebuild inner cities and replace decaying (or missing) housing, developing smaller businesses, small businesses (instead of big corporations) etc

Yes. I think that's totally possible if you live in a metropolitan area that supports home-grown businesses. If you lived in New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, LA, etc. you have a choice to buy your clothes at your neighborhood's department store or you could buy it from a local designer/store-owner.

Is "Mad Men" heavy handed in portraying sexism, racism, homophobia, among all the OTHER issues we no longer consider acceptable now? I don't think so.

The casualness of the racism and sexism and the way the actors carry it off with an everyday nonchalance makes it appear shocking. BUT that is HOW it was back then.

I think the shock of seeing the actors and writers carrying that (without some character there to shake their wagging fingers) may put some people off. But once you settle into the rhythms of the show, you start to see how the writers set about cleverly taking apart the world in which the characters live in. 

With regards to the criticism about no strong female characters -- ie., why is that every episode of MAD MEN be so misogynostic? --  I would argue that Peggy, Joan and Betty are all very well drawn female characters. In fact, this show might be a good example to SHOW why the rise of feminism occured in America, PERIOD.

No way. I prefer Jon Stewart at 11pm. Enough with the lame jokes.

Watching 1 variety/talk show is enough for me and the Daily Show/Colbert Show has better skits and riffs off the daily headlines.

Last Meal on Earth - Betty's in Queen Anne

Last Cheap Meal on Earth - Sichuanese Cuisine in the ID

Forget Dick's. The Best Burger - Stell's in Queen Anne

If the world was to end tomorrow, where would you go eat out in Seattle? Price, Location, Ambiance, Taste, however you would judge it where would you go?

@ Seattlesounders

I would think West Seattle residents would be in favor for the tunnel solution if ONLY because the current SR-99/Alaskan is unsustainable for safety and for growing population. Every minute that we spend sitting in traffic at stoplights or on an exit ramp is a minute we’re not spending with our families and communities or doing other things that are more worthwhile.

You've seen the bottlenecks getting out of West Seattle on transit now.

West Seattle Blog posted a series of WSDOT simulations of what the actual tunnel would like like -- driving through it and the reclaimed waterfront land -- via YouTube. Check them out, they are kind of nifty. I'd like to see streetcars patrolling along where the old rail tracks used to be.

Always show proof. Wikipedia? MediaMatters.org or FactCheck.org are great places to scoop out political issues and what politicians say vs what they actually do. Twitter is too short -- only 140 characters -- to have a developed argument (or debate) with a friend or stranger.

I'd try an eReader if a university gave one to me. From the Wall Street Journal by Geoffrey Fowler and Ben Worthren:Amazon also announced partnerships with five universities to give some students large-screen Kindle DX instead of textbooks later this year.

Noticed the schools -- wish my school could've been offered this chance 

• Case Western Reserve, Pace, Princeton, Reed, Darden School at the University of Virginia, and Arizona State.

Seattlesounders brings up a good point. I spend about $400 a year in textbooks. If I'm lucky and am able to resell, I might recuperate 30-40% of that. If textbooks -- minus the cost of the actual printing, binding, shipping, processing -- came to be about $50-$100, I'd seriously consider that.

My roommate who is a med student would seriously consider that. Her books must weight like 25 lbs. each I swear and they cost much more then mine.

The only thing is that current eReaders don't have the ability to mark up and make notes. Of course, for myself, in order to preserve the resale value of my textbooks, I can't highlight or make pen notes or anything anyway so I'm in favor of it.

I'd have to read ALOT of books to recuperate the current value of that Amazon Kindle 2 at $299. You know how much it costs for me to read at the library? Nada. Zilch. Zip. 

Anonymous #6  here said it best -- you can't share your digital reads (not really). Unless you have fellow geek readers who also carry one of these gizmos, you can't really mail/email it to your family members to read.

At anonymous #2 and philcolley and anonymous #4-- , I'd say the general public (consumers) probably have no idea the sheer impressive technological feat that GM engineers constructed to get the Chevy Volt going. How much range you get per charge (and then, breaking that down on price per charge) is probably an easier way for regular folks to gauge how much driving time they have. 

The only thing that can keep this invention grounded is if consumers don't have convenient ways to charge their cars. What if you're an apartment dweller without a garage? Or, you go cross-country? Businesses will have to accommodate the debut of 100% electric cars.

If the Chevy Volt takes off, it would also be a great way to encourage faith in the US auto industry. I mean really, nearly 40 miles purely on electricity sounds great. Most people drive within 20 miles a day, normally. Can you imagine how much that would reduce in gas emissions? Imagine how much cleaner your neighborhood would smell, feel.