Why I hate punch bowls

1) They are often, wide, gaping bowls with no cover. As such, a nice layer of dust is allowed to settle on the punch. They are usually set low on a table so people have to stand over the bowl to get punch. Think of all the hair, dander, and clothing fibers that they shed while serving. God forbid anyone sneezes nearby! And if there are young children in the vicinity- forget about it.

2) A lot of focus is put on making the punch beautiful and not always enough on making it taste good. Sometimes the "pretty stuff" even gets in the way of the drinkable portion.

3) Way too messy. Even with a nice ladle with a spout on it, the bottom of the ladle has still been in the punch. It's going to be drippy. The cups are usually too small to accommodate the circumference of the entire ladle, so the drips don't always make it into the cups, they usually end up running down the sides. Pair that with the fact that most punches are red, you have one big drippy, sticky, staining mess.

And if you are apt to drop things like I am, you may just accidentally drop your cup into the bowl. Depending on how much punch was in the cup at the time, everyone around me has varying degrees of punch splash all over their pretty party clothes.

Big steaming cup of SOPA

From a press release: (Original here: http://judiciary.house.gov/news/01172012.html) Washington, D.C. — House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) today said that he expects the Committee to continue its markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act in February.

Chairman Smith: "To enact legislation that protects consumers, businesses and jobs from foreign thieves who steal America's intellectual property, we will continue to bring together industry representatives and Members to find ways to combat online piracy.

“Due to the Republican and Democratic retreats taking place over the next two weeks, markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act is expected to resume in February.

“I am committed to continuing to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to send a bipartisan bill to the White House that saves American jobs and protects intellectual property."

1) "protects intellectual property". The main supporters of this bill are huge media companies. Movie, music and publishing industries. Let's take a look at some of the people involved in these industries. I'm too lazy right now to look up any real numbers, but I imagine it goes something like this: "Last year we brought in 20 million dollars profit, but this year we only brought in 15 million, WAH! I had to sell one of my seven houses!" What if actors weren't paid outrageous salaries? Could we possibly save some money there? Or what if the music industry would get with it and instead of pumping all it's money into a few crappy new acts, realize that they are in a dying business and CHANGE! Same with publishers.

It's really hard for people to pay for things they can obtain (even legally) for free. How do they think forcing us to pay for things is going to help? Don't we all remember the Boston tea party?

2) "saves American jobs". How about making it a law that mass produced items that will be marketed and sold mainly in America HAVE TO BE MADE IN AMERICA. That might create a few jobs. How can you utter a statement like that when outsourcing is so rampant!?

That is all!