• it keeps me warm.
• it is salty (as opposed to it's cold counter parts that are sweet for the most part.)
• it comes in a bajillion varieties.
• it's available in most restaurants (and really cool server people will grab a strainer or play "dodge the chunks" with the ladle!)
• you can safely add salsa or pesto to any variety, kicking it up a notch!
• it never ever gets stuck in my teeth (or worse yet, my tonsils!)

OR - Some basketball fans in Portland are boycotting Trail Blazers' games because several players on the team have been arrested. Forward Ruben Patterson, a registered sex offender, was arrested after his wife, Shannon, reported to police that her husband had assaulted her. Charges were later dismissed after Shannon Patterson asked prosecutors to drop the case. The Trail Blazers organization fined Patterson $100,000 for the incident. Two other players, Rasheed Wallace and Damon Stoudamire, were arrested on marijuana possession charges. One fan posted a billboard in downtown Portland that reads, "Boycott Blazers - we need a team that can beat L.A., not women and the justice system," reports the Washington Post. - Speaking Up, Vol. 8, Issue 24