Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Monday, September 06, 2010
Satisfaction Guaranteed
by David Stark
In 1904, German sociologist Max Weber traveled to Oklahoma where he conducted field research, leading to an article, “Church and Sect in North America,” and his most influential book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. A century later, the megachurches of Oklahoma City seemed an appropriate setting to witness recent developments in the relationship between religious experience and contemporary capitalism.
Please tell me if you would rather not receive my postings.
Rampaging wild boar draw pleas for military response - 'Nuff said.
Rampaging wild boar draw pleas for military response
By Tony Paterson in Berlin
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rampaging-wild-boar-draw-pleas-for-military-response-2071304.html
By Tony Paterson in Berlin
AP
Wild boars foraging in fields near Munich. Their population has risen dramatically in recent years
They are laying waste to crops in record numbers and their snouts are seriously damaging the autumn harvest. But soon the rampaging wild boar that have been causing havoc in rural areas of Germany could be gunned down by army marksmen, if farmers get their way.
The call for a military response comes from landowners in the wine and crop-growing western Rhineland-Palatinate region, where boar have destroyed hundreds of hectares of maize and torn up the earth so badly with their snouts that combine harvesters have been brought to a standstill. "The farmers are boiling with rage yet the problem can't be solved by using regular hunters anymore," said Norbert Schindler, the president of the regional farmers' union. "They are trying hard but they just can't cope. Why can't the army be drafted in to help?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rampaging-wild-boar-draw-pleas-for-military-response-2071304.html
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Saturday, September 04, 2010
No Divorce for Married Gay Couples In Texas | The Atlantic Wire
There! That oughta learn 'em, by golly! Serve 'em right fer gitting inta such a mess in the first place.
LIGHTNING ROD
No Divorce for Married Gay Couples In Texas
Even though gay marriage isn't legal in Texas, that hasn't prevented opponents from taking that extra step: banning already-married gay couples from getting a divorce in the state. In a ruling reported by the Dallas Morning News, the state's 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas has reversed a decision that allowed gay couples to legally dissolve their marriage. The ruling is quickly becoming another case-study of the trench warfare that's taking place between gay rights advocates and opponents across the country.
Puzzlin' time...
Tom Toles nudges the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations toward a tenable solution:
Friday, September 03, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Men! Women can't live with them and ...
Women love men ...
Because
they never understand us, but they never give up.
Because they write poems, songs, and books in our honor.
Because because they can never fake orgasms, even if they wanted to.
Because they can see beauty in women when women have long ceased to see any beauty in themselves.
Because they come from little boys.
Because they can churn out long, intricate, Machiavellian, or incredibly complex mathematics and physics equations, but they can be comparably clueless when it comes to women.
Because they are incredible lovers and never rest until we’re happy.
Because they elevate sports to religion.
Because they’re never afraid of the dark.
Because they don’t care how they look or if they age.
Because they persevere in making and repairing things beyond their abilities, with the naïve self-assurance of the teenage boy who knew everything.
Because they never wear or dream of wearing high heels.
Because they’re always ready for sex.
Because they’re like pomegranates: lots of inedible parts, but the juicy seeds are incredibly tasty and succulent and usually exceed your expectations.
Because they’re afraid to go bald.
Because you always know what they think and they always mean what they say.
Because they love machines, tools, and implements with the same ferocity women love jewelry.
Because they go to great lengths to hide, unsuccessfully, that they are frail and human.
Because they either speak too much or not at all to that end.
Because they always finish the food on their plate.
Because they are brave in front of insects and mice.
Because a well-spoken four-year old girl can reduce them to silence, and a beautiful 25-year old can reduce them to slobbering idiots.
Because they want to be either omnivorous or ascetic, warriors or lovers, artists or generals, but nothing in-between.
Because for them there’s no such thing as too much adrenaline.
Because when all is said and done, they can’t live without us, no matter how hard they try.
Because they’re truly as simple as they claim to be.
Because they love extremes and when they go to extremes, we’re there to catch them.
Because they are tender they when they cry, and how seldom they do it.
Because what they lack in talk, they tend to make up for in action.
Because they make excellent companions when driving through rough neighborhoods or walking past dark alleys.
Because they really love their moms, and they remind us of our dads.
Because they never care what their horoscope, their mother-in-law, nor the neighbors say.
Because they don’t lie about their age, their weight, or their clothing size.
Because they have an uncanny ability to look deeply into our eyes and connect with our heart, even when we don’t want them to.
Because when we say “I love you” they ask for an explanation.
Welcome to Share with Friends – Free Texts for a Free Internet
Sunday, August 29, 2010
There are more people alive today...
The total number of humans that have ever lived has been estimated at 110 billion.
Approximately 6% of all those people are alive today.
Approximately 6% of all those people are alive today.
Figure 1: Human Population Growth over Time
The human population growth of the last century has been truly phenomenal. It required only 40 years after 1950 for the population to double from 2.5 billion to 5 billion. This doubling time is less than the average human lifetime. The world population passed 6 billion just before the end of the 20th century. Present estimates are for the population to reach 8-12 billion before the end of the 21st century. During each lecture hour, more than 10,000 new people enter the world, a rate of ~3 per second!
Of the 6 billion people, about half live in poverty and at least one fifth are severely undernourished. The rest live out their lives in comparative comfort and health.
Link: Population Growth Over Human History
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Joe & Eddie
Joe & Eddie
Joe and Eddie was an American gospel and Folk music group whose vocal career peaked in 1964. Composed of two African American men, Joe Gilbert and Eddie Brown, Joe and Eddie became popular with their vocal talent. In their career, they toured the United States and Canada, appeared on over 20 major television shows and recorded eight albums.
Feeding time
A group of otters wait for feeding time in their pen at the New Forest Wildlife Park, Hampshire
Picture: John Wines/BNPS (via Pictures of the day: 23 August 2010 - Telegraph)
Monday, August 23, 2010
Cheap-labor Conservatives - holding us "Over a barrel"
- Cheap-labor conservatives don't like social spending or our "safety net". Why. Because when you're unemployed and desperate, corporations can pay you whatever they feel like – which is inevitably next to nothing. You see, they want you "over a barrel" and in a position to "work cheap or starve".
- Cheap-labor conservatives don't like the minimum wage, or other improvements in wages and working conditions. Why. These reforms undo all of their efforts to keep you "over a barrel".
- Cheap-labor conservatives like "free trade", NAFTA, GATT, etc. Why. Because there is a huge supply of desperately poor people in the third world, who are "over a barrel", and will work cheap.
- Cheap-labor conservatives oppose a woman's right to choose. Why. Unwanted children are an economic burden that put poor women "over a barrel", forcing them to work cheap.
- Cheap-labor conservatives don't like unions. Why. Because when labor "sticks together", wages go up. That's why workers unionize. Seems workers don't like being "over a barrel".
On the Internet no one knows...
I have a dog; I named him Stay. So when I'd go to call him, I'd say, "Here,
Stay, here..." but he got wise to that. Now when I call him he ignores me
and just keeps on typing.
-- Stephen Wright
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
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