2004-12-10
STORY BLIPS
Thoughtful comment found on other peoples' websites |
A Rambling Discourse On Marriage, Divorce, and The Need To Be Reunited | "... I believe in marriage. I really don’t believe in divorce, not really. I believe that whomever you are murdered by, whoever murders you, and whomever you become a lover to, you bind to that person’s soul like no other three human acts can impose and when you make the commitment to marry someone in the eyes of man and God and you become not just their body-lover but their soul-lover for you and you for they for all and all and all eternity of time...." | FROM H KENT CRAIG
Gambling is a good way to save money | "...it is now apparent that the Bush administration's privatization proposal will amount to the same thing: borrow trillions, put the money in the stock market and hope.
Privatization would begin by diverting payroll taxes, which pay for current Social Security benefits, into personal investment accounts. The government, already deep in deficit, would have to borrow to make up the shortfall.
This would sharply increase the government's debt. Never mind, privatization advocates say: in the long run, they claim, people would make so much on personal accounts that the government could save money by cutting retirees' benefits. Financial markets won't believe this claim, as I'll explain in a minute, but let's temporarily grant the point.... | FROM STEVE GILLIARD'S NEWS BLOG
What is Elitism? | "...elitism ...is a complicated matter, not least because of ...claims of anti-elitism emanate from academics who write a deliberately clotted opaque jargon and make a parade of not particularly relevant erudition...
"...it is perhaps understandable that some people like to shout 'elitism' at anyone who says Shakespeare is better than John Grisham. That's certainly easier than actually doing something about the more tangible forms of inequality." | FROM BUTTERFLIES AND WHEELS |
Timeliness important to development? | "... there seems to be a distinct difference in how various parts of the world consider the issue of "timing" (as opposed to the passage of time). I can't help but notice that those areas with a less strict adherence to this "timing" also seem to correspond to less developed parts of the world; Africa, in specific. Though it's another stereotype (which I am uncomfortable about, but have no data at hand), compare this to the notion of German and Swedish punctuality.
"Might there be some correlation between productivity and timing/timeliness, and thus perhaps development? What might be a good way to measure something like adherence to schedules?..." | FROM TRUCK & BARTER |
Hitler's Rhetoric and the Lure of "Moral Values" | "...Hitler's Germany amalgamated state with church. Soldiers of the vermacht wore belt buckles inscribed with the 
following: "Gott mit uns" (God is with us). His troops were often sprinkled with holy water by the priests. It was a real Christian country whose citizens were indoctrinated by both state and church and blindly followed all authority figures, political and ecclesiastical.
Hitler, like some of the today's politicians and preachers, politicized "family values." He liked corporeal punishment in home and school. Jesus prayers became mandatory in all schools under his administration. While abortion was illegal in pre-Hitler Germany, he took it to new depths of enforcement, requiring all doctors to report to the government the circumstances of all miscarriages. He openly despised homosexuality and criminalized it..." | FROM BUZZ FLASH ¶ 21:41
Thoughtful comment found on other peoples' websites |
A Rambling Discourse On Marriage, Divorce, and The Need To Be Reunited | "... I believe in marriage. I really don’t believe in divorce, not really. I believe that whomever you are murdered by, whoever murders you, and whomever you become a lover to, you bind to that person’s soul like no other three human acts can impose and when you make the commitment to marry someone in the eyes of man and God and you become not just their body-lover but their soul-lover for you and you for they for all and all and all eternity of time...." | FROM H KENT CRAIG
Gambling is a good way to save money | "...it is now apparent that the Bush administration's privatization proposal will amount to the same thing: borrow trillions, put the money in the stock market and hope.
Privatization would begin by diverting payroll taxes, which pay for current Social Security benefits, into personal investment accounts. The government, already deep in deficit, would have to borrow to make up the shortfall.
This would sharply increase the government's debt. Never mind, privatization advocates say: in the long run, they claim, people would make so much on personal accounts that the government could save money by cutting retirees' benefits. Financial markets won't believe this claim, as I'll explain in a minute, but let's temporarily grant the point.... | FROM STEVE GILLIARD'S NEWS BLOG
What is Elitism? | "...elitism ...is a complicated matter, not least because of ...claims of anti-elitism emanate from academics who write a deliberately clotted opaque jargon and make a parade of not particularly relevant erudition...
"...it is perhaps understandable that some people like to shout 'elitism' at anyone who says Shakespeare is better than John Grisham. That's certainly easier than actually doing something about the more tangible forms of inequality." | FROM BUTTERFLIES AND WHEELS |
Timeliness important to development? | "... there seems to be a distinct difference in how various parts of the world consider the issue of "timing" (as opposed to the passage of time). I can't help but notice that those areas with a less strict adherence to this "timing" also seem to correspond to less developed parts of the world; Africa, in specific. Though it's another stereotype (which I am uncomfortable about, but have no data at hand), compare this to the notion of German and Swedish punctuality.
"Might there be some correlation between productivity and timing/timeliness, and thus perhaps development? What might be a good way to measure something like adherence to schedules?..." | FROM TRUCK & BARTER |
Hitler's Rhetoric and the Lure of "Moral Values" | "...Hitler's Germany amalgamated state with church. Soldiers of the vermacht wore belt buckles inscribed with the following: "Gott mit uns" (God is with us). His troops were often sprinkled with holy water by the priests. It was a real Christian country whose citizens were indoctrinated by both state and church and blindly followed all authority figures, political and ecclesiastical.
Hitler, like some of the today's politicians and preachers, politicized "family values." He liked corporeal punishment in home and school. Jesus prayers became mandatory in all schools under his administration. While abortion was illegal in pre-Hitler Germany, he took it to new depths of enforcement, requiring all doctors to report to the government the circumstances of all miscarriages. He openly despised homosexuality and criminalized it..." | FROM BUZZ FLASH ¶ 21:41
