Don Arthur Halelujas Christmas gifts and the Diderot effect
Ach, that special Grandfather Frost
Mother Russias children are disappearing rapidly. There are 160 deaths for every 100 live births. Cardiovascular disease is on the march. Sexually transmitted infections are rampant. The causes are varied, and solutions are elusive, but one thing is clear: Big bad trouble is looming.
Invisible Hands & Markets: Funny kind of guerilla
David, the one and only Barista who deserves the ownership of the Starbucks chain, was the kind of child who adored cubby houses. When visitors came, I had to be dragged away from building mines under the house. Eventually I got into big trouble for setting fire to the roof of one wth my home made miner's lamp. My family would suggest that David and I have a lot in common (smile)
I still love tents. And wee hoosies in the back yard. I have lived in a succession of granny flats; the best had tons of louvers. At a purchase price of just $35,000 this is a genuine short-term housing option that could be used in a variety of applications. It is lightweight, transportable, requires no more skill to erect than an Ikea product, and is very affordable." says Col James, the architect. Bit of glass might help, and some flywire.
• (B)ankers Beware: Child-Turned-Adult Passion Heralds the End of the Era of Mortgages [One of NSW's oldest boarding schools, Hurlstone Agricultural High School, maintains "traditions of bullying and preferencing" where senior students claim privileges over younger ones. The Experiences of the Nitra Army Baracks and The Bear Pit found at Schools as well]
• · Why Are So Many Insiders Selling? Major white collar crime will impact the U.S. economy over the next five years. Note that they wrote will. Not could Three Years After Enron It Looks Like No One Learned a Thing ; [PUBLIC PENSIONS, PRIVATE JACKPOTS: Some government workers retire with big payouts -- funded by you ]
• · · In a sign of Australia's worsening skills shortage, a Victorian transport company has hired 60 "guest" welders from China because it cannot attract locally based tradespeople. Fly-in fly-out; [My Deakin University course in anthropology is starting to pay off at Christmas time: It's good to be seen to give. o post cards and send presents is no mere, harmless indulgence. They are invariably dispatched by social inferiors seeking to curry favour with their superiors. One author explains why he won't be sending any cards or gifts this Christmas ]
• · · · Every now and again a person who reads the newspaper learns something interesting that people who don’t read the newspaper only learn by first hand experience A New Way to Pay Old Debts ; [Let’s say that again: There is no Social Security crisis: 2029 (25 years to go!) The Reality is written in Kabalah; just open your eyes]
• · · · · A multimillion-dollar jury award against Todd McFarlane Bankruptcy latest twist for Valley's McFarlane; [A gang of thieves escaped with as much as $76 million from a bank in Northern Ireland National Australia Bank]
• · · · · · So a comic walks into a bar, does a set and still can't feed his kids. Or his pets. Or his pets' kids. So what does he do? He gets a lawyer, forms a coalition and threatens to strike. Hardened by decades of low wages and even lower self-esteem, some 300 New York comedians have decided to unite to ask the city's comedy clubs for, well, A little respect. (Oh, and more pay) ;
*Reality flash: iPod Users Switch to Mac OS X
For the Wall Street Journal, Tim Hanrahan and Jason Fry write, “In Monday’s column, we predicted that the combination of the iPod’s popularity and the increasing worry over viruses, security holes and spyware in Windows PCs will lead to the second coming of Apple Computer as a home-computing power. To say that struck a chord would be putting it mildly. Boy, did we ever get mail — including a significant number of people who said that the iPod, Windows security concerns or a combination of the two had made them switch to a Mac or plan to do so.” [Paid WSJ subscription required.]