Headlines of the Week (Or Whatever)

'X-Men's' Ellen Page on Life After Coming Out, the Bryan Singer Case and Her Battle With Depression

All My Exes Live in Texts: Why the Social Media Generation Never Really Breaks Up

The Congresswoman Whose Husband Called Her Home

A Kinder Way to Kill

Headlines of the Week (Or Whatever)

News is bad for you – and giving up reading it will make you happier

Psychedelic Portuguese Man-of-War Photos Prove God Is a Stoner.
(They prove no such thing, but the images are gorgeous.)

The Saudi Marathon Man

Black Gold: Thar’s Oil In Them Thar Walls (On the Discovery of a Hidden Mural)

States Can Legalize Marijuana (Though Federal Laws Stand), Says Congressional Research Service

On the Nature of War

 From my weekly comments for Honors Colloquium:

"War is thus an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will." ~ Carl von Clausewitz

War. Genocide. Engagement. Atrocity. Intentionality. These are topics upon which we have touched. We discussed war as an act of politics, requiring a state-sanctioned entity; as an act of religion, requiring only hate of Other; and as an atrocity, no matter what form it takes. But at the core of all of these things is intentionality. Whether the motivation is political, religious, social, or even personal, war is, as von Clausewitz posits, “an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will”. The intention of force is war. Thus the machinations of divorce attorneys, Congressmen, and nations alike are all acts of war and part of a larger war, in which we all fight for power on multiple levels, every day of our lives. Which frankly sounds exhausting.

Honors Econ Research Proposal

Unemployment & the Labor Force; Definitions Thereof

We currently define the unemployment rate as the percentage of workers without jobs in our labor force. We currently define our labor force as workers who are actively looking for jobs. However, those definitions are both simplistic and problematic, excluding complicated factors and variables that keep us from arriving at a more precise unemployment rate.

"Vell, Mitt's just zis guy, you know?"*

Dressage. Really. Although I have friends whom are avid riders, I had to search to see for the definition of 'dressage'. Apparently, it's horse ballet**, and is also known as the highest expression of horse training. Regular folks - folks who work and pay taxes and worry about a mortgage - don't own dressage horses. We also don't declare a tax loss of $77,000 for the care and feeding of a dressage horse that qualifies for the next Olympics. An interesting parallel is that in 2010, the same year in which they declared that loss, the mean yearly per capita income was less than $28,000.

But, hey, he totally represents me as a citizen!***

*Zaphod is equally well-suited to be our President, and for exactly the same reasons.

**I'm not being sarcastic. That's really what it's called!

***I am totally being sarcastic.

A timely reminder...

A timely reminder about the importance of separating your religion from your government:

"I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference; and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

Random Thoughts.

I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really want to convene a Civics 101 & Source Vetting course on my Facebook feed. Really. The President is not magic and a jpeg with some text and Obama's face is not a reliable source. Really. I promise.

About the Pledge of Allegience

I originally wrote this on Friday, October 15, 2010.  I am posting it here with minor edits, mainly for grammar.

Kevin is publicly shamed for his refusal to take an oath.

Yeah, that cartoon is cute. It shows someone who simply doesn't care in contrast to someone who cares so much that they gave their health, and was willing to give their life. It makes a point, and makes us feel good about being better than the lazy guy. It makes us feel proud of our veterans. (Although that pride doesn't seem to extend to caring for them, but that's a an entirely different post...) and it makes us feel patriotic. Yay!