R We D8ting? - New York Times

R We D8ting? - New York Times.

That was it, I decided: no more text-message flirtations for me. From now on I'd stick to more old-fashioned ways of getting to know a guy. Like e-mail.

Washington Quarter

The new Washington Quarter.

Mitch Hedberg Jokes

Mitch Hedberg Jokes

Wyn Cooper . The Country of Here Below . Ahsahta Press

Here's the poem that the Sheryl Crow song is based on.

Wyn Cooper . The Country of Here Below . Ahsahta Press: "Fun


'All I want is to have a little fun

Before I die,' says the man next to me

Out of nowhere, apropos of nothing. He says

His name's William but I'm sure he's Bill

Or Billy, Mac or Buddy; he's plain ugly to me,

And I wonder if he's ever had fun in his life.

We are drinking beer at noon on Tuesday,

In a bar that faces a giant car wash.

The good people of the world are washing their cars

On their lunch hours, hosing and scrubbing

As best they can in skirts and suits.

They drive their shiny Datsuns and Buicks

Back to the phone company, the record store,

The genetic engineering lab, but not a single one

Appears to be having fun like Billy and me.

I like a good beer buzz early in the day,

And Billy likes to peel the labels

From his bottles of Bud and shred them on the bar.

Then he lights every match in an oversized pack,

Letting each one burn down to his thick fingers

Before blowing and cursing them out.

A happy couple enters the bar, dangerously close

To one another, like this is a motel,

But they clean up their act when we give them

A look. One quick beer and they're out,

Down the road and in the next st"

There is no housing bubble

I'm not an expert on economics, but I do have a real estate sales license and I've been studying this market for several years.

During the dotcom bubble I kept saying it couldn't last. That booms are always followed by a bust, and they are.

But houses are only mildly booming. And that's mostly because of population growth.

First, GenX has finally gotten some money together and started buying homes. They've stopped renting, stopped living with roomates, and gotten kids and families. So they are buying houses.

Second, the yuppies are buying big houses and second and third homes. How many people from the baby boom generation do you know? How many of them have bought another house? A retirement home or a rental property, maybe? Most of them, probably.

I've got an uncle who is getting close to retirement. He owns four houses. One in New Jersey, one in Mississippi that he bought in the 70's and has been renting out since, one in Spain and another lake home in Alabama near where he grew up.

This isn't only about low interest rates because the rates have risen and people are still buying and home prices are still rising. It's because of a population boom and a housing shortage.

Also, this isn't like the stock bubble. When the bubble burst what did you have? Stock in a bankrupt company....nothing at all. If this bubble bursts what will you have? Maybe you'll take a loss. Maybe you'll have to hold on to that house for another 10 years before you can sell it for a profit...but you'll still have a house.

In the late 80's the real estate market was oversaturated. You couldn't sell a house for a couple of years, there. But if you were willing to wait a couple of years, or knock a few thousand off the asking price, you could sell it. Those who waited sold for a profit, it just took longer.

Like the old folks say, land is the one thing that they aren't making any more of.

I think this "bubble" will level off. Maybe prices will flatten, but I don't think houses that sold for 2 million will suddenly be worth $10,000. If they are I'll be snapping them up as fast as I can get the money together.

Maybe I'm wrong. Time will tell. Make prudent investments and don't get greedy. That's always a good decision.

Ninagawa Mika's Official Website

Ninagawa Mika's Official Website


Here's someone who knows how to take a picture.

Tom Cruise explains Scientology

Who wouldn't fall for such a clever trick? - Yahoo! News

Who wouldn't fall for such a clever trick? - Yahoo! News: "PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) - An Italian couple stole 50,000 euros from a woman in the Sicilian city of Palermo after convincing her they were vampires who would impregnate her with the son of the Anti-Christ if she did not pay them.
ADVERTISEMENT

The man, a cabaret singer, and his girlfriend took the money from their victim over four years by selling her pills at 3,000 euros each that they said would abort the Anti-Christ's son.

Police uncovered the fraud after the 47-year-old woman's family became concerned when they discovered she had spent all her savings, local news agencies AGI and ANSA reported."

Positive Ape Index: My New Religion: THE FIRST CHURCH OF GALACTUS!

Positive Ape Index: My New Religion: THE FIRST CHURCH OF GALACTUS!: "So, in this day and age, if you're introducing a new god, it doesn't hurt to start with a little brand awareness and name recognition. Plus, your god has to look cool. As a negative example, take Jesus. (please!) Sure, everybody knows what he looks like now, but only after the Catholics spent two thousands years building up the brand. If you tried to introduce the J-Man today, total loserville. I'll give you the long hair and sexy swimmer's body, but, c'mon? Who wants to sit down in their house of worship and look at a bloody naked guy on a cross? Not Lindsey Lohan or Ashton Kucher, that's for sure!"

The Lifewriter's Digest Article -- Are You A Real Writer?

The Lifewriter's Digest Article -- Are You A Real Writer?: "You know on some level that the story you write will never match what you hoped it would be. And that does not discourage you. Like generations of writers before you, from Homer to Dickens to Oates, you accept your own shortcomings and keep writing anyway. "

Actually that does disourage me. I've spent several years not writing because it never seems to turn out right.

Love-struck Kenyan awaiting Clinton's nod to marry only daughter, Chelsea - Yahoo! News

Love-struck Kenyan awaiting Clinton's nod to marry only daughter, Chelsea - Yahoo! News: Former President Clinton is being offered 20 head of cattle and 40 goats for his daughter Chelsea.

Take it, dude! That's a good deal!

PETA: Tell Us: Who Are the World's Sexiest Vegetarians?

PETA: Tell Us: Who Are the World's Sexiest Vegetarians?: "The veggie voters have spoken, and American Idol winner Carrie Underwood and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin have been selected as PETA’s 2005 “World’s Sexiest Vegetarians,” narrowly edging out a host of other veggie Valentinos and Venuses, including David Duchovny, Reese Witherspoon, Joss Stone, Avril Lavigne, Joaquin Phoenix, and Prince, as well as previous winners Tobey Maguire, Andre 3000, Josh Hartnett, Alicia Silverstone, Natalie Portman, and Shania Twain."

Charles Manson and Adoph Hitler have been left off this list because...well, they aren't cool.

Don't vote for pedro

They shot the wrong fucking guy

British police admit shooting wrong man in bomb hunt - Yahoo! News

79 year old Houston crossing guard fired for refusing drug test.

It's imposible to sell out these days

"Juliana Hatfield: "It's impossible to sellout these days. “Selling out” is an antiquated concept. Everyone is licensing their songs to car commercials. That didn't used to be okay. Bob Dylan is in a Victoria's Secret ad. The most talented girl singers have turned themselves into strippers. A notch above porn stars. 'Cause sex sells. The next step would be for them to actually have sex in their videos. Mariah Carey has implants. Christina Aguilera has implants. Gwen Stefani has implants. Even her. She finally gave in. And Beyonce is on her hands and knees evoking doggy-style sex in one of her videos. And she has so much (singing) talent! Why, Beyonce, why? Why, world, why? Why do you demand this of her?"" Juliana Hatfield.

Nehemiah Scudder

Ok, first, some people may not know who Nehemiah Scudder is. So there's the wikipedia entry.

"If This Goes On%u2014" - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"If This Goes On%u2014" is a science fiction short novel by Robert A. Heinlein, published as part of the book Revolt in 2100. One of his Future History series, it recounts a future theocratic American society, ruled by the latest in a series of "Prophets." The First Prophet was Nehemiah Scudder, a backwoods preacher turned President, then dictator. (Scudder was previously mentioned in passing in stories such as Logic of Empire and later on in Heinlein's final novel To Sail Beyond the Sunset).

Not surprisingly for Heinlein, the novel deals with a rebellion, organized by Masons, Mormons and other persecuted minorities, that leads to the eventual re-establishment of democracy. One of the major strengths of the novel is that it is less about action-adventure and derring-do, and more about how the rebellion is organized%u2014Heinlein makes military organization and logistics as fascinating as a swordfight or space battle.

This story includes the idea that in modern American democracy the hypothetical government endorsement of a particular religion is prevented by the fact that while most religions believe themselves to be the "One True Faith" which everyone should be required to believe, each has to settle on the compromise of religious freedom to prevent somebody else's "One True Faith" from being forced on themselves. If one religion were able to get a voting majority, they very well might simply take over. This concept is also discussed briefly in Stranger in a Strange Land from the other perspective (before any such takeover).


There's this huge church in Texas that has turned the Compaq Center into a church.


I saw the preacher of this church on Larry King...maybe he's not Nehemiah, but this would be how somthing like him could happen.

If he ever runs for president, then that will be how you know it's really him.

If this guy ever got mixed up in politics it would be the end of America as we know it. The bill of rights would be over.

Pope Poopoos Potter

Pope disapproves of Harry Potter, letters suggest - Yahoo! News: "BERLIN (Reuters) -
Pope Benedict believes the
Harry Potter books subtly seduce young readers and 'distort Christianity in the soul' before it can develop properly, according to comments attributed to him by a German writer."

DURAN DURAN LYRICS - Union Of The Snake

taomancer: I've been analyzing the lyrics of duran duran
nancycarol35633 : Have you? From how far back?
taomancer: they make no sense. I never realized that back then
taomancer: well, union of the snake right now
taomancer: rio...there's a car crash in rio, did you know that?
nancycarol35633 : Oh... I remember that song, but not most of the lyrics.
nancycarol35633 : No, I didn't...
taomancer: great thing about the internet, you can look up any lyrics
taomancer: Telegram force and ready
I knew this was a big mistake
There'sa fine line drawing
My senses together
And I think it's about to break

If I listen close I can hear them singers
Voices in your body coming through on the radio
The Union of the Snake is on the climb
Moving up it's gonna race it's gonna break
Through the borderline

Nightshades on a warning
Give me strength at least give me a light
Give me anything even sympathy
There's a chance you could be right

The Union of the Snake is on the climb
It's gonna race it's gonna break
Gonna move up to the borderline
taomancer: I mean, that's like coleridge or yeats
taomancer: not as good, but as obscure
taomancer: better than Jim Morrison, for example
nancycarol35633 : It's much better than Jim. Hmmm... it makes me think of a lower-level poetry class I took in Georgia. The prof said modern poets are actually musicians, because the Billy Collins type poets aren't dispersed as much.
taomancer: dispersed? how is he using that?
taomancer: distributed?
nancycarol35633 : like as in disseminated.
nancycarol35633 : Yeah.
taomancer: yeah, too long outside of classes...I don't think in the right words anymore.

Interview with Frank Herbert and Beverly Herbert by Willis E. McNelly

Interview with Frank Herbert and Beverly Herbert by Willis E. McNelly

An interview with Herbert.

It's odd, my mind is like his....is it really that unusual to look up a word in the dictionary and get distracted by other words? I could set and read the dictionary, too.

Don't other people do that?

Bozo

Bozo the clown without his makeup.

WFTV.com - News - Catholic University Offers Course On Satanism

WFTV.com - News - Catholic University Offers Course On Satanism: "ROME -- To help priests combat a growing interest in satanism, a Vatican-recognized university in Rome is offering a follow-up to a course on exorcism given earlier this year.

Pontifical Academy Regina Apostolorum's new course, which starts in October, will explore biblical, theological, historical and legal aspects of satanism.

Exorcists will give the last lesson in February.

The university said fascination with satanism is on the upswing and priests need 'solid preparation' for it.

The university, run by the conservative Legionaries of Christ, said recent crimes related to satanism show it's a problem that's often underestimated.

When the first course began, Italy was gripped by the ritual satanic deaths of three people, including a 19-year-old allegedly stabbed to death because her killers believed she personified the Virgin Mary. Two rock band members were later convicted of murder.

Police also have discovered sites outside Rome where they say satanists hold Black Masses."

WFTV.com - News - Psychologist Arrested For Allegedly Huffing Whipped Cream Cans

WFTV.com - News - Psychologist Arrested For Allegedly Huffing Whipped Cream Cans: "WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- A psychologist who has spoken out on eating disorders and other issues was arrested after she collapsed in a supermarket, allegedly after inhaling propellant from whipped cream cans.




Lisa G. Berzins, who has been interviewed on television and in newspapers and successfully lobbied for a state law regulating claims by weight loss businesses, was arrested on a warrant Friday charging her in the May 29 incident.

Berzins, 49, has written and lectured on eating disorders, female development, sex roles and self-esteem, according a speaker's biography from the American Psychological Association. She has visited schools in a 'fat suit' to bring a message to young people about the fear of being overweight.



According to the arrest warrant affidavit, West Hartford police were called to the Farmington Avenue Stop & Shop and found Berzins lying on the floor and bleeding from her head. Berzins, the affidavit says, told police she did not k"

The Clash - London's Burning Lyrics

Londons Burning....or maybe it's calling.

I don't care 'cause I.....live by the river.....and in a completely different country.

All across the town, all across the night
Everybody's driving with full headlights
Black or white turn it on, face the new religion
Everybody's sitting 'round watching television!

London's burning with boredom now
London's burning dial 99999




I'm up and down the Westway, in an' out the lights
What a great traffic system - it's so bright
I can't think of a better way to spend the night
Then speeding around underneath the yellow lights

London's burning with boredom now
London's burning dial 99999

Now I'm in the subway and I'm looking for the flat
This one leads to this block, this one leads to that
The wind howls through the empty blocks looking for a home
I run through the empty stone because I'm all alone

London's burning with boredom now...
London's burning dial 99999"

Pot Doesn't Cause Cancer, Might Prevent It

NORML.ORG US: Web: Study: Smoking Marijuana Does Not Cause Lung Cancer: "'So, in summary' Tashkin concluded, 'we failed to observe a positive association of marijuana use and other potential confounders.'

There was time for only one question, said the moderator, and San Francisco oncologist Donald Abrams, M.D., was already at the microphone: 'You don't see any positive correlation, but in at least one category [marijuana-only smokers and lung cancer], it almost looked like there was a negative correlation, i.e., a protective effect. Could you comment on that?'

'Yes,' said Tashkin. 'The odds ratios are less than one almost consistently, and in one category that relationship was significant, but I think that it would be difficult to extract from these data the conclusion that marijuana is protective against lung cancer. But that is not an unreasonable hypothesis.' "

Kamikaze kittens

FT.com / Arts & Weekend - Kamikaze kittens: "In the centre of the image stands a certain type of Japanese schoolgirl, a kogyaru, wearing loose white socks bunched around her ankles and her skirt hitched up so it’s extra short. She has a fake tan and bleached blonde hair, and is raising a Samurai sword above her head ready to strike. At her feet kneels another schoolgirl who has just cut open her own stomach, harakiri style. She grasps the leg of the standing girl and waits for the coup de grace.

Around them five other schoolgirls are all in various stages of suicide - all smiling. One thrusts a sword through her neck and a rainbow appears in the blood spurting from her wound. Another lies on the ground cutting her exposed intestines with a dagger; blood flows into a drain, past discarded tissues and a karaoke bar flyer. A curious kitten looks on, and the head of an eighth girl lies decapitated in the corner."

TomCruiseIsNuts.com

According to RadarMagazine.com, before Cruise started dating Katie Holmes, he invited actress Scarlett Johansson to a Scientology center where he showed her literature about the church. "After two hours of proselytizing," according to the website, "Cruise opened a door to reveal a second room full of upper-level Scientologists who had been waiting to dine with the pair, at which point the cool-headed ingénue politely excused herself."

I'm glad to see she's got a head on her shoulders.

If he converted Scarlett I'd have to hurt him or somehthing.

At least when Mel Gibson gets all wacky it's just catholicism he's preaching. That scientology shit is really nuts.

Error - LAUNCHcast

Error - LAUNCHcast

You know what this means?

"Error

Sorry, we do not support Netscape on the Windows platform.

Error Code: 25 - 0"

It means fuck you, we don't need your business.

TV channels never say "sorry we don't support Magnavox. You have to use Sony."

So why does this bullshit still happen on the web?

the music industry

People used to make records
As in a record of an event
The event of people
Playing music in a room
Now everything is cross-marketing
It's about sunglasses and shoes
Or guns or drugs
You choose

Ani DiFranco

We Don't Need No Education

Gatto article: "a speech Woodrow Wilson made to businessmen before the First World War:

We want one class to have a liberal education. We want another class, a very much larger class of necessity, to forgo the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks."

The European and American education system was devised to make you a slave, to keep you in your place.

Gypsy Teas fair-trade organic black white herbal green loose bulk bags Zhena online shopping

Gypsy Teas fair-trade organic black white herbal green loose bulk bags Zhena online shopping: "V-Tea, a white tea with vanilla, is a delicate, healing potion dedicated to helping end the cycle of violence against women and girls worldwide."

How, exactly, could a tea do that? Does it have some magical herb that makes women leave men that hit them?

Don't they mean that the company, or the people selling the tea, are going to give money to this cause?

And don't they realize that women are just as abusive as men?

Might this special tea be just a marketing ploy? Something just as crass as when beer ads show women in bikinis wrestling each other? The only difference is the target market. Tea drinkers tend not to watch sports.

Which is too bad, I was thinking about buying some. I like vanilla. Maybe if they showed me a hot chick with a vanilla bean on her tits I'd buy their tea.

World's Largest Catfish

Divers in the Tennessee river and other people have always claimed catfish this size existed, but biologists said it was just tall tales.

Now there's proof.

Shields Rips Cruise's 'Ridiculous Rant' - Yahoo! News

Shields Rips Cruise's 'Ridiculous Rant' - Yahoo! News: "Shields described her post-childbirth experiences in the book 'Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression.'

Cruise is a follower of Scientology, a religion that teaches that psychiatry is a destructive pseudo-science.

In an interview with AP Radio Wednesday night,
Kelly Preston, who is also a Scientologist, defended the actor's 'Today' show comments about Shields. 'If you're going to be advocating drugs, which she does in her book, you need to be responsible for also telling the people of the potential risks.'"

And if you're going to be a salesman for a ridiculous religion dreamed up by a science fiction writer as a joke, then you should probably just shut up, sit down, and not get involved in it.