Among the Bourgeoisophobes
"Of all the great creeds of the 19th century, pretty much the only one still thriving is this one, bourgeoisophobia. Marxism is dead. Freudianism is dead. Social Darwinism is dead, along with all those theories about racial purity that grew up around it. But the emotions and reactions that Flaubert, Stendhal, and all the others articulated in the 1830s are still with us, bigger than ever. In fact, bourgeoisophobia, which has flowered variously and spread to places as diverse as Baghdad, Ramallah, and Beijing, is the major reactionary creed of our age."

Rays Of Inspiration
Every initiative involves a risk. things that look great in theory often don't work worth a damn, I know, I've been there. Consequently, we are all going to be wrong a certain percentage of the time, such is life. Failing or being wrong isn't necessarily bad, In fact, you'll be in great company; superachievers generally have a long string of failures behind them. Go ahead, step up to the challenge, whatever your goal or dream, pursue them. In the final analysis, it's the journey, not the destination that brings us the most value.

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Farewell Justin
My friend and co-worker Justin resigned his position today. I hope you're reading this today Just, I wish you the very best as you move forward. Thanks for the laughter filled days. As a member of the 4H group, the others join me in saluting and bidding you a heartfelt farewell. Use your talents, dream big dreams, stay level, stay strong and may the wheel spin in your favor.

More thoughts on the slavery reparations shuffle
The debate continues and I've been thinking. Aren't "unlawful" activities that happened long ago mooted by statutes of limitations? Besides, none of the companies being sued and none of their living shareholders has ever owned or trafficked in slaves, just as none of the plaintiffs and none of the 36 million black Americans whose interests they claim to represent has ever been held in bondage.

I suppose that the plaintiffs and their lawyers already know this, so perhaps their goal is not to win a legal verdict but to pressure the companies into making lucrative out-of-court settlements. If that's the case, The big winners in all of this will most certainly be the lawyers who's wallets are fattened as a result.

Internet Addiction, anyone?
"Recent research shows that Internet Addiction is just a special case of what might more broadly be called Communication Addiction. Most healthy individuals tend to spend their time doing normal, productive things like eating, sleeping, working, caring for their children, and having sex. But recently, some have started to devote an inordinate amount of time to the clearly far less valuable and more dangerous activity of Communication (and a related behavior, Information Gathering).

Not only does this distract them from other activities, but extended bouts of Communication are often accompanied by other unhealthful behavior, such as consumption of intoxicants and sometimes excessive quantities of food. Addicts have often been known to express regret over the time this disease takes away from much more vital activities (such as sleep), and other behavior -- such as possibly unsafe sexual activity -- that Communication has indirectly facilitated."

Big Brother
More than 200 million Americans carry driver’s licenses with them every day. The small plastic cards denote the holders’ right to operate a motor vehicle. But that rather understates things. Today, all manner of business establishments, from banks to airlines to bars, will deny you service if you do not show them your driver’s license. In other words, driver’s licenses have become the de facto identity cards of the United States.

Now the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a kind of trade organization for the state motor vehicle registries, wants to make things official. This past January the association asked Congress for $100 million to link all of the state motor vehicle databases into a single national system, overhaul licensing procedures and phase in a new generation of high-tech cards. If this proposal goes through, driver’s licenses issued in two years will almost certainly be high-tech, biometric-endowed cards for the absolute identification of the cardholder. A sign of things to come, I'm sure.

The legal Fleecing of Poor minorities
This article is a real eye opener, Michael May explains how some lending institutions may be taking advantage of some minorities with their persuasive tactics, unnecessary home refinancing commitments and exhorbitant interests rates.

Knowledge is power only to the extent that it is applied and directed toward a definite end. Be informed.

The President's Narrow morality
"President Bush and 40 Nobel Prize winners went head to head yesterday on the controversial issue of human cloning. The president, in a speech, said a promising area of cloning research should be banned as unethical. But from our perspective the Nobelists, who released a letter, held the higher moral ground in focusing on the great promise of cloning for curing intractable diseases."

Mr. Bush argued that cloning, even for research purposes, is wrong because it involves the creation of embryos that are then destroyed to derive stem cells for potential treatments. Anything less than a total ban on cloning would be unethical, he proclaimed, because "no human life should be exploited or extinguished for the benefit of another." That effectively defined the cell clusters as human life and declared them sacrosanct. Mr. Bush also contended that it would be difficult to enforce a ban on reproductive cloning while allowing research cloning, and he called the presumed benefits of research cloning "highly speculative." (Via NYT)

'The US military has developed an "indestructible sandwich" that stays fresh for three years. They are designed to remain tasty after months or even years in the sweaty pockets of a soldier’s combat fatigues.' [ More ]

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Welfare reform, new and improved
A new welfare proposal in the House of Representatives encourages work and marriage.

Via MoPaul.com

On reparations for slavery (an update)
Many of my friends have asked me what my position is concerning reparations and I often take the middle of the road position as I have done in this previous post. I realize that I can only hold my stance for so long. At some point, I have to cross the road but not just yet.

Meanwhile, Anthony J Sebok offers two excellent reasons in his article on why It would be a mistake to dismiss the reparation lawsuits as an exercise in political grandstanding. Well worth the read.