Men Not Working, and Not Wanting Just Any Job - New York Times

"Despite their great numbers, many of the men not working are missing from the nation's best-known statistic on unemployment. The jobless rate is now a low 4.6 percent, yet that number excludes most of the missing men, because they have stopped looking for work and are therefore not considered officially unemployed. That makes the unemployment rate a far less useful measure of the country's well-being than it once was.
Indeed, a larger share of working-age men are not working today than at almost any point in the last half-century, which raises the question of how they will get by as they age. They may be forced back to work after years of absence, they may fall into poverty, or they may be rescued by the government. This same trend is evident in other industrialized countries. In the European Union, 14 percent of men between 25 and 54 were not working last year, up from 7 percent in 1975, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Over the same period in Japan, the proportion of such men rose to 8 percent from 4 percent. "

Passing Down the Legacy of Conservatism - New York Times

Many conservatives say they have to promote their own thinkers because scholars and journalists ignore them. “They don’t study us; they’re ignorant of who we are,” said Floyd Brown, who runs the foundation’s West Coast office. “You can find college courses on all sorts of radical left-wing ideas, but you can’t find a course on Russell Kirk.”
Donald Devine, a lecturer here, said the task of teaching conservatism had changed with political success. When he began to lecture four decades ago, “we had to make the term ‘conservative’ respectable,” he said. “Now ‘conservatism’ has become such a popular word it doesn’t mean anything. The challenge is to decide what is truly conservative.”

gotta love the luny catholics...Passion anyone?

Once inside the car, a source directly connected with the case says Gibson began banging himself against the seat. The report says Gibson told the deputy, “You mother f****r. I’m going to f*** you.” The report also says “Gibson almost continually [sic] threatened me saying he ‘owns Malibu’ and will spend all of his money to ‘get even’ with me.”
The report says Gibson then launched into a barrage of anti-Semitic statements: “F*****g Jews… The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” Gibson then asked the deputy, “Are you a Jew?“
The deputy became alarmed as Gibson’s tirade escalated, and called ahead for a sergeant to meet them when they arrived at the station. When they arrived, a sergeant began videotaping Gibson, who noticed the camera and then said, “What the f*** do you think you’re doing?”
A law enforcement source says Gibson then noticed another female sergeant and yelled, “What do you think you’re looking at, sugar tits?”

Go read the whole thing it is hysterical

"One of the clips, called 'Technical Virgin,' is a funny (if not gut-busting) take on the idiocy of abstinence campaigns. In it, the fresh-faced Martinez announces seriously: 'I've got big plans for my future: a good college, a career, maybe even my own business someday. But one thing I'm not planning on is getting pregnant. That's why I choose anal sex. I mean sure, it hurts a little, and I wind up walking funny for a day or two. But I think my future's worth it.' "

Scary Boston Gossip Bitches Will Totally Cut You - Gawker

"You might mistake the duo at right for a mild-mannered pair headlining an NPR telethon; that would be the last mistake you ever made. The two are in fact Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa -- the 'Gals' -- twin terrors of Boston's gossip scene and lead reporters on the Boston Herald's Inside Track column."

huh never woulda thought it

Sean William Scott turned heads when he showed up at Los Angeles gay bar Heat on the arm of David Geffen …

YAY! Buffy comic

"So what's going on in the extended Buffyverse? Well, you may recall the show ended with the creation of an army of Slayers. Now they're organized, and the tide has turned in favor of the good guys. Ah, but you know how much Whedon hates winners: Soon an 'old enemy' surfaces (Dark Horse is cagey on Big Bad's identity), and Dawn starts 'experiencing serious growing pains.' I hope that means the Scoobies will be fighting a mutant, undead Alan Thicke."

20/03/2002: Interview with Martin van Creveld

"Byrne: Thanks for joining us tonight on Foreign Correspondent. How has it come to this, Martin... how is it that the mighty Israeli army , one of the world's most powerful - with its helicopter gunships, with its tanks, with it's missiles, can be losing to this relatively small, relatively under-armed if fanatical group of Palestinians?

Van Creveld: The same thing has happened to the Israeli army as happened to all the rest that have tried over the last sixty years. Basically it's always a question of the relationship of forces. If you are strong, and you are fighting the weak for any period of time, you are going to become weak yourself. If you behave like a coward then you are going to become cowardly, it's only a question of time. The same happened to the British when they were here... the same happened to the French in Algeria... the same happened to the Americans in Vietnam... the same happened to the Soviets in Afghanistan... the same happened to so many people that I can't even count them.

Byrne: : Martin you used the word cowardly, yet what we've seen tonight , these commando units, the anti-terrorist squads , these aren't cowardly people.

Van Creveld: I agree with you. They are very brave people... they are idealists... they want to serve their country and they want to prove themselves. The problem is that you cannot prove yourself against someone who is much weaker than yourself. They are in a lose/lose situation. If you are strong and fighting the weak, then if you kill your opponent then you are a scoundrel... if you let him kill you, then you are an idiot. So here is a dilemma which others have suffered before us, and for which as far as I can see there is simply no escape. Now the Israeli army has not by any means been the worst of the lot. It has not done what for instance the Americans did in Vietnam... it did not use napalm, it did not kill millions of people. So everything is relative, but by definition, to return to what I said earlier, if you are strong and you are fighting the weak, then anything you do is criminal.

Anger and its venting

There is so many things we are required to figure out as we try to become "adults". One of them is anger. In this age of Oprah there is a notion of expressing emotions in a "healthy" way. I remain unclear on what exactly the healthy thing is to do with anger. I mean is there sucha thing as healthy anger? Righteous anger sure...but healthy anger? I mean in Harry Potter he can draw on his anger to give him courage in dangerous situations, but alas modern life infrequently offers opportunities for courage under fire. So life makes you angry, for whatever reason, and Oprah says express those emotions...cuz that's healthy. kay, um saying I'm angry offers little antidote to anger as far as I can tell. So what do you do?

Genius lives

"'Honey, I'm just going to be honest with you, OK? I just thought he was cute. I'm 45 years old and I'd just like to meet him again, but I don't know how to go about doing that without calling 911,' she said.

'I know this is absolutely not in any way, shape or form an emergency, but if you would give the officer my phone number and ask him to come back, would you mind?'"

Much needed Humor

As for the world around us

While normally I can highlight some intersting stories, it appears today that the whole world is going to blow, Iraq is chaos, Brazil and DC are having massive crime waves, North Korea is launching nukes, Al Queda maybe in India now, Lebanon and Israel are bombing each other and our President continues to be absent. I think I'm going to stop paying attention now.

Montell Williams is engaged to a flight attentandant who feels fortunate and says he is a beautiful perosn inside and out. That just makes my heart warm right up.

Ireland updated

Reqs have been frozoen. I may not have the option of going after all. crap i really want to go.

Also jury duty is awesome...ok not really and they don't provide free coffee. whatup with that?

Ireland

So I got offered the job in Ireland. I have to decide by Friday. Here is my list of pros and cons:
Pros:
International Experience
I get to leave Phoenix 2 years early
cool strategic job
more people will actually want to visit me cuz i live somewhere cool
I can buy paraphanalia with my name on it

cons:
pay cut
i have to give up Iago
different country far away from everyone I love
I would have to defer starting my MBA and then probably do it online unless I can fidn a program in Ireland

Discuss.....

Asshole

"Vice President Dick Cheney's financial advisers are apparently betting on a rise in inflation and interest rates and on a decline in the value of the dollar against foreign currencies. That's the conclusion we draw after scouring the financial disclosure form released by Cheney recently. "


Can we call it treason now?

Americans' circle of close friends shrinking

"Ties to a close network of friends create a social safety net that is good for society, and for the individual. Research has linked social support and civic participation to a longer life, Smith-Lovin said.

People were not asked why they had fewer intimate ties, but Smith-Lovin said that part of the cause could be that Americans are working more, marrying later, having fewer children, and commuting longer distances.
The data also show the social isolation trend mirrors other class divides: Non-whites and people
with less education tend to have smaller social networks than white Americans and the highly educated."

My friends and I have often commented on how much harder it would be to navigate life without each other. Stories like this make me glad that I choose to value the things I choose to value.

Apocalypse Soon

"Linking these efforts is a belief that modern technologies and global communications have made it possible to induce completion of God's plan within this generation."

I like crazy people. I feel a bit of a kindred spirit with them really. On the other hand, you have the group of apparently growing # of humans that are just batshit crazy. How do they express their particular craziness? By trying to hasten the Apocalypse. Why, you ask? Because they are batshit crazy. I suggest staring at them uncomfortably if you ever run into one.

How they will win

"'The Chinese are so smart they knock your socks off,' said Andrew Strominger, a Harvard string theorist who visits here often. 'The impression you get when you go over there is that China is going to take over the world soon.'
...
'A lot of people ask for advice but are hesitant to accept it,' Dr. Gross said. 'In China, they are totally open to exploring how other countries do it. They are totally unarrogant about accepting advice.'"

hah

"Because shy children appear to be more sensitive to winning and losing, they may experience emotions more strongly than others, putting them at risk for emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression."

I always said some people feel emotions stronger than others. I personally blame my lack of resiliency in certain areas on this. Now I am vindicated by SCIENCE!

Mind blowing

That is what we EHMs do best: we build a global empire. We are an elite group of men and omen who utilize international financial organizations to foment conditions that make other nations subservient to the corporatocracy running our biggest corporations, our government, and our anks. Like our counterparts in the Mafia, EHMs provide favors. These take the form of loans to develop infrastructure —electric generating plants, highways, ports, airports, or industrial parks. A condition of such loans is that engineering and construction companies from our own country must build all these projects. In essence, most of the money never leaves the United States; it is simply transferred from banking offices in Washington to engineering offices in New York, Houston, or San Francisco.Despite the fact that the money is returned almost immediately to corporations that are members of the corporatocracy (the creditor), the recipient country is required to pay it all back, principal plus interest. If an EHM is completely successful, the loans are so large that the debtor is forced to default on its payments after a few years. When this happens, then like the Mafia we demand our pound of flesh. This often includes one or more of the following: control over United Nations votes, the installation of military bases, or access to precious resources such as oil or the Panama Canal. Of course, the debtor still owes us the money—and another country is added to our global empire.

I read a lot. It is one of the main ways I seek to understand the world I live in. Every now and then I read something that actually changes the way I see the world. This is one of those. I recommend highly!