The American university is built on two false premises: that all teachers must add to the existing stock of knowledge by research, and that all self-respecting institutions fulfill this role only by employing productive scholars...Of course, the teacher must keep reading and thinking abreast of his time, but this does not mean that he must write and publish. The confusion hides a further absurd assumption, which is that when a man writes a scholarly book that reaches a dozen specialists he adds immeasurably to the worlds knowledge; whereas if he imparts his thoughts and his reading to one hundred and fifty students every year, he is wasting his time and leaving the world in darkness. One is tempted to ask what blinkered pedant ever launched the notion that students in coming to college seceded from the human race and may therefore be safely left out when knowledge is being broadcast.
--J. Barzun

At Roddenberrys side were family friends and her only son, Eugene Roddenberry Jr. Gene Roddenberry died in 1991.

Here?s the three-point program for determining how the $700 billion of the Paulson bailout plan will be deployed: 1) Listen to what Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says he?ll do with the money; 2) Wait a few weeks; 3) Watch him do the precise opposite.

When Lehman Brothers went down in September, the financial system faced a crisis. Paulson needed the flexibility to adjust to dire and unpredictable circumstances, but in retrospect his conduct verges on bad faith. His $700 billion program is called the Troubled Assets Relief Program for a reason: It was premised on relieving financial institutions of their troubled assets through government purchases of them.

Among the world?s largest man-made archipelagos, The World Islands off the Dubai coast combine for 144 miles of shoreline.  Designed as a scaled map of the world broken into over 300 individual islands, The World Islands are among Dubai?s most expensive pieces of residential real estate? selling for between $15 million and $50 million each.  It had been rumored that actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie purchased the Ethiopia island, a rumor that was later proven false.

The Top 10 Architectural Wonders of Dubai

A crumbling economy, more than 2 million constituents who have lost their jobs this year, and congressional demands of CEOs to work for free did not convince lawmakers to freeze their own pay.

U.S. and Rwanda to blame for Congo?s human catastrophe

U.S. military and national security interests are determined to control Eastern Congo, because its unparalleled mineral riches are even more geostrategically significant than petroleum. They are essential to the manufacture of defense products such as jet engines, missile components, electronic components, iron and steel.

Tantalum and cassiterite, a.k.a. tin, so abundant in Eastern Congo, are also ?strategically significant? in that they are essential to the consumer electronics industry that now plays such a major role in the U.S. economy.

The book is at least three years away from publication, but it is already stirring bitter debates over a new set of possible psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Darrel A. Regier is co-chairman of a panel compiling the latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Panels of psychiatrists are hashing out just such questions, and their answers ? to be published in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ? will have consequences for insurance reimbursement, research and individuals? psychological identity for years to come.

How to Stop Your Thoughts From Making You Depressed

Common Cognitive Distortions

Over-generalization: one negative thing occurs and you convince yourself that it is going to happen in all other similar situations.

Emotional reasoning: you feel a certain way, so you think it must be the truth.

All-or-nothing thinking: you see things in black and white. Either things are totally great or a disaster.

Mental filter: you only remember the negative things that have happened to you during the course of life and shut out all the positive things.

Should statements: you try to motivate yourself by dwelling on the things you think you should be able to do.

Mind-reading: you conclude that someone is thinking something negative about you.

It is found that mixture of Honey and Cinnamon cures most of the diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Honey has been used as a vital medicine for centuries. Scientists of today also accept honey as a very effective medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of diseases. Todays science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients also. Here we present a list of diseases that can be cured by Honey and Cinnamon as researched by western scientists.

The underground houses of Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy is a town located in northern South Australia and is known as the opal capital of the world, as nearly 95 percent of the worlds opal supply comes from the local mines. This small town with a population of around 3000 has a unique way of life ? nearly half of them live underground.

Back in 1916 when people moved into Coober Pedy to mine opal, the harsh summer temperature drove them into caves dug into the hillsides. When temperatures outside raged over 40 degree centigrade, underground temperatures remained comfortable and nearly constant year-round. Even today, the town folk prefer to build their homes in underground caves. In fact, many of these homes are abandoned mine shafts dug to search opal.

Coober Pedy has around 250,000 mine shafts and signs like this are common.

And even underground hotels

There?s an old story about setting your hair on fire and then trying to put it out with a hammer.  I forget the point. But Governor David Paterson of New York may recall the punch line now that he has proposed 88 new taxes to raise revenue in NY state, thereby seemingly negating the frantic economic stimulus that is being applied by other branches of government. The Daily News reports:

Movie tickets, taxi rides, soda, beer, wine, cigars and massages would be taxed under Paterson?s proposal. It also extends sales taxes to cable and satellite TV services and removes the tax exemption for clothes costing less than $110.

The problem with government is that it doesn?t actually make any money. It only spends it. As such it is perpetually caught between the desire to get its hooks on cash and the necessity to leave some seed corn for future harvests. This is called public policy.

Opera in Tre Atti  

         Personaggi:  

         Barracco Obama, Il Messia, Redentore del Mondo (Tenore Miracoloso)  

          ATTO PRIMO  

          La Piazza del Cattedrale di Washington.  

Obama heals two lepers and resurrects the dead daughter of a Washington  

 policeman. He then addresses the crowd ("Nel posar sul mio capo la  

 corona"). At the sound of his voice, the crowd falls silent, gazing up at  

 him with adoring, vacant expressions. In an eloquent aria, Obama promises  

 that the dark days of the Tyrant, Giorgio Secondo, are over ("Dopo si  

 lunga notte") and a new Golden Age will dawn for the world under his rule  

 ("Un siglo doro è venuto"):

 Obama invites The People and The World to a celebration at which he will  

 personally change the water into wine

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism," the Left was found of reminding us again and again during the Bush administration, particularly after the commencement of hostilities in Iraq. So now that Barack Obama is assuming office on January 20, surely patriotic liberal newspapers like the Washington Post will publish paid classified advertisements by conservatives that are critical of the soon-to-be-inaugurated President Obama, right?

Eh, not so much, reports FishbowlDC, noting that the fine print for the Washington Posts inaugural congratulations classifieds holds that "all ads must be congratulatory in nature" and that the Post "reserves the right to reject any notice."

The notices will appear in the January 20 dead tree edition as well as "online until Presidents Day."

Again that  very covenient word "could." And will some intrepid reporter at the press conference today ask Shuler exactly what evidence he has that global warming (in the midst of record low temperatures) is harming North Carolina Fraser firs?

Black Pepper For Cuts

Home Remedies

Thanks to Nell Heard and Wendall Dean for this contribution. Wendall is a wood-carver and scroller. His carving buddies always keep a packet of black pepper on hand for times when they cut themselves on sharp tools.

Nell, her sister, and brother-in-law Wendall were traveling through Yellowstone in an RV. One evening a mug fell out of a cupboard and gashed Wendalls head. The cut was long but not deep, and Wendall asked Nell to put pepper on it. The bleeding stopped almost instantly, and the cut healed with barely a scar.

You may want to keep some black pepper handy in the kitchen and take a packet of pepper on your next camping trip. Not only does the bleeding stop quickly, the wound heals cleanly with little scarring.

"The Presidential Inaugural Committee, at the direction of President-elect Obama...will organize an inclusive and accessible inauguration that...unites the nation around our shared values and ideals."

Shared values and ideals? Lets let Rick Warren speak for himself.

Heres Rick Warren equating marriage equality for same-sex couples with incest and pedophilia:

"The issue to me, Im not opposed to that as much as Im opposed to redefinition of a 5,000 year definition of marriage. Im opposed to having a brother and sister being together and calling that marriage. Im opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that marriage. Im opposed to one guy having multiple wives and calling that marriage."

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Yes, they are back with the second part of Narnia and it is as wonderful as the first one. If you have liked the first one then you will like this one too.All you Narnia lovers, here is a golden opportunity for you to download the complete version of your favorite movie and that also for free. Welcome to the website offering you the complete movie version in ready to download format.

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Comments

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A FEW WORDS I?M SICK OF

KON. For no other reason that is just plain stupid.

It is always a good idea to seek a part-time job and that is because having a part-time job has many advantages. And with an economy where people are not sure if they will have a job tomorrow, it makes even more sense to get into the habit of having a second income back-up plan.

Learning how to make money part-time is the major concern for many people in a bad economy and most people try to get a second job just to meet their financial goal. But that sometimes is not always the best solution because even part-job is not a secure bet either.

Make extra income online is the fastest and easiest way to earn additional income for your household. There are many affiliate programs that are available that will pay you a high commission just to promote their products.

The myth

The British have been doing a Harvey Smith, flicking the V, and
sticking two fingers up since 1415. At the Battle of Agincourt (or
perhaps Crecy), the French threatened to cut off the English
longbowmens first and second fingers, thus permanently disarming
them. When the English won a surprise victory, they waved their
fingers defiantly at the enemy.

The "truth"

15 Clean Jokes for Slightly Twisted Minds

Users so far are spread across 31 countries, including Peru, Rwanda, and Cambodia. Palestine will be the next nation to receive a shipment.

"We have most traction in South America. The poster children for the OLPC project are Uruguay and Peru - every single child in Uruguay will have a laptop by mid 2009," Negroponte says.

Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics expects a genetic upper class and a dim-witted underclass to emerge.

The human race would peak in the year 3000, he said - before a decline due to dependence on technology.

Losing money doesnt feel very good. Losing it as victim of a con feels even worse. And being conned by a trusted friend multiplies the hurt.

But theres a special department of psychic pain for having experienced all of the above while fancying oneself a savvy insider in the ways of Wall Street. That bitter recognition now confronts the victims of Bernard Madoff, accused of perpetrating perhaps the biggest pyramid scheme of all time.

Madoffs theft is stunning in its size, a suspected $50 billion, and in its victims, some of the worlds most sophisticated financial firms and multi-multi-millionaires. The stunning part, though, is how closely the Madoff ploy resembles the affinity frauds that have ransacked the less affluent and supposedly less worldly.

An "affinity fraud" targets members of a specific group. The group can be ethnic, religious or social. Immigrant communities are especially vulnerable.

ACLU Says NorthCom?s Fighting Unit May Be Illegal

The American Civil Liberties Union is raising questions about why the Pentagon has assigned a fighting unit to the United States itself.

On October 1, the Northern Command (NorthCom), for the first time ever, got its own dedicated Army force.

And not just any force. The unit the Pentagon assigned to NorthCom is

the 3rd Infantry, First Brigade Combat Team, which has spent three of the last five years in Iraq. One of its specialties is counterinsurgency.

German also noted that Congress has ?passed statutory protections to ensure that the Army could not be turned against the American people,? he said in the ACLU?s press release.

The Doctor Whos Who: Every previous Time Lord will appear in Christmas special

By Liz Thomas
Last updated at 1:24 AM on 19th December 2008

As speculation grows about who will be the next Doctor Who, the shows Christmas special will offer a glimpse of the Time Lords past.

Every incarnation of the Doctor will make an appearance in the hour-long Christmas Day programme.

Eagle-eyed viewers will see all nine previous stars, played by talent such as Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Patrick Troughton and Peter Davison.

Final fling: Fans will get their next fix of the Doctor in a special which airs on Christmas Day

The actors who played the first three doctors - William Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee - are all dead and it is believed they and other former Doctors will be featured in clips of old footage.

Doctor Who ran on the BBC from 1963 to 1989. It returned to screens in 2005 and was an immediate hit.

Saving FaceFace transplants for the "socially crippled."

Shocking Science 2008 (15 pictures)

The idea vertical stripes flatter the more ample figure was shown to be bunkum. They actually make people look fatter

Simply holding a hot drink can be enough to engender warm, fellow feelings, psychologists claimed

A drug was found to produce the benefits of exercise without all the hard work

Elephants were found to have a head for figures ? or apples to be more precise

Having exposed volunteers to the whiff of sweat from skydivers, researchers concluded that humans can smell fear

Men with minor facial scars were found to be sexually appealing to women who were looking for a brief fling, but not to those looking for a husband

Emanuel talked directly to gov: source

DEEPER ROLE? | Pushed Jarrett for Senate seat

President-elect Barack Obamas incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel had a deeper involvement in pressing for a U.S. Senate seat appointment than previously reported, the Sun-Times has learned. Emanuel had direct discussions about the seat with Gov. Blagojevich, who is is accused of trying to auction it to the highest bidder.

Emanuel talked with the governor in the days following the Nov. 4 election and pressed early on for the appointment of Valerie Jarrett to the post, sources with knowledge of the conversations told the Sun-Times. There was no indication from sources that Emanuel brokered a deal, however.

Check this out:

What kills me here is the scale of this: Ganymede is about the same size as Mercury! If Jupiter weren?t there, Ganymede might be considered a planet on its own. It would be visible to the naked eye, too.

Graffiti is a ( fun ) crime ?

Rifleman Stuart Nash killed fighting with British forces

The researchers spent eight days in a Pirahã rain forest village conducting counting tests on adult members of the tribe. Sometimes the experimenter placed varying numbers of spools of thread on a table and asked the participant to perform a simple one-to-one task, such as laying down the same quantity of uninflated balloons. Other tasks required remembering how many spools had been placed inside a can.

The last thing youd expect to hear from anyone whos flown recently is that planes are too quiet. But thats exactly what Airbus is hearing from pilots who say the A380 super-jumbo makes so little noise theyre having trouble getting to sleep.

Emirates airline pilots say the four engines propelling the long-haul jets are so quiet they can hear every crying baby, snoring passenger and flushing toilet, making it all but impossible to nod off during their breaks. The problems are unique to the A380, which Airbus boasts is significantly quieter than anything else in the sky. We took a ride aboard Emirates super-luxe A380, and it is indeed whisper-quiet. Emirates never expected that to be a problem.

Archrival Boeing is having fun telling Airbus, "We told you so," reminding everyone that it predicted this problem last year when Boeing marketing VP Randy Tinseth wrote on his blog:

A new species of frog that has green blood and turquoise bones has been discovered living in a former stronghold of Pol Pot?s Khmer Rouge forces.

The Samkos bush frog is one of four previously unknown species discovered as part of a project to rebuild the country?s science base from the devastation left by the dictator?s regime.

The unusual colour of the blood and bones is caused by biliverdin, a pigment that would usually be processed in the liver as a waste product but which in the frog is passed back into the bloodstream.

SHOULDN?T your computer know a reasonable amount about your likes and dislikes? Wouldn?t it be great if it could anticipate your needs and take action without you pressing a key?

Booking travel and restaurant reservations, rearranging meeting schedules or even taking a first cut at reading e-mail are among the mundane tasks that have remained beyond the reach of our PCs for decades.

But now a new generation of Internet technologies, coupled with the investment of more than a third of a billion dollars, may be making meaningful progress.

The concept of a software personal assistant has long captured the imagination of a generation of science fiction writers and computer scientists. Oliver G. Selfridge, the artificial-intelligence pioneer who died this month, is credited with coining the term ?intelligent agent,? as well as the idea of a computer software ?demon? ? a simple software program that could monitor its environment and make appropriate responses when changes occur.

The FAA granted Spaceport America a license for vertical and horizontal space launches following an environmental impact study, according to the New Mexico Space Authority (NMSA).

"These two governmental approvals are the next steps along the road to a fully operational commercial spaceport," said NMSA Executive Director Steven Landeene.

"We are on track to begin construction in the first quarter of 2009, and have our facility completed as quickly as possible."

The terminal and hangar facility for horizontal launches is planned for completion by late 2010.

NMSA hopes to sign a lease agreement later this month with Virgin Galactic, a branch of Virgin Atlantic owned by British airline magnate Richard Branson. The firms SpaceShipTwo passenger craft will be the main attraction at the site.

Japanese student demonstrates walking in a virtual world, on a flat screen monitor, with the character controled by his brain waves, in Yokohama, in 2007. A Japanese research team has advanced even further by creating a technology that could eventually display on a computer screen what people have on their minds, such as dreams.

Researchers at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories succeeded in processing and displaying images directly from the human brain, they said in a study unveiled ahead of publication in the US magazine Neuron.

While the team for now has managed to reproduce only simple images from the brain, they said the technology could eventually be used to figure out dreams and other secrets inside peoples minds.

2008 Mug Shots Of The Year

DECEMBER 17--What makes a good photograph? A compelling subject, proper lighting, and exquisite composition would certainly be components. But what makes a good mug shot? A compelling subject, of course. And a cow costume never hurts. On the following pages youll find the 2008 Mug Shots of the Year, 20 booking photos selected from among the tens of thousands reviewed this year by TSGs staff (all three of us). While most of the images speak for themselves, on some pages youll find links to stories providing additional details about the arrestees. As seen below, the list, arranged in descending order, kicks off with an unruly Jersey girl who got bounced from a Shore bar and then kicked, punched, and bit some cops. And befitting a year marked by a historic presidential election, the list reaches its apex with a group of suspects busted in the act of advocating change. (20 pages)

One Laptop Per Child project reaching 600,000 children

The ultra-cheap XO computer from the One Laptop Per Child project is now being used by 600,000 children in the developing world, the ambitious projects founder Nicholas Negroponte told New Scientist in an interview yesterday.

The XO is a small, "netbook"-sized laptop built into a very tough, clamshell casing. It runs Sugar, a Linux-based operating system developed especially for the XO, and around 30 applications that cover everything from word processing to games and music making.

Users so far are spread across 31 countries, including Peru, Rwanda, and Cambodia. Palestine will be the next nation to receive a shipment.

Laptops for democracy

Earths location in the Universe is utterly unremarkable, despite recent theories that propose toppling a foundation of modern cosmology, according to a team of University of British Columbia researchers.

In 1998, studies of distant explosions called "type Ia supernovae" indicated that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating, an observation attributed to the repulsive force of a mysterious "dark energy." However, some scientists put forward an alternate theory: They proposed that the Earth was near the centre of a giant "bubble," or "void," mostly empty of matter, and strongly violating the Copernican Principle. If this were the case, gravity would create the illusion of acceleration, mimicking the effect of dark energy on the supernova observations.

The researchers used data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe satellite, which includes members from UBC on its international team, as well as data from various ground-based instruments and surveys.

The bandage was wound around the wound.

When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

I did not object to the object.

The buck does funny things when the does are present

To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow

Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row

They were too close to the door to close it

He could lead if he would get the lead out.

The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present

The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

The farm was used to produce produce.

A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

We must polish the Polish furniture.

Interesting timing

Coincidence?

In all, 66 of the U.N.s 192 member countries signed the nonbinding declaration ? which backers called a historic step to push the General Assembly to deal more forthrightly with any-gay discrimination. More than 70 U.N. members outlaw homosexuality, and in several of them homosexual acts can be punished by execution.

Co-sponsored by France and the Netherlands, the declaration was signed by all 27 European Union members, as well as Japan, Australia, Mexico and three dozen other countries. There was broad opposition from Muslim nations, and the United States refused to sign, indicating that some parts of the declaration raised legal questions that needed further review.

Oil, Smoke & Mirrors. - 49:42 - Oct 5, 2006
Ronan Doyle - www.OilSmokeAndMirrors.net

California Supreme Court allows good Samaritans to be sued for nonmedical care

But on Nov. 1, Hassan disappeared, as have a dozen other boys and young men here ? two days after another young Muslim from Minnesota blew himself up as a suicide bomber in Somalia.

Now the FBI is asking questions, as are members of the Somali community. The Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center denies any wrongdoing, but many here suspect that the mosque and its imam are radicalizing their youth to become jihadists in an Islamic holy war overseas or perhaps even in the United States

Yusuf Shaba, who writes about Islamic ideology and radicalism for the Warsan Times, a Somali-English monthly newspaper published in Minneapolis, says he decided to speak out about what he considers Islamic indoctrination at Minneapolis mosques because he doesnt want his sons to follow the same path he did.

Mr Trump owns 24 per cent of Trump Entertainment Resorts, which is struggling to meet its debt obligations and has missed a $53m interest payment.

The group, which operates three properties in Atlantic City, is saddled with $1.7bn of debt, of which about $1.2bn is bond debt.

Trump Entertainment?s Atlantic City rivals are all struggling to cope with lower volumes of visitors and new competition in Pennsylvania and New York.

Its market value has fallen to just $7m amid concerns about its ability to continue day-to-day operations. Analysts said that a debt for equity swap was one possibility, while Mr Trump might also inject new cash into the business.

?The question is: does the company file for Chapter 11 first and then settle this in court or does it do an out of court restructuring?? said Dennis Farrell, an analyst at Wachovia Capital Markets.

IF RAILROADS generally adopt a plan suggested by Rupert Wales, a Buffalo, N. Y. inventor, passengers on non-stop express trains will be able to get off and on at small wayside stations while the train rushes past at top speed. This feat will be accomplished by the use of a mono-rail transfer car, according to Mr. Wales.

This car is an electrically driven coach running on a mono-rail alongside the track on which the express train runs. The passengers board the transfer car, which accelerates rapidly as the train approaches until the speeds of the two are equal. The monorail car is then automatically clasped to the side of the Pullman, passengers get on and disembark from the train, and when all is in readiness the transfer car disengages itself from the train and slows down, returning to the station under its own power.

Include Africa

This spring, leaders from 20 of the worlds largest economies will come together for the G20 summit in the United Kingdom. Theyll be discussing the global financial system, and working on setting a course for the world to get out of the financial crisis. It is crucial that a representative from the African Union be present at those meeting to represent many of the worlds poorest nations, and give voice to their concerns.

As host of the upcoming G20 summit, Prime Minister Gordon Brown can invite a representative of the African Union to participate.

Petition:

A compiled petition with your individual comment will be presented to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

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The dollar has been thrown to the wolves by the Federal Reserve?s decision Tuesday to slash its benchmark short-term interest rate to as low as zero.

The dollar was ravaged in currency trading today, particularly against its major rival, the euro. The European common currency soared to a 12-week high of $1.442, up from $1.398 on Tuesday and $1.271 two weeks ago.

The dollar also plunged to a new 13-year low of 87.24 yen, from 89.35 on Tuesday and 93.30 two weeks ago.

"Japan no longer has the lowest-yielding currency in the industrialized world. It?s the U.S.," said Kathy Lien, head of currency research at GFT Forex in New York.

Astronomers have calculated that Christmas should be in June, by charting the appearance of the Christmas star which the Bible says led the three Wise Men to Jesus.

They found that a bright star which appeared over Bethlehem 2,000 years ago pinpointed the date of Christs birth as June 17 rather than December 25.

The researchers claim the Christmas star was most likely a magnificent conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter, which were so close together they would have shone unusually brightly as a single "beacon of light" which appeared suddenly.

If the team is correct, it would mean Jesus was a Gemini, not a Capricorn as previously believed.

Australian astronomer Dave Reneke used complex computer software to chart the exact positions of all celestial bodies and map the night sky as it would have appeared over the Holy Land more than 2,000 years ago.

It revealed a spectacular astronomical event around the time of Jesuss birth.

Al Fry presents: Hidden World History

Occult Secrets of Robert Oppenheimer

To My Bank

 Dear Sirs,

 
 In view of what seems to be happening internationally with banks at the  moment, I was wondering if you could advise me.

Many Americans Say Christianity Not the Only Way to Eternal Life

Most American Christians believe many religions can lead to eternal life and among them, the vast majority says you dont even have to be Christian to go to heaven, a new survey shows.

Sixty-five percent of all Christians say there are multiple paths to eternal life, ultimately rejecting the exclusivity of Christ teaching, according to the latest survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Even among white evangelical Protestants, 72 percent of those who say many religions can lead to eternal life name at least one non-Christian religion, such as Judaism or Islam or no religion at all, that can lead to salvation.

"They represent at best a misunderstanding of the Gospel and at worst a repudiation of the Gospel," the prominent evangelical theologian said.

"Then they came towards us and flew right over the top. Some were so close they were almost touching and were only a hundred feet or so above us.

"The objects were absolutely silent and travelling at probably twice the speed of a normal aircraft.

"They were all circular and had 13 to 15 lights around the rim. Each had lights in the centre which were flashing on and off. They went south at a terrific speed."

Air traffic control at Birmingham International airport had nothing on their radar to suggest anything out of the ordinary.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said that independent experts have concluded there are straightforward explanations behind alleged UFO reports, such as aircraft lights or natural phenomena.

"For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other."
-- Thomas Paine (1776)

I dont know when its hardest to be a liberal; when Democrats are out of power, or when Democrats are in power.

Were just getting out of a decade of out of power, and its been tough. Really tough. But now we are just days away from it becoming all Democrats all the time, and Im wondering.

What Im wondering most about is whether, during that decade in the desert, Democrats forgotten, or simply decided to chuck, all that gushy, flowery stuff our founders put in the Constitution. Have Democrats become like religious folk who pay lip service to their Ten Commandments while picking and choosing which commandments they figure apply to them?

The Catholic Church has a name for folks who do that. They call them "cafeteria Catholics."

So, have incoming Democrats, including Obama himself, become cafeteria constitutionalists?

How The Music Industry Garnered Record Profits in 2008

With Chinese Democracy topping 1.5 million in CD sales and downloads in its second week ? for a two-week total of 5 million, the best ever ? it is now official: the American Music Industry has never been healthier. Even in what is easily the most crippling recession most of us have seen in our lifetimes, people are buying music at a record pace.

How have they done it? According to Frederick Stamphammer, the RIAA?s Vice-President of Digitization ? and the man seen by most insiders as the key figure behind the transformation of the music industry into a virtual profit machine ? it was by seizing the opportunity afforded by the internet nearly 10 years ago.

?If there was any quality in the music whatsoever, we would eventually make a sale. Most people are honest: they?ll pay a fair price for quality. And the ones that won?t, probably wouldn?t have anyway.?

Opposing the resolution, were the United States, the Holy See, and members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. This latter group issued its own statement claiming the declaration would ease restrictions against pedophilia. The United States couched its opposition in legal technicalities. "We are opposed to any discrimination, legally or politically," said Alejandro D. Wolff, the deputy U.S. ambassador. "But the nature of our federal system prevents us from undertaking commitments and engagements where federal authorities dont have jurisdiction."

It started out as a classic case of white paranoiac overreaction to fears of looting and rioting and whatever else it is those black people do -- rather like the reaction you saw in sundown towns in the 1920s, which were similar in being "defended communities," to supposed threats of black depredations -- but quickly morphed into something else altogether:

One of the biggest mystery in the Universe is the so-called dark energy. Scientists and astronomers don?t know exactly what it is, only that is dark and that is something like an energy. However, thanks to the advance in science, astronomers managed for the first time in history to clearly see the effects of the dark energy on Galaxy clusters.

The astronomers spotted the effects using NASA?s Chandra X-ray Observatory and they put together a theory of what dark energy could be and what?s the destiny of the Universe. This is a result of years of hard work and according to the scientists, it?s different from other dark energy-related research methods which are based on supernovas and distance measurements.

The team of researchers from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., used this new method of testing dark energy by observing how the growth of galaxy clusters are affected by cosmic acceleration over time.

Felt suffered from congestive heart failure but the exact cause of his death at home on Thursday was not immediately known, said the Press Democrat newspaper in Santa Rosa, California, 55 miles north of San Francisco.

Felt, the No. 2 official at the FBI when the Watergate case broke, kept his role in the story a secret for 30 years. Only in 2005, at age 91, was his part made public in an article in Vanity Fair magazine written by Felts family lawyer.

"Im the guy they used to call Deep Throat," Felt told attorney John OConnor.

"He had nothing but contempt for the Nixon White House and their efforts to manipulate the bureau for political reasons."

Yields
4 tablespoons
2 2/3 tablespoons whites
1 1/3 tablespoons yolk

Leveraged buyouts (LBOs) are Wall Streets solution to American capitalisms dirtiest secret and biggest problem: no one has any money. Really. Working as an investment banker during the 1980s, I was repeatedly astonished when deals would fall apart because would-be buyers of major corporations didnt have enough cash on hand to buy a house in the Hamptons. Many of the wealthiest people in the world, it turned out, have zero or negative net worth. According to The New York Times, for example, one of Donald Trumps biggest sources of income was his job hosting the TV show "The Apprentice." Those buildings with his name on them? He leased his name to developers who liked his brand.

Its true: the rich are different than you and me. But not because theyre rich. If most "wealthy" people ever had to settle up with their creditors, theyd be worth less than the average homeless Iraq War vet. What they do have--or, until recently, had--big lines of credit.

This shirt has a paraphrase of a quotation made by James Nicoll. "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We dont just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."

Director Interview: World According to Monsanto

100 top sites for the year ahead

Two years after we last picked the webs cream of the crop, our latest selection finds that location-based services, work-anywhere collaboration and video are prominent

Blogging

Bloglines bloglines.com for reading web feeds. Smart and clean.

Wordpress wordpress.com free, and most importantly spam-free, blogging.

Browsers

Chrome google.com/chrome newly out of beta, though Windows-only.

Firefox mozilla.com/firefox infinitely malleable, with fewer security holes.

Flock flock.com with an emphasis on linking to social networks.

Opera opera.com growing in importance for mobiles.

Safari apple.com/safari Apples contender; a leader in mobile web access.

Cartoons

Dilbert dilbert.com hi, cube-dwellers.

Alex alexcartoon.com amid the financial crisis, Alex the banker remains reliably self-interested.

Doonesbury doonesbury.com the cartoon youll also find in that printed newspaper thing.

A new congressional report is belatedly confirming what many have long known: that the White House and in particular then White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, lied to Congress in 2004 when he told them the Bush administration was not repeatedly warned by the CIA not to make the claim that Saddam had tried to buy uranium ore from Niger.

What is astonishing about this report, which documents that the CIA at least four times tried to prevent Bush and other top officials from presenting that lie to Congress and the American public in the run-up to the Iraq invasion, is not that it documents what has long been known, but that Congress and the corporate media are still pretending that the claim itself was an acceptable justification for war.

The yellowcake story, now definitively shown to have been a deliberate lie, even if true, could not have constituted such an imminent threat.

THE MY LAI MASSACRE

Calo explains:

?this practice also relates to an emerging phenomenon wherein sold property remains oddly connected to the seller as though it were merely leased. Whereas once we purchased an album and did with it as we please, today we need to register (up to five) devices in order to play our songs.

Shoe Demo Targets US Embassy in London

LONDON - Protesters staged a shoe protest outside the US embassy in London on Friday, demanding the release of the Iraqi journalist held after throwing his footwear at US President George W. Bush.

"We as journalists believe that our colleague Muntadar al-Zaidi... is guilty of nothing but expressing Iraqis legitimate and overwhelming opposition to the US-led occupation of their country," it said.

Biden: U.S. Economy in Danger of Absolutely Tanking

Vice President-Elect Joe Biden said the U.S. economy is in danger of "absolutely tanking" and will need a second stimulus package in the $600-billion to $700-billion range.

"The economy is in much worse shape than we thought it was in," Biden told me during an exclusive interview -- his first since becoming vice president-elect--  to air this Sunday on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

This country is afraid of us, but they don?t know who we are.

We?re hot, we?re fierce, we?re vulnerable, we?re beautiful, we?re in love, we?re horribly ugly, we?re scared, we?re tender-hearted, we?re dog mommies and daddies, we?re parents, we?re children, we?re neices and nephews, we?re married, we?re bachelors, we?re rednecks, we?re blue-collar, we?re construction workers, we?re political pundits, we?re musicians, we?re drag performers, we?re community organizers, we?re angry, we?re activists, we?re just us.

soccer ball hug

marching for gay rights in Paris

Rachel Maddow, again

Ruby and Ami

Stephanie and Denise

Clare and Jack

We are not the enemy

Take a Picture, Take a Stand

Teri & Lisa

Ariel & Amy

Because everyone should have the right to be awesome

Ellen & Portia

Swiss Army Knife with 8 GB USB Flash

The Swiss Army Knife has come of age with the introduction of a model that now includes 8 GB of USB Flash. That is a pretty generous amount of storage and allows for easy mobility of your documents and files.

In addition of the 8 GB of USB flash, this Swiss Army Knife also includes devices that you find standard on any Swiss Army Knife, including a pen, a blade, red LED light, nail file, scissors, and screwdriver.

At a cost of $44.37 CAD, this would be a nice addition for a geek camper.

The Europeans prefer free time, while Americans prefer big houses and big cars. Fine.