27 Mar 2003
Ancient Funerals

If this find is accurate, it could be a very big piece of news indeed. We're talking about human religious impulses from over a quarter of a million years ago - about, oh, say 5 to 10 times longer than previously suspected.

...the axe could be the first evidence of ritual behaviour and symbolism in a human species... We conclude it could be from a funeral rite.

00:00 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

Daniel Patrick Moynihan, RIP

Former Sen. Moynihan dies [CNN US]

One of the few politicians of the modern era that I respected.

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Studying the Obvious

I wonder how much it cost the National Cancer Institute to figure this out?

Low-income black smokers light up to relieve stress [Science Blog]

Uh, doh! I also gotta wonder about this little gem from the study:

Smoking rates among black high school students, particularly young men, have increased 80 percent in the past decade, compared with a 28 percent increase among white students.

You mean with Joe Camel gone, and all the money seized from the tobacco companies for anti-smoking "education", and all the price increases for cigarettes that smoking rates are still going up? Hmmmm.... is that the clue phone I hear? WILL SOMEBODY IN WASHINGTON PLEAST GET IT!!!!

The only way you'll ever even come close to eliminating tobacco use is prohibition. That's worked real well in other areas, for instance, marijuana. Nobody smokes pot 'cause it's illegal, right?

Maybe, just maybe, the government should spend less money telling people not to smoke cigarettes, and more money fixing the things that (according to this study) making smoking attractive: like infrastructure repairs, job and education programs, housing, healthcare, etc. I'm not holding my breath waiting for this to happen - it's apparently beyond the governments collective grasp to understand. But I can guarntee you that they'll fund a follow-up study ....

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

The WORST Copyright Law

Geez - I thought the US Congress was a bunch of thieving scoundrals, but they apparently can't hold a candle to Mexico.

This would be possibly the WORST copyright law on record, anywhere. Good grief!

00:00 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

Flushing Again

Well, we have a flushing toilet again! Yipee! Literally .....

Had to have the septic pumped and the main drain "jetted" - cleaned out with a high pressure water jet. The blasted thing was close kin to a fire hose - cut right through clogs and roots. I'd never seen anything quite like it.

It cost an arm and a leg, but at least everything should be "good to go" for another four or five years.

00:00 /Home | 0 comments | permanent link