December 2009

  • Internet Meme: Pay It Forward

    By lisala on 12/30/09 7:26pm
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    I like, very much, the concept of "pay it forward."

    It's a bit disconcerting to realize that the concept as currently presented, especially in online culture, is most closely associated a slight novel that's so full of saccarine that my teeth hurt just looking at the cover blurb, and a film that's actually even more annoying. Nonetheless, the concept itself is utterly fabulous. Sometimes called "alternative giving," or even "random acts of kindness,""pay it forward" has deep roots in both legal and American culture.

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  • More Money for the Military

    By ecoscott on 12/19/09 12:43pm
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    It makes the politics go round...It makes the politics go round...It’s been a while since I did one of my politics is money posts, and just today a headline caught my eye that makes me double-down on that certainty- Reuters is reporting that the senate has just approved more than $600 billion in new military spending. So the message is- if you want more than half a trillion dollars for the military, no problem, we’ll get that through without a problem. If you want something like that for health care, prepare for a drawn out debate and question marks even after that. Frustrating.

    The bill also carries provisions to extend jobless aid and sends money to supplement Medicare payments and rates for another 2 months, but the thrust of it is to fund military spending in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s a pretty simple jump to say, “Where are our priorities?”

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  • Playing for Change

    By lisala on 12/15/09 10:06pm
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    Go here for more.

  • DNA Now Faulty Evidence

    By sarajean on 12/15/09 5:30pm
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    When I was watching an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit the other day, I was shocked when a suspect was able to pay a scientist to fake a detective’s DNA in order to frame her in a crime she did not commit. Dude, I thought, good thing this is fiction! Then it hit me: Law and Order shows typically base their stories on events that have happened in real life—or at least, real science, stories, or other cases.

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  • Let's Change "Christmas" to "World Peace Day"

    By sarajean on 12/3/09 8:59pm
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    Not everyone truly celebrates “Christmas.” Sure, we can buy presents, sip spiked eggnog and make snow angels, but if you’re not a Christian, or you’re not celebrating the “Christ” part, you’re not really doing “Christmas” in its entirety, right?

    Which, by the way, I’m all okay with. I think it’s great to have a feast-making, gift-giving, warm family holiday without it having to be religious in nature. So instead of having the whole country celebrate a religious holiday, I say we instead devote the day to the whole “peace on earth” concept so many already associate with it. (Yes, I know there are other peace holidays—but none are this mainstream or widely celebrated.)

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