So the drug companies have started to strategize a way to prevent those crazy liberals from negotiating lower drug prices for older Americans. The true face of capitalism rears its head. Private profit is so much more important than making sure that retired Americans, people who've worked their entire lives and never made enough to pay for medications on their own, have medication. Yes, yes we are the consumer capital of the world - so much so, we've even learned to exploit and then dispose of people themselves when they're worn out their usefulness. We ourselves have become Bestand - a standing-reserve of human resources called to order and be ordered, exploited in a manner no different than ore. To quote Heidegger, "Only a god can save us."

I found out from the State DNR that the river in which we normally take our dog for a swim is a Level 5 (the highest) "impaired river" by the standards of the Clean Water Act, which essentially means that aquatic life is endangered, contact with the water is hazardous, and fish consumption is hazardous. Hence, the State is mandated to maintain a Total Maximum Daily Load. Our river has high levels of E. Coli, Enterococcus Bacteria, Fecal Cloriform, every fertilizer chemical tested for, and a collection of pesticides. So our river that runs right through our State Park is a giant toilet with agricultural run-off to boot. Sweet. There doesn't seem to be a lot of heavy metals, which is surprising since we live downstream of an industrial city (maybe I'm not looking in the right place). I'm glad the fricking County/State bothered to put a sign up at the river beach in the bloody State Park! I'm letting my dog swim in that sludge, just thinking that there's a lot of silt on the water (which is also true), when in fact, the bacterial counts are off the charts. Thanks State of the Plains, once again you've demonstrated your Great Plains incompetence.

When you wake up that day after Thanksgiving, when you've eaten way more than your share, and you feel like staying in bed the whole day . . . do it. This Friday, November 24th is Buy Nothing Day (For continents other than North America, the date is November 25th), an international holiday where we all take a break from consumption. Think about these fun facts:

Per capita consumption in the U.S. has risen 45 per cent in the last 20 years.
* Although people today are, on average, four-and-a-half times richer than our great-grandparents were at the turn of the century, Americans report feeling “significantly less well off” than in 1958.
* A recent article in New Scientist featured research suggesting that the more consumer goods you have the more you think you need to make you happy. Happiness through consumption is always out of reach (New Scientist, 4th October 2003, Vol.180, Issue 2415, p44. Available online after registering at www.newscientist.co.uk).

What might you do instead of shop?
- Sleep in.
- Play a board game with friends and family.
- Call friends you haven't spoke to in a long time.
- Go for a walk (not in the mall!)
- Go for a bike ride.
- Take your dog to the park.
- Read a book to yourself.
- Read a book to someone else.
- Listen to music.
- Participate in your spiritual practice (go to church/temple/synagogue, meditate, pray at home).
- Watch a movie at home (rent the day before).
- Although I don't normally advocate these activities, if you're not buying anything, why not watch some TV or go for a drive?
- Try to cook a meal you've never tried to make before (but buy the ingredients the day before!).
- Work on an art project.
- Volunteer for civic service of some sort.
- Make home improvements (buy materials beforehand).
- Groom your pet, clean its tank (fish), etc.

You get the picture. . . .

Read the press release for this all important "mental health day" here.

Are you surprised that the Pentagon and FBI have been spying on peace activists? Read the ACLU press release and a New York Times article on the matter.

Taken from the NJ Indymedia:
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Adopt a cat or dog:
You can help pets by adoption, or fostering, or providing a temporary initial home for a few days, so that pet rescue people from other states can pull animals from kill shelters before they are moved to low kill areas. Help with transport to low kill areas and states, donate, or sponsor, volunteer at shelters so that pets get affection. Many pets are terrified and alone in animal control shelters, and for many of them in their last days they have a miserable end to their lives. Please tell people to always adopt from an animal control shelter or rescue group, and to spay and neuter their pets. If they want to help, these pets only have a few days, so they have to act immediately. Only 20% of pets in the USA are adopted from animal shelters. The rest are from other places like puppy mills, pet shops and breeders, or irresponsible pet owners who have accidental litters, who are causing pet overpopulation because they want to make money while homeless pets die.

Adopting a pet from a shelter means you save the life of a cat or dog, and have a friend for life:
Ten Commandments for Responsible Owners:

1. My life is likely to last about 10 years. Any separation from you will be very painful.
2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.
3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well being.
4. Don't be angry with me for long, and don't lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainment. I have only you!
5. Talk to me. Even if I don't understand your words, I understand your voice and when it's speaking to me.
6. Be aware that however you treat me, I'll never forget it.
7. Before you hit me, remember that I have teeth that could crush the bones in your hand, but I choose not to bite you.
8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting the right food, I've been in the sun too long, or my heart may be getting old and weak.
9. Take care of me when I get old. You, too, will grow old.
10. Go with me on difficult journeys. Never say, "I can't bear to watch it" or "Let it happen in my absence". Everything is easier for me if you are there. Remember, I love you.

As long as there are homeless pets, with the amount of puppies and kittens a dog or cat can produce it is important for people to spay and neuter. There will still be enough pets. At the moment America kills 6 million companion animals every year.
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These are a difficult videos to watch, but they communicate well the primary reason why, if you want a pet, you should get it from a shelter: Shelter Movie 1. and Shelter Movie 2. As you watch them, remember that over six million pets are euthanaized every year in the USA. You can find your new friend from a shelter here. More videos on the matter can be found here.

On the topic of whether "scientists approach their work in an evangelical fashion? And if so, how can they do it without appearing to be espousing just another ideology?"

Rupert John Kilcullen says:

"I don’t believe that science or philosophy, or scientists of philosophers in their professional role, should become advocates, except for the value of their disciplines.

The discipline most relevant to religion is philosophy, meaning the practice of reflecting seriously (from time to time) on what one believes about the questions one regards as the most important (which those are should also be included in the reflection).

Philosophy and religion are not incompatible, and there have been many religious philosophers. However, a person committed to philosophy will change his or her beliefs if they don’t stand up to philosophical examination.

Everyone engages in philosophical reflection to some extent, and most people should do it more than they do. We owe this to our neighbours. Our opinions on the questions we regard as most important shape our actions, often with impact on the people around us. They have a right to expect us to take a reasonable amount of trouble to make sure that the opinions we are acting on are true. To engage in a reasonable amount of philosophical reflection is a civic duty."

Read more posts here.

"An Israeli advocacy group, using maps and figures leaked from inside the government, says that 39 percent of the land held by Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is privately owned by Palestinians." Read more here.

Don't bother going to see "Fast Food Nation," a well articulated review of it found here. Although I'm sure it's a good book, this film was better fit for a documentary. The biggest waste of my time in a while. I will say, however, that anyone who does eat meat owes it to themselves to watch the last 20 minutes of the film, where we are shown the grotesque and violent killing floor.

So let me ask you: if you bring your car to the mechanic and say "I need the resistor replaced for the fan speed knob", and then they call you and charge you an hours labor for a diagnosis that the resistor for the fan speed knob needs replacing, is that ridiculous?

And if this same mechanic re-armed your car alarm without asking when you brought it in for repairs, and now you want it undone (because you never asked for it in the first place), and they want to charge you a diagnosis fee, is this not, too, ridiculous?

A film that all should see:

Flight From Death: The Quest for Immortality

It is a documentary on the work of Dr. Ernest Becker, author of the book The Denial of Death, which won a Pulitzer Prize. Current work based on his ideas can be found in research on Terror Management Theory.

The idea is that part of the human condition is our quest to seek immortality in the world of symbols as the exist within the context of culture, which provides us with stability in the face of uncertainty. This quest covers up our death anxiety, and when our culture becomes challenged, we are faced immediately with our mortality and our response is an animalistic fight or flight response. This is why social death - the violence committed to one's culture - normally consists of a violent response. Our own mortality comes into our presence when we are shown the fallibility of the immortality of our culture. A group of social psychologists from universities around the country have successfully tested the presence of an increased proclivity for violence after one is reminded of their own mortality. One example that is provided is how many Americans were vengeful after 9/11, and as such were irrational in their response. Not only were people killed in 9/11, but our cultural symbols of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were attacked an destroyed. We're not too concerned when we hear of a couple of Americans being killed in a terrorist bombing in another country, but we become enraged when we see someone burning a flag.

For what it's worth, The Denial of Death turned up on Bill Clinton's top 20 book list, at least as far as the California Literary Review claims.

The Worm in the Coffee Bean: Starbucks' Union-busting, Greenwashing Tactics and the Corporate Social Responsibility Movement

November 14, 2006

by Daniel Goldin of the Huffington Post

A few days after putting up my post "Starbucks and the
White Whale" -- a reflection on Starbucks' ambition to
become a cultural taste-maker -- I received an email
from Daniel Gross, a Starbucks union-organizer in New
York, pointing out some facts I had got wrong. I had
said that "most of Starbucks' employees work
part-time." In fact, all of Starbucks' retail
employees work part-time (the company includes
management in its statistics), with no guarantee even
of the twenty hours needed to stay on the company's
part-time worker health plan.

I had compared Starbucks favorably to WalMart, but a
little research revealed that in the area of insurance
Starbucks fell short of WalMart, insuring only 42% of
its workers (this figure also includes management),
against WalMart's 47%... Full Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-goldin/the-worm-in-the-coffee-be_b_34097.html

To Whom It May Concern:

1) It is a logical fallacy to say that because person X said something, then it is true, whether that person is a doctor, lawyer, or Jesus himself.

2) Just because you can find one example of something does not give allow you unilaterally assert a universal truth.

3) Just because you find one example against something does not allow you to unilaterally assert that the something is universally untrue.

4) Proffering an assertion that you assume is true is not the same as offering an idea for consideration.

5) Because something was true 100 years ago does not make it true today.

6) A professor that forces you to only study Islam in a World Religions course is not necessarily proselytizing to you nor discounting Christianity. It merely means that the topic of study is Islam.

Think you know what a pit bull looks like? Click here.

The following FYI brought to you by North Shore Animal League America.

What is a pit bull?
Pit bulls are actually not one breed of dog but 3: the American pit bull terrier (ABPT), the American Staffordshire terrier (AMSTAFF) and the Staffordshire bull terrier (STAFFIE).

There is no such thing as a "bad breed".
The pit bull breed gets a bad rap, but more often than not, they are the VICTIMS of irresponsible and abusive ownership. Pit bulls are extremely intelligent dogs and take their cues from the humans who raise them. Only humans are capable of knowing the difference between “right and wrong” and all dogs are bred, raised, and trained to behave the way they do.

Pit bulls are actually bred to be affectionate towards people.
Pit bulls have been bred for hundreds of years for strength, agility, high pain tolerance and absence of aggression toward humans. Because they were traditionally fighting dogs and most were also family pets, the dogs required extensive handling. So even though they were bred to be aggressive towards other dogs, aggression toward humans has never been tolerated.

Bull breeds score better on temperament tests than the general dog population.
In December 2004, the American Temperament Test Society showed the American pit bull terrier scored an overall temperament rating of 83.9%, compared to the 77% score of the general dog population.

Most “pit bulls” are not really pit bulls!
Pit bulls are probably the most misunderstood dog in the United States. Often, an aggressive dog that has a big head and short hair is mistakenly identified as a pit bull and unfortunately this makes for good headline news, even if it is false. Do you think you can identify a pit bull? Take this quiz and see how you do.

Pit bulls love and adore humans.
Most pit bulls in this country are family dogs and love to spend time with people more than anything else. Often, even those that have been severely abused can't wait to be petted and loved, even by the person who is abusing them. Of course, there will always be exceptions to normal temperament and behavior in any dog, and the same is true of the people who own them.

Pit bulls are bred to fight.
This is very important to understand. Pit bulls love humans, but they need to have very responsible owners who will be vigilant all the time and will not allow them to fight with other dogs, ever. Pit bull owners must be extremely receptive to canine body language and know that the responsibility of their dog with any other dog ultimately depends on them.

Animal cruelty ends through humane education.
The humane education process must start with children so that they will grow up understanding how to treat dogs and other living creatures. Through our Humane Education programs North Shore Animal League America representatives visit schools and day care facilities and offer shelter tours to children’s groups to teach children empathy to fellow living creatures.

Starbucks continues its campaign to fire union members in their stores, terrorizing others from participating in their legal right to organize for better wages, hours and working conditions. Click above link to read more.

The coolest insect in the world has to be the praying mantis.

That is all.