This via Sam at Sisterwoman. 1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully. 2. Marry someone you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be their most important quality. 3. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want. 4. When you say, “I love you,” mean it. 5. When you say, “I’m sorry,” act like you mean it. 6. Be engaged at least six months before…
Board denies parole for swindler From the Associated Press / Billings Gazette, March 25 2006 The state Board of Pardons has denied parole to a former Jehovah’s Witness church elder who helped bilk an elderly woman out of a $7 million estate, including a family ranch. Dale A. Erickson, 56, of Missoula, was sentenced in 2003 to 25 years in prison with 10 suspended after pleading no contest to conspiracy, theft and securities fraud. Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Attorney Chris Miller…
Slavoj Žižek makes a very interesting defense of atheism in the editorial “Defenders of the Faith” (New York Times, 3/12/06). Certainly atheism deserves the restoration of the inherent dignity of its position. But his overall argument, at least in the context of our current realities, is flawed. It could be a readerly effect, since the article looks as though it might have been chopped up. (Boo-hiss to the editor if that is the case – Žižek deserves better.) Still, I…
I’ve been having an extended discussion/argument with a Canadian Jehovah’s Witness in the comments of an old post. Feel free to read the whole thing if you can bear it. Yes. It’s long. I know. There were some resources in my latest reply that I thought might help others – so here’s a piece: Most of what I posted from JW publications (not my own opinion, but actual arguments made by JWs themselves) show pretty clearly that JWs believe that…
This is just one of the reasons you don’t hire private contractors to act like soldiers. Are private security thugs just killing civilians for the fun of it? Telegraph | News | ‘Trophy’ video exposes private security contractors shooting up Iraqi drivers A “trophy” video appearing to show security guards in Baghdad randomly shooting Iraqi civilians has sparked two investigations after it was posted on the internet, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal. The video has sparked concern that private security…
Well, all in all, both men did very well. These presidential debates are the most serious, the most exciting, the most historically resonant of any in my living memory. Anyone who wants to now has plenty of information to do their own research, and make an informed voting decision. Voter registration is up. I’m really beat and I’ve had an extraordinarily…um..unusual week. But I can’t go to bed after the second presidential debate without at least screaming out to cyberspace:…