Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Saturday, July 11, 2009
What Will Become of the U.S.A.
1. Teaching Maths In 1970
A logger sells a truckload of timber for $100.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the price.
What is his profit?
2. Teaching Maths In 1980
A logger sells a truckload of timber for $100.
His cost of production is 80% of the price.
What is his profit?
3. Teaching Maths In 1990
A logger sells a truckload of timber for $100.
His cost of production is $80.
How much was his profit?
4. Teaching Maths In 2000
A logger sells a truckload of timber for $100.
His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20.
Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
5. Teaching Maths In 2005
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habit of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. Your assignment: Discuss how the birds and squirrels might feel as the logger cut down their homes just for a measly profit of $20.
6. Teaching Maths In 2009
A logger is arrested for trying to cut down a tree in case it may be offensive to Muslims or other religious groups not consult ed in the felling licence. He is also fined a $100 as his chainsaw is in breach of Health and Safety legislation as it deemed too dangerous and could cut something. He has used the chainsaw for over 20 years without incident however he does not have the correct certificate of competence and is therefore considered to be a recidivist and habitual criminal. His DNA is sampled and his details circulated throughout all government agencies. He protests and is taken to court and fined another $100 because he is such an easy target. When he is released he returns to find Gypsies have cut down half his wood to build a camp on his land. He tries to throw them off but is arrested, prosecuted for harassing an ethnic minority, imprisoned and fined a further $100. While he is in jail the Gypsies cut down the rest of his wood and sell it on the black market for $100 cash. They also have a leaving BBQ of squirrel and pheasant and depart leaving behind several tonnes of rubbish and asbestos sheeting. The forester on release is warned that failure to clear the fly tipped rubbish immediately at his own cost is an offence. He complains and is arrested for environmental pollution, breach of the peace and invoiced $12,000 plus VAT for safe disposal costs by a regulated government contractor.
Your assignment: How many times is the logger going to have to be arrested and fined before he realises that he is never going to make $20 profit by hard work, give up, sign onto the dole and live off the state for the rest of his life?
7. Teaching Maths In 2010
A logger doesn’t sell a lorry load of timber because he can’t get a loan t o buy a new lorry because his bank has spent all his and their money on a derivative of securitised debt related to sub- prime mortgages in Alabama and lost the lot with only some government money left to pay a few million pound bonuses to their senior directors and the traders who made the biggest losses.
The logger struggles to pay the $1,200 road tax on his old lorry however, as it was built in the 1970s it no longer meets the emissions regulations and he is forced to scrap it.
Some Bulgarian loggers buy the lorry from the scrap merchant and put it back on the road. They undercut everyone on price for haulage and send their cash back home, while claiming unemployment for themselves and their relatives. If questioned they speak no English and it is easier to deport them at the governments expense. Following t heir holiday back home they return to the UK with different names and fresh girls and start again. The logger protests, is accused of being a bigoted racist and as his name is on the side of his old lorry he is forced to pay $1,500 registration fees as a gang master.
The Government borrows more money to pay more to the bankers as bonus's are not cheap. The parliamentarians feel they are missing out and claim the difference on expenses and allowances.
You do the maths.
8. Teaching Maths In 2017
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Saturday, June 27, 2009
Source: JSTOR:
Congressional Oversight: The Case of the Clean Air Act - Legislative Studies Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Aug., 1986), pp. 393-407
- Published by: Comparative Legislative Research Center
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Petition to Support Iranis!
Dear Friends,
| Iranian activists have appealed to the world to oppose the violent crackdown on their protests. Massive new protests are planned, the regime is divided. A united global outcry of 1 million voices could help stop the violence. Call on world leaders to unite against the crackdown: |
Top Iranian leaders are divided, so every bit of pressure matters. With massive new protests imminent, Iranian activists are urgently appealing for a united international response to oppose the violent crackdown.
Sign the petition below calling on ALL governments to condemn the crackdown and withhold recognition of any Iranian government until election concerns are peacefully addressed. Then forward this email to friends and family -- let's build a massive global outcry of 1 million voices against the crackdown:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/iran_
We'll deliver the petition directly to the leaders of Iran's largest trading partners and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the UN, and other international groups respected in Iran. A united international response will puncture the regime's spin that the US and UK alone are behind global criticism.
People power is sweeping global politics. But where leaders respond violently to nonviolent protest, from Burma to Zimbabwe to Iran, global solidarity is needed to show governments that repression weakens their rule, rather than strengthening it.
Avaaz means "voice" in Farsi, the Iranian language. Let's show the people of Iran that, whoever they voted for, we support their right to have their voices heard. Click below to sign the petition, and spread the word by forwarding this email:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/iran_
With hope and determination,
Ricken, Ben, Milena, Paul, Raluca, Brett, Iain, Pascal, Raj, Graziela, Taren, Paula, Margaret, Veronique and the whole Avaaz team.
PS - For more information on the Iranian elections and protests see these news sources:
BBC -- "Iran silences protesters": http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
Associated Press -- "Struggle amongst Iran's clerics bursts into the open": http://www.google.com/
Al Jazeera -- "Iran's Mousavi urges defiance" : http://english.aljazeera.net/
The Huffington Post -- Iran Live blog: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Irani's getting killed with AXES
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Good News for Trader Joes in SD:
Subject: Direct action at Trader Joe's was a success..but not in the way our 'cousins' had intended
Hi, all!
Well, it seems we may have struck a blow for Israeli commerce, at least in San Diego :)
I walked into the Trader Joe's in La Jolla at about 1:30pm PDT, and was relieved to see no Israeli products adorning the floor. I then went up to the Customer Service desk, and asked to be pointed in the directon of all the Israeli products they sold. They did not have to ask why; I was informed that throughout the day, customers had been coming in, and specifically asking to purchase Israeli products. In fact, the chopped garlic had already sold out, and the remaining 4 items (couscous, cilantro, basil and feta cheese) were on their way to being sold out!
When I asked whether the run on the Israeli products was a coincidence, the TJ's people said it was no coincidence. While maintaining their apolitical stance, they said that word of the anti-Israel stunt had served to accomplish only one thing: it had actually spurred the sale of Trader Joe's Israeli products!
So thanks to all of you who helped to spread the word in 36 hours...ya done good! Special mention goes to Nicole Blacher (who initially informed me via the newsletter I forwarded on Thursday) and to Gary Rotto, who hastily assembled the following online column:
After I returned, I went online to express my support to the stalwarts at Trader Joe's. I suggest you do the same. Here's the web address of their Feedback page:
This is what I wrote:
Sirs,
I very rarely write to corporate entities but extraordinary stands require
extraordinary measures. I very much want to register my gratitude to Trader
Joe's for deciding NOT to cave in to anti-Israel organizations, and continuing
to sell products made in Israel.
I know your stand is apolitical in nature but anyone attempting to convince you
that the organization behind the plan to deshelve Israeli products in your
stores is pro-Palestinian is a tool...in both senses of the word. The
deshelving action is simply an extension of the worldwide Arab boycott of
Israeli goods, an official boycott that goes way back to the creation of the
Jewish state in 1948. Trader Joe's finds itself in good company. Organizations
that have been threatened include Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson,
Burger King, AOL Time Warner, Disney, Estée Lauder, Nokia, Revlon, Marks &
Spencer, Selfridges and IBM. Up until 5 years ago, I had not heard of Trader
Joe's; I had been living in the UK
for the previous 10 years. However, shortly after my return to San Diego, I was introduced to your store,
and have become a devoted customer ever since. After learning about Trader
Joe's refusal to succumb to the boycott of Israeli goods, I wouldn't think of
shopping anywhere else. In fact, I made a special point of visiting your La Jolla store earlier today to buy one item of every
Israeli product that you sell, including frozen cilantro...AND I HATE CILANTRO!
One of the items you normally sell, chopped garlic, had sold out, apparently
not by coincidence. I was informed by various store personnel that there had
been a steady stream of customers all day long who had been buying Israeli
goods in support of your apolitical stance. Once again, I applaud that
apolitical stance. I choose to SUPPORT organizations, not BOYCOTT them! :) Kind
regards (and thanks), Henry Shillet
Thanks to everyone for their help!
B'shalom,
Henry Shillet
THE CONNECTOR
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Hello
Farmer's Rally
To STLN: XD Twitter didn't allow for much explanation, I'm unsure of how much I can organize such an event - or even where to hold it. Please let me know if you hear about more people/when/where if there are. Hope I can do something.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Don't Let Them Win
"Hi Everyone: I can't personally vouch for this, but decided it is best to notify. (LS) You can see this information at Bluetruth.net
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Fight the BDS Movement--Shop at Trader Joe's on June 20!
The BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement is an tactic from the anti-apartheid effort now adopted by the anti-Israel groups in the US and Europe. Of course, it completely ignores the actual fact, which is that Arabs in the State of Israel have citizenship and full and equal political and civil rights.
Periodically, this effort targets stores selling Israeli products, in an effort to persuade them to stop stocking them. This time, they have focused their efforts on Trader Joe's. The good news is that Trader Joe's isn't buying the garbage being peddled by the anti-Israel groups, but will continue to buy (and sell) the Israeli products that they have provided for years. (Disclaimer: I just love shopping at Trader Joe's. It's the only store I know of around here where I can--and do-- buy Osem couscous, Eden feta, or the Dorot frozen cubes of garlic, basil and cilantro.)
This letter was received by the Central Pacific office of the Anti-Defamation League from Jon Basalone,Senior VP, Marketing, Trader Joe's:
“We have received a few letters like this via our customer relations email as well. Our response is that we sell products, and do not use our products as political tools or to make20any statements about any political causes. We have no intention of removing any products based on pressure from any group, no matter what they support or don’t support. As always, we believe our customers are smart, and they are capable of making decisions about what they purchase. Let me know if you have any more questions or need more information.”
So the good news is that nobody has to contact Trader Joe's to urge them to keep Israeli products in the stores. However, the anti-Israel groups behind the BDS effort have called for concerted action on June 20 (World Refugee Day) to "de-shelve" Israeli products from Trader Joe's. Somehow, the Arab regimes that have kept their Arab brethren locked in refugee camps for 60 years avoid any responsibility for this--I don't see Lebanese, Egyptian or Jordanian products being targeted.
Now, I only know of 3 ways to "de-shelve" a product-- you get the store to pull it off the shelf, you buy it, or you steal/vandalize it. Given that the first has already proven a failure, and I don't think they plan to BUY a whole bunch of couscous, that leaves stealing and vandalizing.
So, go to your local Trader Joe's and do three things on June 20 (or, if you are shomer Shabbat, on June 19):
1. Buy a whole bunch of Israeli products (if they are off the shelf, maybe someone else read this and bought the entire stock-- so go to the store manag
er and tell him/her they need to buy more!)
2. Tell the store manager to keep stocking these products because you really like them!
3. Also tell the store manager that anti-Israel groups have declared June 20 as a "National Day to De-Shelve Israeli Products" so they can be aware of potential efforts to shoplift, deface or otherwise vandalize these products."
And please pass the couscous.
Posted by DrMike at 4:28 PM 7 comments Links to this post
Labels: BDS
Monday, February 9, 2009
Wow...we are so screwed
How I love ranting to myself, what great solace. Anyway, despite common believe - we may just be saved. According to Fox News Politic's,
"The Obama White House says a new Gallup survey released Monday showing a 67 percent approval rating for the president's handling of the stimulus plan indicates the public is sticking with Obama."
Well... here's something - people are blaming Congress (whom are also to blame), for Obama's "stimulus" package. Now I don't know where people get their news from but the more people know about this bill, the less they like it.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Suddenly sweet words take hold
(Listen listen)
Hurry they say for you haven't much time
Open your eyes to the love around you
You may feel you're alone
But I'm here still with you
You can do what you dream
Just remember to listen to the rain
-Listen to the Rain by EvanEscence (YEAH!)
Yeah, so I was sitting in my English class earlier... and my professor begins to divulge into the matter of nutrition. Um... Yeah... this is kind of like having your art teacher tell you the government created AIDS in some laboratory. Seeing that my audience will consist of purely myself and whoever else I feel like giving this link to, it most likely be any of you - at least I hope. Before I doubt myself further, let me send out a tiny little message out to the world. Teachers are not your parents. If they are not talking about their subject - then please shut up. I don't think to care if you think milk is good for me or not. Have you really read into it? Where did you read that milk wasn't good for you? Do you not know that your body requires different proteins? You don't get the same kind/quality of protein from veggies than you do from milk - or meat/fish/poultry. See, I don't know if your mom taught you this - but you try to aim for the balanced diet. Anywho - once I am provided with a reliable source that milk may not be good for you - please let me know. And just as a last FYI - you get queasy for eating a big bowl of ice cream/dairy dessert after a meal BECAUSE OF THE FAT! Jeez! If you eat a whole other piece of red meat you'll also feel sick! Gah!
Whenever I start writing, I always think to myself, how can I make it so the reader doesn't go "oh great, another boring book." I do it all the time, I'll pick up a book that I hear everyone says "oh man that book was epic you have got to read it." Then after a few months of ignoring my friend's pleads I actually go to the library or bookstore and crack open the first book. Soon after I feel like I've read the first sentence more than three times and still don't know what the hell it said. Hence me writing this. Weird writing like you're talking to someone, when you have no idea who the hell it is. I mean for all I know you could be a gangster wannabe hoodie and all. As for me - well you'll just have to read on to find out. This book is about life as it actually is and how it goes on. I don't promise all that exciting crap that people say happens to them but doesn't really. I'm no great underdog (at least not yet), just another Jane Doe. Yeah I'm a girl - get over it.
Anyway, let's just say that students tend to screw themselves over - yeah I know, it's the type of thing you say no shit to. Still I regress. We are just so effing stupid sometimes and no - we don't think of our future like we should every single minute of every single day. Well, not unless you're one of those kids that regards reciting Shakespeare with their parents as ebbing towards adventurous. Feel bad for people like that, they're missing out on real life. I mean, how the hell are you going to get any social skills that way? Whatever, no offense but parents who do that to their children should stop taking those parenting classes on how to make your kid an I.V. League product and start seeing how they can prepare their kids for what I like to call reality.
Yes, and in this reality I am in the process of screwing myself over just like a million other students are this very moment. Getting four hours of sleep a night, leaving an essay for the morning of - that's all old news. That's what makes it so utterly brainless and disgusting. Yes, whenever I lay eyes upon an essay I wrote in an hour or less I must turn my head away in disgust for the sake of my computer so I may not vomit on it. Ok, maybe being a bit of a perfectionist in some areas has its drawbacks.
I tend to veer off and ramble a lot. So if you don't like tha screw you and go find another book. You'll probably end up cussing at me like no other by the end of the book if this thing even gets published or done if the world is lucky.
Getting back on track, I just wanted to say that I am here to defend the students who actually put their studies aside for the weekend , get this, and actually take a break from studying! I know, it's revolutionary this notion of taking a break and actually having periods of fruitful productivity. I have no witty term for this process - but it actually works with some willpower. See, the trick is, you actually let yourself free your mind for a few days and do whatever the hell it is you want to do (nothing illegal, mind you). Then, if you're a normal human being and have the ability to get stressed out, which most of us are deemed to have superb skill, and you actually start to do your essay and get it done! I know, it's marvelous - but here's how you have to do it to actually make it work. You can't just tell yourself that you're going to leave it for the night before, you have to convince yourself that you are going to start that paper a week in advance. Yes, yes, I know that's the hardest part for me too. Before that week comes up you must be as lazy and put off any work that pales in comparison to this essay to the last minute as a sacrifice. Then, by the time the week before the essay is due, if you have a brain, you will actually feel the pressure to start writing your essay.
Now if you just read that paragraph and thought 'what the hell is this nutjob talking about? I don't start my essay till one in the morning the night and still get an A,' then no offense, but screw you. I'm sorry for being human but I can't help but be a tad irrate when something that takes me a whole day takes someone else an hour to do. Yeah, sue me - well don't really. Unless this becomes some great best seller I won't have the money you want.
But take this moment as an example of the typical student behavior. Instead of writing my essay on Dolphin Assisted Therapy which in no way could be deemed scientifically acceptable, I am writing this. Yes my friend I am a two faced hypocrite like everyone else out there. Am I going to regret this later today, yeah. I already know I will, but here's how you make it work. Forgive me if I sound like a self help book, but instead of complaining to yourself and making the scenario worse get off your ass and do what you have to get what you want for your future. Yes, a fellow freshman in college student actually said the f word. Yeah, here's some news - if you want to graduate with a major in the following four years - you actually need to go talk to those advisors your school keeps alive and captive.
Before you ask what I'm on let me just tell you about my crazy ass day I've been having. I admit to being one of those goody two shoes who gets her homework done ontime and actually participates in class. Today was a different story. I really couldn't be more apathetic if apathy came and bit me in the rear. So I wake up to my cell's alarm at 6:50 am and like all other responsible and well to do students I ignore it and promptly turn my mop of a head and think five more minutes to myself. Remember this is after four hours of sleep. Fortunately snooze is the default option if you just press ok, so five minutes later it rings again so much so that my hand is forced to reach out and my eyes must peel open agonizingly slow. This only to promptly close again. Of course this is one of those "oh shit" moments where you look at your alarm clock across the room and it says 7:30 instead of 7:00. And then it all went vertigo. Literally. I got up from bed and intened to walk over my heaps of messiness sprawled out on the floor, but instead swayed like a drunk. Walking forward found myself getting worse by the moment. Not only had it taken be twenty minutes to get out of bed, I was now freezing and had yet to do the morning rituals. Skipping the rest of the boring events, I found myself on campus a half hour late for class. All I was thinking was that if I was the professor I would have a special place in my heart to hate students with the nerve to get to class so late. Thankfully, my professor doesn't and I actually got there just in time. Go figure huh? G-d must love me is what I was thinking at that point, and things started to get better till I realized that I had no lunch with me. But oh well, I'll live. I'll just see how long I can hold up without food and stay in the lab till I can leave. So now I sit here, typing up this blog on paper, wasting my time away. Just for the record I did find a lot of good information before I veered off and began this.
The end for today, my muse left me for a chocolate donut.
Sure I'm not as bad as the Iranian president who claims comes over here as a man of "justice" and then goes back to his nuclear Iran and leads those harmoneous chants, "deaht to American." Wondrous world, I know - but hey it's all gonna get even worse so why fret right? We'll leave that for another time.
Day 2
So get this, that essay I told you about - that damned freaking essay that was supposed to be due yesterday - is actually due on Friday. Great freaking tastic isn't it? Well yeah it is, but whatever, I'm allowed to complain. Today was better I guess. Woke up after six hours of sleep instead of four, actually ate breakfast in the car, and had some lunch. I hate not being able to eat to my hearts content. More so I hate not being able to go outside and work up an appetite so I can eat to me heart's content.
Oh well, at east I have the grand opportunity to look up videos on YouTube. Have you seen those videos to Harder Better Faster Stronger by Daft Punk? Man, if I had those motor skills I would be playing some Guitar Hero instead of Transformers The Game.
If you dare think up an insult Transformers in any way, shape, or form I will personally hire a ninja to assist you in experiencing extreme torturous pain. To say the Transformers movie was flawed or inadequate is blasphemy. The only thing I'll admit to is that make out scene at the end certainly wasn't needed. Seriously, I don't need to see any more PDA than I already see when I'm on campus. A butterfly kiss is fine, it can even be cute - but a full on french kiss is really way too much and quite frankly I could do without seeing you shove your tongue down someone else's throat. Bleh, my stomach is already churning from the visual.
Better to think happy thoughts. Like a music video, yes one of those would surely suit my mood right now. Definitely thinking up a way to blow up my mind .