December 2008
November 2008
“But I am struck at how lucky this country is, at the moment, that the president-elect of the United States is a super-smart person like Barack Obama”
—David Broder |Obama Shows His Smarts
“
The possibility that a whole new generation of American males is being raised by women without men is very challenging for the churches. I think they want to reassert some sort of male authority over the order of things. I think the pro-Proposition 8 movement was really galvanized by an insecurity that churches are feeling now with the rise of women.
Monotheistic religions feel threatened by the rise of feminism and the insistence, in many communities, that women take a bigger role in the church. At the same time that women are claiming more responsibility for their religious life, they are also moving out of traditional roles as wife and mother. This is why abortion is so threatening to many religious people — it represents some rejection of the traditional role of mother.
In such a world, we need to identify the relationship between feminism and homosexuality. These movements began, in some sense, to achieve visibility alongside one another. I know a lot of black churches take offense when gay activists say that the gay movement is somehow analogous to the black civil rights movement. And while there is some relationship between the persecution of gays and the anti-miscegenation laws in the United States, I think the true analogy is to the women’s movement. What we represent as gays in America is an alternative to the traditional male-structured society. The possibility that we can form ourselves sexually — even form our sense of what a sex is — sets us apart from the traditional roles we were given by our fathers.
” —Salon.com | Why churches fear gay marriage | An interview with author Richard Rodriguez
Play
Pilots & Mechanics
Not sure where my mother gets these forwards, but I thought this one was pretty funny.
—
UPS Airlines
Just in case you needed a laugh:
Remember: it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one; a reassurance to those of you who fly routinely in your jobs. After every flight, UPS Pilots fill out a form, called a ‘gripe sheet,’ which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.
Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor.
Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS Pilots (marked with a P) and the Solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.
By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never, ever had an accident.
- Pilot: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
- Solution: Almost replaced left inside main tire.
- P: Test flight okay, except auto-land very rough.
- S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.
- P: Something loose in cockpit.
- S: Something tightened in cockpit.
- P: Dead bugs on windshield.
- S: Live bugs on back order.
- P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
- S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.
- P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
- S: Evidence removed.
- P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
- S: DME volume set to more believable level.
- P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
- S: That’s what friction locks are for.
- P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
- S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.
- P: Suspected crack in windshield.
- S: Suspect you’re right.
- P: Number 3 engine missing.
- S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.
- P: P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
- S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious.
- P: Target radar hums.
- S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.
- P: Mouse in cockpit.
- S: Cat installed.
And the best one for last:
- P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
- S: took hammer away from midget.
“You Need to/ Make Voting/ Easier to do/ This is/ Ridiculous/ enough with the/ Political Ads/ This is/ What Happens/ when you/ Bombard Me/ with them/ Al Franken and/ Norm Coleman/ Are So Annoying/ They’re Repugnant/ From Now on/ Ill Give up/ My Right/ to vote/ if I got/ Beet down with/ Political Ads/ Advertise That/ Minnesota/ Id Rather/ Have/ Nick/ DiPalo/ For/ President/ Ha/ Ha/ Ha/ Ha/ Ha”
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A voter’s complaints about our electoral processs, as written on the write-in lines of his ballot. (via alcaniglia)
Play
“Are you more knowledgeable than the average citizen? The average score for all 2,508 Americans taking the following test was 49%; college educators scored 55%. Can you do better? Questions were drawn from past ISI surveys, as well as other nationally recognized exams.”
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My score:
You answered 31 out of 33 correctly — 93.94 %
Average score for this quiz during November: 77.6%
