The Hall of Fire

I believe I read that the pyramids wouldn't even hold as much grain as the average house. But being rational doesn't seem to be the goal...

Paul Ryan is a HUGE admirer of Ayn Rand. I have a lot of issues with her hypocritical philosophy.

He is not well received in his home town.

Nin, well said. I would prepare for death assuming that it was the end for all time and that I would completely cease to exist. I think it is at root a reluctance to contend with that hard-to-accept result that has given rise to rich conjecture about an afterlife throughout human history. (...) But...

Perhaps this is discussion for another thread.. but since we were getting all futuristic/Sci-fi.. I thought I'd drop it in here as it is something I've pondered for years. For the record, I have no issue with homosexuality and I believe it has most likely been around since the beginning of mankind ...

I strongly and deeply believe that Canadians should be buying Canadian food. I equally strongly and deeply believe that Americans should be buying American food. The commodification of our daily bread is a shame and a scandal and unfortunately it is now too late to change. I may be taking the above...

Griffy, if you have a U.S. health insurance policy you should not be paying anything for your yearly physical. This started last year. It has to be 100% covered with no deductible and no copay. Really? We pay (a rather large) deductible for our yearly physicals.. over $130.. unless the doctors offi...

Griffon.. you list you made a few posts above (the latest smartphone with a data plan, a Netflix account, satellite radio, an alarm system with a monthly fee ( in a neighborhood that's as safe as you'll ever get, new and middle class ), a gardener, a gym membership, a house that is always kept at a...

We rarely eat out. I cook at home, mostly fresh. I rarely even go down the frozen or packaged isle at the grocery store and, although I'd say we eat better (healthier) than we did when we were first married, our food costs have risen a great deal. It's hard for me to compare how much groceries have...

I'm not quite sure it fits into this conversation, but what bothers me is that (in theory) jobs went overseas to make them 'cheaper' and I am sure to some extent this is true. But we don't really see cheaper goods. I read about people making next to nothing/living in company dormitories 8 to a room...

I dunno.. many women have always worked. My mother worked. Both my parents mothers worked. Before them, their mothers were pioneers/farmers or were maids, at least before they had children. When life was more agricultural it took two people working the fields/preparing food/making clothing to make ...

The governors' plan is not that we should compete with those in places where jobs are being created (FTZs and the Third World); it is to put people of "the West" in a position where we have no choice but to accept the same working conditions. The new normal. There have been efforts to hel...

This is why companies, oh just off the top of my head, such as Apple should be forced to create jobs inside the market they wish to sell to. If this means taking less profit, so be it. Things used to run pretty well when such policies were in effect. I thought about this last night.. and the big wr...

Lord M. I'm curious, the subject of this thread is the title of a book you read on this problem/phenomena.. (After America, over-education and perpetual adolescence). You do not live/work in America nor were you educated here.. but you see the same problems in your own country, so do you view this ...

Dave, good list. I don't know if this is something different from generations past, but I also see a growing number of adults/parents who are so busy with their own lives/jobs/social lives that they do not take the time to properly parent. They are either overwhelmed and give up or want everything ...

Ax, I agree that more people a generation ago seemed to want to be semi-autonomous, though not all. I knew a more than a few n'er do wells whose parents ended up raising their children. :/ But I argue that it has less to do with (higher) education and more to do with the parents of said extendo-ado...

I agree with Frelga. They do so because they can. Jewelsong, situations like the one you describe are a problem.. but, it is not an issue (just) because of the youth.. or higher education, it's because the of the parents/grandparents who raised them have allowed it and they can afford to allow it. ...

btw vison, I have no idea what the minimum wage or cost of living is in Canada, but double the minimum wage here ($7.25/hr) would be good wages for farm/entry level work. A living wage where I live is considered $9.30/hr for one adult ($30.03 for a family with 2 adults/2 children) and I am assuming...

I do think work skills are very important. Some people acquire them from (traditional) schooling.. showing up on time.. working hard/doing their best.. challenging themselves, critical thinking, etc.. and others do not correlate school with learning necessary job skills (beyond basic reading, writi...