The Pamphleteer |
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During colonial times in America, if you wanted to convince or inform people about some issue that you considered important, you went to the local printer and got some pamphlets printed. You then handed them out, read them to anybody that was interested, nailed them to the town bulletin board, or the nearest tree.
The first amendment was specifically written to protect this type of activity and the writers or "pamphleteers".
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Sunday, November 04, 2007
Refdesk Thoughts of the Day: "When it comes time to do your own life..." "When it comes time to do your own life, you either perpetuate your childhood or you stand on it and finally kick it out from under." -Rosellen Brown ----- "When friends stop being frank and useful to each other..." "When friends stop being frank and useful to each other, the whole world loses some of its radiance." -Anatole Broyard ----- The Refdesk Site of the Day is: Experiencing War: Stories from the Veterans History Project As a partner with filmmaker Ken Burns and PBS on The War, the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress, offers this special Web site to enhance the viewing experience of this epic yet intimate look at those who sacrificed so much to serve their country during World War II. Related sited: PBS: The War. ----- FlightAware Founded in March of 2005, FlightAware is the first company to offer free flight tracking services for both private and commercial air traffic in the United States. Related sites: Aeroseek Flight Tracker FlightView Flight Tracker. ----- The Marine And The Iraqi Terrorist (From Gene, our correspondent in Washington Heights.) A U.S. Marine squad was marching north of Fallujah when they came upon an Iraqi terrorist, badly injured and unconscious. On the opposite side of the road was an A merican Marine in a similar, but less serious state. The Marine was conscious and alert and, as first aid was given to both men, the squad leader asked the injured Marine what had happened. The Marine reported, 'I was heavily armed and moving north along the highway here, and coming south was a heavily armed insurgent. We saw each other and both took cover in the ditches along the road.' 'I yelled to him that Saddam Hussein was a miserable low-life scumbag who got what he deserved', and he yelled back that 'Ted Kennedy is a fat, good-for-nothing, left wing liberal drunk who doesn't know how to drive.' 'So I said that 'Osama Bin Laden dresses and acts like a frigid, mean-spirited lesbian!' He retaliated by yelling, 'Oh yeah? Well, so does Hillary Clinton!' And, there we were, in the middle of the road, shaking hands, when a truck hit us.' . Sunday, September 23, 2007
Highly Recommended On-Line Articles The Trouble with David Friedman's "Rationality" The Gold Problem Utilitarian Free-Market Economics . Refdesk Thoughts of the Day: "Success is going from failure to failure..." "Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." -Abraham Lincoln ----- "Loneliness is never more cruel..." "Loneliness is never more cruel than when it is felt in close propinquity with someone who has ceased to communicate." -Germaine Greer ----- "We bestow on others praise in which we do not believe..." "We bestow on others praise in which we do not believe, on condition that in return they bestow upon us praise in which we do." -Jean Rostand ----- The Refdesk Site of the Day is: Radio-locator Welcome to Radio-Locator, the most comprehensive radio station search engine on the internet. We have links to over 10,000 radio station web pages and over 2500 audio streams from radio stations in the U.S. and around the world. ----- Urban Legends Reference Pages Snopes.com is a searchable database of urban legends and myths, email hoaxes, computer virus warnings, and folklore. ----- All Recipes Looking for recipes? You've come to the right place. Allrecipes has more than 40,000 free recipes - all created, tested, reviewed and approved by home cooks worldwide. ----- Saturday, September 01, 2007
Highly Recommended On-Line Articles Bureaucrats: Another Breed of Cat Reaping Cannon Fodder The Living Reality of Military-Economic Fascism Isn't the Capital Surplus a Good Thing? Friedman for Government Intervention: The Case of the Great Depression . Refdesk Thoughts of the Day: "Adolescents may be, almost simultaneously, overconfident and riddled with fear..." "Adolescents may be, almost simultaneously, overconfident and riddled with fear. They are afraid of their overpowering feelings, of losing control, of helplessness, of failure. Sometimes they act bold, to counteract their imperious yearnings to remain children. They are impulsive, impetuous, moody, disagreeable, overdemanding, underappreciative. If you don’t understand them, remember, they don’t understand themselves most of the time." -Stella Chess ----- "I hear and I forget..." "I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand." -Chinese Proverb ----- "One of the luckiest things that can happen to you..." "One of the luckiest things that can happen to you in life is, I think, to have a happy childhood." -Agatha Christie ----- "I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia..." "I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." -Winston Churchill ----- "What we’re saying today is that you’re either part of the solution..." "What we’re saying today is that you’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem." -Eldridge Cleaver ----- The Refdesk Site of the Day is: Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs Award winning photographs presented by the Newseum, the interactive museum of news. ----- GardenWeb GardenWeb is the largest gardening site on the Web, with garden forums, articles on gardening, directories of nurseries, gardens and gardening organizations, a botanical glossary, an events calendar, a plant database, contests, and much more. ----- LibrarySpot.com Welcome to LibrarySpot.com, a free virtual library resource center for educators and students, librarians and their patrons, families, businesses and just about anyone exploring the Web for valuable research information. ----- HowStuffWorks HowStuffWorks is an online publishing company widely recognized as a leading source for clear, unbiased, reliable explanations of how everything actually works. With thousands of articles, content features and illustrations populating ten different content channels, HowStuffWorks.com attracts millions of unique visitors each month. ----- Thomas Featuring information on current legislation, the Congressional Record, links to Committee reports, and more. Thomas is a service of the Library of Congress. ----- MedicinePlus The National Library of Medicine's authoritative and current database of health information for consumers and health professionals. Coverage includes conditions and diseases, drug information, dictionaries, physician and healthcare directories, and links to other medical resources. ----- Saturday, August 18, 2007
Highly Recommended On-Line Articles Introduction to The Ethics of Liberty Introduction to Natural Law Does Business Need Washington To Manage Wages? Happiness by Will or by Writ? The Economics of Here to There . The Refdesk Site of the Day is: Today's Papers This site by Slate presents a summary of what's in the major U.S. newspapers. Related site: Today's Front Pages. ----- Refdesk Thoughts of the Day: "The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away..." "The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts." -Edmund Burke ----- "I came, I saw..." "I came, I saw, I conquered." -Julius Caesar ----- "Real generosity towards the future lies..." "Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present." -Albert Camus ----- "One cannot divine nor forecast the conditions that will make happiness..." "One cannot divine nor forecast the conditions that will make happiness; one only stumbles upon them by chance, in a lucky hour, at the world’s end somewhere, and hold fast to the days, as to fortune or fame." -Willa Cather ----- "Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil..." "Wisdom we know is the knowledge of good and evil not the strength to choose between the two." -John Cheever ----- "Everything should be first-rate in a person..." "Everything should be first-rate in a person, his face, clothes, soul and thoughts." -Anton Pavlovich Chekhov ----- Sunday, August 05, 2007
Highly Recommended On-Line Articles The Downside of the "Tea Party" Our Techno-Utopian Future: Fallacies and Predictions Suffering at the Hands of the EU Antitrust Police Overproduction and Underconsumption Fallacies . Obituary of the Mr. Common Sense (From John, our correspondent in Narrowsburg.) Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: 1. Knowing when to come in out of the rain 2. Why the early bird gets the worm 3. Life isn't always fair and 4. Maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6 -year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teenagers suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Calpol, sun lotion or a band-aid to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded with a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 3 step-brothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, you may like to pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing. . Refdesk Thoughts of the Day: "To live is so startling ..." "To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else." -Emily Dickinson ----- "I am convinced that the best service..." "I am convinced that the best service a retired general can perform is to turn in his tongue along with his suit, and to mothball his opinions." -Omar Bradley ----- "Don’t tell me that man doesn’t belong out there..." "Don’t tell me that man doesn’t belong out there. Man belongs wherever he wants to go - and he’ll do plenty well when he gets there." -Wernher Von Braun ----- "When the history of guilt is written..." "When the history of guilt is written, parents who refuse their children money will be right up there in the Top Ten." -Erma Brombeck ----- "In the United States, it is now possible for a person eighteen years of age..." "In the United States, it is now possible for a person eighteen years of age, female as well as male, to graduate from high school, college, or university without ever having cared for, or even held, a baby; without ever having comforted or assisted another human being who really needed help. . . . No society can long sustain itself unless its members have learned the sensitivities, motivations, and skills involved in assisting and caring for other human beings." -Urie Bronfenbrenner ----- The Refdesk Sites of the Day are: GasBuddy.com GasBuddy.com can help you find cheap gas prices in your city. It is comprised of 170 gas price information web sites that help consumers find low gasoline prices. All web sites are operated by GasBuddy. GasBuddy has the most comprehensive listings of gas prices anywhere by far. Related site: A Primer on Gasoline Prices. ----- Weight-control Information Network The Weight-control Information Network provides the general public, health professionals, the media, and Congress with up-to-date, science-based information on weight control, obesity, physical activity, and related nutritional issues. ----- Body Mass Index BMI stands for Body Mass Index. It is a number that shows body weight adjusted for height. BMI can be calculated with simple math using inches and pounds, or meters and kilograms. For adults aged 20 years or older, BMI falls into one of these categories: underweight, normal, overweight, or obese. ----- TVs Decision Guide Not sure where to start? A lot has changed in the past few years, and you have more choices than ever. This step-by-step guide by Consumer Reports contains the essential information you need to find the TV that best suits your preferences and your budget. ----- Encyclopedia Smithsonian Encyclopedia Smithsonian helps answer frequently asked questions about the Smithsonian Institution with links to resources on subjects from Art to Zoology. ----- Yahoo! Audio Search Find audio files from across the Web including music, podcasts, interviews and more. ----- Saturday, July 21, 2007
Highly Recommended On-Line Articles What Won't NASA Invent Next? Critique of Stelzer on China Use Your Noodle, Or Else The Nationalities Question Nation and Nationality . Importance of Proofreading (From John, our correspondent in Narrowsburg.) A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. He notices however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So, the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up. In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies. The head monk, says, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son." So, he goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscripts are held as archives in a locked vault that hasn't been opened for hundreds of years. Hours go by and nobody sees the old abbot. So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him. He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing, "We missed the "R", we missed the "R"!!. His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is crying uncontrollably. The young monk asks the old abbot, "What's wrong, father?" *With a choking voice, the old abbot replies ........ * "The word was celebrate !!!!" . Refdesk Thoughts of the Day: "If I had my life to live over again..." "If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once a week." -Charles Darwin ----- "In foreign policy you have to wait..." "In foreign policy you have to wait twenty-five years to see how it comes out." -James Reston ----- "It takes as much energy..." "It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan." -Eleanor Roosevelt ----- "Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply..." "Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed." -Margaret Storm Jameson ----- "Humanitarianism needs no apology..." "Humanitarianism needs no apology. ... Unless we ... feel it toward all men without exception, we shall have lost the chief redeeming force in human history." -Ralph Barton Perry ----- The Refdesk Sites of the Day are: National Archives Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1% - 3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever. Those valuable records are preserved and are available to you, whether you want to see if they contain clues about your family’s history, need to prove a veteran's military service, or are researching an historical topic that interests you. ----- OYEZ: U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia Multimedia database with abstracts of key constitutional cases, digital audio of oral arguments, and more. Related sites: Official Site Supreme Court of the U.S. Appellate.net. ----- Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos. Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured by this NASA web site, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. ----- How Products Are Made How Products Are Made explains and details the manufacturing process of a wide variety of products, from daily household items to complicated electronic equipment and heavy machinery. The site provides step by step descriptions of the assembly and the manufacturing process (complemented with illustrations and diagrams) Each product also has related information such as the background, how the item works, who invented the product, raw materials that were used, product applications, by-products that are generated, possible future developments, quality control procedures, etc. ----- Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations The 2,100 entries in this eminently researched collection form the constellation of collected wisdom in American political debate. In fulfilling decades of requests from Members of Congress for citation of quotations, the Library of Congress compiled the most frequently asked questions of the legislature for the edification of every citizen. ----- San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection The San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection, located in the San Francisco History Center, contains photographs and works on paper of San Francisco and California views from 1850 to the present. ----- Sunday, July 15, 2007
Highly Recommended On-Line Articles Society without a State We Need an Angel Like Clarence The Criminality of the State Life, Liberty, and ... The Socialism of Mr. Shaw . The Refdesk Sites of the Day are: How to Clean Anthing Welcome to HowToCleanAnything.com. The idea for the site started with a group of cleaning professionals getting together to exchange tips and techniques. The idea developed in what you see today. There are more than 1300 free cleaning tips on this site, and growing every day. ----- The Why Files: Science Behind the News The mission of The Why Files, based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is to explore the science, math and technology behind the news of the day, and to present those topics in a clear, accessible and accurate manner. ----- LiveScience This site explains the latest research on the planet, from human biology to the animal world and the forces of nature. ----- Refdesk Thoughts of the Day: "What is life but the angle of vision..." "What is life but the angle of vision? A man is measured by the angle at which he looks at objects. What is life but what a man is thinking of all day? This is his fate and his employer. Knowing is the measure of the man. By how much we know, so much we are." -Ralph Waldo Emerson ----- "Man is born to live..." "Man is born to live, not to prepare for life." -Boris Leonidovich Pasternak ----- "Through our great good fortune..." "Through our great good fortune, in our youth our hearts were touched with fire. It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing." -Oliver Wendell Holmes ----- "The idea that you can merchandise candidates for high office like breakfast cereal..." "The idea that you can merchandise candidates for high office like breakfast cereal - that you can gather votes like box tops - is, I think, the ultimate indignity to the democratic process." -Adlai Ewing Stevenson ----- "Don't forget..." "Don't forget to love yourself." -Soren Kierkegaard ----- "The curse which lies upon marriage is..." "The curse which lies upon marriage is that too often the individuals are joined in their weakness rather than in their strength - each asking from the other instead of finding pleasure in giving. It is even more deceptive to dream of gaining through the child a plenitude, a warmth, a value, which one is unable to create for oneself; the child brings joy only to the woman who is capable of disinterestedly desiring the happiness of another, to one who without being wrapped up in self seeks to transcend her own existence." -Simone de Beauvoir ----- Saturday, July 07, 2007
Highly Recommended On-Line Articles Law-Enforcement Socialism The European Miracle An Introduction to Value Theory Putting the Economics Back in Christmas Milton Friedman, 1912-2006 Fallacies of the Negative Income Tax . Refdesk Thoughts of the Day: "Sit down before fact as a little child..." "Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abysses nature leads, or you shall learn nothing." -Thomas Henry Huxley ----- "‘Twas the night before Christmas..." "‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads;" -Clement Clarke Moore ----- "At Christmas play and make good cheer..." "At Christmas play and make good cheer, For Christmas comes but once a year." -Thomas Tusser ----- "Anyone can carry his burden, however hard, until nightfall..." "Anyone can carry his burden, however hard, until nightfall. Anyone can do his work, however hard, for one day. Anyone can live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely, till the sun goes down. And this is all that life really means." -Robert Louis Stevenson ----- "Who dares to teach..." "Who dares to teach must never cease to learn." -John Cotton Dana ----- The Refdesk Sites of the Day are: The World of Paper Money This site is all about paper money. Most people associate money with earning and spending. Very few consider money as an art object or a collectable item. Only in the last several years has paper money collecting as a hobby become more popular. Modern banknotes are very attractive and colorful, especially in uncirculated conditions favored by collectors. ----- How Christmas Works For hundreds of millions of people around the world, Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year. Have you ever wondered where traditions like Santa Claus come from? Find out at this How Stuff Works site. Related sites: How Christmas Lights Works How Mistletoe Works. ----- Science.Gov: U.S. Government Science Portal Science.gov is a gateway to authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. Government agencies, including research and development results. Enables you to search 47 million pages in real time. ----- Ask the Experts at Scientific American Magazine Scientific American magazine presents their 'Ask the Experts' page arranged by topic: astronomy, biology, chemistry, computers, environment, geology, mathematics, medicine, and physics. ----- FastWeb: Matching students to scholarships FastWeb, the Internet's leading scholarship search service, helps students make the decisions that shape their lives: choosing a college, paying for college, and finding jobs and internships. And it's all free. Recommended by more than 15,000 high schools and 3,500 colleges, FastWeb is the most trusted online college resource. Last year, one out of three college-bound high school seniors used the site, and more than 28 million students have created FastWeb accounts since launching in 1995. ----- FedMoney.org: Guide to U. S. Government Grants/Loans Benefiting Students FedMoney.org is the most comprehensive FREE full-text online resource on all U.S. government grants and student financial aid programs. Here you will find detailed and up-to-date information about (1) who can apply, (2) how to apply, (3) full contact info, and much more... for over 130 government grants and loans (scholarships, fellowships, traineeships) related to education. ----- Saturday, June 30, 2007
Highly Recommended On-Line Articles Diversity, Yes; Force, No All Colonization Should Be Private Entrepreneurship and Social Progress Is High School Football a Public Good? Why Be An Economist? To Be Happy, That's Why . The Refdesk Sites of the Day are: Earth Calendar The Earth Calendar is a daybook of holidays and celebrations around the world. For the purpose of this web site a 'holiday' is any day that recognizes a cultural event. ----- Educator's Reference Desk From the Information Institute of Syracuse, the people who created AskERIC, the Gateway to Educational Materials, and the Virtual Reference Desk, the Educator's Reference Desk brings you the resources you have come to depend on. 2,000+ lesson plans, 3,000+ links to online education information, and 200+ question archive responses. ----- Harper's Weekly: Explore History Since 1995, up to 12 indexers with advanced degrees have read every word and studied every illustration and cartoon in Harper's Weekly, and have carefully constructed user-friendly indexes that will guide you in locating information quickly and concisely. The information is presented in an easy-to-navigate, alphabetical, multi-level structure familiar to scholars, reference librarians and students alike. Descriptive sub-entries will help you determine the relative value of the references by giving you specific information about an entry prior to display. Related site: Outline of U.S. History. ----- Library of Congress: Today in History Today in History is a Library of Congress presentation of historic facts highlighted by items from the American Memory collections. ----- The World of Paper Money This site is all about paper money. Most people associate money with earning and spending. Very few consider money as an art object or a collectable item. Only in the last several years has paper money collecting as a hobby become more popular. Modern banknotes are very attractive and colorful, especially in uncirculated conditions favored by collectors. ----- Refdesk Thoughts of the Day: "Sir, I say that justice is..." "Sir, I say that justice is truth in action." -Benjamin Disraeli ----- "To every thing there is a season..." "To every thing there is a season, and time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." -The Bible ----- "There are three things which are real..." "There are three things which are real: God, human folly, and laughter. Since the first two pass our comprehension, we must do what we can with the third." -Aubrey Menen ----- "It is not our affluence, or our plumbing..." "It is not our affluence, or our plumbing, or our clogged freeways that grip the imagination of others. Rather, it is the values upon which our system is built. These values imply our adherence not only to liberty and individual freedom, but also to international peace, law and order, and constructive social purpose. When we depart from these values, we do so at our peril." -James William Fulbright ----- "If the Government becomes a lawbreaker..." "If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means - to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal - would bring terrible retribution." -Louis Dembitz Brandeis ----- "If one man can be allowed to determine for himself what is law..." "If one man can be allowed to determine for himself what is law, every man can. That means first chaos, then tyranny. Legal process is an essential part of the emocratic process." -Felix Frankfurter ----- Saturday, June 02, 2007
Highly Recommended On-Line Articles A Hit Man Confesses The Social Function of Call and Put Options Lou Dobbs Thinks You're a Fool The Anti-Imperialist League and the Battle Against Empire The Conquest of the United States by Spain . New Words for 2006 (From Pamela, our correspondent in Bay Ridge.) (Essential vocabulary additions for the workplace (and elsewhere)!) 1. BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible. 2. SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves. 3. ASSMOSIS: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard. 4. SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end. 5. CUBE FARM: An office filled with cubicles 6. PRAIRIE DOGGING: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on. 7. MOUSE POTATO: The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato. 8. SIT COMs: Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What Yuppies get into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids. 9. STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny. 10. SWIPEOUT: An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use. 11. XEROX SUBSIDY: Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one's workplace. 12. IRRITAINMENT: Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The J-Lo and Ben wedding (or not) was a prime example -- Michael Jackson, another... 13. PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE: The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again. 14. ADMINISPHERE: The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve. 15. 404: From the World Wide Web error Message "404 Not Found," meaning that the requested site could not be located. 16. GENERICA: Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and subdivisions. 17. OHNOSECOND: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just made a BIG mistake. (Like after hitting send on an e-mail by mistake) 18. WOOFS: Well-Off Older Folks. . Refdesk Thoughts of the Day: "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast..." "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm’s way." -John Paul Jones ----- "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." "We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men. We … solemnly publish and declare, that these colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states … and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honour." -Thomas Jefferson ----- "The chief duty of governments, in so far as they are coercive..." "The chief duty of governments, in so far as they are coercive, is to restrain those who would interfere with the inalienable rights of the individual, among which are the right to life, the right to liberty, the right to the pursuit of happiness and the right to worship God according to the dictates of one’s conscience." -William Jennings Bryan ----- "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." -Charles Dickens ----- "Salvation for a race, nation, or class must come from within..." "Salvation for a race, nation, or class must come from within. Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted. Freedom and justice must be struggled for by the oppressed of all lands and races, and the struggle must be continuous, for freedom is never a final fact, but a continuing evolving process to higher and higher levels of human, social, economic, political and religious relationships." -Asa Philip Randolph ----- The Refdesk Sites of the Day are: U.S. ZIP Code Lookup Tools This site by the U.S. Postal Service allows you to find a ZIP+4 code for a specific street address or business; search for ZIP codes by city or town; or search for localities in a ZIP code area. Related site: Canadian Postal Code Lookup. ----- Library of Congress: An Annotated List of Reference Websites The Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress has eight alcoves. This ninth 'virtual alcove' is a collection of websites selected and annotated by Humanities and Social Sciences Division subject specialists. All of these websites have components that are free and available to the public; some might require user registration, or may have links to fee-based services. ----- Who's Alive and Who's Dead Welcome to Who's Alive and Who's Dead - the site that helps you keep track of which famous people have died and which are still alive! The people listed in Who's Alive and Who's Dead are grouped according to the accomplishments for which they are best known. That makes it easy to find the cast list of your favorite TV show or rock group. Or, you can easily get a list of famous athletes who played your favorite sport. Politicians are here too, along with authors, cartoonists, astronauts, and a bit of everything else. ----- Worldwide Telephone Directories This site provides databases for searching foreign telephone numbers, arranged by country. ----- Major Metro U.S. Newspapers This site provides links to major newspapers in the United States. Related site: Top 100 U.S. Newspapers. ----- Time.gov Real-time Java-based online clocks giving the official time for all U.S. time zones. A service of the National Technical Information Service and the U.S. Naval Observatory. ----- Thursday, May 31, 2007
Highly Recommended On-Line Articles Can the Future Do Without Economic Logic? The End of Socialism and the Calculation Debate Revisited How the Global Boom Might End . SETI@home Needs Your Help (Donate to SETI@home at: http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/donate.php) SETI@home needs your help. The SETI@home team has accomplished much in the past 6 months. We have successfully deployed the "enhanced" version of SETI@home. The new seven beam data recorder has been installed at Arecibo (the world's largest radio telescope) and is recording the data that will be analyzed in the next phase of SETI@home. But there is still far more to be done. We would like to be able to sift through the results returned by your computers in order to identify candidates more rapidly so we can re-observe them. This rapid response validation system would also give you the ability to see the results your computers have/has returned in more detail. To keep SETI@home operating for the next year, and to provide these new capabilities, will require approximately $540,000. Currently SETI@home is entirely funded by donations from people like you. We hope that you will consider making a donation to SETI@home at this time. You can make a secure donation by credit card on our website (http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/donate.php). Instructions for donation by check or money order are there as well. Unless you specify otherwise, your donation will be noted by a star icon next to your username on the SETI@home pages and your username will appear on our list of donors. If you do not wish to have this recognition you may indicate that as well. You can check on our fundraising progress by visiting our main site at http://setiathome.berkeley.edu. Thank you for helping the search for ET, and for considering a donation to SETI@home. Sincerely, Sir Arthur C. Clarke (Author and Futurist) Dan Werthimer (Chief Scientist, SETI@home) For more information about how to donate: http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/donate.php ------------------------------------------------------------------ The Refdesk Sites of the Day are: FBI: Uniform Crime Reports The FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program was conceived in 1929 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police to meet a need for reliable, uniform crime statistics for the nation. In 1930, the FBI was tasked with collecting, publishing, and archiving those statistics. Today, several annual statistical publications, such as the comprehensive Crime in the United States, are produced from data provided by nearly 17,000 law enforcement agencies across the United States. Related site: Bureau of Justice Statistics. ----- AskOxford.com Searchable online version of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary, as well as thesauri, quotations, foreign language dictionaries, a word of the day, and games. ----- An Outline of the U.S. Economy This report, released by the U.S. Department of State, charts the challenges and risks facing Americans and their economic well-being. The site examines how the American economy works, and explores how it evolved. ----- National Vital Statistics System You my find out how to obtain vital records in the U.S. by using this guide from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. ----- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: EDGAR All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Anyone can access and download this information for free. Here you'll find links to a complete list of filings available through EDGAR and instructions for searching the EDGAR database. ----- Refdesk Thoughts of the Day: "I never expect to see a perfect work..." "I never expect to see a perfect work from imperfect man." -Alexander Hamilton ----- "Wit lies in recognizing the resemblance..." "Wit lies in recognizing the resemblance among things which differ and the difference between things which are alike." -Madame De Stael ----- "Nothing shows a man's character..." "Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at." -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ----- "A professional writer is..." "A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit. -Richard Bach ----- "With willing hearts and skillful hands..." "With willing hearts and skillful hands, the difficult we do at once; the impossible takes a bit longer." -Author unknown ----- "The compulsion to take ourselves seriously is in inverse proportion..." "The compulsion to take ourselves seriously is in inverse proportion to our creative capacity. When the creative flow dries up, all we have left is our importance." -Eric Hoffer ----- Wednesday, May 30, 2007
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