Archive for January 5th, 2008




Quote: von Neumann on Mathematics

Posted by Alex in Quote-a-Day, Science & Tech on January 5, 2008 at 8:02 pm

"In mathematics you don’t understand things. You just get used to them."

– John von Neumann, mathematician (1903 – 1957)

 
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Should Atheists be Able to Adopt?

Posted by Alex in Baby & Kids, Politics, Religion on January 5, 2008 at 8:01 pm

A New Jersey Superior Court judge had denied a couple from adopting a baby girl, because of they are atheists!

In an extraordinary decision, Judge Camarata denied the Burkes’ right to the child because of their lack of belief in a Supreme Being. Despite the Burkes’ "high moral and ethical standards," he said, the New Jersey state constitution declares that "no person shall be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshiping Almighty God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience." Despite Eleanor Katherine’s tender years, he continued, "the child should have the freedom to worship as she sees fit, and not be influenced by prospective parents who do not believe in a Supreme Being."

The Burkes are now living in Carterville, Ill., near Southern Illinois University, where John Burke has worked for the past year as a speech pathologist. Nevertheless, Judge Camarata ordered the parents to send David’s sister back to the New Jersey adoption agency.

The couple appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case. Do you think parents’ belief (or lack thereof) should be a criterion in whether they can adopt?

Link

Update 1/6/078: Oops – this was from 1970. I was (just) a little late on this :) Still, it was an interesting story, IMHO.

 
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Fun New Playground Design

Posted by Alex in Architecture, Baby & Kids, Pictures on January 5, 2008 at 8:00 pm

That’s not your grandfather’s old playground – it’s newly designed "wall-holla" playground by Dutch design team Carve, which integrates modern architecture style and good ol’ fun fun to encourage children to play the old fashioned way!

Link

 
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Street Photography by Matt Stuart

Posted by Alex in Arts & Crafts, Pictures on January 5, 2008 at 7:59 pm

London photographer Matt Stuart specializes in "Street Photography," his brand of taking photo at the right time from the right angle. He wrote on his website:

I can’t hide behind lights and technology, I am reliant on a small camera, patience and a lot of optimism. But what I get in return is the chance to make an honest picture which people know immediately is a genuine moment and which hopefully burrows deep into their memories.

This fantastic shot of man "imitating" the gestures of the cherubs was taken in SOHO.

Link [Flash]

 
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How America Lost the War on Drugs

Posted by Alex in Crime & Law, Politics on January 5, 2008 at 7:59 pm

After 35 years and $500 billion, according to Ben Wallace-Wells of the Rolling Stone magazine, drugs are as cheap and plentiful and ever.

What went wrong? Here’s an article on how America lost the war on drugs:

But after Escobar was killed in 1993 – and after U.S. drug agents began systematically busting up the Colombian cartels – doubt was replaced with hard data. Thanks to new research, U.S. policy-makers knew with increasing certainty what would work and what wouldn’t. The tragedy of the War on Drugs is that this knowledge hasn’t been heeded. We continue to treat marijuana as a major threat to public health, even though we know it isn’t. We continue to lock up generations of teenage drug dealers, even though we know imprisonment does little to reduce the amount of drugs sold on the street. And we continue to spend billions to fight drugs abroad, even though we know that military efforts are an ineffective way to cut the supply of narcotics in America or raise the price.

All told, the United States has spent an estimated $500 billion to fight drugs – with very little to show for it. Cocaine is now as cheap as it was when Escobar died and more heavily used. Methamphetamine, barely a presence in 1993, is now used by 1.5 million Americans and may be more addictive than crack. We have nearly 500,000 people behind bars for drug crimes – a twelvefold increase since 1980 – with no discernible effect on the drug traffic. Virtually the only success the government can claim is the decline in the number of Americans who smoke marijuana – and even on that count, it is not clear that federal prevention programs are responsible. In the course of fighting this war, we have allowed our military to become pawns in a civil war in Colombia and our drug agents to be used by the cartels for their own ends. Those we are paying to wage the drug war have been accused of ­human-rights abuses in Peru, Bolivia and Colombia. In Mexico, we are now ­repeating many of the same mistakes we have made in the Andes.

Link (Photo: Dalton/AP Photo)

 
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Trivia: The First Cookbook Ever Written

Posted by Alex in Daily Trivia, Food & Drinks on January 5, 2008 at 7:58 pm

chefThe first cookbook ever was written by a Sicilian Greek named Archestratus in 350 BC. It was called Hedypatheia (Pleasant Living or Life of Luxury).

 
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Confessions of a Trader Joe's Junkie

Posted by Stacy in Food & Drinks, Neatorama Only on January 5, 2008 at 1:10 pm

Lately I’ve been jonesing for Trader Joe’s pretty badly. My husband and I lived just outside of Philly for about a year, where we had our choice of about five TJ’s. Now that we’re back in Des Moines, the closest Trader Joe’s is now at least three hours away in the Minneapolis area. There are often times I contemplate driving up there and back just for the day so I can get my chile-spiced mango fix or my delicious spicy black bean dip. Or the vodka marinara sauce. Or the gyoza. Or the lime juice popsicles. Or the soycatash. But I digress.

Trader Joes Store
Photo: Comp4Me [Flickr]



Every time I travel I check Trader Joe’s store locations to see if there’s one close that I can stop at. I have my cousin ship me stuff from New York. I have friends in Minneapolis who keep an eye out for me. One of my best friends drove to St. Louis and I actually made her take a cooler so she could bring me back some frozen food. It’s seriously become an obsession. I went on a trip with some friends last year and the first thing we did after getting our rental car was make a TJ’s pit stop. I figured we would need some snacks for the hotel room, you know? I’m pretty sure they all thought I was insane… except for the aforementioned friend who went to Missouri. She immediately picked up on the allure of Trader Joe’s.

I was trying to figure out exactly what makes Trader Joe’s so great, and here’s what I found out during my research:

  • Trader Joe’s was founded by Joe Coulombe. He was running a number of Pronto Markets when 7-Eleven started to monopolize the market. He had the idea for a grocery store with more exotic offerings but at decent prices. It took off (obviously) and he started converting all of his Prontos into Trader Joe’s. (Photo: Private Label Magazine)
  • Many of their products are given a quirky name based on their origins – Mexican food is sold under the label Trader Jose’s, Chinese food is sold under Trader Ming’s, Japanese food is sold under Trader Joe-San and vitamins are sold under Trader Darwin’s.
  • The reason TJ’s can sell good-quality stuff so cheap is because they buy directly from small vendors instead of going through a corporate middle-man. This makes the products cheaper for them, which in turn makes them cheaper for us. What a concept.
  • Because they keep their products so cheap, you’ll never find anything on sale at Trader Joe’s.
  • For a grocery store, their benefits and wages are pretty great. Business Week reports that their wages are better than most ($8-$10 an hour three years ago), they give generous bonuses and contribute an extra 15.4 percent of every employee’s gross pay into a retirement plan. They even offer health insurance to part-time workers and their dependents, as long as they work an average of 20 hours per week. My favorite perk is the 10 percent discount. I’d be all over that.
  • Trader Joe’s is the home of Two Buck Chuck! TJ’s is the exclusive dealer of Charles Shaw wine. It’s technically Three Buck Chuck in some states, but at any rate, it’s worth it. For cheap wine, Two Buck Chuck is pretty darn tasty. It took me a while to figure this one out, though, because in Pennsylvania, it’s illegal to sell liquor in grocery stores. It took a trip to Virginia to finally procure the famous Two Buck Chuck.
  • The company has a great sense of humor. Exhibit A: one of the questions in the F.A.Q. on the Trader Joe’s Web site: “Will Trader Joe’s products turn me into a superhero, a professional athlete or one of the great brainiacs of humankind? Um…well…no. Sorry (seriously, we are because that would be neat). But they will hopefully make your taste buds tingle and leave you with a happy tummy – and wallet. Way better than being a superhero.” Their “Fearless Flyer” is pretty good reading too.
  • You won’t find any overhead P.A. systems at Trader Joe’s: they operate solely on a bell basis. A huge bell is rung every time something comes up – one bell is to open another register, two bells means a customer has a question and three bells calls a manager over.
  • If you’re like me and DESPERATELY want a Trader Joe’s within an hour (I’d even take two hours… Omaha would be great) of you, you can go here and request that they come to your area. If there’s already a TJ’s in your area, I’d appreciate it if you went there anyway and requested that they open one in Des Moines. Thanks.

    • I know there must be some other rabid Trader Joe’s fans out there like me. So spill it: what’s your favorite TJ’s product? What do I need to cart home with me the next time I am in Minneapolis or Kansas City? Better yet, what can I badger my cousin or brother-in-law into mailing me??

     
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    Bibliophile Tattoo

    Posted by Alex in Book & Lit, Pictures, Tattoo, Etc. on January 5, 2008 at 6:01 am

    And who says that a book lover can’t be badass? Here’s a bibliophile dictionary definition tattoo, from Flickr user bibliogrrl: Link

     
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    Celine Dion is Amazing!

    Posted by Alex in Music, Video Clips on January 5, 2008 at 6:00 am

    I’ve always thought that Celine Dion is a great and successful artist – but as this YouTube clip shows, she is simply frickin’ amazing! How can you NOT love a woman who did "the claw," "Who let the dogs out" and the chicken dance on camera?

    Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]

     
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    Carl Warner's Foodscapes

    Posted by Alex in Arts & Crafts, Food & Drinks, Pictures on January 5, 2008 at 5:59 am

    Photographer Carl Warner did a series of photos called "Foodscapes" where everything was made entirely out of food!


    The castle is made out of cheese, the walls out of rice, and the wagon wheels out of mushrooms!


    The trees, of course, are made from broccolis! The "rows" of farmland are made of corn, asparagus, and zucchini. Potatoes stand in for rocks …


    And my favorite: loaves of bread as mountains!

    Check out many more photos at his official website: Link [Flash, click on the second/orange box "fotographics" and then the second folder on the lower left-hand side "foodscapes"] – via Presurfer

     
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