I went there last year. Walking into the giftshop area to sign up for a tour, I was laughing at the eccentricy of the place. I viewed Istel as a huckster, drawing in business with spectacle in the same vein as buildings shaped like food or giant animal sculptures.

However, after watching the tour's introductory video and then being led to the pyramid, I started to notice the solemnity of the place. The pyramid is really very pretty on the inside, and feels like standing in a mausoleum. Likewise, walking along the carved granite "World Commemorative Center" felt like walking in a cemetery. The engraving is absolutely beautiful on a number of the panels, as well.

'Center of the World' or no, and in spite of its oddity, it's a very special little place. Definitely worth the stop if you find yourself en route from San Diego to Phoenix or visa versa.

To me, Pepsi has a fruity undertone. And Coke gives me heartburn, so whether or not I know the difference right off I definitely notice 10 minutes later.

Never mind that it's sexist...

Great for casual users who were introduced to the internet via iphone coverage (and why do they have an iphone anyway?), but nobody who uses a computer for work or especially entertainment would be interested in this.

Manticore, sounds like a bit of confirmation bias. Granted, I was a cookie-slinger about 20 years ago, but my mother (a real estate agent at the time) gave me mini-seminars on pitching a sale, closing the sale, giving a good handshake, etc. I always knew exactly how much from each box of cookies I sold came back to my troop, and what sales thresholds I had to meet in order to get 'scholarships' to attend Girl Scout summer camps that my parents would've been otherwise unable to afford.

Helicopter parenting is a problem in all of modern US society currently, but definitely not a unique facet of Girl Scout cookie sales. There are still plenty of girls out there whose parents and troop leaders who are supportively hands-off.

O, assuming you're from somewhere other than the USA, it really depends on the individual. Some accents are hard to follow, even in America -- Cajun for example is pretty thick and loaded with a unique patois. In terms of UK accents, a Londoner is probably much easier for an American to follow than a Glasgowian. Often, the thicker accents DO show up with subtitles.

I think a gross majority of Americans can easily understand the 'slightest twangs' of foreigners, but network television management either don't believe that's true or don't want to take any chances and force an American accent or wholesale remake on many shows. That said, there is a certain segment of the population who simply quits trying after the first strange-sounding word. It's foreign, so why bother trying to understand when you can just change the channel?

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My only thought was "SLACK JAW"... but now that you mention it, the eyebrows are a thing too.

Not surprising, for those who've responsibly experimented with it. Hopefully this paves the way for further research and future clinical applications.

Edward, I think the point is that it shouldn't necessarily BE "neat" when a public place plays classical music because a) it's a pretty common thing in urban environments as a means of deterrent and b) if you're in the "target audience" or someone who doesn't think classical music is crap, you can certainly find plenty of it on any given NPR/university station. To me, this post was about as neat as someone reporting on their local restroom hosting a push-button air dryer for hands. Sorry -- just don't find this update or the video that spectacular for any reason!

To those who are helpfully suggesting that if these lunches are so bad, parents should just fix something at home or serve a good and big breakfast: that may have worked for your family, but school hot lunch programs serve many students for whom this is one of their only guaranteed meals of the day.

19 million children in America qualify for free or reduced-price lunches at school and depend on these meals. The real tragedy here isn't that kids are forced to eat crap, it's that the programs are so under-funded that we force them to rely on this crap for nutrition because "oh, their parents should just make them something to take in if they don't like it."