Politifact.com is a fun website that allows you to fact check the statements of politicians you hate, so you can riducle your buddies for supporting them. I guess you could even read up on the truthfullness of your own favorite politicians – if your into that sort of thing.
How I Am Passing Time
researching: Fraud in the Accounting Profession
reading: Career Warfare: 10 Rules for Building Your Successful Brand on the Business Battlefield
listening to: Hootie & the Blowfish -The Homegrown Tour: Live In Charleston
practicing: Juggling
playing: Spore
The 65 mpg Ford That You Can’t Get
Ford’s 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in European Markets in November, but it will be unavailable in the States. Ford’s reasoning is that Americans will not drive diesel-fueled vehicles because of both high fuel prices (taxes,) and stereotypes (diesel is for tractor-trailers and farmers,) not too mention American’s recent fascination with hybrid vehicles.
Here is the full story via Business Week.
The GOP: Give Us One More Chance
Aasif Mandvi of the Daily Show reveals the Republican Party’s election strategy:
Smart Financial Services By Kroger
This kiosk jumped out at me in the checkout line at Kroger. I cannot help but wonder how much financial incentive these companies are giving to Kroger for pushing their products.
The Funniest Thing I Have Read Today
From the fake news site scrappleface.
The Democrat National Convention speaker line up will feature a number of “real people” talking about the pain of living in these tough economic times, including an Indiana railroader, a Michigan truck driver, and an ordinary working mother from New York who’s saddled with $24 million in campaign debt.
The woman, who spent that money in an effort to get a better job, saw her hopes and dreams crushed because of sex discrimination in the Democrat party during the Bush administration.
Her husband has no regular paycheck and must often travel hundreds of miles to find work, so the high price of fuel has cut deeply into their monthly budget.
While she has tried to “pull herself up by her own bootstraps” by asking supporters of presidential nominee Barack Obama to pay off her debt, near-recession conditions have kept them from being able to help.
Another Benefit to High Gas Prices: Less Traffic Fatalities
A study conducted by Michael Sivak of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute concluded that traffic fatalities had a strongly inverse relationship to gas prices during the past year.
Should the March and April 2008 trends continue, the 2008 annual fatalities would drop under 40,000 for the first time in 1961.
Addendum: See my other two post about benefits of high gas prices here and here.
Why can’t people in certain countries just crowd around a ticket booth?
That is a great line. It is from this story by Aaron Hotfelder about (the lack of?) queuing theory. It is an interesting quick read. I think I would prefer the crowding method over the queuing method except for in situations where motor vehicles are concerned.
Immigration Reform: What Would Jesus Do?
A statement by Providence, Rhode Island, Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin:
“We often ask, ‘What would Jesus do?'” Tobin said in an interview Thursday. “I know for sure what Jesus would not do, would be to sweep into a community, gather up large numbers of people, separate them from one another and deport them to another country. In my own mind, in my own conscience, that’s crystal clear: Jesus would not do that.”
I couldn’t agree more with his statement. I am a strong advocate of immigration reform. America should open its borders to more immigrants, especially if they are highly skilled; it should also minimize efforts pursuing the deportation “illegal” immigrants who are otherwise productive, law-abiding members of society.
The Best Line I Have Read Today
“Don’t Steal. The Government Hates Competition.” written on a placard on fellow Libertarian Ron Paul’s desk.