“When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold.  They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful.” ~ Barbara Bloom

P.S. ... it's a beautiful Japanese art form called kintsugi.  Read about it here.

AP News says:

LONDON (AP) - The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the U.N. Population Fund said Wednesday.

Yes!  I've been saying that for years!

It's so very simple ... fewer people equal less destruction of Earth's limited resources, and condoms cost a helluva lot less than wind turbines and solar cells.

It's incredible how sometimes it takes huge organizations like the U.N. forever to discover the blatantly obvious.

"Chastity: the most unusual of the sexual perversions." ~ Aldus Huxley

According to this article regarding the newly passed hate crimes bill, Pat Robertson says "The noose has tightened around the necks of Christians."

Yes, indeed it has - for bigoted homophobic hypocritical Christians.  The rest of us Christians merely breathe a sigh of relief, sing "Hallelujah",  and thank God for helping our nation to come one step closer to the true meaning of "... justice for ALL".

Q: How many Generals/Politicians does it take to change a light bulb?

A: 1,000,001: One to change the bulb, and 1,000,000 to rebuild civilization to the point where they need light bulbs again.

"Time, like an ever rolling stream, bears all who breathe away;

they fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day.

O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come;

be thou our guide while life shall last, and our eternal home."

~ Isaac Watts, 1719

Cogent comments on very unsportsmanlike language ...

I'm not into commercial sports at all, but the writer of this ESPN article offers clearly valid observations regarding bigotry and intolerance among those in that business of multi-millionaires.

"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." ~ Sinclair Lewis

"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Finally ... the world's nastiest shoes are on the verge of joining the silly memories of pet rocks and hula hoops.  Why anyone in his or her right mind ever spent a dime on that unattractively slimy footwear is truly a mystery.  So now, after Crocs buyers with more spare money than taste have apparently decided they're over the dizzy fad, the maker of Crocs is apparently about to close up shop.  Read the story here.

LA Times reports that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently warned that his state might need an emergency loan of as much as $7 billion from the federal government within weeks.  Seems California is "... unable to access routine short-term loans that it typically relies upon to remain solvent".

Excuse me?

Apparently I'm not familiar with contemporary business practices, because I fail to understand why state governments and private business depend upon loans to meet fully expected ordinary current expenses like salaries.  Back when I ran a small business, we paid such things from the liquid bank account assets we were careful to accumulate in advance.  Our business growth was dependent upon stashing away sufficient financial resources to meet future needs, including "rainy day" funds to cover unanticipated shortfalls.

Other than very expensive hardware purchases, we didn't buy new equipment or hire more staff until sufficient profits had been accumulated to meet their costs.  Credit was something normally used only for small day-to-day expenses like printer ink and business lunches.  When, exactly, did that concept die?

Trying to run any meaningful enterprise based primarily upon credit is absolutely begging for disaster.  No wonder such states and businesses are in deep shit.  Let them learn the tough lessons of failure.