To take the following from Adam Smith:It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.
And ignore that he:....proposes a theory of sympathy in which the act of observing others makes people aware of themselves and the morality of their own behavior. (nicked from Wikipedia)
...is to distort his message. And it is also to distort the fundamental nature of a society based on group cooperation.
A society in which a people pursue their own interests without regard to others, is a society bound for civil war.
There is no action but that it has an ethical implication, the reason for that is found in Donne's "No man is an island...". We are a group animal and, like the wolves, the meerkats etc., our efficiency as a group is found on a right balance between competition and cooperation.
The biggest danger to this balance is wealth, the possession of which gives the possessor a power over others which can (unlike the transient corporeal power of the wolf) be increased ad infinitum, and which is protected by the law.
Chicago and Cook County suburban voters cast ballots in record numbers
Monday -- the first day of early voting before the Nov. 4 presidential
election.
Drivers who've been suffering cruising anxiety may get to rev it up by
the holidays, when gasoline could drop below $3 a gallon, an expert
said Monday.
She looked like a sleeping princess. She was dressed in
royal purple, her head resting on a satin pillow. Braids and a
heart-shaped locket framed her pretty face. It was easy to see why the
17-year-old's nickname was "Gorgeous."
During a recent speech in Chicago, Dr. Alvin Poussaint, a Harvard
psychiatrist, related how, when he was a child and misbehaved, his
father would "smack me in the back of the head.''
Motorists with disabilities in two congested lakefront wards would be
forced to share the designated on-street spaces in front of their homes
under a pilot program in the works tailor-made to ease the parking
crunch.
For years, James J. Banks, a nephew of Chicago's powerful Ald. William
Banks (36th), has been the attorney of choice for developers who need
the city's OK to knock down homes and small businesses and replace them
with three- and four-story condo buildings.
First, the experts said drinking low to moderate amounts of alcohol
was a good idea, that it might protect against heart disease. Now, a study has found that such drinking has a risk: It might speed the shrinking of the brain that naturally comes with age.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008, 11:24 AM GMT [My Telegraph]
OK, I suppose that everyone else has seen it long ago, but I have just noticed that each Blogger's 'Comments' page now has a 'View all comments' link which allows you to search past comments (beyond the former 10). I have been badgering Shane to provide this for ages.
.. .and Lance Cade is my only friend. EEEEEEEEEEEeeh thats so cool. Im so glad you don't have to wait aeons to have someone add you back. I'm glad at maiden blog he's my only pal.
Makes me feel kinds superior knowing that I have a superstar as my first friend (even if they don't have to add me back :P). Now it's my turn to be the fan, and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
I attempted to draw Lance, too, (his profile image) but my realism skills aren't much chop at the moment. I'm happy with it, but It's in no way perfect.
I remember when we used to have pay tv when my brother and I were younger, and I remember when Cartoon Network (I'm sure it was CN..) would go off for the night, my brother would watch the wrestling and I'd hate it. He loved Sting. It was all about WCW then. When the PPV adds would come on on a different channel, he'd have that station running just to see the add a few hundred times.
Anyway, I've got a drawing to finish. My best friend and I designed outfits for if we ever became wrestlers (which... we never will HA.) and this picture needs finishing.
This morning I washed a spider down the plughole while taking a shower.
Again.
I’m averaging about three kills a week now. It’s not that I go into the shower with the deliberate intention of drowning a spider (Hygena and Dolphin would presumably sell bathroom suites with integral arachnids for people who actually wanted to slake their bloods lusts in this way). They just happen to be collateral damage, much like Afghan wedding guests and Dresden civilians. Consequently, though I can publicly regret the loss of life, I feel no real guilt or sense of responsibility for it.
It does occur to me, however, that something more sinister could be going on here. A few months ago, it would only take a couple of seconds for the average spider to be swept away. Now, though, they appear to be becoming increasingly more resilient. Today’s, for example, inclusive of legs, was about four inches across. He was therefore able to grip the edges of the plughole for a good one and a half minutes before succumbing to the flow of the water and the suds from my up-market “triple-milled” soap and the residue from my lime and mint hair conditioner.
I am suddenly reminded of the film, “Zulu.” As you may recall, when Cetshwayo’s warriors began their attack on Rorke’s Drift, they initially probed its defences by deliberately sacrificing their first wave of troops. Only when they’d worked where the British guns were, and their firepower, did they commit the bulk of their army to the attack. So exactly the same scenario could well be playing itself out in my bathroom: the first spiders were merely the expendable foot-soldiers of a spider "impi", testing the efficacy of my shower. But when they have, that’s when the main attack could arrive. So what do I do when three thousand spiders suddenly come at me at once?
Stanley Baker and Michael Caine would up-end wagons and surround the shower with oxen. The trouble is, an ox in my shower would probably be even more of a problem to dislodge than a spider. You can’t readily force oxen down the plughole, even if you use the power jet on them. They just sit there and moo, blocking the outlet completely. Or worse, they deposit large ox pats all over your bathroom floor and shag female oxes. I really can’t be having this. Especially as, given today's atmosphere of anti-militarism, there’s virtually no chance of me getting a Victoria Cross out of it.
In future, therefore, I may well take all my showers at the gym. Then it becomes someone else’s problem.
Over the weekend, Sarah Palin dropped the puck at a Philadelphia Flyers game. The crowd bood her big-time...so much so that they cranked up the music in the arena to drown out the boos. But when Fox News showed the footage, the edited out the boos. So much for being "Fair and Balanced"! Watch the video below to see the difference.
Seriously, give the girl a break. I mean you, Perez Hilton, and anyone else who is smack talking about Lisa Marie Presley's size. She just gave birth to twins, who by the way have been named Finley and Harper (they are girls, I am a sucker for girls with unisex names). The babies were born by C-Section on October 7.
I am completely over celebs getting back to their prepregnancy weight 5 minutes after giving birth. Really, that's not human. So, I am hoping that it takes Lisa Marie somewhere between 1 year and never to zip up her prepregnancy jeans, like it does for the rest of us exhausted, hormonal mommies. Anyone with me? I also think she has the cojones to lead the celebrity brigade of real women!
There are some things I just can't paraphrase...
Here's one from starpulse.com:
Angelina Jolie Buys Maddox His First Knife
Angelina Jolie has already bought her eldest son his first knife - because she thinks it's important he learns about the dangers and benefits of daggers.
The actress, a longtime knife collector, was 11 when her mother took her weapon shopping for the first time - and she recently treated adopted son Maddox to his first dagger.
But she insists her son's first knife was dulled for safety and came with a serious talk about violence.
Jolie tells the November issue of W magazine, "We take him to a special shop. We also talk about Samurais and the idea about defending someone as good. We talk about everything."
Alright, "she thinks it's important he learns about the dangers and benefits of daggers." Hey, parent's out there, is this at the top of your list of important lessons? I mean, the kid is 7 years old! I have never parented a 7 year old, but I've been 7, and I don't remember the "dangers and benefits of daggers" lesson. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention. And by the way, what are the benefits? Anyone?
Self tanning don't...
Don't forget your feet. I am sure this pic has been everywhere, but it's killin' me, Lindsay Lohan apparently was either wearing socks while tanning, or forgot to apply her Neutrogena self tanner to her feet:
either way, I think we can all learn from her mistakes.
Is there any chance of having the 'Father O'Brien' false ID deleted, please? If you check you will see that it was set up using my name. Its intent is malicious, as seen in its comments 'supporting' the IRA this morning.
This is yet another ID of a troll that I've had occasion to bring to your attention in the past. I will not mention any of his other IDs lest this post be deleted and the troll left alone.
1:29 El siguiente día vio Juan a Jesús
que venía a él, y dijo: He aquí el Cordero de
Dios, que quita el pecado del mundo. 1:30 Este es aquel de
quien yo dije: Después de mí viene un varón, el
cual es antes de mí; porque era primero que yo. 1:31
Y yo no le conocía; mas para que fuese manifestado a Israel,
por esto vine yo bautizando con agua. 1:32 También
dio Juan testimonio, diciendo: Vi al Espíritu que descendía
del cielo como paloma, y permaneció sobre él.
1:33 Y yo no le conocía; pero el que me envió a
bautizar con agua, aquél me dijo: Sobre quien veas descender
el Espíritu y que permanece sobre él, ése es el
que bautiza con el Espíritu Santo. 1:34 Y yo le vi,
y he dado testimonio de que éste es el Hijo de Dios.
Diddy, hosted the Ten Year Anniversary of Sean John with a series of fashion shows, the latest of which was held in the parking lot of Lenox Mall in ATL. Diddy's secret daughter Chance was there with her mom Sarah Chapman.
Following the shock defeat of Amir Khan recently, the next and last big
fight of the year involving a Briton comes from the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. It will feature Britain’s most
popular fighter, Ricky Hatton and brash New Yorker, Paulie Malignaggi. It will
be fought over twelve rounds and on the line will be the IBO World Light
welterweight title.
The fight has the makings of becoming one of the great fights. Hatton has
had his fair share of bruising encounters, his all action style is exciting to
watch and his two fisted approach is very often brutal. His record of never
being beaten at light welterweight is a tremendous one, he is known as the
hitman because he does hit and with absolute consistency and unrelentingly. He
is a savage in the ring and any man his size anywhere in the world should be
very careful before stepping in the ring with him.
It is why Paulie Malignaggi may be wiser to curb his natural tendency to
loudmouth his views, particularly his negative ones with regard to Hatton’s
boxing flaws. Malignaggi is a stylish fighter who can be very elusive. He is
possibly a little quicker than Hatton, put as they old cliché goes, ‘he can run
but he can’t hide’ and that will be the sum of it in Las Vegas. His style is
perfect for Hatton, he will jab and move and bob and weave, but never will
Hatton take his eyes off his prey and when he catches up with the American, he
will a launch an attack of controlled and accurate savagery that will have
Mallignaggi hurting and running until he can run no more.
Malignaggi has said that he has spotted flaw in the Hatton make up. For
his information, Hatton has many flaws, he will admit that himself, but he will
not be thinking about them against Malignaggi he will only be thinking of where
he’s going to strike next. Hatton will be so quickly on top of Malignaggi that
the American will have no time to think about Hatton’s flaws, he will be too
busy looking to escape from his attributes.
Admittedly Hatton did not put up ones of his best performances against
Juan Lazcano in his last fight in May. But he seemed ill prepared and as a
consequence he parted company with his trainer, John Graham. Ironically Hatton
has enlisted the help of Floyd Mayweather snr, father of his only conqueror,
Floyd Mayweather jnr in Las Vegas last December. Ricky Hatton will be sharper on his second visit to SinCity and the bookmakers
are certain to have him as the hot favourite to defeat Mallignaggi. The recent
switch to the Mayweather camp is proof of how determined Hatton is to win this
fight, whilst proving to the American public that he has ‘box office’ appeal
ahead of what must be surely his final payday some time in 2009. This fight
will be the boxing highlight of the year for British fight fans and I for one
cannot wait.
When I stepped down as The Telegraph's stock market reporter in early August to pursue my dream move to Asia, some in the world of finance appeared to think that the worst was already behind us. The flow of bad news appeared to be drying up and the more optimistic bankers were hoping that business might pick up after the usual summer lull.
Singapore: calm before the storm?
Since then, and not for the first time since the global financial crisis began, "the world changed". Unfortunately for me as a financial journalist, I missed out on the opportunity to cover many of the historic events that have unfolded over the last couple of months. However, I now have the chance to report on the world of business from an entirely new angle.
Here in Singapore, where I'm based, the stock market has taken a big tumble in recent weeks, as it has almost everywhere around the world. But the atmosphere resembles the calm before the storm. In Singapore, as in most of Asia, so far the slide in the value of equities has been the most visibly harmful consequence of the turmoil in the US and Europe.
Singapore may have entered a technical recession last week but there are no great fears about rising unemployment yet and most finance professionals and politicans remain surprisingly upbeat (both about their own prospects and those of the regions' economies). Crucially, there have been no major financial shocks thus far in Asia, no bank collapses or massive government bail-outs of the sort that have shaken the US and Europe to their core.
Over the coming months, I plan to travel around Southeast Asia and cover the business stories that are affecting people's lives, whether large or small, global or local. Journalists who blog for the so-called mainstream media are often accused of failing to truly understand and/or engage with the medium but I hope to make this blog as interactive as possible. I'm open to any suggestions of stories/events to look into and will endeavour to respond to as many comments as I can.
When talking about which artist he'd like to slap, Ne-Yo said:
"Young Berg. I can't respect anyone who's not trying to do anything original. That song that he has out, The Bizness, it very much like what Lil Wayne is doing, and what T-Pain is doing right now. And it upsets me. That's what wrong with music business today, everyone is copycatting everyone." ~ Ne-Yo
A mother 'allowed herslf to be seduced' by a 14 year-old boy (four times, she said) and was given only a suspended sentence. Oh, and she offered to procure drugs for him too, but hey! don't we all?
Her perspicacious husband smelled a rat when she exchanged text messages with the boy 50 times in a day.
Excuse me, M'lud, but which part of 'below the age of consent' don't you understand? You obviously bought her lawyer's sob stories about her domestic problems, hook, line and sinker.
So much for the principle of discouraging the rest from such behaviour. It's obviously worth a punt and others will certainly have a try, if it's what they fancy.
Will a Bengal make the Pro Bowl ??? DOES a Bengal deserve to make the Pro Bowl ??
Miami Columnist responds this way to the Dolphins adding a top wide out for their offense !
Q: Why do the Dolphins not try to trade for Roy Williams or Chad Johnson? We need a #1 receiver and by bringing one of these guys they can put Ted Ginn Jr. back in the return game which is why Cam Cameron drafted him anyway? Eduardo Molano, Cooper City.
A: Cam's the one who said that he wanted to develop Ginn's receiver's skills first. It seems that Tony Sparano agrees. No news on a trade yet but I agree that Roy Williams would sure be an upgrade here. Ocho-Cinco isn't going to cut it in Bill Parcells' world.
THIS GOES BACK TO 1995.....IF YOU HAD TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN, WOULD YOU GIVE MIKE PBS ???????????
LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS....THIS MORNING
CINCINNATI STADIUM PROJECT VOTE TO COME TODAY
The Cincinnati City Council is scheduled to vote today on a
$540M stadium project agreement that would create new facilities
for the Reds and Bengals. Hamilton County officials agreed last
week to raise sales taxes 1% to fund the project. An agreement
between the city and county would allow the county to retain
ownership of the facilities while the city would retain some
stadium sales taxes. In addition, the city and county will work
to finance an additional $10M a year for Cincinnati's schools.
Bengals owner Mike Brown set a deadline of 5pm today for local
leaders to come up with a plan. If no agreement is reached,
Brown said he will negotiate exclusively with the MD Stadium
Authority, who has agreed to build a new stadium for any NFL team
near Camden Yards (Jon Morgan, Baltimore SUN, 6/29).
I am suddenly reminded of the film, “Zulu.” As you may recall, when Cetshwayo’s warriors began their attack on Rorke’s Drift, they initially probed its defences by deliberately sacrificing their first wave of troops. Only when they’d worked where the British guns were, and their firepower, did they commit the bulk of their army to the attack. So exactly the same scenario could well be playing itself out in my bathroom: the first spiders were merely the expendable foot-soldiers of a spider "impi", testing the efficacy of my shower. But when they have, that’s when the main attack could arrive. So what do I do when three thousand spiders suddenly come at me at once?
