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What your astrological sign says about you: Namely, that you know too much about Astrology.

When I was first introduced to the concept of Astrology as a kid, I was skeptical. After all, believing that the position of the planets and stars could impact your life in any meaningful way, let alone dictate your daily behavior, seemed...what's the word? Oh, yeah, stupid. But the more I learned about this ancient "science," the more I came to feel that people DID seem to reflect the personality traits predicted by their sign. But how? Finally, I read the book that empirically and scientifically explained how and why Astrology really works.

You must be this tall to enlist

Wow, and I kinda thought my paranoid concerns about America turning into a military/industrial complex (like the Empire in Star Wars) were unfounded. Sadly, I was wrong. According to CNN.com: The Army is considering a proposal to allow a private developer to build a military-themed park that would include Cobra Gunship rides and bars including a '1st Division Lounge.' Seriously, how else will The Army be able to breed a new generation of Storm Troopers? Unrelated fun: check out Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager.

Advertising: It kills democracy dead.

Surprisingly, the problems our country has been experiencing since the 1980s aren't the result of Republican over-spending, military build-ups, religiousity, blatant hypocrisy or rampant marital infidelity. They also aren't the result of Democratic homo-friendly amorality, Pro-Education elitism or “We know best” over-regulation. No, the reason that this once-proud, Capitalistic country is melting down can be traced directly back to one insidious evil: advertising. And I should know, after all, I work in the business.

When I was a kid, we drove cars that ran on gasoline, I shit you not.

Finally, someone has figured out a way to put electric cars on the road fast, and en masse. From an article in Wired Magazine, this guy, Agassi, (no relation to the tennis player, I presume) is setting the whole system up in Israel right now in cahoots with automaker, Renault. The company's called Better Place, and its idea is based on the cellphone business model where you subsidize the cost of the car, and then charge people only for the cost of the electricity they use (kinda like buying "minutes").

Coca-Cola to stop giving children Parkinson’s disease, liver damage.

In response to my earlier blog post about the dangers of Diet Coke—or more realistically, recent charges that Sodium Benzoate is altering the DNA of children—the Coca-Cola Company has finally decided to remove this "taste-protecting" substance from all their sodas, including Fanta, Dr. Pepper, Sprite and Diet Coke (although not regular Coke).

BOOKS

I am America (And so can you!), Stephen Colbert—Sage advice for an ailing nation.
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Christopher Hitchens—The case against belief.
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality, Brian Greene—A mind-bending romp through quantum physics.
Adam's Curse: A Future without Men, Bryan Sykes—It's not MY fault, it's my chromosome's.
1984, George Orwell—Who says no one can predict the future?
Nonzero : The Logic of Human Destiny, Robert Wright—It gives you hope for the future.
The Stranger, Albert Camus—Alienated existentialism at its best.
A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson—Why aren't textbooks this funny?

POLITICS

Change Congress Help keep Big Money out of politics
Earmark Watch Bringing citizen oversight to congressional spending
Money And Politics Illuminating the connection
Open Congress The real story behind what's happening in Congress
Fortune 535 Find out how wealthy your local politicians are
OpenSecrets Center for responsive politics
Citability Making government accessible, reliable, and transparent
Data.gov Public access to high-value, machine-readable data sets
Public Markup Review and comment on proposed bills before they are even introduced
FedSpending Find out where your tax money is going
The Sunlight Foundation Shining light on money, lobbying, and government
Transparency Int'l. Stop corruption to save lives.
Congresspedia The citizen's encyclopedia of Congress

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