Julie Henderson : Body Painting is also highly recommended.

Hurt. Me. Plenty.

Here's a clue why we cannot have a discussion about race. That's right, a $4B class action lawsuit because somebody pointed out that asian people have slanted eyes. Holy. Shit. They do? Oh my fucking god, Miley is right.

Wait a minute, people from Africa look different than people from Europe and neither of them look like people from Central America. Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Isn't it funny that identical genetic material and concentrations of elements can be geographically isolated for such a long period of time that its common combinations can look completely different? Isn't it really weird that geography, climate and isolation can so greatly alter a species' most dominant identification tool? And when you compare all the differences exhibited by humans isn't it wonderful and weird at the same time? No?

Here's another clue. We're not going to get beyond race until one of two things happen:

1. We stop talking about race entirely. No more mentioning that this is the first blue person for such and such a position. No more text field entries for race or ethnicity on job applications, financial documents, marriage licenses, etc.
2. We give up this notion of coerced diversity where a mention of one race or religion leads to an immediate listing of every race and religion across the globe.

Until either of those happen, we'll be stuck in a society where things like a holiday wish for happiness are viewed as a religious attack.

CNN: Woman blinded by acid wants same fate for attacker

"I don't want to blind him for revenge," Bahrami said in her parents' Tehran apartment. "I'm doing this to prevent it from happening to someone else."

No revenge? Yeah, whatever. I say: burn that fucker. Let equal retribution be the deterrent to future violent acts. You wanna stop pedophiles from sodomizing little boys? Easy. The first time you sit one of those convicted freaks on a mechanical bull with a Sunday Edition sized dildo mounted to the saddle, and televise it, every sicko in the nation will think twice about taking their shlong out of their pants. If not, it makes for great reality TV.

Via:*

1. Require licensing for anybody that owns a gun.
2. Would require photographs and a thumbprint
3. Would require passage of a test that covers:
(A) the safe storage of firearms, particularly in the vicinity of persons who have not attained 18 years of age;
(B) the safe handling of firearms;
(C) the use of firearms in the home and the risks associated with such use;
(D) the legal responsibilities of firearms owners, including Federal, State, and local laws relating to requirements for the possession and storage of firearms, and relating to reporting requirements with respect to firearms; and
(E) any other subjects, as the Attorney General determines to be appropriate;

In a related note: My father-in-law has decided to bequeath a piece from his personal arsenal. With the proper paperwork processed, I'll take the legal possession of a Remington semi-auto 12-gauge shot gun, that he used as a police officer in the '68 Chicago DNC riots. Good to have a weapon with a history. The form that I have to submit for approval does require a copy of my DL, FOID and two passport photos. I suppose I do not have a problem with that on its face value. It does seem to be a wasted effort that doesn't provide anything other than a false sense of security to those who support it. The documentation doesn't ensure that I will not use the weapon unlawfully. Nor does it provide any additional aid in finding me if I do. If I already have a state ID or DL and an FOID, the extra photos are redundant. 'Feh, probably makes somebody sleep better at night.

Now, if you start to talk about unwarranted search inspections of personal property my dander is going to get up. If you suggest that the Fed. can seize my medical records to ensure that I am not a threat to society, I'll start to wonder where the hell I live.

As a point of order, the Mint OpenCongress page has been updated.

* Read the bill's full text here.

Via

Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan: Betsy McCaughey

In his book, Daschle proposed an appointed body with vast powers to make the "tough" decisions elected politicians won't make...

The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (190-192). The goal, Daschle's book explained, is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs. He praises Europeans for being more willing to accept "hopeless diagnoses" and "forgo experimental treatments," and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system.

That's right folks, just line up to the trough. There you will find hope, meaning, purpose and longevity all ladled out evenly by the all-knowing Politburo.

CommentaryMagazine: Stimulus: A History of Folly

Stimulus--that is, fiscal intervention with the express purpose of speeding up the normal regenerative process that Grant describes--is unnecessary and almost certainly harmful, a policy based on hubris and anxiety, rather than on history and good sense. Under such circumstances, the proper way to analyze discrete proposals today for spending or taxing is on their own merits, not on their supposed ability to stimulate something else. There may, in fact, be a good reason for government to spend billions of dollars today on building highways, and it has nothing to do with stimulus. It is that long-term interest rates are at historic lows and that the right highways can boost the economy in the long term. There also may be a good reason, again far apart from stimulus, for revising the tax code and reforming Social Security and Medicare. It is that Americans now understand that the economic future is not so assured as they believed a couple of years ago, and it is time for decisions to be made--in a manner careful, sensible, and unstimulated."

Holy shit, you mean I am not going to be able to afford a 4,000 sq ft. house, a german luxury sedan, have three kids, and still have extra cash to spend on all the consumable goods I can stuff in my lifestyle to make me feel important, and still have a retirement? Quick... somebody, spend something!

And I can't decide which this is:

Brand Development Book for the new Pepsi Logo

I applaud the reference to the Golden Ratio, but have to believe that it was used almost entirely to bamboozle the people at Pepsi. Especially since the idea is used on only half the curve that defines the inside curve in the blue, and none of the inside curve on the red.

For another take:

20 signs you don't want that web design project

I get #9 a lot, and then #11. I thought about creating flash cards that can be used as quick reference during client meetings.

It's Raining Money

What is a trillion dollars? Well, it's too many numerals to fit on your pocket calculator. But, given the accelerating obesity crisis in the United States, it's clear that many American pants could use far larger pockets. So the Obama administration will be offering tax credits to families who participate in the large-pocket impact study commissioned by the Pocket-Size Regulatory Authority. That should stimulate the economy sufficiently to stimulate someone into inventing the four-foot-wide pocket calculator that shows enough zeroes to calculate the size of the bailout

Barry Ritholz, author of the forthcoming book Bailout Nation, calculated--gosh, was it only six weeks ago?--that the tab for the bailout by November 24 was already $4.6165 trillion, which looks much more convincing because it's big but not round. It's specific to four decimal points, which sounds like they've got way down in the weeds of taxi receipts and lunch money. The media coo over Obama's "new New Deal," but, as Mr. Ritholz pointed out, if you adjust for inflation, the combined costs of the old New Deal plus the Louisiana Purchase, the Marshall Plan, the Korean, Vietnam, and Iraq wars, and every NASA project in history--oh, and the S&L crisis--add up to a mere $3.92 trillion. Even as he was totting up his numbers, the Bloomberg news service estimated that, factoring in Citibank and a couple of other Johnny-come-latelys, the bailout bill was in fact up to $7.76 trillion--which is the combined cost of all that other stuff (Louisiana Purchase, etc.) plus the $3.6 trillion of the Second World War

Yeah, that's the stuff. Burns at first and then makes me smile. Kinda like bourbon.