Selling Indulgences

In the October issue of Fast Company magazine (p.21), a reader writes a letter in response to an earlier article about the buying and selling of carbon credits:

Selling carbon credits clearly mimics the medieval practice of selling indulgences. There was no evidence they helped anybody get to heaven, but there was plenty of money to be made helping everybody feel better.

Ken MacDonald
Seattle, Washington

Computer questions and answers

Q: What should you do when you get an e-mail titled "Pictures of Sarah Palin nude!"?
A: Whatever you do, don't open it! It could contain a particularly bad virus.

Q: What should you do when you get an e-mail titled "Pictures of Hillary Clinton nude!"?
A: Whatever you do, don't open it! It could contain pictures of Hillary Clinton nude.

Four-time bride

A woman married three times walked into a bridal shop one day and told the sales clerk that she was looking for a wedding gown for her fourth wedding.

'Of course, madam,' replied the sales clerk, 'exactly what type and color dress are you looking for?'

The bride to be said: 'A long frilly white dress with a veil.'

The sales clerk hesitated a bit, then said, 'Please don't take this the wrong way, but gowns of that nature are considered more appropriate for brides who are being married the first time - for those who are a bit more innocent, if you know what I mean? Perhaps ivory or sky blue would be nice?'

'Well,' replied the customer, a little peeved at the clerk's directness, 'I can assure you that a white gown would be quite appropriate. Believe it or not, despite all my marriages, I remain as innocent as a first-time bride.

You see, my first husband was so excited about our wedding, he died as we were checking into our hotel.

My second husband and I got into such a terrible fight in the limo on our way to our honeymoon that we had that wedding annulled immediately and never spoke to each other again.'

What about your third husband?' asked the sales clerk.

'That one was a Democrat,' said the woman, 'and every night for four years, he just sat on the edge of the bed and told me how good it was going to be, but nothing ever happened.'

Some REALLY good news!

For a change, we have some really good news. My absolute favorite beverage is not only good for me, it may actually be better for me than water!

Read all about it here!

Antibiotic resistance increasing

Comes now this worrying piece of news from the BBC.

We are already to the point where anyone who uses antibacterial soap (outside of a clinical setting) is committing a crime against humanity. These soaps need to be outlawed for general public use as soon as possible.

The next step is that anyone who is prescribed an antibiotic will have to report to a clinic or pharmacy every day to be given that day's dose. Failure to appear should result in an automatic arrest warrant.

Perhaps before we get to that point, we need to criminalize the overprescribing of antibiotics. Doctors who prescribe antibiotics for known viral infections must be stopped.

Forget global warning. The real danger to humanity is bacterial, and we're working for their side!

The UK's view of our elections

I love to read the BBC News ... and other foreign news outlets. They have such an interesting view of us.

Today's take on last night's speech by Hillary Clinton at the Democrats' convention is a lot of fun to read. Here are some relevant quotes:

After all, the winds of change should be blowing against the Republicans and their president. But, everywhere you look in Denver, you find nail-biting delegates, nervous surrogates, defensive campaign staffers.

The rest of the world thinks that Mr Obama will be America's 44th president but, at home, the Democrats are the worried party.

To some extent, this is their traditional role. Like Woody Allen in one of his earlier movies, the Democrats excel at fretting, agonising, navel gazing and over-analysing.

The opinion polls, which have Mr Obama and his Republican rival John McCain neck-and-neck, prove that they have reason to worry.

The senator from Illinois has had an arid summer. He needs to have a bountiful harvest season.

But the other reason for anxiety is the Lady who broods in the wings. Of late, Hillary and Bill Clinton have not uttered a single public word of apostasy. They are toeing the line, gritting their teeth and swallowing their pride.

They are also economical with their enthusiasm. I am told that senior Clinton people aren't even sticking around for Obama's big stadium speech on Thursday. This is damning with faint praise.

And what has to be my favorite quote:

If Barack Obama wins the 2008 election, this will be remembered as a gracious salute from a defeated rival; if he loses and Republican John McCain gets the White House, then we might just see it as the first speech of Campaign 2012.

Read the article here.

No Concrete Proof ...

Scientists in Sweden are reluctant to say that there's any proof that Global Warming (at least on the scale the popular culture believes) is even occurring, let alone that humans are somehow causing it.

Click here to read the article.