you can get the same size free boxes from the post-office. I have a supply on hand, but still re-use boxes for most of the shipping, because I often ship 1st class or parcel and not priority.

Ah, I didn't note that part.

whump

whumpWHUMPWHUMP

Oh, that's not the sound of the good.

Iceland After the Fall

The island's footprint is 103,000 square kilometers, an area larger than South Carolina but smaller than Virginia, and 79 percent of the terrain is what the U.S. government calls "wasteland." Nine-tenths of the country's heat is geothermally produced. Renewable sources provide all electricity. The population has grown to 313,000—this is slightly less than the residency of Manhattan's Upper West Side, up to 155th Street—and the temperature of the Blue Lagoon, because I know you were wondering, averages 100 degrees, even in winter. What else? Iceland's culture today is a model of North European savoir-vivre. Almost two-thirds of its university students are women; the literacy rate has been estimated at 99.9 percent; and the annual publishing output is, per capita, the largest in the world.

Wow.

The article goes on to talk about the banking collapse, and resultant protests against the government.

The protests are organized by a group called "Phalanx Against the Situation," which sounds like a James Bond movie, or a particularly boozy Dada cell, and the most prevalent picket sign reads "Óstjórnina burt!" which I am told translates to something like "Away with you, you corrupt government!"

I just love the name "Phalanx Against the Situation." And the "Away with you, you corrupt government!" signs....

It still took them to a creepy culty Army Of The LORD place, though.

Speaking of, Jesus Camp was on the Biography Channel last night. I had the dvr pick it up and started to watch it at 1:30 in the morning, which I quickly realized was not the best idea I'd had all day, so I'll be watching it later this week. Just the little bit I saw was enough to give me the chills and have my eyes rolling--I saw the kids giving a little faux martial arts dance-ish thing that was like a religious haka done in camaflouge, and then the woman doing the presentation started going into a hard sell for the associated material.

Oh, I wanted to see Jesus Camp. Hopefully they'll rerun it.

Re: Iceland - one thing that struck me was the percentage of college students who are women - almost two-thirds. I wonder why that is? In the use, aren't college students about 55% women? And isn't the % of African-American college students that are women far higher?

Is it just that men are lame?

Is it just that men are lame?

I think it's that the majority of men without college degrees can earn more money than a woman without. College is not as much an imperative in the fiscal stakes for them.

Is it just that men are lame?

Here is my totally uninformed take. I think there are more good "male" job paths without a college degree than there are "female" job paths. Also, I think there is less pressure against academic achievement for girls than boys.

From The Onion:

Computer Being Stupid

CAMBRIDGE, MA—After multiple attempts to get the thing to do the thing, 38-year-old freelance writer Joe Garvin gave up Saturday, citing the fact that his stupid computer was too dumb to print something as simple as a travel itinerary. The computer, a PowerBook something with some kind of core that does this every single time, reportedly refused to just tell the printer to print even after Garvin spent a full 10 minutes yelling at it. "Why won't you just help me out here?" Garvin asked his computer after it started beeping at him just to rub it in. "I checked your nums lock already, and that's not it. What is the matter with you? I hate you." Although the computer will likely go on being retarded forever, Garvin refused to call tech support to resolve the problem, claiming they're all "Wha, wha, wha," and saying a bunch of stuff he doesn't even know what.