Entering Freshman members of the Class of 2008 live in a world where:
10. Alan Greenspan has always been setting the nation�s financial direction.
The Beloit College Class of 2008 Mindset lists 49 additional items that form part of the base experience of this years college freshman.
The Beloit Mindset webpage hasn’t been updated with the 2008 list quite yet (mid day) so for your reading pleasure I have included their news release below the fold.
There is good news and bad news on the state terrorism front. First the good news:
The downturn in weapons orders worldwide since 2000 has been notable. Global arms agreement values have fallen from $41 billion in 2000 to $25.6 billion in 2003.And the bad news. First:
Global arms agreement values in 2003 were $25.6 billion.and second, if you are a US citizen:
In 2003, the United States led in arms transfer agreements worldwide, making agreements valued at over $14.5 billion (56.7% of all such agreements), up from $13.6 billion in 2002.These numbers are not big when compared to, for instance, the US war budget and to be fair the US has a lot of company in this business. The other top ten leading peace loving nations are Russia, France, Germany, United Kingdom, China, Israel, Ukraine, Sweden and Italy.
This doesn’t even begin to make any sense and if it doesn’t make you squirm enough there’s more.
Via Scott at AMCGLTD.COM.
Apparently sitting back and relaxing is not as good for you as it feels:
Slumping in front of the television or computer could deactivate muscles that support and protect your spine, triggering many otherwise inexplicable cases of lower back pain.It takes a bit of effort but, yes, you can sit up straight in the car, on the bus, and in your living room.
What? It is August 25th not December 25th.
Well, if you work in a National Park you are probably celebrating Christmas today in a tradition that begain in the 1930s1 in Yellowstone and has since spread to most if not all of the National Parks.
And a special Merry Christmas to the staff of Signal Mountain Lodge in Grand Teton National Park who, while celebrating this Christmas Day, continue to mourn the loss of their friend and companion Quiet Dave.
NB: On a more mundane level today is the 88th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service.
1 A write up that I recently saw on the wall of a National Park lodge said this tradition begain in Yellowstone in the summer of 1933 though this reference is much less specific.