It's way past time for this mass protest. Let's set the scene at a large prominent public space such as the Washington, DC Mall. Let's gather five million white-collar workers and professionals and invite them to throw their neckties into a huge bonfire to demonstrate that they're not willing to…
Here's an interview with journalist Lisa Guernsey, the author of a new book on this multi-faceted topic of television and young children. Her book is titled Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children from Birth to Age Five. Guernsey was asked about Baby Einstein (I previously discussed this product at…
In Osama Bin Laden’s latest screed, one of the things he exhorts people to do is give up interest. The charging and paying of interest is forbidden in strict Islam. Known as riba (increase), it was the subject of some of Mohammed’s most vehement condemnations. One can see why with only a cursory look at history. Namely, moneylending was largely an uncontrolled practice that guaranteed a class structure that could not be broken, incurred debts that led to involuntary servitude, and was an all around nasty way to keep the serfs in the fields. Mohammed, rather than suggesting some form of regulation, vented spleen and condemned it outright. Christians, of course, had their own attitude toward it, which led to out-groups being the only ones allowed to lend money (Jews, famously, but not exclusively). The prohibition was based mainly on two Biblical passages (both Old Testament): Leviticus 25:36–37 (“Take thou no usury…”) and Ezekiel 18:13 (“He that have give forth usury, and hath taken increase: shall he live? He shall not live…”).
The Catholic Church used to excommunicate moneylenders. The law said: Quidquid sorti accedit, usura est “what exceeds the principal is usury.” (The Italian Renaissance, aside from great art and a few geniuses, also revolutionized banking. The bankers noted that this applied only to loans, not contracts, so they erected a facade behind which they could do exactly what they wanted. They made no loans. They traded in Bills of Exchange. Technically, it was a sale of one …
This paean to Taco Bell, from Mark Dery of Salon.com: No matter how sophisticated my palette has grown, nor how politicized it has become, I still feel a nostalgic fondness for Taco Bell tacos, triggered by sense memories of that first bite, when the shell would disintegrate into a heap…
There are lots of reasons for you to be commuting by bicycle, but many of you who could cycle to work are still burning expensive gasoline to get there. What’s it going to take to get you out of that expensive car and onto a high-precision, environment-friendly, health-enhancing bicycle? How about some money? Not just gas money, either. Read on. This post might change your life in a dozen healthy and bank-account enhancing ways.
More than half of Americans live less than 5 miles from the place where they work. That’s easy striking range for a bicycle. Studies have shown that trips of less than 3 miles are often quicker by bike, and urban trips of 5 to 7 miles usually take about the same time. Here are more statistics to consider:
According to the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey, 25 percent of all trips are made within a mile of the home, 40 percent of all trips are within two miles of the home, and 50 percent of the working population commutes five miles or less to work. Yet more than 82 percent of trips five miles or less are made by personal motor vehicle.
I’m one of the many people who live about five-miles from my place of employment. Traveling five miles to work takes me only about 25 minutes. This is only about 10 minutes more than it would take to drive to work in good traffic.
I have commuted to work by bicycle since 1998. Making the …