Dog vs. Rattlesnake. Dog loses. But there is
hope for other dogs. "At home, I lit candles in prayer, pleading to the universe that she would make it. I slept fitfully, realizing that this was her battle. I couldn’t will her to survive. Even so, I offered a psychic bargaining chip, promising her a trip to the ocean, which she had never seen, if she pulled through this." And, she did.
posted by Xurando
on Sep 8, 2011 -
12 comments
Father and son, bunking in G block. "Scott Peters and his father, Bernard, eat dinner together at night, then watch bowling or classic boxing matches on television together into the evening. They have an extremely close relationship: They have seen each other for at least part of nearly every one of the last 5,455 days. Every night, they sleep together in an 8-by-12-foot room, where the alarm bell rings in the morning but also at 10:30 p.m., when the guards turn off the lights in G Block, at the Elmira Correctional Facility." via
NYT
posted by Xurando
on May 1, 2011 -
55 comments
Is this just another version of the minstrel show? The
Pendleton Round-up is celebrating its
100th anniversary. Part of its attraction is the performance of a
"American Indian" dance pageant, whose participants are compensated traditionally. "A century later, the mill still provides blankets, and families are still paid to appear, $5 per person each day at the arena. Beef and vegetables are provided, as are tokens for other food. The winner of the “Best Dressed Indian Award” at the parade gets 50 silver dollars. The winner of the “Oldest Indian Couple Award” gets 100 silver dollars in a pouch."
posted by Xurando
on Sep 24, 2010 -
17 comments
Frank Serpico testified before the Knapp Commission in October 1971, becoming the first police officer in the United States to voluntarily give evidence against a fellow policeman. You probably have seen the
movie.
Frank Serpico returns. “I still have nightmares,” he said. “I open a door a little bit and it just explodes in my face. Or I’m in a jam and I call the police, and guess who shows up? My old cop buddies who hated me.”
posted by Xurando
on Jan 22, 2010 -
41 comments
Sick leave. In some countries it's taken for
granted. In the USA it's
controversial. A
bill before congress would mandate 5 days of paid sick leave a year for businesses with over 15 employees. Some without sick leave are going to work
sick. I'm sure you have never done
this.
posted by Xurando
on Dec 17, 2009 -
160 comments
Nina Sankovitch is
about to finish reading a book a day for a year. She not only reads them, she
reviews them too. "You can’t go from ‘Little Bee,’ by Chris Cleave, which is about this young woman who witnesses torture and herself is a victim of abuse in Nigeria — a really great book, but you’re just crying or your stomach is clenched — to another book like it the next day,” she said. “If I read a book like that every day, I would have collapsed a long time ago.”
Other 365 day projects have included
this,
this, and
this.
posted by Xurando
on Oct 13, 2009 -
133 comments
Do you let your small children run around
naked? "The sexual component of nudity — and a fear of pedophiles — is what makes some adults object entirely to letting children be naked. Jenny Louie said her husband is so uncomfortable when their 4-year-old daughter, Rebecca, is naked that, even if she is alone in her bedroom, in Los Angeles, he will immediately close her shutters."
posted by Xurando
on Jul 16, 2009 -
190 comments
Phil Gramm is unrepentent. "Mr. Gramm said the problem of predatory loans was not of the banks’ making. Instead, he faulted “predatory borrowers".
"Mr. Gramm, ever the economics professor, disputes his critics’ analysis of the causes of the upheaval. He asserts that swaps, by enabling companies to insure themselves against defaults, have diminished, not increased, the effects of the declining housing markets."
“This is part of this myth of deregulation,” he said in the interview. “By and large, credit-default swaps have distributed the risks. They didn’t create it. The only reason people have focused on them is that some politicians don’t know a credit-default swap from a turnip.”
posted by Xurando
on Nov 17, 2008 -
69 comments
Have you tried
MUni yet? It's the latest rage in adventure sports.
posted by Xurando
on Jul 27, 2008 -
39 comments
Ever have a job working for a record label on a
street crew. And yer puttin up publicity posters on lightpoles for an artist like
Rocko and some asshole won't stop takin yer
picture.
Whadda you do then? Break his friggin
camera.
posted by Xurando
on Mar 24, 2008 -
79 comments
Checkout: Where all lanes are open. NYT
article article on Walmart's new blog written by their buyers with uncensored commentary on Walmart products. "After heeding the lessons of Wal-Mart’s earlier blogs and consulting with several well-known bloggers from sites like the Huffington Post, the buyers decided the site would succeed only if they wrote in their own voice, free from censorship and corporate review."
[more inside]
posted by Xurando
on Mar 3, 2008 -
55 comments
