Part 2 to random paper stuff, except I forget the exact title I used for part 1

Yugh, all these papers are kinda gritty- so that's why I have to go through them now, acknowledge their contents, then throw them out!

"REPAIRS TO CLOSE LANDMARK"

Due to an earthquake I'd never heard of (5.8 magnitude last August.. I vaguely remember people mentioning that), the Washinton Monument is scheduled to be closed in September and will remain so for 12 to 18 months. It will be "shrouded with scaffolding".

So if you've ever wondered how any secret government organizations can sneakily upgrade various monuments with hi-tech gear, well, now's the time to check it out.

"Between Friends" Comic strip

Not that I can usually advocate the Between Friends strip, but this one has a Henry David Thoreau line, immediately elevating it to noteworthy status: "If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

That quote deserves better than an odds and ends mention. Ah well.

"ARE WE SELLING OUR SOUL?"

New book by Michael Sandel "What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets"

I have two passages from the article to copy:

'"At a time of rising inequality, the marketization of everything means that people of affluence and people of modest means lead increasingly separate lives," Sandel writes. "We live and work and shop and play in different places. Our children go to different schools... It's not good for democracy, nor is it a satisfying way to live."

'He does not oppose inequality everywhere, but believes that too much of it is dangerous. "Democracy does not require perfect equality," he writes, "but it does require that citizens share in a common life.

"What matters is that people of different backgrounds and social positions encounter one another, and bump up against one another, in the course of everyday life. For this is how we learn to negotiate and abide our differences, and how we care for the common good."'

And now here's an opposing passage from the end of the article:

'"The thesis that Sandel is presenting is one that is not obviously correct," says Joseph Heath, a University of Toronto philosophy professor, author of The Efficient Society and co-author of The Rebel Sell.

"The idea that you can get a whole theory of welfare state out of this idea that it's just morally unacceptable for markets to do certain kinds of things- I just think the argument's totally wrong."

I include the opposing passage because I've read Rebel Sell and basically disagree with its ENTIRE premise, so by having this guy be the voice opposing Sandel, well that pushes me in the direction of thinking Sandel is automatically right. (to reiterate my problem with Rebel Sell, the authors basically assert that culture and counter culture are basically the same thing, and that there is therefore no ACTUAL counter culture, which I think completely ignores the groups of people that don't form groups of people at all.)

"SWITZERLAND EMBRACES 'CONSENSUS DEMOCRACY'"

Wherein I learn that Switzerland has bunches of referendums each year. I'm a big fan of referendums, I'd rather them than to leave all the big stuff to dumb politicians (yeah yeah, dumb politicians that were voted in by the people..).

I've written myself a note here saying: Referendum- Powerfful tool for civic engagement RE: Meech Lake Accord 1990

I guess they had a referendum over the Meech Lake Accord and, despite what the politician expected, it got through.. or didn't go threw. I forget which way the politicians expected things to turn out, but it went contrary to that.

"GREEN GYMS PUMP ENERGY BACK TO GRID"

Article about a gym that uses its equipment to generate electricity instead of running on it. Pretty awesome idea. It's called AC4 Fitness based in Goleta, California.

A BUNCH OF ARTICLES THAT JUST HAVE AWESOME TITLES:

"Stolen Dog Stolen, Owner Believes"- in case you couldn't tell, "owner" may be stretching things a bit far. He stole the dog from an animal shelter because he'd have otherwise been forced to neuter the animal, which is doesn't believe in.

"Detroit's Summer of Fire" Arsonists are rampaging, overwhelming a shrinking number of firefighters. Are the culprits crazy - or rich?- it's a property based conspiracy! Conspiracy!

"No More Force To Reckon With"- small town of Kemp, Texas gets rid of their police department because they couldn't afford it any longer. If ever there was a setting for a modern western...

and now for my favourite one, and the thing that I'll leave this post with:

"THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE FAINTING SCHOOLGIRLS"

^-isn't that awesome?!?! It's a Scooby Doo/Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew title... in real life!! Trust me, it's awesome. Any headline featuring "mysterious" or "case of the..." is instantly amazing, and this one has both!!