Permalink  General Blatherings
May 292013
 

Hyperbole and a Half: Depression Part Two

If you’ve never experienced soul-crushing depression but want to know what it’s like via badly-drawn (yet somehow perfect) cartoons, now’s your chance! It’s excellent…the bit about the corn kernel is especially good. This is obviously not happy reading, but if you’ve “been there” you will definitely relate to it. And if you’ve never been through this kind of thing, maybe this will help you empathize a little more with those who have. You can still read Part 1 too, it’s great.

 Permalink  General Blatherings
May 242013
 

A million years after “Ghostbusters”, I finally hear a different song by Ray Parker Jr. That voice crackle thing he does with every single word he sings gets old REAL fast!

 Permalink  General Blatherings
May 142013
 

I just installed Office 2013 through a cheap home use license from my company ($10!). Right away it’s apparent that MS has taken this interface “flattening” thing to an extreme. I realize they want to make it look uniform with Windows 8 and its flat/square motif, but come on–sometimes a little color and shading makes all the difference. The Office 2013 ribbon is downright sterile, maybe even ugly.Here are a couple of screenshots for comparison. You can just hear the design team lead cracking the whip and shouting, “Flatter! Sharper! Get those rounded edges outta there! Solid colors ONLY, damn you!!” (Slight dramatization there… )

offices

 Permalink  General Blatherings
Apr 192013
 

I have a bad feeling about the new wave of xenophobia that’s coming from American right-wingers and the religious fervor behind it. A new crusade against foreigners, especially non-Christians, is surely already in progress. They will use it to scare voters and win elections, because they will claim once again that “if you’re not with us, you’re with the terrorists.” Viva jingoism!

Catholic church to FINALLY pay taxes…in Italy

 General Blatherings
Apr 152013
 

This makes me so very happy.  Time to bring this kind of sanity to America!  Best quote from the story?  Right here, my friends:  ”They own the most beautiful buildings in downtown Rome, on Italian soil, and rent them out at market prices.  They don’t give them for free or at low prices for charity.”  BAM!

Italy’s Catholic Church will be forced to pay taxes starting in 2013 after the EU pressured the country’s government to pass a controversial law stripping the Church of its historic property tax exemption.

The Catholic Church in Italy is excluded from paying taxes on its land if at least a part of a Church property is used non-commercially – for instance, a chapel in a bed-and-breakfast. “The regulatory framework will be definite by January 1, 2013 – the start of the fiscal year – and will fully respect the [European] Community law,” Italian premier Mario Monti’s government said in a statement on Tuesday.

The move could net Italy revenues of 500 million to 2 billion euros annually across the country, municipal government associations said. The extra income from previously exempt properties in Rome alone – including hotels, restaurants and sports centres – could reach 25.5 million euros a year, La Repubblica daily newspaper reported.

via National Secular Society

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