Tolstoy quotation (for his birthday)

I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back.
          

~ Tolstoy (What Then Must We Do?, Ch. 16)

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An Industry by Industry Look at the Stimulus Failure

At Big Government, a comparison of the job gain forecasts by industry from the stimulus bill (1st column) with the actual jobs created/lost (2nd column).  Read the whole thing.

Mining		26,000	-14,000
Construction		678,000	-862,000
Manufacturing		408,000	-660,000
Wholesale Trade		158,000	-173,900
Retail Trade		604,000	-288,900
Information		50,000	-161,000
Financial Activities		214,000	-321,000
Professional and Business Services		345,000	-246,000
Education and Health Services		240,000	+473,000
Leisure and Hospitality		499,000	-86,000
Other Services		99,000	-71,000
Utilities		11,000	-11,400
Transportation and Warehousing		98,000	-143,500
Government		244,000	-64,000

Ancient Nubians Made Antibiotic Beer

Nelson found large amounts of tetracycline in the bones tested from the ancient population, which lived in the Nubian kingdom (present day Sudan) between 250 A.D. and 550 A.D. and left no written record.

“The bones of these ancient people were saturated with tetracycline, showing that they had been taking it for a long time,” Nelson said in a press release August 30. “I’m convinced that they had the science of fermentation under control and were purposely producing the drug.”

via Instapundit.

Original Owners of GZ Mosque Site Rejected $18M, Sold Property for $4.8M

Details at HotAir's Green Room.

Labor Day stuff

The history of Labor Day.

 

Top 10 Lost Technologies and The 10 Greatest Fictional Inventors of All Time.

 

“Great Microbiologists” is a short lego stop-motion history of microbiology.

 

The effect of mobile phones on rabbit sex.
What It Looks Like When a Bullet Slices Through a Water Droplet.

 

Modern book sizes are based on sheep.

Mega Dashboards and Instrument Panels.

 

Video: WWII vet talks about playing his trumpet for both sides after D-Day.

1959 prediction for the electronic home library of the future.

Russians urged to smoke, drink more.

Early humans killed children and ate their brains.

Gallery of Microscopic Photography of Insect Eggs by National Geographic.  Also, Frozen Moments of Speed Photography, a Gallery of Deep Sea Creatures, and Scanning Electron Microscope pictures of grains of pollen.

Engrish in Asian Airports.

 

Whiskey made from the urine of diabetics.

Government to Deploy Broader Mortgage Aid

Article at WSJ.  Boy, do I feel like an idiot for just paying my mortgage all these years.