""Those who can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." The fact that British troops, operating on flimsy general warrants handed out by local magistrates, were kicking in the doors of ordinary Americans and rifling through their pantries and papers in search of smuggled, untaxed goods was a prime reason why our ancestors rebelled against their king and went to war. This is WHY we celebrate the Fourth of July. This is why the vote on renewing the expanded version of FISA and whitewashing the egregious violations of the Fourth Amendment for seven long years by our government is important." - Keith Pelczarski via Bookmarklet

"On its face, the bottled-water trade makes selling snow to Eskimos sound like a reasonable business proposition: Tons of carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere each year to produce and transport a product thousands of miles from Place A to Place B, when an identical product is already available in Place B in a form that is typically much cheaper, rigorously tested and sometimes safer. And afterward, millions of plastic bottles end up in landfills. A considerable volume of the bottled water that Americans buy each year, moreover, is tap water. Popular brands such as Aquafina and Dasani, for example, may feature mountain peaks and the word "pure" on their labels, but the products are actually tap water that has been put through additional filtration and purification -- techniques aimed at making water that is already clean . . . clean." - Keith Pelczarski via Bookmarklet

"Fall, the long- running series of shorter days and cooler nights, was canceled earlier this week after nearly 3 billion seasons on Earth, sources reported Tuesday." - Keith Pelczarski via Bookmarklet

Come on now, who do you... who do you, who do you, who do you think you are? - Keith Pelczarski

(reshared into environment room) - Nick

I'll like anything that uses "fecundity" in everyday discourse. - Mark Trapp

This is an interesting question. My favorite books are easier to name, but ones that changed my life? That's more difficult. Must ponder. - Keith Pelczarski

For me, e.g. Thomas J. Stanley: “The Millionaire Next Door..” - ivanandersson via Alert Thingy

The book that started it all for me, really, was Daniel Goleman's 'Emotional Intelligence' - April Buchheit

Reading "The Tao of Pooh" when I was 18 had a significant impact. Still a great book! Also "Catcher in the Rye" for sure. The latter made me realize I wasn't alone in thinking the world was kinda fucked, and the former helped me deal with it. - Nick

I wonder which there are more of: pointless political blogs or pointless technology blogs... - Brian Johns