||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
CRAIGSLIST - Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty
to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To
this end, I hold M&M duels.
Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure,
squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is
the "loser," and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to
go another round.
I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and
the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that
the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theater of
competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world.
Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or
pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be
a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra
strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its
environment.
When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M, the strongest
of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as well, I
pack it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A Division of
Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 U.S.A., along with a 3x5 card
reading, "Please use this M&M for breeding purposes."
This week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free
1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I consider this "grant money." I have set
aside the weekend for a grand tournament. From a field of hundreds, we
will discover the True Champion. There can be only one.
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/tpa/409930561.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
INDICATORS
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
USA TODAY - The U.S. population will soar to 438 million by 2050 and the
Hispanic population will triple, according to projections released
Monday by the Pew Research Center. The latest projections by the
non-partisan research group are higher than government estimates to date
and paint a portrait of an America dramatically different from today's.
The projected growth in the U.S. population — 303 million today —
will be driven primarily by immigration among all groups except the
elderly. . .
Even if immigration is limited, Hispanics' share of the population will
increase because they have higher birth rates than the overall
population. That's largely because Hispanic immigrants are younger than
the nation's aging baby boom population. By 2030, all 79 million boomers
will be at least 65 and the elderly will grow faster than any other age
group.
The projections show that by 2050:
- one in five Americans will have been born outside the USA vs. one in
eight in 2005. Sometime between 2020 and 2025, the percentage of
foreign-born will surpass the historic peak reached a century ago during
the last big immigration wave.
- Whites who are not Hispanic, now two-thirds of the population, will
become a minority when their share drops to 47%. They made up 85% of the
population in 1960.
- Hispanics, already the largest minority group, will more than double
their share of the population to 29%.
- Blacks will remain 13% of the population. Asians will go to 9% from
5%.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-02-11-population-study_N.htm
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BREVITAS
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
OUTLYING DISTRICTS
NPR - Democratic strategist Donna Brazile — who managed Al Gore's 2000
presidential campaign and is herself a superdelegate — says she will
quit her position within the Democratic Party if her superdelegate
colleagues decide the party's nomination. "Let's wait for some of these
other states to help sort this out," Brazile, a News & Notes
contributor, told Farai Chideya.
Related NPR Stories
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18882087
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
EMENDATION
CORRECTED LINK: WHAT A REAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN LOOKS LIKE
http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_recovery_plan_america_needs
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FURTHERMORE. . .
BBC - Hamsters have become the must-have pet in China since the Year of
the Rat began on 7 February. Pet shop owners say stocks are running low
- and prices high - as children clamour for a furry friend. According to
the Chinese media, prices have tripled across the country. In the Year
of the Rat, this tiny creature has become the most acceptable rodent, a
type of animal that is not everyone's first-choice pet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7240468.stm
[Your editor had a number of hamsters, one of which he called Charmin so
his boys and their young friends wouldn't squeeze it. One day I came
home and found a note from one of these friends that read, "Charmin II
died. I came in and found him dead in the cage. He is in the sandwich
bag by cage so you can give him a proper burial. We went biking." -Sam]
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
CRAIGSLIST - Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty
to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To
this end, I hold M&M duels.
Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure,
squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is
the "loser," and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to
go another round.
I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and
the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that
the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theater of
competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world.
Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or
pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be
a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra
strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its
environment.
When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M, the strongest
of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as well, I
pack it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A Division of
Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 U.S.A., along with a 3x5 card
reading, "Please use this M&M for breeding purposes."
This week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free
1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I consider this "grant money." I have set
aside the weekend for a grand tournament. From a field of hundreds, we
will discover the True Champion. There can be only one.
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/tpa/409930561.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
INDICATORS
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
USA TODAY - The U.S. population will soar to 438 million by 2050 and the
Hispanic population will triple, according to projections released
Monday by the Pew Research Center. The latest projections by the
non-partisan research group are higher than government estimates to date
and paint a portrait of an America dramatically different from today's.
The projected growth in the U.S. population — 303 million today —
will be driven primarily by immigration among all groups except the
elderly. . .
Even if immigration is limited, Hispanics' share of the population will
increase because they have higher birth rates than the overall
population. That's largely because Hispanic immigrants are younger than
the nation's aging baby boom population. By 2030, all 79 million boomers
will be at least 65 and the elderly will grow faster than any other age
group.
The projections show that by 2050:
- one in five Americans will have been born outside the USA vs. one in
eight in 2005. Sometime between 2020 and 2025, the percentage of
foreign-born will surpass the historic peak reached a century ago during
the last big immigration wave.
- Whites who are not Hispanic, now two-thirds of the population, will
become a minority when their share drops to 47%. They made up 85% of the
population in 1960.
- Hispanics, already the largest minority group, will more than double
their share of the population to 29%.
- Blacks will remain 13% of the population. Asians will go to 9% from
5%.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-02-11-population-study_N.htm
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BREVITAS
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
OUTLYING DISTRICTS
NPR - Democratic strategist Donna Brazile — who managed Al Gore's 2000
presidential campaign and is herself a superdelegate — says she will
quit her position within the Democratic Party if her superdelegate
colleagues decide the party's nomination. "Let's wait for some of these
other states to help sort this out," Brazile, a News & Notes
contributor, told Farai Chideya.
Related NPR Stories
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18882087
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
EMENDATION
CORRECTED LINK: WHAT A REAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN LOOKS LIKE
http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_recovery_plan_america_needs
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FURTHERMORE. . .
BBC - Hamsters have become the must-have pet in China since the Year of
the Rat began on 7 February. Pet shop owners say stocks are running low
- and prices high - as children clamour for a furry friend. According to
the Chinese media, prices have tripled across the country. In the Year
of the Rat, this tiny creature has become the most acceptable rodent, a
type of animal that is not everyone's first-choice pet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7240468.stm
[Your editor had a number of hamsters, one of which he called Charmin so
his boys and their young friends wouldn't squeeze it. One day I came
home and found a note from one of these friends that read, "Charmin II
died. I came in and found him dead in the cage. He is in the sandwich
bag by cage so you can give him a proper burial. We went biking." -Sam]
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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