Gongol.com Archives: October 2011
Brian Gongol


October 24, 2011

Health How to destroy civilization in one easy step
Medical professionals are noting a dramatic increase in the number of parents who are withholding vaccinations from their children. That's undoubtedly the result of a very loud and uneducated campaign by anti-vaccination activists. We should be clear on this point: If you really want civilization to collapse, go ahead and promote the anti-vaccination movement. Vaccines have been responsible for tremendous progress in the human condition, and letting people put their children at risk because of half-baked paranoiac theories they picked up from half-wits with no scientific knowledge is the surest way to ensure that innocent children will die for no good reason.

Business and Finance Gallup boss says all the world wants is a 30-hour work week and a stable job
The important question is whether that 30 hours is attractive in its own right for some kind of intrinsic reason, or because it would be 25% less work than most people do today

Agriculture 71% of Iowa's corn has been harvested, and 95% of Iowa's soybeans are in
That's much better than the state's five-year average

Iowa Kids should probably know how to read by the time they leave third grade
Really, they should probably know before they leave first grade -- so shouldn't they be held back in school until they can? (And, of course, given the attention and resources they need in order to help them learn how?)

Socialism Doesn't Work "Occupy Wherever We Want" movement learns it can't build a permanent structure on city property
The Occupists need to learn that public property belongs to the entire public, not just the portion of the public that claims to be speaking on behalf of 99% of the public (which they don't). There are plenty of other frustrating dispatches from the Occupists, as well: They're fighting among themselves over -- wait for it -- money, and there's a bit too much free love taking place out in the open, to which one non-Occupist has responded with a donation of prophylactics, saying, "Just make sure people aren't breeding."

The United States of America Gingrich: "We [Republicans] don't rely enough on actually knowing things"
He's right, to a degree -- there are a lot of right-of-center loudmouths who substitute talking points for actual thought. Conservatism, as an intellectual heir to classical liberalism, should take pride in thoughtful analysis and considered reflection, not just knee-jerk anti-intellectualism, which is all too often the case among populist "conservatives".

Science and Technology Get the creepiest Halloween mask ever
For the low, low price of $4,000 plus the price of a trip to Japan, a company will make an exact mold of your face to be worn as a mask

News Indian girls get rid of a name that literally means "unwanted"

The United States of America What American Catholics really believe

News Hamid Karzai says he'd be on Pakistan's side if it went to war with America

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