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Friday, August 29, 2014

Acquainted with the night...

Acquainted with the night by Robert Frost [1923]

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain — and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

What will the future be like?

What will the future be like?

According to some robotics experts, in the next 20 years we will reach a tipping point where humans are no longer in control and machines are the main locus of control in society. Watch the documentary Future Dimensions by clicking on the picture and visiting Aeon Film.
What will the future be like?
According to expert Anders Sandberg, on the surface society will appear similar to today. However on the level of our values, these will fundamentally change.
When we think about the Victorian era, if a Victorian were to walk around in 2014 they wouldn’t find the technology so shocking, it would be our values that would be the most abhorrent to them, such the modern day rights of gay and transgender people.
Likewise, if we were to step into the future 100 years from now, the moral fibre of society would have changed dramatically.
We need to start thinking about the ethical ramifications of developing robots to the extent that artificial consciousness is equal in sophistication to human consciousness.
This throws up lots of novel questions, like do robots have rights? For example when sex robots are used as slaves, at what level of consciousness and intelligence do we accord these robots rights as sentient beings

http://contentcatnip.com/2014/06/12/what-will-the-future-be-like/

Nestle to pay all employees a living wage...

Nestlé agrees to pay all employees living wage

Company to pay entire UK workforce – including agency and contract staff – minimum of £8.80 in London or £7.65 elsewhere
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Nestle
Nestle becomes the largest manufacturer to sign up to the living wage in the UK. Photograph: Laurent Gillieron/EPA
Food giant Nestlé has become the first leading manufacturer to commit to paying the living wage.
The firm already pays at least the living wage to its 8,000 staff but the move will benefit contract employees and agency workers. About 800 contractors working with Nestlé will implement it by December 2017.
The announcement was described by campaigners as a significant milestone in the drive to persuade employers to pay the living wage, which is currently set at £8.80 an hour in London and £7.65 elsewhere, compared to the national minimum wage of £6.31.
Nestlé UK & Ireland's chief executive, Fiona Kendrick, said: "We are proud to be the first mainstream manufacturer in the UK to become a living wage employer and see this as an opportunity to be a positive influence in our sector.
"As a major UK employer, we know that this is the right thing to do. Not only does it benefit our employees but also the communities they live and work in."
Living Wage Foundation director Rhys Moore said: "The accreditation of Nestlé as a living wage employer marks a significant milestone in the campaign to tackle in-work poverty. We hope that the leadership they have shown will encourage others in this industry to follow suit and improve conditions for those at the lowest end of the pay scale and sub-contracted staff.
"We are aware that Nestlé is going above and beyond the basic requirements of becoming an accredited employer, and is extending their commitment to graduate, internship and school leaver programmes."
Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said: "With in-work poverty on the rise, many employers are simply ignoring their responsibility to pay staff a decent wage. They should take note from Nestlé's positive stance which shows that paying a living wage is not just good for communities but makes good business sense too."
Tim Roache, of the GMB union, said: "Nestlé have always recognised their greatest asset is their workforce and are demonstrating this with action, not just words. This shows once and for all that if one leading manufacturer can pay a living wage to all employees including young workers and those contracted out, then many more are able to do so."
The business secretary, Vince Cable, said: "I welcome Nestlé's decision and encourage all businesses to pay their staff above the minimum wage when it is affordable and not at the expense of jobs."
The shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna, said: "It is fantastic news that Nestlé is announcing its accreditation as a living wage employer, having worked in collaboration with Unite, GMB and the Living Wage Foundation to achieve this.
"We want to see as many businesses as possible take the decision to become living wage employers, so I hope other firms will follow the strong example which Nestlé is setting."

Friday, June 27, 2014

Run,you old bugger,run!


Texas Marijuana death sentence claim not true...

English: Marijuana plant. Español: Planta de m...
English: Marijuana plant. Español: Planta de marihuana. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There’s an article which has been making the rounds on social media today about a Texas judge sentencing a man to death for marijuana possession. To put it bluntly, it just isn’t true.

A satire website called Empire News put out an article about an Austin Superior Court judge sentencing 34 year old Joseph Goldsmith to death row yesterday after Goldsmith was picked up on his third offense for marijuana possession.

While you can’t get put to death for possession in Texas, you can get what amounts to a life sentence. It takes possessing over 2,000 pounds in order to get the possibility of serving a 99 year sentence, with a minimum of five years.

Selling on the other hand just requires over 50 pounds in order to receive a 99 year sentence.

If you’re Jacob Lavoro or anyone else caught with concentrates, essentially pure THC, the ingredient in marijuana which produces the high, it’s very easy to face a life sentence.

As few as four grams of concentrate can net you anywhere from five to 99 years. With the way the law reads, anything the concentrates are found in can be added to the total weight. In Lavoro’s case, they weighed the eggs, chocolate, flour, and all other ingredients in his pot brownies, which turned a few grams into about one and a half pounds.

Over 100 people rallied in support of Lavoro last week at his initial court hearing where he turned down a plea deal and his lawyer moved to have the evidence dismissed on the grounds that it was illegally obtained.

So while you can’t be put to death for marijuana in Texas, you surely can spend the rest of your life behind bars for it.

The last time a satire article swept across the web concerning marijuana in Texas was last year when an article put out by Tribune Herald told of a legislator dropping a joint in the middle of a legislative session as he argued against legalization.

By: Stephen Carter
Contact Stephen via email at TXCann@gmail.com

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Thursday, June 26, 2014

The worst age of all...

"Sixty is the worst age to be," said the 60-year-old.
"You always feel like you have to pee. And most of the time, you stand at the toilet and nothing comes out!"
"Ah, that's nothin'," said the 70-year-old. "When you're seventy, you can't even crap anymore. You take laxatives, then you sit on the toilet all day and nothin' comes out!"
"Actually," said the 80-year-old, "80 is the worst age of all!"
"Do you have trouble peeing too?" asked the 60-year-old.
"No, not really. I pee every morning at 6:00. I pee like a racehorse on a flat rock; no problem at all."
"Do you have trouble crapping?" asked the 70-year-old.
"No, I crap every morning at 6:30."
With great exasperation, the 60-year-old said, "Let me get this straight. You pee every morning at 6:00 and crap every morning at 6:30.
So what's so tough about being 80?"
"I don't wake up until 7:00!"

Grave robbing is a crime...

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GRAVE ROBBING IS A CRIME…

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English: The Watch House, Old Pentland Kirkyar...
English: The Watch House, Old Pentland Kirkyard Where watch was kept to prevent grave robbing by the ‘anatomists’ – see 968090 for a bit more information. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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A few months before his sixtieth birthday, George began planning his party. He called up his 30-year-old daughter for some help.
“Why don’t you invite all your old high school buddies?” she asked. “That could be a lot of fun.”
“I’d like to bring all my high school buddies to the party,” said George, “but I don’t want to get arrested.”
His daughter laughed. “Why would you get arrested for bringing your high school buddies to your birthday party?”
“Don’t you know?” asked George. “Grave robbing is a crime.”

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Let the sun shine in your life


 This story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand “Today my best friend slapped me in the face”.
They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone “Today my best friend saved my life”.
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?” The other friend replied “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it . But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

Let the Sun shine in your Life!

Hitler in Paris WW11...

Man with 45 kg scrotum is raising money to fix his embarrasing condition...



A man with a scrotum weighing in at a whopping 45kg is raising money to fix his embarrassing condition.
Dan Maurer, 39, of West Michigan, says he is desperate to lose the root of the problem – a broken cyst which continues to grow – before he loses his wife.
"When I go out, people do look," he told KSDK.
"They try to be polite, you can see when something's not right."
Despite his concerns, Mr Mauer's wife of 20 years Mindy says she's not going anywhere but would like to see him happy and healthy once again.
"I haven't had marital relations with my husband in seven years," she said.
"When you say those marriage vows you either mean them or you don’t. I meant them."
For almost two decades Mr Maurer's condition baffled doctors, who told him to lose weight.
A strict exercise program shed kilos from his frame, but his scrotum continued to expand.
It was only recently that Mr Maurer was diagnosed with scrotal lymphedema, caused by blockages in his lymphatic vessels.
He says he must raise $20,000 for surgery in California if he has any chance of returning to a normal life.
"[Mindy] is amazing. Me personally, I don't see me being worth it. But to me, she is," he said.
"That's why I'm going through with this."