> Please do not judge people or the countries from which they hail based upon books, movies, or TV shows. Remember, these are short vignettes of an overall culture that tell only a part of the complete story. Just as Americans do not like to be judged based on the attitudes of Texans, Americans –…

> My father has always hounded me as to why I do not use the library more often, check out books, then return them when I finish reading them. Would you return a puppy to the animal shelter after playing with it for a while? Do you drop your friendships after three or four weeks?…

> Australia presents a formidable landscape. A large island desert, a continent, and the world’s sixth largest country in area. According to the CIA World Factbook, Australia is only slightly smaller than the lower 48 United States with a population of a little more than 21 million people. Not very densely populated. Australia has been…

>   I probably watch far too much TV. I am selective about what I watch, though, and the shows that I watch tend to feature geographic themes occasionally. Law & Order in all of its permutations is one of my favorites. SVU, or Criminal Intent, or the Original Series, it doesn’t matter. They are…

> Mexico faces criticism over swine flu response This kid is obviously not wearing his filter mask. I’m pretty sure this is how the disease is spread, as well as hoof-to-mouth disease, botulism, and whatever else filthy buggers are contained in this swine’s mucous. I constantly marvel that we made it as a species. As…

> http://eduify.com/beta/ This is a Beta application. Sounds interesting, promising. One of my larger concerns is the ability of students to write, to construct one meaningful sentence after another. Furthermore, I am concerned that students do not know how to document a source, or if they realize the source needs to be documented, knowing how…

> In January 2002, Daniel Pearl, a reporter for the New York Times, was beheaded by an extremist group operating in Pakistan. I will not use “Islamic” to describe the extremist group, as the group does not adhere to Islamic principles, as clearly stated within the context of the movie. To label the group thusly…

> How does a Chai Walah become a contestant on the most popular game show in India? What motivates someone to want to be on a game show? Money and fame would be two obvious answers. Good answers, yet wrong answers. Love. Love is the motivation to appear on this game show. For Jamal, love…

> Piracy is not the problem. Piracy is the symptom. It’s like the guy who goes to the doctor because his thumb hurts. “Why does your thumb hurt?” the doctor asked. “I hit it with my hammer,” the nitwit answers. The problem is not the thumb, the problem is the guy hitting himself with the…

> Technorati Tags: china,population,gender,one-child,selective abortion,gender imbalance China’s guy problems only getting worse [Source: Salon.com} “Population Control is Good for the Human Race”   China is a “Boys Club.” Not will be – is. According the article In 2005, China had 32 million more males under the age of 20 than females. In 2005, 1.1 million…