“Man”, it said, “this might be next to nothing
and drawn through a bitter tap,
but it’s all you’ll ever have.
Don’t spill a drop.”
– John Glenday, from Grain, via Chris Floyd‘s ”Love and Strife: Don’t Spill A Drop”
 

the end

That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.

The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. 

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. 

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. 

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for,that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”
Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931

Anne Herbert

But Dr Sebastien Farnaud, of the Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research, described the figures as ‘shocking’.

He added: ‘It has repeatedly been shown how irrelevant to human patients animal disease models can be, so sustaining such high animal use is not in the best interests of science.”

Full article here

Brings to mind this quote of Gandhi: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”.

I know. There are many people who are adamant supporters of these experiments and they will probably have some solid arguments to support their views. My questions is this: Why do we humans insist on producing and using products that are inherently so unnatural, dangerous and toxic that we need to constantly test it on innocent animals to make sure we survive using these products? And don’t tell me about “progress” – cancer rates are soaring as a result of all these “enhancements” we’re making to our food, cosmetics and symptom-treatments ( a.k.a. medicine, if you use the term loosely)

I maintain that prisoners convicted of serious crimes should be used in these experiments. I mean make it relevant, like the man said. The lifers / death-row people could finally prove useful for something in the toxicology tests and you can’t argue – the prospect of becoming a test subject for the next 15-25 years as opposed to getting free room & board should be fairly serious deterrent, especially if the details of the experiments are widely published. 

You can thank me for ruining your tea / lunch / smoke break later, first go have a look at PETA’s website to see what you can do to help stop this.

The title is the common name for an essay actually called “Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young” written by Mary Schmich published in the Chicago Tribune as a column in 1997.

So, if you learned something new so far, you’ll be glad to know you’re not an old dog (yet) – a little TLC for the soul, compliments of the house.

”
Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds. I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.. Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you’re 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen… 
”

“Soul-mates are people who bring out the best in you. They are not perfect but are always perfect for you.”
~Author Unknown

“We are never more discontented with others than when we are discontented with ourselves.”
~Henri Frederic Amiel

“People must be taken as they are, and we should never try make them or ourselves better by quarreling with them.”
~Edmund Burke

The pessimist complains about the wind;
the optimist expects it to change;
and the realist adjusts the sails.

 William Arthur Ward