Chad's things

The diamond invention is far more than a monopoly for fixing diamond prices; it is a mechanism for converting tiny crystals of carbon into universally recognized tokens of wealth, power, and romance. To achieve this goal, De Beers had to control demand as well as supply. Both women and men had to be made to perceive diamonds not as marketable precious stones but as an inseparable part of courtship and married life. To stabilize the market, De Beers had to endow these stones with a sentiment that would inhibit the public from ever reselling them. The illusion had to be created that diamonds were forever — “forever” in the sense that they should never be resold.

Last week, Sapporo announced that they would soon be serving space beer, “the world’s first beer made with barley descending from plants grown inside the International Space Station.”

The barley used in the new beer is a third-generation offshoot of the original plant stored for five months in a Russian laboratory in the station. The company has made only 100 liters of the new brew, named Sapporo Space Barley, which is not for sale. Sapporo says the beer is safe because it has tested microbes in it and did tests with lab animals and Sapporo employees, too. It also says that the space beer tastes just like regular beer.

Under state law, God is Kentucky’s first line of defense against terrorism.

The 2006 law organizing the state Office of Homeland Security lists its initial duty as “stressing the dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth.”

Specifically, Homeland Security is ordered to publicize God’s benevolent protection in its reports, and it must post a plaque at the entrance to the state Emergency Operations Center with an 88-word statement that begins, “The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God.”

Where it was once ok to go out and buy whatever you wanted, today there is a growing sense of peer pressure to not buy anything. In many cases, this is simply due to necessity. With hundreds of thousands of people out of work and businesses either declaring bankruptcy or shutting down entirely, budgets have to be cut and spending naturally goes down.

But for those with steady jobs and disposable incomes, there is an increasing trend NOT to spend money. People are saving their money at rates that haven’t been seen in decades. The U.S. could possibly reverse the recent trend in personal savings (we currently save a ‘negative’ amount, meaning on average, we spend more than we make).