I've said that if they used your height and weight on your driver license for anything serious, there would be a measuring stick and scale next to the counter at the driver license office.

Actually, I remember when I saw "Metallica Through the Never" in one of those stadium seating theaters with a giant screen and 3d glasses, there was laughter from the audience at the end when the music finally stopped at the end. It was actually really awesome how realistic the whole experience felt, while at the same time, the people were just quietly sitting in their seats.

When I was in high school, my mother bought one of those home-study SAT prep courses that comes on a CD-ROM. I can't imagine it cost more than maybe 60 USD, and I scored very well.

I did read his "Communist Manifesto". I thought it was interesting that he did specifically dismiss the idea that this economic ideas, if implemented, would lead to laziness. IIRC, I think that he said that people do have a drive to work and to create.

But I think he missed something important. I agree with Marx that laziness is not the problem, but I think he missed another important problem with his economics. The problem is that to implement Communism, you must demand that all individuals submit to a central authority and subsume themselves into a system. Some critics go so far as to say that such a system is inherently violent and repressive because it cannot tolerate individuals deviating from their assigned role in the system. Either way, the problem, as I see it, is that people are individuals and they don't just want to work and create, but they want to work and create in a way that expresses their individuality. To be forced to assimilate into a system in which they have no individuality is completely out of line with man's nature.

As has been previously pointed out, the proponents of these ideologies think that their ideas are so good, they must be mandatory!

Almost forgot to mention - The author says that milk and cheese is even worse for you than meat! He says that if you were a non-smoking vegan, adding meat to your diet would be about as bad for you as adding cigarettes.

I read the book "The Pleasure Trap" after seeing it recommended in a comment right here on Slashdot.

The dietary advice inside is based on the works of Doctor Dean Ornish, so for those of you not familiar, here is the dietary advice:

- No alcohol or tobacco

- No meat or seafood

- No added sugar

- No added salt

- No heated oils

- No white rice or white bread

- No exceptions, ever, under any circumstances.

In addition to the above, the author recommends at least 10 hours of sleep every night.

Just letting you know :-)

According to what I've read, it's even stranger than that. In spite of there being an overabundance of single young men, there is an overabundance of unmarried women supposedly because men consider them marriageable once they reach age 30 or so.

It's got to be one heck of a job to teach 72 virgins how to please a man. Do you suppose some of those would-be martyrs are planning to have them exhibit lesbian fantasies for their entertainment purposes?

I do know some folks who, according to them, "don't read books." They do speak of it as if it's some kind of chore. I don't understand why, but honestly... I don't think I want to understand why.

It doesn't take much imagination to figure out why. For the first two decades of life in this country, reading *is* a chore. Remember, "It's a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."

“I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.” -Woody Allen

If you think I'm bragging about being stupid, I think you misunderstood. I do read at least a short stack of books every year. I am skeptical that an "average" person would read 12. I would think that less than one person out of 100 reads 12.

I'd like to know what they were smoking when they said the average reader reads 12 books a year. How many people read even one?

Don't forget Asbestos-Free! https://xkcd.com/641/

So I can sit in Mark Zuckerbergs "world's largest" open plan office every day. What's not to love?