Category: cool stuff

Earwax – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The person having their ears cleaned would lie down with their head in the lap of the person doing the cleaning, with this tool. It is generally considered a pleasant feeling for Japanese, like having one's back scratched. The cleaning of ears is thus considered an act of intimacy, often performed by a mother to a child or, among adults, by one's lover.

It is generally advised not to use cotton swabs (Q-Tips or cotton buds) as these will likely push the wax further down the ear canal and, if used carelessly, perforate the eardrum or worse. Cotton swabs should be used only to clean the external ear.

If you haven't discoverd Wikipedia before, let this be your introduction to the power of the internet. It is an open forum where the public contributes to the fact checking.

Overstating Jewish Power By Christopher Hitchens

The essay, which Christopher Hitchens savages in Slate, has been trumpeted front page worldwide in the Muslim press, with very little coverage in this country.

Mearsheimer and Walt belong to that vapid school that essentially wishes that the war with jihadism had never started. Their wish is father to the thought that there must be some way, short of a fight, to get around this confrontation. Wishfulness has led them to seriously mischaracterize the origins of the problem and to produce an article that is redeemed from complete dullness and mediocrity only by being slightly but unmistakably smelly.

Here is some more of the controversy from the Washington Post 

Venezuela News And ViewsVenezuela News And Views: Trade Deficit between Colombia and Venezuela

Daniel Duquenal has a fascinating post on Colombia’s new free trade pact with the U.S., and explains why it is causing so much distress among the Chavistas next door in Caracas. Their rage has a basis. It turns out Colombia is eating Venezuela’s lunch already in the economic arena and the free trade pact with the gringos will only raise their appetite.