“…there is an idea of a Patrick Bateman, some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.”

― Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho

Everyone loves a bargain, as long as we believe it’s in good taste. And nobody does low-price, high-style better than IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer. IKEA passes as the anti-Wal-Mart: a company where value and good values coexist. It uses design as a proxy for quality, and its brand—embodied by all those smiling, white-teethed Scandinavians standing next to smooth, shiny modular furniture with unpronounceable names—as a passport to a guilt-free world of low prices.

But put down your 59-cent Färgrik coffee mug and ask yourself: Can we afford to keep shopping at places where an item’s price reflects only a fraction of its societal costs?

IKEA designs to price, challenging its talented European team to create ever-cheaper objects, and its suppliers—most of them in low-wage countries in Asia and eastern Europe—to squeeze out the lowest possible price. By some measures the world’s third-largest wood consumer, IKEA proudly employs 15 “forestry monitors.” Eight of them work in China and Russia, but illegal logging is widespread in those vast countries, making it impossible to guarantee that all wood is legally harvested. (The company declines to pay a premium to ensure that all timber is legally harvested, citing costs that would be passed along to the consumer.) IKEA furniture made of particleboard and pine is not meant to last a lifetime; indeed, some professional movers decline to guarantee its safe transport. But to be fair, creating heirlooms is not IKEA’s goal. Nor, despite a lot of self-serving hoopla, is energy conservation: the company boasts of illuminating its stores with low-wattage lightbulbs but positions outlets far from city centers, where taxes are low and commuting costs high—the average IKEA customer drives 50 miles round-trip. Cleverly, IKEA transfers transport and energy costs onto consumers, who are then handed the additional burden of assembling their purchases. Designed but not crafted, IKEA bookcases and chairs, like most cheap objects, resist involvement: when they break or malfunction, we tend not to fix them. Rather, we buy new ones. Wig Zamore, a Massachusetts environmental activist who was recently recognized for his work by the Environmental Protection Agency, is working with IKEA and supports some of the company’s regional green initiatives. But as he put it, “IKEA is the least sustainable retailer on the planet.” And in real costs—the kind that will burden our grandchildren—that also makes it among the most expensive.

From “Buy to Last” by Ellen Ruppel Shell, published by The Atlantic.

The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time:

1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Duane Allman
3. B.B. King
4. Eric Clapton
5. Robert Johnson
6. Chuck Berry
7. Stevie Ray Vaughan
8. Ry Cooder
9. Jimmy Page
10. Keith Richards

See the rest at RollingStone.com

These codoms suck. I’ve felt more pleasure jerking off. LOTS more pleasure. I might as well not even have sex if I have to wear one of these. My girlfriend said she didn’t feel any difference either. So this little gimick of Trojan’s is lame for both partners.
- Josh, Victorville California

Well, contrary to what the 1st guy said I found the Trojan Twisted to be a great condom because it fits nice and tight around the girth and allows the flap (for uncut men) to move freely at the head of the condom. My G/F liked the Trojan Twisted because it actually stayed on the entire time we made love. Normally some other types of condom keep rolling off when I start going fast and hard on my G/F. One thing I will say AGAINST the Trojan Twisted is that there is no extra “Twisted” pleasure to the female, it’s exactly the same as a normal condom in shape, there is no twisted shape or texture so that was a lie on Trojan’s part. Being the guy, I especially liked this condom because it was so well pre lubricated, even the most sensitive guy should feel very comfortable. I even enjoy using this condom solo during M/B.
- Jay, Los Angeles, CA

I bought a box of these but havent been impressed. They are “twisted” but it flattens out when you put it on, and they are pretty thick.
- E.R., Timonium, MD

Basically, as you can see from the reviews, you have to be large enough for this condom to really have an effect.. But if you are, DOES IT EVER! I went into it thinking it was like a normal condom, but was happily surprised! A+.
- Brian, Chicago, IL

What a waste of money that was. Tried them this evening and doesn’t even look like the product on the box. The lube takes forever to wash off and It looked like you have a zip-lock lunch bag on yourself. Plus the dern thing falls off easy. Trust me fellows don’t wasted your money on them. 2 thumbs down.
- Rich, Colorado

Doesn’t feel different….Don’t buy this piece of garbage!
- Miles, Seattle, WA

first off, yall that are denying that it is good, yall probablly aint using it right. to the fella that said it falls off, how many centimeters are you packing for a condom to fall off. this condom is meant for people to fill the whole thing and that gives that lil twisted bubble at the top. it creates a smooth rub against the head and slight swellness at the top with the twists to please the woman more.
- G.O., Houston, TX

Reviews from CondomDepot.com

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration took a major step Monday toward imposing the first federal limits on climate-changing pollution from cars, power plants and factories, declaring there is compelling scientific evidence that global warming from man-made greenhouse gases endangers Americans’ health.

The announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency was clearly timed to build momentum toward an agreement at the international conference on climate change that opened Monday in Copenhagen. It signaled that the administration is prepared to push ahead for significant controls in the U.S. if Congress doesn’t act on its own.

The price could be steep for industry and consumers. The EPA finding clears the way for rules that could eventually require vehicles to be more fuel efficient and plants to install costly new equipment — at a cost of billions or even tens of billions of dollars — or shift to other forms of energy.

Energy prices for many Americans would probably rise, too, though Monday’s finding will have no immediate effect since regulations have yet to be written.

The EPA said scientific evidence clearly shows that greenhouse gases “threaten the public health and welfare of the American people” and that the pollutants — mainly carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels — should be reduced.

“These long-overdue findings cement 2009’s place in history as the year when the United States government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse gas pollution,” EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said.

She rejected assertions by skeptics that the science of global warming remains in doubt, an argument given additional attention in recent weeks with the disclosure through intercepted e-mails that a British scientist had privately discussed ways to shield certain climate data from public scrutiny.

“The vast body of evidence not only remains unassailable, it has grown even stronger,” Jackson said.

Environmentalists hailed the EPA announcement as a clear indication that the United States will take steps to attack climate change even if Congress fails to act. But business groups said regulating carbon emissions through the EPA under existing law would put new economic burdens on manufacturers and drive up energy prices.

“It will choke off growth by adding new mandates to virtually every major construction and renovation project,” said Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which in recent months has been particularly critical of the EPA’s attempt to address climate change.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington, a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, used the controversy over climate data to raise questions about the EPA’s ruling.

“When the scientists whose work is the bedrock for our global-warming policy use words like travesty and trick to describe their actions . . . it’s time to slow down and consider what we’re doing, not sound the charge,” he said. “Regrettably, good sense got run over today when EPA hit the gas instead of tapping the brakes.”

From “EPA: Global warming is a threat to Americans’ health” by H. Josef Hebert and Dina Cappiello, published December 08, 2009 at Star-Telegram.

GLOBAL WARMING! The headlines scream it; the thermometer confirms it; but few of us do much to address it. Author Colin Beavan and his family are pictures of liberal complacency—sophisticated, takeout-addicted New Yorkers who refuse to let moral qualms interfere with good old-fashioned American consumerism. Then Colin turns things upside down. For his next book, he announces he’s becoming No Impact Man, testing whether making zero environmental impact adversely affects happiness. The hitch is he needs his wife, Michelle—an espresso-guzzling, Prada-worshipping Business Week writer—and their toddler to join the experiment.A year without electricity, cars, toilet paper, and nonlocal food isn’t going to be a walk in the park. Or is it? As Michelle contends with caffeine and shopping withdrawal, compost worms, and defending her dreams in the face of Colin’s household hegemony, she’s gradually transformed by this life-without-wastefulness. Meanwhile, Colin’s numerous media appearances unleash a viral rash of criticism among bloggers and friends, raising doubts about the project’s integrity. Is it ostentatious or altruistic? Hypocritical or visionary?Whatever the conclusion, no one can deny we’re going to have to alter our habits radically to achieve sustainability. Through the intimate prism of conflict within a contemporary marriage, No Impact Man suggests that individual change can be the first step in a quantum leap toward a systemic, societal shift. And the temporary discomfort just might be worth it.

For more info on theaters across the country see the films website at NoImpactDoc.com.

Pigs fornicate with humans to create infectious viruses that travel the world at the speed of fiber optics. Lest news outlets scavenge the facts to lay the groundwork for more advertising.

Meanwhile, greed and poverty have collided to create a global atomic bomb that is taking down the entire western hemisphere.

And they say the enemy is advancing. Cave by cave, until they get their calloused hands on the enriched uranium that was meant for the Hindi.

A rat turd sized tumor lays dormant in each one of us. And a cure stands by on the sidelines, delayed by the gluttonous culture of the dollar.

The One can’t even save us now.

Last flush: Wonton Soup, Moo Shu Pork, Lo Mein, Fried Ice Cream.

Think your morning subway commute is unpredictable? Try staging a full theatrical production on those same trains – complete with props, set dressing and a cast and crew of 35 people.

Yet that’s just what “IRT: A Tragedy in Three Stations” will attempt this weekend.

The play tells the story of August Belmont Jr., who at the turn of the last century organized the financing to build the city’s subway system. Tickets to the play are sold for $10 at www.subwaytheater.com. Buyers receive an e-mail telling them where to pick up their tickets on the night of the show and from there are directed to the start of the play.

From New York Post