R.I.P. Encyclopaedia Brittanica

Dear gentle blog reader,

Sad news: After 244 years, the print edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica is no more.

I, personally, enjoy thumbing through encyclopedias and dictionaries at the library but alas, online encyclopedias like Wikipedia have rendered hard copy reference materials obsolete.

Here’s more on the story:

After 244 years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print.

Those coolly authoritative, gold-lettered reference books that were once sold door-to-door by a fleet of traveling salesmen and displayed as proud fixtures in American homes will be discontinued, company executives said.

In an acknowledgment of the realities of the digital age — and of competition from the Web site Wikipedia — Encyclopaedia Britannica will focus primarily on its online encyclopedias and educational curriculum for schools. The last print version is the 32-volume 2010 edition, which weighs 129 pounds and includes new entries on global warming and the Human Genome Project.

“It’s a rite of passage in this new era,” Jorge Cauz, the president of Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., a company based in Chicago, said in an interview. “Some people will feel sad about it and nostalgic about it. But we have a better tool now. The Web site is continuously updated, it’s much more expansive and it has multimedia.”

In the 1950s, having the Encyclopaedia Britannica on the bookshelf was akin to a station wagon in the garage or a black-and-white Zenith in the den, a possession coveted for its usefulness and as a goalpost for an aspirational middle class. Buying a set was often a financial stretch, and many families had to pay for it in monthly installments.

But in recent years, print reference books have been almost completely overtaken by the Internet and its vast spread of resources, including specialized Web sites and the hugely popular — and free — online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

Here’s a link to the rest of the article:
After 244 Years, Encyclopaedia Britannica Stops the Presses

Donald Trump’s Kids: Killing African Wildlife for Sport — SICKENING

Dear gentle blog reader,

It saddens me to learn that real estate mogul Donald Trump’s kids are killing innocent animals for fun. I’ll let the pictures and narrative tell the story:

Along come Eric and Donald Trump Jr on a wildlife hunting trip to the Matetsi area of Zimbabwe near Victoria Falls. The game reserve was private and they broke no laws. However the message is powerful that if you are rich you can kill wildlife at you leisure while it is forbidden to everyone else. The rules don’t apply in Africa to white rich trophy hunters.

The Trump boys killed a leopard, an elephant and cut off its tail for a trophy, a massive cape buffalo, etc. How anyone could aim a gun at the beautiful leopard and pull the trigger is just beyond comprehension.. Was it a male leopard or a female leopard that might have had cubs somewhere? The sickening poses of their kills are unbearable to witness but we must not turn our heads because this is what the Trumps are doing as everyone else is attempting to stop the killing.

No one can make the argument that leopards are too plentiful. No one can justify the callousness and disgusting cutting off the magnificent elephants tail for a trophy after killing it.

Here’s the rest of the article:
The Trump Family: Just When You Thought They Couldn’t Sink Any Lower They Prove Even More Disgusting!

It’s spring — we are so excited we wet our plants!

Daylight Savings Time: “We’ve just sucked one hour of your life away…”

“Tell me…How do you feel?”

Jesus: “Okay. Here’s an idea. You love them, like I loved you, feed them clothe them…”

and shelter them, and let me deal with judging them.”

“But what if they’re gay or worship other Gods?”"

Jesus: “Did I stutter?”

Facebook. The CIA.

They realised they didn’t need to spy on you: given the means, you were going to tell them everything yourself.

Iran wants war

Look how close they put their country to our military bases.

Why don’t you have a seat.

Why have you been stealing my poop?

Mind Full or Mindful?