Remember the debate we were having about whether religion helps society, or if religion is the basis of morality, etc.? Here's the latest study, and I couldn't help but laugh when I read it. Enjoy!

Societies worse off 'when they have God on their side'

Here was my favorite quote:

“The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developing democracies, sometimes spectacularly so.”

Waiting for the bus in Seattle's University district, I saw a man walking down the street giving a German Shepherd a piggy back ride. The dog seemed happy, as if he was riding in a car that was going really, really slowly.

--my daughter

I know this is more in the nature of a story than a quote, and she said it to me so it wasn't overheard, but it was so strange I needed to share it.

This has got to be the strangest sounding statement I've heard in a long time:

"That and other studies, all of which are posted on an obscure Defense Department Web site, cited the Iraq war as a major turnoff for many."

Here's the article.

Not exactly overheard, but written by my daughter:

i hate the fact that they remind me that baseball is more business than game. because they've had a string of owners that are willing to shell out the most money to add players they hardly even use to beat teams that will never have a legit chance.

i hate their "mystique." bill gates doesn't have mystique. neither does aol. neither should the yankees. they just have the most money.

i hate the smug superiority. the idea that playing in new york is better than playing anywhere else. the idea that new york is the best city in the world -- i can think of a dozen cities with more culture and lower crime rates. the idea that it's an unforgivable crime when mediocre yankee players aren't in the hall of fame. the idea that by some divine decision they are better than all others.

i hate that the media applauds new york fans for being so knowledgable. they throw batteries and they boo their own players. if being obnoxious shows intelligence then the world wrestling federation has the smartest fans.

i hate the pinstripes -- they aren't slimming, they're ugly.

go marlins.

Not so much "tragic" as "bitter".

"What is that on your hand?"

"It's a burn."

"Is that what they do to you at work?"

--an office worker and her 5-year-old grandson.