Honoring Michael Jackson

Okay, I am yet again breaking my promise to not write about Michael Jackson. It seems that there are proposals out there to...

...have a national day of mourning over the passing of Michael Jackson

...honor him with a postage stamp

...etc.

I find both ideas to be silly at best. Give the guy a stamp in ten years or so, if people still care by then. As for a day of mourning, I find the idea almost offensive. I will not mourn this man's passing. For many, including me, his music has had no impact of our lives. What's more, and his contributions to charity pale in comparison to those of others (such Bill and Melinda Gates, for example), so honoring him as this great "humanitarian" seems ill-conceived.

What was he? He was a talented young man who clearly had a lot of mental health issues. In his case, there were a lot of scars, some of which were physical in nature (the being re-made into a white man part).

If you want, honor Michael Jackson by playing his music. The rest of us can shake our heads and wonder what all the fuss is about.

Another "Role Model"

I read this in Fox News today, so I had to share it. I've taken the liberty to red/bold (no relation to Red Bull) the particularly interesting parts.

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Is life on the road getting to Britney Spears?

A family insider says Britney was caught by her conservator/dad Jamie Spears popping over-the-counter diet pills and washing them down with Red Bull before a performance on her Circus tour, reports gossip site Betty Confidential.

“Britney was definitely trying to get high by taking too many diet pills and energy drinks,” the source told the site. “Jamie thinks the combination of the two is making her whacked-out and, causing her to lash out in weird angry rampages.”

But that's not all. The insider said “Britney uses green-tea supplements, [Lab 88’s herbal ephedra-free] Metabo Speed XXX, Dexatrim and apple cider vinegar to control her weight and energy levels. She also pours those 5-Hour energy drinks into her Red Bulls," according to the site.

Spears, 26, has done several stints in rehab facilities, and is currently not in charge of her own affairs, with a judge granting conservatoriship of her finances to her father, and custody of her two children to her ex-husband Kevin Federline.

Spears has recently been linked romantically to her agent Jason Trawick.

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Hmmmm...pouring "5 Hour Energy Drinks" into Red Bull...smart, really, really smart. Britney Spears once again manages to make "KFed" look like the sane parent.

Now when Britney eventually suffers a full system breakdown due to Red Bull/Green Tea/Diet Pill.5 Hour Energy overload and God-forbid dies, is society going to treat her with the same reverence it seems to be treating the lake Michael Jackson?

Sure, But Who Will Take Out The Garbage?

Lab-made sperm could make men redundant...

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Sperm can be made in lab

Women who say they don't need a man may well be right – after human sperm was created in the lab.

The breakthrough could give hope to infertile couples and men left unable to have children after having cancer treatment.

But don't worry guys, the scientists who created the sperm using stem cells don't plan to take you out of the baby-making process just yet.

'While we can understand some people may have concerns, this does not mean that humans can be produced in a dish and we have no intention of doing this,' said researcher Prof Karim Nayernia.

'The work is a way of investigating why some people are infertile and the reasons behind it.

'It could also allow men who are currently infertile the chance to have a child which is genetically their own but this will be many years away – at least a decade.'

While scientists at Newcastle University and the NorthEast England Stem Cell Institute insist 'fully mature, functional sperm' was produced, other experts cast doubt on their findings.

Prof Azim Surani, from Cambridge University, described the lab samples as 'a long way from being authentic sperm cells'.

And the MRC Institute of Medical Research said: 'Although they find some of the sperm cells have tails and can swim, this is not evidence of normality.'

"Whatsoever You Do...

...To The Least Of My People That You Do Unto Me"

Mathew 25:40


I'm not an overly religious person, but the above is one Bible verse that I can truly say "I get". Regardless of your religious affiliation, keep the above quote in mind as you read this story in today's Scranton Times. Article Link Here.

There are some things in life that always must come first, and taking care of those who are incapable of taking care of themselves should be at the top of that list. Governor Rendell and the State Legislature should probably be reminded that how we treat those who truly need our help the most, such as those who suffer from Mental Retardation, defines us at our very core.

Road Apples, #35

In The Nice Message But Department...Story about preacher Rick Warren linked here, where he says that Christians and Muslims must work together to solve problems. I agree with the message, and while this may should horribly shallow of me, I have a tough time taking the guy seriously because he dyes his hair. Look, if you are a professional wrestler, then male hair dying is okay. Same goes for glam metal band members and actors. But not for preachers. Call me crazy, but I have this notion in my head that "men of God" should be less concerned with being a blondie than other pressing issues out there. This is the kind of thing that I'd expect from someone like Benny Hinn, not Rick Warren. Hell, maybe he has been doing this for years and I just now noticed.

In the Boon Doggle Department...We have Lackawanna County stadium, which apparently is fast becoming unusable due to drainage problems. In fact, last night's game had to be cancelled due to a wet field, which is in spite of the fact that it was a nice, warm, sunny day. Based on what I've read, the field has a drainage problem that is preventing all of the water from the previous Monday-Friday deluge from being wisked away. Now the field was originally surfaced with an artificial turf, but the Yankees insisted on natural grass, so I wonder if the field was ever designed to drain the way they (the Yankees) would like. Regardless, it's pretty clear that this is going to to take some cash to fix...cash we don't necessarily have. Side note: I know that the stadium has another name (think a large, regional bank), but I refuse to use it. When last I checked, it was the taxpayers that paid for the thing, so it seems to me that the name should reflect that fact.

Missile Shield...The Russian President (Medvedev) is calling for the United States to scrap plans to install a missile shield in Europe. He's right, although I think his rationale and mine are ever so slightly different. Mine is economic (we can't pay for it) and geo-political (we shouldn't pay for it). Simply put, why should we be paying to protect other countries for missile attack? It was President Obama who, just a few days ago, reminded former President (and not "guy holding the puppet strings) Putin that the "cold war was over". Well our President should pay attention to his own words. Let the Europeans install this themselves if they want it.

Sick Car...My Cruiser as an electrical problem, namely that the fog lights will not turn off. To temporarily solve the problem I needed to remove the appropriate fuse, although now they will not (obviously) come on at all. An hour of Internet searches for the problem came up blank. My best guess is that the switch may be bad (it's a single switch that controls all the lights) or perhaps there is a faulty relay at work. Just another problem to solve I suppose.

TV Show Quote

"Ah, arrogance and stupidity all in the same package. How very efficient of you."
- Ambassador Londo Mollari (Babylon 5)


You don't have to like or even have even seen the television show Babylon 5 to appreciate the value of the above quote. It often comes to mind whenever I think of politicians in general, particularly of late when I think of Luzerne County government and courts.


On another, unrelated note, this blog has had slightly over 500 views of the 254 published posts since October 27, 2008. Does that mean anything? Nope, it does not, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. 500 is, after all, a nice round number.

Breaking News: Governor Palin

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced today that she will resign her seat. Story link here.

If the GOP believes that a credible candidate for President is someone who:

• Could not finish the her first term as governor of a state with about the same population of Northeastern Pennsylvania
• Notes as an accomplishment being the mayor of a town the size of Dunmore, Pennsylvania

...then the party truly has lost its way. How on Earth could she possibly improve her credentials and experience level? Put another way, I'm not sure that running your own PAC qualifies you for anything other than running another PAC. It certainly doesn't do much in the "leader of the free world experience" department, if this is indeed how she plans on affecting change.

Best and brightest that the Republican Party has to offer? I'm thinking not.

Road Apples, #34

In the Stupidest Movie Department we have the latest installment of "Transformers". This is, quite possibly, the worst movie ever made. I want to sue Paramount for the price of my ticket. Now why was it so bad? Here are just a few reasons:

• Dialogue, Part 1 - Half the time I couldn't hear the dialogue, as it was either muffled or drown out by giant battling Transformers.
• Dialogue, Part 2 - When I could hear the dialogue it was mostly stupid.
• Fights, Part 1 - It was virtually impossible to tell the "good" Transformers from the bad ones.
• Fights, Part 2 - When the Transformers were fighting the action was so fast that you really couldn't tell what was happening.
• Scale - Sometimes "Optimus Prime" seemed to be about 20 feet tall, sometimes he seemed to be about 60 feet tall.
• Acting - The best actors were the new, smaller Transformers.

This was seriously horrible. Why did I ever go? Well that was mainly because the first movie was fairly tolerable.

I Get A Shiver In My Bones Thinking About The Weather - The weather of late has been horrible. Think on and off showers all week. It's damn-near depressing.

In The "Just Doesn't Apply To Airplanes" Department - I've come to the absolutely conclusion that I get much better gas mileage while driving West to East than I do East to West. Got to love that head-wind.

In The News - While I would never wish for a major catastrophe to happen in the world, it would be nice for something to take the "Michael Jackson is dead" stuff out of the headlines. Seriously, we get it now: he was weird. Can we now move on?

I Have A Ton Of Work To Do and probably not enough time to get it all completed. Life can be wonderful like that sometimes.

Criminal Rule #1: Make Sure the Get-Away Car Is Filled Up

Sad but funny story in today's Scranton Times, linked here.

It seems two crooks who robbed a gas station were caught, after their get-away car ran out of gas. Ooops. Somehow I think the term "criminal genius" will not be applied to either of these two individuals any time soon.

I say give them 10+5 in the in some SCI - 10 for robbery plus an extra 5 for simply being morons.

Just A Quick Note...

...that I'm traveling this week, which means a different schedule, which means my head gets scrambled in a minor way, etc. The older I get the more I become like a house cat: change my routine and I cease to want to function properly.

Regardless, maybe the muse will strike me at some point and time. Until then, I'm just going to be glad that life marches on.