Sen. Bill Frist: Good boy!


If you haven't read already, Senator Bill Frist, a heart surgeon before he sold his soul to politics, turned into a rare, rare creature today: he escaped teh trance of extremists. He announced he now supports a bill that will ease ridiculous restrictions placed on stem cell research by President Howdy Doody and the other right-wing sheep in 2001. It seems Mr. Frist is one of the few GOP politicians to grow a set of balls and actually go with common sense as opposed to being a puppet for a bunch of right-wing, religious whackos. The only other one I can think of at the moment is Congressman Chris Shays.

Now, of course, loud-mouth, extortionist extremists are going to hound him, say he's not fit for president and won't receive the backing from pro-life groups. And they'll portray him as a demon to Jesus in the next campaign he runs, whenever that is. If I were him, I'd tell them all to go scratch and fuck off. GOP senator Arlen Spector, a colleague and friend of Mr. Frist is fighting cancer. There are signs, or at least some scientific hope, that stem cell research might help in the fight against cancer. Yet, these so-called pro-life dolts will fight the use of embryonic stem cell research because they believe in some illogical reality that says if we eliminate stem cell research, we'll save more babies and God will love us all. What idiots. What's sad is that these people actually have power in Washington, D.C. This, at least, throws them back one step for once.

While I'm no GOP supporter, I want to congratulate Sen Frist on following his conscience (not "conscious" as our dipshit president stated) and standing up to these radical nitwits who are trying to turn this free country into a theocracy.

Signs point to global flu outbreak -WHO warning



Some people are probably going to think I'm out of my mind and I'm a cruel person. But I'm going into my, uh, examination of the pending Bird Flu pandemic that many health experts are warning about with the mindset that this is a natural and necessary event. Basically, the HN51 virus is a mutated flu virus that is spread via birds, mostly chickens, and there is no known antibody for it. If the virus mutates into a human-to-human transferable virus, experts predict millions of people, predominatly in SE Asia and China will die from this virus before it's contained. You can read about it: Here

So, being the dark thinker I am, I'm going to play devil's advocate and say this is a good thing for our planet. No, I'm not saying I want millions of innocent people to die. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that if in fact this outbreak does occur, it's something our species needs. Simply put, the current human population of more than 6 BILLION is gobbling up more and more resources, destroying thousands of precious forests and open space every single day, polluting our water, air and soil and becoming increasingly more violent. Put too many bees in a jar and they'll start to kill each other.

Even here in the US, I think there are way too many people to happily live amongst ourselves at this point. Look at the things that are happening. Road rage, obesity, the explosion of stupid people, the dumbing down of our culture and rapidly expanding suburban sprawl just to name a few. Just think how nice it would be driving to work with no traffic on I-95 in the morning or sitting in your car for ten hours while you try to reach your vacation destination in the Outer Banks or Cape Cod. I dream of those days. We used to have them. No more.

Like many other species that overpopulates, a natural culling usually takes place to bring some sort of balance back to the environment. While this flu pandemic likely won't kill 4 billion people, it's at least a start in the planet saying, "There are too many of you and I'm tired of you destroying everything." Kind of like what's going on in Florida and the wave of destructive hurricanes.

Now, before anyone starts comparing me to Hitler or something, think logically - not emotionally - about this. You see this happen with animal populations all over. If too many wolves move into a forest and eat all the deer, the wolves start to die off before balance is restored. I see the impending pandemic as something similar. Maybe it's time humans learn to think smart about overpopulation.

Vatican Condenms Gay Marriage, But Pedophilia is OK

I just came across this short AP blurb that the be all, end all of human decency - The Vatican - has "condemned" Canada for it's legalization of gay marriage: Here.

"The distortion of God's plan for the family continues," said L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican daily. Now, let me preface this by saying I'm a former Catholic. I consider myself an atheist after actually thinking about church teachings and the like during my life. Anyway, I'd love to hear the omnicient ones at the Vatican explain exactly why gay marriage is this major threat to the "institution" of marriage and to families around the world.

Last time I checked, "God's plan" didn't include a 50% divorce rate for heterosexual couples as being healthy for families. His "plan" also doesn't include the harboring of pedophiles, which we all know the church has done for decades and still does. This "plan" doesn't include the Church amassing BILLIONS of dollars in assets (check out the rare artwork the Vatican owns and the valuable real estate it owns around the globe) while people around the world starve to death. So, with these issues continuing and basically going unresolved by the church, how exactly is the union of happy, same-sex couples, who love each other, some sort of bogeyman threat?

Instead of promoting and condoning discrimination against millions of people, perhaps the church should acknowledge it's large population of repressed gay people - priests - and its backwards, anti-human ways. I've met a number of priests who are/were more effeminate than my mother. I've worked with and known enough gay people where my gaydar is pretty damn accurate. And it goes of anytime I'm in or near a church. Yet, because the church teachings do so much to repress people's feelings, primarily by making normal human behavior "sins," they've now created an institution full of super-repressed men which has spawned a nice, convenient platform in which tens of thousands of children have been molested by those to are supposedly dedicated to God. (I think many of thee became priests to get away from their homosexuality or pedophilia feelings) The church teaches against pre-marital sex, masturbation and basically anything sexual. Yet, human being are sexual creatures! You can't fight that!

The Catholic Church is all about control. The Ten Commandments, while a worthy set of things to live by, symbolize this all-controlling authority over human behavior.

Anytime the Vatican releases nonsense (or what it calls "news"), I laugh. These backwards-thinking men need to wake up with the times and embrace things that might actually be HEALTHY for people. Instead of bitch-slapping gay people, why not direct your efforts into cleaning up the environment? How about feeding those millions of people starving in Sudan? How about fighting for social and financial equality in the US and other countries? And do all that without trying to "mission" and brainwash weak people to grow your empire.

Sadly, the Vatican has turned into an institution seemingly run by the same mentality that dictates US politics. Wedge issues, which bring out a lot of polarizing emotions, seem to matter more than things we should really be worried about. Abortion? If you're against it, don't have one. Stem cell research? Again, a non-issue. Teri Schiavo? Not your fucking business.

Anyway, it's good to see the folks in Canada actually think for themselves and don't allow their policies to be dictated by rpressionist, puritanical religious freaks. Right on, eh!

I knew it wouldn't be too long before I found another example of how lawyers in this country are sinking us into an escape-less hell and have turned our society into a bunch of blame-seekers. Many of you are probably familiar with the tragic case of three young boys who locked themselves in a car trunk in New Jersey last month and died. After they were missing for a few hours, the police were called and a wide search was conducted. No one found anything. Sadly, the father of two of the boys popped the trunk a few days later and found their bodies.

Of course, something like this can't pass without some sort of blame being thrown at someone. I knew it would be a matter of time before some scumbag ambulance chaser would latch on to one of these families. Sure enough, that's happened. And where is the blame being directed? At the police who helped search for the boys. Here's the AP story I found today:

CAMDEN, New Jersey (AP) -- Three boys who suffocated in a car trunk last month were trapped alive for at least 13 hours, slowly succumbing while police searched their neighborhood, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The boys, ages 5, 6 and 11, died between 13 and 33 hours after they climbed into the trunk on June 22, said the Camden County prosecutor's office, citing part of an autopsy report. The deaths were ruled accidental.

Relatives searched for the boys for three hours and then called authorities. A two-day search that included dogs, helicopters and boats on the nearby Delaware River ended on the night of June 24 when the father of one of the boys found them dead in the trunk, just a few feet from where they had been playing.

Several experts told The Associated Press last month that it was likely the boys would have passed out within an hour or two of becoming trapped.

The question of when Anibal Cruz, Jesstin Pagan and Daniel Agosto died is crucial, in part because of the possibility of lawsuits against officials.

If the boys were dead by the time police were called to the neighborhood in this impoverished city, it may decrease the families' chances of success in a lawsuit against officials.

So far, no legal complaints have been filed, and the mother of one of the boys said Tuesday the report's finding does not mean she will sue.

"I don't think me and my husband want to go through that. Suing anybody or getting a lawyer isn't going to help us bring him back," Iraida Agosto said.

However, a lawyer for Anibal Cruz's family said responsibility for the deaths is now "squarely on the shoulders of the police."

"I think the numbers speak for themselves," Peter M. Villari told The New York Times. "They were certainly alive when the police arrived and certainly well after the search started."

Villari did not immediately return a call seeking additional comment Tuesday.

Villari said last month that he was hired by Anibal's mother, Elba Cruz, in part to see if police or anyone else may have been responsible for the deaths. He said at the time that it was not clear whether she might sue.

A report from prosecutors on issues including why searchers never looked in the car trunk is due next week.

"It would be inappropriate to comment on other aspects of the case until we have established a clear and complete picture of the events and discussed our findings with the families," Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi said in a statement Tuesday.

I'd love to hear Mr. Villari's logic that leads him to hold POLICE responsible for these deaths. It astounds me he has the nerve to even think that. Were mistakesmade? Possibly. But to hold them RESPONSIBLE???? You've got to be kidding me. Technically, the family is "responsible" for what happened. There was an open car on their property. End of story. I'm certainly not saying they should be charged or anything of the sort. They're going through a horrific time and what this was was an ACCIDENT. This is not some heinous crime where the police (who I'm sure did everything they could to find these kids) deserve any sort of blame.

Another question I'd like answered is if these kids were alive for THAT long in the trunk, why didn't they make any noise? Any kid that I know would FREAK being locked inside a small, dark trunk. Hell, my nephews wig out when they get stuck inside their shirts when getting dressed!

Either way, I really hope this Villari isn't successful in whatever his motives may be (besides profiteering off someone's tragedy). This is a sad, sad case and lessons need to be learned. But to go out on some sort of scapegoating mission is absolutely sickening. The mother of one of the boys had it right in not seeking to file a lawsuit. This was a tragic accident and that's it. (And for anyone who might argue against auto manufacturers, they are required by law to install glow-in-the-dark latches inside the trunks of all new cars to prevent this sort of thing from happening).

The Paranoia of West Nile

Another summer, another round of West Nile virus paranoia. Today, while looking at cnn.com, I found they created a "special report" on the state of the mosquito-borne virus in the US: "The Future of West Nile Virus." While a media member myself, this is one of those times where I have to call into question the people coming up with story ideas. West Nile appeared in the US a few years ago. The states in the Northeast, petrified this was some sort of bubonic plague (which I think we need anyway because there are just too many damn people in this world), started spraying pesticides in our neighborhoods and dropped killer tablets into sewers and other still-water areas. What was the result? The virus spread further each year and is now found in virtually every state. Great job, folks!

What confounds me is the amount of effort municipalities and politicians put into trying to eradicate this virus. Despite the millions of dollars spent and the contamination in the environment (it's widely believed the pesticides are responsible for the lobster die off in Long Island Sound the past several years) the virus is still here. What's even more astounding is we're going through all this trouble and drumming up all of this worry for an illness that effects so few people! More people die of heart attacks in a given day in NYC than contract West Nile in all of New York State in a year! You would think this alien virus is a sign of the end of the world. It's bullshit.

As a reporter for a newspaper last year, I was charged with writing a story on this and I couldn't even get the local health commissioner to answer why we're wasting so much time and effort to eradicate something that poses such a low risk to humans. Unless you can kill EVERY SINGLE MOSQUITO that carries this virus, you can't and won't wipe it out. Achieving that is impossible. So why are we bothering?

It's time for people get real about West Nile. It's here. It's not going away. So, deal with it and move on. The chances of anyone contracting the virus is slim to none. So, there's nothing to worry about. You should worry more about what you eat every day and how safely you drive. And it's time our cowardly politicians start dealing with this realistically. Stop wasting taxpayer money on untested pesticides on a threat that is so incredibly miniscule that there is no justification for its use.

Apology

I'm man enough to admit whenever I'm wrong. (It's not often, but it happens.) I apparently ruffled a few feathers with my comments about a lawsuit against Bennington College by the family of Kelly Muzzi - namely the family's (how they found this godforsaken blog, I'll never know). Anyway, I apologize for any added grief caused by my comments. If I didn't have all the facts and I was off base, so be it. I can accept that and I'm sorry. I'll be a little more careful in the cases I highlight about frivolous lawsuits. There are so many to choose from nowadays and I may have erred in picking this one.

However, I'm not really an unhappy person, as one of them accused me of being. I'm just jaded by all the BS I see people pulling these days. I'm annoyed at the millions of people who don't give a shit about what they're doing anymore and ignoring the consequences their actions have on our planet and society. Our society isn't in a happy place anymore and I'm just being realistic about it. People don't like their bubbles popped.

Mother Nature to Floridians: "Get the Fuck Out!"

I know the sunny state of Florida is revered by millions of people. It's a prime vacation destination. The women and beaches are (usually) gorgeous. The Daytona Int'l Speedway is one of the most amazing places on the planet. And the cost of living is (relatively speaking) cheaper than, say, New England. But I hate the place.

The reasons are many. First of all, turn on the news any given wek, and something horrific or mindboggling comes from Florida. A child molester kidnaps a little girl and kills her? Got it. Religious extremists trampling on someone's rights? Check. Voter fraud? Yep. Politicians pressing the state to water trees with holy water? Yes, even that.

The biggest news of all, however, are the hurricanes. I love them. Unless you've been in a coma, you know the Sunshine State has been hit with 5 major hurricanes in the last 12 months. Damage is estimated in the tens of billions of dollars. But, you know what everyone is doing down there? Rebuilding. Over and over again. In fact, according to a 60 Minutes report a few months ago, 1,000 per DAY are moving into Florida. It's now one of the most populous states in the country. Whenever I visit Florida, I'm dismayed by what I see. Not only is traffic horrendous, but there is ENDLESS development going on. Nevermind the fact that most of the state is or used to be a swamp. In many places you absolutely cannot leave the house unprotected because of the ferocious insects that inhabit the place. But people keep building and building and building. What was once a gorgeous, naural place is now the epitome of what's wrong with this country. Overdevelopment, strip malls, junk food paradises, ad nauseum. Take a visit to Orlando and see how disgusting it really is down there.

Florida has become THE prime destination for criminals. Hey, why not? As a Florida columnist said, would you rather steal cars in Detroit all year or Miami? Given the spate of child killings there this year, it's also apparently a not-so-retired retirement comunity for pedophiles.

Anyway, back on topic. I'm hoping Mother Nature is sending the idiots of Florida a message: "Get the fuck out of this state, morons." It's becoming more evident that people should not overdevelop shorelines and prime wetlands. There SHOULD be a limit to how much people can bulldoze to spring up yet another 300 home housing development. Insurance companies are beginning to get smart on this. Many people can no longer get housing, or at least hurricane, insurance there anymore. I hope that trend continues. Florida now represents most of what's gone wrong with our culture and some force is finally starting to slap people in the face. Want to ruin this place? You'll pay.

So, here's to more and more destructive hurricanes in Florida. Hopefully, people will get the message and go somewhere else. Maybe to Mexico or Utah.