50th Post Anniversary

I've been writing on this site since March 7, 2007 and this is my 50th post. Yay me!

*Cries softly in the corner*

No, I'm okay, really.

Anyway, in other news I added a counter to the site last Friday to count visitors. It appears I have 6 so far. I'm not sure how many I've had since the site started over a year ago, but then again...I'm not writing this blog to generate ad revenue or earn any sort of income at that.

So, I've decided to make a conscious effort to get more sleep. My goal right now is to be physically in bed at midnight. I see the biggest obstacles to achieving this goal as a) my computer b) food c) tv.

a) my computer - I have a bad habit of getting hooked on youtube right before bedtime. I'll watch one video that's a few minutes long and at the end another related one pops up and I'll think 'oooh, that looks neat, I'll watch that one too'...and then it goes on and on and 2 hours later I realize I've watched 78 youtube clips. argh...damn you tube of you!

b) food - another bad habit of mine is eating too late at night. due to the fact that I usually have dinner early (~6 pm) by midnight I've gone 6 hours without food and then I'm hungry again. Of course eating powers up my body so I have a hard time falling asleep with a full stomach.

c) tv - not that big of a problem. the late night lineup on fox is comprised of seinfeld, scrubs, that 70s show...it's merely background noise and almost always reruns

the biggest part is definitely the computer. i have to make a conscious effort to shut it off before midnight and get myself in bed, even if i don't fall asleep immediately.

i'll keep you updated on how well my quest to do something that babies have no trouble doing goes...

Don't Eat Veal

http://www.noveal.org/forgetaboutit/index.htm

I'm by no means an animals rights activist. I'm not a vegetarian or a vegan. I enjoy meat, but this just grosses me out. I've had veal in the past - in the breaded cutlet form. I thought it was pretty good, pretty much like chicken, however I wasn't aware of how veal is raised for a good while. I haven't consumed it more than 2 or 3 times in my life, but I definitely plan on consciously avoiding it now that I've learned more.

There are a few reasons to not eat veal:
1. You think the way veal is raised is cruel.
2. It's unhealthy.

I'll start with the first point. Veal is baby cow. Female calves are raised to be milk cows so all veal is male. Male calves are taken from their mothers shortly after they are born and confined, most commonly in a veal crate. The crate is a small wooden enclosure which prevents the veal from moving or even lying down comfortably. The goal is to atrophy the veal's muscles so it remains tender. The veal is fed a high fat, low iron milk substitute so it becomes anemic - resulting in a pale flesh color.

Now let's think about it. You're taking a very young animal away from its mother, cooping it up so it can't move and then depriving it of its needed nutrients. So it's no surprise the veal develops a lot of health problems such as pneumonia or chronic diarrhea. To keep the veal from dying, it is injected with a lot of antibiotics.

Now the health part. As I just mentioned, veal is sickly by nature so the meat you consume is more likely to contain diseases than that of a healthy, traditionally raised beef cow. Secondly, veal is more likely to contain antibiotics and other drugs used to keep the veal alive. You definitely don't want to be consuming drugs in your meat.

So there you have it. Maybe you don't care if the veal is raised cruelly, but you should worry about eating potentially diseased meat laced with antibiotics.

Source: http://www.britishmeat.com/veal.html

The Future of Eating

It's late...I'm tired and feeling full as a result of consuming 3 rolls of sushi for dinner.

But I had this really odd idea about the future of eating and nutrition.

I enjoy food...the smell, the taste, the textures, the presentation, the story behind it. However, one thing I don't care for is the feeling of it sitting in my stomach once it's been swallowed.

Imagine in the future there's some weird bypass valve in your esophagus which allows you to chew, taste, and swallow food...but instead of it going to your stomach to be digested it's diverted to an external tube. You get minimal absorption of nutrients and calories but you still enjoy the taste, texture, etc.

I know it sounds really gross to imagine your food coming out of your throat and going into a waste receptacle of some sort, but think about it.

You could experience all the good parts of eating without worrying about all the extra calories, fats, cholestrol and so forth. Plus since the food doesn't actually reach your stomach you could 'eat' all day!

I often eat for the flavor and texture, not because I'm hungry. This would suit me quite well.

Of course we'd still need nutrition, but in the future perhaps we can use this same bypass tube to pump perfectly balanced nutritional broth into our stomachs. It'd probably taste horrible, but since it skips your mouth you'd never have to suffer through it!

You'd get the best of both worlds:
- Enjoy as much of all the foods you love without any of the negative consequences
- Get the perfect nutrition without having to deal with gross tasting foods

Genius!

Banning bottled water

Something I agree with...'spring water' is far less regulated than tap water. It's a huge scam that people spend so much money on bottled water thinking it's cleaner than tap.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/city-of-seattle-bottled-water-ban.php

Another Onion

Report: Economically Disadvantaged Men More Skilled At Communicating Attraction To Women

This article is so true. I have a hard time telling a woman I like her haircut. My usual attempted compliment goes like this:

Me: Hey , did you get your haircut?
Woman: Hi, yeah I did yesterday!
Me: Umm...it looks....different.
Woman: Uh, thanks, I guess.

Point/Counter-Point: Legalized Prostitution

As you most likely know, prostitution (the so-called "World's Oldest Profession) is illegal in America. This, however, doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It does happen and with significant enough frequency to warrant media attention - especially when it involves celebrities or government officials like Mr. Spitzer.

In some other countries, prostitution is legal and regulated - Amsterdam's red light district comes to mind. I'm not going to research any stats comparing countries with legalized prostitution to America, but I'm sure they are out there.

Anyway, let's get to the point.

Point - America should legalize prostitution
Here I'll list some points in favor of legalizing prostitution.

1. Legalized and regulated prostitution would be safer for the customer and the client.
In terms of health, prostitutes could be required to get regular STD screenings in order to continue working. Likewise, customers would also need to pass a STD screening as well as be required to use protective equipment, such as condoms. General safety would also be enhanced - customers wouldn't have to worry about the prostitute robbing them or injuring them because they'd be background checked and government certified for their jobs. For the prostitutes, customers would also be screened for criminal histories, and could be required to divulge personal information for documentation purposes. Security could also be enhanced through the use of metal detectors and perhaps use of video surveillance.

I seem to have uncovered another issue in this discussion of safety - privacy. Obviously, prostitution is a very sticky subject, pun intended, and people generally don't like the public to know that they pay for sex. So if a customer was required to undergo these tests, divulge criminal and medical histories, and at the very least, identify themselves - this might act as a large deterrent for those who are either are ashamed to pay for sex or who care about what other people think about their behavior. The videotaping might be a little excessive, but that was the only means I could think of to monitor the mutual safety of a prostitute and a client while 'doing business'.

2. Legalized prostitution would reduce the number of occurrences of sexually motivated crimes.
Okay, so this is another massive can of worms I've opened. A lot of people say rape isn't about sex as much as it is about power or control. I can see why they'd say that but there definitely has to be some sexual motivation to it. If you're really just after power or control you could just kidnap someone or beat them up. I don't want to diverge from the main subject so let's get back on track.

So crimes such as sexual assault or rape occur because the criminal must satisfy some urge and chooses an unwilling victim as an outlet. Perhaps if prostitution was legal, this potential criminal would be able to find a willing partner to satisfy his/her needs before he/she has to take it by force.

Here's an analogy that might not be so great. A poor man needs money. He could rob someone and take their money...or he could go get a welfare check from the government. I'd say in most cases the poor man would take the more legal option.

Of course, perpetrators of sexual crimes aren't always just after sex. Maybe they're after violence, control, or domination - something that can't be always be obtained voluntarily.

However, I think the overall number of sexually-motivated crimes would decrease.

3. Safer sex practices would be more widely known.
If prostitutes are this tightly regulated, perhaps it will have an reciprocal effect on regular sexual relationships. People might think 'if these people are getting tested for STDs maybe we should too'. Awareness of safer sex would definitely increase.

4. Less relationships would be destroyed by infidelity.
Now note that I'm NOT saying legalized prostitution would decrease infidelity. The opposite argument could be made that it would increase infidelity. What I mean is that if someone is going to cheat (and the reason they cheat is they want sex) it's better than they cheat with some stranger, rather than someone they know, like a friend or neighbor. Sure, the spouse of the cheater is still hurt, but we've removed 1 person out of the love triangle. The prostitute has no standing relationship with the offended spouse and merely acts as an outlet. That's one less relationship that has to be destroyed in that messy situation. Often times infidelity happens with people both members of the couple know - a mutual friend, perhaps a relative. The fact that all 3 people have a relationship only make the situation more complicated.

Counterpoint - America should not legalize prostitution
1. Legalized prostitution would increase the risk of STDs and unwanted pregnancies.
Although above I mentioned that the prostitution regulations would require extensive health and background screenings, the mere fact that people would be having more sex with more people would increase the possibility for transmission of STDs and increase the risk for unwanted pregnancies.

2. Prostitution would diminish the significance of sex, making it an emotionless, mechanical act, done purely for physical sensations.
Today some people have sex merely for the reasons I stated above, but for many others sex is more than just a physical act. For people that love each other it's not only a physical bond, but an emotional bond. The wide availability of sex devoid of emotional attachments may devalue what is called 'making love'.

3. Legalizing prostitution would lead to more immoral behavior and de

Kristen AKA Ashley Alexandra Dupre AKA Ashley Youmans

So undoubtedly you've heard of the news involving now-former Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer. He was "Client 9" at the ritzy Emperor's Club and enjoyed the services of a 22 year old escort who went by the name Kristen.

This is obviously a shattering blow to Spitzer's career and his family. While I doubt he'll face any real penalties because of his celebrity status (jail time) he's been shamed in front of millions of people and worse yet, he's lost the trust of his wife, children, and family members.

But on the other hand, this presents a huge opportunity for Ms. Dupre. Of course she probably feels some shame for being exposed as a prostitute and has to deal with the shock of sudden notoriety, but as someone who aspired to be a musician this opens a golden window.

Her myspace page had over 5 million hits when I looked at it this morning. (The page has since been removed.) By now it's probably over 6 million. She had a song of hers on the site as well. I didn't really pay much attention to it as it sounds pretty generic - dance, pop, in the mold of Brittany Spears. I doubt she'll find much success in the music industry with such a copycat sound however I think she should refocus her career on what she's already famous for - having sex for money.

Can you imagine the demand she'd have if she were to pose for Playboy or any other raunchy magazine? There wouldn't be a single man (or woman) who wouldn't be interested in seeing what all the fuss is about over this girl. What kind of woman could tempt a man in such a powerful position like Spitzer?

She's already shown she has no problem with having sex for money and now that she's been exposed to the public, why not take advantage of the publicity? I say do it - become a porn star. Your fame may be short-lived, but this is a great financial opportunity that's been spawned from an ugly scandal.

The Onion

I could probably post 6 or 7 Onion articles every week, but this one for some reason really tickled my funny bone.

Here's an excerpt:

Peters then cut the ribbon on the inaugural lane by speeding through it in a rusted-out 1984 Chevy Cavalier, steering with her knees as her left hand held a cup of hot coffee aloft and her right hand slapped her 4-year-old daughter sitting in the back seat.

DOT Creates New Lane For Reckless Drivers

Forwarded email

My mother frequently forwards me emails of various internet curiosities...this one was especially neat that I wanted to show it to you.

What do all these pictures have in common?






Figure it out? If not, click on the photos to enlarge them to full size and the answer should become obvious.