via LGF, Charles writes:

Here’s a mind-expanding article by Michael Specter that appeared in The New Yorker last December, on a discovery about the way viruses infiltrate human cells and affect the coding of human DNA. The Human Genome Project has shown that our DNA contains many traces of extinct retroviruses that copied themselves into the human genetic code, but were then expelled, destroyed, or altered through the process of evolution.

This part above doesn’t necessarily scare me. Its more interesting to see how modern science is figuring out how we’re built and how we’ve been infected in the past, sorta like a molecular Cold Case detective. But here is where its starts to get, as is mentioned in the article, kinda Jurassic Park on me…

Then, last year, Thierry Heidmann brought one back to life. Combining the tools of genomics, virology, and evolutionary biology, he and his colleagues took a virus that had been extinct for hundreds of thousands of years, figured out how the broken parts were originally aligned, and then pieced them together. After resurrecting the virus, the team placed it in human cells and found that their creation did indeed insert itself into the DNA of those cells. They also mixed the virus with cells taken from hamsters and cats. It quickly infected them all, offering the first evidence that the broken parts could once again be made infectious. The experiment could provide vital clues about how viruses like H.I.V. work. Inevitably, though, it also conjures images of Frankenstein’s monster and Jurassic Park.

This troubles me because there is that stinking and sneaky Law of Unintended Consequences. Waking up or resurrecting a dormant virus might not just be a break through for science, it makes me think of Steven King’s The Stand or I Am Legend. Not necessarily the end of the world stuff, but the possibility of an epidemic and mass sickness. Like cloning, this is a road that, in my mind, might turn into a slippery slope before we know it…

Raven might have more insight into such medical issues than I… whatcha think?

This is called Papri Chaat…an Indian dish that is just YUMMAY and we had some yesterday over in Rye (NH).

I wasn’t sure I’d like it cause the ingredients are of a different mix: homemade chips, lentil dumplings, garbanzo beans, potatoes, yogurt, chutney & spices. mmMMmm

IT WAS DELICIOUS and I bought a couple tins to bring home so we can snack on it later.

Sitting out on the patio this noon, sipping some gross disgusting wine and admiring my first me-made bouquet of wild flowers from my garden, I have some thoughts.

I’ve always had **issues** with religion, Christians and what not. To me it’s always been preach one thing but behave in another. Do as I say. Not as I do. I try not to post about these things, BUT I need to do so once in awhile.

This is from a religious blog:

For too long already we have failed to recognize the great dignity of feminism in our society where nothing is sacred, much less the female body. We’ve replaced sacred femininity with modern day “feminism” where women work to become more like men. Abortion has destroyed the maternal love of women and the widespread and accepted indulgence of lust coupled with the use of contraception has lead many women to allow themselves to be objectified - used and abused for the physical gratification of another.

Woman! Recognize your dignity! Our bodies are made so clearly sacred and precious to the eyes of the Lord - never to be subject to the lustful desires of men.

You know what this reminds me of? Islam. HATE to say. But that’s not my point here.

AND why can’t women be lusted for? Please tell me.

Explain to me why is it the men who seek the porn? Who post images of objectified young women on their blogs- where the last post might be some religious rant? Why is it the married men who seek the services of prostitutes far more than any other group of the male species? How can a single man call himself religious and attend church and all that- and go out and sex it up/do the one night thing with women he has no intention of having a relationship with? <–as a habit. Why do these men preach one thing and turn around and do exactly what they tell others NOT to do?

Why are religious people so hypocritical? Surely this God they all bow down to, pray to- doesn’t approve of all these humanly human antics and behaviors? Or, is it that modestly rules apply only to women? Does God approve of men of being sexual beings only?

Either way, I don’t like it and more and more I am finding myself blessed NOT to subscribe to religious beliefs. The hypocrisy is so loud and deafening I can’t stand it.

For all you burly manly men out there, who hate women, here’s a set of blogs for you. Actually I think the person who authored these “blogs” is a stupid fuck who doesn’t realize (s)he could have, should have just put these all up as individual posts on ONE BLOG- but alas not all are smart…

For Men Marriage Is A Lose/Lose Prospect

Things You Need To Know About Women

Start Living A New Life!

The Strong & Independent Woman

The Problem With Women In The Workplace

The Solution To Every Problem

The Problem With Women Today

Not All Women Are ‘Like That’

WHO AUTHORED these masterpieces? I dunno his name but I got his picture.

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Numbers speak loudly when we listen to them.

The calculation for Gardasil and HPV is remarkably similar. Once you sit down and explain the relationship between HPV infection and cervical cancer, much of the Gardasil marketing loses its punch; not because cervical cancer isn’t scary enough, but because its actual prevalence in this country doesn’t justify the hype.

Read it ALL.

I’ve worked thousands, no make that tens of thousands of hours of overtime in my life. Maybe more… I know what it does to me personally. I get tired. Cranky. Bitchy. Miserable.

Many times I have worked 112 hours weeks- seven 16 hour days in a row. Years and years of it. And it’s hard. All you do is work, sleep, eat fast and work and sleep. Once in awhile you might blow off some sleep to down a few beers. Second only to truck drivers in the risk pool of highest rates of on-the-job injuries, nursing is not easy. It’s brutal and back breaking.

An article at the WaPo tries to blame overtime work as a killer of Japanese men. How disingenuous and dishonest. Diseases kill people. Heart attacks kill. Cancer kills. Accidents and suicide kill. Not working lots of hours.

TOKYO — Death from too much work is so commonplace in Japan that there is a word for it — karoshi.

There is a national karoshi hotline, a karoshi self-help book and a law that funnels money to the widow and children of a salaryman (it’s almost always a man) who works himself into an early karoshi for the good of his company.

A local Japanese government agency ruled June 30 for the widow and children of a 45-year-old Toyota chief engineer who died in 2006.

While organizing the worldwide manufacture of a hybrid version of the Camry sedan, the man had worked nights and weekends and often traveled abroad — putting in up to 114 hours of overtime a month — in the six months before he died in his bed of heart failure.

114 hours? A month? Gimme a break. As I said above, I worked almost that in one week, week after week over entire summers and beyond.

I don’t agree with Japan’s national stance on what constitutes a work week; I don’t believe they have the 40 hour rule the US has; they have no laws requiring extra pay for certain numbers of hours worked…it’s a free market world over there, gone unchecked. However, the extra hours are not killing men.

Human beings have bodies that are designed to endure so much more than most people realize. I know it might upset my wealthy or well to do conservative friends, liberals and those types of folks, but hard work is actually good for our bodies. Lazy desk work is not. So, I can see the Japanese men developing heart diseases and similar problems that can arise from a sedentary lifestyle, and what one does for a living is indeed a huge part of that lifestyle.

I believe some people work too much because they are unhappy; depressed; miserable and have no life. Sadly, some people become so involved with their careers IT becomes their life. It’s not healthy. But it won’t kill a person.

The Japs have long surpassed Americans in life expectancy so this article surprised me. At first. Until I read the numbers and see it’s all been taken out of context, blown out of proportion and a slight political stab here and there is seen.

Tony Snow died this morning. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. It comes as a surprise for me because I thought that he had put a whooping on the cancer and was doing better and on the road to becoming a survivor. From everything I ever heard and saw him say and do, he seemed to be a straight shooter and a moral man. I know that he is in a better place now. God bless you Tony, and your family through this difficult time.

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A desperate five-day search for a 9-year-old boy abducted by his father in Southern California ended in Mexico, where the man died after being hit by a bus and the boy was found safe across town, authorities said Monday.

Ryan Ramos was found alone Sunday in a Mormon church building in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and arrived in Orange County early Monday, where he was reunited with his family, sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.

He had been missing since Wednesday, when his father, Lonnie Ramos, 46, allegedly shot his estranged wife during a custody exchange and took off with their child.

Raven has posted briefly (Googler Day Care Woes) earlier on a New York Times article today about the turbulent waters that Google has fallen into regarding its in-house day-care program, which it has discovered is getting too expensive compared with the fees it has been assessing its employees.

I started to write a comment, which turned into this post instead.

The NYT author titled his article “On Day Care, Google Makes a Rare Fumble” on the basis that Google had overriden the findings of its focus groups and had upset its employees by planning to sharply increase the prices it charges its employees for day care.

Actually, (although this is not the author’s intent) this story is a parable for the education sector and/or a parable for one-payer healthcare/Medicare.

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I am really starting to get annoyed with all of the global cooling er.. global warming.. er Climate Change bull crap.

My irritation started today when I bought tickets for my family to fly out to visit me in California while I am out there for some training. There was an option on Orbitz.com for me to purchase, since I was having my girls fly on a big-bad-evil corporate airline, some CARBON-FRIGGIN-OFFSETS! I shi’ite you not. I could buy some carbon credits in order to offset the carbon emissions to make myself feel better. I honestly could not believe my eyes. I almost wanted to look elsewhere for tickets, then realized that this was a pretty good deal and I could not pass it up.

So then I turn around and check Drudge out. Looks like more Chicken Little Syndrome stories for my viewing pleasure…

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How I love Texas…. we just don’t play those games liberals love to play…

WEATHERFORD, Texas — A man was sentenced to more than 4,000 years in prison Wednesday for sexually assaulting three teenage girls over two years.

A day after finding James Kevin Pope guilty, jurors sentenced him to 40 life prison terms — one for each sex assault conviction — and 20 years for each of the three sexual performance of a child convictions.

At the request of prosecutors, state District Judge Graham Quisenberry ordered Pope to serve the sentences consecutively, adding up to 4,060 years. He will be eligible for parole in the year 3209, according to the Parker County District Attorney’s Office.

who would’ve thunk it…

BURLINGTON, Vt. — The body of a missing 12-year-old whose uncle allegedly planned to force her into a sex ring the day she disappeared was found Wednesday in Randolph, not far from his house.

State Police Director Col. James Baker said Brooke Bennett’s body was found about 4:45 p.m. and her family had been notified.

The uncle, Michael Jacques, has been in custody since Sunday on charges of aggravated sexual assault against a different underage girl. He has pleaded not guilty. Police Sgt. Tara Thomas said he would be charged in federal court with kidnapping.

And he should be charged with capital murder, then summarily tried and then shot.. repeatedly… in the groin… then thrown in a pen full of starved swine…. and even that would be too good for this perverted piece of filth…. but atleast our Supreme Court, and their ever evolving “standards of decency”, has declared the death penalty for child rapists unconstitutional….. douche-nozzles….

Some Houston residents are upset after Korans were left on the doorsteps of hundreds of homes in their neighborhood as part of a campaign to educate people about Islam.

Residents of Braes Timbers in southwest Houston began finding the holy books two weeks ago, MyFOXHouston.com reported. The Korans came with a note saying they had been left by the Book of Signs Foundation, which claims to have distributed 30,000 free copies of the texts to residents throughout the city.

“If we went into a Muslim country and left a Bible, we would be in prison and then decapitated a few years later,” Sue Ann Pieri, a resident who chose not to destroy the book, as other neighbors did, told MyFOXHouston.com.

Excellent point Ms. Pieri. Trying leaving a Bible on the doorstep of a Muslim and you’ll find out how loving and tolerant that Religion of Peace (My Ass)™ really is.

I personally don’t have a problem with them leaving Korans on people’s doorsteps. To me it is no different than a Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon coming by to talk to me ’bout their religions. I’ll listen, but my faith is strong and I won’t be changed, but I don’t have a problem with it. Ofcourse, if they leave their holy book on my doorstep, I also don’t except them to be outraged with what I decide to do it, if I should decide to do something unsavory.

PLANTATION, Fla. — The family of one of the men who was shot by a retired United States Marine while they attempted to rob a Subway sandwich shop said the customer shouldn’t have pulled the trigger.

According to Plantation police, two armed men barged into the Subway at 1949 Pine Island Road shortly after 11 p.m. Wednesday, demanding money from the employee behind the counter. When they tried to force John Lovell into the bathroom, he pulled out a gun and shot both men, police said.

Donicio Arrindell, 22, was shot in the head and later died at the hospital. Fredrick Gadson, 21, was shot in the chest and ran from the Subway, but police found him in hiding in some bushes on the property of a nearby BankAtlantic.

Lovell, 71, was the lone customer at the time. Police said he had a concealed weapons permit.

First of all, I congratulate the former Marine for offing one scumbag and I am going to give him a pass on the second because he did hit him center of mass, though it is unfortunate that nothing vital was struck. Second, if I am armed and two thugs think they can take me into a bathroom to do God only knows what to me, which probably will finish with my execution, I think I’ll try my luck with me and my .40 cal.

Gadson’s grandparents told Local 10 on Thursday that Lovell was wrong for pulling the trigger.

“He should not have taken the law in his hands,” said Rosa Jones, Gadson’s grandmother.

Her husband, Ivory Jones, also condemned the media for its portrayal of Lovell’s actions.

“I don’t condone what they did, (but) I definitely don’t condone the news people making him out to seem like they’re making a hero out of this man because he shot somebody down,” he said.

Typical.

“Mr. Lovell shouldn’t have pulled the trigger. He should have let my grandson rob him and Subway, complete with a pistol whipping. Instead he shot my poor widdle Frederick and killed his friend. That just wasn’t right. They were just both great, upstanding members of our neighborhood, with bright futures. This is just a tragedy.”

The grandparents (where are the parents btw?) are angry that their little hoodrats were shot while commiting a felony. How dare that 71 year-old man stop them? I am just CRYING, CRYING for them. I mean, I am weaping TEARS!! Big ones. Can you see them?

I am sure those grandparents loved their grand-children. Too bad their grand-children preferred the “Thug Lifestyle™” instead of working an honest living. Had they, one might still be alive and the other have one less new man-made oriface. And isn’t it telling that all of these relatives of dead criminals shot by law-abiding citizens are coming out as if their dead criminal relatives were somehow wronged by being made to assume room temperature?

HOUSTON — A Texas man who shot and killed two men he suspected of burglarizing his neighbor’s home was cleared in the shootings Monday by a grand jury.

Joe Horn, 62, shot the two men in November after he saw them crawling out the windows of a neighbor’s house in the Houston suburb of Pasadena.

….

“He wasn’t acting like a vigilante,” Lambright said. “He was well within his rights to do what he was doing.”

The men Horn killed, Hernando Riascos Torres, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30, were unemployed illegal immigrants from Colombia. Torres was deported to Colombia in 1999 after a 1994 cocaine-related conviction.

As it should be. Had those two men not been committed a criminal act, then they would not have been in a position where Mr. Horn had to make the choice to defend his neighbors property. But since they were undocumented, and unemployed, illegal immigrants, perhaps they were just stealing the property from Americans that other Americans won’t.

But the Fox News story from the AP is pretty factually based without alot of editorializing.

Wait till you read this piece from ABC News commenting on the case. Here are some excerpts:

In the Lone Star state, where the six-gun tamed the frontier, shooting bad guys is a time-honored tradition, and Horn’s case centered on a Texas state law based on the old idea that “a man’s home is his castle.” The “castle law” gives Texans unprecedented legal authority to use deadly force in their homes, vehicles and workplaces. And no longer do they have an obligation to retreat, if possible, before they shoot.

There is nothing I hate worse than some academic or reporter that acts like I should have to runaway from my house and belongings because some goblin scumbag makes the choice to invade and steal. And I highlighted some of the nice editorial comments that definitely show where their biases lie.

Horn fatally shot the burglars, two illegal immigrants from Colombia named Diego Ortiz and Miguel de Jesus. Stephanie Storey, De Jesus’ fiancée, wanted to see Joe Horn prosecuted.

“This man took the law into his own hands,” she said. “He shot two individuals in the back after having been told over and over to stay inside. It was his choice to go outside and his choice to take two lives.”

First of all, Ms. Storey, your illegal immigrant fiance, it was HIS CHOICE to go inside another person’s house and begin commiting crimes. Had he simply gone to work, or been at home with you instead, he’d still be alive. Oh, and BTW, someone please show me the law that the commands of a dispatcher are the law of the land that must be obeyed at all costs….

“In most situations, calling 911 is the best remedy, not calling out for your 9-millimeter,” Diepraam said.

That’s right, because Mr Assistant District Attorney, the police are only 5-10 minutes away when you have seconds to act. Good call douche… good call…

You can go read the rest… but I like the idea that home invaders now have the option to assume room temperature at the home owners request….. And ABC News….. you criminal-loving commies…. suck it….

NEW YORK — The World Trade Center’s owner on Monday scrapped the schedule for the prolonged rebuilding of the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying nearly every project is delayed and over budget and that the latest estimates are unrealistic.

Christopher Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, issued a report listing more than a dozen issues that have slowed rebuilding and have raised costs. These included an over-budget transit hub, the process of dismantling a condemned tower where another is going to be built and construction around a city subway line.

…………….

Ward said a committee of developers and government agencies would set new “clear and achievable timelines” by the end of September.

………….

Ward proposed a committee to oversee new timelines that includes private developer Larry Silverstein — in charge of building three of five towers — the Port Authority, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. rebuilding agency, the mayor’s office, the foundation building the memorial and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Two years ago, in the last year of Pataki’s administration, the agency said it had expedited development at the site by renegotiating a 99-year lease with Silverstein and shifting responsibility for who would build what.

It set clear deadlines and penalties, including $300,000-a-day payments to Silverstein if the agency didn’t deliver land on time. The agency has paid Silverstein over $14 million in penalties after missing those deadlines.

I’ve got an idea, get the government out of the way… if private industry can build it, they will, and in half the time and cost that any government agency says it can…. and guess what…. the government welfare of $300,000 dollars a day paid to the private developer needs to stop. It doesn’t give him one damn incentive to make anything happen himself if he can rake in 14 million in taxpayer dollars… If there was a private contractor that was getting fleeced at the rate of 300,000 grand a day, the land would be available yesteday.

Get all of the damned agencies out of the way and let the private sector fix this…

Feel free to write me in…

Duncan and partner escaping from High-Security Holding Facility

Yep, I’m back. Finished my 8 weeks of fun. And I can habla some espanol un poco. But I should be back and posting more regularly then before.

Had my fellow inmates looked like this though.. you probably wouldn’t have heard from me for a long, long time…
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