Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Life Is Short. Don't Be An Idiot

Ashley Madison is a dating service for married people who want to cheat on their partners.
Its slogan--"Life is short.  Have an Affair"



This is a full page advertisement in the New York Metro newspaper on May 4, 2010. Why on earth would a man object to his wife turning into his mother? You would think that is what he wants. If he doesn't, what does he care about Mother's Day?  What is this ad? It seems to contradict itself.


This company's aim is to put some romance back into a guy's life. Is it aimed at pleasing men? All the adverts display women in various forms of undress and so, although the company professes to cater to both sexes it seems to lure men to beautiful sirens. 

People are sure it is a scam. Why? Because the same women appear in the database of several online dating services. Excuse me? You are having an affair and you think you are being scammed? Life is Short, alright. Just wait till your wife finds out.

People are too idle. If they have money and are looking for things to do, they should go to help at the nearest homeless shelter, the Boys and Girls Club of America, or volunteer to be tutors and mentors. Its a shame that they want to indulge in behaviour that will only lead to hurting those closest to them and its a shame that there are avenues for them to do it. The CEO and the founder of the company, Noel Biderman says "Some people say it (the extramarital dating service) promotes promiscuity. But if you don't do it, you get behavior that's way more harmful to society. Infidelity has been around a lot longer than Ashley Madison." With this kind of logic, maybe he is doing well to steer the scum from voluntary work--the kind of work that needs dedication and self-sacrifice. Biderman would not know anything about such work either. The world would be safer without them.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Drills, Spills and Chills

Don't offshore oil rigs have a main shut off valve?  Yes? So why is it that 5,000 barrels, that is, 200,000 gallons of oil are gushing into the Gulf of Mexico every day? The Deepwater Horizon oil rig, 42 miles southeast of Louisiana's port Venice, exploded on April 20, 2010. Oil rigs do use a device called the blowout preventer (BOP), a system of hydraulic valves and pumps that caps a well before it starts gushing.  "There are electrical systems driving the hydraulic pumps, with air system backups. There are battery backups for power," David O'Donnell, an oilfield equipment consultant said. "Somehow they lost it all, or didn't have enough time to activate."   Brazil and Norway use BOPs that can be activated by a unique sound wave when the electrical signal fails. The cost of these acoustic trigger is half a million dollars and it seems that US drilling companies have enough misplaced faith in their back up systems that they do not invest in this last resort.  Well, that'll learn ya.


Who is affected by this accident? Definitely BP.  They will be spending billions of dollars, first to stem the gush, and then to clean the gush and for starting the gush in the first place.  The oil, once it reaches the land, will be impossible to get rid of and yes, Rush Limbaugh, the environmentalist "wackos" are right this time, aren't they?  The oil will kill thousands of living things. Oystermen, shrimpers, and fishermen in Louisiana are planning to sue BP, as the oil spill spells the ruin of a lucrative fishing industry in that area. The ground will absorb the toxins which will just lie there for years and years, probably get into our drinking water and definitely affect our crops. 

This is the season for marine animals to breed. Instead, they are soaking up the thick, sticky, crude oil.  The spill is spreading towards the Florida coast affecting 400 different species of animals, marshland, and of course, the ocean.  Maybe now is the time to really focus on corn ethanol as the alternative fuel.

For the 10 animals most in danger due to the oil spill, check out this link
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/the-americas/100428/oil-spills-endangered-species

Sunday, May 2, 2010

May Day!!

The distress cry "May Day" has nothing to do with the May 1st celebrations.  And it does not have its origin in banks going under.  Its from the French "m'aidez" which means  "help me".

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Stem Cells--New Hope

It's exciting to hear that the first FDA-approved phase I clinical trial is under way for the pioneering stem cell treatment for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), a condition for which there has not been a cure.  Thanks to Nueralstem, Inc which provided the spinal cord stem cells, new hope has been given to ALS sufferers.  ALS is a progressive fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain, leading to the degeneration and death of the motor neurons in the spinal cord that control muscle movement.

Friday, April 30, 2010

Burkhas, Barbies & Boobquake

"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes," Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, a senior Iran cleric was quoted as saying by the Iranian media.

How he has suffered! Same as the other Iranian cleric who was caught on tape doing “nasnas” with a woman who entered his home chador-clad. No immodesty there, so why did he stray?

What occurs to me is, if we are to believe this cleric person (who is our connection to God), Pamela Anderson could annihilate the earth by just being herself. You go, girl!!

However, before we condemn these ridiculous clerics outright, we should approach this problem as a scientist would. Jennifer McCreight, of Purdue University, Indiana put this cleric’s theory to test. She gathered a huge crowd of women dressed immodestly (lots of cleavage) on the grounds of this University. Nothing happened there, but... there was a huge earthquake (6.6 on the Richter scale) in Taiwan. Wow!! Can that be a coincidence?

All kidding aside, we should have a role model for our women in Iran. Who better than Burka Barbie, or Chador Barbie.

The company director of Laird Assessors from The Wirral, Cheshire, said:

'Bring it on Burkha Barbie, I think this is a great idea. I think this is really important for girls, wherever they are from they should have the opportunity to play with a Barbie that they feel represents them.

Angela Ellis, a great fan of Barbie dolls, with more than 250 Barbies in her collection proudly remarked,
“I know Barbie was something seen as bad before as an image for girls, but in actual fact the message with Barbie for women is you can be whatever you want to be.”

What? Little girls have to aspire to be burkha/chador clad? What kind of message is this?

Rosie Shannon, from Save the Children, said all the proceeds from the auction will go to the charity. She said:
'We are delighted Sotheby's and the designer chose to auction the burka Barbie dolls for our charity.'

We need more such women like a hole in the head. We fight the feminist cause in the USA and abandon women in other countries so we can make a profit?

Read more in the Mail Online

Not to worry…

Televangelist Pat Robertson, who leads his own independent Neo-Dark Ages movement here, has other explanations for such natural disasters. He claims that Haiti’s earthquake was caused by the country’s pact with the devil to drive the French away from their land.

At least, he has more respect for women.

Belgium has taken the first bold step to alter the life of the muslim woman.  The home affairs committee of Belgium voted unanimously for the ban of partial or full covering of the face in public.

The Guardian  reports:
Daniel Bacquelaine, the liberal MP who proposed the bill, said: "We cannot allow someone to claim the right to look at others without being seen.

"It is necessary that the law forbids the wearing of clothes that totally mask and enclose an individual. Wearing the burqa in public is not compatible with an open, liberal, tolerant society."

Violators of this ban could go to prison.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Saturday Night Live's Best---MacGruber

I've watched Saturday Night Live for 25 years now.  It has helped me appreciate comedy, human oddities and, of course, acting.  I did not immediately take to Coneheads or the Blues Brothers, but that is because I was brought up in a staid, inhibited environment.  I thought these actors were crazy!!  Crazy but attractive, hmm? Television soon became my social history textbook. I learnt more from tv shows than actual experiences.  I lapped up the talk shows-- Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, Arsenio Hall. Loved the Danny Thomas Show, Patty Duke show.  St. Elsewhere, Dallas and Dynasty, the A-team and of course, MacGyver.  Nowadays, I don't say MacGyver--I wonder if anyone does--it's indubitably


Poor MacGyver!  He went, as Simon Cowell would say, from a hero to a zero after SNL made a spoof of this show. But its oh so funny.   MacGruber is as inept as MacGyver is inventive and resourceful.  MacGyver kept me on the edge of my seat wondering how he would finally turn the blades of grass and a garden hose into a working helicopter...But here is MacGruber (Will Forte), a study in contrast. Lookee...he is with the one and the only MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson).



Also watch MacGruber in the Super Bowl 2009 commercial for Pepsi.




Enjoy.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Egyptian Ants vs. Grasshopper World

Ancient Egyptians left no stone un-carved. There are hieroglyphics on every rock, stone and pebble in Egypt. Reminds me of Wordsworth's:

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight
                 To me did seem
            Apparelled in celestial light...


Read hieroglyphics for "celestial light".


If there were mountains, they dug tombs in them.
If they found rocks, they made obelisks.  They dragged these rocks hundreds of miles on the roads, rivers--absolutely obsessed with construction. And their entire lives were spent preparing for death.  I am not sure they ever just enjoyed themselves.  Life was serious business.

Modern Egyptians are now digging up stuff the ancient Egyptians left behind.  The man above is gainfully employed (he extracted a dollar baksheesh once I took his picture).  This photograph was taken at the site of Djoser's step pyramid, Saqqara, where excavations are still going on.