Joe The Plumber

Joseph "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher, is a 34-year-old single father who works as a plumber for is one of two employees of a small plumbing firm, Newell Plumbing and Heating Co. During his job interview Wurzelbacher came up with the idea of buying the company. He achieved fame for being mentioned in the third presidential debate of the 2008 US presidential election. Republican Senator John McCain and Democratic Senator Barack Obamamiddle class; the nickname was first used during the third and final presidential debate to illustrate the effects of tax policy on the middle class.

On October 11, 2008, four days before the final presidential debate, Obama met residents in Wurzelbacher's neighborhood.^[5] Wurzelbacher, who had been playing football with his son in his front yard at the time, asked Obama about his tax plan.^[6] As an ABC News camera recorded the conversation, Wurzelbacher suggested that Obama's tax plan would be at odds with "the American dream."^[7] Wurzelbacher stated, "I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes 250, 270, 280 thousand dollars a year. Your new tax plan's going to tax me more, isn't it?"^[8]

According to MSNBC, "While Wurzelbacher told Obama that he would be taxed at a higher rate because the company grossed more than $250,000 a year, Ohio business records show the company’s estimated total annual revenue as only $100,000. Actual taxable income would be even less than that." ^[25]Court record report that Wurzelbacher made $40,000 in 2006.^[18]

McCain and Obama Tax Change in 2009

Federal tax change in 2009 if their tax proposals fully in place. Yellow number is larger tax cut.
	McCain	Obama
Income	Change in average tax bill	Change in average tax bill
Over $2.9M	-$269,364	+$701,885
$603K-$2.9M	-$45,361	+$115,974
$227K-$603K	-$7,871	+$12
$161K-$227K	-$4,380	-$2,789
$112K-$161K	-$2,614	-$2,204
$66K-$112K	-$1,009	-$1,290
$38K-$66K	-$319	-$1,042
$19K-$38K	-$113	-$892
Under $19K	-$19	-$567
CNN,[58][59] Tax Policy Center,[60] BarackObama.com,[61] JohnMcCain.com[62]

3M & the Post-it note

3M was founded to sell the mineral corundum which is used to make sand paper and grinding wheels. After selling only one load, on June 13, 1902 Henry S. Bryan, Herman W. Cable, John Dwan, William A, McGonagle,Tahir Farhad, and Dr. J. Danley Budd went to the Two Harbors office of company secretary John Dwan, and signed papers making Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing a corporation. In reality, however, Dwan and his associates were not selling what they thought; they were in fact selling the worthless mineral anorthosite.

Failing to make sandpaper with the anorthosite, the founders decided to import minerals like Spanish garnet. In 1914, customers complained that the garnet was falling off the paper. The founders discovered that the stones had traveled across the Atlantic Ocean packed with olive oil, and the oil had penetrated the stones. Unable to take the loss of selling expensive inventory, they simply roasted the stones over a fire to remove the olive oil.

This was the first instance of R&D at 3M. In 1916 William L. McKnight applied the same scientific methods to production that he had used to get the oil out of the garnet, and bought the company's first lab for $500. From then on, 3M would be guided by science, with up to 25% of sales each year from new products. The company's early innovations include waterproof sandpaper (1921) and masking tape (1925), as well as cellophane "Scotch Tape" (in the 1930s). In 1952 the original formula for Scotchgard was discovered accidentally by 3M chemists Patsy Sherman and Samuel Smith. Sales began in 1956, and in 1973 the two chemists received a patent for the formula.

In 1977 the company introduced Post-it notes. In 1974 Art Fry, a new product development researcher for 3M who was also in a church choir was frustrated that his bookmarks kept falling out of his hymnal. He had attended a seminar by Dr. Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M, who developed a "low-tack", reusable pressure sensitive adhesive. While Fry "listening" to a sermon in church, he came up with the idea of using the adhesive to anchor his bookmarks.

The next day, Fry requested a sample of the adhesive. He began experimenting, coating only one edge of the paper so that the portion extending from a book would not be sticky. Fry used some of his experiments to write notes to his boss. This use led him to broaden his original idea into the concept that became the Post-it note. Initially Post-it notes failed as consumers had not tried the product. A year later 3M issued free samples to residents of Boise, Idaho, United States. 90% of people who tried them said that they would buy the product so it was relaunched.

Eating your Last Meal Means you Give up the Right to Haunt You Executioner

In pre-modern Europe, the ritual of granting the condemned a last meal has its seeds in common superstition: a meal was a highly symbolic social act. Accepting food, which was offered freely, meant to make one's peace with the host - the guest agreed tacitly to take an oath of truce and symbolically abjured all vengeance. Consequentially, in accepting the last meal the condemned was believed to forgive the executioner, the judge, and the witnessing mob. The ritual was supposed to prevent the delinquent from haunting those people, who were responsible for his or her killing, as a ghost or a revenant. The meal was therefore mainly a superstitious precaution and - following that logic - the better the food and the drinks, the safer the condemned's oath of truce

The White Negro: Superficial Reflections on the Hipster

"The White Negro: Superficial Reflections on the Hipster" is an essay by Norman Mailer that recorded a wave of young white people in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s who liked jazz and swing music so much that they adopted black culture as their own. It was originally published in "Dissent" magazine. Mailer took on the complicated subject of race relations. The wave of young white people in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s were so enamored of jazz and swing music that they adopted the black culture as their own. They would associate mainly with black people, distancing themselves from white society. This movement gave rise to the hipster of the 1940s, the beats of the 1950s. The phenomenon of white people adopting stereotypical black mannerisms, slang, and apparel has appeared in several generations since slavery was abolished in the western world. The concept has been documented in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and other white-majority countries.

For more info check out this insightful article on Race Relations

Sarah Palin Fan of Regresive Taxes & Earmarks

During Sarah Palin's first term as governor she was able cut property taxes by 75% and to eliminate personal property and business inventory taxes partly because before she became mayor of Wasllia, AK a 2% sales taxes was initiated and partly because of her efforts to eliminate libraries and museums.

The sales tax seems fairly small and innocuous but 20% of the municipalities in Alaska have no sales tax whatsoever. Plus a sales tax is an extremely regressive tax. It seems cruel to get rid of taxes that are less costly to the poor in favor of a sales tax. Then to add insult to injury during her second term as mayor, Palin introduced a ballot measure proposing the construction of a municipal sports center to be financed by a 0.5% sales tax increase. So not only does she nearly eliminate the less regressive taxes on her citizens but she also raises the sales tax 25%.

After firing the museum commissioner and nearly firing the cities librarian (to save money and for political reasons) she hired the Anchorage-based lobbying firm of Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh to lobby for earmarks for Wasilla.

Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh secured nearly $27 million in earmarked funds. The earmarks included oddly enough$15 million for a rail project linking Wasilla and the ski resort community of Girdwood. To me this seems like welfare for the rich though maybe a lot of poor people in Wasila are commuters to Girwood. I have no hard information which is the case but since the two cities are about 80 miles apart either seems plausible but neither seems like a great reason to spend $15 million

Banksy is a derivative of Bakshi?

I am thinking about going to watch this movie The Party at the graveyard. So I was looking up what it is about and it turns out that it is has a scene that wikipedia describes like this...

"The wannabe-hippie children of the Hollywood execs eventually turn up to crash the party with a baby elephant covered in stereotypical 60s slogans. The action of the party then moves to the pool, where Bakshi asks that the elephant be restored to a more dignified state. The entire home is soon overrun with soap bubbles as they scrub graffiti off the animal."

This reminds me of one of my favorite artists.

Big Mac Index

The Big Mac Index was introduced by The Economist in September 1986 as a humorous illustration and has been published by that paper annually since then.


One suggested method of predicting exchange rate movements is that the rate between two currencies should naturally adjust so that a sample basket of goods and services should cost the same in both currencies. In the Big Mac Index, the "basket" in question is considered to be a single Big Mac burger as sold by the McDonald's fast food restaurant chain. The Big Mac was chosen because it is available to a common specification in many countries around the world, with local McDonald's franchisees having significant responsibility for negotiating input prices. For these reasons, the index enables a comparison between many countries' currencies.



The Big Mac PPP exchange rate between two countries is obtained by dividing the price of a Big Mac in one country (in its currency) by the price of a Big Mac in another country (in its currency). This value is then compared with the actual exchange rate; if it is lower, then the first currency is under-valued (according to PPP theory) compared with the second, and conversely, if it is higher, then the first currency is over-valued.


How under Valued is Chinese Currency

Suppose the price of a Big Mac is $3.41 in the United States (as it was in July 2007) and 11 Yuan in in China (as it was in July 2007); thus, the PPP rate is $3.41/Tuan 11 = .31 dollar/yuan. In July 2007, $1 bought 7.0625 Yuan, then the Yuan is under-valued by $0.1684 ($0.31 - $0.1416.), or 54.3% ($0.1684/$0.31) in comparison with the price of the Big Mac in both countries.
Another example is the Hong Kong Dollar. The price of a Big Mac in the US was $3.41 in July 2007 and HK$12.00 in Hong Kong at the same time; thus, the PPP rate is $3.41/HK$12 = .284 dollar/HK$. In July 2007, $1 bought HK$ 7.78, then the HK$ is under-valued by $0.155 ($0.284 - $0.129.), or 54.6% ($0.155/$0.284) in comparison with the price of the Big Mac.

Now lets compare this to the UK a country that does not manipulate it's currency with the US. The price of a Big Mac in the UK was £ 1.99. So the PPP rate is £ 1.99/$3.41= .584. Once again based on numbers from July of 07 the £ .5048 bought $1, so the dollar is under valued by £.079 or 13.5%. 


The Big Mac Index has limitations in its estimates of the PPP. Eating at international fast-food chain restaurants such as McDonald's is relatively expensive in comparison to eating at a local restaurant, and the demand for Big Macs is not as large in countries other countries as it is in the United States. Social status of eating at fast food restaurants like (eating at KFC and to some extent McDonald's is like going to a slightly upscale chain restaurant in the United States a college student could take a girl on a nice date to KFC or McDonald's, local taxes, levels of competition, and import duties on selected items may not be representative of the country's economy as a whole. This said there seems to be a drastic difference in the PPP between China and the US.

Jaime-Lynn Spears Baby

On December 18, 2007, it was announced that an article in OK! Magazine, to be released on December 19, 2007, that Jamie-Lynn is 12 weeks pregnant. She and her mother spoke to the magazine in an exclusive interview. Nickelodeon, the network that carries Spears' series Zoey 101, issued the following statement shortly after the announcement:

"We respect Jamie-Lynn's decision to take responsibility in this sensitive and personal situation. We know this is a very difficult time for her and her family, and our primary concern right now is for Jamie Lynn's well being".

The father is Casey Aldridge, whom she met through church,though Spears stated shortly before Thanksgiving that she had no steady boyfriend.

High Tea (Not as Distinguished as Americans Think)

High Tea at the Istanbul Kampinski Hotel

The term high tea is sometimes used in the United States to refer to afternoon tea or the tea party, a very formal, ritualized gathering in which tea, thin sandwiches and little cakes are served on the best china. This usage comes from misunderstanding the term high to mean formal. This form of tea is increasingly served in high-end U.S. hotels, often during the Christmas holidays and other tourist seasons, and a rising number of big-city teahouses.

High Tea (also known as Meat Tea) is actually an early evening meal, typically eaten between 5 and 6 o'clock in the evening. It would be eaten as a substitute for both afternoon tea and the evening meal. The term comes from the meal being eaten at the ‘high’ (main) table, instead of the smaller lounge table. It is now largely replaced by a later evening meal.

It would usually consist of cold meats, eggs and/or fish, cakes and sandwiches. In a family, it tends to be less formal and is an informal snack (featuring sandwiches, biscuits, pastry, fruit and the like) or else it is the main evening meal.

On farms or other working class environments, high tea would be the traditional, substantial meal eaten by the workers immediately after nightfall, and would combine afternoon tea with the main evening meal.

The Wall Street (Yahoo Finance) Wonder Kid

Jonathan Lebed (born September 29, 1984) is an American who, between September 1999 and February 2000, made hundreds of thousands of dollars by posting in internet chat rooms and on message boards encouraging people to buy penny stocks he already owned, thus, according to the SEC, artificially raising the price of the stock.

This is an extremely interesting concept to me. It seem like the situation is half pyramid scheme half legitimate. The reason it seems legitimate is that most of the reason people go into these penny stocks is to day trade or to gamble on the fluctuations. For Lebed to make money other people need to take his advice. So to a certain extent he was making people money besides him self and that is how he made a reputation that could be trusted. Plus even if they don't make money they where gambling in the first place.

Though on the other hand this seem like it had to be a pyramid scheme to begin with there are always going to be losers. The people that buy in early make money off the people buying in latter, which makes the scheme no longer a bet but scam.

The SEC under Arthur Levitt prosecuted him. In 2001 Lebed and the SEC negotiated an out-of-court settlement in which Lebed forfeited $285,000 in profit and interest he had made on 11 trades without admitting any wrongdoing — allowing him to keep close to half a million dollars. Another fascinating thing about all of this is the fact that Lebed made over $750k in 5 months.
The case was controversial — the SEC had never prosecuted a minor — and produced significant media interest. Lebed contended that his activity forecasting stock prices was no different from and no more illegal than what professional Wall Street analysts do every day, only he utilized the internet. Despite the negative press and SEC inquiry, Lebed continues to trade actively. He also sells his trading advice through a newsletter.

The Euphemism / Dysphemism Treadmill

Euphemisms often evolve over time into taboo words themselves, through a process described by W.V.O. Quine, and more recently dubbed "the euphemism treadmill" by Steven Pinker. This is the well-known linguistic process known as pejoration. When I had first heard of the concept I thought that it was a result peoples tendency to be offended by labels. I had heard of the Euphemism Treadmill occurring with the word Black being a euphemism for Colored which was originally a euphemism for Negro and so on.

But after seeing how there is an opposite trend, words that are purposefully offensive to becoming more mainstream( the Dysphemism Treadmill), my thoughts have changed. Our culture wants to use the offensive term so when a euphemism is created it is co-opted because it is simply the new negative term. If some grew up using Colored as an insult for Black or "African American" people then when the term black or "African American" is introduced you put it on as a mask to the word Colored. And you will use the euphemism to seem polite but in reality it has the same connotations as the original word. In some cases, the euphemism may be used mockingly and become dysphemisms.

And a word goes from being a dysphemism to being a more neutral word because we want to be able to use the negative or scandalous word. Then in order to seem polite we deny the words real meaning.Then as time goes on people learn the word with out its real meaning.

And example of the euphemism treadmill is that idiot, imbecile, and moron were once neutral terms for a person of toddler, preschool, and primary school mental ages, respectively. The word mentally retarded was pressed into service to replace Idiot, imbecile, and moron because negative connotations tend to crowd out neutral ones. Now that too is considered rude, used commonly as an insult. As a result, new terms like developmentally disabled, mentally challenged and special have replaced retarded. .

In these cases, notions of profanity, obscenity and other words once called “offensive” are later described as “objectionable,” then “questionable,” and in some cases, they reach near or outright acceptability. One modern example is the word "sucks". "That sucks" began as American slang for "that is very unpleasant", and is shorthand for "that sucks cock", referring to fellatio; along with the exactly synonymous phrase "that blows", it developed over the late-20th century from being an extremely vulgar phrase to near-acceptability. Likewise, scumbag, which was originally a reference to a used condom, now is a fairly mild epithet.

The same may be said of the use of “screw,” often used as a dysphemism for sexual intercourse, is now in not such usages as “to screw up” (to make a major mistake).

Sometimes a term will go from being a euphemism to being a dysphemism and then go back to being a euphemism. “Queer” and “gay,” for example, both started as euphemisms for “homosexual,” and then got on the euphemism treadmill and became insults—but are now the preferred adjectives amongst the gay community themselves. Though This is often the result of intentional reappropriation campaigns.

Trick or Treating & The Posioned Candy Scare

Trick or treating has a awkward place in my heart. As a young child I didn't get to go Trick or Treating because of the poisoned candy scare and because it being linked to the ancient evils of sorcery and Catholicism. So when I read that it is a strongly American tradition it gave me greater resolve that I will force my kids Trick-or-Treat from the time they can walk until they are in High School.

Trick-or-treating may have developed in America independent of any antecedent. Though some people claim that it is derived from the Irish or British custom of "Souling" where poor folk would go door to door, receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (All Hallows Day). There is no evidence that souling, was ever performed in America.

There is little primary documentation of masking or costuming on Halloween — in Ireland, the UK, or America — before 1900. The earliest reference to ritual begging on Halloween in English speaking America occurs in 1915, with another isolated reference in Chicago in 1920. The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the turn of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but do not depict trick-or-treating. Ruth Edna Kelley, in her 1919 history of the holiday, The Book of Hallowe'en, makes no mention of such a custom in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America."

It does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930s, with the earliest known uses in print of the term "trick or treat" appearing in 1934, and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939. Thus, although a quarter million Scots-Irish immigrated to America between 1717 and 1770, the Irish Potato Famine brought almost a million immigrants in 1845–1849, and British and Irish immigration to America peaked in the 1880s, ritualized begging on Halloween was virtually unknown in America until generations later.

Trick-or-treating spread from the western United States eastward, stalled by sugar rationing that began in April 1942 during World War II and did not end until June 1947.^[14]

Early national attention to trick-or-treating was given in October 1947 issues of the children's magazines Jack and Jill and Children's Activities, and by Halloween episodes of the network radio programs The Baby Snooks Show in 1946 and The Jack Benny Show and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet in 1948. The custom had become firmly established in popular culture by 1952, when Walt Disney portrayed it in the cartoon Trick or Treat, Ozzie and Harriet were besieged by trick-or-treaters on an episode of their television show, and UNICEF first conducted a national campaign for children to raise funds for the charity while trick-or-treating.

Although some popular histories of Halloween have characterized trick-or-treating as an adult invention to rechannel Halloween activities away from vandalism, nothing in the historical record supports this theory. To the contrary, adults, as reported in newspapers from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, typically saw it as a form of extortion, with reactions ranging from bemused indulgence to anger. Likewise, as portrayed on radio shows, children would have to explain what trick-or-treating was to puzzled adults, and not the other way around.

Despite the falseness of these claims the news media promoted the story continuously throughout the 1980s, with local news stations featuring frequent coverage. During this time cases of poisoning were repeatedly reported based on unsubstantiated claims or before a full investigation could be completed and often never followed up on. This one sided coverage contributed to the overall panic and caused rival media outlets to issue reports of candy tampering as well.

Over the years various experts have tried to debunk the various candy tampering stories. Among this group is Joel Best, a University of Delaware sociologist who is considered the foremost expert on candy tampering. In his studies he researched newspapers from 1958 on in search of candy tampering. Of these stories fewer than 90 instances might have qualified.

The first event took place in 1964, where an annoyed New York housewife started giving out packages of inedible objects to children whom she believed were too old to be trick-or-treating. The packages contained items such as steel wool, dog biscuits, and ant buttons (which were clearly labeled with the word ”poison”). Though nobody was injured, she was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to endangering children.

Upon closer examination nearly all of these claims were false or hoaxes created by the child. Within the reports of candy tampering Best has only found five child deaths that were initially thought to be caused by homicidal strangers.

In 1970, a 5-year-old boy died after eating his uncle's hidden heroin stash. The family tried to protect the uncle by creating a story about drugs being found in the child's Halloween candy.

In a 1974 case, an 8-year-old Houston boy died after eating a cyanide-laced package of Pixy Stix. A subsequent police investigation eventually determined that the poisoned candy had been planted in his trick-or-treat pile by the boy's father, who also gave out poisoned candy to other children in an attempt to cover up the murder. The murderer, who had wanted to claim $40,000 in life insurance money, was executed in 1984.

By 1985, the media had driven the hysteria about candy poisonings to such a point that an ABC News/Washington Post poll that found 60% of parents feared that their children would be injured or killed because of Halloween candy sabotage.

Advice columnists entered the fray during the 1980s and 1990s with both Ann Landers and Dear Abby warning parents of the horrors of candy tampering.

"In recent years, there have been reports of people with twisted minds putting razor blades and poison in taffy apples and Halloween candy. It is no longer safe to let your child eat treats that come from strangers." –Ann Landers

"Somebody's child will become violently ill or die after eating poisoned candy or an apple containing a razor blade." –Dear Abby

What is so sad to me about the whole Poisoned Candy conspiracy is that I am just a victim of the times. I was born in 77 so it was just starting to become a frenzy as I was entering prime Trick-Or-Treating years. I only remember going Trick-or-Treating twice as a kid. Both of which I was already in High School.

Maggot Therapy Not Just for the Mayans any More

Records have documented that maggots have been used as wound treatment since antiquity . There are reports of the successful use of maggots for wound healing by Mayan Indians and Aboriginal tribes in Australia. There also have been reports of the use of maggot treatment in the Renaissance times.

Many military physicians observed that soldiers whose wounds had become colonized with maggots experienced significantly less morbidity and mortality than soldiers whose wounds had not become colonized. Dr. Joseph Jones, a ranking Confederate medical officer during the American Civil War, is quoted as follows, "I have frequently seen neglected wounds ... filled with maggots ... as far as my experience extends, these worms only destroy dead tissues, and do not injure specifically the well parts." The first therapeutic use of maggots is credited to a second Confederate medical officer Dr. J.F. Zacharias, who reported during the American Civil War that, "Maggots ... in a single day would clean a wound much better than any agents we had at our command ... I am sure I saved many lives by their use. " He recorded a high survival rate in patients he treated with maggots.

During World War I, Dr. William S. Baer, an orthopedic surgeon, recognized on the battlefield the efficacy of maggot colonization for healing wounds. He observed one soldier left for several days on the battlefield who had sustained compound fractures of the femur and large flesh wounds of the abdomen and scrotum. When the soldier arrived at the hospital, he had no signs of fever despite the serious nature of his injuries and his prolonged exposure to the elements without food or water. When his clothes were removed, it was seen that "thousands and thousands of maggots filled the entire wounded area". To Dr. Baer's surprise, when these maggots were removed "there was practically no bare bone to be seen and the internal structure of the wounded bone as well as the surrounding parts was entirely covered with most beautiful pink tissue that one could imagine". This case took place at a time when the death rate for compound fractures of the femur was about 75-80%.

After the publication of Dr. Baer's results in 1931, maggot therapy for wound care became very common, particularly in the United States. The pharmaceutical company, Lederle, commercially produced in large numbers "Surgical Maggots", larvae of the green bottle fly (Phaenicia sericata), a facultative, necrophagous organism that only consumes necrotic tissue. Between 1930 and 1940, more than 100 medical papers were published on maggot therapy. Medical literature of this time contains many references to the successful use of maggots in chronic or infected wounds including osteomyelitis, abscesses, burns and sub-acute mastoiditis.^[4][5]

With the advent of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, Dr. Ronald Sherman, a physician presently at the University of California, Irvine, successfully re-introduced maggot therapy into the armamentarium of modern medical care as a safe and effective therapy. In 1989, he set up fly breeding facilities at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach, California, in order to use maggots for the treatment of wounds. That year, he initiated the first prospective controlled clinical trial of maggot therapy in spinal cord patients with pressure ulcers using a Paralyzed Veterans of America grant. The successes of this clinical trial in patients who had failed two or more courses of conventional wound care, were published and generated significant international attention to maggot therapy. The therapeutic maggot used by Dr. Ronald Sherman is a strain of the green bottle fly (Phaenicia sericata) and marketed as "Medical Maggots".

In just the last four years, over fifty scientific papers have been published that describe the medical use of maggots. Six thousand maggot therapy patients have been included in case histories or other studies. About 400 patients have been documented within clinical studies. In the medical literature, limb salvage rates with maggot therapy are about 40% to 50%. Some report success rates of 70% to 80%, though definitions of "success" can vary.

In a 2007 preliminary trial maggots were used successfully to treat patients with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureu, a bacterium which has developed resistance to all penicillins.

The current use of maggot therapy is estimated to involve over 3,000 doctors, clinics, and hospitals in over 20 countries. In 2003 approximately 30,000 treatments were administered to an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 patients.

In the United States, Medical Maggots are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration as a prescription only medical device. Medical Maggots represent the first living organism ever allowed by the Food and Drug Administration for production and marketing as a prescription medical device. With acceptance of premarket notification 510(k) 033391 in January of 2004, the Food and Drug Administration granted Dr. Ronald Sherman permission to produce and market maggots for use in humans or other animals as a prescription use medical device for the following indications:

"For debriding non-healing necrotic skin and soft tissue wounds, including pressure ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, neuropathic foot ulcers and non-healing traumatic or post surgical wounds."

Currently, there are over 500 health care centers in the United States that have utilized maggot therapy.

Monarch Labs is the exclusive supplier of Medical Maggots (disinfected Phaenicia sericata larvae) for maggot debridement therapy in the United States. So I am thinking I need to get into the production of Medical Maggots since there is so little competition.

Weekly World News

So I was wandering the internet out side of the safety of Wikipedia and I came across an article about Paulo & Benedetta Cipriani the worlds heaviest couple and how they gave birth to a baby that weighed over 28 lbs. After doing some research, in order to find pictures of this baby, I discovered, to my horror that the internet had lied to me. The story of the Ciprianis is not true it is in fact the product of the great minds at the Weekly World News.

I have never read the Weekly World News but from what I have read about it on Wikipedia it is one fantastic periodical. Unfortunately because of this bad experience of reading non-collaboratively written content I won't be able to read the the actual Weekly World News. But I take solace in the fact that like most other media it is probably better to just read what Wikipedia has to say about it. It is kind of like why teachers have kids do book reports (so they don't have to read the boring parts themselves.

The Weekly World News (The WWN) was launched in 1979 by American Media as a means to continue using the black and white press that their higher-profile tabloid, The National Enquirer, had been printed on before they switched it over to color. Which to me is an awesome concept, like they say waste not want not. The WWN like many supermarket weeklies in the U.S., was published in Boca Raton, Florida. It was unique as a tabloid because was it printed entirely in black and white.

The WWN has traditionally claimed it always prints the truth (typical slogan: "Nothing but the truth: The Weekly World News!"). Many stories, however, appeared to have comedic intent. While the tabloid's main rival, The Sun, carried a fine print disclaimer, the WWN never publicly questioned the accuracy of its own stories. In recent years, The Sun has moved more toward articles on health, and miracle cures, mostly. This has left the WWN to alone cover it's niche of "news" that the traditional media dared not report, such as sitings of Elvis Presley and the Loch Ness monster. Some people believe that in the 21st century, the tabloid has grown even more farcical.

The article talks about a lot of great stories that The WWN has reported on. Probably the most famous are the fact the Elvis is still alive and the story of Bat Boy. Bat Boy is "half human and half bat". He has done such varied things as graduated with an art degree form a small liberal arts college in upstate New York to attacking a fifth-grader in a park in Orlando, Florida. Another notable event in Bat Boys life is that he was instrumental in the War on Terror when he found and captured Saddam Hussein. I am sure this put a damper on Saddam's relationship with Osama Bin Ladin. Then there is the story of the cannibal food critic, who rates the people he eats, based on their nationalities. He didn't like Mexican or Chinese people as food, because they were "too spicy." Germans, on the other hand, were fattening and "greasy" while the one American he had eaten was rated highly for "taste, texture, and appearance."

Merfolk

The most detailed account from the Weekly World News, recorded a mermaid being caught in a fishing net off of the coast of Florida on April 17, 2004. She was at least half-human, very sociable, and extremely intelligent. The mermaid measured five feet from the tip of her upturned nose to the end of her spiny, translucent tail. Experts which talked with WWN reporters say she was able to talk in a sophisticated "three dimensional language" that depends heavily on noises that could possibly be connected to the "click languages" prevalent in parts of Africa and on hand movements that look like sign language instructed to deaf people around the globe. A linguist who had spent several hours with the mermaid at an undisclosed marine study facility in Florida declared that once they are able to establish communication, everything known about human evolution, the specialness of human intelligence, everything thought about fish - "It's all going out the door".

The location of the research facility where the mermaid was being studied was never released to the public, but some 'sources' have led to an abandoned seafood-processing plant as an assumed location. DNA testing taking shortly after her capture proved that the mermaid's genes are split between both humans and fish; specifically, Homo Sapiens and a sea bass species that has been extinct for over forty thousand years.

U.S. Customs agents labeled the creature "an exotic fish not cleared for importation into the United States". Within hours of the exotic find, she was airlifted to the unknown marine research facility where the government scientists are said to be giving a complete medical check-up to see how closely connected to man is to the bizarre creature. One expert was quoted thusly: "If it can be recognized that humans share a substantial amount of genetic coding with the mermaid, the understanding of our origins may change. Instead of looking for missing links between man and monkeys in the jungles of Africa, we'll have to start searching for the missing link between humans and fish, and between humans and merpeople — the mermaids and the mermen."

Since she was so strong, two crewmen had to pin down the mermaid to the deck by putting their knees on her shoulders while a third blew marijuana smoke in her face to sedate her. President George W. Bush took a keen interest in the mermaid and her well-being. He felt so deeply about the mermaid that he ordered two personal chefs to help with the creature's dietary needs. The dishes which he believed would benefit the half-human, half-fish were "two of his favorite comfort foods — Texas catfish and hush puppies with jalapeño bits. Details were released claiming the mermaid had a hearty appetite, thoroughly enjoying the food. In latest reports, she seems happy, broods when she's left alone, and perks up when she sees a human.

Freeze-dried baby

A series of several articles dealt with a couple whose doctor told them they could not have more children, and whose only son, Christer, climbed out of his crib one night and drank chemicals under the kitchen sink. They decided to take his remains to a taxidermist and freeze dry him so he could stand in the corner, his hand grabbing the waistline of his diaper. The next story had them going to prison because it is illegal to dispose of a corpse in any manner other than burial or cremation without a statement in writing from the deceased. The parents eventually died in a boating accident. The final story had a billionaire collector of weird things buy Christer's remains in the couple's neighbors' garage sale for ten cents.

Miss Adventure

Miss Adventure is the"The Gayest American Hero". He is a homosexual man and worked as a hairdresser in his hometown of Teaneck, New Jersey. He has climbed Mount Everest in mink and high heels ("The mountain was gorgeous, the snowmen abominable"), journeyed to the center of the earth ("When I go down, honey, I go down"), was shot off in a space shuttle ("I'd wish they'd find another way to describe that"), infiltrated the Mafia ("The FBI has a noble drag queen tradition"), discovered the Lost City of Atlantis ("Not much different from a trailer park, really"), traveled out West ("When they call a guy a cowpoke they really mean it"), and survived an overturned cruise ship ("Trust me, it's not the first time I've seen that many sailors with their legs in the air").

So it seems like the Weekly World News is truly a page turner. My only fear is that they are part of some conspiracy to throw us of the track of the real conspiracies.

Freeganism it's not Just a Joke

I first heard the term freegan as part of a funny story about a friend of a friend who is a vegan that eats meat and dairy when it is free in order to save money. When confronted with the question "How can you eat meat aren't you a vegan?" the vegan replies "I am a freegan, I eat things that are free."

So it was weird to me when I came across the above video that talks about how freegaism is a movement. It is an anticonsumerism lifestyle where people employ alternative strategies for living based on "limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources.

The word "freegan", is a portmanteau of "free" and "vegan". Freegaism got it's start from groups like Food Not Bombs serveing free vegetarian and vegan food that was salvaged from food market trash by dumpster diving.

Dumpster diving is a technique that many freegans employ. They get free food by pulling it out of the trash. Freegans find food in the garbage of restaurants, grocery stores, and other food-related industries, and this allows them to avoid spending money on products that they claim exploit the world's resources, contribute to urban sprawl, treat workers unfairly, or disregard animal rights. By foraging, they believe that they are preventing edible food from adding to landfills and sometimes feed people and animals who might otherwise go hungry. Many freegans participate in "Guerrilla" or "Community" Gardens, in order to rebuild community and reclaim the capacity to grow one's own food.

There is some confusion as to what constitute freegan practices, and numerous misconceptions. One misconception is that all freegans are also vegans. Some freegans, sometimes called "meagans", consume meat and other animal products as long as they would otherwise be wasted; others are strict vegans.

Some meagans claim that even seemingly benign products are produced exploitatively under capitalism, so there is nothing "pure" about a vegan diet. Some freegans - meanwhile - use the label because they are willing to pay for vegan or vegetarian food but will only eat meat if it is free, abstaining only from the economic support of animal exploitation. In essence calling themselves freegan because their diet is "vegan unless its free" though for these individuals the use of the label is often intended only as a clever wordplay.

The freegans have been known to support the Really, Really Free Market (RRFM) movement. The concept is to form a temporary market based on an alternative gift economy. Where you come and if you need something you take it and if you have things you don't need you offer them up. The RRFM movement aims to counteract capitalism in a non-reactionary way.

It holds as a major goal to build a community based on sharing resources, caring for one another and improving the collective lives of all. Markets often vary in character, but they generally offer both goods and services. Participants bring unneeded items, food, skills and talents such as entertainment or haircuts. A RRFM may take place in an open community space such as a public park or community commons. Here is a link to a blog about a RRFM in Pasadena.

President for a Day?

David Rice Atchison's tombstone.

Some claim that Atchison technically was President of the United States for one day—Sunday, March 4, 1849.

Outgoing President James Polk's term expired at midnight, March 3/4, and his successor, Zachary Taylor, refused to be sworn into office on the sabbath (Sunday). Taylor's Vice Presidential running mate, Millard Fillmore, likewise was not inaugurated. As President ProTempore, under the Presidential Succession Act of 1792, Atchison was believed by some to be Acting President.

Atchison never took the oath of office, although there was no constitutional or legal requirement, for an Acting President to do so. Though Article II Section 1 Clause 8 mandates that the president must take the oath before "...he enter on the Execution of his Office.." so Taylor was not president . Fillmore was not constitutionally mandated to take the oath of office to be Vice President, though it is currently prescribed by statute that he take an oath. So while Atchison might have been Acting President, Filmore might also have been a possible Acting President if there wasn't a law mandating a Vice Presidential oath at the time. Or for 36 hours the US might not have had a President. Which would have been the cause for 12 of those any way.

Atchison discussed the claim in a September 1872 issue of the Plattsburg Lever:

It was in this way: Polk went out of office on the 3d of March 1849, on Saturday at 12 noon. The next day, the 4th, occurring on Sunday, Gen. Taylor was not inaugurated. He was not inaugurated till Monday, the 5th, at 12 noon. It was then canvassed among Senators whether there was an interregnum (a time during which a country lacks a government). It was plain that there was either an interregnum or I was the President of the United States being chairman of the Senate, having succeeded Judge Mangum of North Carolina. The judge waked me up at 3 o'clock in the morning and said jocularly that as I was President of the United States he wanted me to appoint him as secretary of state. I made no pretense to the office, but if I was entitled in it I had one boast to make, that not a woman or a child shed a tear on account of my removing any one from office during my incumbency of the place. A great many such questions are liable to arise under our form of government.

Atchison was 41 years and 6 months old at the time of his "presidency", which, if it had been official, would still make him the youngest President in American history. Theodore Roosevelt, the youngest to serve, was 42 years and 11 months old when he was sworn in following the death of William McKinley in 1901, and John F. Kennedy, the youngest to be elected, was 43 years and 7 months old when he was inaugurated in 1961.

A museum exhibit in his honor (claiming to be the country's smallest "presidential library") opened in February 2006 at the Atchison County Historical Museum in Atchison, Kansas.

Cobra Starship, Addictive TV and Salvador Dali

I have a personal objection to the movie Snakes on a Plane, it seems like such a horrible concept for a movie. Such a horrible concept that the mere idea of it should be shunned. So when I first heard of Cobra Starship I immediately blocked them out of my mind. Because the band surged in popularity and recognition, because of the film Snakes on a Plane. Though today I was cruising the web looking for interesting things to write about and I came across and interview with the band. In the article Gabe Saporta recounts an interesting story of how he came up with the name of the band and why it was formed.

Gabe Saporta the band's lead singer claims that he sought to discover his true purpose and meaning in the desert of Arizona on an Indian reservation. One night after doing large amounts of peyote a cobra, from the future who had come through space to find Gabe, bit his neck. Upon waking a week later the cobra, telepathically told him ( 'cause that is how alien cobras from the future speak) of the eventual demise of the world and mankind.

The mystical cobra revealed to Gabe his mission and point of existence. Gabe's mission is leading the human race into "the end" with "style." That he is called to "[teach] hipsters to not take themselves so seriously and by telling emo kids to stop being pu....". Gabe says that the way he knows the cobra was real was that the the fact that he got offered to work with the movie Snakes on a Plane.

Despite my best intentions I was inexplicably drawn to look at the Snakes on a Plane Wikipedia article. It turned out to be a good move for me because it introduced me the the group Addictive TV. Addictive TV was commissioned by New Line Cinema to create trailers for the US television networks. It turns out that Addictive TV specializes in audio-visual film remixes. Addictive TV combines video mashups that are set to the beat of their music mashups.

With the rise of Youtube these video mashups have been gaining popularity, but Addictive TV have been doing it since 1992. This concept of taking clips from existing media and mashing it together has been around for along time, with most notably Salvador Dali's film called An Andalusian Dog, doing it in 1928. Dali mixed footage he shot with completely unrelated footage.

Here is an example of Addictive TV's work.