Katrina or Katia now almost a hurricane!

August the 31^st - Say it’s not true, but had Katrina not been such a baddie that the weather folks retired her name, this storm would have been called…you guessed it Katrina.

This afternoon, at around 4PM CST, the tropical storm system was still churning around in the Central Atlantic. Her maximum winds have reached 70 mph and she is moving WNW at about 20 mph. It’s a good bet she will be a Category One system by later this date. From there, no one is absolutely sure of her track.

Looking back to August 2005, the original Katrina’s path as she approached the US in early August, looked odd at best. And, when you get right down to it, her birth was also something of a fluke.  Hurricane Katrina first formed as Tropical Depression Twelve over the southeastern Bahamas on August 23, 2005 as the result of an interaction of a tropical wave and the remains of Tropical Depression Ten. Kind of a two fer deal. So, her birth was not without some help. That was on August the 23^rd in 2005. Then, a few days later she crossed the southern tip of Florida as a Category One storm causing some destruction as well as a few deaths. After that she moved into the gulf and the rest is history. As a category three when it made landfall in the gulf, Katrina became only the fifth deadliest hurricane in the history if the United States.  

Will this new depression attain the heights of suffering caused by Katrina. Hopefully not. The odds makers right now predict this storm will re-curve harmlessly back to the mid Atlantic. Still, it makes you wonder. This storm has a history attached to it for better or worst.

Quakes that appear minor, yet are still interesting!

Anytime I observe an earthquake that affects the middle area of the United States, I take notice. Here on August the 29^th we have a series of small ones that form a pretty straight line right across the continent. Does that mean anything? I don’t know. But, from my readings on plate movements over the years, I do know that sometimes even little things can be the harbinger of bigger things to come. This may be especially true after seismologists recorded unusual movements of the earths crust in both southern Colorado and Virginia just last week. and here is another map of the US taken on the 31st of August. A similar pattern?

Admittedly minor and shallow quakes occurring in locations where seismic activity is pretty rare. Still, it’s probably nothing.

Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi : A personal message from the great beyond!

TRIPOLI, Libya — An official with the rebel government on Sunday ruled out extraditing the former Libyan intelligence officer convicted as the mastermind of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and released from a Scottish prison two years ago on the ground that he was near death.

The deity that will take charge of your soul, eagerly awaits...your arrival...

Top five reasons to not fly a kite in a storm!

5 – Winds may be a tad too high!

4 – There is lightening about! Duh!

3 – The neighbors will think you are even more strange than before.

2 – Replacement kites cost money!

And the top reason not to fly a kite in a storm!

1 – You will get really, really wet!

Steak & Eggs are a Nutritional Train Wreck! But!....

Eating healthy is a problem for me and a lot of other people I know. In a previous blog, I wrote about what a nutritional train wreck a traditional steak and egg breakfast is. This meal consisted of a small portion of steak, hash browns, one egg, toast and milk. Now, any food that is high in calories, loaded with salt and which administers a boat load of cholesterol is probably not a good thing. Did I mention that the taste was out of this world?

Knowing that all things can be improved, I thought it would be interesting to see if I could preserve some of the more desirable aspects of this repast, while also cutting back on both the calories and the cholesterol via alternative food choices. (Think food downgrade). For this effort, I decided to go with a so-called fake egg substitute (Egg Beaters) and a couple of vegetable sausage patties made by a company called Morning Star.

Now here is a picture of the meal along with a nutritional panel of the homemade regular steak and eggs I made a week or so ago (note – ‘cl’ is cholesterol in milligrams):

 If you’re on a 1500 calorie a day diet, this will be about all you’ll be allowed to eat for the 24 hour period. Other than the fantastic taste, there just isn’t much to recommend here. But, there is that taste thing! OK, so now let’s look at the substitute meal along with nutritional information about it:

Gee, not much of an improvement other than in the cholesterol department! (For most people anything higher than 200 mg of cholesterol per day is on the high side of things). The sodium level in both meals is unacceptable as are the total calories. Also, both are a pain to make at home.

The bottom line, then, is to do what I do. Forget this whole mess and go out to a nice restaurant like Charlie’s Ribs Steak and Ale, plunk down some cash and have the real deal once or twice a month. That kind of intake is nutritionally doable and you’ll totally enjoy the experience.

America needs a way out!

While reading this it wouldn’t hurt to play Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson’s - Just To Satisfy You ! A song about how someone’s gonna get hurt before we’re all through. Perhaps surprisingly, I think that someone is gonna be China and I think it’s gonna be soon!

This country is hurting right at the moment. We owe a whole bunch of money to people that not only dislike the West, but who have been taking advantage whenever and wherever they could. The Fair Trade Act we signed lo these many years ago appears to have been heavily slanted in China’s favor while trying to force the US to directly compete with thirty cent an hour Chinese workers. That didn’t turn out too well, did it?

Now a trillion and some change later, a very large portion of our industrial might has moved on over there where, surprise, we’re still getting screwed and tattooed! China keeps getting stronger while we keep getting weaker! Or, is that really going to be the case? What would happen if we decided to default on that money? Hmm.  Moral one – don’t let a foreign power sucker you like that again because it can spark a very nasty war!

Next, we have troops deployed all over hells creation. Some of whom have been stationed in countries, like Germany, since I was but a mere lad. We’re constantly fighting wars and protecting other countries borders while allowing our southern border to look like a sieve. All this at a cost of (wait for it), trillions of dollars. Moral two – bring em all back and let our neighbors work out their own problems. Place these troops on our southern border, if you have too, and enjoy the effect.

Finally, for so very long now, we have been sucking at the oil nipple of countries that really dislike us. Countries that would like to see America get hurt in any way possible. We’re on the hook to some of these folks for much of our energy needs and one of these days, they may just decide pull that chain around our necks…hard! Moral three – drill baby drill! (Sarah you might just yet have your day)!

Three morals and three things we need to learn from them. It’s not too late America! Please consider sending this, or your own message, to your Federal representatives. Do it soon, however America, or we might have to start learning to speak Mandarin.

The one point one million dollar bus!

Above is a photo of the million dollar plus bus our government bought for Obama's three day Midwest excursion. That was money well spent, don't ya think?

The insidious, pandering media & its deleterious effect on the political process!

Long title that! Pardon my wording, but still somewhat appropriée in light of the way Americans are now beginning to judge some of the media outlets for what they really are! Paid off, outside-directed organizations that have long since given up the concept of ‘fair reporting’ for the much more profitable venue of slanting the truth for a few extra bucks and loads of power! Long sentence that! Again, my pardons.

I strongly believe that well informed citizens are rarely, if ever, swayed by what passes for news these days. Perhaps the intelligentsia watch these channels nightly and chuckle at the absurdity of it all. I don’t know. My concern, is for the rest of the people who watch the boob-tube as though it were a God. Well meaning people from all walks and social strata that take in what they see on CNN, ABC, NBC and Fox as the gospel truth. Not for the claptrap much of it really is. I ask you, can slanted or misdirected coverage really be called reporting? No, I contend it’s nothing more than entertainment for the masses; full of shock and awe with perhaps a hidden message buried deep within. Do our nation’s unemployed, retired, sick and poor actually grasp such a concept? Not likely! I think many are scared, most of the time, and maybe that’s just what these moguls of TV Land want them to be. Scared masses, hooked at the wallet to the Nanny State and ready to listen to anyone who promises the continuance of same! And what of those who would change this current state of affairs?

In the meat grinder that has become national politics; some candidates with sterling principles and ideas like Pawlenty, Bachmann, Cain and Paul find themselves disadvantaged right from the start. Unable to buy their way in to the ‘Good Old Boy Club’, they strive to make their message heard as best they can. Often, this happens at great personal cost; when and if the powers-that-be allow them the privilege. (I give you the Iowa Straw Vote). The end result is very predictable. Not desiring to kowtow and subjugate themselves to special interests, these candidates quickly find themselves on the slippery slope towards M.I.O. or media-induced oblivion. Poof, Pawlenty is gone. What we are left with, are candidates who are supported by the ‘powers that hide in the shadows’; special interest groups who work agendas that may or may not express the will of the people. Mitt Romney and Rick Perry? Give me a break!

Is Mitt Romney, in any shape or form, a conservative or is he perhaps a liberal in conservative clothing? Was not his crowning achievement during the Romney years in Massachusetts his push and passage of health care reform which has been tagged Romneycare after the passage of Obamacare on the national level? And, is this the best that the GOP can do? As for Rick Perry; was he not a Democrat, years before suddenly becoming a Republican? Must be nice to switch your stripes at will! And these are the front runners? Wake up America…get involved, get vocal, use common sense and then go vote your hearts in 2012!

Disclaimer: All the content of this blog entry is the express and sole opinion of the author of Forsythkid. It is intended for educational purposes as part of the discourse of a healthy nation. 

This in response to the closing of Green Paws.

On the most widely accepted account of civil disobedience, famously defended by John Rawls (1971), civil disobedience is a public, non-violent and conscientious breach of law undertaken with the aim of bringing about a change in laws or government policies. On this account, the persons who practice civil disobedience are willing to accept the legal consequences of their actions, as this shows their fidelity to the rule of law. Civil disobedience, given its place at the boundary of fidelity to law, is said to fall between legal protest, on the one hand, and conscientious refusal, revolutionary action, militant protest and organized forcible resistance, on the other hand.

“No law is ever perfect, and no system that brought the burden of said passage of law to whom it was directed, are always what that governing body foresaw when it strove to protect same. Unintended consequences remain a living cancer that dines at the same table as those who would protect us from harm.”

I am not advocating civil disobedience in this case, only placing it on the table.

I feel the California Fitted Sheet law is needed Nationwide

California has shown its leadership ability once more in crafting a new law that will make it illegal for hotels to use flat sheets on their beds. a law that, if passed,  will saddle the already hurting hotel industry with an additional $30 million in added costs.

The fitted-sheet bill is the brainchild of State Senator Kevin De Leon (a Democrat from Los Angeles), whose mother suffered back pains while working as a hotel maid. (I am so not making this up)! Kevin has been quoted as saying this was “an issue close to my heart.” It is also a bill that has the support of Big Labor. Sen. De Leon’s bill passed through the State Senate in June, but not before some spirited debate, including a statement from one of the two dissenters, State Senator Sam Blakeslee; “We are now going to make it a crime in California not to use a fitted sheet?” Really? Yes, really. And about time too. The fitted sheet law will be a great boon to local labor unions and may soon require local police departments to hire additional personnel known as ‘mattress cops’ to police the thousands and thousand of hotels across the state. Hey! Great use of manpower you Dimocrats!

California, which is now only $26 billion in debt, is not worried about the added costs as they are confident the American People will bail them out as needed. There are even rumors (started by moi) that this law may be taken up by the White House as a way to further ‘stimulate the economy’! When asked about the exciting prospect of creating new union companies to produce bed sheets on such a level, one Washington insider was quick to point out that no, most of the sheets would be made in China not the US. Well, hang it all! Anyway, be sure to send Senator De Leon a note telling him what a swell job he and the Democrats are doing.

Thar's a new bus driver in town!

Our man Obama left Washington on Monday for a three day bus tour of the Midwest. Maybe he might also want to go on down Arizona way, then again, maybe not!

Congress hits new historic low!

But, can the President be far behind?
Congress 14%
Obama 39%
Gallup pole Aug 14

MRSA: So what’s there to be afraid of?

 The following blog constitutes some of the informational research I am currently doing concerning a problem which I feel is not getting enough world-wide attention. I will hopefully have more to contribute as time allows.

Staph, as it is commonly known, has been around with (and on) man for tens of thousands of years. During that period, it has been a small non-threatening part of the microbial fauna that lives on the skin of man. No big deal. That was then. In more recent times, a new form, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus or MRSA evolved. It's thought to have arisen sometime in the sixties as a result of the indiscriminate use of antibiotics that were considered a cure-all and which were disseminated by physicians for everything from ear aches to cuts and abrasions. Helping to exacerbate the problem, some patients didn’t follow the proscribed course of drugs for whatever reason.

This medical sloppiness, as it were, occasionally allowed some of the bacteria to survive with new found resistance to the very drugs that were being used to kill them. Today, MRSA has diversified itself and has become eight principle versions or strains named USA 100, 200…800 by the CDC. Identification is based on the unique ‘fingerprint’ that is obtained using a lab technique called PFGE (Pulsed field gel electrophoresis) that leaves streaks on a length of gel plate that identifies the exact strain being tested. Of the eight varieties, USA100 used to be the most common ‘hospital’ strain that would result in relatively minor skin lesions and boils on patients, especially those whose immune system was compromised. It has since been rapidly overtaken by the much more serious form known as USA300 that also carries a gene know as PVL (Panton-Valentine Leukocidin) that can wreck havoc on tissues by, in effect, dissolving them. A process known as necrosis.

 Luckily for most, USA300 expresses itself in many and sundry forms, most of which are relatively mild and which can be cured with the right application of drugs. But, when it does decide to get bad, it can kill a patient within days!

What concerns researchers the most is the habit of this bacterium to rapidly acquire new and more efficient means of shrugging off drugs that used against it. They do this through various mechanisms (conjugation, transformation, et al.) that allow gene segments to be traded a little like baseball cards. (A gene insert known as mecA is what was originally responsible for MRSA to become resistant to methicillin in the first place).

They fear there may come a day when no drug will work, at which point, even a small nick by a razor could became a death sentence. (This would be akin to the situation a warrior would find himself in the Middle Ages before infections were understood or effectively treated. Back then, even a minor cut by a sword in battle was often life ending)!

Disclaimer: All material in this blog entry are of the author and are meant to be read for informational content.

It’s Easy Skillet! A meal that can really pack on those pounds!

It’s fast and easy. It’s ‘noodlelicious’ and your children will just love it to death (literately). Yes, Easy Skillet^® is certainly all of that and more! It’s also a fast ticket to raging obesity and coronary problems, later on, if you’re not careful about the proportions you serve.

I came across this box, which was hiding in the back of a cupboard, one afternoon while looking for something to eat. The picture absolutely captivated me as I’m sure it is supposed to. So, following the directions, I made up a batch in just twenty minutes or so.

In order to prepare this meal, you first need to brown a pound of hamburger up making sure to draw off that evil grease. Then, it simply a matter of adding some water, bring to a brief boil and fifteen minutes later it’s ready to serve. But wait, being the cautious parent you are, you want to make sure that the recommended portion you serve your hungry spouse and kids are first noted and then adhered to. Let’s see now, a serving is 1/3 a cup! What the hell is this!

 Here’s a picture (above) of that amount next to a fork for comparison. Not much there, eh mate. What, maybe one or two mouthfuls? (Perhaps a sprig of parsley would help)?

Ya think your hubbie and hungry kids are going to settle for that paltry amount? Well, they had better, because that little blob, sitting there on the plate, comes in at over 300 calories! Seriously! It’s also contains half a day’s worth of salt and almost a quarter of the recommended daily amount of cholesterol. This is no meal, it’s an aortic attack disguised as food!

“OK then smart-ass, what would the ‘damage’ be for a man-sized serving”? I had hoped you'd ask that question...

Here’s what a regular serving would look like to me (a man of no small girth). (Actually, it’s pretty similar to the picture on the front of the box). Right-O then? At 206 grams, it’s loaded with 1,430 calories with 4,290 milligrams of sodium and 273 mg of cholesterol. Whoa Nellie! That’s almost whole days worth of nutrition right there if you’re on a diet. Here’s an idea, skip breakfast, eat this for lunch and you only have another thousand hours or so before the next meal time. Not!

The moral of this story is that if you do serve this kind of dish; please make sure you keep the portions extra small while making the side order of salad or veggies large. Very large. Here’s a nice looking salad, that even with the ham and an oil and vinegar dressing came in at only 124 calories! Hell, with those kinds of numbers, you can men go ahead and knock down a couple of brewski’s. Your kids might still complain, but hopefully they’ll do it from thin, healthy little bodies. And, as for your husband sitting there with that dopey smile on his face. Oh, what the heck! He’s pretty fat already….

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and in no way are intended to be used as a reason to use, or not to use, the products described here. Research has revealed that even though there appears to be a connection between overeating and early death, there is no way to prove it as all those subjects have passed away.

Things may be looking up! Then again....

One day while I was feeling depressed and sitting alone in the woods a tiny voice spoke in my ear. It said "Cheer up things might be worse!" So, I cheered up and sure enough....

Behold this man - your king?

I have no idea what this means, so please don't ask!

What is the Tea Party?

The Tea Party movement is a grassroots movement of millions of like-minded Americans from all backgrounds and political parties. Tea Party members share similar core principles supporting the United States Constitution as the Founders intended, such as:

•  Limited federal government
•  Individual freedoms
•  Personal responsibility
•  Free markets
•  Returning political power to the states and the people

As a movement, The Tea Party is not a political party nor is it looking to form a third political party any time soon. The Tea Party movement, is instead, about reforming all political parties and government so that the core principles of our Founding Fathers become, once again, the foundation upon which America stands.

The partisan pandering of the left!

Here is a piece written by someone named Paul Begala called ‘Rule or Ruin Republicans’. An interesting piece of work. I’m just going to go over the first two paragraphs in this blog. You can read the entire text here. My note markers appear as numbers in red with additional comments written below.

“Progressives almost never get the labeling right. (To be fair, conservatives almost never get the policy right, which is worse. (1)) What did we label an innovative tax credit to encourage work and reward those who leave welfare? The Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC (2). Wow, that's gripping. Not.

But it appears that this time we got the branding right. Within hours of the announcement that Standard & Poor's had downgraded U.S. Treasury debt, progressives were all calling it the Tea Party Downgrade (3). I think it will stick because, as Henry Kissinger said in another context, it has the added virtue of being true.”
-------------------------------------------

(1)   Right off, this guy has lost me. He’s speaking in generalities with nothing stated that backs up his views on either labeling or policy.

(2)   The EITC is only offered to ‘working’ men and women – it has no effect on those who are unemployed or on welfare. Most of the unemployed or welfare recipients want to work and a job market with many openings vastly outweighs a meager tax incentive. Duh!

(3)   Another blanket statement that is simply not true. Few sentences with the word ‘all’ in it will be correct. (Stating that 'all Democrats are assholes', would not be a completely factual statement). Also, he uses the phrase Tea Party Downgrade. The downgrade was a result of the experts at S&P feeling that the US is now in debt way over its head. A situation that developed over time and which had the full support of both major parties over many decades.  The idea that it was due to a Johnny-come-lately group called the Tea Party is shear claptrap, and yet another instance of the clueless Far Left whose best kept slogan is, ‘if you can’t dazzle them with bullshit, then maybe you need to apply a little more’!

Sorry fella, I don’t fall for it or you.

Political parties are butt boils!

When asked if I can tell the difference between an infected boil on someone’s butt, or the Democratic Party, I will answer no. (Of course, I would also answer in the same manner if I were making the same comparison with the Republican Party). In my opinion, they both need to be lanced and drained from the general body politic. The problem is how to do it and still stay within the bounds of the Constitution.

Like any butt boil, removal is going to be very painful for everyone concerned. The typical procedure  would be to lance, drain, cauterize and then bandage the little boo-boo. But, that's the problem with both our political parties. They are very resistive to the process, since removal is forceful even if it is cleansing in the long term.

So, perhaps a mandate is now becoming clear. If every Tea Party advocate and Independent on election day 2016 will please be so kind as to vote for a Republican, that may help begin to flush the maximum possible number of entrenched Democrats from office. Then, the next go around, we can go after any sitting (read as infested) Republicans and get them the hell out of Washington also. That's one game plan, at any rate....

If we are very persistent, then perhaps this is one 'sore' sitting on our collective hinnie that will eventually go away, to be replaced by good healthy tissue in the form of a much smaller 'butt' healthier Republic. The clock is ticking America.... Perhaps it's time we convened a meeting of these United 'States' to debate the size and scope of the government powers and overreach. After all, our Founding Fathers built that course of action into our Constitution for a damn good reason....

My vote is for the box!

I've yet to come across an anvil that blew itself up! Think I'll go with the box of anvils - :)

Islam: Making a difference in the world – one body at a time!

I read with sadness about the loss of so many fine soldiers in the NATO helicopter that was due to a ‘lucky shot’ by a Taliban extremist. The war in Afghanistan has gone on for more than a decade now and if allowed to will go on for another decade. Maybe it’s time we tried something new.

There is no doubt in my mind that the west will never convince this group of hate mongers that we can co-exist peacefully. Like in the movie Independence Day, when the President played by Bill Pullman asked the alien, “What is it you want us to do?” To which the alien responded, “Die.” It’s the same thing here, only the words are coming from a fellow human being and not from some nightmarish creature.

Yet, maybe that’s what this religion is all about. Perhaps we should admit some individuals are simply beyond any form of logical thought, emotion or feeling for others like themselves. Perhaps even among us humans, there are some true Aliens.

An earnest talk by Uncle Sam and his wife on the National Debt!

A conversation that that would be factually correct if you were to reduce the debt and money being spent to just two people (click on picture)! Someone please let the government know that this is no way to run a household or a country!

I don't need no stinkin fashion!

 

Not sure what this blog entry was all about! Perhaps I meant to say that I am no fashion icon. Duh! Cheap shirts, bad haircuts and generic jeans. That's what I've always been about, or in other words, an average guy!

The currency cools while the country bakes!

So, this is how Congress plans to run things from now on?

As an economic cesspool? And, do you all know what that is? It’s a toxic mix of watered down currency, fecal politicians and diseased Wall Streeter’s. Yeech! Now, Standard and Poor has gone and downgraded our currency from AAA to AA+. S&P stated; "The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics," S&P said Friday shortly after markets closed for the week. Neither Fitch or Moody have altered their triple-A ratings as of yet.

Meanwhile, Obama and his Congress ‘party on’ like there’s no tomorrow.

Let’s see…August may be hotter, but with more rain!

You know, this crazy weather could just get interesting. July was just plain hot with only a smidgeon of precipitation (1.37 inches) falling here in Forsyth, Mo. Now, August looks to be even more ‘exciting’ if that’s the word, with mostly hundred degree days AND plenty of rain. So, I’m getting this vision in my head of a mid western tropical rain forest setting complete with exotic birds and maybe a few crocodiles thrown in for fun! Now, I’m no expert, but aren’t those the kind of conditions that you find in an Amazon rain forest? Gee, can we also expect an upswing in diseases like dengue fever and malaria? Will three inch cockroaches become common like they are in the Louisiana swamps? Canada! You’re looking better and better to me every year.

At some point, things just have to get back to normal here in the Midwest. I think a ‘normal high’ for August would be in the mid eighties and a ‘normal low’ sixty something. Certainly, not this 103°F furnace crap combined with sweltering nightly lows of around 78°F. I’m just happy that I don’t live in Texas where things are considerably worst. It’s hot and dry there. If anything grows down there this year, I’ll bet it had the ending ‘tus after it. As in cactus!

Where are these guys when we need them?

Scientists Find Evidence of Water on Mars

Scientists may have found signs that salt water exists on Mars, which would be one of the biggest clues yet that life possibly exists on the planet. At a NASA news conference on Thursday, they announced the discovery of dozens of slopes across the planet's southern hemisphere. When Mars gets warm, the slopes appear in the form of dark streaks that expand downhill, and then the streaks disappear during the cold season, when water presumably freezes up. They believe the streaks signify a salty, syrupy-like water running on or below the planet's surface, and have counted as many as 1,000 possible streams flowing down from the planet's Newton Crater and into a basin. "If we confirm that it is a salty water, then we have the best idea yet about where to go to try to find extant life on Mars,” said the lead author of the study.

Unfortunately, it appears that any future discoveries will have to be funded by a country other than the US.  We can’t even make it to the space station on our own at this point…

Stocks take a dive while the rest of the world watches!

The last couple of days have seen our American stock market take a real tumble. Investors everywhere are understandably very nervous about the news coming out of Washington as concerns the budget and state of our economy. Many feel that just because the debt ceiling was raised, that fact has not altered the ongoing train wreck that is an economic reality for many.

Like a house of cards that was poorly constructed, the world hedge funds are listing to port and threaten to collapse in response to the slightest ill wind. That's pretty much as I see it. We’re all watching and waiting for the next blunder to come out of Washington DC. I’m sure it won’t be a very long wait. One point to consider, we have Obama at the controls for yet another year!

Please don't tell Obama...

Random Thoughts for August 2011

Is it hot enough for you yet?

With temperatures expected to crack the century mark by a good margin for the next week or so, some climate enthusiasts are asking where the hell Al Gore is. Surely it’s time for at least one victory lap before we all turn to toast!

Train Track Therapy! Myth or Fact?

Ignoring the red-and-white danger sign, Sri Mulyati walks slowly to the train tracks outside Indonesia's bustling capital of Jakarta, lies down and stretches her body across the rails.

Like the nearly dozen others lined up along the track, the 50-year-old diabetes patient has all but given up on doctors and can't afford the expensive medicines they prescribe. In her mind, she has only one option left: electric therapy.

"I'll keep doing this until I'm completely cured," said Mulyati, twitching visibly as an oncoming passenger train sends an extra rush of current racing through her body.

She leaps from tracks as it approaches and then, after the last carriage rattles slowly by, climbs back into position.

Pseudo-medical treatments are wildly popular in many parts of Asia — where rumors about those miraculously cured after touching a magic stone or eating dung from sacred cows can attract hundreds, sometimes thousands. What?

My question is, will this catch on in America? I kind of doubt it!

Tar babies again in the news!

A House Republican apologized to President Obama for saying that being associated with Obama's policies would be like "touching a tar baby."

Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado, made the remark last week to a Denver radio show. Lamborn told KKTV on Monday night that he did not know the phrase had a racial connotation. Really. Neither did I! Wonder if he had read my blog entry; “Brer Rabbit and the Congressional Tar Baby”?