Don't Try This At Home

A Malaysian man was apparently feeling a little inadequate in the manhood arena. He was about to get engaged in a week, and decided to try to lengthen his penis. He attached a metal nut to his penis in hopes that the weight of the nut would lenghthen his penis. Unfortunately, he got an erection, and the nut got stuck on his penis. Doctor's had to drain blood from his penis (it hurts just to think about that)and cut away the top layer of skin in order to remove the nut.

Perhaps this gentleman had never heard of "natural male enhancement." All he needed to do was follow the example of Bob and use Enzyte. At least he could have avoided the embarrasment of showing up at the emergency room with his cock stuck in a metal nut.

Another Reason to "Just Say No"

A Modesto, California man ran into a Denny's restaurant and attempted to amputate his own arm. Michael Lasiter had been shooting cocaine and thought that he had injected air into his veins. He ran into the restaurant, grabbed a butter knife and began stabbing himself in the arm. When that did not work, he grabbed a butcher knife and used it on his arm. He told police that he thought he was going to die from the cocaine injection unless he amputated his arm.

I wonder if this genius will learn a lesson from this experience. For some reason, I think not.

McCain Picks Sarah Palin

It was a big surprise to see John McCain pick Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, to be his running mate against Obama & Biden. I saw her a couple months ago on the Glenn Beck program, and I was very impressed by her. Her appearance is embedded below. In a lot of ways, Palin makes a lot of sense for McCain and the Republican party.

First off, she is a true conservative. Most conservatives view McCain with a lot of skepticism. They view him as a moderate, and if anything, maybe even a little left of center. I heard Glenn Beck describe him as being closer to the Democrats that his grandparents would have voted for, and the Democrats of today are just too far to the left. With the Dems having two leftists on their ticket, and the Republicans having a centrist and a true conservative on their ticket, McCain/Palin may appeal more to the moderates and independents.

Second, Palin is an Evangelical Christian and will appeal to that segment that has been so important to the Republicans in recent elections. She stands for many of the issues that the Christian right believe are vital to the future of this country. Many thought that Mitt Romney would be the logical choice to run with McCain, but the evangelicals might have been turned off by his Mormonism. The only potential drawback with Palin is the possibility of chauvinistic attitudes with that segment of the population.

Third, Palin has a reputation of being a maverick and a reformer, regardless of party ties and personal consequences. When I voted for McCain in the Republican primaries eight years ago, that was the part of him that appealed to me above George W. Bush. That has been sorely missing from the McCain of 2008. Perhaps the selection of Palin is a sign of him getting back to his roots.

The Democrats will point to her lack of experience. They will say that you can not use that as a reason to not vote for Obama, and then pick her as a Vice-Presidential candidate. With John McCain's age, I can somewhat see that, but I would rather have an inexperienced #2 than an inexperienced #1 on the ticket.

A Shitty Start to the Day

This morning was kind of a shitty start to the day. I probably had too much wine last night before I went to bed (come to think of it, I have probably had too much tonight) so I woke up feeling not so good this morning. The alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m. to head to work. I had just finished getting ready for work, and was washing my hands in the bathroom. The bar of soap slips out of my hand and lands in the toilet. I could not leave the bar in the bowl and it was too big to flush. I had to reach down into the bowl to try to get the soap out of the bowl. It ended up taking me another 15 minutes before I could finally leave for work. Needless to say, that bar of soap ended up in the trash.

Our Government at Work

Mandatory "Country of Origin" labeling laws will go into effect on September 30th. The Department of Agriculture released estimates that American business will have to spend $2.5 BILLION over the next year to be in compliance for the new law. Retailers and manufacturers will be required to list the country of origin of all produce on the package label or in the bins of fresh produce. As with any new law that adds costs to a business, most, if not all of those costs will be passed on to the consumers.

I remember hearing about this law when I was still in the buying department of my local Safeway division. There was talk at that time that food packers would have to list the country of origin for every ingredient in the package. I am not sure how extensive this law goes. Originally, it was to go into effect in 2002, but it was delayed due to pressure from industry lobbyists. The law was passed this year in the 2008 Farm Bill that was originally vetoed by President Bush. However, the Democrats in Congress overrode that veto.

The thing I found most interesting is the statement from the Department of Agriculture that states that "the expected benefits are...difficult to quantify" but probably will be "small." So our illustrious leaders have implemented a program that the government agency responsible for implementing said program states has little benefit.

As we head into the electi0n season, we will hear all the rhetoric about from the Democrats about how bad big business is and how business does not care about the average American. However, it is the Democrats that will continue to enact programs like this one, and will continue to raise the taxes on corporations, which are already the highest in the industrial world. Those added costs to business always end up being passed on to the consumer, no matter how much the Democrats say they are doing it to help us.

Blues Song of the Week-Robert Cray "Right Next Door"

Over the years, I sometimes look back and remember who introduced me to various musical acts. My old high school friend, David Mills, over at the Undercoverblackman blog introduced me to the music of Prince back in thearly 80's. My youngest brother first introduced me to the music of Robert Cray.

I have always been a huge fan of Eric Clapton, and my earliest blues exposure was through EC. As fate would have it, Clapton was touring and Cray was opening up for him. My brother, bought me a pair of tickets for the concert, and one for himself. The tickets we had were great. We weren't on the floor, but we were in the front row off to one side of the stage.

Both men were spectacular. My brother decided to leave during Clapton's encore, but my buddy and I stayed. We were glad we did, because during the encore, we noticed someone was standing on the floor beneath us. It was Robert Cray. Needless to say, we shouted out to him and he turned around. We told him how much we enjoyed the show, and he reached up and shook our hands. I guess my brother left a little too early.

The first CD I ever owned of Robert Cray was Strong Persuader, and it remains my favorite Cray CD. Here he is performing the song that gave the disc its title.

I would be remiss if I did not mention Cray's appearance in the classic comedy National Lampoon's Animal House. Watch for Cray as the bass player for Otis Day & the Knights performing Shout at the Delta House.

Raising McCain

I don't particularly care too much about what entertainers have to say in regards to politics. However, this one is just kind of fun to me. So while the Democrats are busy with their little shindig in Denver, here is a little number from John Rich of Big & Rich fame.

If you like the song, it is available as a free mp3 download on John Rich's website.