Don’t criticize corporations or YOU’RE OFF THE AIR!

Check out this piece on Huffpo, "Air America's ABC Blacklist," co-written by Josh Silver (Executive Director of Free Press) and Robert McChesney (co-founder of Free Press) This week 90 major corporations demanded that their ads be pulled from radio stations that run Air America programming, "demonstrating the fundamental challenge facing everyone…

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Abstain from abstinence for your own good. Having sex keeps you healthy.

Trying to have a baby is one important reason to have sex. There are other important reasons to have sex regularly, according to this article in Forbes: "Is Sex Necessary?" Refer to this article whenever someone preaches to you that the only proper reason to have sex is to have babies. The article is based on a study that correlated overall health with sexual frequency:

Queens University in Belfast tracked the mortality of about 1,000 middle-aged men over the course of a decade. The study was designed to compare persons of comparable circumstances, age and health. Its findings, published in 1997 in the British Medical Journal, were that men who reported the highest frequency of orgasm enjoyed a death rate half that of the laggards.
Here are some of the health benefits to having sex on a regular basis:
  • Reduced risk of heart disease
  • Weight loss, overall fitness
  • Reduced depression
  • Pain relief
  • Less frequent colds and flu
  • Better bladder control
  • Better Teeth (go read the article)
  • Keeps prostate healthy (I've heard this from my own doctor)
Humans also use sex to bond with each other, shown by the fact that humans are "unusual in our continuous practice of sex, which is a direct consequence of our concealed ovulations." Whenever someone preaches that using sex to maintain social bonds is "unnatural," feel free to remind them that humans aren't the only primate to use sex to bond. Check out the behavior of our cousins, the bonobos.

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Bush has urgent secret mission for progressive Democrats

The Onion is at it again.   "This mission is absolutely vital, for the next week to 10 days will determine the future of our country," said Bush, who would not reveal what the operation entailed, only to say that it was "highly classified." Worth a look and a laugh.

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A Halloween Delivery

Last night, All Hallows Eve, I heard the doorbell ring (yet again). A tightly packed crowd of small costumed individuals were clustered on my porch wearing eager expressions, and all holding bags or other containers. As I opened the door, the tallest "kid" dressed all in brown reached over the…

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Oops! I Wrote as Though Blogging, to a National Magazine

I’ve gotten used to the world of email and blogging. Back in October I read a (typically good) short article in Smithsonian Magazine about Regional American Dialects entitled “Say What?” by Ulrich Boser.
The last line quotes University of Pennsylvania linguist Bill Labov commenting on linguistic drift:

“But it’s not really like biological evolution. No linguist believes that language gets better as it changes.”

To which my mind immediately snapped: “Say What?!?” I typed a quick reply commenting on the misapplied value judgment attributed to the course of biological evolution. I got an email this week advising me that the editors will print my “letter” in the December 2006 issue of Smithsonian Magazine.

Oops.…

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