Darwin Award - First Nominee

This will probably be a series of nomination for the Darwin Award - people who should be taken out of the gene pool.

My first nominee is a woman who is on oxygen, and then decided to smoke a cigarette.

A 51-year-old woman who uses oxygen tanks to breathe suffered face and inhalation burns this morning while she was smoking inside her Near West Side home.

Of course, the story doesn't say why she was on oxygen. Maybe her lungs isn't working well due to her addiction to cigarettes?

Zz.

25% of Traffic Accidents Tied To Electronic Use

The use of cell phones and other electronic devices have been linked to 25% of all traffic accidents in the US.

The study by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), a nonprofit group that works to improve traffic safety, assessed research from more than 350 scientific papers published since 2000.

It showed that drivers are distracted up to half the time and that crashes caused by distractions range from minor damage to fatal injury. Cellphone use raises the risk of crashing, but texting is likely to increase crash risk more than cellphone use.

I've mentioned before of numerous studies that showed that drivers using cell phones while driving has the same reaction rate as someone who is legally drunk. I am at a loss for any rational explanation on why using a cell phone while driving has not been banned. To me, it is more of an issue than someone not using a seatbelt. At least someone who isn't using a seat belt is a danger to him/herself. Someone who is using a cell phone is a danger to ME!

BAN CELL PHONE USE WHILE DRIVING ALREADY!

Zz.

Random Photo

Dusk at Monterey Bay, California.

Zz.

Do You Have To Protest Against Fossile Fuel In The Nude?

I guess doing it in the nude gets you media coverage that would otherwise have been another ho-hum event.

Cyclist in Portland this past week celebrated the, wait for it, World Naked Bike Ride event, by riding bikes, you guessed it, naked.

World Naked Bike Ride is a globally observed event among hard-core bikers designed, at least ostensibly, to promote the use of the bicycle for transportation. But Portland cyclists have been especially adamant about making it another of the Pacific Northwest city's quirky traditions.

"This is just a way of drawing attention to the need to be more green and replace fossil fuels with natural power," said Ken Johnson, who was completely nude and body-painted grey.
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The purpose of the naked rides, SHIFT says, is "a light-hearted protest against fossil fuel. ... A comment on the vulnerability of cyclists. Choose your message, ride with us! As bare as you dare."

So, other than to garner publicity, I don't see any direct reason why one would want to ride in the nude. Besides, do these people aware on how those bikes were made in the first place? You don't think fossil fuel was used in the manufacturing of those bikes, do you?

Come to think of it, maybe they are in the nude so that they don't wear nylons and spandex, etc., all synthetic fabrics that could have been made out of hydrocarbons. Hum... why not do a World Nude Walking event? Use of less material that could have been constructed using fossil fuel.

Zz.

Random Photo

Somewhere high up in the Smokey Mountain range.

Zz.

Random Photo

High above Starved Rock State Park in Illinois. Flood water overflowing the Illinois river.

Zz.

It's The Little Things...

Sometime, it's the little things you do for someone, or your family, that gets you famous and appreciated. This dad started this as a prank to embarrass his son on his school bus. But it has now made him quite a celebrity.

And so began Dale’s hazing ritual that continued every day for the rest of his son's school year. The first day may have been the most shocking for Rain, but in the days to follow, the surprises kept coming.

Since the fall, Dale has waved at his son in 180 different outlandish costumes. The second day of school he wore a football helmet and jersey, and in the months that followed he opened the front door dressed as a blushing bride, a superhero, a Star Trek fan, Michael Jackson, and a giant chicken. One day he even lugged an old toilet bowl onto the street and sat on it reading a newspaper, stopping to wave as the bus rolled by.

It certainly help to have a sense of humor in such a situation.

Zz.