Episode 123
Notes
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Banter:
Y’know I
bought my wife a very romantic gift for Christmas this past holiday
season. I’m such a
insufferable romantic, really. I bought
her a 21 cubic foot frost-free freezer.
Yeah. How’s that for sentimental,
guys? No, really, that’s what she
wanted…seriously. Anyway, give a gift
like that, and it just keeps on giving…had to go to the big-box megastore and stock up on provisions for the harsh
Neither one
of us can really cook well, especially something as complex as, say,
lasagna. OK, look, for me that’s complicated.
And thanks, but please don’t send recipes for simple lasagna. We bought
enough palettes of frozen lasagna to last through the decade I think.
And I’m
reading the package, it says, “100% ground beef from chuck”. Look I don’t really care who supplies your
ground beef, so long as it’s safe from mad cow disease, OK.
Its been
a busy busy week in the news. And a lot of it was negative. There’s a lot of doomsayers out there right
now, pulling the stock market down, lots of doom and gloom predictions.
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Headlines:
Bird Flu Gets New Look, Smoking During Pregnancy Causes
Mutants, Students Outsourcing Homework for Cash, Santas
Planned Kidnap of UK PM, Kellogg, Viacom Sued Over Spongebob,
and more…
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News:
Bird Flu’ Infections in Humans
Prompt New Investigation
Newswise
— In 1918, nearly 40 million people died in a flu
pandemic. Three such pandemics have occurred during the last 100 years.
When a new
strain of flu infects people, the infection can spread around the world
quickly. This is what could potentially happen with some new human flu viruses
that come from bird flu viruses.
“Recently,
some strains of bird flu viruses have infected people in Asia,” said Robert Belshe, M.D., director of the Center for Vaccine Development
at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. “There is concern these new
strains could cause a pandemic, but they are not infecting people in the
The
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH,
has tested a new H5N1 avian influenza vaccine in healthy adults at clinical
sites across the country. Now that safety data are available from the first
adult study, NIAID plans to test this vaccine in other populations. As part of
this plan,
One hundred
twenty children will be vaccinated nationwide. Researchers in
A January
2005 editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine warned that the virus
that causes avian flu, which killed 32 people in eight Asian countries in 2004,
had become more dangerous, and had increased the number of animals besides
birds it could kill. A separate article in this journal also described the
first probable person-to-person transmission of bird flu, from an 11-year-old
girl to her mother and aunt; both mother and child died.
Belshe
said the last worldwide flu pandemic was in 1968 (the
“In the
last century we’ve had three pandemics,” Belshe said.
“The concern is that a new virus will again emerge and cause a new pandemic. We
need to be ready. Once it starts, it could spread worldwide quickly because of
air travel. You can’t close the borders to flu. The only protection
we have against flu are vaccines for prevention and antiviral drugs for
prevention or treatment.”
…I’m a
regular listener to Dr. Larry Payne’s “another night shift” podcast. Back in December, he talked about this topic
with Dr. Jim Augustine, who is an emergency preparedness coordinator in the
state of
[Cue 05-Avian Flu]
That’s a
just a small snippet of the interview.
So please go over to anothernightshift.com and check out Dr. Payne’s podcast. He an ER physician, and I trust his judgment on this one.
A point I
should make, however…flu is very contagious, and it can kill the very young, or
the very old. Now if you’re listening to
this show, you’re neurotic about caring for your kids, so you know how to deal
with the flu. BUT – your kids can be
little ‘typhoid marys’ and
spread the bug to grandma and grandpa, who then spread it to everybody else at
the nursing home. So if your kids have
the flu, don’t take ‘em to visit the grandparents,
OK?
Smoking During
Pregnancy May Affect Baby's Fingers and Toes
Newswise
— There’s one more reason not to smoke during pregnancy. A mother’s cigarette
smoking increases the risk that her newborn may have extra, webbed or missing
fingers or toes, according to a study in the January issue of Plastic and
Reconstructive Surgery.
Although
the overall risk of these abnormalities in fingers and toes is relatively low,
just half a pack of cigarettes per day increases the risk to the baby by 29
percent, compared to non-smokers. Because limbs develop very early in
pregnancy, the effect may occur even before a woman knows she is pregnant.
“We found
that the more a woman smoked, the higher the risk became that the baby would
have these defects,” said study leader Benjamin Chang, M.D., pediatric plastic
and reconstructive surgeon at The Children’s
The
researchers divided the study population into four groups: non-smokers, those
who smoked one to ten cigarettes daily, 11 to 20 cigarettes daily, and 21 or
more per day. There was a statistically significant dose-response effect, with
increased odds of having a newborn with a congenital digital anomaly with
increased maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy. Women who smoked up to
half a pack a day were 29 percent more likely to have babies with digital
anomalies and women who smoked more than a pack of cigarettes a day during
pregnancy were 78 percent more likely to have babies with digital anomalies.
Of the
total 6.8 million births, the researchers found 5,171 children born with
digital anomalies whose mother smoked during pregnancy. “Overall, the
likelihood of having a digital anomaly is relatively low, about one in 2,000 to
2,500 live births, and compared to other public health issues, is a very small
problem,” said Dr. Chang. “Usually surgery can restore full or nearly full
function to children with these anomalies.”
Digital
anomalies include polydactyly (presence of more than
five fingers or toes on a hand or foot), adactyly (the absence of fingers or toes) and syndactyly (fused or webbed fingers or toes).
Limbs begin
to develop between four and eight weeks of gestation and advance from a tiny
nub to nearly-fully formed fingers and toes. Many women only discover they are
pregnant during this period.
Missing
digits are twice as likely to occur in boys and are more common in Caucasians
than African Americans; more than five digits on hands and feet is 10 times more common in African Americans and only
slightly more common in boys. Nevertheless, the majority of isolated congenital
digital anomalies occur spontaneously without any family history. The increased
number of cases involving these diagnoses in their own practices led
researchers to investigate environmental factors that might be associated with
these conditions.
Although
the current study does not prove that prenatal exposure to cigarettes causes
digital anomalies, says Dr. Chang, there is a strong association, the
population studied is very large, and the dose-response effect is significant
(higher exposure is linked to higher risk). “Although the overall risk of
having these defects is rather small, the increase in risk posed by tobacco
exposure has the potential to affect thousands of children,” he added. “Health
professionals should increase their efforts to remind women of the dangers of
smoking.”
…Now I’m proponent
of smoking. I think its gross, smells
bad, and isn’t exactly healthy. That
said, I think that moms and dads should do their best to NOT expose their kids
to this stuff. BUT – I think we have another
instance of sensationalized headlines with this story…c’mon – mutants created
by mom smoking. OK, where’s the study
that links drug use to mutation? Or alcohol use? I’m
just looking for a little balance here…that’s all…still sounds like an agenda
at work here, rather than science…
Some Students Use Net To Hire Experts to
That a
student who freely admits to a fondness for night life is also behind in his
studies won't come as a surprise. And it certainly isn't news that students
have been partying their way to bad grades since As
and Fs were invented.
But what
the computer-programming student who goes by the handle "Lover Of Nightlife" did last month, as the fall semester
raced to a close, could only have happened in the age of the Internet: He went
online to outsource his predicament.
"This
is homework I did not have time to study for," he said in a message on a
Web site devoted to outsourcing computer projects. "I need you guys to
help me."
Attached was
a take-home final exam for a computer class that Mr. Nightlife Lover wanted to
pay someone else -- presumably, someone from a place where people can't afford
a lot of night life to begin with -- to take for him.
This bit of
commerce took place on Rentacoder.com, a Web site that has been mentioned
before as an example of globalization in all its blood-curdling efficiency.
Rent A Coder enables people -- usually Americans --
who need computer programs to put them out to bid -- usually for cut-throat
prices by Indians and Eastern Europeans.
But if
A few
examples: "I need a simple console-based program and a PHP script written
that uses the openssl library." "I need 2
algorithms filtering -- median and Gaussian." "A
C++ program that will implement a billing system using threads. Needs to be completed tonight if possible."
Indeed,
some programming students appear to be outsourcing their way through college.
"Pascal Rookie," from
You can't
tell from the site how much was paid for the help, but usually it's well less
than $100.
The outsourcing
of computer programming homework is a subset of a much bigger problem of
Web-related college cheating: online term papers. It
is as easy these days to buy 10 pages about the causes of the Civil War as it
is to buy a song on iTunes. The Web plagiarism
problem is such that several companies, such as TurnItIn
and Ithenticate, have been formed to combat it.
Just as
with eBay, you often can't get a lot of information about who is doing all the
buying and selling on Rent A Coder, beyond what they
choose to say about themselves. Sometimes, though, information leaks out --
especially in the attachments that are often included as part of homework-help
requests.
For
example, a trivial amount of Web sleuthing was required to trace one posting to
an advanced programming class at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Yes, sighed
David Nassimi, who teaches the class, there was an
epidemic of plagiarism last semester, and some, but not all of it, was traced
back to Rent A Coder. The dean of students got involved,
he said, and punishments were meted out; beyond that, Prof. Nassimi
didn't want to get into too many details.
He did say,
though, that schools are becoming aware of the practice and are beginning to
monitor the outsourcing sites for transgressors.
…Well I
reported here on the daddycast about outsourcing of
teachers, now we have students outsourcing homework. Pretty soon, the whole concept of school will
be turned on its ear. Adds
a new dimension to ‘buy your diploma’.
This is
where a good dose of ethics from – who else – mom and
dad comes in. Kids are less likely to do
this if they are taught from the beginning about right and wrong. They see you cheating on your taxes, they’re gonna go out and cheat, too. Gotta admit the
idea is quite clever…watch now, some grad student will create a ‘business
model’ outta this…
The
Associated Press
Wednesday,
Michael and
Sharen Gravelle have not
been charged with a crime and have denied mistreating the children. They have
been fighting to regain custody since the children, ages 1 to 15, were removed
and placed in foster care last fall.
The Gavelles have said the enclosures were necessary to keep
the children from harming themselves or one another. The children have problems
such as fetal alcohol syndrome and a disorder that involves eating nonfood
items.
Prosecutor
Jennifer DeLand also asked to end the Gravelles' visits with the children. She said the couple
violated some stipulations of their supervised visitations by asking some of
the older children to contact them by phone, letter or e-mail.
The Gravelles' attorney, Ken Myers, said the couple has removed
wire, alarms and doors on the enclosures, making the beds look like ordinary
bunks.
Juvenile
Court Judge Timothy Cardwell set a hearing next month to consider evidence in
the custody issue.
…Is anybody
else out there just a little concerned by this?? There are still NO CHARGES FILED against
these people, and now the state is going to take custody of these kids -
permanently, and it doesn’t seem like there’s much the Gravelles
can do at this point. What we have
developing here is a legal precedent whereby the state can use accusations that
haven’t been proven or disproven to separate you from
your kids. Now are you a bit
scared? It just takes some nosey neighbor
to call the police and make a claim – true or false, makes no difference, and
poof – your kids are now wards of the state.
Santas planned Blair kidnapping
In a second
successive front-page report about the alleged plot to seize Leo Blair, the
newspaper said four members of a splinter group of the Fathers 4 Justice organisation were warned off by police who overheard the
discussion.
The mass
circulation tabloid quoted Graham Manson, a member of The Real Fathers 4
Justice, as saying: "They were told by SO12 (the Metropolitan Police's
Special Branch) that they knew what they were up to - and that they would be
shot if they tried to carry out their plan."
The
discussion was said to have taken place in a "seedy
But they
were said to have been followed by police who had been warned of another plot
to firebomb a Family Court service office, which liaises between parents and
children in divorce cases.
Special
Branch officers visited the plotters' homes the following day and told to
abandon the plan. The Sun said two of the men had criminal records for
violence.
Fathers 4
Justice founder Matt O'Connor revealed on Wednesday
night that he was disbanding the organisation, which
campaigns for better child access for fathers after custody cases, because of
the negative publicity.
Although no
official police or
"I
regret to say that three years after starting the organisation,
we're going to cease and bring it to a close," he told Channel 4 News
television.
"What
these people (the extremists) are doing is undermining the very good work that
people in this organisation have done."
The group, which has staged a number of high-profile stunts around
Activists
have in the past egged Blair's car, scaled
Protesters
even scaled onto a ledge at
…This is
the first reasonably fair story of what happened that I’ve been able to
find. If you listen regularly to the Daddycast, you know that I had a father’s rights activist,
Teri Stoddard, on the show talking about the issues that this group,
Fathers4Justice, and other groups, are fighting for. Their goal is ‘shared parenting’, not
terrorism. I’d like to direct you to her
blog, feminist4fathers.blogspot.com…I’ll post another
link in the shownotes. As it turns out, this story is way overblown,
and in fact what is being claimed in the story did not happen. It appears that this was pure politics. There’s a lot more detail at Teri’s website,
and a statement from the guy who is alleged to have concocted this plot. The organization Fathers4justice basically
imploded, and now there are other people willing to step up and continue to
fight for equal parental rights in the
Kellogg and Viacom to Face Suit Over Ads for Children
By MELANIE
WARNER
SpongeBob
is not your friend.
That is the
message of a lawsuit announced yesterday, asserting that characters like SpongeBob SquarePants - despite
his ever-present grin - are harming children's health by hawking what the
plaintiffs' consider to be junk food.
The Center
for Science in the Public Interest, the Boston-based group Campaign for a
Commercial-Free Childhood and two parents served notice that they intended to
sue Viacom, the maker of the popular children's TV show "SpongeBob SquarePants," and
the Kellogg Company, a big marketer of food to children, which features the
lovable SpongeBob on packages of cereal, Pop Tarts and
cookies.
At a news
conference in
"It's
unfair because kids under 5 don't even know it's a commercial," said
Stephen Gardner, director of litigation for the Center for Science in the
Public Interest. "They think it's a very short SpongeBob
program. And it's unfair because at a very important time in their physical and
psychological development, kids are being encouraged to eat food that is just
not good for them."
The suit,
to be filed in
If
successful, the suit would apply only to marketing activities in
"Kellogg
is not going to market SpongeBob Pop Tarts one way in
"We
will also continue to educate and inform consumers of all ages about the
importance of both balanced nutrition and physical activity in maintaining a
healthy lifestyle," said a spokeswoman, Jill Saletta.
A Viacom
spokesman, Dan Martinsen, said criticisms of Viacom
were unfounded because the company had recently undertaken a number of
initiatives intended to promote healthy eating and address the problem of
childhood obesity.
The company
has licensed SpongeBob, Dora the Explorer and
characters from LazyTown for use on packages of Grimmway baby carrots and SpongeBob
for bags of Boskovich spinach.
This year,
Nickelodeon is to contribute $30 million to the
Amid
concerns over rising childhood obesity, food and entertainment companies have
come under fire for how they market food to children.
In
December, the
Such
recommendations, however, are not enforceable, and none of the major marketers
of food to children - General Mills, Kraft, Burger King and McDonald's - have
announced moves to reduce or eliminate their use of licensed characters.
Mr.
Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said that based on
monitoring his staff did last fall, 98 percent of Kellogg's ads on Saturday
morning television promoted highly sweentened foods
like Apple Jacks and Frosted Flakes cereals. All of Kellogg's 21 Web sites for
children feature such food, and 84 percent of the Kellogg products with package
marketing aimed at children were of poor nutritional quality, according to Mr.
Jacobson.
Sherri
Carlson, a 41-year old mother of three and one of the suit's plaintiffs, said
she found it hard to assert parental authority in the face of persistent
marketing. "If my youngest sees her favorite TV character on the box, she
will push me to buy it, even if she has never had the product before,"
said Ms. Carlson, of
After years
of shunning lawsuits in favor of public relations campaigns, Congressional
lobbying and regulatory petitioning, the Center for Science in the Public
Interest said it had decided to pursue legal action to force change.
"We
used to file all sorts of complaints with the government," Mr. Jacobson
said. "Sometimes we'd get a response, but usually nothing happened. Now,
when we have told companies that we're going to sue them, they show up in our
offices the next week."
Mr.
Jacobson said the group was pursuing legal action on marketing to children,
because the government had failed to regulate. At a July meeting of the Federal
Trade Commission, the chairwoman, Deborah Platt Majoras,
said it was not "productive" for the agency to restrict the types of
ads companies can show to children. Ms. Majoras said
she was counting on food and entertainment companies to regulate themselves and
come up with ways to sell healthier offerings to children.
In addition
to the Kellogg-Viacom lawsuit, the Center for Science in the Public Interest
has been working with half a dozen lawyers on a possible lawsuit against
Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and their major bottlers over the sales of soda and other
sugary beverages in schools.
…OK
parents, say it with me now…NO. Geez, people, get a grip!
Your opinion on what you feed your kid is your opinion. Please don’t sue everybody just to get their
attention. If you can’t say no to your
kids about junk food, the problem isn’t with the advertisers, its with YOU! You
aren’t being a responsible parent and keeping the TV viewing under control.
Advertisers
use aggressive marketing targeted at kids for one reason – it works. If you don’t want it to work, start using
that wonderful, one-syllable word that is the parental trump card – NO. Say it with me now…NO. No.
NO. Kids don’t have any money,
and the ad agencies know that. They’re
going after YOU – the parent. And if you
can’t handle it, turn off the friggin’ TV set!
So to
Sherri Carlson, mother of 3 and plaintiff in this suit…start listening to this
show and learn how to be a more responsible parent. ITS YOUR JOB – not the
lawyer’s job! If you can’t say no NOW –
what are you gonna do when they start watching car
ads?!
More Tests Planned for Comatose
SPRINGFIELD,
Mass. (AP) - After winning a legal battle to remove a severely beaten and
comatose 11-year-old from life support, state officials are now looking closely
for signs of improvement from the girl, who is breathing on her own.
Haleigh Poutre was weaned off a ventilator over the past week. But
her medical condition remains uncertain, and state officials are trying to
determine the exact nature of her condition - and whether it warrants
proceeding with a court-won right to remove her from life support.
``She can
intake air, but she can't swallow on her own and her saliva needs to be
suctioned constantly, almost every hour,'' said Denise Monteiro,
a spokeswoman for the Department of Social Services.
Haleigh
has been in DSS custody since she was hospitalized in September with a badly
damaged brain stem that authorities say resulted from abuse. Thinking that she
was in a permanent vegetative condition, the state went to court to seek
permission to remove her from life support - a move her stepfather, one of two
family members accused of beating her, fought.
DSS
officials first reported changes in Haleigh's condition
on Wednesday - a day after the
Monteiro
said the state now has no immediate plans to remove her feeding tube, and more
medical tests were to be performed Thursday.
``They
haven't said much on what we could expect,'' said Allison Avrett,
Haleigh's biological mother. ``This could be as good
as it gets. But they never expected this.''
Haleigh
was adopted in 2001 by Avrett's sister, Holli Strickland, when Avrett
decided she could not care for her daughter. Strickland was charged with
beating Haleigh after the girl was hospitalized in
September, but died about two weeks later along with her grandmother in what
authorities say was either a murder-suicide or double-suicide.
Haleigh's
stepfather, Jason Strickland, also was charged with assault and could face a
murder charge if she dies. He has fought to keep her on life support, but this
week's high court ruling said he has no say in her medical care.
The
justices also denied a request by Strickland's lawyers to disclose court
documents related to Haleigh's life support case. The
Republican newspaper of
Strickland
can try to bring his case to federal court, but his lawyers say they're waiting
for more information on Haleigh's condition before
they decide how to proceed.
``If DSS
isn't going to do anything, then it may not be necessary for us to do
anything,'' said attorney John Egan.
DSS delays removing feeding tube
from brain-damaged girl, 11
A severely
brain-damaged 11-year-old beating victim has shown some “responses,” and the
Department of Social Services will not order her feeding tube removed until
doctors determine whether the girl’s permanent vegetative state could improve.
“The DSS team met with doctors to make sure
there was no change in her condition. There is a change in her condition,” DSS
spokeswoman Denise Monteiro said. “She’s having some
responses.”
Monteiro said
doctors may finish testing the girl, Haleigh Poutre, today or tomorrow.
“Once her medical team finishes the battery
of tests they will meet with us again to determine the significance of the
change,” she said.
Monteiro would
not say how Haleigh was responding or what tests she
was responding to. The
Haleigh has been
in a coma since Sept. 11, when she was hospitalized with a damaged brain stem.
Her adoptive mother and stepfather were charged with assault, but her adoptive
mother later died in what was either a double suicide or murder-suicide. The
girl’s stepfather, Jason Strickland, could face a murder charge if Haleigh dies, and fought to keep her on life support.
But the state’s
…its Teri Schiavo all over again,
only with a different twist. Stepdad is in the slammer, accused (not convicted) of
beating her into this state. Why is the
government so darn anxious to kill this little girl? Especially when the stepdad
has so much at stake? Ahh, that’s it, isn’t it?
Pardon me for engaging in a little bit of conspiracy theory, but the
state can probably put together a better case against Mr. Strickland if it’s a
murder case! I’m NOT defending the stepdad, OK? If he’s
responsible for doing this to little haleigh, fry him!
BUT – he gets his day in court.
Judge: Don't Count Fetus for Carpool
Quota
Jan
Even after
being fined $367 for improper use of a High Occupancy Vehicle lane, Ahwatukee Foothills resident Candace Dickinson stood by her
contention that
"To
follow her philosophy would require officers to carry guns, radios and
pregnancy testers, and I don't think we want to go there," said Sgt. Dave
Norton, the
Sole
occupant vehicles aren't allowed to use the carpool lanes during morning and
evening rush hours Monday through Friday.
The idea is
to lessen traffic congestion, Norton said, citing federal guidelines for
creating the lanes.
Norton said
when he stopped
When he
asked
The case
set off a firestorm of opinion but Phoenix Municipal Court Judge Dennis Freeman
used a "common sense" definition in which an individual occupies a
"separate and distinct" space in a vehicle.
"The
law is meant to fill empty space in a vehicle," Freeman said.
…Nice try,
Candace Dickensen.
The government isn’t willing to recognize your unborn child as a
person. That would remove a woman’s
right ‘to choose’ after all, now wouldn’t it?
Besides,
isn’t the law meant to get ‘drivers’ to carpool. That means that if you’re not hauling another
licensed driver around, you’re not car-pooling.
Putting another person in the car with you doesn’t help traffic
congestion. You gotta
take a driver off the road to do that, right?
Yet I
personally know that when I have my son in his car seat, that
counts for carpooling around here where I live.
Oh, wait, I forgot, that’s right, he has a steering wheel on his carseat, that’s the loophole…
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[Cue Song 1 – The Compliments,
“Something Like Happiness”]
[Cue Mailtime]
Comments,
suggestions, blah blah blah…submit@101usesforbabywipes.com
Announcements:
Michael in
Kerry and
Dan are now the proud parents of little Jack Ausby
Culver Gorgone, born this past week. 8 pounds, 14 ounces. So congrats to mom and dad, and best wishes
to all from this here daddycaster! I know, you’re all wondering – who? Go check out their podcast
at www.babytimeshow.com – Wow, mom
landed a big one!
I got some
really cool stuff in the mailbag this week, mostly from listeners who took my
request to contact Steve Friess at USA Today about
the daddycast.
Thanks to all of you guys that responded.
I am really
very lucky. I have a really smart and
articulate listener base, and for that, I’d just like to say thanks so much for
taking the time out of your busy day to fire off an e-mail about why you listen. Your comments were really terrific.
I’d also
like to thank Greg W, who wrote the review on iTunes
for the show. Wow, Greg,
that was awesome! That means a lot
to me, and thanks for putting that up on iTunes. You’ll never know how much that
means…well…maybe in a couple weeks you’ll know.
I’ll have an announcement or two or three soon, but I’m sworn to secrecy
right now…
From JamesB:
Just wanted to let you know that I enjoy your show. I even recommended it on my latest podcast. Keep up the good work. I especially like your take
on the news. It helps me keep up on things that dads need to know. And since I
don't watch the TV news, or read the paper, I rely on it heavily for my source
of news that is pertinent to me as a father.
Thanks
again,
jamesb
…He hosts
the ‘navelcast’, and ‘Face The
Music’. Find him over at
‘jamesb.com’. Thanks, James for the
note.
I don’t
think many people do read the paper anymore.
Look at their subscription rates, and the number of layoffs in the newsrooms. I think the traditional daily newspaper is gonna disappear real soon, possibly in my lifetime. It’ll probably be replaced by small local
papers that can keep their costs low and keep the news local and interesting
for its subscribers. There are just too
many sources for national and international news these days…like this show, for
example. I used to subscribe to my local
paper, but they were just carrying national news from one of the wire services,
so it wasn’t of much value…’cept to start the
fireplace…too bad they don’t have a ‘winter-only’ subscription.
Funny how I
keep picking these songs that fit my theme…
[Cue Song #2 – Edwin Derricut, “Cold As Ice”]
[Cue Wipes Use #38 – frost fighter
Intro]
Baby Wipes
Use:
Winter is
really here – in all its vengeance. It’s
been below freezing at night every night this week, then damp and dreary all
day. We’ve been using the fireplace –
yes, burning trees down to keep warm – guilty as charged – but we’re performing
a public service…now these trees aren’t blocking new home construction
anymore…oh…that probably didn’t help…
Well, its also been so cold that during the night, dewpoint is reached, and all the moisture in the air falls
onto the car, then freezes, making it near impossible to see out the windshield. Add to that the fact that the garden hose is
frozen solid…looks like a cobra coiled up to strike, and makes these funny
crunchy noises when I moved it. It doesn’t
get this cold here very often, but when it does, it makes getting my wife to
school on time difficult. No, my son is
easy – his school day starts at
She calls
me out to the driveway, shows me the cobra-coiled hose, the frozen windshield,
the wiper blades now shredded, ‘cause they were frozen
to the windshield. Oh what’s a dad to
do?
Simple. Say it with me – BABY WIPES! If you keep your baby wipes indoors, where its warm, like we do, in the storage cabinet that backs up
to the fireplace – this is child’s play.
HOWEVER – baby wipes don’t do a great job of cleaning the windshield
without streaking. They tend to leave a
bit of film behind. What they DO do is cut through the ice that’s keeping the wiper blades
from moving. Yeah, you could use the
defroster in the car, but that takes time – sometimes lots of time – and when
your wife is stressing over a microbiology exam, you really don’t wanna make her wait.
Besides, I was still in my jimmies – and its COLD out!
[Cue Drop_1]
Kids, you listening? Here we go…Ready,
set, TOONTEST!
[Cue Toontest31+32]
Answers:
#3 – Josie
and the Pussycats, #2- Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, #1- Sonic-X
[Cue Evan – 2 outta
3]
Where else
can you find bad singing teenagers dressed as cats, Elementary School Kids into
Goth, and a supersonic hedgehog? Why, in cartoons, of course!
Josie and
the Pussycats stumped my son. Its an oldie being re-run on Boomerang, Grim adventures of
Billy and Mandy is a bit dark. It’s
rated TV-Y7, but I don’t think its really appropriate
for kids that young, personally. Sonic-X
is yet another cartoon made from a video game…that pretty much explains the
really deep lyrics in the theme song.
[Cue Alan Jay_Time]
Yep, that
wipes us out for yet another episode of 101 uses for baby wipes. I’d like to thank ‘The Compliments’, Edwin Derricut, and Beatrice Ericsson…yeah, I know, I’ve played a
song of hers a week, I think. But I like
‘em, so I play ‘em.
Check ‘em all out at the podsafe music
network, if you please. C-YA!
[Cue Song #3 – Beatrice Ericsson,
“Through The Night”]
[Cue Evan – Magnet Guy Talk]