Little known and less cared about facts

There are 400 million cups of coffee consumed in the U.S. every day.

 

Coconut oil melts at a temperature of 76 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Help Save the Planet

It has been determined that the soot from cooking fires is the largest source of black carbon in the atmosphere in Asia. Everyone should now quit cooking for the sake of the planet. But that's OK. When you cook vegetables, they lose most of their nutrients anyway. As everyone knows, red meat is bad for the body. Fish can be eaten raw, hello sushi bar. Why do we really need to cook anyway. Read the article here.

In light of this new research, I think we should petition the UN to pass a new international law banning all cooking of food for humans (and domestic cats). After all, it is not nessessary, and it will help save the planet. Nevermind that climate change has been happening since the creation of the planet. This is serious! We must do everything we can to quit cooking. Our practices are killing the planet.

Our new non-cooking culture will produce some unemployment at first. Restaurant workers will be out of a job. However we can use this as an excuse to grow government. These people can be retrained as food police officers to enforce the new laws for the UN. This is but one step toward the eutopia we all want, but it is an important step and we must act now to save the planet. By the way, it's obvious this is all W's fault.

Global Flyer, Salina Tower, You are cleared to land on runway 35, Welcome Home

Ken Fossett is the new world record holder for non-stop circumnavigation of the globe in an airplane. He landed safely in Salina Kansas after 67 hours in a single engine airplane. Read about it here.

Cha...Cha...Cha...Changes

I am announcing today that soon I will be changing the Title for my blog. I felt I needed to warn my loyal fans and readers (both of them). I'm still tossing around ideas for a new one, but the thoughts are becoming more concrete. First of all, I must admit I ripped off the title from a good friend who uses "Echoes from an Empty Mind" as the heading to really soul bearing emails and letters. I liked it and used it. Today he tells me that he is collecting several of his writtings and may be publishing a book by the same title. Soooooo, to keep me from having to sue him for copywrite infringement or something when the book comes out and he becomes famous, I will be changing the title. Keep reading the blog and I will let you know when the book will be available. I will also provide a permanent link so you can get the book from me at a highly marked up premium (Just kidding).

On the Soapbox......

According to a survey I saw, (Read it Here), 8 out of 10 (OK so it is 76%) citizens think the 10 commandments should be allowed to be displayed in public places such as court houses and other governments buildings. Yet that is a major political debate. You can't get 8 out of 10 people to agree on what they want for dinner! But somehow the Supreme Court must decide this for us. Something is wrong. The first amendment does not forbid religious expression in public, it simply does not allow the government to pass laws establishing an official state religion or forbidding the free expression of that religion. Yet that is exactly what this does. So much for a nation being founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs.

It reads as follows:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Next Subject:

The Supremes ruled yesterday that it is unconstitutional to execute criminals who committed their crimes while under 18. The majority opinion cited that it is not in line with international law, specifically the United Nations to carry out these executions. I think the punishment should be available for the crimes it fits. Let the criminal court and the jury decide. Isn't that why they exist. This is going down the same "politically correct" road as zero tolerance for drugs in the public schools. Now we have students getting expelled for having asperin in their car or locker. What a joke!

Maybe it's just me, but I DO NOT want the United Nations dictating our federal policy to us. What ever happened to the Supreme Court interpreting the US Constitution and other "founding documents" of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA! Not the U.N.

And He's Off

Fossett launches flight attempt

Today could be an historic day

There is plenty of gloomy stuff to think about today. I don't want to. I am going to look at a more optimistic event that is unfolding.

In 1933, Wiley Post became the first person to fly solo around the world. It took him many stops for fuel in a journey that took him 7 days.

This afternoon, Steve Fossett hopes to take off from Salina Kansas to become the first person to fly non-stop around the world. This will be just one of the seven world records he is attempting. One of the others will be the longest flight by a jet aircraft. The current record was set in 1963 by a B-52 that flew 12,000 miles.

How do I tie this to politics and current events that affect you and me? First of all, it is my blog, I'll do it just to humor myself. Second, The research that goes into these flights almost always go towards new discoveries or developments in human physiology that help us to better understand our own bodies, or increase the efficiency of jet engines. It may be a few years, but the men involved in this journey are pushing the envelope of technology that will make jet engines and airframes (airliners and military aircraft) cheaper to operate, not to mention other types of engines and electronics.

Now to tie in the politics. They do this without government funding! This is a privatized venture. Private industry is doing this without government interference. I'll drop the thought there for now. I just want you to think about what is possible when the government stays out of research and developement of this industry because it applies to other industries as well.

Have a wonderful day, and say a prayer for Mr Fossett's safety.

Legal Brief: Man Can Sue Over Surprise Pregnancy

Another example of how our court system is being clogged up by people who think they deserve something despite their own irresponsible actions.

 

An appeals court said a man can press a claim for emotional distress after learning a former lover had used his sperm to have a baby. But he can't claim theft, the ruling said, because the sperm were hers to keep.

The ruling Wednesday by the Illinois Appellate Court sends Dr. Richard O. Phillips' distress case back to trial court.

Phillips accuses Dr. Sharon Irons of a "calculated, profound personal betrayal" after their affair six years ago, saying she secretly kept semen after they had oral sex, then used it to get pregnant.

He said he didn't find out about the child for nearly two years, when Irons filed a paternity lawsuit. DNA tests confirmed Phillips was the father, the court papers state.

Phillips was ordered to pay about $800 a month in child support, said Irons' attorney, Enrico Mirabelli.

Phillips sued Irons, claiming he has had trouble sleeping and eating and has been haunted by "feelings of being trapped in a nightmare," court papers state.

Irons responded that her alleged actions weren't "truly extreme and outrageous" and that Phillips' pain wasn't bad enough to merit a lawsuit. The circuit court agreed and dismissed Phillips' lawsuit in 2003.

But the higher court ruled that, if Phillips' story is true, Irons "deceitfully engaged in sexual acts, which no reasonable person would expect could result in pregnancy, to use plaintiff's sperm in an unorthodox, unanticipated manner yielding extreme consequences."

The judges backed the lower court decision to dismiss the fraud and theft claims, agreeing with Irons that she didn't steal the sperm.

"She asserts that when plaintiff 'delivered' his sperm, it was a gift — an absolute and irrevocable transfer of title to property from a donor to a donee," the decision said. "There was no agreement that the original deposit would be returned upon request."