Meatstick Opinion: Stem Cell Research

Although many Americans are now beginning to feel that stem cell research is worthwhile, there are plenty who still don't think the government should be funding it. Unfortunately, one of those persons lives in the White House.

For those of you that do not agree with our government funding stem cell research, I would ask you to just please visit a VA hospital and spend some time with soldiers who have been paralyzed from a war that our government sent them too. These soldiers have different injuries, different backgrounds, and different ranks; but one thing they all have in common with each other is that they all deserve the hope of being able to walk again.

Meatstick Opinion: George Bush and Dick Cheney

First, George Bush. I recently read a quote by John F. Kennedy that appeared in a note he wrote home to his mother while serving in WW2, "All war is stupid." John Kennedy understood war, b/c he decided to fight in the war of his generation. He then went on to become President and protect America from an international disaster (Cuban Missle Crisis).

George Bush didn't decide to fight in the war of his generation. He has gone on to become President and has started an international disaster.

Second, Dick Cheney. I was embarrased and saddened when I learned that my alma mater, the United States Military Academy, was going to have Dick Cheney give the graduation speech this year to the class of 2007. However, I was not surpised. After all, Dick Cheney is the Vice President of the United States and although he now refuses to admit it, he is part of the Executive Branch, the branch that commands the US military. I read parts of his speech from that day but had to stop so that I didn't puke all over my $2,000 laptop. One good thing did come from that appearance. This picture:

Some day West Point will look back and realize what a mistake it was to have this guy speak to the Class of 2007. I only hope that they are able gain the rights to this picture and photoshop the West Point crest out of the background. For now though, all we can do is look at this picture and laugh at what a douche he looks like.

Meatstick News: Anderson Cooper At It Again

CNN and Anderson's crew have no idea where Afghanistan is, apparently. This is just one more reason why 24 hour news channels are god awful, all of them. How does a mistake like this get on national, prime time TV? Maybe if Anderson Cooper traveled to Afghanistan back in April, like he was supposed to, he might have caught this mistake before it got on the air. I know he doesn't make the graphics, but he is the host and namesake of the show so ultimately it's his problem.



I originally saw this story on bobharris.com

Meatstick Opinion: Pitcher Paul Byrd is Selfish

I wanted to watch TV yesterday for about 20 minutes. I started at the bottom of the channels and started working my way up trying to find something that was at least half worth watching. Without thinking about what channel I was on, I suddenly stopped when I saw highlights of a baseball player. I quickly realized I was watching the religious "700 Club." They were interviewing Cleveland Indians pitcher Paul Byrd about his faith. I always find it comical when athletes hit a homerun or catch a touchdown and immediately point to the heavens and thank God. It was interesting to actually hear an athlete deeply reflect upon his faith. At first the interview was pretty basic until Paul Byrd busted out with this quote regarding a time in his life after shoulder surgeries when he thought his career might be ending:

“I went and I hopped the fence at three in the afternoon, and I just sat on the mound by myself and prayed to God,” Paul says. “And this is going to sound corny, but I said, ‘I never asked you this before but I need you to be my pitching coach right now. You’re all things to all men, and I need you to be my pitching coach.”

Here is a guy who, up until his shoulder surgeries, already had a nice 7 year baseball career that had seen him named to the NL all star team. He had made over $2 million playing a kids game. Instead of sitting on the pitcher's mound and thanking God for a great career, this guy asks God to be his pitching coach.

I think this is an extremely selfish action. He obviously believed in God; therefore, he really expected God would answer any prayer that he asked of Him. Instead of maybe asking God to be:

• the Director of FEMA
• the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004
  
• the President of Sudan
• the Director of Elections in Iran
  

This guy asks God to be his own personal pitching coach. Great job Paul for turning God into an underpaid member of the Kansas City Royals (his team at the time) coaching staff. The people of Louisianna, Darfur, and Iran thank you.

Meatstick Pictures: Mt. Rainier

I took advantage of an awesome day yesterday to see how high I could get on the continental United States' highest mountain. The only catch was, I wanted to see how high I could get without any of the modern climbing tools that people use to summit the mountain. All I had were North Face hiking shoes, a baseball hat, and my sunglasses.
In the first pic you can see Mt. St. Helens in the middle background. The second picture is the summit of Mt. Rainier. The third picture shows Mt. Adams to the left and Mt. Hood (in Oregon) in the middle background. The last picture shows Mt. St. Helens in the background and two other climbers below me.

Meatstick News: Download "Carwash For Peace" For A Good Cause

If you download Jimmy Fallon's "Carwash For Peace" on itunes the proceeds go to benefit a great cause for the families of wounded veterans, The Fisher House.

Meatstick Opinion: Best Photo and Caption of the Week

This is by far the best photo and caption from a newspaper this week. It comes from an Associated Press article by Anne D'innocenzio:

Paolo Lins shops in the Bulgari store on New York's Fifth Avenue. While the average American is feeling strapped, splurging by the wealthy has risen to gaudy proportions.

Meatstick News: Most Americans Drive to Work Alone

The US Census released a pretty cool study yesterday that touched on many aspects of how Americans get to work each day. As a biker, I was happy to see that Seattle was third in the nation with percentage of workers that bike to work. I'm proud to say that I am one of the 6,963 people that biked to work in Seattle during 2005. The other two cities that beat out Seattle were Portland and Minneapolis. The fact that Portland is number one makes sense to me b/c I have been there and it is very biker friendly and has a mild climate. However, I have to wonder how the study was conducted when it shows that Minneapolis has more bicycle commuters than Seattle for the simple reason that the biking season in Minneapolis is about 9 months shorter than the biking season in Seattle (which is all year).

The study also looked at how many people walk to work, work at home, carpool, and drive to work (alone and with others). I guess it is not a shock that overall, across the country, 87.7% of the people drive to work in some capacity and 77% end up driving alone.

I wish the study took it one step further and analyzed:
Of the 77% that drive alone to work, how many do so in an SUV, in cities that average less than .5 inches of snow per year. Sadly, I'm sure that percentage would be pretty high.

Meatstick News: Lil' Bush Airs Tonight

Don't miss the first episode of Lil' Bush on Comedy Central tonight (June 13th) at 10:30pm...

Meatstick Question: Where Can I Get Wunderbar Bologna?

If anyone knows where I can get Wunderbar bologna on the West Coast of the United States (preferably closer to Seattle) please let me know.

I have done some research and it appears it is made by a company called Russer who was bought out by Tyson. I know they sell it at Wegmans, Price Chopper, and Gerrity's but that does me no good on the West Coast.

My mom packed some Wunderbar with an ice pack for me to take back to Seattle yesterday. Unfortunately my bags never made it (shocking, I know) out of Chicago. I finally got my bags and Wunderbar bologna about 18 hours later. I think the bologna is probably unsafe to eat at this point but I'm tempted to try it.

Wunderbar bologna is about the cheapest deli meat you can find going for about $2.99/lb and it is the best bologna ever made. I wish i could find it on the west side of the Continental Divide.

Meatstick Poll: Should Gay Men Be Allowed to Donate Blood

I am in NEPA for the week. I noticed a poll here on the local CBS affiliate tv station news (WYOU) last night that asked whether gay men should be able to donate blood. I was pretty surprised to see the following results of the poll:

Blood Donations and Gay Men
Do you think gay men should be allowed to donate blood?
Yes 39.74%
No 60.26%

No is winning by a landslide. These results might make sense if the question was "Do you think gay men should be able to date your brother?"

I'm assuming the people that voted 'no' are uneducated on the subject and don't realize that all donated blood is tested for diseases such as HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis. I'm also going to assume that all of the people that voted 'no' on this question never actually needed donated blood before.

I think the lesson here is: If you aren't fully educated on a topic please don't vote on that topic.