A treatment for Epstein-barr / Chronic Fatigue?

Read this article.

A Stanford University Professor did a study with 12 Chronic Fatigue Patients and gave them each Valganciclovir, an antiviral drug. 9 out of 12 experienced great improvement. Read the article for yourself, this is great news!

Anyone want a free iTunes gift card?

Well I got a $25 gift card for iTunes as a Christmas gift. For some reason the moment I saw it, something told me it wouldn't be so simple as just selecting songs, downloading them, the end. I must be psychic because it turned out to be quite a hassle. First, I couldn't just enter the code # and download my songs. No, I had to install the iTunes software. I very very reluctantly did that. I got the gift card, might as well use it. Well during the installation, it decided it needed to update my Quicktime movie player. I again reluctantly agreed. Well the update basically made Quicktime player very annoying, reminding me every step of the way that I only had the free version and wasn't allowed to use the Pro features. Look, if I can't use the full version features, don't have them listed in the free version. It's just a nuisance.

Okay so I get the stupid iTunes software up and running, time to download my songs, right? No, first have to become a member. I've made it this far, so I might as well sign up just to get the stupid songs. Well one of the first things it asks me is my credit card number. Why do I need to tell them that? I have a $25 gift card. I don't plan on getting more that $25 worth of songs. When you go to a retail store with a gift card, do they make you pull out your credit card too?

This is where I stopped. I uninstalled the iTunes software and made sure there wasn't the slightest trace of it left on my computer.

For some reason I used to think Apple was so user friendly because of the way their advocates talked of them. Apparently this is not the case. I would stay clear of Apple and iTunes.

For those who are still willing to put up with the hassles, you can have my iTunes gift card. I won't be using it any time soon.

The NYC Transit Strike

I've heard bantering going back saying "the union is greedy" or "the MTA is greedy." Here is my response to that:

It's not about greed because everyone is greedy. It's about how valuable a person is to a company based on their experience and skills. And when there is a job where advanced skills aren't required, it means there is a large supply of people who are capable of performing that job. A person's role may be very important, such as security, but if they are fairly replaceable, don't expect that particular job to demand a high salary. The employment market works on supply and demand just as any other market does. When people don't get an adequate education to prepare them for work in more high-demand jobs, low pay jobs are what they're left with. This is why people work hard in school. Because you can get ahead if you work hard.

Why receiving money not earned is not a good thing

Today I was thinking about the effect someone getting a large amount of money without earning it can have on them. This doesn't have anything to do with Christmas gifts by the way. I'm thinking more of someone who wins something on a tv show, someone who wins the lottery, or someone who receives welfare checks.

Most of us assume in life that things won't just be given to us. We might not think about this every day, but it's an assumption that effects the way we live our lives every day. We take it for granted. We don't sit around thinking of ways we can get things for free. We deal with reality, and work in order to get paid.

Have you ever seen someone get a huge gift, say...on some television show where the host gives away cars? It's nice isn't it. The person is a presumably a nice person who never asked for anything, but was given a car. And it's great to see the cheer in their eyes. We love to see that.

But after that initial moment, I think something interesting happens in the mind. The mind, which in the past always had the assumption that you always had to earn what you had, is now presented with something that goes against that assumption. A few moments after that great experience of the humble person receiving that unearned gift, their mind wonders "hmm maybe there's more?"

The assumption has changed. The assumption that effected their every day lives has now been altered. Now, there's always a possibility (whether consciously thought or not) that they will be given something they didn't earn. And I think this effects their thinking in many more ways than we understand.

Obviously the extent to which this has an effect on the person depends on how big the gift is, and just how unearned it is. It also depends on how frequently such gifts are given to them. Does some generous person given them a $1,000 check every month to be nice? Or is it just a 1 time deal?

To wrap things up, it's not good for people to receive too much stuff that they do not earn. It is done with the best intentions, but has negative effects that can impact their every day lives. It also could be a demotivator of a good work ethic.

Democrat Representatives want a 25% internet porn tax

Read this article here from Forbes.com


Utah representative Jim Matheson and Arkansas Senator Sen. Blanche Lincoln are proposing a plan to tax internet porn 25%. The revenue, they say, will be used to pay for the government to make sure all porn sites are complying with a proposed rule that mandates an over-18 verification screen before a user can enter the main webpage. So they want to keep kids from accessing porn, and the 25% tax is the way they'll pay for the cost of monitoring and enforcing the proposed rule.

This is completely stupid on many levels, but here's the bottom line: They want to punish those doing the right thing (the law abiding porn sites) so they can make sure nobody is doing the wrong thing. The internet porn companies who take the time to send 25% of its revenue to the government will be those same companies that abide by the rules and don't let minors in. They are being punished for following the rules. You think a website too lazy to put up a simple mechanism for age verification is going to hand over 25% to the government?

Again, this is punishing those who follow the rules for the people who don't. Outrageous.

Fox News Watch panelist Gabler: Fox News "pumping" Christmas "war"

Gabler from the show "Fox News Watch" lets them have it.

Watch the video here.


Wow. Usually I find Neil to be the annoying one on the show, but he was right on about this and let them have it. I am so sick of Bill O'Reilly's War on Christmas rant. I can understand some of the complaining, but when it comes to corporations, he is dead wrong.

paraphrasing: "Here is a list of companies that will just be saying happy holidays this year, not merry christmas. Are you going to shop there"

Give me a freakin break. First of all at most places you're lucky to get a "have a nice day." Second of all, Don't give me this crap about being offended that someone said something nice to you like "happy holidays." Third, companies don't have hidden secularist agendas, they're trying to conduct business and be inclusive. It's not like the executives are a bunch of atheists scheming to get rid of Christmas. (not that there's anything wrong with atheists, I am one myself. Just for the record though, I think the "atheist movement" is stupid. But O'Reilly is worse :)

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