brandondawson.org

Nobody should be wondering what is wrong with Western Civilization, and why it seems to be failing, when the entire world drops what it is doing to listen to a golfer apologize for cheating on his wife.

The massive amount of coverage given this silly matter tells us that Tiger Woods’ relationship with his wife and his almighty corporate sponsors is more important to people than:

• In America, the question of whether 100% of people will be provided some form of medical coverage
• The question of what would drive a man to completely snap and fly a plane into a building –and what we should do or think about it.
• The question of whether war with Iran is inevitable
• The question of whether the US is treating its Marines to cancer-causing water
• What to do about our looming housing crisis (which is inexplicable, considering the glut in supply)

To say nothing of more mundane concerns, such as kids’ education, what to do about corroding local tax bases that are making infrastructure improvements impossible without massive federal funding, how to bring government budgets under control….you name it, our society deems a golfer’s staged mea culpa more important.

Sometimes, this society we live in really disgusts me.

http://www.tissuepathology.typepad.com/files/prayson_anndiagpath_dec2008.pdf

ABSTRACT: Americans consume about 5 billion hamburgers a year. It is presumed that most hamburgers are
composed primarily of meat. The purpose of this study is to assess the content of 8 fast food
hamburger brands using histologic methods. Eight different brands of hamburgers were evaluated for
water content by weight and microscopically for recognizable tissue types. Glial fibrillary acidic
protein (GFAP) staining was used to evaluate for brain tissue. Water content by weight ranged from
37.7% to 62.4% (mean, 49%). Meat content in the hamburgers ranged from 2.1% to 14.8% (median,
12.1%). The cost per gram of hamburger ranged from $0.02 to $0.16 (median, $0.03) and did not
correlate with meat content. Electron microscopy showed relatively preserved skeletal muscle. A
variety of tissue types besides skeletal muscle were observed including connective tissue (n = 8),
blood vessels (n = 8), peripheral nerve (n = 8), adipose tissue (n = 7), plant material (n = 4), cartilage
(n = 3), and bone (n = 2). In 2 hamburgers, intracellular parasites (Sarcocystis) were identified. The
GFAP immunostaining was not observed in any of the hamburgers. Lipid content on oil-red-O
staining was graded as 1+ (moderate) in 6 burgers and 2+ (marked) in 2 burgers. Fast food
hamburgers are comprised of little meat (median, 12.1%). Approximately half of their weight is
made up of water. Unexpected tissue types found in some hamburgers included bone, cartilage, and
plant material; no brain tissue was present. Sarcocystis parasites were discovered in 2 hamburgers.

Here’s a fun site: Death by Caffeine.

I was interested to note that even with the ever-increasing caffeine level in both regular soda pop and so-called “energy drinks”, you’d still die of an exploded stomach and hyperhydration well before actually dying of the caffeine, provided of course, that you were of otherwise robust health with no heart conditions.

So bring on the C₈H₁₀N₄O_2.