Don't Want to Drink Alone? Clink a Glass With Fluffy.

Hey.  It had to happen.  Cat lovers of the world rejoice!  A Denver company, Apollo Peak, has come out with cat-friendly wine.  It is nonalcoholic so it is safe for cats to drink.  It is made with organic catnip and water and is colored with beet juice.  There are two varietals:  Pino Meow and MosCATo.  So, sit down and have a nice conversation over a glass of wine with your cat.  Now, if someone comes up with a cat martini or cosmopolitan, we are talking about some good times!  They already like the cheese.

Looks Good!

First Female Presidential Candidate

Congratulations to Hillary Clinton on her being the first female Presidential candidate from a major political party.  However, she is not the first woman to run for President.  That honor goes to Victoria Woodhull who ran in 1872.  And what a woman she was.  She was waaaaay ahead of her times.  I found her story fascinating.  Check out how much ahead of her time she was.

Victoria Woodhall

Testing a Relationship

Here is a strange story that I ran across which I found to be sad but funny.  What do you think?


 In many relationships, especially relatively new ones, the people in them may begin to wonder about whether their partner is loyal and faithful.  Consequently, it is common for them to test the relationship.  People come up with quite ingenious ways of doing so, some of which are quite ingenious.  One woman came up with what seemed to her to be a surefire method.  She wrote a phony breakup letter to her partner and left it in an obvious spot in the bedroom.  She then crawled under the bed to await his arrival to see his reaction.  It worked.

When he got back, he read the letter and then got on his phone.  The women under the bed heard him say into the phone, “Hello darling, I’m coming over.  The dummy finally got the drift that I’ve been cheating.  She’s finally left.  What a mistake, that relationship.  I’m so happy to be free of her.  I wish I’d met you earlier.  See you soon!”  She could not believe what she heard.

When he left, she crawled from under the bed with tears in her eyes only to find that he had left her a note.  “You buffoon.  Next time you want to trick me, make sure your feet aren’t hanging out from under the bed.  Just gone to the store.  See you soon Love.”  

Every Child Should Have One

Mr. Rayford Berrymon of Los Angeles, CA has filed for a patent for a doll that should make it onto every kid's wish list.  Here is his rationale as listed with the U.S. Patent Office:

"Today, there is a need in the art for a doll and stuffed animal that can mimic the sound of passing gas, can emit a vapor and associated odor and can make facial expressions which will compliment the function of passing gas. The present invention, Poodypoo will pass gas that is visible, audible, and can be smelt. Furthermore, the dolls will laugh and blush and make other facial expressions that may be associated with passing gas."

A NEED?  What  could possobily be the need?  "Great conversation starter at dull parties."  "Oops! It wasn't me, it was the doll."  In my house it is, "That was the cat."

Here is more of a description:

"A laughing, farting stuffed doll having a face and a body with a mechanical component, a sound component, an odor component, a vapor component, and a color changing component embedded inside the stuffed doll... the doll will produce sounds of laughter and passing gas. The stuffed doll can also recite several pre-recorded phrases. (I wonder if "Excuse me" is one of them)  Moreover, it will produce an odor similar to passing gas, it will emit a vapor and it will change facial color similar to blushing. All of the aforementioned can be achieved remotely with the assistance of a remote control."

A REMOTE CONTROL?  Fart on demand?  

Mr. Berrymon applied for the patent on April 28, 2011.  He has not been granted one as of today.  He needs a better patent attorney.

Laughter is The Best Medicine?

I remember saying to someone who was really making me laugh, "Stop it! You're killing me." Little did I know that one can literally die of laughing.  While trying out a new search engine, Omnity, I typed in "humor."  Among the typical citings, there were a number of linked sites about people dying of laughter.  Here is the story of one.  His name is Chrysippus.  He was a Greek Stoic philosopher born circa 279 B.C.E.

Now according to a number of reliable sources (that is journalistic for "blame it on the other person.")  He was the head of the Stoic School of Hellenistic philosophy in Athens. Here is the irony.  According to the Merriman-Webster Dictionary a Stoic is "a member of a school of philosophy...holding that the wise man should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief" Oops!  Apparently Chrysippus did not follow his own philosophy.

It seems that one day Chrysippus' donkey began eating his figs. According to the philosophy student who documented Chrysippus' death, Chrysippus then commanded his slave to, “give the donkey neat wine to drink with which to wash them down.”  Apparently our Stoic philosopher found the sight to be quite funny .  The student noted that “Having laughed too much, he died.”

According to modern medical experts, Chrysippus died from cardiac arrest brought about by asphyxiation.  The asphyxiation was caused by his intense laughter.  Not very Stoic!

He's an Equal Opportunity Kinda Guy

There was an article in today's Toledo Blade about an assault.  It seems that one Mr. Charles “Cowboy” Butler, Jr., who is white, was charged with felonious assault and ethnic intimidation against Mr. Adrian Williams, who is black. Although Mr. Butler says that he gets into a lot of fights, he says that he is definitely not a racist.  Why would anyone think so?

Well, perhaps it is the Confederate flag sticker on the back window of his pickup.  Or, maybe, it is his tattoos of Adolf Hitler, the swastika, the Confederate flag, the German iron cross, and a German eagle. “I have five different tattoos that represent my beliefs,” Butler said. But, I guess those tattoos do not represent racist beliefs.

However, we probably should take Mr. Butler at his word.  According to him, “I have no idea why they say this is racially motivated because I’ve gotten in fights with white people, Japanese, Mexican.” 

Yup, an equal opportunity kinda guy.

Crazy Plea Bargin

Austin Lee Russell, AKA "Chumlee" on Pawn Stars, was caught with 12 weapons of various sorts, about 140 grams of marijuana, 1.7 grams of meth, 17 Xanax "Zanie" bars, and an assortment of drug paraphernalia.  He admitted that he "smoked a lot of weed," so he usually bought at least 4 oz. at a time.  He was arrested on weapons and drug charges.

Now it gets interesting.  His attorney managed to bargain down to a plea of one felony gun charge  — unlawful possession of a firearm — and a misdemeanor charge of "attempted drug possession."  WHAT?  How does one "attempt" to possess something?

"Hey, gimmie that baggie of weed."

"No, you can't have it and you are under arrest for attempting to possess it."

Wow!  "No, judge, I wasn't speeding, only attempting to."  "No, Your Honor, I did not go through that red light, I only attempted to."  

I guess it pays to have a good lawyer. Chumlee got three years probation.

Have a Sip of America

Yup...here it is just in time for summer.  Budweiser has renamed its flagship brew.  How patriotic considering the company that produces the beer is Belgian.  But, the beer under the Bud name is the country's best-selling nonlight-beer brand.  I guess it really represents American taste. As Tom Acitelli describes it in the Washington Post "Watery, soda-pop fizzy and ruthlessly inoffensive, if not slightly alkaline, in its flavor, the beer tastes the same wherever it’s made and however far it’s shipped." But there is hope that maybe this reincarnation is about to improve.  After all, Donald Trump wants to, "Make America great again!"  He is talking about the beer, isn't he?

Maybe he can make the beer great again.  Oh, wait.  That should just be "make the beer great."  Forget the "again" because it never was great.

Ironic Photo of the Day

I guess they do not have far to go for help.

It Came Back to Bite Them.

The battle rages on between North Carolina’s Governor, Pat McCrory, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch over the state’s “bathroom law” that effectively discriminates against transgendered individuals by mandating that they use public bathrooms that align with their birth certificate.  Part of the motivation for this legislation is the unfounded fear that a transgendered male would frighten little girls in the women’s restroom.  They apparently did not think of this.

But, here is where it gets interesting.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as originally proposed would outlaw discrimination because of race, color, religion, or national origin.  During an attempt to generate more “Nay” votes, a bigoted segregationist, Virginia’s Democratic Rep. Howard W. Smith, who staunchly opposed the legislation, decided to add “sex” to the list of protected classes.  He hoped to sway male chauvinist supporters to change their minds.  Instead, the law passed with the added class.

If that southern representative had not tried to kill the bill, the Justice Department may not have been able to sue North Carolina for violating the Civil Rights Act today.  It came back to bite them.