Friday Afternoon Funny

Laughter is the best medicine.

It cures a multitudes of ills ... physical, mental, emotional. It elevates the weight of stress and the daily grind. It's addictive and infectious and comforting. And it's free.

So here is my Friday gift to you. Laugh along (I defy you to do otherwise).

UPDATE: 09/24/2010 16:08: I was having issues with the video and have removed it. So just follow this link and enjoy.

It's For My Glaucoma. Really.

It's official, the District has joined fourteen states in legalizing medical marijuana. Well, technically, D.C. made it legal back in May; Congress will make it legal for D.C. to make it legal at the end of the current Congressional session Monday night by opting to do nothing about it.

Medical marijuana is now legal in the District after the Democrat-controlled Congress declined to overrule a D.C Council bill that allows the city to set up as many as eight dispensaries where chronically ill patients can purchase the drug.

So rejoice, you who suffer chronic (or is that cronic?) pain! Take heart, you who are terminally ill (or is that ill?)! But be afeared, those entrepreneurs who might try to make a quick buck because, while possession and use will be permitted with a prescription, growing the ganga will still be illegal.

Spring Cleaning, On The Inside

2009 has been a year of changes. It started with relationships, some ending and some beginning.

Then I quit smoking.

Yes, you read that right. I quit smoking.

Then I joined a kickball league.

Yes, you read that right, too. I joined a kickball league.

A bunch of good friends of mine decided to form a team this year and I was asked to play along. And so I am. Lord knows I need the exercise. Sitting around the house all day is not good for anything, except for getting fat and lazy. Maybe it's just me but I don't think this would look good on me. Not a'tall.

Kickball is very much as I remember it from elementary school ... except that perhaps the ball seems a wee bit smaller than it did back then. You still have to kick the ball, on the ground preferably. You still have to run the bases. You still have to catch the ball. And you still have to dodge the ball. The game is still a blast.

So we had our second practice last night (the first that I could make). While not all of our players were present, twelve of us were. We practiced throwing, catching, and kicking. Then we played a 6-on-6 scrimmage game. I have to say that, based on what I saw last night, we've got a pretty good team. Our defense is pretty darned good, if I do say so myself ... and I did. Our offense, however, needs some work. We kick way too many fly balls and we aren't thinking strategically. But we've planned a few more practices before the first game of the season to iron out the wrinkles and work out the kinks.

So far this year, I'm making good decisions. This is yet another. And I'm glad I decided to do this.

Do I sense a recurring kickball recap coming?

Thank You, Daddy! May I Have Another?

I'm sorry but I don't buy the results of this analysis. I would venture to guess that the majority of my generation was subjected to some form of corporal punishment in our childhood. (What is the plural of childhood? Childhood? Childhoods? Childrenhood?) But I doubt that the majority of that majority turned out to be kinky sex fiends. Hell, the fastest way to turn me off is to get rough with me. (Not that you needed to know that.)

Latest AIDS News

File this latest news from Switzerland under WTF?!:

The Swiss National AIDS Commission said patients who meet strict conditions, including successful antiretroviral treatment to suppress the virus and who do not have any other sexually transmitted diseases, do not pose a danger to others.

Charlie Gilks, director of AIDS treatment and prevention at the World Health Organization, thinks this might be a tad bit irresponsible:

He said WHO was concerned that the Swiss proposal could be misinterpreted to imply that everybody who is on treatment can have unprotected sex.

"It may be fine for Switzerland, it may be fine for a few other countries who have similar small numbers of patients who are very carefully followed up," said Gilks. "But from our point of view globally, we are not going to be changing our recommendations."

But I tend to agree with the following:

"Not only is (the Swiss proposal) dangerous, it's misleading and it is not considering the implications of the biological facts involved with HIV transmission," said Jay Levy, director of the Laboratory for Tumor and AIDS Virus Research at the University of California in San Francisco.

In other words, don't be a dumbass! Either practice abstinence or, if you are going to have sex, use a condom each time every time.