Thursday, March 19, 2009

Life is a Song

My cousin Bobbie Joe is the Director of Research at the Country & Western Research Foundation over in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee.

I checked in with him the other day. His wife has left him. His dog has passed away. His pickup truck broke down.

Aside from that, he was fine.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Ok, How About This Idea Then...

The stun wallet. Voice activated.

If you get mugged, you hand over the wallet and then say the secret word and the perp gets jolted to the ground.

Obvious problems that need to be worked out are 1) someone says your secret word while the wallet is in your back pocket 2) mugger has his finger on the trigger of a hand gun which is pointed at you and the jolt causes the finger to contract.

Other than these minor concerns...this is a winner!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Pet Rental Business Survey

Please answer the following questions by opening a comments window:
1. Do you currently own a pet?
2. If not, why not?
3. If you could rent a dog or cat for the weekend, would you do it?
4. How much would you be willing to pay for a weekend pet rental?

Thank you.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Follow-up Research Needed For This Story

LeAnn Arthur of the WV Office of Technology received an Employee Suggestion Award from Governor Joe Manchin III. A photo of her receiving the check for $175 is shown here.

There was no mention of what was suggested, nor are there any photos of her suggesting it.

My Real Name is Dr. Reuben- I'll Be Away For A While

BOSTON (AP) - A Massachusetts doctor is being accused of fabricating results in at least 21 published studies.

Dr. Scott Reuben, an anesthesiologist at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, has published dozens of articles on multimodal analgesia, the use of multiple drugs to relieve post-surgical pain.

Dr. Hal Jenson, Baystate's chief academic officer, tells The Boston Globe that a routine review last May found that some of Reuben's research had not been approved by an internal hospital review board.

That discovery led to an investigation completed in January that found Reuben had made up some or all of the data in 21 published papers over 13 years.

Reuben's lawyer, Ingrid Martin, said she cannot comment on the investigation, but he "deeply regrets" the situation.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Research for the Amateur

We highly trained professional researchers, we do the lofty, significant researching that covers the important questions in the world. Our work is confidential; otherwise I would spill the beans about how important and serious it all is.

And yet amateur researchers get to have all the fun. Did you read about the guy who is working on perfecting the jet-pack? Now there is some research!

Amateur researchers get to do cool research projects. Try this one at home. Feed someone close to you a couple of cloves of garlic while you abstain. Take a whiff of their breath. Nasty right? Now you eat a couple of cloves and re-test. Write up the results and issue it to your friends and neighbors. Call it something fancy like a "Same-Breath Research White Paper". You are an amateur researcher!

Friday, March 6, 2009

Fresh from Blogger Rehab

You know, after the harsh criticism that my first post received, I was ready to quit this blogging business. A Canadian expatriate pointed out that I would have become the epitome of my own commentary if I were to quit now. He should know, having been exiled from his country because of his extreme right-wing views.

He's right! I need to push forward! The world needs to read my manifesto!

To be continued...

Oh ya, and P.S. I am not a liar.

Common Sense- Post #1

Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense in 1774. Two years later, bloodshed commenced as the Colonies took on England (actually I believe they liked to be called Great Britain at that time) in the fight to become liberated from British tyranny and oppression.

Americans have certainly gotten soft since.

To be continued...