Crazy Lawsuit Game

April 22nd is the day when we celebrate the Earth and all she's given us. It's also the day that we can be over the top annoying about helping the planet because it's Earth Day. The other days of the year, we go behind people, pick up their trash and hope they don't do it again. Today we can go find that person, throw their trash back at them and then publicly harangue them for being a no good stinky litter bug.

Although not all trash is courtesy of people. I was waiting next to my bike this morning when I saw a Clemson squirrel go into the trash can, take out something wrapped in paper, gnaw at it, and then not put it back in the trash. I guess animal littering is okay?

Also saw the PeePoo bag. It's a biodegradable (45% post consumer recycled content, with plans to get that to 100%) plastic bag coated with urea that breaks down human excrement into ammonium hydroxide and other nicer compounds and fertilizes the ground where it is buried. Great for hikers, hunters, and citizens of 3rd world countries that don't have access to sewage treatment plants or running water!

Up next is an article written by Joe Lederman, an editor with asbestos.com, which is a Mesothelioma cancer resource website. Asbestos is a silicate (silicon oxide) containing mineral that is mined and has great flame retardant properties. Unfortunately the fine fibers and particles can get into our lungs and cause all sorts of nasty side effects. There are many green options for insulating your house (recycled blue jeans being my personal favorite) so please look into what's in your house's walls now or before you buy. Hope you enjoy the guest post:

Green Insulation Alternatives Make the Use of Asbestos Obsolete



In the world of home construction, there are many things that should be taken into consideration. Many older homes could need repairs or additional renovations in areas that are susceptible to natural disasters. Often appearing in roof shingles, popcorn ceilings, piping and insulation, asbestos became one of the most popular building applications of the 20th century. One of the main things that can go unnoticed is taking simple precautions to avoid asbestos exposure.



The implementation of eco-construction and alternative energy solutions will play an important role in the transformation to a healthier and sustainable world. Building green will have profound impacts on many facets of our daily lives.



If you locate any suspected asbestos in the home, most experts suggest leaving it un-disturbed until a home inspector can examine your property, take evaluations and determine the safest course of action. Disturbing asbestos in good condition may cause its fibers to be released into the air. However, if removal is necessary, it must be performed by a licensed abatement contractor who is trained in handling hazardous substances.



Long term exposure to damaged airborne asbestos fibers can lead to the development of a severe lung ailment known as mesothelioma . With a latency period that lasts from 20 to 50 years, it isn’t until the later stages of progression when physicians usually are able to accurately diagnose. The amount of asbestos-related incidents throughout the world has resulted in mesothelioma lawyers advocating and protecting victim’s individual rights. Many are unaware to the wrongdoings done in the contraction of diseases associated with asbestos.



Many cities and states in the U.S. are pushing for green sustainable technologies to be utilized in the public and private sectors. Everyone strives for clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. Unfortunately, many modern conveniences increase pollution and health problems.



Green alternatives to asbestos include the use of lcynene foam, cotton fiber and cellulose. The use of cotton fiber foam has demonstrated to reduce energy costs by 25 % per year. There is no need for any products used in construction to be made from asbestos, yet over 3,000 work and home-based materials still contain this toxin. Many locations throughout the United States are swiftly changing their construction practices to suit the environment and the health of human beings.



Implementing green methods of building can have positive environmental, health and economic benefits. These include:



-    Conservation of natural resources

-    Enhance air quality and protect ecosystems

-    Energy sustainability

-    Increase property value

-    Improve quality of life

-    Improvement of pulmonary and cardiac health

-    Reduce waste

Labels: bicycle, disease, Earth Day, Eco-living

Yesterday I discussed HIV and how it is affecting the black members of our community. Dr. Bambi Gaddist decided to do something about it. She started the South Carolina HIV/AIDS Council which:

South Carolina HIV/AIDS Council (SCHAC) is an organization dedicated to developing strategies to reduce the rate of HIV/AIDS and improve the quality of life of African Americans and citizens throughout South Carolina impacted by the human immunodeficiency virus.

Congrats to Bambi and her team for doing something about this horrible epidemic that affects us all.

J and I will be traveling towards STL to join our family in the marriage of my little brother to a lovely woman (who most of us haven't met). It should be a great time and HOT, but at least we're used to that. There should be pictures and I might even slip a few Gatlinburg pics in.

Labels: disease, family vacation, J, wedding

That's Q-tip's advice from the Knee High Park skit of the Chapelle's Show. There's a clip of it here and it must be from someone's DVD cuz they don't bleep shit. My favorite is Charlie Murphy's puppet song "Fuck It" but the line "I beat my dick like it owes me money," gets me every damn time. Ah Dave, we miss you but I understand.

Q-tip's tip (He was the leader of A Tribe Called Quest) is spot on. If you're planning on having sex, whip out that condom and put it on. It isn't difficult and it might just save your life. Or at least your penis. If you don't have a penis, then it just might save your vagina. Especially since a report released on Tuesday noted that almost 50% of those infected with HIV is black. That's in THIS country. I know we don't have the most easily accessible healthcare but that is just scary.

• AIDS remains the leading cause of death among black women between ages 25 and 34. It's the second-leading cause of death in black men 35-44.

Wow. I had no idea. I knew AIDS wasn't the "popular" disease to raise money for thanks to cancer, but didn't know it was that prevalent in American society. Roland S. Martin, columnist with CNN, had an interesting commentary on it today. He said that McCain and Obama need to bring it up as they're campaigning because I'm sure most Americans don't know those cold hard facts either. AIDS might still be unknown but how it spreads is very well known: unprotected sex (all kinds, oral, anal and vaginal), blood transfusions, tattoos, ear piercing, intravenous drug use and mother passing it to her child.

The safest way to not get AIDS is pretty simple: DON'T HAVE SEX. However, if you choose to have sex, use a condom properly. Weird, did you know egg whites are a condom safe lubricant? I didn't. Sounds messy though.

Phill Wilson's, head of the Black AIDS Institute, article from BlackVoices.com blog.

I'll add my voice to Roland's. Please Senators Obama and McCain, talk about AIDS.

Labels: Dave Chappelle, disease, sex and religion

It's official. President Bush has done something that might actually help people. Not you or I, hopefully, but people nonetheless. For nearly a decade, Washington DC has had a ban on needle exchange programs. Our nation's capital has the highest AIDS rate of any major city in the US. The first leading cause of HIV transmission is unprotected sex. The second? Intravenous drug users sharing needles. They're all smacked out and don't want to spend any "heroin money" on something as stupid as a clean needle, so they borrow HIV Larry's needle and shoot up. Most larger cities have realized this is horrible and have started a needle exchange program. The junkies bring in their used needles (instead of throwing them in the trash or on the road or on your kid's playground equipment) and the Health Department furnishes them with clean needles and hopefully encourages them to get clean and into a rehab program. Some people say that this encourages drug use. Does it? Do you want to move to DC and start a serious junk habit knowing now that you can get free clean needles? It doesn't for me either. Crystal meth users, fear not. I assume this program is for any intravenous drug users not just smackheads. So whether you like to inject cocaine, ice or Frosted Flakes, you don't have to use a HIV infected needle! Hooray!

Does that mean that anyone using needles can exchange theirs? Even diabetics? I'm sure a few savvy diabetics would venture down there to save a bit of money on buying new needles. I think that would be okay.

So congratulations to all DC IV drug users! Go get some clean needles and good luck not killing yourselves with your habit.

Labels: disease, politics

For breakfast I had a delicious egg and cheese bagel. I'm nominally trying to lose weight and exercise. What I'm really doing is trying to avoid diabetes and heart problems as long as freakin' possible. I wanted breakfast though. Some would say "it's the most important meal of the day". I don't know about all that but I do know that most breakfast foods are utterly delicious and should not be restricted to being served from 6 to 11 am. Waffles for dinner! Omelettes for lunch! Those are my battle cries.

I also knew that Ray Kroc's favorite restaurant was having a special on bacon, egg and cheese biscuits at the low low price of 2 for $2.22. They're practically giving them away. And at 440 calories, 25 g of fat, and a full 1.34 g of Na (g = grams, Na = Sodium). So that's roughly a fifth of your daily calories, 38% of your daily fat, and a cool 56% of your daily Na. And you just bought 2 so double all of that. Wow. Haha! Missed that little nugget. One also contains 245 mg of cholesterol which is 82% of your daily intake. I assume these are all the government standard of what a "healthy person" is supposed to eat. Yikes.

But I'm trying to stay away from all fast food and we went to the store on Mon. so I have plenty of breakfast things to eat. I decided to make my own egg and cheese breakfast. No biscuits but I had some Lender's Mini Bagels. I can't remember its stats offhand and ye olde internet isn't coming up with any answers so we'll just assume it was a regular 3 oz. bagel for 220 calories and 1.5 g of fat. I of course added cheese so assuming a 26 g serving size (which I think is about twice what I used) 110 calories, 9 g of fat, 0.18 g of Na and only 25 mg of cholesterol. The egg weighs in with 75 calories, 5 g of fat, 213 mg of cholesterol (damn!).

I'm sick of all these numbers. I saved some money and didn't eat 2 of them like I would have if I went with McD's. And eggs have lots of cholesterol in them. Hmmm, maybe it's time to start tossing a yolk or two since that's what contains all that cholesterol and fat. Anyone ever used Egg Beaters? Are they any good?

I just did this as an experiment and would go insane if I kept track of every little thing that went into my body. I've always wanted to try keeping track and weighing all portions of food, but that takes all the fun out of food. It becomes work at that point.

Did I mention that I'm a TB carrier? Yes I was exposed to someone who had tuberculosis and now I'm carrying around TB bacteria. I have known this fact since before I came to Clemson and never really thought about it. We had a small TB scare in the department. He's back at work and isn't contagious but I have been caught up in the web of DHEC (dept. of health and environment class? Ah, control) I had my X-ray, they wanted a better angle at it, so I had to go back the following week. It was nothing and now all I have to do to get rid of those TB bacteria is take INH aka isozianid once a day for 6 to 9 months. And to counteract some of the harmful side effects, like liver damage, I get to take a B6 vitamin aka pyridoxine twice a day for as long as I have to take the Zid (INH is too close to NIH in my book so it's getting a new name).

All the pills are free, or I wouldn't be taking them, but I have to go get blood work done every so often to make sure my liver is still livering and functioning properly.

Off to work! I decided to autocross in Atlanta this Saturday at Turner Field instead of in Asheville, NC at Bele Chere. While the Bele Chere autocross sounds cool and it's the only autocross in the country on public streets during a festival, it's only on a 5 lane wide street and they only get a block, so it's basically down and back for a 30 second run, and you only get 3 of them for an entry fee of $25. In Atlanta, the lot is HUGE and I'll be getting 6 50 seconds runs for $30 and the distance to either event is almost the same, so my decision was pretty easy. Almost 3 times as much seat time for almost the same price and almost the same driving distance.

For any new readers who don't know what I autocross, it's my 2004 black Ford Focus ZX3. Check it:

Labels: autocross, Breakfast, disease

- George Costanza (based on Larry David played by Jason Alexander)

I hoped everyone enjoyed Seth's Harrowing Tales of Adventure this weekend. I have decided to take Li's tribute down on the 1 month anniversary of her passing. My 3 year blogiversary, or blogday if you prefer, is this weekend on July 13th or 14th depending on when you feel a blog starts: first post or first real post.

We're having a small tuberculosis scare in the department. Apparently an Indian student went home and caught TB. He came back, was treated and now we're in the process of basically testing everyone for TB. I tried to explain to them that my test was going to come back positive because my last one came back positive. I had been exposed to someone with TB so I'm carrying around a few anti-bodies. I guess living in a 3rd world country does have its disadvantages. I told them that I needed a chest x-ray and they asked how big my previous test was (huh?) and if I took any medicine (beats me, I remember taking something but not what it was for), they didn't appreciate my answers so they stuck me anyway. Isn't that the point of medical records so the patients who have no training don't have to remember everything?

Moral of the story is I'm a TB carrier and need to skip the TB skin test (PPD in doctorspeak) and go straight to the chest x-ray or film. The radiologist should have their final report ready Wed. so presumably I'll have to go back and they'll tell me what the verdict and plan of action is. I just hope I don't have to take a pill everyday for the next 6 months to reduce my chances of getting TB by 4.5%.

Labels: disease