Monday, January 31, 2011
You Said A Mouthful
Bad news for the fellas who are good to reciprocate a little oral pleasure for their lady friends: the human papillomavirus (HPV) many women are prone adds an increased risk of a kind of oral cancer often seen in men. Great, first we can count on asshole cancer, now we get it in the mouth?
The New England Journal of Medicine showed that men and women who reported having six or more oral-sex partners during their lifetime had a nearly ninefold increased risk of developing cancer of the tonsils or at the base of the tongue.
(thinks hard, counts on fingers)
Shit!
Of the 300 study participants, those infected with HPV were also 32 times more likely to develop this type of oral cancer than those who did not have the virus. Of the 120 HPV strains isolated from humans (about 40 of which are in the mouth and genital tracts), only four are protected against by the recently approved vaccine, Gardasil: HPV-6 and HPV-11, which cause warts; and HPV-16 and HPV-18, which cause about 70% of cervical cancers.
In the study, HPV-16 was present in 72 of the 100 cancer patients and of the 12,000 - 15,000 new cases of oropharyngeal cancer diagnosed each year, about 25% die from it. One researcher said, "When you look at the cancers associated with HPV in men — including penile cancer, anal squamous cell carcinoma, oral cancers — it's very close to the number of cases of cervical cancer that occur in the U.S. in women every year. We need to adjust the public's perception that only women are at risk."
Ladies, get your vaccines (even though studies say it only 17% effective against cancer precursors overall)! I guess I'll be masturbating safely in the other room until the fear tapers off.
The New England Journal of Medicine showed that men and women who reported having six or more oral-sex partners during their lifetime had a nearly ninefold increased risk of developing cancer of the tonsils or at the base of the tongue.
(thinks hard, counts on fingers)
Shit!
Of the 300 study participants, those infected with HPV were also 32 times more likely to develop this type of oral cancer than those who did not have the virus. Of the 120 HPV strains isolated from humans (about 40 of which are in the mouth and genital tracts), only four are protected against by the recently approved vaccine, Gardasil: HPV-6 and HPV-11, which cause warts; and HPV-16 and HPV-18, which cause about 70% of cervical cancers.
In the study, HPV-16 was present in 72 of the 100 cancer patients and of the 12,000 - 15,000 new cases of oropharyngeal cancer diagnosed each year, about 25% die from it. One researcher said, "When you look at the cancers associated with HPV in men — including penile cancer, anal squamous cell carcinoma, oral cancers — it's very close to the number of cases of cervical cancer that occur in the U.S. in women every year. We need to adjust the public's perception that only women are at risk."
Ladies, get your vaccines (even though studies say it only 17% effective against cancer precursors overall)! I guess I'll be masturbating safely in the other room until the fear tapers off.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Self-Distortrait
adderall / PCP
cocaine / ritalin
absinthe / nitrous
ambien / pot brownies
cough syrup / xanax
marijuana / mushroomsBut Is There A Gordon Freeman Cameo?
Now you can't say there are no short films based in the Half-Life world...
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wizardly Focus Pocus
For twenty years, Wizard Magazine has been the lexicon of all things comic-related. But like all things in print these days, it's going digital.
Both Wizard and its sister-publication ToyFare are ceasing to produce print versions any longer. Beginning in February, they will begin production of the online publication “Wizard World”. Since when has a blog been a publication? Oh my God, I'm an online publisher!
For the past several years, Wizard has slowly been shrinking its staff down and replacing longtime writers with freelancers. "We feel this will allow us to reach an even wider audience in a format that is increasingly popular and more readily accessible," they said. The interweb farther reaching than print? Even the comic nerds figured it out!
But as far as being noteworthy, it ends an era where your geek culture and fanboy news was analog. Before ubiquitous YouTube trailer postings and blog pages, there was almost no way to get the skinny on all that stuff or as concisely. The speed of info these days makes their monthly print version obsolete, but for a time, they were the first- and the best at it.
Both Wizard and its sister-publication ToyFare are ceasing to produce print versions any longer. Beginning in February, they will begin production of the online publication “Wizard World”. Since when has a blog been a publication? Oh my God, I'm an online publisher!
For the past several years, Wizard has slowly been shrinking its staff down and replacing longtime writers with freelancers. "We feel this will allow us to reach an even wider audience in a format that is increasingly popular and more readily accessible," they said. The interweb farther reaching than print? Even the comic nerds figured it out!
But as far as being noteworthy, it ends an era where your geek culture and fanboy news was analog. Before ubiquitous YouTube trailer postings and blog pages, there was almost no way to get the skinny on all that stuff or as concisely. The speed of info these days makes their monthly print version obsolete, but for a time, they were the first- and the best at it.
Popping Koons
No artist represents talentless hack more then Jeff Koons, so to see him get bitchslapped is a treat.
Koons own style (which also made him a lot of money), which is basically appropriating pop-culture imagery and mass-produced objects, has stretched into a thirty year career. And in that time, he's been sued for copyright violation and appropriating other's images four times, losing three of the cases. Trying to give other a taste of his own medicine, Koons recently went after a gallery and bookend manufacturer who he claimed violated his intellectual property rights. His 10-foot-tall “Balloon Dog” sculpture has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Versailles, and made him think he is the only person ever to come up with the concept.
Last December, a lawyer for Koons sent cease-and-desist letters to Park Life, a San Francisco gallery and store that sells the bookends, and Imm-Living, a Toronto company that manufactures them. Since the dispute was reported, there's been no shortage of folks mocking Koons attempting to claim the rights to all balloon dogs. And the legal opinion in filed briefs didn't shape up much better for the artist: “As virtually any clown can attest, no one owns the idea of making a balloon dog, and the shape created by twisting a balloon into a dog-like form is part of the public domain”.
Koons has of late dropped his legal action against the sale of its balloon dog-shaped bookends. "Jeff Koons and I signed the papers today," said Park Life co-owner Jamie Alexander. "We can sell the balloon dog bookends. The only thing that they wanted to concede is that we couldn't advertise them as being related to Jeff Koons, which we never did." Alexander noted that the store did not agree to a confidentiality agreement about their resolution. "This is a victory for the little guy standing up to a bully. Also, it's about the absurdity of the art world."
Summary judgement? Koons is an asshole!
Koons own style (which also made him a lot of money), which is basically appropriating pop-culture imagery and mass-produced objects, has stretched into a thirty year career. And in that time, he's been sued for copyright violation and appropriating other's images four times, losing three of the cases. Trying to give other a taste of his own medicine, Koons recently went after a gallery and bookend manufacturer who he claimed violated his intellectual property rights. His 10-foot-tall “Balloon Dog” sculpture has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Versailles, and made him think he is the only person ever to come up with the concept.
Last December, a lawyer for Koons sent cease-and-desist letters to Park Life, a San Francisco gallery and store that sells the bookends, and Imm-Living, a Toronto company that manufactures them. Since the dispute was reported, there's been no shortage of folks mocking Koons attempting to claim the rights to all balloon dogs. And the legal opinion in filed briefs didn't shape up much better for the artist: “As virtually any clown can attest, no one owns the idea of making a balloon dog, and the shape created by twisting a balloon into a dog-like form is part of the public domain”.
Koons has of late dropped his legal action against the sale of its balloon dog-shaped bookends. "Jeff Koons and I signed the papers today," said Park Life co-owner Jamie Alexander. "We can sell the balloon dog bookends. The only thing that they wanted to concede is that we couldn't advertise them as being related to Jeff Koons, which we never did." Alexander noted that the store did not agree to a confidentiality agreement about their resolution. "This is a victory for the little guy standing up to a bully. Also, it's about the absurdity of the art world."
Summary judgement? Koons is an asshole!
Enthiran
Bollywood has gone berserk with their version of The Terminator...and about a dozen other sci-fi / action films
In Enthiran (Robot), Dr. Vaseegaran builds a lookalike robot, Chitti Babu, that eventually falls in love with the doctor's girlfriend Sana before getting reprogrammed to become an evil killing machine by Vaseegaran's nemesis Dr. Bohra. Chitti builds replicas of his robotic body and attempts to kill the doctor - and everybody else...
Its like Michael Bay and James Cameron gangbanged a John Woo film.
In Enthiran (Robot), Dr. Vaseegaran builds a lookalike robot, Chitti Babu, that eventually falls in love with the doctor's girlfriend Sana before getting reprogrammed to become an evil killing machine by Vaseegaran's nemesis Dr. Bohra. Chitti builds replicas of his robotic body and attempts to kill the doctor - and everybody else...
Its like Michael Bay and James Cameron gangbanged a John Woo film.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Where's The Beef
Running for the border has turned into running for a lawyer.
A false-advertising lawsuit alleges the meat mixture used by Taco Bell has binders and extenders and does not meet federal requirements to be labeled beef. In the briefs filed, the filling tested was alleged to have contained 35% beef - though it did not say who tested the meat or give any other specifics of the analysis. Taco Bell says the filling contains 88% USDA-inspected beef and the rest is water, spices and a mixture of oats, starch and other ingredients that contribute to what it calls the "quality of its product." The company said it uses no extenders to add volume to the filling.
The lawsuit seeks to make the company stop calling it "beef"...and pay the suing law firm's bill (ka-ching! the payoff!). To win, the plaintiffs would have to prove that most diners believe they are getting something other than what Taco Bell serves, though most customers realize taco meat has ingredients besides beef.
Additionally, the lawsuit cites U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines for labeling ground beef...but the guidelines don't apply to restaurants. The USDA's rules apply to meat processors — the companies Taco Bell buys its meat from. Tyson Foods Inc., the company's largest meat supplier, said it mixes and cooks the meat at three USDA-inspected plants.
Fast food often contains additives, like "isolated oat product", which is used to help processed meat hang onto moisture and flavor. Companies like McDonald's use them too, and can still says its hamburgers are all beef...but plus additives and preservatives (similar ingredients are used in many processed foods sold in stores).
Taco Bell is on the back foot now to support their beef claims, and will have to respond with a whole lot of PR and spin, but presuming customers even care if its meat or meat-like is as relevant as them wanting Mexican or Mexican-ish food.
A false-advertising lawsuit alleges the meat mixture used by Taco Bell has binders and extenders and does not meet federal requirements to be labeled beef. In the briefs filed, the filling tested was alleged to have contained 35% beef - though it did not say who tested the meat or give any other specifics of the analysis. Taco Bell says the filling contains 88% USDA-inspected beef and the rest is water, spices and a mixture of oats, starch and other ingredients that contribute to what it calls the "quality of its product." The company said it uses no extenders to add volume to the filling.
The lawsuit seeks to make the company stop calling it "beef"...and pay the suing law firm's bill (ka-ching! the payoff!). To win, the plaintiffs would have to prove that most diners believe they are getting something other than what Taco Bell serves, though most customers realize taco meat has ingredients besides beef.
Additionally, the lawsuit cites U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines for labeling ground beef...but the guidelines don't apply to restaurants. The USDA's rules apply to meat processors — the companies Taco Bell buys its meat from. Tyson Foods Inc., the company's largest meat supplier, said it mixes and cooks the meat at three USDA-inspected plants.
Fast food often contains additives, like "isolated oat product", which is used to help processed meat hang onto moisture and flavor. Companies like McDonald's use them too, and can still says its hamburgers are all beef...but plus additives and preservatives (similar ingredients are used in many processed foods sold in stores).
Taco Bell is on the back foot now to support their beef claims, and will have to respond with a whole lot of PR and spin, but presuming customers even care if its meat or meat-like is as relevant as them wanting Mexican or Mexican-ish food.
Tub Of Illegality
"When Neil Brown got high on dangerous chemicals, he took his skinning knife and slit his face and stomach repeatedly. Brown survived, but authorities say others haven't been so lucky after snorting, injecting or smoking powders with such innocuous-sounding names as Ivory Wave, Red Dove and Vanilla Sky." Yes, the new drug menace is aromatic bath salts. Are you fucking kidding?Some say the effects of the powders are as powerful as abusing methamphetamines, and authorities talk of banning their sale! How will secretaries relax after a hard day of work? Emergency calls are being reported for over-exposure to stimulants the powders often contain: mephedrone and methylenedioxypyrovalerone, aka MDPV. They can cause hallucinations, paranoia, rapid heart rates and suicidal thoughts, which, coincidentally I look forward to in a dunk in a nice warm tub.
Mississippi lawmakers this week began considering a proposal to ban the sale of the powders, and a similar step is being sought in Kentucky. In Louisiana, bath salts were already outlawed by an emergency order after the state's poison center received more than 125 calls in the last quarter of 2010 involving exposure to the chemicals. There are all kinds of horror stories about bath salts, like this tale of a doctor's son: Dr. Richard Sanders said his son, Dickie, snorted some of the chemicals and endured three days of intermittent delirium. Dickie Sanders missed major arteries when he cut his throat. As he continued to have visions, his father tried to calm him, but the elder Sanders said that as he slept, his son went into another room and shot himself. Sanders warns the substances are far more dangerous than some of their brand names imply. Yeah...if you snort, smoke or inject them rather than let them dissolve in water that you soak in.
Its always the dumb motherfuckers who use things wrong that ruin it for everybody else. Let's make cars illegal because some people get killed when others drive recklessly. That's not what they're supposed to be used for, but we need to take things away from people for their own safety. Correction - things need to be taken away from you and I because other morons can't used them properly. I hope every idiot who gets high on bath salts kills themselves.
Its always the dumb motherfuckers who use things wrong that ruin it for everybody else. Let's make cars illegal because some people get killed when others drive recklessly. That's not what they're supposed to be used for, but we need to take things away from people for their own safety. Correction - things need to be taken away from you and I because other morons can't used them properly. I hope every idiot who gets high on bath salts kills themselves.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Git 'Er Done Presidency
Ol' Dubya was disregarding legal and moral guidelines long before he got to the White House, so once he was there it was almost second nature.
From starting wars under false pretexts and redefining torture when it suited the end results, perhaps the worst abuse was during the run-up to the 2006 midterm election where Republicans lost control of the House. During that time, the Bush administration repeatedly broke the law by using federal funds to send Cabinet secretaries and other high-level political appointees to congressional districts of GOP candidates in tight races.
How'd he do it? "Because those trips were classified as official, funds from the U.S. Treasury were used to finance the trips and reimbursement from the relevant campaigns was never sought," stated the report by the Office of Special Counsel, the independent federal agency that enforces Hatch Act restrictions on partisan political activity inside the federal government. "In other cases, even when trips were correctly designated as political, agencies used U.S. Treasury funds to cover the costs associated with the trips and did not recoup those funds as required by the Hatch Act and its regulations."
OSC found that 10 agencies used federal funds to pay for political appointees to travel to events supporting Republican candidates in 2006 and were monitored closely by the White House Office of Political Affairs. That means there was White House oversight in breaking the law. Its one thing to mislead the American people to invade foreign nations for their oil, but this was a deliberate breaking of the law. The report says that aspects of OPA that came in conflict with the Hatch Act during the Bush era "have apparently existed for decades."
Unfortunately, Hatch Act violations are punishable with a maximum penalty of dismissal - and that's unavailable now that all involved have left the government. The 10 agencies that used federal funds to pay for political appointees to travel to events supporting Republican candidates in 2006 were the departments of Transportation, Interior, Housing and Urban Development, Education, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Energy, the Veterans Administration, the Small Business Administration and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
From starting wars under false pretexts and redefining torture when it suited the end results, perhaps the worst abuse was during the run-up to the 2006 midterm election where Republicans lost control of the House. During that time, the Bush administration repeatedly broke the law by using federal funds to send Cabinet secretaries and other high-level political appointees to congressional districts of GOP candidates in tight races.
How'd he do it? "Because those trips were classified as official, funds from the U.S. Treasury were used to finance the trips and reimbursement from the relevant campaigns was never sought," stated the report by the Office of Special Counsel, the independent federal agency that enforces Hatch Act restrictions on partisan political activity inside the federal government. "In other cases, even when trips were correctly designated as political, agencies used U.S. Treasury funds to cover the costs associated with the trips and did not recoup those funds as required by the Hatch Act and its regulations."
OSC found that 10 agencies used federal funds to pay for political appointees to travel to events supporting Republican candidates in 2006 and were monitored closely by the White House Office of Political Affairs. That means there was White House oversight in breaking the law. Its one thing to mislead the American people to invade foreign nations for their oil, but this was a deliberate breaking of the law. The report says that aspects of OPA that came in conflict with the Hatch Act during the Bush era "have apparently existed for decades."
Unfortunately, Hatch Act violations are punishable with a maximum penalty of dismissal - and that's unavailable now that all involved have left the government. The 10 agencies that used federal funds to pay for political appointees to travel to events supporting Republican candidates in 2006 were the departments of Transportation, Interior, Housing and Urban Development, Education, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Energy, the Veterans Administration, the Small Business Administration and the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Sounds Like Somebody Better Not Watch That Jim Carrey Movie Again
Jason Mraz is not only a pretentious pop musician, but utterly nauseating with his super-cutesy, over-sweetened shtick. On his blog, Freshness Factor Five Thousand (vomit), which is filled with ball-less, wannabe charm and horribly cliché tweets ("Friendship. It's a life boat" and "Change is gonna come - but probably not from the vending machine.") that should earn him endless hours of beating, he explained his hard on for the number 23 and how it has played a significant role in his life...and I'm sharing that with you because every faux-entertainment website and blog has been spreading the details as if it was important or heartwarming.
Here are all the parallels to 23 in Jason’s life:
• He was born on June 23rd
• His best friend born on July 23rd
• They both got a tattoo “23″ on his brithday at The Chelsea, a hotel on 23rd street
• He always plays 23 in Vegas (which means he plays roulette, which is a game for pussies)
• Fiancee Tristan Prettyman born on May 23rd
• Mraz met Tristan on September 23rd
• He lives 23 miles away from Tristan (I don't believe that)
• Tristan has a “23″ tattoo
• Bought Tristan’s engagement ring on November 23rd
• He proposed to Tristan on the 23rd hour of December 23rd
• The engagement ring has 46 stones (23 for each of them) and weighs 2.3 carats
• Tristan Ann Prettyman-Mraz has 23 letters!
• Mr. And Mrs. Jason Thomas Mraz has 23 letters!
• Go Fuck Yourself You Douche has 23 letters!
I hear shit like this and I get angry at how fluffy and pointless celebrity stories are...and how useless the info - if you can call it that, is.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Loveless
What does rejection look like? Ask the women booted off The Bachelor. This is Faces Of Rejected Bachelorettes.
Dead And Still In Better Shape Than You
Exercise guru and fitness fanatic Jack LaLanne died at 96 yesterday from respiratory failure due to pneumonia. He later did 6000 sit ups.
Lalanne, who had heart valve surgery in 2009, recently that "I can't afford to die. It would wreck my image." He credited a sudden interest in fitness with transforming his life as a teen, and built an empire over the next eight decades as a result. "The only way you can hurt the body is not use it," LaLanne said. "Inactivity is the killer and, remember, it's never too late."
His workout program ran from the 1950s to the '70s. He also founded a chain of fitness studios that bore his name, much like his raw fruit and vegetable juicer. When he turned 43 in 1957, he performed more than 1,000 push-ups in 23 minutes on the TV show "You Asked For It". At 60, he swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco — handcuffed, shackled and towing a boat. He performed a similar feat in Long Beach harbor a decade later.
LaLanne was born in 1914 and was a self proclaimed sugar addict, but the turning point occurred when he heard a lecture by pioneering nutritionist Paul Bragg, who advocated the benefits of brown rice, whole wheat and a vegetarian diet. Soon after, he changed his diet and constructed a makeshift gym in his back yard, testing exercises and routines on local firemen and police who worked out there. He said his own daily routine usually consisted of two hours of weightlifting and an hour in the swimming pool.
"It's a lifestyle, it's something you do the rest of your life," LaLanne said. "How long are you going to keep breathing? How long do you keep eating? You just do it."
Lalanne, who had heart valve surgery in 2009, recently that "I can't afford to die. It would wreck my image." He credited a sudden interest in fitness with transforming his life as a teen, and built an empire over the next eight decades as a result. "The only way you can hurt the body is not use it," LaLanne said. "Inactivity is the killer and, remember, it's never too late."
His workout program ran from the 1950s to the '70s. He also founded a chain of fitness studios that bore his name, much like his raw fruit and vegetable juicer. When he turned 43 in 1957, he performed more than 1,000 push-ups in 23 minutes on the TV show "You Asked For It". At 60, he swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco — handcuffed, shackled and towing a boat. He performed a similar feat in Long Beach harbor a decade later.
LaLanne was born in 1914 and was a self proclaimed sugar addict, but the turning point occurred when he heard a lecture by pioneering nutritionist Paul Bragg, who advocated the benefits of brown rice, whole wheat and a vegetarian diet. Soon after, he changed his diet and constructed a makeshift gym in his back yard, testing exercises and routines on local firemen and police who worked out there. He said his own daily routine usually consisted of two hours of weightlifting and an hour in the swimming pool.
"It's a lifestyle, it's something you do the rest of your life," LaLanne said. "How long are you going to keep breathing? How long do you keep eating? You just do it."
Friday, January 21, 2011
Big Love On The Run
The polygamous Utah family whose "Sister Wives" reality TV show turned into a criminal bigamy investigation, has moved out of state. Moved, or trying to outrun the long arm of the law?
According to his attorney, Kody Brown moved his "family" of four "wives" - Meri, Janelle, Christine and newest family member Robyn, plus 16 kids to Nevada in order to "pursue new opportunities". If you want a new opportunity, ditch cheaper-by-the-dozen and start a new single life. Brown is only legally married to Meri, with whom he has one child, but has multiple children with two of the other three women; Janelle, bore him six children (ages 5 to 15) and Christine turned out five (ages 6 to 14, with one on the way). What the allure is to pursue Robyn (who already has three children) is anyone's guess.
Even in the Latter Day haven of Utah, bigamy is a third-degree felony in Utah. Under current law, a person can be found guilty of bigamy through cohabitation, not just legal marriage contracts, though no charges have been filed...yet. If everything completely goes to shit, we're looking at Waco part 2, but more likely, it will just some very pissed off neighbors who don't like the house next door turned into a dormitory. I'm just shocked that it's an actual show and that it's been renewed for a second season. If there is one boon, at least Colorado will be getting a whole new batch of organ donors.
According to his attorney, Kody Brown moved his "family" of four "wives" - Meri, Janelle, Christine and newest family member Robyn, plus 16 kids to Nevada in order to "pursue new opportunities". If you want a new opportunity, ditch cheaper-by-the-dozen and start a new single life. Brown is only legally married to Meri, with whom he has one child, but has multiple children with two of the other three women; Janelle, bore him six children (ages 5 to 15) and Christine turned out five (ages 6 to 14, with one on the way). What the allure is to pursue Robyn (who already has three children) is anyone's guess.
Even in the Latter Day haven of Utah, bigamy is a third-degree felony in Utah. Under current law, a person can be found guilty of bigamy through cohabitation, not just legal marriage contracts, though no charges have been filed...yet. If everything completely goes to shit, we're looking at Waco part 2, but more likely, it will just some very pissed off neighbors who don't like the house next door turned into a dormitory. I'm just shocked that it's an actual show and that it's been renewed for a second season. If there is one boon, at least Colorado will be getting a whole new batch of organ donors.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Keep Your Laws Of My Body
Some Colorado lawmakers say their state should be the first one where people become organ donors by default. Maybe after that, they can set up automatic ballot submissions on election day.
Colorado's proposal, introduced last week, would change the process for renewing driver's licenses and ID cards so applicants are assumed to be organ and tissue donors unless they initial a statement that says they want to opt out. Forgot to check your fine print? Thanks for your gizzards!
The "presumed consent" system is common in Europe and is credited with dramatically raising donation rates, as well as safeguarding their reputation of being guardians of personal liberties. In the U.S., similar approaches have been defeated by lawmakers in Delaware, Illinois and New York. Organ donation advocates are looking to dominate Colorado, where nearly two-thirds of ID holders already volunteer as donors — a higher rate than in any other state.
One of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Daniel Pabon, said the change would simply make it easier for people already willing to donate their organs when they die. Easier? Easier than the current system where the DMV asks each applicant? Like, in case they forget thy wanted to donate their organs?
"This takes a bunch of people who otherwise might donate but just get in the DMV and don't want to stand in line, or they forget, and this makes it easier". Shit, I thought I was just being a smart ass about dumbasses who actually forget. And if a few minutes in line is enough to sway you from the gift of life, you weren't going to give it.
Applicants would see a statement that says, "You are automatically deemed to have consented to being an organ and tissue donor and this designation will appear on your driver's license or identification card". Unless they're in a rush or forget that too. Opponents of the Delaware bill called it an intrusion into people's privacy that treats organs as commodities. People against the opt-out method argue presumed consent would force someone to become a donor against their will. Others fear a medical team won't work as hard to save them if there is a greater benefit to harvesting the organs. Or maybe they'll get a government bonus for meeting a harvest quota...
Colorado's proposal, introduced last week, would change the process for renewing driver's licenses and ID cards so applicants are assumed to be organ and tissue donors unless they initial a statement that says they want to opt out. Forgot to check your fine print? Thanks for your gizzards!
The "presumed consent" system is common in Europe and is credited with dramatically raising donation rates, as well as safeguarding their reputation of being guardians of personal liberties. In the U.S., similar approaches have been defeated by lawmakers in Delaware, Illinois and New York. Organ donation advocates are looking to dominate Colorado, where nearly two-thirds of ID holders already volunteer as donors — a higher rate than in any other state.
One of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Daniel Pabon, said the change would simply make it easier for people already willing to donate their organs when they die. Easier? Easier than the current system where the DMV asks each applicant? Like, in case they forget thy wanted to donate their organs?
"This takes a bunch of people who otherwise might donate but just get in the DMV and don't want to stand in line, or they forget, and this makes it easier". Shit, I thought I was just being a smart ass about dumbasses who actually forget. And if a few minutes in line is enough to sway you from the gift of life, you weren't going to give it.
Applicants would see a statement that says, "You are automatically deemed to have consented to being an organ and tissue donor and this designation will appear on your driver's license or identification card". Unless they're in a rush or forget that too. Opponents of the Delaware bill called it an intrusion into people's privacy that treats organs as commodities. People against the opt-out method argue presumed consent would force someone to become a donor against their will. Others fear a medical team won't work as hard to save them if there is a greater benefit to harvesting the organs. Or maybe they'll get a government bonus for meeting a harvest quota...
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