Author: Richard

“The brain of an addicted smoker treats nicotine as if it is essential for survival.”

The summary: The brain of an addicted smoker treats nicotine as if it is essential for survival. Genetic traits may predispose some smokers to stronger addiction. Most smokers try to quit unaided, resulting in a high failure rate.

If you smoke, no one needs to tell you how bad it is. So why haven’t you quit? Why hasn’t everyone?

Because smoking feels good. It stimulates and focuses the mind at the same time that it soothes and satisfies. The concentrated dose of nicotine in a drag off a cigarette triggers an immediate flood of dopamine and other neurochemicals that wash over the brain’s pleasure centers. Inhaling tobacco smoke is the quickest, most efficient way to get nicotine to the brain.

“I completely understand why you wouldn’t want to give it up,” said Dr. David Abrams, an addiction researcher at the National Institutes of Health. “It’s more difficult to get off nicotine than heroin or cocaine.”

Smoking “hijacks” the reward systems in the brain that drive you to seek food, water and sex, Dr. Abrams explained, driving you to seek nicotine with the same urgency. “Your brain thinks that this has to do with survival of the species,” he said.

Guy tries to change name to “InGod WeTrust”

Steve Kreuscher has let his status as a denizen of Zion (Illinois, that is) go to his head and has asked a judge to legally change his name to the motto that backs our money: In God We Trust.

First name, In God. Last name, We Trust. The reason, he explains and is relayed from Christianity today’s blog which itself was relaying a story from Daily Herald, is that God has been good to him, and he wants the world to know. The also reveals a few other interesting name changes from recent memory:

Santa Claus: Robert Rion of Mundelein, 1997

GoVeg.com: Karin Robertson of Virginia, 2003

Megatron: Michael Burrows of Washington, 2007

Optimus Prime: Scott Nall of Ohio, 2001

Pro-Life: Marvin Richardson of Idaho, 2008

Low Tax: Byron Looper of Tennessee, 1998

Jesus Christ: Jose Espinal of New York, 2005

Bill O’Reilly gets at least 10% more awesome with release of angry Inside Edition tape release

Ho man. I llllllllllllllllllove eeeiiiit. This might be my favorite O’Reilly video now. The only part that kinda spoils it for me is everyone lying about it because they don’t know Bill like I do. Everywhere I see this posted, its labeled as something like “O’Reilly goes berserk” or “O’Reilly loses it”. Goes berserk? eh. maybe. But “loses it”, absolutely not. One of my favorite features of angry irishman O’Reilly is that he’ll let genuine rage pour out and then turn off the hot like a faucet and go back to cold.

Check this video out dude – its skill. He’s completely pissed at whoever fucked up his teleprompter, frustrated at not being able to do the wrap up without it with only seconds before going live and then BAM – dude pulls it off perfectly, professionally and calmly. Then as soon as camera’s are off he can go back to the rage and tear off his jacket and microphone and probably crack some interns skull in the back room.

Colbert will probably have something (hopefully amusing) to say about it.

UPDATE: as expected, Colbert parodies and a remix is born.

Stephen King Shot John Lennon according to the internet

I heard some nut drop this website name on Michael Medved’s show Howard-Stern-bobba-booey style twice so I checked it out. It looks boring and lame and I didn’t have the patience for it.

Basically, it says Stephen King killed John Lennon.

If you care more than I do, you’re welcome to go to Lennon Murder Truth and summarize it for me…

Steve Lightfoot is a cool name though.

Good News: Microsoft is lobbying for cheap laptops to perform like cheap laptops

Microsoft is pressuring vendors to limit the hardware capabilities of low-cost laptops so that they don’t eat into the market for mainstream PCs running Vista.

Microsoft plans to offer PC makers steep discounts on Windows XP Home Edition to encourage them to use that OS instead of Linux on ultra low-cost PCs (ULPCs). To be eligible, however, the PC vendors that make ULPCs must limit screen sizes to 10.2 inches and hard drives to 80G bytes, and they cannot offer touch-screen PCs.

The program is outlined in confidential documents that Microsoft sent to PC makers last month, and which were obtained by IDG News Service. The goal apparently is to limit the hardware capabilities of ULPCs so that they don’t eat into the market for mainstream PCs running Windows Vista, something both Microsoft and the PC vendors would want to avoid.

Imposing the limitations solves a number of problems for the PC industry, said industry analyst Roger Kay, president of EndPoint Technologies Associates. “It allows PC makers to offer a low-cost alternative, and it prevents eroding of pricing and margins in the mainstream OS market,” he said.

Microsoft declined to comment on the documents. “We don’t speak publicly about our agreements with [PC makers],” the company said in a statement via its public relations agency.

Miley Cyrus nude in Playboy?

Likely? eh-no. Possible? meh… the offer has been extended. For a shoot to take place in three years that is of course. A countdown to Miley’s 18th birthday can be found here, which I find disturbing because she is so kiddish and non-sexual (from what I’ve seen of her anyway). The Hermione (Harry Potter) countdown was funny to me because at least the actress played a serious and mature character. Hannah Montana is way too kiddie for that kind of humor to be effective for my tastes. But anyway – about her showing her tots for a nudie magazine:

‘Playboy’ founder Hugh Hefner called 15-year-old Miley Cyrus a ‘very pretty lady’ and has floated an idea that will have the shirts at Disney and dads of teenage girls cringing – he wants Miley Cyrus to pose for Playboy.

I don’t want to over analyze the words of an 80 year old sex mag publisher, but I think it’s important to note that 15 year olds are not “ladies”. They’re older kids, and if they’re really really mature in all areas then maybe “young ladies”.

Hef had previously made the offer to not-yet-legal stars to pose, including Lindsay Lohan (who later decided to get naked for a magazine anyway and get paid much less) and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (who I’m sure will be staying clothed until their careers show a steep sign of fading). On the latter, Jack Ryan, who’s article in the Post Chronicle I’m quoting from, says:

Just before Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen turned 18, Hefner called them “every young man’s fantasy” and implored them to strip for his centerfold. Now 21, they decided to pass.

Then he uses an unfortunate word to describe miss Cyrus:

Best known to her adoring tween fans as Hannah Montana, Cyrus is a pretty 15-year-old Lolita at the moment and comes at a time when Cyrus has been fending off criticisms for her semi-naked photo shoot in Vogue magazine.

Dude.. Again: Miley Cyrus is NOT a Lolita. She’s not even a sex symbol. I’m aware that she gave a slutted up performance at an American Idol event, but come on – the rest of the time she is not in that direction. Or am I missing something huge? The term Lolita is supposed to reference a sexually matured girl 12 to 14 that preys on weak male adults for sex. I didn’t even think it was accurately applied to Amy Fisher (especially if her stories about how Joey advanced on HER first and forcefully are true), but at least she was actually doing an adult guy.

Miley Cyrus appears to be unfairly sexualized by everyone observing her when she herself has not made a deliberate attempt to go in that direction.

Fox News girl fired for telling McCain she voted for him

MediaBistro reports that  “A 24-year-old Fox News Channel production assistant was fired this morning for something she said during the red carpet arrivals at the Time 100 Gala last night.” That “something” was sucking up to Sen John McCain as he walked by. The assistant reportedly said “I voted for you in the primary, you’re going to win” which an FNC spokesperson called “journalistically unacceptable” in confirming that the girl was let go from the company.

It’s harsh to fire the poor girl under standards of proper journalism despite having such a low position, but probably had to be done even though there is literally NO way Fox News could have not gotten bashed for this. Consider every scenario:

They fire her: they’re just keeping up appearances or are being too harsh.
They don’t fire her: they don’t care about the ethics problem because they’re a propaganda machine.
The comment was to Hillary or Obama and they fire her: it was because she stepped out of the talking points of their propaganda machine.
The comment was to Hillary or Obama and they DON’T fire her: she was lying just to suck up to either candidate.

Dumb moment with no winners but worth reporting for exactly that reason as it illustrates an odd position in journalism Fox News inhabits that ironically holds it to higher standards than its cable news competitors, CNN & MSNBC.

Wendy Kaufman’s firing from Snapple still bothers me

That’s what Neil Cavouto says, but it bothers me too dammit!
Who is Wendy Kaufman? Besides a long islander who went to the High School all my neighbors went to (it was about a mile away, but I went to private school), she is the Snapple lady!

According to an interview with Fox News, Wendy was fired in March by an executive of Cadbury Schweppes, the most recent owner of the Snapple brand. This information was disclosed during an interview with Neil Cavuto, which aired on his Fox News TV show, “Your World with Neil Cavuto” on May 8, 2008. Wendy’s appearance on the show prompted the creation of many fan sites, including a Facebook group entitled “We Love You Wendy,” which can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13161379790

HISTORY OF WENDY AS THE SNAPPLE LADY:
From her Wikibio: In 1991, she began working for Snapple Beverage Corporation for her best friend’s father, Arnie Greenberg, one of the three founders of Snapple.

When Kaufman was a young child, she wrote her one and only fan letter to Greg Brady (Barry Williams), which went unanswered. So, at Snapple, when she realized how many people where trying to connect with the company, she took it upon herself to answer all the letters, since she remembered how terrible she felt when he never replied. This led to her being referred to as “The Snapple Lady”.

When it was discovered that Kaufman had been answering Snapple fan-mail in her free time (because nobody in the office wanted to do it themselves), their brand new advertising agency, Kirshenbaum & Bond, developed a campaign around her energetic personality. She appeared in television, radio, and print advertising until 1994 wherein she answered letters written to Snapple with witty responses. Kaufman’s 1990s Snapple ad trademark was to appear on camera with her head barely peeking out over the Snapple reception counter, giving the viewer the impression that she was incredibly short in stature (She is officially 5’2″). Wendy continues to get a kick out of telling people that she was the real “Head of Snapple”. She would begin each commercial by saying in a thick New York accent that she received a letter from a particular Snapple fan, who would then be included in the commercial.

Kaufman’s humorous Snapple ads were well-received, especially among members of Generation X, and she was partially responsible for a jump in Snapple’s sales from 23 million dollars a year to 750 million a year in 1995. She was let go in 1994, upon Snapple’s sale to Quaker Oats. However, when Quaker sold Snapple to Triarc brands in 1997, they reinstated Wendy as the Snapple goodwill ambassador.

Inside the process on new McDonalds menu items

Fox Business Network’s morning show Money For Breakfast gets the skinny on the fat. McDonalds is changing their menu and this chick talks to the guy responsible for the new stuff. You will learn that toasted pumpkin seeds were a failure (later replaced by tortilla chips) and it took 3 years to get a Mcgriddle from idea to sale. yeesh.

Part 2 is more casual and ‘Today Show’ type personal story of the chef and the actual food preparation for a new food product idea:

Check at the end where she explains that another idea that got shot down was having shrimp in one of the salads, and was deemed impossible because McDonalds would then wipe out the shrimp market across the world (or don’t cuz I just told you).