As IF Times

link Canada warns not to buy fresh semen online.

As we all know, Amazon started this whole process years ago when they pioneered the idea of buying things online, initially books.  Buying books seems so quaint these days as the availability of buying things online has exploded to include, well,  everything.  That’s just new stuff.  If you really want to plumb the depths of what people will buy online, you’d have to check Ebay or perhaps Craig’s list. The world has become a gigantic garage sale accessible from your computer chair.  Just by doing a quick search, we can find such treasures as canned silkworms, belly button fluff and hair clippings from celebrities.  You can go the other way and buy army surplus tanks.

But Semen?

Really?  Assuming that people would want it for its intended use, why would anyone want to procreate a human being via semen bought through the Internet?  How difficult would it be to get local, fresh product? Can someone really be that ugly that they can only get insemination by mail?  Most people won’t eat day old fish, but flash frozen man juice is ok?

The proliferation of web based stores has forced many retail stores to adjust to the new cost reality since web based ones don’t require the quantity of staff found in real brick and mortar shops.  But this has taken the concept of cutting out the middle man too far…literally.  It’s easy to project where this is all going.  Obviously it’s a long term plan to get rid of men.  Makes sense.  Society has been harping on the uselessness of men for much of the past 30 years.  They smell, they drink copiously, they leave messes wherever they go, they’re insensitive to women’s needs, etc etc.  Popular culture has even played down the idea of masculine men since the modern ideals are Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and other girly-men.  Clearly, it would be easier to extract all the product from these types and do away with the rest of pesky men.

The only problem is, who will kill the spiders?

link http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/205126/20110828/global-warming-climate-change-fears-concern-decline-developed-nations-rise-developing-nations-poll-s.htm

This is what happens when you spend too much time watching the adventures of Snookie and The Situation; you lose track of the  things that are really important to other citizens of the world.  According to this article, the consciousness of global warming remains high on the minds of people in less developed countries despite a slight decline over the past few years.  Apparently in places like Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and Singapore, citizens collectively fret about their carbon footprints on their daily commutes to their workplaces.  It remains the hot topic of cocktail conversations and that awareness is woven into every aspect of daily life.

Just the other day, while sitting in a bar, my friend pointed to an attractive gal across the room and mused, ” I wonder what her views are on sustainability of our fragile ecosystem”.  No doubt this scenario plays out hundreds of thousands of times every day in the world as people push aside their more pedestrian worries of mortgages, the quest for perfect abs and the best chai latte.  To be sure, this only happens in the enlightened enclaves of the world, or those that get CNN.  In other parts of the far flung planet, there are countless millions still living in ignorance of the impending catastrophe that’s looming just over the horizon.  They are still blissfully unaware of this and continue to pursue nonsensical things such as looking for food and staying alive.

This is perhaps a bit unfair, since many have been practising ‘earth friendly’ lifestyles long before Al Gore brought earth awareness to our collective consciousness.  In the Amazonian rain-forest for example, the residents there have eschewed modern frivolities such as True Religion Jeans or Columbia goretex sportswear, instead relying on the tried and true, environmentally friendly, loincloth.  Rather than waste money on things such as guns and bullets, their hunting and warfare is conducted using the eco-friendly blow tube.  This is much more sensible since any conflicts between tribes is considerably less bloody, less noisy and with almost no cases of misfiring weapons.

In China, to avoid the profligate use of resources observed in the west, it is common to see generations of families thoughtfully living in one simple house of only a few hundred square feet to reduce their carbon footprint.   Eschewing the family SUV, there is instead the family bicycle.  This is somewhat inconvenient when dropping the kids off at school, but they get used to it.  Their consumer habits are much more eco friendly as well.  For example, instead of owning iPads which consume electricity, they prefer to just go down to the community bulletin board where they can keep up on the Kardashians.   It’s not all perfect of course.  While their diet consists mainly of grains and vegetables, they do eat the occasional bear.  When chastised about this, the Chinese respond, ” If we aren’t supposed to eat them, why are they so delicious?”  Oh well, enlightenment will come eventually.