Sullied governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich stunned everyone yet again with his bleeping hubris when he appointed former state office holder, 71-year old Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate, to replace President-Elect, Barack Obama. Illinois's Senior senator, Dick Durbin suggested that in spite of Burris's fine record of public service and seeming lack of any connection to Blagojevich's ever-deepening scandal, the Senate has said it won't seat a Blagojevich appointment and it means to stand by that promise. Whether or not this is constitutional remains to be seen, as such a thing (refusal to seat a clean, qualified appointment by a sitting governor) has never happened in the history of the U.S. Senate as far as anyone who knows these sorts of things knows.
Al Franken is ahead by 50 votes in Minnesota sentate race with 1347 mistakenly uncounted absentee ballots to go. Most think they will increase Franken's lead and that he will win. But his opponent, incumbent Senator Norm Coleman says he will take Franken to court if that happens.
Here's something we'll miss about 2008. 2009 promises no more Viagra pens. That's right, folks, the ubiquitous trademarked prescription pad, pen, wall calendar, paper cup, tongue depressor, bandage, you-name-it, will go the way of the buffalo after January first, when a voluntary code drawn up by Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America bans such gifts from drug representatives to doctors. Though the industry says the new code is not an admission of swaying doctor's prescribing choices, critics disagree and cry foul, pointing out that the code does not ban things like free meals. But that seems fair enough to us, since now, doctors will not have any pens with which to sign the checks at restaurants.
Meanwhile, vitamin supplements take a hit in a new study that shows anti-oxidant supplements don't have the same anti-cancer protective effects as a healthy diet of anti-oxidant-rich fruits and vegetables. The bad news? Such pills have absolutely no anti-cancer effect at all but may in fact cause some health problems taken in high doses. The good news? You can cross "vitamin C, E and beta-carotein" off your shopping list and save $30 a month--which you can spend on enough organic produce to fill your shopping cart. Just don't ask us how to get that produce into junior's tummy.
Finally, here's a public service announcement to assist you in your New Year's Eve event scheduling. To keep Greenwich Mean Time as accurate as possible, a "leap second" will be added to the day today, making 31 December 2008 24 hours and one second long. Atomic time advocates say this extra second is messy and inaccurate, whereas atomic time is perfect. GMT advocates say keeping natural associations between human life and the clock is more important than accuracy. The extra second added every so often keeps noon at, well, noon--the time of day when the sun is highest in the sky--according to them. If we switched to atomic time, apparently noon would happen around 1 pm in a few generations, creating pandemonium, no doubt. Whatever side of the debate you fall on (we're certain you're "leaping" to take sides) enjoy your extra second standing in the cold in Times Square, folks.
