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Seriously? Ben & Jerry’s Breast Ice Cream Ever? Ugh I hate PETA, I need to go eat a bunch of veal and other tasty mis-treated animals…

From Yahoo News:

Mama’s milk ice cream cone, anyone?

By JOHN CURRAN, Associated Press Writer Thu Sep 25, 8:04 PM ET

WATERBURY, Vt. – Mooove over, Holsteins. PETA wants world-famous Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream to tap nursing moms, rather than cows, for the milk used in its ice cream.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is asking the ice cream maker to begin using breast milk in its products instead of cow’s milk, saying it would reduce the suffering of cows and calves and give ice cream lovers a healthier product.

The idea got a cool reception Thursday from Ben & Jerry’s officials, the company’s customers and even La Leche League International, the world’s oldest breast-feeding support organization, which promotes the practice — for babies, anyway.

PETA wrote a letter to company founders Ben Cohen and telling them cow’s milk is hazardous and that milking them is cruel.

“If Ben and Jerry’s replaced the cow’s milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers — and cows — would reap the benefits,” wrote Tracy Reiman, executive vice president of the animal rights advocacy group. She said dairy products have been linked to juvenile diabetes, allergies and obesity.

Ashley Byrne, a campaign coordinator for PETA, acknowledged the implausibility of substituting breast milk for cow’s milk, but said it’s no stranger than humans consuming the milk of another species.

“We’re aware this idea is somewhat absurd, and that putting it into practice is a stretch. At the time same, it’s pretty absurd for us to be drinking the milk of cows,” she said.

It takes about 12 pounds — or 1 1/2 gallons of milk — to make a gallon of ice cream. Ben & Jerry’s, which gets its milk exclusively from Vermont cows, won’t say how much milk it uses or how much ice cream it sells.

As a standardized product under federal regulations, ice cream must be made with milk from healthy cows. Ice cream made from goat’s milk, for example, would have to be labeled as such.

Presumably, so would mother’s milk ice cream.

To Ben & Jerry’s, the idea is udderly ridiculous.

“We applaud PETA’s novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother’s milk is best used for her child,” spokesman Sean Greenwood said in an e-mail. He didn’t respond to requests for an interview.

Leon Berthiaume, general manager of the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery, which provides milk products to Ben & Jerry’s, called the dairy products “among the safest in the world.”

“Milk from cows has long-term health benefits and has been proven to be safe and healthy and an important part of the American diet for generations, ” he said. “I’m not ready to make that change.”

Cow’s milk and mother’s milk aren’t interchangeable, according to La Leche spokeswoman Jane Crouse, who says breast milk is a dynamic substance that’s different with each woman and each child and might have difficulty being processed into ice cream.

Then there’s the question of who would provide the milk, and whether they’d be paid.

“Some women feel compelled to donate milk to a milk bank for adopted babies, or for someone who’s ill or unable to breast feed. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence about sisters who nurse each others’ babies. There’s a population of women very willing to share their milk. Whether there’s enough to do it for a commercial entity, who can say?” she said.

At the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury, consumers gave a collective “Eww” to the idea Thursday.

“It’s kind of creepy,” said Jeff Waugh, 42, of Dayton, Ohio.

“I think it’s a little nutty,” said the Rev. Roger Wooton, 83, of Malden, Mass., finishing up a cup of Heath Bar Crunch.

“How would they get all that milk?” said his wife, Jane Wooton, 77.

Jen Wahlbrink, 34, of Phoenix, who breast-fed her 11-month-old son, Cameron, said she wouldn’t touch ice cream made from mother’s milk. She remembers her nursing days — and not that fondly.

“The (breast) pumps just weren’t that much fun. You really do feel like a cow,” she said, cradling her son in her hands.

 Are you a geek or a nerd? 

If you are reading my blog, there is a good chance that you are one or the other. Many people use the terms interchangeably, but there is a difference. It is also possible to be a bit of both, but most people with really fall under the category of geek, nerd, or neither. Both entail some similar qualities, generally being intelligent people who don’t fit in with society very well. So what’s the difference?

Geek – A geek is a person who has chosen to specialize their knowledge into one or more areas where they become an expert. They chose these specialties and show this knowledge out of their own interests and with little thought to the social “normalcy” of it. Geeks often find similar minded people to share their knowledge with. These cliques can bring knowledge to a ridiculously high level. The level of knowledge is seen by many to be useless and trivial but will increase the “geek-cred”

A geek will normally have one or more subjects that they chose to be passionate about. If these topics are brought up, the geek will have a very difficult time not joining in to discuss, and will often correct others with lesser knowledge. The geek takes pride in their knowledge, and will not fail to show it off.

Examples: Trekies, fan-boys, sports-fanatics

Nerd – A Nerd is somebody who is extremely intelligent but lacks normal social aptitude.  They will focus so much on their expertise as to lose touch with normalcy. This is not done by choice. Nerds often fail to understand why they are not normal, or why their unusual habits or expertise are not normal.

The typical image of a nerd is a person with glasses that have been repaired with a large amount of tape. To the nerd, this seems perfectly ok, the glasses still function, and that’s what they are they’re for. Many people chose to not wear glasses because of their inherent nerdiness, but even to those who do wear glasses, it is clear that they make a statement about you, and that form must also be considered with function in terms of repairs and such

Examples: Nutty Professor,
For the most part you are born a geek or a nerd, but geeks often understand how to act normal, while nerds do not. Although both groups tend to know that they are smarter than the average bear.  It’s also interesting to note that while part or the population does not think that there is a difference between a nerd and a geek, many others are convinced one is better than the other. However, the key to both nerd and geeks is that they do not fit in socially very well. The difference is that nerds were born that way, and geeks chose to be that way. So which is really better?

It’s also important to note that while geek and nerd can, and should be, complimentary terms, the similar term, dork, is always insulting.

So which, you might ask, am I? I believe that most people who have witnessed my automotive or Simpsons knowledge, both of which are passions of mine, will see that I’ve chosen my path of social il-normalcy, which would make me a geek. Although I would say that I’m a geek with nerd tendencies.

References:
Geek vs Nerd on http://web.vee.net/stuff/geek-vs-nerd.html
Jargon File: Geek or Nerd
GeekVsNerd.org

I was recently sent a link to a blog entry about Thomas Kinkade, the “artist”, on the matresspolice blog that I thought was quite humorous. This helps sum up why Thomas Kinkade is evil, why he is a scourge to society, and why I just don’t like him or his business.

I’ve never been a fan of Kinkade’s style, and his stores and the prices he charges for prints and such is just sickening. I cannot imagine how many people out there have Kinkade prints that they bought for thousands of dollars thinking it was an investment in fine art that will be shocked to find that they aren’t really that valuable. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, but the mass production of his prints means there will never be a shortage of them on the market.

If you are paying a thousand plus dollars for a painting, shouldn’t you get a painting? By the artist? Not at a Thomas Kinkade gallery. There you get a print, with a few strokes of real paint through on top by people that aren’t Thomas Kinkade. Pathetic. Of course, there are people out there with original paintings by him, and as popular as his work is, these could remain valuable for quite some time.

For those interested in what such an evil genius, and by that I mean he is artistically evil, and a business genius, this is the man that has ruined malls everywhere with “galleries” of “art”:

The original blog post, that I greatly encourage you to read is here.

I love a good conspiracy theory. They can be thought provocing and hilarious at the same time. howstuffworks.com recently published and article on the top ten space related conspiracy theories. Anybody who saw the movie Sneakers probably can guess the number one theory, that the moon landing was faked, but my favorite is the Flat World Society that existed until 2001 insisting that the world was, in fact flat, and everybody that disagreed was a part of the conspiracy to cover up this fact. Fiction is rarely funnier!

Here is a link to the short, but entertaining article:

HowStuffWorks “Top 10 Space Conspiracy Theories” 

If you have any links to good conspiracy sites, or know of good books or magazines on the subject, please post them in the comments so that we can all enjoy a good theory or two.

I recently received a link to this blog entry of a friend of a friend. It involves some fun with a large printer and airports. It is definitely one of the funniest pranks I’ve seen recently, and I congratulate Bill on his humor and bravery in pulling this off so successfully!

http://bbryson.com/bill/have-you-ever-printed-a-boarding-pass/

For other shenanigans like this, feel free to check out these sites:

http://www.cockeyed.com/

http://www.improveverywhere.com/

I tried to get a group together in the Twin Cities related to Improv Everywhere, but couldn’t find somebody to lead it or the time or energy to lead it myself. Oh Well, I’ll just have to enjoy the acts of others.