The crazy lady strikes again

This AOL article details the story of former major-league relief pitcher Jeff Reardon, who was recently declared not guilty by reason of insanity after a trial on robbery charges. Apparently, Reardon robbed a jewelry store while under the influence of antidepressants and other medication. The antidepressants in particular are noted for causing such problems as hypomania. I've had that happen myself; I had to be taken off Zoloft because it caused a relapse of the hypomania associated with type 2... Sign in to see full entry.

Remind me never to get a job in a white-collar environment. This AOL article talks about ten fashion faux pas to avoid in the workplace - things like torn or ripped jeans, baggy or skin-tight clothing (either extreme is equally bad), and the like. I imagine that when readers see the words "poor-fitting clothing" in the aforementioned article, the first thing that comes to mind is hip-hop fashions - very baggy clothing. However, a fashion faux pas to which women seem particularly prone is the use... Sign in to see full entry.

The USS Minnow is for sale. For those Gen-Xers and echoboomers (my daughter is an echoboomer) among my readers who don't know what I'm talking about, this boat achieved fame as the boat that ran aground on a deserted island, setting up the premise for the television show Gilligan's Island. The man selling the USS Minnow is selling it for $99,000 in Canadian dollars, which translates into just over US$89,000 given current exchange rates. According to the AOL story I read, this particular Minnow... Sign in to see full entry.

Plans were "leaked" yesterday for a disaster-preparedness drill to be held in downtown Chicago sometime next week. This has Chicagoland commentators up in arms. One city official was quoted as saying that there has to be some "chaos" involved in the whole operation. Employees in the designated downtown areas have not been notified of just when the drill is to take place, nor will bystanders know that "it's just a drill" when it happens. City officials want people to be just as dazed, confused... Sign in to see full entry.

I don't know who first uttered the platitude I use as a title to this entry, but it illustrates the necessity of critical thinking on the part of a Christian. Someone made a similar point while commenting on my last entry, about the Your Health program on Chicagoland's Total Living Network. Critical thought is an absolute necessity in this day and age, particularly on the Internet, but also while watching television. Nowhere is this more true than in the health-care realm. I hate to have to... Sign in to see full entry.

This morning, just out of curiosity, I tuned in to a program called Your Health, on the Chicagoland cable channel called Total Living Network. (This network is owned by the same company that used to own the over-the-air analog station WCFC-TV, until the company sold its transmitter rights to The Pax Network a few years back.) I was saddened, but not surprised, to see the hosts peddle such alternative-health nostrums as probiotics (bacteria which are supposed to recolonize the gastrointestinal... Sign in to see full entry.

In doing a bit of judicious web-surfing, I found a website called the Christian Brotherhood Newsletter Ministry. Apparently, these people help fellow Christians pay up to US$125,000 worth of medical bills during their lives. Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised to see this website up and running. As I said in an earlier entry, such social-justice ministries are very rare in the white evangelical Protestant subculture, where the emphasis has traditionally been on individual evangelism and personal... Sign in to see full entry.

I'm probably the last person left on Earth who hasn't commented on Mel Gibson's recent drunk-driving arrest. (It happened earlier this month, by the way - it seems hard to believe it's almost September already. Time flies when you're having fun.) For those few of you who do not know why this arrest was so controversial, apparently, Gibson made some rather nasty anti-Semitic remarks while "under the influence" and talking to the arresting officer. Also, it's ironic that he would be arrested for... Sign in to see full entry.

David Reimer arguably has one of the most famous, if not the most famous, medical history known. When he was a baby, a doctor used an electrocautery instrument to circumcise him, rather than a standard surgical blade, and ended up literally burning David's private parts off. David's parents - barely out of their teens themselves - acted on the advice of doctors and had David undergo sex-reassignment surgery, because they were probably told that this would be easier than it would be to... Sign in to see full entry.

Miracle in the Andes, written by Nando Parrado, is a book I'd love to own one day. The only obstacle in my way is that it costs a whopping US$25 at my local Borders (it's not new any more, so it doesn't qualify for the new-book discount). Parrado is one of a group of 16 survivors of a plane crash which happened in the South American Andes on - get this - Friday, Oct. 13, 1972. (There is rich irony for the superstitious among us in that date.) About 45 or so (crew included) boarded an airplane... Sign in to see full entry.