YES!!!

CNN says:

"American workers should stop trying to be heroes and just stay home when they're sick-- it could be cheaper for their employers, according to a study.

Workers who come in sick cost their employers an average of $255 each per year, according to Cornell University labor researchers.

Sick employees have difficulty concentrating, work more slowly and have to repeat tasks, bogging down productivity, according to the study. (They also get their co-workers sick, but those costs were not counted in the study.)"

This is something that bothers me to no end: people who think their contribution to the company is sooooo important that they need to risk making everyone else sick, just so they can come in long enough to spread their disease before they leave early.

Just. Stay. Home.

American Idol

Utterly shocking results last night. The three people who can actually sing end up in the bottom three, and the other four, who range from moderately O.K. karaoke fodder to simply awful, sit by stunned, fully aware there's a huge injustice being committed. A travesty.

As a non-paying viewer of this utterly trivial contest, I demand a full inquiry.

Worst song ever

According to CNN, Blender has compiled their list of the 50 worst songs of all time. The Blender site only lists numbers 50 through 40, but CNN lists the top ten (not in order):

• "We Built This City" : Starship (they report this as being the #1 worst song ever)
• "Achy Breaky Heart" Billy Ray Cyrus
• "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" Wang Chung
• "Rollin'" Limp Bizkit
• "Ice Ice Baby" Vanilla Ice
• "The Heart of Rock & Roll" Huey Lewis and the News
• "Don't Worry Be Happy" Bobby McFerrin
• "Party All the Time" Eddie Murphy
• "American Life" Madonna
• "Ebony and Ivory" Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder

I've discussed this topic at many parties over the years. I always submit "We Built This City" as worst song ever, and always get appreciative head nods on doing so. It's an utterly inane and soul-less song, polished to shine like cheap plastic. It's an insult to Marconi and to San Francisco.

Gaps in the record

Found this comprehensive rebuttal of the creationist talking point that there are "gaps in the fossil record" (which they claim disproves evolution) : http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional.html. And by comprehensive, I mean exhaustive, encyclopedic, sweeping and thorough. Whew.