Albany Herald

Let people be their own animal

In what may be one of the more stunning pronouncements I have read from a paper in a long time, the London Daily Mail wrote an article stating that "scientists have created more than 150 human-animal hybrid embryos in British Laboratories."

I'd like the same deal Uncle Sam got

Thomas Jefferson purportedly said, "All men are created equal." Which, of course, is blatantly untrue.

Middling's good? Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle

I recently read an article in the journal Science concerning baboon behavior. I enjoy reading publications that discuss things which I can relate to, and baboon behavior pretty much hits the nail on the head.According to Science, a 9-year research study was conducted on wild baboons trying to determine if the top-ranked male in baboon society was better off than those with lower ranking.

Fourth comes in with a bang

Keeping with my family tradition, I took the 7-year-old rule-following princess and the 6-year-old hurricane boy to Eufaula, Ala., to buy fireworks for the Fourth of July.

Predicting's just a world of trouble

By the time you read this article, you will probably only have a day or two left to live. Or at least, that's the prognosis according to Harold Camping, a preacher and founder of the Family Radio. You may have seen signs staked in the median of the four-lanes or at stop lights, saying that Judgment Day is coming May 21st.

God is never too busy to hear a prayer

Last weekend I hurt my eye, the particulars being unimportant. This injury required me to lay around the house, in the dark, doing nothing all weekend. Come to think of it, I did like I do most every other weekend.

Being snubbed was good for the U.S.

The biggest news in perhaps the last 20 years hit this past week requiring the President to make a special speech to the United States citizens. I mean, of course, President Obama's explanation for why he was not invited to the Royal Wedding in England. As most of the world knows, William and Kate were married and the President was snubbed.

Work of the masters still appreciated

I don't know about anyone else, but prior to getting Internet I had no idea the world was so full of dancing dogs, singing dogs, dogs that ride on the back of elephants, dogs that are friends with monkeys and dogs that can ski. It would not surprise me one bit to receive film footage of a dog piloting an airplane or solving a complex calculus equation. Every day or two, I receive another startling dog performance.

Daydreaming about the big win

I found myself recently fantasizing about winning the lottery. I do that whenever one of the big games goes over, say, 150 million dollars. At that level, I'll usually even buy a few tickets.

Dark, stormy night brings togetherness

Monday afternoon, the weather forecast began to predict there would be wind storms, thunder and lightning, hard rain, and possibly tornadoes late Monday night and into the early morning hours of Tuesday morning.

Are the good ole days the real thing?

I am always amused, or should I say bemused, when I hear people talking about the good ole days. I'm probably guilty of doing the same thing, but in reality, a lot of the good ole days weren't so good if you look very deeply.

Kids snap up the lessons of life

Late last year, I caught a very small alligator snapping turtle who was trapped in the middle of the highway, severely dehydrated and near death. This snapping turtle was no bigger than my hand, but mean as a snake.

Dignity lost on the slopes for Lurch

After surviving 51 years on this earth, I broke down this past weekend and went snow skiing with the 6 year old boy, 7 year old girl, and my wife. I have never once considered such a thing. I like hot weather and cold beer.

Draw, Marshal Dillon, I'm feelin' frisky

I recently spent most of an afternoon trying to explain the song by Lee County's own Luke Bryan, "Rain is a Good Thing," to the 6-year-old boy. He had no problem with rain being a good thing. He could not, however, understand why "corn makes whiskey" and then whiskey makes his girl "frisky."

Stomach flu a dogged illness

Last week, the little boy came down with some type virus. My grandmother would have called it the stomach flu. No matter what the ailment, if it involved the stomach, she'd say, "You must have the stomach flu."

Cast a 'Net for bored worshipers

It used to be that when encountering a boring sermon there was little recourse except to sleep, daydream or doodle.

EPA's milking its regulation powers

Just when you thought the government would not be able to come up with anything new to intrude upon, I now read that the EPA has labeled milk as "an environmental hazard." They made this decision because milk contains animal fat, fat contains oil, petroleum oil is considered a hazardous substance, therefore animal fat from milk must be hazardous as well.