April 25, 2007, - 2:41 pm
Quick Links: Kryptonite, America, the Fatal Lottery Win
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* To those of us who were fans of Superman, we know Kryptonite as the fictional green crystal rock substance that renders the Superhero powerless. A close friend remarked that he has his Kryptonite and we all have one–the one thing that has power over us and renders us weak.
Well, now, we come to find out that there actually is a real Kryptonite, a very similar mineral discovered recently in Serbia with the same composition as the fictional version (sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide). Fortunately, it’s powerless–even if the many Islamic Lex Luthors get ahold of it.
* Happy Birthday, America! Yes, I know it isn’t the 4th of July. But today is the 500th Anniversary of the name, “America”–coined by a cartographer as the catchall designation for a world that Europeans had yet to name or explore.
* Yet another sad lottery winner story: Wayne Schenk–a New York man who won $1 million in the lottery after finding out he had terminal cancer–died Monday at age 51. You can’t take it with you.
Sadly, Schenk was denied a lump sum payment of the 20-year, $50,000 per year pay-off, which he sought to pay for treatment at a hospital specializing in the treatment of advanced cancer. “We’re from the government, and we’re here to help you.”
Tags: 4th of July, America, cancer, cartographer, Lex Luthors, New York, Serbia, the 500th Anniversary of the name, treatment of advanced cancer, USD, Wayne Schenk
While I agree that Schenk’s passing is sad and the government’s response was as expected, part of the story that was left out was the fact that he was a heavy smoker; both his parents were heavy smokers and died of lung cancer. In light of this and knowing that his plight may very well be the same, he continued to smoke.
The tragedy is real yet so is the idiocy that led to it.
1shot1kill on April 25, 2007 at 4:02 pm