ScrappleFace on John Bolton

There is nothing better to show the absurdity of a situation than to have ScrappleFace to point it out for us.

Bolton Withdraws to Run for Voinovich Senate Seat

Bolton Roid Rage: Did Canseco Inject Nominee?

BlackBerry’s; Too Much of Anything Is No Good

The Technology industry appears to have brought on a new medical affliction. Would seem to be we now have a new over use type of syndrome known as BlackBerry thumb.

(Washington Post) About three months ago, the National Association of Manufacturers vice president noticed that, as she started to type, the area between her thumb and wrist would begin to throb.

Orthopedists say they are seeing an increasing number of patients with similar symptoms, a condition known as “overuse syndrome” or “BlackBerry thumb.” In some patients, the disability has become severe.

Bette R. Keltner, dean of the Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies, has been forced to put her BlackBerry down. After two years of constant use, her hands were in so much pain, she had to stop typing. She remembers the trigger point: It was a 10-hour conference one Saturday where she answered about 150 e-mails. “Days later, I was in excruciating pain,” she said.

The American Society of Hand Therapists issued a consumer alert in January saying that handheld electronics are causing an increasing amount of carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis. With that warning, the society included directions on how to properly hold the devices, urging users to take breaks and, if possible, place pillows in their laps so their wrists are in a more upright position.

However, for many this is not such a new fad issue of pain or discomfort. For many that are not new to BlackBerry’s this has been an all but real issue for a while. For those new to the BlackBerry game that may be another story. From Geek.com comes a story discussing the issues of possible thumb pain and fatigue from the use of BlackBerry’s.

The Indianapolis Star posted a Wall Street Journal article discussing a new ailment that thumb keyboard users may be suffering from. BlackBerry, Treo, Sidekick, and thumboard owners may feel their thumbs exhibiting strain and fatigue. There is a new device out called the Futur Thumb Stabilizer that may assist in this carpal tunnel-type ailment. Doctors actually treat it with anti-inflammatory medicine, splints, and physical therapy. Targus has widened its keys to help with the problem and I know my Sidekick’s keys are spaced quite well, too. I myself have experienced thumb fatigue on my Sidekick while using AIM. Some people have even suffered blisters as a result of thumb typing. Have you experienced this, and what device were you using? Thanks to PalmStation.com for the link.
Joel’s Note: I used a BlackBerry for over two years and never had any type of thumb problem. I have to wonder if these people are using it incorrectly or if I was just lucky.

WebMd has a very informative three part story on the thumb pain syndrome associated with typing on a BlackBerry by pecking out messages with their thumbs at an extremely fast rate; in many circumstances individuals have the ability to type 40 words a minute.

“The thumb is not a very dexterous part of the hand,” Hedge tells WebMD. “It is really designed as a stabilizer for pinch gripping with a finger. That is why you only have two of them, not eight. It is the fingers that have dexterity, not the thumb.”

The full-size keyboard was designed with this in mind. One uses one’s dexterous fingers for lightning strikes on the letter keys. One reserves one’s relatively clumsy thumbs for the humble task of striking the spacebar.

“When you switch that around, you put a lot of strain on the thumb,” Hedge says. “So if you persist in typing a lot of information with your thumbs, you risk injury.”

Hand surgeon Prosper Benhaim, MD, associate professor of orthopaedic and plastic surgery at UCLA, agrees that too much thumbing could be injurious.

1) BlackBerry Thumb: Real Illness or Just Dumb?

2) BlackBerry Thumb: Tendinitis, Aggravated Arthritis

3) BlackBerry Thumb Rx: Rest Your Weary Digits

WWW.Pope.com

Looks like Pope Benedict XVI is on line an receiving emails. At last count it was at 56,191 e-mails sent in the first 48 hours that Benedict’s Vatican e-mail has been operational. Go on and send the Pope an email. One does not have to be catholic. One just needs to see the vile hatred that the media is taking toward this Pope who didn’t even get a one day Honeymoon from the hatred.

The Pope can be emailed at:

English, benedictxvi@vatican.va

Our friends at The Right Nation should use: Italian, benedettoxvi@vatican.va

Spanish, benedictoxvi@vatican.va
French, benoitxvi@vatican.va
German, benediktxvi@vatican.va
Portuguese, bentoxvi@vatican.va

This Is the Understatement of the Week

One would think that when you are a convicted cannibal, you would get sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty. Well, not in Germany. In the understatement of the week the German Court said:

ordered a cannibal to be retried Friday, saying his manslaughter conviction for killing and eating a willing victim was too lenient.

Meiwes admitted to killing a Berlin computer specialist, Bernd-Juergen B, he met via the Internet, but was spared a murder conviction as the victim had asked to be eaten in a startling case of sexual fetishism.

Ah, we won’t even touch that one.

Woman Who Accused Wendy’s of Finger in Chili, Bites Off More than She can Chew

The woman who originally accused Wendy’s of having a finger in her Chili was arrested Thursday night at her home in Las Vegas. Seems that Anna Ayala has a pension for such accusations and suing businesses and getting into legal trouble.

Ayala also faces an unrelated felony charge of grand theft in connection with a September 2002 incident, in which she allegedly sold a mobile home that she did not own to a woman who reportedly lost $11,000 in the transaction.

She was charged with grand larceny and attempted grand larceny.

Ayala was taken into custody late Thursday at her Las Vegas. She is being held on a half-million dollars bail.

He released few details due to the continuing investigation and likely court case, but the public announcement served the purpose of saying wherever the finger came from, Wendy’s had nothing to do with it.

Update: AP

“We’re thrilled that an arrest has been made,” Tom Mueller, president and chief operating officer of Wendy’s North America, said in a statement.

Ayala has a litigious history. She has filed claims against several corporations, though it is unclear whether she received any money. She said she got $30,000 from a Mexican food chain after her 13-year-old daughter got sick at one of the restaurant, but the chain denied it paid her anything

Wizbang has more.

Update: From The Smoking Gun
Press Release