I just ran across an unsettling email preview, sent by a doctor I hadn’t heard of: I NEED YOUR ASS. Luckily, the full subject line was I NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE. For some reason, however, Yahoo! Mail put what looks like a period on the end of their truncated version. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to give someone my bank information. Something about a war-torn country and the treasury. ;) ...

Starting at Year 0, could you help advance civilization? I like to think my Civ IV skills would help, but somehow I have a feeling I would die pretty quickly as a result of a smelter accident…or maybe just looking at someone the wrong way. This quiz thinks I might be useful, though. Quite good. Starting from the year 0, you might be able to advance civilization to the 17th or even 19th century. You are technologically useful. ...

Way back when, I voted for John McCain as a write-in in a state that didn’t support write-in votes for President (as near as I could tell), largely as a protest as to the Republican selection and primary political campaign. That was then. Now I’m just wondering when the McCain campaign is going to be closing up and heading home. It’s actually kind of sad, like when Bob Dole ran in 1996. No matter what my disagreements with their platforms, both men deserved better than being thrown under the bus by their party. (Of course, with McCain, that was in the 2000 primaries. Now he’s just doing it to himself.) ...

Hmmmm…while I’m a firm believer that people can become addicted to pretty much anything, I’m having a hard time believing this story, where a couple in Reno, NV, are saying their Internet and online gaming addiction caused them to starve and otherwise horribly neglect – c’mon, let’s call it what it is: abuse – their very young children. Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing “Dungeons & Dragons” series, to give their children proper care. “They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games,” Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal. ...

I ran across this article about inspirations for living in the moment. They’re pretty good suggestions, and the subject matter is definitely something I need to pay more attention to, but something struck me about the cat example: I also like watching my cat, Riddle. He thinks he’s a lion. He’ll stealthily stalk an insect or lizard, as if he’s hidden in tall grass on the savanna, and then he pounces and attacks. You know he’s not thinking about what he had for breakfast or what furniture needs to be clawed to shreds later in the day. Cats (and other animals) are all about the Now. Be like a cat. ...

Hey, remember that time Jesus started yelling at a Roman praying to Jupiter? You remember, He was all “My Father is Number One!” and “You better show some respect!” Wait, you don’t? You mean you think Jesus Christ primarily relied on the truth of His own message, rather than shouting down the people who disagreed with Him? And that living a Christ-like life requires showing the same respect to others and having the same faith in your message? ...

We went to see Knocked Up the other day. I didn’t think it was the instant classic A. O. Scott called it, but it was funny. (I liked The 40 Year Old Virgin a bit more, partially because the lead was a lot more charming and the story had more focus, but in both cases I kind of like Judd Apatow’s approach to romantic comedy: If two flawed people get together, romance isn’t going to suddenly make them better. As a result, in both films don’t end with “Happily Ever After”…more like “We’ll Give It A Good Try!”) ...

Just to show I’m a huge nerd, when I saw this news about Seth Adams being the likely starting quarterback for the University of Mississippi, I read it as Teth-Adam. Not too bad, but then I was unreasonably intrigued by the idea of a killer supervillain/hero with the power of seven ancient gods playing in the SEC. “The line collapses and Dempsey’s getting a free shot at the quarterback…OH…Oh my! Teth-Adam just threw Dempsey’s head to the receiver! The receiver drops it!” ...

So, a former sales rep for Girls Gone Wild has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the company, Joe Francis, and her supervisor, Ron: According to court papers, Ron touched and massaged Hammond’s shoulders and arms, frequently spoke about sex in front of her, and on at least one occasion “tapped (her) buttocks with a clipboard.” The actions resulted in creating a hostile work environment, the lawsuit said. You know, I would think the legal filing papers would just be part of the employment paperwork there, kind of like the W-4 form. ...

Apparently the police have found the person who edited Chris Benoit’s Wikipedia page to mention the death of his wife hours before the entire family was discovered dead. A member of the Fayette County, Ga., Sheriff’s Department said of the mysterious edit, “It is unbelievable what a hindrance this has put on our investigation.” (I didn’t realize Wikipedia was that powerful… yet.) One hopes the police took advantage of this entry about tracking down the anonymous user through a couple of web searches and figuring out he was likely a Connecticut college student who throws in prank edits a lot. The anonymous user admitted to as something like that. (To as? Geez.) ...