(NEWSER) – A California high school has become the first in the nation to accept an offer from an animal rights group to stop frog dissections. Rancho Verde High School will drop dissections in exchange for free “Digital Frog” anatomy software provided by the Animal Welfare Institute and the Save the Frogs organization. The groups have offered anatomy software licenses, worth nearly $900 each, to the first 25 schools that agree to give up dissections for five years, reports AP. Rancho Verde went for the deal to save money, according to the principal.

Mike’s Thoughts:  The same school is also considering eliminating long division and replacing it with short division in order to save even more money.

John Elway may be the Denver Broncos vice president and Hall-of-Fame quarterback, but he found time to fire off legal letters to a Fort Collins, Colo., punk band named “Elway.”

The Broncos legend’s lawyer has requested that the band change its name, but stopped short of suing or issuing a cease and desist order.

The band acknowledged the letter and suggested Elway had better things to do in the wake of the Broncos’ disastrous 2010 season.

Quoting:  “We have no intention of changing the name again. We love the name, regardless of what connotations are inferred by the listener. Surely, if the Dead Kennedys could become one of punk’s most popular bands without incurring litigation, Elway can keep their moniker and continue making so-so music for our dozens of fans to enjoy.”

Mike’s Thoughts:  When you think about it, “Romanowski” might be a better name for a punk band anyway….

Relationship experts say some men in their 40s have an inflated sense of their own attractiveness. 

These middle-aged men are being chased so many single women, they are becoming deluded about their sex appeal.

One expert/author says it stems from a drought of mid-40s single men, compared with single women of the same age.  He calls it the “hotness delusion syndrome”.

“An available male in his 40s receives a lot of attention because he’s the only thing going around”….

He can be balding, chubby, “but this is not what he sees in the mirror. He sees nothing less than trim, taut and, so he is told, terrific.”

At 44, there are 15 per cent fewer available males than females. The author predicts more women will start seeking younger men to fill the void.

Mike’s Thoughts:  Did we really need a group of “relationship experts” to tell us this?  Anyone who’s ever been in a “middle aged” bar on a Friday or Saturday night could’ve told us this.

This morning at 7:12a I’m going to talk to my friend Rick Crandall (pictured at left). 

He’s one of a handful of people who have worked tirelessly to help build the Colorado Freedom Memorial which will someday be located over near Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora.

Since our birth as a State, 6,000 Colorado Men and Women have given their lives in service to our Country, from the Spanish-American War all the way up to our current conflicts in the Middle East.

The Colorado Freedom Memorial will be like no other Memorial in the world, in that it will honor every single man and woman from our State, regardless of branch of service or which War they served in, who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Make no mistake- this will be a fitting tribute to these brave Colorado soldiers and will serve as a reminder to their loved ones that their sons and daughters and fathers and mothers did NOT die in vain.

What can you do to help?

If every person in Metro Denver just gives $1 dollar, we’ll have the funds we need to move forward on this project.

Every Denver area Wells Fargo Branch is involved in this campaign so you can donate on site at any Wells Fargo Branch.

And of course there are numerous ways to make a donation online or even via a good old fashioned check.

Please click here to check out the Colorado Freedom Memorial Website and make whatever donation you can.

$1 dollar to honor the folks who gave their lives to protect our Freedom?  Sounds like a bargain to me.

(NEWSER) – Welcome to chain gangs 2.0. Prisoners in Chinese labor camps toil away by day, digging ditches and breaking rocks—and by night, they’re forced to play online games likeWorld Of Warcraft, where they mine virtual gold that prison guards sell for actual cash, theGuardian reports. According to a former prison guard who was later incarcerated at the Jixi labor camp in northeast China, the racket generates more money than physical labor does. 

“Gold farming” is the practice of repeating basic tasks over and over in online games like WOW in order to gain valuable credits that are sold to players looking for a shortcut to progressing in the game. It’s estimated that 80% of the gold farmers in the world are in China, and guards could pocket more than $900 a day from the routine. “If I couldn’t complete my work quota, they would punish me physically,” says the ex-con. “They would make me stand with my hands raised in the air and after I returned to my dormitory, they would beat me with plastic pipes. We kept playing until we could barely see things.” Mike’s Thoughts:  Reason #564 not to end up in a Chinese prison if at all possible.

(NEWSER) – E. coli and other microbes in the Great Lakes are dying off thanks to traces of Prozac in the water, scientists find—and that’s not necessarily good news. “Your immediate thought is, ‘Well, that’s good, because they’re not supposed to be there anyways,” a scientist tells National Geographic. “But what about all the other bacteria that are supposed to be there and part of that ecosystem?” 

Prozac’s active ingredient, fluoxetine, is found in very low quantities in the lakes. “It doesn’t appear to be at a level that would be harmful to humans,” notes the scientist. Still, mixed with other chemicals, it could take a toll on the ecosystem. Fluoxtine can enter waterways when it is flushed down the toilet in urine, or when people dump pills. It’s been detected in water nowhere near a sewage output, however, suggesting it is widespread. Mike’s Thoughts:  On the upside, scientists have indicated that before the microbes died off they reported being happier than they’d ever been in their little microbe lives.

 (NEWSER) – Good news for guys looking for a health boost: You may not have to rely on strenuous exercise (that you probably weren’t going to do anyway). Bad news: It might involve soaking in a little more culture than a ball game and a six-pack. Men who attend the ballet or frequent an art gallery are more likely to be happy and satisfied with their health, reportsLiveScience. But you don’t need to wear a pair of tights to make it work: Subjects in the study out this week felt healthier after a “receptive culture” activity, like checking out a museum or a musical.

It also didn’t have a thing to do with the size of their paycheck—results showed that an interest in art was beneficial regardless of socioeconomic status. Researchers noted that men also felt healthier after volunteer work, being outdoors, participating in a club, or working out, but that men (and not necessarily women) doing creative things were “strikingly” more satisfied across the board.

Mike’s Thoughts:  Yeah, but are you gonna be “strikingly” more satisfied when they come and revoke your “Man Card” and you’re not allowed to tell fart jokes anymore?  I don’t theeeenk so…….

GENDER NEUTRAL BEER

The stereotype is that beer is a man’s drink.

Well, the Carlsberg brewing company is hoping to change that with their Coppenhagen Beer, which they claim is “gender neutral” because it comes in a fancy looking bottle.

They are rolling out a beer they say is “intended for modern women and men, who appreciate a refreshing taste delivered in a stylish design.”

The beer’s label looks more like a label you’d find on a wine bottle than anything in the beer aisle.

“There may be situations where women are standing in a bar and want their drinks to match their style,” says company spokeswoman Jeanette Elgaard Carlsson. “In this case, they may well reject a beer if the design does not appeal to them.” 

Mike’s Thoughts;  Call me politically incorrect if you want, but certain things in the world aren’t supposed to be “gender neutral”. 

Like jock straps.

And cigars.

and BEER.

Americans work hard. So hard, in fact, that they gave up 448 million earned but unused vacation days in 2010.

Considering the average wage of about $40,000 for a full-time worker, the unused vacation time adds up to $67.5 billion worth of time.

Even if Americans used all their vacation time, they’d still lag way behind much of the rest of the world.

For example, the average American worker gets 18 vacation days per year, while a worker in England gets 28 vacation days and the average French worker gets 37.

Seriously … Would you even know what do with 37 days off from work?

Mike’s Thoughts:  Interesting statistic, no?  I always figure the real back drop here is that if there’s one truly individualistic society in the world, it’s the United States.  We all get soooooo bogged down thinking our little jobs are soooooo important that we can’t possibly take a day off.  I get the sense that other societies are better at recognizing the importance of the collective rather than the individual and therefore have less trouble justifying taking vacation days.

Oh, and the “man”.  I blame the “man” for this too.