That is what she said

So this is a hypothetical I want you all to play along with. It was posed to me as part of a homework assignment and I find it kind of an interesting take on a tricky situation. You might have heard it before and I’m adjusting it slightly to make it fit the WB&C just a bit better, but the story is still the same.

So in this scenario you are a person living on earth and things there are just as they are now here. You are just like everyone else, no better no worse. You happen to be single and your job allows you to support yourself, so for all intents and purposes you are part of the nameless faceless crowd that make up our metropolitan areas. In this world however there is an international star of some sort. Lets say this person is regarded like a Perez Hilton mixed with Michael Jordan. Everyone loves them, everyone wants to be their best friend. Basically in my mind (because I am a geek) this person figures out how to solve our solid fuel propellant problem and allows NASA to get to Mars with only 2,000 lbs of fuel. (usually it’s 500,000+ lbs)

They are of course rich, as their idea turns them instantly into a one person OPEC, they are charismatic, so they are like Tony Stark in that you see them as the face of their company and they must of course be good looking. It all boils down to Conan O’Brien’s personality and fame mixed with Richard Branson’s money and daredevil lifestyle with the looks of the sexually appropriate person of your choice. In my mind and for the rest of the story this person will look exactly like 1998 Salma Hayek.

Now here is the story. You are walking around one day and you happen to hear that Salma, this wonderful person whom everyone knows and loves is sick with some incurable disease. A group of especially crazed fans begin to scour the country looking for a cure stopping at nothing to find out what it is. As it happens you are the only person on earth whose blood has the antibodies to combat the illness though you don’t know it. And how anyone else knows it is unimportant but what is important is that on your walk home from work as the manager at the local Popeye’s chicken you are taken and knocked unconscious. Somehow this deranged group of super fans, intent on keeping their beloved alive, have taken you and when you wake up you realize you’ve been hooked up to Salma via some system of tubes and wires. The doctors apologize profusely and assure you that the people who did this to you have been arrested and are facing life in prison because their attempt to kill you was stopped short but not before they could connect you to Salma.

After you gather your senses and calm down from obvious anger you are posed with two options by the doctor. Unplug yourself immediately and walk away. Allowing Salma to die or maintain attached to her until such time they can produce a treatment, which could take months. They reiterate that it is completely up to you and there is nothing keeping you from pulling the plug on her but they also stress that without you she will die assuredly. What makes this scenario interesting is that you yourself agree that she is a much more important person than you. Her work has brought new discoveries to mankind. Men love her, women want to be her, she is a truly great individual and you are just a fast food joint manager. Salma is asleep and you haven't been able to speak with her since you woke up but you are told she is doing better already.

So…what do you do?

Prince-I would Die 4 U

Would it make a difference if you knew exactly how long it would take to find a treatment?

I don't know anyone personally who I think would disagree that getting up and unplugging yourself is an a good option but what if it was a trade though, your life for theirs? Maybe you get hooked up with a slice of the good life from this, maybe you get stiffed on the tip? I also made the story a little different in that this is a person who you may look up to and or be attracted to. The original author is named Judith Jarvis Thomson. What she was attempting to do was make an argument for the defense of Abortion. When I first read the Plugged in Violinist my instinct was to say screw it, I'm not chaining myself to someone against my will even if it is only for 9 months. This was mainly because I don't care about Violinists. But by making it someone I'd look up to like Leland Melvin, Kanye, etc there is an added layer of conflict. Also respecting the contribution this person has to society is something that cannot be discounted. I would love to actually see what people think about this. Comments ARE enabled so feel free to tell me how you would handle such a situation. As far as I'm concerned this is a flawed allegory for pregnancy because pregnant women don't have their uteri kidnapped and impregnated. Usually it is the result of some sort of bedroom, bathroom or backseat type activities that involve both her and at least one other male of her own species. It is no miracle how babies happen, so the whole kidnapped and woke up with some unwanted visitor line just isn't cutting it for me. I still don't know exactly what would happen to Salma if it were me she was hooked up to and the picture at the top of this post has only a tangential relation to my actual feelings so make of it what you will.

Sanka... you dead?

I have a lot of new posts, many new tidbits, and a lot of new ideas. So if you’re not caught up go back now, and take a peak. I did a special tribute to my Grandmother who passed away last Monday and took the week off out of respect but now I’m back. Though I’m never up to watch SNL when it airs, I think It’s taken a definite turn for the better this season. This cast doesn’t have a lot of names you can assume will be stars later on which makes it better to watch in my opinion. All the cast members really go all out for their bits because lord knows…there isn’t a big time movie roll on the other side of the door for them. I love Kenan’s “What’s up with That!?” and the recurring digital shorts done so well by Andy Samberg. And of course Kristen Wiig can do no wrong on the SNL stage in my eyes. The only thing I can find issue with is the casting. Nasim Pedrad and Jenny Slate look exactly alike. Like Exactly! It’s uncanny because they were hired at the same time and play similar roles. I don’t understand and I don’t mind. I’m a big fan of both, especially Nasim and her portrayal of any and all “dark” skinned ethnicities; namely her Kim Kardashian impersonation. She herself hails from Tehran so shouts to all my Iranian people.

Also in the news is the Winter Olympics. Making Xenophobia cool once again! I love to make completely irrational statements about how much I hate Canada, but really I just like being able to take a stance which I don’t have to defend. Being a Patriot is all the defense I need. So far the Canadians have botched the opening ceremony, before today had never won a Gold at home, and there’s one more thing…oh yea, Somone DIED! I’m upset about it, not because it happened but because it happened in practice. The Winter Games to me are beyond stupid. Skiing, snowboarding, even curling are alright. But Ice dancing, short track speed skating, and the Luge are all seemingly stupid sports that defeat the purpose of games. Finding 4 guys, a bobsled and a track to race on not to mention competition seems much harder than just 4 guys a ball and a hoop? Who thought these things up? And with so little athleticism involved in some of these events are they really even Olympic in degree of difficulty. Don’t get me wrong I love watching Apollo Ohno and his nearly 30 year old goatee but I love it because as in his Silver medal winning race two guys collided and if they crashed in a manner just 6 inches different one way or the other we could have seen someone lose their head…literally. Basically, when the difference between good and bad is to far apart the sport stops being fun. In Luge for instance the Georgian racer who lost his life has two options at the top of the hill. He could either do really well and top out at over 90 MPH or he could do really poorly and carry that speed into a concrete post. I wish that had he done it in a competition, in front of fans (a live T.V. audience is now a thing of the past in this post-Janet Jackson society of ours), perhaps then we could put a stop to this nonsense. Until then I will continue to watch each short track race just wondering when someone will lose a finger, and each Sled based race and wonder how long it will be until we tire of seeing people hurtling across ice? Talk about cultural differences, if not for these made up competitions in the Winter Games, we may never see anyone of Nordic decent atop a medal stand. Is there any amount of money someone could pay you to partake in the winter Olympics right now? I’d have to say no. One run down the ice or snow and I may not live to spend my riches. The Canucks by the way have won their first gold but not before I got to witness an American snatch one away from them on the last run of the day in Women's Moguls!! MINDLESS CHANTS!! MINDLESS CHANTS!!