Well, this is embarrassing. All this time I've been thinking this blog was the work of Jonathan Schwartz, the delightfully dotty loose-cannon Sunday afternoon radio host on NPR. I mean, I was wondering why you never went off on tangents about the genius of various torch singers, or told meandering personal anecdotes that trailed off into silence, but I figured maybe you had an online staff that screened that stuff out. And now I find out you're a totally different person entirely. Is my face red! What a difference a "t" makes!

(Although I believe you are both penguins.)

You're a penguin and you love salmon?! That is sick.

Since you're a penguin, could we ever really meet in person?

I almost fell for the Schwartz/Schwarz confusion too. But then I remembered I had yet to see a mention of Frank Sinatra on the site.

So, Tom Tomorrow modelled his main character on you? I see, how was it like posing nude in the studio all day so that he could model you?

I don't think our host was posing nude - he had his feathers on, I believe. It is Man who is the featherless biped, according to the late great philosopher ___________ (does it begin with A?).

Ah, but penguins are sexy. Why on Earth would you be ashamed of that, dearest Mr. Schwartz?

I do know another penguin, but he isn't Jonathan. Or Schwartz. Or George Orwell.

If you're really a penguin, what was the number one travel destination of all penguins between the years 1909 and 1935?

I give you a hint...

Next time...

I'll be investigating your penguin-ass.

Call me when I'm through!!!!

I'm satisfied!

I feel the liquid coming towards my legs.

I'm running faster than ever!

bastards!!!!

Who runs faster than me?

I've also got more stuff for sale this week.

MARK IT DOWN!!!!

For anyone who has read the last few comments and become confused—this is part of a long-standing, private dispute between myself and Messrs. Stanton, Herrindontalparcton, Tramsterhinteintitz, and Bontwitzkermetzingerhopf.

I WOULD NEVER MARK THAT DOWN!

REMEMBER MY PERSONAL INFO!

So many wars I have won in just this manner.

THIS BATTLE WILL RESUME NEXT YEAR WHEN MY STRENGTH IS 500-FOLD.

AND MY MASS IS HIGH ON THE GREAT CHARTS.

Just found your site. While I like the name—I’m afraid what we REALLY need is a GIANT revolution. (Thomas Jefferson said “This country needs a revolution every twenty years.” He also said: "If ever this vast country is brought under a single government, it will be one of the most extensive corruption.")

A group of long-time insulin-using diabetics have been trying for a number of years to accomplish the continued supply of animal insulins in the U.S. Alas, the following message indicates that we have obviously failed. I wish you would consider this (or your own re-written version) for inclusion in your weblog.

The following article, which appeared in the Indianapolis Star on 08/27/05, indicates the "callousness" of Eli Lilly . . . but does not address the fact of how the insulin-using population has been manipulated to ensure that Lilly has a monopolistic stranglehold on the market.

Since the mid-1980s, Lilly has promoted its cheaply-produced rDNA insulin, warning doctors and patients of the impending withdrawal of the old standard animal insulins. AND, they have systematically withdrawn one animal insulin after another from the market. New diabetics, new doctors and new pharmacists do not even KNOW about animal insulin, and its safety and efficacy (compared to the new stuff.) They have been "brainwashed" to believe that animal insulins are dirty.

Without a true basis for comparison, and with a manufacturer who essentially controls the marketplace, they can now--after 20 years--say that their rDNA insulin is "the most popular" and/or "the most used." With powerful Bush-family backing, they have stayed below the radar of consumer advocates as well as the Justice Department's anti-trust overseers. The number of diabetics who have been harmed by the rDNA insulin is unknowable, but the entire chronicle is appalling.

That diabetics have over the course of 20 years been forced to "choose" between a couple of inferior products to manage their disease should have the media's watchful eyes fully opened. Alas, no one seems to recognize that when a marketing/business plan serves to enslave one needful group of patients . . . it will work for others, and eventually, it will work for the masses. You can see that a small news article, presented in an informative but non-confrontational manner, does little to arouse a sleepy public to the dangers being permitted by our governmental watchdog agencies. Pleas to the FDA are answered by a "canned" response that they cannot force a manufacturer to produce (or to continue to produce) a product, regardless of its medical necessity.

The government may not be able to "force" such an action . . . but by requiring a drug to be as safe and efficacious as an already-approved drug . . . by requiring batch testing of insulin production . . . by correctly placing rDNA insulin under bio-tech regulations instead of the more prosaic “medicine” category, and by CAREFULLY scrutinizing the studies supporting approval request, they could certainly serve their purpose of protecting the public. Until someone arouses a sleeping public, Lilly and its ilk continue to profit and grow fat while diabetics continue to become statistics in some unread governmental report.

[Isn’t is newsworthy that another Lilly product—Zyprexa—actually causes those users to become diabetic. Talk about market manipulation!—Lilly is actually ADDING to its customer base. Somehow, this seems to be the ULTIMATE in market manipulation!]

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050827/BUSINESS/508270362&SearchID=73218625567355