Local Drama

Yesterday in the St. Louis metro suburb of East St. Louis, a 19 year-old woman named Katie Wolfmeyer was acquitted in the Mike Danton (Blues hockey player) murder-for-hire debacle. Jurors stated they couldn't find enough evidence to convict. (Article.)

This post is only barely about that. Rather, a quote from the formerly accused's father really rubbed me the wrong way.

Pat Wolfmeyer, the defendant's father, said of the FBI, "I think they set that little girl up. They got in too deep and couldn't get out."

"That little girl." Of his own daughter? I hope this is a misquote or in some strange context because this bothers me on two levels.

1) It's completely detached. You'd think there'd be some emotion. The words "that little girl" wouldn't be the first choice to refer to your offspring.

2) Especially your NINETEEN YEAR-OLD offspring. What is the deal with calling a grown woman a little girl? She's not a lamb; she's not a kitten. She's an adult female. She was certainly tried as an adult. If you think your child is a "little girl" at 19, how do you believe she'll ever be ready for the day-to-day travails of society otherwise known as adulthood?

This has been one of the weirdest cases to hit the area since I've lived here. Obviously lots of information has made it into the newspaper since the case is high profile and therefore frenzied. Probably won't end here - Danton, who pleaded guilty earlier, is sentenced next month.

hln

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PeopleSoft, a Food Pellet

Oracle has the "okay" to munch PeopleSoft, if PS shareholders agree. And why wouldn't they? Oracle's a big timer.

Info at Yahoo.

hln

Posted by: hln at 09:44 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Yellow

Yellow's not just for Livestrong.

Yellow is the crux of this article, a piece about a company that manufactures synthetic urine.

I was hooked on the first paragraph, asking myself the question, "why would a company do that?" Well...

While the business plan might induce stifled giggles, synthetic urine is a serious matter in the laboratory industry.

Researchers, drug-testing labs and other institutions buy thousands of gallons of the real stuff, mostly to calibrate the equipment used to test regular urine samples for drugs or other substances. Researchers periodically check the accuracy of their equipment by introducing samples that have been intentionally spiked with chemicals.

But human urine has its limitations.

It's unstable, decaying rapidly if not kept refrigerated and must be frozen when shipped. It can smell, it foams and donors must be screened carefully for drug use or disease. Also, different body chemistry guarantees that no two people's urine is exactly alike, an irritation for researchers who rely on consistency.

In the end, a fully synthetic urine has remained a laudable goal in scientific circles.

Urine SPOILS? Does that make it smell better? You can tell I'm not much of a biologist.

The name of the synthetic? Surine.

hln

Posted by: hln at 08:05 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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