
 |
|
May 24, 2013
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Oct. 12, 2012/ 26 Tishrei, 5773
Good News/Bad News
By
Greg Crosby
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Flash! This just in from England's Daily Mail newspaper. It seems that scientists have found the secret for men to live longer lives! One word: castration. That's right, you heard me. Researchers inKorea have shown that eunuchs — castrated men living centuries ago — outlived other men by a significant margin. Their findings suggest that male sex hormones are responsible for shortening the lives of men. After careful studies of genealogy records of noble members of the Imperial court of the Korean Chosun dynasty (AD 1392-1910) were made, this evidence has come to light.
Kyung-Jin Min, of Inha University, said: "This discovery adds an important clue for understanding why there is a difference in the expected life span between men and women." The castrated boys in Korea lost their reproductive organs in accidents — usually after being bitten by dogs (what's that all about?) — or underwent castration purposefully to gain early access to the palace (talk about being obsessed with status and power). Eunuchs were allowed to marry and had families by adopting castrated boys or normal girls.
Min and his colleague Cheol-Koo Lee, of Korea University, studied exacting records made at that time and found that eunuchs lived 14 to 19 years longer than other men did. Out of the 81 eunuchs they studied, three lived to the age of 100 or more, a feat of longevity that remains relatively rare even in developed countries today. Can you imagine waking up one day and saying to yourself, "I think I'll devote my life to the study of eunuchs." What would that be called, eunuchology? Do you get a degree in Eunuchological Studies?
The scientists noted the incidence of centenarians among Korean eunuchs is at least 130 times greater than it is in the developed countries, and that can't be explained simply by the benefits of life in the royal palace, either. They said most eunuchs spent as much time outside the palace as they did inside it (although they didn't have much of a love life in either place). And, in fact, kings and male members of the royal family had the shortest lives of all, typically surviving only to their mid-forties.
The research team, whose findings were published in the journal Current Biology, not to mention Neuter Quarterly, said their findings may offer some clues to life extension. My question is, did these guys really live longer because they were castrated or did it only SEEM longer? After all, those winter nights inKorea really drag on without your rootie-kazooties.
Once you eliminate date night in your life, what have got? Bowling with eunuchs might make for an interesting reality show, but it doesn't exactly add up to an evening filled with high voltage passions. My guess is looking forward to a life of tending to the garden and sock sorting might make each additional year feel like an eternity.
Here's another question. Let's say they PROVE that getting de-jeweled really does add years and years to one's life … then what? Do you think we'll suddenly see long lines of men waiting to get the operation just to have a few extra years of life watching Wheel of Fortune? How many real men are willing to separate themselves from their two best friends? How many guys do you know who are willing to make the trade? And for what? To sing lead soprano in the Community Chorale?
Oh sure, there'll be a few. Some people will do anything it takes, no matter how stupid, if they think it'll permit them to live longer. How else do you explain yoghurt and tofu burgers? So of course some egocentric idiots who actually believe their silly lives are so valuable that they deserve to live more years on this planet than other people will be first in line at the chopping block.
Some guys don't even need the surgery, of course, because, let's face it, there are some guys that just come that way naturally. Matter of fact I can think of several guys I knew in the film industry, as farfetched as that might sound. Or am I confusing courage for cojones? I don't think so, how many really brave eunuchs do YOU know? I can't name one.
OK, I think we've gone about as far as we should go on this subject. Or as Jack Benny might have said, "Now, cut that out!"
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. A freelance writer in Southern California, you may contact him by clicking here.
Greg Crosby Archives
© 2008, Greg Crosby
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|