Eye-Opening...

Anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy caffeine and the odd energy drink. Given that I don't smoke, take drugs, or drink alcohol, I figured I might as well do something.

My favorites include Bawls, Hansen's, AMP, Monster, and for a short while, Rockstar.

That is until I found out something unusual.

It seems that one of the founders of that particular drink is Russ Weiner. His dad, Michael Weiner helped him to develop it.

From a Salon review...

Savage's son, Russ Weiner, kicked off the show. With his spiky, dyed-orange hair and calculated scruffiness, he was reminiscent of Dr. Evil's son Scott from the Austin Powers movies. The resemblance was confirmed when Weiner proclaimed, "I'm proud to be the son of Savage!" The 30-something Weiner is the founder of RockStar, an energy drink that he developed with his dad, drawing on Savage's previous career as a Marin County herbalist and ethnobotanist named Michael Weiner. RockStar's herbal liver-cleansing formula is supposed to enable drinkers to "party like a rock star," which presumably means drinking and doping. Generous free samples had been passed out to the crowd on the way in. It lived up to its hype: The antifreeze-colored, cough-syrup-flavored beverage can only be enjoyed if you're taking drugs.

So what, you may ask. Well as it happens, Michael Weiner is the real name of 'famous' talk show host Michael Savage. You may have heard of him lately, issuing such bon mots as these:

Regarding the prisoner abuse photos at Abu Ghraib...

Instead of putting joysticks, I would have liked to have seen dynamite put in their orifices and they should be dropped from airplanes. How's that? You like that one? Go call somebody that you want to report me to, see if I care. They should put dynamite in their behinds and drop them from 35,000 feet, the whole pack of scum out of that jail.

A possible solution to the situation in Iraq....

The most -- I tell you right now -- the largest percentage of Americans would like to see a nuclear weapon dropped on a major Arab capital. They don't even care which one. They'd like an indiscriminate use of a nuclear weapon.

Thanks to Media Matters and Salon's Right Hook column for those quotes.

Bottom line, I'm afraid that anyone who makes statements like those might be drinking something that even I won't touch.

Feedback is welcome.

Take Care,

Mike G.