Last Place on Earth

So if someone gave you a choice of where the very last sample
of the killer flu virus would not be found, which city would you pick?

Last sample of killer flu virus found at BIA
Health officials keep material in 'safe place' until disposal

By Nada Bakri
Special to The Daily Star
Thursday, April 21, 2005

BEIRUT: The world's last missing sample of a killer influenza virus which was mistakenly sent from a U.S.-based College of American Pathologists (CAP) to the American University of Beirut (AUB) was finally tracked at Beirut International Airport Tuesday.

While the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday the sample has not been destroyed yet - unlike all the samples sent to 61 laboratories in 18 countries - Lebanese health officials said they are keeping it in a "safe place" while awaiting to reship it out of the country.

What if...

Tim Chitwood's column, quoted almost in it's entirity:

OTBs, or "Outside The Boxers," as they call themselves, are unconventional thinkers who believe "there are no stupid ideas," Lessjo says. "We really just wanted to know what would happen if Civil War soldiers fought the crew from 'Star Trek.' You never see that in the movies or TV reruns."

So the OTBs asked battle organizers: Why not attract a wider audience by staging a second "what-if" battle sequence in which a starship crew joins the conflict?

Unwilling to openly ridicule the idea, organizers set up a meeting for Lessjo, Confederate re-enactors and a local Star Trek club -- the latter two in full regalia.

Then the trouble began.

First the Confederates said they wouldn't associate with "Trekkies," and the Star Trek fans said they preferred "Trekkers." The Confederates all laughed, and "that right there got things off on the wrong foot," Lessjo says.

Other missteps followed.

"One of the Trekkers said Starfleet's prime directive wouldn't let the crew introduce superior technology to a primitive culture," Lessjo says. "Then a rebel yelled, 'Don't call us primitive, geek!' And the Trekker said Starfleet wouldn't defend a society based on slavery, either."

That riled the Confederates, provoking one to shout: "Y'all just go fight for the Yankees then! You're all living in a fantasy world anyway!"

"Yeah, like you're not!" a Trekker retorted.

Both sides abruptly drew their weapons, and Lessjo ducked under a table as the firing commenced, he says. He did not crawl back out until the smoke cleared, and by then the Trekkers had withdrawn from the field.

"It turns out replica Civil War guns use real gunpowder, whereas 'Star Trek' phasers have only a battery-powered bulb that lights up," says Lessjo. "You don't go up against a guy with a firearm if all you've got is a flashlight."

So thinking outside the box yielded an unexpected answer to OTB's hypothetical question: "We proved Civil War soldiers would win a battle against the crew from 'Star Trek,' " Lessjo says, chuckling. "You never would have figured that, would you?"

(This is Tim Chitwood's April Fools' Day column)

Advice

You shouldn't chew tobacco. It's not good. Don't do it.

OK, but if you do chew tobacco, you shouldn't spit it in anyone's face.

Alright, if you do chew tobacco, and you do spit it in people's faces,
you shouldn't spit it in.... well, you just shouldn't chew tobacco.

Galloway Again

Poor George Galloway. If oil for food had gone a few more years, maybe
he'd have enough money to go into hiding.
Serves him right:

Hate mob attacks Galloway
By Paul Waugh And Flora Stubbs, Evening Standard
20 April 2005

The bitter election battle in the East End has spilled into violence, with extremist Muslims and anti-war protesters targeting George Galloway and Oona King.

Anti-war campaigner Mr Galloway was forced to take refuge from Islamic militants who denounced him as a "false prophet".

The former Labour MP said "the police saved my life" after supporters of radical group Hizb-Ut-Tahrir clashed with members of his Respect party last night.

Nutrition

It's important to vary ones diet so that it doesn't become
boring. Variety will make your diet easier to stick to.

Good to see that the government is rearranging the food pyramid. This one will do for me.

In China

“IT’S a scary country,” Japan’s trade minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, said of China last week, following demonstrations in several Chinese cities by thousands of protesters, some of whom smashed the windows of Japanese shops and restaurants and threw stones at Japanese diplomatic buildings. For all their seeming reluctance to quell the unrest, Chinese leaders probably find it scary too.

I thought Japan had already apologized for their conduct in WWII. Could be
I'm wrong, but it's hard to fault the Chinese for having a little resentment
over the rape of Nanjing. The government may have their own reasons for letting
these protests go on for so long but anyone who has seen the newsreels can
understand the citizens' rage, even 60 years later.
Ah well, at least they haven't blamed it on President Bush yet.

You're allowed a laugh

DSCF0037c, originally uploaded by lumberjack.

at the wake. Notice the sticker?
Obviously not my guitar.

Taxes

argh, originally uploaded by lumberjack.

again

Rock on

boxoblah, originally uploaded by lumberjack.

Mmmm, geological.

Happy Birthday

And they don't look a day over 60.

But Twinkies turn 75 years-old this month.


Mmmmmmmmm...