Swine Flu: Pandemic or Panic?

A shared byline, Joel? Looks like good readin' anyway.

Osterholm spent some time on MPR this week. Certainly a cool head while some media types seem to be losing theirs.

From last boodle. Thanks for the heads up on the new kit Wilbrod.

Good morning boodle! Busy day ahead, but all on a schedule of my own devising. Nothing like having to go somewhere called work 5 days a week to make one appreciate the weekend. It's not like I'm putting in any more hours than last year when I did all my work from home, but there's a lot more TGIF feeling.

MotP-AG's big island trip brings back fond memories of the dott going off on class trips in our Hawaii years. Sending her off with a disposable camera and paying to develop pictures of the floor of the plane, the inside of her backpack, all her classmates in some unidentifiable room...The good old days.

Slyness, a note on the distribution of sweet tea, from the last boodle. Mississippi is most definitely a sweet tea environment. Generally one specifies sweet or unsweet and pitchers are labeled, but if there's ever only one, it'll be sweet. In class not long ago, a discussion of language variation turned into a discussion of food variation (much like the previous boodle), and a student exclaimed in horror that she had visited Texas, and they didn't have sweet tea! It's my impression that Alabama is quite culturally similar, so it would surprise me if that were not also sweet tea country, but I'll have to verify next time we're there.

My most memorable iced tea experience was ordering it one summer at a pizza place in Chicago. They brought me something undrinkable made from a powder. I think that's the only time I've sent something back at a restaurant.

Now I'll go read the kit and see if I have anything on-kit to say. Good morning and happy weekend, everyone!

The last 5 grafs, all about "case fatality rate" and prevalence in the population should be required to be read as some kind of disclaimer before anyone on TV interviews an "expert" on the flu. Good stuff JA and Dr. Brown.

The news from local media overnight makes it very clear that Texas has a very large number of throat/nose swabs for swine flu that have not been processed and are creating a tremendous backlog. Local area physicians have been advised not to wait at all for test results from the CDC but to treat the sickest individuals immediately.

Local emergency room physician Dr. Marcus Gitterle was apparently telling the truth about the backlog of testing in his private e-mail that went viral. BTW, the testing lab in Richmond, Calif., was ready to test samples "at the end of the week," according to a media source, so I presume it was Friday or will be this coming Monday.

Laredo ISD has decided to close its schools, although there is no confirmed case of swine flu there. The new rule in Texas seems to be that only the local health commissioner can recommend that schools can be closed. In Guadalupe County, that will be Sandra Guerra. She recommended that the schools in Guadalupe County be closed another week, and Friday night the schol district honcho was scrambling to confer with the school principals in the area--the school district went with the recommendation and schools in the county will be closed until May 11.

The CDC will now officially be sending a strike force to Texas next week. (I was under the assumption they were coming earlier.) No word yet about whether this strike team will be based out of Austin or San Antonio, or possibly the Rio Grande Valley area.

The one child from the Valley who has been in isolation at Methodist Chidren's Hospital for the past week, is showing slight signs of improvment, yet remains a "very, very sick" child according to our ABC affiliate. Methodist was considering last night restricting public access to the hospital to a limited number of "ports of entry." Nurses treating the very ill infant are gloved and masked and the child is in an isolation ward within the hospital.

The child from Mexico who died in Houston was from a well-to-do family. Latest reporting by our paper on its website says the child's grandfather is a newspaper "baron" in Mexico.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/Flu_victim_was_grandson_of_Mexico_press_baron.html

Repost :

Thanks, Jumper, for the clarification.

According to the WaPo, we have a single case of swine flu right here in Waldorf, a 31-year-old man who has no known connection to a school. Which is why we're heading out to buy more wine: anaesthesia. And just in case Donald Sutherland wants to call in an air strike with a thermite bomb. Not that I'm panicking or anything.

The one thing no one has mentioned in all this talk of viruses mutating is that they often mutate in a benign direction, sometimes becoming less lethal or even having no effect whatsoever. Because a virus mutates doesn't mean it necessarily gets worse. Sometimes they just "disappear."

Just checked our garden: 21 teeny-weeny onions have raised their little heads above ground. Hope they aren't fried onions when we get back. That whole Sutherland family gives me the creeps. Donald'll bomb ya, Kiefer will torture ya.

Carry on.

Oh, unrelated, also from the last boodle: I agree with Jumper that a spear is something you throw. It's my impression that a lance is that big long thing that knights used to knock each other off their horses when they jousted.

From the Teilhard thread of last boodle, let PTdC speak:

BEGIN PTdC QUOTE
Just as, at the center of the divine milieu, all the sounds of created being are fused, without being confused, in a single note which dominates and sustains them (that seraphic note, no doubt, which bewitched S. Francis), so all the powers of the soul begin to resound in response to its call; and these multiple tones, in their turn, compose themselves into a single, ineffably simple vibration in which all the spiritual nuances — of love and intellect, of ardor and calm, of fullness and ecstasy, of passion and indifference, of assimilation and surrender, of rest and movement — are born, pass and shine forth, according to time and circumstance, like the countless possibilities of an interior attitude, inexpressible and unique.

AND LATER in the same passage:

‘Which do you think the greater of the two beatitudes,’ someone once asked, ‘to have the sublime unity of God to center and save the universe? Or to have the concrete immensity of the universe by which to undergo and touch God?’ END QUOTE

CquP again: Teilhard the thinking embodies a stance toward the universe of wonder. But in that wonder, he does not see a neutral pattern working through the algorithms of DNA sequences, crystalline structures, energy waves radiating in and across space, polymerization of molecules, the release of entropy, the settling force of enthalpy. He believes that the Universe (the Godhead) is benevolent toward us and telos-oriented. The goal is a complexifiation that yields love.

The stuff is heady as Mudge says, but optimistic.

And sciency. Teilhard would smile at JA's take on what we know about swine flu specifically and influenza particularly. He would pray that we understand quickly and completely, while working simultaneously to comfort those suffering from it. And, like the Buddhist thought he encountered deeply, he would say that each incidence of suffering invites us to fuller humanity. We can choice to ignore or we can choice to acknowledge the suffering and work within our capacities to relieve suffering. In some cases, T would say (as do other thoughtful people) all we can do is suffer with the other. That is what compassion means: to co suffer.

Good quote Jumper; hi bia. Coming from Montana to MD, I gagged on my first Eycce Tee. Let that voice go long on the Ice. Also, I hear the mid Atlantic voice say ice not iced. Being of the ol sod people, as Ricoshea is, tea is hot. Preferably Barry's Gold if you can get it. Red Rose will do, plus the ceramic dainty inside is an adult Cracker Jack moment.

I like sun tea, no sugar no lemon.

This is a really good article. The point I found most striking was the suggestion that the low fatality rate outside of Mexico might be characteristic of the virus overall, and Mexico is different just because the virus has been there longer and has infected many many people there, most of whom never came to the attention of the medical authorities. All proper caveats apply, of course, but that idea sounds plausible.

Bill Maher really took on the creationists on his program last night, jokingly saying that if creationists don't believe in evolution--which viruses clearly do, they evolve--then should an evolutionist get sick with swine flu, her/his medical treatment should be limited to praying. Uuuhhh, no Tamiflu or Relenza for the flu-stricken anti-Darwinist, no way.

Maher also took aim on the naming of the swine flu virus, saying that its mutated AND government-issued name of A/H1N1 is a result of lobbying of the federal goverment by the pork industry. Guess Maher's been reading the WSJ, specifically "Pork Lobby Bristles at Swine Flu Label." (April 28, 11:01 p.m.):

"The vast amount of material in it is in pigs," said Michael T. Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.

Since the flu outbreak made headlines last week, the National Pork Producers Council has pestered health officials to stop calling it swine flu. "The whole industry is talking to the USDA and the White House," an industry lobbyist said. The American Farm Bureau Federation issued a statement Tuesday suggesting "hybrid influenza" is a more accurate term than swine flu.

Smithfield Foods Inc., the biggest U.S. pork concern, prefers to call the disease "North American influenza." Swine flu "just has the wrong name," said C. Larry Pope, Smithfield chief executive officer.

The WSJ also reported about the first cases of swine flu in California that erupted in two kids 160 miles apart, days before the swine flu also broke out in Mexico. The nugget I pulled from that reporting was just how early the CDC knew about these unusual cases of swine flu, and apparently did nothing but sit on the information.

The NYT editorial board piggybacks on the WSJ reporting in an outstanding op-ed today at the NYT. The informative, insightful NYT op-ed, "A Spotty Response to the Flu Threat," is a must-read, in my opinion. Judge for yourselves:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/02/opinion/02sat1.html?_r=1

"The causes of the delays are not yet clear, but the United States itself may have fumbled at the start. The first two cases of the new illness in this country were detected in late March in Southern California. Special diagnostic tests being tested in the state showed them to be an unusual influenza strain. But it was not until April 17 that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified the cause as a novel swine flu virus. Officials will need to explain why it took so long and whether such gaps can be reduced in the future."

Mudge, first PG case of a Laurel child. Montpelier Elementary to close for a scrubbing.

MAJOR correction to the 9:03:

If you'll check my previous posts, I did indeed talk about the possibility that a could mutate to become more benign.

It depends on the nature of the virus. The smallpox virus is an extremely complex, yet extremely stable, virus. The influenza virus is known for its ability to mutate.

As Barry said when interviewed by Fredericka Whitfield on CNN last Saturday, "This chapter in the influenza saga will depend on the virus."

One of the most important questions is why young people in Mexico who came down with the swine virus developed such severe pneumonia. There certainly must be plenty of information in the autopsies performed on these individuals, what physicians observed occurring in the lungs. Viral or bacterial pneumonia? Same incredible destruction of lung tissue as observed by pathologists in 1918?

Why is the kid from the (Rio Grande) Valley (locals here call it, simply, "the Valley") in our local hospital (so very near to us) so seriously ill and in isolation, all docs and nurses treating him gloved andmasked at all times? This certainly can't be your garden-variety old folks pneumonia.

Thanks CqP.

Re "each incidence of suffering invites us to fuller humanity", here is an article on Sri Lanka by Romesh Gunesekera:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/30/sri-lanka-future-ramesh-gunesekera

Here's an important, and particularly good, article about the latest swine flu virus written by a virologist, "A Virologist's Perspective on A(H1N1)" It's written in easy-to-understand language but get ready for new terms such as glycoprotein and virus coats:

http://www.hhmi.org/news/lamb20090501.html

Off to breakfast.

Saw film "State of Play" last night with Crowe/Affleck/Mirren/Penn-Wright. What struck me as the ending credits rolled was how, with the Internet, so much journalism infrastructure--presses, forklifts, trucks, gasoline, paper, plastic, plant are unneccesary.

DNA Girl, very glad to "see" you.

I thought of the knight's lancer after my comment. I was thinking of the awful scene in Braveheart where they use pikes or lances at the last minute on a cavalry charge. Eww.

On the noospherical Oversoul (or Overmind)I have not yet located the Lester Bangs quotes on the O-mind which he of course copped from Emerson. At the time I had a copy of The Varieties of Religious Experience around and knew instantly what the rock writer was referring to.

Mudge,

Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac today has a very nice poem about a little league umpire:

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/

Also, in the hard copy of the paper there's an obituary of a former baseball player who lived a very charmed life. It includes a picture of him arguing with Emmett Ashford during a PCL game. I can't find either the obit or the picture on-line.

Jumper, I went to find WJ's VoRE but it is gone. Should be next to Mircea Eliade'e The Sacred and the Profane.

Hi DNA Girl.

Back to marking papers.

As I recall from reading, the 1918 flu came in two waves. First mild, second nasty. Not saying this is going to happen, but it does seem like obsessive hand washing should continue to be a virtue.

Let's just hope that the world isn't inherited by those with OCD. Although, on the upside, everything will be lined up in very straight rows.

pj - That Jack Lohrke obit was something, wasn't it? "Lucky", indeed!

Here's a link to the Sports Illustrated article which was mentioned:

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1005952/index.htm

Don't know how well I'll do in a world where everything is lined up in very straight rows.

Thanks, Cassandra, breakfast was wonderful.

mudge, you didn't have the WaWa orange drink sold along with milk?

A few minutes after I'd let the dogz in the yard this morning, I looked out. To my surprise, they'd set a play date with the sweet yellow lab 2 doors down (that must have been all the barking last night). Noelle had jumped our fence and they were all having a great time playing tag.

After about 10 minutes her mom called her. Noelle sailed over the fence again and re-entered her yard from behind our middle neighbor's shed; it must have looked like she'd just been a few steps in his yard, instead of participating in a block party.

It's nice when imaginary friends turn real.

Yeah it is, Bob S. He was a very lucky man. Thanks for the link to the SI article.

dbG, did you take pictures? I have a cool vision of the three dogz in my head.

dogZ, we don't no stinkin' dogZ

--Katsu Kitten (frostcat #5, aka the Assassin)

Speaking of the politicization of public health, as I did last Sunday...

Bill Maher *spoken softly*, this one's for you, given several segments of your show last night:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Senate_approves_bill_allowing_ultrasounds_before_abortions.html

AUSTIN — A requirement that women seeking abortions be offered the chance to view an ultrasound of their pregnancies and a new “Choose Life” license plate were approved Friday by the Senate.

Both bills were championed by Gov. Rick Perry, who is stressing his conservative credentials heading into an expected Republican primary battle with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

LL: My husband saw this article first and wondered, brilliantly, when Texas would be offering licence plates with the wording: "Woamn's Right to Choose."

Another story in our local paper, "Swine Flu Infects the Web."

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/Swine_flu_infects_the_Web.html

One ominous message multiplied online this week.

The e-mail, apparently written by an emergency room doctor in New Braunfels, warned that the “deadliness of this virus is as bad here as in Mexico” and “Tamiflu is running out.”

The message was reproduced hundreds of times online. Comal County authorities later refuted its claims, and Dr. Marcus Gitterle himself addressed the uproar in a Friday blog post.

“That e-mail is a very modified version of an e-mail I sent to close friends and family, and it contains additions and modifications that I did not write,” Gitterle wrote on his personal blog, titled “Health-Sense Web Journal: Trying to make sense of the often-confusing health landscape.”

LL: From the movie "State of Play": Never trust an editor *l*

As has been pointed out repeatedly, the "deadliness" of a pathogen can be a tricky thing to figure out. Five folks present themselves at a hospital, they all die, you got yourself a killer! But if it turns out that another fifty thousand folks in the same city were all infected with the same bug, it's a bit tamer. Not much comfort to the families of the victims, though.

Good Morning everyone
Cloudy,but not the predicted heavy rain yet and much more springlike temperates this weekend in west by god.

My cat the Professor and I will departing ways this weekend.Mom had cats for 40 years and doesn't want another.He will be missed.A former girlfriend/vet will be taking him in so he will have a good home with many playmates.

I am stoked for the Capitals/penguins series that starts today.The media is making a big deal out of the matchup of the leagues 2 hot young stars,Sidney Crosy and Alex Ovechkin.But I think it will come down to the other lines against one another(see folks I am learning my hockey lingo)

A nice article about the Caps Mike Green who hails from Yoki's neck of the woods.His mom is a lot like my Mom and get's too darn nervous watching the games.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/30/AR2009043003678.html?hpid=sec-sports

Then there is the Kentucky Derby later today with the early line favourite being scratched this morning.19 horses all vieing for horse racings biggest prize.Me the race is over in a few minutes,I just love all the wild hats!!!

The college laccross regular season ends today with a big game of cross town rivals
Loyola vs Hopkins.It seems like Maryland is again on the Bubble,but unlike basketball several maryland based teams will be in the tournament with UMBC,Hopkins and Navy all considered locks for the 16 field tourney.

frostkatz r welcome 2!

gwe, loved the Professor. Glad he's going to another good home.

Slyness, the camera was upstairs. But it was almost as cute as this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTk8PBcTlF4&feature=related

Feel free to call me pessimistic, but I somehow suspect that today's very moving front-page piece about the Capitals' Donald Brashear will result in a more peaceful on-the-ice existence for him!

Very brave of him to cooperate with the writer. I've got a feeling he's gonna turn out OK.

Ummm... somehow I suspect that it will NOT result in a more peaceful...

Sheesh!

Bob i suspect he will come back from his suspension even madder then before.

so the coach throws something in the stands and hits someone and he gets 1 game.The players hits someone in a hockey game and he gets 6 games?I didn't see the hit though.

ok out to watch the game

Go Capitals!!!!

Joel's article is the top story in the Seattle Times (online) at the moment:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/home/index.html

gwe, hope your move goes well. Sad that you have to give up your cat, but glad he's going to a good home.

thanks, cassandra, for the muffin. :-)

i appreciate this kind of balanced coverage of the swine flu. otherwise, i think it's not worth obsessing over. there's nothing you can do but be hygienic and sensible in your own environment.

another interesting thing about virus evolution that i read about in connection with the avian flu is that lethality to the host is counterproductive to the survival of the virus. iirc, viruses generally evolve towards the more benign since they are more likely to transfer and survive that way than if they kill their hosts, especially if they kill their hosts quickly.

cqp and mudge, thanks for the teilhard de chardin interludes. i may have mentioned before, but one of my main russian peeps for the diss is said to "anticipate" tdc in many ways. russian religious philosophy is essentially a combination of continental philosophy, particularly idealism, and eastern orthodox theology.

LALurker - You may have noticed that most thieves don't kill their victims, for much the same reason. Crime pays just fine, as long as the consequences aren't too severe.

Good point LALurker. Sorta like the Andromeda Strain.

It's been a while since I read up on it, but I'm pretty sure that nearly all human-to-human communicable disease tend to follow (sometimes in fits & starts) the trend that LALurk mentioned. AIDS (even untreated) has been documented to be less quickly & reliably lethal over the past couple of decades.

Small favors...

Howdy y'all. I like this article. Americans are better at enthusiasm - positive and negative - than moderation, and this is a good call for some informed moderation. Wash your hands, wait and see.

It is cool and rainy here. Much of the rain is coming in thunderstorm form, which is quite disconcerting given the temperature. One doesn't associate thunder with this kind of cool weather.

As I was up unreasonably early (that is, at my normal weekday hour) today, I used the extra time this morning to pluck up my courage and clear out Spider Corner on the carport. I'm very pleased with the results, but much insecticide was needed. Now, although I really have to finish writing that final, I'm thinking I might have a nap first.

Scotty, this morning's Grover Wave greeting was among your finest.

C-SPAN is running tape from Friday of a hearing of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection on NCAA BCS revenue. Wow. Looks like perhaps gummint can deal with more than one thorny issue at a time. Who knew?

Ivansmom - In theory, I appreciate spiders. They are wondrous creatures. I'd like to think that we have a live-and-let-live relationship. In practice, I've been known to shriek like an upset toddler if a large one sneaks up on me.

At least as often as not, if I'm taking them on, I go with chemical overkill, or physical bludgeoning more suited to the dispatch of an elk. I'm not proud of this, and I've gotten better over the years. But there ya go!

Bob, considering that Ivansmom deals with what she calls fiddleback spiders, which are what we call black widows, chemical overkill is quite appropriate.

I will leave spiders alone - if they are outside. Inside, I go for the kill, whether with chemicals or bludgeons, depending on my mood.

Oddly enough, when I lived in Del Rio (TX), the tarantulas didn't bother me all that much. They were so large that they didn't seem all that... spiderish?

The black widows & fiddlebacks (both relatively common) I could have done without, though.

A very pleasant day to you as well, Ms. Loomis.

Cassandra, I do so love your way with words.

On virulence:

Loved you, warts 'n' all,
in your cozy cervical,
but one fateful day
our cell control went astray,
now cancer's your (and our) fall

DNA_Girl - An oncological ode... Wonderful!

Thanks, BobS.

For you:

An elk at sunrise
made me spring up in surprise;
Squash! A dear price paid.

Cost of elk meatballs
Can't be too dear when gravy
is in the offing...

-Wilbrodog-

Pardon pool of drool;
Rather involuntary
when deer bells are rung...

-Wilbrodog-

That was a nice nap.

BobS, I tend to let outdoor spiders live while suppressing indoor spiders, mainly because our indoor spiders are fiddlebacks, also known as the Brown Recluse. Spider Corner - by the front door - was a haven for some harmless outdoor spiders, plus fiddlebacks and black widows. Thus the insecticide.

We once saw, on the carport, the remnants of what must have been an epic battle between a large black widow spider and a small scorpion. They were locked together in death, neither (or both?) the victor.

Or a notably short battle.

Once I had a pump house near the garden and wasps under the eaves. I saw the wasps cleaning my vegetables of all vermin and so I never knocked down their nests there. At the house I was less forgiving.

Attended orientation this morning for the county's Medical Reserve Corps. I am a non-medical volunteer to be called up in case mass medicine dispensing is required (because of a small pox or anthrax attack, pandemic, etc). I've been on the rolls for a couple of years but I guess this latest news has gotten them to schedule the orientations at easier times for folks to make them.

It's nice to know if something happens I'll actually be doing something to help. It's easy for anyone to get involved. These MRCs are being formed all over the country... you should look into volunteering yourself.

http://www.medicalreservecorps.gov/HomePage

Anyone have Mine that Bird in the derby? 50-1 shot pays over $100 on a 2 dolar bet.

Oh and I loved the hats.

No, gwe, I was going with Papa Clem, or Dunkirk (because I like grays). As usual, I'm terrible at picking the winner. Not that many others were better today.

Missed the Derby altogether. I need to be striped of my horse racing fan license.

Truthfully, Eight Belles was rough to watch last year, and right after Barbaro, too.

SCC: stripped.

Good evening, all.

A fun day with the girls, topped off with wine-poached salmon and seared garlicy green beans for dinner. And I didn't spare the lemon or garlic in either case.

The kids learned a valuable lesson this evening, too: tapioca shreds look good, and yes, you see them in some desserts with coconut milk, but they don't go well with chocolate ice cream.

Mine that Bird and the Caps' win, how about those, sports fans?

bc

Kicking myself for missing the Derby, but I spent a very happy afternoon with #2; that outweighs the oversight.

Congrats Caps fans! Something about the Ovechkin/Crosby matchup seems epic.

I have been washing my hands, often and thoroughly though not obsessively, and I'm feeling fine about the probabilities.

Looking forward to seeing a friend later on. A perfectly balanced day. Happy Saturday evening to all.

Padouk, the Spanish Flu had at least three waves. The deadly second wave died out all of a sudden (meaning, over a week or two, which is short). Then there was a period of a few weeks when there appeared to be nothing new happening. Then, in late November a third wave erupted, lasting into January and february of 1919. This was also a pretty deadly wave, although not quit as bad as the second. After the third wave died out, there were no more identifiable "waves," per se, but pockets of it popped up from time to time and in place to place for a year or so afterward. (See Barry, pp. 374-5.)

PJ, thanks for the head's up on that pome. Given the Boodle's propensity for pomesy, I'm gonna reprise it here:

Little League

by Paul Hostovsky

When the ump produces
his little hand broom
and stops all play to stoop
and dust off home plate,
my daughter sitting beside me
looks up and gives me a smile that says
this is by far her favorite part of baseball.

And then when he skillfully
spits without getting any
on the catcher or the batter or himself,
she looks up again and smiles
even bigger.

But when someone hits a long foul ball
and everyone's eyes are on it
as it sails out of play ...
the ump has dipped his hand
into his bottomless black pocket
and conjured up a shiny new white one
like a brand new coin
from behind the catcher's ear,
which he then gives to the catcher
who seems to contain his surprise
though behind his mask his eyes are surely
as wide with wonder as hers.

In theory yello's advice to pretend you're moving in order to clean house is quite good. In practice it really bites. However, the higher quality (and larger) mattress set that awaits all this pain will be worth it-not to mention using the sleeping loft as it was intended instead of as a catch-all and cat condo.

Now to get the guest bed put back together in its new place so I have somewhere to sleep tonight. Mr. F's ancient, and oft maligned by me, recliner is looking pretty good though.

This is the third year in a row I've missed the Derby. I was going to suggest some boodlers well versed in the sport of kings should live blog it. But that was just a dust bunny induced stupor talking. Even in a cobweb daze I see that though it is a long race for a 2 yr old, it is a short race for blogging. I'll fax some girl scout Trefoil cookies to anyone who can score me a medium Dunkin Donuts latte, no sugar.

Mudge-good call (of course) that's such an evocative pome I almost miss yelling "stand up" "leave the dirt on the ground" and "turn around" to the young dott in the outfield.

I almost missed the Derby too. It was a good race - Mine the Bird snuck through on the rail and left them all behind. Glad there were no injuries.

Spent the day hoping the discolored water coming out of the tap would clear up, as the city water person claimed it would. Kind of takes the enthusiasm out of washing hands, not to mention clothes. It's looking pretty normal now...what next?

A real peculiar twist, the latest chapter in the swine flu story...

Researchers have now discovered the first case of swine flu in swine. Where, of all places? Canada.

But it's a recent tale. A worker from Canada (province not stated) went to Mexico for spring vacation or spring break. The age of the individual, presumably a male, isn't given. He returns home from Mexico to Canada and comes down with swine flu. His workplace, however, is a swine farm!

He transferred the swine flu virus to pigs, and about 10 percent of them came down sick, all recovered, but the pig farm is now quarantined.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/world/03swine.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

I've been thinking a lot about Pig Zero. I bet he or she is long gone--probably turned into bacon and pork chops and pork loin and pig's ear and pork rinds and carnitas a long time ago.

Large headline today for the lede story on page A-1: [San Antonio Mayor Phil] Hardberger tells public: 'Let's don't panic just yet.'

My husband immediately quipped, "Can you imagine a headline that reads...
Hardberger tells public: 'O.K., folks, let's panic now'?"

Thank you for reminding me of that there were three waves, Mudge. I guess a flu epidemic can be much like the maniacal villain in a slasher film. Just when you might think it's dead, it really isn't.

I read "The Great Influenza" some time ago, and then returned it to the library. I thought it was excellent, but it did seem to be a bit pushy about the impact of the flu on world events. If I recall, it made the argument that the abortive final German surge of WWI was halted because of the flu, although I do not think this is universally accepted.

Barry also argued, I believe, that the flu was what felled Wilson during the Paris negotiations, which, I believe, is also not known for certain.

Most provocative to me, was Barry's subtle suggestion that the flu made a lot of the survivors just a wee bit insane. Explains a lot, though.

LaLurker:
i appreciate this kind of balanced coverage of the swine flu.

It was interesting what was on the web last Sunday as I was searching for information. Weird theories were already in place a week ago: The emerging swine flu outbreak is terrorism, was one of the oddities I found. Another was that this emerging virus that was making people ill was really a horse virus that someone let loose into the atmosphere, the virus from the three vials missing from Fort Detrick, Maryland. Where do folks get such ideas?

So, when I found the KIrby's reporting on Huffinton Post about CAFOs, I knew this made sense, knowing what I know from years of reading, especially about smallpox in the last five years. There was a video segment on this past week about CAFOs and I can't recall which network--and I believe it's one of these four--ABC, NBC, CNN, or MSNBC--however, the point was that there are regulations in place for these factory farms, but since there are no inspections, there is no reinforcement of the regs since everything is on the honor system. I'd love to see more reporting to verify this claim and determine how the government does indeed handle CAFOs.

Look at the stories recently--FDA doesn't regulate supplements unless the supplement maker makes false health claims, yet Hydroxycut is injurious and dangerous according to the same agency. The swine flu pandemic, quite possibly originating in a factory farm--either here or outside our borders. Peanut processors in George not reporting problems in their plants and killing a few and sickening many more with salmonella.

Perhaps the Germans not halted, but an offensive made more difficult, more challenging?

I want to return to a nugget fron the Roy (N. Grist?) letter mentioned in "The Great Influenza" that I've been turning over in my mind for several days now. Also another possibility about who Burt, the recipient, may be. Not tonight, waaaay too long of a day.

breaking news Jack Kemp died today

The Republican party is shrinking like the economy. Just an observation ....

hee hee, rainforest. You rawk.

Who, please, is Jack Kemp?

Jack Kemp was a Republican politician:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/02/AR2009050202501.html?hpid=artslot

He was a football quarterback, then a Congressman, ran for President. He was Dole's VP when Dole ran against Clinton in 1996. Too conservative for me, but more of a moderate than the current bunch of Republicans (or so I remember).

Talk about worlds colliding -- we had a Jack Kemp BPH sighting once.

Quite a busy Saturday! NukeSpouse and I did manage to catch the Derby live -- I about jumped out of my seat when Mine That Bird made his move on the rail! The overhead replay made it clear Borel had a relatively easy path up to the leaders, but WOW, that was a tight squeeze into the lead! Nice backstory too with the former rodeo cowboy trainer and all.

And let's hope the NFL can save some excitement for the actual season!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/02/AR2009050201735.html

I'm glad no one was killed!! :-O

In NH news, please allow me to give many enthusiastic thumbs-DOWN to this idea:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2009/05/03/a_new_age_vision_for_the_old_man/

I dun theenk lots of glass would do all that well in Franconia Notch... *rolling my eyes*

But I think Justice Souter will do just fine, thank you.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/02/AR2009050202248.html

bc, sorry about the tapioca but sounds like a good weekend otherwise!

The front page continues to link to the last Kit for some reason. *shrug*

*looking-at-a-fairly-relaxing-Sunday-for-once-and-not-minding-a-bit-and-quite-certain-this-won't-rate-as-highly-in-Ivansmom's-estimation Grover waves* :-)

'morning all.
It's the swines that should keep their distance with those infectious humans...

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Health/Swine+cases+jump+Canada/1558053/story.html

Good morning, all.

One other small Boodle-related item re. Jack Kemp - TBG and I spotted him at the bar across from our table during a BPH some time back. Perhaps he was checking us out, trying to gauge if we were freaks or something. Never did find out what he thought, but he didn't come over to introduce himself (The sound of "Mianus" isn't for everyone.)

Seriously, I think he was well liked on both sides of the isle despite his association with Reagan, service in the HW Bush Administration and time playing in the Canadian Football League.

bc

Jack Kemp is but one interesting character we've spotted at a BPH. There was the guy in the bowler hat we had to refrain Son of G from asking for his Grey Poupon. Then, of course, there's The Guy We See Every Time, often trying to pick up young women. Eww.

Dr G and I had dinner last night with the parents of Daughter's friend... the two girls have been trying to set up a "play date" for a while and after spending an evening with them I can see why.

Both parents are Canadian! The mom moved to the US as a young child, but the dad is from Montreal and still a Canadian citizen. I think they thought I was weird for having so many Canadian friends, but it was fun making new friends and we spent a great evening laughing and telling the old stories to someone new.

I did mention the Canadian friends, but not the part about y'all being imaginary. I do want them to continue to let their daughter hang out with mine.

SCC: the fact that the parents are Canadian is not the reason the girls set up our play date... it's because we got along so well!

Quite so. Their Canadianness is just a bonus.

Morning. The London Symphony Orchestra wrapped up its five performances in Daytona Beach last night. Fair amount of coughing from the audience, but it was a full house, so I don't think we have an unpublicized epidemic.

I kind of doubt that funds will materialize to allow another visit by the orchestra, which has been coming to Daytona in odd-numbered years since the 1960's.

Morning boodle! The rearranged furniture must have discombobulated the frostcats, they let me sleep until 7:00.

A look at the Strib shows nothing interesting seems to have happened the last few days in Minnesota. We are waiting for the Franken/Coleman recount case to be settled and our legislature to vote on a budget that will a. slash services b. raise taxes or c. both a and b.

As state gummint is making cuts, we found out this week that an endowment our nonprofit has relied on to send up to a dozen kids to the local community college 2 week summer program has no $ to give this year. It was a small legacy left by a mom who died young with children still in the local elementary school-but we were still able to count on about $1400 a year. If the economy turned around on a dime today it would still be a couple years before we could tap the income. On the bright side, not transporting the kids 50 miles each way for two weeks will reduce our carbon footprint.

Found
Ron Koertge

My wife waits for a caterpillar
to crawl onto her palm so she
can carry it out of the street
and into the green subdivision
of a tree.

Yesterday she coaxed a spider
into a juicier corner. The day
before she hazed a sail
in a half-circle so he wouldn’t
have to crawl all the way
around the world and be 2,000
years late for dinner.

I want her to hurry up and pay
attention to me or go where I
want to go until I remember
the night she found me wet
and limping, felt for a collar
and tags, then put me in
the truck where it was warm.

Without her I wouldn’t
be standing here in these
snazzy alligator shoes.

Soooooo boodlish, I had to post it. Found on 3QD.

Scroll at the bottom of the MSNBC screen at the top of the hour:

Iraqis killing wild boar to prevent spread of swine flu

I you ask me, I just think the good ol' Sunni, Shiite, and Kurd boys wanted to get out and get away for a hunting weekend. And imagine, the men are out trying to kill wild pigs instead of each other!

Lede story on the top of our metro page today about the flu that has killed more (still a handful of deaths) and sickened more (many more) than swine flu locally. I mentioned midweek Sig Christenson's reporting midweek about adenovirus serotype 14 (AVS14?) at Lackland AFB. The story at the top of metro is recycled but this morning put in a far more prominent place in the paper. The number of cases on the nearby Lackland Air Force base demonstrates, in my opinion, once again the fact that flu circulates in confined spaces. I didn't provide the link to Christianson's reporting last week, but will give the link this morning to today's story:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/military/Boot_camp_flu_back_at_Lackland.html

Besser, Napolitano and Sebelius making the rounds of morning TV talk shows this morning. Stephanapoulos saying something about the flu not spreading that easily, at which point he was immediately corrected by Dr. Richard Besser, acting director at the CDC, who said that the swine flu *does* spread quite easily. However, the cases in the United States aren't causing severe illness.

I presume that the CDC is beginning to get caught up at its labs in Atlanta (but who knows without numbers) with the backlog of testing the nose and troat swabs taken from suspected swine flu patients nationwide. Besser said on George S.'s show that the CDC will be releasing today the names of more states where swine flu is now present.

Dr. Pepper artifact may reveal soft drink's origins:

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/Dr-Pepper-artifact-may-reveal-soft-drinks-origin/uWb9aLqKkkKaS4Qoq8mn_Q.cspx

First two grafs:

DALLAS (AP) - Poking through antiques stores while traveling through the Texas Panhandle, Bill Waters stumbled across a tattered old ledger book filled with formulas.

Suspecting he could resell it for around $1,000, he paid $200. Turns out, his inkling about the book's value was more spot on than he knew. The Tulsa, Okla., man eventually discovered the book came from the Waco, Texas, drugstore where Dr Pepper was invented and includes a recipe titled "D Peppers Pepsin Bitters."

'Morning, Boodle.

Yoki, Kemp was not "just" a quarterback, he was a pretty good one. Played most of his time with the Buffalo Bills, and led them to two AFL championships. (Knowing of your deep abiding love for football, I know you're eating this up with a spoon.) However, you might be interested to know that early in his career, he played for a year (1959) for your very own Calgary Stampeders, and actually played one game before they cut him.

In 1959 you were but a twinkle (real or projected) in someone's eye, so you are forgiven for not remembering his illustrious career in Haute Maine. Oh, and he was also O.J. Simpson's quarterback for a few years, at the start of O.J.'s career.

OK, on to bigger and better stuff.

*************
Today in Nautical and..yadda yadda

May 3, 1798: Congress creates the Department of the Navy as a unit independent and separate from the Dept. of War.
1851: The schooner yacht America, eventual winner of the first America’s Cup Race, is launched at William Brown’s shipyard, 12th St. and the East River, New York City.
1915: The age of aviation antisubmarine warfare begins as German zeppelin L236 drops bombs from 3,330 feet on four surfaced British submarines, slightly damaging the conning tower of sub D-4.
1943: Army Air Corps Lt. Gen. Frank Andrews, commander of all European Theater USAAF forces, is killed in an aircraft accident in Iceland. Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C., is named in his honor.
***************

As you were.

Good morning y'all. Thanks for that pome, frostbitten. It is still cool and rainy here, but the rain is intermittent so the potential for flooding has receded somewhat.

There may be some confusion about CAFOs, which encompass all kinds of livestock. These large operations, corporate in nature, have been around in many US states for years and years. They've been controversial here, too, for environmental and humanitarian reasons. Some state legislatures have enacted strict regulations that essentially keep them out. Where CAFOs exist they are regulated on the state level. For that reason, of course, the nature of regulation varies by state. In some states the Departments of Environmental Quality (or the equivalents) have inspection power and use it. Those departments, and the state Attorneys General, bring suit against CAFOs all the time.

Just listened to an automatic phone call from the Prince George's County School District: my local elementary school is closed for two weeks due to "probable case of swine flu."

Now, the three neighborhood list serves I am on are percolating mostly excited sense-talk. However, a few of the posts are nutty. Homeopathy again.

When homeopathy works, I would think this to be the placebo effect or other complex pycho-physio reaction.

We have also been told to keep any child home with a fever of 100; I guess we all need help distinguishing allergies from colds and flus.

Love the poem, Frosti. Bloom report:

Fully open are Spanish bluebells and one Nicotiana
Native dogwood
White species iris
Purple species iris
Hesperus matronalis (dames' rocket)
Lily of the valley
Honesty
Crested wood iris

In bud are Nigella, Cardinal Richelieu old rose, Shasta daisy, bearded iris, alliums. yarrow (white and and red delight called paprika)

CP... I can't even imagine what a two-week elementary school closing will do to your community.

I understand the reason behind the closing, but so many problems arise.. How are parents going to find daycare for two weeks? What are kids going to DO for two weeks? This is the time of year when kids are taking and/or preparing for standardized tests... what's going to happen in that regard?

Wow.

No blooms to report yet, but-

The hydrangea survived the winter with growth budding from old wood. This is a newer variety that blooms on old and new growth, but not reliably hardy here. No red spears from the peonies yet. This must be the year for at least a single bloom!

Rhododendron buds look like they were blasted by cold. Probably because their snow cover was disturbed by Mr. F's snowshoes. I am trying mightily to forgive, and have even spoken the words. The heart will follow, eventually.

Ephemerals like bloodwort emerged this week. Blooms to pop any hour now.

Columbine, Jacob's Ladder, sedum, and day lilies all up in varying shades of new green. I want a box of 64 crayons all in shades of green, still there would not be enough.

Not a mouse ear of a leaf on the popple (quaking aspen) yet, but all the deciduous trees have that pregnant glow in their swollen twigs. Barring record cold between now and next weekend, there should be at least a haze of leafy grayish green.

Evergreens. Grass. Alder pollen overload.

I gotta find some flowers-in-waiting like Frostbitten says.

frosti, there are probably 6 DD's within 3 miles. I'll fax you whatever you want, whenever.

TBG, it's your hallmark that you're always doing something to help, and we heart u 4 it.

I've also been trying to follow Yello's example. Yesterday, the PBP's (Pretty Big Puppy) mom came over with her, and we worked in the backyard while the dogs ran for 3 hours (well, Cutter mostly rolled in the grass). We got the covered porch cleaned out, big broken branches cut down from the pear tree, some boxes from the garage unloaded, everything packaged up for the trash/recycling. At the end of the day, neither of us had ever seen PBP so tired. Emma was still RAMPing around with her lab endurance. My friend, PBP's mom, should not be a manager at the IRS--she should be hiring herself out to come in and organize people's homes. I have a good work ethic. Hers is awesome.

I'd done the dining room and kitchen last week, will work on other rooms today and tomorrow, as soon as I drive through DD for the mayor.

Thanks dbG-a small latte no sugar now, and maybe a large later if you're going that way. Really need the caffeine fortification as I'm headed up to the sleeping loft to finish the rearranging and get some things prepared for donation. At least it's warm enough to have windows open for true spring cleaning ambience.

Chris Buckley on c-span for those who are interested.

I've been cleaning things out too, although at this point, I feel like I'm just moving piles around. Eventually some piles will leave the house. I need to clean out the desk upstairs so I can start putting stuff from the desk downstairs into it. And that means shredding.

I like hearing about the flora (and fauna) everywhere. Makes the spring stretch out, which is lovely. We're having a surprise sunny day at the moment...was supposed to be rainy.

Uh, gee. Hmm.

In bloom here:

Rhodorooters
Clymenestra
Climbing hysteria
Colorectals
Weeping petunias
Sagamore
Triscuits
Purple Sage (writers of)

OK, I don't know doodley about no plants. Just wanted to hold up my end of the conversation, and I like reading you guys' plantasia updates.

We did some major, major damage to the family budget at the wine festival yesterday. Came back with 34 bottles, probably 10 different kinds/types. Got a whole case from my favorite, Stone Mountain Vineyards, plus some from Chateau Morristee, which is a vineyard closely associated with service dogs. The two wines we bought from them were "Our Dog Blue," a riesling blended with vidal and traminette, which we've had before and like a lot, and a blush called "Blushing Dog." Very nice. We also got some very nice wines from Burnley in Barboursville, who always have some very good stuff (and they even have a guest house on site). We got some of their Rivanna Sunset. Their Spicy Rivanna is a great October wibne, terrific for drinking warm (already mulled). Their Moon Mist is one of the best dessert wines I've ever had.

Cooper Vineyards is also one of our favorites, and we learned their dessert wine, called "Noche" but nicknamed "knock-knock" (from mispronouncing noche noche) won some contest's "best in show" wine. So we tried it. It is a chocolate infused dessert wine, and to die for. This stuff should be outlawed. Bought two bottles. Got three other bottles of a chocolate dessert wine called "Aurora," which was just released two days ago. Also to die for. A sip of either one will buckle your knees.

Noche Noche
(who is there)

A bon mot to the boodler who can finish this.

TBG -- that school population can deal fairly well. The next school over in Riverdale Park would really struggle because the demographic is very, very different.

I think one advantage to this entire situation is that we are rehearsing our local and global systems. And, this rehearsing is taking place within a crisis the dimensions and reach of which we do not know yet. Pesky, tea-leaf reading is.

Having said that this school population can deal does not mean I am insensitive about the level of dislocation. Does anybody know about fed. leave policies for this? As in, this soft quarantine requires that parents stay home. I think staying home is the point, without a passel of other kids, so too limit the secondary vector cases?

Although, in terms of herd immunity, I suspect that exposure to the virus is one way we build resistance in our library of immune responses.

Our triscuits are a little soggy today, Mudge. We're enjoying the blooming onions though.

That Joel fellow is, like, on *fire*

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/03/AR2009050300791.html?hpid=topnews

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/osceola/orl-bk-cougar-escapes-050309,0,776250.story

Two friends came across one of these in the Florida woods around 1970. They were surprised.

CquaP, I believe the president has pretty much bypassed OPM in decreeing liberal leave for Feds affected by the flu response.

Indeed Joel is, RD_P. Or perhaps it would be better to say his keyboard is. :-)

Does he have blistahs on his fingahs?

Did you folks see the Luis Ramirez story/verdict? About as encouraging as the polls showing the more you attend church, the more likely you are to support the use of Torture by the US Govt.

What we need is less license plate ethics and morality ...

Noche Noche
who's there?
greenie

greenie who

greenie,beanie,meanie(not) somewhere inbetweenie
easy,peasy not japaneesy
old,cold,bold,gold or so i am told
it is me
mr. greenie

And the home page is STILL linked to the previous Kit... *raised eyebrow*

Friday morning I got a call from the school district custodian supervisor before I had even had may first cup of coffee to report immediately to a middle school to disaffect some classrooms. Oh Oh, swine flu right here in the banana belt. But when I got there it was just two of us retired substitutes given buckets of two kinds of disinfectants to sponge down all the desks, chairs and counter surfaces in five classrooms a girl had been in the day before. School was off here Friday for some pre-scheduled administrative thing so one one was at the school except some few teachers doing catchup admin stuff. When they saw us, it was the same reaction, Oh Oh swine flu???
I asked the guy that gave us the buckets what were disaffecting for and my poor hearing thought he said SARS virus. What? No, he said MARS virus, something to do with staph. When I got home I tried to google mars virus and got some kind of science fiction stuff about a virus from Mars. It was MRSA and it is a bacteria not a virus that 30% of the population have on their skin. Often misdiagonised in teenagers as acne. I think the school admin is a bit sensitized.

Anyway much needed rain here in the banana belt this morning. The local weather station was reporting rain at the rate of a half inch per hour for brief period at 8:00 am. By 9 it was just a mist and now the sun is trying to break through.

bh72... my co-worker's mom just died from a MRSA infection that spread into her brain. It's scary stuff, really. Can mostly be pretty benign, but watch out when it decides to rampage... right, Mudge (owner of The Leg Formerly Known as the Good Leg).

Any of you a micro-burst cleaner like I am ... once or twice a day, I will do 10 to 20 minutes of intense cleaning.

I am thinking that it pays dividends even if you don't spend that much time as with a big cleaning weekend.

That is my break time... veg time.

OR, I could just consider dropping by Mudge's to work my way through some of his bottles.

There was a roof collapse of some kind at the Cowboys' training facility. Not that I want anyone seriously injured, but this is the kind of thing I used to wish for as a kid.

The roof collapse was yesterday, right, TBG? It was a tent-like structure that a microburst got hold of. Scary looking - a couple of people seriously injured (as of last night).

I have to time my inside cleaning with the weather - trying to work outside as much as possible when it's dry. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Anyone see the bleach bath suggestion for skin infections? As usual, many caveats for crazies who think more is better...
http://www.physorg.com/news160028982.html

I survived! I survived!

It was a marathon day at church - arrival at 8:30 to facilitate a meeting, then worship, then lunch with auction to raise funds for the mission trips the high school kids do each summer. At 2:45, I announced that it's Mr. T's birthday and I left. I hadn't seen him but briefly all day!

The mission auction is truly a labor of love: the high school kids go somewhere and do a week's camp with children one year, and build a Habitat house the next. They've been as far as Boston and New York to do the camps, and they go to the Charleston area to build the houses.

Fortunately, the local Habitat chapter's CEO is a member of the church, and he and a crew work with the kids to build the walls and trusses which are shipped to the site. They actually frame, roof, and install siding, windows, and doors in a week's time. It's a fabulous experience for them and well worth the time and expense.

But I'm sooo glad it's over for this year!

Did someone say cleaning? I just finished the porch/sunroom. Didn’t do quite as thorough a job as I usually do, I skipped the windows, but I got into the corners and moved furniture. It isn’t a good weather day, overcast and just started sprinkling, but fairly warm for this area, so I figured if I got it clean now, I could enjoy it when the weather is more ‘porchy.’ I moved some plants out there too, they need to toughen up.

The first communion veil lasted until five minutes after she got home, the dress about 20. The service was very nice but very long, too much singing of not very inspired music. As the granddaughters had a ‘moon walk’ to jump in, and a new kitten to play with, the day pretty much became a zoo, assisted by the 12 or so of their cousins, all under 12.

It was fun to see a horse come from last place to win. It was scary to see the video of that Cowboy facility collapse. It was extra fun to see the Celtics win game seven and move on.

Phys-org worst case scenario flu
http://www.physorg.com/news160327953.html

Confess up, Mudge.

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/090502/cx_fminus_umedia/20090205

I would happily confess, Wilbrod, except that my *&$#@%$ system won't display that cartoon, so i don't know what I'm confessing to. I'll check tomorrow at work. (But I'm probably guilty, whatever it is.)

bh, with your bad hearing, I'll be that person said "norovirus," not SARS virus. Norovirus tends to be pretty mild, but it also tends to sweep through schools like crazy. The good news is that it is readily killed by exactly what you were doing-swabbing everything down with chlorine-based disinfectants.

For some reason it also attacks cruise ships--whever youread about some outbreak on a cruise ship, sure enough it's a norovirus.

For further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norovirus

Here ya go Mudge...

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/umedia/20090502/cp.81f740f6842b3956029ea62c8010c399.gif

CquaP, news of your cousin.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/03toibin-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine

It's been a rather linky afternoon.

Mudge, good on ya for the wine purchases. The chocolate stuff sounds heavenly. Burnley is one of my favorite visits--totally family-run.

Blooming in the yard: azaleas, iris, bleeding heart, Jacob's ladder, Joshua's coat. Transplanted a bunch of spreading ginger and liriope into a major runoff area yesterday.

ADHDTV in full deployment. Hockey and golf side by side. Ahh...

Chicken roasting in the oven. Smashed 'taters and roast asparagus to be started in about 45 minutes. Backboodling until then.

Thanks, Y. Have sent it to the hordes. As it happens, I have an artist cousin living and working in NYC. See went to see him speak about two years ago; she introduced himself and he responded to the crowd with:
"Look, in Americay, my cousins are so blonde."

Cousin M and I laugh about this because only a few of us are blonde. Most are as dark as he is, with our men looking very fierce and woolly-browed as he is. I am gingerly, which he also interpreted as blonde.

Will get the book right way, hardcover and full price. Luscious to read as the semester winds down...as in look forward to in two weeks' time.

Colm has a lovely, lovely, voice. Singing too.

Anyone seen Kim lately? I know I've been "out of boodle" lately but I don't know if I've seen any posts from her in my backboodling.

Good question, TBG. I don't know where she is.

I am strongly tempted to join in this cleaning frenzy. However I recognize this temptation for what it is: a heartfelt desire to procrastinate finishing writing this final exam. The hard part isn't writing the questions, it is knowing what the answers are. I can't grade the thing if I don't make up the answers too. At least, not without resorting to dice or other games of chance and I think the school frowns on that.

What time is dinner Raysmom?

Discovered the first flower buds of the Wisteria yesterday, they are popping up all over the vine today - Yea.

Flowering right now - Dandylions

Dinner in about 35 minutes. I'll fax you some--I have plenty. This $%#@ chicken is 9 lbs. More like a small turkey. Dinners this week: chicken burritos, chicken caesar, chicken soup.

Finished dinner not too long ago.

In keeping with the Boodle chicken-for-dinner theme, we had chicken sauteed with artichoke hearts, garlic, white wine and lemon.

I think we'll finish off the last of the homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. Guess this means I'll need to make more ice cream next weekend. Hhhmmmm, what kind? This is the kind of dilemma I enjoy.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying their weekend.

Moose, I will be right over! Possible too, isn't it, Route One friend and boodler.

Kim -- we miss you and need a shout out. Proms and senior-fest underway for sonofKim, no doubt.

Chilly day here means that dinner is baked ravioli; stew in the crockpot for the overnight staff, including Rainforest. Where is daiwanian, too?

MD st. legislature working to give schools a pass for the two-week flu closures...good for that.

CP, come on up! There's plenty!

Or maybe I'll stop by your house. Baked ravioli sounds wonderful.

OK, I'm tired of waiting for the chicken to get done. I've opened the bottle of Gewurtztraminer.

The rare toothed lion dandy flower is in full bloom here, too, dmd. I don't mind so much when they're scattered in the lawn like brass buttons, as CP says. But I have gigundo dandylions amongst flowers, bushes, borders. They're everywhere! (Where is DandyLion, btw?)

That was a good article about Colm Toibin - thanks for the link. Have some of his books on order at the library now.

I love mint chocolate chip ice cream, but I never buy it because Mr seasea doesn't like it (as in, he hates it, especially if it's green). I'll have to get some soon...should be ok if I get him the kind he likes too. I grow some chocolate mint that smells wonderful and isn't nearly as invasive as regular mint plants.

The sun has persisted all day - wonder if the forecast for a rainy week has been updated...

Yoki and CqP- Toibin was on Weekend All Things Considered today. Took a detour on my way home from the store to catch it all. Audio won't be available until later, but here's the link-
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103761998

No chicken for dinner here, we had hamburgers. The homemade type made on the BBQ with fried onions and served on a large kaiser bun. Pretty goods they were.
I've been moving stones all afternoon, I'm pooped. I made myself a promise a few years back not to make one more flowerbed circumscribed by natural field stone. A promise I broke today. Man them stony things are getting heavier every decade.

I've noted that too, shriek. It is as though some mysterious physics is at work, increasing the mass of all kinds of objects, gradually. Everything from rocks to vacuum cleaners get heavier and heavier. I really cannot account for this effect.

A great letter to the editor in yesterday's Strib-

I find it interesting that the first confirmed Minnesota case of H1N1 Influenza A occurred in Rep. Michele Bachmann's district. I'm not blaming this on Michele Bachmann, I just think it's an interesting coincidence.

AMY HUSTON, EAGAN

Did everyone but me see the new picture of our leader at "What Else Joel Writes?" And he has become "Joel L." I am not sure what this means, "Joel A." seemed good to me ---

Joelllllll!

Louis
Leonard
Luke
Lucian
Leopold
Luther
Lloyd
Llewellyn
Leonid

Oh, I tell ya, it's sooooooo nice to be electronically functional again. I was tooling around on the Internet this afternoon when all the links dropped and I couldn't get into my email or nuthin. I rebooted to see if last week's computer horrendousness left any gremlins behind. Nah, it was Comcast. The hockey game between Detroit and Anaheim was going on, and I would check from time to time while I was doing other things. But this time, the screen was blank. Checked with neighbors, who had the same issue. We all called Comcast to complain and then I headed to the sofa to read the paper. When I woke up (really!), I tried the TV and it worked -- the hockey game was just about to jump into the third OT. Cool, I thought, until Anaheim got the first goal in this OT. *sigh* No prob, tho. We've got time, and we've got experience and we've got guts and we've got last year's Cup. So there!

Otherwise, I thought the only thing to do on this perpetually dark, rainy day, after laundry and watering plants, was to take that nap. We oldsters need 'em, right Mudge? (Oops, sorry to wake you up.)

It being Mr. T's birthday, supper was bison burgers. Earthfare didn't have any fresh bison so I had to buy frozen patties which are twice as expensive as fresh by the pound. I love that man enough to pay $4.99 for two 4-ounce patties...

The weather is so nice we were sitting in the yard when the girls came. We got out the folding table and ate in the shade on the driveway. Delightful, although Geekdottir and I had problems lighting the candle on his brownie sundae because of the breeze...

Good grief, we had chicken too, beercan chicken on the grill. I pretty much incinerated it, but it tasted fine. Forecast for the week looks absolutely dismal. I'm glad "S" got all the mulch spread and the grass cut today. Happy birthday to Mr. T.

Happy Birthday to Mr. T.

We has steak this evening - the first time I have had steak in months, baby potatoes, corn on the cob, perfect meal for a nice spring day.

Joel's middle initial is "L"

There goes the joke.

Daughter is taking a 40-hour lifeguard certification course: 10 hours yesterday and 10 today. She'll do it again next week. On the way home she and her dad stopped and got dinner... KFC.

So we also had chicken tonight.

TBG -- CPBoy starts that in two weeks. I just bought his regulation guard-garb and will turn in the work permit on Monday.

Worlds COLLIDE!

For a change we did not have chicken. I planned to cook an eye round roast last night, and roast the chicken tonight, but the roast was not roasted yester-roast. It was well-marinated by today (red wine, homemade red wine vinegar, worchestershire sauce, thyme, mustard - I just threw stuff in). I still have to cook that chicken sometime this week.

Time to finish tidying the house and get the Boy started towards bed. At least I don't have to finish preparing class for tomorrow. Of course, there's still the last question on the final to complete. Arrrgh.

Vaya con queso, all. Buenos gnocchis and fondue.

Mudge,I really enjoy your morning stuff. It goes along nicely with some of the stuff I see on the History Channel, Discover, the Military Channel etc.

Evening all
The professor is in his new home and seemed to be happy.It was sad taking him over there.But it is for the best and when I come back to visit friends,I can visit him.

Still raining here in west by god,with more called for the next few days.

Mudge,we all want to come for a visit and help you polish off a couple of those bottles of wine

I hadn't looked at the "What Else" page since the first time it appeared. I suppose using the "L." keeps us from getting our Joel confused with Joel A. Achenbach or Joel Z. Achenbach...

I can't wait to get back on the chesapeake bay and start catching these monsters,
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/outdoors/bal-sp.thomson03may03,0,6817213.column

or even their little brothers and sisters,Wow and Yum are two words that come to mind.

L for Legumes

Cwabs?

no Yoki Wockfish!!

Aw.

Joel:
Although the United States is past its flu season, the Southern Hemisphere, where the virus has spread, is entering the cold months when influenza can become explosive.

From the NYT story I linked to, about the pigs in Canada, with swine flu. I forgot to mention the following grafs. (Note too that there is bird flu in Egypt that is resistant to Tamiflu.):

“What could indeed happen is that this virus could dampen here during the summer per usual, and go to the Southern Hemisphere and pick up steam there and come back to bite us in our winter season next January and February, and it might come back in a more virulent form,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a public health and infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University. “It’s an influenza virus, and you just can’t predict what those critters are going to do.”

Particularly worrisome is that a seasonal flu strain, common in the Southern Hemisphere and elsewhere, is resistant to Tamiflu, and could in theory pass that resistance to the new virus.

Busy weekend, again. Prom duty started Firday at 5p, lasted until 1.00a, Saturday, home @ 1.30, dogs fed, in the bed by 2.15. Up again at 8, registered our boy for soccer, started laundry, and hit the door to pick up the Beetle at high noon. *hour drive to the guy with the car* Installed new bumpers on the Beetle that I've had for, ummm, 17 years, test drove it to see if everything was satisfactory, drove home, hit the door at 4.40. Washed the skank off of the Beetle. Worked up drawings for a couple of cemetery monuments (my wife and I have a new side job, hopefully one that'll morph into full time work), scarf and barf, out the door again at 6.30 for an appointment to go over said drawings. Home again at 9, tooled around the block with our boy, and discovered that the dome light works in the Beetle!!! I've owned a lot of VW's, but never one with a working dome light. dogs and laundry until midnight. Up for church, back from church, fiddled around with the Beetle for a couple of hours, patching up the heating system duct work under the front bonnet, started to mess with the sunroof mechanism and thought the better of it, R&R a connector on the dome light door switch. Administered the quarterly car wash to our other two vehicles. Back to dogs and laundry.

That *is* a day, jack. I'm tired just reading about it.

But, sweeet car.

And I know a thing or two about your artistic sensibility, and can only say, well done.

Tony Orlando: Knock three times on the ceiling if you want me...
*knock, knock, knock* means you'll meet me in the hallway...

Honk three times if you've got swine flu...

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a=jfed2Beddgc&title=Got_the_flu_Toot_thrice&?vsv=TopHP1

Wellington: New Zealand health officials have told people who suspect they may have swine flu to sound their car horn outside a doctor's clinic three times and wait for help, a newspaper reported Monday.

The "toot three times" policy outlined in a flu management protocol would give doctors or nurses time to protect themselves before escorting patients into isolation, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Wow, GWE, that's some Wockfish-- 55 pounds, 55 inches. And the guy caught it near Sowomons, wheah we keep ouw boat. That would make one heckova (wait for it...) watatouiwwe.

Thank you, dr.

'Night, Boodle, see you tomowwow.

"The number one disease in journalism is the quotation" - Joel Achenbach

Thanks, Yoki. Our designs were a winner.

Toodles boodle and sweet dreams!

Slyness, I assume that you have enjoyed your special evening, but I will fax you cheaper and fresh bison burgers ASAP from my shop.

Supercomputers (ahem!) enlisted to predict the spread of emerging viruses:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/04/health/04model.html?hp

I'll let you figure out how the article got its title, "Predicting Flu with the Aid of (George) Washington." Hint: the rag paper for one bucks produced by the Loomis-descended Cranes of Dalton, Mass.

Creative, clever, smart and sassy reporting. Mi gusto mucho.

Hit and run backboodling because my weekend was busy but in an entirely different way than jack's. We were in NYC and found reasons to be on Bleecker Street on three different occasions.

On Friday, we say 'Rock of Ages', a Broadway musical inspired by 80s hair bands. Not to be confused with 'Hair' which is on Broadway as well.

Yesterday we strolled around the financial district waterfront and SoHo with a college friend of my wife's WHO has come out of the closet. Actually, he came out 25 years ago, we're only just finding out about it. My wife discovered him through the miracle of Facebook. A surprisingly large percentage of my wife's Facebook friends are gay. Not that there is anything wrong with that; I'm just worried that I'm next.

Today it was a 42 (THE Answer) mile bike ride in the drizzling rain that included crossings of the 57th Street Bridge (Feelin' Groovy) and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. I wore out my brakes on the slippery treacherous downhills.

The key to making sweet tea is to add the sugar before the tea cools. Otherwise not enough sugar dissolves to get that bug-eyed puckered-lip reaction. Which is why you have to add fake sweeteners to iced unsweet tea. (Yes, 'unsweet' is the technical name for the way Yankees drink their tea.) The Sweet Tea Line runs from the Carolina coast to just north of Richmond and then through Tennessee to the Tex-Arkana border.

And for fans of *MPs, check out today's Cathy:

http://www.gocomics.com/cathy/2009/05/03/

Now to bed, it's been a long day.

The NY Times gave "Rock of Ages" an extraordinarily happy review.

The Times also has a photo of Justice Souter's home in New Hampshire. In Florida, such decay would be rewarded with huge homeowner insurance payments, based on the reasonable assumption that windows will blow out and/or the roof will fail during the next hurricane. Justice Souter's house needs shutters or hurricane glass, a new roof (steel would be appropriate), and probably a generator combined with a supply of fuel.

Morning, Boodle. I've got breakfast all set up; some scrambled eggs in a chafing dish, another with chicken/apple sausage patties, a nice Greek salad and a cheese platter, a large fruit bowl, assorted breads with Dutch unsalted butter and Swiss black-cherry jam (Seville marmalade too!), both tea and coffee and big glasses of cold milk for those who prefer it; help yourselves to what pleases you.

I have a soft spot for bread. And scrambled eggs, too.

It has been a scorching week. Most of the plants look like they are going to have a heat stroke except for tecoma stans. It seems the hotter the weather the brighter the yellow becomes. I drove passed a house that has 2 rows of flowering tecoma stans with brilliant yellow flowers. They were beautiful.

My lilies are blooming. I have a couple of pots of hosta. The sun has dried up their leaves, but I think they are still alive. Most of the crab weeds on my front yard are being toasted by the hot sun. I hope they’ll die off, but I don’t think they will.

'Morning, Boodle. Oh, my, Yoki! I'm speechless (because I'm stuffing my face). Great breakfast. But how the heck am I gonna get anyone to leave the Ready Room? Ah, the many hardships of Dawn Patrol command. Somebody pass me that Swiss black-cherry jam, please.

Our JA has yet another page flu story. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/03/AR2009050300791.html?hpid=topnews

*****************
Today in Nautical and Aviation History

May 4, 1626: The Dutch Transport Sea-Mew arrives at New Netherlands (later called New Amsterdam, and then New York), delivering its new governor, Peter Minuit; two days later Minuit purchases the island of Manhattan for $24 in beads and trinkets from the Rockaway, Montauk and Canarsee tribes (none of whom owned Manhattan anyway).
1982: Destroyer HMS Sheffield (Capt. Sam Salt) is hit by an Exocet missile fired from an Argentine aircraft six miles away (considered “point blank range” under the circumstances), killing 21 during the Falklands War. The ship sank six days later while being towed to England.
*************

*Sigh* Yoki, I won't be able to eat another bite all day long! Not that that's a bad thing. Breakfast was fabulous, thank you!

GWE, would you please send some of that rain this way? Eighty percent chance last night and we got nuttin.

Yello, I bow to you superior knowledge about the sweet tea belt. My sister-in-law, who grew up in Prince William County, never had sweet tea till she came south to our mother-in-law's home. Richmond must be the line of demarcation.

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Morning, friends. Thanks DNA girl, lurker, and dgb. Yoki, so many choices, I don't know where to start first. Simply delicious.

A busy weekend for me, and time for the end of the year tests for the kids, so a busy week.

Mudge, Slyness, Scotty, Martooni, Yoki, and everyone, have a great day. *waving*

Slyness, we got just a little bit of rain Saturday, hoping for more. Of course, I could do without the thunder boomers, but no one asked me.

Good article on swine flu, JA. I'm hoping this thing goes away, and if not that, I'm hoping it's mild.

Time to start.

For heavens sake, my manners are completely slipping!

Thanks Weed, for the offer of bison burgers! This is the first time Earthfare has failed to have fresh bison when I needed it. The butcher said it would be in stock Wednesday, but that obviously didn't work for a Sunday celebration. The frozen burgers were just fine, but expensive.

Good Morning all. This morning I am off to teach a class I am occasionally asked to do. It is informally called "Think like a Scientist." That I have anything to teach these shockingly-bright young people often seems absurd to me. But they humor me, and sometimes there are cookies.

First, though, I must partake of some toast with marmalade from the ready room. And lots of hot steaming coffee.

Jack I will no longer think about complaining that my weekends are too busy - Wow.

Good luck with the side business, we designed my parents monumnent.

Swine Flu Isolated in Aberta Pigs. Prime Minister sick with 'worry'.

In what would be the first reported case of its kind, a farm worker with the swine flu virus is believed to have infected about 200 pigs in Alberta, a top official with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Saturday.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/05/02/swineflu-ns-cases789.html

I meant to say I have a weakness for bread. And pastries. And anything deep fried.

I think I remember Boomslang...

Anyway, there was also chicken involved at our dinner last night, but it was prepared in a professional kitchen. NukeSpouse and I joined bc for a movie and a visit to the local diner. We all enjoyed "Wolverine," although I had to be restrained when the plot line wandered over to Three Mile Island. bc and I also had an interesting discussion regarding digital representations of well-known actors -- LOTS of data wrangling in that film.

*disappointingly-soggy-but-it's-Monday-whadda-ya-expect Grover waves* :-)

The test for the Sweet Tea Line is to ask the waitress for tea and taste what gets delivered. In some border territories or places that cater to northerners they will ask "Sweet or unsweet?" If they bring out unsweetened tea and some packs of CarcinogicSweetner(tm), run, do not walk, out of there.

I was exposed in an Italian restaurant in Atlanta as a Yankee (the waitress's word) because I asked for 'iced' tea. To a true Southerner, even that adjective is redundant.

Good morning, you all.

Iced tea in a blizzard, yello, I'm a true southerner. :-) Lemon, no sugar.

Mind you, the pigs are calling it Human 'Flu.

'Rock of Ages' was delightful and I expect it to garner many nominations for the upcoming Tony awards. Since we have some professional level costumers and other fashionistas with a sartorial bent among us, I will focus on that aspect.

The show exhibits a painstaking approach to verisimilitude as it recreates the now forgotten era of the late 1980s, particularly in and around the Sunset Strip of LA during the heydey of hair metal. Authentic touches include denim jackets, leather studded accessories and 3/4 sleeve softball jerseys with double entendre logos. Replicas of which are available at the gift shop and while the exact phrase is unprintable in this august forum it is available at this link:
http://www.rockofagesmusicalstore.com/Default.aspx

The costuming also takes in other eras such as the suede fringed jacket of the aging hippie owner of the Bourbon Room and the tie-dyed apparel of the ditzy Grateful Dead-following crusader.

Since several scenes take place in a exotic dancing establishment, particular care has been taken to replicate the attire of dancers versed in the gymnastic talent of rotating on a narrow cylindrical support column to the works of Whitesnake. There are enough lacy underthings in this show to fill a lingerie museum exhibit. So much so that my wife mildly regretted paying extra (against my wishes) for third row seats.

I might as well mention the choreography which sought to capture the predominant dance styles of a certain milieu, particularly the 'lap dance'. I thought it very open minded of the parents of the three tween-age girls near us to expose their children to such an important history based performance. It's never too early to expose your children to culture.

I do not expect any original song nominations for the show since nearly all the songs were composed over twenty years ago. A couple of songs are credited to that under-appreciated duet of Michael Leslie Jones and Louis Grammatico. Perhaps one day their names will be as recognizable as Kander and Ebbs or Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Hey, Frosty, I thought I heard on the news the other day that the next round in the Franken-Coleman battle won't be until a court hearing in June. Why such a long wait? Couldn't they expeditie it?

More pick-up lines from the Makin' Bacon Lounge:

'Your pen or mine?'
'I like your lipstick. It makes you look like a hockey mom.'
'Soo-eee!'

Hey Mudge, maybe Franken should have paid the $25 expedite fee?

On a serious note, it would appear to be quite a challenge to unwind all the data that they have to review.

In light of what happened at NY-20 (I think that was the district), you would think that, after a recount, the count is the count.

On the other hand, what the courts and the legislature should do is totally clear up the electoral process. There should be no doubt who won, whether it be by 100,000 or 3 votes.

If we have gotten to the point where the CIA can record and analyze the private conversations on EVERY American, then we should be able to count votes.

Joel, what's the story with the Boston Globe? (other than reading the story)... surely there is a way to resolve!?

Maybe there is a Chrysler-like deal that can be struck with the union.

Buried deep in Howie Kurtz's column is a little news about the massacre at the Sunpapers. The corporate line is that quality will be unaffected since they kept their reporters and mostly fired editors.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/03/AR2009050301914.html

Umbrage explosion in four, three, two...

Canada is the third largest pork producer in the world, behind the U.S. and the EU, so the pig panic--and human pandemic--will really put a economically painful poke in pig exports from Alberta, since China is now banning Alberta porkers.

China also conducting a Mexican round-up, corraling about 70 travelers from Mexico, some in accommodations that would rival sing-sing. One Mexican in China thus far shown to have swine flu. Travelers from China may also be stranded in Mexico. Escalating discrimination?

Speaking of sing-sing, all visits to California state prisons have been suspended because of a suspected case of swine flu at Centinela State Prison in Imperial County. The prisoner, whose symptoms are mild, has been isolated, along with his cellmate.

Why isn't Washington Post reporter Perry Bacon Jr. writing stories about swine flu?

The MN Supremes will be weighing in on Coleman's due process claims (for voters, not himself mind you, and some voters with standing are involved). The 3 judge panel that certified the recount addressed the argument, but of course Coleman feels they erred.

Unlike RT I'm not so sure you can determine a definitive count without possibility of error in a race this close. Although I want Franken to be seated, I think it's just as likely Coleman got more votes. But MN law calls for a count, canvas, recount (automatic if its this close), challenge (if the loser wants one) and appeal (if the loser still wants to forge ahead). Sadly, the winner will be the guy with the highest vote count when the process is all over, if he's also the person with the most votes on election day will never really be known. The last time we went on like this was in the early 60s when the challenger withdrew rather than go this far and the 2nd Sen. was seated in March. If we'd only known then how quickly that one was resolved.

On another note, it's no surprise a decision isn't expected until June. The biggest holiday of the year is in May- fishing season opener. It falls on May 9th this year and I imagine the justices were "up North opening the cabin" Thursday-Sunday this past weekend and will be away from their offices at least Friday-Monday coming up. I'm beginning to think the only people who work on Thursday and Friday in Minnesota from mid-May to Labor Day are those of us who clean cabins and sell bait.

I'm amazed no one has yet asked if Dr. David Brown has fly away hair.

I once heard that corn syrup was a good tea-sweetener. I was reading labels at the store and noticed nowadays they put vanilla in the common brand. Yuck for tea. And there's a lot of furor over corn sugar nowadays that's undeserved. I read that glucose delivers more "sweetness" per calorie than sucrose. (I'm not going to re-research all this now, the intricacies are available.) But I think it said glucose is actually unstable over 140 degrees F. and turns into sucrose then. In any case, more sweetness per calorie (yet retaining some of the sugar rush) might not be a bad thing. I think the deal is, they put corn sugar in so many products that used to not be sweetened, that is causing problems. Like salad dressings, etc.

I drink unsweetened with lemon. And yes, I am a Southerner. Which reminds me, the julep originally was a brandy drink...

Frosty,

I am not suggesting that we can get a system that is absolutely correct or, and this in my mind is most important, guarantees that all those who should have a right to vote and want to vote- vote, but I do think we can agree on a process and a set of terms that most likely will deliver a verdict on who won and who lost.

I totally think that votes should be double-checked if the numbers are close. There should be enough checks and balances in place to know where there is a problem.

If there is an audit of the vote and we see that a vote was miscast or misrecorded, it can and should be corrected on the spot by the voter.

I also think that the voting process is a responsibility of the government that should never allow for tampering.

Frosty, I have grave concerns about the current process, but it isn't like we are trying to improve on the system, though a much more definitive system is possible.

(IMHO)

at least, we can reach a point where we won't have a mis-count or a stolen election.

I think I spied a new kit!

Do not kiss the swine.

New kit, indeed. I'm all alone over there.

Howdy y'all. Jumper, don't get me started on high fructose corn syrup (not to be confused with "corn syrup"). Everyone has to obsess about food some way, and this is ny obsession. High fructose corn syrup has become the bane of my existence. After hours spent reading little teeny tiny print labels I can now tell you that almost all processed food, including salad dressing, most chips and dessert snacks, bread (even "healthy" brands) and many other things have high fructose corn syrup. It is a super-sweetener. Not only does it boost the calorie content, some studies show that it metabolizes more like fat than like other sugars, making it even worse for you. It may not be outright addictive, but routinely eating foods which contain high fructose corn syrup also distorts your taste and appetite expectations.

Foods not containing high fructose corn syrup: Nature's Own brand whole wheat bread, Targer Archer Farms salad dressings (and some high-price salad dressings), Goldfish, pretzels, peanut butter cheese cracker packets (Lance & Tom's); Mott fruit snack treats. It is not possible in a regular supermarket to buy hamburger buns, even "organic", without high fructose corn syrup - except for Target bakery brand (Wal-Mart bakery brand has it).

I prepare most of our food from ingredients I buy so I know what is in it. Every now & then the Boy gets something with high fructose corn syrup, but at least I don't feel like he's ingesting it all the time.

The slaughter at the Balmer Sun has me concerned. As yello pointed out (linked), they laid off a third of the staff, including half the copy desk. But they say quality isn't gonna suffer, since they kept most of the reports and many editors.

Yeah, sure, quality won't suffer. Who needs copy editors anyway?

I know a few of those people up there on the desk, and have met them at copy editor conventions. Poor Balmer. I hope they're OK.

Meanwhile, the consumer affairs woman on the local NBC channel here this morning basically advised people not to buy Chryslers, just in case the company goes into a chapter 7 bankruptcy instead of a chapter 11. Jeez, lady.

I flipped on my webcast of wgbh.org Boston all classics radio and immediately heard (as Yoki knows) one of my favorite composers is Faure...

And a piece in particular, Pavane Op. 50.

Heard a straight up performance of the piece, then went to YouTube and found this: a jazz version from Turkey which I really liked!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36zCiH5GZCg

Are we hiding from the new Kit for any particular reason?