Category Archives: news

Congo Monkeypox Outbreak

If the situation wasn’t so serious, it’s what Husband would name our new band. But it is and we won’t.

The news from Kinshasa: a monkeypox outbreak in the DR Congo has infected over 220 people and killed at least 22 people since the epidemic began in January.

This is up there with "Bizarre Gardening Accident" or "Unexplained Ravioli Tragedy" in the list of headlines one never wants to see on a story about oneself

“Diving pelican slams into swimmer’s face in Gulf off [tag]Florida[/tag]”.

Raging Grannies on Net Neutrality

The [tag]Raging Grannies[/tag] made a guest appearance outside the latest Net Neutrality Hearings.

Who doesn’t love the Raging Grannies? Aside from a few [tag]FCC[/tag] Commissioners. And the California National Guard. This is old news, but it still makes me shake my head in wonder:

In May 2005, a California group called the Raging Grannies ran afoul of military spies when it helped organize a peaceful Mother’s Day demonstration to protest the war in Iraq. Unbeknownst to them, their action was brought to the attention of a new intelligence unit at the California National Guard — a program that went by the cumbersome title of Information Synchronization, Knowledge Management, and Intelligence Fusion. According to internal e-mails, the Guard forwarded information about the protest “to our Intell folks who continue to monitor.”

Asked why the Guard was spying on the Grannies, a spokesman suggested that terrorists might try to take advantage of the activists. “Who knows who could infiltrate that type of group and try to stir something up?” Lt. Col. Stan Zezotarski told reporters. “After all, we live in an age of terrorism, so who knows?”

But I digress….

You should read up about [tag]Net Neutrality[/tag] at Save the Internet. They’ve got a frequently updated blog, information on how to take action or get more involved in the cause, and video and written transcripts of hearings and events like the one that just took place our at Stanford.

But will they get to use them on the Commander in Chief?

“U.S. Troops to Receive Handheld Lie Detectors”

no no no no no no no no

I’ve been reading a lot lately about the many ingenious (and not so ingenious) ways that people smuggle exotic animals onto airplanes, through Customs, etc. Couple that with my lifelong obsession with the snake situation in Guam, and I’m already twitchy about what might creep into my luggage when I travel.

So as you can imagine, this story made me feel like I was going to shed my skin: “Stowaway [tag]Rattlesnake[/tag] Bites Arlington Man.” Yes, it would appear that the snake actually got into his bag in South Carolina and then the man drove home, but that’s not the point.

meanlouise

neither mean nor louise