Putin calls US missile U-turn a good start; Now in addition...
Coincidence he decided to announce this on the anniversary of the Russians rolling over Poland? No...really?
Obama is a dick.
Why not repeal the 22nd Amendment so you can! (H. J. Res. 5) Coming to a Hill near you, brought to you by the wonderful Democrat from New York, Representative Jose Serrano. Repeal the 22nd Amendment and be the next Hugo Chavez!!
What is the 22nd Amendment, you might ask? Here you go:
1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
A photo of what's happening in my front yard. Took this with my cell camera. I'm told once it's time to put down the concrete slab for my new porch that I'll be unable to leave for at least 8 hours. The work continues later today (it's early morning) extending the trench under my front windows to where the quasi sinkhole was fixed a couple years ago.
That's directly in front of my drawbridge. You can see it here, this is from when the moat wasn't filled with sand and I had no screen door. But it's still there all the same. Only now it's got a bunch of gravel and dirt from where they hurriedly filled in the path out so I can pay the rent later today.
That's my life for the summer. And they're not done. They still have to give me a new porch, sidewalk, and sodded lawn. This should continue to be amusing.
And I still don't have to mow.
People around here and everywhere else I notice have gone completely apeshit over the swine flu. H1N1 or something like that. Finally I got tired of the speculation and tossing out of random numbers to go and have a closer looksee at what is going on. What I found is a bit amazing, a little frightening, and kinda stupid.
First, let's look at what H1N1 actually means. So many bandy about that little phrase without even knowing what they're talking about. It's scary because it has a couple of ones in it? Please. What this phrase is, is what's called a 'Nomenclature.' They are a designation for the names in which they represent.
H = Hemagglutinin
N = Neuraminidase
These are proteins that are in every influenza A virus. However, they can change over time, or mutate from strain to strain. The number after each letter determines what strain we're talking about.
So ignoring the letters, we get 1 and 1. Which flu strain are those, you might ask? Well, let's have a look at the numbers and what they designate.
Hemagglutinin comes in 16 strains (or subtypes). Each subtype varies slightly from the other and that variation determines what living creature the virus infects. Only H1 through H3 commonly infect humans, but H5, or the bird flu, is known to infect at a very very low rate. [1]
Neuraminidase comes in 9 subtypes. Unlike the above, each number here designates the antibody that each virus neutralizes. Think about it! Viruses with this protein in any designation is designed to completely neutralize the antibodies that will kill it. Neato, huh? Nature kicks balls. Each of these subtypes can be in any particular type of influenza, but when they mix up with a host that matches their strain it can cause a crapton of problems. [2]
Okay, then. What makes H1N1 so damn scary? Why is it different from, say, H2N3? Well, to be totally honest not all strains of H1N1 are particularly deadly. Most of them are the normal flu that anyone gets every so often. The only reason they call it the 'swine flu' is because it has been found infecting pigs. Big whoop. What is scary about H1N1 is that H and N. Even though the strain is 1 (human), slight variations in that 1 (human and how they attack YOU) can cause the virus to be more virulent. To paraphrase Forrest Gump, "H1N1 is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."
If someone tells you that you've caught the flu it's wise to take precautions, to be sure. But it is completely UNWISE to panic and lock yourself away from assistance. Call your doctor. Do what you would normally do for a flu (drink liquids, stay in bed, chicken soup) and if it gets to the point where you say 'wow, this flu is worse than any other I've ever had' it's time to go to a hospital.
And there you go. Completely demystified. Congrats, you now know more about Influenza A Swine Flu than most newscasters. Go you!
[1] April 2006 Molecule of the Month; RCSB Protein Data Bank
[2] May 2009 Molecule of the Month; RCSB Protein Data Bank
That's just awesomeness incarnate. And so very right. Hahahah..pun.
Life is slow with the balance issues here at home. Still no relief in sight, but I guess I'm getting used to it. Laundry day was certainly interesting. Navigating a basement stairwell is exciting when the world is shaking from side to side in your head. It's all done, though, which makes Mom's birthday better. Can't be griping or anything tomorrow. Too important.
Check out the links on the right if you want to know what's going on out there. I haven't kept many links on-hand lately because it's tough to write without feeling like my chair is falling out from under. It'll get better eventually.
There's been few updates lately and for that I apologize. The bad news coming from our government is clearly pervasive in the country's media (assuming one doesn't watch network TV) and I find no reason to compound the issues. It's depressing. I do not want to be depressed anymore.
This dizziness has gotten out of hand. Though, granted, it's a LOT better than it was just a few days ago. It's gone from actual pain from feeling as if my head were spinning in two different directions at once to a general unsteadiness whenever I move. Considering I don't move while I play games, that's pretty much what I've been doing the last few days. The trash needs to go out and I need to sweep the porch. Plus the laundry needs done. I have an appointment to see a local guy about this dizzy stuff. AGAIN. Somewhere, somehow, someone has something that will get rid of it completely.
The MD3 pills seem to be working well. Although I do have an alarming sensation of detachment from time to time. While writing this it feels as if my feet are not mine. Weird. At least I'm conscious of it, though, and according to the literature it should go away in time. No waverings, no rollercoastering, no urges to shop. I like this thing called normal.
On a side note I'm absolutely amazed that anyone resembling a friend continues to speak to me. After the last month of hell I'd have had about enough of me, too. Dizzy, sick, tired all the time, agitated, irritated, and pretty much just ready to put a gun in my mouth. People didn't run away screaming. Amazing. Right now all that's annoying me is a horribly stiff neck, light dizzies, and this fucking fly that just won't die. >_<
If you want to see news articles, here's a good one of John Voight titled 'Is Obama creating a civil war in America? Go read. It's good for you.
