Road Apples, #26

Swine Flu
Lots of stuff in the media about this, and the more fringe the media, the more interesting the stories get. Check out Drudge for a good round-up of the "almost" fringe stuff, along with a story or two about how this is probably the fault of President Obama. Does this kind of thing worry me? Not really, although I will pay attention to the media reports. Society today is so much more mobile than it was during the last big influenza outbreak (1918), although the flow of information is also more mobile as well, so maybe the two will cancel each other out.

In Other Frightening News
The government of Pakistan is at least close to either a major confrontation with Taliban extremists or capitulation to them. People need to pay attention to this issue. The Taliban is a frightening group to say the least, bringing new meaning to the term "extremist". Hell, men can be punished for shaving under the Taliban. On the other side of the balance sheet you have a Pakistani government that has a nuclear arsenal. Do the math...Extremists + Nuclear Bomb = Bad.

Arlen Specter
I make no secret of the fact that I am a very big fan on Arlen Specter. Simply put, I think he is right for Pennsylvania, neither too conservative nor too liberal. The alternative Republican, Pat Toomey, is a headcase, and if he (Toomey) wins in the primary, you can almost guarantee that this seat will a toss-up for a Democrat add. In fact, I've voted for Arlen Specter every time he has been up for re-election, but I'll definitely vote for whomever is the Democrat running if my only other choice is Toomey (conversely, there is no Democrat that I'd vote for instead of Specter). You can see a summary of Senator Specter's voting record here. Look for me to repeat this over and over again...I think this race is that important.

(Not) In Hot Water
The hot water pilot light went out last night, so this morning I had to take a cold shower. My head still hurts from having that freezing water hit it. I did get it re-lit, although it took several attempts. I have this thing where I have to re-set (what I think are) CO2 sensors at the top of the heater...something that I initially forgot to do, and as a result I was contemplating having to call the plumber. Fortunately, as I was looking through my house receipts, I saw this note that I wrote to myself about performing this re-set. Numskull me should have put that note down buy the water-heater. Anyway, I should be glad that I eventually did get it working. I hate plumbing.

The Weekend That Was
Well it was an uneventful weekend, even with a birthday. I celebrated my birthday by mulching the front yard. Cool, huh? It needed it, and I think it does look good.