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Tuesday evening Ksenia and I went with a few of her friends to a grillout at Mystic Lake. (I hadn't know known that there was a small beach there.) It was a great time but we got eateaten alive by mosquitoes. It wasn't too bad but now the tops of my feet (I was wearing sandals) are itching like mad.

And since Wednesday I feel a bit of something coming on, scratchy throat, just feeling a bit bleh... and of course I'm not just a neurological hypochondriac... Lyme's? West Nile? Yikes!

Actually I've heard two different opinions about why you don't hear much about West Nile these days. Tim at works thinks the government has done a good job at eradicating mosquitoes where and when migrating birds (which can be a significant carrier ) flock. My yoga instructor/physician John thinks that at this point many people have been exposed and are now immune, and that overall it wasn't the danger that it was made out to be, at least for non-at-risk groups.

I understand that a virus that's too effective at killing doesn't last all that long, because it flares up and takes out its host group. I still wish I had a sense if there was something intrinsically difficult about having a virus that spread like the flu but had the latency and mortality rate of HIV...

FUN FACT: Today's mosquito cartoon is a semi-deliberate effort for Kirk to get back into adding cartoons to entries on a regular basis... in part to help justify the purchase of the touchscreen computer he wants to buy!

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Scandal of the Moment
Reading about people all up in arms about FEMA debit cards used to buy porn, jewelry, etc just reminds me of that Kathleen Madigan line:

I always give homeless people money, and my friends yell at me, "He's only going to buy more alcohol and cigarettes." And I'm thinking, "Oh, and like I wasn't?"

People are angry with FEMA but I think that the defence they're using is eloquent and true: there's a tradeoff between getting people aid in a timely fashion, and some fraud or waste occurring. Besides, FEMA didn't becomes these people's nannies... I'm sure some people were perfectly eligible for assistance, but given that some might have stayed in New Orleans by choice, they might not be the best decision makers in the world, so buying champagne at Hooters might be par for the course. Or they just need a break!

By the way, are the "Girls Gone Wild" DVDs the "erotica" the headline talks about? Erotica? It's PORN you goofballs! You can tell by the lighting.