bring the noyz

If the swine flu doesn't kill me, all the endless inane discussion over it surely will.
|

Swine flu is new flu virus combining strains of human, bird and swine flu.

- Swine Flu Fears Close Numerous Schools in Several States

The move indicates the world body has determined the virus is capable of significant human-to-human transmission. . .

. . . The outbreak is a particular concern because of who it is hitting hard, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday. "We are concerned that in Mexico, most of those who died were young and healthy adults," he said.

- WHO raises pandemic alert level; more swine flu cases feared


But Lezana said the presence of Eurasian swine flu genes in the H1N1 virus makes it unlikely that the disease originated in a Mexican pig farm.

- First Mexico fatal flu victim sought help for day


|

Another one of the annual Rites of Spring has come and gone. As long as my fair city continues to hold this hedonistic holiday some hope remains for the future. All is not yet lost.

It was the usual scene of hipsters and hippies of all generations, in various stages of dress and undress. Some truly marvelous sights to behold. Others, not so much. Everyone dancing, drumming, drinking beer after beer after beer, surrounded in a fog of patchouli, sweat, and plenty of Mother Nature's finest.

Good times just like the old times.

But what struck me most, and has lingered the longest of the events of yesterday happened after the party.

Following the festivities, I donned my iPod, cranked up a U2 playlist ("Haven't seen you in quite a while / I was down the hold, just passing time") and trekked back to the bus stop on the edge of The University. Ain't nothing like riding the city bus on a Saturday night. I'm generally not the only passenger avoiding a DWI.

I checked the schedule and sat down on a low wall to wait. . . only about 15 - 20 minutes.

There was a homeless fella sittin' there, I mean I presumed from his dissheveled and dirty appearance that it was a homeless fella, but hey, I'm not judgemental or nuthin'.

Hey man, are you waitin' for the bus?
What?
Are you waitin' for the bus?
Oh, yeah. It should be along pretty soon.
Not me. I'm just hangin' out.
You're just hangin' out.
Yep. Saturday night and I'm just hangin' out. I'm not waitin' on a bus or nothin'.
Well, that's cool man.
Just hangin out. . .

He proceeded to tell me his version of the hard luck story that brought him here. His speech was animated although his demeanor calm, relaxed, sleepy. His fractured and incongruous thinking told me he'd been out there for quite a while. He was punch drunk from life if not literally so from liquor. We talked music and shared tales of our favorite bands. He saw the Stones play at the Detroit Lions old domed stadium in 1977. Cool. He was hopeful that he would get up early enough in the morning so that he could catch a bus to go to where he could use a phone. He was going to call his friend so that his friend could pick him up and take him to church. That is, if he could just get up early enough. He had a problem with getting up early enough.

For all the world he reminded me of a dog that's been beat.

My bus pulled up. I wished him well as I handed him my last three dollars and a handful of cigarettes.

To my new friend, fifty-one year old homeless Greg from Ann Arbor, Michigan. . .

I hope you made it to church on time.
|

were an angry animated Texas man. . .


|

. . . is what I've got for you. . .

or something like that.

Perhaps the reconnections via The Facebook have given cause for reminiscing, and dallying into the nostalgic arts.

Whatever the reason, I find myself enjoying this immensely. . .


|

The sorry-flat-bummed globalistic tool bastard is out making a ruckus.

Freakin' hirsute hillbilly.

Texas could secede from the union, governor says

Great, he's out there stirring the pot to a boil. Don't be fooled. He's doing the bidding of his fascist masters. Setting you up for a fall.

People are going to get hurt, for some it will be worse.

Pointless.
|

(from the "Nobody with the slightest semblance of a soul could possibly have written this with a straight face." sub-department. . . )

1984 (1984)
George Orwell envisioned a future dominated by a government organization called the Ministry of Love that intrusively monitors the actions of its citizens, political nonsense that spews forth from massive TVs, and songs that are written by computers. Instead we have the Department of Homeland Security, 24-hour cable news in high definition, and T-Pain. Thank God we dodged that bullet.

- from Yahoo! Movies Top 10 Inaccurate Movies About the Future
|

goes to. . .



Betty Brown (R- Terrell) of the Texas State Legislature for her comments during a House Committee hearing on a voter ID bill:

Brown suggested that Asian-Americans should find a way to make their names more accessible.

"Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese - I understand it’s a rather difficult language - do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?" Brown said.

Brown later told Ko: "Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?"

|

Okay, so I was headed straight to bed, right?

And then I found this:

Japan child robot mimicks infant learning

Uh, huh.

Wait.

There's a Japanese Society of Baby Science?

Cool. I think.

In coming decades, Asada expects science will come up with a "robo species" that has learning abilities somewhere between those of a human and other primate species such as the chimpanzee.

And he hopes that this little CB2 may lead the way into this brave new world, with the goal to have the robo-kid speaking in basic sentences within about two years, matching the intelligence of a two-year-old child.

By 2050, Asada wants a robotic team of football players to be able take on the human World Cup champions -- and win.

Scary.

Now good night. And sweet dreams.
|

The tub runneth over

Justice Dept under microscope after Stevens trial

Time to duck and cover

UK cop arrested for arms dealing

The doors are coming off the hinges

Texas judge indicted on charges of fraud, bribery

Disorder in the house?

You're damn right.


|