Secrets of the City

Happy Ne’er Day. I’ve got a cold and am going back to bed.

… The woman said she accidentally used ammonia instead of vinegar while cooking Sloppy Joes.

Here I suggest a New Years’ resolution: Don’t put household cleaners in the same cupboard as your cooking vinegar. And please don’t confuse apple cider vinegar with distilled vinegar.

KTHXBAI

It’s Friday already?!

Oopsy-daisy. Wrong thread.

I have today off! Yay!

I think I need a vacation from all of this vacation time… Wait, that means I would have to go back to work. Never mind.

I’m listening to MPR and I just agreed with Pawlenty, god forbid. He
said he’s perplexed as to why the candidates have to agree on the absentee
ballots, rather than local election officials making the decision. I was
wondering the same thing.

I’d much rather have a crusty 80-year-old election official decide on my ballot than those two charming candidates.

A lot of us have been wondering the same thing, Jeff. That decision was one big mess. Justice Page’s dissent has been pretty much spot on.

I’m just as baffled. Why would you put the decision in the hands of the most biased groups? Is the assumption that the biases will cancel each other out? Seems more like a matter/antimatter sort of thing to me.

more MPR: did you know that Northwest Airlines was the first airline to have all flights non-smoking…

in 1988???!!

can you believe that? Not 1963. 1988. From the guy who was a bit skeptical of the bar smoking ban… can you IMAGINE an airplane full of cigarette smoke?

Jeff

Meh. It would be easy to quickly vent a pressurized cabin.

People were more tolerant back then.

some of us remember the golden era of domestic air travel. not only could you smoke, but you got free snacks, could fully extend your legs and the flight attendants were stewardesses…and they were attractive.

Flying as a kid in the 80s, I remember my parents would always try to book seats for themselves in the first row of smoking and seats for my brothers and I in the last row of non-smoking. That way we could be together as a family.

I remember smoking on airplanes.

Rat, people also didn’t know that second hand smoke was much more than an annoyance then either.

In fact, I saw a report last week that indicates that we may still be underestimating the risks that second hand smoke incurs on non-smokers. Pueblo, CO had a 40% drop in heart attack hospitalizations after enacting an indoor smoking ban.

People weren’t more tolerant back then. They just smoked more.

I’m back to work today (Firday) and it sucks…feels like a monday. But then I realize it’s Friday and Monday doesn’t come until after the short weekend.

… did you know that Northwest Airlines was the first airline to have all flights non-smoking

Only on domestic flights of 3-hours or less in duration. NWA international flights still had smoking “sections” (3 back rows in coach; 1 row in business) as late as 1996.

From Bill Simmons’ NFL Playoff Preview on ESPN.com…

** Philly’s Andy Reid will be battling former assistant Brad Childress on Sunday in a matchup Peter King described as “teacher vs. pupil.” Teacher versus pupil???? That explains everything! Do you think Reid tutored Childress in classes like “Screwing Up a Two-Minute Drill,” “Hanging Your QB Out to Dry,” “Dumb and Possibly Damaging Field-Goal Attempts,” “Idiotic Short-Yardage Calls,” “Special Teams Collapses,” “How To Blow Your Challenges,” “Leaving Yourself With No Timeouts” and “How To Remain Calm As You’re Getting Booed By Your Own Fans”?

HAAAAAA!

More Simmons on Vikings:

The Vikings violate four of my signature rules for a decent playoff team: They’re poorly coached, they have abominable special teams, their QB could self-destruct at any time, and their fans are so racked with doubt about this particular team that you can hear their sphincters collectively tightening during games.

As much as Bill Simmons annoys me much, much more often than he doesn’t, that’s some good stuff!

That said, Skol Vikes! um…. please?

As mnblrmkr said, it is not so much an issue of “tolence” as people (as well as the medical and scientific communities) being unaware of the health hazards, Rat.

Likewise, we were not “more tolerant” of lead in paint and gasoline, we just did not fully realize the health risks until later.

The latest secondhand smoke/heart attack study is just the latest in a series of studies with similar findings.

It was discoved some years ago (by accident) when a city-wide smoking ban was passed — then overturned by a court decision — in Helena, Montana. It just so happened that a group of heart researchers were closely monitoring heart attacks in the city at the time. To their surprise, the # of attacks went down sharply during the period the ban was in effect, and went back to previous levels as soon as it was lifted.

Since then, researchers have looked at other cities wih smoking bans and found similar results. Because heart attacks are not usually tracked and monitored the way cancer cases are, it was easy to miss until researchers looked closer.

I don’t fly commercial.

Congratufuckinlations!

Oh my stars, where did that come from?

I think Bill Simmons is pretty great. I’m reading his book Now I Can Die In Peace right now.

Can Fourth-Hand smoke be far behind?

“Parents who smoke often open a window or turn on a fan to clear the air for their children, but experts now have identified a related threat to children’s health that isn’t as easy to get rid of: third-hand smoke.

“That’s the term being used to describe the invisible yet toxic brew of gases and particles clinging to smokers’ hair and clothing, not to mention cushions and carpeting, that lingers long after second-hand smoke has cleared from a room. The residue includes heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials that young children can get on their hands and ingest, especially if they’re crawling or playing on the floor.”

The piece says there’s even traces of the material used to murder a Russian spy.

It’s everywhere.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/health/research/03smoke.html?em

“‘The stuff is so toxic that your brain is telling you: ’Get away.’”’

I didn’t know which smoked cheese you would nibble first, Rat. I thought it might the 3rd hand story.

There is also this news from Winona State, similar plans for another campus, and this bit of Wisconsin cheese.

If it truly is that toxic, Rat, are you suggesting that we not investigate whether there is anything we can do to address it?

Maybe we should go back to leaded house paint and leaded gasoline.

Bring back asbestos insulation and tiles.

I don’t know if it’s true, but I’m going to start up my own size adjustable plastic bubble manufacturing business, just in case.

We need to protect our children, aliecat.

The money would be easier running cigarettes from Mexico after they’re outlawed here. Might be kinda fun, too.

Always thought it would be kinda neat to bring back Prohibition. Me and the guys in the neighborhood could pay kids with Wii and XBox games to get us buckets of beer.

“When you see the policeman, Oliver, leave the wagon and run as fast as you can.”

It will soon become six-degrees of cigarette smoke inhalation.

You always were a little nostalgic for the good old days, Rat.

I dunno, this all seems a little paranoid and self-indulgent when there seem to be more pressing health care issues affecting people in the here and now…

You strike when the iron is hot, Alie.

Speaking of nostalga, the video max linked to in this post made me think of the El Santo films, badly dubbed into English as “Sampson” movies.

Adios, Great One! You will live in the hearts of the people forever…