] Two companies, Xenova Group and Nabi Biopharmaceuticals,
] are taking a vaccine approach to block nicotine's action
] on the brain. "Using a vaccine as a treatment rather than
] a preventive is a slightly different way of thinking
] about vaccines," says Doreen Wood, product manager at
] Xenova. Rather than generating an immune response that
] clears away nicotine, both companies' vaccines create
] antibodies that bind nicotine in the blood and prevent it
] from crossing the bloodbrain barrier. The result:
] Nicotine can't stimulate the brain's reward centers--no
] buzz. Thus, there is little, if any, reason to smoke.

Interesting stuff on Nicotine and the brain. Interesting timing on this article as well.

The Scientist :: Depending on Cigarettes, Counting on Science, Mar. 24, 2003

] Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's main presidential
] palace, a great rampart of a building 20 stories high,
] simply exploded in front of me -- a cauldron of fire,
] a 100ft sheet of flame and a sound that had my ears
] singing for an hour after. The entire, massively
] buttressed edifice shuddered under the impact. Then four
] more Cruise missiles came in.
. . .
] No doubt this morning the Iraqi minister of information
] will address us all again and insist that Iraq will prevail.
] We shall see. But many Iraqis are now asking an obvious
] question: How many days? Not because they want the Americans
] or the British in Baghdad, though they may profoundly wish
] it. But because they want this violence to end: Which, when
] you think of it, is exactly why these raids took place.

ArabNews: Baghdad's Night of Terror

Paul Berman writes for the New York Times Magazine on Sayyid Qutb.

This is some rather deep reading for a Sunday afternoon.

[I am memeing this so that I can come back and read it when I have time - Nano]

The Philosopher of Islamic Terror

] A group of American anti-war demonstrators who came to
] Iraq with Japanese human shield volunteers made it across
] the border today with 14 hours of uncensored video, all
] shot without Iraqi government minders present. Kenneth
] Joseph, a young American pastor with the Assyrian Church
] of the East, told UPI the trip "had shocked me back to
] reality." Some of the Iraqis he interviewed on camera
] "told me they would commit suicide if American bombing
] didn't start. They were willing to see their homes
] demolished to gain their freedom from Saddam's bloody
] tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the
] likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and
] Hitler. He and his sons are sick sadists. Their tales of
] slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put
] in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so
] they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up
] from foot to head."

Anti-War human sheilds change their minds about the war upon meeting Iraqis

] Almost 40 million U.S. adults are obese, according to the
] Centers for Disease Control, and this year some 70,000 of
] them will go under the knife to have their stomachs
] bypassed or stapled in painful and expensive procedures
] that prevent overeating. But if human trials now under
] way in the United States pan out, overweight people may
] one day have a less invasive surgical option: a device
] that helps people feel full by stimulating the stomach
] with electricity in much the same way a pacemaker
] stimulates the heart.

I thought this was a pretty neat idea...isn't technology just strange sometimes.

Stomach Pacemaker

] A tasteless powder of antibodies could be sprinkled on
] suspect food to destroy any dangerous bacteria, according
] to the researcher who has produced the powder. An
] alternative use would be as a spray for meat carcasses,
] to ensure hygiene in abattoirs.

mmmmm......powered antibody steak.......um.....yeah.
Oh well....still interesting to me.

New Scientist - Anti-bacterial powder could disinfect food

flynn23 wrote:
] Decius wrote:
] ] flynn23 wrote:
] ] ] Jello will be performing a spoken word engagement on
] ] Saturday
] ] ] afternoon at the Mercy Lounge (the Cannery). More details
] ] ] later.
] ]
] ] So, can we get a report on this? What was said?
]
] at the last minute, I decided not to go. The weather was too
] nice, the Wings/Avs game was too close, and I was cuddled up
] on the couch with my sweetheart. None of these things are
] sufficient foreplay for political rhetoric. That and the fact
] that scheduling a 4pm show on a Saturday is kinda lame.
]
] I was hoping someone else went.

I went. It was pretty long, I think it ran about 4 hours total. The majority of what I remember was from his latest spoken word album. Jello definately has a stage presence that you just have to see. He did his older "what passes for news in the US" bit where he talks about Time and Newsweek covers. It was fun to actually see him holding up the magazines while doing the bit. He also held up a "Tipper Rocks!" campaign swag item from some Democratic convention he got into. That bit was pretty damn funny.

He had a lot to say at one point about the blowback we can expect from what we're doing in the mideast. I tried to keep up but it went by pretty fast. He hit the bullet points about the warring factions and tribal relationships. I haven't heard that bit recorded anywhere before. He's been doing his homework on this though. Interesting to note that while he was discussing this the showmanship was gone, he wasn't looking down at his papers. He was pretty somber when discussing the blowback.

I brought my MD out but I only got the last couple hours or so, I'll encode it at some point and share. Words were spoken at the end that we should become the media. I can't agree more.

[Damn...I had no idea he was even going to be in town - Nano]

RE: Biafra hits Nashvegas

] The following is a copy of Mary (Ann) Wright’s letter
] of resignation to Secretary of State Colin Powell.
] Wright was most recently the deputy chief of mission
] at the U.S. embassy in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She
] helped open the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan,
] in January 2002.

More background on Wright:

] I have been a diplomat for fifteen years and the Deputy
] Chief of Mission in our Embassies in Sierra Leone,
] Micronesia, Afghanistan (briefly) and Mongolia. I have
] also had assignments in Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan,
] Grenada and Nicaragua. I received the State Department's
] Award for Heroism as Charge d’Affaires during the
] evacuation of Sierra Leone in 1997. I was 26 years in
] the US Army/Army Reserves and participated in civil
] reconstruction projects after military operations in
] Grenada, Panama and Somalia. I attained the rank of
] Colonel during my military service.

Key Points:

] I disagree with the Administration’s policies on Iraq

] I disagree with the Administration’s lack of effort in
] resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

] I disagree with the Administration’s lack of policy
] on North Korea

] I disagree with the Administration’s policies on
] Unnecessary Curtailment of Rights in America

More high level resignations...

Earlier today, I heard on CNN about the footage of the POWs, but CNN wasn't showing them due to their graphic nature. Memestreams now has these pictures, and without really thinking about it, I popped open the website to take a look at what CNN wouldn't show. Now that I have, I felt the need to vent, so here it is. Definitly stop and think about it before you look at these pictures. Because I don't think I will ever be able to get those images out of my head again, and I am consumed with a horrible feeling. Here I sit, with my freedom that I take for granted every day. Freedom that I don't even really think about, because it has never been taken away from me. When I look at those pictures, they make me want to puke. Not because of the images themselves, as grotesque as they are. I want to throw up and cry because of what they represent. These are pictures of people who have obviously been tortured, and who have consequently been killed, execution style. These are people that were killed this way protecting my freedom.
Now I am left with a horrible feeling. Since this war started, I, like many of you, have been glued to CNN. I have watched this war unfold from the days leading up to it, to the unexpected wed. night attacks in Baghdad, to what it has unfolded to now. It makes me feel strange to watch a war from the comfort of my own home. And now that I have looked at those pictures, this has been driven home to me.
I feel powerless. I feel frustrated. And I feel my freedom, wrapped around me like a protective blanket....a blanket weaved with souls.

I guess I just wanted people to be aware of these pictures. I do not recommend looking at them, because it will only frustrate and sadden you, or perhaps make you angry. They are an important piece of history, but at the same time, they are a piece of history that leaves a horrible taste in your mouth...history that will probably give me nightmares.

Please, regardless of your political feelings about this war, support our troops, no matter what. Stop and think about what they are doing for you. Through my tear-filled eyes, I see courage that I have never seen before. For the first time in my life, I see angels.

-Nanochick

] What does it say about American culture if Venice
] filmmaker Tim Sullivan can't get financing for a remake
] of the 1964 splatter classic "2000 Maniacs"?
]
] What it said to Sullivan is that raising funds for
] low-budget independent movies -- never easy -- has gotten
] tougher since Wall Street laid an egg.
]
] At 38, Sullivan is a 20-year horror veteran. His first
] break came in his hometown of Metuchen, N.J., on 1983's
] forgotten "Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn."
] Sullivan's job, wielding a Black & Decker hand pump
] behind the scenes, was to make sure the blood gushed on
] cue and on budget.

Tim is also my cousin, so meme/blog this around and get my kin some attention..

] The plot: Confederate zombies take revenge on
] present-day Yankee tourists.

Whole bunch of folks in the southeast on MemeStreams.. If this dosen't get you going, what will?

] A couple of characters will be dropped and some action
] sequences trimmed. However, there are some compromises
] he won't make. The script said eight murders, and eight
] murders there will be.
]
] "If I have to choose between a decapitation and a
] motorcycle chase," Sullivan said, "I'm going with the
] decapitation."

Right on..

Movie Industry Screwed! Economy Screwed! Rattle's cousin screwed out of financing for '2000 Maniacs' remake!