Toxic Cucumbers Kill Eleven, Infect 1,200 in Germany, and May Spread Through Europe : TreeHugger

Who would have guessed that cucumbers could be lethal?

 Over the weekend, an outbreak of E. coli spread throughout Germany, killing eleven people and infecting more than 1,000. Cucumbers have been identified as the source of the bacteria, but the source of the vegetables themselves is unclear. At first, health officials thought two Spanish farms were responsible, but Spain has denied the charges, and the bacteria has been found on cucumbers that may have been grown elsewhere, reported the BBC.

Toxic Cucumbers Kill Eleven, Infect 1,200 in Germany, and May Spread Through Europe : TreeHugger

The Newt is moot!

One has to wonder how it is that our favourite salamander hasn't come to the conclusion that he's obsolete. The Democrats think he's an idiot, the Republicans think he's a loose cannon and Independents don't seem to care about him at all.
Newt Gingrich's latest gaff was criticizing his fellow Republican, Paul Ryan's, "Medicare overhaul", ensuring him the official position of persona non grata among Conservatives. I'm sure they would love to mute the Newt!

STS-134

I guess there's no question that i love space science. The manned missions are particularly stimulating because we are "boldly going". It's like science fiction brought to realization....but i have always hoped that the outdated shuttle system would soon be replaced with newer and more competent spacecraft.
   This mission, Endeavour STS134, will be one of the last shuttle missions before these spaceships are retired. Since the United States presently has no replacement for them we will likely be hitching a ride in Russian Soyuz capsules (a technological step backwards in my opinion).
   Although private American companies are presently developing new hardware for getting astronauts into Earth orbit, it seems it will be a while before we have another functional "space plane". So, while i'm glad to see these old and often unreliable spacecraft retire, i will miss the sight and excitement of the shuttle missions....of seeing a ship blast off into "The Final Frontier" and glide back down to land on a runway.
Here's hoping the next "Enterprise" isn't too far off in our future.

STS-134

Hello

Hi there.  So much for introductions....i'll put some stuff up here and if anyone wants to read them, well, it's at your own risk!