I hate bad design. The poppy is a very bad design.
The folks at the Royal Canadian Legion are fully aware the Remembrance Day symbols that have helped millions honour the fallen since 1922 do tend to fall — often undetected — from lapels, sweaters and jackets.
Just take a look down at the sidewalk, where many an accidentally jettisoned poppy becomes a casualty, trampled by so many soldiers of the new economy marching to work and shop.
...
After paying the cost of production, a few cents each for the 18 million poppies the Legion distributes every year, the proceeds — about $15 million in donations — go to helping needy veterans. The more it costs to make a poppy, the less the vets get.
So the Legion doesn't mind if citizens buy more than one poppy and, for that, Clark makes no apologies. "That is the positive side of this. The veterans will receive more support if you buy a second poppy."
Or third, or fourth.
"It works out well that way," he adds, stifling a chuckle. "It's not planned, but it works out well."
Oh for God's sake. Make the cheapo poppy for the cheapo people, and make an expensive one for people who don't want it to fall off. In fact, I'll quite happily buy an expensive permanent one AND give you my credit card so you can automatically charge it $5 or whatever every November. I don't actually need to get a new one every year. Two weeks of people attempting to stick millions of poppies onto their jackets, and then... millions of poppies in the trash. Oh that's a good system.
Ok, I'm willing to put up with plot holes and bad science... to some extent. But I'm afaid this ep pushes me over the line.
* pulsars don't pulse in the visible spectrum * pulsars cannot be "red" or "blue" * a biological virus with an electromagnetic component? I don't think so. * the only records from Kobol are obscure religious texts... except there's an exact description of a virus, from 3000 years ago? * There is no sound in space. Enough with the whooshing rockets already. What happened to the battle drums?
There was also a slight excess of speechifying, but other than that, the ep was good.
One is reminded of the Next Gen Borg genocide ep (the one with Hugh and the unsolvable image), and, less favourably, of the crummy Voyager Borg genocide finale.
Err great, so the other .1% of viruses proliferate, join up with the .1% of bacteria that survive the sea of Purell and Lysol and other crazy anti-bacterial products, and kill us all.
There have been no documented cases of disease from bedbugs, but health officials say the bites can cause painful skin irritations, as well as anxiety and embarrassment. Cases have been identified in Lexington in "residential and dormitory settings," officials said in a statement, although they declined to identify the locations.
Late yesterday afternoon, however, the University of Kentucky confirmed that one case of bedbugs was identified in a single room at a UK residence hall in September. UK did not identify the dorm, but said the room involved has been closed and will remained sealed until pesticide treatments are completed. Transylvania University has not had a case, officials there said.
Bedbugs long carried a stigma of occurring only in unclean housing. But UK entomologist Michael Potter, a nationally recognized expert on bedbugs, says that's a myth and that he's heard of the parasitic insects turning up in all kinds of places, from vehicle upholstery to high-end family homes.
"They don't discriminate about socio-economic status," he said.
Bedbugs were common in the U.S. until about 1940, but DDT and other pesticides eradicated them in most areas after World War II. Now, Potter says, the bugs are on the march again in many parts of the country. It isn't clear why that's happening, but Potter said bedbugs could become the biggest entomological problem of the 21st century if the trend continues.
I don't watch much TV, other than Galactica, but here's what I do check out on occasion
CSI House The Office (US version) A Place in the Sun A Place in France Holmes on Homes What Not To Wear (US version) How Not To Decorate Law & Order The Simpsons Family Guy South Park (but often it's a bit too crude for me)
I also tend to watch (not with very much attention) Star Trek (all flavours), Stargate SG-1, Andromeda. Sometimes Smallville a bit. Chloe is hot.
I'm also watching Lost on DVD, one season per winter. Starting season 2 in January.
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