Baby panda pictures: [link]

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Bless you, Tom Scola.

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although I might take knives

Careful with those. They aren't easy to use in self defense, and are dangerous to all around.

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People get sick from disease thanks to the water, but it's not the "toxic soup" the media is saying with much overblownness.

From what I've read, the media has been quoting van Heerden, who's a mucky muck at the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center and the Center for the Study of Public Health Impacts of Hurricanes. He was warning that the floods could carry toxic waste from the Industrial Canal, including stuff like benzene, hydrochloric acid, and chlorine.

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Go with a hammer.

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Careful with those. They aren't easy to use in self defense, and are dangerous to all around.

What's better for self defense? Baseball bat?

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What scares me is that I have seen the hearts of Seattleites, and they are blacker than black. Sure, they act all nice, but they're petty, arrogant, passive-aggressive thugs when pushed.

So don't push.

t passive aggressive polite smile of a native

We're not, exactly. We just come across that way when we feel our culture is threatened by outsiders.

Of course, as our culture effectively went plop and died in the mid-90s, it's kind of a pointless response, but old habits die hard when you can still see the ghosts in your mind.

(I'm a touch defensive about this, can you tell?)

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Here's project #1 in NOLA, and they're still sussing it out:

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Corps working to fix levee breaches

Tuesday, 5:57 p.m. (Central time)

The Army Corps of Engineers was focused Tuesday on finding a way to close the levee breaches in the Industrial Canal and 17th Street Canal that have let waters pour into New Orleans, state officials said.

Col. Jeff Smith with the Louisiana National Guard said the Corps has informed the state that they are beginning to plan how exactly to fill the holes in the levee, which observers described as several hundred feet long.

Smith said the Corps might fill large cargo containers with a heavy substance, such as sand, which would then be plugged into the gaps. "It would be better than just sandbags," he said, adding that Corps officials haven't figured out exactly what they will do. He expected that work could begin later this afternoon or in the morning.

After a flight over the devastated region, U.S. Sen. David Vitter said that he could see three breaches in the levees, including a 200 feet hole in the 17th Street Canal, as well as two separate gaps encompassing a total of about 500 feet in the Industrial Canal on the St. Bernard side.

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What's better for self defense? Baseball bat?

Well, it does beat a hammer. As does a knife. But if you're worried about handling weapons in general, go with something less intrinsically effective (and therefore potentially dangerous to your untrained self).

Very few people can swing a baseball bat so badly they're more a danger to themselves.

I, however, have a gift.

Unrelated note: Please don't say "Like Girls Gone Wild?" in a hushed tone on your work phone. It's creepy.

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Go with a hammer.

Absolutely.

Or a roll of quarters in a sock. The unexpected is always the best weapon.

Definitely don't try to use something you haven't practiced with. ita makes a very important point here.

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