I smelled it, too. It's like you're in the kitchen, and someone's making pancackes with maple syrup. Maybe even vanilla coffee. If this is a chemical hazard, it's the most lovely chemical hazard I've had the privilege to ingest.

This is a gem of a book. I can't think of another that captures so well the livid warmth, later curdling into embarrassment, that characterizes the jejune, impassioned and borderline-pretentious tastes with which we first find, and then lose, ourselves; and it comes illuminated with an adult's forgiving fondness for the cultural Mussolinis we once were, age 15.

Archaeologists in Egypt uncover three coffins hidden behind 4,200-year-old statues. (Reuters) By Jamie Tarabay, Associated Press | March 2, 2005 SAQQARA, Egypt -- Archaeologists uncovered three coffins and a remarkably well-preserved mummy in a 2,500-year old tomb discovered by accident...

Not sure if this is what the Administration had in mind when they asked for more veteran's benefits:

The US food and drug administration has given the go-ahead for the soldiers to be included in an experiment to see if MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, can treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

Guardian

Waves Generated by Tsunamis are Not Surfable, Officials Warn -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Rosemarie Bernardo rbernardo@starbulletin.com ..." Jim Howe, operations chief of the city Ocean Safety Division, said a tsunami wave on the open ocean travels 500 mph compared to a surfing wave that travels 30 to 35 mph. Howe advised surfers to be sensible during a tsunami warning. "Don't grab a surfboard and wax it up. Head for high ground," he said." We repeat: Not surfable. Link

How to describe that first bite? Its a bit like describing passing a kidneystone to the uninitiated. If you are talking to someone else who has lived through the experience, a nod will suffice to acknowledge your shared pain, but to explain it to the person who has not been there, mere words seem inadequate to the task. So it is with lutefisk. One could bandy about the time honored phrases like "nauseating sordid gunk", "unimaginably horrific", "lasting psychological damage", but these seem hollow when applied to the task at hand. I will have to resort to a recipe for a kind of metaphorical lutefisk, to describe the experience. Take marshmallows made without sugar, blend them together with overcooked Japanese noodles, and then bathe the whole liberally in acetone. Let it marinate in cod liver oil for several days at room temprature. When it has achieved the appropriate consistency (though the word "appropriate" is somewhat problematic here), heat it to just above lukewarm, sprinkle in thousands of tiny, sharp, invisible fish bones, and serve.

Link

AP - British military aircraft scrambled Sunday to assist a civilian passenger aircraft after an incident, the Ministry of Defense said, adding that the jets later returned to base.

On the precision of language: What are the means by which two fighter jets "assist" a commercial plane? Assist to do what, exactly?