The CDC became aware several years ago of an emerging hazard to workers in microwave popcorn factories – the butter additives (diacetyl) cause severe lung damage to the workers. Until now, this problem has been confined to those who work in the factories. Those of us who shovel mouthfuls of the delicious snack while watching DVDs were perfectly safe, because we aren’t exposed to enough of it to cause the illness (bronchiolitis obliterans).

Or so we thought. Now a guy from Denver with a two-bag-a-day habit is sueing a popcorn manufacturer because he has acquired this rare illness, presumably from the popcorn.

While lawsuits similar to this generally make me think “it’s your own fault, fatty,” this one tends to make think that the manufacturers might bear some burden of responsibility since it is known that the chemical they put in there can cause this disease when exposure is high.

Cleaning up my messy Hotmail inbox today, I stumbled across an old favorite bit of internet humor – Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from Iron Maiden. If you aren’t familiar with Iron Maiden’s catalog of songs – often based on mythology, history, and literature – you may find yourself scratching your head and wondering why it is funny. If you were an 80′s metalhead like me, you’ll laugh your ass off.

And, incidentally, I think I may have actually gone to school with “Poodlehead” here:

I find this interesting, but I worry for the Lakota. It’s not very clear how serious they are, but there are huge issues for them doing this economically and otherwise – especially with President Bombsalot running the show. But hey, I wish them luck. And if Mitt Romney gets elected President, I may take the Lakota up on their invitation.

Listen to some of his guitar work below. The song is titled “Homage to Satan”.

John and and his wife of 14 years divorced shortly after the release of this single.

A little long for a Youtube video (about 19 minutes), it starts with a history of the sample itself, examples of its use in more recent music, and goes into a brief discussion of its implication in regards to copyright laws and the very nature of sampling.

This Skull Helmet from Santiago Choppers is not DOT or SNELL approved (and therefore would not meet the criteria for most states’ helmet laws), would offer zero eye protection, and would block visibility…but damn, it looks cool.