Idiots behind the wheel

So I'm at the Exxon just up the road from our flat, filling up C's car (little fuel light was on). Into the slot behind me comes this big honkin' pickup. The driver is, naturally, puffing away on a ciggie. He sets it in his ashtray, gets out, shuts down the truck, and proceeds to fill his tank.
Here's where it gets dicey.
Not only does he stick his gas cap in the handle (illegal), he gets back in his truck (according to Mythbusters, this is the real cause of all those gas pump fires, since that action builds up a static charge), turns the engine back on (not safe), and continues to smoke (probably not as bad for safety since it's inside the vehicle, but come on here!).
I wanted to go up to him and tell him, "Excuse me sir, but would you mind not doing all this? I don't feel like being in an explosion today. Thank you."

Idiot.

Interesting...

I was watching an episode of Nova last night, and an interesting story came up. It wasn't the one I had been watching the program for, but it gave me room for thought...

The start of this began with an experiment with flowers. I don't recall which kind off the top of my head, but the genetic engineer had some really nice purple slowers. In an effort to make them even more purple, he introduced the color gene into the mix again, making it double what it normally was. Result: white flowers, no color. What may have happened was that the RNA instructions had the blueprint for the purple gene combined with a mirror image blueprint of the color gene.
So this was the upshot of all this: apparently, our cells have some sort of RNA sentry that looks for this sort of thing, and already has instructions to destroy those blueprint combinations and anything like them.
So... what does this mean? It means that through RNA viruses that contain this mirror-image blueprint, various ailments could possibly be lessened, if not eradicated.
Case in point: part of the story dealt with an elderly woman who was going blind from macular degeneration, caused by too many blood vessels behind the retina. The RNA treatment she received basically had the RNA sentry destroy any of the instructions to create new blood vessels. Through this, the number of blood vessels decreased, and her vision began to return. Not completely, but she can see better than she could before her treatment.
Scientists believe that this sort of treatment can help those suffering from other ailments, like arthritis, cancer, HIV, and the like.

My question is: would it be able to help someone like me with IBD/colitis?
I hope so.
And I'll be one of the first in line to volunteer for it.

In need of a laugh...

Back in the first Gulf War, an Army general was inspecting a forward observation unit. This unit was stuck out in a deserted village in the middle of nowhere, with hardly any transportation. All their supplies and such had to be brought in by helicopter.
"So what do you do to keep morale up," he asked the sergeant who was giving him the tour.
"Well, each supply chopper brings in magazines and books, and every week, the guys get fifteen minutes on the sat-phone to call home," he answered.
There was a pause in the talking as they continued on.
"But what happens if... if a fellow... gets... well... lonely way out here?" asked the general.
"Oh, for that we have the camel," the sergeant replied, hooking his thumb over to a pen which contained a camel.
The general nodded, and the tour continued.
Later on that night, the general lay in his tent, and began to feel, well, lonely. He tried to suppress it as much as he could, but it just wouldn't go away.
Feeling slightly embarassed, the general slipped out of his tent, and made his way to the camel pen.
After a few moments of figuring out the logistics of his endeavor, he grabbed a small folding ladder, and placed it behind the camel, who barely took notice of him. The general took down his trousers, and began to... well... do his business.
The camel let out such a racket, waking the entire post. The sergeant from earlier that day ran over to the pen to see what was going on. After witnessing the general in his state of flagrante delicto, he quickly stated, "General, we use the camel to ride into town!"