Zombie Crash

This was taken from a website, so... yeah. Have fun reading:

Car full of zombies crashes in Portland, baffles police and onlookers

Last night, a car full of zombies flipped over on I-84 near Portland, Oregon. The zombies (who were just flesh-and-blood folks going to a party) were unharmed, but authorities initially mistook their undead costumes for real wounds.

At 9:30 PM on July 9, the zombies' car swerved and rolled onto its top on the eastbound side of I-84. Five crash victims suffered non-life-threatening injuries and went to local hospitals. Here are some more details from KGW:




Police said that in their investigation they learned that the people inside the car were dressed as zombie costumes and they were headed to a party at the time of the crash.

Sgt. Greg Stewart said people who witnessed the crash initially thought the victims' injuries were much more serious, because of the zombie costumes.

"We're glad that everyone is alive, despite being 'undead'," Sgt. Stewart said, referring to the costumes.

You and me both, Sgt. Stewart. The moment the walking dead become the driving dead is the moment I buy all the cans of Dinty Moore beef stew from my corner bodega and build a bunker out of them.

Jon Stewart and South Park on Censorship

Jon Stewart, 'South Park' duo tee off on network censorship and Muslim death threats

Fri Apr 23, 5:17 pm ET
Last night, Jon Stewart defended his Comedy Central colleagues, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of "South Park," in a 10-minute segment bashing a radical Muslim group for issuing a death threat against the rude-humor duo. You can watch the segment here (warning: some PG-13 language).

"I say this to anyone who's threatening death in the name of religion or politics," Stewart concluded, standing in front of a gospel choir for the second time this week, before offering his now-trademark bleeped-out sign-off, which begins with "Go" and ends with "yourselves."

"South Park," which has satirized just about every major religious and political figure, dead or alive, can still stir up controversy after more than a decade on the air. In last week's 200th episode, the creators — mindful of Islam's strict ban on any visual depictions of the the Prophet Muhammad — concealed the animated Muhammad character in a bear costume or in a U-Haul truck. So viewers never actually saw Muhammad.

Even so, a group called Revolution Muslim — based in New York City — issued a threat on its website alongside a photograph of Theo van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker who was murdered by a radical Muslim.

Not surprisingly, Comedy Central got nervous. Even with the figure of Muhammad tucked behind the word "CENSORED" in a new episode on Wednesday, the network took additional measures that went beyond Stone and Parker's intentions, bleeping out the prophet's name and some other selected dialogue. Stewart called out his own employers for altering Stone and Parker's script without their consent — and the show's creators also issued their own statement expressing dismay over the network's actions.

"In the 14 years we've been doing "South Park," we have never done a show that we couldn't stand behind," the statement said. "We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn't some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps."

"In fact, Kyle's customary final speech was about intimidation and fear," they continued. "It didn't mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too. We'll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we'll see what happens to it."


— Michael Calderone is the media writer for Yahoo! News.

Walking Pill for MS

FDA Approves the Walking Pill for Multiple Sclerosis
As of Friday afternoon, a long awaited addition to our arsenal of MS symptomatic drugs has been approved.

We had a conversation about Ampyra which is a timed-release version of the drug 4-Aminopyridine (and formerly known as Fampridine SR), last May. At that time the drug was being resubmitted to the FDA for approval (rejected, originally, due to “formatting issues” during the application process).

This drug is thought to increase signal conduction by blocking tiny pore-like potassium channels on nerves of the central nervous system (CNS).

The time-released part of the drug is what is new, for those of you who have been getting 4-Aminopyridine from compound pharmacies.

Phase III clinical trials suggest that some 34-43 percent of people taking Ampyra had positive results in the areas of leg strength and walking speed. An average of 25 percent increase in walking speed!

No drug, of course, is without risk. Potential side effects include back pain, dizziness, headache, insomnia, urinary tract infection (UTI), fatigue, nausea, balance disorder and falls (which may or may not have been increased by subjects trying to walk without their assistive devices). There were also enough cases of seizure that anyone who has a history of seizure disorder are warned NOT to take Ampyra.

Patients with moderate or severe renal disorder (kidney issues) are also warned against taking Ampyra as this could lead to an unsafe level of the drug in the body.

The drug is administered in capsule form and, in clinical trials, was dosed every twelve hours.

The price of prescription Ampyra has yet to be announced, but many in the MS world are expecting a net cost around $10,000 per annum and will likely be ready to dispense in March of this year.

When we last discussed this drug, several of you commented about your use of the compounded version of the drug. I’d be interested to hear more from you, as well as those of you who may consider Ampyra in your treatment regime… or not.

Wishing you and your family the best of health.