Upcoming Event

OK, this is actually a serious scientific conference, but it's still kinda funny:

National Carcass Disposal Symposium 2006

Now, obviously, real sanitation issues exist with animal carcasses, whether they are on farms, roads, large urban areas, etc. Disease and contamination are legitimate environmental concerns, probably more so than things like "global warming." However, some of these session titles may cause the uninitiated to shake their heads a bit:

"Road Kill Composting in Montana - a Seasonal Rotation Approach"

(Can't they just send road kill to Kentucky to make burgoo?)

"Marine Animal Strandings & Carcass Disposal"

(In the Tidewater region of Virginia they call it "Hampton Road Kill.")

"Co-firing Animal - Tissue Biomass in Coal-Fired Boilers to Dispose of Specified Risk Materials and Carcasses: An Overview of a University/Industry Collaboration"

(OK, I thought the whole ethanol fuel additive business was a waste of taxpayers' dollars, but this is ridiculous!)

"On-farm Fermentation of Poultry Carcasses"

(If you fermented cow carcasses, would you be making MOOOOOOnshine?)

So anyway, if you have nothing better to do on December 4-7, 2006, you can hang out in Beltsville, Maryland and learn all this exciting stuff. Sorry, I will not be able to make it.