Another dalliance with less forethought

Man, when you're working 50 hours a week and constantly worried about thirteen different things it's harder to find time to do the things you love, like rant and rave about politics and current events. So until I finish my Pakistan post (which keeps changing as new news comes in), here is some random stuff that I think you'll find interesting:

Symbiont: noun An organism in a symbiotic relationship. In cases in which a distinction is made between two interacting organisms, the symbiont is the smaller of the two and is always a beneficiary in the relationship, while the larger organism is the host and may or may not derive a benefit. (dictionary.com)
In the human body, there are many other organisms that live in a symbiotic relationship with ourselves. Some are beneficial (microbes in our digestive tract that help break down food), and some are detrimental (germs and disease causing microbes).
In your body, in everyone's body, right now you are composed of around a hundred trillion cells. Of these cells, only 1 in 10 is human cells. (Breaking the Spell, Daniel Dennet) Sleep tight hypochondriacs!

Veteran's Day: There's a hundred different things I could say about veteran's day, which was yesterday. I'd like to relate to you though a story that some of you may have heard. Known in France as Armistice day, the day also marks the signing of the cease-fire between France and Germany that marked the end of the first world war. The treaty took effect on 11:00 am on Nov. 11. It's nice when things work out that way that the 11th hour would fall on the 11th at 11:00 am, and that's certainly what the drawers of the treaty were thinking. The unfortunate truth though is that the treaty was finalized at 5:00 am Paris time that morning. In the time between the finalization of the agreement and the enacting of said agreement, many soldiers were killed fighting a war that was already over.
My point in this is: Everyone who gives their life in service deserves to be honored. No one gets to choose the way they go out, but they all make the same sacrifice and take the same risks. Veterans day is supposed to be the day when we do that as a country, but each year it passes with less and less recognition than the year before. Veterans account for twice the amount of the homeless population than the rest of the populace. Clearly we are derelict in our duty to them. I ask of you, and of myself, what did you do to commemorate Veteran's day? Did you donate to your local VFW, to the USO, maybe even to a homeless shelter?

OK, I couldn't get through a post without a bit of an accusatory rant, but I'll end on a lighter note:
www.imagepoop.com/image/1377/Ribbon-Based-Economy.html?img
I don't know where this is from, but it's pretty damned apt, and pretty funny. And here I thought buying a yellow ribbon made in China would somehow help the US.