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nssl0062 by NOAA Photo Library (cc by)

My city got hit by multiple serious tornadoes last night and I realized just how unprepared I was: Aranquis asks about disaster preparedness.

Rusty iron cogs in Santurtzi harbour, Santurtzi, Spain by John Briody Photography (cc by)

I spent the first nine years of my legal career working with veterans who were seeking VA disability benefits ... bile and syntax offers an insider view of the shocking state of the US Veterans Administration in the US Army tweets “How has serving impacted you? thread.

Kunes Camp Trail (17) by Nicholas_T (cc by)

Plant pathologist here: hey, we're working on it! acrasis explains some of the challenges of working with forest tree diseases in Fizz's post on the struggle to fight the catastrophic decimation of the American Chestnut Tree.

Cooking authentic Pad Thai in Bangkok by ToastyKen (cc by)

People think they want authentic Thai food until they're eating unrefrigerated squirrel gristle salad made with partially rotted paddy crabs and fermented fish sauce. All of a sudden the gentrified stuff seems pretty appetizing. Eat what you enjoy!

Fascinating insights from telf on Thai nationalism, Pad Thai, the question of authenticity and "the concept of Thainess" in smoke's interesting post about the history of Pad Thai.

(69/365) :: Cooking spree! by chispita_666 (cc by)

I worked for a seed company in the 1980s. Back then I would've bored you to death with incessant lectures on sweet corn genetics and the wonders of modern plant breeding

mhh5 asks for corn that is starchy and chewy and not particularly sweet, and Lunaloon serves up the (fascinating!) inside line on common corn before "the discovery of the sugary and sugar-enhanced corn genes led to the extra-sweet and super-sweet sweet corns that have replaced the old-style sweet corn"