All Things Considered is historically ferret friendly.  In fact, Meeteetse's
crush on the voice of one of their professionals wound up being mentioned on
the air twice.
 
A quarter of a century ago the girlfriend of a friend called one day and
asked what I knew about volcanoes.  Now I was taking geo classes at the time
but am NOT a hard rocker, let alone a volcanologist, so I started to give
her possible reference leads.  She said that was not what she desired; what
she wanted was to have me tell her all I knew about them and that would be
the (her employer's publication which I don't recall) encyclopedia's
inclusion on volcanos.  I refused.  From that weird ferret paragraph it
sounds like (at least some) encyclopedias have not improved any as resources
or investments in a child's future.
 
Errrrr, Ed ... this is off-topic so I will be very quick, but from what I
have read (and I am not a professional in any related field) HIV does not
tend to survive in saliva and hence is not kiss borne to ANY species, is
mostly HETEROsexual when world-wide numbers are seen (with the anomaly here
being simply that it was by chance first introduced to the gay community),
that it may be most easily contracted by females, and that it is quite hard
to transmit by routes other than unprotected vaginal or anal intercourse,
needle-sharing, gestation or birth (not sure which), and possibly but not
commonly by unprotected oral sex (because of cuts or abrasions which may be
unnoticed).  We've lost gay friends to it, and have not been able to trace a
very dear, old friend who some others here kindly helped us try to find so
suspect we've lost that friend, too.  Neither Steve nor I have nor would
hesitate to hug or kiss our friends or their pets.  We DO think the idea of
having the little one go to an HIV positive family is wonderful; the more
love and cuddles shared, the better.
 
Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 1830]