I was reading about the spanking new and sure-to-fail U.S. poppy eradication plan in Afghanistan at the moment (paying farmers not to grow poppy) and was struck by the fact that that whole country would be certain death for me aside even from the inherent danger of the bombs, snipers, firefights, and so on. The story was accompanied by a picture of Marines holding a huge sack of poppy seeds which had a hole with the seeds pouring out. Since a few poppy seeds or a single flower is enough to put me into anaphylactic shock and likely certain death I was pretty happy not be over there. Even if I am curious to learn how the beekeepers manage their hives there.

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