This awesome picture from the Guardian's website, depicting a couple of hard-chargers from the 97th MP Battalion contesting the Yakutsk-Kamchatka frontier in a can in Kandahar, was sent to us by friend of the blog Vanessa (twitter: RIVanessa).
The Guardian's unfortunate caption notes that the guys are taking a break from training Iraqi police. In Kandahar. (Oops.)
On my first embed, with a cavalry squadron in Baghdad, I encountered a platoon who played Risk and had also devised a new version of Monopoly - 'VBIED Monopoly" - where every player could, once during the game, detonate his piece, destroying the property they were on and any associated buildings, avoiding payment.
ReplyDeleteThat caption isn't as bad as some would interpret it, I'm sure. I'm guessing Press TV will portray this as a couple of US Soldiers plotting their next imperial move.
ReplyDelete1. I have never played a game of risk in my life.
ReplyDelete2. The young man on the left reminds me of my brother and his friends: they'd be mesmerized playing Risk or whatever.
3. The baby-faced young man on the right has a pretty righteous tattoo. On a related note: Miami Ink has some amazing tattoo art, yeah?
4. Because it is my job at Inkspots to include a medical anecdote in every comment: did you know that macrophages (a kind of tissue white blood cell that will gobble up foreign particles) carry the tattoo ink from the skin to local regional lymph nodes, and then, if they are sampled for any medical reason, I can see the ink in the cells under the microscope? FYI.
Why aren't there any troops stationed in China, India, SEA and Kamchatka ??? Not possible with the versions of risk I played when I was younger (board and computer) - every field had to be occupied by at least 1 army ...
ReplyDeletedid you know that macrophages (a kind of tissue white blood cell that will gobble up foreign particles) carry the tattoo ink from the skin to local regional lymph nodes, and then, if they are sampled for any medical reason, I can see the ink in the cells under the microscope?
ReplyDeleteAs a guy with tattoos, I feel like I should've learned this from someone other than my Friendly Neighborhood Blog Comments Medical Professional. (Though I don't guess there's anything sinister or harmful about that. And it's pretty cool sounding.)
So if we could find a way to make cancers soak up tattoo ink, then the macrophages would eat the cancer?
ReplyDeleteYeah, if you want the cancer cells to spread to your lymph nodes, Schmed.
ReplyDeleteI'll stick to non-medical topics.
ReplyDeleteQuickly, because I'm crashing on some projects:
ReplyDelete1. Tumor associated macrophages - as part of the tumor associated "microenvironment" - may have either pro- or -anti tumor properties.
2. Schmedlap makes an interesting and good point. There ARE medical researchers attempting to engineer macrophages as an anti-cancer therapeutic agent. Basically, trying to genetically engineer the macrophages that will will destroy the tumor cells. Manipulation of the immune system is the basic idea behind immunotherapy, or vaccines for cancer.
3. Shanti - you make an interesting point, too. Are you studying these things? :) The macrophage would destroy the tumor cell in the process of engulfing it, would be the theory. For the tumor to spread via macrophage, the cell would have to survive the engulfment, survive inside the macrophage, egress the macrophage, and then set up shop in the lymph node. Are there tumors that do this? That would be one tough tumor cell. I don't know the literature and haven't time now to look it up.
Anyone?
Correction to #2: ...trying to genetically engineer macrophages to destroy tumor cells.
ReplyDeleteFor the tumor to spread via macrophage, the cell would have to survive the engulfment, survive inside the macrophage, egress the macrophage, and then set up shop in the lymph node.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what that kid would think if he knew this all started with a comment about his tattoos.
Oh, he's fine. The tattoo ink is pretty inert and I've not heard of any serious consequences, although, there's always one crazy report out there if you search hard enough on the internet.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing and then I'll stop: The the pro-tumor properties of TAMs (tumor associated macrophages) are likely due to factors that they secrete which make the tumors more aggressive, or likely to spread.
Oh, he's fine. The tattoo ink is pretty inert and I've not heard of any serious consequences
ReplyDeleteI was more referring to the fact that a picture of him (and his righteous ink) hunched over a Risk board in Afghanistan spurred blog talk about oncology. Or something. Just teasing you, doc.
Haha.
ReplyDeleteI'm an Olympic level procrastinator, so I kind of enjoyed the diversion.
Later, folks.
- Madhu
Positroll, I'm guessing they're still in the staging period of the game, before you start playing, when you take turns putting pieces on the board. That explains there not being pieces everywhere.
ReplyDeleteTintin,
ReplyDeleteI don't think so. There is one color each on North America, Africa, and Europe. That's pretty unlikely to occur from the luck of the draw.
Hm. I stand corrected. Maybe they're improvising.
ReplyDelete