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Friday Fun Thread for May 22, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Can we talk about the bizarre cast of characters involved in the Hantavirus outbreak?

We've got:

  1. A Pitcairn Island resident. Pitcairn, population 35, is 400 miles away from the nearest inhabited island and is famous for being settled by mutineers from the HMS Bounty, the descendants of whom pass the time by molesting children. This woman went on a brief pacific tour before quarantining:

    The woman had flown from San Francisco on 7 May and travelled through the island of Tahiti and then Mangareva in French Polynesia, the French Polynesian government said.

    It's unclear to me how she ended up in SF to begin with.

  2. A Tristan da Cunha resident. Tristan is the most remote inhabited island in the world (population 221) and the UK military had to airdrop medical personnel and equipment to monitor the case.

  3. An American woman who "mostly lives in Ecuador".

Perhaps others?

Keep in mind there were about 150 passengers and crew total aboard the MV Hondius during the hantavirus cruise.

A Pitcairner and a Tristanian? Is someone assembling a team? Just need someone from Desolation Island and the ultra-remote Inuit villages.

There was somebody from the Yukon who came down with symptoms upon return and is quarantining IIRC!