Tuesday, June 16, 2015

I think bears ate them.

June 15, 2015
By Bill Chappell 

Clinton County, N.Y., District Attorney Andrew Wylie (click here) says the search for two convicted killers who escaped from prison is costing $1 million a day. Wylie has also said the inmates may have used power tools left behind by maintenance contractors.
Officials say that it likely took weeks for the escape plan to come together, as the inmates worked their way through tunnels and utility corridors to cut through walls and a steam pipe.
Joyce Mitchell, the Clinton Correctional Facility worker who was arrested Friday on charges that she helped Richard Matt and David Sweat carry out their elaborate escape plan, appeared in court Monday. She wore a striped prison jumpsuit and a bulletproof vest.
Mitchell's court appearance included the replacement of her attorney, who had cited a conflict of interest in the case. Outside the courthouse, Wylie provided more details about the events that preceded Matt and Sweat's escape.
Mr. Trump will receive a lot of attention, but, his regard to China in comparison to US leadership doesn't equate. China is a communist country. It doesn't worry about majority votes.

I will say this, Mr. Trump is very similar to many Americans in that they are disheartened by extremist Republican politics. There are many Americans that want to be dictator right now. 

Mr. Trump is used to having control over his corporation. He makes decisions that are not questioned. He can hire and fire who he wants. He can promote women's rights within his own sphere. He has a daughter he would hand the world to if he could. He has a son that is well educated and easily handles responsibility within his father's empire.

I am sorry, but, that is not the real world. Democracy is not freedom, freedom is not democracy. Democracy is hard. Most Americans don't see it that way. In fact, freedom is granted by democracy. 

Humans have been cast from the Garden of Eden once. Now they are casting themselves out by their own hand.

Pope Francis has spoken about the huge divide between the poor and the wealthy beyond imagination. It would seem as though the wealthy, in their worldly comforts has no conscience regarding others or the natural world. 

Funny, we all breath oxygen. 

The Pope does not stand alone. His view of the world is mired deeply in science by esteemed members of the IPCC. (click here)  There is nothing mysterious about the truth. Pope Francis is not afraid of the truth or the poor. 

16 June 2015
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner and John Hooper 
  

Pope Francis (click here) will this week call for changes in lifestyles and energy consumption to avert the “unprecedented destruction of the ecosystem” before the end of this century, according to a leaked draft of a papal encyclical. In a document released by an Italian magazine on Monday, the pontiff will warn that failure to act would have “grave consequences for all of us”.

Francis also called for a new global political authority tasked with “tackling … the reduction of pollution and the development of poor countries and regions”. His appeal echoed that of his predecessor, pope Benedict XVI, who in a 2009 encyclical proposed a kind of super-UN to deal with the world’s economic problems and injustices.

According to the lengthy draft, which was obtained and published by L’Espresso magazine, the Argentinean pope will align himself with the environmental movement and its objectives. While accepting that there may be some natural causes of global warming, the pope will also state that climate change is mostly a man-made problem....

A report originally covered in "Mother Jones" is now making newsletters of food cooperatives.

March 10, 2015
By Kiera Butler

...But a new meta-analysis(click here) by two Princeton researchers shows that antibiotics aren't as effective at promoting growth as they used to be. Studies from 1950-1985 suggested that antibiotics increased weight of young pigs by an average of about 17 older pigs by 4 percent. But similar studies since 2000 found much less dramatic results: 1 percent increase for young pigs and no measurable increase for older pigs.

No one knows why the drugs have become less effective—and in fact, there's no consensus on how exactly antibiotics increased growth in animals to begin with. One theory is that the drugs fight low-level infections, which allows the animal to use its energy for growing instead of warding off germs. The authors of the new analysis theorize that as hygiene at livestock operations improve, the rate of infections might be decreasing, thus negating the need for antibiotics....

The Non-GMO demands of a growing number of Americans brings studies like this to their newsletters

Antibiotics in animal feed has always been something many people have opposed in their diet. It can cause unexpected allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. There is also a huge problem with antibiotic resistant bacteria. It is known the misuse of antibiotics has caused the growth and variety of resistant bacteria.

I had no idea 80% of all antibiotics in the USA are for animal operations. That is not good. With this study and recognizing the growing number of Americans demanding good quality, including Non-GMO food, will result in a reduction of the use of these antibiotics. The companies engaged in providing these drugs to factory farmed livestock will be effected and evidently in a big way.

It has always been the claim of farmers with factory farms, regardless of the livestock, that they needed to add antibiotics to animal feed because the danger of disease being a part of their operation was high.

Let's think about that for a minute. 

Feed lots and factory farms actually believe they are in danger of the loss of profit because of disease.  

Why are we using such processes in our food supply?

There is a problem here. We never hear about resistant bacteria in feedlots or on factory farms. We only hear about resistant bacteria in human populations. So. Like. What gives? 

Do veterinarians receive calls to these farming operations to respond to a resistant disease killing animals? 

I believe this practice is very questionable. It is important to understand the extent our bodies are volunteers to food we basically do not approve of. I doubt many Americans would consent to such ingredients in their food supply. We didn't volunteer for such problems. Those standards are imposed on the people of this country. It is wrong. It is also unfair. People should have complete disclosure of such issues. People should also have alternatives that are reasonable in cost.

My food cooperative has a lot of information in their newsletters on how to make the foods purchased affordable. They offer all kinds tours and classes. The classes include information to those that want to eat GMO free or are faced with food allergies or are parents that are children sensitive to gluten. The food cooperative also runs tasting tours of their products. All that information is free. Cooking classes using the ingredients from our cooperative are a small fee of $30 to $35. 

Antibiotics are no joke. There is more and more understanding about livestock and their success in health and productive weight for market from free ranging them.

Thank you, Mother Jones.

Mr. Trump should comply with all rules and should not put himself at a financial disadvanage according to law.

As a matter of fact, if he appeals to the 'little people' for support he could accept public funding. There are many Americans that would like the political process run on public funds. Those are funds provided by Americans on their tax returns.

Currently, Congress is coveting those funds for their programs. That is not what those monies are for. If the Congress is going to dissolve that fund, the monies are to be returned to the people in federal rebates depending on income. I would expect some record of the incomes that contributed in majority to the federal election fund. 

I would expect Mr. Trump can add a prospective to the race that is unique. In the past he has made many inflammatory statements. People won't take him seriously enough to nominate him. He has much to overcome to be received as a serious person in pursuit of the Presidency. I wish him well and hope his participation in this race will provide satisfaction to his long standing wishes to run for President.  Welcome to democracy, Mr. Trump.

Neglecting the responsibilities as Governor is not austery.

June 12, 2015
by Laura Gottesdiener and Eduardo García

Something is rotten in the state of Michigan. (click here)

One city neglected to inform its residents that its water supply was laced with cancerous chemicals. Another dissolved its public school district and replaced it with a charter school system, only to witness the for-profit management company it hired flee the scene after determining it couldn’t turn a profit. Numerous cities and school districts in the state are now run by single, state-appointed technocrats, as permitted under an emergency financial manager law pushed through by Rick Snyder, Michigan’s austerity-promoting governor. This legislation not only strips residents of their local voting rights, but gives Snyder’s appointee the power to do just about anything, including dissolving the city itself — all (no matter how disastrous) in the name of “fiscal responsibility.”...

Texas needs to put the National Guard on alert. Evacuations from low lying areas need to be taking place now.

June 15, 2015

...Bill was moving (click here) north-northwest, toward the Texas coast, at 13 mph and with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.

The storm is expected to bring heavy rain and possible flooding across portions of eastern Texas and western Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center said.
Tropical Storm Bill, which is the second named storm of the season, is not expected to impact Central Florida....

There is absolutely no research for a vaccine because there aren't enough patents to justify the cost.

The plutocrats of Wall Street now decides who lives and who dies.

The virus resides in the lungs and being a virus it destroys lung tissue when it replicates. Those that die suffocate and those that recover have permanent damage to their lungs. 

June 25. 2013
By Phillip Ward 
  
The new study (click here) -- the largest case series to date -- includes 47 cases (46 adults, 1 child) of confirmed MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections from Saudi Arabia between 1 September 2012, and 15 June 2013. By combining clinical records, lab results, and imaging findings with demographic data, the authors noted older patients, especially men, and patients with underlying medical conditions, tend to succumb to the disease....

Imaging findings at presentation in Saudi patients with MERS. A: Chest radiograph of a 61-year-old man, showing bilateral fine reticulonodular air-space opacities, increased vascular markings, and cardiomegaly. B: Chest radiograph of an 83-year-old man, showing right lung consolidation, right basal pleural thickening, and reticulonodular air-space opacities; rib fractures on the right are old. C: Chest radiograph of a 56-year-old man, showing extensive bilateral extensive diffuse and focal alveolar space opacities, with opacification of the left lower lobe. D: Chest radiograph of a 67-year-old man, showing extensive bilateral disease, with diffuse alveolar space densities, opacification, reticulonodular opacities, and bronchial wall thickening. E: Chest radiograph of a 49-year-old man, showing extensive bilateral mid and lower zone disease, with diffuse reticulonodular alveolar space opacities. A thoracic CT scan in the same patient (F) shows extensive bilateral opacities and ground-glass reticulonodular shadowing and bronchiolar wall thickening. All images courtesy of Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Nature Medicine 19, 1313–1317 doi:10.1038/nm.3362
Received Accepted Published online

The emergence of Middle East (click here) respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is of global concern: the virus has caused severe respiratory illness, with 111 confirmed cases and 52 deaths at the time of this article's publication. Therapeutic interventions have not been evaluated in vivo; thus, patient management relies exclusively on supportive care, which, given the high case-fatality rate, is not highly effective. The rhesus macaque is the only known model organism for MERS-CoV infection, developing an acute localized to widespread pneumonia with transient clinical disease that recapitulates mild to moderate human MERS-CoV cases. The combination of interferon-α2b and ribavirin was effective in reducing MERS-CoV replication in vitro; therefore, we initiated this treatment 8 h after inoculation of rhesus macaques....

The CDC is working with the WHO. With budget cuts there isn't a robust response to the need for a virus before it does become a pandemic or worse.

Summary (click here)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to work with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners to closely monitor Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) globally, including the cases of MERS-CoV infection recently reported by China and the Republic of Korea, to better understand the risks to public health. The purpose of this HAN Advisory is to provide updated guidance to state health departments and healthcare providers in the evaluation of patients for MERS-CoV infection, which have been revised in light of the current situation in the Republic of Korea. Healthcare providers and public health officials should maintain awareness of the need to consider MERS-CoV infection in ill persons who have recently traveled from countries in or near the Arabian Peninsula1 or in the Republic of Korea as outlined in the guidance below. Please disseminate this information to healthcare providers, especially infectious diseases specialists, intensive care physicians, internists, infection preventionists, and to emergency departments and microbiology laboratories.

It is a very incideous virus. It can survive initially without detection until the population of virus has done enough damage to cause shortness of breath. The virus needs a vaccine. Silent killers have a high capacity to cause many more deaths.

Fever OR symptoms of respiratory illness (not necessarily pneumonia; e.g., cough, shortness of breath) AND close contact with a confirmed MERS case while the case was ill.

Her siblings were African American through adoption.

June 16, 2015


...Dolezal (click here) rose to prominence as a black woman but was revealed last week as white by her parents.
“I don’t see why they’re in such a rush to whitewash the work that I have done and who I am and how I have identified,” she said Tuesday. The timing of the revelation, she said, “was a shock. I mean, wow.”
But, she noted of her racial identity: “I’ve had to answer a lot of questions throughout my life.”...

She legitimately identified as black during very formative years.

June 14, 2015
By Angela Bronner Helm

...Rachel (click here) became estranged from her parents Larry Dolezal and Ruthanne Dolezal and cut off contact with them sometime after her 2004 divorce, according to The News. The Dolezal parents had adopted four black children, and Rachel took her adopted brother Izaiah Dolezal to live with her when he was a teen....

I think she is correct to time for herself to reflect on how, as a very successful woman, she impacts her own life through false legal identification and how it effects her work and the people that touches. I think she legitimately has performed great work. 

I think it is wrong to self-identify as black if she is not genetically a woman of color. I think her legal standing is important. Laws and regulations have been developed over time to benefit our minorities. It is not a minor issue at all. She also has a lot of work to do, especially with the assault against Blacks by state and federal governments targeting them to remove their vote from suppposed free and open elections.