Hundreds of camels have died in Saudi Arabia this week from a mystery ailment. The Agriculture Ministry has said 232 camels died in the space of four days in the Dawasir Valley, 400 km (250 miles) south of Riyadh. King Abdullah has promised compensation for owners, who say the real number of deaths is far higher.
Poor li'l camels. :(
Don't really care too much about the owners.
Agriculture ministry officials have denied an infectious disease caused the deaths and blamed them on animal feed supplied by food storage authorities.
It wasn't Chinese was it?
"The disease has to be limited to one place to prevent it spreading and then they have to find a serum," said camel breeder Hamad al-Harthy, who talked of hundreds of deaths. "They need to bring in help from abroad to find a solution," said trader Turki Abdelaziz.
Ouch. The Royals won't be happy to hear that sort of sentiment.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/19/2007 16:52 Comments ||
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#10
Camel flu??? My first guess would be complications due to poor genetic security due to forced interbreeding for the sake of mass production. Too close genetic ancestry > weak or poor resistance to diseases.
Our own Sgt. Mom has a book published! You can order To Truckee's Trailhere. From the BookLocker website:
To Truckees Trail is a fictional retelling of the all-but unknown real-life adventure on the California wagon-train trail. The Stephens-Townsend Party were bold, daring, and lucky and did everything right, two years before the ill-fated Donner-Reed party, who followed the very same path, but encountered only disaster.
Half a dozen families set out from Council Bluffs, Iowa in the spring of 1844, venturing into a barely known and lightly-tracked wilderness. Those fifty men, women and children walked nearly two thousand miles, across plain and desert, fording rivers and climbing mountains, depending on nothing more than their own skill and courage... and each other. They hoisted their wagons up a sheer mountain cliff, got caught in the snow and nearly starved and when nearly at the end of their epic venture, were press-ganged into participating a small civil war. They were the first to bring wagons over the perilous wall of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and yet hardly anyone has ever heard of them. Until now.
Writer Celia Hayes has imagined that a diary account of their trail-blazing adventure exists and told their stories, from Dr. John Townsend, the diarist who is the partys co-leader, to Elisha Stephens, the taciturn wagon master who distains the company of other people, the old mountain-man Caleb Greenwood with his Indian sons who led them into the wilderness, the feisty Isabella Patterson with her brood of children who means to rejoin her husband in California, and her youngest son, the talkative and fearless Eddie. Ordinary Americans all, but on an extraordinary adventure on an unknown path through the wilderness, as they find their way To Truckees Trail.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/19/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Thaks for the link, Steve... and Booklocker even offers a sample chapter for whose who don't want to buy a pig in a poke, as it were.
1,999,985 more copies sold and I can think about buying a castle in J.K. Rowlings' neighborhood!
#5
Well, yeah... tell your Best-beloved to order a copy for you! And then, when you have read it and if you really enjoy, to post a review at Amazon.com, or wherever!
Seriously, I wrote this book because it was really a wonderful story... and also because I really believe we need to reclaim our histories. We need to know that our ancestors (actual or only philosphical) were brave and competant, and pulled together in adversity. We need to know this; we must be reassured about this, in the stories that we tell to each other in the dark times.
I think you would like it, TW... the central love story is between a couple who have been married for more than a decade, and are still crackers about each other!
#6
Hey it took me all day to see this... maybe we should run this another day Dr. Steve, unless youse thinks the avarage RBee is a bit swifter than I is?
;-)
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/19/2007 23:25 Comments ||
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A college student received more than 100 stitches after being bitten by a shark in Sarasota Bay. Andrea Lynch, 20, said she was floating on her back near a boat when the shark bit her in her side Wednesday, shook her a little bit and then let her go. When she got back in the boat, she told her three friends that she might have been bitten by a shark and they thought she might be joking - or mistaken. "I reached back with my hand and felt all these gashes on me," she said, "and there was blood running down my body and pooling in the boat."
Lynch had 17 puncture wounds. Doctors said the shark's teeth got close to her lungs, but missed all major organs.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/19/2007 00:00 ||
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She is lucky- fortunately, sharks think that humans taste bad and usually spit us out after a shake or two.
#1
A lot of these are probably just empty disposable and non-reusable/reloadable launch tubes used in practice exercises and then usually thrown in the trash, except someone might have taken one home as a souvenir and lost it or something...
ABBOTABAD, 6 August 2007 (IRIN) - Iodine deficiency is a major health problem in Pakistan. According to the Islamabad-based Network for Consumer Protection, around 50 million people across the country suffer from it.
Sumaira Khatoon, 35, is concerned by her youngest son's performance at school. The boy, Farhan, 10, has failed his examinations twice and teachers say he is "incapable of learning". Sumair and her husband Farooq Ahmed, 40, who live in the small town of Thandiani, some 30km from Abbotabad, in Pakistans North West Frontier Province (NWFP), had no idea that the problem could be linked to iodine deficiency. "Both our other children, a daughter and a son, do well at school. We are very worried about Farhan," said Farooq.
The child shows no obvious signs of iodine deficiency. He seems active and the tell-tale swelling of the thyroid gland, known as goiter, which occurs when there is a serious iodine deficiency, is not visible.
"It is commonly believed iodine deficiency shows itself only as goiter, but actually it can lead to slow mental development, retardation, lethargy and reproductive problems, including miscarriages or still births among women," said Dr Faiza Zafar, a physician based in Abbotabad. She diagnoses iodine deficiency quite frequently among patients from all over the NWFP.
In 6.5 million people the problem of iodine deficiency is rated as severe, while in many parts of the NWFP, where rain and rivers wash iodine and other minerals out of the soil, up to 90 percent of people outside major towns are said to suffer from some level of iodine deficiency.
On paper at least, the solution is simple. Iodised table salt was introduced in Pakistan in 1994 and currently the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), which began importing potassium iodate into Pakistan around the same time, supplies provincial health departments. The rate, at US$2.50 per kilogram is low, and the cost of adding it to salt ground at local mills is minimal.
But a quite different problem has plagued the campaign to promote and popularise iodised salt. "Many people believe that this salt is a means of preventing reproduction and is being distributed as part of a Western conspiracy to stop the growth of the Muslim population," said Dr Zafar.
Sorta like the polio vaccine? Wait til they hear the evils of aspirin and penicillin.
Zafar said: "Some patients refused to use the widely available iodised salt because they were convinced it would reduce fertility.
This belief, which exists not only in the NWFP but also in many parts of Pakistans populous Punjab Province, is similar to misconceptions surrounding the oral polio vaccine, and also fortified flour, the marketing of which has begun in some parts of the country.
However, Amjad Malik, a medical student who is working in Abbotabad to combat iodine deficiency, said: "Such problems have to be tackled and not allowed to stand in the way of people's health.
This may be easier said than done though - especially in conservative areas of the NWFP where campaigns conducted by the government or non-governmental organisations (NGOs), hold little weight and are often regarded with distrust.
Combating deeply rooted beliefs is hard, with many people seemingly unconvinced by factual evidence. "Allah Almighty has given us many natural wonders, including salt. Why should we add man-made medication to it? If a child is ill or a woman suffers miscarriages, that is God's will," said cleric Abdul Hakim, based at a mosque close to Thandiani.
However, gradually, the message regarding iodine has begun to reach some families. "If this will help my son, I am willing to try it," said Sumaira Khatoon, cautiously sniffing a handful of iodised salt brought from a corner-shop.
According to the results of UNICEF-supported research conducted by the Peshawar-based Research Centre of the Khyber Medical College, in the Swat area of the NWFP, the findings of which were published in 2003, 52 percent of boys and 45 percent of girls aged 8-10, from a sample of 960 students, were found to suffer from goiter. While this marked a slight improvement over figures reported in past years, the incidence of the problem remained high.
According to the Network for the Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency, a network of major international organisations working globally against iodine deficiency, only 17 percent of Pakistans population uses iodised salt. This compares to over 70 percent in neighbouring India, 93 percent in Nepal and 78 percent in Bangladesh.
International agency Micro-nutrients Initiative (MI) has now taken over responsibility for promoting iodised salt in the country and is working with the Health Ministry. Attempts are being made to persuade rock-salt crushing factories to add the nutrient to its products. Wider marketing of iodised salt and indeed a battle against widespread malnutrition, which causes stunting among 38 percent of Pakistani children, according to international findings, may help solve some of the issues millions of people face.
How about just pulling non-iodized salt from the market?
But the struggle could be a long and difficult one, aid workers say. Many NWFP villages are cut off from major towns for months by snow and people tend to live in virtual isolation, unwilling to alter age-old beliefs.
In addition, heightened pro-militant sentiments currently prevailing in many areas of Pakistan, particularly in NWFP, are making it even harder than before for the government or NGOs to get their message across and correct the misconceptions which have consistently plagued efforts to improve health in many spheres.
Posted by: john frum ||
08/19/2007 09:32 ||
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Headline should have read: "Unconvinced by facts, unwilling to change age-old beliefs" That's the major problem in Pakistan.
#2
Many people believe that this salt is a means of preventing reproduction and is being distributed as part of a Western conspiracy to stop the growth of the Muslim population
god forbid...breeding like friggin rats, then complaining there isn't enough room/free food/jobs.....
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/19/2007 12:15 Comments ||
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The idea that iodine can prevent iodine deficiency is a plot by Crusaders and Jews to impurify the precious bodily essences of Muslims. No doubt, the element itself was discovered by Jews. Joos, Jooos, Joooos, I tell you!
#5
Many people believe that this salt is a means of preventing reproduction and is being distributed as part of a Western conspiracy to stop the growth of the Muslim population
On to us. I knew this would happen, it was so damn obvious, I said in the Water, in the Water, but noooooo we gotta try the salt angle. Still good reports from the Polio Vaccine front.
Posted by: Thomas Woof ||
08/19/2007 12:47 Comments ||
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#7
"Many people believe that this salt is a means of preventing reproduction and is being distributed as part of a Western conspiracy to stop the growth of the Muslim population," said Dr Zafar.
We only wish that the polio vaccine and iodized salt were secret involuntary birth control menthods. Instead, the usual Islamic Idiocy transcends our own limited expectations and outdoes even itself for utter opacity.
Between Pashtoons leaving their wimmen folk to freeze in the winter highlands while the Brave Lions of Islam go downslope to get earthquake aid, the polio vaccine scare and now this ... IODIZED SALT ... fer cripes sakes ... I no longer have the least sympathy for these maroons.
Pakistan is essentially an advanced form of what Palestinians would be like with their own nation after a few decades. Just like the Palestinians, I no longer feel the least twinge of sypmathy for their combined sufferings. My only regret is that this sort of terminal stupidity simply cannot kill off these willfully ignorant cretins fast enough.
Muslims deserve Islam and all its attendant woes. When they finally learn to shrug off the chains of intolerance and unenlightenment, only then will some sort of relief begin. Until then, the West's only obligation is to sit back and quietly watch them sink into the mire of their own Islamic cesspits and squash whomever tries to come our way.
#9
More muslim transference, telegraphing what muslims would do when and if they ever get on top.
Posted by: ed ||
08/19/2007 16:00 Comments ||
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#10
More muslim transference, telegraphing what muslims would do when and if they ever get on top.
Word, ed. I had dinner with woman lst night who simply refused to accept that one culture could be superior to another. She kept insisting that other cultures also thought that they were the best just as I was asserting that America's was the best. I tried to point out how ours promotes actual freedom while so many others, especially Islamic ones, do the exact opposite. Even confronted with how the vast majority of this world's population wants to immigrate to America, she could not bring herself to admit that such a thing was a frank admission of American culture's superiority.
I politiely pointed out how us having dinner together while she was unescorted by a male relative would get us lashes for adultery in Saudi Arabia, not to mention how her revealing outfit would do the same as well. I even noted how women especially would die in droves under a global caliphate as they would only be able to see extremely scarce female doctors. She countered with the usual tired old memes of how America should not go around trying to export democracy and "sticking our nose where it doesn't belong." She insisted that people in Islamic countries need to rise up for themselves.
I tried to point out how those people often face heavily armed militaries and an elite clerical aristocracy who has not the least interest in their freedom and, in fact, sees democracy with its manmade laws as a direct affront to shari'a law. I'm hoping that a tiny bit of this leaked through. She's a seasoned traveller and runs her own business, so there's a slight hope. I light of how she is a black woman, I really need to inform her of how Islam treats black Muslims, but that will have to wait for another time.
#14
Zen, continue on enlightening her, believe me, it eventually gets through (or else she's as dumb as a brick and will never "get it.").
I've done the same to many black older generation people at my work (Federal Gov't Agency). When I can't get through to them about Mike Vick, I usually enlighten them about world events (usually involving attacks by Islam) and they are utterly amazed at how much we *don't* hear by the MSM. Most of them keep an open mind about it and are beginning to see the cancer that is Islam.
This belief, which exists not only in the NWFP but also in many parts of Pakistans populous Punjab Province, is similar to misconceptions surrounding the oral polio vaccine, and also fortified flour, the marketing of which has begun in some parts of the country.
This one quote gives me hope that we'll win this WAR one way or another. Either we take them out wholesale (if needed) by military/diplo actions, or they will *eventually* kill themselves by being the world's first wholesale religious group worthy of the Darwin Award of the Century. As a Christian, I still have hope that they can be converted and/or saved on a physical level. As a human, though, anyone who just chalks up kids' deaths and sufferings as Allan's will is beyond my sympathy.
As if 9/11 weren't bad enough (attacking adult civilians), I learned *all* I needed to know about Islam in that school "seige" in Beslan. That attack alone turned the tide for me, and I say "Full Steam Ahead" in taking out Islamic gov'ts and especially "holy men" like these.
Posted by: BA ||
08/19/2007 20:13 Comments ||
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#15
I've done the same to many black older generation people at my work (Federal Gov't Agency). When I can't get through to them about Mike Vick, I usually enlighten them about world events (usually involving attacks by Islam) and they are utterly amazed at how much we *don't* hear by the MSM.
You've got it, BA. I own a white wolf-hybrid (named, Zen). So often black kids (and even white kids as well) are utterly terrified of my slightly aggressive but totally friendly animal.
After shopping at my local Supermercado, I exited the store, untied Zen, and headed towards my car. At every opportunity, I make sure kids always have a chance to positively interact with Zen. He loves children and sucks up their attention like the strokes-monster he is.
Outside of the store it was truly discouraging to see a family of kids almost run in terror from Zen, except for the eldest child. He hung back and gave Zen all sorts of strokes while I talked to the child's father about pets and animals. It was so refreshing to hear a responsible black man, on his own, bring up how evil Vick's dog fighting crap was and then also encourage his other terrified children to come and pet Zen. Sadly, few of them would, but his eldest son hung out and gave Zen all sorts of strokes to help prove the rest of them wrong.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - In the nine months since she was born, tiny Fatima Jubouri first lost her father, then gunmen killed her mother and uncle and she was left alone and uncared for in a pile of garbage in Baghdad.
Police found Fatima, malnourished and suffering from dehydration in Iraq's scorching summer heat, hidden under rubbish in one of southern Baghdad's most violent districts. How she got there is not clear, although there is speculation her mother hid her before she was killed.
For now, Fatima is the centre of attention, doted on by nurses and other visitors to her ward. But soon, and no one at the hospital knows exactly when, U.S. soldiers will return to take her to an orphanage to join her five siblings.
... adoption is forbidden in Muslim countries.
Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground
If you had not have fallen
Then I would not have found you
Angel flying too close to the ground
And I patched up your broken wing
And hung around a while
Tried to keep your spirits up
While you were feelin' down
I knew someday
That you would fly away
For love's the greatest healer to be found
So leave me if you need to
I will still remember Angel
Flying too close to the ground
Fly on...
Fly on...
Past the speed of sound
I'd rather see you up
Than see you down
Leave me if you need to
I will still remember
Angel, Flying too close to the ground
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Hundreds of camels have died in Saudi Arabia this week from a mystery ailment. The Agriculture Ministry has said 232 camels died in the space of four days in the Dawasir Valley, 400 km (250 miles) south of Riyadh. King Abdullah has promised compensation for owners, who say the real number of deaths is far higher.
