At first, we thought this week's issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Report was utterly run-of-the-mill.
We skimmed a report on leisure-time activity among adults with and without arthritis and an update on flu activity before we were stopped in our tracks by something we'd never seen before: a case report on Campylobacter jejuni infections contracted by two people working on a sheep ranch, apparently because they used their teeth to castrate some lambs.
C. jejuni is frequently transmitted by fecal-oral contact or consuming contaminated food or water. And infections are commonly associated with eating poultry or unpasteurized dairy products, the report notes.
But these two workers didn't report consuming those food items. Nor did they share food or water. Their common bond: of the 12 people who worked to castrate and dock tails of 1,600 lambs at a Wyoming sheep ranch in June, they were the only two who reported using their teeth as castration aids.
And, during the event, "a few lambs reportedly had a mild diarrheal illness," the report says. C. jejuni was later isolated in two lambs.
The men, too, came down with diarrhea, and one also suffered from abdominal cramps, fever, nausea and vomiting. One was hospitalized for a day; both fully recovered. Lab testing suggested the infection by C. jejuni was from a common source.
The ranch owners and employees, the MMWR notes, were advised to use standard methods for castrating the lambs -- not including the teeth.
Kerry Pride, an author of the report and veterinarian, tells us via email that "this method has and does occur." It was more common in the 1800s, but still goes on, Pride says, speaking for herself and not the CDC.
#3
yeah, I held my....um...ya know, it hurt for me to look at so much. Poor Mike Rowe though, he probably got some lamb-poo in there.
Posted by: Charles ||
12/09/2011 12:33 Comments ||
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#4
Important note, wash lamb testicles before you bite them off.
Personally, this sounds nicer than the traditional Arab way of castrating camels. Four strong men grab the camel's legs, then a fifth man goes behind it with a pair of bricks.
Police in Afghanistan have arrested four brothers who threw acid on woman who had refused to marry one of them, attacked her mother and two sisters with acid, and brutally beat her father.
Seventeen-year-old Mumtaz, the oldest of three daughters, had been pursued for two years by a local gunman considered a troublemaker by the family for some reason. Six months ago, she rejected him and got engaged to a relative, but shortly before the wedding, a group of gunmen burst into their home and attacked the whole family.
Mumtaz was the most severely hurt and is being treated in India. Her mother and two sisters are in a hospital in Kabul. Her father, who was assaulted, has been released from hospital. He still has serious back and head problems, and fears that he cannot afford to stay with his family in Kabul for long.
Police in Kunduz detained three of the brothers on Thursday when they tried to arrange a meeting of elders to seek forgiveness from the family. The fourth was taken into custody on December 1. Police are now seeking to arrest two or three more people the family has accused of attacking them.
The family told police that six or seven armed men burst into their home in the middle of the night on November 30. Sultan Mohammad, the father of the family, said the men had split open his head when they attacked him with their guns, and then tied his hands so he could not stop the assault on his wife and daughters.
He said, "They beat me with a weapon and took me to another room, then they beat my family and poured acid on them."
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] President Joseph Kabila is poised to claim a new five-year term today when officials announce the winner of DR Congo's elections, a result the opposition is likely to contest both in court and on the street.
Leading a pack of 11 candidates with 49 per cent of valid votes and just over one-tenth of polling centres uncounted, Kabila, in power since 2001, looks likely to reap the benefits of January constitutional changes that scrapped two-round presidential elections for a single-round system.
His nearest rival, veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, was on 33 per cent when the last figures were released late Tuesday.
Tshisekedi rejected partial results showing Kabila in the lead, and his Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) has called for the election commission to release results polling centre by polling centre.
International observers have have asked for greater transparency.
The conflict-prone country has been on edge as it awaits the outcome of the November 28 polls.
The announcement, originally scheduled for Tuesday but postponed 48 hours by election officials, has created trepidation after a campaign marred by street fights between rival parties and deadly police crackdowns on opposition supporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2011 00:00 ||
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[Krebs on Security] Thousands of Twitter accounts apparently created in advance to blast automated messages are being used to drown out Tweets sent by bloggers and activists this week who are protesting the disputed parliamentary elections in Russia, security experts said.
Amid widespread reports of ballot stuffing and voting irregularities in the election, thousands of Russians have turned out in the streets to protest. Russian police arrested hundreds of protesters who had gathered in Moscow's Triumfalnaya Square, including notable anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny. In response, protesters began tweeting their disgust in a Twitter hashtag #триумфальная (Triumfalnaya), which quickly became one of the most-tweeted hashtags on Twitter.
But according to several experts, it wasn't long before messages sent to that hashtag were drowned out by pro-Kremlin tweets that appear to have been sent by countless Twitter bots. Maxim Goncharov, a senior threat researcher at Trend Micro, observed that "if you currently check this hash tag on twitter you'll see a flood of 5-7 identical tweets from accounts that have been inactive for month and that only had 10-20 tweets before this day. To this point those hacked accounts have already posted 10-20 more tweets in just one hour."
"Whether the attack was supported officially or not is not relevant, but we can now see how social media has become the battlefield of a new war for freedom of speech," Goncharov wrote.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2011 00:00 ||
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h/t Instapundit
China is poised to become the worlds largest producer of shale gas, though that might take a few decades. Still, test drilling has confirmed the Chinese are sitting atop the worlds largest reserves of the unconventional natural gas resource. The noose around Allan's oil ticks tightens.
#1
The noose around Allan's oil ticks tightens. Alternative energy supplies like these may some day be like organophospates on the oil ticks. Stone cold broke jihadis aren't much of a threat to anyone but themselves.
#2
Oil will continuance to get increasingly valuable until transportation electrifies. There is an order of magnitude difference in demand when 700 million people were the beneficiaries of a western standard of living and 7 billion.
#3
Only modern nuclear or fusion plants will be able to provide enough power to use electric cars as common transport. Of course since oil/gas is NOT a fossil fuel there should be plenty of time to develop the tech and upgrade the grid to handle the loads that would follow. 150 years should do.
Now Obama has something in common with Putin. If Putin were to give Obama a button that says "overcharge", it might spark a glorious new era of détente.
#7
James Petras at VOLTAIRENET.Org prolly knows why the Bammer didn't win the Prize behind Door #3 ....
To wit,
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > OBAMA RAISES THE MILITARY STAKES: CONFRONTATION ON THE FRONTIERS OF CHINA + RUSSIA.
POTUS Bammer's = USA"s provocative offensive strategery of isolation + containment agz China + Russia.
and
* TOPIX > RUSSIAN ENVOY TO NATO DEMANDS PROOF THAT MISSLE DEFENSE SHIELD IS SAFE, i.e. NOT pointed at Mama Russia + her Motherly Commie = Russ Airborne.
[Dawn] The European single currency could break up and Europe itself unravel if politicians fail to tackle the region's debt crisis, La Belle France's minister for European affairs warned Thursday.
"The situation is serious...the euro can explode and Europe unravel," Jean Leonetti told La Belle France's Canal Plus television, hours ahead of what is being seen as a crucial European summit on the issue in Brussels.
He said that if possible all 27 members of the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... should be involved in talks on tackling the debt crisis but that non-eurozone members might have to be excluded.
"When there are some in the 27 who say 'I'm not interested in what you are talking about because I never want to join the euro'," like Britannia for example, "this should not cause paralysis," he said.
The most difficult point of contention at the summit would be "discipline," he said, a reference to La Belle France and Germany's efforts to force other eurozone members to accept legal limits on their budget deficits and automatic sanctions for countries who break the rules.
Leonetti also criticised credit rating agencies, who have warned eurozone nations of downgrades if they fail to deal with the crisis.
"They annoy me a bit...It is not for the credit agencies to be involved in politics, that is for the people and the people's representatives," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2011 00:00 ||
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#4
"They annoy me a bit...It is not for the credit agencies to be involved in politics, that is for the people and the people's representatives," he said.
The poor chap is very confused about what politics is. In essence it's about lenders, who are advised by credit agencies and borrowers who are "sovereigns" who have to pay the money back.
Since the dawn of time the dichotomy between these two is what defined what politics is. When money was lent to a regent, very often the debt died when the regent died. Also regents had a habit of defaulting, witness Spain.
Some one in Holland came up with the idea that the country could be turned into corporation and the share holders/taxpayers would be responsible for the debt, under control of a parliament which was elected by the burgers. (no lumpenproletarians, if you didn't accept responsibility for repayment, you didn't get to vote)In a brilliant PR exercise they named the system "democracy" and it stood up well for the next hundred years in their war with Spain.
The idea worked so well for the lenders that they suggested it to the English, who adopted it in the Glorious Revolution. From there it made its way across the pond to the colonials. Everything worked well while the parliamentary franchise was limited to the burgers who paid taxes which guaranteed repayment of loans. But then the franchise was extended to those who didn't pay taxes and after that everything went pear shaped as they took control and started voting themselves entitlements to which they hadn't contributed. Now these borrowers think that lenders shouldn't have the benefit of credit agencies. The guy is living in la-la land.
#5
Bottom line: The pattern is for someone to give a dire warning, which drops the markets, then for the EU leaders to come out with some vague and unworkable ideas, to which the markets recover until the next gloom and doom pronouncement.
Eventually the markets should wake up that there is no solution, but for the time being they are in the arms of Morpheus, enjoying their sweet dreams, and would prefer to remain asleep.
#9
I knew it was a bad idea when Anti-Christ JR Chirac built this horrid combined currency and EU system.
The whole thing was geared to give Germany the upper hand. But with European babies, they take no responsibility for their economies and eventually dragged Germany down with it. Who woulda thunk it?
[Iran Press TV] Hundreds of anti-Wall Street demonstrators have gathered at US politicians' offices to protest against corporate influence on Washington's corridors of power.
On Thursday, activists, union members, and other protesters staged sit-ins at the offices of congressmen, including House Speaker John It is not pronounced 'Boner!' Boehner ... the occasionally weepy leader of House Republicans... , AFP reported.
Protesters have been staging three consecutive days of rallies across Washington under the slogan Take back the Capitol.
Demonstrators say Washington has been corrupted by lobbyists and big businesses.
The protesters are targeting the offices of some 100 politicians, who oppose raising taxes on the rich and bills aimed at creating jobs.
They also aimed to highlight that 13.3 million people were unemployed in the US and urged the politicians to shun cuts in unemployment benefits and focus on job creation.
Washington is home to two protest encampments inspired by Occupy Wall Street (OWS), which started in New York's financial district in September in protest at 'corporate greed' and high-level corruption in the country.
The OWS spread across the US during the fall, with camps sprouting up in cities, including Philadelphia, Los Angles, and Portland.
The police cleared out camps in cities like New York and Los Angeles, arresting hundreds of people. The crackdown has, however, fallen far short of terminating the campaign.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/09/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Since these thugs all work indirectly for the White House, the Republicans should advise them that unless they register as lobbyists, they are in contravention to federal law.
Not that those who break federal law against Republicans need fear prosecution right now, as the Just Us Department is on autopilot.
Canada's Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday about whether a Muslim woman accusing her cousin and uncle of childhood sexual abuse should be allowed to wear a niqab on the witness stand.
Joanna Birenbaum, of the Womens Legal Education and Action Fund, said the case will have significant repercussions throughout Canada because "if the court requires women who wear the niqab to remove them to testify ... the result will be that niqab-wearing women will not report sexual assaults at all, and the message is that they can be raped with impunity."
N.S. whose identity is protected was ordered during a preliminary hearing in Ontario court to remove her niqab, a Muslim head and face covering which leaves only a slit for her eyes. She refused and, after working its way through the Ontario court system, her case is now made it to the countrys top court.
Lawyers for the accused argue that, if N.S. is permitted to testify with her face covered, the judge will not be able to determine the truth of her testimony.
However, David Butt, the womans lawyer, said the benefits of including Muslims who wear a niqab, outweigh the negative aspects, which he says are fairly minor.
There are certain institutions in our society where its really important that they take people just as they are one of those is hospitals, another one is courts. And, unless its going to seriously interfere with the functioning of the court, we should say, if thats your sincere belief, were not going to stand in your way.
Butt said if the court rules that N.S. must remove her niqab to testify, "it will put her in an impossible situation. She will have to choose between violating her religion or not seeking redress as a sexual assault complainant."
But, Tyler Hodgson from the Muslim Canadian Congress, said "the niqab, as an institution, undermines gender equality and full participation in a democratic society and the court ought to at least consider that when balancing these conflicting rights."
"The right to full answer in defence ultimately trumps" N.S.s desire to keep her face covered, said Hodgson, because her motivations for wearing the niqab are unclear it could be religious, but it also could be for cultural or familial reasons neither of which is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A judge in a lower Ontario court suggested a "sincerity test" for N.S. to prove that her faith is genuine.
Birenbaum said, "The sincerity test is really more aimed at exploring more marginalized religious practices, which the court many not be familiar with. But, the wearing of the niqab is connected with one of the worlds major religions and, in our view, the sincerity should be presumed particularly given how incredibly hard it is to wear the niqab in contemporary Canadian society."
Butt said he was disheartened by what he called the "intolerant, racist and ignorant" comments after most online news stories he has read about the subject. He said, "Thats exactly when you need courts to step in and protect minority rights when theres a popular sentiment against them."
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.
Police in Afghanistan have arrested four brothers who threw acid on woman who had refused to marry one of them, attacked her mother and two sisters with acid, and brutally beat her father.
Thousands of Twitter accounts apparently created in advance to blast automated messages are being used to drown out Tweets sent by bloggers and activists this week who are protesting the disputed parliamentary elections in Russia, security experts said.
Canada's Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday about whether a Muslim woman accusing her cousin and uncle of childhood sexual abuse should be allowed to wear a niqab on the witness stand.
