Your bad bug of the day: Legionnaires' disease via compost (BBC.co.uk)
27 May 2012 Last updated at 20:40 ET
Gardeners are being warned to wash their hands after using compost following a series of Legionella cases in Scotland over the past five years.
One man has died and five others have become ill after contracting a rare strain called Legionella longbeachae, which appears to come from compost.
The unusual strain is well known in Australia and New Zealand, where bags of compost carry warning labels. But these are the first cases linked to compost to be confirmed in the UK.
As many gardeners head out to their gardens and allotments to enjoy the warm weather, experts are warning them to wash their hands after using compost, particularly before eating or smoking.
“Gardening is a very healthy hobby but like anything in life there’s a few risks,” said Dr Martin Donaghy, medical director of Health Protection Scotland. “Over the past five years we’ve had three confirmed cases of Legionella longbeachae, plus two ‘probable’ and one ‘possible’ so we do need to take steps to reduce the risk even further.”
Doctors all over the UK are being urged to be alert for a link with gardening if they see patients with unusual pneumonia…
and here’s the sound file of Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) reading the poem that became the drawing that became the tattoo. gorgeous.
Reblogging my own post for those who want to hear the back tattoo poem read aloud.
From the EVENING WITH NEIL AND AMANDA CD (From the Neil Disk). Because we posted the pictures of the tattoo. Here’s me reading it in, er, Seattle I think.
(The CDs and downloads went out to people who supported the Kickstarter. We’re hoping to release them to the general public towards the end of the year.)
I would like Neil Gaiman to design all of my tattoos. Not that I actually have any. But if I did. Perhaps someday.
Source: neilandamanda.com
insanely great: Neil Gaiman wrote a comic which became this guy’s tattoo:
This is Burton Olivier’s back. He’s the person who wrote to me and asked if I’d write a comic for his back… and I said yes, if it could also do some good for the CBLDF. And then I asked who he’d want to draw it, and he said, David Mack. So I asked David, who also said yes.
I wrote a poem about words written to be tattooed…
(via fuckyeahtattoos)
Source: neil-gaiman
V. impressed at this argument against ag antibiotic over-use by a Southern Baptist pastor, from a religiously informed POV. (from BPNews.net)
Baptist Press - FIRST-PERSON: Antibiotics & our future - News with a Christian Perspective
Steve Willis
Steve Willis is lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Kenova, W.Va., and author of “Winning the Food Fight” (Regal 2012).
…I never would have thought our nation’s problems with overeating and antibiotics are interrelated. Nearly half of all antibiotics used in the United States are administered to animals, a process that is leading to antibiotic resistance in humans.
A primary reason our farm animals need so many drugs is because many in the food industry pack animals into concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) instead of allowing them to grow in open fields like animals have done for thousands of years. In these CAFOs, animals stand shoulder-to-shoulder at the corn trough in their own manure and urine.
This spreads illnesses among them, such as Mad Cow disease and infections from E. coli and other dangerous bacteria.
At the heart of our problem lie meat-driven diets that have stimulated a three-to-one ratio of livestock to human beings. The need to quickly fatten animals leads ultimately to chopping down more forests to grow more corn, which reduces access to antibiotics God has provided through nature….
So how is this relevant to the average Southern Baptist? It matters because good health and caring for our environment are moral issues. We not only have an obesity problem, our food consumption is leading to things like increased resistance to antibiotics and deforestation…
The path from farm, to table, to a visit to the drug store is a long and complex chain. In the end, your health and our nation’s survival are at stake. It is time for churches and concerned citizens to get involved.
If true, awful: MD Animal control lured pets off porches with baited traps and immediately euthanized (no waiting period) (AlleyCat.org)
press release:
BETHESDA, MD— Alley Cat Allies, the only national advocacy organization dedicated to the protection and humane treatment of cats, today condemned Animal Control of Worcester County, Md. after news reports that the agency had trapped and killed pet cats without keeping the cats for the required 10-day holding period or determining whether the cats had owners. West Ocean City residents reported at least five pet cats that had been trapped and killed by animal control after a “relative newcomer” to the neighborhood called the agency. “This is outrageous and unacceptable,” said Becky Robinson, president and co-founder of Alley Cat Allies. “According to neighbors, these cats had coexisted in this neighborhood for years, including one who was 16 years old, toothless, and declawed—but animal control killed them anyway. Citizens lost their pets with no opportunity to reclaim them and no apology from animal control.
Hollywood sexism in a single fan-boy question. Brilliant.
Reporter: I have a question to Robert and to Scarlett. Firstly to Robert, throughout Iron Man 1 and 2, Tony Stark started off as a very egotistical character but learns how to fight as a team. And so how did you approach this role, bearing in mind that kind of maturity as a human being when it comes to the Tony Stark character, and did you learn anything throughout the three movies that you made?
And to Scarlett, to get into shape for Black Widow did you have anything special to do in terms of the diet, like did you have to eat any specific food, or that sort of thing?
Scarlett: How come you get the really interesting existential question, and I get the like, “rabbit food” question?
The respect given to you if you’re a man in the entertainment business, and the respect given to you if you’re a woman in the entertainment business: all perfectly summed up in one idiotically thought out line of questioning.You know, I always did like Scarlett Johannson.
Dat side-eye.
Let me just hug you forever Miss Johannson.
Scarlett Johansson gives the best side-eye.
Source: villa-kulla
Oh, Canada: British Columbia proposes an "ag gag" law stricter than any US one, overriding free-speech and freedom of info protections (TheProvince.com)
Inside Edge by Ethan Baron, May 22, 2012
B.C.’s Liberal government is poised to further choke off the flow of public information, this time with respect to disease outbreaks. The Animal Health Act, expected to be passed into law by month’s end, expressly over-rides B.C.’s Freedom of Information Act, duct-taping shut the mouths of any citizens - or journalists - who would publicly identify the location of an outbreak of agriculture-related disease such as the deadly bird flu.
“A person must refuse, despite the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, to disclose … information that would reveal that a notifiable or reportable disease is or may be present in a specific place or on or in a specific vehicle,” Section 16 of the Act reads.
It is quite conceivable that the provincial government, in the event of a disease outbreak at a farm, would delay releasing a warning in order to protect the farm in question or the industry it’s part of.
In that event, should you as a citizen hear about the outbreak, or if you were an employee at an affected farm, you would be breaking the law by speaking publicly about it or bringing concerns to the media…
Are fruits and vegetables more expensive than unhealthy foods? The USDA says: Not really. They cost more per calorie (because low in calories and high in bulk), but they don’t cost more when measured by the amount of them that could be consumed or is consumed.
Source: api.ers.usda.gov
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
My area of coverage is, broadly, consumer technology, with a focus on new tech product developments and technology trends and issues. I am not responsible for business coverage of technology companies. I don’t offer investment advice. I focus on products and services, not revenues and earnings.
I work for Walt Mossberg and Katherine Boehret, who oversee my work, as well as Kara Swisher, the Co-Executive Editor of this site.
I don’t accept any money, or anything else of value, from the companies I cover, or from their public relations or advertising agencies. I either use funds from our company or my own money when purchasing all devices I use for my day-to-day use, such as computers, software, digital media players, cameras, as well as my Internet service, mobile phone service, and cable-TV service. I also don’t accept trips, speaking fees, or product discounts from companies I cover or from their public relations or advertising agencies. I also don’t serve as a consultant to any companies, or serve on any advisory boards.
On occasion I make appearances on television and Web video shows, for which I receive no additional compensation from either my employer or the media companies facilitating the appearances.
The tech products I review are typically lent to me by their manufacturers for a few weeks or months. I return any products I am lent for review, except for items of minor value that companies typically don’t want back, such as a small accessory or an app download. In the case of these items, I either discard them or give them away, or they remain on my desktop or mobile phone.
Companies sometimes brief me in advance on new hardware, software, or Web sites. But there is absolutely no exchange of a positive coverage for the advance access to the product. I repeat, there is never a guarantee of favorable coverage. If I want a product I cover for my own use, I buy it for myself, at normal prices, or my employer does.
I never coordinate my coverage with our advertising sales staff, and don’t solicit or sell ads for the newspaper or Web site. AllThingsD’s separate ad sales staff does this. Advertisers and companies whose products I cover don’t get to see my posts in advance, or to select or reject topics.
In terms of investments, I have investments in group funds, which are managed without my input primarily by an investment firm, and they might from time to time put my money into funds that buy shares of stock in the companies I write about. But I do not have any knowledge about when they buy and sell any shares. I also have several general stock-index mutual funds related to my former employment at Dow Jones, but none is specifically technology-focused, although any one might, from time to time, acquire shares in some technology companies I write about. In this case, as with all my investments, I also have no knowledge of when they buy and sell any shares.
I don’t own a single share of stock in any of the companies whose products I cover.
Beyond these policies, I also abide by the Dow Jones Code of Conduct, which can be found here.
Source: allthingsd.com
Possible criminal charges against DeCoster (Wright County Egg) for 2010 Salmonella outbreak (AP)
By RYAN J. FOLEY, The Associated Press Posted May 16, 2012, at 5:35 p.m.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Lawyers representing a disgraced egg industry magnate, his son and one of their company’s financial officers say their clients are potential targets of a criminal investigation into the 2010 salmonella outbreak that sickened thousands of Americans and led to a massive recall of their products.
In recent documents filed in a civil case in California, defense lawyers for Austin “Jack” DeCoster, son Peter DeCoster and Quality Egg Chief Financial Officer Patsy Larson say a federal grand jury has been meeting in Iowa to determine whether fraud or other crimes were committed in the production and testing of eggs.
Federal officials say at least 1,900 people fell ill — and likely thousands more — during the outbreak that started in July 2010 and was later linked to contaminated eggs supplied by Quality Egg and Hillandale Farms. Both companies voluntarily recalled 550 million eggs nationwide.
Regulators put most of the blame on Quality Egg, which did business as Wright County Egg, based in Galt, Iowa. Quality Egg, controlled by the DeCosters, sold chickens and feed to Hillandale and had more illnesses linked to its eggs. Inspectors discovered dead chickens, insects, rodents, towers of manure and other filthy conditions at both farms, and a congressional investigation found salmonella samples more than 400 times between 2008 and 2010.
Peter Deegan, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, based in Cedar Rapids, said Wednesday he could not confirm the existence of the investigation. The office’s jurisdiction covers the rural area of northern Iowa where the farms are located…
Super-cool 3-D biology game on Kickstarter! Bonus: All 3 developers are women. Pls check it out.
(via A 3D Biology Video Game for the Kinect by Blair, Laura Lynn, & Rachel — Kickstarter)
Source: kickstarter.com
is it possible i have not yet reblogged the Cumberbatch otters? fixed:
Otters Who Look Like Benedict Cumberbatch: A Visual Examination.
All otters are from The Daily Otter, for all your ottery Tumblr needs!
Source: redscharlach
V. smart commentary on H5N1/NSABB controversy from WashPost's David Brown (Nature News)
…journalists’ sources of knowledge are what they see, what they read and what they are told. We have no special channels. The debate over how to publish these two papers illustrates what happens when two of these sources are missing. We had no events to observe and as long as the papers remained secret we could not read them. What we were left with is what people had told us.
In my experience, scientists are more capable of giving a disinterested version of events than, say, politicians. They are willing to present both sides more or less fairly. They tend to have a respect for facts, wherever they lead, which cannot be said of lots of people who make up the voices on the news. But their general goodwill can’t make up for the fact that what they told reporters about the mutant-flu controversy was woefully inadequate. The news stories that appeared were based on second- and third-hand versions of the facts. There was no evidence base for reporters to consult. And without numbers and details — the evidence base for science reporting — you get qualitative statements and metaphors. “Doomsday virus”, for example.
Many reporters, it should be noted, are enthusiastic participants in overstating the case. Some learn early to make the most extreme assertions supportable by the facts even if the impression left by their story is not what one would get after a complete survey of the facts. Editors sometimes goad reporters in that direction, but generally that’s not necessary.
It may turn out that in some circumstances, censorship is the responsible act because the facts are too dangerous to provide to the readers. But when that happens, I think you can count on getting an extreme account in the press of what is being kept secret.
Secrecy breeds paranoia. It makes people question motives. I haven’t read any paranoid explanations of why this research was kept secret. But if this starts to become a habit with dual-use research, I am sure they will emerge…
Bespoke” is becoming downright ordinary. “Fewer and fewer people are asking what it means these days.
@Boholawyer schools you:
First Dunkin’ Donuts co-opts the word Artisan and now everybody wants a bit of bespoke.
As an attorney, and as a fan of the English language, I must respectfully ask you all to stop appropriating pretty sounding words and using them incorrectly for your own entreprenurial or corporate devices. You will all eventually end up in court and things will end badly and generically.
(via boholawyer)
Source: boholawyer
Journos should read this CJR piece on the need to protect the digital security of sources. Who gets trained in this? Not the reporters in this piece, and they work for major outlets. (CJR.org)
“I think that the journalism community in the US, and to some degree elsewhere, is just beginning to grasp the fact that they need to protect their information and, by extension, their sources,” said Frank Smyth, who is the senior adviser for journalist security at the Committee to Protect Journalists and also runs a private company, Global Journalist Security. “It’s just too easy to get in and lift their information or monitor their communications without them ever knowing they were compromised.”
Full piece is here.
Source: cjr.org
