Category Archives: Fail!

Watch Out: NYPD Starts 2-Week Bicyclist Crackdown Today!: Gothamist

Will the police knock bicyclists off their bikes to ticket them? Block the bike lane to ticket bicyclists? Hand out tickets for not wearing helmets (should be a field day with Citi Bike users)? Hand out pamphlets for “psycho cyclists”? Does Alec Baldwin know about this?!?

Anything could happen. Send your experiences to tips@gothamist.com.

via Watch Out: NYPD Starts 2-Week Bicyclist Crackdown Today!: Gothamist.

Avian Flu Diary: PNAS: Receptor Usage & Cell Entry Of Bat Coronaviruses

Bats, increasingly, are being viewed as substantial reservoirs for dangerous viruses. While long known to vector rabies, in the 1990s outbreaks of Hendra in Australia and Nipah in Malaysia and parts of Asia were eventually traced to bats, and while conclusive evidence is still lacking, the Ebola virus (and its cousin Marburg) are all believed to have bat origins

 

Bats are abundant (roughly 1/4th of all mammal species), mobile and wide ranging, and have adapted over millions of years to carry a variety of highly pathogenic viruses without ill effect.

via Avian Flu Diary: PNAS: Receptor Usage & Cell Entry Of Bat Coronaviruses.

Top ten most dangerous viruses in the world | Sci-Tech | DW.DE | 12.08.2014

1. The most dangerous virus is the Marburg virus. It is named after a small and idyllic town on the river Lahn – but that has nothing to do with the disease itself. The Marburg virus is a hemorrhagic fever virus. As with Ebola, the Marburg virus causes convulsions and bleeding of mucous membranes, skin and organs. It has a fatality rate of 90 percent.

via Top ten most dangerous viruses in the world | Sci-Tech | DW.DE | 12.08.2014.

Israel accused of using illegal weapons in Gaza war – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

“DIME weapons consist of a carbon-fiber casing filled with a homogenous mixture of an explosive material and small particles, basically a powder, of a heavy metal, for instance, a tungsten alloy. … The tungsten powder tears apart anything it hits. The impact of such weapons in general causes very severe wounds.”

The general director of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Medhat Abbas, concurred with Dr. Fosse’s statements, saying, “There is ample evidence of Israel’s use of internationally banned DIME weapons.”

via Israel accused of using illegal weapons in Gaza war – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East.

SBCDC: Same Bull Crap Different Country – Kenya: New Bill Wants Gays Stoned in Public

A bill seeking to have foreign gay people stoned to death in public in Kenya is now before the National Assembly through a petition by a political party.

The draft bill has proposed that a foreigner who commits a homosexual act be stoned in public, while Kenyan nationals found guilty will be jailed for life.

The draft bill, presented alongside a petition by the party’s legal secretary, Edward Onwong’a Nyakeriga, is seeking to criminalise sodomy, with offenders earning life imprisonment.

“There is need to protect children and youth who are vulnerable to sexual abuse and deviation as a result of cultural changes, uncensored information technology, parentless-child developmental settings and increasing attempts by homosexuals to raise children in homosexual relationships through adoption, foster care or otherwise,” Nyakeriga says in his petition.

via allAfrica.com: Kenya: New Bill Wants Gays Stoned in Public.

WHO | Ethical considerations for use of unregistered interventions for Ebola viral disease (EVD)

{Nothing in the guidelines says patients/victims/stricken people must give informed consent to use of experimental drugs on them, or informed consent of their family – lots to be sure that medical community and drug firms get information. I smell a rat here and it seems that WHO has caved to both governments and companies. Governments have to appear to be doing something or look bad. Drug firms want to look compassionate, get a get out of jail free card for doing good deeds while still charging billions for drugs that in many cases were financed with public funds for initial research. Me cynical – well yes, Wellcome Foundation made billions from Burroughs Wellcome first HIV/AIDS drug before they made it a bit more affordable. No more drugs available now but everyone looks good and has permission to experiment on West Africans.}

Ethical criteria must guide the provision of such interventions. These include transparency about all aspects of care, informed consent, freedom of choice, confidentiality, respect for the person, preservation of dignity and involvement of the community.

In order to understand the safety and efficacy of these interventions, the group advised that, if and when they are used to treat patients, there is a moral obligation to collect and share all data generated, including from treatments provided for ‘compassionate use’ (access to an unapproved drug outside of a clinical trial).

The group explored how the use of these interventions can be evaluated scientifically to ensure timely and accurate information about the safety and efficacy of these investigational interventions. There was unanimous agreement that there is a moral duty to also evaluate these interventions (for treatment or prevention) in the best possible clinical trials under the circumstances in order to definitively prove their safety and efficacy or provide evidence to stop their utilization. Ongoing evaluation should guide future interventions.

In addition to this advice, the panel identified areas that need more detailed analysis and discussion, such as:

ethical ways to gather data while striving to provide optimal care under the prevailing circumstances;

ethical criteria to prioritize the use of unregistered experimental therapies and vaccines;

ethical criteria for achieving fair distribution in communities and among countries, in the face of a growing number of possible new interventions, none of which is likely to meet demand in the short term.

via WHO | Ethical considerations for use of unregistered interventions for Ebola viral disease (EVD).

Maine Codfish Numbers Hit All-Time Low – global warming anyone?

National Marine Fisheries Service scientists say the amount of cod spawning in the Gulf of Maine is estimated to be 3 to 4 percent of its target level. That number declined from 13 to 18 percent three years ago.

Low levels of reproduction in the fishery are holding repopulation back, scientists say. They are investigating what might be driving down the numbers of cod but believe temperature change — which they have also linked to a declining Northern shrimp stock and northern migration of herring — may be one factor.

The Gulf of Maine, along with Georges Bank, is one of two key areas where East Coast fishermen search for cod, a vital commercial fish in New England that appears in supermarkets and roadside fish-and-chip shops.

An updated assessment of the Gulf of Maine cod shows the fish spawning at levels lower than seen in data stretching back to the 1930s, scientists say. Records of cod catches dating back to the 19th century indicate the population has never dipped this low before, said Russ Brown, deputy science and research director at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

via Maine Codfish Numbers Hit All-Time Low.

Is Sri Lanka sinking in to an abyss of racism and apartheid? | Groundviews

Since Independence, the majority political class and their affiliates by their myopic political visions, parochialism and self interest have taken the country down the abyss leading towards a failed state. Failing law and order, rising unemployment, rising rate of school drop outs due to poverty, 8% of the population yet under poverty line, rising tide of state loss making institutions, social and environmental problems impeding progress, failing institutions, rampant corruption, murder, rape and suicide rates, alcoholism, prostitution and communities disintegrating on racial and religious lines hitherto nonexistent whilst the government failing to give the basic necessities of life to its citizens but militarizing society even in the absence of war are remarkable. This with a divided opposition yet to come up with a pragmatic solution acceptable to all is pushing the country down the precipice. Today, the bankrupt political class having exhausted all the democratic options of coming to power by show of achievements and civilized means of meritocracy is thus setting the grounds for an apartheid state for a particular class of people to rule and squander the wealth of the nation in the name of race and religion.

via Is Sri Lanka sinking in to an abyss of racism and apartheid? | Groundviews.

Why are Haitians still eating mud cakes? — New Internationalist

In a junkyard at sundown, rusted trucks rest among the bushes and a fire crackles in a clearing. A man in his early twenties approaches, closely watched by a few others, who seem in awe of him. He pulls a handgun from his waistband and tries his best to carry the swagger of a hardened militia leader.

‘We’re ready to give them a lesson,’ he says. ‘And once we do, it’s going to be a lesson to remember.’

These young men, some still in their teens, form one of the many street gangs in Cité Soleil, the most hellish corner of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. The ‘lesson’, they say, awaits the government of President Michel Martelly and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, which stands accused in these parts of overseeing what has been a disastrous recovery from the 2010 earthquake.

‘They never want to sit down and talk to us,’ he continues, ‘so it’s only right that we’re armed and ready to do everything that has to be done.’

via Why are Haitians still eating mud cakes? — New Internationalist.

Aramark CSR – Health and Wellness includes Maggots in prison food

Every year, Aramark serves more than two billion meals to customers around the world, recognizing extraordinary variations in tastes and dietary restrictions.

We prepare and serve food in schools, stadiums, businesses, universities, healthcare institutions and other settings around the world.   We serve almost all age groups from all walks of life, from meals for kindergarteners and college students; doctors, nurses and hospital patients; office workers; residents of senior centers; and even workers living on off-shore oil rigs.

While most traditional restaurants see their customers once or twice a month, many of our customers dine with us five or six times a week, often several times a day.

Because we provide meals to so many people, we know we can play an important role in helping to build a healthier society at a time when the need for nutrition-related chronic disease prevention is greater than ever. Seven out of 10 deaths among Americans are from chronic diseases, and almost one out of every two adults has at least one chronic illness. One in three children in the United States overweight or obese.

Healthy For Life™, our commitment to improve health and well-being, recognizes and addresses these important issues.   It is our comprehensive and integrated approach to health and wellness that features healthy food, nutrition education, and wellness programs that work together to support healthy lifestyles.

Building on our research, and global health trends, plus the knowledge of chefs, dietitians and other experts, Healthy For Life™ focuses on empowering healthier lifestyles

By bringing our Healthy for Life™ approach to the dining locations we serve, we are finding more and more ways to proactively provide choices, information and programs that can help people make healthier decisions and live healthier lives.

via Aramark CSR – Health and Wellness.