Category Archives: Fail!

Tests show high H7N9 antibodies in Chinese poultry workers | CIDRAP

The researchers found a hemagglutination-inhibition antibody titer of at least 1:160 in 7.2% of poultry workers in May and in 14.9% in December, a rise that was consistent with the second wave of H7N9 activity in China, with Guangdong as one of the hot spots. None of the participants had confirmed H7N9 infections, and investigators didn’t find evidence of infection in any of the general public group for either testing period.

The team pointed out that other studies of H7N9 seroprevalence in Chinese poultry workers showed much lower levels. For example, a study based on sampling in Zhejiang province in April and May of 2013 found 1.3% had antibody titers suggesting earlier infection.

Looking for risk factors, the researchers found that being female and having occupational exposure for 10 or more years was associated with infection. The team said the increased risk in women may reflect their having the major share of poultry duties for that region, which include selling poultry, defeathering, and cleaning. They said the longer work history could be related to reduced preventive measures or may reflect greater susceptibility to infection in older people.

They found that working in a retail market, rather than a wholesale setting, was associated with antibody titers indicative of infection in the analysis of samples from May. The researchers wrote that the shorter stays in warehouse markets and twice-a-week disinfection protocols might limit workers’ exposure to the H7N9 virus.

via Tests show high H7N9 antibodies in Chinese poultry workers | CIDRAP.

#YesAllWomen reveals the constant barrage of sexism that women face | Jessica Valenti | Comment is free | theguardian.com

Valenti

The reason women mobilized so quickly after the shooting is because we recognized immediately the language and ideology in Rodger’s videos and manifesto: the over-the-top sexual entitlement; the rage against women who “dared” to reject him; the antiquated, but nonetheless terrifying, belief that women should not be in control of their own sexual choices. Regardless of Rodger’s mental health issues – which we still don’t know much about – his ideas were not “crazy” by the standards of the world today. They are the norm.

So students protested in a walk to Rodger’s apartment holding signs with slogans like, “Nobody is entitled to a woman’s body”. A new Tumblr, When Women Refuse, listed story after story of women who suffered violence after rejecting a man’s sexual advances. And the Twitter hashtag #YesAllWomen went viral as hundreds of thousands of people shared their experiences with misogyny.

via #YesAllWomen reveals the constant barrage of sexism that women face | Jessica Valenti | Comment is free | theguardian.com.

Watch: Israeli forces detain 4 teenage girls in south Hebron hills | Maan News Agency

Israeli forces on Tuesday detained four Palestinian girls in the south Hebron hills after a settler accused them of stealing cherries, human rights group B’Tselem said.

The girls, aged 11 to 15, were on their way home from school with an Israeli army escort when Israeli police arrested them. They were taken to an Israeli police station in Hebron with no adult accompaniment and held for four hours until being handed over to Palestinian police and released.

via Watch: Israeli forces detain 4 teenage girls in south Hebron hills | Maan News Agency.

Texas woman files federal lawsuit after birth in solitary confinement results in baby’s death

The claim further goes on to describe Guerrero’s night in solitary confinement, where she tried in vain to get medical attention all night and ended up delivering a baby that was not breathing and had its umbilical cord wrapped around its neck.

Though shocking, I wish I could say this news is surprising. Given what we know about access to reproductive health care in prison and the criminalization of drug-addicted pregnant women, it really isn’t – it is a mere continuation of the long list of degradations and indignities people suffer when imprisoned. I’ve quoted Cece McDonald on this and before and will do so again: prisons aren’t safe for anybody.

via Texas woman files federal lawsuit after birth in solitary confinement results in baby’s death.

Jimmy Carter’s Call to Action – Women, Religion, Violence and Power – Look to the Stars

“It’s kind of a subtle thing that men enjoy their superiority in getting the best jobs, the best opportunity to go to university and that sort of thing,” says Carter. “Two of the most revered institutions in the United States of America is our university system and our military. Sexual abuse or assaults on campuses in our major universities, like Harvard and Yale and Emery University where I teach, is really horrendous and only four percent of the rapes on college campuses are reported. There are about six times as many reported in civilian life outside of universities, and this is primarily because presidents of colleges and universities and deans and so forth don’t want to bring discredit or a bad reputation on their own institution. So they encourage girls not to report.

“And soon, a few boys on the campus who are students realize that they can commit these crimes with impunity. So they become serial rapists and get away with it. The department of defence found that in the US military alone, 26 thousand sexual assaults took place, and only about 300 actually resulted in anybody being punished. That’s about one percent.

“You see, there’s an aversion to admit what goes on even in our most cherished institutions.”

via Jimmy Carter’s Call to Action – Women, Religion, Violence and Power – Look to the Stars.

The Hindu fundamentalists: request to ban the Muslim call to prayer in India – Fides News Agency

Feeling big after win of fundamentalist to lead India – shame!

The protest follows a series of incidents in Mangalore in recent days, in which groups of thugs threw stones against two mosques. In another incident, some Hindu extremists entered a madrassa (Islamic religious school) in the village of Vittla, shouting slogans of victory. In other cases, the individual Muslim citizens were beaten by radical militants.

via The Hindu fundamentalists: request to ban the Muslim call to prayer in India – Fides News Agency.

Mississippi Judge Accused of Striking Young Black Man, Then Yelling ‘Run, Nigger, Run!’ and being as abusive to a female vendor| Hatewatch

“I do not care if this young man was being a nuisance,” said the first witness, who is white. “I do not care if he were breaking a law, I do not care if he were loitering, but I do care that a man of authority, one that is sworn to protect and serve, was slapping a young man.”

She added that she also saw Weisenberger verbally assault a female vendor at the market, threatening to make her move her car to a distant location before she could unload. When the woman asked him to change his tone, he reportedly replied that he would only deal with her husband, “because he didn’t take orders from a woman.”

The executive director of the state Judicial Commission, Darlene Ballard, told Mitchell that if the allegations are true, they would “violate multiple canons” of the state’s Judicial Code of Conduct.

Former Canton Mayor William Truly, president of the Canton branch of the NAACP, led a press conference Friday denouncing Weisenberger.

“This is 2014, not 1960, where someone could slap a young man and call out, ‘Run, nigger, run,” Truly said. He called on Weisenberger either to simply resign or to step aside from hearing cases until the matter is resolved.

“No citizen should have to face justice before a judge who holds such a high degree of racial animus and hatred,” Truly said.

via Mississippi Judge Accused of Striking Young Black Man, Then Yelling ‘Run, Nigger, Run!’ | Hatewatch.

Rupert Murdoch paper prints picture of Duchess of Cambridge’s bare bottom | Media | theguardian.com

Sick, sick, sick – Rupert Murdoch paper prints picture of Duchess of Cambridge’s bare bottom

Sydney Daily Telegraph criticises ‘ridiculous’ UK media ban as it follows German tabloid Bild in printing controversial image

Daily Mail follows Bild in racing to the bottom

via Rupert Murdoch paper prints picture of Duchess of Cambridge’s bare bottom | Media | theguardian.com.

Bill Gates declares war on world’s (surprisingly) deadliest creature | Green Prophet

Mosquitoes and I are not on friendly terms but I do like birds and many other living things which were once nearly all killed off by DDT – Today is Rachel Carson’s birthday, so this is all appropriate. One of the biggest facilitators of skeeters breeding out of control is the number two in your infographic – humans! As we cut down forests, stop rivers from flowing, etc., we more often than not create the best breeding grounds for the types of mosquitoes that are vectors for diseases that effect us – see the connection. Mosquitoes are nature’s control mechanism for out of control humans. Do we need a new DDT or do we need to learn how to not create breeding grounds for mosquitoes and in turn not destroy nature or ourselves.

via Bill Gates declares war on world’s (surprisingly) deadliest creature | Green Prophet.