January 31, 2010
The Intellectual Property Fight That Could Kill Millions
The hothouse environment of Indonesia is ground zero for a potential bird flu pandemic. But a fight over ownership of flu genes is blocking the efforts to track deadly infections on the move.
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Of the 141 human bird flu cases in Indonesia reported to the WHO, 115 people have died, a death rate of more than 80 percent. Put another way, bird flu in Indonesia is about 8,000 times as deadly as the swine flu virus now making the rounds, according to global health expert Laurie Garrett of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City.
As frightening as these statistics seem, the figures are based on spotty reporting from Indonesia’s Health Ministry, which means the actual number of infections and deaths might be substantially higher. Through the first three quarters of 2009, Indonesia failed to report any flu cases at all, even though the Food and Agriculture Organization (a body of the United Nations that monitors avian influenza in birds) has found the infection to be deeply entrenched among fowl in 31 of the country’s 33 provinces and endemic in Java, Sumatra, and Bali.
Now, if this spreads to the first world, will it be as deadly? Most likely it won’t. However, it will be much more deadly than swine flu.
January 30, 2010
I went to Bass Pro Shops to look at a rifle I’m thinking of getting. After waiting an unreasonable amount of time (in which several other people gave up), I gave up. Apparently, it takes 3 people to help 1 person buy a shotgun. I’ll just take my business elsewhere.
January 30, 2010
Osama Bin Laden calls for renewed action against the USA because of global warming
CAIRO – Osama bin Laden sought to draw a wider public into his fight against the United States in a new message Friday, dropping his usual talk of religion and holy war and focusing instead on an unexpected topic: global warming.
The al-Qaida leader blamed the United States and other industrialized nations for climate change and said the only way to prevent disaster was to break the American economy, calling on the world to boycott U.S. goods and stop using the dollar.
So, I think I will burn some stuff this weekend to increase my carbon footprint.
January 23, 2010
As some of you may know, I’m a fan of apples (the fruit, not the electronics). Well, I found the Wood’s Cider Mill website. They sell boiled cider, cider jelly and cider syrup. All of these products are made by boiling fresh pressed cider over a wood fire and condensing the product. I’m thinking I might be making an order in the near future. I’ve been seeing some cooking shows using their products, and I want to try some of the recipes (and some of my own). I think I might be able to make a killer pork loin with a cider glaze. Also, the boiled cider apparently can be used as an apple juice concentrate.
January 20, 2010
With Massachusettls election of Brown to the US Senate, I am thinking that Farouk Shami and Debra Medina both have a better chance of getting elected. Some people say that Brown’s win is about health care or President Obama. I disagree. I think it was a reflection of people’s anger with politics as usual. There is a feeling of antipathy toward current office holders of both parties. Neither party has truly listened to the moderates who swing elections. I think the overall election results in November will be very interesting.
January 19, 2010
I’m giving my thoughts on the current major party candidates for Texas Governor (mainly from a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and a libertarian). Please forgive any incoherence or typos, I’m on muscle relaxers for my injured shoulder and having problems typing.
Republican candidates:
- Current Governor Rick Perry – Fiscally he has been OK. Unlike many states in the USA, the Texas government is not really having a problem with the current economic problem causing tax income shortfalls. This can be partially attributed to Texas not having an income tax. However, the man is in love with selling our highways to foreign companies so they can build toll roads. He also tried force a Texas girls to get a new vaccine produced by a company that he has close relations with. All-in-all, I think he is more likely to win than any of the other candidates. In my opinion he is a symbol of the Big Business/Big Government Republican part of today. I would like to see him go.
- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison – A tiny bit more centrist than Perry, she is what I call Perry lite. She may talk about supporting the Second Amendment, but she has said that she supports a renewed assault weapons bill. However, she does not ignore her constituents. Her actual voting record is different than this statement. This means I can’t really trust her. This means I will not vote for her.
- Debra Medina – She is a newcomer to running for public office. However, she was her county’s Republican Committee Chair. She has interesting ideas about reducing/eliminating property taxes. She has also stated in the past that she would like to see Texas secede from the union. I will not vote for a secessionist. However, I do hope she will inspire the party to move back toward a small business and small government stance.
Democratic candidates:
- Former Houston Mayor Bill White – I don’t know much about him. I do (sorta) remember a news story where he wanted the Houston Police Department to arrest anyone carrying a firearm in their vehicle without a concealed carry license after the Texas legislature made it legal. Also, he joined Mayors Against Illegal Guns (an anti-gun group that seeks to make civilian ownership of guns illegal). As you can already guess, I won’t be voting for him.
- Farouk Shami – This is a very successful businessman who states on his website he supports the Second Amendment. I really can’t find much real information on the man. I doubt I would vote for him.
- I see that others are listed as running as Democrats, but can’t find any information.
I’m not really looking at the third party candidates. Depending on who gets the major party nominations, I will probably vote for the Libertarian party candidate as a protest vote. Can someone actually give me candidates I would be happy to vote for? For a little bit, it looked like the Democrats might have had someone. But, they talked him and Kinky Friedman out of running for Governor.
January 14, 2010
Posted in: Fascism in America, Government, TSA, Terrorism, Tyrrany, civil rights, constitution, cruelty, discrimination, freedom, society, stupidity –
January 10, 2010
The History Channel had a show on called After Armageddon. It is about what happens with a small family in southern California after a flu pandemic wipes out 80-90% of the human population. They show them making plenty of mistakes. There are also some good tips put in the show by experts. And, I can tell when they decided to stop listening to the experts. They had humanity choosing to shun technology and live a more peaceful and satisfying agrarian lifestyle with much knowledge being “lost.” I call bullshit on this. There will be a massive drop in technology. But, there will also be a rise back. There are still plenty of libraries, and it is not like people will have forgotten that these things are possible. Will there be groups that for whatever reason choose to shun technology? Yes. And, they will be outproduced and find themselves subsumed into the groups that successfully bring back technology.
January 8, 2010
Montana has asked Ted Turner to take 74 Yellowstone Bison (they wandered out of the park) onto his ranch. In exchange for taking them in and taking care of them, he will get to keep 90% of their offspring. If a home is not found for them, they will be killed by the end of March to prevent the spread of a disease into cattle. People are protesting allowing Ted Turner being allowed to do this for the state. I really don’t understand it. This move not only protects the bison, it also spreads their range and helps the survival of the species.
January 6, 2010
The History Channel has a new show called Apocalypse Man. It is showing how to survive after an apocalyptic disaster. So far, I am not impressed. The mistakes made by the host in the first show:
- He takes needless risks (A drawbridge over a river was up. Rather than finding another means to cross, he jury-rigged a grappling hook and swung across. There were several other incidents.)
- He wastes resources. (Rather than using a small bit of steel wool to start a fire, he used a huge lump of it. He also wasted food.)
- After emphasizing keeping a low profile to avoid people, he then broadcast over the CB emergency channel his travel plansand left it broadcasting on the frequency using a tape recorder. This not only compromised his security, it also steps on any other broadcasts on that channel.
I also question his choice to move into the city. I would rather try to make it in a rural area rather than an urban one. But, there were some good scrounging tips.
