E. Coli on the Attack

a new strain of e. coli broke out in germany recently infecting over a thousand and killing seventeen.  there have been some cases in other countries like the united kingdom and and switzerland.  the source of this new virus is unknown and is being hunted for.  at first it was thought the culprit was spanish cucumbers, but they have been ruled out.  russia has actually banned all produce importans from any members of the european union in order to keep the new virus outside of their country.

in a world filled with anti bacterial soaps and numerous vaccinations its not a suprise a new, stronger, virus has emerged.  i understand russias concern and respect their decision to temporarily shut down imports with the european union.  even though only one if five cases of e. coli are transmitted from human to human that can very easily lead to the rapid infection of highly populated areas.  i think its absolutely fascinating how these teeny tiny bags of dna can so easily kill us humans and our great technologies.  they are truly a force to be reckoned with and i can only hope we will be prepared to battle them whatever they might throw at us.

Violence Begets Violence

After not hearing much about the unrest in the Middle East, specifically Libya, some news has come from two other countries—Syria and Yemen.  Both are undergoing violent opposition to the government and equally if not more violent suppression by the respective countries governments.  Yemen experienced the worst of it as the government’s military continues to experience the defection of senior military leaders.  The latest attack was a result of attempting to suppress a military leader from supposedly defecting.  In Syria government forces shot into crowds of protesters, and ended up killing an eleven year old girl.

Still more violence in the Middle East it seems…I highly doubt it’s going to be done until better governments are put into place.  Simple as that.  The only problem is a lot of people want a government that bases its laws off of the Muslim religion and its holy book the Quran.  This would result in a society where women are suppressed, not even allowed to leave the house without head covering and certainly not entitled to an education beyond what they need to function as good housewives.  This is something many Americans do not understand because they did not grow up in Muslim society, while they need to exercise their cultural relativism, I understand people wanting equality for women in Muslim societies. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43234473/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

Beware the Power of a Tweet

New York Representative Anthony Weiner recently had his Twitter account hacked and a picture of bulging underpants tweeted to a woman in Seattle.  The tweet was quickly and effectively deleted. Weiner apologized for the inappropriate picture.  It may have all been a joke, but just in case Weiner will be hiring one the best and most expensive lawyers he can find in order to insulate himself from any legal blame, also, the lawyer will serve as an advisor on how to attack the hacker who had the audacity to steal use of Weiner’s Twitter account.

It seems a bit ridiculous to me that a lawyer is needed for this situation.  First off, our society needs to stop being hypersensitive in situations such as these.  It really isn’t a big deal, and was quickly fixed.  In addition, I doubt there were many young people who were following Mr. Weiner that would have seen the image.  They are all adults and should act as such.  I do respect the man for apologizing and removing the pictures so quickly, but he does not need to waste taxpayer money on such a superfluous escaped to fight an unnecessary legal battle.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43222914/ns/politics-more_politics/

Mmmm...Salt

A recent study found that salt is not the main culprit behind our unhealthy American diet, the true blame is placed on, surprise surprise, fat.  The reason we have so much salt in our food is because it is a taste enhancer, without it our food would taste something like dishwater.  Only about 5% of people have salt to blame for their hypertension.  For people at a healthy weight salt is by no means a bad thing, but when you consider that 65% of Americans are overweight it’s no wonder people are linking salt to hypertension, obesity, and hear problems.  Salt is easy to take out of their diets, the fatty foods aren’t.

I am a big salt lover, I can eat the stuff plain, so when I heard it wasn’t healthy for me I admit to being a bit disappointed that something I enjoyed so much was so unhealthy for me.  But thanks to this article I see it’s just one reason of many Americans are unhealthy, and a small one at that.  Salt is essentially a scapegoat taking the fall so people can feel good about cutting down on salty foods but continue to eat the fatty foods that are making them so unhealthy.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43171460/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

It's Museum Time

The space shuttle Endeavor is currently in its last mission before it is retired to a museum.  It brought several experiments, including the $2 billion experimental Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, and will bring back the results of several experiments back with it.  The astronauts of the ISS went on a space walk to set up the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and do some maintenance of the station.  Their space walk was cut short however when the gauge that measured CO₂ levels broke on one of the suits.  Since there was no way to tell just how much oxygen the astronaut had left NASA called it a day and brought the men in to make sure of their safety.

I think it’s sad that our space program—NASA—is ending thanks to budget problems.  It has been an important part of American society, especially when JFK made his famous announcement that we would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.  A goal we met.  In that moment America was truly united, thanks the NASA, the program we are not cutting.  When the Challenger disaster occurred it united Americans as well in respect for those who died.  NASA has been a unifying force throughout history.

A Little More than Knee Deep

Flooding along the Mississippi is currently some of the worst it has been in almost a century, records are being broken left and right.  Because of heavy rains and extensive snow melt levees and dams are at their breaking limits, threatening large cities like Baton Rouge and New Orleans.  In order to protect the larger cities Cajun country is being flooded, where hundreds of hard working Americans are being forced to evacuate despite the fact they have nowhere else to go.  People are being told they need to evacuate but many are uncertain whether or not their homes will actually be flooded.

This flooding seemed to creep up on Americans.  It started in the Fargo Moorhead area with not quite record flooding that the citizens were prepared for.  The people farther south, however, were not prepared for the extensive flooding that is going on.  The decision to open flood gates and destroy dams is a difficult one, either you allow the large cities to be flooded, or land essential to the life of those who live on it.  It is a decision that will have a large effect on Americans in the region for years to come.

Hide and Seek

                With the recent death of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan there have been some questions about whether or not members of the Pakistan government knew about and were protecting Bin Laden.  His compound was in Abbottabad, an army town only two and a half hour's drive outside the capital.  The close vicinity of the compound to Abbottabad and the Pakistan capitol is what has caused people to question the Pakistan government, and has spurred the main opposition party to criticize the governing party with renewed vigor.

                While I revel in the death of Bin Laden the proximity of his secret residence, which he lived in for over five years, to parts of the Pakistan government is unnerving.  I don’t understand why the Pakistani government, in today’s day and age of intelligence, couldn’t find this million dollar compound just outside a city that was practically run by the government for military reasons.  But I’m glad a new controversy hasn’t started over America’s unauthorized entry into Pakistan for this operation.  I’m just happy we found and killed him, regardless if he was armed or not.  He poses less of a problem and rallying point dead.  I hope that we can find out just why the Pakistani government was unaware of his presence for so long.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42955171/ns/world_news-death_of_bin_laden/