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/