Chicken Soup and the Lemming

The Lemming categorically denies that leftover pizza has anything to do with how the Lemming has been feeling.

The Lemming simply preferred staying inside, watching old movies and catching up on reading. Also sleeping and chicken soup.

Retrospectively reflecting:

• "A Tale of Two Birds"
  (January 9, 2015)
• "This Year We Gotta Get Organized"
  (January 2, 2015)
• "Christmas with the Lemming"
  (December 24, 2014)
• "From the Mind of the Lemming: Holiday Travel Plans"
  (December 19, 2014)
• "From the Mind of the Lemming: Xanadu Springs"
  (June 20, 2014)

Chronic Tinnitus and the Amygdala — or — When Your Ears Ring: Should You Answer?

"People with Tinnitus May Process Emotions Differently" Agata Blaszczak-Boxe, LiveScience (July 2, 2014)

"People with persistent ringing in their ears — a condition called tinnitus — may process emotions in the brain differently from people who do not have the condition, according to a new study.

"Using fMRI scans, researchers looked at people's brain activity while the patients listened to pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sounds. The study included people with tinnitus, people who had hearing loss but not tinnitus and people with normal hearing.

"The investigators found that when they played the pleasant and the unpleasant sounds, the amygdala, a brain region associated with processing emotions, had less activity in the tinnitus and hearing-loss patients than in people with normal hearing. When researchers played the pleasant sounds, tinnitus patients had more activity than people without tinnitus in two other brain regions associated with emotion, the parahippocampus and the insula.

" 'The amygdala isn't the only player,' when it comes to processing emotional sounds in people with tinnitus, study researcher Fatima Husain, a professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told Live Science...."

These researchers apparently haven't found that folks with chronic tinnitus experience different emotions: just that their amygdala shares the workload with the parahippocampus and the insula.

More than You Need to Know About Bits of the Brain

Apparently the parahippocampus is also called the parahippocampal gyrus, the parahippocampal cortex is what medicos call the posterior parahippocampal gyrus and the middle part of the fusiform gyrus. "Hippocampus" is also what you'd call a mythical critter with the front half of a horse and the back half of a dolphin, and the Lemming's mind is wandering.

The posterior parahippocampal gyrus and fusiform gyrus usually process visual information: colors; recognition of faces, bodies, and written words; that sort of thing. The parahippocampal gyrus on the right side may also identify sarcasm: then again, maybe not.

The amygdala is right next to the parahippocampus, which may help explain why overflow from the amygdala gets shunted to the parahippocampus. In complex vertebrates, humans included, the amygdala forms and stores memories associated with emotional events. It also processes memories on their way to long-term/permanent memory.

That's a busy little bit of brain. Small wonder that humans with constantly ringing ears have some of the 'how do I feel about this sound' work farmed out to other processing centers. Otherwise they might have trouble remembering stuff like why they went to the grocery, or when the wife's birthday is.

Not that husbands are renowned for remembering birthdays, anniversaries, or grocery lists: which is a little odd, since adult male humans and rats have bigger amygdalas than their female counterparts; or is that amygdali; which reminds the Lemming of Salvador Dali, which is another topic.



(From Salvador Dalí; via Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida and Wikipedia; used w/o permission.)
(The Chromosome of a Highly-coloured Fish's Eye Starting the Harmonious Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory.)

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Mapping the Brain: Live, and in Color"
  (February 22, 2013)
• "QWERTY, Keyboards, Fluency, and Feelings"
  (March 19, 2012)
• "Tuning in on the Brain's 'Voice' "
  (February 20, 2012)
• "No Fear: That Could Be a Problem"
  (December 20, 2010)
• "Infrasound: Be Afraid, be Very Afraid"
  (December 16, 2010)
  "Or, get informed...."

Safety Coffins, Sleeping Beauty, and a Rambling Lemming

Coffins with bells mounted topside that would ring if the occupant pulled a cord aren't as silly as they may seem. The idea wasn't that the dead might want room service.

Safety coffins met a need, or fueled fears, of being buried alive. Back in the 'good old days' of Cholera epidemics, that fear wasn't entirely unreasonable. The Lemming does not miss the 'good old days:' at all.

Then there's the Donora death fog of 1948. Oddly enough, "Happy Days" didn't mention it. Not once. It was set in the 1950s: the sitcom, not what happened in Donora.

Happy thoughts. The Lemming really should think happy thoughts.

Happy wasn't particularly perturbed when a fugitive took refuge in the home he shared with — those miners weren't minors, but were they related, and why didn't Merryweather keep an eye on — never mind.

That was Disney's "Sleeping Beauty:" a heartwarming tale of true love and spinning wheels; or a cautionary tale, chronicling the tragic consequences of Maleficent's hiring practices. Really, couldn't she have found one goon who knew that humans grow?

Growth happens, and so to seasons, which is why trees have growth rings, but folks who study dendrochronology apparently aren't called dendrochronologists. Maybe because they'd get confused with dental hygienists, or start thinking that their job was writing a chronology for some tree.

None of which explains why the Lemming is rambling today. There's an interesting explanation for that, or might be: if the Lemming knew why three days of work abruptly fell into the digital abyss Wednesday evening.

Instead of regularly-scheduled programming, or research, or writing, or whatever it is that the Lemming does to get these posts ready, the Lemming spent most of Thursday doing Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday's work again. A one-to-three compression ratio, or is it three-two-one-we have liftoff?

The Lemming needs coffee. Or sleep. Yes: definitely sleep. There's no question about it, Dave: and the Lemming is not going to get started on HAL 9000's descent into madness.

Utterly-unrelated posts:

• "That's No Carp! That's a TENCH!"
  (January 20, 2012)
• " 'Cancer Causes Cell Phones!' - or, not"
  (July 18, 2011)
• "Mr. Basler's Worst Men's Fashions, 2010"
  (December 10, 2010)
• " '...Darling Son and That Person You Married....' "
  (December 8, 2010)
• "An Idea Whose Time Has Come? Fashion Police Dogs - and Wolverines"
  (October 19, 2009)

Revenge of the Turkey

(Memorial Hermann, via LiveScience, used w/o permission.)
"Thanksgiving Trauma: The 7 Strangest Holiday ER Visits"
Tanya Lewis, LiveScience (November 27, 2013)

"The holidays are a time of joy and giving thanks. But like any occasion that involves families gathering to enjoy good food and each other's company, accidents can happen.

"LiveScience asked emergency room doctors about the weirdest, funniest or most unfortunate reasons for a visit to the ER over Thanksgiving and other holidays. From deep-fryer burns to in-law anxiety, here are some of the most notable:

"1. Turkey troubles

" Nothing says Thanksgiving like cooking an obscenely large farm bird. Perhaps it's not surprising, then, that emergency rooms see a lot of fowl-related injuries on Turkey Day.

"Deep-frying turkeys poses a major hazard. If the turkey is wet or partially frozen when it hits the oil, the bird can catch fire, or even explode. 'We've had fires that singed hair and eyebrows, and splash burns to the face,'" said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician...."

"...People also drop their turkeys, causing second-degree burns to the tops of their feet, contusions and the occasional toe fracture...

"...3. Overindulging

"One of the most common problems around Thanksgiving, as one might guess, involves eating and drinking too much, Glatter said. The combination, he explained, can cause a surge in epinephrine or norepinephrine, which triggers atrial fibrillation (an irregular heartbeat) in a structurally normal heart. Doctors call it 'holiday heart.'...

"...And when people eat too quickly, food can get lodged in their throats — especially turkey, because it's so dry...."

There's more: carving under the influence; the potato salad that time forgot; energetic in-laws; and  — the Lemming's favorite — a raw turkey used as a football helmet.

There's a wonderfully redolent tale of revenge from beyond the grave here, or maybe "from beyond the gravy:" a turkey, vowing with its last breath to wreak terrible vengeance, lodging in the throat of a holiday guest.

On that cheerful note, the Lemming bids you bon appétit, which is the name of a magazine, and another topic.

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Taiyaki and Wagashi: Genuine Imitation Food Substitutes"
  (October 25, 2013)
• "Killer Tomatoes and a Ranting Lemming"
  (August 6, 2013)
• "Filberts, Fardels, and a Rambling Lemming"
  (July 19, 2013)
• "EU E. Coli Mutant Killer Bacteria New!! Unknown!!! Or, Not"
  (June 2, 2011)
• "Hard Science Fiction, Cultural Blinders and Laban's Sheep"
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (October 29, 2009)
  Particularly
  • Artificial Life Forms - Like Macaroni Wheat

Lemming Tracks: Designing Better Street Lighting

"Overexposed"
Charles Linn, FAIA, Architect Magazine (March 1, 2012)
"A newfound appreciation for dark skies, a model lighting ordinance, and LEDs may help maintain night vision by reducing outdoor illumination levels.
Lemming Tracks: Designing Better Street Lighting
"In cities around the world, telling a child, 'I used to see stars from my backyard,' may soon sound as credible as, 'I used to walk 10 miles to school in 6-foot-high snowdrifts uphill in both directions.' Sky glow, light pollution, and light trespass are the consequences of development and outgrowth in urban and rural landscapes. The damage isn't merely aesthetic. Research suggests that excess night light can harm nearly everything living under the sun. The offender may be as simple as stadium lights fatally mistaken by fledgling birds for the moon, or the neighbor's porch light that beams into your bedroom, resulting in fatigue and diminished productivity...."

What the Lemming noticed second about this article was the long paragraphs. If this wasn't written for and published in an ink-and-paper magazine, and then posted: It's the Lemming's guess that it was written by someone who learned the craft before the Information Age started.

So did the Lemming: and that's another topic.

The first thing the Lemming noticed was that this is another 'light pollution' article. These have been popping up at intervals for years. Some make sense, some tell more about the author than the subject, a few make good points.

This one, in the Lemming's opinion, makes sense. And makes good points.

Another trio of massive paragraphs, then the Lemming will opine.

Gigawatt-Hours, IDA, and Tradeoffs

"...The amount of energy and money expended to illuminate what is essentially water vapor and floating particulates in our atmosphere is not trivial. According a 2009 document published by the nonprofit International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), the U.S. expends 22,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity—the equivalent of 3.6 million tons of coal—each year in light pollution. At the rate of 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, this energy translates to $2.2 billion annually....

"...In the past half-century, the light source of choice for streets and parking lots was high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps, which included mercury vapor and low-pressure sodium lamps, but mostly the ubiquitous yellow-orange high-pressure sodium (HPS)....

"...It is difficult to design optics that can control stray uplight and glare without significant tradeoffs in luminaire efficiency. Despite their notoriously poor color rendering, HPS lamps are inexpensive, can last up to 24,000 hours, and output a lot of light initially; the output declines as they age. In the last 30 years, the use of metal halide, an HID source that produces whiter light than HPS, has increased, but HPS still dominates...."

This article gets points for discussing the technologies involved in outdoor lighting, the legal and regulatory situations: and, particularly, the awkward economic decisions folks need to make.

Is sky glow a real problem? Even though the Lemming's read some angst-filled articles about frightfully vital wildlife, and slightly-restrained rants by amateur astronomers who can't see through the haze overhead: yes, the Lemming thinks there's a real problem here.

Maybe not on the 'and we're all gonna die' level: but it does look like human beings are designed with 24-hour lighting cycle in mind: one where the lights are out for several hours each night. Humans are adaptable critters, and can survive bright light 24-7: but they do seem to thrive better with regular darkness.

Amateur Astronomers and the Asteroid Patrol

At the risk of being overly dramatic, the Lemming thinks it's prudent to recall that the bit of debris that upset the dinosaur's world wasn't alone.

Amateur astronomers often are the first to notice some new bit of cosmic stuff swinging by Earth's neighborhood. Most new asteroids and comets don't come particularly close to this planet. A few do.

And, every once in a while, one of their orbits gets them up close and personal with Earth. When that happens, something like the Tunguska event happens.

So far, humans have been lucky. The explosions haven't happened near cities. Of course, there are a few ancient civilizations that simply stopped being there: and that's probably another topic.

Right now, there's a chance that an amateur astronomer would notice something big enough to make an inconvenient gap in, say the eastern seaboard. Before it got so close that everybody could see it. For a few seconds, anyway.

Here is where 'light pollution,' sky glow, whatever comes in. All amateur astronomers that the Lemming knows about are on Earth. If the sky gets so bright at night that they can't 'see out:' well, we could lose more than some really good science.

Enough said.

On the 'up' side, quite a few folks have been working at finding practical solutions to bright city skies.

Allegedly-related posts:

• "Lemming Tracks: Toxic Light Bulbs For a Brighter Future"
  (January 16, 2012)
• "Bright Lights of Broadway: On Another Planet?"
  (November 7, 2011)
• "IceCube Neutrino Observatory: Again"
  (December 28, 2010)
• "Ben Franklin and Daylight Saving Time: Even Homer Nods"
  (November 7, 2010)
• "Big Impact on Jupiter: Astronomers' Field Day"
  (July 21, 2009)

E. Coli in Germany: Bad, but May Be Ending

"Health minister voices cautious optimism on E. coli"
Health, Deutsche Welle (June 6, 2011)

"German Health Minister Daniel Bahr has said he can't sound the all-clear on the E. coli outbreak in northern Germany, but that the latest figures offer 'reasonable cause for hope.'

"German Health Minister Daniel Bahr appeared on German public television Wednesday to say there were signs that the E. coli outbreak in Germany may be on the decline and that the spread of the deadly bacterial infection was slowing.

" 'There will be new cases and unfortunately we have to expect more deaths, but the number of new infections is dropping significantly,' Bahr said on the ARD network. 'I can't sound the all-clear, but after analyzing the latest data we have reasonable cause for hope.'..."

There's almost certainly going to be a huge amount of finger-pointing in Germany, Europe, and anywhere that's imported vegetables from Europe. There's also, the Lemming hopes, going to be some serious attention paid to just how E. coli got in the food supply - and how to keep it from happening again.

After that major outbreak in Germany, E. coli is a major news item here in America. People have gotten sick, and a two-year-old in Virginia died, but they're apparently not connected with the German outbreak. (FoxNews.com)

It's not really 'good news,' with 26 people dead so far in the European outbreak: but it looks like the worst is over.

In terms of the disease, that it.

Economic fallout from the E. coli outbreak will, in the Lemming's opinion, be around for a long time. And that's another topic.

Related posts:

• "E. Coli, Sprouts, Caution, and Business"
  (June 5, 2011)
• "EU E. Coli Mutant Killer Bacteria New!! Unknown!!! Or, Not"
  (June 2, 2011)
• "Rat Poo Peanut President is Back: As a Consultant"
  (September 9, 2010)
• "Salmonella in Eggs: Let the Blames Begin"
  (September 2, 2010)
• "And the Moral of This Story is: Don't Eat Raw Meat"
  (March 25, 2010)

In the news:

• "Health Officials: Latest U.S. E. Coli Cases Unrelated to Outbreak in Europe"
  Body & Mind, FoxNews.com (June 8, 2011)
• "E. coli: EU vegetable producers hit hard"
  News Europe, BBC News (June 8, 2011)
• "Health minister voices cautious optimism on E. coli"
  Health, Deutsche Welle (June 6, 2011)

E. Coli, Sprouts, Caution, and Business

The E. coli outbreak - still almost entirely in Germany - is bad. Around 2,500 people may have caught the bug. Numbers vary from one report to another, but it looks like 19 have died so far. Apparently it's "one of largest in history." (Healthy Living blog, KABC)

There's a new educated guess about where the infection came from: bean sprouts from a particular farm.

"Bean sprouts now suspected in E. coli crisis"
The Local (Germany's news in English) (June 5, 2011)

"...Lower Saxony Agriculture Minister Gert Lindemann told reporters on Sunday that health authorities in the state had identified bean sprouts as the likely cause of the bacterial health crisis, which has killed 21 people.

"While a conclusive laboratory analysis was still pending, with results not expected until Monday morning, the Lower Saxony Health Ministry felt the indications were strong enough to issue a public warning against eating such sprouts which are typically used in salads and consumed raw.

"The restaurants and food outlets to which the cases of E. coli had been traced all had received shipments of the particular beansprouts, he said.

"The supplier of the sprouts is based in the Lower Saxony town of Uelzen. Two company employees reportedly were suffering diarrhoea.[!] The firm supplies various types of sprouts including mung bean sprouts, radish sprouts, pea sprouts and lentil seeds.

"The fresh revelation came as German Health Minister Daniel Bahr said the scale of the E. coli outbreak in the country had overwhelmed hospitals in northern Germany. Meanwhile, experts speculated that the pathogen might be linked to biogas facilities...."

Again, it's bad. People have died. Many more are sick.

And a whole lot more are hurting: consumers and suppliers who paid for food they have to toss; and folks who produce sprouts. Or any other sort of vegetable. In Europe.

Because, apparently, one farm didn't pay attention to hygiene.

Unfair? Maybe: but the Lemming realizes that with a potentially-lethal disease, caution makes sense.

Here's some of the economic fallout from the E. coli outbreak:

---

"Qatar suspends vegetables import from Spain, Germany amid E. coli outbreak"
Habib Toumi, gulfnews.com (June 5, 2011)

"Qatar has banned the import of cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce from Spain and Germany amid an E. coli outbreak that has killed 19 people.

"The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) said it decided to impose a temporary ban on the three products, but would not 'hesitate to ban all vegetables from all European countries if necessary', an official said, Qatari media reported...."

The Lemming hopes that the Supreme Council of Health pays attention - and lifts the ban when the rest of us find out where the tainted food came from.

Related posts:

• "EU E. Coli Mutant Killer Bacteria New!! Unknown!!! Or, Not"
  (June 2, 2011)
• "Rat Poo Peanut President is Back: As a Consultant"
  (September 9, 2010)
• "Salmonella in Eggs: Let the Blames Begin"
  (September 2, 2010)
• "And the Moral of This Story is: Don't Eat Raw Meat"
  (March 25, 2010)
• "New Wonder Anti-Bacterial Element: Copper"
  (June 15, 2009)

In the news:

• "Bean sprouts now suspected in E. coli crisis"
  The Local (Germany's news in English) (June 5, 2011)
• "Qatar suspends vegetables import from Spain, Germany amid E. coli outbreak"
  Habib Toumi, gulfnews.com (June 5, 2011)

Background:

• "E. Coli"
  CDC.gov

EU E. Coli Mutant Killer Bacteria New!! Unknown!!! Or, Not

"E. coli outbreak is a new strain"
James Gallagher, BBC News (June 2, 2011)

"The World Health Organization says the E. coli outbreak in Germany is a completely new strain of the bacteria.

"The infection can cause the deadly complication - haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS) - affecting the blood and kidneys.

"More than 1,500 people have been infected and 17 have died: 16 in Germany and one in Sweden.

"In the UK, three British nationals have been infected - all had visited Germany.

"Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, a WHO spokesperson, is reported as saying: 'This strain has never been seen in an outbreak situation before.'

"Scientists at the Beijing Genomics Institute, in China, are also reported as saying: 'This E.coli is a new strain of bacteria that is highly infectious and toxic.'

"Preliminary genetic analysis of the outbreak suggests the bacteria is unique.

"Early evidence suggests the bacteria has genes from two distinct groups of E. coli: enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC)...."

First, and very important: People died, 17 in all that we know of; around 1,500 others are or have been sick. This E. coli outbreak is a serious health hazard.

It's also doing no favors to farmers, folks who make their living in the EU food processing and distribution system, and consumers. That's arguably not as important as the loss of life - but a whole lot of folks who haven't been directly affected by this bug have either lost income, or have to destroy food they bought. My guess is that it'll drive food prices up, too.

Back to E. Coli, the WHO, and scientists who say it's new.

They could be right. Or, not.

Those last to paragraphs in the BBC News excerpt, again, with the Lemming's emphasis:

"...Preliminary genetic analysis of the outbreak suggests the bacteria is unique.

"Early evidence suggests the bacteria has genes from two distinct groups of E. coli: enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC)...."

"Preliminary" and "suggests" are not "definitive" and "demonstrates."

WHO, CDC, and Editorial Style

The WHO says new killer bacteria! China scientists declare mutant peril! CDC Indecisive! Will America's Arrogant Indifference Doom Us All?!

No, the Lemming has not run into any headlines quite like those.

However, the Lemming also wasn't too surprised - or shocked - that the CDC isn't as certain as news editors may be, about this being a new strain of E. Coli.

My guess is that folks at the World Health Organization aren't quite as sure as news reports imply they are:

"Cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) continue to rise in Germany. Ten countries have now reported cases to WHO/Europe.

"As of 31 May 2011, nine patients in Germany have died of HUS, and six of EHEC. One person in Sweden has also died. There are many hospitalized patients, several of them requiring intensive care, including dialysis....

"...Numerous investigations are continuing into the cause of the outbreak, which is still unclear.

"In accordance with the International Health Regulations (IHR), WHO is keeping Member States informed about the latest developments and providing technical guidance on further investigation of the ongoing outbreak. WHO does not recommend any trade restrictions related to this outbreak."
(WHO news (June 2, 2011))

That "the cause of the outbreak ... still unclear" thing might refer to the E. coli strain, how the bacteria got into Europe's food supply, or both, as far as the Lemming knows.

If you're waiting for a rant about journalistic irresponsibility, that's not gonna happen in this post. News media, what the Lemming's read, has done a pretty good job of reporting this outbreak - all things considered.

About the CDC and WHO apparently not being on the same page? Presenting that as if it were a conflict is factually accurate, in the Lemming's opinion, but probably misleading. News media, in America at least, tends to show everything as conflict - as the Lemming learned during journalism courses, decades back.

Quite a few folks who wouldn't be interested in what two guys at the next table are saying might get interested if the strangers were arguing about something. Conflict often sparks interest.

In the same way, perceived conflict in a headline tends to spark interest. The function of news is to sell newspapers, magazines, and advertising. Also inform and persuade. Which is, in the Lemming's opinion, okay.

Provided that folks who read and listen to the news know what's going on.

Back to E. Coli.

Rare, Yes: New? Maybe Not So Much

"...'We have very little experience with this particular strain, but it has been seen before,' said Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the CDC's division of foodborne diseases.

"The CDC said the strain is very rare and added that, while it is not aware of any cases ever having been reported in the United States, it is aware of a few previous reports of the strain in other countries. Britain's Health Protection Agency has said that the strain suspected in the outbreak is 'rare' and 'seldom seen in the UK.'..."
(CNN June 2, 2011)

Maybe Robert Tauxe, the CDC database, and the British HPA are all wrong. Or maybe the New! Unknown! strain just didn't ring any bells in the labs where the samples were studied.

'Wash Your Hands Before Eating' - Mom (or Dad) was Right

The Lemming's read the usual 'cook meat, wash hands, wash produce' advice on the WHO website and elsewhere. You've read it all before, anyway. The Lemming thinks it's a good idea, by the way.

Meanwhile, in Texas

The Amarillo Globe-News reports that folks got sick there. E. coli. Seriously enough, in the case of four children, for them to be hospitalized.

'And the moral of this is:' quite a few things, actually.

The usual thing about common-sense hygiene, of course.

Also, that children are quite often the folks who wind up with really serious E. coli infections. Which makes the European outbreak odd.

European E. Coli Outbreak: Kids, No; Women, Yes

"...Previous E. coli outbreaks have mainly hit children and the elderly, but the European outbreak is disproportionately affecting adults, especially women...."
(Associated Press, via FoxNews.com June 2, 2011)

That is odd - maybe this strain of E. coli is new, after all.

Or maybe there's something different about the way it's being spread.

If the outbreak was in America, with that particular demographic getting sick, the Lemming might suspect some sort of 'Fat-B-Gone All-Natural Organic Vegetarian Salad' product.

It's early days: and this outbreak will probably stay in the news for a while. It's massive. And that's another topic.

Remember Ebola?

A not-so-high-profile news item. Not internationally, anyway, as far as the Lemming knows:

"Ebola in Uganda"
WHO news (May 18, 2011)

"On 13 May 2011, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Uganda notified WHO of a case of Ebola Haemorrhagic fever in a 12 year old girl from Luwero district, central Uganda. On 6 May she presented to a private clinic in Zirobwe town, Luwero district, with a 5-day history of an acute febrile illness with haemorrhagic manifestations. She was later referred to Bombo General Military Hospital where she died few hours after admission.

"Laboratory investigations at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), Entebbe, Uganda confirmed Ebola virus (Sudan species). A sample is on route to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, USA for additional analysis and sequencing.

"A National Task Force has been convened by the MoH Uganda, which is working with several partners including WHO, CDC, the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) and USAID. A joint MoH, WHO and CDC team was deployed to the district on 13 May to carry out a detailed epidemiological investigation. WHO will be supporting the MoH in the areas of epidemiology and infection control...."

The ebola case is just that - one case. From the sounds of it, folks in Uganda want to keep it that way. Quite understandably.

And that is yet another topic.¹

Related posts:

• "Antibiotic-Resistant Superbug With NDM-1 Enzyme"
  (September 15, 2010)
• "Rat Poo Peanut President is Back: As a Consultant"
  (September 9, 2010)
• "Salmonella in Eggs: Let the Blames Begin"
  (September 2, 2010)
• "And the Moral of This Story is: Don't Eat Raw Meat"
  (March 25, 2010)
• "New Wonder Anti-Bacterial Element: Copper"
  (June 15, 2009)

In the news:

• "Russia bans EU vegetables over E.coli, EU protests"
  Edition: U.S., Reuters (June 2, 2011)
• "World health officials scramble to stem deadly E. coli outbreak"
  CNN (June 2, 2011)
• "WHO says Europe E. coli is new, but CDC not sure"
  newsday.com (June 2, 2011)
• "EHEC outbreak: Increase in cases in Germany"
  WHO news (June 2, 2011)
• "WHO: E. Coli Outbreak Caused by New Strain"
  Associated Press, via FoxNews.com (June 2, 2011)
• "E. coli cases reported in city"
  Amarillo Globe-News, via amarillo.com (Texas) (June 2, 2011)

---

¹ The Lemming's posted about Africa, health care, and related issues, in another blog:

• "Sudan, Darfur: My Take"
  (January 8, 2011)
• "Partners in Education and Mr. Grimes: A Melodrama For Today"
  (November 26, 2010)
• " 'Conflict Minerals,' Politics, and Making Sense"
  (July 22, 2010)
• "Sustainable African Development: And Swift's Modest Proposal"
  (May 6, 2010)
• "Zambia: Corruption, Hospitals, and Bishops"
  (July 22, 2009)
• "Good News from Africa: But Some People Won't Like It"
  (March 17, 2009)

Lemming Tracks: Haiti, Cholera, and an Oopsie

So far, cholera has killed upwards of 4,000 folks in Haiti.

The United Nations sponsored a study, to find out how the disease got started in the island nation.

Turns out, U.N. peacekeepers started the plague - but it's not their fault.

This almost makes sense, and the Lemming will be back after this excerpt:

"U.N.-Sponsored Report on Haiti's Cholera Outbreak Points to U.N. Itself as Culprit"
George Russell, FoxNews.com (May 5, 2011)

"A United Nations-sponsored report into the causes of a deadly cholera outbreak that ravaged Haiti in the wake of its disastrous 2010 earthquake has discovered a culprit -- the U.N. itself.

"The 32-page report, prepared by an independent panel of medical experts at the behest of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, clearly states that the source of the epidemic was most likely a camp for U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti, whose human waste was dumped by independent contractors into an unsecured pit that was susceptible to flooding in heavy rainfall.

"That conclusion, the report notes, mirrors 'a commonly held belief in Haiti' virtually from the moment the outbreak began.

"But the report buries that central finding under a welter of circumstances that caused investigators to conclude that the outbreak, which is ongoing, 'was not the fault of, or deliberate action of, a group or individual.'..."

Before anything else: the important point, in the Lemming's opinion, is that folks are still getting cholera in Haiti.

No pressure, but it's also the Lemming's opinion that Haitians could use some help. There's a none-too-well-updated list of charities in January, 2010, post. Some of the links should still be valid, though - particularly for the higher-profile charities.

Just a thought.

---

'It's Not Our Fault,' or 'Accidents Happen'

Now, about the assertion that starting a plague in Haiti "was not the fault of, or deliberate action of, a group or individual."

So much depends on what the word "fault" is supposed to mean. Let's look at a dictionary:

• Fault (noun)
  1. A wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
  2. An imperfection in an object or machine
  3. The quality of being inadequate or falling short of perfection
  4. A crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other
  5. Equipment failure attributable to some defect in a circuit
  6. Responsibility for a bad situation or event
  7. In sports, a serve that is illegal
• Fault (verb)
  1. Put or pin the blame on
  (Princeton's WordNet)

It seems to the Lemming that there's "fault" involved, in the sense of the bad judgment or ignorance or inattention that resulted in human waste being dumped into Haiti's water (noun, #1). But maybe, legally, the contractor who did the dumping isn't responsible (noun, #6). As for fault as a verb - like the Lemming said, maybe it's not illegal to poison the water in Haiti.

It's also possible that the contractor didn't know that it's a bad idea to dump human waste where it can get into streams and rivers. Particularly where floods are likely.

Possible - but the Lemming has no idea how likely it is that the folks involved knew what they were doing.

---

Bottom Line: People Died

"...As the report also notes, military contingents from Bangladesh and Nepal were among members of the United Nations Stabilization Force in Haiti (known by its French-language acronym of MINUSTAH) stationed at U.N. peacekeeping camp Mirebalais, close to the initial outbreak. An additional contingent of 60 Bangladesh police officers was also stationed at Mirebalais between September and October 2010.

"None of the U.N. personnel were recorded as cholera cases, but the bacteria, which is usually spread through water, can exist in small numbers in the human digestive tract until it hits a rapid-breeding environment.

"According to the report, the MINUSTAH camp at Mirebalais was just such an environment. Water piping around the main toilet and showering area of the camp was 'haphazard,' with 'significant potential for cross-contamination through leakage from broken pipes and poor pipe connections.' Some of the pipes ran over a drainage ditch that fed into a tributary of the Artibonite River, Haiti's largest, which subsequently became the main artery of the water-borne epidemic.

"In addition, sewage from the camp, along with two other MINUSTAH facilities, was trucked by a contractor to an open and unfenced septic pit, in an area that was susceptible to flooding and overflow in wet weather that enters the same river tributary system...."
(FoxNews.com)

Maybe there was no other possible way to get rid of the tainted water. Maybe it was impossible to set up adequate waste collection and disposal.

The report isn't particularly light reading, but the Lemming's seen worse:

• "Final Report of the Independent Panel of Experts on the Cholera Outbreak in Haiti"Dr. Alejando Cravioto (Chair), International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease
  Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and others (undated)
  From www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/haiti/UN-cholera-report-final.pdf, found May 6, 2011

The report gives what seem to be common-sense recommendations for preventing another debacle like this. Maybe the United Nations will implement them.

Then again, maybe not.

Implementing the report's recommendations, from training health workers to investing in "piped, treated drinking water supplies and improved sanitation in Haiti," and using vaccines (Final Report) - all cost money. Besides, 'we've never done that before' seems to be a fairly common response to new ideas.

Still, if the United Nations and related outfits don't get their act together - the next time they try to help, more people will almost certainly die.

Back to that article - for the last time in this post.

---

Oops

"...The cholera epidemic, which is still ongoing, has killed some 4,500 Haitians through severe diarrhea and dehydration since its outbreak in October 2010. There had been no previous cholera outbreak in Haiti for nearly a century. The report confirms that the specific cholera bacteria involved in the Haitian epidemic are a variant first detected in Bangladesh in 2002, which is even more toxic than other cholera strains found in South Asia...."
(FoxNews.com)

Almost a century and no cholera outbreak in Haiti. That's a pretty good record. Particularly considering the island nation's economic status. Not that being wealthy is a guarantee against health problems and daft management. And that's almost another topic.

The Lemming has opined before, about blaming the victim, the United Nations, and whether there are too many Africans:

• "Japan, Good Taste, Common Sense, and a Duck"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 15, 2011)
• "Lemming Tracks: Sudan, Africa, Independence, Unity, and Getting a Grip"
  (January 6, 2011)
• "H1N1 Pandemic Over, But the Bug Lingers On"
  (August 11, 2010)
• "Sustainable African Development: And Swift's Modest Proposal"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (May 6, 2010)

About Haiti and cholera, the Lemming hopes that folks trying to help Haitians will be much more careful - so that their assistance won't be quite so lethal.

---

More:

• "Haiti: About the Earthquake, Relief, and Related Topics"

The Lemming's take on Haiti, Voodoo, charity, and common sense:

• "Archbishop: 'Let's Not Forget Haiti' - Works for Me"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (June 9, 2010)
• "Haiti: Voodoo, Pat Robertson, and the Catholic Church"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (January 16, 2010)

More:

• "U.N. Forces Introduced Cholera to Haiti, Panel Concludes"
  Martin Enserink, ScienceInsider (May 5, 2011)
• "HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING"
  BY FARHAN HAQ, ACTING DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
  United Nations (May 6, 2011)
• "Final Report of the Independent Panel of Experts on the Cholera Outbreak in Haiti" (.pdf)
  Alejando Cravioto (Chair) and others, United Nations (undated)

Fukushima Daiichi Plant, Water, and a 'Bad Sunburn'

It's been a while since the Lemming re-posted Google's resource for folks looking for family and friends in Japan, following the March 11, 2011, earthquake:

A 'people finder' for Japan, in Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese (simplified), and Chinese (traditional):

• japan.person-finder.appspot.com
  Person Finder: 2011 Japan Earthquake
  日本語 | English | 한국어 | 中 文 (简 体) | 中 文 (繁 體)
  
  • "PLEASE NOTE: All data entered will be available to the public and viewable and usable by anyone. Google does not review or verify the accuracy of this data."

---

Now, about what's happening today:

"Japan reactor core may be leaking radioactive material, official says"
CNN (March 25, 2011)

"Authorities in Japan raised the prospect Friday of a likely breach in the all-important containment vessel of the No. 3 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a potentially ominous development in the race to prevent a large-scale release of radiation.

"Contaminated water likely seeped through the containment vessel protecting the reactor's core, said Hidehiko Nishiyama of the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

"Three men working near the No. 3 reactor Thursday stepped into water that had 10,000 times the amount of radiation typical for a nuclear plant, Nishiyama said. An analysis of the contamination suggests 'some sort of leakage' from the reactor core, signaling a possible break of the containment vessel that houses the core, he said.

The three men have been hospitalized - but their burns may not be the sort of '50s horror show thing we see in the movies. The Lemming will get back to that.

The reactor core may have sprung a leak, as the article says: or the 10,000-times-over-normal radiation level in that water may have something to do with the tons of water that have been poured over the plant, cooling the reactors down. Water is a pretty good solvent - and that's another topic.

"Radiation Burn:" Serious, But Not Like the Movies

Movies can be good entertainment, but they aren't, in the Lemming's opinion, all that reliable as science teachers. A person can learn quite a bit about science fiction from Hollywood, Bollywood, and all: and that's another topic. (Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space, "Science Fiction in the Movies: 'The Satan Bug' to 'The Matrix' " (January 26, 2010))

That's a photo of a radiation burn. It's what the top of my head looked like on July 23, 2007, after I'd neglected to wear a cap. "Radiation burn?!" That's just an ordinary sunburn. Right on both counts.

Back to the CNN article:

"...Nuclear power experts cautioned against reading too much into the newest development, saying the burns suffered by the workers may not amount to much more than a sunburn."

"Moreover, evidence of radioactivity in the water around the plant is not necessarily surprising given the amount of water sprayed onto and pumped into the reactors, said Ian Hutchinson, professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts institute of Technology.

" 'I am not particularly alarmed,' he said...."
(CNN)

Which reminds the Lemming of what someone said, decades back, after hazardous materials were found in a neighborhood. 'They say it's safe: so how come they always show up in moon suits?'

Moving on.

The reactor that may - or may not - be leaking 'hot' water is the same one that made white smoke on March 16, and encouraged a serious evacuation of the folks trying to fix problems at the plant.

"...That reactor is of particular concern, experts have said, because it is the only one at the plant to use a combination of uranium and plutonium fuel, called MOX, that is considered to be more dangerous than the pure uranium fuel used in other reactors...."

"...The hospitalized employees were working to reconnect power to the No. 3 reactor building when they encountered water that was about 5 inches (15 centimeters) deep. Water rushed over the boots of two workers, who received what is called a "beta burn." The third worker had taller boots but was hospitalized as a precaution, according to Nishiyama.

"The men were exposed to the water for 40 to 50 minutes, said Tokyo Electric Power Co., which owns the plant...."
(CNN)

Two of the three workers have the highest level of radiation exposure so far at Fukushima: the one in his 30s, 180.7 millisieverts; the one in his 20s, 179.37 millisieverts. ("milisieverts?" see (March 18, 2011))

"...[Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency's Hidehiko ] Nishiyama said the third man -- who was exposed to 173 millisieverts but at first did not go to the hospital because his boots were high enough to prevent water from touching his skin -- has also gone to the same research hospital out of 'an abundance of caution.'

"Beta rays given off by radioactive substances don't penetrate deeply into materials, including flesh, said Nolan Hertel, a professor nuclear engineering at Georgia Tech. Consequently, the danger is relatively limited, he said.

" 'Basically, a beta burn would be akin to a bad sunburn,' he said...."

There's quite a lot more in the article.

The bottom line seems to be that folks living in Japan are still dealing with a major disaster - and will probably continue doing so for a long time.

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Good News from Fukushima, Japan?"
  (March 22, 2011)
• "Japan: Missed Inspections, Two Colors of Smoke at Fukushima; Years of Rebuilding Ahead"
  (March 21, 2011)
• "Japan: More People Found, Alive and Otherwise"
  (March 20, 2011)
• "Too Much Radiation is Dangerous: Numbers and Background"
  (March 18, 2011)
• "Seven-Point International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale: and a Ranting Lemming"
  (March 16, 2011)

More:

• "Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011: Posts"

Refinery Fire, Disease Threats, and Maybe-Melting Reactors in Japan

Cosmo Oil Company's refinery in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, is still on fire.

"Japan Cosmo Oil: Chiba refinery fire not yet out"
Risa Maeda, (Editor Edwina Gibbs), Reuters Africa (March 14, 2011)

"Japan's Cosmo Oil has not yet extinguished a fire at its 220,000 barrels per day Chiba refinery, a company spokesman said on Monday...."

The next news item shows that "not yet extinguished" should probably have been "still burning." From the looks of it, the Cosmo Oil Company executives decided to let the fire burn itself out.

Considering the risks involved in dealing with a massive fire like that, the Lemming thinks Cosmo Oil made a sensible decision. Particularly since the fire is apparently confined to the refinery.

---

"Fire at petrochemical complex in Japan"
telegraph.co.uk (March 13, 2011)

"Explosion has been heard at a damaged and burning oil products facility in northeastern Japan.

"3:19PM GMT 13 Mar 2011

"A large explosion has been reported at a burning petrochemical complex in Japan's earthquake-hit Miyagi prefecture on Sunday.

"The fire first broke out at the Shin Nihon Sekiyu facility due to the massive earthquake which hit northeastern Japan on Friday.

"Officials had decided to let it burn itself out and evacuated staff from the complex and residents in the vicinity.

"For the latest updates on the Japan earthquake and tsunami, follow our live coverage...."

The Lemming copies an entire article very rarely. In this case, The Telegraph seems to have decided that they don't mind folks accessing their content via the Internet - and I've left out some of the most important/interesting information: a video and photos showing the Cosmo Oil Company's refinery fire.

At the risk of stating the obvious: you many want to follow the links and check out telegraph.co.uk coverage on your own.

Refinery Fire, Floods, Disease Threat

The news around here has focused on the Nuclear! Meltdown! situation at some of Japan's northern power plants. Understandably. From Godzilla to Hell Comes to Frogtown, folks in America have been sensitized to dangers facing our world: like nuclear power, killer computers, and zombies. And that's another topic:

• "Science Fiction in the Movies: 'The Satan Bug' to 'The Matrix'"
  Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (January 26, 2010)

There's no doubt, in the Lemming's opinion, that and probably-melting reactor cores are health threats. So is a whacking great fire at an oil refinery.

Although not as visually exciting, the flooded mess along Japan's shoreline is a health risk, too. A big one.

Besides wrecked automobiles, boats, and buildings: the soggy debris contains dead bodies, and body parts. Also, the Lemming saw on today's news, a few folks who are still alive, but couldn't move. An elderly trio, for example, had spent 20 hours inside a car.

Recovering dead bodies isn't just a sentimental service: it's vital to keeping diseases from spreading. A short list of sicknesses that can follow a disaster like Japan's includes:

• Typhoid fever
• Cholera
• Leptospirosis
• Hepatitis A
• Malaria
• Dengue
• Dengue haemorrhagic fever
• Yellow fever
• West Nile Fever
  (WHO "Flooding and communicable diseases fact sheet")

"Leptospirosis?" It's also called mud fever, and that's another topic.

Some of that list are diseases more likely to spread in warm climates, which northern Japan's isn't, but in a way that just leaves more room for the cold-resistant microcritters to work in.

Is the Lemming trying to spread doom and gloom? No. The point of this post is that Nuclear! Meltdown! isn't the only issue that folks in Japan are dealing with at the moment.

As for some of the knee-jerk reactions to nuclear power: the Lemming remembers when television and the telephone were 'threats' of a different sort. The fact is, all technology is dangerous, in some way. But there's a reason why most folks stopped picking bark and berries out of the woods - a long, long time ago.

And that's another yet another topic.

Related posts:

• "Fukushima Power Plant: Explosion, Yes; Reactor, No"
  (March 12, 2011)
  Particlularly
  Godzilla, Rodan, and New Technologies
• "Japan Nuclear Power Plants: Behind the Breathless Headlines"
  (March 12, 2011)

More:

• "Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011: Posts"

Background:

• "Communicable diseases control field manual"
  Technical guidelines, Programmes and projects, World Health Organization (WHO)
• "Flooding and communicable diseases fact sheet"
  Technical guidelines, Programmes and projects, World Health Organization (WHO)

Lemming Tracks: The Lemming is Cutting Back

At this moment, Apathetic Lemming of the North's description reads: "Three micro-reviews, or the occasional rant, daily! (on average, technology and the nature of the universe permitting)"

A few things happened this winter. The Lemming:

• Caught the flu
  • Or something that acts the same way
• Reviewed
  • Some 'back burner' projects
  • His inner motives and quirks
• Fell badly behind in this blog
  • And others

Given time, the Lemming could catch up on the last two and a half months' worth of missed posts. Probably. But that would mean taking time away from other pursuits. More to the point for this blog, it would likely mean lower-quality posts here.

The Lemming doesn't want to do that.

So the Lemming will continue to post in this blog - just not quite so often.

The way things have been going lately, that probably means one post a day. On average, technology, the nature of the universe, and limitations of the Lemming permitting.

Thanks for your patience - and the Lemming plans to be back with something more interesting in a few hours.

Lemming Tracks: Energy Drinks, Common Sense, and 'There Oughtta be a Law'

"Energy Drinks May Hurt Kids: Study"
Randy Dotinga, Health, US News and World Report (February 14, 2011)

"Children with existing health or emotional issues most at risk, researchers say

"Energy drinks such as Red Bull, AMP and Rockstar have no health value and may even harm some children and teens, a new review finds.
Click here to find out more!

The increasingly popular, highly caffeinated drinks are especially risky for children with heart abnormalities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or other health or emotional problems, said Dr. Steven E. Lipshultz, co-author of the study, published online Feb. 14 in the journal Pediatrics.

" 'It's a set of products that are totally unregulated and have no therapeutic benefit,' said Lipshultz, chairman of pediatrics at the University of Miami.

"Surveys suggest that 30 percent to 50 percent of U.S. teenagers and young people consume energy drinks, despite warnings about their safety. Many users mix the energy drinks with alcohol, further heightening the potential for ill effects, say the researchers...."

Something's Not Regulated?! SHOCKING!!!

The Lemming doesn't have much doubt that chugalugging a six-pack of Red Bull, with a beer chaser, might not be good for a teenager with heart problems.

For that matter, it might put someone in perfect health in a tad less than tip-top shape.

Credit where credit is due. US News lets someone besides the 'experts' have a say:

"...But the maker of Red Bull took issue with the findings.

" 'This article just draws together material from the Internet, and largely ignores in its conclusions the genuine, scientifically rigorous examination of energy drinks by reputable national authorities. For example, the European Unions food safety authorities spent 10 years thoroughly examining energy drinks and concluded that the key ingredients [taurine and glucuronolactone] are of no concern,' Red Bull officials said in a statement. 'The effects of caffeine are well-known, and as an 8.4-ounce can of Red Bull contains about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee [80 mg], it should be treated accordingly.'..."

Does the Lemming think a steady diet of Red Bull, Mountain Dew, Twinkies, and deep fat fried pork rinds would be good for a teenager? Or anybody else?

No.

On the other hand, the Lemming is drearily familiar with folks who are incensed that others don't act they way they're 'supposed to.' And think that 'the government' should regulate what the rest of us eat, drink, watch, wear, and - if possible - think.

'For our own good,' of course.

The Lemming thinks that moderate degrees of physical activity and a diet that's long on complex carbohydrates, protein, and other parts of a sane diet is good for people. But the Lemming's not going to cobble together a 'scare' article to frighten folks into eating the 'right' way.

That's the sort of thing 'experts' do, it seems.

Almost-related posts:

• "Autism, Childhood Vaccines, Bogus Research, and the Lemming"
  (January 6, 2011)
• "Lemming Tracks: '8 x 8' Water Rule, Real Research; Beer and Pretzels"
  (November 27, 2010)
• "Lots of Lead and Cadmium in Kids' Tableware: Spiffy"
  (November 22, 2010)
• "Saving the Environment Makes You Sick"
  (September 28, 2010)
  • "Well, no: not exactly."
• "Tanning Beds, Addiction, and Pale Mutants"
  (April 21, 2010)
  

About "apathy," the Lemming's' way:

• "About the Lemming"

Lemming Tracks: 'Three Posts a Day?!' Ha!

This blog's description reads, "Three micro-reviews, or the occasional rant, daily!
(on average, technology and the nature of the universe permitting)"

The Lemming's going to be leaning on that "on average" phrase for the next - probably a month or more.

Excuses, Excuses!

If you visit this blog regularly - bless you! You've probably noticed that the Lemming has missing that 'three posts a day' quota. A lot. Starting in late November. The Lemming's wife thinks a low-grade bug of some sort is a factor: and she's generally right about that sort of thing.

The Lemming's feeling a bit less like something being dragged out of a clogged drain now: and glad of it.

Collecting Clothing, Fraud, and Getting a Grip

Maybe the Lemming shouldn't joke about this: but that failure to make good on the 'three posts a day' promise might - in the fevered mind of a desperate lawyer - encourage someone to sue for 'emotional pain and suffering.' Or cruelly portraying a virtual lemming in a plaid shirt: implying that lemming's are second-class citizens - - -. Uff da. The Lemming's noticed that daft lawsuits seem to be tapering off. Either that, or the Lemming's getting better at ignoring that sort of thing. Which is another topic. Sort of.

Not all lawyers, by the way, in the Lemming's opinion, are money-grubbing ambulance chasers. Or like the dumb-dumb dude who tried selling a stolen painting - through a legitimate art dealer. (November 18, 2010)

If you'll be patient with the Lemming, this blog should catch up with that 'three post daily average' - in a month or so. Maybe less. Maybe more. If the Lemming continues doing four posts a day, consistently. There's a little over 40 posts to go before the average is restored. Yeah, the Lemming keeps track of things like that.

Besides, let's be realistic about this: getting behind in blog posts isn't so much fraud, as - laziness? The Lemming's coming perilously close to a metaphorical cliff's edge.

Speaking of fraud - there's this, ah, remarkable piece in a news blog. The excerpt is longer than most. The Lemming didn't want to give the impression of cherry-picking daft tidbits. Hang in there: the Lemming'll be back.

No, Really: This Got Published

"News 4 Investigates: Used by U'SAgain?"
News 4 Investigates Blog (February 12, 2007)

"U'SAgain (pronounced, 'use again') collects used clothing in about 500 drop-off boxes scattered across the metro region.

"The boxes make U'SAgain one of the largest collectors of used clothing and shoes in the area.

"But are they being honest?

"News 4 Investigates has talked with donors and business owners who say they thought U'SAgain was a charitible [!] organization, much like Goodwill, The Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, etc.

"But in fact, U'SAgain is strictly a for-profit company.

"U'SAgain CEO Mattias Wallander told us the clothes collected here in St. Louis are sold in bulk to Latin and Central America, and to some thrift stores in the U.S.

"Wallander says this is stated clearly on the company's website and in decals affixed to the distinctive U'SAgain collection boxes.

"Here's what they say:

" 'We are a commercial company doing something good for our environment. Together we can reduce waste and conserve.'

"Wallander states there is a phone number on every box, making it easy for anyone with questions to get answers. He apologized for anyone who was given the impression that U'SAgain is a charity.

"Another decal states:

" 'We cooperate with schools, non-profits, city recycling programs and local businesses.'

"One could certainly argue that this gives the impression that U'SAgain is something more than your ordinary for-profit enterprise...."

'I'm a Doofus - And it's Your Fault'

The Lemming has run into the 'I'm dim, and it's your fault' attitude - not often, but enough times to recognize a pattern. This time, the chain of association seems to go something like this:

• USAgain collection boxes say they are a commercial company
• Anonymous "donors and business owners" think USAgain is a non-profit charity
  • So, apparently, did the reporter
• USAgain admits that they cooperate with non-profit charities
  • Instead of letting the government handle that sort of thing
    • Like decent persons do
• Therefore, USAgain is a cheat and a liar

The Lemming, admittedly, turned up the volume a bit in that list. On the other hand, the Lemming is a tad disappointed at reading another 'I don't pay attention or think - and it's your fault' complaint.

USAgain - Some Kinda Plot?!

Here's part of what USAgain has to say about themselves:

"About Us"
USAgain (use-again)

"USAgain is a for-profit company that collects unwanted textiles and resells them in the U.S. and abroad, effectively diverting millions of pounds of clothing from landfills, generating new revenue streams for U.S. businesses and non-profits, and fueling local economies in emerging countries.

"Here's how it works. USAgain stations collection bins at locations around major US cities. Instead of throwing away unwanted clothes, consumers drop them off in our convenient bins, knowing they will be diverted from landfills to be reworn, reused or recycled.

"We collect around one million pounds of clothing per week, which is then purchased by wholesale buyers, thrift store chains and textile recyclers.

"USAgain was founded in 1999, and operates over 8,000 collection bins in 14 states. In 2009 alone, we collected over 54 million pounds of discarded clothing. A profitable venture headquartered in Chicago, we employ 160 full-time employees and contractors...."

Shocking! A for-profit company that's not playing to the stereotypes of America's dominant culture: dumping toxic waste in pristine waters; fouling the air; poisoning the land and ravishing frail, delicate, little Mother Nature. And, of course, oppressing the working class something fierce.

The Lemming's ranted about "Frail, Delicate Little Mother Nature?!" before. (December 20, 2009)

The Lemming's also ranted about the habit of America's self-appointed 'better sort' apparently feeling that poor slobs should stay away from unglamorous jobs. And, in consequence, collect government benefits until a decent white-collar job with a fancy title comes along.

As for the habit of the masses to frequent dens of iniquity like Walmart - that's where the Lemming gets his clothes, when something suitable hasn't shown up at a rummage sale or thrift store.

And those are other topics. Several.

Let's see what a USAgain box here in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, looks like:


USAgain box in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. January 22, 2011.

Red, white, and blue color scheme, an America flag, and no portrait of Che Guevara in sight. That's enough to set off some folks, right there. Looking a bit closer, you'll see what USAgain has to say. On the collection box.


A closer look at that USAgain box. January 22, 2011.

They've still got that 'we cooperate' statement that offended the sensibilities of News 4. How insensitive of USAgain!

You wanna know what the Lemming thinks? The Lemming thinks that USAgain is deliberately telling folks that they collect and redistribute clothing; that they cooperate with charities - and if someone gets the heebie-jeebies, just thinking about outfits that make a profit: the Lemming thinks that a red-white-and-blue color scheme, an American flag, a land line number and a Web address are enough of a warning and offer to provide information.

But then, the Lemming isn't a journalist.

And that's yet again another topic.

Almost-related posts, about real fraud:

• "Financial Cons: An Example or Two"
  (December 26, 2010)
• "Fencing Stolen Art: Bakwin Paintings, a 'Criminal Lawyer,' and Common Sense"
  (November 18, 2010)
• "Madoff Mansion, Money, Ponzi Schemes, and Thinking"
  (October 16, 2010)
• " 'Work at Home,' Transferring Money Overseas: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?"
  (November 3, 2009)
• "Nigerian Scams, Internet Safety, Fraud, and Human Nature: The Lemming Gets Wordy"
  (November 17, 2008)

Medicinal Leeches: From Nicander of Colophon to the Biting Edge of Medicine

"Biopharm Leeches"
"The Biting Edge of Science"

"Biopharm is the pioneer in medical leech provision and has nurtured the renaissance of leeches in modern surgery. Leeches today are used in plastic and reconstructive surgery worldwide as well as successful ongoing research into relieving symptoms of osteoarthritis...."

Since quite a few folks, and Princeton's WordNet, use "modern" as if it means "contemporary," the Lemming is very mildly irked by that usage. We've been in a postmodern era for decades - and that's another topic. If that doesn't sound very "apathetic," you're quite right. The Lemming's 'apathy' gets explained in "About the Lemming."

Which is another topic.

Let's see - the Lemming was writing about invertebrate bloodsuckers. A variety that doesn't fly.

Biopharm Leeches sells medicinal leeches - which could be used as bait, but are a bit pricey for that sort of thing. The company sells fishing leeches, too. Leeches for fishing, I'm sure: not leeches that fish.

Although as aquatic predators - or parasites - leeches do fish, sort of. Although they're not fish. Wandering a little off-topic again.

There's a pretty good writeup on a particular variety of leech, and leeches in general, at:

• "Freshwater Leech" Macrobdella decora
  Island Creek Elementary School, Fairfax County Schools, Virginia

Using Leeches in Medicine? How Medieval! How Superstitious!

'Everybody knows' that before Science and Modern Medicine blessed the benighted masses with refrigerated stethoscopes, ignorance and superstition ruled.

Like the idea that leeches might be good for people.

Knives, Needles, and Magic Elixirs: A Rant

The Lemming got the idea that when 'real' doctors nearly drove midwives, herbalists, and other dreadfully old-fashioned and 'unscientific' people out of Western culture, many folks got the idea that healing required knives, needles, and magic elixirs.

We call the latter "prescriptions." Tomayto, tomahto. And the Lemming is not going to start discussing Fred Astair. Not just now, anyway.

Somewhere around the '80s, if memory serves - 1980s, that is - the Lemming noticed a few 'real' doctors using old-fashioned methods, like sensible eating habits and herbal teas, when it made sense.

One licensed physician explained to the Lemming that Western medicine was really good at dealing with an organ system that's gone into failure mode, or setting broken bones. Fine-tuning the human body? Not so much. The doctor didn't use quite those words - but that's the idea.

The Lemming suspects that doctors - in America, at least - were noticing that folks were starting to do their own research: and going to a health food store instead of buying more of the doctor-prescribed magic elixirs. That sort of thing is bad for business.

Do-it-yourself medicine isn't always a good idea, by the way. Some of those 'harmless' herbal concoctions will kill you if the dosage is wrong, or they're taken with something else. It's often harder to overdose on 'natural' medicine than it is with over-the-counter stuff: but it can be done. ("Toxic hepatitis - Causes," "Can herbal supplements interact with my heart disease medications?" (briefly - yes), "Acute liver failure - Causes," on the Mayo Clinic website)

Back to Leeches

It's amazing, how much a person can learn, by accepting the notion that someone else might have a good idea. In the Lemming's opinion.

Like using leeches to balance the body's humors.

The idea that health depended on a proper balance of blood, phlegm, black and yellow bile made sense in Nicander of Colophon's day. As the Lemming recalls, it was part of a larger set of concepts that explained how the universe works.

These days, folks who study the body are equally certain that health depends on a proper balance of hormones and nutrients. Two thousand years from now? We'll see what folks are certain about, then.

Physicians used leeches to balance the humors, not all that long ago. Specifically, they used the bloodsuckers to draw off excess blood.

To someone who grew up in the antiseptic stainless-steel-and-enamel world of modern medicine, that can sound - gross.

And frightfully ignorant.

Not like up-to-date folks who gave us modern miracles like lobotomies. The Lemming's discussed that sort of thing in another blog:

• "Kennedys, Catholicism, and Abortion: So That's What Happened"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (August 26, 2009)
• "Medical Ethics and Human Experimentation: Why I Take it Personally"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (February 3, 2009)
• "Human Clones Possible: Don't Worry, They're Just for Parts and Research"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (February 2, 2009)

Anyway, turns out that sometimes it is a good idea to draw off one of the four humors. Like when blood is collecting in a reattached body part.

Using leeches isn't absolutely safe - but then, neither are those magic elixirs. The Lemming's written about that before:

• "Swine Flu Vaccine, Benefit / Risk, and Common Sense"
  (May 1, 2009)

A little background on why leeches stopped being used, and why doctors picked them up agan:

"Medical Use of Medicinal Leeches"
© J.Graf, University of Connecticut (2003)

"During the 1980's, reports were published that described the successful application of medicinal leeches to rescue surgery cases with complications. During the reattachment of severed fingers and ears, or of the detached scalp, the blood flow needs to be reestablished. This is achieved by reconnecting the major arteries and veins. In particular, the veins can be difficult to find. If not enough veins are reconnected, the blood may initially enter the reattached organ but cannot exit. This will prevent fresh, oxygenated blood from entering and, consequentially, the reattachement procedure will fail. This is where the medicinal leech comes to the rescue. The animals are applied to the tissue and they actively remove blood and secrete numerous compounds that have vasodialator, anticoagulant, and clot-dissolving properties. This prevents the tissue from dying off and allows the body to reestablish good blood flow to the reattached part.

"This type of procedure is not without risk. In up to 20% of the patients receiving leech treatment after microvascular surgery, infections by Aeromonas occurred. Fortunately, these infections can usually be prevented by administering antibiotics to the patients. These infections point to the potential of this bacterium, which is cooperative in the medicinal leech, to be pathogenic in humans.

"In patients with a normal immune response and good blood circulations at the site of attachment, bacterial infections do not usually occur.

"Another use of leeches is to reduce the pain of arthritis in the knees. A clinical trial suggested that patients receiving leech thearpy [!]experienced less pain than the control group...."

Before anyone walks away with the idea that leeches are dirty, disease-riddled critters, a reminder: those Aeromonas infections happened because micro-critters that are supposed to be in leeches aren't part of the human roster of microcritters. Healthy human beings have a rather lively little community of intestinal flora (or normal flora, or indigenous microbiota, or whatever). That's why folks sometimes take a while to get their digestion back on track after taking antibiotics.

And the Lemming is not going to get started on that.

Sort-of-related posts:

• "Autism, Childhood Vaccines, Bogus Research, and the Lemming"
  (January 6, 2011)
• "The Pill That Listens: And Wait'll You See What's Next"
  (November 9, 2010)
• "'I was Dead, But I'm Better Now'"
  (October 21, 2010)
• "NDM-1, XF-73, India, Perceptions and the Lemming"
  (September 20, 2010)
• "Leeches, Teeth, and Science"
  (April 15, 2010)

More about leeches:

• "Swimming in the Medicinal Leech"
  Andrew Tate, Model Systems in Neuroethology (December 1996)
  • Includes a circuit diagram for part of the leech control system
    • If you're planning to build your own leech?

Autism, Childhood Vaccines, Bogus Research, and the Lemming

"Retracted autism study an 'elaborate fraud,' British journal finds"
CNN (January 5, 2011)

"A now-retracted British study that linked autism to childhood vaccines was an 'elaborate fraud' that has done long-lasting damage to public health, a leading medical publication reported Wednesday.

"An investigation published by the British medical journal BMJ concludes the study's author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of the 1998 study -- and that there was 'no doubt' Wakefield was responsible...."

Strong Words, No-Nonsense Response

Wrangling over the results of a scientific study is par for the course in medicine, or any other science. It's how researchers discover what's real and what isn't. It's also not unusual for the accuracy of data to be questioned: particularly when the results depend on very precise interpretations of very fuzzy facts.

What happened with the Wakefield study seems to be something quite different. It looks like Wakefield shot at the side of a barn, so to speak, painted a target around the hole, and claimed a bull's-eye.

Faking data - cooking medical records until they support some claim - is not how valid results are achieved. It's a serious charge, and if the folks who made it are serious: some sort of action would be expected.

Looks like they're serious. Wakefield isn't "Dr." Wakefield any more: not in Britain.

Back to the article.

Incompetence is One Thing: Fraud is Another

"...'It's one thing to have a bad study, a study full of error, and for the authors then to admit that they made errors,' Fiona Godlee, BMJ's editor-in-chief, told CNN. 'But in this case, we have a very different picture of what seems to be a deliberate attempt to create an impression that there was a link by falsifying the data.'

"Britain stripped Wakefield of his medical license in May. 'Meanwhile, the damage to public health continues, fueled by unbalanced media reporting and an ineffective response from government, researchers, journals and the medical profession,' BMJ states in an editorial accompanying the work

"Speaking to CNN's 'Anderson Cooper 360,' Wakefield said his work has been 'grossly distorted' and that he was the target of 'a ruthless, pragmatic attempt to crush any attempt to investigate valid vaccine safety concerns.'...."

Faking Medical Records: What's the Big Deal?

It's no surprise, in the Lemming's opinion, that Wakefield denies being a world-class liar. If nothing else, a medical license is a ticket to one of Western civilization's more lucrative careers. Then there are books and movie rights to sell: but perhaps the Lemming is being too cynical. Or, not.

Anyway, what harm could possibly come from scaring folks out of getting their kids immunized against childhood diseases like measles and polio?

"...The now-discredited paper panicked many parents and led to a sharp drop in the number of children getting the vaccine that prevents measles, mumps and rubella. Vaccination rates dropped sharply in Britain after its publication, falling as low as 80% by 2004. Measles cases have gone up sharply in the ensuing years.

"In the United States, more cases of measles were reported in 2008 than in any other year since 1997, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 90% of those infected had not been vaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown, the CDC reported...."

The only way to tell whether or not those kids with measles would have gotten the bug if they'd been vaccinated would have been to separate the American population into two demographically-similar groups; vaccinate one, not vaccinate the other; and see what happened.

That wasn't done. Happily.

There's more in that CNN article, about:

• How some folks who know Wakefield think he's a really nice guy
  • And couldn't have lied to the world
• What's happened to others as a result of the apparently-bogus 'research'

Now, the Lemming is going to rant a little about what's called "medical ethics," and related topics.

Medical Ethics Shouldn't be an Oxymoron

It could happen, though. We got the Nürnberg Code after places like Dachau gave eugenics and related ideas a public relations problem.

That should have put an end to using people as unwitting guinea pigs.

The Tuskegee syphilis experiment kept going, though. Until 1972. Given the mores of the time, it wasn't all that serious a breach of the Nürnberg Code. The subjects weren't important people at the time. Not the sort that got admitted to the 'right' sort of country clubs.

There's a reason the Lemming isn't all that nostalgic: and that's another topic. Several.

A German chancellor's efforts to clean up Europe's gene pool, as the Lemming said, was a setback for those who would like to see a fitter, stronger, purer human race. Still, the idea that folks who don't match some standard are fair game for research didn't die.

Starting in 1964, the Willowbrook State Hospital in New York injected hepatitis virus into severely retarded children. the injections were billed as 'a vaccine against hepatitis.' That was true, sort of. The survivors of the experiment had an immunity to hepatitis.

Although it didn't make the news, in 1951 a doctor in the upper Midwest decided to keep quiet about a baby's congenital defect. All in the interests of science, perhaps.

Eventually, a doctor with somewhat less flexible ethics told the infant's parents what the score was. Using that baby as a sort of lab rat is part of why the Lemming takes medical ethics seriously. And that's almost another topic:

• "Is it Wrong to Kill One Person on the Chance that Someone Else Might Benefit?"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (August 30, 2010)
• "Medical Ethics and Human Experimentation: Why I Take it Personally"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (February 3, 2009)

Change Happens: Deal With It

For the last half-century or so, loyal acolytes of Bishop Ussher have been insisting that the world - the universe - is only a few thousand years old. And that human beings have always been just about exactly the way we look now.

Other folks have been convinced, at various times, that:

• An ice age is coming
• The spotted owl is facing extinction
• Global warming is gonna kill us all

Then there are the poor souls with a foot in both camps.

It seems to the Lemming that one thing these occasionally-hostile views have in common is an at-best ambivalent attitude toward change.

That's understandable, in the Lemming's opinion. The 20th century, and the 19th, were very exciting times. Two centuries ago, we had a world of horse-drawn plows and candles. In rapid succession, we got Bessemer converters, typewriters, telephones, light bulbs, television, robot spaceships and Twitter. And that's just the technology.

We also found out that the universe makes a whole lot more sense if we assume that it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 14,000,000,000 years old and really, really, big.

The Lemming doesn't mind taking the world as it is and marveling at it, and learning new skills every few years to stay employable: but not everybody's like that.

Actually, the Lemming enjoys living in a world where the present isn't like the past, and it's nearly certain that more change is coming. Fast.

Living in an evolving world means that you won't find a recipe calling for fresh trilobite: but in the Lemming's opinion it's an exciting ride.

Posts more-or-less about change:

• "Four Dimensions, 11 Dimensions, Cosmology and People"
  (March 23, 2010)
• "Home Schooling, Religious and Moral Instruction, and American Culture"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 6, 2010)
  Particularly
  • NOT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE DOLTS
• " 'I Can't Understand It' "
  (May 20, 2010)
• "Faith and Reason, Religion and Science"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 20, 2009)

Still more links:

• "Change, American Culture, Trilobites, Humanity's History, and the Big Picture"

Remember When Everything Caused Cancer?

Born during the Truman administration, the Lemming remembers when everything caused cancer. Or heart disease. Sometimes both.

That fad seems to be over, but it's been replaced with new-and-improved reasons to live scared. Times change - but in some ways, they don't. Yet another topic.

Trust: Carefully

The Lemming remembers when doctors were almost worshiped. The notion that 'doctor knows best' may still be around. But the Lemming hopes it's being tempered with caution and a bit of common sense.

Like deciding whether or not to get inoculated against some disease. There are risks, either way. The trick is to learn what they are and make a reasoned decision:

• "Swine Flu Vaccine, Benefit / Risk, and Common Sense"
  (May 1, 2009)

'The Government Oughta Do Something'

It's been a long, long time since the Lemming thought it was a good idea to rely on 'the government' to solve problems or 'make things right.' And that's yet again another topic again. Not necessarily for this blog:

• "Dred Scott, the Slavery Compromise, and Who to Trust" A Catholic Citizen in America (February 2, 2009)

"Trust Your Feelings, Luke?!"

The Lemming likes the six Star Wars movies: including the one with that famous "trust your feelings" quote. George Lucas is, in the Lemming's opinion, a top-notch movie maker.

The Lemming has nothing against emotions, but they don't play well with reason.

It's the Lemming's opinion that various goofy ideas that have gotten traction owe their success to folks thinking with their endocrine system.

Still, it'd be a slightly less colorful world if a few folks didn't become convinced that space aliens were against nuclear weapons, or that shape-shifting lizard people were the 'real' rulers of the world:

• "Nuclear Weapons, Space Aliens, Conspiracy Theories, and Getting a Grip"
  (September 24, 2010)
• "Haiti's Earthquake Caused by - You Guessed it - Yankee Imperialists"
  (January 21, 2010)
• "Swine Flu / 2009 H1N1, and Having Someone to Blame"
  (May 2, 2009)
• "Lebanon, Israel, Pakistan, India, and the Lizard People"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (January 14, 2009)
• "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, The War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 23, 2008)

Vaccination May Make Sense: Or, Not

The Lemming isn't going to assert that vaccinations are always a good idea. Or that they always aren't.

As with so many other things, 'it depends.'

The trick, as the Lemming sees it, is to do your own research. And remember that an article using terms like "scientific study" and "computer models" don't mean that some notion is true - or that it isn't.

Related posts:

• "Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide Now! Or, Not"
  (January 3, 2011)
• "Vaccination, Edward Jenner, History, and the Human Condition"
  (December 15, 2009)
• "Swine Flu Vaccine, Benefit / Risk, and Common Sense"
  (May 1, 2009)
• "Not-So-Silly Science: Women Who Look Like Women are Healthier"
  (January 7, 2009)
• "Silly Science: Hourglass Figure Not Good for Women"
  (December 17, 2008)

More, on another sort of silly science, in this blog:

• "Lemming Tracks: Climate Change is the New Global Warming?"
  (December 6, 2010)
• "Lemming Tracks: Ice Age, Global Warming, Climate Change, and Living Scared"
  (November 19, 2010)
• "Earthquakes, Nuclear Winter, the End of the World, and All That"
  (February 28, 2010)
• "Global Warming: on Pluto. And Mars"
  (December 14, 2009)
• "The Unchanging Sun and Earth's Climate"
  (August 28, 2009)

Still more, elsewhere:

• "The Decade of 'Junk Science' "
  Doug Bandow, Cato Institute (May 10, 1999)
• "Fair Hearing for Breast Implants?"
  Steven Milloy, Junk Science, Opinion, FoxNews.com (February 25, 2005)
• " 'FDA ends ban on silicone breast implants' "
  Walter Olson, Overlawyered (November 20, 2006)
• "What Causes Cancer? 7 Strange Cancer Claims Explained"
  Megan Johnson, Health, US News and World Report (October 19, 2010)

---

The non-Lemming resources listed above don't necessarily march in lockstep with America's dominant culture. No surprises there: 'the establishment' has changed in the last half-century. The lot that's running the country now hasn't - in the Lemming's opinion - been all that eager for Americans to start asking questions about the "science" we're fed. And that is yet again another topic.