Herbicides

“More than 80% of urine samples drawn from children and adults in a US health study contained a weedkilling chemical linked to cancer, a finding scientists have called ‘disturbing’ and ‘concerning.’

The report by a unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that out of 2,310 urine samples, taken from a group of Americans intended to be representative of the US population, 1,885 were laced with detectable traces of glyphosate. This is the active ingredient in herbicides sold around the world, including the widely used Roundup brand. Almost a third of the participants were children ranging from six to 18.”

— “‘Disturbing’: weedkiller ingredient tied to cancer found in 80% of US urine samples,” Carey Gillam, The Guardian

A previous study found the herbicide 2,4-D in a third of US blood samples. If the science won’t convince Red State farmers to cool it with these chemicals, maybe Susan Werner‘s song (above) will give them pause.

________________________
Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-zvw

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

 

CDC: Cruise Ships Are On Course for COVID

After finding 91 cruise ships with COVID outbreaks, some 5,000 cases, the CDC recommended that Americans avoid cruise ships, even if thay’re vaccinated, and no matter what Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says.

More:

“CDC warns against cruises, regardless of vaccination status,” Adriana Gomez Licon, Associated Press

Related:

“Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas prevented from entering 2 island nations due to Covid-19 outbreak onboard cruise ship,” Melissa Alonso and Aya Elamroussi, CNN

Updates:

“Cases Rise, Criticism Mounts, but Ships Keep Cruising,” Ceylan Yeginsu, New York Times

“Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise cancel voyages amid Omicron scare,” Praveen Paramasivam, Reuters

“‘Not the cruise I signed up for’: 30-fold increase in Covid cases upends industry,” Erin McCormick, The Guardian

____________
Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-yqT

Video: “Sea Cruise,” written by Huey “Piano” Smith, recorded by Jimmy Buffett, 1995.

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

 

Thanksgiving: 250,000 Reasons to Stay Home

As the number of Americans dead from COVID-19 rises past 250,000, The Centers for Disease Control advises you to stay the hell home for Thanksgiving:

“More than 1 million COVID-19 cases were reported in the United States over the last 7 days.

As cases continue to increase rapidly across the United States, the safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with.

Gatherings with family and friends who do not live with you can increase the chances of getting or spreading COVID-19 or the flu.”

— “Celebrating Thanksgiving,” CDC

Gatherings in the home seem to account for the greatest number of new infections. Currently, at least 3 million Americans are infected with coronavirus. As Colorado’s governor put it, holding a large family Thanksgiving dinner is like holding a loaded pistol to Grandma’s head.

More:

“CDC recommends against Thanksgiving travel amid surge of coronavirus cases,” Brittany Shammas, Washington Post

Related:

“The trauma of Thanksgiving for Native communities during a pandemic,” Rachel Ramirez, Vox

___________________
Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-w5Q

Image (“Thanksgiving 2020, after Norman Rockwell”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

CDC Funds First Gun Violence Research in 24 Years

In 2019, there were over 39,000 gun deaths in the US, including 24,000 suicides and 400 mass shootings. That’s a health crisis, but a craven Congress blocked medical research into gun violence. Until now:

“Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the recipients of nearly $8 million in funding to 16 research groups across the US to study firearm injury prevention. Their objectives over the next few years are to find ways to enhance safety and lower gun deaths and crime, either by evaluating current strategies in practice or proposing new ones. Research grants on the same topic awarded by the US National Institutes of Health are still under consideration.”

— “Researchers begin the first wave of US-funded gun injury prevention work in decades,” Katherine Ellen Foley, Quartz

________________________
Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-vK5

Image (“Blood Sacrifice”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Trump Administration Back-to-School Special

This summer, White House officials pressured the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to play down the risk of sending children back to school. White House Coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah L. Birx, and Marc Short, chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence, and Paul Alexander, a senior adviser to HHS assistant secretary Michael Caputo, tried to get CDC scientists to downplay the danger of COVID-19 to children, teenagers, and young adults in a political effort to get schools to reopen.

More:

“Behind the White House Effort to Pressure the C.D.C. on School Openings,” Mark Mazzetti, Noah Weiland and Sharon LaFraniere, New York Times

“Trump official pressured CDC to change report on Covid and kids,” Dan Diamond, Politico

“We Can’t Allow the CDC to Be Tainted by Politics,” Richard E. Besser, Scientific American

Related:

“COVID-19 Cases Rising Among U.S. Children as Schools Reopen,” AP via Education Week

“‘Children have become acceptable carnage,’” Andrew Atterbury, Nicole Gaudiano, Mackenzie Mays, Juan Perez Jr., and Madina Touré, Politico

“Children’s role in spread of virus bigger than thought,” The Harvard Gazette

“10 facts about school reopenings in the Covid-19 pandemic,” Anna North, Vox

__________________
Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-vLD

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

CDC: Halloween Has Been Canceled.

Kids, candy manufacturers, and sugar addicts across the country are feeling cursed. First, due to COVID-19, we had an Easter without jellybeans, Peeps, or chocolate bunnies. Now, thanks to the pandemic, the CDC has canceled Halloween parties, indoor haunted houses, and trick-or-treating. Scary. Las fiestas del Día de los Muertos también. ¡Ay, caramba!

Another frightening thought: Halloween is a big, boozy, binge-drinking holiday, and alcohol sales are up already due to the pandemic. That’s not conducive to responsible social distancing.

More:

“CDC’s Halloween Guidelines Warn Against Typical Trick-Or-Treating,” Laurel Wamsley, NPR

________________________
Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-vGg

Image (“The Witches of CVS”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Dining Out: Today’s Special Is COVID-19

Dining out may come with a free side order of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week.

“Adults who tested positive for the coronavirus were about twice as likely to have dined at a restaurant within a two-week period prior to becoming sick, according to a new study from Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.”

— “Adults With COVID-19 Twice As Likely To Have Eaten At Restaurants, CDC Study Finds,” Jason Slotkin, NPR News

More:

“If you caught COVID-19, you likely ate at a restaurant, CDC report finds,” Susana Guerrero, SF Gate

“Adults with COVID-19 twice as likely to have dined at a restaurant: study,” Amanda Woods, NY Post

Update:

“Fauci: Bars and Restaurants Should Remain Closed to Stop Spread of Coronavirus,” Tori B. Powell, Daily Beast

___________________
Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-vC0

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

CDC Preps America for Nuclear Holocaust

Now that our really smart President boasts of playing with his big button, U.S. Centers for Disease Control has scheduled a January 16th briefing on “Public Health Response to a Nuclear Detonation.” Inspires confidence, no?

More:

“CDC briefing to focus on preparing for nuclear war,” Brianna Ehley, Politico

Update:

“CDC postpones session on ‘preparing for the unthinkable’: a nuclear blast,” Lena H. Sun, Washington Post

Related:

“False Missile Warning in Hawaii Adds to Scrutiny of Emergency Alert System,” Cecilia Kang, New York Times

“Trump tweet boosts sales of anti-radiation pills,” Sam Baker, Axios

Video: “Duck and Cover,” a 1951 Civil Defense Administration TV spot for kids by Archer Films (the 9-minute classroom version is here). Directed by Anthony Rizzo, written by Ray Mauer. Narrator: Robert Middleton. The kids are from NYC public schools (read more here).

______________

Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-qUX

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Backyard Chickens Spread Salmonella

Backyard chickens rule the roost at local regulation hearings, and designer coops and exotic chickens are the new status symbols. The media and Web may abound with pictures of cute kids cuddling hens, but pet family fowls are not an unmixed blessing:

“As of September 23, 2014, a total of 344 persons infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Newport, or Salmonella Hadar have been reported from 42 states and Puerto Rico.

31% of ill persons have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

Epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback findings have linked this outbreak of human Salmonella infections to contact with chicks, ducklings, and other live poultry from Mt. Healthy Hatcheries in Ohio.

78% of ill people reported contact with live poultry in the week before their illness began.”

— “Multistate Outbreak of Human Salmonella Infections Linked to Live Poultry in Backyard Flocks,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

More:

“Backyard Chickens: Cute, Trendy Spreaders Of Salmonella,” Nancy Shute, NPR

 __________________

Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-jZa

Image from the National Nursery Book

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

The Zombies Are Coming! The Zombies Are Coming!

The Centers for Disease Control has denied the existence of a “zombie virus” that can reanimate the dead. Or did it?

“CDC silent on zombie-inducing parasites that live in human brains,” Josh Peterson, Daily Caller via Yahoo News

More:

“The Tweet That Begins the Zombie Apocalypse,” Alexis Madrigal, The Atlantic

“Your guide to zombie parasite journalism,” Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine blog

“Zombies!” Gregory McNamee, Britannica blog

“Pick Your Apocalypse: Zombie Edition,” Michael Ray, Britannica blog

___________________

Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-dgf

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine