First AIDS, now herpes?
Reference to the urban legend (maybe it’s true) that AIDS came about in humans from someone having ‘relations’ with a simian.
Now comes the news that monkeys can give you herpes.
It’s the rhesus macaques. And we’re told that the virus is in the spit and feces so it can be a problem especially if you’re bitten or scratched.
The report notes:
The macaques, native to Asia, are one of Florida’s many nonnative wildlife species. Their contacts with the public, including last summer when the monkeys chased a family , have made them somewhat notorious critters and have caused two partial park closures since 2016. The monkeys also have roamed far outside the park: Dozens were photographed recently swarming a deer feeder outside a home in Ocala. They have been spotted in trees in the Sarasota and Tallahassee areas.
So they’re going to get rid of them?
Poor monkeys.
And I checked out The AIDS Institute and found this:
Scientists identified a type of chimpanzee in West Africa as the source of HIV infection in humans. They believe that the chimpanzee version of the immunodeficiency virus (called simian immunodeficiency virus or SIV) most likely was transmitted to humans and mutated into HIV when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood. Over decades, the virus slowly spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world.
The earliest known case of infection with HIV-1 in a human was detected in a blood sample collected in 1959 from a man in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (How he became infected is not known.) Genetic analysis of this blood sample suggested that HIV-1 may have stemmed from a single virus in the late 1940s or early 1950s.
So I guess that wasn’t an urban legend – though possibly how it was transferred from humans is apparently an urban legend.
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Friday, January 12, 2018. Former US Vice President Joe Biden talks
burnpits, Iraq begins preparations for elections, Joy Reid has a big fan
who may or may not be Joy Reid herself, and much more.
Are fans of war crazed Joy Reid (MSNBC) really that stupid or, as several at MSNBC believe, is Joy creating dummy accounts every day to reply to herself?
Ponder that as you ponder this:
Are fans of war crazed Joy Reid (MSNBC) really that stupid or, as several at MSNBC believe, is Joy creating dummy accounts every day to reply to herself?
Ponder that as you ponder this:
stood in front of tv sobbing at your dignity and composure after the shithole story broke. Rachel saved me back in the days of 2003 air America bush invasion of Iraq and you Dear Joy saved me tonite from absolute despair. If you can face it, I can face it.
Bless you. And thanks.
The melodramatic Tweet is susicous all on its own. And that's before you get to Joy's rush to respond to it. Does anyone really stand in front of the TV with tears of gratitude streaming down their face as Joy speaks? Anyone outside of a psych ward?
It feels like a lie, doesn't it?
And the claim about Rachel saving in 2003 as the Iraq War broke out?
Also a lie.
A big lie.
First off, Air America Radio wasn't on the air then. It wouldn't be until 2004.
Secondly, Rachel wasn't against the Iraq War.
Not before it started.
And not after.
She refused to bring on veterans against the war. She had the attitude -- same as Al Franken -- that the Iraq War had started so it didn't matter anymore -- calls to end it didn't matter at all.
That is who Rachel Maddow is.
Maybe when Joy was Tweeting under her split personality, she hadn't had all of that day's meds?
Who knows.
But the Tweet's a lie from a liar -- and that's true whether Joy Tweeted it herself or not.
Other questionable exchanges?
Wednesday's US State Dept press gaggle moderated by Steven Goldstein:
QUESTION: Laurie Mylroie, Kurdistan 24.
UNDER SECRETARY GOLDSTEIN: Hi, Laurie.
QUESTION: Hi. Reuters – on Iraq.
UNDER SECRETARY GOLDSTEIN: Yes, ma’am.
QUESTION: Reuters reported that IDPs from Anbar Province are being forced to return home, although conditions aren’t safe, there are still IEDs around, and that’s being done to hold the Iraqi elections on schedule in May.
So two parts to this question. What’s your response to the forced return of IDPs, and what about the elections, that maybe the law can be changed so that people can vote if they’re IDPs --
UNDER SECRETARY GOLDSTEIN: Right.
QUESTION: -- even without going home, or should the elections be postponed?
UNDER SECRETARY GOLDSTEIN: So we are clearly concerned by press reports of forced returns. The United States is committed to the safe and voluntary return of all displaced people. And we defer to the Government of Iraq regarding the dates for their elections.
Elections are scheduled in May.
Way for the US government to stand up for voting rights.
If, as has taken place in previous elections in Iraq, polling centers can be created for Iraqis not in Iraq, then polling centers could be created for the displaced within Iraq.
Apparently, that requires more thought and effort than the US government is in possession of.
On the topic of the upcoming elections, ASHARQ AL-AWSAT reports on the negotiations by the various blocks:
Sunni blocs decided on an alliance of former prime minister and leader of the National Coalition, Iyad Allawi, with Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jubouri, and former deputy prime minister Saleh al-Mutlaq. However, the majority of Shiite forces, whether represented by State of Law Coalition led by Nuri al-Maliki, or the list representing Popular Mobilization Forces, have not decided even few hours before the deadline.
MP representing State of Law Coalition Rehab Abouda explained that delayed Shiite-Shiite coalition is attributed to the issue of "number one". She told Asharq al-Awsat that the choice of the first candidate at the top of the list seems to be the main obstacle since it will decide who will head the government after the next election.
Commander of the Badr Organization, Karim Nouri, criticized Shiite leaders and told Asharq al-Awsat that "the striking paradox is that political forces supporting holding the elections on time" stalled and did not agree on a name, as he wondered about the forces that demanded a postponement, in reference to Sunni forces.
However, MP Iyad al-Jubouri, member of Allawi-Jubouri-Mutlaq coalition, told Asharq al-Awsat that the disagreement over naming the "main man" was "not the first priority" in the negotiations for forming an alliance.
"The coalition, which includes many Sunni parties and forces with Iyad Allawi had decided," said Jubouri, adding that the coalition was not limited by a certain sect, just like in 2010 elections when the Iraqi List won majority of votes, but was denied the opportunity to form a government, even though it was headed by Shiite candidate.
Moving over to the US, Amy Cherry (WDEL) reports:
Former Vice President Joe Biden said he believes his son's military service may have caused his brain cancer.
Speaking on PBS' News Hour, Biden said toxins found in smoke from burning waste at U.S. military installations in war zones over seas could've contributed to his son's death.
Is this a turning point for the issue?
It has seemed that way before.
June 13th, 2012, then-Senator Mark Udall explained burn pits while speaking to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee:
In both Afghanistan and Iraq, open air burn pits were widely used at forward operating bases. Disposing of trash and other debris was a major challenge. Commanders had to find a way to dispose of waste while concentrating on the important mission at hand. The solution that was chosen, however, had serious risks. Pits of waste were set on fire -- sometimes using jet fuel for ignition. Some burn pits were small but others covered multiple acres of land. Often times, these burn pits would turn the sky black. At Joint Base Balad Iraq, over 10 acres of land were used for burning toxic debris. At the height of its operations, Balad hosted approximately 25,000 military, civilian and coalition provision authority personnel. These personnel would be exposed to a toxic soup of chemicals released into the atmosphere. According to air quality measurements, the air at Balad had multiple particulates harmful to humans: Plastics and Styrofoams, metals, chemicals from paints and solvents, petroleum and lubricants, jet fuel and unexploded ordnance, medical and other dangerous wastes. The air samples at Joint Base Balad turned up some nasty stuff. Particulate matter, chemicals that form from the incomplete burning of coal, oil and gas garbage or other organic substances, volatile organic compounds such as acetone and benzene -- benzene, as you all know, is known to cause leukemia -- and dioxins which are associated with Agent Orange. According to the American Lung Association, emissions from burning waste contain fine particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and various irritant gases such as nitrogen oxides that can scar the lungs. All of this was in the air and being inhaled into the lungs of service members.
And October 21, 2009, then-Senator Evan Bayh appeared before the US Senate Veterans Affairs Committee explaining the bill for a registry he was sponsoring, advocating for it.
I am here today to testify about a tragedy that took place in 2003
on the outskirts of Basra in Iraq. I am here on behalf of Lt Col James
Gentry and the brave men and women who served under his command in the
First Battalion, 152nd Infantry of the Indiana National Guard. I spoke
with Lt Col Gentry by phone just this last week. Unfortunately, he is
at home with his wife, Luanne, waging a vliant fight against terminal
cancer. The Lt Col was a healthy man when he left for Iraq. Today, he
is fighting for his life. Tragically, many of his men are facing their
own bleak prognosis as a result of their exposure to sodium dichromate,
one of the most lethal carcinogens in existence. The chemical is used
as an anti-corrosive for pipes. It was strewn all over the water
treatment facility guarded by the 152nd Infantry. More than 600
soldiers from Indiana, Oregon, West Virginia and South Carolina were
exposed. One Indiana Guardsman has already died from lung disease and
the Army has classified it as a service-related death. Dozens of the
others have come forward with a range of serious-respiratory symptoms.
[. . .] Mr. Chairman, today I would like to tell this Committee about
S1779. It is legislation that I have written to ensure that we provide
full and timely medical care to soldiers exposed to hazardous chemicals
during wartime military service like those on the outskirts of Basra.
The Health Care for Veterans Exposed to Chemical Hazards Act of 2009 is
bipartisan legislation that has already been co-sponsored by Senators
Lugar, Dorgan, Rockefeller, Byrd, Wyden and Merkley. With a CBO score
of just $10 million, it is a bill with a modest cost but a critical
objective: To enusre that we do right by America's soldiers exposed to
toxic chemicals while defending our country. This bill is modeled after
similar legislation that Congress approved in 1978 following the Agent
Orange exposure in the Vietnam conflict.
As far back as 2008, the US Defense Dept knew about the threats posed by exposure to burnpits as demonstrated by a 2008 assessment. But no precautions were taken. And the baby steps taken by the US Congress in the years since have required major pushing and prodding by veterans and their advocates.
As last year drew to a close, BURN PITS 360 issued the following:
|
Again, baby steps by the government and each step required major cajoling.
Former US Vice President Joe Biden's remarks might help the issue finally receive the attention it requires and the help it needs. Dan Sagalyn (PBS' NEWSHOUR) notes:
The issue appears to be personal for Biden, whose son, Beau Biden, a former Delaware attorney general, died at age 46 in May 2015 from glioblastoma multiforme, the most common form of brain cancer.
As a major in the Delaware Army National Guard, Beau Biden’s judge advocate general unit was activated in late 2008. He served in Iraq for much of 2009 at Camp Victory in Baghdad and Balad Air Force Base, 50 miles north of the Iraqi capital. Both bases used large burn pits. Earlier, he helped train local prosecutors and judges in Kosovo after the 1998-1999 war.
In what appear to be the two-term vice president’s first public comments about the possibility that his late son Beau Biden’s brain cancer was caused by burn-pit smoke, Biden acknowledged he was unaware of “any direct scientific evidence” of a linkage.
But Biden, who was tapped by former President Barack Obama in early 2016 to lead the “Cancer Moonshot” initiative, noted in the PBS NewsHour interview that “a lot higher incidence of cancer [is] coming from Iraq now and Afghanistan than in other wars” and “a lot of work is being done” to research it.
Biden also said that reading “The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers,” a book on the topic by Joseph Hickman, which included a chapter on his son Beau, opened his eyes to the possibility of a link to his son’s cancer.
“There’s a whole chapter on my son Beau in there, and that stunned me. I didn’t know that,” Biden said. He added, the author “went back and looked at Beau’s tenure as a civilian with the U.S. attorney’s office [in Kosovo] and then his year in Iraq. And he was co-located in both times near these burn pits.”
Biden compared living and working near a military burn pit and a factory that pollutes. “We know now you don’t want to live underneath a smokestack where carcinogens are coming out of it,” Biden said.
The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley, THE DIANE REHM SHOW and PACIFICA EVENING NEWS -- updated:
Future astronauts: 
Thaier Al-Sudani).
