Around the Globe

-Public Health: Type 2 Poliovirus Back From The Dead in Nigeria

In 1999, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative scored an unequivocal victory: It wiped one of three serotypes of wild poliovirus, type 2, off the face of the earth, except for samples stored in labs for study or vaccine creation.

That triumph left just two foes to battle: Poliovirus types 1 and 3, which have continued to put up quite a fight. But now a version of type 2 has returned. Springing back to life from a weakened form of the pathogen used in a vaccine, poliovirus type 2 is causing a runaway outbreak in Nigeria, where types 1 and 3 are also raging.

In July, the World Health Organization issued a global alert warning that type 2 poliovirus in Nigeria posed an "increasing risk of international spread." It's a stunning setback for the initiative, now already 9 years past its original deadline for vanquishing the virus.

Source: sciencemag/leslie roberts

*I guess we wont be hearing about this until people start dying in europe or north america...who cares about nigerians dying of polio, right? its just a bunch of poor black people.

fck

-BANGKOK (Reuters) – A Thai court on Tuesday refused to extradite alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout to the United States to face trial on charges of supplying weapons to Colombian rebels.

The U.S. wanted to try Bout, dubbed the "Merchant of Death," for conspiracy to sell millions of dollars of weapons to rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Bout was arrested in a Thai-U.S. sting operation at a Bangkok hotel in March 2008 after arriving from Moscow.

U.S. prosecutors alleged Bout had been trafficking arms since the 1990s, using a fleet of cargo planes to send weapons to Africa, South America and the Middle East. Bout is alleged to have sold or brokered arms deals that have helped fuel wars in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan.

The character played by Nicholas Cage in the 2005 movie "Lord of War" is loosely based on the Russian's alleged exploits. A British minister labeled him "a merchant of death." He has denied involvement in the illegal arms trade and has maintained he was only involved in cargo transportation.

-SYDNEY (AP) - Thousands of camels in Australia's remote Outback could be killed by marksmen in helicopters under a government proposal aimed at cutting down the population of the havoc-wreaking animals.

First introduced into Australia in the 1840s to help explorers travel through the Australian desert, there are now about 1 million camels roaming the country, with the population doubling every nine years.

The federal government set aside 19 million Australian dollars for a program to help slash the population. Besides sending in sharpshooters in helicopters and on foot, officials are considering proposals to turn some of the creatures into tasty treats such as camel burgers.

Tony Peacock, CEO of the University of Canberra's Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Center, said a cull was the most effective method. "To be shot from a helicopter is actually quite humane, even though that sounds brutal," he said. "If I was a camel, I'd prefer to just get it in the head."

*smmfh @ this statement.

WTH Advice

Dear Pastor ,

I must commend you on the wonderful work you have been doing over the years. I have been reading your columns since the age of 13. I never thought that I would one day be writing to you.
I am now 37 years old. I am a Jamaican but I am living in England. About four years ago, I met this Jamaican woman. She is 32 years old. Pastor, if I could go back to the day I met her, I would have stayed in my yard for six months just to make sure I never met her. Of all the women that I have been with, she has got to be the worst in every way. She is loud, shallow, overbearing, and always swearing. She has no manners or respect for me or anyone, especially people without money, and she is very ungrateful.

No matter what you do for this woman, it's never enough. She is one of those women that the Bible calls quarrelsome. I do everything for this woman: pay her rent, buy her food, buy her clothes, and take care of her other bills. I even paid someone to marry her so she could stay here legally.

Well, despite all I did, she cheated on me for a hairdo. A hairdo, pastor, a hairdo? I am still with her but I am not happy. We live together and it kills me when I have to go home in the evenings after work. She doesn't like children either. I have two sons from my previous relationships and she never once asked how they are doing. She gets upset whenever I speak of or to my boys; she gets upset, as if she doesn't want me to speak to my children or their mums. She got pregnant for me twice but she aborted them.

fed up
All she wants to do is dress up, put on false hair, false nails, and false everything. She even wants to do breast enlargement. She loves material things and likes guys with money. I can't save any money because of her. All she does is spend, spend, spend and keeps on spending.

I am fed up, Pastor, honestly, and I don't know what to do. I mean, I love her but I am unhappy with her. She complains about everything I do. For example, when I go to work, I may come home tired and fall asleep. She will then complain that I sleep too much. When it's not that, she complains about when I eat and how I eat. If I go on the Internet, she complains. She hardly wants to have sex. She complains that I love sex too much.

Please, pastor, I need your help. I have prayed to God to take away this love that I feel for her. I am sad and confused. I am awaiting your best advice.

K.C., Bristol, United Kingdom

Dear K.C.,
I hope you are not Jamaican. I would hate to think that you are Jamaican, because you would have shamed every Jamaican man because you are behaving senselessly. You are a man who is devoid of understanding, the woman is socking it to you and who can blame her? Where 'yuh' come from, man? Anybody who knows you would laugh at you.

You should not ask me what you should do. You are not behaving as a man. I am not even going to tell you to leave this woman, because by telling you so, I would be robbing the woman of all the goodies she has been enjoying because of your lack of common sense.
Pastor

lmao @ this response

Coleslaw Recipe

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups finely shredded cabbage (1/2 of a medius size cabbage)
2 cups shredded carrots (4-5 large carrots)
2 tsp black raisins
2 tsp golden african raisins
1 tsp chopped onions
*Mix ingredients in a bowl and set aside for dressing.

Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tspn white cane vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tspn kosher salt
1/4 tspn white pepper

*mix thoroughly and pour over cabbage & carrot mixture. Stir evenly, cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

Serves 4-6