Sunday, February 23, 2014

H5N1: US: A polio-like illness in California children

H5N1: US: A polio-like illness in California children

A polio-like illness in California children

This Los Angeles Times report gives me the creeps—not just because I had polio in LA 65 years ago, but because in a mercifully unfinished SF novel, I had a throwaway line about a disease called "Polio II": Mysterious polio-like illnesses reported in some California children. Excerpt:
A small number of children in California have come down with polio-like illnesses since 2012 -- suffering paralysis in one or more limbs and other symptoms -- and physicians and public health officials do not yet know why. 

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Lady Gaga ft. Christina Aguilera - Do What U Want (Steven Redant Barcelo...

Panti's Noble Call at the Abbey Theatre - WITH SUBTITLES

Ireland's top drag queen, Miss Panti Bliss, has driven a stiletto heel through this nation's long-running debate on gay rights. Panti has riled up conservative Catholics and won global admirers in a social media tour de force that is dominating Irish water-cooler talk.

How and why has Panti - a.k.a. 45-year-old Rory O'Neill - become a YouTube sensation in a dozen languages, thanks to a single, celebrated speech on anti-gay prejudice in Ireland? 

Friday, February 07, 2014

Rebel with a Cause: Question Everything. | Rebelle Society

Rebel with a Cause: Question Everything. | Rebelle Society
This is how the world must be changed, by questioning everything. We dismantle our ideas about ourselves so that we may understand others more fully. We honor ourselves by honoring each other. We question our thoughts to access the truth. We can change the world by opening up and letting go.
Perhaps you don’t believe me, perhaps you believe things are fine the way they are, that your life is as it needs to be. True, the present moment is perfect as it is, we must learn to be with things as they appear — but how many moments are you using to celebrate being alive?
For peace to exist, we must first practice peace with ourselves, we must be peaceful. For love to exist, we must first practice love with ourselves, we must be loving. If you really want to overthrow the system, put on your motorcycle jacket and start meditating.
Decide, commit, manifest. Rebel with a cause.

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Doctors warn of pandemic potential of the new H10N8 bird flu virus | South China Morning Post

Doctors warn of pandemic potential of the new H10N8 bird flu virus | South China Morning Post

A novel bird flu virus that has killed
one mainlander and left another critically ill has the potential to
spread efficiently among humans, doctors warn.
They say the fact that the H10N8 bug
jumped to humans for the first time in December is an important warning
of a possible pandemic.

Monday, February 03, 2014

Buffy Sainte-Marie: God Is Alive, Magic is Afoot : Video- Lyrics

Buffy Sainte-Marie: God Is Alive, Magic is Afoot : Video- Lyrics

 God Is Alive, Magic is Afoot

© words: Leonard Cohen music: Buffy Sainte-Marie





Leonard Cohen's book "Beautiful Losers" stole my heart in 1963 and so
did the idea of electronic processing on a vocal record. I had a
recording session scheduled and Leonard was in town. I propped two pages
of his book up on a music stand and I just sang it out, ad libbing the
melody and guitar music together as I went along. I've always wanted to
re-record it, as I love the way the power of the words obviously
commands the music and drives it beyond any consideration of time
signature


1...



God is alive; Magic is afoot

God is alive; Magic is afoot

God is afoot; Magic is alive

Alive is afoot.....

Magic never died.



God never sickened;

many poor men lied

many sick men lied

Magic never weakened

Magic never hid

Magic always ruled

God is afoot

God never died.



God was ruler

though his funeral lengthened

Though his mourners thickened

Magic never fled

Though his shrouds were hoisted

the naked God did live

Though his words were twisted

the naked Magic thrived

Though his death was published

round and round the world

the heart did not believe



Many hurt men wondered

many struck men bled

Magic never faltered

Magic always led.

Many stones were rolled

but God would not lie down

Many wild men lied

many fat men listened

Though they offered stones

Magic still was fed

Though they locked their coffers

God was always served.



2..



Magic is afoot. God rules.

Alive is afoot. Alive is in command.

Many weak men hungered

Many strong men thrived

Though they boasted solitude

God was at their side

Nor the dreamer in his cell

nor the captain on the hill

Magic is alive

Though his death was pardoned

round and round the world

the heart did not believe.



Though laws were carved in marble

they could not shelter men

Though altars built in parliaments

they could not order men

Police arrested Magic

and Magic went with them,

for Magic loves the hungry.



But Magic would not tarry

it moves from arm to arm

it would not stay with them

Magic is afoot

it cannot come to harm

it rests in an empty palm

it spawns in an empty mind

but Magic is no instrument

Magic is the end.



Many men drove Magic

but Magic stayed behind

Many strong men lied

they only passed through Magic

and out the other side

Many weak men lied

they came to God in secret

and though they left him nourished

they would not say who healed

Though mountains danced before them

they said that God was dead

Though his shrouds were hoisted

the naked God did live



3...



This I mean to whisper to my mind

This I mean to laugh with in my mind

This I mean my mind to serve 'til

service is but Magic

moving through the world

and mind itself is Magic

coursing through the flesh

and flesh itself is Magic

dancing on a clock

and time itself the magic length of God.

Jarabe de Palo - Hoy No Soy Yo



Good video and 80s homage...

4 new H7N9 bird flu infections reported yesterday: Shanghaiist

4 new H7N9 bird flu infections reported yesterday: Shanghaiist

Four more human cases of H7N9 bird flu, including one death, were
reported in China on Sunday, raising the total number of infections this
year to over 100.



Two of the cases, one fatal, were reported in Guangdong province and
the other in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to Shanghai Daily.



A 63-year-old man who was diagnosed with H7N9 died in Shenzhen,
Guangdong, and another infected 37-year-old man in the same province is
still in critical condition.



A 75-year-old man from Liuzhou has been reported as Guangxi's first
bird flu case this year. He had been in contact with live poultry before
falling ill on January 27.



The fourth case is an eight-year-old girl who had been to a live
poultry market in Hunan province. She's now being hospitalized in stable
condition.



On Saturday, six new cases and one death were reported, two in
Guangdong, two in Zhejiang, one in Fujian province and one in Hunan.
Guangdong's cases included two boys aged five and six, both currently in
stable condition.



So far in 2014, the H7N9 infection has resulted in more than 20 deaths, mostly in Guangdong and Zhejiang province.



Shanghai has reported at least 8 cases so far this year, and last Friday, the city put into effect the ban on live poultry sales to last until April.