Germs @ MindSay 
Although her timing certainly sucks, my niece has given birth to a healthy 8.12 lb boy with a full head of fuzzy black hair! I cannot, however, share his name. I don't know it ... Last I heard, it had not been decided yet and that was yesterday. He was born last evening about 5:30. My soldier and I are about to go for our first visit ... but of course, we are still touched with a cold/flu so will not handle the wee one just yet! rats! She couldn't have delivered a week earlier while we were healthy! lol Maybe some pics tomorrow?
~ B
Finally Something Good You Can Do With Your Microwave!!
Dr. Mercola says:
I’m obviously not a fan of microwaves to heat or cook your food, but researchers have found one good use for them: killing germs on your kitchen sponge. After soaking sponges and scrubbers in dirty water (that contained everything from fecal bacteria and viruses to parasites and bacterial spores), the researchers found just two minutes in the microwave was enough to kill 99 percent of the living pathogens.
Zapping sponges in the microwave every other day will decontaminate them better than simply putting them in the dishwasher, and you should wet them first, as the heated water seemed to help the sterilization process.
The other reason you'll want to ensure any sponge you place in a microwave is completely wet: A dry sponge will catch fire, toasting the microwave and the sponge, as some have learned.
Interestingly, the microwave was even able to kill B. cereus spores, which are able to survive extreme heat and radiation (though it took four minutes, not two). It’s no wonder, then, why heating food in a microwave zaps away nutrients and changes the chemical structure of foods, with virtually unknown consequences.
Journal of Environmental Health December 2006;69(5):17-24
LiveScience.com January 22, 2007
Reuters January 24, 2007
Millions For Defense Spending For Louisiana Approved by U.S. Senate Committee
"Nearly $162 million in funding for Louisiana is in the Defense Spending Bill passed Thursday by the Senate Committee on Appropriations, on which U.S. Mary Landrieu sits. Specifically, Sen. Landrieu secured $5 million for real-time reporting at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, which will allow the development of real-time action reporting, analysis and feedback to unit commanders and soldiers conducting the training. Sen. Landrieu has said in a statement that she has secured $1 million for the Biosensors for Defense Applications project at the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research, which provides real-time information about threats from bioterrorism and environmental polluters. 'This project allows the Tulane/Xavier Center, the only non-defense group developing this important technology, to give the Department of Defense the tools it needs to respond quickly to bioterrorism and environmental polluters,' Sen. Landrieu said. Biosensors are also economically sensible, as they make clean-up and restoration efforts more cost effective.'"(BayouBuzz.com, 26Jul06)
http://www.bayoubuzz.com/articles.aspx?aid=7721
Biosensor tested on [space] shuttle
"A recent [space] shuttle experiment could yield biosensors that harness living cells to detect harmful chemicals or biotoxins. Microbes encapsulated in biosensors by a nanoscale self-assembly method were genetically engineered to glow fluorescent green when sensing specific toxins. After exposure to radiation and the cold vacuum of space, the biosensor prototype will return to Earth from the International Space Station on the next Shuttle flight for additional testing. If the biosensor continues to function, Sandia National Laboratories said it will develop rugged sensor technology that could be used for battlefield reconnaissance. 'We believe that using living cells could yield biosensors that are smaller and yet much more sensitive than what is available today,' said Helen Baca, a consultant at Sandia National Laboratories who performed the work for her Ph.D. in chemical engineering." (EE Times Online, 26Jul06, R. Colin Johnson)
http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=191201394
Study may help prevent bioterrorism
"U.S. scientists say they've shown a protein in the nucleus of smallpox victims' cells triggers progression of smallpox-related illnesses. The Purdue University researchers say their landmark finding might help prevent the use of such viruses as bioterrorism weapons. The researchers found that poxviruses move to the second and third stages of development by recruiting a protein, called TATA-binding protein, in the nucleus of mammals' cells. 'This protein is required for activation of the middle- and late-stage poxvirus genes,' said Steven Broyles, a Purdue biochemistry professor. 'In the past, we were just groping around. We now have a model for how the poxvirus growth process is orchestrated.' The research is published in the current issue of the Journal of Virology." (United Press International, 24Jul06) http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060724-045053-9243r
London researchers crack superbugs' deadly course
"A cure for flesh-eating disease and a weapon against bio-terrorists could come from a groundbreaking discovery by a London research team. The team, led by Dr. Joaquin Madrenas of the Robarts Research Institute and the University of Western Ontario, has discovered the sequence of events that begins with a superbug in the body and can end with death. 'We finally determined the whole cascade of events,' Madrenas said yesterday. 'We now know the pathway from the surface of the cell.' The landmark London research was published yesterday in the high-profile journal Immunity."
(London Free Press, 26Jul06, Randy Richmond) http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2006/07/26/1702564-sun.html
Bio-terror jabs 'too dangerous'
"Mass vaccination would not be needed to contain a smallpox outbreak started by bioterrorists in Britain and could cost more lives than it saved, according to research.
A study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicated that an attack could be brought under control using quarantine and targeted inoculation. While the Government has ordered a stockpile of smallpox vaccine, it is highly unlikely that all or even most of it would be needed in the event of an attack, says the study by Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College, London, and Steven Riley of the University of Hong Kong. As the vaccine causes serious side-effects in
1 in 1,000 people and would kill an estimated 1 in 35,000, widespread inoculation would almost certainly result in more deaths than lives saved. The only scenario in which mass vaccination would be justified would be an attack abroad which led to smallpox becoming endemic in a country such as the US. This would lead to a steady trickle of infected people traveling to Britain, making containment by quarantine and targeted jabs harder to achieve." (Times Online, 26Jul06, Mark Henderson) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2283787,00.html
The United Kingdom Contributes to Russia's Chemical Weapons Destruction Program
"The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has announced that it will contribute a substantial amount of funds towards the operationalisation of the chemical weapons destruction facility at Kizner, in the Russian Federation. This contribution is part of the United Kingdom's commitment to the Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction and in this context up to U.S. $100M will go to assist Russia with the destruction of its chemical weapons (CW) stockpile. Currently, the United Kingdom is providing approximately £25M in financial assistance for the completion of the construction of the chemical weapons destruction facility at Shchuch'ye, where Russia is to destroy nearly 2 million weapons by 2012. The Kizner project will see the destruction of a further 2 million chemical weapons." (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, 26Jul06) http://www.opcw.org/pressreleases/2006/PR42_2006.html
More Chemical Weapons Found in China
"Japanese experts arrived in China yesterday to secure nearly 700 abandoned chemical weapons, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The team of 15 experts in China's Heilongjiang Province plans to catalog and seal the 677 munitions before moving them to a temporary storage location. The weapons - some of which have fuses - ultimately will be destroyed, a Japanese official said. Workers found the weapons in downtown Suihua City between June 27 and July 2 as they prepared to construct a shopping mall.
Chinese and Japanese experts recovered 37,499 abandoned World War II chemical weapons from February 1995 to April of this year, Xinhua reported. Officials do not know how many weapons have yet to be found. China set up seven [facilities] for weapons storage. Three are located in Heilongjiang." (Xinhua News Agency/People's Daily, 26Jul06).
http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2006_7_26.html#C2AE5BA4
African experts focus [on] chemical weapons ban treaty
"Fifteen West and Central African countries that ratified the International convention on the ban of chemical weapons began meeting Tuesday in Ouagadougou to examine the difficulties encountered in the transposition of this convention on national legislation. 'The aim of this meeting is to provide practical assistance on various legal issues related to the implementation of that convention,' said Nigerian Elias Olufemi, representative of the Director of the Organization for the ban of chemical weapons (OIAC). In conformity with this agreement, state parties have put in place national authorities for the implementation and monitoring of the Convention. But the Co-ordinator of the technical Secretariat of the National authority for the convention on chemical weapons in Burkina Faso (STANCAC), Pr Abdourame Barry, said 'The national authorities have noted stiff difficulties in the implementation of the convention despite very strong political commitment'. To date, 160 countries in the world, including the quasi-totality of African States with the exception of Angola, Somalia, the Central African Republic and DR Congo have ratified the international convention on chemical weapons. (Angola Press, 26Jul06)
http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=458737
Fake sheikh accused after terror plot acquittals
"The investigative methods of the News of the World and its collaborations with Scotland Yard were denounced yesterday after a jury cleared three men of plotting to buy radioactive material for a terrorist 'dirty bomb'. The three were arrested after a joint sting operation involving Mazher Mahmood, known as the 'fake sheikh' for his most famous disguise, and the Metropolitan police's anti-terrorist branch. City banker Dominic Martins, 45, businessman Abdurahman Kanyare, 53, and Roque Fernandes, 44, a security guard at Coutts, spent two years on remand after the paper alleged they were trying to buy a kilogram of 'red mercury'." (The Guardian, 26Jul06, Jeevan Vasagar) http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1830314,00.html
India Drafts Procedures for WMD Terrorism
"Indian leaders have developed a strategy to combat potential terrorist attacks involving biological, chemical, nuclear or radiological weapons, the Press Trust of India reported yesterday. The procedures include programs for identification and yearly reviews of potential targets, creation and training of specialized response teams, and training for fire and police personnel, according to a statement from Federal Minister of State for Home Affairs Sri Prakash Jaiswal. The procedures have been distributed to the various local and national government agencies. Each department is expected to draft an individual plan and prepare preparedness measures, PTI reported. Four out of eight battalions of the National Disaster Response Force have been set aside for responding to radiological, nuclear, biological or chemical attacks." (Press Trust of India/Red Orbit, 25Jul06) http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2006_7_26.html#91844890
U.S. Senate Adds North Korea to WMD Act
"The U.S. Senate voted yesterday to add North Korea to a law that gives the president authority to sanction non-U.S. entities that transfer WMD or missile technology to or from Iran and Syria, the Associated Press reported. 'North Korea's recent missile launches illustrate the threat this regime poses to the American people, the people of the region, and peace and stability in East Asia,' said Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.). The House of Representatives is also considering a measure that would add Pyongyang to the Iran and Syria Nonproliferation Act. Individuals or firms that violate the law could be barred from obtaining U.S. government contracts or export licenses. Meanwhile, South Korea last week warned domestic companies not to ship weapons-related technologies to North Korea following a U.N. resolution condemning Pyongyang's missile launches earlier this month, Agence France-Presse reported. 'An e-mail message was sent to nearly all trading firms last week, asking them not to violate the U.N. resolution,' an official at the Commerce, Industry and Energy Ministry told AFP. 'International pressure is mounting to restrict exports of strategic items to North Korea,' the official said." (Agence France-Presse, 26Jul06) http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2006_7_26.html#91844890
How likely are you to get sick from using public transportation?
RedEye hired a local laboratory to randomly test some CTA surfaces for cleanliness and harmful bacteria. Though the tests conducted along the Red Line, Brown Line, No. 66 and No. 151 routes revealed no staph or E. coli bacteria cells, approximately 57 percent of the tested surfaces registered as dirty enough to breed bacteria that can make you sick.
Surfaces tested on Red and Brown Line trains averaged "dirty" readings, though Red Line cars were found to be significantly dirtier than those on the Brown. Among the dirtiest surfaces tested were the upholstered seats on trains and the stop cord on one bus.
The bottom line: Despite the CTA's efforts to keep buses and trains clean, tests show that the potential for bacteria buildup on the "L" and buses is nothing to sneeze at.
Riders who don't wash their hands between riding the CTA and eating are potentially at risk for colds, the flu, cold sores and food-related illnesses, such as salmonella poisoning
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