Thursday, November 09, 2006

BEHIND IN THE READING

It's not too bad, New Scientist for 21st October so I'm just a little behind with the news.

Reading about Iraq's body count from The Lancet.
"......there have been between 400,000 and 950,000 "excess" deaths in Iraq since the start of the US-led invasion in 2003....."
The excess deaths were from gunshots or car bombs.
"Excess" deaths, I'm still trying to get my mind around that description.

In 2004, a federal court in the US ordered anthrax vaccination to be voluntary after soldiers complained of serious side effects. In 2006 the military is to resume mandatory vaccinations because it says they're safe. Would you buy a used tank from this mob. Oh damn we did, didn't we.

There has been a global analysis of malnutrition by the International Food Policy Research Institute and this caught my attention.
......."hotspots" of hunger in south-east Asia, despite huge progress overall in the region thanks to the transformation of agriculture during the "green revolution" of the 1970s. These include parts of India, where women and children often go hungry because men traditionally get to eat their fill first........

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is totally off topic but I just had to tell you that my cat absolutlely loves your moving purple spider on your site. She often watches my cursor as well, but the spider is so properly animated that it fools her every time. Goodness, what entertainment you provide, JT.

Unknown said...

Now tell the truth, Janet, it's really you whose fascinated by the spider. :-)

JT, I can just see you with your New Scientist or The Lancet, a bottle of plonk and a pad making notes for your next super blog entry.

Have a jolly weekend.

JahTeh said...

I have Ron to thank for the spider, the code was very simple but I am even simpler.

Like you, Ron, that's not what I'd like to have in my hands for the weekend.

Anonymous said...

Actually, Ron, to be honest I hate moving things on any internet page, unless it's a video or animation that provides a method of turning it off. My eyes/brain are too distracted by it.
I wish I had a wise-crack to write in response but I just don't feel very talented this morning! :)