Now we do, gamers, you'd better support themselves. The list is out, this is great. A system, we recall from the launch of PS3, the game is not what it (I remember a six hundred dollars Adam Sessler called the PS3's Blu-ray in the X - player), Nintendo plans to some serious game. Included in the list: DJ Hero, Shin Megami Tensei three different versions, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the 3D version of Super Street Fighter IV, the new Metal Gear Solid chapter "naked sample", a new kid Icarus title (something is definitely retro like me interested in the player), a Ninja Gaiden, and many more.
What have you been thinking about the game will provide a 3ds day out? No wonder!
Here's the Nintendo 3DS Launch List!
The ten titles which will arrive on the same date as the Nintendo 3DS in Japan are:
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D from Nintendo
Nintendogs + Cats from Nintendo
Pilotwings Resort (working title) from Nintendo
Pro Baseball Spirits from Konami
Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle from Level 5
Ridge Racer 3D from Namco Bandai
Samurai Warriors Chronicle from Tecmo Koei
Steel Diver from Nintendo
Super Monkey Ball (working title) from Sega
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition from Capcom
Do not worry, our resident experts Nintendo (fanboy).
* Note: This is a list of Japan, the United States list may contain fewer, perhaps more the product launch!
BMJ Lifts Curtain on MMR-Autism Fraud
In an article and editorial published online, a leading medical journal, BMJ, has taken aim at a competitor, The Lancet, by singling out a controversial paper that falsely linked a vaccine to increased risk of autism.
The object of BMJ's scorn is a 1998 paper by Andrew Wakefield, MBBS, and colleagues that implied a link between the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autism. Wakefield, according to the BMJ, was guilty of fraud.
"The Wakefield fraud had sat in plain view for six years before serious challenge. Journals, the BMJ included, had fretted over epidemiology and viral studies without giving pause to the remarkable, now fully-retracted, fundamentals," wrote journalist Brian Deer in a blog posted alongside the editorial and full report on the BMJ website.
The BMJ report is the latest installment from Deer, who had previously uncovered discrepancies between the published report and records of the 12 children described in the 1998 paper, published in The Lancet.
For the new article, Deer obtained more of the original records -- many of which were made public last year in a U.K. General Medical Council proceeding that stripped Wakefield of his British medical license -- and interviewed the children's parents.
Deer reported that many of the Lancet paper's descriptions of the children's conditions before and after vaccination were at enormous variance from the children's medical records -- so much so, according to Deer, that Wakefield must have committed research fraud.
For example, the Lancet paper indicated that 11 of the 12 children had "nonspecific colitis," but Deer's investigation found that only three had such symptoms.
More damningly, Wakefield and colleagues said eight of the children began showing autism-like or gastrointestinal symptoms within days of vaccination, whereas the records indicated that was true of no more than two. For the others, symptoms either had already been recorded prior to vaccination, or were not noted until months had elapsed, Deer indicated.
The Lancet formally retracted the 1998 paper last year, nearly a year after Deer published a series of articles in the Times of London that accused Wakefield of falsifying data, though it stopped short of calling the paper fraudulent.
In an editorial accompanying Deer's latest investigation, BMJ editor Fiona Godlee, MB, BChir, BSc, was not so diplomatic.
Godlee blasted Wakefield for "alter[ing] numerous facts about the patients' medical histories in order to support his claim to have identified a new syndrome" and insisted that incompetence could not account for the discrepancies.
"A great deal of thought and effort must have gone into drafting the paper to achieve the results he wanted: the discrepancies all led in one direction; misreporting was gross," Godlee wrote.
She also had harsh words for Wakefield's co-authors, even though most had previously repudiated the paper and the General Medical Council found that Wakefield alone had written the paper submitted to The Lancet.
"They all failed in their duties as authors," Godlee argued, suggesting that co-authors "have to check the source data of studies more thoroughly than many do at present."
Godlee said nothing about the responsibility of journals, including BMJ, that regularly published articles by Wakefield and colleagues in addition to the notorious 1998 Lancet paper.
But in a sidebar "blog" article also appearing on the BMJ website, Deer noted that they too deserve blame.
"Did the scientific community ever really believe that 12 families had turned up consecutively at one hospital, with no reputation for developmental disorders, and make the same highly specific allegations -- with a time-link of just days -- and that there was not something fishy going on?" Deer asked.
He likened the episode to the Britain's Piltdown Man fraud, in which a phony skeleton constructed of modern human and ape bones was officially accepted for decades as an ancient "missing link" until the deception was revealed in 1953.
Many in the scientific community looked the other way despite misgivings about the skeleton, Deer wrote, because they were reluctant to suggest openly that "a gentleman could not be trusted."
Asked about the public health implications of the Wakefield paper, Bill Schaffner, MD, who chairs the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, told ABC News/MedPage Today, "Andrew Wakefield has done inestimable damage to the public health both in the U.S. and Europe. Bad enough when his work was thought to be a combination of inept science and misguided hucksterism -- now there are allegations of premeditated fraud! "
In an e-mail, Greg Poland, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, who is also editor-in chief at the journal Vaccine, wrote that the so-called vaccine hypothesis put forth by Wakefield "has hurt individuals, families, communities, and the broader public health. Children whose parents made fear-based decisions based on these claims have died, and these families are forever damaged and broken."
And Robert Jacobson, MD, chair of pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., blamed Wakefield for "worldwide drops in vaccination rates as well as a number of outbreaks of mumps and measles that centered in the British Isles but were felt the world over. In fact, the 2006 Iowan mumps epidemic and the 2009 New York mumps epidemic can both be traced to the British mumps virus that circulated as a result of loss of confidence in vaccination with MMR due to Wakefield."
Steve Lauer, MD, of the University of Kansas in Kansas City, had more blame to lay at Wakefield's feet: the ongoing pertussis epidemic in California.
Lauer told ABC News/MedPage Today that the increase in pertussis deaths in California is "another example of completely preventable deaths linked to the decline in vaccination rates. Study after study in numerous countries involving hundreds of thousands of children have never shown any link between autism and any vaccination. That Dr. Wakefield's lies have led to increased illness and deaths among innocent infants and children is a social and medical disaster."
The damage inflicted by the Wakefield papers can be measured not only in disease and death, but also in time and anxiety, said Leonard Rappaport, MD, of Children's Hospital in Boston, who wrote in an e-mail that it was "impossible to quantify the amount of time wasted in pediatric practice discussing why we believe that the MMR does not cause autism and that children should be immunized. Second, the heartbreak and worry for parents of children with autism who have secretly believed in the quiet of the night that they were responsible for their child having an autism spectrum disorder and the anxiety of parents approaching immunization time with so much false information and fear flying around them is impossible to comprehend."
The object of BMJ's scorn is a 1998 paper by Andrew Wakefield, MBBS, and colleagues that implied a link between the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autism. Wakefield, according to the BMJ, was guilty of fraud.
"The Wakefield fraud had sat in plain view for six years before serious challenge. Journals, the BMJ included, had fretted over epidemiology and viral studies without giving pause to the remarkable, now fully-retracted, fundamentals," wrote journalist Brian Deer in a blog posted alongside the editorial and full report on the BMJ website.
The BMJ report is the latest installment from Deer, who had previously uncovered discrepancies between the published report and records of the 12 children described in the 1998 paper, published in The Lancet.
For the new article, Deer obtained more of the original records -- many of which were made public last year in a U.K. General Medical Council proceeding that stripped Wakefield of his British medical license -- and interviewed the children's parents.
Deer reported that many of the Lancet paper's descriptions of the children's conditions before and after vaccination were at enormous variance from the children's medical records -- so much so, according to Deer, that Wakefield must have committed research fraud.
For example, the Lancet paper indicated that 11 of the 12 children had "nonspecific colitis," but Deer's investigation found that only three had such symptoms.
More damningly, Wakefield and colleagues said eight of the children began showing autism-like or gastrointestinal symptoms within days of vaccination, whereas the records indicated that was true of no more than two. For the others, symptoms either had already been recorded prior to vaccination, or were not noted until months had elapsed, Deer indicated.
The Lancet formally retracted the 1998 paper last year, nearly a year after Deer published a series of articles in the Times of London that accused Wakefield of falsifying data, though it stopped short of calling the paper fraudulent.
In an editorial accompanying Deer's latest investigation, BMJ editor Fiona Godlee, MB, BChir, BSc, was not so diplomatic.
Godlee blasted Wakefield for "alter[ing] numerous facts about the patients' medical histories in order to support his claim to have identified a new syndrome" and insisted that incompetence could not account for the discrepancies.
"A great deal of thought and effort must have gone into drafting the paper to achieve the results he wanted: the discrepancies all led in one direction; misreporting was gross," Godlee wrote.
She also had harsh words for Wakefield's co-authors, even though most had previously repudiated the paper and the General Medical Council found that Wakefield alone had written the paper submitted to The Lancet.
"They all failed in their duties as authors," Godlee argued, suggesting that co-authors "have to check the source data of studies more thoroughly than many do at present."
Godlee said nothing about the responsibility of journals, including BMJ, that regularly published articles by Wakefield and colleagues in addition to the notorious 1998 Lancet paper.
But in a sidebar "blog" article also appearing on the BMJ website, Deer noted that they too deserve blame.
"Did the scientific community ever really believe that 12 families had turned up consecutively at one hospital, with no reputation for developmental disorders, and make the same highly specific allegations -- with a time-link of just days -- and that there was not something fishy going on?" Deer asked.
He likened the episode to the Britain's Piltdown Man fraud, in which a phony skeleton constructed of modern human and ape bones was officially accepted for decades as an ancient "missing link" until the deception was revealed in 1953.
Many in the scientific community looked the other way despite misgivings about the skeleton, Deer wrote, because they were reluctant to suggest openly that "a gentleman could not be trusted."
Asked about the public health implications of the Wakefield paper, Bill Schaffner, MD, who chairs the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, told ABC News/MedPage Today, "Andrew Wakefield has done inestimable damage to the public health both in the U.S. and Europe. Bad enough when his work was thought to be a combination of inept science and misguided hucksterism -- now there are allegations of premeditated fraud! "
In an e-mail, Greg Poland, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, who is also editor-in chief at the journal Vaccine, wrote that the so-called vaccine hypothesis put forth by Wakefield "has hurt individuals, families, communities, and the broader public health. Children whose parents made fear-based decisions based on these claims have died, and these families are forever damaged and broken."
And Robert Jacobson, MD, chair of pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., blamed Wakefield for "worldwide drops in vaccination rates as well as a number of outbreaks of mumps and measles that centered in the British Isles but were felt the world over. In fact, the 2006 Iowan mumps epidemic and the 2009 New York mumps epidemic can both be traced to the British mumps virus that circulated as a result of loss of confidence in vaccination with MMR due to Wakefield."
Steve Lauer, MD, of the University of Kansas in Kansas City, had more blame to lay at Wakefield's feet: the ongoing pertussis epidemic in California.
Lauer told ABC News/MedPage Today that the increase in pertussis deaths in California is "another example of completely preventable deaths linked to the decline in vaccination rates. Study after study in numerous countries involving hundreds of thousands of children have never shown any link between autism and any vaccination. That Dr. Wakefield's lies have led to increased illness and deaths among innocent infants and children is a social and medical disaster."
The damage inflicted by the Wakefield papers can be measured not only in disease and death, but also in time and anxiety, said Leonard Rappaport, MD, of Children's Hospital in Boston, who wrote in an e-mail that it was "impossible to quantify the amount of time wasted in pediatric practice discussing why we believe that the MMR does not cause autism and that children should be immunized. Second, the heartbreak and worry for parents of children with autism who have secretly believed in the quiet of the night that they were responsible for their child having an autism spectrum disorder and the anxiety of parents approaching immunization time with so much false information and fear flying around them is impossible to comprehend."
Eva Longoria and Penelope Cruz brother rumors
According to foreign media reports, the "Desperate Housewives" actress Eva Longoria and Tony Parker have been divorced from the shadows came out. It is reported that Longoria may now be working with the younger brother Eduardo Cruz Penelope Cruz dating.
In the last near Christmas Eve, Eva Longoria nosy neighbors to see Eva and ten years younger than her brother, Penelope Cruz, the Spanish pop singer Edward Duo Kelu 're barefoot in her garage. "Together with each other, they look very nice," said one insider. "They began to rummage in Eva's car side of something, and then come up with a few bags." "He has at least every four days, three nights in there. He occasionally appeared, and then leave the next morning," he added . "They do a lot of try, try to avoid media exposure."
Just last November, reported that the official received a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, actress Eva Longoria to NBA basketball star Tony Parker, her husband filed for divorce, declared that the castle in France in 2007 the couple love wedding formal rupture.
In the last near Christmas Eve, Eva Longoria nosy neighbors to see Eva and ten years younger than her brother, Penelope Cruz, the Spanish pop singer Edward Duo Kelu 're barefoot in her garage. "Together with each other, they look very nice," said one insider. "They began to rummage in Eva's car side of something, and then come up with a few bags." "He has at least every four days, three nights in there. He occasionally appeared, and then leave the next morning," he added . "They do a lot of try, try to avoid media exposure."
Just last November, reported that the official received a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit, actress Eva Longoria to NBA basketball star Tony Parker, her husband filed for divorce, declared that the castle in France in 2007 the couple love wedding formal rupture.
Coping with Sex Molesters
According to an investigation by a TV program, there are about 84% women having experienced at least once sexual molestation during their lifetime. The figure seems to be unbelievably high than generally expected. The hardest thing is that it isn’t easy to define what is sex molestation. Overt assaults from one’s superiors are not unusual in competitive companies or in public offices, though few victims are willing to expose the indecencies of their bosses for fear of losing their job or being scandalized. Crowded buses, cramped trains and subways, and remote woods and gardens are the places where sex offenses often take place.
During a large gathering, one of my classmate told us about her experience of dealing with sex molesters. She said that her first experience was when she was only 9 years old when a man suddenly took off his clothes and masturbated before her. She was startled and ran away in a frenzy. After graduation, she became interested in detective stories and knew the cause of the behavior of these jerks. So when she met another man at dusk one day, who was busy unbuckling his belt and taking off his trousers, she said in a calm and deliberate tone, “There is no need to make such a fuss, sir.” The man was caught off-guard and became dazed with his hands on his pants. He little anticipated such a reaction from a lady and his excitement turned into blankness. Seeing that she had out maneuvered the villain, my classmate walked away, her head erect and proud. Her courage won my admiration. Several classmates joked about her cruelty, for fear that the startled man might become impotent later. Who cares? He deserved it if he did.
(This is a draft of my blog written in October, which fails to reach its full length. Anyhow I published it at least to fill in the blank space.)
During a large gathering, one of my classmate told us about her experience of dealing with sex molesters. She said that her first experience was when she was only 9 years old when a man suddenly took off his clothes and masturbated before her. She was startled and ran away in a frenzy. After graduation, she became interested in detective stories and knew the cause of the behavior of these jerks. So when she met another man at dusk one day, who was busy unbuckling his belt and taking off his trousers, she said in a calm and deliberate tone, “There is no need to make such a fuss, sir.” The man was caught off-guard and became dazed with his hands on his pants. He little anticipated such a reaction from a lady and his excitement turned into blankness. Seeing that she had out maneuvered the villain, my classmate walked away, her head erect and proud. Her courage won my admiration. Several classmates joked about her cruelty, for fear that the startled man might become impotent later. Who cares? He deserved it if he did.
(This is a draft of my blog written in October, which fails to reach its full length. Anyhow I published it at least to fill in the blank space.)
Learn to forgive others
In our daily life ,we always communicate with many many people,some people like to take satire others as one of the pleasure ,and other maybe good to us but use a fault mether (made us angry).No matter which kind of mether ,we should make ourself calm before talk .when we hear some bad words ,we always try to contradict and hope others realise that their fault,but do you know that everyone like the "face",they didn't want you say in the public,even you're right ,he may say more worse words,then a quarry problely begin.
One year ago,I always confused ,why he/she do that thing made me angry?and I always said to them with a angry word ,it always made a opposite influent to all of us,and it made me for huit.Once someone tell me that you should considerate others ,but I said why always I considerate others ,who do as I am?
Then I realised ,there always no absolute true or faults,it depends on our mentality ,and the mether of our deal with.whenever ,we shouldn't speak wouding remarks .
Words are the voice of the mind,and languge is an art,we should take use of it .
One year ago,I always confused ,why he/she do that thing made me angry?and I always said to them with a angry word ,it always made a opposite influent to all of us,and it made me for huit.Once someone tell me that you should considerate others ,but I said why always I considerate others ,who do as I am?
Then I realised ,there always no absolute true or faults,it depends on our mentality ,and the mether of our deal with.whenever ,we shouldn't speak wouding remarks .
Words are the voice of the mind,and languge is an art,we should take use of it .
David Arquette incoming hospital to restore his ex-wife
In the "Scream" playing police David Arquette, American actor, ex-wife divorced last year and recently the media has passed over his drinking, but for to restore ex-wife, he had admitted alcohol addiction.
According to Hong Kong, "Wen Wei Po" reported in October last year, David • Yi Kuite married 11 years with the "Friends" star Courteney Cox divorce his wife because of broken heart and alcohol abuse. David in an interview last month, admitted alcoholism seriously, so many of my friends worry about, and said that he became mad alcohol, and afterwards he said he was in the micro-Bo was just a joke, but his friends broke the news: "Divorce to his heart is broken, he can not adapt to life after divorce, the ex-wife never forget, but to heavy drinker. "recent U.S. media reports, David • Yi Kuite order to save his ex-wife's heart, was to stay rehabilitation center last weekend to kick alcoholism.
According to Hong Kong, "Wen Wei Po" reported in October last year, David • Yi Kuite married 11 years with the "Friends" star Courteney Cox divorce his wife because of broken heart and alcohol abuse. David in an interview last month, admitted alcoholism seriously, so many of my friends worry about, and said that he became mad alcohol, and afterwards he said he was in the micro-Bo was just a joke, but his friends broke the news: "Divorce to his heart is broken, he can not adapt to life after divorce, the ex-wife never forget, but to heavy drinker. "recent U.S. media reports, David • Yi Kuite order to save his ex-wife's heart, was to stay rehabilitation center last weekend to kick alcoholism.
I love all of you right here and right now
The night before the New Year’s Day, because I had to work at the New Year’s Day, so I can not go home with my family to share the holiday. I felt a little bit lonely at the city where I have been working for years. It seems I am new person who just comes here. I thought it is a good time for to watch some movies at my room. I came out to buy a DVD. That’s a DVD which it has 9 movies in it. And all the movies are all about “home alone”
I think it’s one of the most famous movies around the world. Dear friend I don’t know if you have watched these movies. If not I suggest you should watch that.
I think it is necessary for me to introduce the movie again. The story is about a little boy who was forgotten at home when his family in such a hurry to their vacation at Paris. The boy was named Kevin at the movie. He is 8 year’s old and because he is naughty and always act like an adult especially when the talk to his families. So other children in the family don’t like him and they often make fun of him.
When their families left home, he was the only one stays at a big house. There is no food and cold. It’s close to Christmas and every family had a wonderful time being together to share this big holiday. But the little boy had to learn how to survival. He had to learn how to go to the supermarket to buy food. He was so scared to live in such an empty big house when nice comes. To make matters worse there were two robbers are going to rob his house. He is in dangers but the little boy is not afraid of the two robbers. He fights again with them and He is so smart that he finally won. The two robbers were caught by the police.
The little boy’s mom was worried about her son so much. She decided not to go to Paris with her family and go home to save the boy. But she could not buy the ticket because there were too many people around the airport and bought the airport tickets. That is too bad!
Finally she got help with a band leader and took the bus home. At Christmas Eve when very family is having fun. When children were singing Christmas song and decorating Christmas trees little Kevin was so sad he went to the church alone. When he got home when he saw nobody being around the house he was crying and said “mom l am missing you!”
And that moment his mom was home.
The movie is so moved that touched my deep heart. I especially understand that feeling at a night like this, like this new years day eve. When the little boy was crying for his mom left him I felt the same way. I am a father who has two kids and their heart is my heart. They are the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing i think about when I go to bed at night.
So I opened my computer and kept this diary. At this new years day eve on this moment I want to say to my family “I love all of you right here and right now!”
I think it’s one of the most famous movies around the world. Dear friend I don’t know if you have watched these movies. If not I suggest you should watch that.
I think it is necessary for me to introduce the movie again. The story is about a little boy who was forgotten at home when his family in such a hurry to their vacation at Paris. The boy was named Kevin at the movie. He is 8 year’s old and because he is naughty and always act like an adult especially when the talk to his families. So other children in the family don’t like him and they often make fun of him.
When their families left home, he was the only one stays at a big house. There is no food and cold. It’s close to Christmas and every family had a wonderful time being together to share this big holiday. But the little boy had to learn how to survival. He had to learn how to go to the supermarket to buy food. He was so scared to live in such an empty big house when nice comes. To make matters worse there were two robbers are going to rob his house. He is in dangers but the little boy is not afraid of the two robbers. He fights again with them and He is so smart that he finally won. The two robbers were caught by the police.
The little boy’s mom was worried about her son so much. She decided not to go to Paris with her family and go home to save the boy. But she could not buy the ticket because there were too many people around the airport and bought the airport tickets. That is too bad!
Finally she got help with a band leader and took the bus home. At Christmas Eve when very family is having fun. When children were singing Christmas song and decorating Christmas trees little Kevin was so sad he went to the church alone. When he got home when he saw nobody being around the house he was crying and said “mom l am missing you!”
And that moment his mom was home.
The movie is so moved that touched my deep heart. I especially understand that feeling at a night like this, like this new years day eve. When the little boy was crying for his mom left him I felt the same way. I am a father who has two kids and their heart is my heart. They are the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing i think about when I go to bed at night.
So I opened my computer and kept this diary. At this new years day eve on this moment I want to say to my family “I love all of you right here and right now!”
To Eat, or not to Eat, ---That’s a Question!
The title seems a little ridiculous at first sight. However, if you look around, you are sure to find that there is not much choice you can make. We eat to live, but what to eat? Do you dare to eat whatever is sold on the market?
Someone in my office once said jokingly, “Everything from the milk that babies drink to the breasts that… is all false or even poisonous.” The case of tainted milk from the Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group, which killed at least 6 infants and sickened 300,000 more, is just one corner of the iceberg.
According to a recent investigation by anhuinews.com, the popular Chinese dish of hotpot is a dangerous chemical mixture. A former hotpot chef revealed, "More than 80 percent of hotpots contain chemical additives that not only lower the cost but also make the food smell more appetizing.” One shop owner claimed just a drop of a chemical called "pot fragrance" would make a hotpot smell delicious. But health experts warn that additives of this kind can harm internal organs and cause cancer.
Have you ever noticed that many nice-looking foods such sea products and water bamboo are actually bleached. Do you ever think of the feed that pigs or chickens eat before they are butchered and then put on your dinner table? Unfortunately, the answer is anything that can make them grow faster. Whether it is harmful or not to one’s health is something that never enters their mind. Have you ever wondered why there are so many new diseases? Why is the number of cancer patients increasing at such an astonishing speed?
We can blame the greedy and probably illegal businessmen for their profit-seeking first nature. But where is the control and supervision of the government? Are there any laws concerning food production and safety? We understand that China is a huge country and there are millions of farmers and numerous food companies. It is not easy to make effective inspection at all stages of the food production process. However, it’s a matter of life and death and we just cannot afford it.
It’s true that we are now much better off than before. And our country is no longer what she used to be and her international status and influence are also increasing rapidly. But is it the price that we have to pay for the fast economic development? Just think: How many rivers have been polluted? It seems to be an extravagant hope to have blue clear skies! Obviously, our development depends largely on consuming natural resources, which is not at all sustainable. Should we leave some for our future generations?
What is the use of fast economic development if we cannot enjoy the benefit of it? If we can’t ensure what we eat is safe, how can we possibly enjoy a better life? As a common person, what we can do seems very limited. However, if we join hands and fight together, we may make a great difference to this issue. At least we can make our voice heard to the leaders. Don't you think so?
Someone in my office once said jokingly, “Everything from the milk that babies drink to the breasts that… is all false or even poisonous.” The case of tainted milk from the Shijiazhuang Sanlu Group, which killed at least 6 infants and sickened 300,000 more, is just one corner of the iceberg.
According to a recent investigation by anhuinews.com, the popular Chinese dish of hotpot is a dangerous chemical mixture. A former hotpot chef revealed, "More than 80 percent of hotpots contain chemical additives that not only lower the cost but also make the food smell more appetizing.” One shop owner claimed just a drop of a chemical called "pot fragrance" would make a hotpot smell delicious. But health experts warn that additives of this kind can harm internal organs and cause cancer.
Have you ever noticed that many nice-looking foods such sea products and water bamboo are actually bleached. Do you ever think of the feed that pigs or chickens eat before they are butchered and then put on your dinner table? Unfortunately, the answer is anything that can make them grow faster. Whether it is harmful or not to one’s health is something that never enters their mind. Have you ever wondered why there are so many new diseases? Why is the number of cancer patients increasing at such an astonishing speed?
We can blame the greedy and probably illegal businessmen for their profit-seeking first nature. But where is the control and supervision of the government? Are there any laws concerning food production and safety? We understand that China is a huge country and there are millions of farmers and numerous food companies. It is not easy to make effective inspection at all stages of the food production process. However, it’s a matter of life and death and we just cannot afford it.
It’s true that we are now much better off than before. And our country is no longer what she used to be and her international status and influence are also increasing rapidly. But is it the price that we have to pay for the fast economic development? Just think: How many rivers have been polluted? It seems to be an extravagant hope to have blue clear skies! Obviously, our development depends largely on consuming natural resources, which is not at all sustainable. Should we leave some for our future generations?
What is the use of fast economic development if we cannot enjoy the benefit of it? If we can’t ensure what we eat is safe, how can we possibly enjoy a better life? As a common person, what we can do seems very limited. However, if we join hands and fight together, we may make a great difference to this issue. At least we can make our voice heard to the leaders. Don't you think so?
Apocalypse now? Mystery bird deaths hit Louisiana
Birds dropping dead from the skies and rivers flowing with tens of thousands of dead fish sounds like a cheesy Hollywood movie about the Apocalypse. Or the ravings of a Revelation-obsessed street preacher.
But residents of several US states are coping with the reality of mystery mass wildlife deaths, which have left officials scratching their heads and jumpy members of the public joking (nervously) about the end of the world.
Today it emerged that about 500 red-winged blackbirds and starlings had been found dead in Louisiana. Their tiny corpses littered a short stretch of highway near the city of Labarre after apparently falling dead from the sky.
That would be spooky enough. But the Louisiana bird die-off came just a few days after up to 5,000 blackbirds fell to earth in neighbouring Arkansas in the small town of Beebe. Residents there had reported stumbling upon the bodies littering the ground and even being hit by them as they fell. One woman said she was struck while walking a dog. Another avian corpse bounced off a police car.
In even more grim news, anglers and other members of the public reported that more than 80,000 drum fish had suddenly died in the state's Arkansas river, about 100 miles west of Beebe. The silvery bodies of the fish floated in the river and washed up on its sides having died at roughly the same time. In another incident, hundreds of miles away on the Maryland coast of Chesapeake Bay, tens of thousands of dead fish also washed up on the shore.
Not surprisingly the news has startled and alarmed local residents and wildlife lovers across the US. But officials say such mass deaths do occur naturally.
The fish deaths in Arkansas appear to have affected only one species, which suggests the cause was a sudden outbreak of a specific disease. Meanwhile, the Maryland fish die-off was blamed on extreme temperature fluctuations due to cold weather.
The birds' deaths, however, are a deeper mystery. Officials were still collecting bodies in Louisiana but have already examined those from the incident in Arkansas.
They concluded that the birds had suffered internal trauma. That could have happened if a single flock had suddenly got caught in a violent and unusual storm. Or, it has been speculated, a local fireworks display could have startled the birds so badly that they were unable to prevent themselves from flying into trees, pylons and houses.
Bird experts stressed no one should be worried. "Mass bird die-offs can be caused by starvation, storms, disease, pesticide, collision with man-made structures or human disturbance ... Initial findings indicate that these are isolated incidents that were probably caused by disturbance and disorientation," Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation at the Audubon Society, said.
Audubon officials stressed that birds as a whole faced a far greater threat from broader environmental problems than any headline-generating mass death incident. "Far more concerning in the long term are the myriad other threats birds face from widespread habitat destruction and global climate change," Melanie Driscoll, Audubon's director of bird conservation in the Mississippi river region, said.
Louisiana's state wildlife veterinarian said yesterday at least some of an estimated 450 birds that died near Baton Rouge may have flown into a power line.
Jim LaCour said that the grackles, starlings, brown-headed cowbirds and red-winged blackbirds had broken beaks and backs.
But residents of several US states are coping with the reality of mystery mass wildlife deaths, which have left officials scratching their heads and jumpy members of the public joking (nervously) about the end of the world.
Today it emerged that about 500 red-winged blackbirds and starlings had been found dead in Louisiana. Their tiny corpses littered a short stretch of highway near the city of Labarre after apparently falling dead from the sky.
That would be spooky enough. But the Louisiana bird die-off came just a few days after up to 5,000 blackbirds fell to earth in neighbouring Arkansas in the small town of Beebe. Residents there had reported stumbling upon the bodies littering the ground and even being hit by them as they fell. One woman said she was struck while walking a dog. Another avian corpse bounced off a police car.
In even more grim news, anglers and other members of the public reported that more than 80,000 drum fish had suddenly died in the state's Arkansas river, about 100 miles west of Beebe. The silvery bodies of the fish floated in the river and washed up on its sides having died at roughly the same time. In another incident, hundreds of miles away on the Maryland coast of Chesapeake Bay, tens of thousands of dead fish also washed up on the shore.
Not surprisingly the news has startled and alarmed local residents and wildlife lovers across the US. But officials say such mass deaths do occur naturally.
The fish deaths in Arkansas appear to have affected only one species, which suggests the cause was a sudden outbreak of a specific disease. Meanwhile, the Maryland fish die-off was blamed on extreme temperature fluctuations due to cold weather.
The birds' deaths, however, are a deeper mystery. Officials were still collecting bodies in Louisiana but have already examined those from the incident in Arkansas.
They concluded that the birds had suffered internal trauma. That could have happened if a single flock had suddenly got caught in a violent and unusual storm. Or, it has been speculated, a local fireworks display could have startled the birds so badly that they were unable to prevent themselves from flying into trees, pylons and houses.
Bird experts stressed no one should be worried. "Mass bird die-offs can be caused by starvation, storms, disease, pesticide, collision with man-made structures or human disturbance ... Initial findings indicate that these are isolated incidents that were probably caused by disturbance and disorientation," Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation at the Audubon Society, said.
Audubon officials stressed that birds as a whole faced a far greater threat from broader environmental problems than any headline-generating mass death incident. "Far more concerning in the long term are the myriad other threats birds face from widespread habitat destruction and global climate change," Melanie Driscoll, Audubon's director of bird conservation in the Mississippi river region, said.
Louisiana's state wildlife veterinarian said yesterday at least some of an estimated 450 birds that died near Baton Rouge may have flown into a power line.
Jim LaCour said that the grackles, starlings, brown-headed cowbirds and red-winged blackbirds had broken beaks and backs.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
