Diagnosing Lyme Disease

"There still remains a critical unmet need, as this disease so often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed."

"A diagnostic for Lyme disease may not be a panacea but could represent meaningful progress toward a more reliable diagnosis and, as a result, potentially better management of this disease."

Avi Ma'ayan, director, Mount Sinai Center for Bionformatics, New York

Photo of a tick, whose bite can transmit Lyme disease. Photo by Bertrand Guay /AFP

Published in Cell Reports Medicine, researchers explain their method of success in pinpointing a specific set of genes activated in people with long-term Lyme disease. Close to 20 percent of patients diagnosed with Lyme disease suffer from symptoms on a long-term basis.

 

Research that led to the discovery of a significant biomarker was conduced by scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The expectation now, is that a genetic test would be an improvement on current FDA-approved tests to identify antibodies, tests that can take weeks to emerge.

 

According to the researchers involved int he study, their identification of biomarkers could make early diagnosis of Lyme disease more accurate and quicker. Potentially leading to more effective treatment of the estimated 476,000 individuals in the United States alone who are diagnosed with and treated for the tick-borne illness.

 

Symptoms of Lyme disease can include fatigue, brain fog and pain, for people who have been treated with antibiotics. For the study, the researchers compared data with RNA sequenced from 72 patients with acute Lyme disease -- early symptoms such as a rash or facial paralysis -- alongside 44 control subjects not infected.

 

Differences in gene expression in those with acute and chronic Lyme disease became apparent. The list was further pared down by researchers, in comparing the gene expression of those with Lyme disease with that observed in patients with other infectious diseases. AI machine learning was then made use of to shorten the list even further.

 

The research team feel confident they have identified 35 biomarkers that distinguish people with either type of Lyme disease from those not infected with the disease. The plan is to use the biomarkers to develop a diagnostic test. Such a genetic rest would represent an improvement over current tests.

 

Earlier in the year several of the researchers from Johns Hopkins published a study in tandem with scientists from the University of California at San Francisco with the announcement they had developed a panel of 31 biomarkers, allowing them to accurately identify Lyme disease in 95.2 percent of presenting patients.

 

Diagnosing Lyme disease remains a challenge, but the discovery of a set of 35 biomarkers may enable scientists to develop a better test for the tick-borne illness. James Gathany/CDC

 

If It Works ... Warming Male Testicles to Reduce Sperm Count

"There’s a reason that the testicles are outside a man’s body cavity.  The testicles need to be four degrees cooler than body temperature to make plenty of healthy sperm."

"The cremaster muscle contracts to pull the testicles closer to the body if they start to get too cold, and it relaxes to push them farther from the body to cool off if they get too warm."

"Prolonged exposure to a warmer temperature will make sperm die.  This will show up in a semen analysis as reduced motility [movement]."

Winfertility

 

In the late 1970s, Toulouse doctor and inventor Roger Mieusset theorized that applying mild heat to male testicles would succeed in diminishing the production of sperm. He tested underwear that lifts the testicles toward the body which had the effect of bringing heat to the testicles by two degrees. Sufficient, he discovered, to diminish the virility of fertility of a herd of rams, his test subjects. 

Male testicles must be dependent, hanging freely outside the body. Should those testicles be warmed to above 35C, sperm count realizes a dramatic drop. Any sperm count under one million sperm per millitre leads to infertility. It is, however, a temporary, reversible condition, to be used for no longer, it is recommended, than three years at a time. After which, given sufficient wait time, fertility levels should return to normal.

Dr. Mieusset himself prescribed his method -- with the use of a type of jockstrap he devised, lifting the testicles to rest against the body where they are gently warmed, instead of hanging loosely as nature designed them to for procreation and perpetuation of the species -- to a mere handful of men every year. His method, despite its success, was never funded for research trials, and thus failed to receive official recognition.

With the body in close contact to the testicles, heated by two degrees over what is considered normal, over three months when the warming underwear has been consistently worn for 15 hours daily, sterility is effected. In the current social consciousness of the unfairness of burdening women solely with the responsibility of ensuring unwanted pregnancy does not result from sexual congress, men are beginning to take some responsibility of their own; hence a return of the method.

French men are now assuming responsibility for birth control with the use of improvised jockstraps formulated to warm testicles to reduce their sperm count. The fact that no commercial options are yet available to men in the field of birth control, has led them to redress the gender imbalance with these contraceptive jockstraps. 

As a result, workshops have cropped up in cities like Toulouse, Paris and Nantes. The theory is that should a man determine it is time to discontinue use of the underwear, a return to normal can be affected following a few months of discarding use of the jockstrap. Effecting a reverse in the same time it took to diminish sperm count production.

Doctors' advice is that the devices not be worn regularly for over a three-year period, as a reflection of the lack of studies in the long-term impact of testicle-heating methods of contraception.

Massive Environmental Headache in Florida

"This is storm debris on a scale Florida hasn't seen in a long time."

"With hundreds of people moving to Florida every day and coastal development off the charts, the combination of that and more intense hurricanes results in this massive problem."

Jon Paul Brooker, director of Florida conservation, Ocean Conservancy

"We have a landfill we're trying to maximize the life of."

"And we don't have that much space in our county to create a new one."

John Elias, director, public works, Charlotte County, Florida

"There's a lot of debris we know is in the water that we can't see."

"Anything that was on the land, you should expect to be pushed, pulled, dragged into the water."

Jason Rolfe, coordinator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Marine Debris Program 

A view of the overflow debris management site at Maximo Park where debris from Hurricane Ian collected in St. Petersburg has been taken over the past month. The city is on schedule to finish debris collection next week, an administrator said. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]

 

Clean-up crews are continuing to work in the removal of "ghost" lobster traps in the Florida Keys that were abandoned over five years ago when Hurricane Irma struck; traps that continue to ensnare and kill marine animals, a special concern of Jason Rolfe. It is imperative that the waste be removed, but of first concern to authorities is digging out homes and businesses, leaving environmentalists to fear that storm waste remaining in the water could damage sea grasses and fragile habitats in the shallow coastal waters of the state.

Hurricane Michael inflicted heavy damage four years ago, leaving Florida's Bay County in the position of still pulling debris and broken-down boats out of their waters today. An estimated 2.4 million pounds has been removed from their bays. "We are still cleaning up". Country Manager Bob Majka confirmed.

When Hurricane Ian slammed into the southwest Florida coast almost two months ago it destroyed thousands of homes, taking over 100 lives and leaving state and local governments to wrestle with the conundrum of how to manage a staggering amount of storm debris. Mountains of refuse sit at dozens of temporary sites throughout the state. The debris is comprised of fallen trees, mildewing carpet, sodden drywall and allied household items the storm destroyed.

State officials estimated that in the past seven weeks crews removed about 20.4 million cubic yards of debris. That's a huge amount of waste, but millions more litter the state. Hurricane Ian is estimated to have left close to 31 million cubic yards of debris. according to the Army Corps of Engineers. Representing about five times the amount of storm debris left by Hurricane Sandy in New York. 

Efforts at cleanup in Florida's coastal cities and counties hit hardest by the Category 4 storm is expected to take months of hard work, at a cost of billions. Following Hurricane Nicole's east coast hit as a Category 1 hurricane on November 10th the enormous clean-up became even more challenging. Beachside homes were toppled into the sea, leaving others uninhabitable when the November storm lashed Daytona Beach; for which no estimate of damage has yet been determined.

In 2017, after Hurricane Irma swept Florida, major damage was left in the Florida Keys, causing about two-thirds of the residents to lose power across the state and leaving close to 29 million cubic yards of debris. Hurricane Michael the next year created close to 33 million cubic yards. Science indicates that these costly disasters will continue to grow in number as sea levels rise and waming waters cause hurricanes to gain rapid strength prior to roaring ashore. 

Because of its shallow water table and potential for makeshift landfills leaching contaminants into groundwater, there are particular challenges Florida faces. "Where are we possibly going to find room for all this [debris]?", asks University of Florida professor of environmental engineering, Timothy Townsend. When damaged drywall from flooded homes reaches landfills, he points out, the wet gypsum mixes with bacteria that produce hydrogen sulfide gas. Not only does it stink like rotten eggs, the toxic gas can trigger headaches and nausea and cause health problems for people with asthma.

Capital Punishment in Saudi Arabia -- Decapitation

"Over the last two weeks executions have been taking place almost daily in Saudi Arabia after the authorities ended a 21-month unofficial moratorium on the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences."

"Those executed to date are four Syrians, three Pakistanis, three Jordanians, and seven Saudis."

"[These executions are] deeply regrettable."

Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson, UN human rights

"While all eyes are on the football, Saudi Arabia is carrying out a horrifying execution spree, killing people like Hussein, an innocent man who was tortured by Saudi police to 'confess'."

Maya Foa, director, Reprieve human rights organization

“Saudi Arabia’s mass execution of 81 men this weekend [March 2022] was a brutal show of its autocratic rule, and a justice system that puts the fairness of their trials and sentencing into serious doubt.” 

“The shocking callousness of their treatment is compounded by the fact that many families found out about their loved ones’ deaths just like the rest of us, after the fact and through the media.”

Michael Page, deputy Middle East director, Human Rights Watch

Despite promising to stop using the death penalty for punishment of non-violent crimes Saudi Arabia now stands accused of carrying out executions almost daily in the past two weeks. Seventeen men were executed in Saudi Arabia since November 10 for drug and contraband offences, the latest three executions carried out on Monday, according to a UN human rights spokesperson.

Most executions of the total of 144 executions carried out in 2022 believed to be beheadings although circumstances surrounding such executions are "often surrounded in secrecy". Exact numbers of people incarcerated on death row in Saudi Arabia is unclear. Only execution numbers can be verified, according to the commissions' Elizabeth Throssell, at a Geneva press briefing.

She addressed the specific case of Hussein Abu al-Kheir, a 57-year-[old father of eight who "may be at risk of imminent execution", the UN believes. Amphetamine drugs were planted in al-Kheir's car while parked outside his home in Jordan, according to human rights groups. He was forced to confess to drug=related charges, under torture.

 

The number dwarfed the 67 executions reported in the kingdom in 2021 and the 27 in 2020 [File: Cliff Owen/AP Photo]

 

What is the Daily Intake Formula for Water for Optimum Health?

"The science has never supported eight glasses as an appropriate guideline, if only because it confused total water turnover with water from beverages, and a lot of your water comes from the food  you eat."

"This work is the best we've done so far to measure how much water people actually consume on a daily basis -- the turnover of water into and out of the body -- and the major factors that drive water turnover."

Dale Schoeller, professor emeritus, nutritional sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison

There is no formal recommendation for a daily amount of water people need.   Credit...Todd Heisler/The New York Times

An American nutritionist, Dr. Fredrick J. Stare, suggested in 1974 that six to eight glasses of water daily would represent an optimum liquid intake for people's health. He did add that other drinks and food should be accounted for, within that six to eight glasses of water daily. He was thought to have been the originator of what  became in time a wildly popular and widely accepted basis for fluid intake for the human body.

It is entirely possible that many people have the impression that the more water one drinks for a daily intake, the healthier they will be. In fact, blood sodium content too diluted by the intake of too much water stands the risk of triggering hyponatremis, a potentially life-threatening condition. So common-sense is called for in extreme reactions to any situation. And water intake is entirely situational.

 

Researchers have now studied thousands of people in 26 countries to determine how much water is needed and in the process discovered that there is great variation; water requirements for each individual is not summed up in a generalized 8-glass-a-day formula. It was found that daily averages including water derived from other sources such as food and other types of liquid, ranged from one to six litres per day.

Test subjects in previous studies were asked to self-report their water intake. This study instead measured water as it moved throughout the body. Water containing hydrogen and oxygen isotopes was given to participants so the water could be tracked as it moved through their bodies. Published in the journal Science, the results found amounts required was entirely dependent on temperature, gender and activity levels.

Around 3.2 litres daily was determined to be the ideal water intake of an 154-pound man of age 20 living at sea level in a developed country with a mean air temperature of 50F, with average physical activity. A woman of the sage age weighing 125 pounds whose activity in the same geographic area was average had a requirement of 2.7 litres. While a 112 pound person would need 2.5 litres daily, and an individual weighing 210 pounds would need five litres.

Doubling daily energy expenditure would see the same people requiring an additional litre, according to the researchers. A further 0.3 litres a day would be needed with a 50 percent increase in humidity, to remain properly hydrated.

mRNA Universal Flu Vaccine

"Our approach was to make a vaccine that encoded every influenza subtype and lineage that we know about,"

"The goal was to establish a baseline level of immune memory that could then be recalled when a new pandemic strain emerges."

"The idea here is to have a vaccine that will give people a baseline level of immune memory to diverse flu strains, so that there will be far less disease and death when the next flu pandemic occurs."

"We're still in preclinical testing at this phase -- we are planning a Phase 1 human study, but so far from animal models it does look like this vaccine achieved our goal of inducing immune memory in a broad way,"

"Imagine if the population was primed with this vaccine, what we might see is not necessarily protection from infection with new pandemic strains but a reduction in hospitalizations and severe disease — and that's really our main goal."

Scott Hensley, immunologist, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Abstract:  Seasonal influenza vaccines offer little protection against pandemic influenza virus strains. It is difficult to create effective prepandemic vaccines because it is uncertain which influenza virus subtype will cause the next pandemic. In this work, we developed a nucleoside-modified messenger RNA (mRNA)–lipid nanoparticle vaccine encoding hemagglutinin antigens from all 20 known influenza A virus subtypes and influenza B virus lineages. This multivalent vaccine elicited high levels of cross-reactive and subtype-specific antibodies in mice and ferrets that reacted to all 20 encoded antigens. Vaccination protected mice and ferrets challenged with matched and mismatched viral strains, and this protection was at least partially dependent on antibodies. Our studies indicate that mRNA vaccines can provide protection against antigenically variable viruses by simultaneously inducing antibodies against multiple antigens."

Science   A multivalent nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccine against all known influenza virus subtypes

A new has study found a new mRNA flu vaccine produced high levels of antibody protection in mice and ferrets against all flu strains, which could one day help pave the way for a universal flu shot. (Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)

"It really puts this strategy more than a foot in the door — I'd say completely through the door — of clinical application."

"It's one of those times where you see a scientific paper in animals and you know that this could be in humans in what would be a short-to-mid-term timeline."

"So let's see if this works. We all hope it will."

Gary Kobinger, director, Galveston National Laboratory, University of Texas 

A potential pathway to a universal flu vaccine to help prevent future pandemics appears on the horizon, with a paper published in the journal Science, outlining an experimental vaccine whose initial tests in mice and ferrets provided broad protection against all 20 known influenza A and B virus subtypes. This is a two-dose vaccine based on the same messenger RNA (mRNA) technology vested in the COVID-19 shots developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, and Moderna.

Tiny lipid particles containing mRNA 'instructions' for cells to create replicas of 'hemagglutinin' proteins appearing on influenza virus surfaces. This anticipated universal vaccine would not eliminate flu seasons, it would replace the guesswork of developing annual vaccines months ahead of the season annually.

Standard flu shots deliver one or two variants of hemagglutinin; the experimental vaccine on the other hand, includes 20 different types in the expectation that the immune system would recognize any flu virus the future would lead it to encounter. Vaccinated animals in lab experiments demonstrated that t heir immune systems recognized the hemagglutinin proteins and defended against 18 different influenza A and two trains of influenza B.

Antibody levels the vaccine induced remained unchanged for up to four months, according to the report published in Science. Signs of illness were reduced by the vaccine, and protection from death occurred even when the ferrets were exposed to a different type of flu, one not included in the vaccine, according to the researchers.

 

The ground-breaking technology used to create the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, mRNA, could also be used to produce vaccines for other diseases including HIV, the flu and even cancer. Still from Video

Psychopathy

"He was just shooting all throughout the room. It didn't matter who he hit. He didn't say anything. He didn't look at anybody in any specific type of way."

"It was all happening so fast. It is by the grace of God that a bullet missed me. I saw the smoke leaving the gun, and I literally watched bodies drop. It was crazy."

"He just liked to pick, honestly. I think he just looked for little things ... because he had the authority. That's just the type of person that he was. That's what a lot of people said about him."

Brenda Tyler, Walmart employee 

Billy Schuerman/The Virginia Pilot/via AP

 

Just like that. Out of the blue. Another mass shooting. A data base shared by The Associated Press, USA Today and Northwestern University tracks mass killing in America back to 2006. There have been 60 mass killings in the United States in 2022, a year not quite over. The database defines mass killing of at least four dead, exclusive of the killer. 

Now, for the second time in a week Virginia has another major shooting. Previously, three University of Virginia football players on a charter bus returning to campus from a field trip on November 13, were shot to death, two other students wounded. Three days following a gay nightclub shooting in Colorado Springs where five people were killed and 17 wounded, a Walmart assault saw six people shot dead.

A Walmart manager using a handgun in a room where a routine employee meeting was to take place suddenly began firing around the break room . Responding police found his body, believing he had shot himself in an act of murder-suicide. Leaving police to attempt to discover what the man's motive might have been. Six people dead, six people wounded on Tuesday night at a time the store was crowded with customers stocking up for Thanksgiving.

 31-year-old Andre Bing, an overnight team leader with the Walmart store, employed by Walmart for the past dozen yearsm suddenly left normalcy and in a psychotic but obviously planned manoeuvre, decided to kill fellow employees at the store. Briana Tyler, who was a recent hire of two months' standing worked with Bing a night earlier and said she had never experienced a negative encounter with him.

Another employee, Jessie Wilczewski, hid under a table in the break room. She saw the killer look her way, pointing his gun at her. Then he told her to go home, and she left the room. In 2019, an attack took place at a Walmart with a gunman targeting Mexicans, in El Paso, Texas. There were 22 victims whose lives were cut short that time. Leading the company to decide it would discontinue sales of certain types of ammunition, notifying customers they may no longer openly carry firearms in the store.

Handguns were taken off the store shelves and ammunition, along with short-barrel rifle ammunition. Thereafter, the company restricted its firearms sales to hunting rifles and related ammunition exclusively.

"[At first, it] didn’t register as real,"

" I could have ran out that door … and I stayed. I stayed so they wouldn’t be alone in their last moments,"

"I had to touch the door which was covered (in blood). I just remember gripping my bag and thinking, ‘If he’s going to shoot me in the back – well, he’s going to have to try really hard cause I’m running,’ and I booted it. … and I didn’t stop until I got to my car and then I had a meltdown."

Jessie Wilczewsk, recently-hired Walmart store employee

(From top left) Lorenzo Gamble, Kellie Pyle, Brian Pendleton, Tyneka Johnson and Randy Blevins  Family Handouts

 

Evading Vitamin B12 Deficiency in the Elderly

Food source of B12 vitamins

"We wanted to see what association there is between what people eat and the risk of developing a Vitamin B12 deficiency."

"The 2.4 level [B12 intake recommended by Health Canada] is really too weak, everyone is pretty much in agreement on that."

"We think that the needs increase, precisely as we age, because absorption is less and less efficient, So maybe 2.4 micrograms is okay when you're 30, but not when you're 70."

"If we look at studies and work done around the world, the recommendation is often between 5 to 10 micrograms." 

"A large glass of milk is 1.6 micrograms. So it's easy [to procure sufficient B12 from diet alone]."

Nancy Presse, professor of community health sciences, University of Sherbrooke, Quebec

A new study published in the November edition of the Journal of Nutrition points out that a significant number of seniors may be seriously deficient in Vitamin B12 intake. This is a problem with health consequences yet one that can be readily addressed through an increase of dairy products consumption over and above the amounts Health Canada recommends in their published food guides for maximum nutrition and health.

 

Vitamin B12 has an important role in some enzyme reactions in the body, essential for normal red blood cell formation and neurological function. Anemia can be caused by a deficiency in Vitamin B12 intake, potentially leading to irreversible neurological damage. 

 

An examination of blood and urine samples taken through a four-year study conducted with 1,750- seniors in good health led to this revelation. The samples found ten to 13 percent of study participants had a B12 deficiency. The recommendation on VitaminB12 intake by Health Canada is 2.4 micrograms daily. However, Dr. Presse and her colleagues found a daily intake of  4.8 micrograms represented the level required to significantly reduce risk of deficiency.

 

Seniors, according to Health Canada's recommendation, should make use of a vitamin supplement or eat foods rich in B12; for example soya drinks. The problem, points out Dr. Presse, is that foods such as this are not readily obtainable in Canada, as well as the fact that in her opinion, with an adequate diet providing the required levels of Vitamin B12, supplements are redundant. 

Good sources of Vitamin B12 are meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs and dairy products. The absorption of B12 requires calcium. As dairy products are rich in calcium, they represent the perfect source for both. Therefore consumption of dairy products could produce a greater impact on avoidance of deficiencies "and that is indeed what we saw", stated Dr. Presse.

It was found by the researchers involved in the study, the linkage between eating habits and deficiency rates that consuming an additional 1.5 micrograms of B12 in the form of dairy products is enough to create a 50- to 60-percent reduction in the risk of insufficient Vitamin B12. 

Factors, they acknowledge, from the use of prescribed medications to the aging of the stomach lining could explain as well, the increased risk of a deficiency among the elderly.

Health Canada recommends that seniors consume 2.4 micrograms of vitamin B12 daily. But that might not be enough. Photo by bbbrrn /Getty Images/

The most common problems related to low vitamin B12 levels include:

• Anemia. This means the red blood cell count is low. Red blood cells carry oxygen in the blood, so anemia can cause fatigue or shortness of breath. The breakdown of faulty red blood cells can also cause jaundice. (Learn more about anemia here: Anemia in the Older Adult: 10 Common Causes & What to Ask.)
• Neuropathy. This means that nerves in the body are not working well. This can cause a variety of symptoms, including tingling, numbness, burning, poor balance, and walking difficulties.
• Cognitive impairment. This means that nerve cells in the brain are not working well. This can cause memory problems, irritability, and even dementia

Calling Out FIFA

"FIFA today prohibited a statement for diversity and human rights -- those are values to which it is committed in its own statutes."

"From our point of view this is more than frustrating and, I think, an unprecedented action in World Cup history."

Bernd Neuendorf, president, German soccer federation

"Today we feel contempt for an organization that has shown its true values by giving the yellow card to players and the red card to tolerance."

Football Supporters Association, Great Britain

"As national federations we can't put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions, including bookings [as threatened FIFA penalties, should World Cup team captains wear rainbow armbands]."

Seven European soccer federations' joint statement

England's Harry Kane is seen wearing a rainbow-coloured 'One Love' armband during an UEFA Nations League football match in London's Wembley Stadium on Sept. 26, 2022. The captains of seven European nations will not wear the armbands in World Cup games after threats from FIFA to show yellow cards to the players. (Carl Recine/Action Images/Reuters)

"This is FIFA's fault. FIFA were the ones who awarded the World Cup to Qatar in the first place, knowing the stance that they take on human rights."

"Because it's not just about how LGBT fans are treated. It's also how the migrant workers who built the infrastructure that's been needed for the World Cup have been treated. And also how women are treated in Qatar. It's not just about our community. It's about basic freedoms."

"One of the things that we've seen, first-hand, is that once you get engagement from the players, the attitude of the media and of the fans around you changes completely. Once it's not just you and your group standing up for what's right, and it's the players here on the pitch as well, saying, "Actually, yeah, we support them and we stand with them," it opens all sorts of doors. It enables conversations to happen at a much faster rate. And it enables real change to happen."

"So to see the opportunity for that show of solidarity on the biggest stage that football has taken away from us is, it's horrible."

Rob Sanderson, member, Pride In Football, a network of LGBT+ fan groups in the U.K., and 3 Lions Pride, an LGBT+ fan group for England.

Rob Sanderson is a member of Pride In Football, a network of LGBT+ fan groups in the U.K., and 3 Lions Pride, an LGBT+ fan group for England. (Submitted by Rob Sanderson)

 

All is not rosy in Doha, Qatar as the Wold Cup of Soccer taking place in Doha, continues to be controversial. Seven European soccer team captains had let it be known prior to arrival in Qatar that their intention was to wear rainbow armbands in solidarity with the LGBTQ-2+ community discriminated against in Qatar as in most Islamic-majority countries as offensive and a sin against religious verities. 

FIFA was moved to threaten on-field penalties for players should the captains persist in support of the armbands reflecting the "One Love" campaign. Soccer's governing body gave warning that players would be shown yellow cards, two of which would lead to expulsion of players from their game of the momet and one to follow. 

That threat served to force abandonment of the armband=wearing intention. They had foreseen that the wearing of armbands might result in some rejection, but their conjecture went no further than a nominal fine. FIFA, however, cited the conspicuous nature of the armbands to be a violation of official FIFA rules. A last-minute 'reminder' that seemed to take the teams by surprise in its severity.

 

Three days previous to this condemnation and the announcement, the sale of beer was peremptorily banned under pressure from the government of Qatar. Prior to that surprise announcement FIFA president Gianni Infantino delivered a peculiar speech of solidarity with ethnic and religious differences and the plight of the underprivileged, proclaiming himself to be in total sympathy, chastising any element of criticism from the international community over the venue. 

The heart-shaped multicoloured logo of the "One Love" campaign promoting inclusion and diversity in soccer and society, in their opinion, was a universal statement of brotherly acceptance and support of an oppressed community which has finally received the recognition due it in the west, with the Middle East lagging far behind. 

The decision spurred Gurchaten Sandhu, of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association based in Geneva to criticize the fact that FIFA placed "athletes in a very, very awkward" position. "You've bound the hands of the national teams. They're there to compete", he stated in exasperation and frustration.

Captain Harry Kane gestures wearing a FIFA-approved black armband with a sign 'No discrimination' during a World Cup group B soccer match between England and Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on Monday. (Pavel Golovkin/The Associated Press)

Instant Kenyan Video Sensation

"It is said charity begins at home. And for these young orphaned elephants, this charitable foundation is what they call home." 

"I'd kept my distance, but I was so focused and didn't even realize they were getting close."

"At first I felt the elephant trunk’s contact on my back but decided to keep going because I was doing my almost 10th take of my piece to camera."

"I wasn’t gonna let anything stop me. Until the baby elephant stuck its trunk in my mouth."

Alvin KIaunda, reporter for the Kenya Broadcasting Corp.

Elephant interrupts reporter in Kenya  Still from video

 It was an assignment. A little out of the ordinary, perhaps, but this man is a professional, and he decided he would take his story, backgrounding it at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a non-profit operating an elephant orphanage in Nairobi. The foundation of the story was to emphasize the critical condition of Kenya's wildlife as the country battles its worst drought in decades.

According to local authorities, the extreme weather is ending up causing the death of twenty times as many elephants as poaching has. The country's Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife revealed in a recently released report that over a thousand animals have perished as a result of the drought. Animals whose lives have ended directly resulting from drought conditions include wildebeests, zebras, elephants and buffaloes, among others. 

When Reporter Kaunda  was tasked with tackling the item for his employer, the Kenya Broadcasting Corp., he thought that doing so from the location of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, would add an extra touch of drama and engage his audience with the presence of orphaned elephants. He was experiencing initial difficulties in his delivery, however, and had already attempted ten full takes, none of which spoke to the issue in the way he had planned.

 

At the beginning of the clip the reporter was able to keep a straight face and remained very professional as he spoke about the young orphaned elephants

 

 Finally, as the elephants drew closer to where he had stationed himself on the reserve, in the midst of detailing the effects of human action on the natural world, he felt the tip of an elephant trunk behind his left ear. One of the  young elephants was clearly curious and had taken the opportunity of proximity to explore the visitor with its sensitive trunk. Which it draped over the journalist's shoulder, then twisting higher, investigated his ear, so unlike her own.

As  four-year-old Kindani's trunk gently ran over the side of his head, the seasoned reporter held fast to his journalistic unflappability and continued to recite the delivery of his message to viewers. When the elephant's trunk began snuffling along his face, he could no longer remain unreactive and burst into laughter. Resulting video clips took no time appearing on line on the weekend, resulting in millions of views

"Most of us would have lost our professionalism far sooner."

"An important piece pertaining to the drought, but our orphans just saw a visitor to investigate!"

Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Nairobi, Kenya

Not long into his report the wild animal started running its truck over Alvin's ear and head

 

 

 

 

The Tragedy of Peruvian Indigenous Tribes

"We're physically fine."

"They took the boat and took the battery. They are friendly and respectful to us, but this is the only way they have to find solutions for their community."

"The sooner they are heard, the sooner they will let us go. Help me to share this."

Angela Ramirez, abducted Peruvian

"We have seen ourselves obliged to take this measure to summon the attention of a state that has not paid attention to us for eight years."

"[His community would allow the boat to continue its trip] in the coming hours."

Indigenous leader Wadson Trujillo, Lima, Peru

"The adults can still put up with the hunger but not the kids."

"No one has brought a single drop of water or food to our community."

Kukama chief Galo Vaszuez 

A group of tourists was travelling by boat when locals forced them to dock Credit: RPP News

 

In a remote corner of the Amazon in the first week of November a host of tourists were taken hostage to attract the attention of the Peruvian government to the plight of Indigenous Kukama communities in northeastern Peru. They were armed with spears and bows and arrows, forcing a boatload of about a hundred people  travelling through the area  to dock. The tourists were in no danger. They were being used as props in a desperate hostage-taking to publicize the fact that the Indigenous tribes were in a perilous environmental situation.

A deadly oil spill was at the centre of the protest. Those holding the tourists as hostages stated the group would be held until such time as the Peruvian government and Petroperu the oil company owned by the state, took the time and effort to see that their grievance was addressed. The oil spill was threatening enough to have been the source of poisoning killing two babies and a woman, as a result of their polluted water supply.

As the group of abductees saw their food and clean water running short, two of them warned that "conditions are starting to deteriorate". Neatly encapsulating the situation the tribes have also found themselves in. One of the tourists urged for "intervention to get us out of here", given the situation included the presence of  pregnant, diabetic elderly and ill people within the group.

Among the native Peruvians were Germans, British, Spanish and French tourists. On September 16, a 21 cm. gash in the Norperuano pipeline appeared, the pipeline used by oil company Petroperu to pump crude from its Amazon operations to the coast. According to the company, the rupture appeared to be a deliberate act of sabotage, without naming potential suspects. 

Since then, the oil seeped into a local river whose reliance as a potable water source and location of fishing stocks impoverished, isolated local communities depend on. As a result of the poisoning of the water the Kukama people became increasingly desperate following the death of three people. No action to address their concerns had been taken, despite holding talks with authorities.

The tribes feel abandoned by both their government and the oil company. Official negligence, oil spills and Indigenous communities left to their own devices is commonplace in northern Peru in the Amazon leading to some environmental groups campaigning to raise awareness. With the Left-wing populist Pedro Castillo taking office in 2021 the issue has intensified.

 

While President Castillo was campaigning he was the "president of the poor", so expectations were raised among Peruvians including among the marginalized communities in the Andes and
Amazon. Reality has raised its ugly head as corruption rages on and nothing has been done to help the poor.

In the end, although there was brief international interest aroused with the hostage-taking, highlighting the situation faced by the Amazon tribes, nothing has changed. The hostages were freed, their plight alleviated by the very people whose own misery remains outstanding. “The people have had to drink water and eat fish contaminated with petroleum without any government being concerned", said Wadson Trujillo.

The oil spills, about which nothing continues to be done, affected not only the thousand residents of his township, but another 80 communities nearby, many lacking running water, electricity or telephone services.

 

70 hostages including Brits have been freed after they were captured in the Amazon    Credit: rpp news

Doha, Qatar and The World Cup of Soccer

Fans watch a drone display and fireworks over Doha on Saturday. (Jon Gambrell/The Associated Press)

 

"Today I have strong feelings. Today I feel Qatari, I feel Arab, I feel African, I feel gay, I feel disabled, I feel a migrant worker."

"We have been taught many lessons from Europeans and the Western world. I am European. For what we have been doing for 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologizing for the next 3,000 years before giving moral lessons. If Europe really care[s] about the destiny of these people, they can create legal channels - like Qatar did - where a number of these workers can come to Europe to work. Give them some future, some hope."

"[I have] difficulties understanding the criticism [around the treatment and deaths of migrant workers]. We have to invest in helping these people, in education and to give them a better future and more hope. We should all educate ourselves. Many things are not perfect but reform and change takes time."

"This one-sided moral lesson is just hypocrisy. I wonder why no-one recognizes the progress made here since 2016. It is not easy to take the critics of a decision that was made 12 years ago. Qatar is ready. It will be the best World Cup ever."

"[While I am not] Qatari, Arab, African, gay, disabled or a migrant worker, [I am] like them because I know what it means to be discriminated and bullied as a foreigner in a foreign country.     [I was bullied as a child for my] red hair and freckles."

FIFA president Gianni Infantino

FIFA President, Gianni Infantino speaks during a press conference ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 tournament on Nov. 19, 2022 in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Maryam Majd ATPImages/Getty images)

Oh no, the poor man, bullied as a child. A trauma that has informed his life ever since. The world is a cruel and hostile place for children with red hair and freckles. According to a report from the Guardian, to place matters in a vestige of perspective, during construction over the past ten years in preparation for the tournament, 6,500 foreign workers who laboured to build the sites died on the job. For years there have been reports of the misery of foreign workers in Qatar, people who streamed to the oil-rich country to be able to work and send money back home. 

These were the poor, anxious to find employment where there was none for them in their native Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. Once in Qatar there was no agency to ensure their welfare, to make certain they had decent places to stay, were paid for their work, were not overworked or placed in danger, had access to medical care. Qatar's population is all of three million people, a tiny and wealthy country, out to show the world what it was capable of producing. It spent a whopping $200 billion to build the infrastructure needed to host the games. Fair pay for construction workers and attention to human rights was not one of their concerns.

And FIFA has declared it is not  up to them to dictate to an independent nation how its labour laws should be conducted, and that the nation's rulers needed a conscience in dealing with foreign workers obviously considered dispensable. FIFA was busy with other distractions like the practicality of selecting a desert country to run games that require athletes to extend themselves beyond normal physical endurance in the energy-depleting heat of a Middle East summer. A breezy assurance from Qatar that the usual June-July event would be fine, no one would suffer from heat, did the trick, evidently.

Until second thoughts moved the timing to the winter season when Qatar would only be hot, not sizzling. The soccer leagues might not have been thrilled, forced to tight schedules and coping with the injuries that ensued. But the decision was made and on it went. In a country where adherence to Islamic codes of conduct prevail, homosexuality is illegal and scantily dressed females are unwelcome, the royal family decided that alcohol in any shape or form would, at the last minute, be forbidden. Was that a gigantic universal groan resounding across the world?

There have been some silent rebukes. Denmark has muted the national crest on its team jerseys. A video was released of the Australian team with players criticizing construction worker treatment, offering support as well for LGBT rights. Captains of several nations will be wearing rainbow armbands. A rainbow version of the U.S. team crest was painted on its training facility. Qatar is on record as having stated it was prepared to accept Western norms. Alcohol consumption at games is a Western norm. Will female fans who bare their arms in the heat be confronted by morality police? 

There are (surely malicious, erroneous, embarrassing) reports that Qatar organizers paid for hundreds of worldwide fans to attend the tournament, and while there exuberantly praise the games, the extravaganza put on by Qatar, and above all the wonderful venue Qatar built to brand itself the temporary sport capital of the world.

 

Police stand by on horseback as other security officials try to control a crowd at a FIFA fan zone on Saturday. (Srdjan Nedeljkovic/The Associated Press)

"History will not judge this moment kindly. Infantino’s speech was an insult to the thousands of hard-working women and men who have made the World Cup possible."

"He had a perfect opportunity to acknowledge that thousands of women and men from the poorest countries came to the richest only to face deception, exploitation and discrimination."

"Every day workers are contacting Equidem about unpaid wages, abuse and being terrified about speaking out for fear of retaliation from employers."

Mustafa Qadri, chief executive, international human rights organization Equidem

A large crowd is seen at the FIFA fan zone at Doha's Al Bidda Park on Saturday. (Molly Darlington/Reuters)

Ethical Food Production Alternatives

“Advancements in cell culture technology are enabling food developers to use animal cells obtained from livestock, poultry, and seafood in the production of food, with these products expected to be ready for the U.S. market in the near future,”

“The FDA’s goal is to support innovation in food technologies while always maintaining as our first priority the safety of the foods available to U.S. consumers.”

Dr. Robert M. Califf, FDA commissioner of food and drugs -- Susan T. Mayne, director, FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

 

"We will see this as the day the food system really started changing."

"The U.S. is the first meaningful market that has approved this -- this is seismic and ground-breaking."

"It will have to be case by case, certainly for the first few. It won't be boilerplate approval."

Costa Yiannoulis, managing partner, Synthesis Capital (food technology fund)

UPSIDE Foods’ cultivated chicken made from growing animal cells.

Terry Chea/AP Photo

"[Our cultivated chicken] is one step closer to being on tables everywhere."

"UPSIDE has received our ‘No Questions Letter’ from the FDA."

"They’ve accepted our conclusion that our cultivated chicken is safe to eat."

"These products are not vegan, vegetarian or plant-based – they are real meat, made without the animal."

Upside Foods founder and CEO Uma Valeti

 A California startup is jubilant that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved as safe for human consumption a lab-grown meat product they have produced. In so doing giving its blessing for products derived from animal cells, with no requirement that a living animal be slaughtered. Should production go as planned, the way will be opened for other similar start-ups to commit in the production of lab-grown meats, to introduce them to grocery stores and restaurants in the United States.

There is, in fact, no shortage of major food companies interested in making their own cultivated meat debut to the public. Singapore, as it happens, is as  yet the only country where such products are produced and legally sold to consumers. The entrepreneurial floodgates have been opened by Wednesday's FDA's announcement that Emeryville-based Upside Foods' new product is safe to eat.

Formerly known as Memphis Meats, Upside Foods harvests cells from animal tissue to grow edible flesh under controlled conditions in bioreactors. Its output, says the company, is indistinguishable from meat grown conventionally. These alternatives to traditional animal agriculture are viewed as a mitigation measure in view of climate change. The big question is how enthusiastic a reception the public will give these new foods, whether the ethics involved will be compelling or off-putting.

The industry producing meat alternatives derived from vegetable sources, while initially making a big public relations splash, and now available in supermarkets everywhere, finds itself in the quandary of disappointed expectations. The products have failed to enjoy the wide popularity it was assumed they would attain, and some manufacturers are struggling to surmount public indifference. Simulated-meat product popularity simply failed to materialize.

 

The same technology that Upside is using is transferable to other animal species and each new product must be approved by federal regulators before each can go on the market. On approval from the Agriculture Department, the estimate is that months would be needed before the product could appear on the market. Other cultivated meat startups have sought regulatory approval for years. The current approval may speed up the process.

 

There are currently over 151 companies on six continents eager to kick-start their own cultivated-meat product. This may be an introduction to a wave of the future in suitable, ethically-derived food products. Whether these products can be produced on the scale required to feed populations will be an issue for the future to answer.

Cultured chicken made by Upside Foods is shown. Photo: UPSIDE Foods