3.31.2007
3.30.2007
3.27.2007
3.23.2007
Rat Poison found in Pet Food
ALBANY, New York (AP) -- Rat poison has been found in pet food blamed for the deaths of at least 16 cats and dogs, a spokeswoman for the State Department of Agriculture and Markets said Friday.
The toxin was identified as aminopterin, state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said in a statement. Aminopterin is used to kill rats in some countries but is not registered for that use in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The officials did not say how they believed it got into the pet food. (Watch why devastated pet owners are suing )
The substance was found at a level of at least 40 parts per million in tested cat food samples, according to Donald Smith, dean of Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine.
Aminopterin, also used as a cancer drug, is highly toxic in high doses. It inhibits the growth of
malignant cells and suppresses the immune system.
The Food and Drug Administration has said the investigation was focusing on wheat gluten in the food. Wheat gluten itself would not cause kidney failure, but the common ingredient could have been contaminated by heavy metals or mold toxins, the FDA said.
State and FBI officials said they knew of no criminal investigations in the case.
The pet deaths led to a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of pet food produced by Menu Foods and sold throughout North America under 95 brand names. There have been several reports of kidney failure in pets that ate the recalled brands, and the company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog.
Menu Foods last week recalled "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food. The recall sparked concern among pet owners across North America. It includes food sold under store brands carried by Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and other large retailers, as well as private labels such as Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.
Menu Foods is majority owned by Menu Foods Income Fund of Streetsville. The company also makes foods for zoo cats, but those products are unaffected by the recall.
The company's chief executive and president said Menu Foods delayed announcing the recall until it could confirm that the animals had eaten its product before dying. Two earlier complaints from consumers whose cats had died involved animals that lived outside or had access to a garage, which left open the possibility they had been poisoned by something other than contaminated food, he said.
Menu Foods planned a media teleconference for later Friday, a spokesman said.
A spokesman for New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he was not aware of any criminal investigation involving the tainted food. FBI spokesman Paul Holstein in Albany said Friday he was not aware of any FBI involvement in the case.
"I don't know where we'll go from here," he said.
A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates was posted online by Menu Foods. The company also designated two phone numbers that pet owners could call for information: (866) 463-6738 and (866) 895-2708.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The toxin was identified as aminopterin, state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said in a statement. Aminopterin is used to kill rats in some countries but is not registered for that use in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The officials did not say how they believed it got into the pet food. (Watch why devastated pet owners are suing )
The substance was found at a level of at least 40 parts per million in tested cat food samples, according to Donald Smith, dean of Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine.
Aminopterin, also used as a cancer drug, is highly toxic in high doses. It inhibits the growth of
malignant cells and suppresses the immune system.
The Food and Drug Administration has said the investigation was focusing on wheat gluten in the food. Wheat gluten itself would not cause kidney failure, but the common ingredient could have been contaminated by heavy metals or mold toxins, the FDA said.
State and FBI officials said they knew of no criminal investigations in the case.
The pet deaths led to a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of pet food produced by Menu Foods and sold throughout North America under 95 brand names. There have been several reports of kidney failure in pets that ate the recalled brands, and the company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog.
Menu Foods last week recalled "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food. The recall sparked concern among pet owners across North America. It includes food sold under store brands carried by Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and other large retailers, as well as private labels such as Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.
Menu Foods is majority owned by Menu Foods Income Fund of Streetsville. The company also makes foods for zoo cats, but those products are unaffected by the recall.
The company's chief executive and president said Menu Foods delayed announcing the recall until it could confirm that the animals had eaten its product before dying. Two earlier complaints from consumers whose cats had died involved animals that lived outside or had access to a garage, which left open the possibility they had been poisoned by something other than contaminated food, he said.
Menu Foods planned a media teleconference for later Friday, a spokesman said.
A spokesman for New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he was not aware of any criminal investigation involving the tainted food. FBI spokesman Paul Holstein in Albany said Friday he was not aware of any FBI involvement in the case.
"I don't know where we'll go from here," he said.
A complete list of the recalled products along with product codes, descriptions and production dates was posted online by Menu Foods. The company also designated two phone numbers that pet owners could call for information: (866) 463-6738 and (866) 895-2708.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
3.20.2007
Abrupt Environmental Change Sparks Violent Conflicts
A strong link between droughts and violent civil conflicts in the developing world bodes ill for an increasingly thirsty world, say scientists, who warn that drought-related conflicts are expected to multiply with advancing climate change.......
3.19.2007
What footprint do you leave on the earth?
The above links to a quiz that analyzes the "footprint" you leave on the Earth--your use of resources, etc. in several areas. It can, I think, also measure a given community's, region's, or even a country's use of natural resources.
Part II National Geographic
Okay here is the second part to the article...
Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy
<< Back to Page 1 Page 2 of 2
What's caused the uproar is the mixing of human stem cells with embryonic animals to create new species.
Biotechnology activist Jeremy Rifkin is opposed to crossing species boundaries, because he believes animals have the right to exist without being tampered with or crossed with another species.
Email to a Friend
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He concedes that these studies would lead to some medical breakthroughs. Still, they should not be done.
"There are other ways to advance medicine and human health besides going out into the strange, brave new world of chimeric animals," Rifkin said, adding that sophisticated computer models can substitute for experimentation on live animals.
"One doesn't have to be religious or into animal rights to think this doesn't make sense," he continued. "It's the scientists who want to do this. They've now gone over the edge into the pathological domain."
David Magnus, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics at Stanford University, believes the real worry is whether or not chimeras will be put to uses that are problematic, risky, or dangerous.
Human Born to Mice Parents?
For example, an experiment that would raise concerns, he said, is genetically engineering mice to produce human sperm and eggs, then doing in vitro fertilization to produce a child whose parents are a pair of mice.
"Most people would find that problematic," Magnus said, "but those uses are bizarre and not, to the best of my knowledge, anything that anybody is remotely contemplating. Most uses of chimeras are actually much more relevant to practical concerns."
Last year Canada passed the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, which bans chimeras. Specifically, it prohibits transferring a nonhuman cell into a human embryo and putting human cells into a nonhuman embryo.
Cynthia Cohen is a member of Canada's Stem Cell Oversight Committee, which oversees research protocols to ensure they are in accordance with the new guidelines.
She believes a ban should also be put into place in the U.S.
Creating chimeras, she said, by mixing human and animal gametes (sperms and eggs) or transferring reproductive cells, diminishes human dignity.
"It would deny that there is something distinctive and valuable about human beings that ought to be honored and protected," said Cohen, who is also the senior research fellow at Georgetown University's Kennedy Institute of Ethics in Washington, D.C.
But, she noted, the wording on such a ban needs to be developed carefully. It shouldn't outlaw ethical and legitimate experiments—such as transferring a limited number of adult human stem cells into animal embryos in order to learn how they proliferate and grow during the prenatal period.
Irv Weissman, director of Stanford University's Institute of Cancer/Stem Cell Biology and Medicine in California, is against a ban in the United States.
"Anybody who puts their own moral guidance in the way of this biomedical science, where they want to impose their will—not just be part of an argument—if that leads to a ban or moratorium. … they are stopping research that would save human lives," he said.
Mice With Human Brains
Weissman has already created mice with brains that are about one percent human.
Later this year he may conduct another experiment where the mice have 100 percent human brains. This would be done, he said, by injecting human neurons into the brains of embryonic mice.
Before being born, the mice would be killed and dissected to see if the architecture of a human brain had formed. If it did, he'd look for traces of human cognitive behavior.
Weissman said he's not a mad scientist trying to create a human in an animal body. He hopes the experiment leads to a better understanding of how the brain works, which would be useful in treating diseases like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.
The test has not yet begun. Weissman is waiting to read the National Academy's report, due out in March.
William Cheshire, associate professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic's Jacksonville, Florida, branch, feels that combining human and animal neurons is problematic.
"This is unexplored biologic territory," he said. "Whatever moral threshold of human neural development we might choose to set as the limit for such an experiment, there would be a considerable risk of exceeding that limit before it could be recognized."
Cheshire supports research that combines human and animal cells to study cellular function. As an undergraduate he participated in research that fused human and mouse cells.
But where he draws the ethical line is on research that would destroy a human embryo to obtain cells, or research that would create an organism that is partly human and partly animal.
"We must be cautious not to violate the integrity of humanity or of animal life over which we have a stewardship responsibility," said Cheshire, a member of Christian Medical and Dental Associations. "Research projects that create human-animal chimeras risk disturbing fragile ecosystems, endanger health, and affront species integrity."
Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy
<< Back to Page 1 Page 2 of 2
What's caused the uproar is the mixing of human stem cells with embryonic animals to create new species.
Biotechnology activist Jeremy Rifkin is opposed to crossing species boundaries, because he believes animals have the right to exist without being tampered with or crossed with another species.
Email to a Friend
RELATED
Modified Mice Stay Super-Fit—Without Exercise
Fluorescent Mice Herald Gene-Transfer Breakthrough
Mice Used as Sperm Factories for Pigs, Goats
Cloned Pigs Modified for Use in Human Transplants
Scientific Pitfalls Complicate Cloning Debate
Anti-Aging Drug for Humans Hinted at by Worm Study
He concedes that these studies would lead to some medical breakthroughs. Still, they should not be done.
"There are other ways to advance medicine and human health besides going out into the strange, brave new world of chimeric animals," Rifkin said, adding that sophisticated computer models can substitute for experimentation on live animals.
"One doesn't have to be religious or into animal rights to think this doesn't make sense," he continued. "It's the scientists who want to do this. They've now gone over the edge into the pathological domain."
David Magnus, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics at Stanford University, believes the real worry is whether or not chimeras will be put to uses that are problematic, risky, or dangerous.
Human Born to Mice Parents?
For example, an experiment that would raise concerns, he said, is genetically engineering mice to produce human sperm and eggs, then doing in vitro fertilization to produce a child whose parents are a pair of mice.
"Most people would find that problematic," Magnus said, "but those uses are bizarre and not, to the best of my knowledge, anything that anybody is remotely contemplating. Most uses of chimeras are actually much more relevant to practical concerns."
Last year Canada passed the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, which bans chimeras. Specifically, it prohibits transferring a nonhuman cell into a human embryo and putting human cells into a nonhuman embryo.
Cynthia Cohen is a member of Canada's Stem Cell Oversight Committee, which oversees research protocols to ensure they are in accordance with the new guidelines.
She believes a ban should also be put into place in the U.S.
Creating chimeras, she said, by mixing human and animal gametes (sperms and eggs) or transferring reproductive cells, diminishes human dignity.
"It would deny that there is something distinctive and valuable about human beings that ought to be honored and protected," said Cohen, who is also the senior research fellow at Georgetown University's Kennedy Institute of Ethics in Washington, D.C.
But, she noted, the wording on such a ban needs to be developed carefully. It shouldn't outlaw ethical and legitimate experiments—such as transferring a limited number of adult human stem cells into animal embryos in order to learn how they proliferate and grow during the prenatal period.
Irv Weissman, director of Stanford University's Institute of Cancer/Stem Cell Biology and Medicine in California, is against a ban in the United States.
"Anybody who puts their own moral guidance in the way of this biomedical science, where they want to impose their will—not just be part of an argument—if that leads to a ban or moratorium. … they are stopping research that would save human lives," he said.
Mice With Human Brains
Weissman has already created mice with brains that are about one percent human.
Later this year he may conduct another experiment where the mice have 100 percent human brains. This would be done, he said, by injecting human neurons into the brains of embryonic mice.
Before being born, the mice would be killed and dissected to see if the architecture of a human brain had formed. If it did, he'd look for traces of human cognitive behavior.
Weissman said he's not a mad scientist trying to create a human in an animal body. He hopes the experiment leads to a better understanding of how the brain works, which would be useful in treating diseases like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.
The test has not yet begun. Weissman is waiting to read the National Academy's report, due out in March.
William Cheshire, associate professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic's Jacksonville, Florida, branch, feels that combining human and animal neurons is problematic.
"This is unexplored biologic territory," he said. "Whatever moral threshold of human neural development we might choose to set as the limit for such an experiment, there would be a considerable risk of exceeding that limit before it could be recognized."
Cheshire supports research that combines human and animal cells to study cellular function. As an undergraduate he participated in research that fused human and mouse cells.
But where he draws the ethical line is on research that would destroy a human embryo to obtain cells, or research that would create an organism that is partly human and partly animal.
"We must be cautious not to violate the integrity of humanity or of animal life over which we have a stewardship responsibility," said Cheshire, a member of Christian Medical and Dental Associations. "Research projects that create human-animal chimeras risk disturbing fragile ecosystems, endanger health, and affront species integrity."
National Geographic
I thought this was a pretty interesting article. It for some reason reminded me a lot about " Buffalo Gals". Maybe you can make the connection. Well here's the Article. I hope you enjoy!!
Amy Triche
Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy
Maryann Mott
National Geographic News
January 25, 2005
Scientists have begun blurring the line between human and animal by producing chimeras—a hybrid creature that's part human, part animal.
Chinese scientists at the Shanghai Second Medical University in 2003 successfully fused human cells with rabbit eggs. The embryos were reportedly the first human-animal chimeras successfully created. They were allowed to develop for several days in a laboratory dish before the scientists destroyed the embryos to harvest their stem cells.
Email to a Friend
RELATED
Modified Mice Stay Super-Fit—Without Exercise
Fluorescent Mice Herald Gene-Transfer Breakthrough
Mice Used as Sperm Factories for Pigs, Goats
Cloned Pigs Modified for Use in Human Transplants
Scientific Pitfalls Complicate Cloning Debate
Anti-Aging Drug for Humans Hinted at by Worm Study
In Minnesota last year researchers at the Mayo Clinic created pigs with human blood flowing through their bodies.
And at Stanford University in California an experiment might be done later this year to create mice with human brains.
Scientists feel that, the more humanlike the animal, the better research model it makes for testing drugs or possibly growing "spare parts," such as livers, to transplant into humans.
Watching how human cells mature and interact in a living creature may also lead to the discoveries of new medical treatments.
But creating human-animal chimeras—named after a monster in Greek mythology that had a lion's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail—has raised troubling questions: What new subhuman combination should be produced and for what purpose? At what point would it be considered human? And what rights, if any, should it have?
There are currently no U.S. federal laws that address these issues.
Ethical Guidelines
The National Academy of Sciences, which advises the U.S. government, has been studying the issue. In March it plans to present voluntary ethical guidelines for researchers.
A chimera is a mixture of two or more species in one body. Not all are considered troubling, though.
For example, faulty human heart valves are routinely replaced with ones taken from cows and pigs. The surgery—which makes the recipient a human-animal chimera—is widely accepted. And for years scientists have added human genes to bacteria and farm anima
Amy Triche
Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy
Maryann Mott
National Geographic News
January 25, 2005
Scientists have begun blurring the line between human and animal by producing chimeras—a hybrid creature that's part human, part animal.
Chinese scientists at the Shanghai Second Medical University in 2003 successfully fused human cells with rabbit eggs. The embryos were reportedly the first human-animal chimeras successfully created. They were allowed to develop for several days in a laboratory dish before the scientists destroyed the embryos to harvest their stem cells.
Email to a Friend
RELATED
Modified Mice Stay Super-Fit—Without Exercise
Fluorescent Mice Herald Gene-Transfer Breakthrough
Mice Used as Sperm Factories for Pigs, Goats
Cloned Pigs Modified for Use in Human Transplants
Scientific Pitfalls Complicate Cloning Debate
Anti-Aging Drug for Humans Hinted at by Worm Study
In Minnesota last year researchers at the Mayo Clinic created pigs with human blood flowing through their bodies.
And at Stanford University in California an experiment might be done later this year to create mice with human brains.
Scientists feel that, the more humanlike the animal, the better research model it makes for testing drugs or possibly growing "spare parts," such as livers, to transplant into humans.
Watching how human cells mature and interact in a living creature may also lead to the discoveries of new medical treatments.
But creating human-animal chimeras—named after a monster in Greek mythology that had a lion's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail—has raised troubling questions: What new subhuman combination should be produced and for what purpose? At what point would it be considered human? And what rights, if any, should it have?
There are currently no U.S. federal laws that address these issues.
Ethical Guidelines
The National Academy of Sciences, which advises the U.S. government, has been studying the issue. In March it plans to present voluntary ethical guidelines for researchers.
A chimera is a mixture of two or more species in one body. Not all are considered troubling, though.
For example, faulty human heart valves are routinely replaced with ones taken from cows and pigs. The surgery—which makes the recipient a human-animal chimera—is widely accepted. And for years scientists have added human genes to bacteria and farm anima
Buffalo Gals Mix
1. Ohmna - People Get Lost
2. Karen Overton - Your Loving Arms
3. Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars (Topher Jones & Blake Jarrell Remix)
4. Andain – Beautiful Things
5. Above & Beyond – Can’t Sleep
6. Above & Beyond – Good For Me
7. Danjo And Styles - What Lies Ahead (Estuera Remix)
8. Kuffdam & Plant feat. Terry Ferminal – The Ones We Loved
Download : http://www.dailytigers.com/download/Buffalo-Gals.mp3 [83.41 mb]
2. Karen Overton - Your Loving Arms
3. Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars (Topher Jones & Blake Jarrell Remix)
4. Andain – Beautiful Things
5. Above & Beyond – Can’t Sleep
6. Above & Beyond – Good For Me
7. Danjo And Styles - What Lies Ahead (Estuera Remix)
8. Kuffdam & Plant feat. Terry Ferminal – The Ones We Loved
Download : http://www.dailytigers.com/download/Buffalo-Gals.mp3 [83.41 mb]
3.17.2007
3.16.2007
Sheryl Crow @ LSU
Nobody posted anything about her tour on "Stop Global Warming"
Here's the LSU link : Click
Wednesday, April 11 Union Theater, 7 p.m.
One free ticket per LSU student with LSU ID. Tickets are available now at the Union Box Office.
Here's the LSU link : Click
Wednesday, April 11 Union Theater, 7 p.m.
One free ticket per LSU student with LSU ID. Tickets are available now at the Union Box Office.
Man to Tiger?
I saw an episode of Ripley's Believe It or Not a few months ago, and this guy was on it. This is an article from The Seattle Times about him... pretty interesting!
3.15.2007
Celebrity Heather Mills Breaks Into Pig Farm At Night
Heather Mills has revealed she entered an industrial pig farm at the dead of night as part of a campaign to highlight alleged animal cruelty.
She led a team from the vegetarian group Viva! in a raid on a Somerset farm two weeks ago.
Video: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d1b_1173964767
If you don't know who she is, she's Paul McCartney's (from Beatles) ex-wife.
She led a team from the vegetarian group Viva! in a raid on a Somerset farm two weeks ago.
Video: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d1b_1173964767
If you don't know who she is, she's Paul McCartney's (from Beatles) ex-wife.
3.13.2007
Consumer critic : Food in America
New UK student in the States:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPz_794o2O4
Video replies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beb4asr4DDY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLi6z6t-Is8
Might be little off-topic, but do you see a link to what we have studied so far?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPz_794o2O4
Video replies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beb4asr4DDY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLi6z6t-Is8
Might be little off-topic, but do you see a link to what we have studied so far?
3.12.2007
Entergy and Green Power
Check this out...I'm curious to hear what you think about this...specifically what does the webpage leave out? What info might you want to know? Nevertheless, I'm happy for the progress...
3.07.2007
simple shoes
Hi guys,
I know Jessica might have mentioned this site in class, but here is the link again. I know we're always posing the question, "How can we be better ecologists?" Well here it is. I think this company is doing an amazing thing, and I know you'll find it very interesting as well.
I also know that Bayou Birkenstock on Lee Drive sells this brand, so if you want to order a pair and can't get them online, you can go there. It's only about 2 minutes from Campus in the first shopping center to the left when you turn from Highland onto Lee from Campus.
www.simpleshoes.com
I know Jessica might have mentioned this site in class, but here is the link again. I know we're always posing the question, "How can we be better ecologists?" Well here it is. I think this company is doing an amazing thing, and I know you'll find it very interesting as well.
I also know that Bayou Birkenstock on Lee Drive sells this brand, so if you want to order a pair and can't get them online, you can go there. It's only about 2 minutes from Campus in the first shopping center to the left when you turn from Highland onto Lee from Campus.
www.simpleshoes.com
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