McCamy Taylor
McCamy Taylor's JournalWhy Is West Nile Virus Fatal to Crows?
West Nile Virus is a pain in the you know what to most of the species it can infect (like humans) but there is only one species that it kills 100% of the time. That is the crow. Why? What does WNV or the mosquito that carries WNV have against the crow? Crows do not eat mosquitoes. They eat dead things. And dying things. Like small mammals and birds that are lying around listlessly dying from West Nile Virus encephalitis, too weak to fight off the swarms of mosquitoes that fly over them, drinking their blood, sucking up all that West Nile Virus rich plasma----
Is that it? Did West Nile Virus evolve to kill crows because they kill the source of the blood and the infection? Or, to put it another way, was the variation of West Nile Virus that was 100% fatal to crows the one that was most successful because with the crows out of the way there were more warm but not quite dead infected bodies lying around to spread the infection?
The good news is the crows and ravens won and the West Nile Virus is gone. Gone riddance. Worst headache of my whole god damned life. I think I might be part crow.
This Billboard Explains Why I am not a Church Goer
In big letters on a major freeway:
"Hate what is evil. Cling to what is good."
If the pastor had started the quote with the usual first line---"Love must be sincere..."---then it would have been a message about love. But instead there is a great big message stretched out across the horizon telling us to "HATE"--at a time when too many of us are already toting guns and looking around for someone to hate on---permanently.
The last thing we need is Churches reinforcing the hate message. And the dualism of those two lines taken out of context are scary. How much are we supposed to hate what is evil? How far do we go to prop up what we are told is good?
This billboard has me so angry that if I happened to be a church goer, I would probably give up church for Lent.
Mystical experience is an important part of human life. So is faith. But thank the Founders we have laws to protect us against state sponsored religion.
Are Cicadas Responsible for Influenza?
This is the kind of stuff you think about when you have your second bout of influenza in a month, even though you got your flu vaccine and took Tamiflu on your first day of symptoms both times. Influenza sucks. Missed six days of work total and felt like dog poo for 14 days altogether. And there are 2 more strains out there. Oh boy. I think I'll hold my breath until spring.
Ok, so here is why I think that we might owe cicadas a great big round of applause for influenza.
First, influenza typically originates in Asia in birds. You know, all those big flocks of ducks and chickens that they insist upon keeping alive until they decide to butcher them and cook them fresh to cut down the chance of getting salmonella and campylobacter. They call some strains "bird flu" but all strains affect birds. Humans are just incidental targets IMHO.
So, if we assume that influenza evolved to control bird populations, the next step is consider where influenza strikes. Winter in the far north and far south. The rainy season around the equator. What is a natural enemy of birds that would exist in one state during cold months and monsoons and a different state during warm months/non monsoons? Flying insects that have a pupal state. I.e. Lepidoptera, moths. They stay underground when it is cold/rainy. They fly when it is nice. Once they get their wings, they have only one thing in mind--procreation. But when they are worms, maybe they can serve another purpose--like getting rid of predators that threaten the breeders.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidoptera
What is the Lepidoptera whose "boom" (population surge every 13 or 17 years) is heralded by a sudden decrease in the local bird population about 6 months before the moth boom? The cicada.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2013/06/18/the-cicada-paradox/#.Wn-iY0MtGyM
Pretty fishy that. Almost as if the cicada which has been around for like a million years or longer has figured out a way to get rid of its biggest predator before it decides to take to the air and lay lots of eggs. But how would a larva buried underground do that?
What if the cicada larva was able to create a virus capable of infecting another larva, say another super/producer with a long (though not quite 13 or 17 years long) periodicity, the Gypsy moth. What if the cicada brewed up a dose of parasitic virus that made gypsy moth larva climb to the tops of trees and wait to be eaten by birds? And what if that parasitic virus had influenza virus attached to it, ready to infect the birds? See the link below for how such a parasite works.
https://answersingenesis.org/biology/disease/parasites-affect-behavior-moths/
It would not have to be the Gypsy Moth. I mention that as just one possibility. Any worm or larva that lives in the ground side by side with the cicada would do. But Gypsy Moths are so exuberant when they decide to go "boom."
Note that scientists are currently growing influenza vaccine in the tissues of--you guessed it---armyworms.
http://www.thevaccinereaction.org/2017/10/armyworms-used-to-make-flublok-influenza-vaccine/
Coincidence? Maybe not. Here is a bit of trivia from 1939:
https://books.google.com/books?id=TjVrAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA410&lpg=PA410&dq=worms+carry+influenza&source=bl&ots=OF08BVFayo&sig=NLt3bA-oOwG0SA1G0kEhXT-VdrM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwitwYea8-vYAhVBSq0KHc7KCnwQ6AEIRjAJ#v=onepage&q=worms%20carry%20influenza&f=false
A scientist studying swine flu discovered that when a pig was infected with influenza, the pig's lung worms (nematodes in this case) picked up the virus, carried it and were able to transmit it to the same or another pig if given the opportunity. Meaning that scientists have known for a long time that insects can be carriers of influenza. If a pig's lung worm can carry flu, what other worms/insects can do the same?
Jill Stein
Whenever you see a Democratic Primary candidate who seems too good to be true, remember Jill Stein. The GOP's only hope of retaining control of Congress is to have Russia fund a lot of "left wing" primary challengers and general election third party "left wing" splitters. I say Russia, because the GOP is not going to be able to raise money in the U.S., not with their track record. It will all have to come straight from Putin's secret bank accounts. And from what I hear, he is the richest man in the world, meaning he can fund a lot of "Democrats", "Greens" and "Independents."
And sorry to all our leftist columnists and pundits out there, but when you bash hard working Democrats and demand that they be replaced with the shiniest, newest, flashiest candidate on the block, I have to ask myself "Who are you really working for?"
We prove our Democratic street creds by our actions not our words. And anyone who seeks to Divide and Conquer the Democratic Party is not a Democrat.
ICE Targets 7-11, Parent Company Stock Goes Down
This happened:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/us/7-eleven-raids-ice.html
and then this happened
https://finance.google.com/finance?q=TYO:3382
Yeah, I know. Dog bites man. Nothing to see here. But if you are a member of the most corrupt gang of grifters ever to occupy the White House, would you be able to resist making a bet that Seven and i Holdings would take a quick dive in the course of twenty four hours?
The Trump SEC won't investigate, but maybe Mueller could.
Trump Is a Shit Stain on U.S. History.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is three days away. For those of you who have this federal holiday off, make a point of participating in the celebration. Show the world that Trump does not speak for Americans.
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Member since: Tue Nov 9, 2004, 07:05 PMNumber of posts: 19,240
