Disease - Present

M. tuberculosis

Two short medical related article in Observer piqued my interest. The first concerns the discovery of a deadly new strain of Tuberculosis that is resistant to virtually every anti TB drug in medicine’s arsenal. Sadly, the emergence of a strain that is resistant to all available drugs is inevitable. TB already accounts for nearly 2 Million lives a year (WHO estimates are that it killed 1.7m people worldwide in 2004), a completely drug resistant version will increase this figure, in particular among the world’s poor and the vulnerable (we can see a horrific foretaste below).

Even if effective treatments are forthcoming they will not be on stream for some years. Would we be in this situation if our pharmaceutical firms were not so focused on developing another Viagra? Perhaps, but then Mycobacterium tuberculosis would find a way around these drugs sooner or later.


Fears of Extreme TB strain

Health experts are to hold an emergency meeting in Johannesburg this week, following the discovery earlier this year of a deadly new strain of tuberculosis (aka .extreme drug-resistant TB).

'This new strain leaves us facing a nightmare,' said Paul Nunn, coordinator of the WHO's drug-resistance unit. It is resistant to nearly every drug in our arsenal. We are now on the threshold of the appearance of a strain of TB that is resistant to every medicine known to science. Mainstream drugs are ineffective against multiple drug-resistant TB. However, there are half a dozen second-line medicines that can be used to tackle it. Now this new extreme resistant strain has appeared. It is not only resistant to our principal anti-TB drugs, but to many of our second-line defences. In short, we are now on the last line of our defences against tuberculosis.'

Among the areas found to have been affected by extreme drug-resistant TB are Latvia and South Africa. Scientists discovered the strain last month among HIV-infected patients in the Kwazulu-Natal region. 'Fifty two of the 53 infected people are already dead, and the last may well have died by now,' added Nunn. An estimated 4.5 million people in South Africa have HIV. Extreme drug-resistance TB could devastate the population. 'If countries don't have the diagnostic capacity to find these patients, they will die without proper treatment,' said Nunn.

As a result, WHO is to hold its emergency meeting in Johannesburg to help establish measures that will lead to the rapid diagnosis of the new strain. 'It appears to kill within a few weeks and that does not give us a lot of time to spot it and treat it with the right drugs,' added Nunn. The few classes of drugs that are still effective against this strain of TB are expensive and can be toxic.

drug
resistant
Tuberculosis
TB

The Wicker Man - Crash and Burn?

Both the Not-wife and I love a good (or a not so good) horror, especially a cheesy Hammer film like Countess Dracula (Please don’t look at this film for a the true biography of Elizabeth Bathory!), Deathline (If you have ever been on the Underground you would believe in cannibals too!) or Witchfinder General (the jolly japes of Essex boy Matthew Hopkins).

Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle

One film stands head and shoulders above these offerings. I mean of course the Wicker Man which features star turns by Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee, plenty of nudity and a stunning soundtrack (If you are a folk aficionado that is)

Britt Ekland as Willow

Ultra conservative and deeply religious Police sergeant Howie (Woodward), sets out to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, Rowan Morrison, on the remote Scottish island of Summerisle. During his investigations he discovers that entire population follows a pagan religion under the island's owner Lord Summerisle (Lee) Needless to say Howie is increasingly shocked by the islanders' behaviour (although he is simultaneously attracted and repulsed by the alluring Willow (Britt Ekland). As the film unfolds he uncovers evidence indicating that Rowan may soon be the victim of a human sacrifice. In the hope of saving her he disguises himself as Punch and infiltrates the Island’s May Day festival. Little does he realise the fate that awaits him!

Sergeant Howie about to meet his awful fate

The Wicker Man had a troubled history. The film was massively cut before receiving a release as the support feature to Don’t Look Now. Despite its uneven and rather incoherent cut the Wicker Man eventually became a cult hit. In the late 90s an extended version was released that gave the film greater coherence. Sadly, the original cut no longer exists. Despite this it is an excellent film.

Hollywood is often unfairly criticised for the quality of its output (it is often fairly criticised too!). One of the biggest bug bears in my view is its fetish for remakes. Generally it manages to make a sow’s ear out of a silk purse – Get Carter, the Italian Job, Sommersby/the Return of Martin Guerre, the Ring/Ringu all spring to mind. Some remakes aren’t too bad: the Vanishing is well executed remake of Spoorloos except for its happy ending (It probably helped that George Sluizer directed both versions).

Nicholas Cage

I suppose it was inevitable that Hollywood would eventually get around to a remake of the Wicker Man: Edward Woodward has been replaced by Nicholas Cage, the Western isles have been transplanted to Puget Sound and Lord Summerisle becomes Ellen Burstyn as Sister Summersisle. Directed by NeilLaBute, the remake has just opened in the US to a hail of bad reviews.Writing in the Toronto Star, Peter Howell dubbed the film "an unholy mess" full of moments of "unintended hilarity”. Screen International critic Allan Hunter dismissed it as "a clunky, conventional mystery yarn that will appall aficionados of the Robin Hardy classic". Danny Minton of the Beaumont Sun went further, predicting that The Wicker Man will go down as one of the worst movies of the year. "This is the kind of film for which Golden Raspberries were made," he wrote. A private reviewer in the Washington Post said “A Wicker Chair is more interesting”.

Sister Summersisle

It is not all bad news: the Orlando Sentinel claimed that the film has some good ideas but never develops them. "It doesn't quite work out because LaBute or his studio lost its nerve and couldn't decide whether to play the film ironic, horrific or just a goof," Warner Bros has a lot riding on the success of The Wicker Man. The studio has been stung in recent months by the failure of such high-profile releases as Poseidon and The Lady in the Water. Insiders predict that LaBute's film may go down as yet another disaster.

Given our bias we probably will not be venturing out to see this at the cinema. We probably will rent it when it is out on DVD. Will it will be “Battlefield Earth bad or “Plan 9 from Outer Space” bad? That is the dilemma!

Wicker
Man
remake
Hollywood
Turkey

Going for an English

From the often hilarious sketch show starring Meera Syal, Snjeev Bashkar, Nina Wadia and Kulvinder Gill. While it could be a bit hit and miss, when it was on form it was brilliant. This is probably the signature sketch (their Parrot sketch if you will). It goes to prove that turnaround is fair play!

Hammasa Kohistani

To be honest I had totally forgotten about Hammasa until she appeared in today’s Independent. Whether you consider beauty pageants to be eye candy or exploitation, she does remind us that stereotypes are there to be exploded. A beauty Queen may not have the kudos of an organisation like RAWA (these women are an inspiration in my view) but if she can make the “man on the street” realise that not all muslims are the same then it will be worthwhile.

Last year Hammasa Kohistani blended in with the throng of ethnically diverse students at her West London college. But her existence as an ordinary teenager ended last September when she became the first Muslim Miss England in the history of the contest.

Then aged 18, Ms Kohistani, the daughter of Afghan refugees who fled the Taliban, had no idea just how much the beauty crown would change her life, not least because it came just two months after the Tube bomb atrocities of 7 July. The timing meant her role was politicised from the start, and she found herself unwittingly placed in an ambassadorial role for modern Islam. That was never more evident than yesterday, when Ms Kohistani criticised Tony Blair for stereotyping the Islamic community in the wake of the London bombings. Her strong views and willingness to voice them have highlighted the tensions inherent in being both a Western beauty queen and a Muslim. While liberal Muslims from across the world hailed her as their mascot, her modelling career was met by frostiness in orthodox Islamic quarters.

Speaking yesterday as she resumed her studies at Uxbridge College, Ms Kohistani recalled: "The day after I won the pageant, I got a phonecall at about six in the morning. It was from an Afghan man living in Pakistan and he congratulated me and said my role would bring Afghan women a bit more respect. I received a card that some women in Afghanistan had made me which had a large pair of eyes and my image in the middle of the iris, saying I was 'the eyes of Afghan women' which I found so touching. But it can be difficult as well. In interviews, people always ask me questions about being a Muslim and about politics. At first it was quite rewarding and I enjoyed it. But after the first 200 interviews, I realised that it was all about me being Muslim. I won a beauty contest, not a politics degree." However, she conceded that being asked for her serious opinions has led her to reflect on what she believes, to the extent that she is considering a political career after university.

Reflecting on the past year, she feels the Tube attacks unified communities in one sense, as the people who were killed came from many different backgrounds and included Muslims. But she also believes that some "insensitive" comments by the Prime Minister have fuelled hostility towards Islam. "There's hostility on both sides, towards the Muslim community and from the Muslim community, who are trying not to have self-fulfilling prophecies that meet their stereotype, while the English community feel threatened by them."

After a year of travelling the world as Miss England, she has met world leaders including Shaukat Aziz, Prime Minister of Pakistan, and exchanged views with a diverse range of Muslim women. "Shaukat Aziz told me it was women like me that would make the world aware that there are so many more kinds of Muslim women out there than the stereotype that the Western media has of them in a burqa," she said. "Whenever we see images of Afghan women, they are in a burqa but there are so many women who don't look like this. "My own grandmother never wore a burqa. When people see me, they can't believe I'm from Afghanistan because I'm not covered up.

She has also used her increased profile to campaign for the most deprived women in Afghanistan. Together with her mother, she is creating a charity, Roshani, which translates as Light in Farsi, to raise funds for educating women and children. "It will be used to provide educational facilities for the most under-privileged but also for mental health. So many women in Afghanistan are illiterate, I felt I needed to do something."


Hammasa
Kohistani
England
Afghanistan

Bebe

Bebe is about 4 years old now. She was a feral cat who was rescued after she had her first litter. We took her in about 4 years ago and a few months of love and attention turned her from a terrified but wild cat into a loving and affectionate one. She is devoted to our Alpha cat Robyn.

And on a lighter note...

Many bloggers shw the results of Blogthings quizzes. Ah well why not try a few of these tests myself and see how they come out.

Your IQ Is 140

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Genius

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Hah! Music to my ears, Pander to that ego of mine!!!! MORE, MORE, MORE!!!

You Are a Liberal for Life

You've got a bleeding heart - and you're proud of it. For you, liberal means being compassionate, pro-government, and anti-business. You believe in equality for every person, and you consider yourself universally empathetic. Helping others is not just political for you ... it's very personal too.

What political persuasion are you?

Again, fair enough... I probably wouldn't use liberal, but pretty accurate..

You Are 68% Evil

You are very evil. And you're too evil to care. Those who love you probably also fear you. A lot.

How Evil Are You?

68% evil??? If I am that evil then Ned Flanders is Beelzebub made flesh.. Ah well I suppose I had better change my name to Auric Pullmyfinger and get on with my plan for domination of the Blogospere.... No Mister Bond I expect you to die, Mwuahahahaha

You're 35% Irish

You're probably less Irish than you think you are... But you're still more Irish than most.

How Irish Are You?

So that Harp on my passport is an illusion then.. Listen America, sticking washing up liquid in your beer to turn it green does not make you Irish, or Oirish for that matter, it makes you ILL!!

Ah these tests are not serious..........

WHAT IF?

I am a bit of a sucker for “what if” alternate histories Perhaps this is why I love Harry Turtledove’s World War/Colonisation (lizard race sends a probe to mediaeval earth but leave it a few centuries before invasion, landing bang in the middle of WWII!) and Great War/Settling Accounts (Confederates win the civil war so two there is the USA and CSA which fight on opposing sides in WWI and WWII) , series and the Changing the Times website. I must get hold of the current issue of Focus, a popular science magazine, which sets out a fascinating series of counterfactual scenarios. Today’s Independent sets out a few of these scenarios, including these:

1348: The Black Death is averted

In the 14th century, the Black Death came out of the heart of Asia. It affected all of Europe within a few years. In cities such as London, half the population died. It was monstrous, but the plague had first appeared in Europe in Roman times, so populations had some resistance. In all, just (just!) a third of Europeans were killed by the Black Death. Compare that to 95 per cent of native North Americans killed during the European conquests by measles, smallpox and plague - diseases to which they had no prior exposure. But could the Black Death have been averted? Arabic doctors had an understanding of hygiene, for example, far in advance of western European medicine. What if the Death had been stopped or diluted?

In the emptied world after the Death, the feudal systems came under strain. Suddenly there were too few folk to do the work; a bad lord could not keep employees. Prices changed as the population drop meant there was more than enough food. There were revolts as the rulers tried to regain control. The relationship of rulers to ruled was transformed, and the slow opening-up of the medieval world began. Our modern freedoms came out of the vast charnel house that was the Black Death.

1962: The Cuban missile crisis blows up

In October 1962, the Cold War almost got very hot indeed. The Soviet Union was losing the arms race. The Russians had an overwhelming number of troops in central Europe but only 300 unreliable long-range missiles. The US had 5,000 nuclear weapons it could have deployed against Soviet targets. Premier Khrushchev saw that if he could plant bases for short-range missiles on the island of Cuba, where there was a friendly Communist government, he could even up the playing field at a stroke. Saturday 27 October, 'Black Saturday', was the most dangerous time of all. An American spy plane was shot down by the Cubans and the US Navy forced a Russian submarine to the surface. Communications were poor and there was a danger of soldiers on the ground opening fire on their own initiative. World war was a gunshot away.

What if that fateful trigger had been pulled? The bombs would have fallen on Sunday 28 October 1962, at 8am in Britain - 3am in Washington - the most difficult time to respond. The first targets would have been military. Civilian, economic and industrial targets - the cities - would have been next. By mid-November Britain would be dark and cold. Epidemics of cholera, typhoid and dysentery would hit.

Reconstruction, rescue and corpse disposal would be attempted, with the workers paid in food. Looters would be shot. December would have seen the peak of deaths from radiation sickness. In all, between 17 and 38 million in Britain would die from the blast, the fallout or the cold. By 1967, between four and eight million people would have been scraping for survival.

alternate
History

Farewell to a king of Kitsch

Vladimir Tretchikoff, the artist whose painting of the Green Lady adorned countless homes in the 60s and 70s and became the best-selling commercial print of all time, has died aged 93. Tretchikoff, who earned the title "the king of kitsch", died in a nursing home in Cape Town, South Africa, on Saturday.

The artist's most famous work, properly known as The Chinese Girl, was inspired when, on a trip to San Francisco, he spotted the daughter of a local restaurant owner and asked if he could paint her. The portrait, notable for the blueish hue to the woman's skin and the yellowed collar of her tunic, sold more than half a million copies. "I always called it my father's Mona Lisa," his daughter, Mimi Mercorio, said of the 1950 work. "I never thought at the time it would become so famous, but it seemed to catch the public eye and they loved it."

The portrait appeared everywhere and became evocative of British popular culture. Tretchikoff always insisted he was a serious artist and hated being categorised as kitsch. Ms Mercorio said: "He didn't like it. It was a label that was dumped on him and it stuck. They abused it. If you look at his works, you can't call everything kitsch."

South
Africa
art
Kitsch

An Act of Contrition

Today’s Guardian carries a story concerning an act of contrition by a former South African cabinet minister. Adrian Vlok, who had been a minister of Law and Order during the apartheid era, washed the feet of Reverend Frank Chikane an anti-apartheid activist he allegedly tried to have murdered.

The ceremony took place in private earlier this month and was disclosed at the weekend by Mr Chikane. Mr Vlok had been accused of responsibility for an attempt to kill Mr Chikane in an incident in which his clothes and baggage were impregnated with poison while traveling in the US in May 1989. Mr Chikane headed the South African Council of Churches (SACC) when it was one of apartheid's fiercest critics.

The former minister of law and order has previously admitted responsibility for blowing up the offices of the South African council of churches and has received an amnesty for the incident. Mr Chikane, who is now director general of President Thabo Mbeki's office, said he was surprised and uncomfortable when Mr Vlok got down on the floor and washed his feet. Mr Vlok had sought a meeting to discuss "a personal matter

According to the South African News 24 website President Thabo Mbeki was reported to be "deeply moved" by Mr Vlok’s gesture "The gesture was from a committed Christian, who said that if Jesus Christ could do it, he could also." He said.

Mr Vlok and Rev Chikane said in a joint statement that it actually had been a private meeting, but decided that the action had been "so deep and important," they couldn't keep it secret. Mr Vlok said: "I want to thank him again for his attitude and the way he approached the situation." Mr Vlok said he had set a bad example throughout his life. "I'm deeply grateful that, through the grace of God, I received the opportunity to follow the example of my saviour, Jesus Christ, to set a better example for others. I give up my pride, my own self, my superiority, my uncharitable attitude, and my selfishness."

Independent Democrats leader Patricia De Lille said Vlok's gesture had been "a very personal extension of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. As we get older, we do more introspection about the good and bad we've done throughout our lives. As the only apartheid minister who acknowledged his sins before the TRC, he is apparently more honest with himself than others about the immoral nature of his previous deeds," said De Lille.

The Guardian & Mail reports that the South African Council of Churches (SACC) has welcomed an apology by apartheid minister of law and order Adriaan Vlok, but said considers it insufficient. SACC general secretary Eddie Makue commended Vlok, but felt that he and his former government colleagues still owe the South African people a full confession… "Many high-ranking members of the former government failed to participate unreservedly in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process. As a result, we are left with many unanswered questions concerning responsibility for gross human rights violations during the apartheid years." Makue said.

Shirley Gunn who spent more than two months in prison after former police minister Mr Vlok falsely accused her of bombing the headquarters of the SA Council of Churches, described the event as "provocative and insensitive".

I am sure that Mr Vlok was genuinely inspired by his faith to make this gesture, although through the eyes of this agnostic it seems does seem a curious way to make an apology….. but what do I know? What this incident seems to show (as if it would be a surprise) that, despite the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the ugly injustices of Apartheid are never far from the surface.

South
Africa
Vlok
Chikane

At Long Last a Memorial for Bomber Crews

After decades of campaigning by veterans a memorial has at long last been unveiled at Lincoln Cathedral to honour the 55,000 men who died while serving as bomber crew in World War II.

Lincoln is an appropriate place for such a memorial as Lincolnshire was the location of many of the RAF’s bomber stations - the cathedral served as a homecoming beacon for the bombers flying back from raids in Europe.

Douglas Hudson, a former navigator with 100 squadron, helped unveil the memorial:"And now in the hallowed precincts of Lincoln Cathedral for this poignant unveiling ceremony. It is absolutely wonderful."

story

Bomber
Command
Memorial