Monterey Bay Forum

The Department of Health and Human Services has signed a no-bid  contract  with Siga Technologies for as much as much as 2.8 billion  dollars’ worth of a high priced drug,  for a terrorism threat that may not exist. 

 The drug’s effectiveness is unknown because it cannot be tested on humans.  The threat it is intended to counter is an attack based on Smallpox (which has been eradicated and  “is known to exist only in the locked freezers of a Russian scientific institute and the U.S. government.”)

A large stockpile of effective and inexpensive smallpox vaccine already exists. The new drug is intended to be used after exposure to smallpox in the event of a bioterrorism attack.
Even if the threat were real, and the drug actually effective, the expensive (estimated $255 per dose, a price that bears no relationship at all to production cost) stockpile only has a shelf life of 38 months.

By coincidence, Siga is controlled by Billionaire Democrat mega-donor Ronald Perelman.
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So to summarize:  An untested, possibly fatal drug will be bought for billions of dollars from an Obama supporter to fight an unproven threat which will have to happen within 38 months so the drug’s effect,whatever it is, doesn’t expire.

FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

Instead of smelly tap water

Just because your tap water stinks and tastes bad doesn’t mean it is dangerous to drink, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission says after dozens of people complained about a musty aroma and odd flavor.

There is blue-green algae in the water, but not enough to cause any health problems, according to Andrew DeGrace, the water quality division director for the commission.
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Thanks Andrew, but pass the Perrier says FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

When coffee and chocolate disapear due to climate change...

“Coffee likes a pretty narrow range of temperatures, and one of the hallmarks, really, of climate change will be increased extremes in temperatures,” Todd Sanford, a climate scientist from the Union of Concerned Scientists, said.
“Those of us who enjoy our morning cup of coffee, we may not always realize that future climate change due to extreme temperatures, increased precipitation, really could in some ways put that at risk,” Sanford added.
So for coffee lovers, the idea of waking up without their morning brew could be a wake-up call to lead a more eco-friendly life.
This is the second time in less than a month that scientists have warned that climate change threatens a favorite food item. A few weeks ago, we were told it will be too hot by the year 2050 to grow cocoa beans in much of the Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s main cocoa-producing countries.
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Well vodka distills well in cold weather so it’s a fair trade.

FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

Prediction of colder weather this winter...

But for now, signs point to a wet November and December, said Mike Pechner, forecaster with Golden West Meteorology. Blame sunspots, which dim certain parts of the sun, leaving parts of the Earth’s atmosphere cooler than others.

FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

Switch Soylndra from solar panels to Soylent Green food rationing?

Soylndra, touted by President Obama to produce green jobs, goes belly up at a cost of $335 MILLION for U.S. taxpayers. Soylndra produced solar panels; eleven hundred California workers will lose their jobs. Soylndra is the third U.S. solar company to go broke in less than a month.

Can taxpayers recoop some of those lost stimulus millions?

How about converting part of the Soylndra property to a drive in theater lot. And show old classic pctures such as Soylent Green.

Instead of solar panels have the plant produce to “soylent green” food rations. For publicity, sell the soylent green food rations at the drive in along with candy and popcorn.

For humanitarian purposes and Obama’s penchant for “leading from the rear” the Obama government can buy and stock pile soylent green food rations for the next humanitarian war akin to Libya. Dropping green wafers from the sky is something any NATO plane can do without high level U.S. intelligence.

Remember the movie Soylent Green? With Obama at the helm of the economy that may be the future Obama seeks for America. Instead of exceptionalism of military, economic and cultural pre-eminence America’s future may be worse off that the most distressed areas of Africa where war and poverty are rampent.

DrCameronjackson@gmail.com (more…)

Neanderthals interbred with European & Asian early humans

Long ago, in a part of the world now known as Europe, early modern humans lived alongside the Neanderthal people – and they interbred.

FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

With Hurricane Irene coming, many thousands must evacuate New York City. First time ever, the MTA closes down. No buses or subways for a day or so. Here’s a map:

Manage U.S. drug addiction based on Switzerland's successful program

For more discussion, see The U.S. Needs a Drug Policy that Works Much Better, Letters to the Editor, The Wall Street Journal, Friday, July 8, 2011

Europeans profit from African drudgery

The World Bank’s Biocarbon Fund had arranged to pay European “entrepreneurs” $1 million to establish a system under which 60,000 Kenyans would restrict themselves to farming under rigidly controlled, inefficient, “sustainable” techniques.

FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

Dirty San Francisco!

Our City by the Bay scored the dubious honor of being listed as the 12th dirtiest city in the nation in Travel + Leisure’s annual America’s Favorite Cities survey.
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The glory of organic filth.