RoguePundit

Studying Jaguars to Death

A century ago, the jaguar was found in the four states bordering Mexico--as far north as the Grand Canyon.  However, it has been all-but-extirpated from this country via hunting and habitat loss.  Jaguars are still occasionally seen in southern Arizona and New Mexico, but there's no known breeding population here.  Recently, it seems that one of the greatest dangers to jaguars in or near the U.S. is researchers trying to study them.  

In the last seven years, biologists have captured four jaguars in the Arizona-Sonora region, in each case intending to put a radio collar on the animal and follow its movements.

June 9, 2002: Nacori Chico, Sonora

...

The animal never recovered from sedation and died as the warm morning turned hot. Rosas attributed the death to "heat stress."

Ugh.  The animal had been trapped in a leg snare.  The first ketamine dart didn't do the trick, but the second dart--a half-dose, sure did.  The researcher was a PhD student from New Mexico State University.

March 30, 2003: Rancho Los Pavos, Sonora

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They managed to sedate and collar the jaguar, who was released.

"Her health was good, and we made sure she was in good condition several weeks after capture," Avila said in a statement written this year.

Researchers discovered in October 2003 that the jaguar had slipped out of the collar.

A few months of data is better than nothing.  And two days later, the same pair of biologists captured another jaguar.

April 1, 2003: Rancho Los Pavos, Sonora

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The two biologists had already trapped mountain lions as part of the research, but they said in e-mails they were woefully unprepared for the jaguar capture. They used a blowgun and a "jab stick" to try to sedate the jaguar, which lunged at them.

They put a radio collar on the jaguar, but it died. McCain concluded that the heat of that day and the difficulty sedating the animal combined to cause the death.

Woefully unprepared??  Switching to a more detailed article on this debacle.

The biologists involved in the Mexican capture blamed their supervisor—a prominent researcher and published authority on jaguars—for failing to adequately prepare them for the capture. 

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Avila and McCain also wrote in their e-mails that Lopez Gonzales told them to keep the death quiet and to hide the cat's skin and skull at the ranch. Emil McCain skinned the jaguar, cleaned the skull and buried the body close to the ranch, Avila wrote.

Lopez Gonzalez denied telling the biologists to cover up the death but acknowledged that he didn't want them traveling anywhere with the jaguar corpse, saying he "didn't think he would be looked at very good in the towns."

Lopez Gonzalez said he notified Semarnat, the Mexican environmental agency, of the death, but agency representatives told the Star they could find no information about the 2003 jaguar capture.

Carlos Lopez Gonzalez is a Mexican research biologist at the Universidad de Queretaro.  In the late '90s,

...Lopez Gonzalez started researching jaguars in Sonora while working on a book—published in 2001—with David Brown, an Arizona State University adjunct professor and a wildlife biologist for 40 years.

Lopez Gonzalez targeted the rough, steep, canyon-filled eastern Sonora terrain centering on Los Pavos, a 10,000-acre ranch in the thornscrub, 65 miles from the nearest town. His work drew support from 20 conservation groups and environmentalists, including Tucsonan Craig Miller of Defenders of Wildlife.  Miller recently said he had long felt that if any hope existed for jaguars to recover north of the border, it had to start with protecting and recovering the far larger population in Sonora.

I agree, but not killing the jaguars already here also matters.  Back to the original article.

Feb. 18, 2009: Between Nogales and Arivaca, Ariz

Arizona Game and Fish biologists Thorry Smith and Michelle Crabb were checking snares, set as part of a mountain lion and bear study, when they found a jaguar had been trapped.

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Smith used an injection rifle to fire a dart containing the sedative Telazol into the old jaguar's rump, and after 13 minutes, the jaguar was quiet. The morning was cold and the cat's body temperature was cool. He looked healthy when released, but within days he was barely moving.

On March 2, a team recaptured the jaguar and took him to the Phoenix Zoo for treatment. There, a medical team diagnosed terminal kidney failure and euthanized him.

That cat--Macho B--had been first photographed in Arizona in 1996. Switching back to the other article...

Since Macho B's death, environmentalists have said the department did not learn the lessons of the earlier Sonoran jaguar deaths.

For one, there was no veterinarian or anyone with jaguar-capture experience on the scene at Macho B's capture, although the capture team had consulted with veterinarians on what kind of anesthetic to give a jaguar in the event of a capture. Because the trap that snared Macho B had no electronic signal, biologists didn't learn of the capture until three to 14 hours after it occurred.

The captors also used a snare trap even though a risk assessment done for the Jaguar Conservation Team had warned that was the riskiest of three possible methods of capture, instead advocating the use of hounds.

Game and Fish officials have said they did not take those steps because that was the protocol for deliberate jaguar capture—not for accidental capture.

Yeah, but why would one trap big cats in that area without being prepared for the possibility of snaring a jaguar?  Meanwhile, environmentalists actually recommended using hounds to go after jaguars?  And if the officials had used hounds, what would the environmentalists say they instead should have been doing? 

The Body's Regulation of Copper

Prion proteins still aren't well understood. The misfolded ones get most of the press, as they're linked to fatal neurodegenerative conditions like mad cow disease, chronic wasting disease, and scrapie.  Quoting an old post...

There is a divergent line of thinking when it comes to the causes of prion diseases.  It relates to the presence or lack thereof of certain metals. 

There are links between prion proteins and the regulation of copper in the brain, leading some to believe that prion diseases are related to a copper deficiency.  It could be because of a shortage of copper in the diet and/or the presence of other metals (typically manganese--which is unrelated to magnesium) that can occupy prion protein receptors instead of copper.  However, there is also research which fails to support prion protein's role in regulating copper in the brain.  Nevertheless, there are clusters of TSE cases in areas with high manganese and where, for instance, strong pesticides have been used that can impact the uptake of copper.

Last week, a research team published the following on the topic. 

Prion proteins, or PrPs, are commonly found in brain tissue and throughout the central nervous system. In humans or animals with prion diseases, these proteins deform and aggregate, creating clumps of PrPs that interfere with the nervous system's ability to function normally. A team of NC State physicists, led by Miroslav Hodak and Jerry Bernholc, has found that when PrPs bind with copper in the human body, their structure becomes more stable and less likely to misfold or aggregate.

"We believe that a prion protein's normal function is to serve as a copper buffer in the human body, binding with copper ions and keeping those ions from damaging human tissue," Hodak says. "We wanted to determine whether this was the normal function of the prion, and then look at how that binding affected the prion's structure."

The researchers created a 3-D model of the PrP using supercomputers at Oak Ridge National Laboratories. With the model, they determined that PrPs can bind up to four copper ions apiece, depending on the concentration of copper present. They also found that when the PrPs bind to the copper ions, the structure of the protein changes, becoming more stable.

...

"Prion proteins are unusual in that half of the protein has a well-defined structure, but the other half of it - where the binding occurs - is a flexible, random tangle," Hodak says. "When we looked at the so-called 'random' portion of the PrP where that binding occurs, we found that the copper ions lend stability to the overall protein. This stability may play a role in preventing PrPs from misfolding or aggregating - which indicates that with prion diseases, copper binding may be beneficial.

Slowly but surely, scientists are chipping away at this mystery.

Random Nature #219

Not Bulletproof:  It's no mystery that many teens engage in a range of risky behaviors.  People keep looking for reasons why.  

Borowsky and colleagues analyzed data collected by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of more than 20,000 youth in grades 7 through 12 during three separate study years. In the first set of interviews, nearly 15 percent of adolescents predicted they had a 50/50 chance or less of living to age 35. Those who engaged in risky behaviors such as illicit drug use, suicide attempts, fighting, or unsafe sexual activity in the first year were more likely in subsequent years to believe they would die at a young age. Vice versa, those who predicted that they'd die young during the first interview were more likely in later years to begin engaging in these same risky behaviors and have poor health outcomes. Notably, these teens were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS just six years later, regardless of their sexual preference.

"While conventional wisdom says that teens engage in risky behaviors because they feel invulnerable to harm, this study suggests that in some cases, teens take risks because they overestimate their vulnerability, specifically their risk of dying," Borowsky said. "These youth may take risks because they feel hopeless and figure that not much is at stake."

I thought we already knew that with--for instance--gang activity.  Anyway...

Nearly 25 percent of youth living in households that receive public assistance and more than 29 percent of American-Indian, 26 percent of African-American, 21 percent of Hispanic, and 15 percent of Asian youth reported believing they would die young—compared to just 10 percent of their Caucasian peers.

So, hope is about income?

"Our findings reinforce the importance of instilling a sense of hope and optimism in youth," Borowsky said. "Strong connections with parents, families, and schools, as well as positive media messages, are likely important factors in developing an optimistic outlook for young people."

Sounds nice, but that's way easier to claim than to prove. 

Consequences:  Plenty of research shows that alcohol consumption increases the risk of cancer (example here).  Men still drink more than women, but the gap is closing.  From this link...

Research from Canada's own Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) featured in this week's edition of the Lancet shows that worldwide, 1 in 25 deaths are directly attributable to alcohol consumption. This rise since 2000 is mainly due to increases in the number of women drinking.

CAMH's Dr Jürgen Rehm and his colleagues found that alcohol-attributable disorders are among the most disabling disease categories within the global burden of disease, especially for men. And in contrast to other traditional risk factors for disease, the burden attributable to alcohol lies more with younger people than with the older population.

There is research that attributes 3.5% of all cancer deaths worldwide to alcohol drinking.  But how often does an autopsy or death certificate for a cancer victim note that the cause of death was alcohol consumption?  In other words, part of this study was based upon estimates rather than hard data. 

The study showed that Europe had a high proportion of deaths related to alcohol, with 1 in 10 deaths directly attributable (up to 15% in the former Soviet Union). Average alcohol consumption in Europe in the adult population is somewhat higher than in North America: 13 standard drinks per person per week (1 standard drink = 13.6 grams of pure ethanol and corresponds to a can of beer, one glass or wine and one shot of spirits) compared to North America's 10 to 11 standard drinks. The recent Canadian consumption rate is equivalent of almost 9 standard drinks per person per week age 15 plus, and has been going up, as has high risk drinking. Globally, the average is around 7 standard drinks per person per week (despite the fact that most of the adult population worldwide actually abstains from drinking alcohol).

Most of the deaths caused by alcohol were through injuries, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and liver cirrhosis.

...

"Globally, the effect of alcohol on burden of disease is about the same size as that of smoking in 2000, but it is relatively greatest in emerging economies. Global consumption is increasing, especially in the most populous countries of India and China."

Most of the alcohol related injury and disease burden occurs in people under 45 years of age.  The global statistic is 72.4%, but in the Americas it is 82.1%.  Unfortunately, the data is rather broad...the four categories are ages 0-14, 15-44, 45-69, and 70 & older.  As one would expect, the big numbers are in the 15-44 category.

Slow-Motion Prohibition:  When our nicotine addict-in-chief signed the bill giving the FDA authority to regulate tobacco, a couple of tobacco researchers jumped on the bandwagon and offered some advice for reducing smoking rates over the next 50 years.

Substantial increases in federal and state tobacco excise taxes.

A national clean-indoor air law.

Elimination of nicotine from tobacco products.

Funds for an aggressive mass media campaign to counter the tide of tobacco industry ads and sponsorships.

A ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

Evidence-based counseling and medication for every smoker who wants to quit.

Protecting young people, particularly those 17 and younger, from starting to smoke. Research shows that a major genetic risk for lifelong nicotine dependence can be suppressed if young people avoid daily smoking prior to age 17.

That suggestion to eliminate nicotine from tobacco products didn't do much for their credibility.  And how much more anti-smoking advertising do we need before they consider it an aggressive campaign?  But, the point about genetic risk is certainly interesting.

One of the things the researchers emphasized is that adult smoking rates have been steadily decreasing for 40 years.  Switching to another piece of research published this past week...

In 2005, 32 percent of active-duty personnel and 22 percent of veterans were smokers; rates among active-duty personnel have recently increased, possibly because of growing tobacco use by deployed troops.

Not good...but why didn't they ask the age the troops took-up smoking?  For instance, perhaps as the standards for new recruits have been relaxed, an increasing percentage of smokers has been accepted into the military.  

Not Self-Sufficient:  Many of those who make it to old age aren't financially prepared to take care of themselves.  The U.S., like most industrialized nations is dependent upon population growth to fund pay-as-you-go benefits.  This is one of several reasons that politicians tend to be more enthusiastic about immigration than the people they serve.  

Spain has been studying this issue.  From an press release on research entitled (in Spanish) "The effect of immigration on the long-term sustainability of the pension system in Spain."

Researchers from the University of Valladolid have constructed a demographic and economic simulation model called 'Carrión', which projects the costs of pensions, Social Security contributions and GDP up until 2060. The model also includes detailed scenarios about the behaviour of people migrating to Spain currently and in the future, in relation to the length of time they stay, their fertility, salaries and employment rate.

The new study ... evaluates the stability of the Spanish pensions system and carries out a detailed analysis of the effect of immigration on the accounts of the Social Security system.

One of the most striking results is that by 2055 the contributions/pensions ratio of immigrants "will have a net value in excess of that of native-born people", Jiménez-Ridruejo tells SINC. The researcher says that, through this demographic and economic simulation model, his team has provided the first projection of the contribution made by migrants to the Spanish pensions system, both in terms of contributions and pensions expenditure.

In 2008, foreign-born individuals comprised roughly 12% of the Spanish population.  From 1996-2008, the number of immigrants--both legal and otherwise--rose from about 500,000 to 5,220,000.  The biggest sources of legal immigrants are Romania and Morocco.  The majority of the immigrants are from Latin America--especially Ecuador, Bolivia, and Colombia.  And we can't forget the sun-deprived British; the official number is 350,000, though it may be as high as 1 million.

The study also shows a more pronounced increase in the fertility rate, which will reach almost two children per woman, and that the pension load will start to decline after 2020. This will primarily be due to the rejuvenation of the population, implying reduced increases in the dependency rate, an indicator that "could even start to decline by 2055".

Spain's fertility rate is currently well-below replacement--just 1.37.  Of note though is that it's been climbing since the late 90s...along with immigration.  However, expecting the number to rise to almost 2.0 sure seems optimistic.  But then, optimism is a key component of pension math.

When our politicians claim they're pro-environment, ask them how they're going to pay for social security long-term without a continuing increase in the population--which isn't good for the environment. 

With Green Priorities Like These...

For an organization that is claims to be a coalition of over 50 Oregon conservation groups, the Oregon Conservation Network (OCN) sure doesn't make it easy to find out who its members are.  This incomplete list (linked from here) includes groups like 1000 Friends of Oregon, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, and the League of Women Voters of Oregon.  Hmmm.  

Anyway, the OCN recently amended its legislative wish list for the umpteenth time this session.  There is some disappointing stuff in its top five.  

• Senate Bill 101: Prevents Oregon utilities from entering into new contracts for coal-fired power.

That's a pretty obvious one, though it wouldn't be good for the energy bills of most Oregonians.

• SB 740: Allows Water Resources Department to charge $100 annual fee to holders of water rights to fund administration, field staff and science for managing more than 85,000 water rights in Oregon.

So, property owners with wells--like me--would have to pay $100 a year in exchange for what?  The Water Resources Department needs another $8.5 million to do what it's already doing?  Meanwhile, there's nothing in the bill to stop the legislature from cutting a similar amount from the department's budget and spending the money elsewhere.  And laughably, the bill would declare the collection of this money a public peace, health, and safety emergency.  This bill smells.    

• House Bill 2020: Authorizes issuing $10 million in lottery-backed bonds for a fund to target invasive species as soon as they're spotted.

Combating invasive species is usually a good thing.  But doing it with debt rather than within the state budget is a lousy idea. 

• HB 2220: Charges fees to boaters to fund check stations that would check boats for aquatic invasive species. Establishes civil penalties for knowingly transporting zebra mussels and other invasive species on a boat.

I suppose it's possible that boat check stations could be more effective than the agricultural inspection stations we pass through when entering California.  We do need penalties though for knowingly transporting invasive species in boats...and cars, trains, planes, etc.  The release of bait fish has certainly caused all sorts of problems in Diamond Lake (previous blog here).  One would presume the state would try to prove the "knowingly" part through the permitting process.    

• HB 3369: Authorizes $175 million in loans and $10 million in lottery-funded grants for water development projects that meet conservation requirements.

This is another proposal to expand the state budget via debt.  No matter what the money would be spent on, this is fiscally reckless.  No, no, no.

At least the following is moving forward despite its absence from the list...though the governor may veto it.

By a 26-2 vote, the Senate approved House Bill 2472, which lowers the maximum state payments to large wind projects from $10 million to $3.5 million. Along with some other changes, the bill is expected to save taxpayers about $10 million a year.

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At issue is Oregon's Business Energy Tax Credit, a once minor subsidy program aimed at boosting conservation efforts. Two years ago, at Kulongoski's behest, the Legislature vastly expanded the program, offering millions of dollars to lure wind and solar companies to bring their projects -- and the jobs that come with them -- to Oregon.

The changes allowed a business to recoup up to half the cost of building a new plant that either generates renewable power or makes equipment for renewable power generation. With a maximum credit of $20 million, the subsidies quickly became the most generous in the nation. They have been credited for bringing a number of wind and solar projects to Oregon, including SolarWorld.

As a result, however, state spending on the projects ballooned to more than $60 million over the past two years and was expected to rise to about $150 million in the coming two years.

An investigation by The Oregonian this year showed that millions of dollars in credits were being handed to some risky startup companies, to projects with questionable environmental benefits and to projects that would have been built even without the credits.

If we could just get the leadership in Salem to think long term.  We're bribing companies to come here for a few years rather than investing more money in our university system to build foundations that would attract green businesses here on merit.  Most of the green jobs we've lured here with subsidies don't involve setting down roots...those employers will go wherever their costs are lowest. 

We need to grow more of our own jobs, but our university system isn't up to the task in the sciences and engineering.  There needs to be more research...and the quality of some of what's being done needs to improve.  Our universities are known for producing too many activists and not enough scientists...and of course, the ugly uniforms.

Importing More Canadian Garbage

For over a decade, Vancouver BC has been debating what to do when the nearby Cache Creek landfill closes (previous blog here).  Well, the landfill is scheduled to close in July of next year, and Vancouver is still dithering.  That's why it may soon be imitating Seattle and Portland...by sending much of its garbage to American landfills east of the Cascades.

The host of the 2010 Olympics--which will supposedly be the greenest Olympics ever--certainly wouldn't be the first Canadian city to export its garbage.  For instance, Toronto and some neighboring communities have been trucking garbage to Michigan for years.  MIchigan politicians have been pressuring Ontario to stop...and Toronto has been reducing the amount of waste going west.  But, it's not just the inability of politicians to make hard decisions.

Try Recycling charges customers who drop off their waste, then resells it after turning it into consumer products.

Try also wanted to tap into the lucrative Greater Toronto Area garbage being driven by London on Highway 401 to Michigan, but has had little success to date.

"We are competing with Michigan and it is tough. They have very cheap tipping rates," Graham said.

Gosh, a rare example where the U.S. is a low-cost provider.

The owners of the Cache Creek landfill are hoping to get an expansion approved, and there's an effort to establish a new landfill.  However, both are being opposed by local tribes.  Metro Vancouver is also looking into building several waste-to-energy plants and possibly composting its organic waste.  Maybe someday those will finally come to pass.  Meanwhile...

Metro Vancouver officials want to ship up to 600,000 tons of garbage per year into the U.S. for up to five years after Cache Creek closes. Officials are now considering two companies for the disposal contract, Rabanco Companies and Waste Management.

If Metro Vancouver chooses to contract with Rabanco, then Sumas [WA] could see 450,000 tons of garbage every year that would be shipped down in containers. Those containers would be transferred from trucks to trains at Rabanco's Sumas facility. The remaining 150,000 tons of trash would be transferred in Surrey, with all the garbage ending up at Roosevelt Regional Landfill in southern Washington.  

The Waste Management proposal would transfer 600,000 tons of trash from trucks to trains on Annacis Island in British Columbia, taking it to either the Greater Wenatchee Landfill or Oregon's Columbia Ridge Landfill.

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The border town is already a stopping point for garbage, said Sumas Mayor Bob Bromley, about 12 containers per day compared to about 45 if Rabanco's proposal is chosen.

Both the Surrey BC option and the Waste Management proposal would involve sealed train cars crossing the border at Blaine WA (which is on the water) rather than further inland at Sumas.  The garbage currently trucked across the border at Sumas can be rather smelly, as it's only covered with a tarp.  The proposed additional garbage would come in sealed containers.  

The Columbia Ridge Landfill (55 miles east of The Dalles) is the largest in the Northwest.  It's biggest customers are Seattle and Portland.  Both send their garbage up the Gorge, with Seattle using trains while Portland uses trucks.  

The four-year-old contract, which will continue for at least another 16 years, calls for Jack Gray Transport to truck garbage from Portland, Ore., transfer stations to the Columbia Ridge landfill near Arlington in central Oregon.

Though it is only 153 miles from Portland to the landfill, JGT has used 45 trucks and 200 semi-trailers to log more than 28 million miles and move some 7 billion pounds of garbage. The haul along Interstate 84 through the scenic Columbia River Gorge runs 24 hours a day, five days a week.

JGT's contract with Metro, a regional government responsible for solid waste disposal for Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties (the greater Portland area), will peak at more than $208 million before it expires in 2010. By that time, their fleet will have made more than 500,000 trips over 150 million miles and carried 26 billion pounds of garbage.

The Oregonian noted a couple of months ago that accepting trash from NIMBY urbanites has helped rural Gilliam County's economy hold up better than most here in Oregon during the recession.

Vancouver is looking to up its recycling to save money...though we're supposed to believe it's about being green.  It's obvious that transporting and disposing of one's garbage several hundred miles away isn't green.  But, urbanites are good at ignoring such things when pretending that they're more environmentally conscious than their rural brethren.  There isn't much less green or natural than a large metropolitan area.

A Personal Electric Plane

Which gets better gas mileage, private planes or automobiles?  Well, it depends.  

Gas efficiency is already on the order of cars--the new Icon A5, a light-sport aircraft on sale next year, will get 25 miles per gallon. And learning to fly has never been easier. A typical pilot's license costs about $10,000 and requires 40 hours of training. But in 2004 the FAA created a new designation for light-sport planes: those with one engine, a flight ceiling below 10,000 feet and a top speed of less than 138 mph. Light-sport certification takes half as long as usual. In response, entrepreneurs are rushing forward with intriguing ideas and options.

Thus, there's now a plane--not a glider--that doesn't burn fuel to fly. 

Yuneec, an aviation startup based near Shanghai, has completed a test flight of what they claim will be world's first commercially available electric airplane.

...

The airplane, dubbed the E430, seats two and is made with lightweight composites. The 230-volt powerplant charges in three hours, and can fly for about 2.5 hours on a single charge. Yuneec says it'll cost just $89,000. That's fairly cheap for an aircraft of this sort--for example, the much ballyhooed Icon A5begins at $139,000, and over 400 have already been pre-ordered.

It takes a $5,000 deposit to reserve an A5...whose cockpit looks more like a car than an airplane.  Delivery is supposed to start in late 2010.  Meanwhile, Yuneec is currently shipping an E430 to the U.S. for certification as a light-sport aircraft.  It will be on display at the Oshkosh airshow at the end of July.

Mothballing Manure Ethanol

In the summer of 2006, Panda Ethanol got financing to construct a poop-to-pump ethanol plant in Hereford TX (previous blog here).  The concept was to gassify manure--one billion tons per year--into methane, and then burn it to help produce 105 million gallons of ethanol per year from corn and milo.  

Early this year, Panda Ethanol's Hereford Biofuels subsidiary--that poop-to-pump plant and its operations--filed for bankruptcy.  From a recent BBC article...

As you get closer to the ethanol plant, you notice that the lorries transporting manure are taking it away from the facility, not towards it.

In fact, the plant is only 95% built and it's never produced a drop of ethanol. Almost all of the employees who were working on the ethanol trials have been laid off.

It was a $200 million plant...that is being sold for $25 million to Ethanol International, a subsidiary of Société Générale.  The European financial services company (headquartered in France) had helped arrange financing for the plant.  It's mothballing the facility, hoping to eventually operate or sell it...presumably the latter. 

The project was beset by construction delays, including foundation problems and workers coming down with Q fever--a nasty bacterial infection that fortunately isn't very common.

Only about one-half of all people infected with C. burnetii show signs of clinical illness. Most acute cases of Q fever begin with sudden onset of one or more of the following: high fevers (up to 104-105° F), severe headache, general malaise, confusion, sore throat, chills, sweats, non-productive cough, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and chest pain. Fever usually lasts for 1 to 2 weeks. Weight loss can occur and persist for some time. Thirty to fifty percent of patients with a symptomatic infection will develop pneumonia. Additionally, a majority of patients have abnormal results on liver function tests and some will develop hepatitis. In general, most patients will recover to good health within several months without any treatment. Only 1% - 2% of people with acute Q fever die of the disease.

I had an acute case about thirty years ago when I was in college.  My fever went as high as 104.7°(boy did it come on fast), and I followed it up with an awful case of strep throat...missed three weeks of classes.  The doctor guessed that I picked it up breathing dust from a large cattle ranch I drove by every day. 

Cattle, sheep, and goats are the primary reservoirs of C. burnetii.  Infection has been noted in a wide variety of other animals, including other species of livestock and in domesticated pets.  Coxiella burnetii does not usually cause clinical disease in these animals, although abortion in goats and sheep has been linked to C. burnetii infection.  Organisms are excreted in milk, urine, and feces of infected animals. Most importantly, during birthing the organisms are shed in high numbers within the amniotic fluids and the placenta.  The organisms are resistant to heat, drying, and many common disinfectants.  These features enable the bacteria to survive for long periods in the environment.  Infection of humans usually occurs by inhalation of these organisms from air that contains airborne barnyard dust contaminated by dried placental material, birth fluids, and excreta of infected herd animals.  Humans are often very susceptible to the disease, and very few organisms may be required to cause infection.

The doxycycline worked.  Fortunately, I should be immune to Q fever now. 

Back to the article on the poop-to-pump plant. 

The twists and turns of the project have all been monitored by Chip Formby, the general manager of the local radio station, K-PAN.

His commitment to renewable energy can be seen in the wind turbine that stands in K-PAN's car park, providing the station with around a fifth of its electricity.

He has quite a few questions: "Panda was provided a site of nearly 400 acres absolutely free, federal ethanol incentives, huge property tax reduction over the next 10 years and a $2m road improvement scheme ... and there's been no public accountability, never really a suitable explanation for that failure." 

There is nowhere near enough disclosure when it comes to how our tax dollars are spent/wasted on such efforts.  Strange factoid of the day...Panda Ethanol's parent corporation--Panda Energy International--is the majority owner (72%) of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).  

Meanwhile this week...

Top experts in biomethane met in Sacramento for the first ever national summit on the topic, talking about taking cow waste, harnessing the methane it emits and turning it into natural gas to power vehicles.

"This is extremely exciting, and this is really a budding industry here in California. It's just getting started with tremendous potential," said Biomethane SummitOrganizer Erik Neandross.

It could be the future for California's ailing dairy farms which have seen milk prices and profits drop lately.

About a dozen are already trying it here, with far more interested, but they can't afford the equipment.

"Costs are extraordinary. To place a methane digester on a dairy, our average cost is about $1.2 million per installation," said Western United Dairymen Michael Marsh.

The future, huh?  I like this quote from the original article by the owner of a feed yard...

"Over the last 20, 30 years, there've been lots of people with new ideas--pie in the sky ideas--about how we were going to use manure but, at the end of the day, the best thing we use it for is fertiliser."

But with enough subsidies...

Deep Ecology and the Human Pox

That recent ELF threat in Australia (previous blog here) understandably has some folks alarmed.  From an opinion piece in The Australian...

Many now believe that natural disasters or the emergence of new diseases are attempts by Gaia to rid "herself" of the human virus.

The American novelist Kurt Vonnegut, hero to disaffected youth, said shortly before his death in 2007: "I think the Earth's immune system is trying to get rid of us. And it's high time it did."

In the 80s, Earth First!--then a rather trendy environmentalist outfit, which later spawned the ELF--said "the possible benefits of (AIDS) to the environment are staggering: just as the plague contributed to the demise of feudalism, AIDS has the potential to end industrialism." This view of humans as a pox has trickled down into popular culture. In the hugely popular Matrix films, one of the sinister agents sent to infiltrate humanity says: "Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague and we are the cure." Now the ELF fancies itself as the cure.

Even today's less hysterical and officially endorsed environmentalist campaigns treat the human presence on Earth as something shameful and dirty.

It was Earth First! co-founder Dave Foreman who said, "It is time for a warrior society to rise up out of the Earth and throw itself in front of the juggernaut of destruction, to be antibodies against the human pox that's ravaging this precious beautiful planet."  The AIDS reference is part of a much longer quote.  Under the pseudonym Miss Ann Thropy, Christopher Manes--a former Earth First! activist--wrote the following in 1987.   

If radical environmentalists were to invent a disease to bring human population back to ecological sanity, it would probably be something like AIDS. So as hysteria sweeps over the governments of the world, let me offer an ecological perspective on the disease (with the understanding that the association between AIDS and homosexuality is purely accidental and irrelevant - in Africa it is a heterosexual disease, and is destined to be everywhere).

I take it as axiomatic that the only real hope for the continuation of diverse ecosystems on this planet is an enormous decline in human population. Conservation, social justice, appropriate technology, etc., are great to discuss and even laudable, but they simply don't address the problem. Furthermore, the whole economy of industrial affluence (and poverty) must give way to a hunter-gatherer way of life, which is the only economy compatible with a healthy land.

Of course, such a decline is inevitable. Through nuclear war or mass starvation due to desertification or some other environmental cataclysm, human overpopulation will succumb to ecological limits. But in such cases, we would inherit a barren, ravaged world, devoid of otters and redwoods, Blue Whales and butterflies, tigers and orchids.

Barring a cure, the possible benefits of this (AIDS) to the environment are staggering. If, like the Black Death in Europe, AIDS affected one-third of the world's population, it would cause an immediate respite for endangered wildlife on every continent. More significantly, just as the Plague contributed to the demise of feudalism, AIDS has the potential to end industrialism, which is the main force behind the environmental crisis.

None of this is intended to disregard or discount the suffering of AIDS victims. But one way or another there will be victims of overpopulation - through war, famine, humiliating poverty. As radical environmentalists, we can see AIDS not as a problem, but a necessary solution (one you probably don't want to try for yourself). To paraphrase Voltaire: if the AIDS epidemic didn't exist, radical environmentalists would have to invent one.

It's pessimism about the carrying capacity of earth, the same thing that helps drive the blind faith so many have in catastrophic climate change.  It's also a complete lack of faith in man's ability to adapt and increase the carrying capacity of the earth.  Even major achievements like the agricultural revolution will eventually fail because of what man's doing to the soil, rivers, native species, climate, etc.  Their solution isn't advancement or accommodation, but retreat...which to some justifies destruction, except of course of themselves. 

Many radical environmentalists, including a number of those in Earth First!, embrace the philosophy of deep ecology.  Via Wikipedia, from "Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered" by Bill DeVall and George Sessions.

1. The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman life on Earth have value in themselves (synonyms: intrinsic value, inherent value). These values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes.
2. Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves.
3. Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital human needs.
4. The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing of nonhuman life requires such a decrease.
5. Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening.
6. Policies must therefore be changed. These policies affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present.
7. The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in situations of inherent value) rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big and great.
8. Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to try to implement the necessary changes.

However, most environmentalists are afraid to directly address the subject of overpopulation, much less how they propose to depopulate the earth. 

Nuclear Power in Southwestern Asia

One of several reasons that many folks condemn Iran's nuclear research is that it's an oil-rich nation--why should it need nuclear power?  Same goes for the UAE.

President Barack Obama has approved plans for the U.S. to help the United Arab Emirates become the first Arab nation with a nuclear power industry that will fuel the country's growing demand for electricity.

Obama's official backing of the pact, known as a "123 agreement," is praised by pro-business groups that say U.S. companies are now in the running for major construction work connected to the $41 billion project. 

In the running with whom?  Note for instance that Han Seung-soo, prime minister of South Korea, is on a state visit to the United Arab Emirates. 

Mr Han said South Korea was “ready to transfer” its nuclear power technology and the skills to run it to the Emirates. A bid by South Korean firms to design, build and operate a fleet of nuclear reactors in Abu Dhabi should be the start of a new economic relationship with the UAE that expands beyond energy and construction, he said.

Mr Han will meet Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, to sign the nuclear co-operation agreement, which will allow South Korean firms to transfer nuclear technology under a commitment from the UAE that it will not seek to develop nuclear weapons.

“The agreement we are going to sign tomorrow in Dubai in the presence of myself and Prime Minister Mohammed will pave the way for closer co-operation in nuclear energy,” Mr Han said. “We hope we will be able to play some part in advancing the ambition of the UAE, particularly Abu Dhabi’s ambition, to become one of the leading countries that make use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.”

Mr Han’s state visit to the UAE comes as consortiums of firms from South Korea, France, the US and Japan compete for a contract reportedly worth US$40 billion (Dh146.82bn) to build and operate a fleet of reactors due to be commissioned from 2017.

The UAE says that it's developing nuclear a carbon-free energy source, and that it will forego uranium enrichment to allay fears about weapons development.  I'm sure that in the long-run, the UAE also figures that it will be more cost-effective to sell its fossil fuels rather than burning them for power.

The South Korean firms, understood to be led by Korea Electric Power Company, will face tough competition from a French consortium headed by Areva, Total and GDF Suez, and an alliance of companies from the US and Japan.

Experts say the French will have experience on their side but could be hurt by the poor execution of a project in Finland, which has been beset by cost overruns, delays and disputes.

The US-Japan group may offer a reactor design that is already operating at several sites in Japan, but it will be nearly 30 years old by the time the UAE’s nuclear programme is under way.

The reactor design offered by the South Korean consortium, known as the Advanced Pressurised Reactor 1400, is under construction at two sites in South Korea but not operating yet. It is a refinement of an existing design based on US technology. South Korea’s reactors have the lowest down time of any country in the world.

South Korea has never exported its nuclear technology, but it has helped build a fair amount of the UAE's infrastructure.  South Korea currently has twenty reactors, all built by local firms. 

Russia is also expected to compete for the work. 

Negotiations Over Tribal Payments in North Bend

The Mill Casino is on what's considered reservation land.  Thus, the Coquille Indian Tribe doesn't have to pay the local property and room taxes.  However, it's been doing so for several years...until recently.

After a 14-year-long agreement with the city of North Bend to pay a room tax similar to other hoteliers in the city, the Coquille Indian Tribe is withholding a three-month payment.

North Bend City Administrator Jan Willis confirmed that the tribe did not pay the tax for January through March. The payment should have come in on April 15. She wouldn't comment further.

Tribal Attorney Brett Kenney said the tribe wants to renegotiate its contract and is withholding the nearly $44,000 payment. In the meantime it is collecting and setting aside the funds.

"Our conversations with the city are not something that I want to be in the public eye," he said. "The tribe always has and always will pay its fair share for municipal services."

...

The agreement with the city stated the tribe would pay two "payments in lieu of taxes," or PILOTs for short. One, a property PILOT, pays for basic municipal services including police and fire protection. The second, an occupancy PILOT, is a replacement for the transient room tax paid by hotels and motels.

For whatever reasons, the Tribe decided it was time to play hardball...except with the money that normally goes to advertising the region.            

Last month, Katherine Hoppe, director of the Coos Bay-North Bend Visitor and Convention Bureau, learned her organization would get less than usual for its third quarter.

...

She received a brief letter from Kenney on June 11, saying the tribe is committed to continue funding the bureau.

"The Tribe recognizes that the Bureau has helped to advance our local hotel and service industries," Kenney wrote.  

...

"Because it values the VCB and its role in the local economy, the tribe tendered the two-sevenths payment to the city to forward on to the VCB," Kenney said. "They said they didn't want to accept only two-sevenths of the total payment."

It's not that the new hotel tower isn't doing pretty well.

According to a spreadsheet provided by Hoppe, bureau funds from the North Bend tax were up 30 percent and 25.2 percent for the first and second fiscal quarters as compared to last year. The increase is due to The Mill's recent addition of a 92-room hotel tower.

Can't help but wonder if this has something to do with Home Depot pulling out of a deal to locate a store on nearby tribal land in North Bend.  And that was after Rep. DeFazio did some legislative work to help it happen (previous blog here).