I was helping a farmer friend today get her car up to her mechanic's place, which is about 10 miles out of town.
On the drive back, she took a call from someone who was looking for raw cow's milk.
She's only on Facebook as far as social media goes, so she hasn't seen any of the news stories about people seeking out raw milk in order to try to infect themselves with #H5N1 to "gain immunity" from it.
She was gobsmacked!
I was trying SO hard not to laugh while she took the call.
I told her that I've seen a number of news stories about people doing exactly this. I said what scares me the most is, the mortality rate is over 50%. One in two people! Why would anyone think this is an acceptable risk?
She appreciated the information I gave her and said that she would adjust her response when she received more calls.
Apparently she's received a lot of calls recently.
She's not even a dairy farmer!
I know 100+ years ago when we didn't have #vaccinations, #antibiotics, or #antivirals, exposing yourself to pathogens was one way to possibly gain immunity from whatever was going around.
But thousands upon thousands of people were sickened and died from things that we can now prevent or treat with drugs, #sanitation, #hygiene, #masks, and vaccines. It wasn't all bread and roses in pre-modern America. Our average life expectancy was almost half what if is today.
"Natural" is not inherently superior. Immunity debt is fucking bullshit. Exposing yourself willingly to a deadly pathogen does not increase your chances of living longer or being healthier afterwards. If someone did this to their kids? It would be flat out child abuse.
Yet, I always forget that most of the population doesn't read a book after they leave school, doesn't believe in science, and thinks if something is on the internet, it must be true.
Even and especially, people in my profession and allied professions believe the wackiest ideas about how the the human body works that are simply not true.
I'm pretty tired of the stupidity of other humans at this point. Go ahead. Drink the raw milk. Take yourself out of the gene pool. I know I can't do anything about it once you've made up your mind to do something so risky and stupid. SMH
Paris rubbish collectors could strike over the summer, a major French union said Thursday, raising the spectre of piles of stinking trash on the streets during the Olympic Games. Walkouts could start in May and continue from July 1 to September 8, the CGT union branch representing binmen warned, a period that includes the Games,...
Does anyone have experience with #humanure processing?
We're weighing the pros and cons of #biogas digestion and typical turn-heavy aerobic #composting. Also thinking about a combination of the two but going from anaerobic to aerobic processing could create more labor.
The decision established that minors at open-air sites were in #legal custody of the DHS & thus must receive #safe#shelter, even if they had not yet been formally processed.
The outdoor areas where migrants have been waiting lack #shelter, #food & #sanitation, which has given way to an array of #PublicHealth concerns for the most vulnerable. Unaccompanied #children & young #families sometimes arrive in poor #health, acc/to #aid workers & #medical volunteers at the sites, suffering from #traumatic injuries or chronic health conditions that require #medications that have long since run out.
Today in Labor History March 28, 1977: AFSCME Local 1644 struck in Atlanta, Georgia, for a pay raise. This local of mostly African American sanitation workers saw labor and civil rights as part of the same struggle. They saw their fight as a continuation of the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike. For several years, they organized to get black civil rights leaders elected to public office. They succeeded in getting their man, Maynard Jackson, elected mayor of Atlanta. After all, as vice mayor, Jackson had supported their 1970 strike. Yet, in his first three years as mayor, he refused to give them a single raise. Consequently, their wages dropped below the poverty line for a family of four. Jackson accused AFSCME of attacking Black Power by challenging his authority. He fired over 900 workers by April 1 and crushed the strike by the end of April. Many believe this set the precedent for Reagan’s mass firing of 11,000 air traffic controllers during the PATCO strike, in 1981.
One-fifth of district courts in country lack separate toilets for women, says SC report
Nearly one-fifth of the district court complexes in the country lack separate toilets for women, according to a report published by the Centre for Research and Planning of the Supreme Court recently.
World Bank papers show ‘most concerning’ decline in toilet usage in Modi govt's flagship Swacch Bharat Mission. But three research papers were withdrawn ‘under pressure’ later . Pity Indian govt cannot take criticism
Manual scavenging: The unending pain of India's sewer workers
Manual scavenging is banned in India but the practice is still commonplace, with people forced into it because of rigid caste rules and the lack of other livelihood options. Successive federal governments, including the current one, have missed several deadlines to declare India free of manual scavenging, most recently in August this year.
#Israeli PM #BenjaminNetanyahu & #BennyGantz, leader of the opposition #NationalUnity party, reached an agreement Wed to form a unity govt. The 2 ldrs said the new govt would pursue only bills or decisions concerning the #conflict, which has prompted Israel to mass troops near the Gaza Strip & call up #reservists ahead of an offensive against #Hamas militants.
All of #Gaza’s 13 #hospitals are “only partly operational” because of supply shortages & fuel rationing, the agency said.
>650k people are w/o drinking #water, the agency said, after #Israel cut off water supplies to Gaza.
7 water & #sanitation facilities were damaged by #IsraeliAirstrikes, the agency said, adding that “#sewage & solid waste” are building up in the streets in some areas, creating a #HealthHazard.
'Dalits kept as cleaners': Brahmins dominate Sulabh toilets' top managerial positions
The founder of Sulabh International, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, is said to have brought 'revolution' to the toilet system in India by introducing the concept of 'paid toilet' system. However, Sulabh International actually became the biggest beneficiary of the hypocrisy of a society which refuses to pay honourably to a community which is enslaved. Community people continue to work as manual scavengers.
The City Council passed legislation that splits from Mayor Eric Adams’ current composting program, which is voluntary. The sanitation department has previously said it needs to find more sites to process organic waste.
Paris rubbish collectors threaten Olympics strike over 'excessive workload' (www.france24.com)
Paris rubbish collectors could strike over the summer, a major French union said Thursday, raising the spectre of piles of stinking trash on the streets during the Olympic Games. Walkouts could start in May and continue from July 1 to September 8, the CGT union branch representing binmen warned, a period that includes the Games,...
Mandatory composting coming soon to New York City (gothamist.com)
The City Council passed legislation that splits from Mayor Eric Adams’ current composting program, which is voluntary. The sanitation department has previously said it needs to find more sites to process organic waste.