Sunday, August 19, 2012

52,000 acres of land in Dallas county were sprayed aerially Thursday evening, in an effort to kill mosquitoes and reduce the spread of the sometimes-deadly West Nile Virus. More planes were slated to treat again on Friday. The state as a whole has seen more than 400 confirmed instances of the illness already this year.

Both the city’s mayor, David Rawlings, and the county’s Judge have executed a state of emergency. Each has rendered his support for the aerial action. The mayor told media, “I cannot have any more deaths on my conscience because we did not take action”. However, Rawlings is reserving his statement about the treatments’ effectiveness until a later time, to allow opportunity to assess the outcomes of the treatments. Some individuals have voiced fears over whether or not the chemicals might be harmful. One Dallas man told reporters he made no efforts to leave his home on Friday, and turned off his home’s air conditioner, in an attempt to safeguard possible chemical threat to his family. Dr. Roger Nasci of the Centers for Disease Control told reporters, “It’s something new there that has not been used in quite a number of years.” He further stated, “Anything novel comes with that unknown factor.”

Due to the scope of the problem, the Texas Health Department is intervening to supervise the action and to offset costs. The state’s Health Commissioner told media, “This year is totally different from the experience Texas has had in the past”. “If it’s nuisance mosquitoes, we ask the city or county to pay part of that. But in the midst of this disease outbreak, it’s easier for us to go ahead and do it”. Several Beechcraft King Air twin-engine planes sprayed on Thursday evening. The chemical used is synthetic pyrethroid; a specialist participating in the action told media the planes are normally loaded with chemicals just before take off, to minimize light exposure. One application costs approximately US$1 million.

Pilots were informed of certain exclusion zones, such as one containing the Preston Hollow home of former US President George W. Bush, and their flight plans factored in such information. The commissioner for the state’s department of health services is encouraging citizens to continue applying insect spray repellant while outdoors. The state has had seventeen West Nile-related deaths this year.

Reports from Friday morning indicated no county residents had been medically treated for reactions. The county’s judge told media he hadn’t expected any medical reactions to the chemicals used. East Dallas residents were reported that morning in ordinary outdoor exercise activities.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Dutch scientists have said in a study that burning your food may lead to certain types of cancer, particularly in women. Scientists also say that more research is needed to make a definite determination and that there are other factors that could be to blame.

“This new study supports our current advice, which already assumes that acrylamide has the potential to be a human carcinogen. Since acrylamide forms naturally in a wide variety of cooked foods, it is not possible to have a healthy, balanced diet that avoids it,” said a Food Standards Agency spokesperson.

According to the study, acrylamides, a chemical produced when cooking foods high in carbohydrates over 120 degrees Celsius (248 degrees Fahrenheit) in the frying, toasting and grilling processes, is a likely cause of some womb and ovarian cancers. Although it was found in 2002 that the chemical may be a cause of some cancers, the new study shows, for the first time, a link between the chemical in a human diet being a cause. To date, there is no evidence to suggest the chemical may cause breast cancer.

Scientists followed and monitored 120,000 people over an 11-year-period, of whom 62,000 were women. Of the women, 300 ended up contracting ovarian cancer with 327 contracting womb cancer.

The study concluded that more than 40 micrograms of the chemical, or one bag of potato chips per day, is twice as likely to cause cancer in women.

“General advice, resulting from this project, is to avoid overcooking when baking, frying or toasting carbohydrate-rich foods,” said a spokesman for the European Union.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Voters in Haiti are going to the polls today to vote for the country’s next president. The election follows months of political turmoil after the corrupt first round election in November caused a crisis requiring international intervention.

Haiti is still struggling to recover from the devastating January 2010 earthquake, with about one million people remaining in squalid, temporary shelters and a recent cholera epidemic which threatens to break out again with the return of the rainy season. Observers are hoping the new president will restore enough stability so rebuilding efforts can begin with international help.

In Haiti’s first round of balloting in November, names were missing from voter rolls, ballot boxes were stuffed or trashed, voters were blocked from the precincts by supporters of candidates, among other irregularities. Haitians rioted, plunging the process into chaos that was quelled by the determined efforts of foreign monitors.

Out of the original 19 candidates, two remained after the first round: Mirlande Manigat, age 70, a sedate, reserved university professor and wife of former president Leslie Manigat, and pop star “Sweet Micky” Martelly, age 50, who the The Washington Post described as being “a popular kompa singer […] famous for dropping his pants on stage, mooning audiences, and dressing in drag — or sometimes a diaper.”

However, Martelly has waged an energetic, well financed campaign with pink campaign posters picturing his smiling face and bald head, cultivating a populist image with Haiti’s poor. He has been successful at marketing himself as an unpretentious outsider who will shake up the political system and yank the country out of its paralysis. At the same time, he has courted the upper class with a platform containing pro-business promises and support for the return of the Haitian army.

The sedate personality of Manigat contrasts starkly with that of Martelly. She portrays herself as a dignified, mature mother figure able to nurture Haiti through its troubles.

The determining factor may be the popular former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who returned two days ago to Haiti from South America after seven years in exile. Aristide has not endorsed either candidate, but Aristide supporters, among those Haitians most desperately poor, have voiced support for Manigat. Upon Aristide’s arrival, there were banners saying, “My mother is here already. Welcome home Father”, according to The Washington Post.

Pierre-Marie Boisson, a private-sector economist in Haiti, sees the candidates as having similar platforms, promising jobs, housing and free education, even if their personal styles are so different. “They have both promised the moon to the voters,” he said. He noted that this puts tremendous pressure on the winner to produce results quickly in a world where the price of food and fuel is rising.

As voting concluded, despite some irregularities such as missing ballots and late starts, authorities concluded the voting went well, without the pervasive fraud that marked the November election. Colin Granderson, head of Organization of American States (OAS) observer mission, said the runoff election was a great improvement over the previous one.

The final results will be announced on April 16.

Friday, November 3, 2006

On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is Scarborough-Agincourt (Ward 39). Two candidates responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include Wayne Cook, Mike Del Grande (incumbent), Samuel Kung, Lushan Lu, Sunshine Smith, and John Wong.

For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.