26 May 2006
Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
  Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
  For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
  I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
  My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
  Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
  Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
  How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
  I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

23:25 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

Antimicrobials help prevent mastitis

The problems with mastitis in dairy herds has been aggravated by several factors, but there's one eight hundred pound gorilla in the room:

In the realm of infectious disease, one way to reduce microbial resistance that results from widespread antibiotic use is to come up with new ways to fight pathogens.

Translation: mastitis has gotten out of hand because we feed massive doses of sub therapeutic antibiotics to our cows. To solve the problem we're going to genetically engineer the cow to produce it's own antibiotics.

To which the bacteria that cause mastitis will never gain resistance, I'm sure.

Oh, and by the way, this new bovine generated antibiotic will be in the milk, too, but don;t worry: we've hired the same kinds of folks that tested Vioxx to insure that it's perfectly safe before we put it on your store shelf.

Here's a hint guys: stop feeding antibiotics as a matter of routine, keep your herd clean, adjust your milking schedules to fit the cows, and you'll be able to control mastitis. The approach described here is nothing short of madness.

ORLANDO, Fla. (ARS) - An Agricultural Research Service (ARS)-led team has combined specific DNA segments from two different sources to produce a novel antimicrobial protein.

(link) [The Prairie Star]

21:18 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

IEEE-USA disappointed with Senate bill increasing H-1B visas

Buried in the bill: more high tech jobs lost to indentured servants imported for the purpose of lowering wages. Between news like this and NAIS it's enough to make me paranoid. And just because I'm paranoid it doesn't meant that they aren't out to get me!

IEEE-USA is disappointed that the comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the U.S. Senate on Thursday expands the annual H-1B visa cap from 65,000 to 115,000, adds an automatic cap escalator and includes a new exemption for foreign nationals with high-tech graduate degrees without strengthening safeguards for foreign and domestic technology workers.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

20:52 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Who's a journalist? Now we know, thanks to Apple

This is a wonderful decision - legal recognition of the fact that publishing is publishing is publishing, regardless of the "professional" or "amateur" nature of the publication. Bloggers can now breathe easier.

On another level, "trade secrets" just received a body blow. Too often that phrase has been used to protect corporate policies and practices that are decidedly in the public interest. While I daresay the judge hasn't exactly declared open seasons on these beasts, he has made it clear that flushing them out is not in itself a crime.

And for that we should all breath a sigh of relief.

Charles Cooper says court decision officially levels the field between mainstream media and bloggers.

(link) [CNET News.com]

20:45 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link