US Nuke Spanish Clean-up

The good ol' US of A has finally agreed to clean up its own mess... namely a nuclear spill!
The southern Spanish coastal resort of Palomares was the scene of the worst nuclear accident in US military history nearly 50 years ago.

Death from above

On 17 Jan.1966, a B52 bomber with four nuclear bombs collided with a refuelling aircraft in mid-air. Three bombs fell near Palomares, failing to explode but contaminating the soil with radioactive material, and the 4th fell into the sea, lieing undiscovered for more than 2mths.
USA and Spain said last week they 'intended to...clean up the Palomares site and organise the storage of the contaminated soil at an appropriate site in the United States.' The contaminated soil is expected to be buried in a secure area in the Las Vegas desert in an 2yr.operation. A Spanish Govt spokesman said the agreement was a "...symbol of friendship between the two countries, who are allies and partners who trust one another and have lots of things to do together." What - even it takes 50 years???

The mayor of the nuked area claims he's not been told a damn thing about the deal: "I'm annoyed we haven't been officially informed. We're the victims, the ones who've suffered this for the last half-century and the ones who now have to suffer the clean-up." He said he'd continue to fight for proper compensation, and funding for a tourism campaign to protect its image while lorries carrying radioactive material warnings roll through the area.
The area where the bombs fell, in the province of Almeria, SE Spain, has been dubbed the Costa del Armageddon. In the aftermath of the crash, the US and Spanish tried to convince the world there was no danger. US Ambassador Biddie Duke even joined a Spanish minister for a swim off Palomares in front of cameras, saying: "If this is radioactivity, I love it!"
Environmentalists have accused the two govts of secrecy about residents' health checks. The Spanish govt claims only small levels of radiation have been detected, though in several cases plutonium has reportedly attached itself to bones.

Flossing: Little Benefit?

The importance of flossing is sold as an essential step in getting rid of harmful plaque, the bacteria that can lead to tooth decay and gum disease.
But what if flossing wasn't so important after all - what if it made no real difference to dental health?
That's the suggestion emerging from a new body of research.
Flossing is aimed at helping rid our mouths of bacteria. Just 1ml of saliva is thought to contain about 100 million microbes. The mouth is a warm, acidic environment that's perfect for them to flourish. While some of these bacteria are bad, turning food sugars into tooth-eroding acid, others actually prevent tooth decay by releasing chemicals that counteract harmful acid.
But the latest evidence suggests flossing has little impact on reducing tooth decay or preventing gum disease. British Dental Association researchers looked at the long-term effect in people who brush and floss and others who only brush, and found no difference in terms of reducing plaque, bleeding or subsequent gum disease.
A recent review in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology concluded that 'despite being widely advocated...the majority of available studies fail to demonstrate that flossing is generally effective in plaque removal and in reducing gingival (gum) inflammation'.
So although flossing may be good for removing food from between teeth, it's not successful in removing the biofilms causing problems. Researchers believe the best way to overcome biofilms and prevent tooth decay is to master your brushing technique.
They are confident that most people with normal teeth and normal gaps do not need to floss at all!

The Zit-Popping Explosion

We've all had the odd zit or pimple, that we got rid of with a quick if painful squeeze in private.
But now, watching people pop zits and squeeze cysts is so popular on YouTube that the videos are getting multi-million views and turning top uploaders into celebrities!
YouTube has everything from a 2sec.clip of a zit exploding, to a 10-minute saga of pus oozing from a cyst that was so big it had its own name, George.
Other hits involve a man popping a 20-year-zit on the back of his neck and one labelled 'Best pimple pop ever' which has 30 million views and an introduction like a blockbuster movie!
These videos are so POP-ular that you can get paid for your popping footage - yeup, US$20 (NZ$26) from Pop That Zit! Pop That Zit details five types of zit-poppers...including OPZPs (other people's zit-poppers) who fantasise about squeezing pus out of other people. Baaarrrfff!!!
This fad has created celebrities such as Dr Vikram Yadav, whose video of popping nose blackheads has been viewed 15 million times. Its four sequels amassed another 50 million views.
So why are these videos so popular? According to Daniel Kelly, a Purdue Uni professor, it's because we get to experience something yucky or maybe dangerous without suffering the painful effects. Viewers commenting on the videos often say they're "satisfying". The videos hold a similar attraction to horror movies: no-one wants to be a victim of a crazed killer but many love to watch others suffer.
Nupe - not buying into this. It's just plain SICK!!! Use some Clearasil, kids...or better still, try washing your damn faces like mum said!

Frog In A Blender

How does the old joke go?
Q: What's green and wizzes round and round very fast?
A: A frog in a blender!
Peruvians recommend freshly-blended FROGS as a cure for stress and

special of the day

low sex drives!
Villagers in the Andes have a traditional cure-all that they use to treat everything from a slow sex drive and high stress levels, to asthma and bronchitis: blended frog juice. Many locals living in Peru and Bolivia believe it's the ultimate fix for almost any illness.
The most popular recipe calls for the use of whole frogs, which are beaten to death and skinned before being put into the blender. Many local food vendors then add a number of other healthy ingredients, such as carrots, Peruvian maca root and honey, before blending the mixture until it is smooth. The finished product is usually light green in colour and is served to customers right there on the spot.

"Jump, Forrest, JUMP!"

The Medical College of Lima reports there is no scientific evidence that frog juice is a cure for anything, despite its continuing popularity within Andean culture.
And unfortunately, the juice requires the use of one specific type of frog... thetelmatobius culeus, from remote Lake Titicaca, a species that's listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Fish And Chips - A Whole New Meaning!

A woman in Colombia used a rather bizarre means of contraception recently - she inserted a potato inside her private parts to avoid getting pregnant!

Who needs Durex?

The 22yr-old was hospitalised with severe pain early this month and the cause...was her potato contraceptive.
The nurse initially thought it was some sort of practical joke when she saw roots emerging from the woman's vagina, but the patient had indeed inserted the potato to prevent pregnancy - on the advice of her mother! Obviously, intullugunce does not run strongly in this family...
About two weeks after insertion, the woman suffered intense abdominal pain because the starchy tuber had germinated and was growing roots. Although plants do not normally grow inside the human body, the spud did so because it's a tuber that thrives in the dark.
Fortunately it was a relatively easy job to remove the plant, and doctors expect no lasting effects on the woman's body.
Unconventional means of preventing pregnancy are not just confined to Third World countries. A survey involving 1,500 UK women aged 25-34 revealed that some use sandwich bags, cling film and latex gloves in place of condoms!

Love Me Tinder, Love Me Do...

The word seemingly on everyone's lips right now is Tinder.
Not because of what it can potentially get you, but because of what it can potentially get you!
It's a dating app...no, let's be honest, it's a fucking app. Tinder finds your location using GPS, then uses your Facebook info to create your profile. It then finds you possible nearby matches (or "dates" if you're so naive as to call them that!).
Yeup, those on Tinder are there because they wanna get laid. NOW. If they see a pic of a potential bedmate they fancy, they swipe right (for 'like') or if they don't wanna shag 'em, they swipe left ('dislike'). Simple as that. Essentially it's "Here I am, baby. I wanna sleep with someone right now. You wanna play?"
And although sex is a basic human desire, Tinder reduces it to a mere animal action. Cut through the social circling, the get-to-know-you stage...just a quick fuck, and back onto Tinder for more not-quite-so-fresh recently-used meat! It's exactly as UrbanDictionary.com defines it: the McDonalds of sex.
However, if you reduce sex to nothing more than a Playstation-type activity, then you accept the risks involved. The major one is that by giving intimacy away so flippantly, you invite others to treat you exactly the same. You become a commodity to use, abuse and cast aside...
...or even get cast off a multi-storey tower balcony when finished with, as happened to a woman last month on Ozzie's Gold Coast, just hours after meeting a man on Tinder.
While Tinder is the platform for this 'on-call-casual-free-sex' service, it's the responsibility of the user to gauge whether hooking up with a total stranger is safe or wise.
Users who put themselves in harm's way for a fuck must be prepared to be fucked over. Need I be any more blunt?

Cashing In On Ebola

Hey, never let a large-scale health disaster get in the way of good hard-earned money scams, I say!
I notice one of the latest rip-offs to circulate into my in-box is a rewriting of the usual crap...with all the same-ol' same-ol' spelling mistakes, but with an Ebola twist:

"Hello sir /madam,
Thanks be and God richly bless you for your kind gesture in helping me out of this critical situations.
Yes i,m Peter Karu a Sierra Leone citizen from West Africa sub region of Africa.
My father and my mother has died currently from Ebola Diseases virus, and i am manage to escaped from Sierra Leone to Ghana a country alsos in West Africa.
meanwhile my late father Chief Karu was a Gold merchanter , and have his Gold delivery office in Ghana.
I want you to help to ship my late father 120 kilograms of Gold ,out of Africa as soon as possible.
meanwhile , my late father also deposited $3,2M America dollar with a private security bank company in Ghana.
I need your help quickly , so that i can continued my education.
I,m 16 years old now. and i now stay in an uncompleted house building in Ghana Africa now.
I need your help very urgently.
Thank you, your son Peter Karu "

Well, I've never slept with an African gal so Peter Karu is definitely NOT my son! How dare he get so familiar! LOL And if he WAS, his grammatical skills would be much higher than this clown's!

Further, as you'll see at this [link], young "Peter" has changed his name from "Solomon Korobo", son of "Chief Korobo".
You KNOW what these vultures are up to. Do NOT be tempted... unlike THIS gullible Australian pillick [link]!

The Power To Play God…

An experimental drug has healed all 18 monkeys infected with the deadly Ebola virus!

The monkeys were given ZMapp 3-5 days after they were infected with Ebola and symptomatic: that's several days later than any other experimental Ebola treatment tested so far. This is the first monkey test ever done with ZMapp.
It's not known how well the drug would work in people, who can take up to 21 days to show symptoms and are not infected the way these monkeys were in a lab, but it's very encouraging that the animals recovered...even after advanced Ebola had developed.
ZMapp had never been tested in humans, before two US aid workers in Africa who got Ebola were allowed it. The rest of the limited supply was given to five others.
Ebola has killed more than 1,500 people this year. Last Friday, it spread to a 5th.African country - Senegal.
ZMapp's maker says the small supply of the drug is now exhausted and it'll take about a month to make 20-40 doses. There're plans for a clinical trial on people early next year eg: experts need to know what a safe and proper dose for humans should be.
Meanwhile those infected have nothing left to lose, so surely it would be humane to use ZMapp as soon as some is produced. The big question is not "should it be used on humans before it has been trialled?"...but more, "who should be given it before trials are done?"
Which organisation will be given the power over life-and-death...
and the authority to save a life BEFORE trials are over?
Who gets to play God?

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Back In The Water...

A fishing blog in Russia has got anglers scrambling to catch giant mutant catfish...said to be growing near the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster site!
The blog has even featured a picture of one catfish which locals reckon is over 2m long!

Because of the risk of radiation poisoning, access is limited to the area, and all fishing for food purposes has stopped. But now there's renewed interest from sporting fishermen keen to land the catch of their lives - regardless of whether it'll cost them their lives!
The Pripyat River is polluted with radionuclides, but anglers say there're giant fish to be caught, in parts of the river near but outside the exclusion zone. Riiigghhtt - like the fish can't be irradiated near Chernobyl, and then swim into a "safe zone"???
One local fisherman says: "I reckon radiation is more likely to give them extra eyeballs and two heads rather than simply making them enormous in size." Been watching too much sci-fi? "The bottom line is that nobody is fishing these waters," (really? Ask yourself WHY!!) "...and that's meant with no natural predator, the catfish has been able to grow to an enormous size."
Scientists are testing to see if they have excessive radiation levels which could be responsible for their large size.
Meantime, if you fancy a dinner that glows in the dark, go fishing for giant catfish near Chernobyl!

Coke Goes Green?

The first new Coca-Cola, since Coke Zero was launched in 2006, will hit the UK shelves this September.
Coca-Cola Life is a naturally-sweetened drink with a third less sugar and calories than the regular galvanised-steel-nail-dissolving stuff.

It's part of govt/industry efforts to tackle obesity in the UK, and follows a pilot in Argentina and Chile.
The new cola is sweetened with a blend of sugar and stevia leaf extract (stevia leaf extract is naturally sourced from the stevia plant, native to South America). A 330ml can will contain 89 calories (a regular 330ml Coke has 35gms sugar, or 39% of an adult’s guideline daily amount. Coke Zero and Diet Coke contain no calories). Coca-Cola Life will contain 22.1gms or 25% of an adult’s GDA.
It'll also be sold in a green can.
Currently, Coca-Cola Great Britain uses stevia leaf extract as a sweetener in its Sprite and Glaceau vitamin water brands. It says the new drink is part of its commitment to offer reduced, low and no-calorie options. The company signed the UK Govt's Responsibility Deal, where the food and drink industry has pledged to promote a healthier diet and make changes to their products. Coca-Cola has committed to reduce the average calories per litre in its range of sparkling drinks by 5% by the end of 2014.
Early this year, a group of UK health experts launched a campaign to reduce the amount of sugar added to food and soft drinks as part of an effort to reverse the UK's obesity and diabetes crisis. 'Action On Sugar' said the food industry would easily achieve a 20-30% reduction in the amount of sugar added to products, which would result in a reduction of approx.100 calories per day or more in those particularly prone to obesity.

Biggus Dickus

Tan m'hide when I'm dead, Fred...
Hang m'dick on the wall, Paul!
Jonah Falcon, the NY actor with the longest penis on record, has bequeathed his dick to the Iceland Phallological Museum!
43yr.old Falcon became an internet star a few years back, after having

It really is THIIIIIIS BIG!!!

his manhood measured on a tv doco called Unhung Hero.
He's been stopped and frisked by San Francisco Airport security, after they spotted the large bulge in his pants (Yes, sir, I am carrying a Weapon of Mass Destruction!).
He claims he can completely envelop a doorknob with his foreskin... rrriiiggghhhttt! Why WOULD you?! And then why would you TELL anyone that???
Falcon's turned down countless opportunities to appear in porn movies, but the chance to have his member on display at the museum (nicknamed The Penis Museum) has finally persuaded him to make use of his 34cm / 13.5" sex organ. Jonah says the invitation flattered him, as he appreciates the museum's devotion to science.
The museum (opened in 1997 in the capital Reykjavik) is one of Iceland's most bizarre attractions. It features 300+ specimen penises and penile parts from over 93 creatures, including whales, walruses, seals, a gorilla and a polar bear. The sizes range from a 2m whale penis to a 2mm hamster one.
Falcon says it would be an honour to have his manhood on display there after his death. He hopes it'll be placed between the sexual organs of a polar bear and a sperm whale, joking that he wouldn't want to make either of them jealous.
Hey, I know, they could call the exhibit "Jonah and the Whale"!

Is Your Brain In Your DICK???

If you thought watching porn could make you go blind, think again.
A new German study says that porn may have adverse effects on your brain!
Researchers say men who watch a lot of porn usually have smaller striatum (that's the area of the brain linked to motivation and rewards). The connection between the striatum and the prefrontal cortex (responsible for behaviour and decision-making) also decreases when watching increased amounts of porn.

As well as possible brain shrinkage, a lot of porn also makes it difficult for people to become aroused by their own sexual partners, there are potency problems, and some become bored by mainstream porn and seek more extremes.
A survey by the University of East London said 97% of boys aged 16-20 have viewed porn, and girls of the same age: 80%. One in three women regularly watches porn, and 70% of men 18-24 visit porn sites at least once a month.
There's a significant number of students, boys in particular, for whom it is quite a frequent behaviour. At that age, they're still developing their sexuality, their ideas of what's normal in sex, and ideas of what's appropriate in relationships. Heavy exposure to pornography can be problematic in all of these areas.
So the nuns were right - pornography DOES sink the brain! Mind you, perhaps those with smaller brains are more attracted to porn. And, if their brains are in their dicks, they may be very very small brains indeed...

Powerade Not So Hot

Coca-Cola is removing a chemical linked with fire retardants from all its drinks. From its DRINKS???!!! WTF!!!

Yeup, brominated vegetable oil (or BVO) contains bromine. Bromine is used as a flame retardant in plastics, upholstered furniture, and some kids' clothing, and is not approved for use in foods in Japan and the EU. Coca-Cola uses it in Fanta and Powerade, among others. It's been linked to memory loss and skin and nerve problems when consumed in large amounts.
The move to remove BVO from drinks began with an on-line petition by US teenager Sarah Kavanagh in 2012. Coca-Cola relented after the petition gained 200,000 signatures.
BVO is used by several drinks makers to help stabilise ingredients in flavoured drinks and stop them from separating. Coca-Cola said it will move to other ingredients, that're found in other beverages and also chewing gum. BVO should be out of its production chain by the end of the year.
Coke however reiterates that its drinks are safe. Well, you obviously can't burst into flames if you drink Powerade!!!

The Global Tamiflu Scam

Readers may recall that, back in June 2009, I warned against the hysterical global over-reaction to Swine Flu (H1N1), which was slated to wipe out a significant portion of mankind.
We were told that mankind's only saviour was a new fast-tracked wonder-drug called Tamiflu, which was being injected into patients without due checks and balances...
Now a University of Auckland researcher says new evidence shows Tamiflu doesn't actually work at all!

Just as I said.
Dr Vanessa Jordan, NZ Cochrane Fellow at Akld Uni, confirms what'd previously been suspected "that there is currently no support for claims that Tamiflu or Relenza reduces admissions to hospital or complications of influenza".
Like most countries that could afford to, NZ stockpiled 750,000 doses of Tamiflu in 2009 (since dumped after expiry).
This new evidence only came out last week so we shouldn't be too harsh on our govt. After all, it - like everyone else - bought into the World Health Organisation's (WHO) panic-causing announcement of a 'pandemic'.
Jordan: "Tamiflu is on the WHO's essential medicines list so our govt is following recommendations at the moment, but it's no doubt those recommendations will change."
Naturally, Tamiflu manufacturer Roche has rejected the Cochrane Report's findings saying it "fundamentally disagrees with the overall conclusions".
Medsafe (responsible for the regulation of medicines in NZ) agrees: "This study alone is not enough for NZ to reconsider its position on stockpiles of Tamiflu as an important precaution in case of future global influenza pandemic."
In other words, until there're multi-tons of other evidence, taxpayers' $$$ will continue to be spent on crap that doesn't WORK!! And that'll keep the Big Pharmaceuticals very happy indeed.
*thinks aloud* Hmmm, wonder if they're allowed to contribute to election funding...?

Madiba At Rest

Nelson Mandela died peacefully at his home in Johannesburg yesterday.
The 95yr.old former South African President and anti-apartheid revolutionary hero had battled a series of lung infections and respiratory illnesses in the past few years.
Mandela spent 27yrs in prison after being found guilty in 1962 of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow his country's government before being released in 1990. He became South Africa's first democratically elected president, holding office from 1994-1999.
One of the world's most famous people, the Nobel laureate has long been a figurehead for racial unification, following his efforts to heal his own country after centuries of division. Mandela was one of the most revered leaders of the 20th century and his legacy will forever be the abolition of apartheid in South Africa.
As the ANC party under Mandela began to dismantle the racial divide, his attention turned to the issue of HIV/AIDS which, according to the World Health Organisation, affects about 6.5 million people in South Africa.
After his departure from politics, the man endearingly known throughout South Africa as Madiba - his Xhosa clan name, which literally translates to grandfather -  also sought to step away from the public eye with appearances in recent years becoming fewer and farther between. His last public appearance was in 2010 when South Africa hosted the FIFA World Cup.
News of his death prompted outpourings of grief from all over the world.

[...with thanx to tvnz]

Guys Don’t Stand A Chance!

Ladies, ever woken with the urge to hit your spouse after dreaming about his infidelity…when in reality he's done nothing more offensive than snore? You're not alone!
More than half of women wake up in a mood with their partner - because he annoyed them in a dream. A new study shows that wives frequently dream their men have done things like being unfaithful, having a row or even fathering a secret child.

Nearly two thirds of 2,000 UK adults polled said they're regularly in a bad mood with people who've upset them in a dream. One in 20 regularly give their boss the cold shoulder, because they dreamed they were sacked the night before.
It's not surprising then that four in ten adults say their moods are affected by the dreams they had the previous night. The research shows that dreams impact heavily on the next day's moods. It found a third dream more when they're stressed, with work issues being the biggest contributor. The poll also found that 43% experience reoccurring dreams of running away from something, flying and teeth falling out the most common. A further one in five keep dreaming that they fall over. 44% often dream about an ex-partner while a third have even had a romantic dream about a workmate!
One in five adults said their dreams are affected by what they eat before bedtime, and 20% said they have more vivid dreams when they are staying away from home.
So, the solution to a good night's sleep? DON'T stay away from home. DON'T eat before bed. DON'T get stressed.
Er…how about…just don't dream at all!!!

Bloodletting Continues In Faroes

Another grindadrap has occurred in the Faroe Islands.
Last Friday 01 Nov.in Hvannasund on the Island of Vidoy, 85 pilot whales were butchered.
This is the first hunt of this season to have taken place in the killing bay of Hvannasund. The biggest hunt of pilot whales was on 30 July in Fuglafjordur, Esturoy where an exceptionally large pod of 267 pilot whales were killed. Another hunt occurred in August - 430 white-sided dolphins killed in Hvalba (yes, you read that right: dolphins!). This was the largest single kill of dolphins since 1994. 1,069 pilot whales have now been killed in the 2013 season - far more than the 713 pilot whales killed in 2012. This must rate as one of the bloodiest years for the Faroes in living memory.
Over 3,500 pilot whales have been killed since the beginning of 2010, raising serious human health, animal welfare and conservation concerns. The magnitude of these numbers is staggering when considering the cetacean families lost to these cruel hunts.
The global conservation group WDC (Whale and Dolphin Conservation), along with other organisations, are urging the Faroe Islanders to bring a permanent end to the hunting of pilot whales and other species of whales and dolphins, and have recently written to the Faroese authorities in coalition with other groups concerned about the humaneness of these horrible hunts.

Defragging Your Brain

Researchers have found our brains clean themselves during sleep.
Scientists long thought that one of the functions of sleep was to restore and repair the brain, and now research in the journal Science has found the brain's cleaning activities increases 10-fold during sleep, helping to remove the day's toxic clutter.
Researchers found the brain fluid flushes out rubbish twice as fast when asleep as when awake. This clean-up is so energy-intensive it would hinder our thinking if done when we were awake (rather like running a defrag computer programme while in the midst of some other work). They conclude that unlike the rest of the body - which depends on the lymphatic system to drain toxins - the brain has its own separate method of rubbish removal.
University of Auckland senior anesthesiology lecturer Dr Guy Warman says the research is very exciting, as there've been theories about why we sleep for a long time. He says an important implication is, if someone doesn't get enough sleep, the toxic build-up could mount and have health consequences. The number of hours a person needs to sleep to avoid a chemical build-up depends on the individual. But, generally, eight hours of sleep each night is needed for a good, restorative sleep.
However, explain this: if my brain DOES defrag every night…then how come it's STILL full of crap??!!

Fonterra Botulism False Alarm - But WHY?

Wednesday's news that NZ dairy giant Fonterra's botulism scare was

*Phew!*

just that - a false alarm - was greeted with a huge collective sigh of relief.
But questions must be answered.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) received results confirming the bacteria found in the Fonterra whey protein concentrate was not the botulism-causing clostridium botulinum, but clostridium sporogenes, which is not capable of producing botulism-causing toxins.
The latest independent research involved a total of 195 tests carried out in both the US and NZ. Fonterra originally commissioned independent testing from AgResearch, as one of only two NZ research facilities capable of carrying out testing for the bacteria. Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings: "On the basis of those results, we had no choice but to announce a global precautionary recall." He acknowledges there was confusion and anxiety arising from the recall and apologises, but says Fonterra would do the same again, if confronted by similar circumstances.
MPI has informed overseas regulators of the new results, and will provide full diagnostics. On the back of these results, NZ and Fonterra now has a solid and clear platform from which to re-enter overseas markets affected by the scare.
The NZ Food and Grocery Council says from an industry perspective Fonterra did exactly the right thing, putting public safety first.
NZ Infant Formula Exporters Assn says it's looking forward to resuming trade with China, but it was dismayed with the way the scare was handled initially, with its members losing millions.
Opposition party Labour's primary industries spokesman Damien O'Connor calls the results a complete systems failure by MPI: "This fiasco is a disaster for our clean, green brand. The inability of the ministry's systems means our reputation is always at risk.''
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy says MPI's announcement is good news and the govt is relieved. The all-clear will go a long way to reassure international markets that MPI has done a thorough job.
However, there're unanswered questions about the scare, and both MPI and Fonterra need to take an extremely hard look at how it developed.
+ Why was the bacteria wrongfully identified in the first place?
+ Given that the original test showed clostridium botulinum, why was it allowed to continue to progress into the infant formula food chain?
+ Why did it take so long for the warning flags to go up?
+ Why was MPI able to test the product for the bacterium in less than a month whereas it took Fonterra three months (and now has come up with a different result)?
Inquiries are underway...

Swiss Cheese

Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, has launched a new drive-through service: prostitution!

Hookers: this way!

To help move the sex trade from the CBD, city officials have built a cluster of garagelike "sex boxes" at the edge of town. A motorist in search of action can cruise along a footpath lined with licensed hookers, and drive the one of his choosing to the relative privacy of a three-sided wooden stall.
From 7pm-5am, anyone can drive into the wooded park, negotiate a price with one of up to 40 prostitutes plying their trade, and park in one of the nine tarpaulin-covered garages.
To gain access to the new park's footpath (or to legally ply their trade anywhere in the city), the hookers must have a Swiss work permit, health insurance and a sex-worker license that costs 40 Swiss francs (about NZ$55) a year. They also must pay about NZ$7 in taxes for each night they work at the venue.
The new sex park was unveiled last weekend. In addition to the private parking sites, the venue includes bathrooms and showers, a security alarm in each box and cafe tables set among trees strewn with lights.

Park-up: the media get an eyeful...

The facility, approved by 53% of voters in a 2012 referendum, was built for NZ$500,000 less than the voter-approved NZ$3.3 million budget (!!!). It's also sexpected to cost more than NZ$900,000 a year in security and upkeep.
There's no truth that this initiative is being considered by Christchurch, as an end-use for the many shipping containers in use around the city...