texascavers Digest 4 May 2009 02:51:21 -0000 Issue 753
Topics (messages 10627 through 10638):
Flu, Shmoo
10627 by: Alex Sproul
10631 by: Diana Tomchick
10633 by: Alex Sproul
10634 by: Alex Sproul
Re: Honeycreek trip May 8-10
10628 by: wa5pok.peoplepc.com
10630 by: Fritz Holt
Re: White Nose Syndrome
10629 by: Alex Sproul
More on the recent discovery of world's largest cave passage :
10632 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com
Re: 15th ICS - airport transportation
10635 by: Mixon Bill
ICS airport transport correction
10636 by: Mixon Bill
Jerry and Edwin (at Longhorn this weekend)
10637 by: Lyndon Tiu
Camino Columbia Toll Goes automated
10638 by: Aimee Beveridge
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--- Begin Message ---
In response to Fritz saying:
>At this particular time I am not sure that anyone would want to be handling
hogs.
WaV said:
>H1N1 is absolutely NOT from eating pork. It should probably not even be
>called Swine Flu.
The Egyptian government of Hosni Mubarek is on Fritz's side. They've
ordered the slaughter of every pig in the country, said to number well over
300,000. Muslims, of course, do not eat pork, but the 10% of Egyptians
who are non-Muslim sure do.
What an inane, knee-jerk reaction (or some would say 'excuse'...)
Flu is flu, and every year it mutates into a new version. It's still fun, though,
to talk about a "snoutbreak," or an "aporkalypse". :)
Alex
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Alex,
When I heard that report on NPR the other night, I initially thought
the same thing. Then the reporter talked about how most of these pigs
live in big cities like Cairo, where the people have their pigs living
right outside their apartments, in their outer courtyard. This close
proximity of pig to human is similar to the way that pigs and fowl are
raised in China and much of Asia. This promotes the transfer of
influenza virus across species--which is one of the main reasons why
many flu epidemics start in these regions. So it is not such a knee-
jerk reaction after all.
For more information, the Center for Disease Control has a nice PDF
brochure you can download for free at:
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/pdf/brochure.pdf
The pig farmers have the legitimate complaint that this will cause
them to lose their livelihood, and also exacerbate the disposal of
food waste scraps in Cairo (garbage disposal in this city is already
problematic).
BTW, it is more properly referred to as "type A influenza," and it can
be caught by hogs.
Diana
On May 1, 2009, at 5:15 PM, Alex Sproul wrote:
In response to Fritz saying:
>At this particular time I am not sure that anyone would want to be
handling hogs.
WaV said:
>H1N1 is absolutely NOT from eating pork. It should probably not
even be
>called Swine Flu.
The Egyptian government of Hosni Mubarek is on Fritz's side.
They've ordered the slaughter of every pig in the country, said to
number well over 300,000. Muslims, of course, do not eat pork, but
the 10% of Egyptians who are non-Muslim sure do.
What an inane, knee-jerk reaction (or some would say 'excuse'...)
Flu is flu, and every year it mutates into a new version. It's
still fun, though, to talk about a "snoutbreak," or an
"aporkalypse". :)
Alex
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.
Email: [email protected]
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
>This close proximity of pig to human is similar to the way that pigs and
>fowl are raised in China and much of Asia. This promotes the transfer of
>influenza...
Thanks, Diana. That makes complete sense. There was no mention of this
in the source I had, which only talked abut pig farms and farmers. I should
have considered the source (which came from a Republican friend).
Breitbart is not known for being a reputable or 'fair and balanced' news
outlet... ;^)
Alex
--
Alex Sproul
NSS 8086RL/FE
NSS Webmaster
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--- Begin Message ---
>This close proximity of pig to human is similar to the way that pigs and
>fowl are raised in China and much of Asia. This promotes the transfer of
>influenza...
Thanks, Diana. That makes complete sense. There was no mention of this
in the source I had, which only talked abut pig farms and farmers. I should
have considered the source (which came from a Republican friend).
Breitbart is not known for being a reputable or 'fair and balanced' news
outlet... ;^)
Alex
--
Alex Sproul
NSS 8086RL/FE
NSS Webmaster
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
He saw it and is still screaming!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
SNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!
> Why are you screaming?
>
> Joe
>
> On May 1, 2009 10:30am, Fritz Holt <[email protected]>
> wrote: > > KEEP A LOOKOUT FOR WESTERN DIAMONDBACKS IN THIS AREA. ABOUT
> > THREE YEARS AGO AT TCR I SAW A THREE FOOTER CROSS THE STRAIGHT DIRT
> ROAD A > LITTLE BEFORE IT SLOPED OFF TOWARD THE SPRING. OF COURSE,
> THEY CAN BE ANYWHERE > IN CENTRAL TEXAS. > >
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
My young children, when encountering them on acreage we owned called them NAKES!
Their Dad.
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, May 01, 2009 5:23 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] RE: Honeycreek trip May 8-10
He saw it and is still screaming!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
SNNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!
> Why are you screaming?
>
> Joe
>
> On May 1, 2009 10:30am, Fritz Holt <[email protected]>
> wrote: > > KEEP A LOOKOUT FOR WESTERN DIAMONDBACKS IN THIS AREA. ABOUT
> > THREE YEARS AGO AT TCR I SAW A THREE FOOTER CROSS THE STRAIGHT DIRT
> ROAD A > LITTLE BEFORE IT SLOPED OFF TOWARD THE SPRING. OF COURSE,
> THEY CAN BE ANYWHERE > IN CENTRAL TEXAS. > >
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--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Minton said:
>The NSS has a new informational brochure here:
<http://www.caves.org/WNS/WNS%20flier%20090428.pdf>.
>Finally, I heard last night on ABS News that they will be having a special
>report on WNS Thursday evening at 11 PM.
That turned out to be a 3-minute story on the local Harrisonburg, VA ABC
affiliate, filmed during the Spring Virginia Region Meeting last weekend.
Alex
--
Alex Sproul
NSS 8086RL/FE
NSS Webmaster
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
World's biggest cave revealed
By AIDAN RADNEDGE - Thursday, April 30, 2009
It looks like something from an Indiana Jones film. But for a team of
British cavers, trekking through the jungle for six hours to find these giant
caves was no screen test.
Perilous: A caver inches across a swirling underground river
Climbing down into a large chamber, they had to negotiate two underground
rivers before reaching the huge opening.
They now believe they have located the world's largest cave passage.
Measuring 200m high (650ft) and 150m (500ft) wide, the Vietnamese cave,
called Hang Son Doong (Mountain River Cave), is believed to be almost twice
the size of the Malaysian record holder.
Small: A team member is dwarfed
'It is a truly amazing sized cave and one of the most significant
discoveries by a British caving team,' said member Adam Spillane.
'The cave is 6.5km [four miles] long at present but the end of the main
passage still continues with a calcite wall of over 45m [150ft] high halting
our progress.'
The cave was originally discovered in 1991 by a Vietnamese jungle man
called Ho Khanh.
But he'd never been inside until this year because of the frightening
noise from an underground river.
The joint British-Vietnamese expedition team spent five days exploring the
cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and is due to return later in the
year to complete the survey.
_http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Worlds_biggest_cave_revealed&in_ar
ticle_id=643070&in_page_id=34&in_a_source_
(http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Worlds_biggest_cave_revealed&in_article_id=643070&in_page_id=34&in_
a_source) =
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--- Begin Message ---
Forwarded by Mixon:
Begin forwarded message:
From: ICS 2009 eList <[email protected]>
List-Post: [email protected]
Date: May 1, 2009 7:24:38 PM CDT
To: [email protected]
Subject: 15th ICS - airport transportation
Dear Friends,
The 15th International Congress of Speleology (ICS) will begin in
July. Many of you are planning to fly into the San Antonio
International Airport and then travel to Kerrville. The ICS will
provide free transportation from the airport to Kerrville on 18-19
July and from Kerrville to the airport on 26-27 July. To reserve
transportation, please contact our Airport Committee at [email protected]
and send your flight information and arrival times. If you are
traveling with your family, provide each person’s name. All requests
must be received by 7 July. Requests after that date will be filled
only if there is space available. Please contact our Airport Committee
soon.
One more important deadline is coming soon. On 1 June the price of ICS
registration will increase. Go to www.ics2009.us and register now!
Some of you are wondering about the ICS trips. On 5 May, I will send
you a message listing the trips which are confirmed, confirmed with
changes, or cancelled because of the bat emergency with White Nose
Syndrome.
George
George Veni, Ph.D.
Chairman, 15th International Congress of Speleology
Adjunct Secretary, International Union of Speleology
Executive Director, U.S. National Cave and Karst Research Institute
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
The deadline for airport transportation in the recently posted message
is wrong. You must make your reservations by 7 June. My apologies for
the error.
George
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
To Jerry and Edwin at this weekend's Longhorn trip,
Please contact me off-list.
Thanks.
--
Lyndon Tiu
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Geoff and I just got back from a trip to the Bustamante area this weekend.
Nothing like a pandemic to clear out the traffic! No lines going in and only 5
cars on the way back. We got 180 day tourist and vehicle permits. Lately we've
been told that tourist permits are only good for one visit but not this time -
a new and welcome change. Hopefully I won't be in for a surprise in July when
I attempt to go back in with the same visa.
As always, we took the Camino Columbia Toll Road to avoid the Laredos. We were
told that starting June 1st, only cars with the TexTag will be allowed to
proceed past the toll. There will no longer be a manned booth. They said "You
will be turned back".
We will have out-of-state vehicles on our ISC field trip and if everyone
doesn't have textags this will set us back time-wise. I want to avoid having to
go out of the way but if we have to I guess we'll take FM 1472.
More on Textag relating to Camino Columbia: http://caminocolombia.org/
Other changes are being made on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. The ole'
traffic light with the Green light = Pase, Red light = inspection was in the
process of being replaced with some other type of device. I'll sorta miss the
old semaforos but they are still in use at Camaron Station further into the
interior. The Mexican army is well represented at the border now. If you've
ever been through the Columbia crossing you've probably
noticed the playful statue of the naked dancing females just past the aduana, I
think its
called "Baile Alegre". Those ladies were doing their usual happy dance while
the army lads, wearing bullet-proof vests and face masks were trotting around
with their rifles in hand, in the 100 degree heat.
A 22 Km stretch of NL 1 has just been widened and paved. There are two new and
quite large Santo Muerte chapels along NL 1.
There was a story in the Monterrey news about how the flu has taken a toll on
one a quinceniera celebration (prompting some laughs) and canceled church
services, but otherwise, our favorite haunts were open for business and all was
calm.
We had a great adventure at Minas Viejas with Nico Escamilla, Jim Kennedy and
Emma and plan on returning for a grotto trip next October.
The times they are a changin'
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