SuperBugs in Our Food?

“If we are not careful, we will soon be in a post-antibiotic era,” Dr. Tom Frieden, the CDC’s director, said in a media briefing. “And for some patients and for some microbes, we are already there.”

Some very bad bacteria have developed resistance to antibiotics. The Center for Disease Control has released a new report Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States 2013.

A number of these antibiotic resistant bacteria result in food borne illnesses. Antibiotic use in food animals can result in resistant bacteria, Campylobacter for example, that can spread to humans through the food we eat. Remember what Mom told you: Wash your hands! Wash your hands!

The CDC warns us:

The use of antibiotics is the single most important factor leading to antibiotic resistance around the world . Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs used in human medicine. However, up to 50% of all the antibiotics prescribed for people are not needed or are not optimally effective as prescribed .

Antibiotics are also commonly used in food animals to prevent, control, and treat disease, and to promote the growth of food-producing animals . The use of antibiotics for promoting growth is not necessary, and the practice should be phased out . Recent guidance from the U .S . Food and Drug Administration (FDA) describes a pathway toward this goal.

It is difficult to directly compare the amount of drugs used in food animals with the amount used in humans, but there is evidence that more antibiotics are used in food production . 

What can you do to help with this serious health concern? The CDC answers many questions HERE. One way, and an increasing popular way to protect yourself and your community from antibiotic resistance, is to become a Vegetarian and/or reduce your consumption of commercially produced meat. The money quotation from the article:

Q: How can I prevent antibiotic-resistant infections?

Only use antibiotics when they are likely to be beneficial

A: By visiting this website, you are taking the first step to reducing your risk of getting antibiotic-resistant infections. It is important to understand that, although they are very useful drugs, antibiotics designed for bacterial infections are not useful for viral infections such as a cold, cough, or the flu. Some useful tips to remember are:

1. Talk with your healthcare provider about antibiotic resistance:
   • Ask whether an antibiotic is likely to be beneficial for your illness
   • Ask what else you can do to feel better sooner
2. Do not take an antibiotic for a viral infection like a cold or the flu.
3. Do not save some of your antibiotic for the next time you get sick. Discard any leftover medication once you have completed your prescribed course of treatment.
4. Take an antibiotic exactly as the healthcare provider tells you. Do not skip doses. Complete the prescribed course of treatment even if you are feeling better. If treatment stops too soon, some bacteria may survive and re-infect.
5. Do not take antibiotics prescribed for someone else. The antibiotic may not be appropriate for your illness. Taking the wrong medicine may delay correct treatment and allow bacteria to multiply.
6. If your healthcare provider determines that you do not have a bacterial infection, ask about ways to help relieve your symptoms. Do not pressure your provider to prescribe an antibiotic.

Occupy Oakland 2nd Anniversary Poster

The struggle continues. Now do not let that word "struggle" intimidate you. If you fear and loathe Congress, there is a painless way to strike a blow for truth, justice and the American Way. 

You do not have to camp out with Occupy and sleep on the ground to get your message out. I am a Holiday Inn kind of girl myself. You can do your part and never have take off your pink marabou slippers or put down your martini.

Drunk Dial Congress!

 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/11/1246248/-My-Experience-At-Occupy-Oakland-s-2nd-Anniversary-Rally-Today

Barry Deutsch - Political Cartoonist

Barry Deutsch Self Portrai

I have found another wonderful political cartoonist with his own website. You can buy this cartoon and many others printed on a T-shirt there. Or buy a print for your wall. You want to go there. Man is one of the The Best. 

See more fine political Cartoonists right HERE. 

World Food Day Posters 2013 - Vote for Your Favorite Young Artist

You can see more World Food Day Posters on their Facebook Page. And you can vote for your favorite young artist. The winners of the 2012 poster competion can be found HERE.

The posters below are my choices. The contest is closed for 2013. Maybe you have a young artist at home who would like to enter their work in the contest next year? Enjoy.

Political Sign of the Month - October 2013

I love this sign. Perfect for this Halloween. More funny protest signs HERE:

• I think I can say, and say with pride, that we have legislatures that bring higher prices than any in the world.
  • Mark Twain, reported in Caroline Thomas Harnsberger, Mark Twain at Your Fingertips‎ (1948), p. 364.

A Common Dream

Spike91sz says:

Aggressive and violent political tone takes the country to a place of reactive paranoia and fear. It also takes us to a fascistic corporatist state. We must have some hopeful idea to replace the fearful and vitriolic narrative of the right. That narrative only serves their interests and ensures their power. It is a dead end of progress to turn us upon one another in suspicion and violence.

Hope is more efficient than fear. Where is the hopeful narrative of what we may become, when we have a common dream? The right's dream is of the few and holds no promise for common opportunity.

Note: I troll the Net message boards, political and otherwise. I come across thoughts that must have a wider audience. So I put them on my Blog. 

Eric Cantor Mon Amour - Debt Ceiling Edition

Reuters Photo

Eric Cantor is in the news again announcing things. I must confess. I have fantasies about Eric Cantor. Some might call it lust. Eric gives me Fever. The nature of my fantasies is so disturbing that I give thanks I am sober. And occasionally medicated. Am I the only one?

I do not know what it is about Eric that gets me so crazy. He lies and lies with a cheerful smile on his face, it is true. Misrepresentation not-quite-illegal is the method du jour of the Effete Elite. An unctuous smile is not a new experience. Maybe it is his voice. Or his hair and his ducky walk. 

I want to push his face into the sand box and grind. I want to pinch his cheeks until he hollers. I want to tear his titties off. With my teeth. I am so going to Hell.

Call me crazy? You would be right. Diagnosed.Would I do this? Only in my dreams. I am no slimy terrorist. I do have a rich full fantasy life. Oh Eric. "Come onna my house my house a come on; Ima gonna give you candy."

Political Sign of the Month - September 2013 - Bombs Away!

CLICK HERE !

No contest that this first sign is the message sign of the month. Think Syria.

If you have been listening to the Republican Party, we are too poor to police the world. Unless, like the Iraq War, Republicans and Hawks plan to take the cost of war and bombs out of social programs that feed and house the indigent, sick, old and young. You know, like was just done with the sequester. 

What will the next Middle East War strip us of? Social Security? Medicare? The last one took Meals on Wheels, Head Start, scientific research, and more. Nothing like war to make you poor.

But this sign was bigtime competition:

And this sign cannot be left out. See more signs from the Rally for Sanity HERE: