UPDATED. Northern California: Mushroom poisoning season

The Death Cap

DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME….

link

On New Year’s Day, the family reportedly collected six types of mushrooms at Wilder Ranch State Park north of Santa Cruz. Health officials determined that three of the types were safe, and one was mildly toxic. They believe that of the remaining two, one may have been the highly toxic “death cap” or Amanita phalloides. After becoming ill, the family was taken to Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, then transferred to the San Francisco hospital.
…
In severe cases of mushroom poisoning, patients require a liver transplant. For now, McCormack said, doctors are trying to save and restore the patients’ livers and give them a chance to recover.
… “Often people are from other countries, and they’re picking mushrooms that look identical to the ones they’re used to eating at home,” he said.

link

NO MUSHROOM is worthier of fear than the terribly poisonous Death Cap (Amanita phalloides). This single, widespread species of mushroom is solely responsible for the majority of fatal and otherwise serious mushroom poisoning cases, worldwide as well as in North America. …

THERE ARE RULES….

This mushroom is rare in most parts of North America but locally common in such areas as the San Francisco Bay area, where it is typically found from mid-autumn through late winter. Primarily a European species, there is no evidence that the Death Cap is native to North America. Ecologically, it is a beneficial mycorrhizal fungus—it lives on the roots of live trees, providing phosphorus, magnesium, and other nutrients to the tree in exchange for carbohydrates.In California, it occurs under live oak and cork trees…

The cap is 2¼–6″ (6–16 cm) wide, smooth, with greenish to yellowish pigments, usually sticky or slippery but sometimes dry, often adorned with one to several patches of thin white veil tissue. The gills are white, crowded together, and very finely attached to the upper stalk. In young specimens, a white, membranous partial veil tissue extends from the edge of the cap to the upper stalk, covering the gills (later remaining attached to and draping from the upper stalk). The spore print is white. The stalk is white to pallid, up to 6″ (15 cm) long or tall, with a large rounded bulb at the base; the bulb includes a white sac-like volva (see the two photos on this webpage). THE BASE OF THE STALK AND THE TELL-TALE VOLVA ARE OFTEN BURIED IN THE SOIL.

Hey, let’s be careful out there…

UPDATE: A family from the Aptos area was treated with the experimental drug milk thistle extract. See the story here.

Geniuses find fast food linked to poor eating habits

I mean, could it BE any other way?

Families whose meals frequently consist of fast food are more likely to have unhealthy eating habits, poor access to healthy foods at home, and a higher risk for obesity, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

link

Rules to live by in Utah, if yer not a Mormon

I lived there for four years, and this stuff from the Deseret News isn’t far off:

1. Laugh at the culture but never the doctrines. Utah’s peculiar society demands mockery. Only the most strait-laced Mormon cannot chuckle at the idiosyncrasies…
2. Forget about dumping the liquor laws, it ain’t happening …
3. Guilt is a powerful tool — use it. Mormons believe they live in a guilt-ridden society…. By using the right tone and demeanor (“I guess because I’m not of the faith, you’re unwilling to understand my position”), you can drive almost any LDS member into despondency and some acquiescence to your request.
4. Quote their heroes. Nothing sows confusion and grudging admiration more than a heathen reciting from the Book of Mormon or LDS authority. When pleading for Democratic causes, I always rely on the wise words of those ancient liberals Alma and King Benjamin. When Republicans get really outrageous, I recall Joseph Smith’s phrase “unrighteous dominion.” …
5. Praise the Prophet. Fortunately, this is rather easy since the LDS Church has been led by very ecumenical men in modern times. Comments about how “cool” President Gordon B. Hinckley is for appearing on “Larry King Live” and “60 Minutes” go a long way.
6. Understand the “Utah Way.” … When one openly attacks or challenges native Utahns, they rarely respond with direct confrontation. You will either be greeted with smiles and expressions of friendship, or completely ignored, while your opponent is thinking of various ways to stick it to you. …
7. …For the most part, Utahns are homogeneous and reserved by nature. Consequently, Mormons find endearing personal distinctive qualities that stand out. Because of my Italian heritage, I wave my arms and raise my voice in even the most subdued conversations — which many Utahns view as charming.
8. Accept the compliment. Some nonmembers are angered over the attempts by their Mormon associates to convert them. …I’m always honored when a member courts an obnoxious heathen like me.
9. Know the psyche. A devout LDS friend once explained to me the fundamental characteristics of Mormons: Members believe the true Gospel has been restored; the Church president is a living prophet; and “they” are coming to get you. Such paranoia is logical in considering LDS Church history …
10. Always remember, this is a great place to live. …Utah is a thriving region for education and the arts because of its people. This dynamic is a real boon for us Gentiles. We get a metropolitan lifestyle and yet no crowds on Sunday at the ski resorts or Costco.

Cheney going hunting: Pennsylvania raises Terror Alert to Red

Apparently the word “Duck” was taken as a warning/directive.

The Simpsons on Global Warming

here you go….

Time to enlist for the surge or shut up

The geniuses behind the escalation plan (euphemistically termed a “surge”) seem to be Fred Kagan (a resident “scholar” and enlistment-eligible male at the warmongering American Enterprise Institute), and ex-general Jack Keane. According to them, we need a lot more troops, for a long period, and we need them now, and this is the most important thing in the world:
link

We need to cut through the confusion. Bringing security to Baghdad — the essential precondition for political compromise, national reconciliation and economic development — is possible only with a surge of at least 30,000 combat troops lasting 18 months or so. Any other option is likely to fail.

Baghdad is the most critical military task the U.S. armed forces face anywhere in the world. We cannot allow that mission to fail simply because some Iraqi units don’t show up, aren’t at full strength or are less reliable than we had hoped.

Kagan says we have to get people (other than himself, I guess) to enlist:
link

Victory in Iraq is vital to America’s security. Defeat will likely lead to regional conflict, humanitarian catastrophe, and increased global terrorism….The president must issue a personal call for young Americans to volunteer to fight in the decisive conflict of this generation.

Now THAT will get some eyerolling…let’s see…George W. Bush and bravery…hmm…or his kids….or Jeb….or his kids…or any neocon….or his kids….

So you righties out there, step away from those computers and sign up. I’ll hold your coat. Or just shut the f…k up.
[h/t to Glenn Greenwald]

Iraqis: Lights, Camera, Kill US troops, email the video

[crossposted at dkos]

Ask not for whom the bell tolls….

Newsweek has a piece “We’re Losing the Infowar.” The piece is almost trying to suggest that we’re losing the war because, as “Inadequate message control in Iraq is feeding the escalating cycle of violence.”

Well, this is just another variation of putting the propaganda before the horse, but let’s try to ignore that for the moment.

The real message that surprised and appalled me is that violence in Iraq now seems to be a subject of videos, which are rapidly disseminated among Iraqis. Of course, we are all familiar with the Saddam video. But what probably hasn’t reached our consciousness is that the same filming thing that happened to Saddam is happening to our kids.

Most large-scale attacks on U.S. forces are now filmed, often from multiple camera angles, and with high-resolution cameras. The footage is slickly edited into dramatic narratives: quick-cut images of Humvees exploding or U.S. soldiers being felled by snipers are set to inspiring religious soundtracks or chanting, which lends them a triumphal feel. In some cases, U.S. officials believe, insurgents attack American forces primarily to generate fresh footage.

Many bloggers know a lot more about the editing process than I:

Compilation videos of attacks on U.S. forces sell in Baghdad markets for as little as 50 cents on video CDs. Advancements in cell-phone technology have made such devices particularly useful. Their small video files—the filming of Saddam Hussein’s hanging took up just over one megabyte—are especially easy to download and disseminate. “Literally, it’s only hours after an attack and [the videos] are available,” says Andrew Garfield, a British counterinsurgency expert who has advised U.S. forces in Baghdad. “You can really say it’s only a cell-phone call away.”

Although this phenomenon is not why we’ve lost in Iraq, it is certainly not helping at this point.

Popular Arab satellite channels like Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya air far more graphic images than are typically seen on U.S. TV….At the extreme is the Zawra channel, ….[satellite] Since November the channel has been spewing out an unending series of videos showing American soldiers being killed in sniper and IED attacks.

“One of these videos is worth a division of tanks to those people,” says Robert Steele, a former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer. Not only do the insurgent videos draw recruits and donations, they don’t give ordinary Iraqis much incentive to cooperate with the Americans.

Let’s try to forget the American torture and videos and images from Abu Ghraib. Let’s try not to think that we started this stuff.

The point is that war is hell whether you film it or not, whether Bush allows us to see the coffins or not, and that our kids are getting and blown apart regardless. We need to get our kids out of there, not put more in, and especially not put more in for the ego of the fool who is the president. He has to go.