Ugsome Cur (Joe Trebing): Ten Years Later On...

Ten years have passed since I was here last. A great deal has changed in my family in the last decade.

Between Facebook, Instagram, and who knows what else, guess social media conquered the world and left Blogs in the rear-view mirror. Facebook never quite felt like "home", though. So maybe let's try this blog thing again.

In connection to my job, I subscribe to a weekly news recap assembled by the U.S. Army Public Health Center. I try to keep up with it -- and remember some of it -- by summarizing for the family. I'll try to post those recaps here, as well, in the hopes that it might spur other rambling notes and useless bits of information.

Here's the weekly news:

Don’t eat the Honey Smacks…it has Salmonella
Don’t eat McDonald’s salads…they have cyclosporiasis (a parasite)
There’s a listeria outbreak in Europe stemming from frozen veggies packaged in a Hungarian plant by parent company Greenyard. 9 people in Europe are dead so far, and 1 in Australia. There are indications that some of the veggies were shipped to the U.S., but nobody is sure where yet.
Make sure to fully cook the turkey. Multiple illnesses reported from across 26 states linked to raw/undercooked turkey.
A new study suggests that full-fat dairy products lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. We switched back to whole milk a couple years ago.
Ahh...brain eating amoebas! I'm drawn to these stores of woe like a moth is drawn to the flame. A brain-eating amoeba has now killed 6 people in Pakistan. Well, it’s likely more than ONE amoeba, I suppose…or else he’s one mean and hardy bastard.
STDs have tripled in 4 years in France. Depending on your views of the French, this is either a tragedy or poetic justice. C'est cela l'amour!
Fascinating story from China. Police are monitoring waste water (sewage) for signs of drug use. Folks who are taking drugs, or making drugs, have to pee. Authorities conduct chemical analysis on sewage to trace where the stoned pee is coming from. Wham -- drug user and/or illegal drum manufacturer. This trick might be useful in other countries!
Here’s a story you thought you’d never hear: China’s birth rate is dropping, and now is even below the U.S. rate. And yes, primary reason is because of the historical preference for male children and the official policy of 1 child per family (lifted in 2016). Female infanticide has created an imbalance of 30 million males.
If you doubt that cola drinks are bad, take a look at the Mexican town of San Cristobal where clean water is scarce, but Coca-Cola is cheap and plentiful. They have a Coca-Cola plant that has government-approved dibs on the water supply, and the residents are left with few options. On average, residents drink a half-gallon of Coke a day. Deaths from diabetes have skyrocketed 30% in the last few years.
Anybody taking valsartan for high blood pressure and/or heart disease? FDA has issued a voluntary recall due to an impurity in some of the products that came from China (wow, what a surprise). See the list here: https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm613532.htm