Late post from 15 Feb 2019:

Hellooooo Friday.

Here's the recap of the 15 Feb 2019 news:

• Our own Army organization got less-than-positive press this week when Army families testified before the House Armed Services Committee on problems with military housing.  We're talking black mold, rats, and lead paint stuff.  One family complained about ticks raining down inside the house -- they discovered a bat infestation in the attic.  Our organization's General is on the mat for Army housing, but the other Services sound just as bad.  Luckily, I'm not in that section :o 
• The military Services' senior enlisted members testified before another HASC hearing this week and DID mention a program that is in our section:  childcare.  As the senior Marine said, readiness is a 3 legged stool:  unit readiness, individual readiness, and family readiness.  Every warrior tries to balance that stool. 
• How do you turn an injection into a pill?  Some drugs, like insulin, can't be taken via pill form.  The molecules are too big to be absorbed before the stomach's enzymes destroy them.  Researchers are testing a method to deliver these types of medicines via a "turtle" pill that attaches to the stomach wall and injects into the bloodstream.  Great news if you suffer from needle-phobia.
• another story comparing the cost of drugs in the U.S. to other countries...this time it's insulin from Mexico.  A 3-month supply in the U.S. = $3,700 versus Mexico = $600.   This price gouging is criminal.  Also saw a similar story on CBS.
• North Koreans are injecting/snorting crystal meth much like Americans drink Red Bull.
• The FDA is reviewing a nasal spray that treats depression.  The "special sauce" in the spray is also known by its street name, Special K 
• What's In My Food This Week 
• 59 pounds of "underprocessed" pork sausage was recalled in Texas.  Your guess is as good as mine on what that means...perhaps they forgot to kill the pig before shrink-wrapping it?
• "SalmonellaTennessee" in your chocolate tahini spread from a Philly company.  Did you know there was particular strain of Salmonella named for Tennessee?  I'm not sure how to take that... 
• plastic parts floating around in your Cold Pressed Juice Watermelon packs sold by Publix, Winn Dixie, and Walmart nationwide. 
• Salmonella in baby formula (rice milk) in Europe (doesn't appear to be in the U.S.) 
• Eating "ultra-processed" foods increases your risk of death by 14% or more.  Instant noodles and soups, breakfast cereals, energy bars and drinks, chicken nuggets, etc...scientists suspect that many of the additives to processed foods are turning out to be carcinogens.
• The Africa Misery Index 
• Ebola claimed 100 child victims in the Congo 
• Measles claimed 300+ deaths in Madagascar 
• Not really health related, but...Russia has plans to unplug from the internet to test their cyber defenses.  Wonder how the average schmuck is going to react to having their Facebook disabled for a while?

Please have a wonderful weekend, and keep the Storch family in your thoughts.

Late post --

Hello Friday...where have you been hiding all week?

Here’s the news from 1 March 2019

https://phc.amedd.army.mil/Periodical%20Library/APHWeeklyUpdate01March2019.pdf

• a 7-month old infant died while with an unlicensed day-care provider on an Army base in Hawaii.  My organization has oversight and policy of Army child care programs.  This incident should draw a lot of attention to the garrison leaders in Hawaii who appear to have ignored clear warning signs that children were in a bad place.
• also making national news this week, the condition of military housing at many posts.  All of the military Services are facing intense criticism for the decrepit condition of some of their family housing...black mold, lead poisoning, bugs, rodents, etc.  As our Army 3-star general said on Wednesday while testifying before a Congressional oversight committee, "we failed, and there's no excuse." 
  
• armed morons in Congo are attacking aide workers at Ebola treatment centers...why they're doing this nobody quite seems to know.
• on Sunday, the good folks in Ohio were reeling from winds in excess of 60 mph on top of temps in the low 20s.  We were all huddled in the house watching trees and tree limbs fall to the ground.  Evidently, the cold wind also created an "ice tsunami" across Lake Erie.
• worth noting:  the FDA is changing regulations for sunscreen.  Currently, only 2 of 16 ingredients in sunscreens you'll find on store shelves are considered safe and effective by the FDA (zinc oxide and titanium dioxide).  Two other ingredients in some sunscreen products are NOT safe (PABA and trolamine salicylate).  Nobody knows if the last 12 ingredients are safe or effective.
• What's In My Food This Week?
• allergens (milk and anchovies) in chicken caesar salads in the mid-west, sold under "Crazy Fresh" and "Jerry's" names
• glass and plastic in your Boston Market boneless pork dinners sold in the grocery (thanks to our Pulaski reporter!)
• uninspected catfish sold in Texas...Fulton Seafood "produced" the wild caught catfish...figure that one out!
• Listeria in Walmart's bagged green beans and butternut squash -- sold under the "Marketside" name in TN and GA

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Stay warm and dry.

The Mouthwash Murders

Late post from 8 March:

Good afternoon.  I'm playing catch-up from last week.

Here’s the news from the 8 March 2019 issue.

https://phc.amedd.army.mil/Periodical%20Library/APHWeeklyUpdate08March2019.pdf

• in many of these newsletters we've noted that some military bases in the U.S. have poisoned the groundwater for people living on and off the base.  That poisoning is clearly seen in one family around Colorado Springs, where 16 relatives have been diagnosed with cancer and 10 have died.  A related news story notes that some members of Congress are asking DOD why they didn't act sooner to protect those families
• a man in Germany and now a man in London have both apparently been cured of AIDS through a stem cell transplant. 
• in a rather shocking turn, turns out that many people who have already received the measles vaccination may NOT be immunized after all.  Those born before 1957 are considered immune because they likely HAD measles, but those born between 1957 and the early 1970s need to consider revaccination.  Evidently, doctors can also order a blood test to detect antibodies from a prior measles vaccination.  A story later in the newsletter relays that measles have hit the people of Madagascar hard...80,000 sick and 1,000 deaths so far, mostly children.  The Orthodox Jews in NYC are also suffering, with 133 confirmed cases. 
• "What's In My Food?" this week 
• "extraneous materials" in the ground beef shipped nationwide to "institutions" by a Washington state company 
• beef in the Chef Boyardee "chicken and rice" ready to eat bowl...who would eat this dreck?  (thanks cub report in Pulaski)
• Salmonella in the frozen breaded chicken for Canadians from coast to coast 
• stop using mouthwash that contains "chlorhexidine"...it destroys friendly bacteria in your mouth that helps the entire body fight off bowel disease, Alzheimer's, arthritis, and diabetes.
• last week or the week before the news reported that militants were attacking doctors and aide workers fighting ebola in the Congo.  This week, Doctors Without Borders reports they are suspending operations there because of the violence.
• Santa's reindeer in Norway are dying of rabies...geez!

Hope you have a great rest of the week!