Hitmen behind Mexico massacre were prisoners: government | Reuters
This news piece is a little aged but linked here in case you missed it.
International Risk
Scary Chart of the Day – 6-24-2010
Not Here Yet
Scary Charts have historically been focused on the US economy but I couldn’t resist posting this chart.
Have a nice meeting with your CTO.
The Stuxnet Sting – Microsoft Malware Protection Center – Site Home – TechNet Blogs
Stuxnet – Spyware “That’s Really Scary”
Saturday mornings are a great time to catch up on the news. I regularly follow nearly 100 RSS feeds through my reader. The number and content type change periodically as my personal and business interests evolve (or when I forget my Adderall). When I came across this article I was surprised not about the content but more so about the fact that my computer security RSS feed stopped working.
I hate that when that happens.
Free Management Consulting Tip of the Day
Ask your tech guys if your remotes can infect the corporate systems using this sneaker net USB memory stick method.
I don’t know is an unacceptable answer.
Stuxnet spyware targets industrial facilities, via USB memory stick – CSMonitor.com
“We have not seen anything like this before aimed directly at the industrial control system environment,” says Walt Boyes, a control systems security expert and editor in chief of Control magazine. “It’s a clear-cut case of industrial espionage. We don’t know its ultimate aim yet.” But, he says, the attack is aimed specifically at the company that sells the lion’s share of industrial automation software to the electric power sector in North America and Western Europe. “That’s really scary,” Mr. Boyes adds.
And Yet Another Reason Why The War in Mexico Bothers Me
Gunmen Kill 17 at Party in Mexico – NYTimes.com
Across northern Mexico, there have been increasing reports of mass shootings at parties, bars and rehab clinics.
In the worst such massacre this year, gunmen raided a drug-rehab center in the northern city of Chihuahua and killed 19 people last month. In January, gunmen barged into a private party in the border city of Ciudad Juarez and killed 15, many of them high school or university students. Relatives say the January attack was a case of mistaken identity, while state officials claim someone at the party was targeted, although they have not said who it was.
The killings in Torreon came three days after the first successful car bombing by drug cartels, an attack that introduced a new threat to Mexico’s raging drug war.
War Dead Nearly 25,000 in Mexico
Mexico car bomb: ‘Colombianization’ of Mexico nearly complete – CSMonitor.com
Mexico had already overtaken Colombia in terms of kidnappings. The public has long gotten accustomed to a censored press, threats to politicians, and grisly violence that includes decapitation and bodies hanging from highway overpasses. Now, it appears, Mexico has moved even closer to the kind of violence that plagued the South American nation in its darkest days.
A well-orchestrated car bomb exploded in Ciudad Juarez late Thursday, across from El Paso, Texas, killing at least three and sparking panic among the Mexican population. It is the first known use of a car bomb against authorities and the local population, and marks a troubling new level of violence as traffickers seeking to control the drug trade battle one another and Mexican authorities.
Low Vitamin D = Higher Parkinson’s Risk
In the first longitudinal study to explore this possible connection, Knekt and colleagues analyzed data from the Mini-Finland Health Survey, which was carried out between 1978 and 1980.
Participants provided information on socioeconomic background, medical history, and lifestyle; serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D were determined by radioimmunoassay.
Among the 3,173 participants included in the analysis, there were 50 incident cases of Parkinson’s disease during a 29-year follow-up.
A significant inverse association was seen between age- and sex-adjusted levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and Parkinson’s disease, with the relative risk between the highest and lowest quartiles of serum concentration of the vitamin being 0.35 (95% CI 0.15 to 0.81, P for trend=0.006).
The association persisted after adjustment for body mass index, leisure-time physical activity, month of blood draw, education, marital status, smoking, and alcohol consumption.
Participants whose serum concentration of the vitamin was at least 50 nmol/L had a 65% lower risk than those whose levels were below 25 nmol/L.
One Veggie Burrito with Salmonella Please
I had a burrito with guacamole and salsa for lunch today. Serious!
The incidents accounted for 4.1% of all restaurant-related food borne illnesses from 1998 to 2008, more than double the 1.6% incidence from 1984 to 1997.
Of the 5,560 salsa or guacamole-related illnesses reported, 33% were attributed to Salmonella, 18% to Norovirus, 15% to Shigella, 10% to other infections, and 24% due to unknown causes. The infections resulted in a combined 145 hospitalizations and three deaths.
Of the outbreaks, 95 were traced to salsa and 36 to guacamole. Reported reasons for contamination included improper storage time or temperature (30%), contamination by food handlers and preparers (20%), and contaminated equipment or cross-contamination.
The raw ingredients used to make the popular condiments — including tomatoes, hot peppers, and cilantro — have also been implicated in past outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, Kendall noted.
The study concluded that training materials should be devised for the healthy preparation and storage of salsa and guacamole.
The CDC began collecting data on foodborne illnesses in 1973, but the first recorded incidents related to salsa and guacamole occurred in 1984.
DM2 Up in Vietnam
BBC News – Fast food ‘fuelling Asia diabetes boom’
A study by Australian and Vietnamese scientists found about 11% of men and 12% of women in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City had undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.
Right or Wrong?
BBC News – Insulin giant pulls medicine from Greece over price cut
Before you formulate an opinion, make sure to read the last sentence in this article.
By way of compensation, he said the company would make available an insulin product called glucagen, free of charge.
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