Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Song of the day for dreaming

Did you ever wish you were someone else?  Picture your life in the greatest fantasy fulfilled?  Whatever it was that took you to the moon or over a rainbow.

This song reminds me of that dreaming.  Everyone likes a Sunday morning.  One fantasy I have is that I own  a rent controlled apartment in Greenwich village, New York.  Sunday morning I wake up as the sun blazes in through the tall floor to ceiling windows the light splashes across the wood floors.  I sit down to write a few more paragraphs in my burgeoning novel, while my shiny  expresso machine grinds and foams a large head on a 2 shot cappaccino.  Then I scurry across the floor barefoot and  put this cd on letting the music fill my apartment and my head as I get a self fulfilling buzz courtesy of South Africa.  I then head out into the most beautiful day I ever seen, the sky couldn't get any bluer or the clouds any fluffier, making me believe that their may be a god after all,  and down to the local bakery.  To pick up some delicious French pastries you know the kind, flaky, moist, filled with some exotic jelly or cream cheese whatever your preference.   I buy some triple cream French cheese :) and a large baguette right out of the oven for a late lunch.  Back down the street passing lovers laughing and people walking their dogs.  Passing vendors selling their rainbow colored impressionist paintings of the city in their own personal fantasy.  As I pass we smile at each other happy that it's Sunday morning!



Sunday morning rain is falling 
Steal some covers share some skin 
Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable 
You twist to fit the mold that I am in 
But things just get so crazy living life gets hard to do 
And I would gladly hit the road get up and go if I knew 
That someday it would lead me back to you 
That someday it would lead me back to you 

(Chorus) 
That may be all I need 
In darkness she is all I see 
Come and rest your bones with me 
Driving slow on sunday morning 
And I never want to leave 
 ]
(Verse 2) 
Fingers trace your every outline 
Paint a picture with my hands 
Back and forth we sway like branches in a storm 
Change the weather still together when it ends 

(Chorus) 
That may be all I need 
In darkness she is all I see 
Come and rest your bones with me 
Driving slow on sunday morning 
And I never want to leave 

(Bridge) 
But things just get so crazy living life gets hard to do 
Sunday morning rain is falling and I'm calling out to you 
Singing sunday it'll bring me back to you 
Find a way to bring myself back home to you 

And you may not know 

(Chorus) 
(Chorus) 
That may be all I need 
In darkness she is all I see 
Come and rest your bones with me 
Driving slow on Sunday morning and I sometimes want to leave. 

Yeah, yeah,... flower in your hair... 


Till copyright comes to get me

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Prevalence of Hep A in Brazil



English: Geographic distribution of Hepatitis A prevalence (Anti-HAV-Antibody), 2005
   High : prevalence higher than 8%
   Intermediate : between 2% and 7%
   Low : less than 2%
Deutsch: Weltweite Prävalenz der Hepatitis A (anhand der Anti-HAV-Antikörper), 2005
   Hoch : Prävalenz höher als 8%
   Mittel : zwischen 2% und 7%
   Niedrig : weniger als 2%
Français : Répartition géographique de l'hépatite A, 2005
   Haute : prévalence supérieure à 8%
   Moyenne : entre 2% et 7%
   Basse : inférieure à 2%




This is a map of the prevalence of Hepatitis A in the world.  The highest rates are in maroon.

As you can see Hepatitis A has mostly been eradicated in all 1st world countries, they are colored grey.

Hepatitis A is an acute infectious disease of the liver that is usually spread by the fecal oral route; transmitted person to person by ingestion of contaminated food or water or through direct contact with a person infected.   (Restaurant workers that do not wash their hands well after going to the bathroom).

In a lot of developing countries with poor sanitation its most prevalent-  i.e poo bins

Makes you wonder why Brazil still does not have adequate plumbing in public restrooms to ensure peoples disgusting bodily fluids and fecal matter get flushed down the toilet.  They have trash receptacles that you put your soiled tissue into.  You could call them shit bins.  I wonder which parts of the country are still doing this so I can up my daily dose of xanax medication when I get there.   I know Rio does.  So hypothetically if you go to the bathroom then wipe yourself (especially if you have been drinking) and drop a tissue in the bin and your hand accidentally scrapes up against another person's toilet tissue that has contaminated fecal matter on it?  And lets assume that you are smart enough to REALLY REALLY wash your hands.  Not just wet and go.  I  mean a good down-home LATHER, I mean get the clorox bleach out.  And lets assume that it (the shit) may not all get washed off or that you missed a spot its not an exact science after all.  Then if you eat afterward or somehow your hand comes in contact with your mouth you could possibly get Hep A.  And lets face it some people don't even wash their hands.  Come to think of it this would be a good anti drinking and anti restaurant ad.  The "NO drinking" for the part where your out having a few drinks and you catch a nice buzz and all your worries are drifting away with the nice cool Brazilian breeze and your swaying side to side as your making your way to the next  bar when you realize shit! I need to take a p*ss and you make your way to one of the many public bathrooms in Brazil.  You can hardly see straight and the toilet looks like its moving in front of you, but somehow your not going to touch the huge pile of white fluffy tissue that is teetering on a mound of more white tissue all covered in someone's SHIT............ well you get my drift.   I mean looking at that map and the numbers what do you think the percentages are for restaurant workers who make and deliver your food having Hep A?  Pretty good right?   So to be safe you should probably assume everyone has it.  That's not too relaxing when your out spending you hard earned money on some Brazilian shindig  at your local restaurant.  Soon you'll be missing "The Outback" back in the States and biting your tongue.   Also think about young children who don't yet understand good hygiene habits.  I would not let them go the bathroom anywhere public where this goes on.  I'll let you imagination run wild from here if your not ready to hurl your lunch in a the nearest toilet.


Vigilance is key here!

Side note --These stats are from 2005 and there are some regions of Brazil where the rate will be higher and some regions where the rate will be lower.  And obviously not everyone has Hepatitis A.