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Here's the article;

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/30/ground-turkey-study-fecal-bacteria_n_3186285.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

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Graph from article;

(click to enlarge)

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http://www.newsdaily.com/article/92cf4151f582cd197c39616e1f63546a/gene-data-show-china-bird-flu-mutated-under-the-radar

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It seems as though as earlier speculated here, the virus had been developing and adapting quickly "under the radar" as the article puts it. ____________________________________________________________

Perhaps it is ironic that we as people tend to forget of the constancy of nature's prerogative. Ironically we often dream of utopias, and stable prosperous realities. Behind all these dreams however, is the truth.

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Just as we have continued to evolve in our kind of "bubble" if one will, of human society(inherited technology/knowledge), nature continues to constantly do the same thing.

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Perhaps this process takes on an interesting hue if one will, when discussing virii, because they adapt in so many words to consume their host. Hence as a non-virus, we would often like to forget about them perhaps. However, while we focus on our intra-species barter between labor, cash, and capital, nature focuses on a purer sort of transaction, that between life and death, health, and sickness.

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Hence it is perhaps not ironic, that as our society becomes more and more market centric, that nature in so many words begins to acquire the upper hand if one will.

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For example, even though there's too many articles on the subject to reference here, to maintain increased growth rates in livestock(poultry most specifically), we often pump tons and tons antibiotics into poultry farms. This is done by adding it to the animal's feed, or through perhaps gasification type of misting per se of the animals homes if one could call them that. This of course kills microbes, and hence allows the produce animals to devote more energy to growth. This of course makes any modernly-raised meat very in a sense, diseased, however, it is masked by the antibiotics, and the preparation(cooking) there of.

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What is perhaps overlooked in these sorts of efforts is the long term effects, of raising the bar very high on pathogens, virii etc. For, though these sort of antibiotic cures always work in the short term, they never work in the long term, because the battle being waged per se is never a "fair fight". For, though of course companies continue to invest in r&d etc concerning the production of more potent anti-biotics etc. What happens when the capital needed to maintain the human side of this battle begins to wane?

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As this most recent financial situation has proven, capital is not always available. This is a problem because as this Chinese-Bird-Flu example shows, if given a chance these now-super-virii produce by this constant exposure to anti-biotics, is now essentially facing an enemy with no defenses.

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Hence, though no, I'm not a shill for the pharma-industry, but if these entities were to become insolvent/cease to exist, essentially what our battle with virii would leave behind, is essentially an ungated fortress, with a very savvy opponent ready to pounce on our heals. For, though many may not considerate it, what we are doing by constantly raising the bar on the virii is making them stronger and stronger and stronger. Hence, the second we stop fighting them, they will be so well adapted to anything that constitutes a thoroughly undoped immune system that they will ravage it however they see fit and essentially wipe out any un-super-doped host they encounter(doped on anti-biotics etc).

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The irony is of course that this may happen anyway. For as the evolution of this new-strain of birdflue shows, even with the super-doping, virii still win.

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For, what we treat as a profit increasing measure(the use of anti-biotics in livestock) is a much bigger deal to our opponents(the virii). While we as humans and the companies involved more specifically do it(anti-biotic doping) to raise return to stake holders/shareholders etc. the virii are fighting for their very existence and future existence. Hence unfortunately we may be making a sort of Frankenstein's monster pathogen as we speak.

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Is it worth it, is perhaps an irrelevant question, because of course the actors involved in said doping, are wealthy and powerful, per se, and hence they have much more influence over the average even well informed individual in this case over any sort of policy decisions that would involve this arena of human activities. Hence perhaps the final irony of our current paradigm regarding human beings' relation to nature.

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Given our current perspective on our relationship to nature, that was formed during the industrial age, and perhaps best distilled and made clear in such books as Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", we often see nature as something we just "engage" at our leisure, like the ship that featured so prominently in that book, firing cannon shots aimlessly into the African forests as described early on in the book. We see nature as something, that with fuel and gears and levers, that we have managed to dominate or obscure from relevance. That in essence it is passive, while we are the active partner in this relationship/conversation. This can be seen in the climate change movement as well. In a ways its the last of the Patronizing inherent to relatively advanced forms of civilization.

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"Advanced" civilization has always needed to enlighten others, rightly or wrongly. Now that the world is explored, etc, and marketalized per se, there is perhaps no-people left to patronize/preach to. There are no "others" to civilize. The former ward's of colonialism have all flowered into well footed in some cases thriving "emerging markets". Countries like China, once advanced and again advanced, have beaten our Western model at its own game, through their own emphasis, on ruthless efficiency in the fields, of both social and capital related endeavors.

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With traditional super-powers obviously waning, with our role as Paternal guide to all, beginning to seem irrelevant, and perhaps awkward, we are now left with nothing to patronize but "poor little nature". Of course sustainable investing etc. is a good thing. For example the sort of strong and visionary corporate governance inherent to sustainable investing/corporate management has been show to also be a good thing for future profit margins/stable growth, and of course, it would be horrible if humanity wiped out any animal/floral species of organism.

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However, underneath the veil of paternalism, and supposed authority, lies a very different truth. Being the fragile animals that we are, we are perhaps overlooking the strengths of our not so obvious former counterparts in the game of life per-se.

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For though we may write off nature at times, as a ward of humanity per se, their are elements of nature, which have the one specific aim, of killing as many of us as possible(in order for them themselves to live, as in disease). While human leaders, may destabilize their own and partner nations polity to remain in power, we perhaps overlook the more obvious threats to our very existence which are posed by that anti-life, which has always existed with life, virii.

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For, though in our hubris, we often believe that we our so superior to the processes inherent in the world around us that its our responsibility to take care of the "environment", in reality the "environment" may not really bat an eye per se, and may continue on adapting to whatever ingenious or not so ingenious plans we as humans may hatch.

(For example; some species of fish actually adapt to be stronger(better-hearing) when faced with the acidificaiton of the ocean, often linked to climate change";http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130419080012.htm)

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Hence the most recent Chinese bird-flue strain. For even if it does not succeed. It surely is showing the traits of something which given a few more tweaks, could very easily do the job it is intended to. For, little did we know, while we were concerned by that news item of yester-year the dethronement of Bo Xilai, etc, their was something whose sole purpose in life was to kill us and our livestock, studying our moves, learning our behavior and adapting to our bravest defenses against it.

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Hence it is interesting perhaps that this most recent virus, has in essence reflected in its very construction the aforementioned discussed topics. For, in understanding the benefits of laying dormant while it evolves, it has perhaps realized our greatest weakness as modern humans. This of course not being our immune systems necessarily at the moment, but instead, realizing that our greatest weakness, is perhaps our almost exclusive focus on our social-economies, and our apathy.

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For, nothing happens in nature without a purpose. Luxury does not exist in nature. Every part of a natural being exists for a reason. It has a purpose. From our height capacity, to our fingers and toes, to a lemurs tail, all natural traits reflect an underlying reality, and the need for those traits to exist.

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Hence what really fascinates me about this birdflue is its understanding of the benefit of dormancy. It is one thing for it to adapt to a specific anti-biotic. It is one thing for it to become airborne. It is another thing entirely, for it to understand, the very real benefit of laying low, while we move on to other topics of interest, and foci. It is perhaps why hence I believe that this current strain of birdflue has become perhaps what may become the ultimate human predator.

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Though we have learned that visible predators, may study our "lifestyle-patterns", and lay in wait, it is perhaps somewhat surprising to think that a single celled organism per se like a virus would do the same thing, and hence, it is perhaps interesting to note that while we were busy buying and selling, getting married, and raising children, these single celled organisms, were not only evolving to our defenses, but also learning the methods via which we deploy them(noting for signs of sickness in livestock etc.).

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Hence it is perhaps this new leap into a somewhat conscious form of adversarialism that makes this new strain of bird-flue a continuously shocking and perhaps very dangerous opponent, or partner depending how one relates to natural processes(dualism(Cartesian) vs. the kind of wholeness based perspective inherent to some philosophies( ref. Bhagavad Gita for ex.)).

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For some further elaboration on interesting physical as opposed to methodological adaptations, one can reference these two beetles whose evolutionary development seems somewhat befuddling;

Siberian super-cooled beetle;

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19153749

Bombardier Beetle;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-wVFLucTks

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The solution to this conundrum is perhaps kind of clearly related to adressing the weaknessess the current birdflue strain has adapted to exploit, namely our apathy. For, though it would obviously be expensive, and perhaps best carried out by a government entity etc, the solution to this new approach of the virus would surely entail very regular checks of the status of at least a healthy number of specimens per se in any poultry farm for the presence of the perhaps stealthily submerged birdflue. This of course would be nothing new for us as humans, just like the lighting of fires to ward of predators in times of yore etc.

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From an alternative investment perspective, this is perhaps truly an alternative beta, and will surely help to diversify any portfolio's risk profile hehe, however, of course there are presumably a whole host of risks involved in investing in fishing boats, which from what I've come to understand may cost around 1milllion$ each.

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Either way, its surely perhaps an interesting story, and hopefully it doesn't get added to the CAIA curriculum, because surely a section on the fine art of commercial fishing might start to sort of muddy the curriculums waters per se.

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On another note, in regards to the birdflue post of recent yore. It turns out that this bird-flu is different than previous birdflues in that it doesn't make its presence in its avian host apparent immediately. This is perhaps a really fascinating case of virus evolution potentially in that its perhaps fascinating to think that a virus would not only adapt to its host, but also indirectly to human behavior regarding its host. For, perhaps its a rationalization on my part, but it would perhaps be really interesting to think that in a way the virus was sort of countering our preventative culling efforts, by sort of laying more dormant in its bird-host, in order to sort of sneak through our quarantines/defenses per se, sort of like a Trojan Horse per se. It is perhaps always humbling to think, that the intelligence of a single celled organism, could rival that of the "master tactician" of ancient Greece, Odysseus himself.

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Of course this sort of genius, is nothing new though, for example one only need research "toxoplasma gondii" to see the incredible ways that a parasite, can intuitively sense what would be dangerous situations, in order to drive its host to certain death but yet further its own life cycle. Interestingly enough, when TG effect people it causes women to be more docile, and men to become more anti-social and prone to violence, interestingly enough, the parasite I guess can tell us much about our own state, indirectly for, it must know of our social nature, and hence how acting in the ways previously mentioned could facilitate our own deaths. Its perhaps also interesting to note, that this parasite, obtained by eating undercooked meat, has societal level effect, leading to increased acceptance of the aforementioned qualities in societies where it is more prevalent, due to presumably human-herd tendencies, aka gestalt building tendencies.

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For further reading on suicide inducing parasites one may also study;

the lancet liver fluke, which in short infects ants which allows themselves to be cleverly eaten unwittingly by cows.

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For, now we are seeing increasingly more and more cases of the bird flue emerging in various places around China. It particularly unfortunate to hear that one of the more recent casualties per se of said virus, was a Chef(hence proximity to others' food), according to a CCTV(Chinese television)report that I just heard.

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Perhaps though, even though of course its not good news, it does add some clarity perhaps as to somewhat recent events that have transpired around China as of recently.

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For, lest we forget, everything from some park in China's special black swan's to hordes of pigs have recently been mysteriously dying in the land of the Great Wall.

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Being a big fan of China in general, and having studied its really interesting history quite thoroughly, I have a tendency to watch video logs, and youtube video diaries that deal with China regularly. Hence, when dead pigs started turning up en masse in Chinese rivers, it seemed natural to me, for some research directed me to the conclusion that this went hand in hand with pig-prices being driven low in the area due to excess demand, and hence, businesses/farms, dumping "product" to drive up rates, I know there's a little bit more math to supply and demand than that, but that seemed relatively logical at the time.

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Whether the dead pigs were actually diseased or not is perhaps an interesting piece of information that we may never know, whether they were the first casualties of the new outbreak of "birdflue", or if perhaps their bloated corpses simply facilitated its most recent outbreak, is perhaps a question that wont ever be answered. But needless to say their could presumably be a clear linkage between the pig corpses and this most recent bird flu outbreak, whether that linkage be, that the bacteria in their waterlogged corpses, facilitated the infestation of birds that ate them, or whether they were diseased to begin with is perhaps an interesting point of research.

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Either way, even though of course hearing of a dangerous new disease being "birthed" per se, is never really a good thing, it is helpful at least in perhaps better understanding the negative effects of dumping animal corpses en masse into river, if that wasn't already apparent lol, or perhaps it is also enlightening in that perhaps these pigs, perhaps weren't just done away with for pricing reasons, but perhaps they were diseased, and hence this diseased quality about them perhaps precipitated, their somewhat unceremonious burial at "the river" to for example avoid state ordered culls of the pig farms from whence they came.

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Hence, however one goes about looking at it, this new situation in China is certainly mysterious, and as the contagion continues to spread who can say where it will lead.

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Perhaps one final ironic quality about this new bird flu situation is that these infested birds are potentially more dangerous to the US, than the missiles which North Korea, has newly announces as having pointed at the US, for as the past has shown, migratory birds, can seemingly fly much further than North Korean missiles, hopefully this will continue to be the case.

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Recent discussions by "leading health figures" have argued that we could be reaching the far end of the spectrum that could be defined as times within the "anti-biotic bubble".

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One needn't go far back to see what life was like before the advent of anti-biotics. One need only for example read the biographies of various "founding-father" esque figures, or accounts of gangrene from the civil war or "wild west", to see just how fatal virii and infections were before someone realized bread mold could turn the tides of microscopic infestation.

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We had seemingly put an end to this age of seemingly frivolous mortalities with the advent of different varieties of anti-biotics. However, as time goes by evolution takes place.

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A long time ago, or perhaps all along, a certain spark of something, allowed inanimate objects to form a consciousness even if it was nothing more than chemical receptors, which allowed, previously inanimate compounds and molecules, to begin assembling useful bits from around their environment into themselves to make themselves healthier and larger. Sometimes they would split in half, sometimes they would insert their own DNA into other such compounds.

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This battle between consumers of environmental nutritional substances and inserters(virii) has been going on since time immemorial. Wherever consumers live, virii are close in tow. Whether these consumers be microscopic bacteria or tiny worms living thousands of feet below the earths surface, virii are always their.

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This janusesque duality of being alive had seemingly been muted for a time. Since we developed antibiotics, we found that we could turn the tables on the DNA inserters(virii) and hence put them on the offensive with our little microscopic fungal friends, who literally ate the virii for breakfast.

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However, just as the inner working and complexities of life has changed, so does their adaptability. While life was once simple bacteria, we modern humans, are so complex that we know have favourable bacteria helping us brake down complex sugars and fibers in ourselves, thus all life adapts to its surrounding and builds onto its self, to make its self stronger. Sometimes these changes aren't as profound per se, as the sort of fagocitotic cooption of bacteria, and are in fact much simpler, namely simply adapting one's genes to produce a finer biochemistry more suited to current exogenous realities.

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Virii though simple, and seemingly less complex have managed to do just that. Hence, have we been living in a protracted period of unrealistic living conditions? It seems that now that harmful bacteria and virii are managing to learn our tricks and rise up over the bar we raised with the discovery of "anti-biotics". Things may be going back to their original state of affairs, with us once again at the mercy of our doppelgangeresque companions in this aeon spanning journey of life.

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Will we find new cures, or will we reach some cliff that will plunge us back to the days that would make contemporary social security seem more feasible? Who can say, but one thing that can perhaps be observed from this developing reality along with the annals of info on ages which came before, can perhaps assure of one thing, that is that which defines the drive of life, continues to expand and adapt, and that where it may lead, may always be interesting, in both favourable ways, and in those ways which may require a few degrees of removal to fully appreciate.

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Further reading;

Article on new pronouncement on new found immunity to some anti-biotics;

www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2013/ma...-resistance

Bacteria deep underground;(anti-biotic resistant);

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/12....htm

Discussion of findings concerning the m.o. of anti-biotics;

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/13....htm

It goes on to discuss new research in solar power generation, specifically in the production of solar energy panels, that could bring their efficiency from 20 to 70% ultimately, and which might ultimately make them competitive per se with fossil fuels.

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Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on one's perspective, the research is being done by two universities, and a private company;

Scitech Holding Associates; scitechsolar.com/

However, they are looking for partners/investors if anyone's interested. They've also been given a grant form the government to further their research. Its kind of funny to think that such consequential research would only be awarded 650K, but then again, I have no idea if that's enough, more than enough, or not enough to really do the research/work that they are doing.

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Out of this little rabbits hole however, I did find one tasty morsel of high dividend yielding beta. Namely, SLRC. When one mentions solar and investments together one might normally think of ye olde, FSLR, a hot stock from a few years back, which as it currently stands pays no dividends. That may be the right cup of tea for some, but a dollar today is better than a potential dollar in several years according to some. Either way, SLRC, is a touch expensive, at 24.69, with a decent yield though, at 9.72%. However, a high yield and a kind of unique beta/exposure, is kind of a nice high yield diversifying element to one's portfolio potentially.

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If one wants to hedge this play which in and of its self could be seen as a diversifying hedge, the tea for these crumpets could be SDRL, kind of an odd the anagram-eque quality to this pair, but a high yielding drilling etc company, and a high yield renewable energy play, could be fit nicely into the energy pocket of one's portfolio.

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And now, for everyone's favorite poet Robert Burns' illumination of sunlight, and the catching thereof.

from;www.redbubble.com/people/reb0214/writing...-sunlight

CATCHING SUNLIGHT

Sunlight catches on dew dampened leaves,
Pictures of silver from solitary trees!
Beams of bright white come peeking inside,
Escaping through branches as it meets my eyes.

Tall and sturdy with twelve feet of girth,
The roots deeply sunk in the depth of the earth.
A masterpiece for the painter with the stroke of a brush,
But can he do it justice, or is that asking too much?

Green leaves shaped as ovals hang tightly in breeze,
Swimming to and fro, and frolicking if you please.
Birds make their nests and the owl spends the night,
Keeping watch over his kingdom, till a rodent causes flight.

My bark like blankets layers and protects me from harm.
Dribbling sap, a sticky substance, scabbing when it's near the ground.
A snake wraps round my branches, waiting daily for small prey.
And then as nighttime travels, catching sunlight, and drags way!