Are Urban Vermin the Most Disease-Ridden Animals?
The News Review:
- Are Urban Vermin the Most Disease-Ridden Animals?
- Treat for twitchers as dry drives rare birds to suburbs
- Women of substance
Are Urban Vermin the Most Disease-Ridden Animals?
Scientific American – Mar 24, 2008
prairie dog owners caught monkey pox from their pets. And the reforestation of Northeastern states over the past century has allowed deer populations to boom spreading Lyme disease. By comparison pigeons’ potential for spreading bird flu seems rather minimal. So far most of nearly 220 human deaths caused by the pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu have been traced to contact with poultry. And the strain has yet to arrive in North America. If a similar one were to emerge here the result could be disastrous for industrial farm workers before anyone else according to Gregory Gray director of the University of Iowa’s Center for Emerging Diseases. “Exposure to domestic birds has changed markedly” he says.
Treat for twitchers as dry drives rare birds to suburbs
The Age – Mar 24, 2008
“Things that might be mildly interesting to them will beextremely interesting to us” he said. “It could be an indicator ofbroader environmental conditions and that information is usefulfor us to pass on to land managers and policy makers. Richard Loyn an ecologist at the Department of Sustainabilityand Environment’s Arthur Rylah Institute said rare birds madeoccasional appearances in Melbourne during dry times but there hadalso been some examples of longer-term relocations — includingthe galahs corellas and crested pigeons that have arrived in thecity over the past few decades and have since establishedthemselves. “It’s almost as if the southern boundaries of these species’former natural range is extending south which could be aconsequence of the changing climate” Mr Loyn said.
Women of substance
Malaysia Star – Mar 24, 2008
my The portrayal of women in contemporary films has improved considerably especially in films with female protagonists. As a female cinema-goer I’m really glad that films are increasingly departing or have moved away from the practice of depicting women within pigeon-holed roles. It was only a couple of decades back that women in film could be neatly categorised as virtuous (mothers housewives virgins maids) vampy sexpots manipulative or damsels in distress. And often the female character’s identity was defined by her relationship with a man… Biopics also offer strong female representation. For example Camille Claudel depicts a real-life woman who fought the exclusively-male French artistic establishment to prove her talent as a sculptor and arise out of the shadow of her lover master sculptor Auguste Rodin while coping with the aftermath of their failed relationship. Many period films particularly the Merchant-Ivory productions (Howard’s End A Room with a View Where Angels Fear to Tread) and those such as Wings of The Dove and Indochine show women trying to assert their autonomy within repressive patriarchal societies. This extends even to films such as Elizabeth where the female monarch has to hold her own in her testosterone-strong court. Despite Chinese critics slamming the collaborative works of director Zhang Yimou and actress Gong Li as exoticised to appeal to the Western audience their films must be credited for providing the Asian cinema with very strong female characters. Zhang’s female protagonists are never subservient and are instead feisty passionate and resourceful cases in point Ju Dou and The Story of Qiu Ju in which the women are driven by righteous anger and their fight for justice. Zhang’s Red Sorghum Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern also broke taboos with their depiction of female sexual desire.
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