USDA Seizes Vermont ‘Mad Cow’ Sheep. One of two flocks in which sheep had tested positive for TSE (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy), the generic term for the class of “prion diseases” that includes sheep scrapie, BSE, and new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in humans, was seized in a commando-style raid, the shepherd says before he could mount a challenge to what he says was an improper testing process. These diseases are probably just species-specific names for one process; the prions can be passed across species by consuming infected tissue, and cause an inevitably fatal neurodegeneration after a scarily long incubation period responsible for the former name for the conditions, “slow virus diseases”. What this may mean is that there are multitudes of cases currently incubating; perhaps a die-off of epidemic proportions is in store for us.

The Other Red Meat? “No beef? Try ostrich. Yes, ostrich. Gripped by ‘mad cow’ madness, many Europeans are rejecting beef for
healthier alternatives—and redefining their culinary traditions.” Time Europe

CDC’s internal climate report and forecast: phthalates up, lead levels down, cotinine down, mercury alarming. And, if the Shrub has his way, it’ll be up with arsenic and radionucleotides.

DMT: The Spirit Molecule, by Dr. Rick Strassman.From the author’s blurb: “In 1990, I began the first new human research with psychedelic, or
hallucinogenic, drugs in the United States in over 20 years. These
studies investigated the effects of N,N-dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, an
extremely short-acting and powerful psychedelic. During the project’s
five years, I administered approximately 400 doses of DMT to 60
human volunteers. This research took place at the University of New
Mexico’s School of Medicine in Albuquerque, where I was tenured
Associate Professor of Psychiatry.

I was drawn to DMT because of its presence in all of our bodies.
Perhaps excessive DMT production, coming from the mysterious
pineal gland, was involved in naturally occurring ‘psychedelic’ states.
These might include birth, death and near-death, psychosis, and
mystical experiences. Only later, while the study was well under way,
did I also begin considering DMT’s role in the ‘alien abduction’
experience….

The Spirit Molecule reviews what we know about psychedelic drugs
in general, and DMT in particular. It then traces the DMT research
project from its earliest intimations through the maze of committees
and review boards to its actual performance.”

A reader wrote wondering whether anyone is investigating whether the monarch butterfly die-off in Mexico might relate to crops genetically engineered to contain the Bt gene for pest resistance. Rampton and Stauber, in their book Trust Us, We’re Experts, reported that more than 20 million US acres are planted with Bt crops, which are poisonous to many classes of insects. So I did a Google Search: “monarch butterfly” “Bt gene” “bacillus thuringiensis”, which comes up with legions of net references to concern about the lethality of Bt to monarchs in particular. Now, is Mexican agriculture into Bt? [thanks, Holden]

The first schizophrenia gene is discovered:

“A gene variant contributing to the cause of catatonic schizophrenia in a large pedigree was discovered by scientists of the
Julius-Maximilians-University of Wuerzburg, Germany. The variant was detected when a group of psychiatrists, geneticists, and neuroscientists
around Klaus-Peter Lesch and Jobst Meyer at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy investigated genes on human chromosome 22 to
elucidate the genetic background of dominantly inherited catatonic schizophrenia, which is characterized by acute psychotic episodes with
hallucinations, delusions, and disturbed body movements. The protein encoded by this gene, which has been designated WKL1, shares some
features with ion channels. Ion channel proteins are located in the cell membrane and assist transportation of electric currents along neurons.
Mutations in the potassium channel KCNA1, another ion channel which is remotely related to WKL1, cause episodic ataxia, a rare movement
disorder lacking psychotic episodes.” EurekAlert!