[PHOTO] Taxis at Twilight, Dupont and Bathurst

[PHOTO] Flowers in blue at the Prince Edward Island Preserve Company, New Glasgow

[BLOG] Some Wednesday links

• Centauri Dreamns comments on the way SETI is akin to casino gambling.


• Crasstalk's commentary on a ridiculous New York Post article arguing that catcalling is a good thing should be read.


• D-Brief notes evidence suggesting that the short height of Africa's Pygmies evolved on multiple occasions.


• Eastern Approaches interviews Ukrainian rebels on the Russian side of the porous Russian-Ukrainian border.


• A Fistful of Euros' Edward Hugh considers the chances of the Euro crisis reigniting over Italian and southern European debt.


• Language Hat links to an article tracing efforts to preserve the Californian language of Wukchumni via its last speaker.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money notes a ridiculously terrible American journalist (morally and otherwise).


• Marginal Revolution notes the continuing economic decline of print journalism.


• Personal Reflection's Jim Belshaw complains about the Australian government in terms akin to ones I've heard of in Canada.


• Torontoist quotes Toronto city councillor Josh Matlow's complaint that the fare for the proposed express train to Pearson is not very competitive with taxis.


• Towleroad points to a recent pogrom against queer people in Uganda, killing seven.


• Yorkshire Ranter Alex Harrowell is appalled by ill-thought media-driven criticism of British public healthcare.

[LINK] "If You Think the Water Crisis Can't Get Worse, Wait Until the Aquifers Are Drained"

Dennis Dimick's National Geographic News article examining ways in which California's drought can get worse, through the irreversible depletion of aquifers, is worrisome reading. It's starting to appear as if California--its culture, its economy--is going to have to change permanently if it is to survive.

Groundwater comes from aquifers—spongelike gravel and sand-filled underground reservoirs—and we see this water only when it flows from springs and wells. In the United States we rely on this hidden—and shrinking—water supply to meet half our needs, and as drought shrinks surface water in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, we rely on groundwater from aquifers even more. Some shallow aquifers recharge from surface water, but deeper aquifers contain ancient water locked in the earth by changes in geology thousands or millions of years ago. These aquifers typically cannot recharge, and once this "fossil" water is gone, it is gone forever—potentially changing how and where we can live and grow food, among other things.

A severe drought in California—now approaching four years long—has depleted snowpacks, rivers, and lakes, and groundwater use has soared to make up the shortfall. A new report from Stanford University says that nearly 60 percent of the state's water needs are now met by groundwater, up from 40 percent in years when normal amounts of rain and snow fall.

Relying on groundwater to make up for shrinking surface water supplies comes at a rising price, and this hidden water found in California's Central Valley aquifers is the focus of what amounts to a new gold rush. Well-drillers are working overtime, and as Brian Clark Howard reported here last week, farmers and homeowners short of water now must wait in line more than a year for their new wells.

In most years, aquifers recharge as rainfall and streamflow seep into unpaved ground. But during drought the water table—the depth at which water is found below the surface—drops as water is pumped from the ground faster than it can recharge. As Howard reported, Central Valley wells that used to strike water at 500 feet deep must now be drilled down 1,000 feet or more, at a cost of more than $300,000 for a single well. And as aquifers are depleted, the land also begins to subside, or sink.

Unlike those in other western states, Californians know little about their groundwater supply because well-drilling records are kept secret from public view, and there is no statewide policy limiting groundwater use. State legislators are contemplating a measure that would regulate and limit groundwater use, but even if it passes, compliance plans wouldn't be required until 2020, and full restrictions wouldn't kick in until 2040. California property owners now can pump as much water as they want from under the ground they own.

[LINK] "Our ancestor's 'leaky' membrane answers big questions in biology"

Will Baird of The Dragon's Tales linked to fascinating news that genetic analysis allows scientists to make informed speculation about the last universal common ancestor of life forms now extant on Earth. This is not the same as the first life form on Earth, it should be noted, but this is still remarkable progress.

Bacteria and archaea share many common features such as genes, proteins and mechanisms of reading DNA, initially leading scientists to believe they were just different types of bacteria. Their classification changed in the 1970's after extreme differences were found in the way they replicate DNA and in the structure of their cell membrane. As they both stemmed from LUCA, scientists set out to find answers in the structure and function of LUCA's membrane.

Dr Nick Lane (UCL Biosciences) who led the study said, "I find this work just beautiful – it constrains a sequence of steps going from the strange cell that seems to have been the ancestor of all life today, right through to the deep division between modern cells. From a single basic idea, the model can explain the fundamental differences between bacteria and archaea. Is it right? I'd like to think so, but more importantly, it makes some clear predictions that we plan to test in the future."

Data from the study strongly suggest that LUCA lived in the area where ancient seawater, dense with positively charged particles called protons, mixed with warm alkaline vent fluid, which contained few protons. The difference in the concentration of protons across these two environments enabled protons to flow into the cell, driving the production of a molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which powered the growth of cells, just as it does today. However, unlike modern cells the scientists believe this could only happen if the membrane was 'leaky', enabling protons to leave the cell spontaneously so more protons could enter to power growth.

Dr Lane said: "In these deep sea vents, there is a continuous flow of alkaline fluids, which mix with the ocean waters. When they mix, the fluids neutralise each other, and that stops any build-up of charge which would otherwise prevent protons flowing into the cell. If the first cells had leaky membranes, then protons could enter and then be neutralised, or leave again, almost as if there was no barrier at all. What we've shown is that the rate at which protons enter and leave is high enough to power the growth of cells via proteins embedded in the membrane. So LUCA could have been powered by natural proton gradients in vents, but only if it had a really leaky membrane, completely unlike today's cells."

To escape from these seabed vents, LUCA had to adapt its membrane to pump protons out of the cell, in order for them to flow back in again to help drive ATP production. The study suggests that the bacteria and archaea developed completely different cell membrane structures and proton pumps, whilst keeping the same machinery for powering growth. It also explains why they differ in fundamental traits that depend on the membrane such as DNA replication.

[LINK] "Ebola outbreak: Africans understandably wary about promised cures"

CBC's Daniel Schwartz examines how, in the context of the expanding Ebola epidemic, African skepticism about foreign medical systems is often grounded in recent bad experience with said.

For example, in Nigeria in 1996, when a meningitis epidemic was underway, the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer arrived in the hot zone in Kano. Its representatives immediately set up their clinic next to the makeshift tents of a hospital then staffed mostly by Doctors Without Borders.

Meningitis, an inflammation in a membrane surrounding the brain or spinal cord, affects mostly children, and without treatment, about half of those infected will die.

Pfizer had a new treatment that it wanted to test, so its doctors gave Trovan (floxacin) to about half the 200 children they treated, while the other half received an approved drug for meningitis.

About five per cent of the patients taking the experimental Trovan died, while some others were left blind, deaf and/or paralyzed.

In the aftermath, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration refused to approve Trovan, hundreds of Nigerian parents sued Pfizer and the company eventually settled in 2009. (Its position was that it was the disease that had caused the deaths and other conditions.)

Pfizer claimed to have permission from the local hospital to conduct its experiment, but the approval letter was said to be a forgery. Pfizer claimed it had informed consent from the patients’ families but could not provide written proof.

Harriet Washington, who wrote about the Trovan case in her 2011 book Deadly Monopolies, told CBC News that in the absence of that consent, people in Kano "had no way of distinguishing the doctors who are giving approved drugs meant to work, from doctors right next to them who are giving them something experimental."

[LINK] Two notes on changing party allegiances in Québec

The other day, Facebook's Mike kindly linked to Chantal Hébert's Toronto Star article, "Bloc Québécois MPs unlikely to stick around for next election". Continuing to lose support in Québec's regions, among non-Francophone communities, and among unions, the Bloc may plausibly disappear come the next election.

Of the four MPs who survived the NDP wave three years ago, two have since turned their backs on the Bloc. A fifth who crossed over from the NDP after the election is not expected to run again.

Ahuntsic MP Maria Mourani was shown the door by then-leader Daniel Paillé in the heat of the debate over the Parti Québécois’ proposed secularism charter last fall. She has since renounced sovereignty.

Jean-François Fortin who represents the eastern Quebec riding of Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia slammed the door on his way out last week. In a statement that was more akin to a manifesto than to a resignation letter, Fortin had nothing but harsh words for new leader Mario Beaulieu whose approach to sovereignty the MP described as folkloric.

Claude Patry was elected in Jonquière—Alma on Jack Layton’s ticket three years ago only to decide he did not belong in a federalist caucus a year later. But now he is chaffing under Beaulieu’s leadership and the new leader scrambled on Monday to talk him out of following Fortin out the door. Under any scenario, few expect this MP to seek re-election next year.

Of the remaining MPs, one — Richmond—Arthabaska’s André Bellavance — has yet to say a supportive word about his new leader since he narrowly lost the leadership to Beaulieu in June.

That leaves Richelieu MP Louis Plamondon who will celebrate the 30th anniversary of his first election (as a Tory) on Sept. 4. At 71, he is both the dean of the House of Commons and the most (only?) likely Bloc incumbent to stick around for another election. If he does he may get to turn off the lights on the party that he helped create almost twenty-five years ago.

CBC's Michelle Gagnon, meanwhile, wonders in "http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/never-mind-the-west-can-justin-trudeau-crack-fortress-quebec-1.2741145?cmp=rss">"Never mind the West, can Justin Trudeau crack Fortress Quebec?" exactly that question. Will the Liberals progress or will the NDP consolidate its gains? Much comes down to how the Trudeau name is perceived.

Belonging, of course, is key to politics in Quebec. The nationalism that divides party support provincially often cuts across partisan lines in the federal arena.

Being a native son, as Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney were, or a reinstated one as le bon Jack Layton became, can often be a deciding factor in winning Quebec and forming a national government.

True, Stephen Harper's Conservatives have won successive governments without much backing from Quebec. But Conservative MP Denis Lebel's current 12-day charm offensive to court Quebec voters suggests that even they know the province is not to be discounted.

By all measures, Trudeau is undeniably from here, from Montreal in particular, where he spent his teen and university years after his father retired from politics.

His French is flawless, and his knowledge of the province's set-piece political battles almost intimate.

More, his stance on abortion, legalizing marijuana, and LGBTQ issues feel homegrown, in line with Quebecers' more progressive instincts.

But he is also the son of a man considered by many here to have betrayed his own. First, by invoking the War Measures Act during the 1970 October Crisis, and then by outmaneuvering Quebec and leaving it on the sidelines during the 1982 constitutional negotiations.

[NON BLOG] A fundraiser to get people out of Gorlivka, Ukraine

Friend of the blog Will Baird, of The Dragon's Tales and The Dragon's Gaze, is trying to fundraise five thousand American dollars to get some people out of the embattled eastern Ukrainian city Gorlovka/Horlivka. Below is the latest update.

Once again, I am continuing the fundraiser to extract the individuals from Gorlovka. We have made some progress, but we need a significantly larger amount than we have received so far to extract them.

The reason for needing to pull them out is the local militants (I have other words to describe them) have taken notice of our contacts. Given the militants have started disappearing people, our contacts need to be pulled out asap. We have someone who will do so, but it will cost in order to go and extract them.

The reason for the original date on the fundraiser was to try to get the funds into a usable form by this friday. Since there isn't a sufficient amount to do even the minimum quite yet, I'll keep reposting at 6 or 7 PM each night for this week at least until Monday.

Please use my email address (anzhalyu at gmail There are no dots or other characters, just to warn you except for the obvious final extension) for both questions and where to send the funds to on paypal. I can take cryptocurrencies, but, please, email me first. That's a little more complicated.

Through people's generosity, we are getting there. We still have $3,270 of the $5,000 goal left to raise. I will keep a running tally.

Anyone who has contributed may ask for any post they wish. I'll whip one up almost immediately.

Thank you for your help.

If you can donate, please do so.

[LINK] "As Ebola Crisis Spreads in West Africa, Liberia's Deterioration Stands Out"

National Geographic's Dick Thompson writes about the situation in Liberia, where the ongoing West African Ebola epidemic is apparently particularly intense.

The massive effort to get control of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the most devastating in history with more than 1,350 dead to date, has taken some bizarre turns in Liberia. The country's government on Tuesday quarantined a slum in Monrovia, the capital, provoking clashes there between angry residents and authorities.

The country's public health officials had already been reduced to rounding up patients that angry mobs "liberated" from an isolation facility last weekend, imposing a nationwide curfew of 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., and fighting the pernicious rumor that the hemorrhagic fever still raging through West Africa is a hoax.

The situation in Liberia has been described by an experienced member of one response team as being in "free fall," while Doctors Without Borders said the situation in Monrovia is "catastrophic." Liberia now has more cases and more deaths than any other country, with 576 patients dead, compared to 396 in Guinea and 374 in Sierra Leone. Dozens of health care workers in the country have been infected with the virus.

The deadly Ebola virus has been leaving its mark on Africa since the first outbreak in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A total of 2,473 cases and 1,350 deaths have been recorded in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria since the World Health Organization began reporting Ebola cases in March 2014. Several countries have imposed bans on airline travel.

Doctors Without Borders says there are reports that most of the country's hospitals are closed because fearful or ill health workers stopped reporting to work, and bodies are lying in the streets and in houses waiting to be collected.