It's rarely a good sign when the vultures are circling. But it turns out that it's an even worse sign if the vultures aren't circling. It's all related to the circle of life. A few decades ago, farmers in India started using an inexpensive drug to reduce pain and inflammation in livestock. What they didn't realized at the time was that the drug, passed through the food chain, would have a deadly effect on Vultures for whom the remnants of the drug caused kidney failure. Tens of millions of the birds died. But that's not where the cycle ended. "Quickly, it became obvious that India was dependent on vultures to clean up the millions of carcasses of cows, sheep and other livestock animals that died each year across the country. Without the infrastructure to incinerate and otherwise process carcasses, the shock of the sudden vulture collapse led to animal bodies quickly piling up. A public health emergency followed, the depth of which researchers are just now starting to understand." Ian Rose in WaPo (Gift Article) with a bird's eye view of our interdependence in The hidden value of vultures: How a massive die-off of birds led to massive rise in human deaths. 2Front Pager News"A Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that the new brand of handheld pagers used by the group first heated up, then exploded, killing at least two of its members and wounding others. Lebanon’s health minister, Firas Abiad, said at least eight people were killed and 2,750 wounded." Hezbollah hit by wave of exploding pagers in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least 9. It seems safe to assume that this attack on communications is setting up some other military move. In the meantime, no one is quite sure how the pager plot was carried out. Here's the latest: Pagers explode across Lebanon in attack targeting Hezbollah members. 3Bad Boy For Life Sentence"For decades, Combs 'abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,' the indictment stated. The sex trafficking allegations revolve around claims that he 'manipulated women to participate in highly orchestrated performances of sexual activity with male commercial sex workers,' who were often flown in across state lines and internationally." Sean 'Diddy' Combs Charged With Sex Trafficking and Racketeering in Unsealed Indictment. The indictment is labeled as United States of America v SEAN COMBS, a/k/a "Puff Daddy," a/k/a "P. Diddy," a/k/a "Diddy," a/k/a "PD," a/k/a "Love," Defendant. 4Just Blew It"As Nike directed customers to its own stores and websites, it halted the flow of sneakers to retailers including Amazon, Zappos, Dillard’s and Urban Outfitters, and even curtailed goods at its closest partner in the US, Foot Locker. Donahoe’s strategy seemed to be working, until it didn’t. That recently abandoned shelf space was quickly filled by all of Nike’s top competitors: Adidas, New Balance, Puma, even Ugg." Bloomberg (Gift Article) with an interesting look at Nike, the shoe business, and how a few missteps can land you in big trouble. The Man Who Made Nike Uncool. 5Extra, ExtraSaving Grace: "Grace Fischer survived the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School by staying quiet and huddled, as her first grade teacher softly read 'The Nutcracker.' Then she spent the rest of her childhood watching mostly from the sidelines as dozens of similar shootings shattered other schools across the country." The first graders who survived Sandy Hook will vote in their first presidential election. 6Bottom of the News"On Monday morning, San Francisco police Lt. Jonathan Ozol wore a flamboyant, inflatable chicken costume as he attempted to navigate a crosswalk on Alemany Boulevard near the intersection of Rousseau Street." Was he just trying to trigger Fox News hosts? No. "The purpose of the exercise was to issue tickets to drivers who flouted state law by not yielding to a pedestrian like Ozol as he attempted to cross. Quite a few drivers failed that test."
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