Diseases Spread North, Global Warming to blame?

This is an intereting article from the New York Times published on December 23, 2007.

CASTIGLIONE DI CERVIA, Italy — Panic was spreading this August through this tidy village of 2,000 as one person after another fell ill with weeks of high fever, exhaustion and excruciating bone pain, just as most of Italy was enjoying Ferragosto, its most important summer holiday.

Officials set out insect traps and were surprised by what they caught: tiger mosquitoes.
“At one point, I simply couldn’t stand up to get out of the car,” said Antonio Ciano, 62, an elegant retiree in a pashmina scarf and trendy blue glasses. “I fell. I thought, O.K., my time is up. I’m going to die. It was really that dramatic.”

By midmonth, more than 100 people had come down with the same malady. Although the worst symptoms dissipated after a couple of weeks, no doctor could figure out what was wrong.
People blamed pollution in the river. They denounced the government. But most of all they blamed recent immigrants from tropical Africa for bringing the pestilence to their sleepy settlement of pastel stucco homes.

“Why immigrants?” asked Rina Ventura, who owns a shop selling shoes and purses. “I kept thinking of these terrible diseases that you see on TV, like malaria. We were terrified. There was no name and no treatment.”
Oddly, the villagers were both right and wrong. After a month of investigation, Italian public health officials discovered that the people of Castiglione di Cervia were, in fact, suffering from a tropical disease, chikungunya, a relative of dengue fever normally found in the Indian Ocean region. But the immigrants spreading the disease were not humans but insects: tiger mosquitoes, who can thrive in a warming Europe.

Aided by global warming and globalization, Castiglione di Cervia has the dubious distinction of playing host to the first outbreak in modern Europe of a disease that had previously been seen only in the tropics.
“By the time we got back the name and surname of the virus, our outbreak was over,” said Dr. Rafaella Angelini, director of the regional public health department in Ravenna. “When they told us it was chikungunya, it was not a problem for Ravenna any more. But I thought: this is a big problem for Europe.”

The epidemic proved that tropical viruses are now able to spread in new areas, far north of their previous range. The tiger mosquito, which first arrived in Ravenna three years ago, is thriving across southern Europe and even in France and Switzerland.
And if chikungunya can spread to Castiglione — “a place not special in any way,” Dr. Angelini said — there is no reason why it cannot go to other Italian villages. There is no reason why dengue, an even more debilitating tropical disease, cannot as well.

“This is the first case of an epidemic of a tropical disease in a developed, European country,” said Dr. Roberto Bertollini, director of the World Health Organization’s Health and Environment program. “Climate change creates conditions that make it easier for this mosquito to survive and it opens the door to diseases that didn’t exist here previously. This is a real issue. Now, today. It is not something a crazy environmentalist is warning about.”
Was he shocked to discover chikungunya in Italy, his native land? “We knew this would happen sooner or later,” he said. “We just didn’t know where or when.”

It certainly caught this town off guard on Aug. 9, when public health officials in Ravenna received an angry call from Stefano Merlo, who owns the gas station. “Within 100 meters of my home, there were more than 30 people with fevers over 40 degrees,” or 104 Fahrenheit, said Mr. Merlo, 47. “I wanted to know what was going on. I knew it couldn’t be normal.”
August is not the season for high fevers, Dr. Angelini agreed, and within days of interviewing patients she was intrigued. “The stories were so similar and so dramatic,” she said. “But we had no clue it was something tropical.”

Hard-working shopkeepers could not get out of bed because their hips hurt so much. Able-bodied men could not lift spoons to their mouths. (Months later, many still have debilitating joint pain.) From the start, doctors suspected that the disease was spread by insects, rather than people. While almost all homes had one person who was ill, family members seemed not to catch the disease from one another. They initially focused on sand flies, since the disease clustered on streets by the river.

Canceling their traditional mid-August vacations (in Italy, a true sign of panic), health officials sent off blood samples, called national infectious-disease experts, searched the Internet and set out traps to see what insects were in the neighborhood. The first surprise was that the insect traps contained not sand flies but tiger mosquitoes, and huge numbers of them. The scientific survey confirmed what residents of Castiglione had come to accept as a horrible nuisance, though not a deadly threat.

“In the last three or four years, you couldn’t live on these streets because the mosquitoes were so bad,” said Rino Ricchi, a road worker who fell ill, standing at the entrance to his neatly tended garden, where mosquito traps have now replaced decorative fountains. “We used to delight in having a garden or a porch to eat dinner. You couldn’t this year, you’d get eaten alive.”

For the rest of the article go to http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/world/europe/23virus.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5070&en=bf19ce7c93a293a6&ex=1199163600&emc=eta1

For the latest health alerts visit www.passporthealthusa.com. you can also sign up for our E-zine and the chance to win a Bahamas cruise with an Orlando vacation.

Tips for Holiday Travel

December 7, 2007

Beginning prior to Thanksgiving and lasting through the New Year, we experience this annual phenomena of stress with traveling over the holidays. Here are some helpful tips to help lessen the stress involved with waiting in lines and going through security checks. “It’s not a new message, but it’s even more applicable this year: If you’re flying this holiday season, be sure to allow plenty of time. And if you are traveling internationally, do not forget to visit your local Passport Health office to get the latest information on diseases and receive the vaccines you need to remain healthy while you travel.

‘We’ve said it every year, and we’re saying it again this year,’ Dan Melfi, Denver International Airport's (DIA) holiday spokesperson, ‘Travelers should be in the airline check-in lines in the terminal at least 2 hours before their flights are to depart. Add an additional hour if you’re traveling internationally.’

A number of airlines offer self-service check-in kiosks that can save travelers some time. But those are generally for people traveling only with carry-on luggage. If you’re checking bags, you may still need to go to a ticket counter after using the kiosk. Also, the federal government says wait times for security screening are getting longer at DIA as well.

Even though new TSA carry-on restrictions have been in place for more than a year, some travelers are still confused. To remember the rules, just think “3-1-1″: 3 ounces or smaller containers of liquid or gel are allowed in carry-on luggage; 1 quart-sized clear, plastic, zip-top bag holding ALL of the 3-oz containers; 1 bag per traveler. You must take these bags out of your carry-on luggage and place it in a separate security bin for screening. Travel tips concerning security-screening - including a list of items that cannot be taken on the aircraft - are available at the TSA’s Website.

Other travel suggestions include:
Check with your airline before leaving home to confirm that status of your flight.
Check-in online if possible. Checking bags at curbside may save time, but some airlines charge a small fee for this service.
Leave Christmas packages unwrapped. The TSA may open wrapped packages to see what’s inside.
Travelers are allowed only 1 carry-on bag and 1 personal item (purse, laptop, etc.), so check as much luggage as possible. Put medications and other required items in your carry-on bag.

Parking or stopping along any airport roadway is illegal and dangerous, and violators are subject to towing and a fine.

All of us here at Passport Health wish you safe & happy travels this 2007 holiday season!

Getting Better...............What for?

Okay, I guess I'm bored, or I'm subconsciously trying to keep my football career going.......

Signed up to attend two Tony Franklin clinics in 2008. What is that?
Well, it is basically a 3-day crash-course in Hal Mumme Air Raid offense. How to install, how to drill, how to implement, how to utilize in game planning.

I really don't know why I'm doing it, other than the fact that I want a better way to attack defenses and bullet-proof our multiple-nickel concept on defense.

If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was putting together a HC packet for some time down the road for somewhere.....

Overcoming Genetics

My son is a good kid.







He is respectful, funny, athletic, artistic, and an overall nice guy. He has come a long way. He started out on a very long and arduous road of hardship and handicap early in life. Y'see.....he is MY son. It isn't easy being dealt a hand like that in life. Most folks would give up when finding out they have the genetic background of me, but not my son. He has kept on and perseveered through unsurmounting odds to become a pretty swell guy despite the DNA code he inherited from me.







What's the point of my ramblings? Well, I'm proud of him.....that, and because he got to play in his first football game ever this past weekend. Despite his best efforts, that genetic makeup found a way to







2 carries for 7 yards



......1 fight started



.........2 blown assignments



.................2 penalties for 25 yards....



Roll that beautiful bean footage.......



http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1814646840311322779



http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2692170406818524666



http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5212631805031780679



http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7415212230438708661



http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=528679826286697404







If you would like to donate to my son's cause, please feel free to use paypal or just send wads of cash directly to me.

Win Ugly, Win cheap.......Just Win

Whaaaat!?

Stigmata

....closest I've come to suffering for the Lord

After the 5th practice of the season, we had to have an intrasquad scrimmage (our team vs our team) with our 20 man roster.

We have a lot of work to do.

Best play? Freeze and tempo offense.......Tony Franklin, look out!

Genius - Zero

The best parts of the video captured during this camp was lost on the tape containing the golden gems of brilliance that goes by the mortal form of Darin Slack.

Dear South......my gift to you

my one pet peeve.........my one aggravation...........

O-R-G-A-N-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N

Not that difficult, really. Just know what you're going to do, and do it on time.
A radical concept? Can't imagine..........

Now while it has come close by a few select individuals, I have yet to be overwhelmed by a demonstration of any remotely competent exercise of basic organization and planning down here.

Shoot from the hip and sling it, and make sure you gab it up while you do it, to add effect.

Now for something completely different.........

3rd day of 10 year olds practices............







OLine work - Fun for Everyone!

Practices..........

Third day of practice..............right before pads.........107 degree Heat Index (at 5pm........)



TONS of young talent this year........these guys are learning quick, though.

Going Apeshit!

Think about it...........football is a choreographed series of 22 basic individual drills happening at once. A concert of cognitive collaboration.

This game isn't that complicated. You can teach nearly anyone with the ability to learn a few simple steps "how to play" a position in football.

Now here comes the brilliance (if you know me, you are probably used to whirling winds of transcendental thought careening from me regularly).....where I combine two of the greatest elements on earth; Football & Primates.

YES! Now, I tried combining my two greatest loves in life; Football and Women (not necessarily in that order)....but the results were less than remarkable and quite frustrating (see previous posts).

Okay, back to kickass Gorilla football.....

Y'see, what you could do is.....first, easily you can teach a gorilla to pretty much do anything you want....'throw poo'.....'eat bananna'....'stomp on luggage'.....you get the point.

So, here's what you do.
Teach a 3 point stance. Easy enough....then the punch


Now you just train him to step left, or right, react to pressure, etc
.......all the game really is, is pattern-recognition.

Bit by bit, it is like teaching a dog to fetch or roll-over, only instead of a dog, you are using a 5'9" 400lbs ominvore that could tear your limbs off.


Just teach basic movements and have them all attacking the ball BETWEEN THE WHISTLE. Dude, that would be AWESOME!

Even better, you wouldn't need expensive equipment, no eligibility requirements, no problems with agents,endorsement deal conflicts, or off-field legal troubles..... just line them up and play.

now when the game advances, sure, you could invest in some fancy equipment like these spiffy shoulder pads this guy is wearing

but, really you have nothing to lose when they get injured.

At first, yeah, the game is going to be primative, archaic, maybe a little slow...so you have to put it on training wheels starting out. The quarterback position would be the trickiest. I propose that you take a full two years or so to develop your simian signal caller...just develop your line and defense.

In the meantime, we would use human quarterbacks........like, lets say Rex Grossman

who would be afforded a beastly offensive line and receivers who have FOUR hands to catch with.
Now naturally, the gorilla linebackers will be trained to rip the quarterback's arms off and then beat him with it.....but hey, that's entertainment, baby!

I say, GET CRACKIN', because basketball has already started the ball rolling and have trained a gorilla to be their mascot


The game would never end....there would never be threats of hold-outs or strikes.

What's that?
You want to restructure your contract?
You are a high round draft pick?
Fine.......here's a freaking bananna


Don't like it?
I hear Brookfield has an opening for ya.

So whattaya think?

Rome wasn't built in an afternoon.....

Heading into our last 'serious' engagement of the summer, was a prestigious tournament of some of the best teams in the state. A tournament we won not more than 5 weeks ago....

Our expectations were high, we felt we had put in considerable work and were confident that our players knew their assignments and adjustments.

I'm still wondering what actually happened......

Series after series of "coulda" and "shoulda" - not necessarily a total breakdown, just a lack of urgency to FINISH the job. I was amazed at how much of our play had developed into emotional "hostages", we had to be pumped up to make plays - immediate motivation, because to a man, we just couldn't sustain EFFORT. To succeed in any situation, you have to perform the same whether you feel like it or not, whether you think you can do it or not - the performance must match the standard.

Maybe it was good that we experienced set backs before the season. Maybe we aren't as mature as we once believed.

To be great TOMORROW, you must build TODAY. It doesn't happen over night, or because you "want to".


Here's hoping this report becomes the start of something that builds a foundation for change.

North vs South

Chicken or the Egg argument

I guess I don't have enough to do in practice to keep me busy, but out of curiosity on trying to maybe pinpoint a cause for the reason for discrepancy in quality of football played in the country, I took a look at the EXPECTATIONS / ORIENTATIONS of the demographic culture of football in America, with the underlying root being directed at the proliferation of DI schools in the country.



Using the traditional Mason-Dixon line as the DMZ of college football we split the United States into the "haves" and the "have nots", sort to speak.

Out of 250 total DI (+ sub division) football programs in the 50 States...

57 DI NCAA
58 DI NCAA Sub Division Football programs exist in the "Southern" states, for a total of 115 DI programs in the country.

Nearly 1/2 of all Top College Football programs reside in these 15 "Southern" States.

Is it because this is the hotbed for athletic football talent?

Does so many DI schools raise the level of play at the lower levels in those states?

Does the lack of many DI schools in Northern states diminish the potential talent in their states?

Also, another thing I'd like to consider is the proportion of Military Bases in these states, and their contribution of local tax dollars (as well as a steady influx of families supplying young athletes) to support community football.


Personally, being a Yankee, I have to believe that YES those DI schools DO matter and DO have a significant contribution towards the development and "athletic maturity" of young athletes.

In the North, you have your pick of DIII schools, but the DI program is largely out of reach. In the South, you have your pick of DI schools in your area and the STANDARD for how football is supposed to be played, gives you a good idea of physical expectations of play ( making the likelihood of knowing someone that went to a DI program more likely).

Are You Ready For Some Football??!

Feeding my addiction (read compulsion) this year will be TWO teams at once....as a 4A Defensive Coordinator and a Head Coach of a 10 Year Old team.


Time is fast approaching.....I will be enduring "hell week" sort to speak

The week day will look something like this....

4:15 - 5:00 AM workout
6:00 - 3:00 "work"
3:00 - 6:00 HS practices
6:00 - 8:00 10 Year old practices
8:00 - 10:00 prepare for next day's practices / week game plan

Yeah, well, I never thought it would be easy, but I will enjoy the challenge. I mean, its not like I have any other hobbies to keep me busy.

Last year, I moved to the Texarkana area after being in Iowa most of my life. Since college, football has always been a big part of my life and has defined who I am as a person. Looking to get tapped into the hot-bed of "Southern Football" once I arrived, I stalked all the area high school ADs looking to help out in any capacity. No Dice.....I ended up helping coach and organize the local adult women's football team.

It was a frustrating ordeal for me, and although there are some really good people involved with that team, I had to step away in February as I had my son full-time.

I committed to coach a youth team for a program I have the utmost respect for in December, and thankfully, I will also be able to coach my son in his first year of organized football. The only sour note is that they run the double-wing offense at the youth level, which has left me nauseous on more than a few occasions. Of course, the most important thing at that age level is coaching the fundamentals correctly, anyway. I just hope I can stay awake while calling plays......

I then was able to get in contact with a coach I'd been in contact with since 2005, since I knew I would be moving to Louisiana in 2006. One thing led to another, and I'm on board helping to turn the program around from a 0-10 record from the previous season.

I honestly feel good about both teams am confident both teams will be advancing through the post-season (prolonging my personal extended daily schedule).

Another week or so, and the NFL preseason kicks off...not long after that starts the college season....then, a never-ending emotional seige that will last until February.

Best Quarterback Instruction................EVER!

Okay....so we're drawing near August.

Obviously, it signals the time for a new football season.

After going the last 7 weeks or so of off-and-on practices and 7-on-7 matchups, the kids are receiving a week break of organized activities.

In the first year of a new (spread / 5-wide) offense, and with marginal development in our quarterbacks....it was decided early in the summer that we were sending our quarterback to the Peyton Manning Passing Camp or the Darin Slack Quarterback Academy in July.

We were blessed to have a new player arrive via basketball in early June who showed considerable promise, so we moved #1 QB to defense where he would make the greater impact and solidify a key position.

As the date grew closer, we had two candidates that were going to go. Two weeks out, we had yet another promising candidate arrive (freshman) with loads of potential.


I was supposed to be helping out at the Les Miles Youth Camp Tuesday night, but committed an hour before (asked) to take the quarterbacks down to the Slack camp.

Probably the best decision I've made in a while (can't remember the last GOOD decision I made).

I started making arrangements to take our promising young athletes to the camp, got a great deal into the planning, then realized that I had lost my wallet two weeks earlier......kinda hard to check into a hotel without your ID or drivers license. This now helped pull in the services of our offensive coordinator, who was supposed to be attending the Louisiana High School Coaches Clinic in Baton Rouge during this time. It was probably best that things worked out the way they did, though.

Day OF, as the 11th hour approached, our Freshman phenom was no where to be found and his parents were talking of moving to another school. Plan B! Go with the former QB who is now playing well on defense....well, lets just take him instead - we'll make a good backup better. Calls to his parents reveal he is planning on moving out of the state!

Cripes! Get back to fundamentals.

We ended up taking our starting quarterback who had a shoulder injury for more than 3 weeks, and his #1 receiver (who would now be our #2 QB in a pinch).
The conversation at 20 minutes to departure went something along the lines of, "Good morning.....Get up.....you're going to Lafayette for two days .......we're picking you up in 15 minutes!"

Two good student-athletes that were able to receive top notch quality instruction at the hands of unequivocally THE BEST football instructor in the world, Darin Slack.

My friend and I were greeted by a enthusiastic Coach Slack, who knew exactly who we were (from submitting video of our QBs prior for analysis), and let us know that this was the beginning of a partnership / relationship in the development of young men....who happen to be quarterbacks.

The first 45 minutes of introduction were the most passionate arguments for athletic and character development I have ever heard. The kids were pumped and steered in the proper path to achieve greatness.

DARIN SLACK LAFAYETTE @ Yahoo! Video

The next 24 hours would be filled with hands-on instruction and correction of the proper mechanics and thought-process for quarterbacks. All the quarterbacks had to be stripped of their ineffecient and sometimes dangerous throwing habits. Not only were they taught how to correctly throw, they were taught WHY this was an efficient method for throwing - as well as being able to pinpoint when and where errant throws happen.







Of course, one cannot travel on I-10 without taking in some of the finest cajun cuisine.......


For a more complete write-up of our encounter with Coach Slack in Lafayette, check out;
http://coachhuey.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=7895&page=1

11th Hour

With three weeks remaining until the season 'officially' gets underway......

The monsoon season has washed away numerous attempts at practice and 7 on 7 competitions with local schools. We have a basic defense in thanks to accelerated implementation schedule and some pretty serious passing tourneys in June.

Being the first year for this school running the Nickel, the learning curve is HUGE. The delays and cancellations have forced a necessitity upon me to get the information SOMEHOW to the kids when we can't meet. I burned about two dozen DVDs with powerpoint animations of our base coverages and adjustments with college skelly cut ups , then game film of my previous programs running them.




I am blessed to be with such an athletically gifted and 'mature' group of students at this school - it is rare. I am looking forward to some very rewarding experiences this season.