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...
On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:43:50 -0400, HK wrote:

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
You can't trust the media - any media - to tell the truth.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41743

"FALLUJAH, Mar 26 (IPS) - Iraqi doctors in al-Anbar province warn of a
new disease they call "Blackwater" that threatens the lives of
thousands. The disease is named after Blackwater Worldwide, the U.S.
mercenary company operating in Iraq."

Morons.


The re-naming of the illness seems perfectly appropriate.


"What Iraqis now call Blackwater fever is really a well-known medical
condition, and while it has nothing to do with Blackwater Worldwide,
Iraqis in al-Anbar province have decided to make the connection between
the disease and the lethal U.S.-based company which has been responsible
for the death of countless Iraqis.

The disease is most prevalent in Africa and Asia. The patient suffers
severe intravascular haemolysis -- the destruction of red blood cells
leading to kidney and liver failure. It also leads to black or red
urination, and hence perhaps the new name 'Blackwater'.

The deadly disease, never before seen in Iraq on at least this scale,
seems to be spreading across the country. And Iraq lacks medicines,
hospitals, and doctors to lead a campaign to fight the disease."



After all, we rename airports and roads all the time. Why not diseases?

Many diseases are named for thing such as where they were first
diagnosed, or the underlying cause. Norwalk Virus (now Norovirus for
the politically correct) was first seen in Norwalk, Ohio. Lyme disease
was first seen in Lyme, Connecticut, although it really came from Plum
Island.



How do they figure it got to the mainland? Ticks carried by people?