Reading the title above, you may think I am asking about the recent case of the Russian spy and his daughter who were poisoned with a potentially deadly nerve agent but that is not it at all. It was reported, yesterday by Fox News here, that a Brit named Chris Matthews (no alleged relationship to the jerkoff at MSNBC) called police about a possible poisoning case involving himself and his family and Brit authorities responded in force. He and his family's reported symptoms were difficulty maintaining body temperatures, eye problems, nausea, difficulty breathing, grogginess. He thought they all had come down with the flu. Then his dogs also came down with symptoms and that is when he realized something was wrong. He called the police to report that he and his family possibly had been poisoned. The authorities responded in force:
"Dozens of emergency officers, a hazardous area response team and ambulances surrounded the home, the BBC reports."
A scientist visiting his mother, who lived in the same neighborhood, was caught up in the police cordon and had this to say (same source as linked to above):
"Went for a cuppa with Mum. When I left confronted by this. Trapped within police cordon," he tweeted, along with a photo of police cruisers. "Palytoxin incident due to a neighbor cleaning his coral tank. Second deadliest naturally occurring toxin in the world (allegedly) but rarely kills, & only if eaten! Over-reaction?"
Get that, the guy and his family were stricken because of him doing something as seemingly innocuous as cleaning his fish tank. That released a natural toxin, produced by coral, into the air or onto his skin and he and his family were affected by the toxin - PALYTOXIN - A TOXIN THAT IS ALLEGEDLY THE SECOND DEADLIEST NATURALLY OCCURING TOXIN IN THE WORLD!
Now the scientist may think the Brits overreacted but I think not, at least as much in that I think maybe they put precaution first. Sometimes you really have to look at the big picture in LE responses to such situations and understand that they are being precautious for what probably is a fair to good reason. As much as I do not like overreaction by the government to anything, I think that the so called scientist may have forgotten the recent poisoning of the Russian spy and his daughter but the police had not. I think he may also have not thought that the police are concerned with terrorism as well and that England is a known spot of terrorist activity in the world. I also think that the police must have found it odd that someone called them saying he and his family possibly had been poisoned by a toxin due to him cleaning his fish tank. In light of recent events, my guess is that they - believing there was a possibility of a nexus to terrorism, or with spy killers, or maybe just that some whacko had been diddling with nerve agents or other toxins in his home - responded appropriately just in case. Of course, maybe it was just a boring day for the authorities involved and they all wanted to enjoy some excitement.
Anyway, you can bet I am not about to ever touch a live coral, maybe not even a recently dead coral since I do not know if the toxin can last on it. I do have one piece of coral in my home that I clean off now and again but have no worries with it as I found it on a mountainside in CA many years ago. It is fossilized. The moral of this story is, when your son or daughter say: "Daddy, that is so beautiful, can I touch it" just say no and move along, at least if it's coral. Then again, if you keep coral in your home (that is not fossilized), take appropriate precautions to avoid something like that from happening to you and your family.
All the best,
Glenn B
"Dozens of emergency officers, a hazardous area response team and ambulances surrounded the home, the BBC reports."
A scientist visiting his mother, who lived in the same neighborhood, was caught up in the police cordon and had this to say (same source as linked to above):
"Went for a cuppa with Mum. When I left confronted by this. Trapped within police cordon," he tweeted, along with a photo of police cruisers. "Palytoxin incident due to a neighbor cleaning his coral tank. Second deadliest naturally occurring toxin in the world (allegedly) but rarely kills, & only if eaten! Over-reaction?"
Get that, the guy and his family were stricken because of him doing something as seemingly innocuous as cleaning his fish tank. That released a natural toxin, produced by coral, into the air or onto his skin and he and his family were affected by the toxin - PALYTOXIN - A TOXIN THAT IS ALLEGEDLY THE SECOND DEADLIEST NATURALLY OCCURING TOXIN IN THE WORLD!
Now the scientist may think the Brits overreacted but I think not, at least as much in that I think maybe they put precaution first. Sometimes you really have to look at the big picture in LE responses to such situations and understand that they are being precautious for what probably is a fair to good reason. As much as I do not like overreaction by the government to anything, I think that the so called scientist may have forgotten the recent poisoning of the Russian spy and his daughter but the police had not. I think he may also have not thought that the police are concerned with terrorism as well and that England is a known spot of terrorist activity in the world. I also think that the police must have found it odd that someone called them saying he and his family possibly had been poisoned by a toxin due to him cleaning his fish tank. In light of recent events, my guess is that they - believing there was a possibility of a nexus to terrorism, or with spy killers, or maybe just that some whacko had been diddling with nerve agents or other toxins in his home - responded appropriately just in case. Of course, maybe it was just a boring day for the authorities involved and they all wanted to enjoy some excitement.
Anyway, you can bet I am not about to ever touch a live coral, maybe not even a recently dead coral since I do not know if the toxin can last on it. I do have one piece of coral in my home that I clean off now and again but have no worries with it as I found it on a mountainside in CA many years ago. It is fossilized. The moral of this story is, when your son or daughter say: "Daddy, that is so beautiful, can I touch it" just say no and move along, at least if it's coral. Then again, if you keep coral in your home (that is not fossilized), take appropriate precautions to avoid something like that from happening to you and your family.
All the best,
Glenn B
1 comment:
I agree - it is a very good reminder that there are a number of seemingly innocuous things around the home that can be very dangerous to family and pets if not handled properly.
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