Norovirus Outbreak in Dane County

I blame Scott Walker.

An unusual string of norovirus outbreaks has hit Dane County, including a suspected new outbreak of the foodborne illness in a church group, a health official said Monday.

Patriots Release Player on Eve of Super Bowl

Wow. That’s harsh.

Tiquan Underwood, the guy who loved being a Patriot so much that he did that to his hair, was released by the team on Saturday, just hours before the Super Bowl.

It’s callous and it’s cold-blooded, but that’s football, and that’s Bill Belichick. I’m sure that Underwood is emotionally devastated, but that’s a head coach’s job. If he feels like another player might help a little more on Sunday, even if it’s just for one play, then it’s the coach’s job to make that decision. Feelings aren’t a part of it.
 
Underwood probably didn’t expect this, but he’s no stranger to being released, either. It’s the third time the Patriots have cut him this season.

Charles Haley Misses Out on HOF

What a shame.

After six Cowboys contributors were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the past six years, the 2012 class will not have any Dallas connections.

Defensive end Charles Haley and coach Bill Parcells both survived Saturday’s initial cut from 15 modern era candidates to 10, but neither passed on for final consideration.

The man has FIVE Super Bowl rings, fer cryin’ out loud. Put him in the Hall.

It’s That Time

Girl Has Six Organ Transplant

Wow.

HOLLIS, Maine (AP) — A 9-year-old Maine girl is home from a Boston hospital healthy, active and with high hopes — and a new stomach, liver, spleen, small intestine, pancreas, and part of an esophagus to replace the ones that were being choked by a huge tumor.

It’s believed to be the first-ever transplant of an esophagus and the largest number of organs transplanted at one time in New England.

Wisconsin Couple to Compete in The Amazing Race

Someone to root for!

A Wisconsin Army National Guard officer and his wife will compete in the latest installment of the CBS series “The Amazing Race.”

Maj. Brown says 16 years of service in the Wisconsin guard and a recent deployment to Iraq should help him with the challenge.

Dave and Rachel Brown will be one of the 11 couples competing against each other in a trek around the world for $1 million. The show pits teams against physical and mental challenges.

Flute Man

Living Wills Restrict Surgeons

Uhhh… isn’t that kind of the point?

High-risk surgeons can get caught in a “Catch-22” when trying to save a life: what if the patient doesn’t want extraordinary measures taken to keep living?

A new study from a UW-Madison surgical professor suggests advance directives, or “living wills,” don’t work in the surgical suite.

Dr. Margaret “Gretchen” Schwarze, assistant professor of surgery at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, discovered that only 50 percent of surgeons who do high-risk operations discuss advance directives with their patients before surgery.

An even higher percentage, 54 percent, of the surgeons said they wouldn’t operate if a patient had a directive limiting the use of life support in post-operative care, if the surgeon thought it was necessary for the patient’s survival.

The findings were published online first by the publication Annals of Surgery and were in a UW-Madison news release posted Thursday.

An editorial calling the findings “troubling” accompanied the article, which was in the publications’ March issue.

“The goal of surgery is survival,” Schwarze said in the article. “I think what we are seeing is surgeons have a fierce responsibility for bringing their patients out of surgery alive, and they don’t like advance directives because they feel the directives tie their hands behind their backs.”

Permits to Shoot Problem Wolves Valid Starting Friday

Good.

The DNR plans to send letters out today to about 100 landowners who have had problems with wolves killing livestock telling them that they can obtain permits to hunt wolves on their property. The permits will be valid beginning Friday.

Starting the same day, people also will be allowed to shoot a wolf in the act of attacking personal property without a permit.

Lest you think this is a small issue, take a look at this picture a reader sent me.

That’s one big critter. Here’s some info on it:

NE1/4, SE1/4, Sec 22, T27N-R13E, Shawano Co.
It was found dead in the Hwy G turn lane on Hwy 29 just SE of Tilleda
Adult male wolf hit by car on Friday, Dec 16, 2011 in the afternoon.
Co Hwy Dept personnel reported that it had been seen with 3 other wolves.

Now I Know

Ever since our kids were little, I have kept track of all those little cute things they did. Now that they are older, they sometimes ask to read their “silly stories from when they were little.” This is one we read tonight from all the way back in 2006.

[The kids] were talking about tissues and such. [The Boy, then three] mentioned that important rule that you don’t eat tissues. [Then-5-year-old daughter] piped in, “Dogs eat tissues.” I asked how she knew that. She said matter-of-factly, “Because Madison [her aunt’s long-haired Dachshund] ate the tissue when I tried to blow his nose one time.”

I thought it was appropriate to bring up the notion that it’s probably not a good idea to try to blow a dog’s nose. “I didn’t know that then,” she replied. “Now I know.”

TeeD’OH!

35-7 Patriots at halftime. Ouch.

Guy Wants High-Capacity Well

Yeah, I call BS on this one.

Long proposed the high-capacity well in October of 2010, saying he would tap it only sporadically to sell bulk water in times of emergencies, such as after a terrorist attack or a natural disaster. Opponents fear he’s trying to launch a large commercial water-bottling venture, and they’re concerned the well will draw down the area’s water table and hurt trout fishing.

Either he’s lying and wants to sell bottled water, or he’s voting for Ron Paul.

Arfa Karim Randhawa Remembered

Wise beyond her years, but Arfa Karim Randhawa is now gone.

“If you want to do something big in your life, you must remember that shyness is only the mind,” she said. “If you think shy, you act shy. If you think confident you act confident. Therefore never let shyness conquer your mind.”

The Pool of Sacred Tears

Kashmir

The making of…