Hong Kong is rainy this time of year. . . .

Well, I’m back from Hong Kong. After living there for nearly 3 years, you would think that I would be able to remember what the weather is like in summer. Luckily, I packed an umbrella, because we definitely needed it. It rained everyday. Actually, rained is a pleasant way of putting it for some of [...]

Fiction Friday - on Saturday, my bird flu novel serialized. . .

“That is Banteay Srei, ma’am. The Citadel of Women.” Soun was still staring at her. Where the whites of his eyes should have been was a brownish color instead, as if he had been steeped in strong tea as a baby and never lost the effect of it over the visible parts of his body. [...]

Fiction Friday - the next excerpt from my novel, serialized. . . .

PART ONE - TRANSMISSION
 
Chapter One
 
Siem Reap, Cambodia – early April, 2010
 
The taste of it was in Myriam’s mouth – gritty like a mouthful of wet dirt, sharp like the crackle of dead leaves on the jungle floor, wet like the moisture from a steam-bath with its droplets of water dripping from the ceiling. Absurdly large, [...]

Prologue - “The Eye of the Virus”

PROLOGUE - GENESIS

Tay Ninh, Vietnam – February, 2010

I like the southern delta of Vietnam. It is sweltering, with air so humid that if I were a snake, I might stick out my tongue just to taste the musty, earthy water it contains. The vegetation is dense and rich and everywhere that the humans [...]

Bird flu article is finished!

I just put the finishing touches on my article for Language and Politics, an academic journal which is publishing a special issue on avian flu. This afternoon, I sent it off to the editor, two days ahead of schedule. So, in other words, I’m feeling pretty good and largely carefree right now.
The article is entitled, [...]

The Politics of Public Health

A few days ago, the former Surgeon General, Dr. Richard Carmona, addressed a House committee - just days before the confirmation hearings of his successor. Basically, he accused the Bush administration of trying to suppress important health information that contradicted the administrations’ policies or beliefs. This is, perhaps, not so surprising. I suppose what is [...]

Back to Bird Flu - Politics and Public Health

I’ve been asked to write an article on the political language of bird flu, specifically as it relates to the recent battles over viral samples from China and Indonesia. I’ll be focusing upon China, and discussing how public health is pretty much synonymous with politics these days. Basically, everything about global public health as it [...]

Pig Death Mystery Solved

I take it back. There is disease news to disseminate from the road.
Officials in China have confirmed that the microbe causing the mysterious epidemic in Guangdong, in which 300 pigs have died, has been identified. According to the Xin Hua news agency, it’s apparently a common pig illness called ‘blue-eared pig disease’. The People’s Daily [...]

A Shameless Plug for my First Fiction Book - The Eye of the Virus

My novel’s main character is a virus itself - a new strain of avian influenza that makes its debut in a small village in Vietnam. Like the American movie Crash, the story follows the virus as it travels first to Hong Kong and then to the United States. Like a ricocheting bullet, the virus affects [...]

Year of the Golden Pig - with an ironic twist . . .

The New York Times reported last week that an epidemic was killing pigs across the border from Hong Kong in mainland China, in two areas in Guangdong province.
This is ironic because this is the year of the pig in China, and the mystery disease allegedly began to surface immediately after the New Year celebrations. I’m [...]