She's a bright one

[Huckleberry]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/03/09/mass.poisoning/index.html


(CNN) -- Nearly 30 elementary school children in the Philippines have died after eating fried cassava balls obtained from a vendor, a local official told CNN.

Fourteen children died Wednesday before reaching hospitals and 13 died upon arrival, a spokesman for Ubay Mayor Eutiquio Bernales said.

Two more children also have died, but it was not clear when. Thirty-five more are in critical condition.

The victims suffered severe stomach pain, then vomiting and diarrhea after eating the snack during morning recess, The Associated Press reported.

They were taken to at least four hospitals near the school in Mabini, a town on Bohol Island, about 610 kilometers (380 miles) southeast of Manila, AP said.

"Some said they took only two bites because it tasted bitter and the effects were felt 5-10 minutes later," Dr. Harold Gallego of Garcia Memorial Provincial Hospital in the nearby town of Talibon told AP.

The vendor who sold the cassava balls insisted nothing was wrong with them and ate a few to prove the point. Now she, too, is in critical condition.

[Ksyrup]

Now that's what I call standing behind your product.

[cartman]

Wow, I wonder if she is related to a guy that was running for Agricultural Commissioner in Wise County, Texas a few years back. He was a transplanted Yankee, and had only lived in the area for a couple of years. He was interviewed on live TV, when he decided to make a statement about how people were over-reacting to the fire ant menace. He demonstrated by plunging his bare hand deep into a fire ant mound.

Needless to say, he lost the election... :D

[Blackadar]

Wow, I wonder if she is related to a guy that was running for Agricultural Commissioner in Wise County, Texas a few years back. He was a transplanted Yankee, and had only lived in the area for a couple of years. He was interviewed on live TV, when he decided to make a statement about how people were over-reacting to the fire ant menace. He demonstrated by plunging his bare hand deep into a fire ant mound.

Needless to say, he lost the election... :D

Ouch.

It seems he wasn't as smart as the people in "Wise" County. :)

[cartman]

My bad, it wasn't county agricultural commissioner, it was the Statewide office... :D

hxxp://www.lp.org/lpnews/0211/talkingpoints.html (2nd entry)

[cartman]

Curiousity got the better of me, and I had to find out what Cassava is. I was thinking something along the lines of Rocky Mountain Oysters, but nothing that exotic. Cassava is basically a yam or sweet potato. I wonder what the hell got into them to kill people?

[Ksyrup]

That wasn't the whole article. This is at the end, which might explain it (then again, it might not - could be a deliberate act, who knows):


Cassava is a starchy, tuberous root that is a low-cost source of carbohydrates in humid, tropical areas; it is also the source of tapioca.

Cassava contains amino acid-derived cyanogenic glucosides -- some more than others -- and must be thoroughly cooked to remove toxic levels.

Eaten raw, the human digestive system will convert part of it into cyanide. Two cassava roots contain enough to be fatal.

[cuervo72]

That's just plain horrible.

[KWhit]

Damn. That's sad.

[Karim]

Wow, I wonder if she is related to a guy that was running for Agricultural Commissioner in Wise County, Texas a few years back. He was a transplanted Yankee, and had only lived in the area for a couple of years. He was interviewed on live TV, when he decided to make a statement about how people were over-reacting to the fire ant menace. He demonstrated by plunging his bare hand deep into a fire ant mound.
Seriously, what happened?

[sterlingice]

Wow, I wonder if she is related to a guy that was running for Agricultural Commissioner in Wise County, Texas a few years back. He was a transplanted Yankee, and had only lived in the area for a couple of years. He was interviewed on live TV, when he decided to make a statement about how people were over-reacting to the fire ant menace. He demonstrated by plunging his bare hand deep into a fire ant mound.

Needless to say, he lost the election... :D
As someone allergic to them, those are mean little bastards. What an idiot.

SI