A CBS –Associated Press report: Pet Food Poisoning Mystery May Be Solved

The breakthrough was made at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. A week ago, scientist Perry Martos mixed together a few drops of melamine and cyanuric acid, the two unauthorized chemicals found in tainted pet food.

In less than a second, they formed a mass of crystals nearly identical to crystals found in the kidneys of sickened animals.

“If you can imagine an instantaneous kidney stone — that’s essentially the way I would perceive it,” says Martos.

We now know why kidneys are failing – they are being blocked by these “instant kidney stones.” The new search is for a method of dissolving the stones without harming the animals. This confirms what the problem is, and makes targeting the research possible.

Chris Regan of Mythstory reminds us that today in 1469 Darth Cheney’s favorite author, Niccolo Machiavelli was born.

The Shrubbery thinks Karl wrote his copy of The Prince, the only one with cartoons.

CNN on US Green Zone press briefing:

A U.S. military commander said Thursday that an al Qaeda in Iraq militant believed to be involved in last year’s kidnapping of journalist Jill Carroll has been killed.

He is Muharib Abdul Latif al-Jubouri and was identified as the senior minister of information for al Qaeda in Iraq, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said.

[snip]

Operation Rat Trap, a 72-hour push against militants between April 28 and 30, resulted in the deaths of 15 militants and the detention of 95 others, Caldwell said. In April, 87 militants were killed in U.S.-led coalition operations and 465 people detained, he said.

Iraq Coalition Casualty Count report for April, 2007 deaths: US 104, UK 12, Poland 1 – Total 117.

Excuse me, minister of information = press secretary, just like Caldwell. They killed 117 of ours, and we claim to have killed 87 of theirs – that is not a good thing. It is apparent that their surge is more effective than ours.

Walter M. Schirra, Captain, US Navy retired, one of the original astronauts, and the only one to fly on all three of the initial manned space flight vehicles, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, has launched on his final mission.

The BCC reports on a major double-parking problem:

Residents of the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) are wondering how long it will take to remove a disused Boeing 737 that has been abandoned in a busy road.

The decommissioned aircraft was being driven through the city at the weekend when the driver got lost and then abandoned the plane.

And I used to complain about boat trailers blocking my driveway.