"It's basically a love song, and it's really about the problems of not being able to get across what you really mean, in love, when you're actually trying to talk to someone that you, let's say, fancy, you know, you fancy someone at school or whatever and you're trying to talk to them. Sometimes it's very difficult, you know, and that's what it's basically about. And he's trying to shake that disease of not being able to talk to people."
One of Depeche Mode's few non-album singles, "Shake the Disease" is also one of the band's best overall songs, a new refinement of both Martin Gore's lyrical abilities regarding romantic obsession and the group's music in general. The arrangement is at once sly, sensuous, and just harsh enough, a combination of clattering noise samples and soothing synth wash and melody. The intertwining of David Gahan and Gore's singing, the latter's wordless backing harmonies and crooned "Understand me" from time to time (a perfect balance to the former's lead approach), is just lovely. The "remixed extended" version of the song that surfaces is just that and not much more, though the extension of the overall atmosphere of the song, cool and sharp at once, makes for a pleasant mood-setter. Some of the new instrumental-only parts are quite elegant in context. The "edit the shake" remix is much more of a thorough revision, with odd stutters and repetitions, backward echoes, and so forth. It makes it not quite as danceable, but is inventive enough regardless. The B-side was one of the band's odder numbers, "Flexible," a quick semi-romp with what sounds like a distorted/looped harmonica as the lead instrument backed by banjo. It's pleasant, just not great, and as such makes much more sense as a B-side. Its own "remixed extended" version brings out more of the separate elements used to create the song, which is interesting in its own way, but like the original song itself, not deathless. Wrapping up the CD version of the release is the "metal" mix of Some Great Reward track "Something to Do" -- it's a great take, and lives up to its name by emphasizing the metal-clanging samples and melodies created from said samples, nervous and wired.
Shake The Disease
"Shake the Disease" features a narrative in two parts; the former from Guglielmi and the latter Majidson. The brilliant songwriting allows these two vocalists to complement one another, intertwining to form verses that are filled with themes of anxiety, hope, and resilience. "Gotta help me to spread my wings / I need you to shake the disease"
Dave Gahan on ITV's show 'No. 73': "It's basically a love song, and it's really about the problems of not being able to get across what you really mean, in love, when you're actually trying to talk to someone that you, let's say, fancy, you know, you fancy someone at school or whatever and you're trying to talk to them. Sometimes it's very difficult, you know, and that's what it's basically about. And he's trying to shake that disease of not being able to talk to people."
I'm not going down on my knees, begging you to adore meCan't you see it's misery and torture for me?When I'm misunderstoodTry as hard as you can, I've tried as hard as I couldTo make you seeHow important it is for meHere is a plea from my heart to youNobody knows me as well as you doYou know how hard it is for me to shake the diseaseThat takes hold of my tongue in situations like theseUnderstand me, understand meSome people have to be permanently togetherLovers devoted to each other foreverNow I've got things to doAnd I've said before that I know you have tooWhen I'm not thereIn spirit, I'll be thereHere is a plea from my heart to youNobody knows me as well as you doYou know how hard it is for me to shake the diseaseThat takes hold of my tongue in situations like theseUnderstand me, understand meHere is a plea from my heart to youNobody knows me as well as you doYou know how hard it is for me to shake the diseaseThat takes hold of my tongue in situations like these
Wind sweeps down off the mountaintops and ears twitch, legs tremble, tails shake. The air is cold and with the wind comes the smell of snow. Not the snow of warmer climes where the temperatures hover at freezing and snow masks the ground for a few days. No. This is a grass-covering, path-blocking, death-to-all-who-remain kind of snow. This first snowfall means that it is time to move. From high in the peaks of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), thousands on thousands of elk migrate to lower elevations where the snow is not as deep, where the food is easier to reach, where the wind is not as cold. For many of the migrating female elk, the valleys amongst the towering Rockies will also become a birthing ground as spring approaches. However, for the unlucky pregnant females that carry a disease called Brucellosis, these valleys are a place where fetuses are lost. It is then, when abortions occur and diseased tissue is left behind, that the great elk migration becomes a problem for the cattle that live and graze on these lands.
Brucellosis, caused by the bacteria Brucella abortus, is a disease that leads to late-term abortions in elk, bison, and cattle, all of which are present in the Yellowstone area in high numbers. Transmitted through contact with aborted fetuses, the danger of infection is especially prominent in spring when abortion rates are high and cattle are released onto the same lands where elk remain after winter feeding has ended.
In most of the United States, should a single cow in a herd of cattle become infected, the entire herd must be slaughtered to prevent the spread of the disease. However, because of the relatively high prevalence of Brucellosis in the GYE, affected herds within this area can instead be quarantined, tested, and released after achieving disease-free status. Brucellosis can also, albeit rarely, be transmitted to humans through contact with an aborted fetus.
In order to evaluate efforts to manage the prevalence of Brucellosis in elk and develop a model of the potential for interaction and disease transmission between cattle and elk populations, Merkle and his colleagues examined GPS data for 253 female elk over a 15 year period from 22 different winter feeding grounds. The more than seven million data points gathered from the migrating elk were then used to assess habitat usage, migratory pathways, and elk density. Prevalence of Brucellosis among local elk populations was also measured.
From movement data, Merkle concluded that elk migrating out of high elevations clearly demonstrate partiality when selecting a winter range. Preferred habitat in winter is close to a feeding ground, on a south-facing slope at higher elevations, and in an area with greener vegetation and less snow. However, all of these preferences can vary each year based on weather throughout the region. In drought years, elk are more spread out and migrate back to higher elevations earlier, lessening the risk of transmission from infected elk to cattle. In years with greater snowfall, elk are concentrated primarily on the winter feeding grounds close to cattle pastures, increasing the chance of interaction and disease transmission between elk and cattle herds
Over the past 20 years, prevalence of Brucellosis has been increasing in elk populations throughout the GYE. While the reason for the increase is, as yet, unclear, higher elk densities at feeding grounds have been associated with a higher prevalence of disease. A similar increase in infection among cattle populations has been linked to increased contact with migrating elk, primarily on winter feeding grounds. While implementing low-density feeding to reduce elk infection rates appears promising, the real challenge is managing the interactions between elk and cattle to minimize transmission of Brucellosis to cattle herds. To that end, Merkle is continuing to develop a model that will be able to predict where elk will be on the landscape at any given point in time. This model, conjoined with knowledge of the prevalence of Brucellosis in elk populations, will allow managers and producers to predict where elk will be on the landscape and alter where cattle will be turned out for summer grazing. If cattle herds can be kept separate from the elk until they return to their summer range at higher elevations, the risk of contracting Brucellosis will decrease.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday called on people to stop shaking hands as the country works to contain the Ebola-like Marburg virus, which has killed one person. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1450190541376-1'); ); "If I don't shake your hand, please don't think I'm impolite, we must stop," Museveni told a national breakfast prayer meeting in the capital Kampala."To control Ebola and Marburg, be open and say you can't shake hands."Three Ugandans are being monitored in medical isolation in case they have contracted the Marburg virus, health officials said Tuesday, after the death of a hospital worker from the virus was announced on Sunday.Two are being held in the national isolation centre in Entebbe, outside the capital Kampala, while the third, a seven-year-old boy, is in an isolation ward at Mpigi, some 35 kilometres (20 miles) southwest of the city.The medical technician, aged 30, died in the Mengo hospital where he worked in the capital of the east African country on September 28, 11 days after falling ill, the authorities said.So far, 99 people he had been in contact with have been monitored, but with no other confirmed cases.The government has made repeated appeals to the public "to remain alert" and observe the precautions to control the spread of the virus."We have a weakness in Africa of not confronting the truth," Museveni added.The Marburg virus is one of the most deadly known pathogens. Like Ebola, it causes severe bleeding, fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. The virus has a 21-day incubation period.The Marburg virus is also transmitted via contact with bodily fluids and fatality rates range from 25 to 80 percent.A Marburg outbreak in Uganda in October 2012 killed 10 people, about half of those who were confirmed infected with the disease.The Ebola epidemic that has been raging in west Africa has so far claimed almost 3,500 lives, with Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone worst hit. 2014 AFP 2ff7e9595c
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