I'm seeing in the lit. that most people get it by either eating undercooked infected cats or by eating or drinking water or food that is contaminated by feces from infected cats (and of course, people have pet cats that could be carriers). It just so happens that many many water supplies in Canada and the USA are fed from fresh water supplies run off from fields containing infected animals. I think it's a fair guess to say that insufficient treatment of that water be it from wells or municipal sources could be the middle-man. There is record of occasional outbreaks of infections in which this source is the only reasonable suspect. Bottom line, I think we know who to blame...

It looks like it generally forms cysts in varying places including the brain which winds up effecting serotonin, dopamine, and testosterone levels in the infected individual.

This abstract is easy to read and worth a look. I'd copy/paste it, but that'd be pushing it. Just click:
Waterborne toxoplasmosis - Recent developments

Higher prevalence of toxoplasmosis in victims of traffic accidents suggest increased risk of traffic accident in Toxoplasma-infected inhabitants of Istanbul and its suburbs

Even more interesting (read this one for sure):
Gender differences in behavioural changes induced by latent toxoplasmosis

*dupeof=http://www.videosift.com/video/Istanbul-Ice-Cream-Trickery

This video has been declared a duplicate; transferring votes to the original video and killing this dupe - dupeof declared by rasch187.

Istanbul!

Your video, They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (not Tiny Toons), has made it into your personal Highest Rated Videos listing. Congratulations on a job well done. For you contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

*kill this old one and let it try again as http://www.videosift.com/video/Ska-Cubano-covers-TMBGs-Istanbul-Not-Constantinople

The old must make way for the new. The delays are evident, and you're bound to something, or just about 'EVERYTHING' ancient if you're in Istanbul! Yes they are great archiological finds and yes they'll prove to give us a lot of information about the past. However, it does not override the importance of the new rail system. They need to be built.

And this is me talking AFTER having studied history as a major in college. Sometimes you need to stomp over your past in order to build for the future.

Psh, old world my tush. I was thinking something along the lines of Istanbul. (Not Constantinople!)

The Mevlevi, or "The Whirling Dervishes", believe in performing their dhikr in the form of a "dance" and music ceremony called the sema. The Sema represents a mystical journey of man's spiritual ascent through mind and love to "Perfect." Turning towards the truth, the follower grows through love, deserts his ego, finds the truth and arrives to the "Perfect." He then returns from this spiritual journey as a man who has reached maturity and a greater perfection, so as to love and to be of service to the whole of creation....

Sema literally means a joyful song and comes from the Arabic word, sam that means to listen, but Sema' at whole means song (avaz), ecstasy (vajd) and dance (pay-kubi and dast-afshani) with its special rules and orders. Sema-o-raghs means the Sufism dance.

The Sema is a beautiful thing to see, there is a video of it on YouTube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S45OJnQp6mI

"The Sema Ceremony comemmerates the passing of Hz. Mevlana Jelaluddin RUMI, known in the west as a 13th-century mystic poet. He also founded the Mevlevi Sufi Order, still active worldwide 733 years after his passing from this world. This clip shows Whirling Dervishes of the Mevlevi Order of America in the Sema Ceremony in Istanbul, December 2005. We presented the Sema Ceremony in Eugene, Seattle and Portland December 2006, and will present Sema in N.Y., D.C. and New Jersey in December 2007. Further information at hayatidede.org. "

I managed to see this group at their tiny campus in Istanbul. Western culture's initial take on the Whirling Dervishes is that they're associated with war and spinning scimitars (thanks to M:tG, AD&D and other fantasy games), yet in describing themselves, they are a peaceful sect with deep spiritual connections to the world and the environment around them. As they spin in a semi-hypnotic state, their left hands are held down toward the ground, and right hands up to the sky to facilitate the flow of energy between them. It's rather fascinating stuff to explore, should you encounter more information other than what's posted on the wiki article.

More recently, realizing the great value of the tourist economy, the Mevleviye have turned toward donning robes of different colors other than the traditional white linen, and have even accepted and trained female members. From what I hear of the travelling show, however, they still hold true to the original roots of the religion.

Wow, nice edit. Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, even Daryl Hannah all in their prime. It's interesting to see where these actors went from here!

On the music, I remember first hearing and buying Mezzanine while in Istanbul for a few months. It made for interesting music to pass the time while on overnight hydrofoil and bus outings, coupled with the likes of DJ Keoki, John Coltrane, System 7, Jesse Cook, The Prodigy, Banco de Gaia, DJ Shadow, and a few others... I had kind of a surreal summer! (b^-^)b

Tags changed from "red tassels art social istanbul train transport make lowrider" to "flying carpet art social istanbul" by gold star member James Roe.