Pakistan’s capital city Karachi was struck by an outbreak of Naegleria fowleri, also known as ‘brain-eating amoeba.’ The deadly freshwater microbe kills 98 percent of those infected. The source of the infection has yet to be identified.

The amoeba is transmitted from contaminated water through the nasal cavity and travels to the brain, causing inflammation. Symptoms are initially mild, including headache, stiff neck, fever and stomach pain, but after five to seven days death is likely, as no treatment for the disease has been developed.

The ongoing outbreak has claimed 10 lives, including two children. The three most recent deaths occurred last week.

Some of the cases may not have been reported since many of the city’s 18 million residents are not familiar with the disease, Dr Musa Khan, head of the WHO’s Disease Early Warning System in Pakistan said on Tuesday.

The infection is usually contracted through swimming in contaminated water, but health authorities said that many of the victims of the outbreak were not swimmers.

“The three people who died in September had not been to a swimming pool. It is a serious cause for concern that people are contracting the infection by using tap water,” Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed said at a press conference on Monday.

Pakistani authorities launched a public awareness campaign to inform people about precautionary measures, and to avoid sparking panic.

The city’s water supplier, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, announced that it increased chlorine levels at its treatment facility. The company is also taking water samples in different parts of the city in hopes of locating the source of the infection.

Naegleria fowleri can only be detected by a microscopic study of the cerebrospinal fluid, which makes it impossible to test water for contamination.

Another possible source of the outbreak is the water in mosques for Muslim ablution rituals. Most mosques use underground aquifers.

The infection first surfaced in Karachi in 2006, but was not heard of again until now.

The United States and Israel are already involved in discussions over how they could soon conduct a joint surgical strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, a source close to the talks tells Foreign Policy magazine.

After months of urging from Israeli authorities for the US to intervene in a rumored Iranian plan to procure a nuke, a source speaking on condition of anonymity tells Foreign Policy’s David Rothkopf that the two allies have come close to signing off on an attack against Iran.

Although no plan of action has been set in stone yet, the source says the attack will likely be from the sky and consist of drone strikes and bomber jets for only “a couple of hours” at best but would not require more than “a day or two” of action.

But while the US has not officially signed onto the strike, the source reports, American involvement would be absolutely necessary in order to effectively take out the structures where Iranian scientists are assumed to be attempting to procure a nuclear warhead.

“To get to buried Iranian facilities, such as the enrichment plant at Fordow, would require bunker-busting munitions on a scale that no Israeli plane is capable of delivering,”Rothkopf writes in the article, published Monday, October 8. “The mission, therefore, must involve the United States, whether acting alone or in concert with the Israelis and others.”

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“Mametspeak” is once more very much alive and well on the stage of the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.  This time it’s a political satire that fuels the razor sharp wit, biting dialogue, and the outrageous viewpoint of Chicago’s Pulitzer prize-winning playwright/author David Mamet.

In “November”, Mamet delivers his hilarious, over-the-top commentary on fictitious American President Charles Smith, as he and his staff prepare for his reelection campaign.  The one that no one wants to even think about, let alone work on.   It seems that Smith is not very well liked in the country – by the voters, by the media, or by his Party.  The timing of the production is a little uncanny as well.  You don’t think it’s somehow connected with the upcoming election in November do you?  Naaah, I didn’t think so.

      Regardless of motivation, the Mark Taper Forum comedy production winningly directed by Scott Zigler, a long time helmsman of many Mamet plays, is right at home with a cast of “fellow Mamet travelers”.  They include Felicity Huffman as presidential speechwriter Clarice Bernstein, Todd Weeks as a Representative of the National Association of Turkey and Turkey By-Products Manufacturers, and Ed Begley Jr. as President Charles Smith; along with new Mamet performers Rod McLachlan as Archer Brown, Smith’s Chief of Staff, and Gregory Cruz as Dwight Grackle, part Indian Shaman and part hustler/businessman.

“November” is a rip-roaring topical piece from Mamet in that it takes situations right from today’s headlines and election campaign shenanigans and lends a ring of authenticity to the storyline.  Not exactly, mind you, but politics and politicians being what they are, the audience just laps up the sheer outlandish behavior of the characters on stage.

Begley, as President Smith, delivers a tours de force comedy performance in “Mametspeak” (translation: f-bombs galore, and the dialogue delivered at warp-speed).

He has the look and the slickness that reminded me of Lyndon Johnson in overdrive in his early days in Texas, before he became the President in 1963.  Begley’s take on President Smith is: although you know you can’t trust him, he still has this odd appeal –  that leads the audience to believe that maybe, just maybe, he might get reelected screwball personality and all.  Begley, as an actor, is an absolute delight to watch, and what a performance!

Not to be overshadowed in this 90 minute, pedal-to-the-metal, comedy is Felicity Huffman (of TV’s “Desperate Housewive’s” fame) in a neat understated performance as speechwriter Bernstein.   Not only is Bernstein suffering from a recently acquired cold accompanied by sneezing and many used Kleenexes, but she also wants the President to change the law prohibiting same-sex marriage so she can marry her partner at the White House.  Todd Weeks is spot-on as a determined lobbyist for the turkey industry, who simply will not take no for an answer when it comes to the traditional Presidential “pardoning” of the nation’s official Thanksgiving Turkey.

Rod McLachlan’s deadpan Chief of Staff Archer Brown, reminds one of H.R. Halderman in the Nixon White House, but without the off-putting imperiousness of Halderman. McLachlan,’s Brown has a certain amount of likeability, and as such, enjoys the confidence of his President, but he’s not above leveling with his boss or anyone else when it comes to telling it like it is.  Gregory Cruz as Dwight Grackle, brings just the right amount lunacy to these wacky proceedings as a businessman with a proposition for his President.  “November” easily reminds one of  those zany old Marx Brothers movies.

Farce can be quite tricky if it’s not done properly.  Thanks to the unseen hand of director Zigler, pacing concerns and such, are non-issues with this production.  Zigler’s creative team is also on his wavelength when it comes to the technical credits.  Takeshi Kata’s scenic design of the Oval Office is pitch perfect, along with the lighting design by Josh Epstein, which allows us to see and appreciate the costumes by Laura Bauer.

“November” runs at The Mark Taper Forum through November 4, 2012.  It’s one hilarious hoot.  Don’t miss it.

Mark Taper Forum Web Site