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It is believed to be the first case in the world where two members of the same family have died from mad cow disease, said Juan Jose Badiola, director of Spain's national research center for mad cow disease.

"It's noteworthy that there's a double case in the same family," Badiola said.

Until now, Badiola added, clinical evidence that he's seen from the United Kingdom and France -- which have had the most deaths due to the human form of mad cow disease -- had not recorded two cases in a single family.

Ten years can pass between eating contaminated tissue and the appearance of the human form of the disease, called variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, health officials say.

The other case in that province was of a woman, 50, who was a local government worker in the provincial capital. She died in December from mad cow disease.

The first confirmed death from mad cow disease in Spain was in 2005, when a young woman died near Madrid.

In addition to the cases in Spain, as of June the following numbers of cases of human mad cow disease had been reported: 167 in the United Kingdom; 23 in France; four in Ireland; three in the United States; two each in Netherlands and Portugal; and one each in Canada, Italy, Japan and Saudi Arabia

Two of the three U.S. cases, two of the four cases in Ireland and the single cases in Canada and Japan were people probably exposed to the mad cow agent while residing in the United Kingdom, officials have said. One of the 23 French cases may also have been infected in the United Kingdom.

Bud Anderson, a member of the Falcon Research Group, said young chicks sometimes die in the first day or two after hatching because they haven't been able to stay warm enough, or because they pick up frounce, a highly contagious parasite, from pigeons.

But "we have never seen a sequential die-off" of chicks in midstage development, he said.

"We thought it was unusual enough to talk to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife," he added.

The cause of death remains unknown, Anderson said.

The problems appear to have started about a week ago, when the reek of decaying birds at the Lower Otay dock and boathouse caught the attention of the city's lake manager. Swallow deaths have continued for several days, prompting reservoir employees to knock down nests that have dead swallows.

“There are a few that are surviving, but most of the birds . . . and the babies are dying,” said Nelson Manville, supervisor of the lakes program for San Diego. “They have had a horrendous smell.”

Yesterday morning, he learned from employees at El Capitan Reservoir that they were seeing similar problems. El Capitan, the largest lake in the city system, is about 30 miles northeast of downtown San Diego.

On Thursday, news reports circulated about the deaths of roughly 100 swallows at Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead. San Bernardino County health officials said they suspected the birds were poisoned, but similarities between the Arrowhead and San Diego incidents are raising questions about whether there's a broader factor at work.

“Any time you have these large number of die-offs, it's concerning,” said Jane Hendron, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Carlsbad.

Tesco has been forced to remove a pole-dancing kit from the toys
and games section of its website after it was accused of
"destroying children's innocence".

The Tesco Direct site advertises the kit with the words,
"Unleash the sex kitten inside...simply extend the Peekaboo pole
inside the tube, slip on the sexy tunes and away you go!

"Soon you'll be flaunting it to the world and earning a fortune
in Peekaboo Dance Dollars".

The £49.97 kit comprises a chrome pole extendible to 8ft
6ins, a 'sexy dance garter' and a DVD demonstrating suggestive
dance moves.

He said: "Tesco is Britain's number one chain, this is extremely
dangerous. It is an open invitation to turn the youngest children
on to sexual behaviour.

"This will be sold to four, five and six-year olds. This is a
most dangerous toy that will contribute towards destroying
children's innocence."

He added: "Children are being encouraged to dance round a pole
which is interpreted in the adult world as a phallic symbol.

Also on sale on the Tesco website is a strip poker game,
"Peekaboo Poker" which is illustrated by a picture of a reclining
woman in underwear.

The card game is is described as a game that "risks the risque
and brings a whole lot of naughtiness to the table.

"Played with a unique pack of Peekaboo Boy and Girl playing
cards, the aim of the game is to win as many Peekaboo chips as
possible and turn them into outrageously naughty fun."

The pole dance kit is the latest item to fuel allegations that
major retailers increasingly sell products which "sexualise" young
children such as T-shirts with suggestive messages.

In recent years Asda was forced to remove from sale pink and
black lace lingerie, including a push-up bra to girls as young as
nine.

Next had to remove t-shirts on sale for girls as young as six
with the slogan "so many boys, so little time."

And BHS and others came under fire for selling padded bras
embellished with a "Little Miss Naughty" logo and t-shirts with a
Playboy-style bunny that said "I love boys...They are stupid."

Tesco last night denied the pole dancing kit was sexually
oriented

Feminism has new weaponry, and I’m more than a little surprised.

The weapon of mass destruction is oiled-up, half-naked grinding women asking to be ogled and worshipped because of their enticing bits and pieces, otherwise known as “beeps.”

McG and the young things vying for a spot in the group can say that the Dolls empower women all they want, but I hope they appreciate the ridiculousness of their assertions.

The lyrics that encourage men to take note of their hotness are, as McG suggested, the “third-wave feminism.” If that’s so, then we can go ahead and send out honorary N.O.W. memberships to Howard Stern and Hugh Hefner.

So feminists now lap dance their way to the top and compete viciously for men? It’s a crude male fantasy, and a female’s nightmare.

Most frightening of all is the prepubescent kids that are undoubtedly watching and absorbing. I cringe to think that these girls would feel empowered by being sexualized. And what about young boys who are given yet another example of a woman’s value?

The Pussycat Dolls frighten me because their claim to power is based only on their appearance and sexuality. Because of this, the only real power the Pussycat Dolls possess is the power to debase women far more effectively than any man.

The argument, I believe, goes "art is 'cultured' and how could anything 'cultured' be bad?"  Be even the most artistic, tastefully done nude photograph, while surely a step up from overtly trashy pornography, is still publicized nudity and therefore problematic in my mind.

Like the artists of the world, I believe that the human body is a beautiful thing. However, just because something is beautiful doesn't mean it needs to be sha