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Sunday 29 November 2009
More people die by fire than swine flu
oh yes, it is true. 300 days, the 300th day being 17th November 2009.
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Friday 27 November 2009
Scientific paper points to possible laboratory origin of swine flu
A team of scientists led by Dr. Adrian Gibbs of Australia publish their theory that the swine flu emerged from a laboratory.
::::::::
Dr. Adrian Gibbs, Australian Virologist, on Bloomberg TV
PETER'S NEW YORK, Tuesday, November 24, 2009--A just-released scientific paper spells out the hypothesis, first suggested in the weeks following the initial outbreak of swine flu in humans in the Spring of 2009, that the flu emerged from a laboratory.
The peer-reviewed paper, published today in the Journal of Virology, analyzes the makeup of the genes of the now-famous A H1N1 virus, and concludes that, although it could possibly have come about through cross-contamination among flocks of birds or herds of swine, an equally, or perhaps more probable explanation is that it emerged from laboratories that store viruses for research or vaccine production.
The authors, Adrian J. Gibbs, John S. Armstrong and Jean C. Downie, contend they have identified three swine flu viruses as the most likely parents of the new flu. The last time these parent viruses were known to have caused disease in pigs was from ten to seventeen years ago. Each parent comes from a different continent--one from North America, another from Europe, and a third from Asia. In order for these parent viruses to have combined in nature to form the new virus, pigs would need to have breached strict quarantines designed to prevent the spread of livestock disease. But the scientists note that the European parent was never found in North America, nor the North American virus in Europe, indicating that the quarantines were effective. This, of course, begs the question of how the parent viruses got together to form the new virus.
Some scientists have suggested that the pigs were shipped internationally and violated the strict quarantines. But Gibbs and his colleagues say perhaps a more credible hypothesis is that the parent viruses were individually stored in different sections of a laboratory, or in different laboratories, and were brought together for research or in the production of a vaccine. Storage in a laboratory would also explain why the parent viruses remained undetected in pig populations for a decade or more, and then suddenly emerged as components of the new virus--they were sitting on a shelf in a laboratory refrigerator during the interim. "Viruses," the paper notes, "do travel between laboratories in cells." The authors say additional investigative work is needed to establish which scenario is most likely.
"The possibility that human activity may have had some role in its (the swine flu virus) origins should not be dismissed without a dispassionate analysis of all available evidence," the paper states.
The escape of a disease-causing virus from a laboratory would not be an unprecedented event, the authors contend. They note that a virus that had not been sampled since the 1950s and one that emerged in 1977 were practically identical. Had the virus been infecting humans in the interim, it would have mutated. The absence of mutations suggests that the virus had been sitting in a laboratory refrigerator during the time its presence in humans went undetected.
The best ways to trace the origins of the new swine flu, according to Gibbs's team, is by maintaining a database of viruses and viral components from laboratories around the world, and by instituting more intense monitoring of infected animal and human populations.
The swine flu virus "has already proved to be a significant and very costly cause of mortality and morbidity in the human population," the authors note. "It is important that the source of the new virus be found if we wish to avoid future pandemics rather than just trying to minimize the consequences after they have emerged."
Gibbs, lead author of the paper, achieved notoriety in May of 2009 when he was among the first in the scientific community to suggest that the virus causing the swine flu showed telltale signs of having been produced in a laboratory. Gibbs, who has some 200 scientific publications to his credit, became a familiar icon on TV screens across the globe after being interviewed about his theory by reporters and talking heads from major media outlets. The Australian professor and researcher relayed his concerns to officials at the Geneva-Switzerland-based World Health Organization (WHO), where scientists examined, but tentatively rejected, his hypothesis. A WHO official said the organization's scientists would revisit Gibbs's theory once it emerged in the scientific literature.
::::::::
Dr. Adrian Gibbs, Australian Virologist, on Bloomberg TV
PETER'S NEW YORK, Tuesday, November 24, 2009--A just-released scientific paper spells out the hypothesis, first suggested in the weeks following the initial outbreak of swine flu in humans in the Spring of 2009, that the flu emerged from a laboratory.
The peer-reviewed paper, published today in the Journal of Virology, analyzes the makeup of the genes of the now-famous A H1N1 virus, and concludes that, although it could possibly have come about through cross-contamination among flocks of birds or herds of swine, an equally, or perhaps more probable explanation is that it emerged from laboratories that store viruses for research or vaccine production.
The authors, Adrian J. Gibbs, John S. Armstrong and Jean C. Downie, contend they have identified three swine flu viruses as the most likely parents of the new flu. The last time these parent viruses were known to have caused disease in pigs was from ten to seventeen years ago. Each parent comes from a different continent--one from North America, another from Europe, and a third from Asia. In order for these parent viruses to have combined in nature to form the new virus, pigs would need to have breached strict quarantines designed to prevent the spread of livestock disease. But the scientists note that the European parent was never found in North America, nor the North American virus in Europe, indicating that the quarantines were effective. This, of course, begs the question of how the parent viruses got together to form the new virus.
Some scientists have suggested that the pigs were shipped internationally and violated the strict quarantines. But Gibbs and his colleagues say perhaps a more credible hypothesis is that the parent viruses were individually stored in different sections of a laboratory, or in different laboratories, and were brought together for research or in the production of a vaccine. Storage in a laboratory would also explain why the parent viruses remained undetected in pig populations for a decade or more, and then suddenly emerged as components of the new virus--they were sitting on a shelf in a laboratory refrigerator during the interim. "Viruses," the paper notes, "do travel between laboratories in cells." The authors say additional investigative work is needed to establish which scenario is most likely.
"The possibility that human activity may have had some role in its (the swine flu virus) origins should not be dismissed without a dispassionate analysis of all available evidence," the paper states.
The escape of a disease-causing virus from a laboratory would not be an unprecedented event, the authors contend. They note that a virus that had not been sampled since the 1950s and one that emerged in 1977 were practically identical. Had the virus been infecting humans in the interim, it would have mutated. The absence of mutations suggests that the virus had been sitting in a laboratory refrigerator during the time its presence in humans went undetected.
The best ways to trace the origins of the new swine flu, according to Gibbs's team, is by maintaining a database of viruses and viral components from laboratories around the world, and by instituting more intense monitoring of infected animal and human populations.
The swine flu virus "has already proved to be a significant and very costly cause of mortality and morbidity in the human population," the authors note. "It is important that the source of the new virus be found if we wish to avoid future pandemics rather than just trying to minimize the consequences after they have emerged."
Gibbs, lead author of the paper, achieved notoriety in May of 2009 when he was among the first in the scientific community to suggest that the virus causing the swine flu showed telltale signs of having been produced in a laboratory. Gibbs, who has some 200 scientific publications to his credit, became a familiar icon on TV screens across the globe after being interviewed about his theory by reporters and talking heads from major media outlets. The Australian professor and researcher relayed his concerns to officials at the Geneva-Switzerland-based World Health Organization (WHO), where scientists examined, but tentatively rejected, his hypothesis. A WHO official said the organization's scientists would revisit Gibbs's theory once it emerged in the scientific literature.
Wednesday 28 October 2009
Swine Flu Special Alert
An interview between Dr. Mercola and Barbara Loe Fisher. This interview was originally posted with an article, to view the article in question visit: Here
Monday 26 October 2009
US declares swine flu 'emergency'
US President Barack Obama has declared swine flu a national emergency.
The White House said the president signed the proclamation concerning the 2009 H1N1 outbreak on Friday evening.
It increases the ability of treatment facilities to handle a surge in H1N1 patients by easing the implementation of emergency plans.
Last week US officials said swine flu activity was widespread in 46 states. More than 1,000 US deaths have been linked to the virus.
Health officials say the infections are already comparable to peak season flu levels.
Vaccine warning
US officials said the president's declaration was similar to ones issued before hurricanes make landfall.
It allows authorities to bypass certain federal requirements in order to deal more effectively with emergencies.
The aim of the directive is to remove bureaucratic hurdles, allowing sick patients to receive treatment more quickly and giving health-care providers more flexibility in providing it.
Paperwork on patients can be reduced and additional health centres set up outside hospitals to care for the sick.
In his proclamation statement, Mr Obama says the 2009 H1N1 pandemic "continues to evolve".
"The rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation, and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities."
He said the US had already taken "proactive steps" by implementing public health measures and developing an effective swine flu vaccine.
However, the government has admitted there are delays in the delivery of vaccines.
It had hoped to roll out 120 million doses by mid-October.
It now hopes for about 50 million by mid-November and 150 million in December.
Dr Thomas Frieden, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said on Friday: "We are nowhere near where we thought we'd be by now."
Given the shortfall, New York State on Friday stayed a directive ordering health care staff to be inoculated or risk losing their jobs.
The CDC says widespread influenza activity in 46 states is "unprecedented during seasonal flu".
It said the hospitalisation rates for laboratory-confirmed swine flu were still climbing.
Although figures are hard to verify, it is thought H1N1 has hospitalised about 20,000 people in the US.
Visits to the doctor for influenza-like illnesses were also much higher than expected for the time of year, the CDC said.
The seasonal flu peak is usually between late November and early March.
Children and young adults have been among the hardest hit by H1N1. Almost 100 of the deaths have been children.
Original article from BBC
The White House said the president signed the proclamation concerning the 2009 H1N1 outbreak on Friday evening.
It increases the ability of treatment facilities to handle a surge in H1N1 patients by easing the implementation of emergency plans.
Last week US officials said swine flu activity was widespread in 46 states. More than 1,000 US deaths have been linked to the virus.
Health officials say the infections are already comparable to peak season flu levels.
Vaccine warning
US officials said the president's declaration was similar to ones issued before hurricanes make landfall.
It allows authorities to bypass certain federal requirements in order to deal more effectively with emergencies.
The aim of the directive is to remove bureaucratic hurdles, allowing sick patients to receive treatment more quickly and giving health-care providers more flexibility in providing it.
Paperwork on patients can be reduced and additional health centres set up outside hospitals to care for the sick.
In his proclamation statement, Mr Obama says the 2009 H1N1 pandemic "continues to evolve".
"The rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation, and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities."
He said the US had already taken "proactive steps" by implementing public health measures and developing an effective swine flu vaccine.
However, the government has admitted there are delays in the delivery of vaccines.
It had hoped to roll out 120 million doses by mid-October.
It now hopes for about 50 million by mid-November and 150 million in December.
Dr Thomas Frieden, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said on Friday: "We are nowhere near where we thought we'd be by now."
Given the shortfall, New York State on Friday stayed a directive ordering health care staff to be inoculated or risk losing their jobs.
The CDC says widespread influenza activity in 46 states is "unprecedented during seasonal flu".
It said the hospitalisation rates for laboratory-confirmed swine flu were still climbing.
Although figures are hard to verify, it is thought H1N1 has hospitalised about 20,000 people in the US.
Visits to the doctor for influenza-like illnesses were also much higher than expected for the time of year, the CDC said.
The seasonal flu peak is usually between late November and early March.
Children and young adults have been among the hardest hit by H1N1. Almost 100 of the deaths have been children.
Original article from BBC
LAPD's 'Orwellian' anti-terror ads creeping out viewers
An ad released by the Los Angeles Police Department urging the public to participate in an anti-terror snooping program is being described by numerous observers and news sources by a single word: Creepy.
The one-and-a-half minute spot, which can be viewed below, features a multicultural line-up of speakers explaining why they participate in iWatch, a "neighborhood watch for the whole city," as the ad describes it.
"If you see, hear, or smell something suspicious, report it. Reporting is easy. Use the web or the phone," the speakers state. "A single report can lead to actions that can stop a terrorist attack. Think about that. Think about the power of that. Think about the power of iWatch."
And indeed plenty of people are now thinking about the power of iWatch, and many observers are not impressed. Allison Kilkenny, on her TrueSlant blog, says it won't be long before iWatch will be exploited by people for their own purposes.
These kinds of anonymous hotlines are ripe for abuse, and there exist endless possibilities of innocent citizens being reported by their neighbors for the crime of “Living While Being Arab.”
After the 9/11 attacks, we were told the solution to terrorism was to have citizens spy on each other, and not to, say, elect a competent government. That’s when TIPS (Terrorist Information and Prevention System) was born, an initiative to recruit one million volunteers in 10 cities across the country that encouraged them to report suspicious activity that might be terrorism-related. An investigative political journalist, Ritt Goldstein, observed in Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald that TIPS would provide America with a higher percentage of “citizen spies” than the former East Germany had under the notorious Stasi secret police.
The LAPD is "creeping out America" with the ad, states KNBC in Los Angeles. The station cites outgoing LAPD Chief William Bratton, who said that "a single terrorism incident would do more harm to the city's image and economy than 50 gang murders."
"Absolutely true -- but do we really have to be so creepy with the promotional videos?" asked the station in its report. "This is LA. There are probably one or two writers, actors and directors that would be willing to cut out some of that creepiness."
Tina Dupuy at the media-affairs blog MediaBistro writes that the ad "is universally thought to be creepy and not unlike we've imagined PSA's on Orwell's telescreens to be like."
But our reaction is why did this take so long? Hello! September 11th 2001 was like eight years ago. It's taken the LAPD this long to ask Angelenos to be on the look out for anything suspicious in regards to terrorism?! What, did they get stuck in traffic for the better part of a decade?
This video is from LAPD, broadcast Oct. 3, 2009.
The one-and-a-half minute spot, which can be viewed below, features a multicultural line-up of speakers explaining why they participate in iWatch, a "neighborhood watch for the whole city," as the ad describes it.
"If you see, hear, or smell something suspicious, report it. Reporting is easy. Use the web or the phone," the speakers state. "A single report can lead to actions that can stop a terrorist attack. Think about that. Think about the power of that. Think about the power of iWatch."
And indeed plenty of people are now thinking about the power of iWatch, and many observers are not impressed. Allison Kilkenny, on her TrueSlant blog, says it won't be long before iWatch will be exploited by people for their own purposes.
These kinds of anonymous hotlines are ripe for abuse, and there exist endless possibilities of innocent citizens being reported by their neighbors for the crime of “Living While Being Arab.”
After the 9/11 attacks, we were told the solution to terrorism was to have citizens spy on each other, and not to, say, elect a competent government. That’s when TIPS (Terrorist Information and Prevention System) was born, an initiative to recruit one million volunteers in 10 cities across the country that encouraged them to report suspicious activity that might be terrorism-related. An investigative political journalist, Ritt Goldstein, observed in Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald that TIPS would provide America with a higher percentage of “citizen spies” than the former East Germany had under the notorious Stasi secret police.
The LAPD is "creeping out America" with the ad, states KNBC in Los Angeles. The station cites outgoing LAPD Chief William Bratton, who said that "a single terrorism incident would do more harm to the city's image and economy than 50 gang murders."
"Absolutely true -- but do we really have to be so creepy with the promotional videos?" asked the station in its report. "This is LA. There are probably one or two writers, actors and directors that would be willing to cut out some of that creepiness."
Tina Dupuy at the media-affairs blog MediaBistro writes that the ad "is universally thought to be creepy and not unlike we've imagined PSA's on Orwell's telescreens to be like."
But our reaction is why did this take so long? Hello! September 11th 2001 was like eight years ago. It's taken the LAPD this long to ask Angelenos to be on the look out for anything suspicious in regards to terrorism?! What, did they get stuck in traffic for the better part of a decade?
This video is from LAPD, broadcast Oct. 3, 2009.
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