Swine Flu Pandemic..?

Are you concerned there might be a swine flu pandemic as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO)?

News stories are everywhere and some have more sensational headlines than others:

Reuters CNN

BBC Al Jazeera

My SA USAToday

The New York Times Bloomberg

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently investigating outbreaks of the flu in California and Texas and is keeping their website updated with information.

You realize that epidemics of flu have happened in the past with the last in 1918. Twenty to forty million people died during that flu pandemic – how many could die now that people mingle and travel more extensively than ever before?

What are your concerns? Do you avoid crowded areas? Have you bought face masks? Have you talked to your doctor? Are you generally worried, anxious, or concerned that it will turn into a pandemic situation? If so, what will you do? Do you have a survival plan? Are you afraid of dying??

Me? So far, I’m not overly concerned but I’m not heading to any crowded places. I haven’t purchased a mask yet but it doesn’t mean that the occasion won’t arise where I’ll need to… I’m not afraid of death – everyone has to go sometime, somehow…

So now we have the swine flu and the avian flu to consider as potential pandemics – or maybe we will get hit with both…

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ADVISORY: Dr. Arthur Robinson (OISM) to Release Names of over 30,000 Scientists Rejecting Global Warming Hypothesis

Press Release from StreetInsider.com

May 15, 2008 12:39 PM EDT

Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (OISM)

Who: Dr. Arthur Robinson of the OISM

What: release of names in OISM “Petition Project”

When: 10 AM, Monday May 19

Where: Holeman Lounge at the National Press Club, 529 14th St., NW, Washington, DC

Why: the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (OISM) will announce that more than 31,000 scientists have signed a petition rejecting claims of human-caused global warming. The purpose of OISM’s Petition Project is to demonstrate that the claim of “settled science” and an overwhelming “consensus” in favor of the hypothesis of human-caused global warming and consequent climate damage is wrong. No such consensus or settled science exists. As indicated by the petition text and signatory list, a very large number of American scientists reject this hypothesis.

It is evident that 31,072 Americans with university degrees in science – including 9,021 PhDs, are not “a few.” Moreover, from the clear and strong petition statement that they have signed, it is evident that these 31,072 American scientists are not “skeptics.”

CONTACT: Audrey Mullen, +1-703-548-1160, for the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine

/PRNewswire-USNewswire — May 15/

SOURCE Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine

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AP Investigation Finds Drugs, Medications in Public Drinking Water

From Excite/AP News

More Testing for Drugs in Water Sought

Mar 16, 3:38 PM (ET)
By MARTHA MENDOZA

Test it, study it, figure out how to clean it – but still drink it. That’s the range of reactions raining down from community leaders, utilities, environmental groups and policy makers in reaction to an Associated Press investigation that documented the presence of pharmaceuticals in major portions of the nation’s drinking water supplies.

“There is no wisdom in avoidance. There is wisdom in addressing this problem. I’m not suggesting that people be hysterical and overreact. There’s a responsible way to deal with this – and collectively we can do it,” said Washington-based environmental lawyer George Mannina.

A five-month-long inquiry by the AP National Investigative Team found that many communities do not test for the presence of drugs in drinking water, and those that do often fail to tell customers that they have found trace amounts of medications, including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones. The stories also detailed the growing concerns among scientists that such pollution is adversely affecting wildlife and may be threatening human health.

As a result, Senate hearings have been scheduled, and there have been calls for federal solutions. But officials in many cities say they aren’t going to wait for guidance from Washington to begin testing.

Pharmaceutical industry officials said they would launch a new initiative Monday with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service focused on telling Americans how to safely dispose of unused medicines.

The subject of pharmaceuticals in drinking water also will be discussed this week when 7,000 scientists and regulators from 45 countries gather in Seattle for the annual meeting of the Society of Toxicology. “The public has a right to know the answers to these questions,” said Dr. George Corcoran, the organization’s president.

“The AP story has really put the spotlight on it, and it is going to lead to a pickup in the pace,” he said. “People are going to start putting money into studying this now, instead of a few years from now, and we’ll get the answers sooner than we would have otherwise.”
Environmental leaders said some answers are easy.

“It’s basic. We need to test, tell and protect health,” said Richard Wiles, executive director of the Washington-based Environmental Working Group.

Wiles said the Environmental Protection Agency needs to widely expand the list of contaminants that utilities are required to test for. That list currently contains no pharmaceuticals. He also said government agencies and water providers that don’t disclose test results “are taking away people’s right to know, hiding the fact that there are contaminants in the water. We don’t think they have that right. It’s hubris, it’s arrogance and it’s self-serving,” said Wiles.

As part of its effort, the AP surveyed 62 metropolitan areas and 52 smaller cities, reporting on positive test results in 24 major cities, serving 41 million Americans. Since release of the AP investigation, other communities and researchers have been disclosing previously unreleased local results, positive or negative.

In Yuma, Ariz., for example, city spokesman Dave Nash said four pharmaceuticals – an antibiotic, an anti-convulsant, an anti-bacterial and caffeine – have been detected in that city’s drinking water. In Denver, where the AP had reported undisclosed antibiotics had been detected, a Colorado State University professor involved in water screening there e-mailed the names of 12 specific drugs that had been detected.

Officials at many utilities said that without federal regulations, they didn’t see a need to screen their water for trace amounts of pharmaceuticals. But others have now decided to test, including Scottsdale and Phoenix in Arizona, Palm Beach County in Florida, Chicago and Springfield, Ill., Bozeman, Mont., Fargo, N.D.; Danville, Va.; and a group of four sewer partners in the Olympia, Wash., region.

“We read the AP story and made a determination that we should test our water and be transparent, just let the people know what we find. I’m confident we have safe and clean drinking water,” said Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.

Officials in Freeport, Ill., one of the smaller cities surveyed, said they plan to work with the state EPA to test the area’s drinking water for pharmaceuticals. Mayor George Gaulrapp said he is looking to the state agency for standards, regulations and testing procedures for that city’s water, which comes from a deep well.

In some places, residents learned that the rivers and lakes that feed their drinking water treatment plants have already been tested, or that tests are under way.

In Marin County, California, officials said repeated tests in their watershed for pharmaceuticals have come back clean. In Massachusetts, the state Department of Environmental Protection announced a program to screen rivers, streams and reservoirs for pharmaceuticals.

Dozens of newspaper editorials called for testing in communities where water is not being screened and the release of any test results.

“The first, and least expensive, step is to let the sunshine in: Water utilities that currently test for pharmaceuticals should make that information freely available to their customers, along with more information on the potential impacts of drugs in the water supply,” read an editorial in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has filed an open records request for a copy of a study conducted on the city’s water after the mayor refused to give the AP and the newspaper the name of a pharmaceutical detected in the drinking water. City officials say publishing that information could jeopardize public safety, citing post-Sept. 11 security concerns. A Texas attorney general’s opinion is being sought on possible release of the information.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel urged readers to take responsibility as well.

“It’s a problem in which the average person has both a stake and a role in the solution,” read a Journal Sentinel editorial. “He or she can do something as simple as not flushing unused medications down the toilet or into the drain.”

And the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette observed that “given the national scope of the problem, a strong leadership role for the federal government suggests itself in areas such as testing and upgrading water treatment plants. So it is discouraging to note that the Bush administration in its 2009 budget proposal cut $10 million from the water monitoring and research program.”

While the local responses are encouraging, Lisa Rainwater, policy director of Riverkeeper, a New York-based environmental group, said the EPA should step aside and let the National Academy of Sciences or the General Accounting Office study the impacts on humans and wildlife.

“Frankly, the EPA has failed the American public for doing far too little for far too long,” she said.

At least one local water official is putting part of his faith in another quarter. Wayne Livingston of the Oxford Water Works in Alabama said he has confidence in the existing treatment system. But he said his agency probably will test for pharmaceuticals now, although he doubts anything will turn up because the water is pumped from underground.

“The good Lord filters it,” he said. “But this is something we should keep an eye on.”
—

National writer Jeff Donn in Boston and writers Justin Pritchard in Los Angeles and Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed to this report.

The AP National Investigative Team can be reached at investigate (at) ap.org

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Plan To Spray Toxic Biological Chemicals Over San Francisco Announced

by Rami Nagel

Originally published March 11 2008

People of the world, the US Government is planning to poison more than two million people, in California, using an untested biological “pesticide” this summer. The chemical to be sprayed is classified by the EPA as a “pesticide” and the plan is to douse cities with this chemical designed to stick on everything for 90 days or longer. This application is not a one time event, but will continue every 1-3 months for as long as five years. The pesticide to be sprayed is not designed to harm the light brown apple moth’s who it is designed for, but merely to confuse its mating habits. While harmless to moths, the pesticide has been documented to harm humans.

Side effects range from vomiting and flu like systems, to male and female reproductive cycle disruption. One child nearly died from the exposure, and some people have developed asthma from being exposed to this chemical concoction. It is cause for alarm that a chemical being labeled as harmless and “safe” even in minute doses, causes severe health effects in some people. The government is racing to cover up and hide the dangerous health effects so that they can continue their aerial spray plans this summer. Your attention and action on this subject is needed in the most important way.

On January 24th, 2008, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Chuck Conner announced the availability of $74.5 million in emergency funding to combat the light brown apple moth (LBAM) infestation in California (1). President Bush’s recent budget proposal sent to Congress sets aside $330 Million to eradicate plant pests, like the Light Brown Apple Moth. With crime, prison crowding, pollution, poverty, budget problems and the like, why should the government go through the effort to try to control the reproductive habits of a moth? While most people say the answer is money, a far more sinister plan seems to be at hand. It is unprecedented to design a long term plan to spray chemicals on people, which are untested for safety. This plan violates a myriad of state, federal and international laws.

On February 13th, 2008, the CDFA and USDA, in conjunction, announced their action plan for aerial spraying untested poison on people. This is from the CDFA Press Release “Aerial treatments are expected to begin June 1 in the infested areas of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, with subsequent aerial treatments expected to begin August 1 in San Francisco, Daly City, Colma, Oakland, Piedmont, Emeryville, Albany, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Tiburon and Belvedere. The treatments in these areas are designed to be reapplied at 30- to 90-day intervals while the moths are active.” (4)

In late 2007, there were 643 documented health complaints (www.1hope.org/SPRAYCOMPLES.PDF) from the aerial spray program conducted in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. Keep in mind that this documentation is a mere fraction of the real health effects, as no legitimate effort was made to inform even doctors on how to recognize pesticide poisoning. Many doctors also refused to report suspected pesticide poisoning as required by law, and in order for a report to get officially filed, many times the patient had to insist upon it. These health injuries are not being honored in any way, because if they are honored, this sick chemical spray will be seen for what it is. It is a poison to many humans and likely to many other animals as well. I have a difficult time swallowing that a chemical compound designed to disrupt a moth’s mating cycle can accidentally create reproductive health problems.

There are many who believe that this spray is not directed at the moth population which the government says is the goal of the spray, but rather that it is directed at humans. There is a growing body of evidence to support this claim, considering that the moth itself does not cause any crop damage. It is similar to the government deciding that we must eradicate all the ants, because ants cause millions of dollars of damage. Like ants, the light brown apple moth is a harmless pest. Another strange observation is the name of the mating disruption chemical Checkmate. In order to pull off the deployment of this biological chemical, a hoax, or reason for aerial spraying had to be created. That reason is called the Light Brown Apple Moth infestation. The second requirement to pull off releasing a massive chemical cloud of disease, is to trick people into believing it is safe. This whole aerial spray program depends on the belief that the chemicals to be sprayed are safe.

Since the chemicals planned to be deployed have never been sprayed over cities before, and are even being developed as I write, and thus have not been proven safe for humans, this is by the facts a large scale experiment. The question people should ask is, “why?” While it may be just coincidence, a recent article displays this headline: “Top-secret Livermore anti-germ lab opens.” (2) This same lab, has routinely exploded thousands of pounds of lethal, chemically toxic, and radioactive Depleted Uranium in the greater San Francisco Bay area’s air for the past fifty years (3).

When people hear about this aerial spray, many people experience a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomach. This is truly a sickening action. The government is willfully breaking countless laws in order to combat a stupid leaf rolling moth that curls up into the leaves of some plants and that doesn’t cause any crop damage. It has not caused crop damage or embargo’s in Hawaii over the past 100 years, so why would it cause damage in California?

No ounce of sanity can explain why the government must insist on violating countless laws to spray people with never before tested chemicals, except as to realize a deadly game is being played.

Unlike the horrible malathion spraying over 20 years ago, which was a one-time ordeal with chemicals that evaporate, this spraying is a time release microscopic device, which will be continuously applied, short of the winter months, for up to five years. Even five years of spraying will at best reduce slightly the moth population, as pest control experts explain that mating disruption technology is used as a small part of an overall pest management plan. Pretty much any pest control expert, except for those on the government take, will tell you that the light brown apple moth cannot be eradicated, and that even if it could, the mating disruption technology is not the best means to do it. Since aerial spraying is to be the sole method of controlling the light brown apple moth in many locations, then even after many years of spraying, the moth will still be alive. It is not sane to spray people with chemicals. That begs attention, there is not any hard evidence that the spray even works at all. In fact on the EPA’s own website, there’s an article about pheromones released from microcapsules, it states: “The studies show that only a small proportion of the microcapsules actually release any pheromone.” (5)

This is now clear and reprehensible evidence of State and Federal Governments attempting to commit a large scale crime against the American people. Let us forget about supposed terrorists for a second whose propagandized images are placed on the television, and lets pay attention to this biological attack planned on our fellow neighbors. The presence of a minuscule pest, is no excuse to douse millions with chemicals. There are NO CROPS IN CITIES! So why are they going to spray cities?

This is a Cover-Up

The LBAM infestation is a monumental hoax designed as a cover for an operation of devious goals to expose people to dangerous chemicals over several years.

Following is a link to a recently published proposal of spray boundaries, the yellow lines indicating the proposed spray zones (www.hopefortruth.com/lbam_2008.jpg) . More than two million people who live in these and other targeted cities are scheduled to be exposed this summer to chemicals that that have never been tested on humans or animals before. Let me repeat: the government of the United States is conducting a human biological experiment, on a massive scale, breaking State, Federal and International laws. Children, pregnant women, and the sick and elderly will be most as risk to this increased exposure to long lasting chemicals. Chemicals which are newly designed, chemicals which have not been proven safe. Just like the reproductive health effects reported from the spray, it is important to realize that a large team of “experts” working on this project do not mistakenly douse people with chemicals. This is done on purpose, with a purpose.

Does it make sense to douse over two million people with literally hundreds of billions of microscopic balls of volatile chemicals over an extended period of time to try to limit the mating habits of a few thousand moths? Is it legal to do this? Is it ethical? Is it moral? Yet rather than halting the spray plans to investigate the damage it has done to many people, the spray plans continue to grow exponentially.

To see this insanity clearly, let’s examine the moth population. In San Francisco County, 3,501 moths total have been trapped and killed over an eight month period. The entire city of San Francisco, whose population is 744,041, is in the proposed spray boundaries. About 744,000 people are to be exposed to ‘never tested safe for humans, microencapsulated pheromones’ for several years. This is really a needle in the haystack approach to pest control. Keep in mind, each moth found is a moth that has been trapped and exterminated (6). In Alameda County, 431 months have been found in the past 8 months out of 2,327 traps. The moth population in Alameda County is thus sparse at best. Just look out your window. Imagine how many insects are in the tree, the yard, or the local park. I have seen more than 431 ants crawl into my kitchen on a rainy day. So in a giant area of 141 square miles, and the tens or hundreds of millions of insects in that zone, to try to eradicate a few hundred moths by just spraying chemicals everywhere is both ludicrous and unsafe.

When I learned that Santa Cruz, my previous hometown was to be aerially sprayed, I was in a state of shock. This was followed by a long period of disbelief.

Apparently the CDFA or the USDA, or both, decided that the previous chemical formulas used, Checkmate LBAM-F and Checkmate OLR-F were not good enough, which really points to the fact that the past two aerial sprays in Monterey, and the one in Santa Cruz County, were a waste of time and money. Not to mention the tragedy of the many severe health reactions experienced by thousands of people from chemical exposure. It doesn’t matter to those in charge at the CDFA, EPA, or USDA, if a new chemical is needed to be used, because the goal is not to stop the moth, the moth cannot be stopped, it can only be controlled. This is known. The goal may be to coat people with a toxic mesh of disease causing microcapsules.

The chemicals that were sprayed, and that are planned on being sprayed, have not undergone thorough safety evaluations. And they won’t undergo such evaluations in a legitimate way, because if they did, they would prove only one thing – that these chemicals are potentially deadly.

Continue reading Rami Nagel’s important message here.

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Unrestrained Pets in the Back of Vehicles

While driving in traffic recently I noticed that there was a large pick-up truck in the next lane that had a beautiful Irish Setter in the bed of the truck. The dog had a scarf jauntily tied about its neck and appeared to be well-groomed and taken care of by its owner(s). However, I soon noticed that the dog was not restrained in any manner in the bed as the dog was roaming about as we snailed along in the traffic.

Suddenly, traffic speed picked up and the truck driver accelerated causing the Setter to fly back against the tailgate of the truck. I nearly screamed and so did the woman in the car behind the truck. I know we both thought that the dog was headed over the tailgate. We both watched as the dog righted itself and then proceeded to move about the truck bed. I was sickened by what I was seeing…

As I drew alongside the truck driver I put down my side window, honked my horn and yelled that he needed to do something about the dog. I don’t think he heard me but I felt that I had to say something, anything. He didn’t react in any way maybe he just thought I was a crazy motorist and he chose to ignore me.

I was glad that my lane of traffic moved far ahead of the pick-up, and the dog, as I could not bear to see what happened with the dog any longer. I have seen too many dogs on the side of the road and I am sure many are there because they were victims of jumping or falling out of pick-up trucks.

It is not macho or cool to have your dog in the back of your truck. Please put your dog, if you really and truly care about them, in the vehicle with you and give them as much of a chance as you in case there is an accident.

If you must put your pet in the back of your vehicle please ensure that you restrain them properly. They should be closely leashed to the cab of the truck so that they can’t get over the edge of the bed or be tossed over accidently.

I know the guy with the Irish Setter cared for his dog – it was evident in the cute little scarf and the good grooming – but he should have had his pet inside his truck with him. Or, at least, tied up well in the bed.

Many of us love your pets too and we do not want to see harm come to them. Please take care of them; for all of us.

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Big, Big Snakes on the Move

 From United Press International

Scientists fear spread of Burmese pythons

Feb. 24, 2008 at 12:38 AM

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) — Scientists fear that Burmese pythons, already known to be breeding in South Florida, could spread through much of the southern United States.

Climate maps produced by the U.S. Geological Survey show the giant constrictors, native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, could find suitable temperatures in an area that includes the southeast as far north as Virginia, most of Texas and parts of the southwest and most of California, Science Daily reported.

The pythons would be likely to threaten endangered species. In Florida, they have even become involved in battles with alligators.

The U.S.G.S. said the affected area could extend significantly north by the end of the century if the climate warms.

Burmese pythons can grow to be more than 20 feet long with weights up to 250 pounds. The Everglades National Park determined in 2003 that there was a breeding population within its boundaries and pythons have also been found in Big Cypress National Preserve, Key Largo and other open areas in the region.

The pythons are popular pets. But many owners have bought small ones and released them when they grew too big to handle and too expensive to feed.

18’Burmese Python and Friends

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The Pacific’s Mini-Continent of Trash

The debris build-up in the Pacific is growing at an alarming rate. What was described less than a year ago as being twice the size as the state of Texas has now grown to something now being described as “twice the size as [the] continental United States.” Alarming indeed!

No one appears to want to claim responsibility for it but, yet, it seems that just about everyone, especially those countries bordering along and any ship or vessel traveling in or over the Pacific ocean, contributes to its existence. It’s a troubling ecological and potentially hazardous health situation.

Needless to say, I would think, is that the plastic and other materials are killing the fish and other wildlife that are using the refuse pile as a sheltering spot. Scientists have found toothbrushes, bits of plastic and syringes in bird carcasses on top of the soupy mini-continental mass of garbage.

Studies are being performed to find out what long-term affect on the environment the trash and garbage mass will have to both the sea and shore.

In the meantime the Pacific ocean has become a repository for human trash products not properly disposed of initially, and the unauthorized and unclaimed garbage collection continues to amass.

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The Taos Hum

Can you hear this? It’s not just heard in Taos, New Mexico – it’s heard in other parts of the world too. And it’s making a lot of people sick just listening to it.

What’s your guess on what it is?

Mine is: underground nuclear drilling units tunneling out the D.U.M.B.’s. These operate at depths of about six miles below the surface so the rumbling noise heard makes sense to me.

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Human-Animal Embryo Research Approved in Britain

It’s reported today in the Times-Online that scientists at King’s College London have been given the green light to “inject human DNA into empty eggs from cows to create embryos known as cytoplasmic hybrids, which are 99.9 per cent human in genetic terms.”

Now with this in mind, imagine if something happened and there was a mix-up. Then think of the FDA stating that cloned meat is safe for human consumption.

I think I’ll become a vegetarian…

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With an Eye to the Sky: A Comet to Watch

This comet is making very little news on mainstream media but it’s one to keep on eye on… On October 24th, 2007 Comet Holmes (17P) went from a little dim thing to a very big bright thing overnight that can be seen with the naked eye. The dramatic change astounded astronomers around the world.

The above picture was taken November 21st and it’s a great comparison showing how the ‘halo’ of the comet is just slightly larger than the moon. The picture is from Sky and Telescope and they are providing regular updates on the comet.

There is also an entry about Comet Holmes at Wikipedia . And believe me, Wikipedia is well worth checking out – there’s a wealth of information about the comet and the pictures posted there are very interesting with many from all over the world.

Performing some searches will bring up articles like Obscure Comet Brightens Suddenly and Hubble Zooms In On Heart Of Mystery Comet — Comet Holmes. If you’re like me you can’t learn enough about a subject…

So get the coordinates, grab your binoculars and head outside. If nothing else it will get you away from the computer and breathing some fresh air!

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