Obama Declares Flu Emergency-US Deaths From Swine Flu Surpass 1,000

ATLANTA (Oct. 24) - President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency and empowered his health secretary to suspend federal requirements and speed treatment for thousands of infected people.

The declaration that Obama signed late Friday authorized Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to bypass federal rules so health officials can respond more quickly to the outbreak, which has killed more than 1,000 people in the United States.

The goal is to remove bureaucratic roadblocks and make it easier for sick people to seek treatment and medical providers to provide it immediately. That could mean fewer hurdles involving Medicare, Medicaid or health privacy regulations.

"As a nation, we have prepared at all levels of government, and as individuals and communities, taking unprecedented steps to counter the emerging pandemic," Obama wrote in the declaration, which the White House announced Saturday.

He said the pandemic keeps evolving, the rates of illness are rising rapidly in many areas and there's a potential "to overburden health care resources."

Because of vaccine production delays, the government has backed off initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses would be available by mid-October. As of Wednesday, only 11 million doses had been shipped to health departments, doctor's offices and other providers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said.

The government now hopes to have about 50 million doses of swine flu vaccine out by mid-November and 150 million in December.

The flu virus has to be grown in chicken eggs, and the yield hasn't been as high as was initially hoped, officials explained.

Swine flu is more widespread now than it's ever been. Health authorities say almost 100 children have died from the flu, known as H1N1, and 46 states now have widespread flu activity.
Worldwide, more than 5,000 people have reportedly died from swine flu since it emerged this year and developed into a global epidemic, the World Health Organization said Friday. Since most countries have stopped counting individual swine flu cases, the figure is considered an underestimate.
Don't panic: Government doctors stopped counting swine flu cases in July, when they estimated more than 1 million had been infected in the U.S. The outbreak has continued to intensify since then. Health officials urge people to take precautions but not panic. "I don't want anybody to be alarmed, but I do want everybody to be prepared," President Barack Obama said in September.
Virus tougher on some: Swine flu is more of a threat to children under 2, pregnant women, and people with health problems like asthma, diabetes and heart disease. Teens and young adults are also more vulnerable to swine flu. Seasonal flu hits older people the hardest, but not swine flu. Scientists think older people may have some immunity from exposure years earlier to viruses similar to swine flu.

10 Swine Flu Facts http://gblsharing.app.aol.com/pop-up/

What follows are a few articles concerning the controversial "swine flu" vacine. I will allow you to draw your own conclusion as to whether it is safe or not, or if it worth taking.

Give Kids First Shot at Swine Flu Vaccine?

Vaccination Program That Targets Children First May Lessen Spread of Swine Flu This Fall

Sept. 10, 2009 -- An all-out vaccination program that would target children first could mitigate the impact of an H1N1 swine flu pandemic this fall, new research indicates.

Such a concerted vaccination effort could lead to coverage of 70% of the U.S. population, say researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute.

Their analysis, aided by computer modeling, is published in the Sept. 11 issue of Science Express, an early online edition of the journal Science.

The study recommends that 70% of children between 6 months and 18 years old be vaccinated first in such a program, along with members of other high-risk groups, including health care workers and people with chronic medical problems.

The researchers say two doses of vaccine, administered three weeks apart, may provide enough protection against the virus.

A combination of factors, including the availability of an effective vaccine and the timing of an outbreak, will determine how quickly an epidemic can be slowed, according to co-author Ira Longini Jr., PhD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington.

“Our estimates of pandemic H1N1 in households, schools, and in the community places this virus in the higher range of transmissibility,” lead author Yang Yang, PhD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington, says in a news release.

The report also estimates that:

• Children are likely to experience the highest illness attack rates.
• The typical student will infect an average of 2.4 school mates.
• 30%-40% of flu transmission occurs in households, about 20% in schools, and the rest in the workplace and the community.
• Pandemic spread may cause illness in 25%-29% of the world population in one year, resembling what happened during the 1957-58 Asian influenza A (H2N2) pandemic.
• The average time between the onset of illness in a person and onset of illness in someone that person infects may be 2-3 days.

H1N1 already has become the dominant flu strain in the Southern Hemisphere, where flu season is under way. Vaccination increases immunity and slows spread of infection, and reduces risk for flu complications and death.

The researchers also say that social distancing and antiviral medications can be effective in offsetting spread of H1N1 when combined with vaccination on a mass scale.

H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine FAQ

WebMD provides a practical guide to the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

(continued)

Who is first in line to get the H1N1 swine flu vaccine? continued...

So who will get the first doses? Five groups:

• Pregnancy increases a woman's risk of severe flu sixfold, so pregnant women are a priority group.
• Household contacts and caregivers of children younger than 6 months of age, including day care providers. Infants are too young to vaccinate and are at high risk of severe flu.
• H1N1 swine flu most often strikes young people, so people ages 6 months to 24 years are a priority.
• Health care workers and emergency medical personnel.
• Any adult aged 25 to 64 with a medical condition, such as asthma, that increases risk of flu complications.

States may further restrict scarce early doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine to subgroups, such as children under age 4. However, providers are not likely to be too strict, knowing it's better to use the vaccine promptly than to let it sit in a refrigerator.

If I'm not at the front of the line, will there be enough H1N1 swine flu vaccine for me?

The first 6 or 7 million doses is the tip of the iceberg. By Oct. 12, the CDC says 40 million doses of vaccine will have been shipped. Every week thereafter, 20 million doses will ship.

Overall, the U.S. has now purchased 251 million doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine. The U.S. has donated 10% of the supply to nations not able to afford the vaccine, leaving 226 million doses for the U.S.

Since adults need only one dose (children need two doses), and since not everyone will choose to be vaccinated, this means everyone who wants the vaccine eventually will be able to get it.

Is the H1N1 swine flu vaccine safe?

The H1N1 swine flu vaccine, both the shots and the nasal spray, are made the same way as the seasonal flu vaccine.

Every year or so, the seasonal vaccine -- which includes a component based on the seasonal H1N1 virus -- is tweaked to match a flu virus that has changed its genetic makeup. The same kind of tweaking resulted in the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

That's why the FDA approved it: They considered it just a strain change, and not a brand new vaccine.

Even so, both long- and short-term clinical trials are under way. Results from the short-term studies already are here: Other than causing the usual soreness and perhaps redness at the site of injection, the vaccines cause no major side effects.

And like the seasonal flu vaccine, the H1N1 swine flu vaccine can't be taken by everybody. The vaccine is produced in hens' eggs, so people with egg allergies cannot take the vaccine.

Will there be long-term side effects? That's not likely -- but the CDC is taking no chances. The CDC and vaccine manufacturers have beefed up their safety monitoring process to look for anything unusual in people who get vaccinated against the new flu.

Millions of people are going to get the vaccine. Odds are, something bad is going to happen to some people around the same time they get their vaccine. If they have a car wreck two days after getting the vaccine, it's not likely to be blamed on the vaccine.

But what if, say, a pregnant woman has a miscarriage soon after vaccination? There will be scary media reports and the CDC will investigate. Public health experts are warning people to understand that events such as miscarriages are not all that uncommon; it will take some time to learn whether they are more common in women who get vaccinated than in women who do not get vaccinated.

Who should get the H1N1 swine flu vaccine?

Because it is a new virus to which humans have never before been exposed, everyone is vulnerable to H1N1 swine flu. That means everyone could benefit from the vaccine.

But cases among people over age 65 have so far been rare. And few healthy adults over age 24 have suffered serious swine flu illness. These groups are asked to wait until others have had a chance to get vaccinated.

Eventually, there will be enough H1N1 swine flu vaccine for everyone who wants it.

If I think I've had swine flu, do I need the vaccine?

Even during a flu pandemic, colds and all kinds of flu-like illnesses circulate. In fact, most flu-like illnesses are NOT caused by the flu.

If you came down with a flu-like illness since April 2009, you may have had the H1N1 swine flu. But the only way to know for sure is if your doctor took a nasal or throat swab, sent it off to a lab, and had that lab confirm the infection.

If that didn't happen, it's not safe to assume you already had the flu. Especially if you're at risk of severe flu illness, it's a very good idea to get your H1N1 swine flu shot AND your seasonal flu shot. The vaccine is perfectly safe for people who actually had swine flu.

What's the difference between the nasal spray and injectable vaccines?

The traditional flu shot contains proteins separated from the flu virus. Those proteins can't cause illness. But your immune system learns to recognize them, and mounts a protective reaction if a real live flu virus tries to infect you.

The FluMist nasal spray works differently. It contains a live flu virus that has been weakened to the point that it can't cause the flu. That sounds pretty scary, but millions of people have safely taken this kind of vaccine.

The advantage of the nasal spray is that in children who have never had the flu or a flu vaccine before, it seems to elicit a stronger immune response than the flu shot.

The disadvantage of the nasal spray is that in older people who've had the flu or flu vaccines before, it may not be quite as protective as the flu shot. That finding is based on a single study, based on just a single flu season. And since nobody has had the H1N1 swine flu before, the FluMist H1N1 swine flu vaccine is expected to work just as well in adults as the flu shot does.

I know studies show vaccines preserved with thimerosal are safe, but is there an alternative?

Tiny doses of a mercury compound called thimerosal keep multidose vials of flu vaccine safe from contamination with bacteria. Before thimerosal was added to multidose vials, contamination caused serious adverse events.

Exhaustive studies fail to find any reason to believe that thimerosal is unsafe. But if you don't want thimerosal, you don't have to have it. Single-dose syringes of flu vaccine don't need thimerosal and don't have any. Neither does the FluMist nasal spray vaccine.

If you prefer a thimerosal-free vaccine, check with your provider to see if one is available. If not, check with your state or local health department to see where you can find one.

I've heard that something called squalene is in the vaccine. Is that true?

None of the U.S. H1N1 swine flu or seasonal flu vaccines contains squalene.

Squalene isn't a very nice sounding word, but it's an oil that's a natural part of many body processes. It's widely used in cosmetics because it penetrates the skin easily without leaving an oily feel.

Squalene is also used in substances called adjuvants. When mixed with vaccines, adjuvants make vaccines work better at lower doses.

The U.S. purchased millions of doses of these adjuvants in case the H1N1 swine flu vaccine had to be boosted to be effective. That turned out not to be necessary. Unlike current H1N1 swine flu vaccines, a vaccine with adjuvant would have to be specifically approved by the FDA. Such vaccines could be used this year only under the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization. No such authorization has been issued.

However, adjuvants already are approved in Europe and other areas. They've been used safely in millions of people, although they may cause a bit more of a reaction at the site of injection that vaccines without adjuvant.

Vaccine makers likely will file for FDA approval of adjuvants, but this approval will be subject to rigorous safety analysis. In any case, no adjuvant will be used in any flu vaccine given in the U.S. this flu season.

Where can my children and I get the swine flu vaccine?

Medical practices and clinics that want to offer the H1N1 swine flu vaccine have already registered with their state health departments. Check with your doctor to see if she or he is offering the vaccine.

Because children are especially vulnerable to H1N1 swine flu -- and are especially likely to spread the disease to others -- many states will be offering H1N1 swine flu vaccinations in schools. In some states, permission slips already have been sent to parents.

Some states are also planning vaccinations at public sites. These plans will be announced locally.

Different state, territory, and tribal health authorities have different plans. There is no one-size-fits-all plan; the CDC advises local health departments to adapt their H1N1 vaccination plans to local needs.

That goes for retail chains as well. National retail outlets, such as pharmacy chains, may offer

How much will the H1N1 swine flu vaccine cost?

The U.S. government purchased the vaccine from manufacturers and is providing the vaccine at no cost.

The CDC has asked providers NOT to charge for administering the vaccine. Even if they do, several large insurance companies have said the costs would be covered.

I've heard H1N1 swine flu shots are mandatory. Is that true?

Swine flu shots are voluntary for most Americans. For those not in the military, there is no federal requirement to get the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

Active-duty military personnel, National Guard troops on active duty, and civilian Defense Department employees in critical jobs will be required to get the vaccine.

Health care workers may be required by their employers to get vaccinated. The state of New York, for example, has mandated both seasonal and H1N1 swine flu vaccinations for all health care workers.

OK, you talk a good game. But would YOU get the swine flu vaccine yourself?

This WebMD reporter was a guinea pig in the swine flu clinical trial. You can watch me get my first shot.

What happened? Nothing. There wasn't even soreness at the site of injection. I did catch a cold (sniffles, cough, no fever, no muscle aches) about three weeks after my first shot -- unfortunately, flu shots don't protect against that. But I haven't had the flu, even though I live in a city (Atlanta) that's had a lot of cases.

H1N1 swine flu vaccine in some areas but not in others.

Fact v. Fiction: Answers to Swine Flu Questions and Rumors

September 28, 2009 10:41 AM

On Friday, federal health officials gave the most detailed information yet on the roll out of the H1N1/swine flu vaccine. The first doses are heading to 90,000 locations across the country -- but days before they arrive, many parents are saying they don't want the vaccine for their children. So we brought our Senior Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser in, as a truth-squad about the rumors. Watch out the clip below where he separates fact from fiction.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/09/fact-v-fiction-answers-to-swine-flu-questions-and-rumors.html

Does seasonal flu vaccine protect against swine flu or make it riskier?

October 7, 2009 | 8:36 pm

Who you gonna trust, Canadians or Mexicans? Or maybe neither.

Less then two weeks ago, Canadian researchers reported in a paper that has not been published in a journal yet that immunization with the seasonal flu vaccine increased the risk of contracting pandemic H1N1 influenza and of developing more severe complications. Although most experts pooh-poohed the findings, which are often referred to as the "Canadian problem," some provincial health authorities postponed their seasonal flu vaccination programs.

Now, Mexican researchers report today in the British Medical Journal that vaccination for seasonal flu actually protects against infection by swine flu. In a small study of only 240 patients, Dr. Jose Valdespino of the Laboratories de Biologicos y Reactivos de Mexico in Mexico City and his colleagues found that those who received the seasonal flu vaccine were significantly less likely to contract swine flu and that, even if they did contract it, they were less likely to develop severe complications.

The problem with both studies--aside from the fact that they directly contradict each other--is that they run counter to everything we already know about the two viruses. Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said recently that there is no plausible mechanism by which vaccination could increase the likelihood of contracting swine flu. Furthermore, researchers in the United States, Australia and elsewhere have scoured their data and find no similar effect.

As for protection, researchers had fervently hoped that seasonal flu vaccination would provide some, thereby limiting the fatalities that might be associated with the pandemic. But every laboratory experiment they have performed shows there is none. The two viruses are simply too different for antibodies raised against one to affect the other. And again, according to CDC spokesman Joe Quimby, researchers have scoured their data and found no support for the new findings.

So where does that leave us? Back where we started. The most likely scenario is that both the Canadian and Mexican results are wrong and that seasonal flu vaccination provides no benefit against swine flu and no harm. Bottom line: get both vaccines.

King Heroin

From where I came nobody knows,
I come from where the poppy seed grows.
I came to this country without a passport
Ever since then I've been hunted and sought
My little white grains are nothin' but waste... Read More
Soft and deadly and bitter to taste
I'm a world of power and all know it's true
Use me once and you'll know it, too
I can make a mere schoolboy forget his books
I can make a world-famous beauty neglect her looks
I can make a good man forsake his wife
Send a greedy man to prison for the rest of his life
I can make a man forsake his country and flag
Make a girl sell her body for a five-dollar bag
Some think my adventure's a joy and a thrill
But I'll put a gun in your hand and make you kill
In cellophane bags I've found my way
To heads of state and children at play
I'm financed in China, ran in Japan
I'm respected in Turkey and I'm legal in Siam
I take my addicts and make 'em steal, borrow, beg
Then they search for a vein in their arm or their leg
So, be you Italian, Jewish, Black or Mex
I can make the most virile of men forget their sex
So now, no, my man, you must (you know) do your best
To keep up your habit until your arrest
Now the police have taken you from under my wing
Do you think they dare defy me, I who am king?
Now, you must lie in that county jail
Where I can't get to you by visit or mail
So squirm -- with discomfort -- wiggle and cough (hack!)
Six days of madness, hah! You might throw me off
Curse me in name! Defy me in speech!
But you'd pick me up right no if I were in your reach
All through your sentence you've become resolved to your fate
Hear now! younng man and woman, I'll be waitin' at the gate
Don't be afraid, don't run! I'm not chased
Sure my name is Heroin! You'll be back for a taste
Behold, you're hooked!
Your foot is in the stirrup
And make -- haste!
Mount the steed!
And ride him well
For the white horse of heroin
Will ride you to Hell!
To Hell!
Will ride you to Hell!
Until you are dead!
Dead, brother! Dead!
This is a revolution of the mind
Get your mind together

Current Events

Dead Man Mistaken for Halloween Decor

LOS ANGELES (Oct. 17) -- Residents of a Southern California apartment complex say they saw a lifeless body slumped on a neighbor's patio, but didn't call police because they thought it was part of a Halloween display.

Mostafa Mahmoud Zayed had apparently been dead since Monday.

Cameraman Austin Raishbrook, owner of RMG News, told the Los Angeles Times he was at the scene in Marina del Rey Thursday when authorities arrived. The 75-year-old Zayed was slumped over a chair on the third-floor balcony of his apartment with a single gunshot wound to the eye.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigator says the case is an "apparent suicide."

Raishbrook says neighbors told him they noticed the body Monday "but didn't bother calling authorities because it looked like a Halloween dummy."

Balloon Boy's Dad Meets With Officers

Fails to Deliver 'Big Announcement' When Promised

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (Oct. 17) — A storm-chasing inventor met with sheriff's officials Saturday amid lingering questions about whether he perpetrated a big hoax when his 6-year-old son vanished into the rafters of his garage while the world thought he was zooming through the sky in a flying saucer-like helium balloon.

The saga grew stranger by the day. Richard Heene knocked on the windows of journalists camped outside his home early Saturday and promised a "big announcement" in a few hours, then did an about-face when he told reporters that they should leave questions in a cardboard box on the front doorstep.

"Absolutely no hoax. I want your questions in the box," Heene said, waving a cardboard container before going back into his home.

A circus-like atmosphere formed outside, including men holding signs and occasionally yelling "balloon boy." One sign read, "Put balloon boy on TV: America's Most Wanted."

Other gawkers carried aluminum-foil stovetop popcorn makers that resembled the silvery balloon launched from the family's backyard Thursday, with 6-year-old Falcon Heene believed to be onboard.

A man pulled a red wagon with coffee for sale. The sign had "$2" scratched out with a new price of $1. Some neighbors stopped by to drop questions of their own into the box.

Skip over this content

Falcon's mother, Mayumi Heene, also went to the sheriff's office about two hours after husband did. The couple's three sons remained home, apparently being watched by sheriff's officials. Authorities wouldn't comment on what was happening.

"We're trying to figure things out. That's all I can say," sheriff's spokeswoman Eloise Campanella said.

Sheriff Jim Alderden has said that he wanted to re-interview the family after Falcon told CNN that "you said we did this for a show" when asked why he didn't come out of his hiding place. Then Falcon got sick during two separate TV interviews when asked why he hid.

The balloon was supposed to be tethered to the ground when it lifted off, and no one was supposed to be aboard. A video of the launch shows the family counting down in unison, "3, 2, 1," before Richard Heene pulls a cord, setting the balloon into the air.

"Whoa!" one of the boys exclaims. Then his father says in disbelief, "Oh, my God!" He then says to someone, "You didn't put the (expletive) tether down!" and he kicks the wood frame that had held the balloon.

Falcon's brother said he saw him inside the compartment before it took off and that's why they thought he was in there when it launched. Heene said he had yelled at Falcon before the launch for getting inside.

Alderden thinks it's likely that Falcon ran off because he was scared of getting in trouble, later falling asleep in his hiding spot. He said he doubted that such a hyperactive boy could be ordered to stay quiet for the five hours he was missing.

Over the years, Richard Heene has worked as a storm chaser, a handyman and contractor, and an aspiring reality-TV star.

He and his family appeared on the ABC reality show "Wife Swap," and the show's producer said it had a show in development with the Heenes but the deal is now off. TLC also said Heene had pitched a reality show to the network months ago, but it passed on the offer.

Despite his attempts to get on TV, Heene insisted Saturday that he didn't know what kinds of questions were being asked about him because he didn't have cable.

"I'm going to place the box out front. Please write your questions down, because friends are telling me they're saying this and that. I have no idea what the news is saying," Heene said.

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers P. Solomon Banda in Fort Collins; Judith Kohler, Ivan Moreno and Colleen Slevin in Denver; and Greg Risling, Lynn Elber and Solvej Schou in Los Angeles.

Gang Shoots Down Police Helicopter

RIO DE JANEIRO (Oct. 17) -- Drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter and killed two officers in a burst of drug-based violence just two weeks after the city won the 2016 Olympic games. Three suspected drug traffickers were also killed.

Bullets flying from the Morro dos Macacos ("Monkey Hill" in Portuguese) slum in northern Rio de Janeiro hit the police helicopter pilot in the leg as he hovered above a clash between rival drug factions, causing him to lose control and crash.

The pilot and another officer managed to flee with burns after the helicopter burst into flames on a football field, but two officers were unable to escape, said a police spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity because of department policy.

Officials did not know whether the gangs targeted the helicopter or whether it was hit by stray bullets. But the dramatic helicopter downing comes only two weeks after Rio won the 2016 Olympic games despite security concerns that have dogged Brazil's second-largest city for decades.

The three presumed traffickers were found dead inside a vehicle in the same slum, and television broadcasts showed at least three buses set ablaze in other slums and motorists fleeing for cover as automatic weapons fire broke out in broad daylight amid the worst violence the city has seen in months.

Images broadcast by Globo TV showed flames shooting from the helicopter wreckage, with little more than charred pieces and an intact tail remaining after the fire was doused. The pilot and the officer who managed to get away were hospitalized and were expected to survive, officials said.

Rio police frequently use helicopters to take on gangs that dominate drug trafficking in the city's more than 1,000 slums, but were unable to say whether this was the first time one of their helicopters had been shot down by gang members who use illicit military-grade weapons for combat against their rivals and authorities.

The crash happened about five miles (eight kilometers) southwest of one of the zones where Rio's 2016 Olympic will be located. The city on Oct. 2 bested Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo for the games. Rio alone among the bid cities was highlighted for security concerns ahead of the International Olympic Committee vote.

The downing of the helicopter followed intense firefights amid rival gangs in the slum as one tried to seize a rival's territory, authorities said.

Police moved into the area before dawn, though gunfire continued throughout the day, keeping terrorized residents inside their homes as bullets slammed into apartment buildings.

Despite increased policing efforts, Rio remains one of the world's most dangerous cities. The violence generally is contained within slum areas, though it sometimes spills into posh beach neighborhoods and periodically shuts down the highway that links the international airport to tourist destinations.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and other officials have downplayed the threat of violence for the Olympics, saying Rio has repeatedly demonstrated it can pull off big events without risk to players and spectators.

Rio held the Pan-American Games in 2007 without major incidents, deploying more than 15,000 specially trained officers on the streets to keep the peace.

Associated Press

Maldives Cabinet Meets Underwater

GIRIFUSHI, Maldives (Oct. 17) - Members of the Maldives' Cabinet donned scuba gear and used hand signals Saturday at an underwater meeting staged to highlight the threat of global warming to the lowest-lying nation on Earth.

President Mohammed Nasheed and 13 other government officials submerged and took their seats at a table on the sea floor — 20 feet below the surface of a lagoon off Girifushi, an island usually used for military training.

With a backdrop of coral, the meeting was a bid to draw attention to fears that rising sea levels caused by the melting of polar ice caps could swamp this Indian Ocean archipelago within a century. Its islands average 7 feet above sea level.

"What we are trying to make people realize is that the Maldives is a frontline state. This is not merely an issue for the Maldives but for the world," Nasheed said.

As bubbles floated up from their face masks, the president, vice president, Cabinet secretary and 11 ministers signed a document calling on all countries to cut their carbon dioxide emissions.

The issue has taken on urgency ahead of a major U.N. climate change conference scheduled for December in Copenhagen. At that meeting countries will negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol with aims to cut the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that scientists blame for causing global warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Wealthy nations want broad emissions cuts from all countries, while poorer ones say industrialized countries should carry most of the burden.

Dozens of Maldives soldiers guarded the event Saturday, but the only intruders were groupers and other fish.

Nasheed had already announced plans for a fund to buy a new homeland for his people if the 1,192 low-lying coral islands are submerged. He has promised to make the Maldives, with a population of 350,000, the world's first carbon-neutral nation within a decade.

"We have to get the message across by being more imaginative, more creative and so this is what we are doing," he said in an interview on a boat en route to the dive site.

Nasheed, who has emerged as a key, and colorful, voice on climate change, is a certified diver, but the others had to take diving lessons in recent weeks.

Three ministers missed the underwater meeting because two were not given medical permission and another was abroad.

No discipline, no love

No discipline, no love

By the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan |

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan Children today are growing up in homes where there is no discipline because there are no rules. Children today do what they please and their parents, mothers in particular, allow this license not realizing that their unwillingness to train the children up in the way they should go will bring great pain to the parents in the future.

Last updated: Oct 10, 2009 - 7:59:11 PM

In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.

There is a scripture in the Bible that teaches that Allah (God) is Love. The creative force out of which He created the heavens and the earth is the awesome power of His Love. In that great display of love, Allah (God) regulates the affairs of His Creatures by means of law. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught us that the first law is motion and the second law is order. Out of Allah's (God's) Love, He puts all things in motion, and, out of His Love, He gives order to that motion by means of law.

The sun in our universe is the great example of freedom, for, its light gives life to all things within its sphere of influence and also warmth. There are nine planets in our solar system and each planet's affair is regulated by the Law of Light that disciplines each planet giving it an orbit in which to rotate, from which it can never escape. In the Bible, Jesus uses these words, "I am the Light of the World.” He was made by Allah (God) to glorify Him, and, the Light of His Wisdom gives life to those whom His Wisdom touches, and, the warmth of His Love comforts those who are touched by His Light.

The Qur'an refers to Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), “As a Light Giving Sun.” This teaches us that Muhammad in His Person, is the Light of what Allah (God) brought through Him called Qur'an, another name of which is Al-Nur – The Light. Muhammad in the beauty of His Light and Life and in the warmth of His Love, by the permission of Allah (God), gives spiritual life to all those who accept His Guidance and follow His Way.

It is not an accident that the companions of Jesus were called His Disciples. In the word disciple we have the word discipline. A disciple is one who is in the process of being disciplined or is disciplining his or herself according to the Teaching and Way of a Master.

Oft times, in the Bible Jesus rebuked His Disciples.

REBUKE: To criticize or reprove sharply; reprimand: to check or repress.

Why did He do so? He rebuked them because He loved them. Therefore, in His rebuke was correction because He wanted them to be as Allah (God) desired. We can never be what Allah (God) desires of us without correction, rebuke and exhortation. Therefore, the Bibles teaches us, “Train up a child in the way he should go and, when he is old, he will not depart from it.” We cannot teach or train without correction and rebuke. There is no student of any teacher of any discipline that is not corrected in order to grow into the perfection of that discipline. The more correction one is given, the greater is the demonstration of love.

The Bible teaches, “Whom the Lord loves, He chastens much.”

CHASTEN: To punish, either physically or morally; chastise: to restrain; moderate: to refine; purify.

Children today are growing up in homes where there is no discipline because there are no rules. Children today do what they please and their parents, mothers in particular, allow this license not realizing that their unwillingness to train the children up in the way they should go will bring great pain to the parents in the future. A train that is on a track is disciplined by the track.

The engine pulls the train. Likewise, the parents should be the example of what the parent hopes for in the children. The parents are the engine that pulls the child along the track. Whenever a train jumps the track, we have what is called a wreck or disaster. The lives of our children are being wrecked, and disaster is in their future if we do not love them enough to lay down rules that we encourage our children to live by.

As we look at society today and we see the police armed to the teeth with bulletproof vests as they go about their duties, it is as though they are in a huge cage with violent beasts that they must protect themselves from as they try to establish some degree of order by means of enforcement of law.

If there is no discipline in the home, is there a chance for discipline in the school? Many teachers who have given their lives to the idea of educating the young are giving up their profession because they lack the methodology and psychological training that would allow them to produce discipline in their classrooms. So, the schools today resemble psychiatric wards in mental hospitals. The poor teachers oft times give up their profession and take other means of employment because teaching is impossible in an atmosphere where there is no discipline.

There was a time when discipline was administered in the church, but, today in most churches there is no discipline. People come to listen to the preaching; listen to good singing, giving their tithes and offerings and then they go back to the life-style that they are living. Very few pastors, ministers and imams will rebuke their parishioners to make them better Christians, better Muslims, or better Jews. If there is no discipline in the home, the school, and the church, then, the streets become a jungle and the police become the so-called tamers of the wild beasts of the street. This is a loveless society.

When children come out of a home where there is no discipline and go into a home where there is discipline, you will find that they like being where there is discipline. There is a human need to be disciplined, and, therefore, to discipline is a human right. As parents, we must have the right and the authority to discipline our children. As teachers we must have the right and the authority to discipline our students. As pastors, ministers, and imams, we must have the right and the authority to discipline our membership. If we do not do our job out of love for those in our care, the judge, then, has to do his or her job and give our children time in prison or sentence them to death because we did not love them enough to train them properly when they were young. Society is robbing the parents and the teachers of the right and the authority to discipline the children and the students. I know that there is child abuse and there must be laws to protect children from abusive parents, but, spanking a child to correct it is now considered abuse, however, when several policemen snatch a man who is shot four or five times out of a vehicle and repeatedly stomp him, the public is told, “Do not rush to judgment, wait until the facts are in,” even though we know we are looking at raw, vicious brutality.

If the police can kill a human being and it is called justifiable homicide, is there not a time in our homes that a parent is justified in spanking or disciplining their children? Is there not a time in school when teachers are justified in disciplining the students?

This society has gone mad, and, because of its madness with all of its magnificence, it is spiraling downward into the abyss of hell.

We must create a movement to take back our God-given rights and the authority that Allah (God) gives us to make a better human being through love that is shown by our willingness to bring order into the life that we put into motion by means of rules, laws and the imposition of punishment when we willfully disobey those rules and laws. These rules and regulations are designed to train us up in the way that we should go.

May Allah (God) bless us to receive the Light of His Love; the Warmth of His Love; and, the Beauty of His Discipline.

In the Bible, David said, “Thy rod, and Thy staff they comfort me.” There is no child who will not be comforted by the proper use of the rod and the staff. We, as parents, must come back to Allah (God) and let Him be the center of our lives that we may grow in wisdom to become the disciples of Jesus, the disciples of Muhammad, rather than those who love to call the names of these Great Ones, but, refuse to be disciplined or discipline ourselves according to the Word of Allah (God).

In the Bible, the early Christians were called by Jesus and Paul, “little children.” When we come into the Light of Knowledge and Faith we are like babies. We do not have the ability to discipline self. Therefore, discipline must be imposed on us until we are able to discipline ourselves. Mothers and fathers, it is our duty to discipline our children. Teachers and professors, it is our duty to discipline our students. Ministers, preachers, imams, and sheikhs, it is our duty to discipline those who are under our charge. If we exercise the right of authority in the proper manner, we will make a better home, school, church and a better society.

Where there is no discipline, there is no love.

Tonya TKO & Master Cleanse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI4E25z2XLA&feature=channel

The master cleanse diet is created by Stanley Burroughs in 1941. He only published a book on the master cleanse only during 1976. In short, the diet only permits you to consume the lemonade mixture for the whole duration of the master cleanse – You can require to drink a minimum of 60 oz of lemonade a day and drink plenty of water too. But you are not allow to eat or drink other foods rather than the lemonade.

Do note: there is a big time difference from the time where Stanley Burroughs published the book till today (1976 and 2009). If you have been reading other websites information on the master cleanse recipe, most of them are using the original recipe which may not be correct now (for example, the U.S.D.A. has changed the classification of maple syrup).

We have provided you with a single serving recipe of the master cleanse diet below. Most of the time, you may want to make the lemonade for the whole day otherwise it’ll be troublesome for you to make the lemonade each time you want to drink it.

You would need to mix the following ingredients together in order to make the lemonade mixture.

1. 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

2. 2 tablespoons of organic maple syrup grade B

3. 1/10 tablespoon of cayenne pepper powder

4. 10 oz glasses of distilled water (This is around 295ml of water)

Lemon juice – you would approximately need half a lemon to make 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. If you want to create the lemonade for the whole day, it can only last for 8 hours before it turns bad (even you have put it into the fridge).

Do take note not to use canned lemon juice as the vitamins and nutrients are no longer in the canned lemon. It is essential for your body to absorb the lemon nutrients because you are drinking the lemonade for 10 days.

In our master cleanse survival manual, you would discover how you should you prepare the lemonade exactly in the morning. (You can’t add the cayenne pepper in the morning when you prepare the lemonade for the whole day, otherwise it will turn bad within a short while..)

Maple syrup - If you read from all the free information online, the standard instructions are to use organic maple syrup grade B. They would also tell you not to use other kinds of syrup as they are not suitable for the master cleanse diet. Usually you can only find the grade B maple syrup in United States only and if you are from other parts of the world, chances are you won’t be able to find grade B maple syrup.

BUT, is it the truth that only grade B maple syrup is suitable for master cleanse? In our master cleanse survival manual, you would also discover whether do you really need grade B maple syrup. (It is found out that Stanley Burroughs originally published the Master Cleanse in 1976 when the U.S.D.A. classified maple syrup into 3 different categories. However, now U.S.D.A. has revised it’s classification… )

Cayenne pepper – do not underestimate the power of cayenne pepper. It is one of the best healing herbs in the world. The pepper can increase the blood flow in the body, have a rich source of vitamins B & C and can save one from heart attack. We would recommend you to buy the powder form of cayenne pepper.

Salt Water Flush Recipe

You would need to prepare a teaspoon of organic sea salt (not iodized salt) with 25 – 35 oz of warm water. Mix well and do your best to drink the solution in one go. If it is difficult to drink, use normal temperature water then.

It is best to drink the salt water flush before drinking the lemonade in the morning as it is more effective with empty stomach.

Have you tried the salt water flush and you totally couldn’t stand the taste? Our master cleanse newsletter below would give you tips, secrets and our experiences on how you can “cheat” on the salt water flush..

Master Cleanse Diet – Facts About Master Cleanse

Master Cleanse is an extremely popular diet that has helped many troubled individuals to cleanse and detoxify their body. In short, the core ingredients for the original recipe contains lemon juice, cayenne pepper, maple syrup and distilled water.

Most people also refer this diet as the lemonade diet. While some say that you can lose weight by doing Master Cleanse, the real objective is actually cleansing and removing the toxins that has accumulated in your whole body. And as a result, it gives you a new source of energy and the best thing is, you can lose some weight through the diet.

Celebrities like Beyonce has completed the diet to lose weight during 2006. She was in Oprah’s show at that time and share with everyone that she had lost 21 pounds on this diet. Ever since then, Master Cleanse became very popular and famous in the United States.

You would need to go for a fast for 10 days without taking in any food. However, you can only consume the lemonade mixture as well as the salt water flush or laxative tea. You would need a lot of determination to complete the test, and thinking about the benefit of the cleanse would certainly help you complete the cleanse.

Many have voiced some concerns over the lack of food while you are on the Master Cleanse diet. Fear not because the lemonade mixture are filled with vitamins and minerals, you would not be deprived of all the essential elements. However, you may get light headedness, fatigue, fainting, headache, while follow on this diet. These are actually detoxification symptoms in your body and would disappear 1 or 2 days later.

Many skeptics would try to put down Master Cleanse by saying that it is not backed by research and you don’t need to go on this fast to be healthier.

But there are even more people who have completed and experience the health benefits from this cleanse. Stories that Master Cleanse have cured the diseases and illnesses are very common and even the doctors could not understand why.

Here’s why Master Cleanse Diet is good for you:

The Secrets Behind The Ingredients

It contains powerful ingredients like cayenne pepper and lemons. Cayenne pepper is one of the most powerful herbs in the world that can help to boost your blood flow and stimulates your immune system. Cayenne pepper has actually saved many people from heart attack!

Lemons on the other hand contains lots of vitamin C. Lemons is another booster to the immune system. Furthermore, they have a strong reputation to relieve digestive problems, dissolving gallstones, bladder stones, kidney problems, and other problems.

They can help to reduce the fever, help to heal the wound, and even alleviate sore throats and asthma.

Why Master Cleanse is so good?

By not consuming any food for the 10 days, all these super foods can actually do their work in your body without getting distracted by all the pollution and junk food that gets into the body. Furthermore, all the toxins and wastes get detoxify easily and come out of the body without much difficulty.

And there is still the health benefits of maple syrup we have not shared with you!

So what are you waiting for? Start doing the Master Cleanse when you have prepared the ingredients!

Swine Flu Vacine-Good Or Bad?

What follows are a few articles concerning the controversial "swine flu" vacine. I will allow you to draw your own conclusion as to whether it is safe or not, or if it worth taking.

Give Kids First Shot at Swine Flu Vaccine?

Vaccination Program That Targets Children First May Lessen Spread of Swine Flu This Fall

Sept. 10, 2009 -- An all-out vaccination program that would target children first could mitigate the impact of an H1N1 swine flu pandemic this fall, new research indicates.

Such a concerted vaccination effort could lead to coverage of 70% of the U.S. population, say researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute.

Their analysis, aided by computer modeling, is published in the Sept. 11 issue of Science Express, an early online edition of the journal Science.

The study recommends that 70% of children between 6 months and 18 years old be vaccinated first in such a program, along with members of other high-risk groups, including health care workers and people with chronic medical problems.

The researchers say two doses of vaccine, administered three weeks apart, may provide enough protection against the virus.

A combination of factors, including the availability of an effective vaccine and the timing of an outbreak, will determine how quickly an epidemic can be slowed, according to co-author Ira Longini Jr., PhD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington.

“Our estimates of pandemic H1N1 in households, schools, and in the community places this virus in the higher range of transmissibility,” lead author Yang Yang, PhD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington, says in a news release.

The report also estimates that:

• Children are likely to experience the highest illness attack rates.
• The typical student will infect an average of 2.4 school mates.
• 30%-40% of flu transmission occurs in households, about 20% in schools, and the rest in the workplace and the community.
• Pandemic spread may cause illness in 25%-29% of the world population in one year, resembling what happened during the 1957-58 Asian influenza A (H2N2) pandemic.
• The average time between the onset of illness in a person and onset of illness in someone that person infects may be 2-3 days.

H1N1 already has become the dominant flu strain in the Southern Hemisphere, where flu season is under way. Vaccination increases immunity and slows spread of infection, and reduces risk for flu complications and death.

The researchers also say that social distancing and antiviral medications can be effective in offsetting spread of H1N1 when combined with vaccination on a mass scale.

H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine FAQ

WebMD provides a practical guide to the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

(continued)

Who is first in line to get the H1N1 swine flu vaccine? continued...

So who will get the first doses? Five groups:

• Pregnancy increases a woman's risk of severe flu sixfold, so pregnant women are a priority group.
• Household contacts and caregivers of children younger than 6 months of age, including day care providers. Infants are too young to vaccinate and are at high risk of severe flu.
• H1N1 swine flu most often strikes young people, so people ages 6 months to 24 years are a priority.
• Health care workers and emergency medical personnel.
• Any adult aged 25 to 64 with a medical condition, such as asthma, that increases risk of flu complications.

States may further restrict scarce early doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine to subgroups, such as children under age 4. However, providers are not likely to be too strict, knowing it's better to use the vaccine promptly than to let it sit in a refrigerator.

If I'm not at the front of the line, will there be enough H1N1 swine flu vaccine for me?

The first 6 or 7 million doses is the tip of the iceberg. By Oct. 12, the CDC says 40 million doses of vaccine will have been shipped. Every week thereafter, 20 million doses will ship.

Overall, the U.S. has now purchased 251 million doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine. The U.S. has donated 10% of the supply to nations not able to afford the vaccine, leaving 226 million doses for the U.S.

Since adults need only one dose (children need two doses), and since not everyone will choose to be vaccinated, this means everyone who wants the vaccine eventually will be able to get it.

Is the H1N1 swine flu vaccine safe?

The H1N1 swine flu vaccine, both the shots and the nasal spray, are made the same way as the seasonal flu vaccine.

Every year or so, the seasonal vaccine -- which includes a component based on the seasonal H1N1 virus -- is tweaked to match a flu virus that has changed its genetic makeup. The same kind of tweaking resulted in the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

That's why the FDA approved it: They considered it just a strain change, and not a brand new vaccine.

Even so, both long- and short-term clinical trials are under way. Results from the short-term studies already are here: Other than causing the usual soreness and perhaps redness at the site of injection, the vaccines cause no major side effects.

And like the seasonal flu vaccine, the H1N1 swine flu vaccine can't be taken by everybody. The vaccine is produced in hens' eggs, so people with egg allergies cannot take the vaccine.

Will there be long-term side effects? That's not likely -- but the CDC is taking no chances. The CDC and vaccine manufacturers have beefed up their safety monitoring process to look for anything unusual in people who get vaccinated against the new flu.

Millions of people are going to get the vaccine. Odds are, something bad is going to happen to some people around the same time they get their vaccine. If they have a car wreck two days after getting the vaccine, it's not likely to be blamed on the vaccine.

But what if, say, a pregnant woman has a miscarriage soon after vaccination? There will be scary media reports and the CDC will investigate. Public health experts are warning people to understand that events such as miscarriages are not all that uncommon; it will take some time to learn whether they are more common in women who get vaccinated than in women who do not get vaccinated.

Who should get the H1N1 swine flu vaccine?

Because it is a new virus to which humans have never before been exposed, everyone is vulnerable to H1N1 swine flu. That means everyone could benefit from the vaccine.

But cases among people over age 65 have so far been rare. And few healthy adults over age 24 have suffered serious swine flu illness. These groups are asked to wait until others have had a chance to get vaccinated.

Eventually, there will be enough H1N1 swine flu vaccine for everyone who wants it.

If I think I've had swine flu, do I need the vaccine?

Even during a flu pandemic, colds and all kinds of flu-like illnesses circulate. In fact, most flu-like illnesses are NOT caused by the flu.

If you came down with a flu-like illness since April 2009, you may have had the H1N1 swine flu. But the only way to know for sure is if your doctor took a nasal or throat swab, sent it off to a lab, and had that lab confirm the infection.

If that didn't happen, it's not safe to assume you already had the flu. Especially if you're at risk of severe flu illness, it's a very good idea to get your H1N1 swine flu shot AND your seasonal flu shot. The vaccine is perfectly safe for people who actually had swine flu.

What's the difference between the nasal spray and injectable vaccines?

The traditional flu shot contains proteins separated from the flu virus. Those proteins can't cause illness. But your immune system learns to recognize them, and mounts a protective reaction if a real live flu virus tries to infect you.

The FluMist nasal spray works differently. It contains a live flu virus that has been weakened to the point that it can't cause the flu. That sounds pretty scary, but millions of people have safely taken this kind of vaccine.

The advantage of the nasal spray is that in children who have never had the flu or a flu vaccine before, it seems to elicit a stronger immune response than the flu shot.

The disadvantage of the nasal spray is that in older people who've had the flu or flu vaccines before, it may not be quite as protective as the flu shot. That finding is based on a single study, based on just a single flu season. And since nobody has had the H1N1 swine flu before, the FluMist H1N1 swine flu vaccine is expected to work just as well in adults as the flu shot does.

I know studies show vaccines preserved with thimerosal are safe, but is there an alternative?

Tiny doses of a mercury compound called thimerosal keep multidose vials of flu vaccine safe from contamination with bacteria. Before thimerosal was added to multidose vials, contamination caused serious adverse events.

Exhaustive studies fail to find any reason to believe that thimerosal is unsafe. But if you don't want thimerosal, you don't have to have it. Single-dose syringes of flu vaccine don't need thimerosal and don't have any. Neither does the FluMist nasal spray vaccine.

If you prefer a thimerosal-free vaccine, check with your provider to see if one is available. If not, check with your state or local health department to see where you can find one.

I've heard that something called squalene is in the vaccine. Is that true?

None of the U.S. H1N1 swine flu or seasonal flu vaccines contains squalene.

Squalene isn't a very nice sounding word, but it's an oil that's a natural part of many body processes. It's widely used in cosmetics because it penetrates the skin easily without leaving an oily feel.

Squalene is also used in substances called adjuvants. When mixed with vaccines, adjuvants make vaccines work better at lower doses.

The U.S. purchased millions of doses of these adjuvants in case the H1N1 swine flu vaccine had to be boosted to be effective. That turned out not to be necessary. Unlike current H1N1 swine flu vaccines, a vaccine with adjuvant would have to be specifically approved by the FDA. Such vaccines could be used this year only under the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization. No such authorization has been issued.

However, adjuvants already are approved in Europe and other areas. They've been used safely in millions of people, although they may cause a bit more of a reaction at the site of injection that vaccines without adjuvant.

Vaccine makers likely will file for FDA approval of adjuvants, but this approval will be subject to rigorous safety analysis. In any case, no adjuvant will be used in any flu vaccine given in the U.S. this flu season.

Where can my children and I get the swine flu vaccine?

Medical practices and clinics that want to offer the H1N1 swine flu vaccine have already registered with their state health departments. Check with your doctor to see if she or he is offering the vaccine.

Because children are especially vulnerable to H1N1 swine flu -- and are especially likely to spread the disease to others -- many states will be offering H1N1 swine flu vaccinations in schools. In some states, permission slips already have been sent to parents.

Some states are also planning vaccinations at public sites. These plans will be announced locally.

Different state, territory, and tribal health authorities have different plans. There is no one-size-fits-all plan; the CDC advises local health departments to adapt their H1N1 vaccination plans to local needs.

That goes for retail chains as well. National retail outlets, such as pharmacy chains, may offer

How much will the H1N1 swine flu vaccine cost?

The U.S. government purchased the vaccine from manufacturers and is providing the vaccine at no cost.

The CDC has asked providers NOT to charge for administering the vaccine. Even if they do, several large insurance companies have said the costs would be covered.

I've heard H1N1 swine flu shots are mandatory. Is that true?

Swine flu shots are voluntary for most Americans. For those not in the military, there is no federal requirement to get the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

Active-duty military personnel, National Guard troops on active duty, and civilian Defense Department employees in critical jobs will be required to get the vaccine.

Health care workers may be required by their employers to get vaccinated. The state of New York, for example, has mandated both seasonal and H1N1 swine flu vaccinations for all health care workers.

OK, you talk a good game. But would YOU get the swine flu vaccine yourself?

This WebMD reporter was a guinea pig in the swine flu clinical trial. You can watch me get my first shot.

What happened? Nothing. There wasn't even soreness at the site of injection. I did catch a cold (sniffles, cough, no fever, no muscle aches) about three weeks after my first shot -- unfortunately, flu shots don't protect against that. But I haven't had the flu, even though I live in a city (Atlanta) that's had a lot of cases.

H1N1 swine flu vaccine in some areas but not in others.

Fact v. Fiction: Answers to Swine Flu Questions and Rumors

September 28, 2009 10:41 AM

On Friday, federal health officials gave the most detailed information yet on the roll out of the H1N1/swine flu vaccine. The first doses are heading to 90,000 locations across the country -- but days before they arrive, many parents are saying they don't want the vaccine for their children. So we brought our Senior Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser in, as a truth-squad about the rumors. Watch out the clip below where he separates fact from fiction.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/09/fact-v-fiction-answers-to-swine-flu-questions-and-rumors.html

Does seasonal flu vaccine protect against swine flu or make it riskier?

October 7, 2009 | 8:36 pm

Who you gonna trust, Canadians or Mexicans? Or maybe neither.

Less then two weeks ago, Canadian researchers reported in a paper that has not been published in a journal yet that immunization with the seasonal flu vaccine increased the risk of contracting pandemic H1N1 influenza and of developing more severe complications. Although most experts pooh-poohed the findings, which are often referred to as the "Canadian problem," some provincial health authorities postponed their seasonal flu vaccination programs.

Now, Mexican researchers report today in the British Medical Journal that vaccination for seasonal flu actually protects against infection by swine flu. In a small study of only 240 patients, Dr. Jose Valdespino of the Laboratories de Biologicos y Reactivos de Mexico in Mexico City and his colleagues found that those who received the seasonal flu vaccine were significantly less likely to contract swine flu and that, even if they did contract it, they were less likely to develop severe complications.

The problem with both studies--aside from the fact that they directly contradict each other--is that they run counter to everything we already know about the two viruses. Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said recently that there is no plausible mechanism by which vaccination could increase the likelihood of contracting swine flu. Furthermore, researchers in the United States, Australia and elsewhere have scoured their data and find no similar effect.

As for protection, researchers had fervently hoped that seasonal flu vaccination would provide some, thereby limiting the fatalities that might be associated with the pandemic. But every laboratory experiment they have performed shows there is none. The two viruses are simply too different for antibodies raised against one to affect the other. And again, according to CDC spokesman Joe Quimby, researchers have scoured their data and found no support for the new findings.

So where does that leave us? Back where we started. The most likely scenario is that both the Canadian and Mexican results are wrong and that seasonal flu vaccination provides no benefit against swine flu and no harm. Bottom line: get both vaccines.

Black Africa's Oldest Civilization Story-Kerma

Black Africa's Oldest Civilization Story-Kerma

Kerma - Black Africa's Oldest Civilization

Story by David Keys
Impressions Magazine

Archaeologists in Sudan are unearthing one of the world’s oldest civilisations – an ancient kingdom which began to fourish 5,000 years ago, hundreds of miles to the south of ancient Egypt.
Excavations – directed by Swiss archaeologists, Professor Charles Bonnet and Dr. Matthieu Honegger – have been revealing a royal palace, temples, extraordinary tombs and a massive ancient city on the banks of the Nile in Northern Sudan. Academics have been speculating over whether this long-lost civilisation may have been the precursor of the famous biblical Kingdom of Kush, which was alluded to in the Book of Genesis.

As a direct result of these and other excavations, Sudan is emerging as one of the most significant archaeological regions in the world. Due to the country’s superbly preserved archaeology, it has yielded evidence of early cattle domestication that pre-dates any in Egypt’s Nile Valley. What’s more, the earliest Sudanese civilisation – known as Ta-Sety (“the Land of the Archers’ Bow”) to the ancient Egyptians and Kerma to modern archaeologists – is the most ancient African urban culture outside the Land of the Pharaohs. It flourished as a totally independent political entity for at least 15 centuries – until finally, around 1500 B.C., it was conquered by the Pharaohs of Egypt.
This ancient Sudanese civilisation appears to have been ruled by a series of extraordinarily powerful kings – perhaps even emperors. Several of the royal tombs were spectacular man-made hills, 30 metres wide and up to 15 metres high. To underline their power in this life (and the next), the rulers of Kerma seem to have had the unsettling habit of taking all their retainers and many of their relatives with them to the afterlife! One tomb held 400 skeletons. Even before these kings began taking human escorts with them to eternity, their funerals had still been massive ritual events in which their imperial power over vast areas of territory was symbolically demonstrated. Indeed, excavations and subsequent scientific investigations over the last few years have revealed that some of the kings had themselves buried alongside the remains of literally thousands of cattle. In front of one royal grave, the king’s retainers had sacrificed 4,500 of the animals – arranging their skulls in a huge, horn-shaped crescent in front of the tomb. But of greatest significance was the chemical analysis of the horns, which revealed that the cattle had been reared in different environments and been brought to the funeral from the length and breadth of the kingdom.
What’s clear is that Kerma’s civilisation emerged out of an ancient pastoral culture that had flourished in that part of Sudan since at least 7000 B.C. when the first settlements were established. Nearby Kerma archaeologists have discovered one of the two oldest cemeteries ever found in Africa – dating back to 7500 B.C. – and the oldest evidence of cattle domestication ever found in Sudan or, indeed, in the Egyptian Nile Valley. Around 3000 BC a town grew up not far from the Neolithic dwellings place.

The economic basis of both of the pre-urban and urban cultures of ancient Kerma was cattle. The people themselves seem to have come from two distinct areas and may originally have belonged to two tribal groups. Excavations last winter revealed how, for the first 100 years of Kerma’s existence, these two peoples continued to preserve their distinct cultural traditions while living in the same city. Although the distinctions may have been tribal in origin, they also reflected differences in wealth and possibly social status. Kerma was an extraordinarily prosperous empire. It was an advanced Black African state which established itself very successfully as a middle-man between sub-Saharan Africa and Egypt. It therefore supplied ancient Egypt with
everything from tropical animals and slaves to gold and precious hardwoods. Archaeologists have been unearthing truly wonderful works of art in Kerma – everything from model hippopotami, lions, giraffes, falcons, vultures, scorpions and crocodiles made of faience, mica, ivory and quartz to bracelets, ear decorations and necklaces made of gold, shell and faience. Kerma ceramics are among the most elegant from the ancient world – strikingly modern-looking with simple shapes and bold geometric designs. The kingdom’s capital was defended by substantial city walls.

At least two miles of ramparts and dozens of bastions protected it from attack. Yet by around 1500 B.C., the defences failed and Kerma was conquered and occupied by the Egyptians, led by Pharaoh Tuthmosis I, one of the most militarily aggressive rulers the world had ever seen.

Bronze Age Sudan’s fight to protect its independence and its resistance against Egyptian occupation was one of the longest military struggles of the ancient world, lasting some 220 years (roughly 1550-1330 B.C.). Indeed, in a sense, this ancient conflict had started even earlier. For, in around 1900 B.C., when Kerma was already a major kingdom, the Egyptian Pharaoh Senusret II (literally “Man of the Goddess of Thebes”) officially established the southern border of Egypt “in order to prevent” any people from Kerma “crossing the frontier, by water or by land unless for trading or other approved purposes”. Not content with simply maintaining a heavily policed border, the Pharaoh’s son and successor, Senusret III, started to attack Kerma. In order to facilitate troop movements, the Egyptians built a canal around the Nile’s first great series of rapids (the First Cataract) near Aswan. Then the Pharaoh launched a series of invasions and boasted of his exploits in the Kingdom of Kerma. “I carried off their women. I carried off their men-folk. I captured their wells, killed their bulls and reaped or burned their crops,” he wrote.

But Senusret failed to permanently subdue Kerma and the Kingdom survived for another 300 years, growing ever more powerful. Indeed, by the mid-17th Century B.C., it was ruling over southern Egypt as far north as Elephantine Island near Aswan. But after Egypt was re-united in around 1550 B.C., the Pharaohs began to re-launch their long-suspended campaign to conquer Kerma. A region, often known in history as Nubia, the Kingdom of Kerma managed to withstand raids by the first two rulers of this powerful and aggressive re-united new Egypt, but, a few decades later, a military strongman, Tuthmosis I, came to power and almost immediately invaded and conquered it. These ancient Egyptian Pharaohs had a somewhat condescending and ferociously hostile attitude to their Sudanese southern neighbour. One of Tuthmosis’ generals described how, “that wretched Nubian troglodyte” – the enemy leader (almost certainly the last independent king of Kerma) – was brought north “hung, head downwards, from the prow of the Pharaoh’s royal barge”. Tuthmosis (his name means “Born of the Moon God”) was an empire-builder of the first order and the Kingdom of Kerma was one of his first targets.

He was also not given to false modesty, writing, “I extended the frontiers of Egypt as far as that which the sun encircles.

I put Egypt above every other land.” Tuthmosis I and his immediate successors then set about building great temples to Egyptian gods (temples now being excavated in Kerma) in the newly conquered Sudanese territory. Kerma was annexed and became an Egyptian colony – “The Land governed by the Pharaoh’s Son”.

Pendant made of polished shell, 2300 B.C.

Ancient Egypt’s rulers had wanted control over Kerma for economic – as well as purely political – reasons. For Kerma had, for centuries, controlled the flow of gold, ivory, ebony and slaves into Egypt. For its survival, Egypt depended on wealth, but much of that wealth came from outside its borders and its supply had, in effect, been partially controlled by the independent non-Egyptian empire of Kerma. But although under military occupation from
the time of Tuthmosis I, Kerma’s spirit of independence was not dead. Indeed, for the next two centuries, Sudanese resistance leaders led revolt after revolt against their new Pharaonic overlords. A particularly major uprising was suppressed in 1450 B.C. Seven Sudanese princes captured by the Egyptians were executed personally by the Pharaoh Amenhotep II (with a rather large royal mace!) as a sacrifice to the Egyptian God Amon. The Pharaoh (whose name translates, somewhat appropriately, as ‘Amon is delighted’) then dispatched six of the unfortunate princes to be hung from the walls of the Temple of Amon in Thebes and one to be similarly suspended from the walls of a Sudanese city, “so that the victorious power of His Majesty could be seen (by the people of Kerma) for ever and ever”.
Part of ancient Kerma
Tragically, Black Africa’s oldest civilisation was extinguished by the Pharaohs of Egypt – but now modern archaeology is revealing to the world the long-lost glory of Bronze Age Sudan’s ancient empire of Kerma.
Additional Reading:

The Cultural Significance of Iconographic and Epigraphic Data Found in the Kingdom of Kerma
by Dominique Valbelle, Ninth International Conference for Nubian Studies August 20-26, 1998
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston U.S


The "Ethiopians" According to Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History, Books II.35 - IV.58