Tag Archives: health

Influenza

U.S. Influenza, 10 December 2012: More deaths reported! Children being hit hardest! Canadians say you can’t trust the numbers. New Russian bird flu! New Asian cat & dog flu!

“Significant increases in flu activity in the U.S. in the last three weeks…”-U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

One hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, in just the past week confirmed 200 cases of flu, mostly kids: “Right now hundreds of kids in the emergency room this week. We’ve had over 200 diagnoses of flu. Eight to 10 admitted to the hospital a day and two in intensive care. It’s really hitting Memphis hard.”-John McCullers, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital

On 07 December, South Dakota‘s Pennington County reported their first flu death. There are 156 confirmed cases.

In North Carolina, two deaths reported on 29 November. According to Forsyth County Health officials, one adult had other medical problems, but the other adult did not.

Also, on 28 November South Carolina reported one death caused by flu, in Barnwell County.  Department of Health and Environmental Control said they had 1232 positive flu tests in just one week!

On 21 November, San Diego County, California, reported its first flu death of the 2012-13 season.

Wyoming reporting an early start to their flu season. First case reported back in October, with 342 confirmed cases of by the 1st of December.

New York reporting widespread flu activity.  Former New York City Mayor, Ed Koch, is about to leave the hospital after being admitted a week ago with both pneumonia and flu.

08 December, Pennsylvania health officials reporting big jumps in flu cases.  Flu status for the state was raised from “Sporadic” to “Regional”.  Officials expect to hit “Widespread” status next week.

09 December, Wisconsin reporting 113 confirmed cases, and four deaths.

Main stream U.S. media reporting that several children have died.  Fox News says three kids have died, NBC says five.  Neither one gave details, and simply referenced the CDC.  The CDC says there have been five “pediatric deaths” so far, three during the week of 25 November to 01 December.  The deaths involved both flu A and flu B strains.

Across the northern border in Canada, reported on 10 December one child and three adults have died in the Waterloo Region of southern Ontario.  The three older adults died from flu A.  Health officials would only say that the child who died was younger than 10, and did not get vaccinated.

Some Canadians have publicly questioned the official flu death reports.  One doctor even said it was a guessing game: “This is a scientific guess. This is not the truth…I think people may have the misconception that every person who dies from the flu is somehow counted somewhere, and they’re not…”-Michael Gardam, director of the infection prevention and control unit University Health Network

Back here in the U.S. of A., another doctor is pointing out that other viruses can cause flu like symptoms: “There’s lots of other viruses out there that cause the flu and cause other flu-like illnesses. It may not be the flu, but it’s still a bad cold or a bad cough that kids transfer to and from one another.”-Charles Bregier, Presbyterian Urgent Care

Across the Pacific, in Russia, birds are getting the blame.  Russian officials in the Krasnodar region (bordering the Black Sea) are reporting that hundreds of ducks have died from a new “low-pathogenic flu”.  In other words, there’s a new bird flu out there.

There is also a new cat/dog flu being reported in Thailand.  Veterinarians say the new flu goes after cats and dogs who’re are already sick, most have had skin problems before getting the new flu: “Before they died, they would have sores on their bodies, coughs, runny noses, no appetite, and convulsions. If the disease hit a mother cat, it would claim the lives of the mother and the kittens.”-Payao Inman, nun working at Buddhist temple were unwanted pets are abandoned

International, U.S.

World War 3: Israeli ground forces raid into Gaza!

10 December 2012, reports saying that Israeli armored vehicles and bulldozers had raided into the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

Israel has never honored the cease fire agreement brokered by Egypt last month. On 23 November Israeli ground troops shot and killed one Palestinian, and wounded seven others, in a village east of Khan Yunis.

Then around 28 November, Israeli naval forces kidnapped several fishermen, and sunk their boats.  Then, at the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, four Palestinians were wounded after IDF forces open fired.  Another person was wounded, north of the refugee camp.

Recently, Human Rights Watch (who sometimes makes reports supporting U.S. aggression) concluded an investigation into the 18 November 2012 Israel airstrike on a Gaza home.  12 people were killed.  HRW concluded that all killed were civilians, and that the Israel claim that the building was the home of a “terrorist operative” was a lie: “The Israeli claim that the attack on the Dalu home was justified is unsupported by the facts. The onus is on Israel to explain why it bombed a home full of civilians, killing 12 people.”-Fred Abrahams, HRW

Despite the facts that show Israel is the true unprovoked genocidal aggressor, Prime Minister Nut Job Yahoo (Binyyameen Netanyahu) said that it’s still the Palestinians who are the threat: “Over the last day, we have again been exposed to the true face of our enemies. They have no intention of compromising with us….”-09 December 2012

International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. occupation of Afghanistan; 01 – 04 December 2012. More illegal U.S. led night raids! Pakistan threatens military action in Afghanistan! Soldiers running over cops! Longest war in U.S. history!

04 December 2012

In Balkh Province, the people of Chahar Bolak district said U.S. led forces conducted an illegal night raid, which led to the men and women of 15 families being separated from each other, and then the women were raped!

Amnesty International says the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan has resulted in at least half a million people living in refugee camps.  The camps are not equipped to deal with cold winter weather:  “We are in dire need of help, the weather is getting cold but we don’t have blankets, fuel, and warm clothes. I don’t know how to keep my children warm.”-Shahzada Khan, refugee who fled Laghman Province because of the violence caused by the presence of U.S. led forces

Afghan government leaders are angry over statements made by Pakistan’s Interior Minister.  Pakistan is now accusing Afghanistan of being the home base for terrorist operations in Pakistan: “…if they do not halt their terrorist activities in Pakistan…..We will reply if there is any activity from Afghanistan…”-Rahman Malik

Afghan Interior Minister, Mojtaba Patang, criticized Afghan National Police (ANP) saying the ‘national’ police units are totally influenced by local politics: “Our police forces have been linked with the political and other groups, they are not national police forces. Issues are created by regional police forces. They are supporting the crime intentionally or unintentionally in their areas where they belong to and are performing duties in the same areas.”  

03 December 2012

In Nuristan Province, the deputy district governor and chief of intelligence were killed and six cops wounded, after Mujahideen attacked the building they were in.

In Paktia Province, in Masto village, an Afghan National Army troop ran over and killed a policeman.

ISAF said: “Two International Security Assistance Force service members died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan.”

In Uruzgan Province, five people killed, nine wounded, by an explosion near the local Afghan Intelligence Department in Tarinkowt city.  The explosion was the result of a remote detonated motorcycle bomb.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) and the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, say 10,500 people die from tuberculosis every year in Afghanistan.  In a round-a-bout way they blamed the U.S. occupation.

02 December 2012

In Farah Province, locals in the Gulistan district say U.S. led forces raided homes and kidnapped several people.

In Nimruz Province, local government officials say the U.S. struck a suspected Mujahideen home, killing three people.

In Nangarhar Province, Mujahideen attacked the Jalalabad airbase.  According to local government officials, five suicide bombers attacked at once, then firefights broke out.  Some reports say as many as 18 people killed, 40 wounded. Other reports say the Mujahideen made it onto the airbase complex.  ISAF would only say that there were “…multiple explosions in the vicinity of Jalalabad airport.”

Former Afghan Central Bank Chief, Abdul Qadir Fitrat, said government officials were involved with the collapse of Kabul Bank.   Billions of USD were withdrawn or issued as fraudulent loans.  Several reports say the money went to people in other countries and at least 19 individuals and companies in Afghanistan.  Fitrat says no one has yet to be arrested, and even accused the President of being involved: “In Afghanistan we have president who is acting over the law who is not prepared to be inquired regarding the monetary crime which has been committed by himself and family members.”

01 December 2012

In Paktia Province, in Kahiar Kot district, locals say a U.S./NATO transport plane crashed killing everyone on board.  Locals say it looked like the plane was having technical problems. No word from ISAF.

In Uruzgan Province, a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle killing three people and wounding four others. Also, locals from Char Chino district say U.S. led forces attacked them, killing four people and kidnapping two others.

Deputy Afghan House Speaker, Haji Zahir Qadir, apologized for the beating his body guards gave to a Afghan cop.  The incident took place near a U.S. military base in Wazir Akbar Khan area, right after a suicide bombing.  Apparently the cop thought the body guards were Mujahideen and tried to attack them.

The Afghan government is now investigating the creation of an official provincial Mujahideen Council, in Herat Province. It was formed a few months ago, and involved redistributing captured Mujahideen weapons back to the Mujahideen.  The stated goal of Herat’s Mujahideen Council is to unite all local Mujahideen groups into one powerful organization, that works similar to the U.S. state run National Guard.  One national government official says Herat officials have misused funding for water and energy projects to create the Mujahideen Council.

German defense officials announced they will close down two of their Afghan bases in Baghlan and Kunduz provinces, sometime in 2013.

The United States Senate has voted, 62 to 33, to accelerate the pullout of U.S. troops: “It is time to end this war, end the longest war in United States history!”-Jeff Merkley, Senator from Oregon

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Some Economic Recovery, for U.S.? Apple reverses outsourcing

07 December 2012, Apple CEO, Tim Cook, revealed that some computer manufacturing will be brought back to the United States.

However, the actual assembly of a specific line of Macs will still be contracted out.  Cook says they’re still figuring out where in the U.S. to assemble the computers.

Analysts say the move amounts to about a $100 million USD investment into the U.S. economy, which is tiny when you realize Apple has at least $1 billion in cash and other investments.  So, don’t expect this insourcing of a new Mac to be the cure all for the U.S. unemployment blues.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Yet another U.S. company invests big, but not in the U.S., in Korea

06 December 2012, for awhile now U.S. President Barack Obama has been touting his desire that U.S. corporations start investing into research right here in the United States.  Yet, a failing U.S. company has decided to spend money it supposedly doesn’t have outside the U.S.

Sears Holdings announced that they are bringing back their old Roadhandler tire brand.  You might think that’s good news, but the new Roadhandler tire is simply a Korean Hankook tire with the Roadhandler name on it.

Hankook tires have good reputation, but in these bad economic times when more and more U.S. citizens are losing their jobs, why couldn’t Sears (a company supposedly going broke) spend their big bucks investing in a quality U.S. made tire?

Business/Economics, U.S.

Sears & Kmart news: Sears dropped to negative! Looking for more independent owners. Execs get $1 million cash! Sears Hometown stores make big profits! Kmart becomes target for thieves, mostly women!

05 December 2012, Fitch Ratings has dropped Sears Holdings to negative CCC.  Fitch believes it is unlikely Sears/Kmart will recover, and even expects negative earnings in 2013. As other analysts have pointed out, Sears’ assets are still worth more than any expected revenues (one analyst said Sears was worth more dead than alive).

Executives of Sears Holdings got a some early Xmas money, by selling off, or trading in their vested shares of Sears Canada.  Some execs traded in the vested shares for unvested, worth about $280,000.  Those execs who already had unvested shares will get cash. According to paperwork filed with the SEC, the top five Sears Holdings execs got $1 million in cash!

The push to find independent owners of Sears Hometown stores increases, as profits increase. Reports say that profits at independently owned and operated stores jumped 29% from the year before!

In California, Sears returned to Banning, but as a smaller independently owned Hometown store. It’s being run by a former insurance salesman, and stocks only tools and appliances.

Also in California, a new Hometown store in Lake Elsinore is scheduled to open in February 2013. City officials say their tax revenues correlate with Sears’ increased profits in tools and appliances sold at the independent stores: “We certainly can tell based on Riverside County sales tax reports that people are spending money in these categories…”-Kim Joseph Cousins, Lake Elsinore Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Sears is looking for a Hometown owner in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin: “We’re looking for a person who wants to operate a successful business and is customer service oriented. This is an outstanding retail opportunity for a dedicated individual to participate in one of America’s hottest growth opportunities.”-Ed Sosniak, regional development manager for Sears Hometown Stores

Hometown stores are hot, for Sears Holdings, because the onus of paying the rent, utilities and employees is on the independent owner: “The local owner is responsible for start-up and on-going operating expenses associated with the store including: building or leasing a facility; providing in-store fixtures; hiring and training employees; payroll; and insurance…”

Sears makes its money by selling the owner the merchandise.   Hometown stores also employ far fewer people than a full blown Sears.

Sears online sales, cell phone sales, store-to-home sales and web-to-store sales also jumped 28%, however electronics sales crashed 30%!

For Kmart stores there’s been increasing reports of theft.  A man in Florida was captured on video stealing video game systems, four times!  The police are looking for him.

In Wyoming a Kmart was robbed by a woman with a gun (oh no, another one for Bob Costas). What did she want? Prescription drugs!

In Massachusetts, two women were arrested after trying to steal more than $1,000 in merchandise.  And in just the past couple of days, three other women were arrested for trying to steal $130 worth of merchandise!

In Ohio, a Kmart employee was attacked by a man with a box cutter (Bob Costas you better call for the banning of box cutters): “The suspect demanded money and was armed with a box cutter. While the victim was attempting to get his wallet, the suspect began slashing at the victim.”-Ronald Mizner Junior, North Canton Police

In New York, a man who just got out of prison apparently killed himself with drugs (Bob Costas you paying attention).  Police say he was found in a stolen car in a Kmart parking lot.

‘Tis the season

 

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Yet another U.S. company invests big, but not in the U.S., in Japan

05 December 2012, for awhile now U.S. President Barack Obama has been touting his desire that U.S. corporations start investing into research right here in the United States.  Yet, U.S. companies continue to spend that money outside the U.S.

The latest is Qualcomm, who announced they will spend up to $120 million USD, by March 2013, on the failing Japanese company Sharp.

Sharp is now predicting it will lose a record $5.5 billion by the end of March 2013!

Sharp was hoping to be saved by a Taiwanese company, but that deal went south, partly because Sharp’s stock prices are crashing and burning (falling by 75%).

Qualcomm says it’ll use half the $120 million buying up Sharp stocks now, and the other half will be used when Sharp starts showing a profit.  Obviously the California based company has more faith in the Japanese economy than in the U.S. economy.

This could be a money maker for Qualcomm, if Sharp recovers, but if Sharp fails…..

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic War: Japan & India sign deal to use U.S. dollars only!

05 December 2012, Japan and India have signed a currency exchange deal that could prop up the U.S. dollar.

Banking officials from the two Asian countries have been working on the plan for about a year.  It involves the central banks of Japan and India exchanging up to $15 billion USD per year for the next three years.

They say the exchanges done in U.S. dollars will stabilize their own currencies.  It could prop up the value of the U.S. dollar, which would hurt U.S. factories (who’re still operating in the U.S.) who want to export their products. Japan has been blaming the rising value of their yen on the falling value of the U.S. dollar.

India is blaming the value of the European Union’s euro, for the rupee’s problems.

When a country’s money becomes more valuable it actually hurts their exports because it makes their products more expensive to foreign buyers. The only way for any country to achieve high economic growth is to have strong exports, a strong domestic economy can only achieve stagnation at best (relative to the size of the country).

Business/Economics, International

Trilateral Commission’s dream of one centralized European Bank dashed, for now

05 December 2012, European Union finance ministers shelved any plans to create a single centralized bank for the EU.

Last month things looked good for a central bank of Europe when 6,000 banks were put under EU “supervision”.  It was hoped an official EU central bank would be in place for 2013.

Some of the reasons for the collapse of such plans was that most EU member countries could not agree on the limits of power for a EU central bank. Also, France wanted immediate implementation while Germany wanted a gradual phase in.

EU finance ministers will resume central bank creation discussions next week.

Idaho, Influenza

U.S. Influenza: CDC issues warning, three people already dead in Idaho! Schools being shut down! Connection to West Nile?

“Significant increases in flu activity in the U.S. in the last two weeks indicate that an early flu season is underway.”-U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

04 December 2012, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reporting that three women have died from flu, or flu like symptoms.  They’re the first deaths reported, and CDC officials say the flu season started early: “It looks like it’s shaping up to be a bad flu season…..We’re seeing the beginning of the uptick start at least a month before we’d generally see it.”-Thomas Frieden, CDC

In North Carolina it’s being reported that more hospitals are ordering their staff to get vaccinated for the flu or face the loss of their jobs.

Mississippi is the first state to report “high” levels of flu.  Louisiana and Alabama are reporting “moderate” levels of flu.   Tennessee and Texas reporting higher than normal flu case levels.  Note that most of these states also got hit hard by West Nile virus.

Kentucky is officially reporting 60 possible cases: “Primarily, the concern at this point is that we are seeing cases earlier in the flu season than we typically do.”-LaQuandra Nesbitt, Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness

However, Kentucky and Tennessee school districts are reporting hundreds of students out sick, causing the schools to lose money.  Kentucky law requires schools to maintain at least 90% student attendance, but because of flu some schools are down to 81%.  A Kentucky doctor says sick students are being reported in the hundreds: “It’s more than just county wide. I think the joining counties in Tennessee. I heard Macon County had 500 students out. That’s huge numbers.  Our waiting room yesterday was terrible. We had people waiting out in their cars with their cell phones, and we would call them when it was there turn to get in.”-William Carter, Tompkinsville doctor

Doctor Carter also said it looks like vaccinations are not working: “A 90 year old who had a flu shot ended up with both A and B, so I don’t know if the flu shots are working completely with this string that’s going around.”

In Tennessee, two schools are closing down because of the flu. University School of Jackson and the Trinity Christian Academy will close on Wednesday, in hopes of halting any spread of flu.

Health officials in Onondaga County, in New York, reporting a huge jump in lab confirmed flu cases; 210 last week, up from 95 the week before. For comparison, county health officials said during last year’s flu season they averaged only 40 cases per week.