Tag Archives: ows

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

Pale Green Horse & Rat Fever: Cases are on the rise around the World. Doctors die and government efforts to kill rats has failed. Return of the Black Death?

“May I formally as Commissioner for Health in Rivers State declare that there is Lassa fever epidemic in the State and we must do all we can to tackle the challenge.”-Sampson Parker, Port Harcourt State Commissioner for Health

At the end of 2011, two people died of Lassa (aka Laffa) viral hemorrhagic fever in the African country of Ghana.  It was a first for that country.

Now more than a dozen people have died in the civil war torn African country of Nigeria.  At the end of January 2012, African media reports said there might be an outbreak in the northern areas of Nigeria, one doctor had died.  Reports published on February 15, said another doctor and a nurse died, along with 13 people.

The medical center in Nigeria’s Taraba state has been overwhelmed with cases, and shut down.

In the Nigerian port city of Port Harcourt, the State Commissioner for Health declared Nigeria to be suffering an epidemic of Lassa fever.  Efforts by the Nigerian government to contain the Lassa epidemic will be difficult, since the country is being torn by a violent civil war.  War actually helps spread the disease.

I’d just like to point out that the Untied States has been slowly increasing troop deployments to Africa, and there is no vaccine for Lassa!

Travel across the Indian Ocean to India, and you’ll discover outbreaks of rat fever there as well.  In the Ernakulam district, on the extreme southwestern tip of India, the government is losing a race to distribute rat poison to fight the infected rats.

Ernakulam district has 85 panchayats, or village level governing bodies.  They were supposed to get the rat poison at the end of last year.  According to Indian media reports, as of January 2012, 47 of the 85 panchayats got the poison, but even worse, only four of those actually distributed it to residents.

That’s because in India the panchayats have to pay up front for the so called government help: “We have been promptly delivering the pesticides wherever possible. We have distributed over three lakh packets to the 47 panchayats.
But in the absence of distribution, funds were not released and only four panchayats have been able to pay for the pesticide. It was owing to this that we temporarily stopped distribution.”-P Gopalakrishnan, Inspection and Quality Control

On top of that, the rat poison being offered has a three month shelf life, which means they are racing against time to find the funds to pay for the so called government program.  The Ernakulam district has already had several hundred cases, and several deaths due to the rat fever.

To make matters worse, Southeast Asia, where India is located, does not have laboratories that can handle such deadly diseases.  In a few months time, India will be the first country in Southeast Asia to have such a lab. It’s called the National Institute of Virology’s bio-safety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory, and the study of Lassa is one of it’s top priorities.

But don’t think we in the West are better off (well we are, but not by much). According to the San Antonio Express, the U.S. state of Texas has one of the very few labs that study diseases like Lassa.

It’s the Texas Biomedical Research Institute’s bio-safety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory.  They are currently working to develop vaccines for Ebola, Marburg and Lassa.

That’s the rub, there is no treatment for these diseases.

The Black Death was spread by fleas infected with bacteria. Those fleas lived on rats. Those rats spread around the world by hitching rides on camel caravans along the Silk Road, and on merchant ships.  Wars and famines also helped to spread the rats.

There were many times in history when a Black Death plague hit the World.  Hypothesis say it was probably different bacteria each time, science has not been able to positively pin the blame on any one bacteria (Yersinia Pestis is the current favorite).  But this latest Black Death Rat Fever, called Lassa fever, is not a bacteria, it is a virus, and therefore can not be treated with antibiotics.

“You have to be vigilant. You have to educate first responders on the strange diseases that start appearing in the emergency room. And you have to keep developing countermeasures. That’s all you can do at this point.”-Jean Patterson, Texas BioMed

I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.  They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Majority of U.S. citizens say Corporate America is to blame for bad economy. The bell tolls for Bank of America and Fox News?

In the latest survey by Harris Interactive, 78% of people blame the bad economy on Corporate America (and Corporate Britain).

The annual Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient poll is a measure of how consumers view corporations.  So far the main stream media has only mentioned the good points of the poll, like Apple surging ahead of Google regarding a positive image among consumers.

What the main stream corporate controlled media isn’t reporting is that only 22% of those surveyed have a overall good impression of Corporate America!

Also, the survey is a warning sign for major banks.  According to reports, AIG, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are on the Harris poll’s critical list, because they ranked as low as Enron, Adelphia and WorldCom, right before those later companies went out of business.

Other companies that scored poorly were BP (British Petroleum), JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and News Corp (owners of Fox News).

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

United Corrupt Police States of America: It’s official, major U.S. cities, and their police departments, are rife with corruption!

The Chicago Tribune has published a report by the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs.

That report says the public officials, including the police, of major cities in the United States are corrupt!  The study is based on federal court cases.

Percentage wise, Louisiana had the most corrupt officials.  Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania took the next three highest per capita positions for corruption.

When looking just at the number of cases, New York state was number one, followed by California and Illinois.

The study did not break down the types of corruption, but ‘public corruption’ includes bogus contracts, bribes, out right theft, ghost payrolling and police brutality.   Remember, the study is based on corruption cases that actually made it to federal court, so you can imagine just how corrupt your public officials really are!

 

U.S.

Texas Christian University, offers course on how to be a perscription drug pusher? 17 arrested

“There’s no doubt all arrested today are drug dealers.”–Steven McGee, TCU Police Chief

After a six month investigation 17 ‘christian’ students were arrested for selling drugs.  Several athletes were among those arrested.

The drugs include Xanax, Oxycotin, hydrocodone, as well as marijuana and a powdered form of ecstasy.  

Police investigated after getting complaints from parents and students.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Italy becomes second European country to officially hit Double Dip Recession, blame increased budget cuts and unemployment

“The budget cuts are weighing it down…The conditions for a recovery in consumption are not there since unemployment hit a new record.”-Chiara Corsa, UniCredit bank

February 16, 2012, for the second month in a row, Italy’s economy shrank.  Two months in a row of contraction, that’s the official sign of recession.

Belgium was the first European country to officially go into a double dip recession. Interestingly this happened after they finally agreed to a new government, following more than a year without one.

 

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Former Israeli Mossad boss says war with Syria is bad for Israel

February 16, 2012, a former Israeli intelligence chief told Japan’s NHK news that the loss of the current Syrian government would actually be bad for Israel.

Efraim Halevy, who served as Mossad director from 1998 to 2002, is warning of chaos in the Middle East should the current Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad fall.

He said such a loss would create a power vacuum, and weapons would flow freely into the hands of those groups who hate Israel.  Halevy also suggested that it was in Israel’s interests to keep the Assad government in power, even if it meant supporting Assad militarily!

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

Corporate Crime: 40 years later, two former executives found guilty of the deaths of 2,000 of their Italian employees! Social health care found them out!

“This is the biggest trial in the world, and in history, as far as safety at work is concerned.”-Raffaele Guariniello, prosecutor

In a precedent setting trial in Italy, two former executives of a company that made fiber cement (cement made with asbestos), were found guilty in the deaths of more than 2,000 of their employees!

Another 1,000 employees, and people who lived near the factories, are now ill.  The Italian Health Ministry investigated due to the high rate of health cases hitting their social health care system, that were directly linked to the fiber cement factories.  The investigation revealed that employees were not given even basic safety gear for use around asbestos.  Things like masks and goggles.

One of the former executives is Belgian baron Jean Louis Marie Ghislain De Cartier De Marchienne, the other is Swiss billionaire tycoon Stephan Schmidheiny.

In his defense, Jean Louis Marie Ghislain De Cartier De Marchienne sent a written statement saying that at the time it was not known how deadly asbestos could be.

The factories were closed in 1986, six years before asbestos was banned in Italy.

The two wealthy one percenters face 16 years in prison, if they’re ever caught.  They were convicted in absentia.

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

Corporate Crime: Former officials of scandal ridden Olympus have been arrested

February 16, 2012, seven people connected to the scandal ridden Olympus have been arrested in Japan!

Those arrested include an adviser who instructed Olympus executives how to hide $1.2 billion in losses from investors and regulators, and it includes a former Olympus president, Tsuyoshi Kikukawa.

It also includes a former vice president, and a former auditor.  One of the charges is that Olympus filed false securities reports.  At least two of the arrested have already plead guilty!

The scandal at Olympus was revealed by a former executive of Olympus, who was fired for questioning suspicious bookkeeping.

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

Medical Incompetence: New study says AntiBiotics are useless for treating Sinusitis!

“It provides further evidence for what we’ve really suspected for a long time, that in the management of patients with acute sinusitis, antibiotics do not convey any additional benefit.“-Jay Piccirilloof, senior author

A new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), says most antibiotics are useless in treating sinusitis.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, studied 166 people.  They spilt up the group by giving some patients amoxicillin for ten days, and others a placebo.  The results were that amoxicillin had absolutely no affect on sinusitis.

The study also stated that the majority of sinus infections are caused by viruses, not bacteria, which explains why antibiotics don’t work.

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

Iran unveils homemade Nuclear Fuel Rods, Nuclear Drugs, Nuclear Cake and 3,000 new Centrifuges

A few days ago Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said he would reveal Iran’s latest nuclear achievements.

Today, it was revealed that Iran makes its own nuclear fuel rods, radio-pharmaceuticals, and has added 3,000 centrifuges to its program to produce enriched uranium.

Iranian made nuclear fuel rods were placed in the Tehran Research Reactor.  The fuel rods were made under the supervision of the International Atomic energy Agency.  This is the last step in Iran’s nuclear fuel cycle.

Iran has also increased the number of centrifuges from 6,000 to 9,000.  This increases Iran’s ability to make uranium “yellow cake” by 50%.  Iranian officials say that their Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility is under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran has also begun production of several pharmaceutical drugs using radio isotopes (like cancer treatment drugs).

Iran says they don’t trust the latest negative reports from the IAEA, preciously because the IAEA has been openly watching their nuclear program, and has never lodged a formal complaint directly with the Iranian government.