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TOPICS FOR TODAY- Bush's Brain Leaves the Whitehouse - Rove QUITS! - Mortgage Bubble and Financial Armageddon before NAU North American Union - Coming Avian Flu Pandemic and MORE!

TOP NEWS STORIES CHANGING OUR WORLD TODAY - TUESDAY AUGUST 14TH 2007:

New foot-and-mouth alerts

Press Association

Tuesday August 14, 2007 6:48 PM

Two more control zones have been imposed as farmers were urged to remain vigilant for signs of foot and mouth.

A 3km temporary control zone was set up around a farm in the Romney Marsh area of Kent, after a farmer raised concerns that his cattle were displaying symptoms.

Meanwhile, a similar restriction was set up at another site in Surrey outside the existing surveillance zone, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said.

The zones were set up as a precautionary measure after concerns were raised that animals at both sites were displaying symptoms of the disease.

Stephen Furnival, whose arable farm is at centre of the scare in Kent, said he "fully supports" the setting up of the control zone.

But the decision to impose the zones will come as a blow to farmers who had been hoping that the foot and mouth outbreak had been contained.

Speaking outside Honeychild Manor Farm, Mr Furnival said: "I understand that the setting up of a temporary control zone is a normal response and therefore I fully support this, pending the results of the tests."

It was the first temporary exclusion zone to be established outside Surrey where there have been two confirmed cases.

Mr Furnival called in vets after noticing some of his calves had unusual lesions on the muzzles of their mouths.

"Knowing the current situation I thought it was prudent to notify the authorities immediately," he said.

Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2007

US wants WTO to act on China software piracy

Request to global trade group follows last month's arrest of 25 illegal software gang members

Tom Young, Computing 14 Aug 2007 TheUS government is asking the World Trade Organisation to force China to crack down on pirated software.

Last month the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and China?s Public Security Bureau (PSB) arrested 25 gang members believed to be responsible for manufacturing and distributing more than $2bn (?1bn) of illegal software.

The US argues that a lack of regulation has helped the booming industry of pirated American goods, fuelling a black market that costs US companies billions of dollars every year.

'Over the past several years, China has taken tangible steps to improve (intellectual property rights) protection and enforcement. However, we still see important gaps that need to be addressed,' said a spokesman for US trade representative Susan Schwab.

US officials want to see more aggressive prosecution in China of those who pirate copyrighted or trademarked materials, and more stringent rules for what happens to the illegal products once they are seized.

The two countries held talks in June on the issue but came to no agreements.

NASA Scientist James Hansen Places Foot in Mouth on Global Warming?

Hansen Compounds Error at GISS

By captdallas2

Published Aug 13, 2007

NASA Scientist James Hansen Places Foot in Mouth

Dr. James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Sciences (GISS), has criticized the Bush administration in the past for alleged censorship of the scientific community. With the recent discovery in the US temperature averages prepared by GISS, Dr. Hansen made the corrections and hastily posted an email to several journalists.

Steve McIntyre is an independent statistician that is known for questioning the accuracy of the temperature record and statistical method used with the data. Because of his concern Mr.McIntyre is labeled a global warming skeptic. The discovery of the error was made by McIntyre and following an email from McIntyre to GISS corrected. After discovering Dr. Hansen's email days later, McIntyre posted this in the Watt's Up With This blog.

The title and first paragraph of Dr. Hansen's email is as follows:

A Light On Upstairs?

Sorry to send another e-mail so soon. No need to read further unless you are interested in temperature changes to a tenth of a degree over the U.S. and a thousandth of a degree over the world.

And the concluding paragraphs:

Somehow the flaw in 2001-2007 U.S. data was advertised on the internet and for two days I have been besieged by rants that I have wronged the President, that I must "step down", or that I must "vanish". Hmm, I am not very good at magic tricks.

My apologies if the quick response that I sent to Andy Revkin and several other journalists, including the suggestion that it was a tempest inside somebody's teapot dome, and that perhaps a light was not on upstairs, was immoderate. It was not ad hominem, though.

Jim

In the norcal blog, McIntyre posted a lengthy response. One paragraph of that response was particularly interesting:

I haven't seen the original letter and don't know who the comment was about. However, it certainly sounds like an ad hominem remark and one that is highly inappropriate for a federal civil servant. I have a number of comments about other aspects of the letter.

While the scientific community ponders the significance of 0.1 to 0.15 degrees C in the US historical temperature averages in the grand scheme of anthropogenic global warming. I wonder if the mainstream media and Dr. Hansen are pondering the wisdom of review of press release prior to dissemination?

Follow the exciting action at What's Up With This. For more on the story see Numbers Wrong.

Report: Facebook users expose sensitive data to unknown 'friends'

East Bay Business Times - 9:53 AM PDT Tuesday, August 14, 2007 Print this Article Email this Article Reprints RSS Feeds Most Viewed Most Emailed A large number of users of the popular social networking site Facebook give strangers personal information, thus increasing their chances of identity theft, virus attacks and other problems, according to a study.

The computer security firm Sophos PLC said it found that 41 percent of users gave risky information.

Sophos said it created a fake account -- "Freddi Staur" -- on the Palo Alto-based company's site and invited 200 random users to add themselves to his "friend" category.

Of the 82 people who accepted, 72 percent provided e-mail address, 78 percent gave an address or hometown, and 23 percent provided a phone number.

The study comes on the heels of a recent report that at least three convicted sex offenders had pages on Facebook. The Connecticut state attorney general's office said in late July it found inappropriate images as well. Since opening to the general public -- after originally being restricted to college and high school students -- the company has faced more such issues.

Facebook users can control what is displayed and who gets access to it, and the company said it tracks unusual activity on the part of users and regularly reviews and deletes accounts from spammers and others. Facebook also said the site takes down offensive profiles and pages within 72 hours of a complaint.

Antioxidants Don't Appear To Reduce Risk Of Cardiovascular Events Among High Risk Women

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology News

Article Date: 14 Aug 2007 - 0:00 PDT

Women who have a higher risk of heart disease might not get any benefit from consuming vitamins C, E and beta carotene, either on their own in combination - the antioxidants do not lower their risk of experiencing a cardiovascular event, according to an article in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine (JAMA/Archives).

The article explains that harm to cells caused by exposure to oxygen (oxidative damage) may be a contributory factor in cardiovascular disease. The writers add that free radicals may harm artery linings, trigger blood clots and modify the way blood vessels function.

Nancy R. Cook, Sc.D., of Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and team wrote that "Antioxidants scavenge free radicals and limit the damage they can cause. Diets high in fruit and vegetable intake, and thus rich in such antioxidants, have been associated with reduced rates of coronary heart disease and stroke. Vitamins C and E and beta carotene are potential mediators of the apparent protective effect of a plant-based diet on cardiovascular disease."

The scientists tested the effects of these compounds in the Women's Antioxidant Cardiovascular study, which tracked 8,171 women over 40 (average age 60.6 years) from 1995-1996 through to 2005. All the women either had a history of cardiovascular disease or had at least three risk factors. They were randomly selected to receive 500 milligrams of ascorbic acid or a placebo each day, 600 international units of vitamin E or a placebo every two days, and 50 milligrams of beta carotene or a placebo every two days. During the ten-year period they were followed up for the occurrence of stroke, heart attack, bypass surgery or death.

1,450 women had at least one cardiovascular event - this included 274 heart attacks, 298 strokes, 889 bypass surgeries or angioplasties, and 395 cardiovascular deaths out of a total of 995 deaths.

The writers observed that "There was no overall effect of ascorbic acid, vitamin E or beta carotene on the primary combined end point or on the individual secondary outcomes of myocardial infarction, stroke, coronary revascularization or cardiovascular disease death. There were no significant interactions between agents for the primary end point, but those randomized to both active ascorbic acid and vitamin E experienced fewer strokes."

They detected no additional side effects among the women who took the active pills compared to those on a placebo, except for a slightly raised risk of stomach upset among the active beta carotene takers.

The writers concluded "Overall, we found no benefit on the primary combined end point for any of the antioxidant agents tested, alone or in combination. We also found no evidence for harm. While additional research into combinations of agents, particularly for stroke, may be of interest, widespread use of these individual agents for cardiovascular protection does not appear warranted."

"A Randomized Factorial Trial of Vitamins C and E and Beta Carotene in the Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Women - Results From the Women's Antioxidant Cardiovascular Study " Nancy R. Cook, ScD; Christine M. Albert, MD; J. Michael Gaziano, MD; Elaine Zaharris, BA; Jean MacFadyen, BA; Eleanor Danielson, MIA; Julie E. Buring, ScD; JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH

Arch Intern Med. 2007;167:1610-1618.

Click here to see abstract online

Written by: Christian Nordqvist

MS vaccine 'slows rate of nerve cell damage'

By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent Last Updated: 2:47am BST 14/08/2007

A vaccine that slows the progress of multiple sclerosis has been developed. Preliminary research suggests the vaccine reduces the damage inflicted by MS sufferers' immune cells on their nervous systems.

MS can cause muscle weakness, vision loss and co-ordination problems, and is the most common disabling neurological disorder in young adults. It affects around 85,000 people in Britain.

The illness occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks myelin - the protective sheath that surrounds nerve fibres.

advertisementDr Amit Bar-Or and colleagues, of the Montreal Neurological Institute, developed a vaccine called BHT-3009 and tested it on 30 patients. Half of the group received injections of the vaccine and half were given a placebo.

MRI scans were carried out to evaluate the vaccine's safety and its effect on the immune system. A type of white blood cell known to target myelin in MS sufferers appeared to be reduced in the blood and spinal fluid of those who had the vaccine.

Dr Bar-Or, writing in the journal Archives of Neurology, said: "BHT-3009 was safe and well tolerated, provided favourable trends on brain MRI and produced beneficial immune changes."

The vaccine - the first that appears to slow the progress of MS - works by inserting DNA into the body to provoke an immune system reaction. A larger trial of the vaccine in 290 patients has begun.

Alison Handford, from the MS Society, said: "These are very early but encouraging findings."

Sinovac Commences Vaccination of Volunteers for the Clinical Research of Pandemic Influenza Vaccine (H5N1)

August 14, 2007: 08:00 AM EST

BEIJING, Aug. 14 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Sinovac Biotech Ltd. , a China-based biopharmaceutical company focusing on vaccine development, today announced that it has commenced vaccination of volunteers for the clinical research of Pandemic Influenza Vaccine (H5N1), which is the continued research for its Phase I clinical trial of whole viron H5N1 vaccine and the beginning of its Phase I clinical trial of split H5N1 vaccine.

As previously announced, the Phase II clinical trials for the H5N1 vaccine were approved in April 2007 by the China State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), The SFDA approval covers a Phase Ib and II trials of whole viron vaccine and Phase I and II trial of split vaccine. Subsequent to these approvals, the preparation work was completed by the end of July 2007.

These clinical trials will be open label and will assess the tolerance and safety of the vaccine. The Company anticipates that the Phase II trials will commence shortly and the preliminary results from these clinical trials for both vaccines will be available early next year.

In June 2006, the Phase I clinical trial on a pandemic influenza whole viron inactivated vaccine (H5N1) was successfully completed. The vaccine was co-developed by Sinovac Biotech Co., Ltd. and the China CDC. The results of the Phase I clinical trial were published in "The Lancet" in September of 2006.

About Sinovac

Sinovac Biotech Ltd. is a China-based biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the research, development, manufacture and commercialization of vaccines that protect against human infectious diseases. Sinovac's vaccines include Healive (hepatitis A), Bilive (combined hepatitis A and B) and Anflu (influenza). Sinovac is currently developing human vaccines against the H5N1 strain of pandemic influenza, Japanese encephalitis and SARS. Additional information about Sinovac is available on its website, http://www.sinovac.com . To be added to our distribution list, please email: info@sinovac.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Among other things, the business outlook and quotations from management in this press release contain forward-looking statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Sinovac's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward- looking statement. Sinovac does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For more information, please contact:

Helen G. Yang Sinovac Biotech Ltd. Phone: +86-10-82890088 Ext. 871 Fax: +86-10-62966910 Email: info@sinovac.com

Investors/Media: Stephanie Carrington/Janine McCargo The Ruth Group Phone: +1-646-536-7017/7033 Email: scarrington@theruthgroup.com or jmccargo@theruthgroup.com

Sanofi pasteur First Manufacturer to Ship Doses of Influenza Vaccine for the 2007-2008 Season

Sanofi pasteur First Manufacturer to Ship Doses of Influenza Vaccine for the 2007-2008 Season

- Shipment of Fluzone(R) Influenza Virus Vaccine Begins Across U.S. -

August 13, 2007: 02:49 PM EST

SWIFTWATER, Pa., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, has begun shipment of influenza vaccine (Fluzone(R), Influenza Virus Vaccine) in the United States for the 2007-2008 season. The first doses of influenza vaccine are being shipped to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for their distribution in support of the Vaccines For Children (VFC) program and to many other health-care providers including private physicians' offices. This shipment represents the first of approximately 50 million doses planned for production this year.

Sanofi pasteur will begin partial shipments to customers in August as part of the company's split delivery process, which will allow all customers to begin immunizing patients. Vaccine shipments will continue through the fall and are planned to be complete by the end of October.

Each year, sanofi pasteur provides vaccine to hospitals and other health- care facilities; private office-based providers; retail pharmacies; community immunization providers; and to the military, veterans and children through providers' private and public vaccination programs.

As the world's leading vaccine manufacturer, sanofi pasteur produces approximately half of the influenza vaccine distributed worldwide and more than 40 percent of influenza vaccine distributed in the U.S. Sanofi pasteur is committed to raising immunization rates and improving global access to vaccines. As part of this commitment, the company is expanding its influenza vaccine production facility in the United States. This expansion, slated to come on-line by the end of 2008 or in early 2009, will more than double U.S. production capacity.

Vaccination Timing

While influenza vaccination typically begins in early fall, CDC data demonstrate that influenza rates typically peak in February, making it important for people to seek influenza immunization throughout the full influenza season. The CDC recommends that health-care providers begin offering vaccination soon after vaccine becomes available, and continue vaccination efforts throughout the season.(1)

Influenza Vaccine Recommendations

The CDC recommends influenza immunization for all persons who want to reduce the risk of becoming ill with influenza or of transmitting the virus to others, including school-aged children. Annual vaccination is especially important for children 6 through 59 months of age, persons aged 50 years and older, pregnant women and anyone 6 months and older with a chronic medical condition, such as asthma and diabetes. The vaccine also is recommended for persons who live with or care for persons at high risk, including household contacts and health-care workers.(1)

About Fluzone Vaccine

Fluzone vaccine is the only influenza vaccine licensed for populations 6 months and older. A Fluzone vaccine formulation (trade name: Fluzone(R), Influenza Virus Vaccine, No Preservative) that does not contain a preservative at any stage in the manufacturing process was introduced in 2004-2005. It is the first FDA-licensed injectable influenza vaccine to be manufactured in this way.

The 2007-2008 influenza vaccine formulation contains an A/Solomon Islands/3/2006 (H1N1)-like virus; an A/Wisconsin/67/2005 (H3N2)-like virus; and a B/Malaysia/2506/2004-like virus. The three strains for the new influenza vaccine formulation were confirmed by the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee in February 2007 and correspond with recommendations made by the World Health Organization in February. Influenza vaccine is formulated each year to match the strains predicted to circulate during the upcoming season.

Safety Information

There are risks associated with all vaccines. The most common local and systemic adverse reactions to Fluzone vaccine include soreness at the vaccination site that can last up to 2 days, pain, and swelling, fever, malaise, and myalgia. Other adverse reactions may occur. Influenza vaccine should not be administered to anyone with a history of hypersensitivity to any vaccine component, including eggs, egg products, or thimerosal (the only presentation that contains thimerosal is the multi-dose vial). Fluzone vaccine should not be administered to individuals who have a prior history of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). As with any vaccine, vaccination with Fluzone vaccine may not protect 100% of individuals.

Before administering Fluzone vaccine, please see full Prescribing Information at

www.vaccineplace.com/products.

About sanofi-aventis

Sanofi-aventis is one of the world leaders in the pharmaceutical industry, ranking number one in Europe. Backed by a world-class R&D organization, sanofi-aventis is developing leading positions in seven major therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, thrombosis, oncology, metabolic diseases, central nervous system, internal medicine and vaccines. Sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris and in New York .

Sanofi pasteur, the vaccines division of the sanofi-aventis Group, provided more than a billion doses of vaccine in 2006, making it possible to immunize more than 500 million people across the globe. A world leader in the vaccine industry, sanofi pasteur offers the broadest range of vaccines protecting against 20 infectious diseases. The Company's heritage, to create vaccines that protect life, dates back more than a century. Sanofi pasteur is the largest company entirely dedicated to vaccines. Every day, the company invests more than EUR 1 million in research and development. For more information, please visit:

www.sanofipasteur.com or www.sanofipasteur.us

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to future events, operations, products and services, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "plans" and similar expressions. Although sanofi-aventis' management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of sanofi-aventis, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward- looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in the public filings with the SEC and the AMF made by sanofi-aventis, including those listed under "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in sanofi-aventis' annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2006. Other than as required by applicable law, sanofi-aventis does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.

sanofi pasteur sanofi pasteur Patricia Tomsky Len Lavenda U.S. Media Relations U.S. Media Relations Tel: + 1-570-839-4261 Tel: +1-570-839-4446 patricia.tomsky@sanofipasteur.com len.lavenda@sanofipasteur.com

References

(1) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prevention and Control of Influenza: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization

Practices (ACIP), 2007. MMWR Early Release 2007;56.

Indonesia Still Not Sharing Virus Samples for Avian Flu Vaccines

13 August 2007

Indonesia Still Not Sharing Virus Samples for Avian Flu Vaccines U.S. scientists create H5N1 vaccine that could target emerging virus

By Cheryl Pellerin

USINFO Staff Writer

An Indonesian official collects specimen from a pet bird during a door-to-door bird flu test in Jakarta, Indonesia. (? AP Images) Washington -- Despite agreeing to share viruses with the World Health Organization (WHO) in March, Indonesia -- the nation with the highest rates of infection and death from highly pathogenic avian influenza -- still has not done so.

All countries except Indonesia are sharing human samples of the H5N1 avian flu virus with the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance Network so experts can assess the risk that a viral strain might mutate to pass easily from person to person and so diagnostic tests and vaccines can be developed. (See related article.)

By not sharing viruses, said Dr. David Heymann, WHO assistant director-general for communicable diseases, during an August 6 press briefing, Indonesia is ?putting in danger its own population, because if those viruses are not freely shared with industry, vaccines will not contain the elements of the Indonesia infection.?

This also puts the world?s public health security at risk, he said.

On July 11, Indonesia confirmed its 102nd human case of avian flu in a 6-year-old girl from Banten. So far, WHO has confirmed that 81 people have died there from the virus. Around the world, since 2003, 319 people have fallen ill from H5N1, and 192 have died. (See related article.)

Heymann was reporting on the results of a five-day meeting in Singapore, where representatives of 24 countries met beginning July 31 to discuss issues related to virus sharing and equitable distribution of vaccines among rich and poor nations.

SHARING BENEFITS

In May, the WHO World Health Assembly passed resolution 60.28, which outlined the flow of activities designed to ensure ?that countries received the benefits they felt they would need from virus sharing,? Heymann said.

Singapore was the first meeting in that process; the next meeting will be held in Geneva in early November. The end-point of the process should be the 61st World Health Assembly, to be held in May 2008.

Under the resolution, a new stockpile of H5N1 vaccine has been established, initially containing 50 million doses donated by GlaxoSmithKline. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan was asked to develop a mechanism for benefit sharing among countries, and the stockpile is part of that effort. The director-general also will commission a report on intellectual property relating to virus ownership.

?WHO is now working to determine the mechanism that will govern this vaccine and make sure that it?s equally distributed around the world to countries in need,? Heymann said.

Stockpiling is a short-term benefit-sharing mechanism. In the medium and long term, developing countries have asked for a transfer of technology so they can produce vaccines in their own countries.

WHO has given grants to six developing countries to transfer vaccine production technology using resources provided by the United States, Japan, Canada and the Asian Development Bank.

NEW VACCINES

In the United States, a team of scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and a collaborator at Emory University School of Medicine in Georgia are preparing vaccines and drugs that could target predicted H5N1 mutants before the viruses evolve naturally.

?While nobody knows if and when H5N1 will jump from birds to humans, [the team has] come up with a way to anticipate how that jump might occur and ways to respond to it,? said NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, in an August 9 statement.

Making a vaccine against an H5N1 strain or another flu virus is fairly routine. Samples of flu virus strains are isolated and then grown in eggs or cell cultures. The virus then is collected, inactivated, purified and added to the other components of the vaccine.

A flu shot prompts a person?s immune system to detect pieces of the inactivated virus in the vaccine and make neutralizing antibodies against them. Later, if the same person is exposed to a flu virus, the antibodies should help fight the infection.

But flu viruses constantly mutate and vaccines are most effective against the specific strains from which they are made. That makes it difficult to predict how effective a vaccine made today will be against a virus that emerges tomorrow.

BIRD FLU AND PEOPLE

Led by Dr. Gary Nabel, director of NIAID?s Vaccine Research Center, the team focused on mutations that let H5N1 bird viruses more easily recognize and enter human cells.

Bird-adapted H5N1 binds to places on the bird cell called surface receptors. These receptors differ slightly from the receptors on human cells, which is partly why bird-adapted H5N1 can infect but not spread easily among people.

The team found that the mutations change how the immune system recognizes the virus and used this knowledge to create vaccines and isolate new antibodies that might be used against human-adapted virus mutations.

They vaccinated mice with the material from viruses they altered to contain the mutations and discovered one antibody that could neutralize the bird- and the human-adapted forms of an H5N1 virus.

?This research could possibly help to contain a pandemic early on,? said NIAID Director Anthony Fauci.

For more information on U.S. and international efforts to combat avian influenza, see Bird Flu.

(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Products,medicine may hurt environment

Products,medicine may hurt environment

Fisheries group hears of accumulating effects

By DAN PARSONS

Staff Writer

Look at the bottom of the next bottle of water you drink. If it has a recycling symbol with the number 1 at the center, it could be killing you.

That?s because the plastic contains a chemical called pthalate esters, Barbara Grimes, a pollution-program coordinator with the Environmental Protection Agency, said Monday.

That and similar chemicals, including medicine such as Prozac and others, has been shown to cause alarming developmental deformities in both animals and humans, she said, speaking to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission Habitat and Water Quality Committee.

?The best definition I?ve found for an endocrine disrupter is an exogenous substance or mixture that alters the function of the endocrine system ... in an intact organism or its progeny,? Grimes said at the meeting, held at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources office in Washington. ?In other terms, these are things we have created to make our life easier in a better world.?

?The first time we noticed endocrine disrupters was in bird eggshell thinning. They affect mostly mammals, causing tumors and lesions, infertility and hormonal alteration.?

In regard to North Carolina fisheries, Grimes said EDCs have been shown to both stimulate egg production and delay molting in crustaceans, such as the blue crab. In that species, these chemicals can specifically disrupt development in early life stages.

?We?re seeing high numbers (of affected specimens) at very low dosages, something that is not the norm,? Grimes said. ?We?re putting stuff out there that does not occur in nature. The good news is our removal methods remove a lot of these chemicals that we know about and they probably remove a lot more that we don?t know about. We need more womb-to-tomb studies to find out.?

Grimes said that many of the chemicals being found in the environment originate from medicines and personal-care products that are thrown away. The emission of these substances is not regulated, and in accumulated quantities, could result in serious environmental impacts.

?Don?t flush it, don?t sink it,? she said, advocating prescription-drug buyback programs as one possible solution to the problem. Grimes is collaborating with the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, North Carolina State University, the U.S. Geological Survey, among other entities to study the environmental effects of these chemicals. Her presentation was an effort to inform Marine Fisheries on the issue and to enlist it as a possible cooperating agency in upcoming studies, she said.

?I for one, am fascinated and thoroughly creeped out,? Committee Chairwoman Barbara Garrity-Blake said.

Committee member Wayne Mathis, with the Marine Fisheries Commission, said ?the best that could be done now is pollution prevention.?

?Controlling emissions of these things is what needs to happen,? he said. ?We need to stop putting this stuff in the environment now and then we?ll look at what to do with what?s already there and what its environmental fate will be.?

Rush is on for vaccinations

Rush is on for vaccinations

County struggles to keep up as kids go back to school

By PERRY SWANSON THE GAZETTE

August 14, 2007 - 8:11AM

Public health workers are struggling to keep up with demand for children?s immunization shots as schools begin classes across El Paso County.

State law says children must have several immunizations to enroll in a public school. Fall classes began Monday in four El Paso County school districts, and two districts started last week.

Workers at the county Health Department on Monday were making appointments for the shots for the middle of September ? about three weeks after the last district begins classes on Aug. 20.

The El Paso County Department of Health and Environment administers the shots mostly to people who don?t have health insurance. Some area charities also provide the shots for low-income families.

About 10 people work in the Health Department?s immunization clinic. The agency needs five more workers to keep up with demand for the shots, said Public Health Administrator Rosemary Bakes-Martin.

?We?re doing the best that we can with the limited resources,? Bakes-Martin said Monday.

Immunizations are not required for people who oppose them on religious or other grounds, or for children who can?t have the shots for medical reasons.

A 2004 survey found 73 percent of children in El Paso County schools were up-to-date on immunizations, the Health Department reported. The main reason respondents gave for not getting immunizations was a lack of health insurance.

In Colorado Springs School District 11, the region?s largest, staff members review immunization records and notify parents if a child?s shots aren?t up to date, said spokeswoman Elaine Naleski. After that, the law says parents have 14 days to ensure the shots are administered.

Naleski said she?s never heard of a child missing the deadline and being refused enrollment to school.

?Parents usually try as hard as they can to get those shots done,? she said. ?We try very hard to connect the parents with different clinics where the shots are available.?

Classes in D-11 start Thursday.

The rush for immunizations at the Health Department is typical for this time of year, officials said. Workers in the immunization clinic expect to see 760 children for shots this month. The shots are free for children who meet financial qualifications. They cost $14 per dose for people who have insurance and don?t qualify for the free shots.

Health workers encourage people who have insurance to get the shots from a conventional care provider because those visits often involve a full health exam.

The risk can be high for people who don?t get the shots, Bakes-Martin said, citing recent outbreaks of whooping cough, mumps and measles.

?Any of those diseases, we?re seeing them show up, and lots of times the people who are the victims of it are the ones who did not get vaccinated,? she said.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0187 or perry.swanson@gazette.com

REQUIRED SHOTS

- Pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, diphtheria ? five doses, or four if the fourth dose was given on or after the fourth birthday.

- Polio ? four doses, or three if the third dose was given on or after the fourth birthday.

- Measles, mumps, rubella ? two doses, and the second dose must have been given at least 28 days after the first.

- Hepatitis B ? three doses.

- Varicella ? two doses, and the first dose must have been given on or after the first birthday.

Mexico Benefits Financially from Illegal Immigration

Monday, August 13, 2007 Comments (3)

By William Robert Barber

In 2003, Mexico received nearly $13.3 billion in workers remittances, money earned abroad by Mexican citizens and sent back to their families in Mexico.

Issue 1, 2004 Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

Since Ancient times nation states have expressed concerns over the movements of peoples into their domicile. Presently, the United States is and has for some time been experiencing the invasion of millions of Mexicans into its' mainland; these peoples, poor by birthright and impoverish by the lack of opportunity, in the interest of seeking a better life have fled their native land. Interestingly, Mexico benefits financially, in no small manner, from this illegal migration; these benefits include millions of dollars worth of cash remittances from US to Mexico, any and all cost of social services, medical, education, and the cost of dying. The Untied States is now libel for all of these services; Mexico utilizes the illegal immigration of its citizens as a highly profitable export into the USA. An export that cost Mexico absolutely nothing; receiving in return, monthly cash residuals totaling millions of dollars.

The US allows Mexican nationals to own land, equities, directly invest in its infrastructure, open bank accounts, and process all manner of commercial designs within its' border. The same allowance is NOT so for US citizens in Mexico. But this obvious investment disallowance for American companies, a blatant example of unfairness, has never been addressed. If American investors could buy, own and hold infrastructure in Mexico, in one generation of time, the border separating Mexico from the United States could be as obliging as the borders separating EU countries from each other.

No where on the contemplations of present immigration law is this concept of designing mutual regard for each others' investment opportunities expressed or even considered. Instead the emphasis is on one presumption and several assumptions.

The presumption is that the estimated Twelve million illegal immigrants could not be motivated to comply with existing law hence rounding them up for deportation is impossible. Therefore, the answer is rendered solvable only by passing new US law and declared and agreed that the immigration issue is a sovereign US issue. Such a proprietary interpretation is flat WRONG; an erroneous blanket acknowledgement by US lawmakers that Mexico has no hand to play in this issue. Mexico is not an innocent; Mexico is not a bystander of non responsibility or a non obligatory. The truth of the matter is that each illegal immigrant that vacate Mexico without a valid visa and Mexican passport is in violation of Mexican law. Beyond all of that and its implication, Mexico has direct responsibilities to/for the safety of its own citizens. This assumption that illegal Mexican immigrants is only a US issue is an absurd assumption void of factuality.

US immigration policy must include unilateral agreements with Mexico in order to achieve any reality of effectual adherence; it is ridiculous to conclude any other sum.

In Praise Of "Sicko" But What Happens After The U.S. Healtcare System Dies?

August 13, 2007 at 18:29:23

In Praise Of "Sicko" But What Happens After The U.S. Healtcare System Dies?

by Carolyn Baker Page 1 of 1 page(s)

http://www.opednews.com

It had to happen, but it took so long-indeed, too long, for a courageous filmmaker to rise up and put the abysmal U.S. healthcare system under a microscope in order to reveal how utterly pathological it has become. On one level, Moore repeated a blatant flaw in his craft so obvious in ?gBowling For Columbine?h and ?gFahrenheit 911?? in that he almost always fails to fully connect the dots and take his work to the next level, and ?gSicko?h was no exception. Nevertheless, the film left me laughing, cheering, and crying and particularly gleeful regarding memos sent by management throughout the Blue Cross system warning employees of the possible side-effects of ?gSicko?h on their company?fs image. In the light of Moore?fs impressive research and documentation, after listening to the film?fs horror stories of patients raped by the ?gdisease-care?h system, after witnessing the confessions of former players in that system who have come clean and can only live with themselves by spilling their guts regarding the devious methods they used to keep the system intact and bloat its profits, after hearing the Oval Office conversation between Richard Nixon and John Ehrlichman in which the two salivated over the spoils guaranteed to the industry as a result of creating a sprawling network of HMO?fs, after the poignant scenes near the movie?fs end of real people-9/11 rescue workers, actually getting extraordinarily humane and completely free healthcare in Cuba, there is little left to say about the American system because one can only hold one?fs nose and gasp for fresh air in face of the overpowering, nauseating stench of the most brutal medical industry on earth. I do not hesitate to label it unequivocally, pure evil.

Not only is the American disease-care industry the biggest rip-off of any healthcare system on earth, but it is being used to prop up an expiring economy because it creates jobs, and without those jobs, the U.S. unemployment rate, already fudged with bogus statistics, would immediately spike. Not only is U.S. healthcare devastating the lives of Americans who use it, but it is being manipulated to give the appearance of economic health in a code-blue economy now in collapse.

Moreover, unlike the healthcare systems of many developed countries, the American system gives much lip service to preventive medicine, but only about 1% of the American healthcare dollar goes to prevention programs and for one simple reason: Sickness is profitable, and prevention is not.

But once again, Moore does not ask the deeper questions such as: What is inherent in the American capitalist system that propagates and rewards such carnage? In fact, he fails to notice that profit over people is at the core of Western civilization and the culture of empire. Ten thousand years of civilization which include the raping and overpopulating of the earth, the depletion of the planet?fs resources, the dizzying pace of global warming, and the extinction of hundreds of species per day, have brought us to exactly this point. How could the inhabitants of the belly of the beast have access to anything better than a disease-purveying medical system that facilitates the elimination of the middle and working classes while guaranteeing that the ruling elite will wax healthier and more affluent? Fortunately, ?gSicko?h does not spend much time suggesting that somehow this system can be reformed, improved, or streamlined which would be the proverbial band-aid for cancer. But neither has Moore yet diagnosed the malignancy at the core not only of the American healthcare system but of civilization itself.

To his credit, perhaps the most important line in ?gSicko?h was the pivotal question: ?gWhat have we become that we have allowed this to happen??h And so I sit with the first four words of that question-what have we become? Until this question is explored, Moore and all other well-intentioned progressives will miss the point.

Civilization is in an inexorable, cataclysmic downward spiral of collapse. The American disease industry is only one of a plethora of institutions and systems in a process of abject crumbling-education, religion, economic systems, family, political systems, energy, transportation, infrastructure, food production-the list is virtually infinite. The tragic footage of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, now burned by corporate news media into the American mind, is a ghastly metaphor for the failed fiasco of civilization, as well as a ghoulish consequence of a rotting infrastructure that the corporatocracy refuses to attend to in its frantic obsession with global resource wars.

U.S. healthcare is a nightmare with few options. In order to receive efficient, free care, it is almost necessary to move to another country. Unfortunately, ?gSicko?h implies that moving to Canada is a viable option, but in reality, emigrating to any country is not easy and usually requires a long, mind-numbing process of bureaucratic red tape-especially for Americans whose investments and government checks are welcome in foreign banks, but whose quest for jobs is not. Furthermore, Canada will soon be inundated with immigrants as Americans move there in droves and as 4000 people per week leave the U.K. for destinations like Canada, South Africa, and Australia.

It behooves every American who takes collapse seriously and is consciously preparing for it, to learn healthcare skills. An individual can enroll in or audit almost any basic emergency lifesaving or first aid course at local community colleges or hospitals around the country. Health care professionals who are preparing for collapse can take their preparation to the next level by offering informal workshops on various aspects of healthcare for non-professionals. Moreover, a basic knowledge of herbal remedies and a generous inventory of them is essential, not only as access to traditional healthcare diminishes but as herbal remedies themselves become more difficult to acquire in terms of prices and the likelihood of government control or elimination of them.

In addition, the Hesperian Foundation offers a treasure-trove of books and DVD?fs for non-professionals such as ?gWhere There Is No Doctor?h, ?gWhere There Is No Dentist?h, ?gWhere Women Have No Doctor?h, a ?gHandbook For Midwives?h, ?gHelping Health Workers Learn?h, and a variety of related topics. People with access to medical supplies may want to consider amassing a cache of them for times when they may not have access to healthcare at all, even if they have health insurance. Those who require specific medications for survival may want to work with their physician or experts in chemistry to stockpile medication or chemical ingredients necessary for the medicines they need. A series of articles by Dan Bednarz such as Peak Oil and Healthcare posted at the Energy Bulletin, offers detailed explanations of the impact of Peak Oil and collapse on the American healthcare system which is so energy and technology-dependent.

As I have written innumerable times, federal, state, and local governments are not going to be able to provide basic services in the throes of collapse-even if they want to. Katrina was nothing if not a glaring example of this reality.

I for one am not interested in making American systems better but instead, telling the truth about their irreversible demise. If I?fm not honest about that, then I will do silly and meaningless things like vote in elections and believe that buying a Prius and converting to non-incandescent light bulbs or the development of magic-bullet technology will avert a catastrophic global energy crisis. In fact, if I don?ft tell the truth about civilization?fs collapse I will become seduced into the lie that we can keep the entire house of cards intact and worse, that doing so is a really good idea.

I want not only Michael Moore but the entire progressive movement to tell us the truth about what comes after the death of the American healthcare system. I want all of them to break the indelicate news that humanity is murdering the earth and all life forms on it-themselves and the rest of the planet. I want them to stop tenaciously, naively, delusionally hanging on to ?ghope?h and other soporifics of consumerism and the American way of life, or more truthfully, the American way of death. I want them to stop calling me ?gdismal?h because I say what is so and refuse to ignore the flatulent neon elephant in the very small room of planet earth which is growing smaller and more diseased by the moment. I want the so-called physicians of socio/political/ecological/and cultural well being to stop telling us terminal patients that there are solutions, elixirs and potions of political choice, actions to take, movements to marshal, candidates who will save us. I want them to tell the truth about their own and earth?fs prognosis and the sinking of the Titanic and focus instead on creating lifeboats and look at the really, really big picture beyond myopic, truly terminal optimism.

So thank you Michael Moore for your gutsy, funny, but very poignant expose of the U.S. disease-care empire. Yet as much as I loved ?gSicko?h, I want a deeper diagnosis, one that will truly assess the vital signs of a crumbling culture and a civilization that the progressive community insists on keeping on life-support when the kindest and most scrupulous act any of us can perform is to simply, swiftly pull the plug and record time of death.

www.carolynbaker.net

Carolyn Baker, Ph.D. is author of COMING OUT FROM FUNDAMENTALIST CHRISTIANITY: An Autobiography Affirming Sensuality, Social Justice, and The Sacred. She is also author of U.S. HISTORY UNCENSORED: What Your High School Textbook Didn't Tell You. Both books are available at her website: www.carolynbaker.net.

Canada's role in global security

Canada's role in global security

Canada has a long-standing history of working with the international community to tackle some of the most serious security threats, making the world a safer place for all.

The Global Partnership Program is one way our government is actively addressing global security threats through our participation in projects within Russia and former Soviet states and republics.

The Global Partnership Program is intended to address one of the most serious security threats facing our world today, by preventing terrorist groups from obtaining weapons and materials of mass destruction (WMD) to carry out their campaigns.

This need to address security threats became very clear following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the United States. Since that time, the damage and casualties caused by terrorists by this type of attack has been limited only by the destructiveness of their weapons in their possession.

The risk of WMDs being used against innocent people significantly increased following the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. During that time, Russia took possession of the many quantities of nuclear, radiological and chemical weapons, and related destructive and dangerous materials.

As a result, Russia now has approximately 40,000 metric tonnes of chemical weapons, tonnes of highly enriched uranium and weapon-grade plutonium, as well as decommissioned nuclear submarines with spent nuclear fuel. These stockpiles of highly dangerous materials need to be secured and destroyed, to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists. Furthermore, there are thousands of former weapons scientists unemployed or underemployed in the former Soviet Union, who are often vulnerable to financial offers for their expertise and knowledge from terrorists and countries involved in weapons proliferation.

The G8 countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the European Union and Canada) recognized these concerns and as a result, came together to launch the G8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. These countries agreed to raise up to US $20 billion to support co-operation projects, initially in Russia. In 2002, Canada chaired the G8 and reinforced its leadership on the initiative by committing up to $1 billion over 10 years, starting in 2003.

Four priority areas were identified which included: destruction of chemical weapons, dismantlement of nuclear submarines, nuclear and radiological security, and employment of former weapons scientists. While the initial projects will be implemented in Russia, there are provisions to extend funding to other former communist countries.

On June 8, 2007, during the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, leaders (including Prime Minister Stephen Harper) reaffirmed their commitment to the Global Partnership and issued a Mid-Term Review document, a report on activities and contributions of the Global Partnership countries and a Statement on Non- Proliferation. In addition to this continued commitment to the Global Partnership, Canada's government committed $5 million (in May) to upgrade security systems at airports and other border crossings, in Ukraine, to prevent nuclear terrorism.

This is one more way Canada's government is playing a crucial role in preventing the spread of WMDs and ensuring they remain beyond the reach of terrorists and proliferators who would use them to threaten democracy and freedom around the world.

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