The worst is yet to come: Unemployed Americans should hunker down for more job losses

BY NOURIEL ROUBINI

Sunday, November 15th 2009, 4:00 AM

Think the worst is over? Wrong. Conditions in the U.S.labor markets are awful and worsening. While the official unemployment rate is already 10.2% and another 200,000 jobs were lost in October, when you include discouraged workers and partially employed workers the figure is a whopping 17.5%.

While losing 200,000 jobs per month is better than the 700,000 jobs lost in January, current job losses still average more than the per month rate of 150,000 during the last recession.

Also, remember: The last recession ended in November 2001, but job losses continued for more than a year and half until June of 2003; ditto for the 1990-91 recession.

So we can expect that job losses will continue until the end of 2010 at the earliest. In other words, if you are unemployed and looking for work and just waiting for the economy to turn the corner, you had better hunker down. All the economic numbers suggest this will take a while. The jobs just are not coming back.

There's really just one hope for our leaders to turn things around: a bold prescription that increases the fiscal stimulus with another round of labor-intensive, shovel-ready infrastructure projects, helps fiscally strapped state and local governments and provides a temporary tax credit to the private sector to hire more workers. Helping the unemployed just by extending unemployment benefits is necessary not sufficient; it leads to persistent unemployment rather than job creation.

The long-term picture for workers and families is even worse than current job loss numbers alone would suggest. Now as a way of sharing the pain, many firms are telling their workers to cut hours, take furloughs and accept lower wages. Specifically, that fall in hours worked is equivalent to another 3 million full time jobs lost on top of the 7.5 million jobs formally lost.

This is very bad news but we must face facts. Many of the lost jobs are gone forever, including construction jobs, finance jobs and manufacturing jobs. Recent studies suggest that a quarter of U.S. jobs are fully out-sourceable over time to other countries.

Other measures tell the same ugly story: The average length of unemployment is at an all time high; the ratio of job applicants to vacancies is 6 to 1; initial claims are down but continued claims are very high and now millions of unemployed are resorting to the exceptional extended unemployment benefits programs and are staying in them longer.

Based on my best judgment, it is most likely that the unemployment rate will peak close to 11% and will remain at a very high level for two years or more.

The weakness in labor markets and the sharp fall in labor income ensure a weak recovery of private consumption and an anemic recovery of the economy, and increases the risk of a double dip recession.

As a result of these terribly weak labor markets, we can expect weak recovery of consumption and economic growth; larger budget deficits; greater delinquencies in residential and commercial real estate and greater fall in home and commercial real estate prices; greater losses for banks and financial institutions on residential and commercial real estate mortgages, and in credit cards, auto loans and student loans and thus a greater rate of failures of banks; and greater protectionist pressures.

The damage will be extensive and severe unless bold policy action is undertaken now.

Roubini is professor of Economics at the Stern School of Business at New York University and Chairman of Roubini Global Economics.

Top economic prognosticator says job seekers

must face grim economic facts

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/11/15/2009-11-15_the_worst_is_yet_to_come_unemployed_americans_should_hunker_down_for_more_job_lo.html#ixzz0XWTHGpOU

Hackers 'expose global warming con': Sceptics claim that leaked emails reveal research centre massaged temperature data

 

By FIONA MACRAE
Last updated at 6:50 PM on 21st November 2009

One of the world’s leading climate change research centres has been accused of manipulating data on global warming after thousands of private emails and documents were leaked.

Hackers targeted the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit and published the files, including some personal messages, on the internet.

Among the most damaging is one which appears to suggest using a ‘trick’ to massage years of temperature data to ‘hide the decline’.

Hackers targeted the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit, pictured, and published sensitive emails on the internet

The CRU, which plays a leading role in compiling UN reports and tracks long-term
changes in temperature, has repeatedly refused to provide detailed information about the data underlying the temperature records.

It is thought that this could have triggered the theft. Climate change sceptics claim that some of the leaked messages discuss ways of manipulating data that fails to comply
with the establishment view that climate change is real and is being driven by man.

The email suggesting ‘hiding the decline’ is purported to be from Phil Jones, the unit’s
director.

He denied trying to mislead, telling the TGIF digital newspaper he had no idea what he
meant by the phrase.

‘That was an email from ten years ago,’ he said. ‘Can you remember the exact context of an email you wrote ten years ago?’

Another message has been interpreted as an attempt to control the publication of
research carried out by sceptical scientists.

One way of doing this would be by loading the panel of researchers who review papers ahead of publication with experts who are ‘on-message’.

Talk of a figure being ‘shoehorned’ into a report from the UN’s International Panel of
Climate Change appears in another of the documents.

Although the data was stored on the university’s computer system, the email exchanges also involve experts from other institutions around the world.

A spokesman for the University of East Anglia said: ‘We are aware that information from a server used for research information in one area of the university has been made available on public websites.

‘Because of the volume of this information we cannot currently confirm that all of
this material is genuine.

‘This information has been obtained and published without our permission and we took immediate action to remove the server in question from operation.

‘We are undertaking a thorough internal investigation and we have involved the
police in this inquiry.’

The Met Office collaborates with the East Anglia unit on a variety of research projects,
including global temperature records.

Spokesman Dave Britton said the two organisations had to turn down numerous Freedom of Information requests because they did not hold the copyright to the data.

‘There is a feeling we are hiding something,’ he said. ‘But we are not, we just can’t
release the data.’

He said that is was unclear whether some of the documents had been tampered
with, adding: ‘We are not concerned about the robustness of the science we are pushing but we are worried about it being interpreted out of context.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1229740/Hackers-expose-global-warming-Claims-leaked-emails-reveal-research-centre-massaged-temperature-data.html#ixzz0XWSH32Tm

1918 RBD D225G in Lung Cases in Ukraine and Norway

1918 RBD D225G in Lung Cases in Ukraine and Norway
Recombinomics Commentary 11:29
November 21, 2009

For the two 1918 HA variants, the South Carolina (SC) HA (with Asp190, Asp225) bound exclusively alpha2-6 receptors, while the New York (NY) variant, which differed only by one residue (Gly225), had mixed alpha2-6/alpha2-3 specificity, especially for sulfated oligosaccharides.
The above description is from a paper analyzing receptor binding domain differences in sequences from the 1918 pandemic.  The New York variant had D225G, the same change found in lung tissues from fatal swine H1N1 sequences in Brazil, Ukraine, and Norway.  The above result clearly demonstrated a change in receptor specificity for D225G, which was present in A/New York/1/1918 and A/London/1/1919, demonstrating the same change I 1918 that has been described in 2009.  Although WHO stated that this change was "not significant" in the Ukraine samples, it was associated with the fatal cases and is cause for concern.  The concern was increased by the announcement from Norway indicating the same change was found in fatal H1N1 lung infections there also.
Although there have been comments that this change was "spontaneous" and did not spread, the finding of the same change in all four deceased patients in Ukraine from two distinct locations, indicates it did spread, as did the finding of the same change in multiple cases in Brazil and Norway.  Although the concept of "random mutation" has been used to explain away the sudden appearance of the same polymorphism on multiple backgrounds, the appearance via recombination is a much stronger argument for the same change to appear at multiple locations at the same time.
The spontaneous mutation theory, which is the foundation of WHO policy and statements on significance of changes relies heavily on a "selection" component, arguing that the same change keeps appearing on different backgrounds because of string selection pressure.  However, this same phenomenon was described for a silent mutation on H5N1, which offers no clear selection pressure.  Similarly, a silent change was also found in seasonal H1N1 in sequences that had acquired the Tamiflu resistance marker, H274Y.  Thus, these silent (synonymous) changes string argue against a coincidental spontaneous mutation, and instead argue that this acquisition is concurrently acquired because of a widespread common donor.
The concept of acquisition via recombination has serious implications for the current pandemic.  It was used to predict the D225G change, in part because the change was "in play" and appearing in July/August sequences at increasing frequency, even though the H1N1 sequences represented different genetic backgrounds.  Similarly the clusters of Tamiflu resistance in Wales and North Carolina are also driven by recombination, as happened when the identical change was acquired in H1N1 seasonal flu in patients who were not taking Tamiflu (oseltamivir).
Thus, the concept of recombination predicts that the D225G receptor binding domain change, and the H274Y Tamiflu resistance change, which continue to spread via recombination

Norway's police crack down on "alternative medicine" as scare mongering over "new mutated" virus grows

The Flu Case

As the hype and fear mongering grows in Norway over the emergence of a new mutated "killer" virus, the local media has reported that police have carried out coordinated raids to crack down on suppliers of alternative medicine.
It is not clear why "alternative" medicines, including vitamins and colloidal silver, which have been proven to offer safe, effective and inexpensive ways of protection against any virus, are being subjected to restrictions in Norway right now if there really is a killer virus about.
It would appear the government is trying to limit Norwegians choice for treating this "mutated virus"  to a toxic and untested swine flu jab that will offer no protection against any mutated virus and that contains mercury and squalene and so will most likely cause damage.
NASA, the US space agency, recommends colloidal silver for its astronauts because it has been found to be one of the most effective ways of killing disease-creating organisms of any kind.
Boosting vitamin C and D levels will strengthen the immune system.

Vaccine use halted after baby deaths

Dutch News
November 17, 2009

The Dutch health institute RIVM has stopped the distribution of a batch of Pfizer’s Prevnar childhood vaccine following the death of three babies shortly after being vaccinated.

The vaccine has been labeled ‘do not use’ and and new supplies have been made available to doctors.

The exact cause of the death of the infants is not yet known, the RIVM said. The babies died between one and 11 days after the vaccination.

Gold, Silver, Economy + More By: Bob Chapman, The International Forecaster

  International Forecaster November 2009 (#5) - Gold, Silver, Economy + More
  By: Bob Chapman, The International Forecaster

18 November 2009

The following are some snippets from the most recent issue of the International Forecaster. For the full 37 page issue, please see subscription information below.

US MARKETS

The Federal Reserve faces the biggest blows to its authority and independence in five decades under legislation championed by its lead overseer in the U.S. Senate.  The financial-regulation overhaul proposed yesterday by Senator Christopher Dodd would strip the Fed of its role as a bank supervisor and give Congress a greater voice in naming the officials who set interest rates. The measure opens the door to interference from politicians who might disagree with any move by the Fed to raise rates from record lows, former central bank officials said.

Brazil, South Korea, Russia and other developing nations are fighting a losing battle to mute gains in their currencies as a falling dollar and economic recovery create more demand for their assets than central banks can handle. South Korea Deputy Finance Minister Shin Je Yoon said… the country will leave the level of its currency to market forces after adding about $63 billion to its foreign exchange reserves this year. Chile Finance Minister Andres Velasco said… that lawmakers approved an increase in local debt sales to finance spending, a move that will allow the government to keep more of its dollar-based savings overseas and slow the peso’s rally.  Governments are amassing record foreign-exchange reserves as they direct central banks to buy dollars in an attempt to stem the greenback’s slide.

China, rejecting calls from Europe and Japan, will keep the yuan from gaining against the dollar until exports revive, state researchers said.  Policy makers are unlikely to allow the currency to resume its appreciation this year after keeping it almost unchanged since July 2008. Zhu Baoliang, the chief economist at the State Information Center, said. China will stick with its ‘tough stance’ on the currency, Zhang Ming, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.

The number of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their properties are worth fell in the third quarter as values stabilized and some homes were lost to foreclosure, Zillow.com said.  About 21% of owners of mortgaged homes were underwater, down from 23% in the second quarter.

Bloomberg (Darrell Preston):  U.S. states, which are closing $250 billion of budget deficits, will be forced to grapple with diminished revenue until at least 2012, a survey of fiscal officials found.  The only thing that kept states from ‘draconian’ spending cuts has been $135 billion of funding under President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package, according to a report from the National Governors Associations and the National Association of State Budget Officers. Revenue fell 7.5% in fiscal 2009, forcing states to close budget gaps of $72.7 billion.  These are the worst numbers we’ve ever seen,’ said Scott Pattison, executive director of the budget directors group. States have been forced to lay off and furlough employees, raise taxes, drain rainy day funds and sharply cut state spending.

Last week the Dow rose 2.5%; the S&P 2.3%, the Russell 2000, up 1% and the NASDAQ 100 rose 3.3%. Cyclicals surged 4.7%; transports 2.8%; consumers 2.7%; utilities 1.0%; banks 0.7%; broker/dealers 2.6%; high tech 3.7% semis 5.2%; Internets 3.1% and biotechs were unchanged. Gold bullion rose $24.00 and the HUI rose 4.1%. The dollar fell 0.7% to 75.25.

Two-year T-bills yielded 0.81%, down 4 bps; the 10’s were 8 bps lower at 3.42%, as the German 10-year bund rose 2 bps to 3.38%.

Freddie Mac 30-year fixed rate mortgages fell 7 bps to 4.91%. The 15’s fell 4 bps to 4.36%; the one-year ARMs fell 1 bps to 4.46% and the 30-year fixed jumbos fell 19 bps to 5.91%.

Fed credit declined $33.2 billion to $2.116 trillion. Fed foreign holdings of Treasury, Agency debt increased $6.9 billion to a record $2.917 trillion. Custody holdings for foreign central banks expanded at an 18.4% rate ytd and yoy 16.3%.

M2, narrow, money supply declined $6.5 billion to $8.387 trillion. Year-to-date it is up 28% and 5.7% yoy.

Total money market fund assets fell another $3.8 billion to $3.335 trillion. They are off $495 billion ytd, or 14.9% annualized, and 8.3% yoy.

Those who believe we are in a recovery mode and that we have seen the bottom of the residential real estate problem are mistaken. Wait, as well, for the commercial market to start collapsing over the next three years.

Mortgage resets and rising unemployment are spreading foreclosure all over the country not just in the hot spots. Those cities that have been spared are about to get hit. Wall Street and Washington would have us believe recovery is upon us. That is not true, as we see sharp increases in foreclosure activity. Just think what it would be like if our government wasn’t writing lots of subprime loans? Foreclosures continue to outpace sales as exotic ALT-A, Option ARM pick-and-pay, and quality loan foreclosures run rampant.

We ask how can you have a recovery with these ongoing foreclosures and 22.2% unemployment? These problems are not temporary. They are systemic and long-term. 8.4 million jobs have been lost since November 2007, and over the previous seven years five million jobs were lost, mainly to free trade, globalization, offshoring and outsourcing, which hasn’t abated. That is 13.4 million jobs.

In the recent unemployment report 34,000 temporary jobs were created, unfortunately they will for the most part only last through Christmas. Unemployment was 25% during the depression. It is headed much higher then anyone anticipates. David Rosenberg and Meredith Whitney see unemployment at 13%. If you super impose that 2-3/4% increase on our 22.2% real unemployment you have 25%. That is because serious structural problems underlie our entire labor, economic and financial markets that are not being addressed. All that is being done by government and the fed is more money being thrown at the problem and that is not the answer. Those who believe that U6 and U3 will somehow meet are engaging in wishful thinking. The birth/death ratio is a bogus scam, yet none of the economists or analysts dares to address it. This isn’t economics – it is politics and lying by government, Wall Street and the economic community. We are Japan in 1992 only worse. We could go on like this for 20 years in depression. Save that the Illuminists will pull the plug when they are ready to plunge the world into darkness and chaos.

As a result of unemployment Americans are spending less. Sales taxes have fallen on average 12% nationwide. All states had yoy negative collections in October. Any gains being made by individual stores are due to less competition. You could say it is creative destruction. If this is so how did our economy grow 3.5% in this past quarter? Some say government has just thrown out this number. The adjustment will come in at 2-1/2%. The 3.5% was used to rig the stock market and take heat off of banking, Wall Street and the government. A lot of misdirection for the common good, or the end justifies the means. Very simply how can sales be up, or for that matter the economy, when unemployment is still rising? The administration says 55% of the stimulus has been spent. We see very little as a result. Supposedly 21% is to be spent in 2010 and the rest in 2011. The economy needs 125,000 jobs a month for the next five years to get even. Even if another $1 to $2 trillion stimuli and bank lending packages are completed for next year all they will gain is another year of parallel movement. Worse yet, over the next ten years 2.5 million new workers will enter the workforce each year. This means at the minimum the unemployment rate of 22% plus will be with us for three or more years. Unfortunately on top of all this grief, Nancy Pelosi wants to increase taxes substantially. That would knock the economy out of the box. If HR 1207 is not passed 75% of the public that wants it passed will finally come to realization that they are never going to have representation in Congress because it is controlled by great wealth from behind the scenes by elitists. That will be the seminal moment that will signal a move toward revolution, as the Illuminists final move toward world government begins. The same situation is arising in Europe with unemployment over 30% for workers from 17 to 35 years old. How long can their social system carry that burden? Muslims have virtually overrun Europe as illegal aliens have overrun the US. In neither case has the system been purged, nor has an environment where small business, that creates 70% of the jobs, can thrive. Government stimulus only temporarily creates jobs. It is private investment that creates permanent jobs and real increases in productivity.

We wonder what the 96% of experts think about, who believe that gold is going down, think about as it increases in value almost every day? Speculative funds now hold more than 23 million ounces of gold in Comex positions. In just a month in a half the GLD positions are up 300,000 ounces, as many holders sell to buy bullion and shares because they do not believe the ETF GLD has the gold they say they have. Presently all 12 ETFs hold 56.7 million ounces of gold, worth about $63 billion. Gold and silver related mutual funds held about $20 billion.

We are finally starting to see upward pressure in real interest rates, although the Fed is fiercely fighting the trend and on the short end of the market has remained successful. It is only a matter of time before yields rise as inflation picks up momentum in 2010. We see 10-year T-note yields of 4% and perhaps 4.5% by the end of next year as a result of monetization and increased money and credit to combat the strong deflationary undertow.

We find it disappointing other professionals only see the inflationary reflection in yields and not into a flight to quality, as investors seek safety from all fiat currencies. Part of gold’s strength is a result of anticipation of inflation, but what has been really driving gold prices over the past two years has been a flight to safety and the preservation of assets.

Another positive for gold, which virtually no one discusses, is rising trade differences and the imposition of tariffs, which we just saw as the US slapped tariffs on Chinese tires and steel pipe. At the same time as election year 2010 appears so does increased Treasury debt issuance, Fed monetization and talk of more major stimulus. They are assisted by $8,000 home credits for anyone who hasn’t owned a home for three years. They figure that will throw $25 billion into clearing housing inventory. They know 60% of these subprime loans will come right back at them in two years, but they could care less. It is all about buying time.

Default is still 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 years away. Government refuses to cut spending and it will have great difficulty in raising taxes. Reflation signs are everywhere. It began last May and now officially inflation is 1.2%. Do not think for one moment that many professionals know real inflation is 6-1/8%. The monetary base has doubled in just two years. Anyone who understands the gold market knows that production decreased 10 years ago. There definitely is peak gold.

As a result central banks are buyers of gold. India ostensibly purchased 200 tons of gold from the IMF leaving it with foreign exchange reserves of gold of 6%. If they increased that back to 20% where it was 15 years ago gold prices would increase by $200 an ounce or to $1,320 an ounce. If China did the same thing the result would be $1,420. If the US did the same thing that would put gold at $2,770. These kind of possible factors have in fact become in part probable. What other central banks are buyers that we don’t know about? Another positive factor is 96% of gold experts are bearish and 88% of market pundits are bullish. As you know, when almost all the market experts agree, they are almost always wrong. if you take just a quick look at what government and the Fed are doing you have to conclude that economic, financial, fiscal and monetary policy is worsening, not getting better. We are facing major inflation and the dollar continues its trip downward. We see no dollar rally until we hit 71 to 72 on the USDX and even then a rally to 76 or 78 would be normal. Besides gold has decoupled from the dollar. Technicians continue to fool themselves on the short term by refusing to admit our markets are manipulated by the President’s “working Group on Financial Markets.” We are in a bear market rally and it is on its last legs, just as similar rallies were in 1931, 1932 and 1933.

Other factors to consider are zero-interest rates, which means the cost of owning gold is very favorable. There is no yield differential, so there is little risk in owning gold. As such rates prevail we see the Japanese experience of the past 18 years being the coming American experience. We, as the Japanese have done, are spending and accumulating debt at a rate never seen in the history of our country. Those fiat funds are going to all the wrong places just like we are currently witnessing in China. As a result the public has cut spending, is paying off debt, and banks have cut lending 14% yoy. Most of these fiat dollars have ended up in the stock market. Perverting the whole scenario is worldwide central bank inflation as banks suppress the value of their currencies to stay competitive and to keep the dollar strong, and it is not working. Finally catching on those banks are now, instead of buying Treasuries, with the dollars they have purchased, they are buying gold. This is protection against any further fall in the dollar. They look back at when the US beat them over the head to sell gold at prices from $252 an ounce to $800 an ounce, and see how they were taken. They again see why gold is superior to dollars and other fiat currencies, including their own.

A major problem in evaluating the soundness of a currency is the almost total lack of transparency in what central banks are doing. As long as this persists in today’s environment the less investors will be willing to hold dollars and most other currencies. It is worthless to believe that the US has 77.4% of its assets in gold, when there hasn’t been an audit, nor has the gold been tested for authenticity since 1954. Does Germany really have 69.2% in gold;France 66.6% or the UK 17.6%, or China 1.9%? We do not know. There is not transparency and all governments refuse to tell the truth. There is no question nations are now buying gold and China is strongly encouraging gold ownership. As a result, China the world’s largest gold producer, is now going to see that production consumed by Chinese savers continues. Even Harrod’s is selling gold coins and bars and is doing a brisk business in the heart of London.

More evidence of what may lie ahead is the inability of the CFTC in its latest investigation in market manipulation in gold and silver and commodities to come to some conclusion. It is obvious they are dragging their feet in order to let commercials cover their shorts. In silver that hasn’t happened, because JP Morgan Chase and HSBC are trapped and in gold covering has not been easy even at a loss, as gold rises almost every day. In fact, during this one year period the manipulative banks who are short have increased their short positions, not reduced them. The exchanges are in trouble as well. Comex borrows gold from Canada, who would have us believe they lost their gold, and from the ECB and the London OTC-LBMA gold market couldn’t deliver, so the Bank of England had to make delivery for them with coin melt. The only country with coin melt is the US, unless it was swapped earlier with the Bank of England. There is no doubt strange things are happening. The lack of deliverable bullion is a major problem in both metals.

We believe an integral part of the problem is the situation in the gold and silver ETFs, which have only partial transparency. These ETFs were created by the powers behind government to siphon off investment funds from the purchase of bullion and shares. We must have an immediate independent outside audit of GLD and SLV and other similar vehicles. We believe it will be found that only 30% of their holdings are in bullion and the remainder in nothing but paper promises. How much bullion is being held for shorts and how much has been lent to the US government? Even if the investigation is covered up eventually they will be a short squeeze and default and we will see another major scandal and major losses as investors flee into bullion and shares. Even if a cash only settlement is made to extricate the shorts there still will be a flight to bullion and shares that will have a tremendous upward impact on prices. New tougher regulations won’t save GLD and SLV. They will be for all intents and purposes a sad part of history.

The game of the elitists behind government in silver and gold is nearing a conclusion. The suppression of gold can only be affected for a few days at a time after which we return to normal market conditions. The CFTC cannot avoid the inevitable much longer. We would also like to add that we find repugnant the efforts of newsletter writers to make excuses for these criminal Illuminists. You do not reason with thieves. The sad result will be no one will go to jail. They will be the usual minor fines and these crooks will cheat the public in another venue.

There are several ways you can look at to determine where gold should be selling at. We believe the easiest way is to clock official and real inflation since 1980. Official inflation would put gold at $2,400 and real inflation at $6,700, or to quote John Williams $7.150. This is all scientific and the numbers are real. The question that follows is how much gold does central banks have left of their 31,000 tons 15 years ago? We believe it is less than 5,000 tons. We also believe there is a derivative covered short of between 50,000 to 100,000 tons. There is no way of actually knowing, because governments and other players refuse to tell us what their positions are. They say we do not have a need to know – or it is a state secret. That means there is no free market. We are told that total economic reserves of gold to be mined are 50,000 tons. That, of course, means any shorts beyond that cannot be covered. That means higher prices. Yes, we do have peak gold and lots of uncoverable shorts. That means gold has a long way to go to the upside along with silver.

Published and Edited by: Bob Chapman bob@intforecaster.com

www.theinternationalforecaster.com

Record numbers go hungry in the US

Government report shows 50m people unable to put food on the table at some point last year.

• Chris McGreal in Washington
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 17 November 2009 18.25 GMT

 

One in six of the population could not afford to buy sufficient food to stay healthy at some point last year. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

More than a million children regularly go to bed hungry in the US, according to a government report that shows a startling increase in the number of families struggling to put food on the table.

President Barack Obama, who pledged to eradicate childhood hunger, has described as "unsettling" the agriculture department survey, which says 50 million people in the US – one in six of the population – were unable to afford to buy sufficient food to stay healthy at some point last year, in large part because of escalating unemployment or poorly paid jobs. That is a rise of more than one-third on the year before and the highest number since the survey began in 1995.

The agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, said: "These numbers are a wake-up call … for us to get very serious about food security and hunger, about nutrition and food safety in this country."

Vilsack said he expected the numbers to worsen when the survey for this year is released in 2010.

The report said 6.7 million people were defined as having "very low food security" because they regularly lacked sufficient to eat. Among them, 96% reported that the food they bought did not last until they had money to buy more. Nearly all said they could not afford to eat balanced meals. Although few reported that this was a permanent situation throughout the year, 88% said it had occurred in three or more months.

Nearly half reported losing weight because they did not have enough money to buy food.

The number of children living in households where there were shortages of food at times rose by nearly one-third to 17 million. The report says that most parents who did not get enough to eat ensured their offspring received sufficient food but that more than 1 million children still suffered outright hunger.

The worst affected states are in the south with Mississippi having the largest proportion of its population enduring shortages of food followed by Texas and Arkansas. More than half of those affected are minorities, principally black people and Hispanics.

Millions more Americans do not go hungry only because they are so poor they receive government food stamps or rely on handouts from food banks such as Feeding America. In some states, such as West Virginia, one in six of the population is on food stamps.

Vicki Escarra, head of Feeding America which runs 200 food banks across the country feeding 25 million people, described the report as "alarming" and noted that the situation is continuing to deteriorate.

"Although these new numbers are staggering, it should be noted that these numbers reflect the state of the nation one year ago, in 2008. Since then the economy has significantly weakened, and there are likely many more people struggling with hunger than this report states," she said.

Feeding America said there had been a "dramatic increase" in requests for emergency food assistance from food banks across the US. It said that food banks in some parts of the country were requesting more than a 50% increase in assistance than over a year ago.

"Our network food banks are calling us every day, telling us that demand for emergency food is higher than it has ever been in our history," said Escarra.

The principal cause is unemployment, which has risen past 10%, as well as increasing numbers of people who have had their hours cut back or been forced in to minimum wage jobs. Even before the recent economic collapse many working people were struggling to meet rising living costs, such as those who drive long distances to their jobs in rural states who were hit by the rising cost of fuel.

Feeding America said 40%of the people it helps live in families with at least one working adult.

Charities say that many of those who fall into financial difficulties take years to get back on their feet and so the problem is likely to persist for years.

The report comes as the United Nations holds a summit in Rome on food security. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, told the summit that a child dies of hunger every five seconds somewhere in the world and that more than 1 billion live with hunger.

Low flying planes reported in the UK and Poland tonight

The Flu Case Nov. 18, 2009

Reports are coming in of planes flying low tonight over Cracow in Poland also over Derby in the Peak District in the UK.
"We're getting info from our readers in England - there are several slow and low flying planes over Derby "working" for a quite long time (inf from 11;07PM), there is a high wind."

The Flu Case also received an email saying:

"There seems to be something going on in derby uk the last 2nights kept me awake last night low flying either helicopters or planes it is earlier tonight started 11ish and it was 3 till 5 am this morning ? we took a picture from our phone tonight i will get my husband to send it to you shortly. it is a helicopter tonight looking over the grounds with lights at first it looked like it was spraying with the tensity of the light .but i do hear another either plane or helicopter flying around its still going ´....ps close to our house at the moment," email from Derby resident.
"Also above Warsaw (now!) There is a report from near Okecie (Airport) that for 25 minutes large propeller plane is flying circles, The plane is quite low. There are no planes departing Okecie at this time. It is the first time our reader heard such a plane for for long time," email from Poland.

PNEUMONIC PLAGUE REPORTED IN EASTERN POLAND

 

Reports are coming in of people dying of symptoms similar to the pneunomic plague in an Emergency Room in Bialystok in the north east of Poland.
A doctor reported treating three patients with symptoms similar to the pneumonic plague, including burned lungs. One the patients died in his arms. The doctor said that it appeared be a bacterial infection and that no antibiotics worked. He also thought it could be a more virulent strain of the swine flu.
The victims came from small villages close to Bialystok.
Low flying aircraft were heard in the region a few nights ago.
Cases similar to the pneumonic plague have also be reported in Lithuania, close to the Polish border and to Bialystok.
The appearance of something resembling the pneumonic plague in Poland shortly after low flying aircraft made carried out unexplained missions during the night time in the same area has parallels with the recent incident in the Ukraine.
Witnesses reported low flying planes carrying out aerosol spraying shortly before the pneumonic plague was diagnosed in victims a few days later.
The Ukrainian government and WHO moved swiftly to declare the swine flu virus had mutated to become more dangerous and implement martial law.

This is an email from Poland:
My friend a doctor who works in Emergency Room in Bialystok (Eastern North of Poland) called me saying that he had 3 cases of patients with symptoms similar to the pneumonic plague. "If it is h1n1, so it means that it has changed for very virulent form and it kills in matter of hours". One patient died in his hands. I do not know what happened to other two. He is going to inform me how's the situation, but he expects it to get much worse. No antibiotic works for the disease!

UK bioweapons lab allegedly finds evidence swine flu has mutated in the Ukraine

The Flu Case November 17, 2009

Doctors on the ground in the Ukraine have reported people haved died from the pneumonia plague but scientists from the Uk bioweapons lab, the Institute of Medical Research at Mill Hill, now appear to be claiming that the swine flu virus has mutated to become more virulent and is causing large numbers of deaths.

WHO has confirmed that „no significant changes in the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus“ has taken place „based on investigations of samples taken from patients in Ukraine“ but has not released the sequences. WHO has also not investigated the appearance of the plague, it seems.

Will WHO and their allies in UK labs use the pandemic plague as a cover for introducing a genetically modified, virulent virus into vaccines?

Check out the ukraineplague.blogspot.com for updates:

Influenza in Ukraine mutated and burns the lungs, British Scientists say

British scientists studying a strain of swine influenza, because of which the epidemic began in Ukraine, suspect that there was a dangerous virus mutation, writes Daily Mail.

Некоторые симптомы, по словам врачей напоминают вирус "испанки", вспыхнувшей в Европе после Первой мировой войны. Some of the symptoms, doctors say resemble virus "Spanish flu" outbreak in Europe after the First World War. Тогда от вируса умерло по меньшей мере 20 миллионов человек, передаёт InoРressa . Then the virus have died at least 20 million people, reports InoRressa.

В пользу версии о мутации вируса, по словам врачей, говорит то, что лёгкие жертв болезни становятся чёрными, как уголь. In favor of the version of mutation of the virus, according to doctors, said that the lungs of victims of the disease are black as coal.

"Мы провели вскрытие двух жертв и обнаружили, что их лёгкие чёрные, как уголь. Они выглядят так, будто они сгорели. Это ужасно", - сказал один из исследователей. "We conducted an autopsy of the two victims and found that their lungs are black as coal. They look as if they were burned. It's terrible," - said one of the researchers.

В свою очередь, главный врач Львовской больницы скорой помощи Мирон Борисевич определил диагноз, как вирусная пневмония. In turn, the chief doctor of the Lviv Emergency Hospital Miron Borisevich identified diagnosed as viral pneumonia.

"Мы не верим, что это свиной грипп А/H1N1. Но мы не знаем, что это за пневмония", - рассказал он. "We do not believe that this swine influenza A/H1N1. But we do not know what kind of pneumonia," - he said.

Отметим, что раньше сильное влияние нового штамма гриппа на лёгкие было обнаружено в ходе опытов на животных. Note that before strong influence of a new strain of influenza in the lungs was found during experiments on animals. Исследователи из Японии, проверяя действие новых лекарств от свиного гриппа, подтвердили, что болезнь передаётся воздушно-капельным путём и не всегда через непосредственный контакт. Researchers from Japan, testing of new drugs against swine flu, confirmed that the disease is transmitted by airborne droplets and not always through direct contact. Кроме того, они пришли к выводу, что A/H1N1 сильнее, чем обычный грипп, поражает лёгкие. In addition, they concluded that A/H1N1 is stronger than the usual flu affects the lungs.

Именно так действовал в свое время вирус "испанки". This is acted at the time the virus "Spanish flu". Как установили учёные, он вызывал неконтролируемую реакцию иммунной системы, принуждая иммунные клетки атаковать органы респираторной системы. As established scientists, it caused an uncontrolled reaction of the immune system, forcing the immune cells attack the organs of the respiratory system. Такая реакция, как показали опыты на животных, в считанные дни уничтожала их лёгкие и приводила к смерти. Such a reaction, as shown by experiments on animals, in a few days destroyed their lungs and lead to death. Total in the Ukraine of influenza epidemic of complications 299 people died.

Напомним, раньше группа черновицких медиков во главе с начальником бюро Черновицкой областной судмедэкспертизы, профессором Виктором Бачинским , пришла к выводу, что 22 человека, умершие на Буковине за время эпидемии гриппа, погибли от вирусного дистресс-синдрому , то есть тотального поражения лёгких. Recall earlier Chernivtsi Medical Group, headed by the Chief of the Chernivtsi regional forensic bureau, Professor Victor Bachinsky, concluded that 22 people have died in Bukovina during the influenza epidemic, died of viral distress syndrome, ie the total destruction of the lungs.

По словам медиков, эта болезнь, возникшая в результате смешивания штаммов обычного и свиного гриппа, является новой для Украины, потому необходимо срочно менять методы её лечения. According to doctors, the disease has arisen as a result of mixing conventional and swine strains of influenza, is new to Ukraine, because an urgent need to change its methods of treatment.

These reports are in Direct disagreement to the WHO report below - saying it is the Swine Flu! I thought the WHO looked out for the best interest of the people of the world and their health. But considering they used 34 samples ONLY to test for the Swine Flu or what the is spreading in the Ukraine - I believe they Chose the samples they wanted to (as I mention below). No wonder the Ukraine shut down their one lab last week, they don't want them to disagree with the WHO's findings!

POSTED BY SHERRIE QUESTIONING ALL AT 7:09 AM 0 COMMENTS LINKS TO THIS POST

LABELS: BLACK LUNGS, BLEEDING LUNGS, UKRAINE, UKRAINE PLAGUE, WHO

WHO'S OFFICIAL RELEASE ON UKRAINE 11/17/09 6:55am

WHO'S OFFICIAL RELEASE ON UKRAINE

Release:

17 November 2009 -- Preliminary tests reveal no significant changes in the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus based on investigations of samples taken from patients in Ukraine. Analyses are being performed by two WHO influenza collaborating centres as part of the global influenza surveillance network.
Preliminary genetic sequencing shows that the virus is similar to the virus used for production of the pandemic influenza vaccine, reconfirming the vaccine's efficacy at this time.
Related links
Pandemic (H1N1) 2009
Additional questions about the pandemic virus circulating in Ukraine will be answered as more data is available.
WHO commends the government of Ukraine for its open sharing of samples to inform global monitoring of the virus for signs of change.
A total of 34 samples were analysed independently by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Mill Hill in London, UK, and the WHO Collaborating Centre for the Surveillance, Epidemiology and Control of Influenza in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Now, I get it!! They ONLY used 34 samples to Test! So, Did they take those samples from those who had the bleeding lungs? Or did they ONLY use those, who had the symptoms of the Swine Flu?
In my opinion - I bet they conveniently chose, used and tested the certain samples they wanted to for the outcome they wanted. Sorry, but the symptoms of what is occurring does NOT match the Swine Flu! I also go back to the fact, if this is the case then WHY did the police Need to take the medical records from the hospitals? Sorry, now I do believe they will hide the truth - this report ultimately boils down to them saying "Take the Vaccine"!
I now question if the Truth will ever come out - Maybe some Biologist will do testings on the samples from people who have died with the bleeding lungs. But I guess they will fear for their lives at the same time, since being a Biologist in the last few years has been a very dangerous profession to be in, with all the deaths/murders that have occurred of them.
Check out this link for that information on Steve Quayle's site, I warn you the list is long!

Blogs in the Ukraine shut down as martial law under WHO implemented

Blogs reporting on the pandemic and swine flu vaccination programme in the Ukraine have shut down, including the blog

http://ukrainiantranslator.blogspot.com/

The person writing this blog said they had discontinued it because it was "not their thing" in an email.
Other reports suggest the Ukrainian government is threatening bloggers with arrest if they continue to report on the pandemic, the vaccination programme and the WHO takeover of the Ukraine under the pretext of fighting a pandemic emergency.

Ukraine Dead Increase to 315 - Still No Sequences

Ukraine Dead Increase to 315 - Still No Sequences
Recombinomics Commentary 19:17
November 16, 2009

1,400,999 Influenza/ARI
78,326 Hospitalized
315 Dead
The above totals are from today's report from the Ukraine Ministry of Health.  The increase of 16 fatalities was largely in areas with newer infections and now only 1 of the 27 regions, Luhansk, has not reported a death (see map).  The largest jump in cases was in Kiev, with an increase of 4,964 cases to 104,154.  The climb in patients who have been hospitalized to 78,326 suggests patients are being hospitalized and treated, but the number of deaths continue to increase at a rate of 16-26 per day.
The steady increase in the number of fatalities continues to cause concerns of small genetic changes.  WHO has not directly answered questions at news conferences, and the role of single nucleotide chnages changes in the high number of hemorrhagic fatalities remains unclear.
Poland is now also reporting fatalities, although not at the level of Ukraine.  However, there have been a significant number of fatalities in Belarus, raising concerns of spread.
Release of the Ukraine sequences is long overdue.

The European BioWar outbreak, by Dr Rebecca Carley

A Tale of Two Stories: The European BioWar outbreak and the censoring of it by the mainstream news media.

The Flu Case Dr Rebecca Carley November 16, 2009

The biggest story on the Planet today is the outbreak of a very serious Advanced Biological War virus in Europe.
The second biggest story on the Planet is the suppression of this story for almost two weeks by the corporate owned mainstream news media.

There is a lot we know and a lot that we can only speculate on about what is unfolding in Central Europe. We know that in mid-October, less than a month ago, there was a growing number of cases of what many thought was Swine Flu (A/H1N1) in the western part of the Ukraine. We know that many hundreds if not thousands of people in western Ukraine witnessed low flying light airplanes aerosol spraying something over

Ukrainian cities during the days of October 29, 2009 and October 31, 2009.
We know that beginning the night of October 29th, massive

numbers of people begin to get very sick. We know that the Ukraine

government issued a statement denying that it was doing any aerial

spraying to combat the growing disease or authorizing any spraying

over Ukrainian cities. We know that by October 30th, the Ukrainian

authorities closed all schools for three weeks and banded public

gatherings.

We do NOT know what disease the people were/are coming down with. We

do know that doctors are describing the disease as Pneumonic Plague,

or as some type of hemorrhagic fever, or as hemorrhagic influenza, or

as hemorrhagic pneumonia. We know that the illness, whatever it is,

does not appear to be A/H1N1. We do not know if the disease is a

recombination of A/H1N1 with other viruses or some totally different

virus or if it is in fact a virus. We know that the World Health

Organization (WHO) has had several days to sequence the genes of the

disease but has failed to release this data.

We know that WHO has NOT called for the quarantining of the Ukraine

or the shutdown of all global travel to/from the area of infection and

that this is the same thing that they did when Mexican Swine Flu

(A/H1N1) first broke out and that the failure to contain that virus

early on ensured its spread throughout the world.

We know that the internal temperature of the lungs of those with a

terminal case of what many are calling 'Ukrainian Plague' is often

from 130F to 135F. We do know that autopsies show that the lungs are

filled with blood, and are black in color, and that the lung tissue

has turned to mush. We know that patients who first show any signs of

illness usually crash in less than 48 hours, sometimes the same day.

We know that the disease was spreading by about 200,000 per day but

that this has slowed to about 100,000 day now, in the Ukraine, as

people take extraordinary steps to contain the spread of the disease.

We know that well over one and a third million people in the Ukraine

are very ill with the disease (according to published official

sources) and that over 60,000 are hospitalized in serious to critical

condition. We know that the disease has a very high transmission rate

with a likely low amount of viral (if it is in fact a virus) material

needed to cause an infection. We know that the official reports of

deaths are under 300 in the Ukraine. We also know that it is normal

for hospital admissions of people with ARI (acute respiratory

infection) to have a fatality rate of from 5% to 10%. We know that

non-official sources were reporting over 3,000 deaths several days ago

and that this number is more in tune with the 5-10% fatality rate than

the official figures.

We do not know what effective treatments are for this illness. We do

know that young adults seem to be more in danger of this illness. We

suspect that 'cytokine storming' similar to that in the 1918 Spanish

Flu, that killed approximately 50 million people, is taking place.

We know from official Ukrainian Health Ministry reports that the

illness does not test out as Mexican Swine Flu (A/H1N1). We do not

know if the existing Swine Flu vaccine has any effect, but based on

the non-positive response to Swine Flu in testing, we suspect that the

vaccine is ineffective as the viral protean shell is different than

A/H1N1 (if in fact it is a virus that causes the illness).

We know that the illness has spread to Poland, where over one quarter

of a million people are now very ill. We know that it has spread to

Belarus and to Hungary and elsewhere in central Europe. We know that

900,000 people are said to have Swine Flu in Norway but we do not know

if this is related to Ukraine Plague in any way.

We know that on November 8th a South African site (fto.co.za

) carried the following:

/"Suspicious aircraft were forced to land. A US operated

(Russian-made long-range heavy transport) AN-124 changed its call sign

from civilian to military which then triggered a response from the IAF

(Indian Air Force) upon entering Pakistani air space (forcing) the

plane to land in Mumbai while (a) second one was forced down by

Nigerian fighter jets that also arrested the crew."

"According to reports, China's People's Liberation Army Air Force

contacted the Indian and Nigerian intelligence officials about the

presence of these US operated Ukrainian aircraft amidst growing

concern that the United States was spreading 'biological agents' in

the Earth's atmosphere, which some Chinese officials believed to be an

attempt to (commit) mass genocide via the spread of H1N1 swine flu."

These aircraft "were carrying 'waste disposal' systems that could

spray up to 45,000kg (nearly 100,000 pounds) of aerial type mist from

sophisticated....nano pipes" in the planes' wings - called

chemtrails./

We know that Baxter International Pharmaceuticals sent 72 kilos of

human influenza H3N2 vaccine materials to 16 labs in European nations

which contained live H5N1 Bird Flu viruses. We know that this was only

discovered when a Czech lab tested the material on several ferrets

(ferrets have a similar respiratory system to humans) and all of the

ferrets died in short order. We know that Baxter claimed that this was

human error. We also know that such a 'human error' is basically

impossible with the containment protocols in place at Baxter and any

other modern biolabs using Biosafety Level 3 (BLS-3) lab technology.

We know that in mid-August a Joseph Moshe, who is a Mossad biological

warfare expert, called in to Dr. A. True Ott's national radio talk

show and reported that Baxter was getting ready to release a deadly

plague from its Ukrainian lab and that he was shortly meeting with US

Attorneys in Los Angles to give evidence about this. We know that

shortly thereafter Moshe was apprehended by Federal agents and LA

police and taken to the Israeli Consulate. We know that he was quickly

flown to Israel and that no further word has come from him.

We know that over the last three or so years a large number of

biological experts, from a number of places all over the world, have

died strange deaths and that this has been commented on by various

publications in the past.

We know that the sudden appearance of Mexican Swine Flu (A/H1N1)

virtually had to have been a release from a biological warfare lab. We

know that A/H1N1 has gene sequences from three different types

(American, Asian, and African) of Swine Flu, of Bird Flu, of two

different types of human seasonal flu, and of Spanish Flu and that

such a recombination is so unlikely in nature as to be virtually

impossible. We know that the WHO policies of not requiring a major

quarantine of Mexico ensured that A/H1N1 would spread throughout the

world.

We know that the current Swine Flu "Vaccine" is almost totally

untested, and that the manufactures are protected from lawsuits for

even deliberate acts that result in deaths and that nations acquiring

the vaccines are required to sign contracts agreeing not to release

negative information on the "vaccine" to the public. We know that

published additives to the "vaccine" include highly

dangerous-to-human-health substances.

We know that the corporate owned mainstream news media (with strong

links to global banking families) have censored this story in a way

that has never happen before. We know that the outbreak of a unknown

but deadly and very rapidly spreading disease in Europe is the largest

story on Earth but that it is NOT being reported on.

http://europebusines.blogspot.com/

Also found at http://mignews.com.ua/en/articles/378759.html is the

following:

// 13.11.2009 // 14:24 //

Doctors learned why Ukrainians dying! (updated at 06:25 pm)

MIGnews.com.ua

All victims of the virus in Bukovyna (22 people at the age of 20-40)

died not from bilateral pneumonia, as was previously thought, but as a

result of viral distress syndrome, i.e the total destruction of the

lungs.

At first the cardio-pulmonary insufficiency comes, and consequently

cardiogenic shock is developed, which causes cardiac standstill and

death, told the chief of bureau of the Chernivtsi regional forensic

examination, doctor of science, Professor Viktor Bachynsky, UNIAN

reports.

"During a bilateral pneumonia some morphological picture is observed.

As of data of deaths, there is no such morphological picture. The

virus, which causes death, is very aggressive, it does not strike the

trachea, but immediately gets into the lungs and causes heavy swelling

and solid hemorrhage. Mixed types of parainfluenza and influenza

A/N1N1 lead to this state. This is a very toxic strain, which has not

yet answered to the treatment of the Ministry of Health", - said

Viktor Bachinsky.

According to him, there is a need to change the treatment standards,

because those which were used earlier, resulted in nothing – doctors

failed to save all people infected with the virus in the reanimation.

The belt ventilators did not help also.

For this reason a group of professors of Chernivtsi Medical

University appealed to the Ministry of Health and National Security

and Defense Council with a demand to review the standards of treatment

of patients in Bukovyna. Scientists-morphologists sent to Kyiv

reports, studies and analysis of critically ill patients and people

who died of virus.

Viktor Bachinsky noted that the virus is extremely toxic, it is able

to penetrate not only through respiratory apparatus but also through

the eyes. Chernovtsy scientists recommend in any case use masks and

even wear protective spectacles. An important condition to prevent

deterioration of the situation is also the observance of quarantine

regime.

06:19 p.m. Ministry of Health does not consider it is necessary to

publish data on the number of confirmed cases of influenza pandemic in

the laboratory. "Ukraine is in the A/N1N1 influenza pandemic, and now

it does not matter how many of these cases will be detected, we should

treat everybody equally," - said Deputy Minister of Health Vasyl

Lazoryshynets at a briefing on Friday.

Vasyl Lazoryshynets also reminded that in Ukraine since the beginning

of the epidemic 1,25 mn people became ill with pandemic influenza,

influenza and acute respiratory diseases, including 61,000 people -

over the past day, which is by 8,500 less than the previous day.

65,615 people are treated in hospital, including 392 - in the

reanimation, 60 have artificial pulmonary ventilation.

Since the beginning of the epidemic in Ukraine 239 people died,

including 26 people during the last day, most of them are in the

Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Lviv and Ternopil Regions. He also said

that according to the laboratory data, 14 people died of pandemic

influenza, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

06:25 p.m. To date, swine flu in Ukraine is dominant, but not the

only strain, said the head of mission of the World Health Organization

in Ukraine Yukka Pukkila.

Yukka Pukkila said that the strain of pandemic virus is detected in

22 cases of 34 samples sent to the control laboratory, which

collaborates with WHO in London.

At the same time, Yukka Pukkila stressed that, besides Californian

flu in Ukraine there is a large number of varieties of acute

respiratory viral diseases and many other viruses that infect the

respiratory system, reports Liga.

The genocide is now on being fast tracked, as promised by the

murderous cabal controlling the world:

see http://tcrnews2.com/Agenda21.html.

Thank to listeners Verne & Kenneth for this important info...

Also if you missed my show yesterday with Elizabeth Wallace,

grandmother of Christian (who was murdered by his pediatrician with 6

vacs when he was already sick), you can hear the archive, for free and

without commercials, at

http://thelightofdayradioshow.com/archives/RBN-BACKUP/commercialFree.html

(scroll down to 11/14/09 show). VERY IMPORTANT...especially for anyone

you know who still beLIEves that vaccines promote health.

Thank you to Sheldon for these archives...

Lastly, after many people have asked me why I did not have a paypal

button on my site for people to make donations, I have put one up (to

left of the "baby with a needles" picture), in case any of you want to

support my work.

Remember, folks, WE can stop the genocide...do not be afraid! We are

reaching critical mass, if we have not already done so...

Dr C

Chronic fatigue patients fight ‘lazy’ label, support awareness

But you don't look sick: San Diegans suffering from mysterious and misunderstood chronic fatigue syndrome battle daily life

By Jennifer Reed, SDNN Saturday, November 14, 2009

Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as CFS, affects 1 to 4 million Americans.

In the early 1990s, Bob Deering of Scripps Ranch worked as a shipwright.

One day, while building a deck for a client at their residence, Deering was informed that if he had any questions, the man of the house would be coming home to nap that afternoon: he had chronic fatigue syndrome.

“I made disparaging remarks in my own head,” Deering said. “Chronic fatigue. Right. He’s just lazy.”

Little did he know, however, that it would be a day he wouldn’t soon forget.

“That image popped up again 10 years later when I was diagnosed with CFS,” he said.

Today, after trying to work part-time for several years, Deering cannot work at all. He has been sick since July 2001, when he came down with a flu-like illness. After first being diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus-a virus that has been linked to CFS-he was finally told he had chronic fatigue syndrome.

“The first thing I had to give up was my work,” Deering said. “I just kept thinking, any day now, I’ll feel better. It took me years to learn that wasn’t going to happen.”

Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome, is a complex, mysterious and widely misunderstood illness. Characterized by profound fatigue that is not improved with bed rest, the condition also results in a myriad of other debilitating symptoms.

Nancy Gordon, another local sufferer of CFS, was a licensed clinical social worker in a private practice before a car accident in 1992 changed her life. Gordon was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1995, and as she became more paralyzed with pain, fatigue and a loss of cognizance, she finally began to rely on disability in 1998. She was diagnosed with CFS in 2000.

“I try and keep my stress down, which is a constant challenge,” she said. “I exercise whether I feel like it or not. When I’m done, I feel like I’ve accomplished something, which, when you have a chronic illness, is a big deal.”

Deering and Gordon are just two of the 1 to 4 million Americans suffering from CFS. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these victims are seriously impaired, and at least one quarter are unemployed or on disability because of the malady. Despite that, only about half have consulted a physician about the condition.

Exhaustion, poor stamina, sleep difficulties and problems with cognitive functioning such as concentration and short-term memory are all signs of CFS, but the condition is also marked with flu-like symptoms, like joint and muscle pain, tender lymph nodes, sore throat and headache.

“Imagine the worst flu you’ve ever had,” said K. Kimberly McCleary, president and chief executive officer for the CFIDS Association of America. “This is really a kind of bone-draining exhaustion, where you feel like it is just a monumental effort to do any normal activities of daily living. Getting up, getting dressed. All of those things just wipe you out completely. When you’re stuck in bed with the flu, you’re stuck in bed with the flu. It’s not a matter of not wanting to get up. You can’t get up.”

Gordon said she has had “terrible sleep problems” and uses a plethora of drugs and vitamins to keep her going, including an anti-depressant and Adderall, which she described as “legalized speed.”

Deering’s sleep patterns are also occasionally disrupted by CFS.

“Because I’m not doing anything all day, I’m tired, but sometimes I can’t sleep at night.”

While the CDC reports that one-third of those with CFS are unable to maintain full-time employment after becoming ill, disability allowances are available to them, just as with any other medically certified illness. The application for benefits can be long and frustrating, however, and coverage is determined on a case by case basis.

Treatment is also resolved on a case by case basis at this point, said McCleary.

Both Deering and Gordon manage their CFS with behavioral and dietary adjustments-and a little encouragement.

“I have a very supportive spouse,” said Deering, who has been married to his wife-who, for the last eight years, has been the sole wage-earner-for 32 years.

Gordon has her own support group at home as well: two Mexican Hairless Xolo service dogs named Toaster and Pink, whose body heat relieves her aching muscles. She said Toaster can often be found around her neck-at home, at the movies or on a plane-while Pink’s main responsibility is to fetch-Gordon’s cell phone, a throw blanket or even any one of the four TV remotes.

“She prevents me from getting more fatigued,” Gordon said.

While Deering and Gordon struggle with refreshing rest and may seem what we simply call “tired,” McCleary said it is unlikely that poor sleep is actually the cause of CFS. It is also not the key indicator of the condition. Instead, she identifies the hallmark trait as what is known as “post-exertional relapse” or “post-exertional malaise.”

“Any minor amount of physical or mental exertion, whether that’s trying to help your third grader with his math homework or going out to the grocery store, may cause the relapse of all your other symptoms,” she said.

But what’s the trigger?

What actually causes the condition and it’s multitude of symptoms, McCleary said, is a question that research has not answered yet-though we may be getting closer.

Exhaustion, poor stamina, sleep difficulties and problems with cognitive functioning are all signs of CFS.

Just weeks ago, in the Oct. 8 issue of Science, researchers at the Whittemore Peterson Institute at the University of Nevada in Reno found that CFS may be linked to the retrovirus XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus), which is in the AIDS virus family.

The retrovirus, which has also been related to an aggressive form of prostate cancer, was found in 67 percent of the 101 CFS patients tested and only 4 percent of the 218 healthy controls who were tested, McCleary said.

“We are trying to understand what the role of XMRV is and whether that can be an aid in diagnosis and perhaps a route for treatment,” she said. “It’s fighting time right now because it’s kind of re-instilled hope for a lot of people that we’ll find some of these answers in the near term.”

The news also spreads optimism to those who suffer from subsets of CFS, like myalgic encephalomyelitis, a disease akin to CFS that was defined in the 1950s after an outbreak in the United Kingdom, McCleary said.

For now, she said, researchers are relying on current working knowledge, which consists of three ideas. First, it seems likely that sufferers are predisposed to CFS; that is, there is a genetic component involved. On top of that, most people report being in an immune-compromised state at the time they first become ill. The third factor is what is thought to really set off the condition, a bout of flu or mono, or possibly even exposure to environmental toxins.

“From that point, usually a healthy immune system would be able to fight that off and return the body to a healthy state, but what seems to happen in CFS is that after that triggering event, the body goes into kind of a hyper-drive to fight off that infection and never resets itself,” McCleary said. “Most people relate it to, ‘I thought I was coming down with the flu … and I’ve been in bed for 11 years.’”

While clinicians and researchers are striving to make sense of the mysterious illness, CFS patients are busy struggling to be taken seriously.

McCleary attributes the public’s common misconceptions with CFS-that it’s “just tiredness” or even a lifestyle choice in our busy, always accessible lives-to the name. While the symptoms and impact are more like those of multiple sclerosis or lupus, she said, the name suggests something as simple as weekly burnout.

“People laugh and say, ‘Yeah, I’m tired, too,’” said Deering, who has learned to be discreet about revealing his illness.

“I think people who don’t have experience with chronic illness or invisible illness don’t really get it,” Gordon said.

Even a simple task like running errands warrants comments and looks from those who happen to notice her handicap parking permit as she walks into a store, she said.

“I may not be tired going into the store, but when I come out carrying groceries, I will be,” she explained.

It even took some time for her own family to believe the diagnosis.

“I went from having a job to being on disability. Why would someone like me want to live like this?”

While silently hoping for remission, to wake up refreshed and able again, Deering said that until there is a cure, he plans to keep his nose above water.

“You give up an awful lot when you lose your energy,” he said. “But it could be a lot worse. Count your blessings when you do feel better.”

Jennifer Reed is SDNN’s health and wellness editor.  She can be reached at jennifer.reed(at)sdnn.com.

Read more: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2009-11-14/lifestyle/chronic-fatigue-patients-fight-a-lazy-label-advocate-for-awareness#ixzz0X34MoBji

Ukraine Dead Increase to 299 - Still No Sequences

Ukraine Dead Increase to 299 - Still No Sequences
Recombinomics Commentary 22:55
November 15, 2009

1,364,939 Influenza/ARI
75,862 Hospitalized
299 Dead
The above numbers represent the latest update for the Ukraine Ministry of Health.  Once again the number of dead increased by 17, but weekend numbers tend to be lower than weekday reports.  The 299 dead are almost double the 155 reported week ago.  The increased number of dead includes those from locations in central and eastern Ukraine.  Last Sunday 13 of the 27 reporting regions had not exceeded the epidemic threshold, but today only 5 regions remained below the threshold (see map).
There has been more recent media coverage which have suggested that the high number of fatal cases was linked to late treatment or a lack of Tamiflu.  However, at least 6 of the fatalities were healthcare workers and most of the reported deaths were after the warning was issued and schools were closed down, suggesting that many, if not most cases, were not due to late treatment.  The initial WHO report indicated the time between disease onset and hospitalization was 5-7 days, but the more recent report from Ukraine cited a 3-7 day lag, which again suggested that many die in spite of awareness, modest time differentials between symptoms and hospitalization, and appropriate treatment.
Moreover, 90 of the initial cases were describe as having a hemorrhagiccomponent, which again raises concerns about small genetic changes, especially in the receptor binding domain. Answers to questions about such changes have been evasive, and the sequences have not been released by Mill Hill.
The sequence silence remains deafening, and erodes public confidence in agencies controlling these samples and sequences.

Medical Doctor Retracts H1N1 Vaccine Advice After Reading Insert

Kevin Copenhagen Prisonplnet.com Saturday, Nov 14th, 2009

The following video highlights a retraction made by a medical doctor, Dr. Roby Mitchell, after he initially advised a group of nurses to take the H1N1 Swine Flu vaccine. Once he had read the actual package insert which comes with the vaccine and realized that the vaccine makers themselves admit it is untested and may cause a myriad of disorders to include paralysis, neurological damage, possible sterilization and may cause fetal harm in pregnant women (one of the high priority groups targeted to get the vaccine), he retracted his advice so that they would have informed consent.

His reading of the insert also revealed that an adjuvant called MF 59, which is similar to the squalene molecule found in our normal nerve tissue, is indeed in the H1N1 vaccine after we’ve been told that adjuvants had been removed. We need more doctors like this one in our country who use their common sense and not talking points from the media and pharmaceutical industry when giving advice to their patients and colleagues. My sincere compliments go out to Dr. Mitchell.