Friday night Pandemic Watch - Swine Flu coming to you?

[MacCruiskeen]

Where's the freaking link, lbo? I'm not so easily shocked, but this article is mind-blowing.

Here's the article at the Baltimore Chronicle site:

http://baltimorechronicle.com/2009/111109Lendman.shtml

Stephen Lendman's website:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/

I've only skimmed the article so far, and have no idea what to say about it, except .

[chiggerbit]

Compare that with dozens already dead in Canada, a country with only 34 million scattered across the second largest territory in the world. I haven't come up with a conspiracy theory that quite fits yet, but I'm working on it...

I've seen a LOT of discussion about the role that vitamin D may play in flu epidemics, and about whether the minimum recommended levels are anywhere near high enough. It's a theory that makes a lot of sense. Egyptians may get more of it "naturally" than Canadians do, through sunlight, and therefore not be as vulnerable to the bug as Canadians.

[stefano]

I think we've only had six die out of thousands infected, from a population of nearly 80 million crammed into a small strip of land along the Nile. Compare that with dozens already dead in Canada, a country with only 34 million scattered across the second largest territory in the world. I haven't come up with a conspiracy theory that quite fits yet, but I'm working on it...

Maybe it's not conspiracy but just a reflection of different immunity levels? In Canada I'd guess everything's too clean, there aren't enough germs around for people to build effective immune systems. Although if it were the consequence of a 'kill-off' conspiracy it'd make sense for the petty bourgeoisie (in a global sense) to be culled, leaving just the very rich and the very poor?

EDIT- here's the Beeb on the situation in the Ukraine (3/11):

Officials in Ukraine have closed schools for three weeks, imposed travel restrictions and are limiting public events as the country battles to stop the spread of swine flu.

More than 60 people are believed to have died of respiratory problems in the past week, and the measures are among the toughest to be implemented in Europe to tackle the virus.

It's still not clear whether all the deaths were caused by swine flu, but the news has sparked panic, and people have started wearing masks across the country.
...
255,000 cases of flu and acute respiratory problems have been registered among the 46m population. 15,000 have been hospitalised.

[23]

The Ukraine has a very significant homelessness problem. Particularly among their young. Something that their press doesn't like to shine too much light on.

http://englishrussia.com/?p=5748

Disease is a very effective population reducer.

[lightningBugout]

They also have widespread hardcore chronic alcoholism and drug abuse, both of which weaken immunity.

Take that article with a grain of salt, Lendman is a prolific Rense contributor.

[Nordic]

They also have widespread hardcore chronic alcoholism and drug abuse, both of which weaken immunity.

Take that article with a grain of salt, Lendman is a prolific Rense contributor.

Yeah, and anything talking about mysterious "chemtrails" raises red flags for me.

[lightningBugout]

FYI there has now officially been a grand total of 6 cases of GBS allegedly resulting from the H1N1 shot in the US. That is, presumably 6 people who got the H1N1 shot have also reported GBS.

To put that into context (from the linked article), "there are 80 to 120 GBS cases reported each week in the US."

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/282042

[justdrew]

apparently the exact same strain H1N1 that infects humans has been found unmutated infecting turkeys

http://www.google.com/search?q=h1n1+turkeys

The current H1N1 virus strain is a mixture of human, pig and bird genes and has proved to be very contagious but no more deadly than common seasonal flu viruses. However, it could theoretically become more dangerous if it adds virulence by combining with H5N1, commonly known as avian flu, which is far more deadly but harder to pass along among humans.

“Chile does not have H5N1 flu. In South-East Asia where there is a lot of the virus circulating in poultry, the introduction of H1N1 in these populations would be of a greater concern,” said Lubroth.

[chiggerbit]

apparently the exact same strain H1N1 that infects humans has been found unmutated infecting turkeys

Yes, and h1n1 has been found in a domestic turkey flock in Minnesota. I just hope it doesn't hop into wild turkeys up there.

[lightningBugout]

Is it too early to point out that h1n1 didn't end up leading to martial law? And that articles like the following were basically fearmongering horse-shit all along?

[url=http://www.thetotalcollapse.com/swine-flu-path-to-martial-law/]Could a form of martial law be imminent? Obama appears ready to cross the Rubicon, and all he needs is a killer virus.

Let’s connect some dots.[/url]

or that vaccine didn't end up causing any incidents of GBS?

The CDC has specifically looked at cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, she said. In 1976, the swine flu vaccine was associated with increases in this rare but serious neurological disorder.

But the current vaccine has not led to any problems with Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Schuchat said.

Currently, there are 10 reports of potential cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome among vaccinated individuals, Schuchat said. However, "the number of reports, given the number of doses that have gone out there, are not at all notable," she said. "With conditions like Guillain-Barre Syndrome, we think it's important to remember that that happens with or without vaccines, that every week between 80 and 160 people in the United States are diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome. So it's not really surprising that we have a few in our reports right now."

[stickdog99]

Is it too early to point out the H1N1 was all hype and just another flu, except for all the money it made on the backs of suckers?

[beeline]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20091204_Elmer_Smith__At_CHOP__no_flu_shot__no_job__No_sense_.html


Posted on Fri, Dec. 4, 2009


At CHOP, no flu shot, no job. No sense?
By Elmer Smith
Philadelphia Daily News

Daily News Opinion Columnist

RODNEY BOND never expected a gold watch or a plaque commemorating his 31 years of service to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

He expected what he always got, a day's pay for a day's work.

"This job served me well," Bond said. "I got married young, three years out of high school. I needed a job. Some may say I was complacent.

"But I've been able to raise my family. I've always been happy for what this job has done for me.

"I'm disappointed about what's happening to me. But I'm not a disgruntled employee."

As of tomorrow, he won't be an employee at all. Bond, 51, who works in environmental services keeping the hospital clean, and at least eight others are being fired for refusing to take a seasonal flu shot.

Children's Hospital, in a laudable attempt to protect its patients, has required all its employees to be inoculated for seasonal flu this year for the first time in its history.

Hospitals around the city, indeed all over the country, are adopting similar measures. But the requirement at CHOP exceeds the guidelines offered by the Centers for Disease Control and is far more harsh than policies at other area hospitals.

Typically, hospitals have required their workers to either get a flu shot or wear surgical masks when they are near patients. At CHOP, they have rejected the masks as a possible alternative.

Even hospitals with similar policies have not fired employees for failure to comply. CHOP is also distinct in its uneven application of the policy.

Hospitals generally offer workers the option of taking a flu shot or signing a statement to decline it for medical or religious reasons.

But at CHOP, a panel reviews the legitimacy of the claims, accepting some, rejecting others.

"Every request was given a careful evaluation," CHOP spokeswoman Peggy Flynn told me yesterday. "They had to show sincerely held religious beliefs."

How a group of medical people sets itself up as the arbiters of someone's sincerity is beyond me.

"They told some in our groups that they weren't religious enough," Bond said. "I am a herbalist. I have never had a flu shot. It goes against my belief system. That is a spiritual principle for me.

"How can my employer say it's not. Who on that board is spiritual enough to make that decision?"

Flynn maintains that the hard line was needed because "we wanted to be sure we were taking every step to ensure the highest level of patient safety."

Of course they do. But so do hundreds of hospitals where the policy is much more relaxed.

"Each organization needs to do what is clinically and culturally correct for them," Dr. Marc Hurowitz, associate medical director at Temple University Hospital, told KYW radio.

"In our case, we've found that if we work with people, we tend to get the same [results] rather than develop a confrontational way of dealing with it."

It may be tempting to dismiss the nine union workers and an undisclosed number of non-union workers who will lose their jobs as people who are just stubborn or who don't care about patient safety.

But organizations representing more than 100,000 registered nurses in America are opposing the mandatory inoculation requirements - and winning.

The Washington State Nurses Association filed a grievance against the policy that went to arbitration. The arbiter agreed that the policy was too harsh.

Virginia Mason Hospital, in Seattle, went to court to overturn the arbiter's ruling. A federal district court upheld the arbiter. The hospital appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and lost again.

The California Nurses Association's National Nursing Organizing Committee, representing 86,000 nurses and health-care professionals, issued a statement in September saying that the policy should be optional.

It was concerned enough about patient safety to urge its members to comply.

"But nurses should maintain their right to decline for personal reasons," the nurses association's statement concluded.

For Rodney Bond, that idea makes as much sense for a guy who mops the hallways as it does for nurses. His union, District 1199C of the Hospital and Health Care Employees Union, has filed for arbitration.

"We're not insensitive to patient safety," said union spokesman Gary McCormack. "But to fire people who don't want the shot is way too extreme.

"We offered to wear masks. We've been talking with them since the suspensions [two weeks ago]. But we're going to do whatever we have to do to protect our members."

Not soon enough for Rodney Bond and the others. He picked up his last paycheck yesterday.

"I felt so uneasy," Bond admitted. "I'm thinking, 'You're going to put yourself out of a job in this tough economy.'

"But I'm not feeling as much pressure as some of us. We have one young couple losing their jobs. They have five children and this is their only income.

"It's hard. But I prayed about this and I know God's got my back.

"I'm going to stick this out if I end up living in a hole. This is about my freedom."

[23]

Is it too early to point out the H1N1 was all hype and just another flu, except for all the money it made on the backs of suckers?

Better late, to make a justifiable conclusion, than never.

[monster]

Is it too early to point out the H1N1 was all hype and just another flu, except for all the money it made on the backs of suckers?

All hype - yeah, okay. Like the media doesn't hype everything. That's standard procedure. That doesn't mean there's no reality to the H1N1 viral molecules replicating themselves around the globe right now, and the risks that entails.

Goddamn, I'm so sick of black/white thinking, it's like nobody can hold two ideas in their head at once.

[Belligerent Savant]

Is it too early to point out the H1N1 was all hype and just another flu, except for all the money it made on the backs of suckers?

All hype - yeah, okay. Like the media doesn't hype everything. That's standard procedure. That doesn't mean there's no reality to the H1N1 viral molecules replicating themselves around the globe right now, and the risks that entails.

Goddamn, I'm so sick of black/white thinking, it's like nobody can hold two ideas in their head at once.

I also lean towards the theory that this flu bug seemed to be more hype than substance -- which is Standard Operating Procedure at this point -- but the reason for the hype can be numerous..

The amount of money made by the select pharma companies mass-producing these vaccines certainly can't be overlooked. After all, the pharmaceutical industry is easily one of the most prosperous and profitable industries in the US [why have cures when treatments are more profitable, as it ensures a repeat customer for years?]

This may also be a form of conditioning/psy-op as a means to prepare or test the reaction of the masses and how they handle potential bio-threats... perhaps as a 'primer' for a far more serious and deadly pandemic in the near or distant future...

but that's all conjecture... we can only guess at the machinations behind these manufactured 'events' and the ultimate agenda/desired outcome...