Severe reactions to swine flu vaccine in Canada: WHO

Severe reactions to swine flu vaccine in Canada: WHO

GENEVA -- An unusual number of severe allergic reactions to swine flu vaccinations have been recorded in Canada, where a batch of the vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been recalled, the WHO said on Tuesday.

"An unusual number of severe allergies to the vaccine have been detected in Canada," World Health Organization spokesman Thomas Abraham told AFP.

"The Canadian authorities are conducting the appropriate investigations on the vaccines" and "recalled a batch of vaccine from GSK."

"We need to understand what happened in Canada," he added.

GlaxoSmithKline spokeswoman Gwenan White told AFP that the affected doses of its Aprepanrix vaccine had caused reactions to the heart and lungs.

Ms. White added that some 172,000 doses are involved, although she declined to reveal how many of those had already been used.

GlaxoSmithKline has asked Canadian medical authorities to stop administering vaccines from the affected batch, Ms. White said, adding the company's investigations were ongoing.

WHO spokesman Thomas Abraham said that the WHO had not changed its recommendations regarding swine flu vaccines.

Last week, the WHO said checks on many of the 30 deaths recorded following mass pandemic flu vaccinations had so far ruled out a direct link to the vaccines.

The fatalities made up a minute fraction of at least 65 million doses of swine flu vaccines which have been administered, said the WHO, citing data from 16 countries.

For every 10,000 doses of vaccines administered, only one report of adverse effect had been logged.

Of every 100 reports of adverse effects, five are serious cases such as death, the WHO said.

Why are we such a bunch of chumps?

Why are we so prone to believing every corrupt authority figure who fills our minds with fear? Why do we keep falling for their lies?

Manitoba is seeing an "unprecedented" uptake of the swine flu vaccine with the immunization of almost 40,000 people across the province in 48 hours, health officials said Wednesday. - Mba seeing 'unprecedented' uptake of H1N1 vaccine as second wave hits province

GlaxoSmithKline has announced a rosy set of third-quarter financial figures, and is going to be boosted by the ongoing H1N1 outbreak.

The company says it expects further growth in the fourth quarter “including significant sales of influenza products”. - Flu focus pays off for GSK - October 29, 2009

"Michael Moore's Action Plan: 15 Things Every American Can Do Right Now"

"Michael Moore's Action Plan: 15 Things Every American Can Do Right Now"

Friends,

It's the #1 question I'm constantly asked after people see my movie: "OK -- so NOW what can I DO?!"

You want something to do? Well, you've come to the right place! 'Cause I got 15 things you and I can do right now to fight back and try to fix this very broken system.

Here they are:

FIVE THINGS WE DEMAND THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS DO IMMEDIATELY:

1. Declare a moratorium on all home evictions. Not one more family should be thrown out of their home. The banks must adjust their monthly mortgage payments to be in line with what people's homes are now truly worth -- and what they can afford. Also, it must be stated by law: If you lose your job, you cannot be tossed out of your home.

2. Congress must join the civilized world and expand Medicare For All Americans. A single, nonprofit source must run a universal health care system that covers everyone. Medical bills are now the #1 cause of bankruptcies and evictions in this country. Medicare For All will end this misery. The bill to make this happen is H.R. 3200 -- but this bill is worthless without the amendment from Rep. Anthony Weiner that will bring us closer to the real bill that should be passed: H.R. 676. You must call AND write your members of Congress and demand that they support this amendment, no compromises allowed.

3. Demand publicly-funded elections and a prohibition on elected officials leaving office and becoming lobbyists. Yes, those very members of Congress who solicit and receive millions of dollars from wealthy interests must vote to remove ALL money from our electoral and legislative process. Tell your members of Congress they must support campaign finance bill H.R.1826.

4. Each of the 50 states must create a state-owned public bank like they have in North Dakota. Then congress MUST reinstate all the strict pre-Reagan regulations on all commercial banks, investment firms, insurance companies -- and all the other industries that have been savaged by deregulation: Airlines, the food industry, pharmaceutical companies -- you name it. If a company's primary motive to exist is to make a profit, then it needs a set of stringent rules to live by -- and the first rule is "Do no harm." The second rule: The question must always be asked -- "Is this for the common good?" (Click here for some info about the state-owned Bank of North Dakota.)

5. Save this fragile planet and declare that all the energy resources above and beneath the ground are owned collectively by all of us. Just like they do it in Sarah Palin's socialist Alaska. We only have a few decades of oil left. The public must be the owners and landlords of the natural resources and energy that exists within our borders or we will descend further into corporate anarchy. And when it comes to burning fossil fuels to transport ourselves, we must cease using the internal combustion engine and instruct our auto/transportation companies to rehire our skilled workforce and build mass transit (clean buses, light rail, subways, bullet trains, etc.) and new cars that don't contribute to climate change. (For more on this, here's a proposal I wrote in December.) Demand that General Motors' de facto chairman, Barack Obama, issue a JFK man-on-the-moon-style challenge to turn our country into a nation of trains and buses and subways. For Pete's sake, people, we were the ones who invented (or perfected) these damn things in the first place!!

FIVE THINGS WE CAN DO TO MAKE CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT LISTEN TO US:

1. Each of us must get into the daily habit of taking 5 minutes to make four brief calls: One to the President (202-456-1414), one to your Congressperson (202-224-3121) and one to each of your two Senators (202-224-3121). To find out who represents you, click here. Take just one minute on each of these calls to let them know how you expect them to vote on a particular issue. Let them know you will have no hesitation voting for a primary opponent -- or even a candidate from another party -- if they don't do our bidding. Trust me, they will listen. If you have another five minutes, click here to send them each an email. And if you really want to drop an anvil on them, send them a snail mail letter!

2. Take over your local Democratic Party. Remember how much fun you had with all those friends and neighbors working together to get Barack Obama elected? YOU DID THE IMPOSSIBLE. It's time to re-up! Get everyone back together and go to the monthly meeting of your town or county Democratic Party -- and become the majority that runs it! There will not be many in attendance and they will either be happy or in shock that you and the Obama Revolution have entered the room looking like you mean business. President Obama's agenda will never happen without mass grass roots action -- and he won't feel encouraged to do the right thing if no one has his back, whether it's to stand with him, or push him in the right direction. When you all become the local Democratic Party, send me a photo of the group and I'll post it on my website.

3. Recruit someone to run for office who can win in your local elections next year -- or, better yet, consider running for office yourself! You don't have to settle for the incumbent who always expects to win. You can be our next representative! Don't believe it can happen? Check out these examples of regular citizens who got elected: State Senator Deb Simpson, California State Assemblyman Isadore Hall, Tempe, Arizona City Councilman Corey Woods, Wisconsin State Assemblyman Chris Danou, and Washington State Representative Larry Seaquist. The list goes on and on -- and you should be on it!

4. Show up. Picket the local branch of a big bank that took the bailout money. Hold vigils and marches. Consider civil disobedience. Those town hall meetings are open to you, too (and there's more of us than there are of them!). Make some noise, have some fun, get on the local news. Place "Capitalism Did This" signs on empty foreclosed homes, closed down businesses, crumbling schools and infrastructure. (You can download them from my website.)

5. Start your own media. You. Just you (or you and a couple friends). The mainstream media is owned by corporate America and, with few exceptions, it will never tell the whole truth -- so you have to do it! Start a blog! Start a website of real local news (here's an example: The Michigan Messenger). Tweet your friends and use Facebook to let them know what they need to do politically. The daily papers are dying. If you don't fill that void, who will?

FIVE THINGS WE SHOULD DO TO PROTECT OURSELVES AND OUR LOVED ONES UNTIL WE GET THROUGH THIS MESS:

1. Take your money out of your bank if it took bailout money and place it in a locally-owned bank or, preferably, a credit union.

2. Get rid of all your credit cards but one -- the kind where you have to pay up at the end of the month or you lose your card.

3. Do not invest in the stock market. If you have any extra cash, put it away in a savings account or, if you can, pay down on your mortgage so you can own your home as soon as possible. You can also buy very safe government savings bonds or T-bills. Or just buy your mother some flowers.

4. Unionize your workplace so that you and your coworkers have a say in how your business is run. Here's how to do it (more info here). Nothing is more American than democracy, and democracy shouldn't be checked at the door when you enter your workplace. Another way to Americanize your workplace is to turn your business into a worker-owned cooperative. You are not a wage slave. You are a free person, and you giving up eight hours of your life every day to someone else is to be properly compensated and respected.

5. Take care of yourself and your family. Sorry to go all Oprah on you, but she's right: Find a place of peace in your life and make the choice to be around people who are not full of negativity and cynicism. Look for those who nurture and love. Turn off the TV and the Blackberry and go for a 30-minute walk every day. Eat fruits and vegetables and cut down on anything that has sugar, high fructose corn syrup, white flour or too much sodium (salt) in it (and, as Michael Pollan says, "Eat (real) food, not too much, mostly plants"). Get seven hours of sleep each night and take the time to read a book a month. I know this sounds like I've turned into your grandma, but, dammit, take a good hard look at Granny -- she's fit, she's rested and she knows the names of both of her U.S. Senators without having to Google them. We might do well to listen to her. If we don't put our own "oxygen mask" on first (as they say on the airplane), we will be of no use to the rest of the nation in enacting any of this action plan!

I'm sure there are many other ideas you can come up with on how we can build this movement. Get creative. Think outside the politics-as-usual box. BE SUBVERSIVE! Think of that local action no one else has tried. Behave as if your life depended on it. Be bold! Try doing something with reckless abandon. It may just liberate you and your community and your nation.

And when you act, send me your stories, your photos and your video -- and be sure to post your ideas in the comments beneath this letter on my site so they can be shared with millions.

C'mon people -- we can do this! I expect nothing less of all of you, my true and trusted fellow travelers!

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

UPDATE: My position that a single-payer system is the only solution to the health care crisis remains the same. I do not support H.R. 3200 unless it includes Rep. Anthony Weiner's amendment, which would essentially gut H.R. 3200 and replace it with Rep. John Conyers Jr.'s H.R. 676. In July, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised Rep. Weiner an up or down vote on his amendment before the end of the year. At that moment this became our best chance for a single-payer, universal health care plan for all. In the heat of the health care debate, strategies change from day to day, but as it stands right now, Rep. Weiner's amendment to H.R. 3200 is the best chance we have at achieving a single-payer system in the U.S. This is the same position held by the foremost activist groups for a single-payer health care plan: Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, and Healthcare-NOW! Let's ride his Trojan horse out of this mess. Write your congressmembers to demand that they support Rep. Weiner’s amendment. One thing remains clear: No health care system will be safe until every for-profit insurance company has been removed from it.

RFK Jr. speaks about vaccines, mercury, and Big Pharma

RFK Jr. debunks the latest whitewashing attempts by Big Pharma:

Two heroes for these dark days

Revelling in the fuss he was causing, Vaclav Klaus, the president of the Czech Republic, calmly tucked into a plate of steamed shellfish on the terrace of the elegant Adriatic hotel in the Albanian seaside resort of Durres last week.

In faraway Brussels furious diplomats were calling for his impeachment and even his country’s expulsion from the European Union because of his obstinate refusal to sign the Lisbon treaty. Klaus, now the only European leader holding out against ratifying the document, made it clear he did not give a damn.

Germans seek to oust Czech president Vaclav Klaus over EU treaty

...

He's also been sighted on Orcas Island, an area popular with vacationers, accessible only by boat, for the past two summers. Locals suspect that he sticks around in the off-season. He's been known to sneak into empty homes to take advantage of their owners' amenities, including the Internet, which he uses to order surveillance equipment that he has shipped (unbeknownst to absent homeowners) to his borrowed addresses.

A rebel legend inspires legion of fans - and taunts police on both sides of the border

...

As an aside, I'd like to point out that the Globe and Mail's new website is terrible. It takes too long to load, and everything looks like a "Comment" page.

Weird, failed propaganda attempt

Here is a bizarre attempt to explain the mass grave site being built in Arizona:



We're supposed to believe that "veterans" will be buried in groups of four per burial plot; as if that weren't hard enough to swallow, look at the footage below. The burial plots--these ones are in Texas--are crammed together so tight that you would not be able to visit a single grave without walking over every other grave. Not exactly the most dignified way to honour a country's veterans.

Someday...

In the near future, some of us will have survived vaccine-induced neurological disease, cellphone-induced brain tumours, GMO-induced colon cancer, pollution-induced lung disease, drug- and alcohol-induced health problems, and antidepressant-induced psychosis.

Some of us will even have been able to produce offspring, in spite of the various infertility-causing agents in our food and water supplies.

Someday, when we're in our twilight years, living in a debtors' prison/work camp, those same offspring will ask, "Grandpa, if Tony Blair was so unpopular amongst Europeans, and most European countries were still technically democratic, why was he allowed to become the dictator of Europe?"

And, if we're being honest, we'll have to reply, "I didn't notice, because I was more interested in the bullshit that the corporate media was shoving down my throat."

"Like what?"

"Oh, the phony 'swine flu' vaccine, the trumped-up accusations against Iran, and, perhaps most importantly, celebrity sex scandals."

"Uh, Grandpa... What's a 'celebrity sex scandal'?"

Actually, this conversation will never happen because the premise is false. We will not survive into our twilight years.



Blair looms large in running for EU president

Tony Blair, former British prime minister, was the name on everyone's lips yesterday as European Union leaders contemplated the choice of the bloc's first full-time president.

Letterman apologizes to wife, staffers for sex romps

“Dave was laughing, joking, very energetic,” an audience member told People. “He played off the audience’s reactions, off everyone’s facial expressions. But every once in a while you could tell his mind was somewhere else.”

Jesus Christ--does anybody really give a shit about David Letterman's sex life?

Dark times

We are, I think, fucked.

In a dramatic political U-turn, Ireland has voted decisively in favour of the Lisbon treaty just 17 months after rejecting the European Union's package of reforms.
Ireland votes in favour of Lisbon Treaty

Tony Blair is in line to be proclaimed Europe’s first president within weeks if the Irish vote “yes” in today’s referendum.

Senior British sources have told The Times that President Sarkozy has decided that Mr Blair is the best candidate and that Angela Merkel has softened her opposition.

The former Prime Minister could be ushered into the European Union’s top post at a summit on October 29.

Ms Merkel, the German Chancellor, was opposed to Mr Blair because she believed that the post should go to a country that had adopted the euro but British sources said that she may now be “biddable” if Germany and France get plum posts in the new European Commission.
'President' Blair waits on voters of Ireland

Everything is OK

Back to the old look

I hate all the other templates on blogger, so it's back to the basics.

If you can't figure out which items are hyperlinks--too bad.