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Okay, here we go folks. School has started in my state, there are already H1N1 cases involving teachers and students. They are talking about vaccinating everyone in the entire county, and it didn't sound voluntary. This is crap, something is not right about this. No other nation was destroyed but for some reason "America is in for it" ... Why is that? WHO warns time running out for governments to prepare for dramatic spread of virus, predicting number of cases could double every few days

So last week, I asked who might want to roll up their sleeve for the swine flu vaccine trials happening in a few weeks here at the University of Maryland. A few of you raised your hands, and some said you'd even volunteer your children. Well, my friends, you are not alone. So far, university officials say the response has been "wonderful" and that "hundreds" of people have signed on up. (And here I thought people might be too freaked out to be guinea pigs.) At other testing sites, the same is true -- some 3,000 people nationwide are already...

There are, however, other reasons why minorities seem to be more at risk of swine flu. Low-income parents have a harder time keeping their sick children home from school. "For some parents in lower-wage jobs, if they don't show up at work, they don't get paid, and people may already be on the economic margins," Barry says. "So parents were desperate to get some of these children back in school." As a result, there were many sick, contagious kids in Boston classrooms this spring. Because of the economic pressures and demographics of the Boston school system, most of them turned...

The little girl wouldn't let go...It didn't matter that she had only met him 12 days earlier...What mattered was that he had held her and that he was going to bring her home, to a quiet cul-de-sac in Northern Virginia, where the shy 4-year-old would live with him, his wife and the 6-year-old boy they had adopted... "Papa, don't go!" she screamed in Cantonese after Scruggs tried to hand her over to the foster family that would care for her until he could return...Finally Scruggs slipped out the door, a day after his wife, Candace Litchford, had made the same...

"They" will also decide when healthcare is mandatory. A surgeon writes to Lew Rockwell: I am a surgeon in the Baltimore area. My main hospital decided to run a “Swine Flu Drill” for the employees and doctors over the last 2 days. Apparently, the general public was excluded because only hospital workers get swine flu. I am sure that the ability to coerce employees had nothing to do with it. All entrances were blocked by security and tables were set up with 3 nurses. People lined up and answered embarassing private questions regarding bowel habits and the like. They then...

"The flu season is upon us. Which type will we worry about this year, and what kind of shots will we be told to take? Remember the swine flu scare of 1976? That was the year the U.S. government told us all that swine flu could turn out to be a killer that could spread across the nation, and Washington decided that every man, woman and child in the nation should get a shot to prevent a nation-wide outbreak, a pandemic." (Mike Wallace, CBS, 60 Minutes, November 4, 1979) "The federal officials and industry representatives had assembled to discuss a...

NIH calls for thousands of volunteers to test whether new swine flu vaccine works and is safe WASHINGTON (AP) -- The race is on: The government and vaccine makers are seeking thousands of volunteers, from babies to the elderly, to roll up their sleeves for the first swine flu shots -- to test whether a new vaccine really will protect against this novel virus before its expected rebound in the fall. On Wednesday the National Institutes of Health tapped a network of medical centers around the country to begin a series of studies, with the first shots to go into...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release July 6, 2009 FACT SHEET Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Public Health and Medical Sciences The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Russian Ministry of Health and Social Development signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Public Health and Medical Science. The Memorandum establishes a framework for deeper cooperation between these government institutions, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, scientific research institutions, including those of the Russian Academy of...

The UN's top health official has opened a forum in Mexico on combating swine flu by saying that the spread of the virus worldwide is now unstoppable. World Health Organization head Margaret Chan added that the holding of the meeting in Cancun showed confidence in Mexico, which has been hard hit. The WHO says most H1N1 cases are mild, with many people recovering unaided. As the summit opened, the UK alone was projecting more than 100,000 new cases of H1N1 a day by the end of the summer. As the peak of the flu season approaches in South America, some...

The rising number of swine flu cases mean trying to contain the virus is no longer an option, the government says. Ministers said the emergency response would now move to a new "treatment" phase across the UK as there may soon be 100,000 new cases a day. It means anti-flu drugs will no longer be given to the close contacts of those infected nor will lab testing be done to confirm cases. The move has been made to relieve the pressure on the health service. The announcement, which comes into effect immediately, has long been expected. It does not mean...

US health officials estimate that at least one million Americans have been infected with swine flu since the H1N1 virus emerged nearly three months ago. The number is far higher than cases actually reported to the authorities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said many cases were mild, although 127 people had died. The CDC based its figures on surveys, rather than laboratory evidence, but the numbers suggest the death rate from swine flu is lower than thought. "We're saying that there have been at least a million cases of the new H1N1 virus so far this year...

PORTLAND, Ore., -- There’s a new nightclub opening in Portland for people who like to swing. And it's not the tree-tire variety, community park child's activity or mid 1950s dance style. Club Sesso opens Friday to Portland couples who like to have sex with other couples -- or singles who enjoy having sex with other couples. And iconic porn film star Ron Jeremy has lent his name and prestige to downtown's newest destination. Club Sesso is located on SW 1st Avenue. Paul Smith, its owner, is relocating from Clackamas and expects a lot of business. Portland just doesn't have a...

The new strain of H1N1 flu is causing "something different" to happen in the United States this year -- perhaps an extended year-round flu season that disproportionately hits young people, health officials said on Thursday. An unusually cool late spring may be helping keep the infection going in the U.S. Northeast, especially densely populated areas in New York and Massachusetts, the officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. And infections among healthcare workers suggest that people are showing up at work sick -- meaning that workplace policies may be contributing to its spread, the CDC officials...

The administration continues to enforce the ban on non-Americans living with HIV - against the will of the Congress and the views of president George W. Bush. Here's the latest example: ""Paul Thorn, a British activist scheduled to speak today, said he was denied a U.S. visa because he is HIV positive ... "The U.S. government actively discriminates against people who have been tested for the HIV virus and have been diagnosed HIV-positive," he said in the statement ... Thorn said his application was turned down despite the interventions of Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Jim McDermott and appeals to...

Peter Tatchell, Britain’s well-known defender of the rights of sexual minorities, is going to visit Moscow to participate in the gay pride parade in Russia’s capital. Tatchell is arriving in Moscow despite the decision of the Moscow government to ban the march of homosexual individuals. The parade is to take place on May 16, Saturday, to coincide with the final night of the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow. The contest enjoys stable popularity among the people of untraditional sexual orientation, RIA Novosti news agency reports. The organizers of the Moscow gay march intend to make it become a common Slavic...

Swine flu is spreading so far and fast in the U.S. that state health officials may soon stop counting individual cases, a federal health official said Monday. The novel H1N1 virus accounted for 40 percent of flu viruses logged in the U.S. in the past week and helped propel an uptick in overall flu-like illnesses, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, a deputy director with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC has confirmed more than 2,000 cases in 43 states and Washington D.C., with 94 hospitalizations and three deaths. Another 700 cases are suspected. Although the flu is...

PRINCETON, N.J., May 7 (UPI) -- U.S. residents split over H1N1 flu news reporting, with nearly equal numbers indicating media exaggerated the dangers or got it right, a Gallup poll indicates...

U.S. health authorities are lining up vaccine makers to develop a defense against virus posing global perilFederal health authorities, busily assessing the scope of the swine flu outbreak, are preparing in case a vaccine is needed to stem the spread of the disease that has sickened more than 100 in the United States and killed a 22-month-old boy in Texas. The development of a vaccine is a long, painstaking, fairly crude process that typically involves growing the virus in millions of chicken eggs. It would be months before the first person could be inoculated. Still, scientists with the Centers for...

U.S. health officials say almost 100% of the type A H1N1 strain showed resistance to the leading antiviral drug. So far, the influenza season has been mild. Tamiflu, the most commonly used influenza antiviral and the mainstay of the federal government's emergency drug stockpile, no longer works for the dominant flu strain circulating in much of the country, government officials said Tuesday. Of samples tested since October, almost 100% of the strain -- known as type A H1N1 -- showed resistance to Tamiflu. In response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines to physicians in December. Doctors...

“Containment is no longer a feasible option,” Dr. Keiji Fukuda, deputy director general of the World Health Organization, announced Monday night in Geneva after a meeting of the agency’s emergency committee on the spreading swine flu virus. “The world should focus on mitigation. We recommend not closing borders or restricting travel.” Many countries are still ignoring that advice. The globe is a confusing welter of bans, advisories and alerts on some pork and some people. On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was heavily pressed in Congressional hearings to ignore the advice and close the border with Mexico. She defended...