Congress passes aid package for Pakistan worth $1.5 B a year for five years --Pakistan seeks long U.S. commitment [I'm sure they do. The US gives the best bl*wjob$.] 06 Oct 2009 Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi met with U.S. Secretary Hillary Clinton and urged the United States to articulate a long-term vision for the region, amid debate over U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. When asked how long he thought the U.S. should stay in Afghanistan, Qureshi said "until the job is done. A peaceful, stable Afghanistan. A peaceful, stable region." Congress just passed an aid package for Pakistan worth $1.5 billion a year for the next five years to help 'combat' extremism and foster social and economic development [We can't get single-payer health care in the US, but we can fund Pakistani infrastructure, via US contractors, so that they can get overpaid to rebuild that which they ensure is destroyed. If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. See: The Obusha AfPak Money Pit: Unlike the 'public option,' Congress doesn't ask if funding the Taleban to blow up contractors' bridges will add to the US deficit By Lori Price, 03 Oct 2009.]
Obama rules out smaller Afghan war 07 Oct 2009 The US president appears to have ruled out shrinking the war in Afghanistan to a smaller, counterterrorism effort, but gave no clear signal on whether he would send more troops to fight in the eight-year-old war. Barack Obama met Republican and Democratic leaders of key war oversight and appropriations committees at the White House on Tuesday, part of an extensive review of the war effort in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Gates: US will stay in Afghanistan 06 Oct 2009 The US defence secretary has said American troops will not leave Afghanistan despite a lack of numbers that allows for Taliban's revival. Speaking at George Washington University on Tuesday, Robert Gates said troops had to stay but that the situation required some "momentous decisions" from Barack Obama, the US president.
Obama pressed to send more troops to Afghanistan 07 Oct 2009 President Barack Obama should heed his top generals' advice over the approach to the Afghan conflict, US Republican Congressmen say. As Obama formulates a new strategy for the unpopular war in Afghanistan, he met senior congressional leaders on Tuesday at the White House to discuss his policy and talk about the various options before taking a final decision on whether to dispatch another 40,000 troops, as requested by his generals.
Chastened Brown set to send more troops to Afghanistan --PM to give all clear for 1,000 extra forces after critics claim he is not supporting military 07 Oct 2009 The Government is expected to announce troop reinforcements for Afghanistan following intense criticism of its failure to agree to extra forces requested by commanders last spring. The decision to deploy up to 1,000 more troops is likely to be made after a cabinet meeting on the conflict within the next seven days.
Afghan insurgents pushed into U.S. base, official says 06 Oct 2009 The battle Saturday in which eight U.S. troops were killed was so fierce that, at one point, U.S. forces had to fall back as attackers breached the perimeter of their base, a U.S. military official with knowledge of the latest intelligence reports on the incident said. The new revelations about the battle that engulfed Forward Operating Base Keating in Kamdesh District are a further indication that the troops at the remote outpost were pinned down and out-manned.
30 W.Va. Guard members sue KBR over chemical exposure 06 Oct 2009 Two subsidiaries of KBR Inc. are being sued by 30 members of the West Virginia National Guard who claim they were exposed to a toxic chemical while guarding a water plant in Iraq. The members of the Moundsville-based 1092nd Engineer Battalion filed the lawsuit Monday in Marshall County Circuit Court against Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc., and KBR Technical Services, Inc.
Truck Bomb Kills 9 in Western Iraq 06 Oct 2009 A pickup truck piled with explosives blew up in front of a restaurant frequented by Iraqi police near Fallujah on Tuesday, killing nine people and wounding dozens more in the second attack in as many days in western Iraq. After the [Xe?] bombing, a curfew was imposed on Amiriyah, about 10 miles south of Fallujah.
Tough to meet Guantanamo closing deadline: Holder 06 Oct 2009 U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday that it would be tough to meet the fast-approaching [?] January deadline to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that houses terrorism suspects. President Barack Obama ordered the controversial detention camp closed on his second day in office and gave administration officials a year to do it, but they have since run into numerous legal, political and diplomatic hurdles.
U.S. Gen. Petraeus Treated For Prostate Cancer 06 Oct 2009 Gen. David Petraeus, who as head of U.S. Central Command oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, joked about his health on Tuesday as his office revealed his successful treatment for prostate cancer. Petraeus, 56, was diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer in February and had two months of radiation treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, his office said in a statement.
US working on 'comprehensive' Iran sanctions plan 06 Oct 2009 A senior US official says no single sanction is a 'silver bullet' against Iran so the Islamic Republic may face stronger sanctions over its nuclear program. Stuart Levey, the US Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, told members of a Senate committee that the United States and its allies may impose sweeping sanctions on Iran if Tehran fails to allay fears about its nuclear program.
NASA to bomb the moon for water 06 Oct 2009 NASA is preparing to launch the LCROSS mission to bomb the moon's South Pole, as part of the agency's search for water in space. The LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite) mission will send a Centaur rocket at twice the speed of a bullet to make a hole in the moon's surface. Scientists say the blast will be powerful enough to eject a huge plume of debris from the moon that will be seen from earth through telescopes 10-to-12 inches and larger. [We can't get a single-payer health-care system in the US 'too expensive,' but yet, US taxpayers are forced to fund insane lunar bombing missions so corporaterrorists can own the water?]
'Terror cell' found in cradle of 9/11 --Members of Hamburg group 'had attended military training camps' 07 Oct 2009 German intelligence services were yesterday reported to have discovered a new Islamic terrorist cell operating from the port of Hamburg – the same city from which the devastating 9/11 attacks on the United States were secretly conceived and planned eight years ago. The existence of the new militant group in the city was revealed in a secret report prepared by Hamburg-based intelligence agents which was leaked to German television's investigative documentary programme Report Mainz and Die Welt newspaper. [Um, the 'cradle' of 9/11 is Langley, Virginia.]
Three more in British court over transatlantic bomb plot 06 Oct 2009 Three alleged Islamist extremists went on trial Tuesday accused of conspiring with the jailed ringleader of a plot to blow up transatlantic jets in 2006. Adam Khatib, Mohammed Shamin Uddin, and Nabeel Hussain were willing to "do their bit" within the plot to blow up airliners led by Abdulla Ahmed Ali, a jury was told. Each of the three "was prepared to help in the commission of terrorist acts and indeed did so," said prosecutor Peter Wright, opening the case at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London. Three British Muslims were jailed for life last month for the foiled transatlantic bomb plot.
U.S. targets terrorists "wherever they take root": Obama 07 Oct 2009 The U.S. anti-terror efforts are not restricted in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and terrorists will be targeted "wherever they take root," U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday. "The United States and our partners have sent an unmistakable message: We will target al-Qaida wherever they take root," he said during a tour of the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean, Virginia, near Washington D.C.
DHS Unveils 'Recognizing 8 Signs of Terrorism' Video 06 Oct 2009 new video funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is letting Americans know what kinds of activities might be a sign of terrorist activity in the making. The 8-minute video, "Recognizing 8 Signs of Terrorism" outlines some of the things potential terrorists might be doing, and lets citizens know where to report the suspicious activities. The video will be shown at the Center for Empowered Living & Learning (CELL), an institution dedicated to addressing the global threat of terrorism, with a museum facility (called Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: Understanding the Threat) in Denver.
Video to Train Public How to Recognize Signs of Terrorism 05 Oct 2009 Calling it a way to train the individual in how to get involved, a new video detailing how terrorism works was debuted Monday for the public and the United States' Homeland Security director. Janet Napolitano was already in town, speaking at the International Association of Chiefs of Police at the Convention Center downtown.
Detained immigrants could be categorized by risk 06 Oct 2009 Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano promised immigration enforcement would continue even though her agency is considering new ways to house nonviolent immigrants who have not committed crimes. Napolitano spoke at a news conference Tuesday at which she released detention reform recommendations based on a review by her former detention adviser, who resigned last month to become commissioner of New York City's jails.
Montana city's jail deal delayed amid controversy 05 Oct 2009 Plans for a California company to take over this city's empty jail were put on hold Monday, following last week's revelations that the company's lead figure has a criminal history. The decision came as Hardin's leaders announced the resignation of both the attorney and the economic development official who helped craft the jail deal for the city. Last month, the city struck an agreement with Mike Hilton and his newly minted Santa Ana, Calif.-company, American Police Force.
Flu Shots Delayed in Canada 07 Oct 2009 An unpublished Canadian study that suggests getting an annual flu shot may make it easier to contract swine flu has caused most provincial governments in Canada to postpone or limit seasonal-flu vaccination programs. The study is co-authored by researchers from the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion and Laval University in Quebec.
Hospitals Shun H1N1 FluMist Vaccine, Wait For Injections --Concern That Doctors, Nurses Could Spread 'Live' Virus 06 Oct 2009 Several [Denver] metro area hospitals said they won’t be taking the FluMist because they don't want to endanger patients. When asked if that meant that FluMist was dangerous, Lois VanFleet, infection prevention specialist at Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette said, "No, it's a very safe vaccine in healthy people." But, she said it’s made with a live virus, and that doctors and nurses who inhaled the live virus could shed some of it on patients whose immune systems are compromised.
The great swine flu mystery --As the pharmaceutical companies step up sales of swine flu vaccine, the taxpayer is still in the dark about the cost 07 Oct 2009 It's a bonanza! At least that is how some describe the drug industry's expected windfall from the swine flu pandemic as it prepares to cash in on what could be the most widespread winter flu season for a generation. The H1N1 outbreak will certainly be good news for the pharmaceutical groups, but just how good remains a mystery as the firms supplying the vaccines and treatments, and the governments buying them, refuse to give details on how much it is all costing.
New Glaxo orders point to big flu vaccine windfall 06 Oct 2009 GlaxoSmithKline Plc won a further 22 government orders for its H1N1 swine flu vaccine in the last two months, taking the total number of doses ordered to 440 million worth some $3.5 billion. The Britain-based drugmaker said on Tuesday first supplies were being shipped to governments this week and deliveries would continue through both the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first half of 2010. The addition of a further 149 million orders since Aug. 4, when Glaxo last gave an update, points to a substantial sales and profit windfall as a result of the[ir] swine flu pandemic. [See: Killer flu recreated in the lab 07 Oct 2004 UK Scientists have shown that tiny changes to modern flu viruses could render them as deadly as the 1918 strain which killed millions. A US team added two genes from a sample of the 1918 virus to a modern strain known to have no effect on mice. Animals exposed to this composite were dying within days of symptoms similar to those found in human victims of the 1918 pandemic. Baxter working on vaccine to stop swine flu, though admitted sending live pandemic flu viruses to subcontractor 26 Apr 2009.]
U.S. flu vaccination off to slow start, CDC says 06 Oct 2009 Vaccination against the H1N1 swine flu is off to a slow start in the United States, but states have ordered more than 2 million doses of mostly nasal spray for the first patients, a top health official said on Tuesday. Every state has ordered a share of the pandemic vaccine, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a news briefing.
Hospitalization Rates Higher in Kids Who Get Flu Shots --Children who received the annual inactivated flu vaccine were almost three times more likely to be hospitalized than those who were not inoculated. 19 May 2009 Children who get the annual flu vaccine, especially those who have asthma, may be more likely to be hospitalized than children who don't get the shot, a new study shows. But the researcher noted that the surprise finding probably has more to do with the severity of the underlying illness in children receiving the vaccine than with any deficiency in the vaccine.
Oligodynamic Silver Hydrosols (OSH) render vaccines obsolete By A.V.A. 06 Oct 2009 Uniform Picoscalar Concentrated Oligodymanic Silver Hydrosol (UPCOSH) is a new category surpassing older OSH technology. The historic breakthrough resulted in a new drug-less, covalent-bonded, non-photosensitive trioxysilver category of OSH utilizing NASA technology used on the International Space Sation (ISS). In the article, "Promising Cure for URTI Pandemics, Including H5N1 and SARS: Has the Final Solution to the Coming Plagues Been Discovered?" doctors reveal that vaccines are rendered obsolete, and that OSH's also kill Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) - the real epidemic in America that has been reported as an alarming cause of flu related deaths other than pre-existing health conditions. Dr. Eric J. Rentz (2003) published a convincing retrospective, peer-reviewed treatise on a highly advanced, effective and safe virotoxic oligodynamic silver hydrosol, making the case that it is the agent of choice to combat SARS and pandemics of Influenzavirus A.
Teenage girl left brain-damaged after receiving cervical cancer jab 05 Oct 2009 A teenage girl has been left brain-damaged after suffering epileptic seizures just days after being given the controversial cervical cancer jab. Stacey Jones, 18, suffered her first seizure in March when she was 17, days after she had the Cervarix injection. In the following weeks she had several more fits, causing such severe brain injury that she had to be admitted to a rehabilitation unit, where she is relearning simple tasks.
Oregon's Unemployment System Overloads 05 Oct 2009 A network system failure at the State Data Center kept the Unemployment Insurance Claims system shut down for 12 hours on Sunday. Craig Spivey with the Oregon Employment Department, says this has resulted in a backlog of traffic that has overwhelmed the telephone systems that deliver calls to the Employment Department's call centers.
Interior Sends Polar Bear Habitat Designation to White House 06 Oct 2009 The Interior Department moved closer to establishing habitat protections for the polar bear yesterday by sending its proposed rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. The habitat protections will add another layer in what has become a complicated process for protecting the bear, fraught with concerns and legal complaints from environmentalists and industry groups. The Bush administration listed the polar bear as a threatened species last year because of its melting ice habitat.
Previous lead stories: ElBaradei says nuclear Israel number one threat to Mideast: report 04 Oct 2009 Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei said Sunday that "Israel is number one threat to Middle East" with its nuclear arms, the official IRNA news agency reported. At a joint press conference with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization chief Ali Akbar Salehi in Tehran, ElBaradei brought Israel under spotlight and said that the Tel Aviv regime has refused to allow inspections into its nuclear installations for 30 years, the report said. "Israel is the number one threat to the Middle East given the nuclear arms it possesses," ElBaradei was quoted as saying.
Man arrested for steering G20 protests using Twitter 05 Oct 2009 The FBI has arrested Elliot Madison, a self-described anarchist and New York social worker, for using Twitter to assist protesters evade the police at the G20 summit. Madison, and his partner, Michael Wallschlaeger, were put on a $30,000 bail after they were tracked down at their hotel room, Carefree Inn motel, using computers, police scanners and the networking site Twitter to instruct the protests "and to inform the protesters and groups of the movements and actions of law enforcement" on September 24 and 25.
Goldman to be paid $1bn if CIT fails --Payment part of a $3bn 'rescue' package 04 Oct 2009 Goldman Sachs stands to receive a payment of $1bn -- while US taxpayers would lose $2.3bn -- if embattled commercial lender CIT files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, people familiar with the matter said. The payment stems from the structure of a $3bn rescue finance package that Goldman extended to CIT on June 6 2008 [during Bush's Reign of Terror], about five months before the Treasury bought $2.3bn in CIT preferred shares to prop it up at the height of the crisis.
