KUWAIT CITY - The emir of Kuwait Monday urged MPs and the government to cooperate in fighting corruption as he opened the new term of parliament where the opposition has gained control following June elections. I urge the two authorities, legislative and executive, to put into reality the desires of cooperation ... and to agree on national priorities, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah told the assembly.
We must reinforce among everyone the principle of respect for the law ... With such a commitment we can battle corruption, he said.
Sounds like a worried man.
The opposition has the support of 34 MPs in the house, which has 50 elected members in addition to 15 unelected ministers. The new parliament, elected at the end of June, reflects a new balance, with the opposition, comprising three blocs of Islamists, nationalists and liberals, united in an alliance pledging to combat corruption and press for economic reform.
The emir also called for appropriate use of the Gulf states huge financial resources for the benefit of the people, especially in developing public services and infrastructure. Kuwait, which sits on about 10 percent of global oil reserves, has accumulated huge financial assets of more than 166 billion dollars, mainly due to high oil prices. It has posted a budget surplus of around 54 billion dollars in the past seven fiscal years, and is forecast to post a 20-billion-dollar surplus in the current fiscal year ending next March. Kuwait has a native population of just one million people, but also has two million second-class foreign servants residents.
Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah said his government wants to build a relationship based on mutual trust with parliament in order to resolve repeated political crises between the two bodies.
The previous parliament was dissolved in May one year ahead of time as a result of a crisis between MPs and the government on draft legislation calling to slash the number of electoral constituencies. Following the impressive triumph of the opposition, parliament in July passed a law to reduce the constituencies from 25 to five, which was a key opposition demand in the general elections.
Part of the "Contract with Kuwait", as I recall.
Sheikh Nasser also promised that his government would take effective measures to safeguard public funds ... and to combat all forms of corruption. He presented highlights of an ambitious government economic programme for the coming four years which envisages the building of several major public hospitals, a huge power plant, a railway, a harbour and other projects. In total, the government plans to carry out about 700 projects costing some 68 billion dollars.
And they'll have change left over.
The opposition alliance went into action immediately after the opening ceremony by proposing 12 draft laws it said were necessary to combat corruption and speed up key projects.
They include legislation that provides protection to prevent the sale of public property at low prices and another requiring senior government officials and MPs to disclose their wealth before and after assuming their posts.
The new term is expected to witness some wrangling, as several opposition MPs said they have decided to quiz Information Minister Mohammad Al Sanoussi. Outspoken lawmaker Mussallam Al Barrak told reporters after the session that the three opposition blocs plan to grill the minister within two months over alleged large-scale violations but declined to specify the nature of the alleged abuses. Barraks announcement was confirmed by liberal and Islamist MPs.
The opposition blocs control more than the 25 votes needed to oust a minister.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/31/2006 00:00 ||
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Quite possibly to support a Cuban official's health needs, or sold in the underground transplant organ market.
A MAN whose son died on holiday in Cuba demanded yesterday to know why his body was returned to the UK with organs missing.
Andrew Redfern, 37, died after slipping and hitting his face on a marble floor in a hotel. A post-mortem examination in the UK revealed his lungs, kidney and part of his brain were missing.
His father, Lawrence Redfern, 58, of Inverness, said: "If his organs were taken for transplants I wouldn't have minded, but nobody mentioned anything. Somebody just removed them without asking permission and no-one seems to know why. Because of this, the post-mortem in the UK did not reveal how he died. My family and I... want to make sure no other families have to go through this."
Mr Redfern, an offshore oil worker, of Wirral, Merseyside, went to Havana alone in August after splitting with his partner.
Mr Redfern, who has an 18-month-old daughter, slipped in the hotel lobby on the final day of his holiday. He suffered an injury to his face, which needed ten stitches. He had a seizure the next day and was taken to hospital, where he died.
A Foreign Office spokesman said post-mortem examinations were mandatory in Cuba for all non-residents and samples of organs and tissues may be taken for pathology reports.
Strike-weary residents took to the streets Monday to thank federal police for intervening in violent demonstrations that had held their city hostage for months, but the demonstrators said they would take back the city center in their push for the governor's resignation. Teachers had promised to end their five-month strike for higher wages and go back to work Monday, but no students returned to classes in the tense capital.
On Sunday, federal police tore down protest blockades and pushed demonstrators out of the main square that had served as their home base for five months. The colonial city, a favorite of tourists, more closely resembled a battleground early Monday, with streets littered with charred cars and lines of federal police blocking some entrances to the main zocalo plaza.
The city was deeply divided between protesters demanding Gov. Ulises Ruiz's resignation and those wanting a return to the tranquil days when foreign tourists browsed shops and dined on the region's famous mole sauce. Ignoring protesters who screamed "Sellout!" a group of about 20 residents welcomed the police, touring streets and thanking authorities for taking control of the city. "I don't want them to leave. Let them stay," Edith Mendoza, a 40-year-old housewife, said of the police. "We were held hostage for five months."
Before dawn Monday, federal police tore down the protesters' banners in the main square, mostly to wrap around themselves for warmth because they had been sent in without sleeping bags. Riot police in body armor slept on sidewalks under the plaza's famous archways, rolled up against the chill night air in banners that once proclaimed people's power or demanded the resignation of the governor. Others sought warmth by burning bits of banners, wooden crates and other debris left behind by the protesters.
Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal said the federal forces would remain until order had been established and they were no longer needed. There was still the threat of violence as protesters vowed to march on the zocalo. Police stationed water tanks in the four corners of the central plaza in preparation, and blocked anyone from entering.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
The Teacher's Union held the entire city hostage ? Sounds like Los Angeles.
Gotta maintain the illusion as long as possible ...
HAVANA (AP) - Fidel Castro's older brother said Monday the Cuban leader is doing well and that the family will try to make him rest more before he goes back to work.
"He is well, he's been resting a bit because of the operation he had," Ramon Castro, 82, told reporters at a trade fair outside Havana. "It's been published that he's going to start working again. We're trying to hold him back a bit longer though."
Awww, they're giving him time to finish his Sudoku puzzle...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/31/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
He's walking. Reads the newspapers daily. Expect him back on his skateboard anytime now.
#3
It would be a truly fitting tribute to the great Cuban People's Revolution to embalm Fidel and put the remains upright behind his favorite pulpit accompanied by a tape loop endlessly playing his top 100 speeches. It would be like the great leader never left us (sniff).
Only a small proportion of the young Chinese nationals granted student visas for Belgium every year actually turn up at the universities. There is a tendency for them to melt into illegal work, often in Chinese restaurants.
This year 125 Chinese students obtained a student visa after their acceptance at the University of Liège but, says the Dean, Bernard Rentier, "We only met about 20 of them." This practice is known to happen in other Belgian universities as well as throughout Europe.
The Minister of Higher Education, Marie-Dominique Simonet, discovered a filtering system designed in Germany during her visit to China.
Belgium plans on signing an agreement of cooperation with the DDAD, the German service running the filtering process, to reduce the entry of Chinese nationals to Belgium territory under false pretences. Up until now the Chinese authorities have simply checked the validity of the invitations extended Belgian universities but the Chinese government is considering verifying diplomas upon re-entry.
#2
Who the hell travels to attend Belgian universities or colleges? I'm not the world's most ignorant backholler hick, and I can't even *name* a Belgian college or university without the aid of Google.
(Actually, Wikipedia is a lot funnier. Check out the labored, very EUtopian description of the fission of Leuven University into separate Flemish and French institutions, complete with obtuse blather about "rational" division of the library archive, as if the equitable distribution of the stacks was the sole issue of importance in the linguistic partition of an allegedly ancient "Catholic" university.)
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/31/2006 20:12 Comments ||
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#3
Obviously you're not from the EU or you would know that Belgium is the center of the universe and the seat of all power. Or maybe it's a black hole from which Chinese students cannot escape.
#4
I worry a lot about the number of students from the PRC that have access to LBNL. While the research done there is supposedly unclassified, there's a lot of information that'd be easy to pick up and apply elsewhere.
I also know for a fact that a NorK citizen once had access to the Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek as an employee - and that's where a lot of genetics work was and is being done (I'm not at all certain what the person's status was or is currently, but at the time NorK citizens were not allowed anywhere near a DOE facility - nor are they today - without special clearances).
But don't worry, Nancy's a shoe-in.
As Democrats enter the final days of their push to take back control of the House in next week's election, two divisive backroom leadership fights are brewing within the party, raising fears that Democratic unity could be fraying even before the first votes are cast.
For some Democrats, the battle between Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (Md.), the minority whip, who had been expected to ascend to majority leader without opposition, and Rep. John P. Murtha (Pa.) threatens the party's efforts to appear ready to govern. I couldn't resist, adding emphasis.
In what could be another high-profile showdown, Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), the ambitious former White House aide who runs the Democratic campaign arm of the House, may seek the third-ranking post of majority whip, pitting him against Democratic Caucus Chairman James E. Clyburn (S.C.), the only African American in a leadership position.
This could exacerbate racial strains in the House, since both the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have complained that Emanuel is insensitive to minority concerns. Members of the black caucus accused him of using strong-arm tactics to collect dues for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the Hispanic caucus withheld its dues last year until Emanuel hired a Hispanic staffer at the DCCC.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/31/2006 05:53 ||
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Counting the chickens before they hatch are we?
Al
Posted by: frozen Al ||
10/31/2006 9:32 Comments ||
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Kinda reminds me of the 2006 World Champion Detroit Tigers...
Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter, the House Armed Services Committee chairman who coauthored legislation to build a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, announced plans on Monday for a longshot presidential bid in 2008. Hunter, who said support for a strong military and the fight against illegal immigration would be two of his top issues, is the first established Republican to say he would form an exploration committee for a 2008 presidential run.
Hunter will join what is expected to be a crowded field of presidential hopefuls in 2008, with about a dozen other Republicans and an equal number of Democrats lining up for runs at their party's nomination. "As I finish my final two years as chairman of the Armed Services Committee and serve you, I am also going to be preparing for a run for president of the United States," Hunter said at a news conference in San Diego.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Might make a good VP for Newt. Don't think he can get enough support by himself.
#3
Don't know what his chances are nationally, but I have known Duncan Hunter for 6 years and he is a good man and a smart, effective Congressman. He would make a better president than most of the likely candidates at this point.
#4
He might well be a good choice if he can get nominated, but unless you're a political/current affairs junkie (like most of us here at the Burg), you probably don't even know who Rep. Hunter is. It would take one helluva marketing effort to make him a viable national candidate.
And SpecOp35, I wouldn't count on seeing Newt as a viable nominee either. I've expounded on this before, both here and other places - but his THREE marriages will make him anathema to Republican women. He served his first wife with divorce papers when she was in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery, married the gal he was fooling around with, then recently dumped HER for the proverbial newer model. Dem women might be willing to polish Slick Willie's knob out of gratitude for keeping abortion legal - but Republican women take stuff like Newt's marital life very seriously and very personally. They're not totally dogmatic about this issue - the Gipper didn't suffer because of his divorce from Jane Wyman, which by all accounts was a mutual decision and handled in a civilized manner, at least in public.
Rudy Giuliani has a personal life that's as messy as Newt's - three marriages, with the split with #2 being handled in a particularly ugly and public manner. In Rudy's case, however, I think the Republican women would grit their teeth, hold their noses and support him; his conduct of his domestic life would be outweighed in their minds by his near-singlehanded saving of a city that was on its way to becoming an American Calcutta, and his inspiring leadership in the wake of 9/11.
Newt's of incalculable value as a theorist and message-crafter, but I predict that's where he stays.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/31/2006 10:30 Comments ||
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#5
Hunter has a wicked slice..but at least the ball goes to the right...
#6
I'd vote for Duncan Hunter tomorrow. He's my current favorite if he's serous. He has to get his name out, no question about that, but a lot of the known names out there have a lot of baggage attached.
#8
I've met him and he is a fervent supporter of our troops, particularly in terms of getting them the latest gear as quickly as possible. He is very willing to upset the apple cart. Unfortunately, there is a reason for the apple cart and turning it over is not always a great idea. But he is certainly a squeaky wheel and focuses on the serious issues that face this country.
#9
'Abu Babaloo' - I agree with you - politically Newt's damaged goods. Which is a shame, as he's brilliant. I like Duncan Hunter, but as another poster pointed out - no name recognition. Which is why you almost never see a House member even make it through the nomination process.
Files to prevent jury considering evidence on who leaked CIA agent's name Without ever mentioning him by name, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, in a court filing Monday, argues that a jury in the CIA/Leak trial should not consider evidence concerning why he did not charge former State Department official Richard Armitage with leaking Valerie Plame's name to reporters. It is a crime to intentionally disclose the name of a classified CIA operative.
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former top aide to Vice President Cheney, is the only one charged in the CIA/Leak case. Libby is accused of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI about his conversations in 2003 with three reporters regarding how he learned of and what he told them about CIA operative Valerie Plame - but not with leaking the agent's name.
#1
Fitzgerald has been spot on in Chicago getting pols who are criminals. The Libby case does not fit his M.O.. I almost wonder if the Dems have something bad on Fitzgerald himself?
#3
Novak wrote that Armitage did not slip me this information as idle chitchat, as he now suggests.
Makes for great fodder over cocktails but not only hasnt Armitage been charged with a crime it appears he hasnt violated any ethics rules. Besides that, one can only imagine that he is about as untouchable as it gets. Now get out there Dick and bench-press Novaks bony ass through a plate glass window.
#7
So, who's in a tighter spot? Nifong or Fitzgerald? Both guys are going to face the potential for some nasty charges after their prosecutions fall through.
#8
The Donks in Illnois tried their best to get Fitz pulled from his pursuit of their corruption to concentrate on the leaks full time. Fitzgeralds pursuit of the Kleptocracy in Illinios is doing more to restore democracy than what Nato is doing in Afghanistan!
What frightens national pols is the local corruption or Illnois leads to their offices in D.C. According to indictments and guilty pleas, Rove is only one person removed from it and Kjellander is in it up to his eyebrows; as is Durbin and others. THAT IS WHAT MAKES FITZ SO DANGEROUS AND WHY SOME FOLKS WANT HIM GONE.
#10
Maybe so, but I wouldn't give a cup of spit for his anti-White House staff work in DC.
Remember, Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson are anti-Bush operatives. There is a war going on. What exactly is Fitzgerald doing ?
#11
The case against Libby is extremely lame given no underlying crime and a plausible story that he was just confused (hundreds of calls and emails per day).
But Fitz's most disgraceful act was to keep innocent people hanging (and paying 300 bucks an hour for legal help) for years before finally exhonorating them. It is prosecutorial malfeasance and the timing must have been politically motivated for what is a very simple case.
Maybe he should go to Durham, NC and help with the Duke lacrosse case. That prosecutor is barely worse.
The Army recently opened a new modernization test center at White Sands Missile Range to hasten the delivery of Future Combat Systems technologies to current- and future-force Soldiers.
The FCS Test Operations Complex performs a vital role in our Army modernization strategy, said Maj. Gen. Charles Cartwright, FCS program manager. By this time next year, we will have new FCS equipment in Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.
The Army is adopting FCS technologies through incremental spin-outs and capability insertions into the current force via an Evaluation Brigade Combat Team. The EBCT is now being stood up at nearby Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas, with more than 900 Soldiers. The FCS Test Operations Complex at White Sands Missile Range will support these EBCT Soldiers as they test, evaluate and refine new FCS technologies and equipment.
These technologies include crucial new networking capabilities, Unattended Ground Sensors, the Non-Line-of-Sight Launch System, and Intelligent Munitions Systems, all of which address critical Army capability gaps while enhancing the mission effectiveness and survivability of current-force Soldiers.
Our Soldiers require these new capabilities now; and the Army is delivering them today, Maj. Gen. Cartwright said. The technologies are there to be fielded, he added. The only thing that can hold us back is funding and resources.
EBCT Soldiers and leaders will build on lessons learned during FCS Experiment 1.1, a three-phased event now in its second phase. Experiment 1.1 combines laboratory trials with field exercises. Indeed, as part of Experiment 1.1, Soldiers now are using FCS technologies and equipment while working initial doctrinal concepts.
Experiment 1.1, Phase 1, was completed in September at the FCS System of Systems Laboratory in Huntington Beach, California. This laboratory-based phase focused on hardware and software integration and systems interoperability.
Phase 2, the Engineering Field Test, is currently underway and scheduled to end in December. Here, Soldiers are assessing FCS systems performance in a realistic operational environment at a combined range complex. This combined range complex is situated at both Ft. Bliss and White Sands Missile Range.
Phase 3, scheduled to take place in January-February 2007, will involve Soldier-testing of key FCS technologies and equipment. These technologies and equipment will be integrated with current-force Army systems. Soldier feedback and analysis will shape and facilitate subsequent FCS technology and program development.
Army modernization truly is about the Soldier, Maj. Gen. Cartwright said. We see that in both the design and execution of the FCS program.
The Urban Resolve 2015 experiment, which ended Oct. 26, focused on how military operations can bring about stability in cities without destroying them.
Dave Ozolek, executive director of the Joint Futures Lab at U.S. Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., said Urban Resolve was the most complex and important experiment the U.S. military has conducted since Millennium Challenge in 2002. Ozolek briefed the press via a telephone conference call Oct. 27.
The experiment looked at the challenges the U.S. military is likely to encounter in the near future, and cities will be the military, economic and political centers of gravity, Ozolek said.
Continued on Page 49
#1
The Urban Resolve 2015 experiment, which ended Oct. 26, focused on how military operations can bring about stability in cities without destroying them.
That talk about leaving the union back in 2004 after the election demonstrated a mighty low level display of intelligence. So, pay close attention San Francisco, Berkley, etc. Toss in the fair living conditions shown in New Orleans when a city is cut off from power, water, supplies, etc, you might want to ratchet back the emotional outbursts before they become too self fulfilling.
#2
I guess it's escaped your mind that most of the worst battles the US armed forces have been in over the past five years have been in cities full of innocent bystanders?
Oh, I'm bein' followed by a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow
Leapin and hoppin' on a moonshadow, moonshadow, moonshadow
And if I ever lose my hands, lose my plough, lose my land,
IT IS THE WILL OF ALLAH!
Oh if I ever lose my hands,
IT IS THE WILL OF ALLAH!
And if I ever lose my eyes, if my colours all run dry,
IT IS THE WILL OF ALLAH!
Yes if I ever lose my eyes, Oh if.... I won't have to cry no more.
IT IS THE WILL OF ALLAH!
And if I ever lose my legs, I won't moan, and I won't beg,
IT IS THE WILL OF ALLAH!
Yes if I ever lose my legs, Oh if.... I won't have to walk no more.
IT IS THE WILL OF ALLAH!
And if I ever lose my mouth, all my teeth, north and south,
Yes if I ever lose my mouth, Oh if.... I won't have to talk...
IT IS THE WILL OF ALLAH!
SCIENTISTS have discovered a new strain of bird flu that appears to sidestep current vaccines. It is infecting people as well as poultry in Asia, and some researchers fear its evolution may have been steered by the vaccination programmes designed to protect poultry from earlier types of the H5N1 flu.
The discovery by Yi Guan, of Hong Kong University, and colleagues is reported in today's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The new variant has become the primary version of the bird flu in several provinces of China and has spread to Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia and Thailand, the researchers report. It is being called H5N1 Fujian-like, to distinguish it from earlier Hong Kong and Vietnam variants.
"We don't know what is driving this," said report co-author Dr Robert Webster, of St Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
While the new virus has infected people, there is no evidence that it can pass easily from person to person, Dr Webster said. He added that new vaccines would now have to be developed. Dr Michael Perdue, of the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s Global Influenza Programme, said the new variant doesn't indicate any increased risk for people "other than the fact it seems to be pretty widespread."
The virus was continuing to change, he added.
Dr Perdue said the WHO is working with the Chinese ministry of health to develop a vaccine for the new form of the virus.
#3
No matter how you slice it, the avian flu shows signs of being a terrible disaster. Even if it breaks out only in poultry, that is a major source of protein for half the planet, that is, if it is limited to poultry. We already know that it can kill dogs and cats, so what about cattle, pigs and sheep?
#5
Moose, avain flus make the rounds all the time. There are at least two outbreaks currently going on in the US, including a form of H5N1.
The cats who died of the flu were fed infected chickens, or killed and ate sick birds.
In theory, it can appear in pigs since they are omnivorus. It's unlikely that any non-meat eating animals would aquire the disease.
Remember, H5N1 has been around since the late 1950's. H1N1, the variant causing the Spanish Flu, returned in the mid seventies.
Most of the human deaths can be traced to close contact with infected birds, contact far closer than is normal here in the west. It is a disease of bad hygiene, bad animal husbandry, bad food processing and preparation.
The Chinese went nuts with efforts to quell the disease. Anti-virals were used in abundance in poultry. Vaccines of several sorts were also widely used.This sort of shotgun approach is believed to be a very good way to encourage the virus to change and adapt.
As of today, WHO reports 256 cases since 2003 and 152 deaths. The initial focus was in Vietnam and it is now in Indonesia. Those two countries combined account for 64% of the human cases.
#7
There are three common types of influenza virus, A, B, C. The A type which includes avian flus, is the most common. The B type also occurs in humans.
The usual influenza shot contains antibodies against Type A and Type B virii.
The sub-types are designated based upon the distribution of certain protiens in the viral shell. The are expressed in the form H?N?. H can run 1-16 and N can run 1-9, giving a large mathamatical universe of potential sub-types.
About half the H sub-types infect humans, though all of them infect birds. Only three of the N sub-types can infect humans at this time, N1, N2 and N7. The bird flu everyone is afraid of is properly shown as A)H5N1.
Within any sub-type, H5N1, you have strains like the one described in this post.
A)H1N1 is the designation given the Spanish Flu. It was rediscovered in humans in the mid 1970's but in a new strain that does not produce a pandemic. A fraction of those who had flu in 2005 in the U.S. had A)H1N1.
The current A)H5N1 is not closely related to the sub-type that produced the Spanish Flu. At any given time, several sub-types and several strains of any given sub-type are in circulation. Flu season is winter in the higher latitudes such as the U.S., but in the tropics it is a year round situation.
Influenza is not normally fatal. In those with a weakened immune system, infants and the elderly it can lead to a bacterial pneumonia which can be fatal. However, in the worst flu pandemic known, the Spanish Flu of 1918-1919, the mortality rate was still about 5% and only about 30% of the U.S. population caught the disease.
The two flu pandemics that followed produced fewer deaths. Pneumonia is treatable with antibiotics, and we have a variety of other medical treatments that we did not have in 1918. We also have the pneumonia vaccine which will prevent a number of bacterial pneumonias, further reducing your chances of death or serious illness.
#8
It's incorrect to characterize the 1918 pandemic and earlier pandemics as like normal flu, but worse.
In 1918 and the current bird flu cases, the primary killer is Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). ARDS is not bacterial and not treatable with antibiotics.
The fact is that of H5N1 bird flu cases to date the mortality rate is over 50%. If it goes pandemic with anything like this mortality rate, healthcare systems everywhere will collapse and we are in deep deep trouble.
#10
Darrell: There have been no mild cases reported. All cases have developed a severe cytokine storm response which severely damages their lungs, and most fatalities have come from oxygen deprivation to the internal organs. Even the survivors will have permanently scarred lungs.
This is one of many highly unusual characteristics of this strain. Others include its reproduction in areas other than the upper respiratory system, including two or three internal organs; its odd maintenance of its 50%+ mortality rate, instead of following the typical half-life curve of lethal diseases; and its proclivity to certain people in favor of others.
This last oddity is the strangest. In one large family, every blood relation was killed, but not their wives, who otherwise shared everything with their adoptive families.
This strain of H5N1 is unlike any other H5N1, and has a strong potential, regarded as inevitable by most world health authorities, for creating an enormous pandemic the likes of which the world has never seen.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KUWAIT CITY - The emir of Kuwait Monday urged MPs and the government to cooperate in fighting corruption as he opened the new term of parliament where the opposition has gained control following June elections. I urge the two authorities, legislative and executive, to put into reality the desires of cooperation ... and to agree on national priorities, Sheikh 
Without ever mentioning him by name, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, in a court filing Monday, argues that a jury in the CIA/Leak trial should not consider evidence concerning why he did not charge former State Department official Richard Armitage with leaking Valerie Plame's name to reporters. It is a crime to intentionally disclose the name of a classified CIA operative.
SCIENTISTS have discovered a new strain of bird flu that appears to sidestep current vaccines. It is infecting people as well as poultry in Asia, and some researchers fear its evolution may have been steered by the vaccination programmes designed to protect poultry from earlier types of the H5N1 flu.
