statism watch

Note that the figures quoted below are derived only from the segment of the population that were admitted to ICUs. The number of people admitted to hospital with swine flu sits over a large denominator of those who contracted the virus but were not admitted to hospital. Also, women, and native women, may be interested to know that the recently released inserts for the H1N1 vaccine include possible ‘impairment of fertility’ among the long list of potential side effects.

Flashback: UK: National Health Service frontline staff shun H1N1 vaccine | US: Hospitals fear ‘Flumist’ H1N1 nasal vaccine could spread swine flu | New swine-flu wave hits GTA: Provincial Health Official | Canadian taxpayers on hook for any H1N1 vaccine damages | Second wave of swine flu pandemic begins to hit US | Seasonal flu shots delayed for non-seniors on fears of increased H1N1 risk | Seasonal flu shot may increase H1N1 risk | Swine flu death rate similar to seasonal flu: expert | Swine flu unlikely to become superbug | UK: Half of all pregnant women will refuse swine flu jab, poll reveals | Flu vaccine plan will be too slow: CMAJ | Swine flu jab link to killer nerve disease: Leaked letter reveals concern of neurologists over 25 deaths in America | Canada to order 50.4 million H1N1 vaccine doses – with adjuvant additive | Genetically modified Swine Flu hybrid may provide vaccine yield solution | Washington Post: Swine Flu Vaccine Will Contain Mercury | UK Government Swine Flu Advisor On Vaccine Maker Payroll | Fast-tracked swine flu vaccine will be safe, officials insist | Swine flu: How scared should we be? | Top Epidemiologist Slams Swine Flu Fearmongering | Legal immunity set for swine flu vaccine makers | Swine flu ‘related’ to 1918 pandemic virus – survivors exhibit resistance | Did leak from a laboratory cause swine flu pandemic? | Swine Flu May Be Human Error; WHO Investigates Claim | Lessons of 1976: swine flu, fear, mass vaccinations, wasted millions | ‘Accidental’ Contamination Of Vaccine With Live Avian Flu Virus Virtually Impossible | Officials investigate how bird flu contaminated vaccines in Europe | Researchers unlock secrets of 1918 flu pandemic

CBC News
October 12, 2009

Many of the Canadians who died or were sent to hospital earlier this year with H1N1 virus were young adults, female and aboriginal, a new study suggests.

The study, published in Monday’s online issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at 168 patients with confirmed or probable swine flu. So far, one in five patients hospitalized with the virus has ended up in an intensive care unit or ICU.

Of the group, 24 or 14.3 per cent, died within the first 28 days of becoming critically ill, Dr. Anand Kumar, an intensive care specialist at the Health Sciences Centre and St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg and his colleagues found.

“Our data suggest that severe disease and mortality in the current outbreak is concentrated in relatively healthy adolescents and adults between the ages of 10 and 60 years,” the study’s authors wrote.

The ages in the mortality pattern were similar to that of the 1918 H1N1 Spanish flu pandemic, they said.

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Flashback: Gold continues record-breaking run | Gold price rises to all-time high | Fisk: Nations to hasten demise of dollar in new world order

Ye Xie, Anchalee Worrachate, Bloomberg
October 12, 2009

Central banks flush with record reserves are increasingly snubbing dollars in favor of euros and yen, further pressuring the greenback after its biggest two- quarter rout in almost two decades.

Policy makers boosted foreign currency holdings by $413 billion last quarter, the most since at least 2003, to $7.3 trillion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nations reporting currency breakdowns put 63 percent of the new cash into euros and yen in April, May and June, the latest Barclays Capital data show. That’s the highest percentage in any quarter with more than an $80 billion increase.

World leaders are acting on threats to dump the dollar while the Obama administration shows a willingness to tolerate a weaker currency in an effort to boost exports and the economy as long as it doesn’t drive away the nation’s creditors. The diversification signals that the currency won’t rebound anytime soon after losing 10.3 percent on a trade-weighted basis the past six months, the biggest drop since 1991.

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Public sentiment is being engaged for a renewed assault on the Punjab. As President Asif Zardari has publically affirmed, the interlocking Islamist groups in question were created and nurtured by the Pakistani government as proxy mercenary armies to serve foreign policy agendas. These muhajideen groups were airlifted back into the tribal areas by American forces in the early days of the Afghan occupation. Recent reports in the NY Times and elsewhere have quoted insiders as stating that “retired army and ISI officials trained Lashkar recruits as late as last year.” And let’s not forget that Qari Zainuddin was assassinated after defecting from the Taliban to disclose links between the seemingly disposable Baitullah Mehsud and Indian and American intelligence. Where does the truth lie? The situtation is complex – in addition to an apparent schism within the Pakistan army along sectarian lines, there is evidence to believe that Pakistani and Western intelligence agencies are continuing to use these groups as pawns in the great game. Naturally, the outcome of continued assault on the tribal areas will be the displacement of native populations. Qui bono?

Flashback: Bloody siege in Pakistan ends with 20 dead | Links to ‘Al-Qaeda’, Pakistani training camps linger after ‘Toronto 18′ member imprisoned | Pakistani militant leader dead: Taliban | Whistleblower Who Linked “Taliban” Leader To US Intelligence Is Assassinated | Pakistani president Asif Zardari admits creating terrorist groups | Western Governments Funding Taliban & Al-Qaeda To Kill U.S. Troops, Destabilize Countries | The Main Result of the “War on Terror”: The Destabilization of Pakistan | Not very cricket: Witnesses report Pakistani security abandoned convoy prior to attack | Report: CIA runs secret bases in Pakistan | Key Benazir Bhutto assassination witness shot dead | CIA, Pakistani ISI have long, complicated relationship | US Allowed Taliban, Al-Qaeda Airlift Evacuation

The Associated Press
October 12, 2009

Militants struck again in Pakistan today when at least 41 people were killed in a suicide car bombing targeting an army vehicle in the north-western district of Shangla.

The provincial information minister, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said the attack had also wounded 45 people — six security personnel were among the dead.

The blast in the market was the latest in a string of attacks in Pakistan, underscoring militant strength ahead of an expected offensive in the main al-Qaida and Taliban stronghold of South Waziristan.

Shangla lies east of Swat, which has been the focus of an intense military offensive against the Taliban. The army says it has largely cleared the valley of the insurgents. Many of the Taliban are believed to have melted into the rural areas or gone to neighbouring districts.

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