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The Naming of Swine Flu, a Curious Matter

Keith Bradsher
New York Times
Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:27 UTC
What to call the new strain of flu raising alarms around the world has taken on political, economic and diplomatic overtones.

Pork producers question whether the term "swine flu" is appropriate, given that the new virus has not yet been isolated in samples taken from pigs in Mexico or elsewhere. While the new virus seems to be most heavily composed of genetic sequences from swine influenza virus material, it also has human and avian influenza genetic sequences as well, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Government officials in Thailand, one of the world's largest meat exporters, have started referring to the disease as "Mexican flu." An Israeli deputy health minister - an ultra-Orthodox Jew - said his country would do the same, to keep Jews from having to say the word "swine." However, his call seemed to have been largely ignored.

Janet Napolitano, the secretary for homeland security, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack went out of their way at a press conference in Washington on Tuesday to refer to the virus by its scientific name, as the "H1N1 virus."
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WHO to raise swine flu alert level to 5


Press TV
Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:14 UTC
Considering the rapidly increasing number of confirmed swine flu cases, WHO officials have decided to raise the pandemic alert level to phase 5.

Swine Influenza (swine flu) caused by type A influenza, regularly leads to influenza outbreaks among pigs. The virus does not normally infect humans.

hospital
© Unknown
Confirmed sufferers in the United States and Mexico, however, are believed to have spread the disease to their families and others in close contact.

Comment: At this point it's unknown if this current (appearingly man-made) virus will indeed 'go live' worldwide at this juncture. However, common sense and self preservation behooves us to look after ourselves and our loved ones.

That includes ridding ourselves of toxins as best we can, and helping to boost our immune systems. Please listen to Sott's latest Podcast entitled 'Toxic World, Toxic Bodies' - Flu, or no flu... this information is eye opening and (as noted) should not be missed.
In this SOTT.net podcast, we touch on a topic that hasn't received anywhere near the attention that it deserves: improving our health through a program of detoxification. We're joined by Mark Givert of Get Fitt™ Ltd, a UK-based company that provides far infrared saunas and other products to detoxify the body and improve overall health. We discuss the benefits of far infrared, the surprising effects of heavy metal toxicity and candida, and several other illnesses and health-related topics. Mark and Laura also share their personal stories of how the far infrared saunas were a key tool in helping to restore their health and battle toxicity. Even if you have never had any serious illnesses or health issues, this is one podcast you can't afford to miss!
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Attention

Killer Pandemic of 1918 Gives Lessons on Limiting Flu

Elisabeth Lopatto
Bloomberg News
Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:12 UTC
Doctors don't know yet if the swine flu that may have killed at least 149 people in Mexico is more like the 1918 form of influenza that left 50 million people dead, or a 1976 version that was fatal to just one.

Either way, the lessons from past pandemics in 1918, 1958 and 1968 may help reduce the severity of the current threat, said Barry Bloom, a professor at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. The most basic precautions, including hand washing, avoiding close contact with the sick and covering the nose and mouth during coughs and sneezes, remain the same, according to the World Health Organization.
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Expert analysis: Mexican swine flu - the story so far

Wendy Barclay
New Scientist
Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:05 UTC
Out of the blue, a novel influenza virus has emerged in Mexico. The virus seems to have been born from the combination of at least two pig viruses, that themselves carried gene segments that originated in viruses of other species such as birds or humans. The combination of elements from three species is called "triple reassortment".

This new virus, although dubbed "swine flu", has not been identified from pigs in Mexico, nor is it caught directly from pigs, but has the ability to infect and transmit efficiently between humans. This led the World Health Organization to increase its pandemic alert to level 4.

So far there seem to have been around 159 fatalities among perhaps 2000 cases in Mexico, although only a small number of these have been confirmed in the laboratory as influenza infections. Although this suggests a scary fatality rate of around 10%, there has so far been just one death outside of Mexico - of a 23-month-old Mexican child in Texas, who had recently been in Mexico. The "case fatality" of the virus is not yet known.

This is the key point that scientists are now investigating. Travellers returning to their home countries after acquiring the virus in Mexico have experienced mild influenza-like illness. What might explain this apparent discrepancy in disease outcome?
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Homeopathy Successfully Treated Flu Epidemic of 1918

Melanie Grimes
Natural News
Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:33 UTC
Image
© Peter Macdiarmid/GettyHomeopathic remedies
Homeopathy was successful in treating the flu epidemic of 1918 and can provide answers to questions about the 2009 Swine Flu. Homeopathy can provide quick and inexpensive relief for symptoms of the flu. A system of medicine based on the principles of "like cures like," homeopathy uses plant, mineral and animal sources for the natural flu remedies. Homeopathy is based on ideas from ideas dating back to Egyptian medicine. The term "homeopathy" was coined by the medical doctor and medical reformer, Samuel Hahnemann in the 1800s. Homeopathic remedies have been used to treat flu symptoms for two centuries.
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Attention

Swine Flu in Mexico: The "New" Bird Flu

Sherri Tenpenny
DrTenpenny.com
Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:27 UTC
We knew this was coming. Even though the bird flu hype was removed years ago from the nightly news, planning for the global pandemic and the development of pandemic flu vaccines has continued with little notice. Our government has instructed FEMA, made checklists for Homeland Security, given action plans to State and local authorities. These plans include methods and drills for global inoculation with a vaccine that will no doubt have the same deadly consequences as the Swine Flu vaccine in 1976.

My book, FOWL!, published in 2006, foretold the events that are now happening in Mexico. Reported death rates are skyrocketing, from 20 to 60 to 86, in a matter of hours. More than 1,300 others have supposedly become ill with "suspected" cases of the infection and reports are coming in from various States and Canada of swine flu. There are no sources or references given with these numbers; we have to take the word of CNN. A short look back at plans that were put in place several years ago will confirm this is not a spontaneous eruption and the solution - global vaccination - has been in the works for quite some time.
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Studies Show We Need More Vegetables Now than Ever Before

Sheryl Walters
Natural News
Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:13 UTC
Vegetables have been the main stay of our diet for centuries. They have been the back bone of entire countries, offering not only sustenance to its citizens but also a way to make a living through farming and trade. But most important of all they are the main source of many vitamins and minerals that are essential for maintaining a long healthy and fulfilling life, and we need more now than ever before.
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Attention

Swine Flu = Dress Rehearsal


Twelth Bough
Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:49 UTC
After looking over the stories regarding this flu business, the overall impression I get is that this is probably a dry run conditioning event. It just doesn't seem horribly deadly, and if they were going to take the trouble to start a pandemic, wouldn't it be really deadly right away?

As it stands now, the more uptight people will be making demands of the government. Do this. Do that. Protect us. Give us shots. The more cynical people will shrug the whole thing off and be even less worried the next time. It's kind of a win-win for the people who like mind-f*cking us to death.

I basically agree with this take on it, at least it feels about right to me. The point about people wittingly or unwittingly helping the agenda is true, although it's not exactly simple to sort through events while they're happening. Let's face it: we are under constant manipulation and therefore forced to run down a few blind alleys like rats in a maze.
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Chlorella can Replace a Closet Full of Expensive Supplements

Barbara Minton
Natural News
Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:00 UTC
If you could only have one supplement, which one would you choose? For its high nutrient content and potent defense against disease and the ravages of aging, many people have put chlorella at the top of their list. Now there are even more reasons to cheer for chlorella. Scientists are documenting its potent cancer fighting abilities including its ability to repair damage to DNA and influence gene expression.

Carotenoids from chlorella make cancer cells die

Scientists in South Korea recently found that carotenoids from chlorella may be effectively used to prevent cancer in humans. They discovered the primary carotenoid from C. ellipsoidea is violaxanthin, while the major carotenoid from C. vulgaris is lutein. They examined the activity of semi-purified extracts of these carotenoids against human cancer and found they inhibited cancer cell growth in a dose-dependent manner.

When both were used together, appropriate programmed cell death, known as apoptosis, was enhanced. The reason cancer cells are so problematic is that they refuse to die on cue. Chlorella made sure they followed through when it was their time to die. The researchers also discovered that C. ellipsoidea extract was 2.5 times more effective than C. vulgaris at inducing the apoptotic effect. (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, November 26, 2008).
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What, Me Worry? Swine Flu

Elvira G. Aletta
Psych Central
Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:00 UTC
Picture the little kid crying in front of Mom. She's wagging a finger at him saying, "I'll give you something to cry about!" Anyone else feeling that way or is it just me? Terrorism, recession, and now what? Swine flu? Oy! What's next? A plague of locusts?

Once again the media pounces and every five minutes we are hounded by how we shouldn't panic, but...much reporting is just about as helpful as someone yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater. "We don't want you to panic, but there's a three alarm blaze in the lobby." Really, is that helpful?

So what can we do to address our anxiety over this crisis du jour? Treatment for situational anxiety doesn't change much even if the trigger causing it does. Which is why the same advice I gave for Anxiety And The Plane Crash In Clarence, NY is basically applicable for Anxiety and Swine Flu.
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