Archive for February 5th, 2008
Poultry Deaths in Northern and Southern Pakistan
Poultry Deaths in Northern and Southern Pakistan
Recombinomics Commentary 23:45
February 4, 2008
more than two thousand chickens brought from Hyderabad died in Mangora, Swat. The Tehsil Municipal Authority Mangora, on the public complaint, while taking quick action took into custody the owner of chickens Sher Ali and sent specimen of the dead chickens to laboratory to check for bird flu.In Punjab five thousand chickens perished due to bird flu virus in village Moor Charwan in Hujra Shah Moqeem at the poultry form of Pir Aftab Shah.
The above comments describe more poultry deaths in Pakistan. Some of the deaths are in the south, near confirmed cases in suburban Karachi (see satellite maps here and here), while the other is in the north, in the general area of earlier outbreaks and near the hospital with the suspect patient.
The situation in Pakistan is far from clear. Media reports describe more poultry deaths and one report cites 132 hospitalized patients in Peshawar (although it should indicate there are 132 beds available at the hospitals in Peshawar).
There were significant delays in the reporting of the earlier human cases in the northwest and media reports did not appear until the second patient died. WHO became aware of the situation via internet posts, so the current conflicting reports are not surprising.
The situation in India is also far from clear. H5N1 spread has exploded in Bangladesh, while India maintains the situation in West Bengal is stabilizing. Testing of wild birds and patients is minimal, and the track record for detecting H5N1 in either group remains abysmal, with zero reports of positives.
Pakistan H5N1 Sequences Similar to Afghanistan
Recombinomics Commentary 18:37
February 4, 2008
Sequences from Pakistan are being released at Genbank. There are three set of HA and NA sequences. One set is from 2006, A/goose/Lahore-Pakistan/NARC-3321/4/2006, while the other two are from 2007, A/peacock/Mansehra-Pakistan/NARC-7558/02/2007 and A/turkey/Islamabad-Pakistan/NARC-7871/02/2007. All three sequences are most closely related to 2006 sequences from Afghanistan. These are clade 2.2.3, as are sequences from India and Korea.
Like the 2006 clade 2.2.3 previously published, these sequences do not have NA G743A. It is unclear if the 2007 are from the beginning or end of 2007. However, they are distinct from the Uva Lake sequences, which have spread throughout Europe in 2007.
Like sequences in Egypt, the 2007 sequences are more genetically complex than the 2006 sequences.
It is likely that the sequences from late 2007 that were linked to human cases in northwest Pakistan will be related to these sequences.
The collection dates on the 2007 isolates would be useful.
More detail from either country would be useful.
Quarter of Brits think Churchill was myth and 58 percent thought detective Sherlock Holmes actually existed!!
Quarter of Brits think Churchill was myth and 58 percent thought detective Sherlock Holmes actually existed
LONDON (AFP) – Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.
The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.
And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.
Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain’s most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.
Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.
Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns’ fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.
UKTV Gold television surveyed 3,000 people.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080204/od_afp/britainpeoplehistoryoffbeat
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No comment…
HOW THE MEDIA IGNORES RON PAUL & PICKS THE CANDIDATES
HOW THE MEDIA IGNORES RON PAUL & PICKS THE CANDIDATES
By Cliff Kincaid
February 4, 2008
NewsWithViews.com
Whatever you think of Ron Paul, you have to admit that the media are notoriously biased against him. The Fox News Channel unfairly excluded him from its January 6 debate, while MSNBC and CNN tried to keep him from speaking for any significant length of time during their January 24 and January 30 debates. This is a candidate, we must recall, who placed second in the Republican Nevada caucuses on January 19, beating John McCain.
Interestingly, every time the media do something to undercut Ron Paul, his supporters react by sending more money to his campaign. The result is that the Los Angeles Times and other media are reporting that Ron Paul was the most successful fundraiser among the Republican presidential candidates in the last three months of 2007. Paul brought in $19.7 million—compared to $9.9 million for Mitt Romney, $6.8 million for John McCain, and $6.6 million for Mike Huckabee.
Anyone who watched the Republican debate on CNN could not have helped notice how the questions went down the line, from Mitt Romney to John McCain, and then skipped over Ron Paul. This happened on several occasions. Eventually, the other candidate on the stage, Mike Huckabee, got so disgusted that he spoke up in protest, wondering why the “spigot” of questions had been turned off for him, too. “I didn’t come here to umpire a ballgame between these two,” Huckabee said, referring to Romney and McCain. “I came here to get a chance to swing at a few myself.” Huckabee wasn’t whining; he was telling the truth about how the media try to rig the process.
It all goes to show that these “debates” are media productions that have little to do with an actual examination of differences between the candidates. In effect, the media are trying to pick the candidates and narrow down the race. While few people, relatively speaking, actually watch the debates on the cable channels, the exchanges which are manufactured by the nature of the questions that are addressed to certain candidates get picked up by many other media outlets, leading to a public perception that the “frontrunners” being quoted are the only “serious” ones left in the race.
This media bias can only lead to more of a backlash against the media from supporters of other candidates. Indeed, some Ron Paul supporters are carrying banners and signs at his campaign rallies blasting the media. When Fox excluded him from its debate, a website was created to protest the exclusion and one Paul supporter responded, “Bye, Bye Fox. WE are the media now.” I can testify to some truth in that statement, having been a guest on an Internet radio show hosted by a Ron Paul supporter named Indy, who lives in Japan, and which took calls from around the world. I was invited on to talk about media bias against the candidate. There are several other Internet radio shows exclusively devoted to his candidacy.
Paul’s opposition to the Iraq War might have made him too “liberal” for the Fox News Channel (FNC) debate. One can understand but not defend this exclusion. FNC should have the freedom to do what it wants, even if it is being unfair and unbalanced in this case. But what accounts for the hostility to Paul from liberal outlets like CNN and MSNBC? Perhaps they do not like the more conservative aspects of his message, such as his opposition to the United Nations and higher taxes and more federal spending. Paul puts a wrench in their plans to ask questions that push the candidates in a more liberal direction.
Paul, for example, doesn’t favor more federal spending on education, he favors less. In fact, he sticks to the old Ronald Reagan platform of abolishing the federal Department of Education. A recent National Taxpayers Union study finds that, of the Republican candidates left in the presidential race, Paul is the only one whose proposals amount to an overall federal spending cut (of $150 billion). This position is not popular with the liberal media.
Paul is also unabashedly pro-life and spoke at the recent March for Life in Washington, D.C. Ron Paul for President banners were very visible at the event and I didn’t see any for any other candidate except Fred Thompson, who has since dropped out. Of course, the media are overwhelmingly pro-abortion and, if they ever bring up the subject during a debate, would not want Ron Paul, a medical doctor, talking about how he has delivered 4,000 babies and how the unborn are innocent human lives deserving of protection.
Raising money is one sign that a campaign is generating energy and enthusiasm. Another is having people actually show up at your events. Here, Ron Paul is also doing well. Around the country, even on college campuses, he is drawing good crowds. On the campuses, a Florida International mock primary election poll of students found Ron Paul winning among Republicans, getting 27 percent to 23 percent for McCain, while a local paper reports that at the University of Pittsburgh the most active candidate organization on campus has been Paul’s. These are not isolated cases.
In the Iowa caucuses, where Paul got 10 percent overall, he received 20 percent of the vote of 17-24 year-olds. In New Hampshire, where he got eight percent overall, he got 19 percent of the young voters. In Michigan, he got six percent overall but 19 percent of young voters. In Nevada, where he got 14 percent of the vote, he got 19 percent of the young vote. There is a pattern developing here.
The media can try to ignore or muzzle Ron Paul and the Republican Party can do so as well. But in a little-noticed speech on January 18, Mississippi Republican Governor Haley Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, admitted that the Republican Party was too “top-down” and has to become a “bottom-up” party again. By those at the “bottom,” he is presumably referring to actual people and voters, the so-called “grass-roots.”
Whatever they may think of his views on this or that issue, Ron Paul’s success can be traced to the grass-roots. Mike Huckabee, who has emphasized moral purpose and values, is another grassroots phenomenon. He came from virtually nowhere to win the Iowa caucuses. While his fund-raising has not been as successful as Paul’s, he says that each quarter of his fundraising has outperformed the previous one. On Monday, black conservatives concerned about the country’s cultural collapse are holding a press conference in Washington, D.C. to urge Huckabee to stay in the race to the end.
One of them, black conservative activist Star Parker, says, “Inside-the-beltway Republicans have lost touch with the increasing seriousness with which heartland conservatives relate to the traditional values agenda.” Don Scoggins, a veteran GOP activist and president of Republicans for Black Empowerment, says that “regardless of his bank account,” they will keep fighting for Huckabee.
One has money, and the other may run out of money eventually. They are not the current front-runners. But it looks like Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee are in the race to stay because of their grassroots support. By trying to ignore or marginalize these serious and important candidates, the media demonstrate their bias and elitism.
The result of this media malpractice will be growing public awareness that our democratic form of government is increasingly at risk because the people are being denied important information about the candidates and the issues.
© 2008 Cliff Kincaid – All Rights ReservedCliff Kincaid, a veteran journalist and media critic, Cliff concentrated in journalism and communications at the University of Toledo, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Cliff has written or co-authored nine books on media and cultural affairs and foreign policy issues. Cliff has appeared on Hannity & Colmes, The O’Reilly Factor, Crossfire and has been published in the Washington Post, Washington Times, Chronicles, Human Events and Insight. Web Site: www.AIM.org
E-Mail: cliff.kincaid@aim.org
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Comment :
Nobody knows Ron Paul, outside US, europe mainstream media never talk about him…
Troubles in Brzezinski’s paradise?
Troubles in Brzezinski’s paradise?
By Umberto Pascali
Online Journal Guest Writer
Feb 4, 2008, 01:52
“France’s defence minister, Herve Morin, did not budge when Gates asked Paris for more troops.”Feb. 1, Guardian Unlimited
“German defence minister Franz Josef Jung responded in an equally strong manner, refusing to send the 3,200 troops to the south of Afghanistan that Gates requested to replace US troops” Feb. 1, Guardian Unlimited
Europeans refuse to join the new war deployment in Afghanistan that is the first step toward a planned global Operation Barbarossa against Russia.
To jump start such a countdown to war was the raison d’être for the frantic efforts by Zbigniew Brzezinski to impose his hand-picked candidate, Barack Obama, as the next US president. If the final assault against Russia is to have a realistic chance to succeed, the economic, military, propagandistic resources of Europe (especially France, Germany, Italy and Spain) must be put under Anglo-American control and totally integrated with the Anglo American war machine. Figurehead Obama is supposed to supply the ideological rhetoric and hysteria that could get the US public and the Europeans (plus large areas of the Third World), who are both sickened and disgusted by the wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan, on the train of total war
What it is to be expected now is a period of increasing pressures on Europe to give up, whether they manage to save of their sovereignty and integrate in the war machine. The situation resembles, mutatis mutandis, the period of the violent debate over the question of the euro missiles. At that time, Europe gave up. Now, however, the situation could be different. The Anglo-Americans do not have the influence and power they once could boast. Russia is led by realistic and skilled persons who know their surrender or defeat would mean Russia’s partition and final looting. Russia and China are tied in an alliance based on the common understanding of the existential danger they face. And also, the Europeans could have learned something from the past 20 years.
If the economic and military potential of Europe is not available for the new global Operation Barbarossa, Brzezinski’s plan will fail. Brzezinski’s attempt to again use the “Muslim card” (using Muslims populations and terrorists groups as cannon fodder for an upheaval directed against both Russia and China) or to use India will not be enough. Imminent events will make clear whether the Europeans will let themselves be intimidated and propagandistically stampeded into a war. It would not be surprising if new scandals, tiny veiled blackmails, “terrorist” provocations, artificially created internal clashes, and other “dirty tricks” will take over the front page of the media.
A series of events will constitute a litmus test for the chance of success of the Brzezinski plan:
The NATO meeting in Vilnius on February 7-8,
The concomitant detonation of the Kosovo Crisis,
The reactions to the pressures (that will continue) on the European governments,
The status of the Presidential campaign in the US. Will anybody point the spotlight at Brzezinski and his plan?
Later on, the April Summit of Nato in Bucharest.
The Manifesto calling for preemptive nuclear war was presented during the first half of January to both the Pentagon in Washington and to NATO’s secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. As was reported recently by the media, five former NATO military leaders signed the unprecedented document: General John Shalikashvili, the former chairman of the US joint Chiefs of Staff and NATO’s ex-supreme commander in Europe; General Klaus Naumann, Germany’s former top soldier and ex-chairman of NATO’s military committee; General Henk van den Breemen, a former Dutch chief of staff; Admiral Jacques Lanxade, a former French chief of staff; and Lord Inge, field marshal and ex-chief of the general staff and the defence staff in the UK.
Notes:
Germany Rejects U.S. Request for More Afghan Troops, Feb. 1, Bloomberg
US ’sternly requests’ more German troops for Afghanistan, Feb. 1, Guardian Unlimited
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2910.shtml
l’Iran teste son premier lanceur spatial
l’Iran teste son premier lanceur spatial
4/02/08
L’Iran a réalisé le lancement d’essai d’une fusée destinée à mettre en orbite son premier satellite artificiel, a annoncé lundi l’agence iranienne Irna.Le test, auquel le président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a assisté, a été couronné de succès, a indiqué l’agence, sans toutefois préciser les caractéristiques techniques du lanceur.
Lundi, la télévision iranienne annonçait que Téhéran venait de concevoir son premier satellite artificiel et son système de lancement.
Le président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, le ministre de la Défense Mostafa Mohammad Najjar et d’autres officiels ont notamment assisté à la présentation du satellite baptisé Omid (Espoir) qui a eu lieu à l’Organisation iranienne de l’industrie électronique.
Destiné à la recherche spatiale, le satellite iranien est capable d’évoluer en orbite basse. Sa conception a duré une dizaine d’années. Des chercheurs iraniens ont également conçu un système de contrôle et de liaison avec l’appareil.
Le lancement doit avoir lieu l’année prochaine selon le calendrier iranien (du 21 mars 2008 au 20 mars 2009).
La télévision iranienne s’est réjouie que l’Iran soit devenu le 11e pays au monde à avoir acquis les technologies de conception et de mise en orbite de satellites.
RIA-Novosti
Fragile Dollar Hegemony: Iran’s Oil Bourse could Topple the Dollar
Fragile Dollar Hegemony: Iran’s Oil Bourse could Topple the Dollar
by Mike Whitney
Global Research, February 4, 2008
Two weeks ago George Bush was sent on a mission to the Middle East to deliver a horse’s head. We all remember the disturbing scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” where Lucca Brassi goes to Hollywood to convince a recalcitrant movie producer to use Don Corleone’s nephew in his next film.
The “Big shot” producer is finally persuaded to hire the young actor after he wakes up in bed next to the severed head of his prize thoroughbred. I expect that Bush made a similar “offer they could not refuse” to the various leaders of the Gulf States when he met with them earlier this month.
The media tried to portray Bush’s trip to the Middle East as a “peace mission”, but that just a smokescreen. In fact, three days after Bush left Jerusalem, Israel stepped-up its military operations in the occupied territories and resumed its merciless blockade of food, water, medicine and energy to the 1.5 million people of Gaza. Clearly, Bush had green-lighted the operations or Israel’s aggression would have been seen as a slap in the face of the President of the United States.
So, what was the real purpose of Bush’s trip? After all, he has no interest in peace or in honoring his commitment to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. So, why would he choose to visit the Middle East just as his second term as president is winding down and there is no chance of success?Sometimes personal visits are important; especially when the nature of the information is so sensitive that the message has to be made face to face. In this case, Bush went to the trouble of traveling half-way around the world to tell the Saudis and their friends in the Gulf States that they were going to continue linking their oil to the dollar or they were going to “sleep with the fishes”.For the last two months, various sheiks and finance ministers have been moaning and groaning about the falling dollar—threatening to break from the so-called “dollar-peg” and covert to a basket of currencies. Bush’s trip appears to have rekindled the spirit of brotherly cooperation. The grumbling has ceased and everyone is back “on board”. The regional leaders now seem considerably less bothered by the fact that inflation is gobbling up their economies and driving labor, food, energy and housing through the roof. Reuters summed it up like this: “After a flurry of public disagreements over currency reform last year, Gulf central bankers are trying to close ranks, talking up the pegs as a source of stability and playing down the dollar’s weakness as a temporary phenomenon.”
Looks like Bush smoothed things over.
In the last two weeks, the Gulf leaders have watched nervously while the Federal Reserve has slashed rates by a whopping 125 basis points. The cuts are steadily eroding the $1 trillion of capital the sheiks have invested in US Treasuries and securities.
“Inflation is at 16-year highs in Saudi Arabia and Oman, a 19-year peak in the United Arab Emirates. Gulf policymakers are intervening directly in loans, property and commodity markets to offset rate cut.” (Reuters)
Property values have skyrocketed. Commercial property in the UAE has doubled since the beginning of 2007. The inflation-bomb has forced other Gulf states to provide food subsidies for their people and a “70% wage rise for some Emirati federal government employees.”
Disgruntled migrant workers rioted in Dubai recently, demanding to be fairly compensated for the sharp increase in prices. The Saudi riyal has climbed to a 21-year peak.
Currency traders expect another 8% rise in the dirham and riyal by April and they are predicting that interest rates will compel Central bankers throughout Gulf states to covert to either the euro or a basket of regional currencies. So far, however, the loyal Saudi princes have continued their support for the dollar.
Defending Dollar Hegemony
So, how important is it that oil continue to be denominated in dollars? Would the United States wage war to defend the dollar’s status as the world’s “reserve currency”?
The answer to this question could come as early as this week, since the long-awaited Iranian Oil Bourse is scheduled to open between February 1-11. According to Iran’s Finance Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari, “All preparations have been made to launch the bourse; it will open during the 10-day Dawn (the ceremonies marking the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran) The bourse is considered a direct threat to the continued global dominance of the dollar because it will require that Iranian “oil, petrochemicals and gas” be traded in “non-dollar currencies”. (Press TV, Iran)
The petrodollar system is no different than the gold standard. Today’s currency is simply underwritten by the one vital source of energy upon which every industrialized society depends—oil. If the dollar is de-linked from oil; it will no longer serve as the de-facto international currency and the US will be forced to reduce its massive trade deficits, rebuild its manufacturing capacity, and become an export nation again. The only alternative is to create a network of client regimes who repress the collective aspirations of their people so they can faithfully follow directives from Washington. As to whether the Bush administration would start a war to defend dollar hegemony; that’s a question that should be asked of Saddam Hussein. Iraq was invaded just six months after Saddam converted to the euro. The message is clear; the Empire will defend its currency.
Similarly, Iran switched from the dollar in 2007 and has insisted that Japan pay its enormous energy bills in yen. The “conversion” has infuriated the Bush administration and made Iran the target of US belligerence ever since. In fact, even though 16 US Intelligence agencies issued a report (NIE) saying that Iran was not developing nuclear weapons; and even though the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, found that Iran was in compliance with its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation (NPT) Treaty; a preemptive US-led attack on Iran still appears likely.
And, although the western media now minimizes the prospects of another war in the region; Israel is taking the precautions that suggest that the idea is not so far-fetched. “Israel calls for shelter rooms to be set up in a bid to prepare the public for yet another war, this time, one of raining missiles.” (Press TV, Iran)
“The next war will see a massive use of ballistic weapons against the whole of Israeli territory,” claimed retired general Udi Shani. (Global Research
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7982)
Russia also sees a growing probability of hostilities breaking out in the Gulf and has responded by sending a naval task force into the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic.According to an article on the Global Research site:“The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva guided missile cruiser, joined up with Russian naval warships in the Mediterranean on January 18 to participate in the current maneuvers….The current operation is the first large-scale Russian Navy exercise in the Atlantic in 15 years. All combat ships and aircraft involved carry full combat ammunition loads.Global Research, http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7983
France is also planning military maneuvers in the Straits of Hormuz. Operation “Gulf Shield 01,” will take place off the coast of Iran and will employ thousands of personnel in combined arms operations that will include simulated attacks on oil platforms.”Exercises are scheduled to take place from Feb. 23 to March 5, and will involve 1,500 French, 2,500 Emirate, and 1,300 Qatari personnel operating on land, at sea and in the air, the ministry said…”Around a half-dozen warships, 40 aircraft and dozens of armored vehicles will be in the war games”, Fusalba said.http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=3346953&C=mideast
Additionally, within the last week, three of the main underwater cables which carry Internet traffic have been cut off in the Persian Gulf and three-quarters of the international communications between Europe and the Middle East have been lost. Large parts of the Middle East have been plunged into darkness.Is this merely a coincidence or is something else going on just below the surface?Ian Brockwell, of the American Chronicle said:”On the assumption that the cables cut were no accident, we must ask ourselves who would do such a thing and why. Clearly Iran, who were most affected, would gain nothing from such an action and are perhaps the target of those responsible?…Maybe this is a prelude to an attack, or perhaps a test run for a future one?
Communication has always been an important factor in military action, and cutting these cables might affect Iran´s ability to defend itself.” (American Chronicle,
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/51085)
Despite the lack of media coverage, tensions are mounting in the Gulf and the probability of a US-led attack on Iran is still quite high. Bush is convinced that if he doesn’t confront Iran, then no one will. He also believes that if he doesn’t militarily defend the dollar, then America’s days as “the world’s only superpower” will soon be over. So, the real question is whether Bush will realize that America is already hopelessly bogged-down in two “unwinnable” conflicts or if he will “go with his gut” once again and lead us into a ruinous region-wide conflagration.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7998Grand Mufti condemns decision by Israel to destroy 700 year old mosque… has no “building permit”
Grand Mufti condemns decision by Israel to destroy 700 year old mosque… has no “building permit”
Jerusalem – Ma’an – The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein has condemned a decision by Israeli authorities to demolish the Al-Omari mosque in the village of Umm Tuba near Jerusalem under the pretext that the building had been built without a license on Sunday.
Sheikh Hussein told Ma’an that the mosque was built more than 700 years go, and it was last restored in 1963. It is the only mosque in Umm Tuba.
The Mufti claimed that Israeli authorities have been attempting to wipe out historic Islamic sites in Palestine which is violation of all religious values and international treaties.
He warned of the repercussions and called on the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which is charged with protecting human cultural heritage around the world, and other international organizations to prevent the demolition of the mosque.
http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2008/02/israel-to-destroy-mosque-because-it.html
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=27566
