Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Swine Flu

It looks like an epidemic of one of the more dangerous viruses to face our medical science. It is not as though we did not know about Swine Flu, but is the UK ready for it?

In a land obsessed by the snow and the Prime Minister speaking about the terrible state of delays and cancellations at Heathrow (which is a failure of privatisation and necessary Government action), thousands of stranded passengers sleeping rough at the airport provides the perfect incubator by collecting together people from all over the UK in one unhealthy environment who are then going to fly all over the world.

More than 300 people lie in critical care beds and at this writing, 17 people have lost their lives. Lost their ability to breathe.

And the Government worries about what a minister says. David Cameron has failed to govern and if his Government holds together it will not be due to his taking courageous or necessary action to prevent disaster.

What is the Government going to do? They are going to take apart the National Health system by the looks of what they are doing to schools and universities. It is back to tooth and claw. Do not sneeze.

Guardian article

Dec 24th update: the situation worsens Telegraph 460 now in intensive care, 27 deaths

Dec 31st update: Government immunisation efforts - the Government has left the immunisation campaign a little late, but is mass immunisation the answer? Is it necessary for people to suffer a new flu variety or is protection better in that it does not provide continued opportunities for the virus to mutate?

Dec 31st update: The Department of Health says 738 people with confirmed or suspected flu are in intensive care, up 60% on last week's figure of 460. They include 42 children under five.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

WIkileaks

Ron Paul on Wikileaks.


Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Pakistan

Disturbing Trends warned about the danger of Pakistan about 5 years ago and it seems that we were not alone in the glaringly obvious analysis.  A country with nuclear weapons and assassinated leaders, terrorists and religious friction, a huge population, 170 million people sandwiched between two world powers, two wars, disputed territory, high inflation and a passing economic crisis - is a country that holds significant pressures and risks.  Now Wikileaks has released documents and communications by the US government that echo this great concern, exposure of Pakistan's nuclear weapons to terrorist organisations or terrorists.

They are very concerned about this, and kept it away from the general public.  One must consider the question as to why Governments should want to keep this secret.   The prospect of mass panic does not seem to apply, the public has lived under the yoke of nuclear threat for so long and it would seem important to raise public awareness rather than to hide the obvious.