“NPR” - How The 'Pox' Epidemic Changed Vaccination Rules

NPR.org

April 5, 2011

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/05/135121451/how-the-pox-epidemic-changed-vaccination-rules

Historian Michael Willrich was planning to write a book about civil liberties in the aftermath of Sept. 11 when he stumbled across an article from The New York Times archives. It was about a 1901 smallpox vaccination raid in New York — when 250 men arrived at a Little Italy tenement house in the middle of the night and set about vaccinating everyone they could find.

"There were scenes of policemen holding down men in their night robes while vaccinators began their work on their arms," Willrich tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "Inspectors were going room to room looking for children with smallpox. And when they found them, they were literally tearing babes from their mothers' arms to take them to the city pest house [which housed smallpox victims.]"

The vaccination raid was not an isolated incident. As the smallpox epidemic swept across the country, New York and Boston policemen conducted several raids and health officials across the country ordered mandatory vaccinations in schools, factories and on railroads. In Pox: An American History, Willrich details how the smallpox epidemic of 1898-1904 had far-reaching implications for public health officials — as well as Americans concerned about their own civil liberties.

Click to read more ...

“Scott Hensley” - GOP Unveils Plan To Remake Medicare And Medicaid

Scott Hensley

April 5, 2011

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/?ps=sh_hdshots

The GOP's health care cat is now fully out of the bag. And it's a big one.

All told the Republicans say their stingier federal budget would save $6.2 trillion over the one President Obama wants. The GOP roadmap, as expected, proposes big changes for Medicare and Medicaid.

Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, and his Republican colleagues were busy stumping for their plan to rein in federal spending government today.

It would switch people under 55 to a system of private Medicare insurance that would be subsidized by the federal government. Individuals would pick a government-approved plan rather than a program run by the government. "We want to harness the power of patient choice — of competition — on behalf of future seniors in Medicare," Ryan said in a news briefing.

He said the Republican's plan would work a lot like the part of Medicare that already covers prescriptions medicines. The government would defray some of those costs, or provide what's sometimes called premium support. "We propose we support people more if they're low income, more as they get sick," Ryan said. "And wealthy seniors," he said, "don't get as much support." The change would save Medicare a lot of dough, the Republicans say.

The GOP would also change Medicaid pretty dramatically. Their plan would give states a fixed pot of money in the form of block grants to pay for Medicaid, health coverage for the poor. The approach would also have the effect of reducing Medicaid spending.

Oh, and the GOP would, if you've forgotten, also do away with the Democrats' sweeping health overhaul law.

Defenders of the current system were quick to criticize the Republican proposal. "This will do terrible damage to Medicare and Medicaid and all the people who have paid into those programs," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), ranking member of the House Budget Committee.

Click to read more ...

“Reuters” - India bans Japan food imports, says radiation spreading

Reuters

April 5th, 2011

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/05/india-bans-japan-food-imports-says-radiation-spreading/

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has imposed a three-month ban on imports of food articles from the whole of Japan on fears that radiation from an earthquake-hit nuclear plant was spreading to other parts of the country, becoming the first country to introduce a blanket ban.

The ban comes in the fourth week of unsuccessful attempts to safely secure the Fukushima nuclear power plant in central Japan crippled by an earthquake and tsunami in what could be the world's biggest nuclear disaster in a quarter of a century.

"Import of food articles coming from Japan stand suspended with immediate effect for a period of three months or till such time as credible information is available that the radiation hazard has subsided to acceptable limits," a statement from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

"After detailed discussions, it was concluded that since the radiation is spreading/expanding horizontally in other parts of Japan, it may result in further radioactive contamination in the supply chain of food exports from Japan," the statement added.

India mainly imports a small volume of processed food items, fruits and vegetable from Japan.

Japan said on Tuesday it was considering imposing radioactivity restrictions on seafood after contaminated fish were found in seas well south of the damaged nuclear reactors.

A number of countries have imposed bans on dairy products, meat, fish and other produce from areas near the crippled nuclear power plant. Many others are monitoring radiation levels in goods imported from Japan.

“Stephen C. Webster” - President Obama’s top 5 broken campaign promises

Stephen C. Webster

April 5th, 2011                 

 http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/05/the-top-five-campaign-promises-obama-left-behind/

President Barack Obama came to office on a tide of voters eager to see a change in more than just the White House's occupant. Two years into his presidency -- and one day after he launched his 2012 reelection campaign -- and even some of his most ardent supporters are having trouble coming to terms with the answer to Sarah Palin's 2010 question: "How's that hopey, changey stuff working out?"

Polls show that less than half the country believes President Obama deserves reelection, with disaffected liberals now a fast growing demographic.

Even though Obama clearly leads all of the likely Republican front-runners at this point, the deep dissatisfaction brewing within his core constituency could make the president, and his whole party, uniquely vulnerable in next year's elections.

Click to read more ...

“Dr. Mercola” - Study Finds Routine Periodic Fasting is Good for Your Health, and Your Heart

Dr. Mercola

April 5, 2011

http://blogs.mercola.com/sites/vitalvotes/archive/2011/04/05/study-finds-routine-periodic-fasting-is-good-for-your-health-and-your-heart.aspx

New evidence demonstrates that routine periodic fasting is good for your health. Fasting lowers your risk of coronary artery disease and diabetes, but also can cause significant changes in your blood cholesterol levels.

The discovery expands upon previous work that showed an association between fasting and reduced risk of coronary heart disease, a leading cause of death.

According to Eurekalert:

“This recent study also confirmed earlier findings about the effects of fasting on human growth hormone (HGH), a metabolic protein. HGH works to protect lean muscle and metabolic balance, a response triggered and accelerated by fasting. During the 24-hour fasting periods, HGH increased an average of 1,300 percent in women, and nearly 2,000 percent in men.”

“Dr. Mercola” - Don’t Let Your Child Be the Next Victim of This Deadly Vaccine

Dr. Mercola

April 5, 2011

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/04/05/gardasil-vaccine-victims-and-deaths--did-you-know.aspx

The Greater Good looks behind the fear, hype and politics that have polarized the vaccine debate in America today. The film re-frames the emotionally charged issue and features many different perspectives, including the voices of families whose lives have been touched by vaccine reactions, so there is an opportunity for a compassionate, rational and scientific discussion about vaccination.

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) has issued an alert to Washington state residents about a bill that recently passed the state legislature and is headed for the Governor’s desk. The legislation threatens your fundamental right to make informed, voluntary decisions about vaccination. It requires doctors and nurses to personally sign all religious or personal belief exemptions to vaccination filed with the state.

According to NVIC:

"If this bill becomes law, it will put doctors, nurses and other medical personnel in the legal position of acting as inquisitors of religious beliefs held by fellow citizens, which is an invasion of privacy and a de facto violation of First Amendment rights.”

Click to read more ...

“Michael McCarthy” - Ozone layer damaged by unusually harsh winter

Michael McCarthy

April 6, 2011

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/ozone-layer-damaged-by-unusually-harsh-winter-2263653.html

The stratospheric ozone layer, which shields the Earth from the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, has been damaged to its greatest-ever extent over the Arctic this winter.

The protective layer of gas, which can be destroyed by reactions with industrial chemicals, has suffered a loss of about 40 per cent from the start of winter until late March, exceeding the previous seasonal loss of about 30 per cent, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

The phenomenon is annual in the Antarctic, where after its discovery in the 1980s it came to be known as the "ozone hole". Although CFC levels are now dropping, they remain in the atmosphere for so long that they will still be causing ozone depletion for decades in certain conditions, particularly the intense cold of the stratosphere.

Arctic ozone conditions vary more and the temperatures are always warmer than over Antarctica, where the ozone hole forms high in the stratosphere near the South Pole each winter and spring. Because of changing weather and temperatures, some Arctic winters experience almost no ozone loss – but others with exceptionally cold stratospheric conditions can occasionally lead to substantial ozone depletion.

Click to read more ...

“Davis Roberts” - Obama did not ‘promise’ to veto an EPA-blocking bill

David Roberts

April 5, 2010

http://www.grist.org/climate-policy/2011-04-05-obama-did-not-promise-to-veto-an-epa-blocking-bill

A few weeks ago, the House of Representatives voted through H.R. 1, their continuing appropriations act. It was full of tax cuts for the rich and slashed funding for the poor, elderly, and vulnerable -- the usual GOP stuff.

The White House released a statement [PDF] vowing to veto it:

If the President is presented with a bill that undermines critical priorities or national security through funding levels or restrictions, contains earmarks, or curtails the drivers of long-term economic growth and job creation while continuing to burden future generations with deficits, the President will veto the bill.

That's my emphasis. Just note the language.

Click to read more ...

“Sunaura Taylor” - Humane Meat? No Such Thing

Should we eat animals? My disability gives me a unique view on the oxymoron “humane meat.”

Sunaura Taylor

Mar 27, 2011

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/can-animals-save-us/humane-meat-no-such-thing

I recently debated Nicolette Hahn Niman at an art event in California. Niman is a cattle rancher and author of Righteous Porkchop. I am a 28-year-old disabled artist, writer, and vegan. The event was held in a largely inaccessible building in front of an audience that had just dined on grass-fed beef—a rather ironic scenario for a wheelchair-using animal advocate like me!

My perspective as a disabled person and as a disability scholar profoundly influences my views on animals. The field of disability studies raises questions that are equally valid in the animal-rights discussion. What is the best way to protect the rights of those who are not physically autonomous but are vulnerable and interdependent? How can society protect the rights of those who cannot protect their own, or those who can’t understand

Farmer Joel Salatin on how to eat meat and respect it, too.

Click to read more ...

“Kevin Drum” - The Future of China

Kevin Drum

April 5, 2011

 http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/04/future-china

A new paper suggests that countries start to experience growth slowdowns when their per capita incomes reach $17,000, a level that China will reach in about five years. Ryan Avent:

The story this suggests is one that's quite at odds with the prevailing view in much of the world—that China's relentless growth will continue until it dominates the global economy. Another possibility arises. Within a few years, we may be reading "What's the matter with China?" stories. A growth slowdown and demographic difficulties will challenge the policy status quo and could potentially expose serious weaknesses in the growth model (as Warren Buffet says, when the tide goes out, one sees who's been swimming naked). India, on the other hand, will be ascendent. And that could make for a very different set of policy challenges and priorities within the rich world.

Click to read more ...