Swine flu comes to Kentucky

One Confirmed, One Probable Case Of Swine Flu In KY

Gov. Steve Beshear announced that the Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH) will report one confirmed case and one probable case of swine flu to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Thursday.

"Like the rest of the nation, we are concerned about the spread of this new strain of swine flu," said Beshear. "I want to assure Kentuckians that health officials here are responding aggressively to detect possible cases of swine flu and respond with the appropriate preventive measures. Individuals should continue to monitor this situation as it develops and practice basic measures to stay healthy, such as hand washing and staying home when sick."

The confirmed case involves a woman from Warren County who had recently traveled to Mexico. The patient is currently hospitalized in Georgia, and samples were submitted to CDC for confirmation by Georgia health officials. Officials from the Barren River Health District are actively investigating the circumstances of this case to determine whether any contacts of the patient may be ill or need preventive treatment.

The probable case that is being reported involves an infant from another area within the Barren River Health District who had been in close contact with an individual who recently traveled to Mexico. It is unrelated to the confirmed case. The child's family and other close contacts are being evaluated for illness and possible preventive treatment. The child has not been hospitalized. A sample from the patient has been sent to the CDC for further testing to determine whether swine flu is the cause of illness. The name of the county in which the patient resides will be released if the case is confirmed.

Why Having Wolverine's Claws Would Suck

Why Having Wolverine's Claws Would Suck -- powered by Cracked.com

Next a law to ban children from bathing with hair dryers

Senate votes to prohibit possession of machine guns by children

The state Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to ban the possession and use of machine guns by children under the age of 16.
The 31-2 vote comes in response to the accidental shooting death last October of an 8-year-old Connecticut boy, Christopher Bizilj, who was allowed to shoot an Uzi submachine gun at a Massachusetts gun fair. The boy lost control of the gun as it fired, shooting himself in the head.
Three people, including the police chief who organized the show, have since been indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter in Massachusetts.
But in Connecticut, no similar prohibition on the use of military-style machine guns existed under law.
Leaders of both parties in the legislature said such a prohibition was simple common sense, particularly since many of their constituents likely believed that it was already illegal to let children handle such weapons.
“It seems extraordinary that we would have to legislate something that in my opinion would be a matter of ordinary prudence,” said Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, the co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which raised the bill.

Helpful swine flu website

Do I have swine flu?

Obama tax credit bait and switch

INSIDE WASHINGTON: Rude surprise awaits taxpayers

Millions of Americans enjoying their small windfall from President Barack Obama's "Making Work Pay" tax credit are in for an unpleasant surprise next spring.

The government is going to want some of that money back.

The tax credit is supposed to provide up to $400 to individuals and $800 to married couples as part of the massive economic recovery package enacted in February. Most workers started receiving the credit through small increases in their paychecks in the past month.

But new tax withholding tables issued by the IRS could cause millions of taxpayers to get hundreds of dollars more than they are entitled to under the credit, money that will have to be repaid at tax time.

Suckers

Nail in the coffin of GM and Chrysler

UAW and Obama Motors will own GM and Chrysler. Its not rocket science to see that our govt cannot run anything and that the UAW has been sucking the life out of the Big 3 forever.

I like how Obama blasts hedge funds as Chrysler files for bankruptcy for simply trying to collect as much money possible for their shareholders from the loans. Apparently it is wrong somehow to collect what you are owed. The investors are going to be soaked not once but twice as they get back very little of their investment and then see their tax dollars wasted to support the automakers.

Can't wait to see who GM and Chrysler borrow from next after this move. UAW better enjoy the govt tit while they can because I think the next President will no longer deem them too big to fail.

Census GPS mapping flap

Its making the blog rounds like it was a new idea but has actually been planned for some time a simple Google search reveals:

Census Bureau Adopts GPS to Find American Homes

July 31, 2006 · Two-and-a-half years from now, in early 2009, the Census Bureau plans to send an army of 100,000 temporary workers down every street and dusty, dirt road in America. They will be armed with handheld GPS devices.

Robert LaMacchia, head of the Census Bureau's geography division, says they'll capture the latitude and longitude of the front door of every house, apartment and improvised shelter they find.

"We will actually knock on doors and look for hidden housing units," he says. "We will find converted garages; from the outside, it may not look like anybody lives there."

But census workers will add each dwelling, legal or not, to the Census Bureau's Master Address File.

Recent proposed budget cuts have put part of this plan in jeopardy. But if Congress restores the money, the census will end up with the geographic coordinates — accurate to within 10 feet — for about 110 million residences.

But the Census Bureau can't, by law, share that list with anyone, even local governments. LaMacchia says the information has to be treated as confidential. Otherwise, people might lie, and the census wouldn't be accurate.

But of course after they collect that data the law can be changed.

Private Companies Push for Data

Pressure is growing to change the law and make this information available. Demand for geographic data is booming.

Private companies would love to get their hands on the Census Bureau's data. Web sites like Mapquest.com or maps.google.com, usually show addresses within the correct city block, but they will point to the correct house less than half the time.

Don Cooke, an executive from the mapping company TeleAtlas, says the Census Bureau's database would immediately solve that problem, and he'd like to use it.

"The laws basically say the intellectual property that's generated by the government belongs to us citizens, so I'd like to get it," he says. "Because I don't want to spend the money to go out and compile it!"

Of course the Census workers cars will be plainly marked with ACORN and Obama stickers.

1976 Swine Flu Propaganda

Whats in a name?

WHO to stop using term 'swine flu' to protect pigs

GENEVA – The World Health Organization announced Thursday it will would stop using the term "swine flu" to avoid confusion over the danger posed by pigs. The policy shift came a day after Egypt began slaughtering thousands of pigs in a misguided effort to prevent swine flu.

WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said the agriculture industry and the U.N. food agency had expressed concerns that the term "swine flu" was misleading consumers and needlessly causing countries to ban pork products and order the slaughter of pigs.

"Rather than calling this swine flu ... we're going to stick with the technical scientific name H1N1 influenza A," Thompson said.

Why not just call Egypt on its stupidity. Certainly there would be many broken relationships if it were sheep flu instead.

Advance team member for Obama Mexico trip sick

White House aide's family likely has swine flu

WASHINGTON (AP) - A member of the U.S. delegation that helped prepare Energy Secretary Steven Chu's trip to Mexico City has demonstrated flu-like symptoms and his family members have tested probable for swine flu.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday that three members of an aide's family are being tested to see if they have the same strain of swine flu that is threatening to become a pandemic. The aide worked in presidential advance, which is responsible for planning and preparing trips.

Gibbs said that Secretary Chu has not experienced any symptoms. The spokesman also said that President Barack Obama also has had no symptoms of the virus and doctors see no need to conduct any tests on his health.

Bad PR for Disney

South Carolina students report flu-like symptoms after Disney trip

Officials in South Carolina shut down a school today and are disinfecting the building after 16 to 18 students in their marching band reported flu-like symptoms after visiting Walt Disney World.

Reports from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control show lab results released today indicate that 10 students from a different school probably have the swine flu virus after a recent school trip to Mexico.

Those lab results have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for final confirmation, which can take up to 48 hours.

Meanwhile, Orange County Health Department officials said test results on a tourist who had visited Disney earlier this week and also displayed flu-like symptoms are expected sometime today.

WHO Pandemic Phase 5 (of 6)

WHO raises flu threat level, warning pandemic imminent

Its on now Skippy.

So you think American politicians are wierd?

Politician admits to leg extension surgery

A Queensland councillor has revealed she flew to Russia to have her legs surgically lengthened because she believed she was too short.

Hajnal Ban, 31, spent $40,000 to extend her 154cm frame by 8cm when she travelled to Siberia eight years ago, Fairfax websites report.

Surgeons broke her leg in four places and inserted metal rings, causing her to grow about 1mm per day over a painful period of nine months.

Cr Ban, then a lawyer, returned to Australia and wrote a book titled God Made Me Small, Surgery Made Me Tall under the pseudonym Sara Vornamen.

The book became a bestseller but her real identity was not revealed until this morning.

"This is purely a personal matter — I don't know what all the fuss is about," Cr Ban was quoted as saying.

Maybe if you didn't want a big fuss a book wasn't the best idea.

Interesting data about Vitamin D and Flu

Vitamin D deficiency linked to more colds and flu

Is sunshine more than just a home remedy for a cold? New research suggests it may be: In a study that will be published tomorrow, people with low levels of vitamin D — also known as the "sunshine vitamin" — were more likely to catch cold and flu than folks with adequate amounts. The effect of the vitamin was strongest in people with asthma and other lung diseases who are predisposed to respiratory infections.

People with the worst vitamin D deficiency were 36 percent more likely to suffer respiratory infections than those with sufficient levels, according to the research in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine. Among asthmatics, those who were vitamin D deficient were five times more likely to get sick than their counterparts with healthy levels. And the risk of respiratory infection was twice as high among vitamin D-deficient patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than in lung patients with normal levels of the vitamin.

Having asthma perhaps I need to get my Vitamin D level checked when I get my lipid profile done.

Obama hates red people

Navajo Tribe Eyes Coal Plant As Economic Savior

When the coal-fired, air-polluting Mohave Generating Station was forced to close in 2005, the Navajo tribe paid the price. The plant ran on coal mined by Peabody Energy (nyse: BTU - news - people ) from Navajo lands 270 miles away in Arizona. The closing wiped out $40 million from the Navajo's annual budget, a 25% slash. The unemployment rate today among the 200,000 Navajo is 50%. "Crime is up, drug use is up. I'm losing people every day," says Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr.

So the tribe, with help from New York power speculator Sithe Global, wants to build an ultraclean $3.5 billion power plant on tribal land in New Mexico near Four Corners. But putting up a coal plant these days involves a struggle, and if anything, federal oversight means it's even harder to build a power plant on a reservation than off it. The tribe's opponents: the Sierra Club and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, among others.
..........................
The Environmental Protection Agency says the Desert Rock Energy Project, as the Navajo plant is dubbed, would be one of the cleanest coal plants in the nation. The 1.5-gigawatt monster would emit 0.26 grams of sulfur dioxide per kilowatt-hour generated, 20% as much as an average coal plant. Situated adjacent to a mine operated by bhp Billiton, it would bring the tribe at least $50 million a year in royalties and tax revenue while creating 1,000 construction jobs and 400 permanent jobs.

EPA withdraws permit for massive Navajo coal plant

U.S. environmental regulators said they have withdrawn a permit for a massive coal-fired power plant that had been scheduled to be built on the Navajo Nation to send electricity to populated areas to the West.

The Environmental Protection Agency late on Monday withdrew the air permit that was issued last summer for the proposed 1,500 megawatt Desert Rock power plant. Sithe Global Power, LLC had planned to build the plant in northwestern New Mexico and send its power to rapidly-growing cities in Arizona and Nevada.

The regulators found the permit was issued before complete analysis of its emissions and impact on endangered species.

The move was another example of President Barack Obama's administration cracking down on coal

I'm thinking the land belongs to the Navajo and they should be able to build any damn thing they want. I don't recall them asking to be part of the United States but were subjected to it.

BTW as far as the red people comment my Great Great Grandmother on both sides was full blooded Cherokee so I am playing my own damn race card.

Armageddon: Unconfirmed report of swine flu infected Mexican tourist at Disney Orlando

Florida Hospital Denies Swine Flu Case Has Been Confirmed

Looks like the results are still pending. No need to stop Mexican tourists from entering the US though to visit the number 1 theme park in the world.

I'm thrilled to see you go

Obama 'thrilled to have' Specter

President Obama talked to Sen. Arlen Specter at 10:32 this morning from the Oval Office, said Dems are "thrilled to have you," according to a White House aide.

Obama was informed of Specter's decison to switch parties at 10:25 this morning while receiving his daily economic briefing in the Oval Office, according to a White House official.

Obama was handed a note by an aide that read: "Specter is announcing he is changing parties."

The president reached Specter, one of only three Republicans to support his stimulus package, on the phone at 10:32 and told him "you have my full support." He added that we are "thrilled to have you."

Swine flu is offensive

Israeli official: Swine flu name offensive

I bet the pigs think so too.

The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed "Mexican" influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday.

Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and "we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu," he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel.

I'm sure the Mexicans would appreciate that.

In the Obama Administration 1+1=3

Napolitano: Closing border not the answer to flu

"We're already doing passive surveillance at the border," Napolitano said. "You would close the border if you thought you could contain the spread of disease, but the disease already is in a number of states within the United States."

Mexicans take swine flu lightly on U.S. border

TIJUANA, Mexico, April 27 (Reuters) - Many Mexicans crossing into the United States on Monday at one of the busiest crossings on the border shunned advice to wear surgical face mask to curb the spread of a deadly new flu.

Most Mexican immigration officials at the Tijuana-San Diego crossing were using masks and surgical gloves, but Mexicans crossing by car and foot seemed unconcerned by the influenza scare and only a handful wore masks.

"I don't think anything will happen to me, it's old people and children we need to look after," said Gloria, a 35-year-old woman waiting to cross by car into California who declined to give her last name.

Many of the up to 149 people who have died of the new virus in Mexico have actually been aged between 25 and 45, a worrying sign as pandemics tend to target healthy young adults.

As Insty says we are in the very best of hands.

RIP Night Stalker

Special Operations Aviation Soldier died following marathon participation

Staff Sgt. Benjamin “Levi” Pigman, 25, died April 25, 2009, at Nashville General Hospital after he collapsed following completing the Country Music Half-Marathon in Nashville earlier that morning.
Pigman was a native of Hamilton, Mont., and volunteered for Army service in October 2001. Following basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C., advanced individual training at Fort Eustis, Va., and Army Airborne School at Fort Benning, Ga., he successfully assessed with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) as a helicopter engine mechanic. Pigman arrived to his first duty station with the 2nd Bn., 160th SOAR(A), at Fort Campbell, Ky., in July 2002.
He is a combat veteran with five deployments, four in support of Operation Enduring Freedom-Afghanistan and once in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
His military training includes U.S. Army Airborne School, Basic Non-Commissioned Officer Course, Warrior Leader Course, Airloaders Course Special Operations Aviation assessment and training program and Combat Life Savers training. Pigman’s awards include four Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, two Army Good Conduct Medals, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Global on War Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Aviation Badge, Parachutist Badge, Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon and Army Service Ribbon.
Pigman is survived by his father and step mother, Ronald “Chip” and Anne Pigman and his three brothers, Timothy Pigman, Tyler Pigman, and Dillon Pigman of Hamilton; and his mother and step father, Pamela D. Koreski and Chris Koreski, also of Hamilton.