Homeless and Starving in America

6 June 2009
by HRM Deborah

As the statistics came out on Friday, 5 June 2009 of US Unemployment reaching a staggering rate of 9.4%; which is about 1.4% higher then the 1930’s Great Depression and even staggering figure has came foreword of 12.4 million US children are at risk of starvation.

Some of these children are being equated of the countless photograph’s seen twenty years ago of what was occurring in Ethiopia of children so underfed that they where literally skin and bones, with the possible borderline of rickets; with some case's of fly’s embedded in some children’s eyes, as was reported by a children’s aid worker.

While some of these malnourished families are now homeless and some are living in homeless shelters; it is an ever increasing problem of not just single person’s; but whole families finding homeless on the street and the ever increasing tent cities.

While US President Barack Obama had pledged assistance by 2015, for the majority of these improvised American’s this is way to late for so many; especially with the further decrease of the American dollar and the ever rising cost of just basic necessities.

Update:

Climbing Unemployment Continues to Beat US

19 June 2009

The unemployment rate in the West jumped over 10 percent in May.

The Labor Department reported Friday that 48 states and the District of Columbia saw employment conditions deteriorate last month. The fallout from the longest ‘recession’ which the US claims in historical error as being “since World War II,” was the worst in Michigan as automakers cut tens of thousands of jobs. Its unemployment rate rose to 14.1 percent. With California at 11.5 and Nevada came in at 11.3 percent it was recorded; while Eastern states set record high's, like Vermont which claimed to be just bottomed out.

As quoted from Associated Press, “Joblessness is rising as companies lay off workers and turn to other cost-saving measures, such as trimming hours and freezing or slicing wages, to survive the recession. Housing, credit and financial problems — the worst since the 1930s — have sent the economy into a tailspin.”

“Factories, construction companies, retailers and financial companies are among the industries that have slashed the most jobs. U.S. manufacturers have suffered a double whammy: customers in the U.S. have pulled back along with foreign customers, who are dealing with their own economic troubles.”

As to US President Barack Obama’s Health Plan which with the ever increasing unemployment problems, because most American’s where covered by their employer and in some cases due to rising cost; employers in some cases dropping employee health care all together; this makes Obama’s plan a major bust, along with the fact that most American’s can not afford health care on their own; especially the elderly who have been suffering with this problem for years, with the ever increase of prescription cost. Which some elderly American’s have had to either pay for prescriptions and not buy food or buy food and do without needed medicines or health care.


The World Health Organization (WHO), in 2000, ranked the U.S. health care system as the highest in cost and it has continued to skyrocket especially in the last year due to the economic downturn, it goes without saying that the average American with the continuous economic collapse and increase, may have to forgo health care all together; which was also a critical situation in the 1930‘s, where home remedies where being more used to circumvent a doctor’s visit or in extreme only for emergency cases, which many still died over the debate of cost and some doctor‘s ill-efficiency.

As to the old argument that one on a good day in the 1930‘s, such as the instance of an American doing farm labor for a dollar a day with "luck" (because this type of employment was either temporary due to seasonal or not as common as people may think due to some US geographical locations); one need’s to remember a single loaf of bread was five cent’s and most people had to squeeze a little less money for the hope of flour to bake their own bread, because the average American even with the dollar wages could ill-afford the five cent loaf of "store-bought" bread. Which is so similar to the cost of living burdens the average American is facing today.

"Beep, Beep, Get out of the way; you road hog!"

Nevertheless, as Obama seems to thrive on his popularity or lack of with his alleged polls especially if people disagree with him; one has yet to be reminded of the promises never kept, the inept manner he has handled the variedness’ of circumstances both global and domestic in such a bumbling Mr. Magoo manner; one is yet, to wonder how he has kept from bumbling out a White House window only to find himself, face down on the lawn?

For the Love of Yaqub

A Muslim Palestinian boy Yaqub Natil smiles for a photograph from the window of a car at the Erez crossing near Gaza, on October 23, 2008; as he returns to Gaza following treatment at a Jewish hospital.

Six-year-old Yaqub has spent the last ten months undergoing ten different operations in an Jewish hospital, before being able to finally return home today.

Several other Muslim Palestinians had also been released today, after receiving hospital treatment; in Jewish hospitals.

Bushonomics: America Tell Bush How You Feel

Lafayette Park, also known as Presidents Park
16th & Pennsylvania Ave., NW (across from the White House), Washington, DC.

Park Description: The seven-acre park provides a prominent arena for public protests, ranger programs and special events. It was named to honor the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution. An equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson is located in the center and in the four corners are statues of Revolutionary War heroes: France's General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette and Major General Comte Jean de Rochambeau; Poland's General Thaddeus Kosciuszko; Prussia's Major General Baron Frederich Wilhelm von Steuben. Buildings surrounding the park include the White House, the Old Executive Office Building, the Department of the Treasury, Decatur House, Renwick Gallery, The White House Historical Association, Hay-Adams Hotel and The Department of Veterans Affairs.

Open: Every day
Admission: Free
Hours: 24 Hours a day
Park Website

American’s are you feeling depressed because of Bushonomics due to you having lost your home, job, health care, retirement, loss business or the ever increasing rise in the cost of living and you just can not seem to make it on a daily basis to just your feelings against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the proposals of new ones against your tax dollar, lost loved ones, to these global human rights violations; I came up with an idea of how to let US President George W. Bush know, how you feel.

Go to Washington and set up a tent in the park across the street from the White House and every time Bush appears, tell him exactly what is in your heart about the ever increasing economic collapse; as others have done in the same park throughout American history before you, most notably the old Hooverville’s from the 1930’s Depression or the 1960’s Peace protests; you may even wish to wear that flower in your hair or preference to your religious affiliations, such as thoughs who wear the Islamic hijab, Kippah, for example.

By getting together, you will have a camaraderie with other’s like yourself; to achieving united, for a common stance to make yourself heard in Washington.

Stand up for Your Human Right’s, for You can make the difference!

Updates:

Bushonomics: Bush Run's from Economic Protestors

Bushonomics: Bush Gestures to Growing Numbers of Economic Protestors

Candidates' Social Security plans lack details

Graphic shows Social Security cost of living adjustments for all retired workers from 1999-2009.

18 October 2008
By DAVID ESPO

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama wants to raise taxes on high-income workers to ease Social Security's looming cash crunch. John McCain favors voluntary private accounts for younger workers, saying they can't count on the same government benefits as today's retirees.

Beyond those generalities — and a shared opposition to an increase in the retirement age — the two presidential rivals are long on commitment and short on specifics when it comes to the government's huge retirement income program.

Obama is "committed to ensuring Social Security is solvent and viable for the American people, now and in the future," says his official Web site.

McCain reassured the audience at a recent debate that the program's financial challenges are less severe than those confronting Medicare, the giant health care program for older Americans.

"We know what the problems are, my friends, and we know what the fixes are. We've got to sit down together across the table. It's been done before," he said in support of his push for a bipartisan commission.

Three years after the collapse of President Bush's plan to overhaul the program, Social Security has played only a modest role in a fall campaign dominated by the economy and punctuated by a decline in the retirement savings of millions.

And with both men shying away from specifics, the exchanges are more rhetorical than substantive.

Obama aired a television ad saying McCain campaigned in favor of Bush's failed 2005 proposal, which it characterized as "cutting benefits in half, risking Social Security on the stock market."

In fact, the allegation about cutting benefits was from a study of Bush's plan showing that under one scenario, the benefits of higher-income retirees could be cut in half from what is promised — beginning in 2080 — meaning that most of those affected have not yet been born.

Nor has McCain proposed investing the government's payroll tax receipts in the stock market. But he has previously proposed giving workers the option of diverting some of their Social Security taxes into such private investments.

"I do not and will not privatize Social Security," McCain says. "It's not true when I'm accused of that."

Polling over the years has shown the word "privatization" evokes hostility among voters.

McCain's denials are hard to square with his previous comments. "Without privatization, I don't see how you can possibly over time make sure that young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits," he said in November 2004. He also supported Bush's 2005 plan, which envisioned smaller than-promised benefits for future retirees and the option for workers to privately invest a portion of their payroll taxes to provide a supplement to the government benefits.

No matter the politics, there is no dispute that the venerable retirement security program will need a fix. Currently, 34 million retirees and their dependents receive monthly benefit checks, as do 6 million survivors of deceased workers and 9 million disabled workers and their dependents.

Government experts project the Social Security trust funds will begin paying out more than they collect in payroll taxes in 2017, and be exhausted in 2041. At that point, benefits would fall to 78 percent of promised levels.

Over the next 75 years, the program's most recent annual report projected the trust funds "would require additional revenue equivalent to $4.3 trillion in today's dollars to pay all scheduled benefits."

"We face enormous challenges to shore up the system," wrote Michael J. Astrue, commissioner of Social Security.

So far, Obama's only specific suggested remedy is a payroll tax increase for those making more than $250,000. The proposal envisions an increase "in the range of 2 to 4 percent," divided between worker and employer. Neither Obama nor his aides have provided additional details.

Under the current tax, workers pay 6.2 percent on their wages up to $102,000 per year, an income level that rises annually with inflation. Employers pay the same amount.

McCain calls regularly for creation of a new commission to study Social Security, with all options on the table.

At the same time, under pressure from conservatives, he stresses opposition to higher taxes. "There is no imaginable circumstance where John McCain would raise payroll taxes," spokesman Tucker Bounds said this summer.

McCain says he favors giving younger workers an option of diverting a portion of their payroll taxes "and maybe put it in an account with their name on it."

He has yet to say what, if any, sort of reduction that would lead to in government benefits promised for the future, although he alluded to it earlier this month during a debate with Obama.

"We are not going to be able to provide the same benefit for present-day workers that we are going — that present-day retirees have today," he said without elaboration.

Three years ago, Bush proposed guaranteeing the benefits already promised to those 55 and older. For younger workers, his plan would have meant smaller benefits than they have been promised, with an option to set up voluntary private accounts to try to make up the difference.

Democrats united against the plan, and Republicans turned skittish. It failed without ever coming on a vote in either house of Congress.

Iran to open 2 health clinics in Bolivia

Iran to build 2 health clinics in Bolivia, looks to expand medical aid to Latin America

10 October 2008

LA PAZ, Bolivia -Iran's top diplomat in Bolivia says his country will open two low-cost public health clinics in South America's poorest nation.

Business attache Hojjatollah Soltani said Friday the Islamic republic plans to use Bolivia as a base for future Red Crescent medical programs across the continent.

He did not offer details or cost figures for the clinics.

Bolivia and Iran, both outspoken critics of the United States, have only recently opened diplomatic relations.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged US$1 billion in aid to Bolivia alone during a visit last year.

Bolivian Health Minister Ramiro Tapia said the Iranian clinics will expand on medical aid already provided by Cuba and Venezuela.

In other News:

Pakistan, Iran agree to rewrite IPI as IP gas line

Pa. widow sues US over Iraq vet-husband's suicide

8 October 2008
By MARYCLAIRE DALE

PHILADELPHIA -The widow of an Iraq war veteran who committed suicide while in outpatient care for depression at a Veterans Administration hospital is suing the federal government for alleged negligence.

Tiera Woodward, 26, claims her late husband, Donald, sought treatment at a VA hospital in Lebanon, Pa., after three suicide attempts but wasn't seen by a psychiatrist for more than two months.

She says doctors were slow to diagnose her husband with major depression, and that once the diagnosis was made, a psychiatrist failed to schedule a follow-up meeting with her husband after he informed the doctor he had gone off his medication.

Donald Woodward killed himself in March 2006 at age 23.

"I intend to make them make changes," said his mother, Lori Woodward. "I have too many friends whose kids are in Iraq. I have a nephew now in Iraq, in the same unit, and I can't have my family go through this again."

Alison Aikele, a VA spokeswoman in Washington, said the agency does not typically comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit, filed in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, seeks an unspecified amount for funeral expenses, lost income and pain and suffering.

It echoes other lawsuits nationwide over VA mental-health services, despite legislation President Bush signed in November ordering improvements.

The family of Marine Jeffrey Lucey, also 23, has a federal suit pending in Massachusetts over his June 2004 suicide. And two veterans groups sued the VA in San Francisco seeking an overhaul of its health system, citing special concerns about mental health, but a judge dismissed the suit in June over venue issues.

More than 150,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans have already sought mental health care from the VA, and 200,000 others have sought medical care, according to Veterans for Common Sense, one of the groups involved in the California lawsuit.

"Each tragic veteran suicide is yet another painful reminder of the human cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and VA's abject failure to provide timely and appropriate mental health care," said Paul Sullivan, the group's executive director. "How many wake-up calls does (the) VA need?"

Further Information:
Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans

Now that their son Jeff is gone, Kevin and Joyce Lucey are speaking out about his suicide.



Commentary:
From my understanding, with the wars in particular that is occurring in Afghanistan and Iraq, that not just suicides, but US military personal going AWOL has became a major problem for US President George W. Bush’s global domination war against mankind and not a “war on terror” which Bush has tried to get people to assume.

Furthermore, no matter how a person dies, it is always a tragedy when it is due to a person such as Bush, telling a lie.

Afghan diplomat summoned over spread of ElTor biotype

3 October 2008

Tehran-Iran on Friday summoned Afghan Charge D'Affaires to Tehran al-Ghiath to inform him of its request from Kabul to take proper measures on common border areas to curb spread of ElTor cholerae there.

Deputy Director General of West Asian Affairs Department at Foreign Ministry said al-Ghiath had been summoned in absence of Afghan Ambassador to Tehran to call on Afghan government to launch stern campaign against the disease.

The Afghan diplomat was also informed of Iran's readiness to dispatch a medical team to the ElTor-prone regions to help Afghan prevent spread of the lethal epidemic.

Oregon hospital tells grandpa he’s pregnant

Computer error caused staff to give 71-year-old man the happy news

26 September 2008

PORTLAND- A patient treated for agonizing abdominal pain received this surprising news in the hospital’s paperwork: “Based on your visit today, we know you are pregnant.”

Surprising indeed for 71-year-old John Grady Pippen.

The staff at Curry General Hospital in Gold Beach gave the retired mechanic and logger the ridiculously happy news this month, along with some pain pills.

Hospital administrator William McMillan says an errant keystroke caused the hospital’s computer to spit out the wrong discharge instructions for the grandfather.

Eastern New Orleans gets new adult clinic

Tulane site to help fill health care gap

18 August 2008
By Jennifer Evans

A new primary medical care center for adults and geriatric patients will open soon in eastern New Orleans.

The Tulane Community Health Center New Orleans East at 4626 Alcee Fortier Blvd., Suite D, will offer primary and preventative care to patients older than 18 starting Aug. 25; it expects to add obstetrics and gynecology later this year.

Plans for the health center were scheduled to be announced in a news conference today.

The center will have six examination rooms and will be staffed by a doctor, a licensed nurse practitioner and supporting office workers, and will operate Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Once the center is up and running, operating hours will be extended, said Karen DeSalvo, vice dean for community affairs and health policy at Tulane University.

The clinic is expected to handle 500 patient visits every month, she said.

"This is part of our bigger strategy to make primary care available to people in New Orleans, irrespective of their ability to pay," DeSalvo said. "We will see everybody."

The health center is a partnership between Tulane and Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corp., an organization instrumental in the rejuvenation of health care services in the area after Hurricane Katrina.

Last month, Mary Queen of Vietnam partnered with Children's Hospital of New Orleans to start a Kids First Clinic in eastern New Orleans to help meet the need for pediatric care in the neighborhood.

The community group worked with Tulane to secure a location that was familiar and accessible before the storm, said Diem Nguyen, Mary Queen of Vietnam health clinic project manager. The new adult health center is across the street from the neighborhood's new pediatric clinic and next door to a pharmacy, she said.

A $1.4 million donation from the Qatar Katrina Fund given to Tulane to help meet hurricane victims' health care needs will cover two years of operating expenses for the clinic, DeSalvo said.

Haniya Visits Al-Najar Hospital

The Grand Mufti’s of Jerusalem (Prime Minister) Ismail Haniya (C) visits the al-Najar hospital in Rafah, on 10 July 2008.

For the Sake of Mariya

Seven year-old Palestinian girl Mariya Aman, who is paralyzed from her neck down after a Jewish missile struck her family's car in the Gaza Strip in 2006; during the war, arrives along with her father (L) for a hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on 8 July 2008. Jewish Supreme Court delayed today a decision to transfer to this Palestinian girl. Mariya was severely wounded in May 2006 and she has since been on a respirator at a hospital in Jerusalem, but the Jewish defense ministry has proposed that she be sent to a hospital in Ramallah.

by HRM Deborah

From my understanding the Aman family in the two years they have been in Jerusalem have been good productive citizens within their neighborhood, while caring for there daughter in the hospital.

Whether it was said to be harmful to the child to move her, I do not have all the information on her condition; other then I do know something of patients that usually are in such a condition and I do know either of the two hospitals are very equipped to care for Mariya.

It is my recommendations that Mariya Aman, along with her family be allowed to stay in Jerusalem, for there is no further need to uproot and disrupt this families lives.

'Neglected Infections Of Poverty' In United States Disable Hundreds Of Thousands Of Americans Annually

25 June 2008

ScienceDaily-An analysis published June 25th in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases highlights that diseases very similar to those plaguing Africa, Asia, and Latin America are also occurring frequently among the poorest people in the United States, especially women and children. These diseases -- the "neglected infections of poverty" -- are caused by chronic and debilitating parasitic, bacterial, and congenital infections.

While most Americans have never heard of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), the analysis estimates that these infections occur in hundreds of thousands of poor Americans concentrated primarily in the Mississippi Delta (including post-Katrina Louisiana), Appalachia, the Mexican borderlands, and inner cities. These diseases represent a major cause of chronic disability, impaired child development, and adverse pregnancy outcomes, yet many of them are preventable.

"The fact that these neglected infections of poverty represent some of the greatest health disparities in the United States, but they remain at the bottom of the public health agenda, is a national disgrace," says Peter J. Hotez , MD, PhD, author of the analysis and President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, Executive Director of Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, and Walter G. Ross Professor and Chair of the Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine department at George Washington University.

Hotez notes that the common features of these neglected infections include their highly disproportionate health impact on minorities and people living in poverty; their chronic, largely insidious, and disabling features; and their ability to promote poverty because of their impact on child development, pregnancy outcome, and productive capacity. He calls upon policy makers to make these infections a priority on the public health agenda.

"Control of these neglected infections is both a highly cost-effective mechanism for lifting disadvantaged populations out of poverty and consistent with our shared American values of equity and equality," Hotez says. "We need a national dialogue about these very important, but neglected conditions that afflict the poorest people in the United States. Neglected infections of poverty are understudied and not well known even by physicians and public-health experts. This lack of understanding and knowledge points to the urgent need to increase surveillance for these infections; use cost-effective existing drug control and treatment efforts; implement newborn screenings; and develop new drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines for these infections."

US: FEMA trailers caused at least 17,000 illnesses among Katrina survivors

9 June 2008

By Naomi Spencer

Approaching three years since the devastation of the US Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina, a public health nightmare continues for thousands of survivors who were housed in government-supplied trailers.

Many of the 300,000 residents who were relocated into housing provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have developed serious respiratory problems because of excessive levels of the industrial chemical and known carcinogen formaldehyde, according to a report by Spencer Hsu published May 25 in the Washington Post.

Some of the most seriously affected are infants and children, who have developed chronic asthma and require lifelong medical care. The cancer rates will not be known for at least a decade, according to health experts.

While workplace exposure levels are regulated and the health risks associated with high levels are well known, there are no federal regulations on the level of formaldehyde in building materials. The chemical is emitted from glues and sealants used in construction materials such as particleboard, plywood, paneling, and laminated surfaces common in low-end housing units. Formaldehyde is released at the highest levels during warm weather and from newly constructed units.

The Washington Post noted that tests of many FEMA trailers revealed formaldehyde levels drastically exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) 15-minute workplace exposure limit of 100 parts per billion. This is the limit at which serious adverse health symptoms begin to appear, and California state health regulators estimate long-term exposure at this level raises cancer risk by 50 cases per 100,000.

More than four in five FEMA trailers tested by the environmental group the Sierra Club exceeded this limit in 2006. Sierra Club testers said formaldehyde concentrations were between 10 and 100 times higher in the trailers than in the worst smog conditions in Los Angeles.

The Sierra Club conducted another round of tests in April 2007 and found formaldehyde concentrations of more than 100 parts per billion in fully 96 percent of FEMA trailers. FEMA dismissed these tests and took counter-samples for its own tests from unoccupied trailers that were aired out for days in advance.

Testing by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found levels exceeding 100 parts per billion in 41 percent of the units it had tested in December and January; the average level was 77 parts per billion, and as high as 590 ppb. The CDC warned that because of the cold weather the results understated levels.

Citing chronic breathing disorders, dozens of deaths, mouth and nasal tumors, and cases of cancer, 17,000 Katrina survivors filed a class-action lawsuit against the federal government and 64 manufacturers of the emergency housing units. Many of the plaintiffs in the present case, victims of government negligence on multiple levels, were among those who unsuccessfully filed claims against the federal Army Corps of Engineers over the levee failures that resulted in the catastrophic flooding of New Orleans.

In the past month, FEMA has moved to vacate all the remaining trailers. On June 1 the agency sent out deadline notices for the 24,600 residents still living in emergency units without proposing housing alternatives.

The problems with the trailers were long known by the federal government. Residents in the trailer park camps set up throughout Louisiana and Mississippi filed complaints over severe headaches, nosebleeds, and breathing difficulties in the months after they were relocated, but FEMA declined to systematically test the units.

After one resident, a pregnant mother with a young infant, complained repeatedly of conditions in her trailer, FEMA found formaldehyde levels 75 times the NIOSH maximum workplace exposure level. Yet, the agency did not widen its investigation or even issue a public advisory about the problem. In fact, FEMA continued auctioning off thousands of unoccupied emergency trailers on the commercial housing market, and systematically suppressed findings of toxicity in anticipation of litigation.

FEMA ordered the trailers for some $2.7 billion dollars as Katrina approached the Gulf Coast in 2005. At the time, manufacturers were hastily given specifications, which the Post said were spelled out in just 25 lines with little stipulation for safety standards. FEMA bought 54,000 trailers and mobile homes using a single page of specifications for $1.4 billion. According to the paper, the agency paid another billion dollars to produce 76,800 trailers with eight pages of specifications, but again there was no mention of formaldehyde, and very limited safety standards.

Joseph Hagerman, a scientist with the Federation of American Scientists involved in a government project to develop new emergency housing, commented to the paper: “I still can’t believe that we bought a billion dollars’ worth of product with a 25-line spec. There’s not much you can do in 25 lines to protect life safety. There’s over 20,000 parts in these homes.”

Two companies responsible for producing tens of thousands of trailers for FEMA, Fleetwood and Gulf Stream, have insisted they used only “higher-quality, low-emitting wood products.” The Washington Post quoted a letter to congressional investigators from lawyers from Gulf Stream saying the company “mostly met a ‘longstanding policy’ to buy components that comply with mobile home standards, but it acknowledged exceptions” and that Gulf Stream “did not conduct any testing on components or parts.”

Manufacturers of trailer components suggested that unregulated Chinese imports, some of which was said to reek of formaldehyde, were to blame. According to the Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Association, the North American market share of Chinese imports ballooned from 4 to 40 percent since 2001 because of the housing construction boom in the US.

Robert Feldman, a spokesperson for the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association—the trailer manufacturers’ trade group—absurdly suggested to the Post that formaldehyde levels in the trailers had nothing to do with illness among the evacuee population occupying them, and that more likely aggravators were “mold, Katrina-related chemical spills, smoking or local climate factors.” “There may be a rush to conclude formaldehyde is the issue when in fact the results seem to suggest the answer is a little more complex,” he said.

In a seemingly unwitting acknowledgment of the dangers of prolonged formaldehyde exposure and its ubiquitous presence in mobile home fabrication, a spokeswoman for Fleetwood commented to the paper, “You know, when something hasn’t been a problem, you often don’t suddenly consider that it will be. I don’t believe that anybody expected these people to stay in the trailers as long as people have stayed in them.”

The vague government specifications were for all intents and purposes a blank check for the industry to produce units without regard to human health. There can be little doubt that after receiving government orders, manufacturers sped up production and widened their profit margins by using substandard materials and cutting corners on safety. But in a broader sense, the extremely high percentage of trailers found in tests to have excessive formaldehyde levels suggest that the toxicity in the FEMA units are less an industry exception than a rule.

Manufacturers of trailers are not held to many of the basic safety standards required of home manufacturers because they are classified as vehicles and, as the Post notes, the industry insists that they are not intended to be used for more than a few days at a time, a few times a year. In reality, however, millions of poor families buy or rent trailers around the country because they cannot afford anything safer or more durable.

In one sense, the public health catastrophe now unfolding among the post-Katrina population is a concentrated expression of the plight of the poorest sections of the working class throughout the country, who live in substandard housing, suffer higher exposure to pollutants and toxins in their home and work environments, develop cancer at higher rates, are rebuffed by the courts, refused compensation and medical aid for illnesses, and die younger of preventable ailments. In innumerable instances they are victims of industry and a government incapable and unwilling to regulate it.

As CDC toxicology assistant director Christopher De Rosa commented to the Associated Press May 27, “It’s tragic that when people most need the protection, they are actually going from one disaster to a health disaster that might be considered worse.”

Further Reading:
New Orleans to phase out trailers by August

Debt Stress Can Wear On Body, Poll Finds

9 June 2008

WASHINGTON - The stress from deepening debt is becoming a major pain in the neck -- and the back and the head and the stomach -- for millions of Americans.

When people are dealing with mountains of debt, they're much more likely to report health problems, too, according to an Associated Press-AOL Health poll. And not just little stuff; this means ulcers, severe depression, even heart attacks.

Take Edward Driscoll, 38, of Braintree, Mass. He blames debt -- $10,000 worth -- for contributing to his ulcers and his wife Kimberly's panic attacks.

"Just worrying, worrying, worrying, you know, where the next payment of this is going to come from," he says.

Although most people appear to be managing their debts all right, perhaps 10 million to 16 million are "suffering terribly due to their debts, and their health is likely to be negatively impacted," says Paul J. Lavrakas, a research psychologist and AP consultant who analyzed the results of the survey.

Those are people who reported high levels of debt stress and suffered from at least three stress-related illnesses, he says.

That finding is supported by medical research that has linked chronic stress to a wide range of ailments.

And the current tough economic times and rising costs of living seem to be leading to increasing debt stress, 14 percent higher this year than in 2004, according to an index tied to the AP-AOL survey.

Among the people reporting high debt stress in the new poll:

-27 percent had ulcers or digestive tract problems, compared with 8 percent of those with low levels of debt stress.

-44 percent had migraines or other headaches, compared with 15 percent.

-29 percent suffered severe anxiety, compared with 4 percent.

-23 percent had severe depression, compared with 4 percent.

-6 percent reported heart attacks, double the rate for those with low debt stress.

-More than half, 51 percent, had muscle tension, including pain in the lower back. That compared with 31 percent of those with low levels of debt stress.

People who reported high stress also were much more likely to have trouble concentrating and sleeping and were more prone to getting upset for no good reason.

When their construction business went under four years ago, Pamela Crouch, 61, and her husband, who had retired from General Motors, found themselves struggling under IOUs totaling $30,000.

"We just kind of felt desperate. We just really didn't have enough to live on to pay what we had to pay," recalls Crouch of Eaton, Ind. She remembers having trouble sleeping and concentrating. "We ended up paying a lot of our bills just on the credit card," says Crouch, a medical assistant in a nursing home. "We were stressed and depressed. ... It was really rough."

Their son, a manager of a construction supply company, recently helped them out with their debt problems. "Things are doing much better," she says. "It made a world of difference in how we feel."

It isn't known for certain whether such stress is causing health problems, says Lavrakas, who while at Ohio State University in the late 1990s helped to develop an index to measure the extent to which people are stressed from financial debts.

But medical research suggests that most of the symptoms reported in this poll are indeed typical of chronic stress. The body reacts with a "fight-or-flight" response, releasing adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol.

That helps you react fast in an emergency, but if the body stays in this high gear too long, those chemicals can wreak physical havoc in numerous systems - everything from a rise in blood pressure and heart rate to problems with memory, mood, digestion, even the immune system.

And no, stress doesn't cause stomach ulcers -- most are caused by bacteria - but stress can worsen the pain.

Regardless of the health implications, Americans are taking on more debt as tough economic times -- slowing economic activity, job losses, soaring energy and food prices, slumping home values and record home foreclosures -- strain many people's budgets.

Revolving consumer debt, almost all from credit cards, now totals $957 billion, compared with $800 billion in 2004, according to the Federal Reserve.

Average car loans are up, too, to $27,397, from $24,888 four years ago. Home mortgages total $10.5 trillion, compared with $7.8 trillion in 2004.

If that's not enough to rattle you, consider this. The share of households' after-tax income that goes to serving financial obligations was nearly 20 percent in 2007, up from 18.5 percent in 2004, said Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics at Moody's Economy.com.

No wonder people are feeling stressed. So, why do they let debt spiral out of control?

A significant life crisis like a major health problem or the loss of a job drives many people into debt. Others build up bills "trying to keep up with the Joneses" -- according to Patricia Drentea, associate professor of sociology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who studies debt and stress.

For the middle class and beyond, it could be a push for a bigger house, an SUV, high-tech TVs, computers and other electronic gadgets, gym memberships, nicer clothes and restaurants. The list goes on and on.

Indeed, the survey found that upwardly mobile, middle-class families were among those who had the most debt stress. Others were women, couples with small children, low-income working families, Democrats and those who graduated high school but haven't taken college courses.

Those least likely to be stressed from debt include men, retirees, empty nesters, college graduates and Republicans.

The AP-AOL Health poll involved telephone interviews with 1,002 adults from all states except Alaska and Hawaii and was conducted from March 24 to April 3 by Abt SRBI Inc. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Cynthia Roberts, 36, of Tawas City, Mich., is "slowly crawling out of the hole that I've been buried in for four years." At that time, she lost her job as a convenience store manager as she battled health problems. She eventually lost her home to foreclosure.

These days, Roberts, a mother of four, the oldest in the Army, makes a living through a series of odd jobs -- hauling metal to the scrap yard, selling firewood, mowing lawns and cleaning houses. She's now making payments on utility bills and on her car. But not her credit card, where hundreds of dollars in charges are several years old.

At the height of her financial troubles, "I couldn't function," she remembers. "I'm surprised I'm not in a white straitjacket in a nut house. It was that bad. I had to go for counseling because I was freaking out."

'He is an amazing man'

30 May 2008

By Michelle Esteban

KIRKLAND, Wash. -- It will take thousands of dollars and several surgeries to reconstruct a local man's face.

James O'Neal compares himself to the Elephant Man. A genetic disease left his face horribly disfigured, but that could soon change.

O'Neal knows his deformity shocks people. He knows others with the same genetic disorder would rather hide than work, but for 7 years James has proudly worked the registers at the Kingsgate Safeway on 124th Avenue NE in Kirkland.

"I just tell people this is who I am, it's the way I am. If you don't like me, you don't like me," he said.

His customers don't like him -- they love him.

"He is an amazing man and we love him. He's the kind of person that makes your day," said customer Aubrey Richins.

"I really love James," said shopper Katie Knopf.

All of them say they were stunned at first when they saw his disfigured face.

"I have to admit I was a little taken back, but when I walked through his line I felt this spirit come over me, this man is out here, not hiding," said long-time customer Cindy Peay.

Every shopper said the same thing: O'Neal is an inspiration. If that wasn't enough, he's lightning-fast on the register.

Knopf has put her money where her mouth is.

"We want to change his life," she said.

She knows O'Neal's insurance likely won't cover all of the costs of difficult and extensive surgeries. So she's launched a Web site asking for donations for reconstructive surgery.

Knopf also got Kinkos to donate a thousand fliers and plans to distribute them to local schools and the registers at the Kingsgate Safeway.

Her generous heart tugged on Safeway's heartstrings. The grocer decided to kick in the first $10,000.

"James is our employee, he is one of us and we absolutely think the world of him," said Cherie Myers, Safeway's director of public and government affairs. "This is just a bonus, this our bonus to him. He never asked for it, he's never said 'woe is me.' He's proud to be who he is."

That's why customers flock to him. Knopf says she'll stand in line just to have him ring her up.

"James will always be the person he is inside. I'm hoping with this he'll have a new lease on life," said Knopf. She hopes to raise $50,000, but guesses the costs could add up to be much more.

"It makes me feel honored and proud," said O'Neal, who was stunned to learn his employer is not only kicking in $10,000, but is committed to helping him navigate through all the insurance paperwork.

O'Neal has lived with his disability since birth. Like the Elephant Man he has neurofibromatosis, not elephantiasis. The tumors stopped growing when he stopped growing. Surgery would rid him of the deformity for good.

"I think it's amazing what they want to do for me," he said. And it's clear they're doing it because of what O'Neal has done for them.

In July, Safeway stores in four states will kick off a three-week Canister Campaign, collecting donations to help O'Neal. Those who want to contribute can also donate online through KOMO News.

For More Information about neurofibromatosis

www.ctf.org

www.nfinc.org

Qatari Diar to build $350m West Bank township

29 May 2008

Doha - Qatari Diar, Qatar Investment Authority's real estate arm, is all set to build Palestine's first planned community between Ramallah and Nablus on the West Bank for $350m.

Called Rawabi, or hills in Arabic, the upcoming town will consist of 5,000 affordable houses and will ultimately be home to over 40,000 people.

The site for the new community is situated nine kilometres north of Ramallah, an area currently under the control of the Palestinian Authority (Mahmoud Abbas Terrorists Organization).

The project will be developed and managed by Bayti, which is owned by Qatari Diar and Massar International, a holding company headquartered in Ramallah with real-estate development as its core business activity.

Qatari Diar has provided additional capital and, together with Massar International, will develop and construct the town.

Qatari Diar CEO Ghanim bin Saad Al Saad told a news conference yesterday the firms were committed to the advancement of the Palestinian economy and the welfare of the Palestinian people.

"Building Rawabi will create thousands of job opportunities as well as the chance for ordinary Palestinians to own their own home," he said.

Al Saad said the project had evoked a good response from both Qatari and Palestinian business communities and he was confident of its success.

He said it was encouraging that some 2,200 ownership applications have already been registered for the housing units, which underscores the great interest attached to the project.

Qatari Diar is also keen to carry out other projects in Palestine, in the industrial, health and education fields.

Qatari Diar’s Palestinian project: An artist’s impression of Palestine's first planned community between Ramallah and Nablus on the West Bank.

The construction phase of the Rawabi project will span five years and is expected to create some 10,000 jobs, according to Massar International Chairman Bashar Masri.

"Our primary goal in this project is to create job opportunities and develop the Palestinian economy," he said Masri.

He said the Rawabi project has moved from the drawing board to the implementation phase and the organizational structure will start to take shape by June.

The $350m project cost will cover the core of the town, but a master plan for a much larger area is being worked out which will ultimately bring the total investment in Rawabi within four to five years to over $1bn.

He said the financing would be sourced from average entrepreneurs. "We will open the doors for others to get involved, including small entrepreneurs, medium sized companies. Most Palestinian companies are relatively small and medium size. We will give them an opportunity through our master plan to get in and open up their businesses."

The current estimated housing shortfall in the West bank is greater than 200,000 units, a figure which increases roughly 10 percent every year. Masri said the absence of large-scale housing projects in the West Bank together with high prices for housing and limited land available for housing have created an acute housing shortage.

Within Ramallah, the demand for new homes is skyrocketing and along with it, rental rates and land prices.

The town of Rawabi is designed to attract Palestinians seeking affordable housing in a well-zoned, accessible environment.

When the town is fully built, it will feature more than 5,000 apartment and town home units housing up to 25,000 residents.

Additional residential and commercial units slated for subsequent construction phases will ultimately serve a town with a population of 40,000.

Do we know enough about presidential health?

In this Dec. 17, 2001 file photo, dark spots are visible on President Bush's cheeks and temple after it was disclose that the president had four lesions removed from his face, including two that are pre-cancerous but not a threat to the president's health. Woodrow Wilson's secret stroke. Grover Cleveland's secret cancer surgery. Franklin D. Roosevelt's secretly worsening heart disease at the world-changing Yalta Conference. Notice a lot of secrets?

19 May 2008

By LAURAN NEERGAARD

Woodrow Wilson's secret stroke. Grover Cleveland's secret cancer surgery. Franklin D. Roosevelt's secretly worsening heart disease at the world-changing Yalta Conference.

Notice a lot of secrets?

While the public knows far more today about the health of its presidents and presidential candidates than ever before, do we know enough? And does knowing about an illness even matter, by affecting how people vote?

They're questions that will gain more prominence Friday as one presidential candidate — Republican John McCain — performs the election-year ritual of releasing medical records to demonstrate he's healthy enough for office.

Last week at a meeting of the American College of Physicians, a high-profile panel of doctors suggested it's time to replace that ritual with a health exam for presidents and presidential hopefuls that mimics the regular fit-for-flight physicals required of pilots — one done by a team of independent physicians instead of the leader's own.

"Obviously this is a proposition that's a little bit contentious," acknowledged Dr. Leslie Pyenson, the CIA's one-time chief of medical and psychological analysis.

But one reason: The job of doctor to the president has an inherent conflict of interest, said Dr. E. Connie Mariano, who was President Clinton's White House physician.

"If you keep your patient in office, you can keep your job," she noted. "What happens when your patient can't do his job?"

There's a name for what sometimes happens when world leaders become ill: The captive-king syndrome, where aides deny a problem and run the country, said medical historian Dr. T. Jock Murray, a Canadian neurologist. Think Wilson's final stroke, which left his wife and a few others essentially in charge.

Perhaps more common today is what Mariano calls VIP syndrome. Whether they're politicians or celebrities or business bigwigs, VIPs feel entitled to expedited care; arrive with a "posse" of aides to be dealt with; and tend to disregard medical advice because "they think they know better," said Mariano, who cautions pushy patients at her VIP health clinic in Arizona.

Because they're "very intimidating patients," Mariano said only half jokingly, doctors can find themselves second-guessing if someone really needs, say, a rectal exam or other inconvenient test that every other patient would get because it could turn up important information.

As for noncompliant patients, Bill Clinton was among the healthiest presidents in recent history — yet needed open-heart surgery after leaving office to avoid a major heart attack, admitting he'd quit taking his cholesterol-lowering medicine.

The 25th Amendment — sparked by the Kennedy assassination and ratified in 1967 — spells out what happens if a president dies or is disabled and clearly unable to lead. There's a backup team, so pay attention to potential vice presidents' health, too, Mariano advised.

That amendment isn't just for worst-case scenarios but for temporary illness, too. Yet until recently it had been invoked only once: When President Reagan had colon surgery and briefly turned over power to his vice president. His staff hadn't brought up the option a few years earlier when Reagan was shot, shades of Murray's captive-king.

A Working Group on Presidential Disability in the late 1990s recommended making that temporary transfer of power routine instead of a big deal — and Murray praised President Bush for doing so twice, when he was sedated for a 2002 colonoscopy and again last year when he had colon polyps removed.

Conversely, Bush's doctors revealed his treatment for early-stage Lyme disease a year after he'd undergone it.

No one says a president's doctor has to volunteer information, Murray said, just that they're advised to tell the truth when they do talk.

But what most worried last week's physician panel are harder-to-prove impairments, such as problems with brain function or judgment. What if a leader shows subtle signs of Alzheimer's disease, psychiatric illness, or cognitive problems due to, say, heart disease? What if the doctors and politicians disagree — how should White House doctors balance the First Patient's right to privacy with their duty to the country?

"The president is a citizen like anyone else and therefore has a right to privacy," Murray stressed. "They're not interested in you knowing any chink in their armor."

Illness has changed history. Stalin rose to power due to Lenin's stroke, for example. Historians debate the impact of Winston Churchill's drinking and use of sedatives during World War II.

Indeed, when Pyenson led a CIA study of world leaders' health, he found that on average six a year suffer an assassination attempt, one successful — while two a year suffer a heart attack and one or two more are diagnosed with cancer.

As for presidents, it's hard to imagine one today having jaw surgery for cancer on a boat to keep it secret, as Cleveland did. But consider how doctors denied the extent of Roosevelt's illness even while recording whopping blood pressures of 260/150.

Similarly, Mariano pointed to Paul Tsongas, who in 1992 sought the Democratic presidential nomination as a cancer survivor. Although he campaigned saying he'd been cancer-free since a 1986 bone-marrow transplant — and had some doctors vouch for him — it was later disclosed that he'd actually had another tumor. Then shortly after the 1992 election, his lymphoma returned; he died five years later from treatment complications.

So when candidates release medical information, "they'll submit pieces of history to you," Mariano said. Not necessarily the whole story.

Brazil's’ Dengue Fever Epidemic Introduction

Military to fight Dengue fever in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

24-Mar-2008

The Military are being used to tackle outbreaks of Dengue fever in Brazil.

According to Brazil's Defence Minister Nelson Jobim, the military is standing by to help the city of Rio de Janeiro deal with soaring numbers of Dengue fever cases.

Health authorities say to date there have been more than 33,000 cases of Dengue already this year which one doctor has termed as a catastrophe.

Since the beginning of the year across the state of Rio, 49 people have died from the potentially deadly fever, the vast majority of victims have been in the city itself, with hospitals struggling to cope.

Dengue fever is a disease bourne by the Aedes mosquito which causes high temperatures, headaches and muscle pain and in some forms can be a killer; there is no vaccine or drug to treat it.

Urban areas where stagnant waters prevail are an attractive breeding ground for mosquitoes.

While overall in Brazil officials say cases have fallen, in the state of Rio de Janeiro there has been a significant rise with public hospitals in the northern and western districts of the city overwhelmed by the number of patients seeking treatment.

The latest victims are reported to be a seven-month-old baby girl and a 12-year-old boy.

The idea of setting up military hospitals in areas which have been worst affected has been proposed amongst growing criticism of the authorities for their handling of the crisis.

The local doctors' union has gone so far as to urge for health officials to be charged with criminal negligence.

While Mr Jobim has not blamed any specific authority, he says there has been a "leniency in the campaign against Dengue" for which a price is now being paid.

A crisis centre is expected to be in operation shortly advising children and adolescents, who have been among the worst affected by the outbreak, to wear long trousers, socks and shoes to help prevent mosquito bites.

Easter holiday leave has also been cancelled for doctors, with hospitals now reporting more than 2,000 new cases each day.

Medical Care in Gaza

Premature Palestinian new born babies are cared for by the nurse Somayea Ayead at the prematurity department at the Al-Shifa hospital March 17, 2008 in Gaza, the Gaza Strip.

A prematurity Palestinian new born baby Ahmad Ali who suffers from the brain damage caused by birth asphyxia is cared for by paediatric Dr. Nasser Al-Sadi at the Neonatal unit at the Al-Shifa hospital March 17, 2008 in Gaza, the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian patient Bassam Hasona ,60, has kidney dialysis in the kidney department at the Al-Shifa hospital March 17, 2008 in Gaza, the Gaza Strip.
A Palestinian patient Rabah Miqdad ,45, has kidney dialysis in the kidney department at the Al-Shifa hospital March 17, 2008 in Gaza, the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian patient Laila Al-Salebi ,46, has kidney dialysis in the kidney department at the Al-Shifa hospital March 17, 2008 in Gaza, the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian patient Fatema Hamdia ,60, (C), who suffers from the breast cancer sits on her bed at the tumour department at the Al-Shifa Hospital on March 17, 2008 in Gaza, Gaza Strip.

Medical Labs Up and Working

A Palestinian medical technologist Amani Ryead works at the Laboratory at the Al-Shifa hospital March 17, 2008 in Gaza, the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian medical technologist Fadi Abu Olba works at the Laboratory at the Al-Shifa hospital March 17, 2008 in Gaza, the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian medical technologist Tamer Fases handles blood samples at the Laboratory at the Al-Shifa hospital March 17, 2008 in Gaza, the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian youths donate blood at the Laboratory at the Al-Shifa hospital March 17, 2008 in Gaza, the Gaza Strip.