Friday, December 23, 2011
Voters leaving Republican, Democratic parties in droves
INTERACTIVE: Presidential Poll Tracker
INTERACTIVE: Candidate Match Game
Christianity May Be Eradicated in Iraq and Afghanistan, (For Their Freedom Of Course)

The Iran Drone
By Joseph Farrell
12-22-11

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Physicians Oppose Mandatory Flu Vaccine for Health Workers
In letters to Colorado public health officials, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) opposes a rule requiring workers in health care facilities to have an annual influenza vaccination or lose their jobs. Workers who had a rare religious or medical exemption would be required to wear a mask in patient care areas from November through March.
The religious exemption is too narrowly drawn, AAPS writes, and should be a philosophical exemption, as accepted in many states, to “to avoid inquisitions into matters of faith.” The mask requirement “seems to be nothing more than a punitive retaliation against those who decline the vaccine” and should be dropped, the AAPS letter states, as both immunized and nonimmunized individuals can transmit influenza or other illnesses.
The New Mexico study cited in support of the policy shows a tiny effect: an adjusted odds ratio of only 0.97 for confirmed influenza “outbreaks” (at least one case) in residents of long-term care facilities where 60% of direct-care workers were immunized compared with facilities with a 51% immunization rate. This means that in facilities where more workers were immunized, residents were still 97% as likely to get influenza. “Many other factors could account for the small difference,” states AAPS executive director Jane Orient, M.D.
In the age of “evidence-based medicine,” AAPS notes that there is surprisingly little evidence supporting the efficacy of influenza vaccine, and evidence of safety is also limited. According to a 2006 article in the British Medical Journal by Tom Jefferson http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1626345/, the coordinator of the vaccines section of the Cochrane Collaboration, safety data are reported in only five randomized studies with 2,963 observations. Many repeated doses of similar vaccines likely increase the risk of allergic reactions, and no data exist on the safety of a large number of doses, states Dr. Orient, citing a 2006 article in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. http://www.jpands.org/vol11no3/geier.pdf
Immunizations and pertinent information should be made conveniently available to all workers in medical facilities, states AAPS. But the judgment of medical professionals should be respected; more than half choose to decline the annual shot.
Click here to read the letter to Colorado officials.
http://www.aapsonline.org/index.php/site/article/physicians_oppose_mandatory_flu_vaccine_for_health_workers/
Newt Gingrich urges Iran 'sabotage'
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2009/07/200971023542914638.html

In an interview with Al Jazeera's Avi Lewis for the Fault Linesprogramme, Republican Newt Gingrich said targeting Iran's refinery would spark an economic crisis that would destabilise the government in Tehran.
"I think we have a vested interest, the world has a vested interest, in a responsible Iranian government, just as we have a vested interest in a responsible North Korean government," he said
Thursday, December 22, 2011
New video of the lynching of Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi
Facebook Photos Lead Police To Suspects In Burglary

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Police say they stole thousands of dollars in cash and goods, and then posed with their loot and posted the photos to a popular social media site.
Police say the three suspects, along with another teen, posted the photos on Facebook about an hour after they burglarized Elliott’s Town Market on Chartiers Avenue in the West End.
“We received information the day after the burglary that these pictures were posted on Facebook, and if you look at the pictures, you can see that the individuals are holding a large amount of cash,” Sgt. Kevin Gasiorowski, of the Pittsburgh Police, said.
Officials say $8,000 cash isn’t the only thing the teens took from Elliott’s.
“Numerous boxes and cartons of cigarettes, cartons of candy, checks and approximately $8,000 dollars in cash,” Sgt. Gasiorowski said.
A family member of one of the teens is the one who spotted the pictures online and tipped off police, officials said.