Should you take the Swine Flu Shot?

A friend of mine works at a hospital in New York City. She was told if she doesn't take the swine flu death shot she will lose her job. She called me and asked what she should do. I told her, it's better to lose your job than your life. Listen, the swine flu vaccine is a seriously dangerous thing to take. I am aware that some people will read this and think I am wrong. They might believe it's dangerous to not get vaccinated. Most people who rely on the government to take care of their health needs are the ones who usually doubt what I am saying. I am not going to be a crowd pleaser and suggest that everyone do what they feel is best. Wake up people, it's the beginning of the end if you take the swine flu shot. I risk everything sending this message, but how can I hold back when I know the truth. If you are so worried about your health, eat a good diet, pray to God and live a healthy lifestyle. Do I go so far to suggest you are committing suicide if you take the swine flu shot? Your darn right I do! Not only would you be injecting deadly chemicals into your system that will break down the immune system and cause major health issues, but you are giving up your right to say "Let me take care of my own health." You are putting your health in the hands of the government. I am not a conspiricist, blowing up a problem to make it sound worse than it is. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not into wasting my time on conspiricy issues, but this issue is not! This is a real thing happening right now.

At the beginning of 2009, people were talking about the swine flu. No one wanted to visit Mexico and people were worried about what would happen if the swine flu came to the United States. Things seemed to simmer down for a while but this Fall, things picked up full steam again. Please watch these three videos below. There are tons more out there. This is a serious issue! Stand strong! Be strong and take responsibility for your own health.



Are we taking our lives and our children's lives and risking permanent neurological damage by exposing ourselves to untested Big Pharma experiments? For What? This is the flu we are talking abut, not the plague. Below I have printed a couple of paragraphs from Freedom Fighter Radio. The ingredients of the vaccine are listed. It is worth reading.

Below are the contents of the H1N1 vaccine that the World Health Organization (and soon too the US Government, via Executive Order or treaty) will be mandating that we all take? The contents might surprise you.
* aluminum hydroxide* aluminum phosphate* ammonium sulfate* amphotericin B
* animal tissues: pig blood, horse blood, rabbit brain, dog kidney, monkey kidney,
* chick embryo, chicken egg, duck egg* calf (bovine) serum* betapropiolactone
* fetal bovine serum* formaldehyde* formalin* gelatin* glycerol*squalene
* human diploid cells (originating from human aborted fetal tissue)
* hydrolized gelatin* mercury thimerosol (thimerosal, Merthiolate(r))
* monosodium glutamate (MSG)* neomycin* neomycin sulfate* phenol red indicator
* phenoxyethanol (antifreeze)* potassium diphosphate* potassium monophosphate
* polymyxin B* polysorbate 20* polysorbate 80
* porcine (pig) pancreatic hydrolysate of casein* residual MRC5 proteins* sorbitol
* tri(n)butylphosphate,
* VERO cells, a continuous line of monkey kidney cells, and
* washed sheep red blood



Now, considering the fact that the elites of this nation and of the world, the same elites who so many times have ripped us off, destroyed our banks and wealth, lied to us all, started wars for profit, left our border open for invasion of cheap labor and the lowering of our standard of living, sent our good-paying jobs overseas, those who will be making hundreds of billions of dollars from this vaccine if it is mandated, who will benefit from more illnesses the vaccine may cause and basically have turned man against his own brother for profit, don’t you think that it might be just a little bit wise to first, do in-depth research as to what effects the contents (especially the chemical ones) of this untested and unproven vaccine might have on the human body
BEFORE you, your pregnant wives and your children line up like mindless sheep to take it? After all, even if you do take it, there is no guarantee you will not still contract the disease itself, is there? Maybe you want to honestly ask yourself the question if the virus itself has been engineered by these evil elitists’ to further their agenda of control and power.
Is this an unreasonable request of you America, to use the gray matter that God gave you to protect yourselves and your children from these evil elitists criminals who have repeatedly proven themselves to be your enemies? Think outside the box people, for the information that these elitists provide us within the confines of the box is mostly false.
If anyone doubts the above information,
1st. I ask you to prove that the H1N1 vaccines are safe.
2nd. I ask you if the politicians and drug pushers will take the shots; if not then why not?

So what do we do? How do we keep ourselves safe and to avoid the swine flu?

Someone emailed me and asked what I suggest to help protect against the swine flu. Here they are:

1. Eat healthy
2. Take four thieves essential oils. ** See description below

Four Thieves Essential Oil

A blend of highly antiviral, antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-infectious essential oils. Thieves was created from research of a group of 15th century thieves who rubbed oils on themselves to avoid contracting the plague while they robbed the bodies of the dead and dying. When apprehended, these thieves disclosed the formula of herbs, spices and oils they used to protect themselves in exchange for more lenient punishment. Studies later confirmed its killing power against airborne microorganisms. I use Thieves oil for many different reasons, from a sore throat to spraying it while on a plane to clean the air. There are so many reasons to use this oil. It can be used internally, externally or inhaled.

The oils blended in Four Thieves consist of: Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon Bark, Eucalyptus, and Rosemary

ON SALE NOW, WAS $30.00 order now for $25.00 while supplies last. I just got a shipment in and they are going to go fast. Click here to order


Wake up everyone and understand the priority of profit over liberty, power over personal choice, redistribution of wealth over individual effort and control over the constitutional freedoms that are our right.

“Unless we put medical freedom in the Constitution,the time will come when medicine will organize itself into an undercover dictatorship to restrict the art of healing to one class (of people) and deny equal privileges to others."
(Dr. Benjamin Rush, signed The Declaration of Independence)

Raw Life Newsletter for Oct 2009 from Paul Nison

Swine Flu Vaccine Mandate for NY Health Care Workers Halted by Judge's Restraining Order

(NaturalNews) Amid growing discontent among New York health care workers who are being forced to receive swine flu vaccine injections, the Public Employees Federation sued in state court to halt the mandate. Friday, a state Supreme Court judge issued a restraining order granting a temporary halt to the mandate until a subsequent hearing can be completed.

The lawsuit was brought by the Public Employees Federation, New York State United Teachers and four Albany nurses. Until today, these workers were required to be vaccinated by November 30th or many were told they would be fired from their jobs. Others were told pay increases would be suspended. Across the board, there was a campaign of intimidation against NY health care workers to force them into receiving the swine flu vaccine injections.

With this court order, mandatory vaccines are temporarily suspended pending a follow-up court hearing on October 30.


New York sets the tone for the H1N1 vaccine debate nationwide

New York has been an epicenter of health choice protests and demonstrations by concerned health care workers. Over 500,000 workers are affected by the H1N1 vaccine mandate, and a majority of those workers simply don't wish to be vaccinated against their will -- or, perhaps, vaccinated at all.

If New York health authorities thought they could just bully half a million health care workers into being injected with a virtually untested, unproven vaccine, they were gravely mistaken. Resistance to the vaccine mandate continues to build as more and more people realize the vaccine may be far more dangerous than the flu it claims to prevent.

In fact, attempts at forcing the swine flu vaccine onto health care workers appear to have backfired for the vaccine industry, causing many people to question the evidence behind all seasonal flu vaccines. As published here on NaturalNews, this increased scrutiny on flu vaccines is resulting in the emergence of some rather revealing information that seems to indicate seasonal flu vaccines have zero efficacy (i.e. they just don't work). See details here: http://www.naturalnews.com/027239_v...

What began as the vaccine industry's attempt to force its medicines on virtually everyone has caused intelligent people across the country and around the world to start asking some tough questions about vaccines. Today, NaturalNews posted ten questions about vaccines that the vaccine industry (and the health authorities pushing vaccines) so far refuse to answer: http://www.naturalnews.com/027258_v...

A recent poll conducted by Harvard University indicates that only 40 percent of adults plan to take the swine flu vaccine. Public support for the vaccine is rapidly evaporating as the real motivations behind the vaccine agenda become increasingly apparent (http://www.naturalnews.com/027222_s...). More and more people are concluding there's really no good reason to take the vaccine given the extremely low fatality rates of the pandemic. At the same time, more people are learning the truth about vitamin D and realizing that vitamin D is better than the vaccine at halting influenza. (http://www.naturalnews.com/027231_V...)

Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed in Washington D.C. by health freedom attorney Jim Turner accuses the FDA of violating federal law in approving the swine flu vaccines without conducting proper testing for either safety or efficacy (http://www.naturalnews.com/027205_v...).

Public support is clearly mounting against not just the swine flu vaccine (and the pandemic "fear factor" marketing push behind it), but seasonal flu vaccines as well.

None of this, of course, means the vaccine mandate in New York won't be reinstated on October 30th. The NY State Department of Health has predictably vowed to fight the decision and reinstate the mandate. But between now and then, it seems quite likely that we'll see a surge in public protests and perhaps even more legal actions filed by NY health care workers to stop what they see as a Big Brother chemical intervention into their own personal health.


Sources for this story include:
http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalert...

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2...

http://www.naturalnews.com/027259_health_flu_vaccine_vaccines.html

THE GREAT 1976 SWINE FLU CAPER

We've been through this deception before - read the attached article or click on the link above and discover the truth!

How to be a swine flu vaccine zealot (satire)

(NaturalNews) Swine flu vaccine zealots are like zombies... they just keep coming at you, mindless... heartless... empty-headed and a tad funky on the smell, too. But I've noticed from observing the behavior of a few such zealots that not all of them fully comprehend precisely how to act like a mindless vaccine zealot. There's more to it than just parroting whatever the FDA says. You actually have to get with the zealot program if you want to be taken seriously as a swine flu vaccine zealot.

So I've put together this handy guide to help them along:

Step 1) Loudly proclaim your vaccines are backed by "science," but when critics ask you to produce that science, just tell them you don't have to because "everybody knows they work." (Then grunt and paw at the air from time to time for effect...)

Step 2) Practice scoffing. Scoffing is an important skill for swine flu vaccine zealots. When someone asks an intelligent question like, "Where are the placebo-controlled studies that show flu vaccines work at all?" simply scoff at them. This avoids having to answer the question because, as you know, there are no such studies.

Step 3) Practice making people feel guilty for not getting the flu shot. Blame them for pandemic. Just ignore the fact that the shot itself has zero ability to actually prevent the spread of influenza and focus on what works: Guilt!

Step 4) Spread more fear! Guilt and fear go together like peanut butter and jelly on processed white bread -- a favorite zombie food! In combination, they work like gangbusters if you're trying to scare up some vaccine sales to generate billions of dollars in profits for the drug companies. In the absence of any actual science, just invoke fear! (Hey, it worked for the Patriot Act, too...)

Step 5) Remind people that they are not doctors and therefore don't know anything. Then quote some doctor who's pro-vaccine (and probably taking kickbacks from some pharmaceutical company that's been caught committing a felony crime) and declare that no one can question them because they're a doctor. Doctors are God, didn't you know? Just ask all the victims of thalidomide... or Vioxx.

Step 6) Strip off the plastic coating on both ends of an extension cord, exposing the wires. Attach the two wires on one end to the temples of your skull, then attach the two exposed wires on the other end to the exposed slots of a live electrical outlet in your home. You are now "WIRED." (Want a free subscription?) This process will destroy any critical thinking regions of your cerebrum, disabling the annoying ability to think for yourself (which can interfere with what the vaccine industry wants you to think instead). Once achieved, you're half-way qualified to being a vaccine zealot, unhindered by critical thinking skills!

(Don't forget to grunt, moan and leave your mouth draping open from time to time, or the whole effect will be ruined...)

Step 7) Defend mercury as safe. It's not that bad, really. What's a little mercury in your shot anyway? Ignore these inconvenient facts: A typical flu vaccine shot solution is 50,000 parts per billion of mercury. The EPA classifies any substance with more than 200 parts per billion as hazardous waste. (The EPA limit in drinking water is 2 parts per billion.) Thus, the mercury density in a vaccine is 25,000% higher than the level required to be considered hazardous waste. This is injected directly into the bloodstream of infants, children, expectant mothers and senior citizens. What could possibly be dangerous about that?

Step 8) Find a bunch of other flu vaccine zealots and quote each other. This is the best part about being a vaccine zealot: It's social! Instead of quoting any actual science to back up your non-position (because there isn't any), all you have to do is quote each other! "The CDC says..." and at the CDC, they say, "The FDA says..." and at the FDA, they say, "The drug maker says..." and at the drug maker, they say, "The researchers said..." and the researchers were quoting the CDC! (I think I remember playing this game in kindergarten... but then I grew up.)

Step 9) Tell everyone you're going to receive the flu vaccine yourself, even if you aren't. This creates the impression that you actually believe the vaccine is both safe and effective, even when you secretly suspect it is neither. Of course, no one will really know whether you got the shot or not, so you can still just fake it by claiming you did when you really didn't.

Step 10) If all else fails, babble incoherently in a technical medical jargon. Use large Latin words that sound educated. Glare scornfully at all the "small words people." Whatever you say, tell people you read it in a "peer-reviewed medical journal" or picked it up in a "continuing medical education seminar" (almost all of which are sponsored by drug companies, by the way). Hang medical school diplomas on the wall in plain view, preferably over your head (if there's still room there). Tell people how important you are and why no one else is even qualified to ask questions about flu vaccines. Keep up the front!

And that, my zombie friends, is how to pull off being a swine flu vaccine zealot. Always carry a spare needle with you, too, because you never know when you're going to need to take a jab at somebody.

Coming up next... How to start your own swine flu vaccine cult! (Hint: It all starts at medical school...)

http://www.naturalnews.com/027293_flu_vaccine_swine.html

Profit Drive Swine Flu Propaganda - Pump Up the Volume - Part 2

(NaturalNews) This article is part two in a six-part series. Be sure to read part one at http://www.naturalnews.com/027294_s...

Back on May 9, 2009, Robin Robinson, a director at the Department of Health and Human Services who oversees pandemic responses, told the Washington Post that even as officials take steps to develop a swine flu vaccine with sufficient doses for every "man, woman and child," those plans would be dialed back if the pandemic "fizzles out."

The pandemic has fizzled out but the gravy train toward vaccine profits is still rolling. On September 16, 2009, Reuters reported that the death rate from the pandemic H1N1 swine flu was likely lower than earlier estimates.

"Barring any changes in the virus, I think we can say we are in a category 1 pandemic. This has not become clear until fairly recently," said Dr Marc Lipsitch of Harvard, an expert in infectious diseases, told a meeting of flu experts convened by the US Institute of Medicine.

"The news is certainly better than it was in May and even better than it was at the beginning of August," he noted.

The US government's Pandemic Severity Index has five categories, with a category 1 comparable to a seasonal flu epidemic. Seasonal flu has a death rate of less than 0.1 percent, Reuters reports. A category 5 would compare to the 1918 flu pandemic, which had an estimated death rate of 2% or more.

Lipsitch gathered information on how many people had reported influenza-like illness around the world, which may or may not actually be influenza; government reports of actual hospitalizations and confirmed deaths, and "came up with a range of mortality from swine flu from 0.007 percent to 0.045 percent," Reuters advises.

Having new information about how many people were infected and did not become severely ill or die makes the pandemic look very mild, Lipsitch said.


Minimal Swine Flu Deaths

The CIA World Factbook estimates the world population to be close to 6. 8 billion and the US population a little over 307 million. At the beginning of the swine flu propaganda campaign, it was predicted that the strength of the pandemic could be measured by watching statistics from the Southern Hemisphere, where flu season runs from May to September, the southern autumn and winter months.

The Southern Hemisphere holds between 10 and 12% of the world's population, meaning the Southern Hemisphere population would be roughly 760 million people, at 11% of the world's total.

According to population numbers for 2008 from Nation Master.com, and statistics from the FluCount.org website, the total number of swine flu deaths, as of September 30, 2009, was only 2,386, for thirteen countries in the Southern Hemisphere, and three countries that are mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a total population of 628.3 million people who would have received no vaccine against the swine flu.

India's population of approximately 1.17 billion people amounts to about one-sixth of the world's population, according to the World Factbook. As of October 11, 2009, India's swine flu death toll was a mere 385, according to the Times of India.

On October 6, 2009, the Associated Press reported that the "CDC doesn't have an exact count of swine flu deaths and hospitalizations, but existing reports suggest the infection has caused more than 600 deaths and more than 9,000 hospitalizations since the virus was first identified in April."

But yet the article further notes that "U.S. health authorities hope to give swine flu vaccinations to more than half the 300 million-plus population in just a few months."

The first swine death in the army, the largest military branch with 552,425 soldiers, did not occur until September 10, 2009, according to the Associated Press on October 1, 2009. It was reported to be the only death among the 1.4 million men and women in uniform at that time.

Yet all military personnel are required to receive the new swine flu vaccine. "The Pentagon has bought 2.7 million doses of vaccine, and 1.4 million of those will go to active-duty military personnel," the AP reported on September 29, 2009.

"National Guard troops on active duty are also required to receive the vaccine, as are civilian Defense Department employees who are in critical jobs," the article noted.

In 2007, people under 20 years of age made up 27.6% of the US population, according to the US Census Bureau, meaning roughly 82.8 million people were under 20. At the end of September, the CDC was reporting only 76 deaths from swine flu among children in the US.

Dr Anne Schuchat, director of the agency's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters that the number of pediatric deaths ranged from 46 to 88 during the past three flu seasons, which is hard to reckon with the fact that the CDC is always claiming that 36,000 people die of the seasonal flu each year in the US.

But then experts say the CDC's 36,000 flu death statistic, echoed by the media each year, is greatly distorted. In a 2006 paper in the "Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons,} Dr David Ayoub and Dr F Edward Yazbak report that a review of the mortality data from the CDC's National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) reveals "these estimates are grossly exaggerated."

The NVSS reports preliminary mortality statistics and distinguishes between influenza-related deaths and pneumonia-related mortality, they explain.

"When the final report is issued, influenza mortalities are combined with the far more frequent pneumonia deaths, yielding an exaggerated representation of "influenza" deaths," they report.

"Pneumonia related mortality due to immunosuppression, AIDS, malnutrition, and a variety of other predisposing medical conditions is therefore combined with seasonal influenza deaths," the doctors point out.

"The actual influenza related deaths for the years 1997 to 2002 ranged from 257 to 1,765 annually," they advise.

"These values are further overestimated by combining deaths from laboratory-confirmed influenza infections with cases lacking laboratory confirmation," they say. "There were fewer than 100 annual cases of viral-confirmed deaths during this same period."

"Deaths occurring in women of reproductive ages were rare, approximately one per year," they note.

On the CDC's main flu page they state that about 36,000 people die from the flu in the US each year. But if you search a little harder, he says, you find the actual number of people who died from the flu in 2005 was 1,805, the most recent data available.

"In 2004, there were just 1,100 actual flu deaths," Dr Mercola reports on his website.

"The statistics the CDC gives are skewed partly because they classify those dying from pneumonia as dying from the flu, which is inaccurate," he says.

As of October 2, 2009, the World Health Organization was reporting only 4,108 swine flue deaths globally, five months into the pandemic, without any vaccines.

To put these numbers in perspective, consider that in 2005, more than 43,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in the US, according to the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Risks Outweigh Benefits

Studies also show flu vaccines do not work, and especially with children. On May 19, 2009, researchers at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego, presented a study that found children who received the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine [TIV] had a three times greater risk of hospitalization for the flu than kids who were not vaccinated.

To determine whether the flu vaccine was effective in reducing the number of hospitalizations over consecutive flu seasons for 8 years, the researchers conducted a study of 263 children between the ages of 6 months and 18, evaluated at the Mayo Clinic between 1996 and 2006, with laboratory-confirmed influenza and reviewed records to determine which kids had received a flu shot before the illness and hospitalization.

According to the study, not only did the vaccine not prevent the flu, the children who received it got sicker than those who did not. Which means that for the 8 year period studied, health insurance companies, government programs and parents paid the cost of useless vaccines, doctors office calls and three times more flu-related hospitalizations, with the children suffering the harshest consequences.

On the "Healthy Skepticism" website, in a September 21, 2009 paper titled, "In the Face of Swine Flu, Common Sense and Science," Juan Gérvas, Honorary Professor, Public Health, School of Medicine, Autonomous University, in Madrid, Spain, reports that the "seasonal flu vaccine is relatively ineffective in children and adolescents, with a success rate of 33%, and is absolutely useless for children under 2 years."

"There are doubts about how effective it is in preventing flu in adults and the elderly," he added.

"We don't know anything about the effectiveness and safety of the swine flu vaccine which is ready to be marketed," Professor Gervas points out.

On April 29, 2008, Psychorg.com ran the headline, "Flu shot does not reduce risk of death," and reported that the "widely-held perception that the influenza vaccination reduces overall mortality risk in the elderly does not withstand careful scrutiny," according to researchers in Alberta, Canada.

The study, published in the September, 2008, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, a publication of the American Thoracic Society, included more than 700 matched elderly subjects, half of whom had taken the vaccine and half of whom had not.

"After controlling for a wealth of variables that were largely not considered or simply not available in previous studies that reported the mortality benefit, the researchers concluded that any such benefit 'if present at all, was very small and statistically non-significant and may simply be a healthy-user artifact that they were unable to identify.'," the report said.

"Over the last two decades in the United Sates, even while vaccination rates among the elderly have increased from 15 to 65 percent, there has been no commensurate decrease in hospital admissions or all-cause mortality," said Dean Eurich, PhD, clinical epidemiologist and assistant professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta.

"Further, only about 10 percent of winter-time deaths in the United States are attributable to influenza, thus to suggest that the vaccine can reduce 50 percent of deaths from all causes is implausible in our opinion," he advised.

On May 2, 2006, the National Post reported that, "Canada's first experiment in universal, free flu vaccine has cost Ontario taxpayers more than $200-million, but appears to have done nothing to cut the spread of influenza," a new study suggests.

"The Ontario initiative, the world's first universal flu campaign, distributes about five million vaccine doses a year at a current cost of $50- to $55-million, including promotion," the Post said, citing the Health Ministry.

The highly publicized offer of free flu shots to all 12 million Ontarians was launched in 2000 to try to ease pressure on emergency wards from flu patients, and cut the incidence and severity of the illness, the Post noted.

"Per-capita flu rates in the province have not fallen at all since the program was introduced in 2000, concluded the University of Ottawa research, published in the journal Vaccine," the Post reported.

"In fact," the Post said, "the average monthly incidence of the virus jumped over the first five years of the program, though researchers say it is too early to say that numbers are really on the rise."

"All we do know is rates haven't decreased, and there has been a lot of money spent," said Dianne Groll, the University of Ottawa professor who led the study. "The program was designed to reduce the incidence of flu, and this hasn't yet happened."

Dr Groll looked at the number of cases of laboratory-diagnosed flu reported to Health Canada between 1990 and 2005, and found that the rate between 1990 and 2000, when the program started, was 109 per 100,000 Ontarians. Since the launch of the campaign, "it jumped to 164." the Post said.

It's worth noting that the study also found the Ontario flu rates did not change relative to other provinces.

http://www.naturalnews.com/027301_swine_flu_influenza_pandemic.html

Dr. Weil was right: Astragalus herb really helps fight the flu (influenza)

(NaturalNews) The FTC and FDA are terrorizing Dr. Andrew Weil over his true statements about the immune-boosting properties of astragalus. According to the FDA, astragalus has no antiviral or antibacterial properties whatsoever and is of absolutely no use in the human body. Sound bizarre?

I thought so too. That's why I asked NaturalNews researchers to assemble a collection of statements in support of Dr. Weil's astragalus statements. This medicinal herb does, indeed, boost healthy immune function and offer protection against influenza. And because it's a multifaceted, complex plant-based medicine, it's not outsmarted by one particular viral configuration... it's useful against any flu (including H1N1 swine flu).

Here's what the experts have to say about astragalus and influenza...


Astragalus beats the flu

Clinical Applications: Astragalus is antiviral, carminative, antispasmodic, and hepatic. It improves glucose tolerance and acts as a vasodilator. In China, astragalus has been used as an energy tonic for deficient spleen qi and yang conditions. It has been used to treat wasting and thirsting conditions, as well as diarrhea, fatigue, and prolapse of the uterus. Astragalus is used to control fluids in cases of excess sweating and to reduce fluid retention.
- Fundamentals of Naturopathic Endocrinology by Michael Friedman, ND

Other Chinese doctors have found that astragalus offers more effective relief than the drug nifedipine (Procardia) for angina pain. More than 80 percent of angina patients improved on astragalus treatment without the dizziness, giddiness, heartburn, or headache that nifedipine can cause. Animal studies suggest that astragalus can help prevent the development of cholesterol plaques after an arterial wall has been damaged, which can keep the coronary arteries from becoming too narrow. Astragalus also is useful in the treatment of viral myocarditis, a flulike infection that affects the heart.
- Prescription for Herbal Healing: An Easy-to-Use A-Z Reference to Hundreds of Common Disorders and Their Herbal Remedies by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

Also, since flu vaccines are formulated based on viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past, they may or may not be effective in preventing flu caused by this year's virus. Astragalus helps to build the immune system, and thus make you less vulnerable to the flu. Take 250 to 500 milligrams in the morning three times a week during the flu season. Note: Do not take this herb if you have a fever. American ginseng helps to boost the immune system and strengthen the body. Take 200 milligrams one-half hour before breakfast once or twice a week during the winter months.
- Smart Medicine for Healthier Living : Practical A-Z Reference to Natural and Conventional Treatments for Adults by Janet Zand, LAc, OMD, Allan N. Spreed, MD, CNC, James B. LaValle, RPh, ND

Consider taking ginseng or astragalus to promote health, stamina, and viral immunity. Take colostrum, beta-glucan, and other immune-boosting supplements. Take extra vitamin C and zinc. Follow the recommendations in this book on how to take natural medicines for beating the flu. For frail, older people, reduce the dosage by half.
- Beating the Flu: The Natural Prescription for Surviving Pandemic Influenza and Bird Flu by J. E. Williams

Astragalus alone, however, is effective in preventing depletion of white blood cells during chemotherapy. A clinical study involving 115 patients receiving various forms of chemotherapy found that 83 percent had higher white blood cell counts when given astragalus. Common cold - Chinese studies have shown that using astragalus during cold season reduces the number of colds caught and shortens the duration of those that are caught. If you tend to get colds and flu often, astragalus can help you build up a natural resistance.
- Prescription for Herbal Healing: An Easy-to-Use A-Z Reference to Hundreds of Common Disorders and Their Herbal Remedies by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC

In a study of 28 people, astragalus given orally over a 2-month period significantly increased the production and secretion of interferon compared with controls. Remarkably, the levels of interferon remained high for 2 months after astragalus treatment ended. These results have been duplicated in laboratory studies. Astragalus also increases levels of natural killer (NK) cells, which roam the body via blood and lymph fluid, destroying a wide variety of invaders, including cancer cells and virus-infected body cells.
- The Encyclopedia of Popular Herbs by Robert S. McCaleb, Evelyn Leigh, and Krista Morien

In the exotic language of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), astragalus boosts the immune system by "stabilizing the exterior" and strengthening the "chi." The Chinese knew thousands of years ago that astragalus could strengthen our shield ("exterior") against disease and increase overall vitality (chi), long before anyone knew about bacteria, white blood cells, or the immune system. You may already be accustomed to taking echinacea at the first sign of a cold or flu, or when people around you are getting sick. How is astragalus different?
- The Encyclopedia of Popular Herbs by Robert S. McCaleb, Evelyn Leigh, and Krista Morien

Adaptogens, which include eleuthero, Asian ginseng, astragalus, and schisandra, are thought to help keep various body systems - including the immune system - functioning optimally. They have not been systematically evaluated as cold remedies. However, one double-blind trial found that people who were given 100 mg of Asian ginseng extract in combination with a flu vaccine experienced a lower frequency of colds and flu compared with people who received only the flu vaccine.
- The Natural Pharmacy: Complete A-Z Reference to Natural Treatments for Common Health Conditions by Alan R. Gaby, M.D., Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., Forrest Batz, Pharm.D. Rick Chester, RPh., N.D., DipLAc. George Constantine, R.Ph., Ph.D. Linnea D. Thompson, Pharm.D., N.D.

The Chinese have been using astragalus for thousands of years for immune-system strengthening. Studies have proven that this herb can reduce the frequency and duration of colds and the flu by boosting the immune system rather than by killing viruses directly. Astragalus can be taken as an extract, or the root can be added to soups.
- The Complete Encyclopedia of Natural Healing: A Comprehensive A-Z Listing of Common and Chronic Illnesses and Their Proven Natural Treatments by Gary Null, Ph.D.

Modern research suggests that astragalus stimulates the immune system (though in my opinion, it's not quite as effective as echinacea), counteracts fatigue, treats many infections (including flu), and supports the kidneys. I grow astragalus, but I don't harvest it. Herbalists recommend taking 3 to 5 milliliters of tincture three times a day, or two 400-milligram capsules three times a day. If I wanted to use astragalus, I'd buy a commercial preparation and follow the package directions for proper dosage. The herb appears to be safe.
- The Green Pharmacy Anti-Aging Prescriptions: Herbs, Foods, and Natural Formulas to Keep You Young by James A. Duke, Ph.D.

Immune System (to Tonify It) General Herbal Treatments: For immunodeficiency and to accompany chemo and/or radiotherapy, combine 9 grams each of ligustrum berries and dendrobium with 15 grams of astragalus root; if there is digestive upset and nausea, add 9 grams each of pinellia and citrus peel. For immunodeficiency with symptoms of frequent colds and influenza and to prevent colds and influenza, combine 9 grams each of astragalus root, atractylodes bai zhu, and ledebouriella root.
- The Way of Chinese Herbs by Michael Tierra, L.Ac, O.M.D.

I haven't heard of any safety problems with ashwagandha, though the literature says that abdominal cramps are possible. Also known as huang qi, astragalus is one of the premier immune-system boosters in traditional Chinese medicine. Practitioners prescribe the herb to treat colds, flu, bronchitis, sinus infections, and other infectious ailments. They also recommend it for people whose immune systems have been suppressed by chronic illnesses such as AIDS. These uses are supported by modem research.
- The Green Pharmacy Anti-Aging Prescriptions: Herbs, Foods, and Natural Formulas to Keep You Young by James A. Duke, Ph.D.

Investigators at the University of Texas have reported strong immune-restorative effects in test-tube studies of cancer cells treated with astragalus extracts. And certain cells treated with astragalus extracts in culture survive 50 percent longer, according to some U.S. researchers. Chinese studies suggest that astragalus, in addition to boosting immunity and detoxifying a number of drugs and some metals, is also an anti-viral, a diuretic and a coronary artery dilator. They believe it is particularly effective in warding off flu and some other respiratory infections.
- The Doctor's Vitamin and Mineral Encyclopedia by Sheldon Saul Hendler

The antiviral activity of Astragalus is most likely to be due to increased immunity and possibly enhanced interferon production. In support of this, Astragalus demonstrated slight inhibitory activity against adenovirus type 7 in vitro. Natural and recombinant interferon enhanced the inhibitory activity of Astragalus. It also promoted the production of interferon by mouse lung against parainfluenza virus type I and Newcastle disease virus in vitro.
- Principles and Practice of Phytotherapy: Modern Herbal Medicine by Simon Mills and Kerry Bone

Unlike echinacea, astragalus may be taken long-term during cold and flu season. Chinese studies have found it to be an effective preventive against the common cold.
- The Herbal Drugstore by Linda B. White, M.D.

http://www.naturalnews.com/027302_astragalus_the_flu.html

FDA, FTC threaten Dr. Weil over immune-boosting supplements for H1N1 swine flu (opinion)

(NaturalNews) In working to protect the business interests of vaccine manufactures, both the FDA and FTC have declared all-out war against any products that might offer consumers options other than vaccines. This week, that war against natural remedies reached the shores of Dr. Andrew Weil, who is perhaps the best-known alternative medicine doctor in America. In an intimidating, threatening letter jointly issued by the FTC and the FDA, these rogue government agencies threatened Dr. Weil with criminal prosecution for making true statements about his immune-boosting formula such as, "Astragalus ... is ... used traditionally to ward off colds and flu, and has demonstrated both antiviral and immune-boosting effects in scientific investigation."

This statement, although scientifically valid and true, is a threat to the profits of the vaccine industry, and so Dr. Weil's company is being targeted by the FTC / FDA vaccine racket tag-team for termination.

You can review the FTC threats against Dr. Weil on the FTC's own website: http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/Enforcemen...

Some of the threats leveled against Dr. Weil by the FTC include:

• Forcing Dr. Weil's company to refund ALL customers who purchased his immune support formula. (For no apparent reason other than to burden his company with such costs.)

• Subjecting Dr. Weil's company with "legal action in the form of a Federal District Court injunction or Administrative Order."

• Gunpoint seizure of ALL of Dr. Weil's nutritional products: "If your firm fails to take corrective action immediately, FDA may take enforcement action, such as seizure or injunction for violations of the FFDC Act without further notice."

• Subjecting Dr. Weil and his company to criminal prosecution: "Firms that fail to take corrective action may also be referred to FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations for possible criminal prosecution for violations of the FFDC Act and other federal laws."

• Adding Dr. Weil's company to a list of companies that have been found in "violation" of the FFDC Act.

These threats are signed by the top fearmongers running the censorship racket at both the FTC and FDA:

Mary K. Engle
Associate Director, Division of Advertising Practices
Federal Trade Commission

Roberta F. Wagner
Director, Office of Compliance
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Food and Drug Administration

Do you now see what a criminal racket the vaccine industry is running in America by invoking these tactics of tyranny? This is the kind of thing you might expect to see in China, where government officials arrest Falun Gong members who attempt to meditate in public, but you wouldn't think that in the United States of America -- "Land of the Free" -- you'd be threatened with arrest and financial ruin for simply telling the truth about a powerful herb with scientifically-validated medicinal properties.


The FTC's dangerous double standard

This FTC / FDA letter claims Dr. Weil has been promoting his immune-boosting formula "...without rigorous scientific evidence sufficient to substantiate the claims."

This might be taken with some level of seriousness if, in fact, the vaccine makers had any such evidence to substantiate their own claims that flu vaccines work at all. But as NaturalNews readers have already learned, flu vaccines are a scientific hoax lacking any honest evidence that they actually work. In fact, all the evidence points to the reality that they don't work. (http://www.naturalnews.com/027239_v...)

The FTC, you see, applies a completely different standard of proof against dietary supplements than to vaccines. According to FTC staff, "...the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. SS 41 et seq., requires that claims that a dietary supplement can prevent, treat, or cure human infection with the H1N1 virus, must be supported by well-controlled human clinical studies at the time the claims are made."

And yet, at the same time, there are no well-controlled human clinical studies backing the efficacy of vaccines. They simply don't exist.

Thus, vaccines can be approved based on wishful thinking while dietary supplements must be subjected to "rigorous scientific study."

Enslaved by the medical regime

How is that fair? It isn't. The game is rigged from the start to allow drugs and vaccines to be sold based on the flimsiest of evidence while natural remedies are routinely suppressed by holding them to an impossible standard.

This is similar to the way in which blacks were prevented from voting in America throughout the 20th century. The people who controlled the voting booths would issue "IQ tests" to anyone who tried to vote. The tests were rigged to fail all blacks while allowing whites to easily pass (and therefore vote).

The whole system was rigged from the start to create the illusion of fairness even though the outcome had already been pre-decided. This same brand of racism is now operating in modern medicine, except it's drugism instead of racism. But the outcome has already been decided by the FDA just the same: All natural products will be denied, while all vaccines will be approved. This is how the system is rigged.

Just so you understand how ludicrous this is, what the FTC / FDA tag-team is saying is that herbs, superfoods and other natural substances that are naturally biocompatible with your body are, in essence, guilty until proven innocent. Meanwhile vaccines made in a lab with synthetic chemicals, mercury derivatives and DNA fragments from diseased animals are considered safe and effective by default, even in the absence of any real science. Do you see how twisted and dangerous this whole system has become?

Censoring true statements to silence natural health proponents

Both the FTC and FDA have a long history of using tactics of extreme intimidation in an attempt to censor people who provide natural remedies that compete with sales of pharmaceuticals. When a doctor can't even make a true scientific statement about the medicinal properties of an herb without being threatened by the FTC, it's a sure sign that what was supposed to be a regulatory agency has now become a criminal racket serving the interests of Big Pharma.

Here's one statement the FTC / FDA letter "accuses" Dr. Weil of making: "Astragalus ... is ... used traditionally to ward off colds and flu, and has demonstrated both antiviral and immune-boosting effects in scientific investigation."

Is there anything false in that statement? Anything misleading? Not in the least. It's a statement backed by reality. Astragalus does, indeed, have powerful antiviral and immune-boosting properties. It works better than vaccines, in fact, at protecting people from the flu. See a long list of supporting statements from experts on this very topic right here: (http://www.naturalnews.com/027302_a...)

And yet for daring to make this simple, true statement on the internet, Dr. Weil has been threatened by the FTC with criminal prosecution. Our own U.S. government has threatened to arrest him, destroy his business, criminally prosecute him, confiscate his products, financially ruin his company and add him to a list of "violators." That sounds more like Nazi Germany than America, doesn't it? Yet it's happening in America right now.

What other "crimes" has Dr. Weil committed? He dared to make a second true statement about astragalus:

"The synergistic combination of immune modulators [found in the Immune Support Formula] is especially useful for those who tend to get every bug that goes around during the winter."

Once again, another true statement. It's like saying "vitamin C boosts immune function," or "vitamin D helps prevent cancer." Both are true statements, but both have been outlawed in America by the FTC racket. The truth, simply put, has been outlawed in America (and in Europe, too, for the most part. This censorship of natural remedies is global...)

FTC / FDA thugs and crimes against humanity

If you really think about what's going on here with the FTC / FDA intimidation tactics, you realize that if a pandemic really does start to kill people, it is these FTC / FDA bureaucrats who will have blood on their hands.

Why? Because even in a time when prescription anti-virals don't work, and vaccines are in short supply (and don't work anyway), these government thugs are running around silencing and intimidating the very people offering real solutions for immune system protection. When the virus mutates, rendering the vaccines worthless, and the anti-virals are long gone, how are Americans supposed to protect themselves against a pandemic virus? The FTC and FDA have made certain that all available "natural" options have been eliminated! Hospitals have been instructed to turn people away. The CDC has instructed states to stop tracking the H1N1 swine flu altogether.

In other words, these health authorities are hanging the American people out to dry. They're betraying the very people they claim to serve.

Should a pandemic unfold that really starts to kill a large number of people, these two agencies will be directly contributing to the deaths of people who could have been saved by natural remedies like Astragalus, or Reishi mushrooms, or Vitamin D, or other nutritional products. And while you may not call that murder, it is precisely the definition of negligent homicide. FTC and FDA officials are killing Americans with their continued assault on natural medicine that saves lives. I call it a crime against humanity.

And they're doing it for one reason: To protect a corrupt, quack-science vaccine industry whose products were only approved via fraud, in direct violation of U.S. law (http://www.naturalnews.com/027258_v...).

The "protection" racket -- it's all for your protection

To hear them say it, though, they're "protecting" people:

"FDA is taking urgent measures to protect consumers from products that, without approval or authorization by FDA, claim to diagnose, mitigate, prevent, treat or cure H1N1 Flu Virus in people."

At the same time, of course, the only products that receive approval from the FDA are vaccines and prescription medications. The FDA's official position is that there is no such thing as any herb, any plant, any nutrient or any dietary supplement that has any beneficial effect on the human body. As ridiculous as this sounds, it is precisely the current position of the FDA! Thus, no herb, plant, nutrient or supplement can EVER be approved by the FDA to protect against influenza.

As you've figured out, the whole game is rigged from the start. Herbs that have anti-viral properties will never be approved as anti-virals. And, frankly, for the people running natural product companies to try to play the "FDA game" is useless. You can never appease tyranny. Trying to "conform" to the requirements of the FDA and FTC is like Jewish prisoners trying to conform to the wishes of Hitler. You've been condemned from the start! Stop playing their game... stop bowing down to the false authority of the FTC and FDA. Only a handful of health product companies like Daniel Chapter One have demonstrated the courage to fight tyranny and take a stand for health freedom (http://www.naturalnews.com/026970_h...).

The FDA isn't interested in what works to stop the flu. It's is only interested in propping up the quack profits of one industry at any cost. And one day, that cost may be extracted in terms of dead Americans who could have been saved with natural remedies like Dr. Weil's immune support product.

And that, my friends, is what makes the FDA a criminal racket. It is being operated today as a blatant criminal enterprise that directly contributes to the suffering and death of the American people. These bureaucrats would rather see helpless victims die than lose a dollar of profit for Big Pharma. They have sold out the American people for the almighty dollar. Truth be damned.

It's time to end this medical police state

When true statements about botany are outlawed, and the only statements allowed to be made about H1N1 flu protection are based on profit-driven lies, and the very leaders who try to help the People (like Dr. Weil) are threatened with being arrested as criminals and having their companies shut down at gunpoint, that's when you know you live in a "1984"-style medical police state.

In American medicine today, you don't live in a free society. You don't have a free choice about medicine. You are given the false choice of which vaccine to take: Nasal or Injection. That's the choice you've been given. All other options (anti-viral herbs, homeopathy, vitamin D, etc.) are being eliminated "for your protection."

For all those who voted for Obama, by the way, keep in mind this criminal FDA racket continues to operate in full swing under the Obama administration, just as it did under the Bush Administration. Sadly, Obama has done absolutely nothing to halt the tyranny against natural product companies. In fact, under Obama, this action has been accelerated by the FTC and FDA. It's worse now than ever before, and with Big Government getting even bigger -- and more lawmakers calling for increased FDA funding -- this problem is only bound to get worse.

The U.S. Justice Department recently nailed Pfizer with a $1.3 billion criminal fine after prosecuting the company for paying kickbacks to doctors and committing marketing fraud (http://www.naturalnews.com/027276_P...). My only question is: When will the Justice Department investigate and prosecute the criminals at the FDA and FTC who are putting the lives of Americans at risk by destroying the natural product industry precisely as we face a global pandemic?

Sources for this story include:
http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/Enforcemen...

http://www.naturalnews.com/027303_the_FTC_America_vaccines.html

Profit Driven Swine Flu Propaganda - Pump Up the Volume Part 3

(NaturalNews) This article is part three in a six-part series. Be sure to read part two at http://www.naturalnews.com/027301_s...

Public health officials now say they have quit keeping tabs on swine flu deaths because it is too difficult. A more likely explanation is that fear mongering would be impossible if they continued to announce the low rates of swine flu deaths and vaccine profits would take a nose dive.

"It's absurd to panic about swine flu, especially since it won't cause severe disease in many people," says Juan Gérvas, Honorary Professor, Public Health, School of Medicine, Autonomous University in Madrid, Spain, in the September 21, 2009 paper titled, "In the Face of Swine Flu, Common Sense and Science," on the Healthy Skepticism website.

"The current WHO messages, which are increasing fear of swine flu is a form of disease mongering," he warns.

"We need a health policy of common sense and self-control," Professor Gérvas advises.

"The present messages by Governments, the WHO and the media focusing on the worst case scenario and the detailed description of each death is the completely wrong approach," he says.

On July 21, 2009, Spiegel Online interviewed epidemiologist, Dr Tom Jefferson, who has worked for the Cochrane Collaboration, an international team of scientists, for 15 years.

"Sometimes you get the feeling that there is whole industry almost waiting for a pandemic to occur," Jefferson said.

He then listed the WHO, public health officials, virologists and the pharmaceutical companies. "They've built this machine around the impending pandemic," he said. "And there's a lot of money involved, and influence, and careers, and entire institutions!"

"And all it took was one of these influenza viruses to mutate to start the machine grinding," Jefferson pointed out.

"It's true that influenza viruses are unpredictable, so it does call for a certain degree of caution," he advised.

"But one of the extraordinary features of this influenza -- and the whole influenza saga," he said, "is that there are some people who make predictions year after year, and they get worse and worse."

"None of them so far have come about, and these people are still there making these predictions," he pointed out.

"For example," he asked, "what happened with the bird flu, which was supposed to kill us all?"

"Nothing," he said. "But that doesn't stop these people from always making their predictions."



Big Pharma Bonanza

On August 13, 2009, Dr Joseph Mercola, author of "The Great Bird Flu Hoax," explained how swine flu vaccine makers were set to profit by $50 billion.

"According to Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccine makers could produce nearly FIVE BILLION pandemic flu shots per year in the best-case scenario," he wrote.

"And according to Business Week, wealthier countries like the U.S. and the U.K. will pay just under $10 per dose, while developing countries would pay less," he said. "If these facts hold true, Big Pharma stands to gain up to $49 billion a year on the swine flu vaccine alone."

As of 2009, "there has been no funding of a compensation program for children or adults injured or killed by vaccines or drugs used under an EUA (Emergency Use Authorization)," according to the National Vaccine Information Center.

In March 2008, Roche and Glaxo added new labels to Tamiflu and Relenza to warn of abnormal psychiatric behavior in some patients.

The drug makers said the revisions reflected recommendations made in November 2007 by an FDA advisory panel that reviewed the cases, which have been seen mostly in Japan.

"At that meeting, FDA staff described reports of about 700 cases of psychiatric adverse events for both drugs and 25 pediatric deaths from various causes in patients taking Tamiflu, reported to the agency through May 2007. No fatalities were reported for Relenza," the Guardian reported on March 4, 2008.

On August 10, 2009, the Financial Times reported that the "medicine now being widely handed out by the government for treating pandemic flu offers only modest benefit in children and adults in seasonal outbreaks of the virus," according to British researchers.

In an article in the British Medical Journal, a group led by Matthew Thompson at Oxford University said use in children under 13 of Tamiflu or Relenza reduced the duration of flu symptoms by an average of 12 to 36 hours with no decline in asthma or the need for antibiotics.

The authors concluded that the drugs "provide a small benefit by shortening the duration of illness in children with seasonal influenza and reducing household transmission".

"The findings came after a separate article published last week in Lancet Infectious Diseases, by researchers led by Jane Burch at the University of York, concluded that otherwise healthy adults showed a reduction in symptoms of just over half a day earlier when taking the drugs," the Gardian pointed out.

On August 20, 2009, The Indepedent reported that the Oxford researchers said children should not be given Tamiflu or Releza to combat swine flu.

They warned that Tamiflu could cause vomiting in some children, which could lead to dehydration and the need for hospital treatment.

Overall, "the researchers said, children who were otherwise healthy could suffer more harm than benefit from taking Tamiflu or another anti-viral, Relenza," the Independent advised.

Study co-author, Dr Carl Heneghan, a clinical lecturer at Oxford, said the current policy of giving Tamiflu for mild illness was an "inappropriate strategy".

Dr Heneghan said the only benefit found in the study was that children were back to normal half a day to one day earlier if taking Tamiflu or Relenza.

"The downside of the harms outweigh the one-day reduction in symptomatic benefits," he advised

"And he warned that widespread use of Tamiflu could result in the flu becoming resistant to the drug," the Independent reported.

Although the children in the studies analyzed were being treated for normal seasonal flu, Dr Thompson said the findings would extend to the current swine flu pandemic.

"I don't think we have got any reason to think our results would be any different," he told the Independent.

"The current swine flu is generally a mild flu illness...it does not seem that different from current seasonal flu," he said. "We would be happy to say our results apply to the current swine flu strain."

The research published in the BMJ "follows two recent studies which found that more than half of children taking Tamiflu suffered side-effects such as nausea, insomnia and nightmares," the Independent reported.

Tamiflu was banned by the Japanese ministry in 2007 for use with 10- to 19-year-olds.

1976 Swine Flu Replay

As a kick-off to the 1976 swine flu propaganda campaign, Salon Magazine reports that in February 1976, F David Mathews, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare told Americans:

"There is evidence there will be a major flu epidemic this coming fall. The indication is that we will see a return of the 1918 flu virus that is the most virulent form of the flu. In 1918 a half million Americans died. The projections are that this virus will kill one million Americans in 1976."

On March 24, 1976, President Gerald Ford asked Congress to appropriate $135 million "for the production of sufficient vaccine to inoculate every man, woman, and child in the United States."

"I am directing the Secretary of HEW David Mathews, and Assistant Secretary, Dr. Cooper, to develop plans that would make this vaccine available to all Americans during the 3-month period from September to November of this year," he said.

"I am asking each and every American to make certain he or she receives an inoculation this fall," Ford added.

"The reaction to the shot, I am told, may mean a few sore arms for a day or two--a very small price to pay for this vital protection," he advised.

The swine flu vaccination program began on October 1, 1976. Ten weeks later, after more than 40 million people were vaccinated, the government halted the program on December 16, 1976, due to the high number of severe adverse events occurring with the vaccine.

"The federal government ultimately reached court settlements and paid more than $90 million to hundreds of victims who said the 1976 vaccine caused neurological problems," according to a May 9, 2009 report in the Washington Post.

This time around, the Department of Health and Human Services "plans to eventually vaccinate at least 160 million people by December, with pregnant women, healthcare workers, children and young adults at the front of the line," Reuters reported on August 24, 2009.

http://www.naturalnews.com/027310_swine_flu_health_Tamiflu.html

Very Sad: Cheerleader Gets A Flu Shot & Now She Can Only Walk Backwards!

Experts claim serious side effects of flu shots amount to about one in a million - well this is what that one in a million looks like. This has freaked me out enough to bypass flu shots in the future. But what do I know - to each their own. A 25 year old woman in Ashburn, Virginia has come down with a severe debilitating neurological disorder days after receiving a seasonal flu vaccination.

New York abandons swine flu vaccine mandate for health care workers, blames vaccine shortage

(NaturalNews) New York State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines announced today that public health workers will no longer be required to receive swine flu vaccinations. The state had been sued by the Public Employees Federation to stop the vaccine mandate, and a state judge had granted the group a temporary restraining order against mandatory vaccine injections (http://www.naturalnews.com/027259_h...). The follow-up hearing was scheduled for October 30 to determine whether the temporary restraining order would be overruled.

The New York Dept. of Health had vowed to fight the restraining order and force all health care workers to be vaccinated, even against their will. Those refusing to be vaccinated faced losing their jobs or being denied pay increases.

The decision to abandon the swine flu vaccine mandate had nothing to do with the debate over the vaccination of health care workers, claims Richard Daines. Instead, he says, it was all caused by the shortage of vaccines. While the CDC had promised states that 120 million doses of swine flu vaccine would be available by the end of October, the reality is that thanks to vaccine production failures, only about 28 million doses will be available (roughly one-fourth the original estimate).

"The CDC acknowledged that New York would only receive approximately 23 percent of its anticipated vaccine supply," Gov. David Paterson said in a story published by CNN. "As a result, we need to be as resourceful as we can with the limited supplies of vaccine currently coming into the state."


The real reason behind the shift

The vaccine shortage has handed New York a convenient way to squirm out of an embarrassing situation that made the state look a lot like a Big Brother medical police state. This decision to back off the vaccination mandate also avoids the loud public protests that were planned by NY health care workers leading up to the Oct. 30 court date. It keeps the health care workers silent and avoids the uncomfortable airing of protests on the evening news.

In effect, it allows New York to back off the mandate while saving face. Just blame the vaccine makers for the shortage!

And yet, technically speaking, their reasoning doesn't hold water if they really believe in the vaccine. Even though swine flu vaccines are in short supply this month, the CDC has informed people that by the end of November, supplies will be so large that vaccines will be available to everyone who wants a shot. Technically, New York could have kept the mandate and just moved it to Dec. 15th.

The vaccine shortage isn't permanent, after all. If New York really believed in mandatory vaccinations of its health care workers, the state could have kept the mandate and just changed the date. So clearly, this decision to reverse itself on the mandate has nothing to do with the vaccine shortage but everything to do with saving face and avoiding looking like complete tyrannical idiots when the public protests ramp up.

Chalk this one up as a temporary victory for New York state health care workers. It's a victory for the People; a victory of common sense over police state tyranny.

New York still doesn't believe in health freedom

But there's a problem with this victory: Because this case isn't going to court right now, New York could reinstate the requirement at any time. Once vaccines are back in full supply, they could just reverse themselves again and mandate vaccines with a short deadline.

You see, since a permanent court decision has never been handed down on this issue, New York hasn't been forced to abandon this idea of requiring swine flu vaccinations for health care workers. So it could conceivably reinstate it at any time, without warning.

So stay on your toes, New Yorkers. Watch out for Big Brother and his needle. The state has not surrendered on this issue, they've just chosen to bide their time and attack again on another day.

Remember this above all else: The State thinks it owns your body and can tell you what to do with it. That position is obvious in the fact that in backing away from these mandatory swine flu vaccines, New York didn't say, "We were wrong to force this upon people, and it should really be an individual decision." No, the state essentially said, "We just ran out of vaccine, so we don't have enough supply to force everyone to take it yet."

It's sort of like the Nazis telling a prison camp full of Jews that the only reason they're still alive is because they ran out of bullets.

Sources for this story include:

CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/...

UPI
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009...

http://www.naturalnews.com/027313_New_York_health_care.html

Obama's H1N1 national emergency declaration could invoke FEMA response to pandemic

(NaturalNews) President Obama's declaration of a national pandemic emergency is "no cause for alarm," reported the mainstream media throughout the weekend. The declaration is nothing more than a "precaution," they say. "It's really more a continuation of our preparedness steps," said Anne Schuchat, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, in a USA Today story.

In other words, there's not really any emergency at all. So why declare a national emergency in the first place? The media reports this was done to allow hospitals to bypass federal regulations concerning the setting up of large-scale triage sites -- emergency medical camps quickly constructed to deal with large numbers of sick people.

But at the same time, H1N1 isn't causing large-scale sickness. As USA Today reported, an expert on infectious disease, P.J. Brennan (the chief medical officer for the Penn Health System at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia) said, "The public ought to take some solace, some relief in this. It's not a suggestion that things have deteriorated in any way. In no way is the virus more severe or more difficult to manage."

So let me get this straight. The H1N1 virus remains mild. The CDC reports that swine flu infections already peaked out in mid-October. There have been no new developments in swine flu that would be cause for alarm and no reason to suspect huge numbers of sick people flooding into the hospitals. And yet, for some reason, the Obama administration has declared a national pandemic emergency specifically for the purpose of speeding the ability of hospitals to process large masses of sick people through emergency medical triage tents?

What are these people not telling us?

Something doesn't add up here. Why would the U.S. government need to declare a national emergency to enable hospitals to handle a flood of sick people when there is no flood of sick people (and the pandemic seems to be fizzling out)?

This is more like the kind of preparation you might expect in advance of a biological terrorism attack, not for a flu that appears no more dangerous than the seasonal sniffles.


The National Emergencies Act and FEMA

Meanwhile, the media ignores the rest of the story about what dangerous powers a declaration of a national emergency puts into play. As reported here on NaturalNews, this declaration effectively ends many civil liberties in America and, at least on paper, puts the U.S. government in the position of having the legal authority to force vaccinations on the entire population at gunpoint (if they wanted to).

The National Emergencies Act passed in 1976 has some peculiar realities attached to it. In particular, as Wikipedia reports:

A federal emergency declaration allows the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to exercise its power to deal with emergency situations ... Typically, a state of emergency empowers the executive to name coordinating officials to deal with the emergency and to override normal administrative processes regarding the passage of administrative rules.

Got that yet? By declaring a national emergency, Obama invokes a set of laws that not only override important sections of the U.S. Constitution, but that also activate FEMA to take charge of "responding" to the emergency.

Now we know why they need all those emergency medical tent camps near the hospitals. FEMA's in charge! And if FEMA handles the swine flu pandemic in the same way the agency handled the Hurricane Katrina disaster, we may indeed need all those emergency triage tents after all.

Those of you who have been following the ongoing march to destroy the freedoms of the American People already know about FEMA camps. These aren't Boy Scout field trip camps; they're detention centers designed to hold large numbers of people for "emergency" purposes. Many theories abound on what these FEMA camps might be used for (www.campFEMA.com) (http://www.globalresearch.ca/index....).

They could conceivably be used to quarantine people who are infected with a dangerous pandemic virus. On the other hand, they might also be used to isolated and detain people who refuse to be vaccinated against any declared pandemic. Under the National Emergencies Act and related U.S. law, FEMA would have two years of near-total control over the civilian population, during which people could be subjected to forced vaccinations, mandatory searches of their homes, gunpoint detainment and "involuntary transportation" to a FEMA detainment facility, and so on.

I'm not saying they're going to do all this, but they could if they wanted to!

And that's not freedom. Real freedom means you have the guaranteed right to be safe from being detained, or arrested without cause, or injected with a government-mandated chemical. Under a declaration of a national emergency, your "freedom" is at the whim of those who maintain police state powers over you. You're only "free" if they decide to refrain from exercising the power they have over you. It's the same kind of freedom you might get as a peasant in some Medieval kingdom where the king says, "You're free to go."

Now, some of these freedom-restricting actions might conceivably be justifiable if a truly dangerous pandemic virus were sweeping through the population killing millions, causing huge disruptions in the national infrastructure and threatening the nation with a partial or total shutdown of essential services. But that is not happening here. H1N1 is a mild virus that rates astonishingly low on the severity scale. If H1N1 were a hurricane, it would be little more than a "tropical depression." It is not a category five hurricane, nor a phase six pandemic. Virtually everyone who is exposed to H1N1 generates their own antibodies and cures themselves naturally. According to hospital reports, those who have died from the H1N1 virus are almost exclusively people who were already suffering from preexisting conditions that compromised their health such as asthma or extreme obesity.

By any measure, H1N1 as currently configured appears to present no extraordinary threat to the health of the population. So once again, we must ask: Why declare a national emergency and initiate a FEMA response to something that's not really an emergency?

Why I'm concerned

For the first time in this whole pandemic situation, I'm concerned. Not due to the virus itself, because that's a mild virus that presents no real threat to the population at large. I'm concerned about what we don't know might be going on behind the scenes here.

These preparations for large-scale medical triage tents and the emergency activation of FEMA have me worried that the American people aren't being told the whole story. Perhaps a terrorist organization is planning on releasing a wildly dangerous mutation of H1N1 in some major U.S. city. Or perhaps some vaccine maker is, in fact, that terrorist organization. (The best way to sell more vaccines would be to release a mutated form of H1N1 into the population and scare up some more sales...)

Or maybe, as some creative thinkers have suggested, the vaccine itself IS a bioweapon, and the U.S. government is preparation for large-scale fatalities it expects to see soon.

Or maybe these are just fleeting, dark visions from crazy people, and the U.S. government is a benevolent organization with all our best interests in mind, and they're jumping through these bureaucratic hoops to make sure there are plenty of hospital beds to go 'round just in case more people get really sick.

But even that explanation doesn't hold water. A "national emergency declaration" isn't necessary to waive hospital tent rules. Obama could have easily accomplished the same thing with an Executive Order, without having to invoke the National Emergencies Act or put FEMA in charge at all.

He chose the emergency declaration for a specific reason. I guess we'll all have to wait and see what that real reason turns out to be.


Sources for this story include:

USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health...

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation...

http://www.naturalnews.com/027330_fema_pandemic_H1N1.html