Indonesian AIDS patients face microchip monitoring

Indonesian AIDS patients face microchip monitoring
By NINIEK KARMINI – 22 hours ago

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Lawmakers in Indonesia's remote province of Papua have thrown their support behind a controversial bill requiring some HIV/AIDS patients to be implanted with microchips — part of extreme efforts to monitor the disease.

Local health workers and AIDS activists called the plan "abhorrent."

"People with AIDS aren't animals; we have to respect their rights," said Tahi Ganyang Butarbutar, a prominent Papuan activist.

But legislator John Manangsang said by implanting small computer chips beneath the skin of "sexually aggressive" patients, authorities would be in a better position to identify, track and ultimately punish those who deliberately infect others with up to six months in jail or a $5,000 fine.

The technical and practical details still need to be hammered out, but if the proposed legislation gets a majority vote as expected, it will be enacted next month, he and others said.

Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country and has one of Asia's fastest growing HIV rates, with up to 290,000 infections out of 235 million people, fueled mainly by intravenous drug users and prostitution.

But Papua, the country's easternmost and poorest province with a population of about 2 million, has been hardest hit. Its case rate of almost 61 per 100,000 is 15 times the national average, according to internationally funded research, which blames lack of knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases.

"The health situation is extraordinary, so we have to take extraordinary action," said another lawmaker, Weynand Watari, who envisions radio frequency identification tags like those used to track everything from cattle to luggage.

A committee would be created to decide who should be fitted with chips and to monitor patients' behavior, but it remains unclear who would be on it and how they would carry out their work, lawmakers said Monday.

Since the plan was initially proposed, the government has narrowed its scope, saying the chips would only be implanted in those who are "sexually aggressive," but it has not said how it would determine who fits that group. It also was not clear how many people it might include.

Nancy Fee, the UNAIDS country coordinator, said the global body was not aware of any laws or initiatives elsewhere involving HIV/AIDS patients and microchips.

Though she has yet to see a copy of the bill, she said she had "grave concerns" about the effect it would have on human rights and public health.

"No one should be subject to unlawful or unnecessary interference of privacy," Fee said, adding that while other countries have been known to be oppressive in trying to tackle AIDS, such policies don't work.

They make people afraid and push the problem further underground, she said.

Tahi Ganyang, the Papuan activist, said the best way to tackle the epidemic was through increased spending on sexual education and condom use.

Associated Press Writer Irwan Firdaus contributed to this report.
Hosted by Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Drug War Chronicle - world’s leading drug policy newsletter

I consider the use of medical marijuana a highly scientific and political debate

I support legalization of marijuana by USA in all states.

StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet) is seeking enthusiastic volunteers for two important purposes:
Membership Drive: Do you live in Washington, DC or nearby? We need help from friendly drug reform enthusiasts who are willing to spend a couple of hours on one or more evenings working the phones for DRCNet's membership fundraising drive. This effort will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, starting this coming week. (No session on election day.) Volunteers will be calling previous DRCNet contributors. Come on out, enjoy free pizza and other snacks, make new friends, and help raise needed funds for the cause while gaining valuable phone-banking experience. E-mail borden@drcnet.org or call us at (202) 293-8340 ext. 301 for further information or to sign up.
Writers: In the second half of November or early December, StoptheDrugWar.org will be carrying out an ambitious week-long writing-based campaign dealing with the mainstream media's coverage of drug issues, and we are seeking a team of good volunteer writers to be part of it. Along with writing skills, volunteers for this project should have a fairly good understanding of the effects of drug prohibition -- visit our Site Map page and scroll down to the "Consequences of Prohibition" section to get an idea of what we mean by that. Contact David Borden at borden@drcnet.org or (202) 293-8340 ext. 301 for further information about this very exciting effort.

Joe Biden's Health

I watched Joe Biden tonight and I am sad to say my own father died and uncle died of aneurysms. He does not look healthy at all. If anyone should he carefully monitored in this campaign it should be Joe Biden. Interestingly enough, my father also was from the Scranton, PA area. Maybe it is the alcohol, gambling or mountains or hard life
or something in the water.
I am sad for Joe Biden, if anything he should not have accepted the nomination
Sarah Palin is young and smart and healthy. She is not a scholar but actually.. looking at W. it doesn't appear that one needs to have a high IQ and I am speaking as a Republican
OH well, I hope Joe Biden a stress test and have everything relooked at.. his eyes were puffy and he didn't look well.
see for yourself.
PS Pennsylvania people are NOT rednecks nor racists... they are coal minors and Italian and Irish and the back bone of society who immigrated here in the 1900s and the ones who made here to Ellis Island, like my dad's side of the family, who came here speaking Italian,, and then learned English, and worked coal mines and built bridges, and supported themselves by cooking, pizza restaurants, growing their own food, making Dandilion wine and living on tomatoes and invented Pizza crust,, now known as Foccocia, are tough SOBs and my father is a four star Bronze and Purple Heart,, after serving the WW2 and Korea, so I think I have a right to talk about it,, even though he didn't ,, I didn't know until after his death and I found his military papers. A real VETERAN. and I resent the implication as the daughter of an Army Hero, 100 per cent disabled upon retirement that PA people are racist.. never had I had a racist word in my life from him. I am glad he is not here to hear this nonsense.

German, 2 French researchers share Nobel Prize in medicine

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Germany's Harald zur Hausen and French researchers Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for discovering the AIDS virus and viruses causing cervical cancer.
French researchers Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier were cited for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV; while Germany's Harald zur Hausen was honored for finding human papilloma viruses that cause cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women.
The German medical doctor and scientist received half of the $1.4 million prize, while the two French researchers shared the other half.
"I'm not prepared for this," zur Hausen, 72, of the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, told The Associated Press by telephone. "We're drinking a little glass of bubbly right now."
In its citation, the Nobel Assembly said Barre-Sinoussi and Montagnier's discovery was one prerequisite for understanding the biology of AIDS and its treatment with antiviral drugs. The pair's work in the early 1980s made it possible to study the virus closely.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Germany France Paris Sweden Stockholm Cambodia Oslo Nobel Prize Heidelberg anti-HIV Oliver Smithies Mario Capecchi Briton Martin Evans Nobel Assembly Luc Montagnier
That in turn let scientists identify important details in how HIV replicates and how it interacts with the cells it infects, the citation said. It also led to ways to diagnose infected people and to screen blood for HIV, which has limited spread of the epidemic, and helped scientists develop anti-HIV drugs, the citation said.
"The combination of prevention and treatment has substantially decreased spread of the disease and dramatically increased life expectancy among treated patients," the citation said.
The Nobel assembly said zur Hausen "went against current dogma" when he found that some kinds of human papilloma virus, or HPV, caused cervical cancer. He realized that DNA of HPV could be detected in tumors, and uncovered a family of HPV types, only some of which cause cancer.
The discovery led to an understanding of how HPV causes cancer and the development of vaccines against HPV infection, the citation said.
Barre-Sinoussi is director of the Regulation of Retroviral Infections Union at the Intsitut Pasteur in France, while Montagnier is the director for the World Foundation for Aids Research in Prevention, also in the French capital.
Barre-Sinoussi's father, Roger Sinoussi, told the AP that his daughter is visiting Cambodia this week.
"I am happy for her," he said, reached at her home in the Paris suburbs.
Alfred Nobel, the Swede who invented dynamite, established the prizes in his will in the categories of medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace. The economics prize is technically not a Nobel but a 1968 creation of Sweden's central bank.
The awards include the money, a diploma and an invitation to the prize ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896.
Nobel left few instructions on how to select winners, but medicine winners are typically awarded for a specific breakthrough rather than a body of research.
Last year's medicine award went to U.S. researchers Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies and Briton Martin Evans for work that led to a powerful and widely used technique to manipulate genes in mice, which has helped scientists study heart disease, diabetes, cancer, cystic fibrosis and other diseases.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

'Fossil' HIV reveals virus history

'Fossil' HIV reveals virus history
Thursday, 2 October 2008 Bianca NogradyABC

The researchers found that the HIV viral sequences from two samples, which are almost 50 years old, differ significantly in their genetic makeup (Source: iStockphoto)
Related Stories
Audio: African discovery prompts major rethink on origin of AIDS (AM)
Malaria resistance gene ups HIV risk, Science Online, 17 Jul 2008
Microbicides could lead to tougher HIV, Science Online, 08 Jul 2008
Semen protein ushers HIV into cells, Science Online, 14 Dec 2007
A preserved specimen of lymph node nearly half a century old has revealed how rapidly the HIV virus has diversified, according to international research.
A team of researchers from around the world has been trawling through decades-old tissue samples from African hospital archives in the hope of finding samples containing the HIV virus.
They struck it lucky with a sample that was collected back in 1960, from a woman living in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This is the second-oldest sample of the HIV virus ever found - the oldest is from 1959.
The researchers found that the HIV viral sequences these two samples differ significantly in their genetic makeup.
Their finding appears in the latest issue of Nature.
Using a technique called molecular clock analysis, they were able to plot the two viral sequences' evolutionary path back in time to determine when they diverged.
They concluded the strains evolved from a common ancestor that emerged in Africa near the beginning of the twentieth century around 80 years before the disease appeared in western populations.
Fossil virus
Co-researcher and molecular palaeontologist Dr Michael Bunce, head of the Ancient DNA Laboratory at Murdoch University, Perth, says these early viral sequences tell scientists a lot about how the virus evolves.
"The more information we can find out about the evolutionary history of pathogens, [the] more we can understand how they've changed over time to adapt to humans," says Bunce.
"We can get a really good picture of those parts of the virus that are rapidly mutating and those that stay more constant."
While a 50-year-old sample seems relatively young compared to the fossil materials Bunce is used to working with, for a virus like HIV, it's ancient.
"HIV mutates so quickly that 40 to 50 years old is really akin to looking at fossil bone that's millions of years old," he says.
Extracting the viral genetic material from the samples was no easy task. The samples had been preserved in formalin, which can cause considerable damage to DNA sequences.
"What we have got is actually quite good considering the preservation status," Bunce says, but it required a lot of technological 'tweaking' to isolate the tiny snippets of DNA from the sample.
The international research team is continuing to analyse hundreds of samples in the hope of finding further HIV-positive tissue that could add more pieces to the puzzle.
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Who's MONEY is it anyway? Federal Bail Out

Since I do keep track and watch CNBC obsessively and have a small stock portfolio.. vested in ETF's, made that move this summer after watching the Yahoo versus Microsoft debacle and then the Bear Stearns failure, figure it was safer to buy the Lipper ETF's that move inversely,, lol with the market. Ok so much for the economic jargon

My humble opinion is that we need to keep the facts and figures straight here and not react with a knee jerk reaction and instead remain calm, cool and collected and do some serious technical analysis.

I watched George W. Bush last night and he really didn't say much except acknowledge that the FEDs need to so something or the entire economy was going to collapse.. OOPS, btw, Paulson should be fired now.. he doesn't need the job, so replace him with someone who does give a damn! oops now that is being emotional.
Bill Clinton actually presented an excellent analysis of what should and could be done.
and before he was on with Larry King, I said what he said,, and BTW, Bill and Hillary as he suggested,, had to have seen this coming because they are financially vested people.. to use an economic term.

More to the point, this so called Bail Out of Wall street is not a bail out and it is certainly not bailing out Wall Street, which will go on with or without the "Federal bail out or is that buy out?"
Unfortunately, AIG and Fannie and Freddie regardless of HOW they got there need to be supported by Federal dollars for the stability of the US economy. AIG insures US Property and lives all over the world (whether or not they pay any claims is another matter) and the level of intertwined infrastructure between the USA and the world would be is at this point in time, not to be unwound, therefore, AIG must be included in the buy/bail out. The ramifications of this not happening are more than I could write in this Blog.

Fannie and Freddie hold both GOOD and BAD mortgages directly or via proxy, therefore, in order to make sure the good mortgages, and I mean the regular people who got mortgages based on their credit and income must be protected. There is no way to separate out the good and bad debts in retrospect now, it is too late. A year ago when Jim Cramer and Hillary Clinton suggested to the Government a current review of the sub prime mortgage and over extended credit and lending, a blatant money grab by those institutions, they were ignored totally, which is why Jim Cramer is played over and over again screaming THEY KNOW NOTHING,,, how right he was in that case.

Yes this 700 Billion dollar bail out is needed, but it should be carefully scrutinized by Congress, and all the quid pro quos suggested by Paulson should be totally ignored.
The companies that will get the money should have apply for a specific amount of money and any CEO previously involved should NOT be allowed to be involved in the application nor counsel and they should definitely NOT be given a severance package,,, it is my humble understanding they got that last year as a Christmas bonus. :)

And yes. Senators John McCain and Obama should return to Congress and study this and vote on the biggest economic crises for our country since the New Deal,, no make that the Great Depression. About the suggestion that a debate should be held during this, if John McCain decides he wants to dedicate his mind, (the implication about his multi tasking abilities aside..give me break) and his staff and his time to this, it is his decision.
Frankly, I think Obama should also do the same thing, sometimes things of this import take full effort and time.

A 700 Billion government purchase of private companies should be carefully looked at,, no giant carte blanche handed over to unknown entities, corporations or prior CEOs.

I think that about covers it..
Have a great day :)
Grasshopper izzy

Vitamin D-receptor polymorphism may increase melanoma risk, research suggests.

Daily Diagnosis
Vitamin D-receptor polymorphism may increase melanoma risk, research suggests.
HealthDay (9/22, Preidt) reported that a paper appearing in the Nov. 1 issue of Cancer suggests that there is a "possible link between melanoma and a gene involved in vitamin D metabolism," which "has been identified by Italian researchers." Previous studies have shown "that vitamin D has significant protective effects against the development of cancer, because it regulates cells growth, cell differentiation, and cell death." There is "also evidence that sun exposure, which triggers the body to produce vitamin D, can have anti-cancer effects." HealthDay explained that "Vitamin D works by binding to a receptor in cells," and researchers at the University of Padova chose to focus on that process.
They conducted "meta-analyses of existing studies" that examined a "higher risk of developing melanoma (as well as all other cancer types), depending upon gene polymorphisms," Medscape (9/22, Mulcahy) added. Initially, they looked at seven studies that "addressed the issue of" vitamin D-receptor (VDR) gene "polymorphisms and cancer risk," but "dropped one because the data overlapped with data from another study." In the end, the six "studies provided a total of 2,152 cases and 2,410 controls." The investigators discovered that "only Bsml was significantly associated with the risk of developing melanoma," while the "other polymorphisms of the VDR gene that were studied -- FokI, TaqI, EcoRV, and Cdx2 -- were not."
In fact, "individuals with the BsmI polymorphism had a 30 percent increase in the odds ratio for melanoma," MedPage Today (9/22, Bankhead) reported. The researchers also said that "their findings are consistent indirectly with the hypothesis that the BsmI polymorphism alters interaction between 1,25[OH]2D3 and the vitamin D receptor, thereby reducing 1,25[OH]2D3 levels or activity and increasing vulnerability to melanoma." They did concede, however, "that there is no current evidence of a functional effect of the polymorphism on vitamin D metabolism or the vitamin D receptor." Still, the "current evidence is in favor of the association between one [vitamin D receptor] gene polymorphism and the risk of melanoma development, although further work will be necessary to validate the risk identified in the current meta-analysis," the investigators concluded.

Will Results of Presidential Elections Chart a New Course for the Nation’s Health Care System

Will Results of Presidential Elections Chart a New Course for the Nation’s Health Care System
With the presidential election just months away, voters are homing in on what Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are saying about the issues that impact voters’ lives. Key among their concerns is health care. In fact, the Kaiser Foundation recently reported that, “when it comes to the relative importance of different issues in deciding their vote, health care was one of the top five issues chosen by voters in three of the last four presidential elections” and is likely to be an important factor in this election as well. During the primary season, likely voters ranked health care third in order of importance behind the economy and the war in Iraq.
In the midst of clear evidence that health care matters to the electorate, how do the candidates of the two major parties propose to repair what many consider to be a “broken” health care system. Both Senators McCain and Obama propose expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which is designed to provide low-cost health insurance for children and families. In addition to assuring the children are covered, what else are the candidates putting on the table?
The Obama PlanSenator Obama proposes a national health program that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy affordable health care similar to that available to federal employees. Subsidies would be available to help with the cost of premiums for those that need assistance. Moreover, there are plans to make available a National Health Insurance Exchange to reform the private insurance market. The premise is that any American could enroll in private plans that would be required to provide comprehensive benefits, to issue every applicant a policy, and to charge fair and stable premiums. In addition to SCHIP, Senator Obama proposes to expand Medicaid and require employers to make “meaningful” contributions to the health coverage of their employees. His plan also places great emphasis on reducing costs and moving toward a public health model. For details on Senator Obama’s proposed health plan, visit his website.
The McCain PlanSenator McCain’s plan has a basic premise to provide affordable health care without a mandate, thereby reducing regulations and government intervention and increasing individual responsibility. The Senator thinks that there should be an expansion of community health centers; tax incentives for low-income Americans to be able to afford health care coverage; expansion of health care online; reform of medical malpractice; and more availability of health savings accounts. Senator McCain advocates for employers to continue to provide health care coverage to employees or increase salaries so that they might purchase individual coverage. In addition, his proposal calls for federal subsidies for high-risk health insurance pools to help those who cannot obtain private coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions or lack of any previous health coverage. For details on Senator McCain’s proposed health plan, visit his website.
Health care is indeed a high priority issue for voters and candidates alike. The issue clearly becomes how to balance costs yet at the same time provide quality, affordable health care to all. If you are interested in comparing the candidates’ proposals, take a look at the following side-by-side summary by the Kaiser Family Foundation: www.health08.org
E-Policy will report in upcoming issues on changes being made to the U.S. health care system and, most importantly, on changes that impact the field of laboratory medicine.
As a Section 501(c)(3) organization, ASCP does not endorse any candidate in any race on the national, state or local front. Although this article focuses on the health care policies of the nominees by the two major parties, it is important to note that many third-party candidates also have positions on health care issues, and their websites can be consulted for further details.

Diabetes research news

Scientists Reprogram Adult Cells' Function
Advance Stirs Up Debate on Embryos

» Links to this article
By Rob SteinWashington Post Staff Writer Thursday, August 28, 2008; Page A01
Scientists have transformed one type of fully developed adult cell directly into another inside a living animal, a startling advance that could lead to cures for a variety of illnesses and sidestep the political and ethical quagmires
associated with embryonic stem cell research.
Through a series of painstaking experiments involving mice, the Harvard biologists pinpointed three crucial molecular switches that, when flipped, completely convert a common cell in the pancreas into the more precious insulin-producing ones that diabetics need to survive.
The experiments, detailed online yesterday in the journal Nature, raise the prospect that patients suffering from not only diabetes but also heart disease, strokes and many other ailments could eventually have some of their cells reprogrammed to cure their afflictions without the need for drugs, transplants or other therapies.
"It's kind of an extreme makeover of a cell," said Douglas A. Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, who led the research. "The goal is to create cells that are missing or defective in people. It's very exciting."
The work was hailed as a welcome development even by critics of research involving embryonic stem cells, which can be coaxed to become any tissue in the body but are highly controversial because they are obtained by destroying embryos.
"I see no moral problem in this basic technique," said Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a leading opponent of embryonic stems cell research. "This is a 'win-win' situation for medicine and ethics."
Researchers in the field, who have become accustomed to rapid advances, said they, too, were surprised by the advance.
"I'm stunned," said Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., a developer of stem cell therapies. "It introduces a whole new paradigm for treating disease."
Melton and other researchers cautioned that many years of research lay ahead to prove whether the development would translate into cures.
"It's an important proof of concept," said Lawrence Goldstein, a stem cell researcher at the University of California at San Diego. "But these things always look easier on the blackboard than when you have to do them in actual patients."
Although the experiment involved mice, Melton and other researchers were optimistic that the approach would work in people.

STOP RUSSIAN INVASION OF GEORGIA NOW

KICK Russia out of the Olympics, kick out of G-8
NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FBI accused of hardball tactics in anthrax case

Looking at the envelope I have my doubts about a lone Anthrax killer, we may never know the answer now that he "committed suicide" which may have been caused by the fact that he was mentally ill rather than an admission of guilt. Even paranoid people know when they are being harassed and watched. I am sure they were not subtle at all with white vans all over the neighborhood and TV antennae hanging off of them. Bruce Ivins was he the LONE anthrax deranged scientist that lived a peaceful life in Frederick Maryland and no one noticed that he was delusional paranoid killer? if this is political science what is? I have saved some of his work that is freely available for Science and US Army site and he worked with many colleagues and published many papers, and I also have worked in labs like this and the chances of a colleague and co author not noticing "strange behavior" the likes the FBI is describing is not possible. Also other interesting work that Ivins was linked to is Vibreo Cholera and Legionairre's, the bulk of the work in the Anthrax field supposedly working on the Anthrax vaccine, which I was and still would be opposed to under all circumstances, based on my experience in immunology and biochemistry, however, other scientists have been quoted as saying that the Anthrax powder used in the "bioterrorist act" could not have been made in secret by one person at the Frederick MD. I also have my doubts as the perfect "closure" to this case. As far as I am concerned it is still unsolved, and with the sad suicide of one of the participants in a bioterrorist act already deranged and saw the Feds closing in decided to "spare" his family and co-workers --and for all we know his co-conspirators as well in this bizarre case in the annals of terrorism in the USA.

Cold War redux Che, Hugo and Obama,,hmm

Presumptuous Democrat presidential nominee Barack Obama wasn’t the only disciple of Che Guevara touring Europe last week. While Obama spoke to the adulating proletariat of Berlin, Venezuelan President Huge Chavez was in Moscow asking to buy $1 billion worth of diesel submarines, mobile missile launchers and tanks. He also told Russian leaders that he plans to spend $30 billion on weaponry in the coming years.

Not to be outdone, Chavez’s closest ally, the Republik of Cuba, offered refueling stations for Russian bombers. Cuban dictator Fidel Castro even went so far as to write a missive declaring that he owed the U.S. no explanation for breaking the 1962 treaty to keep Russian arms out of Cuba. The island penitentiary has also invited Russia to reopen the Lourdes signals intelligence facility near Havana, which being just 90 miles off the coast of Florida is “a unique place to gather intelligence on the U.S” according to one Russian official.

In short, a second Cold War is brewing in America’s back yard, and the United States will need the support of South American allies like Colombia. Unfortunately, Leftist politicians like Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi have more in common with socialist thug Hugo Chavez than with capitalist Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. As a result, the Democrat-controlled Congress has spurned Colombia’s attempts to reach a free trade agreement with the United States, despite the positive impact of such a deal on the security of both nations. Perhaps sensing that the U.S. does not realize the gravity of the situation in South America, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has vowed to enhance trade ties between Colombia and his country “so we aren’t left dependent on a single partner.”

Let us know what you think: from the archives of the Patriot Post


QUOTE from Che Guevara
The U.S. is the great enemy of mankind!" raved Ernesto "Che" in 1961
"Against those hyenas there is no option but extermination. We will bring the war to the imperialist enemies' very home, to his places of work and recreation. The imperialist enemy must feel like a hunted animal wherever he moves. Thus we'll destroy him! We must keep our hatred against them [the U.S.] alive and fan it to paroxysms

OBAMA speaking in Berlin

And his 757 Jet Plane has been overhauled to the tune of 500K and check out the custom tricked out Obama slogan. So much for the USA..

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article4392846.ece.

WOW this coupled with the Yellow cake,, unreal

http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/07/20/obamas-757-is-back-in-service/

http://rightwingnews.com/mt331/2008/07/obama_remakes_plane_in_his_own.php

YELLOW CAKE= URANIUM Transfer from IRAQ

AP Exclusive: US removes uranium from Iraq
By BRIAN MURPHY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER


In a Monday June 9, 2003 file photo, UN inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) work at the nuclear facility in Tuwaitha, Iraq, 50 kms east of Baghdad. The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program - a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium - reached a Canadian port Saturday, July 5, 2008, to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das, file)
The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program - a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium - reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.

The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" - the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment - was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.

What's now left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 12 miles south of Baghdad - using teams that include Iraqi experts recently trained in the Chernobyl fallout zone in Ukraine.

"Everyone is very happy to have this safely out of Iraq," said a senior U.S. official who outlined the nearly three-month operation to The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

While yellowcake alone is not considered potent enough for a so-called "dirty bomb" - a conventional explosive that disperses radioactive material - it could stir widespread panic if incorporated in a blast. Yellowcake also can be enriched for use in reactors and, at higher levels, nuclear weapons using sophisticated equipment.

The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer, Cameco Corp., in a transaction the official described as worth "tens of millions of dollars." A Cameco spokesman, Lyle Krahn, declined to discuss the price, but said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in energy-producing reactors.

"We are pleased ... that we have taken (the yellowcake) from a volatile region into a stable area to produce clean electricity," he said.

The deal culminated more than a year of intense diplomatic and military initiatives - kept hushed in fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys were under way: first carrying 3,500 barrels by road to Baghdad, then on 37 military flights to the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia and finally aboard a U.S.-flagged ship for a 8,500-mile trip to Montreal.

And, in a symbolic way, the mission linked the current attempts to stabilize Iraq with some of the high-profile claims about Saddam's weapons capabilities in the buildup to the 2003 invasion.

Accusations that Saddam had tried to purchase more yellowcake from the African nation of Niger - and an article by a former U.S. ambassador refuting the claims - led to a wide-ranging probe into Washington leaks that reached high into the Bush administration.

Tuwaitha and an adjacent research facility were well known for decades as the centerpiece of Saddam's nuclear efforts.

Israeli warplanes bombed a reactor project at the site in 1981. Later, U.N. inspectors documented and safeguarded the yellowcake, which had been stored in aging drums and containers since before the 1991 Gulf War. There was no evidence of any yellowcake dating from after 1991, the official said.

U.S. and Iraqi forces have guarded the 23,000-acre site - surrounded by huge sand berms - following a wave of looting after Saddam's fall that included villagers toting away yellowcake storage barrels for use as drinking water cisterns.

Yellowcake is obtained by using various solutions to leach out uranium from raw ore and can have a corn meal-like color and consistency. It poses no severe risk if stored and sealed properly. But exposure carries well-documented health concerns associated with heavy metals such as damage to internal organs, experts say.

"The big problem comes with any inhalation of any of the yellowcake dust," said Doug Brugge, a professor of public health issues at the Tufts University School of Medicine.

Moving the yellowcake faced numerous hurdles.

Diplomats and military leaders first weighed the idea of shipping the yellowcake overland to Kuwait's port on the Persian Gulf. Such a route, however, would pass through Iraq's Shiite heartland and within easy range of extremist factions, including some that Washington claims are aided by Iran. The ship also would need to clear the narrow Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, where U.S. and Iranian ships often come in close contact.

Kuwaiti authorities, too, were reluctant

Aids funding

This is my first post on my science is political blog, and a lot more will come.
As a former researcher who actually worked with the original scientists who developed the technology for the retrovirus research available in the year 2008
my only comment right now is that the United States of America should not
increase funding the 30 Billion dollars for Africa infested Aids.

I will elaborate more fully on this first blog.