Kushner’s team seeks national coronavirus surveillance system

Politico 04/08/2020

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner’s task force has reached out to a range of health technology companies about creating a national coronavirus surveillance system to give the government a near real-time view of where patients are seeking treatment and for what, and whether hospitals can accommodate them, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions.

The proposed national network could help determine which areas of the country can safely relax social-distancing rules and which should remain vigilant. But it would also represent a significant expansion of government use of individual patient data, forcing a new reckoning over privacy limits amid a national crisis.

Health privacy laws already grant broad exceptions for national security purposes. But the prospect of compiling a national database of potentially sensitive health information has prompted concerns about its impact on civil liberties well after the coronavirus threat recedes, with some critics comparing it to the Patriot Act enacted after the 9/11 attacks.

Already, the Trump administration has sought to ease data-sharing rules and assure health data companies they won’t be penalized for sharing information with state and federal officials — a move driven in part by Kushner’s push to assemble the national network, according to an individual with knowledge of the decision.

“This is a genuine crisis — we have to work through it and do our best to protect people’s health,” said Jessica Rich, a former director of the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer protection bureau. “But doing that doesn’t mean we have to destroy privacy.”

So your church is closed, now what do you do?

NTEB March 30, 2020

As a society, Americans in 2020 are largely a pampered lot of people, me included. True, we have our share of the poor, but not poor like what you see in Indonesia, or Afghanistan and Africa where they lick dirt to find the nutrients. In America there is abundance, and we are not used to living any other way. We have churches in nearly every town, and a lot of time there are massive million dollar megachurches. What do you see when you go inside? A lot of people “going to church” but it’s really become more of a social club where people meet to gossip, hook up, socialize and drink coffee. They roll their eyes if the preacher goes longer than usual, lukewarm as the day is long. Maybe God is doing you a favor by allowing your church to be shut down, maybe God is trying to wake you up.

I think we’ve forgotten that born again Christians are the Church, it was never about the building. There were no church buildings in the First Century AD, where did they meet? They met at people’s homes, in small groups, and they made the word of God of primary importance. Many of them suffered persecution by Rome for doing so, and were put to death. It cost them something to meet to worship the Lord like that, and it caused them to walk very closely with Him.

Now we get to see who the Christians are.

Fauci: ‘No doubt’ Trump will face surprise infectious disease outbreak

Archive January 11, 2017

Anthony S. Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there is “no doubt” Donald J. Trump will be confronted with a surprise infectious disease outbreak during his presidency.

Fauci has led the NIAID for more than 3 decades, advising the past five United States presidents on global health threats from the early days of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s through to the current Zika virus outbreak.

During a forum on pandemic preparedness at Georgetown University, Fauci said the Trump administration will not only be challenged by ongoing global health threats such as influenza and HIV, but also a surprise disease outbreak.

“The history of the last 32 years that I have been the director of the NIAID will tell the next administration that there is no doubt they will be faced with the challenges their predecessors were faced with,” he said.

While observers have speculated since his election about how Trump will respond to such challenges, Fauci and other health experts said Tuesday that preventing disease pandemics often starts overseas and that a proper response means collaboration between not only the U.S. and other countries, but also the public and private health sectors.

“We will definitely get surprised in the next few years,” he said.

Anthony Fauci background: 

Fauci was born December 24, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York, to Stephen A. Fauci and Eugenia A. Fauci, owners of a pharmacy, where his father worked as the pharmacist, his mother and sister worked the register, and Fauci delivered prescriptions.^[2] The pharmacy was located in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn.

Fauci's paternal grandparents, Antonino Fauci and Calogera Guardino, were from Sciacca, Italy. His maternal grandmother, Raffaella Trematerra, from Naples, Italy, was a seamstress. His maternal grandfather, Giovanni Abys, was born in Switzerland and was an artist, noted for landscape and portrait painting, magazine illustrations (Italy) as well graphic design for commercial labels, including olive oil cans. His great-grandparents emigrated to the US in the late 19th century. Fauci grew up Catholic.^[2][3][4]

Fauci attended Regis High School in New York City where he graduated in 1958. He then enrolled at the College of the Holy Cross where he received a BS in classics in 1962. Fauci then went on to attend Cornell University Medical College where he graduated first in his class with an MD in 1966.^[2] He then completed an internship and residency at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center.^[5]

^{1) Regis High School: is a private Jesuit university-preparatory school for Roman Catholic young men located on Manhattan's Upper East Side.[4] Annual class enrollment is limited to approximately 135 male students from the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut tri-state area. The school is ranked as both the best Catholic high school in the United States and the best all-boys school in New York.}

2) College of the Holy Cross:  is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest in the United States. Opened as a school for boys under the auspices of the Society of Jesus, it was the first Jesuit college in New England. Today, Holy Cross is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) and is part of the Colleges of Worcester Consortium (COWC).

People who intentionally spread the coronavirus could face criminal charges under federal terrorism laws

Politico 03/24/2020

People who intentionally spread the coronavirus could face criminal charges under federal terrorism laws, the Justice Department’s No. 2 official said Tuesday.

In a memo to top Justice Department leaders, law enforcement agency chiefs and U.S. Attorneys across the country, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said prosecutors and investigators could come across cases of “purposeful exposure and infection of others with COVID-19.”

“Because Coronavirus appears to meet the statutory definition of a ‘biological agent’… such acts potentially could implicate the Nation’s terrorism-related statutes,” Rosen wrote. “Threats or attempts to use COVID-19 as a weapon against Americans will not be tolerated.”

Cancer is a germ and can be received by infected meat

Flesh was never the best food; but its use is now doubly objectionable, since disease in animals is so rapidly increasing. Those who use flesh foods little know what they are eating. Often if they could see the animals when living and know the quality of the meat they eat, they would turn from it with loathing. People are continually eating flesh that is filled with tuberculous and cancerous germs. Tuberculosis, cancer, and other fatal diseases are thus communicated.    

Child Guidance page 385

Black death: warnings of ‘global outbreak’ as PLAGUE continues to spread

Dailystar  30th October 2017

Health experts are warning there is “something different” about a new Black Death outbreak spreading across the world.

Some 1,300 cases of the pneumonic plague, which is transmitted by air, have now been confirmed.

An estimated 50 million lives were lost as a result of the Black Death epidemic of the 1300s.

And now the deadly disease has spread into more African countries after taking root in Madagascar.

Countries affected include South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Comoros, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Reunion.

So far, the virus has killed 124 people and infected around 1,300, but scientists say this figure will definitely rise.

The World Health Organisation, which has been working with Madagascar’s Ministry of Health, has warned the risk of the epidemic spreading is “high”.

"Plague, though terrifying, is nothing new in Madagascar, where about 600 cases are reported annually," the organisation said on its website.

But officials said while "health officials couldn't explain it", the plague is different this time.

A Crisis Emergency Committee has been established in response to the outbreak, which will "coordinate surveillance, contact tracing, case management, isolation and supplies" until it is contained.

Air Seychelles, one of Madagascar's biggest airlines, stopped flying earlier in the month, in an effort to contain the spread and airports are screening passengers to avoid spread of the plague.

Schools and businesses have been closed, and large public gatherings have been cancelled.

A WHO official said: “The risk of the disease spreading is high at national level… because it is present in several towns and this is just the start of the outbreak.”

The last significant outbreak of the disease occurred nearly a century ago in Los Angeles, when a two-week epidemic killed 30 people.

There are three types of plague – bubonic affecting the lymph nodes, septicaemia which causes bleeding under the skin, and pneumonic which affects respiration.

The WHO describes the pneumonic plague as “the deadliest and most rapid form of plague”.

Nearly 1.2 million doses of antibiotics and £11.4 million worth of emergency funding have been sent by the WHO to fight to plague.
People infected with plague usually develop “flu-like” symptoms after an incubation period of three to seven days.
Typical symptoms include fever, chills, head and body-aches and weakness, vomiting and nausea.

A cholera outbreak in Yemen has claimed the lives of 115 people while some 8,500 others are suffering from the infection

15 May, 2017

A cholera outbreak in Yemen has claimed the lives of 115 people while some 8,500 others are suffering from the infection, medics say. A state of emergency has been declared in the capital Sana’a.

The Yemeni Health Ministry has called on humanitarian organizations and other aid donors to help stop the epidemic and avert an "unprecedented disaster," Reuters reported.

The outbreak of the waterborne disease is the second Yemen has suffered in less than a year.

“We now are facing a serious outbreak of cholera,” Director of Operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross Dominik Stillhart told a news conference in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Sunday.

Citing figures compiled by Yemen’s Health Ministry, he reported that 115 people had died of cholera between April 27 and Saturday. This is a dramatic jump from the death toll of 51 cited by the World Health Organization earlier on Thursday, marking a rapidly worsening situation.     More

World AIDS Day: HIV Infections in Adolescents Could Double By 2030, Says UNICEF

By Lucy Westcott On 11/30/16 at 7:10 PM 

The number of new HIV infections among adolescents around the world is set to rise sharply unless more is done to fight the epidemic, according to a new report from Unicef.

The U.N. children’s agency said annual new infections in adolescents are projected to increase from 250,000 in 2015 to nearly 400,000 in 2030 in its report, launched to coincide with World AIDS Day on December 1. AIDS remains a leading cause of death among adolescents: In 2015, 41,000 children aged 10 and 19 died from AIDS, according to Unicef. If the trend continues, it could result in as many as 740,000 additional HIV infections among adolescents in the next 14 years.

Girls are particularly vulnerable to the disease and account for three out of four new AIDS infections among adolescents aged 15 to 19. Around one-third of new HIV infections occur outside of sub-Saharan Africa.                      Newsweek

The healthy benefits of Garlic

Garlic (Allium sativum) has been called the "stinking rose."  While some people think it reeks, others can't get enough of its bite.  Whether you love garlic or can't stand it, there is no denying that this bulb provides a wealth of healthy benefits. 

Green Med Info's database documents the effectiveness of garlic in 183 disease conditions ranging from cancer to stroke, infection to atherosclerosis, diabetes to lead toxicity. The database also provides evidence of garlic's 57 pharmacological effects in the body.

Here are just seven evidenced-based reasons to eat more garlic every day.

1. Garlic Cuts Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke by 50%

Garlic reduces a multitude of risk factors that may lead to heart attack or stroke.  It's been shown to affect arteriosclerosis, triglycerides, blood pressure, platelet aggregation, and plasma viscosity.  Penn State researchers noted that studies link garlic use with a 38% decreased risk of heart problems in general.[i]

And in a prospective four-year clinical trial in Germany, researchers found that because garlic has so many effects on the body, it resulted in a reduction of relative cardiovascular risk for infarction (heart attack) and stroke by more than 50%.[ii]

2.  Garlic Slows Atherosclerosis

Studies show garlic inhibits the formation of arteriosclerotic plaque.[iii]  In fact, research on GreenMedInfo.com features 14 studies on how garlic fights arteriosclerosis, calcification of the arteries, and arterial plaque. 

At UCLA researchers conducted a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trial of 65 people at risk for heart disease.  Every day they gave the subjects a placebo capsule or a capsule containing aged garlic extract (250 mg) plus Vitamin B12 (100 micrograms), folic acid (300 micrograms), Vitamin B6 (12.5 mg), and the amino acid l-arginine (100 mg).  They measured the amount of calcification in the coronary artery at the beginning of the trial and at the end.  After one year the progression of coronary artery calcification was significantly reduced for the group taking the garlic and other supplements.[iv]

And the 4-year clinical trial in Germany cited above showed that garlic powder taken daily reduced the volume of arteriosclerotic plaque by up to 18%.[v]

3. Garlic Protects the Heart from Calcification

A study published in the International Journal Cardiology shows that aged garlic extract helps alter the ratio of brown fat to white fat surrounding the heart muscle.  Brown fat is a more active form of adipose tissue and produces heat or energy.  White fat is for storage and is inactive.  White fat surrounding the heart muscle is strongly correlated with the calcification of the coronary artery.

The study randomized 60 subjects to receive either a daily placebo or a supplement containing 250 mg of aged garlic-extract, 100 micrograms of vitamin-B12, 300 micrograms of folic-acid, 12.5mg of vitamin-B6, and 100 mg of l-arginine.

After one year the risks of coronary artery calcium progression were significantly lower in the supplement group compared to the placebo group.  Researchers also found an increase in the beneficial brown fat around the heart muscle. And the more brown fat a person had around their heart, the less risk of calcification they had. 

Another randomized placebo-controlled study from UCLA looked at the effect of aged garlic extract in patients on statin drugs.  For one year, patients took either a placebo or 4 ml of aged garlic extract.  At the end of the year, the rate of coronary calcification was 3 times slower for those taking the aged garlic extract.[vi]  The authors suggested that

"garlic may prove useful for patients who are at high risk of future cardiovascular events."

4. Garlic Lowers Blood Pressure Better Than Drugs

A groundbreaking study in the Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences compared garlic tablets with the blockbuster blood pressure lowering drug atenolol and a placebo.  It found that garlic in daily doses ranging from 300 to 1,500 mg significantly reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure in hypertensive patients compared to atenolol and placebo.[vii]

How does garlic lower blood pressure?  Sulfur compounds in garlic enter the red blood cells and are converted to hydrogen sulfide which dilates the blood vessels.  That helps boost blood flow and reduce blood pressure.    

In another study Chinese researchers recruited 125 stroke patients and asked them how often they ate garlic.  The mean garlic intake of the group was 2.9 grams per day – about one clove.  Then they measured arterial blood flow using an ultrasound test.

Researchers found they could accurately predict blood flow based on the amount of garlic the patients reported eating.[viii]  Patients eating less garlic had poorer circulation.  Those eating more had better circulation. 

5. Garlic Fights Infection.

Garlic has potent antibacterial powers and may be the life-saving answer to the growing problem of multi-drug resistant bacteria.  Studies prove that garlic can kill at least 13 types of infections – both bacterial and viral.

One study compared garlic to the antibiotic drug metronidazole in treating vaginal infections.  Every day, women in the study received either two 500 mg garlic tablets or two 250 mg doses of metronidazole.  After seven days the garlic reduced the active infection by 70% compared to 48% for the drug.  And garlic had no side effects making it a safer bet by far.  Metronidazole is a probable carcinogen with a wide range of side effects including nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, headache, dizziness, and abdominal pain.

6. Garlic Prevents the Common Cold

The Cochrane Collaboration in Australia documented a study in which garlic reduced the incidence of colds more than 50 percent.[ix]  Researchers gave 146 people either a placebo or a garlic supplement - standardized to 180 milligrams of allicin.  Allicin is the compound that gives garlic its pungent smell.

After 12 weeks the placebo group had 65 total colds while the garlic group had only 24.  In addition, the placebo group had a total of 366 sick days compared to the garlic group which only had 111.  In other words, the placebo group had more than triple the number of sick days as the garlic group.

Garlic can also reduce the severity of cold symptoms.  In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition researchers gave 120 people either a placebo or 2.5 grams per day of an aged garlic extract supplement. Over six months, the garlic group had 58 percent fewer colds and suffered 61 percent fewer days with colds.  In addition, the garlic group had 21 percent fewer symptoms when they did catch a cold.

7. Garlic Beats Chelation Drug for Detoxifying Lead

Garlic naturally reduces blood and tissue concentrations of lead.  And it's just as effectively as a common chelation drug.  A study published in the journal Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology compared garlic to the chelation drug known as d-penicillamine.[x]

Researchers measured lead concentrations in the blood of 117 workers at a car battery plant.  Then the workers were randomly assigned to take either garlic (1.2 milligrams of allicin from approximately 1,000 mg of garlic extract, three times daily) or d-penicillamine (250 mg, three times daily). 

After four weeks, both the drug and the garlic significantly reduced lead concentrations in the blood by about the same amount.  But the garlic also improved clinical symptoms while the drug did not.  The garlic significantly reduced irritability, headaches, deep tendon reflex, and systolic blood pressure.  And the drug had serious side effects.

The researchers concluded that

"garlic seems safer clinically and as effective as d-penicillamine. Therefore, garlic can be recommended for the treatment of mild-to-moderate lead poisoning."

Garlic has been proven time and again to be safe and effective.  Many studies have tested garlic oil, powder, or aged garlic extracts.  But eating and cooking with fresh whole garlic is a great way to get the benefits on a daily basis. Aim for one clove a day.

Add freshly crushed or chopped garlic to soups, stews, sauces, dressings, and vegetables.  But let your garlic sit for a few minutes after crushing or chopping it.  This allows the allicin to fully develop.  Heating the garlic or adding an acid (like lemon juice or vinegar) right away will kill off many of the beneficial compounds. 

References:

[i] Ried K, Toben C, Fakler P. "Effect of garlic on serum lipids: an updated meta-analysis." Nutr Rev. 2013;71(5):282Y299

[ii] G Siegel, A Walter, S Engel, A Walper, F Michel. [Pleiotropic effects of garlic]. Wien Med Wochenschr. 1999;149(8-10):217-24. PMID: 10483684

[iii] Günter Siegel, Frank Michel, Michael Ploch, Miguel Rodríguez, Martin Malmsten. [Inhibition of arteriosclerotic plaque development by garlic]. Wien Med Wochenschr. 2004 Nov;154(21-22):515-22. PMID: 15638070

[iv] Matthew J Budoff et al. Aged garlic extract supplemented with B vitamins, folic acid and L-arginine retards the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis: a randomized clinical trial. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2004 Feb;83(3):221-31. PMID: 19573556

[v] G Siegel, A Walter, S Engel, A Walper, F Michel. [Pleiotropic effects of garlic]. Wien Med Wochenschr. 1999;149(8-10):217-24. PMID: 10483684

[vi] Matthew J Budoff, Junichiro Takasu, Ferdinand R Flores, Yutaka Niihara, Bin Lu, Benjamin H Lau, Robert T Rosen, Harunobu Amagase. Inhibiting progression of coronary calcification using Aged Garlic Extract in patients receiving statin therapy: a preliminary study. Prev Med. 2004 Nov;39(5):985-91. PMID: 15475033

[vii] Rizwan Ashraf, Rafeeq Alam Khan, Imran Ashraf, Absar A Qureshi. Effects of Allium sativum (Garlic) on systolic and diastolic blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension. Pak J Pharm Sci. 2013 Sep ;26(5):859-63. PMID: 24035939

[viii] Lau KK et al, Garlic intake is an independent predictor of endothelial function in patients with ischemic stroke. The Journal Of Nutrition, Health & Aging 17:7 2013 Jul pg 600-4 PubMed:23933870

[ix] Lissiman E, Bhasale AL, Cohen M. Garlic for the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014 Nov 11;11:CD006206.

[x] Sina Kianoush, Mahdi Balali-Mood, Seyed Reza Mousavi, Valiollah Moradi, Mahmoud Sadeghi, Bita Dadpour, Omid Rajabi, Mohammad Taghi Shakeri. Comparison of therapeutic effects of garlic and d-Penicillamine in patients with chronic occupational lead poisoning. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2012 May ;110(5):476-81. Epub 2011 Dec 29. PMID: 22151785

Greenmedinfo 

Immunity Resistance - Are We In Trouble Concerning Infectious Disease?

Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), has stated that antibiotic resistance is becoming so critically high that it could signal "the end of modern medicine as we know it."

A new gene, called mcr-1, has been discovered in pigs and people in China. This gene is resistant to the "last resort class" of antibiotics.

Alexander Fleming warned of this when he brought the world penicillin. He stated that misuse of antibiotics (incomplete or inappropriate treatment) would encourage bacteria to mutate into resistant forms.

Currently, antibiotic abuse is found in everything from meat, poultry and farmed seafood, and given out like candy by health professionals. Society has become dependent on what science will deliver to fight the new strains of mutating viruses, everything from penicillin to new antibiotic strains; however, they are not working because we have become resistant due to overuse. To offset the process vaccines have been implemented and heralded as the saviors but this is too soon to make that blanket evaluation.

On the other hand, natural products are showing merit in curing diseases like Ebola.

During the Ebola crisis, Dr. Rima Laibow, the medical director of the Natural Solutions Foundation, found some interesting information on Colloidal Silver, summarized in the chart below (click to enlarge):

Perhaps most interesting is the e-mail text in the centre of the chart, which indicates that the positive claims of Colloidal Silver against Ebola could also be corroborated in a 2009 Air Force lab research project.

Another key product for a strong immune system is Thymus gland. Thymosin stimulates the development of T cells, a type of white blood cell which is the key to a strong immune system. Throughout your childhood years, white blood cells called lymphocytes are created in bone marrow. T cells emerge from bone marrow in an incomplete state; they must be matured in the thymus to be useful. When T-cells decline, we become more susceptible to all kinds of communicable diseases.

Especially for those who face constant immune system battles, such as HIV patients, or those whose health conditions involve battling a compromised immune system, such as cancer and Multiple Sclerosis patients (MS is an autoimmune disease characterized by the inflammatory demyelination of neurons in the central nervous system (CNS), Life Choice Thymus Gland could be a great support system, offering a long-term immunity boost.

The pharmaceutical approach bypasses our finely tuned detection with a sledgehammer approach. We have long forgotten the importance of listening to the body and supplying its needs with a natural solution.  Prevent Disease