Alcohol Wipes Used by Hospitals Causing Potentially Deadly Infections

March 7th, 2011

???

Via: MSNBC:

Within weeks, hospital officials were stunned to confirm that Peyton’s infection — along with what Nyquist would describe only as “a couple”of others — was caused by contaminated alcohol wipes produced by the hospital’s sole supplier: the Triad Group of Hartland, Wis.

“This is something really common in use in hospitals,” said Nyquist, noting that the hospital uses about 2,500 wipes each day. “When that is identified as the common source, everyone kind of goes, ‘Wow.’”

Federal Food and Drug Administration officials credit the hospital with sparking an investigation that led to Triad’s voluntary recall of hundreds of millions of alcohol swabs, wipes and pads widely used in hospitals, clinics and homes. Michael Rogers, the FDA’s acting director of the Office of Regional Operations, said inspectors were sent to the plant on Nov. 29, 2010, immediately after receiving The Children’s Hospital report.

Peyton’s infection is only one of a growing number of horror stories blamed on the Triad wipes. Msnbc.com previously reported that infections with Bacillus cereus tied to the wipes led to open-heart surgery for Joe Postich, 55, of Madisonville, Tenn., and to the death of Harrison Kothari, 2, of Houston. In addition, more than 100 people have now reported other potential infections related to the wipes, according to Houston lawyer Jim Perdue Jr., who represents the Kotharis and expects to file a lawsuit soon on behalf of the Armstrongs.


Private Contractor Detains Drivers on Florida Turnpike if They Pay a Toll with a $50 or $100 Bill

March 7th, 2011

I wonder if anyone has ever called the police, using a mobile phone, after being illegally detained as described below?

Even by Florida standards, this is a keeper.

Via: Courthouse News Service:

A federal class action claims Florida and a private contractor detain drivers on the Florida Turnpike if they pay a toll with a $50 or $100 bill, and won’t let them go until they cough up personal information. The class claims the detentions are dangerous and unconstitutional, and that sometimes drivers and passengers are detained and interrogated for paying tolls with bills as small as $5.

The class action in Tampa also names collections company Faneuil as a defendant. Florida hired Faneuil to provide toll collectors and supervisors on its toll roads.

Lead plaintiff Joel Chandler claims the state and Faneuil violate the Constitution by authorizing toll collectors, at their discretion, to imprison motorists and their passengers and hold them until they divulge personal information, some of which is written up on “Bill Detection Reports.”

“The personal information recorded by toll collectors includes, but is not limited to the vehicle make, model, color, tag number and state of issuance. Other information such as the vehicle occupants’ race, gender, and relative age has also been recorded.” The class adds: “Toll collectors have required motorists to provide additional personal information, including drivers license information in exchange for their release.”

Toll collectors trapped motorists at toll booths by holding the barrier down, even though the drivers had enough money to pay the toll.


U.S. Air Force Launches Second X-37B Autonomous Spacecraft

March 7th, 2011

Via: Cnet:

A second mysterious, robotic space plane was launched into orbit by the U.S. Air Force today, after the first craft safely returned to Earth late last year following a secretive months-long mission and speculation about its potential military or intelligence uses.

The second Boeing-built X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, left Cape Canaveral, Fla., at 2:46 p.m. PT, atop an Atlas V rocket, Boeing said.


Japan Halts Pfizer, Sanofi Vaccines After Four Infants Die

March 7th, 2011

Via: Reuters:

Japan’s health ministry has halted the use of vaccines made by Pfizer Inc and Sanofi-Aventis SA to prevent meningitis and pneumonia following the deaths of four children.

The infants died shortly after receiving the vaccines and while it was unclear if there was link between the deaths and vaccines, use of Pfizer’s Prevenar and Sanofi’s ActHIB will be suspended while the deaths are investigated, the ministry said in a statement.

A ministry safety panel is scheduled to discuss findings in the investigations on Tuesday.

In February last year health authorities in the Netherlands said no relation was found between Prevenar and the deaths of three infants who had received the vaccine.

Three of the children that died in Japan were administered Prevenar together with ActHIB. In addition, three of the children also received a mixed vaccine against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus on the same day they received the other vaccines.

Three of the four children died a day after being immunized.


How Do You Want to See Brief News Alerts?

March 7th, 2011

Quite often, I come across news that’s breaking and hasn’t fully developed into much of a formal story:

How do you want to see brief news alerts?

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Posted in Announcements | Top Of Page | Comments Off on How Do You Want to See Brief News Alerts?

Silver Through $36

March 7th, 2011

WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.

$36.17


U.S. Looking at Tapping Strategic Oil Reserve

March 6th, 2011

Oh sure.

Via: Reuters:

White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley said on Sunday the Obama administration is considering tapping into the U.S. strategic oil reserve as one way to help ease soaring oil prices.


Jeffrey Epstein: Billionaire Pedophile Kept Secret Journal Which Listed Under-Aged Victims, Celebrity Guests He ‘Entertained’

March 6th, 2011

Update: FBI to Reopen Case

It was a honeypot.

Via: Daily Mail:

The FBI is to reopen its investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein following Mail on Sunday revelations about his sexual exploitation of teenage girls and his links with high-profile individuals, including Prince Andrew.

The Bureau wants to interview Esptein’s former personal ‘masseuse’, Virginia Roberts, after she revealed last week that she was recruited as Epstein’s sex slave when she was just 15.

Last night, in an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Virginia confirmed she will fully co-operate with the new investigation, which could have serious implications for Epstein and embarrass Prince Andrew, who she met on three occasions.

‘I will talk to the FBI,’ Virginia said.‘I am anxious. I am still frightened of him because he has so much power. I had to put this behind me.

‘But in the end this is not for me. It’s because I’m afraid there are a lot of girls still doing what I did for him, eight years after I left. I want to be the one who breaks the chain.’

The news comes as the Government appeared to withdraw support for the Prince’s role as a trade envoy, with Business Secretary Vince Cable refusing to say whether he should stay in the post.

A source close to the inquiry said the FBI decided to reopen the case because of Virginia’s revelations to The Mail on Sunday last week.

The new FBI investigation will undoubtedly be of grave concern to Prince Andrew, who was forced to accept that his continued friendship with the financier, a convicted child sex offender, was unwise.

On Friday, he severed all ties with Epstein – although the new investigation could reveal further damaging details of their association.

Virginia’s account of her meetings with the Prince was published under the restrictions of British libel laws, notoriously the most draconian in the Western world. There will be no such restraint on her testimony to FBI investigators.

It is highly likely that detectives will also wish to question the Prince as part of their investigation. If subpoenaed he may be forced to plead diplomatic immunity based on his role as business envoy for UK Trade and Investment. Last week David Cameron faced calls from the floor of the Commons to remove the Prince from his post.

If Andrew refuses to co-operate with US authorities he would, in all likelihood, be banned from entering the States, which would seriously affect his ability to fulfil his role as a trade envoy.

It is believed the new investigation will centre on Epstein’s procuring of young girls and paying them to provide sexual favours for his business associates at his homes in New York, Florida, the US Virgin Islands and New Mexico.

Epstein’s palatial houses were secretly covered by a network of hidden video cameras, raising concerns that compromising footage exists of a number of rich and powerful individuals useful to Epstein’s work as a money manager.

It is an astonishing roll call of names which shines a fascinating light into the world of Jeffrey Epstein and the powerful network he established both here and in America.

The financier’s ‘little black book’ of contacts encompasses every conceivable sphere of influence, from politics and showbusiness to business and royalty. It lists numbers for former presidents, government Ministers, state senators, rock stars, actors and members of the British aristocracy.

—End Update—

Via: Telegraph:

The Duke of York’s billionaire paedophile friend kept a secret journal, described as “The Holy Grail” by lawyers, which listed his alleged under-aged victims and the celebrity guests he entertained at his Florida mansion.

Jeffrey Epstein used the “black book” to log contact details of the girls that gave massages to him and his friends and those of his powerful and famous associates, such as Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.

A servant at the £4 million manor in Palm Beach, where Prince Andrew enjoyed daily massages during several stays, stole the journal and initially kept it secret from investigators. He is now in prison after attempting to sell it for $50,000 (£31,000).

Epstein, 58, was accused of sex offences by more than 20 under-aged girls. They alleged that after being recruited as masseuses by aides including Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late tycoon Robert, they were seriously assaulted and then paid hundreds of dollars.

The billionaire financier, who attended The Queen’s birthday party in 2000, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008, having secured a plea bargain that prevented full criminal trials. He later settled more than a dozen multi-million dollar civil lawsuits from his alleged victims out of court.

The previously undisclosed journal, however, “detailed the full scope and the extent of Epstein’s involvement with underage girls”, according to lawyers for several alleged victims.

It contained the names of girls that Epstein allegedly abused in “Michigan, California, West Palm Beach, New York, New Mexico, and Paris”, according to court papers.

It also listed extensive contact details for Epstein’s house guests, who had “no connection whatsoever” with alleged offences, including Mr Clinton, the former US President, and Mr Trump, the famous businessman.

It could not be confirmed last night whether the book contained contact details for the Duke. One lawyer for Epstein’s alleged victims said: “I would bet he is, because he is that good a friend”.

There is no suggestion that the Duke did anything wrong. However he has this week faced a string of questions about his judgment due to his association with a convicted child sex offender.

Epstein kept 21 different phone numbers for Mr Clinton, including some for his assistant and also “Clinton’s personal numbers”, the court papers state.

Alfredo Rodriguez, a servant who “saw numerous underage girls coming into Epstein’s mansion for purported ‘massages’,” took the journal and did not mention it to investigators.

“Because of the importance of the information in the journal to the civil cases, Mr Rodriguez called it ‘The Holy Grail’,” the court documents state.

He attempted to sell the book to lawyers for $50,000 (£31,000) in August 2009 – by which time Epstein had already been sentenced and released from jail.

The lawyers contacted the FBI, who sent an undercover agent to buy the book from Rodriguez. He was then arrested and charged with obstruction of justice.

Rodriguez, who said in sworn testimony that he was terrified of Miss Maxwell, also said he took the book as an “insurance policy” to prevent Epstein making him “disappear”.

He was sentenced to 18 months in prison – the same punishment Epstein received for his sex offences – in June last year. His wife, Patricia Dunn, told The Daily Telegraph that he was “sorry” for his error.

Dave Lee Brannon, an Assistant Public Defender who represented Rodriguez, said: “If this book had been produced when requested, Mr Epstein’s sentence may have been significantly different.”

Details of the journal emerged in a lawsuit brought in Florida by Epstein against Brad Edwards, a lawyer representing several alleged victims.

Epstein alleges Edwards was linked to a “Ponzi scheme” run by a colleague, which lured investors by falsely claiming Epstein had agreed to settle sex-offence lawsuits for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Edwards rejects the allegation, which has already been dismissed by the Florida Bar.


SAUDIS MOBILIZE THOUSANDS OF TROOPS TO QUELL GROWING REVOLT

March 6th, 2011

It’s going to be an interesting Monday in the energy markets.

Via: Independent:

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer and the regional domino whose fall the West fears most, yesterday announced that it would ban all protests and marches. The move – the stick to match the carrot of benefits worth $37bn (£23bn) recently offered citizens in an effort to stave off the unrest that has overtaken nearby states – comes before a “day of rage” threatened for this Friday by opponents of the regime.

The Saudi Interior Ministry said the kingdom has banned all demonstrations because they contradict Islamic laws and social values. The ministry said some people have tried to get around the law to “achieve illegitimate aims” and it warned that security forces were authorised to act against violators. By way of emphasis, a statement broadcast on Saudi television said the authorities would “use all measures” to prevent any attempt to disrupt public order.

Already, as The Independent reported yesterday, the ruling House of Saud had drafted security forces, possibly numbering up to 10,000, into the north-eastern provinces. These areas, home to most of the country’s Shia Muslim minority, have been the scenes of small demonstrations in recent weeks by protesters calling for the release of prisoners who they say are being held without trial. Saudi Shias also complain that they find it much harder to get senior government jobs and benefits than other citizens.


ATF Memo On Operation That Allowed Weapons Shipments To Mexican Drug Cartels: Fortunately, Coverage By Mainstream Media, “Seems To Have Fizzled”

March 6th, 2011

Via: CBS News:

As CBS News investigates “gun walking” allegations — that ATF let thousands assault rifles and other weapons get into the hands of criminal suspects — ATF bosses have remained largely silent.

We’ve had ongoing requests for information and on camera interviews with both ATF and the Department of Justice since prior to our first report which aired Feb. 22.

A similar lack of response has been reported by Senator Charles Grassley, who has asked for documents and briefings from ATF.

Now, we learn that after our Feb. 22 report, ATF’s Chief Public Affairs officer sent an all-call internal memo to ATF Public Information Officers in an effort to “lessen the coverage of such stories in the news cycle by replacing them with good stories about ATF.”

The memo asks ATF PIO’s to “Please make every effort in the next two weeks to maximize coverage of ATF operations/enforcement actions/arrests at the local and regional level” in hopes it would drown out the “negative coverage by CBS News.”

At the time, the memo noted “Fortunately, the CBS story has not sparked any follow up coverage by mainstream media and seems to have fizzled.”

Related: ATF Let Hundreds of U.S. Weapons Fall into Hands of Suspected Mexican Gunrunners


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