Cuba:a la vanguardia de la lucha contra el SIDA

La isla de Cuba, pese a todas las conocidas (y propaladas) carencias materiales y su vacilante economía (¿qué economía no se encuentra en riesgo?) que ha hecho afirmar a sus propios dirigentes que el país confronta una situación crítica, mantiene una posición de vanguardia en la contención de la epidemia del siglo XXI : el SIDA.

Los datos que aporto no me han sido facilitados precisamente por amigos o autoridades del sistema sanitario cubano (cuentan con unos 535,000 empleados en el sector de la salud), en algunos de mis viajes para visitar a mi señora madre, a su fea perra y el resto de la "tropa": la católica y apostólica Mercedes y el coronel Palmer al mando.  Muy lejos de eso, se tratan de datos que incluye Donald G. McNeil en un reportaje publicado por la sección de ciencia del New York Times.

Cuba tiene una de las tasas de infección por HIV más bajas del mundo del 0,1 a la par por ejemplo con Finlandia. El número de casos detectados se cifra en 14.038. McNeil resalta que siendo la población de toda la isla, ligeramente superior a la de Nueva York en Cuba han muerto en tres décadas de epidemia 2.364 personas, mientras que en Nueva York el número de fallecidos es de 78.763 .

Al notable éxito, reconocido por  los expertos de organismos internacionales fiables ha contribuido la existencia de un sistema sanitario gratuito, con asistencia universal a los ciudadanos, dentro del que se propicia un altísimo número de pruebas de detección del HIV voluntarias, la distribución gratuita de condones, especialmente en grupos de riesgo como las prostitutas y chaperos (jineteras en el argot popular) que dicho sea de paso buscan su negocio preferentemente entre visitantes europeos y canadienses, de esos que van a la isla por turismo sexual. A estas medidas se suman programas de educación sexual para los jovenes y estudiantes. Y medicamentos de primera calidad grátis.

La lucha de Cuba es aún más meritoria si se tiene en cuenta que mientras en otros territorios se detecta una sola variedad del vírus (los virus mutan y hay distintas cepas, lo que hace más difícil el tratamiento), en Cuba, como resultado de los contactos con África en los años 60, existen hasta 21 variedades.

Hay una anécdota que los médicos cubanos citan con gusto: Fidel Castro en 1983 asistió a una conferencia sobre dengue y malaria en el Instituto Pedro Kourí de medicina tropical. Al terminar las ponencias se dirigió a Gustavo Kourí, director del centro, y le dijo: "Gustavo, que sabes de eso del SIDA". Y Kourí le respondió: "Nada Comandante, no sabemos si es un virus o una bacteria ni hay datos en ninguna parte".

Fidel se quedó un momento callado y a continuación le dijo: "Eso va a ser la epidemia del siglo. Y tú tienes la responsabilidad de que no se convierta en un problema mayor para nosotros".

A ver si otros países ricos y poderosos, con sus recortes en salud, no desatan verdaderas tragedias.

El peligro actual en Fukushima

Fukushima: A Nuclear War  without a War: The Unspoken Crisis of Worldwide Nuclear Radiation

- by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky

Algunos expertos no dudan de calificar la piscina de combustible radiactivo número 4 de Fukushima como "el mayor riesgo aislado para toda la humanidad". A la vista de las cifras comentadas por Robert Álvarez, asesor del Consejo Nacional de Seguridad de la Energía y Medioambiente estadounidense, el colapso de la estructura desencadenaría una situación catastrófica de consecuencias globales. 

The dumping of highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean constitutes a potential trigger to a process of global radioactive contamination. Eventually all major regions of the World will be affected.


"Based on U.S. Energy Department data, assuming a total of 11,138 spent fuel assemblies are being stored at the Dai-Ichi site, nearly all, which is in pools. They contain roughly 336 million curies (~1.2 E+19 Bq) of long-lived radioactivity. About 134 million curies is Cesium-137 — roughly 85 times the amount of Cs-137 released at the Chernobyl accident as estimated by the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP).

The total spent reactor fuel inventory at the Fukushima-Daichi site contains nearly half of the total amount of Cs-137 estimated by the NCRP to have been released by all atmospheric nuclear weapons testing, Chernobyl, and world-wide reprocessing plants (~270 million curies or ~9.9 E+18 Becquerel). It is important for the public to understand that reactors that have been operating for decades, such as those at the Fukushima-Dai-Ichi site have generated some of the largest concentrations of radioactivity on the planet." (Robert Alvarez, former Senior Policy Adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Security and the Environment at the U.S. Department of Energy)


The Greatest Single Threat to Humanity: Fuel Pool Number 4

We noted days after the Japanese earthquake that the biggest threat was from the spent fuel rods in the fuel pool at Fukushima unit number 4, and not from the reactors themselves. See this and this.We noted in February:


Scientists say that there is a 70% chance of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hitting Fukushima this year, and a 98% chance within the next 3 years.


Given that nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen says that an earthquake of 7.0 or larger could cause the entire fuel pool structure collapse, it is urgent that everything humanly possible is done to stabilize the structure housing the fuel pools at reactor number 4.

Tepco is doing some construction at the building ... it is a race against time under very difficult circumstances, and hopefully Tepco will win.

As AP points out:


The structural integrity of the damaged Unit 4 reactor building has long been a major concern among experts because a collapse of its spent fuel cooling pool could cause a disaster worse than the three reactor meltdowns.

Dunkan on-line

Con la llegada inminente del verano, que por la Penísula Ibérica es ya una realidad, el personal se desboca en busca de fórmulas mágicas para lucir palmito. Es decir, soltar los kilos acumulados en los atracones invernales. Y el personal desde luego que alucina, vamos. De las maneras más floridas. Lo que más se lleva no es ya la anticuada dieta de la alcachofa, sino la del francés Dunkan. Y les contaré mi experiencia personal. Punto número uno: Creo que Dunkan no ha descubierto absolutamente nada. La que se dice suya es una vieja dieta hiperproteica, llamada también cetogénica ya que el metabolismoo "quema" los lípidos y produce sustancias cetónicas, que se eliminan a golpe de hígado y riñón. Así de claro. Las dietas cetogénicas se practican desde hace muchos años. Y sí, claro que se pierden kilos, que en algunos casos se recuperan en un abrir y cerrar de ojos.

Cuando estaba en la universidad solíamos hacer una dieta que según se decía era la que practicaban las bailarinas del famoso ballet ruso Bolshoi: injerir exclusivamente dos naranjas y un litro de leche al día, y se bajaban los kilos corriendo. Si quieren prueben a ver qué pasa. No les aseguro nada. Se pueden pillar una buena crisis ansiosa si insisten demasiados días. Los bailarines queman enormes cantidades de energía y utilizan trucos puntuales para perder kilos ante las necesidades de ciertos papeles. Ustedes mismos.

Lo que quiero comentar sobre el Dr. Dunkan es que se ha montado un "portal" en internet que da gusto. No me atrevo a decir que es un gran nutricionista, pero en lo de la mercadotecnia es un verdadero maestro. Visiten la paginita en cuestión y estarán de acuerdo conmigo que el hombre lo hace muy pero que muy bien. Encima tiene una especie de supermercado on-line donde vende hasta el complemento no proteico que indica, el salvado de avena. Dunkan ha arrasado con su libro de las 100 dichosas recetas. Y ha suscitado un odio africano entre sus doctos colegas que ven vaciarse sus consultas. Y es que lo de Dunkan parece fácil: proteinas por un tubo y un poquito, no mucho, de ejercicio. El tipo admite que en la fase de choque, el asalto inicial contra los kilos, se puede producir cierta flojera, que cede con la continuación del tratamiento. Otro efecto indeseable puede ser el mal aliento. Todo pecata minuta en aras de conseguir la meta soñada: parecernos a una joven modelo anoréxica.

Mayo felino

Que el mes de mayo os traiga muchos bellos gatos.

Los mundos posibles de Pennigton

No sabemos si llegaremos a conocer a los habitantes de otros planetas. Mientras tanto queda la fantasía. La ilusión de Crónicas Marcianas.

WHO WAS OSAMA? WHO IS OBAMA?
By Michel Chossudovsky

Michel Chossudovsky, editor principal de Global Research, y autor de numerosos artículos, mete el dedo en la llaga y analiza las sombras y dudas que existen en torno a Osama Bin Laden y sus organizaciones terroristas. While the President and Commander in Chief of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama "celebrates" the first anniversary of the alleged death of bin Laden, the substantive issue as to WHO WAS OSAMA BIN LADEN remains unheralded. (Remarks by President Obama in Address to the Nation from Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, see video at foot of article)

Through lies and fabrications, president Obama`s carefully scripted speech upholds a world of total fantasy, in which "bad guys" are lurking and "plotting acts of terror" Islamic "jihadists" are said to be threatening Western civilization.
Each and every statement in Obama's May 1st speech at Bagram Air Force base regarding the role of Al Qaeda is a fabrication: (below are excerpts from Obama's Remarks in italics, author's comments are indicated inside square brackets [ ]):
It was here, in Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden established a safe haven for his terrorist organization


[Osama was recruited by the CIA, Al Qaeda was set up by with the support of the CIA. His safe haven was protected by US intelligence] .
It was here, in Afghanistan, where al Qaeda brought new recruits, trained them, and plotted acts of terror.
[The Mujahideen were recruited and trained by the CIA. America's ally Saudi Arabia financed the Wahabbi coranic schools, Ronald Reagan praised the Mujahideen as "Freedom Fighters". Unknown to the American public, the US spread the teachings of the Islamic jihad in textbooks "Made in America", developed at the University of Nebraska]
It was here, from within these borders, that al Qaeda launched the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 innocent men, women and children.
[Obama is referring to the 9/11 attacks. To this date there is no evidence that Al Qaeda was involved. Moreover, confirmed by CBS News, on September 10, 2001 Osama bin Laden had been admitted to a Pakistani military hospital in Rawalpindi courtesy of America's ally Pakistan. Did he coordinate the 9/11 attacks from his hospital bed?]
And so, 10 years ago, the United States and our allies went to war to make sure that al Qaeda could never again use this country to launch attacks against us.
[The 9/11 attacks was the justification for waging war on Afghanistan on the grounds of`"self defense". Afghanistan was said to be harboring Al Qaeda and was, therefore, complicit in an outright act of war against the USA.
The fact of the matter is that the Taliban government on two occasions in the weeks following 9/11 offered (through diplomatic channels) to hand over Osama bin Laden to the US Justice system. President George W. Bush refused the offer of the Taliban government, intimating that America "does not negotiate with terrorists".
NATO went to war invoking Article Five of the Washington Treaty: an act of war against one member of NATO is considered an act of war against all members of NATO under the doctrine of collective security.]


Despite initial success, for a number of reasons, this war has taken longer than most anticipated. In 2002, bin Laden and his lieutenants escaped across the border and established safe haven in Pakistan. America spent nearly eight years fighting a different war in Iraq. And al Qaeda’s extremist allies within the Taliban have waged a brutal insurgency.
[The Whereabout of Osama bin Laden have always been known to US intelligence. President Obama conveys the illusion that US-NATO forces and their intelligence operatives could not find bin Laden. In the words of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (2002), "it is like searching for a needle in a stack of hay".
President Obama also suggests that Al Qaeda operatives equipped with stinger missiles and Kalashnikovs had managed to outsmart the US-NATO multi-trillion dollar military machine.]
But over the last three years, the tide has turned. We broke the Taliban’s momentum. We’ve built strong Afghan security forces. We devastated al Qaeda’s leadership, taking out over 20 of their top 30 leaders. And one year ago, from a base here in Afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed Osama bin Laden.
[A lot has been written on this issue. No proof as to the identity of the person who was allegedly killed by the Seals Special Forces In the words of Paul Craig roberts; The US government’s bin Laden story was so poorly crafted that it did not last 48 hours before being fundamentally altered ]
The goal that I set -- to defeat al Qaeda and deny it a chance to rebuild -- is now within our reach.
[There is ample evidence that Al Qaeda is live and kicking. Since 9/11, Al Qaeda has developed into a multinational entity with "subsidiaries" in various geopolitical hotspots around the world.
In Libya and Syria, Al Qaeda brigades are the foot soldiers of the US-NATO military alliance.
Wherever the US military and intelligence apparatus is deployed, Al Qaeda is present:
Al Qaeda in Iraq, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Libya Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), Al Shaabab (Somalia), Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) (Army of Mohammed) (Pakistan), Jemaah Islamiya organization (JI) (Indonesia) Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, etc. (See US State Department Foreign Terrorist Organizations, United Nations Security Council, List of individuals, groups, undertakings and other entities associated with Al-Qaida Al-Qaida Sanctions List)
In a bitter irony, in all these countries, US intelligence is covertly coordinating the activities of Al Qaeda affiliated groups. Officially counterterrorism consists in fighting the Islamic jihad. Unofficially through covert operations, Western intelligence supports their "assets" including terror entities on the US State Department list.
Moreover, these various terrorist organizations are now being used in US-NATO covert military operations against sovereign countries (e.g. Libya and Syria). According to Israeli intelligence sources:


"NATO headquarters in Brussels and the Turkish high command are meanwhile drawing up plans for their first military step in Syria, which is to arm the rebels with weapons for combating the tanks and helicopters spearheading the Assad regime's crackdown on dissent. Instead of repeating the Libyan model of air strikes, NATO strategists are thinking more in terms of pouring large quantities of anti-tank and anti-air rockets, mortars and heavy machine guns into the protest centers for beating back the government armored forces."(DEBKAfile, NATO to give rebels anti-tank weapons, August 14, 2011)
Ronald Reagan chats with Mujahideen Freedom fighters
Who is or was Osama?
An "intelligence asset", namely an instrument of the CIA used to justify the "Global War on Terrorism".
It is worth recalling that on September 14, 2001, both the House and the Senate adopted a historical resolution authorizing the president to "go after" countries which "aided the [9/11] terrorist attacks"


The president is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.


Today in 2012, there is ample evidence that




1) Al Qaeda was not behind the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon.


2) There is also detailed evidence that agencies of the US government as well as NATO, continue to support and "harbor such organizations" [Al Qaeda and its affiliated organizations]. In Libya, the "pro-democracy" rebels were led by Al Qaeda paramilitary brigades under the supervision of NATO Special Forces. The "Liberation" of Tripoli was carried out by "former" members of the Libya Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). The jihadists and NATO work hand in glove. These "former" Al Qaeda affiliated brigades constitute the backbone of the "pro-democracy" rebellion.


3) There is mounting evidence that the WTC towers were brought down through controlled demolition, raising the possibility of complicity and cover-up within the US government, intelligence and military. (see the writings of Richard Gage, Undisputed Facts Point to the Controlled Demolition of WTC 7, Global Research, March 2008, see also video, Richard Gage Controlled Demolitions Caused the Collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC) buildings on September 11, 2001, Global Research)


Who is Obama?
A political liar and a war criminal.
Obama's scripted speeches are slanted distortions. Realities are turned upside down. Acts of war are heralded as peace-making operations...
Ironically, the text of the September 14, 2001 Congressional resolution (see above) does not exclude judiicial action and criminal investigation directed against the US-NATO sponsors of international terrorism, including president Obama, who have used the tragic events of 9/11 as a pretext to wage "a war without borders" under the humanitarian banner of the "Global War on Terrorism" (GWOT).