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Monday, 14 September 2015

  Public Information Content

e-Update from the Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral Center, a service of the National Institute on Aging at N I H

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  • Gather supplies—Consider the needs of the person with Alzheimer’s disease when you assemble a disaster kit. Include medications, copies of medical information, and a recent photo.
  • Plan for an evacuation—Know where the nearest emergency shelters are and pack items that may provide comfort to the person with Alzheimer’s.
  • Prepare for wandering—Make sure the person wears an ID bracelet, and label clothes to help aid in identification.
Read Disaster Preparedness: Alzheimer’s Caregiving Tips for more ways to be ready during a crisis. 

Share this information on social media with the following message: 

#Alzheimers #caregivers—get tips on preparing for a natural disaster: http://1.usa.gov/1LVe6dl  #Ready2015 #disasterprep
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National Hispanic Heritage Month - About

 

 

 

 

 

 Please visit any DoD website by clicking on any link below to connect with what's happening in your area









Hispanic Heritage Month Celebrates Cultural Diversity

By Amaani Lyle DoD News, Defense Media Activity
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WASHINGTON, September 15, 2014 — Since 1968, when President Lyndon B. Johnson was in office, America has observed National Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 to celebrate the contributions and culture of citizens of Latin American descent.
Today’s start of National Hispanic Heritage Month also marks the anniversary of independence for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, while independence days for Mexico and Chile are observed, respectively, Sept. 16 and Sept. 18.
In an interview with The Pentagon Channel, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Juan G. Ayala, Marine Corps Installations Command facilities service division commander, noted history shows Hispanics have made an impact in all walks of the military, government and industry.
Diversity is an asset
“It’s an important time of the year to highlight the contributions Hispanics have made not only to the military but to the nation as a whole,” he said. “If you look at the last 12 years of war and … the contributions of Hispanics, you’ll see they’ve participated in every operation and they’ve done so with distinction … with honor and they’ll continue to do so.”
Ayala emphasized the importance of diversity within the Marine Corps and beyond not only as a reflection of the country, but as an impetus to increase military efficiency and readiness.
“Only 1 percent of the population of the United States is in the military,” Ayala said. “We’re not different because we’re Hispanics, we are Americans and we reflect what this country is about and what the founding fathers wanted it to be.”
The eldest of nine children, Ayala recounted his own journey to the Marine Corps, noting that his late parents were immigrants who had little grasp of the English language.
“I remember seeing my neighbors go into the Marine Corps and they were completely different people when they came back … I was very impressed,” the general said. “I thought I could really give back by joining … and ever since I was in the fifth grade I knew I wanted to become a United States Marine.”
Important values
Values such as selflessness, hard work, dignity, and respect for all mirror the Marine Corps’ core values, Ayala said.
“After 35 years, I still had that good baggage from my family and that work ethic; it’s just a reflection of who we are,” said Ayala, adding the same principles apply in battle.
“We don’t leave a Marine behind -- it’s all about your unit, your leadership and your Marine,” he said.
Ayala said his role models come from various backgrounds.
“We don’t get here by ourselves -- it’s on the backs and shoulders of a lot of great people,” he said.
The general credited his father, as well as Marine Corps’ commissioned and noncommissioned officers of all backgrounds, who mentored him and guided his career.
Prepare for the future
The general said his best advice to younger generations is to finish education in both high school and college to prepare for future leadership roles in the military and industry, each of which rely on diversity to increase their effectiveness.
“It’s not about getting numbers for numbers’ sake,” Ayala said. “[Diversity] makes us more ready to fight and defend our nation.”
Ayala also said he encourages service members to join celebrations at bases and installations and to reach out to Hispanics to learn about their stories.
(Follow Amaani Lyle on Twitter: @LyleDoDNews)















Public Information Content

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Undiagnosed Diseases Network launches online application portal

UDN Gateway enables patients to apply to national network of clinical sites
The Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN), a clinical research initiative of the National Institutes of Health, has opened an online patient application portal called the UDN Gateway. Introduction of this application system sets the stage for the network to advance its core mission: to diagnose patients who suffer from conditions that even skilled physicians have been unable to diagnose despite extensive clinical investigation. These diseases are difficult for doctors to diagnose because they are rarely seen, have not previously been described or are unrecognized forms of more common diseases.
“The UDN Gateway will provide patients and their families access to the nation’s leading diagnostic teams and sophisticated diagnostic tools.”
James M. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, NIH’s Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI)
The new system streamlines the application process. All applications for the UDN will go through the Gateway, rather through individual clinical sites in the network. The Gateway replaces what had previously been a paper-and-mail application process for the NIH Undiagnosed Diseases Program (UDP), which is now part of the UDN.
“Although undiagnosed conditions present an array of challenges for clinicians, once identified, they may lead to treatments for individual patients. They also may lead to new, generalizable medical insights,” said James M. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., director of NIH’s Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI), which provides financial support and joint leadership for the network via the NIH Common Fund. “The UDN Gateway will provide patients and their families access to the nation’s leading diagnostic teams and sophisticated diagnostic tools.”
The UDN grew out of both the success of the Undiagnosed Diseases Program at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Since its 2008 launch, the UDP has reviewed more than 3,100 applications from patients around the world. More than 800 patients have been enrolled for a one-week evaluation. While approximately 25 percent of those have received some level of clinical, molecular or biochemical diagnosis, many patients remain undiagnosed.
By adding six additional clinical sites to the original NIH UDP, the UDN will broaden its diagnostic expertise while expanding the opportunity for patients to participate. These additional clinical sites are:
  • Baylor College of Medicine, Houston
  • Duke Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, with Columbia University, New York City
  • Harvard Teaching Hospitals (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital), Boston
  • Stanford Medical Center, Stanford, California
  • University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center
  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
By the summer of 2017, each new clinical site will accept about 50 patients per year. The network has also brought on board two DNA sequencing facilities. One is at the Baylor College of Medicine, and the other is at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Alabama, with Illumina in San Diego.
The broader geographic distribution of sites in the UDN is intended to better serve patients. To support this collaboration on undiagnosed diseases, the UDN Coordinating Center at Harvard Medical School Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) created the UDN Gateway as a centralized online application site.
“The Gateway is an important part of the infrastructure that we are establishing for the UDN,” said Rachel Ramoni, D.M.D., Ph.D. “Our goal is to match 21st century medicine with 21st century technology by creating a comprehensive and streamlined online application process.” Dr. Ramoni serves as executive director and a principal investigator of the UDN Coordinating Center at DBMI.
Those who are accepted will be seen by researchers and physicians from a wide array of medical specialties and may have their DNA sequenced to detect variations in genes that may underpin their disorders.
“The UDN aims to improve the level of diagnosis and care for patients with undiagnosed diseases,” said Anastasia Wise, Ph.D., program director, NHGRI Division of Genomic Medicine and co-coordinator for the NIH Common Fund's Undiagnosed Diseases Network. “Based upon the experience of the NIH UDP, we know that the need and potential are great. The UDN Gateway will expand our ability to connect with patients who may benefit from the UDN. We want to make it as easy as possible for patients and their families to apply to participate in the network.”
For access to the UDN Gateway, go to apply.undiagnosed.hms.harvard.edu External Web Site Policy.
For more information about the UDN, including related funding announcements, visit http://commonfund.nih.gov/Diseases/index.
These UDN clinical sites are supported by NIH grants 1-U01HG007672-01, 1-U01HG007674-01, 1-U01HG007709-01, 1-U01HG007690-01, 1-U01HG007708-01, and 1-U01HG007703-01.
NHGRI is one of the 27 institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health. The NHGRI Extramural Research Program supports grants for research and training and career development at sites nationwide. Additional information about NHGRI can be found at www.genome.gov.
The NIH Common Fund encourages collaboration and supports a series of exceptionally high-impact, trans-NIH programs. Common Fund programs are designed to pursue major opportunities and gaps in biomedical research that no single NIH Institute could tackle alone, but that the agency as a whole can address to make the biggest impact possible on the progress of medical research. Additional information about the NIH Common Fund can be found at http://commonfund.nih.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health®
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This page last reviewed on September 16, 2015

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e-Update from the Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral Center, a service of the National Institute on Aging at N I H

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Get up to speed on the latest in Alzheimer’s and dementia, and learn what you need to know to inform, educate, and empower community members, people with dementia, and family caregivers.

The National Institute on Aging at NIH (NIA), Administration for Community Living (ACL), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are pleased to invite you to join the 4th annual free webinar series on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias for professionals in the public health, aging services, and research networks.

Free continuing education credit is available (CNE, CEU, and CECH)!

TO REGISTER for each webinar, go to nih.webex.com and enter the event number listed below for that webinar.

Webinar 1 - September 2015:
Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Resources You Can Use
Tuesday, September 22, 2:00-3:30 pm ET
To register: go to nih.webex.com, enter event # 623 719 567

Webinar 2 - October 2015:
What’s Happening in Alzheimer’s Research?
Wednesday, October 21, 2:00-3:30 pm ET
To register: go to nih.webex.com, enter event # 623 031 136

Webinar 3 - November 2015:
Caregivers Supporting People with Dementia: New Research and Technology
Tuesday, November 17, 2:00-3:30 pm ET
To register: go to nih.webex.com, enter event # 623 017 900

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How Environment Impacts Patient Safety
Dr. Hudson GarrettToday, on CDC’s Safe Healthcare Blog, Dr. Hudson Garrett, industry liaison and board member for the Association for the Healthcare Environment, discusses critical issues around environmental infection control in our nation’s healthcare settings. Now more than ever, environmental service professionals play an increasingly integral role in maintaining a safe environment for patients, patients’ families, and healthcare workers.
Healthcare professionals have always relied on the ability to have effective reprocessing and clean surfaces in the environment of care; unfortunately, today this a growing challenge as we are faced with organisms that are difficult to kill and impossible to treat. This makes environmental cleaning more and more important for the safety of patients.
Learn more and join the conversation at http://blogs.cdc.gov/safehealthcare/.

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Friday, 4 September 2015

Written In The Waters And In The Sands
  • An Old Problem From A Different Perspective -        - Europe's Refugee Crisis -

End Of The Beginning Or Beginning Of The End?
Nearly thirty years ago I said to someone I knew after the collapse of the Soviet Union that the expansion of the European 'Project' into Eastern Europe and the Baltic States would become it's own unraveling, as a democratic structure.
It was quite obvious even then to all who could see that incorporating countries, for example, whose Waffen SS are given pride of place within societies (indeed some educational organisation promoting neo-Nazism, under the guise of 'education' in the Baltic States, still receive grants from the European Union for 'cultural' education.)
But the European Union Project was never about democratic values as it was always about preventing another war in Europe, economic power, political and ultimately, military leverage adjunct of diplomacy, worldwide; an iron fist in a velvet glove.

What has put a temporary hold on these expansionist global plans has been the complete chaos created in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, Syria, North Africa and now in Yemen.
Europe's contribution forces operating in Iraq and Afghanistan have received a 'wake up call' under the protective wings of NATO and one which has temporarily 'clipped' future independent roles, in the absence of NATO, as a potential 'force de frappe' to extend EU diplomacy. The European Union now understands that less powerful countries, even under occupation by dominant foreign powers, are not attracted by it's ' democratic values' public relations packages - and actually fight back. That their own 'sons and daughters' are just as mortal as those of their Afghan counterparts, and that occupied countries will fight, to the last drop of the occupiers blood, to be liberated from military occupation. If such occupiers are Christians in Muslim lands, the motivation is even greater.
[Sadly the United States, as a global superpower, learnt thsese lessons a long time ago, which is why options to sub-contract the more grass roots aspects of global conflict are now a policy feature of engagement.]

Architects Of The New World Order
Military projects in Iraq, Libya and Syria (under political orders) for regime changes overseas were the first of the 'nuclear' fire chain to be set in motion.
ISIL and the Islamic Caliphate is the direct result of such interventions.
The 'swarm' of (mainly) Muslim refugees into Christendom is the other.
Together, they are all responsible for the world economic recession we are now experiencing.
(Read my previous blogs on Greece and Deutsche Bank to complete the world economic 'jigsaw' puzzle.)
It's difficult to explain to ordinary folk the connections because the mass media does such a poor job of connecting 'cause' and 'effect'.
This is quite deliberate because the same folk who own the media also own the companies supplying the military hardware, extracting the oil or other strategic resources and some even the funding (direct or indirect) of humanitarian aid for 'relief' in these very same war zones(!) If they do not own the companies directly then either indirectly or with family or other 'revolving door' links to the same.
If I was to be a total cynic I would add 'someone has to run the world and keep order, for better or for worse.' Now it's the West, in future times it will be it's successors in the East and Far East which will set the new agendas.

If You Want To See The Devil, Just Look Into The Mirror
Slovakia and Hungary are both typical of Eastern Europe.
They are Christian, monoethnic, tribal nations, not unlike Africa (but they would be shocked to see themselves, in the mirror, compared to Africans!)
If you take away skin color and just see them as single tribes ruling and living within the demarciated borders of particular countries, suspicious of outsiders or foreigners, particularly those of either a different visual complexion or with different cultural practices you get a better understanding of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. Minorities in such countries have been traditionally persecuted because they are 'different' from the dominant tribe. It's as simple as that.  Once you see Eastern Europe for what it really is, you can better appreciate Hungary's attitude to a sudden influx of 'aliens'. Such is the 'cultural' experience of 'other worlds' for such [primitive?] tribes that these refugees suddenly arriving might well have landed from Mars. I am of course exaggerating – but to highlight a point applicable to the majority of monocultural (tribal) individuals within such societies. When you hear the President or Prime Minister or Senior EU Official who is Hungarian or Slovakian or from some other monoethnic tribal country such as Slovakia or Hungary say that the refugee crises is 'someone elses problem' (sic. Germany's) or 'we are not a social laboratory' (Slovakia) its only then that ordinary people who are used to multifaith and multicultural societies, remember the horrors of Nazism, of Anti-Semitism and of the recent genocide in such countries against the Gypsies, Jehovahs Witnesses and other minority tribes and groups during the Second World War (1939-1945.)
Such sentiments do, however, echo what the vast majority of ordinary folk in such countries would expect of their Christian politicians.
(Can you think of any Muslim country willing to accept hundreds of thousands or maybe even millions of Christians? I don't . If you do, please let me know.)

We Are Not Our Brothers and Sisters Keepers?
All that most people ever heard about after the Second World War was the the Jewish holocaust. Yes their suffering was greater than most others - particularly in the countries of the Baltic States, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, because they constituted the largest tribal minority – but there were others the world (and the European Project) conveniently 'forgot' about.
You probably are unaware that the Gypsies (a tribal minority with non-European external historical roots (India) in Hungary) today live in abject poverty and face discrimination akin to that of the Jews in Nazi Germany?
Subtle discriminatory laws and 'tests' prevent Gypsies obtaining jobs, getting into Universities and keep them out of the professions – all such matters conveniently ignored by the European Union and the mass media since the fall of Communism. This is not the fault of present day Hungary per se but of Russia, it's master and ruler until the fall of Communism. As in the Ukraine, it was 'convenient' for the Russians to ignore the plight of the Gypsies and leave unhindered neo-Nazis creating divisions both in Hungary and within the Ukraine. Indeed, not until very recently has Russia cracked down on it's own home-grown and local administration cultivated Neo-Nazi movement in St. Petersburg - and this is only because they have voiced support for their Nazi brethern in neighboring Ukraine – for no other reason. Neo-Nazism, for example, was encouraged in St. Petersburg by the State Authorities to keep minority tribes (ethnic Ukrainians, ethnic minorities from within the Russian Federation which provide migrant labor) in a state of conflict with and separate from the mainstream (majority) ethnic (tribal) Russian populace in the city.
I am not surprised you do not know these facts. The mass media does its job of not informing about many such topics very well.
The point I am making here is that no efforts were ever made to fully integrate it's tribal minority, the Gypsies, into mainstream Hungarian society. Hungarians will protest this and, will provide racial stereotypical reasons why the Gypsies are impossible to integrate. I have heard them all in the course of discussions with Hungarian citizens. Racism will always find a way or an excuse. But racism is tribalism and many of us, if honest, cannot claim immunity at some point or points in our lives from the same dilemma.

Do As We Say Not As We Do
The European Union only pull such 'rabbit' 'tricks' out of the hat to 'blackmail' or 'bully' Hungary or the Baltic States into doing it's bidding.   So expect a 'flood' of media 'discoveries' about the plight of minorities in Eastern Europe or a 'discovery' of significant populous Nazi supporters in the Baltic countries (Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania) as the European Union attempts to impose Muslim refugees on these Eastern and North East European countries.  Again the word is 'impose.' Tyrants never seem to learn that you cannot 'impose' or 'force' people to 'live together.' This is even more true if there they have little to nothing in common.
The vast majority of such refugees, unlike the Jews before them, are not just of a different tribe, but have a different God (deity) a different culture and history, all are 'alien' to Europe in the sense that as soon as they are settled, there is little to no communication with their Christian neighbors except where there are no other options.
This is usually at the express directions of their Imams who (now) see their (brethrens) majority Christian neighbors more as 'the enemy' to be kept at a respectful social distance, than anything else.
Just to clariy, it is radical Imams who will be 'assigned' to these new 'communities' to ensure they do no 'stray' from Islam through interaction within Christian societies.       I am sorry to be so blunt here but I am talking from observation.
Historical Dimension Which Complicates The Present Muslim Refugee Crisis
In fact Europe has been at war with Islam to prevent it dominating the entire continent for over one thousand years. So such current refugees, in the eyes of citizens living in the heart of Europe, are not coming as just refugees, but as representatives of a faith which even today shows little mercy to Christians, let alone any other aspects of their tribal customs which might make them 'acceptable'.
In the case of the Muslim refugees seeking protection in Christendom – in Hungary to be precise - I need to go further here and say that they are not just another 'alien' tribe seeking refuge from persecution in their homelands by other related tribes, but their ancestors were, in actual fact, warriors who were, historically, 'stopped' from militarily dominating Europe and altering it's majority citizens religion by force of arms, from Christianity to Islam, at The Gates of Vienna , in the not too distant past.
For these reasons I cannot criticize Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister, for saying that he does not want Hungary to be 'Islamized' because he speaks for not just the majority of Hungarians but for other tribes living in Christendom.
There are many Christians who will at any time give food and shelter to any refugees, regardless of race, religion or creed, but not on the basis that such do not recognise the secular nature of Christendom which is non-negotiable and such refugees given temporary refuge, would then work to Islamize Christendom by undermining it's Christian ethos.

It's a difficult one for many Christians, who are not anti-Islam nor racist but who want, as British Premier Cameron said ' to do the right thing' and should be 'led with their heads, not only with their hearts' (in other words, commonsense must prevail.) These are the first words of wisdom I have heard from Premier Cameron for a very long time.

Integration Or 'Different But Equal'?
Unlike the Jews who were integrated fully into all aspects of German and other European societies by the twentieth century, Muslims are not only not integrated but their religion forbids integration as 'unclean.'
Even in Israel today (read my earlier blog back-to-back with this year's Armenian Commemoration of it's own racial genocide at the hands of the Turks) European and Non-European Jews (Sephardic and Ethiopian Jews) are separate tribes which rarely interact. Indeed European Jews do not like living in the same community as their Sephardic brothers and sisters. This is something many Jews will get angry about when confronted and, beware, you may be labeled a 'troublemaker' should you persist in researching this Achilles heel of Israeli tribal hierarchical society.
Again this should be no shock to (monoethnic) tribal societies where intermarriage with a more distant tribal group, sharing more distant values (or subsets) is rare or exceptional rather than the norm.
The Hungarian Prime Minister's statement about his country not wanting to be 'Islamized' is a 'wake up call' to the general public – at least those caring to inform themselves independent of the mass media.
So this (soon to be) attempt to 'impose' refugees on monoethnic tribal societies in Eastern Europe is simply doomed to failure because it is both against the local tribal traditions and ther is no wish to welcome another tribe for some irrational racist fears and also for some very understandable historical reasons in these particular cases.

Europe and It's Tribal Past – Are There Lessons We Can Learn For Africa, Asia and Elsewhere?
Historically, Europe has been conquered by military force. Ethnic slaughter and ethnic cleansing, sometimes in the name of a tribe, sometimes in the name of religion, has ensured that only the dominant tribes prevailed and ultimately ruled across the continent. This was both it's strength and it's weakness and remains so today.

Restrictive Practices
Until fairly recently in European history, laws were applicable forbidding the travel of designated tribal minorities beyond certain areas. Indeed it was illegal for Jews to travel outside designated 'Jewish zones' without legal permission in Europe less than four hundred years ago, long before Hitler came into power. It was only after 'liberalization' of such laws governing the Jews, and the first significant presence of the Jewish tribal minority was first experienced throughout the majority of cities of Europe, that modern anti-Semitism leading to Nazism was born. Before that it had been pogroms in countries such as the Baltic States, Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia and Russia and other parts of Europe (witch hunts and murder-ethnic slaughter) against Jewish communities villages, towns, businesses and their mass murder in cities of Europe which were regular occurrences.
Some of the worst pogroms took place in Russia, the Ukraine, and other countries of central Europe – but such were by no means confined to Eastern Europe.
The good thing for the course of history is that such talented people from ethnic minorities took themselves and their families to 'The Promised Land' (America) and built it into the superpower it remains today. America continues to welcome skilled and talented individuals – regardless of tribe or religion or race - not to the same extent – and not without the usual stresses and strains (but which are dealt with within the rule of law as opposed to pogroms against minorities) - but no more than most other countries in Christendom.

Heart Of Darkness
All such history of Europe's very recent dark past before Nazism conveniently swept under the carpet after World War II by the European Union in it's bid to 'appear' civilized and 'reformed'. But even after all the horrors of World War II, pogroms were not a thing of the past.
As late as the early 1960s, a pogrom in the heart of Paris (France) resulted in the murder of more than 300 Algerian Muslims, their bodies thrown into the River Seine, during the period of the war against Algerian independence. Even today, few French citizens are aware of this genocide and it is not (naturally) widely publicized for topical discussion either in France nor in the mass media across the continent – since most European countries have their pogrom 'skeletons' in the cupboards which they certainly do not want disinterred.
The point I am making here is that continental Europe has a history of tribalism often leading to barbarity and warfare against minorities. It's recent history of 'tolerance' of minorities is exceptional rather than the rule. Today in Europe we see what happens under extreme pressure. Europe again reverts to tribalism.

Squandered Opportunities For Real Change
A unique opportunity existed after the Second World War to 'turn a new page' – just like it did in Iraq after the first Gulf War. All such opportunities were squandered – by other tribes and related new groups or subsets - who believed it was now their 'right' to resume 'rule the world' - under different guises.
My point here is that the militarily defeated tribes also learnt nothing – as their fate was now determined by new new alien tribes from the East – the Russian Slavs and Asiatics - and from The West – America and the Anglo-Saxon tribal world - and all discourse about the past was placed into deep freeze as a new mindset was created to educate the masses and to glorify the new tribal rulers, having replaced the defeated tribes.
In the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, history 1000 years from now might indeed see recent military interventions as significant turning points in world history. The defeated tribes did indeed learn lessons – but sadly the lessons learnt from the conquering tribes to which they were now subject, were ones which were not just negative, but were so nihilistic, that, given new opportunities to re-assert themselves, conquering lesser tribes and groups, similar to what happened in the history of Europe and with the potential to plunge the whole world onto a very different trajectory for centuries to come.
So you see, when you take it out of traditional politics and place it into the naked arena of tribalism, everything becomes so very clear to understand.  Tribalism, ethnic cleansing, scorched earth and ultimate majority tribe domination with all others 'sub nominae' (and not integration of the tribes) is the norm in Europe and it maybe a planetary phenomenon (worldwide) given the natural order of things.
'Separate but equal' (from the days of Apartheid in South Africa) would be a more appropriate phrase for the European Union integration project – with some tribes being 'more equal than others'.
The foundations and lessons may have been laid and learnt for more profound future projects.

Global or Local?
The United States is a global empire because it is global – but to the President or Prime Minister of Slovakia or Hungary or Latvia it is an 'ethnic laboratory' – and looking at it in the context of tribalism what they say, from their perspective, is perfectly understandable, as shocking or confusing as it might appear to the majority of U.S. and British and other nations which have had the experience of global empire management, in contrast to localized tribal (ghetto?) historical confinement and for the reasons mentioned above.
Don't also forget that it's not all that long ago (less than 500 years) the tribes in Europe lived, as do many people still in Asia and in Africa (I know because I have seen.) People were frightened to venture into the forests because such were inhabited by wild creatures, robbers, and they believed, witches, and all things mysterious. People rarely traveled at night for similar reasons.

Offering Shelter From the Storm – Not A Uniquely Christian Tradition By Any Means
There is a major refugee disaster unfolding in Europe of an epic proportion. The most affected countries are those on the doorstep – Greece, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Italy and Malta.   Such countries in closer proximity have some empathy despite their own financial limitations and hardships. Then there are the countries more removed and nearer the heart of Europe.  They do not understand that such refugees are people who have lost everything, even their human dignity, because they have never had to internalize, in recent years, what it is like to be thrown into an 'alien' environment totally helpless and dependent on total strangers for everything we take for granted. Many Christians in the heart of Europe just do not care.    What they see are new future problems rather than new future opportunities.   But that is their right.  They are not interested in building world empires and are perfectly content for themselves and their people (in the main) to stay at home, within the secure confines of the tribe and its environment.   So for such reasons, they are reluctant to welcome refugees in large numbers.

Tribalism and Opposition To Profound Change
The last profound changes in Europe (excluding World Wars I and II) as a whole was when Christianity converted these all these warring tribes from Paganism.   There then followed periods of Holy and Unholy conflicts where other tribes asserted and re-asserted their influence over such territories and after bloody wars, the dominant tribes created the necessary adjustments to assert the Empire of Christendom, united under one rule, the Holy Roman Empire.   And Henry VIII put an end to that.

Statues Of Liberty In the Annals of History
Sweden, France, Denmark and the Netherlands, proportionate to their size, have done more than their fair share in the taking in of political refugees.
Ultimately the countries which will offer temporary and permanent sanctuary to today's fleeing Muslim refugees will be Germany, France, the United Kingdom and The United States, as they should, given the circumstances and their unique and exceptional historical destinies of being places of refuge for minority tribes fleeing persecution in Europe and from beyond.   Another reason for this Christian hospitality is because the above countries, in their own right, unlike their counterparts in the rest of  Europe and unlike China and Russia, are all global superpowers with global responsibilities, interests, accountability and future ambitions.
 [Who knows, perhaps a future American President or Secretary of State is, at present, walking on the road between Hungary and the Austrian Border.  This is the true meaning of just one aspect of  'American exceptionalism'.] 

(I should remark here that to elected President of the United States, you must, as a minimum requirement, be born  within the territory of the United States.)

And What About The European Union? Empires Rarely Limit Themselves To The Ends Of The Earth
The European Project will saunter on, until, like Alexander The Great, it will reach just beyond it's military limits (the fate of all demagogues and dictators) and then either just fizzle out or implode or just give up as it's leaderships tire of wars, conflicts for resources, all without end, to ends of the earth, at the expense of citizens and infrastructures back home.

The fate of all Empires, thus, are ultimately all written in the waters and in the sands.




©Patrick Emek, September 2015





Wednesday, 2 September 2015


September Is National Preparedness  Month

Dept. of Health & Human Services





2015 HHS Night at the Ballpark
2015 HHS Night at the Ballpark
2015 HHS Night at the Ballpark
2015 HHS Night at the Ballpark
2015 HHS Night at the Ballpark



At HHS, we work every day to keep the American people safe from health threats. But we need your help. This September, we need you to take action.
September is National Preparedness Month, and we’re asking Americans around the country to take the first steps to being prepared. That’s why our motto this month is, “Don’t wait. Communicate. Make your emergency plan today.”
Don't wait. Communicate. Make your emergency plan today. September is National Preparedness Month.
Here are four ways you can prepare right now:
Be Informed
There’s no shortage of information and good ideas on how to prepare in the case of a disaster. Find out what evacuation routes are near you, how your community broadcasts emergency information and what emergency plans exist in places you and your family frequently spend time. Learn how other people and their families are preparing, and share your own thoughts.
For more ideas, visit Ready.gov and HHS’s public health emergency website.
Make a Plan
Once you’ve gathered some information, it’s time to put it to use. Make a plan for you and your family, and make sure you all can connect in case of an emergency. Test your plan with some questions, like:
  • Who’s counting on me, and who can I count on?
  • Where should we all meet?
  • Who could I contact to check in, especially someone far from the area of an emergency?
  • Does anyone I know depend on electrically-powered medical equipment? Do we have a fully-charged back-up battery?
  • If I get regular care for a chronic health condition, where could I go if the facility nearby closes?
A thorough plan could save your life and the lives of your loved ones. You don’t have to build it alone. Visit the National Library of Medicine to find free mobile apps that can help.
Build a Kit
What essential supplies would you and your family need for at least three days? You should buy those items now and start assembling your disaster supplies kit.
Start with fresh water, food and a battery-powered or hand crank radio. You can find many more ideas at Ready.gov/kit.
Preparedness shouldn’t be scary. It can give you some peace of mind, and you can even get the whole family involved. Ask your children to share ideas for items to include in the kit, and you can even start a scavenger hunt to shop for the supplies. Our Ready Wrigley activity series can help get the conversation started.
Get Involved
Finally, always remember the value of a community in an emergency. Reach out to your neighbors and friends and develop plans to keep everyone safe. Ready.gov/get-involved has suggestions for how you can help in your area.
Our strength as a nation has always been our ability to come together to solve major challenges.
That’s why we are all getting together Sept. 30, the National Day of Action, to practice. Gather with family, friends and neighbors in your place of worship, community center or your business, and put your emergency plan to the test. Prove that you’re ready by registering as part of America’s PrepareAthon!
You can also join us for a Thunderclap for the PrepareAthon’s National Day of Action, which will go live on September 30 at 12 PM EST, and you can join the conversation in a Twitter Chat on September 16 at 2 PM EST. Just use the hashtag #CDCprep.
This National Preparedness Month, take the first steps. Together we can make sure our families and our communities are resilient in the face of whatever comes our way.
Sylvia M. Burwell
Secretary 



Friday, 28 August 2015

The Ukraine:
Falling Through The Abyss
and
Taking Europe Along For The Ride
(The Magical Mystery Tour)

The Abyss
When the crises in the Ukraine began I predicted, based on factual analysis, that the country was not viable economically without the Eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk nor without the Crimea.
Civil war has de facto partitioned the East and West while Russia's illegal siezure of Crimea sealed that region's fate.
Who Is Really Responsible?
The responsibility for this crisis is clearly that of the European Union which insisted, against U.S. advice, that the Ukraine choose between Russia and the European Union.
This was all based on power and influence.
The European Union wanted to be the main power broker for access to Crimea and the (what was then) potential wealth creation in the Eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk.
It wanted, through vast banking and private sector loans to The Ukraine's ailing economy, to be able to control the existing pipeline revenues of oil and gas, and, indeed, plan future transit pipelines for the exclusive benefit of EU global companies.
The last thing which the United States and NATO wanted was a direct confrontation with Russia.
Achilles Heel :– Washington's Eternal Failure To Learn From History
What Washington insiders and advisors were ignoring (out of ignorance or by design) was the historical dimension to relations between the Western region and Russia. This is not surprising as few in Washington these days, who have political influence, are independent enough to provide unpalatable facts to discerning and very partial folks on The Hill.
Senators and Representatives are only interested in a range of very narrow facts and options which will support their own very biased (and often ignorant) viewpoints. 'Compromise' is a four letter word to be viewed with disdain in Washington – and will do nothing to advance your career, whether you are an analyst or politician, these days.

Russia's Culpability: 
Disinformation & The Next Humanitarian Crisis In Europe
Russia continues to portray the crisis in Ukraine as a U.S. 'conspiracy' while conveniently ignoring the European Union's culpability in what can only be described as the next humanitarian disaster – after the present crises of refugees fleeing wars and conflicts in Muslim lands - which NATO's political bosses have grossly mismanaged - waiting to happen.
If this was failure in a corporate organization, heads would roll. What has happened is that these same politicians of failure have now moved on to replicate the past disasters in new campaigns – support of Syrian rebels and their non-existent 'moderate' armies being just the most obvious.
Unintended Consequences
One of the consequences here will be a 'stealth' migration of Ukrainian nationals into Poland.
In much the same way as the burgeoning numbers of Muslim refugees in The Lebanon has the potential to destabilize the fragile unity of this already fractured and dysfunctional country, so too Ukrainian ultra-nationalists being assisted by their Polish counterparts has the potential not just to destabilize Poland but also democratic frameworks throughout Europe.
New Security Threats To Western Europe
It is not possible for Interpol to rely on their Ukrainian counterparts in much the same way as it is not possible to rely on Pakistan to provide accurate information about individuals because in both countries you simply do not know whether you can rely on the data being supplied as not having been 'manufactured' for external compliance by Pakistan's ISI or Ukraine's SBU.
Interpol, at the end of the day, is simply a tool of politicians. If they are policy instructed to ignore specific criteria which have a political-humanitarian dimension – such as a migration of Ukrainian nationals – on the grounds that if there are no reasons to deny entry (for example, holding extreme political views, may not be regarded as a case for automatic barring, especially if the political parties to which the individuals are affiliated are 'legitimate' and 'representative' of popular opinion in the Rada – the Ukrainian Parliament.)
So just one unintended consequence of the deepening economic crisis in the Ukraine is a mass exodus of academics, professionals, young and talented to seek opportunities elsewhere – and the nearest 'elsewhere' is Western Europe.
Interpol will have misgivings but such will more likely be overruled by their political oversight committees - in terms of 'criteria' guidelines.

(Apart from anything else, Ukrainians can easily find their own way into Poland and, with the assistance of sympathetic individuals, make their own way on from there.)
Conspiracy? Find Out Who Benefits
If I was German, I could be forgiven for believing that there was a 'conspiracy' to destroy Europe's most successful economy in the world, besides those of China and the United States. I am of course speaking about that of Germany.
Unintended Trade and Investment Consequences
A whole series of catastrophes have unfolded over the past two decades which have either prevented the powerhouse of Europe, Germany, from trading in the East (Russia) in the Arab world (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan) and in other lucrative regions because of United Nations Security Council resolutions, anti-terror legislation against targeted countries, or simply because of 'new' designated 'crimes' such as 'slave labor' or below minimum wage payment, failure to meet United Nations designated targets for, say, CFC emissions (tax charges on offending countries) the now defunct 'Carbon credits' scam or other newer criteria specification for, say, the safety emissions from new vehicles or some other new designated criteria which must be present before a manufactured good can be imported into the United States or into Europe.
What such effectively are 'stealth' trade barriers to subsidize and give competitive edges to European and U.S. transnational companies.
In Europe all such measures affect German companies disproportionally because Germany remains the manufacturing powerhouse of Europe.
In the short term German companies benefit from such legislation but when told they cannot export for political reasons, then the markets abroad will ultimately be taken up by cheaper Chinese, Indian, and other countries who have not yet 'signed up' to the 'restrictive practices' 'clubs'.  Those markets will be difficult to win back in future decades for the simple reason that the initial barriers were created not on the basis of design faults of foreign competitors, but purely to restrict market access to external competitors.
The foreign goods themselves, from Asia and the Far East, are technically sound (as they always were) and cheaper than their U.S. and German counterparts. So German export markets have been, effectively, ruined, long term.

One could well be forgiven for seeing a new chapter in 'Great Game' unfolding as attempts by others to 'carve up' 'traditional' German markets to rejuvenate their ailing economies, are well under way.

The Refugee Crisis: The Mirage Media
I have already discussed the Muslim and Christian Arab refugee crisis which is also disproportionately affecting Germany more than any other wealthy economy in Western Europe.
If you read my previous blogs I do not blame these unfortunate refugees. They too are pawns of situations outside their control and are doing what any rational person would under similar circumstances. Their dilemma is also being manipulated to stoke the fires of hatreds and nationalism and deflect from those who are silently culpable for these unholy messes, disasters and mismanagement on scales which are almost incredible to believe in the 21st century. The only thing more incredulous to me is the blind ignorance which the daily mirages create for mass population consumption and manipulation so that they themselves cannot see the heart of the matter.

Geroge Orwell's '1984' probably arrived in 1954, but most were so blind, they could not see it then nor can they see it now.

©Patrick Emek, August 2015












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