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Investigation of Baxter Vaccine by New Zealand Minister of Health

July 8, 2009 by Infinite

(NaturalNews) The New Zealand Minister of Health, Hon Tony Ryall, has asked the Ministry of Health officials to urgently advise him on issues raised about a “swine flu” vaccine produced by Baxter International Inc. This follows his receipt of a letter raising concerns about whether vaccines produced by Baxter for “swine flu” can be trusted.

In an open letter to all members of the New Zealand House of Parliament, Penny Bright, Media Spokesperson for Water Pressure Group, a judicially recognized Public Watchdog for Metrowater, water and Auckland regional governance matters, raises a series of questions and concerns about the safety of the vaccine. She demands to know whether Baxter products are currently being used in New Zealand for the “swine flu”, “bird flu” or any other type of flu.

Bright highlights the fact that Baxter is currently facing criminal charges for producing contaminated “bird flu” vaccine that date back to February of this year when it became known that the company had sent out 72 kilos of live “bird flu” virus supplied by the World Health Organization in the winter of 2009 to 16 laboratories in four countries. These charges were filed by journalist Jane Burgermeister of Austria.

Burmeister’s allegations claim that clear evidence exists that the pharmaceutical company and international government agencies actively conspired in producing, developing, manufacturing and distributing biological agents classified as the most deadly bioweapons on earth in order to trigger a pandemic and cause mass death.

Last December, the Austrian branch of Baxter sent a batch of ordinary human H3N2 flu, altered so it could not replicate, to Avir Green Hills Biotechnology, also in Austria. In February, a lab in the Czech Republic working for Avir alerted Baxter that, unexpectedly, ferrets inoculated with a sample from the shipment had died. It was discovered that the sample contained live H5N1, which was to be used by Baxter to make vaccine. Baxter claims the two mixed by error, and called the incident a simple “accident”.

New Zealand orders 300,000 doses of untested and unapproved swine flu vaccine

July 6, 2009 by Infinite

Wellington – New Zealand has ordered a stock of untested and unapproved swine flu vaccine for health workers, police and other emergency staff but it is not likely to be used until December at the earliest, Prime Minister John Key announced on Monday.

An initial supply of 300,000 doses had been ordered from the international company Baxter Healthcare Limited for delivery within the month, he told a news conference after New Zealand’s first three deaths from the disease were revealed at the weekend.

Related information:
– Baxter: Product contaminated with live H5N1 avian flu virus:
The company that released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed Friday that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses.
The contamination incident, which is being investigated by the four European countries, came to light when the subcontractor in the Czech Republic inoculated ferrets with the product and they died. Ferrets shouldn’t die from exposure to human H3N2 flu viruses.
– Children may get swine flu vaccine shots first this fall; Schools might even be turned into shot clinics
– Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccination and the autism coverup
– Homeopathy Successfully Treated Flu Epidemic of 1918
– Dr. Russell Blaylock on 1976 Swine Flu and Current Outbreak
– Ron Paul on the Swine Flu Scare

Key said the vaccine would have to be licensed by the government’s Medsafe agency which assesses the safety and efficacy of all medicines.

Health Minister Tony Ryall said clinical trials of the vaccine would be held in Europe and the purchase was strategic given that the H1N1 influenza virus pandemic could last up to two years.

‘We want to be in the position of having the vaccine and not needing it, rather than the other way around,’ he said.

He said that when approved two doses of the vaccine would be offered to 150,000 doctors, nurses, police, firefighters and other frontline health and emergency workers.

Flu Reaches 11 Countries, 331 Cases Confirmed by WHO

May 1, 2009 by Infinite

Inspectors for swine flu walk through a terminal at Narita International Airport in Narita City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan on April 30, 2009. Photographer: Haruyoshi Yamaguchi/Bloomberg News

May 1 (Bloomberg) — Flu reached 11 countries, as governments closed schools, planned for vaccine production and tapped emergency stockpiles of antiviral medicine.

Genetic tests have confirmed more than 331 people have the strain originally labeled swine flu, according to the World Health Organization’s Web site. Hundreds more cases are suspected in New York, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The WHO said thousands of samples from sick patients are backlogged for testing, and disease trackers are looking at whether an outbreak in Spain should trigger a declaration of a pandemic.

The Geneva-based health agency raised its six-tier alert to 5 on April 29 and said a move to the next and final level, for the world’s first influenza pandemic since 1968, may soon be made. The WHO urged countries to make final preparations against a disease that may sweep across the globe, preying on a world population that has no natural immunity to the new virus.

Standard & Poor’s said it may cut Spain’s credit rating; Euro Weakens to One-Month Low on ECB Outlook

January 13, 2009 by Infinite

The following picture depicts the future Euro/US$ exchange rate.
The US dollar will be destroyed.

A euro banknote is arranged for a photograph atop U.S. bills, in New York, Dec. 30, 2008. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News

Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) — The euro weakened for a third day versus the dollar, reaching a one-month low, as traders added to bets the European Central Bank will reduce interest rates, decreasing the appeal of the region’s assets.

The 16-nation currency also declined to the lowest level in more than a month against the yen after Standard & Poor’s said it may cut Spain’s credit rating. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition said yesterday it will spend 50 billion euros ($66.6 billion) to support Europe’s largest economy. New Zealand’s dollar fell to a four-week low after S&P said it may cut the country’s foreign-currency credit rating.

Related article: New Zealand’s AA+ Credit Rating May Be Cut, S&P Says (Bloomberg)

“There is more than enough room for the euro to fall further,” said Hideki Amikura, deputy general manager of foreign exchange in Tokyo at Nomura Trust and Banking Co., a unit of Japan’s largest brokerage. “The focus of the currency market is how far rates will fall in Europe, because the ECB is behind the curve compared with other central banks.”

New Zealand recession deepens

December 23, 2008 by Infinite

New Zealand’s economy has contracted for a third straight quarter as the combination of a weak housing market and a slowing global economy takes its toll.

The country’s gross domestic product contracted 0.4pc in the three months to the end of September and that follows a 0.2pc decline in the second quarter and a 0.3pc shrinkage in the first three months of the the year. The decline for the latest quarter was in line with economists’ expectations.

Like that of its larger neighbour Australia, New Zealand’s economy has enjoyed a booming housing market over the past decade. However, the bursting of the housing bubble has prompted New Zealanders to apply a sharp brake to their spending.

New Zealand November House Sales Plunge 45.4%, Institute Says

December 10, 2008 by Infinite

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) — New Zealand home sales plunged in November as a contracting economy and tighter credit deterred buyers.

A total of 4,279 homes were sold last month, down 45.4 percent from the same month in 2007, the Auckland-based Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Inc. said today in an e-mailed report. The median house price dropped 4.1 percent from a year earlier to NZ$337,500 ($183,000).

Home sales are near an 18-year low, adding to signs that nation’s first recession in 10 years will be prolonged by the effects of a global credit freeze on bank lending and consumer spending.

Resistance of flu virus to Tamiflu growing

August 22, 2008 by Infinite

Questions are arising over how long the Tamiflu retro-viral drugs being stockpiled by the New Zealand government — and many other countries — will remain an effective weapon against the next flu pandemic.

Tamiflu-resistant forms of the “ordinary” seasonal influenza are rapidly spreading and the drug may be ineffective in fighting the dominant flu strain in South Africa this winter.

World Health Organisation (WHO) data shows tests on 107 people in South Africa with the H1N1 strain — one of the three most common flu viruses in humans — found all had a mutant bug resistant to Tamiflu, the WHO said in a statement. Only one of the patients was taking Tamiflu at the time of sampling.

Defence chiefs admit to nuclear deaths

August 3, 2008 by Infinite

BRITISH Defence chiefs have admitted servicemen were exposed to dangerous radiation levels during nuclear tests in Australia and the South Pacific in the 1950s.

The dramatic admission, made after years of denials, features in papers filed with the High Court in London by Ministry of Defence lawyers.

The Sunday Mirror newspaper said the court papers reveal that the Ministry of Defence now believes that nuclear tests were responsible for the deaths of some British servicemen.

However, the MoD insists that only 159 men were affected out of the 20,000 who were present.

Eye scans, fingerprints to control NZ borders

July 28, 2008 by Infinite

Border control staff will be able to use iris scans and finger printing to check passengers’ identities under major changes to New Zealand immigration rules.

Despite criticism from Amnesty International at the level of secrecy permitted, the changes look set to become law, with the National Party pledging its support.

Dutch health system rated best, U.S. worst – polls

July 9, 2008 by Infinite

NEW YORK, July 7 (Reuters Life! ) – Americans are the least satisfied with their health care system – and their President –, while the Dutch system is rated the best, according to new research.

Polls about health care in 10 developed countries by Harris Interactive revealed a range of opinions about what works and what doesn’t.

In the United States a third of Americans believe their system needs to be completely overhauled, while a further 50 percent feel that fundamental changes need to be made.

New Zealand: Rising costs start to bite

June 23, 2008 by Infinite

The average Kiwi has to work until smoko time each Wednesday just to fuel up the car and buy the groceries.

Calculations by the Sunday Star-Times show that on the average Kiwi wage of $45,000 a year, a worker needs to toil away for 17 hours a week just to keep their family fed and their car fuelled. That is because food prices have gone up by 11.8 per cent in the past year, while petrol prices have jumped 34 per cent. By contrast, wages for most people have risen by only about 3 per cent.

An average couple with two dependent children can now expect to spend around $244 a week on groceries, plus another $47 a week on petrol (more if they own a second car or a gas-guzzling 4WD). That’s an increase of about $43 on grocery and fuel costs compared with a year ago.

Wages have not risen at the same rapid rate which means more of their income is being swallowed up by necessities each week.

Sheep and Cow flatulence inoculation developed

June 6, 2008June 6, 2008 by Infinite

New Zealand scientists claim to have developed a “flatulence inoculation” aimed at cutting down on the massive amount of methane produced by its sheep and cows.

Such animals are believed to be responsible for more than half of the country’s greenhouse gases, causing huge environmental problems.

But Phil Goff, New Zealand’s trade minister, told an Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in Paris yesterday that a solution was in sight.

“Our agricultural research organisation just last week was able to map the genome … that causes methane in ruminant animals and we believe we can vaccinate against” flatulent emissions, Mr Goff said.

Scientists in New Zealand have been working around-the-clock to reduce emissions from agriculture, such as changing the way fertilisers are used on pasture land, Mr Goff added.

Sheep, cattle, goats and deer produce large quantities of gas through belching and flatulence, as their multiple stomachs digest grass.

Ruminants are responsible for about 25 per cent of the methane produced in Britain, but in countries with a large agricultural sector, the proportion is much higher.

The 45 million sheep and 10 million cattle in New Zealand burped and farted about 90 percent of that country’s methane emissions, according to government figures.

Bad debts up 500 per cent as easy credit bites

May 25, 2008 by Infinite

The credit crunch has hit home for thousands of New Zealanders as debt collection agencies report up to a 500 per cent increase in workload over the past few months.

Debt collectors who have been in the industry for more than 15 years say they have never been busier, with small-time borrowers and businesses “across the board” defaulting on loans and payment for services.

Meanwhile, budgeting advisory services are swamped with people needing help as debts spiral out of control. One service says its waiting time to see new clients is up to five weeks.

Graeme Byers, owner of debt collector Guardian Credit Services, told the Herald on Sunday his business had increased by between 400 and 500 per cent this year.

“There’s just more debt out there. Poorer people are getting hammered.”

Byers said the collapse of numerous finance companies had put many people into positions where they could not pay everyday debts. “One feeds off the other. It snowballs,” he said.

Warming withers Aussie wine industry

January 2, 2010April 3, 2008 by Infinite

High cost of water adds to pressure to sell, change grapes or even move

MELBOURNE – Australian grape growers reckon they are the canary in the coal mine of global warming, as a long drought forces winemakers to rethink the styles of wine they can produce and the regions they can grow in.

The three largest grape-growing regions in Australia, the driest inhabited continent on earth, all depend on irrigation to survive. The high cost of water has made life tough for growers.

Some say they probably won’t survive this year’s harvest, because of the cost of keeping vines alive. Water prices have more than tripled.

Machine makes water good enough to drink

April 2, 2008 by Infinite

Victoria Fray with a glass of drinking water made with her new desalination machine. Photo / Greg Bowker

Auckland engineer Victoria Fray has come up with a new variation on the age-old theme of teaching someone to fish so they can feed themselves forever.

She has designed a mini-desalination plant that is small and robust enough to be sent to remote Pacific islands to provide water for up to 900 people in an emergency – then be hauled back to Auckland and used again in the next disaster elsewhere.