Saturday, March 25, 2006
What is Luck?
Luck is often a self-fulfilling prophecy. In holy writ, it is written, "As a man believeth (or thinketh) in his heart, so is he; and According to your faith, so be it unto thee!" Listen to your gut instincts - they are normally right
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Wednesday, March 22, 2006
What does this mean, Mr. Bush?
Carolinas warned to prepare for bird flu U.S. health chief: Don't count on federal rescue KAREN GARLOCH kgarloch@charlotteobserver.com RALEIGH - If a bird flu pandemic strikes humans, the Carolinas must be prepared to take care of the sick and make sure life goes on without depending on the federal government, the U.S. secretary of health and human services warned Tuesday. "Any community that fails to prepare, with the expectation that the federal government will come riding in and rescue them, will be sadly mistaken," Secretary Michael Leavitt told the N.C. Pandemic Flu Summit. Leavitt announced North Carolina will get $2.5 million of $350 million approved by Congress for pandemic flu preparedness. But N.C. Gov. Mike Easley, who introduced Leavitt, said, "That will not cut it." To be prepared, Easley said, states need more federal money to purchase antiviral drugs and to pay for training local and state emergency response teams. "North Carolina will be as prepared and as ready as humanly possible," Easley said. "But it's going to take a bigger federal commitment." South Carolina, which held its pandemic flu summit earlier, received $1.5 million from the federal government in January. To make their points, Leavitt and Easley both talked about the differences between a flu pandemic and hurricanes that often strike the Carolinas. Unlike hurricanes, pandemic flu wouldn't hit one location and be over quickly, they said. It would affect the whole country and unfold over many months, lasting a year or more. Schools and businesses might close because so many people would be sick or taking care of the sick. Help wouldn't come from other states -- the way it did for victims of Hurricane Katrina -- because they would "be at home taking care of each other," Leavitt said. Since it was first identified in 1997, the deadly H5N1 strain of the avian virus has been confined mainly to birds in China and Southeast Asia. In the last few months, it has spread to birds in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It has killed millions of birds and about 80 people worldwide. Most infected humans contracted the virus through close contact with infected birds. The rapid spread of the virus in birds has been accompanied by fears it will mutate into a form easily transmissible among humans. That would cause a worldwide pandemic. Leavitt said the bird flu will probably show up in a bird in the U.S. "relatively soon." Some scientists believe migratory birds crossing from Asia into Alaska and down the West Coast could bring the virus to birds here. Leavitt said that won't be a reason for panic. "If you're a bird, it's a pandemic. But if you're a human, it's not." If detected early, he said, infected birds will be destroyed before the virus can spread. State and federal officials praised North Carolina's history of responding to disasters such as hurricanes and ice storms. "I've seen North Carolina in action," Leavitt said. "You do disasters extraordinarily well." Easley singled out the state's Hospital Emergency Surveillance System that scans admission lists in hospitals across the state every 15 minutes to identify unusual clusters of disease early, and "to catch problems while they are still small." Dr. Jeff Runge, chief medical officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and a former Carolinas Medical Center emergency physician, said North Carolina's public health and emergency response programs are far ahead of those in some states. "A tremendous amount of coordination is already in place." But it's not just governmental agencies that need to be prepared, officials said. Businesses, such as banks and groceries, must have plans for staying open when 30 percent to 40 percent of their employees are out sick. And families must prepare too. "It's not just the job of government to protect you in your household," Runge said. To that end, federal officials have created checklists to help schools, families, businesses and health care providers prepare for a potential pandemic. The checklists are available at http://www.pandemicflu.gov/. |
Monday, March 20, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
What's In A Number? See For Yourself
The following information was sent to me through an email from my Daughter in Law, who has an affinity toward the Number 11, having been born November 11 at 1:11 AM. She maintains that the number 11 is dominant in her life, shows up in daily activities, however, though always appears to be a positive attribute for her. Number Eleven possesses the qualities of intuition, patience, honesty, sensitivity, and spirituality, and is idealistic. Others turn to people who are 'Eleven' for teaching and inspiration, and are usually uplifted by the experience. In systems such as Astrology and basic Numerology, eleven is considered to be a Master Number. Eleven can also represent sin; transgression and peril. Ten being the perfect number, eleven represents the exceeding of both (The Decalogue). It is interesting to note that eleven when broken down (1+1=2) results in the Two of duality. Number eleven is a master vibration and as such should not be reduced to a single number. People with this number could be both idealistic and visionary, and they are attracted to the unknown. They can be both unusual, interesting and magnetic personalities. 11 is a "master number or "power number" as most numerologists will testify. It is a number which cannot be reduced by adding the two digits. 11 is associated with someone who is on a higher plane of existence. Someone who brings "mystical revelation". Someone who often feels slightly distant from the people surrounding him or her, and has trouble feeling any real empathy for them. Also, this is sometimes the number of the matyr. For Example: The trangression of the law is represented by 11 because it exceeds the number ten by 1. That is the one of the Decalogue. According to Saint Augustine, it represents the Sin. The punishment of the wicked is referenced in Psalm 11 (Vulgate numbering). This symbolism is confirmed by theoretical speculations. If you added all numbers from 1 to 11 they will equal 66. And by multiplying 11 by 6 (the number of evil) you get 66. If you added the two digits together it is reminiscent of the Roman number II (number of both the division and corruption). This is a very interesting take on the Master Number 11 and it's relevance to the tragic events of September 11th. 1) New York City has 11 letters 2) Afghanistan has 11 letters. 3) Ramsin Yuseb (The terrorist who threatened to destroy the Twin Towers in 1993) has 11 letters. 4) George W Bush has 11 letters. This could be a mere coincidence, but this gets more interesting: 1) New York is the 11th state. 2) The first plane crashing against the Twin Towers was flight number 11. 3) Flight 11 was carrying 92 passengers. 9 + 2 = 11 4) Flight 77 which also hit Twin Towers, was carrying 65 passengers. 6+5 = 11 5) The tragedy was on September 11, or 9/11 as it is now known. 9 + 1+ 1 = 11 6) The date is equal to the US emergency services telephone number 911. 9 + 1 + 1 = 11. Sheer coincidence..?! Read on and make up your own mind: 1) The total number of victims inside all the hijacked planes was 254. 2 + 5 + 4 = 11. 2) Sept ember 11 is day number 254 of the calendar year. Again 2 + 5 + 4 = 11. 3) The Madrid bombing took place on 3/11/2004. 3 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 11. 4) The tragedy of Madrid happened 911 days after the Twin Towers incident. Now this is where things get totally eerie: The most recognized symbol for the US, after the Stars & Stripes, is the Eagle. The following verse is taken from the (Quran) the Islamic--I think this should be (KORAN) Holy book. "For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced: for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah and there was peace." That verse is number 9.11 of the Quran. Still unconvinced about all of this..?! Try this and see how you feel afterwards, it made my hair stand on end: Open Microsoft Word and do the following: 1. Type in capitals Q33 NY. This is the flight number of the first plane to hit one of the Twin Towers. 2. Highlight the Q33 NY. 3. Change the font size to 48. 4. Change the actual font to the WINGDINGS |