Wow.

Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday that he will not return to lead the country, retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized power in an armed revolution.

“To my dear compatriots, who gave me the immense honor in recent days of electing me a member of parliament … I communicate to you that I will not aspire to or accept … the position of president of council of state and commander in chief,” Castro said in a statement published on the Web site of the Communist Party’s Granma newspaper.

I didn’t see that one coming. What does this mean for Cuba? Will his brother retain control? Where will Michael Moore take people for medical procedures?

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As you may have noticed earlier today, Suharto died. I have received a couple emails from readers saying I was rude by saying good riddance at the end of my post. Let’s take a look at Suharto and see exactly why I would say such a thing.

He seized power to become the leader of Indonesia in 1967 and stayed in power until 1998. His ability to keep stability and his definite anti-Communist stance brought him economic and diplomatic support from several western governments, including the United States. He is credited with developing Indonesia’s economic expansion that made his country the envy of the developing world, yet today 3/4 of the people in the country are poor and long for a return of his era, not because he was a nice guy, but because the price of rice and other goods were affordable back then.

While he was leading his country to economic greatness he was responsible for killing up to one million people. He was a brutal dictator who used force and fear to keep his subjects in line, and if they disagreed or spoke out, they were killed. A majority of the deaths occurred during his rise to power, yet, over the course of the next three decades more than 300,000 people were killed in East Timor, Aceh, and Papua.

I don’t care what a person does for their county. How great are they if they bring economic expansion and stability and are yet responsible for the death of more than a million people who simply disagreed with him?

Suharto was not a great man, he was a man that was allowed to kill people at his own whim with no morals and no reverance to their rights as human beings. So now you know why I said good riddance at the end of the obituary for him.

Western governments ignored his brutality all in the name of money and they are again ignoring his brutality while paying homage to him after death.

The United States Sunday hailed former Indonesian president Suharto as a “historic figure” who “achieved remarkable economic development,” in a statement released by its embassy here.

“President Suharto led Indonesia for over 30 years, a period during which Indonesia achieved remarkable economic and social development,” ambassador Cameron Hume said in the release.

…

The ambassador did not mention the accusations of widespread graft and human rights abuses that plagued Suharto’s 32-year rule.

“Though there may be some controversy over his legacy, President Suharto was a historic figure who left a lasting imprint on Indonesia and the region of Southeast Asia,” the statement read.

If I remember correctly there was another brutal dictator that was our “ally” for many years. If memory serves me right, we ignored his transgressions as well, and only chose to demonize him when he decided he no longer cared what the Western world thought and took his ball to play on another playground.

The only reason Suharto was not treated the same way was because western countries like the United States decided to place a gold star on his forehead for economic achievement rather than send him to the principles office for being a big bad bully.

Sources:

Wikipedia
The Canadian Press
Suharto killer file
AFP News

We haven’t heard too much about bird flu in the news lately, but I thought I would take a look and see exactly what’s happening out there, so you didn’t have to.

Back in September, researchers discovered that avian flu can pass through a pregnant woman’s pacenta to infect the fetus. They have discovered so much about avian flu, that if and when it does reach epidemic proportions, we just might be ready.

More recently, however, the World Health Organization is looking into the possibility that the outbreak in South Asia was caused by human to human contact, which would be very shocking if it is indeed true.

I just hope researchers have enough time to develop effective treatments and/or vaccines before avian flu begins to outbreak in widespread areas of the world at one time. If you would like more information about Bird Flu, and how you and your family can protect yourselves, you can download this every informative ebook, which is completely free.

Have a safe and healthy Christmas season!

It’s been so long since I saw a report about H5N1, I almost forgot it was out there.

Seriously, I am sure the threat is still there, and the media will hype every development (if it seems more important than anything else happening in the current news cycle).

Honestly though, how can scientists and government officials expect people to “be afraid” of the bird flu when we hardly hear about it any more?

Veterinary authorities confirmed an outbreak of the potentially lethal Asian strain of bird flu in eastern England on Tuesday, in a new blow to the British farming industry.

More than 6,000 poultry were ordered to be slaughtered at the site in Suffolk, where an exclusion zone was imposed on Monday after a suspected outbreak was found.

“I can now confirm that the strain of avian influenza found in the infected premises is the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 strain,” said deputy chief veterinary officer Fred Landeg.

“It is of the Asian lineage. It is closely related to strains of the highly pathogenic avian influenza found this summer in the Czech Republic and in Germany,” he added.

Then again, maybe they are just trying to hype us afterall and it’s not really a big deal. I just wish they would be honest and just tell us like it is. Whether it’s good or bad, positive or negative, they should tell us, even if it forces some people to seek drug treatment later.

I don’t think I’ve never heard of this before. If I have, I have long since forgotten it.

Bluetongue disease has been found in the UK for the first time - in a cow at a farm near Ipswich, Suffolk, government officials have said.

The insect-borne virus is usually found around the Mediterranean but nearly 3,000 Northern Europe cases since July had fuelled fears of its UK arrival.

Cattle, sheep, goats and deer can all be infected, but the viral infection is not thought to pose a risk to humans.

…

Animals with the disease experience discomfort, with flu-like symptoms, and swelling and haemorrhaging in and around the mouth and nose.

They can also go lame and have difficulty eating properly.

I wonder if this has any connection to blue bloods?

[Source: BBC]

So what do you think?

Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.

…

Residents complained of headaches and vomiting brought on by a “strange odor,” local health department official Jorge Lopez told Peruvian radio RPP.

Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said.

…

“Boiling water started coming out of the crater and particles of rock and cinders were found nearby. Residents are very concerned,” he said.

My guess is, it’s not muscle milk bubbling from that hole in the ground.

My bet? The crater caused by the meteor ripped open a fissure and the volcanic gases made everyone sick. Yup, that’s my theory.

I wouldn’t want to be eating Chicken in Russia right about now…

The H5N1 strain of avian flu, which can be fatal to humans, has been detected in chickens at a farm in southern Russia, the country’s veterinary watchdog agency said Tuesday.

[Source: Houston Chronicle]

BALI has recorded its first human death from bird flu, with hundreds of birds being culled yesterday in a bid to contain a possible outbreak.

It is also suspected that the dead woman’s daughter died from the H5N1 virus earlier this month.

However, the child was buried before it was realised she could have fallen victim to the deadly virus.

Agriculture authorities yesterday destroyed 400 birds in a 1km radius of the village of Tukadaya in Jembrana regency, in northwestern Bali, where the victims lived, and will continue the operation today.

Indonesia’s National Bird Flu Control Committee confirmed that 29-year-old Ni Luh Putu Sri Windani, who died in Bali’s Sanglah hospital in Denpasar late on Sunday, was positive to bird flu.

[Source: The Daily Telegraph]

Doesn’t Mattel know that the Chinese don’t want us making such a big deal about the poisonous products imported into the United States.

Mattel Inc. on Tuesday identified the Chinese vendor that made nearly 1 million Fisher-Price toys that were recalled last week because they may contain lead.

Mattel said Lee Der Industrial Company Ltd., located in Guang Dong province, made the 967,000 toys sold under the Fisher-Price brand in the United States between May and August.

Knowing the name of the vendor doesn’t help those of us with children who may have been exposed to lead while they played with their favorite toys, but it should help other toy suppliers discover whether or not the products they sell are a risk as well.

Mattel, the world’s largest toy maker, apologized to customers for the recall and said the move would cut pretax operating income by $30 million.

Do I care about their pretax operating income? Hell no. Once again, just like Menu Foods, Mattel decides to sqeeze financial news into their responses rather than focusing on the issue in front of them. They could have, at the very least, explained what they were doing to help children affected by the recall, or something like that.

Heck, I am surprised though. They actually apologized to the customers. I wonder if they had used the word “investors” in that sentence if anyone would have noticed?

How cool is this?

The late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, killed in a stingray attack last year, will be honored with a new wildlife reserve in Outback Australia, the government announced Sunday.

A 333,585 acre chunk of land near Weipa in the far north of Irwin’s home state of Queensland will be named after the popular television host and managed by his family, Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said.

The area includes habitats for the endangered northern quoll, a carnivorous marsupial, and the speartooth shark, as well as an important gallery of dry vine forests, Turnbull said.

333,585 acres? Wow. I think Steve would be overwhelmed with the news. Happy, ecstatic, but overwhelmed.