A Constitutional Convention Can Do…What?

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The tiny percentage of us who’ve actually read any constitution, federal or state, know very well that all levels of our government operate in violation of these proven, fundamental, once-cherished and now-ignored laws.

So it’s no surprise that most of us sense a problem with the state of our union. It’s similarly predictable that most of us misdiagnose the problem and then promote bad ideas as a cure.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

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Sherry Woodard“It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the Spring, who reaps a harvest in the Autumn.” – B. C. Forbes

April brings the advent of spring, the planting and tending of gardens, and refreshing rains that help nature spring forth. Here at The Planet, April is no different – the sales and marketing teams will be busy planting seeds to help fuel our growth with a busy trade show schedule.

Here’s a look at all the activities planned this month:

PubCon South — April 13-15 — Dallas, TX
ConferencesWe’ll kick off in Dallas at PubCon South. Here, we’ll showcase our hosting and cloud solutions, and learn about the latest trends in social media marketing. The conference is being held just up the street from our Dallas office, so this is almost a “home game” for us. If you’re in Dallas, stop by and see us!
Cloud Expo East — April 19-21 — New York, NY
ConferencesAt the Cloud Expo, we have two speaking spots: Duke Skarda will deliver a general address to the delegates on how to evaluate cloud solutions and determine what makes sense for their respective companies. Carl Meadows will also conduct a technical workshop on choosing the right cloud platform for your business. You can find us in the expo hall at booth 118.
ad:tech — April 20-22 — San Francisco, CA
ConferencesAt ad:tech, we’re sponsoring a panel discussion on the challenges faced by today’s ad agencies while navigating media-rich campaigns that integrate video, social networks and new media. We’ll also show off our unique corporate style in booth 6240. In addition to our hosting capabilities, we’ll showcase The Planet Partner Plus program, our channel program for referral partners, resellers and affiliates.
Interop — April 25-30 — Las Vegas, NV
ConferencesAfter a quick two-day breather, we’ll hit the road again to the Entertainment Capital of the World. Thank goodness you never know what time it is in Vegas … because I know we’ll still be jet-lagged. You can find the weary travelers from The Planet in the Interop expo hall at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. During the show, we’ll feature our server challenge, back by popular demand from SXSW. Stop by to see us in booth 1851.

Don’t worry … we’ll still be out and about in May. I’ll save the details about those shows for a rainy day at the end of April.

We’re excited about all things spring, including meeting new customers, seeing old friends and making new ones. There’s a lot planned and much coming your way, so be sure to keep in touch. We’ll see you on the road!

-Sherry

P.S. If you plan to be at any these events, let us know! Hit us up in the comments section below, via Twitter or on our facebook page.

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Judge Napolitano on Stossel Special: All Taxation is Theft

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Two Wings of the libertarian movement emerge?

The long anticipated John Stossel special on Fox Business News, "What is a Libertarian?" aired last night. True to form, Judge Andrew Napolitano, a favorite of the Ron Paul crowd took the Radical Libertarian aproach on all matters. While "Mainstream Libertarian," PJ O'Rourke was more cautious.

NAPOLITANO:

I believe that all taxation is theft. Because you have the right to the product of your own labor. If the government can take the fruits of your labor against your will, it can take anything.

STOSSEL: So, we have a voluntary tax system? (Later) No Taxes?

NAPOLITANO: No Taxes!... Who says we have to have an Army and a Navy. And who says it has to be paid for by taxes?

O'ROURKE: Can we keep the Marine Corps? Just in case Canada acts up, ya know...

O'Rourke went on to say, that there's no easy answer on taxes, and that all taxation ends up being "extremely unfair." He went on to advocate a low flat tax of around 15%.

Editor's comment - Fortunately these days, all views on the libertarian spectrum, from hardcore Napolitano-ism to P.J. O'Rourke's cynical, but more mainstream approach, are now fully welcomed within the Republican Party.

Edward Gonzalez Libertarian Republican for Congress – California

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CANDIDATE PROFILE

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” – George Washington (Header, Gonzalez for Congress website)

Facing what may seem as impossible odds, Edward Gonzalez has decided to take on longtime incumbent and ultra-liberal Democrat Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren in California's CD 16. The District includes San Jose.

Gonzalez is an active Tea Party Patriot who has participated in numerous protests. He is running explicitly as a "Libertarian Republican," moderate on social matters, yet "fiscally conservative, and support for constitutionally limited government." According to his site, "He believes that the only legitimate use of government power is in the protection of people's individual rights."

According to the Economic Policy Journal, he is a devotee of the economics of Ausrtian economist Ludvig von Mises. He also has a great deal of support from Ron Paul activists.

One Libertarian Party website even lists Gonzalez as simply a "Libertarian" candidate. Though, he will be on the GOP ticket.

Background:

Edward Gonzalez received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in 2004 when he graduated from Officer Candidate School in the top 10% of his class. As an infantry officer he served with the 1st Battalion 4th Marines out of Camp Pendleton, California. His first deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom was as a platoon commander as part of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). His company conducted amphibious security operations on the Iraqi Oil Platforms.

His second deployment was as an advisor and trainer to the Iraqi Army in the al Anbar Province of Iraq along the Euphrates River. While there he worked jointly with the Iraqi Army, police, and community organizations to improve local security and rebuild local economies. His team successfully transferred over 1,000 km of American battle space to Iraqi control. He left active duty in 2008 at the rank of Captain.

Gonzalez's fundamental philosophy:

All individuals have the right to life, liberty, and property; therefore no one has the right to murder, enslave, or steal from another individual. The power that we have bestowed upon our government is the right and the duty to use force to protect those unalienable rights. There are people that propose it is also government’s right and duty to provide additional services to society. They believe that government should fund these social programs with taxes. The idea that government should sponsor social programs falls in the category of socialism. Most countries are not completely socialist, but merely have elements of socialism within their government. I do not wish to examine the multitude of emotional propaganda created over the years concerning socialism; I merely wish to examine one fundamental fact:

Using tax money to pay for social programs opens the society up to numerous moral and economic contradictions which disregard an individual’s right to liberty and property.

To help EdwardMGonzalez.com

Don’t Force It…

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One of the basic tenets of Libertarian thought involves the non-initiation of force.
Over the years, I’ve had a lot of people tell me that while they agree with most libertarian ideas, they just don’t believe they will work in the real world.
I disagree. They do work, for all of us, everyday, and as long as [...]

CONNECTICUT: Could AntiWar Democrat Ned Lamont become a Two-time Loser?

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Netroots/Daily Kos candidate consistently behind in polls

There's a race in Connecticut that has been pretty much under the radar given the high profile Senate race (Linda McMahon, Peter Schiff and Rob Simmons vs. Richard Bloomenthal). Incumbent Governor Judy Roell, a Republican, is not seeking a second term. But the GOP is looking good to keep the seat.

From Rasmussen (via Hedgehog):

GOVERNOR – CONNECTICUT (Rasmussen)

Tom Foley (R) 44%
Ned Lamont (D) 37%

Foley is a mainline Republican; Chamber of Commerce type, free enterpriser and former US Ambassador to Ireland.

Lamont, of course, is the rabidly Anti-Iraq War Netroots/Moveon.org favorite, who ran against Joe Lieberman in the Democrat primary in 2008, on a strictly AntiWar platform. Lamont won the primary, but then went on to lose the general election badly, as Lieberman ran as an Independent gaining a great deal of Republican support. He is a wealthy "Green industrialist" from Greenwich who spent millions in that race.

More on the poll from the Connecticut Mirror:

Lamont, who became a national political figure in 2006 with his antiwar challenge of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, generated the strongest opinions, both positive and negative. Eighteen percent of respondents had a "very favorable" opinion of Lamont, while 22 percent had a "very unfavorable" view.

Outbreaks

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Outbreaks
There have been, in the last 20 years, natural, or perhaps unnatural experiments that have helped shed light on the efficacy of vaccines.  Many societies, for reason of political unrest, religion or a lack of understanding of medicine have seen the rates of vaccines decline and with it an increase in the cases of vaccine preventable disease,
Disease spread in population is not simple.  Hygiene, nutrition, access to health care and education all play a role in the spread of communicable diseases,  Vaccine are critical in driving the rates of vaccine preventable illness to zero, but they are not the only intervention in our armamentarium.
When the old soviet union fell apart in the 1990’s, its medial system followed.  Some totalitarian states have been especially good at getting their populations vaccinated.  However, after the fall of Communism, the rates of vaccination fell and pertussis, whooping cough and diphtheria returned all the states of the former soviet union.
“…Diphtheria morbidity in Moscow in 1958-1999 are presented. The last epidemic which started at the end of the 1980s and reached its peak in 1994, giving a 59-fold rise in morbidity in comparison with the pre-epidemic period, is characterized in detail. During the epidemic 12,267 persons fell ill, 454 of them died (mortality rate was 4%). Having started in Moscow, the epidemic gradually spread not only over the territory of Russia, but also over some other republics of the former Soviet Union (Ukraine, Belarus, etc.). Possible causes of this epidemic emergency are considered. The ever increasing share of adult population among persons affected by the epidemic (75%) is noted. The infection adults is characterized by severity of clinical manifestations and increased morbidity among adults, is shown. Under complicated social and economic conditions (crisis situation) the increase of groups of high risk which included unemployed adults of working age, retirees as well as socially non-adapted persons, was registered.”
“The massive diphtheria epidemic in the former Soviet Union provides important lessons for all diphtheria immunization programs: It is important to achieve a high level of childhood immunization, maintain immunity against diphtheria in older age groups, and use anti-epidemic measures, including immunization, to control epidemics in the early phase. The immunization coverage among children should be at least 90%.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10657222
“Failure to achieve high levels of immunity among children contributed to the epidemic of diphtheria that occurred in the Russian Federation during the 1990s. A major factor in this failure was the extensive list of contraindications to vaccination that was in use throughout the countries of the former Soviet Union. In 1980, the Ministry of Health (MOH) of the Soviet Union adopted an extensive list of contraindications for use of the diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-pertussis (DTP) vaccine. In 1994, the MOH of the Russian Federation revised the list of contraindications to vaccination to be largely in accord with World Health Organization recommendations. Since then, age-appropriate vaccination coverage has increased markedly: In 1996, DTP3 coverage among children 12 months of age had increased to 87% from 60% in 1990. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10657219”
In the end the only way diphtheria came under control was by increasing vaccination rates.
Similar problems were seen with pertussis
“The aim of the current study was to assess the epidemiological situation concerning the emergence of a pertussis outbreak, as well as potential contributing factors and vaccine effectiveness. A retrospective epidemiological description and an analysis of the outbreak among students were performed. The basic school in Adavere had a total of 150 students in 2003. Of these, 54 cases of pertussis, with median age 12 y, all corresponding to clinical case definition, were identified with an attack rate of 36%. Regarding confirmation of the diagnosis, out of all clinical cases, 18 were confirmed by laboratory testing (2 by isolation of B. pertussis and 16 serologically based on single sera) and 36 with epidemiological linkage only. Of all the students with pertussis, 35 (65%) had received 4 doses and 6 (11%) 3 doses of DTwP vaccine; 13 (24%) students had received fewer than 3 doses or were unvaccinated. The contributing factors in generating this outbreak were close epidemiological contacts, late identification of pertussis diagnosis in the primary, secondary and later cases, as well as a too late initiated active surveillance. In this outbreak, low vaccine effectiveness and low vaccination coverage also played an important role.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16126567”
As well as rubella and measles
“In 1999, the Ministry of Health of Kyrgyzstan adopted the goal of measles elimination. This opportunity was used to launch a rubella and congenital rubella syndrome prevention program. Between January and August 2001, a rubella outbreak occurred in Bishkek City and Chui Oblast. Rubella surveillance data were reviewed for Kyrgyzstan (1981-2000) and rubella case-patient and laboratory information from Bishkek City and Chui Oblast during the outbreak. The data suggest that rubella is endemic in Kyrgyzstan with periodic epidemics every 3-5 years. From January to August 2001, 1936 rubella case-patients were reported from Bishkek City and Chui Oblast; 242 were tested and 176 (73%) were laboratory confirmed. Most case-patients were 3-14 years old. However, the incidence rate per 100,000 among persons aged 15-35 years increased >/=40-fold from 1 in 2000 to 41 in 2001. These findings highlight the importance of introducing rubella-containing vaccine in conjunction with measles elimination activities. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12721919”
The interesting aspect is how little decline in herd immunity it took for these diseases to become endemic in the these countries and the control was expensive and resource intensive in countries with little economic reserve.
Polio
Polio was almost eradicated in Africa.  In the 2003, religious leaders in the Northern part of the country banned the polio vaccine under the idea that the vaccine was being used as a vector by the west to spread both HIV and sterility, specifically targeted against Muslims.  And you thought formaldehyde in the vaccine was bad. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1831725/
“In northern Nigeria in 2003, the political and religious leaders of Kano, Zamfara, and Kaduna states brought the immunization campaign to a halt by calling on parents not to allow their children to be immunized. These leaders argued that the vaccine could be contaminated with anti-fertility agents (estradiol hormone), HIV, and cancerous agents.”
Even though the ban lasted a mere 11 months, Nigeria saw a resurgence in polio.  Nigeria also served as a reservoir for disease that then spread to 15 other African countries. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5814a1.htm
“After the 1988 World Health Assembly resolution to eradicate poliomyelitis globally,* the number of polio-endemic countries decreased from 125 in 1988 to six† (Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Niger, Nigeria, and Pakistan) in 2003 (1). However, during 2002–2005, a total of 21 previously polio-free countries§ were affected by importations of wild poliovirus (WPV) type 1 from the six remaining countries (primarily Nigeria) where WPV was endemic http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5506a1.htm”
Polio  has again come under control with vaccination, with case falling from  1,129 in 2006 to 285 in 2007. http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5841a3.htm
There damage, however, has been done and even though education programs have increased the utilization of the polio vaccine, there are still those who will not let their child have the vaccine due to fears of contamination with birth control.
As a result, cases of wild type polio continue in Nigeria with 258 cases in 2009 http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_07_17/en/index.html.  Remember that most kids who get ill with the polio virus do not get polio, that is a complication of about 1% of the infections.  So 258 cases are the tip of an iceberg (will this metaphor die in the next 100 years?) of disease.
Most of the world uses the live polio vaccine as it gives better immunity.  The problem I that it is a live virus and, like any virus, likes to mutate when it multiplies.  If the immunity of the immunity to the virus is high in a population and the hosts are good, a live vaccine has no place to go.  However, if there are people whose immune function is compromised by poor nutrition or HIV and there are large numbers of unvaccinated people in the community, then odd things may happen.  Because of the perfect storm in Nigeria, the vaccine strain was able to perpetuate in a vulnerable community and now there is a mutated strain of polio vaccine that is causing disease in Nigeria.  The strain escaped and, thanks to a little evolution, changed to have increased virulence.  This would not have occurred it population had maintained their herd immunity
“The number of polio cases caused by the vaccine has doubled: 124 children have so far been paralyzed, compared to 62 in 2008, out of about 42 million children vaccinated.  There have been at least 7 outbreaks in Nigeria from the vaccine strain http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5836a3.htm.
The point, and I cannot wait for some of the comments this little factoid will engender, is that vaccine work best when everyone participates, and as soon as compliance slips even a little, the replicative and mutational capacity of infections guarantees that they will evolve and escape into the wild.
And even stranger things have happen http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11080491
“The biological properties of poxvirus isolates from skin lesions on dairy cows and milkers during recent exanthem episodes in Cantagalo County, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, were more like vaccinia virus (VV) than cowpox virus. PCR amplification of the hemagglutinin (HA) gene substantiated the isolate classification as an Old World orthopoxvirus, and alignment of the HA sequences with those of other orthopoxviruses indicated that all the isolates represented a single strain of VV, which we have designated Cantagalo virus (CTGV). HA sequences of the Brazilian smallpox vaccine strain (VV-IOC), used over 20 years ago, and CTGV showed 98.2% identity; phylogeny inference of CTGV, VV-IOC, and 12 VV strains placed VV-IOC and CTGV together in a distinct clade. Viral DNA restriction patterns and protein profiles showed a few differences between VV-IOC and CTGV. Together, the data suggested that CTGV may have derived from VV-IOC by persisting in an indigenous animal(s), accumulating polymorphisms, and now emerging in cattle and milkers as CTGV. CTGV may represent the first case of long-term persistence of vaccinia in the New World”
Of course, the West doesn’t, yet, have a meltdown of the medical industrial complex nor do have religious leaders saying vaccines are designed to spread disease and sterility. Still, we have our problems with vaccines.
H. influenzae:  there have been two mini outbreaks in the US, on in Minn. with five cases and one death and another in Philadelphia with 6 cases and 2 deaths.  In both outbreaks, the deaths were in unvaccinated children.
Measles has been on the upswing in Great Britain thanks to a decrease in vaccination
“The national average in Great Britain is 84 percent, but in some areas of London the vaccination rate hovers at a dangerously low 65 percent. Areas with vaccination rates that are consistently below 80 percent run a high risk of an outbreak.”
There have been over 1200 cases in Britain with one death
and in the US
“During 2008, more measles cases were reported than in any other year since 1997. More than 90% of those infected had not been vaccinated, or their vaccination status was unknown. http://www.cdc.gov/measles/outbreaks.html”
“The number of measles cases reported during January 1–July 31, 2008, is the highest year-to-date since 1996. This increase was not the result of a greater number of imported cases, but was the result of greater viral transmission after importation into the United States, leading to a greater number of importation-associated cases. These importation-associated cases have occurred largely among school-aged children who were eligible for vaccination but whose parents chose not to have them vaccinated.http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5733a1.htm”
Mumps is making a come back.  The index case acquired his disease in Great Britain (over 7900 cases) and brought it to the NE, another failure of homeland security.  Since  “ As of January 29, 2010, a total of 1,521 cases had been reported, with onset dates from June 28, 2009, through January 29, 2010, a substantial increase from the 179 cases reported as of October 30, 2009 (1). The outbreak has remained confined primarily to the tradition-observant Jewish community, with <3% of cases occurring among persons outside the community. The largest percentage of cases (61%) has occurred among persons aged 7–18 years, and 76% of the patients are male. Among the patients for whom vaccination status was reported, 88% had received at least 1 dose of mumps-containing vaccine, and 75% had received 2 doses. This is the largest mumps outbreak that has occurred in the United States since 2006. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5905a1.htm&rdquo;
While letting vaccination rates is associated with increasing disease from vaccine preventable illnesses in part due to waning herd immunity, a recent study in Jama demonstrated the converse: increasing vaccination rates leads to decreased disease in unvaccinated populations.
They vaccinated the children of 25 Hutterite communities with the influenza vaccine and the children of 24 communities with the hepatitis A vaccine and then looked at the rates of PCR proven influenza in those that did not get the vaccine.  In the influenza group, 39 (3.1%) of those who did not get the vaccine developed influenza while 80 (7.6%) of the unvaccinated in the hepatitis A vaccine groups developed influenza.  This  made the overall effectiveness of the vaccine in protecting those who did not get the vaccine, herd immunity, at 60%
“Immunizing children and adolescents with inactivated influenza vaccine significantly protected unimmunized residents of rural communities against influenza.”
So vaccines help.  They help those who get the vaccine and they can help those that do not or cannot get them.
Unfortunately, fear of vaccines in increasing in the US http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2009-1962v1.
“Our study indicates that a disturbingly high proportion of parents, > 1 in 5, continue to believe that some vaccines cause autism in otherwise healthy children”
Despite now 15 studies that show no link between autism and vaccines, the unwarranted fear persists. Irrational fear, as Nigeria has demonstrated is hard to remove.
If I were convinced that vaccines were the cause of autism and I were to read the that fear of vaccines was up and vaccine use was down, I hope I would not gloat.  I would not be proud that my actions have lead to an increase in morbidity and mortality in children.  I would hope it would be a bittersweet, sad victory, since my success at burning down the vaccine house will take many children with it.  http://www.ageofautism.com/2010/03/tinderbox-us-vaccine-fears-up-700-in-7-years.html

There have been, in the last 20 years, natural, or perhaps unnatural,  experiments that have helped shed light on the efficacy of vaccines.  Many societies, for reason of political unrest, religion, or a lack of understanding of science and medicine have seen the rates of vaccination decline and with that decline, an increase in the cases of vaccine preventable diseases

Infectious disease spread in populations is not simple.  Hygiene, nutrition, access to health care, and education all play a role in the spread of communicable diseases.  Vaccines have been critical in driving the rates of vaccine preventable illnesses to almost zero, but they are not the only intervention in our armamentarium.

The Soviet Experience.

When the Soviet Union fell apart in the 1980’s, its medical system followed.  Some totalitarian states have been especially good at getting their populations vaccinated.  However, after the fall of Communism, the vaccination rates declined and the diseases they prevented surged.

“...Diphtheria morbidity in Moscow in 1958-1999 are presented. The last epidemic which started at the end of the 1980s and reached its peak in 1994, giving a 59-fold rise in morbidity in comparison with the pre-epidemic period, is characterized in detail. During the epidemic 12,267 persons fell ill, 454 of them died (mortality rate was 4%). Having started in Moscow, the epidemic gradually spread not only over the territory of Russia, but also over some other republics of the former Soviet Union (Ukraine, Belarus, etc.). Possible causes of this epidemic emergency are considered. The ever increasing share of adult population among persons affected by the epidemic (75%) is noted. The infection adults is characterized by severity of clinical manifestations and increased morbidity among adults, is shown. Under complicated social and economic conditions (crisis situation) the increase of groups of high risk which included unemployed adults of working age, retirees as well as socially non-adapted persons, was registered.”

“The massive diphtheria epidemic in the former Soviet Union provides important lessons for all diphtheria immunization programs: It is important to achieve a high level of childhood immunization, maintain immunity against diphtheria in older age groups, and use anti-epidemic measures, including immunization, to control epidemics in the early phase. The immunization coverage among children should be at least 90%.”

“Failure to achieve high levels of immunity among children contributed to the epidemic of diphtheria that occurred in the Russian Federation during the 1990s. A major factor in this failure was the extensive list of contraindications to vaccination that was in use throughout the countries of the former Soviet Union. In 1980, the Ministry of Health (MOH) of the Soviet Union adopted an extensive list of contraindications for use of the diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-pertussis (DTP) vaccine. In 1994, the MOH of the Russian Federation revised the list of contraindications to vaccination to be largely in accord with World Health Organization recommendations. Since then, age-appropriate vaccination coverage has increased markedly: In 1996, DTP3 coverage among children 12 months of age had increased to 87% from 60% in 1990. ”

In the end the only way diphtheria came under control was by increasing vaccination rates.

Similar problems were seen with pertussis.

“The aim of the current study was to assess the epidemiological situation concerning the emergence of a pertussis outbreak, as well as potential contributing factors and vaccine effectiveness. A retrospective epidemiological description and an analysis of the outbreak among students were performed. The basic school in Adavere had a total of 150 students in 2003. Of these, 54 cases of pertussis, with median age 12 y, all corresponding to clinical case definition, were identified with an attack rate of 36%. Regarding confirmation of the diagnosis, out of all clinical cases, 18 were confirmed by laboratory testing (2 by isolation of B. pertussis and 16 serologically based on single sera) and 36 with epidemiological linkage only. Of all the students with pertussis, 35 (65%) had received 4 doses and 6 (11%) 3 doses of DTwP vaccine; 13 (24%) students had received fewer than 3 doses or were unvaccinated. The contributing factors in generating this outbreak were close epidemiological contacts, late identification of pertussis diagnosis in the primary, secondary and later cases, as well as a too late initiated active surveillance. In this outbreak, low vaccine effectiveness and low vaccination coverage also played an important role. ”

As well as rubella and measles outbreaks.

“The data suggest that rubella is endemic in Kyrgyzstan with periodic epidemics every 3-5 years. From January to August 2001, 1936 rubella case-patients were reported from Bishkek City and Chui Oblast; 242 were tested and 176 (73%) were laboratory confirmed. Most case-patients were 3-14 years old. However, the incidence rate per 100,000 among persons aged 15-35 years increased >/=40-fold from 1 in 2000 to 41 in 2001. These findings highlight the importance of introducing rubella-containing vaccine in conjunction with measles elimination activities. ”

While the cause of the outbreaks was multi-factorial, it is interesting how rapidly these infections returned with only a small decline in herd immunity. The control of these diseases was expensive and resource intensive in countries with little economic reserve. These outbreaks represent a subset of the countries that were plagued by vaccine preventable infections after the disintegration of the USSR.  Pubmed (to my mind a verb like google) almost any of the states of the former USSR and you will find other examples of the outbreaks from the decline in the use of vaccines.

Polio

Polio was almost eradicated in Africa.  So close you almost wanted to close down the crutch factories.  Then, in the 2003, religious leaders in Northern Nigeria banned the polio vaccine under the belief that the vaccine was being used as a vector by the West to spread both HIV and sterility, specifically targeting Muslims.  And you thought formaldehyde in the vaccine was bad.

“In northern Nigeria in 2003, the political and religious leaders of Kano, Zamfara, and Kaduna states brought the immunization campaign to a halt by calling on parents not to allow their children to be immunized. These leaders argued that the vaccine could be contaminated with anti-fertility agents (estradiol hormone), HIV, and cancerous agents.”

Even though the ban lasted a mere 11 months, Nigeria saw a resurgence in polio.  Again, we remain at the edge of the infectious precipice and it takes only a tiny push to send people over the edge.    Nigeria also served as a reservoir for polio that subsequently spread to 15 other African countries and beyond.

“After the 1988 World Health Assembly resolution to eradicate poliomyelitis globally,  the number of polio-endemic countries decreased from 125 in 1988 to six (Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Niger, Nigeria, and Pakistan) in 2003 . However, during 2002–2005, a total of 21 previously polio-free countries were affected by importations of wild poliovirus (WPV) type 1 from the six remaining countries (primarily Nigeria) where WPV was endemic.”

Polio is coming under control in Nigeria with increased vaccination, with case falling from 1,129 in 2006 to 285 in 2007. Remember that most children who get ill with the polio virus do not develop clinical polio,  a complication of about 1% of the infections.  So 258 cases represent the tip of the polio iceberg (will this metaphor die in the next 100 years? And if so, what will be the replacement be in a world without icebergs?).

The damage, however, has been done and even though education programs have increased the utilization of the polio vaccine, there are still those who will not let their child receive the vaccine due to fears of contamination with birth control. And this in a society without internet connections.  Fear is much more contagious than infection and harder to prevent or treat. As a result of ongoing fear of vaccines, cases of wild type polio continue in Northern Nigeria with 258 cases in 2009, primarily in the Muslim community.

Most of the world uses the live-attenuated oral polio vaccine as it results in a better response.  The problem with live-attenuated viruses, like any virus, is it likes to mutate when it multiplies.  If the immunity to the virus is high in a population and the hosts are immunologically sound, a live vaccine has no place to go even if it mutates.  It requires non-immune hosts to perpetuate.  Herd immunity keeps any mutated strain at bay.  However, if there are populations whose immune function is compromised by poor nutrition or HIV and there are large numbers of unvaccinated people in the community, then odd things may happen. Vaccine strains can spread.  Because of the perfect storm in Nigeria, the vaccine strain was able to perpetuate in a vulnerable community and now there is a mutated strain of polio vaccine that is causing disease in Nigeria.  The vaccine strain escaped and, thanks to a little evolution, changed to have increased virulence.  This would have been much less likely to occur if the population had maintained their herd immunity.

“The number of polio cases caused by the vaccine has doubled: 124 children have so far been paralyzed, compared to 62 in 2008, out of about 42 million children vaccinated.  There have been at least 7 outbreaks in Nigeria from the vaccine strain.”

The point, and I cannot wait for some of the comments this little factoid will engender (not), is that vaccines work best when everyone participates, and as soon as compliance slips even a little, the replicative and mutational capacity of germs guarantees that they may evolve and escape into the wild.

And even stranger things have happened.

“The biological properties of poxvirus isolates from skin lesions on dairy cows and milkers during recent exanthem episodes in Cantagalo County, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, were more like vaccinia virus (VV) than cowpox virus. PCR amplification of the hemagglutinin (HA) gene substantiated the isolate classification as an Old World orthopoxvirus, and alignment of the HA sequences with those of other orthopoxviruses indicated that all the isolates represented a single strain of VV, which we have designated Cantagalo virus (CTGV). HA sequences of the Brazilian smallpox vaccine strain (VV-IOC), used over 20 years ago, and CTGV showed 98.2% identity; phylogeny inference of CTGV, VV-IOC, and 12 VV strains placed VV-IOC and CTGV together in a distinct clade. Viral DNA restriction patterns and protein profiles showed a few differences between VV-IOC and CTGV. Together, the data suggested that CTGV may have derived from VV-IOC by persisting in an indigenous animal(s), accumulating polymorphisms, and now emerging in cattle and milkers as CTGV. CTGV may represent the first case of long-term persistence of vaccinia in the New World”

Of course, the West does not, yet, have a meltdown of the medical-industrial complex nor do we have religious leaders saying vaccines are designed to spread disease and sterility.  Our vaccines cause autism. Hah. Take that Nigeria. Still, we have our own problems with declining vaccination rates.

US  and Great Britain

H. influenzae is killing again.  There have been two mini-outbreaks in the US, one in Minnesota, with five cases and one death and another in Philadelphia, with 6 cases and 2 deaths.  In both outbreaks, the deaths were in unvaccinated children.

Measles has been on the upswing in Great Britain, in large part to a decrease in vaccination.

“The national average (of MMR) in Great Britain is 84 percent, but in some areas of London the vaccination rate hovers at a dangerously low 65 percent. Areas with vaccination rates that are consistently below 80 percent run a high risk of an outbreak.”

There have been over measles 1200 cases in Britain with one death.  At work one of the social workers has been collecting a three word sentence from everyone  that would be your legacy, three words you would want to be remembered by.  I chose “Left them laughing.”  Dr Wakefields may be “Let measles return.”

Measles is back in the US as well.

“During 2008, more measles cases were reported than in any other year since 1997. More than 90% of those infected had not been vaccinated, or their vaccination status was unknown. “

“The number of measles cases reported during January 1–July 31, 2008, is the highest year-to-date since 1996. This increase was not the result of a greater number of imported cases, but was the result of greater viral transmission after importation into the United States, leading to a greater number of importation-associated cases. These importation-associated cases have occurred largely among school-aged children who were eligible for vaccination but whose parents chose not to have them vaccinated.”

Mumps is also making a comeback in the US.  The index case acquired his disease in Great Britain (over 7900 cases) and brought it to the NE, another failure of homeland security.  Since

“January 29, 2010, a total of 1,521 cases had been reported, with onset dates from June 28, 2009, through January 29, 2010, a substantial increase from the 179 cases reported as of October 30, 2009 (1). The outbreak has remained confined primarily to the tradition-observant Jewish community, with <3% of cases occurring among persons outside the community. The largest percentage of cases (61%) has occurred among persons aged 7–18 years, and 76% of the patients are male. Among the patients for whom vaccination status was reported, 88% had received at least 1 dose of mumps-containing vaccine, and 75% had received 2 doses. This is the largest mumps outbreak that has occurred in the United States since 2006.”

Letting vaccination rates decine is associated with increasing disease from vaccine preventable illnesses in part due to a decline in herd immunity.  A recent study in Jama demonstrated the converse: increasing vaccination rates leads to decreased disease in unvaccinated populations.

They vaccinated the children of 25 Hutterite colonies with the influenza vaccine and the children of  another 24 colonies with the hepatitis A vaccine and then looked at the rates of PCR proven influenza in those that did not get the vaccine.  In the influenza group, 39 (3.1%) of those who did not get the vaccine developed influenza while 80 (7.6%) of the unvaccinated in the hepatitis A vaccine groups developed influenza.  This  suggested the overall effectiveness of the influenza vaccine in protecting those who did not get the vaccine, herd immunity, at 60%.  Herd immunity, it seems works. And do let Dr. Jefferson know that the rates of influenza in the influenza colonies was  about half that of the hepatitis A vaccinated colonies.

“Immunizing children and adolescents with inactivated influenza vaccine significantly protected unimmunized residents of rural communities against influenza.”

So vaccines work.  They prevent disease in those who get the vaccine and they can prevent disease those that do not or can not get vaccinated.

Unfortunately, fear of vaccines is increasing in the US .

“Our study indicates that a disturbingly high proportion of parents, > 1 in 5, continue to believe that some vaccines cause autism in otherwise healthy children”

Despite at least 15 studies that show no link between autism and vaccines (except the recent study from Poland that suggested the MMR may protect against autism), the unwarranted fear persists. Irrational fear, as Nigeria has demonstrated, is hard to remove.

If I were convinced that vaccines, despite all the evidence to the contrary,  were the cause of autism or other disease s, and I were to read the that fear of vaccines was up and vaccine use was down, I hope  I would not gloat.  In medicine I am used to bad outcomes occurring as a consequence of what I know to be the correct course of action.  No good deed ever goes unpunished in health care.  I would not be proud that my actions have lead to an increase in morbidity and mortality in children.  I would hope it would be a bittersweet, sad victory, since my success at burning down the vaccine house will take many children with it.  If vaccine rates fall further, some may have the legacy of “Helped plagues return.”


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Connecticut Libertarian Republicans formed

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MOVEMENT NEWS

Libertarians and Republicans need to work together to Stop! the Statists now controlling our Government

A Facebook page has just been launched to assist with cooperation between Libertarians in Connecticut and the Republican Party. Tom Barton describes himself as a "dues paying member" of the Libertarian Party for "over 30 years." He has also worked on many campaigns, and run for office as a Libertarian twice. He also calls himself on his personal Facebook page a Tea Party Patriot and a fan of Glenn Beck.

Barton posted the following message to the Facebook page of the CT Republican Party:

We would like to extend a cordial invitation to the Connecticut Republicans to take a look at our new page called Connecticut Libertarian Republicans. The purpose of this page is to form an alliance between libertarians and other liberty-oriented minor parties with the Republican Party in order to win elections. Here's the link.

At the Page visitors are greeted by a photo of Sarah Palin and other GOP leaders. There's also news on her appearance at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, and on New Gingrich's description of Obama as the "most radical President ever" in US History.

Barton also has an even-handed challenge to both Libertarians and Republicans:

To libertarians and other minor party members: I challenge you to convince Republican politicians to adopt libertarian and constitutional solutions to solve the socioeconomic problems that big government created - and to support those Republicans who do...

To Republicans: I challenge you to earn the votes of libertarians and other liberty-based minor parties by listening to them and adopting constitutional liberty-based solutions.

To Both libertarians and Republicans: I challenge you to convince statists that irresponsible government spending, and intrusion on individual rights is destroying America. We need to return to the original American way of limited government, free market solutions and personal responsibility to save our country.

Chinese Dissident Is Gravely Ill, Wife Says – New York Times

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BBC News
Chinese Dissident Is Gravely Ill, Wife Says
New York Times
... prison medical center on March 30. Mr. Hu, 36, is the 2008 winner of Europe's highest human-rights honor, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, ...
Jailed China activist Hu Jia may have cancer: wifeWashington Post
Family appeals for medical parole of ailing Chinese dissidentEarthtimes (press release)

all 113 news articles »

Stellar Storms

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Could there be a riddle hint in this post? Credit: National Geographic

The Sun is finally showing some activity as I mentioned yesterday.  Turns out in a stroke of good luck this weeks episode of Known Universe from National Geographic is about stellar storms; the show premieres on April 8th at 10 pm ET/PT.  They tell about more than just solar storms too, and give some practical demonstrations of what the truly incredible weather is to be had in the universe.

For those of you who partake in the riddles, you might want to be sure to watch this if you can.  You won’t need to of course, but I have a feeling it could be useful to you down the road.  Just saying.

From NatGeo:

Never mind the pesky blizzards and mudslides we deal with. Imagine dodging frozen methane raindrops, or winds of 11,000 mph. Take a trip around the cosmos to see some of the universe’s most extreme weather. Travel to Venus, the hottest planet in our solar system, where temperatures scorch at 900 degrees. Witness massive dust storms that rage for months on Mars. And, head to the Space Weather Prediction Center to see how weather on the sun affects us.

Read more at NatGeo.

Save Constellation Effort Losing Steam?

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NASA Contractors: abandoning the Constellation moon program? , Orlando Sentinel

"Recently rocket engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne have told other contractors -- namely Lockheed Martin, Boeing, ATK and the United Space Alliance -- that it will no longer support their lobbying efforts to keep Constellation alive.Their departure from the elite lobbying effort -- confirmed by very reliable sources and PWR officials -- is a blow to the effort to keep the moon program going over the objections of the President."

Rep. Kosmas on future of NASA, Fox Orlando

"We have made some propositions and proposals that we are hoping that the President will use to fill in the blanks that we thought were missing from his budget proposal. So I'm hoping, um, that it won't be a sales pitch and that it will actually be an opportunity for us to come together and find some common ground that will help us to mitigate job loss on the space coast."

San Diego Team Delivers Camera for Next Mars Rover

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Two camera's for MSL (left) and principle investigator Michael Malin (rght)
The Mastcam instrument for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will use a side-by side pair of cameras for examining terrain around the mission's rover. Right is a sample image from Mastcam 34 of Mastcam Principal Investigator Michael Malin.
Malin Space Science Systems Inc., San Diego, has delivered the two cameras for the Mast Camera instrument that will be the science-imaging workhorse of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover, to be launched next year. The instrument, called Mastcam, has been tested and is ready for installation onto the rover, named Curiosity, which is being built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

The two component cameras have different fixed focal lengths: 34 millimeters and 100 millimeters (telephoto) and can provide high-definition color video. NASA is also providing funds for Malin to build an alternative version with zoom lenses on both cameras, in collaboration with movie producer James Cameron, a member of the Mastcam team. If the zoom pair can be completed in time for rover assembly and testing, the fixed-focal-length pair could be swapped out for them. Malin has also delivered the Mars Hand Lens Imager and the Mars Descent Imager for the Mars Science Laboratory.

For more information, see Malin Space Science Systems news release: http://www.msss.com/press_releases/mast_delivery/.

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Arctic 2010 Sea Ice Maximum, Visualized

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Sea ice coverage over the Arctic Ocean oscillates over the course of a year, growing through winter and reaching a maximum extent by February or March. This year, Arctic sea ice grew to levels beyond those measured in recent years but slightly below average when compared to the 30-year satellite record.

What does the 2010 sea ice extent look like and how is NASA studying it? To find out, view NASA's updated sea ice animation and watch a video interview with polar scientist Lora Koenig of NASA's Goddard Space Flight center in Greenbelt, Md.

Sea Ice maximum 2010
Arctic sea ice and seasonal land cover change are shown from Sept. 1, 2009, when sea ice in the Arctic was near its minimum extent, through March 30, 2010, the day before sea ice reached its 2010 maximum extent. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
> High resolution still (10 Mb)
> Click to view various formats of the video

On April 2, 2010, NASA Goddard cryospheric scientist Lora Koenig spoke with TV stations across the United States regarding NASA's Operation IceBridge mission and the 2010 Arctic sea ice maximum.

On April 2, 2010, NASA Goddard cryospheric scientist Lora Koenig spoke with TV stations across the United States regarding NASA's Operation IceBridge mission and the 2010 Arctic sea ice maximum. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

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Asteroid to Fly by Within Moon’s Orbit Thursday

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Orbit of asteroid 2010 GA6
Orbit of asteroid 2010 GA6

A newly discovered asteroid, 2010 GA6, will safely fly by Earth this Thursday at 4:06 p.m. Pacific (23:06 U.T.C.). At time of closest approach 2010 GA6 will be about 359,000 kilometers (223,000 miles) away from Earth - about 9/10ths the distance from to the moon. The asteroid, approximately 22 meters (71 feet) wide, was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey, Tucson, Az.

"Fly bys of near-Earth objects within the moon's orbit occur every few weeks," said Don Yeomans of NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

NASA detects and tracks asteroids and comets passing close to Earth using both ground and space-based telescopes. The Near-Earth Object Observations Program, commonly called "Spaceguard," discovers these objects, characterizes a subset of them and plots their orbits to determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our planet.

JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., operates the Arecibo Observatory under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va.

For more information about asteroids and near-Earth objects, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch

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Students Bring Fresh Perspective and New Technology to Webb Telescope

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Matthew Bolcar a graduate student from the University of Rochester, N.Y. now works at Goddard full-timeDeep inside Building 5 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., graduate students are on the front lines of technology development adjusting lasers and mirrors and spending long hours at a computer terminals. University partnerships are playing key roles in developing new and innovative technologies for NASA missions while creating a pathway for future NASA scientists and engineers.

"Investments in students today help us build what comes after the Webb telescope," said Lee Feinberg, Webb telescope Optical Telescope Element Manager at NASA Goddard. "University professors serve on our advisory boards. It allows us to tap the brightest minds in the country."

Past experience bears out Feinberg's observations.

Six years ago, Matthew Bolcar was a graduate student from the University of Rochester, N.Y. when he started working at NASA Goddard. He has been exploring interesting problems and developing risk-reduction techniques related to aligning segmented mirrors on the Webb telescope.

The Webb telescope primary mirror is composed of 18 segments that will unfold to create a single 6.5-meter (21-foot) mirror system once the observatory reaches orbit and begins operations. To work properly, the mirrors must be perfectly aligned. "If there were a problem, the telescope's operators could adjust the mirrors from the ground to correct for any possible misalignments," said Bruce Dean, group leader of the Wavefront Sensing and Control (WFSC) group at NASA Goddard.

Alex Maldonado is University of Arizona graduate student in optical engineering working half-time at Goddard as a co-op studentDean's group was charged with developing the software to compute the optimum position of each of the 18 mirrors, and then adjusting and aligning them, if necessary. The work was funded by the Webb telescope technology development program and was patented by Goddard in 2009. Goddard worked together with Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in 2005, to develop this flight software for the Webb Space Telescope.

In 2006-2007, a team of engineers from both Goddard and Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., successfully tested the WFSC algorithms on a laboratory model of the Webb Telescope, proving they are ready to work in space.

Today, Bolcar is a full-time optical engineer for the Goddard WFSC group. Currently, he is working on the Thermal InfraRed Sensor (TIRS) instrument that will fly on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), the next in a series of satellites that have remotely sensed Earth’s continental surfaces for more than 30 years. He's also working on an experimental instrument, called the Visible Nulling Coronagraph (VNC) that would be used for exoplanet detection.

The graduate fellowship and co-op programs give NASA time to train students for optical engineering. "It takes four to five years to really train someone in wavefront-sensing technology," Dean added.

University partnerships are a great way to get young engineers and scientists interested in NASA, Bolcar agreed. "When you're a graduate student, wherever the funding is, you are going to develop partnerships and relationships," he added. "There is a potential to go beyond graduate school. It's good for the university and its good for attracting young talent to NASA."

Alex Maldonado, a University of Arizona graduate student in optical engineering, is following in Bolcar's footsteps. He spends half his time working at Goddard as a co-op student and the other half taking classes at the university in Tucson, Ariz. When at Goddard, he researches new techniques for polishing optical lenses to prevent light scattering.

Astronomers need bigger and smoother mirrors that will collect more light to allow scientists to see faint objects farther into the distant universe. A common and effective technique for shaping optical lenses is called diamond-turning, where a diamond tip cuts away the lens material. However, this technique also introduces flaws that can deflect light. Maldonado spends much of his time designing and executing testing procedures to see if new polishing techniques reduce this effect -- efforts that will be applied to the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), a Webb telescope imager.

The University of Arizona is providing the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) to the Webb Space Telescope, an imager with a large field of view and high angular resolution. Prof. Marcia Rieke at the University is the lead for that instrument.

Engineers at Ball Aerospace test the Wavefront Sensing and Control testbed to ensure that the 18 primary mirror segments and one secondary mirror on JWST work as oneThe James Webb Space Telescope is the next-generation premier space observatory, exploring deep space phenomena from distant galaxies to nearby planets and stars. The Webb Telescope will give scientists clues about the formation of the universe and the evolution of our own solar system, from the first light after the Big Bang to the formation of star systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth.

"In addition to the students, we work with the professors," according to Dean. Bolcar's graduate professor, James R. Fienup, is a world-renowned expert in optics. "We asked him to help us cover high-risk areas on the Webb telescope," said Dean.

"This is a win-win for the schools and NASA," said Feinberg. "We fund their graduate students, and in return, we get really bright, fresh minds working on NASA's most challenging missions.

Expected to launch in 2014, the telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

For more information about the James Webb Space Telescope, visit:

http://www.jwst.nasa.gov

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