Marc Rich, Lonely and Cold, Dies in Hiding

Marc Rich

"[Marc Rich] a beautifully sinister executive who could frame deals with the artistry of a pool shark"~~author, A. Craig Copetas.

"Marc Rich is to asset concealment what Babe Ruth was to baseball,"~~Arthur J. Roth, New York state commissioner of Taxation and Finance.

To his critics, he was a white-collar criminal, a serial sanctions breaker... who admits to bribing officials in countries such as Nigeria and to assisting the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.

LUCERNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - Billionaire Marc Rich, who invented oil trading and was pardoned by President Bill Clinton over tax evasion, racketeering and busting sanctions with Iran, died on Wednesday in Switzerland aged 78...

Belgian-born Rich, whose trading group eventually became the global commodities powerhouse Glencore Xstrata, died in hospital from a stroke, spokesman Christian Koenig said.

At the cream-painted, red-roofed villa, with views of the nearby mountains and grounds sloping down to the banks of the lake, security guards and other staff could be seen but there was no sign of family members.

"He will be brought to Israel for burial," Avner Azulay, managing director of the Marc Rich Foundation, said by telephone. Rich will be buried on Thursday at Kibbutz Einat cemetery near Tel Aviv.

Many of the biggest players in oil and metals trading trace their roots back to the swashbuckling Rich, whose triumph in the 1970s was to pioneer a spot market for crude oil, wresting business away from the world's big oil groups.

To his critics, he was a white-collar criminal, a serial sanctions breaker, whom they accused of building a fortune trading with revolutionary Iran, Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, apartheid-era South Africa, Nicolae Ceausescu's Romania, Fidel Castro's Cuba and Augusto Pinochet's Chile.

In interviews with journalist Daniel Ammann for his biography, "The King of Oil", the normally obsessively secretive Rich admitted to bribing officials in countries such as Nigeria and to assisting the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.

Explaining Rich's route to riches in an interview with Reuters in 2010, Ammann said: "He was faster and more aggressive than his competitors. He was able to recognize trends and seize opportunities before other traders. And he went where others feared to tread - geographically and morally."

A U.S. government web site once described Rich more simply, as "a white male, 177 centimeters in height ... wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Marshall Service." In 1983, he was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list indicted for tax evasion, fraud and racketeering. At the time, it was the biggest tax evasion case in U.S. history...

"Marc Rich is to asset concealment what Babe Ruth was to baseball," said Arthur J. Roth, New York state commissioner of taxation and finance.

He remained under threat of a life sentence in a U.S. jail until Clinton pardoned him during the last chaotic days of his presidency, a move that provoked moral outrage and bewilderment amongst some politicians.

Clinton later said he regretted granting the pardon, calling it "terrible politics."

"It wasn't worth the damage to my reputation," he told Newsweek magazine in 2002.

Rudolph Giuliani, a former New York mayor and a prosecutor on the Rich case, said: "I'm shocked that the president of the United States would pardon him."

Clinton said the fact that Rich's ex-wife, Denise, had donated funds for his presidential library was not a factor, but he had acted partly in response to a request from Israel...

In one biography, "Metal Men: Marc Rich and the 10-billion-dollar Scam," author A. Craig Copetas described Rich as "a beautifully sinister executive who could frame deals with the artistry of a pool shark".

Rich inherited his business acumen from his father, who became a millionaire by setting up an agricultural trading firm after emigrating to the United States.

Rich, who was born Marcell David Reich in Antwerp on December 18, 1934, started his career at Philipp Brothers, a top global commodities trader after World War Two.

Thought for Today

“The word treason has been batted around in recent days, [but] we need to ask who has betrayed who?… Is this [Snowden’s revelations] betraying the citizens of the world, or betraying some elites that are in power in a certain country?”~~~Ricardo Patino, Ecuador's Foreign Minister.

Obama, War Criminal???

The Monsanto investigation part 1 - The Bayer investigation

Junkie USA: 70 Percent Of Americans On Prescription Drugs

“However, the second most common prescription was for antidepressants — that suggests mental health is a huge issue and is something we should focus on. And the third most common drugs were opioids, which is a bit concerning considering their addicting nature.”~~~Dr. St. Sauver, in his Mayo Press Release.

Researchers find that nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half receive at least two prescriptions.

Mayo Clinic researchers report that antibiotics, antidepressants and painkiller opioids are the most common prescriptions given to Americans. Twenty percent of U.S. patients were also found to be on five or more prescription medications.

The study is uncovering valuable information to the researchers about U.S. prescription practices.

“Often when people talk about health conditions they’re talking about chronic conditions such as heart disease or diabetes,” Dr. St. Sauver stated in a Mayo Clinic press release. “However, the second most common prescription was for antidepressants — that suggests mental health is a huge issue and is something we should focus on. And the third most common drugs were opioids, which is a bit concerning considering their addicting nature.”

Nearly one in four women ages 50-64 were found to be on an antidepressant, with 13 percent of the overall population also on antidepressants. Seventeen percent of people in the study were being prescribed antibiotics, and 13 percent were on painkilling opioids.

As a whole, women and older adults received the most prescription drugs. Antidepressants and opioids were most common among young and middle-aged adults.

The percentage of people who took at least one prescription drug in the past month increased from 44 percent in 1999-2000 to 48 percent in 2007-08, the Mayo Clinic reports. Expenditures on prescription drugs reached $250 billion in 2009, and accounted for 12 percent of total personal health care expenditures.

According to the CDC, the percent of persons using at least one prescription drug in the past month increased nearly 50 percent between 2007 and 2010.

And the researchers said prescription drug spending will only increase in the future.

********
Cocaine Use

According to The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in 2010, the regions with a high prevalence of cocaine use remained North America (1.6 per cent), Western and Central Europe (1.3 per cent) and Oceania (1.5-1.9 per cent) — the latter effectively reflecting its use in Australia and New Zealand.

North America and Western and Central Europe remain the two main regions in terms of their high numbers of cocaine users, with nearly one quarter of global estimated cocaine users in Western and Central Europe (4.2 million past-year cocaine users) and more than one third in North America (5 million cocaine users).

Opioids

North America (3.8-4.2 per cent), Oceania (2.3-3.4 per cent) and Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Europe (1.2 - 1.3 per cent) are the regions with a higher than global average prevalence of opioid users. It is important to note, however, that in North America and Oceania prescription opioids are used more than heroin, whereas in Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Europe, opiates (heroin and to a lesser extent, “kompot”) are the main concern (prevalence of opiate use is estimated at 0.8 per cent).

Ecstasy

While “ecstasy” use had previously been declining, it appears that it started to increase in 2010. In Europe, overall trends in “ecstasy” use have remained stable but recent reports indicate an increase in the purity of “ecstasy” available in Europe and a possible resurgence in its use. European studies suggest that patterns of “ecstasy” use are becoming increasingly divergent and show higher prevalence of “ecstasy” use among club goers in comparison with such use among the general population.

In the United States, there are reports of a resurgence in “ecstasy” use among 12th grade students, in particular; however, there is a declining trend in the use of “ecstasy” in Australia (from 3.5 per cent in 2007 to 3.0 per cent in 2010).

Resources: CBS Atlanta, The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Because They Know

Warren Buffet

After the massive crash that rocked global markets in 2008, as Congress, central bankers and major financial institutions met in secret to mitigate the crisis, billionaires like Warren Buffet were buying up shares of some of the hardest hit companies.

At the time, the world was literally on the brink of an unprecedented economic collapse. It was so serious, in fact, that members of Congress were told that should they fail to come to an agreement the fallout would leave the United States in such a state of disarray that martial law would be declared and tanks would be deployed to major American cities.

In the midst of it all, as if they had a private pipeline into the bailout meetings, the big boys were positioning themselves to profit. And profit they did, as the stock market rose from 6500 points in late 2008 to record highs as recently as last month. They made billions of dollars on the backs of bailouts funded by taxpayers who were themselves struggling to pay their mortgages and put food on the table.

They knew then what their friends at the Federal Reserve, Treasury and investment banks were planning to do. And they took the opportunity to make a killing.

Now, with the stock market indicating to the masses that the promised recovery has taken hold, and with mainstream analysts arguing that happy days are here again, those same moguls of finance who were undoubtedly tipped off in 2008, are making some very big moves yet again.

But these particular moves are exactly the opposite of what you might expect given that we’re at the beginning of a supposed recovery:

Despite the 6.5% stock market rally over the last three months, a handful of billionaires are quietly dumping their American stocks . . . and fast.

Warren Buffett, who has been a cheerleader for U.S. stocks for quite some time, is dumping shares at an alarming rate. He recently complained of “disappointing performance” in dyed-in-the-wool American companies like Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft Foods.

In the latest filing for Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett has been drastically reducing his exposure to stocks that depend on consumer purchasing habits. Berkshire sold roughly 19 million shares of Johnson & Johnson, and reduced his overall stake in “consumer product stocks” by 21%. Berkshire Hathaway also sold its entire stake in California-based computer parts supplier Intel.

With 70% of the U.S. economy dependent on consumer spending, Buffett’s apparent lack of faith in these companies’ future prospects is worrisome.

Unfortunately Buffett isn’t alone.


Fellow billionaire John Paulson, who made a fortune betting on the subprime mortgage meltdown, is clearing out of U.S. stocks too. During the second quarter of the year, Paulson’s hedge fund, Paulson & Co., dumped 14 million shares of JPMorgan Chase. The fund also dumped its entire position in discount retailer Family Dollar and consumer-goods maker Sara Lee.

Finally, billionaire George Soros recently sold nearly all of his bank stocks, including shares of JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs. Between the three banks, Soros sold more than a million shares.

So why are these billionaires dumping their shares of U.S. companies?

From Money News via StanDeyo.com

The simple answer is… they know.

They know that this market has been propped up by trillion dollar infusions from the Federal Reserve.

They know that Americans have lost 55% of their wealth since this crisis started.

They know nearly 25% of Americans are out of work (as opposed to the official 7.5% figures from the BLS) and that no meaningful jobs are being created.

They know that half of American households require government assistance, 100 million people are on welfare and nearly a quarter of them need nutritional assistance to put food on the table..

They know that the economic growth rates being disseminated to the people are completely bogus because they fail to account for the inflationary impact of the Fed’s monetary expansion.

They know this is wholly unsustainable, and they are getting out of Dodge before the next phase of this crisis takes hold and hammers the world yet again.

Ben Bernanke’s magic show will soon come to an end, and all of his tricks will be exposed for the statistical illusions they really are.

Billionaires know this and they are preparing for the inevitable. The government, likewise, is preparing for financial collapse and the potential for widespread violence that will follow.

You should be doing the same.

Sultan with a Gas Mask



Click to enlarge and be sure to get your copy today :)

A Curse For Erdogan

Tai Yippie Kai Yay (motherfucker!) Erdogan has got an RSVP to one of The Pit's, Erdogan specific ghettos; the inferno's equivalent to East St. Louis. What a despicable creature you are Erdogan. What a vile mockery upon the human estate. You should be drilled through the ankles like Hector and dragged by a chariot around the circumference of Istanbul. One can only hope that the hand of the cosmos, delivers you into the hands of the populace.

Here are crimes that warrant the Braveheart treatment. You ruthless and depraved sonofabitch! You have put yourself on a par with Henry Kissinger and Benjamin Shitwityahoo. You are, plainly and truthfully speaking, a monster in the camouflage of human form. Those who serve you, are an extension of your will and, God willing, will share your fate. I note that I was not amiss in referring to you as a wannabe sultan yesterday.

You shall reap the whirlwind, Erdogan. You have damned yourself and wiped away all of the good you ever accomplished. You are a maggot in the afterbirth of these terrible times. I cannot find the words to fittingly portray you. You have impressed me in all the worst ways. May you be taken soon, you and all of your peers, who presently commit outrage after outrage, upon those you were put into the position to 'serve and protect'; like your American counterparts in their brutal excesses.

They should be branded on their foreheads with the words, 'Made in Israel' because that is who is training them, by fiat of Howdy Doody Obama and his predecessor. What takes place within you now, you unfortunate soul? Do you reflect upon and contemplate what has been done on your orders? You will come to know the meaning of the word 'wrath', I promise you.

May your countrymen make a regular pilgrimage to piss on your grave. May the ingenious among your 'subjects' go immediately to Istanbul's oldest graveyard and dig you a grave, attended by a headstone and left open and waiting for the occupant. Let it be videoed and published round the world.

“Bring me the head of Erdogan”, sings the invisible judge, “bring me that poisonous, toxic head. Let a candle be lit and set atop it, in memory of the numbered dead. Let the head be set on a mound of dung, this headless man who should have been hung, drawn and quartered, flogged and whipped, then set on fire like flaming shit, until half past midnight on a frozen clock.

Tick tock, tick tock, go the hours and minutes till your fitting end. Toss the body to the scavengers to tear and rend. You whore of Ersatz Israel. You will surely burn in Hell”~~~Les Visible; Reflections in a Petri Dish.

Looking back... at things said in the light of today


“It is axiomatic that the principal purpose of government is the welfare of the people. It is this welfare that gives meaning to governance. Broadly, the peoples’ welfare can be defined in terms of life, liberty and property. Life must be sustained and protected, liberty must be assured and defended, property must be guaranteed and secured” Gani Fawehinmi, Senior Advocate of Nigeria's masses.

The Rothschild Family - Puppet Masters - World's Only Trillionaires

The Terrifying Future of The United States

World War 3 Has Already Begun

Seeds of Death - Unveiling The Lies of GMOs - Full Movie

Nestle Folds to Consumer Pressure over GMOs in South Africa



Nestle has gone on record in South Africa as saying that “it took consumer preferences into consideration and therefore all its infant cereals in South Africa used non-GM maize”, the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) announced Friday.

“This can only be a result of the action that so many…took last year after we released the results showing that Nestle’s Cerelac Honey contained 77.65% GM Maize. This is a victory indeed!” ACB continued.

ACB recently released results of tests conducted on 7 baby formulas and cereals, by an independent and accredited GM testing laboratory. The results reveal that Purity baby cereals contain extremely high levels of GM content whereas Nestlé’s infant formulas and cereal indicate that Nestle appears to be going GM free. Aspen’s infant formulas also indicate GM avoidance. Shockingly, comparisons also reveal that Purity’s GM baby cereals cost 250% more than non-GM cereals, exploding the myth that GM free food is an expensive and impractical luxury.

PURITY’S BABY CEREALS

Purity’s Cream of Maize tested positive as containing 56.25% GM maize; and Purity’s Purity Baby First tested positive as containing 71.47% GM maize.

Neither of these baby foods were labeled as containing products derived from genetically modified maize. This is not the first time that Purity’s Cream of Maize cereal tested positive for GM. In 2008, consumer watchdog SAFeAGE revealed the product to contain more than 24% GM maize.

“Why has Purity not labeled its products? By failing to label, Purity has acted disingenuously and deprived parents of crucial information about their baby’s nutrition. Adult consumers in SA do not want to eat GM food, much less feed their babies with GM cereals, given that the safety of GM food is highly questionable” said Zakkiya Ismail, ACB’s Labeling Campaign Co-ordinator.

Purity has a long history of producing and marketing jarred baby food in South Africa. Food giant, Tiger Brands owns Purity. Tiger Brands was fined R98.8 million (roughly $10 million) in 2007 by the Competition Commission for colluding with other bread producers in a bread price fixing scandal. Tiger Brand products are ubiquitous and account for around 15% of goods sold at every major retailer in the country. Its products include popular brands such as Ace Maize Meal, Albany Bread, All Gold Tomato Sauce, Black Cat Peanut Butter, and Koo bottled and canned food.

NESTLE’S INFANT FORMULAS AND CEREAL

Last year, the ACB tested Nestlé’s baby cereal Cerelac Honey, which contained 77.65% GM maize. This resulted in a huge public outcry. Now, the test results indicate a deliberate effort on the part of Nestle to avoid the use of GMOs in its baby products containing maize and soya products, as its formulas, Nan Pelargon and NAN AR Infant are both GM free. Nestlé’s Mixed Cereal, comprising of maize flour, contained extremely low levels of GM maize and GM soya that would not have triggered labeling. Curiously, however, soya is not listed as an ingredient on the packaging.
These results indicate that Nestlé is not using ingredients or products derived from GMOs in their baby cereals, and considering that 72% of maize grown in South Africa is GM, Nestlé must indeed be trying to avoid it. The traces of GM found in its cereal may well be attributable to contamination along the value chain. “Is Nestlé’ giving in to the demands of South African consumers?” asked Ismail.

NESTLÉ’S DOUBLE STANDARDS

The test results contrast starkly with Nestlé’s pro-GM stance, and its donation of $1.2 million to support an anti-GM labeling initiative in California last year. On 3rd May 2013, Nestlé’ was reported as having dismissed calls by US consumer groups for it to refrain from using GM ingredients in its baby formulas in the US.1 ”We call upon Nestlé’ to stop using double standards, and desist from using GM ingredients in all its food products, in all countries, as it does in European countries” said Ismail.

HUGE PRICE DISPARITY

The ACB is shocked to learn that Purity’s GM-laden cereals are 250% more expensive than Nestlé’s baby cereal that contains only traces of GM contamination. “This belies the claim of the food and biotech industry that segregation of GM and non-GM grains along the value chain and the labeling of GM products will dramatically increase costs, which will inevitably be passed on to the consumer. It appears as if Nestlé has found a way to either absorb such costs, if indeed they do exist, or source non-GM maize economically” said Mariam Mayet, Director of the ACB.

ASPEN’S INFANT FORMULAS

Nestlé’ is not alone in its avoidance of GMOs. Aspen’s Infacare Infant was tested to be GM free, and its InfaCare Gold Soya 1 to contain very low traces of GM maize and soya, also indicating possible contamination along the value chain. Multi-national company Aspen is a supplier of branded and generic pharmaceuticals and infant nutritional products. It recently bought Nestlé’s interest in Pfizer to distribute a portfolio of infant formulas to several countries in Africa.

“These latest findings make a mockery of the ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ argument of the pro-GM machinery in their opposition to GM labeling. They can no longer peddle the myth that the provision of non-GM food is an onerous luxury we cannot afford” said Mayet.

South Africans have been eating GM maize, soya and products preserved or containing GM cotton-seed oil for more than a decade without even knowing it. This is because up until 2011 there was no obligation to label GM foods and provide consumers with information to make a choice. This changed in October 2011 when the Consumer Protection Act came into force. According to the law, all foods containing 5% or more GM content must be labeled. Despite this law, only a handful of companies are beginning to label, the majority are not.

In March 2012, the ACB had four products tested for GM content: Cerelac Honey infant cereal, Wheat Free Pronutro, Impala Maize Meal and Future Life Energy Meal. Very high levels of GM content were found yet none of these products were labeled. It emerged that according to the food industry, it felt that it was not under any legal obligation to label GM food because the Consumer Protection Act is not clear as to whether the law applies to processed food.

The Consumer Goods Council of South Africa claimed that the labeling laws only apply to live GMOs such as whole kernels of maize. This view means that the majority of the food derived from GMOs on our market will not be labeled. This precipitated widespread consumer pressure on food producers and the government to ensure immediate labeling.

On the 9 October 2012 the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) published draft amendments to the regulations governing the labeling of GM food. According to the draft amendments, all locally produced and imported food containing 5% or more GM ingredients or components must be labeled as “contains genetically modified ingredients or components”. The proposed amendments convey the clear intention of government that the food industry must now step up to the plate and label their products. The final regulations have to date, however, not yet been promulgated.

Nevertheless, several products derived from GMOs are being labeled:

**Pioneer’s Sasko bread is labeled as “soyabean produced using genetic modification”
**Premier’s IWISA maize is labeled as “contains genetically modified organisms”
**Pioneer (Sasko’s) Food’s White Star maize meal is labeled as “produced using genetic modification”
**Pioneer Food’s (Bokomo’s) corn flakes are labeled as “corn 90% (genetically modified)”

Robbie Parker Fake Actor Sandy Hook Shooting

Vaccine Injured African Children Used as Lab Rats

"It is no exaggeration to suggest that African children whose lives have been destroyed by a vaccine—given for a disease that isn't a concern to them—were used as lab rats by the Gates Foundation, PATH, UNICEF, and WHO. Their existence proves the vaccine is extremely dangerous. Nonetheless, it was hailed as a success. ~ Gaia Health Summary

by Christina England

In December 2012, vaccine tragedy hit the small village of Gouro, Chad, Africa, situated on the edge of the Sahara Desert. Five hundred children were locked into their school, threatened that if they did not agree to being force-vaccinated with a meningitis A vaccine, they would receive no further education. These children were vaccinated without their parents' knowledge. This vaccine was an unlicensed product still going through the third phase of testing.

Within hours, one hundred six children began to suffer from headaches, vomiting, severe uncontrollable convulsions and paralysis. The children's wait for a doctor began. They had to wait one full week for a doctor to arrive while the team of vaccinators just carried on vaccinating others from the village. More children became sick.

When the doctor finally came, he could do nothing for the children. The team of vaccinators, upon seeing what had happened, fled the village in fear.

Fifty children were finally transferred to a hospital in Faya and later taken by plane to two hospitals in N'Djamena, the capital city of Chad. After being shuttled around like cattle, these sick, weak children were dumped back in their village without a diagnosis and each family was given an unconfirmed sum of £1000 by the government. No forms were signed and no documentation was seen. They were informed that their children had not suffered a vaccine injury. However, if this were true, why would their government award each family £1000 in what has been described as hush money?

Interestingly, during the time the children spent in the hospital, two more children joined them from another village...

Since this time, Vactruth has been passed a series of secret documents, which fill in some missing gaps in this story and expose just how corrupt the organizations behind this tragedy really are.

The Exclusive, Heartbreaking Details

On January 14, 2013, arrangements were made for seven female patients between the ages of 8-18 to be evacuated from the Hospital of Mother and Child (HME) and the General Hospital of National Referrals (HGRN) in N'Djamena and transferred by air to a clinic in Tunisia. This was scheduled to take place between January 16 and 22.

The documents in our possession state that the Chadian government arranged for the patients to be accompanied by Dr. Joseph Mad-Toingue, Chief Service of Infectious Diseases of the National General Referral Hospital; Dr. Moumar Mbaileyo, anesthesiologist employee of the National General Referral Hospital; and Mr. Dihoulne Kakiang, state-certified nurse, employee of the National General Referral Hospital.

On January 29, 2013, a letter passed between The Chief Service of Infectious Diseases of HGRN-N'Djaména and Mr. Director General of the National General Referral Hospital, stating:

"Mr. Director General,

Herewith I have the honor of putting into your hands the report of the mission completed in Tunisia between 15 and 22 of January 2013 regarding the medical evacuation of 7 patients.

The Chief of Service."

Vactruth now has this report.

A Parent's Worst Nightmare

The report states that seven female patients between the ages of 8 and 18 had suffered adverse reactions after receiving the meningitis A vaccination during a national campaign, which took place on December 11, 2012, for the prevention of this illness. These patients had originally been taken to the Regional Hospital of Faya, before being transferred on December 26, 2012, to the Hospital of Mother and Child (HME) and the General Hospital of National Referrals (HGRN) in N'Djamena.

Arrangements were later made for a medical evacuation to transfer these patients to Tunisia for further tests and treatment.

According to the report, the departure took place in N'Djamena on January 15, 2013, at 10:50 pm after a long wait at the Hassan airport in N'Djamena because of the late arrival of the plane.

The journey took place on board a Tunisian plane chartered by the International Medical Society (SMEDI). The party consisted of seven patients, three members of the medical team and seven parents (two men and five women) who accompanied the sick children.

Interestingly, the document states that the party did not fly alone. The government report states that twenty other passengers traveling to Tunisia for the same reason (medical evacuation) also joined the party. Sadly, there were no further details on these patients in the report.

Were these patients also vaccine-damaged by the meningitis A vaccination, and where did these twenty other sick patients come from?

Just before the plane took off, an 18 year-old patient had what the report describes as a 'shaking episode,' and was given a 10 mg vial of diazepam before boarding the plane. Other than this incident, the flight went well.

The Specialists Say "Case Closed"

The group arrived in Tunisia on January 16, 2013, and was received by SMEDI agents who took care of the police formalities (entry visa) before dividing the group into three parties. The patients were transported by ambulance to the clinic, the medical staff was taken to a hotel, and the patients' parents were taken to a center.

On the afternoon of January 16, the three medical staff were introduced to SMEDI's Director General, M. Ghazi Mejbri, to get acquainted. This was followed by a work session with the medical coordinator, Dr. Folla Amara. In the course of this meeting, the condition of the patients was discussed and plans were arranged for their care.

The patients were taken to the neurological department of SMEDI's La Sourka clinic. The clinic had received the children's medical records in advance and was reported to have conducted their own clinical and biological tests on the patients before meeting with the medical team that had accompanied them.

On January 17, a meeting took place with Professor Rachid Namai ("chef de clinique"), Dr. Kefi and Dr. Mabet. It was concluded that the children's 'shaking attacks' or convulsions were of no consequence. On the paraclinical level, the report stated that the serum tests of five patients did not reveal any anomalies, nor did the EEGs of six patients.

The EEG of the seventh patient showed minor anomalies in the immediate post-critical phase, but was reported to have stabilized. An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) was to take place on all seven patients. After the meeting, the team visited the patients who were all reported to be well, except for one child who had developed tonsillitis and had to receive appropriate treatment.

On January 19, a second meeting took place at the La Soukra Clinic during which they examined the patients' medical records that gave the results of all the medical tests that had taken place. Among the biological perturbations there was reported to be one case of persistent thrombopenia (a lower than normal number of blood cell fragments called platelets), two cases of of elevated immunoglobulines E (Ig E) and five cases of gram negative bacteria directly upon examination—culturing has not been contributory.

The report stated that, generally speaking, the patients showed a raised tendency for hypoalbuminemia (swelling), hypo creatininemia (renal dysfunction), and hyper glucorrhagia (no definition found).

The MRI results showed no anomalies, and the HIV and hepatitis serologies were negative. The medical team found the children's health to be satisfactory. The report states that the children had no infectious cause for their illness and the hypothesis of an immuno-allergic reaction was deemed to be more probable.

At this point, it was decided to close the investigation due to the advice from specialists and followed up with epidemiological and pharmacodynamical studies.

No Reason For Concern?

On January 21, the mission members visited the clinic at La Soukra for a last time. They found all patients waiting for their stay to end. The report states that a short meeting took place with the chief of service who promised to give his medical report shortly. The mission ended with a visit to the Dr. Naoui Mohamed Néjib's laboratory where the biological tests of all the patients had been performed.

The mission members left Tunisia on January 22, 2013, around 2:00 pm and arrived in N'Djaména at 4:00 pm.

They concluded that the medical evacuation to Tunisia had given them the opportunity to investigate more thoroughly seven patients who had developed post-vaccination reactions during the national vaccination campaign against meningitis.

It was stated that, generally speaking, the clinical state of the patients did not give any reasons for concern and that the paraclinical balance of the majority did not show major perturbations.

The mission was deemed a success.

The report was signed by Dr. Joseph Mad-Toïngé in N'Djaména on January 28, 2013.

Determined Parents Won't Give Up

The parents tell a very, very different story. According to parents and relatives, these children were locked into their school, threatened with no education and forcibly vaccinated without their parents' knowledge.

They state that the children are still desperately ill and that they have no way of getting any medical care. After the mission, they were left in Faya and had to make their own way back to the village.

The children are still suffering severe convulsions. One relative told me:

"The children drop suddenly to the ground and shake violently before going paralyzed. We do not know what is wrong and we want answers. No one will help us. Our children were well and fit, we have never had meningitis in our area, so why did they vaccinate our children with this vaccination?

Our children have since become aggressive in their behavior and have a rash all over their bodies. They are having terrible frightening convulsions. Why won't anyone help us?"

I have been informed that the parents have formed an activist group to put out their plea to the world.

Unanswered Questions

The parents ask:

Were the vaccines used on our children out-of-date?

Had some of the batches used been spoiled in the heat?

Did the vaccinators vaccinate our children inadvertently with an unsafe product?

Was the maximum duration of four days without refrigeration respected and adhered to?

Were the vaccinators adequately trained?

They state:

All this disturbs us and makes us fear the worst effects for the future. We do not know what is going on behind the scenes and what the Minister of Health, the organizations involved with the tragedy (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH WHO, MVP and UNICEF) are saying or are going to do. As parents, our priority is to get back the health our children. We feel that it is very sad that [our] entire city is paralyzed and is suffering from epilepsy. We were hoping that our government would make a stand and save our children but it has so far failed to do so. Therefore we call assistance for everyone in the world to intervene.

Our needs as listed below:

A health specialist, an organization or an individual to assist the sick children, who are innocent victims and help them to get their health back.

Human rights organization or an individual lawyer who could help the parents' association with legal issues and get justice for the children against the Chad government, WHO, MVP, PATH, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Indian company Serum Institute of India Ltd.

Parents need independent and freelance journalists to help them to get media coverage and tell the world what has happened to the children of Gouro, Chad.

Conclusion

The parents' requests are simple and the same as any other parent left in this impossible situation. They feel deserted and betrayed by the Chadian government, who have left their children to die, while at the same time announcing the vaccination program to be a success. All the parents are very angry and are pleading with the world to help. They state they need lawyers, doctors, medication and above all, support.

This whole debacle has been a coverup from the very beginning. One of the children's relatives has told me that there has never been a case of meningitis in this part of Africa. So, why vaccinate children needlessly for a disease that does not exist in this area? Worse still, according to my source, this particular part of Chad is not even on the meningitis belt, and yet this vaccine was given to these children. He could be right, as according to a map attributed to the Gates Foundation, it is not.

The abnormal tests demonstrate that the vaccines caused these problems (especially the abnormal immunoglobin levels). Had the doctors done more specific tests proving vaccine damage (especially anti-myelin antibodies), they would have found abnormal levels, which indicate vaccine injury. Did they avoid doing these tests on purpose?

It seems very likely that these children, who are now sick and vulnerable, were used as lab rats and have since been left to die by some of the biggest organizations known to mankind. Five months have passed and a lot of covering up the truth has gone on and still, the world waits for answers. The children of Gouro and their parents want the following organizations – PATH, WHO, UNICEF, and the Gates Foundation — to make a public apology and to own up to what has happened. They want and need accountability.

This is a violation of the Nuremberg code and these government "officials" are guilty of crimes against humanity.

Christina England was born and educated in London, U.K. She received an A Level in Psychology and a BTEC in Learning Disabilities. She has spent many years researching vaccines and adverse reactions. She has an HND in journalism and media and is currently writing for the American Chronicle, the Weekly Blitz and Vaccination Truth on immunization safety and efficacy.

Achebe And The Quest For Nobel Prize



"It is only when we make an unbiased journey into his works that we would appreciate the height the power of his pen has placed Africa in the literary world. Only then would we realize that that son of Ogidi, had and will continue to have a towering figure that needs no prize in the name of any Nobel to maintain"

by Vincent Alicho

The controversies that trailed Prof. Achebe’s last book—There Was a Country: A Personal History Of Biafra—came from different perspectives. While some people saw the book as one that came to shed more light on the events of the Nigerian/Biafran war, others saw it as a book that should not have been published in the first place.

The proponents of the second group came up with so many reasons—from the book being an attack on some personalities and a particular ethnic group, to Achebe being anti-Nigeria, one whose book, they claim, fanned the embers of disunity. But one of the reasons given by this group that caught my attention was the one that said that Achebe was bitter with a particular ethnic group because he failed to win the Nobel Prize in Literature which a kinsman of this ethnic group won in 1986.

Even now that he has died, some articles have been written on this issue of Nobel Prize; while some are regretting that Achebe did not win the prize, others are pointing out from their personal views what Achebe should have written or should not have written in order to win the prize. Some are even praying and hoping that he wins the prize posthumously. At the end of the day, one almost gets the impression that Achebe set out to win the Nobel Prize in Literature but failed.



Alfred Bernhard Nobel rightly said his prize in literature should be given to an author from any country who has produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in ideal direction. But we must not also forget that there are some controversial angles to this said prize: there is the controversy over what should be the correct interpretation of the phrase ideal direction as used by Nobel himself; there are also alleged political interests regarding the nomination and selection of those to receive the prize.

The point remains that the Swedish Academy is continuously criticized over the award; while some people in their criticisms maintain that there are many well-known writers who have not even been nominated let alone awarded the prize, others maintain that some recipients of the award did not deserve it. When all these are considered, one continues to wonder why Achebe’s destiny in the world of literature should be tied to a prize given in the name of Alfred Nobel. Those who still think that the personality of Achebe got diminished for not winning a Nobel Prize have totally refused to acknowledge the task Achebe set out to accomplish for Africa.

On page 34 of There Was A Country, Achebe wrote: "I have written elsewhere of how I fared when I entered a short story competition in the Department of English, and how my teacher, who supervised this competition, announced the result, which was that nobody who entered the competition was good enough. I was more or less singled out as someone with some promise, but the story I submitted lacked 'form'. Understandably, I wanted to find out more about what the professor meant by form. It seemed to me that here was some secret competence that I needed to be taught. But when I then applied some pressure on this professor to explain to me what form was, it was clear that she was not prepared—that she could not explain it to me. And it dawned on me that despite her excellent mind and background, she was not capable of teaching across cultures, from her English culture to mine." That was it. It was all about THE QUEST FOR FORM.

As far as the English professor was concerned, whatever 'form' Achebe’s story lacked was meant to be form from the white man’s worldview. Achebe and his fellow students’ short stories were 'formless' to her because maybe the students failed to shape or structure their stories from the white man’s perspective. Remember that at that time, nearly all the literature books made available to the young African students bore names of foreign authors—from Shakespeare to Charles Dickens, etc.



It seems those were the authors whose books had the much needed form. But that was when Achebe got challenged—to move on and tell his own story, the African story, whether it lacked form or not. He never knew how that audacious step he took would change the scenario of the literary world. Yes, he captured the “form” that was embedded in African literature in his first and most famous novel—Things Fall Apart. This is a book that championed the knocking into oblivion [of] foreign literature in Africa, all the 'form' they possessed notwithstanding.

I would subtly disagree with those who have posited that the wide spread and acceptance of Things Fall Apart, especially in foreign climes, was as a result of the tragic end of Okonkwo. These people believe that Okonkwo took the option of suicide when it dawned on him that he had gone against the wishes of the white man. They argue that by taking his own life under such a situation, Okonkwo oiled the ego of the white man who nobody could ‘challenge’ and go unpunished.

These people therefore conclude that such a book has advanced the personality of the white man who, on recognizing that, has in turn championed its (the book’s) spread since such a move could mean the spread of their own superiority over Africans. But then, in Things Fall Apart, was that really the case? Did Okonkwo take his own life because he was afraid of anyone? Between the African and his white visitor, who really went against the wishes of the other?

What Achebe succeeded in achieving in Things Fall Apart was that he situated the African in his own culture with all his dignity intact. This was a culture that, to a very high extent, was well organized: everyone laboured towards upholding the norms and values of the society; the titled men were the custodians of the community; the Egwugwu masquerade cult settled difficult disputes; the new yam festivals, marriage rites and other ceremonies were well celebrated; titles were given to those who merited them; members of each age grade carried out some specific responsibilities on behalf of the whole community; the values and norms of the society were inculcated into the younger generations through proverbs, folktales, folksongs, etc.; wars were never fought without the community first sending emissaries for a peaceful negotiation, etc.

Things Fall Apart captured an organized African society. Okonkwo was only annoyed with visitors who arrogantly failed to recognize the way of life of their hosts. He eloquently put this message across to them through his death. By taking his own life, Okonkwo told and continues to tell those who would care to listen that he abhors a situation whereby a people are refused to be listened to especially when the message they want to pass across has much to do with their life; that he abhors a situation whereby the way of life of a people is roundly condemned; that he abhors a situation whereby some people are looked down upon as if they were nonentities.

Yes, Okonkwo was totally annoyed with a man who had no respect for his fellow man in his own compound. His death, therefore, could not be said to be as a result of the recognition of any white supremacy or superiority but rather as a result of what he saw as an injustice meted out to his people.

Things Fall Apart has received much recognition and acceptance because different peoples of the world have also passed through some period of injustice, suppression, oppression and condemnation just like the people of Umuofia. These are people who understand more what Okonkwo fought against that led to his frustration and death. Achebe corroborated this line of thought in his last book. After he released Things Fall Apart, he took some time to wonder whether the book would make any meaning or have any relevance to other peoples of the world.

He did not wait for long before he received some reactions from a whole class of college girls in South Korea who wrote to him expressing their different opinions about the book. What did he learn from that? He learnt that ‘they had a history that was similar to the story of Things Fall Apart—the history of colonization…their colonizer was Japan. So these people across the waters were able to relate to the story of dispossession in Africa. People from different parts of the world can respond to the same story if it says something to them about their own history and their own experience’ (There Was a Country, 39).

As I read, Things Fall Apart has been translated into more than 50 languages and has sold more than 10,000,000 copies. With the way people are identifying with it by relating their cultural, political, religious and even economic situations to it, it would continue to be translated into more languages and some million more copies sold. There is no fear about that; the signs are everywhere.

In his article, The Man Behind The Writer, in which he eulogized Prof. Achebe, Emmanuel Dongala, a Congolese writer, called up a story narrated by our lovely Wole Soyinka at the venue of Achebe’s 70th birthday. Soyinka narrated that after he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986, an admirer came up to him and congratulated him with effusion, telling him how much he loves what he writes. “And what have you read by me?” asked Soyinka. “Things Fall Apart” replied the admirer. Imagine! That is how Achebe has succeeded in turning African literature into world literature. And yet some people maintain that such a man must receive a prize in the name of Nobel before we recognize his worth in the literary world.

Instead of seeing Achebe from the perspective of a writer who did not win a prize from Sweden, Africa should rather see in him a man whose pen brought to limelight a people whose world was hitherto obscured by the stories told about it by others. Africa should see in Achebe a man who has made the rest of the world begin to see themselves in the stories told by Africans. We should see in Achebe a man who has made non-Africans not only to begin to appreciate the rich meanings embedded in African folktales, folksongs and proverbs but to also apply them in their expressions.


Achebe and Nelson Mandela

An example of this is found in a part of the tribute to the late Prof. from Brown University, USA, where the Prof. taught his last class. This part read: ‘At a time like this we could draw many words of wisdom and comfort from the deep wells of various African cultures and traditions to honor him. The most fitting is the simple and elegant phrase, “A great tree has fallen.”’ This elegant phrase is among the numerous ones found in the works of Achebe. Yes, instead of an unnecessary reference to Nobel Prize, we should all look at the literary icon through the eyes of the great African, Nelson Mandela, who saw Achebe as the writer "in whose company the prison walls fell down".

Perhaps an aspect of Achebe that no one can wish away, no matter how hard one tries, is what Amanze Obi captured in his article Achebe and Emergency Pontifices (The Sun, April 11,2013). In the words of Amanze, "beyond literature, Achebe was a man of conviction. He mastered his environment clearly and breathed at it from the vantage position of one who knows. He did not engage in self-censorship. He broke loose from all structures, holding truth as an article of trade". Surely, Achebe held truth as an article of trade. His conviction in what he believed in graced all his works.

It has become obvious that where he mostly remained vehement in presenting issues that have continued to rattle many a people is in his last book, There Was A Country, his parting gift to Africans and to humanity. It is only when we discard our sentimental garments and put on the cloak of reason that we would appreciate what that Man of Letters presented in that book. It is only when we make an unbiased journey into his works that we would appreciate the height the power of his pen has placed Africa in the literary world. Only then would we realize that that son of Ogidi had and will continue to have a towering figure that needs no prize in the name of any Nobel to maintain.

Vincent Alicho, Cmf, is a Catholic priest of the Claretian Congregation, presently studying at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya.

Looking back... at things said in the light of today (part 4)



I really need to know what would drive anyone to blow themselves up. It is such a persuasion; deep. Can one honestly call that state of mind stable? Yet, people who do are such everyday people, the type you would readily share a drink with while discussing local politics; ordinary people. Is it really just faith and belief? It’s something so forlorn; it’s either abject or melancholic. It cannot be rational, normal or considerate. It is definitely suicidal and that cannot be good by whatever the parameters; intellect, religion, capability or doctrine.

For me, my life is not mine to take or give but even if we assumed for a sec that it was, why would I want to blow myself up? And as if that just won’t do, I go and blow up a couple of more innocent lives along with myself. Nobody, but nobody does that in a stable frame of mind. These are really crazy times and it is a very deadly world that we dwell in, incredibly unsafe. I feel like I am being hunted, hunted by government, big business and that dark crew of pirates called politicians. Reason is far-fetched and one’s peace of mind ever elusive.

Democracy today is but an illusion, construed as one may please in definition of its morality. Those that author its language understand the value of elasticity to the society from which they are drawn; make nothing definitive that it may be construed as we wish. But I digress; the question was why would anyone want to blow themselves up?

It would seem a cocktail of reasons blend to convince such an attitude. It is not only religious persuasions that trigger this urge but also a sense of betrayal felt and the frustrating state of want in which a majority of people affected by it, subsist; a frustrating sense of want induced by rogue politicians and the alchemy of hereditary power. They see the double-speak and know it offers them no hope or restitution. They see wastrels, born into privilege, dissipating the resources that should have brought them succor and relief with a decadent obscenity.

They know their lives are pledged to a slow death by those who revel in the resources of their well-being as they watch their children dying for the want or lack of a dime. They understand the truth and worth of a life made less than human by the extraordinary greed of their tormentors called leaders. They accept the affliction that is their natural state of mind from birth to the grave and welcome the mentality that frightens their captors to no end.

There is no sense of destiny for them as they find themselves marooned on that far-flung Island of disillusion, despair and desperation. It is this state of mind, enlivened by the pantomime of religiosity and paradise promised, that infect their complete being to bring about the ‘joyful’ relief of extinction. There is simply nothing worth living for but a terminal destiny that strikes back at their perceived oppressors, quite literally, with their very last breaths; an anticipation that is everything to die for.

It is a state of mind, here today, which endangers all of humanity. A sizzling of deep rage that is the pressure cooker for hate-inspired violence and crimes; murders, arson and indiscriminate killings. An embryo which will hatch to bring forth the bloodiest and most creative of terrors. These conditions are, in all truth, reinvigorated by Western foreign policies that protect and offer sustenance to rogue regimes and monarchical autocracies that they may flourish and debase the dignity of man. It is the suicide bomber and not George Walker Bush that is the greatest phenomenon of our age. He is also the historical yardstick for how cheap life got in the 21st century.



But what can be said or done about people not afflicted by this malaise who queue in line to extinguish themselves? The tragic events that occurred in the U.K only recently bear testimony to the insanity of our world today; children, lovely children blowing themselves up in subways and buses, kids born into privilege, freedom and opportunity wasting an exquisite life. A life others dream about, a life spoon-fed from a golden platter. One that is full of music, flowers and the chatter of birds. A life adorned with blueberries and nectar. I am simply terrorized by the question; why?

One kid was even said to have converted to Islam just a few months ago, yet, quite willingly he sought to lay his life waste according to the dogma of his new conviction. Children, all such lovely children, excited to death by the unraveling of their spiritual boredom and the elusive teachings of that which is incomprehensible. Children that knew no better, led astray by the illusions of self-worth invoked by dubious incantations that decay the goodness of their spirituality; children, devoured by predators of conscience and reason, driven to forfeit the divine gift of existence that is life itself. A gift which even the wretched of the earth cherish and adulate in their prayers and in the hope that they may endure to see another dawn and the rising sun that ushers a new day.

Those kids were as normal as the next. Heck! They could have been GW’s kids. What made them snap? That’s the question. Our kids are freaking out the entire place, from various perspectives, and nobody is noticing. We have raised good kids but through this goodness they have come upon a conflicting essence that challenges the very core of their conscience and upbringing. They know their governments lie and they can see the double-speak as others do. They see the double standards at home and at school and understand the life they are asked to lead is a fraud that their peers do not adhere or subscribe to and now they have risen up in rebellion against it, as only the child would know how. Something has gone terribly wrong for the child to want to cry more than the bereaved and we do not see their rage because we are so busy being grown-ups.



But mine is simply a cry of anguish that the killings and deaths may stop for our world to heal itself, that we may once again cherish life and celebrate it. For the child to grow in the hope that our youths become good and great leaders tomorrow and I, grow old and die in peace. That humanity stay its course and our earth rotate its orbit. We are nothing but transient and our universal responsibility is to leave our world a better place than we found it, for all our children's sakes and those yet unborn.



It should not matter that you are the Pope or Ayatollah, President or King, General or Warlord, saint or sinner, if you live, you must let live. You should do to others as you expect it to be done to you. If you must send others to fight and die for your cause then be man enough to lead the charge or forever keep your peace. You do not kill people to save them from themselves, you do not take away their lands and make their cities desolate and expect they will find the joy of living. You cannot take away another’s freedom and justify it by that which you say threatens them, nothing threatens my existence more than that which steals or annuls my freedom by whatever excuse or pretext.

Our world is in a terribly bad spin and it is the deaths which make life so cheap. It is the grief and the pain, the heartaches, the desperation and helplessness. It is one’s true love, senselessly wasted, that brings about the rush for blood and the crazed urgency to die. And I ask, what manner of lunacy is there that make parents stand over their kids, with a broad grin, and watch as they autograph weapons of mass destruction soon to be deployed in the extermination of another’s true joy?



We have all gone mad in our basic essence; we rejoice in the book of damnation and recite the creed of destruction. The joys of living; good neighborliness, reward for labor done, good health, relief, love for one another and some peace of mind have become measures of weakness that mock the industrious and pious. Our civilization has become no less spectacular than Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, scripted in the imbecility of Nero’s Rome. Terrorism may be a social malaise but what it depicts is complete failure; of family, society and our global state.

2 comments:

Carey Watson said...

Extraordinary! Divinely said, thank you, again, Egoigwe.
11:31 PM, July 24, 2012


Sally Mills said...

Deep, very deep. It shows clearly why l can't get away from Egoigwe's blog. Thank you for enriching my day like no other can Egoigwe.
5:51 PM, August 20, 2012

This article was originally written and posted by Egoigwe to this blog on Tuesday, November 07, 2006 under the header "Dying to Win"