Reality Check-up?

...1/25/02: AIDS Set to Surpass Black Death as the world's worst pandemic if the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS do not get life-prolonging drugs, a public health physician said on Friday. The illness has killed 25 million people since the early 1980s and an estimated 14,000 people are infected each day with HIV, which destroys the immune system. Without antiretroviral drugs most people living with HIV/AIDS will die, pushing the death toll beyond the 40 million killed by the Black Death that ravaged Asia and Europe in the 14th century. The Black Death, or bubonic plague, was caused by a bacterium carried by rats. Infection spread through rat flea bites.

Despite the impressive advances in medicine since then, HIV/AIDS is likely to surpass the Black Death as the worst pandemic ever, said Peter Lamptey, president of the Family Health International AIDS Institute a non-governmental agency based in Arlington, Virginia. If we don't improve access to treatment in the next 10-15 years we could have as many as 65 million deaths from this disease, he said in a telephone interview. Ninety-five percent of new infections are in the world's poorest countries where life-prolonging drugs are not available to most sufferers. The illness has decreased life expectancy, increased infant mortality and orphaned millions of children -- particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, home to more than 28 million HIV/AIDS sufferers. In a review of the latest information on AIDS, Lamptey said a lack of international and national commitment, inadequate resources and stigma and discrimination were stalling efforts to control the pandemic. We urgently need an effective and safe vaccine, an affordable cure, and intensified prevention, care and support programmes, he said in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal which focuses on the AIDS catastrophe.
David Berwick, president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Boston, Massachusetts, praised international drugs companies which have slashed the prices of anti-AIDS drugs, but said it was not enough. The initial acts of generosity only set the stage for what the world really needs: a dramatic, unprecedented, and unequivocal decision by the boards and executives of several important pharmaceutical companies to make their anti-HIV drugs free, he said in the journal.

But Richard Sykes, chairman of drug giant GlaxoSmithKline Plc, said the key problem in getting anti-AIDS drugs to the world's poor was not the cost of the drugs, but the lack of an infrastructure to deliver and administer them. Malegapuru William Makgoba, president of the Medical Research Council of South Africa, said he was convinced the only real hope of combating the pandemic was an effective vaccine, which he believed would be available in seven to 10 years.

...1/30/02: a chemical fire in Calvert City, KY forced people to stay inside...in ABQ, there is a car made of blue fur; to dry it, you just have to drive it...State of the Union address stated that civilization faces unprescedented dangers...the 3 key points were terrorism, homeland security & the recession...America has to remain steadfast & persistent...the countries to worry about are Iran, Iraq & North Korea...per Greenspan, there is currently no need fto lower interest rates...Roseann would have let me leave at 3:30 because of the snow that wasn't...she may also be able to help Brad get a job at UNM (lucky him!)...the UNM elevators decided to stop working at 8 AM...Geri thinks Brad is polite...I met Hope, Carla, Geri's son Kevin & Ann's husband Ron and the OB/GYN receptionist...I have spoken to Austin, Geri's husband...Geri is from Kansas; Ann is a native of Albuquerque, now moved to Los Lunas...Geri is a floater...she is also not PC friendly...there are only a few men in Pediatrics...I will continue on outpatient assessments, then do the floors by myself soon (that will be very scary)...

...ENRON hired a commercial shredding co., but it had nothing to do with the scandal (?)...ENRON may have underestimated its political contributions by 50%...millions of investors lost money, and thousands of current and former ENRON employees lost the great bulk of their retirement savings, when the company collapsed. An investigation by the company itself, released over the weekend, blamed senior management for failing to provide proper supervision over a complex web of partnerships that helped the company hide debt and post unrealistic profit figures. Once disclosed, they contributed to the company's unraveling & demise...there will still be an investigation into illegal activities by the company...2/3/04: Lay quit the ENRON board; sources say his lawyers could not locate him...others state that he is with his family in Texas...Lay has been subpoened; 2/12/02 is the inquiry date, but he will plead the Fifth Amendment...

...1/29/02: and just in case you thought it was over, although the State of the Union address reminded the public it was not...an intelligence expert at the Washington based National Security Archive said it's possible the more worrisome picture of al-Qaida's reach has been pieced together from captured fighters like those imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Unlike many other terrorist groups, al-Qaida's draw has extended throughout the Islamic world and in some cases, beyond. Bin Laden's core followers come from Arab countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, but his ranks also have included Sunni Muslims from southeast Asia, non-Arab Africa, numerous former Soviet republics, and Europe. He made a major point in his writing - he stresses not pan-Arabism, but pan-Islamism, to give his ideology greater resonance in the Muslim world. His ambitions went beyond running a group attacking the U.S. He had intentions to be the caliph of the Muslim world...

...2/1/02: the instructions are simple but chilling: Attack sites with high human intensity'like skyscrapers, nuclear plants and football stadiums. Pick targets of sentimental value like the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower. Prepare for a new wave of attacks...
That's some of the advice contained in an al-Qaida training manual aimed at teaching Osama bin Laden's followers the best ways to kill thousands of people and spread fear in the United States and Europe. The 11-volume Manual of Afghan Jihad also suggests attacks on Jewish organizations and large gatherings of Jews to cause as many deaths as possible, as well as the assassination of prominent figures in Arab nations. The two-page chapter on foreign operations was found as The Associated Press conducted an exhaustive translation of the 5,000-page manual. The manual was produced in Arabic by al-Qaida's training department before the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States. It was obtained by AP from a former Afghan resistance fighter, who got it from a disaffected al-Qaida member in Afghanistan.
There must be plans in place for hitting buildings with high human intensity like skyscrapers, ports, airports, nuclear power plants and places where large numbers of people gather like football grounds, the chapter said. It also recommended major public gatherings such as Christmas celebrations. The manual said special units should also work in areas with large Jewish communities. In every country, we should hit their organizations, institutions, clubs and hospitals, it reads. The targets must be identified, carefully chosen and include their largest gatherings so that any strike should cause thousands of deaths. As for Arab nations, operations should expand to include the assassination of influential and effective personalities, it said...the people who planned the Sept. 11 attack were trained in Malaysia...other locations for concern are US power & water facilities, FBI or CIA buildings plus the houses of Congress itself...of local concern are the Los Alamos & Sandia Labs, who are on a low level of security...

...listening to Urgent over & over, a la Magnifique!, because of Ron Horst...the storage peanuts that fell in the backyard when the cartons tipped over, then froze in the ice...the Gay Dollar bill...irony of irony! the dry skin on my hands has been worsened by the latex gloves lined with skin cream that I was told to use...Subway has beat McDonald's as the largest chain, with 148 more stores than its rival...that's one more (147) than the revised number of ABQ city employees who will be let go...the Super Bowl will be under very tight security with numerous check points while passing into the stadium...the Secret Service & the National Guard will be part of the watch group...the tourists are having a great time, enjoying both Super Bowl & Mardi Gras celebrations...there will be camoflague soldiers in the Big Easy during the game, played at the Louisiana Super Dome...people were told to arrive 5 hours before the game started...even our soldiers overseas got to view the game, minus the commercials (lucky them!)...I miss pizza, bagels & English Muffins...2/2/02: a man was arrested at the Pittsburgh airport for attempting to carry an unlicensed gun in his carry-on bag...a good bottom always gets to the top...Italo-Disco...

...however, Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reports, is dead, based on the evidence that has been received...he was captured in Pakistan by a militant rebel group...2/3/02: the Pakistan police took another person into custody...there are conflicting reports resulting from numerous phone calls & E-mails indicating the journalist is alive or dead...he was supposedly buried in a local cemetery, but several digs uncovered nothing...there has been a $2 milion ransom request plus the release of Pakistan detainees...another demand has been to turn over the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan...2/4/02: the leads are dwindling; a new demand is to release the Pakistani detainees from Camp X-ray...it is believed that Pearl was ambushed on his way to an informant...but Pakistan states it has been working on the case 24 hours a day...sources say that he may be in Karachi...2/14/02: a person who claims to have been part of the kidnapping effort also said that Pearl was dead...at his trail, the man claims that Pakistan should not cater to the US...but there have been no details regarding where to find the corpse...2/21/02: Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is dead, the State Department said Thursday, a month after the journalist was abducted by Islamic extremists in Pakistan...a videotape was sent to the authorities, indicating that Pearl, kidnapped in the port city of Karachi on 1/23/02, had been killed...the recorded video contained scenes showing Mr. Pearl in captivity and scenes of his murder by the kidnappers, as noted by Mukhtar Ahmad Sheikh, interior minister of the Sindh province, which includes Karachi...Pearl was abducted after arranging to interview the leader of a radical Muslim faction with purported ties to the al-Qaida terrorist network...

...2/22/02: Chuck Jones, 90, the creator of Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote & Pepe Lepew, passed away due to a heart condition...a white powder was found at a military base near Atlanta...the ultimate time palindrome...20:02:02:20:2002...Brad's repaired digital camera arrived on 2/20/02...some gallon containers of Tropicana Orange Juice may contain cleaning solution...