Swine Flu: giving everyone another paranoia

“Mexican Toddler in U.S. Dies From Swine Flu”

By SHARON OTTERMAN and LIZ ROBBINS
Published: April 29, 2009 New York Times

“A Mexican toddler who came to the United States with his family to visit relatives in Texas has died in Houston of the swine flu, Texas officials said Wednesday, even as the number of confirmed cases continued to rise in the United States and Europe without additional reports of fatalities.”

This is something that is worrying a lot of the population, worldwide. Here are some of the symptoms to be aware of, and if you believe you might have the flu, take it serious and see a doctor. The symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting associated with swine flu. In the past, severe illness (pneumonia and respiratory failure) and deaths have been reported with swine flu infection in people. Like seasonal flu, swine flu may cause a worsening of underlying chronic medical conditions.

For a complete Question & Answer from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention visit

Since I live in Florida I just had to know what is up with our State and what we are doing to prepare ourselves.

“In Florida, where there have been no reported cases, state health officials were instructing physicians to test patients who have even mild flu symptoms (respiratory issues, fever, coughing, gastric distress) and encouraging people to wash their hands frequently, avoid close contact with those who are ill, and stay home from work or school if they don’t feel well.

“We are prepared,” said Susan Smith, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Health. She said the state has an adequate stock of at least 120,000 doses of the antiviral drugs effective against swine flu. Additional doses are expected from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which ordered the release of a quarter of the U.S. stockpile of 50 million doses.

The World Health Organization raised its six-phase pandemic alert level from three to four, meaning there is sustained human-to-human spread in at least one country. Level six is a full-fledged pandemic affecting at least two regions in the world.”

To Find Out More Information, Or If You’re Paranioded Visit CDC

Women in Christianity

I started off writing this column determined to focus on women in religion. But I couldn’t keep myself from narrowing down the subject to just the religion of Christianity.
My decision was influenced by the fact that 76% of Americans are Christian.

In the Old Testament, Yahweh (God) creates the Earth in seven days. He also creates Adam to watch over the land that he created. Then, after Adam became “lonely”, God decided that he needed a partner to mate with. So that is when Eve came into the picture, or maybe not.

There is an additional myth to Genesis, commonly ignored by the very religious, that before Eve there was another woman.

This woman was created at the same time that Adam was made. According to Hebrew legend, the first woman God created was a companion for Adam, a strong-willed lady named Lilith.

Both had been created at the same time from the same dust, so naturally Lilith considered herself equal to Adam. Since she wouldn’t give in to his overbearing will, the Bible portrays her as a demonic seductress who goes around killing babies.

So to make it clear for everyone, Adam had a wife before Eve. She was too much to handle for Adam, so she was said to be the one who left Adam (drama so early in history?). This first wife of Adam may safely be called the world’s first feminist.

Women have been under the yoke of their husbands due to religion and culture since Lilith left Adam. But it’s the religion of man that ignores the rights of women and uses religion to subjugate females.

In Genesis there is an infamous women, an evil seductress, who should be known for her strong feministic role in the Bible.

This is the story of Jezebel. Many know her as the evil women who fought against everything that represented God. I know her as the women who took advantage of her husband’s power, and used it as a man might. She wielded her power with decisiveness, strength, and cunning, but because she was a woman she has been demonized for behaviors and actions that if it were her husband Ahab, the King of Israel, who had done them, he would not have had the negative press she received.

To this day, Jezebel is portrayed as an evil women who killed people and practiced witchcraft, but some scholars have noted that Jezebel was probably just a strong-willed woman, who knew what she wanted, and set out to get it, no matter what the consequences. Men who do this are considered ruthlessly successful, though not necessarily evil. Religion, not history, has made her evil because she is a woman.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, women who do not behave like women are defamed.
Both Lilith and Jezebel’s story show that they were just women who were fighting for equality. Sometimes, it became a bit unmoral as you see in the story of Jezebel, but in the end, you can probably say that women such as Jezebel and Lilith are our world’s first feminist.

Ashley Judd: Our Modern Day Feminist

“The hardest thing I’ve ever done is walk out of an orphanage; that gets me every time.”- Ashley Judd, 40, actress and human rights activist.

This Californian native has made an impression on activism in every way. Her strong female roles have made her career shine as she has portrayed the one thing that she is commonly known for, her strong feministic activism.

In one of Judd’s trips to Rwanda and the Congo, Judd clearly stated her opinion of abortion, “The cycle of Third World poverty cannot be broken until women have the freedom to regulate their own fertility.” Maintaining and expanding the worldwide awareness of woman’s right to choose whether or not to have an abortion has been one of Judd’s continuing efforts.

Another one of Judd’s activist endeavors has been as the Youth AIDS Global Ambassador since 2004. YAG (which is sponsored by Population Services International) has given her the opportunity to become involved in helping to stop the epidemic spread of AIDS in Africa, especially in women, and in 2008, Judd was in New York to address the United Nations on the problem of human trafficking/slavery.

Since her first “moment” in college at the University of Kentucky, her work has always been about the same, human rights. “I became a rabble-rouser. I was constantly organizing- campus wide walk-out-of-classes, doing whatever I could to stir the pot. And that’s when I really became sensitized to international issues,” said Judd during a New Your address to the United Nations.

Judd has consistently fought against the movement to make abortions illegal saying that it an unhealthy choice to take away a woman’s reproductive CHOICE. “The fewer the children, the healthier the family, the better chance of getting an education.” – Judd

Ashley Judd has taken time away from her career to ‘stir the pot’ in our American society and all over the world. Her dedication towards preserving and expanding the rights of every human, especially women demonstrates to all of us that one person can make a difference. Her belief in that, and her actions to uncover the truth about what is happening in Third World countries, and even here in the U.S. has helped countless people and has set an example of what one determined woman can do.

If anyone doesn’t know this already, March was the National Women’s History month, shining light on women such as Abigail Adams, Jane Austen, Maya Angelou, Gloria Steinem, etc. I specifically wanted Ashley Judd to be put out there for her work as a feminist activist, as an actress that strives for human rights, and as a fellow woman, who is willing to live her life trying to make the difference in our world.

Marilyn Monroe: a feminist in my eyes.

I’m very definitely a woman and I enjoy it. ~ Marilyn Monroe

If you were asked to picture Marilyn Monroe, you’d probably think of a curvy woman with blonde hair, wearing a revealing dress and leaning over a subway grate. The media portrayed singer and actress Marilyn Monroe as just a pretty blonde pop icon. But Marilyn was the opposite of the glamorous movie star she seemed to be.

In 1945, a photographer came to the warehouse where Norma Jean worked. He was photographing women who were helping with the war effort. Mrs. Norma Jeane Dougherty landed on the cover of Yank magazine, a weekly published by the military during World War II.

Shortly after, modeling agencies contacted Norma Jeane, and she quit her warehouse job. Ethel and Jim didn’t agree with Norma Jeane’s career choice, so she moved out and divorced Jim. Norma Jeane’s career began–first as a model, then as an actress and singer. In 1946, she started calling herself Marilyn Monroe–Marilyn after a famous stage actress, Marilyn Miller, and Monroe because it was her mother’s maiden name.

Marilyn worked hard to combat her media image of “dumb blonde.” She appeared in about 30 movies, and most of them showed her as ditzy or murderous. She took acting classes and even started her own production company in an effort to play more serious roles. Marilyn also carried with her a biography of Abraham Lincoln, her hero, and took nighttime literature classes at UCLA. But the public ridiculed Marilyn’s efforts to get an education.

After all the effort Marilyn put into changing her image, People magazine voted her the “sexiest woman of the century” in 1999. Perhaps she’ll always be remembered that way, but she was also a smart woman who put her career ahead of everything else. She once begged an interviewer, “Please don’t make me a joke. End the interview with what I believe … I want to be an artist, an actress with integrity.”

Marilyn Monroe died at the age of 36 from a sleeping pill overdose. Some think the overdose was an accident, others think it was suicide, and still others think someone forced Marilyn to take the pills.

Excerpts From Media Resource: New Moon Magazine, July-August, 2007

Jennifer Hudson: Amazing Women, Amazing Voice.

“Singer Jennifer Hudson triumphs at Super Bowl after tragedy” – Yahoo! News

After the tragedy with Hudson’s family, it was amazing how she got up there in the center of the football field and let everything go. Her voice was beyond amazing, and gave my goosebumps down my spine. The loud thrill in her voice as she sang the National Anthem made me burst into tears in pride of my nationality.

“She was amazing. I agree. She sounded awesome. I wish her all the best. She’s been through so much and she held herself together tonight beautifully. Job well done!” -Sandra B

“I think she did great. Her voice is so powerful and beautiful. God bless her and her family.” -Tasheka N.

Although there were some negative comments saying that Hudson didn’t sing the National Anthem the correct way and that the old fashioned way of singing it is more “American”, wake up and smell the modern times. Hudson made beautiful music when she sang a beautifully revised anthem. Stop being so close-minded Knowledge is good
from Yahoo! Answers.