Friday, November 15, 2013

Board of Supervisors Rulers of Gloucester County?

Christmas Rainbow - By Chuck Thompson of TTC Media
 (Photo credit: Battleofthehook)
Open Letter to the Citizens of Gloucester County Virginia

“For the Common Good. “

"The Land of the Life Worth Living?"  Not if you continue to have a total disregard for the law and the people of Gloucester County.  I watched the BoS meeting last week and the Board continues to show a total disregard for the Rule of Law and the people in the county.

The Virginia Constitution was written for us to limit the government intrusion into our lives.  Have you ever read the Constitution of the United States?  How about the Constitution of Virginia?You know when Ted the Court Jester, County Attorney read the proposed replacement ordinance did you not see his pants on fire? Or his nose growing?  When he adds words that are not in the Code of Virginia that means it is not in compliance with Virginia Law we know this.  Mr. Wilmot does not do a good job talking when he is not telling the truth, why do you keep making him lie for the County?  Or are you not smart enough to know he is not telling the truth?  You need to put the muzzle back on the County Jester.  He did not help your cause during the meeting!

Changing the Ordinance and getting the citizens of Gloucester to pay for guns for retiring Animal Control? Where in the Code of Virginia is this allowed since they are not law enforcement!  Let them buy their own guns!  Let retiring Deputies buy their own guns also if they retire and not meet the requirements of Virginia Code.  Also raising the taxes of the citizens to give the judges anything they want? Watch the meeting on Mr. Thompson’s blog and see this. You do think our money belongs to the County?  I was glad to see some backbone being shown but this contempt for the rule of law needs to stop. 

Is this board trying to go out as the most corrupt Board in the History of the County?  What a legacy you leave.  You do not deserve to be recognized for your service.  You may have started out with good intentions, and we all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but you have gone downhill from there.

I am not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice.  Our founding fathers used common sense and Christian scripture when establishing our founding documents. 

“For the Common Good. “

Sincerely,
Alexander James Jay

P.S.  "The time to guard against corruption and tyranny, is before they shall have gotten hold on us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the fold, than to trust to drawing his teeth and talons after he shall have entered." --Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 13, 1781
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Gloucester, VA Board of Supervisors Meeting Video Nov. 2013




We are running late putting up a copy of this video as we took the week off for meetings and some rather deep investigations.  This particular BoS meeting is rather short compared to many in the past.  It has it's laughs however.  Twitching Ted, (I'm not an attorney), Wilmot, court jester was allowed to speak in this meeting.  Of course he was presenting a new ordinance that seems to be in clear violations of the Dillon rule, hence state code, so even though he has learned to control his hands better than in the past, his facial twitches and deep swallows were still evident that he was less than comfortable with his presentation of the ordinance choices he drafted.  As we keep saying, if you have to go up against an attorney, this is the guy you want to go up against.  You can easily read him like a book.   Sorry Ted, you are still not ready for the prime time players.

The laughing jester // Art museum of Sweden, S...
The laughing jester // Art museum of Sweden, Stockholm (Photo credit: Wikipedia)



 You can also catch a good laugh as both Hutson and Theberge try to force the private chambers for the judge's personal cars down the taxpayers throats.  Kudos to Chrisco for not allowing it and forcing it over to CPI where it belongs.

  The big question we still have is why is this board trying to go out with passing yet further ordinances that in every way appear as such blatant violations to state code?  Are they trying to go out with maximum damage to the taxpayers?  Be sure to thank them for all the money they have taken out of your pocket for years to come.  If we continue to see this kind of garbage, Gloucester will get renamed Tumbleweed county as everyone flocks to leave because of the ridiculous taxes and lack of return on investments from those higher taxes.

In our opinion, Gloucester is still a prefered place to live on our list with only a handful of places throughout the state that also include a few minor hidden sections around Williamsburg, James City County and York County and maybe a few choice areas around Charles City county and New Kent County, otherwise the rest of the state has fun places to play, but not to live.  The rest of the list for us is short on a national level and only includes minor selections in PA, Florida and Georgia.  Everywhere else we have been are just not our cup of tea.  Sure there are a lot of great places throughout the nation to play in, but living there, no thanks.

  Gloucester has key amenities in place in select sections of the county and is sustainable for a gated bedroom community.  It is not self sustaining and if it were made to be self sustaining, then it would be lost as a prefered location as it would become overpopulated with numerous undesirable elements.  Is anyone looking for an extension of Newport News here or Williamsburg for that matter?

  Controlled growth is needed, but it must be smart and not at tremendous costs to the taxpayers and for the benefit of the few within the county.  The county right now is very blessed with tremendous talent.  A talent that needs to be taken advantage of for the good of the county overall and not abused by the county.  It is our sincere hope that the new Board of Supervisors will be bringing the proper mix of talent and dedication to clean up the mess that is being left to them and that the present board members follow the new lead coming in.  We are also hoping that the new board members resist the Rotary club indoctrinations as well, but there is no way to know that right off.  Time will tell.
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Governor McDonnell Signs Proclamation Designating November as Virginia Indian Heritage Month



Chiefs of Virginia’s State-Recognized Tribes Gather at Annual Consultation Meeting


Pictured from L to R: Upper Mattaponi Tribal Vice Chief Frank Adams, Upper Mattaponi  Council Member Jay Gillespie, Cheroenhaka Nottoway Tribal Vice Chief Ellis “Soaring Eagle” Wright, Cheroenhaka Nottoway Tribal Chief Walt “Red Hawk” Brown, Bill Leighty, Decide Smart LLC, Monacan Tribal Chief Sharon Bryant, Eastern Chickahominy Tribal Chief Gene Adkins, Representative of the Pamunkey Tribe Kevin Krigsvold, Governor Bob McDonnell, Upper Mattaponi  Tribal Chief Kenneth Adams, Pattawomeck Tribal Chief John Lightener, Chikahominy Tribal Asst. Chief Wayne Atkins, Nottoway Tribal Chief Lynette Allston, Doug Domenech, Secretary of Natural Resources, Karenne Wood, Director of Virginia Indian Programs , Monacan Council Member Brenda Garrison , Kathleen Kilpatrick, Director of the Department of Historic Resources, Besty Barton, History and Social Science Specialist, Virginia Department of Education
Not pictured: Rappahannock Tribal Chief Anne Richardson

(Photo Courtesy of Michaele White, Governor’s Photographer)

RICHMOND – Earlier today, Governor McDonnell ceremonially signed a proclamation designating November as Virginia Indian Heritage Month in the Commonwealth of Virginia at a ceremony in Richmond.  The signing took place at Virginia’s annual Tribal Consultation Meeting, chaired by the Secretary of Natural Resources, Doug Domenech.

“Virginia’s First People are not only an important part of Virginia’s history and heritage.  They are vibrant participants in our society today,” said the Governor McDonnell.   “It has been a great honor for me to know and work with these leaders.”

The governor joined the secretary, along with chiefs or their representatives from ten of Virginia’s 11 state-recognized tribes, and leaders of state agencies to discuss government to government issues, ranging from updating published and video tribal histories produced by the Virginia Department of Education, Historic Resources, and VDOT, updating the Story of Virginia exhibit at the Virginia Historical Society museum, and discussing the advantages of being registered as an 8A Small Business.

Virginia’s Tribes include:  The Chickahominy Tribe, the Eastern Chickahominy Tribe, the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Tribe, the Mattaponi Tribe, the Monacan Tribe, the Nottoway Tribe, the Pamunkey Tribe, the Patawomeck Tribe, the Rappahannock Tribe, and the Upper Mattaponi Tribe.

Text of the proclamation can be found online

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Governor McDonnell Announces Donation of Battlefield Lands to Commonwealth by Wal-Mart

Yorktown, Virginia
 (Photo credit: Battleofthehook)
Donated land in Orange County is affiliated with Battles of Chancellorsville and Wilderness

RICHMOND - Governor Bob McDonnell announced today that Wal-Mart has donated to the Commonwealth of Virginia more than 50 acres of land in Orange County associated with the Civil War battle of Chancellorsville and most notably with the battle of the Wilderness.

“We are delighted by this generous and voluntary gift from Wal-Mart,” said Governor McDonnell. “It’s another demonstration of Wal-Mart’s role as a good and positive corporate citizen in Virginia, whose presence here serves long range goals for our vitality.”

Henry Jordan, Senior Vice President, Eastern Seaboard Wal-Mart said, “Wal-Mart is extremely pleased that we have both found a home for our new store in Orange County while donating the property at the originally proposed site to the Commonwealth.  In this way, we have been able to give back to the community and serve the needs of our customers.”

Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources, the agency that will receive and steward the donated land, has worked quietly with Wal-Mart to complete a the donation documents and its acceptance. Those documents are now final and will be record by Wal-Mart. The department holds or co-holds numerous easements on thousands of acres of privately-owned battlefield lands throughout the commonwealth, easements that protect the lands from future development.

“This is a wonderful legacy gift from Wal-Mart that comes during the mid-point of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War,” said Kathleen S. Kilpatrick, director of the Department of Historic Resources. “We look forward to working with community leaders to steward the property and realize its potential for public benefit.  We are grateful to the Company and to Speaker Bill Howell, Chairman of the Sesquicentennial Commission, for his work to encourage the donation.”

“On behalf of the entire Sesquicentennial Commission, I want to thank Wal-Mart for this generous donation,” added Speaker Bill Howell. “The Civil War is an important part of Virginia’s history. This donation will allow for the preservation of these historic lands for future generations.”

Wal-Mart had originally purchased the land, which was zoned for development, for construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter store, a decision the company was willing to revisit when the site’s close affiliation with Chancellorsville and Wilderness were brought to light.

Wal-Mart has since then selected, purchased, and constructed a store at an alternative site four miles west of the original site located at the intersection of Routes 3 and 20. The company’s alternative site was supported by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Civil War Trust, and other groups who today applauded the donation.

“With this donation, Wal-Mart successfully fulfils the commitment made in 2011 to choose an alternate site and work to set aside the original location,” said Jim Lighthizer, president of the Civil War Trust. “The Commonwealth and Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources are ideally suited to be stewards of this resource, safeguarding its integrity for future generations of Americans to visit and study. We deeply appreciate Wal-Mart’s gift and the Commonwealth’s willingness to facilitate this important milestone in the protection of battlefield lands.”
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Governor McDonnell Announces Board and Commission Appointments

Governor of Virginia Bob McDonnell speaking at...
Governor of Virginia Bob McDonnell attribute: Gage Skidmore (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
RICHMOND - Governor Bob McDonnell today announced additional appointments to seventeen Virginia boards and commissions. Further announcements regarding additional appointments in the McDonnell administration will continue to be made in the months ahead.


A.L. Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership Board of Trustees
·         Dr. Bruce Scism of Danville, President of Danville Community College

Board of Asbestos, Lead and Home Inspectors
·         Rick Holtz* of Richmond, President and Owner of H.J. Holtz & Son, Inc.
·         Reginald E. Marston, III* of Springfield, Home Inspector and President of Residential Equity Management Home Inspection
·         Kenneth Nashof Mechanicsville, Contractor and President of 
W.W. Nash Construction Company, Inc.

Board of Conservation and Recreation
·         Michael P. Reynold of Mechanicsville, Attorney and Vice President at McGuireWoods Consulting

Board of Counseling
·         Kevin Doyle of Charlottesville, Assistant Professor of Counselor Education with Longwood University
·         Phyllis E. Pugh of Hampton, Mental Health Therapist with Hampton CSB

Board of Juvenile Justice
·         Dr. Karen Cooper-Collins of Chesapeake, Principal for Chesapeake Public Schools
Board of Trustees of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center
·         Saul Hernandez of Bristol, Senior Vice President of Information Systems and Technology for Alpha Natural Resources 
·         Lindy White of  Marion, CEO of Smyth County Community Hospital and Vice President of Mountain State Health Alliance

Capitol Square Preservation Council
·         William M.S. Rasmussen, Ph.D* of Richmond, Leader Curator for the Virginia Historical Society  
·         Terry Clements* of  Blacksburg, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Charitable Gaming Board
·         Bob Sussan of Winchester, Board Member, Corporate Secretary and Managing Agent of Watton Studio Corp.
Governor’s Substance Abuse Services Council
·         Jim Tobin of Martinsville, Executive Director of the Piedmont Community Services Board

The Library Board
·         Patricia M. Wood of Midlothian, Attorney at MeyerGoergen PC

Public Guardian and Conservator Advisory Board
·         Mira Signer of Richmond, Executive Director of NAMI Virginia

Virginia Beef Industry Board
·         John Griggs Goodwin* of Orange, Owner of JR & JT Goodwin
·         Rick Mathews* of Browntown, Owner and Manager of Virginia Livestock and farmer
·         Barry Price* of Pearisburg, Manager of Narrows Livestock Market

Virginia Board for People with Disabilities
·         Matthew A. Shapiro of Glen Allen, Student at Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commission for the Arts
·         Faye Bailey of Portsmouth, Self-Employed Non-Profit Management Consultant 
·         Ronald Fabin of Berryville, Art Educator at Loudoun County Public Schools 
·         Wanda Judd of Chesterfield, Fine Art Photographer 
·         Shelley Kruger Weisberg of Williamsburg, Adjunct Faculty at Thomas Nelson Community College

Virginia Commonwealth University Health System Board of Directors
·         Eva Teig Hardy of Richmond, Retired Executive Vice President at Dominion Resources

Virginia Marine Resources Commission
·         James Close of Mathews, Commercial Waterman

Virginia Tourism Authority Board of Directors
·         Jean Ann Bolling of Mechanicsville
·         Susan K. Payne* of Charlottesville, President of Payne Ross & Associates
·         James B. Ricketts* of Virginia Beach, Director of the Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau

*Denotes re-appointment
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Saturday, November 9, 2013

Age of Antibiotics is Coming to an End

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus 10048
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus 10048 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
By Dr. Mercola
Believing an antibiotic will cure your illness is taken for granted by most people nowadays, but that is rapidly changing. According to the experts, the age of antibiotic drugs is coming to an end. And the implications are dire.
There are two primary reasons for this drug demise.
  1. First, many strains of bacteria are becoming resistant to even our strongest antibiotics and are causing deadly infections. The bacteria are evolving faster than we are.
  2. Secondly, drug companies have all but abandoned the development of new antibiotics because of their poor profit margins.
The fact that the drug industry is showing no interest is itself an ominous sign! Big Pharma is much more interested in selling you drugs from which they can make a handsome profit, such as those marketed for cancer, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, depression, Alzheimer’s and erectile dysfunction.
Experts have been warning about the implications of antibiotic resistance for years, but never before have their warnings been so emphatic. Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, associate director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said to PBS Frontline:1
“For a long time, there have been newspaper stories and magazine articles that asked 'The end of antibiotics?’ Well, now I would say you can change the title to 'The end of antibiotics, period.'"
Nature has found a way around every antibiotic we’ve come up with, and we’re quickly running out of options. We now face the perfect storm to take us back to the pre-antibiotic age, and there is no comprehensive plan going forward. If our few remaining effective antibiotics fail, we can expect significant casualties.
Thankfully, there is a lot you can do to fend off infection naturally—and prevention is key, NOW more than ever!

Superbugs 23,000… Humans Zero

According to a landmark “Antibiotic Resistance Threat Report” published by the CDC2 earlier this year, 2 million American adults and children become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year, and at least 23,000 of them die as a direct result of those infections. Even more die from complications.
According to the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), just one organism—methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA—kills more Americans each year than the combined total of emphysema, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, and homicide.3
This death toll is really just an estimate, and the real number is likely much higher. The true extent of superbug infections remains unknown because no one is tracking them—at least not in the US.

Hospitals here are not required to report outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, unlike in the EU where they are at least making efforts to track them. The US is in desperate need of a surveillance program for reporting and tracking this growing threat.4
What we’re seeing is the evolution of bacteria. Basically, microorganisms have learned to teach each other how to outsmart the best pharmaceutical drugs we have to offer, and they are definitely winning the battle.

The 18 Most-Dangerous Pathogens of 2013

The majority of the highly dangerous bacteria are in the Gram-negative category, because that variety has body armor that makes it extremely tough. Some forms are now exhibiting “panresistance”—meaning, resistance to absolutely every antibiotic in existence. In the CDC’s report “Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013,” the following 18 superbugs are identified as “urgent, serious and concerning threats” to humankind:5
Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE): A family of Gram-negative bacteria that are prominent in your gut growing increasingly resistant to nearly all types of antibiotics
Drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae: The sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea is becoming increasingly resistant to the last type of antibiotics left to treat it, having already become resistant to less potent antibiotics. Strains of the disease that are resistant to the class of antibiotic drugs called cephalosporins have appeared in several countries.
Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter: Appeared in the US after Iraq and Afghanistan war vets returned home. Tough enough to survive even on dry surfaces like dust particles, making it easy to pass from host to host, especially in hospital environments
Drug-resistant CampylobacterCampylobacter is the fourth leading cause of foodborne illness in the US. Campylobacter bacteria are unique in that they secrete an exotoxin that is similar to cholera toxin.
Fluconazole-resistant Candida (a fungus)
Extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBLs): ESBLs are enzymes produced by certain types of bacteria, which renders the bacteria resistant to the antibiotics used to treat them. ESBL-producing E. Coli, for example, are resistant to penicillins and cephalosporins, and are becoming more frequent in urinary tract infections
Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE): Increasingly common in hospital settings
Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Linked to serious bloodstream infections and surgical wounds, can lead to pneumonia and other complications; some are resistant to nearly every family of antibiotic
Drug-resistant Non-typhoidal Salmonella and Salmonella Typhi
Drug-resistant Shigella: An infectious disease caused by Shigella bacteria
Clostridium Difficile (C. Diff): Can live in the gut without causing symptoms but attacks when your immune system is weakened; C. Diff is on the rise—infections increased by 400 percent between 2000 and 2007—and is becoming increasingly antibiotic-resistant
Methicillin-resistant and Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA and VRSA): Gram-positive bacteria infecting about 80,000 people each year, can lead to sepsis and death. Increasing in communities, although decreasing in hospitals over the past decade; recent evidence points to factory-scale hog CAFOs as a primary source; MRSA is also a significant risk for your pets
Drug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae: A leading cause of pneumonia, bacteremia, sinusitis, and acute otitis media
Drug-resistant tuberculosis: Extensively resistant TB (XDR TB) has a 40 percent mortality rate and is on the rise worldwide; tuberculosis is one of the most infectious diseases because it’s so easily spread through the air when infected people cough or sneeze
Erythromycin-resistant Group A and Clindamycin-resistant Group B Streptococcus

Armed and Extremely Dangerous: NDM-1 and KPC

NDM-1, or “New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1,’” is a bacterial gene that confers “super-resistance” to conventional antibiotics. This gene is carried by a rising number of bacteria and makes them virtually unstoppable. What makes NDM-1 such a force to be reckoned with is that it can easily be passed from one bacterium to another, like a kid sharing his lunch—turning your ordinary bacteria into superbacteria. NDM-1 has now reached 48 countries. In the US, the CDC identified 16 cases in 2012, and that number has already doubled for 2013. Another type of highly drug-resistant bacteria is KPC, or Klebsiella pneumoniaeCarbapenemase (KPC)-Producing bacteria. Both KPC and NDM-1 infections are highly lethal, causing death in about half of those diagnosed.

How the Modern Food System has Created an Unbeatable “Army” of  Superbugs

Antibiotic overuse and inappropriate use bears a heavy responsibility for creating the superbug crisis we are facing today. According to Dr. Srinivasan, as much as half of all antibiotics used in clinics and hospitals “are either unneeded or patients are getting the wrong drugs to treat their infections.”1
The pervasive misuse of antibiotics by the agriculture industry is particularly reprehensible. Agriculture accounts for about 80 percent of all antibiotics used in the US. 24.6 million pounds of antibiotics are administered to livestock in the US every year for purposes other than treating disease, such as making the animals grow bigger faster. In other parts of the world, such as the EU, adding antibiotics to animal feed to accelerate growth has been banned for years. The antibiotic residues in meat and dairy, as well as the resistant bacteria, are passed on to you in the foods you eat. Eighty different antibiotics are allowed in cows’ milk. According to the CDC, 22 percent of antibiotic-resistant illness in humans is in fact linked to food. In the words of Dr. Srinivasan:
“The more you use an antibiotic, the more you expose a bacteria to an antibiotic, the greater the likelihood that resistance to that antibiotic is going to develop. So the more antibiotics we put into people, we put into the environment, we put into livestock, the more opportunities we create for these bacteria to become resistant.”
Unfortunately, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has again reneged on its plan to withdraw approval of penicillin and tetracycline antibiotics for use in food-producing animal feed. By bowing to industry pressure, the FDA is allowing an unsafe practice to continue at the expense of your health.
Another contributing factor is the genetic engineering of our foods. As Jeffrey Smith explained at the recent GMO Summit, it’s possible that GMOs from food can transfer genetic material to your normal gut bacteria, conferring antibiotic resistance and turning them into superbugs. GMOs have been scientifically proven to activate and deactivate hundreds if not thousands of genes. We have no idea about the gravity of this risk, as no one has yet studied it.

Is Tainted Meat the “New Normal”?

Previous research suggests you have a 50/50 chance of buying meat tainted with drug-resistant bacteria when you buy meat from your local grocery store. But it may be even worse. Using data collected by the federal agency called NARMS (National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System), the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found antibiotic-resistant bacteria in 81 percent of ground turkey, 69 percent of pork chops, 55 percent of ground beef, and 39 percent of raw chicken parts purchased in stores in 2011.
EWG nutritionist and the report's lead researcher, Dawn Undurraga, issued the following warning to the public:6
“Consumers should be very concerned that antibiotic-resistant bacteria are now common in the meat aisles of most American supermarkets... These organisms can cause foodborne illnesses and other infections. Worse, they spread antibiotic-resistance, which threatens to bring on a post-antibiotic era where important medicines critical to treating people could become ineffective.”

Recalls, Recalls, and More Recalls


This is a Flash-based video and may not be viewable on mobile devices.
You would expect this widespread contamination of the food supply to make a lot of people sick—and that is exactly what we’re seeing. With so much contaminated food, it isn’t surprising that food recalls are an increasingly frequent segment on the nightly news. An ongoing outbreak of “Salmonella Heidelberg” has already sickened at least 472 people this year, who consumed tainted Foster Farms chicken from three central California processing plants. People have fallen ill across 20 states, from Washington State to Puerto Rico.7 Forty-two percent have required hospitalization, which is an uncommonly high rate due to the virulence of this strain.8 Why is it so virulent?
The Salmonella bacteria cultured from the ill were found to be resistant to combinations of the following antibiotics: ampicillin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, sulfisoxazole, and tetracycline. The CDC warned, "Antimicrobial resistance may increase the risk of hospitalization or possible treatment failure in infected individuals."9

Big Pharma is Washing its Hands of the Crisis it Helped to Create

The drug industry has all but abandoned antibiotics research because these “wonder drugs” of the last half-century are becoming ineffective—and Big Pharma knows it. The “antibiotic bubble” has burst.10 According to Paul Stoffels, head of Johnson & Johnson:10
"The market for a new antibiotic is very small, the rewards are not there and so the capital is not flowing. In cancer, people pay $30,000, $50,000 or $80,000 (per patient) for a drug, but for an antibiotic it is likely to be only a few hundred dollars."
Developing a new drug can take a decade of clinical trials and reportedly cost between $800 million to one billion dollars.11 Not only are antibiotics relatively inexpensive for you, but you are only required to take one for a week or two, which limits profits for the manufacturer. Why put money into a cheap drug that is only taken for a couple of weeks when they can focus their efforts on expensive drugs that people will believe they need to take for the rest of their lives? I guess, for the drug industry, antibiotics now fall into the “Why Bother” category.
Rather than being guided by improved patient outcomes, the industry is wholly guided by its endless quest for profits. According to the ISDA, the number of new systemic antibiotics approved by the FDA has plunged from 16 between 1983 and 1987 to JUST TWO in the past five years.9 Only four pharmaceutical companies are still working on developing new antibiotics. In terms of fighting gram-negative superbugs, there were only seven antibiotics in an advanced stage of development as of early 2013—and one belongs to a drug company that recently filed for bankruptcy.10

Visions of a Post Antibiotic-Apocalypse

Medicine has very few options when the antibiotic pipeline completely dries up.  Hospitals are already resorting to some very unsavory treatments, resurrecting old drugs that were abandoned for good reasons.
For example, they have resurrected a toxic bug-killing chemical called Colistin12 (first introduced in 1952 and known to cause kidney damage) as a last-ditch effort to treat multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections. Then there is the strategy of cutting off (or cutting out) the infected body part, which sometimes has to be performed several times, a few inches at a time as the infection migrates further into the patient’s body.
The bottom line is, if ALL antibiotics fail, it will in effect mark an end to modern medicine as we know it—and we are quickly heading in that direction.
Common illnesses such as bronchitis or strep throat may turn into deadly sepsis. Surgeries previously considered low risk or “routine,” such as hip replacements, might suddenly be too risky without antibiotics. And complex surgeries like organ transplants would essentially not be survivable.

So What’s the Solution?

The impending superbug crisis has a three-prong solution:
  1. Better infection prevention, with a focus on strengthening your immune system naturally
  2. More responsible use of antibiotics for people and animals, with a return to biodynamic farming and a complete overhaul of our food system
  3. Innovative new approaches to the treatment of infections from all branches of science, natural as well as allopathic
There are some promising new avenues of study that may result in fresh ways to fight superbugs. For example, Dutch scientists have discovered a way to deactivate antibiotics with a blast of ultraviolet light before bacteria have a chance to adapt, and before the antibiotics can damage your good bacteria.13
And British scientists have discovered how bacteria talk to each other through “quorum signaling” and are investigating ways of disrupting this process in order to render them incapable of causing an infection. They believe this may lead to a new line of anti-infectives that do not kill bacteria, but instead block their ability to cause disease.14 But the basic strategy that you have at your disposal right now is prevention, prevention, prevention—it’s much easier to prevent an infection than to halt one already in progress.
Avoiding antibiotic-resistance is but one of several good reasons to avoid meats and animal products from animals raised in confined animal feeding operations (CAFO’s). This is in part why grass-fed pastured meat is the ONLY type of meat I recommend. If you’re regularly eating meat bought at your local grocery store, know that you’re in all likelihood getting a low dose of antibiotics with every meal... and this low-dose exposure is what’s allowing bacteria to adapt and develop such strong resistance.

What You Can Do Now

Fortunately, Mother Nature gives us a cornucopia of botanicals that put antibiotic drugs to shame in the battle against pathogenic microbes. Natural compounds with antimicrobial activity such as garlic, cinnamon, oregano extract, colloidal silverManuka honey, probiotics and fermented foodsechinacea, sunlight and vitamin D are all excellent options to try before resorting to drugs. Best of all, research has shown that bacteria do not tend to develop resistance to these types of treatments. Perhaps nature is smarter than most would like to think.
The basic key to keeping your immune system healthy is making good lifestyle choices such as proper diet, stress management and exercise.
Remember, opt for clean, whole foods (animal and plant based), organically raised without antibiotics and preferably locally sourced. Antibiotics simply aren’t  needed when healthy animals are raised properly. One chicken farmer has demonstrated that even large-scale animal farms can manage without routine administration of antibiotic drugs by using an herbal remedy of oregano oil and cinnamon instead!
By taking control of your own health and building a strong immune system, you’ll minimize your risk of acquiring an antibiotic-resistant infection.

 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/11/09/antibiotic-drugs.aspx  Link back to Mercola.com website for more information.
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