I will offer some advice on how to protect yourself naturally, without having to line up for dangerous vaccines or take expensive "anti-viral" drugs with all their side effects. As with other national emergencies our biggest danger may be economic if the government overreacts and shuts down travel and commerce. Mexico is going down that path and has told everyone to stay at home, but that can't last long. People have to make a living and will have to go back to work soon. Mexicans have little food on hand due to their habit of shopping daily rather than weekly. If governments overplay their hand, this panic could damage any hope of a quick economic recovery.

Paul Joseph Watson of prisonplanet.com presents the worse-than-reported case: "A doctor in Texas claims that swine flu cases are at least ten times worse than officials are letting on, and that hospitals are becoming overwhelmed as the virus has already crossed the threshold to be considered a phase 6 global pandemic [not true at all]. Dr. Marcus Gitterle, an emergency medicine physician based out of New Braunfels, Texas, sent out an internal alert which contains several stunning claims about swine flu that, if true, officials have presumably sought to keep from the public.

"After I returned from a public health meeting yesterday with community leaders and school officials in Comal County and Hays County, (name removed) suggested I send an update to my patients in the area, because what we are hearing privately from the CDC and Health Department is different from what you are hearing in the media," writes Gitterle. The doctor claims that the actual number of confirmed cases of swine flu is 10 to 25 times worse than has been reported, and that people are not recovering easily, as has been claimed, but that many Americans are in fact seriously ill."

I think the doctor is over-reacting and exaggerating. It might be 2-3 times more than reported, but not 10-25 times. Credible doctors reported from California that most of the California cases are mild and will easily recover, even without giving anti-viral drugs. In Mexico it may be bad, but not yet in America.

The Olympian newspaper reports how Mexico is reacting (changing daily): "In Mexico City, surgical masks given to subway passengers, public events canceled, schools and public venues closed and church services postponed. President Felipe Calderon has assumed new powers to isolate infected people. World Bank is providing Mexico with more than $200 million in loans to help with the outbreak." Travel restrictions and quarantines are the next shoes to drop. Argentina has demanded that all passengers arriving from Mexico check in with the ministry of health.

Here is a report from a British ex-patriot living in Mexico and working in health care (relayed through James Wesley Rawle's Survivalblog.org). "The number of cases increases significantly every day. The number of fatalities is also increasing. At least three doctors are said to have died from swine flu. There is great fear among the medical community. We know that the situation is very serious and that we are at high risk of infection.

But we are more scared of carrying it into our homes and infecting our loved ones. One of my colleagues that was exposed chose to stay in a hotel rather than run the risk of infecting her daughters. These fears are getting worse as we realize that it is not possible to get antiviral drugs from pharmacies and that in the health sector they are close to being delivered in droppers. Despite this, the government says that it can rely on antiviral drugs to treat a million cases. We do not have easy access to these, even though we are part of the health sector."

Some lower level health care workers in Mexico are not showing up for work due to fear of the high levels of contamination in hospitals themselves. Some are already ill. However, most hospitals in the US are still reporting zero cases. Even if sick, I don't think I'd go to a hospital. If you had a lesser form of the flu, you'd be sure to catch a worse variety there. Besides, hospitals only rely on anti-viral drugs, and know nothing about natural therapies, or even good nutrition (judging by hospital food). I can't find any compelling reason to go into the infected atmosphere of a hospital in such a crisis.

World and national health officials are caught between two difficult positions—waiting until things really get bad before declaring an emergency (and risk being charged with reacting too late) or rolling out quarantine plans now and shutting down all public meetings and transportation as a preventative measure. The latter has huge risks as well, especially if it doesn't turn into a really serious epidemic.

If the establishment is looking for an excuse to practice draconian intervention on the American public, they may have their chance, but already the travel industry is demanding they wait so as to not damage already waning public confidence in flying. The World Health Organization says, as of April 28th, "there were only seven laboratory-confirmed swine flu deaths, all in Mexico, from 79 confirmed cases around the world."

In deference to the pork industry, which has seen a steep sell off in pigs (trying to beat the collapse in hog prices) the WHO has said that the most recent research on swine flu has shown that "the virus is not caused by pigs," which is true. The disease is now being referred to as Mexican flu or influenza A (H1N1)." The WHO has also moved the pandemic alert from four to five, on a scale of six, but refusing to go higher despite pressure from some government sources.

Meanwhile, the US Dep. Of Homeland Security is preparing its quarantine guidelines. As CBS reports, "DHS has sent a memo to some health care providers noting procedures to be followed if the swine flu outbreak eventually makes quarantines necessary. 'The Department of Justice has established legal federal authorities pertaining to the implementation of a quarantine and enforcement. Under approval from HHS, the Surgeon General has the authority to issue quarantines.'

"Bridger McGaw [DHS' acting assistant secretary for the private sector] appears to have been referring to the section of federal law that allows the Surgeon General to detain and quarantine Americans 'reasonably believed to be infected' with a communicable disease [very broad powers without many restrictions]. Federal quarantine authority is limited to diseases listed in presidential executive orders; President Bush added 'novel' forms of influenza with the potential to create pandemics in Executive Order 13375. Anyone violating a quarantine order can be punished by a $250,000 fine and a one-year prison term.

"The memo from McGaw also said: 'U.S. Customs and Coast Guard Officers assist in the enforcement of quarantine orders. Other DOJ law enforcement agencies including the U.S. Marshals, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives may also enforce quarantines. Military personnel are not authorized to engage in enforcement." If this gets bad, it is likely we'll see military troops enforcing quarantines. On CNBC they showed a uniformed Admiral who was present in the Health and Human Services command center monitoring the outbreak. Quarantines are very tough to enforce and there are not enough law enforcement to enforce a medical martial law operation.

On the other side of the story, there are those claiming this is overblown, like Patrick Wood and Dr. Russell Blaylock, MD: "Are globalist fear-mongers driving the media to panic the public into universal healthcare solutions? Or federally-mandated vaccinations? By definition, a 'pandemic' is an epidemic that is geographically widespread. Fear-mongers are always careful to add the innuendo that millions of people could and probably will die, as in the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 that killed between 20 and 100 million people worldwide.

Excuse me, but how does the death of even a few hundred equate to 20 million? Almost all of the deaths, limited as they are, are in Mexico. The ratio of deaths to infections is very small. Again, how does this outbreak even remotely qualify as a pandemic? Answer: It does not!" His point about the ratio of deaths to infection being less than 10% is significant. In all other worldwide plagues, the death ratio has been well above 50% of those infected.

Tom Randall of Bloomberg says that "Travel restrictions under consideration by the U.S. to prevent the spread of a new flu virus may be influenced by politics more than science, the World Health Organization's chief said today. WHO doesn't recommend closing borders or restricting the movement of people or goods, Margaret Chan, director-general of the United Nations agency told leaders from health groups around the world in a conference call today. The disease, which may have caused more than 100 deaths and sickened more than 1,000 people, has spread too far and would be impossible to contain by closing borders, she said."

The scare, whether real or invented, will spur Congress to accede to more power for government action. Congress.org says, "As the world grapples with a potential health crisis from the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico, Congress is responding on several fronts. Expect the potential pandemic to ignite debate over vaccination stockpiles, health care reform, immigration policy and border security, among other issues."

There will also be a lot of profiteering going on—especially on the part of the big pharmaceutical companies who manufacture anti-viral drugs and vaccines. They have been granted immunity from liability on all these dangerous products, so they win weather vaccines succeed or fail--at the expense of the drug taking public, of course, who will suffer adverse side effects. It's one thing to take high risks on drugs when there is a 90% chance you will die, but quite another when the danger of dying from a virus perhaps even less than the risk of drug or vaccine harm.

As James Ridgeway wrote, "With no vaccine in sight, the U.S. government, along with others, is belatedly stocking up on Tamiflu, a drug that supposedly offers some defense against bird and swine flu. But in 2005 Japanese newspapers told how [some] children who were administered Tamiflu went mad and tried to kill themselves by jumping out of windows. In a cautionary statement the FDA noted 12 deaths among children, and said there are reports of psychiatric disturbances, including hallucinations, along with heart and lung disorders. Roche, the manufacturer, is quoted by the BBC as stating that the rate of deaths and psychiatric problems is no higher among those taking its medication than among those with flu. The company is increasing Tamiflu production to 300 million doses a year to meet demand."

THE VACCINE ISSUE

Mandatory vaccinations are one of the powers claimed by government in a pandemic and can be even more dangerous than quarantine. Due to the problems inherent in vaccine safety and their marginal effectiveness against viral infections, this should be resisted at all costs. That's how strongly I feel about the issue. Congressman Ron Paul, an MD, pointed out that the 1976 Swine flu outbreak, turned out to be no epidemic at all. As explained below it was a man made disease caused by the government using soldiers at Fort Dix as guinea pigs for a new vaccine, which actually gave them the flu. One soldier died and 25 civilians who also took the tainted vaccine.

Dr. Michael Osterholm, a pandemic flu expert at the University of Minnesota questioned the efficacy of the government trying to encourage everyone to take a flu vaccine. "No vaccine specifically protects against swine flu, and it is unclear how much protection current human flu vaccines might offer."

Patricia Doyle, PhD a medical writer warns against taking any vaccines. "I am making a plea to everyone who reads this, please, please DO NOT TAKE ANY VACCINE THAT IS PURPORTED TO 'PREVENT' THIS FLU. Remember 1976 and the so called Swine Flu outbreak that was purported to be a coming pandemic? It only infected recruits at Ft. Dix. Why? Because I believe that the so called Swine Flu virus infected the recruits due to the vaccines they were given [full story below] . . . I was one of the people duped into taking a Swine Flu shot and it made me so sick. I was sick in bed for three months after taking the vaccine.

"There is also a safety issue in any experimental vaccine, much like the one in 1976. It could trigger Guillain-barre syndrome, Typhus or some other condition. An Influenza vaccine does not protect or prevent a person from contracting flu. It is purported to, maybe, prevent some complications of flu and maybe shorten duration. I am not even sure it does that. Personally, I feel the vaccine weakens our immune system and also sickens us due to contaminants in the vaccine.

I feel that people can better protect themselves by washing hands often and thoroughly. People should also use protective gloves when out and about during epidemics. Don't be afraid of 'looking odd.' I would not be ashamed to use a mask and gloves. I see that the Mexicans are using them. A big problem during a pandemic is that these simple supplies will become extremely scarce awfully quickly. Stock up now on medical supplies."

She is right about stocking up. I recommend more than just the medical style surgical mask or the white utility dust mask sold in stores. While better than nothing, none of the paper or cloth face masks make a tight seal about the face. I recommend you buy a painter's respirator—the kind that looks like an oxygen mask with two filters on either side at the cheek position. These respirators block not only dust, but mold, bacteria and chemical vapors. They can even double as a smoke mask if you have to get out of a house in a fire, or rescue a child. I always keep one in my car just in case.

Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, D.O., also recommends you not take vaccines. "We knew this was coming. Even though the bird flu hype was removed years ago from the nightly news, planning for the global pandemic and the development of pandemic flu vaccines has continued with little notice. Our government has instructed FEMA, made checklists for Homeland Security, given action plans to State and local authorities. These plans include methods and drills for global inoculation with a vaccine that will no doubt have the same deadly consequences as the Swine Flu vaccine in 1976... A short look back at plans that were put in place several years ago will confirm this is not a spontaneous eruption and the solution—global vaccination—has been in the works for quite some time.

"The Fort Dix tragedy: Even though April 30, 1975 marked the end of the U.S. presence in Vietnam, young men across the country continued to sign up for the all-volunteer army. Just after the Christmas holiday in 1975, thousands of enthusiastic new army recruits reported to the barracks at Fort Dix, New Jersey, to begin basic training. However, by mid-January, many were complaining of flu-like symptoms; a few had even been hospitalized. One recruit reported to his drill instructor that he felt tired and weak. Given the option to rest, he opted instead to participate in a five-mile training March on a cold February night. Twenty-four hours later, on February 6, 1975, the 19-year-old Pvt. David Lewis of Ashley Falls, Massachusetts, was dead.

Word arrived the following week from the CDC laboratory that his death was caused by an unusual influenza type A virus. Particularly worrisome was that four other samples taken from ill recruits at Fort Dix had also tested positive for influenza A virus—a type that had previously been detected only in pigs. Within three weeks of Lewis' death—the only person ever confirmed to have died from swine flu on the entire military base—researchers and public health officials converged in Washington to persuade members of Congress to implement a costly new program to vaccinate the country. A nationwide campaign, launched with the urgency of a five-alarm fire, was started by the CDC which ramped up the vaccine production with millions of government dollars allocated to develop of a novel vaccine for mass vaccination.

"The same five-alarm fire is happening today. This morning, April 26, 2009, the federal government declared a public health emergency, as the number of cases of swine flu in the U.S. rises to a mere 20, announcing the arrival of the long-planned for and awaited pandemic.

"Pharma Protected: In 1976, the Federal Insurance Company advised Merck that all liability, indemnity, and defense costs associated with claims arising from the new swine flu vaccine would not be covered by its insurance plan. Having absorbed the embarrassment and the economic losses caused by the polio vaccine in 1955, the pharmaceutical industry and their insurance providers were determined that would not happen again. This time, there are no worries.

Drug companies have completely covered their tracks, and when reports of adverse events and deaths from the new swine flu vaccine start to roll in, they will be smiling all the way to the bank. Flu shots were added to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Table in 2003, meaning, if anyone is injured, a claim needs to be filed through the Federal Court of Claims and it will be years before it is adjudicated. And that is just the basic layer of protection. All the drug companies have to do is whisper that this may be a 'terrorist attack' and they are home free.

"Before he was voted out of office in 2006, then-senator Bill Frist (R-TN), a physician, drove through a bill that gave drug companies more immunity than any bill ever passed by Congress.

1. Immunity from liability for all drugs, vaccines, or biological products deemed as a covered countermeasure against bioterrorism in the event of an outbreak of any kind.

2. Immunity for any product used for any public health emergency declared by the secretary of HHS. The authority to declare an emergency now rests completely in the hands of the secretary of HHS----an appointed, non-medical person who has no accountability to the general public. The president's hand-picked person that is part of his inner circle will have the power to mandate vaccines and other medications given to the American people.

3. Immunity from accountability. No matter what a drug company does wrong, they are protected. Even if the company's dirty facility created a batch of contaminated vaccines that resulted in death or injury to thousands of people, the drug company will not be held accountable.

4. Immunity from law suits. A person who suffers any type of loss will be prohibited from suing the drug companies. The bill provisions provide a mechanism for filing a lawsuit, but the language explicitly prevents frivolous suits by setting a standard for liability more rigid than any known standard of negligence. In simple terms, if a claim is filed by a plaintiff it can go forward only if the injured party can prove that the company performed an act of 'willful misconduct' resulting in an injury or a death. In other words, the injured party would have to prove the vaccine maker intentionally caused him harm [which is impossible].

"Division-E goes even one step further. Unbelievably, even if a pharmaceutical company knowingly harms people, the company will be immune from legal prosecution unless the U.S. attorney general initiates 'enforcement action' against the drug company in the name of the claimant.

"Staying Healthy: Certainly, keeping yourself healthy and protected from all types of flu strains is a priority, now more than ever. Here are some suggestions:

"1. Good hydration with alkaline water: If you don't have access to an alkaline water machine, be sure to eat large amounts of alkalinizing, fresh vegetables and fruits such as broccoli, carrots, sprouts, avocados and berries. [What she is referring to is the fact that lots of food like meats and sweets cause your system to become acidic, which is the perfect ph to breed disease. In fact no one gets sick unless they are acidic. This condition is also the stimulus to the body to take calcium from the bones, which it dumps into the blood stream to bring the ph back to alkaline].

"2. Sleep: Get at least 8.5 hours per night, every night. Sleep is often overlooked at the key to health. This is simple to do and best of all, it is free.

"3. Vitamin D: Much has been written on the importance of adequate vitamin D for resisting viral infections... It is safe to take at least 2000 IU of vitamin D3 per day [up to 5,000 if it is natural and combined with natural vitamin A]. With summer coming, you can get your dose of D naturally from sunshine [only if you spend time in the sun].

"4. Vitamin C: Humans don't store vitamin C and under stress, much more is required. Vitamin C is important for fighting viral infections. Take in at least 2000 mg/day for overall immune health [Don't use the cheap ascorbic acid variety sold in supermarkets (which are synthetic vitamins put out by major pharmaceutical companies). Instead, look for bioflavonoids and rose hips included].

"5. Vitamin A: This vitamin is one of the best supporters you can have in your cabinet [but it must be from natural sources, like Cod Liver oil]."

HOW TO TREAT VIRAL INFECTIONS WITHOUT DRUGS

The symptoms of the new flu are hardly any different from other flu cases: cough, fever, sore throat [hoarseness], shortness of breath, and muscle and joint pain. You should be prepared to stay in top physical condition during this period of risk. But, exercise only outdoors, not in closed gyms with other people. If this does become a true epidemic you must limit your contact with groups of people. If the virus hits your neighborhood hard, keep your kids out of schools, don't go to Church, and arrange to work from home if possible. If it really gets bad, you must get out of town into rural areas with fewer people—get out of the cities early enough to avoid an quarantine orders prohibiting people from leaving.

No natural treatment works well unless you get off junk food—and not just while you are sick. Give up soda drinks (especially diet drinks that have synthetic sugars—they are ALL bad for your health), doughnuts, store bought cookies and snacks, candy bars and ready made foods or mixes. Drink water or real fruit juices—but try to avoid those sweetened with corn syrup. When sick or fearful of getting sick, eat much less food than normal. Eat organically grown fresh vegetables and fruits and very little meat or cooked carbohydrates. Raw things are best, as are green salads, but don't use commercial salad dressings. They have too many chemicals and sugar in them.

I also want to add more background to what Dr. Tenpenny said about vitamin D3. The normal flu season takes place in the dead of winter because of low sunshine, which in turn, results in low Vitamin D output within the human body. Vitamin D3 is created in the skin by Ultraviolet light from the sun, and people get little sun in the northern hemisphere in the winter, and even less year-round because most work indoors. Vitamin D3 is especially important in creating certain Peptide proteins that attack both bacteria and viruses and protect the immune system.

Here are excerpts from a peer-reviewed research article by Dr. John Cannell of Atascadero, California on the relationship between Vitamin D and people's resistance to the flu and viruses in general. He begins by telling how certain mental patients who were given high doses of Vitamin D for various mental conditions all became resistant to a flu epidemic that swept through the hospital.

"In 1918, when medical scientists did autopsies on some of the fifty million people who died during the 1918 flu pandemic, they were amazed to find destroyed respiratory tracts; sometimes these inflammatory cytokines had triggered the complete destruction of the normal epithelial cells lining the respiratory tract. It was as if the flu victims had been attacked and killed by their own immune systems. This is the severe inflammatory reaction that vitamin D has recently been found to prevent.

"I subsequently did what physicians have done for centuries. I experimented, first on myself and then on my family, trying different doses of vitamin D to see if it has any effects on viral respiratory infections. After that, as the word spread, several of my medical colleagues experimented on themselves by taking three_day courses of pharmacological doses (2,000 units per kilogram per day) of vitamin D at the first sign of the flu.

"I also asked numerous colleagues and friends who were taking physiological doses of vitamin D (5,000 units per day in the winter and less, or none, in the summer) if they ever got colds or the flu, and, if so, how severe the infections were. I became convinced that physiological doses of vitamin D reduce the incidence of viral respiratory infections and that pharmacological doses significantly ameliorate the symptoms of some viral respiratory infections if taken early in the course of the illness.

"As I waited for the hospital to finish collecting data from all the patients taking vitamin D at the time of the outbreak _ to see if it really reduced the incidence of influenza - I decided to research the literature thoroughly, finding all the clues in the world's medical literature that indicated if vitamin D played any role in preventing influenza or other viral respiratory infections. I worked on the paper for over a year, writing it with..[names list of distinguished professors and co-authors].

"Epidemiology and Infection, recently published our paper.. We proposed that annual fluctuations in vitamin D levels explain the seasonality of influenza. The periodic seasonal fluctuations in 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels, which cause recurrent and predictable wintertime vitamin D deficiency, predispose human populations to influenza epidemics. We raised the possibility that influenza is a symptom of vitamin D deficiency.

"In the paper, we propose that vitamin D explains the following 14 observations:

1. Why the flu predictably occurs in the months following the winter solstice, when vitamin D levels are at their lowest,

2. Why it disappears in the months following the summer solstice,

3. Why influenza is more common in the tropics during the rainy season,

4. Why the cold and rainy weather associated with El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which drives people indoors and lowers vitamin D blood levels, is associated with influenza,

5. Why the incidence of influenza is inversely correlated with outdoor temperatures,

6. Why children exposed to sunlight are less likely to get colds,

7. Why cod liver oil (which contains vitamin D) reduces the incidence of viral respiratory infections,

8. Why Russian scientists found that vitamin D-producing UVB lamps reduced colds and flu in schoolchildren and factory workers,

9. Why Russian scientists found that volunteers, deliberately infected with a weakened flu virus - first in the summer and then again in the winter—show significantly different clinical courses in the different seasons,

10. Why the elderly who live in countries with high vitamin D consumption, like Norway, are less likely to die in the winter,

11. Why children with vitamin D deficiency and rickets suffer from frequent respiratory infections,

12. Why an observant physician (Rehman), who gave high doses of vitamin D to children who were constantly sick from colds and the flu, found the treated children were suddenly free from infection,

13. Why the elderly are so much more likely to die from heart attacks in the winter rather than in the summer,

14. Why African Americans, with their low vitamin D blood levels, are more likely to die from influenza and pneumonia than Whites are.

"Although our paper discusses the possibility that physiological doses of vitamin D (5,000 units a day) may prevent colds and the flu, and that physicians might find pharmacological doses of vitamin D (2,000 units per kilogram of body weight per day for three days) useful in treating some of the one million people who die in the world every year from influenza, we remind readers that it is only a theory . . . However, as vitamin D deficiency has repeatedly been associated with many of the diseases of civilization, we point out that it is not too early for physicians to aggressively diagnose and adequately treat vitamin D deficiency."

Dr. Stan Monteith MD, of Radio Liberty fame, also recommends 5,000 units per day of Vitamin D as well as an immune system boosting product called Allibiotic—a combination of essential oils and garlic for immune support during seasonal flu season. Here's the online link http://www.radioliberty.com/Vitamins.html

It's getting harder and harder to find natural food source vitamins. The best source of high vitamin D is from Cod liver oil. Unfortunately, the FDA requires excessive processing of the oil in order to meet certain erroneous standards of toxicity and fatty acid content—which strips out the natural vitamins. Manufacturers add back synthetic vitamins, but they have some risk of toxicity. Toxicity of Vitamin A and D has most often been demonstrated with synthetics and only when tested separately.

Natural Vitamins A and D should always be taken together since they balance each other out. There is now only one source of high Vitamin Cod liver oil that evades this requirement since they use a fermentation process to produce the oil. Here is the link: www.greenpasture.org The fermentation process has the added benefit of yielding vitamin E and K as well.

Business Preparations: Ultimately, in a widespread disease environment, everyone has to consider how they are going to continue making a living when contacts with people, or even business travel, may be severely restricted. Businessmen should begin right now to develop plans, where possible, for employees to telecommute from home. They should have a supply of painter's respirators for those who must come to work. They should stockpile necessary office and inventory items in case suppliers shut down. Internet suppliers will be vulnerable if transportation is restricted. Find local suppliers for everything and be prepared to go pick them up yourself.

Adapted from: Joel Skousen's April 26, 2009 World Affairs Brief ( http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com ) Used by permission.