NEW EVIDENCE VIRUSES MAY CAUSE CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME

The answer isn't clear, but there's more evidence that suggests the idea might not be so far-fetched.

Government scientists found that blood cells from people diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome were much more likely than samples from people without the condition to contain traces of genetic code from viruses that cause leukemia in mice.

Eighty-seven percent of samples from CFS patients (32 of 37) contained genetic fingerprints from murine leukemia viruses, which can also infect humans. Only 7 percent (3 of 44) of samples from normal blood donors show signs of the viruses.


The results bolster a controversial report last year that linked a related virus, XMRV, to chronic fatigue. One reason people have thought a virus might be to blame for the debilitating condition is that the symptoms resemble a bad case of the flu that doesn't go away.

The National Institutes of Health's Dr. Harvey Alter, senior author of the paper, said in a conference call with reporters, "It's an association, but that's all it is." He was careful to say the findings don't prove that a virus causes CFS.

The results from the latest study were published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Since the Science paper last year that implicated XMRV, other groups have had trouble reproducing the findings, casting doubt on its significance. The latest work didn't find that particular virus either.

Alter says that it's "a dilemma" that some researchers find an association between CFS and a virus while others do have not. He hypothesized that the lack of hardcore standardized test for CFS, such as a biopsy, means that variability in the patients selected for study could be part of the problem.

One way to settle the question would be to test antiretroviral drugs in patients with CFS. The University of Alberta's Dr. Andrew Mason suggested in an accompanying commentary that the benefits of such a study may outweigh the risks. "If the patients improve, after a certain point you stop debating whether [a virus] causes the disease and say the treatment works and we're going to use it," he told the Wall Street Journal.

JAPAN IS PUSHING FOR AN ASIAN UNION

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NEW YORK:

Japan's new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, in his first meeting with China's President, has proposed the formation of an East Asian community.

On the eve of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mr Hatoyama proposed to Hu Jintao the formation of a grouping like the European Union. He said the vision was designed to unify the region, possibly under a single currency.

''I told [Mr Hu] I would like to form an East Asian community by overcoming differences'' including a dispute over exploitation rights for gas fields lying near islands the two countries claim in East China Sea, Mr Hatoyama told reporters.





"I hope and am convinced China-Japan ties will develop more actively and enter a new phase," Mr Hu said, congratulating the Japanese leader on his election victory last month.

Mr Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan ended six decades of Liberal Democratic Party power, years that were often marked by frosty relations with China over Japan's war record.

Mr Hu agreed the two countries should work towards friendship and co-operation, and that officials should begin negotiations on an agreement. Mr Hu invited Mr Hatoyama to a summit including South Korea by December.

Mr Hatoyama urged Mr Hu to work on promoting public support for an accord with Japan. The Chinese President welcomed Mr Hatoyama's stance on Japan's aggression during World War II. Mr Hatoyama said his administration would honour a 1995 statement in which Japan apologized for past aggression.

BILLIE JEAN IS ALIVE AND WELL IN LONDON

A young woman in London is claiming she is the mother of Michael Jackson's three children. She has filed a claim last year and it was thrown out of court. I thought a lot of crazies would come forward. But so far this woman, Nona Lola Paris Jackson is the only one. You have to listen to the lyrics of the song, they are so prophetic.

A DISCRIMINATING PRACTICE IS GOING ON AT WIMBLEDON

The All England Club schedules beauty over brawn when planning Center Court Matches at Wimbledon. This is a discriminatory practice. Champions are placed on the outside courts while the attractive ones are placed on the center court.

AN AFRICAN AMERICAN BANK HAS BEEN SOLID FOR 60 YEARS

With America going to hell in a hand basket, 60 year old Broadway Federal in Los Angeles is still going strong with smart banking. The bank was founded in 1946 by a group of civic-minded men and women for loans to minority consumers who were ignored by financial institutions.

Close to 85 percent of Broadway's loans are on properties in South Los Angeles. Broadway manages more than 13,000 accounts with less than 100 employees and has total assets that exceed $356 million.

The bank's chief operators are three generations of the community minded Hudson family. Dr. H. Claude Hudson, an investor, dentist and community leader was the bank's first leader in 1949. Later the bank was run by Elbert T. Hudson and Paul C. Hudson.

ANIMAL LIBERATION GROUPS PROTESTING EATING OF KANGAROOS

The groups are continuing to protest the shooting and consumption of Kangaroos in Australia. VIVA (Vegetarians International Voice for Animals), have successfully pressured British wholesale grocery chain,Makro, to withdraw Kangaroo steaks from it's shelves.

Viva is calling this a victory, but the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia says the meats in domestic and overseas markets continue to rise.

ARE YOU AFRAID OF GETTING THAT 3 AM CALL ?

I was speaking to friends last month about the millions of jobs being lost and worried if I may get a call. The solution I had to the problem was to get a house in the south and put those cousins and others in it. I would pay the mortgage and give them some seeds so they could grow their gardens. This would apply to the slackers. I would ask them to recycle.I was wondering if they would survive.

ICELAND IS SHOOTING POLAR BEARS THAT STRAY FROM GREENLAND

In Reykjvik, Iceland, A commission has recommended that polar bears be shot and not offered a free haven. Two polar bears were shot affter they landed on the northern coast of Iceland. They were swept to sea on floes from Greenland. This sparked protests from conservationists and animal rights groups.

The commission head, Hjalti Gudmundsson said the polar bears pose a threat to humans and there are large costs of moving the large mammals back to Greenland or a zoo. Police were forced to shoot one bear in June when it charged a group of reporters "in a panic".

WORLD ECONOMIC GROWTH WILL SLOW TO 1 PERCENT IN 2009

DOHA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - World economic growth will slow to 1 percent in 2009 from 2.5 percent this year as the financial crisis bites and the global economy may even contract if stimulus packages prove too little too late, a U.N. report said.
The report on World Economic Situation and Prospects 2009, an advance copy of which was issued at a development conference in Doha on Monday, urged coordinated international stimulus packages to limit the impact of a downturn in Western economies on poorer countries.
Next year's growth forecasts compare to global growth rates of 3.5 to 4 percent from 2004-2007 and the report said the economic environment for developing countries had deteriorated sharply after early complacency.


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