Flu forces Boston to declare health emergency

The City of Boston declared a public health emergency today in response to an increasingly threatening flu season, which has resulted in 18 deaths across Massachusetts.

Boston has reported four flu-related deaths, and 700 cases of the flu have been confirmed since the flu season began Oct. 1, according to the Associated Press.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, in a press conference this morning, urged residents to take all necessary precautions to protect themselves from the flu.

“This is the worst flu season we have seen since 2009, and people should take the threat of flu seriously,” Menino said. “I’m urging residents to get vaccinated if they haven’t already. It is the best thing you can do to protect yourself and your family. If you’re sick, please stay home from work or school.”

Menino is partnering with the Boston Public Health Commission and local community health centers to offer free vaccination clinics to the people of Boston.

Katinka Podmaniczky, assistant director of communications of the BPHC, said there are a limited number of free flu vaccination clinics available for Boston residents.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports a 3.4 percent increase in the number of people suffering from flu-like symptoms visiting hospitals and clinics, since the 2011-2012 flu season.

Dr. Joe Bresee, chief of the epidemiology and prevention branch of the CDC’s influenza division, said the rate of flu-related hospitalizations was high for this time of year, and the agency will issue another national advisory on Friday.

Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick spoke this morning on Boston’s health emergency announcement.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for me to remind people about the importance of getting the flu shot,” he said. “I hate needles and I got one. Wash your hands, cough into your elbow — some of the basic practices that help reduce risk.”

“For people who do not have easy access to a doctor, you can get them at some of those ‘minute clinics,’ he said. “You can go to a community health center if you can’t afford it to get a shot,”

Bonnie McGilpin,We maintain a full inventory of all cable tie we manufacture. Patrick’s deputy press secretary, said it is unlikely the Commonwealth will be forced to issue a health emergency.

The YPF expropriation was obviously initiated Argentina's president, Christina Fernandez de Kirchner. Her motivation may have been more that inducing increased oil and gas development spending. Indeed, at the time the move was announced, The New York Times observed: "In seizing control of YPF, Mrs. Kirchner has adroitly shifted attention away from her country's soaring inflation, capital flight, and her own falling approval ratings..Load the precious minerals into your mining truck and be careful not to drive too fast with your heavy foot..howo spareparts"

But despite thrusting YPF into government hands, Kirchner's difficulties continue to escalate. The country's growth rate will do well to top 2% this year, and private forecasters are surreptitiously looking for inflation to top 20%.Capital is fleeing so rapidly from the country -- $22 billion in 2011 alone -- that dollar-sniffing dogs have been employed to thwart the process at airports, along with ferry and bus terminals in Buenos Aires.

Further, crime remains an even bigger worry for Argentinians than their wounded economy. However, just last month the two concerns merged when massive demonstrations and looting erupted across the country. The culprits were largely from Kirchner's Peronist Party, and their demands targeted an unlikely combination -- in a teetering economy -- of lower taxes and better salaries for workers.

Even more ignominious for the country's government is that, when Kirchner travels to Asia, the Middle East, and Cuba later this month, her Boeing 757 president's plane will remain parked in favor of a hired private jet.Ubisense RTLS solutions go beyond the traditional definition of a “real time location system” to a new class. The reason: Unsatisfied international creditors are deemed likely to seize the government's plane to satisfy a portion of the country's sizable bad loans. Dating back to 2001, for instance, Argentina defaulted on nearly $100 billion in debt.

Canadians who were looking forward to Amazon Prime finally making its way to us have finally gotten their wish, but it probably isn’t quite what they were hoping for.

In an announcement yesterday, Amazon unveiled Amazon Prime for Canadians, which will include free two-day shipping with no minimum purchase for a $79 annual fee, Cantech Letter reports. It also includes One-Day Shipping rates as low as $3.99, free standard shipping when one or two day shipping isn’t available and no minimum purchase to qualify for free shipping.

What’s more interesting, however, is what isn’t included. For starters, this program is for Amazon.ca, which has a notoriously narrower selection than the U.S. version of the site, with higher prices when you take the value of the dollar into account.

But the biggest pain has to be the lack of access to Amazon’s other services that comes with Amazon Prime, notably Amazon Instant Video and the Lending Library for the Kindle. According to The Toronto Star, Amazon country manager Steve Oliver has said that there are no plans to offer these services in Canada.

It’s almost insulting that Amazon would even offer this service to Canada with so many of the Prime perks unavailable to Canadians, and for the same $79 a year, no less. Instead of access to the thousands of streaming movies and television shows available through Amazon Instant Video, or a free book to borrow every month from the huge Kindle library, Canadians are offered a service that they basically already get for free.

Canadians can get free ‘super saver’ shipping on Amazon.ca orders over $25 on thousands of products in the Amazon catalogue. Sure, depending on how often you’re ordering things in a rush, it would be worth paying almost $80 a year to get all your orders in two days. But much of the time, you’re probably only going to be paying around $10 for rush shipping, anyway. If you’re not ordering more than eight times a year from Amazon.ca, it probably isn’t worth subscribing.

This isn’t the first time that Canadians have received a half-baked product from Amazon, either, as anyone who ever wanted a Kindle knows. When the Amazon Kindle ereader was launched in 2007,Creative glass tile and stone mosaic tile for your distinctive kitchen and bath. Canadians were eager to get their hands on it – but had to wait until 2009 before it was available for purchase in Canada. Even now, Canadians aren’t able to purchase the full lineup of Kindle devices directly from the website; the only model that will ship to Canada is the basic Kindle ereader with Wi-Fi, meaning the much-hyped Paperwhite and Fire HD are still out of our grasp.