Swine Flu Vaccine Recalled - What's Next?

Adult Receiving Vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recalled over 800,000 does of the H1N1 Flu vaccine, better known as Swine Flu. According to the company that manufactures the vaccines, Sanofi Pasteur says that it "may not be effective enough to protect against the virus." The doses were to aimed for children six months to three years of age. Unfortunately, most of the vaccines have been sent all over the country and have already been used. Health officials have said that those who have received the vaccine will not need to be re-vaccinated probably.

On the CDC's website it states that:

While no drugs, including vaccines, are 100% effective or safe there have only been a few vaccine recalls or withdrawals, most of which were due to concerns regarding the effectiveness of the vaccine and not because of safety. When the strength of a vaccine lot has been reduced, those vaccines may not produce an immune response that is strong enough to protect against disease. Even though vaccine lots may not be effective, they are still safe. Vaccines are carefully tested and continuously monitored before and after they are licensed for use. If a vaccine lot were found to be unsafe, the FDA would immediately recall it from the market.

Interesting enough, the best example of a vaccine that caused serious health issues was the Polio vaccine in 1995, also known as the 'Cutter Incident' (Named after the laboratory that manufactured them). The US Public Health Service (PHS) recalled the vaccine, as a number of people got polio from it not long after, which could have caused death to many, since the poliovirus was still active. It was later established in the 1960s that it caused further problems such as paralysis. There is also a lot of talk that it was contaminated with the HIV Virus; numerous documentaries have been made about it.

What's the next thing they are going to recall it for? Defects? I honestly did not get a H1N1 vaccine because I really did not trust it; I have felt the same way about the cervical cancer vaccine as well. The reason is because it is a new vaccine, who knows what effects it will have on our bodies 10-15 years on - perhaps even sooner! You never know what these vaccines can do, until more research is done later on. I do not trust what the CDC says necessary, as these vaccines have been made recently to combat the Flu. You never know when a Cutter Incident can occur again.

Are you worried about the H1N1 vaccine?

[IImages via Telegraph]

The Latest In Scams: Texting

Example of Texting Scam

It's that time of year again when everyone likes to spend, spend, spend! It is also that time of year that people become the most vulnerable when it comes to fraud. The latest in fraud this holiday season is texting scams. Though they have been around for some time, they are becoming much more common as time inches closer to Christmas. This is when you receive an informative text message from a random number or 4 digit one telling you that there is something wrong with your account or that it has been suspended (PayPal, American Express, et cetra). It tells you to call a number, then the automated service asks for your debit card number, pin, expiration date, and eventually tells you that it has been reactivated. Many times people end up calling the companies themselves, and end up in confusion as the companies have no idea what the costumers are talking about. If you receive this text message, do not respond and do not call the number. If you somewhat feel that it is not an error, call the official company it is in regards to.

It is not clear where these texts are coming from; often the origins are Canadian or Nigerian, sometimes from South of the border. As technology progresses, it will be expected that so will frauds. My best advice to everyone is to be careful what they fill out, whether on paper or on the internet. That information is all they need to get a hold of you and your money. I suggest people share this blog post on networking sites that they are a part of, as well as with friends, family, and associates. Happy holidays everyone!

What do you think of the new scam?

[Image via Nesting Buddy]

RydazNRtist + The Stop Hating Campaign

Gabe Getting Ready To Start A New Beat

I met up with Gabe Cannon (Nick Cannon's half-brother) at Ncredible Studios, to talk about the Stop Hating Campaign, Nick's new group RydazNrtist, and of course asked some personal questions, including some personal things about his new sister-in-law Mariah Carey! Listen to the interview, below.

The Stop Hating Campaign

The Stop Hating Campaign:

The idea of hate has been in civilization since its beginning. Hate brings about the prejedices and discrimnations that we have seen brought on wars, genocides, and spuradic killings throughout our history. The world needs a change of direction, a new idea to help spread the message to stop the hating. This message actually exists and is called the Stop Hating Campaign put together by Nick Cannon and Quincy Jones. It is our contemporary "We Are The World" to help bring change and attention to the campaign to end the hate.

According to Gabe, the Stop Hating Campaign originally had the idea to have a theme song, with singers like TI (Whom is now in prison), Ludacris, the PussyCat Dolls and so forth. Kind of like 'We Are The World' sung by a number of celebrities in 1985 to bring humanitarian aid to Africa. Since his marriage to Mariah Carey, Nick passed on the Campaign to his brother, whom has been taking care of it ever since. The Campaign's ideology is based off a Martin Luther King Jr. quote, "Somebody, Somewhere must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of Hate in the universe." Now that that change exists, all we need is more attention brought to it. The goal of the campaign according to its website is to:

"Have as many individuals join the Stop Hating Campaign and work together to bring about change, and Stop Hating. We hope to have a Stop Hating Organization at every school, that will be active in the community educating the people and spreading the message of the Stop Hating Campaign. Our goal is to Stop Hating ourselves and others, and bring an end to the senseless cycle of hate that has been seen repeated throughout history." - I could not have said it better myself!

When I asked Gabe about Obama and his message of change, he claimed with enthusiasim that "Obama had influence" and that he brought "attention to what we are doing." He went on the explain that "(Obama) made it trendy again to be conscious of what's going on." Hopefully that will not be something temporary for 'Generation Y'. The Campaign is planning up coming projects, which Politically Affiliated will keep us up-to-date on!

On growing up with Nick:

Nick always stood out in his family as the actor. Gabe says that his brother was "always famous to us" and that when he started working with Nickelodeon was when it made things real. When I mention Mariah Carey, I see a larger than usual smile on Gabe's face. I could tell he really enjoyed having her as a sister-in-law and told me how it was still a shock. "Even at thanksgiving and stuff - whoa you're Mariah Carey!" When I asked about the rumors about Mariah being pregnant, he denied them but left room for curiosity, "It's a rumor... It's a possibility." Now that makes all of us wonder what really is happening between the two! Being both a fan of Eminem and Mariah (Kind of ironic in my case), I asked about the animosity between the two. Gabe called it, "Childish". He also had some words for Eminem (Listen to the interview, to hear his message to Eminem)

RydazNrtist

On Gabe's own life:

Only 22-years-old, Gabe is fulfilling his life long dream of becoming a performer through his new group, RydazNrtist as GQ Ryda along side his fellow sibling Reuben and Kevin Writer. Gabe's take on all of it, "It's a blessing honestly, something is changing, we're impacting people's lives."

For sometime there was rumored drama between his ex, Monica Leon aka Danger from Ray J's show on VH1, The Love Of Ray J: 1 & 2. He made it clear that they get along and are happy to have a baby girl together (Which was rumored to be Ray J's). Gabe wanted to bring to my attention that he was " gonna be the best father on Earth" and guranteed it.

I spent sometime with the group at one of their first live performances at Cinespace in Hollywood, as they preformed their first single, 'Sorry Ass Apology'. They even shot the video for it and had it streaming as they preformed. I will have to say, they sound AMAZING live! To listen to their album and watch videos from their performances, check out their MySpace. RydazNrtist will be opening for Mariah Carey's new tour, Angels Cry in 2010 to promote her new album Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel. Best of luck to RydazNrtist and their debut album, I'm already starting to see their videos on MTV and expect them on the radio any day now!

It was a pleasure meeting the guys from RydazNrtist and especially Gabe! Thanks a lot for the interview, and a special thanks to Daniel U. for setting it up!

[Images via Ncredible Studios]

Should We Be Mad At Tiger?

The Woods Family

Last week, the world discovered that Tiger Woods was cheating on his wife Elin Nordegren of five years. The couple is said to have two young children, Sam and Charlie. We really do not know the details of what happened, and may never know. Yet, Woods has issued the following apology from his website (You can check out his website, here):

I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.

Although I am a well-known person and have made my career as a professional athlete, I have been dismayed to realize the full extent of what tabloid scrutiny really means. For the last week, my family and I have been hounded to expose intimate details of our personal lives. The stories in particular that physical violence played any role in the car accident were utterly false and malicious. Elin has always done more to support our family and shown more grace than anyone could possibly expect.

But no matter how intense curiosity about public figures can be, there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy. I realize there are some who don't share my view on that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within one's own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions.

Whatever regrets I have about letting my family down have been shared with and felt by us alone. I have given this a lot of reflection and thought and I believe that there is a point at which I must stick to that principle even though it's difficult.

I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology.

"Alleged" Photo Of Tiger's Injury

Should we be upset with Tiger Woods? Honestly, I do not agree with people who cheat on their significant other (Married or not). People have held him highly in a variety of ways, and this entire situation might change the way people look at him. I am entirely surprised that he has not lost his endorsements, but rather received more. I think the fact that he is in the spotlight makes him seem infallible, but every celebrity actually is fallible. No one is perfect, even the 'Godlike' Tiger Woods; we are all human and make mistakes. Besides, what he does is his business and not ours, it just gets blown out of proportion since he is famous! I personally feel people in his position should not be married, and they should just have fun with their lives as they obvious cannot keep it in their pants. Well-off men usually have their wives continue to stand by their side. Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant's wife is a perfect example. He bought her a huge diamond ring, and all is well after the rape allegations years back. I'm not calling these sport players wives, gold diggers. But it does seem that they hover around their husband once money is mentioned after adultery is committed. "Once a cheater, always a cheater" is really how it works. Millions of dollars will not change anything, especially having had that experience with a cheater. You will always feel that you are not good enough and that loss of trust will make the relationship shaky. Advice to anyone who thinks of cheating - don't. If you plan to, just leave the person since things are obviously not working out. That is my advice to Mrs. Woods as well.

One last thing to the media, pick a better story - this is getting old!

What do you think of Tiger's cheating?

I Dream To Be Blogger's "Blog Of Note"

Some day I hope my blog can be a "Blog Of Note"... Hopefully sometime soon!