An effective vaccine for HIV might be just around that corner.

For the first time ever, an HIV vaccination has actually began to show some effectiveness in preventing HIV!

According to prnewswire.com, "In the final analysis, 74 placebo recipients became infected with HIV compared to 51 in the vaccine regimen arm. The efficacy result is statistically significant. The vaccine regimen had no effect on the amount of virus in the blood of volunteers who became HIV-infected during the study. More detailed results of this study will be presented next month at the AIDS Vaccine Conference, October 19 through 22 in Paris, France." Those statistics stated before means that the vaccine was approximately 30 percent effective.

The trial was conducted in Thailand and was performed on volunteer men and women ages 18 to 30 years old. It was sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
They randomly selected half of the individuals to receive the vaccine and the others received the placebo. None of the individuals knew who had been given the vaccine and who hadn't.

What a break through! Hopefully shortly there will be a press release sent out that tells of how they have discovered a vaccine that is up to 90 percent effective in preventing HIV. Even a vaccine with up to 75 percent effectiveness would be amazing. If this were to occur, there would definitely be a need for a mass distribution of this vaccine in countries all over the world and especially in the continent of Africa where the aids epidemic is continuously growing.

According to avert.org, "Sub-Saharan Africa is more heavily affected by HIV and AIDS than any other region of the world. An estimated 22 million people are living with HIV in the region - around two thirds of the global total. In 2007 around 1.5 million people died from AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and 1.9 million people became infected with HIV. Since the beginning of the epidemic more than eleven million children have been orphaned by AIDS."

Those statistics should shock you. Something obviously needs to be done, and as a country that has the technology to find an effective vaccine, it is our duty to the world to try and help out. It was so exciting to read this press release. I do however feel that this press release needs be taken with cautious optimism.

Also, other steps to prevent the spread should still be enforced or recommended. Individuals in countries that are prone to getting HIV need to be educated on safe sex practices and other forms of protection that will help prevent the spread of HIV. The vaccine won't be a cure all, but it is a great start.

I thought the space age was finished....or not!

On July 20, 1969, the United States landed the first manned mission on the moon. Immediately following that great defeat, U.S. along with other countries in the world began to explore more and more with the intention to eventually land on Mars and beyond. Up through the 1990s, information about various space missions, most unmanned, were continuously in the news, but American citizens seemed to loose interest, so it no longer is in mainstream news.

I have never been really into learning about the space or anything like that. I know the basics like what NASA is, what the International Space Station is, what the solar system is, and where the big dipper is. Other than that, I am usually lost when speaking to space enthusiasts and experts. Other than the reports of work being done on the International Space Station, I have not heard of any other space related news in years!

While looking through Today's News on prnewswire.com, an interesting headline stuck out at me. It read as follows, " MESSENGER Spacecraft Prepares For Final Pass By Mercury." Now I could just be very non-observant, but I thought Messenger was done with Mercury years ago! Well apparently I was wrong.

According to prnewswire.com, "Determining the composition of Mercury's surface is a major goal of the orbital phase of the mission. The spacecraft already has imaged more than 90 percent of the planet's surface. The spacecraft's team will activate instruments during this flyby to view specific features to uncover more information about the planet." Not only is Messenger still flying, but it will continue to fly. It will be entering Mercury's orbit in 2011.

So far, Messenger has completed three-quarters of its nearly 5 billion mile trip. "The trip includes more than 15 trips around the sun. In addition to flying by Mercury, the spacecraft flew past Earth in August 2005 and Venus in October 2006 and June 2007" (prnewswire).

I am currently taking an Astronomy class at Valley City State University, and it has opened my eyes to other missions as well. I had no idea that we were still investigating the universe besides what is done at the International Space Station. Also in January of 2006, probes were sent to investigate Pluto. These will not be back to Earth until July 2015.

It is amazing how much we miss when it is not considered entertaining anymore. When Americans lost their interest in space, suddenly it was no longer in mainstream media, and before you know it, you have more and more uninformed individuals like myself. So whether or not you thought the space age was finished, I recommend that you check out the latest missions that are currently underway. You would be surprised by just how many you did not even know about. The space age is ALIVE!

America's dirty dancer dies

Patrick Swayze dies at 57 after a 20 month battle with pancreatic cancer.

Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2008, but shocked everyone when he planned to continue filming the series "The Beast" on A&E. He managed to film one season while undergoing treatment before he succumbed to the cancer on Monday.

Swayze is most widely known for his role in the 1987 film, "Dirty Dancing." He stole the hearts of women all over the world with his suave, bad-boy look and great body.

Swayze's film career began in 1979 in the movie, "Skatetown, U.S.A." As said before, he continued working up until his death. Besides "Dirty Dancing," Swayze also was in several other movies and TV series including, "Ghost" and "Tall Tales."

Swayze should be remembered for his beauty, grace, amazing looks, and determination. Although very sick in the last year, he managed to continue working. That is something to remember. He obviously had a lot of commitment to his work.

Swayze did have a rough life. He started drinking heavily after the sudden death of his father in 1982, and with that came many other problems. Then in 1994 his sister committed suicide. Alcohol became a problem for many years, but he soon evacuated that image.

I hope that people do not remember him for the tough times. Anyone who has been through that much personal loss can understand what he was going through. He should be remembered as the American heartthrob that captivated the hearts, stares, and desires of so many people both men and women alike.

According to the Fairfield Mirror, "Swayze will be remembered for his brilliant dance-acting and his strength as he battled through his last year."

Rest in peace, Patrick Swayze.

Lending a helping hand.

Vita-Tech International donated one ton of vitamins to Conakry, Guinea, West Africa to support nutritionally disadvantaged populations in polio treatment centers throughout the country, as well as rural villages in the area surrounding Conakry. They have always planned for a shipment in the future, so this is not just a one time deal.

More and more companies should invest in the welfare of other countries in our world that are struggling. As the saying goes, "With power comes great responsibility." Large corporations need to do more things to help out the world. They were given the power by the consumers, and they need to do more to give back what they were given. It sickens me to see CEO's driving fancy cars, going out to fancy restaurants, and buying outrageously priced clothes and other things while there are people in this world that are suffering.

"In Africa, the continent where the polio epidemic has been most difficult to control, efforts at disease eradication often work against a backdrop of civil unrest and war. In some countries, the end of years of fighting has led to a new push for public health measures, including widespread vaccination. Elsewhere, conflict continues to complicate vaccine delivery; temporary cease-fire agreements must be negotiated to allow vaccination and prevent serious outbreaks from occurring. When the system breaks down, the results can be disastrous"(Dove, 1999).

Polio is a very scary disease that has become an epidemic in Africa as was stated by the last quotation.

"Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. It can strike at any age, but affects mainly children under three (over 50% of all cases). The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs)"(Global Polio).

With the help of companies such as Vita-Tech International, more and more lives will be spared in many countries in Africa. More and more countries should take the lead of companies like Vita-Tech International. Even small donations would go a long way to help with the efforts in Africa. We should all learn to lend a helping hand.

Tag: (Dove, 1999), (Global Polio), Vita-Tech International, Conakry, Guinea, West Africa,

Origin labeling for gasoline, the future.

Growth energy is beginning a nationwide campaign to require country of origin labeling for fuel. The Co-Chairman of Growth Energy, General Wesley Clark called on the United States Congress and the White House to take action to dramatically enhance the market transparency of the nation's fuel supply by requiring a national standard of country of origin labeling (COOL) for fuel. This initiative is being called, "Label My Fuel."

COOL is a term that many people have heard of before, but probably not when dealing with fuel. A few years back, the beef industry made a big push towards getting COOL for beef products. COOL allows individuals to know more about where their fuel is coming from, which is something that many supports believe is something that consumers deserve.

The goal is to help create consumer awareness of the costs and national security implications of the nation's addiction to foreign oil. Supporters of COOL believe that consumers deserve to know where their money is going. If consumers in the United States knew where their money was going, they might be more hesitant to buy the fuel. It is a great way to promote independence from foreign oil.

In an article from PRNewswire.com, Growth Energy showed the impact of the U.S.'s dependence on foreign oil with the following statistics:

• "The U.S. Department of Energy found that America's dependence on foreign oil has cost our country more than $7 trillion dollars over the last 30 years.
• The United States has sent as much as $500 billion a year overseas for oil -- a massive transfer of wealth.
• The Center for Forensic Economic Studies estimates that for every dollar spent on foreign crude oil, an additional $1.55 is removed from the U.S. economy.
• According to the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, American taxpayers foot a $50 billion-a-year bill to secure petroleum shipping lanes."

A website has been set up to help inform consumers about this initiative, and it also offers way for consumers to voice their opinions and find out more information about where their fuel comes from. The website is www.labelmyfuel.com.

Not only should this be a way for consumers to stop the dependence on foreign oil, but this should also be a way of encouraging the development and use of renewable resources. Something needs to replace the foreign oil, and renewable resources are the way to go. Also this should be a wake-up call in general for all consumer products. U.S. consumers should pay more and more attention to where products are made. If more and more consumers would not buy products from places like China, India, and Mexico and only buy products made in the U.S., the job market in the U.S. will boom.

The "Label My Fuel" initiative is a great way for the U.S. to take the next step in becoming more independent from foreign oil. It is about time.

Tags: Growth energy, General Wesley Clark, United States Congress, White House, country of origin labeling (COOL), foreign oil, PRNewswire.com, www.labelmyfuel.com