Midday & Evening

** until 4-30-09 **

0124 0137 0146 0236 0245 0367 0457 1235 1258 1267 1348 1357 1456 1478 1568 2347 2356 2369 2378 2459 2468 2567 2689 3458 3589 3679 4579 4678 5789 0016 0025 0034 0047 0056 1105 1123 1127 1136 1145 1168 2203 2207 2216 2234 2239 2248 2257 2279 3301 3305 3314 3328 3359 3368 4403 4412 4417 4426 4439 4489 5501 5506 5524 5528 5569 5578 6604 6613 6617 6649 6658 6689 7702 7706 7715 7724 7729 7738 7769 8813 8827 8836 8845 8849 8867 9925 9934 9938 9947 9956 0002 0007 1114 1118 2225 4448 5551 6662 8881 8885 9992 9997 1177 2266 2288

 

:l Fire-Day l: Midday 4-28-09 Evening

** until 4-30-09 **

016  025  029  034  038  047  056  079  124  128  137  146  169  178  236  245  259  268  349  358  367  389  457  479  569  578  002  007  011  115  119  223  227  133  335  344  448  155  556  466  668  277  677  088  488  889  299  799 

 

IRS says set to pursue "other banks" on tax evasion

MIAMI (Reuters) – The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is preparing to pursue other foreign banks for allegedly facilitating tax evasion by wealthy Americans following its high-profile case against Switzerland's UBS AG (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N), an IRS official said on Monday.

UBS, Switzerland's largest bank, in February acknowledged that it helped U.S. clients conceal assets from the U.S. government. It agreed to pay a $780 million fine and identify some of its American clients.

But U.S. authorities are still going after the Swiss bank, seeking to access the data of another 52,000 Americans they say are hiding about $14.8 billion in Swiss bank accounts.

"We are developing John Doe summonses on other banks," Daniel Reeves, an agent with the IRS' Offshore Compliance division, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Miami on offshore finance.

He was referring to the kind of subpoena filed by the IRS against UBS seeking to force the bank to turn over the names of clients suspected of evading U.S. taxes.

Reeves declined to say which, or how many, other banks could face cases filed by the IRS, but he confirmed the entities being investigated were foreign-based like UBS.

"We have identified other offshore banks that are engaged in similar activities," he earlier told the conference.

On April 2, U.S. authorities arrested and charged an accountant in Florida in the first of what they said could be a series of tax evasion prosecutions of American clients of UBS.

Almost two weeks later, a wealthy Florida yacht broker pleaded guilty to using an account with UBS to hide more than $3 million in assets from the U.S. government.

$100 BILLION EACH YEAR

The IRS has pushed ahead with the prosecutions at a time when political leaders both in the United States and elsewhere are calling for a crackdown on tax havens and offshore centers where individuals and companies can hide away funds.

"In the U.S., we're losing about $100 billion a year, because of tax evasion and other abusive practices," Robert Roach, counsel and chief investigator for the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said at the Miami conference.

This Senate subcommittee has been lobbying for more aggressive official action against tax havens and tax evasion, which Roach described as a "rats' nest of problems".

Switzerland, which is seeking to defend its long-standing tradition of strict bank secrecy, asked the United States at the weekend to drop the case against UBS in return for a new tax accord the two countries are about to negotiate.

Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz said the request was made to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund's semi-annual meetings in Washington.

"Let your capital be simplicity and contentment."

- Henry David Thoreau -

Midday & Evening

** until 4-29-09 **

0139 0148 0157 0238 0247 0256 0346 0589 0679 1237 1246 1345 1489 1579 1678 2389 2479 2569 2578 3469 3478 3568 0013 0049 0058 0067 1102 1129 1138 1147 1156 2209 2218 2236 2245 3307 3316 3325 3379 4405 4423 4459 4468 5503 5512 5539 5548 6601 6619 6628 7708 7726 7789 8806 8815 8824 8869 9904 9913 9958 9967 0004 2227 4441 7771 8887 9994 0022 2299 3388 1111

Midday 4-27-09 Evening

** until 4-29-09 **

012  017  026  035  039  048  057  089  125  129  134  138  147  156  179  237  246  269  278  345  359  368  458  467  489  579  678  003  008  116  224  228  233  336  044  449  255  557  066  566  669  377  188  588  399  899  111  444  777 

 

:l Getsu-Youbi l: Midday 4-27-09 Evening

** until 4-29-09 **

012  013  017  018  026  027  035  036  039  045  048  049  057  058  067  089  125  126  129  134  135  138  139  147  148  156  157  179  189  234  237  238  246  247  256  269  278  279  345  346  359  368  369  378  458  459  467  468  489  567  579  589  678  679  003  004  008  009  112  116  117  022  224  225  228  229  233  336  337  044  144  445  449  255  355  557  558  066  166  566  669  377  477  778  188  288  588  688  099  399  499  899  111  333  444  666  777  999 

 

Midday 4-27-09 Evening

** until 4-28-09 **

013  018  027  036  045  049  058  067  126  135  139  148  157  189  234  238  247  256  279  346  369  378  459  468  567  589  679  004  009  112  117  022  225  229  337  144  445  355  558  166  477  778  288  688  099  499  333  666  999

Monday 4-27-09

583, 057, 054, 750, 861, 086, 415, 542, 543

483, 683, 582, 584, 605, 580, 751, 759, 440

324, 423, 812, 114, 218, 931, 696, 193, 327

604, 247, 333, 000, 111, 222, 666, 888, 777

1842, 1549, 6054, 5029, 4444, 5555, 7777

 "When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other."

- Eric Hoffer -

** Updated **

Midday & Evening

** until 2 hits fall out of each group for at least 1 state**

(The Carolinas)

Group 1: 152, 121, 251, 157, 171, 751, 154, 141, 451

Group 2: 607, 679, 709, 602, 629, 209, 602, 629, 209

Group 3: 516, 567, 617, 513, 537, 317, 510, 507, 017

Group 4: 102, 121, 201, 102, 121, 201, 104, 141, 401

Group 5: 970, 908, 078, 979, 998, 978, 971, 918, 178

Group 6: 910, 907, 017, 913, 937, 317, 910, 907, 017

Group 7: 506, 561, 601, 502, 521, 201, 504, 541, 401

Group 8: 677, 687, 778, 679, 689, 978, 671, 681, 178

Group 9: 384, 345, 485, 380, 305, 085, 388, 385, 885

Group X: 728, 785, 825, 724, 745, 425, 728, 785, 825

  

"It is easier to seem worthy of positions one does not have than of those one does."

- Francois De La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French Classical Writer

U.S. declares swine flu public health emergency

Government officials have declared a public health emergency in connection with the swine flu outbreak that has killed dozens in Mexico and sickened 20 in the U.S., said the nation’s director of Homeland Security Sunday.

Secretary Janet Napolitano also said border agents have been directed to begin passive surveillance of travelers from Mexico, with instructions to isolate anyone who appears actively ill with suspected influenza.

The number of cases confirmed in the United States by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now 20, including eight New York City high school students. Other cases are in Ohio, California, Texas and Kansas. Patients have ranged in age from 9 to over 50.

“As we look for swine flu, we are seeing more cases of swine flu and we expect to see more cases of swine flu," said Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC, during a White House press conference Sunday. "We view this more as a marathon."

Napolitano said the emergency declaration is a warning, not an actual imminent emergency, similar to preparing for a hurricane.

"I wish we could call it a declaration of emergency preparedness,” Napolitano said.

Besser noted that compared to cases in Mexico, “what we’re seeing in this country is mild disease,” nothing that the U.S. cases would not have been detected without increased surveillance.

Government health officials expect to see more cases of swine flu in the U.S., including possibly serious infections, a senior CDC official said Sunday.

 

 

“We expect there to be a broader spectrum of disease here in the U.S.,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director for the agency’s Science and Public Health Program. “I do fear that we will have deaths here.”

The CDC believes the virus is spreading person-to-person, Schuchat said. In the U.S., all the patients have recovered and only one patient was hospitalized.

Besser said he still can’t say why cases in U.S. are so much milder than the deadly cases in Mexico. There, the disease has killed up to 86 people and likely sickened up to 1,400 since April 13, said Mexico's health minister.

“The real important take away is that we have an outbreak of a new infectious disease that we’re addressing aggressively,” Besser said.

The incubation period for this virus is 24 to 48 hours, health officials said. President Barack Obama recently traveled to Mexico but the president’s health was never in any danger, said John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security.

The president has received regular briefings from advisers on the swine flu outbreak and the White House readied guidance for Americans.

“The government can’t solve this alone; we need everybody to take some responsibility,” Napolitano said.

Besser urged Americans to practice frequent handwashing and to stay home if they feel sick. “If your children are sick, have a fever and flu-like illness, they shouldn’t go to school.”

The U.S. will begin screening travelers at the nation’s borders and isolating people who are actively ill with suspected influenza, Napolitano said. No travel restrictions are issued currently, but that could change, she said.

Health officials said the facts of the outbreak don’t yet warrant testing or quarantine of travelers from Mexico, but that that could change if the situation gets worse.

Officials said Sunday they are considering whether to begin manufacture of a vaccine.

“At this point, there is not a vaccine for this swine flu strain,” Besser said.

Deaths in Mexico
Symptoms in the New York cases have been mild, said New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden. New York health officials said more than 100 students at the St. Francis Preparatory School, in Queens, recently began suffering a fever, sore throat and aches and pains. Some of their relatives also have been ill.

Some St. Francis students had recently traveled to Mexico, The New York Times and New York Post reported Sunday.

The World Health Organization chief said Saturday that the strain has "pandemic potential," and it might be too late to contain a sudden outbreak.

 

Monitoring possible cases
State infectious-diseases, epidemiology and disaster preparedness workers have been dispatched to monitor and respond to possible cases of the flu. Gov. David Paterson said 1,500 treatment courses of the antiviral Tamiflu had been sent to New York City.

The city health department has asked doctors to be extra vigilant and test patients who have flu symptoms and have traveled recently to California, Texas or Mexico.

Investigators also were testing children who fell ill at a day care center in the Bronx. Two families in Manhattan also have contacted the city, saying they had recently returned ill from Mexico with flu symptoms, Frieden said.

 

Frieden said New Yorkers having trouble breathing due to an undiagnosed respiratory illness should seek treatment but shouldn't become overly alarmed. Medical facilities near St. Francis Prep have already been flooded with people overreacting to the outbreak, he said.

Kansas health officials said Saturday that they had confirmed swine flu in a married couple living in the central part of the state after the husband visited Mexico. The couple, who live in Dickinson County, weren't hospitalized, and the state described their illnesses as mild.

 

"Fortunately, the man and woman understand the gravity of the situation and are very willing to isolate themselves," said Dr. Jason Eberhart-Phillips, the state health officer.

Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A flu viruses, the CDC's Web site says. Human cases are uncommon but can occur in people who are around pigs. It also can be spread from person to person. Symptoms include a high fever, body aches, coughing, sore throat and respiratory congestion.

No immunity
Health officials are concerned because people appear to have no immunity to the virus, a combination of bird, swine and human influenzas. The virus also presents itself like other swine flus, but none of the U.S. cases appear to involve direct contact with pigs, Eberhart-Phillips said.

Evening 4-25-09 Evening

** until 4-26-09 **

036  063  306  360  603  630  037  073  307  370  703  730  046  064  406  460  604  640  047  074  407  470  704  740  136  163  316  361  613  631  137  173  317  371  713  731  139  193  319  391  913  931  146  164  416  461  614  641  147  174  417  471  714  741  149  194  419  491  914  941  169  196  619  691  916  961  179  197  719  791  917  971  369  396  639  693  936  963  379  397  739  793  937  973  469  496  649  694  946  964  479  497  749  794  947  974  013  103  301  310  014  104  401  410  016  106  601  610  017  107  701  710  018  108  801  810  024  204  240  420  026  206  260  620  027  207  270  720  034  043  340  430  035  053  305  350  038  308  803  830  048  408  804  840  057  075  705  750  067  076  670  760  068  608  806  860  093  309  390  903  094  409  490  904  096  609  690  906  097  709  790  907  134  143  341  431  135  153  315  351  138  318  813  831  148  418  814  841  157  175  715  751  159  195  915  951  167  176  671  761  168  618  816  861  246  264  426  624  247  274  427  724  249  294  429  924  269  296  629  926  279  297  729  927  346  436  634  643  347  437  734  743  348  438  834  843  349  439  934  943  357  375  735  753  359  395  935  953  367  376  673  763  368  638  836  863  467  476  674  764  468  648  846  864  679  769  967  976  759  795  957  975 

Health officials prepare for swine flu 'pandemic'

Worries that the new swine flu strain that has killed as many as 68 people and sickened more than 1,000 across Mexico has “pandemic potential” increased with the announcement that the virus had likely spread to New York City.

New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden announced on Saturday that tests showed that eight New York schoolchildren had a type A influenza virus that was likely the swine flu.

Samples have been sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further testing for confirmation. The students showed mild flu symptoms.

It may be too late to contain the sudden outbreak, warned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has stepped up surveillance across the United States. "We are worried," said the CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat.

“We don’t think we can contain the spread of this virus,” said Schuchat, Interim Deputy Director for Science and Public Health Program. “We are likely to find it in many other places.”

Because cases have been confirmed in California, Texas and in several sites in Mexico, officials now must work to detect infections and reduce their severity, if possible.

“It’s time to prepare, time to think ahead and to be prepared for some uncertainty,” Schuchat told reporters in a telephone briefing on Saturday.

Two dozen new suspected cases were reported Saturday in Mexico City alone, schools were closed and all public events suspended in the capital until further notice — including more than 500 concerts and other gatherings in the metropolis of 20 million.

A hot line fielded 2,366 calls in its first hours from frightened city residents who suspected they might have the disease. Soldiers and health workers handed out masks at subway stops, and hospitals dealt with crowds of people seeking help.

The number of confirmed cases in the U.S. still stands at eight, all in California and Texas. The Texas health department announced Saturday that Byron Steele High School in Cibolo, near San Antonio, will temporarily close as local health and school officials work to keep the virus from spreading.

Swine flu was confirmed earlier this month in two students from the school, and a third student is listed as a probable case with confirmatory lab test results pending.  The original two have recovered, and the third is recovering. 

"The purpose is to reduce the risk to students, staff and the community," said Sandra Guerra, M.D., the public health authority for Guadalupe County, Texas.

The World Health Organization’s director-general, Margaret Chan, said the outbreak of the never-before-seen virus is a very serious situation and has “pandemic potential.” But she said it is still too early to tell if it would become a pandemic.

“The situation is evolving quickly,” Chan said in a telephone news conference in Geneva. “A new disease is by definition poorly understood.”

This virus is a mix of human, pig and bird strains that prompted WHO to meet Saturday to consider declaring an international public health emergency — a step that could lead to travel advisories, trade restrictions and border closures. Spokesman Gregory Hartl said a decision would not be made Saturday.

Scientists have warned for years about the potential for a pandemic from viruses that mix genetic material from humans and animals. Another reason to worry is that authorities said the dead so far don’t include vulnerable infants and elderly. The Spanish flu pandemic, which killed at least 40 million people worldwide in 1918-19, also first struck otherwise healthy young adults.

This swine flu and regular flu can have similar symptoms — mostly fever, cough and sore throat, though some of the U.S. victims who recovered also experienced vomiting and diarrhea. But unlike with regular flu, humans don’t have natural immunity to a virus that includes animal genes — and new vaccines can take months to bring into use.

But experts at the WHO and the CDC say the nature of this outbreak may make containment impossible. Already, more than 1,000 people have been infected in as many as 14 of Mexico’s 32 states, according to daily newspaper El Universal. Tests show 20 people have died of the swine flu, and 48 other deaths were probably due to the same strain.

The CDC and Canadian health officials were studying samples sent from Mexico, and airports around the world were screening passengers from Mexico for symptoms of the new flu strain, saying they may quarantine passengers.

But CDC officials dismissed the idea of trying that in the United States. They noted there had been no direct contact between the cases in the San Diego and San Antonio areas, suggesting the virus had already spread from one geographic area through other undiagnosed people.

 

“Anything that would be about containing it right now would purely be a political move,” said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota pandemic expert.

 

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said his government only discovered the nature of the virus late Thursday, with the help of international laboratories. “We are doing everything necessary,” he said in a brief statement.

But the government had said for days that its growing flu caseload was nothing unusual, so the sudden turnaround angered many who wonder if Mexico missed an opportunity to contain the outbreak.

“Why did it break out, where did it break out? What’s the magnitude of the problem?” pizzeria owner David Vasquez said while taking his family to a movie Friday night, despite warnings to stay out of theaters.

Across Mexico’s capital, residents reacted with fatalism and confusion, anger and mounting fear at the idea that their city may be ground zero for a global epidemic.

Authorities urged people to stay home if they feel sick and to avoid shaking hands or kissing people on the cheeks.

Outside Hospital Obregon in the capital’s middle-class Roma district, a tired Dr. Roberto Ortiz, 59, leaned against an ambulance and sipped coffee Saturday on a break from an unusually busy shift.

 

“The people are scared,” Ortiz said. “A person gets some flu symptoms or a child gets a fever and they think it is this swine flu and rush to the hospital.”

He said none of the cases so far at the hospital had turned out to be swine flu.

Jose Donasiano Rosales, 69, got nervous on the subway and decided to get out one stop early.

“I felt I couldn’t be there for even one more station,” Donasiano said as he set up a rack to sell newspapers on a busy thoroughfare. “We’re in danger of contagion. ... I’m worried.”

The exact same virus also sickened the eight people in Texas and California, though there have been no deaths north of the border, puzzling experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A “seed stock” genetically matched to the new swine flu virus has been created by the CDC, said Dr. Richard Besser, the agency’s acting director. If the government decides vaccine production is necessary, manufacturers would need that stock to get started.

The CDC says two flu drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem effective against the new strain. Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, said the company is prepared to immediately deploy a stockpile of the drug if requested. Both drugs must be taken early, within a few days of the onset of symptoms, to be most effective.

Mexico’s Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said the country has enough Tamiflu to treat 1 million people — only one in 20 people in greater Mexico City alone — and that the medicine will be strictly controlled and handed out only by doctors.

At Mexico’s National Institute of Respiratory Illnesses, Adrian Anda waited to hear whether his 15-year-old daughter had the frightening new disease. She had been suffering a cough and fever for a week.

“If they say that it is, then we’ll suffer. Until then, we don’t want to think about it,” he said.