Charice: The Journey Begins
June 13, 2009 by cd · 39 Comments
International singing sensation. World’s Most Talented Girl. Young Diva. These labels are pertaining to our very own Charice, the Philippine pride, and she will finally have a major concert of her own!
Karla Garcia Wows the Judges of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’
June 12, 2009 by cd · 16 Comments
Our very own Karla Garcia performed Cha Cha with Jonathan to the music of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” on the Top 20 performance show of So You Think You Can Dance Season 5.
Who Will Survive 2012?
June 12, 2009 by cd · 30 Comments
2012 is an upcoming Doomsday movie from Columbia Pictures based on the ancient Mayans’ prophecy that the world will end on that year.
Google Philippine Independence Day Edition
June 12, 2009 by cd · 5 Comments
Check out the Philippine Independence Day edition of the no. 1 search engine in the world, Google:
Happy Independence Day!
Best Friends Forever (BFF) Earns P97.8 M in 3 Weeks
June 12, 2009 by cd · 223 Comments
Star Cinema’s Best Friends Forever (BFF), starring the Comedy Queen Ai Ai delas Alas and the Megastar Sharon Cuneta, raked in P97.8 million at the box-office in 3 weeks.
WHO: Swine Flu Pandemic has Begun, 1st in 41 Years
June 12, 2009 by cd · 4 Comments
The World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic Thursday — the first global flu epidemic in 41 years — as infections in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere climbed to nearly 30,000 cases.
The long-awaited pandemic announcement is scientific confirmation that a new flu virus has emerged and is quickly circling the globe. WHO will now ask drugmakers to speed up production of a swine flu vaccine. The declaration will also prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus.
WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan made the announcement Thursday after the U.N. agency held an emergency meeting with flu experts. Chan said she was moving the world to phase 6 — the agency’s highest alert level — which means a pandemic, or global epidemic, is under way.
“The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century,” Chan told reporters. “The (swine flu) virus is now unstoppable.”
On Thursday, WHO said 74 countries had reported 28,774 cases of swine flu, including 144 deaths. Chan described the virus as “moderate.” According to WHO’s pandemic criteria, a global outbreak has begun when a new flu virus begins spreading in two world regions.
The agency has stressed that most cases are mild and require no treatment, but the fear is that a rash of new infections could overwhelm hospitals and health authorities — especially in poorer countries.
Still, about half of the people who have died from swine flu were previously young and healthy — people who are not usually susceptible to flu. Swine flu is also crowding out regular flu viruses. Both features are typical of pandemic flu viruses.
The last pandemic — the Hong Kong flu of 1968 — killed about 1 million people. Ordinary flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people each year.
Swine flu is also continuing to spread during the start of summer in the northern hemisphere. Normally, flu viruses disappear with warm weather, but swine flu is proving to be resilient.
The decision might have been made much earlier if WHO had more accurate information about swine flu’s rising sweep through Europe. Chan said she called the emergency meeting with flu experts after concerns were raised that some countries like Britain were not accurately reporting their cases.
After Thursday’s meeting, Chan said the experts agreed there was wider spread of swine flu than what was being reported.
Chan would not say which country tipped the world into the pandemic, but said all countries and experts were agreed that it was time to declare a global outbreak.
WHO said it was now recommending that flu vaccine makers start making swine flu vaccine. Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline PLC said they could start large-scale production of pandemic vaccine in July but that it would take several months before large quantities would be available.
Many health experts say WHO’s pandemic declaration could have come weeks earlier but the agency became bogged down by politics. In May, several countries urged WHO not to declare a pandemic, fearing it would cause social and economic turmoil.
“This is WHO finally catching up with the facts,” said Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota who has advised the U.S. government on pandemic preparations.
Despite WHO’s hopes, Thursday’s announcement will almost certainly spark panic about spread of swine flu in some countries.
Fear has already gripped Argentina, where thousands of people worried about swine flu flooded into hospitals this week, bringing emergency health services in the capital of Buenos Aires to the brink of collapse. Last month, a bus arriving in Argentina from Chile was stoned by people who thought a passenger on it had swine flu.
Chile has the most swine flu cases in South America, and the southern hemisphere is moving into its winter flu season.
In Hong Kong on Thursday, the government ordered all kindergartens and primary schools closed for two weeks after a dozen students tested positive for swine flu — a move that some experts would consider an overreaction. The decision affected over half a million students.
In the United States, where there have been more than 13,000 cases and at least 27 deaths from swine flu, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the move would not change how the U.S. tackled swine flu.
“Our actions in the past month have been as if there was a pandemic in this country,” Glen Nowak, a CDC spokesman, said Thursday.
The U.S. government has already taken steps like increasing availability of flu-fighting medicines and authorizing $1 billion for the development of a new vaccine against the novel virus. In addition, new cases seem to be declining in many parts of the country, U.S. health officials say, as North America moves out of its traditional winter flu season.
Still, New York City reported three more swine flu deaths Thursday, including one child under 2.
In Mexico, where the epidemic was first detected, the outbreak peaked in April. Mexico now has less than 30 cases reported a day, down from an average of 300, Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova told The Associated Press. Mexico has confirmed 6,337 cases, including 108 deaths.
Cordova said he is concerned that other countries are not taking drastic measures to stop its spread like Mexico, which closed schools, restaurants, theaters, and canceled public events after the government detected the epidemic in late April.
Many experts said the declaration of a pandemic did not mean the virus was getting deadlier.
“People might imagine a virus is now going to rush in and kill everyone,” said John Oxford, a professor of virology at St. Bart’s and Royal London Hospital. “That’s not going to happen.”
But Oxford said the swine flu virus might evolve into a more dangerous strain in the future. “That is always a possibility with influenza viruses,” he said. “We have to watch very carefully to see what this virus does.”
Via Yahoo
Rico Blanco, Raimund Marasigan and Aia de Leon: ‘Boto Mo iPatrol Mo!’ (BMPM)
June 11, 2009 by cd · 65 Comments
Three of the country’s most popular rock vocalists are joining forces with ABS-CBN’s “Boto Mo, iPatrol Mo: Ako ang Simula” movement to urge Filipinos to participate more actively in preparations for the 2010 Presidential Elections.
Katy Perry – ‘Waking Up in Vegas’ Music & Lyrics
June 11, 2009 by cd · 9 Comments
“Waking Up in Vegas” is the fourth official single released from Katy Perry‘s album, One of the Boys.
