WASHINGTON, November 30 – Ah what a way to close the month, nothing better than a hilarious piece of literature by the moron of the modern world, the fearless President Bush.

Today he presented the “National Strategy for Victory in Iraq”, apart from the fact that it’s a few years overdue, it’s totally not inhibited by any sense of reality. How can someone speak of victory in a situation in which more than 2,000 of the nation’s children suffered and died, in which tens of thousands of Iraqi’s were killed by daily bombings, not mentioning the terror they all live in. How can someone speak about “securing” another country when he cannot even protect his own?

Only a government with such narrow-vision, such stubbornness can produce a ludicrous document like this. Only a man who weaseled his way out of military service during the war in Vietnam can claim fearlessly that America will not run away from car bombers and assassins.

In the same simplicity the enemy has been divided into three obvious categories, we have the “rejectionists”, people [read: Sunnis] who do not accept the current situation. Next we have the “Saddamists”, members of the fallen regime who long for the old times that once were. Of course we cannot forget the group Bush so whole-heartedly loves, the terrorists, without them he would have no reason to exist! To keep it all casual resistance in all three groups will fade sometime soon, preferably the terrorists should be hunted down and killed before that time.

Oh yes, and we still wonder why the United States is regarded as a bully, a sore loser. Apparently it’s all worth it, the crude black gold rules the world like never before.

NEW YORK, November 29 – After a few negative months the consumers are beginning to express more confidence in the economy. Most important contributors are the falling gasoline prices and an improved job outlook.

The consumer’s confidence index rose to 98.9 for November, in comparison, October featured a 85.2 index. The consumer confidence index is considered an important tool for analysts and stock traders.

The index is still beneath the levels of before Katrina struck but the apparent rise is good for the economy, especially short before the big shopping season of December. Although analysts do not believe that this holiday season will bring us a new record it is reassuring to see the consumer’s confidence restoring bit by bit.

This holiday season will be dominated by “bargain shoppers” many believe. Due to the weak economy many consumers expect bargains, and will settle for no less. Online spending figures have already indicated this.

The consumer’s confidence index is based on a survey among 5,000 representative households in the United Stats. Twenty years ago the index stood at 100.

NEW JERSEY, November 28 – The pharmaceutical company which once was extremely successful thanks to Vioxx, is now being beat down by that same best-seller. New Jersey-based Merck & Co. Inc. announced a drastic job cut of 7,000 jobs today. This amounts to 11% off their total worldwide employment.

Merck faces over 6,500 lawsuits over the painkiller Vioxx which was pulled from stores in September 2004 after suspicion that it causes heart problems. In one Texas case Merck was found responsible for the death of one man and was penalized for over $200 million, the appeal against this ruling is still active.

In addition to the job cuts Merck also announced they are looking to sell or close five of their plants. All these plans should create a leaner and more effective company according to the CEO. They are also looking to reduce the process of developing and launching a new product so that they can take a total of 15 months off of the total time from development till public launch.

Half of all job cuts will hit the United States. In light of this news shares for Merck dropped 4%.

BAGHDAD, November 26 – Two suicide bombings killed at least 10 people on Saturday while alarming election-related shootings occurred elsewhere.

In Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, a vehicle drove into a gas station and detonated its deadly contents. Immediately six people were killed and at least another twelve people and destroying nine other vehicles. Meanwhile in Baghdad a convoy of foreign forces was attacked by another suicide car bomber. The car was parked at the side of the street when the convoy passed and the bomber detonated himself. Four people in the vicinity of the vehicle died immediately, the convoy did not suffer any casualties although one vehicle was totaled.

Maybe more importantly the first signs of election-related attacks are occurring. In Baghdad two men were shot when they tried to put up campaign posters, the same incident occurred in Mosul. A very worrying development with the coming elections in mind.

U.S. military tried to freshen up the spirits by announcing that one of al-Zarqawi’s executive secretaries was killed during a raid in October in the Al-Qaeda stronghold of Ramadi. The man, Abu Ubaydah, is claimed to be a top henchman in al-Zarqawi’s direct environment.

BAGHDAD, November 24 – It looks as though the insurgents in Iraq do not care who they affect with their terror and chaos. Today a suicide car bomber targeted a hospital where U.S. soldiers handed out toys to children. At least 30 people were killed in this horrible attack.

You would think that even evil-doers would steer clear of hurting children but nothing is less true. In Mahmoudiya, just south of Baghdad a suicide car bomber hit at the entrance of a hospital where at that moment U.S. soldiers were handing out toys to children. Of the 30 killed in this cowardly attack at least two were children, four police guards and three women were also among the deadly victims. In addition at least two U.S. soldiers were wounded and one U.S. Humvee was severely damaged.

Meanwhile elsewhere in Iraq three U.S. soldiers died due to fatal gunshot wounds sustained on Wednesday. One other U.S. soldier died by the wounds he sustained when he hit a roadside bomb with his vehicle, this took place in Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad.

In Hillah, a largely Shiite city a car bomber struck at a crowded soft-drinks stand. Two people were killed immediately and many were wounded. Hillah was the scene of the deadliest single insurgent attack since the beginning of the war, which took place on Ferbuary 28th and killed 125 people.

UNAIDS, November 23 – UNAIDS issued a report this week on the increasing infections and deaths of AIDS. UNAIDS is a cooperation of six United Nations organizations in the battle against AIDS. Sadly this battle is far from being over.

Over 3.1 million people were killed by the AIDS virus this year, this is an 11 percent rise in comparison to 2003. Of these deaths about 18% were children beneath the age of 15, a staggering number. New infections of AIDS increased by 7% in 2005 to 4.9 million. Of all deaths 77% occurred in the region of Africa beneath the Sahara desert. New infections occurred 65% in this same area, a worrying development as countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe are among the most prominent. Although the coverage of AIDS treatment is increasing slightly there is still much work to be done. Currently about 40.3 million people are infected with HIV, an absolute record. Since the recognition of AIDS there have been over 25 million deaths because of it.

In the sub-Saharan region of Africa the developments are becoming increasingly worse, about 20% of pregnant women are HIV infected. Pakistan and India are coming dangerously close to being apart of this epidemic with rates increasing quickly. Only East Europe, Central and North America have been showing stable results. Oceania even produced declining results.

Universal access to AIDS treatments is expected around 2010, a very positive image yet far from reality, at this time about 1 in 10 AIDS patients in Africa receive treatment and 1 in 7 Asians receive treatment for this awful disease.

BAGHDAD, November 22 – The violence that has spread around Iraq since Friday continued yet another day, claiming more and more lives every time. Elaborate suicide attacks are carried out with lethal precision with little to nothing to do against them.

Today Kirkuk was the scene of such a terrible attack. Insurgents lured police officers into combat by shooting an Iraqi policeman. The officers rushed to the scene were surprised by a suicide car bomber who took at least 10 officers with him into certain death. In total 21 Iraqi’s were killed by this elaborate thought out scheme.

In addition to these deaths the U.S. military announced three more deaths of U.S. soldiers. One soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Habaniyah, west of Baghdad. Roadside bombs are becoming an increasingly popular technique among insurgents as their efficiency is extremely high with little to no risk.
In Mosul two other U.S. soldiers were killed while engaged in enemy combat, likely by small-arms fire.

In Tikrit chaos spread when an official transfer of one of Saddam’s palaces to the Iraqi forces was interrupted by mortar fire. The mortar hit the target but did not detonate, meanwhile many officials scattered to search for cover. Although authorities are trying to downplay the incident the fact remains that if the mortar went off it could have had catastrophic consequences.

LONDON, November 21 – British pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Smith Kline has been hit hard by a new ruling of the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA has imposed tough restrictions on the use of Glaxo Smith Kline’s leading drug, Advair. This drug is one of the best treatments for asthma and very much used by patients all over the world. This drug is known as Seretide in the United Kingdom.

The new regulation means that Advair will only be prescribed when all other treatments have failed to succeed. This also includes new labeling of the drug because of possible, not yet entirely proven, side effects. Considering that Advair is the best-selling drug for Glaxo Smith Kline means that this could have serious effects on their revenue and profits for the coming year. Needless to say the shares dropped immediately. Advair was responsible for $2.8 billion in sales in America alone last year, worldwide this added up to a staggering $4.5 billion in sales.

Glaxo immediately responded with a statement claiming that this new regulation could lead to serious health issues for asthma patients. Keeping the best treatment till last is no solution, they added. They also pointed out a very valid point, in July of this year an FDA advisory committee issued a report in favor of Advair and since that advise no new studies have come out, so how come the FDA changed their minds all of the sudden?