◼ Eureka City Schools District officials say Measure S — a nearly $50 million bond on the November ballot — will fund the repair of school buildings that are falling apart. - Melissa Simon and Will Houston/Times-Standard
Opponents call Measure S too much too soon, pointing to unfinished projects such as a high school gym that were never delivered under a previous bond....Leo Sears, former chairman of the Humboldt Taxpayers League, said Measure S comes too soon after the 2002 bond.
"The bond isn't even paid off yet and now they want more money," Sears said. "The thing is, the money last time was spent on beautification and on things that were nice but not necessary because it didn't benefit the kids or the classrooms."
...Gregg Gardiner, chairman of the Citizens in Support of Eureka City Schools committee, said the bond comes down to one thing: students.
"The conditions of the schools are bad. It doesn't take a scientist to see that," he said. "There are so many issues that need to be taken care of, and our kids deserve better. We need to ask ourselves if these conditions are OK for our own families. The bathrooms at Alice Birney, for instance, are terrible and I believe the superintendent has said that he wouldn't use those bathrooms. How can we expect our kids to use them? It's just not a good learning environment for the kids, and if they don't feel good about going to school, it's like why even be there? These are the formative years, and we want our students to strive to be the best they can be — whether it's a diesel mechanic or a scientist — and we need to improve those classrooms to provide that."
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Editorial: Humboldt County's Measure P is more harm than good
◼ Measure P, which would ban "the propagation, cultivation, raising and growing of genetically modified organisms" in Humboldt County, is poorly written, unnecessary regulation that removes choice from local agricultural producers. Don't vote for it. - Times Standard EDITORIAL
...Measure P's enforcement mechanism is complaint-driven, and has the potential to turn neighbor against neighbor. Measure P assumes that the accused is guilty until proven innocent. The county agricultural commissioner would be responsible for enforcing it, requiring extensive and expensive testing at a time when the county doesn't have enough money to keep proven threats to health, safety and property behind bars. Then again, 10 years of a similar ban in Mendocino County produced a grand total of zero offenses. So we get to choose between burdensome or unnecessary?
• Former Humboldt State University president and genetics professor Rollin Richmond has argued that a vote for Measure P is a vote that may outlaw vaccinating your pets. If that sounds ridiculous, it is — but here's the kicker: Richmond's right. Because the text of Measure P bans not only the "cultivation, raising and growing" of GMOs, but also the "propagation," and because vaccines work by introducing a weakened yet very much alive variant of a nasty bug that propagates itself within the body until the immune system can learn to destroy it, and because Measure P's medical exemption applies only to medical care for human patients, Richmond is right. Measure P, as written, does outlaw GMO vaccines for rabies and feline leukemia....KEEP READING...
...Measure P's enforcement mechanism is complaint-driven, and has the potential to turn neighbor against neighbor. Measure P assumes that the accused is guilty until proven innocent. The county agricultural commissioner would be responsible for enforcing it, requiring extensive and expensive testing at a time when the county doesn't have enough money to keep proven threats to health, safety and property behind bars. Then again, 10 years of a similar ban in Mendocino County produced a grand total of zero offenses. So we get to choose between burdensome or unnecessary?
• Former Humboldt State University president and genetics professor Rollin Richmond has argued that a vote for Measure P is a vote that may outlaw vaccinating your pets. If that sounds ridiculous, it is — but here's the kicker: Richmond's right. Because the text of Measure P bans not only the "cultivation, raising and growing" of GMOs, but also the "propagation," and because vaccines work by introducing a weakened yet very much alive variant of a nasty bug that propagates itself within the body until the immune system can learn to destroy it, and because Measure P's medical exemption applies only to medical care for human patients, Richmond is right. Measure P, as written, does outlaw GMO vaccines for rabies and feline leukemia....KEEP READING...
THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: ‘Ebola Czar’ Absent from White House Ebola Strategy Meeting.
◼ Via Instapundit ◼ 'EBOLA CZAR' ABSENT FROM WHITE HOUSE EBOLA STRATEGY MEETING - Breitbart
Ron Klain, the newly-appointed "Ebola Czar" for Barack Obama's administration, did not attend a White House meeting Friday discussing the federal response to the domestic threat of the deadly Ebola virus.
◼ New Obama 'Czar' Has No Medical, Health Background... - CBS DC
Ron Klain, the newly-appointed "Ebola Czar" for Barack Obama's administration, did not attend a White House meeting Friday discussing the federal response to the domestic threat of the deadly Ebola virus.
◼ New Obama 'Czar' Has No Medical, Health Background... - CBS DC
Worst ebola epidemic in world history and Pres. Obama puts a government bureaucrat with no healthcare experience in charge. Is he serious?
— Rep. Andy Harris, MD (@RepAndyHarrisMD) October 17, 2014Friday, October 17, 2014
Should Michelle’s Healthy Food Standards Be Applied to Food Stamps?
◼ Dan Joseph asks supporters of Michelle Obama’s healthy food standards if those same standards should be applied to the kinds of food items that may be purchased with food stamps. Suddenly, these democrats have to change their tune. - Conservative videos
◼ STUPEFYING HYPOCRISY OF LIBERALS - Patriot Update
Brown's Tax and Spending Spree
A bit surprised to see this story in the Huffington Puffington Post: Brown's Tax and Spending Spree http://t.co/CAA6VLIIkW via @HuffPostLA
— Jon Coupal (@joncoupal) October 17, 2014◼ Cato Institute's 12th biennial edition of its "Fiscal Policy Report Card on America's Governors" assigns grades of "A" to "F" to the governors based on their efforts to restrain government. Not only did Governor Brown receive an "F" in this year's report card, he received the worst score of any governor. - Nicole Kaeding/Huffington Post
...So, why did Governor Brown score so poorly?
To start, Brown has pushed for several large tax increases. In 2012 he championed a plan to increase annual tax revenues by $6 billion a year. That increase, which passed on a November 2012 ballot, included a hike in the top individual income tax rate to 13.3 percent.
...Brown's follies are not limited to tax policy. He, also, scores poorly on spending for substantially increasing the size of California's budget. Over the last three years, Brown has proposed general fund spending increases averaging 6.8 percent annually, more than twice the national average over that period. California's general fund spending has grown from $86 billion in 2012 to Brown's proposed spending for 2015 of $107 billion. Brown recently called his 2015 budget one of "restraint and prudence," a laughable claim.
Even worse, California has $340 billion in unfunded pension and health care liabilities to current and future state retirees and state debt, according to the state's Legislative Analyst Office. These may represent even higher taxes in the future, unless California gets its spending under control....
With the largest state-local tax burdens of any state and one of the worst business climates, many businesses are choosing to leave California for more economically friendly states like Texas....
Lower taxes and less government spending allows the economy to flourish. That means more jobs, more opportunities, and more freedom for individuals to pursue their passions. Governor Brown's policies are moving California in the wrong direction.
◼ Census Bureau: California still has highest U.S. poverty rate - Dan Walters/Sacramento Bee
Tom Del Beccaro: This should be the #1 story in California this election cycle - it should be relentlessly pursued by the Media. It is a total failure of CA gov't policy that has driven away jobs. Instead - silence. One party rule does that.
White House Ebola Czar Was ‘Key Player’ In Solyndra Scandal, Has No Medical, Health Background
◼ Ron Klain, the newly appointed White House Ebola response coordinator, was one of the senior White House officials who advised that President Obama should visit solar power company Solyndra in 2011, despite an auditor raising red flags about the company’s finances. - Daily Caller
According to The Washington Post, Klain was one of the “key players” in the scandal while he worked for Vice President Joe Biden: “Ron Klain, then Biden’s chief of staff, dismissed auditor’s concerns about Solyndra’s solvency, reasoning that all innovative companies come with risk.”
Another Solyndra email, reported by Fox News, indicated that Biden’s office were all fans of Solyndra, and that the staff “about had an orgasm” at the prospect of an Energy Department loan.
◼ Obama Ebola Czar is Dem political operative Ron Klain - Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion
◼ Obama Appoints Anti-Ebola Czar, Then Hits Campaign Trail - Daily Caller
President Barack Obama has delegated the critical anti-Ebola mission to a top Democratic operative, Ron Klain, freeing himself to return to the campaign trail.
Shortly after, Obama left the White House to give a campaign-style speech...
Klain formerly worked as chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore, and has handled several difficult jobs for Obama, Gore and President Bill Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno and Democratic staffers. He also worked for Vice President Joe Biden and was considered as a replacement for Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s first chief of staff. He left the White House in January 2011 to work for Steve Case, an Internet billionaire.
'Phew!' The new Ebola Czar has actor Dean Norris 'feelin safer already' http://t.co/iMQWS7E4nH
— TwitchyTeam (@TwitchyTeam) October 17, 2014◼ New Obama 'Czar' Has No Medical, Health Background... - CBS DC
◼ W.H. Struggles To Explain What Ebola Czar Knows About Ebola
Who Do They Think We Are?
◼ The administration’s Ebola evasions reveal its disdain for the American people. - Peggy Noonan/Wall St.Journal
◼ Could It Possibly Get Any Worse? - Roger L. Simon/PJM
The administration’s handling of the Ebola crisis continues to be marked by double talk, runaround and gobbledygook. And its logic is worse than its language. In many of its actions, especially its public pronouncements, the government is functioning not as a soother of public anxiety but the cause of it.
An example this week came in the dialogue between Megyn Kelly of Fox News and Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control....
In testimony before Congress Thursday, Dr. Frieden was not much more straightforward. His answers often sound like filibusters: long, rolling paragraphs of benign assertion, advertising slogans—“We know how to stop Ebola,” “Our focus is protecting people”—occasionally extraneous data, and testimony to the excellence of our health-care professionals.
It is my impression that everyone who speaks for the government on this issue has been instructed to imagine his audience as anxious children. It feels like how the pediatrician talks to the child, not the parents. It’s as if they’ve been told: “Talk, talk, talk, but don’t say anything. Clarity is the enemy.”
The language of government now is word-spew....
All of which returns me to my thoughts the past few weeks. Back then I’d hear the official wordage that doesn’t amount to a logical thought, and the unspoken air of “We don’t want to panic you savages,” and I’d look at various public officials and muse: “Who do you think you are?”
Now I think, “Who do they think we are?”
Does the government think if America is made to feel safer, she will forget the needs of the Ebola nations? But Americans, more than anyone else, are the volunteers, altruists and in a few cases saints who go to the Ebola nations to help. And they were doing it long before the Western media was talking about the disease, and long before America was experiencing it.
◼ Could It Possibly Get Any Worse? - Roger L. Simon/PJM
Siskiyou supervisors weigh in on water bond
◼ At the urging of constituents, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday joined the opposition to the water bond measure on this year’s ballot, Proposition 1. - Siskiyou Daily
...Members of the public spoke in opposition to the ballot measure, calling it – among other things – a way for water rights to be taken away from agricultural water users and a way to lose local control over groundwater resources.
Representatives from Scott Valley Protect Our Water, the local granges and the Siskiyou County Central Republican Committee urged the board to author a resolution in opposition to the proposition.
Speakers alleged that the measure would increase the power of environmental groups and state agencies to purchase agricultural land, hurting local economies. Speakers also decried the potential for bond funds to be used to remove dams on the Klamath River....
...Members of the public spoke in opposition to the ballot measure, calling it – among other things – a way for water rights to be taken away from agricultural water users and a way to lose local control over groundwater resources.
Representatives from Scott Valley Protect Our Water, the local granges and the Siskiyou County Central Republican Committee urged the board to author a resolution in opposition to the proposition.
Speakers alleged that the measure would increase the power of environmental groups and state agencies to purchase agricultural land, hurting local economies. Speakers also decried the potential for bond funds to be used to remove dams on the Klamath River....
DONALD TRUMP: SOMETHING MENTALLY WRONG WITH OBAMA
◼ Thursday on NewsMax TV's "The Steve Malzberg Show," real estate mogul Donald Trump called into question President Barack Obama mental health for refusing enact a travel ban on commercial flights from West African nations suffering with the Ebola outbreak. - Breitbart
When Malzberg asked if Trump, who had tweeted that the president was "psycho" for not stopping the flights, stands by questioning Obama's mental health, Trump doubled down saying, "There is something wrong, and nobody knows what it is, but there is something wrong. There are so many bad decision. Can anybody be that incompetent? There is something wrong."
"There is definably something wrong." he added.
◼ The Insiders: We don’t know what the White House is hiding - Washington Post
...The White House assumes voters are stupid, ignorant and won’t notice. This administration is openly boasting about hiding the truth from voters until they are clear of the elections and the voters’ wrath. It is insulting. But as we know, in politics, gall pays off.
This all begs the question of what a politically uninhibited Obama White House will look like starting Nov. 5. If this is what we know so far, can you imagine what will be revealed when the White House is no longer working to protect the Democratic Party?...
CALIFORNIA POVERTY RATE: 23.4%...
◼ Census Bureau: California still has highest U.S. poverty rate - Dan Walters/Sacramento Bee
California continues to have – by far – the nation’s highest level of poverty under an alternative method devised by the Census Bureau that takes into account both broader measures of income and the cost of living.
Nearly a quarter of the state’s 38 million residents (8.9 million) live in poverty, a new Census Bureau report says, a level virtually unchanged since the agency first began reporting on the method’s effects.
Under the traditional method of gauging poverty, adopted a half-century ago, California’s rate is 16 percent (6.1 million residents), somewhat above the national rate of 14.9 percent but by no means the highest. That dubious honor goes to New Mexico at 21.5 percent.
But under the alternative method, California rises to the top at 23.4 percent while New Mexico drops to 16 percent and other states decline to as low as 8.7 percent in Iowa....
The Public Policy Institute of California used a similar methodology last year to gauge poverty in the state’s 58 counties, called a California Poverty Measure.
It pegged the statewide poverty rate at 22 percent and found some of the highest rates in the San Francisco Bay Area and coastal communities usually considered affluent due to their high costs of housing. Los Angeles had the highest rate in the state, 26.9 percent, followed by Napa at 25.5 percent.
◼ Neel Kashkari Spent a Week Pretending to Be Homeless - Business Week
EBOLA: "POLITICAL CORRECTNESS COULD KILL A LOT OF US"
DRUDGE HEADLINES:
◼ FRESH NIGHTMARE FOR THE LAND OF EBOLA: FOOD - Independent UK
◼ Dallas' Top Public Health Epidemiologist Being Monitored - CBS DFW
◼ Hospital Had Screening Machine Military Using in Africa - DefenseOne
◼ TX health workers receiving orders to stay home - AP
◼ Lab worker 'self-quarantined' -- on cruise ship in Caribbean? - CBS DC
◼ CDC told Carnival about the Ebola threat on Oct. 15, but didn’t tell Congress at the Oct. 16 hearing? - Twitchy
At this point, somebody should ask Dr. Frieden if there is any health worker in Dallas who treated Duncan that didn’t travel someplace. What’s with these people?
Oh, and this problem only gets worse from here:
And all the crew. And all the people she might have interacted with on a shore excursion. Etc., etc., etc.
◼ Solace in USA with Sanitizer, Prayer - Bloomberg
◼ First Video of Infected Nurse: 'Come party in Maryland' - The Blaze
◼ PAPER: Fears have cast suspicions on Africans - Washington Post
◼ Growing chorus for travel ban - The Hill
◼ CRUZ: CONGRESS SHOULD BE CALLED BACK - Bloomberg
◼ BUCHANAN: POLITICAL CORRECTNESS COULD KILL A LOT OF US... - World Net Daily
◼ Alarm after vomiting passenger dies on flight from Nigeria to JFK - NY Post
◼ MAG: Six Reasons to Panic - The Weekly Standard
◼ University disinvites Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist over Liberia travel - Washington Post
◼ POLL: CDC approval sags 23 points - Politico
◼ O taps Ebola 'czar' - CNN
◼ 8 People In Ohio Under Quarantine As Officials Looking For Shoppers At Bridal Store Nurse With Ebola Visited - CBS Clevland ◼ Via Lucianne
◼ Ebola and the Failure of the Administrative State - The Federalist ◼ Via Lucianne
◼ FRESH NIGHTMARE FOR THE LAND OF EBOLA: FOOD - Independent UK
◼ Dallas' Top Public Health Epidemiologist Being Monitored - CBS DFW
◼ Hospital Had Screening Machine Military Using in Africa - DefenseOne
The military is using an Ebola screening machine that could have diagnosed the Ebola cases in Texas far faster, but government guidelines prevent hospitals from using it to actually screen for Ebola.◼ Officials Scramble to Find Shoppers at Bridal Store Visited by Ebola Patient - CBS Cleveland
◼ TX health workers receiving orders to stay home - AP
◼ Lab worker 'self-quarantined' -- on cruise ship in Caribbean? - CBS DC
The government of Belize reportedly released a statement on Thursday saying it had rejected a U.S. request to allow the cruise passenger to pass through the Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport, which services the Belizean capital.◼ Texas-Based Carnival Magic Cruise Ship Stuck At Sea With 4,633 Passengers and Dallas Healthcare Worker With Ebola Symptoms – Belize Refuses Port Entry – Belizeans Saying “Sink Ship” – Armed Belize Coast Guard Keeping Ship At Sea… - The Conservative Treehouse
◼ CDC told Carnival about the Ebola threat on Oct. 15, but didn’t tell Congress at the Oct. 16 hearing? - Twitchy
@FoxNews ok, let's see, one on a plane, one on a cruise ship this time of year......does this sound like its precautionary measures??
— RJV (@fx454) October 17, 2014At this point, somebody should ask Dr. Frieden if there is any health worker in Dallas who treated Duncan that didn’t travel someplace. What’s with these people?
Oh, and this problem only gets worse from here:
Houston a problem! How will @CarnivalCruise santize 14 deck #Ebolaship sea 5d ?..then @CDCgov contact trace 4633 ppl? http://t.co/Bx6xiSLeyL
— Elizabeth Goodale (@LizGoodale) October 17, 2014And all the crew. And all the people she might have interacted with on a shore excursion. Etc., etc., etc.
◼ Solace in USA with Sanitizer, Prayer - Bloomberg
◼ First Video of Infected Nurse: 'Come party in Maryland' - The Blaze
◼ PAPER: Fears have cast suspicions on Africans - Washington Post
◼ Growing chorus for travel ban - The Hill
◼ CRUZ: CONGRESS SHOULD BE CALLED BACK - Bloomberg
◼ BUCHANAN: POLITICAL CORRECTNESS COULD KILL A LOT OF US... - World Net Daily
In dealing with contagious and deadly diseases, common sense says to err on the side of safety. Public safety must come before political correctness. Community and country come ahead of any obligation to the people of West Africa.◼ Protester In Mask, Hazmat Gear Stumps Outside White House - CBS DC
Indeed, is not the first duty of the government of the United States to protect the lives, liberty and property of the citizens of the United States?
◼ Alarm after vomiting passenger dies on flight from Nigeria to JFK - NY Post
◼ MAG: Six Reasons to Panic - The Weekly Standard
◼ University disinvites Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist over Liberia travel - Washington Post
◼ POLL: CDC approval sags 23 points - Politico
◼ O taps Ebola 'czar' - CNN
◼ 8 People In Ohio Under Quarantine As Officials Looking For Shoppers At Bridal Store Nurse With Ebola Visited - CBS Clevland ◼ Via Lucianne
◼ Ebola and the Failure of the Administrative State - The Federalist ◼ Via Lucianne
When it comes to Ebola, it’s becoming clear that government “everywhere putting its hands to new undertakings” isn’t working out all that well.◼ How the Feds block Ebola cures - NY Post ◼ Via Lucianne
Local nonprofits ponder impact of Eureka's Measure R
◼ Fair Wage Act' comes up for a vote next month - Clay McGlaughlin/Times-Standard
On Nov. 4, voters in Eureka will have a chance to decide whether to approve Measure R, otherwise known as the "Eureka Fair Wage Act."
If the measure passes, it will compel businesses within city limits that employ 25 people or more to raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour after 90 days. The current minimum wage in California is $9 per hour. Nonprofit organizations with 25 or more employees would also be included, though the measure, if passed, gives them a year-and-a-half to phase in the change.
One of the main questions for nonprofits and businesses alike is how the measure would affect compensation for salaried employees — also called "exempt employees," meaning exempt from overtime requirements....
"It's an interesting position for some of the larger nonprofits to be in, because the ones with a social justice mission want to act within their mission, but they also realize the challenge of acting within their budgets," said Amy Jester, program manager at Humboldt Area Foundation. "It's a dilemma, really, because they want to do the right thing but they're always facing budget cuts and working hard at fundraising."
On Nov. 4, voters in Eureka will have a chance to decide whether to approve Measure R, otherwise known as the "Eureka Fair Wage Act."
If the measure passes, it will compel businesses within city limits that employ 25 people or more to raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour after 90 days. The current minimum wage in California is $9 per hour. Nonprofit organizations with 25 or more employees would also be included, though the measure, if passed, gives them a year-and-a-half to phase in the change.
One of the main questions for nonprofits and businesses alike is how the measure would affect compensation for salaried employees — also called "exempt employees," meaning exempt from overtime requirements....
"It's an interesting position for some of the larger nonprofits to be in, because the ones with a social justice mission want to act within their mission, but they also realize the challenge of acting within their budgets," said Amy Jester, program manager at Humboldt Area Foundation. "It's a dilemma, really, because they want to do the right thing but they're always facing budget cuts and working hard at fundraising."
‘Ride or Die': ISIS Terrorists Have Motivated A Biker Gang to Take Action Against the Global Scourge
◼ “No Surrender” is a biker gang out of the Netherlands. And for some of its members, the world’s response to ISIS’ brutality isn’t good enough. - IJ Review
Wanting to be a force for good, three members of “No Surrender” have joined the Kurds in the fight against ISIS.
Alarm after vomiting passenger dies on flight from Nigeria to JFK
◼ A plane from Nigeria landed at JFK Airport Thursday with a male passenger aboard who had died during the flight after a fit of vomiting — and CDC officials conducted a “cursory” exam before announcing there was no Ebola and turning the corpse over to Port Authority cops to remove, Rep. Peter King said on Thursday. - NY Post
The unnamed, 63-year-old passenger had boarded an Arik Air plane out of Lagos, Nigeria, on Wednesday night, a federal law enforcement source said.
During the flight, the man had been vomiting in his seat, the source said. Some time before the plane landed, he passed away. Flight crew contacted the CDC, federal customs officials and Port Authority police, who all boarded the plane at around 6 a.m. as about 145 worried passengers remained on board, the source said.
“The door [to the terminal] was left open, which a lot of the first responders found alarming,” said the source.
◼ INSTAPUNDIT: SO I’VE HEARD SOME SPECULATION that the reason Obama jumped on this issue all of a sudden is that they now expect the Ebola outbreak to get worse in the U.S. ◼ Ebola in the Big Apple? CDC tells NYC to get ready - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner
Already, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has identified 88 people arriving from the Ebola nations thought to have symptoms of the virus, but all were cleared. However, the report said that the diagnosis of some patients was delayed “because of hesitancy by healthcare providers to examine patients or by laboratory workers to handle specimens.”
The city has distributed posters for airports and other ports of entry asking those entering America to reveal their travel history and current illness.
The CDC also included a detailed explanation sheet on what officials should look for and subsequently do if Ebola is detected.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
FOR GOD'S SAKE, GET A GRIP!
◼ New York Daily News Drops 6-Word Headline Bomb on People Who Still Believe Obama’s a Great President - IJ REVIEW
The New York Daily News must have seen this coming for awhile. After all, the editors endorsed GOP challenger Mitt Romney in 2012 over their 2008 pick of Barack Obama.
But the cover of Thursday’s edition took the paper’s frustration with the President and his administration’s handling of the Ebola outbreak and put it all out there on full display. Giving a sneak peek on Twitter, the paper held absolutely nothing back....
Either way, the President likely isn’t too happy with the publication’s headline today. This backlash, coupled with the damning LA Times editorial on the “Ebola crisis of confidence,” is forcing Americans and the media to question the President and his administration’s ability to handle this virus.
.@CDCgov director was in the hot zone over Ebola on the Hill: http://t.co/TQB8YsJNUc | John Shinkle/POLITICO pic.twitter.com/aoPrqvZwVQ
— POLITICO (@politico) October 16, 2014Nurses Union: White House and CDC Have “Ignored” and “Lied” To Us http://t.co/w92GKKklly
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) October 16, 2014Also, read National Review's editorial calling for travel ban: http://t.co/zzxj51dO03
— Byron York (@ByronYork) October 16, 2014We'll Tell You How Dangerous Ebola Is After the Election
◼ Quite obviously, the only way to protect Americans is to prevent Ebola from coming here in the first place. The problem isn't that Ebola will leap across oceans to infect Americans; it's that Obama doesn't want to protect Americans. - Ann Coulter/Townhall
There had never been a case of Ebola in the U.S. until a few months ago. Since then, thousands of people have died of the disease in Africa, and millions upon millions of dollars have been spent treating Ebola patients in the U.S. who acquired it there, one of whom has died.
But the Obama administration refuses to impose a travel ban.
This summer, the U.S. government imposed a travel ban on Israel simply to pressure Prime Minister Netanyahu into accepting a ceasefire agreement. But we can't put a travel restriction on countries where a contagious disease is raging.
It's becoming increasingly clear this is just another platform for Obama to demonstrate that we are citizens of the world. The entire Ebola issue is being discussed -- by our government, not the United Nations -- as if Liberians are indistinguishable from Americans, and U.S. taxpayers should be willing to pay whatever it takes to save them.
Maybe we should give them the vote, too! If Ebola was concentrated in Finland and Norway -- certainly Israel! -- we'd have had a travel ban on Day One....KEEP READING...
◼ 911 emergency dispatchers instructed not to say 'Ebola' over radio - FOX DC
There had never been a case of Ebola in the U.S. until a few months ago. Since then, thousands of people have died of the disease in Africa, and millions upon millions of dollars have been spent treating Ebola patients in the U.S. who acquired it there, one of whom has died.
But the Obama administration refuses to impose a travel ban.
This summer, the U.S. government imposed a travel ban on Israel simply to pressure Prime Minister Netanyahu into accepting a ceasefire agreement. But we can't put a travel restriction on countries where a contagious disease is raging.
It's becoming increasingly clear this is just another platform for Obama to demonstrate that we are citizens of the world. The entire Ebola issue is being discussed -- by our government, not the United Nations -- as if Liberians are indistinguishable from Americans, and U.S. taxpayers should be willing to pay whatever it takes to save them.
Maybe we should give them the vote, too! If Ebola was concentrated in Finland and Norway -- certainly Israel! -- we'd have had a travel ban on Day One....KEEP READING...
◼ 911 emergency dispatchers instructed not to say 'Ebola' over radio - FOX DC
According to the New York Post, officials made the decision in an effort to minimize fear and panic since the radio channels are often monitored by civilians and the media.◼ DFW Airport Contractor Forced To Remove Mask & Gloves - CBS DFW
The Post reports that dispatchers have been instructed to use the code ‘F/T' when discussing callers that have a fever and have a history of travel to West Africa.
A contractor for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is livid that his supervisor forced him to remove a mask and gloves he wore to work Wednesday.◼ As Ebola and ISIS Spread, Obama Golfs for the 200th Time - POLITICAL INSIDER
“One of the supervisors told me I wasn’t allowed to wear that because it’ll cause a panic for people and they’ll start tripping out and stuff,” said Pablo Medina.
He’s frightened after learning the latest Dallas Ebola patient, Amber Vinson passed through an exit where he was working. Medina was helping direct travelers to their gates Monday night.
Lockheed Claims Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough
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| CREDIT: REUTERS/LOCKHEED MARTIN |
◼ SAYS FIRST COMPACT REACTORS COULD BE READY FOR USE IN 10 YEARS; SOME ARE SKEPTICAL - Newser
Lockheed Martin announced yesterday that it has made what Reuters calls a "technological breakthrough" in the area of compact nuclear fusion. The upshot is that reactors "small enough to fit on the back of a truck" could be here within 10 years. As Forbes explains, nuclear fusion combines two atoms into one, creating as much as quadruple the energy as nuclear fission (when an atom is split in two), and it does so without producing radiation. Project head Tom McGuire says Lockheed has been working on its compact fusion concept secretly for four years, but it's now looking for industry and government partners. "The smaller size will allow us to design, build, and test the compact fusion reactor in less than a year," says McGuire, with a prototype coming in five years. But some are skeptical...◼ Lockheed says makes breakthrough on fusion energy project - Reuters
If it proves feasible, Lockheed's work would mark a key breakthrough in a field that scientists have long eyed as promising, but which has not yet yielded viable power systems. The effort seeks to harness the energy released during nuclear fusion, when atoms combine into more stable forms.
"We can make a big difference on the energy front," McGuire said, noting Lockheed's 60 years of research on nuclear fusion as a potential energy source that is safer and more efficient than current reactors based on nuclear fission.
◼ Lockheed Martin Claims Fusion Breakthrough That Could Change World Forever - Forbes
Londoners Get Shocking Demonstration of ISIS Brutality in a Way That is Not Easy to Forget
◼ In London, people walking the streets witnessed an emotionally gripping performance that is sure to leave an impression on their mind about ISIS brutality.
The scene, which was played out by Kurdish activists, is one that takes place everyday with the selling of sex slaves within the Islamic State.
Houston’s Mayor Backtracks on Church Subpoenas, Tosses Her Own Lawyers Under the Bus
◼ Houston’s power-mad Mayor Annise Parker has backtracked on those subpoenas that she had the city issue to five city pastors, at taxpayer expense. - Bryan Preston/PJMedia
The mayor made the move as Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sent a letter to Parker asking that she withdraw the subpoenas “immediately.”
◼ The subpoenas
Background:
◼ City of Houston demands pastors turn over sermons - FOX
◼ Is Houston’s Lesbian Mayor Really Out to Get Conservative Preachers? - NY Magazine
◼ Mayor, city attorney distance themselves from sermon subpoenas - Houston Chronicle
The mayor made the move as Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sent a letter to Parker asking that she withdraw the subpoenas “immediately.”
Attorney General Greg Abbott Asks Houston City Attorney to Withdraw Subpoenas Seeking Sermons, Other Documents from Houston-area PastorsHouston’s ◼ KTRH radio reports that Parker is shifting her position.
AUSTIN — Attorney General Abbott today asked that the Houston City Attorney to immediately withdraw the subpoenas sent last month to several Houston-area pastors seeking sermons, notes and other information.
In his letter to the city attorney, Attorney General Abbott said, “Whether you intend it to be so or not, your action is a direct assault on the religious liberty guaranteed by the First Amendment. The people of Houston and their religious leaders must be absolutely secure in the knowledge that their religious affairs are beyond the reach of the government.”
The mayor says the subpoenas were too broad, and should not have included actual sermons.Actually it was very much about what pastors preached, and how they communicate with each other and with ministry staff.
“It’s not about what did you preach on last Sunday,” Parker told reporters Wednesday. “It should have been clarified, it will be clarified.”
◼ The subpoenas
Background:
◼ City of Houston demands pastors turn over sermons - FOX
The city of Houston has issued subpoenas demanding a group of pastors turn over any sermons dealing with homosexuality, gender identity or Annise Parker, the city’s first openly lesbian mayor. And those ministers who fail to comply could be held in contempt of court.◼ An Open Letter to Houston Mayor Annise Parker from a Pastor - Titus Live
“The city’s subpoena of sermons and other pastoral communications is both needless and unprecedented,” Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Christina Holcomb said in a statement. “The city council and its attorneys are engaging in an inquisition designed to stifle any critique of its actions.”
...The subpoenas are just the latest twist in an ongoing saga over the Houston’s new non-discrimination ordinance. The law, among other things, would allow men to use the ladies room and vice versa. The city council approved the law in June.
◼ Is Houston’s Lesbian Mayor Really Out to Get Conservative Preachers? - NY Magazine
◼ Mayor, city attorney distance themselves from sermon subpoenas - Houston Chronicle
‘CRISIS AVERTED’! Obama’s ready to get back on the fundraising horse
@markknoller Whew! For a minute there I was worried.
— Miss B (@robinbmurphy) October 15, 2014◼ As Twitchy reported, the much put-upon President Obama felt compelled to cancel a scheduled fundraising trip in order to try and deal with this pesky Ebola thing. - Twitchy
Fortunately, it looks like his great sacrifice will only be temporary:
@markknoller Oh thank God. I'd hate for his job to get in the way of really important things like fundraising and golf. #PresidentEbola
— RON COULTER (@RONCOULTER) October 15, 2014John Boehner to Obama: Ban flights for Ebola
◼ House Speaker John Boehner urged the White House on Wednesday to consider banning flights from West African countries plagued by Ebola.
"The administration must be able to assure Americans that we will stop the spread here at home," Boehner said.
"The administration must be able to assure Americans that we will stop the spread here at home," Boehner said.
The CDC maintains a quarantine station in Dallas, as well as in Houston; and yet they have not moved suspected Ebola patients to these facilities
◼ Texas Officials And Healthcare Workers: “Imminent Ebola Epidemic Is A Certainty” In America - WJ
Staff at Governor Perry’s office have told healthcare workers that, in congruence with federal law, the Centers for Disease Control is leading the effort to combat Ebola–but privately admit that the CDC has made hardly any effort to do so.
The CDC maintains a quarantine station in Dallas, as well as in Houston; and yet they have not moved suspected Ebola patients to these facilities.
Not only are hospitals and state agencies unable to afford hazmat suit for medical staff, but most suppliers are out of stock. This comes after the U.S. Department of State recently ordered 160,000 hazmat suits and 5,000 body bags.
◼ Ebola Has Killed More Than 200 Doctors, Nurses, And Other Healthcare Workers Since June - Forbes
◼ Dr. Sanjay Gupta suits up & removes personal protective equipment that the CDC recommends when treating an Ebola patient - CNN
◼ It gets worse. - Ace Of Spades
Staff at Governor Perry’s office have told healthcare workers that, in congruence with federal law, the Centers for Disease Control is leading the effort to combat Ebola–but privately admit that the CDC has made hardly any effort to do so.
The CDC maintains a quarantine station in Dallas, as well as in Houston; and yet they have not moved suspected Ebola patients to these facilities.
Not only are hospitals and state agencies unable to afford hazmat suit for medical staff, but most suppliers are out of stock. This comes after the U.S. Department of State recently ordered 160,000 hazmat suits and 5,000 body bags.
◼ Ebola Has Killed More Than 200 Doctors, Nurses, And Other Healthcare Workers Since June - Forbes
The allegations that the Dallas nurses didn’t have sufficient protections against Ebola are disturbing — more on those in a second — but the infection pattern keeps with a sad trend: A disproportionate number of people who were sickened with Ebola in West Africa were health care workers, too.
Doctors Without Borders this week said that 16 of its staff had contracted Ebola in the current outbreak, and nine had died from the disease. Dr. Sheik Umar Khan, the doctor who heroically led Sierra Leone’s fight against Ebola, got sick and died in July; his colleagues opted not to give him the experimental ZMapp cocktail, which appears to have helped treat several Ebola patients....Around the globe, about 400 health care staff have contracted Ebola, and more than 230 have died....
According to Texas Health nurses, they had no clear understanding of the protocols to treat Ebola patients. As Sarah Kliff details at Vox, trying to follow a visual guide to don and remove gear designed to protect against Ebola requires 21 separate steps and is a long, intense process.
◼ Dr. Sanjay Gupta suits up & removes personal protective equipment that the CDC recommends when treating an Ebola patient - CNN
◼ It gets worse. - Ace Of Spades
ISIS Brags About Selling Yazidi Girls As Sex Slaves
◼ “One should remember that enslaving the families of the [nonbelievers] and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of Islamic law.” - Truth Revolt
The Islamic State bragged Sunday that it has seized Yazidi women and children as the spoils of war and are now selling the teens as sex slaves, which they argue is their right “firmly established” by Islamic law.
The group boasted about their conquests Sunday in an English-language propaganda magazine. The Washington Post reports that the news was the first confirmation of widespread allegations of detention and sexual abuse against the Yazidi, hundreds of whom were captured as ISIS rampaged through northern Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of the Yazidi were able to escape the region, but thousands did not. The men were slaughtered, while hundreds of women and children were captured.
Poll: Obama hits lowest approval
◼ President Barack Obama’s approval rating is at the lowest level of his presidency, a new poll says. - Politico
According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Wednesday, 40 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s job performance, the lowest score the poll has recorded since he took office. His rating is down 1 point from September....
Among independent voters, Obama’s approval rating stands at 33 percent.
◼ The Stunning Results Of A Just-Released Poll Could Mean Lights Out For Obama Democrats
Read more at http://www.westernjournalism.com/stunning-results-just-released-poll-mean-lights-obama-democrats/#U3wRORYLsudtM1bE.99 - WJ
For a party — the Democrats — and a movement — progressivism — so closely aligned with a president in whom so much hope and expectation was invested, these gloomy polling results are especially troubling.
Add to that problem the utter collapse of Obama’s popularity among independent voters, as the Washington Post notes:
Most worrisome for Democrats is that their candidates will be weighed down by unhappiness with the president. Obama’s overall approval rating stands at 40 percent, the lowest recorded in a Post-ABC News poll during his six years in office, though only a point lower than last month....Respondents to this new poll express strong disapproval of Obama’s policies and programs, as well as his handling of major issues and challenges.
According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Wednesday, 40 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s job performance, the lowest score the poll has recorded since he took office. His rating is down 1 point from September....
Among independent voters, Obama’s approval rating stands at 33 percent.
◼ The Stunning Results Of A Just-Released Poll Could Mean Lights Out For Obama Democrats
Read more at http://www.westernjournalism.com/stunning-results-just-released-poll-mean-lights-obama-democrats/#U3wRORYLsudtM1bE.99 - WJ
For a party — the Democrats — and a movement — progressivism — so closely aligned with a president in whom so much hope and expectation was invested, these gloomy polling results are especially troubling.
Add to that problem the utter collapse of Obama’s popularity among independent voters, as the Washington Post notes:
Most worrisome for Democrats is that their candidates will be weighed down by unhappiness with the president. Obama’s overall approval rating stands at 40 percent, the lowest recorded in a Post-ABC News poll during his six years in office, though only a point lower than last month....Respondents to this new poll express strong disapproval of Obama’s policies and programs, as well as his handling of major issues and challenges.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
EBOLA STRIKES SECOND DALLAS HOSPITAL WORKER
◼ The worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital was monitoring herself for symptoms, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said. The unidentified woman reported a fever Tuesday. She was in isolation within 90 minutes, Jenkins said. - Breitbart
Health officials said the worker was among those who took care of Thomas Eric Duncan, who was diagnosed with Ebola after coming to the U.S. from Liberia. Duncan died Oct. 8.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was conducting confirmatory testing of a preliminary Ebola test conducted late Tuesday at a state public health laboratory in Austin, Texas, which came back positive.
Emergency responders in hazardous materials suits began work before dawn Wednesday to decontaminate the Dallas apartment of the second hospital worker. Notices handed out to neighbors, advise them that "a health care worker who lives in your area has tested positive for Ebola."
It's not clear how the second health care worker contracted the virus, and authorities declined to say what position she holds at the hospital or the type of care she provided.
◼ DRUDGE:
NIGHTMARE: EBOLA PATIENT FLEW DAY BEFORE...
Nurses outraged: 'There was no protocol, there was no system'...
Hospital's workers learned how to control Ebola as they went along...
Blood, vomit and diarrhea-soaked hazardous materials piled to ceiling...
Frieden regrets slow response...
Dallas Mayor: 'It May Get Worse'...
Hospital Cafeteria Abandoned...
CDC watching 125...
Researchers say more in USA based on flight patterns...
TX College 'Not Accepting International Students From Countries With Confirmed Cases'...
Lab Developing Device to Identify Ebola Virus in 10 Minutes...
WHO predicts 10,000 new cases -- per week...
Outbreak Expanding Geographically...
Liberia health ministry requests 79,940 body bags...
Death rate reaches 70%...
UN WARNS: 60 DAYS TO BEAT...
West Africans in US struggle to help...
HALLOWEEN EBOLA COSTUMES CAUSE CONTROVERSY..
Knowingly Traveled With 'Low-Grade Fever'...
PLANE MADE 5 FLIGHTS BEFORE TAKEN OUT OF SERVICE...
Airline Stocks Nosediving...
Passenger Wears HAZMAT To Dulles Airport...
Panic Hits TV News Divisions...
CDC says it missed opportunities to contain...
Obama cancels fundraising trip...
I THOUGHT IRAQI CHEMICAL WEAPONS WERE A BUSHITLER/CHENEY FANTASY:
I THOUGHT IRAQI CHEMICAL WEAPONS WERE A BUSHITLER/CHENEY FANTASY: New York Times: The Secre... http://t.co/sPTMGwTXAc via @instapundit
— Instapundit.com (@instapundit) October 15, 2014Hmm I thought we never found chem weapons in Iraq?? "The Secret U.S. Casualties of Iraq’s Abandoned Chemical Weapons http://t.co/99s7pifZWS"
— Jake (@jfrank1034) October 15, 2014◼ The Secret Casualties of Iraq’s Abandoned Chemical Weapons
From 2004 to 2011, American and American-trained Iraqi troops repeatedly encountered, and on at least six occasions were wounded by, chemical weapons remaining from years earlier in Saddam Hussein’s rule.
In all, American troops secretly reported finding roughly 5,000 chemical warheads, shells or aviation bombs, according to interviews with dozens of participants, Iraqi and American officials, and heavily redacted intelligence documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
◼ Truth finally comes out - KYLE BECKER/IJREVIEW.COM
It's Official: NY Times Just Blasted Out of Existence Biggest Myth About George W. Bush & Iraq War
This is like the holy grail of Schadenfreude...
MARIJUANA’S ANTI-ENVIRONMENTALISTS
◼ There’s no future for salmon in Northern California’s Emerald Triangle. - Peter Hannaford/American Spectator 10/9/14
On California’s northern coast are three counties that marijuana aficionados call the Emerald Triangle. In their view, the growers there have perfected a strain of cannabis that has high potency and consistently high quality. Result: There are many growers, most tending their crops in remote corners of these mountainous, heavily wooded counties.
This produces serious environmental damage. In Humboldt County where the largest amount of Emerald Triangle marijuana is grown, the sheriff’s office conducted an aerial survey and counted 4,000 visible outdoor grows, nearly all of them illegal. (California was the first of 22 states to permit medical use of marijuana, so some grows were established to serve users who have permit cards.)
The illegal grows are usually carved out of forest land (often national forests or acreage owned by timber companies). Typically, the growers clear-cut the trees on the land they want to use, then bulldoze it to their specifications. Next, they divert a nearby stream to provide the one to six gallons required daily by each plant. They then fertilize the plants, causing runoff. This is followed by a generous dose of rat poison.
The upshot: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a week ago declared that stream diversion by marijuana plantations was robbing the rivers that the streams feed of enough cool water for Coho salmon to breed, thus threatening their survival. California’s north coast is big salmon country, for both sport and commercial fishing. The declaration earned banner headlines in the local press.
This week the USFWS said that it was considering seeking a “Threatened” status for the fisher, a native cousin to the weasel. Many fishers have been dying after ingesting the rat poison put out by marijuana planters.
Disruption of the soil for planting the crop and for cutting roads to some of the remote locations causes runoff that silts the area’s rivers—another preventable threat to the already endangered native salmon and steelhead.
In the area, a multi-agency task force has raided, on average, one marijuana plantation a week since January 2013. The biggest one, in August this year, yielded 10,000 plants; most have had several hundred. The plants are destroyed. The “harvest” often yields cash, weapons, and, sometimes other drugs (although multi-drug hauls tend to found in in-town dealer houses).
In addition to the cost of the raids, “grows” on public land require public resources to clean up and restore the affected area.
Environmentalists in the three counties are quick to run to the battlements and declare all-out war any time the state Transportation Department sets out to widen a highway. With the regular pot plantation raids, however, they are as silent as mice. Occasionally, one will opine in an interview that the problem would go away if marijuana were made legal. This outcome seems unlikely. Large companies might buy up some tracts for growing (along with getting the necessary permits and paying taxes); however, not every small grower will be able to compete; hence, the likelihood they would feed a black market, selling to heavy users at below-market prices. Thus, one problem would yield to another.
__________________
Peter Hannaford was closely associated with the late President Reagan for a number of years. His latest book is ◼ “Presidential Retreats.”
On California’s northern coast are three counties that marijuana aficionados call the Emerald Triangle. In their view, the growers there have perfected a strain of cannabis that has high potency and consistently high quality. Result: There are many growers, most tending their crops in remote corners of these mountainous, heavily wooded counties.
This produces serious environmental damage. In Humboldt County where the largest amount of Emerald Triangle marijuana is grown, the sheriff’s office conducted an aerial survey and counted 4,000 visible outdoor grows, nearly all of them illegal. (California was the first of 22 states to permit medical use of marijuana, so some grows were established to serve users who have permit cards.)
The illegal grows are usually carved out of forest land (often national forests or acreage owned by timber companies). Typically, the growers clear-cut the trees on the land they want to use, then bulldoze it to their specifications. Next, they divert a nearby stream to provide the one to six gallons required daily by each plant. They then fertilize the plants, causing runoff. This is followed by a generous dose of rat poison.
The upshot: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a week ago declared that stream diversion by marijuana plantations was robbing the rivers that the streams feed of enough cool water for Coho salmon to breed, thus threatening their survival. California’s north coast is big salmon country, for both sport and commercial fishing. The declaration earned banner headlines in the local press.
This week the USFWS said that it was considering seeking a “Threatened” status for the fisher, a native cousin to the weasel. Many fishers have been dying after ingesting the rat poison put out by marijuana planters.
Disruption of the soil for planting the crop and for cutting roads to some of the remote locations causes runoff that silts the area’s rivers—another preventable threat to the already endangered native salmon and steelhead.
In the area, a multi-agency task force has raided, on average, one marijuana plantation a week since January 2013. The biggest one, in August this year, yielded 10,000 plants; most have had several hundred. The plants are destroyed. The “harvest” often yields cash, weapons, and, sometimes other drugs (although multi-drug hauls tend to found in in-town dealer houses).
In addition to the cost of the raids, “grows” on public land require public resources to clean up and restore the affected area.
Environmentalists in the three counties are quick to run to the battlements and declare all-out war any time the state Transportation Department sets out to widen a highway. With the regular pot plantation raids, however, they are as silent as mice. Occasionally, one will opine in an interview that the problem would go away if marijuana were made legal. This outcome seems unlikely. Large companies might buy up some tracts for growing (along with getting the necessary permits and paying taxes); however, not every small grower will be able to compete; hence, the likelihood they would feed a black market, selling to heavy users at below-market prices. Thus, one problem would yield to another.
Peter Hannaford was closely associated with the late President Reagan for a number of years. His latest book is ◼ “Presidential Retreats.”
OBAMA Planned To Cut CDC Budget For Public Health Preparedness And Response
◼ President Obama proposed to cut the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) funding in his fiscal year 2012 budget proposal.
- DAILY CALLER
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is currently blasting out ads accusing Republicans of voting to cut CDC’s Ebola-fighting capabilities in February 2011 by voting for a bill to cut $60 billion from the federal budget, including from the CDC, in anticipation of the fiscal year 2012 budget battle. The House passed the bill on Feb. 19, 2011, but the bill never passed the Senate.
But the Obama administration proposed to cut CDC funding, including for public health preparedness and response, in its very own budget proposal released the very same week as the House vote.
Obama’s original budget plan for fiscal year 2012 cut funding for a CDC public health emergency preparedness program by $72 million. The proposed cuts would have taken money away from municipal and state health departments to hire health workers and monitor for public health hazards and disease outbreaks.
- DAILY CALLER
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is currently blasting out ads accusing Republicans of voting to cut CDC’s Ebola-fighting capabilities in February 2011 by voting for a bill to cut $60 billion from the federal budget, including from the CDC, in anticipation of the fiscal year 2012 budget battle. The House passed the bill on Feb. 19, 2011, but the bill never passed the Senate.
But the Obama administration proposed to cut CDC funding, including for public health preparedness and response, in its very own budget proposal released the very same week as the House vote.
Obama’s original budget plan for fiscal year 2012 cut funding for a CDC public health emergency preparedness program by $72 million. The proposed cuts would have taken money away from municipal and state health departments to hire health workers and monitor for public health hazards and disease outbreaks.
Vitter and House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., have directed staff to look into whether the EPA broke federal law in developing the carbon emissions regulations.
◼ Sen. David Vitter, R-La., the top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee, told The Daily Signal that the Natural Resources Defense Council played an “absolutely inappropriate” role in drafting the EPA’s new carbon emissions plan. - Daily Signal
Newly released emails between the EPA and the green group, Vitter said, show that the agency didn’t push to “consider all stakeholders’ opinions equally.” He added:
Newly released emails between the EPA and the green group, Vitter said, show that the agency didn’t push to “consider all stakeholders’ opinions equally.” He added:
While both sides have denied NRDC’s improper influence over the EPA’s development of the carbon rule, these emails clearly demonstrate their beyond-cozy relationship and force the question: Who is working for whom?
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Here’s Why You Should Vote Against Measure P, Even If You Hate GMOs
◼ Even if you are against the use of GMOs (genetically modified organisms), you shouldn’t support Measure P because the wording of the measure is very problematic. - Op-Ed by HSU biology professor Mark Wilson/Lost Coast Outpost
It is so flawed that it would exempt Roundup Ready corn and alfalfa from the ban, even though these are the GMOs most likely to be grown in Humboldt County in the near term. Meanwhile, the measure would ban hundreds of non-GMO varieties, some of which would be difficult for farmers to identify before planting. Farmers who have grown non-GMO varieties may find out mid-season that some of the crops they’ve been growing for years are prohibited.
Most people think of GMOs as being transgenic organisms, that is, organisms in which one or a small number of genes from an unrelated organism have been inserted using a variety of laboratory techniques. However, that is not how Measure P defines it.
...Because the authors of Measure P used the flawed wording that the USDA is in the process of revising, that flawed wording would be codified into county law. Based on the USDA comments, it seems likely that many local farmers are growing crops that somewhere in their history underwent gene doubling, or cell fusion. The farmers who planted these crops are almost certainly unaware of their breeding histories.
What would happen if one of the massive GMO corporations (which have been conspicuously silent), or even just a mischievous student, stepped in, not to challenge the Measure P definitions but to force the county to actually follow the letter of the law? Farmers would have 30 days to destroy crops that they had planted in good faith, and more importantly crops that there is no rational reason to think are somehow dangerous. A major disruption to our local farmers is possible....◼ READ The ENTIRE PIECE, It is well worth your time.
◼ This is a discussion document by a Subcommittee of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). Discussion documents are posted for public comment, and may later become proposals for full Board consideration. They are not final Board proposals or recommendations, or NOP policy. from links in the op-ed above
◼ READ MEASURE P
◼ If wild anti-GMO claims were anything more than contrived hysteria, that would rock the world - Chad White/Mad River Union
“P” is for Pseudoscience, Poverty, Prejudice, and Prohibition
◼ Anti-GMO tribal conformity and mythology, part 2 - Chad White/Mad River Union
◼ Recent Letters to the Editor regarding GMOs and Measure P - Mad River Union
◼ Mark Wilson: Megacorps and tribal compulsions derail informed decisionmaking about GMOs
It is so flawed that it would exempt Roundup Ready corn and alfalfa from the ban, even though these are the GMOs most likely to be grown in Humboldt County in the near term. Meanwhile, the measure would ban hundreds of non-GMO varieties, some of which would be difficult for farmers to identify before planting. Farmers who have grown non-GMO varieties may find out mid-season that some of the crops they’ve been growing for years are prohibited.
Most people think of GMOs as being transgenic organisms, that is, organisms in which one or a small number of genes from an unrelated organism have been inserted using a variety of laboratory techniques. However, that is not how Measure P defines it.
...Because the authors of Measure P used the flawed wording that the USDA is in the process of revising, that flawed wording would be codified into county law. Based on the USDA comments, it seems likely that many local farmers are growing crops that somewhere in their history underwent gene doubling, or cell fusion. The farmers who planted these crops are almost certainly unaware of their breeding histories.
What would happen if one of the massive GMO corporations (which have been conspicuously silent), or even just a mischievous student, stepped in, not to challenge the Measure P definitions but to force the county to actually follow the letter of the law? Farmers would have 30 days to destroy crops that they had planted in good faith, and more importantly crops that there is no rational reason to think are somehow dangerous. A major disruption to our local farmers is possible....◼ READ The ENTIRE PIECE, It is well worth your time.
◼ This is a discussion document by a Subcommittee of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). Discussion documents are posted for public comment, and may later become proposals for full Board consideration. They are not final Board proposals or recommendations, or NOP policy. from links in the op-ed above
◼ READ MEASURE P
◼ If wild anti-GMO claims were anything more than contrived hysteria, that would rock the world - Chad White/Mad River Union
“P” is for Pseudoscience, Poverty, Prejudice, and Prohibition
Something I learned from scientist Kevin Folta is that if his lab had a slight hint that GMOs were dangerous, he would do his best to repeat that study, get a collaborator to repeat it independently, and then publish the data on the covers of Science, Nature and every news outlet that would take it. IT WOULD ROCK THE WORLD, and he would be rich and famous.◼ Measure P’s fear, prejudice and ideology, part 1 - Chad White/Mad River Union
Showing that 70-something percent of our food was poisonous? That would be a HUGE story – “we are talking Nobel Prize and free Amy’s Organic Pot Pies for life!” hos.ufl.edu/faculty/kmfolta
◼ Anti-GMO tribal conformity and mythology, part 2 - Chad White/Mad River Union
◼ Recent Letters to the Editor regarding GMOs and Measure P - Mad River Union
◼ Mark Wilson: Megacorps and tribal compulsions derail informed decisionmaking about GMOs
We don’t need to be afraid of the future and should reject those who try to scare us in the name of “Fairness, Prosperity and Protection.” KEEP READING◼ Rollin Richmond: Education and knowledge, not fearful ideology, are key to understanding GMOs - Rollin Richmond/Mad River Union
Mark Wilson is a Biology Professor at Humboldt State University, a microbial geneticist with a Ph.D from Cornell University. He has no ties, financial or otherwise, to any agricultural biotechnology company.
The recent article, “What the GMO Four aren’t Telling you about biotech food,” by Dr. John Schaefer in the Aug. 26 Mad River Union is a classic example of the “fear factor” that unfortunately often affects people who are forced to deal with a new scientific discovery or technical tool and have not been adequately educated about its basis and use....KEEP READING
Evolutionary biologist Rollin R. Richmond is the former president of Humboldt State University. He has no ties, financial or otherwise, to any agricultural biotechnology company.
HRFW Heads Up:
Thursday, October 16th - meeting canceled.
Our general meeting update information: This week’s meeting on Thursday, October 16th is cancelled due to a lack of timely reservations. If you know of another person planning on attending that may not have email please let them know.
The final Republican Women meeting for 2014 will be on Thursday, November 20th were we will: Vote on, install 2015 officers, and have a special speaker.
Please bring all your friends and inspire others to vote on November 4th~!!!!
The final Republican Women meeting for 2014 will be on Thursday, November 20th were we will: Vote on, install 2015 officers, and have a special speaker.
Please bring all your friends and inspire others to vote on November 4th~!!!!
NIGHTMARE: 70 STAFFERS CARED FOR DALLAS PATIENT...
◼ They drew his blood, put tubes down his throat and wiped up his diarrhea. They analyzed his urine and wiped saliva from his lips, even after he had lost consciousness. - AP
◼ 'MOST SEVERE HEALTH EMERGENCY IN MODERN TIMES' - AP
'EBOLA HOSPITAL' PLANNED FOR ALL 50 STATES...
◼ WHO predicts 10,000 new cases per week&
CDC: 'Think Ebola'...
Doctors Without Borders loses 9 medics to disease...
Death rate reaches 70 percent...
Officials warn of 'irrational' efforts to avoid virus...
Passenger on flight from JFK to LAX sparks scare...
COPS: Man In Surgical Mask Boards LA Bus, Tells Driver, 'Don't Mess With Me, I Have Ebola'...
Hazmats Board Flight in Boston...
Commander: 'Mass Migration' of Infected Would Cross Border in Outbreak...
UN worker dies in Germany...
Island vacation season spawns fears...
◼ SCHLAFLY: GOV'T HAS FAILED TO PROTECT
About 70 staff members at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital were involved in the care of Thomas Eric Duncan after he was hospitalized, including a nurse now being treated for the same Ebola virus that killed the Liberian man who was visiting Dallas, according to medical records his family provided to The Associated Press.DRUDGE:
The size of the medical team reflects the hospital's intense effort to save Duncan's life, but it also suggests that many other people could have been exposed to the virus during Duncan's time in an isolation unit.
◼ 'MOST SEVERE HEALTH EMERGENCY IN MODERN TIMES' - AP
'EBOLA HOSPITAL' PLANNED FOR ALL 50 STATES...
◼ WHO predicts 10,000 new cases per week&
CDC: 'Think Ebola'...
Doctors Without Borders loses 9 medics to disease...
Death rate reaches 70 percent...
Officials warn of 'irrational' efforts to avoid virus...
Passenger on flight from JFK to LAX sparks scare...
COPS: Man In Surgical Mask Boards LA Bus, Tells Driver, 'Don't Mess With Me, I Have Ebola'...
Hazmats Board Flight in Boston...
Commander: 'Mass Migration' of Infected Would Cross Border in Outbreak...
UN worker dies in Germany...
Island vacation season spawns fears...
◼ SCHLAFLY: GOV'T HAS FAILED TO PROTECT
Krauthammer: Susan Rice Turkey Gaffe ‘A Huge Embarrassment,’ ‘Unbelievable’ [VIDEO]
◼ "I don’t know how they’re going to explain it." - Daily Caller
Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer lashed out at National Security adviser Susan Rice following her seemingly premature announcement that the U.S. had reached an agreement with Turkey over using territory to train troops to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Krauthammer told “Special Report” host Bret Baier, after airing Rice’s comments on “Meet The Press” on Sunday, that the adviser’s proclamation, coupled with the Turks denial, is a “huge embarrassment” and “unbelievable.” The conservative commentator also blamed President Barack Obama for this failure to reach an agreement, wondering why the Turks would join a war “where the leader of the coalition is not serious.”
Texas nurse fighting Ebola receives blood transfusion from survivor Dr Kent Brantly
◼ Texas nurse fighting Ebola receives blood transfusion from survivor Dr Kent Brantly - who also matched blood types with two others struck by the deadly virus in the U.S.
Nina Pham, 26, has received blood transfusion from Dr Kent Brantly
Survivor Brantly also donated to Dr Nick Sacra and NBC's Ashoka Mukpo
Antibodies in his blood could help the patients fight the disease
Pham caught the Ebola virus while treating Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas
Miss Pham was raised in Vietnamese family in Fort Worth and graduated from Texas Christian University in 2010 with Bachelor of Science in Nursing
HazChem teams spent the weekend fumigating her Dallas apartment
Authorities have blamed a 'breach of protocol' - but nursing leaders have criticized the CDC for making her a scapegoat
Those who have survived Ebola have antibodies in their blood which can help new sufferers beat the disease.
Dr Kent Brantly was flown back from Liberia to the U.S. after contracting Ebola during his missionary work for Samaritan's Purse.
He survived after receiving a dose of the experimental serum Z-Mapp and round-the-clock care at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.
On September 10, Dr Brantly donated blood to a fellow doctor, Dr Rick Sacra, who also contracted Ebola during his work in West Africa and survived the disease.
Last Tuesday, he was on a road trip from Indiana to Texas when he received a call from Ashoka Mukpo's medical center in Nebraska telling him his blood type matched Mukpo’s.
He also offered his blood to Thomas Eric Duncan but their blood types didn't match.
◼ Boyfriend of Nurse With Ebola May Also Have Ebola - WJ
Monday, October 13, 2014
NBC Dr. Nancy Snyderman DODGES RESPONSIBILITY In Ebola Quarantine Violation
◼ It's shocking ... - TMZ
NBC News has dug an even deeper hole for itself in it's self-created Ebola scandal. Brian Williams just read Dr. Nancy Snyderman's tepid, vague mea culpa in which she never takes personal responsibility for violating the quarantine after being exposed to the Ebola virus.
As TMZ reported ... Snyderman and 2 members of her crew -- all under quarantine -- made a food run to Peasant Grill near Princeton University. Sources say New Jersey health officials investigated and concluded based on witness accounts that Snyderman was in the car while a crew member got the grub.
Williams just read Snyderman's statement on "NBC Nightly News," in which she says, "While under voluntary quarantine guidelines, which called for our team to avoid public contact for 21 days, members of our group violated those guidelines and understand that our quarantine is now mandatory until 21 days have passed. We remain healthy and our temperatures are normal."
◼ Dr. Nancy Snyderman spotted at New Jersey restaurant during Ebola quarantine, draws health department crackdown - NY Daily News
No soup for you!
...New Jersey officials made the quarantine mandatory late Friday after news broke that Snyderman, wearing sun glasses and with pulled-back hair, was spotted out and about.
NBC News has dug an even deeper hole for itself in it's self-created Ebola scandal. Brian Williams just read Dr. Nancy Snyderman's tepid, vague mea culpa in which she never takes personal responsibility for violating the quarantine after being exposed to the Ebola virus.
As TMZ reported ... Snyderman and 2 members of her crew -- all under quarantine -- made a food run to Peasant Grill near Princeton University. Sources say New Jersey health officials investigated and concluded based on witness accounts that Snyderman was in the car while a crew member got the grub.
Williams just read Snyderman's statement on "NBC Nightly News," in which she says, "While under voluntary quarantine guidelines, which called for our team to avoid public contact for 21 days, members of our group violated those guidelines and understand that our quarantine is now mandatory until 21 days have passed. We remain healthy and our temperatures are normal."
◼ Dr. Nancy Snyderman spotted at New Jersey restaurant during Ebola quarantine, draws health department crackdown - NY Daily News
No soup for you!
...New Jersey officials made the quarantine mandatory late Friday after news broke that Snyderman, wearing sun glasses and with pulled-back hair, was spotted out and about.
NO ON MEASURE R: Fair Wage Folks” have fooled a lot of people, Measure R was never about a living wage
Measure R has never been about a “Living Wage” or improving the local economy. Measure R has always been about the Occupy movement’s disdain for Walmart. An honest byline would have read “Get Walmart”. If their true intentions are in doubt, look at the early content of their social media pages and consider these questions: Why does this stop at the city limits? Why is it only companies with over 25 employees? Why is there an exemption for unions? Does a union employee not also deserve a “Living Wage”? Does a worker in a small cafe not deserve a “Living Wage”? Does an employee who works in Myrtletown not deserve a “Living Wage”? The Unions and local Occupy Movement have their crosshairs on Walmart, but a lot of good, locally owned Eureka businesses, and many organizations serving the elderly and poor are being caught in the crossfire.
People are struggling, and I’m sympathetic. Early on, I lived in the back room of a body shop in Mckinleyville until I found my footing working multiple jobs. The last four businesses I worked for all closed down when they succumbed to financial pressures. I still have my last paycheck from one of them. It never cleared the bank.
Now I work for a good company. 20 years ago I started with City Ambulance, who operates Humboldt Dial-A-Ride and City Cab, earning $3.35 per hour as a part-time EMT. After paramedic school, nursing school, a bachelor’s degree, and a lot of hard work, I make significantly more. I’ve always had an opportunity to succeed on my efforts, but I see that opportunity disappearing for my kids who are just entering the workforce. I see how companies are responding to the increasing pressures from minimum wage hikes, health insurance, increases workman’s compensation insurance increases, and regulatory changes.
City Ambulance gives a portion of profits to the employees at the end of each year.
5 years ago, we paid over $100,000.00 in performance bonuses. Perfect attendance- $200.00; Accident free- $300.00; No customer complaints $200.00; and the list goes on. Many good employees received a full month’s check or more in the form of a bonus, and we gave away a cruise each year at our company picnic. Last year, that number was down to $25,000.00. The bonus may not even exist this year. So who lost out in favor of wage pressure and excessive regulation? The employee who showed up for work on time with a good attitude and took care of our customers.
In 2007, we had over 100 employees and used local work assistance programs to help the unemployed and disabled re-enter the workforce. We discontinued the program in 2008, after an 18.5% increase in the minimum wage over just two years, and we’ve since cut our staff down to about 90 employees.
Benefits? You can’t find five taxicab companies in all of California like ours that have health insurance, retirement and vacation for their taxicab drivers. All of that is in jeopardy as we look for ways to survive. We could add a surcharge of $1.50 on Eureka taxicab fares, but fares have already doubled over the last five years. How much will the market bear? The fact is we will find some creative way to restructure. There won’t be any winners.
Those benefits that atrophy in favor of wages are all pretax, so we ALL feel the sting when they are reduced. Just 5 years ago, we paid for a very generous health insurance plan for employees. Today, that’s been scaled back to a minimum plan and employees must contribute 5-9% of their wages. Unlike this proposal, the City of Seattle had the good sense to recognize that benefits should be factored into the minimum wage.
Our Dial-A-Ride services? Well, if Measure R passes, the City of Eureka will have a choice. Pay significantly more for service or cut back on transportation for the elderly and disabled. Which do you think will happen? We are not alone in this plight. Senior nutrition programs, childcare services, afterschool programs, parks and recreation, and other transportation programs are caught in the crossfire and many are preparing for cuts to service.
City Ambulance will adapt in a way that will sadly upset some lives. Not because my boss is a greedy corporate fat cat, but because this family business that has supported our little league teams, community non-profits, our employees, and has given back to the community in immeasurable ways for over five decades, is caught in the crossfire. Measure R is what happens when the desire to punish Walmart trumps concern for the community. I trust that voters will see the forest for the trees and vote “NO” on Measure R. One more thing. If you think our taxicab drivers deserve more, I agree. Don’t wait for the inevitable fare increases forced by regulation. Give it to them directly with an extra $1.50 in your tip. I always do.
Jaison Chand, Eureka
__________________
◼ Measure R Vote NO
People are struggling, and I’m sympathetic. Early on, I lived in the back room of a body shop in Mckinleyville until I found my footing working multiple jobs. The last four businesses I worked for all closed down when they succumbed to financial pressures. I still have my last paycheck from one of them. It never cleared the bank.
Now I work for a good company. 20 years ago I started with City Ambulance, who operates Humboldt Dial-A-Ride and City Cab, earning $3.35 per hour as a part-time EMT. After paramedic school, nursing school, a bachelor’s degree, and a lot of hard work, I make significantly more. I’ve always had an opportunity to succeed on my efforts, but I see that opportunity disappearing for my kids who are just entering the workforce. I see how companies are responding to the increasing pressures from minimum wage hikes, health insurance, increases workman’s compensation insurance increases, and regulatory changes.
City Ambulance gives a portion of profits to the employees at the end of each year.
5 years ago, we paid over $100,000.00 in performance bonuses. Perfect attendance- $200.00; Accident free- $300.00; No customer complaints $200.00; and the list goes on. Many good employees received a full month’s check or more in the form of a bonus, and we gave away a cruise each year at our company picnic. Last year, that number was down to $25,000.00. The bonus may not even exist this year. So who lost out in favor of wage pressure and excessive regulation? The employee who showed up for work on time with a good attitude and took care of our customers.
In 2007, we had over 100 employees and used local work assistance programs to help the unemployed and disabled re-enter the workforce. We discontinued the program in 2008, after an 18.5% increase in the minimum wage over just two years, and we’ve since cut our staff down to about 90 employees.
Benefits? You can’t find five taxicab companies in all of California like ours that have health insurance, retirement and vacation for their taxicab drivers. All of that is in jeopardy as we look for ways to survive. We could add a surcharge of $1.50 on Eureka taxicab fares, but fares have already doubled over the last five years. How much will the market bear? The fact is we will find some creative way to restructure. There won’t be any winners.
Those benefits that atrophy in favor of wages are all pretax, so we ALL feel the sting when they are reduced. Just 5 years ago, we paid for a very generous health insurance plan for employees. Today, that’s been scaled back to a minimum plan and employees must contribute 5-9% of their wages. Unlike this proposal, the City of Seattle had the good sense to recognize that benefits should be factored into the minimum wage.
Our Dial-A-Ride services? Well, if Measure R passes, the City of Eureka will have a choice. Pay significantly more for service or cut back on transportation for the elderly and disabled. Which do you think will happen? We are not alone in this plight. Senior nutrition programs, childcare services, afterschool programs, parks and recreation, and other transportation programs are caught in the crossfire and many are preparing for cuts to service.
City Ambulance will adapt in a way that will sadly upset some lives. Not because my boss is a greedy corporate fat cat, but because this family business that has supported our little league teams, community non-profits, our employees, and has given back to the community in immeasurable ways for over five decades, is caught in the crossfire. Measure R is what happens when the desire to punish Walmart trumps concern for the community. I trust that voters will see the forest for the trees and vote “NO” on Measure R. One more thing. If you think our taxicab drivers deserve more, I agree. Don’t wait for the inevitable fare increases forced by regulation. Give it to them directly with an extra $1.50 in your tip. I always do.
Jaison Chand, Eureka
◼ Measure R Vote NO
Another big endorsement! And ANOTHER!
The Oakland Tribune Endorses Ashley Swearengin
The Oakland Tribune Endorses Ashley Swearengin
◼ Oakland Tribune editorial: Ashley Swearengin is best choice for state controller
When it comes to viable candidates for statewide office the California Republican Party has been in decline for the better part of two decades. Simply put, the GOP has nominated candidates who do not appeal widely to the electorate, which explains why California has exactly zero Republicans serving in such offices.
But in this year's election -- the first for statewide races under the state's new primary system -- it appears that dynamic is changing somewhat.
We have already detailed our support for Republican secretary of state candidate Pete Peterson. He is an impressive candidate whom we believe has both the qualifications and the voter appeal to win the job and the skills to flourish in it.
Now comes a similarly impressive candidate for another statewide post. Republican Ashley Swearengin, the current mayor of Fresno, is our choice to be California's next controller. She is a well-informed, straight-talking breath of fresh air.
While controller is one of the least-understood offices in the state, we believe it is one of the most important. The controller essentially is charged with serving as an independent advocate for responsible state finances and financial practice.
Swearengin is well suited to such a task. She not only knows numbers -- and she very much does -- she also knows how those number affect people. She has seen it first hand....
◼ Ashley Swearengin for state controller - Orange County Register
The race for state controller pits Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, a Republican, against Democrat Betty Yee, a member of the state Board of Equalization. The Press-Enterprise concludes Mayor Swearengin is the better choice for the office.
One of only five “strong” mayors of California’s nearly 500 cities, Ms. Swearengin functions, effectively, as Fresno’s CEO. And, during her tenure, she has transformed a city that was slouching toward bankruptcy into a fiscal success story.
Indeed, only two weeks into her first mayoral term, Ms. Swearengin learned that her city was facing a staggering $120 million deficit. It was the product of a structurally imbalanced budget, which the city addressed by borrowing from itself, leaving a number of city funds with negative balances that had to be paid back.
So dire were the financial straights in which Fresno found itself, Time magazine in 2013 included California’s fifth-largest city on its ignominious “Bankruptcy Watch List.”
Under Ms. Swearengin’s leadership, Fresno instituted a “fiscal sustainability program,” which entailed a painful downsizing in city staff and unavoidable reductions in certain city services.
But the program proved successful. Not only did Fresno avoid the fate of such cities as San Bernardino and Stockton, which plunged into bankruptcy, it also produced a balanced budget for the 2014 fiscal year.
So Ms. Swearengin doesn’t just talk the talk about being a “responsible steward” of the public’s tax dollars – like all too many politicians on the campaign trail – she has actually walked the walk during her tenure as Fresno’s chief executive.... ◼ KEEP READING
◼ WEB: http://www.ashleyforca.com
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Volunteering Made Easy
◼ Who is ready to volunteer! You can visit www.cagop.org/volunteer to get connected with a CA opportunity near you. #V365 - CAGOP
The California Republican Party envisions a vibrant, prosperous, and secure California. We believe this can happen through a robust and growing world-class economy, strong and healthy families, and reformed and responsive state and local governments serving the people while protecting individual liberty. If you are interested in joining our efforts to get like-minded candidates elected to office, please sign up to volunteer AT THE LINK
Israelis and Palestinians join forces to combat Ebola
◼ Israeli and Palestinian officials met at the weekend to draw up an action plan to prevent the Ebola epidemic from spreading to the territories they control, the Israeli military said Sunday. - AFP/Yahoo
"During the meeting (on Saturday evening), updates were exchanged between the parties, and transfer of information was agreed upon by way of additional meetings to take place in order to further track the issue," said COGAT, the defence ministry unit responsible for Palestinian civilian coordination.
One proposal to combat the disease was for Israel to provide courses in advanced epidemiology for Palestinian and Jordanian medical staff, a health ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
Ebola has killed more than 4,000 people this year, nearly all of them in the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
"There are contacts with the Israeli side regarding this within the context of WHO's instructions on fighting this virus, which is a global task," said Assad Ramlawi of the Palestinian health ministry.
"There are common crossings and we have contacts on this, nothing more or less," he told AFP.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting Sunday with health, military, police, border crossings and other relevant officials over the epidemic.
◼ Firestone Did What Governments Have Not: Stopped Ebola In Its Tracks - NPR
"During the meeting (on Saturday evening), updates were exchanged between the parties, and transfer of information was agreed upon by way of additional meetings to take place in order to further track the issue," said COGAT, the defence ministry unit responsible for Palestinian civilian coordination.
One proposal to combat the disease was for Israel to provide courses in advanced epidemiology for Palestinian and Jordanian medical staff, a health ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
Ebola has killed more than 4,000 people this year, nearly all of them in the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
"There are contacts with the Israeli side regarding this within the context of WHO's instructions on fighting this virus, which is a global task," said Assad Ramlawi of the Palestinian health ministry.
"There are common crossings and we have contacts on this, nothing more or less," he told AFP.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting Sunday with health, military, police, border crossings and other relevant officials over the epidemic.
◼ Firestone Did What Governments Have Not: Stopped Ebola In Its Tracks - NPR
Yuck: 83% of nation's schools report more lunches dumped by kids
◼ As school children continue to protest Michelle Obama’s push for healthier lunches by dumping their full trays into garbage bins, the nation’s school boards are joining in to demand that the Obama administration let them off the hook of serving the costly and tasteless meals. - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner
When they raised taxes two years ago, they said it was because they needed more money for the colleges. Now, CSU administrators have been exposed for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on parties and alcohol.
◼ Fancy parties, alcohol, $7,000 season tickets to the Hollywood Bowl, and top LA restaurants are a number of things this donated money is paying for. - CBS LA via Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
...the discovery of how CSU administratorsare spending large amounts of donated money, meant to benefit the universities, is shocking.
CBS2 investigative reporter David Goldsten found hundreds of thousands of dollars, donated with the intention of supporting students’ educations and benefiting the schools, yet being spent by administrators on amusements.
Fancy parties, alcohol, $7,000 season tickets to the Hollywood Bowl, and top LA restaurants are a number of things this donated money is paying for.
The money comes in from private donations, including alumni, and is funneled through non-profit foundations, located on every Cal State campus.
After examining the tax returns, millions of dollars were found in contributions and grants.
While some of this money did go to student aid, thousands of pages of receipts revealed plenty of surprising charges.
...the discovery of how CSU administratorsare spending large amounts of donated money, meant to benefit the universities, is shocking.
CBS2 investigative reporter David Goldsten found hundreds of thousands of dollars, donated with the intention of supporting students’ educations and benefiting the schools, yet being spent by administrators on amusements.
Fancy parties, alcohol, $7,000 season tickets to the Hollywood Bowl, and top LA restaurants are a number of things this donated money is paying for.
The money comes in from private donations, including alumni, and is funneled through non-profit foundations, located on every Cal State campus.
After examining the tax returns, millions of dollars were found in contributions and grants.
While some of this money did go to student aid, thousands of pages of receipts revealed plenty of surprising charges.
MATTERA’S CONFRONTATION WITH REID PIVOTS CRANKY SENATOR TO RETIREMENT
◼ Former Human Events editor and the current brains and brawn behind The Daily Surge Jason Mattera is a fearless journalist–operating in a town where other journalists sprinkle fear on their morning Corn Flakes. - Neil W. McCabe/HUMAN EVENTS
Mattera’s video of his confrontation with Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) is an example of his taking on the people in power and asking what no one else will ask, face-to-face.
In the video, released to coincide with his new book “Crapitalism,” illustrates nicely how comfortable Reid and the Democrats have become basking in the warm glow a supportive press. When the goons in Reid’s protection detail rough up the reporter asking how Reid became a wealthy man, while spending his adult life as a public servant, the majority leader does not turn around to call off his dogs.
Rather, he keeps shuffling along, not even turning to see what the noise is about as one goon shoves Mattera up against a wall.
Oh, the alley where this took place? Actually, it was a hallway in the U.S. Capitol.
"Over 100 children have been orphaned in my community alone." Ebola – as seen through the eyes of a 13-year-old from Sierra Leone
◼ As the virus shows no sign of halting its relentless march, Bintu Sannoh describes its devastating impact on her community - Bintu Sannoh/The Guardian
Ebola is not a pleasing name to me. In fact, I hate even to hear the word – it has destroyed my family and education. Life was hard but OK: I live with my aunt and many family members in a big compound; we have always been poor but there was happiness. But now we are terrified. Too many people, friends and families, have died and are still dying. And the number of orphans increases on a daily basis....
...in early August, the situation changed. The government banned all movements in and out of Kenema and Kailahun districts. This hurt everyone, not just those with Ebola, as almost everything came to a standstill. We were trapped – and still are. My aunt, who used to go to the trade fair to buy local goods at low prices, could no longer travel. We had less money at home – like everyone apart from the rich people who Aunty said made money because of high prices....
In less than two weeks, 17 people died from five households, with nine more admitted to hospital....
Our community was quarantined from the rest of town and we were told that no one could leave or enter for 21 days. We were surrounded by police and military: it was scary as no one could buy or sell from within the “isolation”, nor could any business people come in to sell. People who attempted to sneak out, in need of food, were forced by the guards to return.
Even though my aunt had been discharged from the hospital, she was too weak to go in search for food or prepare any for the family so we really suffered from hunger. No one brought us food or water for the first two weeks of isolation. In the third week, a charity group brought bulgur, oil and beans.
We refused to eat the bulgur though, because it gives you a runny tummy; and if you have a runny tummy and are in an isolation zone they will definitely say you have Ebola and may take you away....
Ebola is not a pleasing name to me. In fact, I hate even to hear the word – it has destroyed my family and education. Life was hard but OK: I live with my aunt and many family members in a big compound; we have always been poor but there was happiness. But now we are terrified. Too many people, friends and families, have died and are still dying. And the number of orphans increases on a daily basis....
...in early August, the situation changed. The government banned all movements in and out of Kenema and Kailahun districts. This hurt everyone, not just those with Ebola, as almost everything came to a standstill. We were trapped – and still are. My aunt, who used to go to the trade fair to buy local goods at low prices, could no longer travel. We had less money at home – like everyone apart from the rich people who Aunty said made money because of high prices....
In less than two weeks, 17 people died from five households, with nine more admitted to hospital....
Our community was quarantined from the rest of town and we were told that no one could leave or enter for 21 days. We were surrounded by police and military: it was scary as no one could buy or sell from within the “isolation”, nor could any business people come in to sell. People who attempted to sneak out, in need of food, were forced by the guards to return.
Even though my aunt had been discharged from the hospital, she was too weak to go in search for food or prepare any for the family so we really suffered from hunger. No one brought us food or water for the first two weeks of isolation. In the third week, a charity group brought bulgur, oil and beans.
We refused to eat the bulgur though, because it gives you a runny tummy; and if you have a runny tummy and are in an isolation zone they will definitely say you have Ebola and may take you away....
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