Minknews

Tuesday

 

The deadline of Affordable Care Act of March 31 has passed and the lies have begun.  Here are 3 articles you should see.

 

Figures on Young Adults inaccurate

This disputes the figure of 3.1 million young adults have been insured  on their parents insurance plan, figure is not true.

 

The next one is a class action suit in Las Vegas, NV against Obamacare,

Larry Baisch has an unpaid bill

 

For a man who bought the insurance, paid the premiums, had a heart attack and then got a bill for $400,000 saying he had no insurance. It is filed as a class action suit by Law firm Callister & Associates filed the lawsuit on behalf of Larry Basich. There will be more people that join.

and lastly

A Kansas hospital is starting to lay off people due to Obamacare, it is reported by local Topeka, Kansas, ABC news affiliate. 

 

Topeka, Kansas lays off hospital workers due to Obamacare

So it is Monday!

 

REGISTER ME?

So in California when you register online for the Affordable Care Act, they help you register to vote.  According to the L.A.Times Under a deal announced Monday by several voting-rights groups, the state will send voter registration cards to nearly 3.8 million Californians who have applied for health insurance under Obamacare. (1)

What they fail to tell you as one couple in a San Diego community realized, you will be registered Democrat. It is prechecked for you. How thoughtful, the problem how is it legal that the healthcare selects your party?

 According to ABC News 10 in California, a California couple “received an envelope from the state's Obamacare website, Covered California. Inside was a letter discussing voter registration and a registration card pre-marked with an "x" in the box next to Democratic Party.” 

The couple refused to reveal their identity but the article noted that “They have lived in La Mesa for years and they have always been registered to vote Republican. Now, they are perplexed as to how the voter registration card pre-marked Democrat ended in their mailbox.” The article continued by describing the problems Covered California has had with their voter registration program:

Covered California began mailing out voter signup cards to nearly 4 million enrollees last week after being threatened with a lawsuit by voting rights groups. But that does not explain the pre-filled out voter registration card.“

It's a waste of money because there's an awful lot of people who are going to get this that are already registered and they don't need to. I can see that, but I can't see putting x on the form before it's given to me in a little bitty box that nobody's really going to notice,” said the recipient of the mailer. (2)

So that is the story, again, is it legal to try to register people unwittingly for the Democratic party? So those of you who live in California and got registration in the mail to vote, check to make sure you are not registering for the Democatic party. Unless of course that is the party of your choice. 

We are so worried about how Putin is invading Crimea, and the Ukraine, frankly there is enough in our government to worry about.  Lets start by changing our own two party system, the Democrats and the Republicans.

 

"MH370 SRAIGHT TO HEAVEN"

I don't know Sarah Palin, I don't pay attention to her enough to critique her and give it justice. I do know from the moment she was chosen by McClain as his running mate, she has been crucified in the media (see a Jesus reference). The latest is a fake story in which Palin is quoted as saying all the victims from flight MH370 "flew straight to heaven." Ok it is a paraphrase, but you get my message and just so you know many have taken this story to be true. The Daily Currant should be taken at the word that their "stories are purely fictional.". (3)

The story has been plastered all over my Facebook page as fact, "Can you believe how stupid she is?" along side of it. Lets just say this Katie Couric who was so proud of decimating Sarah in her interview, is no more that tabloid reporter herself these days. Guess what Sarah is also the person who deemed Putin a threat in the world. Everyone mocked over that,  Tina Fey made a great joke with that line, "I can see Russia from my house".  It was never said by Palin. The hatred she bares is really unbelievable. I have to say she has more class than most of the people who put her down. By the way she knows so much more than she did in 2008, I would love to see that same interview with Katie today!

FINALLY

Did you know that energy drinks contain ingredients extracted from bull semen and urine? What about my Monster drink, or RockStar or Red Bull, ok on the last one, maybe they were telling us all along.

The ingredient is Taurine, remember Taurus the bull?  There you go!!  It was first isolated from ox bile in 1827 by Australian scientists Friedrich Tiedemann and Leopold Gmelon. It is often called an amino acid, even in scientific literature, but it lacks a carboxyl group it is not strictly an amino acid.(4)

So next time you take a big drink of that cold, crisp energy drink, let that swirl around in your mouth for a while. Seems everything I love is disgusting.

 

 

1. Merl, Jean, State to Send Voter Registration Cards to Obamacare Applicants, http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-voter-registration-20140325,0,6100659.story#ixzz2xaRCGrjX

2. Phillips, Preston, Local Couple Upset After Receiving Premarked Voter Registration card from Covered California, http://www.10news.com/news/local-couple-upset-after-receiving-pre-marked-voter-registration-card-from-covered-california-03282014

 3. Sarah Palin mocked in fake news item about missing flight MH370 being taken "straight to heaven", http://descrier.co.uk/oddities/sarah-palin-mocked-fake-news-item-missing-flight-mh370-taken-straight-heaven/

4.  The Daily Buzz, http://dailybuzzlive.com/archives/4763#sthash.rbKzj9Ib.dpuf

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, I will be back on Monday so enjoy your weekend.

 

 

VIRGINIA WOLF

On March 23, 1917 British author Virginia Woolf established the Hogarth Press with her husband Leonard Woolf. Her father Sir Leslie Stephen was an editor, historian and author. Her parents educated their children at home, which gave her a great sense of literature.  This meant from an early age Virginia was surrounded by literate and well educated people. 

 

She was an early feminist.  Woolf's best-known nonfiction works, A Room of One’s Own, and Three Guineas, examined the lives of female writers and  intellectuals especially the hardships they faced due to the fact men held the power both legally and economically. Men at that time also determined women’s ability to be educated and their roles in society.

Hogarth Press published Virginia's novels along with works by T.S. Eliot, Laurens van der Post, and other writers, as well as commissioned works of art.

 

LELAND YEE

Leland Yee is a Democratic State Senator from California. He represented half of San Francisco and most of San Mateo, and had entered himself in the race for Secretary of State in 2014. He was an award winning advocate of gun control for the state of California. In 2004 he was the first Asian American elected to Speaker pro tem. 

The fact that Yee was an outspoken advocate of gun control and open government makes it paradoxical that he is charged with conspiring to traffic in firearms, as well as six counts of scheming to defraud citizens of honest services.   

He took bribes for political reasons in order to pay off a $70,000 debt from an attempt at the mayoral race for San Francisco in 2011. He was also going to use the money for the Secretary of State race.  He took the bribes from uncover agents.  I am not sure what to say about this, except if Yee was a Republican, it would be written in the sky and on every news station across the nation.  If you are looking for more information, the San Francisco Gate online has the story.

 

FINALLY-

Last week was the final episode of the TV show Glee on Fox.  I was raised on television, whether you deem that good or bad, it is a fact.  I had a difficult childhood, with all the elements of a good made for television movie that you might see on Lifetime Television for Women. My life was not difficult because of TV, that was a bright spot in my life.  I was lucky enough to have a child when I was old enough heal some of my wounds and to do things differently. The truth is my son gave me the childhood I never had. I appreciated every part of the journey with him.  One show that brought both his childhood and mine together was Glee.  It reminded me of my own choir days at school, another bright spot of my young life. Yet I was able to enjoy it while having a great second childhood with my son. So I thank the cast and crew of Glee for being a bright part of my journey. May they all have great careers that bless them and bring as much joy as they have me and the rest of their fans.

 

 

Thursday, Almost There

 

JEANETTE RANKIN

Jeanette Rankin was born 1880 in Missoula, Montana. She was lucky to live in a state that gave women the right to vote in 1914. She was sworn in to Congress in 1917.  A full 2 years before the women were afforded the right to vote nationally. There was something else that year going on of importance. 

The 65th Congress in April 1917 was not a normal Congressional session. It had convened because Germany had declared unrestricted submarine warfare on all Atlantic shipping. Woodrow Wilson had requested Congress declare war against Germany.

There was still heavy division on whether the United States should enter the conflict. Ms. Rankin at first abstained, until Speaker Joe Cannon said, “Little woman, you cannot afford not to vote. You represent the womanhood of the country in the American Congress.” So she spoke, and said, “I want to stand by my country—but I cannot vote for war.”  That was her 4^th day in congress. (1) Clearly we did go into war, but I still say thank you Ms. Rankin for your voice.

AUTISM RATES JUMP 30%

The CDC says one in 68 children is diagnosed with autism. That is a 30% jump from the figures of 2012. At that time it was 1 in 88 children that were diagnosed with autism.  I am wondering what is up with the jump, or the measurement?  Some new testing equipment is able to test for developmental disruption during pregnancy.  Is the range the spectrum tests too large? I personally question their testing protocol. (2)

More and more there is an attempt to understand the brain, behavior, and mental functions. Humans are complex, and more importantly so is the brain, and we understand only a little.  An example I use is this; renowned child psychiatrist Dr. Leon Eisenberg, who is father of the ADD and ADHD diagnosis, said psychosocial reasons behind a child’s behavior are not well studied over time and are easily attributed to ADHD – without proper diagnosis. The article where this interview of Eisenberg was quoted in Der Spiegel in fact talked about the same issue – explosion of diagnoses of mental illness. (3) Autism is linked to a group of complex disorders of brain development.

I think this may be the case with true autism also. That we may find later it is over diagnosed and over treated.  I do not mean to suggest there are not children with autism, nor do I mean to identify the cause of the disease in this blog. I am merely stating that there is a rush to diagnose and prescribe in our country, and perhaps we need to look at why that is.

 

FINALLY

A shout out to Republican Speaker John Boehner, who I have had issues with his decisions lately. The issues I speak about are ‘quit selling out’. However that being said, I applaud his statement around the recent Obamacare penalty delay. His words were to the point, “Is this a joke?”   Below is a quote in its entirety:

“[President Obama] hasn’t put enough loopholes into the law already. The administration is now resorting to an honor system to enforce it. What the hell is this? A joke?” Boehner incredulously asked reporters at his news conference in the Capitol. “This is part of a long-term pattern of this administration manipulating the laws for its own convenience and it’s not hard to understand why the American people question this administration’s commitment to the rule of law.” (4) He went on this is the time to show the American people the Republican’s ideas, so I say here is mine:

Let America keep its own insurance for both business and individuals.  Use the Medicaid and Medicare to help those that need it.  Retain the new provisions; that adult children can remain on their parents insurance until 26, and removing preexisting conditions.  If you must regulate more, regulate the price in the private sector, keeping the prices affordable. That is it. It would solve almost entirely the health coverage problem. It would provide a workable framework for the people to use. If it were done originally it would have saved billions I am sure. It is just my opinion.

 

 

1. Women Can’t Vote but They Can Run For Congress, http://blogs.archives.gov/prologue/?p=1392
2. One in 68 has Autism, http://news.yahoo.com/one-68-kids-autism-171942567.html;_ylt=AwrBJR5CXjRTexcATjXQtDMD
3. The Inventor of ADHD Called it A Fictitious Disease, http://truthaboutpopularhoax.com/?p=860
4. Parkinson, John and Saenz, Arlette, Boehner on Obamacare Delays: What the Hell is This, A Joke?  http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/03/boehner-on-obamacare-delays-what-the-hell-is-this-a-j

 

Where We Get Unemployment Figures From and Other Musings

 

HOW WE GET UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES

So where do we get the figures for unemployment?  I thought it was from claims filed with the unemployment office. I wondered how many other people knew where the figures came from. When I did some research, I have to say I was shocked. Call me uniformed or naïve I just had no idea.

Well the Government does use the number of person filing unemployment claims. However after the benefits run out, some people are still unemployed. Not only that some are not eligible for benefits, or never apply. Read on, it gets better, I say with a chuckle. So, Unemployment Insurance alone is not complete information on the number of unemployed.

How do they get their movable figures? The Government conducts a monthly sample survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of unemployment in the country.  Yep that is right; they conduct a survey and have since 1940. It has been expanded and changed since then.

The survey provides a vast amount of data on the labor force, employment, unemployment, persons not in the labor force, hours of work, earnings, and other demographic and labor force characteristics. (1) So how do they choose who to call? How is that accurate?

There are about 60,000 households in the sample for this survey. This translates into approximately 110,000 individuals, a large sample compared to public opinion surveys which usually cover fewer than 2,000 people. The CPS sample is selected so as to be representative of the entire population of the United States. In order to select the sample, all of the counties and county-equivalent cities in the country first are grouped into 2,025 geographic areas (sampling units). The Census Bureau then designs and selects a sample consisting of 824 of these geographic areas to represent each State and the District of Columbia. The sample is a State-based design and reflects urban and rural areas, different types of industrial and farming areas, and the major geographic divisions of each State. (2)

So again, when politicians are using the information to determine how well a President, Senator or even Governor is doing, this is how they get their figures.  Again I ask, how is that accurate?

A KIDNEY  STONE?

Tuesday night at a forum for gubernatorial issues, Massachusetts State Treasure Scott Grossman was in an enormous amount of pain. It seems that during the 90 minute debate process, he was passing a kidney stone. Treasurer Grossman has an ongoing problem with kidney stones.  He was debating with Scott Lively (anti-gay activist) over issues affecting the LGBT community.  I say kudos to Grossman who weathered the debate and the passing of his kidney stones. 

DOG MAULING IN ARIZONA

I did another story about an Akita in Tempe mauling a baby on March 21^st and at the end of the story, I mentioned another attack by a Pit Bull. There is more to this story, and it finished yesterday. It seems that Mickey the Pit Bull mauled, not bit, but mauled a 4 year old boy who wandered near him. The boy, whose name is Kevin Vincente, lost an eye.   His jaw was broken so his teeth will not fit in his jaw properly, and he will have many more reconstruction surgeries on his face. He was being babysat, by someone who was not paying attention to him. So he wandered over to Mickey.

After Mickey was threatened with Euthanasia, there was an outrage. He got his own Facebook page to plead his case. When the case came up before the judge, animal rights activists, and Pit Bull enthusiasts were there in droves, protesting. One interviewed said they were there to make sure there was justice for Mickey the Pit Bull. They had nothing against the little boy, but they were there for Mickey.

Now I am not going to debate the value of Pit Bulls, though I have a friend who is a firefighter and he is called out on many animal bites cases. He says almost all of the serious and fatal attacks by dogs he has seen in Phoenix are Pit Bulls or Pit Bull mix breeds. Ok that is all I am going to say. I am not going to ask where all the humans are that plead the case of this 4 year old boy, because I am not sure I would get an answer.

So the judge let Mickey live.  He is being neutered, equipped with a chip, and his teeth filed down. That is correct; they are filing Mickey’s teeth down.  What a miserable life for a dog, but he gets to live. He won’t be going back to his family, so we don’t know where he will live now. The animal rights activists have 30 days to find him shelter. I think they may put Mickey in the witness relocation program.

 

 

 

1.  "Labor Force Data Derived from the Current Population Survey," in the BLS Handbook of Methods.)
2. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm

 

So it is Hump Day!!

 

I have found wonderful women who have made contributions to our world that most people are not aware of. So I am starting to include them in my blog.  Since the 1970’s-1980’s women’s fight for equality and recognition as intellectual equals to men, appears at times to be losing ground.

VERA RUBIN

She is a 20^th century pioneer in Astronomy.  Though not sure what she would do with astronomy skills her father built her a telescope.  She graduated from Vassar and was turned down by Princeton as they did not admit women.  In 1951 she earned her masters from Cornell and in 1954 her PhD. from Georgetown.  Her contribution to astrophysics is conclusive data pointing to the presence of dark matter in galaxies. She pioneered work on galaxy rotation rates. She discovered a discrepancy between the predicted angular motion of galaxies and the observed motion. It later came to be known as the galaxy rotation problem.  She was also credited with the Rubin-Ford Effect. , The Rubin-Ford effect is the observation of a dipole anisotropy in the recessional velocity of a sample of ScI galaxies.(1) Initially Rubin’s findings failed to receive support by her male colleagues. Though later they came to realize she was right and validated her work. As of right now there is no Nobel Prize, it my hope they rectify this while she is still alive.

MUD IN WASHINGTON

I spent most my early life between Washington and Oregon, on the west side of the states. I qualify that because west of the Cascade Mountain range, well it rains most of the year. So mud slides are not unheard of. However this week, there has been a devastating one, unprecedented in my lifetime.

Arlington Washington is a small town of about 17,000 people. It is bordered to the south by Marysville, population 60,000. They lie between Seattle and the Canadian border, on the west side of the Cascade Mountain range. Saturday the side of a mountain gave way and covered the area. So far 24 are confirmed dead with about 100 people unaccounted for. Though they are looking for survivors, each day it gets more difficult. This is a beautiful area, but a devastated area now with mud 5-6 feet deep in places, and it continues to rain. My prayers go out to the people of the area.

 

LASTLY

Picture it; it is a lovely day at Timberlake Christian Charter School in Timberlake, Virginia. Sunnie Kahle is 8 years old. She has short hair and a huge heart, and as far as her grandparents are concerned, she is a completely normal little girl. She is running around in her t-shirt and jeans.

Later a letter is sent home from the administrator saying that there has been confusion, in the classroom as Sunnie looks like a boy. In my day they called these girls tom boys and they grew up to be super models. Ok maybe not all models, some grew up to be scientists, social workers, homemakers, business owners, you get my drift. They grew up to be contributing members of their society unaffected by the fact that they wanted to play in the mud (like Sunnie) and not with dolls.

Here is part of what the letter said, "We believe that unless Sunnie as well as her family clearly understand that God has made her female, and her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity, that TCS is not the best place for her future education."

I agree, it probably isn’t the best place for her, she deserves more than ignorance, and backward thinking. She deserves a decent education. It is the year 2014, God has made all kinds of beautiful children I contend to let them be themselves, and teach them self-esteem, kindness, acceptance and the lessons of Jesus Christ, if he is your example. So it is their loss not hers.

 

 

1.      Vera Rubin and Dark Matter, http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_rubin.html

Tuesday's Offering

 

Lise Meitner

Was a Jewish woman born in Vienna, Austria in 1878.  When the Nazi’s rose to power she kept working and was protected by her Austrian citizenship while other Jewish scientists were sent away. She almost stayed too long in Germany  while  working with Otto Hahn.  She fled in 1938, escaping with 10 marks to her name.  She gained a position in Stockholm, Sweden. On November 13, 1938, Hahn met secretly with Meitner in Copenhagen, and agreed to continue their work.

They collaborated through letters, while Mietner experimented with the splitting of atoms.  Meitner along with her nephew Otto Robert Frisch  was the first to use an experiment called the 'liquid-drop nucleus', to express the theory of how the nucleus of an atom could be split into smaller parts: uranium nuclei had split to form barium and krypton,   She also discovered the reason that no stable elements beyond uranium (in atomic number) existed naturally.  She invented what was called the atom smatter, and defined nuclear fission.  Meitner was also the first who realized that Einstein's famous equation, E = mc², explained the the explosive releases of energy in nuclear fission. (1)

However, due to the situation within Nazi Germany as well as sexism, Meitner, a Jew and a woman, was left out of the nuclear fission published findings. In 1944, her lab partner Otto Hahn won the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions in splitting the atom.

He took full credit for the work they did together.  Though the Nobel committee never really acknowledged Meitner being left out, they did try to rectify the situation by awarding her a medal in 1966. She was very famous in the U.S. and ultimately the greatest honor went to her. She had the 109^th element named after her, Meitnerium. The discovery eventually led to the atomic bomb. She was asked to join the Manhattan Project but declined; she wanted no part of the atomic bomb. (2)

 CHILE SHAKEN NOT STIRRED

In the last week, Chile has experienced 300 earthquakes!!  The first one was 6.7 on the ritcher scale.  They evacuated 100,000 in fear of Tsunami, which thankfully did not materialize.   Chile by reputation is home to many earthquakes.

It is also a  beach front property.  Chile runs the a majority of the length of South America, along the Pacific Ocean.  It is economically prosperous and politically stable. It also leads South America in human development, competiveness, income per capita, globalization, state of peace, economic freedom and low perception of corruption.   It also ranks high regionally in sustainability of the state, and democratic development. (3)

"The situation is out of the ordinary. There's a mix of a string of tremors and their aftershocks that make things more complex to evaluate," Mario Pardo, deputy head of the Universidad de Chile seismology center, told the local newspaper La Tercera. "We can't rule out a larger quake." (4)

The quakes originated about 2, 500 miles (4,000 kilometers) off the coast of the Pacific Ocean.   The strongest earthquake ever recorded on earth,  was in Chile, 1960. It was a 9.60 on the ritcher scale and killed 5,000 people.  It is also interesting as the  earthquakes are happening in a region that has not had this kind of activity in 130 years, and could greatly affect the economy of Chile.

FINALLY ON MH370

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak spoke yesterday, saying that they believe with all the data, that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean.  This part of the ocean has had difficult weather, and is in a remote area. It is also very deep with strong currents.  This ends the hope of friends and family of the passengers and crew of flight 370.  

He is quoted saying, “With deep sadness I regret to inform you with this data Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.  We share this information out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation,”

Najib Razak said. He continued by urging the press to respect the privacy of the families whose hopes of finding their loved ones alive seems to have ended. “The past two weeks have been heartbreaking. I know this news will be harder still.” (5)

 

 

1.  Battle for Ultimate Truth, http://www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/meitner.html

2. Ruth Lewin Sime, 1996: Lise Meitner: A Life in Physics (University of California Press).

3. The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World, http://hdr.undp.org/en/2013-report

4. Henao, Luis Andres, Chileans Worry Over a String of 300 Quakes in the North, http://www.myfoxny.com/story/25065245/chileans-worry-over-string-of-300-quakes-in-north#ixzz2wzq01KHf,  March 25, 2014

5. Gray, Sarah, Breaking Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 Crashed Into The Indian Ocean, http://www.salon.com/2014/03/24/malaysia_airlines_flight_mh370_update_breaking_malaysian_prime_minister_flight_mh370_ended_in_the_southern_indian_ocean/

 

 

 

 

 

Monday March 24, 2014

 

THE GREAT 8

(Just minutes ago, I received from the NY times that Obama and the Allies have agreed to exclude Russia from the Great 8) 2:12 pm P.S.T.

German Chancellor Merkel initially said The Great 8 has been effectively dissolved with Putin’s actions, and then changed positions; stating that only the meetings were suspended. The Great 8 is a group of eight countries Canada, The United States, Japan, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Russia Federation.  They were the wealthiest, most industrialized nations in 1975 when it began. The worked on issues like food supply, and there have been smaller groups grow out of it since its inception. The world’s economy has changed so much with the technical revolution.  The European Union is represented now also within the group.  At this point the solidarity of the western countries against Russia has really not pushed Russia back away from Moldavia, Ukraine, and Estonia.   Many Americans have said it is not our battle.  However, because of the arrangements we used to get the Ukraine to give up their weapons and military, I say it is our issue.

Obama has laid down sanctions against Russia, which have seemed temporarily make Putin pause at the Ukraine border. It certainly feels like a powder keg, waiting for a match.  I would love to believe we have evolved beyond violent take overs. That as Kerry stated they are tools of the 19^th and 20^th century. Some of the sanctions are:

• Imposing sanctions (freezing money) on specific individuals responsible for undermining the sovereignty, territorial integrity and government of Ukraine.
• I’m authorizing sanctions on Russian officials -- entities operating in the arms sector in Russia and individuals who provide material support to senior officials of the Russian government. 
• The US is continuing our close consultations with our European partners, who today in Brussels moved ahead with their own sanctions against Russia. Tonight, Vice President Biden departs for Europe, where he will meet with the leaders of our NATO allies -- Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
• We’ll continue to make clear to Russia that further provocations will achieve nothing except to further isolate Russia and diminish its place in the world. The international community will continue to stand together to oppose any violations of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. (4)

I feel that a conqueror conquers, and that Putin maybe a conqueror.  Time will tell, I personally hope isolating Putin works, but Europe purchases the oil it uses from Russia.  Europe trades with them on a much broader scale than the U.S. does.  So it is like walking on a tight rope. 

 Now NATO is stating that Russia may be “poised to expand its territorial conquest into eastern Ukraine and beyond.” (2) Now NATO is made of the same group of countries that made an agreement to protect Ukraine and/or not invade it (Russia, France, Britain and the U.S.A.).  Remember the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances?   Russia has taken over the Ukraine military base in Crimea, and settled in.  In fact there was mention of walking over the Ukraine to get to Moldavia.

If you did not know Moldavia, is a tiny country between Romania and The Ukraine. There is a separatist area called the Transnistria region.  There have been rumors that Estonia is also under advisement.  It appears that Russia is trying to recreate the USSR, by gathering up the countries and bringing them back into the fold. Right now Russia seems to hovering around the borders in the Ukraine.  Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya, appearing on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” said the prospect of war with Russia is growing. (3) 

 

POLIO?

There is a new ‘Polio-Like’ illness that has affected California children. A 2-year-old boy from Moorpark in Ventura County recently contracted the virus that has left as many as 25 children with paralyzed limbs. The cases have popped up from San Diego to the Bay Area.(4)

Dr. Keith Van Haren of Stanford’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and Dr. Emmanuelle Waubant of the University of California, San Francisco is leading the investigation.  They are saying that though Polio has been eradicated, there are other diseases which affect the spine, thus the title of “Polio-Like.” 

Poliovirus is part of the Picornaviridae family, which also includes enteroviruses and rhinoviruses (better known as the common cold). There are more than 100 types of enterovirus that cause 10 million to 15 million infections in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (5)

Sofia Jarvis is one of the children affected, she spent 4 days in the hospital for what seemed to be asthma, and then she experienced permanent paralysis of her left arm.  Sofia received a polio vaccination. It seems the symptoms come on a matter of hours, first weakness, and then paralysis. It has been 2 years since Sophia arm became paralyzed.  She is now 4 years old.

The medical prognosis so far is not good.   For a final note, all the children affected have been vaccinated against Polio, this according to the February 28^th edition of Natural News online. That leaves you with something to consider.

 

FINALLY

This one is creepier than anything, it seems in the United Kingdom the headline is Aborted Babies Incinerated to Heat Hospitals! So the headline is shocking. It seems that aborted fetuses and miscarried babies are burned with the regular clinical waste, and used to sometimes heat the hospitals.  It is done without consulting the parents involved.

It seems that 15,500 have been cremated in the last 2 years by the National Health System. Many doctors and officials have asked for the practice to stop.  I wonder if that is one of the many issues of a national health system, a cold practice without the human touch or accountability. Is that what is ahead for the U.S.?

 

1. Demczuk, Gabriella, Obama’s Statements on New Sanctions Against Russia, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/world/europe/obamas-statement-on-new-sanctions-against-russia.html?_r=0, March 17, 2014
2. Morello, Carolyn and DeYoung, Karen, NATO warns of Further Russian Aggression, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nato-general-warns-of-further-russian-aggression/2014/03/23/2ff63bb6-b269-11e3-8020-b2d790b3c9e1_story.html, March 23, 2014
3. Ibid
4. Krueger, Paul and Adams, Andie,  California Polio –Like Virus Still a Mystery, http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Calif-Polio-Like-Virus-Still-a-Mystery-251724621.html#ixzz2wubwjRMx, March 24, 2014
5. Wilson, Jackie and Hayes, Ashley, ‘About 20’ Cases of Polio-Like Illness Found in California, http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/25/health/california-mystery-disease/, February 25, 2014

 

Now for the Weekend

 

 

3 CHILDREN STARVING IN CALIFORNIA

In Salinas California 3 children are found starving in a home, one was found chained to the floor. The lesbian parents are domestic partners raising the children. There were 2 boys (3 and 5) and a girl (8).  One of the boys is the biological son of one of the women, the other 2 are adopted.  It appears that the most heinous treatment was reserved for the girl who was chained sometimes by the neck and sometimes by the ankle.  At the time they were rescued, the girl looked like a concentration camp victim. The authorities say she appeared traumatized.  In this humble woman’s opinion they should never see the light of day.

MORE CHILDREN

 Do you know that people who adopt children can re-home them like a pet and as of now there are no laws?  Nita was a 9 year old girl from Haiti. Her biological parents put her up for adoption so she could have a better life. At 13 she was adopted by Tony and Michelle Dittenber of Idaho.  They found her difficult to deal with, though good with children and elderly people. They said she had a “sense of entitlement”, and was strong willed. Definitely reasons to send her away, as I am sure she was strong willed at that point in her life as a coping mechanism.  So they went online, found a Yahoo group called Adopting-from-Disruption.

There they found Jean Paul and Emily Kruse. The Kruses had 9 children 5 of their own and 4 adopted, they were almost famous locally, He was a military man serving his country, adopting those children to give them a better life.  Once Nita was in the home, the other girls were telling her that they were being molested by Jean Paul.  When charges were filed and Emily and Jean Paul were afraid of Nita testifying they sent her home to Idaho, with only the clothing on her back.  Last I read he was awaiting trial and all children had been taken away including their biological children.

Nita eventually got help for an eating disorder, and was able to confront Michelle, whose response was, “You could always come back.”  “In a July 24, 2012, post on the Yahoo group, Michelle blamed Nita for the rupture with the Kruses.  "The last straw with the last family was her making allegations that the dad in the family was sexually molesting all the kids but her," Michelle wrote. "…I would love to be done with her permanently." (1)

As of the writing of this Nita lives outside of Nashville with Sandra Booker, a nurse she met in church. She is finishing her education and moving forward with her life.  Children are incredibly resilient, but require a loving environment in which they are not victimized again.  The Yahoo site is shut down due to the investigation of Reuters. 

Both Democratic and Republican members of congress are working together to pass legislation to prevent this unconscionable practice.   Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, called for broad action in a letter to Obama administration officials, writing that it was "stunning" that "this practice of advertising children, usually over state borders, does not seem to violate any federal laws." (2) Perhaps people who adopt children should not see them as disposable, and make the same commitment they do with their biological children.  

FINALLY LETS TALK VENICE

Venetians voted in an online poll to separate from Italy and form its own city state. Historically Venice was a 1000 year old republic called Serenissima Republica di Venezia. It was conquered by Napoleon and became part of Italy in 1866.  It seemed the desire for Scotland’s freedom from Britain inspired the City.

Wealthy Venetians feel as if they are taxed too heavily in order to support the poor and crime ridden Southern Mezzogiorno region. After the vote, a committee of 10 was appointed and they immediately declared their independence. So now they are withholding taxes from Italy.  Initially this includes about 5 million residents of the Veneto area, and could later include parts of Lombardy, Trentino and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

Interesting that it occurred as Crimea became part of Russia.  I say if that is what they desire, go for it.  Remember military is what will keep you separate, even if you must hire them.

 

1. Twohey, Megan, Special Report: Girl harbored dark secret, fearing she’d be sent away, http://music.yahoo.com/news/special-report-girl-harbored-dark-secret-fearing-shed-131717019.html;_ylt=A0SO80haPC1TVSAAY_FXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzOTNwc3IzBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDM3MF8x, March 21, 2014
2. Ibid

 

This for the Dogs!!

 

GIRL SUSPENDED

Adrionna Harris is in the Sixth grade. She goes to school at Virginia Beach Middle School.  She was walking down the hall when she saw a class mate "cutting" on himself in the hall.  She grabbed the razor blade, ran away and threw it in a garbage can. The next day she went to the office to tell them what happened.  The rewarded her by suspending her from school for 10 days.  There is  hearing going on that will decide whether she should be expelled, For carrying around a weapon.   “I took the razor blade, and then I threw it away immediately … I didn’t carry it around the school … I didn’t use it against anyone … I threw it away,” Harris stated. (1)

They are thinking about expelling her? When did being a good citizen turn you in to the rule breaker?  Not only should she be apologized to, but thanked and let back in. Come you are adults, where is your common sense? 

DOG MAULS BABY

I picked a local Arizona article because as I was listening to the news at 10p.m. last night and I could not believe what I was hearing.  In Tempe a 9 month  old girl was mauled by her family dog.  The dog had bitten two other members of the family (one being another older child), so they put it behind a gate in the house.  The mother went into another room for a minute, to come back and see blood pouring out of the baby’s head.  She was so frantic when she dialed 911, and said she could not do it. That is her story. Next she got in the car to take the baby to the hospital. Then she got into an accident on the way to the hospital.  She finally flagged down a Good Samaritan to take her to the hospital. 

What I find interesting is the family lied at first and said they had the dog put down, when they were questioned. The dog has been finally taken to the animal shelter.  It seems the family was protecting their 8 year old Akita.  So I want to know, why would you protect a dog that bites your children?   By the way, the little girl is still in critical condition as of yesterday.  The DA is deciding whether to file charges against the parents, go figure.

This was the second mauling of a small Arizona child in the last couple of weeks, and yes the other was a Pit Bull. I am just saying…..

SPEAKING OF DOGS

The snow is melting in Michigan, and the ground in a Detroit park revealed more than cold wet ground, it revealed dead dogs. That is right River Rogue Park is the scene of a lot of dead dogs, with lacerations and curled in fetal positions. Mostly they were Mastiffs and Pit Bull type dogs.

“Detroit Animal Welfare Group (DAWG) board member Nicole Litzelman said at least 28 large dogs, mostly pit bulls and Mastiff mixes, were found only when the snow started to thaw.”(2)

Authorities believe that many of them are put there due to illegal activities like fighting. Where else could they put the dogs?  The snow was a perfect cover, well until spring anyway.  Some were strays; one in particular was placed on the side of the road in his kennel left to die. It never ceases to amaze me how cruel humans can be to animals.

1.  Bleier, Evan, Virginia Girl Suspended for Taking Self-Harming Classmates’ Razor, http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2014/03/20/Virginia-girl-suspended-for-taking-self-harming-classmates-razor/3851395334419/#ixzz2wc9i9GA2
2. Dozens of Dead Dogs Exposed by Melting Snow At Sprawling Detroit Park, http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/03/21/dozens-of-dead-dogs-uncovered-by-melting-snow-at-sprawling-detroit-park/