Black Vote is Up for Grabs

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I had separate conversations with two governors last week. Both were White, one was a Democrat and one was a Republican. We were discussing next month’s elections and what they each thought would happen. The amazing thing was their respective views on the Black community.

Democrats have convinced the Black community that they care about them and Republicans don’t. This lie has been allowed to take root because Republicans have been unwilling to refute this foolishness.

The Democratic governor thought the Democrats would retain the Senate because of the Black vote. He seemed stunned when I began asking him whether he had any Blacks in prominent powerful positions within his administration, meaning Blacks with budgetary authority, hiring authority, and the ability to get meetings on the governor’s schedule.

He replied that he had no Blacks in significant positions in his cabinet. He went onto explain that the positions I was talking about were very valuable and were very few in number. He stated that if the Blacks in his state didn’t demand certain positions, why would he give them up if he didn’t have to?

Wow, what honesty. Then, I began to push back with this governor. I asked did he have the same approach with his White supporters. He said, “Hmm, I never really thought about that. I just assume certain people [White] want or expect certain positions. It’s just expected.”

How revealing.

The Republican governor stated that, “Republicans have a better message for the Black community, but we have just been God awful at communicating that message to the Black community.” He continued, “I never thought about the issue of Blacks in powerful positions; I just wanted to make sure my government was reflective of my state’s diversity.”

Score another point for candor. How revealing. I said to the governor that this tells me he doesn’t have any serious relationships with any Black Republican operatives who could have advised him on this issue. He didn’t disagree.

So, you have a White, liberal Democrat who is portrayed as someone who cares about the Black community and gets significant support from that community; but yet, he expects Blacks to beg to participate in the spoils of victory in any significant manner. In his mind, it’s just a given that he must reward White supporters with the spoils of victory.

Conversely, you have a White Republican who is portrayed as a non-caring racist who gets a nominal number of Black votes yet this governor actively seeks Blacks for his administration, albeit not for the power positions.

The perceptions don’t match the reality. This is why I get so frustrated that Republicans don’t build proper relationships within the Black community. Democrats are wonderful at the perception game, while Republicans are better on the substance side of the ledger.

Just as the Democrats seem to be happy with the perception that they are for the Black community, though this is not backed up by the facts, the Republicans seem to be happy accepting the notion that they will never get any significant support from the Black community, though this is not backed up by the facts.

I think both sides are foolish for their respective beliefs. Blacks are not as enamored with the Democrats as their party thinks and Blacks are not as hostile to the Republican Party as the GOP thinks.

Democrats find it hard to believe that Blacks are disillusioned with them because Blacks continue to give them their support without exacting anything in return. Republicans think Blacks are just so in love with the Democratic Party and are not worth fighting for.

Both parties are equally mistaken about the Black vote. No one knows with certainty what will happen on Election Day next month, but this one thing is for certain; every political pundit and analyst will be talking about the role of the Black vote in who ends up controlling the U.S. Senate.

If Democrats lose the Senate, they will say Black turnout was lower than needed. If Republicans don’t win the Senate, they will say their base (conservatives) didn’t turn out, thus the Black vote didn’t matter. If Democrats retain the Senate, they will say they got Blacks to turnout. If Republicans takeover the Senate, they will say they got evangelicals to turn out.

Both will have walked away with the wrong message. If Republicans had invested in the Black vote in Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana and Colorado, a lot of these close Senate races would have broken early for Republicans. When will Republicans in the House and Senate come to understand that the Black vote is up for grabs?

Obama Turns Back on Blacks, Fails Test of Loyalty

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Winston Churchill once said: “To every man there comes a time in his life when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a great and mighty thing; unique to him and fitted to his talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the moment that could be his finest hour.”

Barack Obama was tapped on the shoulder and given the chance to be the first black president of these United States. When President Obama assumed office 6 years ago, he faced a collapsing economy, a world with seemingly endless conflicts, a citizenry very unsure of their future. After years of war and chaos, America wanted someone who would inspire the nation to return to greatness, someone who would reassure the nation that everything would be alright.

Mr. Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign was indeed very inspirational and historic. He is the gold standard for presidential campaigns. He ran the closest thing to a perfect campaign, twice — 2008 and 2012. He is the best campaigner in the country’s history — yes, even better than Bill Clinton. It is unheard of not to have turnover at the highest levels of a presidential campaign. This never happened in the Obama campaigns.

How can such a master campaigner be such a horrible president? How can such a campaigner be such a totally inept manager of the federal government?

As president, Mr. Obama shows none of the passion he showed as a candidate; as president, he shows none of the discipline that helped him run a near-perfect campaign; as president, he seems neither willing nor able to build coalitions to move America forward.

Mr. Obama’s campaign theme was “Hope and Change.” Now, after six years, people, especially blacks, are saying they hope he changes. Mr. Obama is the first president in the history of the U.S. to deliberately ignore his largest voting bloc — the black community.

We are 13 percent of the population and gave Mr. Obama 96 percent and 94 percent of our vote in 2008 and 2012, respectively. In 2012, the black voter participation rate (66.2 percent ) was higher than overall turnout (58 percent) and, for the first time in the history of the U.S., higher than the white rate (64.1 percent).

If Mr. Obama was a corporation, his largest shareholders would be: blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians. In capital markets, dividend payouts are distributed according to percentage of ownership, from the highest to the lowest. On this principle, blacks should be the largest recipient of Mr. Obama’s largesse. But in typical Democratic fashion, blacks don’t even get crumbs from the table.

The biggest beneficiaries of Mr. Obama’s presidency are: homosexuals (an estimated 2 percent of the population), illegals and whites.

I challenge my readers to name one thing Mr. Obama has done “specifically” to benefit the black community — the largest shareholder in “Obama Inc.” If black voters were shareholders in “Obama Inc.,” they could have gone to court and sued for fraud and breach of contract — and prevailed.

The black community had every expectation that Mr. Obama would provide “targeted” remedies to address seemingly intractably high unemployment within our community. Instead, the black unemployment rate remains at double digit levels (11.6 percent ) — and not a word from this president.

Blacks had every right to expect Mr. Obama to be supportive of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). Instead, the HBCU community and its students have been devastated under this president; so much so that several black educational groups are in the process of filing a lawsuit against the Obama administration.

A recent Associated Press-GfK poll indicated that even Democrats have lost faith in Mr. Obama and his ability to govern. According to this poll, only 27 percent of Democrats are confident the government can keep them safe from terrorist attacks.

Mr. Obama used to be able to make Americans feel good simply by giving one of his patented rousing speeches; but by now, most Americans have tuned him out because they don’t believe anything he or his government has to say.

Mr. Obama said Ebola would never reach our shores, now it’s here. He said the border was secure, but you have illegals streaming across the border with all kinds of diseases that they refuse to disclose to the American people. He said the Benghazi attack was a spontaneous, popular reaction to an anti-Muslim video, but of course everyone now knows it was a terrorist attack. He said you could keep your own doctor, yet he admitted that he willfully lied.

The handwriting is on the wall, Mr. Obama’s presidency is over! As it is written in the Bible in the Book of Daniel 5:25-27: “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting.”

In what could have been his and America’s finest hour, Mr. Obama has been found “unprepared and unqualified for the moment.”

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AmericanCurrentSee.com. The featured image is of job seekers waiting in line at a 2011 Congressional Black Caucus job fair. AP Photo/Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Bob Andres.

Charlie Crist Receives $40K From Strip Clubs

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Remember that classic Motley Crue song “Girls! Girls! Girls!?”

Well, that song, which is arguably the official national anthem for all strip clubs around the U.S. and probably the world, could now become the theme song for Democrat Charlie Crist’s current gubernatorial campaign.

The one-time Republican and Independent is running against Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott in this year’s gubernatorial mid-term election.

According to Charlie Crist for Florida’s reported campaign finance records, a whopping $40,000 has been donated to the PAC by two companies that operate strip clubs in Florida, SB Productions and J.W. Lee Properties.

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For a larger view click on the image.

J.W. Lee Properties, which does business as the popular Scarlett’s Cabaret strip club in Hallandale Beach, Florida, and its owners Brandon Samuels, John Blanke, and William Beasley, are all named in a lawsuit spearheaded by one of the clubs former female dancers.

Unlike other South Florida strip clubs like West Miami’s “Bottom’s Up,” Scarlett’s is considered to be one of the top clubs in the entire country 😉

The lawsuit alleges that the Defendants “have a longstanding policy of misclassifying their employees, including the Plaintiff, as independent contractors and refusing to pay the employees at the applicable minimum wage and overtime rate.”

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For a larger view click on the image.

One of the owners, Brandon Samuels, actually sits on the board that represents the adult entertainment industry, the Florida Sunshine Entertainment Association.

Whoa!

Crist’s website states that “he supports equal pay for equal work,” so what gives?

He supports equal pay for equal work, and is a proud supporter of the Violence Against Women Act. – Charlie Crist for Florida website.

The Democrat Party establishment, including DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who are all supporting Crist’s campaign, must be besides themselves after learning that campaign donations have been received from donors who operate a business that is perceived to sexually exploit women, as well as allegedly refusing to pay them their fair and “applicable minimum wage,” or any wages at all.

The average lap dance at Scarlett’s will cost someone $20, which means that the proceeds of approximately 2000 lap dances contributed to Charlie Crist’s gubernatorial campaign.

Another fun fact about Scarlett’s is that they charge their exotic dancer’s a nightly mandatory fee to work there.
From what I have been told, it costs each dancer about $100 a night to work at Scarlett’s.

And the answer is ‘no,’ I did not go to Scarlett’s to ask questions and dig up information for this story.
However, for those interested parties, I do hear that the club has a great lunch buffet.

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EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on The Shark Tank. Below is the “Girls, Girls, Girls” music video by Motley Crue. Enjoy!

Emailgate claims its first casualty but is there more to it?

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We began writing about some employees of the Sarasota County School District using the internal taxpayer funded email system for political purposes on October 6th. Due to our coverage Gary Leatherman has now become the first casualty of “Emailgate.”

There appears to be a misunderstanding by some district employees about what publicly funded time, equipment and services can and cannot be used for.

There is confusion about what a public employee can and cannot do when engaged in even the “perception” of wrongdoing.

There is a “culture of corruption” in the Sarasota County School System but it did not begin with “Emailgate”.

This culture of corruption has been long in the making and caused, at least in part, by elected school board members, district staff and some employees pushing the envelope to the point that abuse of the taxpayer funded email system is now endemic. Violating not only district policy but Florida state statutes has become common place. Some historical perspective is in order.

BACKGROUND:

In doing background research for articles on the possible misuse and abuse of the Sarasota County School district email system we found the following:

1.  In an August 18, 2010 Sarasota Herald-Tribune column titled “Teachers union using school e-mail to campaign” Kim Hackett wrote:

School officials say the e-mail blasts have not been an issue until now. And union president Pat Gardner said that because all her members are school district employees, the district’s e-mail system is the easiest way to reach them.

“I can use the e-mail to do my political stuff,” said Gardner, who heads the Classified Teachers Association. “As long as it is in my newsletter.”

2.  We obtained two emails sent by SC/TA President Gardner dated September 11, 2014 Subject: List of Contributors to Bridget Ziegler and September 30, 2014 Subject:  Information for Restricted Class. This prompted our first article published on October 6, 2014. Neither of these two emails appear to be “newsletters.” The full text of these two emails may be read by clicking here.

3.  Further research discovered that the Sarasota County Schools Information Technology Guidelines and Procedures, page 28, under the heading “Appropriate Use of E-mail” states the following:

Sarasota County Schools guidelines prohibit certain types of e-mail. These include mail that may be perceived as harassment, political campaigning, or commercial solicitation. Chain mail is also prohibited. Violators will be subject to loss of computer access privileges, as well as additional disciplinary action as determined by the Sarasota County Schools disciplinary procedures. Certain types of e-mail, including but not limited to harassing e-mail, may also subject the sender to civil or criminal penalties.

4.  In response to our media request concerning the SC/TA use of the district email system for political campaigning Scott Ferguson, Communications Specialist Sarasota County Schools, replied:

[Y]ou are correct that our procedures state that the district email system is not to be used for, among other things, political campaigning.

5.  Our research found Florida Statutes 104.31 – Political activities of state, county, and municipal officers and employees, which states:

(1) No officer or employee of the state, or of any county or municipality thereof, except as hereinafter exempted from provisions hereof, shall: (a) Use his or her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election or a nomination of office or coercing or influencing another person’s vote or affecting the result thereof. [ … ] (3) Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

6.  Prompted by our initial article Superintendent White on October 6, 2014 sent an email reminder to all school board employees stating:

As our community is in the midst of a number of political campaigns, I want to remind all employees about the School Board’s Information Technology Guidelines and Procedures which prohibit, among other things, using the School Board’s email system for any communication that may be perceived as political campaigning. While I encourage all our employees to be civically engaged in the electoral process, this engagement should not occur on work hours, nor should the School Board’s email system be used for this purpose.

7.  A third email was sent by SC/TA President Gardner dated October 8, 2014 Subject: Newlsletter [sic.] – Info for Restricted Class. The full text of this email may be read by clicking here. This email was sent after Sarasota School Superintendent Lori White reminded all district employees (see item 6 above) that it is “prohibited” to use “the School Board’s email system for any communication that may be perceived as political campaigning.” This email was in direct contravention of Superintendent White and district policy.

As a result of our research and four articles, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune on October 17, 2014 picked up our story-line publishing an article titled “School spokesman worked on campaign while on duty.” In the article Lee Williams reports:

The communications director and chief spokesman for the Sarasota County Schools was disciplined this month for working on a political campaign while on duty, and for using the school’s email system for political purposes.

[ … ]

In his email accompanying the fundraising letter, Leatherman castigates Ziegler’s politics, saying the election was important because “having anyone elected from the Tea Party will force the Board to waste time in political wrangling and responding to frivolous criticism, rather than addressing the serious management issues involved in running a $750 million a year enterprise.” Leatherman declined to discuss the statement.

[ … ]

Superintendent Lori White issued Leatherman a “Letter of Instruction” Oct. 3, which acknowledged that he responded to a political campaign email during the work day. [ … ] T. Wayne Bailey, a political science professor at Stetson University for more than 50 years, echoed [School Board member] Ziegler that Leatherman should have been aware of state law. “I would think that a senior official would be very aware of what the rules for the School Board’s computer usage would be,” Bailey said. “This is a clear conflict of interest.”

The misuse of district assets for politicking by some district employees and even school board members has become common practice.  The School Board is doing nothing to stop it. The Superintendent has been accused of not taking a strong enough stand against this abuse of taxpayer dollars in the Gary Leatherman case. A school board member has called for Letterman’s dismissal. This same school board member has called for an “investigation” to determine just how deep and wide spread these abuses are.

Taking the politics out of the district email system can be done by the “loss of computer access privileges” as stated in district policy. 

WHAT’S NEXT?

The SC/TA classified and teachers contracts are being negotiated as we write this column. Perhaps it is time to rethink the SC/TA’s use of the district email system to communicate with its members? Perhaps it is time, in this digital world, to let the SC/TA run its own email system and do what it wishes with it?

What about those who, like Leatherman, have exhibited as Professor Bailey states “a clear conflict of interest?”

Will there be others who are punished under Florida Statutes 104.31? We will continue to cover this story as events unfold.

EDITORS NOTE: Below are the direct links to the four articles we have previously published on this issue:

Emailgate: Two Sarasota County School Board members violate Florida Law – will they be removed from office?

Sarasota School District Scandal: Board members, former superintendent, staff, teachers, union implicated in improper use of email system for political purposes

President of Sarasota Teachers Union calls Superintendent White’s bluff — sends out another ‘political email’

Sarasota School Board Candidate Ken Marsh gets a little help from his union friends

CDC Agrees to Florida Ebola Preparedness Requests — To little to late? Déjà vu Pandemic?

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The first line of defense against the spread of infectious diseases like Ebola is sealing the U.S. borders. The second line of defense, once the border is breached by omission or commission, is Florida’s hospitals. We can learn important lessons from another recent and ongoing pandemic – HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS and Ebola are pandemics. Both are transmitted by physical contact. Both kill horribly. Both could have been stopped from reaching our shores. Neither was.

Are we making the same mistakes twice? Is this a case of “Déjà vu Pandemic?”

A new study of the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus shows that the disease’s origin was in the small town of Kinshasa, Congo.  National Geographic’s Brandon Keim reports, “As the Ebola epidemic spreads, new information has emerged on the origins of a far more deadly killer. A new family history of the HIV virus that causes AIDS, reported Thursday [October 2, 2014], is troubling but instructive: Modernization in mid-20th-century Africa, especially in the city Kinshasa, played a profound role in shaping that global epidemic.”

How did the HIV/AIDS virus initially spread in Africa? Via their rail system, eventually reaching the shores of the U.S by boat and by plane.

While public support for a travel ban on countries with the Ebola virus grows, President Obama refuses to implement any such travel ban. On October 16, 2014 The Daily Signal’s Rob Bluey reported that U.S. Embassies in Ebola-stricken countries are still processing visas for non-U.S. citizens.

Accuracy in Media’s Cliff Kincaid in his column “Seeing Ebola Through Obama’s Eyes” writes:

The nephew of the black African who brought Ebola to the United States doesn’t blame his uncle. He blames us. He writes in The Dallas Morning News that his uncle did everything right in Liberia, but still got Ebola, and wasn’t treated correctly in the U.S. The claim is that he had a right to be on U.S. soil and that it’s our fault he’s dead.

I suspect this is how President Barack Obama views Ebola. How else do you explain his opposition to a common-sense ban on travel to the U.S. by people from Ebola-infected countries?

Tragically, Obama’s alternative is for the U.S. to become infected. Then, he must figure, there will be more pressure to find a “cure,” or at least a vaccine. But who knows how many will die in the process? It could be hundreds, or thousands, or more.

Florida Governor Scott announced that the CDC has agreed to two of the state’s requests for enhancing Florida’s Ebola preparedness efforts, including holding a conference call with healthcare workers on best practices and federal approval of the state’s repurpose of more than $7 million in federal grant funding. The CDC, has still not provided the additional 27 testing kits, or contacted the passengers that flew on the Frontier flight from Dallas to Ft. Lauderdale.

Governor Scott said:

“We want to thank the CDC for agreeing to hold a conference call with Florida hospitals on Monday, October 20th at 3:30 p.m. Our healthcare workers need to hear directly from the CDC on what happened in Dallas that allowed Ebola to be transmitted to two nurses, and what can be done to protect our healthcare professionals in Florida who are on the front lines. Florida hospitals also have questions of their own and the CDC must provide guidance.

“We appreciate the CDC’s preliminary approval to move forward with redirecting more than $7 million in federal grant funds to purchase the necessary equipment and supplies to protect healthcare workers who may come into contact with Ebola. The CDC indicated that we will receive formal approval next week, but based on this preliminary approval, we have already begun using these funds to enhance our Ebola preparedness efforts.

“While this is great progress, we’re waiting on the CDC to provide additional testing kits. With a population of more than 19 million people, tens of millions of tourists, and numerous ports and international airports, we must ensure Florida can rapidly test any future patients who have the potential for Ebola.

“The CDC still needs to identify, notify, and monitor all of the passengers that flew from Dallas to Ft. Lauderdale after nurse Amber Joy Vinson flew on the same plane. We know she had a low grade-fever when she traveled to Dallas, and the plane then came to Florida. While this risk is low, there have been reports she was potentially symptomatic, and the CDC should take any potential threat seriously – no matter how small. We’re continuing to hope for the best, while preparing for the worst and we expect the CDC to do everything possible to ensure our communities are kept safe.”

The CDC has agreed to hold a conference call with Florida hospitals on Monday, October 20th at 3:30 p.m. This call will cover critical areas of preparedness and training for our Florida hospitals. Officials with the CDC’s state and local readiness section will be hosting the call with Florida’s hospital executives. The call will provide guidance for proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), safe handling of medical waste and effective clinical strategies within the hospital setting.

Politicizing a Plague

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If President Obama does not want the Ebola virus to kill Americans, why has his administration done nothing to restrict any flights from Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, the hot spots in Africa where it appears the virus is spreading?

One of the reason flights from Liberia were not stopped, we have been told, was the historical link of the U.S. with that nation, founded as a place freed slaves could migrate. That is no excuse in the face of the threat of a single Liberian with Ebola getting off a flight in any U.S. airport.

The decision not to stop flights has nothing to do with health and everything to do with politics, Obama’s far left ideology, and his dislike for America that has been on display for anyone paying any attention. It has driven every decision Obama has made since first taking office.

The White House has decided that stopping flights would heighten public concerns, possibly creating an aura of panic. This is a very bad, very lethal decision. It demonstrates the indifference to facts and to common sense for which the White House is now famous.

Every poll demonstrates that Americans want our borders protected and access from West Africa denied.

It is likely that the White House wants to tamp down any sense of heightened public concern until the midterm elections on Nov. 4. Then add to that the criminal lack of truthfulness that has accompanied anything affecting this White House has done from Benghazi to setting free five Taliban generals in exchange for someone likely to be deemed a deserter from the U.S. Army.

When the Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Dr. Thomas Friedman, became the focus of news media inquiries regarding the virus, it was clear that he did not have any greater knowledge of the problem, other than the scope of its threat, than anyone else. Indeed, within a week of his first press conference, he said that the CDC and U.S. medical community needed to come up with a whole new approach to Ebola.

When Thomas Duncan, the Liberian in whom the virus was not initially detected died, we were treated to scenes of intensive decontamination efforts at the Dallas hospital, but a nurse who treated him became the first U.S. victim and Dr. Friedman was quick to blame a “protocol breach” as the likely reason. Now a second nurse has Ebola.

The likely reason can be found in the fact that thousands of people die every year from viruses and infections they acquire at a hospital.

The first and likely the second nurse wore protective outfits from top to bottom while dealing with Duncan. In Africa, the earliest victims have been the doctors and hospital staff tending those with Ebola. Any U.S. medical personnel returning from Africa should be quarantined after they arrive. The President has dispatched more than 4,000 military personnel to Liberia and their quarantine should be far longer than the 21 days we keep hearing about. We are now hearing it should be up to 40 days.

The notion that airport staff has any capacity at all to spot someone with Ebola is ludicrous, yet we are being treated to the charade of passengers having a device waved over them to detect a fever.

All this is a political approach rather than a medical one. It is political theatre.

One example of this was a statement by Dr. Francis Collins, the head of the National Institutes of Health, who blamed the lack of funding the NIH has received for research, including vaccinations for infectious diseases. He noted that the NIH has been working on Ebola vaccines since 2001, but does it strike anyone as odd that in all the time since then nothing has been developed?

In fairness, though, the NIH budget has declined 23% over the past decade. The current budget, however, is $29.31 billion. That is a substantial amount.

Congress represents more politics. Dr. Collins remarked that it did not appear “enthusiastic” about passing an emergency supplemental appropriation. For those in government the only answer to any problem is to throw more money at it.

Worse, a Democratic Party advertisement even claimed that the Ebola threat is due to Republican cuts in funding of healthcare research, but those cuts were bipartisan by virtue of the sequestration limits imposed. Not mentioned was an Obama administration decision to abandon a set of regulations which the CDC considered essential to prevent international travelers from spreading deadly diseases inside the U.S. At this point, the question is why?

So far Ebola has been located in West Africa, but in this world of global air travel, but without rigid restrictions it is only a matter of time before it begins to show up elsewhere including here again.

When that happens you can point a finger at Barack Hussein Obama who thinks it’s more important to have good relations with Liberia than it is to shut down any possibility that an African or anyone else at risk of having Ebola will arrive on our shores.

At that point, however, it will be too late.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

RELATED ARTICLES:

Whether There’s an Ebola Outbreak in the U.S. Depends on the Definition of ‘Outbreak’

A Second Health Care Worker Has Contracted Ebola

Ebola Cases, Already Rampant in West Africa, Expected to Double Every 3 Weeks

Christian persecution in the U.S.: Openly gay Houston mayor demands pastors turn over sermons

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My friends, the persecution of Christian pastors has begun in this country. We previously warned about the efforts of the Freedom from Religion Foundation and its secretive settlement with the IRS allowing them to demand sermons to scrutinize for “political activity.” Well, it has indeed happened, in one of the reddest of red states in the reddest county in America: Houston, Harris County, Texas.

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Houston Mayor Annise Parker

As reported by Fox News, “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. “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.” ADF, a nationally-known law firm specializing in religious liberty cases, is representing five Houston pastors. They filed a motion in Harris County court to stop the subpoenas arguing they are “overbroad, unduly burdensome, harassing, and vexatious.”

If there is anything that should unify Americans, it should be an assault on Christian ministers. It is absolutely amazing that the Obama administration sends a personal congratulatory note to the Islamic center in Oklahoma that spawned Alton Nolen who beheaded a 54-year-old American grandmother — and we have this openly lesbian progressive socialist tyrant allowing a subpoena against Christian pastors.

This is the test case (and as it happens I was just in Houston last week and will be back next Monday) and this is unconscionable! However, if this case is successful, it will be replicated elsewhere — and where is the Left screaming out about First Amendment rights of these pastors: “Freedom of religion and the free exercise thereof?” Where is the ACLU? After all, they care so much about the rights of unlawful enemy combatants aka Islamic jihadists and terrorists.

“Political and social commentary is not a crime,” attorney Holcomb said. “It is protected by the First Amendment.” Fox says, “the subpoenas are just the latest twist in an ongoing saga over 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.”

This is just how upside down Mayor Parker is and reflects her intent to establish a radical far left, gender-blind agenda and through coercion and intimidation, destroy any opposition – including church leaders. This is the tyranny of the Left and the radical gay agenda in full display. And I just have to ask, how does this bring anyone into alignment with the gay community if they are fully supportive of these initiatives?

Houston is home to Pastor Joel Osteen and I wonder if he’s going to make a stand and speak out — or is his ministry just for show? I can bet that just up the road in San Antonio, Pastor John Hagee won’t be taking this lying down. And what about Pastor T.D. Jakes up in Dallas — where does he stand?

Many people laughed when the progressive socialists came out with their “Turn Texas Blue” campaign – who’s laughing now? The State Capitol of Texas, Austin, is well known as a bastion of progressive socialists and now look at what’s happened in Houston — perhaps Gov. Rick Perry should stop going to Blue states and asking them to move to Texas. Leftist progressives are like locusts; wherever they migrate they bring along their destructive policies and agenda in order to infest their new host — just look at how the migration of leftist progressives from California has affected Colorado? And now it’s happening to Texas.

Here’s a clear example of the radical gay agenda and tyranny of Houston Mayor Parker. Per Fox, “the Houston Chronicle reported opponents of the ordinance launched a petition drive that generated more than 50,000 signatures – far more than the 17,269 needed to put a referendum on the ballot. However, the city threw out the petition in August over alleged irregularities.” As voter referendums supporting traditional marriage are being tossed aside by courts, judicial activism and legislating from the bench is alive and well.

“After opponents of the bathroom bill filed a lawsuit, the city’s attorneys responded by issuing the subpoenas against the pastors. The pastors were not part of the lawsuit. However, they were part of a coalition of some 400 Houston-area churches that opposed the ordinance. The churches represent a number of faith groups – from Southern Baptist to non-denominational.”

Mayor Parker won’t explain why she wants to inspect the sermons — and what makes her believe she has the power to do so anyway. Mayor Parker’s director of communications, Janice Evans, said “We don’t comment on litigation.”

Fox reports that “ADF attorney Stanley suspects the mayor wants to publicly shame the ministers. He said he anticipates they will hold up their sermons for public scrutiny. In other words – the city is rummaging for evidence to “out” the pastors as anti-gay bigots. Among those slapped with a subpoena is Steve Riggle, the senior pastor of Grace Community Church. He was ordered to produce all speeches and sermons related to Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality and gender identity. The mega-church pastor was also ordered to hand over “all communications with members of your congregation” regarding the non-discrimination law. “This is an attempt to chill pastors from speaking to the cultural issues of the day,” Riggle told me. “The mayor would like to silence our voice. She’s a bully.” Rev. Dave Welch, executive director of the Texas Pastor Council, also received a subpoena. He said he will not be intimidated by the mayor.”

I’ve said before that America is under assault from the unholy alliance of progressive socialists, Islamo-fascists, and secular humanists. What is happening in Houston is wrong on so many levels, it defies logic and reason but it is to be expected from the tyranny of the Left.

If Mayor Parker is successful, it will happen in other major American cities under radical progressive socialist control. It is time for all — especially Christian Pastors — to stand up, “be strong and courageous,” and defy this illegal edict reminiscent of Henry the Eighth, who proclaimed himself head of state and head of church.

Mayor Annise Parker is out of control, and knowing the backbone of true Texans and Houstonians, she will be defeated. To the gay community, if this is what you support and believe in, you’re not positively advancing your case – but demonstrating you advocate coercion as a means.

Time to rally America, and let’s send a message to Mayor Annise Parker of Houston: Molon Labe!

EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared on AllenBWest.com.

Florida Governor Rick Scott asks ‘every hospital mandate Ebola training programs’

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We have reported on three cases in Florida of people with “Ebola like symptoms.” The state of Florida is particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases due to its porous water borders, international air and sea ports. As the Ebola virus spreads, and American concerns heightened, Governor Scott has asked all precautions be taken to protect Florida’s citizens and healthcare professionals.

Last week, Governor Scott requested the CDC provide 100 units of protective gear to Florida, and to date, the CDC has not fulfilled the request. The Governor also requested 30 additional Ebola testing kits – of which only three have been provided by the CDC to date. The 30 testing kits would ensure each Florida public hospital has access to an Ebola testing kit, which are used to test for Ebola at the Department of Health’s lab in Miami.

Governor Rick Scott announced that he is asking every Florida hospital to mandate all healthcare professionals undergo Ebola protection training programs to ensure their safety.

Governor Scott said in a press release:

“In light of what happened in Dallas, we want to make sure those healthcare professionals on the frontlines have the training and equipment they need to protect their health and safety. We are asking every Florida hospital to mandate that all healthcare professionals undergo Ebola preparedness training to ensure knowledge of protocols and availability of necessary personal protective equipment. It is very important for Florida hospitals to have the protective gear recommended by the CDC to ensure our healthcare professionals are safe in the event we ever have a case of Ebola in Florida.

“We’re asking Florida hospitals to notify the Department of Health when their personnel have undergone the mandatory training programs. In Florida, we are continuing to hope for the best while we prepare for the worst and learn from the developments in Dallas to further improve our own preparedness efforts.”

To help ensure hospitals provide the training and education to all personnel, the Department of Health, in collaboration with the Agency for Health Care Administration, will provide a new reporting structure to all of Florida’s 210 acute care hospitals. This comprehensive outreach to Florida’s hospitals will document each facilities’ preparedness in terms of available protective equipment as well as the healthcare worker education and training that has taken place.

It is the expectation of Florida’s public health agencies that each acute care hospital be fully capable and prepared to identify a potential Ebola case, protect healthcare workers on the frontlines, isolate the individual for evaluation, and inform the Health Department immediately. The Department of Health is continuing to work with partners across every county in Florida, including the Florida Hospital Association and the CDC, to ensure Florida maintains a posture of readiness.

RELATED ARTICLES: 

Here’s Why Budget Cuts Have Nothing to Do With Developing an Ebola Vaccine

W.H.O. contradicts CDC, admits Ebola can spread via coughing, sneezing and by touching contaminated surfaces

New Ebola Cases May Soon Reach 10,000 a Week, Officials Predict

Emailgate: Two Sarasota County School Board members violate Florida Law – will they be removed from office?

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We have run a series of columns about union employees violating policy by using the Sarasota County School District official email system to promote political candidates for public office and harassing district employees while on the clock.

Our initial reports just scratched the surface of the corruption within the Sarasota County School District.

Shirley Brown WEB

Shirley Brown, Sarasota County School Board member.

We wrote that this would be a challenge to the leadership of Superintendent Lori White. Today we report that this “culture of corruption” has ensnared at least two sitting School Board members – Shirley Brown (D) and Caroline Zucker (R) and the District Communications Director Gary Leatherman, who reports directly to Superintendent White.

Florida Statutes 104.31 – Political activities of state, county, and municipal officers and employees, states:

(1) No officer or employee of the state, or of any county or municipality thereof, except as hereinafter exempted from provisions hereof, shall:

(a) Use his or her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with an election or a nomination of office or coercing or influencing another person’s vote or affecting the result thereof.

[ … ]

(3) Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

[Emphasis added]

In a string of emails we find both Shirley Brown and Caroline Zucker violating not only Florida Statues (FS) 104.31, but also FS 106.113.  We also find School Board member Brown, Director Leatherman and the Ken Marsh campaign violating FS 106.15, which states:

A candidate may not, in the furtherance of his or her candidacy for nomination or election to public office in any election, use the services of any state, county, municipal, or district officer or employee during working hours.

KenMarsh-150x150

Ken Marsh, former district bureaucrat and candidate for School Board.

In this string of emails we find Shirley Brown and the Ken Marsh campaign coordinating campaign donations. We also find the District Director of Communications and Community Relations Gary Leatherman giving advice to and editing a Ken Marsh for School Board campaign flyer. All of these actions violate district policy and state statues as the use of the district proprietary email system and the exchanges occur during working hours.

ann hankinson

Ann Hankinson, teacher Pine View.

Items forwarded to staff, other school board members, the Ken Marsh campaign, Gary Leatherman and Superintendent White include:

  • School Board member Caroline Zucker is asked by Aaron Watkins, from Carab Enterprises, for advise on who to vote for in the school Board primary election. Watkins asks Zucker who she voted for in the School Board primary. Zucker replies, “I voted for Jane Goodwin, Shirley Brown and Ken Marsh.” (NOTE: Read more about Zucker here.)
  • An email from Ann Hankinson, a AP calculus and statistics teacher at Pine View school, sends a draft invitation to a Ken Marsh for School Board event to be held on October 1, 2014 to Gary Leatherman for review and editing. Leatherman states he reviewed the invitation and made minor corrections. Leatherman goes on to reply to Hankinson, “Hi, I’m just checking to see if my email replies are being received.” Hankinson then uses the district email system to send the invitation out to her “Dear Math Colleagues.”
  • Information about the Lee County, FL School Board reversing its decision to opt-out of mandated Common Core testing sent to the Ken Marsh campaign.
  • Ken Marsh sending an election night invitation to Pat Gardner, President of the Sarasota Teachers/Classified Association (SC/TA). (NOTE: We have covered SC/TA use of the district email system here.)
  • Gary Leatherman in direct contact with Ken March and his campaign with a summery of  “the various ways and media we employ to help parents and other interested community members watch school board meetings.”
  • SC/TA President Pat Gardner in direct contact with the Ken Marsh campaign discussing strategies on how to attack his primary opponents “innovative ideas about public access to school board meetings.”
  • A political fundraising letter sent to Shirley Brown, Gary Leatherman and others from Gabriel Hament seeking donations for the Ken Marsh campaign. Leatherman replies, “Thanks, I contributed $100 last night.”
  • Shirley Brown responds to an email from Austin Jambor, a financial adviser at Morgan Stanley, stating, “…I am hosting a reception for Ken Marsh Oct. 1 in Prestancia. Hope you can join us!”
  • Kenner Brooke from North Port High School sends out a Sarasota County Democratic Party flyer.
  • Notice of a homosexual marriage event hosted by Equality Florida forwarded by Brown to the Ken Marsh campaign. Brown suggests that Marsh attend the event.

We will be publishing more about this “culture of corruption” within the Sarasota County School District. Stay tuned.

BACKGROUND

The following are some examples of the illegal use of the Sarasota County School District resources for political purposes:

September 9, 2014

Gary Leatherman, the Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Sarasota County School District uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to confirm a commitment to submit a political donation to the Ken Marsh Campaign, as well as to assist in the drafting and editing of a fundraising letter for the Ken Marsh Campaign. Email sent during school hours. (Page 294-302)

September 9, 2014

Gary Leatherman, the Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Sarasota County School District uses the Sarasota County School District Email System, during business hours, to work directly with the Ken Marsh for School Board Campaign to draft and edit a fundraising letter and suggest attacks on School Board Member Bridget Ziegler. His official title & government position appears in the email.
(Page 105-108)

September 10, 2014

Gary Leatherman, the Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Sarasota County School District uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to communicate directly with School Board Candidate Ken Marsh, Ann Hankinson (who appears to be a Ken Marsh campaign volunteer & school district employee) & Gabriel Hament (who we believe is acting as Ken Marsh’s campaign manager & has hosted a fundraising for Ken Marsh). Sent during school hours. (Page 131-133)

September 10, 2014

Gary Leatherman, the Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Sarasota County School District uses the Sarasota County School District Email System, during business hours, to work directly with the Ken Marsh Campaign to draft and edit a fundraising letter and suggest attacks on School Board Member Bridget Ziegler.In the email, he states “Good Job”. His official title & government position appears in the email. (Page 136)

September 21, 2014

Gary Leatherman, the Director of Communications and Community Relations for the Sarasota County School District uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to directly receive a campaign update from the Ken Marsh Campaign. Continues to show pattern of coordination between Gary Leatherman, in his official capacity, working with the Ken Marsh Campaign. (Page 172-173).

Additional abuses (there are numerous other examples).

August 13, 2014

Lisa Saul uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to forward endorsements and attacks on the Tea Party and various candidates. Sent during school hours. (Document 1 Page 76-78)

September 11, 2014

Shari Dembinski (looks to be Union Rep) uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to forward an attack on Bridget Ziegler and a list of contributors to Bridget Ziegler’s campaign. Recipients are encouraging to share with non-union members. (We suspect this is what caused an organized effort to threaten the boycott of businesses supporting the Bridget Ziegler for School Board campaign. Numerous businesses reported receiving countless calls threatening a boycott of their establishment if they did not stop donating and/or displaying a Bridget Ziegler campaign sign. (Document 1 Page 81-82)

September 12, 2014

Shannon Wynne, a School District Employee, uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to falsely attack Bridget Ziegler and one of her contributors. Sent during school hours. (Document 1 Page 98-99)

September 12, 2014

Joette Riggs, a school district employee, uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to attack Bridget Ziegler and a contributor to the Bridget Ziegler Campaign. Sent during school hours. (Document 1 Page 112-114)

And why not? The politics and illegal misuse of taxpayer funded public resources starts at the top.

August 27, 2014

Wilma Hamilton, former Superintendent of the Sarasota County District, uses the Sarasota County School District Email System to book a hotel room for Ken Marsh & his wife Tanice Knopp. Why is she booking them a room? Was this disclosed on his campaign finance report? (Page 47-49)

August 21, 2014

Sarasota County School Board Member Shirley Brown uses the Sarasota County School District Email System in her official capacity as a School Board Member to endorse three Sarasota County School Board Candidates. (Page 56-57)

August 23, 2014

Sarasota County School Board Member Shirley Brown uses the Sarasota County School District Email System in her official capacity as a School Board Member to notify Marie Baia, a School District Employee, about political endorsements received by Ken Marsh, School Board Member Jane Goodwin and herself. (Page 248-249)

August 21, 2014

Sarasota County School Board Member Caroline Zucker uses the Sarasota County School District Email System, in her official capacity as a School Board Member, to endorse political candidate for office.

October 3, 2014

SB Member Caroline Zucker sharing who she voted for in the SB race Goodwin-Brown-Marsh when asked for recommendations (Page 297 – Document 3)

To read the full list of emails click here, here and here.

PUBLISHERS NOTE: I, Dr. Rich Swier, regret having used the term “illegal” in this and any other article to describe actions by Ms. Pat Gardner and the SC/TA.

Charlie Crist Concedes Election Finance Violations, Forced To Refund Donations

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During the first of three gubernatorial debates between Florida Governor Rick Scott and Democrat gubernatorial nominee Charlie Crist, viewers were treated to a sort of political ‘Lucha Libre’ where both heavyweight contenders took their turn landing political jabs and body blows at one another.

One of the jabs Crist threw at Scott was that of the Florida Governor whisking around the state on his private jet.

This is true.

Rick Scott flies around on his own private jet doing state business, and even has the nerve to pay for the fuel from his own pocket, instead of billing taxpayers.

The nerve of him!

Crist’s hypocrisy here is rich.

When Crist was governor of Florida, the former Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democrat use to fly around in private jets that were billed to the taxpayers, and or the Republican Party of Florida.

Now Charlie ‘Hypo-crist’ and his gubernatorial campaign have been called out and busted by Republicans for committing campaign finance violations.

Republicans filed a complaint against Team Crist for “repeated” finance violations. After the complaint was filed, Crist & Co. refunded thousands of dollars to donors who exceeded the legal limit of $3,000.

Here is a partial list of those “super donors” to Crist’s campaign:

donors

Click on the image for a larger view.

In addition, the GOP contends that Crist and his political committee have spent well over $64,000 on private airfare, that according them,  appeared on their finance reports, but only after the complaint was filed.

Honest mistake by the Crist campaign?

Probably not.

Political hypo-Crist-y?

You betcha!

EDITORS NOTE: The column originally appeared on The Shark Tank. Follow The Shark Tank on Facebook and Twitter.

St. Louis policeman shoots black man armed with stolen gun – riots ensue

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Blacks have been taunting the police and the St. Louis community since the shooting of Michael Brown. A black flash mob attacked the St. Louis Symphony and appeared at a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. Shots have been fired at the police by black rioters. Now we have yet another black man, and possible gang member, named Vonderrit Meyer, Jr. shot by a St. Louis police officer.

Watch a crowd of black protesters invade a St. Louis mall screaming at ‘racist’ white people:

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Vonderrit Myers Jr. (left) flashing gang sign.

Lyle J. Rapacki, Ph.D., Protective Intelligence and Assessment Specialist at Sentiel Intelligence Services, LLC, reports:

Vonderrit Myers, Jr. the suspect who fired upon a St. Louis, Missouri Police Officer upon which the officer returned fire killing Mr. Myers last Wednesday evening. The shooting incident quickly led to demonstrations and property destruction; hatred spewed towards the police as well as Caucasians.

The information below is quite different than what most of the public has been led to believe, which only adds to the sadness associated with this incident.

The media and political reports state that Mr. Myers was an “innocent teenager” who was “unarmed” when he was fired upon by the police officer. Much work to provoke hatred between races went into the initial reporting, but as you will see and read for yourself in the material below, not everything the media and political zealots state are necessarily true.

The media, as noted by Dr. Rapacki, is not telling the truth.

mug shot voderrit myers

Jim Hoft Vonderrit Myers, Jr. mug shot.

POLICE REPORT: Vonderrit Myers, Jr. Was Firing a STOLEN GUN at Police Officer

Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, October 9, 2014, 5:45 PM

18 year-old Vonderrit Myers, Jr. was shot dead by a police officer in St. Louis City Wednesday night. Myers, Jr. reportedly shot at the officer three times during a chase. A 9mm Ruger was recovered from the scene. The gun was stolen. 18 Year-Old Vonderrit Myers, Jr. Had Gun Felony Conviction & Ankle Monitor, Myers Jr. had an electronic monitor and was on house arrest.

The St. Louis Police Department released information on the fatal shooting last night on Shaw Boulevard. Vonderrit Myers, Jr. was shot dead by an off duty police officer. Vonderrit Myers, Jr. was firing a stolen gun.

From the police report: “The suspect’s 9mm handgun was recovered at the scene. The gun was reported stolen on 9/26/14.”

At least three police vehicles were damaged in the rioting last night after the fatal shooting.

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Myers shooting police report. For a larger view click on the image.

RELATED ARTICLE: Police Beefed Up Capabilities Because a Crime-Weary Nation Wanted Them To

RELATED PHOTOS:

vonderitte myers with guns before shooting

Vonderitte Myers with guns before shooting. The gun on the left appears to be a Ruger 9mm Model SR9. The type of gun allegedly stolen by Myers and found at the crime scene.

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Vonderrit Myers (lower right) with gun.

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Damage to St. Louis police car.

st louis police car damage 2

Damage to St. Louis Police car #2.

VIDEO: Demonstrators ‘disrupt’ STL symphony singing a ‘Requiem for Mike Brown’

President Obama: What are you doing to keep our 3,000 soldiers in Liberia from getting Ebola?

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President Obama is sending 3,000 U.S. soldiers to Ebola infested Liberia. Nearly half of these solders, 1,400, are from the 101st Airborne Division stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Other units involved are from Fort Hood, Texas and Fort Carson, Colorado. After their mission they will return to these bases in America’s heartland.

Tim Mac from The Daily Beast reports:

As the U.S. military rushes to combat Ebola in West Africa, soldiers are receiving on-the-fly instructions on how to protect themselves against the deadly virus.

American military operations to fight Ebola in Africa are unfolding quickly—forcing the military to come up with some procedures and protocols on the fly.

Soldiers preparing for deployment to West Africa are given just four hours of Ebola-related training before leaving to combat the epidemic. And the first 500 soldiers to arrive have been holing up in Liberian hotels and government facilities while the military builds longer-term infrastructure on the ground.

Read more.

Phil Stewart from Reuters reports:

At Fort Campbell in Kentucky, spouses of U.S. soldiers headed to Liberia seem to be lingering just a bit longer than usual after pre-deployment briefings, hungry for information about Ebola.

For these families, the virus is raising a different kind of anxiety than the one they have weathered during 13 years of ground war in Afghanistan and Iraq. They want to know how the military can keep soldiers safe from the epidemic, a new addition to the Army’s long list of threats.

“Ebola is a different problem set that the division hasn’t (faced) before,” said Major General Gary Volesky, who will soon head to Liberia along with soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division.

There are already more than 350 U.S. troops on the ground in West Africa, mostly in Liberia, including a handful from the 101st. That number is set to grow exponentially in the coming weeks as the military races to expand Liberia’s infrastructure so it can battle Ebola.

[Emphasis added]

RedState’s Erick Erickson writes:

In Dallas, TX, a health care worker who came into contact with the Ebola patient has contracted Ebola. The health care worker was a trained professional wearing protective clothing. But that trained professional in protective clothing now has Ebola.

There is always a risk. There was always going to be a risk.

But can the President answer this question: what are we doing to make sure our 3,000 soldiers in Liberia are not going to get Ebola?

Military.com reports:

Liberia’s United Nations peacekeeping mission has placed 41 staff members, including 20 military personnel, under “close medical observation” after an international member of its medical team was diagnosed with Ebola this week — the second mission member to test positive for the deadly disease.

[ … ]

The outbreak has now killed more than 4,000 people in total, the WHO said.

More than 400 health care workers have contracted Ebola, and 233 of those have died, according to the WHO. Liberia and Sierra Leone have both recorded 95 health worker deaths. 

[Emphasis added]

Since this announcement there have been mixed messages from the administration and the Pentagon about the role U.S. soldiers will play in Liberia. Given the spread of the Ebola pandemic it is becoming clear that even healthcare professionals adhering to the CDC protocols are not immune from contracting the virus. Larry Copeland in his column U.S. lacks a single standard for Ebola response, writes:

As Thomas Eric Duncan’s family mourns the USA’s first Ebola death in Dallas, one question reverberates over a series of apparent missteps in the case: Who is in charge of the response to Ebola?

The answer seems to be — there really isn’t one person or agency. There is not a single national response.

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has emerged as the standard-bearer — and sometimes the scapegoat — on Ebola.

Public health is the purview of the states, and as the nation anticipates more Ebola cases, some experts say the way the United States handles public health is not up to the challenge.

President Obama is not only putting our soldiers at risk, he is putting the nation at risk.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Obama is sending our best, most decorated combat troops to fight Ebola in West Africa

U.S. Army Fort Detrick, Maryland Lab To Study Ebola Treatment

Healthcare Worker Who Cared For Deceased Ebola Victim In Dallas Tests Positive For The Disease

Ebola crisis puts Obama’s credibility to the test – Washington Times

RELATED VIDEO: Medical Expert Says ‘We Have to Be Ready For’ U.S. Soldiers Contracting Ebola in West Africa

What is ‘the Basic Issue’ facing the World today?

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If you believe the basic issue facing the world today is the Ebola pandemic, the Islamic State, an eminent financial collapse, famine, poverty, government corruption, climate change or war you would be wrong. Some times people can’t see the forest for the trees. If you can’t see the forest for the trees, then you can’t see the whole situation clearly because you’re looking too closely at small details, or because you’re too closely involved.

Ayn Rand wrote a short nineteen page paper asking: What is the basic issue facing the world today?

Rand, in her paper makes the case that, “The basic issue in the world today is between two principles: Individualism and Collectivism.” Rand defines these two principles as follows:

  • Individualism – Each man exists by his own right and for his own sake, not for the sake of the group.
  • Collectivism – Each man exists only by the permission of the group and for the sake of the group.

The Giver CoverI had read Ayn Rand’s paper and recently went to the movie theater to see “The Giver“, a film based on a 1993 young adult novel by Lois Lowry. The Giver is set in a society which is at first presented as a Utopian [Collectivist] society and gradually appears more and more dystopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth and thirteenth years of his life. The society has eliminated pain and strife by converting to “Sameness,” a plan that has also eradicated emotional depth from their lives.

One of the key quotes from The Giver is: We really have to protect people from wrong choices.

For Collectivists this is the key concept for their social system. Rand defines a social system as “a code of laws which men observe in order to live together.” For an individualist the power of society is “limited by the unalienable, individual rights of man.” For the Collectivist “the power of society is unlimited.”

There are several points in the film where the life of a new born child is taken, by lethal injection, because of a perceived defect that may negatively impact the collective. Ayn Rand wrote:

“Under individualism, it is illegal to kill the man and it is legal for him to protect himself. The law is on the side of the right.

Under collectivism, it is legal for the majority to kill a man and it is illegal for him to defend himself.

The law is on the side of a number.

In the first case, the law represents a moral principle.

In the second case, the law represents the idea that there are no moral principles, and men can do anything they please, provided there’s enough of them.

Rand gives examples of each principle. Individualism is embodied in the United States of America by the Declaration of Independence. The examples of Collectivism are the former Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

Many are concerned that the United States is becoming a Collectivist society. Rand wrote, “When [Collectivism is] applied in practice, a principle which recognizes no morality and no individual rights, can result in nothing except brutality.” Rand notes:

Either the power of society is limited, or it is not. It can’t be both.

Rand and a growing number of Americans understand that the Constitution “is not a document that limits the rights of man – but a document that limits the power of society over man.” Rand defines a right as “that which can be exercised without anyone’s permission.” Inalienable rights means that, “Man cannot be forced to devote his life to the happiness of another man nor of any number of other men. It means that the collective cannot decide what is to be the purpose of man’s existence nor prescribe his choice of happiness.”

What is the shield that protects man’s inalienable rights? Moral Principles.

Rand wrote, “It is true that society can abandon moral principles and turn itself into a herd running amuck to destruction. Just as it is true that a man can cut his own throat any time he chooses. But a man cannot do this if wishes to survive. And society cannot abandon moral principles if it expects to exist… Without a moral code no proper human society is possible. Without the recognition of individual rights no moral code is possible.”

Rand concludes “there can be no social system which is a mixture of Individualism and Collectivism.”

You see the Ebola pandemic, the Islamic State, a financial collapse, famine, poverty, government corruption, climate change and war are all symptoms of Collectivism. The cure for each is Individualism.

RELATED VIDEO: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. perhaps expressed the ideal of individualism best in a three minute sermon titled “The Street Sweeper”. Many believe this was his greatest sermon.

EDITORS NOTE: To download a printable copy of Any Rand’s paper What is the Basic Issue in the World Today, click here. If you are looking for a holiday gift to give yourself, your children, grandchildren or a family member or friend may we suggest giving either the novel The Giver or a DVD of the film or both.

Ferguson, Missouri is racially and economically integrated — So why are blacks rioting?

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I grew up in Florissant, Missouri and attended McCluer Senior High School in the Ferguson-Florissant Unified School District. Jonathan Rodden, a fellow graduate from McCluer High School and a professor of political science and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, wrote a column in the Washington Post titled “Is segregation the problem in Ferguson?”

What Professor Rodden found is that Ferguson is racially and economically integrated, more so than the surrounding communities.

Professor Rodden found that the racial divide and “lack of diversity” narrative is “wrong in several crucial respects.” “For starters, while St. Louis is indeed among the most segregated metropolitan regions in the United States, Ferguson and some of its North County neighbors are among the most racially integrated municipalities in Missouri and well beyond,” notes Professor Rodden.

So why are blacks rioting?

To illustrate his points Professor Rodden uses several maps. The first map below uses data from the 2010 Census to place Ferguson in the larger context of the racial segregation of St. Louis. While most of the region is completely segregated, note that Ferguson is part of a patch of integrated inner suburbs in North St. Louis County.

imrs

For a larger view click on the map. Map courtesy of the Washington Post.

The second map zooms in on this region, shows Ferguson in fine detail. In the southeastern appendage of Ferguson, there is a dense, overwhelmingly black apartment complex where Michael Brown was killed. However, the rest of the city is, by the standards of American suburbia, striking in its level of racial integration. Ferguson and the proximate sections of Florissant and Hazelwood are composed of modest single-family houses on streets where blacks and whites live side by side.

imrs

For a larger view click on the map. Map courtesy of the Washington Post.

Professor Rodden found, “While most of St. Louis County’s residents live in municipalities that are either homogeneous or internally segregated or both, Ferguson and its North County neighbors stand out for their relative heterogeneity and internal desegregation. Moreover, the income gap between blacks and whites is smaller in these municipalities than elsewhere… Lost in the tale of woe about Ferguson is that while the entry point was often cheap multi-family housing such as Canfield Green, many blacks came from North St. Louis City for single-family houses, better schools and lower crime. While there are pockets of poverty and Section 8 renters that dominate the media reports, there is also a resilient black middle class, though it has been hit hard by the great recession. While a large number of whites departed for homogeneous St. Charles County over the last 40 years, many have stayed.”

Ferguson rioters have no justification for their actions. Rather they should be embracing Ferguson as an example of racial and economic integration and balance.

Perhaps the rioters have a political bone to pick? Perhaps the rioters are rioting for the sake of drawing attention to themselves? If this is the case, and it appears so, then the media needs to call the demonstrations out for what they are – lawless.

RELATED ARTICLE: Ferguson Activist Lauded by Media is Muslim Convert & Child Molester

Democrats and Independents for Scott Coalition Grows

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Few media outlets are reporting on the fourteen prominent Florida Democrats and Independents have endorsed Governor Scott for Re-Election. After receiving more votes than any primary gubernatorial candidate in Florida history, the Rick Scott for Florida Campaign announced the “Democrats and Independents for Scott” coalition – led by prominent political and business leaders across the Sunshine State.

There is now a fifteen Democrat who has come out and endorsed Rick Scott for Governor. His name is Michael W. Calsetta (D) – Former President of the Conservative Democratic Alliance.

Calsetta along with the other coalition members praised Rick Scott’s record of job creation, fiscal responsibility, investments in education and public safety, 15 Democrats and independents endorsed Governor Scott for re-election and his vision for Florida.

James Harold Thompson, former Speaker of the Florida House, said: “I am honored to endorse Governor Scott’s re-election efforts. His leadership has helped Florida to rebound from the great recession.”

Joe Chillura, Former Democratic Tampa City Council Member, said: “Florida needs a leader who wakes up every day with one goal – to improve the lives of every Floridian. That’s what we have in Rick Scott. He’s worked tirelessly to bring jobs back to Florida. He’s increased funding for education to record levels and has fought to keep tuition low, including significantly reducing the cost of pre-paid college tuition. And he’s worked to reduce state debt so that the burden doesn’t fall on our children. Because of Rick Scott, the old adage is true: we’re better off than we were four years ago.”

Marc Sarnoff, City of Miami Commissioner, said: “Governor Rick Scott took office at a difficult time for the state of Florida and was forced to make some difficult decisions that weren’t always popular. But true leadership sometimes means making those tough decisions for the long-term benefit of the state, and that’s exactly what Rick Scott did. Now, as a result, Florida is enjoying an economic recovery that is leading the nation, with over 600,000 jobs created, property values increasing, and record investment in education. Leadership isn’t always easy, but it always pays off.”

Steve Whidden, Sheriff of Hendry County, said: “By almost every standard it’s working under Rick Scott. Crime is at a 43 year low. The state has created over 600,000 new jobs in the last 4 years. State education funding is at an all-time high, while Governor Scott has worked to keep tuition low for Florida students. And with Governor Scott’s fiscal leadership, the state has paid off $3.6 billion in state debt. The record speaks for itself, and I’m happy to support Governor Rick Scott.”

Members of “Democrats and Independents for Scott” Coalition:

Susan Benton (D) – Sheriff of Highlands County
Ted Blackburn (I) – Mayor, Village of Islamorada
Joe Capitano (D) – Tampa Business Owner
Joe Chillura (D) – Former Tampa City Council Member
Gib Coerper (D) – Mayor of Alachua
Mike Forster (I) – Councilman, Village of Islamorada
Jeff Hardy (D) – Sheriff of Putnam County
Mark Hunter (NPA) – Sheriff of Columbia County
Marc Sarnoff (D) – City of Miami Commissioner
Gordon Smith (D) – Sheriff of Bradford County
Ben Stewart (NPA) – Sheriff of Madison County
James Harold Thompson (D) – Former Speaker of Florida House
Steve Whidden (D) – Sheriff of Hendry County
Stuart Whiddon (D) – Sheriff of Glades County

And “another” Democrat

Michael W. Calsetta (D) – Former President of the Conservative Democratic Alliance