08/4/14

Ebola pandemic coming to America?

By: James Simpson
DC Independent Examiner

Speculation has been rampant about the threat to America from the West African Ebola outbreak that has infected at lease 1,300 and killed 887 people to date, including one American. Initial outbreaks in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia have now spread to Nigeria with a second confirmed case – a doctor who treated the now dead American. Eight other Nigerians are quarantined with three showing symptoms. A Liberian died recently in Morocco, a suspected case has been reported in the Philippines, and now a man with Ebola symptoms who recently traveled to one of the affected West African countries has been isolated at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City and is being tested for the illness.

Speculation was further fueled upon the announcement that two other Americans infected with the disease would be coming home for treatment. One, Dr. Kent Brantly, has been here since Saturday – at a special isolation unit in Georgia’s Emory University Hospital – and appears to be recovering. The other, Nancy Writebol, a missionary reported to be “in serious but stable condition,” will be coming to the same facility Tuesday. Brantly received blood transfusions from a West African boy who recovered fully, and Writebol received an experimental serum. Researchers have had some success with experimental treatments in animal experiments, and the serum given to Writebol appears to be working. CDC claims a vaccine will be tested in humans soon but there is none to date and the virus is 60 – 90 percent fatal.

So is there a pandemic threat?

Well there are certainly people saying so. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, was quoted as saying “Let me give you some frank assessments of what we face… this outbreak is moving faster than our efforts to control it. If the situation continues to deteriorate, the consequences can be catastrophic in terms of lost lives but also severe socioeconomic disruption and a high risk of spread to other countries…”

Other experts say that while Ebola is deadly, it is not spread easily, requiring direct contact with bodily fluids for infection to occur. American doctors, they say would contain any outbreak quickly. So why is it spreading so fast in Africa?

In a video interview last month, former Border Patrol agent Zachary Taylor created a sensation when he claimed that unlike prior Ebola outbreaks that moved from the jungle into populated areas, this time it started in the centers of African cities – suggesting this was bio warfare. However, he provides no evidence to back his assertions.

According to the World Health Organization, the outbreak started in ”forested areas in south-eastern Guinea.” Infected individuals carried it to the other contiguous countries. It was unique only in that prior outbreaks had occurred in Eastern Africa. The likely vector was tainted bat meat. Bats carry the disease and apparently are eaten by rural tribes. The virus is spreading because facilities in Africa are not on par with those in America and because native populations are refusing treatment:

Workers and officials, blamed by panicked populations for spreading the virus, have been threatened with knives, stones and machetes, their vehicles sometimes surrounded by hostile mobs. Log barriers across narrow dirt roads block medical teams from reaching villages where the virus is suspected. Sick and dead villagers, cut off from help, are infecting others.

Taylor furthermore asserted that the border crisis is “asymmetric warfare” – a diversion. He says the Border Patrol is only catching 10 percent of the illegal aliens, and while we focus on “the children,” a mere 1 – 2 percent according to Taylor, others are bringing in the tools to kill us.

Does that include Ebola? He is certainly correct that focus on “the children” is a diversion. Most of the unaccompanied alien “children” (UAC) are actually teenage boys 15 -17, and they only represent 1/5th of those caught. There have been 50,000 plus UACs apprehended, but also another 240,000 who are either not unaccompanied or are adults. The media has studiously overlooked this fact.

If Taylor is correct that only 10 percent are caught, that would mean as many as 2 million additional illegal border crossers are getting through. In a fact-finding trip to the border however, Maryland Sheriff Chuck Jenkins reported that the Border Patrol believes they catch upwards of 70 percent of border crossers.[1] Still, that means they are missing over 100,000.

West Africans Penetrating the Southern Border

Dave Hodges of the Common Sense Show asserts that “the arrival of Ebola through our southern border has already happened or is imminent.” He interviewed Dr. Jane Orient, who quoted unnamed Border Patrol agents saying as many as 100,000 Africans are among those penetrating our southern border. Hodges says the Africans are coming here as part of a new, emerging drug-trafficking operation emanating from Western Africa. They even have learned Spanish to blend in with the Latinos coming across.

Largely unknown and unreported, there is a small but growing trafficking operation to the United States from West Africa, primarily in the materials used to manufacture methamphetamine. Cited in Hodges’ article is a 2013 report from the U.S. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. The Report states:

Since 2006, DEA estimates that sub-Saharan Africa has become a major transshipment point for precursor chemicals used in methamphetamine production destined for the Americas…

According to the report, one international operation seized 35 suspicious shipments of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine estimated to be capable of producing 48 tons of methamphetamine. “[The operation] highlighted the emergence of Africa as a major precursor transit point and stockpile location of essential precursor chemicals bound for Mexico.”

The report concludes: “In the coming years, methamphetamine and heroin produced in West Africa could easily appear in U.S. markets on a much larger scale.” Given government’s penchant for understatement, the problem might have already grown to a “much larger scale.”

Still, suggesting 100,000 border crossers are all from West Africa is almost certainly way overstated, but some West Africans are penetrating the border. Brandon Darby at Breitbart News today published a leaked “Official Use Only” Customs & Border Protection (CBP) document that lists the country of origin of every single person apprehended at the border by CBP from 2010 – 2014. In 2014, 81 West Africans from the three major outbreak countries of Guinea (31), Sierra Leone (22) and Liberia (28) have been caught or turned themselves in. The report also identified Nigeria as making the list of the top five “Third Country Nationals,” with 28 TCNs apprehended during the week of 7/14/2013 – 7/20-/2014. Statistics from Inspections and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are not included in this report, but my sources have not reported finding any Africans at all.

So the likelihood exists that one or more of these illegal aliens could be infected. Many of the Latino illegals flooding the border are bringing in diseases and parasites. If they entered with the Africans there is a chance they could become infected with Ebola as well. They have been shipped around the country under a veil of secrecy. But word is getting out:

  • A Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) facility in Artesia, New Mexico used to house illegals has been locked down following an outbreak of Chicken Pox.
  • A week earlier, the same facility, found 89 of its 603 detainees who tested positive for tuberculosis, though none had contracted the disease.
  • A DHS Office of Inspector General report states that border agents and their families are contracting the diseases and parasites brought in by illegals. A Border agent and others in Texas have contracted TB.

On July 31, President Obama signed a revised Bush-era executive order allowing for “apprehension, detention or conditional release” of people with severe respiratory diseases. Was this a coincidence? The critical revision states:

(b) Severe acute respiratory syndromes, which are diseases that are associated with fever and signs and symptoms of pneumonia or other respiratory illness, are capable of being transmitted from person to person, and that either are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic, or, upon infection, are highly likely to cause mortality or serious morbidity if not properly controlled. This subsection does not apply to influenza.”

In 2003, section (b) was specifically added to address Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), but since that disease is not now considered a threat, the order has been revised. Diseases contemplated in this section are not named, however, section (a), which predated President Obama, does list other illnesses not covered in (b). These include: Cholera; Diphtheria; infectious Tuberculosis; Plague; Smallpox; Yellow Fever; and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (Lassa, Marburg, Ebola, Crimean-Congo, South American, and others not yet isolated or named).

Some writers have expressed concern with the wording “apprehension, detention or conditional release,” given the current crisis, but that language is actually part of the original executive order signed by President Reagan in 1983.

So is Obama hiding something? Undoubtedly but probably not about Ebola. Could illegal West African aliens cause a deadly epidemic? Doubtless they could infect and kill those traveling with them and any border or health official who unknowingly interacted or treated them. So there is reason for serious concern, especially by those charged with protecting our borders.

Even though numerous health officials have said that fears of an epidemic in the U.S. are overblown, a healthy dose of caution advises that the situation be monitored closely. Unless and until President Obama takes his Constitutional responsibility to protect and defend our borders seriously, he and his serially irresponsible administration are leaving our nation and its citizens open to every form of danger. The fact that an outbreak might not lead to an epidemic would be grim consolation to those families who lost loved ones just because this President refused to do his job.

[1] James Simpson telephone interview with Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenknis, July 24, 2014.

08/4/14

Let Us Draw Strength

Arlene from Israel

Tonight begins Tisha B’Av, the most solemn day of the Jewish calendar.  It marks the day of the destruction of our two Temples and a number of other national calamities.

On this day we fast and mourn, read the Book of Lamentations.

We also look to the religious meaning in our lives, our purpose, and examine ourselves in terms of our proper conduct.

I had not planned to post at all today. And even though, in the end, I decided to send out this short posting, I will still avoid news and political analysis. There will always be time to return to this.

Instead, I am writing to share a beautiful message from Warren Goldstein, Chief Rabbi of South Africa (with thanks to Diana S. and Rebecca M.).

http://youtu.be/T7cN8p33328It is a message we need to hear at this difficult time.

~~~~~~~~~~

We are taught that Tisha B’Av derives from the Sin of the Spies (Meraglim): Moses sent spies to check out the land of Ca’anan, before the people of Israel were to enter.  They returned, and 10 of the 12 who had been sent told the people, we cannot do this, we will not succeed.  But the key phrase is that, “We were like grasshoppers in our eyes.”  We felt ourselves small and so others saw us as small.

This is the ultimate lesson for these difficult times – that we not see ourselves as small in our own eyes, and that we believe in what it is possible for us to do, and what we are meant to be doing, with the help of the Almighty.

Tradition also tells us that the Moshiach will be born on Tisha B’Av. Thus the symbol of ultimate hope and redemption.

Credit: Keep Jerusalem
08/4/14

Reagan At Reykjavik – A Book Review

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton


Purchase here…

In the midst of moving and reorganizing, I have taken time to read a very compelling and excellent book: Reagan At Reykjavik. Here is a summary of the book:

In October 1986, Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met for a forty-eight-hour summit in Reykjavik, Iceland. Originally intended as a short, inconsequential gathering to outline future talks, the meeting quickly turned to major international issues, including the Strategic Defense Initiative and the possibility of eliminating all nuclear weapons. With both men at the height of their power, they had the rare opportunity to move towards disarmament and peace in a way neither side had predicted.

In Reagan at Reykjavik, former Reagan arms control director Ken Adelman offers a dramatic, firsthand account of the historic 1986 Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Iceland – the definitive weekend that was the key turning point in the Cold War. Adelman provides an honest and up-close portrait of President Reagan at one of his finest and most challenging moments.

Ken Adelman served President Reagan as Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and accompanied the President at three superpower summits, including Reykjavik. He has also served as the Deputy U.S. Ambassador the United Nations and as Assistant to the Secretary of Defense. After leaving government, he taught at Georgetown University, George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of several books, including Shakespeare in Charge and The Defense Revolution.

As most of you know, my favorite President was Ronald Reagan. A man of courage, leadership and foresight, he knew that peace only comes through strength and the will to use force if need be. This book showcases the legacy and leadership of Reagan with the retelling of the historic 1986 Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Iceland. It was the definitive weekend that was the key turning point in the Cold War. President Reagan’s Arms Control Director was the author, Ken Adelman.

The book is detailed and laboriously researched. Full of now declassified details, Reagan at Reykjavik paints a historical recounting of that weekend and how it would change the world forever. Adelman gives you a look into the private discussions between Reagan and his team in an intriguing and captivating way that only someone who knew Reagan personally and worked side by side with him could. He gives you a frank and honest look at Reagan during one of his finest and most challenging moments. The book includes many photos and illustrations. It is a fascinating read and one you don’t want to miss, especially if you are a Reagan and/or history buff.

Adelman is a brilliant writer and a gifted story-teller. As you know, I have always contended that the Cold War did not end, but shifted. This book is a window into the heart of the Cold War and I am thrilled I got to read it and pass it along. As the Tea Party and Conservatives are doing today, Reagan did then – he stood against evil and our enemies and he did not let his detractors deter him.

In a time when failure seems to be the norm and Americans despair that we are through as a nation, this book brings to light that the fight is never over and can always be won. War is sometimes necessary, but not always the answer. It takes a special leader who can elegantly negotiate on the one hand and let it be known on the other with absolute certainty that if a line is crossed, there will be hell to pay.

Reagan was a master diplomat as well as a warrior. Ted Cruz reminds me a great deal of him. Reagan was never about being in the limelight or being right no matter the cost. He was a leader who was there to protect America in one of her darkest hours. We now have a Marxist leader in Barack Obama who is the very antithesis of Reagan. It’s time for someone like Ted Cruz to right the American ship.

I highly recommend Reagan At Reykjavik. The book is a wondrous historic read, but more importantly will remind you that our fight is ongoing and true hope for the shining city on a hill lies in the Conservative movement. Get your copy here.

08/4/14

Facebook Eliminating Friend Access to Electoral Campaigns, Since Democrats’ Edge is Gone

By: Arlen Williams
Gulag Bound

Mark Zuckerberg, collectivist piece on the global chessboard, credited as founding Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg, collectivist piece on the global chessboard, credited as founding Facebook

The article, Campaigns & Elections Magazine:

Facebook kills a grassroots tool

They go on to explain:

Friend-access has been built into tools from NGP VAN and other vendors, and it worked like this: If a candidate’s supporters clicked a button to allow it, the technology would compare their lists of friends to the campaign’s priority list of outreach contacts—often voters who were hard to reach in other ways.

If the software detected a match, it would ask the supporter to confirm that they were indeed friends with the person in question (false positives were inevitable, making verification vital). The supporter would then be asked to contact the targeted voter on behalf of the campaign, often with a message designed to match the recipient’s demographic profile.

In 2012, the Obama campaign developed its own version of the tool, and staff I’ve spoken with have described it as particularly useful in reaching younger voters. Since many people in their 20s move frequently and rarely have land lines, social connections were one of the only ways to track this elusive quarry.

But no more: Facebook’s API change blocks new apps from accessing friend lists, and existing ones are grandfathered in for just a year. After the 2014 election cycle, vendors will have to find new ways to mine the social web for voter contacts. Smart ones will have already done so.

Electoral activists will likely wish to note the remainder of this article, about further potential tools. Patriots will likely need to keep tracking Facebook, along with the great preponderance of heavily financed technology firms, which typically function with very few, determined degrees of freedom from global central banksterism.

08/4/14

Pope Rehabilitates Marxist Priest

By: Cliff Kincaid
Accuracy in Media

An advocate of Marxist-oriented “liberation theology” and recipient of a Lenin Peace Prize has returned to his duties as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, after a 29-year suspension.

Miguel D’Escoto, who served as President of the U.N. General Assembly from September 2008 until September 2009, had been suspended from his priestly functions by the anti-communist Pope John Paul II in 1985. D’Escoto had joined the communist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua as foreign minister, after which the Soviets recognized his service by giving him the International Lenin Peace Prize.

His reinstatement is another sign of the leftward drift of the papacy of Pope Francis, a worldwide media favorite, who recently said, “I can only say that the communists have stolen our flag,” because the Marxists claim to be concerned about the poor.

In a “Dear Brother President Barack Obama” letter, dated August 25, 2013, D’Escoto declared that U.S. foreign policy was being guided by Satan and constituted “terrorist, murderous and genocidal U.S. imperialism.” He urged Obama to have “the courage to acknowledge also that capitalism is, in fact, the most un-Christian doctrine and practice ever devised by man to keep us separate and unequal in a kind of global apartheid.”

An August 1 statement on his complete reintegration into the Roman Catholic Church, carried by Christian News Wire, said, “The Holy Father has given His benevolent assent that Father Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann be absolved from the canonical censure inflicted upon him, and entrusts him to the Superior General of the Institute [Maryknoll] for the purpose of accompanying him in the process of reintegration into the Ministerial Priesthood.”

This controversial decision, which is certain to anger conservative Catholics, means that the pope has given a stamp of approval to D’Escoto resuming his priestly duties, including celebrating Mass and providing communion with Christ.

Mike Virgintino, communications manager at The Maryknoll Society, confirmed to Accuracy in Media that the ruling means that Pope Francis personally approved the return of D’Escoto to the priesthood. He said D’Escoto had approached the Vatican directly.

D’Escoto graduated with a Master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of Journalism in 1962.  He was born in 1933 in Los Angeles, California.

D’Escoto emerged as not only a strong critic of U.S. foreign policy, but is outspokenly critical of Israel’s role in the Middle East. He became a favorite of the Al Jazeera propaganda channel for urging the expulsion of Israel from the U.N.

In January 2009, Al Jazeera highlighted his accusation that Israel was guilty of “genocide” against Palestinians.

One senior UN official said, “I cannot remember any Assembly president so publicly vocal in denouncing Israel.”

The decision to bring D’Escoto back into good standing in the Roman Catholic Church sends a strong message worldwide about the direction of the papacy, but it has received surprisingly little media attention so far.

In March, the Pew Research Journalism Project reported that “One year into Francis’ papacy, an analysis by the Pew Research Center finds that the former Jesuit archbishop—who was named Time’s Person of the Year—ranked among the top global newsmakers in major U.S.-based digital news outlets.”

In recent months the pope has used his popularity and media notoriety to criticize capitalism, make overtures to Islam and entertain Russia’s Vladimir Putin at the Vatican.

Jeanine Pirro, host of the Fox News Channel’s “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” recently criticized Pope Francis for “failing to take action on behalf of Christians in the Middle East.” She said, “I’m a Christian. I’m a Catholic…I mean no disrespect but it is time for the papacy, and Pope Francis in particular, to start protecting his Christian flock.”

Despite communism’s record of atheism and persecution of Christians, D’Escoto’s service to various communist causes goes back decades.

The website of “World Citizens for Peace” reports that after the death of former President Ronald Reagan in 2004, D’Escoto told Pacifica Radio that he prayed that God forgive Reagan “for having been the butcher of my people, for having been responsible for the deaths of some 50,000 Nicaraguans…crimes he committed in the name of what he falsely labeled freedom and democracy.”

In fact, Reagan supported Nicaraguan freedom fighters trying to bring democracy to the country. These efforts resulted in free elections deposing the Sandinistas from power.

D’Escoto is also a supporter of the “green” movement. As we reported in 2009, he gave a speech as president of the U.N. General Assembly in which he declared that “There is a growing awareness that we are all sons and daughters of Earth and that we belong to her.” He urged “a planetary civilization” that is “more respectful of Mother Earth, more inclusive of all people and with more solidarity with the poorest, which is more spiritual and full of reverence for the splendor of the universe and which is much happier.”

The official press release about the lifting of the suspension mentioned that D’Escoto had once served as an official with the World Council of Churches (WCC). Lt. Gen. Ion Mihai Pacepa, who worked on KGB operations as head of Romanian intelligence, described the WCC as a Kremlin pawn infiltrated by the KGB.

The communist-dominated religious body was the subject of a January 23, 1983, CBS “60 Minutes” broadcast entitled, “The Gospel According to Whom?” As AIM noted at the time, the program exposed the Marxist orientation of the WCC and even its funding of terrorists.

Despite being banned from priestly functions, D’Escoto has remained a member of the Maryknoll Society, with residence in Nicaragua.

The Sandinistas have returned to power in Nicaragua, with President Daniel Ortega having met on July 12 with Vladimir Putin, after the Russian leader decided to make a “surprise visit” to the Central American country. Ortega said, “It is like a ray of light, like a flash of lightning. This is the first time a Russian president has visited Nicaragua.”