ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

 Do You Know What You Are Supporting?

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to raise money for the ALS Association is sweeping the nation, and going viral in social media. However, do you know what you are supporting if you contribute funds to the ALS Association?

The ALS Association describes their “mission”:

Established in 1985, The ALS Association is the only national non-profit organization fighting Lou Gehrig’s Disease on every front.  By leading the way in global research, providing assistance for people with ALS through a nationwide network of chapters, coordinating multidisciplinary care through certified clinical care centers, and fostering government partnerships, The Association builds hope and enhances quality of life while aggressively searching for new treatments and a cure.
As the preeminent ALS organization, The Association leads the way in research, care services, public education, and public policy — giving help and hope to those facing the disease.  The Association’s nationwide network of chapters provides comprehensive patient services and support to the ALS community.

ALS is the acronym for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.” Media portrayals of the Ice Bucket Challenge generally state that ALS “is always fatal and has no known cure,” and therefore urge people to contribute to the ALS Association to fund research to find a cure.

Where Does the Money Contributed to the ALS Association Go?

So where does the money donated to the ALS Association actually go? You may be surprised to find out that the Association itself claims that only 27% of its funds go towards research.

Here are their 2013 tax returns to take a closer look at how their funds are spent. Here are the salaries for the leadership of the group:

• Jane H. Gilbert – President and CEO – $339,475.00
• Daniel M. Reznikov – Chief Financial Officer – $201,260.00
• Steve Gibson – Chief Public Policy Officer – $182,862.00
• Kimberly Maginnis - Chief of Care Services Officer – $160,646.00
• Lance Slaughter - Chief Chapter Relations and Development Officer – $152,692.00
• Michelle Keegan – Chief Development Officer – $178,744.00
• John Applegate – Association Finance Officer – $118.726.00
• David Moses – Director of Planned Giving – $112,509.00
• Carrie Munk – Chief Communications and Marketing Officer – $142,875.00
• Patrick Wildman – Director of Public Policy – $112,358.00
• Kathi Kromer – Director of State Advocacy – $110,661.00

Total administration costs, as seen in the pie chart above, were just under $2 million. “Other salaries and wages” (Part IX line 7) were $3.6 million, with another half million dollars in “pension plans” and “employee benefits.” Expenses for non-employee labor were about $4 million, and “travel expenses” exceeded $1.3 million.

So total costs for labor to run the association was around $12.5 million, from revenues received totaling $24 million.

Over 50% of what the ALS Association receives appears to support salaries of people working for the Association, based on these tax returns.

So what about the rest of the revenue?

Almost $1 million was spent on “Lobbying” (Schedule C Part II 2a). Here is what they wrote concerning their Lobbying efforts:

Explanation: The purpose of our advocacy program is to sensitize legislators to, and obtain their sympathy for, the plight of ALS victims, patients and their families, and to influence legislation regarding the appropriation of federal funds for ALS research and the use and cost to patients of “orphan” drugs.

The largest amount of what is remaining is: “Grants and other assistance to governments and organizations in the United States” (Part IX line 1) – $6.2 million. This amount is itemized on Schedule 1. Almost all of these recipients are medical schools, with strong ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

The ALS Association was started in 1985, and they still have not invested in any new cures for ALS. One of the latest failures was Biogen’s drug dexpramipexole, which halted research in early 2013. The drug was in research for more than 10 years at an estimated cost of between $75 million and $100 million, but was abandoned in last stage development due to poor results.

If You Are Pro-life, You Are Supporting Research in Stem-Cells from Aborted Fetuses for ALS

The ALS Foundation’s primary work in “research” is in the development of new pharmaceutical drugs, and that includes stem cell research. Here is one study where they have been listed as a sponsor: A Phase I, Open-label, First-in-human Feasibility and Safety Study of Human Spinal Cord derived Neural Stem Cell Transplantation for the Treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Quote:

These stem cells have been engineered from the spinal cord of a single fetus electively aborted after eight weeks of gestation. The tissue was obtained with the mother’s consent. 

When we make a contribution to a charity, typically we want to know that the particular charity reflects our own values, so this will be important information for many people.

Are There non-Drug Alternatives for ALS Treatment?

Yes! However, you are not likely to read anything about this from a non-profit charitable organization supporting the pharmaceutical industry. We have previously reported the story of Clarence and his experience in using coconut oil: Coconut Oil Reverses Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Coconut oil can be used in a strict ketogenic diet that has been shown to be successful in treating Alzheimer’s 

disease, Parkinson’s, diabetes, and cancer. among others. The principles of the ketogenic diet are completely different from the philosophy that the pharmaceutical companies start from in their research, where the assumption is that ALS is a “genetic disease.” Most of the current research on fighting disease with a ketogenic diet starts out with the assumption that modern diseases are primarily metabolic, and not genetic, caused by such things as poor diet, toxins in our food and environment, etc.

Another non-drug approach currently seeing success with those suffering from ALS is the Deanna Protocol. This nutritional protocol has seen great success among many users, but I could find no information on any research being done on it by the ALS Association, sadly.

Charities and fun activities like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge can often give us a feeling of contributing to something very helpful and worthwhile, but it is always wise to research any charity first. Examining their tax returns is one good way to find out where their money is actually being spent.

excerpted from http://healthydebates.com/als-ice-bucket-challenge-know-supporting/

Democratic Party takes Rick Perry out of the 2016 Presidential Run

Make no mistake this circus surrounding governor Rick Perry of Texas has Zero to do with upholding the law and EVERYTHING to do with keeping a viable Republican out of the 2016 Presidential Race.

The catalyst for the Rick Perry indictment was the drunk driving arrest of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. Lehmberg headed the Texas Public Integrity Unit, an in-house political watch dog entity.  Following her conviction, which included video of embarrassing behavior at the time of her arrest, Governor Perry demanded Lehmberg resign her position.  Nearly ALL Texans supported this request, thinking a woman caught on tape drunk and acting abusively toward law enforcement, was not an appropriate figure to be heading the Texas Public Integrity Unit.

Travis County is controlled by the state Democratic Party machine though, and party leaders refused the governor’s request, and allowed Lehmberg to continue serving following her brief jail sentence.  If Rosemary Lehmber was a heterosexual, Republican Christian do you really think she would have been allowed to stay in office?  No way!  However, since she is a 400lb Democrat who also happens to be a hard core lesbian she is allowed to flaunt the legal system.  

It seems we are swiftly moving into a new Fascist state where homosexuals and liberals are the new ruling class, and by the lack of outcry, it seems they are also above the law. 

Governor Perry in turn (legally) utilized his veto powers to withhold funding of Lehmberg’s department, thinking it unwise to send the peoples’ money to a “Public Integrity” office being run by a woman convicted of driving with an alcohol level THREE TIMES the legal limit who then used her position as a district attorney to threaten to end the law enforcement careers of those who arrested her.

The “Public Integrity” office is nothing more then the enforcement arm of the Texas state Democratic Party.  The sole focus of the  “Public Integrity” office is Republicans.  The “Public Integrity” office's agenda is to keep the Republicans from power and office. 

The charges are all smoke and shadow...there are no legal basis for the charges.  The thing about grand juries is that if you stack them the right way; you can get a grand jury to indict a HAM sandwich.   The grand jury which indicted Governor Rick perry was created and controlled by the Travis County Democrat Party.  

The entire charade is about taking a serious contender for the 2016 Republican nominations and branding him a criminal.  Even, when Rick Perry is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt innocent, the liberal press now has something to pin on, and hound Rick Perry with, for the foreseeable future.  This dog and pony show will be the lead in for every liberal new cast when they speak of Rick Perry for the 2016 Presidential run.  This whole indictment is an egregious trespass of justice. These are the types of politics that were used in Communist Russia during the Stalin era.  

Speaking of Stalin, wouldn't you know it, Ole' Georgie Soros has his money and influence controlling the fake semi-Communist organization called Texans for Public Justice.  This phony facade  bought and paid for by Ole' Georgie Sorros is nothing more then foreign interests meddling in Domestic politics, specifically Texas politics.  

What you are seeing in TEXAS is international BANKING  interests trying to break the back of America's heartland.  If filthy corrupt, foreign influences like Ole' Gerogie Sorros (Who is NOT an American) and his COMRADES are allowed to dictate honest political discourse in the American Heartland then all is lost.   REAL TRUE Americans must fight back or Ole' Gerogie Sorros and parasites like him will continue to gut America's economy till there  is nothing left, but indentured servitude to foreign BANKING interests.   

If TEXANS do not stand up for Rick Perry, then what they will get is a horde of FAT, entitled, lazy, foreign influenced, homosexual pandering, illegal alien supporting, military hating, anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-white, pro-feminists, male hating, parasitic politicians who will make it their life's calling to dismantle the American Dream...

One hard working, tax paying, law abiding, GOD Fearing, Texan at a time...

The US Government has ZERO problem with Killing it's Citizens

 

During Prohibition  in an effort to scare people away from drinking alcohol, the American government oncepoisoned certain alcohol supplies; this resulted in the death of over 10,000 American Citizens.

This, of course, was during Prohibition. The government became frustrated with the fact that despite the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol being banned, the number of people drinking alcoholic beverages was markedly higher than it was before Prohibition. So to try to get people to stop drinking, the government decided to try a scare tactic.

One way bootleggers of this time made alcoholic beverages was to use denatured, industrial alcohol as the base. Denaturing the alcohol is simply a process to make it undrinkable, usually by adding something that makes it taste or smell disgusting or will induce vomiting. This was originally done (and is still done to this day) in order to allow companies to get around having to pay the high taxes associated with the manufacturing and sale of alcohol meant to be drunk. Alcohol used industrially, for non-beverage applications, are denatured and thus, they don't have to pay these taxes and so it is significantly cheaper, gallon for gallon. Without this tax break, literally thousands of industrial products would become drastically more expensive than they currently are.

During prohibition, this denatured alcohol was often stolen from companies that made industrial alcohol used in various paints and solvents and the like. The bootleggers would then have their own chemists whose job it was to make the alcohol palatable again, basically undoing the denaturing process or to "renature" the alcohol.

 

With an estimated 60 million gallons of industrial alcohol stolen annually in the 1920s to be later renatured and sold as drinkable alcohol, the government, under President Coolidge, decided to up the stakes and make some of the denaturing formulas lethal, instead of just designed to make the alcohol unpalatable. To do this, they'd generally add things like methyl alcohol (the main denaturing chemical at 10% added, even today); other chemicals added are things such as kerosene, brucine, gasoline, benzene, cadmium, formaldehyde, chloroform, carbolic acid, acetone, and many others that were difficult for the bootlegger's chemists to get out when they'd renature the alcohol.

After the first 100 or so people died shortly after the new denaturing process was released around Christmas, health officials were outraged and the news media picked up the story as intended. Unfortunately, the government's plan didn't quite work from that point on. It didn't scare people away from drinking and rather had little to no effect on people's consumption of alcohol; instead, the estimates are that it resulted in the deaths of over 10,000 people with a much larger number severely sickened and many blinded by the poisoning.

As New York City's medical examiner Charles Norris stated: "The government knows it is not stopping drinking by putting poison in alcohol. Yet it continues its poisoning processes, heedless of the fact that people determined to drink are daily absorbing that poison. Knowing this to be true, the United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the deaths that poisoned liquor causes, although it cannot be held legally responsible." (Chuck Norris fighting the man even back then) 

People at the time, though, were split on the poisoning program, even with the deaths that were happening because of it. One side felt that the people who were drinking the illegal alcohol got what they deserved, particularly because they knew the risks and broke the law anyways; the other side felt it was a national experiment on exterminating members of society that the government felt were undesirable as American citizens. As one Chicago Tribune article in 1927 stated: "Normally, no American government would engage in such business. … It is only in the curious fanaticism of Prohibition that any means, however barbarous, are considered justified."

The United States government knew full well that people would be drinking this poisoned alcohol and they hoped the deaths that resulted from this would scare other people away from drinking. Further, when it was clear that it wasn't scaring anyone away from drinking and literally thousands were dying per year with significantly more than that severely sickened, they kept the program going anyways, though it was hotly debated in Congress.

So next time you start thinking the U.S. government would NEVER do something so evil as assassinate their own citizens.  Think again!  

excerpted from http://gizmodo.com/

I Personally Witnessed the FAKE Giffords shooting

I was a direct witness to the Gabrielle Giffords shooting in January of 2011. My mom lived in Tucson, and she would send me to that Safeway. What I witnessed was a crazy kid letting a gun fire off like crazy....but...there were no bullet holes in anything. Not even a dent. Not a scratch.

The Gifford shooting looked like a cheaply directed play. Everyone was in their positions and everyone acted out a predetermined function.  I was there, I witnessed it first hand and I can say without a doubt that the entire scene was a setup.  There was no surprise on anyone face when the fake shooter began to shooting.  Everyone moved mechanically and stiffly, like they had rehearsed it one to many times.    The whole thing stinks.

Connecticut Supreme Court Betrays the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution

 

Connecticut's Supreme Courts recent ruling is a direct violation of the 4th Amendment to the US Constitution.   It involves every Connecticut citizens' civil liberties, which have now been thrown under a bus bearing the name "officer safety."  Now, it seems that  the people of Connecticut are less important then the police officers of Connecticut.   

The Connecticut's Supreme Court's decision makes everyone a suspect.   You are NOW a criminal if you are in the relative proximity of someone a police officer suspects of committing a crime.  It goes even more draconian, if you are even walking down the same street as someone who MIGHT possibly match the description, you are NOW a criminal.

So, if you are walking to the store to by milk and the police see someone who might match a description of a criminal, they can now arrest you, detain, you, search you, all because you were on the same street as someone who might match a description of a criminal. 

This is a clear and present danger to the civil liberties of all the citizens in Connecticut.  This is an egregious violation of the 4th Amendment to he United States Constitution. 

 

This means that Police Officers are now a superior class of citizens which the US Constitution does not apply.   The right of the people to UNREASONABLE search and seizure is clearly violated by The Connecticut's Supreme Court's decision to allow police to violate the 4th Amendment at will and with ZERO consequences.

What about the right of the people to not live in a Fascist state. What about the right of the people to live their lives free from the tyranny of warrantless searches.  This now makes EVERYONE in Connecticut a criminal.  Anyone whom the police decides is a criminal is NOW a criminal and they no longer have the protection of the 4th amendment.  Because officer safety trumps the United State Constitutional protection. 

 
The police can NOW target the wrong person and sweep up anyone who happens to be in the vicinity and will be immune from the consequences. 

In essence, the court gives police the ability, if not the actual right, to detain anyone at anytime for no reason at all.

 

If you read between the lines....the ruling says...

"The machine of the STATE is above the law which governs the people who make up the STATE. The STATE, and those who serve the interests of the STATE are superior to the slaves whom the STATE owns and rules over." 

This is a law enforcement blank check. This, NOW allows police to use spurious reasons to detain people they just don't want around 
-- like eyewitnesses and photographers or anyone who can refute the polices version of the story.

 This eliminates the public's right to live their lives unmolested by law enforcement officers. NOW anyone, anywhere, at any time is a criminal. 

Just as troubling is the amount of out right malfeasance in Office the Connecticut's Supreme Court had to engage in to reach this FASCIST decision. Facts are no longer facts. Facts are just something to be made up or discarded at the court's whim.

It is certainly very curious that the Supreme Court would take the extraordinary step of clarifying “factual findings” by the trial court in an effort to support the conviction, when the clear record below – the words said by the judge in open court – would support a reversal…

Where does it stop? Are facts only facts as long as they’re convenient? Are rights only rights as long as they don’t get in the way of governmental authority?

The Connecticut Supreme Court has delivered the public into the hands of a police state. Anyone, anywhere can be detained for absolutely no reason at all, and when they complain or file lawsuits, this ruling will allow officer safety to override all other concerns. If any facts are actually considered, they'll be filtered, forgotten or lost by law enforcement.  

Some info was obtained from http://apublicdefender.com/2014/07/31/guilt-by-association-and-retconning-reality/

If Ebola

The clock is ticking my fellow Americans, 90 people and counting have died gruesome deaths in West Africa's current Ebola outbreak.  The first line workers employed by Doctors Without Borders are labeling this outbreak as "unprecedented."

Ebola is one of the worlds most brutally lethal viruses.  The American Centers for Disease Control which ranks Ebola among anthrax and smallpox as a Category A nightmare of epic proportions.



The 2014 outbreak began in Guinea two months ago, and has since crossed international borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia and now Mali. The known death toll being reported to the public stands at double digits. 
Because Ebola is not airborne, at least as far as current medicine understands, can only be transmitted through direct contact with the blood or body fluid secretions from an infected individual.  on paper, it would seem containment is theoretically simple: identify the infected individuals and immediately quarantine them. The 2014 Ebola outbreak is different then the ones before, because those infected with Ebola are located in urban centers with easy access to cars, buses, and motorcycles.
"This is the first time Ebola is detected in Guinea, this left healthcare workers unaware and unprepared.  Because of this 11 healthcare workers are among those infected.

There is also a large amount of stigma and fear associated with Ebola in Africa.  That attitude could cause patients to seek care in hospitals far away from their local communities, further spreading the disease. "If those hospitals are not aware of what is coming.  Because they are unaware and unprepared these hospitals will become witches cauldrons spreading the virus even faster. Anthropologists are being flown into Guinea alongside health workers to help them contain the outbreak in a "culturally sensitive and appropriate" way.

The 1917 Spanish flu killed 500,000 Americans. At the time the US population hovered at or around 100 million. .  Today, the current population of the United States is over 300 million.  That would be deaths exceeding 1.5 million people, add to that, another 3-5 million infected but not dying. Though, those who survived would have their health severely impacted for the rest of their dramatically shorted life. 

If Ebola makes it to the United States and the CDC does not contain the outbreak, or the infected individual makes it to a major metropolitan city, the costs of being unprepared will be in the hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives. The very fabric of modern day America would quickly fall apart.  Food, water, medical supplies, ammo would become scarce in a matter of days.  

The secondary costs of an Ebola outbreak on United States soil would be the declaration of Martial Law.  The US Constitution would be suspended.  Freedom and Liberty would be foolishly given up by the panicked American people in the desperate hope that the government would some how save them.  The truth is the government will only be concerned with saving the politicians, military and those essential to serving the government and keep it well fed and stocked with supplies.   The American people would be last on the list of who is important and who deserves limited supplies. 

The time to get prepared is NOW!  Not when people are coughing and sneezing and bleeding in public.  Put food and medical supplies away now while they are readily available.  IF nothing comes of the 2014 Ebola outbreak then you now don't have to go shopping for a while.  Remember the Boyscout motto..."Be Prepared"

The time to get prepared is NOW!  Not when people are coughing and sneezing and bleeding in public.  Put food and medical supplies away now while they are readily available.  IF nothing comes of the 2014 Ebola outbreak then you now don't have to go shopping for a while.  

Remember the Boyscout motto...

"Be Prepared"

The Model State Emergency Health Powers Act

 

In response to the tragedy of September 11, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced its strong desire for national legislation.

Drafted for the Centers for Disease Control by lawyers from the Center for Law and the Public's Health at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Universities, the so-called Model State Emergency Health Powers Act was released on October 23, 2001.

This draconian legislation was proposed as a means to help states protect citizens against bioterrorist attacks, as well as, deal with national defense issues.  The actual bill goes much, much further. It calls for giving state public health officials sweeping new police powers.  The legislation defines "infectious disease" as " Any disease caused by a living organism." 

This allows those in power to declare ANYTHING an infectious disease.  It is basically another way to back door Marital Law.   
 
As drafted, the October 23, 2001, proposal stresses that "an infectious disease may or may not be transmissible from person to person, animal to person or insect to person." Thus, any disease caused by a living organism could be classified as an infectious disease creating or invoking a public health emergency. Under the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act, upon the declaration of a "public health emergency," governors and public health officials would be empowered to:

1. Force individuals suspected of harboring an "infectious disease" to undergo medical examinations.
2. Track and share an individual's personal health information, including genetic information.
3. Force persons to be vaccinated, treated, or quarantined for infectious diseases.
4. Mandate that all health care providers report all cases of persons who harbor any illness or health condition that may be caused by an epidemic or an infectious agent and might pose a "substantial risk" to a "significant number of people or cause a long-term disability." (Note: Neither "substantial risk" nor "significant number" are defined in the draft.)
5. Force pharmacists to report any unusual or any increased prescription rates that may be caused by epidemic diseases.
6. Preempt existing state laws, rules and regulations, including those relating to privacy, medical licensure, and--this is key--property rights.
7. Control public and private property during a public health emergency, including pharmaceutical manufacturing plants, nursing homes, other health care facilities, and communications devices.
8. Mobilize all or any part of the "organized militia into service to the state to help enforce the state's orders."
9. Ration firearms, explosives, food, fuel and alcoholic beverages, among other commodities.
10. Impose fines and penalties to enforce their orders.

The American Legislative Exchange Council and other FREEDOM minded groups immediately began tracking on how such legislation WILL affect citizen's individual freedoms and property rights. Not surprisingly, it is FREEDOM minded, Constitution supporting 2nd Amendment supporters who were some of the strongest and most vocal opponents.
 

Consequently, a revised model bill was released on December 21, 2001. Both models--which the states are using in formulating legislation--are on line at www.publichealthlaw.net.

In an attempt to make the October draft appear less authoritarian, several words were changed in the December draft. For example, the revised language calls for "protecting" persons rather than "controlling" persons during a public health emergency. It says that the state would "manage" private property rather than "control" private property during a public health emergency. It also removes any direct mention of rationing firearms or alcoholic beverages but still retains the right to ration "commodities. " So, they made it very vague, which allows those in power to take, restrict, seize, or control the sale or distribution of weapons, alcohol, food, supplies, medicine, etc.

Furthermore, the revised language incorporates powers over medical licensing laws. Thus, health care facilities, doctors, and other providers will have to abide by added licensure requirements during a public health emergency to maintain or guarantee their right to practice medicine or run a health care business.

A DENIAL OF CONSCIENCE

How this medical licensure clause would affect doctors' freedom of conscience--and medical freedom for us all--must be scrutinized.

The state of Maryland's draft bill--one of the worst in the country, in my opinion--includes this language: "If the health care practitioner fails to comply with an order, regulation or directive, the secretary may request the appropriate licensing board to take disciplinary action against the health care practitioner." It goes on to authorize the imposition of fines of up to $10,000 for each offense.

What does this mean for Christians in the workplace?

It means that any doctor, who might be opposed to abortion, would be forced by law during a public health emergency to administer a vaccine derived from ABORTED fetal tissue. This legislation clearly infringes on doctors' and other health care providers' freedom of conscience.

Second, it means each of us as individuals is affected. Patients would not be able to refuse these treatments. That means those in power can have you dragged from your home and forced vaccinated.  It means that your neighborhood could be surrounded and quarantined. You would not be allowed to exit your home and if you did, you would run the risk of being shoot. Because, according to this new law you would be judged as a Domestic terrorists who was willingly trying to spread a "Infectious disease."

Again...This legislation is back door Martial Law.

 

Some of the Info for this article was taken from http://www.heritage.org/research/lecture/the-model-state-emergency-health-powers-act

Unsung Heros

Sheik Umar Khan, a virologist, has just been diagnosed with the Ebola virus He has treated more than 100 patients with the deadly disease and was admitted earlier this week to a high containment treatment facility, according to a statement released on Tuesday by the government. A source inside the ward told Reuters that the doctor is receiving treatment, though no details were given on his current state of health.

Health Minister Miatta Kargbo called Khan a "national hero" and said she would "do anything and everything in my power to ensure he survives," Reuters reports.

Khan, 39 years old, is one of many health care workers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone who has contracted the disease as a result of firsthand involvement. Though health workers in the region are required to be thoroughly covered in protective gear, many who are tending to the ill have contracted the virus. A BBC reporter at a clinic in Freetown in Sierra Leone said dozens of nurses at a government hospital went on strike on Monday after three health care works died from suspected Ebola infections.

 n June, Khan told Reuters that he had installed a mirror in his office at the clinic in Kenema so he could check to be sure there weren't any holes in the back of his protective gear before he entered the treatment facility to care for patients. "I am afraid for my life, I must say, because I cherish my life," he told the reporter from Reuters. "Health workers are prone to the disease because we are the first port of call for somebody who is sickened by disease. Even with the full protective clothing you put on, you are at risk."

As of July 12, there have been 964 incidences of Ebola and 603 deaths due virus in this area of West Africa since the outbreak first emerged in February, according to the World Health Organization. The virus has maintained a stronghold on the region because of the insufficient borders that separate the three countries. Experts say this current outbreak is the largest in the history.

There are very few people who can properly be called heroes.  Sheik Umar Khan and the first line nurses in Sierra Leone are the rare shinning lights of humanity who when mortal danger presents itself they place their lives on the line to assure the safety of others.  The Ebola is a virus which has a 90 percent kill rate, meaning if you contract the virus you will, in all likelihood die a horrible death.

I personally hope and pray that Sheik Umar Khan and the rest of the first line healthcare workers who are defending the rest of humanity survive this terrible virus. I would also ask my fellow Americans to donate what ever they can spare to the refile effort under way in Sierra Leone.  May Almighty GOD see the brave souls afflicted with this horrible disease safely through their dark night.  I also pray that GOD have mercy on the rest of us, because if just one of those infected with Ebola made it to a major metropolitan city the whole world could be next...  

Here is how to donate and help those on the front lines: 

http://www.directrelief.org/2014/07/ebola-outbreak-emergency-supplies-headed-to-sierra-leone/

Letter from Gaza by a Norwegian Doctor

 

To America: 

The last night was extreme. The "ground invasion" of Gaza resulted in scores and carloads with maimed, torn apart, bleeding, shivering, dying - all sorts of injured Palestinians, all ages, all civilians, all innocent.

The heroes in the ambulances and in all of Gaza's hospitals are working 12-24 hour shifts, grey from fatigue and inhuman workloads (without payment all in Shifa for the last 4 months), they care, triage, try to understand the incomprehensible chaos of bodies, sizes, limbs, walking, not walking, breathing, not breathing, bleeding, not bleeding humans. HUMANS! 

Now, once more treated like animals by "the most moral army in the world!"

My respect for the wounded is endless, in their contained determination in the midst of pain, agony and shock; my admiration for the staff and volunteers is endless, my closeness to the Palestinian "sumud" gives me strength, although in glimpses I just want to scream, hold someone tight, cry, smell the skin and hair of the warm child, covered in blood, protect ourselves in an endless embrace - but we cannot afford that, nor can they.

Ashy grey faces - Oh NO! Not one more load of tens of maimed and bleeding, we still have lakes of blood on the floor in the ER, piles of dripping, blood-soaked bandages to clear out - oh - the cleaners, everywhere, swiftly shovelling the blood and discarded tissues, hair, clothes,cannulas - the leftovers from death - all taken away ... to be prepared again, to be repeated all over. More then 100 cases came to Shifa in the last 24 hrs. Enough for a large well trained hospital with everything, but here - almost nothing: no electricity, water, disposables, drugs, OR-tables, instruments, monitors - all rusted and as if taken from museums of yesterday's hospitals. But they do not complain, these heroes. They get on with it, like warriors, head on, enormously resolute.


And as I write these words to you, alone, on a bed, my tears flow, the warm but useless tears of pain and grief, of anger and fear. This is not happening!

An then, just now, the orchestra of the Israeli war-machine starts its gruesome symphony again, just now: salvos of artillery from the navy boats just down on the shores, the roaring F16, the sickening drones (Arabic 'Zennanis', the hummers), and the cluttering Apaches. So much made in and paid by the US.

Mr. Obama - do you have a heart?

I invite you - spend one night - just one night - with us in Shifa. Disguised as a cleaner, maybe.

I am convinced, 100%, it would change history.

Nobody with a heart AND power could ever walk away from a night in Shifa without being determined to end the slaughter of the Palestinian people.

But the heartless and merciless have done their calculations and planned another "dahyia" onslaught on Gaza.

The rivers of blood will keep running the coming night. I can hear they have tuned their instruments of death.

Please. Do what you can. This, THIS cannot continue.
Mads Gilbert MD PhD
Professor and Clinical Head
Clinic of Emergency Medicine
University Hospital of North Norway

I am PRO-ISRAEL and on this day Israel is WRONG

This is the face of a father who has just had all 4 of his children murdered by Israel gun boats.   Their crime?  Playing soccer on the GAZA beach.

Those who carry the water of MURDERS had this to say...

An excerpt from, “Boys Drawn to Gaza Beach, and Into Center of Mideast Strife” by Anne Barnard, The New York Times, July 16:

The four Bakr boys were young cousins, the children of Gaza fishermen who had ordered them to stay indoors — and especially away from the beach. But cooped up for nine days during Israeli bombardments, the children defied their parents and went out Wednesday afternoon, the eldest shooing away his little brother, telling him it was too dangerous.

As they played on and around a jetty in the late-afternoon sun, a blast hit a nearby shack. One boy was killed instantly. The others ran. There was a second blast, and three more bodies littered the sand. One was charred, missing a leg, and another lay motionless, his curly head intact, his legs splayed at unnatural angles.

The Israeli military acknowledged later that it had launched the strike, which it said was aimed at Hamas militants, and called the civilian deaths “a tragic outcome.”

From America:

To Anne Barnard:

  " Go to Hell, you callous BITCH !"

 How dare you blame children who were simply trying to play a child's game to avert their eyes from the madness all around them.  Did AIPAC - The American Israel Public Affairs Committee pay you enough silver for your the sale of your Soul?  Who in the FUCK do you think you are to degrade the death of Children by blood thirsty warmongers with the phrase..."They defied their parents..."  GOD forbid Israel's children are not judged in such a harsh manner.  To play Soccer should not be a death sentance in ANY WORLD!

So, to recap my thoughts... 

Anne Barnard...Look in the mirror and try and remember that regardless of anyone's nationality...We are ALL one family, one world, one Species.  When, 4 children from one family are murdered for simply being children, playing a child's game on a beach, the whole world suffers!"

                                                    Bobby Anding 

United Police States of America

Using the broad powers granted under the USA PATRIOT Act, the FBI demanded that 4 librarians produce private information about library patrons’ reading habits, then used an endless gag order to force them to remain silent about the request for the rest of their lives under penalty of prison time.
In July 2005, two FBI agents came to the office of the Library Connection, located in Windsor, Connecticut.  The Library Connection is a nonprofit co-op of library databases that arranges record-sharing between 27 different libraries.  It facilitates book rental tracking and other services.

 

The FBI handed Library Connection’s executive director George Christian a document which demanded that he produce “any and all subscriber information, billing information and access logs of any person or entity” that had used library computers between 4:00 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. on February 15, 2005, in any of the 27 libraries whose computer systems were managed by the Library Connection.
The FBI was demanding that the library hand over private data on library patrons en masse “to protect against international terrorism.”

The document that Mr. Christian was given was a so-called National Security Letter (NSL), a type of administrative subpoena for personal information — self-written by the FBI without any probable cause or judicial oversight.  The legal framework for these powerful NSLs was established by Section 505 of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001.

What’s more, Mr. Christian was placed under a perpetual gag order.  The NSL prohibited the recipient “from disclosing to any person that the F.B.I. has sought or obtained access to information or records under these provisions.”  The gag order was broad enough that it was a crime to discuss the matter to any other person — for life.  The USA PATRIOT Act allows for this suppression of speech, and issues a punishment of up to 5 years in prison for anyone caught violating the endless gag order.

When Mr. Christian received the NSL, he was unsure about whether or not he could even consult a lawyer or his board of directors.  Technically, the gag order did indeed prevent any such discussion.
The only reason we know about this case today is because Mr. Christian and 3 other library board members fought back in court.   The other librarians involved were Barbara Bailey, president of the Library Connection; Peter Chase, vice president of the Library Connection; and Jan Nocek, secretary of the Library Connection.

The ACLU took up their cause and challenged the validity of the gag order in court.  The librarians became known as the Connecticut Four, but could not individually identified for many months.  In suing U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, they could only be named “John Doe” and were required to remain in silence about the case under threat of prison time.



 The case was known as Doe v. Gonzales.
The lawsuit stated that the Library Connection “strictly guards the confidentiality and privacy of its library and Internet records, and believes it should not be forced to disclose such records without a showing of compelling need and approval by a judge.”

The four librarians under the gag order were not allowed to communicate with each other by phone or email, and were not even allowed to tell their own families about the case.
In fact, the librarians were even barred from attending the court hearings on the very precedent-setting lawsuit with which they were involved.

The Case stated by Mr. Christian :

When we first sued the Attorney General, I told our attorneys I’d like to be in the courtroom. After all, I’m the plaintiff. And they said no. They had talked to the judge. That would not be allowed, because then our identity could be guessed. But the judge did allow us to go to a courtroom in Hartford, sixty miles away, where we were locked in a room with a security guard and able to watch our case on a monitor. But as the plaintiffs, we were not allowed in the courtroom.

…The release of our identity would be considered a national security threat, because, they reasoned then, whoever they were interested in would realize that the FBI was closing in, although, with twenty-six libraries, I doubt they could really make that a case.   We did get to attend the appellate court, along with Nick Merrill. We didn’t know at that time whether Nick was a male or a female. We were instructed to enter the courtroom in New York independently, to enter the building independently, not to sit with each other, not to have eye contact, not to have eye contact with our attorneys. But at least we could participate in the audience and watch our case being argued.

“Our presence in the courtroom was declared a threat to national security,” Mr. Chase related.
The gag served to legally prevent Mr. Christian from personally testifying before Congress about the effects of the USA PATRIOT Act before the law’s reauthorization in March of 2006.   It passed through Congress easily and was signed once again by President George W. Bush.

Appellate judges were clearly disturbed by the breadth of the NSL gag provisions.  One appellate judge wrote, “A ban on speech and a shroud of secrecy in perpetuity are antithetical to democratic concepts and do not fit comfortably with the fundamental rights guaranteed American citizens… Unending secrecy of actions taken by government officials may also serve as a cover for possible official misconduct and/or incompetence.”

Sensing a potential legal defeat, the government took the steps necessary to preserve its powers.  Only a few weeks after the USA PATRIOT Act was renewed, the FBI abandoned the Library Connection case and voluntarily lifted the librarians’ gag order.  This eliminated the possibility that the NSL provisions could be struck down in court, protecting the USA PATRIOT Act from further judicial scrutiny.  In May 2006, the four librarians broke their silence at last.

“As a librarian, I believe it is my duty and responsibility to speak out about any infringement to the intellectual freedom of library patrons,” said Mr. Chase. “But until today, my own government prevented me from fulfilling that duty.”

“By withdrawing the gag order before the court had made a decision, they withdrew the case from scrutiny,” Mr. Chase said.

Ms. Nocek described the dilemma to a reporter: “Imagine the government came to you with an order demanding that you compromise your professional and personal principles. Imagine then being permanently gagged from speaking to your friends, your family or your colleagues about this wrenching experience… Under the Patriot Act, the FBI demanded internet and library records without showing any evidence or suspicion of wrongdoing to a court of law. We were barred from speaking to anyone about the matter and we were even taking a risk by consulting with lawyers.”


“The fact that the government can and is eavesdropping on patrons in libraries has a chilling effect,” said Mr. Christian, “because they really don’t know if Big Brother is looking over their shoulder.”
“While the government’s real motives in this case have been questionable from the beginning,” said Ann Beeson, Associate Legal Director of the ACLU, “their decision to back down is a victory not just for librarians but for all Americans who value their privacy.”

The ACLU is WRONG....It wasn't a victory, it was a defeat for all Americans...BECAUSE if it had be adjudicated in a US Court and found to be unconstitutional the NSL provisions could be struck down in court thus protecting all AMERICANS from the Draconian USA PATRIOT Act. 

The FBI won their victory by keeping the NSL Letter from becoming illegal.

.

The End Goal of the NSA is Total Population Control

William Binney is one of the highest-level whistleblowers to ever emerge from the NSA. He was a leading code-breaker against the Soviet Union during the Cold War but resigned soon after September 11, disgusted by Washington’s move towards mass surveillance.

On 5 July he spoke at a conference in London organised by the Centre for Investigative Journalism and revealed the extent of the surveillance programs unleashed by the Bush and Obama administrations.
“At least 80% of fibre-optic cables globally go via the US”, Binney said. “This is no accident and allows the US to view all communication coming in. At least 80% of all audio calls, not just metadata, are recorded and stored in the US. The NSA lies about what it stores.”

The NSA will soon be able to collect 966 exabytes a year, the total of internet traffic annually..

Binney, who featured in a 2012 short film by Oscar-nominated US film-maker Laura Poitras, described a future where surveillance is ubiquitous and government intrusion unlimited.

“The ultimate goal of the NSA is total population control."  Total thought surveillance, complete domination of all human behavior and action. This is the world the NSA and their ilk desire.  

Question: 

What happens when those at the NSA no longer listen to those who pay their salaries?

What happens when the NSA has secrects on EVERYONE?

Who will actually have the power to say to the NSA NO!

How in the world will ANYONE even know if the NSA is compliant?

Short of a Russian air assault and armored Tank division who has the audacity to take on the NSA head on? 

What American politician has the fortitude, vigor, or most necessary BALLS to stand up to the NSA and say..."We will no longer bow to your fear mongering  Senator McCarthy."

He praised the revelations and bravery of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and has stated that he had indirect contact with a number of other NSA employees who felt disgusted with the agency’s work. They’re keen to speak out but fear retribution and exile, not unlike Snowden himself, who is likely to remain there for some time.

Unlike Snowden, Binney didn’t take any documents with him when he left the NSA. He now says that hard evidence of illegal spying would have been invaluable. The latest Snowden leaks, featured in the Washington Post, detail private conversations of average Americans with no connection to extremism.

It shows that the NSA is not just pursuing terrorism, as it claims, but ordinary citizens going about their daily communications. “The NSA is mass-collecting on everyone”, Binney said, “and it’s said to be about terrorism but inside the US it has stopped zero attacks.”

The lack of official oversight is one of Binney’s key concerns, particularly of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (Fisa), which is held out by NSA defenders as a sign of the surveillance scheme's constitutionality.

“The Fisa court has only the government’s point of view”, he argued. “There are no other views for the judges to consider. There have been at least 15-20 trillion constitutional violations for US domestic audiences and you can double that globally.”

A Fisa court in 2010 allowed the NSA to spy on 193 countries around the world, plus the World Bank, though there’s evidence that even the nations the US isn’t supposed to monitor – Five Eyes allies Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – aren’t immune from being spied on. It’s why encryption is today so essential to transmit information safely.

Binney recently told the German NSA inquiry committee that his former employer had a “totalitarian mentality” that was the "greatest threat" to US society since that country’s US Civil War in the 19th century. Despite this remarkable power, Binney still mocked the NSA’s failures, including missing this year’s Russian intervention in Ukraine and the Islamic State’s take-over of Iraq.



 One of Europe’s leading web creators, Lena Thiele, presented her stunning series Netwars in London on the threat of cyber warfare. She showed how easy it is for governments and corporations to capture our personal information without us even realising.

Thiele said that the US budget for cyber security was US$67 billion in 2013 and will double by 2016. Much of this money is wasted and doesn't protect online infrastructure. This fact doesn’t worry the multinationals making a killing from the gross exaggeration of fear that permeates the public domain.
Wikileaks understands this reality better than most. Founder Julian Assange and investigative editor Sarah Harrison both remain in legal limbo. I spent time with Assange in his current home at the Ecuadorian embassy in London last week, where he continues to work, release leaks, and fight various legal battles. He hopes to resolve his predicament soon.