UPDATED Best Article About Texas Ebola Outbreak as of 10/1/14: 5 Dallas Students Possibly Exposed to Ebola - kcentv.com - KCEN HD

As we had surmised, this gentleman is not an American, but is a Liberian national, who was in the US for 8 full days before the hospital decided to quarantine him:

"Mai Wureh says her brother, Thomas Eric Duncan, went to a Dallas emergency room on Friday and they sent him home with antibiotics. She says he said hospital officials asked for his Social Security number and he said that he didn't have one because he was visiting from Liberia."

As of end-of-day on Oct 1st, no one official has bothered to contact the manager or other tenants of the apartment complex where he has been staying, according to KCEN:

"The patient who was diagnosed with the Ebola virus was staying at a northeast Dallas apartment complex, according to a Dallas police spokesman.

Lt. Joel Lavender confirmed the patient was transported from the Ivy Apartments to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas on September 28.

Residents and the manager at the complex said no one from the CDC or health department have contacted them."

The Dallas Liberian community are very concerned, and say they do not trust the CDC, who have since only quarantined a single person out of all the people - including children who attended 5 different Dallas schools - that Mr Duncan has had contact with since his arrival in the States on Sept 20th:

"Stanley Gaye, president of the Liberian Community Association of Dallas-Fort Worth, said the 10,000-strong Liberian population in North Texas is skeptical of the CDC's assurances because Ebola has ravaged their country.
"We've been telling people to try to stay away from social gatherings," Gaye said at a community meeting Tuesday evening. Large get-togethers are a prominent part of Liberian culture."

By the way, KCENTV and WFAA are good local sources for information about this. The national news outlets are still heavily censoring information and details. Read the rest of the article here:

Miles: 5 Dallas Students Possibly Exposed to Ebola - kcentv.com - KCEN HD - Waco, Temple, and Killeen


UPDATED:  It gets worse, in the sense of our Federal government failing to do due diligence to protect Americans:  Mr Duncan was deliberately trying to escape Liberia. His  landlord's brother died of Ebola a week before Duncan quit his job as a taxi driver in Liberia and came to the US to "visit relatives" on Sept 20. He became ill on Sept 24th. He went to the ER on Sept 26th. He was then at his family's apartment for two more days before being taken by ambulance back to the hospital on Sept 28th. From an NBC News article:

"Four days before he flew to Dallas to visit family members, cargo driver Thomas Eric Duncan helped his landlords take their 19-year-old daughter, Marthalene Williams, to a clinic that was so crowded with Ebola patients that it turned her away, The New York Times reported. The family, which had tried and failed to get an ambulance, took the convulsing woman back home, where she died hours later. "He was holding her by the legs," a neighbor told the newspaper.

"Williams' brother, who was also in the taxi, started getting symptoms a week ago and quickly died, the family told the Times. Three other women from the same area also got sick at the same time. By then, Duncan was already gone from Liberia.

"After quitting his job on Sept. 4, Duncan left Monrovia on a Sept. 19 flight and arrived in the U.S. the next day. He started showing symptoms Sept. 24 and went to a Dallas hospital for treatment Sept. 26. He was sent home, only to be brought back by ambulance on Sept. 28 and diagnosed with the deadly virus."

So far, none of the people exposed to Ebola by Mr Duncan have been quarantined. The 5 schoolchildren were sent home from school but are not under quarantine.  The hospital has "dedicated a whole ward" to Mr Duncan's quarantine, but has not bothered to quarantine any of the people he exposed:

 "Dr. Zachary Thompson, director of the county health department, told NBC News late Wednesday that he wouldn't be "shocked" if a second case of Ebola were to emerge among those being monitored. But "there has not been any indication that any of the contacts that we have been tracking show any signs or symptoms," he said.

"Officials said five students at two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school had had contact with the patient over the weekend. They are being "monitored" at home but are not quarantined."

I guess they are waiting for those people to become ill and expose even more people.  I wonder if they have bothered notifying people at the apartment complex yet?

That is not a "Deadly or Dangerous Weapon", it is an Ordinary Pocket Knife

Well I just have to blurt this out in defense of cutlery and apple peelers everywhere:

Hey Reuters: This man was not "carrying a deadly weapon" - he had a pocketknife in his pocket. The blade was only 3 1/2", about usual size for a Veteran to be carrying. About 1" longer than the first knife a child would have been given for their own at age 6 in any sane society. About 1" longer than the pocketknife in my purse that my grandfather gave me as a little girl. Every man in the State of Texas probably carries a knife like this.

No Omar Gonzales should not have run onto the White House grounds, but it sounds like he has been suffering as a homeless American Veteran, one of many who need help that doesn't rely on psychotropic drugs but instead on real therapy, personal love, and a genuine sense of purpose.  From a better report by Betsy Blaney and Josh Lederman :

" An Iraq war veteran accused of scaling a fence and making it into the White House before the Secret Service stopped him posed no threat to anyone and needs counseling instead of prosecution, members of his family said Sunday.

"Omar Gonzalez, 42, was arrested Friday and is expected in federal court Monday to face charges of unlawfully entering a restricted building or grounds while carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon — a small folding knife in this case.

"Jerry Murphy, whose mother was married to Gonzalez for several years, said Gonzalez suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and that he needs treatment. He said Gonzalez has been driving around the country and living out of his truck for the past couple of years, and that he always carries his knife.

"I know he's got heavy artillery, you know?" Murphy added. "He's got all kinds of weapons and he was trained to use them. I believe if he wanted to make a scene or cause problems, he very well could have. But it's clear that he didn't." "

In fact, the reports also make clear that his intent was not harm, but a misguided need to warn.

Most veterans return to normal life and make the transition, but Mr Gonzales is a War Hero who needs help not prison, and I hope the people prosecuting this event will have the compassion necessary to set him on the right track.

"No Comment" From Me If a Site Uses Discus or Facebook For Blog Comments

Do you like having comments from genuine human people who actually read your blog often?

I'm no longer even going to try to comment on any blog that uses Discus or Facebook to manage their commenting function. My comments on  one site do not need to be viewed by the other participants at some other, unrelated website I might visit a year from now. And my Facebook friends are already overwhelmed with alerts from my posts, they don't need all this too.

And frankly, me and the NSA are the only people who need to have a Collected Works of my comments around the interwebs. 

So I'll still read, and maybe even share, posts on such blogs. But that is why you don't hear a peep from me.

And thank you to those folks that use a commenting software that lets me be myself without pooling my information with every other site I visit.

The Smartest Question of the Day

Abortionist Nancy Pelosi compared lawbreaking illegal aliens to the Children of Israel fleeing Egypt, and now California Governor Brown  urges "the religious call to welcome the stranger".   On Facebook, APIII%er Andrew Wark  asks the smartest question of the day:

 "So where are all the democrats screaming their make believe "law" of 'separation of church and state'?  The silence is deafening."

Tomato Vines Loaded with Green Fruit: Heirloom "Costoluto Genovese"

I have only picked a couple of ripe tomatoes so far, but the vines are all full of green fruit. This variety I grew from seed that I bought from Park Seed. They are called "Costoluto Genovese", an Italian heirloom tomato that is supposed have an intense flavor that makes them good for canning and sauce. I love the lobed shapes on these! 

I planted many different varieties, and in the first planting I had a nice chart of which were where. But after they all froze to death and I had to scurry to replant, I didn't track placement. So until they ripen, it is hard to tell which is which. These Genovese ones are unmistakeable though. 

Ethan's Lone Protest Spreads: Camp Pendleton SATURDAY AM June 7, 2014. Will You Let This Man Stand Alone For What Is Right?

This is a quick post to get the info out onto the net. I will update about the protests and media coverage frequently - please check back, as Google doesn't seem to index changes to post titles. UPDATES at bottom of the post...

Will you stand alone for what is right? You don't need a group, or a plan, or permission. You just need a sign, and the courage to stand. For an hour or a day. Whatever YOU have. Stand.

FIRST: There will be a Lone Protester outside Camp Pendleton's front gate tomorrow morning Saturday 6/7/14 at 0900. Will you let this man stand alone?  Bring your own sign and water. Come stand up for what is right. Stand up for an America that rescues captives and does not pay ransom or tribute - or unlawfully release enemy leaders to return to the field.

If you are on Facebook, please join Ethan's group "America's One Voice" to track the latest developments in real time. Since he opened the group yesterday, it now has 277 members and is growing.

Second, here are some of the news reports of Ethan Arguello's protest.  A massive debt of thanks goes out to Mathew Leber of  American Patriot The III% South Carolina Chapter , who showed up to stand with Ethan, filmed the event (thank heaven, because he caught the altercation when the Sgt Major took Ethan's cover and left with it) and then delivered the footage to local area media this morning.

This one is from Ethan's home area in west Texas, Midland / Odessa's NewsWest 9:
"Soldier Swap for Taliban Members Has Midland Veteran Protesting on East Coast Every Morning"
  There is video and a written story at the link.

This one is from the Savannah GA channel WTOC. The title is misleading as it was not Ethan who "got into an altercation" but see the footage and read the story:

Former Marine gets into altercation while protesting outside of Parris Island

A video report from WTOC:
Former Marine protests soldier swaps

And here is WTOC's story from the Sgt Major's bond hearing on the assault and battery charge:

WTOC Exclusive: Video of Parris Island marine bond hearing

I am sorry for that. The Sgt Major lost his temper - failing to recognize Ethan's peaceful act was standing up for HIM as well as all other active duty -  and did something he should not have done. Ethan had to stand up for himself and for free speech, but I hope this part of this episode will be quickly forgotten. 

~~~~~~~

UPDATE:   Good opinion piece about this on Uncle Sam's Misguided Children:

Parris Island senior Sergeant Major assaults former Drill Instructor

UPDATE 6/6 9:46 PM  Ethan's Lone Protest was picked up by Nashville TN station WSMV TV :
Former Marine protests soldier swap

UPDATE 6/6 10:18 PM  WTOC's original story was picked up by online version of Fox5 affiliate KVVU Las Vegas NV:  Former Marine gets into altercation while protesting outside of Parris Island

The Other Dame Julian: The Mother of Fly Fishing was a 15th Century English Nun

I first read about Dame Juliana Berners a few weeks ago, and I am still enthralled with this quaint little fact from "A Brief History of Fly Fishing":

"The first English book on fly fishing was written by Dame Juliana Berners in 1496: Treatise of Fishing with an Angle, which contained a wealth of practical angling advice and details on equipment. As the Abbess of the Sopwell Priory, Berners cast flies and wrote between prayers. She described the rod as having two parts: a ‘staffe’ or butt, and a ‘croppe’ or top. The butt was made of hazel or rowan, cut between Michaelmas and Candlemas (that is, in the winter), and was six feet long or more."

She also contributed a middle-ages how-to book on hunting, in "The Book of Saint Albans".  For a letterpress printer, it gets better, because the second edition of her Treatise was published by none other than Wynken De Worde, and has never been out of print in 450 years! Here is a link to the full "Treatise on Fishing With An Angle".

Those crazy Medieval nuns! I have always been fond of the eminently quotable  Dame Juliana of Norwich, whose record of her Visions of Divine Love in 1373 remains a breathtaking work of faith in Jesus Christ that inspires to this day. By happenstance, or perhaps the Grace of God, it is also the earliest surviving book written by a woman in English.  I have read her in several translations, and once even started a translation of my own, working from the original Old English.

And now to read about another ordinary soul who surprises and upends our assumptions and the "expert" guesses about the lives of Religious in those so-called dark ages following the Black Death. Something tells me their lives were quite livelier - and perhaps much more like ours - than we have been taught.

Isn't it interesting how different history looks when you let the facts speak for themselves, unpainted with fictional anachronisms or modernised disclaimers.

Something to Remember If You Work In The Oil Fields.....

I lived in West Texas before, during, and after the boom this comment talks about.   Do not believe anyone who tries to tell you that "This time is different", "This time we won't have a bust", "This time this town is big enough to generate money without oil".   In a comment on Belmont Club,  a user by the name of "Charles42" sums up WHY this time is no different than it ever was:

"In 1980 oil was equivalent to about 106@ barrel in current dollars. Reagan took off price controls and eliminated the excise profits tax in 1981. That knocked the price of oil down to $60@barrel in today's dollars. In 1985 he talked the Saudis into increasing their production. That knocked the price of oil in today's dollars down to roughly $30@ barrel in 1989. That falling oil price bankrupted the soviet union and gave the USA a strong eonomy during the 1980's and 90's. The price of oil bottomed in 1999 in today's dollars at 19 dollars a barrel.
The same thing is going to happen 10-15 years from now as fracking increases supply of oil and rising sales of natural gas trains trucks and buses and electric cars curb the demand for oil....."

(Click through the link to read the rest)

Those who are wise will save their money and avoid debt, will live as frugally as is possible in a boom town, and will be very careful about buying real estate at the boom-economy's grossly inflated prices. The oil business is a good business, and there is room for hard workers in it, but work smart, and look out for yourself - and remember that oil is always a boom and bust gamble in the end.

A Prayer for Josie Cunningham: Updated With Rejoicing!

A heart-stopping story of a woman who is so lost that she eagerly seeks attention for her planned murder of an innocent:  http://liveactionnews.org/wannabe-celebrity-josie-cunningham-planning-an-abortion-so-she-can-get-on-a-reality-show/

Father God, please send Your angels to change Josie Cunningham's mind and save her from murdering her baby. Is there a Solomon in her life who can intervene in time? Please send signs and wonders and true friends to open her eyes to the truth, her ears to the sound of true love for the beautiful and lovely person she can be if only she will repent and turn to You.   If in the hardness of her heart she proceeds, please take her little one into Heaven without suffering.  Father, please surround her children with true love from other places, that evil cannot touch or damage them, that they may grow up whole and healthy and know Your blessing of redemption. We ask all this in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who was also threatened as an infant by evil that killed other babies for worldly gain, and Who taught "let the little children come to me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven", in Jesus name we ask for the lives of these little ones, and an intervention to stop this woman from the terrible sin she is planning, that she may have forgiveness and mercy, and the joy of new life in Christ. Amen. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE April 28, 2014:  Thank you Father God for answered prayers. Thank you Lord Jesus that Josie's little one "leapt in her womb", just as Elizabeth's baby John did to greet you when Mary visited during her expectency with You. Please protect and bless this child all of his life. May his life and work be to Your Glory! In Jesus name, Amen!
    From The Mirror, click through to read the whole wonderful article!

 "... Josie travelled to London the night before her appointment but spent frightening ­sleepless hours watching videos of abortions close to the 24-week legal limit.
"She says: “I’d had so many angry tweets from people telling me to look at pictures of foetuses at 18 or 19 weeks and to understand what I was doing.
"“I was so stubborn I just ignored them. But as I lay awake the night before the appointment, I cracked. I felt the baby kicking again and I couldn’t stop myself from looking on my phone. What I saw horrified me.
"“They looked like fully formed babies and I read there have been 66 cases where aborted foetuses have come out alive because their mothers left the decision so late. I lay in bed and sobbed. Doubts crept in.”
"Josie left for her appointment at the north London clinic on Thursday. But feeling her baby move that morning was the final straw.
"“I tried to put it to the back of my mind because I was determined I’d made the right decision. But suddenly none of that mattered any more,” she said. “I told the driver to take me back to the hotel. As soon as I realised I was going to keep the baby, I felt happy – like a weight lifted.”" 

What a great day! God is Good! May all mothers feel the joy of their children yet to be and welcome them, despite anything to the contrary. May all mothers love their babies and want them, even before they have conceived, that they never be tempted to harm. May all know the Love of our Father in Heaven, that such Great and Eternal Love will lead them through the storms here below. In Jesus Name, Amen!

"In God We Trust" USA's National Motto is 150 Years Old Today!

Via Mostly Cajun's most excellent regular feature "Today in History":

150 years ago today, April 22. 1864 – "The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act which mandates that the inscription “In God We Trust” be placed on all coins minted as United States currency."

This is the only national motto the United States of America has ever had. Its roots go back to the founding of our nation by many disparate - but still Christian - religious groups seeking freedom to practice their religion and teach and preach the Bible as their consciences dictated without interference or persecution from the government.  By virtue of finding this liberty, and firmly upholding it, these Christians graciously also offered the same freedom of religion to Jews and to non-Christian faiths.

The Church in China Acts On the Great Commission

There are many denominations, but a primary dividing line in the Church in China is between the official, state-controlled groups and the House Church, which spreads like the early church did, because it brings Good News to people who recognize Truth.  This article in The Telegraph gives a good overview of some of the issues, although it avoids the facts that persecution still runs rampant, and pastors and publishers continue to be imprisoned for spreading the Word:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10776023/China-on-course-to-become-worlds-most-Christian-nation-within-15-years.html

One of the most touching revelations in the story is the brief statement that Chinese house-church Christians are now sending missionaries into North Korea:

"Among China's Protestants are also many millions who worship at illegal underground "house churches", which hold unsupervised services – often in people's homes – in an attempt to evade the prying eyes of the Communist Party.

"Such churches are mostly behind China's embryonic missionary movement – a reversal of roles after the country was for centuries the target of foreign missionaries. Now it is starting to send its own missionaries abroad, notably into North Korea, in search of souls.

"We want to help and it is easier for us than for British, South Korean or American missionaries," said one underground church leader in north China who asked not to be named. "

These people are as brave and wonderful as the early disciples, to go forth and act on The Great Commission at great risk to themselves so that others might have eternal life in Jesus Christ. Too often in the western world, nominal churches have embraced worldly novelties, forgetting that the ONLY commandment given by the Risen Lord was to "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”(Matthew 28:19&20)

Kevin Sorbo: A Note on the New Obamacare Taxes

Sharing this from Kevin Sorbo's FB page.  Remember this the next time our multi-millionaire President or a multi-millionaire Senator or Congresswoman carries on about "the rich", and claims to be a friend of the middle class.  Everyone with a 401K or an IRA will be paying those higher taxes on the savings we have made toward our retirement. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kevin Sorbo Official Facebook Page

50 mins · 

Just in case you didn't know....all you actual tax payers out there. A few of us left.

Here is what happened on January 1st 2014:

Top Income Tax bracket went from 35% to 39.6%
Top Income Payroll Tax went from 37.4% to 52.2%
Capital Gains Tax went from 15 % to 28%
Dividend Tax went from 15% to 39.6%
Estate Tax went from 0% to 55%
Remember this 'fact;' if you have any money, the Democrats in congress want it! All these taxes were passed with only Democrat votes. Not one Republican voted to do these taxes.
Remember this come election time. And make sure your friends and neighbors know this info too! Maybe we can get enough involved to get this country back next election cycle!!!
IMPORTANT NOTE-
These taxes were all hidden in the affordable care act, otherwise known as Obamacare.

/unquote

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Have you been to see Kevin's new movie "God's Not Dead"? It is still playing to packed houses here in the heart of Texas, and people I know who have seen it come away raving about how good it is. We will need to wait and buy it on dvd, as Paul is not able to be up long enough to see it in the theater, and we are really looking forward to it!

That's My King, Dr. S.M. Lockridge, One Powerful Narration!

Pecan Corner: Thursday of Holy Week: The Power of Humility

Using the "Blog This" feature to bump up this seasonal post. Click the link to read it all:   Pecan Corner: Thursday of Holy Week: The Power of Humility: In the British newspaper The Daily Mail , Peter Hitchens, brother of noted athiest Christopher Hitchens, speaks about his own wanderings fro...

"Maybe They Didn't Eat Enough Grass!" - Quick Comment on those "Public Lands" in Arizona

When it was first announced that the BLM was standing down in the Bundy Ranch Roundup, my comment was a quote from the movie The Milagro Beanfield War, in which a cow is impounded by the BLM, and the owner goes to collect it.  Ruben Blades, as the Sheriff, resolves the standoff by saying "Maybe she didn't eat enough grass!"

One bit here that isn't getting much play is that public land is not owned by those who hold government jobs, it is owned by the citizens of the US. Any taxes or fees collected continue to belong to the citizens, and not to bureaucrats or even elected office holders.  All citizens hold equal authority to determine rightful use, and to access these areas. And the only correct resource government workers have to challenge that is the lawful method of the courts.

"The government" is not some entity like "the King" in Europe that has right of its own.  That concept does not exist at all in America or in American law.  The whole point of the USA's Declaration & Constitution is that the citizens hold all of the rights, and the government exists only to protect those inalienable rights of the citizens, and do the will of the citizens under the law. Period.