The Texas health care worker who contracted Ebola after providing care for an infected patient likely breached safety protocols, health officials said Sunday. “Certainly there has to have been an inadvertent, innocent breach of the protocol of taking care of the patient within the personal protective equipment — that extremely rarely happens,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday. “We’ve been taking care of Ebola patients since 1976. Groups like Doctors Without Borders who do that almost never have an infection, because of the experience of doing this.”
During an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told moderator Bob Schieffer that the agency was “deeply concerned.” “I think the fact that we don’t know of a breach in protocol is concerning, because clearly there was a breach in protocol. We have the ability to prevent a spread in Ebola,” said Frieden. He added that the health care worker, whose identity has not been made public, may have improperly taken off their protective gear or contracted the disease while using dialysis and intubation to treat the original patient, Thomas Eric Duncan. Duncandied Wednesday. Read more here : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/12/ebola-protocol_n_5972776.html
The Trinidad and Tobago government says the influx of thousands of illegal Jamaicans into that country is putting a strain on its resources, resulting in the loss of more than a billion dollars annually.
National Security Minister Gary Griffith made the disclosures this morning in a statement defending the actions of Immigration officers in the twin island republic who deported 13 Jamaicans last month. Griffiths says immigration authorities cannot act as a rubber stamp when it comes to allowing people into the country. According to him, there are more than 19,000 Jamaicans in Trinidad and Tobago who entered at legitimate ports of entry, but remains there illegally and cannot be accounted for. Describing the figure as alarming, Griffith pointed out that those persons who are in Trinidad and Tobago illegally are dependent on State resources such as education and health care. In addition, he says while some may be employed, they are not subject to taxes, which results in a net revenue loss of over $1 billion annually. The Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) this week urged the Jamaican government to immediately address reports that Jamaican nationals were being harassed when they visit Trinidad and Tobago. Read more here :http://jamaica-gleaner.com/latest/article.php?id=55949
Police Commissioner Carl Williams carries a crate of debris as he leads a team of officers at the Half-Way-Tree Police Station on clean-up of the facility. (PHOTOS: GARFIELDROBINSON)
POLICE Commissioner Carl Williams led a team of senior officers and other members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in a clean-up of police stations across the island on Wednesday, and has given his commitment to ensuring that station compounds and police facilities are kept clean and free of mosquito breeding sites. The commissioner said the initiative was rolled out in light of the increasing number of chikungunya cases. “We want to ensure that we don’t do this for one day, but we do it on an ongoing basis,” said Williams. “We wanted to ensure that the station compounds and all police facilities are free of the vector that carries the chikungunya virus,” he continued, adding that police stations with major lockups were targeted. He made the comment as he led a team at the Half-Way-Tree Police Station, from where he went on to the Mobile Reserve. The police commissioner said, menwhile, that assessments have shown that there were no cases of prisoners having symptoms of chikungunya. There are, however, cases of policemen and women infected with the virus.
“At Half-Way- Tree, out of the 500 officers only 25 were affected,” said Williams. He said the majority of police personnel affected were based in eastern parishes. “Police force, the workers, the police officers have been affected but not to the extent where we are closing down our operations.” WIlliams said.
Russia is moving tactical nuclear weapons systems into recently-annexed Crimea while the Obama administration is backing informal talks aimed at cutting U.S. tactical nuclear deployments in Europe.
Three senior House Republican leaders wrote to President Obama two weeks ago warning that Moscow will deploy nuclear missiles and bombers armed with long-range air launched cruise missiles into occupied Ukrainian territory.
“Locating nuclear weapons on the sovereign territory of another state without its permission is a devious and cynical action,” states the letter signed by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R., Calif.) and two subcommittee chairmen.
“It further positions Russian nuclear weapons closer to the heart of NATO, and it allows Russia to gain a military benefit from its seizure of Crimea, allowing Russia to profit from its action.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent months “has escalated his use of nuclear threats to a level not seen since the Cold War,” they wrote.
In a related development, the Obama administration is funding non-official arms control talks with Russia through a Washington think-tank that are aimed at curbing U.S. tactical nuclear arms in Europe.
The first round of talks was held in Vienna Monday and Tuesday.
Critics say Obama administration arms control officials at the State Department and Pentagon are using the informal nuclear talks as groundwork for future tactical nuclear arms cuts.
Such cuts are likely to be opposed by NATO allies, especially in Eastern Europe, worried by growing Russian military threats to the continent.
Regarding the nuclear deployments to Crimea, Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member James Inhofe (R., Okla.) first disclosed last month that Putin had announced in August his approval of deploying nuclear-capable Iskander‑M short-range missiles along with Tu-22 nuclear-capable bombers in Crimea, located on the Black Sea.
“The stationing of new nuclear forces on the Crimean peninsula, Ukrainian territory Russia annexed in March, is both a new and menacing threat to the security of Europe and also a clear message from Putin that he intends to continue to violate the territorial integrity of his neighbors,” Inhofe stated in a Sept. 8 op-ed in Foreign Policy.
In their Sept. 23 letter to the president, McKeon, Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Ala.), chairman of the subcommittee on strategic forces, and Rep. Michael Turner (R., Ohio), chairman of the subcommittee on tactical air and land forces, noted Russia’s violation of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty by building a banned cruise missile. The missile has been identified by U.S. officials as the R‑500.
The lawmakers said the Russian nuclear deployment in Crimea represents the “clear, and perhaps irrevocable tearing” of the 1997 agreement between NATO and Russia that allowed Russia to maintain a military presence within the alliance.
The Russian nuclear deployment plans and treaty violation should have been discussed during the recent NATO summit in Wales but were not, they said.
As a result, the congressmen urged the president to brief Congress on the threatening Russian nuclear deployments in Crimea. They also called on the president to suspend the NATO-Russia accord and demand the removal of all Russian military personnel from NATO facilities.
Additionally, they asked that the United States and its allies halt all arms control surveillance flights by Russia carried out under the Open Skies Treaty.
It’s an announcement that continues to rock a Montgomery church and the surrounding community.
WSFA 12 News confirmed with church leaders, including the now former pastor of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, Juan Demetrius McFarland himself, that McFarland confessed from the pulpit a few Sundays ago that he had full blown AIDS and had slept with church members without revealing he had AIDS.
Shocked and stunned, church members contacted the 12 NEWSDEFENDERS and reaction is coming in from the congregation that is still in disbelief.
McFarland didn’t hold back when he revealed to worshipers at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church on Sept. 14, that he contracted HIV in 2003 and discovered in 2008 he had AIDS.
“The church was very accepting of Reverend McFarland and was willing to help him in any way possible,” a church member, who wanted to remain unnamed, explained.
Once the pastor, with 23 years of leadership, started revealing more and more on the following Sundays, members and leaders say they realized he had crossed the line.
In a resolution read aloud at the church, leaders shared, and Pastor McFarland confirmed to WSFA 12 News, that he admitted to drug use and mishandling of church funds. And there was what members say was the ultimate shocker, described by church deacon Nathan Williams Jr.
“He concealed from the church that he had knowingly engaged in adultery in the church building with female members of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church while knowingly having AIDS,” Williams said.
McFarland was removed as church pastor on Oct. 5. Still, church members say some congregation members are afraid to come forward and many others are concerned.
“Who does this to people, and you are the leader? Who does this?” another unnamed church member asked.
STLOUIS, Mo. Oct 8 (Reuters) — A white off-duty policeman shot and killed a black teenager in St Louis on Wednesday, officers said, triggering a night of protests just miles from the site of another police shooting of another black youth in the suburb of Ferguson. Police said the 18-year-old was armed and fired three shots while he was being chased by the officer, and they had recovered a gun at the scene. he youth was killed almost two months to the day since sometimes violent protests erupted in Ferguson after a white police officer shot dead unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown.
In Wednesday’s shooting, the dead man was one of three people who fled after being approached by the officer, a six-year veteran of the department who was working for a private security company, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Sam Dotson said.
The officer, who was wearing his city police uniform, fired 17 shots at the teenager, police added.
A crowd of around 200 gathered at the scene in the south St. Louis neighborhood of Shaw, 11 miles (18 km) south of Ferguson. Many of the protesters marched to a major thoroughfare, partially blocking traffic and chanting “Whose streets? Our streets?” as a police helicopter hovered overhead. Teyonna Myers, 23, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper that she was the cousin of the suspect and that he was unarmed when he was killed. “He had a sandwich in his hand, and they thought it was a gun. It’s like Michael Brown all over again,” she told the paper. Police have not named the teenager. More here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/08/st-louis-police-shooting_n_5956502.html
Yesterday, a grand jury in Habersham County, Georgia, decided not to bring charges against the police officers who threw a flashbang grenade into the crib of Bounkham Phonesavanh, known affectionately as “Baby Bou Bou.” The explosion left a hole in the then-19-month-old’s chest, exposing his rib, and almost ripped his nose from his face.
How could this happen? Combine systemic police militarization, the war on drugs, and sloppy police work, and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. In May, the Habersham County Special Response Team executed a no-knock drug raid on the home of a family friend where Baby Bou Bou, his parents, and sisters were staying. It was the middle of the night, and even though the family’s minivan was parked in the driveway and children’s toys were in the yard, a squad of SWAT officers decided to throw a flashbang grenade into the living room. Acting and looking like an invading army, the cops broke down the door, terrorizing the entire family. When Alecia, Baby Bou Bou’s mother, tried to go to him, they screamed at her to shut up. They violently threw and pinned Bou, his father, to the ground, injuring his shoulder so badly he cannot take care of his children alone anymore. Alecia and Bou did not see their son until they arrived at the hospital several hours later. When they were able to see him, they were devastated.
The explosion from the flashbang tore a hole in Bou Bou’s chest, separated his nose from his face, and covered his body in third degree burns. His injuries were so severe that doctors placed Bou Bou in a medically induced coma. And for what? The man the SWAT team was looking for no longer lived in the house and was later arrested without incident. There weren’t any guns or drugs in the home either. To add insult to injury, the county refuses to pay the Phonesavanh’s medical bills, which now total $1 million, claiming the law doesn’t allow it. Read full Article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kara-dansky/how-many-people-must-be-m_b_5948542.html
So I walked into my favorite coffee-shop today, the same Dunkin-Donut I visit on my way to work daily, except when my wife makes me a cup of coffee. The line was long, surprising for a Sunday afternoon.
No one seemed to be in a rush, after all it’s lazy Sunday, not exactly the Monday morning rush crowd.
As I stood in line waiting, I realized that most of the people on-line had their smart phones out, no problem of course. Not at all, people need something to occupy their time while they wait.
What irritated me a bit, was realizing that the reason I was in the same place without moving was that the guy giving his order at the head of the line was trying to find his order in his smart device. It got me thinking.
There is really nothing wrong with using a smart device to store your information, not at all. What is a problem, is when the device becomes your brain. Am I alone in thinking that as the devices become smarter ‚many on the consumer end are becoming less so?
Okay, you are skeptical, but when you interact with the public daily you get a feel for what I am actually talking about. People with smart Devices, unable to tell their phone number. Unable to tell their Cell and internet provider. Unable to tell how much they pay each month. That’s a problem.
Not only are people unable to memorize the most basic personal information, it seems we are less able to make simple decisions. The purchase of a single piece of Electronic device has to be photographed, a thousand questions asked and that information beamed across hundreds ‚sometimes thousands of miles of Oceans several time before a purchasing decision can be made.
I got to wondering what would happen if we go off-line for a day, make that a week ?It’s not out of the realm of what’s possible, technology depends on Satellites being in place without interference. Properly functioning Networks deliver Data to us at record speed, so much so we forget to use our Brains as a storage device. What if something happens which causes all of that free-flow of Data to come to a sudden stop, what then?
Newly appointed Deputy Commissioner of Police Novelette Grant
ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police Novelette Grant yesterday became only the second woman in the history of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to be named to the second highest position in the organisation — deputy commissioner of police (DCP).
Grant will be in charge of the administration portfolio formerly held by DCP Clifford Blake, who has been put in charge of operations, while DCP Glenmore Hinds who had the operations portfolio has been put in charge of crime, which was held by newly appointed commissioner Carl Williams.
DCP Grant, prior to her new appointment, served the JCF as the commander for Police Area 5 which includes the divisions of St Andrew North, St Catherine North and South and St Thomas.
A Oregon couple face bankruptcy for refusing to bake wedding cake for a Lesbian couple.
The ordeal started in February 2013, when Rachel Cryer and Laurel Bowman asked the bakery owners to design a wedding cake for their same-sex commitment ceremony. At the time, Oregon defined marriage as the union between one man and one woman; voters overwhelmingly approved the constitutional amendment in 2004. Aaron told The Daily Signal he thought he was “well within” his legal rights to decline the service, citing his traditional beliefs that a marriage is between a man and a woman.
In January 2014, the Kleins were charged with violating Oregon’s Equality Act of 2007, a law that protects the rights of the LGBT community. It wasn’t until months later, May 19, 2014, that a federal judge would declare Oregon’s amendment unconstitutional, paving the way for same-sex marriages. “Ironically, the state was in violation of its own anti-discrimination laws,” said Aaron.
Melissa and Aaron Klein are in the process of appealing the decision handed down by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Following threats, vicious protests and boycotts, they have also been forced to close their bakery.
Melissa told The Daily Signal the charges have “definitely impacted us pretty hard financially.”
Head of the Secret Service Julia Pierson has resigned. Just yesterday White House Spokesman Josh Earnest mouthed the lines “The President has confidence in Julia Pierson to do the job” less than a day later Pierson was done.
Obama accepted her resignation. So much for confidence! We applaud the decision of the President to accept her resignation, it is one thing to give someone a chance to do a job . It is another thing when serious breaches as the ones documented ‚happen over and over again.
This is not about whether one likes the President or not . It isn’t even a matter of who the President is at a given time. The President of the United States and his family deserves the highest level of security. What happened under Julia Pierson was untenable. Had she remained it would have been impossible to rebuild trust in the Agency.
On the appointment of Julia Pierson, many including Major Media Houses crowed that Piersons elevation meant a breaking up of the old boys club. Frankly I am not sure what that means. People should be hired to do the job they are qualified for and which they are able to do do. It doesn’t matter what gender that person is.
Despite the crowing she was not up to the job, lets hope the next person who takes on that serious role, male or female will do a better job than what occurred on Pierson’s watch.
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson Is she up to the Job she is given
After facing scathing criticism on Tuesday for the agency allowing an intruder with a knife to run into the White House, and allowing an armed contractor ride an elevator with President Barack Obama, the head of the U.S. Secret Service resigned today.Secret Service Director Julia Pierson acknowledged the agency charged with protecting Obama had failed on Sept. 19 when it allowed a man to jump the fence at the home of the president, burst through the front door and run about 130 feet (40 meters) into the East Room, which is used for events and receptions. “This is unacceptable and I take full responsibility,” Pierson told a U.S. House of Representatives committee. “We are all outraged within the Secret Service at how this incident came to pass. It is self-evident mistakes were made,” she said, promising lawmakers that it would never happen again.
As a first step, Pierson said the front door of the White House now has an automated lock when there is a security breach. It did not have one at the time of the intrusion. Any disciplinary actions, however, would be based on an internal probe by the agency, Pierson said. The incident was another black mark for the Secret Service, which has suffered a series of scandals including a lone gunman firing shots at the White House in 2011, a prostitution scandal involving agents in Colombia in 2012 and a night of drinking in March that led to three agents being sent home from a presidential trip to Amsterdam. Factbox
In another security lapse for the agency, a private security agent who had a gun shared an elevator with Obama in Atlanta on Sept. 16, three days before the White House intrusion, a Secret Service official said. The man, who was operating an elevator carrying Obama and his Secret Service detail during the president’s visit to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, aroused suspicion when he began taking pictures and video of Obama on his phone, the official said. During questioning, the man’s supervisor asked for his gun, startling Secret Service agents. Under agency rules, people with access to the president need special clearance to carry guns. The Washington Post, which along with the Washington Examiner, first reported the incident, said the man had three convictions for assault and battery.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, a Republican, said an internal probe was insufficient to rebuild trust in the agency. U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said he would introduce legislation to create an independent commission to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the agency.
In a hearing lasting more than three hours, lawmakers criticized Pierson’s initial post-incident statement, which made it appear intruder Omar Gonzalez was apprehended just inside the door. But she acknowledged on Tuesday that Gonzalez, an Iraq war veteran, struggled with an officer inside the door and crossed through a large foyer into a hallway and most of the way through the 80-foot (24-meter) East Room. Shortly before the intrusion, Obama and his family had left for the weekend.
‘HOWONEARTHDIDTHISHAPPEN?’
Gonzalez will return on Wednesday to federal court, where he has been charged with unlawful entry while carrying a weapon. A federal grand jury indicted him on Tuesday on that federal offense, along with District of Columbia charges of carrying a dangerous weapon outside a home or business and unlawful possession of ammunition.
“The White House is supposed to be one of America’s most secure facilities,” Issa said. “How on Earth did this happen?” Another Republican, U.S. Representative Jason Chaffetz, pressed Pierson on when officers can use lethal force against intruders in a modern era of suicide bombers. She said such decisions were up to officers, but they first need to determine that they or others are in imminent danger.
Chaffetz told Pierson: “I want it to be crystal clear. You make a run and a dash at the White House, we’re gonna take you down. I want overwhelming force. Do you disagree with me?” Pierson replied, “I do want officers and agents to execute appropriate force for anyone intending to challenge and breach the White House.”
Pierson said the Secret Service had apprehended 16 fence jumpers in the last five years, including six this year. On Sept. 11, someone was caught seconds after scaling the fence. Lawmakers questioned why Gonzalez had escaped more scrutiny. In July, he was arrested in Virginia for reckless driving, eluding police and possessing a sawed-off shotgun. In August, he was stopped, but not arrested, while walking along the south fence of the White House with a hatchet in his waistband.
Pierson said the agency was down about 550 employees from its optimal level, and there had been staff reductions following automatic spending cuts and “other fiscal constraints.”
Obama appointed Pierson, 55, a 30-year Secret Service veteran, in March 2013. The first female director in the agency’s 148-history, she was given the mission of cleaning up the agency’s culture.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama had confidence in Pierson and said she did not offer her resignation. That changed today when Pierson offered her resignation and President Obama accepted it.
Yet more shocking Revelations coming to light in the ongoing Saga surrounding the Secret Service and the Security of the President of the United States and his family. New Information coming to light reveals that the recent lapses involving the Secret Service may be just the tip of the Iceberg.
The Washington Post Reports :
A security contractor with a gun and three prior convictions for assault and battery was allowed on an elevator with President Obama during a Sept. 16 trip to Atlanta, violating Secret Service protocols, according to three people familiar with the incident.
President Obama was not told of the lapse in his security during his trip. Director Julia Pierson , according to two people familiar with the incident, took steps to have the matter reviewed internally and did not refer it to an investigative unit that reviews violations of protocol and standard. The incident, which rattled Secret Service agents assigned to the president’s detail, occurred as Obama visited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discuss the U.S. response to the Ebola crisis. The private contractor aroused the agents’ concerns when he did not comply with their orders that he stop using a phone camera to videotape the president in the elevator, according to the people familiar with the incident. The man was also acted oddly, the people said. Agents questioned the man when they exited the elevator, and then used a national database check to learn of his criminal history.
When a supervisor from the firm providing security at the CDC approached and discovered the agents’ concerns, the contractor was fired on the spot and agreed to turn over his gun — surprising agents, who had not realized he was armed during his encounter with Obama. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R‑Utah), who first heard of the breakdown from a whistleblower, said he was appalled at the incident. The Washington Post confirmed details of the event with other people familiar with the agency’s review. “You have a convicted felon within arm’s reach of the president and they never did a background check,” Chaffetz said. “Words aren’t strong enough for the outrage I feel for the safety of the President and his family.
Chaffetz added: “His life was in danger. This country would be a different world today if he had pulled out his gun.”
It is the latest in a string of embarrassments for the Secret Service, whose director, Julia Pierson, drew criticism Tuesday from lawmakers in both parties during a combative hearing that focused on her agency’s security lapses. The hearing focused on a man who was able to foil Secret Service officers by jumping the White House fence Sept. 19 and also a 2011 shooting at the residence that the Secret Service failed to identify and properly investigate.
The elevator incident exposed another serious breakdown in the Secret Service’s safety protocols: this one meant to keep the president safe from strangers when he travels to events outside the White House. In close quarters or small events, when the president is on the road, all of the people who could have access to him must be checked in advance for weapons and any criminal history. In response to a question at the hearing Tuesday, Pierson said she briefs the president “100% of the time” when his personal security has been breached. However, she said Tuesday that has only happened one time this year: soon after Omar Gonzalez jumped over the White House fence Sept. 19 and was able to burst into the mansion. A Secret Service spokesman said the agency would provide a response soon. Some elements of the Atlanta incident were first reported Tuesday afternoon on the Washington Examiner’s website. The security contractor became upset with agents who asked him to stop filming the president with his camera phone, behavior that led agents to question him.
Under a security program called the Arm’s Reach Program, Secret Service advance staff run potential staff, contractors, hotel employees, invited guests and volunteers through several databases, including a national criminal information registry, and records kept by the CIA, NSA and Department of Defense, among others. Anyone who is found to have a criminal history, mental illness, or other indications of risk is barred from entry. Local police and federal officers are not checked in the same way under the Arm’s Reach Program, with the Secret Service presuming they meet the safety standards because of their employment. But private security contractors would be checked, two former agents who worked on advance planning for presidential trips said.
Two former advance agents said that, for nearly every trip, someone would be barred from attending or participating in a presidential trip because of some prior or current problem found in a check of their name. Usually, it involved a local Democratic or Republican party campaign volunteer who was offering to help drive staff to and from events during the visit – but had an assault conviction.Former and current agents say this method is
For weeks the Nation has been inundated with News about the National Football League, there is no escaping the continuous barrage of condemnation for Ray Rice who punched his fiancé Janay Rice ]née Palmer. Just today a group of female Lawmakers in the State of New Jersey renewed calls for the firing of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Where are these Feminist Ideologues now that the Nation’s 44th, and first African American President and his family seem to be subjected to abject carelessness and incompetence at the least and at worse much more ? Clearly Julia Pierson is not up to doing this Job. It should come as no surprise that the President cannot come out against the Secret Service, he has to depend on them to protect him and his family for the rest of their lives. It falls on the Congress to provide the necessary oversight .
Where is the oversight?
Why does Julia Pierson still have this job ? Is she up to the job? Was that female Agent who was run over by Omar Gonzalez up to the job? What if the President or any member of his family was in the vicinity of Gonzalez’s path? Why was anyone not known to the Secret Service allowed on an elevator with the President of the United States? Why are quotas and political correctness allowed to trump the safety and security of the President?
In a World where men dare not question the capabilities of women to do certain jobs, these are the consequences. Where are the calls for this woman to be booted from this position, where she is clearly in over her head.. Why put a woman in a position where she would be over-run and obviously unable to react? What will be the price paid before this political correctness nonsense end. Obama for his part is one of the Chief proponent of this out of control political correctness which will invariably have dire consequences for the country. Judging from Pierson’s confusing responses and the sequence serious lapses by the Secret Service,including on overseas trips. One is left to wonder at the real danger to this President and his family if an attack was well coördinated and executed by a group of people who know what they are doing!!
This is a serious breach of security as ever, if ever there was one. Yet there is an almost deafening silence . Where is the outrage How can an Agency with a mandate to protect the Nation’s Chief Executive fail so dismally and the head stays intact? What will have to happen before Julia Pierson is booted from this job and a comprehensive Review done to ensure that these things never ever happen again, Irrespective of who the President is?
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson Is she up to the Job she is given
The man who scaled the White House fence and broke into the executive mansion earlier this month was tackled by an off-duty Secret Service officer, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. According to the Post, an agent who was leaving for the night after seeing President Barack Obama’s family leave the premises by helicopter was walking through the White House when Omar Gonzalez dashed through the front door and into the East Room. Gonzalez, who was armed with a knife, reportedly overpowered another Secret Service agent near the main foyer before he was eventually tackled by the off-duty officer, who had been serving on the Obama daughters’ security detail. Prosecutors said last week that Gonzales had 800 rounds of ammunition in his car, in addition to a machete and two hatchets. Read more here: huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/30/secret-service-white-house-intruder_n_5908266.htmlwww
The much ignored story of Omar Gonzales a 42 year old Iraq Veteran who scaled the White House fence ran across the Lawns and entered the residence of the President of The United States is now gathering steam. CNN now reports.The man who jumped the White House fence earlier this month and breached the mansion’s doors actually made it farther than originally thought, officials said Monday.
Officially thought by whom? What was the official report given about this incident? Why would it require a whistle-blower to tell a Politician, Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz a member of the oversight committee that Gonzalez ran through much of the main floor, past a stairway that leads up to the first family’s residence, and was ultimately stopped at the far southern end of the East Room. He also reached the doorway to the Green Room, an area that looks out on the South Lawn. New information surfaced that one Secret Service Agent was overpowered by Gonzalez before he was ultimately subdued. The Secret Service had previously stated that Gonzalez was stopped after entering the front door of the North Portico. Why would the Secret Service deliberately lie about this? Chaffetz confirmed the details of what now appears to be a wild chase through the main floor of the White House, first reported by theWashington Post.
East Room
Chaffetz a Republican could not miss an opportunity to play politics however , saying quote: “I could not be more proud of the individual agents, but I worry that Director (Julia) Pierson and the leadership there at the Secret Service is failing them,”. It would have been a modern day miracle had a Republican dealt with a serious issue without resorting to politics.
I’m not sure what Jason Chaffetz knows about security, what I do know is that no one should be proud of those Agents who were working that day. All of them who were involved let the President his family and ultimately the Country down. It is incomprehensible that any Security Officer worth his/her training would allow an intruder to breach the fence , sprint across the Lawn and enter the home of the leader of the free world without taking him out. To those talking about the restraint, I say “bull”. Where was the restraint when they shot Miriam Carey?
This was not restraint. What happened was an egregious dereliction of duty ! Gonzalez was armed with a knife, according to reports. For all those Agents knew he could have had a gun, he could have had a bomb. What if he had a bomb strapped to himself and a timing device. This is beyond serious. The President and his Family could have been there, they could have been hurt or worse. This is as serious a breach as ever in this Agency’s long list of foul-ups in their mission to protect the first family. Never have we heard of this level of carelessness and incompetence in the protection of an American President.
Which leads us to ask whether this is incompetence or is there something else going on? Can we even trust this version of events when there has been so many different stories coming from that Agency?
To suggest that Gonzalez suffers from PTSD is beside the point. Miriam Carey was suffering from Post Partum Depression and she is dead. Restraint is being legally justified in killing but refraining from doing so because it is avoidable. When you have a duty to protect the President and his family and you allow that kind of breach to occur it is not restraint. It is incompetence.
Washington (CNN) — The man who jumped the White House fence earlier this month and breached the mansion’s doors actually made it farther than originally thought, officials said Monday.
Omar Gonzalez, a 42-year-old Iraq war veteran who had a knife in his pocket, overcame one Secret Service officer and ran into the East Room of the White House, where he was then subdued, a federal law enforcement said. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who was provided the information by whistleblowers during his congressional investigation into the incident, also confirmed the details of what now appears to be a wild chase through the main floor of the White House, first reported by theWashington Post. The Secret Service had previously stated that Gonzalez was stopped after entering the front door of the North Portico.
Gonzalez ran through much of the main floor, past a stairway that leads up to the first family’s residence, and was ultimately stopped at the far southern end of the East Room. He also reached the doorway to the Green Room, an area that looks out on the South Lawn. No shots were fired inside the White House, the federal law official said. Official: Secret Service twice interviewed, released would-be White House intruder The Secret Service has not yet commented on the new details. “I could not be more proud of the individual agents, but I worry that Director (Julia) Pierson and the leadership there at the Secret Service is failing them,” Chaffetz said Monday on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” Pierson will face tough questions at an already-scheduled hearing on Tuesday before the House Oversight Committee.
A Republican from Utah who sits on the committee, said he wants to know why an audible alarm in the White House had been muted after ushers said it was making too many noises. And shortly after the incident earlier this month, the Secret Service issued a statement saying officers “showed tremendous restraint and discipline in dealing with” Gonzalez. Chaffetz said he has a problem with that, too. “I don’t want tremendous restraint,” he said. “I want to see overwhelming force to deter somebody. When you have the situation where you have the apparent lax security, you’re unfortunately going to invite more attacks. And that’s the concern.” Pierson sent a letter to committee chairman Darrell Issa last Friday raising concerns about an holding open discussion on security issues and urged the chairman to allow some of her testimony to take place in a classified setting. “Simply put, publicly airing the very security measures employed by the Secret Service and the various challenges we confront at the White House complex will arm those who desire to cause injury — or worse — to the President and First Family with critical information, and doing so would be beyond reckless,” Pierson wrote.
CNN has learned from a Democratic source on the Oversight Committee that Issa has agreed to Pierson’s request, and will hold a separate, classified session on Tuesday. The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D‑Maryland, praised the decision to protect the agency’s mission. “This is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, but an American issue, and the last thing we should do is give people like Gonzalez a road map for how to attack the President or other officials,” Cummings said in a written statement to CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/29/politics/wh-fence-jumper/index.html?hpt=hp_c3
WASHINGTON, DC — AUGUST 30: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, celebrating her 20th anniversary on the bench, is photographed in the East conference room at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Friday, August 30, 2013. (Photo by Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images) | The Washington Post via Getty Images
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg expressed her extreme regret over several of the current Court’s rulings in a wide-ranging interview published in The New Republic Sunday evening, including their rejecting the commerce clause of President Barack Obama’s health care law, and issuing a huge blow to the Voting Rights Act in their Shelby County v. Holder decision.
But the first Supreme Court ruling Ginsburg would send to the guillotine would be the Court’s decision in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, giving corporations and unions the green light to give and spend unlimited sums of money on independent political activity. “If there was one decision I would overrule,” Ginsburg told The New Republic, it would be Citizens United. “I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be,” she said. Ginsburg said that the Court, in CItizens United as well as in the case of Shelby County, “should have respected the legislative judgment.” “Legislators know much more about elections than the Court does. … I think members of the legislature, people who have to run for office, know the connection between money and influence on what laws get passed.” According to Ginsburg, things may have played out differently had Justice Sandra Day O’Connor not retired so soon. She told The New Republic that O’Connor would have sided with the minority on Citizens United, Shelby County, as well as the Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling. “I think she must be concerned about some of the court’s rulings, those that veer away from opinions she wrote,” Ginsburg said. Read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/28/ruth-bader-ginsburg-citizens-united_n_5897760.html
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bureaucrats in Ferguson, Missouri, responding to requests under the state’s Sunshine Act to turn over government files about the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, are charging nearly 10 times the cost of some of their own employees’ salaries before they will agree to release any records. The move discourages journalists and civil rights groups from investigating the shooting and its aftermath. The city has demanded high fees to produce copies of records that, under Missouri law, it could give away free if it determined the material was in the public’s interest to see. Instead, in some cases, the city has demanded high fees with little explanation or cost breakdown. It billed The Associated Press $135 an hour — for nearly a day’s work — merely to retrieve a handful of email accounts since the shooting.
Missouri Gov Jay Nixon
That fee compares with an entry-level, hourly salary of $13.90 in the city clerk’s office, and it didn’t include costs to review the emails or release them. The AP has not paid for the search. Price-gouging for government files is one way that local, state and federal agencies have responded to requests for potentially embarrassing information they may not want released. Open records laws are designed to give the public access to government records at little or no cost, and have historically exposed waste, wrongdoing and corruption. “The first line of defense is to make the requester go away,” said Rick Blum, who coordinates the Sunshine in Government Initiative, a coalition of media groups that advocates for open government. “Charging exorbitant fees to simply cut and paste is a popular tactic.” Since Brown’s death and ensuing protests, news organizations, nonprofit groups and everyday citizens have submitted records requests to Ferguson officials, asking for police reports, records about Brown and the personnel files of Officer Darren Wilson, who shot Brown Aug. 9. Organizations like the website Buzzfeed were told they’d have to pay unspecified thousands of dollars for emails and memos about Ferguson’s traffic-citation policies and changes to local elections. The Washington Post said Ferguson wanted no less than $200 for its requests.
scenes from Ferguson
A city spokeswoman referred inquiries about public records requests to the city’s attorney, Stephanie Karr, who declined to respond to repeated interview requests from the AP since earlier this month. Some states provide public records for free or little cost, while others like Missouri can require fees that “result in the lowest charges for search, research and duplication.” The AP asked for a fee waiver because it argued the records would serve the public interest, as the law allows, but that request was denied. A spokesman for Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon referred questions about the high fees to the state’s attorney general, who handles freedom-of-information complaints. A spokeswoman for his office said none had been filed on the issue. In late August, the AP asked Ferguson officials for copies of several police officials’ emails and text messages, including those belonging to Wilson and Chief Thomas Jackson. The AP sought those records to reveal the city’s behind-the-scenes response to the shooting and public protests. Ferguson told the AP it wanted nearly $2,000 to pay a consulting firm for up to 16 hours of work to retrieve messages on its own email system, a practice that information technology experts call unnecessary. The firm, St. Louis-based Acumen Consulting, wouldn’t comment specifically on Ferguson’s contract, but said the search could be more complicated and require technicians to examine tape backups. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed a public records lawsuit days after the shooting for Brown-related police reports, but ultimately received a censored report that omitted officers’ names and other details usually released in such documents. Jonathan Groves, president of the Missouri Sunshine Coalition and a former daily journalist, said that while public agencies can legally charge reasonable fees for records, an unfettered Sunshine Law is nonetheless an important tool “so that we have faith in what the government is doing.” Read more here : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/29/ferguson-city-files_n_5899388.html
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So I walked into my favorite coffee-shop today, the same Dunkin-Donut I visit on my way to work daily, except when my wife makes me a cup of coffee. The line was long, surprising for a Sunday afternoon.
Frankly I am not sure what that means. People should be hired to do the job they are qualified for and which they are able to do do. It doesn’t matter what gender that person is.
Did Secret Service mishandle shooting?
