January 23, 2015

Ebola outbreak subsiding in Africa

http://in.mobile.reuters.com/article/idINL6N0V157V20150122?irpc=932
Sierra Leone lifts Ebola quarantine measures amid progress
Fri Jan 23, 2015 4:07am IST

FREETOWN, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma on Thursday removed Ebola district quarantine measures intended to curb the spread of the disease, declaring "victory is in sight" after a sharp drop in transmission.

Since the worst outbreak on record began in West Africa over a year ago, Sierra Leone has recorded more than 10,340 cases, making it the country that has been hardest hit. But signs are growing that the tide is turning against the disease.

"We are now entering a transition phase. Given the progress being made against the disease, we must take action to enable economic and social recovery," Koroma said in a televised address to the nation late on Thursday.

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In the latest health report on Jan. 21, Sierra Leone reported just 9 new confirmed cases versus 60 cases daily in late 2014. Neighbouring Liberia has also reported significant progress in rolling back Ebola, thanks partly to U.S. military assistance, and it is now confined to just two counties.

But in a setback on Thursday, the mayor of Paynesville in the capital Monrovia said that 25 people had been placed under quarantine following a new confirmed case.

January 23, 2015

He pulled down 10 women’s pants in public; now he faces year in prison & lifetime as registered sex

He pulled down 10 women’s pants in public; now he faces year in prison

A man who pleaded guilty to pulling down the pants of 10 women in Santa Ana and Tustin over a three-month period faces up to a year in jail and lifetime registration as a sex offender, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Gary Dalton Derusha, in accepting a plea deal from prosecutors on Wednesday, admitted two counts of misdemeanor sexual battery, felony stalking and misdemeanor resisting arrest, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Robert Mestman.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 6.

In all of the cases, Derusha encountered the victims in public places and pulled down their pants and grabbed their buttocks, Mestman said. In one case, a victim was targeted twice, prompting the stalking charge, Mestman said.

The groping happened in May through July of 2013.

http://mynewsla.com/orange-county/2015/01/15/man-pulled-pants-10-women-public-faces-year-prison/

A woman in her 20s was outside her Santa Ana home in the 1600 block of East 17th Street on May 21, when a young man came up from behind, pulled down her pants and grabbed a handful of ass.

A man described as being 18-20 did the same thing to females between June and August in Tustin--although he did not always pull their pants down and in some instances he apologized before fleeing.

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2013/11/gary_dalton_derusha_groping_st.php

January 22, 2015

Australian Shepherd found these adorable puppies abandoned in plastic bag

Good Samaritans, who weren’t fully identified, were walking their dog in Paso Nogal Park in Pleasant Hill when the Australian shepherd took an interest in a plastic bag in a box near a trash can, said Rick Golphin, deputy director of Contra Costa County Animal Services.
The couple went to investigate and opened the bag, which had been tied at the top, and found three terrier puppies inside. After taking the pups home, and washing and feeding them, the couple brought the dogs to animal services, Golphin said.
“We see a lot of animal abandonment, but seeing cruelty of this type is pretty rare,” he said. “The big takeaway from this is to get your animals spayed or neutered.”
Anyone who has information about the puppies’ former owners, or how the dogs ended up in the park, is urged to contact Contra Costa Animal Services at (925) 335-8300.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Dog-sniffs-out-puppies-tied-up-in-bag-at-East-Bay-6028495.php#photo-7414117

January 22, 2015

meekrats huddle under heatlamp

Normally they are found either in the Kalahiri Desert or on advertisements offering a cheaper deal on motor insurance, but these meerkats have discovered a comfortable way of surviving the recent cold snap.

The four intrepid mammals stand close together underneath a specially installed heat lamp at the West Midland Safari Park near Bewdley, outside Birmingham.


Staff at the facility installed the special lights after temperatures plummeted leaving the inquisitive animals feeling the chill.

However, it did not take long for the four meerkats to learn that the light was also providing warmth - as well as a good show for visitors to the park.

After warming thoroughly, the meerkats resumed their search for food, scratching the surface of their enclosure in the hunt for grubs and other insects, before returning to the heat lamp.

Normally meerkats live in extended family groups in the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa in groups of up to 50 animals.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2921804/Staying-warm-really-simples-Four-tiny-meerkats-huddle-underneath-heat-lamp-safari-park.html

January 22, 2015

subprime billionaireflew priv jet 2 Davos w 2 nannies to tell rest of us to live smaller, have less

2:27 PM, JANUARY 21 2015
Billionaire Davos Attendee Thinks Your “Lifestyle Expectations” Are Too High
by Kia Makarechi


Davos, Switzerland, where the rich take vacations from skiing.
Jeff Greene is a man who accrued billions by betting against subprime mortgages. He’s also an attendee of the World Economic Forum, a Davos event during which the ultra-rich seemingly get together to take a vacation from skiing and tell everyone else what to do.

In Switzerland, Greene spoke to Bloomberg, and offered some depressing advice for the 99 percent. “America’s lifestyle expectations are far too high and need to be adjusted so we have less things and a smaller, better existence,” he said. “We need to reinvent our whole system of life.”

Having fewer things? A “smaller” existence? You’d be forgiven for thinking Greene was channeling Matthieu Ricard, a French Buddhist monk (who is also at Davos, and attended a panel on mindfulness with Arianna Huffington).

Greene, however, doesn’t seem to live by his own advice. Here’s Bloomberg’s Matthew G. Miller:

Greene, who flew his wife, children and two nannies on a private jet plane to Davos for the week, said he’s planning a conference in Palm Beach, Florida, at the Tideline Hotel called “Closing the Gap.”
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2015/jeff-greene-davos-lifestyle-expectations

January 20, 2015

crazy pope talk - "irresponsibility = 7 C sections but no to artificial birth control

He said 'responsible parenthood' requires that couples regulate the births of their children, as church teaching allows. He cited the case of a woman he met who was pregnant with her eighth child after seven Cesarean sections.

'That is an irresponsibility!' he said. The woman might argue that she should trust in God. 'But God gives you methods to be responsible,' he said.

He said there are many 'licit' ways of regulating births that are approved by the church, an apparent reference to the Natural Family Planning method of monitoring a woman's cycle to avoid intercourse when she is ovulating.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2917146/Pope-Catholics-dont-like-rabbits.html#ixzz3POm6auKH

January 20, 2015

racist cop back on the job after slap on the wrist

Blasky reported in The Sunday last week, Metro Police Detective Bobby Kinch wrote inflammatory posts on Facebook, and police brass have done little to nothing about it. Among his posts:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2015/jan/18/metro-officers-racist-rants-are-cause-real-discipl/
“Let’s just get this over! Race war, Civil, Revolution? Bring it! I’m about as fed up as a man (American, Christian, White, Heterosexual) can get!”

“It’s obviously coming to a boiling point! I say “F*** IT”! I’m ready now! Sooner or later, I would say sooner than later!” He spelled out the profanity in the post.

“Thought I could make a difference, thought it would get better! See the morale fabric of this Country get so trampled I wanna call it! GAME ON! I think we need a cleansing! Just me? What say you?”

The comments infuriated colleagues, who reported them. Metro brass also received a picture of Kinch pointing a gun at a picture of President Barack Obama, which caught the Secret Service’s attention.

But as for Metro’s leadership, this wasn’t cause for serious alarm. Despite one lieutenant calling for Kinch’s dismissal, Metro leaders closed a long investigation by giving Kinch a slap on the wrist, a written reprimand. And Kinch now is back on the job, investigating crimes allegedly committed by minorities.

Kinch told Blasky his comments were taken out of context by people who wanted to hurt him. Kinch said it was “retarded” to think his posts were racist.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2015/jan/12/finding-line/

He believes that black gangs killed his mom with no proof of that. Details in the link

January 20, 2015

Texas parent wants to replace high school book about poverty with Ayn Rand, Ben Carson, Karen Hesse

A parent in the wealthy Texas town of Highland Park has challenged a book about people living near the poverty line, and suggested books by Ayn Rand, Ben Carson and Karen Hesse as replacements, the Dallas Morning News reports.

The challenged book, David K. Shipler's "The Working Poor: Invisible in America," was one of seven suspended by the Highland Park school district in September. Those suspensions were eventually reversed, but the district announced in November that students would need permission slips from parents to read "The Working Poor" and five other books. Shipler's book, which is being taught in an advanced placement class for high school juniors, will be reviewed by a committee including school staff, students and parents, and will remain in use until then.

http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-ayn-rand-poverty-books-20150119-story.html

The parent who objected to the book wrote in her complaint: "'The Working Poor' is not a great work of literature or an example of rich writing we want our students to emulate. One must ask, is this the best piece of literature our students can read to learn to write?" The Dallas Morning News notes the parent criticized the book for its "depiction of abortion, and sexual abuse and ... its portrayal of women 'as weak, pathetic, ignorant, sexual objects and incapable beings.'"

The parent offered three suggestions for a replacement book: Ayn Rand's "We the Living," Karen Hesse's "Out of the Dust," and Ben Carson's "America the Beautiful." Carson's book was the subject of controversy earlier this month after BuzzFeed reported that sections were plagiarized from several sources, including a website called SocialismSucks.net.

January 19, 2015

Obese dog had to be carted to rescue facility.

Kale Chips is about three times heavier than a typical, healthy beagle.

Meet the obese beagle who tips the scales at a whopping 85 pounds — three times heavier than a typical dog.

Ironically, the massive mutt is called Kale Chips — and by the looks of his belly he's never eaten one of them in his life.






The 7-year-old from Chicago was so heavy he had to be wheeled into the One Tail At A Time Dog Rescue on a wagon.

Kale Chips — positively named to kick-start his weight loss — will now undergo an intensive diet and regime to help him shed the pounds.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/chicago-beagle-tips-scales-85-pounds-article-1.2083759
“Our jaws dropped when we saw that number. He’s the most overweight dog we’ve ever seen," Heather Owen, co-founder of One Tail, told The Huffington Post. “He literally had to be wheeled out in a wagon, he was so heavy."

Though healthy weights tends to vary by animal size, an adult male beagle should be around 22 - 25 pounds, putting Kale Chips on the extreme end of the spectrum, Owen said. While the dog, estimated to be 7 or 8 years old, will be tested to see if medical issues like hypothyroidism are contributing to the weight, Owen said lifestyle is the most likely cause.

"It’s our assumption that the owner wasn’t able to walk him or care for him," Owen told HuffPost. "[Kale Chips'] nails were really long and the owner certainly overfed him."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/08/kale-chips-beagle_n_6437668.html

January 19, 2015

Billy Crystal says graphic gay sex on TV has gone 'too far', industry mustn't 'shove it in our face'

Billy Crystal says graphic gay sex on TV has gone 'too far' and that the industry mustn't 'shove it in our face'

Actor Billy Crystal has said graphic scenes of gay sex on TV have gone too far, and the industry must take care not to 'shove it in our face'.
Crystal, who became one of network television's first gay characters on comedy show Soap in the 1970s, said contemporary programs are 'pushing it a little too far'.
He declined to cite any examples, but implied that intolerant attitudes he struggled with while playing Jodie Dallas from 1977 to 1981 have now
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2917243/Billy-Crystal-says-graphic-gay-sex-TV-gone-far-industry-mustn-t-shove-face.html#ixzz3PJ6cQ6hU