In a case that may have a significant implications for Seattle's fast-growing homeless population, a King County Superior Court judge ruled on Friday that the pickup truck a man was living in was his home.
The case concerns a 57-year-old man named Steven Long, whose pickup was impounded because it was improperly parked and he didn't move it every 72 hours. Long was living in the truck while working as a janitor at CenturyLink Field, and he said the vehicle wasn't running well enough to move it.
Because of Washington's frontier-era homestead law, the judge's ruling means the city can't impound the truck. The judge also ordered the city to refund the fees Long was levied for the towing and impoundment, saying Seattle violated constitutional protections against excessive fines.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Thursday, March 08, 2018
Patients Like Hospital Care At Home, But Some Insurers Are Skeptical
Phyllis Petruzzelli spent the week before Christmas struggling to breathe. When she went to the emergency department on Dec. 26, the doctor at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, near her home in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood, said she had pneumonia and needed hospitalization.
Then the doctor proposed something that made Petruzzelli nervous: Instead of being admitted to the hospital, she could go back home and let the hospital come to her.
As a "hospital-at-home" patient, Petruzzelli learned, she would get home visits from doctors and nurses who would come twice a day and perform any needed tests or bloodwork.
A wireless patch, a little bigger than her index finger, would be affixed to her skin to track her vital signs and send a steady stream of data to the hospital. If she had any questions, she could talk face-to-face via video chat anytime with a nurse or doctor at the hospital.
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Then the doctor proposed something that made Petruzzelli nervous: Instead of being admitted to the hospital, she could go back home and let the hospital come to her.
As a "hospital-at-home" patient, Petruzzelli learned, she would get home visits from doctors and nurses who would come twice a day and perform any needed tests or bloodwork.
A wireless patch, a little bigger than her index finger, would be affixed to her skin to track her vital signs and send a steady stream of data to the hospital. If she had any questions, she could talk face-to-face via video chat anytime with a nurse or doctor at the hospital.
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What You Might Not Realize About The Benefits Of Hand-Washing
OK, so maybe you're one of those people who don't wash their hands even after going to the bathroom because your dad never did and he never got sick.
Or you think a three-second hand scrub is more than enough.
Or you squirt on some hand-sanitizer and figure you've done your duty.
I have some news for you.
There's a new study out on norovirus and the role hand-washing can play in stopping an outbreak.
To sum it up: Wash up!
Norovirus is responsible for roughly 1 in 5 cases worldwide of acute gastroenteritis.The symptoms are pretty horrible: nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. And it's very, very, very contagious. It takes only one particle to infect a human, compared to roughly 50 to 100 particles of flu virus.
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Or you think a three-second hand scrub is more than enough.
Or you squirt on some hand-sanitizer and figure you've done your duty.
I have some news for you.
There's a new study out on norovirus and the role hand-washing can play in stopping an outbreak.
To sum it up: Wash up!
Norovirus is responsible for roughly 1 in 5 cases worldwide of acute gastroenteritis.The symptoms are pretty horrible: nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. And it's very, very, very contagious. It takes only one particle to infect a human, compared to roughly 50 to 100 particles of flu virus.
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Breaking News: North Korea's leader invited President Trump to meet for nuclear negotiations.
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has invited President Trump to meet for negotiations over its nuclear program, an audacious diplomatic overture that would bring together two strong-willed, idiosyncratic leaders who have traded threats of war.
The South Korean official, Chung Eui-yong, who conveyed the invitation told reporters that Mr. Trump had accepted it and would meet with Mr. Kim by May.
Investigation Into Generic Drug Price Fixing Set To Widen
Forty-five states and the Department of Justice are claiming that generic drug prices are fixed, and the alleged collusion may have cost U.S. business and consumers more than $1 billion.
In their complaint, prosecutors say that when pharmacies asked drug makers for their lowest price, the manufactures would rig the bidding process.
"The companies would work out in advance who would get the lowest price and then the other competitors may put in what we would call a cover bid," says Michael Cole, who heads the antitrust department at the Connecticut Attorney General's office. (Such bids give the appearance of competitive bidding.)
Through subpoenas, his team has assembled millions of texts, emails and phone calls between 2012 and 2015. The prosecutors say the records show executives divvying up customers, setting prices and giving the illusion that generic pharmaceuticals were transacted in an open and fair marketplace.
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In their complaint, prosecutors say that when pharmacies asked drug makers for their lowest price, the manufactures would rig the bidding process.
"The companies would work out in advance who would get the lowest price and then the other competitors may put in what we would call a cover bid," says Michael Cole, who heads the antitrust department at the Connecticut Attorney General's office. (Such bids give the appearance of competitive bidding.)
Through subpoenas, his team has assembled millions of texts, emails and phone calls between 2012 and 2015. The prosecutors say the records show executives divvying up customers, setting prices and giving the illusion that generic pharmaceuticals were transacted in an open and fair marketplace.
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Nordstrom rejects $8.4B Buyout Deal, says it's too low
A rejected takeover bid that valued Nordstrom at about $8.4 billion is pitting the department-store chain's board against its top executives.
After the company's founding family put together an offer of about $50 a share in cash, Nordstrom's independent directors spurned the deal on Monday, saying the price was too low. The board members, who formed a special committee to evaluate a possible transaction, warned the would-be buyers to quickly increase their offer or move on.
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After the company's founding family put together an offer of about $50 a share in cash, Nordstrom's independent directors spurned the deal on Monday, saying the price was too low. The board members, who formed a special committee to evaluate a possible transaction, warned the would-be buyers to quickly increase their offer or move on.
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Washington becomes 1st state to approve net-neutrality rules
Setting up a likely legal fight with the Trump administration, Washington has become the first state to enact its own net-neutrality requirements after U.S. regulators repealed Obama-era rules designed to keep the internet an even playing field.
“We know that when D.C. fails to act, Washington state has to do so,” Gov. Jay Inslee said Monday before signing the bipartisan measure that banned internet providers from blocking content or interfering with online traffic.
The new law also requires internet providers to disclose information about their management practices, performance and commercial terms. Violations would be enforceable under the state’s Consumer Protection Act.
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“We know that when D.C. fails to act, Washington state has to do so,” Gov. Jay Inslee said Monday before signing the bipartisan measure that banned internet providers from blocking content or interfering with online traffic.
The new law also requires internet providers to disclose information about their management practices, performance and commercial terms. Violations would be enforceable under the state’s Consumer Protection Act.
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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/03/06/washington-becomes-1st-state-to-approve-net-neutrality-rules.html
Kunstler Warns: "Enjoy The Last Few Weeks Of Relative Normality"
Personally, I believe that the plodding, implacable Robert Mueller, white knight of the Deep State, will flush the Golden Golem of Greatness out of office, probably on some sort of money-laundering rap having nothing to do with “Russian meddling.” Anderson Cooper will have a multiple orgasm. Rachel Maddow will don a yellow hard-hat and chain-saw a scale model of Mar-a-Lago to the glee of her worshippers. The #Resistance will dance in the streets. And then what?
I doubt that Mr. Trump will go gracefully. Rather he’ll dig in and fight even if it means fomenting a constitutional crisis. He’ll challenge Mr. Mueller on veering into matters unrelated to alleged Russian pranks in the 2016 election. He may well attempt the self-pardoning gambit. He will have a lot of support out in the Deplorable gloaming. But, at some point, I expect a bipartisan consensus to emerge in congress that the guy has got to go. He’s making it impossible to conduct even the routines of bribery and domestic collusion that Washington exists for. Nobody is getting paid — at least not the bonuses they’re accustomed to seeing.
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I doubt that Mr. Trump will go gracefully. Rather he’ll dig in and fight even if it means fomenting a constitutional crisis. He’ll challenge Mr. Mueller on veering into matters unrelated to alleged Russian pranks in the 2016 election. He may well attempt the self-pardoning gambit. He will have a lot of support out in the Deplorable gloaming. But, at some point, I expect a bipartisan consensus to emerge in congress that the guy has got to go. He’s making it impossible to conduct even the routines of bribery and domestic collusion that Washington exists for. Nobody is getting paid — at least not the bonuses they’re accustomed to seeing.
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Danish Prime Minister unveils plans to eradicate ghettos by 2030
The Danish government has put forward plans to tackle social problems in urban areas it defines as 'ghettos' in the latest of a series of tough measures designed to integrate immigrants.
The centre-right government's 'One Denmark without parallel societies - no ghettos by 2030' policy unveiled on Thursday has 22 proposals, including reducing benefits for immigrants who move into ghettos.
'The ghettos must disappear. We will take control of who moves. In particularly burdened areas, we will punish criminality extra hard . . . It needs a historic change in the method in which we deal with these problems,' Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said while presenting the plan during a visit with ministers to the Mjolnerparken ghetto in Copenhagen.
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The centre-right government's 'One Denmark without parallel societies - no ghettos by 2030' policy unveiled on Thursday has 22 proposals, including reducing benefits for immigrants who move into ghettos.
'The ghettos must disappear. We will take control of who moves. In particularly burdened areas, we will punish criminality extra hard . . . It needs a historic change in the method in which we deal with these problems,' Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said while presenting the plan during a visit with ministers to the Mjolnerparken ghetto in Copenhagen.
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Tor Project "Almost 100% Funded By The US Government": FOIA
The Tor Project - a private nonprofit known as the "NSA-proof" gateway to the "dark web," turns out to be almost "100% funded by the US government" according to documents obtained by investigative journalist and author Yasha Levine.
The Tor browser, launched in 2001, utilizes so-called "onion routing" technology developed by the US Navy in 1998 to provide anonymity over computer networks.
In a recent blog post, Levine details how he was able to obtain roughly 2,500 pages of correspondence via FOIA requests while performing research for a book. The documents include strategy, contract, budgets and status updates between the Tor project and its primary source of funding; a CIA spinoff known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which "oversees America's foreign broadcasting operations like Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe."
By following the money, I discovered that Tor was not a grassroots. I was able to show that despite its indie radical cred and claims to help its users protect themselves from government surveillance online, Tor was almost 100% funded by three U.S. National Security agencies: the Navy, the State Department and the BBG. Following the money revealed that Tor was not a grassroots outfit, but a military contractor with its own government contractor number. In other words: it was a privatized extension of the very same government that it claimed to be fighting.
The documents conclusively showed that Tor is not independent at all. The organization did not have free reign to do whatever it wanted, but was kept on a very short leash and bound by contracts with strict contractual obligations. It was also required to file detailed monthly status reports that gave the U.S. government a clear picture of what Tor employees were developing, where they went and who they saw. -Yasha Levine
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The Tor browser, launched in 2001, utilizes so-called "onion routing" technology developed by the US Navy in 1998 to provide anonymity over computer networks.
In a recent blog post, Levine details how he was able to obtain roughly 2,500 pages of correspondence via FOIA requests while performing research for a book. The documents include strategy, contract, budgets and status updates between the Tor project and its primary source of funding; a CIA spinoff known as the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which "oversees America's foreign broadcasting operations like Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe."
By following the money, I discovered that Tor was not a grassroots. I was able to show that despite its indie radical cred and claims to help its users protect themselves from government surveillance online, Tor was almost 100% funded by three U.S. National Security agencies: the Navy, the State Department and the BBG. Following the money revealed that Tor was not a grassroots outfit, but a military contractor with its own government contractor number. In other words: it was a privatized extension of the very same government that it claimed to be fighting.
The documents conclusively showed that Tor is not independent at all. The organization did not have free reign to do whatever it wanted, but was kept on a very short leash and bound by contracts with strict contractual obligations. It was also required to file detailed monthly status reports that gave the U.S. government a clear picture of what Tor employees were developing, where they went and who they saw. -Yasha Levine
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White South African farmers to be removed from their land
White South African farmers will be removed from their land after a landslide vote in parliament.
The country's constitution is now likely to be amended to allow for the confiscation of white-owned land without compensation, following a motion brought by radical Marxist opposition leader Julius Malema.
It passed by 241 votes for to 83 against after a vote on Tuesday, and the policy was a key factor in new president Cyril Ramaphosa's platform after he took over from Jacob Zuma in February.
Mr Malema said the time for 'reconciliation is over'. 'Now is the time for justice,' News24 reported.
'We must ensure that we restore the dignity of our people without compensating the criminals who stole our land.'
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The country's constitution is now likely to be amended to allow for the confiscation of white-owned land without compensation, following a motion brought by radical Marxist opposition leader Julius Malema.
It passed by 241 votes for to 83 against after a vote on Tuesday, and the policy was a key factor in new president Cyril Ramaphosa's platform after he took over from Jacob Zuma in February.
Mr Malema said the time for 'reconciliation is over'. 'Now is the time for justice,' News24 reported.
'We must ensure that we restore the dignity of our people without compensating the criminals who stole our land.'
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Prisons Of Pleasure Or Pain: Huxley's "Brave New World" Vs. Orwell's "1984"
Many Americans today would quite possibly consider Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” to be a utopia of sorts with its limitless drugs, guilt-free sex, perpetual entertainment and a genetically engineered society designed for maximum economic efficiency and social harmony.
Conversely, most free people today would view Orwell’s “1984” as a dystopian nightmare, and shudder to contemplate the terrifying existence under the iron fist of “Big Brother”; the ubiquitous figurehead of a perfectly totalitarian government.
Although both men were of British descent, Huxley was nine years older than Orwell and published Brave New World in 1932, seventeen years before 1984 was released in 1949. Both books are widely considered classics and are included in the Modern Library’s top ten great novels of the twentieth century.
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Conversely, most free people today would view Orwell’s “1984” as a dystopian nightmare, and shudder to contemplate the terrifying existence under the iron fist of “Big Brother”; the ubiquitous figurehead of a perfectly totalitarian government.
Although both men were of British descent, Huxley was nine years older than Orwell and published Brave New World in 1932, seventeen years before 1984 was released in 1949. Both books are widely considered classics and are included in the Modern Library’s top ten great novels of the twentieth century.
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Steven Mosher on Trade Deficit: China ‘Might as Well Have Carpet Bombed the American Heartland’
Richard Nixon had “created a monster” by opening America and the West to China, said bestselling author and Asia expert Steven Mosher in a Wednesday interview on SiriusXM’sBreitbart News Tonight with Senior Editor-at-Large Rebecca Mansour.
“I think allowing China into the World Trade Organization must rank as one of the greatest strategic blunders made by any great power in human history,” said Mosher, framing modern trade policies towards China as sowing the seeds of a rival state’s geopolitical ascendance.
Mosher, the author of Bully of Asia: Why China’s Dream is the New Threat to World Order, explained that the Chinese state does not operate in good faith in trade arrangements.
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“I think allowing China into the World Trade Organization must rank as one of the greatest strategic blunders made by any great power in human history,” said Mosher, framing modern trade policies towards China as sowing the seeds of a rival state’s geopolitical ascendance.
Mosher, the author of Bully of Asia: Why China’s Dream is the New Threat to World Order, explained that the Chinese state does not operate in good faith in trade arrangements.
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Rand Paul wants to repeal federal gun-free school zones
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced legislation on Thursday that would repeal a 1990 law banning guns from school zones, a move that fits with his push to arm teachers and other school personnel so they can prevent school shootings like the one that took place in Florida last month.
Paul's bill would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 and all amendments to that law.
The law bans weapons in and around all public and private K-12 schools, with limited exceptions. Its supporters say the law is needed to reduce violence at schools.
But Paul is a long-time advocate of allowing some teachers to be armed, and has argued along with other conservatives that current law makes schools easy targets for mass shootings.
In early 2013, just weeks after the Sandy Hook shooting that left 26 people dead, including 20 elementary school kids, Paul said it was time to arm teachers.
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Paul's bill would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 and all amendments to that law.
The law bans weapons in and around all public and private K-12 schools, with limited exceptions. Its supporters say the law is needed to reduce violence at schools.
But Paul is a long-time advocate of allowing some teachers to be armed, and has argued along with other conservatives that current law makes schools easy targets for mass shootings.
In early 2013, just weeks after the Sandy Hook shooting that left 26 people dead, including 20 elementary school kids, Paul said it was time to arm teachers.
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Democrats Brag About Gun Control In Baltimore
Baltimore is the most dangerous city in America, according to a new study by USA Today, with 55.8 murders per 100,000 residents. In spite of that fact, the Maryland Democratic Party is touting the “assault weapons ban” the party implemented in 2013 as a way to raise money. “Will USA follow MD’s lead?” asks a fundraising email from Maryland Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathleen Matthews.
The fundraising email from Matthews, wife of MSNBC personality Chris Matthews, reads, “Following the tragic Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Democrats in Maryland passed one of the toughest assault weapons bans in the country.”
“Now, as young people in Parkland are leading the Never Again movement against gun violence, all of Maryland’s Democratic members of Congress are united against the NRA and their Republican cronies in the fight to pass an assault weapons ban to protect all Americans.”
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The fundraising email from Matthews, wife of MSNBC personality Chris Matthews, reads, “Following the tragic Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Democrats in Maryland passed one of the toughest assault weapons bans in the country.”
“Now, as young people in Parkland are leading the Never Again movement against gun violence, all of Maryland’s Democratic members of Congress are united against the NRA and their Republican cronies in the fight to pass an assault weapons ban to protect all Americans.”
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JOIN ME IN TAKING ACTION:
JOIN ME IN TAKING ACTION: I am the sponsor of HB 1308, Keep Our Communities Safe Act of 2018. This bill will require law enforcement to turn over illegal immigrants who have been convicted of a crime to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) if asked. The bill hearing for HB 1308 is on March 13 in the House Judiciary Committee.
Please add your signature to the petition if you agree and SAY NO TO SANCTUARY STATE STATUS
Uncle Sam must rein in retirement benefits or we’re headed for economic disaster
The American polity recently tore itself apart debating the morality of adding $1.5 trillion in tax cuts to the national debt. Yet the $82 trillion avalanche of Social Security and Medicare deficits that will come over the next three decades elicits a collective shrug. Future historians — and taxpayers — are unlikely to forgive our casual indifference to what has been called “the most predictable economic crisis in history.”
Over the next 30 years, according to data from the Congressional Budget Office, Medicare will run a $40 trillion cash deficit, Social Security will run a $19 trillion cash deficit and the interest on the resulting program debt will be $23 trillion. (To inflation-adjust these figures, trim by one-third.)
CBO projects that, over the next 30 years, the national debt will grow from $20 trillion to $92 trillion ($52 trillion after inflation) — or much higher if interest rates return to historically typical levels.
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Over the next 30 years, according to data from the Congressional Budget Office, Medicare will run a $40 trillion cash deficit, Social Security will run a $19 trillion cash deficit and the interest on the resulting program debt will be $23 trillion. (To inflation-adjust these figures, trim by one-third.)
CBO projects that, over the next 30 years, the national debt will grow from $20 trillion to $92 trillion ($52 trillion after inflation) — or much higher if interest rates return to historically typical levels.
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Democrats Crack Down On Sleeping At Capitol
Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members are aiming to crack down on lawmakers who sleep in their offices in the Capitol, calling the practice “unsanitary.”
Members of the CBC argued that lawmakers sleeping in their offices represented an abuse of taxpayer funds in a letter requesting an investigation by the House Ethics Committee, as reported by Politico.
“There’s something unsanitary about bringing people to your office who are talking about public policy where you spent the night, and that’s unhealthy, unsanitary — and some people would say it’s almost nasty,” Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, told Politico.
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Members of the CBC argued that lawmakers sleeping in their offices represented an abuse of taxpayer funds in a letter requesting an investigation by the House Ethics Committee, as reported by Politico.
“There’s something unsanitary about bringing people to your office who are talking about public policy where you spent the night, and that’s unhealthy, unsanitary — and some people would say it’s almost nasty,” Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, told Politico.
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Ron Paul Fears "Huge" Correction In Stocks, Warns "It's Going To Be A Calamity"
"I think we have a greater distortion and a financial danger sitting out there bigger than ever before," warned former presidential candidate Ron Paul in an ominous interview with CNBC this week.
While markets briefly got nervous over Trump's tariffs last week, Paul warns Wall Street is missing the bigger picture and that the real trouble stems from Fed policy and easy money...
"If the Fed continues on the things that they are sort of planning on doing, it's going to be a calamity."
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While markets briefly got nervous over Trump's tariffs last week, Paul warns Wall Street is missing the bigger picture and that the real trouble stems from Fed policy and easy money...
"If the Fed continues on the things that they are sort of planning on doing, it's going to be a calamity."
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