text:
Lou Dobbs Tonight
Deadly Day in Iraq; Selling the War; Critics Blast Bush Recess Appointment of Julie Meyers; Radio Station That Helps People Dodge Immigration Officials May Be Shut Down; Alabama Database May Help Track Illegals; George Mitchell Interview; Wal-Mart May Enter Banking Business; Sanchez Says Iraq May Break Out In Civil War
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everybody.
Tonight, one of the deadliest days of violence in Iraq in three years. And new fears that Iraq is plunging toward a bloody civil war. We'll be live in Baghdad.
President Bush today launched a new push to sell his strategy for the war in Iraq. We'll tell you how President Bush is trying to reach out to some of his strongest critics.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon tonight is fighting for his life. Hopes for Israeli-Palestinian peace at risk. Former U.S. peace envoy George Mitchell joins us.
And a new program to compile information on illegal aliens in the state of Alabama has sparked a storm of protests from groups that say it's OK to break U.S. law.
And Wal-Mart wants to open banks in your neighborhood. Critics say middle class Americans will be paying a high price if it does so. One of those critics is Congressman Barney Frank. He's our guest here tonight.
We begin in Iraq, where five American troops and more than 120 Iraqis were killed today in the worst violence in four months. The wave of deadly bombings comes three weeks after Iraqi elections that U.S. officials had hoped would lead to a reduction in insurgent attacks. These bombings could also shatter hopes the United States may soon be able to withdraw large numbers of our troops.
Jennifer Eccleston reports from Baghdad on today's explosion of violence -- Jennifer.
JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, January already proving to be a deadly month for Iraqi civilians and American forces. A string of attacks across central and southern Iraq this day.
The U.S. military announced the death of five soldiers after an IED, an improvised explosive device, hit their patrol in Baghdad. But it's the Iraqi civilians bearing the brunt of today's bloodshed.
In the Sunni stronghold of Ramadi, in western Iraq, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives vest during a crowded police recruitment drive. Iraqi police put the number of dead at 80, with over 70 wounded.
And also today, further south, in the holy city of Karbala, another suicide bomber detonated an explosives vest in the pedestrian square between two revered shrines in Shia Islam. Police put the death there at 48, with 82 wounded.
Now, that death toll is so high due to the large number of pilgrims in this square this Thursday. Thursday, of course, is the beginning of the weekend here and the day before the Muslim holy day of prayer.
Now, today's insurgent strikes both in Karbala and Ramadi, both at events which are police by Iraqi forces, are a vivid example of the great lengths security forces still have to go in order to keep the Iraqi people safe -- Lou.
DOBBS: Jennifer, thank you very much.
Jennifer Eccleston from Baghdad.
Despite the escalating violence in Iraq, President Bush today insisted the United States is making what he called good progress. President Bush made those comments after meeting with a long list of former secretaries of state and defense from both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Dana Bash reports from the White House.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Around the president's table, more than a dozen secretaries of state and defense who advised his predecessors in times of war and peace. Some you may not expect a president critics describe as isolated to hear from.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Not everybody around this table agree with my decision to go into Iraq, and I fully understand that.
BASH: That was the point of the hour-long meeting, disarm critics by reaching out to them.
BUSH: We take to heart the advice. We appreciate your experience and we appreciate...
BASH: On the guest list, Democrats fiercely critical of the foreign policy, like Johnson Pentagon chief Robert McNamara, who directed the Vietnam debacle he openly regrets and some compare to Iraq, and Clinton's secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, who said she gave the president an idea to get more crucial help from Iraq's reluctant neighbors.
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: Creating a contact group of regional powers who might be helpful in trying to resolve the issue is something that we did in the Balkans. It's not easy, but it's worth doing.
BASH: Other suggestions ranged from finding better battle plans against insurgents to still better communication from the president. Something veteran Republican Lawrence Eagleburger described in a colorful report.
LAWRENCE EAGLEBURGER, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: The thing I thought was most interesting was, it is clear the president has decided -- and for all of you who don't appreciate smoking, you can jump in the lake. But I think the president clearly has decided that he's got to be more open.
BASH: But yet again, a major Bush effort to reshape public opinion about Iraq was overshadowed by violent reality, the bloodiest day by far since elections last month. More than 130 people killed, including five U.S. soldiers by a roadside bomb, and some 80 Iraqis at a police recruitment center in Ramadi.
FRANK CARLUCCI, FMR. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Whether people agreed with the decision to go in or not, nobody really feels that we ought to fail at this point. We need to keep pushing ahead.
BASH: The White House took heart in the fact that even more critics at the high-level meeting do not want the president to withdraw troops too soon.
BASH: And participants in the unusual meeting here say that the president heard things he liked and things he didn't like, but he took notes on many of the suggestions he got. The open question from Madeleine Albright and others here is whether he'll actually follow up on the advice he got and whether in the future he'll come back and ask for more -- Lou.
DOBBS: And the fact is, President Bush has, for the past month, broken with the bubble approach, if you will, and is actually talking to groups that have not been heavily screened by the White House and others. Is this an approach we're going to see this president take in the days and weeks ahead?
BASH: They say that this is exactly the kind of thing that they learned, a lesson that they learned from 2005, that the president perhaps did appear to be more -- too isolated, that he did appear, as you say, to be in too much of a bubble, and that he does need to hear and engage with people like what you saw today outside of the inner circle, people who are with him day in and day out, both from Democrats and Republicans.
This is, as you say, very much like we saw at the end of December for members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans. They say that they hope to continue this. We'll see -- Lou.
DOBBS: Dana Bash from the White House.
Thank you, Dana. With Congress out of session, President Bush has appointed Julie Meyers to head up the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. Meyers is a well-connected member of the Washington ruling elite, with close family ties to the Bush administration, but she has virtually no experience in dealing with our nation's border emergency. Her dead- of-night appointment shows once again that political connections can put almost anyone on the inside track to an inside job in Washington.
Lisa Sylvester reports.
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Julie Meyers is a 36-year-old attorney who has held a number of key government positions, but critics say she does not have the experience to head up the nation's second largest law enforcement agency. At her most significant job at the Commerce Department, she had 170 employees under her. At Immigration and Customs Enforcement, she will head 20,000 employees.
Her budget at Commerce, $25 million. At ICE, $4 billion.
BOB WILLIAMS, CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY: This wouldn't happen in the private sector because people will be far too concerned about it. It's, you know, only in government this sort of thing can happen.
SYLVESTER: Democrats have questioned her credentials.
SEN. FRANK LAUTENBERG (D), NEW JERSEY: Her answers didn't give us any confidence that she had either the experience or knowledge to take on this kind of an assignment.
SYLVESTER: And so have conservatives. The "National Review" ran an editorial saying the appointment "smacks of cronyism."
Julie Meyers is the niece of Richard Meyers, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. She is married to John Wood. Wood is Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff's chief of staff. She will report to Chertoff, who is her former boss.
The Department of Homeland Security defends Meyers, pointing to her resume handling money laundering and other financial case. The agency says her experience will help crack down on crime syndicates bringing in illegal aliens.
"When you understand the ICE mission, she is an extraordinarily well-suited candidate for this position."
But agents on the ground are not convinced.
TJ BONNER, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: I have never seen morale any lower than it is now. And this certainly can't help, having someone come in who has less experience with immigration than a first-year trainee.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SYLVESTER: DHS says that marital or family connections have no bearing on Meyers' appointment, but perception goes a long way. We all remember another well-connected political appointee, FEMA's Michael Brown. After his credentials were tested, he is now out of the government -- Lou.
DOBBS: I'm sorry, Lisa, who was it who said her connections have nothing to do with her appointment?
SYLVESTER: It was actually Ross Knocke (ph). He's one of the spokesmen at DHS.
DOBBS: Yes.
SYLVESTER: And what he was -- the point that he's trying to make is that she has this experience fighting financial crimes, and he says that will translate over well to her new job.
DOBBS: Someone should perhaps put the gentleman on a lie detector, because if he did that with a straight face, it's remarkable. Cronyism is straightforwardly cronyism.
Thank you for the report, Lisa.
Lisa Sylvester from Washington.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is calling for the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. In a dispute over federal grants for anti-terrorist measures, Senator Reid, who represents, of course, Nevada, is furious that Homeland Security Chertoff has dropped Las Vegas from a list of cities eligible to receive anti-terror funds. Senator Reid said, "Anyone who can't see that Las Vegas is a high-risk area doesn't deserve to serve in a position like that."
Our nation's lawmakers were hard at work once again today giving back tainted campaign money from lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his clients. Since Abramoff's guilty pleas, many of our nation's most powerful lawmakers have quickly tried to distance themselves from what is a growing, widening scandal.
Those giving back Abramoff-related cash so far include the current House majority leader, Roy Blunt, former House majority leader Tom DeLay, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin. Seventeen Senate Republicans have announced Abramoff-related give-backs so far, as well as nine Senate Democrats.
In the House it gets better. Thirty-five Republicans and seven Democrats are handing back their cash.
One Republican governor also giving back Abramoff-related money, Robert Ehrlich, Jr. of Maryland. And there are still some lawmakers who have decided against giving back their Abramoff-related donations altogether, including none other than Senate Minority Leader Senator Harry Reid. He received some $61,000 worth of Abramoff-related money. Turning now to the crisis in Israel over the hospitalization of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after he suffered a massive stroke, Sharon remains in the hospital in Jerusalem. He is in critical condition tonight. Doctors say that Sharon is on life support after his surgery and he will be in a medically-induced coma for at least another 24 hours.
Sharon's grave illness has created a dangerous political vacuum in Israel. Sharon is Israel's most popular politician, and his stroke came less than three months before the Israelis hold elections.
Coming up here in the program, I'll be talking about the geopolitical impact of Sharon's illness with the former U.S. peace envoy, former Senate majority leader, George Mitchell.
Also tonight, new developments in the fight to save the life of the sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia.
And a victory for common sense and the rising controversy over school vouchers and support for public education. We'll have that story for you.
And drastic steps in in this country in an effort to prevent an outbreak of the deadly bird flu.
We'll have that special report and a great deal more still ahead right here.
DOBBS: Tonight, the sole survivor of the Sago coal mine disaster in West Virginia has been transferred to a hospital in Pittsburgh for specialized medical treatment. Doctors tonight are concerned that the survivor, Randal McCloy, may have suffered brain damage.
Meanwhile, family members of the 12 miners who died are struggling to understand how the disaster occurred and why the rescue attempt failed.
Brian Todd has the report from Tallmansville, West Virginia -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, there are still some complications in trying to find those answers for the families. A short time ago, we spoke to federal and state mining officials, as well as officials from the International Coal Group, the company that owns the Sago Mine here.
They tell us that the investigation will begin in earnest next week, and that will include interviews of personnel involved in this tragedy, as well as inspections of equipment, but also, they have to re-ventilate the mine itself to determine the ignition source of that explosion this week and where the miners were at time that that explosion occurred.
Now, back to Randal McCloy. As Lou mentioned, he was being moved this afternoon. We were told just a few moments ago that he has arrived in Pittsburgh at Allegheny Medical Center there.
A short time ago, a doctor at the West Virginia University Medical Center gave an update on Randal McCloy's condition.
DR. JOHN PRESCOTT, DEAN OF WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: In some of the body functions we've seen some improvement in his pulmonary functions and the way his lungs are working. We've seen improvement also with the way that his kidneys are functioning. Some improvement with his heart functioning, and some improvement with his liver.
We have not seen much of a change in his neurological status, and that's been something that we are closely monitoring also.
TODD: That neurological status is key here, because that is the reason he is being moved to Pittsburgh. He is going to be undergoing what they call hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and that is said by doctors to help his neurological recovery.
We won't have some answers on that for a little while. But that Pittsburgh hospital, Allegheny Medical Center, is the closest medical center to this area that has the capacity to give him that hyperbaric oxygen therapy -- Lou.
DOBBS: Brian Todd. Thank you very much.
A U.S. citizen accused of terrorism charges tonight being transferred from military to civilian custody. The terrorist suspect, Jose Padilla, was escorted to court in Miami to face a U.S. magistrate.
Padilla has been held in a military brig in Charleston, South Carolina, now for almost four years. Padilla was indicted in November on charges of conspiring to murder American citizens and providing material support to terrorists. The Justice Department wants Padilla in civilian custody so that he can face trial.
Senate Democrats today have announced new plans to hold up the confirmation process for Supreme Court justice nominee Judge Samuel Alito. Democrats say they plan to delay a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Alito's nomination for at least a full week.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid says his party has every right to hold up that committee vote. And Senator Reid says the Democratic leadership is ready to go down that road because of its opposition to Alito's nomination.
Confirmation hearings for Judge Alito are set to begin Monday. The Senate leadership had been hoping for a full Senate vote by the 20th of this month. President Bush nominated Judge Alito way back on October 31, now 67 days ago. God bless the Supreme Court of the state of Florida, all rise. The high court today struck down our nation's only statewide school voucher program, declaring it unconstitutional.
The high court ruled 5-2 that those school vouchers undermine public education because they finance a private alternative to public schools. An attorney who challenged the program called the decision a victory for every public school in America.
Coming up tomorrow on this broadcast, I'll be talking with Ron Meyer and Barry Richard, the attorneys representing both sides of the Florida school voucher public school case. That's tomorrow night here.
And we'd like to know your thoughts on the decision by the Florida high court on school vouchers and public education. Do you agree with the Florida Supreme Court that school vouchers undermine public education and violate that state's requirement to provide a uniform system of free publication?
Cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll have the results coming up later in the broadcast.
President Bush almost missed the last thrilling seconds of the Texas Longhorns victory the at the Rose Bowl last night. President Bush apparently fell asleep during the game. The president says he woke up in time to catch the dramatic finale, and dramatic it was.
Longhorn quarterback Vince Young scrambling for a touchdown with 19 seconds left on the clock. The president, a rabid Longhorns fan, waited until 6:00 this morning to congratulate Longhorns coach Mack Brown. This time it was Brown who was fast asleep.
Still ahead here, how one U.S. radio station is helping illegal aliens stay a step ahead of the law, and what one Texas attorney is trying to do about it. I'll be talking with that attorney here tonight.
And the fight against the deadly bird flu. Emergency steps being taken tonight to stop this disease from hitting the United States.
Stay with us.
DOBBS: In the United States tonight, new emergency measures are being taken to protect Americans from bird flu. The new steps are being announced as the bird flu threat is spreading around the globe and in Turkey tonight, where two have died from the deadliest strain of that disease.
Kitty Pilgrim has the report.
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Ninety percent of the U.S. poultry industry has just signed up for avian flu testing before their chickens come to market. That's nine billion birds a year.
RICHARD LOBB, NATIONAL CHICKEN COUNCIL: Sporadically, we'll have small outbreaks of milder forms of the disease, and so we're trying to head off any such outbreaks and, of course, to keep the Asian bird flu out of the United States.
PILGRIM: The mild form of the disease hit Maryland, Delaware, and Texas in 2004. Farms had to be quarantined and chickens killed.
But the worry now is the deadly Asian variety of bird flu could come to the states through migratory birds. It has been found in birds that flew from China to Russia, and Russia reported it in two dozen wild bird species so far. Those birds potentially could come the 55-mile distance across the Bering Strait to Alaska. The U.S. government wildlife monitors are already testing wild birds there.
Meanwhile, human case of bird flu caught from chickens are skyrocketing in Asia and Europe. Turkey has reported a new outbreak in humans. Two deaths, but dozens of people are critically ill.
DR. HENRY NIMAN, RECOMBINOMICS: I will not be surprised if the number of cases in Turkey really skyrocket within the next even week or two. I think the world hasn't really realized that most of these patients that have been admitted almost certainly have H5N1. So officially, there is only three confirmed cases and two deaths. But I think those numbers will go up tenfold, probably in the next three or four days.
PILGRIM: Now, most countries like Turkey quickly report their outbreaks in birds and humans. But this past weekend, the head of the World Health Organization in Asia said China has so far refused to share any of the virus samples from the more than 30 outbreaks it had last year -- Lou.
DOBBS: The expectation that those numbers will rise tenfold in Turkey, that -- hat's alarming.
PILGRIM: It certainly is. It's one of the biggest outbreaks we've seen so far. It's quite alarming.
DOBBS: Kitty, thank you very much.
Kitty Pilgrim.
Coming up next here, Mexico's hypocrisy over our border security and the right of our U.S. border patrol agents to defend themselves. We'll have the story and one sheriff's plan to fight illegal immigration. We'll have a special report.
And Wal-Mart wants to open big-box banks all across the country. Congressman Barney Frank will tell us why middle class Americans will be paying a high price if big-box Wal-Mart is allowed to do it. Stay with us.
DOBBS: Still ahead here, one man's crusade to stop a radio station in Texas from helping illegal aliens avoid the law.
But first, let's take a look at this hour's news headlines.
You're looking live at pictures of Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem where the outlook remains grim at this hour for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Sharon remains in critical condition and on life support after suffering a massive stroke. Doctors say chances of his recovery are less than 50-50.
The United States will soon take custody of one of Britain's most prominent radical Islamist terrorists. A British judge today ruled Haroon Rashid Aswat can be extradited to the United States. Aswat has been linked to last year's subway bombings in London. He's wanted in this country for allegedly trying to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon.
And new wildfires tonight are breaking out in drought-stricken Texas and Oklahoma. Three new wildfires are burning out of control in Texas. More than 300 acres now in flames. Two dozen grass fires burning in Oklahoma.
And tonight, the government of Mexico once again displaying stunning if not surprising hypocrisy. Mexican officials are criticizing the United States over the shooting death of an illegal alien smuggler who attacked a U.S. border patrol agent. At the same time, the government of Mexico has refused to do anything about the escalating violence from Mexican criminals against U.S. law enforcement officers.
Casey Wian reports.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's all too common along the heavily-guarded border near San Diego. An illegal alien climbs a makeshift ladder like this one, then throws large rocks at a border patrol agent. The tactic is designed to distract agents so a larger group of illegal aliens can cross elsewhere. But the assaults are potentially deadly, and last weekend a border patrol agent defended himself against an 18-year-old Mexican national.
LT. KEVIN ROONEY, SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPT.: The agent then pulled out his duty weapon, and as the male threw the rocks at him, the agent fired back.
WIAN: The alien smuggler fled back into Tijuana, where he later died. Now the Mexican government is using the shooting to pressure the United States to drop its plans for beefed-up border security.
LUIS CABRERA, MEXICAN CONSUL GENERAL: We condemn the use force. We condemn this incident.
VICENTE FOX, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have already requested to the proper channels a complete and total explanation regarding the shooting.
WIAN: Some Mexican politicians say that's not enough, call the Fox administration's response to the shooting spineless. Even pro- illegal alien groups in the United States are complaining.
CHRISTIAN RAMIREZ, AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE: His only crime was to come to the United States to find a better life for himself. He should not be punished by death.
WIAN: Actually, the Border Patrol says the man had been apprehended 11 times for illegal alien smuggling inform recent years, the Border Patrol has gone to great lengths to find non lethal deterrents to rock throwing illegal aliens, including the use of guns that fire pepper powder and steel caged vehicles.
NICHOLAS COATES, SENIOR BORDER PATROL AGENT: Assaults in this area occur every day, several times a day. And our assault numbers, especially in this area, have gone up dramatically in the last year.
WIAN: It's also true elsewhere. Texas Border Patrol agents report they've been shot at 35 times in the past week by drug or alien smugglers from across the Rio Grande.
(on camera): While the Mexican government is quick to criticize any use of force by the U.S. Border Patrol, it's done almost nothing to stop the rising wave of violence initiated by criminals operating on Mexican soil.
Casey Wian, CNN, Los Angeles.
DOBBS: Illegal aliens in San Antonio, Texas have been dodging immigration officials for years with the help of a radio station. KROM is a Spanish language station. It's owned by Univision. The station runs a recurring segment which listeners call in and report where they have seen so called limones verdes, green limes, the code name for immigration agents who wear olive green uniforms and drive around in green vehicles.
My next guest is outraged by the segment on that radio station and he began a campaign to shut down the radio station altogether. Joe Blalack is a retired attorney. He joins us tonight from Houston. Thanks for being here. Why do you feel so strongly about this?
JOE BLALACK, TRYING TO SHUT DOWN KROM: Well, I feel it's an open act of defines defiance on our laws, especially hindering, impeding the enforcement of our immigration laws in our state.
DOBBS: You filed your objections with the FCC. What has been the reaction of the government? BLALACK: I have not heard. It is still in abeyance at this point. There is supposed to be a hearing scheduled, as I understand, after the first of this year, probably in February or March. I've been advised by the office of Senator John Cornyn of Texas that they're awaiting the final report of the Homeland Security Agency to submit to the FCC in this matter.
DOBBS: Senator Cornyn's office said today when we asked them for their role in the view of the senator on this. The office said we initiated the contact on your behalf, Joe, hard to say exactly but we expect answers very soon, has Senator Cornyn been helpful here?
BLALACK: Yes, sir, he has. I must commend him. He has responded, he's responded to my inquiries. Responded to my letters.
DOBBS: What's the reaction of the station itself, the station management? But clearly as they go about identifying these agents, that's a very serious thing.
BLALACK: Well, in my opinion, it's one of arrogance, it's open, bizarre (ph) and inconsistent with the public policy, our public interest of the American people, and its laws. This is the test that the FCC applies to any of the actions of a radio station. Is an inconsistent with public interest?
DOBBS: Isn't there general outrage that a radio station whether Spanish language or English language, whatever the language in the United States is telling illegal aliens where Border Patrol agents and immigration agents are so that they can be avoided? That seems like a clear cut, it seems illegal, first of all?
BLALACK: Well, that's going to be the question for the FCC to decide in renewing this license of KROM. Now, I've got a lot of response in this matter, much more than I thought I would and I think that the American people are definitely aware now of a possible danger in these hundreds upon hundreds non-English speaking radio stations that are operating here on our American soil.
DOBBS: Just for our viewers' information, which is what the whole broadcast is here for, we just want you to know that we did try to reach Univision which owns the station, we tried to talk with the management of KROM. They referred us to their filings before the FCC, which were basically, let's say non-responsive to your charges. Joe Blalack, we thank you very much for being here. We appreciate your being here.
BLALACK: Thank you, Lou.
DOBBS: In Alabama, a sheriff there has a new plan to fight our border crisis. He is now keeping track of the explosion of illegal aliens in his community who, until now, were living in his county anonymously. But a lot of people don't like what the sheriff is doing. Christine Romans tells us all why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sheriff Mike Hale is using this database to compile information about any illegal alien who comes in contact with his deputies. Information that has until now languished in police notebooks.
SHERIFF MIKE HALE, JEFFERSON COUNTY, ALABAMA: An arrest report. Whether it be an incident offense report, traffic accident, a patrol request, information on crime, vice and narcotics crime, in the regular course of business, if my deputies suspect or believe that the person that they're talking to is an illegal alien, then what we're going to do, we're going to capture that information.
ROMANS: He will share it with federal agencies. Just has his drug task force shares information with the DEA. But Jefferson County commissioner Larry Langford is outraged.
LARRY LANGFORD, JEFFERSON COUNTY COMMISSIONER: At rate we're going in this country, all of us are eventually going have papers just to walk down the streets in this place. This is frustrating and very dangerous.
ROMANS: He charges this sheriff with racial profiling.
LANGFORD: I didn't say he was a racist. What I said was he has isolated the Hispanic community. And that's profiling.
HALE: My deputy are not going up and because of how they look, their race, their speech. If we don't have a lawful reason in the regular course of business to talk to them, we're not documenting that.
LANGFORD: Isabel Rubio is the executive director of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama. A group that also opposes the sheriff's database.
ISABEL RUBIO, HISPANIC INTEREST COALITION OF ALABAMA: We're definitely opposed to any database that tracks people simply because of documentation status. Being in this country without proper documentation is a misdemeanor, we've got a lot better things to do with our limited resources and time with state and local law enforcement than people who earn a living for their families.
ROMANS: Those same critics worry the sheriff's database will drive illegals further into the shadows.
HALE: I'm sympathetic, I'm empathetic to that, but that's a social problem. The answer to this dilemma is making a conscious decision to be in this country legally through a visa or whatever. All the other things, the rhetoric is being said is really excuse- making.
ROMANS (on camera): And he says it takes 90 seconds to enter the information into the computer it. It makes their crime fighting easier, more efficient, it doesn't take anybody away from solving crimes, he says there are now 20,000 people in his county illegally and it's growing, and immigration officials say they welcome local cooperation, and have even recently trained 45 Alabama State troopers are able to enforce immigration laws.
DOBBS: It's incredible, this country is in a heck of a mess. When a county sheriff trying to do the right thing is basically called a racist because he's trying to find out whether somebody who is a criminal suspect is in the country illegally. I mean, it's mind- boggling.
ROMANS: He started this after September 11th, thought that finding out who is in his community anonymously and keeping track of them was a good idea.
DOBBS: It's interesting, on the FBI's most wanted list, prominently illegal aliens. I wonder how they found out that they were illegal aliens? Amazing.
Christine, thank you. Christine Romans. Just ahead here, the scandalous wall of a onetime high powered Washington lobbyist has a lot of lawmakers scurrying. Capitol Hill bracing for the fallout. Congressman Barney Frank has a few ideas about some solutions, and he's going to be our guest.
And then the most deadly day of violence in Iraq in four months. One U.S. military commander says Iraq is now on the verge of civil war. I'm joined by General David Granger, next.
DOBBS: Doctors tonight say that if Ariel Sharon does survive the massive stroke, it's unlikely he will ever return to public life. And his passing from the political scene is certain to add more uncertainty to the Middle East. Joining me tonight with his insight on the Middle East, the war in Iraq and the Bush administration's new efforts to approach at least a bipartisan tactic in dealing with the war, former Senate majority leader, U.S. peace envoy, George Mitchell. Good to have you here.
GEORGE MITCHELL, FORMER SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Thanks, Lou.
DOBBS: It is clear that Ariel Sharon will no longer be leading the nation of Israel. Your assessment of the impact?
MITCHELL: High degree of uncertainty on top of an already complicated and difficult situation, because you now have a uncertainty on both sides. The Israeli government, of course, will function, will continue, it's a democracy, they have laws of succession and there will be a new leader chosen, probably on the date of the previously scheduled election in late March.
DOBBS: Three months from now. Benjamin Netanyahu. Now, the standard bearer for the Likud Party, presumably, he is the favorite now, even as we're trying to assess what is going to happen?
MITCHELL: Well, I just saw a news report the first snap poll taken in Israel indicated that Ehud Olmert, who was the deputy prime minister and now the interim prime minister maintains the same margin, now that may be sympathy for Sharon's party, but Olmert, don't count him out, he's the former mayor of Jerusalem, he's been in the parliament for a long time. He was deputy prime minister. He's an able guy.
DOBBS: And the Labor Party as well will focus some of the votes in that direction, but meanwhile, the withdraw from Gaza, the process itself, give us your assessment what you think the next few months hold here?
MITCHELL: I don't think much will occur in the next few months, have you had Palestinian elections set, Abbas is trying hard but is having difficulty establishing law and order in the Palestinian territories and among Palestinian societies. The uncertainty in Israel. So I don't think you'll see much movement in a few months. I think in end there will be movement because it's in the interest of both sides, but getting there will be very tough.
DOBBS: Turning to this country and a certain amount of uncertainty that surrounds our democratic process, Abramoff's guilty pleas, the widening scandal. This is a Washington right now that is very nervous. What do you think is going to happen here, what's the likely fallout?
MITCHELL: The likely fallout, I think, is clearly - or likely some convictions, probably some resignations from Congress. You have already seen a movement among top Republicans to get Tom DeLay out of leadership race, not to try to come back again, that's the first casualty, I think, before there is any results from Abramoff's talking. I think you're likely to see a rush to change the law now to make some changes ...
DOBBS: I've got to ask you this.
MITCHELL: Yeah.
DOBBS: Senator, as you look back over your career in Washington, campaign finance reform following Watergate. We've had the McCain- Feingold legislation. It all is nothing more than a fig leaf, greatest of intentions on the part of the sponsors and some who support it. This is a kabuki dance, and it is -- it does not pass a smell test on any level in any quarter of Capitol Hill, Democrat or Republican does, it?
MITCHELL: Well, I -- in the debate that I participated in trying to change the law, I said the system stinks, so I can't disagree with you ...
DOBBS: I kind of paraphrased you ...
MITCHELL: ... about the smell test.
Lou, it gets down to money in the end. There's too much money in the system, and too many members of Congress spend too much of their time chasing that money. In the end, that's the change that's got to be made.
DOBBS: George Mitchell, thank you very much for being here. Appreciate it.
MITCHELL: Thanks for having me.
DOBBS: Tonight I want to share with you what I consider to be a despicable comment from Christian Broadcasting founder Pat Robertson. Robertson suggested that the massive stroke suffered by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is punishment from God. Robertson told his viewers of his "700 Club," quote, "God has enmity toward those who 'divide my land.' He," Sharon "was dividing God's land and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course." End quote.
A man of God speaking.
Coming up at the top of the hour here on THE SITUATION ROOM, THE SITUATION ROOM WITH WOLF BLITZER. Tonight from Jerusalem, Wolf?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Thanks very much, Lou. We're going to have all the latest information here in Jerusalem, and all the latest from West Virginia. We'll hear from the miner who made it out of the West Virginia coal mine alive immediately after the blast. We'll find out what it was like when the explosion actually happened.
Plus, a miner's last moments. The letter he wrote to his family before his death. We'll find out why they're finding comfort in his words.
Also, why we're here, live in Jerusalem, we're following the grave condition of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. A condition that threatens to send the Mid-East peace process into a tailspin.
And finally, did Jesus exist? The battle in Rome over the basic foundation of Christianity. It's now in the hands of a court. All that, lots more, Lou, coming up, right at the top of the hour. Back to you.
DOBBS: Looking forward to, it Wolf, thank you.
Still ahead, Wal-Mart's bid for a banking charter, the decision could come in the next month. Why the big box bank could be bad news for middle class Americans. I'll be joined by Congressman Barney Frank who says it is a very bad idea.
A view of the Jack Abramoff scandal as well, when I talk with Congressman Frank. A lot more coming up. Stay with us.
DOBBS: Wal-Mart could receive permission to enter banking as soon as next month. Opponents say this could decimate local banks and hurt the middle class. Joining me tonight is Congressman Barney Frank, and we thank you for being with us, congressman. Why do you oppose this move?
FRANK: Well, Wal-Mart wants to take advantage of a loophole that exists in a couple of states, Utah mostly. It wasn't California, they tightened it up. They want to become what's called an industrial loan corporation, that's a bank that only has only got a small part of assets in financial service. Our general position has been as a country that, remember, when you start a bank, you're just not on your own, have you Federal Deposit Insurance, in case your depositors need it.
You have got access to the Federal Reserve window, you get a lot of help, and return we say you know what? We want you not to be very risky, we want your focus to be on banking. The problem is if you've got a company, Wal-Mart or any other company that runs a bank and a major company there's a problem because that bank might literally become the bank for the company.
And so we have tried to say that this shouldn't happen. Now ...
DOBBS: Let me ask you this, congressman. Not only Wal-Mart, and should I point out in terms of banking, I'm a minor investor in some small banks, and the fact is that Sears, Target, Toyota, General Electric, many others have bank charters, what's the difference here?
FRANK: Well, what we are saying is no one should have a bank unless they're at least 80 percent in the financial business. And some of what has happened in the past, frankly, sometimes you learn about dangers after a while. And just because you haven't been able to stop something from the beginning, doesn't mean you shouldn't try to plug the hole.
You also have, as you said, a threat to smaller banks, and smaller banks - frankly one of the things that worries me about what's gone on in New Orleans is I'm afraid all the smaller banks are going to literally go under because their borrows have lost everything, and I don't want to see an America which all we have is a Bank of America and Citicorp, et cetera. They're nice people, but we don't want to not have local institutions that are responsive to local needs.
DOBBS: Well, congressman, in some ways one can only almost imagine an America that has a Wal-Mart for everything, and I'm sure that would please them.
FRANK: Well it would, but it would also - we've learned this, they're not people who have shown a sense of social responsibility. You talk about immigration. They're one of the great abusers and misusers of illegal immigrant labor to the detriment of other people. That downgrades the work conditions.
DOBBS: They also have a track record of bringing very low prices as they are constantly reminding all of us.
FRANK: They do, here's a question in America. Is a couple of cents off on a fairly small purchase worth the evisceration of the middle class? As you know, a lot of our jobs have gone overseas, you've documented that well. Banking is one of the places where people can get reasonably good jobs. If you follow the Wal-Mart model what you then do is you further erode a source of reasonable employment for that Wal-Mart model which is yes, they get the low prices by a variety of means, but terrible working conditions.
DOBBS: Congressman, I got to talk to you about somebody who had a very good job, apparently, Jack Abramoff, you have come forward now with a plan to roll back at least the power of lobbying. What do you think the response will be?
FRANK: Well, a month ago when my colleague Dave Obey and I and others brought it forward people were skeptical. But we did get a majority of our Democratic colleagues to sign onto it. And I think now we're going have a lot of new friends because you made a good point before about the campaign finance.
But this is -- Can I say, I want to give credit here where I usually don't. The Bush Justice Department. Because we ought to be clear. This is the Justice Department under President Bush, assistant attorney general, Alice Fisher. They're the ones prosecuting this. And I give them credit this is falling heavily on the Republicans, this is an attack on the Republicans in the House, on DeLay, on the Republican allies like Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist, and I give them good credit for doing it.
DOBBS: Good for you for doing so.
FRANK: What she says is this. Look, this goes just beyond campaign financing. Campaign financing is probably a necessary evil. But you don't have to take trips to Scotland, you don't have to have unlimited free meals. You don't have to have your spouse hired to do, what did Mrs. DeLay do? Give a list of people's charities. So what he did was to go -- He took a system that's got problems, as you said, but greatly exacerbated them.
DOBBS: Congressman Barney Frank, we will be following your proposal, your efforts at reform, at a time when half all congressmen leaving Congress end up working on K Street working as lobbyists, certainly the timing is appropriate.
FRANK: We'll talk about it at dinner and we'll each pay for our own.
DOBBS: There you go. Thanks. Congressmen Barney Frank.
Still ahead here tonight, the most violent day in Iraq in months, 134 people killed, five American soldiers died. General David Grange joins me next. Stay with us.
DOBBS: The wave of bomb attacks in Iraq today raising new fears that Iraq is on the verge of a civil war. This week General Ricardo Sanchez, former U.S. commander in Iraq, appeared to contradict the president and his optimistic view on the war. General Sanchez said bluntly, "the country is on the verge of a civil war."
Joining me now, General David Grange. What do you make of General Sanchez's remarks?
BRIGADIER GENERAL DAVID GRANGE (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Lou, I don't agree we're on the verge of a civil war in Iraq. It's a possibility, of course, it's a strategy of the insurgents. I would rather listen to the on-ground commanders now and get their assessment and I don't think they would agree.
DOBBS: We're seeing violence now. This is the worst violence in some four months. At every plateau, progress as the Pentagon and White House suggest this, is we're seeing more and more deadly, deadly incidents. What are we to make of it?
GRANGE: Tough day, it will be -- it will pass, there will be good days ahead and some more bad days. It's funny, I just received messaging from some soldiers that had been there for about a year. And they say it's amazing, on television you see in a week as much violence as I saw in a year of duty in a very tough part of Iraq. So I guess that's perspective and where you sit. And not arguing it's not a bad day, but, again, it's a lot of successes going on that we're not accounting for.
DOBBS: And do you believe at this point the Pentagon is responding intelligently, effectively, adaptively to the insurgency?
GRANGE: On the military side I'd say yes. I'm not qualified to speak on the economic and political side, I think there are some issues there. But I would say, yes, they are.
DOBBS: General David Grange, as always, good to have you here.
GRANGE: My pleasure.
DOBBS: Tonight, the results of our poll. Eighty-five percent of you agree with the Florida Supreme Court decision today that school voucher undermine public education and violate the state's requirement to provide a uniform system of free, public education.
And finally tonight, a look at some of your thoughts.
D.L. Baker in Arkansas wrote to say, Lou, our government is dropping "buy American" because of fear of offending other nations? What about offending the American taxpayers and citizens?"
Tim and Doreen in Wisconsin. "Before building a border fence along the Mexican border, we should fence in Washington, DC."
And Paul in Iowa said, "It is very easy for some American employers to say that American workers are unskilled when they can hire illegal immigrants at far less pay. It's time to close our Southern border and stop this. To hell with what Bush and Fox think."
Dave in Florida said, "Lou, I'd much rather pay twice as much for a head of lettuce than pay the hospital bills for 11 million criminals and the education bills for all their kids. I had a hard enough time with my own."
And Jerry in California said, "Lou, retired senators and representatives should immediately be made to forfeit their government provided retirement pensions and medical benefits the minute they become lobbyists."
A very compelling idea, thanks for sharing it with us. We love hearing your ideas. Send them to us at loudobbs@cnn.com. Each of you whose email is read here receives a copy of my book, "Exporting America." And you can receive our email newsletter signing up at our Web site, loudobbs.com.
We thank you for being with us tonight. Please join us here tomorrow. We'll have much more on the Florida Supreme Court rejection of school vouchers and support for public education. The attorneys who argued both sides of the case join me and three of the country's top political minds will be here as well. We hope you will too.
For all of us here, thanks for watching. Good night from New York. THE SITUATION ROOM begins right now with Wolf Blitzer in Jerusalem. Wolf?
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Lou.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Hi! Today´s rare hat is the Rare Wizard Hat! Sold at Sarepia forest Hat shop.
Cool! Tomorrow there is an update. Do you want to know what I do on update days? I have ICT at school on thurdays, so if there is an update I go on AJ to see it when the teacher isnt looking. Tomorrow the new Member Gift will be announced. I REALLY hope it is not a pet.
Hi! Today´s new item is the resold winter icy rare, Frozen Banner.
It is useful to you when I do the colors or do you think I should stop doing it? See ya!
Hi! I made a new page, all about the Journey book. Click this sentence to see it.
Hiya! The RIM for today is a rare cowboy hat, green.
Not many jammers wear green, right? The type of green I most like is the one on this blog. I preffer yellow anyway. What is your favourite colour?
Also, I supposed many of you have found this picture while looking for Aj pics.
Yes, I know the dinosaur in Mt.Shiver is not an Allosaurus, but it is a dinosaur anyway. Could it have anything to do with a dinosaur festivity or quest with AJ? I have looked through all of Jamaa to see if there are any more dinosaurs, but I can´t spot them. Do you know if they are more? Jam on!
Hi ! This is the rare hat of the day!
The other new item is the Member Den Goalpost.
Probably to do with yesterday´s Football. As I am Spanish I don´t play american football and I don´t even know the rules, but I do like `normal´ football. or soccer.
Well, sorry if I bored you with that. Today´s new item is a football.
I wouldn´t call that a football. I would call it a handball or a rugby ball. But I am glad its non member. It might help me with the comic strip page. The Rare Hat of the Day is the old Rare Top Hat from the Leap Year party.
You can get yours at the Mt. Shiver Hat Shop. Enjoy Hatapalooza and have fun! Jam on!
P.S. For english homework once we had to make an example of a phrasal verb. What do you think my teacher would have said if I had putten `Jam on´ as an example?
Sorry and bye, no time for more.
a· It is only starting, it hasn´t settled yet.
b· It is very dark and the only camera I have doesn´t have a flashlight.
So perhaps tomorrow I can take pictures! At school we were aloud to go out in the snow instead of staying inside at break time, and we had a really big snowball fight. I made Ainoa18 end quite snowy indeed, and I made a snowball about 50cm tall and wide.
Sorry If I bored you with these random facts about my life.
Hi, the RIM for today is a Rare Fancy Top Hat. It is expensive, and member.
Sorry, I have not got much time today. See you in Jamaa!
Hi! Yesterday we got our most views ever in a day! 1,659! Keep it up! Two new items today! (Too much exclamation marks?) The Rare Jester Hat, an expensive and member item sold in the Mt Shiver Hat shop.
And the resold Elephant Shoji Screen at Jam Mart Furniture, cool and non member.
Jam on! I might do a post about rares or a new invented AJ legend later in the day, but I am not promising anything. See ya!
Hi! So I decided to start making posts about rares. I got the idea from Breathless´s Rarity Scans, so total credit to Jamaa´s writen truth. So I will write about planet walls.
Planet walls are very rare wallpaper and they were sold in beta.
·A Fish Fountain, a Zios Sculpture and a little rare such as a Camis Frog or Rocking Horse.
·A beta Artic hood if the person trading the planet walls added a Camis Frog or Rocking horse.
·A robot, an RC car and a clothing rare such as Rhino Helmet.
·A Zios, a Mira and a robot.
·A howl plaque, a spike and a cloud.
Please comment with your opinion on what are planet walls worth! And also comment if you have ideas of what items I could do next.
The new item is a racoon hat, it is quite cool and probably looks quite good with the summer Carnival Racoon tail. and best of all, it is NON MEMBER!
There is quite a craze for them.
So Jam on and have fun with all the Racoon Parties that jammers are hosting at their dens!
When Graham became an alpha, he was given a land, like the others. He got a nice one, with a river and lots of trees. He wanted it to be a really fun land, and he started making it fun. He decided he should make a Place where the all the wisdom of Jamaa could be, so he made a temple-like building and called it the Chamber of knowdlege.
And in the top floor, he put up a shop where he could sell useful items: Statues of the alphas, a great Zios fountain, some chests for jammers to lock up their most appreciated possesions, a wishing well to make dreams come true, an Orb to see the future that only some jammers know how to use, a bronze giraffe statue in honour of Edmund, the giraffe alpha, a magic mirrow to help take decitions, some firefly lamps, a telescope to study space and the phantoms... That shop is also an observatory, from where you can see the stars.
Outside he made a Temple of Trivia game, and a mysterious room in the roots of a great ancient tree. And he also made a statue of himself.
Hi, first of all, we now have 100,000 views.
Picture credit to someone who sent me a mail. Unfortunately, I don´t know the username. If you are that person, then please comment with your user to get your prize.
Also, I am now an author of Jamaa´s Writen Truth, owned by Breathless, also known as Goldfishypuppy or xXFreeSpiritXx. So the new item is a cool resold rare: The dog sled.
You can atach puppies, plushies or even jammers to it! Use your imagination and keep on Jamming!
So hat party? Sounds fun!
Yah, contest and member gifts, blah blah.
Yay! Cosmo is my favourite alpha!
Wasnt that a cool update! Also... 400 views for 100,000! The person who gets the screenshot with the views closest to 100,000 will get a free rare item! So keep viewing!


text:
Tephroseris integrifolia (vernacular name: field fleawort) is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Asteraceae.

Its native range is Europe to Siberia and Iran.

Synonym:
 Senecio integrifolius (L.) Clairv.

Subspecies: Tephroseris integrifolia subsp. maritima (Syme) B.Nord.

References

Senecioneae

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Infigra Ecommerce is a New York City based company that offers software as a solution (SaaS) and enables retailers to increase their sales by offering sophisticated ecommerce management tools. Our mission is to help move inventory by increasing the product visibility on different online global marketplace segments, such as Ebay and Amazon.
If you are interested in SEO plus SMM services for your eCommerce site, you ought to look at Deuce G Marketing. They specialize in rty target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://deucegmarketing.blogspot.com">Sacramento SEO but will also market for every site on the internet. You can also go to Deuce G Articles, a Top Article Directory [http://deucegarticles.vacau.com] for article submissions.
e-Business Express, a top ranking SEO agency, today announced its partnership with Bongo International that will enable merchants to sell internationally as well as domestically.
Bongo International has developed international eCommerce solutions to easily integrate with most shopping cart platforms, making it possible for e-Business Express clients to implement an International Fulfillment solution in a fraction of the time normally required.
Bongo International and e-Business Express partnership enables retailers eCommerce sites to accept international transactions from over 220 countries without having to manage the common challenges associated with Cross Border eCommerce. Every international order gets shipped to one of Bongos US destinations where it is processed for export abroad.
Fulfilling international orders has always been time consuming and costly for our clients. Now, with Bongo we can provide a hassle free way for our clients to fulfill all their international orders, Greg McNeil, President.
We are very excited to collaborate with e-Business Express as a Strategic Integration Partner. Our partnership will empower e-Business Express clients with turnkey solutions for accepting global orders in a competitive eCommerce market, Jennean Morrison, Director of eCommerce.
E-Business Express offers a variety of services to their clients ranging from mobile marketing to their eCommerce website development services. They produce a variety of services to provide comprehensive solutions to their clients in order to improve usability and to maximize conversion rates amongst their clients. E-Business Express has been offering their services since 1999 aiming to assist small to medium sized businesses succeed online and through mobile platforms.
Bongo International, LLC was founded in 2007 to overcome the challenges associated with Cross Border eCommerce transactions by both consumers and businesses. Today Bongo services hundreds of thousands of International Consumers and several thousand businesses globally with a team spanning 3 continents.
Greenwich-based fine jeweler and watch retailer Betteridge today announced that it has partnered with Borderfree, a market leader in international cross-border ecommerce solutions, to expand its online customer experience globally. By partnering with Borderfree, Betteridge now offers international shipping to over 100 countries and territories worldwide in more than 60 global currencies.
With Borderfree, we have extended Betteridges exceptional, personalized service to clientele around the globe, said Win Betteridge, Director of Business Development, Betteridge. I am proud that our international customers will now enjoy the same effortless online shopping experience as those purchasing domestically.
Over the past decade, international sales grew to nearly 10 percent of Betteridges total revenue, but several elements of the companys international business held it back from even greater sales abroad. The risk of international credit fraud combined with the logistics of coordinating international shipping were too complex for the company to manage effectively at scale. By leveraging Borderfrees technology and services platform, Betteridge can now present customers around the world with product prices in their preferred currency, guarantee the lowest possible total price including customs and taxes, and ensure seamless international shipping. Additionally, with secure international credit card transactions, Betteridge can offer its customers the flexibility and confidence they desire.
Betteridge already has a sizeable percentage of its revenue coming from customers around the globe, and were excited to help them take their international business to the next level, said Michael DeSimone, CEO, Borderfree. Betteridge is a historic American fine jeweler and thus a natural fit for the slate of iconic brands we partner with and bring to international shoppers eager for American goods.
Borderfree provides the logistical support we need to expand Betteridges seamless online shopping experience beyond U.S. borders. We are excited to join the capabilities of Borderfrees platform with the excellent customer service and exclusive selection for which Betteridge is known, said Mr. Betteridge.
Founded in 1897 from a long pedigree of fine jewelers and silversmiths, Betteridge is one of the most prestigious family-owned jewelry and watch businesses in the world. With corporate headquarters and a flagship storefront in the heart of Greenwich, Connecticut, in the last decade Betteridge has expanded its locations to Palm Beach, Florida and Vail, Colorado. Since 2010, the online store at Betteridge.com has allowed customers to peruse an expansive catalogue, discover unique pieces, benefit from Betteridge staffs considerable expertise, and make online purchases with confidence and ease. For more information, visit http://www.betteridge.com.
New York City-based Borderfree is a market leader in international cross-border ecommerce, operating a technology and services platform that the worlds most iconic brands rely on to expand globally and transact with customers in more than 100 countries and territories and more than 60 currencies worldwide. Borderfree manages all aspects of the international shopping experience, including site localization, multi-currency pricing, payment processing, fraud management, landed cost calculation, customs clearance and brokerage and global logistics services while maintaining the integrity of our customers brand and the consumer experience. For more information, visit http://www.borderfree.com.
North American web hosting provider The Host Group announced on Friday it has launched its recently upgraded website builder product with an introductory offer of half off the first three months payment. In addition to their custom website development services.
The Host Group will now be offering a cutting edge website builder designed for individuals interested in upgrading their blog/website without incurring the expenses involved with commercial website development.
The new website builder from The Host Group offers an additional asset to their range of products, as well as another tool that distances its web hosting and VPS services from the competition.
Geared toward getting small businesses online with minimal costs, the website builder package is an all-in-one solution to building a professional and clean looking website.
The blue ribbon offering from The Host Group provides additional features that were not previously available to customers, such as the new mobile templates and builder for mobile sites. These include improved customer navigation, a much greater selection of templates for customers, and redesigned templates for business sites.
Using an easy to use drag-and-drop interface, the website builder from The Host Group can customize any of the dozens of templates exactly as they wish, or start from scratch to build a completely unique website. Users can add text, images and social media plugins to their site, then rearrange everything on screen easily.
The Host Group website builder package includes hosting, and customers can also choose a free domain name, giving them all the tools they need to get their business online.
Many individuals and small business owners discover that they lack the resources to build their own website, or the finances to pay someone else to do it well, said The Host Group Doug Davis, CEO of The Host Group. With our automated website builder, we are removing that obstacle by providing a way to build websites that doesnt require any knowledge of programming or writing code. Customers can easily customize any one of our templates until theyre satisfied with the result.
For more information about the automated website builder, or custom website development and eCommerce projects, please visit http://www.thehostgroup.com.
Not too long ago the mainly Republican system for a fuel pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico was blocked by the White Residence, if only for a quick time. With this most recent improvement in the on-heading fight more than fuel prices and normal means, it is easy to predict that fuel rates will only rise. Since of this a lot more and more men and women are driving significantly less and searching from the comfort and protection of their homes than ever before just before. With regular rates at the pump over $ 3 a gallon, filling up is causing American shoppers growing discomfort in the pocketbook. People in america are not just dissatisfied with the value of gasoline, a sizable number are downright angry about it. And they may well get madder still if rates go about $ four for every gallon as predicted.
So what effect will this have on the general store and retail buying? In accordance to a report from the study agency Forrester, US retail e-commerce sales will attain will $ 279 Billion in 2015. One particular of the primary factors guiding this is since Purchasing on-line aids cut fuel costs that would be accrued shuttling to and from the mall. Of program, all of this does not automatically indicate that these online shoppers will invest much less. I wouldn't be stunned if they ended up investing the same volume or more because of the usefulness of searching from house. states AITs Chief Advertising Officer Richard Kirby.
What does all this suggest for the little enterprise operator? Chance! Internet Hosting business AIT has made it easy for entrepreneurs to capture their reveal of the increasing on-line getting marketplace. AIT has eCommerce remedies that contain all the crucial platforms to start an instant on-line enterprise, which includes gateways and merchant accounts, purchasing carts, level-of-sale systems and a bevy of internet hosting programs to meet each budget.
Getting type of a eCommerce firm ourselves, explains CEO Clarence Briggs, we have the goods and the activities to aid any of our customers, new and previous to take edge of the developing pattern. This coupled with online promoting and advertising and marketing reaching new heights there has never ever been a far better time to get started promoting and advertising and marketing on-line. We can help your company do both. This is how we commenced and succeeded and our team is in spot to assist our consumers do the identical.
AIT is residence to above 210,000 clients to contain Lot of money five hundred firms as effectively as modest companies. AIT was started in North Carolina and has developed into a multimillion greenback web hosting and technology firm. Customers like Time Warner, Microsoft, Newsweek, U.S. Federal Authorities, Pc Entire world, United Countries, Enterprise Week, The Oakridge Boys, State of North Carolina, Department of Protection, Wall Avenue Journal, ZDNet, Pizza Hut, Goodyear, Sensible Money, Learn Radio, and many a lot more have benefited from AIT's products and solutions. The firm has been named 2 times to the INC. 500 record of quickest developing companies and three occasions to the Deloitte &amp Touche Quickly five hundred checklist.
Are You Looking Ecommerce Application Development?
Any action that includes exchange of items and services utilizing world wide web as a medium is called Ecommerce. Ecommerce app Growth is an critical portion for any software. With the most suitable Ecommerce app development you can get from business methods and also provide you company with the needed improve. Ecommerce and e-company provides an total base of purchasing and income creating possibility that has by no means just before been fairly so easy.
Ecommerce internet site answers consist of on the internet product catalog and searching cart functionality that permits purchasing and marketing of products or providers above the net. You can create a strong on the web product sales channel with the right Ecommerce resolution. The initial phase in Ecommerce world wide web development is altering targeted traffic to the web site. Right after all, the achievement of an Ecommerce internet site relies upon upon how efficiently it can enroll the interest of customers and convert that fascination onto a sale.
Tips how to locate Ecommerce Web site Style and Improvement Businesses?
You should select the affordable Ecommerce website Design and style and Ecommerce web Improvement Firm with the combination of the distinct methods. You ought to test the terms and conditions, Situations, strengths, weakness, portfolios, defined timeline and scenario research of businesses.
You can also verify regardless of whether a picked Professional Ecommerce Internet site Style has expertise in developing comparable type of organization or not. You should examine Ecommerce internet site Design and style Organization that give top quality Ecommerce web site options and advancement packages. You really should check Ecommerce site style organization that provide Buying Cart Remedies and Ecommerce Packages.
A assortment of utilities finest to test and troubleshoot the ecommerce installations.
Aid with most capabilities on display.
Conduite for elements of on the internet shop like spot, goods, and possibilities.
Uploading accessible for item photographs and software program offered in your net shop.
Purchase administration from one display, as nicely as get inventory stage adjustment following shipment of objects.
How Ecommerce application improvement is essential?
Ecommerce application improvement is beneficial in buy to improve progress in the sphere of on the web company. It is a lot a lot more handy alternative as 1 can avoid the hassle of putting in software applications on independent shopper pcs. Ecommerce application development is expense efficient and spending budget oriented. As a part of the ecommerce application advancement prepare a single can both choose for payment entry for the initial twelve months or for a paid app plan, when in comparison compensated apps improvement are much much more helpful than the free of charge model paid out programs are normally much more flexible and considerably more potent. Ecommerce software answers have helped conserve income for the company. Ecommerce is the new trend in shopping, ecommerce saves considerably time for the consumers as they can just sit at home, pick much better items from the their personal computer and get them sent at their doorstep. Ecommerce searching cart offers saves a whole lot of time and other transportation expense. With an effective internet program you can turnout superb return on your expense as properly as magnify your existence on the internet.
FATbit Technologies is one of the Finest Ecommerce internet advancement organization in the region. Our top quality providers have ranked us on the leading slots of top rated notch organizations in the cyber galaxy. Get a custom shopping cart programmers program for your business from 1 of our experts. Shout to us for a quote nowadays!.


As the pursuit of "healthy" moves away from fixing what's wrong and toward optimizing health and wellbeing as a lifestyle, brands need to reposition and speak to these changing perceptions.
Looking around at health and wellness messages across industries, I'm struck by how much our perspective on "healthy" has shifted. After all, it wasn't that long ago when Richard Simmons had us Sweatin' to the Oldies, and The Beverly Hills Diet recommended cutting out nearly all the major food groups in the crusade for a lean physique.
Fewer consumers are aspiring for the "ideal body".
Deprivation and "no pain, no gain" health messaging is still out there, but a rising trend is rendering these tried-and-true tactics less effective. The focus of the conversation around health has gone from subtraction (minimizing calories, dropping pounds), to addition (benefits, rewards, and how much one has to gain). In a nod to Positive Psychology, it's no longer solely about making improvements in terms of better physical health, but about achieving a more balanced, healthy outlook on diet and fitness. The shift in thinking is so prevalent that Kelton's Cultural Insights team is calling it out as a full-blown movement around Additive Health.
Emphasize potential gains, and avoid highlighting opportunities for "loss".
Once an omnipresent message pervading all things health and fitness, weight loss-centered marketing has lost its luster in recent years. Sure, people still want to drop some pounds. But at the same time, more consumers are realizing that a mindset of deprivation and negativity is a barrier to achieving health-related goals. They're turning instead to proven techniques like rewards and affirmative statements. Focus your messaging on the advantageous outcomes of getting fit and healthy–like increased energy, confidence, and strength, and position physical and superficial benefits as secondary byproducts. This will inspire shoppers to incorporate your product into their daily routines.
Double down on social connectivity.
Think about ways that your product or service can bring people together in the name of wellness, whether it's offering a traditional exercise course, run club, or something else that caters to a niche audience. Offer a means of entertainment, social connectivity, or even a little indulgence, in order to cultivate a sense of community among your brand's biggest advocates.
This tactic can work both online and off. Consider integrating elements of positive reinforcement– including social and personal payoffs– into the digital consumer experience, to help consumers internalize progress and transform sense of self. Programs like Vitality and Fitocracy link elements of gaming, rewards, and digital coaching to engage users and maintain motivation.
Be inclusive. Recognize the broad-spectrum audience that aspires to behave and feel healthier.
Instead of using actors and models for your next marketing campaign, look to incorporate people who resemble and think like your broader consumer base. Fewer consumers are aspiring for the "ideal body," thanks at least in part to an increase in candid body positive messages from high profile celebrities. This trend of body acceptance has reached a crescendo, with Barbie now available in four different body types and the first ever plus size model featured on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover.
Showing unrepresentatively fit or thin individuals is not nearly as impactful to today's audience as featuring people and situations that the average person can relate to. Leverage social listening to find out the broader goals that your audience is striving for, and design your messaging to speak to those ambitions.
The Additive Health Movement has positive potential for consumers and brands alike, and is an incredible opportunity for companies to highlight the role of their products and services within a holistically healthy lifestyle. While no one can say for sure how long this movement will last, it's no mistake that the most relevant fitness brands broadcast the high-level benefits of wellness and downplay the role of aesthetics.
Want to learn more about the Additive Health Movement? Download our e-book on the newest trends in healthcare right here.


text:
Press Release / April 12, 2011
New Coalition Forms to Fight Tax Dodgers and Financial Secrecy
Tweet Share DONATE
Washington – Today a new coalition will launch its fight to make financial accountability and ending tax haven abuse part of the solution to the current economic and budgetary crisis. The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) coalition launches its effort at the National Press Club on April 12 at 9:00 a.m., with an event featuring Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) and best-selling author of Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens, Nicholas Shaxson. The group has representatives from small business, consumer, grass-roots, financial policy, faith-based, labor and government accountability organizations, among others.
In light of recent headlines about General Electric and a looming budget battle – the group believes the evidence is mounting to address shipping profits and jobs overseas and ending the cycle of revenue loss and criminal behavior. A letter sent to Senate and House tax writing, finance, government affairs and budget committees outlined the call to action:
"At a time when countries around the world face budget crises, economies continue to bleed massive amounts of revenue due to secrecy in the financial system which facilitates corruption, tax evasion and money laundering. Shell corporations, anonymous trusts and bank secrecy both in the United States and abroad make it easy for criminals, terrorists, government officials and even otherwise legitimate multinational companies to hide their money and difficult for law enforcement and tax authorities to do their jobs.
The FACT coalition believes it is critical to debunk the myths and false claims of those who want to keep the status quo under the guise of promoting competition and protecting businesses. Our campaign will raise awareness and demonstrate broad support for real reforms.
The policy changes we seek include:
Requiring ownership information of all business entities, trusts, foundations and charities – information that indicates who actually controls these entities – be made available to law enforcement and the public;
Requiring country-by-country reporting by multi-national corporations of the sales made, profits earned and taxes paid in every jurisdiction where an entity operates;
Strengthening, standardizing and enforcing anti-money laundering laws; and
Eliminating loopholes in our tax system to make sure that the corporations that benefit from all of the resources, protections and markets in the United States pay their fair share of taxes.
Our organizations support these goals for many different reasons – from job security to national security; from fiscal responsibility to human rights. But we are united in our belief that the status quo, with shadow banking systems, shell companies and widespread secrecy severely damages both the developed and developing worlds."
The FACT coalition will also host civil society organizations as well as Senate and House staffers for events throughout the week with Mr. Shaxson. Member organizations will host and/or participate in numerous Tax Day events across the country to demonstrate the urgency of ending the era of taxpayers picking up the tab for wealthy individuals and large corporations.
Click here for the most recent listing of events.
Corinna Gilfillan at Global Witness: +1 202 621 6665, [email protected];
Monique Danziger at Global Financial Integrity: + 1202-293-0740, [email protected]
Nicole Tichon at Tax Justice Network USA: 202-758-9552, [email protected], [email protected]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Loren Gray Net Worth 2019, Biography, Early Life, Education, Career and Achievement
Unyime Sunday May 9, 2019 Profile No Comments
Loren Gray Net Worth – Loren Gray is an American actress, musician, model and teen social media star famous for her Loren Gray musical.ly (which she started in July 2015), YouTube, Instagram, and YouNow accounts. She is white by ethnicity and American by nationality, blonde, blue eyes, her body measurements are; 32-24-33 and she is about 5 feet 7 inches tall.
Loren Gray Net Worth 2019
Early Life, Family and Education:
Loren Gray Beech was born on the 19th of April 2002 in Pennsylvania, USA; to American parents. There are no given or known information on her parents but we do know that her parents are divorced and she chose to be known as Loren gray.
After the divorce, she stayed with her mother but also disclosed that she stays in contact with her father. She has a step-sister from her father's side and she is eight years older. It's known that they hardly keep in touch. The teen star decided to be home-schooled with her reason being that she doesn't like public schools. She is currently in Middle school.
It is known that Loren Gray has been in a number of relationships and she had her various reasons for parting ways with them; with her most recent affair with Juwaney Roman hitting rocks in 2016 because "he was too dictating".
Before Juwaney Roman, Loren was previously in a relationship with Joey Kisluk (a muser popular for his YouNow and Instagram accounts; he's also a musical.ly star).
Unlike her recent relationship, she had a loving connection with Joey who she dated for over 2 years. Unfortunately, she started dating him at a very young age (age 12) and the couple had to split up due to an increased busy schedule. It was known that while they were dating, they had a dedicated Instagram page for their relationship. The page is currently not available; as it was deleted after their breakup.
Loren Gray began her career as a child model where she appeared in Teen Vogue and Seventeen Magazine. Growing up, she became popular with her musical.ly account where she has gained over seventeen million followers making her one of the most heavily followed stars on the platform.
She also has an active YouTube page/ channel with over one million subscribers. She is also very active on other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram (with over seven million followers), and Twitter (with over 686 thousand followers).
Loren Gray has also modeled for a lot of advertising agencies and platforms like; Teen Vogue, Seventeen Magazine, and modeled products like clothes and bags. She was also nominated for the People's Choice Awards in 2016; unfortunately, she did not win the award as it went to Baby Ariel (a Muser and YouTuber from Florida).
With her wide range of social involvements, we are expecting to see her wiki page pop up very soon.
Net Worth Achievement:
Loren Gray is estimated to have a net worth of over $300 thousand; gotten mostly from ads via her online activities.
Sonny Bono Net Worth 2020, Biography, Early Life, Education, Career and Achievement
Іmрrасtісаl Јоkеrѕ Net Worth 2019, Biography, Early Life, Education, Career and Achievement
Al Haymon Net Worth 2019, Biography, Education and Career
Unyime Sunday


text:
Photo: Roger Anis
Irene Schipper
00 31 (0) 20 639 12 91
i.schipper@somo.nl
Home Research The ethics of clinical trials in times of corona
Opinion / July 8, 2020
The ethics of clinical trials in times of corona
By Irene Schipper
In April, the directors of two big French medical institutes outraged the world when they suggested on the French news channel LCI to test the BCG tuberculosis vaccine against COVID-19 in Africa. One stated: "If I can be provocative, shouldn't we do this study in Africa where there are no masks, treatment, or intensive care, a little bit like we did in certain AIDS-studies or with prostitutes?" No wonder this suggestion caused an outrage on social networks and the hashtag #AfricansAreNotLabRats started trending. This rightly led to public apologies from both individuals. At the same time, there are very good reasons to test COVID-19 treatments and vaccines in Africa. This blog will explain why this is important, after first explaining the mistrust that has led to the intense reactions.
A history of unethical clinical trials in Africa
Publication / February 1, 2008
Examples of unethical trials
SOMO briefing paper on ethics in clinical trials
The mistrust of testing in Africa is based on a history in which drugs have been unethically tested in this continent. Since 2006, SOMO has been publishing studies about the ethics of clinical trials in low and middle-income countries. One of these reports describes some very unethical clinical trials in which drugs were tested that aimed to prevent the transmission of HIV. These are probably the 'AIDS-studies' the French medical directors were referring to.
Controverial trials
Also see the Al Jazeera video report on clinical trials in Africa with Irene Schipper
In the trial testing Tenofovir (Viread), the 400 sex workers from Cameroon, Nigeria and Thailand participating in the trial were not adequately informed about the risks, according to local NGOs. Several women in Cameroon became HIV-infected while enrolled in this Tenofovir-study.
Another controversy related to these HIV-trials concerned the use of placebo's while there already was an existing proven treatment. According to international ethical standards this is unethical, yet 15 of such placebo-controlled trials proceeded in developing countries, most of them in Africa, causing unnecessary HIV-infections from mothers to their unborn child.
Probably the most well-known unethical trial in Africa is the Trovan trial in Nigeria. During a meningitis outbreak in 1996 Pfizer tested Trovan on children without parents' informed consent, patients were unaware of the experiment, and the trial was not approved in advance by an ethical review committee. Eleven of the children died and others suffered brain damage and paralysis..
Publication / June 21, 2016
Industry-sponsored clinical drug trials in Egypt
Ethical questions in a challenging context
Although SOMO's latest study on unethical trial practices concerns industry sponsored clinical trials conducted in an African country (Egypt, 2016), it is clear that Africa was never popular for pharmaceutical companies to conduct clinical trials. At the time that the industry started to shift the testing of drugs from the traditional testing countries, such as Europe, the US, Canada and Japan, to countries where trials could be done cheaper and faster they went to India, China, Central and South America, the Philippines, Thailand, Russia and Eastern Europe. Except for South Africa, Egypt and to a lesser extent Kenya, in many African countries the medical infrastructure (i.e. hospitals, doctors, drug storage, patient records etc.) is not sufficient to conduct trials; thus testing there would require more investment from the pharmaceutical companies to bring the testing environment up to industry standards.
The need for COVID-19 trials in Africa
Sofar, very few clinical trials related to COVID-19 have been conducted in Africa and low and middle income countries in South East Asia and Central and South America. In Africa, there are at the moment of this writing (27 June 2020), 18 interventional clinical trials testing a corona treatment in Africa out of 810 COVID-19 trials worldwide. This number includes trials that have started recruiting, that are enrolling on invitation, are ongoing or completed.This number does not include trials that have not yet started recruiting or observational trials. All the trials in Africa concern the testing of a treatment for COVID-19 with an approved medication as intervention. The first clinical trial in South Africa and on the African continent for a Covid-19 vaccine was announced on 23 June 2020. This trial was not yet included in the main trial database at the time of writing.
However, there is an urgent need to know what will work in low and middle income countries to fight COVID-19. This not only concerns testing vaccines and treatments, and generating access to these trials, evidence is also needed about how to prevent, how to diagnose and how to deal with the disease in low resource settings.To accelerate this desperately needed corona research the COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition has been set up. Another initiative to support Covid-19 trials in low resource settings is the launch of the Solidarity trial by the WHO. "Solidarity" is an international clinical trial to help find an effective treatment.But it must be ensured that all trials in Africa and other low and middle income countries are in compliance with the international ethical standards.
International ethical standards for clinical trials
The SOMO-studies showed that it is vitally important to comply with international ethical standards as included in the CIOMS-Guidelines and the WMA Declaration of Helsinki. These set the standard of what is ethical especially related to low-resource settings. Besides the often found ethical violations, namely the lack of voluntary participation and adequately informed consent, wrongful use of placebo's, and missing approval by an adequate ethics committee, there are also violations that are especially related to poorer countries.
According to the ethical guidelines mentioned above, a trial is only justified if the population will benefit from the results of the trial. Therefore, the interventions that are tested must reflect the specific needs of the population and must be affordable and available after the trial. This is another reason why testing vaccines in Africa is important: international ethical standards require affordable access to the vaccine when it is tested in the country.
New ethical challenges arising from COVID-19 trials
A completely different new ethical challenge arises from the situation that scientists are currently desperate and willing to try just about anything in trials. At the moment, there are trials that are statistically meaningless but are still well received by the media, doctors and politicians. For example, scientists looked critically into some trials with claims regarding the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine and concluded that the trials were unscientific because they lacked appropriate control groups and were therefore meaningless. An unscientific trial can also be considered as an unethical trial because it has exposed patients to an experimental drug without leading to any useful knowledge.
Speaking of useful knowledge, when in times of a pandemic scientific knowledge derived from clinical trials is not shared this can also lead to unethical practices. These include situations where COVID-19 patients are exposed to treatments in trials while it could already be known that these do not work or that the risks outweight the benefits. Therefore, from an ethical point of view as well, all trial results should be shared in the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP).
In conclusion, if the leading international ethical standards are complied with there is no reason to mistrust the testing of COVID-19 vaccines or treatments in Africa; on the contrary, it is important that trials are also conducted on this continent.
SOMO reports on the ethics of clinical trials
Ethical verification of clinical trials on medication must be more stringent (Blog), 2017
Industry-sponsored clinical drug trials in Egypt: Ethical questions in a challenging context, 2016
Post-trial access to treatment: Corporate best practices, 2015
Protection of clinical trial subjects in countries outside the EU, 2011
Putting Contract Research Organisations on the Radar, 2011
Clinical Trials in Developing Countries: How to Protect People Against Unethical Practices?, 2009
Ethics for Drug Testing in Low and Middle Income Countries, 2008
Ethical concerns in clinical trials in India: An investigation, 2009
Stay up-to-date with SOMOs Newsletter
What sector do you work in?*
What sector do you work in?BusinessGovernmentMediaNon-profitOther
Opinion / June 9, 2017
Ethical verification of clinical trials on medication must be more stringent
Post-trial access to treatment
Corporate best practices
Publication / September 1, 2011
Protection of clinical trial subjects in countries outside the EU
Putting Contract Research Organisations on the Radar
An exploratory study on outsourcing of clinical trials by pharmaceutical companies to contract research organisations
Publication / April 1, 2009
Clinical Trials in Developing Countries
How to protect people against unethical practices?
Ethics for Drugs Testing in Low and Middle Income Countries
Publication / May 1, 2009
Ethical concerns in clinical trials in India
An investigation
Statement / December 18, 2020
A group of 39 civil society organisations, including SOMO is calling on the European Commission and EU national governments to ensure a maximum degree of transparency in the EU's exchanges, negotiations and deals with pharmaceutical…
Statement / November 24, 2020
Make Corona vaccines and treatment accessible for all
More than hundred civil society organizations, including SOMO, signed this open letter to the European Parliament and national parliaments that calls for support for the proposal that ensures equal and affordable access for all people…


text:
Tag Archives: epidemics
Novella Review: Kingdom of Needle and Bone by Mira Grant
We live in an age of wonders.
Modern medicine has conquered or contained many of the diseases that used to carry children away before their time, reducing mortality and improving health. Vaccination and treatment are widely available, not held in reserve for the chosen few. There are still monsters left to fight, but the old ones, the simple ones, trouble us no more.
Or so we thought. For with the reduction in danger comes the erosion of memory, as pandemics fade from memory into story into fairy tale. Those old diseases can't have been so bad, people say, or we wouldn't be here to talk about them. They don't matter. They're never coming back.
How wrong we could be.
It begins with a fever. By the time the spots appear, it's too late: Morris's disease is loose on the world, and the bodies of the dead begin to pile high in the streets. When its terrible side consequences for the survivors become clear, something must be done, or the dying will never stop. For Dr. Isabella Gauley, whose niece was the first confirmed victim, the route forward is neither clear nor strictly ethical, but it may be the only way to save a world already in crisis. It may be the only way to atone for her part in everything that's happened.
She will never be forgiven, not by herself, and not by anyone else. But she can, perhaps, do the right thing.
We live in an age of monsters.
Mira Grant is indisputably a master of horrifying disease and science run amok. There's the zombie apocalypse of the Newsflesh trilogy, brought about by an unfortunate mixing of two manufactured viruses. There's the Parasitology trilogy, featuring tapeworms (ick) genetically engineered for medical use. There's her short fiction, including Apocalypse Scenario #683: The Box, about a viral outbreak that may or may not be part of a game, and Emergency Landing, a recent release via Seanan McGuire's Patreon that's creepy as hell, also about a viral outbreak linked to bioterrorism and basically the end of humankind.
Which brings us to Kingdom of Needle and Bone, which is terrifying in how real and ripped-from-the-headlines it feels. It starts with a measles outbreak, but it's a deadlier version of the disease that spreads like wildfire and kills its victims within days or even hours of the appearance of symptoms. Not only that, those who survive the disease are left immuno-compromised and their previous vaccinations rendered ineffective. Millions die. And still, the anti-vaxxer movement holds on, strangely allying themselves with the pro-choice movement and claiming bodily autonomy as a legal construct negating mandatory vaccination.
The initial section of the novella deals with Lisa Morris, the 8-year-old who becomes the first fatality of the disease bearing her name. The story of how the disease infected visitors to a theme park is almost enough to make me swear off crowds forever. From there, the focus shifts to Lisa's aunt Isabella Gauley, a pediatrician who fights to keep the public aware of the importance of vaccination and herd immunity — until she comes up with a different way of making sure at least some people survive the unstoppable epidemics sweeping the planet.
Any story about epidemics and killer viruses creeps me the hell out… but also really fascinates me. Kingdom of Needle and Bone has plenty of creep factor, scary medical scenarios, and slightly off-kilter people who may or may not be mad scientists and/or unhinged survivalists. So yeah… I loved it.
And shuddered extra hard when I picked up this morning's newspaper and saw a headline about yet another measles outbreak.
Maybe I need to consider a hermetically sealed bug-out shelter… just in case?
Title: Kingdom of Needle and Bone
Author: Mira Grant
Publisher: Subterranean Press
**Save
2018 new release, book review, epidemic, epidemics, horror, measles, mira grant, novella, virology	4 Comments
Take A Peek Book Review: Seven Days of Us
"Take a Peek" book reviews are short and (possibly) sweet, keeping the commentary brief and providing a little peek at what the book's about and what I thought.
(via Goodreads)
A warm, wry, sharply observed debut novel about what happens when a family is forced to spend a week together in quarantine over the holidays…
It's Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew's elder daughter—who is usually off saving the world—will be joining them at Weyfield Hall, their aging country estate. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. Having just returned from treating an epidemic abroad, she's been told she must stay in quarantine for a week…and so too should her family.
For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity—and even decent Wi-Fi—and forced into each other's orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while Olivia deals with the culture shock of being immersed in first-world problems.
As Andrew sequesters himself in his study writing scathing restaurant reviews and remembering his glory days as a war correspondent, Emma hides a secret that will turn the whole family upside down.
In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who's about to arrive…
Seven Days of Us is an entertaining, quick read about a family forced into isolation together — a perfect setting for secrets to emerge and for walls to come down. Phoebe and Olivia rediscover the sisterly affection that's been absent since childhood; Andrew and Olivia finally come to understand one another's obsessions and sacrifices; Emma and Andrew confront the iciness that's taken hold in their marriage. Meanwhile, Phoebe's fiancé crashes the quarantine, as does an American who ends up being the long-lost illegitimate son Andrew never knew he had.
The story moves along at a smart pace, with each character getting bits and pieces of the story. The main chapters focus on the seven days of quarantine, while within each day, there are sections devoted to the different characters, each section showing the time and the location within the house — which lends the narrative a claustrophobic air that's appropriate for the involuntary intimacy and close quarters experienced by the family.
I do wish the author had included some sort of introduction explaining the quarantine rules. Why would a doctor treating epidemic patients be allowed back into England, passing through a major aiport, in order to go into quarantine with her family? Is this a normal protocol? Sure, readers could Google it, but it would have been helpful to have a bit of context, considering that this is the major plot driver of the entire book.
My interest never flagged, but certain plot developments (no spoilers here!) were completely obvious, and a tragic turn toward the end of the book seemed both jarring and unnecessary.
Overall, I recommend Seven Days of Us. It's a pleasant, amusing story of family dynamics, and the ups and downs of the relationships between parents and children, between siblings, and between spouses definitely ring true.
Title: Seven Days of Us
Author: Francesca Hornak
Publisher: Berkley
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalleySave
2017 new release, book review, contemporary fiction, debut fiction, epidemics, family drama	3 Comments