SHOCKING NEWS GAY MARRIAGE

Federal Judge Strikes Down Alaska Gay Marriage Ban.

A federal judge struck down Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage Sunday evening.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska ruled that the state's ban was unconstitutional under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess wrote that any relationship between the ban and government interests was "either nonexistent or purely speculative."

"Alaska’s same-sex marriage laws are a prime example of how 'the varying treatment of different groups or persons is so unrelated to the achievement of any combination of legitimate purposes that we can only conclude that the legislature’s actions were irrational,'” Burgess wrote, citing an earlier court ruling.

"Refusing the rights and responsibilities afforded by legal marriage sends the public a government-sponsored message that same-sex couples and their familial relationships do not warrant the status, benefits, and dignity given to couples of the opposite sex," the Alaskan court decision continued.

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) released a statement on Sunday saying that he would appeal the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, though that court has already struck down similar bans in Idaho and Nevada.

“As Alaska’s governor, I have a duty to defend and uphold the law and the Alaska Constitution,” Parnell said in the statement. “Although the district court today may have been bound by the recent Ninth Circuit panel opinion, the status of that opinion and the law in general in this area is in flux. I will defend our constitution See More

note:this is original linkhttp://tinyurl.com/http-rtyh-com

CDC BRACES FOR MORE CASES

Texas Health Worker Tests Positive For Ebola.

DALLAS, Texas, Oct 12 (Reuters) - A Texas health worker has contracted Ebola after treating a Liberian who died of the disease at a Dallas hospital last week, raising concern about how U.S. medical guidelines aimed at stopping the spread of the disease were breached.

The infected worker, identified as a woman but not named by authorities as they announced the case on Sunday, is believed to be the first person to contract the disease in the United States.

Health officials said the worker at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital had been wearing protective gear during treatment of Thomas Eric Duncan. Duncan was a Liberian who died on Wednesday after being exposed to Ebola in his home country and developing the disease while visiting the United States.

The outbreak in West Africa, the worst outbreak on record of Ebola, has killed more than 4,000 people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The new case in Texas indicated a professional lapse that may have caused other health workers at the hospital to also be infected, said the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"We don't know what occurred in the care of the index patient, the original patient, in Dallas, but at some point there was a breach in protocol, and that breach in protocol resulted in this infection," CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden told a news conference.

"We are evaluating other potential healthcare worker exposures because if this individual was exposed, which they were, it is possible that other individuals were exposed," he said.

The worker was in close contact with Duncan and initial testing shows that the level of virus in her system is low. The CDC will conduct a secondary test to confirm the results from a lab in Austin that showed Ebola infection, he said.

"Unfortunately it is possible in the coming days that we will see additional cases of Ebola," he said.

Frieden said there was one person who may have had contact with the infected health worker when she could possible transmit the disease and that person is being monitored.

Frieden said the intubation of Duncan and use of a dialysis machine - measures taken while trying to save his life - posed high risk for transmission of the virus.

Duncan died in an isolation ward on Oct. 8, 11 days after being admitted. More than 50 people attended to his care. The hospital said it was decontaminating its isolation unit while health officials said Duncan's body had been cremated.

'FULL CDC PRECAUTIONS'

Dan Varga, the hospital's chief clinical officer told a news conference that the infected worker "was following full CDC precautions ... so gown, glove, mask and shield."

The hospital has already faced criticism for at first turning away Duncan when he first showed up there on Sept. 25, saying he had been in Liberia and had a fever. About two days after he was discharged, he grew much sicker and was taken back by ambulance and put in an isolation unit.

None of the 10 people who had close contact with him or 38 people who had contact with that group have shown any symptoms, state health officials said.

Texas officials did not identify the health worker or give any details about the person, but CNN said it was a woman nurse.

The Texas case is not the first outside badly hit West Africa in which a health care worker contracted the disease after contact with a patient.

In Spain, a nurse who contracted Ebola after caring for two infected priests repatriated to Spain remained seriously ill but is showing signs of improvement. Teresa Romero, 44, is so far the only person who has tested positive for Ebola through a transmission in the country.

Fifteen people were being monitored in a Madrid hospital for signs of Ebola on Sunday, as the Spanish government tries to contain recriminations over how it has handled the case. None have so far shown any symptoms.

EBOLA PAMPHLETS

In Dallas, there was a yellow hazardous material drum on the lawn of the brick apartment where the Texas health worker lived and information pamphlets about the Ebola virus were stuffed in the doors in the surrounding blocks of the apartment.

Neighbor Cliff Lawson, 57, said he was woken at 6:00 a.m. by two Dallas police officers who told him "don't panic."

"I went back to bed after that. There's nothing you can do about it. You can't wrap your house in bubble wrap," Lawson said.

A team is decontaminating the patient's apartment and car, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said.

The hospital said in a statement that the new patient, who had not been working for two days, had been taking her own temperature twice a day. The worker informed the hospital of a fever and was isolated immediately upon arrival there.

A union for registered nurses said the Ebola case in Dallas shows that not enough is being done to educate health workers on how to manage patients who show signs of infection.

"Handing out a piece of paper with a link to the Centers for Disease Control, or telling nurses just to look at the CDC website - as we have heard some hospitals are doing - is not preparedness," said Bonnie Castillo, a registered nurse and senior official with National Nurses United.

SCREENING AT JFK AIRPORT

News of the second patient in Dallas came as U.S. authorities step up efforts to stop the spread of the virus. New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on Saturday began the screening of travelers from the three hardest hit West African countries.

Liberia is the country worst affected by the virus with 2,316 victims, followed by 930 in Sierra Leone, 778 in Guinea, eight in Nigeria and one in the United States, the World Health Organization said on Friday. Some 4,033 people are known to have died in seven countries from the outbreak, it said.

Ebola is spread through contact with  fluids of an affected person or contamination from objects such as needles. People are not contagious before symptoms such as fever develop See More

note:this is original posthttp://tinyurl.com/http-gvhn-com

THIS HOW?

Texas Health Worker Tests Positive For Ebola.

DALLAS (AP) — A Texas health care worker tested positive for Ebola even though she wore full protective gear while caring for a hospitalized patient who later died from the virus, health officials said Sunday. If the preliminary diagnosis is confirmed, it would be the first known case of the disease being contracted or transmitted in the U.S.

Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the diagnosis shows there was a clear breach of safety protocol and all those who treated Thomas Eric Duncan are now considered potentially exposed.

The worker wore a gown, gloves, mask and shield while she cared for Duncan during his second visit to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, said Dr. Daniel Varga of Texas Health Resources, which runs the hospital. Frieden said the worker has not been able to identify a specific breach of protocol that might have led to her being infected.

Duncan, who arrived in the U.S. from Liberia to visit family on Sept. 20, first sought medical care for fever and abdominal pain on Sept. 25. He told a nurse he had traveled from Africa, but he was sent home. He returned Sept. 28 and was placed in isolation because of suspected Ebola. He died Wednesday.

Liberia is one of the three West African countries most affected by the ongoing Ebola epidemic, which has killed more than 4,000 people, according to World Health Organization figures published Friday. The others are Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Texas health officials have been closely monitoring nearly 50 people who had or may have had close contact with Duncan in the days after he started showing symptoms.

The health care worker reported a fever Friday night as part of a self-monitoring regimen required by the CDC, Varga said. He said another person is in isolation, and the hospital has stopped accepting new emergency room patients.

"We knew a second case could be a reality, and we've been preparing for this possibility," said Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services. "We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread."

Dallas officials knocked on doors, made automated phone calls and passed out fliers to notify people within a four-block radius of the health care worker's apartment complex about the situation, though they said there was no reason for neighbors to be concerned.

Dallas police officers stood guard outside the complex Sunday and told people not to go inside. One said an industrial barrel outside contained hazardous waste taken from inside the building. Nearby residents periodically came out of their homes to ask about the commotion.

Kara Lutley, who lives a half-block from the complex, said she never received a call or other emergency notice and first heard about it on the news. She said the infected worker seemed to have taken all necessary precautions.

"I'm not overly concerned that I'll get Ebola," she said.

Officials said they also received information that there may be a pet in the health care worker's apartment, and they have a plan in place to care for the animal. They do not believe the pet has signs of having contracted Ebola.

Frieden on Sunday raised concerns about the possible breach of safety protocol and told CBS' "Face the Nation" that among the things CDC will investigate is how the workers took off protective gear, because removing it incorrectly can lead to contamination. Investigators will also look at dialysis and intubation, procedures with the potential for spreading infectious material.

Health care workers treating Ebola patients are among the most vulnerable, even if wearing protective gear. A Spanish nurse assistant recently became the first health care worker infected outside West Africa during the ongoing outbreak. She helped care for a missionary priest who was brought to a Madrid hospital. More than 370 health care workers in west Africa have fallen ill or died in west Africa since epidemic began earlier this year.

Ebola spreads through close contact with a symptomatic person's bodily fluids, such as blood, sweat, vomit, feces, urine, saliva or semen. Those fluids must have an entry point, like a cut or scrape or someone touching the nose, mouth or eyes with contaminated hands, or being splashed. The World Health Organization says blood, feces and vomit are the most infectious fluids, while the virus is found in saliva mostly once patients are severely ill. The whole live virus has never been culled from sweat.

Duncan, the first person in the U.S. diagnosed with Ebola, came to Dallas to attend the high school graduation of his son, who was born in a refugee camp in Ivory Coast and brought to the U.S. as a toddler when his mother successfully applied for resettlement.

The trip was the culmination of decades of effort, friends and family members said. But when Duncan arrived in Dallas, though he showed no symptoms, he had already been exposed to Ebola. His neighbors in Liberia believe Duncan become infected when he helped a pregnant neighbor who later died from it. It was unclear if he knew about her diagnosis before traveling See More

note:this is original posthttp://tinyurl.com/kqjo9j5

Shocking news "GAY MARRIAGE" Equality Comes To North Carolina

Judge Strikes Down North Carolina Gay Marriage Ban.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge in North Carolina has struck down the state's gay marriage ban, opening the way for the first same-sex weddings in the state to begin immediately.

U.S. District Court Judge Max O. Cogburn, Jr., in Asheville issued a ruling Friday shortly after 5 p.m. declaring the ban approved by state voters in 2012 unconstitutional.

Buncombe County Register of Deeds Drew Reisinger kept his Asheville office open late to begin issuing marriage licenses to waiting couples.

Cogburn's ruling follows Monday's announcement by the U.S. Supreme Court that it would not hear any appeal of a July ruling by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond striking down Virginia's ban. That court has jurisdiction oover North Carolina See More

note:this is original linkhttp://tinyurl.com/http-gcfhg-com

Gut-Wrenching Images Show The Reality Of The Ebola Outbreak In Liberia

Gut-Wrenching Images Show The Reality Of The Ebola Outbreak In Liberia.

Grim news emerged in the battle against Ebola on Friday as the World Health Organization announced that more than 4,000 people have died from the disease since the outbreak began. Most cases were recorded in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The U.N. special envoy for Ebola, David Nabarro, explained the number of cases is probably doubling every three-to-four weeks and warned that it will be impossible to quickly combat the disease without mass mobilization of international support.

Photographers John Moore and Mohammed Elshamy have been working on the front lines of the fight against the disease, documenting its brutal effects on patients and their loved ones in West Africa. Their gut-wrenching pictures from the Liberian capital Monrovia reveal the devastating impact of the disease.

A woman throws a handful of soil towards the body of her sister as Ebola burial team members take her Mekie Nagbe, 28, for cremation on October 10, 2014 in Monrovia, Liberia. Nagbe, a market vendor, collapsed and died outside her home earlier in the morning while leaving to walk to a treatment center, according to her relatives. The burial of loved ones is important in Liberian culture, making the removal of infected bodies for cremation all the more traumatic for surviving family members. (John Moore/Getty Images) See More

note:this is original posthttp://tinyurl.com/http-gfgh-com

U.S. BOMBS BACKFIRE

U.S.-led air war in Syria is off to a difficult start, with moderate rebels disenchanted.

REYHANLI, Turkey — The U.S.-led air war in Syria has gotten off to a rocky start, with even the Syrian rebel groups closest to the United States turning against it, U.S. ally Turkey refusing to contribute and the plight of a beleaguered Kurdish town exposing the limitations of the strategy.

U.S. officials caution that the strikes are just the beginning of a broader strategy that could take years to carry out. But the anger that the attacks have stirred risks undermining the effort, analysts and rebels say.

The main beneficiary of the strikes so far appears to be President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces have taken advantage of the shift in the military balance to step up attacks against the moderate rebels designated by President Obama as partners of the United States in the war against extremists see more

this is original link herehttp://tinyurl.com/http-rtrt-com

THE CHAMPIONS OF CHILDREN'S RIGHTS

 The Nobel Peace Prize 2014: Pakistani Malala Yousafzai, Indian Kailash Satyarthi Honored For Fighting For Children's Rights.

The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to Pakistani Malala Yousafzai and Indian Kailash Satyarthi for "their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education."

"Children must go to school and not be financially exploited," The Norwegian Nobel Committee stated in a press release. "In the poor countries of the world, 60% of the present population is under 25 years of age. It is a prerequisite for peaceful global development that the rights of children and young people be respected."

Yousafzai, 17, was shot in the head by Taliban militants in 2012 for having the temerity to seek an education. The Islamist militant group also took issue with her for publishing a blog in 2009 that promoted the right to education.

"I think of it often and imagine the scene clearly. Even if they come to kill me, I will tell them what they are doing is wrong, that education is our basic right," Yousafzai said on her website.

After receiving treatment for her injuries in a British hospital, Yousafzai dedicated herself to the cause of education for all. She said being shot had only strengthened her resolve.

"They can only shoot a body, they cannot shoot my dreams," Yousafzai said. "They shot me because they wanted to tell me that, 'we want to kill you and to stop you campaigning', but they did the biggest mistake: they injured me, and they told me through that attack, that even death is supporting me, even death does not want to kill me."

Yousafzai penned the bestselling book, "I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education And Was Shot By The Taliban," and launched The Malala Fund, a nonprofit organization focused on helping girls go to school and promoting their right of education. For her efforts, she has received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the European Union's annual human rights award. Previous winners include Nobel Peace Prize laureates Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson MandelaSee More

note:this is original posthttp://tinyurl.com/http-fgh-com