Wednesday - February 11, 2015

3 Muslim Students Dead; Neighbor Is Charged

Update 2/12/14

When I originally posted this, I apparently failed to properly insert the links that would have helped to explain some of my statements.  Since then, the story has taken off in multiple directions, mostly about the question of a hate crime by a bigoted gun toting looney.  The current stories have gone far beyond my original thoughts.  I have removed a number of my original comments as they are not relevant without the context of the wording of the original article.  I have left others that may still be relevant.  The actual nature of the previous relationship between the killer and his victims and how each acted is the key question.

My apologies. 

The original article that I originally found on the NYT web site is no longer available (at least I can’t find it).  Here’s the current version:  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/us/muslim-student-shootings-north-carolina.html

Many different news sources have now picked up the story and the slants that you would expect.  Read them carefully and examine the details, follow how each source spins their own agenda.  In many ways, how this is handled in the media is more important than the incident itself.

==========================================

When we are looking at cultural changes, we look at things such as ISIS devastating towns and cities.  There are other things at work though.

Consider this article from the New York Times.  The report is on two levels.  One is simple, lunatic neighbor with gun kills three.  Where it gets interesting is when the NYT repeatedly accents that the three dead were Moslem.  The headline sets the tone.  Why?

Chapel Hill Shooting Leaves 3 Muslim Students Dead; Neighbor Is Charged

Down in the article, they detail that the killer was an aggressive atheist.

“He expressed support for groups like Atheists for Equality, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

Last month, he posted a photo that says, “Praying is pointless, useless, narcissistic, arrogant, and lazy; just like the imaginary god you pray to.””

There’s also a discussion about a parking dispute as being the trigger and they note the killer posted a picture of his gun on line.  Read it carefully, there’s a lot of information.

Still very plain, really not much to see.  Except that we now have an impression of anti Moslem bigotry and are considering that this may be a Hate Crime, even though not one word made that claim directly.  (Update 2/12 - the accusations of a Hate Crime are now direct, not hinted)

(Would someone please find better words than “Hate Crime”?  It’s too much like the idea of “Thought Crime” in New Speak.)

So here’s the mix:  The apparent killer is an aggressive atheist who doesn’t mind insulting people of faith; three young, dead, intelligent Moslems and a detailed newspaper report with certain points emphasized.

Read this one carefully, it’s got a lot of aspects to it, not just what happened in the context of our times, but how the New York Times worded it’s report.  While appearing neutral, it’s not.

Posted by Dr. Jeff     on 02/11/2015 at 04:04 PM   
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muslims vs gypsies argue over grave site.

While I have no great love of gypsies .... this does seem a bit of way over the top re muslim demands.

‘Council denies is committed ‘to reaching an amicable and acceptable solution’
I wonder if that means they’ll simply cave in. 

I might have had some sympathy even with muzzies, considering what the gypsy grave site looks like.  (see link ) Anyway, as recently as 20 yrs ago I’d bet there would be no complain by muslims. It’s only since they discovered how easily white folks who belong to a higher civilization will cave in to and accommodate their demands.

Maybe the Gypsies will set up a camp on the spot. That’s a fight I’d enjoy seeing.

Gipsy great-grandfather’s body ‘could be EXHUMED’ - because family of Muslim in neighbouring plot don’t want their relative buried next to a ‘non-believer’

Shadrack Smith, 89, buried in multi-faith cemetery after death in January
Bereft family had paid £2,500 to buy three plots side-by-side at cemetery
Family who own neighbouring plot complained Mr Smith was not Muslim
Smith family claim they were told that Mr Smith’s body could be exhumed
Council denies it is considering exhumation but said it was committed ‘to reaching an amicable and acceptable solution’

By Steph Cockroft for MailOnline

Council denies it is considering exhumation but said it was committed ‘to reaching an amicable and acceptable solution’

After a huge traditional Romany funeral with more than 400 people, they buried him with his grave facing towards his home – also a Romany tradition.

But they were left shocked when a Muslim family who owned a plot next to Mr Smith’s grave complained to the council about their relative being buried next to a ‘non-believer’.

Just two weeks after his funeral, which was one of the largest ever held at the cemetery, the family say they have now been warned Mr Smith’s grave may have to be moved.

The local council, which runs the award-winning cemetery, will meet tomorrow to discuss the ‘provision for burials’ at the cemetery but denies that exhumation has been discussed as an option.

But it said it was ‘sympathetic to the feelings of both families concerned’ and is ‘committed to reaching an amicable and acceptable solution.’

His distraught family, which includes eight children, 25 grandchildren and 40 great grandchildren, have now vowed to fight ‘tooth and nail’ to ensure Mr Smith’s body is not move.

His daughter-in-law Tracey Smith 46, said: ‘This whole thing has devastated our family.

‘We were told when we bought the plots that it was a multi-faith cemetery and it is, but the council has been so unsupportive.

‘I feel for the Muslim family because they obviously thought they were going to only have other Muslim families buried around them, but that’s not our fault, or our mistake.

‘We have been in the right, and yet the council has tried to bend over backwards to please the Muslim family.’

She added: ‘We have been told we might have to exhume Shady if the council decide to side with the Muslim family.

muslims - vs gypsies at grave site

Posted by peiper     on 02/11/2015 at 01:32 PM   
Filed Under: • muslims • Travelers/Gypsies/Squatters •  
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ISIS Wannabes Busted Down Under

Chop This

Two men were charged in Australia Wednesday after police thwarted an “imminent” terror attack, seizing an Islamic State flag, a machete and an Arabic-language video detailing the alleged plot during a raid in Sydney.

New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn said the planned attack was “consistent with the messaging coming out of IS”, while New South Wales state Premier Mike Baird described it as “beyond disturbing”.

Asked whether the plot involved a beheading, Burn said police were as yet unsure, but that it had been due to happen Tuesday in Sydney, and would likely have involved a knife.

The men, Omar Al-Kutobi, 24, and Mohammad Kiad, 25, were arrested in a raid on a property in the city’s western suburbs by the Joint Counter Terrorism Taskforce on Tuesday after a tip-off, and charged with making preparations for a terrorist act.

Reportedly devout Muslims, they were refused bail with the case adjourned until Thursday due to security issues.

“A number of items were located including a machete, a hunting knife, a home-made flag representing the proscribed terrorist organisation IS, and also a video which depicted a man talking about carrying out an attack,” Burn said.

“We will allege that both of these men were preparing to do this act yesterday. We built up information, we received further information which indicated an attack was imminent. And we acted.”

Attorney-General George Brandis told parliament the video allegedly showed “one suspect kneeling in front of an ISIL flag, with the knife and machete, making a politically motivated statement, threatening to undertake violent acts with those weapons”.

I guess this is an example of that “Do your terrorizing at home” message that ISIS sent out a couple of weeks back. There could be millions of these people around, and you’d never know it. They may not even know it themselves, until life events somehow cause them to be radicalized, and we get another case of “sudden jihad syndrome”.

What can you do to stop this? I mean, aside from banning islam, throwing out all the muslim immigrants, regulating who can buy black cloth suitable for making flags from, issuing licenses for machetes, and so on. And you think we have a police state now? 

Posted by Drew458     on 02/11/2015 at 10:15 AM   
Filed Under: • War On Terror •  
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High Times Come To An End

Police in the Netherlands have swooped on a house in the town of Haarlem, arresting the owner for growing cannabis plants, after they noticed that his house was the only one in the street not covered in snow.

A dusting of snow covered all the roofs in the town, except for one.

Once inside, police found industrial-scale cultivation of cannabis, and the heat lamps used to nurture the plants.

After the raid in the town near Amsterdam on February 5, officers tweeted the photo of the house as a warning to other growers.

The Netherlands is known for its tolerant attitude towards personal consumption of marijuana. However, the Dutch government only tolerates the cultivation of up to five cannabis plants, and people are only allowed to carry up to five grams of weed (0.17 ounces) each.

Heat lamps? Are you kidding me? Who needs heat lamps when you’re using 1000W metal halide and high pressure sodium lights for 17 hours a day? Haven’t these guys heard about the LED revolution?

The previous week, officials had used the same technique to identify and raid a cannabis farm in the city of Zutphen, where they found a bedroom filled with 88 marijuana plants. Two days later, one person was arrested in Arnhem after police discovered a similar plantation.

It was not clear how much cannabis was seized in the Haarlem raid.
...
The technique is certainly not fail proof, however.

In 2009 police raided a home in Yorkshire, certain that the heat coming from the property was due to lamps for cannabis plants. Instead, they found a wood burning stove.

Next time stoners, set up your Grow in the basement!

Drugs are bad, m’kay?

Posted by Drew458     on 02/11/2015 at 09:25 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime • Humor • International •  
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   Tuesday - February 10, 2015

The Egg Trick

Sorry, I’m not trendy. Or trending. So I don’t really like the term “life hack”; I grew up in the era when things like this ran in the newspaper and were called “hints from Heloise”.

But this is pretty cool. I might even have to hard boil an egg or two just to try it.

One or two hard boiled eggs in a medium glass with half an inch of water. Cover, shake vigorously for a couple of seconds. And the shells fall off.

Neat. Right up there with that ”peel a whole bunch of garlic at once in a bowl” thing.

h/t to The Blaze

Posted by Drew458     on 02/10/2015 at 06:16 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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back in the swing

Posted by Drew458     on 02/10/2015 at 06:05 PM   
Filed Under: • Eye-Candy •  
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boots on the border

Jordan has deployed “thousands” of troops at its border with Iraq as it ramps up a campaign against ISIS militants who set a pilot ablaze, two Jordanian government officials told NBC News on Tuesday.

The troops were sent to prevent the infiltration of ISIS fighters into Jordan and as a show of force, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Jordan’s King Abdullah last week threatened to make ISIS pay for the death of Muath al-Kasasbeh’s after video of the military pilot’s murder emerged. He vowed to wage a “harsh” war against ISIS “because this terrorist organization is not only fighting us, but also fighting Islam and its pure values.”

Abdullah also pledged to hit ISIS militants “hard in the very center of their strongholds.”

While there are pockets of ISIS support across the Iraqi border, Jordan’s deployment appeared to be “an intensification of ongoing efforts to secure the border to stop movement of men and weapons” and not the precursor to an incursion, according to Matthew Henman, an analyst at Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre in London. “It underlines a robust response on the part of government and the king in response to the killing of Muath al-Kasasbeh,” he added.

The kingdom has unleashed up to 20 missions per day by Jordanian jets targeting the militant group’s positions in Syria.

“We are determined to wipe them [ISIS] from the face of the Earth,” Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Jobour told NBC News on Sunday, citing the need for “revenge” after al-Kasabeh’s killing.

The UAE has rejoined the air campaign against ISIS, and it looks like whatever army Iraq can muster is getting ready to campaign in the empty western desert towards Jordan. Hopefully, this is a coordinated effort.

Meanwhile, pResident Sissypants continues to dither and blather and think about considering whether he should start wondering whether he should do something. Or not. Sorry, got to run, it’s tee time!

Also, American aid worker, ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller is dead. ISIS is conveniently blaming her death on the airstrikes, but you know what a bunch of lying shitsacks they are.

American ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller is dead, the aid worker’s family and the White House said Tuesday. The announcement came four days after ISIS claimed the 26-year-old Arizona native had been killed by a coalition airstrike in Syria.

“We are heartbroken to share that we’ve received confirmation that Kayla Jean Mueller, has lost her life,” Mueller’s parents, Carl and Marsha, and brother Eric, said in a statement. “Kayla was a compassionate and devoted humanitarian. She dedicated the whole of her young life to helping those in need of freedom, justice, and peace.”
...
U.S. officials would not confirm Mueller’s cause of death or say when she died, telling NBC News only that the family had received a message from the aid worker’s captors with information that American authorities were able to authenticate.

President Barack Obama expressed his “deepest condolences” to Mueller’s relatives and confirmed the young woman’s death.

”No matter how long it takes, the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for Kayla’s captivity and death,” he said in a statement which called ISIS a “hateful and abhorrent terrorist group.”

No outrage, no anger, no vows of revenge from Obama. Not even a call to eliminate ISIS, much less a promise to put their heads on spikes. We’ll arrest them someday. Maybe. Mostly. Whatever. Because, hey, the Crusades and Jim Crow. We’re just as bad. Cut him some slack, he actually said the “T word”.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/10/2015 at 04:55 PM   
Filed Under: • Obama, The One • War On Terror •  
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From nigglet to nigger jihadist. Arrested for plan to behead soldier on streets of UK

No long rant from me .... all of you starting with Drew have said it all and all of you have been right.

So then, I will simply share this latest and as usual, the link for BBC video report is below.

Nothing unusual anymore of course.  From nigglet to nigger jihadist.

‘arrested on way to behead soldier’

A teenager was arrested as he made his way to behead a British soldier, the Old Bailey has heard.

Brusthom Ziamani, 19, had a rucksack containing a 12in knife, a hammer and an “Islamic flag” when he was held on a street in east London in August 2014.

He idolised the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby, researched Army cadet base sites and told an ex-girlfriend of a plan to “kill soldiers”, the court was told.

Mr Ziamani, of Camberwell, London, denies preparing an act of terrorism.

Jurors heard Mr Ziamani had converted to Islam in early 2014 and his arrest came after he had shown the former girlfriend the weapons and described Fusilier Rigby’s killer Michael Adebolajo as a “legend”.

Prosecutor Annabel Darlow told the court: “He didn’t say anything when he was arrested but he was remanded and told a security officer that he had been on his way to kill a British soldier at an Army barracks when he had been arrested.

“He said that he was going to behead the soldier and hold that soldier’s head up in the air so that a friend could take a photograph.

He wrote of being martyred and going to paradise and referenced people being raped, tortured and killed in Iraq and Syria, saying he had a “duty” to help them.

He wrote: “Because I have no means ov gettin there I will wage war against the british government on this soil the british government will have a taste of there own medicine they will be humiliated this is ISIB Islamic State of Ireland and Britain.

“Now we will take a thousand ov yours then ten thousand and send you all to the hell-fire you want war you got it British soldiers heads will be removed and burned u cannot defeat the Muslims we love to die the way you love to live my fellow muslim brothers these people want war lets kill them slaughter them and implement sharia in our lands and UK.”

He went on: “Lee Rigby is burnin in hell im dying good for him this is what you get for voting Cameron and democracy.”

BBC TV News

Posted by peiper     on 02/10/2015 at 08:49 AM   
Filed Under: • muslims • Terrorists •  
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   Monday - February 09, 2015

Standing Alone Against The Green Menace

Ten thousand Muslims are protesting outside Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence against the publication of cartoons depicting Mohammed. The cartoons – which led to the brutal massacre at the French magazine Charlie Hebdo – were described by the group as a “violation of Islamic law”.

The crowd held banners saying “Charlie and the abuse factory” and “learn some manners” as they called for the world to observe Muslim blasphemy rules. The group taunted the grieving families and supporters of the murdered Charlie Hebdo journalists by using the “#JeSuisCharlie” hashtag to tweet pictures of the rally.

Men and women were divided within the protest as they waved a huge “Be Careful With The Prophet” banner close to the Cenotaph. The sign was widely taken as a direct threat to British military forces, whose lives are commemorated at the memorial.

The protest was organised by the Muslim Action Forum (MAF), which said that the Charlie Hebdo cartoons had helped “sow the seeds of hatred” and had damaged community relations.

The video blogger Pat Condell, who is known for his criticism of Islam responded to the protests by saying: “Their religion’s responsible for so much evil, yet all they can protest about is cartoons. Contemptible.”

Whilst around ten thousand Muslims attended the protest a total of one hundred thousand signed a petition that was handed in to number 10 Downing Street. It says the production of cartoons of Mohammed are “an affront to the norms of civilised society”.

Unmentioned in this, or most other news articles, is that this protest (which may have had only 3,000 attendees) did have a counter protest. 30 or so bold volunteers from the “radical far right” group Britain First spoke up for actual freedom, and an actually free Britain. They were kept well corralled by the police.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/09/2015 at 10:35 PM   
Filed Under: • PAT CONDELL • RoPMA • UK •  
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Its Notta Nuke

Windows shattered, houses rocked miles away, blast heard for miles. Caught on video from many points. A tactical nuke? Missile strike? Giant artillery shell?

“Caused by a dropped cigarette” say Russian officials

The residents of the city of Donetsk have witnessed an explosion of tremendous magnitude that has come to form a mushroom cloud.AUC assume that this is an explosion at a factory or a ballistic missile.

The explosion occurred west of Donetsk around 22:50 local time (20:50 GMT) and caused a shock wave that swept the city. In many parts of Donetsk felt a shock and detonation destroyed windows. According to the data of social networks, the explosion was felt even in the neighboring cities of Makeyevka and Gorlovka.

The plant may have been targeted by a tactical Tochka-U missile (SS-21 Scarab) ” or a set of “Luna-M” The 9K52 Luna-M is a short-range artillery rocket system. 
...
As of 12:30 a.m. Monday, there was an on-going violent bombardment of Donetsk by cannon artillery and multiple rocket launchers.
...
As it turned out, the epicenter of the explosion was in the Kuibyshev region, near a Donetsk state chemical factory.  The roar and the glow from the blast was so strong that it could be heard and seen are tens of kilometers away by residents of the Textilschik neighborhood.

The video, which was shot on a cell phone, shows what appears to be a mushroom cloud emerging from the nuke and the resulting shockwave.

The footage is consistent with a smaller tactical nuke designed for use on a battlefield in a military situation, as opposed to much larger strategic nukes used to level cities.

The video was filmed by a man inside his house, and the shockwave from the nuke broke the window he was filming out of.

[press release the next day] The gigantic blast that rocked Donetsk, Ukraine, apparently was at a chemical plant. Videos showing the gigantic explosion were being shared on social media websites and Internet forums, with some claiming it was small, “tactical nuke.”

“This was caused by a dropped cigarette butt,” the Ukraine army’s Anti-Terrorist Operation spokesman, Andrey Lysenko, said, according to Russian state broadcaster RT.com. “Accidents often happen in factories where no one is responsible for fire safety. Well, it’s chaos, and they are barbarians.”

According to RT, the chemical plant is being controlled by the rebel People’s Donetsk Army. The blast took place after 10 p.m. local time.

“The center of the blast was near DKZHI,” co-chairman of the anti-Kiev People’s Front Konstantin Dolgov said on Facebook page, via RT.

The plant is said to produce chemical materials for explosions, artillery bombs, and ammunition. The factory has been targeted before, as it was hammered with artillery rockets in November and September of last year.

While it probably wasn’t a tactical nuke, I have my doubts this was caused accidentally by a sloppy smoker. This looks like another mystery from the battle for Ukraine, another case of “Donetsk, don’t tell”.

http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/video-nuclear-weapon-reportedly-detonates-in-ukraine
http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/did-a-tactical-nuke-just-go-off-in-ukraine-big-explosion-rocks-donetsk

Posted by Drew458     on 02/09/2015 at 02:26 PM   
Filed Under: • War-Stories •  
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Och, Crap

There is no coffee in the house. Arrgggh.

Also no bread, no milk, no meat, no soda. Low on veg, out of salad stuff. Need olives. And paper towels. Crackers. Bananas.

Guess I’m going to the grocery store.

We’re sort of having an ice storm. The kind of wet, slushy, slippery, dim grey bone chilling kind of weather that makes you want to put an extra comforter on the bed and crawl back under the covers until April.

It’s tempting.

But there is no coffee in the house.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/09/2015 at 11:20 AM   
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California Campus Commies

The little left wing brats are so mortified to be enjoying the best our nation can offer, so embarrassed to be part of Evil America, that the entire university system, state wide, has called for all the university’s assets to be pulled from these shores. Because human rights. And social justice. And everything is just so much better everywhere else. I guess they think their colleges are supported by bags of cash sent in from Burma and Zimbabwe. And that deposed Nigerian prince in need of a bank account who is always sending me emails. Since they reject America so completely, perhaps the little darlings should all transfer somewhere else. Bangladesh comes to mind. Perhaps Borneo.

This is the fruit you bear when your education system teaches your children to hate their country from First Grade on up. Aren’t you proud?

The University of California Student Association board – which represents all 233,000 students enrolled in the UC system’s 10 campuses – approved a resolution on Sunday that calls on the system’s leaders to financially divest from the United States.

The measure cited alleged human rights violations by America such as drone strikes that have killed civilians, and claimed the country’s criminal justice system is racist, among other accusations.

The “Resolution Toward Socially Responsible Investment at the University of California” passed with an overwhelming majority vote of 11-1-3.

“The government of the United States of America is engaged in drone strikes that have killed over 2,400 people in Pakistan and Yemen, many of them civilians,” the resolution stated. “The government oversees, by far, the highest rate of imprisonment in the world, and racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement agencies, particularly for drug-related offences. 400,000 undocumenteducal immigrants are held in detention centers every year, and millions have been deported since the current administration took office, and the government is directly supporting and propping up numerous dictatorships around the world with weapons sales and foreign aid.”

The resolution also called on UC system leaders “to withdraw investments in securities, endowments, mutual funds, and other monetary instruments with holdings” from the governments of Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey, Israel, Sri Lanka and Mexico, as well as the U.S.

A separate resolution passed with a 9-1-6 vote Sunday called for divestment from companies that do business with Israel. That vote was described as a “landmark decision” by progressives for being the “first multi-campus student association to vote in favor of divestment.” The decision was preceded by protests from a large contingent of students who vehemently opposed the measure.

“Think about that. If they had their way, the student government of the U. Cal. system would require divestment from U.S. Treasuries and most of the world,” Cornell University law Professor William Jacobson points out on Legal Insurrection, responding to the vote. “The U. Cal. student government has proven a point I’ve made repeatedly in terms of the academic boycott: If you are going to boycott Israel, then you need to apply those standards to the whole world, which will result in boycotting yourselves.”

Posted by Drew458     on 02/09/2015 at 10:20 AM   
Filed Under: • Colleges-Professors • Commies • Education •  
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   Saturday - February 07, 2015

Your Daily Gross Metaphor

This one comes courtesy of Stoaty The Weasel, speaking about someone who is frequently chosen for some task or position ...

“She’s been picked more times than Kim Kardashian’s thong.”

Brain bleach? No, sorry, we’re all out of brain bleach.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/07/2015 at 02:34 PM   
Filed Under: • Humor •  
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IMBY, Ebola

You’ve heard of “NIMBY” the acronym for Not In My Backyard. I suppose that there ought to be an IMBY as well, but I’m not certain that the shorter abbreviation reflect a desire to have something close by, or just the awareness of it. In My Back Yard.

From there I get to today’s post. Ebola. Remember Ebola? Remember how we were all gonna die, and were expecting massive outbreaks of the disease right here, spurred on by what seemed like lackadaisical government policies and a certain pResident’s apparent desire to import as many cases of it as he could?

Yeah, me too. Then it simply fell off the radar. Clunk. And ceased to be a news item overnight. Gone. Not that the plague is over in Africa, oh no. It’ still a hell hole with major outbreaks in at least 3 zones, but the crest of the primary wave may have been reached, maybe, and new case reports are down to “merely" 400 new cases this year, pushing the overall number of current cases to about 21,000 for the whole area.




Well, what if we had had a major outbreak here? Did you ever wonder where all those people would go? Once their numbers got bigger than a handful, they couldn’t go into the existing hospital situation. It would be overwhelming and uncontrollable. So some sort of isolation facilities would be needed, and they’d be needed right away.

Lucky me, the good government workers of our state’s Emergency Services division were on top of things. And they fired up a two stage plan, a small facility and a big one. And got them ready. And while they didn’t exactly hide this information, somehow it just didn’t catch in the news. So it comes as a bit of a shock to find out now that the Stage Two plan used Fort Monmouth, a mothballed military installation on an isthmus in the back bays behind the Jersey shore ("down the shore” as they say here). And the Stage One facility was the hospital wing at Hagedorn Psychiatric, another mothballed albatross around the State’s neck that was finally closed just two years ago. Hagedorn started out as a 19th Century tuberculosis sanatorium up on the top of Kipp’s Mountain, and most of the place has fallen into such mouldering disrepair that it’s a favorite spooky haunt of urban archaeologists and oddball magazines like Weird NJ. And the place is just over the next hill from where I live, just a hair over 4 miles away on the other side of the reservoir next to us. Surprise!

I’m not being critical here at all. They did the right thing in my opinion. And Hagedorn is as perfect a place as you could ask for, a square mile of property atop a rural mountain road, in one of the lower density populated areas of the state. With a full medical environment, limited road access, and a front lawn big enough to land helicopters in. It’s just a bit of surprise, because nobody knew. And of course it was a helluva expense, but what can you do?

Local officials complain they were left in dark on New Jersey Ebola quarantine center

[2/04/15] Local officials in central New Jersey are complaining they were left in the dark on plans to convert a shuttered military base into an Ebola quarantine center—and say they only found out about it when fire officials arrived for an inspection last week.

“Nobody was happy about this situation,” Eatontown Mayor Dennis Connelly told FoxNews.com.

Connelly says he had learned earlier that the military post, Fort Monmouth, could be used as a secondary quarantine site—the state already uses a psychiatric hospital in Hunterdon County—but only found out that the plan had moved forward last week.

The Asbury Park Press reported that the state Department of Human Services had been in contact with a select number of local officials regarding the plan for this center. However, they asked that the plans not be made public. Local officials complain there was never an opportunity for the community to discuss the matter and be part of the planning.
...

Fort Monmouth was closed as a military post in 2011. Shortly afterward, a committee—the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA)—was created to assist in the economic transition of the surrounding towns. The committee assumed control of the base from the Army, with the power to lease and sell parts of the property. According to reports, FMERA recently leased a portion of Fort Monmouth for six months to the Department of Human Services to use as the Ebola quarantine center.

The local officials said in their statement that the lease, though, was “imposed” on the committee by Gov. Chris Christie’s government and “was not vetted at a public meeting or voted on by the entire Board.” [ Well, duh, it’s called “an emergency”, right? ]

While the state is being accused of keeping the plans close to the vest, dozens of other treatment centers already are operational across the country to handle Ebola and other outbreaks. There are 48 treatment centers and 20 quarantine centers, overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fort Monmouth was not previously among them.

There is a treatment center in your state, and a 50:50 chance you have a quarantine center too. Do you know where either one is?

[ 10/25/14 ] LEBANON TWP. - The state has designated the former Sen. Garrett W. Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital here as a location where some Ebola patients could be quarantined, according to township Mayor Thomas McKee.

McKee said that he’s been told Hagedorn has recently been inspected and designated as a safe location for the purpose of quarantine.

“The state has plans in place,” the mayor said. He has questions about the plans and protocols and is reaching out to county and state health officials. “I don’t want to alarm people,” the mayor said, but, “We’re guarded, we’re cautious.”

Lebanon Township Fire Chief Edward Schaffer has been in contact with the state over its plans, the mayor said. Freeholder Robert Walton lives in Hampton, “almost within eyesight” of Hagedorn, which is on the opposite side of Route 31 from his home. “I am not alarmed,” Walton said.

“The state is making preparations for an Ebola outbreak, should that happen,” Walton said. He said Hunterdon County Health Officer and Epidemiologist Karen DeMarco have been briefed by state officials about that plan, which she shared with county Chief of Staff-Director of Public Safety George Wagner and Brayden Fahey, the Hunterdon’s coordinator of the Office of Emergency Management.

McKee said he hasn’t heard from county or state officials and is reaching out to them as well as state legislators.

Dawn Thomas, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health, said that for any patient requiring quarantine because of Ebola, the “preference is to quarantine individuals at home. If that is not possible, the Department of Human Services will find temporary housing for the individual.”

McKee said Hagedorn’s East Ward would be used for the facility’s patients. It has 16 rooms and patients would be kept secure and isolated within those rooms, he said.
...
Hagedorn was founded in 1907 as the state Sanatorium for Chest Diseases at Mount Kipp and shuttered in 1976. It was later designated as Hagedorn Gero-Psychiatric Hospital, and was closed amidst controversy in 2011. Its fate was sealed after a controversial decision that became final when Gov. Chris Christie signed the state budget. Closing the facility was expected to save $9 million and reduce New Jersey’s reliance on institutions.

The site is sprawled over a 600-acre campus and most of its buildings were mothballed. Part of the site now includes Veteran’s Haven North, a 100-bed, temporary home and training center for homeless veterans. It’s run by the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, but is hundreds of yards away from the site’s main buildings.closing the locations.”

Oh, and speaking of cost ... nice work if you can get it, and you can get it if you’re a cop.

[ 1/26/15 ] Ebola scare raised overtime for New Jersey police
Some New Jersey Human Services police officers earned nearly $53,000 in overtime in little more than three weeks finding a place to isolate potential Ebola patients and guarding the empty hospital.

Information obtained by NJ.com through the Open Public Records Act shows police logged 953 hours in October and November for “emergency preparedness related to the Ebola Virus Disease.”

Human Services spokeswoman says 908 hours were paid at time-and-a-half.

Most of the hours were spent guarding Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital in Lebanon Township, where potential Ebola patients were to be quarantined. Officers worked around the clock to keep out trespassers and reporters. But the site was not needed for patients.

One road in, one road out, on a heavily forested mountain known to have a large bear population. A cop on either end, vegging out in his car. 24 hours a day coverage for 20 days. $50/hr to man the gatehouses. I dispute that $53,000 figure, but $4,000 per officer, pulling 4 hours OT per day, is within reach. But I have to wonder, given just how isolated the place already is, and how this was such a non-news news item ... I wonder what the patrol logs show? Did they ever have to chase anybody off? Did they even have anyone show up to be turned away? 

Posted by Drew458     on 02/07/2015 at 12:30 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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