A series of rallies and strikes took place across the United States Wednesday as nurses spoke out about what they feel are insufficient measures taken for their protection when dealing with Ebola.
National Nurses United, a California-based union, said that hospitals do not have enough hazardous materials outfits that leave no skin exposed to bodily fluids along with air purifying respirators to avoid accidental inhalation of particles.
“Inadequate preparedness for Ebola symbolizes the erosion of patient care standards generally,” National Nurses United spokesman Charles Idelson told Reuters on Tuesday.
Strikes began early in California on Tuesday with over 20,000 nurses taking part in the protests.
Over 100,000 joined the protests on Wednesday including a group that held a vigil outside the White House.
Two nurses who attended to Thomas Eric Duncan in Dallas became infected with the virus and hospital workers told media outlets there were times the nurses did not have adequate protection.
The U.S. Census Bureau released a report Thursday showing that 48 million Americans are living in poverty.
The report says that despite government programs that help the poor, even 16% of children are still living in poverty.
The report from the Census Bureau is different than the standard report because it takes into account living conditions when considering who is in poverty. So while the official national poverty line is $23,283 for a family of four, in major cities the measure could be $30,000 or more.
California’s poverty rate under the new stat review is 23.4%, meaning almost 1 in 4 Californians can’t afford to live in that state’s high costs of living. New York, Florida and 10 other states had increases in their poverty numbers with the new measure.
The biggest factor putting people into poverty is medical bills according to the report.
The mosquito that transmits yellow fever has been found in two locations in Los Angeles County California.
The aggressive mosquito is known for biting in the daytime and was found October 7th and 8th in Commerce and Pico Rivera.
The species, Aedes aegypti, transmits yellow fever along with others such as dengue fever and chikungunya.
“While these debilitating viruses, so far, aren’t locally transmitted in L.A. County, the mosquitoes that can transmit them are now here,” Susanne Kluh, the district’s director of scientific-technical services, said in a statement quoted by the LA Times. “Infected travelers can bring these viruses to Los Angeles County.”
The yellow fever mosquito thrives in urban environments and usually uses small, man-made containers to lay eggs.
Officials speculate the mosquitoes arrived in California through eggs on imported tires or plants.
A baby that was thrown into a trash dumpster by her 13-year-old mother is in good condition after being rescued by movement and rustling in a dumpster.
A man who was looking for recyclables in a dumpster at the Sunnyside apartment complex in Merced, California around 6 a.m. heard some rustling in the trash. At first he thought it was some kind of scavenger animal but when he saw it was a baby he began screaming.
The infant was covered in trash, gnats and flies. Jimmy Alvarez scooped up the child, cleaned her and wrapped her in his T-shirt until he could contact authorities.
“I think she was going to die if we had not found her,” Annett Alvarez told KRCA.
The Los Angeles Time says police tracked down the girl through tips from the public. The mother of the teen said she did not even know her daughter was pregnant. The teen has not yet been charged with any crime but is in the care of Child Protective Services.
Seven California churches have filed suit against the state because they are being forced to pay for abortions.
The California Department of Managed Health Care sent letters to seven insurance companies that refused to offer abortion coverage.
“Abortion is a basic health care service,” director Michelle Rouillard wrote to the seven insurance companies that refused to offer coverage.“All health plans must treat maternity services and legal abortion neutrally.”
The Life Legal Defense Foundation and the Alliance Defending Freedom are defending the churches, claiming the state’s mandate is a violation of the federal Weldon Amendment, which says a state can be forfeited of certain funds if they discriminate against a healthcare provider who does not pay for abortions.
“Forcing a church to be party to elective abortion is one of the utmost-imaginable assaults on our most fundamental American freedoms,” ADF Senior Counsel Casey Mattox also stated in a press release about the matter on Thursday. “California is flagrantly violating the federal law that protects employers from being forced into having abortion in their health insurance plans. No state can blatantly ignore federal law and think that it should continue to receive taxpayer money.”
A publicly funded California university is offering a free online class to promote abortion.
The University of California – San Francisco announced the six week class called “Aboriton: Quality Care and Public Health Implications.”
“I think that if we can inspire even a small portion of the people who take the course to take steps in their communities to increase access to safe abortion and decrease stigma about abortion, then we have been totally successful,” Dr. Jody Steinauer, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California – San Francisco, told The Daily Beast who broke the story.
The school claims over 3,000 people have signed up for the class.
The outline of the class shows the pro-abortion propaganda taxpayers are funding.
“Each week’s lectures will incorporate the stories of women who seek abortion in order to better portray abortion significance and rationale,” its outline states. “Other topics will include a brief history of abortion, the clinical aspects of medication and procedural abortions in and after the first trimester, an overview of patient-centered abortion-care, the basics of abortion counseling, the professional obligations of health care practitioners to ensure that women have access to safe abortion care, and the maze of restrictions that make safe abortion care inaccessible to many women.”
The entire state of California is in drought conditions.
In addition to the state being 100% in drought, the amount of area considered in “exceptional drought” is just over 58%.
Now, some residents are reporting that their taps have gone dry.
More than 500 households in Tulare County, California cannot receive any water through their taps. They cannot shower, wash dishes or clothing or even wash their hands.
“We don’t have the money to move, and who would buy this house without water?” Angelica Gallegos told the New York Times. “When you wake up in the middle of the night sick to your stomach, you have to think about where the water bottle is before you can use the toilet.”
Some families have received relief from agencies that provided water tanks for the front yard of some homes. However, residents like 54-year-old Yolanda Serrato know life has forever changed in her community.
“You don’t think of water as privilege until you don’t have it anymore,” Serrato told the Times. “We were very proud of making a life here for ourselves, for raising children here. We never ever expected to live this way.”
State officials confirmed to the Times at least 700 households have no water but admit there could be much more.
The California Catholic Conference has taken the state government to court over the state’s order that all Catholic institutions pay for voluntary direct abortions.
The abortions that must be covered include abortions for gender selection and for late-term abortions.
“Catholic beliefs about life and human dignity animate and shape our Catholic ministries,” Bishop Robert McElroy, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco told the Christian Post. “It’s why we oppose abortion, but it is also why Catholic schools provide education, Catholic hospitals care for the poor and vulnerable and why Catholic social services provide assistance to people and families in need. It goes to the core of our moral beliefs.”
The group claims that the state’s orders violate federal human rights laws.
“This is a coercive and discriminatory action by the state of California,” McElroy added. “This demand by the state was directly targeted at Catholic institutions like Santa Clara University, Loyola Marymount University, along with other California employers and citizens. It is a flagrant violation of their civil rights and deepest moral convictions, and is government coercion of the worst kind.”
The pastor of an influential Sacramento, California megachurch has said he will live on the streets for two weeks or until $100,000 is raised to start a homeless shelter in the area.
Rick Cole says that he feels God calling him to take the step to raise awareness of the need for a winter shelter for the homeless of his community.
“Tomorrow, I’m going downtown on light rail, I picked up my light rail pass today…I’ve never ridden light rail in my life, not even once, not even for fun, and so that’s gonna be my mode of transportation for the next two weeks and we’ll adjust as we go along the way and we’ll communicate to you as we go along the way,” Cole explained in a sermon to his congregation Saturday.
“That’s what I believe God wants me to do and what we’re gonna do together,” Cole went on to say. “I’d like us just to make our prayer about God’s power to touch our city…This idea is not very old, probably about two or three weeks old and every step along the way it’s only gained momentum and excitement. My wife even has grown Ok with it. That was a miracle all by itself so we are excited about the many things I think God wants us to do with this particular project and how we can grow and impact this community.”
The shelter, which will be called Winter Sanctuary, has an overall goal of $300,000. A website has been created at www.revonthestreet.com to allow people to donate to the mission.
“The ultimate goal is there are some hurting people, really hurting and we’re taught by God to help ’em. Go to them, make a difference. When you do this to the least if these Jesus said you done it to me. You want to get close to Jesus get close to some hurting people and when you help ’em in His name then you’ve just touched him in the most profound way,” Cole told his congregation Saturday.
A Christian legal organization is raising the alarm about a California charter school who is removing all books from their library that contain Christian content.
The cleansing of Christians from the Springs Charter Schools was exposed by officials with the Pacific Justice Institute. The school claims to be “Created and operated by parents” and says that “we value parent choice and involvement, using the community as the classroom, fostering a child’s innate creativity, collaborating to achieve goals, building relationships, and personalizing learning.”
A concerned parent first raised the alarm when librarians started removing the book The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom from the shelves. The librarians said they were ordered to remove anything containing Christian content.
“It is alarming that a school library would attempt to purge books from religious authors. Indeed, some of the greatest literature of Western Civilization comes from people of faith,” PJI President Brad Dacus stated in a press release about the matter. “Are they going to ban the sermons or speeches of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? What about the Declaration of Independence, which invokes the laws of nature and nature’s God?”
“We are calling on Springs Charter Schools to immediately reverse their ill-conceived and illegal book-banning policy.”