Possible Cover Up of Human Mad Cow Disease in California

Possible Cover Up of Human Mad Cow Disease in California

California Man Dies with Variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (vCJD) Symptoms
Calif. man had human mad cow symptoms

By Steve Mitchell
Medical Correspondent UPI
Washington, DC, Jan. 5 (UPI) — Public health officials have ruled out the human version of mad cow disease as the cause of death for a California man, but the man’s neurologist told United Press International the man had several symptoms of the fatal disease and
questions remain about the case.

Patrick Hicks, 49, died late last year at Reche Canyon Health Care Center in Colton, Calif., as first reported by
UPI in November.

Upon Hicks’ death, Dr. Ron Bailey, a neurologist at Riverside Medical Center in Riverside, Calif., who treated him, arranged for a sample of his brain to be sent to the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center in Cleveland. NPDPSC is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to analyze brain specimens for possible variant Creutztfeldt Jakob disease, a fatal condition humans can contract from eating beef products infected with the mad cow pathogen.

http://urlet.com/predict.breakthrough

Pigs Don’t Fly in Virginia

Panel Orders Localities to Stop Collecting Taxes, Fees

By Tim Craig

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 4, 2008; Page B10

RICHMOND, March 3 — The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority ordered the state and local governments Monday night to stop collecting taxes and fees that the Virginia Supreme Court ruled are unconstitutional.

The authority, which had been administering the taxes and fees since Jan. 1 on such things as auto repairs and car rentals, issued the order after a day of confusion over whether local governments should stop collecting them.

On Friday, the court said that regional taxing authorities created by the General Assembly last year violated the state constitution because voters do not elect the panel members. But until Monday afternoon, some local governments were still collecting the fees because they had not received official word about the court’s decision.”The Northern Virginia Transportation Authority is developing a refund plan for the special taxes and fees that have been paid to date,” the panel said in a statement ordering the cessation of fees. “This is very complex, involving state and local authorities as well as various business entities.”The authority said “potential applicants for refund should retain evidence of payment as it may be required as proof of payment.”

….{snip}….

A year ago, lawmakers believed they had tackled Virginia’s transportation problems by devising a plan to raise $1.1 billion a year for road and transit projects, the largest such infusion in 21 years. But now, in addition to dropping abusive-driver fees and coping with a court decision nullifying the legislation, the Virginia Department of Transportation is telling local governments they will lose millions of dollars for highway construction next year because of the slowdown in the economy.

The budget cuts, including a 47 percent reduction for primary and secondary road construction, are on top of the $300 million a year for Northern Virginia projects that are threatened by the Supreme Court decision.

“If commuters think things are bad now, they are only going to get worse,” said Kala Quintana, spokeswoman for the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority.

….{snip}….

Democrats accuse Republicans of wanting to push the state’s responsibilities onto local officials.

http://urlet.com/played.doubling

The Federal Reserve’s rescue has failed

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor

The verdict is in. The Fed’s emergency rate cuts in January have failed to halt the downward spiral towards a full-blown debt deflation. Much more drastic action will be needed.
Yields on two-year US Treasuries plummeted to 1.63pc on Friday in a flight to safety, foretelling financial winter.
The debt markets are freezing ever deeper, a full eight months into the crunch. Contagion is spreading into the safest pockets of the US credit universe.

It is hard to imagine a more plain-vanilla outfit than the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages bridges, bus terminals, and airports.

The authority is a public body, backed by the two states. Yet it had to pay 20pc rates in February after the near closure of the $330bn (£166m) “term-auction” market. It had originally expected to pay 4.3pc, but that was aeons ago in financial time.

“I never thought I would see anything like this in my life,” said James Steele, an HSBC economist in New York.

http://urlet.com/heart.ably

Save Our Neighborhood- Stop Lincoln School Closing

No more school closings!  Cut an administrative drone and save the same amount of money.

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Lincoln School closure to be decided

Karen Wilkinson The Times-Standard If You Go:

Article Launched: 03/03/2008 01:30:46 AM PST

The fate of Lincoln Elementary School — one of two remaining on Eureka’s west side — will likely be decided Wednesday by the Eureka City Schools governing board.Though the restructuring plan was dropped earlier this month, whether to close the school is still on the table.

http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_8434849