National, Regional and Local News

[ponchi101]

Measles parties. How 19th century...

[ti-amie]

Mueller, She Wrote
‪@muellershewrote.bsky.social‬
NEW: A source tells me that response teams for FEMA set to deploy to the South Carolina wildfires are unable to travel because their government issued travel cards have had their limits reduced to $1. FEMA response team cards were supposed to be exempt.

‪praying mantis‬ ‪@gentlem.bsky.social‬
·
40m
www.wfmynews2.com/article/news...
Please use your platform to distribute this emergency information which covers a wide area. Please do this as swiftly and repeatedly as possible. We are trying to keep loss of life to a minimum. Thank you.


https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/ ... 6182043896

[ti-amie]

RFK Jr. promotes cod liver oil as measles remedy while refusing to advocate for vaccines
The health and human services secretary has been championing a number of unconventional treatments in response to the growing measles outbreak in West Texas
By Alana Loftus
13:25 ET, Wed, Mar 5, 2025 | UPDATED: 13:28 ET, Wed, Mar 5, 2025

Robert F Kennedy Jr has offered his response to the escalating measles outbreak in West Texas, advocating for a range of unconventional treatments over vaccinations. The health and human services secretary endorsed several remedies on Tuesday, including cod liver oil and vitamin A.

In an interview with Fox News, he revealed that the federal government was dispatching doses of vitamin A to Gaines County, the heart of the outbreak, and coordinating ambulance services.

Previously, officials from Health and Human Services had stated they were sending doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine to Texas, but Mr. Kennedy did not reference this or discuss vaccination at all during his interview.

RFK asserted that doctors in Texas had witnessed "very, very good results," treating measles cases with a steroid named budesonide, an antibiotic known as clarithromycin, and cod liver oil, which he claimed contained high levels of vitamins A and D.

However, according to the Seattle Times, Dr Sean O'Leary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, stated that while physicians sometimes administer doses of vitamin A to treat children with severe measles cases, cod liver oil is "by no means" a treatment backed by evidence.

Moreover, Dr O'Leary said he had never heard of a physician using the supplement as a treatment for measles.

RFK's notoriously shaky stance on vaccines, coupled with a history of misinformation, has been thrust into the spotlight following his appointment to a key position. The measles outbreak that began in late January spiraled out of control quickly.

Tragically, a 6 year old who had not been vaccinated succumbed to measles last week in Texas, marking the first such death in the US since 2015. The Washington Post has reported a surge of 159 measles cases in the state.

The CDC is stepping up its game, sending "disease detectives" to Texas this Tuesday in hopes of curbing the rapid spread of the virus.

At a cabinet hearing last week, RFK addressed his fellow health officials, saying, "I support the measles vaccine, I support the Polio vaccine. I will do nothing as HHS secretary to make it difficult or discourage people from taking it."

His assertions were immediately met with skepticism. Another member fired back, pointing to the stark contrast between his recent stance and his claims in a book he authored, "anybody who believes that ought to look at the measles book you wrote saying 'parents have been misled into believing that the measles is a deadly disease, that's not true."

RFK now grapples with criticism over his past remarks. He has previously claimed in a 2021 book's foreword that Americans have been deceived into thinking "misled ... into believing that measles is a deadly disease and that measles vaccines are necessary, safe, and effective."

He further claimed that measles outbreaks "have been fabricated to create fear" in order to "inflict unnecessary and risky vaccines on millions of children."

https://www.the-express.com/news/health ... il-measles

[ponchi101]

For those that said that Anthony Fauci had "blood on his hands". And I heard that he should have been tried for crimes against humanity.
Anyway, they will never listen.

[ti-amie]

Video at the link

[ti-amie]

Trump freezes $1 billion in food aid given to local schools and food banks to help low-income families
The Trump administration reportedly said it had determined this funding ‘no longer effectuates agency priorities and that termination of the award is appropriate’

Kelly Rissman
in New York
Tuesday 11 March 2025 17:04 GMT

The Department of Agriculture has slashed over $1 billion in funding aimed at helping schools and food banks purchase from local farmers, according to a nonprofit.

“Multiple states” were recently notified of these cuts, the nonprofit School Nutrition Association said in a statement Tuesday.

An estimated $660 million in funds through the Local Food for Schools program for 2025 will no longer be available to support childcare institutions and schools, the group added.

“This program will strengthen the food system for schools and childcare institutions by helping to build a fair, competitive, and resilient local food chain, and expand local and regional markets with an emphasis on purchasing from historically underserved producers and processors,” the USDA website says about the Local Food for Schools program.

The Independent has reached out to the USDA for comment.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education confirmed it received a notice of termination from the USDA on Friday of the second round of Local Food for Schools grant funding, an award of $12.2 million, claiming that they “determined this agreement no longer effectuates agency priorities and that termination of the award is appropriate,” the state’s governor Maura Healy said in a Monday statement.

The governor suggested the cuts were made as part of a Department of Government Efficiency-led effort to reduce spending in the federal government.

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk have declared that feeding children and supporting local farmers are no longer ‘priorities,’ and it’s just the latest terrible cut with real impact on families across Massachusetts,” said Governor Healey. “There is nothing ‘appropriate’ about it. Trump and Musk are continuing to withhold essential funding in violation of court orders, and our children, farmers and small businesses are bearing the brunt of it.”

The Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which provides food to food banks and organizations that reach underserved communities, was also included in the cuts, Politico reported.

The department notified states that it was unfreezing funds for existing agreements for this program but did not plan to carry out a second round of funding for fiscal year 2025, the outlet reported. An estimated $420 million of federal funds were expected to go toward the program in 2025, the USDA website shows.

A USDA spokesperson told the outlet that funding “is no longer available and those agreements will be terminated following 60-day notification.” The spokesperson added: “These programs, created under the former Administration via Executive authority, no longer effectuate the goals of the agency. LFPA and LFPA Plus agreements that were in place prior to LFPA 25, which still have substantial financial resources remaining, will continue to be in effect for the remainder of the period of performance.”

Last week, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said this program can no longer operate in the state after the USDA said it was ceasing reimbursements for any costs incurred after January 19. The same applied to the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program, which aims to “build resilience in the middle of the food supply chain.” Reimbursement claims submitted for costs incurred after January 19 are being returned with “no explanation or timeline for reimbursements to resume,” the statement read.

"Cutting funds for these programs is a slap in the face to Illinois farmers and the communities they feed," said Governor Pritzker. "The Trump Administration's refusal to release grant funds doesn't just hurt farmers in the program, it devastates our most vulnerable, food-insecure communities relying on meat, fresh produce and other nutritious donations."

Congress is also weighing cuts to school meal programs, the School Nutrition Association warned in its announcement. The nonprofit urged the public to call on Congress members to oppose these cuts.

“With research showing school meals are the healthiest meals Americans eat, Congress needs to invest in underfunded school meal programs rather than cut services critical to student achievement and health,” said the group’s president Shannon Gleave. “These proposals would cause millions of children to lose access to free school meals at a time when working families are struggling with rising food costs. Meanwhile, short-staffed school nutrition teams, striving to improve menus and expand scratch-cooking, would be saddled with time-consuming and costly paperwork created by new government inefficiencies.”

Alexis Bylander, interim child nutrition programs and policy director of the D.C.-based nonprofit Food Research & Action Center, said this decision has “devastating impacts.”

“The Trump administration’s decision to cut funding for cooperative agreements that support schools and other organizations’ ability to purchase local foods will have a devastating impact on students, schools, farmers, and local economies,” Bylander said in a statement. “As food costs continue to rise and schools struggle to stretch their meal budgets, now is the time to bolster efforts that improve access to affordable and healthy local foods, not gut them.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 13125.html

[ti-amie]

‘Ongoing destruction of evidence’: Trump admin shredding and burning ‘classified’ USAID docs with info that’s ‘essential’ for rehiring unlawfully fired workers, unions say
Chris Perez Mar 11th, 2025, 7:57 pm

The Trump administration is shredding and burning “classified” employee documents at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) with personnel info that would be “essential” to rehiring unlawfully fired federal workers, according to labor groups suing the president, should it be required as a result of their litigation.

“Plaintiffs file this emergency motion for temporary restraining order to stop Defendants’ imminent and ongoing destruction of evidence,” the groups said in a Tuesday filing.

“Defendants are, as this motion is being filed, destroying documents with potential pertinence to this litigation,” the coalition alleged. “Plaintiffs will suffer immediate, irreparable injury should the agency continue to destroy records.”

Last month, the plaintiffs — two government employees unions led by the American Foreign Service Association, the exclusive representative for the U.S. Foreign Service — filed a lawsuit accusing Trump and agency heads of “unlawful actions” that “exceed presidential authority and usurp legislative authority conferred upon Congress by the Constitution, in violation of the separation of powers.”

On Feb. 7, the same day the suit was filed, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols granted a “limited” temporary restraining order barring the government from placing USAID employees on administrative leave and performing expedited evacuations of such employees from their overseas posts. The order rejected a request to block a 90-day pause on “foreign assistance funding.”

On Feb. 21, Nichols dissolved the TRO and denied a request from the labor groups for a preliminary injunction. Things remained unchanged up until this week when the plaintiffs motioned to stop the shredding and burning of “critical” employee data after hearing about it in an email sent out by USAID’s acting executive secretary, Erica Carr, who allegedly told officials: “Shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break.”

In their motion, the unions suing Trump said Carr’s email claimed the USAID was “clearing [its] classified safes and personnel documents” from the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., starting at 9:30 am Tuesday. The email allegedly directed USAID staff to “shred as many documents” as possible and to use “burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break.” An alleged screenshot of Carr’s email was included in the Tuesday motion.

“This directive suggests a rapid destruction of agency records on a large scale that could not plausibly involve a reasoned assessment of the records retention obligations for the relevant documents under the FRA or in relation to this ongoing litigation,” the motion said. “The ‘classified’ and ‘personnel’ documents that are currently being shredded contain information that will be critical to the continued operation or — as the agency continues to be dismantled — the reconstitution of the agency. For example, if the agency is required as a result of this litigation to rehire terminated employees, personnel records that identify USAID employees and contain personal contact information will be essential to rehiring those employees.”

The motion alleged that union lawyers sought information from the Trump administration and Justice Department as to whether the alleged document destruction efforts were ongoing. The DOJ told them it was investigating the matter.

“Plaintiffs, however, cannot wait,” the motion said. “Immediate injunctive relief is necessary to halt this destruction.”

Nichols has yet to respond to the motion, with no orders being filed by the judge as of 7:30 p.m. EST Tuesday.

The USAID case comes as organizations that entered into contracts or received grants from the State Department and USAID have been suing the Trump administration over an executive order by the president that required a blanket freeze of all foreign aid funding. The coalition of foreign aid groups has argued that it was an unconstitutional exercise of presidential power “in contravention of congressional will” — as well as an “arbitrary and capricious agency action” — that will lead to starvation and the deaths of many.

The Trump administration was ordered Monday to cough up nearly $2 billion in foreign aid that it owes for existing contracts and grants authorized by Congress, with a federal judge ruling that it was unconstitutional of Trump to “unlawfully impound funds” earlier this year through his USAID freeze.

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/on ... nions-say/