2 Killed, 1 Trapped, 10 Injured in Parking Garage Collapse

A five story parking garage collapsed Wednesday morning, in Doral, Florida.

Located on the Miami-Dade College West, the parking garage was under construction, when the top level fell onto the next, collapsing each section in order.

Two construction workers were killed and ten more injured in the collapse, which trapped several.

Emergency workers have spent the day getting to trapped workers, rescuing two who had been trapped, and continuing to work to free a third.

The remaining worker is apparently stuck in a vehicle, which was buried in the rubble, and rescuers are working to excavate him.

They had to give him an IV, to keep him alive, but any further details on his injuries have not yet been released.

Full rescue could take hours, or possibly even a day or two, due to the instability of the site.

At this time it is not clear what caused the collapse.

7.43 Million Toyotas Recalled Worldwide

7.43 million Toyota vehicles are being recalled, all over the world, but mostly in North America, Europe, and Japan.

The recall effects almost all models from 2005 through 2010.

Grease was not applied evenly, during production, to the power window switch, on the driver's side, causing friction in the switch and sometimes smoke.

Around two hundred and fifty cases, mostly in the US and Japan, were reported, none of them caused injuries or crashes.

Dealers will be handling the checking of cars for the correct grease, as well as making replacements if necessary.

Florida Records Meningitis Death

Florida has become the fifth state to see a death from the meningitis outbreak.

A seventy year old man, who had died in July, was confirmed as the twelfth death.

One hundred and nineteen people are currently sick, in nine states.

As many as thirteen thousand people, in twenty-three states, may have been infected by the disease.

Doctors, health officials, and emergency responders are continuing their lookout for people who may have gotten the disease, from steroid injections they received.

New England Compounding Center, which manufactured the injections, is doing everything it can to aid the government in it's investigation.

They handed over their operation licenses and voluntarily recalled all of their other products as well, last week.

Wildfire in Rocky Mountain National Park

Rocky Mountain National Park has announced the evacuation of Moraine Park campground and the closure of Fern Lake Road.

The area is a popular elk viewing location, not far from Estes Park.

A wildfire, estimated at one hundred and fifty acres, began Tuesday afternoon, and firefighters are en route.

Witnesses describe thick smoke coming from the area.

Greek Riots Welcome Merkel

Greeks rioted in Athens as German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands took to the streets, clashing with police, as they protested the presence of the leader of the strongest economy in Europe. Five rioters were injured and twenty-four were arrested, as more than forty thousand protesters fought with nearly seven thousand police.

Merkel stated her sympathy for Greece, saying all would be worth it in the long run. Samaras said that he was proud to see Germany showing it's solidarity with the Greek people.

Greece has been forced to make severe austerity cuts to meet demands that the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund have placed upon the country. If the country can meet the demands, they will be rewarded with EU bailout money, beginning with a thirty-one billion euro sum.

One of the requirements is that the country get spending down to 137.3% of GDP, by 2017. The IMF doubts that the country will even be able to get to 152.8% by that time. It is also feared that Greece will not be able to even begin paying off the debt until 2016, when they're supposed to be doing so by 2014.

Plans To Tax The Second Amendment

Since Chicago and Cook County were told their restrictions on firearm ownership were unconstitutional, they have decided to tax weapons and ammunition instead. Long time readers of Mental Akido will recall I predicted such actions back on July 26, 2012. Cook County Board officials have dubbed this proposed tax on legal firearms and the ammunition they require as a "violence tax", despite the fact that locales with fewer firearms restrictions have significantly lower violent crime rates.

Cook County claims the increased taxes on firearms and ammunition are in order to help close their $115M budget deficit, which is used, in part, to pay for law enforcement, running the county hospital, and operating the county jail.

Their reasoning is that most of  the problems these facilities address deal with firearms ownership, that taxing firearms and ammunition is a logical solution. However, they fail to understand that most of the violent crimes are conducted using weapons that were stolen or procured on the black market (usually also stolen). Those weapons would not be subject to the tax, since they would not be bought through legal channels.

All this proposal does is further infringe upon law abiding citizens' second amendment rights to keep and bear arms. While it does not directly restrict firearms ownership, it makes owning one or purchasing ammunition more expensive, therefore less available due to household budget constraints.

Toni Preckwinkle, the Cook County Board President, is pushing for this so called "violence tax". Perhaps she needs a few lessons in the US Constitution. Residents of Illinois may wish to let her know their thoughts on this violation of their rights. 

Making arms and ammunition less attainable through economic means is really just another form of violating the second amendment rights of the citizens. Illinois already infringes upon the second amendment to a drastically unconstitutional level with laws restricting the ability to bear arms. Illinois does not allow carry permits, concealed of unconcealed. To transport a weapon, it must be unloaded and locked in a container, with the ammunition locked in a separate container, rendering it useless for self defense purposes. Those very laws are infringements upon the right to carry (bear) that is constitutionally guaranteed.

This tax is but another level of infringement meant to keep residents of Cook County, Illinois and those Americans traveling through the area from exercising their constitutional rights. There is a word in the dictionary for such forms of  despotism, tyranny!

Original article at Mental Aikido

Walmart Strike Spreads to 12 Cities

Dan Schlademan, the director of the United Food and Commercial Workers' Making Change At Walmart campaign, has announced that strikes are now taking place at twenty-eight stores, in twelve cities.

The strikes mark the continuation of the first strikes against the company, ever, which began on Friday, in Los Angeles.

Workers are protesting Walmart's attempts to "silence and retaliate against workers for speaking out for improvements on the job".

Walmart workers are not part of any union, but the strikers are working closely with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

Some of the strikers plan to protest in front of the company's corporate headquarters, in Bentonville, Arkansas.

1.4 million people, across the country, are employed by Walmart, but at this point only eighty-eight of them are striking.

Though that number will likely continue to increase, as in recent years the company has a history of associates complaining about management failures, working conditions, and low wages.

Ten Killed by Brain Eating Amoeba

Health officials in Pakistan are warning the public to be extra careful to only use clean water, after ten people, in Karachi, have died from a brain eating amoeba.

The amoeba, naegleria fowleri, survives in warm water and it's favorite meal is human brain tissue.

Hopes are that an increase of chlorine, in the local drinking water, as well as boiling of water, will kill off the organism.

It's thought to be most possible that people have become infected when they used water to clean out their nasal passage, which is a common practice, in that part of the world.

Sesame Street Asks Obama to Remove Big Bird Ad

Sesame Workshop, which runs Sesame Street, has asked the Obama campaign to take down a satirical ad, which attacked Mitt Romney.

They released a statement saying, "Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns. We have approved no campaign ads, and as is our general practice, have requested that the ad be taken down."

The Obama campaign has been using Big Bird as a victim ever since the Presidential debates, last week. During the debate, Romney stated that he would end government funding of PBS and Big Bird.

PBS, who's executives make six figures a year, has no actual need for government funding, due to the success of their pledge drives and volume of commercial sales.

Obama's campaign has yet to actually take down the ad, only saying that they would consider the request.

Netanyahu Announces New Elections

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced new elections for the country.

Elections were not scheduled for at least a year, but his announcement will set them to happen within the next three months, likely in late January or early February.

Early elections are quite common, in Israel, where the balance of the coalition government can change constantly.

Netanyahu is under no threat to lose his spot, he's at one of his most popular points.

However, holding them earlier, will ensure that he is when they occur, and put off til longer a time when he could be forced with mandatory elections, not at the time of his choosing.