Saturday, November 3, 2012

3 Egyptian Police Killed by Gunmen

Three Egyptian policemen were killed, and another was injured, when gunmen fired upon their vehicle, in al-Arish.

Their attackers escaped from the scene, before reinforcements could get there.

The gunmen are believed to be from amongst the militants that Egypt has been hunting down.

Egyptian forces entered the Sinai, on August 26, as part of a joint effort with Israel, to remove Al Qaeda linked Salafists from the area.

Egypt became concerned with the terrorists, after sixteen border guards were killed, on August 5.

Syrians Battle Over Taftanaz Airbase

Syrian military forces and rebels have been involved in heavy fighting around the airbase near Taftanaz.

Rebel forces claim that the fighting is ongoing, whilst the government says they've driven off the assault.

It's but another part of the rebels mission to cut off Aleppo, from Damascus.

They've been having ever growing success in accomplishing just that.

On Friday, video came out that supposedly shows rebel forces executing captured government troops, in Saraqeb.

Also on Saturday, Israel caught Syria sending tanks into the demilitarized zone, of the Golan Heights, and issued a complaint with the UN.


Israel Catches Syrian Tanks in Demilitarized Zone

Three Syrian tanks were caught moving into the demilitarized zone of the Golan Heights, by Israel, on Saturday.

The tanks were moving in on the town of Beer Ajam, where rebel forces were moving in, as part of the ongoing Syrian civil war.

Israel quickly lodged a complaint with the UN Peacekeepers, in the area.

It is the second time Israel has had to lodge complaints with the UN over Syrian actions, during the civil war.

In September, Syrian mortars crossed over the border, landing in Israel.


Wegman's Recalling Spinach and Spring Mix Salads

Sixteen cases of E.coli poisoning have been linked to Wegman's organic spinach and spring mix salads.

Four of those people were hospitalized.

The New York based grocer has issued a recall of five ounce and eleven ounce packages sold from October 14 through November 1.

Wegman's has locations in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Customers should throw the packages out, and then take their receipts to their local branch, for a full refund.

Meningitis Fighters Winding up With Epidural Abscesses

A complication has come up for victims recovering from the meningitis outbreak.

Epidural abscesses are striking them, caused by the same by the same steroid that infected them with the deadly meningitis.

They formed in patients who were took powerful anti-fungal medicines to fight the meningitis.

The abscesses are localized infections that can require surgery.

Doctors are not fully sure how to deal with these ones, as many of the patients are too weak for further operations.

At this time it's unclear how many of the 404, infected with the meningitis, have ended up with abscesses.

Blue to Gold: USMC Corporal Alex F. Domion

USMC Corporal Alex F. Domion, twenty-one, of Richfield Springs, New York, died October 31, in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

“Corporal Alex F. Domion, twenty-one, of Richfield Springs, New York, died October. 31, as a result of a non-combat related incident in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

The U.S. 2nd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force. Their motto: “Follow Me.”

The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and headquartered at Julian C. Smith Hall. Alex was a graduate of Richfield Springs High School.

Reaction to the soldiers death on the internet has been mixed with emotions running high in some cases. “Why, Why, Why do we have to lose another young American for the sake of the world. When is this hell going to end? I feel for his family”, said one young marine on the Marine Family network website.

Another comment read, “My husband and I are deeply saddened over this young man's sacrifice. Praying for peace for his family during this difficult time.”

“My heart is heavy to learn of the loss of Corporal Alex Domion, another one of America's finest gone far too soon. May his family, friends and brothers in arms take some measure of comfort in knowing that all over America people are mourning with them and praying for them”, says Barb.

Governor Cuomo has directed that flags on state government buildings be flown at half staff on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 in honor of a Richfield Springs Marine who died in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on October 31, 2012.

"I join with all fellow New Yorkers in mourning the loss of Cpl. Domion. New York sends its deepest sympathies to his family, friends, and fellow Marines," Cuomo said. "As we honor his service and sacrifice, we are grateful for his dedication to our nation."

Governor Cuomo has directed that the flags on all state buildings be lowered to half staff in honor of and in tribute to our state's service members and those stationed in New York who are killed in action or die in a combat zone.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Longmont Police Arrest 17 in Gang Drug Ring Bust

Longmont, Colorado police made a huge break in a gang related drug ring, Thursday night.

Operation Little Red Riding Hood had been ongoing since December 2011.

During the investigation police were able to gain enough evidence for four search and twenty-five arrest warrants.

In raids on the four locations, carried out jointly with the Boulder Sheriff's Office, seventeen arrests were made.

Most of the arrests are for drug possession, drug distribution, and conspiracy to contribute to drug distribution.

Drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, controlled prescription medications, and marijuana, as well as drug paraphernalia and counterfeit identification cards were all ceased during the raids.
 
Police are still looking for another ten people, in connection with the operation.

Anyone with information should call the Longmont Police Department at 303-651-8501 or Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Meningitis Cases Up to 404

There are now 404 reported cases of meningitis in the US, nine of which are joint infections.

Twenty-nine people have died from the disease, in nineteen states.

Meningitis can take forty-two days to surface, leading to the still growing epidemic.
 
 
All of the illnesses and deaths were caused by a contamination in anti inflammatory steroid shots, most of which were given via the spine.

Seventy-six locations, in twenty-three states, were sent the shots, which were given to as many as fourteen thousand people.


The numbers should stop growing soon, as the recall happened thirty-seven days ago.

New England Compounding Center made the shots, and has complied completely with government officials who are conducting the investigation.

Officials are investigating at least two other drugs, made by NECC, for possibilities that they too may have been contaminated.

Things are only getting worse for the company, and now the government, as evidence comes out that they had been under investigation, for issues in their processing, since 2002.

Their sister company, Ameridose LLC, which has the same owners, is voluntarily recalling all of their products.

Twitter to Add Picture Filters, Like Instagram's

A source in Twitter has given us some interesting news.

Sometime within the next couple of months, the company will be updating their apps to allow for picture filters to be added.

The filters will work much in the same way as Instagram's, which allow you to change how a picture looks.

Twitter should be making the update by the end of the year, but it might come early in 2013.

Facebook's buyout of Instagram, which had been a third party friendly to both companies, likely sparked the need for Twitter to bring it's own system about.

NYC Marathon Cancelled

New York City's Mayor Bloomberg has announced that the 2012 NYC Marathon is now cancelled.

He said that it had become a "source of division", after receiving heavy criticism for planning to continue it as planned.

A mounting call had come for it to be postponed, due to the current ongoing recovery from super storm Sandy.

It became a controversy, after it became known that generators, that are giving emergency power supplies to various areas of the city, would be moved to specifically used to power marathon festivities.

Then it came out that food being given those aiding in recovery efforts would be diverted to those helping run the marathon.

Adding to that controversy was Bloomberg's cry for more help from the from federal government.

It seems that Bloomberg, while unable to listen to the public's cries for sodas, does have the ability to hear the angry townsfolk, eventually.