Melon Recall

Burch Farms and the FDA have declared a recall of cantaloupe and honeydew melons.

The recall was announced after Listeria monocytogenes was found in a honeydew, at the packing plant in North Carolina.

At least eighteen states received melons from the plant.

All melons will should have a Burch Farms or Cottle Strawberry sticker on them, but some stores remove stickers, so consumers are advised to contact the store where they bought the melons, if they are concerned.

No reports of illness due to the contamination have been reported.

CDC Releases Obesity Rates

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released their study of 2011 US obesity rates.

As part of the study they rated each state, and the District of Colombia, by the percentage of the state's adult population having a BMI of more than thirty.

Colorado came in as the most healthy state, with only 20.7% of adults being obese. Mississippi was ranked as the fattest state, as 34.9% of adults are considered obese there. Nationally the average is listed as being 35.7%.

This marks a dramatic increase from the past. Twenty years ago, no state had higher than twenty percent obesity rate. Just ten years ago, only Mississippi had a percentage higher than twenty-five percent, tellingly Colorado at the time was the only one below fifteen.

Vice Presidents Campaigning

The two vice presidential candidates have begun their solo campaigning, and it was straight to the differences.

Vice President Biden began in Virginia by telling voters that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to "put y'all back in chains".

Bringing in class warfare, the supposed "war on women", and pointing out the pro life beliefs of Romney and Ryan as being attacks upon freedom, rather than being in defense of life.

Meanwhile, in Lakewood, Colorado, Congressman Ryan focused on how he and Governor Romney want to rebuild America, instead of remaking it, "We're not going to replace our founding principles, we're going to reapply them."

Ryan spent the first part of his speech promising to make the US no longer energy dependent on other nations, declaring that "We will approve the Keystone pipeline." and pointing out that "Obama has done everything he can to make it harder to use our own energy."

He then moved to talking about the national debt "Obama promised to cut the deficit in half in four years." stating that "We need to leave our children a debt free nation." The Congressman concluded that "We can turn our country around. It's not too late to turn it around. We can put America back on the right track."

It really was striking, the differences between the two. Biden's entire focus was on disinformation and division, showing the weaknesses of the Obama platform, which has nothing to stand on. Whereas, Ryan's message was one of uniting the country, so that it can re energize and profit once again.

Both candidates did have a slight blunder in their speeches. Biden couldn't actually even remember which state he was in, saying he was in North Carolina, instead of Virginia. Whilst Ryan accidentally misspoke Obama's 2008 campaign slogan saying, "We've gone from hope and blame, excuse me hope and change." which truly only fit reality.

Five Suicide Bombings in Afghanistan

Suicide attacks in Afghanistan focused on busy markets and a major hospital, on Tuesday.

None of the targets were military in nature, though some police were amongst the dead.

At least thirty-eight were killed, and over a hundred injured in five separate attacks.

Forces led my NATO have been trying to put an end to the insurgency ahead of the 2014 withdrawal deadline.

Attacks have actually picked up since the holy month of Ramadan has started, showing how little regard the attackers actually have for the Muslim religion, they claim to be fighting for.

62 Fires Rage Throughout US, Firefighter Dies

As sixty-two wildfires are raging through the US, one of them became deadly.  Near Orofino, Idaho twenty year old Anne Veseth, in her second year as a fire fighter, was killed when a tree fell on her as she was helping to fight the Steep Canyon Fire. At least a dozen fires are burning in the state.

Washington's Taylor Bridge Fire has burned over 24,000 acres in less than twenty-four hours. Around 450 people have been evacuated and National Guard troops are being activated to help with efforts. One hundred and forty prisoners have also been put on the front lines to fight the fire. At least sixty homes have been burned down. One of the fire fighting crews barely escaped the flames, but luckily did so without injuries. Kittitas and Yakima counties have been declared emergency areas by Governor Chris Gregoire.

Seven hundred and fifty fire fighters are concentrating on trying to contain the Holloway Fire. At nearly 420,000 acres, it crosses onto both sides of the Oregon, Nevada border. Flames up to fifteen feet were reported coming from the blaze. A firefighter battling it suffered burns to the leg and forearm and minor smoke inhalation. She was air lifted out, and is being treated in a Salt Lake City burn center.

North of San Fransisco, a fire is nearing 7,000 acres are about thirty percent combined. So far two buildings have burned down, whilst another was damaged and nearly five hundred homes are threatened. A fire fighter was injured, there as well, but no details on the extent of their injures have been released. Further north another fire is nearing fifty-five square miles and threatening six hundred homes. Four fires near San Diego are combining to burn 2,300 acres, and threatening the city's power supply.

In Oklahoma over a dozen fires are burning, and have already destroyed 120 structures. The fires have combined to burn around 50,000 acres, forcing thousands to evacuate.

A wild horse herd is being threatened by a fire in Utah, which is nearing thirty-four square miles of burned area.

Hot dry weather is expected to continue throughout the western US. The entire country is going through the worst drought in decades. Some areas have not seen temps drop below one hundred degrees in weeks. Others have seen weeks go by without any kind of precipitation.

Former Prime Minister of Mali Temporarily Reappointed

Cheick Modibo Diarra

Mali's interim president, Dioncounda Traore, temporarily reappointed former Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra to his post.

Traore gave Diarra three days to new national unity government.

The country is facing rebellion in the north, and the President wishes to have a united front to fight them with.

Diarra had been over thrown in a coup, in March.

During the chaos of the coup, rebels managed to take several northern cities.

The two leaders have a very antagonistic past, but it is believed that only together can they unite the country against the rebel threat.

Jet Skier Makes it Through JFK Airport's Security Without Notice

On Friday night, Daniel Casillo was out jet skiing with friends, in the dark of Jamaica Bay, when his broke down.

He called for help, but no one noticed, so he swam for the only visible thing, JFK airport's runway lights.

Upon making it to land he climbed the eight foot fence, made it past the barbed wire without being cut, then continued on undetected by the Perimeter Intrusion Detection System and across two runways into Delta's terminal 3.

Casillo then made his way into the terminal in his bright yellow life vest.

Even then no one noticed him, until after he had approached a Delta employee.

Police then arrested Casillo, charging him with criminal trespassing.

Some have suggested that instead of being charged he should be rewarded for finding the apparently massive defects in the $100 million security system.

Taylor Swift Announces New Album

Taylor Swift held a live web chat today, with a full Q & A session.

She accepted questions from her live audience, as well as people connected via webcam through Google +, the hashtag #August13 on Twitter, and her Facebook fan page.

The big news from the chat was her announcement of her latest album which will be simply titled "Red".

In a switch up for the pop country artist she didn't write everything herself, but worked with other artists on some of the songs.


Swift ended the web chat by introducing the first single from the album, it is called "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and will be available for purchase tonight online.

Red will come out October 22, and will contain sixteen tracks.

Three Dead in Texas A & M Shooting (Expect Anti-Gun Spin to Resume)

Constable Brain Bachman, Killed in firefight in near the Texas A&M Football Stadium

The afternoon of Monday, August 13, 2012 (shortly after noon, central time) met with another in what seems to be a national outbreak in bizarre shootings.

At the Texas A & M University in College Station, Texas, a gunman engaged in a battle with local police. The shootout resulted in one dead civilian, one dead police officer (Constable Brian Bachman, pictured above), and the shooter himself. At least two other police officers were injured, and one female bystander was last reported entering emergency surgery. Other injuries and casualties were also reported.

As of the writing of this article, not much more is known. The local police caution that the gunman may not have been operating alone and may have accomplices still at large. The nature of the incident and its cause are still not known. The motivation for the shooting is still obscure. Some of the injured have been treated and had non-life-threatening injuries. Others are in surgery. Three are currently confirmed dead, including the shooter.

What we do know is the firefight broke out when a local constable attempted to serve eviction paperwork.

What can be surmised from analyzing the pattern of the publicized, mass, public shootings over the past few years is that mainstream media pundits are itching to blame this, a shooting in Texas, as a result of relaxed infringements upon the Second Amendment. Texas is known as a rather conservative state. Along with Georgia, citizens of Texas are stereotyped as gun-toting hicks who shoot empty whiskey bottles in their back yards during weekend barbecues.

If one watches the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", one of the more startling caricatures occurs when, during a dinner party, several Savannah southerners, including one southern belle of some esteem, proudly display their firearms. Most who concealed carry are not so flagrant in displaying their firearms. The scene is truly not an honest depiction of your average Georgian gun owner.

I recently moved to Texas from Arizona. Texas is not that supportive of Second Amendment Rights. For one thing, you need a permit to carry concealed. You do not in Arizona. In Texas, open carry is still not allowed (from what I have seen in the laws -- if this is not correct, somebody please send me a link to the law stating so). In Arizona, open carry has been allowed for decades.

But non-Texans still see Texas as a state filled with gun-toting hicks. Texas Governor Rick Perry ran for the Republican nomination for President. Texas has taken steps to increase voter integrity and fight voter fraud. Texas is a "right to work" state. Texas has taken its own steps to close the border despite US Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and Presidential Executive Policies that refuse to do so. That and Operation Fast and Furious issues put Texas "on the radar".

The above will most likely be spun all over the Lamestream media and NPR over the next few days to be some other right-wing crazy. they did the same with the last two major shootings.

Recall the tragic shooting in Aurora, Colorado a few weeks ago. That gunman was quickly labeled as a "Tea Party Nutcase". After investigation, it was found that the shooter was not a member of the TEA Party. He also was a left-winger.

The last shooting, at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, was done by a former US Soldier. That soldier was ejected from the military with a general (less than an honorable) discharge. He was not a "normal" soldier. He was booted out for having a few screws loose as well as being a bit of a discipline case. The Army, it turns out, made the right decision in kicking him many years ago. The shooter turned out to be a white supremacist and a neo-Nazi. For those who failed their basic civics classes on the political spectrum, Nazis are very much left wingers. They believe in collectivism and socialism over individual merits. Yet, the lamestream media tried to spin that kooky left-wing racist as another "right-wing gun nut". Again, they got the story wrong.

Now, in College Station, we have a dead policeman. He was shot by a criminal. The criminal was also shot and killed. So was an innocent bystander (shot by the criminal). This was not an act done by a law abiding citizen. The arguments for stricter gun control are moot. Criminals who want weapons will pay no attention to any laws in their efforts to acquire them. If there were tougher laws, such as the UN-Proposed ATT Small Arms Treaty that is part of the Agenda-21 treaties, were in place, this criminal would have, more than likely, still had some form of weapon. It probably would have still been a firearm. He may have had to pay more for it on the black market. However, the laws and the treaty would not have stopped him.

Of course, this begs the question of how far this would have gone if law abiding citizens were allowed to concealed carry on college campuses. Perhaps one or two fewer people would be dead. Since that is not the case, we cannot know.

Original Article at Mental Aikido

Three Dead in Shooting in College Station, Texas

On Monday afternoon a shooting took place near the Texas A & M University campus, in College Station, Texas.

Law enforcement officers responded to a shots fired call, only to be fired upon by the home owner. They returned fire in defense, and called for more officers. SWAT responded eventually killing the shooter, during the thirty minute shoot out.

During the shooting Constable Brian Bachmann and a sixty-five year old male bystander were killed. Three or four people were injured, including two other officers and a fifty-five year old female bystander, who is in surgery. The thirty-five year old shooter was shot during the gun fight, and died of his wounds at the hospital.

Police are now confident that there was only one shooter, and have ended the search they had announced earlier. Texas A & M, has lifted it's "crimson alert" and ceased warning people away from the campus.

At this time, authorities are uncertain why Bachmann, 41, an elected official, was on the scene. Unconfirmed reports have him there serving an eviction notice, but assistant police chief Scott McCollum could not confirm them. As county constable an eviction notice would have been under his duties though.