Florida Healthcare data breaches 2022

 

The biggest health care data breaches you should know about in Florida by: 

Posted: Aug 4, 2023 / 09:13 AM EDT

Updated: Aug 4, 2023 / 09:13 AM EDT

"Be aware this still occurs. The industry can work to prevent these incidents" - A.T.B. 

Billion Photos // Shutterstock

It starts with an often-paralyzing attack on computer systems. Doctors scramble to notify patients awaiting surgery that their procedures have been delayed due to a ransomware attack.

Sometimes a single cyberattack can impact hospitals across multiple states, as was the case when hackers targeted CommonSpirit Health in October 2022. Just one reported case of ransomware has allegedly led to the death of a patient. More often, patients’ sensitive information is served up to a market of seedy individuals around the world ready to cash in on someone else’s identity.

Health care institutions are among the most targeted businesses in the world, chiefly because they hold such sensitive information about the patients they serve. Hospitals, home health agencies, and other institutions store patients’ phone numbers, Social Security numbers, addresses, and other things that would allow any would-be criminal to pose as a patient and open new credit cards or bank accounts in their name.

Drata analyzed Department of Health and Human Services data to determine which health care data breaches reported in 2022 affected the most residents in Florida. Breaches that did not include locations were not included in this analysis.

Read on to see which institutions reported data breaches to the federal government in your state and explore the largest across the nation here.

1. Ravkoo other breach
– Type of breach: Hacking/IT Incident
– Individuals affected: 105,000
– Date reported: 01/03/2022

2. WellDyneRx, LLC email breach
– Type of breach: Hacking/IT Incident
– Individuals affected: 43,523
– Date reported: 07/01/2022

3. Jacksonville Spine Center, P.A. network server breach
– Type of breach: Hacking/IT Incident
– Individuals affected: 38,000
– Date reported: 02/10/2022

4. South Walton Fire District network server breach
– Type of breach: Hacking/IT Incident
– Individuals affected: 25,331
– Date reported: 11/15/2022

5. Onehome Health Solutions laptop breach
– Type of breach: Theft
– Individuals affected: 15,401
– Date reported: 04/13/2022

6. Catholic Hospice, Inc. email breach
– Type of breach: Hacking/IT Incident
– Individuals affected: 14,986
– Date reported: 01/31/2022

7. Foundcare, Inc. email breach
– Type of breach: Hacking/IT Incident
– Individuals affected: 14,194
– Date reported: 12/16/2022

8. Santa Rosa County District Schools network server breach
– Type of breach: Unauthorized Access/Disclosure
– Individuals affected: 9,424
– Date reported: 07/25/2022

9. Phoenix Programs of Florida, Inc. email breach
– Type of breach: Hacking/IT Incident
– Individuals affected: 6,594
– Date reported: 10/21/2022

10. NR Florida Associates LLC network server breach
– Type of breach: Hacking/IT Incident
– Individuals affected: 6,250
– Date reported: 12/30/2022

This story originally appeared on Drata and was produced and
distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.

Humane treatment & justice must govern immigrant dentation centers

 Humane treatment & justice must govern immigrant dentation centers

"CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — After migrants in northern Mexico placed mattresses against the bars of their detention cell and set them on fire, guards quickly walked away and made no apparent attempt to release the men before smoke filled the room and killed 38 men, surveillance video showed Tuesday.

Hours after the fire broke out late Monday, rows of bodies were laid out under shimmery silver sheets outside the immigration detention facility in Ciudad Juarez, which is across the U.S. border from El Paso, Texas, and a major crossing point for migrants.

Authorities originally reported 40 dead, but later said some may have been counted twice in the confusion. Twenty-eight people were injured and were in “delicate-serious” condition, according to the National Immigration Institute.

At the time of the blaze, 68 men from Central and South America were being held at the facility, the agency said. The institute said almost all were from Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela and El Salvador

In the video, two people dressed as guards rush into the camera frame, and at least one migrant appears by the metal gate on the other side. But the guards did not appear to make any effort to open the cell doors and instead ran away as billowing clouds of smoke filled the structure within seconds

Adán Augusto López, Mexico’s interior secretary, confirmed the authenticity of the video in an interview with local journalist Joaquín López Doriga.

Immigration authorities identified the dead and injured as being from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, according to a statement from the Mexican attorney general’s office.

Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the fire was started by migrants in protest after learning they would be deported.

“They never imagined that this would cause this terrible misfortune,” López Obrador said.

The deaths forced the government to rent refrigerated trailers to hold the migrants’ bodies, Chihuahua state prosecutor Cesar Jáuregui told reporters.

The detention facility is across the street from Juarez’s city hall.

At a nearby hospital, Viangly Infante Padrón, a 31-year-old Venezuelan migrant seeking asylum in the U.S. with her husband and three children, waited for her husband, who was being treated for smoke inhalation. The previous evening, she was waiting outside the detention center for his release when the fire broke out.

“There was smoke everywhere. The ones they let out were the women, and those (employees) with immigration,” she said. “The men, they never took them out until the firefighters arrived.”

She saw several dead bodies before finding her husband in an ambulance. “I was desperate because I saw a dead body, a body, a body, and I didn’t see him anywhere.”

Earlier, about 100 migrants gathered Tuesday outside the immigration facility’s doors to demand information about relatives.

Katiuska Márquez, a 23-year-old Venezuelan woman with her two children, ages 2 and 4, was seeking her half-brother, Orlando Maldonado, who had been traveling with her.

“We want to know if he is alive or if he’s dead,” she said. She wondered how all the guards who were inside made it out alive and only the migrants died. “How could they not get them out?”

Authorities did not immediately answer that question.

Márquez and Maldonado were detained Monday with the children and about 20 others. They had been in Juarez waiting for an appointment from U.S. authorities to request asylum. They were staying in a rented room where 10 people were living, paying for it with the money they begged in the street.

“I was at a stoplight with a piece of cardboard asking for what I needed for my children, and people were helping me with food,” she said. Suddenly agents came and detained everyone.

Everyone was taken to the immigration facility but only the men were placed in the cells. Three hours later, the women and children were released.

Tensions between authorities and migrants had apparently been running high in recent weeks in Ciudad Juarez, where shelters are full of people waiting for opportunities to cross into the U.S. or for the asylum process to play out.

More than 30 migrant shelters and other advocacy organizations published an open letter March 9 that complained of a criminalization of migrants and asylum seekers in the city. It accused authorities of abusing migrants and using excessive force in rounding them up, including complaints that municipal police questioned people in the street about their immigration status without cause.

The high level of frustration in Ciudad Juarez was evident earlier this month when hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants tried to force their way across one of the international bridges to El Paso, acting on false rumors that the United States would allow them to enter the country. U.S. authorities blocked their attempts.

After that, Juarez Mayor Cruz Pérez Cuellar started campaigning to inform migrants there was room in shelters and no need to beg in the streets. He urged residents not to give money to them and said authorities would remove them from intersections where it was dangerous to beg and allegedly a nuisance to residents.

Migrant advocates who recently denounced more aggressive tactics said Tuesday that the immigration facility was over capacity and that the site of the fire was small and lacked ventilation.

“You could see it coming,” the advocates’ statement said. “Mexico’s immigration policy kills.”

The national immigration agency said Tuesday that it “energetically rejects the actions that led to this tragedy” without any further explanation.

The “extensive use of immigration detention leads to tragedies like this one,” Felipe González Morales, the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights of migrants, said via Twitter. In keeping with international law, immigration detention should be an exceptional measure and not generalized, he wrote.

Mexico’s immigration lockups have seen overcrowding, protests and riots from time to time.

In October, a group of mostly Venezuelan migrants rioted inside an immigration center in Tijuana. In November, dozens of migrants rioted in Mexico’s largest detention center in the southern city of Tapachula near the border with Guatemala. No one died in either incident.

Mexico has emerged as the world’s third most popular destination for asylum-seekers, after the United States and Germany. But it is still largely a country that migrants pass through on their way to the U.S.

Asylum-seekers must stay in the state where they apply in Mexico, resulting in large numbers being holed up near the country’s southern border with Guatemala. Tens of thousands are also in border cities.

At a Mass celebrated in memory of the migrants, Bishop Mons. José Guadalupe Torres Campos lamented the sudden grief that had descended upon the migrant community.

“The shout, the cry of everyone is enough, enough of so much pain, enough of so much death,” he said.

___

This story has been correct to show the age of Viangly Infante Padrón is 31.

___

Verza reported from Mexico City. Associated Press videojournalist Alicia Fernández and writers Guadalupe Peñuelas in Ciudad Juarez, Mark Stevenson in Mexico City, Sonia Pérez D. in Guatemala City and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report."

https://apnews.com/article/mexico-fire-migrant-facility-dead-eea0b6efafd77f9868ef27ed1cf572b3

USA is about to go to shit!!!

Under President Donald Trump

COVID -19
Federal Agents placed in cities as law enforcement
Protest of Police Brutality
Jacksonville, FL Republican Convention Canceled
Attempt to cancel or Postpone elections
Civil War
Millions Dead
End of American Democracy - when will it end - the next Epoch of mankind - Return of Jesus?

I hope my prediction is false.

Red Alarm: American Detention Centers

The red alarm is not the Border Wall. I am not opposed to the wall but not paid for through tax payer dollars.  Closing the government or declaring a national emergency is irresponsible. Furthermore declaring of a national emergency is not restricted to the issue of the Wall. During an emergency Presidential authority would be unchecked; it is akin to martial law. Do you believe that Donald Trump's declaration would self limiting in regards to scope? The country is not experiencing a domestic war, terrorist attack, nor weather related catastrophe. These are the scenarios which merit a declaration of emergency.

Now the bells are sounding with the request for additional immigrant detention center funds (beds). Centers which were already put in place using ICE current funding levels. Persons of conscious and Democratic leaders much not support continued funding there for expansion of these centers. From an observers point of view, I suspect, without evidence, that treatment in these facilities are presently inhumane, cruel and possibly illegal. I do not stress illegal because many actions can be legal but still unjust and inhumane. What raises my strong objection is the secrecy of these facilities. Numerous reports of Republican and Democratic elected representatives cannot access these facilities and when they are the situation appears to be staged. Next: 2 children have died while in custody at these detention centers. This is what we know. How many adults have died in them? What has not been reported nor released to the public? This cannot be accepted nor explain away. The program must be ENDED!

Remember slavery, remember Japanese Americans held in detention camps. The slippery slop of going down this path in the name of national security is a red alarm! The government is saying these immigrants therefore have no "human rights". The Trump Administration by these actions has made a clear statement.

Source/References:

https://khn.org/morning-breakout/trump-administration-requests-additional-funding-to-operate-immigrant-detention-centers/

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/dhs-transferred-169-million-other-programs-ice-migrant-detention-n909016

https://immigrantjustice.org/staff/blog/ice-released-its-most-comprehensive-immigration-detention-data-yet

https://www.afsc.org/blogs/news-and-commentary/ice-trying-to-manipulate-congress-more-detention-funding-here%E2%80%99s-what-you

http://time.com/5324490/zero-tolerance-detention-centers-military/

https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/060614-aclu-car-reportonline.pdf

https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2018/06/29/few-details-emerge-on-floridas-shadow-system-of-immigration-detention/

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/12/politics/ice-more-money-fema-dhs/index.html

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/414955-pentagon-declined-white-house-request-for-troops-to-build-detention-facilities


DHS Budget

https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/DHS%20BIB%202019.pdf

Senators Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell Must Go!

Senators Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell Must Go!

The two most powerful senators (supposedly) in the United States Congress have neglected and failed their sworn duty to hold the presidency
in check.

Trump's Political Capital

As I write this commentary today President Trump is on the verge of declaring a national emergency at the southern border. What happens when there is an actually a national emergency? A real crisis? My prediction is President Trump's political capital is gambled away on this campaign promise; he no longer nor will ever have enough political capital to govern neither the ability to rally the American people behind a cause if such a situation occurs. This is bad for the country.

I am off the clock, my statements are my own not attributed too or representative of an institution.

Children Lost in the System!!!

I recently wrote a letter to President Donald Trump at the White House expressing my concern regarding his administration's separation of immigrant families at the border. This practice is not law as he uses as an excuse; this is policy as implemented by the TRUMP administration. It is totally at the President's desecration. I am opposed to the practice and am voicing my grave concern unlike our representatives in Congress who sit idle as this unjust inhumanity occurs on American soil! Donald Trump and Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, both your wives I understand were not born in the United States ( I might be not be 100% correct regarding the Senate leader) but I am attempting to make a point. In addition Trump's assertion that Democrats view immigrants, not refugees, as future voters is ludicrous. The reason is because if the person enters the USA illegally, the reality is that there is no path towards legalization therefore they will always be in illegal status making them ineligible to ever vote.

Please read the below article. It explains the situation on the ground well.

"WASHINGTON — The former head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told NBC News that migrant parents separated from their children at the border are sometimes unable to relocate their child and remain permanently separated.

"Permanent separation. It happens," said John Sandweg, who served as acting director of ICE under the Obama administration from 2013-2014.

Sandweg's warning contradicts White House messaging that the separation of women and children migrants under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy is only temporary.

While a parent can quickly move from detention to deportation, a child's case for asylum or deportation may not be heard by a judge for several years because deporting a child is a lower priority for the courts, Sandweg explained.

"You could easily end up in a situation where the gap between a parent's deportation and a child's deportation is years," Sandweg said.

As a result, parents may find themselves back in their home countries struggling to find their children. Many do not have access to legal counsel or understand the U.S. immigration or judicial systems.

Children who stay in the foster system for lengthy periods of time may become wards of the state and finally adopted.

"You could be creating thousands of immigrant orphans in the U.S. that one day could become eligible for citizenship when they are adopted," Sandweg explained.

That scenario could be hard to swallow for immigration hardliners who argue against spending welfare dollars on immigrants and are opposed to a path to citizenship for children brought into the country illegally.

Sandweg says he has seen permanent separation happen when a parent is deported without his or her child.

"This is why family unity was critical for us. With the numbers of families crossing ticking up, [the] Obama administration was concerned about children being left behind," said Sandweg.

Speaking on Fox News on Tuesday, White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp insisted the separations were short term.

"We have come to understand that these families who are separated, it is for a limited period of time between five to ten days," Schlapp said.

But already, immigration lawyers in the U.S. and Central America say many parent immigrants who have been deported are having a hard time locating their children. The Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy was announced in April.

Parents are given a paper slip written in English and Spanish that explains they have been charged with a crime for entering the United States illegally and will be separated from their child while they await their court hearing.

"For assistance in locating your child(ren), you may contact the Office of Refugee Resettlement," the slip says, giving a 1-800 number.

NBC News called the number and heard a recording that allows the caller to be connected with a case manager regarding his or her child."

Link: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/former-ice-director-some-migrant-family-separations-are-permanent/ar-AAyS9og?ocid=ientp

Case Against the American Health Care Act (AHCA)

27% of all adults would be denied insurance due a "pre-existing" condition according to the Republican proposal.

Bill proponents, such as  Mr. Donald Trump and House Leader Paul Ryan would have you believe these conditions are limited to only major conditions. This is not true, any medical condition minor or major would allow insurance companies to deny your coverage. This includes a minor allergy, previous sports related injuries, or surviving cancer. The Trump administration put little work into drafting the legislation that reorganizes 1/6 of the American economy.

The average penalty under Obama care for not having health insurance was $600.00, under the AHA the penalty increases to approximately $2,000 per American if your insurance laps. This is in fact a more expensive mandate to than seen with Obama care.

Placing persons into high risk pools who have serious medical conditions would make their premiums unaffordable.

It is a fact Congress wrote into the bill exception for themselves and their staff. They would be covered under a different system.

Obama care currently is better choice for American citizens when compared to the current Trump care proposal. This is my call demanding a better way.


Reference:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-poll-idUSKBN19C2LO

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/us/politics/senate-health-care-bill.html

Nepotism and corruption

My statement is non-partisan. How do those in power allow for the appointment of family members to official executive branch posts paid or unpaid? How can an administration from the top down not be obligated to submit tax information and financial interest?

This is the very definition of corruption.

Community supports victims of the attack at Pulse Orlando

At this time of political transition in the United States. Let us be cautious not jump to false conclusion or led by emotion. Was this a hate crime, domestic terrorism, coordinated attack on America. Current reports have made no clear determination. I urge the nation calm and to be cerebral in our response; law enforcement or war. Let us collective mourn our brothers and sisters.

Prince Performs “Purple Rain”

Prince Performs “Purple Rain” During Downpour | Super Bowl XLI Halftime ...

Florida has poorest unemployment system in U.S.

"TALLAHASSEE — Most out-of-work Floridians will never see a jobless benefits check from the state.

In fact, a report this week from the National Employment Law Project, a nonpartisan research group, puts the Sunshine State at the bottom of the nation, tied with South Carolina, in the percentage of unemployed people who actually receive state unemployment insurance.

From June 2014 to June 2015, just one in eight unemployed people in Florida received benefits, the report says. It appears to be a new low. Just six years ago, at the height of the recession, more than 30 percent of those out of work received weekly payments.
Critics blame the state for making it harder for the unemployed to qualify for benefits.
The number of Floridians on unemployment insurance has fallen dramatically in recent years in tandem with new requirements from the state. Adding to the problem: A new online system for unemployment claims was plagued with glitches.
Nationally, about 27 percent of jobless receive benefits, though that rate has fallen since the recession as well.
"Unemployment insurance is a basic lifeline for America's workers when they lose jobs through no fault of their own," said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project (NELP), in a written statement. "Workers earn these benefits through their work histories, and like any insurance policy, the purpose is to help provide needed financial support when there is a catastrophic event — in this case, involuntary job loss."
One of the biggest hurdles to receiving benefits in Florida has been the rollout of CONNECT, an online filing system for unemployment, which cost $77 million to start in 2013. After the website launched, applicants experienced months-long delays in receiving benefits.
State audits have called for major changes to CONNECT, which is managed by the Department of Economic Opportunity, and lawmakers have taken them to task, as well.
The study's authors also point to a law passed in 2011 that requires those seeking benefits to routinely report information about their job search, which has accompanied a steep rise in people being disqualified from benefits for not following the proper procedure. The requirements are "among the most onerous in the country," according to NELP.
State Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, who sponsored the legislation, said changes were needed to encourage people to look for work while receiving benefits and to stop those who should be ineligible from earning benefits.
"(The law) hadn't been changed since the '30s," Detert said. "Our studies showed that people didn't even start looking for a job until two weeks before benefits ran out."
Asked to comment on fixing CONNECT glitches and access to benefits, Department of Economic Opportunity spokeswoman Jessica Sims said that the study doesn't paint a picture of the economy as a whole.
"The best way to assist someone who is unemployed is to create more opportunities for them to find a great job, and that's what we are focused on," she said.
Contact Michael Auslen at mauslen@tampabay.com. Follow @MichaelAuslen.
Study: Florida has lowest rate of unemployed who receive benefits 09/22/15 [Last modified: Tuesday, September 22, 2015 8:37pm] "

http://home.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/study-florida-has-lowest-rate-of-unemployed-who-receive-benefits/2246655

Space Flight by Light (Solar Sail)

"

The Planetary Society is preparing to launch a tiny satellite into orbit later this month as the first phase in testing a solar sail as a means of spacecraft propulsion — an idea that has been kicking around in the science (and science-fiction) literature for at least a century.

The satellite, LightSail, no larger than a loaf of bread, is contained within the somewhat larger Prox-1 satellite developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology. It is scheduled to liftoff aboard an Atlas V rocket on May 20.

The concept states that if a large enough, kite-like "sail" can be deployed in space, the pressure exerted by particles streaming from the the Sun (known as the "solar wind") could be used to push a spacecraft along, much the same way that a sailing vessel is propelled when heading downwind.

The first LightSail won't reach a high enough orbit to try out the sail in the solar wind, but it should be able to test the mechanism for deploying the 345-square foot tissue-thin Mylar sail. A mission set for next year should put a second LightSail in a high enough orbit to fully test the concept.

A decade ago, the Planetary Society, the non-profit founded by the late Carl Sagan and now headed by Bill Nye ("The Science Guy"), made its first attempt to launch a solar sail, but the satellite was lost when the Russian launch vehicle it was on failed to reach orbit."



http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/05/09/405506717/planetary-society-set-to-launch-solar-sail-experiment

Freddie Gray: a death unchallenged

The unjustified death of Freddie Gray cannot go unchallenged. This is a call for non-violent civil disobedience across the nation. It is evident the Police are covering up what occurred in this case. A person's neck does not spontaneously separate from one's spine, the condition the Police left Freddie Gray in resulting in his death. I am outraged!

"Baltimore 25-year-old Freddie Gray died of a severe spinal cord injury after police arrested him.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/us/baltimore-freddie-gray-death/

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/the-mysterious-death-of-freddie-gray/391119/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/20/baltimore-police-freddie-gray-arrested-without-force-or-incident-before-fatal-injury

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/us/another-mans-death-another-round-of-questions-for-the-police-in-baltimore.html?_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/us/baltimore-police-officers-suspended-in-freddie-gray-inquiry-are-identified.html

Asteroid Within 745,000 Miles of Earth

A massive asteroid is set to safely pass Earth Monday. According to NASA scientists, the asteroid 2004 BL86 is approximately 1,500 feet across and will come closest to Earth at 11:19 a.m. ET.

The asteroid will be approximately 745,000 miles away - about three times the distance between the earth and the moon.

Experts at NASA's Near Earth Object Program believe the asteroid will not be visible to the naked eye. The asteroid is expected to be visible through small telescopes and strong binoculars.

The asteroid was discovered in 2004, and Monday's pass is believed to be the closest the asteroid will come to Earth for the next 200 years.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/massive-asteroid-2004-bl86-pass-745000-miles-earth/story?id=28478510

BE ENCOURAGED MY FRIENDS

I have heard the name Juanita Bynum, however I was no fan until I encountered her sincere powerful divinely led message.

The George Zimmermann Verdict

A Florida jury has found George Zimmermann not guilty in the murder trial of Trayvon Martin.
The jury of six also finds Zimmermann not guilty of all lesser charges including manslaughter.

While I continue to follow this matter I would like to add additional perspective. Our President Barack Obama has called for calm throughout the nation, the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorney General Holder has initiated a federal investigation. It is my opinion in this matter the United States system of justice has failed. This creates parameters for which the community and Martin family might respond with civil suit, non-violent civil disobedience, and revision to stand your ground law.

The Jury: Made up of five Caucasian females and one Hispanic female. Even though in the State of Florida diversity is the norm, in Seminole County approximately 80%  of the population is Caucasian. The jury in this case after reviewing their statements upon the cases' closing are very sympathetic to George Zimmermann. This makes me very uncomfortable that race indeed was an underlying factor. Which does not imply racism, however demographics in the United States and the prism through which people looked impacted this case.

The Defense: Mark O'Mara and Don West won the defense battle.

The Prosecution: failed from the start by charging then designing their case under murder two. This clearly is a manslaughter case. The prosecution was asleep until attempting to come back during final arguments when it occurred to them their case was lost. Charges can be brought if a persons actions results in wrongful or accidental death, evidence is sufficient to prove such. Why did the prosecution peg Zimmermann as a cold blooded murderer instead of  a person who made a stupid decision which resulted in the death of a minor?

Contradictions: The stand your ground law is a problem in this case. Trayvon Martin was followed by Zimmermann, Trayvon was aware of this which he why he was turning to be aware of his surroundings. Trayvon exercised his right to stand his ground, as he was not engaged in unlawful activity. In can be stated that neither Martin nor Zimmermann knew each other's intent. In my view Trayvon Martin being a minor was at a greater level of threat. After observing George Zimmermann give his account of what had happened I believe he lied about two crucial points: the gun and the screams for help. I believe Zimmermann pulled his gun earlier than stated which compelled Trayvon Martin to scream, entering an instinctive fight or flight mode to defend himself. Zimmermann's body language, ton of voice changes when providing statements about "holstering and upholstering" his gun.
There is a lot of discussion about who was on top, but in all reality, does it matter?

Civil Rights Law: I'm not an attorney. historically civil rights law has served as a deterrent placed on private business and public institutions who may engage in discrimination. It has had little impact on the actions and beliefs of individuals. To try this case under civil rights law is an almost impossible feat. The Supreme Court has recently weakened civil rights legislation. Looking at this matter simply as one of civil rights is a misguided approach based on emotion rather than prudence. Why not in addition seek civil suit for wrongful and/or accidental death?

The Soul Seekers ft. Marvin Winans "It's All God" Official Music Video

Support Florida's Wildlife Corridor

http://www.floridawildlifecorridor.org/about-expedition/

The Trayvon Martin Murder

"Trayvon Martin, a 17 year African American youth, star athelete from Sanford, Florida was shot and killed by a white hispanic man while innocently walking too a friends's residence. 911 taps sound Trayvon's screams for help before being murdered. The murderer a Mr. Zimmermann.

Florida's stand your ground law the defense posture Mr. Zimmermann is using which is at best questionable and is equally applicable to the Martin families justification for Trayvon Martin walking through this neighborbood, as phone records indicate he was traveling to visit a friend who resides in the community, and fact that he was approached aggressively by Mr. Zimmermann, in this situation if you were Trayvon Martin would you not stand your ground or run? In the State of Florida the law no longer calls for you to flea if possible but stand your ground. Furthermore Mr. Martin having no weapons, being younger and of smaller stature than Mr. Zimmermann certainly has no quilt in this case. The best alternative defense for Mr. Zimmermann is to plend insanity for having such a grave misperception of his role as simple neighborhood watch volunteer. It is clear Mr. Zimmermann lesser charge is manslaugther. "

Sanford Statistics: http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/fl/sanford/crime/



Comments

Racist remark or not this idiot killed an
unarmed kid.

kelli •
9 hours
ago
How can they "stand by their investigation"
when one never took place?


J • 9 hours
ago
Really does it matter what nationality
Zimmerman is? And would it be less ridiculous if this were a white kid from a
rich family? Some idiot (regardless of race) shot and killed an unarmed kid
(regardless of race). They need to jack the jail up and throw him under
it!

Chivariak •
San Antonio,
Texas • 9 hours
ago
Put yourself in the shoes of both. One was
an innocent kid going home and the other a paranoid and perhaps mentally ill
self appointed neighborhood watch person. What is clear is that the self
appointed was the aggressor, and the kid also had the right to defend himself.
Zimmerman is guilty of first degree murder, because he confronted and killed an
innocent kid. The situation would be different if the kid was in the act of
committing a crime. BUT HE WAS NOT. If we start to rationalize stupidity or
insanity, we are taking this country down a VERY dangerous
path.

Steve •
9 hours
ago
I have no clue of the police are racists or
not, but coming from the white male I am, it is clear to me that the police are
freaking idiots if nothing else. For that they should loose their jobs and be
investigated themselves for basic competency.


JS • Killeen,
Texas • 9 hours
ago
This guy needs to have his concealed
handgun license revoked and then eventually do some jail time. He was the
aggressor and instigated the entire situation. Plus he ignored the dispatcher's
instruction on telling him NOT to follow the Martin kid.

djm • Indianapolis,
Indiana • 11 hours
ago
My heart just breaks for this family, How
can police ignore all of this?

American •
Irvine,
California • 9 hours
ago
This stinks to high heaven. It looks to me
like this guy, Zimmerman, had an inflated view of his importance as
"neighborhood watchman," and was looking for an excuse to use his gun to show
what a man he was.

David • Minneapolis,
Minnesota • 9 hours
ago
This police department needs to be
investigated and it's Chief of Police fired.

ExTexan •
9 hours
ago
The mug shot was the result of an assault
on a police officer! How in hell does he get a carry license after
that?

Frenchy • Truth or
Consequences, New Mexico •
1 hour 40
minutes ago
So, let me get this straight, if the young
man had been armed and then Zimmerman drew his pistol but the boy was faster and
shot in self defense would THAT have been Ok? In that case could Treyvon have
said "Some guy was following me, then threatened me, drew a gun, so I HAD to
shot him in self-defense"

Ian • 9 hours
ago
Unbelievable story. I hope this Zimmerman
is crapping himself right about
now.

John • 9 hours
ago
When this story first broke, I stated that
we needed to learn the facts before jumping to conclusions. Well the time to
jump to a conclusion is now. This man needs to be in jail. This poor kid was
just picking up some snacks for his younger brother.

Maggie J •
9 hours
ago
It says a lot about Zimmerman that the only
photo they have available is a mug shot. So why isn't it being widely reported
yet that this jerk was his own "neighborhood watch," that he had a history of
violence, or that he had called 911 45 times since January?

David •
9 hours
ago
He stalked and murdered an unarmed
child.

wf • Green Bay,
Wisconsin • 9 hours
ago
You hear the 911 calls. On one, Zimmerman
using a racial slur. On another, you hear Trayvon screaming help, then a
gunshot. A cell phone call to his girlfriend saying he's being chased. I'm
sorry, but anyone who is standing up for Zimmerman and thinks there was no
racist intent involved is lying to themselves.

Big Al • Medford,
Oregon • 9 hours
ago
While serving as a police officer for 15
years I came across several individuals over the years who were "wanna be" cops,
but for one reason or another couldn't cut it. More often than not they were
unsuited for law enforcement because of some sort of mental instability. Many of
these individuals turned to private security or in this case neighborhood watch.
Now arm these unstable persons with a firearm and just wait for an incident such
as this one to happen. Some of them even make it past the screening process and
end up on the force. I worked with one of these individuals once who regularly
talked about shooting someone. Eventually he did in a situation similar to this
one. He was never prosecuted and went on to retire several years later. He was
one of the main reasons I quit the force after 15 years.

roy • Bristol,
Tennessee • 9 hours
ago
Pathetic excuse for a Police force. I hope
the Feds get involved and charge the whole department with Accessory to
murder.

Raymond Scott • Sacramento, California • 9 hours ago
This is depressing. A 17 year old boy is
dead because of a dude has racial issues. I am glad that I don't have a son that
was killed. I think that I would have totally lost my mind and start seeking
revenge. There is nothing more painful than losing your child. I feel very sorry
for the boy's family. I hope that they will recover from this and move on
without pain. Forgiveness is not an easy thing either. I wish them all the best.
I hope that Zimmerman gets justice - tried, convicted,and sentenced to life in
prison.

Solar Storm Bombards Earth

"It begins on the sun's surface: a broad, hellish plain of boiling 5,700 degree gas. Powerful magnetic fields arc upwards from the surface, rising high into the solar atmosphere to form giant, twisting arcades of energy. Matter streams up these arches to be gripped in a magnetic vise a million miles above the surface. Then something happens. Something shifts. Magnetic lines of force in the arcade snap like steel cables on the bridge to heaven. Billions of tons of solar gas are suddenly blown outward, exploding across interplanetary space. Three days later the shimmering ball of energy smashes head-on into the unsuspecting Earth.

While the paragraph above might sound like the beginning of a bad science fiction movie it's really nothing more than a slightly hyperbolic description of the last three days. The only error in my description of the solar storm that struck us today is that we were not caught unawares. We have been watching the whole time. In that fact lays a deeper truth speaking to much more than solar activity.


Yesterday I received an email from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. They had issued a watch for a "geomagnetic storm" associated with a bright flare on the sun Sunday evening. The expectation was that storm would arrive today "with possible impacts to navigation, the power grid and satellites." NOAA says it's the most powerful such event to hit Earth since 2005.

Space weather, as it is called, originates with solar magnetic activity. The sun is a giant spinning ball of charged particles. In addition to its spin, the heat released from the core through nuclear fusion eventually sets the upper layers of the sun into a kind of boiling motion called convection. All that motion — spin and convection — means lots of charged particles streaming this way and that. Since current (the flow of charges) produces magnetic fields, the outer domains of the sun are ruled by magnetism. Magnetic fields are the source of all those cool images of giant flares erupting in planet-spanning arcades of super-hot plasma. It's also the source of so-called Coronal Mass Ejections or CMEs, which are, essentially, the space storms that space weather is all about.

CMEs are eruptions of matter and magnetism from the sun into space. A typical CME will blow 10 billion kilograms (about 22 billion pounds) of solar plasma into space along with enough energy to represent a flotilla of 220 aircraft carriers moving at 500 km/s. The fact the CME's are quite common says a lot about the power locked up in an ordinary star like the sun.

While 1 to 3 CMEs may occur every day, we only notice the ones that slam into the Earth on their journey across the solar system. When a CME crosses the Earth it runs into our planet's own magnetic field. Charged particles from the CME get trapped by the Earth's magnetic field and stream down toward the planet's surface near the poles.

When those CME particles, running down magnetic field lines, strike atmospheric gas atoms, the collisions cause the atoms to light up like Christmas tree bulbs. That is the origin of the simmering walls of color we called aurora. There was a time when pretty lights were all there was to space weather. Those days are over.

Before we became a high-tech culture, the collision of the CME with the Earth was no cause for alarm. Now space weather poses serious risks for everyone. For astronauts, the torrent of high-energy particles pose health risks via heavy doses of ionizing radiation. Orbiting satellites used for communications, weather prediction and a 100 other purposes can feel the blow too, as CME particles destroy solar panels and sensitive electronics.

Sprawling grids of power-lines on Earth can also feel the effect of all that CME current dumped suddenly into the atmosphere. Electric grids can overload and, without warning, millions of people might be plunged into darkness (as occurred in 1989, when a severe space storm caused a system-wide power failure in Quebec).

To deal with the problem, NASA and other space agencies have begun to continually monitor the Sun. As soon as a CME is observed, powerful supercomputers are engaged to predict its path through space. If the storm of matter and magnetism appears headed toward Earth then precautions can be taken like bringing astronauts in from space walks or putting satellites into "safe-modes" where their electronics will be less likely to suffer damage.

While there is enough remarkable science related to space weather to fill 20 blog posts, I want to end this description with the briefest of thoughts which never fails to astonish me. For thousands of generations the human habitation of this planet knew nothing of space weather. We knew Earth-bound winds and even learned to use those winds to become a sea faring race. When gossamer veils of light appeared in the northern skies we watched, wondered and prayed and then went about our business.

Now we have crossed a threshold. Now we have become a high-tech, space-faring race encircling the planet's surface with power-lines and its skies with orbiting satellites. There are other winds and other storms we must now be attentive to as we go about our business. In this way, as in so many others, our long childhood as a species has ended for better or for worse."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/01/24/145700040/storms-in-the-void-space-weather-and-childhoods-end

Economy: 'It Can't Get Any Worse'

Coming after Gen X and Gen Y, the next generation of young people have been called "Gen Wrong Place, Wrong Time." With unemployment and college costs both sky-high and the housing market in collapse, young people today are facing extraordinary economic uncertainty.

Perhaps nowhere is that more clear than in a small town like East Millinocket, Maine.

Try to ask young folks here how they feel about their economic future, and you pretty much have your answer before you even start.

"There are not a lot of 22-year-olds in the area," says school superintendent Quenten Clark. "They're gone."

Clark has seen it, both personally and professionally. The once-booming mill town used to offer residents what was basically a guaranteed ticket into the middle class. Young families flocked here, and the high school was bursting with 100 to 200 students per grade.

But today, as the paper industry has declined and young people have left town for college and jobs, classes have shrunk to 20 or 30 students. Clark's own kids left town to start their careers in Beijing and Africa, a completely foreign idea when Clark was a kid.

More On East Millinocket, Maine

Hard Times: A Journey Across America
Reduced Wages At Reopened Maine Mill Divide Town"It used to be that opportunity was a quarter-mile away — at the bottom of the hill," he says, pointing toward the mill from his office at the high school.

Indeed, high school kids used to literally run the day they graduated to the paper mill, where they were guaranteed a good job — at a good wage for life. The mill once employed about 4,000; today, just 200 or so work there.

"It's a little scary, because it's going to be tough," says Jared Lyons, a senior at Schenck High School. As an honor roll student and captain of the soccer team, Lyons is the kind of kid who should be feeling downright cocky about his future. But having watched his father — and so many others — lose their mill jobs and seeing the economy crumble, he worries about how he'll afford college and achieve his dream to become a doctor.

"It really can't get worse than it is now," he says.

Looking For Work

Matt Morris, a junior who also wants to make a career in the medical field, agrees.

"The whole economy sucks, for lack of a better term," he says. "We're going to have to work very hard — and a lot of it isn't in our hands, either."


View Hard Times road trip in a larger map That can be the hardest part for kids who've always been told that if they just study hard and get good grades, they could do whatever they want.

Instead, students like these — who've done everything they're supposed to — have a hard time finding even an after-school job for minimum wage. There are very few options in East Millinocket, where there is little more left than the pharmacy, two bars and a gas station.

Crystal Rodrigues, 17, has been looking for a job, to no avail, while she studies for the GED. She didn't want to talk about it herself, but her dad, Duane, says Crystal's job search has been almost unbearable.

"She seems really depressed about it," he says. "She's really down. She feels like there's no hope, and she just stays in her room all day. And then sometimes she'll have more hope again, and she'll go, 'I'm going to go out today, and I'm going to go look again.' "

But with unemployment around 17 percent around here, the competition for jobs is fierce. Even if you are lucky enough to have a car so you can make the trek to one of the larger surrounding towns, it's not much easier.

"I tried at McDonald's and at the grocery store and stuff," says Tayla Federico, 17. But she has yet to hear back. "They already have people working there — like old people."

"A lot of these kids are competing now in the workplace with people who have 25 years' experience who are not too good to be working for $7.50 an hour behind the fryolator," says Nancy McKechnie, youth manager for the Eastern Maine Development Corp. "And so that adds a whole other layer to kids' challenges."

The EMDC is a nonprofit that offers job training, career counseling, and classes to both young and older folks here. It's not unusual to find parents and their children enrolled in the same courses or both working in the computer room looking for jobs.

Elizabeth Haven, 18, is enrolled in medical classes through Eastern Maine Community College and is hoping to become a nurse.

"The odds are stacked against us younger kids," Haven says. "But they'll always need nurses and doctors, and you'll be set for life if you go in the medical field. So, I should be fine."

Administrators describe Haven as one of the most driven kids they've met. She undoubtedly will be fine, they say. It's the less motivated kids they worry about.

Gone are the good old days, when everyone — valedictorian or not — could count on a mill job. But Schenck High School Principal John Farrington says that idea has been deeply ingrained in the culture here, and some have yet to adapt.

"The window of opportunity is a lot smaller now than it was for my generation," Farrington says. "I wonder all the time what is going to become of young men and women if they don't get their act together in a hurry. And how do we light the fire under them? It's a tough job."

'You're Tougher'

Motivating and navigating the college application and career planning process can be especially challenging for kids whose parents never went through it themselves.

Toni Federico signed up her daughter, Tayla, for help studying for her GED and preparing for a job in the medical field. "You need someone to guide you," Federico says.

Jared Lyons has that part figured out — he has known he wants to be a doctor since he was a little kid. He also knows his path will be much longer than his father's short walk down to the mill. But it's worth it, Jared says, if that's what it takes to make sure that he doesn't find himself 20 years from now out of work, like his father and so many others.

"I wouldn't trade [places]," he says. "I'd rather be in this situation and be more prepared. You're tougher if you get through it."

"That's your dream," says his mom, Kim. "You want him to go farther than we did. Shoot for the moon, but hope you land among the stars. Even if you don't get to exactly where you wanted to go, at least you've gone somewhere."

The sad part, she says, is that "somewhere" will most likely not be East Millinocket.

For Jared, achieving that American dream of prosperity will almost surely mean leaving the place where his entire family has lived — and prospered — for generations.