Matthew is only a Category One.

September 28, 2016
By Horace Cunningham

One person is now dead (click here) in St. Vincent after being crushed by a boulder due to the passage of Tropical Storm Matthew.

The person who is believed to be a teenager in 10th grade, died earlier this evening when a boulder dislodged and crushed him against a house.

The exact circumstances which lead to the unfortunate turn of events is not known at this time.

Tropical Storm Matthew is currently unleashing several inches of rain backed by heavy gusts of winds on the Eastern Caribbean.

Michael Waldman is not someone that is familiar to most Americans.

He is the author of "The Fight to Vote." He is calling attention this year to the importance of voting in a Facebook video. 

Evidently, Donald Trump is stating there is widespread voter fraud in this election of 2016 and those interested in preventing such fraud should confront people in line to vote.

I don't think so. 

Vote. Do it because it is the one right no one can take away. Yet.

"Waldman’s important (click here) and engaging account demonstrates that over the long term, the power of the democratic ideal prevails — as long as the people so demand.” — The Washington Post

"An important history in an election year"—The Miami Herald

“An engaging, concise history of American voting practices...” — The Wall Street Journal

“Waldman draws a clear picture full of amusing anecdotes of voting and voting rights over the past 228 years. He demonstrates how the political establishment, fearing change, usually has been behind the people on this question.” — Buffalo News

"[An] important book…Waldman’s bracing account of voting rights and political equality arrives right on time for the 2016 presidential campaign.” — Booklist, Starred Review

This is Michael Waldman. This is not his Facebook video for 2016. This is a talk he gave.

Applause to Sir Richard Branson for appreciation of human beings being human.

September 29, 2016
By Gianluca Mezzofiore

London — Sir Richard Branson (click here) probably isn't your boss. But if he was, he'd tell you to unplug for a moment, maybe even two.

Virgin, the British multinational company founded by Branson, recently instituted a new requirement that some of its employees turn off email for two hours a week in a bid to improve their wellbeing and creativity. 

The policy comes as companies are coming under fire for creating environments in which workers are expected to be plugged in almost all the time.

The policy, which has been running since June, sees around 200 employees at Virgin Management in the U.S. and the UK getting away from their desks each Wednesday morning — from 10 a.m. to noon — to take part in brainstorming sessions, walking meetings and even running clubs.

With the email system turned off, the employees can use their time slot to go to the Virgin Active gym as a team or chat one-to-one with their bosses rather than via email or Slack. 

"We want people to live a good work-life balance and our mission is to create a happy workforce,"  Lisa Thomas, Virgin's global head of brand, told Mashable ahead of the Virgin Disruptors panel in London....

Some of the imaginations reflecting how people feel have become rather dramatic. Perhaps the appreciation of being human might tame this in a way we can maintain the love of our own species.

I don't understand why the court is stating there is no injury to the teachers regarding voucher programs.

September 26, 2016

Attorneys for the statewide teachers’ union (click here) on Monday filed a brief asking the Florida Supreme Court to review a lower court decision involving the state’s largest private school voucher program.

The Florida Education Association said the supreme court “should accept jurisdiction and review the (1st District Court of Appeal)’s decision.”

The appellate court had sided with a trial court’s decision to throw out the lawsuit filed by the association and others. They argued that its method of funding private-school educations for more than 90,000 schoolchildren this year is unconstitutional.

A three-judge panel said the plaintiffs don’t have standing to sue because they haven’t been harmed by the program. The panel also denied that it violates state law.

The vouchers are funded by corporations, which in turn receive tax credits on money they owe to the state....

There are teachers leaving the profession for the simple fact there is too much monkey business going on with education. They are retiring in large numbers or finding work other than teaching. 

There is currently a 100 teacher shortage in central Florida. School has started and teachers are still being sought.

That puts undo pressure and stress on the teachers working today. The union has a direct interest in having teachers happy with the profession. When teachers leave the profession in large numbers the union is hurt and other teachers are carrying a heavier burden than they should.

THAT IS REAL HARM TO THE TEACHERS AND THEIR UNION.

What would Donald Trump do? (With the Flint River Crisis)

September 28, 2016
By Andrew Prokop

In the big-picture conversation (click here) around the 2016 presidential election, the major negative narratives about Donald Trump have tended to focus on his racism, his temperament, or his tendency to tell lies.

Yet there’s another important Trump trait that’s gotten some attention but really needs to get much more — he’s corrupt, and in a consistent way.

Whenever Trump has been in positions of power or authority, he has demonstrated a pattern of trying to enrich himself by abusing the trust others have placed in him — whether it’s creditors, contractors, charitable givers, Trump University students, regulators, or campaign donors....

I don't buy this argument. The Trump Organization broke the law in real time. There would have been plenty other businesses that DIDN'T.

It took the attention of the entire country to end the travesty in Flint, MI. If Snyder could have swept it under the carpet, he would have.

September 28, 2016

By Chad Livengood and Jonathan Oosting

Lansing — Gov. Rick Snyder (click here) on Wednesday defended state health and human services director Nick Lyon as Attorney General Bill Schuette continues to investigate the role Lyon’s department played in the Flint water crisis.

Snyder was asked at a news conference Wednesday whether he believes Lyon broke any laws in his department’s year-long concealment of an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Genesee County that resulted in 12 deaths in 2014 and 2015.

“I put Nick Lyon in that position to begin with, and I continue to support him as director of the department,” Snyder said.

Asked if Lyon should be charged criminally, the governor replied: “Again, I’m not going to speculate on that. That’s the role for the attorney general.”

Snyder dismissed questions about Lyon facing criminal charges as “speculation.”

“I respect the attorney general’s investigation, and we’re waiting for outcomes and results from that,” he said. “As that progresses, we’ll take appropriate actions. ... Let’s just let the investigation follow its path.”... 

The inspectors for the train crash cannot get to the scene because of safety reasons. There has been other problems including the sports complex I believe where there wasn't enough electricity and there was problems with the switching mechanism.

The roof of the Hoboken station is lying on top of the train, so there is a lot of work to do to return function to the railway.

The public should consider the work the rescue people are doing. They are to be commended and thanked because the scene is very dangerous.

29 September 2016
By Laura Connor, Sophia Evans

...Train crashed (click here) into a rail station in the US today, leaving at least one person dead and more than 100 injured, some critically.
The NJ Transit train ploughed into the station in Hoboken, New Jersey, at rush hour this morning, trapping dozens of terrified passengers.
Horrified witnesses described how the front of the vehicle smashed through the track stop at high speed, before continuing into the terminal.
One woman was killed in the disaster after being struck by flying debris as she stood on a platform, officials said.
A total of 108 others were injured, including the train's driver.
The cause of the incident remains unclear, but officials have said they ‘have no indication’ that the crash was anything other than a tragic accident.
Scroll down for updates on the story from throughout today....

The world is burying a man of peace.

That is a wonderful picture of a great moment in American history.

September 29, 2016
By Kevin Freking

In this June 13, 2012 file photo President Barack Obama looks at Israeli President Shimon Peres after awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a dinner in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Both were Nobel Prize laureates who labored for peace in the Middle East but failed to achieve it. Now, their joint efforts are at an end as President Barack Obama prepares to pay a final tribute to Shimon Peres in Jerusalem. Obama boarded Air Force One Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, to fly to Israel to join dozens of world leaders at the funeral of Peres, the 93-year-old former prime minister, president and elder statesman.

Washington — Both were Nobel Prize laureates (click here) who labored for peace in the Middle East but failed to achieve it. Now, their joint efforts are at an end as President Barack Obama prepares to pay a final tribute to Shimon Peres in Jerusalem.

Obama boarded Air Force One on Thursday afternoon to fly to Israel to join dozens of other world leaders at the funeral of Peres, the former prime minister, president and elder statesman who died at age 93.

The two leaders shared similar visions for a two-state solution to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Peres’ son-in-law and personal physician, Dr. Rafi Walden, said Obama had called the family overnight on Wednesday during Peres’ final hours and spoke to Peres’ daughter, Tzvia. “We are deeply moved,” Walden said....

A fix is in for genetic defects.

September 28, 2016

By Sara Reardon

A reported world-first in fertility therapy (click here)— a baby boy conceived with a controversial technique that mixes DNA from three people – has made headlines across the world. But with no way of verifying the claim because the specialists behind the procedure aren’t releasing data until October, some researchers are questioning the ethics of the procedure. In particular, they ask why the US-based team behind the operation chose to carry it out in Mexico, a country with less-clear oversight of human embryo modification than, for instance, the United Kingdom or the United States.

Researchers at the New Hope Fertility Center in New York City told New Scientist — which broke the news on 27 September — that they had conducted the procedure for a Jordanian couple, and that the baby boy was born in April. The team, led by John Zhang, is not due to present details until 19 October, at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, but it has published an abstract online with sparse information.

According to the abstract, the boy’s mother has a rare disease called Leigh’s syndrome, a neurological disorder caused by faulty mitochondria, the cell’s energy-producing structures. The couple lost two children to the disease before asking the clinic’s help....