Category Archives: U.S.

U.S.

Montana, Oregon & Washington National Guard deploy to fight wildfires!

Video

“The western fires are not stopping. They’re just getting bigger.”-James Casaus, Incident Commander

“If we don’t start managing our forests, the forests are going to start managing us. The fires burning across Montana are a catastrophe, and we need all available resources to combat this threat.”-Steve Daines, senator for Montana

On 13 SEP 2017, Montana’s Air National Guard deployed to fight at least 21 wildfires in The Treasure State.

Montana has so far spent $50-million USD in state taxpayer funding fighting fires!

NBCMontana: Wildfire update, 14 SEP 2017

On 09 SEP 2017, the Oregon National Guard continued another round of firefighting training conducted by the state Department of Public Safety.  So far five groups of Oregon National Guard personnel have gone through the training.  Oregon has so far spent 28-million state taxpayer dollars fighting 18 wildfires.

U.S. Army personnel chow down after helping to fight fires in Oregon, 10 SEP 2017

So far, the U.S. Forest Service has spent a record 2.1-billion federal tax dollars fighting wildfires across the western United States!

Video, Washington National Guard firefighting ‘mop-up’ ops 09 SEP 2017:

IDAHO CONDUCTS MASSIVE MAFFS TRAINING, IN PREPS FOR HOT WILDFIRE SEASON!

MAFFS : WILDFIRE SEASON 2018 GOING TO BE A HOT ONE!

Idaho, U.S.

Irma: Massive deployment to U.S. Virgin Islands!

Video

U.S. Virgin Islands National Guard PoD operation 13 SEP 2017

The U.S. Virgin Islands has its own National Guard unit, but it’s not enough to deal with Irma.  They’ve been operating at least five Point of Distribution (PoD) centers for several days now, handing supplies to thousands of people in the U.S. territory.

Tennessee National Guard load their Blackhawk into a New York National Guard C-17, prior to deploying to U.S. Virgin Islands on 13 SEP 2017

National Guard units from Kentucky, New York and Tennessee have deployed to the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with federal agencies.

Kentucky National Guard Blackhawk, U.S. Virgin Islands, 08 SEP 2017

Video, Idaho’s Mountain Home AFB 366th Logistics Readiness Squadron deploying mobile air traffic control tower onboard South Carolina based 437th Airlift Wng C-17 Globemaster-3:

U.S. Marines deliver supplies, 10 SEP 2017

USN SeeBees clear routs, 13 SEP 2017

U.S. Postal Service delivers supplies to U.S. Marines 12 SEP 2017

IRMA: U.S. BORDER PATROL DEPLOYS TO BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS!

IRMA: U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS RESCUES!

U.S.

Harvey: VET=Veterinary Emergency Team, helping animals is good for you!

Video

“It’s our responsibility to make sure that these members of people’s families are well taken care of. We call it puppy therapy just because it makes us feel good. I actually had one soldier tell me that pets make him feel at home.”-Jennifer G. Gauntt, Texas A&M University VET

Animal care at Ford Arena in Beaumont, Texas, 09 SEP 2017

VET means Veterinary Emergency Team and National Guard personnel from dozens of states have been doing their part, and feeling the love in return: “It can be kind of therapeutic to Soldiers and people. It takes the heartbreak down, takes the blood pressure down.”-Debra L. Zoran, Small Animal Science professor at Texas A&M University

VET volunteers and National Guard personnel treat cows injured by the flood, 09 SEP 2017

Jefferson County, Texas, 07 SEP 2017

Video, Operation Hay Haul near Austin, Texas, 12 SEP 2017:

Near Port Arthur, Texas, 30 AUG 2017

Starving dog scarfs down MRE in Orange, Texas, 05 SEP 2017

Another dog rescue in Orange, Texas, 05 SEP 2017

HARVEY: EMERGENCY ANIMAL HOSPITAL!

U.S.

Harvey: New threat, Pestilence!

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“…..I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.”-Revelation 6:7, New American Standard Bible

Google Earth map of flooded Houston area

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) are sounding a new alarm over the aftermath of Harvey; due to the massive flooding insects that can transmit diseases are increasing significantly.

A USAF Reserve C-130 unit from Ohio is in eastern Texas preparing to spray millions of acres affected by flooding.   The USAF’s 910th Airlift Wing, based at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, is the only Department of Defense unit equipped to carry out such a mission.

USAF reserve personnel prep a C-130H in San Antonio for aerial spraying ops, 12 SEP 2017

Bug spray mission over Lake Jackson, Texas, 13 SEP 2017

North of Beaumont, Texas, 31 AUG 2017

HARVEY: 3 WEEKS LATER RESCUE RECONS CONTINUE!

U.S.

Harvey: 3 weeks later Rescue Recons continue!

Video

Air and Army National Guard units from dozens of states deployed to Texas to deal with the aftermath of Harvey.  Some units have returned home, some were shifted to Florida when Irma hit, but even now Harvey Rescue Recon operations are still ongoing in Texas.

Three weeks later property in Orange, Texas, still flooded. Pic taken on 10 SEP 2017

09 SEP 2017 Port Arthur, Texas, the Oklahoma National Guard distributed everything from water to cleaning products to generators

09 SEP 2017 residents of Holiday Beach, Texas, thank Oklahoma National Guard personnel for the help

Video report, Arkansas National Guard in Lumberton, Texas, 11 SEP 2017:

The Texas National Guard, along with civilian volunteers and municipal employees, operates warehouses where donations of supplies (that’s right, donations, not taxpayer funded stuff) are consolidated before distribution: “The amount of donations we receive is never consistent. Most nights we receive about two, but during the day we can receive anywhere from five to ten, sometimes even more.”-First Lieutenant Heather Seidl

Former NBA player Stephen Jackson’s academy used as aid distribution center in Port Arthur, 09 SEP 2017

Arkansas National Guard unload a semi-trailer filled with supplies for Kountze, Texas, 09 SEP 2017

Video, Brigadier General Patrick Hamilton explains ongoing National Guard rescue recon ops, 10 SEP 2017:

Onward Christian Soldiers? Texas Guard units, as well as civilian volunteers from Louisiana, used the First Baptist Church in Port Neches for Rest & Recovery

Texas National Guard about to recover a stuck Dodge Ram in Orange County, note the license plate

Rescue Recon mission Houston, Texas, 05 SEP 2017

Recovery of a beached oil drilling ship in the Aransas Pass near Corpus Christi, 04 SEP 2017

HARVEY: MARINES USE AMPHIBIOUS COMBAT TANKS TO SAVE LIVES!

Technology, U.S.

Harvey: Marines use Amphibious Combat Tanks to save lives!

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U.S. Marine Corps Reserve photo, 31AUG2017.

Ever want to ride in one of those AmTracks (aka Assault Amphibious Vehicle or AAV)?  Some unlucky victims of Harvey, near Beaumont, Texas, got lucky and were rescued by Charlie Company, 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, 4th Marine Division, USMC Reserve.

U.S. Marine Corps Reserve photo, 31AUG2017.

At least 60 USMC personnel used ten ‘AmTracks’ to rescue more than 3-hundred people.

U.S. Marine Corps Reserve photo, 29AUG2017.

The large amphibious troop carriers were originally developed by the same company that brought you the smaller U.S. Army M113 Armored Personnel Carrier (Food Machine Corporation aka FMC).

U.S. Marine Corps Reserve photo, 31AUG2017.

The AAV-P7 (originally called the LVTP-7) was developed in the late 1960s, with the USMC first using it in 1972, but I don’t think the designers ever thought the AAV would be used to rescue silly-vilians.  In 1997 a program was approved to upgrade AAVs with the power-train and suspension from M2 Bradleys.

Upgraded AAV with supported track, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Taylor W. Cooper, 27JUN2017.

The upgraded AAVs can be identified by the support rollers on the track system, the earlier AAVs had what’s called unsupported track.

Galveston, Texas, 31AUG2017. USMC photo by Sergeant Ian Ferro.

Galveston, Texas, 31AUG2017. USMC photo by Sergeant Ian Ferro.

USMC photo by Corporal Devan Barnett, 02SEP2017.

U.S. Marine Corps Reserve photo, 03SEP2017.

Harvey: TEXAS MILITIA RUNNING ON FUMES?

USMC photo by Corporal Devan Barnett, 02SEP2017.

Harvey:  WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR PETS?

U.S.

“Effective immediately”: U.S. government shenanigans, August 2017

Incomplete list of U.S. Federal/State/Local Government self-destruct announcements for August 2017:

Hurricane Harvey slamming Texas and Louisiana.  Texas getting record level rain/floods.  According to federal law produce grown on land hit by flooding cannot be sold for human consumption!  

California: Who’s the fascist now you commie pinkos? Leftist pinko bullies introduce a state bill that would make it a crime not to call a transgender person by their chosen pronoun! (whatever happened to “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!”?)

Florida:  Tax-sucking Abacus Technology laying off 388 people due to its NASA contract at Kennedy Space Center ending!  Also at Kennedy Space Center, Vencore eliminating 55 jobs between the end of September and Xmas.

Idaho: “Effective immediately” the state Department of Labor Director Ken Edmunds resigned.  It could be the result of a former Labor Department employee suing the department because his personal cell phone was illegally searched! It turns out the former employee was a whistle-blower trying to save taxpayer dollars by revealing the Department of Labor was violating state purchasing laws and wasting government resources (for which he was fired, firing an employee for revealing the truth is a violation of federal law).  However, Right to Work (you over) ‘christian’ gov’na Butch Otter swears his Labor Department director did not resign over the federal lawsuit.    Canyon County reporting a record number of people being detained on ‘involuntary mental health holds’.  They set a record in July of 123 people on metal health holds, at a cost to taxpayers of $153-thousand USD.  Canyon County is now demanding state leaders spend more money building a new crisis center in their county.  So far the state is spending several millions of tax dollars on four crisis centers throughout The Gem State.

Illinois: Semi-Truck maker Navistar shutting down its medium-duty 9/10 liter engine factory in Melrose Park, 170 jobs gone by April 2018!  It’s blamed on emission regulations: “Looking at the financial impact it would take to keep this engine compliant with Environmental Protection Agency standards, it just wasn’t in the cards.”

Louisiana: Oil industry supply company Knight Energy Holdings now chapter 11 bankrupt busted after the CEO and two county policemen were charged with staging a false drug bust in order to frame the CEO’s brother! 

New York:   New ‘green’ packaging maker Evocative Design suddenly laid off 18 people, despite getting a taxpayer funded $9.1-million USD grant from U.S. Defense Department’s DARPA.  Tax-sucking nuclear contractor Lutech Resources suddenly laid off 195 people, due to sudden contract cancellation by Aptim!  Tax-sucking nuclear decontamination company Aptim suddenly laid off 167 people, blaming it on the sudden cancellation of a contract with Exelon Generation Company!   Federaly controlled Brookhaven National Laboratory eliminating 175 jobs by the end of the year, and don’t blame Donald Trump (like some leftist news media are) as the layoffs were being planned before he became president (which means Obama is to blame)!

North Carolina: State taxpayers screwed as industrial hi-tech battery maker Alevo now chapter 11 bankrupt busted and dead, saying “This decision was driven by the formidable challenges of bringing a new technology into commercial production and lacking the financial wherewithal to continue on through repeated manufacturing delays.”  It must be noted the company got $163-thousand taxpayer dollars for the express purpose of training up new employees.  

Pennsylvania:  The Tax Foundation concluded its study on Philadelphia’s so called sugary drink tax (most are made with GMO corn syrup and don’t contain any sugar); the tax now makes soda pop more expensive than beer because the tax is 24 times higher than the beer tax!  Isn’t beer made by fermenting sugars?    The study also revealed that expected tax collections are way below what the Utopianist city leaders expected.  And to add fuel to the anti-tax fire, market research firm Catalina discovered that people in Philadelphia are leaving the city just to buy their favorite soda-pop, so much so that tax revenues are going to come up short of expectations by at least 15%.  Tax-sucking nuclear decontamination company Aptim suddenly laid off almost 3-hundred people!  Tax-sucking nuclear contractor Lutech Resources suddenly laid off 90 people.

South Carolina: Formerly Japan owned (Toshiba) U.S. tax-sucking bankrupt nuclear power plant builder Westinghouse suddenly laid off 850 people! Westinghouse now hit with a lawsuit claiming the tax-sucking company was violating federal labor laws.

Tennessee: Federaly controlled Brookhaven National Laboratory eliminating 350 jobs by the end of the year, and don’t blame Donald Trump (like some leftist news media are) as the layoffs were being planned before he became president (which means Obama is to blame)!

Texas: The city of Amarillo laid off eight Info-Tech employees, and closed a vacant position, in an attempt to save 900-thousand tax dollars.

Washington DC: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) forced by a federal judge to spend taxpayer dollars on mental health exams for illegal immigrants. 

WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification

Government Shenanigans July 2017: “THEY GAVE ME NO REASON FOR CLOSING IT”

ObamaCare ACA Death Spiral, August 2017: “HAS OUTLIVED ITS USEFUL LIFE”

Dumbing Down the U.S. of A., August 2017: “WE MOVED QUICKLY AND QUIETLY.”

U.S.

“has outlived its useful life”: ObamaCare ACA death spiral, August 2017

Incomplete list of healthcare related layoffs and shutdowns, announced in August 2017:

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: 500-thousand fewer people enrolled in ObamaCare-ACA than the previous year.  Many people were “automatically re-enrolled” from the previous year.   38% crash in ObamaCare insurance providers for 2018!

National Business Group on Health: In 2018 ObamaCare-ACA mandated employee health insurance will cost more than $14-thousand USD per employee!  The cost will be split 70% paid by employers and 30% by employees.  Insurance companies will reduce benefits to try and keep costs to employers/employees as low as possible, in other words, you’all are gonna pay more for less yet again.

OBAMA LEGACY: OBAMACARE LIE PROVEN BY TREASURY DEPARTMENT AUDIT!

The Protenus Breach Barometer says in the month of July 47% of healthcare data breaches were caused by hacking, a new record.

The world’s biggest pusher of legal drugs, Israeli based Teva, announced plans to exit 45 countries and eliminate 7-thousand jobs! However, Teva admin claim its operations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania will not be affected.

California:  Jackson National Life Insurance shutting down an office in Los Angeles, by November.   DaVita Medical Group issued a layoff WARN for its El Segundo ops, 57 jobs gone by Halloween.  Country Care Health Center issued a shutdown WARN for its Atascadero ops, 50 jobs gone by Halloween.  Worker comp claim manager One Call Care Management shutting down its West Hills location in time for Halloween. Drugs pusher Allergan issued a layoff WARN for its operations in Irvine, 109 jobs gone in time for Halloween!  Peregrine Pharmaceuticals-Avid Bioservices eliminating 60 jobs in Tustin, by October.  SunBridge Carmichael Rehabilitation issued a shutdown WARN for its Carmichael location, 72 jobs gone by Halloween.

Connecticut:  New England Orthotic and Prosthetic Systems now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.  Hartford based (but soon to be NYC based) Aetna is reportedly making a deal with Apple to provide Aetna customers with Apple watches.

Florida:  34 years old non-profit nursing home operator Senior Care Group now chapter 11 bankrupt busted.  God powerless to stop ‘his’ Holy Cross Hospital from laying off 28 people as part of ObamaCare consolidation operations.  GraceWood Rehabilitation and Nursing Care chapter 11 bankrupt busted due to $3.2-million USD of debts.  Resources for Human Development eliminating 87 jobs by Xmas.

Idaho:  In Nampa, state investigators accusing Southwest Idaho Treatment Center of abusing seven adult residents.  Six employees involved, two directly abusing the patients, the other four knew about it but did nothing to stop it or report it.  They are now unemployed.   The state Department of Insurance made it official and publicly released the now annual proposed ObamaCare-ACA insurance rate increases for 2018.  All ‘plans’ will go up, but the ‘Silver Plan’ will be jacked by a whopping average of 50% (one insurance provider, PacificSource Health, is skyrocketing their Silver rates by 81%)!  Employers are pissed: “There’s one thing if it was increases and the coverage was better.  The problem is……the coverage is getting less, so now I’m paying a lot for a little, and that’s a hard one to swallow.”-Shawn Lund, CFO Steel West

Illinois: Centegra Hospital-Woodstock permanently halting  surgical and intensive care services after losing $30-million USD, 458 jobs are threatened!  Arizona based drugs maker Therapeutics agreed to pay the state of Illinois $4.4-million USD because it wrongly advertised its fentanyl-based cancer treatment painkiller (known as Subsys) for non-cancer uses.   Ireland based medical device maker Medtronic shutting down its Joliet distribution ops, 185 jobs gone by Xmas!  Edward-Elmhurst Health eliminating an undisclosed number of jobs in an effort to reduce costs by $50-million USD.

Indiana:  After 32 years Rathbone Retirement Community shutdown due to lack of paying customers.

Kentucky: Louisville based Humana eliminating 180 ‘At Home’ jobs by Thanksgiving!   It’s the second round of homecare jobs cuts, the first round killed 5-hundred jobs!  Despite blaming the job cuts on a $400-million USD first quarter loss Humana is also advertising that it is looking to hire 2-thousand people across the country.  (interesting that many companies are blaming job cuts on revenue losses, but then claiming to have enough money to be hiring even more people than are being fired)

Maryland: ‘Personalized’ healthcare provider NantHealth eliminating 3-hundred jobs blaming crashing revenues (but is it really because it sold-off its provider and patient messaging software ops to a competitor)!

Massachusetts: Ocular Therapeutix suddenly laid off 26 people when the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) rejected its latest eye care drug.  It’s been revealed that Bostonians were forced to pay $16-million USD in an effort to get insurance giant Aetna to move its HQ to Boston.  It was called Project X and it failed. 

Michigan: Kindred Healthcare shutting down its hospital in Detroit, 145 jobs gone by the end of September because ObamaCare-ACA penalizes people for using long-term hospital care!

Minnesota: Lutz Wing Nursing Home shutting down, basically blaming it on too much competition.

New Mexico: Gila Regional Medical Center suddenly laid off five administrators.  The husband of one of those fired says it’s the result of his demands for an investigation into the hospital’s cancer treatment ops.

Nebraska: Christian founded American Red Cross shutting down its Omaha Call Center, 138 jobs lost due to consolidation operations!

Nevada: Insurance company Anthem pulling out of The Silver State, blaming ObamaCare-ACA for not being able to make a profit. Anthem also pulled out of Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio.

New Jersey: Drugs maker Bristol-Myers Squibb issued a layoff WARN, 58 people jobless by October due to loss of patent on HIV drug.  Drugs maker Bristol-Myers Squibb eliminating 58 jobs in Lawrence Township.

New York:  God powerless to stop ‘his’ Saint Joseph’s Hospital Health Center from bribing (buyouts) 3-hundred employees to voluntarily quit in order to allow “…St. Joseph’s Health to adjust its operations to fit the future model of health care…”!   It’s been revealed that New Yorkers were forced to spend $24-million USD bribing insurance giant Aetna to move its HQ to The Big Apple.  TLC Health Network shutting down its long-term care and medical/surgical units and eliminating 38 jobs by the holiday of Thanksgiving, due to being forced by ObamaCare to focus on outpatient care only.  Heritage Health and Housing issued a layoff WARN, 101 jobs gone by Halloween due to the loss of state taxpayer funding!

Ohio: Kindred Healthcare shutting down its hospital in Marshfield, 111 jobs gone by the end of September because ObamaCare-ACA penalizes people for using long-term hospital care!  In 2018 Paulding County will be without any ObamaCare-ACA insurance providers, according to Kaiser Family Foundation.

Oregon:  God powerless to stop ‘his’ non-profit Saint Charles Health System from eliminating an undisclosed number of jobs due to a need to cut costs by $6-million USD.  Administrators told local news media that ObamaCare-ACA reimbursements don’t cover the skyrocketing costs of running hospitals.

South Carolina:  Palmetto Health and Greenville Health System are planing to merge to save costs, meaning jobs will be lost.

Texas: Texas Health Resources reported a 23% crash in income during the first half of 2017, a bigger drop than what it saw during the same time in 2016.

Virginia: Insurance company Anthem is getting out of the ObamaCare-ACA business in 2018.  This time, instead of blaming it on lack of profits, the insurer is blaming it on uncertainty as to how the U.S. Congress is going to fund/repeal ObamaCare-ACA.   Riverside Shore Rehabilitation Center shutting down, 128 jobs affected in October because the center “has outlived its useful life”!

Washington:  PeaceHealth outsourcing 30 medical coder positions to a Texas based contractor.  Renton based Providence Health & Services eliminating 210 jobs, blaming it on a costs of operation loss of $255-million USD in 2016 caused by ObamaCare-ACA insurance reimbursements: “There has been a fundamental shift in our industry in that we are providing more care to more patients, but are receiving the same amount of revenue and often less to cover the costs.”-official statement

Washington DC:  Your taxes have been paying for advertising to promote money grubbing ObamaCare insurance providers.  But the new president, Donald Trump, reduced that taxpayer funding by $3-million USD.

ObamaCare (ACA) death spiral July 2017: 250-THOUSAND JOBS KILLED! “REGRETTABLY, THERE IS NO END IN SIGHT”

U.S.

Harvey: Texas Militia running on fumes?

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“An army marches on its stomach.”-Napoleon Bonaparte

And a modern army rolls with fuel.

Texas Army National Guard personnel fuels-up a HMMWV at Logistical Staging Area Brenham. Utah Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Scott Wolfe, 09SEP2017.

“In the beginning, this place was pretty hectic. Units were all excited about getting in and getting to work.”-Major Luke Reynard

The Texas National Guard set up a ‘truck stop’ for its units taking part in Harvey rescue/recovery operations.

Utah Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Scott Wolfe, 09SEP2017.

Texas Army National Guard’s Logistical Staging Area Brenham is an hour west of Houston and provides food, cots, toilets and fuel.

“We’ve done a good job here. It’s been a good mission. Now we just need to get our people home safe so we can rest and reset for the next natural disaster.”-First Sergeant George Salazar

Soldiers from E Company, Forward Support Company, 1-158, 11th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade, conducted fueling ops for helicopters near Conroe, Texas. U.S. Army Reserve photo by Staff Sergeant Felix R. Fimbres, 30AUG2017.

U.S. Air Force Airmen refuel the tanks on Jack Brooks Regional Airport. The fuel was flown in on a HC-130P Combat King-2. USAF photo by Staff Sgt. Ian Hoachlander, 31AUG2017.

HARVEY: EMERGENCY ANIMAL HOSPITAL!

HARVEY FOOD CRISIS: MARINES DELIVER THE GOODS TO ORANGE!