Maine Liberty Journal

Via WCSH (10/21/2009):

Kaile Warren was depressed and homeless when, through “divine intervention,” he got the concept – and brand name – that would make him something of a national celebrity.

Warren says God presented him with the idea for a home-repair franchise and this slogan: “Rent-A-Husband: For those jobs that never get done.” At the time, the former home builder was lying surrounded by rats in an abandoned warehouse – or in a homeless shelter or on a friend’s couch, depending on the version he’s pitching to the media.

The state of Warren’s homelessness in the mid-1990s is only one of the questions swirling around the 10-year CBS Early Show home-repair contributor, author, three-time Oprah Winfrey Show guest and founder of the Rent-A-Husband chain, a USA TODAY investigation has found. Even the number of active franchises and their locations is hard to pin down, and Warren (his first name is pronounced “kale”) won’t comment.

Tags: News-state by Editor
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Via WMTW (10/21/2009):

A record 106 million infants were vaccinated last year against life-threatening diseases, but nearly 1 in 5 babies still aren’t fully protected, global health authorities reported Wednesday.

To get the full round of first-year vaccinations to children in the poorest countries will take another $1 billion a year, said the report from the World Health Organization, UNICEF and World Bank.

Most of the unprotected babies are in Asia and Africa, particularly in rural or strife-torn areas that are difficult for aid workers to reach.

It’s a good investment, the report argued. Vaccination is preventing 2.5 million child deaths a year. But if 90 percent of the world’s children under age 5 got the vaccinations that are routine in wealthy countries, another 2 million deaths a year could be prevented by 2015.

“We must overcome the divide that separates rich from poor, between those who get lifesaving vaccines and those who don’t,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO.

The report suggests that overcoming that gap may be a bigger challenge in coming years: In 2000, the world was spending, on average, $6 per live birth on vaccinations in developing countries. That’s expected to be $18 by next year and could rise above $30 as newer, more expensive vaccines become available.

Tags: Health, Vaccines by Editor
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I lived in Florida during those two years when there were several major storms (Charley, Rita, Katrina, etc.).

Category 3 storms don’t cause “catastrophic damage”. Plans for power outages and power failures are nothing new up here in blizzard country.

Via WCSH (10/21/2009):

A mock hurricane hitting the northeastern United States and eastern Canadian provinces will be staged to test the response of emergency agencies from both sides of the international border.

The exercise will be run Wednesday from Freeport, Maine. The exercise scenario is built around a Category 3 hurricane which has a catastrophic impact on the northeastern states and eastern Canada.

Participants will address problems such as a widespread loss of power and communications in both countries and moving emergency response resources across the border.

This exercise will test plans and procedures developed by the International Emergency Management Group, a consortium of emergency managers from northeastern states and eastern Canadian provinces.

Tags: Police state by Editor
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