Measles Triple Vaccine to Become Mandatory in Germany

German lawmakers approved a law that makes it mandatory for children attending kindergarten and elementary school to be vaccinated against measles. Parents and schools that refuse to comply face potential fines of up to $2750. Compulsory vaccination will also apply to teachers, asylum seekers and refugees in public housing, as well as employees working there. After months of debate, the law was passed despite opposition.

The measles vaccine in Germany is only available as a triple shot, and will also indirectly make immunization against measles, mumps and rubella, and in some cases chicken pox obligatory.

As of March 2020, parents will have to prove their child is vaccinated against measles before sending them to day care or school. While the Health Ministry says the bill is “child protection,” critics think otherwise.

Before the introduction of measles vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred approximately every two to three years. Some 2.6 million people died from the highly contagious disease every year — with children the most vulnerable. But by the turn of the millennium, some countries had declared the disease “eradicated.”

In recent months, however, governments around the globe have been forced to take action once again to combat the steady return of measles cases and a growing skepticism towards vaccination. Germany is among them. On Thursday, the German parliament — the Bundestag — passed a law to make immunization mandatory.

Requirements for caregivers

The “Measles Protection Act” stipulates that as of March 2020 children and staff in kindergartens and schools, medical facilities, and community facilities must be vaccinated. These include residences for asylum seekers, refugee shelters and holiday camps. Parents who do not vaccinate their children of school age will face hefty fines of up to €2,500 ($2,749), while younger children could face a ban from day care facilities. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that 95% vaccination coverage, or “herd immunization,”is required for a country to prevent a mass outbreak. A report by the Robert Koch Institute, however, found that only 93% of children starting school had received both the first and the decisive second measles vaccine.

Calls for right to individual decision

After months of debate, the law approved on Thursday wasn’t passed without criticism. Pediatrician Dr. Steffen Rabe, a member of the association “Doctors for individual decision-making on vaccinations,” said every parent should be allowed to decide whether they immunize their child.

“The law is unnecessary, ineffective and unconstitutional,” Rabe told DW, quoting the right of bodily integrity.

The main problem, Rabe argued, is among adults. Of the 498 cases of measles reported in the first 10 months of this year, 70 of them were among 20- to 24-year-olds, compared to 37 among 5- to 9-year-olds.

As the measles vaccination in Germany is only available as a triple — and sometimes quadruple — shot, the mandatory measles vaccination will also indirectly make immunization against measles, mumps and rubella, and in some cases chicken pox obligatory. Rabe suggested that the introduction of a single immunization might appeal to some of Germany’s skeptical parents.

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Santa Claria, California, 16-Year Old Asian American Student Arrested in School Shooting that Killed Two Students and Injured More

Santa Clarita, California: A 16-year old Asian student, Nathaniel Berhow, is the suspect in a shooting at Saugus High School that killed two students and left more injured. Reports indicate there is video evidence that the suspect turned the handgun on himself and is in ‘grave’ condition.

Two people were killed and several wounded after a gunman opened fire on Thursday morning at Sagus High School in Santa Clarita, California.

One female victim who was transported to Henry Mayo Hospital in critical condition died from her injuries.

The suspect, a 15-year-old Asian male in black clothing, was taken into custody and is being treated at a local hospital after shooting himself. He was a student at the school, according to CBS Los Angeles.

“The lone suspect is in custody and the weapon has been seized,” the William S. Hart Union High School District wrote in an email to parents.

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Additional source:

Nathaniel Berhow: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know




Victory: Federal Court Rules Suspicionless Searches of Travelers’ Phones and Laptops Unconstitutional


In a victory for privacy rights at the border, a federal court in Boston ruled that suspicionless searches of travelers’ electronic devices by federal agents at airports and other US ports of entry are unconstitutional. Border officers must now demonstrate individualized suspicion of illegal contraband before they can search a traveler’s device. Last year, Customs and Border Control conducted more than 33,000 searches, almost quadruple the number of searches conducted three years ago.

In a major victory for privacy rights at the border, a federal court in Boston ruled today that suspicionless searches of travelers’ electronic devices by federal agents at airports and other U.S. ports of entry are unconstitutional.

The ruling came in a lawsuit, Alasaad v. McAleenan, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and ACLU of Massachusetts, on behalf of 11 travelers whose smartphones and laptops were searched without individualized suspicion at U.S. ports of entry.

“This ruling significantly advances Fourth Amendment protections for millions of international travelers who enter the United States every year,” said Esha Bhandari, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “By putting an end to the government’s ability to conduct suspicionless fishing expeditions, the court reaffirms that the border is not a lawless place and that we don’t lose our privacy rights when we travel.”

 

“This is a great day for travelers who now can cross the international border without fear that the government will, in the absence of any suspicion, ransack the extraordinarily sensitive information we all carry in our electronic devices,” said Sophia Cope, EFF Senior Staff Attorney.

The district court order puts an end to Customs and Border Control (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) asserted authority to search and seize travelers’ devices for purposes far afield from the enforcement of immigration and customs laws. Border officers must now demonstrate individualized suspicion of illegal contraband before they can search a traveler’s device.

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Leaked Bank Records Show Payments of $3.5 Million from Burisma to Hunter Biden’s Company. Obama-Appointee Judge Overturned Fraud Conviction of Biden’s Partner, Devon Archer

Documents allegedly leaked by the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s office to CD Media show payments of $3.5 million from Burisma Holdings to Rosemont Seneca Bohai LLC, a corporation controlled by Hunter Biden’s partner, Devon Archer. Both Hunter Biden and Archer sat on the board of Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company.

Last year, Devon Archer and two other men were convicted in a $60 million bond fraud scheme that induced pension funds to invest in an investment company they controlled, and then they misappropriated the funds. Archer’s conviction was later overturned by Judge Ronnie Abrams, who felt that Archer may not have willingly participated in the scheme. Judge Abrams is an Obama appointee, she is married to Greg Donald Andres, who served as an Assistant Special Counsel in the Mueller investigation, and is the younger sister of Dan Abrams, a legal analyst for ABC and owner of Mediaite.

Documents allegedly leaked by the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s office to CD Media have shed light on payments from Burisma Holdings to Rosemont Seneca Bohai LLC, a corporation controlled by Hunter Biden partner (and fellow former Burisma board member) Devon Archer.

Archer was Yale roommates with John Kerry’s stepson Chris Heinz – the two of whom opened investment firm Rosemont Capital with Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. Rosemont Capital is the parent company of Rosemont Seneca Partners, LLC – the entity which receive the Burisma payments and in turn aid Biden.

The newly leaked records show 45 payments between November 2014 and November 2015 totaling $3.5 million, mostly in increments of $83,333.33. The payments correspond to Morgan Stanley bank records the New York Times reported on earlier this year – submitted as evidence in a case against Archer who was convicted in a scheme to defraud pension funds and an Indian tribe of tens of millions of dollars. Archer’s conviction was overturned in November by a judge who felt that he may not have willingly participated in the scheme.

What’s more, there are several payments from “Wirelogic Technology AS” and “Digitex Organization LLP” in the amounts of 366,015 EUR and $1,964,375 US based on credit agreements – while $1,150,000 went to Devon Archer and Hunter Biden.

Looking through the Rosemont Seneca Bohai bank records reveals that it was essentially a slush fund used for payments to Biden, expensive toys, an investment in the ill-fated Indian tribe scheme, and other miscellaneous expenses.

On September 25, 2014 a wire of $15,000,000 was received from Florida attorney, Clifford A Wolff. It was subsequently used to buy a $15 million bond from Wakpamni Town Center – the scheme linked to Archer’s overturned conviction.

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Additional source:

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2019/oct/03/who-devon-archer-ukrainian-gas-executive-playing-g/




SCOTUS Allows Sandy Hook Victims’ Lawsuit Against Gun Manufacturer, Remington Arms, to Continue


The US Supreme Court let stand a groundbreaking ruling from the Connecticut Supreme Court that said the families of the victims may sue Remington, the manufacturer of the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle used in the of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting event. A federal law protects gun makers from liability for the bad acts committed by third-party purchasers. However, the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision allowed plaintiffs to go after the gun manufacturer, claiming the weapons were marketed and advertised as “military-style” arms to civilians to kill their enemies. The NRA has argued that allowing victims and their families to sue manufacturers is a costly, unfair way to penalize the gun makers for crimes committed by others. It is a step toward ending the manufacture of guns.

The U.S. Supreme Court chose not to review a Connecticut Supreme Court decision that allowed victims to sue gun makers.

Washington, DC – The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a groundbreaking ruling from the Connecticut Supreme Court that said the families of the victims may sue the manufacturer of the rifle used in the of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court justices announced their decision not to take up the case – without individual comment from any one of them – meaning that the lawsuits by the victims’ families against Remington Arms Co. can proceed, ABC News reported.

Twenty children and six adults were gunned down at the Newtown elementary school on Dec. 14, 2012 by a shooter armed with a Bushmaster AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle.

The Washington Post reported that the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision in March affected a federal law that was designed to protect gun makers from liability for crimes that were committed by weapons they manufactured.

However, the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision allowed plaintiffs to go after the gun manufacturer for the manner in which their weapons were marketed and advertised, but not hold the companies liable for bad acts committed by third-party purchasers.

The Connecticut justices said that gun makers could be breaking state fair-trade laws by marketing “military-style” arms to civilians as a way of killing enemies, according to The Washington Post.

Initially, a lower court agreed with Remington’s argument that federal law prevented lawsuits by the families of the victims.

But the Connecticut Supreme Court said state consumer protection laws were exempted from the statute upon which the gun maker’s argument relied, The Washington Post reported.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has lobbied hard to have the U.S. Congress pass laws to indemnify gun makers from bad acts committed by their customers.

The NRA has argued that allowing victim and their families to sue manufacturers is a costly, unfair way to penalize the gun makers for crimes committed by others, The Washington Post reported.

 

“Lawsuits that deflect attention away from mental illness and criminals in order to blame inanimate objects won’t reduce violent crime or make anyone safer,” NRA Association Institute for Legislative Action Executive Director Jason Ouimet said in a statement after the decision not to take up the case was announced by the court.

“The firearm on which citizens and first responders rely isn’t the actual problem; the sociopath who steals and misuses a firearm against innocent people is the real problem,” Ouimet said.

During the 2016 Democrat presidential debate, Senator Bernie Sanders argued with Hillary Clinton about whether gun manufacturers should hold liability for how their guns are used.

“What you’re really talking about is ending gun manufacturing in America. I don’t agree with that,” Sen. Sanders said at the time.

But gun control advocates celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision as a “crack in the legal armor of the gun industry,” The Washington Post reported.

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New York City Will Start Bribing Criminals To Show Up To Court After Cash Bail Is Removed


The city of New York, under Ma plans to hand out Mets baseball tickets, movie tickets, subway passes, and various store gift cards to offenders as an incentive to get them to show up to their scheduled court hearings. The city’s so-called criminal justice reforms go into effect on January 1, 2020, and offenders will be released without cash bail for most misdemeanor charges and multiple felonies, including criminally negligent homicide, drug sales, aggravated assault on a child, and burglary. A critic noted that those who are accused of serious offenses are free to roam the streets or are even rewarded with gifts while the rights of victims continue to be ignored.

“If small incentives are part of what actually makes it work, then that’s a smart policy,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

New York, NY – The city of New York plans to hand out gift cards and Mets baseball tickets to offenders as an incentive to get them to show up to their scheduled court hearings.

In addition to early jail releases and eliminating cash bail for hundreds of criminal charges, the city will begin bestowing gifts on some offenders as part of a rewards program, WCBS reported.

As many as 900 inmates are expected to walk out of jail beginning in December. The city’s so-called criminal justice reforms go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, according to WCBS.

Offenders will be released without cash bail for most misdemeanor charges and multiple felonies, including criminally negligent homicide, drug sales, aggravated assault on a child, and burglary, the New York Post reported.

 

Critics argued that doling out movie tickets, subway passes, and various store gift cards will reward criminal behavior, but New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the incentive program will be a success, according to WCBS.

“In a world where we want speedier trials and we want the justice system to work, if small incentives are part of what actually makes it work, then that’s a smart policy,” de Blasio told WCBS on Wednesday. “It’s not something we developed. It’s something that has been worked on by experts over time and proven to work and proven to be a good investment.”

As confident as the mayor may be in the plan, many of those who have actually worked with offenders disagreed.

Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon said the program is part of a “deranged mandate,” the New York Post reported.

“We are reaching the point of the absurd when those who are accused of serious offenses are free to roam the streets or even rewarded with gifts while the rights of victims continue to be ignored,” McMahon railed.

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