Trump election points to US growth boost: OECD
“The first thing, and something Mr. Trump has already done well, is use the bully pulpit to improve the perception of police officers,” said James Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police.
Under the Obama administration, law enforcement leaders say their officers have felt unfairly characterized as villains amid the movement for policing reform and have become targets for hostility.
“We welcome a reset button,” said Ron Hosko, president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund and a former assistant director of the FBI.
When law enforcement now uses deadly force against civilians, there is too often a rush to judgment that condemns officers for their actions even before all the facts are known, said National Sheriff’s Association President Greg Champagne.
“The criminal justice system is not an instantaneous process. It takes time to work,” he said. “All we ask is don’t condemn.”
Trump election points to US growth boost: OECD
Donald Trump's plan may double the US growth rate by 2018 (AFP Photo/Herika Martinez)
Paris
(AFP) - President-elect Donald Trump's big-spending plan and tax cuts
are expected to help double the US economic growth rate by 2018, the
OECD said Monday.
The
US economy will grow by 2.3 percent in 2017 and 3.0 percent in 2018,
said the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, revising
its earlier forecast.
That compares to gross domestic product growth of 1.5 percent this year, according to the OECD.
The Republican property tycoon's team has said he will devote $550 billion to rebuilding decrepit infrastructure.
The
incoming president also campaigned on promises for major corporate tax
cuts as part of a wide-ranging blueprint for the limping US economy.
"GDP
is projected to return to a moderate growth trajectory in 2017 and
strengthen in 2018, mainly due to the projected fiscal stimulus, which
takes effect particularly in 2018," the OECD said in its report.
"Indeed,
projected fiscal support will boost GDP growth by just under 0.5 and 1
percentage point in 2017 and 2018 respectively," it added.
Global
growth will also benefit if the US president-elect's avowed spending
and tax plans boost domestic investment and consumption, the Paris-based
body said.
It
now sees world GDP growth rising to 3.3 percent next year and 3.6
percent in 2018 but stuck to its 2016 forecast of 2.9 percent.
For
Britain, the OECD said it was less pessimistic than it was in September
when it halved its 2017 growth forecast in the wake of British voters
opting to leave the European Union.
It revised up its forecast for this year to 2.0 percent and to 1.2 percent for 2017.
"The unpredictability of the exit process from the European Union is a major downside risk for the economy," the report said.
The
OECD also suggested that fiscal initiatives could be the answer for
other governments to help drive the global economy after a "low-growth
trap" for the last five years.
"Durable
exit from the low-growth trap depends on policy choices beyond those of
the monetary authorities -- that is, of fiscal and structural,
including trade policies -- as well as on concerted and effective
implementation," OECD chief economist Catherine Mann said in the report.
Veterans protest flag removal at Hampshire College
The college's president did not attend the demonstration
Freedom is not free. That’s the lesson that hundreds of veterans, their families and friends and other local residents hoped to teach students at Hampshire College Sunday afternoon.
Jerry Maguire, Veteran said, “They took down my flag, they have a right to that, I’m here to defend their right to do that but I want them to understand how bad that hurts me.”
Hundreds gathered to show their support of the American flag and what it stands for after the College removed the flag on campus earlier this week following the presidential election results. A decision
by the college that outraged many.
David Soucy, a Veteran told 22News, “I was in Iraq 18 months. I got hurt, spent time at Walter Reed. I came home and there’s no way I’ll let anyone take down the flag, no way. It means a lot to me and my brothers.”
People came from all over New England to attend this protest. The news of the flag being taken down upset Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno who stood in solidarity with veterans Sunday.
Mayor Domenic Sarno mentioned, “For the students here and the president and board of trustees have risen from what the veterans sacrificed, this flag and not to fly the flag on this campus if you were in some other countries around the world it would be handled very, very differently.”
The protests remained peaceful with the exception of one incident, when the protesters went to take a group photo one man sat in the middle of everyone making obscene gestures.
That man wouldn’t confirm if he was a student. The college’s president did not attend the demonstration.
Veterans protest flag removal at Hampshire College
The college's president did not attend the demonstration
Freedom is not free. That’s the lesson that hundreds of veterans, their families and friends and other local residents hoped to teach students at Hampshire College Sunday afternoon.
Jerry Maguire, Veteran said, “They took down my flag, they have a right to that, I’m here to defend their right to do that but I want them to understand how bad that hurts me.”
Hundreds gathered to show their support of the American flag and what it stands for after the College removed the flag on campus earlier this week following the presidential election results. A decision
by the college that outraged many.
David Soucy, a Veteran told 22News, “I was in Iraq 18 months. I got hurt, spent time at Walter Reed. I came home and there’s no way I’ll let anyone take down the flag, no way. It means a lot to me and my brothers.”
People came from all over New England to attend this protest. The news of the flag being taken down upset Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno who stood in solidarity with veterans Sunday.
Mayor Domenic Sarno mentioned, “For the students here and the president and board of trustees have risen from what the veterans sacrificed, this flag and not to fly the flag on this campus if you were in some other countries around the world it would be handled very, very differently.”
The protests remained peaceful with the exception of one incident, when the protesters went to take a group photo one man sat in the middle of everyone making obscene gestures.
That man wouldn’t confirm if he was a student. The college’s president did not attend the demonstration.
Miami's joyous Cubans hope for change with Castro's death
MIAMI
(AP) -- Wearing his "Bay of Pigs Veteran" shirt, 80-year-old Rafael
Torre stood amid hundreds of Cuban-Americans celebrating the death of
Fidel Castro and marveled that he remained in power for so long.
Cuban
exiles such as Torre tried numerous ways to dislodge Castro after he
took power in 1959, including the failed 1961 CIA-backed invasion
memorialized on his shirt. Now, like many others, Torre is hopeful for
Cuba's future with the bearded revolutionary leader finally gone.
"We
tried for more than 50 years but couldn't do it. Now he's dead, and
maybe things can change," Torre said. "It might take three or four
years. Maybe the revolution will be on the streets in three or four
months."
Thousands of people took to the
streets of Miami and nearby cities Saturday shortly after the early
morning announcement of Castro's death at age 90, and kept the party
going all day. They banged pots with spoons, honked car horns, waved
Cuban and U.S. flags in the air and whooped in jubilation on Calle Ocho -
as Little Havana's 8th Street is universally known.
Police
blocked off streets leading to Cafe Versailles, the quintessential
Cuban-American hotspot where strong cafecitos - sweetened espresso -
were as common as a harsh word about Castro, the nemesis of so many
exiles for so long. Many said they recognize his death alone doesn't
mean immediate democracy or freedom for the communist island.
"We
need for the people of Cuba to have the freedom we have in the U.S.,
but this changes nothing. There won't be change until the people
revolt," said Juan Cobas, 50, who came to the U.S. from Cuba at age 13.
Others
saw Fidel's death as a sign that a generation that has ruled Cuba for
decades is passing from the world stage, many noting that his brother,
current President Raul Castro, is 85.
"I'm
feeling this is the beginning of the end," said Alex Pineiro, 32. "Fidel
was the architect of what's going on. It's a mix of emotions, I'm happy
he's dead, but I'm celebrating hope."
There
were no reports of violence or any arrests during the demonstrations,
Miami police spokeswoman Kenia Fallat said Saturday. Miami-Dade County
officials said there were no plans to activate the emergency operations
center - another sign of the more subdued reaction to Castro's death
than might have previously been expected.
"They are celebrating but in a very peaceful way," Fallat said of the demonstrators.
The
U.S. Coast Guard was running regular patrols and not increasing
staffing levels or taking other emergency steps, said Petty Officer
Jonathan Lally. The Coast Guard has seen a sharp uptick recently in
Cubans attempting to arrive in Florida by sea, with at least 7,411
Cubans attempting to migrate over the Florida Straits in the fiscal year
that ended Sept. 30 compared with 4,473 in the same timeframe last
year.
After Castro took power, Cubans fled the
island to Miami, Tampa, New Jersey and elsewhere. Some were loyalists
of Fulgencio Batista, the president prior to Castro, while others left
with the hope they would be able to return soon, after Castro was
toppled. He never was.
Many other exiles
believed they would never be free under Castro and his communist regime.
Thousands left behind their possessions, loved ones, and hard-earned
educations and businesses, traveling to the U.S. by plane, boat or raft.
Many Cubans died on the ocean trip to South Florida.
Some had land and
possessions taken by the Castro government.
The ones that made it to Miami took a largely, and vehemently, anti-Castro stance.
"He should not be revered. He should be reviled," said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican who was born in Cuba.
Some
people said the election of Donald Trump as president could lead to a
tougher stance against the Havana government that might hasten change.
"I hope that Trump takes a hard line against the Castro regime," said Henry Marinello, 60, who left Cuba as a child in 1961,
On
New Year's Eve every year, Cubans in Miami utter a toast in Spanish as
they hoist glasses of liquor: "Next year in Cuba." But as the Cuban
exiles aged, and as Castro outlived them, and as President Barack Obama
eroded the embargo and younger Cubans returned to the island, the toast
rang silent in many households.
News of
Castro's death was long anticipated and had been the subject of
countless rumors over the decades, so that it became something of a
running joke. This time, though, it was real.
"We're
all celebrating, this is like a carnival," said 72-year-old Jay
Fernandez, who came to Miami when he was 18 in 1961 after he was jailed
twice by the Cuban government. He and his wife and another woman held up
a bilingual sign he'd made four years ago when Castro first became ill.
"Satan, Fidel is now yours. Give him what he deserves. Don't let him
rest in peace."
---
Lush
reported from St. Petersburg, Florida, and Anderson from Fort
Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writers Adrian Sainz in Memphis,
Tennessee and Josh Replogle in Miami contributed to this story.
Fidel Castro, Cuban Revolutionary, Dies at 90
briefly pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war.
Fidel
Castro, the fiery apostle of revolution who brought the Cold War to the
Western Hemisphere in 1959 and then defied the United States for nearly
half a century as Cuba’s maximum leader, bedeviling 11 American
presidents and briefly pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war,
died Friday. He was 90.
His death was announced by Cuban state television.
In
declining health for several years, Mr. Castro had
orchestrated what he
hoped would be the continuation of his Communist revolution, stepping aside in 2006
when he was felled by a serious illness. He provisionally ceded much of
his power to his younger brother Raúl, now 85, and two years later formally resigned as president.
Raúl Castro, who had fought alongside Fidel Castro from the earliest
days of the insurrection and remained minister of defense and his
brother’s closest confidant, has ruled Cuba since then, although he has
told the Cuban people he intends to resign in 2018.He made very few public appearances after stepping down. He was reportedly battling Diverticulitis -- a swelling of the colon -- at the time of his death.
Castro had ruled the Caribbean island since the 1959 revolution. He was at the helm when Russia and the U.S. went to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, after Russians used the island to train nuclear weapons on the U.S.
Castro lived to see re-established relations between America and Cuba. President Obama made an official state visit to the island in Spring 2016, but never met face-to-face with Castro. He did meet Raul.
Marines Helping our homeless Veterans!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11/25/2016
Missy Buchart / Business Development
2016 Board Member, The BOOYAH Veteran Bus Project
BOOYAH Mortgage | Branch NMLS #1499800
250 International Parkway Suite 134
Lake Mary, FL 32746
Office: 1-844-7BOOYAH
Cell: 407-448-8538
Fax: 407-386-6491
www.booyahveteranbusproject.com
GIVE. GOLF. DINE.
2016 ClubCorp Charity Classic Golf Tournament
Hosted by Debary Golf and Country Club
2016 ClubCorp Charity Classic Golf Tournament
Hosted by Debary Golf and Country Club
When: December 3rd, 2016
Where: The DeBary Golf and Country Club, 300 Plantation Club Drive, Debary, FL 32713
Time: Registration and breakfast opens at 7:00am, shotgun start, 8:30am
What: Premier/luxury items Silent Auction
18-hole golf tournament: until all players complete
Luncheon/awards ceremony/silent auction approx 2:00pm
Each year, ClubCorp chooses 2 National Charities to support with their events (Augie’s Quest, and EPCF –this year) AND they allow each event location venue to choose a THIRD, local charity as a way to make sure to give back directly to local community.
This year they chose us! The BOOYAH Veteran Bus Project.
Our mission statement...
“Helping America’s Veterans by seeking to end Veteran homelessness & providing medical transportation & post-service education.” - Shane Johnson Founder/CEO Booyah Mortgage
Our mission…
Phase #1 On October 22, 2016 - Marines Shane Johnson, Shawn Moore & Richard Mccuen left the Veterans Medical Center, Lake Nona and marched over 400 miles to Panama City to raise awareness about the homeless Veteran problem.
Phase #2 February 2017 - A bus for needy Veterans will be completed that will provide medical transportation, showers, washer and dryer plus haircuts and hot meals.
Phase #3 Summer of 2017 - Ground breaking for a project that includes a 13-week housing program, vocational training with mentors and job opportunities upon graduation.
Since 2007, ClubCorp has raised more than $17 million in its annual Charity Classic. This year 2016 ClubCorp Charity Classic Golf Tournament’s goal is to raise $15,000 for Booyah Veteran Bus Project, Augie’s Quest, and Employee Partners Care Foundation.
This will be ClubCorp’s tenth year of giving back to the community by donating the use of their golf courses, restaurant facilities and staff to assist charities in fundraising so that these worthy organizations continue the work of helping and educating people in our community.
We are asking for your support in providing media coverage of this event.
To participate please go to: clubcorpcharityclassic.com or call: 386-668-1705 ext. 227
Do not miss the chance to support your community. We look forward to you joining the local business leaders in our community and making this the best ClubCorp Charity Classic yet!
Sincerely,
Missy Buchart / Business Development
Booyah Mortgage
Trump Victory Threatens Alibaba’s American Dream
The Chinese e-commerce giant could be felled by Trump’s anti-China tough talk just as growth at home slows.
Democrats search for answers to stem a spreading Republican tide
MONTPELIER,
Vt. (Reuters) - Still sifting through the wreckage of the Nov. 8
election, Democratic leaders nationwide are struggling to find a new
message to claw back support and avoid years in the political
wilderness.
Not
only do Republicans control the White House and both the U.S. Senate
and the House of Representatives, they now hold 33 governor’s offices.
New England, long considered reliably Democratic, is a prime example of the party's demise.
Republican
Phil Scott won in Vermont over Democrat Sue Minter who was criticized,
like presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, for failing to develop an
economic message that resonated with voters worried about good-paying
jobs.
Considered
a liberal bastion, Vermont has a tradition of sometimes choosing a
Republican governor to keep one party from having too much control.
Elsewhere,
Republican Chris Sununu will replace a Democratic governor in New
Hampshire while Maine and Massachusetts already have Republican
governors.
“We
lost the governorship of freaking Vermont,” lamented Washington-based
Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis. “We didn’t just lose an election.
This was a national rebuke. This was biblical.”
Republicans
also command 32 state legislatures and have full control -- meaning
they hold the governor’s office and both legislative chambers -- in 24
states, including swing states such as Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and
Wisconsin. When President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, they
controlled just nine.
“There
are more Republicans at the state legislative level than there have
ever been,” said Tim Storey, an analyst with the National Conference of
State Legislatures.
Republicans
scored a major coup when they seized the Senate in traditionally
liberal Minnesota, giving it full control of the legislature, and they
gained full control of next-door Iowa.
“The
party’s message, structure and apparatus are broken,” said Kofinis, who
was chief of staff to moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West
Virginia. “We haven’t acknowledged it for years because we had the White
House.”
Obama’s two terms masked a crumbling party infrastructure.
During Obama's tenure, Democrats lost over 800 state legislative seats, at least 13 governorships and both houses of Congress.
Party insiders are reluctant to blame the popular Obama but cite plenty of reasons for the decline.
These
include a muddled economic message; an overemphasis on emerging
demographic groups such as minorities and millennial at the expense of
white voters; a perception the party is elitist and aligned with Wall
Street; a reluctance to embrace the progressive populism of Senator
Bernie Sanders, the former presidential hopeful; and failure to field
strong candidates in key states.
There
is an emerging consensus, they add, that the party has been too focused
on winning national races and has not invested enough in local
campaigns, along with a grudging admission that Republicans have done a
better job of competing on the ground.
As
a result, a poor performance by the Democrats in the 2010 midterm
elections gave Republicans control of statehouses across the country,
allowing them to redraw legislative maps to fashion districts that would
help ensure their long-term electoral success.
“I
think the foundation was built back in 2010,” Wisconsin Governor Scott
Walker told Reuters. “There was a big wave and then for many of us that
were elected in ’10, we got reelected in ’14 in battleground states -
Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, Michigan. You look at the states that were key
to the presidential win, were states where Republicans did well in ‘10
and then sustained it.”
“UNDER-RESOURCED”
Democrats
are working to recover and looking ahead to governor’s races in New
Jersey and Virginia next year to make up lost ground. Governor’s offices
have become crucial for another reason: Republican governors signed
voter suppression measures in states such as North Carolina that
Democrats believe damaged turnout.
More Electors Get Death Threats From Hillary Voters
A member of the electoral commission in Texas says his colleagues are
getting death threats as angry Hillary supporters ramp up the pressure
before electors cast their vote on December 19th.
Hillary voters around the country are
bombarding electors with emails, some of them threatening, in an effort
to force them to vote against the outcome of the presidential election.
“At
first everyone was kinda enchanted by it. Now all the electors are
starting to get beaten down. There are some electors who have been
threatened with harm or with death,” Texas elector Alex Kim told NBC 5.
“When
people ask me to vote for Hillary Clinton, there’s no way,” he said. “I
reject the Democratic Party principles and I reject Hillary Clinton.”
Kim said he had a message for all the people who are trying to pressure him into changing his vote; “Go to hell”.
As we previously reported,
another elector in Michigan said he has also received a number of death
threats, including a promise that he would be shot in the head if he
voted for Trump.
“I’ve had people
talk about shoving a gun in my mouth and blowing my brains out. And I’ve
received dozens and dozens of those emails. Even the
non-threatening-my-life emails are very aggressive,” Michael Banerian
told the Detroit News, adding that he has been labeled a “hateful bigot”
by the same people who are violently threatening him.
A petition to demand electors change their vote to Clinton has also surpassed 4.5 million signatures.
Meanwhile on Twitter, Hillary supporters are organizing on how to pressure electors under the hashtag #HamiltonElectors, a reference to Mike Pence being lectured by a cast member of the musical show.
Unfortunately
for them, conservatives found the hashtag and have now largely taken it
over to decry leftists attempting to overturn the results of a
democratic election.
Obama and Putin trade stone-cold stares in tense standoff
President Obama and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, could barely stand to look at each other in Peru on Sunday as they shared a brief and chilly handshake.
Both men have good reason to be icy with each other.
Obama is likely still smarting from the humiliating ballot-box defeat his party suffered two weeks ago in the presidential election, when Donald Trump — an open admirer of Putin — pulled off a stunning upset.
Obama also could be miffed that suspected Russian hackers exposed embarrassing confidential emails between Democratic bigwigs, which political observers say helped Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.
Russia also has angered the Obama administration by taking sides in the Syrian civil war, aiding despot President Bashar al-Assad.
Meanwhile, Putin must still be stewing over the continued US sanctions against his country, which were payback for Moscow’s incursion into Ukraine and have crippled his nation’s economy.
At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit later in the day in Lima, Obama and Putin put aside their differences to huddle for about four minutes, White House aides said.
While reporters were out of earshot, the two world leaders talked about the Minsk Protocol, which has kept a fragile peace along the Russia-Ukraine border, the White House said.
“The president urged President Putin to uphold Russia’s commitments under the Minsk agreements, underscoring the US and our partners’ commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty,” a White House official said.
The men also spoke about the humanitarian crisis in Syria, the White House said.
“On Syria, the president noted the need for [US] Secretary [John] Kerry and [Russian] Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov to continue pursuing initiatives, together with the broader international community, to diminish the violence and alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people,” the offical said.
Putin later told reporters he is committed to improving Moscow-Washington relations.
The Russian leader said he has spoken to Trump and that the president-elect “reaffirmed his intent to normalize relations with Russia,” and “I naturally said the same.”
Sunday was the last day of Obama’s final foreign trip as president.
Police officers shot in Texas, Missouri and Florida
By Jim Forsyth
SAN
ANTONIO (Reuters) - A police officer was killed in Texas and another
wounded in Missouri in apparently unrelated ambush-style shootings,
while a third officer was shot and wounded in Florida, authorities said
on Monday.
The
latest attacks on U.S. law enforcement revived painful memories of
deadly ambushes targeting police in July in Dallas and Baton Rouge.
A
manhunt was underway for the suspect who killed the officer in San
Antonio, Texas, while the suspect in the Missouri shooting died in a
shootout with authorities.
In
Sunday's first incident, 50-year-old Benjamin Marconi, a 20-year
veteran of the San Antonio force was fatally shot as he sat in his squad
car during a routine traffic stop outside the city's police
headquarters.
The
assailant stopped his car behind the police cruiser, walked up and shot
the officer in the head through the window as he was writing a ticket,
Police Chief William McManus said.
The gunman then reached through the window, fired a second shot into the officer, returned to his vehicle and sped away.
Hours
later, a 46-year-old St. Louis police sergeant was shot in the face by
someone in a car who pulled up beside the officer's cruiser at an
intersection, opened fire, then fled. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson
said the wounded officer was conscious and able to speak after the
attack.
The suspect was later killed in a shootout after officers spotted his car, police said on Monday.
The
unidentified suspect was wanted for other violent crimes and likely
shot the officer "in fear of being recognized," police said in a
statement.
'WORST NIGHTMARE'
Meanwhile,
a third police officer was shot during a traffic stop on Sanibel Island
on Florida's Gulf Coast, but was not seriously hurt, local media
reported.
The
officer was treated for a shoulder wound and later released from the
hospital, according to the reports, while the suspect was apprehended at
his home on an island off Ft. Myers.
Investigators
in Texas said they did not have any immediate clues to the identity of
the San Antonio gunman. They found no apparent link with the man who had
been pulled over, McManus told reporters.
"This
is everyone's worst nightmare," McManus said. Referring to the recent
ambush killings of police officers in Texas and Louisiana, he said, "You
never want to see anything like this happen. Unfortunately, like
Dallas, like Baton Rouge, it's happened here now."
McManus said the suspect's image was captured by security cameras.
McManus
did not say whether police believe there was a racial element to the
shooting. He said San Antonio officers were being ordered to call for
backup during traffic stops.
The
latest shootings come amid an intense national debate over the role of
law enforcement and especially the use of force by officers against
minorities.
In
July, five Dallas police officers were killed when a black U.S.
military veteran opened fire during a protest against police shootings
of black men. Days later, a gunman killed three police officers and
wounded four others in Baton Rouge.
Earlier
this month, an Iowa man was charged with killing two police officers
who were shot in their patrol cars in the Des Moines area. He had been
ejected by police from a high school football game after waving a
confederate flag at black spectators.
A
total of 57 U.S. law enforcement officers have been killed by gunfire
so far this year, a 68 percent increase from the same period in 2015.
Day 14 - Booyah Veteran Bus Project - Hitman & Family Day
Day 14 - Booyah Veteran Bus Project - Hitman & Family Day
The Day started off with Navy meeting The Viking and "Q" at 0530 outside the RV. The day was supposed to be a day of rest, but when you get into a routine, sleeping in isn't an option. Ross rolled out at 0600 to join the men and headed out to McDonalds for coffee and to welcome the Hitman to the Team.
After coffee the team went back to base camp and found the rest of the Team suited n booted. Ross and Kristi cooked up bacon provided by BILL-E's and eggs. The rest of the afternoon was spent with family and friends telling stories and watching the kids play. It was a wonderful afternoon and allowed time to get to know Ross,Kristi,Missy, Charlie, Kenzie and Kendall.
Finally, it was time to put the Hitman to the test and step off to get 11 miles in. (Click here to watch the video) Since Ross was here, we took his vehicle, loaded up Missy, the kids and the Team and drove to the last checkpoint. Shane, Shawn, "Q" and Ross stepped off with the goal of humping 11 miles. Navy took Missy and the girls and went back to base camp. Navy went shopping at Walmart and Ray made a necessary stop. When we got the first message from the Team in the field that they already chewed up 4 miles and Air Force was hanging tight.
The Team was 31 miles from Base Camp by the time Navy and Ray caught up with the Team, they were 33 miles out and made their 11 mile goal. Hitman hung in there and represented the Air Force like a trooper. The Team was in good spirits and headed back to base camp looking forward to the feast that Ross and Kristi were preparing. We arrived back at base camp and found Missy and the Kids preparing smores by the campfire. It wasn't long before everyone was enjoying Venison with pottoe salad, and peach cobbler. Everyone sat back and told stories of what a life altering journey and how it has changed something in all of us.
Taking time to decompress with friends and family is always important, think about the Veteran who doesn't have that support. These Veterans may seem they have no hope, no way to deal with the inner deamons that haunt them, the loneliness that never seems to end. You can give a Vet a small break from just showing there are people out there that care about what they have sacrificed and thank them for thier service. Even that brief interaction may help to save the life of a veteran.
On behalf of the Booyah Team we want to thank each and everyone who has reached out and supported all of us on this journey to end and epidemic that has been left dormant for entirely to long. In order to be successful we must take massive action and band together to cut the head of the snake that is poisoning our Veterans!
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Tsunami hits New Zealand after massive quake
Seismologist says tidal surge of up to one metre has been recorded in North Canterbury region of the New Zealand's South Island
* USGS says quake magnitude revised to 7.8
* NZ authorities warn of risk of destructive waves
* East coast residents urged to seek higher ground
* Hotels, apartment buildings evacuated in Wellington (Adds details of damage, including to power and phone networks)
By Charlotte Greenfield
WELLINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck central New Zealand just after midnight, the U.S. Geological Survey said, causing widespread damage and generating a tsunami.
New Zealand's Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management warned of the risk of destructive waves along the country's entire east coast and urged residents in low-lying areas to evacuate and seek higher ground.
Waves of up to two metres (6 feet) could be possible for up to two hours, it said.
Anna Kaiser, a seismologist at GNS Science said a tidal signal or surge of up to one metre (3 feet) had been recorded in North Canterbury region of the South Island.
"That's reasonably significant so people should take this seriously," she told Radio New Zealand.
New Zealand's Geonet revised up its estimated magnitude of the quake to 7.5, from 6.6 earlier.
USGS said the quake was centred 91 km (57 miles) north-northeast of Christchurch, the biggest city on New Zealand's South Island.
A 6.3 quake there in February 2011 killed 185 people and caused widespread damage.
The tremor was felt throughout most of New Zealand. Some injuries had been reported but there no immediate reports of deaths.
"The
whole house rolled like a serpent and some things smashed, the power
went out," a woman, who gave her name as Elizabeth, told Radio New
Zealand from her home in Takaka, near the top of the South Island.
Chris Hill, a fire officer in Cheviot, a coastal town near the quake's epicentre, said officials had gone door to door evacuating residents.
"Everyone seems OK here," he told RNZ. "There's a lot of debris in houses, but at this stage it doesn't look like anything too bad has happened."
Residents in Wellington said glass had fallen from buildings into the streets and hotels and apartment buildings had been evacuated.
Richard Maclean, a spokesman for the Wellington City Council, said residents had been evacuating the city's southern coastal suburbs due to the tsunami threat and there had been reports of structural damage to several buildings.
"We've got reports of broken water pipes and lots and lots of things off desks and shelves," he told RNZ.
Several roads around the South Island had been closed and damage to power and phone networks was reported.
A series of aftershocks were recorded around the country, some as strong as 6.1 magnitude.
Pictures shared on social media showed buckled roads, smashed glass and goods toppled from shelves in shops in Wellington and the upper South Island. (Additional reporting by Colin Packham, Byron Kaye, Jane Wardell in Sydney; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Neil Fullick)
* NZ authorities warn of risk of destructive waves
* East coast residents urged to seek higher ground
* Hotels, apartment buildings evacuated in Wellington (Adds details of damage, including to power and phone networks)
By Charlotte Greenfield
WELLINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck central New Zealand just after midnight, the U.S. Geological Survey said, causing widespread damage and generating a tsunami.
New Zealand's Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management warned of the risk of destructive waves along the country's entire east coast and urged residents in low-lying areas to evacuate and seek higher ground.
Waves of up to two metres (6 feet) could be possible for up to two hours, it said.Anna Kaiser, a seismologist at GNS Science said a tidal signal or surge of up to one metre (3 feet) had been recorded in North Canterbury region of the South Island.
"That's reasonably significant so people should take this seriously," she told Radio New Zealand.
New Zealand's Geonet revised up its estimated magnitude of the quake to 7.5, from 6.6 earlier.
USGS said the quake was centred 91 km (57 miles) north-northeast of Christchurch, the biggest city on New Zealand's South Island.
A 6.3 quake there in February 2011 killed 185 people and caused widespread damage.
The tremor was felt throughout most of New Zealand. Some injuries had been reported but there no immediate reports of deaths.
Chris Hill, a fire officer in Cheviot, a coastal town near the quake's epicentre, said officials had gone door to door evacuating residents.
"Everyone seems OK here," he told RNZ. "There's a lot of debris in houses, but at this stage it doesn't look like anything too bad has happened."
Residents in Wellington said glass had fallen from buildings into the streets and hotels and apartment buildings had been evacuated.
Richard Maclean, a spokesman for the Wellington City Council, said residents had been evacuating the city's southern coastal suburbs due to the tsunami threat and there had been reports of structural damage to several buildings.
"We've got reports of broken water pipes and lots and lots of things off desks and shelves," he told RNZ.
Several roads around the South Island had been closed and damage to power and phone networks was reported.
A series of aftershocks were recorded around the country, some as strong as 6.1 magnitude.
Pictures shared on social media showed buckled roads, smashed glass and goods toppled from shelves in shops in Wellington and the upper South Island. (Additional reporting by Colin Packham, Byron Kaye, Jane Wardell in Sydney; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Neil Fullick)
On the Road with the Booyah Veteran Bus Project!
Marines walk 400 miles for their brothers in arms
Reposted from the Williston Pioneer
Shawn Moore’s feet are swollen, blistered and cracked. The afternoon sun
causes water droplets on his freshly washed hair to glisten like
diamonds as he goes about the daily task of medicating and wrapping
feet that have walked at least 22 miles a day for several days. There’s
been no walking this day because his feet are so abused, so tender. Not
missing a beat as he searches through a med kit looking for larger
bandages, he barely looks up from his mission to announce, “I’m fine.
I’m doing OK.”
Moore is one of three former Marines who have dedicated themselves
to a 21-day trek from Lake Nona to Panama City to raise awareness about
the plight of the veteran who, because he lacks personal transportation,
is unable to get services he earned from VA medical centers.
Moore, along with fellow hikers Richard McCuen and Shane Johnson, founder of the Booyah Bus Project, and support staff of Charles Anderson and Ray Tharaldson spent Monday evening at Williston Crossings. Wednesday, the five hiked through Chiefland on their way to the final destination of Panama City for Veterans Day next week.
Mr. Mike, Johnson was told, is a veteran who must walk 15 miles to get to a bus stop in order to catch transportation for a two-hour ride to the nearest VA facility. He is not alone. Many veterans, and not all are homeless, he said, have no way of getting to a medical center. Dependent on public transportation, or their feet, they often arrive late for appointments only to discover because they were tardy, the appointment was rescheduled – as much as three months down the road.
And then there was the story of Ellen Gilbert.
At 80 years old, Gilbert logged over 300,000 miles on her Mazda pickup by driving veterans to their appointments.“She’s a little firecracker,” Johnson said, “who fulfills our mission: ‘A veteran- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America,” for an amount of, “up to, and including his life.” That is honor. And there are way too many people in this country today, who no longer understand that fact.
My mission is to ensure that we give back to those who wrote that check.’. She wants to give back to those who wrote those blank checks.”
The three men walk in Gilbert’s honor.
The almost 400 mile journey has several facets, Johnson said, including raise awareness on the transportation issue, provide refurbished transit buses where veterans can shower, get a haircut and have a meal and provide a safe place for veterans as they transition out of active duty service back into the civilian sector.
Since leaving the Orlando VA Medical Center at Lake Nona, the five men have shared more than 22-mile walks.
“I lost two toenails,” McCuen said, showing off his feet after he knelt beside Moore to finish swathing his swollen feet in plastic bandages.
Bears, a bar in the middle of nowhere (“It was just like Dusk Til Dawn,” one of them chimed in.) and the people they’ve met will all make for great stories in the future. In Williston, the RV resort donated the space for the night’s lodging and Green Shutters gave them dinner.
“But it’s the war stories they share at night,” Tharaldson said, “that make the journey interesting.”
Tharaldson, CEO of RLT Productions/American News Broadcasting, is documenting the three-week trip through video and photographs.
Anderson, a former Navy man, follows closely behind with an RV, scouting out locations and seeing his crew has accommodations for the night.
All five men affirm they travel with the support and blessing of the family and loved ones they left behind. All are commited to the cause, evidenced by packing up and leaving homes across Florida and all the way to California.
To learn more about the project visit booyahveteranbusproject.com or visit them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/getonthebuswithus
#getonthebuswithus
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