[…]  In 2000, the Centers for Disease Control had thought that measles were eliminated in the US, but starting in 2008, cases began to climb. In 2014, the number of cases exploded to over 600, more than all reported cases between 2009 and 2013. The CDC also reported that cases reached a 20-year high in 2014.

The CDC determined that the number of cases grew in the US due to an influx of foreign immigrants.

There is no treatment for measles once it is contracted. Patients should stay hydrated as they ride the illness out. Authorities say the only prevention is widespread vaccination. (link)

(more…)

It has long been suspected that President Obama took the direction to empty GITMO of detainees as a strategic maneuver once he was politically unable to put them into Federal DOJ custody for trial. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel confirms the pressure in that regard.
President Obama and his leftist ideologues want GITMO closed. Sending the detainees to Qatar or Mid-East allies became the politically strategic direction.

When is a Terrorist Attack not a Terrorist Attack?  When it’s carried out by the Taliban who the White House claims is not a terrorist group….  or something.

SUMMERVILLE, SC (WCSC) — A South Carolina man was killed in a terrorist attack in Afghanistan Thursday, according to his family.
Matthew Fineran, 42, of Summerville, was killed in a shooting, his family confirmed. He was the father of six children.
A spokesman for Praetorian Standard Incorporated says three of its employees were killed in a shooting at the airport in Kabul. A fourth employee was wounded, according to the company.
The Pentagon says the gunman who killed the three American contractors in an attack Thursday at the Kabul airport was wearing an Afghan uniform. (more…)

Eyes Wide Open – This announcement follows with what we previously shared yesterday regarding the current Islamist alignment (President Obama, Hamas, ISIS, Muslim Brotherhood, and Ansar Beit al-Maqdis) in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Libya.  al-Sisi now viewed as the greatest threat to the fulfillment of the Islamic Jihad.

(Via WFB) The Muslim Brotherhood called for “a long, uncompromising jihad” in Egypt just days after a delegation of the Islamist group’s key leaders and allies met with the State Department, according to an official statement released this week.
Just days after a delegation that included two top Brotherhood leaders was hosted at the State Department, the organization released an official statement calling on its supporters to “prepare” for jihad, according to an independent translation of the statement first posted on Tuesday. (more…)

Several key strategic incidents occurring today which will lead to a bigger story soon to surface. It bodes well to understand the day-to-day strategic positioning, which lends to understanding what is about to happen. The media will not report on these individual examples, nor are they disposed to connect the dots of consequence.

First, a widespread and strategic attack by ISIS against several targets in the Northern Sinai region has taken place. At least 25 members of Egyptian military and civilians have been killed. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has been outlined as responsible for the attacks.
The Islamists within Ansar Beit al-Maqdis were initially inspired by al-Qaida, but last year the group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, which controls large parts of Syria and Iraq.
This follows an uptick in calls for the assassination of Egypt’s President Fattah al-Sisi by the Muslim Brotherhood. Additionally, and to support their efforts, the Brotherhood were hosted last week by members of the U.S. Obama administration. (more…)

All of this obfuscation centers around the White House trying to deflect their political risk from exchanging the GITMO 5 terrorists for PFC Bowe Bergdahl. With ISIS holding hostages and demanding ransom from various nation states, the White House is being called out for their hypocrisy in exchanging Bergdahl for the GITMO 5.
The White House is trying to say they do not negotiate with terrorists, yet they did. Cue today’s example:

President Obama is more than willing to give Cuba each of the three demands, the only question is the timing for giving up GITMO – and the number of billions we give them.
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Cuban President Raul Castro demanded on Wednesday that ♦ the United States return the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, ♦ lift the half-century trade embargo on Cuba and ♦ compensate his country for damages before the two nations re-establish normal relations.
Castro told a summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States that Cuba and the U.S. are working toward full diplomatic relations but “if these problems aren’t resolved, this diplomatic rapprochement wouldn’t make any sense.”
Castro and President Obama announced on Dec. 17 that they would move toward renewing full diplomatic relations by reopening embassies in each other’s countries. The two governments held negotiations in Havana last week to discuss both the reopening of embassies and the broader agenda of re-establishing normal relations. (more…)

WASHINGTON – A study recently released showed that men who post more selfies scored higher on measures of narcissism and psychopathy.

“It’s not surprising that men who post a lot of selfies and spend more time editing them are more narcissistic, but this is the first time it has actually been confirmed in a study,” Jesse Fox told The Ohio State University.
Fox was the lead author of the study and an assistant professor of communication at The Ohio State University. (more…)

Beyond the substance in the headlines is the reality many have outlined. A disconnected, amateur White House policy team removes a tenet of their prior tax/legislative proposal just days before they present the Fiscal Year 2016 budget proposal.
In addition, what the heck is Nancy Pelosi doing flying around with President Obama all week?   Obviously, Democrat political alliances are tenuous and trust amid the various factions of the Dem scheme team is now an issue…  This is an outcome of self-driven interests, but you won’t see it reported in the MSM.  The selfish frenzy and positioning is going to get worse once Hillary Clinton announces her intentions.

WASHINGTON — President Obama, facing angry reprisals from parents and from lawmakers of both parties, will drop his proposal to end popular college savings accounts known as 529s, but will keep an expanded tuition tax credit at the center of his college access plan, the White House said Tuesday.
The decision came just hours after House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio demanded the proposal be withdrawn from the president’s budget, due out Monday, “for the sake of middle-class families.” But the call for the White House to relent also came from top Democrats, including Representatives Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the ranking member of the Budget Committee.
Ms. Pelosi pressed the case to senior administration officials on board Air Force One as she flew with the president from India to Saudi Arabia, according to Democratic aides familiar with the discussions. (more…)