Tag Archives: taxes

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Updated list as more Kmart and Sears closings announced! $45,000 in Jewelry stolen! Parts & repair centers to be closed! Canadians love Sears! Business is good for Kmart, in Australia!

30 October 2012, since my last posting (on 21 October 2012) about the ongoing Sears Holdings shut downs, there have been more store closings announced.

Also, Sears Holdings just announced they will be closing two parts and repair centers, both located in The Woodlands, Texas.  At least 117 Texans will lose their jobs by 23 January 2013.

In Washington, on 23 October 2012 Bellingham Sears employees were notified that they will lose their jobs in January, however, the store management has known for months about the closing: “We’ve known since March of this year.”-Noelle Jorgensen, store manager

The latest announcements will mean 654 jobs will be added to the thousands already lost due to the Sears/Kmart closings.

In Canada, the newspaper, Calgary Herald, announced the winner of their 2012/13 Readers’ Choice Awards: Department Store, Appliance Store, Carpet Cleaners and Floor Coverings contest.  According to the newspaper Canadians picked Sears!

This despite the fact that Sears stores are being closed in Canada as well.  On 07 October one of the largest Sears stores in British Columbia was closed. 300 people lost their jobs (at it’s height of operation it once employed 800 people)!

Also in Canada, Sears Holdings announced it will reduce its 95.5% stake in Sears Canada, by selling its stocks to common stockholders.  Sears Holdings wants to reduce its stake in Sears Canada to 51%.

Kmart has reported a 3.1% increase in sales, in Australia and New Zealand: “This is the 11th period in succession of solid comparable growth in transactions and units for Kmart as customers respond positively to its market leading pricing strategy and improved merchandise offer.”-Richard Goyder, Wesfarmers

Don’t you Yankees get your hopes up, Aussie and Kiwi Kmarts are not owned by Sears Holdings.  They’re owned by an Australian company called Wesfarmers.

Here’s an updated list of Sears/Kmart closings:

Alabama: Gadsden Kmart, Mobile Sears Grand/Essentials, Auburn Kmart.

California:   El Monte Sears Grand/Essentials, two San Diego Sears Grand/Essentials, Pleasant Hill Kmart.

Colorado:  Broomfield Kmart, Glenwood Springs Kmart, Lone Tree Sears Great Indoors, Longmont Sears, Pueblos’ South Side Kmart.

Georgia: Macon Sears, Buford Kmart, Douglasville Kmart, Atlanta Kmart, Columbus Kmart, Jonesboro Kmart, Cartersville Kmart.

Florida: Fernandina Beach Kmart, Callaway Kmart, Orange City Kmart,  Deland Sears Grand/Essentials, Stuart Sears Grand/Essentials, West Palm Beach Sears Grand/Essentials, Port St. Lucie Sears Grand/Essentials, Crystal River Sears, New Smyrna Beach Kmart, St. Augustine Kmart, Pompano Beach Kmart,  Pensacola Kmart on Airport Boulevard closed in 2011,  Jacksonville Kmart on 5751 Beach Boulevard and recently revealed second Kmart in Jacksonville on 4645 Blanding Boulevard (83 jobs lost), and the Ocoee Sears (102 jobs lost), Pensacola Kmart to be closed by 03 February 2013 (69 jobs lost).

Idaho: Lewiston Sears.

sears chubbuck
Floundering Sears at the GGP owned
Pine Ridge Mall in Chubbuck, Idaho.
Kmart Pocatello
Floundering Big Kmart in Pocatello, Idaho.
Are they next to go in Idaho?

Indiana:  Anderson Sears Full Line, Saint John Kmart, Indianapolis Kmart.

Illinois:  Melrose Park Sears parts and repair center, Fairview Heights Kmart, Freeport Kmart, Pontiac Kmart.

Iowa:  Cedar Rapids Kmart, Davenport Kmart, Burlington Kmart.

Kansas: Lawrence Sears Full Line.

Kentucky: Middlesboro Sears Hard lines, Winchester Kmart, Hazard Kmart.

Maine: Lewiston Sears.

Maryland: Ellicott Sears Grand/Essentials.

Michigan: Brighton Sears Grand/Essentials,  Harper Woods Sears Full line, Monroe Sears Full line, Adrian Sears Full line, Washington Township Kmart, Chesterfield Kmart, Woodhaven Kmart.

Minnesota: Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart.

Mississippi: Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line.

Missouri: Lee’s Summit Sears Grand/Essentials, Saint Louis Sears Full line.

Montana: Missoula Kmart.

New Hampshire: Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials.

North Carolina: High Point Sears Full line, Moorehead Sears Full line, Rocky Mount Sears Full line, Statesville Sears Full line.

New Jersey:  Lawnside Kmart.

Ohio: Chagrin Falls Kmart, Springfield Kmart, two Toledo Kmarts, Medina Kmart, Columbus Kmart and recently revealed Zanesville Sears (67 jobs lost). Also, Van Wert Sears franchise bought out by Kirk Berryman, owner of Computer & Networking Technologies (CNT), who plans on moving the store to a new location.

Oregon: Roseburg Sears Full line.

Pennsylvania: Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, Pittsburgh Kmart, Wilkins Sears.

South Carolina: Sumter Sears and recently revealed Orangeburg Sears (approximately 50 jobs lost).

Tennessee: Antioch Sears Full line, Cleveland Sears Full line, Oak Ridge Sears Full line, Hendersonville Kmart, Morristown Sears Full line.

Texas: Two recently revealed Sears parts and repair centers closing in The Woodlands north of Houston (117 jobs lost).  Update; I forgot to mention the ‘rebuild’ center in Garland northeast of Dallas (58 jobs lost).

Virginia: Norfolk Sears Full line,  Midlothian Kmart, Richmond Kmart and recently revealed Lynchburg Sears (84 jobs lost).

Washington: Walla Walla Sears Full line, Lacey Kmart, Kelso Sears, and recently revealed Lakewood Kmart (59 jobs lost) and Bellingham Sears (92 jobs lost).

Wisconsin: West Baraboo Sears Grand/Essentials, Rice Lake Kmart.

On top of that, Sears Holdings sold stores to General Growth Properties, of which it has been reported that those stores will be closed.

It was recently announced that the Provo, Utah, store will continue operating as a Sears.  Sears Holdings announced that GGP made a lease deal they couldn’t refuse, so they will continue running the GGP owned store.

Here’s the list of 11 Sears stores now owned by GGP:

Iowa: Coral Ridge Mall, and Mall of the Bluffs

Texas: The Woodlands Mall

Florida: West Oaks Mall

Utah: Fashion Place, and Provo Towne Centre (note the evil British empire way of spelling town & center)

Oklahoma: Quail Springs Mall

Hawaii: Ala Moana Center

Washington: Bellis Fair Mall

Minnesota: Apache Mall

Illinois: Market Place Shopping Center

In a side note, the Sears in Yuma, Arizona, was robbed of $45,000 USD of jewelry on 26 October 2012.  According to Yuma Police, the early morning burglars also caused approximately $70,000 in damage breaking into the Sears.

Also on 26 October, a Detroit, Michigan, Kmart store reported thousands of dollars worth of jewelry as stolen.  Police say it was a theft, not a burglary (in other words no body broke into the store).

In Greeley, Colorado, a man stole a car and smashed it into a Sears, then stole automotive tools. It was one part of the man’s larger smash and grab burglary spree.

Sears holdings is also suing a former executive for $700,000.  They claim she breached her contract.

International, U.S.

Government Incompetence & World War 3: U.S. Admiral of Stennis CSG replaced. U.S. Navy bowing to Iranian demands?

“The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps [IRGC] Navy is fully monitoring the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf and has a close watch on all movements.”-Brigadier General Reza Torabi, Commander of the IRGC’s First Naval Zone

27 October 2012, U.S. Navy (USN) Rear Admiral Charles “Chuck” M. Gaouette has been replaced.  He was the commander of the USS Stennis Carrier Strike Group, which reportedly entered the Persian Gulf.

The Stennis CSG entered the 5th Fleet’s area of responsibility (AoR) on 17 October. The AoR includes the Persian Gulf: “We’re looking forward to working with our partner nations and ensuring the vital sea lanes of this region remain free for all maritime traffic…”-Rear Admiral Gaouette

Gaouette is being investigated for “inappropriate leadership judgment” according to the USN.  He is being replaced by Rear Admiral Troy Shoemaker.

Reports say the investigation is not related to personal conduct, but perhaps is related to the way he commanded the USS Stennis the last time it was in the Persian Gulf.

Back in January the Iranian military said it would take action against the USS Stennis if it returns to the Persian Gulf.  They claim it deliberately sailed through Iranian naval war games, and sailed danger close to Iranian oil platforms.

There are reports that the USS Stennis CSG entered the Persian Gulf on 21 October.  Iranian military officials made it clear they were keeping an eye on the USS Stennis: “Great developments in different fields have taken place in the [Iranian] Navy and many successes have been achieved…..[including] monitoring of the U.S. aircraft carriers at any moment.”-Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, Iranian Navy

No info on when Rear Admiral Charles “Chuck” M. Gaouette was removed from command of the Stennis CSG, the USN only announced the command change on 27 October.  The San Fransisco Chronicle pointed out that it is unusual for a CSG commander to be replaced in the middle of deployment.

International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. occupation of Afghanistan; 22 – 25 October 2012. Cops kill U.S. troops! Australian & Italian soldiers killed! Wives killing husbands! Red Coats killing Red Coats! U.S. supports British created Pakistani border!

25 October 2012

In Faryab Province, a major battle broke out. Afghan government officials claim they killed 25 Mujahideen, and five Afghan National Police troops were killed.

In Farah Province, one Italian soldier was killed, three wounded, after someone open fired on them.  No one knows who did it.

In Uruzgan Province, two U.S. personnel were killed by an Afghan National Policeman:“Two U.S. Forces -Afghanistan service members died after an individual wearing an Afghan National Police uniform turned his weapon against them in Khas Uruzgan, Uruzgan.”-ISAF statement

Also, in the same province, there are reports that an Afghan National Army soldier killed one Australian Digger, and wounded another.  The shooting took place inside a military compound, the ANA soldier got away.

In Helmand Province, two British Royal Marines Red Coats died.  They had been wounded in a firefight in Nahr-e Saraj district the day before.

In Baghlan Province, reports say various police units attacked each other.  Three cops were killed.  Local government officials say the fight broke out after national police ignored warnings from local police.

In Herat Province, a local cop was killed by his wife, and his daughter.  His wife confessed and said he was forcing her and her daughter to commit illicit acts.  The cop just happened to be the boss of the local girls’ hostel.

24 October 2012

In Helmand Province, a confused battle resulted in British Red Coats killing Afghan government forces, and themselves!  According to local government officials two joint Afghan-British patrols, in the Greshk district, mistook each other as Mujahideen: “A group of British troops opened fire on an Afghan national police [who was about to perform Muslim prayers] and killed him. [those] British troops were then attacked by a group of other British soldiers who were also patrolling in the area, killing two service members.”-Farid Ahmad Farhang, Helmand security official

In Farah Province, a district official and a cop were assassinated by explosion.  Two bodyguards were wounded. The official was performing night inspections of security check points.

Spanish officials announced that they will pull their troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2013.

23 October 2012

ISAF said: “A U.S. Forces-Afghanistan service member died following an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan today.”

U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, James Cunningham, confirmed statements that said the United States supports the British empire created border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Known as the Durand Line, the British took land away from Afghanistan in order to create a buffer zone between Afghanistan and British controlled India in 1893.  Latter the British kept that area as part of the new Pakistan in 1947.  Afghan officials have refused to recognize the Durand Line: “The status of the Durand Line is a matter of historic importance for the Afghan people. The Afghan government therefore rejects and considers irrelevant any statement by anyone about the legal status of this line.”-recent Afghan government statement

USMC General John R. Allen admits U.S. forces are killing children, and tried to make up for it by apologizing: “ISAF has completed its initial assessment of the circumstances of the October 20 operation against known insurgents in Baraki Barak district, Logar province. In addition to the insurgents killed during the operation, ISAF may be responsible for the unintended, but nonetheless tragic, death of three Afghan civilians.  I offer my sincerest condolences to the families of the civilians that were killed. Additionally, I am committed to ensuring we do the right thing for the families of those harmed and we will meet with them personally to offer a condolence payment and express our deep regrets. Protecting Afghan civilians is the cornerstone of our mission. We maintain our commitment to take all appropriate actions to minimize the likelihood of similar occurrences in the future as we assist the Afghan people in their battle against the enemies of peace and stability.”

Allen mentions 20 October, but there were also U.S. killings of innocents on 14 & 16 October.

In Zabul Province, Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, claims U.S./NATO forces kidnapped three civilians.  Karzai ordered the provincial governor to investigate U.S./NATO forces, he also condemned the 20 October U.S. attack that killed children.

In Nuristan Province, local government officials say a battle is taking place with Afghan government forces and Mujahideen.  Several people have been killed including one child.

In Herat Province, local government officials say a large battle resulted in the deaths of as many as 10 cops and soldiers. Several more cops are missing.  Their joint patrol was ambushed by Mujahideen.   The police/army patrol was out trying to rescue aid workers who had also been ambushed.

In Laghman Province, a U.S./NATO patrol was ambushed. The ambush took place as the vehicle patrol passed through Basram village.  Mujahideen claim they hit one armored vehicle with RPGs, killing all on board.

British Red Coat Ministry of Defence announced they are doubling the number of their assassination drones in Afghanistan.  They will bring in five more Reaper drones, specifically for use in Helmand Province.

22 October 2012

In Ghazni Province, Mujahideen claim to have killed five U.S./NATO personnel.

In Wardak and Kandahar provinces, at least eight people were killed by U.S./NATO airstrikes.

In Khost Province, two cops were killed, four wounded, by explosion.

Pakistan claims Afghanistan is hiding the mastermind behind the attempted assassination of a 14 years old Pakistani girl activist.

Protestors blocked the Kandahar-Kabul highway in the city of Qalat.  They are protesting the fact that Afghans killed while in the custody of U.S./NATO forces are rarely being returned to their families.  In one recent case, three people killed by U.S./NATO forces, and then buried by their families, had their graves blown up by U.S./NATO forces.

ISAF announced: “An International Security Assistance Force service member died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan October 21.”

International

What Economic Recovery? Number of people qualifying for welfare sets new record, three months in a row!

25 October 2012, more proof that there is no economic recovery is that for three months in a row the number of people in Japan, who qualify for welfare help, set records three months in a row.

Altogether, for the months of May, June and July the number of individuals qualifying for welfare totaled 2.12 million by the end of July, and the number of entire households totaled 1.5 million.

From June to July there was a jump of 9,000 individuals qualifying for welfare.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry blames continued job losses caused by the corporations.  Households with working age adults are the fastest growing segment of welfare recipients.

However, households with retired people make up 44% of the new welfare recipients.

Some members of the Japanese parliament are proposing to cut back on welfare funding.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic war & World War 3: Iran orders the United States to back off! Will stop all oil sales to the World!

“If you continue to add to the sanctions we will cut our oil exports to the world…..The dearth of Iranian oil on the market will increase the price drastically.”-Rostam Qasemi, Iran’s Minister of Petroleum

On 23 October 2012, Iranian officials quietly announced that Iran is prepared to stop all its oil sales to the world, if the United States and Europe continue economic sanctions.

On 15 October, the European Union voted for more sanctions against Iran.

Iranian officials say they are ready for “Plan B”, which means halting all petroleum sales and running their country without oil revenues.  This is possible because Iran’s non-oil exports are now high enough to offset the huge loss of oil money.

Even Iran’s domestic industries are becoming more self sufficient.  Example: According to the World Steel Association, Iran’s steel industry is now the 16th largest in the world: “Despite the intensified sanctions during the last two years, the capacity of Iran’s steel production has increased 5 million tons and we will be completely self-sufficient in the steel industry in the next three years.”-Hamidreza Taherizadeh, Vice-President of Iran’s Steel Association

The announcement was made at a OPEC meeting in Dubai.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Foreign investment into the United States drops 39%! China now number one, thanks in part to U.S. investors!

24 October 2012, so much for the increased U.S. investment U.S. President Barack Obama was calling for.  According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), foreign direct investing (FDI) into the U.S. has fallen 39.2% in the first six months of 2012!

The huge drop in FDI for the U.S. represents a shift, to developing countries and to China.

China also saw a drop in FDI, but by only 3%.  China is now the number one destination for the money from international investors!

Ironically (since according to Obama, U.S. investors need to spend their money at home in order to save the U.S. economy) $59.1 billion USD of the FDI into communist China came from U. S. capitalists!

According to Global Investment Trends Monitor, U.S. investors spent $57.4 billion at home, nearly two billion less than what they spent on investing into China.  (Mitt Romney anyone?)

The UNCTAD also shows that, for the first time, half of all global FDI went to developing countries.  However, some UNCTAD officials think the U.S. will see a slight increase in FDI for the second half of the Gregorian calendar year.

International, U.S.

World War 3: Syria clears prisons of thousands of non-violent offenders. Making room due to the on-going U.S./Israeli backed civil war?

24 October 2012, Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, has pardoned 290 non-violent prisoners, like those who committed crimes such as theft, forgery and military desertion.

This is not the first time prisoners have been pardoned.  Since the start of the Syrian Civil War, about one thousand non-violent prisoners have been set free.

Those prisoners not being let go are those who have killed, or have smuggled weapons and drugs.

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Dow Chemical to close 20 factories, despite making profits! Warns economy is getting worse!

“Economic growth in 2012 has slowed to a trickle, and that has spooked a lot of people.”-Jake Dollarhide, Longbow Asset Management

“Our low cost feedstock [natural gas] advantage enabled us to deliver volume growth, despite weakening demand. These difficult conditions [bad economy] may have extended staying power, as the new reality is that we are operating in a slow growth and volatile world.”-Andrew Liveris, Dow Chemical CEO

On 24 October 2012, Liveris explained the 2,400 job cuts (inadvertently announced the day before) as being necessary because Dow officials see the world economy getting worse.

Some analysts were surprised by the elimination of jobs and 20 factories: “Dow had very strong volumes in an uncertain macroeconomic environment. When I heard the announcement they were cutting jobs, I thought they had a really bad quarter, but it seems that business is A-OK.”-Hassan Ahmed, Alembic Global Advisors

Stock market investors are overjoyed at the announcement of the elimination of jobs (as they always are), and Dow Chemical stock values shot up 5 to 6% the morning after the job cuts were announced.

Dow reported net revenue for this past quarter at $582 million USD.  But that’s down from the same quarter last year, when they reported $900 million. (note: various U.S. media sources are reporting slightly different revenue numbers) Dow officials say their sales are down across the board.  The only area they see possible increase in sales is in their plastics made from cheap natural gas.

Their natural gas supplies come from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico operations, and Saudi Arabia.  Dow has no plans for cutting workers from those operations. About 1,500 of the job losses will come from Dow’s paint and solar cell factories.

20 factories in Japan, Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain and the United States will be closed.  Bloomberg reports that Dow did not want to make the layoffs public, but mistakenly emailed the announcement to some media outlets!

Despite stock investors buying up Dow stock, the chemical company said it will also cut $500 million from their own investing and capital spending.   That’s the exact opposite of what U.S. President Barack Obama has been saying is needed to revive the economy.  Obama has been stressing that unAmerican Corporate America needs to increase spending on investments and capital.

 

International, U.S.

World War 3: Israel launches surprise airstrike….against Sudan! Fox News & NPR lies!

24 October 2012, oil rich Sudan says four Israeli warplanes bombed a factory in their capitol city of Khartoum.

So far no comment from Israel.

The attack took place late Tuesday night setting the factory on fire, the fire is just now under control.  The Yarmouk Military Industrial Complex makes ammo and weapons for the Sudanese military.

Fox News, National Public Radio (NPR) and The Associated Press all reported: “They did not say what caused the blast.”

However, the Israeli media itself reports that the Sudanese government says the factory explosions and fire were caused by four Israeli aircraft: “Four military planes attacked the Yarmouk plant.”-Ahmed Bilal Osman, Culture and Information Minister for Sudan

Australian media reports that Sudan will retaliate: “We think Israel did the bombing. We reserve the right to react at a place and time we choose.”-Ahmed Bilal Osman, Culture and Information Minister for Sudan

Why are the U.S. and British controlled media trying to downplay this?   (elections)

 

U.S.

U.S. West Nile Virus update, 23 October 2012: Despite colder weather, more cases & more deaths! Media making confusing reports regarding numbers of West Nile cases! Blood donors spreading virus? Deaths in Canada for first time! Proof that insecticide is not safe for humans!

“We’ve never seen deaths in Ontario before.”-Neha Gandhi, Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit, Canada

23 October 2012, while Canada is not a state of the U.S., and this posting is about U.S. West Nile cases, it must be noted that much colder Ontario, Canada, has just had four people die from the virus.  It’s the first deaths since West Nile first appeared in Ontario back in 2002!

The state of New Jersey just reported five more human deaths from West Nile virus.  The state reports at least 45 human cases.

As of 16 October the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had been notified of 4,531 cases.  This is almost 300 cases more than the week before.  On 04 October the CDC had been notified of 4,249 cases, which is more than the high number of cases in 2003.  Yet I’ve seen many news articles since then that continue to say 2012 is still not as bad as 2003!

Here’s what the CDC said: “The 4,531 cases reported thus far in 2012 is the highest number of West Nile virus disease cases reported to CDC through the third week in October since 2003.”

The CDC said basically the same thing in their 04 October report.  So why are the media reporting confusing numbers?  For one, they’re going by total yearly numbers and 2003 hit 9,862 for the entire year.  The CDC is making their claim based on the number reported for the same time period, and there’s a couple months left to go.

A second reason why it’s hard to report numbers is that many cases take weeks to months to confirm, so we could see 2012 cases being confirmed a couple of months into 2013.  It’s the same when it comes to determining cause of death.

It takes weeks or months of lab testing to determine if the cause of death was the virus, or not.  This is why some local health officials are clarifying that they don’t know for sure how many people have died from the virus.

At this point the death toll, as reported to CDC, is at least 183 (does not include those people who died since 16 October), and 51% of those who get infected get the more deadly neuroinvasive (meningitis or encephalitis) virus.

Another reason for confusing media reports is because some media sources are reporting only the cases of the more deadly neuroinvasive (meningitis or encephalitis) form of the West Nile virus.

Arizona reporting three deaths since the 16 October CDC report.

Florida reporting another human case of West Nile. There are at least 26 cases.

Mississippi State Department of Health reported eight new human cases on 22 October. So far the southern state has 233 cases, with five deaths.  Local media says the peak time of year for West Nile is normally July through September.

Michigan reports 223 human cases (one local media source is reporting 196 cases, but that might be from CDC numbers which are about a week behind), 13 deaths.  The midwestern state is parked near Canada, and is much cooler than Mississippi, yet continues to have West Nile cases. In 2011 there were a total of 34 cases reported in Michigan.

Three new cases in Georgia. Last week a man died after fighting West Nile for two and a half months. He had been paralyzed, and finally asked to be taken off life support.  Officials there say you can’t rely on cooler weather to stop the virus:  “Folks do kind of think since its cooler the mosquitoes aren’t biting but that’s not so…..”-Jackie Jenkins, Southwest Public Health District

A Pennsylvania media source investigated state and local officials’ claims that the anti-mosquito insecticide they’re using is safe for humans.   Their investigation revealed a big FAIL.  The warning label for Zenivex E20 (aka etofenprox) states: “Hazardous to humans and domestic animals”

Also in Pennsylvania, health officials are reporting high numbers of infected mosquitoes, despite colder weather: “That worked out to an infection rate of somewhere just under seven mosquitoes per thousand, which is about as high as we’ve ever had it.”-Phil Hall, Lebanon County virus surveillance officer

Louisiana reports nine new human cases, four of which are the more deadly neuroinvasive (meningitis or encephalitis) virus.  The southern state is at 321 cases, just short of their 2002 numbers.

On 18 October Texas reported 1,683 cases with 77 deaths.

On 20 October California reported another death from West Nile (at least 11 deaths this year).  There are 35 new human cases, the west coast state now has 301 cases. But it’s not just humans.  21 horse cases, more than 1,500 dead birds tested positive, as did chickens and squirrels.  State health officials also warn that at least 52 blood donors tested positive for West Nile!

In Illinois, people are upset over the death of an eight years old girls.  Just months after being diagnosed with leukemia she got West Nile.  One of her aunts said things were looking up when she suddenly died: “She had been improving. We got a call to go up to the hospital in the afternoon and stayed until she was gone. We’re just in shock. No one expected this.”-Lorie McElheny

Illinois has at last 139 human cases.

Oklahoma reports a 12th human death, and 173 cases.

In Minnesota, one man’s struggle with West Nile shows that it doesn’t go away.  Jerry Livermore got infected back in 2010.  He survived, but hasn’t fully recovered.  He now uses a walker, and he’s lost all memory of the 43 days he spent in the intensive care unit at the local hospital.   He has to use a walker because the virus affected his ability to balance.